Roughly two weeks had passed since Sophia, Fey, and Mira gave the kings and everyone else in the castle a massive headache, which was slowly starting to subside, as well. The time afterward was quite peaceful, as well. Mainly because the blonde refused to go near the castle, though. Only Anna and Ari were allowed to visit the mansion, too. It was too much of a bother for her else. It also helped the princess and her jaguar to get ever so slightly more used to the overseer that had appeared out of nowhere and became part of their group.

“…”

“…”

Things seemed to get about a little less peaceful, though. The sisters sat beside each other on the sofa while their eyes were peeled on Steph’s phone for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Sitting on the sofa opposite of them, Chloe and Maya looked at their partners while tilting their heads.

“…” They stayed silent for a moment longer before eventually lifting their heads. “We… We are going back to our old world.” They answered at the same time.

“E-EH?!” The two obviously didn’t like the sound of that. “W-WHY?!”

“Ah, no, just for a little bit.” The sisters noticed their slightly unfortunate wording.

“Haa…” The pink fox and the cat calmed down again and let out a sigh. “What is going on?”

“When Sophia and I went back to our apartment to get some supplies from there a few days ago, it seems like my phone received some messages…” Steph tried to explain the situation. "I barely use my phone anymore since coming here as I mostly only take pictures of Chloe with it nowadays, after all, so…”

“You constantly take pictures of me!” The girl in question raised her voice. “What do you mean by you barely use it anymore?! How addicted were you to it before?!"

"So, when I checked it earlier, I noticed some missed calls and unread messages.” She completely ignored her fox. "It seems like our mom has gotten my message about having found Sophia, and she tried to reach out to me last week.”

“O-Oh.” Chloe and Maya had the same reaction.

“She asked if we’re still around because she’d get home immediately if that’s the case. She wants to see us as soon as possible. Sophia especially.”

“I want to see her, too…” Sophia spoke up again.

“So… Long story short, you two plan to make a trip to your old world, visit your parents, and once everything is taken care of, it's back home?”

“Yup.” The blonde nodded.

“I’ll never leave paradise behind!” Steph also loved her new home, after all.

“I guess that’s fair.” The cat-girl saw no issues with that.

“You absolutely have to go and see your parents!” Chloe got loud. “Neither of you are allowed to return before that!” After everything that happened to her the last few weeks, she had a very strong opinion on the matter. “I’ll get upset if you don’t hurry now, too!”

“You better listen to her.” Out of nowhere, Mira’s voice suddenly joined the conversation. “I know from experience that you don’t want her to be angry at you.” A few moments later, the teal fox appeared on the empty sofa next to the four girls.”

“I have to admit that you sure know how to have the best entrances.” Sophia looked and sounded impressed while she looked at her.

“I can’t believe I’m getting used to stuff like that already…” Maya wasn’t sure how to react. “I didn’t even flinch…”

“You’re definitely the coolest!” Steph was a big fan. “Ah, you’re still the best, though, Chloe!”

“Ahaha…” The pink girl smiled at the dog. “It’s fine. I don’t really care about being cool. My preferred theme is something else.”

“Fluffy.” The sisters had the same reaction.

“Not exactly the word I would’ve used, but the general direction works~.” She was happy with their assessment.

“Happy you like my entrances~.” Mira glanced at the blonde before continuing. “Do you mind taking this with you during your trip to earth?” She held up a rather well-known plushy of a pink fox.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Oh, it’s plushy Chloe!” Sophia remembered having thought about that before once she met the actual pink fox after having had that very same plushy for a while already.

“It’s not plushy me!” The girl in question got loud.

“Actually…” The overseer scratched her cheek. “It is.”

“Eh?!” All four had the same reaction.

“Shortly after I left you in the care of Fey and could only see you during the night, when you were sleeping, I got pretty lonely during the days… Because of that, I asked a toymaker to make a plush that resembles you in a way without it being too obvious. It helped me a lot…”

“…” Everyone went silent. A moment later, Chloe got up from her sofa and immediately jumped at the overseer, crushing her into a big hug.

“…” Mira needed a moment to react before quickly returning the hug and facing Sophia again. "A-As you can see, I managed to reunite with the original one again, so I don’t need the little one to cheer me up anymore…”

“I, uhh… I see.” The tiger also wasn’t sure how to react. “Why should I take it with me to our old world, though? Wait a moment…” She then took a better look at the plushy. "I think… No, I'm pretty sure I can sense some traces of my portal magic in it.”

"A-Ah.” The overseer got a little awkward. “You’ve gotten too sharp already, my dear.”

“Hehe~.”

“I want to see your old world on my own. No other overseer except Canir can visit other worlds, and he can only show them to others before your portals became a thing.”

“Ahh…” Sophia started smiling. “So, you want to go sightseeing? It’s not really a world I would recommend for a holiday, though. Well, there are some nice places, but still…”

"I think I shall decide that for myself~.”

“Fair enough.” Sophia had no intention of stopping her. “Deeply regretful for everyone involved, you’d need to get rid of your tails and ears, though. Everything else animal-related, as well, before going there."

"I hate that world…" Steph let out a sigh. "Such a waste… Why did I have to live for 20 years before going to fluff paradise?”

“Ahaha…” Mira wasn’t sure what to say there. “Don’t worry about that. I’m not excited about it, but I guess I’ll dust off my old human form.”

"Well, do as you like, I guess." The blonde shrugged. "Sure, I'll bring the plushy with me so that you can use it as a portal."

“Thank you very much!”

“What is in it for me, though?” The tiger started grinning.

“Hmm?”

“I mean, it sounds like a big deal if Canir’s supposed to be the only one to visit multiple worlds. I would be doing you a great service, would I not?”

“W-We’re friends, right? That should be reason enough, no?”

“Friends also share their magical secrets, right?” She looked at Chloe for confirmation.

“Absolutely!” She nodded a few times. “That’s the very least good friends would do!”

“See?” Looking even smugger, Sophia faced Mira again. “Just a little secret~.”

“Haa…” The overseer stared at her for a moment. “You sure are something else…”

“I’ve heard that one so often that it has lost all meaning.”

“I can imagine…” Mira rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine…” She gave up. “I’ll think of something fun you’ll find most entertaining.”

“Oh my, that sounds lovely~.”

“By the way,” Steph looked like she was confused and curious about something. “There’s also a plushy that looks exactly like the full animal version of new dog me… Ellie showed it to me before. What’s up with that?”

“Nothing?” Mira looked at her. “It’s a cute design, though.”

“Ehh…?” She looked honestly disappointed.

"I mean, what were you expecting?" The overseer tilted her head. "Some sort of foreshadowing? I mean, the plushy is older than you, no?”

“Boring!” Steph hung her head. “So, there's no fun stuff like time traveling or future sight in this world…?”

“That’s what you were going for?!” Chloe couldn’t believe her.

“It sounds fun, does it not?!”

“W-Well…” The pink fox scratched her cheek.

“Anyway,” Mira ignored them and faced the tiger again. "Thank you very much for bringing one of my portals with you. I will make sure to repay you."

“Yay!” She was happy about that.

“I’m tired…” Maya wasn’t taking their whole conversation so well.

“Oh, speaking of being tired,” Sophia smiled at her cat. “Do you want to come with us? I already met your parents, so it's only fair to make it even."

“…” She paused for a moment. "I do want to meet them eventually, and I'm really happy that I actually seem to get the chance now, though also slightly nervous, but now is not the time for that. It’s all about you and Steph.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“Also…” Maya glanced at the sisters. "We were talking about vacation days not too long ago, right? I love both of you and all, but a day or two without both of you sounds super relaxing!”

“Understandable.” Sophia and Steph could only nod.

“Oh, speaking of peaceful!” Mira suddenly looked at her daughter. “Do you want to do something with me while the two are visiting their parents?”

“Sounds fun!” Chloe was directly on board. “What are we going to do?”

"I never make it a secret when I walk down here in the world. I’m planning to visit my shrine and announce my arrival. Afterward, I want to meet all kinds of people in the capital so that everyone can see that I’m back. Fey will also be with us. The two of us have also decided that we’re going to introduce you to everyone as our daughter.”

“O-Oh!” She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Woah, the whole capital will be in a massive uproar!” Steph liked the sound of that.

“B-But my vacation days…” The cat-girl had a different opinion.

“Want to come with us, after all?” The blonde just smiled at her.

“…” Maya actually needed to think about it. “N-No, but I think I’ll visit my own parents instead. The whole business with those two,” She glanced at the foxes before continuing. “Made me want to see them, too.”

“Ahaha…” The two in question could only laugh.

“That’s nice.” Sophia liked her plan. “Oh, ask them again if they want to live in the mansion when you’re at it.”

"I'd like that, too, but do you really think they like the idea more now after the overseer of magic has decided to stick around…? The royal family had overwhelmed them already, after all.”

“Ah.”

“Anyway, before we go, should we make some sort of plan to tell mom, or…?” Steph came back to the main topic.

“…”

“Let’s go?”

“Let’s go!” The sisters knew that making any sort of plan was just a waste of time and effort.

And so, once they showed Steph how to change her looks without actually turning into something else, the now-human sisters returned to their old world to have a rather complicated conversation with their parents.