Zalroth strolled through the halls of a well-furnished dark-grey marble brick mansion as the neon lights of Neo Light City's many neo signs shined into the mansion. Zalroth rubbed his eyes, while Zalina (in her kitsune cub form) and Abigail sat on Zalroth's kitsune tails as the two ate some cat-paw-shaped marshmallows.

Zalroth looked at his hands as he placed them into various hand signs which vaguely resembled alchemic symbols. Abigail leaned over Zalroth's shoulders and watched Zalroth as he continued to make hand signs.

"Hey... those kinda look the symbols used in alchemy," Abigail asked while she pointed at Zalroth's hands.

"I'm glad to hear that. It would be pretty embarrassing if they didn't," Zalroth remarked as he lowered his hands. Abigail placed a fist on her chin and hummed to herself as she pondered something.

"But why, though?" Abigail asked.

"Well, being able to make the alchemic symbols with your hands is the prerequisite for circle-less alchemy," Zalroth explained as the sparkles in Abigail's eyes grew into shining beacons, causing Zalroth to let out an amused exhale, and his exhale made Abigail sombrely frown.

"Don't you worry, Abigail. Once I remember how to do all the hand versions of the alchemy symbols, I will teach them to you on one condition.".

"Condition?" Abigail asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"You have to do that summer break project you've been putting off," Zalroth stated, causing Abigail to slump onto Zalroth's shoulder like a deflated balloon. Abigail whined while flailing her arms and kicking her legs around.

"But the assignment my school gave me is so boring; why can't they understand my eyes for crafting is far beyond that of my peers!" Abigail complained with a condescending tone.

"What's wrong with building a cute little model castle, my dear daughter?" Demon Lord Jeslyina Anthem asked as she approached the group with Zalkutaro (in his small adult kitsune form) wrapped around her neck like a scarf. (Jeslyina's a tall busty dark brown Succubus [four large bat-like hip wings with two being dark crimson and two being snow white, and a long thin snow white tail with a large sphere-shaped tail tip] with the appearance of a twenty-five-year-old; she has super long curly black and dark crimson violet hair, glowing white eyes, and a large glowing black sun magic mark with swords seven swords around the sun at the base of her throat)(She dressed in a pink typer-themed hoodied onesie with the onesie's zipper being slightly unzipped)

"But Mama... small castles are way too easy," Abigail whined as she climbed down from Zalroth's tails. Zalkutaro unwrapped himself from around Jeslyina's neck and sat on her shoulder.

"Then how about making a castle with magic-powered moving parts?" Zalkutaro offered. Abigail stared at Zalkutaro before she slapped the sides of her head with a defeated look on her face.

"Why didn't I think of that before Father gave me the idea...," Abigail murmured while she slumped her arms by her side. The adults amusedly chuckled as Abigail murmured to herself about which civilization she should base her castle sculpture on.

"Hahh... It's always refreshing to see her in her crafting mode," Jeslyina remarked before she looked up at Zalroth.

"Oh, and Chronia waiting in the mansion medical ward with your successor," Jeslyina added. Zalroth gave Jeslyina an unamused stare which only made Jeslyina snicker.

"Just teasing you, but Lola's going to be a handful when she actually becomes your successor... although I would've liked for Abigail to have had that honour," Jeslyina said. Zalroth rolled his eyes, and Zalina dived into Zalroth's kitsune tails.

"Well, I do have two so we will see," Zalroth stated boldly. Zalroth let out an exhausted sigh before he walked off while waving to Jeslyina and co as he walked past them. Zalroth held his hands in the pockets of his fur coat as he strolled through the halls of Jeslyina's mansion.

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"... maybe splitting it wouldn't be as bad as I originally thought," Zalroth uttered to himself as he closed his eyes. Zalroth halted his advance and opened his eyes to see the world around was enveloped by a teal and lime colouration. Zalroth contently sighed and glanced out the window to see a flock of birds frozen mid-flight.

"Looks like your lover is getting impatient, Vessel of Life and Creation," Ela stated as they manifested next to Zalroth and led on the nearby window sill.

"I know, so could you wait until I appease her before you start demanding things from me?" Zalroth requested. Ela nodded before they warped above Zalroth and sat on his shoulders.

"Onwards!" Ela stated calmly while pointing forward. Zalroth clicked his neck before he followed Ela's instruction and walked down the hallway.

In the medical ward, Chronia angrily sat on a medical bed with her arms and legs crossed while a baby Lola sat on Chronia's lap and mimicked Chronia. Chronia opened her eyes [pale lime and teal eyes with the pupil of her right eye being in the shape of analogue clock hands and her left iris being a ten-pointed star (the iris' are pale lime and the pupils are teal)] and stared at Zalroth with a pouty expression on her face.

"And why are you looking at me like that?" Zalroth asked with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. Chronia puffed up her flat chest while pointing and waving her hands over the entirety of her upper body. Zalroth raised his kitsune ears and tilted his head, with Ela mimicking Zalroth's head tilt.

"Don't you see something missing?" Chronia asked. Zalroth placed a hand on his chin and hummed to himself as he pretended to wonder what Chronia could be talking about. Chronia half-heartedly frowned and sighed.

"Can you stop acting coy please, I'm still recovering here," Chronia muttered as she lazily closed her eyes. Zalroth smirked before he settled himself next to Chronia, and wrapped one of his kitsune tails around Chronia and Lola. Chronia's tense expression swiftly melted into a big content grin as she led back on Zalroth's tail before pale green, green, and dark qi trails swirled through the tail's fur [energy with a particle effect].

"Ahh~ I never get tired of this," Chronia said contently, as Lola had her face planted firmly on Zalroth's tail and snored.

"So, are you going to undo your time stop?" Zalroth asked nonchalantly. Chronia shot her right eye open and looked around puzzledly to see the teal and lime colouration over the world.

"Huh? But I don't remember activating my time stop though....".

"Well, you were asleep when I walked in, so maybe you've unlocked the ability to use magic in your sleep," Zalroth remarked jokingly. Chronia's face turned a faint red, and she sunk back slightly into Zalroth's tail as her glowing clock hand pupil seized its glow, and the surroundings lost their time-stop colouration.

"How embarrassing...," Chronia whined as she held an arm over her eyes.

"To be fair, it could've been worse; you could've accelerated my movements and sent me flying through a window," Zalroth mentioned. Chronia lightly giggled at Zalroth's remark before she rolled over to face Zalroth and contently smiled at him.

"So, what do you wanna ask? Vivo told me something about a dragon egg but didn't manage to tell me anything before he had to stop Layla from turning half the mansion into candy," Chronia said as she scooted closer to Zalroth and snuggled up against him. Zalroth itched his cheek while he wondered how to phrase his question.

"So, you know how Vivo is a kitsune visage?" Zalroth asked meekly.

"Oh... so you wanna make the baby in the dragon egg Lola's first kitsune visage I take it?" Chronia asked inquisitively while cheekily poking Zalroth's face. Zalroth exhaled in relief as Chronia continued to poke his face.

"Can I take your cheeky response as a sign of cooperation?".

"Duh... but I'd like to know why you seem in a rush to do so, though?" Chronia requested. Zalroth nodded and explained the events which occurred within the gorge in the desert. Chronia nodded her head inquisitively as she thought over the story Zalroth told her.

"I see, so the baby's father was on their death bed and, given how close his child was to being infected by a heathen. He was also worried because he died right before his baby was about to be born, that it might cause his baby to die young, so he wanted you to make his child a kitsune visage so they would have a certain shot at life," Chronia stated before she lent against Zalroth and took in deep breaths.

"Right; also, you shouldn't talk so much in one go," Zalroth said.

"Must say gotta respect him for not only giving his life to protect his unborn child and also having the heart to relinquish them to someone they deemed trustworthy," Chronia said as she reached into Zalroth's tails and gently lifted the dragon egg out from Zalroth's tails. Chronia eyed the dragon egg with her clock hands eye as they slowly turned and nodded her head once the hands stopped turning.

"I can see why you were in a rush this baby is hours away from hatching," Chronia stated as she handed the egg to Zalroth.

"Then you best do the visage ritual so I can assign you a cool adventurer already," Ela stated while they had their arms wrapped around Zalroth's head like a helmet strap.