The group started walking towards the capital, and while doing so, Luca found out that Sophia was actually dating his sister Maya, with his biggest concern being that he did not understand how, but he was happy for them. Sophia also offered Prince Nathan his own portal to return to the capital whenever he wanted during his travels, so he didn't have to choose between staying at home and continuing to explore the kingdom.
"P-Prince Nathan?!" The group had walked off the beaten track until now, but once they arrived at the gate into the capital, they immediately caused a commotion when one of the guards noticed him.
"And of course he's with Sophia!" A second guard joined in on it.
“I went on a bit of a fetch quest~.” The blonde smiled at him.
“Good job!” The guard gave her a thumbs-up in return.
“It is indeed me.” The prince addressed them. “I still don’t really understand how I’m here, but Sophia brought me home for now.”
“Don't worry, you get used to the feeling.” The guards felt with him while glancing at the blonde. “No one really understands how she does things.”
“Neither does she.” Ari let out a small chuckle.
“Hey!” Sophia glared at her. “Just because it’s true, it doesn’t mean you have to say it!”
“Are you going to stay in the capital now?” One of the guards had suddenly run off, but the other faced the prince again.
“I’m not completely certain yet.” He shrugged. “I’ll definitely be around more often from now on, though.”
“That’s splendid news!”
A little later, the group left the gate behind and entered the capital to make their way towards the castle. It took them quite a while, though. Nathan kept getting swarmed by a myriad of people after not having been home for five years because they wanted to make sure it was really him.
----------------
“Welcome home!” Upon entering the big entrance hall of the castle, the group was immediately greeted by Menzor and Kira, with Ellie in her arms, as well as a bunch of maids.
“I’m back.” Nathan smiled at all of them. Afterward, her was promptly crushed in a group hug by his parents with Ellie in between.
“I guess word was faster than we were.” Sophia wasn’t exactly surprised that they already knew about their arrival.
“Who this?” Once she was freed from the sudden hug as they parted from him, Ellie looked at him while tilting her head.
“That’s your older brother Nathan, dear.” Kira gently patted her head.
“Hmm…” The little tiger kept staring at her. “Right! Mama told Ellie that she has a brother!”
“Hello, Ellie, it’s nice to meet you.” The prince got a little closer to her. “I’m sorry that this is only our first meeting.”
“Hmm…”
“She needs a little time to warm up to new people.” Kira scratched her cheek.
“It’s alright.” He smiled at her mother. “It’s more than deserved after having been out to explore the kingdom before she was even born.”
“Explore?” Hearing that, the little tiger suddenly raised her voice. “Ellie wants to explore, too!”
“I think you’re a little too young for that.” Nathan liked her enthusiasm, though.
“But Ellie’s strong!”
“You sure… Wait, you are?!” The prince only then noticed the vast amount of magic power inside his littlest sister. “Why does she have so much magic?!” He looked at his parents with a perplexed expression.
“Ellie’s the strongest!” The little princess boasted a little more.
“That’s a good question.”
“We were just as surprised when her powers awakened a little while ago.” Menzor and Kria had no answer for him, either.
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“First, we met Luca and Vivi, who were significantly stronger, then Ari and Anna, and now my other sister, too… I’m starting to feel a bit out of place.” He wasn't sure about this new power scaling. “I’m not even going to mention Sophia.”
“Not comparing yourself to her is already a step in the right direction.” Menzor briefly glanced in Sophia’s direction before wryly smiling at his son.
“Ellie~.” Sophia ignored their exchange and instead focused on her favorite tiger.
“So…phia!” She immediately walked up to the blonde and hugged her tightly.
“I missed you, too!”
“Ehehe~!”
“Are you happy that your big brother is back?”
“Mhmm.” The little tiger wasn’t convinced yet.
“Older siblings are great, you know?” She smiled at her. “We are legally not allowed to say no to our cute little sisters when they really want something.”
“Really?” Her eyes started sparkling.
“Really.” The blonde nodded. “Has Anna ever said no to you when you asked nicely?”
“Not when Ellie asked nicely, no!”
“See? And now you have two older siblings that can’t say no to you!”
“Ohh!” She got even more excited.
“So, whenever you want to test some magic, and he’s around, Nathan will happily be your target.”
“Amazing!”
“Why is Sophia such a menace?” Listening to their exchange, the prince had nothing else to say.
“An excellent question!” Menzor had no answer to that, either.
“It doesn’t help that she adores Ellie and keeps spoiling her.” Kira nodded a few times.
----------------
"Would you look at that?" While the tigers were having their moment, two certain head maids had inched closer to Nina.
“The lost child has returned home.” Both Daria and Stella sounded rather playful.
“Mom!” Seeing them, Nina immediately jumped at them and tightly hugged both at the same time in a group cuddle. “I missed you so much!”
“We missed you, too!” The two quickly returned their daughter’s hug, and the trio stayed like that for a good while.
“It’s so good to see you again!” Once they finally parted, Nina kept smiling at both her mothers.
“It is!” Stella nodded. “I’m happy that you’re healthy.”
“Yes, you seem to be doing more than well.” Daria shared the sentiment before looking at Ari. “You know, when you mentioned looking for her the other day, I was not expecting this.”
“Well, Sophia had an idea, and you know what happens when she has one of those.” She scratched her cheek in return. “We basically went right to Nina and the others the moment she found them with a combination of magics that make absolutely no sense.”
“That does sound like her.” Her mother could follow her explanation.
“There’s so much we need to talk about!” Stella couldn’t wait to catch up with her daughter.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Daria agreed with her wife.
“Speaking of things needing to be talked about~.” With a big grin on her face, Ari smiled at Daria while gesturing at Vivi next to her.
“Is that who I think it is~?” Having the exact same expression as her black-haired daughter, she looked at the reddish-brown-haired puma-girl before focusing on Nina again. “Who might this beauty be?”
“You told her already?!” She glared at her nosy little sister.
“Of course!” Ari gave her a thumbs-up. “Well, I told mom what we heard about you possibly dating a puma-girl, and here we are."
“Haa…” Nina let out a sigh. “Well, to be fair, I would’ve done the same in your position, so I can’t actually complain.”
“So?” Daria nudged her oldest daughter.
“We’d like to get an introduction.” Stella did the same.
“Everyone is nosy here.” Nina let out a short sigh. “This lovely puma here is Vivi. I’ve met her during my travels with Nathan. We’ve been a couple for a few years now. Vivi, those are my moms, Daria and Stella.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” The puma-girl smiled at Nina’s parents. “My full name is Vivianne, but feel free to simply use Vivi like everyone else. Your daughter is a lovely person, and I consider myself the luckiest person in the world for being able to call myself her girlfriend.”
“The pleasure is all ours.” Stella smiled back at her.
“Someone has a way with words, huh?” Daria let out a small chuckle.
“W-Well, meeting the parents of your partner is rather important, isn’t it?” The puma-girl scratched her cheek. “Especially if Nathan, the first prince of this nation, keeps telling me that the head maids of the royal family are actually the ones running the castle in the background… I’m just a normal girl with no fancy background, after all.”
“Ahaha, we’re nowhere near as important as that~.” Daria reacted with a playful laugh as she got closer to the puma before gently patting her head. “I look forward to getting to know you better, but there’s no need for you to be formal with us.”
“None at all.” Stella nodded a few times.
“That is reassuring to know.” Vivi visibly calmed down after hearing that. “I’ll try my best.”
“Alright!” Daria then clapped her hands. “We haven’t seen our beloved daughter for five years now, so it’s time to catch up! I want to hear everything!”
“Yes!” Both mothers felt the same. “Let’s go somewhere more comfortable. “Vivi, you absolutely have to join us.”
“O-Okay!”
----------------
Seeing how the jaguars and royal tigers were eager to catch up with their returned children, Sophia and Luca retreated a bit so as not to impose.
“I guess we’re left, huh?” The blonde scratched her cheek while smiling at the cat-boy. “I have the feeling this will take a couple of hours.”
“Understandably so.” Luca nodded in agreement. “I guess we just have to wait. Is there anything you can recommend in the capital to kill time?”
“I think I have a better idea~.” Sophia smiled at him. “After all, we’re not quite done with the reunions, are we?”
“What are you suggesting?” The cat-boy tilted his head.
“Let’s have a little trip to Maya and my other friends! Now that we’re not such a big group, it might actually be a lot easier.”
“Hmm.” He paused for a moment. “I guess there’s not really a point to wait with that, is there?”
“Exactly!” Sophia gave him a thumbs-up.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Having agreed to that, Sophia guided him to a more secluded area because she didn't feel like opening a portal in the middle of the castle’s entrance hall so the two could go on their little side mission.
- AceSenko -
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