Nathan and his group were given another tour through Sophia's domain, where she showed them all sorts of places before eventually ending up in her portal hub. There, she explained how the portals work and how the group could use them in the future, before giving one to each mber to use for themselves from now on.
"Okay, now this is a place I can get behind!" Once the group learned more about Sophia's portals, they relocated again and found themselves in front of the cottage, surrounded by the overgrown and dense jungle. The latter caught the interest of Nina as she was curiously looking around while trying to glance deeper into the overgrowth.
"It's great, isn't it?" Ari smiled at her older sister and her awakened jaguar instincts, who were drawn to the jungle. "I'm currently also working on an actual rainforest, and it's turning out amazing! You have to take a look at it soti soon!”
“Ohh, I’d love to see that!” She liked the sound of that.
“Why does this cottage look familiar?” Nathan ignored the jaguars and looked at the building in front of them instead.
“It’s one of the older farr cottages near the south gate of the capital.” Anna smiled at him.
"Oh, right!" The prince took another look at it before nodding a few tis. "Wait, why is it here? And, how is it here?!”
“I rescued it~.” Sophia gave him a cheeky thumbs-up.
“I’m not sure if you think this explains anything, but it does not." He just stared at her.
“You saw the massive construction site outside the south gate, right? It got in the way of the portal hub, so Father bought it to deconstruct it." The princess added so more detail.
“I thought it was a cute place, so rather than having it destroyed, I used a portal to transport it to my domain instead.” The blonde looked at him again. “We’ve been using it as a base to return to while traveling ever since.”
“You can put a whole building through your portals?!” Nathan got loud.
“I obviously haven’t tried it, but I think I could get the entire capital inside a portal and transport it to my domain in one go.”
“You are way too overpowered!” He just stared at her while slowly shaking his head.
“Don’t worry, not only haven’t I tried, I also don’t plan on trying.”
“It doesn’t change my statent, but that’s a little reassuring.” He let out a small sigh.
"I still can't believe that we can just go here while traveling now, like it's the most normal thing by pouring so magic into this.” Nina scratched her cheek before touching the small golden pendant dangling on her necklace that Sophia had enchanted for her. “Not to ntion that we can also go ho whenever we want now.”
“It’s amazing!” Ari nodded as she looked at her sister. "It will completely warp your common sense of what is normal and what is not, though."
“I couldn’t care less if it makes my life easier.” She didn’t see the issue.
“You should be more like your older sister.” Sophia just smirked at the black-haired jaguar.
“Shush!”
“Hehe.”
“To be fair, Ari often says the sa thing if the idea of living more normally cos up. Especially when it cos to your storage and stuff.” Anna also wasn’t on her girlfriend’s side.
“…” There was nothing she could defend herself with.
“On the topic of the portals for us, there’s one thing that confuses a little, now that I think about it.” Vivi tilted her head as she got the topic back on track. “How do we get back to where we were after a trip to the capital, for example? Does one need to stay behind? Do we need to leave the enchanted portal thing behind? Do the portals need to stay open until we return?”
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“That’s indeed a little tricky.” Sophia paused for a second. “I’m the only one who can open portals from a distance. Everyone else has to be in direct contact with them, so leaving behind Nina’s pendant, for example, wouldn’t help.”
“It wouldn’t happen, anyway.” The golden jaguar shook her head while touching said pendant on her necklace. “It’s a gift from Vivi, so there’s no way I’d leave it behind.”
“Aww.” All the girls liked that.
“The easiest would be leaving a portal open if all of you want to go sowhere together. I made them in a way that strangers are unable to go through it, so there won’t be any accidents if soone were to find them." The blonde thought about it a bit more. "It could be a little difficult to explain, though. I guess the best would be to use it in a room you rented in an inn or sothing like that. If you’re in the middle of nowhere, away from regular paths, just hiding it between so bushes would be okay, too. So would one of you staying behind work if it’s just a short trip to the capital, though you’d need to agree on a ti to reopen the portal again.”
“Oh, the inn idea is great!” Vivi clapped her hands. “That would definitely work! We often also camp in the middle of nowhere, so that would be an option, too.”
“Yes, when we’re out exploring, we basically never run into anyone.” Nathan agreed with her.
“That being said, if sothing cos up where all of you need to use the portal and can’t leave it open, I can get you back to the place as long as you still leave one closed portal inside an enchanted item behind. Or if you simply forget…” Sophia smiled at them. “I don’t want to always be doing it for you, but I don’t care if it’s every now and then. I might not always be in reach, though, so be aware of that.”
"Thank you!" They were all grateful for her help and support.
“Alright, how about we go inside for the ti being?” Sophia clapped her hands once to get everyone’s attention before pointing at the cottage in front of them. “There are still so friends in our group left that you should et.”
----------------
Doing as told, the entire group went into the building and entered the living room, where they t up with Chloe and Steph, as well as Fen and Aura, who were relaxing there.
“Huh…?” Seeing Aura in her smaller form, Vivi imdiately got confused. “Weren’t you a lot taller when we t yesterday?”
“Mhmm? What do you an?” The playful wolf tilted her head.
“Ehh?!” The puma raised her voice. “I’m almost certain that you literally towered over yesterday when I t you, Kel and Mira!”
“Interesting.” Aura tried her best to stay serious. “What are you trying to suggest next? That our little baby dragon was maybe 200 ters long or sothing crazy like that?"
“H-Huh…?” Vivi’s expression turned even more complicated. “No…? He was much longer than that!”
“That doesn’t sound logical now, does it?” Her voice already started cracking.
“Nothing from yesterday was logical!”
“I also vaguely rember her being taller, as well as the dragon, but everything I witnessed yesterday is a little hazy in my head, so I can’t actually say for sure there." Luca scratched his cheek as he tried to rember the wolf and dragon from yesterday, but his self-preservation instincts had caused a slight mory loss.
“There’s no way I just imagined everything I saw!” The puma refused to accept that.
“She’s just ssing with you.” Sophia felt sorry for Vivi. “Kel’s really a big boy, and Aura can change the size of her body. Big Aura from yesterday is the original, but being smaller makes it easier to fit inside buildings and stuff like that.”
“That’s so an!” The puma lightly glared at the female wolf. “So cool, too, though.” Her eyes were sparkling at the sa ti.
“Life is a lot more fun when you’re playful and tease so people every now and then~.”
“Fair enough!” She couldn’t bla her for that.
“Anyway, I lost track of who t who already, so I’ll just do the complete package!” The blonde clapped her hands again. “Steph, Chloe, Fenny, Aura, those are Nathan, Anna’s older brother, Nina, Ari’s older sister, Luca, Maya’s older brother, and the most resilient puma-girl in existence, Vivi.” Sophia made a slight pause for a breather before turning it around as she pointed at the front of her group. “This is my little sister Steph and her girlfriend Chloe. The two wolves are Fen and Aura.”
“Nice to et you!” Chloe and Steph were rather energetic about eting them.
“Likewise!” So was Vivi before she tilted her head. “Chloe, as in the daughter of Mira, right? Sophia ntioned that yesterday. I can definitely see the resemblance! You have the exact sa ears, and the gradient on your hair and tail is the sa, too! Being the daughter of an overseer must be amazing!”
“So, I did not hallucinate seeing the overseer of magic yesterday, huh?” Luca suddenly looked tired again.
“Amazing is a strong word.” The fluffy fox looked a little awkward. “It was and is certainly an experience, though. It's been great for a little while, at least, so all is good!”
“I had no idea the overseer of magic had a daughter!” Nathan was also fascinated by it.
“Neither had I for the most part of my life.” Chloe managed to look even more awkward.
“Do yourself a favor and not go there.” Steph lightly shook her head as she smiled at the puma and the prince.
“O-Okay!” The two repeatedly nodded in return.
Once the topic, which had been a topic way too often already, was over, the group continued to get to know each other better. Well, most of them at least. Fen decided that it was more important to get comfortable on his favorite rug in front of the fireplace and to have a nap.
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