The New Chimera

Roughly a week later, everyone had gathered in a large meeting room that Lilith had set up.  She had reluctantly agreed to becoming the monster lord, and everyone save Siph was curious about the process of making a new Parallel. Siph, having already seen the process, was just there to support Lilith and meet her new personality.

“Ready?” Kali asked, squeezing Lilith’s hand.

Lilith nodded, then laid down on a large couch brought in for the occasion.

“Alright. I’m going to put her to sleep now.” Kali said, and Lilith let the magic wash over her.

“It should only take about ten…” And that was all she heard before she fell asleep.

She blinked. Kali was holding her hand and smiling. “All done.” She said. “All that’s left is for you to accept her.”

Lilith accepted the Mask as a Parallel, and instantly the new addition to their crew began to speak.

So, this is how it’s going to go down. She said. I’ve made my body out in another room in the dungeon. Mae’s going to go help me make the necessary modifications using Eldritch Abomination, and then I’ll introduce myself, kay? Later.

And then she was gone.

Kali stood up from where she was crouched, eyes sparkling. “I’m going to go help. This shouldn’t take too long with me, Mae, and the new girl all working on it.” And then she left as well, leaving behind a somewhat bewildered group.

Mistress, do I have your permission to go help? Mae asked.

Sure. I’m looking forward to what you three come up with.

I won’t let you down, mistress.

“So…how are you feeling?” Mike asked, worry in his voice. “Any side-effects, or anything?”

“Nope.” Lilith replied. “Perfectly fine. Kali may not look it at times, but she’s really good at her job. Between that and my Skills, there’s no way something’s wrong.”

Siph gave Mike a quick kiss, then spoke. “She’s right. Trust me, it’s fine. I was there the last two times, and it was the same. No muss, no fuss, just one more side to our adorable little daughter.”

Seeing their display of affection, Kirdin rolled his eyes. “Keep flirting and you’ll be getting an extra rep on each of our routines when we get back to training.” He turned his attention back to Lilith, then continued. “Any idea what the new you will be like?”

There was a loud, unidentifiable noise from somewhere off in the distance. Hey, don’t destroy the furniture! Nuwa complained. That stuff costs DP, you know!

“Feisty, apparently.” Carmen said. “Making and remodeling her body shouldn’t involve any noise. Or broken furniture, for that matter”

Lilith gave a shrug. “Aside from that, I don’t know exactly in depth. She’s still loyal to me, though not as much as Mae, and she’s otherwise apparently supposed to be made so performing her job will be easier on her. Oh, and she’s still supposed to feel just as strongly as I do about you all, so she shouldn’t be too much trouble.” She paused, as another loud noise, followed by Nuwa’s complaints, echoed through the dungeon. “Theoretically.”

The reactions to this were mixed. Vithi narrowed her eyes and turned her attention to the door, tensing as she readied herself. Alex, Emily, Mike, Jessica, and Judy all looked somewhat worried, but didn’t seem to be especially on guard. Raphael and Siph seemed completely at ease, and Kirdin…well, Lilith couldn’t really read him well yet, but he didn’t seem particularly perturbed.

And then the door burst open, slamming against the doorstop as someone barreled through it.

“Tis I!” The girl shouted, “Eve, Queen of Monsters! Engrave that name upon your hearts, and bless your good fortune at my mercy, for I have decided that you all are worthy of being my loyal minions. Come! Let us prepare, for soon we shall–” She sputtered to a stop, glancing back behind her and then bounding forward with all her strength, hitting the opposite wall and kicking off of it, causing another loud thud before she scurried up behind Lilith, grabbing her waist and attempting to hide behind her.

Lilith wasn’t sure where to start with what was wrong with this picture. For one, Eve’s body didn’t look to be more than ten, and even then, she was on the short side, barely reaching half of Lilith’s height.

Second, save her long, blood-red hair, there wasn’t a hint of menace to her. She looked, quite literally, like an angel, with just the feathery white wings and no other inhuman parts. She had a sweet, innocent face, the effect only barely impacted by her mismatched blue and orange eyes. Still, were you to meet her on the street, you’d never expect her to be anything close to a “Queen of Monsters”.

And finally, she was wearing a dress. Lilith had never done that, nor had Carmen or Mae. It was an ornate thing the same blood red as her hair and was quite…frilly towards the bottom. Stranger still, she didn’t seem impeded by it at all, and during her jump, neither Lilith nor Carmen had managed to catch even a glimpse of what was underneath, despite having two different angles that both would have been in excellent position to do so. Which Lilith assumed meant that the dress was likely enchanted in some way, probably to help with both of the previous issues.

“Pervert!” Eve exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at Kali, who had just entered the room.

For her part, Kali was wearing a wide smile and gave a look to Lilith that told her Kali wouldn’t be letting her live this down any time soon.

“What, me?” Kali asked innocently. “I was a perfect gentlewoman. I’m innocent, your honor!”

“Lies!” Eve proclaimed. “I saw you dressing me up with your eyes! Don’t pretend you weren’t!”

“And isn’t that infinitely better than undressing you with those eyes? That’s hardly grounds to be called a pervert.”

“You…you had this dress with you! You knew! You were taking advantage of me!” Eve accused, glaring at Kali.

“I just so happened to have attire appropriate for your predicted mental state on hand. Besides, I gave you knowledge equivalent to years of experience wearing dresses, and what’s more you’re still

wearing the dress. You could have easily made yourself new clothes with the dungeon.”

“It’s comfy and I was busy getting away from you!”

Kali grinned. “So, getting away from me is only an afterthought to the comfort of the dress? I told you I had made sure it was nice.”

Eve, beet red, buried her face in Lilith’s waist. “T-that’s not it! You’ve just got me flustered and I’m talking weird, that’s all!”

“Eve!” Jessica barked, a strange look on her face.

Eve let out a little “eep”, peeking out from behind Lilith. “Y…yes, mom?”

“Come here, right now!” She commanded, pointing to her feet.

“I-I’m the Queen of Monsters! You can’t just order me around li–”

“Do not make me start counting, young lady!”

Eve yelped and scurried over to her mother.

The moment she was within arm’s reach, Jessica surged forward, quick as a snake. She trapped Eve in her arms, hoisting the girl up with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Eve was struggling, squirming and kicking (but never actually hitting Jessica), but Lilith was increasingly sure it was just theatrics. She easily had high enough stats to dodge Jessica and had plenty of ways to get out of her mom’s embrace without harming either of them.

“Siph?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah?”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Siph grinned. “If you’re thinking that she’s perfect and we’re keeping her, yes.”

Jessica returned the grin. “I’m glad you agree. Now, would you be so kind as to help me take this one to her room, I’m going to see if Kali just so happens to have any more clothes on hand.”

Kali, who hadn’t stopped grinning, nodded. “Oh, I’ve got clothes alright. Most of them, like that dress there, are enchanted to change size to fit the wearer along with other practical enchantments.”

“Hey, Lilith, Carmen, Mae, help me out here!” Eve protested. “You too, dad! I’m not just some doll to be dressed up! I am the one that will one day flay the land, a personage that all will know to fear!”

Mike shook his head. “Sorry, sweetie. I can’t stop your moms when they get like this. You’re going to have to live with it.”

“Um…you all do seem to be going a little far.” Lilith mumbled, trying to keep abreast of things. “Could you please let Eve down?”

“Nope!” Jessica said in a sing-song voice. “I’ve always wanted to go try on clothes with a daughter or a niece or something, so I’m not going to let the chance slip by me with this cutie.”

“Oh…um…” Lilith glanced to Carmen, who seemed intent on sitting back and enjoying the show.

I’ll only act if mistress tells me to. Mae said.

I’m not involved in this. Nuwa added.

“Useless, all of you!” Eve shouted. “Come help now or I will make sure my senses are being shared with you when they’re forcing me into whatever they plan on making me wear! And if you block me, I’ll just share those memories with you in real time. Got it? If I go down, the four of you are coming with me!”

Carmen frowned and walked over to Jessica, laying a hand on her arm. “Alright, give her some breathing room. She just manifested like five minutes ago. Let her have some time to settle down, and then you can try and talk her into it. No forcing things, got it?”

“But…look at her!” Jessica protested. “Doesn’t she make you want to scoop her up and protect her and never let anything happen to her ever?!”

“Mom, she’s still, technically, me.” Carmen said. “So, no, not really? That’d be weird.”

Jessica blinked. “Right, right.” She set Eve down, and the girl scurried back to her place behind Lilith, glaring warily at her mothers and girlfriend.

“Sorry, I got carried away with how precious she was and forgot.” Jessica replied. “Still getting used to the whole Parallel thing.”

“I am not precious!” Eve said, tightly clinging to Lilith. “I am the enemy of the world! My name will be cursed by millions!”

Lilith tried unsuccessfully to pry Eve off of her. Unlike with her mother, Eve didn’t seem to be holding back at all, fully determined to stay anchored to that spot. “Look, you don’t need to keep the act up around us, alright? Everyone here knows what’s up, so don’t even worry about it!”

Eve glanced around nervously. “I-it’s not an act!” She stuttered. “This is just who I am, so you all better get used to it! I’m not going to be all buddy buddy just because you all are really important to me, and I’m certainly not going to be the girlfriend of a pervert like that!”

Carmen, sensing weakness, struck. “So, you admit we’re all really important to you?”

“Shut up!” Eve replied, burying her face in Lilith’s back and preventing anyone from seeing it. “It was a slip of the tongue, that’s all!”

“You’re not denying it.”

Eve just tried to sink into Lilith’s back even further. Kali gave Lilith a wink and put on her best hurt expression. “D-don’t you love me? I…I thought I made sure that your feelings for me were the same as Lilith, Carmen, Mae, and Nuwa! D-does that mean that none of you love me?” She said, sniffing theatrically.

“N-no, that’s not true! They love you! I-I just have a lot of work to do! I can’t waste time humoring a pervert, no matter how cute she is!”

“Even if I promise not to dress you up and to always listen to you when you’re frustrated and make sure you’re doing OK?”

Eve peeked her head out from behind Lilith and cleared her throat. “O-on second thought, it is rather important that I keep my mental health from deteriorating while I do my work. It wouldn’t do for me to be unable to adequately perform because I am unstable. So, for the time being, I will allow the relationship to stand, provided that promise is kept.” She said.

Kali beamed. “Understood!”

Lilith chose to refrain from mentioning that the promise didn’t prevent Kali from being there while Eve’s mothers dressed her up, but if it was going to happen anyway Lilith didn’t see any reason to deprive Kali of the happiness she’d get by watching. Provided she wasn’t actively contributing to or encouraging any “fashion shows”, that is.

Things seemed to have calmed down at this point (Carmen was even texting Anna), so Lilith decided it was time for some answers. “So, uh, a few questions.” She began.

“Understood. I’ll answer your questions just this once, so ask them all now.” Eve said imperiously.

But she was still clinging to Lilith’s waist like her life depended on it, so Lilith was having a hard time taking her seriously. “First off, why are you holding onto me so tightly? It’s kinda ruining whatever image you’re going for.”

“I-it’s the safest place in the room! It was a tactical decision, that’s all! Nothing more to it!”

Lilith was unconvinced but let it drop. “Whatever. So, elephant in the room, why do you look like a little girl?”

“Evil overlord list number…I forget but it’s on there! It’s to confuse my enemies when they eventually reach me! The do-gooders will surely hesitate to strike a child! And, my strength isn’t tied to my physical shape, so this is a smaller target! It’s optimal!”

“Uh-huh. Alright, why look like an angel, then?”

Eve perked up a little. “I chose an angel specifically so Elenoa will know what it feels like to have your race at least somewhat associated with being the enemy of all things. It’s petty, but it’d be like this with whatever race I chose, and I really want to stay humanoid, so I decided that at least this way the blame is shifted onto people who’ve been doing the same. Karmic justice.”

Raphael winced. “Sorry.” She mumbled.

Alex laid a comforting hand on Raphael’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t even born until well after their smear campaign had finished, and you have no need to answer for Elenoa’s mistakes.”

“That’s true!” Eve agreed. “You can’t be held responsible for the actions of another, only for what you do yourself. And, as such, you have no need to apologize. Chin up! Your grandma might be kind of awful, but that has no bearing on you whatsoever.”

“But…” Raphael began. “If she’s not going to take responsibility, who will? Do we just let what she’s done slide?”

Eve paused, then took a tentative step out from behind Lilith. When no one moved to grab her, she walked over and grabbed Raphael’s hand. “That’s my job.” She said. “Well, Lilith’s, not mine, but you get the point. Eventually, when things are more stable, we will make her pay for what she’s done. Neither Lilith nor I will let those injustices stand, not when they’re still being perpetrated. You’re still a kid, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Raphael gave her a surprised look. “I…didn’t expect you to feel so strongly about that.” She said.

Eve let go of Raphael’s hand and turned around so only Lilith could see her blush. “I-I’m the Queen of Monsters, and a good queen has to know how to properly discipline her subjects. I cannot be one who would punish her soldiers for their commander’s mistakes, that would make for a dysfunctional army.”

There was silence for a moment, before it was broken by the sound of Carmen coming back into the room.

Wait, when did she leave? Why? Lilith hadn’t been paying attention, but apparently while Eve had been talking to Raphael, she had slipped out.

“No.” Anna said in an awed tone. “No way. You weren’t kidding, huh? She’s adorable.” She paused in the doorway, looking out on the scene. “Oh, um right, I need to introduce myself, sorry ‘bout that. My name’s Anna, I’m an old friend of Lilith’s.”

Raphael brightened. “Oh, the one she and Kali have started going on double dates with, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Carmen was letting me know about Eve and I had to come see her. Jameson would have come too, but he’s having a family meeting right now, so it’s just me.”

“My name’s Raphael, nice to meet you!”

So, the people who hadn’t met Anna yet introduced themselves, ending with Eve. “I am Eve, Queen of Monsters, reaper of souls, scourge of – ack!” She cut off, sensing danger, and scurried back to behind Lilith. “Not you too!” She wailed.

Anna stopped slowly inching her closer to Eve. “Look, can you blame me? You’re such a cutie I can hardly believe you’re one of my best friends!”

“In third grade, when we were learning about fish, we took a trip down to the river–”

“I said hardly believe, not don’t believe!” Anna said frantically. “There’s really no need to bring it up around people I just met!”

Eve stuck her tongue out. “And there’s really no need to treat me like a dress-up doll! Come on, no one did this when they found out I had turned into a girl, so why is it happening now?!”

There was some light-hearted bickering, but Lilith was suddenly too distracted to pay much attention.

Eve had made quite the large change to her body using Eldritch Abomination, and Mae had completely reconstructed hers, so…what was stopping Lilith from using it to become a guy again? It wouldn’t technically be permanent, but no one living should be able to dispel it, and it wouldn’t go away on its own.

She…hadn’t really even thought about turning back. Was that something she even wanted? If so, why hadn’t she thought about it? It wasn’t even that much effort, if Mae helped. She could even, theoretically, do it herself, but Mae just felt…better at it, despite the two of them sharing all their experiences.

“Lilith, you OK?” Anna asked, waving a hand in front of Lilith’s face.

Lilith blinked, refocusing. “Yeah, sorry. I was lost in thought. What’s up?”

“We were just talking about what the plan was with Eve and you were totally spacing so I was just making sure everything’s cool.”

“Uh, sorry.” Lilith said, scratching the back of her neck. “I’ll try to focus.”

She wasn’t sure she could.