“…And that is what happened.” Emily said, watching Kali’s expression carefully. To her surprise, Kali smiled.

“I was wondering when they would figure it out. I can assure you that Lilith is not a spy, so don’t worry about that. Let them try and have a go at Lilith tomorrow, Raphael’s been a bit big for his britches lately, and Elenoa asked me if I could teach him some humility, so this is the perfect opportunity. Please join them in preparation, but do me a favor and help Lilith out when the fight starts, OK?”

Emily nodded. “Understood. May I make a request?”

“Sure thing, what do you need?”

“As a reward, may I be reassigned? Raphael’s schemes are distracting me from my schoolwork, and I predict that this will not change until Lilith or Raphael leaves school, and I would like an easier post while I am studying.”

“Of course! That’ll just be another blow to his pride, so it works. I’ll contact the heads of the family and let them know.”

Unknown to most, the Windkeeper family was under the direct control of the Council, serving as another way to obtain information on the larger families. As such, they fell under Kali’s jurisdiction, and when Raphael ordered Emily to investigate Lilith, she immediately reported to Kali. She had been meeting regularly with Kali under the guise of “detention” for the “invasions of privacy” she had made in her “investigation” and had been keeping her updated on Raphael’s actions. A few questions later, Kali dismissed Emily, who bowed and quietly retreated.

“Carmen,” Kali said, smile growing wider, “I think you deserve a chance to show what you can do, don’t you?”

Carmen returned her grin. “I happen to agree. Lilith’s a bit too soft-hearted to properly deal with the situation, in my opinion. Why don’t I let her have a bit of a nap while I do some cleanup?”

Kali raised an eyebrow. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“As you know, I finished the Necronomicon a week ago. It’s my opinion that letting all that knowledge leak to her at once will overload her mind and knock her out temporarily. I’ll do that and take care of it for her while she sleeps.”

“Sounds like a plan. Say…do you think Lilith could do with a maid? I think it’ll be good to always have an agent with her after she graduates, that way we can get in touch with her whenever we need to.”

“I think that would be great. Have any magical contracts I’m allowed to do? I think that’ll be an asset to both of them.”

“I’ll go run some by Tunem. He’s the worrywart here, so he’ll be the deciding factor. I think I’ll be able to get one past him, though.”

---

The next day, Lilith was walking to the cafeteria alone. Kali had needed something from everyone else, telling Lilith to go on ahead and that they would meet up with her at the cafeteria. Lilith thought it was odd, but wasn’t one to question a Council member, so proceeded onward anyway.

“Alright Lilith, the jig’s up!” Raphael shouted, running up behind her with the rest of his group.

Lilith turned around, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”

Raphael stopped a short distance away, pointing a finger. “I know you’re an agent of the Society, tricking everyone into thinking you’re a Perfect Chimera so you can get information on the Council!”

“What.”

“You can come quietly and turn yourself in, or we can beat you into submission! Easy way or the hard way!”

Lilith shook her head. “I think you’re mistaken, I’m not a Society-”

Raphael grinned madly. “The hard way it is! Get her!”

As the children began to advance, Emily muttered something under her breath and a moment later Lilith collapsed, knocked unconscious by something. Raphael turned around to the other kids, a triumphant look on his face. “She fainted from fear! I told you guys it would be fine!” He gloated.

The kids didn’t seem to notice, looking behind Raphael with fearful faces. He turned around…only to find Lilith standing upright, an unhinged grin on her face and her arms folded beneath her chest.

“I heard that you’ve been spreading some horrible rumors about Lilith,” Carmen said. “And I’ve been told that you could do with some punishment. I’ve been dying to have some fun lately, and fortunately you’ve all been very naughty. So, I’ll play your little game. Come, beat me into submission, and after this is all over, we’ll go talk with the grown-ups, OK?”

Raphael rallied, looking around to the assorted kids. “She can’t take all of us at once! Let’s go!”

Several of the kids cast spells at Carmen, but she simply smiled and raised a hand, a barrier comprised of what appeared to be an infinite number of strange shapes appearing in front of her. The shapes danced in the air, swirling around, overlapping each other, appearing and disappearing at random, their strange movements mesmerizing the watchers. The entranced children barely reacted as the spells hit the barrier, reflecting and striking their casters with increased vigor.

The barrier fell, and the children snapped back to attention. All of the children who had cast spells were unconscious, leaving only Emily, Veit, Thomas, and Raphael standing.

“Fine, close combat, then! Emily, Thomas, take the left. Veit, you’re on the right with me!” Raphael barked, sprinting forward to close the gap between himself and Carmen. Veit followed closely, but they heard a thud to their left as Thomas hit the ground, Emily standing over him, hand outstretched as if she had cast a spell. She knelt down and checked him for injuries, before looking up. “He’ll be fine. I’ll go check the others. Carmen, I assume you can handle these two?”

Not waiting for an answer, she moved over to the other children and began looking them over.

Raphael’s attention was forced back onto Carmen as Veit let out a yelp of surprise. He was being lifted into the air by a tentacle coming from Carmen’s arm and was ineffectually trying to pry it off him. Carmen watched him struggle for a moment before he suddenly went limp, at which point she set him down.

“You…monster! What ARE you!?” Raphael yelled, causing Carmen to smirk, turn the tentacle back into a hand, and begin fiddling with a bracelet on her arm. It soon came off, revealing angel wings and a devil’s tail.

“Emily, be a dear and make sure this bracelet doesn’t get too banged up, alright? I’ll have to have Lilith remake me or get another one from Tunem if that one’s destroyed, and I really don’t want to have to deal with that.” She tossed the bracelet in Emily’s direction before refocusing on Raphael. “As for what I am, I believe you already know. I’m a Perfect Chimera, and I’m part of Lilith. An alternate personality, you may call me. Lilith herself was too soft to deal with this properly, so Kali suggested I step in.”

“What do you mean Kali suggested you step in?!”

Carmen laughed, rising a few feet off the ground with her wings. “Kali knew about your plot the whole time. Emily’s been dutifully reporting to her, after all. She knows all about what you think I am, everything. Now, are you as pathetic as the other children, or do I get to have a little more fun?” She launched herself towards Raphael, tail pointed towards his arm.

He grit his teeth, waiting until she was within 5 yards of him before casting a spell, a wall of light appearing in front of him. Carmen ran right into it, but instead of breaking through the wall or stopping, she rotated counterclockwise, her momentum unchanged. She barely managed to catch herself before she hit a tree, turning around and kicking off of it to head back towards Raphael. He was already speedily flying in the other direction, occasionally glancing back towards Carmen.

Carmen touched down to the ground, aware that she hadn’t practiced flight enough to be able to outspeed him. Instead, she began to sprint. She closed the nearly 100 foot distance between them in a few seconds, leaping upwards and grabbing Raphael’s arm.

“Now then, didn’t Geb tell you to never try and outrun a Perfect Chimera under your own power? I’m far too fast for you to try that.” She taunted.

Raphael turned back, smiling. He grabbed Carmen’s arm with his free hand and poured power into a spell. Carmen’s arm began to twist counterclockwise…and twist…and twist further than any arm should be able to. His smile faded as no sound of crunching bone came; instead, the arm became slippery, metamorphosing into a tentacle covered in barbed hooks, digging into his arm.

“Checkmate.” Carmen said, the barbs retracting from the tentacle, dripping with some unknown substance. She pulled the tentacle out of Raphael’s unresistant grasp, morphing it back into an arm and catching his limp body as he went unconscious.

---

Raphael woke up to a cold splash of water of his face. Standing over him was Emily, looking pleased with herself. “Get up, master”, she said, practically sneering as she said the last word. He was in what appeared to be the school’s hospital, lying in one of the beds. He groaned, sitting up.

“Well, looks like miss detective is up,” Carmen said, smiling crookedly.

Raphael jumped, grabbing the bed’s railing. “W-what are you doing here?!”

“Just waiting for Lilith to wake up. Hey, Kali, she’s awake!”

Lilith ducked out of the room, and Kali quickly entered. “Let’s talk, shall we? There are going to be some…changes for you.”

Raphael sputtered, trying to come up with something to say. “I-I’ll tell grandma Elenoa about this! You’re all being played! She’s a spy, I’m telling you!”

Kali snorted. “Elenoa knows all about Lilith. The entire Council knows about Lilith. They were all here about a month ago, and we have thoroughly tested her. You’re more like to be a spy than she is. As for this incident, Elenoa probably wouldn’t do much about it. You got a bunch of students to attack another student completely unprovoked. When she was here, Elenoa asked me to see if I could teach you some humility, and after observing your behavior I’ve decided that the only thing that will teach you is the school of hard knocks. So, first change. Emily’s no longer going to serve you. She’s requested a transfer due to you distracting her from her schoolwork and generally misusing her. I have decided to grant this, and furthermore will be prohibiting you from having any other servants until I decide you’ve learned your lesson.

“The second change wasn’t my idea, but Carmen’s. Until she determines you’ve actually thought about your conduct and are truly sorry, she’s leaving you like that.”

“Like…what?” Raphael asked, afraid to check his body.

Kali smirked. “Just be glad she didn’t change the rest of your clothes, for now. If you have trouble fitting into the rest, let me know and I’ll be sure to get you some better ones.”

Raphael looked down to find himself wearing a frilly pink dress. He looked back up to Kali, silently pleading that what he suspected wasn’t true.

Kali shook her head. “I’m afraid you’re a girl now. Carmen said you could use a dose of empathy.”

At this, both Raphael and Emily shot her a questioning look.

Kali shrugged. “Carmen gave me the go-ahead to tell you both, Lilith was a guy before she became a Perfect Chimera. Although Carmen can transform others, she can’t really change herself all that well, so she’s stuck for now. She said that if you ever have any issues adjusting, Lilith would probably be happy to help out. How old are you, again?”

“88.” Raphael responded hesitantly.

“Well, you probably won’t need to worry about any of the things that come with puberty as a girl. I don’t want to go that far, so if that ever happens come to me and I’ll have you changed back in a jiffy.” A sly smile crossed Kali’s face as she continued, “That is, if you want to get changed back. Carmen said she put in all the elements of her transformation, so that means you should actually feel pretty comfortable in that body. You didn’t even notice until I pointed it out, so it’s clearly working to some extent. Anyway, I’ll leave you to get reacquainted with yourself, so have fun!”

And with that, Kali left, Emily following behind.

---

Escape Artist Ability Origin: Eldritch The user may swap places with an active Avatar at any time, costing 100 mana from either the avatar or main body. This cost increases based on the distance between the two bodies. An avatar instilled with a personality may request a swap with the main body, and the swap is automatically accepted if the main body is physically unable to accept. Zoan Chant, Physical Reflector, Innate Spellcaster, and King’s Knowledge have combined to form Zoan’s Barrier Zoan’s Barrier Combination Origin: Eldritch A more perfect version of the Zoan Chant, a spell used to reflect harmful spells. This version may be used as a continuous barrier, consuming mana while active. Upon activation, the user may choose to absorb or reflect harmful spells – absorbing harmful spells will replenish the user’s mana, but if a spell would cause the user to go over their maximum mana, the barrier is destroyed, and the spell continues unhindered. Spells striking the barrier while it is absorbing spells, whether the absorption is successful or not, are added to the user’s known spells. If a spell is reflected, a cost in mana equal to ¼th the energy originally used to cast the spell is subtracted from the user, and the spell is reflected back towards the caster at 150% power. The barrier automatically reflects hostile physical actions directed at the user at 150% intensity, subtracting mana proportional to the force of the action. Upon activation, any of the user’s abilities that are Eldritch in origin may be applied to reflected spells or the barrier itself at no additional cost. Only one ability each may be added to the barrier or spells this way, but the ability applied to the barrier and the ability applied to spells may be different. Horrid Fascination Ability Origin: Eldritch Entities with a weak mind will be entranced by the user, unable to look away or do anything. Prolonged contact with the user will lead to unquestioning loyalty and worship, even when not in the presence of the user. This ability may be freely activated and deactivated, although mental effects resulting from prolonged contact remain even if the ability is deactivated. This ability defaults to deactivated unless the user is in an Eldritch form, in which case it  defaults to activated. Telepathy Ability Origin: Eldritch User has the ability to communicate telepathically with creatures within 100 feet. Horrid Fascination and Unknowable Entity may be applied to any creature being communicated with telepathically if the user so chooses. Unknowable Entity, Horrid Fascination, Telepathy, and King’s Knowledge have combined to form Seeker of Knowledge Seeker of Knowledge Combination Origin: Eldritch The user may read the mind of any entity they can communicate with telepathically. This process cannot be felt by the target unless the user wishes it, but it can be blocked should the target be skilled enough in protecting their mind. Seeker of Knowledge has been incorporated into Ruler’s Right, adding the following effect: The user may communicate telepathically with any creature that is in servitude to them, provided they are on the same plane of existence as the user. The user may act as a “host” of telepathic communication, allowing any servant to telepathically communicate with any other servant the user can communicate with. The user knows when any such communication takes place and may choose to listen in on it. Telepathic messages may be sent to any number of servants at once. Spell: Raise Ghoul Cost: Variable Origin: Eldritch Currently Modifiable Components: Intelligence (5% increase in mana cost for every step past base intelligence. Attempting to increase intelligence past the intelligence the creature had while living increases the cost by 100% (compounding) per step). This spell may be cast on a corpse that has been killed no less than one month ago, raising it into a ghoul completely loyal to the caster. This spell has a mana cost proportional to the strength of the ghoul. See Knowledge: Ghouls (Complete) for more information on ghouls. Knowledge: Ghouls (Complete) A ghoul is an undead being; as such, it possesses infinite stamina, and is slightly stronger than when it was living. A ghouls’ nails, claws, teeth, or other similar body parts secrete a powerful paralytic poison, allowing the ghoul to freely transport or devour prey after just a touch. The ghoul retains all physical characteristics it had in life. The intelligence of ghouls varies, but more intelligent ghouls can speak and use other abilities they knew in life. Spell: Mind Swap Cost: 500 mana Origin: Eldritch Currently Modifiable Components: Duration (Plus or minus 50 mana for every hour. If the user wishes to change the number of minutes or seconds the spell is active, cost rounds up to the nearest hour. If the spell is made permanent, it costs 3000 mana.) Swaps the minds of two target creatures for 10 hours. A creature swapping minds with the user is automatically subject to the effects of Unknowable Entity and Horrid Fascination, which grows stronger the longer they are in the user’s body. The user has gained a large amount of knowledge on eldritch entities. King’s Knowledge and Knowledge: Eldritch (Greater) have combined to form Knowledge: Eldritch (Superior) Ruler’s Right, Knowledge: Eldritch (Superior), and Mad Scientist have combined to form Eldritch Abomination Eldritch Abomination Combination Origin: Eldritch The user may alter any portion of their body into one detailed in Knowledge: Eldritch (Superior). User may create 6 extra appendages from any part of their body. The user may not create an appendage that would cause the user to exceed the user’s base mass, which is the mass of the current form plus the mass of Assimilated material. The mass of severed appendages is lost, although it may be regained by Assimilating the appendage. If an appendage is disintegrated or otherwise destroyed, the mass is lost. The user’s HP increases proportionally based on how many appendages are currently out and how large those appendages are. Should the user’s HP be less than maximum when bringing out an appendage, the user’s percentage of HP remaining does not change, but damage may be shifted to the appendage if desired. Damage to any part of the user while an appendage is out is automatically distributed evenly throughout all appendages. Flight via wings or appendages that might grant flight becomes free. The user may choose to secret any poison, enzyme, or other body fluid they have detailed knowledge of from any portion of their body. If a being is Assimilated and it has a compound compatible with this ability, the compound is automatically considered known for the purpose of secretions. See Knowledge: Secretions for materials that currently meet this criterion. Relevant portion opened below. All beings under the user’s rule are more susceptible to charm effects from the user. As this is a physical trait of the user, it cannot be stripped from the user. Knowledge: Secretions Materials that the user may currently secret: saliva, sweat, tears, blood, urine, mucus, stomach acid, ghoul paralytic agent.

 

Lilith groaned, sitting up in the bed and clutching her head. The first thing she noticed was the massive headache she had, and the second was the rather large window containing new abilities she’d somehow gained. A quick glance at her memories showed that it was what was contained within the Necronomicon, given to her by Carmen along with a hefty amount of her practice with those abilities and other, seemingly superfluous, memories such as eating, sleeping, and other mundane tasks. Dismissing the window, Lilith looked around curiously, and found she was in what appeared to be a hospital room, empty save for Carmen in the corner, grinning mischievously.

“I see our resident sleeping beauty has decided to wake up. Like my little present?” She asked.

“Huh? You…why?”

Carmen just smiled and walked over to the door, stepping out for a few minutes before returning with Kali and Emily.

Seeing the look of confusion on Lilith’s face, Kali rolled her eyes. “Would it have killed you to explain a little?” Shaking her head, she continued. “So. Raphael thought you were a spy and decided to give you a good kicking before dragging you in front of everyone and making you confess to all your crimes. Emily here is one of my agents-in-training and let us know about the situation before any real harm could be done. That being said, Carmen was getting antsy and Elenoa wanted me to help curb that pride of his. So, I decided to let Carmen have her fun and deal with the situation. She knocked you out by transferring a large amount of memories and then knocked all the kids out. And before you ask, they’re all relatively unharmed, so don’t worry about it. As for Emily here-”

“Change me back, NOW!” A young girl’s voice rang out, the owner, an angel girl in shorts and a t-shirt, barging into the room and pointing at Lilith. “Fix me!”

Lilith blinked. “Uh, who are you? I’m afraid I’m not in a great state of mind and I’m just drawing blanks when I see you, sorry.”

Kali placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Raphael, Lilith doesn’t know about what happened to you. She’s been out this entire time and only just now woke up. Come back in half an hour after she’s all up to speed, alright?”

“No, let him stay.” Lilith shot a glare at Carmen. “Carmen went a bit far with him, I’m guessing. I’d change him back myself, but I don’t think I can really cast magic well right now. Carmen, do it, now.”

Carmen grinned. “Nope!” She said in a sing-song voice, “I got permission! She gets punished, you get someone who knows what you’re going through! It’s a win-win!”

Lilith shook her head. “I still think it’s unfair to him-” she paused, glancing at Raphael, “Would you rather I use him or her right now?”

Raphael frowned. “I…actually don’t care. Weird. Go with whatever feels good, I guess.”

Kali shrugged. “It’s honestly not a big deal. She’s not dealing with crippling dysphoria, so the main thing she’s got to deal with right now is the social consequence, and to be honest I’m hoping this’ll teach her a valuable lesson.”

“And that is?” Lilith asked, unimpressed.

“She’s got to be careful who she offends. Just because she’s heir to a powerful family doesn’t mean she can do whatever she wants. There’s always a bigger fish. Always.”

There was a long silence before Emily spoke up. “Mistress, is it true that you used to be a man?”

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose. “Hold up. What do you mean, mistress? Did Carmen do something to you, too?”

Emily shook her head. “The Windkeepers are a family of servants under the control of the Council’s information division. We help keep tabs on all the big families. I was previously assigned to Raphael but requested transfer as he was distracting me from my schooling. Councilwoman Kali suggested I be assigned to you on a semi-permanent basis as a point of contact, should you ever need one. This is, of course, contingent on you not mistreating me, and I am free to leave at any time I wish. I did enter into a very loose magical contract with Mistress Carmen, but that was only for the sake of your abilities and can be easily broken by either party. You will find I have given 10% of my mana to you, as I can see no disadvantage to doing so, but I must request that no further power is taken from me without permission, as I do need that for my schooling. As a last note, information on the Windkeepers is proprietary, so do not discuss any of that with others, unless you know they have clearance.”

“Speaking of, I went ahead and granted clearance to you two,” Kali added, “as well as everyone you normally hang out with, save for Nashra and Thiala. Alex and Vithi have been sworn to silence by Carmen, as has Judy. It shouldn’t come up anyway, but we went ahead and did it for future-proofing, seeing as how those three are likely to remain with you after you finish your schooling.”

The door once again burst open, revealing Tunem, looking alarmed. “All of you but Kali, back to Lilith’s house, now. The Society is going to raid this place in a few minutes.”