Chapter 24: Chapter 22: Safe Again

And so, a couple of weeks passed. Lilith’s daily routine became one of going out early to hunt with Siph, training with Siph and Carmen for the rest of the day, and then eating and going to bed. Often during her training people would come in and watch, mostly Raphael, but occasionally the others would stop by for a bit.

This routine was broken one evening by Emily coming in and respectfully waiting for Siph and Lilith to finish their training. Lilith could never quite get a handle on Emily – she was young, barely older than Raphael, but she carried herself like she was an adult, the picture of professionalism. When asked, Emily simply said that it was her responsibility as one of the Windkeepers, and refused to say anything more.

So, when Lilith noticed her, she stopped Siph at the next relatively convenient stopping point; Emily would likely just stand there until Lilith stopped what she was doing, so Lilith had made a point of keeping an eye out for her in times like these.

“What’s up?” Lilith asked when they were finished. “Do you need something?”

Emily nodded. “Kali has finally been able to properly discern our position, and is currently constructing a portal back. She will be taking you to Councilwoman Elenoa’s demiplane for the time being, as we are uncertain of the status of Councilman Tunem’s demiplane. She anticipates that things will be ready within the hour.”

“Alright!” Siph said, pumping a fist. “That’s great news, right, Lilith, Carmen?”

“Sure is.” Carmen said. “It’ll be nice to sleep in a proper bed again.”

“Alright, I have to grab a few of my things, then.” Siph said. “Just a couple of sentimental objects I would like to take with me. I don’t think you brought much with you, but go make sure you’re not leaving anything behind, either.” She turned to Emily. “Does everyone else know?”

Emily nodded. “Yes.”

“Good.” Siph replied, looking back to her daughters. “I’ll meet you two back here when you’re finished, alright?”

With that, the group dispersed, and Lilith and Carmen left to make sure they had everything. That…mostly just meant Lilith’s phone, because her pockets didn’t have anything else in them at the time of their flight.

And soon, everyone was gathered in front of a portal in one of the side rooms, Kali standing between them and it.

“I’m going to go in first to explain the situation.” Kali said. “Don’t come through until I come back, alright?”

She stepped through, and there was a tense silence as everyone waited. It dragged on for a couple of minutes and then the portal shimmered, and Kali stepped through. “We’re clear.” She said, waving at the portal. “I had a bit of trouble getting her to accept Siph, but as long as we leave fast, we’re fine. She’s having someone set up a portal to Tunem’s place, it’s safe.”

“Alright. Let’s go, then.” Carmen said, and stepped through the portal. Everyone else followed shortly after, and Lilith soon found herself in a large ornamental garden. Standing just to the side of the portal was a very-displeased looking Elenoa, as well as a tall, lean human man.

“The portal is to your left.” Elenoa said tersely. “Everyone who’s not Lilith, Kali, or Raphael is leaving. Now. Yes, you too, Carmen. Winston, show them out.”

The human nodded, and walked over to the group. “Follow me.” He said, tone indicating that there was no room for argument.

“Look here, I –” Siph began, but she was cut off by Alex, who hurriedly whispered something into her ear. After a moment, Siph gave him an unhappy look. “Fine,” She said, “but I will be less than pleased if I find my daughter’s been treated unfairly.”

Elenoa ignored her, instead focusing her attention on Lilith, giving her a rather displeased look. Once everyone else was gone, she began to speak. “Raphael, go to the house, we’re going to get you fixed.”

Raphael didn’t move, instead staying rooted to the spot as she looked between Lilith and Elenoa.

“I said go.” Elenoa said. “Did you not hear me?”

“I…heard you.” Raphael said. “But I’m not going.”

Elenoa wheeled, face going from displeasure to anger as she looked at her granddaughter. “Excuse me? Are you talking back to me?”

Raphael quavered, but held Elenoa’s gaze. “I will go back to the house, but I don’t think I should be ‘fixed’. This was a punishment for my behavior, and I need to see it through to the end.”

Elenoa snorted. “Kali, this is not what I meant when I talked about fixing his ego.”

“What are you talking about?” Kali responded, exasperated. “She’s owning up to her punishment, I see that as a large step in the right direction.”

Elenoa turned to Kali, pure, undisguised disgust on her face. “You know what I meant.”

Kali didn’t seem the least bit fazed by this, returning Elenoa’s baleful glare with a perfectly calm and measured look. “I’m afraid I don’t. If taking responsibility for your actions was not something I was supposed to teach, then I don’t know what was. I stand by this.”

“Fine.” Elenoa spat. “Raphael, we’ll talk about this later after I’ve talked sense into Kali. Leave us.”

Raphael left, only looking back for a moment as she reached the part of the path that had the portal. Then, apparently convinced of something, she quickly altered course, sprinting into the portal and out of sight.

“I’ll have to have a talk with him later.” Elenoa growled. “But for now, we need to talk about your punishment.” She said, looking at Lilith.

“What are you talking about?” Kali said angrily. “Lilith’s done nothing wrong.”

“She changed my grandson without my permission, and I say that’s plenty.” Elenoa said icily. “I don’t take kindly to an affront like that.”

“I gave her express permission, Tunem passed it off, and you gave me permission to discipline Raphael as I see fit. You know this, so stop trying to pull some sort of power move over her.” Kali snapped. “I’m not going to stand for this, I will push the issue in the Council if you try to do this, unspoken agreements or not.”

Elenoa’s expression soured even more, something Lilith hadn’t even considered as being possible before. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I would.” Kali said. “You know I would. Lilith, go into the portal, now. You don’t have to put up with this.”

“But…”

“But nothing.” Kali said firmly, more firmly than Lilith had ever heard Kali tell her to do anything. “The Council has directly put me and Tunem in charge of you. My authority supersedes Elenoa’s here. Leave, immediately.”

“Fine.” Lilith said, breaking away from the group and moving towards the portal.

“Do not.” She heard Elenoa say. “I will have Winston drag you back here if necessary.”

“Don’t listen to her.” Kali said. “She can’t actually do that. If she does, she’ll have to actually face repercussions, unlike usual.”

Elenoa gasped in fury. “You did not just say that. I will have you removed from your seat if you don’t correct your attitude right now.”

“Oh, yes, and start a civil war? Not everyone’s happy with the position you’ve been putting yourself in and the policies you push. You can’t just bully me down from this. Lilith, go. This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Lilith took that opportunity to dash towards the portal. Winston looked for a moment like he was about to pursue, but was stopped with a wave from Elenoa. And so, she was soon out of the situation and back in a room in Tunem’s demiplane. It was…surprisingly empty, the only inhabitants being Carmen and Raphael, the latter of which was sitting on the floor, looking…for lack of a better word, panicked.

“Raphael, are you going to be okay?” Lilith asked. “That was…really brave of you.” Lilith gave a nod to Carmen, quickly catching her up by sharing her memories of the short time they were apart before turning back to Raphael. “I’m surprised you just…disobeyed your grandma like that.”

Raphael shook her head slowly. “Well…I realized she was wrong.” She said. “And…I want to own up to my mistakes. I don’t get to just…skip out on the consequences like that. That’s…wrong.”

Carmen walked over and patted the girl’s head. “I’m proud of you.” She said, smiling slightly.

Raphael immediately ducked away. “I–I didn’t say you could do that!” She protested. “I…that feels weird, so don’t.”

Carmen smirked. “Why not? It’s normal to tell someone when they did a good job. Not used to it?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Raphael whined. “Come on!”

Further conversation was interrupted as the door opened, and Tunem walked in. “It’s good to see you again.” He said. “Lilith, I have some news for you.”

Lilith raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”

“After the raid we decided it was too risky to let your parents just be out in the open like they were. So, we relocated them here and they’ve been…more or less caught up on the broad strokes of things, though we’ve chosen to let you tell them the specifics. Judy’s having a quick talk with them in the other room, and then we’re going to have you see them.”

“And…Siph?” Lilith asked.

“Is waiting just outside their room. She’s planning to see them after you talk with them.” Tunem replied, then turned to Raphael. “Raphael, you’re free to go back to your room if you would like.”

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Raphael shook her head again, moving so she was slightly behind Lilith. “Um…I’m going to stay here with them.” She said. “I…need some time to think and I kinda want to be away from there.”

“Very well. Lilith, if she’s bothering you, feel free to send her away if you’d like.”

“It’s not a problem.” Lilith said, placing a hand on Raphael’s shoulder. “She can stay with us if she wants to.”

Raphael gave Lilith a grateful look. “T–thanks.” She said in a small voice.

Tunem nodded. “Is Kali still talking with Elenoa?”

“Yeah.” Lilith confirmed. “It’s…it’s getting ugly. They looked like they were ready to get into a shouting match.”

Tunem sighed. “It wouldn’t be the first time. I’ll leave the portal open; she can close it when she’s done.” Tunem surveyed the room one last time, then left.

Raphael came out from behind Lilith, walking over to a chair and sitting down. “I…um, I think I said this before, but…I’m sorry. Um…I didn’t…” She struggled with her words, a conflicted expression on her face. “I just…I don’t know. I did a lot of thinking these last couple of weeks. And…well…I guess I just realized Grandma isn’t as good as I thought she was.” She said.

“And I saw how Siph treated you and…I dunno, I just…” She sighed, putting her head in her hands. “I just thought that things should be…better. If Grandma is as awesome as she says she is, then…why does she treat people like she does?”

Though Lilith couldn’t see her face, she could tell from Raphael’s voice that she was on the edge of tears. “No, not even that.” Raphael continued. “Why does she treat me like she does? She’s supposed to be…I dunno, be there. Right now, she just…ignores me or tells me to go away, that she’s busy with important things. She doesn’t even care that I was out in the wilderness for weeks, she just wanted to ‘fix’ me like I’m some sort of thing!”

She removed a hand from her face, wiping her now-streaming eyes with a sleeve. “I just…just…”

“Shhh.” Carmen said gently, walking over and kneeling down so she was at an even level with Raphael before she pulled the girl into a hug. “It’s okay.” Carmen stroked Raphael’s hair soothingly, pulling her in even closer. “Just let it all out. We’re not going to judge you for this.”

The door opened again, and Judy walked in. “I…think they’re ready for you now, Lilith. Carmen you probably should…” She trailed off, looking at Carmen and the sobbing Raphael.

“We’ll just let them be.” Lilith said, standing up. “She’s had a hard night. Show me where they are, we might as well get this over with.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Judy replied. “This way.”

She led Lilith down a couple of hallways to an unassuming room. And, like Tunem had said, Siph was sitting just outside, looking worried.

“Hey.” She said. “Um…you don’t have to tell them about…us now if you don’t want to. Whatever makes you the most comfortable, alright?”

Lilith smiled weakly. “Well, I might as well.” She said. “Since I’m dropping all these other bombs on them and all.”

“Tunem gave me this for you.” Judy said, handing Lilith a ring. “It’s one of the ones that keep you and Carmen’s other parts hidden. He figured you might want it for this talk.

Lilith nodded, putting the ring on. “Alright. Um…wish me luck.” She said, then opened the door and stepped into the room, making sure to share senses with Carmen so Carmen knew what was going on.

Waiting inside were her parents, sitting on a bed and looking rather worried. Her dad, Mike, was a short man with dark blue eyes and a stern face. His hair had long since given up its brown color and had turned to a dull grey. Her mother, Jessica, was slightly taller than her husband, with short black hair and brown eyes. Both of them were in their mid-40s and were wearing their pajamas, having been awoken from sleep for this, if the messy hair and sheets were any indication.

“Hey, mom, dad.” Lilith said. “Um…long time no see.”

Her dad stood up shakily. “L–Lucas…?” He whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me.”

The two rushed over, embracing Lilith tightly.

“Sorry.” Lilith said quietly. “I know this is a lot for you to take in.” She returned their hug for a moment before gently pushing them away. “We…have to talk about me. I’ve changed. A lot.”

Her mom snorted. “You’re still our kid, girl or not.”

Lilith moved away a little, so they had a better view of her. “I…don’t know how much they told you, but…I’m not human anymore. I mean, technically I am, but…not really.” She took off the ring, prompting a gasp from her father. “This is what I look like without magic affecting me.” She said, scanning their faces intently.

“I…think I get it.” Her mom said. “They were talking about you being…everything at once? I guess we can just be glad that you’re still…humanoid.”

Lilith gave her a shaky smile. “Yeah.”

Her mom sighed, eyeing Lilith carefully. “What else?” She said. “Judy specifically said not to freak out, and you’re acting weird.”

Mike gave his wife an odd look. “Isn’t this plenty to freak out over? There can’t be more…right?”

Jessica shrugged. “You know Judy and I messed with the occult when we were younger, and we’ve seen weird stuff. She knows this isn’t enough to really freak me out given what we’ve learned recently.”

“Are you…sure you want to see?” Lilith said. “It’s not pretty.”

Her dad sighed. “It’s best to rip the bandage off quickly, I guess.”

Lilith looked to her mom, who nodded in agreement. “Alright, just…sit down first, okay? This is going to be shocking.”

Once her parents were back on the bed, Lilith focused. A mass of squirming tentacles erupted from her back, dripping in toxin. A moment later, they were chitinous scythes, the next insectoid wings. As they continued to shift between unnatural appearances, eyes and mouths surfaced along Lilith’s body and the appendages, shifting locations wildly. After a few seconds of this, Lilith retracted everything, leaving her in her base form.

“There’s…a possibility that I’ve become an eldritch abomination of sorts. I can just sort of…do that now.”

Her dad was looking pale, gripping the sheets tightly. Her mom, on the other hand, stroked her husband’s arm soothingly, giving Lilith a reassuring look. “I’m not going to lie and say that wasn’t a little frightening. But…horror from the beyond or not, you’re still our kid. This is all going to take some getting used to, but I’m sure we can figure things out.”

Lilith nodded hesitantly. “There’s…more.” She said. “Not anything like that, but…”

Her dad gave a hollow laugh. “I thought the bandage was off, but…I guess not. Lay it on us.”

“It’s not nearly as scary or anything!” Lilith said quickly. “It’s just…well, along the way some things happened, and I sort of…got an alternate personality. She has her own body now, so…don’t be surprised when there’s more than one of me.”

The door opened and Carmen walked in, shirt damp from where Raphael had been crying on it. “Hey, name’s Carmen. And the bundle of nervous energy over there forgot to mention that she’s going by Lilith now. Anyway, it’s a long story, but, for all intents and purposes, we’re the same person. Tell something to one of us and the other is going to know.”

Carmen winked conspiratorially. “Well, unless you want us to keep it a secret from the other. It’ll get out eventually, but I reckon we could keep a secret for a few months.” She flashed them a smile. “Want us to keep ripping?”

“Y–yeah.” Her dad replied. “G–go on.”

Carmen smiled, then opened the door. “I’ll leave you all to it, then. I have to get back to Raphael, you all have fun.” She stepped out, and looked to the side. “Go on in.” She instructed, then left.

Siph walked in, closing the door behind her awkwardly. “Um…hi.” She said. “I’m Siph. And…um…I…”

“I got an ability that connects members of our family. It lets us share Mana, communicate with telepathy, makes us stronger when we’re near each other, that sort of thing.” Lilith said, hesitating slightly. “But there’s another feature. All people in the ability see each other as family, depending on how they’re related to me, and…” Lilith trailed off and Siph placed a hand on her shoulder.

“The ability activated automatically.” Siph explained. “I…wanted to treat her as a daughter out of my own selfish desires, and when she agreed she got the ability and it changed how she and Judy feel about me. We…well, we feel like real family now. We want to let you in on it, but if we do, you’re going to be affected as well, and we don’t know what that will be like. If…if you don’t want to, I can leave. I know I’m not…really her parent in the same way you two are, so if you feel like I’m getting in the way…”

Jessica studied Lilith and Siph’s faces carefully. “Can we…have some time to discuss?” She said. “Just a bit.”

“Of course.” Siph replied. “We’ll be outside.”

Lilith and Siph left, and were outside for about five minutes before the door opened again and they were let back in.

“We’ll do it.” Mike said. “What do we do?”

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