ATM Rewrite: B2 — 13. Mending Hearts (Patreon)

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1. Sora Moore (Our Fox Girl Gets Ten Hugs T_T)

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Having fun discussing magical topics with her mother, Sora wanted to get as much good going in her life to counteract the bad before going downstairs to the mess that no doubt waited for her.  The blond firebird getting caught sucked, but he could take care of himself, and obviously, the 72 Pillars were using him to get to her; she had a few questions about that, in itself.

However, a few unsettling thoughts crept to the front of her thoughts as her mom explained the process it would take for Wendy to become her true sister, and it wasn’t about the brunette.

Sora drew in her bottom lip, having moved to the bed to lay next to her mother.  They stared up at the intricate weave of instructions the non-magical nine-tailed fox had explained to her.  Sora’s illusions above them showed her mom what she understood, so they were on the same page.

“So…  Does this mean I could help Aunt Inari have a child if I have this Founder Spark in me?  I think that would draw us closer as a family.  Wouldn’t it?”

A somber look followed her mother’s sagging tails as they fell to the floor.  “It’s… challenging to explain, Sora.  In short… no, it wouldn’t.  Anything created from you would not be hers, and that is the point.”

Shifting to her side to stare at her, Sora swiped away the dream design she’d created.  With the proper desire and context, it wouldn’t be hard to spark the transformation in Wendy’s Intelligence.  It was surprisingly simple, despite its complexities, though this kind of magic would be far beyond her without her mother’s guidance.

She looked into her mother’s concerned red eyes with a strained smile.  “Isn’t it better than nothing?”

“Oh, Sora, I know you have good intentions,” she whispered, brushing her hair back with a smile.  “They could be her niece or great-niece, just as Wendy will become, but not hers.  It isn’t merely about family to Inari, but a child of her own, and my sister has done… very questionable things to get what she wants, such as making almost the entire Dragon Founder line hate her.  I don’t know what she would do to me or you to have a chance at her dream.”

Sora sighed.  “That’s your fear talking again, Mom…  I get why, though.  You want to protect me, and I make you vulnerable…  Hah.  Look at you now… weaker than your own daughter,” she softly laughed.

“And all the better for it,” her mother whispered, moving in to hug her again.  “I want you to be safe, Sora, and your aunt is one of the few people I can’t protect you from.  She practically killed the Dragon Mother’s firstborn son by taking his Orb in order to have the power to murder the First Generation Founder of the Tanuki.”

“Right… but I’m guessing she had her reasons if the Three Pillars didn’t smite her for it…”  Breathing out a strained smile, she kissed her mom on the forehead and pulled away.  “Sorry, Mom.  I know you know a whole lot more about this than I do.  I’d just… like to be a full and happy family.  Umm…  When is Dad going to wake up?”

Her mother rose with her as Sora went to the closet to find a dress that would fit her mother, freshening her up with a snap of her finger while eyeing her selection.

“A week… maybe today.”

“Today?!”  Sora spun around, unconsciously tail-whipping a few hung pants off the racks, but a small commotion downstairs made her groan.  “Ugh.  Kari and Eyia…  You don’t know exactly when he’ll wake up?”

Her mom shook her head, wearing a conflicted frown, and she accepted a white summer dress.  “As I said, this shell I am using is very limited in my knowledge of things; I only had enough space to house so much.  Sora…”

“Hmm?”  Sora twirled her finger, magically lifting the fallen items and spinning a few clothing options around her; she quickly phased off her night clothes to be replaced by some shorts and a tank top, knowing she’d probably be doing some kind of acrobatics today.  Exiting the closet, she blinked upon seeing her mother still staring at her.  “Garments, right?!  One sec…”

“No…  Wendy has already been shopping with me for those earlier; she said you wouldn’t mind, and I needed them.  No, but, Sora…  Please,” she stepped forward to grasp her hands, a serious look on her face.  “Please, be careful of Fen.  I can see you are curious about your aunt.  I get that.  She is dangerous and could introduce more danger into your life.”

Ears folding back, she nodded and scratched her left ear, focus drifting to the drawer where the mysterious pendant was situated.

If the Woman in Black Thorns was strong enough to go toe to toe with this Herald of Sakura, and she was supposed to stop bigger threats, then why did the woman help her free Zen?  Could either of them help her get through to her aunt?  She didn’t want to give up on her family.

“I’ll try not to do anything stupid, Mom,” she said with a pained smile.  “I know I’m still a teenager, and I don’t know much about this world, but…  No, you’re right, though.  I just… don’t want to give up on the idea of us being a family… including Noelia.  Call me idealistic,” she winked, “but I have Desire Magic!  Can you blame me?”

Her mother closed the distance to put their foreheads together and closed her eyes.  “A healthy dose of young, mischievous optimism is wonderful for a budding vulpes…  I know you’re trying to find your place in the family and in this life.  Just… know I’m here to try to be your mother… as much as I don’t deserve that title.”

“Oh, stop it!”  Sora snarled, giving her mom a light head butt.

“Ack!  Eh-heh, it’s been so long since… I’ve felt pain,” she mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes as she rubbed the spot.  “That’s not nice.”

Sora backed toward the door with a giggle and wink.  “Healthy dose of young, mischievous optimism, Mom!  I’m sensing some parental complaining coming on, so maybe it would be good for you to go tell Dad how mean I’m being?”

A short chuckle shook her mother’s chest as she used her tails to sweep back her hair and point at the dress still draped over her arm.  “I’ll get dressed and go do that then.  Expect a talking to, young lady.”

“I can’t wait!”  Sora chimed, leaving her mother with a grin.

Dismissing the sound-dampening field, the only exception being made for the wolf and Valkyrie since the two could blow up on each other, Sora briskly walked to the front room, where Kari and Eyia were going at it.

“…Let me leave, dammit!”

“My Sister has yet to speak to you regarding Aiden’s disappearance when in your presence.”

“Pfft!  You think I had something to do with Aiden being kidnapped?  And what do you mean, ‘disappearance?’  Are you saying he ditched me?”

“We cannot rule out your abandonment,” Eyia huffed.  “We also cannot be sure it is the 72 Pillars who took him or if he went with them of his own free will to another party.”

“How can you be so utterly braindead?!”

Sora hopped down from the second floor, not bothering with the gravity elevator.  A crowd was gathered, two of the younger triplets sleeping in the corner, bundled up in a sleeping bag for some reason.  Their white rabbit guards were ignoring Eyia and Kari, playing with their phones or reading books.

Hinote and Faia sat on a couch, observing the two shouting teens like a sports event.  The Valkyrie was standing in the doorway, with Zen and Wendy having retreated to the other room with Devlin and a few others.

“Eyia, let her go…  Kari’s not a prisoner but a guest.”

Kari’s infuriated amber eyes darted to her, and she gave her a mocking bow.  “Thank you for your permission to leave, Princess!  Get out of my way…  Dammit!”

The wolf stormed past Eyia, glaring after her as she waved at them and went to the Foundation-staffed private elevator.  Sora sighed, shouting after her.

“When you’re done being pissy, you can come back and talk, Fleabag!”

“Don’t hold your breath!  You’ll probably get kidnapped again before we can do anything about Aiden!”

A frigid breeze cut through the atmosphere with Eyia’s glowing blue eyes.  “Not while I am here, Wolf!”

“News flash, you were here last time, genius!”  Kari shot back, storming into the elevator as it opened and making the attendant jump to the corner.  “Maybe you should think about that.  What have you even done but screw things up?”

“That’s not fair,” Sora returned, walking forward to rub Eyia’s shoulder as the Valkyrie looked at the floor in shame, her chill dying with Kari striking at her insecurities.  “Eyia is a big part of why you’re free to have a tantrum without your brother ripping off your arm!”

“Bite me!”  Kari growled, chest heaving as her agitated tail broke through the elevator door before jabbing the button for the lobby—probably destroying that, as well.

Sora gave Eyia a comforting squeeze as the elevator closed and Kari’s frustrated, glowing amber eyes disappeared.  “It’s okay, Eyia.  I know you mean well.  Kari just needs to burn out her anger…  She was barely holding it together.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t lash out,” Tami whispered from the corner, the youngest-looking triplet hugging one knee against her chest.  “She seemed like the type to throw a punch…  We’ve dealt with our fair share of bullies in school before awakening to the truth regarding our powers.”

Faia weaved left and right, muscles tight and heart racing by the nervous twitch in his pulled-back ears.  “Kari and Eyia are scary!  Girls are scary, Bro.”

“They can be,” Hinote yawned, slumped back in his seat.  “Yo.  So, have a good chat with the Flaming Goddess?”

“Flaming Goddess?”  Sora repeated, jumping over a couch to sit and motioning for Eyia to join her.  “You can just call her my mom.”

“Feels weird,” he shrugged, suppressing another yawn.  “Man, I’m beat.  Good with me retiring, or are you going to do something big I should be here for?  We’ve been waiting for you to get up since you’ve got the card, and all.”

Sora rubbed Eyia’s knee as she sat, still looking depressed from Kari’s jabs; Jin would have been the one to fire back with words, and that was probably a conflicting wound on the warrior’s heart, as well.

“Sure.”  She scanned the auras throughout the suite, fur bristling at the emotions feeding back to her.  “I can feel a lot of stress filling the suite, and people don’t know what to do…  Go ahead and take a fox nap.”

Hinote got up, sticking his thumbs in his pants pockets and glancing at the triplets, his brother joining him.  “I’m starting to wonder what we’re doing here anymore…  You’ve got your all-knowing mother now with cultural things, a whole organization backing you, and the Foundation doesn’t need us.  What’s our spot?”

Leaning back to flip her hair over the side of the couch and adjust the black ice hair clip Stephanie made for her, Sora rubbed her eyes.

“I don’t know if you need one…  I’ve just liked having other vulpes around and people to talk to.  My house has been so… empty the last three years that it’s just nice having people nearby.  I guess you’re really saying you’re looking for a place, though.”

Tami crossed her legs and stretched out her small arms.  “I feel ya, Fox.  We haven’t really had a place since we were deemed Gray-Sigma: Princess Reality Warpers.  We were only fourteen when our entire world was flipped upside down.  The Foundation convinced our family we were volatile monsters…  I guess that’s not totally uncalled for,” she whispered, eyeing her sleeping sisters.

Tamil was resting against her sister’s breast, drooling from some romantic fantasy she was having involving a sailor on a broken ship.  Naturally, Tamila was torturing her cosplaying big sis, Tamil as a puppy, of course, dangling the pup over the edge of the ship with sharks swimming below.  The sailor was trying to save her.  It was impressive they could synchronize their dreams.

Sora didn’t even have to use her magic to understand the mental visions the two sisters were having, showing her how far her natural abilities had magnified since fully transforming, and this was only her first tail.

Smiling at the group, she stretched out her fingers and rose to her feet with a groan.  “Mmgm!  We’ll figure it out.  Do you want to sleep, Tami?  Night, Faia, Hinote.”

“Night, Princess!  Ouch—Bro!”

The older twin flicked his brother’s ear and waved her off.  “Night, Sora.  Thanks for having us.”

Happy the pair were settling in more, she reflected on the fact she hadn’t had many male friends growing up.  Wendy was one of the few she felt comfortable around since they grew up together, and her lifestyle made it hard to trust people—girl or boy… then Kari showed up.  It was always hard to discern who liked her for her rather than what she could do for them, but as a vulpes, she could tell almost exactly where their heart was.

Tami got to her feet and jabbed a thumb at the briefcase beside one of the rabbits, radiating a reality-normalizing field that made Sora’s stomach queasy; there was an oddly unresponsive spiritual wave mixed with it.

“If I go anywhere, it has to be with that, them, and my sisters.  No need to stress yourself with us.  Go do your business.”

Putting a hand on Eyia’s back to get her up, she hopped to her feet and turned to smile at her mom, who had just left her room.  It made her want to giggle, hearing how hard of a time it was for her mom to get her bra off without damaging it; without magic, simple tasks seemed to be a challenge for the woman.  There had been a few—surprisingly vicious—curses that slipped out of her mom’s cute lips.

She returned the wave, and Sora pointed her tail at the triplets, magic weaving right through the Reality Anchor to lift the three off the ground.  Doing the same to the briefcase, she pointed them to the meeting room in the suite over.

“This is fine, right, Mr. White Bunnies?”

“Whatever you wish, Lady Sora,” the leader said, rising to their feet to walk behind them as she brought them forward.

“Great!”

It was a little off, being literally treated like a princess that could explode at any time, but it did have its perks.  She set Tami down, suddenly realizing the dolphin woman that worked at the restaurant had the same name as the oldest sister.

“I’ll weave a silence barrier around your sisters so they can sleep.”

“No need,” Tami said with a pained smile.  “These two have slept through a literal volcanic eruption… that they caused in their sleep.”

“Oh…  Okay.”  Dismissing it and seeing why even Tami said she understood why they were hunted, Sora nudged Eyia.  “You alright?”

“I… resonate with Hinote’s troubles,” Eyia eventually mumbled, hugging herself.  “Jin used and tricked me, placing me in danger of being attacked by her family…  Tortured for information.  And all I have done is prove myself unfit to be a Sister-in-arms.  I require more training.”

Sora stopped in the hallway of the next suite over, thoroughly taken aback by the out-of-the-blue revelation.  “Would Jin’s family really torture you?  Wouldn’t they have all sorts of other Primordials that know a lot more than you to torture?  The war is over, too.”

Eyia’s uncomfortable eyes shifted away.  “It is complicated.”

Staring at her for a few seconds, Sora nodded and kept going.  “Alright.  If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t.  If, or when you want to, then my big ears are here to listen, Sis,” she said, leaning in to rub her ears against Eyia’s neck, making her giggle.  “Okay?”

“I will keep an open mind, Sister.”

“Good.  And you’re an amazing Sister-in-arms.  Doesn’t my word count for anything?”

Eyia’s troubled expression softened, making Sora feel successful as she entered the main room, where the rest of the crew waited.

“Okay, fill me in, guys!”  she said, waving and taking note of the fae; Sela was in some kind of magical bond on a chair.  “What’s going on?”

Jumping into an armchair, Vondoom took the floor, business-like, as always, as Sora probed the atmosphere for anything anyone left unsaid, with each party gradually chiming in.

* — * — *

The sun was beginning to brighten the northern Miami Beach cityscape view as everything came to a close.  It was weird having so many people put so much weight on her shoulders as to how they were to proceed.  It was like she was the unelected president of the universe due to the threatening stick her mother held—or perhaps a threatening tail would be a better image—ready to swat them.

More than a few frightening scenarios were beginning to take shape in her mind as she reflected on all the trouble and hostile forces that were gathering.  The main question: ‘Did Aiden have anything to do with this direction and his own kidnapping?’  Not consciously, of course, but his powers over causality were as potent as her own Desire Magic.  Then again, her magic was far from absolute.

Thinking about it more and talking to Eyia about the specifics, it became more evident that Alva had been the true orchestrator behind all the trouble.  She’d used Aiden to guide things in the right direction, but the path was organized by the 2nd Generation fenris wolf.  His goals had shifted now that Kari was free, though, and that bugged Sora a little.

What was Aiden’s desire now?  Clearly, his top priority was building up Kari and taking himself out of her life to force her out of her comfort zone did line up, which gave credence to what Eyia had been talking about earlier.  Only, Eyia, ever the one to have trouble communicating,  had said it without the path to get to that conclusion, which set Kari off.

Then again, just because Aiden was after a specific goal didn’t mean the 72 Pillars didn’t have their own agenda, and obviously, they had something they wanted.  She’d locked out their recruiters, which made their activity here come to a screeching halt.  Did they want the corruptive artifact released?  Apparently, it wasn’t easy getting something of that level into the mortal plane.  Something told Sora it was something deeper and more insidious, though.

The Lemegeton wasn’t their only problem, either.  The Unseelie she’d interrupted had actually been the summoner of the Unseelie Herald, and he’d given his own life to bring it into this universe fragment, at least partially.  It needed time to slide through since she’d damaged the ritual.  It did buy the fae time to regroup.

And now, the Foundation had its sights on the Unseelie Division, which was being turned inside out, and a total organizational audit was being done by the Ethics Bureau.  Vondoom had his suspicions about the ECC and EB now.  Someone was tapping their communications, and he’d sent a request to the Communications Division to investigate, but the response had been slow.  He suspected evidence was being scrubbed.

For now, the Unseelie were moving back into the shadows after dealing a substantial blow to the fae kingdoms.  They’d lost a great many Unseelie Lords, but they’d almost killed most of the fae leadership in the process; the Fairy Queen and Elf King were among the last living.

Her little fairy ‘guardian’ seemed to be sleeping in the flower she’d made for her, still recovering after the Unseelie reversal process.  News that she had the power to revert the corruption had reportedly shaken the Unseelie population to the core after learning she could do it to someone as powerful as Sela.

The triplets were eventually freed after Sora vouched for their authenticity; they somewhat became the OWO’s representatives, and it wasn’t like the Foundation and Occult World Order hadn’t worked together in the past.  At least, they were free so long as they behaved themselves, causing Tami to give her youngest sister a sharp stare that cowed the blue-haired older-looking woman.

Comments were made about Kari and how rude she’d been to just about everyone, but Sora came to the wolf’s defense, asking the group to give her a break.  None of them knew the true depth of how broken Kari was, and it didn’t take her long to figure out who she’d stormed out to see.

Kari had probably kicked down Mary’s door in tears, looking for someone she could talk to.  There was no one else she could go to, and Sora had no doubt the caring psychiatrist had told her to call her whenever she was feeling vulnerable.  It was weird to see the roles switched, and it didn’t make her feel as good as she’d daydreamed it would months earlier.

Sora found her mind drifting away from the conversation about the fae and Unseelie while pondering Kari’s messed up life and situation.  The triplets and twins would have certainly seen Kari’s aggressive attitude and expected her to strike out at Eyia, but Sora knew better now.

Kari was scared of violence, and that was probably one of the most shocking discoveries she’d made.  The wolf didn’t like it when with her family, and Eric had more or less beat the fight out of her; she was traumatized and put on a front to survive—a front the school bullies and Jenny took full advantage of.

The wolf really needed a friend, but that was on her side to open the door since Sora had made it clear she was willing to give it a shot.  It would take time, and, from what she’d seen, Kari may be ultra-competitive, but she wasn’t a threat; far from it, in fact.  Her willingness to entertain her wolf ears and tail spoke to her slowly healing, though, which was good.

And now this happened.  It made Sora want to punch Aiden in the nose.  The emotion made her sit back and deliberate on the uncomfortable roller coaster.  She was defending Kari.  It wasn’t just thinking about it; she was doing it.  Times certainly had changed.  It probably really hurt the wolf, seeing her getting her family back, and Sora had to take that into consideration.

Her closet had been swung wide open for the mud to be dragged through the light and put on display by all these strangers.  Her insecurities and fears were being held up to be judged.  And Sora was getting all the support and healing the world could offer.

No one but her seemed willing to give Kari the light of day.  Everyone here just dismissed her, including Wendy, who had all but forgotten about the wolf now that she had Sora and Zen.  Then again, she was also running from facing the trauma with her mother, showing in the brunette being unable to call Mia her mom.

It may look bright on the outside, but there were so many emotional scars to sort through underneath the surface of everyone’s smiles.  Somehow, she was the one that was most put together right now, and that was saying something.

Having her mother and father here did go a long way, and it was during their debrief of the state of the decimated fae population that Sora’s heart stopped.  In unison, Jin and her father began to stir, causing her mother to squeak and start panicking; they were waking up.

* — * — *

Sora practically jumped out of her chair, darting out of the room in a blur as Eyia turned into mist, going to meet Jin, the actions leaving almost everyone else in a dazed state.  She was bounding through the halls and jumping up to the second level, and by the time her father’s jaw was slacking, eyes locking onto his love’s adorably awkward smile, Sora was leaping on top of him.

“Dad!”  she cried, wrapping her arms around his torso and making him tense up as most of his air threatened to leave his lungs.  “Dad, you’re okay?!”

“Wha—what’s going… Mia?!  I’m dead—ack!  Sora—what the bloody hell?!  What happened to Wendy—Lori?  Wait, that dream…  So Wendy is—your mom…”

“Mhm!  Mhm!  Huh—no, Wendy’s not?!  Haha!  It’s Mom; we’re all here!”  Sora sniffed, collapsing against his chest, unable to control herself.  “Mom’s back…”

“I… see that.  Aww.  My girls,” he mumbled, face going red, Irish accent deepening, and throat thickening with emotion.  “I have my girls.  Mia?”

Her mother wiped back a tear, mixed with guilt, as she reached for his hand, nine tails knotted behind her.  “I am here, Jarlath…  I am…  I regret not being here for you and our daughter…  I won’t leave you two again.”

Sora felt the shuddering breath pass through her from her father’s quivering lungs, her father unable to speak for the first time, and his hot air streamed against her ears.  He nodded, having seemingly lost his tongue, and Wendy came panting into the doorway shortly after, aura unsure if she should enter.  She didn’t get the chance to invite her, though.

“Wendy,” her mother whispered, motioning her inside.  “Join us.  I’m sure it will mean a lot to him to see you are safe.”

The brunette tentatively entered, rubbing her arm and weakly waving with her other as Sora shifted to let her dad see her.  “Thanks to you, Ms. Moore…  Uh, Mr. Moore?  Thank you for coming to… to save me, and… and protect me,” Wendy mumbled, sniffles coming on as she likely felt the double blade of her own mother’s betrayal.  “You’ve always been so… so nice to me.”

Nose red, her father cleared his throat and forced a laugh.  “Well, a real man always looks after his girls…  Ain’t no way around it, Love.  You’re a part of the family…  The lucky fourth.”

Wendy choked and tentatively stepped closer to accept his hug.

Heart burning, Sora chortled, pulling her into a tighter hug, stomach fluttering with what her sister would think when she went through her own surprise transformation to really become a part of the family.

“Better watch out, Wendy; you might just get your princess fantasy, only in a different light.  Haha!”

“Stop it!”  she cried, arms shaking against her back as she looked between her father, ‘little’ sister, and mother.  “Thank you for accepting me…”

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