Chapter 11: Chapter 9: An Eventful Sleep

Wake up.

Lilith rolled over, not quite registering the strange voice in her hazy half-sleep. It had been a long evening and between the day’s events and not really getting great sleep the previous night, she was pretty tired and out of it.

Wake up, child.

A small shock ran through Lilith, causing her to bolt upright. She was…no longer in her room; instead, she was in a seemingly endless expanse, nothing but pure, undifferentiated white in all directions.

Vithi, can you hear me?! Get up, we’re in danger again!

She cannot hear you, child. It is just us in here.

“Who are you?” Lilith asked. Her earlier panic had suddenly been quashed, an odd, comforting feeling beginning to wash over her. It was like the magic that was dampening her emotions was a song she had heard before but couldn’t recall the lyrics or what it was named. Despite the alarming situation she had found herself in, that magic made her feel safe, like everything would turn out fine.

The strange voice chuckled, causing waves of bright gray tinged with red to roll across the blank void around her. A being of great power and influence, much like yourself. Your kind has called us many things. Perhaps the most popular of our names is “Elder Gods”, and, like it or not, you’re one of us now.

Despite the magic suppressing her emotions, Lilith shuddered. “What do you want with me?”

A tide of amused pink washed over the area. Bold words, for one who does not understand the situation. Fear not, for I have come to deliver a gift as a celebration of your entry into our world.

A weight pressed against Lilith’s palm, and she looked down to find herself holding a book bound in red leather, titled The King in Yellow. She frowned, tilting her head slightly as she studied it.

I see you are unfamiliar with your gift, child. You will hear many things, but do not worry, for it cannot harm you. You are one of us now, and such things hold no power over you. Consider it a fast track to power, should you desire it.

Lilith frowned, running a hand over the book’s cover. “And why would you give this to me? Surely it wouldn’t be in your best interest to make a potential rival.”

The atmosphere changed immediately, color shifting to the black of a storm cloud ready to burst, streaks of white flashing across it. There are those that seek to use your power for themselves, to harness something which should never be harnessed. I will not let them get away with this.

“But…it’s OK for me to harness.” Lilith replied flatly.

The edges of the endless expanse became pink once again as the being chuckled. You are amusing, little one. Is the river harnessed by its water? No. The river and the water are one and the same. You are the source of much power, and whether you choose to dam that source or let it flow is up to you and you alone. I would consider the book, my child. And remember, there is no evil power or good power, just power and how you choose to use it. Do not let yourself be swayed by the thoughts of others.

And then Lilith woke up in her bed, clutching the book to her chest.

Vithi, wake up, now.

Lilith? Vithi groaned. What time is it?

Not important. Get out here.

There was some grumbling, but Vithi was soon physically in Lilith’s room. “What’s going on?” She asked, frowning as she looked over Lilith. “Are you OK? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. And…what’s that book you’re holding?”

Lilith wordlessly handed it over. Vithi looked at it for only a moment before she hissed, throwing the book on the ground and lighting it on fire with a spell. The fire crackled for a moment before extinguishing, leaving behind a completely unharmed book. Vithi stomped over, bent down to grab it, and then found her fingers closing over empty air as the tome reappeared in Lilith’s hands.

Vithi paused for a moment, looking at the book fearfully. “We’re going to see Tunem. Now.” She practically towed Lilith over to Alex’s room, knocking hard on the door. A moment later, a sleepy-looking Alex answered the door, looking none too pleased about her sudden awakening.

That changed the moment she saw the book Lilith was holding. “Let me guess, you need me to take you to my dad’s room?”

“Yeah. We need to deal with this.” Vithi confirmed. “I can’t get rid of it, I tried.”

“On it. Let me get some slippers and we’ll be on our way.” She disappeared into her room and Lilith took the opportunity to grab her own pair of slippers. She headed back to Vithi, and, after waiting another few seconds for Alex, the three began their walk through the dark courtyards to what Alex told them was Tunem’s personal house.

They only slowed down briefly as Alex provided some sort of magic-signature identification to unlock the doors to the house, and then it was only a couple more minutes until they were at Tunem’s door.

Lilith stepped up and gave the door a few hard knocks, then stepped back as the group waited for Tunem to get up and come to the door.

They were about to knock again when Tunem finally answered, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “What do you need at this time of night? Can’t it wait until morning?”

He stopped in his tracks when he saw what Lilith was holding. “Oh. Let’s head to the living room, we can discuss this more there.”

Alex took them to a room with several large couches, and everyone sat down. “Alright, what’s the deal with this book? Everyone seems to be freaking out about it and I’m not exactly sure what the issue is.”

“The King in Yellow drives all those who read it mad.” Tunem explained. “And all known copies are currently locked up in incredibly high-security areas. Where did you get this?”

Lilith explained her dream, and as she did, she could see Tunem growing increasingly uncomfortable. “Did you not foresee this?” She asked once she had finished. “Aren’t you like…the best at divination in the world?”

Tunem shook his head. “That may be, but even the weakest Great Old Ones are notoriously hard to predict with divination magic, and the strong ones are effectively impossible. They’re just too alien for magic to properly predict them.

“But that also means you can’t really trust what they say. When they said that the book could do you no harm, it might mean that they don’t view driving you insane as harm. But, at the same time, it might well mean that no harm would come to you by our definition of harm.”

That…didn’t seem right to Lilith. While she admitted her encounter was odd, it certainly didn’t feel alien. The being she had talked to had that strange aura of familiarity about it, and something deep down in her gut told her that when it said the book couldn’t harm her, it meant her definition of harm.

“Your encounter nearly confirms an interesting theory, though. We know little about the contents of the book, as those who have read it are rarely in a state to relay the information to us, but many have postulated that the knowledge therein could be of use if someone was able to stay sane enough to use it. And if one of the Great Old Ones is saying reading the book would give you power, that’s strong evidence in favor of that theory.”

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He sighed, holding a hand out. “Still, that’s not something we can risk. I’m afraid I’m going to have to confiscate the book.”

Lilith obediently handed the book over, and the moment Tunem had hold of it and she let go, the book reappeared in her hands.

“That’s…not a standard trait of the book.” Tunem said slowly. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to take this from you. In this case, I think we’re going to need to destroy the book.”

“Already tried.” Vithi interrupted. “It doesn’t burn.”

Tunem frowned deeply. “That’s not normal either. I’m…going to have to consult with the Counsel on this. For now, just leave it alone, and we’ll give you further instructions tomorrow. Just…try to get some rest, alright? We’ll figure something out, so don’t worry.”

With that, Tunem stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the three people to begin the walk back to their dorm.

“What’s this Council?” Lilith asked. “Some sort of group of important mages?”

“Kind of, yeah.” Vithi replied. “It’s the Protectorate’s governing body, and the people on it are usually some of the best, if not the best, in their respective fields of magic. If anyone can figure out what to do in this situation, it’s them.”

Alex grimaced. “Hopefully they won’t just send me straight to jail when they see me.” She said. “I’m pretty sure they’ll figure out who I am.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Lilith said firmly. “I have…some sort of bargaining power as a Perfect Chimera, right? I can flex that a bit if I need to.”

“Thanks.” Alex replied, looking relieved. “Hopefully that’ll be enough.”

The rest of their walk was quiet as they each thought about the ramifications of the book. But, eventually, they made it back to their dorm and Lilith climbed back into bed, where she tried her best to fall asleep.

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Lilith blearily shut off her alarm, stumbling off of her bed. Despite her best efforts, she hadn’t been able to sleep well after the night’s events. She forced herself to get dressed anyway and stumbled out of her room and into the dorm’s main area.

Instantly, she was hit with a wave of nostalgia. There was something in the air that she had known well at some point, a certain heaviness that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. That was enough to momentarily distract her from the fact that Judy, Alex, and a bunch of rather important-looking people in her living room looking at her.

There was Tunem, of course, but there were also two angels, an elf, a dwarf, a kitsune, and, finally, a demon that Lilith could somehow tell was a succubus. Her attention lingered on that last one the longest; there was something about her that really just…didn’t feel the same as everyone else. She had that same odd familiarity about her, but there was also a sense of…weight to her that none of the others really had. Perhaps the familiarity was because Lilith had her own succubus Domain completely unlocked, but what was that odd weight?

“Ah, good, you’re up.” Tunem said, snapping Lilith out of her trance. “These are the other leaders of the Protectorate. Please go ahead and wake up Vithi, we’re going to be doing some…hands on testing today, and we’d like everyone to be ready in case something goes wrong. We don’t have infinite time, so we have to be moving, please follow me.” Not waiting for a reply, he got up and strode out of the room, followed by the six council members.

“How long have they been here?” Lilith asked Judy and Alex as they began to move.

“Like…half an hour.” Alex replied. “It was really awkward, let me tell you that. I think Kali, the demon, recognized me, but no one else did, so we’re in the clear regarding that for now. We didn’t wake you because they thought you needed as much rest as possible today.”

Lilith frowned. “That doesn’t bode well, I don’t think. Let me wake up Vithi real quick and we can talk more.”

Lilith gave Vithi a mental nudge, trying to get her awake. Sorry to bother you, but we need you to wake up.

What? Vithi said sleepily.

Well–

Oh goodness all seven of them are here. Hold on, I’ll be out in a moment. Vithi materialized a moment later, slightly pale. “Why are all of them here?!” She whispered.

“No clue. Just woke up and they were here.” Lilith responded.

“It’s about The King in Yellow.” Judy said. “They were talking about the book and watching you carefully.”

Vithi was silent for a moment before gasping, any remaining color draining from her face. “They’re going to make her read it.” And, before Lilith, Judy, or Alex could respond, she sprinted up to Tunem, presumably to protest.

After a short while, she returned to Lilith and Judy, shaking her head. “He said it was a majority decision by the Council. He was dissenting, but he said he has a lot less influence in eldritch matters, because he’s not able to see the future with regards to them. He also said he wants the three of us to watch Lilith closely to make sure she’s acting fine after she reads the book, since we’ll be around her the most.”

An uneasy silence filled the air as they walked, eventually reaching the high-concentration magic building. Once inside Tunem led the group to a large, intimidating metal door, which swung open to reveal a long hallway lined with more metal doors. As they proceeded down the hall, Vithi stopped, staring at one door in particular, a strange expression on her face.

“What?” Lilith asked, nudging Vithi back into motion.

“This place is the vault.” She explained. “That room was where they kept my lamp. I spent centuries in there, so it’s a little weird to be on the outside looking in.”

Lilith didn’t know how to respond to that, but she didn’t have to, as the group all stopped shortly afterward. They were at another large metal door, but this one was inscribed with a dizzyingly complex array of lines and runes. Tunem took a minute or two to recite some incantation and the door opened. Once the group was through the runes on the door blazed to life and it slammed shut, locking them inside.

The room was large and circular, the floor covered in an even more complex array of magic formations. Tunem ushered Judy, Alex, and Vithi to an incongruously placed set of armchairs within an intricate magic circle and motioned for Lilith to sit in a similar armchair at the dead center of the circle.

Each of the Protectorate leaders sat in a similar armchair at circles spaced along the edge of the formation, and a series of lights rushed out from the chairs, spreading throughout the magic formation and causing it to glow brightly before the lights completed their trip and the glow dimmed to a more manageable level.

“Lilith, the Council has decided to have you read The King in Yellow.” One of the angels said. “During this procedure, you are to answer any and all questions directed at you by anyone outside of your circle immediately. You are not to read aloud passages from the book under any circumstances, and should we determine that things are going awry, we will activate the array and you will be forcibly stopped from reading the book. Do you understand?”

Lilith gulped, nodding. “Yes.”

“Then you may begin.”