Blood Lily

“Uhhh, hi,” I awkwardly waved to the various strangers staring at me.

It didn’t take long to notice that, while most of the strangers were obviously human in appearance, some seemed… uh… different. A couple had fangs and one had furred arms and claws, which I’m assuming are vampire and werewolf features respectively. But that was just a small portion of the crowd! One feminine appearing figure seemed translucent and spectral, almost like a ghost! Another only had one large hazel eye with one giant bushy eyebrow resting above it, and another was a burly giant reaching over ten feet tall!

Everyone seemed so vastly diverse in nature and personality that it would almost be exciting if not for the fact they all felt mutual second-hand embarrassment from my first impression. Once they realized I was an O’Sang apparent, a few drops of sweat could be heard as they dripped onto the floor, and the giant very visibly swallowed a lump in his throat.

The ghost lady mumbled out what sounded like, “Sorry,” and bowed very quickly before floating away to carry on her business. She floated away. Floated. She was floating while bowing. I don’t even know what to think right now, but the others seemed to all move on.

I couldn’t help but frown as they did. While it wasn’t true for all of them, I could definitely tell a few had a look of fear on them, and some wanted to get away from me as fast as possible. I… I know those looks well, maybe better than anyone. But, even so… it was different. I’m no longer the lowest of the low, I’m the highest of the high. In fact I think that, while it’s still new to me, some even showed a bit of respect?

Well, allowing myself to take a deep breath, I straightened out my scarlet blouse and made sure my lily was snug in my silver hair. Looking around, I could take in the full view of the mall! Seems like I teleported in near the front entrance given the glass doors behind me, various mythological strangers entering and leaving. Most of them gave me a passing glance of recognition like earlier. The inside itself was massive. A crystalline fountain resided in the center of the mall’s lobby, the water so crisp and clear I was tempted to drink straight from it! Obviously a horrible idea, but you get the point. I could see that the mall expanded in multiple directions with multiple floors! The ceiling was, to my surprise, either made entirely of glass or there wasn’t actually a ceiling at all. All I could see was a deep cerulean sky high above! Back down below, though, there were lots of decorations and plants thoughtfully placed here and there, like that one ficus that-

Wait. Where did Birch go? He’s not behind the ficus anymore.

Looking around… I couldn’t find him anywhere! He was so easy to spot the first time, but now it’s like he completely vanished! Why let me see him at all? Just so I know he’s actually there? Maybe…?

Well! I realized I had just been standing here gawking around like a blind bat, so I nervously began my search for the pretzel place! Let’s see, Amber said there were interactives maps and-

“Oh!” I realized aloud, spotting such a map! It appeared to be a board with a flat screen much like my tv and phone, except it had a hyper-realistic view of the mall from an eagle-eye view. With just a few taps, it was easy enough to… oh. It was not easy enough. I do not understand how it works at all.

“Uhhhhh… Pretzel?” I asked out loud, hoping it could recognize my voice?

“Did you mean: Polterpretzels?” it suddenly asked back in a surprisingly realistic voice, startling me.

“U-Uhhhh, yeesss…?” I hesitantly agreed. Only one pretzel place, right?

“Destination assigned. Constructing escort…”

“Huh???” I found myself extremely confused as a bizarre red light formed in the center of the screen and levitated outwards in front of me?!

The light began to take shape until a small winged reptilian creature was casually flapping in the air!

“Holo-whelp constructed. Please follow to destination: Polterpretzel. Have a good day,” the map screen said.

“Wait, wait what the…?” I tried to ask, but the little holo-whelp thing just started flying away. “Hey, wait!”

I started walking after it, noticing both how cute the little tiny draconic thing was, but also that it didn’t seem very… natural. Like, it was flapping its wings, but it seemed more like it was stuck on rails. Ok, now I get that sometimes I mix up science with alchemy, but this has to be alchemy, right? There’s no way this adorable little flying lizard is not magical at all…

Disregarding that curiosity, I continued following it for a few minutes through the mall. It felt so weird to just… be out in the open like this. Just a normal girl doing normal girl things. It kind of made me a bit giddy and happy to think that.

Oh, well I guess I’m not a normal girl because I’m literal royalty and I stick out like a fanged smile. The odd looks from strangers continued the whole way until the little holo-whelp guide suddenly froze in place.

Looking up, I could see a large sign that spelled Polterpretzels! The “polter” part was written with this weird, ephemeral cloud-like texture, while the letters in “pretzel” looked made of, well, pretzels.

“Oh!” I grew excited. This must be the place! I turned to the holo-whelp. “Thank you for your service, little-?!”

I gasped in horror as the holo-whelp started to phase out of existence! The light that composed it in its entirety deconstructed until nothing was left.

I frowned, feeling sad. I know it wasn’t real… but I will forever miss you, nameless holo-whelp that exhibited zero emotions or personality.

The savory aroma of fresh pretzels helped me move on from the tragic loss pretty fast, fortunately enough. The place itself was actually on the third floor, so the tables had a pretty decent view!

Well, I guess all I need to do now is… find Max!

I started looking around for him!

…

I didn’t see him anywhere, so I guess he wasn’t here yet. Plenty of mythological folk enjoying their pretzel meals though. Ohhh, they smell so delicious I just wanna sink my fangs into them…

A-Ahem, well, I figured I should check my texts… which revealed he still hasn’t said anything back. Well, okay, guess I’ll text him again to let him know I’m here…

Me: [Hi. I am here.]

As I awaited for some kind of response, minutes passed and… nothing. Still no word from him.

“Well… guess I’ll just… take a seat,” I mumbled to myself, choosing to sit at a table near the railing for the pleasant view. He’s probably just late!

…

Half an hour passed and I found myself fiddling with my thumbs in boredom. I texted him like once every ten minutes or so… which I don’t think is weird, right? Did I go to the wrong pretzel place or something? And the time is right, right? It was 1:00PM like twenty minutes ago, so I should have been plenty early enough. So… what gives?

Well, just to be sure I wasn’t crazy, I waited another ten minutes. Just to be sure.

Turns out, I wasn’t crazy. He still wasn’t responding to the texts and he was nowhere to be seen. I mean, it’s not the worst thing in the world that he didn’t show up, I wasn’t really interested in getting to know him better, but now I’m worried he didn’t go on purpose just to spite me or something. Which… I don’t know why he would do that, but it’s also worrying due to the whole “maintaining friendly relations with the Louve family” ordeal.

I just… ugh. This depressing, sinking feeling of being unwanted and ignored is a bit too nostalgic. I should probably just say the words for Birch to take me home and-

“Hey.”

Startled, I looked up at the voice.

“Everything uh… okay?” asked someone whose familiarity was as faint as her physical appearance. “You haven’t ordered yet.”

I stared at the person, squinting my scarlet eyes.

…

“Oh! You’re that ghost lady from earlier!” I realized aloud.

She pointed up to the Polterpretzel sign with a conceding smile. “Hah. Yeah. I work here, Ms. O’Sang.”

I remembered that she was there when I embarrassed myself earlier and, once again, felt embarrassed. “Ah, r-right. Sorry…”

She floated in place, shrugging. “It’s all good. It was just, um… hard not to notice one of the new vampire royals just, like, chilling in our shop with this look like she just got stood up on a date.”

I smiled glumly.

“Oh,” she oh’d guiltily. “Welllllll… did you want to order something anyway, or…?”

I got the distinct impression she doesn’t get paid enough to deal with this. Valid, honestly.

“Um, yeah sure,” I answered, my hopes rising a bit as I recalled Amber’s recommendation. “I guess a regular pretzel with the Five-Cheese Bacon Dip and Blood Salt? Oh and um, would it be okay if I could explore around while eating it?”

“To go, then? Sure,” she said, pausing before curiously lifting a spectral brow. “Oh, guessing you know Amber? Makes sense since she works at your place. I’ll be back soon enough with your order.”

“Ah, wait!” I tried to stop her. “How do you know Am… ber…?”

She didn’t stop. Well ok, now I’m curious. Curious and patient. After just a few minutes, she returned with the pretzel.

“Here you are. I’ll put it on the O’Sang tab,” she said, presenting me with a large, freshly-made fluffy pretzel! The salt crystals on it had this red tint, and the requested dip was off to the side, the whole thing on a disposable tray!

“I-It looks delicious!” I said, my mouth starting to water. But before I dig in… “How do you know Amber?”

She froze, already halfway turned away to leave. She slowly turned back around, and I noticed her cheeks were… less transparent and more opaque? Oh, I think she was blushing. Ghosts can blush?

“E-Err,” she started, “well, Amber is a regular here, that’s all. Have a good d-”

“Wait!” I said again. “Do you know her? Oh, are you maybe friends with her?”

Her eyes darted away, the phantasmal blush deepening. “N-Not really, just had a few chats sometimes is all.”

Huh. What’s with that reaction…? “Okay, and thanks for the-”

“T-Tell her I said hi if you see her!” she squeaked, floating away hastily.

???

“Ooookaaaayyy…?” I confusedly said to myself as she left. I’m just going to deposit this experience into the back of my mind until I see Amber again. That sounds like a good plan, yup.

Anyway, since Max clearly wasn’t going to show up and still hadn’t responded to any of my texts, I decided I wouldn’t let the day go to waste by going ahead and exploring the mall myself! I held my pretzel tray with one hand, and lifted the baked goods up with my other to eat as I walked!

Amber really wasn’t lying, this place was pretty massive. I was still enjoying the view of the third floor, so I blindly meandered around while window shopping. Though I guess if I really wanted something, I could just… buy it with the O’Sang family balance. I must exercise self-discipline, though, and not overdo it!

The pretzel’s heavenly aroma was calling my name, however, so I gently lowered it in the cheesy bacon dip. I lifted it up carefully, the melted cheese slowly running along the baked exterior of the pretzel. My fangs pierced into it as I took my first bite. The texture was satisfyingly just right, and the dip was just as I imagined it: savory and scrumptious! But that wasn’t all! There were tiny bursts of flavor as the blood salt broke apart, the niche but irresistible taste of sanguine spice complimenting everything else in a way I’d never think possible!

“Ahhhhh, sooo gooooooood,” I murmured to myself, standing still and simply savoring it. I love food so much. I’ll really have to thank Amber for making this trip worthwhile. Maybe next time Amber and Millie can come with me and-

Crack!

A whip-like sound reminiscent of a lightning bolt made my eyes shoot wide open in shock. I froze, turning to discern the source.

“Ugh!” a girl in a lilac dress furiously groaned as she stood next to a boy dressed in black, her hand raised. “You are so unbelievable!!!”

The boy looked down, seemingly in shame, and leaned against the railing silently.

The girl stormed off away from him, passing by me as she did. Though… she stopped for a moment once she noticed me.

Standing up straight, she adjusted her posture and looked me up and down. She brushed her deep carmine hair back and glared at me, her crimson eyes possessing the slightest blue tint that almost made them seem violet overall. Almost.

“You?” she said, lifting a brow. “Hrmph, do yourself a favor and stay away from that one.”

I just stared, wide eyed and clueless. I awkwardly swallowed my food to respond, but she left and continued on her way, clearly holding no desire to stay here for a chat.

I blinked, looking back and forth between where she marched off to and the boy as he looked off in the distance. His shadowy black hair kind of seemed familiar from behind, so curiosity compelled me to disregard the strange girl’s advice and approach.

Stepping up beside him, he didn’t really seem to notice me. I leaned forward to take a peek at him, and… I could immediately tell that the crack sound from earlier was the result of a slap to his cheek. But beyond that, I could recognize a deep, sorrowful expression painted on his face. I could recognize the pain embedded in his frown, and I could even recognize his familiar blood red eyes as they darted over and locked with mine. It was… kind of hard not to get lost in them. Their shade of red was so much more intensely dark than the lighter scarlet belonging to mine. Ah, but wait… he suddenly seemed different. Warmer? He started smiling. It kind of made me want to smile, too. Now that I think about it, I had definitely seen this face before. It belonged to… t-to…

I gasped, feeling my heart skip a beat when I realized who it was I had been staring at so casually for who knows how long!!

“S-Sebastian?!”

“Lily,” he kindly smiled. “Fancy meeting you here.”