---

"Don't you think that's a little unfair, dear Lilith?" came a voice from behind me. I spun around and came face to face with a green haired angel!

Well, it wasn't really all green. It was just four strips of highlighted hair. The rest of her hair was black. Her wings were covered in black feathers, much like Uriel's, although hers looked much smaller. At full height furled, the top of her wings were only about a foot higher than her head, and she's only about 6 feet tall. Her eyes were the color of electric blue and as she looked down into my eyes, I couldn't help but be drawn into hers...

I was awakened by the snap of Mother's fingers. Only then did I realized how much of myself had been laid bare before this newcomer, how much I have told her just by gazing into her eyes. I swore that I will never be so easy again.

"Naamah," Mother said in a monotone, "How nice of you to drop by. I was wondering when you would show up."

"My dear Lilith, I go where demand is the greatest. Right now, she needs someone to stand up for her."

The angel then pointed her finger at me. I couldn't help but admire how soothing her voice was, how pleasant it was to my ears.

Mother sneered, "Where were you then when your son casted Eternal Torment on her? Her needs back then were much greater than now. You can't possible tell me that you had no knowledge of that, not with that third eye that you stole from Horus."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I won it fair and square. It wasn't my problem if Horus was too proud to admit that I knew more about the universe than he did. And yes, I knew of the events in Ashmedan. But seriously, dear Lilith, do you expect me to jump in and save your daughters every time they get in trouble? Besides, one of your daughters was there too, yet she did nothing but use this poor child for her own fun."

"Heh! Why would this time be different then?"

"As I said, you're being unjust. I can't just watch as an injustice is being committed."

I heard a snort coming from Beata.

"Silence, pup!" Naamah cursed.

I looked at Beata and had to hold in a laugh as I saw her contort her beautiful middle-eastern face as if to say something through her nonexistent mouth. I gotta learn how to do that.

Mother appeared annoyed as she waved her hand in front of Beata's face, magically causing her mouth to appear again. Beata in her gratitude kissed Mother's hand over and over. Eventually, Mother had to push her face away with her other hand.

"DO NOT do that again, Naamah. This is my domain and only I may administer punishments here."

"Apologies, dear Lilith. I believe that I may have lost control for awhile there."

"Say it like you mean it, Naamah. You're the most calm of us all. You did it just to spite me, not because you lost control," Mother accused.

"So you finally admit that you're equal to the rest of us? I thought I'd never see the day," Naamah said with a veiled smile.

"Dream on, soothsayer. I'm better than all three of you combined. I don't think I need to prove it again," Mother answered. Her tone clearly showed that she was insulted at being referred to as equal to... whoever they were talking about.

"So you won't mind if I give her some pointers? To even out the odds?"

"Go ahead. I want to see what the Angel of Fortune Telling can teach her that will help her in a fight. As far as I recall, your fortune telling failed miserably against a decent opponent."

Naamah scowled, finally showing an expression other than 'cool' or 'veiled smile'. "I'm the Angel of Divination, not Fortune Telling!"

"Well, how many of those craps you relayed to those gullible bone readers were actually true?"

Naamah paused. "A fair point, but I am still the Angel of Divination. So... you have no objection to me taking this girl for awhile?"

"Take her. I want to see a good fight," Mother said as she gave us a dismissive wave.

Naamah turned towards me. Her voice pleasant and hypnotic as she told me to hold out my hand. I didn't bother to question why as at that time I felt like I simply had to do it, had to hold out my hand simply because she told me to.

"A little something from Agrat," she said as I felt her deposit something onto my outstretched palm. It felt somewhat warm but the gibberish chatter I soon heard in my mind was really distracting.

Then she turned around and left.

-----

As I was walking alone back to the Inner Gate (Shaina's still out cold in Vanity Meadows with multiple broken bones), I got to thinking about many things. Among other things, I thought about the odds of someone of Mother's rank (or close to) actually helping me. Then I thought about the duel a week from now and got depressed. How will I be able to fight a thousand year old Lili? If I failed, I would never have the chance to be free, so I mustn't fail, but how the heck would I defeat Dinah!

I barely noticed someone calling me until she was just a few steps behind. I turned around and saw a Lili with dark red hair, wings and tail. There were two white stripes on the back of each hands and her three horns swept back and curved up high on her head with its tips close to each other, but not touching.

"You're Delilah, aren't you?" I asked, recalling the image from Mom's memories.

She smiled. "You remember me? Amazing! I think the only time we've met was when you were only a few days old, two days after Mother claimed you."

"Oh no no, I saw you in Mom's... I mean... Sarai's memory. You were awesome during the war against Baphomet."

I noticed her wince, and her smile went dry as she said, "Awesome is not the word I would use to refer to my own actions back then. I was acting like an immature brat. I could've saved more of our sisters if I worked together with them from the start."

"Well, Mom had high praises for your contribution, either way. She said other than you, she wouldn't trust anyone else with her life," I said, recalling how fondly Mom talked of Delilah.

I was glad when she chuckled, "It's pointless now, she's already dead. Speaking of dead, you need to think of some kind of strategy if you want to defeat Dinah. When Mother said 'fight', Dinah translated it as 'fight to the death'. Dinah never did things half way. Although Mother will eventually resurrect you, don't count on her doing it soon."

I grasped her hands in desperation, "Can you help me? It's my only chance for freedom. If I lose this fight, I won't get a second chance."

"Freedom?" she inquired, appearing puzzled, "We are already free. We can do whatever the hell we want, except killing humans unnecessarily."

"No, I mean... free as in free to be myself, free to live my life without other people telling me what to do... you know, that sort of thing," I explained.

"I don't quite understand what you're getting at, but I suppose I may be able to give you a small help." She proceeded to untie the necklace she wore on her neck and put it around my neck. It was a crystal pendant strung on two thin chains of gold. I touched the pendant and noticed a face in the crystal. It was very blurry and I couldn't make out any distinct feature.

"That was once Sarai's. She gave it to me when I wanted to do some experiment in controlling my own powers. I encountered a bit of success but it has become dormant since Sarai's death. You probably would have a better chance at waking him up," she said as she positioned the necklace so that the pendant fit right in between my cleavage. I immediately noticed that my breasts tingled when she did.

"There may be another of Sarai's artifact that you can use. She kept it in her jewelery box since half a century ago. She told me it had rebelled and refused to do her bidding, so she put it there to guard her other jewelery. He probably won't do your bidding either, but it's worth a try."

"Thanks, Delilah. I've been wondering though, how did you escape from the ice?"

I jumped when she suddenly laughed. "Milen needs more than that to keep me tucked inside one of her ice blocks. I've lived far too long to be caught in that spell."

"Well anyway, good luck with the duel. I really do hope that you'll win, 'coz I've already got a bet going with the older girls. So don't disappoint me!" she continued as she turned back to Vanity Meadows.

"Wait, Delilah!" I shouted after her.

She stopped and turned her head to look at me. "Yes?"

"What do I do with this?" I said while raising my left hand, which was glowing blue.

"Oh, that's a message bubble. Just touch any reflective surface with that hand. It can be glass, mirror, water or polished metal. Then you can see and hear the message. Oh before I forget, please do me a favor and take Nediva as your subbie. She was Sarai's last subbie and a true lesbian. She hasn't been feeding since a year before Sarai died, and she needed to be specifically ordered to feed. She wouldn't have anything to do with a man otherwise. You'll actually be helping her by taking her as a subbie."

I didn't know what to say to that. I wasn't really keen on having a personal muffdiver, though the idea did has its appeal.

"If you need me for anything else, come find me in Solitude Garden, near the Mourning Fountain. It's my own little project," she smiled, leaped to the air and flew away.

-----

[Blink]

I opened my eyes the moment I felt fresh air around me. Taking a deep breath, I hid my horns, tucked in my wings and pulled the tail back into me. Then I used my human skin to cover the shrunken demonic features of my body. Looking around, I notice the sun was still high in the sky, above the rows of snow covered roofs of the suburban houses that looked old but friendly. I was back in my hometown of Colorado Springs.

And it was freezing!

Gosh! I have forgotten how cold this place was. I didn't notice it when I was in lilin form, but now in this form and in these clothes, it's really cold! In my lilin form, snow actually made me stronger, but in my human form... urgh. Keys, keys, where did mom put the emergency key? Urgh, it's so cold I can't think. Gotta use magic.

After fumbling for awhile with the locking mechanism, I was finally able to unlock the door (telekinetically) and push myself in. I have forgotten how cold Christmas was in Colorado Springs. I should've prepared proper clothing before dropping my lilin form. I was wearing my normal skimpy lilin clothing when I blinked here.

I closed the door the moment I was inside. Locking it, I proceeded to the living room area, where an old style brick fireplace was built into its northern wall. Despite the shivering cold, I checked the fireplace and was pleased that there were still a few blocks of wood in it. I had to fumble a bit with snapping my fingers, producing small flames at first until it got bigger. Have you tried snapping your fingers when your teeth were chittering and your body shivering? Not easy. I was very glad when the fire got bigger and stripped out of my clothes, not caring if anyone saw me. I must've made quite a sight, long red hair, kneeling, shivering next to the fireplace and not to mention buck naked. When I realized what I just did, I shuddered, though not from the cold. I simply hoped that dad really hadn't come home yet. That would be really embarrassing. Then I thought since he hadn't known about me being a Lili yet, it might ended up with both of us being embarrassed for a totally different reason.

I knelt there next to fireplace in front of the roaring fire for another half an hour. Then after the chittering stopped, I looked around me and realized for the first time since mom's death how much I missed this place.

I was born here, I was raised here, I went to school in this town. In that corner, right beside the window, there would always be a large pine tree during Christmas. It's empty now. I looked to the ceiling and thought that above there, was the place mom died.

Then I turned around and stared at a particular part of the pine flooring near the entranceway to the kitchen. That was the place where mom taught me how to seduce 'my man' by teaching me how to scrub and wipe the floor in a sexy way. All the time I knew her, she had never used a mop or broom, except for times when we had guests over. She said there was very little that was as good at getting your man riled up for a romp in bed, than to see you wiggling your butt while on all fours wiping the floor with a damp cloth. I didn't understand it then, but now I knew why she wanted to teach me that while she was still alive.

After I felt somewhat warmer, I dismissed my skimpy clothing and used ether to create a warm clothing for myself. Then I got up and walked to the kitchen. I looked at the marble island in the middle of the kitchen and was saddened by how empty it felt. Mom loved to cook. She taught me and Tell how to cook our favorite dishes, how to make neat cuts and how to clean things after we were done.

Actually, her idea of cleaning was actually to clean things while you're cooking, instead of waiting until after you've had your meals. The difference was amazing as I no longer felt the extreme laziness that I used to have if I washed the dishes after the meals. The only exception was when there were particularly tough burn marks which had to be soaked for awhile. This was also the place where she taught me how to seduce 'my man' through 'sexy cooking'. Suddenly I noticed how many of her 'lessons' were actually about grooming me to be a traditional housewife, only much more sexy and seductive.

I got annoyed at the thought, so I left the kitchen and went upstairs through the staircase in the living room's entranceway. As I stepped onto the second floor, I noticed that there was a puddle at the top of the stairs and wondered if the roof had leaked. Then I looked at my surroundings. I was in a corridor with the staircase behind me. My room was in front, Tell's bedroom on the right and mom's room on the left. Dad used to sleep with mom before she died.

Although I knew I should've went straight to mom's room, I couldn't help but pay a visit to my old room that I haven't seen for months now. My door was not locked, so I had no problem entering it. I pushed in and was overwhelmed by all the childhood memories that I have left behind. There was the bed of which I slept on since I was 8 (me and Little Tell slept in mom and dad's room before that, which was probably the reason why they didn't have another kid). There was the old computer I used to play Baldur's Gate and Age of Empires on. My gaze fell onto the medal hanging on the wall. That was the medal we got for winning the championship. After that last game was over, Chris followed it by delivering a strong fist into the opponent striker's guts, out of blind jealousy, I suspect. I stayed away from Chris after that day.

I closed the door to my room and walked the short length to mom's. When I opened the door, which wasn't locked, I could've sworn that I could smell mom in there. Lavender has always been her signature scent and I could still smell it in this room, even months after she was gone.

Fighting back the tears, I walked in and started to focus on finding the jewelery box. I went straight to her vanity, which I assumed would be the most common place people put their jewelery box in. Not finding anything, I went to check in her closet. I took a few minutes rubbing her clothes with my hands and crying into mom's blouse. I cried for awhile there, until my tears dried. I know, I can see mom anytime I want, but it's not the same as seeing her alive. She may have the same memories, but she is now no longer my loving mom, she is now Sarai the Lili. Composing myself, I started to turn the folded clothes around and shifting the hanging clothes. Nothing. I checked some other places, including dad's closet. Yet, it was nowhere to be seen.

I sat on the bed and started thinking. Then I decided that it was stupid to search aimlessly. While this house isn't as large as those posh houses in LA, it's still larger than I can manage. I weighed my options and decided to call Tell to ask if she knew where mom put it. I had thought of asking mom herself, but I didn't think that Uriel would let me leave as easily as last time. Mind you, last time was pretty hard too.

I went to the living room and dialed Tell's cellphone. She picked up after the second ring, "Hello," she said.

"Tell?"

"Who's this?" she asked.

"It's me, Rick."

"Which Rick?"

"Your brother Rick. How many other Ricks that you know will call you from our old home?"

"Ricky? You sound... different," she said, her tone suggested that she didn't believe me.

I mentally hit myself. I have forgotten that I was still in female form. It seemed like I was really getting used to being a girl.

"Yea, probably caused by the helium. Got some kids asking me to help blow their balloons just now," I said after adjusting my voice to sound more like the male me. My body was still female though, but I didn't think that she would mind.

"OK... why didn't you tell me that you're going back home? I would've went with you. We promised to celebrate Christmas together, remember?" she sounded hurt.

"Sorry, something came up. Hey listen, do you know where mom put her jewelery box?"

"Maybe... what are you planning to do with it?" she asked guardedly.

"I need to get something from the box. I've been looking around the house but couldn't find it."

There was a pause. After awhile, I said into the mouthpiece, "Tell, you still there?"

"What do you want to do with it?"

"I need something from the box."

She shot me a, "Are you broke?"

"Eh? What brought that up?" I said, as I was caught completely off-guard by her remark.

"Are you looking for the jewelery box because you want some quick cash?" she asked, her voice cold.

"I'm NOT broke," I said, trying to control my temper. I wasn't sure if I could maintain this voice if I got mad. "I just need something from that box. I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe a ring, or a necklace or even a FREAKING letter opener! I'll know it when I see it!"

Now, I was normally a calm person, but her accusing me of wanting to sell mom's jewelery was really too much.

Another pause, before she said, "It's with me. Dad gave it to me before he went away. I take it everywhere I go."

"So it's in LA?" I asked, by now my temper has subsided and I was quite embarrassed at myself.

"Yes, are you going to spend Christmas in Colorado?"

"No, I'll be there shortly," I said as I put down the phone.

-----

I slowly worked the door's lock with my mind. Just a few minutes back, I had blinked to the deserted back lane of my apartment after switching back to Patrick-form in my parents' house. Only as I was standing in front of the door to my apartment did I realize that I didn't have the key. See, my keys were in my pants, and I didn't wear any kind of pants when I left for Yetzirah. Well, except for panties, or whatever the lilim call that thing they always wore.

I heard the satisfying 'click' and opened the door, only to come face to face with my startled sister. She looked like she was going out, dressing like she was and with her right hand grabbing the knob on the other side.

"I thought you're in Colorado?"

"I was, I just got back," I said as I pushed myself in.

"Colorado's not in California," she countered in a suspicious tone.

"So?"

Her suspicion mounted. "You came here less than 10 minutes after hanging up and you were in Colorado Springs when you called."

I was like, 'oh shit' when it hit me. I have forgotten that even speeding all the way in my car, it would take me at least 16 hours to cross the distance. Add to the fact that the roads in and out of Colorado Springs were always snowy and sometimes closed, there was absolutely no way I would arrive in 10 minutes. Heck, I couldn't even reach Hollywood from here in just 10 minutes!

So instead of thinking of some bizarre way that it might've happen, I just gave up and said, "Look, I can't explain it now. I'm in a hurry and I need to see mom's jewelery box."

It made me really uncomfortable when she scrutinized my face with her suspicious expression. I was glad when she stopped doing that. "Fine, come to my room, I don't want to carry it all the way here."

So I followed her into the guest room. She rummaged around in the closet and came out with a travel bag the size of Jupiter. She unlocked the small padlock and then she pushed the bag to me.

"It's in here?" I asked, to which she nodded.

So I popped it open and was greeted with many similar-looking velvet boxes. I took one, opened it, got the shock of my life, opened another, and almost got a heart attack. "What the hell's this?" I yelled.

"That, my dear brother, are mom's jewelery," she said in a smug look. Apparently watching me get a shock of my life was good enough to make her perky.

"Yeah, but the whole bag?"

"Mom had a lot of jewelery."

"Geez, you could've opened a freaking jewelery outlet with all these... not that I'm suggesting that, by the way," I said, as I watched her face turn from jovial to angry.

"I will not sell mom's jewelery! I won't let any snobby middle-aged socialite get their hands on mom's prized jewelery."

I took out each of the jewelery boxes out of the bag, having gotten over the initial shock. "Don't worry, Little Tell. I'm not going to sell it. But you really shouldn't be carrying all these around."

She crossed her arms under her breasts, which I noticed was about the same size as mine... in lilin form, I mean. "I know, I was going to put them in a safety deposit box in Switzerland after new year."

"What's wrong with putting it in LA's banks?" I asked, taking out another box and opening it. It was an amazing piece. A ruby necklace with a ruby encrusted pendant. The box felt really heavy, which made me suspect that this was a purer gold than the other ones. There was also a pair of matching ruby earrings attached to the neckhole.

She huffed. "Swiss banks don't get robbed. I just need to figure out how to get all these to Switzerland without having the Feds label me as a smuggler or other kinds of dodgy characters."

"We'll find a way, but it's really not safe to keep this here," I said, thinking that it wouldn't be too hard for me to blink straight to Switzerland with the bag. Oh well, one thing at a time.

She merely shrugged. "So, found what you're looking for?"

"Not yet, aren't you going somewhere?" I said, gesturing at her clothes.

"It can wait. I'll be here until you're done," she said as she whipped out her cellphone and telling 'baby' that she might be late.

"Tell, I'm NOT going to sell mom's jewelery," as said, slightly annoyed.

She disengaged her cell after a few mock kisses. "No offense bro, but I won't even trust Jesus with mom's jewelery."

I was slightly annoyed, but pushed her out of my mind. I needed to find this 'artifact' that Delilah spoke of.

But which one?

I looked around me, to the open boxes with necklaces, rings, earrings, bangles, tiaras and brooches. There was even a very expensive looking jewel encrusted silver dagger. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that mom must've been a princess. Come to think of it, that was probably what Little Tell thought too, which would explain her overprotective attitude towards these jewelery. Probably even thought that she would stand a chance to be a princess as long as she kept the royal seal or something similar near her. The fact that some of them had emblems and coat of arms painted on the cases probably cemented her suspicion.

"Find anything yet?" came her voice.

"Shut up, not yet. Keep quiet."

I repositioned the boxes so that all the jewelery would be facing me. Then I looked at them all real hard. Eventually, I gave up and simply picked each boxes up and touched the jewelery held inside. Tell was looking annoyed all the time, but thankfully stayed away while I ran my hands on the jewelery.

I was running my fingers through a wooden box that was carpeted with silk and containing some expensive looking rings when I heard it. You're not Sarai. It was a deep male voice, and highly accented.

Startled was a mild word and I almost dropped the box. I looked around wildly and called with my mind, asking whoever it was to speak again. I noticed that Tell was looking curiously at me. When I didn't hear anything else I looked down into the wooden box and touched each one in turn.

I heard it again the moment my fingers touched a ruby encrusted gold ring. Over here.

I picked it up and spoke to it with my mind. Are you the one who spoke to me?

Yes. Who might you be? I sensed a large part of Sarai inside you, yet you are not Sarai.

I'm her son, or daughter, most likely a son depending on your point of view. Anyway, my mom's dead.

Dead? Sarai's dead? I can't believe that. She was the most powerful warrior I've ever fought alongside with... Are you sure she's dead?

Yes. I saw her in Purgatory. What's your name?

Florian be my name, and what be of yours, son of Sarai?

Umm, well, I'm not really sure which name you should call me. See, as a human, my name is Patrick while in my lilin body, my name is Ilyse.

You are a lili? I could tell there was a feeling of awe or astonishment in his voice. Oh, I sympathize with you, to be forced to live a double life. It must be hard for you.

Well, I am in a bit of trouble and I need all the help I can get. Delilah said...

Sure, I'll join you in your cause.

Eh?

Somehow, I could detect something resembling a sigh from the ring on my palm. If you want to make it sound official, here goes. I, Florian the Sword, pledge to aid Ilyse, daughter of Sarai, maid of Ingolstadt, for as long as our paths are one.

I was stunned. Is that it?

If you're expecting fireworks, I afraid you will be disappointed.

No, I mean... Delilah told me that you rebelled against mom and refused to do her bidding.

Ah, well, if you were kept in a dark box alone for a hundred years, you'll change your mind too.

It was only half a century.

I beg your pardon?

Delilah said it has only been half a century.

He was silent for awhile but then he said, Well, it sure felt like a hundred years in there.

"So is that what you're looking for?" came Tell's voice which jarred me awake from the telepathic conversation.

I looked at the ring. It was a beautifully sculpted gold ring and as its centrepiece was a shield-shaped ruby with the top carved in the rough shape of a goat. The ruby was flanked by two gold swords on each side.

"Yes, you can put away everything else. This is the only thing I'm looking for," I answered as I put it on my right ring finger after shifting Amphillogiai/Eudaimonia onto my left ring finger. I was very careful not to let my left hand touch the new shiny ring.

I know people put wedding rings on the left finger, but for some reason, putting blessed happiness there makes me happier. It feels right for some reason.

"I never said you can take it, bro."

I was shocked and about to give Little Tell, my dear beloved sister a piece of my mind when I saw her grin. My mood changed instantly and I just laughed at her joke. Then we put back all the jewelery into the travel bag, locked it and put it back into the closet.

"Where are you going anyway?"

"Out. Christmas shopping. By the way, Sue and Lynn will be here later. Come home after you're done with your business. I don't mind how late. And I'm taking the car," she said before shutting the front door.

I was stunned. Did she know I wouldn't be able to join her for Christmas?

Christmas shopping. We were supposed to go Christmas shopping together today. With everything that happened, I had totally forgotten about it. The way she said she didn't mind me coming back late, it was almost like she knew I would be late. That frightened me a little, as unlike other girls who scream and kick when they were mad, Tell's idea of anger involved being reasonable to the point of ridiculousness. Celebrating Christmas together was all she could talk about a week ago and now, she was letting me off the hook. I shuddered to think what would happen once she calmed down.

But first thing's first. I stepped in front of the full length mirror at the back of the living room. It was a cheap standing mirror, a housewarming gift from a college friend that I placed strategically a couple months back to reflect more natural light into my living room. Now it's going to become a supernatural DVD player. I touched the surface of the mirror with my glowing left hand.

Nothing happened at first. I was annoyed as I thought that it was Naamah's idea of a joke by giving me an empty recording. Then I saw the surface of the mirror rippled and when it settled into a smooth surface again, I saw the face of an elderly smiling woman in there. She appeared to be somewhat Mediterranean, with small mouth and lecherous eyes. Her hair, instead of black as was normal with Mediterranean people, was entirely grey. It made her look wise, though not old, as her face was without blemish or wrinkles, and there was an innate joy in her eyes. There was a long red line stretching from the base on her nose to down to each cheeks. She gave me the impression of someone who could do anything and give anything imaginable, and have fun while doing it.

"Hello there," she said with a smile, I was amazed that the mirror could actually produce a voice, "I am Agreat Bat Mahlat. You may call me Agrat if you want, or Aunt Agrat," she made a slight chuckle, "I heard about your little outburst with dear 'ole Lilith and I was very interested with the problem you've discussed."

Then she turned to the left and as if talking to someone, she said, "Hey, what's her name?"

I didn't hear a reply but then she turned her head back to face me. "Ilyse, daughter of Sarai, your mother was an amazing lili. I was a huge fan of her. Not many can claim to single-handedly stop Armageddon. We all thought she was going to bring about the end of the world when she sided with the Antichrist. It was a good thing that she managed to turn herself around and ended up bringing down their organisation from within instead. But enough of that, as a tribute to Sarai's success, I've decided to train you to the point where you would be able to stand toe to toe against Dinah. Don't say 'no', because I don't take 'no' for an answer. Once you've done whatever you need to do there, touch this reflection and I'll summon you here. Don't take too long though, we'll need all the time we can get," she said before the images went static as if it was put on pause.

There was nothing I needed to do really. I thought of spending the next week in training to defeat Dinah, and realized that there was one thing I needed to do.

I need to inform Tell, but how? What am I going to tell her? Will she understand if I tell her the truth? No, she won't. She had never been a black and white person, but she's someone who believes in things she can understand. If I am going to tell her this, I will need to sit with her and talk to her about it. I don't have time for that now.

So I looked outside, spotted a pair of birds, and willed both to come to me. When it landed on my open palms, I crushed it, used the birds' body; blood, feathers and all, infused with my ethereal powers and transformed it into a pair of small ruby and gold hairclip, each with a small pigeon perched on the clips. Lesser Lilith taught me this while I was in Ashmedan last time. It was a technique to create a minor artifact by using a nature spirit instead of a human soul. I knew I couldn't program it much, so I just made it work as a communication method in case she really needed me while I was away. I wasn't sure it would work though as this was the first time I made something like this outside of Ashmedan. Maybe the rules were different out here in Assiah.

I put both hairclips into an old jewelery box (which I made new with my power), wrapped it up with a note and put it under the tree with the other presents. I already bought her a large gift, but I felt I needed to give her this.

Then I touched the mirror and a feeling of euphoria washed over me.

-----

I was in a tunnel of some sort. My head spinning as the walls changed color and pattern, with every color of the spectrum, in every shade from darkness to blinding light. I grabbed my head with both hands, trying unsuccessfully to make the spinning stop. Then it all ended as abruptly as it started and I proceeded to throwing up whatever's left of this morning's brunch onto the dusty black soil.

"Oops! I didn't count on you coming here in your human form. Quick, change to lilin form. Your human form won't last a minute in this place," said a concerned voice.

Despite still being sick and my eyes closed, I blew away my human skin and sucked it into my horns. Immediately, I felt much better than before and as my eyes focused, I saw standing in front of me was the grey haired woman from the mirror. The angel with green stripes in her hair, Naamah, was standing behind her with her eyes closed. Looking at them both, I noticed that Agrat was significantly shorter than Naamah by almost half a foot. I was shocked to see that instead of wings, Agrat had six huge black tentacles emerging from her back. It frightened me a bit as I imagined it must've been as dangerous as those tentacle monsters I've read about, like the Cthullu monster or hentai porn.

"Hello! Took your sweet time getting here, didn't you? Well, we don't have much time. Come here, let me have a look at you," said Agrat.

I walked forward, and stopped when she told me to. She told me to turn around with a hand gesture, and so I turned around, letting her see all of me. As I turned around, I noticed that the land around us is barren and rocky, much like the Plains of the Baked Earth and Outer Yenne Velt. Even the sky was the same shade of red. I wondered if most of Sheol was like this.

It was almost an hour of preening, posing and acrobatic stunts before I became impatient and asked Agrat, "You said I'm wasting time. But isn't this a waste of time? We've spent an hour doing nothing. I need to learn how to beat Dinah, please."

Agrat looked at me as if amused, she cocked her head to the left as if she wasn't expecting me to speak. Then she straightened up and said, "Silly girl. This is a region very deep within Sheol. It's much deeper than Yenne Velt though not deeper than Ashmedan... which I was made aware that you've been in before?"

Then Naamah opened her eyes and spoke in her hypnotic, sage-like voice. "We had to create a new realm to train you as none of the realms we have access to was considered sufficient or suitable for the needs of your training," she paused, twiddling her fingers before she said, "I have made a thorough examination of your body and I noticed an... anomaly. There was nothing wrong with your energy flow, but there was a large and volatile, but perfectly contained... potential inside your soul and you lack the innate and ancestral knowledge of the lilim. I would love to study you further, but I doubt we have time."

Lifting herself to the air using the six tentacles, Agrat came within a foot in front of me and without looking at Naamah said, "You're right, by my calculations, we only have 120 days to train this little one before the day of the duel. Without her innate lilim knowledge, this is going to be very tough."

"Since when has a challenge ever stops you, Agrat? I fondly remember the day you begged Lucifel to give you those extra limbs."

Agrat, using her tentacles moved back to stand next to Naamah. "Anything for more power," she said with a grin, which looked out of place with her grey hair and all.

Naamah tapped her forefinger on her lips, looked straight at me and said in a slightly loud voice, "What do you think, Eisheth?"

Agrat spun her head so fast at Naamah that I imagined I could hear the bones creak. She looked confused at Naamah's words until recognition dawned on her face and she said, "Eisheth! Eisheth Zenunim. Come out now, we know you're here."

"Liar!" came a voice from behind me as I swiftly turned around. The voice was very close, yet I couldn't see anyone.

"If Naamah didn't mention it, you would've never picked it up. By the way, Naamah, have I told you how much I wanted to rip that eye out from your forehead?" Again, I turned around, back to facing Naamah and Agrat, yet I still couldn't see anyone. I noticed that the voice was distinctly whispery and echoey, I imagined the tone and timbre would fit perfectly well in an Addams Family atmosphere as the voice of the family ghost or something.

Naamah replied nonchalantly. "Oh yes, you have. About 9426 times since the Romans turned Christian."

"Well, I'll say it again..."

"Would that voice please stop playing with my mind?" I cried, annoyed at being the only one who couldn't see this voice that sounded so close and almost as if she was at my ears.

"Oh Eisheth, just get out from under there. Show some sympathy for the poor girl. She has went through a lot and will probably die soon."

As soon as Naamah said that last word, I felt my shoulders getting heavier and it wasn't long before I felt fingers on my neck, a pair of arms resting on my shoulders and a pair of legs sliding lower and lower on my back. A smell of decayed roses assaulted my nose. I was almost afraid to look behind me.

"Of course I'm aware of her suffering, Naamah. I know of every single thoughts and knowledges of living creatures..."

"You mean you peeped in on every living creature's thoughts from their shadows," Agrat interjected with a smirk.

I felt the fingers around my neck tightened as Eisheth spoke from behind me, "Clamp your trap, traitor!"

"Traitor? You can't still be pissed about that old dispute now. It happened thousand of years ago. I'm sorry, okay? You went missing, we needed someone to hold that other place."

"Yeah sure. You got Salamanca, she got Damascus and Lilith got Rome. But instead of me, you gave Egypt to your mother, then when your mother died, you gave it to that sea monster Rahab!" The fingers were getting awfully tight around my neck now. I tried to pull at her fingers, to lessen the pressure on my neck but to no avail.

"You went missing! What was I - I mean, we supposed to do?"

"Of course I was missing!" she tightened her fingers again, making me really worried that I might get a broken neck in a few minutes, "I was trapped and sealed by the Levites, yet none of you bothered to find me."

Agrat glanced at Naamah. "Well, I did try to find you..."

"Would you please stop strangling the poor girl? We need her alive, in case you haven't noticed," Naamah interjected.

"Nonsense! She's a lili. I can break her spine, destroy her body and she still won't die. Besides, you must've noticed her 'anomaly', Naamah. Do you really think that a broken neck will kill her?"

Naamah, the cool, collected Naamah looked slightly concerned and said, "If you can just loosen your hold just a little bit... I'm sure..."

"I'll be training her first, and I don't want any disturbance," Eisheth cut in. Her fingers still tight around my neck.

"What?" Agrat objected, "Now, you can't just waltz in here and..."

And then they were gone. I believe we've blinked to another spot in the realm.

"Are you still fighting yourself, Ilyse?" she inquired as she let go of my neck. I was glad that she'd calmed down.

Turning around, while rubbing my neck with my palms, I asked to the cloaked figure, "Do I know you?"

She was somewhat taller, but not by much compared to me and I'm around 5' 8". Wearing something that resembled a cloak, yet made of a kind of smoky material that I couldn't identify, she flitted around like the shadow itself. She had coal black hair for sure (the kind that was so dark and unhealthy looking that it wouldn't reflect any light), but it was hard to make out distinct facial features other than that she had a dark skin. If I hadn't had my neck almost broken in two, I would've think that she was just a figment of my imagination. A hallucination, or childhood nightmare, something that came out from the dark corners of the room and gave little boys and girls a reason to sleep early.

"Not specifically. But I've known you for all your life. You see, my realm is the shadows, and everyone in Assiah have shadows. I am the most intimate friend you will ever have."

"That's unsettling on so many levels..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not omnipotent, I can't be everywhere at the same time and I only do it for the knowledge. Very rarely did I ever go personally into any one person's shadow. But that's what I'm going to teach you. By the end of the lesson, you'll be as elusive and untouchable as the shadows. I have 40 days to turn you into a competent shadow walker. A bit stretching it, but I'm sure we'll manage. Move back 3 paces."

"Uhh, why?" I asked spontaneously.

She paused, cocked her head to the left and then said in a monotone, "Do it."

I stepped back three paces just as ordered.

"Today, you're going to learn how to reinforce yourself with ether so that you become stronger and faster. It's the primary technique for tricornes but simple enough to be learnt by both unicornes and bicornes. We're going to finish this lesson today, because tomorrow, I'll teach you how to back stab people."

And so starts my training at the hands of the other three Angels of Prostitution.

---

Naamah = One of the Angels of Prostitution. Some traditions also stated that she was the second companion of Adam after Lilith's departure and before Eve's creation. Naamah is said to have engaged, like Lilith, in intercourse with Adam. Naamah is often named as the mother of the demon Asmodai (Asmodeus), the consort of the Lesser Lilith (Lilith and Samael's daughter).

Agrat Bat Mahlat = One of the Angels of Prostitution. Considering Mahlat and Agrat as proper names and bat as "daughter of" (Hebrew), Agrat bat Mahlat means 'Agrat daughter of Mahlat'. Sometimes Agrat is used alone, or with variations (Agrath, Igrat, Iggeret). Iggeret means in Hebrew 'letter or missive' while 'agrah' means 'reward'. Mahathallah, probably the correct spelling of Mahlat means in Hebrew 'deception' or 'illusion'. Therefore, Agrat bat Mahlat could be translated as Agrat 'daughter of illusions', 'bringer of deception' or 'reward for deception'

Eisheth Zenunim = One of the Angels of Prostitution. Not much is known about her except for the story of her being shoved aside during the handing out of territories between Lilith, Naamah and Agrat.
 
 

*Thanks to Stanman for the proofreading. Comments are always appreciated.