It been about a few weeks since Blake's birthday party. Ange felt terrible the next day due to the hangover, she apologized for that as I had to help her get nursed back up to health. It wasn't hassle nursing her hangover, no matter how many times she would apologize for having to take care of her while her headache subsided.

What was a hassle was what I got from the form of an email. It seems that Lucius forgot to mention something about the sub-judge benefits. One is that i was automatically invited to the Gala by the Princess as a thank you for my hard work. The idea of going to the Gala wasn't too pleasing for me but when I told Ange about my free invitation, she was thrilled to be able to go to the Gala alongside me as well as her friends so long story short, I need a suit. At the moment Blake and I were at some store in hopes that Blake could find a dress, even though she could go see Sophia about it only for Blake to say no.

“I saw the others go to her and started asking for designers dresses, I don’t want to put any more work on top of everything.” Blake explained as she pulled a pink dress out from a rack. “Um, no.” She said before putting it back and continued to look. It was true, almost all of the gang went to Sophia for very specific dresses and while Ange was tempted to do the same, she merely asked the fashionista if a simply dark green dress would do. I've yet ask her for a suit, wanting to not over work her more than she already is.

“With the rate the others are making changes, Sophia is bound to collapse from exhaustion.” I said to Blake as I stood behind her as she browsed the dresses. She hummed at this as she looked at two dresses.

“This is why I go to places like this, I can just pick what I want and go.” Blake said before finally picking a dark blue dress with some white highlights. “Which is also why I’m going with this.” I rolled my eyes a little at this. I haven't had any luck finding a good suit to wear and whenever I did the prices were always outrageous, so I'm still stuck with no suit.

We headed up to the casher and, after Blake haggled the price to oblivion, we left the store and Blake smiled at the fact she got a forty five percent off dress. I kept quiet despite groaning over the fact that she haggles over the smallest of things no matter the price. The two of us walked until we past Sophia’s shop and saw it was dark. I wouldn’t mind it as much if it wasn’t for the fact it should’ve be open right now, Sophia was a bit of a stickler on timing and stuff. Curious to know what was happening, I walked up to the display window but it only did me so much when the light inside were off. While I backed away from the window, Blake had opened the door after picking the lock.

“Couldn't just you have knocked?” I asked her as we both entered through the now opened door.

“Yeah… but where's the fun in that?” She asked with a chuckle. Upon entering, our eyes were greeted upon a very large mess of discarded dresses scattered around the floor and it was really hard to see in the dark. Blake looked around before finding a lightswitch and pressing it. As the room brightened the discarded dresses were in fact the same kinds as one another, some had stars on it, other rainbow flames, and balloons. There were crumpled up pieces of paper which grabbed one and looked at it. “I think you were right with overworking herself.” Blake said to me as she showed me the paper, seeing it was a a dress design with the words ‘Redesign dress for Dianne #21’.

“This a little too much don't you think?” I asked after seeing the paper. The dresses covered the floor completely which made it hard for us to walk without the risk of slipping on one of them.

“Yes… and that's coming from me.” Blake answered, referring to days when she tested a new recipe for a few days. She started to move some of the dresses aside to make a path. “Maybe she's in the back?” She asked.

“One way to find out I suppose.” I said with a shrug before walking down the makeshift path within the mess of dresses before stopping at Sophia’s workplace, spotting the podium she uses to measure people for the suits or dresses. We then casted our gaze on the desk, seeing a sleeping Sophia laying her head on it without caring for the papers under her. She was snoring loudly as the papers were used as a makeshift pillow. Some drool pooled on the papers as she slept. The two of us stared at her before Blake knocked on the door frame which woke the sleeping Magi.

“Ah! Yes, another change to the dress!” Sophia yelled before looking around to see no one was there than us. She blinked at Blake and me before pulling a page off her side of her cheek. “Oh… hello you two.”

“Hey Sophia, seems like the others got working overtime.” I said in a half joking tone though it didn't hide my concern for her well being. She laughed a little.

“Oh Isaac dear it’s fine… just helping my friends with their dresses… even though they ask to change everything…” Sophia said with a chuckle. Me and Blake glanced at one another, knowing that she isn't fine at all before we looked back at her with our arms crossed.

“You can't let them do this to you, Sophia. They running you dry, you place is a mess, you look like you've been through hell and your hair has several strands out of place.” I said, noting the many things wrong at the moment. She gasped in horror at the mention of her hair before she fashioned a mirror with a wave of her hand.

“Oh my Celestia!” She yelled as a brush appeared and she started to brush her hair. She brushed her hair but it did her no good with her stress being the cause of her hair troubles.

“How long have you been working?” Blake asked her, picking up a navy blue dress with rainbows on it.

“Oh… just a few days… a week.” Sophia answered.

“A whole week!?” I exclaimed in bewilderment. A whole of dress making and the others still want changed!? What the fuck!? “Why are you doing this yourself?” I asked after a second or two of calming myself down. She turned to me with a frown.

“Because they are my friends Isaac…” She said as she massage her head a bit. “But this is starting to become a little hard…” She said with a wince, no doubt from a headache.

“I know they're your friends but that doesn't give them the right to do this to you. You need to tell them that the last design for their dresses are final and if they don't like, tough fucking luck.” I said to her, adding a little of my own humor into this as well which got a laugh from her when I said the vulgar word. She glanced at me and hummed at this. She looked through the pages and pulled a book out.

“Mind… looking at these? They were the first ones that I drew up.” Sophia asked the two of us. We both nodded and walked over to her desk, seeing the original designs for the dresses. Me and Blake stared at them with awe, seeing how amazing they looked. There was even one for Ange curiously enough.

“Sophia… these are amazing…” Blake said as she turned the page and blinked. “Is… this one a cake?”

“That one was one for Dianne.” Sophia explained. This made Blake chuckle a bit as Sophia sighed at the drawings around her. “I just wanted everyone to be happy. Seems that not going to happen.” I sighed this as well, unable to believe how selfish the others are with this.

“You know what… just make these instead, tell them how you feel about the changes and how…” I looked down at dresses around my feet and grimacing at how ungodly they look. “You've only wanted them to he happy.” I said to her, my voice sounding serious. Sophia took my words into thought before glancing at the mess around her. After a minute or two of silence she nodded.

“Alright… I will.” Sophia said with a tired smile, though at least this one was an actual smile. We stayed around to help her clean up the place while she worked with the dresses, which surprisingly enough didn't take long. Sophia was a master in her own art of fashion and it shouldn't be a surprise that she was quick to finish up. Hell she was so fast that she took Blakes dress and made it amazing… even made me a suit. I stared at it dumbfounded as she handed it to me, it even looked like it would fit me perfectly. It was an hour later and the place looked good as new, the discarded dresses were properly taken care of and Sophia stared at her creations, the way she wanted them to be. They were perfect in their own way, better than the discarded dresses in many ways. After some time we all stood in front of five different dresses that match the ones in Sophia’s book. She looked at them in deep thought as she walked from one to another.

“They look amazing, Sophia.” I said with a smile as I tied the last garbage bag full of the discarded dresses.

“Yes…” Sophia said as she went to the dress at the end. “Yes I do believe you are right, they look great.” She said with a smile on her face. Blake took most of the garbages in her hands and looked out of the window.

“Looks like the others are coming.” Blake said, pointing out the rest of Sophia’s friends were heading towards the place.

“Well, I think I should let them see the final product.” Sophia said as she turned to us before gesturing towards the remaining bags. “Can you two handle those as I deal with the others?” Blake and I nodded and took the bags out and dumped them with the rest a safe distance from town before I lit the pile ablaze and with it being a controlled fire, it managed to burn through the pile fast without harming anything. The flames burned until they were nothing but ash now. The two of us turned back and headed to Sophia’s place to see if there were trouble with the others. When we came back, Sophia was in the middle of telling them how she felt when they wanted changes upon changes to their dress, which was meant to be a gift for them. With each word said, Lydia, Jacqueline, Dianne and even Rachael looked down in shame at the pain they caused Sophia.

“We didn’t know that we all were causing problems.” Jacqueline said sadly. “We all just… thought they were improvements to the idea…”

“Jacqueline, I know you were being nice and helpful…” Sophia glanced at me and raise a brow before continuing. “But honestly some ideas were… too much, and really rubber boots on a dress?” Jacqueline didn’t say anything about this, simply hanging her head in shame.

“I know I should feel bad… but I don’t really understand what was wrong with it.” Rachael said, confused at what was wrong with her dress before hand. “I thought it looked cool.”

“Really? You thought that was cool?” Blake asked, remembering what her old dress looked like. I shook my head at the image in my head, grimacing a little as well.

“It was shit.” I said simply to the skyborn. Rachael frowned at me before Sophia spoke up.

“Darling, do I tell you how you keep yourself fit?” She asked the Skyborn. “That’s a no, which should be the same for you all with me and designing clothing.” She then looked at Ange and added. “But when it comes to stitching I’ll take your word over it.” This made Ange smile a little bit. The others seemed to depressed about what they did to their friend. After some more talking and apologizing, they all thanked Sophia for their dresses and saw how amazing they all looked and even modeled in them.

The next few hours went by before it got late and we have to leave Sophia’s place. Both Blake and I walked down the street before Blake, out of nowhere, swore.

“Damn it! I knew I forgot something!” She said, face palming as she did.

“What did you forget?” I asked her, both my hands in my jacket pockets to keep them warm.

“I remembered that I got an important mail today and didn’t have time to see what it is…” She frowned a bit before adding. “I thought I would look at it later but it’s really late.”

“What's the letter about and what's preventing you from reading it when you get home?” I asked her with an arched brow as we walked with our Gala attire in hand.

“It’s a letter from the school that I just got into, thanks again for that, says that it’s important on the letter.” Blake explained to me. I nodded at her as we walked down the road still, passing by the town square and heading into the marketplace. Eventually we came upon the fork in the road, one leading to my house and the other to Blake's. We bid ourselves goodbye for the day and headed towards our respective homes.

It's been a few days since Sophia and her dress issue and I didn’t have any jobs at the moment which meant only one thing: Video games. For the past few days I've done nothing but lounge and play video games. Today was no different until I heard a knock at the front door. Blinking at this since I didn’t expect anyone to come around today. I stood up from the couch and stretched a bit before finally going over to the door. Upon opening it, I was greeted with nothing before I look slightly down, seeing a light purple haired young teen girl. The girl had a two tone hair of pink and purple with pale skin. She wore a light green shirt and purple skirt with a happy smile on her.

“Hi there mister, would you care to buy some cookies?” She asked sweetly. I arched a brow at the question.

“Cookies?” I asked, still with an arched brow. She nodded as she showed me a bag of a dozen cookies with a pink bow wrapped around the bag.

“Yes, my grandma's recipe, you'll die for them!” She said to me. I gave it some thought before ultimately deciding.

“Nah.” I said, not really interested in buying cookies. I wasn't in the mood for sweets at all in fact, the past few days I've been avoiding sweets for some reason. Her smile didn't leave her face as she spoke.

“Are you sure? They are for a good cause.” She said in her sweet voice.

“Which cause?” I asked with my arms crossed. Her expression turned to a sadden one as some tears started to well up.

“Oh for my poor grandma… she’s in the hospital, her health isn’t doing so good and doctors say that she might not make it in a few months!” she said with a few sniffles. “I’m just trying to raise money for her to get healthy. So please mister, can you help my poor grandma?” Another part of me wanted to say no but the other said yes to get this over with. With a shake of my head I asked.

“How much for a box?” I asked, pulling out my wallet as I did. She sniffled a bit.

“It’s… twenty one dollars.” She answered, making me blink in surprise. I looked at her as she gave me a tearful look. I sighed and took out the exact amount needed before giving it to her. She thanked me as I took the box of cookies in. As I closed the door and went back inside I looked at the cookies for a few moments. With a sigh I took one and took a bite of one of them.

… These taste nothing like home cooked. Actually they taste like a box of cookies that Skyler gets when she has enough money. I went and found those cookies and sure enough they look exactly the same. I was scammed.

My thoughts were interrupted with some loud banging from the door. I put the cookies down and opened the door to see a panting Sophia standing there. “Did you… see a teenage girl… with purple and pink hair?” She panted before asking. “And… can I get some water… please?”

“Yeah and hold on.” I said before going inside, leaving the door open for Sophia to come in while I fashioned up a glass of cold water. When I walked by the living room, she was already sitting on the couch with a look exhaustion. “Here.” She took it and downed it in one go. When she was done she let out a sigh.

“Thanks… so, what did she do?” She asked me before adding. “And how much did she take?”

“Twenty one bucks for a box of store bought cookies. On the bright side, saved me time on buying them at the store.” I said to her, gesturing towards the box of cookies. She raised an eyebrow at me.

“You know that a box of cookies are cheaper at the store… like, their three dollars.” Sophia said before pulling out her wallet and thumbing through her bills.

“Meh.” Was my only response. In all honesty, twenty dollars isn't much to me with the job I have surprisingly enough. Sure I'm a work for hire but people pay me a lot by the time I'm done, the reason for it is because they know they can trust me when I say I fixed their problem. Sophia shot me a glare, which was surprising to me, as she pulled out the money.

“You think it’s ‘meh’ but it isn’t for me.” Sophia said before putting the money on the table.

“Umm, that's not really necessary.” I said to her as soon as she did that.

“Well too bad, I’m not taking it back.” Sophia said as she crossed her arms. “I don’t want my sister trying to con my friends.” I blinked at this, the teen was Sophia’s sister?

“That was your sister?” I said in confusion and a bit in surprise as well, I never really knew Sophia had a younger sibling. She groaned a bit at this.

“You really can’t tell huh.” Sophia said before shaking her head. “I've been known for my generosity, looks, fashion and… well my noblish attitude.” She said before making a frowned look. “But Lucille is nothing like me, oh sure she’s sweet and innocent… but that’s a front, she’s a pain in the ass teen that will scam all of your money before you know it!” She yelled before realizing that she swore, which is surprising since she never swear. “Ahem, my apologies… that’s not ladylike of me.”

“It's fine but… why does she do that anyway?” I asked her curious to know why a teen would scam another for their money.

“Because she wants money?” Sophia explained with a shake of her head. “I don’t really know myself but this happens all the time, so much so that my parents asked me to have her live with me instead with them.”

“Okay then, so you have a con artist of a sister.” I said, looking down at the box of cookies with a hum.

“Again Isaac, I’m really really sorry about this. If I knew where she was I would’ve warned you.” Sophia said to me. I simply shrugged again.

“It's alright though I'd recommend you do something about it quickly before she gets into major trouble.” I told Sophia, gaining a nod from the fashionista after I did. After telling her the direction her sister went, Sophia ran off to stop her, leaving me to myself again while Skyler is out hanging out with Samantha again.

End of Chapter XII

Author's Note

I have a question to all those that read this story, do wish for me to continue adding the name list or would you all prefer I have a Google Doc link that will be updated for each new name?

Also, I like to deeply apologize for delays. I have more chapter in the backburner to post, I just hate the effort it takes to do so with my phone (Which bare in mind is my only workplace).

Anywho, hope you enjoyed and if you've spotted a mistake, missing word or oddly worded sentence, please feel free to notify me. Both me and my co-writer would appreciate it.