Work Text:
I First Met Him in a Dream...Or Something
What was this..?
White Lily ran across the checkered floor which never seemed to end. They seemed so clean that she would think she'd see her reflection, but to no avail. She was rushing, that's what she thought, and felt as if she had no time to simply stand and stare.
An exit sign..! She ran to what seemed like stairs but..The black-and-white staircase felt like a floor, no longer serving its function as the stairs she had used countless times before. Everything seemed like an illusion, but fortunately (?) it didn't last long. She mustered her strength to open the door, and there... pure destruction spread out before her.
A boy with blonde hair launched himself to the figure, thousands of feet into the air to be thrown into a building, but dodged the building, and the rest of the monster's...no, witch's attacks.
White Lily gasped. "That's horrible...!"
"There's no helping it." A higher, almost child-like voice came from behind the second year middle schooler. A cake hound. "This was too much for him to handle alone," it said, even despite the gravity of the situation, its cute smile remain unchanged. "But he came here knowing that."
The boy was hit by one of the witch's attacks, throwing him into another building nearby. "But..that's too much! This can't be right!" White Lily exclaimed. The boy seemed overwhelmed, though his stoic expression stayed the same. He'd found himself laying on an extremely massive pure black tree, tired eyes making contact with White Lily's horrified ones,
"If he gives up, it's over." The cake hound said. "But you have the power to change fate itself.."
"All this inevitable destruction and tragedy...You can change it, if you want." What was this? The start of some tragic bargain? No, not possibly. "The power to do so lies within you." White Lily took a step forward on shaky legs. "Can I really?"
The boy had fell again.
"Can I really do something to help?"
"Could I really change this ending?" The cake hound seemed to bounce with joy. "Of course you could..."
"So make a contract with me...and become a magical girl!"
~
White Lily woke up, hugging the same pink bunny plushie she always did, every morning. She looked around the room for a few moments, before sighing. How stressful! "It was all just a dream?"
~
"Good morning, Dad!"
"Good morning, White Lily."
White Lily's father was busy cutting some tomatoes off of the stems, with a smile that, despite his age, would never grow old plastered on his face, "Is mom up?" White Lily smiled. "Silverbell is waking her up right now. Go help him, will you?"
"Okay!"
Silverbell lightly tugged on the sheets over and over again, a repetitive movement he'd been doing for a minute now. "Mommy! Mommy! Morning! Morning!"
She would not budge. Silverbell pouted for a moment, before going back to tugging. "Wake up! Mommy! Mommy!"
The door suddenly slammed open, and a determined White Lily stood in the doorway. She made her way to the window, which was covered by long, dark curtains, and suddenly opened them widely, and ran back to her mother's bed, scooping up Silverbell and putting him next to the bed, and ripping the blanket off. "Wake up!" She shouted. The sunlight and cold air hit Shimmering Shell like some kind of hammer, unleashing a dramatic, yet almost playful scream from the mother as she rolled around in the bed, and got up to protect herself from something that wasn't there.
"Huh..?" She mumbled, starting to come to her senses. "Mommy woke up!" Silverbell smiled.
~
White Lily ran the toothbrush against her somehow pearly white teeth, which seemed to glisten in the mirror. Next to her was her mother, Shimmering Shell, whose teeth were the same. White Lily was never able to tell if she'd inherited it, or if she was just great at such a measly skill. It was nothing she could show off, not even at her little brother's show and tell. "So what's been going on lately?" Shimmering Shell asked. "Cherry Blossom got another love letter," her daughter said. This wasn't news, funnily enough.
"That's the second time this month. Boys who don't even have the guts to confess their love in person are no good." Though muffled by the mix of toothpaste and water in her mouth, the point still stood. They spit out the mixture into the sink, the running water washing the mess away. "And how's Okonomiyaki Cookie doing?"
"It seems like Ms. Yaki's new relationship is going well. She gushes about him all during homeroom," White Lily smiled, memories of Ms. Yaki talking nothing but good about the new boyfriend started to fill her blank mind. "It'll be their 3-month anniversary this week, so I guess that's a new record."
"Hmm, I guess we'll see." Her mother started to brush her hair into a neat pattern. "They're reaching a crucial juncture right now."
White Lily lifted her hands from her wet face, reaching for a towel to dry it. Luckily the act didn't take long as Shimmering Shell moved it so she could reach it. They are?" She didn't see how 3 months could be crucial. Yes, it was three months, and that was long, but it was a random choice. "If it's not the real thing, it's around this point in the relationship that things start falling apart."
"Well, if they make it past 3 months, they're probably good a year at least." The woman applied the last bits of makeup onto her face, before closing the box full of makeup and posing in front of the large mirror. "Perfect!" Unlike her daughter, she had chosen what she would wear for the day. "Which ribbon should I wear?" White Lily asked. In her right hand was a green ribbon, and in her other, a pink one. Her mother gestured towards the green ribbon. "Huh? But isn't this too flashy?" The woman laughed, how silly! "That's as LEAST as flashy as you should be! A girl's appearance is the one thing she can't afford to get looked down at."
Finally, White Lily's outfit was done. She wore her casual school uniform, which consisted of a white undershirt with a buttercup, almost vanilla yellow shirt and a red bowtie, and a beautiful black pleated skirt. It may look simple, but it seemed like somehow, she could always pull it off. Shimmering Shell knew this by heart, letting out a giggle, before smiling and saying "Excellent! This should make all your secret admirers melt in adoration."
"I don't have any secret admirers!"
"But you should go about as though you do. That's the secret behind every pretty girl's success!"
~
Silverbell tried to poke his fork into the tomato, to no avail. It nearly fell off the table, but Shimmering Shell had fast reaction timing, something she'd had ever since White Lily was born. She caught the small tomato, catching it on a peace of bread. "Uh-oh! Safe..!" She said, giving the tiny tomato back to her son. "There, eat it all up now, okay?" The small child put his fork up in the air, as if in celebration. "Okay!"
"More coffee, honey?" Elder Faerie asked. His wife turned to look at the clock. 7:45. "Hmm, better not." She got up, before drinking the rest of her coffee, and kissing Silverbell's head, kissing Elder Faerie, and giving a high five to White Lily. "All right! I'm off then." She exclaimed, waving to her family. "Have a nice day!" They all said in unison. "Now then, you'd better hurry too, White Lily." Elder Faerie said. He didn't want his daughter late to school.
"Huh?! Oh, right!" She'd completely forgotten about school! How could that have happened..?! She took a couple more bites of her toast before running out the door. "I'm heading out!"
"Have a nice day, honey!"
"Have nice daaaay!"
~
Morisoba Middle School. The most elite school in the land! It sure looked the role too, with lush, long and healthy green trees, and other beautiful planting, and the school itself had a white, wonderful exterior.
This was the school White Lily had attended for years! She always enjoyed going there, and walking the path there was even better with her friends, Golden Cheese, and Cherry Blossom. "Good morning!" White Lily said between gasps, tired from all the running. "Good morning!" Cherry Blossom grinned. "White Lily, you're late!" Golden Cheese pouted. She would've went out about that little thing for minutes, but she was distracted. "Oh! Cute ribbons."
"You think so? They're not too flashy?"
"I think they look lovely." Cherry Blossom said.
They ran up the way, giggling and laughing their way up the path. Whilst having somewhat of a comfortable silence, White Lily suddenly remembered something from an hour before. "So my mom said, a boy who confesses his love with a letter instead of in person is no good."
"Your mom is just too cool, White Lily! I mean she's gorgeous, and a successful businesswoman!" Golden Cheese gushed.
Cherry Blossom turned away to face the two girls, making them stop. "If only I could make up my mind to reject a boy so easily."
The orange haired girl giggled. "What an enviable problem to have!"
"It really is! I wish I could get a love letter from someone too. Just once!" White Lily blushed ever so slightly. "Oh-ho! So you want to become a beautiful, popular girl like Cherry Blossom, White Lily?" Golden Cheese teased, poking the girl next to her. "And you've decided to start changing your image with these hair ribbons, huh?"
"You've got it wrong! My mom made me—"
"I see! You even got your mom to tell you the secret to becoming popular!" Teasing seemed to be Golden Cheese's best skill, as she seemed to almost be beaming from the joy she was getting from this. "How shameless! Let me show you what happens to bad girls like you!" She ran to try to grab White Lily, but she dodged Golden Cheese. She was not going to let that happen!
She yanked White Lily into her arms and started tickling her, as the girls giggled wriggled around, trying to get out of her friend's grasp. "No! Hey! Stop it! Stop!" She gasped through laughter. "My, what a cute girl! But I won't allow you to go off and become popular with the boys. You must be my bride, White Lily!!"
"Noooo!"
Cherry Blossom, who had watched the whole sight, cleared her throats to get the two girls attention. They were in front of Morisoba Middle School, and had been doing this in front of a lot of people.
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Part 1 of "I First Met Him In a Dream...or Something"