Amelie lounged around on her couch as she typed up a new post for her blog, it was a post about the plant Ciepir that she met yesterday. The demihuman hummed, feeling satisfied with the notes she wrote about a Vannath she wasn’t really familiar with, and felt as if she really did learn about something new, typing away at the keyboard to the lovely silence that surrounded the room. The date on her laptop read the 4th of December, 2079, and Amélie was right to note that the weather was getting chillier by the day. Below her feet lay two Vannaths of her own, Mong Mong and Blue Bell, they were ghostly demon creatures called Voidlings that took the form of any animal, with tamed Voidlings in favour of taking the form of pets like dogs and cats.

These two Voidlings took the form of dogs, Mong Mong being old at the age 6 was the size of a great dane, while Blue Bell was only about a year old and was as small as a fluffy chihuahua. 

Amélie giggled as Mong Mong let out a deep, low whine, she reached down to pat the ghost-like creature’s head to comfort the old pup, smiling as he stopped kicking in his slumber. Her ears flicked as the doorbell suddenly went off, and with a little huff she got up from her seat and made her way over to answer the door. 

There stood a familiar face, Alice, the sweet sugar-high girl she’d often babysit for what had been years now, along with her mother and a young girl she hadn’t met before.

“O-Oh…! Good morning, M-Mrs Vevina…” Amélie stuttered. “Good morning, Ms Hyun, I’m assuming you know why I’m here, hm?” Amélie wore a nervous expression on her face and fiddled with her fingers, only able to stutter out a ‘maybe’ to the old woman’s annoyance. Mrs Vevina sighed and eyed her tiredly, “It was a yes or no question. Anyways, the Ghostly Gala has us at rush hour this year. I’m going out of town for a while for the confectionery and I need you to take care of Alice and her friend here.”

The friend in question glanced up at Amélie and gave her a small little wave. Amélie’s ears shot up at the urgent news. “B-But you didn’t even give me any notice about there being another kid!” Amélie hung her head, “I’ve never taken care of two before… N-Not that I’m whining ma’am!” Mrs Vevina’s expression turned sour and she crossed her arms, “If that’s the attitude you’re going to have then I may just consider getting a new babysitter.” Amélie sweated nervously and bowed at her, “N-No! No I-I didn’t mean it like that, uh... Come in Alice and…” she paused for a moment as the girl showed herself a little more. 

“W-What’s your name?”

Before the other girl could answer, her younger, much cheerier friend placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned. “This is Mandy, she’s my bestest friend!” She chirped, Mandy pulled on her shirt collar. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms Hyun.” Amélie snorted as she tried not to laugh and Mandy shot her a puzzled and embarrassed look. “You can just call me Amélie.” She reassured her, Mandy’s cheeks showed little specks of pink as her voice got quieter, giving her a nod.

The room went quiet, and with a cough Amélie spoke up, “You two can come in now!” Mandy was the first to allow herself in, she walked right up to the long couch by the lounge room and sat down, followed close behind by Alice who belly flopped onto the couch. Mrs Vevina cleared her throat before she announced her leave, “I’ll be back later today, Mandy has her phone so if there’s any problems she’ll give her sister a call.”

She glared at Amélie, causing the poor demihuman to look at her anxiously. “I wouldn’t go messing around if I were you.” Amélie gulped and gave Mrs Vevina a quick nod. “I-I understand, h-have a nice trip Mrs Vevina.” 

The elder demon frowned, “I won’t.” With a heavy slow exhale Amélie closed the door softly, sighing again but this time in distress. She jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder, turning around to see who it was. 

It was Amy.

“W-Where did you come from?!” She shrieked, Amy shrugged and folded her arms. “I live here, jeez Alice’s mom can be such a bitch though.” Amelie’s brows furrowed. “Language!” She warned her with a frown, she watched as Amy’s eyes locked on hers just seconds before glancing away with her ears facing the floor. “...It’s not like Alice heard me or anything, she’s too busy playing with uhh... Mendy?” 

“Mandy.” Amélie corrected her twin sister. Amy shrugged and popped a piece of candy into her mouth to Amélie’s dismay. “And where did you get that? I thought I hid all your candy.” Amy pointed over to Alice. “Alice gave it to me, she’s like my candy drug dealer.” Amélie facepalmed as her sister dug her hands deeper into the packet, “O-Of course she is..." The twins made their way to the couch and Amélie plopped down, raising a brow as Amy remained standing. “Aren’t you gonna sit down?”

“Pfft, no! This is like the one time I get to tower over people.” She replied wearing a wobbly smirk. Amélie groaned and looked away, and with a quiet sigh Amy dropped her smirk, wearing a small frown as her twin’s attention was on the tv. Amy stretched and began to walk off to her room, “Hey lemme know if any of y’all wanna eat, I’ll make somethin’.” 

“G-Got it!” Amélie then focused her attention on the two kids, pressing her fingers into her forehead in disbelief of the situation Mrs Vevina had brought her into, she wasn’t upset, no, but she doubted her skills in taking care of more than one child at the same time. “You okay Ms Hyun?” Amélie lifted her head to see Mandy, who seemed concerned for the demihuman, and gave her a nervous but worried smile, “O-Oh yes, uhm…! Don’t worry I’m okay, a-and again you can just call me Amélie, I really don’t mind at all!” 

Amélie noticed the way Mandy sat up straight, and smiled as she closed her eyes and shook her head, “You don’t have to be so formal either, I-I’m not someone you need to impress y’know?” she giggled, “Just look at Alice, she’s all splayed out on the couch, see?” Mandy glanced over at her best friend who grinned and puffed her cheeks, looking back at Amélie to make sure the demihuman was really okay with it before letting out a long sigh and flopping back on the couch, she slid down and shuffled around to rest her legs on the seat, yelping as Alice put her weight on her with a hug.

Amélie and Alice couldn’t help but laugh as Mandy began to whine and beg Alice to get off of her, pouting in defeat as Alice refused to let go. “There we go, feel free to get— get comfy, I’m not gonna judge.” Amélie’s warm smile made Mandy feel welcome, and she returned the smile as she wrapped her hands around a very cuddly Alice who squealed in joy over getting squeezed. “Uhhmm… You don’t happen to have uh… juice, do you? Water’s also good. W-Wait is this too informal? Sorry–” Amélie chuckled, “Relax, you can look through the fridge if you wanna! J-Just don’t touch the pops, those are my sister’s.” 

Mandy shot Alice a quick hesitant glance and Alice grinned, squeezing her tightly before letting her head off into the kitchen, Mandy mumbled out a little ‘sleepy’ as she opened the fridge, and Alice crawled over to Amélie, wrapping her arms around her waist with her stomach on the couch. “I missed you so much! Mom didn’t let me stop by because she made me work and now everything hurts!” Alice whined, pressing her face against Amélie’s side. Amélie laughed and patted Mandy’s head, “I missed you too, h-how’s your sister been?” 

“Latte’s okay! She’s helping mom and dad out with the business. They were gonna make me go but my arms hurt…” The older demihuman snickered, “So they– they let you stay because you whined?” Alice pouted, she punched Amélie in the stomach lightly before they both giggled. Mandy watched from the kitchen and raised a brow, curious about Alice’s relationship with Amélie. “Hey uh… Alice, how long have you guys known each other?”

“Hmm? How long? Maybe like…. Over a decade?” said Alice, squishing herself up against the older demon.

“Over a decade… Alice?!” 

“...Yeah?”

Mandy furrowed her brows in confusion, “You’re not even 10 yet?” Alice’s eyes widened as she realised. “OH! Oh yea oops, sorry! We’ve known each other since I was baby!” She giggled at herself and Mandy exhaled through her nose with a puzzled smile.  “O-Oh geez, has it been that long?” Amélie ran a hand through her own hair as she thought about it. “Sure has! And Amélie’s the only babysitter I’ll ever have!” Alice moved her arms from Amélie’s waist to her neck, pressing her cheek against hers with a huge grin on her face, as well as Amélie’s own.

“Mmmwell that’s nice! H-Hey uhm, Ms Hyun? Where’s your bathroom?” Mandy asked from the beginning of the hallway, “O-Oh, it’s to the far right!” Mandy thanked Amélie and with a sigh Amélie turned to Alice, “So, w-what do you wanna do today?” The younger demihuman pursed her lips and shrugged, “Iuno! Was thinking we could just relax today if that’s a-okay? Mandy spent all day yesterday practising.”

“P-Practising? For what?” Amélie inquired. “For ceremonial stuff! It’s really important.” The older demon looked puzzled, “Ceremonial stuff? Why would she need to do that?”

“‘Cause she's the Pr—“ Alice let out a squeak as she cupped her mouth, puzzling the older demihuman, “A-Ah, pardon?” She asked as she leaned forward, making Alice lean back nervously, “Ahh! Ah! Nothing! Uhh… MANDYYY?! Is she still in the…“ Alice trailed off and watched quietly as Amélie grabbed the coat and inspected it closely, paying attention to the rather fancy W that was etched into the zipper’s slider.

Her ears shot up as she remembered what she saw at the gala, “H-Hold on, isn’t this the same W and symbol that’s on Princess Amenyrtr? …Why does Mandy have this?” 

“Oh that’s because her mom is the Q—“ Alice hiccuped as she covered her hand with her mouth once more, placing the other hand on top, she felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead as Amélie’s brows scrunched up and the younger girl swore that someone’s footsteps were coming closer. It was Mandy who seemed puzzled at the mentioning of her name.

“Mmyeh? Did you want something?”

Alice gulped heavily and gave her a wobbly smile as she spoke, “Heyyy Mandy, Amélie here uh… Ahaha…” Mandy raised a brow and noticed that the eldest demon was holding her coat, seemingly looking at the zipper to her horror. “U-Uh… What are you doing with my coat?” She asked nervously, it took Amélie a moment to make a connection and it clicked, her eyes widening to confirm the fear that Mandy had. 

“Princess Amenyrtr…?”

Mandy yelped as Amélie called out the royal name, her ears suddenly shot in from the sides and instead out popped a different set of ears that were rather fluffy, ones the colour of a red panda’s but much longer and pointer like a fox’s. Then, the young demihuman’s hair started to change in colour, turning less red than it seemed to be and it turned into one exactly like what the Ruler of Spirit Point had. Brown striped markings began to show up on her cheeks to the demon’s dismay, letting out a whimper. Then lastly out popped a tail, with the end reminiscent of a Heart, the symbol of Spirit Point.

In a moment of confusion Mandy found herself in the form of what she thought she should be in by mistake, and Amélie’s jaw dropped as she witnessed Mandy transform right in front of her eyes, right in her living room of all places. Mandy could only look back at her in fear upon realising how bad of a situation she found herself in.

“…Nyyeghnn Mum’s going to kill me...”

“N-No no!” Alice sat up and shook her head, “No she’s not! We can just pretend none of this— that none of this happened, right Amélie?” She stammered, giving the older demon’s shoulder a good shake. “You’re the ruler of Spirit Point…” Amélie whispered in disbelief, her palms pressed against her forehead, Mandy squirmed on the couch as Alice pressed her back against it anxiously. “Wuh oh, I’ve messed up big time, haven't I? Ms Wimmerson’s not gonna like this,” Alice panicked, “I hope she doesn’t kick your butt!” 

“My butt?! Y-You’re the one who said it!” Mandy furrowed her brows as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “Ms Hyun, I’m really sorry but could we not mention anything about this elsewhere? This is really confidential and I don’t think you realise how dangerous having this kind of info is.” Amélie shook her head before looking up at the Princess, “No no, I understand, i-it’s just a lot to take in. O-Oh gee I really shouldn’t have stuck my nose into this, I’m very sorry…!” The younger demihuman let out a groan and rest her head against the arm of the couch, “Nnnyehnnoo it’s okay, just please promise you won’t say anything, I really mean it.” 

“I-I promise! But... if you’re the Princess then what’s with the…?” Amélie pointed out the difference in Mandy’s hair and the demon blushed in embarrassment, giving her low pigtails a light tug as she curled into herself. “Mum says I gotta look different so no one suspects a thing,” She replied, murmuring, “I told her the zippers would point it out…”

Mandy tugged on her ears as she groaned, "What am I gonna do...!" She stressed, her voice strained. Amélie brought her hands up to her chest as she spoke, "L-Look, I promise I won't say anything to anyone, i-if me knowing this puts your family at risk I won't just tell anyone about what happened. Your secret is safe with me, a-and that's a promise!" Alice nodded along, "Yeah, we can trust Amélie! She never tells secrets, and besides I've known her for a bajillion years!" Mandy let go of her ears and sighed, "Mmmn... I guess so... I trust you." Amélie breathed a sigh of relief, but tensed up the moment Mandy continued to speak.

"But, I'm going to have to tell my mum about this, mmnndon't worry, she won't do anything bad to you, worst case scenario she kicks your butt instead of Alice's." Alice pouted, "Hey! How do you know I'm gonna get mine kicked?!" Mandy’s brows furrowed, “Really? You were the one who told Ms Hyun!”

“Y-You can just call me Amélie–” Amélie got cut off by the two arguing in a joking manner, and she pursed her lips and pressed her fingers to her forehead as Alice squeezed her arm.

What a predicament she got herself into, Amélie thought to herself.