This story is a companion/prequel to "Bubblegum Bliss," but it can be read independently. This story focuses on Dolcie, and contains a F/F pairing. Enjoy!
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At two in the afternoon, Dolcie wondered if working at the library was going to get her anywhere. It had been two years since she graduated high school, and one year since she had moved out, and she was starting to get bored here. Illinois was a cheap place to live, but it had none of the excitement of New York. Plus, the library was dusty and dirty, and she always went home to her apartment with a little coat of dust on her dark purple hoodie.
As she pushed her cart of returns around the library and shelved some fantasy and young adult novels on the dusty metal racks, she fantasized about being spirited away by some amazing guy or girl and taken anywhere but here.
The ceiling lights started flickering above her head as she put a black and green paperback for *Gone* into an open slot on the wall. The flickering didn't stop.
"Fuck," she heard her supervisor say from the front desk on the other side of the library. Her supervisor was an older blonde woman named Clara. "Dolcie, can you make sure the power's fine in the basement? And make it snappy."
"Sure thing," Dolcie said. She abandoned her cart of books and walked to the central aisle of the library. From there, she made a left and walked to the stairs at the end. She was already on the first floor, so she just had to go two floors lower to make it to the generator room in the second basement level.
Dolcie opened the door to the stairwell. The lights were still flickering, even in here. And the air in the stairway was weirdly sweet. Did Jerry bring funnel cake again? She stepped down the blue carpeted stairs. They creaked with every step of her gray and pink tennis shoes.
She went past the computer lab on the first basement level, not even bothering to glance inside at the usual visiting families and old people. She was too busy dreaming about a new life to pay attention. Dolcie's place on the stairs barely registered in her mind as she went down the familiar steps, taking another bend, and then another, and then another.
But soon, Dolcie realized something wasn't quite right. Didn't she already pass the first basement level? Or did she not? She had been too distracted to notice. She turned another bend in the carpeted stairs. The generator was at the bottom, and she swore that there were more steps than usual leading to it. Was she just getting distracted or bored?
Dolcie took two more bends before realizing that she wasn't the one going crazy. She had gone down about... five more bends than usual? And the sweet smell in the staircase was getting stronger. Something was up. Maybe she accidentally took another staircase that she had never noticed before?
The flickering lights grew dimmer as she descended. She went past what would have been the fourth basement level, and the fifth, and the sixth. This wasn't right. She began to shiver in the warm air. At least it smelled nice down there.
After one more bend, she came to a pink door at the bottom of the stairwell. The carpet was a dark red, and the walls down here were hewn from natural gray slate. She couldn't remember when the change from drywall to solid stone occured.
Although part of her wanted to go back up to try to check the power, another part of her was focused on the door. No small-town library had a deep underground room. What was in here? She approached the white wooden doorknob. Maybe it was worth a peek.
When she grabbed the doorknob, the lights went out. Dolcie yelped and let go of the knob. While fiddling in her pocket to grab her phone for a flashlight, she also tried to reach for the doorknob. But, there was just air in front of her where the door should have been. Did she get turned around somehow?
Before she took out her phone, the lights came back on. But, they weren't the same lights as before, and she wasn't in the stairwell anymore. Dolcie was standing in the middle of a slate cave filled with glittery pink crystals that lit the cave in a purplish glow. The cave had an overwhelming bubblegum smell that made Dolcie's mouth tingle with hunger.
"Ahem," a woman said just ten feet behind her. Dolcie spun around and saw a pale, scantily clad woman sitting on a throne made of the pink crystal. She was wearing blue and pink latex lingerie; boots, gloves, and underwear, plus a little latex choker. It went well with her pink hair. Dolcie stared at her heaving breasts for a moment before noticing the pink bat wings jutting out from her back.
"Where is this?" Dolcie asked.
"My throne room," the woman said. "I'm Pralia. Now, how does it feel to see something unusual for a change? Something new? Something sweet?"
Dolcie wondered if she should ask more questions or answer this one. She thought for a moment; yes, it did feel wonderful to see something mysterious and a little scary.
"It feels... nice, I guess? I've always wanted for something magical to happen to me. But what's going on?"
"It's simple; I have desires and plans, and you have a deep longing to be whisked away from your normal life into a magical fantasy. I can sense that in you. It's why I picked you."
Pralia stood up and broke a tiny chunk of pink crystal off the side of her throne. She offered the triangular piece to Dolcie.
"Want a piece?" Pralia asked.
"Um..."
"It's bubblegum flavor. Your favorite."
Were all the crystals made of candy? That explained the smell. Dolcie hesitated, and then reached out and grabbed the crystal. It was slightly warm to the touch. She held it in front of her mouth for a moment, unsure if she should commit.
"Go on," Pralia said. "It's just a little welcome gift."
