The name felt so foreign yet so bittersweet as flashbacks of their previous lives flashed through her mind. Unlike Vy, Viviana had all of her memories of her previous life. But never in a million years would she ever expect to see her sister ever again. "It"s been such a long time, Lilian," Lilith replied.
Lilith had one of her guards open the gate and she walked into the cell. Viviana was expecting an embrace from her sister, but what she got was a slap in the face. The stinging pain brought her out of nostalgia and back to the present.
"What the h.e.l.l was that for?!" Viviana cursed.
"That"s for being a screw-up." Lilith said monotonously, "Do you have any idea what you"ve done?"
"What… what are you…" before Viviana could even formulate her sentence, Lilith continued to speak.
"I know you think we"re in a game. But honestly, saying it out loud in front of everyone like that. Trying to get another otherworlder to just give up their system? Are you out of your mind?!" Lilith raged at her.
Lilith shook her head as she turned her back on her sister.
"Lex said that"s the only way out! To absorb other systems," Viviana pouted.
Lilith got up close and held Viviana"s chin up.
"Your system told you that absorbing other systems would bring you back to our original world?" she said in a monotonous voice.
Viviana gulped, as Lilith continued to stare deep into her eyes. They were so close, that they could hear each other"s breathing. After much silence, Viviana finally gained enough courage to speak up.
"Yes…?"
Lilith walked away from her, with her back turned.
-What am I supposed to do with a fool like you.- she asked herself.
Lilith turned back to her sister and used her shadow powers to hold Viviana in place. Shocked by the sudden restraints, Viviana struggled.
"What are you doing! Let me go!"
Lilith"s right hand was emitting purple smoke. It was now semi-translucent and had sharpened claws. Without any hesitation, Lilith dug deep into Viviana"s chest causing her to cry out in agony.
But physically, no damage was done. There was no blood, no wound, nothing. Lilith pulled out a sphere from Viviana"s chest. Within the sphere was a small glowing light, flickering and moving about within the s.p.a.ce.
Lilith examined it up close for a while. It had been quite some time since she had seen one.
"What… what are you doing?" Viviana asked.
She felt as if her sister had ripped her heart out. But while that was not the case, something did not feel right. Something was missing.
"I"m sorry, big sister. But your system has led you down the wrong path."
"No….no what are you…"
Before Viviana could even defend, Lilith crushed the sphere in her hands, engulfing it in purple smoke. In that same instant, a huge amount of pain festered in Viviana"s chest. The intense pain caused her to shriek.
Lilith released her from the restraints of the shadow as Viviana crumbled onto the ground clutching her chest. There was not even a fraction of sympathy on Lilith"s face. She had seen worse. Unable to handle the intense pain, Viviana fainted.
Just before her head hit the stone ground with a thud, Lilith caught her in time and laid her down slowly. She called for the guards and told them to bring her sister up to a proper room and let her sleep.
"Get the maids to send word to me when she"s awake," Lilith ordered.
The two guards placed their hands on the left of their chest and bowed, "Yes, Lady Lilith."
The guards went forward to carry out her instructions while Lilith went back up to her study room. While on her way, two of her subordinates stopped her.
"Lady Lilith, I heard that you"ve finally brought your sister home," the taller one said with glee.
Her expression remained unreadable and emotionless, "Indeed. She"s made quite the ruckus. See to it that she is well taken care of. But, not spoiled."
"Of course, milady."
Finally, back in her own study room, Lilith leaned back into her leather chair and closed her eyes.
-To think that she thought we had a chance to return and that this was all just a game. What a fool I have for a sister.- Lilith chuckled to herself.
Looking down at her desk, she noticed the framed picture beside the table lamp. Lilith picked it up, cleaning off the acc.u.mulated dust on the frame with her fingers. It was a still image of Lilith and Viviana, in a different time in different clothing.
Lilith knew it was impossible to return to that place, that time. If it was, she would not have done so anyway.
-Maybe her memories were altered.- She thought to herself.
But was that even possible?
Just then, a knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts. A servant entered the room and bowed to Lilith.
"What is it?" she asked nonchalantly as she returned the picture frame to its original position.
"Milady, your guests have gathered in the waiting hall as per your request," he said.
The servant never once looked up at Lilith. His eyes were glued to the ground and his body was visibly trembling. It was a miracle that his voice did not quiver. The servant was a young boy, with a pair of curled horns protruding from his forehead. His complexion was ash grey and had sharpened black nails.
Lilith replied, "Thank you, you may go now. Let them know I will come shortly."
The servant boy nodded and quickly ran out of the room to deliver the message. When he reached the hall where the mercenaries were waiting, he could tell that these men were p.i.s.sed.
"How long more do we have to wait for her?!" one of them grumbled, annoyed from all the waiting.
"Well she"s paying so we"ll just have to wait patiently," the man in the corner responded.
The man was leaning on one of the circular pillars in the hall, eating an apple. Compared to the rest of the creatures in the hall, he was just a skinny deer amongst murderous elephants. Most of the others were not human either.
He couldn"t care less about what they were. He was here to return the favour to an old acquaintance. Finally, the messenger boy returns.
"What took you so long, boy," one of them growled.
The boy shaking in fear, kept his head down as he replied, "Mi…. Milady will be he… here shortly."
"SHORTLY?!" a voice boomed through the hall.
It was the creature who towered over everyone else. He had long tusks that protruded from his mouth, curling upwards. He lumbered forward, with his giant hammer in his right hand, resting on his back.
The boy was shaking, he still had not looked up. But with each step the lumbering creature took, the ground shook beneath them.
"Yeah, what do you mean shortly? We"ve been waiting all morning!" bellowed the tusked creature.
In a fit of rage, the creature lifted his hammer and smashed down onto the boy. The boy saw the looming shadow coming down upon him and quickly dodged the attack. He was shaking in fear. The man did not bat an eyelid. He was used to seeing it happen.
It was always the same, ending with a meat cake blood fest, splattering everywhere. He pitied the maids who had to clean the carpets later.
-Good thing the carpets are always red.- he said to himself.
At that moment, the hammer slammed down onto the ground with a splat. Parts of the boy flew everywhere, soaking the carpet and staining the stone floors. The man winced at the sound, it was as unpleasant as it was predictable.
Seeing the bits of intestines, flesh and other fluids on the ground made him sick. He had lost his appet.i.te for the apple in his hand.