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"It's so convenient you can bring out stuff from your shadows, Maria! You're really handy~!" Emily giggled, resting her legs over the table while eating pizza, it was still very warm, and also drinking sugary soda.

She was a sporty girl, so she didn't have to worry about gaining weight because she exercised all the time, she actually needed all those calories.

"This store-bought pizza is ok at best, but nothing compared to my family's pizzeria! Man, I wish one day we could all go eat there! I'll gladly invite you to some pizza for free."

"Oh, that pizzeria we saw in the Nightmare World? That would be nice!" Said Alma. "Right Nyx?"

"Yeah! I want to eat your pizza, Emily!" Nyx nodded. "And met your family too! Oh, what about your guitar? I wonder if you still have it?"

"Ah no, it broke…" Emily muttered. "My… my dad broke it."

"Eh?" Nyx muttered.

"Wait, really?" I asked.

"But why?" Alma wondered.

Sofia and Martina looked at Emily curiously.

"Aaah, don't look at me like that, it just something that happened okay?" Emily sighed. "It happened long ago… I was so dumb I ended losing the bike after I went to sing with my guitar outside at the nearby plaza, and dad got really furious and broke my guitar… I remember running away from home and getting lost in the big city at night… Mom ended finding me after that."

"O-Oh…" Nyx muttered. "And… um, what happened afterwards?"

"Nyx, don't be so privy into other people's personal lives like that…" I sighed. "Sorry Emily, if you don't want to talk more it's fine…"

"Y-Yeah…" Alma nodded. "Sorry…"

"No, it's fine I mean you're all my friends… the best friends I've ever had in my life, I never had friends at your level before…" Emily smiled. "I think you're like my family at this point… So it's fine, I mean it's nothing extraordinary, life just resumed as usual. I hated my dad though, through most of my childhood, we had a terrible relationship… but."

"But?" I wondered.

"Dad passed away in an incident…" Emily sighed. "A Fragmented Nightmare Realm appeared near a large market where he used to buy fresh ingredients at low prices, in the morning…" First published on M|V|L!EMPYR.

"N-No way…" Sofia muttered. "Emily I didn't know…"

"Oh…" Martian muttered. "I-I'm sorry…"

"I'm so sorry Emily…" I muttered.

"Ahh, it's… it has been like four years since then…" Emily muttered lightly. "I… I got past that."

"Still… we're here for you," Alma smiled lightly. "U-Um, I know it might not feel that much coming from me… We've only known for a little over a year but… I'm here for you Emy…"

"It actually means a lot Alma, thanks…" Emily smiled. "I'm happy we're friends…"

"A-Aww… really?" Alma blushed a bit. "M-me too! I love you all… A-Ah! Was that weird?"

"Hahaha! It was corny," laughed Emily.

"But that's just how you are," Sofia said.

"It was cute," I said.

"…" Lucifer remained in silence while the girls talked, he must feel a bit awkward being surrounded by young girls talking about their feelings when he's a very old and serious dragon, hahah. He was drinking his favorite cream soda with ice cream though, so he was happy.

"Am I also your friend? I am right?!" Nyx asked. "We became friends in the Nightmare World…!"

"Of course!" Alma nodded. "We're besties…! I-If you want…"

"I want!" Nyx nodded cutely. "I might be younger than you girls, but I don't want you to see me as a dumb kid, okay? Mama always says I am smarter than my age!"

"Hehehe, we can tell!" Sofia giggled.

"Yep, that's our Nyx I guess!" nodded Emily.

"We know Nyx, you're amazing, without you, we wouldn't be here laughing and having a nice time," Alma said with a nod. "Ah, do you want to try these? I saw you eyeing them, hehe."

Nyx was eating sandwiches I prepared for her packed with meat, but she was eyeing Alma's "non sugar cookies".

"Can I? Are they really sweet without sugar?" Nyx grabbed a cookie that Alma gave her. "Nom… Oh? It's weird! It is sugary but not sugary? Uuh, is this what people call healthy food?"

"Hahaha, you don't know the concept? Kids these days…" Emily laughed.

"I just don't really need healthy food, I like meat! Hehehe!" Nyx giggled. "But I always like trying new stuff, I liked your food Alma! You can have one sandwich in return!"

Nyx placed a big sandwich beside Alma, it was filled with delicious pieces of purified nightmare beast meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, a lot of sauces, all nicely grilled together.

She began drooling.

"A-Ahh… No! S-Sorry I… can't have that, it's too many calories… I'm a bit too… overweight you see, I'm on a diet, Nyx," Alma muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed. "But thanks…"

"Diet?" Nyx didn't know the concept. "But you're fine as you are!"

"M-Maybe? But I don't want to get worse, haha…." Alma muttered. "Um, so anyway… E-Emily, about your dad… I'm sorry and… I hope you at least… I… Um, I hope you were able to be in good terms… I never got to meet my mom and dad after a certain age, so… I often wish I could've talked with them before, some more… you know?"

"Alma…" Emily muttered. "Y-Yeah, I mean… no, I wasn't… I wasn't able to do it… I… it still one of the things I regret even now… I never reconciled with my dad. Even after those years, I… never accepted his apologies, even when he apologized to me a lot, even when he bought me like three new guitars… I… I continued hating him because he broke a guitar given to me by my aunt who I loved a lot… after everything that happened I realized just how dumb… how dumb I was. I should've forgiven him, I should've… spent the few days before that happened with him… I… I miss my stupid dad…"

"Emily…"

Emily started crying a bit as she left the food she was eating on the table.

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