I nervously glanced to the left and then the right. The coast was clear. No sign of Colette in sight. I sent Lily a text and waited for her to open the door.

Emerald Coast was well lit, even at night. Lily’s apartment was close to Saint Freya Academy and just off a major street, meaning I never had any cause for concern traveling to her apartment late at night.

Lily opened the door in an oversized, baggy t-shirt. Her face immediately lit up in joy upon seeing me.

“Yaho, Lily~”

“Aria, come in!”

She ushered me inside and closed the door. I barely made it three steps inside before a soft body hugged me from behind.

“I can’t believe you came!”

“I can’t let you sleep alone knowing you would have a nightmare.”

Lily tightened her hug. She mumbled into my hoodie, but I still managed to make out what she said.

“Most of my friends never came back after the first sleepover.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had thought what happened to me was a rare case, but it sounded like Lily bit everyone who spent the night. With how shocked she was from my state this morning, stripping clothes must be a recent development.

That wasn’t good. Maxwell’s Cursed Mark was growing stronger and as a result, Lily’s remaining time dwindled. I waited until Lily let me go before I turned around and looked her in the eye.

“Lily, listen to me. It is very important that you do not sleep alone. Your nightmares are slowly harming your body. Do you have anyone besides me that you can sleep with?”

“No.”

Lily averted her eyes with a guilty look. As if confessing some great sin, she spoke up in a whisper.

“Colette wouldn’t talk to me for a month the last time we had a sleepover.”

“...Huh?”

A wave of nausea struck me as everything strange about this afternoon suddenly clicked in place. Colette was talking about herself when she asked me how I could be friends with Lily after I spent the night with her.

“What is wrong, Aria?”

“Nothing.”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused back on the present. A pang of nervousness hit me as soon as I saw Lily’s queen sized bed. It was only now that I was finally here that I realized I would be sleeping in the same bed as another girl.

“A-Are you ready to sleep, Lily?”

“What if I bite you again?”

“Relax. I have a plan. I’m borrowing your bathroom.”

I marched into the restroom with more confidence than I possessed. Every look at my reflection in the sink’s mirror sent my stomach into nervous jitters. It was only now starting to sink in that the girl in the mirror was me. I was Alice Phantasmagloria. In this world, I was a girl.

“What are you getting nervous about? You have already seen everything.”

I admonished the girl in the mirror before turning my back on my reflection and getting to work. I took my non-prescription glasses off. I thought about it for a second before I removed my brown colored contact lenses too.

My smooth progress stopped once I had removed my hoodie, blazer, and red ribbon. I took a gulp of air to calm my pounding heart and unbuttoned my white blouse. It took me a few tries on each button because of how my hands trembled.

Once I had my white blouse completely unbuttoned, I did the next part with my eyes closed. I threw off my chest bindings and experienced the true meaning of freedom. Then, I picked up my white blouse by my side and rebuttoned it before opening my eyes again.

Last but not least, I took off my skirt while keeping my track pants on. My several layers of clothing had been reduced to the Saint Freya Academy open back, sleeveless white blouse and the track pants. I didn’t see how anyone could stand wearing such an exposed blouse.

There was one final thing I needed to do. I pressed my hand on the Clean magic tool by the sink. Because of how cheap the apartment was in comparison to Saint Freya Academy, the magic tool only coated my hands with rainbow colored bubbles.

I brought my hands to my face and washed away my makeup with the Clean magic bubbles. I nervously peeked at my new appearance in the mirror from the corner of my eyes. It was the original appearance of Alice Phantasmagloria, minus her sparkling gold hair.

I wasn’t thrilled with my appearance, but at the same time I wasn’t disgusted by it either. It was like the disconnect between my mind and this body was reduced to a minor discomfort. I straightened my back and looked directly at my reflection.

This was me. Lily, Rose, and Colette were all beautiful and I did not lose to any of them. I could stand proudly by their side. All the Terrans on the internet also gave me their blessing.

I wasn’t the loser college graduate who failed to find a job. I was Alice Phantasmagloria, the girl who enchanted thousands of people with her clumsiness in gaining friends. Dad even said that I was part of the family.

Because of that, I could have confidence in myself. I could save the world. I puffed out my chest and its unrestrained size pushed against my blouse. I cracked a smile at how silly I was behaving. I gathered my things and left the bathroom.

“Wow, wow. Lily can’t believe that is you, Aria.”

Lily was so shocked at my appearance that she referred to herself in third person. I dropped my things off in the corner of the room before sitting on the bed with Lily. A pang of nervousness filled me.

“Do you like my appearance like this?”

“Yeah, Lily thinks this is much better. It is like Lily is seeing the true Aria for the first time.”

“Thanks, Lily.”

I leaned back on the bed and I noticed Lily’s eyes followed the sway of my chest. I spoke up on something that had been bothering me since yesterday.

“I appreciate it, but why haven’t you tried touching my chest since the entrance ceremony?”

“You nearly got hurt because Lily was chasing you. Lily was playing around and didn’t mean to do something that you disliked.”

Lily quivered like a sad puppy. I couldn’t help but give her a small concession.

“My chest is off limits, but I do like hugs.”

Lily hugged me. Now that I had removed several layers of clothes, I felt her soft body more clearly than ever. Thankfully, she couldn’t see the blush on my face because we were hugging.

Lily, as I was learning, viewed physical closeness as a sign of friendship. She held back all this time because she was worried she would be hated.

I waited for Lily to be satisfied before crawling into bed. Lily turned off the lights and joined me. Unfortunately, our current arrangement was not going to work.

“You are still wearing that baggy t-shirt?”

“I learned my lesson. Showing each other our naked bodies is something that people in love do.”

Lily’s cheerful tone had me smiling as well.

“That is correct, but that isn’t going to work tonight. Strip.”

Rustling filled my ears as Lily threw off her oversized shirt and laid down again by my side. I nearly jumped from the teasing voice that whispered in my ear.

“You are actually in love with Lily, aren’t you?”

“Your nightmares are because you feel alone at night. They should go away when there is the warmth of another person.”

I tried to push up my glasses to hide my embarrassment, only to realize that I had taken them off. My heart pounded in my chest knowing that I was in bed with a naked girl. Even though Lily had a petite body with modest curves, she was still a beautiful girl. I turned on my side with my back to Lily and said something embarrassing.

“That is why, I’ll lend you my back.”

It wasn’t as wide as Alfonse Lockengard’s back, but I hoped it would grant Lily sweet dreams tonight. For once, I appreciated the wide open back design of the Saint Freya Academy’s uniform.

“Lily… can touch your back?”

“Go ahead. My back is all yours tonight.”

A cool, gentle touch pressed on the center of my back. I suppressed a yelp as a shiver raced down my spine. Lily’s hands roamed the full length of my back. I began to think I made a mistake when her hands strayed dangerously close to my waist, but Lily never overstepped her bounds.

“Woow…”

A breath of admiration leaked from Lily’s lips. I didn’t really understand what there was to admire. After all, this was me we were talking about after all.

I closed my eyes and prayed that Lily wouldn’t be able to hear my noisy heart. I imagined I would be the cool, gentle older sister who couldn’t help but spoil her younger sibling. In reality, I was still the same loner who never maintained close contact with a girl before. I was panicking inside and every sense was hyper focused on the girl laying down next to me.

Nothing could prepare me for the moment Lily hugged my back. Two soft marshmallows pushed into me and a lazy arm draped over my side. A content sigh tickled my ears and my mind went pure white.

It was a very different experience from when my mind blanked out on an interview. I was happy and in that void of thought induced by extremely tense nerves, I could admit that I was doing this as much for myself as I was doing it for Lily.

I was lonely, especially in Evergarden where I had no family. I was a lost raft in the middle of the world ending storm and Lily, Rose, and Colette were the only ones keeping me afloat. Last night was the first time since I became a Player where I slept without having a nightmare of random people cursing me for my incompetence.

My panic gradually receded, like it always did. Lily was snuggled up next to me and my heart began to calm down as I simply enjoyed her presence. The moment was ruined when Lily spoke up.

“Aria, what kind of person would you let touch your breasts?”

“You really like breasts.”

“It is not fair. Share some of yours with Lily.”

I laughed helplessly to myself at Lily’s grumbling. My chest had never been a big deal as Alfonse, but it was the largest symbol of how Alice differed from him. I still wasn’t ready to face that difference head on.

“I would let the person I love touch them.”

“...Lily isn’t going to wake up tomorrow morning touching your chest, is she?”

“I hate that I can’t deny the possibility after what happened last time.”

We chatted a little longer while snuggled together about small things and I felt like our hearts grew closer. I eventually noticed Lily hadn’t replied in awhile.

“...Sweet dreams, Lily.”

— ❀❁✿ —

I had thought I would spend the entire night awake from nerves, but like the night before, I had fallen asleep before I knew it. Lily woke up early and invited me for a morning jog. I had other plans so I declined her invite and logged out shortly after leaving the apartment.

I stretched as Al in the comfort of my own room having returned to Terra. I didn’t think I would be spending too many nights here now that I knew how good of a sleep I could get at Lily’s place. My plan was a success and she did not suffer any nightmares last night.

Rather than catch up on the latest Violent Evergarden trends, I headed downstairs to catch some breakfast. I had just begun pouring cereal into my bowl when a groggy Dad walked in.

“Did you not sleep well, Dad?

“Mmm… I had a bit of a rough night.”

I would normally let the conversation drop here, but Dad’s appearance couldn’t be explained by simply a rough night. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all and his entire appearance was a mess.

“What happened?”

“It is nothing.”

Dad quickly averted his gaze after saying that and busied himself with making breakfast. He usually only looked away from a person in the middle of a conversation when he had a guilty consciousness.

“It clearly isn’t nothing. You are eating your cereal dry when you always have it with milk.”

Dad froze and glanced down at his bowl awkwardly. A deep, weary sigh escaped from his lungs.

“Al, I haven’t known how to tell you this with everything going on lately, but Sariel was chosen as a Player in Violent Evergarden.”

“What!?”

I shot up from my seat at the breakfast table in a panic. I desperately tried to suppress the flood of fear and guilt pouring into my heart.

“You are joking, right? Sariel would have said something to me if she was chosen as a Player.”

“She wanted you to focus on getting a job. This past month, we have barely seen you. We all agreed that we couldn’t let this bit of news overwhelm you with how poorly you were handling the Witch’s Proclamation.”

I didn’t have the strength to protest. Dad was right. Becoming a Player shook me to the very core, in a bad way. I was so focused on my situation that I completely neglected everything else. If I had known… no, it was pointless to speculate on that now.

Dad’s ragged appearance gained an entirely new meaning. I was afraid to ask, but I had to know.

“What happened to Sariel?”

“We don’t know. We haven’t heard from her ever since Violent Evergarden started. Everytime we ask the Witch Hunt Organization, all we hear back is that it is confidential. Your Mom is trying to learn more, but she has not had much luck.”

I wanted to smack my hand over my head. Of course Sariel joined the Witch Hunt Organization. It was the reasonable thing to do. Her continued silence meant one thing.

“Sariel must have formed a contract with a spirit and became a Magical Girl.”

There was no other explanation. Players in Violent Evergarden could log out freely except for those that became Magical Girls. Mom and Dad would never see Sariel in person and the same was true for Alfonse Lockengard.

“I have searched every stream I could find these past few days for any hint of her, but I have had no luck. The closest thing I could find was that girl, Alice Phantasmagloria.”

I was Alice, so that meant we hadn’t found anything notable on other player’s streams. My brain kicked into high gear as I began to think out loud.

“Sariel cares about us just as much as we care about her. She would never choose to become a Magical Girl if she knew it would prevent her from coming back. That means she became one before the news spread.”

My heart threatened to split in two as I imagined the moment my little sister realized that her logout button had disappeared. I grit my teeth and continued that train of thought.

“To be one of the very first Magical Girls, she had to take advantage of game knowledge. That means she started at Astraea Academy where the main story is located.”

There were only so many spirits that were within easy access to a day one player. If I was the Witch Hunt Organization that advocated defeating the Demon King, where would I send my Players?

Nearby spirits that could be acquired within the first day were too weak to pose a threat to the Demon King. A thought crossed my mind and I nearly cursed.

“Dad, this is important. Do you know if Sariel played the video game version of Violent Evergarden at all?”

Dad took a moment to think it over, before a baffled expression appeared on his face.

“You know what, I seem to recall Sariel mentioning that she had been explicitly forbidden from playing the video game. All of her information about Violent Evergarden came from others.”

“Fuck!”

This time, I couldn’t hold back my curse. Witch Hunt Organization… Those crazy bastards really did it. They sent a day one beginner Player into the final dungeon of the game, the World Tree dungeon.