The World Is Mine For The Taking

I looked at her, letting my eyes linger for a moment, and I couldn't help but wonder… what could Lilith have really looked like? If I had to make a guess, then out of everyone, Leonora might be the one who resembled her the most.

Back in that white world where I had encountered her, she could bend her body however she pleased—changing her appearance at will, shifting from older to younger in the blink of an eye. It had been mesmerizing at the time, almost beautiful in a surreal kind of way. To see someone sculpt themselves so freely, as if age and form were just clothing to wear and discard, it was honestly something admirable. But deep down, I knew better. That world wasn't real. What I had seen there was only a fabrication and an illusion. Her appearance in that space couldn't possibly reflect reality.

I remembered the questions I had carried with me since then, the ones that weighed heavily every time I met one of the others. I had already asked Elise, after meeting her again for a while, about the reason for my existence—why I had been born, and more specifically, what role I was meant to play in the larger picture. But even Elise, the firstborn, claimed she didn't know. She had only shrugged off the question with a faint smile that gave me no peace of mind. Maybe the others knew something. Maybe we were being prepared for a purpose none of us wanted to face.

I turned to Estelle afterward, asking her the same thing, but her response was no different. She had no idea either. As for Veronica… I had doubted she would be of much help, so I avoided going into the underground world to seek her out. Something about her always felt more like trouble than clarity.

And now, fate had brought me before Leonora—another part of Lilith. Someone tied to me in ways I still couldn't fully understand. We had been born on the very same day, but I had no idea how or why. Elise had once explained that Lilith's fragments weren't born all at once. She herself had been the first to come into being. But in my case, and Leonora's, and Veronica's, it was different. We had all been released at the same time, in the same breath of existence. Only Estelle had come after us, the last one.

I didn't know what it meant. I didn't even know if it meant anything at all. But something inside me kept gnawing at the thought that there had to be a connection, that there had to be some greater reason behind it all. And with that thought digging into my mind, I opened my mouth to ask.

"I came here for the sole purpose of asking you something. Regarding Lilith."

Her lips curled slightly, as if amused. "Oh? You're not going to ask why I deliberately sent an assassin after you? Or why I hid a device on her so you'd be able to track me down?"

I met her gaze without flinching. "I've been turning over something in my head for a while now, something that's been bothering me. I figured it was better to just come straight to you instead of dragging it out any longer. That's why I'm asking this now—an important question I probably won't get the chance to ask the next time we meet."

Her eyes narrowed, studying me carefully, and then she gave a small laugh. "Impatient, aren't you? I never thought you'd be that type. Out of all the things you could've brought up, I didn't expect you to go straight for Lilith. That's… surprising."

"You're the only one among Lilith's parts that I haven't really had a proper conversation with. So I want to talk to you about it."

"Sorry, but even if you ask me, what makes you think I'd know anything? If even the oldest of us doesn't have answers, do you really think I would?" she asked, her voice calm but edged with irony.

"Well… I guess not," I admitted, sighing. "Still, I can't shake this feeling. I'm starting to believe Lilith didn't create us solely for her resurrection."

Her smile faded into something more serious. "If that's what you think, then shouldn't you be more worried about it? You're the main vessel, after all. You're the one who'll eventually become Lilith. Not us."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," I said quietly.

"In that case," she said, lifting her drink and taking a slow swig, "you should avoid meeting with us like this. If you ever complete the requirements for her resurrection, then it'll be over for you."

Her words lingered in my chest like a cold weight. The requirement to resurrect Lilith, I had to dominate the other parts and take their abilities. All of our powers originally belonged to her. If they were gathered back together, Lilith would return, and when that happened… my body would cease to be mine. She would claim it as her own.

I didn't even know what would become of me then. Would I be erased? Would my soul wander the world endlessly until it dissolved into nothing? It was more than possible—it was likely.

"Well, I don't plan on fulfilling those requirements anyway," I told her, keeping my voice steady. "So for now, I think I'm fine. And I'm not about to go around seducing the other parts of Lilith. That would be the same as inviting her into my body."

She tilted her head, her lips curling again into that sly smile. "Fufufu… so seduction is part of the process. Don't tell me it actually involves… sexual acts?"

She had picked up on it instantly. I didn't bother dodging. "Well, yes. I have to sex in order to copy an ability."

"I see…" she said, her smile lingering, eyes glinting faintly. "Which means, between you and me… it's possible we might end up doing it, isn't it?"