You sure no one’s going to come here? Vithi asked nervously.

Lucas nodded. I used to hang out here with my friends when I was growing up. We used to spend all day here and we never once saw anyone else. Lucas had taken them a small way outside of the city, where she hopped over a fence and headed towards a small dilapidated house. This is on city land, and they haven’t gotten around to doing anything with it yet, so it’s just sort of sat here. She walked up to the door and gave a short series of knocks before walking around the side of the house and climbing through a window.

Why bother knocking if you’re not even going to use the door?

We always used to do that before we came in. I thought it would be fun. That and it would spook any kids that might be inside. I didn’t hear anyone so I’m guessing no one’s here right now.

I thought you said no one ever came here?

Yeah, but new kids might have set up shop or something. Doesn’t really matter. Lucas made her way over to a room where several logs had been arranged around a broken table. She sat down on a log, setting her backpack down as he did. You can come out now.

Vithi soon appeared next to her and walked over to sit down on a log across from her. “So, you going to change or what?”

Lucas appeared to focus for a moment, releasing her suppression. She adjusted a little on the log to make an allowance for the tail, and paused, feeling her clothes. Sure enough, holes had grown in her shirt and pants to allow her new appendages to poke through. There were other subtle alterations in the way the clothes fit. She frowned. Was this part of the magic? On cue, a window popped up.

Clothes Make the Man Trait Perfect Chimera, Chimera, Vampire, Werewolf, (See more) Domains Clothes worn during transformation alter themselves to fit the user’s new form, unless the user does not wish them to.

Lucas tapped where it said see more. Her finger went through the air, but the list expanded anyway. Several more races were listed, seemingly in order of Lucas’ familiarity with them. It would seem this was a fairly standard ability among shapeshifters.

“So, what should I call you while you’re like this?” Vithi asked suddenly.

Lucas frowned. “Just Lucas. Why?”

“Well, it just doesn’t feel right calling a girl Lucas. Perhaps Lucy?”

Lucas stuck her tongue out. “That’s even worse than a random name. It’s too close to my name and feels weird.”

“Got any better ideas?”

“Are you sure you can’t just call me Lucas?”

“Absolutely not. What if we’re in public?”

“It shouldn’t take that long before I figure out how to get back to being a boy, right?”

Vithi paused. “Principle of the thing. How about Lilith?”

Lucas drummed her fingers on the table. “I’ll allow it. Better than Lucy, I guess.”

Vithi smiled. “Alright, with that out of the way, let’s get started. How about trying the fire thing?”

Lilith nodded, and chanted the incantation she had been taught. She felt a resistance, like trying to get up while really tired. It was squashed in a moment, and a flame appeared in Lilith’s open palm. A wide grin spreads across her face. “Finally!” She paused for a moment. “Is it always going to be this tiring?”

Vithi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It felt kind of like my magic was sore, you know?”

Vithi tapped the table, causing it to wobble. “That means you don’t have very much energy. That’s odd, though, because you should be full up, and this magic shouldn’t be taking very much out of you at all, if you really do have my djinn Domain. You must be extremely low.”

“Is there a way to check?”

Vithi shook her head. “Not without a specialized spell or an item.”

Lilith sighed. “So, are we just gonna have to wait to test things out? I brought a lunch that we can eat if we do.”

Vithi paused. “I could store some of my magic in you to use, but that would be a little risky.”

“Why?”

“Well, you’d have to use all of it up. Otherwise, when your magic comes back you would have your magic and mine, and you’d run into the same ‘holding too much magic hurts’ problem.”

Lilith stuck out her tongue. “No thanks. I’m a little hungry anyway.” She began rummaging through the backpack, pulling out a couple of sandwiches in small bags. “Want one?”

Vithi took a sandwich and began to eat. “I’m curious, can you fly?”

Lilith held up a finger, chewing for a moment before swallowing. “I don’t know, why?”

“Generally, flight takes a bit of magic. You can’t just slap wings on a person and expect them to fly. They’re just not built for it. I assume you can, but I want to know if you can while you’re low on magic.”

Lilith nodded, stood, and cautiously began to flap her wings. She felt the same tired feeling from before, and slowly rose into the air. The tired feeling remained constant as she hovered in place, and after a moment she settled back down. “Guess that solves that. Same thing as the fire.”

Vithi shrugged, but said nothing, biting into the sandwich.

---

A few hours of fooling around later, Lilith began getting ready for the walk home. She suppressed her Domains, tidied the table, and stood up.

“Quick question,” Vithi asked, “Can you use magic like this?”

Lilith shrugged, held out her hand, and chanted the spell. Nothing happened. She shook her head. “Feels like before.”

“Hmmm. We’ll have to keep an eye on the suppression. Maybe it works by bricking up your magic, like before? That would explain why you were so tired earlier.”

Lilith frowned. “Guess I won’t be using much magic for a bit.”

Vithi begun moving into her lair. Why not?

Well, for one, I thought we were trying to hide your presence at my house with my inability to be detected by magic

Oh, right.

Lilith headed to the window she came in through and climbed out.

“That’s enough, kid.” A deep voice said.

Lilith froze. “Um, enough of what?”

A man stepped around the corner of the house and looked Lucas up and down. He began to speak quickly, gesturing wildly with his hands. Get out of here, Lilith! He’s spellcasting! Vithi said urgently.

Lilith turned around and began running the other direction but was stopped mid-step by an unseen force. The man, having finished his spell, leisurely walked over to Lilith. Lilith struggled, but wasn’t able to so much as blink as the man walked in front of her. The man turned around and looked Lilith in the eyes. “That’s better. Now, just listen to my voice and look at my eyes.” The voice was deep and powerful, and Lilith began to feel like she should listen to it. “That’s it. Just keep looking.”

Lilith, no! It’s hypnosis!

“Ignore the voices in your head. In fact, why don’t you just shut them out? You don’t need anyone listening to our conversation.”

Lilith agreed. Vithi was being a little overbearing. Did Vithi think she couldn’t handle herself? Well, she’d show her! She mentally shut Vithi out of her mind, and her complaints were silenced.

----------

Vithi angrily pounded at the door into her observation room. Of course they had been followed! It wasn’t exactly subtle to return to the house. They should have gone to Judy’s or something. She huffed. Well, looks like I’ll have to deal with this myself. She began to exit her lair, and the man’s voice became audible once more.

“-So much easier if you just let me make all the decisions for you.”

“That’s right.” Lilith replied in a monotone.

“Ah, your little friend has come out. Walk between me and her please.”

“At once.” Lilith interposed herself between Vithi and the man.

“Lilith listen to me! He’s controlling you!”

“That’s right, I am, and it’s so much better than having to do everything yourself, right?”

Lilith nodded dreamily, looking at Vithi in a blank manner.

“Now, why don’t you stop your suppression and eat that little pill I gave you?”

Lilith nodded again and popped something into her mouth as she shifted back. She swallowed, and a wide, unhinged grin spread across her face.

“Wouldn’t it be great if you took care of the little pest for us?” The man triumphed.

Lilith winked at Vithi and took a step forward, her hands beginning to glow. Then, she turned around and raised her hands.

“Wha-” The man was cut off by a dismissive wave from Lilith. He rose into the air slightly, grasping at his neck.

“Now, what have we here?” Lilith purred. She sashayed over to the man and stroked his arm, a malicious glint in her eye. “You thought you could take over my little Lucas that easily?”

“What are you talking about?!” Vithi shouted, stunned at the sudden shift in behavior. “You are Lucas!”

“Not now, dear.” Lilith replied, not taking her eyes off the man. “You poor fool. You really didn’t think this through, did you?” She waved her hand again and the man took a ragged gasp of breath. “Let’s 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?”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Vithi shouted, “Lucas, what are you DOING?”

Lilith turned her head and flashed a smile. “Vithi, hon, if you interrupt me again, I WILL silence you. Besides, I thought you were going to call me Lilith?”

“Well, yes, but you’re not acting like yourself! Snap out of it!”

Lilith chuckled. “I’ll explain after I’m done.” She turned back to the squirming man. “So, do we have a deal?”

“You’re sick! Let me go!”

“Oh, I do so love it when they fight.” Vithi could see the man’s neck contract inwards, as if someone was squeezing it “I’ll repeat myself. Do we have a deal? If you say no then I’ll just skip straight to doing whatever I want, and I’m sure you’d love a shot at freedom, right?”

He glared at her, but nodded, and the squeezing stopped. “Fine, whatever. What do I have to do?”

She smiled malevolently. “It won’t be hard. Just listen to my voice and look at my eyes.”

He gasped and began struggling ineffectually. He attempted to turn his head, but it seemed to be held in place. After a short moment, he locked eyes with Lilith. “That’s it. Just keep looking.” She crooned, stepping closer. “Now, why did you attack us? That wasn’t very nice, was it?”

He shook his head. The motion started jerkily, as if his head was being moved by someone else but became more fluid as he finished the motion. He mumbled something under his breath, and Lilith cupped her hand to her ear theatrically. “What was that, dear? Speak up!”

“Boss told me to watch you two, get the djinn in a lamp if I could.” The man’s voice had taken the monotone, almost robotic quality that Lucas’ had earlier. Behind Lilith, Vithi gasped.

Lilith’s smile widened “I figured as much. Why hypnotize me, though?”

“Once I found out what was going on, I figured that getting you would be killing two birds with one stone. You seem to have potential, and you’re her master, so it would be a package deal.” His voice regains some emotion, and his eyes focus a little more. “How did you break my control, anyway?”

Lilith frowned. “Breaking out? Can’t have that, can we? Now, do you really want to know?”

He nodded.

“Are you sure?” Lilith asked teasingly.

“Yes.” The voice had returned to the monotone from before.

“Well then, you’re going to have to do a little something for me! Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

Lilith’s smile deepened. “What’s your name?”

“Steven.”

Vithi shrank back. Something about Lilith…changed. She looked taller, the shadows around her deeper. Her presence towered over Steven, who sat there blankly. “Repeat after me: I, Steven”

“I, Steven”

“Give myself completely”

“Give myself completely”

“To Lilith.”

“To Lilith.”

Vithi felt a staticky feeling slowly growing as Steven repeated the words. “Lucas, what are you doing? St-” Vithi’s mouth was forced shut by a dismissive wave from Lilith.

“Her will is mine.” Lilith continued as if Vithi hadn’t interrupted.

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

“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 Steven said that, Vithi felt the feeling snap, a short discharge of energy punctuating the words. Steven let out a short scream, and then collapsed. Lilith knelt down next to him. “Almost done, sweetie. Let’s take care of that pesky resentment, shall we?”

Steven weakly nodded, staggering to his feet. “Yes, mistress.” His voice had lost the monotone quality, but the tone was downcast

“Now then, as much as I would love to see you suffer, forced to serve me against your wishes, I know Lucas would be uncomfortable with that, and I do so hate it when she’s unhappy. Instead, nothing makes you happier than serving me, understand?”

Steven nodded, and then began to smile. “Thank you, mistress! Do you require anything else from me?”

“Excellent. Now, I know Lucas is probably going to try and set you free, so you are to ignore any commands to do so.”

“Great idea, mistress!”

Lilith smiled faintly. “Much better. But, that form’s a little boring, don’t you think?”

“Couldn’t agree more!”

“Hmmm, instead of a boring middle-aged man, why don’t you be a cute catgirl? I’m sure Lucas wouldn’t mind that.”

Steven nodded. “That sounds fun! Let’s do it!”

Lilith’s hands lit up again, and she began to run them over Steven’s form. Vithi began running towards her but was quickly stopped. It felt as if she was encased in a thick metal suit, so heavy that she couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but watch helplessly as Steven slowly changed, his hair growing long, two black-furred triangles poking out from the top of his head. A tail of the same color popped out of his backside and flicked back and forth contentedly.  Lilith hummed quietly as she worked, kneading and molding as she saw fit. Eventually, she stepped back and examined her work. In front of her was a petite woman, somewhere around five feet tall if Vithi had to guess, wearing a red t-shirt and shorts. Her black hair reached her bottom, and her blue eyes were focused on Lilith, who clapped excitedly. “Perfect!” She squealed. “Now, tell me the truth, how do you feel?”

Steven paused momentarily. “I feel wrong, but happy that I am in a form that mistress likes.” His voice was higher and softer than before.

Lilith frowned. “Nope. Falls under the “Lucas would hate it” clause. You love this new form much more than your old one, and don’t ever want to go back.”

Steven seemed to relax a little. “Thank you again, mistress! May I suggest something else?”

“Oh?”

“Well, I don’t think Steven fits anymore. How about a new name?”

“Of course, any ideas?”

Steven paused for a moment. “How about Alexandria, or Alex for short?”

“Fine with me!”

Alex beamed. “Wonderful! Will you tell me how you shook off my control, now?”

Lilith smiled in return. “Of course. Come here, Vithi.” She motioned at Vithi, and she felt the force keeping her in place dissipate.

“What in the world was that, Lucas?!” She demanded, stomping over to Lilith.

Lilith rolled her eyes but let Vithi continue.

“That was a terrible thing to do!”

Lilith titled her head. “What do you mean? I made sure she likes her new form.” Lilith asked, seemingly genuinely puzzled.

“You can’t just enslave people and change them like that!”

Lilith frowned. “Why not? She was going to do it to us.”

Vithi paused. “Yeah, but…”

“Do you really want to be in a lamp again?”

“Absolutely not. But my point is that you essentially killed him and replaced him with a new person!”

Lilith laughed. “I did not. She still has all of her memories, habits, and feelings, just with a new body and a love of serving me. Nothing else changed. Right, Alex?”

Alex nodded. “That’s right! I feel so much better now!”

“Besides, if Lucas doesn’t like it, she can remove those mental effects. I put some work in on the body, though, so Lucas is gonna have to do some of her own if she wants it gone. Besides, if she does, she’ll be that much close to restoring her own form, so win-win for her, I guess.”

Vithi pinched her nose. “Alright, back up. Why are you talking so weird?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you keep dipping into third person?”

Lilith laughed. “Because I’m not Lucas.”

Vithi narrowed her gaze. “Then, where is she?”

Lilith sighed. “I guess, technically, I’m Lucas. Let me explain.”

“Please, do.”

“Alright, so Alex here mind controlled me.” She motioned at Alex, who was listening attentively. “Then told me to undo my suppression and take that pill.”

“So, it was the pill that broke you free and made you do…this?”

“That didn’t have anything to do with it. I think it’s similar to a potion, just gave me some extra mana, I think. Not sure. Anyway, it was undoing the suppression that did it.”

“What? Why?”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “As a Perfect Chimera, I have all the Domains, right?”

“Right.”

“Have you ever heard of one of the fae being charmed?”

“Well, no, I guess not.”

“Right. I have all the fae Domains. While I’m like this I’m practically immune to being charmed. It could theoretically be done, but my resistance is so high I don’t see any practical way to do it.”

“So, when Alex told you to shift back, your fae Domains kicked in and removed the charm?”

“Yup.”

“Why are you acting so weird, then?”

Lilith sighed. “A new Aspect I got. I’m something of an…alter ego. Due to external influences and a couple of other factors, the Aspect decided that when I’m mentally influenced, my fae Domains would be the ones to activate and gave a personality accordingly. I should go back to “normal” when I stop being mentally influenced.”

“Haven’t you stopped now?” Vithi asked.

“No. Alex hasn’t stopped the mind magic on me yet.”

Alex’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, mistress! I’ll stop now!”

“No! Not yet!”

Alex frowned. “Why not?”

“I have a few more things to do before Lucas properly takes over. Can you hold on for just a minute?”

“Of course!”

“Speaking of Alex,” Vithi interjected, “How did you do all that to her? You’re still new with magic?”

Lilith laughed. “Yes, I’m new, but that Aspect helped out. And, I had a little help.” She turned to the building. “Come on out, I know you’re there.”

A small man, no more than a foot tall, climbed out through the window and sauntered over, smiling hugely. “Looks like you caught me! Name’s Darragh!”

“And how long have you been following me?” Lilith asked.

“Ever ‘since you got that lamp!” He cheerfully replied.

“Hold up,” Vithi said, “you’ve been following us? Why? Who even are you?”

“Told ya, name’s Darragh! Though if you must know, queen Titania sent me!”

Vithi raised an eyebrow. “The faerie queen sent you. To follow some random person who got a lamp. Right.”

Darragh spread his hands. “It sounds far-fetched, but I assure you, it’s the truth. We were tipped off on the possibility of a change in faerie power dynamic, and I was sent to keep an eye on things.”

“And you’re just telling us all this.” Vithi said flatly.

“Of course! That way you know if you mess with me you mess with the official envoy of queen Titania!” His grin didn’t falter for a second. “Although I’ve nudged things here and there, I’m mostly just an observer.”

“You’re the reason I’m a girl, aren’t you,” Lilith said. It was less a question, more a statement.

“Of course! Been quite the lark, it has! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really should be going, the queen won’t be too happy if I talk with you too much.” He turned around, and his head rotated 180 degrees to look at them as he retreated back into the window. His legs stretched up to let him easily climb through the window, he winked, and then he was gone. Alex laughed nervously. “That was…something else.”

Vithi frowned. “Alright, but what was that…pact thing you made Alex make?”

Lilith laughed. “It was a bit of improv, but it worked. I took some inspiration from the oath you made with me, but it was more demonic in nature than anything.”

“Demonic? So…”

Lilith paled. “No, I did not take her soul. It was demonic mostly in that the restrictions on those are looser. I was able to force her into it.”

Vithi relaxed. “Well, that’s something at least.”

Lilith cleared her throat nervously. “I’m going to erase my memory of the past bit.”

Vithi started. “Doesn’t that seem a little extreme?!”

“And how do you think Lucas would feel about all of this?”

Vithi paused. “She would probably hate herself for doing…that.” She motioned at Alex, who tilted her head.

“Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me. Alex?”

“Yes, mistress?”

“You’re to obey Vithi as you would me, OK? And there’ll be no telling Lucas that she’s responsible for this, no matter what.” Lilith moved in closer to Alex, whispering something that Vithi couldn’t hear.

“Of course!”

Vithi shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure about all of this?”

“Absolutely.” Lilith responded. “I’m still Lucas, technically, and no one likes to feel bad. Her feeling bad is me feeling bad.”

“So, how are we going to explain Alex?”

Lilith frowned. “Uh, just say the guy messed his spell up and turned himself into this.”

“And you expect that you’ll just believe that?”

“Lucas doesn’t know much about how magic works. She should believe you.”

“And the servitude?”

“Go ahead and tell Lucas that when the guy messed up, he put those mental effects on himself. Heck, tell him exactly what the effects are and that he can reverse them. It’d be entertaining to see how it turns out.” She turned to Alex. “Alright, when I raise my hand, stop the mind control spell, alright?”

“Can do!”

Lilith swiped her hand in front of her in a dismissive gesture, laid down on the ground, focused, and raised her hand as she suppressed herself.