Across their link, Lex registered Nenet’s confusion increasing as she looked at him with a blank expression, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Made it back...you mean from Darkest Night?” she sputtered, trying to figure out what was going on. “I know Solvei said it was a dangerous place, but I thought that, um, that it...”
She trailed off as her eyes slid over to Nisha, the black wolf – in human form as well – having been staring at her intently.
Inwardly, Lex frowned.
Nisha’s having been able physically transport them through a dream was a remarkable accomplishment by any measure. Existing only in the boundary between the shallow areas of the Ethereal Plane and its deeper regions, the dream realm wasn’t a place in any normal sense of the term. According to the Libram of Ineffable Damnation, its physical representation – if one were to enter the Ethereal Plane and journey to the demarcation between that plane’s shoals and its fathoms – was the Color Curtain, a flat-looking but completely insubstantial wall which extended endlessly in every direction, made up of endless overlapping images that were dreams from across the cosmos, all happening in real-time.
Exactly why dreams manifested in that manner in that location was apparently one of the mysteries of the universe, but the fact remained that the Color Curtain was as ephemeral as the dreams which it was composed of. It couldn’t be touched, nor affected by any form of spellcasting save for oneiromancy, more commonly known as dream-magic.
But although Lex had known that type of magic existed long before his first journey to Everglow – Princess Luna being Equestria’s one and only example of it as far as he knew – he’d never heard anything to suggest that it was possible to physically enter a dream, let alone use it as a byway to journey to the dreamer’s location the way Nisha had.
His tulpa had always done the opposite, bringing things from the dream realm into the real world, but that was a fundamentally different process. It involved taking the idea of a thing – as it was quite literally “dreamed up” – and using the substance of the Ethereal Plane to give it form, not unlike how he used the essence of the Astral Plane to form his battle constructs. The major difference being that ether was far less stable, and so tended to discorporate much faster, the real world quickly eroding it down to nothing.
To send anything with tangible substance into the dream realm should have been impossible...and yet Nisha had anyway.
But Lex was far less concerned about that than he was with the staggering feelings of jealousy that he’d been registering from her – despite his having already severed the artificial connection he’d made between her and Nenet – ever since he’d soothed his sphinx’s troubled dream.
“H-hello,” offered Nenet tentatively, her confusion giving way to nervousness at how those purple eyes were trained so squarely on her. “I’m Nenet...”
His foresight had already informed him of what Nisha’s reaction to the greeting would be, as well as how Nenet would react, causing him to jump in before the former could respond to the latter’s greeting.
“This is Nisha,” he announced. “As of now, she’ll be joining you, Solvei, and Mei Li as my fourth wife.”
Nenet’s jaw dropped at that, even as Nisha’s feelings of envy were immediately replaced with joy, gasping as she looked at him with wide eyes. “Y-your wife?!” she squealed, grinning so widely it almost took in her ears. “I’m your wife now?!”
“You brought back another girl?” Nenet, by contrast, was a mixture of disbelief, anger, and dismay. “Master...are you disappointed in us? In me?”
“No.”
Crossing the room, Lex was at Nenet’s side in an instant, standing upright and pulling her into an embrace. “I meant what I said before. I need my sphinx by my side.”
She pouted, but through their bond he could feel her negativity fading as she hugged him back. “When did you become so charming?” she murmured, closing her eyes as she nuzzled his chest. “It’s not fair at all.”
Lex didn’t say anything, simply holding her close.
The truth was, seeing what had been happening in Nenet’s dream had struck a chord with him. With his wire-transformation wearing off – along with the sense of hyper-focus that it always gave him – he’d experienced a rush of guilt upon seeing the sphinx’s mental state, enough so that he’d immediately said the words that his foresight had told him would best soothe her troubled mind.
He was sure the Night Mare wouldn’t have approved, since it was part of her dogma that disturbing dreams were crucibles meant to make a person stronger, but at the moment Lex didn’t care. His mishandling of his urges had already hurt her, Solvei, and Mei Li badly; there was no reason why his thoughtlessness needed to ruin her sleep as well.
With how important tulpas and dreams had suddenly become, it seemed only right to do at least that much for her.
“Master, what did you mean before?” Opening her eyes at last, Nenet made no move to break their embrace as she looked up at him. “When you said you wouldn’t have made it back if not for me? And, um, why did you...?”
She glanced over his shoulder at Nisha, who was giggling as she stared into space, face bright red and her hands on her cheeks. “Wife...wife...wife...”
Lex resisted the urge to sigh. “If I hadn’t bonded with her, it’s unlikely that I would have escaped Darkest Night alive.”
Nenet’s eyebrows rose at that. “But-”
He placed a talon over her lips, silencing her. At the same time, he cast the same spell he’d used after resurrecting the adlets, clothing Nisha in a simple robe, knowing that if she stayed naked, it would only make what was about to happen worse.
A moment later, Solvei burst into the room. “LEX!!!”
She didn’t stop when she saw him, instead snarling as she charged toward him full force. That was enough to snap Nisha out of whatever trance she’d been in, her head snapping around as she bared her teeth at the intruder. It was only because of the telepathic command Lex gave her then, informing her that this was also one of his wives, that she stood down.
Solvei, however, didn’t seem to notice Nisha at all as she rushed at him, looking for all the world like she was about to attack.
But Lex knew better.
Now that he was on the same plane – or rather, within the same artificial demiplane – as her, Solvei’s ability to sense his distance and direction had ceased to simply inform her that he was on another plane, instead reverting to giving her his exact coordinates in relation to herself. With the same being true for him, Lex had been fully aware that she’d been racing toward him as soon as he’d returned, not slowing down for anything.
And even though she could also sense that he wasn’t seriously injured, that didn’t seem to do anything for the worry that he knew was gripping her.
Nor did that worry seem to abate when she threw herself against him a moment later, even as he half-turned to bring her into his embrace with Nenet, his other foreleg sliding around Solvei’s waist as she pressed herself against him.
“You’re alright!” Her voice was hoarse, and it was only then that her worry began to change to relief. “I thought-”
“Master.”
Nisha’s voice made Solvei blink, looking over at the purple-eyed girl with a blank expression.
Putting her hands behind her back, Nisha gave a coy smile, and then changed back into her lupine form.
But not completely.
Instead, she became a bipedal wolf.
“Is this form more to your liking?” she cooed, twirling in place before giving him a coquettish smile. “I haven’t used it very much, but if this is what you like in your wives, I wouldn’t mind staying this way.”
One of Solvei’s ear twitched, even as the air temperature around her suddenly plunged. “Lex...” she murmured, and he could sense that this time her voice was hoarse for a very different reason. “Did that...whatever she is...just call herself your wife...?”
“Solvei-, eep!” Nenet recoiled from the look the adlet gave her then, lifting up the bedspread in front of herself as a makeshift shield. But she rallied a moment later, mustering up her courage. “Lex said that he wouldn’t have made it back alive if not for her...”
“Then he should have brought us with him!” snapped Solvei, glaring at Nenet before separating herself from Lex and giving him furious look. “Not go hunting for another bitch-”
“I remember you.”
Nisha’s statement was enough to break Solvei’s momentum, her brow furrowing as she glanced at the newest girl she’d have to share Lex with. “What?”
“You were there when Master first summoned me.” Her eyes narrowing, Nisha stalked forward. “Is that why he could only give me a ring” – she lifted her hand then, showing off the mind-shielding magic item in question – “instead of marrying me immediately? Because of you?”
Solvei cocked her head. “What are you talking about? Give you a ring? The only rings Lex has ever given anyway is when he gave Adagio’s to Nenet, except for that tracker he summoned, and she was black wolf with purple eyes...”
Her own eyes widening as she realized what was happening, Solvei’s anger was immediately replaced by shock. “It can’t be...Nisha...?”
“So glad to see you remember me too,” growled the black wolf, marching forward until she was almost nose to nose with Solvei. Despite being several inches shorter and much slimmer than the white wolf, she glared up at her without the slightest trace of fear. “And if you try to get in the way of Master and I being together, then even if you are one of his wives, I’ll turn you into nothing but a memory.”
“Enough, both of you.”
Placing a claw on each of their shoulders, Lex pulled the quarreling wolves apart. “Nisha, Solvei had nothing to do with how I treated you when we first met. On the contrary, she said that I had been too hard on you.”
“No, Master, you weren’t! I was the one at fault for not making it clear how much I love you!” Heedless of how she’d been ready to blame what had happened on Solvei only a second ago, Nisha clasped her hands together in front of her chest, giving Lex a heartfelt look. “You weren’t wrong! Someone as great as you could never be wrong!”
Despite knowing that her fawning was genuine, Lex couldn’t help but snort. “I’ve been wrong many times.”
Ignoring the pained look that crossed Nisha’s face at that, Lex instead looked at Solvei. “Running away from you – and Nenet and Mei Li – the other night was one such instance. But bonding with Nisha was not. I wasn’t exaggerating when I told Nenet that I likely would have died if I hadn’t.”
Solvei let out a huff at that, her ears flattening. But only for a moment before she scowled. “We’re still having that talk you promised us. And I don’t mean later, I mean today. As soon as possible.”
Lex nodded, keenly aware that Nenet wasn’t the only one still hurting because of his actions. “Let me make certain that we’re not in any imminent danger first, and then I’ll fetch Mei Li.”
“Master.” Climbing off of the bed, Nenet transformed back into her own hybrid form. “Can you do something for Branwen? She isn’t waking up.”
Solvei grimaced. “Agapay examined her, and she said that she’s...”
“I know.” Circling the bed, Lex glanced down at the slumbering Vilderavn, examining various possible treatments through his foresight. After several moments, he held out claw out to his side, talons splayed.
A moment later the Soulsaver Halo appeared behind him.
Waving his foreleg, the five-foot ring of light moved through the air to hover over Branwen, its light brightening as Lex forced power into it, before vanishing from sight a moment later.
Lex lowered his claw, staring at Branwen for a long moment before turning back to the others. “She should awaken in a few hours.”
Nenet’s wings gave a hopeful flap. “So she’s going to be okay?”
Lex nodded. “I’ve augmented the Soulsaver Halo so that it repairs and nurtures as well as protects. It won’t last very long, but it should be enough to help the soul-fragment I gave her begin to regrow.”
Letting out a gasp of relief, Nenet threw her arms around Solvei, the adlet smiling as she hugged her back. “I’m so glad!” sniffled the sphinx, smiling as she wiped her eyes. “Thank you so much, Master!”
Lex nodded. “I’ll...”
He paused then, brow furrowing.
He’d been about to say that he’d summon Mei Li, so that she could get acquaintd with Nisha while he went outside and made sure that no reprisals from Darkest Night would catch them unaware.
But his foresight informed him that the kumiho would be very upset – to the point of agitation – if he summoned her now.
That was enough to make him frown. He could sense that she wasn’t inside the extradimensional mansion that he’d conjured up, but while their bond couldn’t tell him anything more specific than that, a quick glance through her senses told him that she was outside, in the adlet village.
And that she wasn’t alone.
“Lex? Is everything okay?”
For a moment, he didn’t answer Solvei’s question, examining several futures before deciding that six seconds wasn’t enough to tell him what was going on. “I’ll go get Mei Li.”
He left the room before they could answer, reaching the demiplane’s egress a moment later, stepping outside-
Into a small crowd of fox-people, at the center of whom were Mei Li and Carnelia, the former speaking rapidly in Tianyu to an older kumiho female with six tails.
“-could have told me the truth!” huffed his fox-wife, her voice sharp. “Not pretended-, oh!”
Immediately ceasing her conversation as their bond informed her of his presence, Mei Li smiled as she turned toward him and bowed. “My husband,” she called, switching back to Ponish, “welcome back.”
Raising one hand, she waved it at the vulpinoids around her.
“I am honored to introduce you to my clan, the Pimao Jingzhi.”
Slowly, she fanned her tails out behind her.
“All of the vixens here will be your new concubines.”