The night after her discussion with Douglas she was walking through a street smelling of vomit and faeces with the air growing more stale the further in she went. Claire walked behind her with a scowl. It does not need repeating that her expression was deliberate because Lilith was aware and Claire was very vocal about the fact.
The girl was wearing the same maid outfit and the fact that Lilith had ordered a new black maid uniform for her was a small consolation to the fact that the current one was covered in dirt and dust from the surroundings. She was very careful not to step in any suspicious puddles with it.
As for the mistress herself, she wore a replacement outfit she had bought with the money Douglas paid them as a starting salary. She did not like it as much as her previous dress. A material similar to velvet covered her from head to toe providing a hood, corset, long black skirt that she had to lift off the ground as she walked and a hanging lace sleeve over the original smooth sleeves.
“Mistress why was this your first thou-” Claire suddenly went silent and she visibly shuddered. A number of rats were peering out at her from a hole in a nearby building that had collapsed. It was made of the same wood as everything in Marinez.
The difference here however was that the wood was growing moss, was darker in some areas than others and appeared rather flimsy in comparison. The buildings were also less complex. Where buildings in the city centre had been using support structures such as beams and stuck together using a creature’s fluid, these likely did not have access to such a resource.
The door had seemingly caved in with the top hinge having stopped functioning long ago while the walls had several holes and structural weak points. Some were like the hole the rats were peeking from. They had likely been made by animals creating areas where they could pass through or nest.
Others however were unmistakably made by humans. A hole large enough that a human could walk through had been created by snapping several of the wooden planks creating the structure. Something had hit it hard. Lilith found it hard to believe that animals possessed such force and the hole was wide enough for a human to pass through standing. Not definitive proof but certainly circumstantial.
Lilith saw the rats but did not see an issue and merely kept walking despite her servant’s hesitance. Claire watched the rats as she walked and said nothing. The signs of people were soon approaching and when they first laid eyes upon it there was a gasp and a small hum.
On the street ahead of them were various residents performing their daily chores yet when they noticed Lilith and especially Claire their gaze would immediately wander towards the floor. A pair of siblings were combing their dog’s fur on what used to be a porch. The comb seemed to come away with a piece of mud each time that one of the siblings would pick from the instrument and throw away before starting again. After a few rounds of this however they used the comb on each other and would have smiled if she were not present.
On the other side was a man with a bottle of alcohol in his hand with a label that had long become unrecognisable. It’s contents too were long gone. Despite that the man tipped it into his mouth and Lilith could not see past the nest of a beard to know if even a single drop entered the man’s mouth.
He kept the bottle tilted above his head for several seconds and eventually his arm dropped to the floor and landed in a pile of some strange liquid that splashed lightly on contact. Not that the man noticed. He simply continued to stare into space while occasionally shivering like something had possessed him.
The two continued walking past these individuals only taking notice of those who did not shiver at their presence. Kids even more gaunt than the first pair of siblings. Their cheeks were hollow with vacant eyes and protruding ribs, they did not even stir upon the pair’s approach.
Lilith looked at them for a moment but dismissed them almost immediately even if she felt something for them. She reminded herself that they were not her responsibility. There was also a pitying glance from Claire but her mistress hurried her pace and she noticed, following behind swiftly so as to not be left behind.
“I chose this place because my sister recruited through her reputation and status. I do not have that luxury.” Lilith finally replied to Claire as they entered an area devoid of residents. Her comment caused silence to descend upon the area.
They walked with this silence across the empty street while both thought about the words spoken. Neither shared a better solution by the time they turned the corner. Upon doing so however they both showed a different reaction from merely disliking their surroundings. Claire’s face was blank for a moment before becoming a raging fury.
Her mistress merely examined the scene with cold intrigue as this was the area she had been attempting to find. In front of her was a well. People in clothing that had multiple stains, rips and patches from other ripped clothing waited in a line.
Each had some implement that did not look exactly clean. A bucket that had rusted and had splashes of various substances across it’s front was held in an older woman’s hand as she approached the well. The metal handle creaked as she twisted it down to have access to the water. Only she was not allowed to do so before looking up at the man next to her for permission.
His shirt was like everyone else here given that it had been patched up several times and was covered in substances that were most assuredly not his. After all there was some vomit on his back. However the one part of his ensemble that was perfectly clean was also clearly an identifying mark.
A stark white fish’s tooth was dangling from a string around his wrist that was a bright blue in colour like a transparent ocean. His sleeves were rolled up to easily identify the marker. His muscled hand found the lady’s shoulder and she suppressed a flinch while he made an expression she had heard described many times but never understood how it felt until now. A smarmy smile.
This was what Lilith was looking for specifically. She had heard descriptions of bosses in the slums who revered power and authority above all else and they often had simple means to identify their agents. Whether it be armbands or a dangling fish tooth on a string.
He said something to the lady at which she nodded furiously and he backed away with her muttering something to him along the way. Then she placed her bucket on the rope. After that point it was a simple process of filling the bucket with water and raising it back into her hands before she thanked the man profusely, if half-heartedly, then scurried away.
The next person stepped forward after that and Claire clenched her fists in anger. “This is worse than blackmail…” She murmured under her breath. Lilith meanwhile looked around the area for any individual who may fit her criteria for the reason she was here.
The people in line for the buckets might prove loyal but they did not fight even in these circumstances which means they are either defeatist or accepting. Regardless they would not be good soldiers. Her sister’s soldiers fought to the end with her and never accepted that the situation could not be changed. She needed at least a single individual with that trait to lead an army.
When she let her eyes stray from the group lining up for buckets she saw the state of the surrounding area. This was a small cul-de-sac with the well in the middle. The houses lining each side were relatively intact for the area with only the doors falling off their hinges.
The properties here were also larger and made from what appeared to be more sturdy materials given how well they had lasted. Even the ground under the well was paved with stone slabs. In more recent times roads are paved using concrete recently discovered by a Mercury trader who went all the way to the supposedly uninhabited lands beyond Tritan next to a volcano.
The people however were lined up all the way out of the cul-de-sac and even further down the street. A few appeared to watch from nearby houses as well. The one that drew her attention however was a gaunt girl standing unsteadily on the steps of a particularly large house with fists clenched.
Her hair was the colour of rusted blood and even matted in knots and covered in dirt it gave a striking impression. She was small, even smaller than Lilith herself. Less than four and a half feet at least and her facial features confirmed that she was only a child no older than her early teens. Her clenched fists had obvious torn and scraped skin.
Her eyes were a pair of lilac suns and her facial expression was that of a miniature tyrant with a permanent scowl. Her skin hung loosely off her hollow, burning cheeks. Her lips were dry and cracked and the area around her eyes was red not from crying but lack of moisture.
Her gaze was a rusted dagger aimed straight for the man guarding the well. If he so much as tripped she would give him tetanus. The girl always kept one of her clenched fists in her pocket at all times, even as she swayed from foot to foot. Feet that were exposed to the elements and covered with infected blisters.
She could no longer take any more of the scene in however as the man by the well noticed her and started strutting towards her confidently. Everyone in the cul-de-sac saw his movement and could not resist their curiosity so they turned in the same direction.
Most flinched at the sight. Others kept their gazes down and the smart ones tried to blend into the background while keeping a few people in front of them at all times. Lilith simply continued walking ignoring them. Claire’s stomps headed straight for the man approaching her but he did not even flinch merely grinned at her. He opened his mouth to speak but the grin immediately died when Lilith cut him off.
“I shall be swift and blunt for I do not have the time to consider other methods in my current situation.” Lilith stated as he scowled at her while his body loomed over her like a tower. “I would like a message spread and you are going to help.”
His looming form presented an instinctual fear but Lilith kept herself grounded. She knew she had to be firm.“Princess you can’t just come here and order us arou-”He started to warn her but she could not have that. The muscles straining from underneath his shirt were rationalised as useless because of the system. His height made little difference when she had claws. His confidence mattered little when she could hypnotise him thus everything would be fine.
Something in her statement did surprise her enough to comment however.“Ah you know who I am. Excellent. Most excellent. In which case I would like it announced across the slums that I am recruiting warriors and leaders who would like to be immortalised.”
The man’s smile drops in response and his response almost cuts her off but he is not quite that confident. “Listen here you little brat. Boss told me I gotta be nice to the upper class but I ain’t a pushover. Interrupt me one more time and I will snap you in half and send you back to your fancy pants mansion in a heap of broken bones.” He warned regaining his smile and cracking his knuckles. Her mind rationalised this as an attempt at intimidation but the ultimatum was true so she needed to make him hesitate long enough for her to speak.
‘Must ignore but not break rules. Broken bones can be healed’ So Lilith ignores him entirely. “I shall be announcing this across the capital and I believe this area should not be left out. My message is simple. I care naught for status, background, strength or even morality. I do not care if you embezzled funds or pushed a friend out the way of a carriage.”
The man steps forward with a growl but she still continues to speak around him. “There is only one requirement to join my organisation. Do you want to be immortal? Do you want people to remember you for generations to come, for good or ill?”
The man steps forward but hesitates for a second. Still not long enough for her to finish the speech though.“Do you want to learn everything the world has to offer? Is your dream too large for a mere mortal to comprehend, let alone complete? Perhaps you made a promise to yourself or to someone dear that you will fulfil beyond even your dying days? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then I welcome and expect you. For every goal of every member is written down, remembered and will eventually be accomplished.”
That time comes thanks to Claire who gave the man a murderous glance for what he did at the well. He stopped in his tracks. Just long enough for Lilith to finish her speech and walk away as though nothing had happened at all though not before she hears his parting remark.
“I’ll relay this to the boss princess. You’ll be hearing from us that’s for damn sure.” He spits before returning to the group at the well and shouting. “What are ya bloody waiting for. If you want water for the week I suggest ya get to it ‘cause I ain’t keepin’ the well open for long just ‘cause there was a disturbance.”
the girl is definitely going to become the commander of lilith's army. the loli-velution is coming.
I won't comment on that but I will say that as a vampire they are incapable of aging, changing or growing in any way physically. They are essentially in stasis. I don't plan to have very many characters like this but as the twins would suggest there are going to be kids involved with Lilith. Partially because seeing her try to interact with them is good for character building but also because it's practically Nadia's whole thing. There are a few future things I plan to do with those interactions too but I won't spoil anything for now. I am however very interested in whether or not I can make Angie's mental growth seem natural through speech patterns and such throughout the rest of the books. I think I did pretty good with the twins but they never had to grow up and I want there to be a really noticeable change when Angie does it and still has the body of a child. It's kinda just practice for me but it'll still be cool if I do it right and I can't wait to see how it turns out.
@Aligory . You could Keep her a child forever normally but when angered or attacked have a detached personality that protects the other so it can keep its innocence. Or other mental illnesses that can cause erratic childlike behaviour. It would be funny to see a cute playful child turn cold and beat the life out of an adult.
@Somnum_lectorem I actually plan to write a book with a protagonist who has DID either after this one or the one after that and I'm currently doing a bunch of research for it. I feel like that would kinda be wasted on her. She'll be a part of the main cast for a while sure but It'd just be cooler to me to see into the head of someone like that rather than just see the outward displays. Plus the idea I have for her character isn't going to fit very well with DID or Bipolar personality traits though I could maybe make her a psychopath. Lilith is technically a sociopath but none of the characters introduced so far are psychopaths so that could be a good route to go down for her character if I wanted her to be really violent.
By the way what you're describing is a protector alter(Personality) but they actually can't do what you're suggesting. It takes time to disassociate between personalities and while doing so they stare off into space. It would trigger that personality though so if the antagonist waited long enough that could theoretically happen. Bipolar is closer to what you're describing but even that is not quite the same. Bipolar episodes can happen under times of heavy stress(Such as a threat or combat) but they would be in a depressive state first and then suddenly they'd flip a switch and become manic creatively murdering people, seeing things that aren't there(Psychosis) etc... Each phase can last for months though so you couldn't just switch between the two like a lightbulb.
Sorry if I ruined your fun but books have corrupted your mind. Conditions like this are not nearly as interesting in real life as most books would make you believe and they can be incredibly hard to write properly which is part of the reason I didn't write the book I mentioned earlier first and am thinking of postponing it even beyond the next book.
@Aligory Magical mental illness turned into a skill that enhances the craziness and makes them believe the illusions, as there is floating blue box’s that makes you stronger. Would be a cool mc who is mentally disjointed so far from reality they think life is a game. To which the system encourages said behaviour as killing helps levelling so it just tries to make him/her more crazy.
@Somnum_lectorem Not a bad idea but that's more along the lines of 'escaping escapism' levels of psychological knowledge and a few nights researching these conditions wouldn't be enough for me to create a realistic delusion unfortunately. Also the problem is keeping it grounded. It'll just turn into a litRPG if you do it wrong and I don't have that kind of finesse. I think a more funny one would be something like that combined with 'The perfect run' where someone loops a certain time period in their delusions because of magical nonsense and then the real life version happens and they appear crazy. I'm not gonna be the one to write it but that'd be pretty cool. I'm kinda interested in psychological stuff in general but it's not enough to carry me through an entire book unfortunately. I'm more personally interested in stuff that isn't grounded at all or if it is then the world is completely changed(Like low fantasy with supernatural creatures and stuff).
@Aligory . Just literally change worlds then like it’s all his dreams and he has to escape
@Somnum_lectorem Like I said 'Escaping escapism'. It's a book that did exactly that though the author actually knows what she's doing while I have an amateur knowledge of psychology at best. Though she didn't do fantasy and more like adventure perhaps but the concept is the same. But yeah, if I write a book like that in the future I'd probably make it low-fantasy or isekai. I considered doing dreams and escapism at one point but it just feels a little too far on the grounded side for me which is why I didn't finished the book I mentioned earlier. It is an interesting idea though, just not that high on my priority list for stories I want to write(Partially because I have so many.) I mean the document where I write my rough ideas alone is 8,000 words long and that's just the ones I bother to write down. I do this because I'm bored and I get bored a lot so I've got way too many ideas and sticking to one(Like progenitor) is really hard for me but I can do so if I publish it because it just gives me a goal to complete or a quota to fill I guess.
@Aligory Fair