Sophia and Steph took their parents aside to talk with them about their day and what they learned from Maya's parents. To their positive surprise, Lydia and Pete seed rather interested and seed to like the things Theo and Eve had told them. While catching up, the sisters also talked them into taking a quick peek at the actual new world and not just Sophia’s domain, as well.
“Huh?!” Having gone through the portal and entered the regular other world, Lydia’s eyes grew wide when she saw what was in front of them. “Why are we in a desert?” Even though the sun had already long set and almost no light was around them, a massive pile of sand was still hard to miss with reduced visibility.
"We're on the outskirts of a desert." Sophia smiled at her. “This is the latest place we explored the other day. Pretty cool, isn’t it?”
“During the night, it sure is!” Steph nodded along. “During the day, it’s literal hell!”
“Woah! What the heck?!” Pete had completely ignored the desert so far as his eyes were glued to the starry night sky above them.
“The sky is quite sothing in this world, isn’t it?” The tiger smiled at him. "The stars without any light pollution are super sparkly, aren't they?"
“No! Well, yes, but I an this!” He pointed at the sky to his right.
“Ahh, right.” Steph followed her father’s line of sight and stopped at the two rather distinct celestial bodies above them. “Yeah, this world has two moons. That also took by surprise back then.”
“Woah!”
“Does this satisfy your other-world feelings?” The tiger smirked at him.
“Very much so!” He simply nodded. “The star formations look nothing like those on Earth, either! This really is a different world! Wow!” While Sophia’s domain was beyond impressive, it was still rather abstract, especially because of all the empty white spaces. Seeing sothing like this in all its glory made Pete rather excited.
“This is indeed a mind-blowingly beautiful sky.” Lydia was also srized by it. “It’s the first ti I’ve set foot in a desert, too, so that’s also quite exciting. However, it's quite chilly without the sun, and I don't want Sari to get cold."
"Da~!" It seed like the little girl felt the sa way on the matter.
“Yeah, that’s a valid point.” Sophia nodded a few tis. “We can visit this place in the morning after the sun is up, before the area hasn't heated up too much, on any day in the future. I just wanted to start the tour with a cool thing~."
“You’ve definitely succeeded with that.” Her mother smiled at the tiger.
Obviously not wanting Sari to catch a chill, the group returned to the portal underground before Sophia guided them to the next location she wanted to show her parents.
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“Ohh, that’s a nice lake!” Arriving at their destination, Pete didn’t focus on the sky this ti, but on the large body of water in front of them. “It’s rare to see such clear water! Even though it’s dark around us, the faint illumination of the stars above us is enough to let see all the way to the bottom of the lake!”
“Another beautiful place.” Lydia left the sa. “I especially like the beach in front of us. The sand almost looks like it belongs to a tropical island!”
“Yeah, I’m quite proud of what we made here.” The tiger was glad they liked it.
“Eh? What’s that supposed to an?” Her parents got confused over the wording.
“Maya, Aura, Fen, and I made this place.” She gave them a thumbs-up. "Do you rember the thing Fenny told you about him and almost having destroyed the continent?” Sophia paused for a second. “This is ground zero. This massive lake was once a gigantic crater ford by our magic going out of control and exploding. Later, to restore the place, we decided to turn it into this lake area.”
“…” The two had nothing to say as they stared at the astonishingly huge lake with an agape mouth because they were slowly understanding why it was so big now.
"Interestingly enough, the King planned to create an outpost city in the plain that used to be here. It gave him quite the surprise when he found that this place had turned into a lake. While upset for a mont, he was a fan of the idea to turn it into a sightseeing spot. There will probably be a city with several inns and all that in the next few years.”
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“Hah.” Lydia and Pete were still at a loss for words.
“Why do you think, Sari? Do you like the lake?” The tiger smiled at her baby sister in her father’s arms.
“Ga~!” She smiled back at her while happily waving her favorite pinecone around that she was still refusing to let go of.
“See? It’s fine~.” Sophia smirked at her parents.
“Sari has no idea how this lake ca to be and how significant it is! That doesn’t count!” Her mother raised her voice.
“Wait, do you know?” Pete tilted his head while looking at his wife. “I have a rough idea from what we've been told that our girl ssed up and then fixed it, but…”
“Okay, fair, that point goes to you.”
“It’s fine~.” The tiger waved her hand. "Again, I've learned my lesson with this because it was genuinely scary, so I'll try not to let it happen again. I now know what it feels like when magic goes out of control, so I know when to stop before it’s too late.”
“That’s good.” The two seed a little relieved.
“Anyway, untouched nature like this or the desert from earlier is wonderful, isn’t it?” She decided that the topic of her ssing up was over.
“Well, to be fair, there’s also still plenty, at least mostly, untouched nature left on Earth.” Steph scratched her cheek. “Also, if you and the others created this like area, does it really count as being untouched?” She wasn’t sure if the tiger’s explanation was as sound as she thought it was.
“I’m surrounded by smarty-pants!” She lightly glared at her younger sister.
“And you’re their leader~.” The dog-girl's expression was overflowing with smugness.
“I’ve never even once in my life have been a… Okay, no, I can’t finish that sentence.” Sophia couldn’t stay serious while saying it.
"Yeah, no, you definitely have no right to say that at all.” Steph and their parents had the exact sa reaction to that.
“…” Sophia didn’t like how in sync their imdiate reply was. “Whatever, let’s head to the capital!” She had had enough.
“I thought we agreed that it’s too early for us to et people?” Pete was confused about her plan.
“Like I said, we’ll go to a place from where we get a good look at it without the risk of running into soone, don't worry.”
“Ah, okay.” He nodded along.
“Let’s go!” Steph couldn’t wait to show them, either.
Afterward, Sophia opened yet another portal, and the family went to their next spot together.
----------------
“Wow, I really can’t get enough of this view.” Having arrived at their destination, Pete’s eyes were glued to the sky above them again. The night sky beca more impressive as it had gotten even darker.
“I agree that it’s beautiful, but I suggest turning around for the ti being.” After exiting the tiger's hidden portal, the group ended up on a small hill on a plain a few kiloters away from the capital. There, Steph tapped his shoulder to make him turn around because he was facing away from the capital.
“It looks like from a fantasy movie!” Lydia was already standing in the right direction and marveled at the sight. Thanks to the distance and the elevation, they had an excellent overview of the entire capital. The tall outer walls, the big entrances in the cardinal directions, and the big main roads were in perfect visibility. They could even make out the different districts, including the greener inner circle where all the royal and noble mansions could be found. Sophia’s place could be barely seen, as well, but their parents obviously didn't know about that yet. The most striking feature was, of course, still the gigantic castle at the very center of the capital.
“Oh, it looks quite cozy in a way!” Their father also finally looked at the city and seed to like the view, too. The cozy feel he mainly had ca from the fact that there was only dim illumination in the capital. While there were streetlights on the bigger main roads, they weren’t powered by electricity but by so sort of magic stones that radiate light when charged with magic power. As not everyone had enough disposable magic like the group had, those were only charged to a level where one could see enough. The sa applied to the countless houses, as well. Only a dimly lit light could be seen through the windows of most of the places. Only a few bigger places, mostly buildings looking like taverns, were illuminated more brightly. Of course, the castle had more lights, as well.
“It’s not on the level of so tropolitan capitals on Earth, but I like the capital of the beastfolk a lot.” Sophia tried her best to persuade them.
“That’s the best part.” Her mother shook her head. “tropolises can be super convenient, but they’re also sooo busy! Like, ‘the city that never sleeps‘, and stuff like that. I like to sleep, you know?”
“True.” Pete nodded along. “The last couple of months, when we were away from the city, were so refreshing. Even though we were taking care of Sari all day and night, I still felt rested most of the ti."
“That’s why I love this world so much!” Sophia, a fellow sleeper, nodded along. “There’s a lingering inconvenience of distance in this world, but I’m working on that with my portals.”
“We’ve heard about that from Theo and Eve.” Her mother looked at the tiger. “You’re planning to connect the most important places with the capital or sothing like that, right?”
“Exactly.” She reacted with a thumbs-up in her direction. “We’re currently traveling through the continent and leaving portals here and there. For example, there’s a trade city near the desert we visited earlier that got a portal the other day. Once they’re done with the portal hub over there, living in this kingdom will beco a lot more convenient!” While saying so, she pointed at a larger construction site just outside the capital walls on the right, from where they were standing.
“You really are going all out in this world, huh?” Pete looked at her striped daughter.
“You can’t even imagine how much fun I’m having!”
“Sa!” Both older daughters showed him the most beaming smile he had ever seen on them in response.
“…” The parents were overwheld by their strong reply.
Afterward, they kept looking at the capital from afar for a good while longer, while the sisters did their best to explain everything they could see. Sophia told them especially much about the castle as she’s constantly there.
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