Sophia had flooded a part of her domain with so much magic that all the pink and purple particles got so dense that it was impossible for her to even see the hand in front of her very eyes. The high concentration also revealed that the conscious side becomes more expressive and intelligent the more ambient magic there is. The blonde was very motivated to explore this revelation a lot more, but the particles refused to tell her the details, and she lacked the skills to solve it on her own for the time being. Because of that, they decided to focus on the cherry blossom biome first.
“I really need to have another chat with Mira soon! Maybe I can get some more juicy secrets out of her!" Sophia was still highly motivated to find out the whole truth about magic and how it really works. “For now, forest time!” She raised her arms, and a group of pink and purple particles immediately circled around it.
“Do I need to actually do anything, though?” She tilted her head. “I’ve already filled the area with my magic slash authority, and we talked about what I want. Magic can take care of the rest and play around a bit, too. Let’s go and do your thing…?” As it was the first time she didn’t actively use magic, the blonde was a little unsure how to proceed. Then, a number of particles moved around her head and made it impossible for her to see anything anymore.
“Ha.” A few moments later, once the particles decided to let her see again, Sophia wasn’t sure how to react. A little bit of the ambient magic was still left and happily circling around her, but most had simply disappeared, which made her be able to clearly see the patch of cherry blossom forest in front of her. Before, the dense particles had blocked her view quite severely, after all. “Is it done? I can sense a lot of power from the flora around us, but it will take a while, huh?” In response to that, the remaining few particles in front of her moved up and down a couple of times.
“…” Noticing how their ability to communicate had decreased, Sophia’s expression changed. Thanks to that, though, she was immediately hit by a gust of wind. “Come on! I know you’re happy to do something useful, but it is still a little sad from my point of view!” She raised her voice. “Let me get used to it, okay?!” The tiger was treating the particles as individuals, which, in their eyes, seemed to be the wrong approach here. Hearing this, the ambient magic stopped attacking her and went back to moving up and down while also energetically swirling around her.
“Well, if you’re happy, it really can’t be a bad thing.” She cheered up again after seeing how well they were doing. “What now, though?” She pointed at the forest. A moment later, one of the usual portals appeared in front of her. “I like how I am not surprised that you guys can create my portals. Well, the portals are made out of you, so I guess it makes sense.” Sophia nodded a few times. “Wait, you want me to leave?” While tilting her head, the particles moved up and down even stronger than before.
“How rude! Getting kicked out of my own place!” She immediately started pouting but stopped doing so just as quickly the moment the tiger started noticing that it was getting windy around her again. "I'm just kidding! The forest needs time to grow and develop, right? There's nothing to do for me right now, so I might as well head home because you all also want to help with the forest, right?" Trying to guess their intention, Sophia was rewarded with another nod by them.
“Alright, have fun!” She smiled at them. “I’ll come back and visit tomorrow! You better make sure I can’t believe my eyes when I return! I want to be swept off my feet by the sights!” Nodding a few times, the particles circled around the tiger for a moment before also heading into the forest. Sophia watched them leave for a moment longer before she then took the portal.
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“Aaand I’m home!” After crossing through the portal that the magic particles made for her, Sophia found herself in front of their cottage. “Tiny bit disappointed I didn’t end up somewhere else entirely~.” She had hoped for something more exciting. “Hmm, I have no intention of going near the three cold freaks today, Anna and Maya seem to be inside, no signs of Mira and Fey… Oh, Fenny and Ari are in their little relaxation spot again! Let's pay them a visit and see how they like the cherry I gave them!" Having found something of interest with her detection magic, she immediately headed out again.
“Welcome!” There, the blonde was immediately greeted by the duo.
“Wow, I would’ve lost the bet about you two napping again.” She couldn’t believe that they were awake.
“W-We would never!” Ari raised her voice.
“Your hair looks slightly disheveled, though.” Sophia smirked at her. “Some of Fenny’s fur is sticking to it, too.” She reached for the jaguar’s hair and removed some of the greyish fur there. “You need to do something about that shedding, my dear.” She then smiled at the wolf.
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“A-Ah.” Ari’s cheeks turned red. “It’s just too comfortable here!”
“I’m not blaming you~.”
“I’m starting to lose my winter coat.” Fen had no intention of coming up with an excuse for the napping. “It’s only natural that I’m shedding.”
“Oh, right!” The blonde nodded a few times. “After having gone through that cold hell lately, I almost forgot that it’s spring!”
“Why do you think I opted against joining you on the mountain range adventure?” The wolf just looked at her.
“Because you’re lazy?” She stared back at him.
“…” Fen went silent for a moment. “I mean the other reason!”
“Are you also shedding or just lazy?” Sophia then focused on Ari again.
“Actually,” The jaguar then moved her tail in front of her and used her hand to pluck out a strand of fur. “It’s not as strong as in fulls, but I do have a bit of a winter coat going on that is starting to shed now.”
“Seriously?” The blonde hadn't seen that one coming. "Wait, then, there was no reason for you to complain about being cold as much as I did! Even more, actually! I’m the most cold-resistant cat in the group, after all!” She won’t ever let go of that.
“How is my winter coat going to help me when the only fur and hair I have is on my head and tail while the entire rest of my body is completely free of it?” She didn’t let that excuse count.
“Fair enough.” Sophia could follow her reasoning.
“Also, you’re the same!” Ari threw it right back at her. “Your tail definitely looks a little thicker than I remember it being in summer.”
"It does?" The tiger took a better look at her own tail and also plucked out some loose fur. “You’re right!” If it slowly gets thicker, you don’t really notice it, but the fluffier bits of hair are definitely loose! I can’t believe I’m shedding!” She learned something about her body she didn't need to know. "It probably started when my hair began to turn lighter and fluffier, huh? Not a fan!”
“See!” Ari felt vindicated. “You have an even bigger winter coat because your hair got thicker on top, but because you also have no fur on other parts of your body, it’s pointless! And cold!”
“How do you know where I do and don’t have fur on my body?” Sophia slightly raised an eyebrow.
“Because we’ve seen each other naked many times by now.”
“Again, fair point.” There was little she could say there. “Though, I doubt Anna would be happy about your wording.”
“The two of you have seen each other naked probably about as many times, too. It’s fine.”
“…” Sophia actually looked impressed. “I absolutely love this cocky-confident side of yours.”
“And you’ve already seen me naked, too.” She played into it. “Don’t you think we’re moving a bit fast?”
“If you two are done flirting, could I ask why you came here?” Fen didn’t want to deal with any of this and changed the topic while looking at the tiger.
“A-Ah.” The duo noticed that they fell into their usual routine.
“Ahem!” Sophia cleared her throat before continuing. "I wanted to see how you two like the present I gave you."
“Present?” Fen and Ari only tilted their heads.
“The weeping cherry I put in the area where you two planned the lake.”
“Really?” The wolf sounded surprised. “We haven’t been in that area yet.”
“I’ve lost complete track of time after what I went through today, but that was like 5-10 hours ago, you know?” She had been busy. “What have you done all day? Napping?”
“…” Fen and Ari went silent. The latter also turned her head away.
“Wow.” There was a slight hint of envy in her voice. “Alright, putting that aside, do you want to go and see?”
“Yes!” They gave her a big nod.
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“Ohhh!” The trio arrived at the lakeside, and Fen and Ari immediately liked what they saw. Sophia had placed the roughly 100-meter-wide weeping cherry on a small island in the middle of the massive hole that the two planned to convert into the lake later on.
“It’s a good one, isn’t it?” The blonde smiled at them.
“It’s perfect!” They kept staring at the massive tree filled to the brim with beautiful pink petals hanging down on the branches like garlands.
“Happy to hear~.” She liked their reaction. “I can leave growing it to the right size to you, right? I’ve used so much magic today that I actually feel a little sore. It’s enough for me for one day.”
“Sure!” The wolf reacted with a nod.
"Of co-, Wait!" Ari was also about to agree when the tiger's words registered in her brain. "What do you mean? How does one get sore from using too much magic?! Tired, sure, but sore?!”
“How about you try to constantly use and recover your magic for about ten whole hours for a total of 30 times your maximum capacity, while also doing it with your girlfriend in the middle of it after one thing led to another.” Sophia remembered her session with Maya.
“I’ll ignore the last part because that’s just the usual, but WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
“For what in the world do you need 30 times your power?” Fen also got curious.
"I need it for my world.” Sophia looked at him. “This beast of a place is insatiable! The total amount of magic I need to add a sky is at least a four-digit number of what I have at my disposal. At the very least! There could be even more zeroes involved there! It turns out I'm way too weak to run this place efficiently!"
“…” The two went silent. They knew how overpowered the tiger was and how much she loved to boast about that at every opportunity possible, so that statement was quite the shock to them.
“Okay, to be fair, I used the entirety of this amount of raw magic to grow a cherry blossom forest of a size that is beyond comprehension, so… yeah.” She awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“Ahh!” The duo quickly was relieved that the blonde still was the same dork regardless.
Once the topic was over, Fen and Ari quickly bathed the cherry in a little bit of their magic before the trio returned to the cottage, as it had gotten very late.