Mognog sighed. Personally, he didn't think almost being overtaken by a strange, hair-based undead was any cool. But Ritzy was a little different when it came to stuff like that.
"As long as you're happy. But you're sure it's dead?"
It might have been Mognog's first time hearing of an undead piece of hair trying to take over and control its summoner. But it wasn't his first time hearing about mind-controlling parasites. And if there was one thing he knew, it was that it was impossible to be too careful.
As soon as the parasite recovered or the host dropped their guard, it could be over in a flash, and the parasite would be in control.
"Eh."
Ritzy shrugged.
"Who knows?"
"Good."
Ritzy's carefree attitude and reckless answer were proof enough that there wasn't anything to worry about. If there actually were a risk of the undead hair parasite making a comeback, Ritzy would have been a lot more excited.
"Now then."
Ritzy turned to Xiotal, who was still in deep thought and racked with anxiety.
She had listened to Ritzy's and Mognog's conversation with one ear. At the same time, she thought about how she could go about preventing her galére's retribution against Ritzy for daring to involve himself with pixie business.
What Ritzy had just mentioned only made her more worried about accompanying him. But she knew she didn't have a choice. And when Ritzy spoke to her, she looked up, startled.
"Hmm?"
Ritzy reached out with his hand, palm side up.
"...Right."
Before they could think about what to do from now on, they still had to settle the payment for Ritzy, kind of saving Xiotal's life.
Xiotal looked Ritzy up and down.
"Do you even have anything to store it with? If you don't, I can always keep it safe for you."
"Hubbah! No bullshit! Gimme my treasure! How I keep it is my business and my business alone."
Xiotal sighed. This is what she would have to put up with if she wanted to maintain her current pseudo-alive state?
"Fi—"
Xiotal's answer was interrupted by a gonging sound gently spreading through her entire den twice like a knock.
"Hello?"
A gentle voice accompanied the sound with an enquiring greeting.
Ritzy and Mognog turned to Xiotal in alarm and surprise.
"Ah, that's the doorbell. It's pretty loud, right?"
"'Pretty loud'? Why didn't you just ring that instead of looking for me? It would have woken you right the fuck up."
Xiotal ignored Ritzy's glare and comment.
"It's Mimilly, a friend. I guess I should greet her and get this situation under control. Grab the unicorn by the horn, as one might say. You two stay here and don't make yourselves noticed if you don't want to get on my galére's bad side. I'll take the hit for this ordeal, and then we can get going."
Xiotal got up from the bed and turned around at the door to caution Ritzy and Mognog not to leave the house.
"Ah, right."
Ritzy stopped Xiotal right as she was about to exit.
"You were poisoned."
"What?"
"Yeah. You ended up like that because someone poisoned you."
"Xiotal? You home yet?"
Xiotal wanted to ask Ritzy to clarify, but Mimilly had probably come for a reason, and sooner or later, Xiotal would lose the opportunity to take charge of how this situation and reveal of her current state to the galére would go down.
So, Xiotal headed out to let Mimilly inside before she left. Besides, Ritzy couldn't possibly know more than that she was poisoned. He wouldn't know who gave it to her or why, so it wouldn't matter even if she stayed to ask him about it.
Xiotal walked to the entrance to her den, troubled by the fact that she had been poisoned. She couldn't understand who or why someone would do that. But before she could figure that out, she had to deal with Mimilly's visit.
She opened the portal from within with a swipe of her hand.
"Oh! Xiotal! You're back!"
Mimilly exclaimed while clapping her hands together in joy. She entered Xiotal's den, and the woman as tall as a shin bone with hair twice as long grew to Xiotal's size as she threw herself at Xiotal in a hug.
"You disappeared without a word! I didn't know what to think! What—Hey…?"
Mimilly let go and held Xiotal at arm's length.
"You don't look so good."
Mimilly furrowed her brow in concern as she looked at Xiotal.
Xiotal grabbed Mimilly's hands.
"That's what you say to me when we haven't seen each other for a while? Thanks a lot."
"You know that's not what I meant!"
"I do. I think I caught the flu or something is what I would have said if I didn't know I can trust you, Mimilly."
"Xiotal?"
Mimilly tilted her head in confusion. In the first place, pixies didn't catch colds or common illnesses that humans did.
"Mimilly, in short, I've died. I was poisoned and—"
"What's that?!"
Mimilly screamed in horror at the Unholy Avatar standing in front of the bulbous wooden house.
"Shiiiiet."
'That's not good.'
"Right. I was getting to that part."
Mimilly stared between Xiotal and the Unholy Avatar, her face twisting in horror.
"You've been cavorting with a—a being like that?! Is that why I haven't been able to reach you?! Because you committed such a sacrilegious act?!"
Mimilly stepped back from Xiotal, frightened by what her dear friend had turned out to be.
"No! Dammit. Listen to me, Mimilly!"
Xiotal tried to take a step closer to Mimilly as she pleaded, but Mimilly held out a hand and stopped her. Mimilly continued backing away slowly.
"I know we're friends, Xiotal. But abominations like that are too much for me. Please let me leave."
Xiotal sighed, and her arms slumped down at her sides.
"I am dead, Mimilly."
"...What?"
Mimilly stopped moving as she looked at Xiotal in a mix of confusion and shock.
"The long story short is that someone poisoned me and turned me into a ghost. I found someone to help me put me back in my body. That…thing belongs to that person."
Xiotal pointed at Unholy Avatar with a resigned expression. With Mimilly's reaction to it, Xiotal would understand if she didn't believe her.
Mimilly straightened her back and stood up straight as if trying to relieve herself of her fears.
"Are you speaking the truth, Xiotal?"
She looked at Xiotal with narrowed eyes as if trying to pick apart any lies. Instead, she sensed the faint aura of death hanging around her friend. The part about her being dead was most likely true, at least.
Milmilly couldn't help but feel sad despite still being able to talk and see Xiotal. Her friend had gone through something horrible and even died without her knowing anything about it.
"I am."
"Why didn't you come to me for help instead of some maker of abominations?"
"I did."
"What?"
Milmilly had no memory of Xiotal asking for help with being dead recently. Naturally, she became distrustful again.
"I tried, but no matter what I did, no one noticed me. I tried so hard…."
Xiotal felt herself grow teary-eyed as she voiced the grievances she had experienced over the last decades.
"But it was like I had stopped existing. No one heard, saw, or felt my presence, even if I flew and shouted right in front of you."
Pixies could go years, decades, and centuries without meeting anyone if they wanted to. It wasn't like they were in a rush to socialize. However, it was a different thing when one wanted to see a friend, was dead, and unable to enter a deep sleep in one's egg.
"Oh, dear…!"
Mimilly lunged forward and enveloped Xiotal in a solid hug again.
"Mmn. I could also only use magic properly in my den. It was hell!"
"Aww, Xiotal. You've been strong to endure this on your own."
Mimilly did her best to comfort Xiotal as she ignored Unholy Avatar's presence. But eventually, Xiotal stopped sniffling and sobbing. So, Mimilly took the opportunity to speak.
"By the way…"
"Yeah?"
Xiotal still rested her head on Mimilly's shoulder.
"That person who helped you…?"
"Yeah? What about them?"
"Where are they right now?"
"Inside."
Xiotal looked up and gestured in the round house's direction.
"I was pretty desperate, so I offered him all of my collection in exchange for helping me. He should be busy collecting it right now."
"I see. What kind of person is it?"
Mimilly wasn't sure what had happened to Xiotal. But if it was a person who could save her when not a single other pixie could see or notice what had happened, they had to be capable.
"He's…"
Mimilly noticed Xiotal's hesitation. The person who helped Xiotal had agreed to take her treasure. Combined with Xiotal's hesitation, Mimilly could only conclude that it wasn't someone she could trust. The Unholy Avatar also ruined Ritzy's image in Mimilly's mind. She looked at the house Xiotal had indicated with wary eyes.