On the winter day that changed Rica Banc’s life’s trajectory, she was twelve and doom-scrolling through Instagram, searching desperately for something that would take her mind off her empty house and the fact her parents hadn’t bothered to come and see her for Christmas, only depositing money into her account and trusting their secretary could take care of her needs.
Rica sighed as nothing caught her attention, flopping back onto her bed and trying a different app. Technically she wasn’t old enough to have a Tumblr account but it wasn’t like her parents truly cared if she did things she wasn’t supposed to.
“Fuck,” Rica murmured when she dropped her phone on her face, making her nose sting and eyes water. “Fucking shit.”
Rica was new to the whole swearing thing, but it felt good to say the harsh words, letting them come out whenever she felt like it. She groaned as she went onto her side and squinted at the phone.
Then she sat straight up, eyes widening as she took in the post her nose unwittingly brought her too.
It was a piece of art reblogged by one of the people she followed and it was breathtaking. The main figure in the piece was a teenage girl surrounded by the limp bodies of some sort of monster in a forest. She had shining silver hair pulled in a braid that glimmered in the dappled light, her piercing gold eyes staring right back at the viewer as if she were about to cut them down with her sword pointed directly at them. The girl’s face held determination and grit, and the promise of violence.
Rica fell in love right then and there and she needed to know more about this girl, learn why she fought, why she was so determined. She scanned the post and found a link to a web novel that this character, Illnyea, was from. Rica had never heard of a web novel before but she didn’t care much as she clicked onto the link.
The novel was called The Destined Ending, which sounded a little pretentious to Rica but she began reading the first chapter, skipping the summary because those often proved to be useless fluff and full of false promises.
Rica found her love deepening as she was introduced to Illnyea, the second daughter of wealthy merchants who wanted to see the world and explore what it had to offer. What drew Rica in was how good Illnyea was and how much she cared about those around her, the care shown in her thoughts, her gestures, her words. Rica found herself yearning to give Illnyea the world as she struggled to survive what it threw at her. Being able to root for a character that was fundamentally good made Rica feel better about herself, wondering if she too could be like Illnyea.
There were only twenty chapters available and Rica found herself despairing when the next chapter button was unavailable.
“Shit,” she said, blinking down at it. The comment section was small but oh tantalizing as Rica began to hesitantly read through it. Though Rica did have several social media accounts, she rarely interacted with others online, the stranger-danger lectures from school always leaving her leery.
But, as Rica stared at the comments others left praising the work and asking the author questions, why can’t she just say fuck it and do it?
And she did just that, fingers shaking as adrenaline coursed through her as she made an account. It was simple, just a few sentences asking how to say Illnyea’s name because she wasn’t entirely sure, but Rica’s grin was so wide it nearly hurt. After a brief moment of hesitation, Rica also reblogged the original piece of fanart, thanking the artist in all caps for introducing her to The Destined Ending.
Rica awoke the next morning to the sound of a notification. She rubbed her eyes as she smacked around for her phone, bringing it close to her face to read it.
Then she dropped the phone straight off the bed as shock coursed through her as her brain caught up.
She scrambled off, falling hard on her knees to stare at the notification.
Acacia responded to your comment “How do you pronounce Illnyea? Thank you so much for writing this, I just binge-read all 20 chapters and I can’t wait for more!”
→ill-neia. Thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot.
Rica stared and stared, a giddy feeling filling her chest as she realized the author had taken the time to respond to her comment out of all the other ones. She screenshotted it for evidence and clutched her phone to her chest.
Rica fell hard and fast for The Destined Ending (referred to as just TDE by those in the know) and devoted her attention and focus to the one thing that made her actually want to get out of bed in the morning. She dipped her toe into the small fandom surrounding TDE and made a friend in the artist of the original portrait of Illnyea she saw, a college student named Sarah who then connected Rica with other fans.
Rica realized the joy of fan culture as she theorized and speculated with the others about future plot points, and it filled the void of social interaction Rica hadn't even realized bothered her. Most of the other fans were much older than her and assumed she was the same age as them, but there was no chance of ever meeting them in person, so Rica didn’t dwell on that too much.
To say Rica became a slightly obsessive fangirl was a bit of an understatement, but it certainly was much better than many other things Rica could be getting into like drugs and gangs. Or so she told herself as she commissioned Sarah to do a fanart with the full cast for $150.
Sarah tried to say that was too much but Rica held firm -- she had a crazy allowance and nothing else better to spend it on. It became a bit of a fun game for Rica, figuring out how to spend her money exclusively on things related to TDE because it’s not like her parents cared. As long as the account stayed out of the negatives and the secretary was delivering reports she was alive, that was good enough for them.
Which led to Rica becoming bold enough to sign herself up for horseback riding lessons because Illnyea traveled by horseback so often in the story that Rica had to try it out for herself. The secretary raised her eyebrows when Rica brought her the waiver to sign but said nothing else, as she didn’t care enough to comment on it.
Horseback riding was hell on her thighs and legs but the instructors just laughed and said that was because she didn’t have the right muscles yet. Rica took that as a challenge and practiced until she no longer felt that pain. Riding a horse was fun but she couldn’t do it all the time because the stable was outside the city and traffic was a pain to wait through.
So when the character of Frigge was introduced in TDE when Rica was thirteen, a kick ass martial artist that took no shit, Rica knew just what she had to do. She called up the nearest martial arts studio and signed up for the next class that fit her schedule, which ended up being a mixed martial arts class on Thursday evening.
Rica was a bundle of nerves as she reached the studio, idly thanking the driver as she hopped out and stepped inside.
This was where Rica met Mr. Tilo.
Mr. Tilo was a lanky man, his long, slender limbs making him seem even taller than his six foot frame. He had scuffed shoes and his clothes were well-worn and his brown eyes widened underneath his floppy black hair when he saw Rica. He looked at his phone for something and then back at Rica, and slowly meandered towards her.
“Hey,” he said, holding himself awkwardly, “are you here for the MMA lesson?”
“Yup,” Rica said, popping the p as she studied the man in front of her.
He gave her a strange look, then looked over the other students who had arrived. It was an odd mix of people of different ages and backgrounds and it wasn’t like Rica was even the shortest one there, so it wasn’t that strange.
His gaze resettled on her with something almost like resignation in his eyes.
“I’m Tilo,” he said, reaching out his hand.
Rica took it and shook it firmly.
“Nice to meet you Mr. Tilo, I’m Rica.”
Mr. Tilo made a face. “Just call me Tilo, I’m not that much older than you. I think.”
“No, thank you.”
Rica knew her bluntness can sometimes be off-putting and she wielded politeness as a weapon sometimes, especially when she thought it might get under someone’s skin.
Mr. Tilo made another face and mumbled something to himself. Rica didn’t have enough time to ask him to repeat himself as class began.
And WOW, was this class everything Rica had been hoping it was. The teacher was a no nonsense man who stressed how important it was to learn the basics before trying to do anything fancy, and to understand that he was teaching every one of them moves that can cause some serious harm to others.
Rica loved every moment of it and was shaking with tiredness when the class was over.
She was waiting outside for the driver to return, going over the moves in her head. The jab was a foundational move and she had to practice on precision and speed; but she couldn’t forget to move her feet well so that she could dodge her opponents' attacks. If they got her on the ground, she couldn’t do anything, so she had to try and stay on her feet as much as possible.
Movement to her right caught her attention as Mr. Tilo tiredly lowered himself onto the bench next to her.
“Waiting for your parents?” he asked.
Rica shook her head and Mr. Tilo frowned.
“Someone is coming to pick you up, right?” Mr. Tilo asked, straightening out of his slouch to face her.
“The driver will be here soon,” Rica said confidently, though she was wondering just where he was. She had told him when her class got out and expected him to be here by now.
Mr. Tilo stared at her again before checking his phone. He resettled himself into a more comfortable position.
“Do you mind if I wait with you until they arrive?” Mr. Tilo asked. Rica considered it, before shaking her head. Mr. Tilo didn’t seem that strange and he had been a good student during class, though a little uncoordinated and gangly.
“Why are you taking these classes?” Rica asked, suddenly curious.
“Uh, well I wanted to be able to defend myself,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Why?”
“My college dorm isn’t in the best part of town and I’m… Well, I figured it’d be better to be safe than sorry.”
Rica nodded solemnly, though she frowned as she took that information in.
“Why doesn’t the college fix your shitty situation?” she asked, finally turning her body towards him fully.
Mr. Tilo barked out a laugh, sharp and biting. “Now that’s a question I’ve asked myself daily.”
Rica found she liked making him laugh and the fact he didn’t seem to care that she swore, not like all the other boring adults in her life.
“Why are you taking the classes?” Mr. Tilo asked, his body fully relaxing. “I admit, it was a surprise to see a pipsqueak like you here.”
“I am not a pipsqueak,” Rica did not squawk indignantly, she spoke in a very calm and mature manner, thank you very much.
“Sure, let’s say that,” Mr. Tilo said and didn’t seem at all bothered by Rica’s glare. He kept up his easy smile for so long that Rica gave up with a sigh.
“I want to be like a character in a book I read,” Rica murmured, suddenly self-conscious about her reasons now that she said them aloud. The kids at her school were always making fun of the nerds in class who talked too much about what they were reading or watching, and she was afraid that Mr. Tilo might be the same.
“That’s some dedication,” Mr. Tilo said, admiration in his voice. “I doubt I would have been that motivated when I was your age, you were so focused in there it put me to shame.”
Rica felt her face flush and she stammered out, “I -- it’s not that cool, you know, and, well, yeah.”
Her words made no sense and made her blush deepen but Mr. Tilo thankfully didn’t notice. In fact, he reached out to ruffle her sweaty hair instead and Rica froze up, not knowing what to do or how to react. It was a strangely comforting gesture and made Rica feel the same giddy feeling she felt when Acacia responded to her comment.
“You’re a good kid, Rica,” Mr. Tilo said and Rica was embarrassed by how happy that made her feel. She tried to get rid of that embarrassment by checking the time on her phone and then paused. It was nearly fifteen minutes after the time she requested the driver to be there and he hadn’t sent her any message saying he’d be late.
“Any word on your ride?” Mr. Tilo asked, as if he had read her mind.
Rica bit her lip and shook her head.
Mr. Tilo was silent for a moment before abruptly pushing himself to his feet.
“I can give you a ride if you want,” he said casually, looking down at her. “My car’s small and the AC sucks, but it should get you where you need to go.”
Rica swallowed hard, looking back at her phone and the empty wall of notifications.
“Just let me make a call really quick,” she said, dialing up her parent’s secretary and listening to the dial tone for the two seconds it took the woman to pick up.
“Julie, where’s my driver?” Rica asked, skipping the pleasantries because the secretary didn’t much like them.
There was a pause before the secretary said, “The driver had to escort a client for your parents that arrived this evening. Were you unaware of this change?”
Something cold and hard settled in Rica’s gut. She tried not to look at her parent’s schedule because it mainly just made her angry that they were so focused on clients and business instead of her. She had told the driver when she got out and he hadn’t said a word about not being able to pick her up and now she had hot, angry tears stinging her eyes.
“I’ll find my own way home then,” Rica murmured, “no need to worry about me.”
She ended the call and her hands shook. Another disappoint because her parents didn’t fucking care and god how she wanted to scream at the secretary that she should have let Rica know earlier because the secretary was the fucking adult!
“You good, kid?” Mr. Tilo’s voice brought her back down to earth and she blinked away tears to see concern on his face.
She rubbed the tears away roughly. “Can I get a ride with you please?” She hated how small her voice was, how it quivered and shook.
“‘Course kid,” he said, gently patting her shoulder, “just follow me.”
Rica followed silently, hands white knuckled around her bag’s strap as she got in. She told Mr. Tilo her address and he punched it into a truly ancient GPS system. He turned on the radio and pulled out of the small parking lot and into the city traffic.
Rica just stared out the window, letting it pass her by without really seeing anything. The car was silent save for the pop music and the sounds of traffic. She hated how small she felt and how her life was dictated by others that just wanted her to exist without being seen or heard. It was frustrating beyond belief and fucking hell she hated it. She hated them.
“Hey, kid,” Mr. Tilo said as he took a right turn. “Do you like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry best?”
She turned to stare at him, surprised at the sudden question. “Um, chocolate?”
“Good choice,” Mr. Tilo said and then they pulled up to an ice-cream shop named Lil Bites and he killed the engine. Rica stared and stared, unsure of what was happening even as Mr. Tilo opened his door. He paused when he saw she wasn’t moving.
“We’re gonna get some ice cream,” Mr. Tilo said slowly, “my treat. We burned a lot of calories today and I know a growing teen needs as much as she can get.”
Her stomach growled at that statement and Rica burst into sudden tears she couldn’t even explain.
“Ah, kid,” Mr. Tilo said, climbing back into the car and awkwardly reaching to pat her shoulder, “hey, hey it’s just some ice cream, you don’t need to cry.”
“No one’s ever taken me out to get it before,” Rica sniffled, leaning into his touch like it was a lifeline.
Mr. Tilo’s touch became tighter and he didn’t speak for a long moment, just rubbing his thumb comfortingly. “Well, we gotta fix that then. This place has the best soft serve in the whole city.”
“How do you know that?” Rica asked, looking up at him. “Did -- did you try them all?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Tilo said with confidence, “my friends call me an ice cream connoisseur, I know all the best places and where to get the unique flavors.”
His voice was steady and helped Rica to calm herself down, the sniffling and tears dying down. Mr. Tilo searched the side of his door and pulled out a beaten pack of tissues, offering it to her wordlessly. She dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose until she felt like she had put herself back together well enough.
“Ready, kid?” Mr. Tilo asked and Rica nodded.
The chocolate ice cream was the best goddamn ice cream Rica had ever tasted in her life.
Life continued, as it always did. Rica kept up with her classes and found she was a natural at it, the violence of it all making her heart race and her mind sharper. The driver would drop her off and then go off to do whatever her parents wanted him to do. Mr. Tilo kept attending as well and after that first lesson, it became their little tradition to go out for ice cream afterwards, trying a new spot each time, though Rica’s favorite remained Lil Bites.
Rica wasn’t sure what Mr. Tilo did, but after two months, the secretary informed Rica that Mr. Tilo had permission to pick her up from home and take her wherever she wanted. Rica tackled Mr. Tilo in a hug next she saw him, taking him to the ground and laughing the whole time even as he complained about her pointy elbows in his liver.
Mr. Tilo was often busy doing college things which Rica tried not to take personally because she didn’t want him to suddenly decide she wasn’t worth the effort. So Rica did the one thing she did best -- obsess. This time, she decided to obsess over fashion, as that was Mr. Tilo’s major after all.
She wanted to make something nice and handmade for his birthday in a month and a half but quickly found that sewing clothes was a lot more difficult than the YouTube tutorials made it look like. But Rica was nothing if not determined and had enough money to not worry too hard about failures. She placed her new sewing machine in the room where she stashed all of the art she had commissioned of The Destined Ending.
Rica’s original plan had been to make a nice shirt but each attempt came out lopsided and uneven, making her frustrated. She ended up settling on trying to just make a set of simple bow ties because his birthday came closer and closer without a single usable piece of clothing being made.
She presented the small creations to Mr. Tilo the lesson before his birthday at Lil Bites, just so that she could have some time to order a replacement if he didn’t like them. Mr. Tilo had smiled when she said she had a birthday present for him but he fell silent after he opened it.
He carefully pulled out the pink polka dot bow tie, turning it over in his hands. Rica felt sick to her stomach the longer he was silent and couldn’t take it anymore.
“I know they aren’t very good,” Rica said, her fingers twisting together to hide the bandages from past failures from view, “but if you don’t like them, I can just buy you something you actually like, haha…”
Mr. Tilo looked up then, his smile soft. He slipped the tie over his neck and tied it off so quickly Rica wasn’t quite sure what happened.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“How do I look?” Mr. Tilo asked. The polka dots clashed with his neon green t-shirt and a bow tie didn’t exactly go with exercise clothes in general but…
“You look perfect!” Rica giggled, her nerves vanishing as Mr. Tilo struck a dramatic pose to take a bite of his soft serve.
“I am wearing a Banc original,” he drawled, flipping his hair, “I’m the best dressed on the block.”
“Best dressed in the whole fucking city!”
Mr. Tilo ended up giving Rica a few patterns that were much more beginner friendly, visiting her on the weekend to show her some tips. He blinked a few times in surprise when he saw her workroom.
“Where’s all this from?” Mr. Tilo gestured to the posters on the wall as he sat next to Rica on her workbench.
Rica hesitated before wondering why she was even hesitating.
“It’s fanart from the web novel I really like,” Rica said, trying to sound casual.
Mr. Tilo snapped his fingers. “Is that the story with the martial artist you wanted to emulate?”
Rica felt her cheeks flush as she nodded. She pointed out one of her newest commissioned pieces, the scene depicting Frigge’s explosive entrance to the story. “That’s Frigge, she uses a secret technique passed down through her family to harness the power of the sun to make her punches stronger and--”
Rica shut her mouth, abruptly realizing that Mr. Tilo probably didn’t want to hear about Frigge’s entire backstory. But when she glanced at him, he was looking at the various posters with a curious gleam in his eyes.
“I think we could make her outfit,” Mr. Tilo said, squinting at Frigge. “You’ll have to learn a few different stitches and make some more basic patterns first, but once you do that, Frigge’s outfit doesn’t seem too complicated.”
Rica’s mouth dropped open before she frantically nodded. “Yes, please!”
Thus began Rica’s true dive into the world of fashion and Mr. Tilo’s introduction to TDE. Mr. Tilo was a much more casual reader but he did read it, sending Rica design sketches when Acacia took the time to describe the character’s outfits in detail.
It wasn’t until Rica was fourteen that she actually made Frigge’s outfit but the joy she got from wearing it was unmatched by nearly anything else she had ever experienced. Maybe she was exaggerating just a little, but goddamn it was so satisfying to wear something that she made with her own two hands, even if the outfit itself was impractical to practice fighting in. Still, she posed in dynamic kicking position and demanded Mr. Tilo get the best angles to show off her form and the clothes.
Rica posted a cropped photo of herself in the outfit to Tumblr, secretly hoping that the other cosplayers on the website might compliment her work. She only had to wait ten minutes before the first notification went off.
Acacia liked your post
Acacia reblogged your post “I love Frigge sooooooo much that it may be unhealthy (whoops!)”
→Wow! This is amazing work JigglyJelloGirl! It’s awe-inspiring to see how much you like The Destined Ending :)
Rica nearly fainted when she realized Acacia had a Tumblr account and they reblogged it to their main page. She just had to tell someone and while Mr. Tilo didn’t quite understand her nearly incoherent rant, he waited for her to finish before asking, “So what do you want to make next?”
“Priscilla’s latest appearance,” Rica said without hesitation. “I know it’ll be a bitch to make her fancy dresses, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Mr. Tilo chuckled. “The villainess, eh? Alright, we can sketch out a design this weekend and figure out what fabric you want to use.”
“You’re the best, Mr. Tilo,” Rica said.
“I know.”
Some might find it odd that Rica liked Priscilla so much. She was Illnyea’s older sister and honestly Priscilla was kind of a massive bitch, but there was something so intriguing about her fickle and jealous nature, not to mention how she always showed up dressed to the nines. She started off as a minor antagonist but as the story came on, she kept showing up and messing up Illnyea’s carefully laid plans and that solidified Priscilla’s villain status.
Rica still loved all the other characters of course, because she was a sucker for the found family tropes, but she could never deny that whenever Priscilla reentered the narrative to cause chaos, Rica couldn’t help but grin.
For the next few years, Rica oscillated between her two obsessions, devoting most of her time, energy, and money into them. She earned herself somewhat of a reputation in TDE’s fandom due to her extensive knowledge and her willingness to throw money around. Rica didn’t mind paying artists more than their usual prices or donating to gofundme to help her fellow fans have more resources to make more engaging art and content. They certainly couldn’t make beautiful art for her if their power was turned off. As soon as that fan’s living situation was stable, Rica commissioned an entire set of plushies of the main cast plus Priscilla and they proudly lined the top of her dresser.
The first time Rica saw someone refer to her as “Jello the Benevolent,” it was in a meme and she choked on the soda she was sipping. It was a picture of that healer from Overwatch rescuing a civilian (Rica didn’t know her name because she didn’t like shooting games). The civilian was labeled, “me who couldn’t remember what chapter Aronne was introduced,” and the healer labeled Jello the Benevolent saying, “half-way through chapter 83.”
Rica complained to Mr. Tilo that these people were putting her on a pedestal and taking her actions out of context, and he just responded, “Oh, woe is me, people on the internet think I’m a good person, whatever shall I do?”
She groaned and hung up on the sound of his laughter.
Speaking of Mr. Tilo, he had earned his undergraduate degree but he found an internship with a fashion designer in the city that specialized in avant garde designs, which made Rica breathe out a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going anywhere.
It was when Rica turned seventeen that two major life events happened.
Firstly, and most importantly, Acacia announced that TDE was getting published officially. Rica nearly fainted in excitement when she read the announcement details and learned there would be full maps and expanded lore dumps in the special editions. She ordered a copy for her and Mr. Tilo immediately, and posted on all of her social media accounts celebrating the news.
Priscilla Trash @jigglyjellogirl
Ahhhhhhh, Acacia, I already preordered, I’m so excited, I can’t wait to get my hands on the maps and please my little goblin brain
Acacia @p_acacia
Thank you :) I hope that it is everything you imagine it to be
The second thing that happened was that Mr. Tilo took her around his old alma mater to look around and eat at the sushi place on campus. While they sat on a bench and Rica enjoyed the way smoked salmon and avocado melted in her mouth, Mr. Tilo spoke.
“I showed some of your work to my old professors and the admission counselor,” he said, leaning on his elbows, “and they told me if I didn’t get you to apply, it’d be a goddamn shame.”
Rica nearly choked on her delicious food, hacking and coughing long enough that Mr. Tilo grew concerned and came around the side to pat her back.
“What?” Rica finally croaked.
Mr. Tilo was quiet before saying, “I know that you’ve never really talked about college before, but I thought out of all the options you had, this path might be one that could actually make you happy, you know. But it is up to you, I don’t mean to pressure you into anything -- just think about it, okay? Because if you do decide to go for it, I have the utmost confidence that you’d thrive.”
Rica took her time as she wiped a napkin across her face to consider his words. She never really did think about her future much before, even though her high school teachers had been nagging her for the past year about how she was going to amount to nothing if she kept slacking off. Rica’s parents, severely lacking though they may be, had set up a trust fund for Rica that would keep her set for life -- hell, she’d probably be able to live off interest alone if she didn’t spend extravagantly.
She had never thought about going to college before because school had never really interested her. Science and math were boring, and she only paid attention in English so that she could use the novel analysis to argue why TDE was the best story in all existence, and don’t even get her started about social studies -- reading about real life history never failed to make her fall asleep.
But if she didn’t have to study something boring, it might not be too bad. Plus, Mr. Tilo had done it all before and he could help her if she struggled.
“I…” Rica turned sheepishly to Mr. Tilo. “I honestly don’t even know where to even start my application.”
Mr. Tilo’s answering grin was all Rica needed to know that she made the right decision.
Rica threw herself into preparing her portfolio with an intensity that shocked everyone she knew save Mr. Tilo. Rica recognized that if she wanted to secure her chances and not let the one person who believed in her down, she’d have to put in 110% in.
She first began by designing a line of clothes inspired by each of TDE’s characters. First in the collection was Illnyea of course, and Rica focused on feminine practicality. Illnyea wasn’t one for cumbersome details or accessories and it had to be easy to move in while still looking striking. The color palate would be limited to silver and black with gold accents to match her eyes.
Rica found the task thrilling and designed pages upon pages for each character and pestered Mr. Tilo until he brought her to his workplace so she could get better ideas of how the industry worked. The avant-garde style definitely wasn’t Rica’s cup of tea, but it did wonders for her creativity when she held a bold lightning strike pattern and wondered how she could use it. Mr. Tilo’s boss thought she had “spunk” and invited her to come by more often because they “could use some young whippersnappers like you around here,” which Rica didn’t entirely understand but accepted without complaining.
TDE was both Rica’s inspiration and solace. The weekly chapters had to stop due to licensing agreements, but Rica found that she interacted with Acacia even more now that the chapters had stopped. Rica had always tried her best to endear herself to Acacia because she loved their writing so much, and had decided on a whim to keep them updated about her portfolio progress.
Acacia wasn’t one to reach out to Rica first, but they never failed to respond to her messages with a word of praise and a basic smiley face. Rica wasn’t so bold as to declare herself Acacia’s friend, but… Rica thought their relationship was a little deeper than just author and reader by this point, as Acacia did follow her on every platform they had an account on, something that no one else in the entire fandom could claim which did give Rica a bit of a big head.
She fell into a routine for the next few months, she went to her boring school where she put in the minimum amount of effort to reach the target GPA she needed, visiting Mr. Tilo at his work in the afternoon to work on her portfolio, and then either going to her martial arts lessons or straight home to message Acacia about her progress.
Rica got accepted into the program and she would never admit to anyone in the world that she cried when she read the acceptance email.
Mr. Tilo was the first call she made after she calmed down.
“Did you get in?” His tone was serious, like he was prepared for the worst after she didn’t say anything immediately.
“Yes,” Rica giggled, “was there ever a doubt?”
“Fuck no,” he said immediately and she could hear the smile in his voice. “I knew you could do it.”
While Rica didn’t exactly want to inform her parents of the news, the secretary found out when the official acceptance letter came in the mail. Which led to Rica receiving a bland congratulations card that was obviously just the first one they found and a check for five-thousand dollars, as a “graduation gift.” Rica wanted nothing more than to rip the check to shreds and throw it in the secretary’s face but restrained herself from doing so.
Instead, Rica blew all the money on financing a vacation to Paris for her and Mr. Tilo that summer. Rica told him her plan while she was at his work before turning to his boss to ask if he could have the time off pretty please.
His boss had laughed, the sound booming across the space.
“I can spare him, I suppose,” his boss said with mirth, her blue lips spread wide in a grin, “but you promise me that you’ll keep coming here when you get back.”
“Deal,” Rica said, shaking the woman’s bejeweled hand without hesitation.
“Do I get any say in this?” Mr. Tilo asked.
“No,” said both Rica and his boss with identical grins.
Paris was stinky and the people were pretty rude, but Rica could block that out easily to take in all the different types of fashion one could see just by walking down the street. Mr. Tilo’s boss had some contacts in the industry and she tagged along only to be overwhelmed by just how fast everything moved. Overall the trip was exhausting and exhilarating but absolutely amazing.
The first book of TDE came out right after the trip and Rica devoured it as soon as she came home, locking herself in her room until she had read it twice. She ran her fingers over the thick, glossy cover several times, marveling that she finally had a physical copy. Her sewing room gained the full size maps covering the wall and Rica was in paradise.
College was… surprisingly fun. Rica hadn’t cared much for her classmates in grade school because it was pretty obvious their main intention in approaching her was just for her family’s money. But in college, Rica found that other people cared less about who her family was or how much money she had -- they cared far more about her skills and whether or not she would join their club or not.
Her time in college went great and Rica found that she could be a people person when the people she met weren’t disphits. She made friends, went to parties, kissed boys, kissed girls, got too drunk and drunk called Mr. Tilo, thanking him for everything he had done before leaving an entire essay in Acacia’s inbox blubbering about how much she loved TDE.
The second book came out the night before her sophomore year started and she devoured it just as fast. When she was done, she was staring at her alarm clock that blinked 2:03 AM at her. Chuckling, she snapped a selfie of it with the book, showing off her stylish eye bags.
bow down before queen priscilla @jigglyjellogirl
oops. might have read it all in one sitting and I have classes at 8. @p_acacia its ur fault i’m sleep deprived #TDE #everyoneneedstoreadthis
At a much more reasonable time, Acacia responded.
Acacia, author of The Destined Ending @p_acacia
You should sleep more. But thank you, truly, for your dedication :)
By the time Rica graduated, the fourth book was about to come out and her academic advisor (plus Mr. Tilo and his boss) had managed to convince Rica that getting a masters in business would do nothing but help her career. The graduate program was difficult, but nothing could stop Rica from religiously reading each TDE book as it came out, messaging Acacia her live updates because she had managed to wring it out of them that they actually liked that sort of thing.
It was when the fifth book came out and Rica was free from the clutches of academia and was doing some freelance work that Rica actually had new content to read and her jaw dropped when she got to the second to last chapter -- Priscilla turned out to be brainwashed the entire time, a theory that Rica had believed in for quite some time. But the moment that Priscilla broke free from the artifact that was controlling her, she had a moment to speak with Illnyea, just the two of them.
Illnyea asked, “Did you ever love me?”
“Hah--” Priscilla rasped, glaring at Illnyea, “You’re so--”
And then Priscilla was decapitated by the cult leader’s immortal and rabid attack dog in human skin.
Rica read the rest of the book frantically before pulling out her phone to give Acacia a piece of her mind.
JigglyJelloGirl is online
asfhdlfds acacia, ur killing me smalls…
JigglyJelloGirl sent a gif *I Can’t Belive You’ve Done This*
i cannot fucking BELIEVE you just killed priscilla!!!!!!
in the middle of her speaking…
ur extremely evil
P. Acacia is online
Hello Jello.
hello evil author
I had a question for you.
Rica sat up in her bed, staring at her phone and re-reading it a few times to make sure that she was understanding it correctly. That certainly was not the reaction she was expecting and something about it put her on edge.
of course, i’m always available to provide my wisdom for you
What if their destined endings are to be unhappy?
Rica opened her mouth and closed it a few times, as Acacia had staunchly refused to even touch upon spoilers before.
well, i am of the belief in this instance you can just say
fuck destiny
but i get the feeling u might want a different answer
What if it was you, then?
If you knew how your life would play out,
Would you still follow your destiny?
is my destiny a happy one in this scenario?
No.
what about the people i care about then
is their fate tied to mine?
P.Acacia is typing…
Their fates are not.
There could be happy endings for them.
would following my shitty destiny end up hurting them?
P. Acacia is typing…
P. Acacia is typing…
maybe
JigglyJelloGirl is typing…
i’m of the belief that people are the ones who control their lives
not some nebulous fucking concept of a god pulling everyone’s string
and, you know, some people really do deserve happy endings.
if i can give it to them with a little sacrifice on my part,
then i will
P. Acacia is typing…
You’re a very kind person Jello.
Rica snorted at that. Her thought process wasn’t all that unique or special, but maybe Acacia hadn’t encountered enough normal people in their life.
not really
just fucking stubborn
but enough about that!!!
you must tell me right now if everyone is going to die at the end
bc rn i am getting HUGE bad end of the world vibes
pls tell me i’m off base
P. Acacia is typing…
You never fail to cheer me up, Jello.
P. Acacia is offline
what
no no, get back here
don’t run away u coward!!!
ACACIA U REALLY ARE THE MOST EVIL BITCH ON EARTH
That conversation made Rica extremely anxious about how the rest of the series would go. And the next book did take a much darker turn, but she held out hope that Acacia fleeing the conversation wasn’t an omen of what was to come.
Rica eventually opened up her own boutique, and was able to get a stable client base within the first two years that covered the rent and cost of materials. It didn’t mean there weren’t bad days and no colossal fuck ups (do not ask her about the first Paris fashion week she attended as a designer), but Rica managed to get through it all.
So, yeah.
That’s how Rica became to be who she was at age twenty-six and why she was hand-stitching lace to a dark green dress she planned to wear to Mr. Tilo’s wedding to his boyfriend Ryan next year, that may or may not have been inspired by one of Priscilla’s own dresses. And it was also why it wasn’t strange that Rica got private messages from the author of her favorite book.
But besides one time, usually Acacia’s messages didn’t worry Rica.
P. Acacia is online
What if happy endings don’t exist?
Rica’s fingers paused as she leaned over to read the message. She frowned and put her work to the side. She hadn’t spoken much with Acacia about the ending of the series since the final book was announced to come out late next year.
JigglyJelloGirl is online
happy endings do exist, Acacia
bc if they don’t, there’s no hope for this world
Rica wondered what brought on this morbidity. Acacia had been quieter than usual lately, but Rica chopped that up to them being busy with the book’s launch.
The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes with no response.
A bad feeling settled deep in her gut.
are you okay?
something wrong?
One minute turned into five, into ten, into twenty. Rica couldn’t focus on anything but her phone, at the status that Acacia was online.
hey, you’re worrying me and that’s illegal
please respond
Rica didn’t know where Acacia lived so she couldn’t even call anyone to go check up on Acacia. She chewed on her cheek, a bad habit she could never get rid of. Another twenty minutes passed and Rica told herself that this would be her final attempt before she started searching up how to do a wellness check on someone when you don’t have their address. She hoped vainly this attempt might provoke them into responding.
if the ending to TDE isn’t something i like
i’ll be forced to write a fanfic
and write the happy ending myself
Rica stood to go grab her laptop when her phone chimed and she scrambled to grasp it.
I think you could write the ending better than I could.
ignore the fanfic thing, it was a shitty joke
i suck at writing
whats wrong
You still believe in happy endings…
Please make sure they all live well.
acacia wtf are you talking about
Just remember what you said:
Fuck Destiny
Rica only had a moment to stare at her phone in disbelief before her eyes grew impossibly heavy. Though she tried to type out a question, her fingers went still and her head lolled forward as her phone slipped to through her fingers, landing on the floor with a sharp crack.
“Good luck, and I’m sorry.”
And that was the last of Rica Banc.