Tomorrow was the day that Amélie was going to see the Fiery Festival in person for the first time, and she couldn’t be happier. It was one thing to see it happen on television, but another to be there in the moment, and Amélie was joyous to finally be able to see not only the Fiery Festival, but the remaining ceremonies as well.

It wasn’t well known for demons of other origin to attend events unrelated to their element, rather if you came to one without the assistance of a demon originating from that element, you might as well consider yourself lost the moment you step in. The only exception to this is the Ghostly Gala, which celebrates all demon life and is the ceremony that all demons are welcome to attend within the week that it lasts for.

But today was the 7th of December, the last day to celebrate the lives of demons, alive or not, for this year. Sweets and tasty treats were almost all that any demon could see, especially if you were of ghost origin living in Spirit Point. It’s a common misconception that the Ghostly Gala should be treated like Halloween, but in truth the Ghostly Gala was all about respecting those who passed, hoping that the ghosts of loved ones will continue to live on and someday peacefully reincarnate into a new body.

But of course being a ghost demon comes with their own misconceptions about the other ceremonies, and Amélie wanted to be corrected on facts towards the rest of her fellow demonfolk. The short demihuman hummed as she reread the letter, looking for the phone number that was listed on it. She found what she was looking for under the name of Amanda and dialled the number, listening to the high-pitched voice that picked up.

“Mmmello, this is Mandy speaking.” Amélie smiled as she spoke, “Hi, sorry! It’s Amélie, I-I totally forgot to ask for your sister’s phone number yesterday, so I was wondering if you could let her know I called?” Mandy pursed her lips and held her phone closer to her ear, “Oh… uh…” She mumbled, “You mean Nadia? Mmyeah uh… She’s not at our house right now but I can text her for you.”

“That would be nice, thank you!” The sound of Mandy fiddling with her phone was all that could be heard for a moment, “It might take a while, sorry, my hands are pretty big,” the young ruler apologised, “No worries, take your time!” 

Little grumbles could be heard from the other side of the call for what felt like a while until it abruptly stopped, “Sorry that took longer than it usually does, uh… She said ‘Hi darling, how’s your day?’ Mn. Wait sorry not that, hold on,” She mumbled in an embarrassed tone as she skimmed through the message, “I asked if I could give you her number and she said yes, so uhm… I’ll just text it to you.”

“Thanks so much, you’re a lifesaver!” Amélie cried, Mandy smiled but then looked around nervously, opening her mouth to speak. “Uhm… Alice told me you were very smart…” 

“O-Oh? Did she? I mean I was a couple grades ahead from the other kids growing up, but I’m not that smart.” Mandy’s eyes widened slightly, “Really? Like… grades, grades ahead?” Amélie hummed and Mandy’s eyes sparkled, leaning in closer to her phone. “Uhm… I’m supposed to be looking for a new tutor after the last one quit, uh…” Amélie tilted her head, “A tutor? Do you need help with your assessments?”

“Oh, uh… No, I just like studying.” The red panda admitted shyly, “It helps me focus on one thing at a time ‘cuz my head tends to get all fuzzy with all the v…” Mandy bit her lip to stop herself as she thought for a moment, realising ‘all the voices’ would make her sound a little crazy. “...subjects that I work on.” She opted to say instead, wriggling her body over the little fib she told.

“Sure! I don’t mind at all, I could even do it for free if you’d like?” Amélie could hear confused mumbling from the other side, “Are you sure? Not even a little bit of money?” The older demihuman hummed to say yes. “Really…? ‘Cause we usually just pay my tutors 2,000 dust for each sesh. Mmit’s not that big of a deal but it’ll get you some food at least.”

…

Some food at least?!

Amélie stuttered as she tried to respond to the rather shocking amount of money, sure Mrs Vevina paid well but not as insane sounding as this! She brought a shakey hand over her mouth as it hung open, surely royalty doesn’t pay that much for a measly little tutoring session, but the Wimmersons begged to differ.

“Y…You can just pay me 20.” the older demon said in defeat, 2,000 was too much for a girl like Amélie Hyun, her relatives may be well off but she considered herself to be a hard-working lady. Well… If getting paid 400 by the government a week for uni and living on instant ramen was anything to go by. “So that’s… a yes?” Mandy asked, fiddling with her zipper.

“It’s a yes.” Amélie could hear Mandy’s smile as she replied with a simple ‘oh, okay,’ and smiled as well, reaching the back of her head to take off her hair tie, her hair falling out of its previously done-up ponytail.

“A-Again so sorry! I should’ve called about it earlier too.” She sighed as Mandy told her it was fine, they said their goodbyes before Mandy hung up. Amélie rested her head on her pillow as she looked up from the ceiling, drifting off to sleep as she thought about how fun tomorrow would be.

~

Amélie’s eyes shot open as her alarm clock went off, her poor sensitive ears blasted with the constant noise. She dug her left ear into the mattress as she reached for her alarm with her right arm, relieved that it stopped right as she pressed down on it. The demon groaned as she lowered her hand to where her phone was on her bedside table, mumbling nonsense to herself as she brought her phone closer.

She blinked slowly as she searched for Nadia’s number, she dialled it and hummed as she waited for her to pick up. Amélie’s ears perked up to the sound of blanket-shuffling and pursed her lips anxiously. “H…Hello?” She spoke with no reply, the demihuman pulled her phone away with a puzzled look on her face, bringing it back to her ear.

“Hello?” Amélie could hear nothing but more awkward shuffling from her phone as seconds passed.

…

OH.

“O-Oh shoot, sorry!” She panicked, Amélie hung up faster than she dialled Nadia’s number, her cheeks a very bright pink upon remembering that Nadia doesn’t speak. That was embarrassing. Amélie opened her message app instead, sending the Princess a text.

Amélie: Hello!! So sorry about that, I totally forgot! (sent at 9:37am)

Nadia: You are alright, do not worry (sent at 9:37am)

Nadia: Amélie was it? It is nice to meet you :) (sent at 9:37am)

Amélie: Yeah! Nice to meet you too ^^ (sent at 9:38am)

Amélie: Sorry if I end up asking a lot of questions, but how’re we gonna get there? (sent at 9:38am)

Nadia: It is quite simple! I will make a portal that goes straight to the festival, then we go from there (sent at 9:38am)

Amélie gulped, shaking her head in an attempt to stay determined about the trip before she replied.

Amélie: Are you sure that’d be okay? I wouldn’t want to put a strain on your powers (sent at 9:40am)

Nadia: No need to fret, demons from the royal family hold more stamina than others, I will be alright (sent at 9:41am) 

Amélie nodded to herself and grinned ear to ear as she read up on what was to be done today, a meeting between her and the rest of the Wimmerson family, along with the Jacks. She let out a squeal as she accepted Nadia’s offer to tour her around the festival, her tail wagging intensely.

Minutes passed, and with the sound of the doorbell going off Amélie sprinted to the door, tote bag on her shoulder, ready to head outside. The small demihuman opened the door and was greeted with a woman she didn’t recognise alongside a disguised Nadia, she was quick to realise it was Amira in a different look and turned to scan the apartment to see if her sister was anywhere to be seen.

“Amyyy, I’m heading out!” Amélie yelled, she was met with Amy’s voice bouncing back to her from her room that let her know she had the thumbs up to go ahead, and Amélie stepped out into the hall with the other two. Nadia opened up a portal for the trio to walk through, and it seemed to take them right to the festival as Amélie’s eyes sparkled in awe at the sight of it, recounting the videos and photos she’s seen of the inside.

She readied herself for the nausea before walking through, keeping herself up as best she could as the other two followed, and as she opened her eyes she was met with a beautiful sight of the Fiery Festival, torches standing all about with food stands available almost everywhere one could look, along with multiple competitive activities being held within the brightly-lit area. 

She watched as players shot balls into hoops and celebrated with a rather strong high-five, wincing as one of them held their wrist and reeled back in pain, it was almost as if she could feel it too, poor fellow.

“Amélie?”

The small demon whipped her head around to see Amira hand-motioning her to come with her and the Princess, and Amélie obliged, remaining close behind the other two as they made their way around the place.

Nadia looked back every now and then to make sure Amélie was still there, shooting the shorter demihuman a smile to which Amélie would nervously smile back, her grip on her tote bag getting tighter every time the taller woman looked right into her eyes. They were a pretty blue that complimented her disguised appearance, and Amélie found herself moving to the side to try and see them from an angle as they walked, she stopped upon realising how funny she must’ve looked, and meekly focused her eyes on ground.

“Yoooo Amélie!” A voice suddenly called out, Amélie searched around nervously for the source, spotting a familiar face.

Olivia, Grace’s older sister, was looking right at her with a chilled-out expression. Amélie turned to Nadia and Amira who seemed cautious, “A-Ah— Friend.” Was all Amélie could get out in time as she waved at the redhead, biting her tongue as Olivia squinted her eyes at the girls behind her. “Whoosat?” She said, biting into a chilli pepper to Nadia’s bewilderment.

Amélie stammered as her older friend got up close, wanting to shake the hands of the poor demihuman’s friends she wasn’t aware of. 

“Name’s Olivia, I don’t think I’ve met you guys before, and I know everybody,” She bragged, “You two new in town?” Nadia nodded and Amira responded rather quickly, “Yup, my bestie and I are just visiting for the festival, what about you?” 

Wow… that was weird.

The short demon did her best to keep her jaw connected to her head as Amira’s response landed perfectly yet uncannily into the conversation. She nodded her head slightly, deciding to try and get used to that ahead of time.

“Ahh I see,” Olivia ate the last bit of chilli pepper like it was nothing to the Princess’ unbroken awe and leaned in towards Amélie to pinch her cheek, “Man if Grace were here she’d be ecstatic to see you hanging out with more people, her cute little baby’s all grown—“

Amélie squeaked as she weakly shoved her friend away, resulting in a chuckle from the much older girl. “Oh! I should let Grace know actually. What’re your names?” She asked, using poor Amélie as an armrest.

“I’m Bo, this is Nadia, she’s kinda famous around these parts.” Amélie’s face scrunched up in confusion and turned to Nadia who seemed flattered by Amira’s words, and Olivia’s eyes widened as she recalled something she heard not too long ago. “I know a fellow actress when I see one, Nadia Wimmerson ain’t it? My little sis teaches you choreography.” 

Somehow Amélie forgot that the Princess was a musical actress, she watched as her friend put her hand up for a high-five and a puzzled but confident Nadia gave her one, the conversation now shifting into each others’ experiences as actresses. Amélie never really thought about Olivia’s career much, if you could even call it that, actually she’d rather avoid thinking about it at all just to spare her dear friend. 

The small demihuman stopped thinking to herself as she felt Amira’s hand on her shoulder, the guardian’s hand gestures implying that they had to get going, and Amélie silently nodded in reply, interrupting the two by holding Olivia’s hand with both of her own.

The older woman whipped her head around to face her with an almost familial look of concern, and with a nervous smile Amélie mumbled out an apology. “S-Sorry to have to cut this short, a-and I’m sure we could hang out sometime soon! But we’re kinda in a rush…” Olivia’s expression was quick to soften as she pulled her hand away from Amélie’s.

“You’re alright kid, I’m gonna go find me another pepper. Ooh! I should see if anyone has the ones from Alto’s Growl, y’know, those really spicy ones?” Amira shook her head as a cringing Nadia continued to stare at Amélie’s rather bizarre friend, she giggled nervously and shrugged, giving Olivia a wave before catching up with the two. Amélie slipped herself beside Nadia and squeaked as the taller demon placed a hand on her shoulder.

Was putting a hand on people’s shoulders a common thing in demon royalty? Amélie was almost convinced that it was. With a shaky exhale Amélie glanced up at her, her breath hitching as the ruler caught her eyes on her. Nadia simply smiled and put her focus back on the crowds ahead of them, but for a moment Amélie felt a tingling sensation in her shoulder and it stuck with her for a minute, her eyes neglecting the people and scenery around them.

Nadia must be really pretty under her disguise, Amélie thought. 

She hoped it matched her eyes.