A few hours later, Lillim had realised what Kyubi hadn't wanted to tell her, that the pets were all the proof they needed of his identity. "We're not out of the woods yet though. I will keep him restrained, Kyubi you need to heal him enough for Faylorna to work and then we need to decide how to punish the idiot if it is him..."
"Lillim, don't take this the wrong way, just tell us you want your grandson fixed. His mothers most certainly want him fixed and they still fall short when compared to the pets and Mrs." Faylorna chuckled.
"I'm not play coy Faylorna, I'm making sure he learns this stupid lesson."
Kyubi sighed, Lydia's words earlier were ringing true. "I don't think this was completely stupid. As Lydia pointed out earlier, it is possible he noticed a weakness to be exploited, one with a closing window of opportunity."
"Ridiculous! At this level? There is no chance!"
"Then Lillim, please enlighten us as to how Carl returned from his realm not only alive but chased by the pained exclamations of Margo himself..." The moment she said his name they all tensed, but to their amazement as they peered into other realms there truly was no sign he had perceived it.
"That was reckless!"
"I had faith in him, clearly not enough though. I should have learned that underestimating him is more stupid than anything he does, he brought my kind back from extinction with nothing but a can-do attitude and a tuft of fur."
"Just remember to keep that crush of yours a secret Kyubi, I think I made my position clear on that. You get your species back, in exchange your feelings stay a secret." Lillim glared at her, though the truth was it was an open secret and Lillim knew as much, she was just lashing out.
The faction at large was in a state of controlled chaos and Lillim knew they needed Carl back on his feet soon and for all this to be swept away before the control slipped. News had travelled fast when a kilili relatives of Daniel had passed through and seen Kitsunoko's desperate but utterly futile assault Lillim and Faylorna.
Gillian, Alysse, Kon, Noah and Blaine had received an advanced heads up from Lydia and were keeping people calm and focused on work. Providing what little updates there were to give on the hour.
Gillian had made the executive decision to send Equinox to calm the little fox before she hurt herself, but he also wanted him close by what he considered the real problem, which was Klaire, Omedra and Lydia.
Omedra's power had yet to be fully demonstrated, but he knew Carl well enough to know that he wouldn't send one of his precious creations to someone like Tiamat without enough confidence they could make it back alive in a worst-case scenario.
Klaire was only holding herself together by the finest of threads, her mother and Maeb watched as she sat as though meditating, though it was clear that rather than meditating she was actually focusing her starlight. "Why?" Was the question, but it was one her observers wordlessly decided they'd rather not know the answer to.
Lydia hadn't left Carl's side, she watched his body slowly twist itself back into shape as his VIT stat worked overtime to repair all the damage, but she would still need to operate if Kyubi failed to get permission to heal him.
Leanna and Alisha were buried beneath their pile of grandchildren, who were all too aware that their mother would not have the ability to offer them the consolation they sought.
"Sorry, I don't believe we've met... I'm Carl's mother Alisha." Her voice was a whisper, desperate to avoid waking the "children" but also anxious and desperate for distraction.
"I'm Omedra... Carl's newest d- creation." She answered meekly, not thinking it the right time to have the "I'm your newest granddaughter" moment.
"You don't need to tread on eggshells sweetie, we would be more surprised if you didn't think of him as a father. He's been raising Squidge here since he came to me eight years ago..."
"...And before that, wild beasts were drawn to him and used to break into our home and terrify him. Basically, wherever he goes he's followed and we accepted most would probably see him as a father figure..."
"...But my appearance is because I look older." Omedra finished for them.
"A bit, but I'm glad you see him as a father still and not a potential partner, that fear is ever present." Leanna chuckled almost silently.
"Why are you scared of that? I would never love him like that... Ew." She turned into a grossed out daughter in an instant.
"It's nice to know this lot have a big sister to depend on. They're all rather childish and that includes their parents." Alisha added as she stroked Kitsunoko's head.
"I think you underestimate Squidge a bit, he has gotten rather shy lately according to Carl, but I see him following her around and making sure she isn't getting up to mischief or hurting herself."
"Well that might be true... I can't see him as anything but the same glutton who used to puddle out on the floor after clearing the fridge." Leanna grumbled. "When he was first created he wouldn't eat without being told to, but then something changed and he seemed to get his own personality."
"Then the next thing we knew there was Levi, who seemed more mature, but still clung to Klaire's coattails... Then Kitsunoko came along and we were all a bit worried she might try to pull Carl towards Kyubi instead."
"You mean like how Tiamat tried to pull me from Carl over to her?" She grumbled, still annoyed that Tiamat believed her so fickle.
"I couldn't say, I wasn't there, but it was clear Kyubi fell under whatever influence he has on things. Klaire even noticed and was not happy about it, she told her mum she would be telling Carl to send them away if she ever pushed for something more." Leanna explained.
"I thought she'd be more worried about the succubus." Omedra mused, making the both of them struggle to remain quiet.
"That ship sailed a long time ago. He had a crush on her as a kid and she had to "break-up" with him. He cried his little heart out for days." Leanna laughed as she remembered the very real drama and the way the Bashe girls rolled their eyes as they ate their lunch.
Omedra got antsy all of a sudden. "Don't bother, when Leanna's mother is in a mood, it's best to leave it to Kyubi and I suppose Faylorna now. If you can't heal him yourself, just wait."
Omedra's head darted to one side. "Say that again... They won't be mad if we act, they just won't be swayed?"
"I never said that, they will definitely be mad. They won't know to stop you though, they are all a bit blinded by their certainty that no one would disobey them."
Omedra stood up and excused herself suddenly making the two grin and brace for drama.
Omedra, made her way through the subterranean complex, until she came to the locked infirmary door. "Omedra? Can we help you? Think it might be best to leave your mu-"
Danielle was interrupted as Omedra's throat filled with fire and she ignored them. Then she ripped the locked door off its hinges like it was nothing and flooded the room in fire that had been infused with light magic and DIV.
The containment breach sirens had started blaring the moment the door was removed and Lillim, Kyubi and Faylorna appeared through a portal the next instant only to be greeted by a blinding release of starlight. "Keep going sweetie, if they try to stop you I'll slow them down."
"Cease the drama!" Lillim roared as her aura exploded and dropped them both, as well as Daniell and Maeb immediately, not that it stopped Omedra's fire. "Why can't any of you ever trust us enough to let us plan?"
"Probably because you're all too worried about everything to ever pick one! Sometimes brute force and ignorance is as good as any plan." Klaire shouted back, stunning everyone and leaving Lillim to look at the two who arrived with her for support.
Faylorna, wore a look that simply said "Don't look at me, I just arrived here."
Kyubi on the other hand outright said that Klaire wasn't exactly wrong, that all they had done is essentially keep them occupied until they had decided on a path forward and that even they knew waiting for Klaire to return was just an excuse.
Lillim was about to retort when a voice came from the infirmary. "That enough, Omedra. Thank you for healing me, but now we need to all have a very serious talk."
Omedra let her flames die out, then she drifted off to sleep having exhausted her DIV.
Klaire struggled against Lillim's aura, managing to get to all fours and leave her wondering if she had grown weak. "Lillim... You might want to look at their stats, it seems we missed some special occasions.
Lillim couldn't place the tone of Faylorna's voice, so she looked into their system data and faltered immediately.
"Stars..." The word was spoken with shock, disbelief and something akin to piety.