After Chloe reunited with both of her mothers, the rest of the group decided to give the trio some alone time to talk, bond with each other, and do whatever else was needed. They returned to Sophia's treehouse, where they tried to come up with a plan for Steph to win over Chloe’s parents. Suddenly meeting them was already one thing, but finding out that Chloe's other parent was an actual overseer didn't make it easier for the dog-girl. Both of her girlfriend's mothers seem to be quite the big shots.
A couple of hours had passed since then, but the family eventually seemed to have sorted out the most pressing issues as they had decided to go to the treehouse, as well, and regrouped with the others there.
“I’m sorry about the slight turbulences earlier.” Fey apologized to everyone before looking at Maya and the sisters. “It got cut a little short because of something…” She glanced at the something with the many tails. “Once again, my name is Feyanis. Most decided to call me Fey, though. I’m pleased to meet you and delighted that you seem to get along with my daughter.”
“Likewise!” The trio smiled at her before introducing themselves again, as well.
---
“You found some interesting friends.” Once she heard them introducing themselves while also getting a better look, including their magic, the full fox faced Chloe again.
“Ehehe~.”
“So,” She then focused on Maya. “Are you the only normal one here? Okay, most normal one.” The fox slightly rephrased her question. "Your magic is still completely out of the ordinary, and I can also feel some traces of Canir’s properties in it, but it seems like you’re actually from here?”
“Uhh… Yes.” The cat-girl needed a moment. “My magic has always been unnaturally high, and it got even more potent with Sophia’s influence, but I’ve been native to this world and raised by normal parents.”
“Wow, that must’ve been hard for you.” Fey sounded slightly sympathetic. “Being the only one with regular native common sense…"
“YES!” She got very emotional in an instant. “Finally, someone who understands my pain!”
“Well, I have my fair share of problems in that regard with a certain someone, as well.” Fey stole a glance or two at Chloe while answering her.
“H-Hey!” She didn’t like that.
"Admittedly, she certainly didn't help with the issue after having joined our group." Maya also looked at the pink fox.
"A-Ah…”
“What did I tell you about that?” Her stare turned a little rougher.
“Uhh…” Chloe flinched under the pressure. “I-It was just too much fun with Sophia and the others!”
“Haa…” The serious duo let out a sigh in return. It was hard to be mad at her.
“I guess I left you alone for too long, too…” Fey hung her head. “I should’ve hurried more.”
“Err, speaking of…” Sophia stared at her. “We heard that you went on a quick sightseeing trip to the human capital. Is it still, uhh… there?”
"Ahh…" She looked back at her. "You also used to be human, right? I guess you were slightly concerned about them after you heard I got angry at them? You might not know the humans of this world yet, but trust me, you wouldn’t be concerned about them if you knew them. They have some serious... let's call it management issues.”
“AHAHA!” Hearing that, Fen was unable to hold back his laughter. “Glorious!”
“What is the meaning of this reaction?” Fey simply stared at him.
“Well, ignoring some smaller events, our concerned tiger here already went to war with a human army, singlehandedly defeated them, and completely broke their minds with darkness-based magic.”
“S-Sophia?!” Steph got loud because the last part was still news to her.
“I-I got a little upset that they threatened my loved ones, okay…?”
“Oho!” The voice of the full fox turned warm. “Someone who stands up for family and friends, and knows how to get angry? I respect that!”
“Sure, you do…” The male wolf started mumbling.
“What was that?”
“N-Nothing!” He immediately turned his head away.
“Anyway,” The blonde got back to the topic. “No, it’s not that. I was planning to go to the capital myself, to tell them how I feel about them based on the things I've seen so far, but then I heard about, well… you.”
“I see.” Fey nodded a few times. “But, wait… does that mean you were the one who messed up their army…? Half of them fainted when I came near while the other half started screaming while, uhh… having had pants-related incidents.”
“Ahaha…” Sophia wasn’t sure how to react, especially to the last part. “I focused my, let’s call it… brainwashing on making them exceptionally afraid of even coming near a member of the beastfolk, so… Yeah, it sounds like my work. Though, it's not really brainwashing, I guess? More like instigating a deeply rooted fear to prevent them from messing with things they have no right to mess with? Later on, if they've ever become capable of treating the beastfolk as equals, it shouldn't have an effect on them anymore, anyway. Even though I overdid a bit back then and said some things that were out of line, I was angry about what they tried to do.”
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“My, it almost seems like we will get along well in the future.”
“Happy to hear~.”
“…” Maya and Steph had some considerable reservations about that, but for different reasons. One of them had put their whole hope in Fey as their ray of hope for making the blonde calm down, and the other was envious of their bonding.
“Wait…” Sophia tilted her head. “How did you meet that army? You should’ve been way ahead of them, on top of being much faster. Oh, was it on the way back?”
“Not quite.” Fey shook her head. “Halfway towards the capital, I calmed down enough to think ‘why' and headed back. While basically everyone in power amongst the humans is at least close to being hopeless, there are also many that are innocent and or did not have a choice in one way or another. I decided that I much rather be with Chloe than doing that.”
“Understandable.” Both sisters agreed.
“There, I found that army.” She continued her story. “At first, I thought about taking out my remaining anger on them. I mean, they are not innocent. Still, once I noticed what was going on, I changed my plans yet again.”
“I’m confused.” Sophia and Chloe had the same reaction.
“Let me finish.” She rolled her eyes. “Long story short, I started a revolution in their capital."
“I’m confused.” This time, Fen, Aura, and Maya joined the duo.
“Fey, my dear,” Mira smiled at her. “I think you need to add a few more details here. I mean, I watched over you a few times during your expedition, so I know what happened, but you skipped some crucial steps there.”
“I’ll get to that! You know that I like to start with the result before explaining what I did.”
“And I never understood why…” The voices of the pink and teal fox overlapped.
“…” Fey didn’t like that.
“I think it’s a great way to explain things!” Steph took her chance. “That way, you know if you’re even interested before having to listen to whatever explanation there is!"
“Exactly!”
“Also, what other explanation is even needed here?” The dog-girl tilted her head. “I think it’s perfectly obvious what she did?”
“Eh?” Everyone looked at her.
“Oho?” Fey also faced her.
“From what I’ve heard, humans have a bit of a supremacy thing going on, right? They're, like, the best and all… Even though they are, in fact, not. Which is totally fine. The issue here seems like they're dealing with it. Like, the beastfolk is supposed to be under them for whatever reason, even though animal features are a clear upgrade… To me, at least. Anyway, you took the army Sophia broke, taught them how to be humble, and brought them to the capital. Or, at least, the captains or whatever, because that would be easier to organize. And now… they’re the new leaders." Steph made a small pause. "Again, I haven't met the humans in this world yet, but it's just impossible for an entire race to be that hopeless. It has to be their leaders being responsible for the state of things. Propaganda, lies, isolation, oppression, and all the other good stuff. In our old world, there were regions and countries ruled by dictators and similar kinds that used these tactics to make their people submit and believe in their lies, as well. There, too, it felt like the entire population of that country was beyond saving. However, once you've cut the head of the snake, you quickly realize that there were lots of normal people still around.”
“Wow.” The full continued to stare at her. “You’re good. That’s more or less what happened. Thanks to Mira, I actually managed to bring Sophia's whole army. Her weird portal invention was great for that.”
“Ehehe~.” Steph enjoyed the praise.
“Portal invention…?” The tiger got curious about that part.
“I, err… might’ve copied your idea when I first saw you playing around with it.” The overseer glanced at her. "I usually simply teleport back and forth to my domain, but your idea looked fun, so…"
“It’s fine~.” The blonde just smiled back.
“There’s no way the humans in the capital, especially their excuse for royalty, would've gone along with that!" Fen didn't believe it.
“Making the current rulers bow down in front of me and their former army while their castle is burning behind them was quite impactful.” Fey’s absolutely dry voice made it sound about twice as scary as it already was.
“…” Most of the group was speechless.
“I guess that might have a slight chance of actually working.” Even the male wolf sounded impressed.
“Afterward, Mira let me use her portals again to send the previous nobility to the other side of the continent. After all, we don't want them to come up with anything shady. I thought about simply removing them, but this actually felt more impactful. Killing them also would divert a lot of the folk's hatred towards me, which wouldn't have helped.”
“I love it!” Sophia was a fan. She also preferred leaving a lasting impression over the other option.
"I also stayed for a bit while I quelled every sign of a counter-rebellion by giving the same treatment while also teaching the new rulers some basics. The bar wasn't high, but they still had even less of an idea of how to run a country. They are far from competent, and it will be hard, but the three members of the beastfolk I left there to supervise seemed extraordinarily competent, so I’m 24% certain it will work out in the long run. They even got accepted by the masses to a degree. Just as Steph said, once the rotten part was removed, the remaining parts actually started healing, to put in other words.”
“My, aren’t those some great numbers?” Aura had to do it.
“That’s about 24% higher than the previous humanity with their impossible leaders working out in the long run. One day, they surely would've picked a fight with a race that doesn't simply defend themselves and call it a day as the beastfolk does.” Fey looked back at her.
“Okay, that’s a point.” The female wolf took back her sarcastic undertone.
“Wait a moment…” The tiger looked confused. “What’s that about the three members of the beastfolk? There shouldn’t be any of us near their capital, no?”
"They arrived just before I was getting ready to leave," Fey answered her. “They apparently were messengers from the beastfolk capital and were sent there to discuss the consequences of the war the humans started and lost. I decided to give them a promotion to a management position.”
“Sounds familiar.” Maya stole some glances at her blonde.
“A-Ah…” She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Those poor messengers…”
“Poor Menzor and his headache.” The cat-girl felt sorry for someone else.
“I’m not going to explain that to him!" Sophia immediately raised her voice. "For once, I am innocent! INNOCENT!” She sounded really happy about that.
“Weren’t you planning to tell him some things that will cause some serious headaches, as well?" The cat-girl didn't let her be smug for long.
“S-Shush!”
“Someone is a bit of a troublemaker, isn’t she?” Fey stared at the blonde again.
“N-Not intentionally!”
“Why don’t I believe you?” She only intensified her stare.
“W-Who knows…?” Sophia’s eyes started swimming.
“I see.” The fox let it be for now. “Anyway, I was planning to inform the king of the beastfolk about the events as soon as possible. Meeting Chloe first had a much higher priority, though.”
“Understandable.” The blonde saw no fault in that.
“Origin aside, you are a tiger, right? From the sound of it, you are able to meet him fairly easily. Would it be possible to get an audience with him for me?”
“I usually waltz right into his office when something’s up, but… I think I can ask for an audience…?" She tilted her head while also scratching her cheek.
"Not an intentional troublemaker, huh?"
"A-Ah.” She had nothing to say in her defense.