When Lilith woke up, everyone else was already awake. Judy was in the living room, sipping a cup of water while she read a book. “Morning, Lu- err, Lilith.” She said. “Grab some breakfast and then come back here, Vithi wanted to do something or other involving magic.”

Lilith nodded, heading into the kitchen. Inside she found Vithi, who was in the middle of eating a sandwich. “Ah, Lilith. Good timing.” Vithi said.” Could you do me a favor and undo your suppression? I want to take a look at your Domains and see what’s going on, since you mentioned you were feeling weaker after you suppressed yourself and I honestly don’t see how you could have gotten any Traits already, so I think it might be Perfect Chimera stuff and I’m curious.”

Lilith shrugged, undoing her suppression. There was an immediate rush of power and energy as her Domains reasserted herself, and she just felt more…right.

“Perfect, thank you. Go ahead and eat your breakfast, I’ll sift through the results while you do.” Vithi said, finishing off her sandwich and beginning an identification spell.

It took Lilith roughly ten minutes to finish breakfast, and by that time Vithi had already finished whatever she was doing with the identification spell and had gone back into the living room. So, Lilith put away the dishes she had dirtied and made her way into the living room, where Judy and Vithi were waiting for her.

Vithi waited for Lilith to sit down before speaking. “So, I figured out why you were feeling weakened when you suppressed yourself. Well, by ‘why’ I suppose I mean what was causing that feeling of weakness, I have no idea why you have all this stuff. As it turns out, you have the entirety of the succubus Domain unlocked, as well as a couple of other random abilities from other Domains.”

Lilith frowned. “That seems a kind of random Domain to get all of, don’t you think?”

Vithi shrugged. “You’re telling me. It’s probably why you’re a girl right now, though, seeing as how that’s a female-only Domain. Again, I don’t even have the foggiest idea why you have anything from that Domain, but it gives you at least something in terms of raw power in case we get attacked, so I’m not going to complain.”

Vithi sat up a little straighter. “Now, let’s see you try some magic. I want to see if it works now that you actually have a Domain. Same spell as we’ve always been practicing on, if you would.”

Lilith nodded, holding out a palm. She focused, said the incantation…and watched as a flame flickered to life in her outstretched hand.

Judy shook her head in amazement. “Just like that? Just say the words and it’s done? Can you teach me?” She asked.

“Not quite.” Vithi answered. “I don’t think you’ve been freed from the spell that keeps humans from Earth from using magic. I…” She trailed off, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps that’s why Lilith’s Domain was removed? To circumvent the spell before she was made a Perfect Chimera? That would make some sort of sense, I suppose. Anyway, as I was saying –”

She was cut off by the front door flying open, a man stepping into the room as he finished casting a spell that immobilized the occupants. He surveyed them briefly, then sighed. “Well, I was hoping you would turn out to be a bit more of a fight, but the boss was right, you’d all be ripe for the taking if I came in at this time. Nothing personal, you understand, it was you or me and I can’t really be blamed for looking out for number one.”

He walked over to Lilith, squatting so that his eyes were right in front of his own. “Let’s just get this over with. Just listen to my voice and look into my eyes, and we’ll be done with this momentarily.”

His voice was deep and powerful, and Lilith felt that she really should be listening to what he said. She stared into his eyes, listening to his soothing words as she began to feel fuzzier and fuzzier. It would be better if she let this man deal with things for her. All she had to do was listen to whatever he said, and life would become so much easier.

No. A voice bubbled up from the deepest recesses of her mind. No, we’re not going to sit here and take this. It said, becoming clearer and clearer to Lilith as it continued to talk. You just relax, dear. You’re not really equipped to handle this sort of thing. Just sit back and let me deal with this, alright?

She supposed that was acceptable. Lilith really just didn’t feel like making an effort to do anything right now, so the voice could do whatever she wanted.

Thanks, sweetie. Sit tight, I’ll have us out of this in a flash. And, suddenly, Lilith was…not in control. Or, at least, not in control the way she had been before. She was like a passenger in her own body, not able to control it as the voice began her work.

The man, apparently satisfied, stopped the spell that was holding Lilith in place. “Very good. Now, why don’t you stop the djinn from doing anything? She is bound to you, right?”

The voice nodded Lilith’s head, opened her mouth…then raised a hand and uttered a quick word. The man was lifted into the air and forced back into the center of the room, giving Lilith’s body space to stand up.

The spell keeping Vithi and Judy in place dropped, leaving them free to move as Lilith’s body sashayed over to the struggling man. “Now what do we have here?” The voice purred, a malicious glint in her eye as she gently stroked the man’s arm. “You thought you could take over my little Lilith that easily?”

“What?!” Judy shouted. “You are Lucas! Get a hold of yourself!”

The voice turned Lilith’s head to Judy, giving her a wink. “Not now, dear. We’ll talk about this later, alright?”

“No, we’re talking about this no–” Judy was cut off as the voice waved Lilith’s hand, clamping Judy’s mouth shut with a spell.

The voice turned back to the man, smiling slightly. “You poor fool, they didn’t give you enough instructions, did they? But, I’m a generous victor, so what say you we play a little game? You resist my magic, I let you go. You fail, I get to do whatever I want with you. Sounds like a bargain, right?”

“Y…you’re scaring me, Lilith.” Vithi said quietly. “Can you…I dunno, do this in a way that looks less…”

“Menacing?” The voice offered. “Sadistic? Evil? Probably. But, honestly, this man was about to take the three of us captive and make us slaves, and I’m not about to let him get away lightly. You can shut up and let me do my work now, and if you don’t, I’m going to silence you like I did Judy. The both of you are powerless to stop me, so don’t even try.”

She directed that last remark at Judy, who was sneaking around to behind Lilith’s body. “I love you, Judy, and really don’t want to get more physical with this. Let me have my fun, then I’ll take care of the situation and return Lilith. Don’t get in my way.”

Judy hesitated, but pressed on closer to Lilith’s body anyway.

The voice sighed, waving another hand. Judy was lifted into the air and then gently placed back down in the chair she had been sitting in before. Judy struggled in her seat, but, try as she might, found herself stuck, held in place by the voice’s magic.

The voice, satisfied, turned back to the man. “So, what say you? Do you agree to my little game? Just remember, saying no means I just get to do whatever I want to you anyway, so there’s really only one option, right?”

The man, terror visible in his eyes, made some sort of muffled sound, prompting the voice to smack her head in faux-embarrassment. “Sorry about that, let me let you speak again…”

With another wave of the hand the man was free to speak again. “Y-yes…” He stuttered.

“Perfect.” The voice said, grinning malevolently. “It’s not a very difficult game. Just listen to my voice and look into my eyes and we’ll be done with this momentarily.”

The man gasped, ineffectually trying to turn his head, but found himself restrained by the voice’s magic. And, after a moment, he was forced to lock eyes with the voice.

“That’s it.” She cooed. “Just keep looking. You know, it really wasn’t very nice to attack us completely unprompted. You think so too, right?”

The man nodded. The motion started jerkily, as if his head was being moved by an outside force, but it became more fluid as he finished. He mumbled something under his breath, causing the voice to theatrically cup Lilith’s hand to her ear. “What was that, dear?”

“No. It was not very nice.” He said robotically.

“That’s right.” The voice agreed. “You’re from the society, right?”

“Yes.”

“How did you find out we were here?”

“The boss told me you would be here. She said to let you escape initially, and then break in and hypnotize you in the morning when you all thought you were safe.” The man’s voiced regained a little emotion, focusing just a little bit more as he continued to speak. “How did you break free from my control?”

The voice frowned. “Resisting a little, are we? Well, we can’t have that. But, since I’m such a good sport, I’ll tell you if you do one teeny tiny thing for me. But first, do you really want to know?”

The man nodded dreamily.

“Are you sure?” The voice teased.

“Yes.” The voice was back to the monotone it was before.

“What’s your name?”

“Steven.”

Lilith idly noted Vithi and Judy shrink back as the atmosphere in the room completely changed. Though it was mid-morning and room was well-lit by several large windows, it was somehow dark, the shadows seeming to deepen and choke out the light as the voice continued her speech. “Repeat after me: I, Steven…”

“I, Steven…” Steven repeated.

“Give myself completely…”

“Give myself completely…”

“To Lilith…”

“To Lilith…”

It was at this point that Vithi stood up, a frantic look on her face. “What are you doing?!” She shouted. Her voice seemed muffled, less important than what was currently going on. “Stop it! Get a hold of –” Vithi was cut off as the voice waved dismissively, forcing Vithi’s mouth shut as she was levitated back into her chair.

Undeterred, the voice continued. “Her will is mine…”

“Her will is mine…” Steven’s eyes were wide with panic, but he couldn’t seem to stop his mouth from working.

“She is free to do with me as she pleases…”

“She is free to do with me as she pleases…”

“Until the day I die.”

“Until the day I die.” As he said those last words, there was a snap as a sort of staticky tension discharged, much like it had when Vithi had sworn herself to Lilith. Steven let out a short scream and the voice ended the spell holding him up, causing him to collapse to the floor.

The voice knelt down beside him, stroking his cheek gently. “Almost done, sweetheart. Let’s take care of that pesky little resentment, shall we?”

Steven weakly nodded, staggering to his feet. “Yes, mistress.” He said. The monotone in his voice was gone, traded for downcast resignation.

“As sweet as the schadenfreude from watching you suffer as you’re forced to serve me against your wishes would be, I know Lilith would be incredibly uncomfortable with that, and I do hate it when she’s unhappy. Instead, nothing makes you happier than serving me, understand?”

Steven nodded, then broke out into a smile. “Thank you, mistress! What else may I do to help?”

The voice smiled back. “Excellent. Now, I know Lilith’s first action is going to be to set you free, so you’re to ignore any commands to do that. This contract can’t be voluntarily ended by any party.”

“Excellent idea!”

The voice stroked Lilith’s chin, looking Steven over. “But you know what, I don’t want a middle-aged man as a servant, so what say you we make you a cute catgirl? I’m sure that’d be fun to have around.”

Steven beamed. “Sounds fun, yeah! Let’s do it!”

The voice raised Lilith’s hands, a tingle of powerful magic going through them as she began rubbing them over Steven’s body. And, as she did, Steven slowly changed, his hair lengthening and bleeding to an orange as two furry ears of the same color poked out from the top of his head. A tail covered with that same orange fur popped out from behind, flicking contentedly from side to side as Steven patiently waited for the voice to finish.

The voice hummed quietly as she worked, kneading and molding as she saw fit. And, after a few more minutes, she stepped back to examine her handiwork. In front of her was a petite woman of around five feet. Her dark green eyes were contrasted by the bright red shirt and shorts she wore, which themselves only sort of worked with the orange hair.

“Perfect!” The voice squealed, clapping her hands. “How are you feeling?”

“Uncomfortable in this body, but happy I am in a form mistress likes.” Steven replied.

“Nope.” The voice said. “That falls under the ‘Lilith is going to hate it’ category. Actually, you love your new form even more than your old one, and you never want to go back.”

Steven beamed again, launching herself at the voice and rubbing her cheek on the voice’s. “Thank you! May I make a suggestion?”

“What is it?”

“How about a new name? Steven doesn’t fit a cute girl like me.”

The voice smirked. “Of course. Do you have any suggestions?”

Steven momentarily stopped rubbing against the voice to think. “How about Alexandria, or Alex for short?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Alex grinned. “Awesome! Now, will you tell me how you shook off my control? I’m dying to know.”

The voice sat back down in her chair, motioning for Alex to take a place at her feet. Alex rushed over, happily sitting down where she was told, and the voice looked out at Judy and Vithi. “Well, this ties into what you two were wondering, so this works out.” She reached down, idly scratching Alex’s ears. “So, let’s have a talk, shall we?”

Fighterman481

Well, most of what I have to say will be said in next chapter's authors notes so, um, as always, thanks for reading, I guess?