Momentarily, everything around me became eerily silent. All background noise disappeared, and the only things I could see in my immediate vision were Eliza and, Larisa staring at me as if I were some sort of demon from hell. I didn't say anything; I just stood there in unsettling silence until Eliza finally spoke. Eliza's voice quivered as she sobbed, making her words difficult to understand. "How could you... say such a thing? Such a low blow! What did I do to deserve that?" Her eyes welled up with tears, and she managed to say between her cries, "I thought we were... friends!"
"Eliza..." I muttered. She turned her back on me and walked away.
Larisa followed suit, strolling alongside Eliza, then circling back towards me as if waiting for me to catch up. Just as I began to move, it seemed Larisa recalled her frustration with me and strode ahead. I continued to walk at a leisurely pace behind the two of them.
"Such a fuss over two mere StarrGazers... urgh, Elijahs, or whatever title you give your trivial followers," Ashlyn said right beside me.
How long had she been there?! It sounded as if she had heard the whole thing. At least Ashlyn wasn't mad at me as well for the silly non-comment.
"Come, Ms. Lily Stargazer, don't keep your fans eagerly awaiting," she said, gesturing for me to follow her.
"My fans"?! Was she sarcastically mocking me because of what I had said about Eliza losing two followers? She had lost those followers because of the stalling. Eliza hadn't delivered the promised ghost cat content. We still had time to see this cat. I mean, Eliza losing followers was the last thing I wanted, and I was sure we still had time to see the ghost cat, even if the content was delivered late.
We were now deep within the shopping district, specifically in the entertainment square. A group of people were actively engaged in some unusual activity. It was challenging to discern the nature of their actions; all I could perceive were individuals dressed in white, dancing and chanting what seemed to be a peculiar chant. I couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of demonic cult. The air had an unsettling odour, like blood. It was a change from the smell of urine, but not a much better one. The people ahead appeared to be acting strangely. Despite the eerie scene, Ashlyn remained fearless, steadily advancing towards the crowd.
I found myself halting, hoping that Ashlyn remained unaware of my pause. I contemplated my options. Should I flee or stay? My thoughts were consumed with concern for Larisa and Eliza. I momentarily lost sight of them, and prayed they were safe, far from the clutches of these enigmatic, malevolent-looking individuals.
"Lily Starrling!" Ashlyn called out loudly. "Do you wish to lose followers as well? You've only just acquired them! Get a move on, will you?"
This was the first time I'd heard Ashlyn raise her voice. "Do I want to lose followers as well?" I pondered what she had just said. Was she going to do something to affect my newfound popularity from pictures she had taken of me somewhere? What did she mean? I didn't know her well enough to trust she had my best interests at heart.
I looked ahead and saw something just as unsettling as a demonic cult sacrificing a squeaky toy to a pet dog. I saw many people who appeared to be naked. Well, not exactly naked; they were in the freezing cold, icy autumn wind, wrapped in the same fox-girl-clad towel I had been wearing when Ashlyn took that photo of me earlier today outside my home. They were engaged in some sort of ritual. No, wait, they were repeating lines from the Cosmic Lunar Vixen show, the same one the fox-girl was from.
As I got closer, they didn't seem as menacing as I initially thought. At least... at least these people seemed happy, though perhaps not very approachable. I heard lines being exchanged between them, like "Vixen Makeup Prettifier!" and "Cosmic Girl Tail Whip!"
I noticed a couple of them wore fox-girl ears. Surprisingly, it wasn't just females, even though it was a very feminine show. There were people of all ages and sizes there. Some were rather beastly and quite hairy.
I observed them for a while, feeling a sense of unease that prompted me to take a few steps back.
Ashlyn intentionally bumped into me and stared at me with a disapproving look. I already knew what she was giving me that look for without her having to say a word.
I asked, stuttering, "Are you sure they...?" I trailed off and didn't finish the sentence. I started again, "I think they just like... the Cosmic Lunar Vixen show and don't want me to ruin..." I struggled to find the correct word and simply said, "to ruin their party."
"Lily! Treat your fans with respect and interact with them! They are here for you! Now go!"
"Aren't they StarrGazers? They could be your fans and not mine."
"They are not StarrGazers; they are Lily-riff-raff! You can tell they are not StarrGazers because they seem a bit... 'eww' and 'yuck.'"
"They were what!?" I wondered. If they were indeed my fans, I wanted them to understand that I genuinely appreciated them, and I held no negative judgments. They might have had their distinct qualities, but that's what made us all special in our own ways.
Reluctantly, I slowly made my way towards the horde of people and tried to find someone who was the most approachable and least threatening-looking. There was a blue-haired girl standing behind all of them who didn't seem to be chanting with the others, and she seemed quite harmless. So, I slowly approached her until I saw a tall woman with a beehive haircut and dark black hair who excitedly shouted, "It's her!! I didn't recognise you with clothes on."
"It's really her! It's Lily Foxy-Vixen."
"You didn't recognise me with clothes on?" I felt my cheeks flush, avoiding glancing back at Ashlyn or checking on Larisa and Eliza, wherever they were. I had no desire for them to overhear this conversation; I wanted to pretend those words had never been spoken. "I am... just Lilly, plain old Lilly."
"No, you are Lily Foxy-Vixen," the girl said, holding out her phone. At first, I was afraid to look since she mentioned that I looked different with clothes on. What she was about to show me sent shivers down my spine, but I mustered the courage to glance at it as the camera was thrust in my face and I couldn't really 'not look.' Fortunately, it turned out to be one of Ashlyn's photos, capturing me in the fox-girl towel with the caption "Lily Foxy-Vixen."
"Foxy-Vixen? Wasn't that a bit redundant? It was basically repeating the same word twice. The thing that irked me the most about this whole situation was Ashlyn's spelling of my name as 'Lily.' My name was precious to me, and it was my true form of identity. I wished she would spell it and say it with the double 'L.' You could even see it was recently edited from 'Lillian' to 'Lily,' with her forgetting to remove the strike-through text."