Freesia.Cutepearl

I meant to leave this note last chapter but I forgot, Chapter 6 was edited after posting, at about ~1:30pm Eastern Oct 22nd to resolve some inconsistencies and more clearly detail a few points that came up in the comments. I will briefly cover them here but you may also reread those parts if you wish.

Previously I forgot to mention what happened regarding the aftermath of Lilith's wounds with the thugs. While they healed as ones before had, since her clothes were part of her body made via shapeshifting, she was able to reabsorb the bloodstains, even noting the blood was slowly being reabsorbed on its own. Some blood pooled on the ground after she yanked the sword and fell over in pain, that blood remained behind, she was not able to reabsorb the blood mixed with dirt, which will be a minor plot point. (This may make you ask about when she was first bloodied and went to clean up at the river, this discrepancy is intentional, and will be explored/referenced later.)

That also resolves the inconsistency of the man on the bottom floor of Albert's building not noticing any blood on her, as she was cleaner now. Also, I had intended to imply that he was pretty 'baked' so to speak, I added a little bit of text to try to strengthen the implication. Lastly, I had meant for the lighting to be implied as very dim, I adjusted the description to make it more apparent, hopefully.

Lastly, I failed to mention, that Lilith had cleaned herself up after having sex using a shirt, which she left behind. Fun fact, in the first Draft I completely forgot to mention that she had gotten dressed before hopping out the window. These things are there in your mind but it's easy to somehow skip over them when writing.

Chapter 8 - One Fuzzy Caterpillar & Two Mysterious Deaths, with a side of Lunch

Lilith

After having completed my practice, very serious practice, mind you, controlling the large spider around, I decided it was time for another experiment. Bringing it back, reattaching, and reshaping it back into my hand, I begin my preparations. Firstly, I use ‘Internet Search’ to get a good idea of fuzzy caterpillars in my mind. Concentrating on my finger, I was, happily, able to turn it into one rather easily. I congratulate myself internally, ‘It really feels like I’m getting better at this.’

Staring at my hand as I rotate it around to look from different angles I bend my fuzzy caterpillar of a finger back and forth. Next, I curl it onto my hand and use the same spider-silk string trick I have thus far, to separate it yet keep it attached to me. Directing it to crawl up my palm, then around to the back of my hand as I rotate my arm, next I have to crawl halfway toward my elbow.

I make sure it is firmly attached, rotating my arm a bit and shaking lightly, to confirm the caterpillar remains attached, I move on to the next part of my experiment. Bringing out the claws on my other hand, on my first finger and thumb, I slip them around the thread attaching my finger stub to the caterpillar, take in a deep breath, and *snip*.

Anticlimactically, nothing happens, I don’t feel anything, really. The best way to describe it is that the detached caterpillar feels the same as when you’ve fallen asleep on your arm for a long time and you cannot feel your hand or fingers. I try in vain to make the caterpillar move, but nothing happens. I wiggle my arm again and it still feels firmly attached. I go to poke it with my finger and nothing really happens, it just remains in place.

I find myself, actually, a bit drawn in by how soft it feels, and begin rubbing my finger across the caterpillar repeatedly. It feels so unbelievably soft I just can’t help myself, the feeling is so wonderful, I, erm, yeah, I mean to say, that my continued poking of the caterpillar has firmly established that it is attached… firmly.

I let out a bit of a huff as I’m unsure of what to do now. I hadn’t really expected this. I thought it might hurt, I thought maybe I didn’t really need the string at all and just thought I did. I half expected it to turn back into a severed finger and fall to the ground, or... Perhaps to turn to mush or dust or something else indistinct.

What I didn't expect was, well, this. I continue to ‘poke’, at the… so soft, Uhm, I mean I continue to poke at it while thinking about my next action. After ‘some’ time, not very long at all mind you, seconds, absolutely not minutes, I think to myself, ‘what else is there but to try and reattach it?’ So that’s what I do, I go to gently remove it from my arm, and found it was clinging on much more than I had expected, it did not seem limp, or dead, more frozen, or stiff than anything. After some time I am able to remove it without incident.

Holding it up to the stump of my missing finger, I try to reattach it as I had prior, but nothing happens. After several minutes of failure, I am becoming a little impatient and hold it more tightly against the stump of my finger, concentrating so hard I feel more likely to accidentally squeeze something out as if I had eaten too much fiber rather than reattach anything.

With a gasp, I exhale my breath after my last attempt, as I release the pressure I notice a slight tugging feeling, looking closer I realize that some of the fuzzy hairs had actually begun to sink back into my body, and were rather firmly entrenched into the skin on the stump of my missing finger. Perplexed, I’m rather sure I must have a dumb look on my face, as I can not feel nor control the caterpillar.

As I stare at the points where they are joined I couldn’t help but think it reminds me of something slowly sinking into a thick substance. At that moment I had the idea to treat it more like I had the blood from my injury the previous night, which had curiously also been slowly sucked into my shapeshifted clothing on its own.

I begin to try and ‘drink’ with my shapeshifting it as I had previously to accelerate the cleaning of the blood. However, the feeling is much different. If I have to equate it to something, it feels more like trying to suck in a milkshake, the thickness causing me to take some decent effort to ‘suck’ it back into me, but it does indeed work, and feels worlds easier than when I had tried to remove my blood from the soil.

That had felt like trying to quench your thirst by drinking water mixed in with flour. Not only impossible and uncomfortable but somewhat disgusting. This on the other hand feels like drinking a shake that was still thick but not enough to be unpleasant, once I figured it out, it only took a few moments for my finger to be reattached, still in fuzzy caterpillar form. I can feel and move it around again too.

I feel rather happy with my progress. It vaguely reminds me of how I felt when I spent a couple hours working alone on a problem in the office, and a certain someone would complain I was goofing off all day, but then I was the one who had solutions to propose. ‘That’s right Janice, I goof off with purpose!’ 

Not that I ever used that defense, the truth hurts after all, her fragile ego couldn’t handle it, just like my ability to stay employed wouldn’t have. All strictly serious business, nothing else, nope, not at all.

Where was I? Right, I am experimenting! Where did this lab coat come from you say? Obviously Google-sensei provided its design. Very important for serious research. Setting a table upright, I hold my hand, still with the caterpillar finger attached, onto its surface. As before I detach the caterpillar and have it crawling in a circle on the table. Out come my claws, and I *snip* the string once again while concentrating on having the caterpillar walking in circles. The same numbness as before happens, but this time I nearly jump and yell in excitement as I see the caterpillar continuing to crawl in a circle!

Try as I might I cannot control it the way I have things with strings attached. It also seems to lack self-awareness, if I place my finger in the way it makes no adjustments and just blindly keeps moving in the exact same way, crashing into my finger and even if I hold it, moving without change. Placing it back down on the table it runs in circles still, as if nothing happened.

Stepping back I lean against the wall staring at the table while sighing, with a combination of excitement at the discovery as well as disappointment in my inability to direct it. I take another look at my ‘status page’ and look over my abilities.

Many things I still need to examine, I realize, however, for now, I am looking for things for this situation. ‘Lesser Puppet Master’ catches my eye, I focus on it for details.

“Bingo,” I say quietly as what I’m sure must be a sexy devious smile crosses my lips. It’s living, it’s weaker than me, and it has no will of its own so I speculate that I can assume complete control! Hey... that phrase seems familiar, Hmm- Google-sensei shall tell me. Oh, yes, I see now, as I walk up to the caterpillar, still going in circles on the table, I put on my best video game villain impression and utter the words ‘Assuming Direct Control’ while concentrating on the cute little fuzzy caterpillar just spinning away with its little fuzzy self on the table I just want to pet it. Ah, forget what I said. ASSUMING! DIRECT! CONTROL! 

Dizzy. So Dizzy. I fall to the ground. But I’m also running in circles. The Dizziness is intense. I feel like I’m on a theme park ride, the kind where you sit in a booth that spins while it’s on a larger platform that is also spinning. I feel the ground also, and splinters of a broken chair impaling part of my back, along with a bit of warm wetness. I want the spinning to stop please, I can’t take it anymore! And it does.

I close my eyes as soon as I realize I’m seeing double again, just like before, when things were physically attached. I feel sick. It’s like I have two bodies and one is sick enough to vomit, while the other feels drunk, unbalanced, and dizzy, I can’t take this feeling it needs to stop, I feel very sick, moving is impossible, thinking is becoming equally impossible, all my thoughts and feelings are blending together into an awful culmination of horrible sensations.

Kharius’s Search for the ‘Red-Eyed Spider’

“You say you found the two bodies in this alleyway, I assume where these two blood pools are?” Kharius asked the sheepish looking man, in worn clothes which had clearly seen better days, worn by labor and patched over time.

Jumping a bit, as he quickly moved in the alleyway, he pointed at a blank spot while answering, “No sir, found the fancy dressed fellow right about here, laying on the ground like a doll somebody dropped, an an,” the man scurried closer again towards one of the blood pools, the smaller of the two, made up of two smaller areas with some splattered droplets, pointed and continued, “an here was a big burly fellow in nice work clothes, he had some cuts on his sides and a chunk was clean missing from his neck!”

Stepping closer to the other, large, singular blood pool, Kharius kneeled down inspected it closer, as he asked the man beside him, “What of this puddle, who was here?”

The man scratched his head as he looked at the pool of blood, and spoke in an unsure manner, “Dun’t got a clue, no-un was there when I saw it.”

Kharius took out a small metal tin from his coat, along with a small tool that looks somewhere between a miniature spatula and spoon, “Is that so?” he replied while opening the lid of the container, he then carefully took several samples and placed them into the tin.

As he stood up Kharius eyed the man who was nervously standing beside him, “If there is nothing else I think we are done, I appreciate your assistance, Mr. Steven. Take this token to the privateer guild and you will receive your payment after you give them your address, I may speak to you again if we need more information.”

The man, Steven, took the token from Kharius with a quick bow while thanking him, “Thank ye greatly Mr. Kharius happy to help the Acreisia Ministry defend our homeland, ye got cha self a deal for sure, come back anytime I’ll tell you everythin’ I see, an I see a lot you be sure of that!”

As Steven quickly made his way towards the Homeland Defense building, Kharius looked over a piece of paper briefly, before heading to a house of rental rooms to investigate another mysterious death from the night prior.

Elicia

Looking at Tristan with concern, I tell him “You know you don’t have to stay? Just because I can’t leave doesn’t mean you have to be stuck here too. You could be making money giving people rides right now.”

Tristan stops walking, I do as well and turn to face him, he has his hand behind his head with a worried expression, “About that, I was planning to take a bit of a break once I got you to your hometown, I’d hoped maybe I could spend some time there and keep you company.”

I feel my heart do a little flutter, what was worry melted into a small warmness in my chest, “Tristan, I… thank you. It feels so—“ I take a deep breath as I collect my thoughts, “I miss them, I might have butted heads with Ernaut, but 5 years, you start to rely on people, expect to wake up and hear their voices. Without… without you left I’d be going crazy in silence.” I laughed a bit before sighing heavily.

Lowering his hand from his head, he extended it towards me with a smile and asked, “How about we get some lunch, I can’t afford a fancy place like that ministry guy but I know a few hidden gems.”

Taking his hand with a smile I cheerfully reply, “Sure, I’ll take an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire.”

Tristan breaks out into laughter as he guides me towards whatever ‘hidden gem’ he has in mind, while I just follow feeling the first bit of anything close to happiness since that day. Today I will try not to worry about anything, just enjoy myself and hope it lasts.

Freesia.Cutepearl

Hola lovely peeps! ^.^

This chapter is a bit shorter but hopefully enjoyable. I spent some time thinking about things and then wrote it all in one go. Add in a light seasoning of Editing and a small side of Error checking and I have a fresh chapter for you hot out of the oven.

I find it so astonishing that 174 of you, as of writing this, added this to your reading list. And based on views more than that are reading a chapter. I feel amazed. I don't know what else to say other than thank you. I feel excited to write, I look forward to seeing all of you read it as we find out what happens together. While I have a loose plan for the story overall and some arcs, the day-to-day sort of just plays out in my head, I mostly just create the setting and conditions for a scene and let it go.

Seriously, thank you so much for joining me on this silly journey of mine writing my first story, as we explore Lilith's journey together.

Have a wonderful rest of the day! <3