Beginnings and endings

Upon reaching the entrance to the Neptune capital mansion Lilith was greeted with a bombastic welcome. "Your Highness Lilith von Allistar it is a pleasure to lay eyes upon your beautiful form." Came a voice from in front of her.

His voice was sultry and sweet. He reminded Lilith of the soldier's stories about 'hussies'. They apparently had a voice that made your spine tingle. It would travel all the way down to your toes and back up to your head. Lilith didn't feel this sensation but she imagined if a voice ever came close, it would be this one.

"Greetings messenger. I see I need not introduce myself. Do inform me of our great emperor's words." Lilith would recognise the annoying flattery and fawning tone of voice anywhere. These were her father's messengers.

Nadia had told her that most of them were good looking and had pleasant voices. For obvious reasons. She'd also told her that only half of them were competent and the rest were just dolls. A precaution apparently. Which one was this?

"I am ever thankful that Your Highness would grace me by recognising my title. I shall now read His Imperial Highness' decree. You may all kneel." Said the messenger. Starting somewhat confused but gradually gaining the arrogance Lilith expected of his station.

All the servants present kneeled immediately, including Darren. Lilith did not but she bowed her head and placed her arms behind her back locking her fingers together. A show of lacking hostility and respect. Even she had to do this for someone who carried the weight of her father's words.

"His Imperial Highness hereby declares that Lilith von Allistar shall attend a ceremony later this evening to grant the blessing of magic to His Imperial Highness' 3rd born princess and 2nd born prince. Calytrix von Allistar and Felis Jupiter von Allistar. You will attend in approximately two hours. That is all." Announced the messenger, his voice echoing throughout the entire entrance of the Neptune family mansion.

'Zilla probably heard that.' Lilith thought. The man's voice was loud enough that it could travel all the way into the mansion. It was to be expected. His job was to announce important information to large groups of people in even larger spaces. It should not surprise her that he was loud.

Once the messenger finished he immediately began walking away. His job was done here and it was time for the next one. Lilith on the other hand just had a massive pile of work thrown onto her lap. 'Thankfully it's not public or there wouldn't be enough time.' Lilith thought mildly annoyed.

She knew what her father was like and to some degree all rulers were. It still annoyed her that he didn't think of her circumstances however. She had just been cutting up frog corpses. Now she had to prepare herself for a meeting with the emperor and likely all of her siblings. This was going to be difficult.

Lilith nonetheless immediately began preparations. She rushed into the carriage and left the mansion with a few goodbyes to the servants and an indirect goodbye to Zilla. She knew Lilith was leaving anyway. When she arrived back in her room, Lilith had to find a set of clothes that would fit the occasion.

Not all too difficult. The stench was the biggest issue. Lilith's current outfit along with the woman herself were most certainly not fit for audiences. Lilith ordered a maid to get her something to wash with on the way back to her room. They begrudgingly complied.

Lilith only took out the outfit she planned to wear. Then she didn't dare touch it. Instead she waited impatiently for the knocking to come on her door. 'No this is inefficient. I need to do something while I wait.' Lilith decided her hair was the best she could do on her own.

She attempted to brush it and straighten it out. She couldn't see it. Even if there was light she'd only see a white blur. She just tried adjusting it by feel. Lilith made sure not to panic. The human body always reacted negatively to panic. Instead she calmed herself as she brushed her hair.

She needed to always be calm. Always analytical. That was what the books told her was best and she followed it dutifully. Until she pulled slightly too hard and her hair was nearly ripped out of it's socket. "You little." She growled. She was tempted to smash the thing against her table. With enough leverage it would snap like a twig.

Lilith took a deep breath. Then she began slowly combing through her hair once more. Making sure no tug was too tight, no hair caught in the brush or tangled with each other. Having long hair was annoying at times. She had wanted to cut it but didn't have the 'finesse' herself and others refused to do it for her.

The maid was soon knocking on her door. They clearly weren't moving urgently. 'It's times like these that I actually think about changing my reputation. In the end though, it's too many resources for too little gain.'

"Enter!" Lilith shouted still doing her hair. Light streamed into her eyes from the door. It didn't help much. Hearing the maid's footsteps and some sort of splashing in her hands, Lilith guessed she had come with a bucket and soap. 'That'll have to do.' Lilith thought.

"Would you do my hair? I shall have to cleanse myself at the same time." Lilith asked. The maid knew it was an order rather than a question and got to it. Lilith could hear her sigh though. Lilith immediately stripped herself and started washing. She could at least feel this. She knew where she was scrubbing and didn't need to look.

She did a set amount of cleaning for each body part, making sure to both time and feel the difference in before and after. Lilith often smelled the air, making sure she was becoming more presentable.

While doing so, Lilith could feel the maid combing through her hair. She would occasionally tug too hard and Lilith would wince. The maid completely ignored this fact. Her monicker was apparently not very scary. Lilith supposed this was just one of the maids that thought she was cursed. They weren't scared of her just vindictive. 'Great.' She thought sarcastically.

She didn't have time to deal with that. She continued to wash herself as the maid practically tore her hair from her scalp. Lilith had gone through worse pain. Just over half an hour later Lilith was bathed and her hair was as straight nicely combed. As nice as it was going to get anyway.

Lilith couldn't see herself so she didn't know what else needed doing. She thought through the list of preparations she was taught as a child. 'Yes jewlerry and clothes. That often takes several hours in and of itself. Thankfully I'm not particularly fussed about my choices. This is informal and I don't care how I appear in front of my family. They've seen worse.' Lilith placed the dress over her head and ask/ordered the maid to tie up the back of it.

Now Lilith had to go through her jewellery drawers. She couldn't actually see any of them but Lilith remembered the texture of the nicer pieces. She merely needed to find one. Her hand rummaged through the drawer finding the occasional piece of cold stone under her touch or the wood of the drawer itself.

Eventually she found something that might fit. It had a smooth surface and Nadia had complimented it once. Lilith had placed it aside from the others because of it. Nadia was Lilith's voice of reason in fashion affairs.

Taking out the small rock set in some sort of bracelet Lilith put it on her wrist and searched for more. Overall, Lilith found 7 pieces of jewellery that Nadia or some noble had complimented. A necklace with a number of stones set into it's golden sockets. A couple lockets she wore underneath it and a ring or two.

Lilith placed them all in their appropriate place. Once this was done she didn't know the exact time but given she was expected to be there in two hours she didn't expect much. You had to be early to an audience with the emperor. It was just common courtesy. Even for his children.

Lilith told the maid to guide her to the audience chambers. "I shall have to tell Nadia of your help. I am sure she will be pleased one of the maids has decided to help me." Lilith told the maid. It was her sister's authority but she was used to using it.

Lilith was essentially telling her that if she was lead astray Nadia would know about it. On the flip side, if she did her job Nadia would also know about that. Lilith didn't have any authority of her own and Nadia often let her use hers. In exchanged Lilith offered information to Nadia if it was crucial.

Regardless Lilith arrived at what she assumed was the audience room on time. She couldn't see the looming double doors but the maid could. She immediately stood by them and waited. Several minutes passed and soon Lilith could hear more footsteps approaching her.

"Greetings sister." Wyatt said courtly. His footsteps were loud and heavy. Beating like the bangs of the drum or the explosion of combustion magic. Yet it wasn't the footsteps Lilith focussed on. She noticed something off with his tone. He was always short when he didn't want something from you. Yet this seemed distant. Deliberately so. Lilith didn't have the time to ponder the matter.

"Greetings everyone." Nadia said as her much lighter footsteps echoed in Lilith's ears. Hearing her sister's voice was a relief. Wyatt was strange. Nadia likely shared her suspicion and that made Lilith think that taking the gamble was worth it. It wasn't even guaranteed Wyatt would hurt them.

Lilith returned the two greetings and waited for the stars of the show. They showed up quite some time later. Standing around in awkward silence with her currently warring siblings wasn't pleasant as much as Lilith was capable of ignoring it.

"Heya we're getting magic. We did it!" Cally announced as her airy footsteps entered Lilith's ear like the other two. Cally's steps were even lighter than usual. She was moving quickly and she likely had a bright smile on her face. Lilith couldn't see it but she still appreciated the idea.

Felis' footsteps were significantly more hesitant and every step seemed to come a beat off from the last. They were light as any child's. Yet they also felt as though he was being dragged back by a chain and forward by his own will. Lilith had to guess he was significantly more hesitant than his 'twin' for this little ceremony.

Once the twins arrived the audience began. Lilith heard the rumblings of the doors in front of her opening. "Your Imperial Highness your children have come for the magic bestowal ceremony." Boomed a voice from inside the room.

This was the voice of the grand chamberlain. He was loud like her father's messengers. Yet he didn't have the sultry or even pleasant ring to his tone that Lilith had come to expect from them. His voice was cold. Like all emotion had fled his immediate vicinity because this man scared them off with his frigid glare. Not that Lilith could actually see his eyes. She just imagined it.

The emperor didn't even say anything as all of his children entered the chamber. They all put their hands behind their back and bowed at once. It seemed rehearsed. It most certainly wasn't. Wyatt and Nadia were at each other's throats too often for them to rehearse this and Lilith couldn't even see the rest of them.

This was simply an instinctual gesture on all their parts. Apparently being siblings made their instincts react at the same time. "I accept your gestures of peace and respect. You may rise." The emperor said to his children as though he'd said the lines thousands of times before. Because he had.

Everyone else got a good look at the old man. Lilith on the other hand just got a blurry outline of some figure on a throne. That was all her father was to her really. Perhaps a reason for her detachment from morality helped along by her genes and general beliefs. Lilith hadn't tried to psycho-analyse herself in a while. Perhaps she was rusty.

"Today is a great occasion." The emperor said with zero feeling in the words. Absolutely no one believed he was excited for this.

He droned on about the honour and pride he felt with his two children taking upon the mage mantle and the twins were likely the only one to listen. Lilith couldn't imagine Nadia or Wyatt believing a word of it. Especially with how dry this man's tone was. He didn't care one bit for his children and Lilith knew it. She gave the man the same amount of care in turn.

Once he was finished with his speech Lilith heard another set of footsteps from near the throne. "The minister of magic shall now grant you access to the scrolls. Accept it with gratitude and pride in your hearts my children. For you are now full-fledged mages." Came the same dry words everyone receives upon getting magic. Only they came from the emperor and had a small flourish.

Lilith heard Cally and Felis step forward and eventually come close to the minister's footsteps. Once they did a bright light enveloped the room. Even Lilith could see it. She shut her eyes instinctively at the all too bright light entering her barely functioning eyes. This was the magic bestowal.

Yet Lilith's sudden blindness didn't suddenly make her deaf. She heard a number of footsteps coming closer to all of the royals. Wyatt also seemed to step backwards. There appeared to be a set of footsteps near the throne as well. What were they doing?

Lilith tried to analyse the situation but a dangerous feeling ran up her spine. Lilith's instincts for danger weren't abnormally good. But she wasn't blind. "Nadia!" She shouted. As she did so, she could hear her sister's steps. She was rapidly moving towards the twins. That was good for them. It didn't bode well for Lilith however.

She heard a metal clink from behind her and she turned around. With all her training she kicked in the direction of the sound. It was perfectly executed. Lilith's foot felt the air resistance in it's wake. The appendage approached her attacker swiftly.

Then she heard a clink and her foot was suddenly in pain. Before Lilith could think, there was a burning pain in her abdomen. Lilith's body lost colour and her mind instantly panicked. 'No, no, no.' She chanted in her mind.

Lilith recalled all the texts she could think of on medical knowledge she had absorbed. She attempted to place her hands on the wound. Yet her hands only gained the sensation. Lilith then realised the sword was still in her gut. She didn't want to pull it out in case she bled out.

She attempted to launch a straight right at her attacker this time. Her footing was already steadied. A step forward. A swing of the hips. Her entire body backing her right fist. Yet a clank was all she got in response. Her right knuckle now felt rather painful.

Lilith had completely blocked out the noise around her. She didn't care about anyone else right now. She needed to get out of this alive. Gritting her teeth at the pain, Lilith continued to punch the metal object to little effect. Her fist merely bounced off. Every time it scraped more skin from her hands.

With no hestiation, her attacker ripped the blade from abdomen. Lilith felt the sword slowly knick everything it could on it's way out. Sharp, stabbing pains erupted inside her body. Worse was the white hot burning sensation. She could feel the hole in her. It burned like magma.

Holding her hand to the wound, Lilith felt the warm, sticky liquid cover her fingers and attempt to escape out her hands with every heartbeat. Every beat, her hands felt a small pressure and more warm liquid coated them. She tried to push back against the pressure with her own.

"ssss" Lilith hissed. Apparently that was her reaction to pain. Something she wanted to learn. Yet hated to experience. She heard something cut through the air in front of her. More warm liquid splattered her torso and reached all the way up to her face. Blood. Her blood.

The man had flicked his blade. Her face wasn't the only place the blood entered. Lilith's eyes stung like they were being bathed in a hot vat of steaming acid. She closed them immediately but it wouldn't help. She felt the warm liquid dripping from the edges of her eyes. Her body was attempting to expel it.

Lilith's limbs were slowly growing colder. Her limbs felt lighter for some reason. Yet also somehow heavy. She couldn't move them like she wanted to. Yet she felt like she should be able to. No. Lilith wasn't going to die. The world was still a mystery to her. Death was not something she would ever face. She refused to.

"Arghhh" Lilith screamed in pain and rage. She grabbed onto the sword's handle with her slowly weakening body. She knew she wasn't strong. She was even weaker right now. Lilith pulled the pommel of the sword towards her as hard as she could. The man didn't expect it.

Another clang followed. This time however Lilith was successful. She could hear his lumbering steps moving backwards. He was unsteady on his feet. Taking the chance, Lilith ran towards the door. She still held her abdomen. It's spurts of blood were getting faster. Lilith tried to calm her heart rate to slow blood loss. Yet her body's reaction was unfortunately the opposite.

She staggered and stumbled as she reached towards the door. Lilith now paid attention to the rest of the room. She needed to scan for threats. She was so close to the door. If someone was there, Lilith was going to murder them.

Thankfully she didn't hear anything from the direction of the door. She did hear a number of steps from behind her. Alongside a few screams. "Father! Wyatt how could-" Came from Nadia. The twins were squealing in terror from that direction as well.

Their father apparently wasn't reacting. Maybe he was dead too. Oh well. Lilith reached for the door handle and propped herself up on it. She was finding it a struggle to stand. She had lost feeling in her legs. She knew that blood often had a hard time reaching the legs. So this was how it manifested in an injured person. A new experience at least.

'I should have been more careful. It was an ultimatum. Why didn't I see that. Of course it was an ultimatum. He cares but he's resolved. Never make this mistake again.' Lilith mentally chided herself as she remembered Wyatt's words.

Lilith tried to turn the handle. She used her right hand as her left was now pushing against the gaping hole in her chest. Yet her hand slipped. The blood on her hand made the doorknob slippery and her grip merely slid across the doorknob. Determined and on the verge of death, Lilith simply continued to claw at the door, attempting to stabilise her grip.

Remembering a tidbit about cloth having increased traction, Lilith tore a piece of her dress and held it against the door handle. She turned with her blood soaked hand. She heard a groaning from in front of her. The sound was fading but Lilith didn't care. She was free. She knew where the healers were.

Stumbling as she lost the support of the door, Lilith almost made it out into the hallway. Something grabbed her dress. She was yanked back. Back into the room of death. Lilith now lay flat on her back staring up at the ceiling. Tears and blood now mixed in her eyes. There was a small amount dribbling from her mouth as well. It tasted like metal. Fascinating.

Will not die. Must get up. Lilith tried to raise her limbs. She fought her body's attempt to make her rest. She needed escape. She didn't need rest. She could do that later. She pushed herself back up. Something thudded against her stomach. It caused the burning to worsen. Could it get worse? Could she feel it any more?

Something cold was pressing against her stomach. Perhaps a metal boot. Something was coming down from above. Lilith didn't like that. She put both her hands in front of her. The sword pierced through flesh and bone as though it was made of paper. Lilith didn't care. It had stopped.

Not for long. She felt the metal scrape against her bone as it exited. Lilith didn't even care any more. Her hands were bleeding something warm onto her face. Or was it cold? What was warm and cold? Temperature? Celsius? Why should she care. Something pierced just between Lilith's ribcage and her life ended.