“I’m grateful to finally meet you all, and my mother seems quite happy to see so many familiar faces this Ghostly Gala. Mm… After such a tough year it's nice to finally gather round and have a break. B-But, please do be careful as you leave! I’ve heard news from the guards about a few misfits wandering about, make sure to travel with someone else, at least stick in pairs, preferably more.” The little Princess shook as she seemingly gazed at the crowd below from behind her mask, Amore carefully stepped beside her and whispered in her ear, seemingly a word of encouragement, Amenyrtr tightened her grip on the palm cards in her hands as she got a burst of second wind.

“I’ll try my best to keep things brief from here on out, not much has happened with the Angels, we haven’t quite managed to reach out to them just yet about a proper agreement, my sincerest apologies to everyone hoping for better news. But! Before we lose hope, remember, we’ve survived on this planet, and, the one before it for decades now, we may have the cards stacked against us but all it takes is a small gust of wind to send them tumbling down!” The crowd roared, some happy to have at least received news, some glad to hear some form of reassurance from one of the Princesses and finally Amélie swore she could hear a small minority boo at the little Princess as she stretched, ready to deliver the final part of her speech.

Amélie’s eyes lowered to her side, and with a flick of her ear she drowned out the voice of Amenyrtr to the sound of her sister whining quietly, “A-Amy? Are you okay?” She asked softly, Amy shook her head with a frown, “Nah, the fireworks are gonna go off. Gonna kill my ears.” 

Ah, right.

Amélie shuffled closer and placed her hands on top of her sister’s, making Amy mumble out a little ‘thank you’ as the speech was coming to a close.

“Anndd uh… with that… please enjoy this year’s Ghostly Gala.” The Princess took a deep breath in before summoning something beneath her feet, Amélie squealed as she recognised such an unforgettable part of demon culture. It was a dance board, the very thing that connected a demon to the heart of Mars. The symbols on the tiles begun to light up to the awe of her people and the visiting demons, who watched as she stepped on the tiles before she spoke, “With spirits high, let out a cry,”

Everyone cheered along, “SPIRIT POINT WILL NEVER DIE!”

Amélie watched in awe as the fireworks went off, admiring the oranges and purples that lit up the skies, she looked over at her friends to see their faces, and giggled at Hannah and Cam’s loud cheering. She then focused back on Amy, who to her surprise seemed rather content right in that moment, happy even. Amélie grinned at the sparkling eyes that her sister had, and the twinkle in her eyes had only gotten brighter at the sight of the bright colours, mouth agape as she found herself mesmerised with the lights.

Soon enough the fireworks died out and the demon folk brought their attention back to the things they were previously doing, Amélie having gone back to finally enjoying the pastry that she ordered, though she noticed that Amy still seemed to have that spark that she rarely ever had. The demihuman thought about it as she finished up her meal, and took note of the fact that her twin seemed much more lively than usual even if she was spacing out, although less like her casual snappy self.

Amélie stood up and it got Amy out of her dazed state, taking up the offer of her older twin’s hand and got up on her feet. “What’s up?” Amy spoke, catching up from behind to walk alongside her. Amélie only gave her a small smile as they walked, stopping in place as they reached a much quieter area, she placed her hands on her sister’s shoulders before she spoke. “Sorry, I noticed how you weren’t really… Having fun a-and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“What’s with you bein’ all worried, huh? ‘M okay loser.” Amélie’s ears went down as her eyes focused on the floor, she moved her hands down to Amy’s own and held them up to their chests up close, letting out a low sigh to the younger twin’s own concern. “A-Are you sure? We could always head home early if you wanted?” Amy shook her head, “Nah I’m good, if anythin’ I’m more worried about you.” 

Amélie smiled and exhaled through her nose, lowering their arms down to their hips. “Silly… Let’s head back to the group for now, yeah?” Amy gave her a nod and Amélie let go of one of her hands, guiding the younger demihuman back to the group, she rubbed the back of her neck as Grace noticed them come back, and with a tilt of the head the plant demon inquired.

“Where did you two run off to?” said Grace looking worried as ever, Amy shrugged and sat herself back down beside her, “Nowhere, hey I still think yuh wrong about the Stardrop pie.” Grace scoffed at Amy’s remark, “Stars you’re as stubborn as a Ciepir, do I have to provide evidence just to prove you’re wrong?” Amy pursed her lips as her brows furrowed, leaning closer to Grace’s face as she kept the bickering going to her twin’s displeasure. 

Amélie wandered around in the same area for a moment and her eyes widened as the Princess caught her attention amongst a crowd, she took two steps closer and stopped in hesitation, taking a breath in and pouting her cheeks as she continued to walk closer to the crowd. She found that being short makes it a little more difficult to grab the attention of those around her without bumping into them, but it sure as dust made it easier to squeeze through a whole group of people.

As she finally made her way through the swarm she was saddened to see that the Princess wasn’t anywhere in sight, but Amélie wasn’t going to give up so soon and began to scan the area, even peeking into some food stands as she walked by. She shivered at a sudden gust of wind then pulled at her sweater’s sleeves to put it over her hands, covering them up to her fingertips to try and keep her hands warm. Amélie clicked her tongue as she clapped her hands low at her waist and swung them backwards to clap once more right behind her lower back, repeating the same movements as she walked further until she realised she didn’t know where she was. 

“O-Oh gee… must’ve gone too far,” she mumbled, “where am I…?” Amélie brought one of her sleeves to her mouth to bite down on it softly, giving it a little tug as she looked around worriedly. Amélie didn’t spend too long worrying as she brought herself back to her original goal, to find the Princess and ask her a few questions about her powers. What was she doing this for? For her blog of course, as Amélie believed it would be an honour to have a royal demon help with her research. 

Amélie grinned at the thought and skipped onward, coming closer to a speaker playing music that she found fun to tap her feet to, but foot tapping turned into a little dance, and soon enough Amélie let herself feel the rhythm and have a little fun—she had forgotten her main goal yet again—but she let herself move to the beat as long as no one paid her no mind. 

The less eyes on her the better, she thought, but her fun ended when her board accidentally sprung up beneath her and made her gasp in surprise. She fumbled around on her board and saw the words ‘miss, miss, miss’ pop up as she took three steps backwards nervously, all off beat to the beating of what is supposedly Larghetto’s heart. “A-Ah— not right now…!” she whispered anxiously, she breathed a sigh of relief as it finally disappeared and glanced up to see if anyone was looking at her, and with no eyes directed at her in sight, not even a glare, she let herself move on from where she stood.

Princess Amenyrtr, Princess Amenyrtr…

Surely she didn’t go too far right?

Amélie pursed her lips and hopped up on her tippy toes in a desperate attempt to find the Princess, yet only her ears could pick up a rather deep pitched yell to the far right.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU’RE ALL NOTHING BUT VERMIN!” The man yelled, thrashing about as guards dragged him away from the Gala. The small demihuman placed a hand over her mouth, shaken up as she spotted a gun that a guard successfully pried from the man. Scary, she thought, was anyone hurt? She hoped not, as today was meant to be a day of celebration and joy. Her mind finally caught up with her legs that moved without thought, scurrying away from the scene as her first concern was for her friends, and more importantly her sister. Forget looking for the Princess, her friends could be in danger!

Amélie was sure she wasn’t going to get off track this time as she made a run for it, looking left and right as she sprinted desperately. Sure she may have been thinking too far, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and as she slowed down to catch her breath her body ceased to tense at the sight of her sister standing in the middle of crowds passing by. “A-Amy!” Amélie spoke breathlessly, putting in just a little bit of energy to try and reach her sister, but she slowed down right in front of her as she realised something odd about the scenery. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

There stood Amy, panicked, whispering things under her breath that Amélie could barely make sense of. Nothing made sense, not even the stalls, nor the people, nor Amy herself. Everything was horribly warped, and it felt fake. One of a chalky taste, yet with an unnerving feeling, a lack of self knowledge, a sense of worthlessness.

Amy Hyun was lost, horribly lost. Amélie was quick to stumble forward and wrap her arms around her sister and squeeze her tightly. She knew what this was, it was something she feared, not for herself but for her sister.

No, no one should ever have to face it, not without help, not without guidance,

a moment of vulnerability shown by a twisted visual manifestation of one’s greatest fear,

Lost Resonance.

“A-Amy, Amy I’m right here it’s okay.” Amélie spoke softly, she slowly brought her over to a more quieter space as she comforted her, watching her closely as Amy’s shortened breaths became slower and slower with every exhale, the area soon became somewhat normal, and Amélie let out a sigh of relief. 

But there was something odd about Amélie’s experience with Lost Resonance. Yes, it is always possible to see someone else’s Lost Resonance, and whatever happens during such an event can and will affect a victim whether that is mentally, emotionally or physically. But this required the person to be in physical contact with the other, and Amélie didn’t need to do that.

It was as simple as being a foot away from another person, and that was more than enough for Amélie to be able to see everything happen. A horrifying thought and sight to witness, really, but no matter what happens to her, the person in need of dire help will get her help.

“Do— Do you wanna go home? I-It’s okay if you do! We can ask Grace for some help.” Amy gave her a weak scowl before pouting, nuzzling into her sister’s shoulder as she finally nodded her head in defeat. Amélie took her phone out from her skirt pocket and called Grace, rubbing Amy’s back and she put it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“G-Grace, where are you guys?

“We’re still by the tree, why?”

Grace shook her head as she saw the twins close to each other, with Amy’s head resting on her sister’s shoulder. “When you wandered off Amy got worried and went to look for you. I said I could help but she said she’d be okay.” Amy lifted her head and glared at Grace, placing her arm on Amélie’s shoulder to put her palm on her cheek, “I told you I was fine with lookin’ on my own.”

“And we all know how that turned out. You don’t have to do things on your own, you know? I’m always here to help.” Amy tried her best to say something back but kept her mouth shut at the realisation that Grace was speaking truthfully, not that a person like her would ever lie about such a thing. She was kind hearted and caring, and Amy knew she meant no harm in giving her a little boost, so she lowered her eyes to the floor and kicked the dirt with the heel of her shoe, leaving it up to Amélie to speak.

“Sorry for walking too far, I-I was just wondering if I could find the Princess,” She apologised, “I-I uhm… I saw a man with a gun get dragged away and I was on my way back to make sure you guys were okay, but uh…” Grace’s eyes widened, “Oh Stars— are you two okay? You didn’t get hurt did you?” She asked worriedly, Amélie laughed nervously in response, “Y-Yeah! Just wasn’t expecting to see that is all.” Grace shook her head once more, “If any of you need to go somewhere let me come with, alright? You never know when someone might hurt you, I’m also talking to you, Amy.”

Amy could only let out a grumble as she hid her face from the plant demon, she was… embarrassed. It’s not everyday a stubborn girl like her would refuse help from a friend and actually need the help, and besides, being alone is much scarier than being lonely, but Amy was not going to admit that. Grace’s board suddenly sprung up from the ground, and as she focused on the sound of the heartbeat, Grace let herself match her steps to the beat as best as she could before taking a deep breath in, summoning a portal to Amélie’s apartment door. “You two rest up now, I’ll let the others know what happened, okay?”

Amélie hesitantly stood in front of the portal and got a move on as Amy nudged her a little bit, she gave Grace a big hug and said her goodbyes before walking to the other side, watching as Grace waved back as it closed up completely. Amélie entered the code on her keypad and unlocked the door, and guided her sister to her bedroom to rest on her bed. She turned the light on as she spoke, “I-If you need anything just let me know, a-ah… Agh, wait…” She facepalmed, “Sorry, I didn’t pick up anything from the ceremony, I-I can order food for tonight if you’d like?”

Amy flung her hand around as she joked about, “Yeah whatever, it’s better than you settin’ the kitchen on fire from trying to cook somethin’.” Amy snickered as Amélie hit her lightly, “Just for that we’re having what I want.”

“Nooo I’m sorryyyy, I take it baaack,” She whined, “I promise I’ll never say that again.” Amélie smiled and shook her head. “You know that’s not true, you like annoying the living dust out of me.” Amy smirked at her and brought the covers over her chest, “Yeah, and I think it’s funny.”

Amélie rolled her eyes and held onto the door handle as she began to walk out, “Get some sleep for now, yeah?” Amy took her glasses off and set them on her bedside table, pulling her sheets over her head as she spoke, “Yup.” With a flick of the light switch and a click of the door closing shut, Amy took her covers off her face and stared at the ceiling.

Wow, she made herself look stupid today.

What a joke.