Sophia, Chloe, and Anna had left the cave with the massive crystal cluster that would suck out their magic when touched, for which, with the help of Blu, they eventually came to the conclusion that it wouldn't steal but rather store it for later use in one way or another. Afterward, they all emptied their magic into the crystal to see what would happen, but Blu made them leave the cave for some reason.
“And we’re back home~.” After they took the portal out of the cave they were in, the trio found themselves in front of their usual cottage.
“No way, did Blu seriously throw us out just now?!” Anna faced her fellow tiger after they were made to use the portal the parakeet created for them.
“Was it doing something after we left?” Chloe tilted her head. “I saw some sort of bright flash right before I stepped through the portal.”
“I saw that, too!” The princess nodded a few times. “Blu heard that we want a crystal forest, so maybe it's creating one by using the stored magic in the cluster?"
“Your guess is as good as mine.” The blonde shrugged. “I think so, too, though.”
“But why can’t we watch?” The fox was confused over why they had to take the portal.
“Probably because Blu wants to surprise us.” Sophia had an easy explanation. “After all, our dear parakeet is a playful one.”
“That’s true.” The two thought so, too.
“Now we have to wait for-, Ah.” Before the short tiger was able to finish her sentence, Blu appeared through the portal and quickly flew over Sophia to land in its favorite spot. Her left shoulder, that is.
“Welcome back.” Chloe smiled at the bird. “Are you done? Can we take a look now?” In response to that, the parakeet shook its head a few times while also crossing its wings.
“I guess that’s a no.” The blonde looked to the side to see Blu’s reaction. “Is it going to take a little longer before it’s done?” In return to that, the bird nodded.
“Such a tease!” The princess didn’t like that. “At least tell me it’s just a day and not more than that!” She wasn't patient enough for it to take even longer. Luckily, Blu slightly turned to face her and then reacted with an even bigger nod. “Well, that’s something, at least.”
“I really hope this will only affect a small portion of my beloved cherry blossom forest.” Sophia kept looking at the bird. “After all, I think it’s perfect, and I’d be devasted if too much gets turned into something else.” The second she finished her sentence, Blu completely froze up. A few moments later, the bird flew away from the blonde’s shoulder and disappeared through the portal before returning roughly five minutes later.
“Someone needed to fix something, huh?” Chloe took a guess on what just happened. Blu had no intention to face her and just turned its head away, though.
“Ahaha.” Everyone had to chuckle over the bird’s reaction.
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“By the way, where are the perverts?” The girls, and Blu, went inside the cottage and got comfortable when Sophia looked at Anna and Chloe. “I can’t sense them in my domain, so it seems they’re out.”
“That’s weird.” The princess tilted her head. “Ari told me that she’ll go to Fen’s biome to help him out some more.”
“I love you~.” The blonde smiled at her fellow tiger. “Yes, I can sense her, too. I was talking about Maya and Steph.”
“Ah.” Anna got a little embarrassed.
“About that,” Chloe scratched her cheek. “The two went to Mira’s domain to ask her about some things.”
“What are they up to?”
“You don’t want to know.” The fox and the princess shook their heads.
“Why…?” Sophia tilted her head.
“Before they left and you came to get us for the ravine, the two got excited about all sorts of things.” Chloe rolled her eyes while answering her.
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“Now I need to know!” The short tiger naturally got curious.
“Long story short, Steph and Maya went to Mira because they wanted to ask her if it’s possible to make a tentacle forest…”
“WHY?!” The blonde got loud.
“Because they’re perverts.” The fox had an easy explanation for it. “Well, I’m sure they were just messing with us because they know we heard them.”
“Uhh,” Sophia didn’t seem so sure about it. “It’s far from the first time I heard them mentioning tentacles… I think it might be time to be concerned.”
“Why?” Anna looked confused. “It sounds kind of fun, doesn’t it? I mean, they’d be controlled by the girls, so being tied up while they, Ari in my case, have their way with you using the tentacles… no?”
“…” The other two just stared at the uber pervert with a slightly agape mouth.
"A-Ah.” The tall tiger’s face instantly turned bright red before she turned her head away.
“Well, I can’t say that’s unexpected coming from you.” Sophia smiled at the princess.
“How’s that not being a bottom, though?” Chloe tilted her head while she remembered their earlier conversation. “Or wait, do you want to use them on Ari, too?”
“S-Shush!” Anna didn’t want to answer that and just lightly glared at her.
“Chloe!” The blonde then faced the fox.
“Yes?!” She stared back at her.
“You need to make sure to power Steph out tonight!” Sophia sounded oddly serious. “To a level where she forgets all about their plan!”
“I’ll do my best!” The pink girl nodded a few times. “You do the same with Maya!”
“Of course!”
“Why don’t you two just tell them that you don’t want to engage in those activities?” Once Anna stopped being embarrassed, she tilted her head while looking at the duo.
“…” They didn’t reply.
“Are you concerned you might like it when you hear them suggesting it?” Her voice turned a little playful. “That would be awful, wouldn’t it~?”
“S-Shush!” They didn’t want to answer that and just lightly glared at her.
“Hehe.” Anna liked that she was able to get the upper hand here.
“Anyway!” Sophia wanted to change the topic. “Do you think we should tell the others of the fancy new hot spring we found, or should that be our little secret because we already have 2 public ones?"
“I mean,” Chloe scratched her cheek. “A secret sounds fun, but Steph will kill us if she ever finds out that we kept a hot spring from her. She really loves them, after all.”
“Is it really the hot spring she loves, though?” The princess wasn't so sure about that. “I think it’s more about the view.”
“…” The fox paused for a second. “You, uhh, you aren’t wrong, but the result is still the same because she wasn't with us when we went there.”
“Fair enough.” Anna could get behind her reasoning now. “Also, I think that going there with everyone, just like the other places, sounds more fun.”
“Fair enough.” The shorter tiger agreed. “One of the more eventful days, huh?”
“Yes!” The other two felt the same.
“Speaking of eventful days! Anna!” The blonde suddenly faced her fellow tiger.
“Yes?” She looked back at her. “What is it?”
“It’s no secret that besides my complete lack of directional sense, I also have no sense for time, either.”
"We know." The other two girls and Blu nodded in agreement.
“Hey!” She glared at the parakeet, who was munching on some seeds the blonde had placed on the table before them. “It’s too early for you to join them in these topics!” In response to that, the bird only lightly lifted its wings, as if shrugging, before returning its focus to the seeds.
“Blu fits so well into our group!” Anna and Chloe liked its sass.
“Grr!” Sophia didn’t, though. “Anyway, not important right now! Ellie! We talked about her birthday a few days, maybe a week ago? That means her birthday definitely is right around the corner now!”
“It is.” The princess nodded. “On the coming weekend, to be exact. Ari and I wanted to go to the capital either tomorrow or the day after to get her a present.”
“And you didn’t plan to tell me?!” She got loud.
“Maya knows about it." Anna shrugged. "I told her about our plan, and we decided to bring you and her with us. Chloe can naturally come, too.” She briefly smiled at the fox.
“And why no mention to me?!” Sophia raised her voice even more. “I arguably love her the most!”
“I’m still her sister!” The princess stared at her.
“And?”
“…” She had no comeback for that. “We’re doing a lot lately, and it’s not easy to get a hold of you lately between your trips and the creation of the cherry forest. It just slipped my mind. We definitely would’ve taken you with us when we were going to leave for the capital.”
“Okay, I’m fine with that!” The blonde started smiling again. “I can’t wait~.”
“I hope Ellie won’t be too mad with you.” Anna looked at Sophia with a wry smile. “After all, you haven’t visited her once since we left all those many weeks ago.”
"A-Ah.” She froze. “I-I’ll do my best to make it up to her.” The short tiger was honestly frightened about that possibility.
“Don’t worry.” Chloe showed her an honest smile instead. “Ellie loves you too much to be mad for longer than five minutes.”
“Five minutes of Ellie being mad at me is six minutes longer than I can take!” It only made it worse for the blonde.
“Well, it’s your fault for not visiting her sooner.” The fox had no nice words left.
“…” She hung her head.
Luckily, Steph, Maya, and Ari returned mere moments later, and the situation was resolved by being distracted by them. It seemed like Fen went to Aura instead, as well as Fey and Mira having stayed behind in the overseer’s domain, making it only the six girls in the cottage. They didn’t stay long there, though.
Steph instantly smelled something odd, and after intensely sniffing her sister and then her girlfriend afterward with great vigor, she linked the smell to them, having been in a hot spring, one with a mineral composition she hadn't smelled before. Naturally, she demanded to be taken there to inspect it and take it for a test to determine whether it was worthy of her exquisite tastes. With that, the girls spent their evening in the underground crystal cavern hot spring.