The Idol of Fashion

At the risk of sounding like Indena, the first thing I uttered after my nap was over was “I hate chess.”

It was time to find something better to do. Uncle was still resting, so I couldn’t play with him. I couldn’t find any of the others either, so that left me to my own devices.

Wandering the big halls of the Wellington mansion proved a fairly interesting pastime. I got a really good lay of the land, seeing rooms and decorations, but a lot of areas were off limits by locked doors.

One particular space caught my attention. Some kind of fashion studio with dozens of racks of clothing scattered around. Some mannequins were dressed in beautiful gowns, swimsuits and other fancy looking articles. These plastic models varied in size from tall as an adult, to small as a baby.

I waltzed right in, letting curiosity drive me to inspect the quality of these decorative fabrics. The material was so fine, so pristine. Not even a speck of dust soiled the beauty of how fancy these had been made to be. The creativity was enchanting. Almost…in a literal sense.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was the tiniest hint of mana energy radiating from the fabric used in these clothing items. Were they enchanted?

“Boop!”

“Yeep!”

Two fingers suddenly pressed into my sides, startling me and causing me to enter a mild panic mode.

I turned, seeing the culprit was the hostess of the house, Adalyn.

“I just couldn’t resist playing with y’all,” she snickered, waving her hand playfully forward. “Admiring my work, honeypie?”

Oh, so she’s the one that made this clothing. I had to give her credit, it was something special. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said this was the work of magic.

“Are you a fashionista?” I asked, hearing that word only one time in my life on a TV show.

“Oh, I'm no simple fashionista…they praise my work as they walk down the runway.” Her hand gracefully caressed the sleeve of one of the more sequenced outfits near us. “You don’t think I thrive on papa’s wealth alone, do you?” Her arms extended out, showcasing the rows upon rows of clothing hung on mobile displays. “Everything you see here was made by me. Each one is just as unique as the last. Slowly but surely, I've been conquering the fashion industry.”

Woah! She really was talented if she could make all of this clothing on her own.

“Where did you learn to make stuff like this?” I asked.

She leaned down with a smile. “Impressed? I’ve yet to see a hand more skilled than mine at threadin’ the needle. Maybe Cynthia, but her game is cooking.” Adalyn's eyes closed and her smile grew twice as friendly. “My secret is that I sew love in every stitch!”

Ah, love, the secret ingredient to world peace!

“Speaking of fashion, why don’t you try something on?” she requested. “I’m sure I can find something that’ll fit you all nice and pretty.” She pulled up a camera out of nowhere. “And if you don't mind, I could use some reference photos of a lil’ gal like you for my next project.”

She wanted me to play dress up? This sounded like a ton of fun! I wanted to try on everything!

It took her a few impressive moments to collect nearly a dozen outfits for me to try on. Her speed and tasteful eye danced quickly around and returned with frilly looking outfits that made me squeal with anticipation.

There was a dressing room just next to us. A big closet connected to it where Adalyn happily pulled out more clothing for me to try on.

Before I knew what hit me, I’d probably slipped in and out of almost a hundred different glamours outfits.

*CLICK! CLICK!* went the camera as it worked nonstop to capture every angle of my dress up show.

I don’t know if I was doing it right, but I made a bunch of silly poses that I thought models usually would do for fun. I mostly drew upon what little I knew of ballet.

“Such a lovely little model! So photogenic!” she cheered. “Perfect! Let’s try this summer dress on!”

This dress had magical green swirls on it. The moment I put it on I started floating up to the ceiling.

“Wee!” I cheered.

*CLICK! CLICK!*

“Loving it!” Adalyn announced, continuing to take photos. “Darlin’, dream big! You’ll be a model in no time!”

With a wave of her hands, the magical dress allowed me to descend back to the ground. She caught me in her arms and squeezed me with all her might.

“You’re perfect! I want you to model for all my kiddie clothing lines.” her hand rubbed against the rubber of my arm. “You have such interesting skin, honey pie. What’s it made of?”

She might not know what Ferronium was, so I decided to use the term the mafia used before.

“It’s holy steel. Ever heard of it?”

Her blank smile told me that she had no idea.

“Holy steel, you say? Sounds strong and righteous! Truly a challenge for my little ole’ skills to work around, but all bodies have beauty.”

Next her finger tapped against my crystal heart.

“That’s my heart,” I told her. “Pretty cool, right?”

She was mesmerized by its glow. I could see the blue reflection in her eyes.

“Pretty doesn't even begin to describe it,” she said. “Such a unique little thing, aren’t we?”

To a human, I must have been special. But to me, this was my every day. I didn’t think much of my differences.

“My favourite part of you is this pure white hair,” she brushed a hand over my head. “I’m so jealous! It goes with so many dark outfits.”

I’ll admit, white hair was a pain to keep clean, but it was worth it. Dad had white hair too, just like me, so I think it ran in the family. It did seem to change colour though whenever I used elemental magic, but that was usually the only time I saw it any other way.

“You remind me of when my brother was a lil’ thing. He was so cute, I just had to dress him up in everything.”

That must have been the Riley person everyone keeps mentioning. Everyone’s excitement for him was shared with me, so I was curious to meet him too.

“While he’s away, I invite lil’ ole Yamin over to dress up. She has such lovely features, and boys probably go crazy over her heritage.” Adalyn started to clean up some of the clothing around and hang them back on racks.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Oh, haven’t you noticed she’s half Kanai?” Adalyn looked over at me with surprise. “Fella’s love that she’s got rare mixed blood, and she's cute too. I’m surprised she hasn’t found a boyfriend yet.”

So, Demi humans were considered outcasts, prized for their feathers or some other feature, but mixed ethnic humans were considered desirable as spouses, simply for how exotic they were here? I don't think I like how these humans distinguish people's rarities like collectables…

Also, I could have sworn Yamin mentioned that people don’t think very highly of her Kanai features.

“But, didn't people bully her when she was younger?” I asked.

“Jealousy is a heck of a drug. It makes you angry, and it can even make you motivated if you use it right.” She winked, but I couldn’t understand what that meant.

“Adalyn!” we heard someone call out from the studio. “Good grief, there’s even more clothes here than before…”

“And speak of the devil, here she is.” Adalyn stuck her head out the door and waved Yamin in. “My precious cousin!”

Yamin entered the room wearing both a smile and a school girl looking outfit. It fit her surprisingly well.

“What do you think, darlin’?” Adalyn asked. “Fit ya’ nicely?”

“Like a glove!” Yamin gave a thumbs up. “Not sure I want to wear it outside though. There’s a little more leg here than I like to normally show.”

Yamin typically wore stockings, or white spandex that covered her whole body. Right now she showed her bare legs.

“Such a shame you’re so shy. You sure do have such a pretty shape.” Adalyn shrugged. “Unless you bait 'em in, no boy’s ever going to bite.”

“Can’t say I want a boy to bite at all…” Yamin nervously snickered. “But…um…it’s not like I can’t get boys or anything!”

“Oh, so you’ve got experience?”

Based on her heart rate and that red face, Yamin definitely has never had a boyfriend.

“Um…yeah? Of course I’ve had boyfriends before.”

Adalyn gave her a chastising smile. Just based on what I know of her so far, I didn’t believe Yamin either. Not that I’ve known her for very long, but practically going to war with dark forces tends to build a bond between people.

“Fine!” A gasket finally blew. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, alright? No boy ever liked me enough for that.”

“Oh, how silly you are, lil’ Yamy.” Adalyn held up a mirror and faced it at Yamin. “This is a magic mirror. It shows us at our most objectively beautiful. What do you see?”

Yamin took hold of the mirror and inspected her reflection very closely. “I don’t see much of a difference.”

“Exactly!” She snatched back the mirror, handing it to me. “You’re already the most beautiful you can be! Doesn't that excite you?”

This wasn’t a magic mirror at all. It was just a normal one.

“It might excite me, but no boy ever asks me out,” Yamin admitted.

“You’re a good girl.” Adalyn folded her arms and nodded. “Those nice boys you need are too green to ask you out without getting to know you. Of course, y’all have to actually market yourself properly.”

Was Yamin girlfriend material, or a box of cereal? Adalyn’s way of talking reminded me a lot of Miss Lauri.

“Market myself? Goodness, Adalyn…you sound like my mom.”

“Smart woman, my Aunty.” Adalyn looked so smug. “Well, the first thing is finding a boy and knowing what he wants. We need a good man for this good lil’ woman. Got anyone in mind?”

“N-no,” she replied in a sheepish tone.

You know, I did remember seeing a letter Yamin wrote to an antique shop owner. It was yesterday when we had to take shelter in a shop themed around a karate frog.

In the letter, she mentioned some guy named Victor at a café. It had hints of crush all over it.

I tugged on her frilly skirt to get her attention.

“Who’s Victor?”

That seemed to have touched a nerve, because Yamin’s face turned flush red with shock. Her mouth fell open and she made a bunch of squeaky noises while shaking her head.

“Wh-who?!” She waved her hand at me a few times. “I've never heard that name before in my life! Nope! Not me!”

Yamin is a bad liar. She'd make a horrible politician.

Adalyn was wise as a snake though and picked up on Yamin’s clear as day bashful crush.

“Yamy…” she tilted her head to look menacing. “Does my lil cousin actually have herself a man in mind, and she didn’t bother to tell me?”

Yamin attempted to lie and dismiss Adalyn's suspicion, even getting upset at me for bringing it up.

“Where did you even hear that name?” She growled, but she wasn’t very intimidating. Not like Indena, anyways.

“It was on a letter you gave to the lady running the antique shop,” I answered.

“How the heck did you get that?!”

Come to think of it, finding that letter was pretty coincidental. What were the odds?

“It was when we were trying to save you from the demon! We took shelter in that store.”

Adalyn let out a loud gasp, then hid her mouth behind her hand.

“Goodness! My lil’ Yamy was held up by a no good demon? Oh the humanity!”

She began crying, falling to her knees and appearing weak. Yamin and I helped her take a seat.

“Oh, I can't bear to think my lil’ Yamy was in that sorta’ danger.” She looked like she was about to faint, so I helped her sip on some water. “Thank you, darlin’.”

“It all worked out,” Yamin said. “Everyone saved me, so there's nothing to worry about.”

“I suppose you're right. But you’re in my care, and I'll protect you with my life, lil Yami,” Adalyn said. “I'll take good care of you. I promise.”

I can't say for sure how well informed Adalyn was on the situation, but maybe it would be a good idea not to tell her everything, just so she doesn't faint again.

Adalyn folded her legs and confidently posed in her seat, returning to her previous spritely spirit.

“How about this…” she snapped her fingers. “In Two days I'll be hosting a big party in the ballroom. We can invite your man, and I'll make you ready to woo him.”

Yamin had that frightened look on her face, but it eased, as if coming to terms with the idea.

“If you could, I think it might be nice,” Yamin sounded concerned, but hopeful.

“Perfect,” Adalyn said. “I'll make sure this Victor boy will be there for you.”

“Tee hee!” I snickered. “Yamin’s gonna get a boyfriend!” I teased.

She turned bright red. “N-no I'm not!”

“Not with that attitude you won't!” Adalyn laughed. “But then again, boys like em’ shy. Ain't that right, lil’ Yalda?”

“You said it!” We high fived, further sending Yamin into a depressed state of submission.