Lillian was too entranced to acknowledge it as Lucid Chaos granted the wish without questioning it. The cloaked man turned towards the voice that called him by a name that wasn't his own, but seeing nothing, he remained committed to his sock.
"Kassy, Kassy, Kassy" echoed from Lillian's mouth, her words repeating like a toy with only one pre-recorded message.
"Kassssyyyy, it's all for youuuu; your wish is granted," he said, embracing the flow of nature. Water dripped from the hem of his cloak, mingling with the rainwater in the bath where Larisa stood. The golden hues blended with the murky purples, browns, and subdued colours of mould. Thankfully, his new outfit allowed him to conduct his business without disrobing or getting his shorts wet.
Lillian's trance was abruptly shattered by her ringing phone. Remembering she had numerous alerts and cat pictures to catch up on, she noticed the caller ID displaying "Kassy." With a mix of excitement and nervousness, she answered the call, her hands still damp and trembling from the water, holding her nose to avoid the foul stench of urine filling the air, and tried to remain composed.
The moment had finally arrived. Lillian was about to speak to her idol, something she'd dreamed of her entire life, even though Kassy had only been singing and in the spotlight for two years. Being the first person to hear her non-singing voice was incredibly special; no one ever had this opportunity before.
"K-kat, K-kat, K-katty," she stuttered, struggling to speak.
"Yo, what's the word? Heard you're feelin' my tracks, yeah?"
"Yes, uh... What's up? I mean, I do..."
"So, what's the deal, dawg?"
"I-is this Kassy?" She finally pronounced the name correctly.
"Kassy in your face! Straight fire, no cap, ya feel me?"
Lillian heard strange scratching in the background, followed by the sound of someone munching on munchies.
"I-it is... It's just... Your voice isn't what I expected. And that accent and lingo..."
"People expect one thing, get another. B-but hey, surprise is part of the game, right?" She chewed food loudly.
"What game? I am so c-c-confused." Lillian stuttered nervously as she spoke, pulling the phone away from her ear because the munching sounds unsettled her AD-HD 4K, surround sound-sensitive ears.
"'What game?' you ask?! Wondering where I'd been? Well, I ain't ashamed to say it... I got hooked on this game called 'Bloody Blobby'! Gotta squeeze blood from that stone to win the big prize. I gonna keep pounding that screen harder each time. Someone's gonna crack Blobby soon and cash in, and mark my words, it'll be me. Put my grind on hold 'til I take that win! Ain't no chance I'm backing down now, dawggo. The new song I dropped yesterday should help fund me a few more goes."
A long time passed. Kassy went on and on about this Bloody Blobby game she was obsessed with, losing track of time. Lillian felt a bit light-headed from all the odours and smells lingering in the air. The sound of Kassy smacking her phone again, followed by chewing, snapped Lillian out of her daze.
"That whack cracked Blobby open! Ah, never mind, just another crack on my screen." She chewed her food loudly and slurped a drink.
The loud thumps made Lillian jump out of her skin every time she heard them. Nervously, she stuttered, "Th-the prize... you can't just buy it, right? I mean, since you're Kassy, the most famous and popular musician and singer in the world with, um, millions of money and everything?"
"Chomp, chomp, chomp. You can't buy, chomp, chomp, winning at life, chomp. It's something you gotta earn, chomp."
Another loud thump followed, accompanied by the shattering of glass and an electric crackle. A loud 'pop' erupted from Kassy's phone as she continued thumping Blobby hard, causing Lillian to stumble and almost drop her phone. She regained her grip, only to find the signal lost, likely due to Kassy's forceful pounding on her phone.
Then, a bat-like object struck her face—but it wasn't a bat; it was the 'Legendary Sock of a Single Grand Wish'. A butterfly flapped its wings on the other side of the world, causing a gust of wind that knocked the sock out of Lucid's hand and onto her face. Lucid, unaware the sock had left his hands, remained standing there, mumbling drivel, and still peeing, "Shish, wishez ar bein' granteed, ya know? An' bliss of... wund'ment, it's like, floodin' the skyzzz, man! Rays... rays amit."
"GET THIS OFF MY FACE!!" The sock was stuck to her face and nearly reached her mouth before she swatted it away. It splashed into the bathwater, which now overflowed with pure golden liquid. Overwhelmed by the smell, she quickly pulled herself out and left the bathhouse, only to see Eliza.
Eliza glanced over at Lillian and smiled. "So your wish went swimmingly? You were talking to Kassy for over an hour."
Lillian paused thoughtfully. "Did I... oh, it went... hmm..." Now calm and no longer entranced, she shared some old wisdom with Eliza. "You know the saying, 'never meet your heroes'? That rings true here, so don't respond to the ringing."
Her phone no longer rang because she broke it, but that's beside the point.
"Lillian, what are you on about? 'Never meet your heroes'?"
"Because..."
"Don't you mean 'heroines'? Kassy is a girl."
Lillian questioned the latter.
"Totally," drawled an unfamiliar voice from the background.
"Like, totally for realsies!" chimed in another voice from afar.
Whose voices are those in the background?! She turned around to find Amii Ling and Princess Pensée standing there, looking confidently smug and proud in their own makeshift world, not acknowledging anyone else.
"We nailed it, girl," Amii said, flipping her hair.
"We worked hard together in 'The Mask' event and absolutely deserve the best wishes ever," Pensée said with a grin.
Lillian wasn't in the mood to talk to them right now. Of course, Pensée deserved a wish for being such a big help (even though she left early)—practically our left-hand swiping woman in defeating Xinx alongside the rest of the Pro Tags. She hadn't expected the duo of Amii and Pensée to make their wish right now while they were present. Something as special as a wish wasn't something you could cash in right away. Who knew how often Lucid would be in the bathhouse with his 'sock'? They were seizing the moment to make their wish. She just hoped they wouldn't waste it like she had, unintentionally asking for something superficial instead of making an intentional superficial wish.
As Lillian watched Eliza, Kai, and Gig-git enter the bathhouse, she noticed some of the yellow liquid seeping under the door. Gig-git went, "YAK YAK YAK," and Eliza responded with a louder, "YAK YAK YAK," a playful exchange of dominance.
Lillian spoke up, "Be careful not to yak inside the bathhouse under the sock, or you might end up with a wish for hairy cattle."
Eliza lifted her hands and said, "Yak to the hand," raising her palm towards Lillian. Gig-git lifted his paw, and Eliza added, "And yak to his paw," before they walked in to make their wish.
She then noticed Larisa attempting to pick her nose up ahead, but her hand passed through, poking her ghostly brain. Larisa giggled, floating gleefully towards Lillian, saying, "Oh, I know exactly what they're going to wish for!"
Lillian looked at her curiously. "So you were eavesdropping, huh? Did you hear them say that?"
"Hehe, it was pretty obvious!" Larisa intoned with a spectral glow. "They adore Gig-git so much, they're definitely wishing for him to become a real doggo! They never shut up about Gig-git, Eliza, and Kai. Not 'you and me.' It's just that... well, you know what they've been talking about."
"But why? He is a real doggo. He's a VR doggo created by a computer, brought to life with Dinglebarry Realisation technology, integrated into the physical world," Lillian pondered aloud. "Why would she care about what they do or don't do with Gig-git? Is she... hinting at something? "Oh no, I could have made a wish for Larisa to be a real person, but I had squandered my wish."
She walked over, attempting to hug Larisa, but ended up hugging a tree. She closed her eyes, pretending it was Larisa anyway, and said regretfully, "Next time we win... I will... wish for you to be a real human!"
She stepped away from the tree and gazed at Larisa with her enchantingly sparkling eyes, filled with awe.
"That's the spirit!" Larisa giggled. "But I adore being a ghost. It means I can be even closer to you."
Lillian looked at her in puzzlement.
Larisa continued excitedly, "Closer than close! Even closer than that! Giggle, literally... inside you...~" Feeling Larisa's presence intimately within her, Lillian felt her ghostly wisps of hair swirling around her face like a whirlwind of ethereal strands, tickling her senses. The sensation was oddly fantastical, leaving Lillian feeling light-headed yet strangely at peace. She felt full, as if she had just indulged in a greasy but mystical feast of nondescript meat.
Larisa stepped out of Lillian's embrace, leaving her breathless as they locked eyes. "That... was quite the experience," Lillian gasped.
An experience Lillian would cherish and remember for the rest of her life, but one that Larisa might have already forgotten as she called out to two familiar faces she thought were friends, lingering around the swamps of Heart-ling Forest.
"Yo-hoot! Hoot hoot?! (Why Larisa was speaking like an owl now was anybody's guess.) It's me! Remember when we played games together? Do you remember me? Please say you do."
Larisa grabbed Princess Pensée's leg, reminding her of how she had helped during the Xinx fight by pinning her down, and did the same to Amii Ling. Princess Pensée exchanged a disgusted look with Amii Ling. She shook her leg as if an overly eager dog were climbing up it. After freeing herself, Princess Pensée resumed gossiping with Amii Ling, hoping that ignoring Larisa would make her go away.
"I'm a member of the Pro Tags!! Yay!! Pro Tag power!!" Larisa exclaimed excitedly, gesturing for a high five.
Princess Pensée finally turned around. "You were a temporary member of the Pro Tags. Not anymore. We don't accept ghosts."
"Why choose to be a ghost? Why not go for a vampire instead? Ghosts are just... not it."
"She definitely isn't 'it.' Maybe more like Stephen King's IT," Amii Ling chuckled at Princess Pensée's witty remark.
Larisa addressed what they said, "'Why did I pick being a ghost?' I didn't really pick it... it's the way I was born, or whatever. I was born as a ghost... since birth."
Amii, sensing Larisa's attempt at humour, swiftly shut her down. "That's great," Amii Ling said, continuing, "we're in the midst of brainstorming our wish here, and you're being a distraction."
Princess Pensée agreed, "Yes! And we need to think hard about a wish. We need a wish that is truly monumental and world-changing! The ultimate wish to surpass all others. A wish that will make us legends and be remembered for all time."
"I know exactly what, girl," Amii Ling whispered the wish to Princess Pensée, who nodded in agreement.
"Wow, that is a great idea for a wish."
Larisa hovered off, knowing she wouldn't reel in any information from them, even if she had bait.
(•ω•)