NOVEL NEXT Chapter 383 – The challenges of raising someone
While explaining why Mira had gifted Steph a portion of her magic, Fey found another motivation for the overseer to do it. As the little sister was getting along with Chloe so well from the very beginning, the teal fox was hoping for them to get even closer and gave Steph more than enough authority for two people so that she could share half of it with their favorite pink fox. Fey had some mixed feelings about the matter, but she accepted it and decided to train her daughter even more now because that much authority comes with bigger responsibilities. The sisters also decided to join in on the training.
“Okay, now that everything calmed down a little after it having been slightly turbulent for various reasons, can I start questioning you for a while?” While everyone was still together, Sophia changed her attention to Mira.
“I won’t tell you any in-depth secrets about magic unless you get close enough to them yourself, but other than that, you can ask me anything.”
“Good enough for now!” The blonde seemed in a good mood. “First, Steph!” She faced her sister. “You totally lied to me! I love Chloe and all, and sorry about what I’m about to say, my dear pink one, but Mira is way above you on the fluffiness scale. Yes, your single tail is glorious and a gift to this world, but it can’t win against her nine! Steph was definitely biased because Mira needs less than three of her tails to match yours! Again, I love you, though.”
“It’s totally fine.” Chloe smiled at her. “I agree with you, too.”
“Happy to hear~.” The teal fox liked the compliments.
“I don’t!” The dog-girl got loud. “Chloe has the best fluff! I might’ve overdone it with my claim of Mira needing three of her tails to match Chloe, though…” She got a little awkward.
“I’d say that it’s around two of mine~.” The overseer seemed to be quite proud of her fluff as she moved all of her tails around a little bit to further prove her point.
“Chloe’s still the fluffiest to me!” Steph had no intention of giving up.
“Yes, your fluffiest.” Sophia looked at her. “We’re talking unbiased here, though.”
“…”
“Anyway,” The tiger then got back to Mira. “Why nine tails?”
“Why not?”
“Ha.” She needed a moment. “I, uhh… I don’t know how I can follow up on that…”
“It is a good reason.” Maya saw no fault in her explanation.
“Why nine, though?”
“Because ten would be too much.”
“I… I…” The blonde was struggling.
“Making her speechless twice in a row is quite the feat.” The cat-girl sounded impressed.
“Y-Yeah, she’s good.” Sophia herself had to agree as well. “Still, nine tails… I do vaguely remember some myths that include nine-tailed foxes from my old world… Is there any relation?”
“Do you really want to know?” Mira’s smile turned slightly cheekier. “Can you handle it?”
“…” Once again, she had no reply ready.
“Dang, I have to step up my game if this goes on!” Maya’s voice almost had a hint of admiration in it.
“Well, to give you an easy way out, every myth has a hint of truth in it, but I’ve never been personally to your world.”
“Hmmn…” She wasn’t sure what to make out of it. “I guess that’s enough information for me. I’ll just enjoy looking at the fluffy!”
“That might be for the best~.”
“Still, nine tails… Isn’t that hard?”
"No, they're pretty soft, actually." Mira's smirk increased.
“I can see that!” Sophia got loud. “That’s not what I meant. Even now, I still get overwhelmed by my singular tail every so often.” While saying so, she used the tip of her tail to bonk Maya’s forehead.
“O-Ouch! What was that for?!”
"See? Even though I have had it for so long already, it still does whatever it wants from time to time. I can’t imagine having eight more of them!”
“And I don’t want to imagine you having that many…” The cat-girl had her own opinion on that matter and lightly glared at the blonde while rubbing the sore spot on her forehead.
“For starters, your tail is much more maneuverable than mine are. We can move them, wag them, express emotion, or use them to aid our balance to some degree, but bonking your girlfriend with such amazing accuracy is reserved for only the most skilled felines. That being said, my tails have a bit of a mind on their own, as well, but I can't say they give me much of a problem. Well, unless I want to go through a smaller door… I’m not compatible with those…”
“Ahh…” Sophia stared a little harder at the literal mess of tails behind her. “I can see that being the case. Brushing them probably takes forever, too?”
“Not really, actually.” The teal fox shook her head. “I use magic for that. Else, a single day wouldn’t have enough hours for that.”
“Oh, clever!”
“Can you teach me how to do that?!” Chloe was very interested in that magic.
“Can you not?!” Steph seemed to have a different opinion on that matter.
“E-Eh? Why not?” The pink fox looked confused.
“You can’t rob me of a future where I can be responsible for grooming your tail!”
"A-Ah…” Her face turned red.
“Mrrmn…” Fey didn’t seem to be a fan of that exchange.
"Come on," Mira smiled at her. "You also always love it when I take care of your tail in my current hybrid form.”
“T-This and that are different!”
“How so?” The overseer tilted her head. "They are also a couple, after all.”
“…” The full fox went silent for a moment. “I guess you have a point…”
“Hehe.” She liked her reply. “So, do you want to learn the brushing magic?” Mira faced Chloe again.
“I-I guess I’m in no rush…”
“Yay!” Steph liked the sound of that.
“By the way, speaking of,” Chloe looked at her mothers. “Are you two still together…? I, uhh, mean… you look close, which is great, but… It’s almost been 20 years since, err… me.” She pointed at herself. “You haven’t met since then, no? I mean, I would’ve noticed that!”
“What are 20 years? At a certain point, that is little difference to two years, at best.”
“Also, we met quite often.”
“Eh?!” The pink fox was more than surprised about both claims.
“You’ll understand once you get older.” Aura answered one part of it. “Time really doesn’t mean much anymore past a certain point.”
“I see... Still! What about you meeting often?! I was with Feyfey almost all the time!”
“Almost is the key here, my dear.” Mira smiled at her. "We decided I couldn't show myself to you because of the implications, but I've been a much bigger part of your life than you think... I was constantly there during your first months, almost the entire first year. You just can't remember because you were too young. Afterward, I kept visiting during the nights whenever I had the chance. You’re a good sleeper, so even after I had my fill of you, which took quite a while, Fey and I still had enough opportunities for our own quality time.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes.” The full fox nodded.
“T-That is so unfair!” Chloe sounded honestly upset. “You should’ve just stayed! I understand the concerns you had, but the way it happened means that I was the only one that suffered instead of being protected!”
“...” The two needed a moment. “We are honestly and truly very sorry about our actions and the damage we caused...”
“You better be!” She had no intention of letting them go that easy. “You two have a lot of work ahead of you to make it up to me! Both of you!” She was just as angry at Fey now.
"Y-Yes..." Both hung their heads. "We will try our hardest.”
“Good!”
“Uhh...” Sophia tried to get some attention again. “Things took a bit of a turn, but I, well... still wanted to ask Mira some more questions...”
“Oh, feel free to go ahead with that.” Chloe’s voice instantly became perfectly friendly again. “That’s a thing between them and me, don’t worry about that!”
"Okay... Well then!" She faced the teal fox. “I heard that you have multiple forms for your body. Does that mean you change every now and then?”
“That is the case.” She nodded. “My original form is a full, just like Fey and our fellow wolves. I used to have a fully human form, but I did not enjoy that one too much... In the past, I preferred my full form, but my hybrid one is more relatable as most of the beastfolk are hybrids, as well. Fey and I also used our hybrid forms when we made Chloe because that ensured her to be one, too, because we thought that to be the best for a former human. I hope this was a good decision..." She glanced at the pink fox at the end.
“Yes! It definitely was!” Chloe seemed to agree. “I probably would’ve gotten used to being a full way quicker than I want to admit, but I love having a humanoid body with fluffy extras!”
"Me, too!" Steph agreed. For various reasons. "I still would like to try it, though."
“Wait a moment!” The pink fox suddenly seemed to have noticed something and stared at Fey with big eyes. “You have a hybrid form?!”
“Was there really a need to mention that part...?” Sounding slightly tired, she glanced at her teal-colored partner.
“I’d say so, yes.”
“Urgh... Yes. Mira talked me into doing it, and I made it after many years of training. In the end, I don’t regret it because of you, but I really don’t enjoy it...”
“I want to see it!” Chloe didn’t care about the last part. “No, I need to see it!”
“I just said I don’t like it.”
"You owe me that much! It will cover around 5.32% of your apology and making up for how much you messed up with your decisions around me with Mira!”
“Why is it such a specific number?”
“Because you taught me to be precise!”
“So, it’s my fault?”
“Yes!”
“I see... Can you give me a bit of time, though? I last used that magic when I returned to my full form after you switched to a different style of food, and it’s really difficult... I have to train a bit first.”
“I guess that much should be fine.” Chloe still looked very bummed, though. “Wait, food? Eh? Did you breastfeed me? When you were a hybrid?”
“Of course!” Fey stared at her. "We thought it would be best for me to do it while I was the same as you. The, err... composition best for you might've changed. Also, we weren't exactly sure my normal body would even be producing milk after changing back.”
“I-I see...” She was a bit moved by how much thought they had put into something like that. "Wait! So, for the first year or longer, you raised me while being a hybrid?”
“Together with Mira, yes.”
“Stupid brain! I’m so mad that I can’t remember any of that!”
“Well, that’s how babies work.” Sophia tried to console her. “Your brain is still developing as an infant, and I think some parts that are responsible for long-term memory only start developing at 9 months or something like that. Having actual memories of your life with two and under is more or less impossible. You need to be around Ellie's age for it to surely stick."
“Once again, stupid brain!” Chloe didn’t find that explanation overly helpful.
“Ahaha...”
“Then again, I did feel something vaguely familiar when I first met Mira, so...?”
“Not only is the brain stupid, but it’s also weird, too.” The tiger changed her explanation a little.
"Fair enough…" The pink fox hung her head for a moment before facing her teal mother. "Okay! If Feyfey needs preparation first, I want to see your full form instead!”
“I agree!” The sisters liked the plan.
“Sure, I don’t mind.” Mira smiled at her. "I need 5 minutes of preparing, though. I also need to go back to my domain for it.”
“Is it really that complicated?” As Steph was very interested in the magic, she had to ask.
“Yes. And also… I need to be naked for it to do. Else, my clothes would get destroyed.”
“Ahh!”
“…” Maya lifted her hand while it looked like she wanted to make a comment.
“Don’t you dare to say a word now.” The blonde glared at her.
“…” She stayed silent.
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A few minutes later, after Mira had disappeared for a little while, a mostly white fox with nine tails and several teal highlights returned and was waiting for them outside the treehouse. The color scheme was exactly the same as before. Every single one of her tails had a teal tip. The same was with her ears, too. Instead of the colored strands of her hair, she now had a few teal sprinkles in the fur along her back and side. She had grown a lot, as well. Her shoulder height seemed to be around 2 meters, while she was about 6 to 7 meters long. At least one-third of that length came from her tails, though.
“Fluffy!” Chloe, Maya, Aura, and the sisters had the exact same reaction.
