A/N: Queens Archive and Queendom combined! Don't think so much, let's head towards the red castle!

The silence was thick. Deafeningly quiet. Yet for Yeri, just coming of age, it was, finally, the first time she ever experienced the literal meaning of the phrase “you could hear a pin drop”. She could register every sound so clearly. The beating of her heart, the sound of her breathing, the ticking of a clock to the scribbling of a pen. Even to how her gulp sounded…

It seemed as if her hearing had heightened and it unnerved her greatly. Rightfully so, as she was at a loss at what to do in the place and situation she was currently in.

Sitting awkwardly on a posh chair at a quaint wooden table, in an awfully quiet gallery, waiting for her tutor who was supposed to have met her ten minutes ago. Yeri was starting to have second thoughts about the plans they had made… Could she still opt out? Meeting the owner of the antique mirror she was interested in buying wasn’t really all that important. She could always find another mirror…

How did Wendy convince her again to meet the seller? Her tutor always seemed to have a way with words.

Taking in a deep breath, Yeri looked at her surroundings again, in awe at how vastly different the place was to what she walked into a week ago. How could an antique thrift store undergo such a drastic change in under a week?

Truly all this magic talk Wendy was always going on and on about was just a joke, right?

The stuffy, cramped antique thrift store she frequently visited was now a large clean gallery. The hexagonal lobby was big, walls painted in garish blue and red. Curtain covered doorways lined each side. Its domed ceiling was high, the natural light filtering in from the glass skylight above, illuminating the ground below. Etched on the marble floor was a large red circle, elaborate runes and lines intertwining with the symbol of the sun, the moon and a ribboned monogram. Hmm, Yeri could vaguely recall a manhole outside the store with such an elaborate design.

So, this… this was still the correct place, right? Queens Mystic General Store? Yeri pursed her lips, checking her mobile phone for the message Wendy had sent her the night before for the umpteenth time. Deep down she was hoping that all this wasn’t something to do with a cult, knowing all the crazy things happening in Seoul nowadays… But with all that she was seeing and deducing, it was starting to feel like it was.  

There was no way her tutor would be part of a cult, right? If she was…Where was the closest exit?

When Yeri came to the thrift store at the time Wendy had stated, completely taken aback at the total change of decor when she stepped through the door, she didn’t have the chance to back out when she was awkwardly chased in by a huge owl. Then calmly ushered in by a redhead to sit on one of the five chairs at a quaint wooden round table in a corner, a white lace tablecloth draped over the top. Served a drink and left waiting.

Waiting for Wendy…She had better be!

Nervous, Yeri looked at her mobile phone again… The amount of messages she had sent in the last five minutes, all seen and left unanswered. She was itching to press call if the older girl didn’t appear or answer in the next minute. Everyone around her always told her that she had nerves of steel, but the quiet of this place was really starting to unsettle her. She was starting to doubt herself as well… Wendy had better have a damn good explanation for all of this.

A short sniff broke the silence and Yeri quickly looked up to the redhead that sat behind a counter, the owl from earlier perched nearby. The same redhead who had also warmly introduced herself earlier as Seulgi.

Seulgi with chestnut eyes, long bright ginger-orange hair, donning a black postman’s cap and a satin blue suit, looking no younger than a university freshman. After serving a hot cup of coffee, and telling Yeri to wait patiently, Seulgi tended to her own business, reading through a stack of papers. Once in a while scribbling something on a notepad. Curiously, a stack of pink boxes were piled high at her side. Was she the store’s new clerk? Um…receptionist? Wendy was usually the one behind the counter in the store…

‘Excuse me…’ Yeri hesitated as Seulgi stopped and looked up from her note taking, ‘Sorry but I don’t think I’m at the correct pla-’

‘Seulgi unnie!’ A loud voice suddenly echoed in the lobby, ‘Have you seen Ice Cream Cake!?’

From a green wisp, a girl that looked no older than Yeri appeared in the middle of the lobby. Long wavy black hair, in a tulle long sleeved tunic over a short black dress, with laced-high black sneakers, on a green motorbike. Satchel and broom strapped at the sides, pink tassels hanging off the handles! Yeri blinked repeatedly, what had just happened? Did a person on a vehicle just materialise out of thin air!?

‘Irene unnie has been looking all over for that little-’

Irene? The name that Wendy always brought up during their tutoring sessions. No matter the occasion. Affectionately and enthusiastically. Sometimes sounding more than just mere admiration. Yeri blinked and the warm grey eyes of the girl were already on her. She stiffened.

‘Oh my! Are you the newbie that Ice Cream Cake finally chose?’

An audible poof and the girl was right beside her, sitting on the chair to her right. The air around Yeri turned flowery sweet,

‘Wendy unnie mentioned something about tutoring you.’

Yeri felt her jaw turn slack, the girl had just teleported to her. From the middle of the lobby to her at the far end…Teleported! And she knew Wendy! Was-was she one of Wendy’s students too? Also, when did an ice cream cake choose her? Wasn’t it usually the other way around?

The girl’s warm grey eyes studied her briefly before curling into a smile. There was a laugh and a quick double pet on her head, ‘Aren’t you just a cutie!’

‘Joy, don’t scare her.’ Seulgi watched, sounding slightly amused from behind the counter.

‘Pfft, I’m not.’ The smile grew wider and the girl Seulgi had referred to as Joy stood up, disappeared in another green wisp and reappeared bending over the counter, calling out for an ice cream cake.

Again with the cake…With cherries on top? That kind of edible cake? A fridge’s freezer would be the best place? Yeri’s mind was whirling. Was this cake talk due to her spending way too much time baking in the past week?

‘Joy. Ice Cream Cake is with me…’

Finally, there was a familiar voice that Yeri had been waiting to hear in this state of confusion. However, Yeri found Wendy, her Thursday nights’ Maths tutor, and the Queens Mystic General store’s clerk, materialising out of the air like Joy had before her. An odd-eyed white cat perched on her shoulders. She had expected the older girl to have walked out from one of the many doors lining the hexagonal lobby with cake in hand, hollering surprise… but certainly not just appearing across the table!

Yeri's head immediately blanked. Did her Maths tutor just…!

Additionally, instead of the monochromatic clothes she always saw Wendy dressed in, black jacket, black shorts and worn out black boots…Her Maths tutor was full of colour. A yellow checked one piece with a brown monogrammed cape, white stockings and red dress shoes. The unkempt dark brown shoulder length hair now combed straight and neat! Not a tuff out of place.

And still not a cake in sight.

This had to be a very bad fever dream, but Joy’s voice rang crystal clear in Yeri’s head despite the hard pinch she administered onto her hand,

‘Ice Cream Cake! For the life of me, come here, before Irene unnie chews me to death.’

Suddenly, the scent of lilacs and lavender enveloped Yeri and a clear low voice sounded right behind her.

‘I’m not going to chew you to death.’

Yeri jerked around as the voice echoed in the lobby, the authority the voice commanded struck something deep within her. She was met with an odd-eyed piercing gaze of sandy ochre and striking blue. The voice belonged to a youthful individual with flawless porcelain skin, a beauty spot on the right cheek. Jet black hair tied into a bun, exposed shoulders with a neckline graced with a jewelled necklace. A lone teardrop emerald sparkling. Her slim body was in a fitted black bodice with a tutu tulle flare above a mini skirt, legs in fishnet stockings and sleek black stilettos. Wrapped around her left shoulder to the back was an equally jet black fur stole.

Who in the world was this…? She seemed so familiar, like she had seen her before. Was this the Irene? The one Wendy was always crazily going on about.

Yeri blinked hard. Not twice but thrice.

She had to. She didn’t know whether her eyes were playing tricks on her, for the longer she looked upon the lady called Irene, the more beautiful she became. So did every word that was said,

‘Ice Cream Cake. It’s time to go.’

Somehow, Yeri made the connection when she followed Irene’s gaze over to Wendy. The white cat that stood on her tutor’s shoulder had its ears perked up, eyes wide and alert.

The cat was the cake. What an unusual name for a cat…

And as if it had read her mind, the cat mewed softly, giving her a long look before slipping off Wendy’s shoulder to the floor. It slowly made its way towards Irene who had moved to stand beside her.

‘Great! With that settled, quickly hop on Irene unnie. You’re going to be late.’ Joy heaved, teleporting back onto her motorcycle. Engine revving.

‘It’s fine.’ Irene’s voice turned soft and Yeri noticed all eyes in the room were on the lady beside her, ‘I’ll make my way there myself. Thank you, Joy.’

The white cat circled around Irene’s legs, purring, and Yeri watched Irene glance over to the counter, ‘See you later, Seulgi.’

A short hum was returned and then there was a noticeably long pause in which Irene turned to give Yeri a curt nod, before refocusing squarely onto Wendy. Both quiet and expressionless. The air stilled for a second before the clicking of heels started and echoed throughout the lobby. Irene had turned and walked away with white cat in tow. In a pink wisp, they were both gone.

Something flashed across Wendy’s face, and before Yeri could pin the emotion, it disappeared all too quickly. Soon the awkward silence settled back over them. Yeri swallowed loudly to clear her nerves but before she could ask Wendy what in the world was happening, the voices of both Joy and Seulgi beat her to it,

‘Are you two fighting?!’

Huh? Who’s fighting? There was a fight? An argument? A quarrel…? Yeri looked quizzically at her tutor…maybe she shouldn’t be calling her that now, and she watched Wendy slowly drop her head.

Quiet and then a guilty nod.

With who? That lady? With the Irene?!

Joy and Seulgi didn’t hold back either, both appearing in a fla