The Half-Lilin Chapter 15 by Shin Eris

Author's Note: The latest chapter of The Half-Lilin. I know it has been so long since the last chapter. No excuses, but I would like to mention that I've edited the previous chapters and two chapters has been extensively modified. I'm talking about the chapter where Ilyse was in Ashmedan and the one where Ilyse was in Tartarus. Anyway, here's a sneak peek of this chapter:

"Well, not really. It was fun, but it's really degrading," I said, suddenly uncertain of what to say, "No... yes... I really hate doing that, Mother. Please don't ask me to do that again."

"Tough. You're stuck with that job for the rest of your long, demonic life. If you decide to kill yourself, I'll just resurrect you. We can do this over and over again, resurrecting you won't even make a tiniest dent on my powers."

"But Mother!" I said, realizing that I sounded a bit like a petulant child.

"Unless..." she looked a thoughtful as she gazed at the red sky. She made a gesture with her fingers and I heard a faraway scream from above.

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Chapter 15

Mother looking furious, got up from her throne and strode over to the first Lili that fell from the sky. Grabbing her by the scruff of her neck (or whatever's left of it), Mother hoisted her up, their eyes on the same level. Then she proceeded to shake the Lili's body violently.

"Wake up, girl," Mother said as the Lili's body was shaken even more, "Wake up, you're going to answer my question right now!"

Seeing that she still didn't stir, Mother paused, just before a pinkish glow enveloped Mother's body. Without any hesitation, she trasfered the pinkish glow to the Lili's body in one violent blast. The Lili's body jerked and her eyes opened as the pinkish glow washed over her body. She yelped at seeing Mother's face so close to hers. Despite her increasing panic though, I sensed that she was also very confused.

"I want an explanation, Deianeira. Why are you fighting each other within the boundaries of Yenne Velt?" she said in a monotone that hinted at something much more dangerous than a simple indifference.

The still confused Deianeira replied with, "I... I don't know, Mother."

"How can you not know why you're fighting?" Mother said, shaking Deianeira's body again, "Am I raising a bunch of imbeciles here?"

"Please, Mother. I really don't know," Deianeira's head shook, tossing her long brown hair about as her eyes filled with tears. "Please let me go."

"Bah! You're no use," Mother said as she threw Deianeira to the ground.

As the booms got louder and more frequent, I looked to the sky and noticed a pattern. It seemed that wherever the fighting occurs, it will only occur there. If the battle raged on the ground, every Lilim will converge on that point. If the battle moved to the air, there would be a huge cluster of Lilim fighting each other with no apparent allies or foes. One Lili even considered everyone, even herself as as foe and blasted a huge fireball into the cluster, causing a huge chunk to fall off as a fiery rain of flaming Lilim. I have never seen so many Lilim, not even in Vanity Meadows. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of them fighting each other.

What's going on?

Mother walked back to the dais and plopped onto her throne. She settled into a comfortable position and simply said, "Adela."

Adela nodded to Mother, spread her arms and fingers as her eyes glowed again. Suddenly an overwhelming feeling of loss came over me, as if an important part of myself was wrenched away from me. The effect on the other Lilim was even more dramatic.

They simply stopped fighting and all the spells that were already present in the air simply vanished as if swallowed by the very air itself. I noticed some of the Lilim were making multiple failed attempts at casting spells.

Grand Null, works everytime.

Briefly, I wondered why Adela didn't just speak like a normal person. Having someone speak directly to my brain felt really creepy. Adela must've not went out much.

The peace didn't last long though. Realizing they have lost the advantage of magic, they proceeded to fight with their teeth, horns, bare hands, talons, tails as well as weapons that magically appeared in their hands.

Then I heard an almost silent scream from Mother's direction. It was the kind of sound that most people barely hear because it was at a much higher frequency than their ears could catch, so they wouldn't be able to hear it, only sense. At the same time, I heard a very audible sound of bones breaking and partial screams.

The Lilim flying seemed to have lost their body coordination as they flew right into each other at double speed, overestimated their turn angle thus hitting the Lilim flying next to them. Some flew too high eventually disappearing into the red sky while some flew too low causing them to hit the ground at breakneck speed, literally.

Looking at Mother, I wondered if she was the one causing it. She was still sitting crosslegged on her throne with her left arm vertical on the armrest supporting her head. I saw no indication of Mother doing anything, though I wouldn't say that I knew the extent of Mother's power. She could've done all that with a mere glance for all I know.

On the other hand, I noticed Beata closing her mouth and rubbing her jaw. Suspicious!

The rain of Lilim bodies was unsettling and could potentially be downright unpleasant if Beata didn't make an effort to deflect the falling bodies. I didn't think it was even an effort for her as she was swatting them left and right while looking bored the whole time. I imagined it must've been like playing table tennis with a child to her.

Once Beata was done with all the swatting, Milen stepped forward and her yellow slits glowed blue again as she raised both of her arms forward. Then Beata stepped behind Milen and reached around to join her hands on Milen's midriff where her bellybutton would've been, if she had a bellybutton. I noticed that none of the Lilim had a bellybutton with the exception of Adela, since all Lilim were created, not borned. Adela's such a freak.

I'm hearing you loud and clear, little sister. Want me to cancel your existence?

Err... oops. I didn't mean anything, Adela. Just a stray thought. Sorree.

For your information, True Lilim were borned from Mother's own womb. Think along those lines again and I'll make sure you don't even have time to regret thinking about it next time.

I hoped she wasn't serious.

By the time our telepathic conversation ended, the blue glow in Milen's eyes had intensified. At the same time, I noticed the temperature around me dropped drastically making me shiver slightly. Without warning, I was wrenched upward.

I was about to struggle free, thinking that maybe some of the Lilim wanted to continue brawling until I saw that it was only Shaina. She had her arms wrapped around me, holding me under my bustline with a panicked look on her face.

"They're mad, they're all mad!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked as we climbed further in altitude.

"Don't you see? Milen's going to freeze the entire Inner Yenne Velt!"

I was horrified. "Can she actually do that?"

"Not on her own, but with Beata's power, she definitely can. So I'm not staying anywhere close to the ground," she huffed as we went higher and higher.

I glanced down and said, "But don't you think we've flown much too far up already?" The lack of detail on the scenery below was a huge giveaway.

I felt her shift behind me and then heard her whisper, "You're right. We couldn't have been going this... oh no..."

"What? What?" I asked as I started to catch the panic virus.

"I forgot that we're under the effect of Great Echo! It doubles the effect of all physical actions."

"Is that bad?"

"Of course it is! We're flying upward at double my max speed and thanks to that curse, I won't be able to control our direction if I made a turn and stop. At this rate, we'll fly straight into the Cloud of Lost Souls in two minutes!"

"I assume we don't want to do that?"

"We definitely don't want to do that," she said. Then she asked if I knew how to cast Null Field and groaned when I said that I had no idea what a Null Field was in the first place. Then she told me to channel to her my powers so that she would be able to cast Purge on us without plummeting to the ground.

I didn't think I'd want to find out what would happen if we reached the Cloud of Lost Souls. So I immediately followed her directions and slowly channeled my energies. From my heart, through my mind, through my arms and into her heart my power flowed. Then she casted Purge on us.

I felt a slight disorientation from the single pulse of electrical discharge washing over us. Not ten seconds after, we stopped rising. That was the good news. The bad news was, we started falling. Then we started falling at a very fast speed.

"Why are we falling?" I asked in a slightly hysterical tone.

"Umm, I forgot one tiny detail," she said. Her words barely heard.

"And that is?" I said with a slight yell after noticing that she couldn't hear me well.

"My wings are numb," she deadpanned. I couldn't help but laugh at the way she said it.

She snapped, "Not funny! We'll hit the cold hard icy floor of Yenne Velt if we continue falling."

"Don't you dare scold me. Who got us into this mess in the first place?"

"Oh, so I made a slight miscalculation with Purge and now it's all my fault? I'm never going to bother saving your sorry ass again!"

"You suck," I said in reply.

"You suck worse," she countered.

"Total slander! I can bring a hundred men who would testify that I suck good."

I noticed Shaina opening her mouth as if to spout a retort but then she closed it before opening it again to say, "Can you use your wings?"

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Turning around to face her, I flexed my shoulder muscles to spread my wings. I found that something was dead wrong.

"My wings are numb too."

She looked at me somberly, "The effects of Purge should last for a few minutes. Let's just hope that we're still in the air when it ends."

"This is all your fault!" I said as I shoved her sternum, "I'd much rather be frozen than going 'splat'!"

"Stop blaming me! You were only frozen for seconds just now. I was frozen for a full week once and it was NOT pleasant! My pussy was numb and had icicles in it."

"You had icicles in your cunt?" The moment I started, I just knew that I wouldn't stop laughing.

"Oh yes, please continue laughing. I hope you die in happiness and joy," she said drily.

"I'm taking whatever little pleasures I can get, Shaina," I started laughing again, "I'd rather die laughing than screaming."

"Have more faith in me, would you? Besides, Mother won't let us die. We'll just suffer agonizing pain for awhile."

"Well, we're still falling. Unless you can stop our descent, you remain useless to me, mistress." I added that last word for extra effect.

"Ouch, you have no idea how much those words hurt, girl." Nice comeback.

For a few seconds, we were silent and a thought crossed my mind. I tested it without telling Shaina and to my dismay, it didn't work. I turned to Shaina and said, "Hey, I can't blink away."

"We're still under the effects of Grand Null. It's time specific and Purge can't cancel it. Under the influence of Grand Null, we can't cast any spells other than Purge and Null Field."

"Why then did Great Echo affect us?"

"Great Echo was not a spell. It's a force. Only spells are affected by Grand Null. Didn't you notice that the Lilim brawling above us were still able to elongate their nails and call on their contracts?"

"Fine, do something similar to Great Echo then. Anything to stop us from falling!"

She looked exasperated, "Beata's about 2500 years old, you can't expect me to... wait, you just gave me an idea," she said as she told me to hold tight.

When she spread her arms, I hugged her waist tighter thinking that she was abandoning me to save herself. Then I got my breath knocked out of me as we both said, "Ooph!" at the same time. I thought she failed and we had already smashed onto the ground. Then I noticed the lack of dismemberment on our part. We were also still in the air.

"Sorry, I made the air too dense," she said, her breathing heavy, "Sarai taught me this technique before, but I've never used it. We both share an affinity with air."

"Mom taught you this technique?" I said, glad that I didn't have to yell anymore to be heard.

"Yes, she was my mentor and she was... hey, what's with the face? Okay fine, I neglected to tell you that earlier. I was genuinely sad when she decided to die. You know, you and me, we used to play together when we were children. I know you don't remember..." she said as we fell at a more leisurely and comfortable speed, just like a feather.

"You were the girl with pigtails and lots of freckles?"

Astonished, she said, "So you do remember!"

"Barely, your family moved away when I was nine, if I recall correctly."

"To Beachwood Canyon. I landed a role in 'A Great Life' as Little Mandy, as well as bagged some commercial offers. Can you imagine that my first commercial after moving to LA was to promote chewing gum? My mum was adamant in having a paramedic present for the entire shoot."

"Hehe, I used to watch 'A Great Life', but eventually got bored and stopped watching. The serial was too freaking long."

She shrugged. "It kept me in the business and not to mention popular for three years, so I won't complain," then she appeared deep in thought, "Have you always known about me?"

"Not at first. Every time I saw your face on the screen or posters, I thought you looked familiar, but I dismissed it as just wishful thinking. When you came to my house the first time, the feeling was stronger, though I still couldn't place where I might've seen you. Then at the cafe, I thought, 'oh of course I've seen her, she's Stephanie Mills'. When you shoved me into Yetzirah and I managed to clear the fog inside my brain, I finally matched your Starbucks face with that of my childhood friend."

"Glamour, never leave home without it," she said with a grin, "I wasn't wearing my glamour when we met at Starbucks, so you had it easy."

"Glamour?"

"My disguise, I needed it to appear perfect."

Finally I understood why she looked so flawless. "You damned cheater! You put an illusion on everyone!"

"If you got it, flaunt it," she replied with a giggle.

Her giggling was infectious. Soon enough, I found myself giggling and laughing along with her.

"To think that I used to choke my chicken to your posters," I said with a short giggle.

"Choke your what?"

"GET DOWN HERE ALREADY!" came Beata's voice from below.

I didn't realize that we have gotten close to the ground already. As Shaina predicted, the entire Inner Yenne Velt was covered in ice, making the place looked a bit like Antarctica. Well except for Mother's dais, it looked as warm as ever. I'd rather not think about all those Lilim caught under the ice.

"I SAID GET DOWN!" cried Beata again as she violently jerked her hand downwards, causing me and Shaina to fall to the ground at breakneck speed. So when we fell to the ground less than a second later, we fell hard, very hard. It was a good thing that a Lilin body healed fast.

I got up slowly, silently thanking Shaina for cushioning my fall. It was nice of her to offer her body to lessen the impact on me, though I doubt it was voluntary. Shaina was out cold, I imagined she must've had chronic concussions and multiple broken bones.

"Ilyse..." I heard Mother say. Looking up at her, I noticed that she was holding a golden apple. On the apple was the word 'Kallisti'.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" she asked, noticing me fix my eyes on the apple.

While balancing the golden apple on her forefinger, she said, "Fascinating how such a small thing can give you the power to break Beata's spell or gather enough guts to defy me, not to mention turn hundreds of Lilim against each other. Interesting how such a power wasn't diminished even the slightest when it got three greek goddesses to quarrel among each other, how it with just a little nudging caused one of the largest and longest military campaign in the ancient world."

I was confused as I have never seen that golden apple before. My confusion must've showed on my face as Mother then said, "You don't recognize this? How about this?" Mother said at the same time the apple turned into a sword with 'Eleutheria' inscribed on it. "Recognize this?" another flash and it turned into a staff (Kratos), "Or this?" again, a bright flash and it turned into a ring. It turned into Eudaimonia.

I gasped as I now recognized what it actually was. "Amphillogiai!" I cried as the artifact cycled into hundreds different forms, each with a bright flash.

"Correct. I won't bother asking you why Eris gave you this toy. I don't want to waste time finding out Eris' motivations... here, take it back," Mother said as she threw Amphillogiai/Eudaimonia at me.

I caught the ring by reflex, then abruptly let it drop to the icy ground. I didn't want to be controlled by Amphillogiai again. I immediately noticed Beata's snicker through my peripheral vision.

"Don't worry, child. I have already sealed Amphillogiai's power. It will transform following your desires but will no longer be able to influence nor persuade you. I imagine that Eris will want to take it back after finding out that her favorite child has been sealed. When she does, kick her in the butt for me, will you?"

Without waiting for my reply, she continued with, "But seriously, I simply can't understand what made you think you can run from me."

"Umm, Mother?"

"I mean, what made you think that you can defy me? Asking for freedom, bah!" Mother looked a bit annoyed.

I decided to brave it out while also treading lightly, not knowing what would spark her anger. I have experienced her anger once and I wasn't keen on experiencing it again. "Mother, please, I just don't want to do this anymore."

"Which is another thing that puzzles me. Your sisters would jump at an opportunity to feast on men. Take Beata here for example, you'd love to do whatever I told you to do, don't you girl?" Mother said as she patted Beata's head as if she was a puppy.

Which might've been appropriate, since Beata's reaction was no different from a puppy in love, eager to serve. She cooed as Mother patted her head and said, "Of course, Mother. Anything for you."

"But Mother, they were born into this life. I wasn't. I had a good job, good home and good life back in the human world."

"Which has no meaning as you will always be at the bottom of the ladder. At least as a Lili, you're at the top."

"Top of what, Mother? The food chain? Sorry, but I don't particularly find that very pleasing," I looked at all four of them, then looked down at Shaina who was still out cold, "I don't enjoy feeding on men, Mother."

Milen spoke, "You don't enjoy feeding on men or you don't enjoy feeding on a particular man?"

I felt myself blush, which made me wonder if Lilim were hot-blooded or cold-blooded. "It doesn't matter, fact of the matter is, I hate doing it and I want out. I never asked for this in the first place."

"Careful with what you say, daughter. Is being my child that bad in your eyes? Do you hate me so much?" Mother said with that dangerous monotone voice.

I panicked, this was not going well, "No Mother... I didn't mean... I mean... that was not what I meant. I only hate the feeding part. I will never hate you, Mother. I'll always love you, please don't ever doubt that," I said, doing my best to make it sound all sweet and honey in the process. Strangely enough, the confession felt true for some reason.

"And I love you too, daughter. Do you really hate it that much?"

"Well, not really. It was fun, but it's really degrading," I said, suddenly uncertain of what to say, "No... yes... I really hate doing that, Mother. Please don't ask me to do that again."

"Tough. You're stuck with that job for the rest of your long, demonic life. If you decide to kill yourself, I'll just resurrect you. We can do this over and over again, resurrecting you won't even make a tiniest dent on my powers."

"But Mother!" I said, realizing that I sounded a bit like a petulant child.

"Unless..." she looked thoughtful as she gazed at the red sky. She made a gesture with her fingers and I heard a faraway scream from above.

She suddenly laughed for no reason with her eyes still fixed to the sky. Then she said, "Since I'm in a good mood, I'll make a compromise. I'll let you do whatever you want and I won't force you to feed, but there's a catch."

I felt a lump in my throat. "What's the catch, Mother?"

"Milen."

Milen rose from her seat next to Mother's throne and stared at me. I was wondering if she intended to freeze me when a loud explosion from behind rocked me. I turned around and saw a fairly large sized hole, the size of a small car was made on the icy floor. At first nothing happened, but just as I was about to turn around to face Mother, a slim right hand appeared from the hole. Then another hand came out and I could tell that someone was trying to get out from the ice.

What came out was a two-horned Lili. Her wings were dark brown, her hair brownish and her horns slightly curved downward. Her breasts were smallish, same with her butt. If I was asked to describe her in one word, I'd choose the word 'sporty'. She was covered in ice fragments.

Then Mother said, "That's the catch. You must defeat Dinah a week from now if you want your freedom."

I was still watching this Lili, Dinah, when Mother told me the terms of my freedom. Dinah was confused and it showed on her face. Then she broke into a grin and quickly crossed the length to kneel in front of Mother's throne. She then said that she would be delighted to show Mother how much she had improved since a thousand years ago.

Mother leaned forward a little. "So what do you say, child? Do you accept this agreement? Defeat Dinah for your freedom. Don't bother negotiating. This is final. If you accept this and lose, you will have no other chance, you must serve me unquestioningly."

I was about to tell her that it was unfair when a female voice from behind me echoed my sentiments. "Don't you think that's a little unfair, dear Lilith?"
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Eleutheria = Freedom
Kratos = Power
Eudaimonia = Blessed Happiness
Amphillogiai = Dispute
Kallisti = An apple of discord is a reference to the Golden Apple of Discord which, according to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Gr. Ερις, "Strife") said that she would give "to the fairest" at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, sparking a vanity-fueled dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War

*As always, comments are always appreciated. Thanks to Stanman for the editing.