As they were coming upon the twins room, a lovely lavender scent drifted in on the wind. At first they thought nothing was wrong. It smelled pleasant and after the conversation they just had, it was just what they needed.
Then they remembered lavender was a plant. They both immediately tensed, their bodies going rigid and combat ready. They searched frantically for the source of the smell and found that at the end of the corridor someone had placed a pot of lavender on a podium. It sat there harmlessly at the side of the hallway.
They stared at it for a moment but upon seeing it just sit there and not do anything, they relaxed. They continued walking down the hallway and the moment they passed the flower pot they felt something tugging on their foot. Nadia looked down to see several locks of witch's hair(strangleweed) wrapped around their feet.
Getting the impression something was about to go terribly wrong Lilith jumped back and Nadia seeing her sister's action followed suit. Thanks to the difference in physical ability Nadia ended up a little further away and landed first despite Lilith jumping a good second before her.
This was not enough to save her though. The witch's hair at their feet was attached to the vase with the lavender in it. The moment their feet touched the plant, it was too late. The lavender came crashing down. Along with the vase it was in. They heard a loud crash and watched as the pieces of plant matter and broken pottery scattered across the carpet.
Lilith and Nadia stared at the pieces of pot like it was going to spring up and eat them. They wouldn't be surprised if it sprouted poisonous vines the very next second and they had to dodge them all. It wasn't do-able with magic to their knowledge but they were still cautious. They remembered the twins other pranks and tried to prepare themselves for what came next.
Their reminiscing was cut short by a stark smell that wriggled it's way into their noses like an insect. The moment the vase smashed, the lavenders weren't the only thing to scatter on the floor. There was also another plant that tumbled out of a sealed bag in the pot. It looked a little like a splayed out starfish made of coral and covered in spikes.
Nadia had very little if any horticultural knowledge to identify the plant with. Lilith meanwhile had been learning from the twins for a while now and had a good idea what was in front of them. The smell gave it away immediately.
"Seriously the carrion plant?! You ambushed us with the toad flower?!" She screamed down the hallway. She knew the twins were hiding back there and she was definitely going to chew them out for this. The thing was used to suppress people's appetites.
Both of the sisters did their best to keep in the banquet they just enjoyed at the party. The smell was truly rancid. Like rotten food and vomit was mixed together in a pot and then someone had marinated it in human waste.
Nadia held her nose and tried to get as far away from the plant as she possibly could. She ended up running into a wall behind her and she looked around to find the hallway leading down quite a ways. It would take her quite some time to escape that smell. She almost ran regardless.
Lilith meanwhile didn't just pinch the bridge of her nose. She also approached the plant. Nadia stared open-mouthed for a few seconds at her sister approaching that horrid thing. Then she somehow tasted that horrid smell and immediately shut her mouth.
Still if Lilith would approach it, Nadia would do her best to follow. She looked at how Lilith was pinching the bridge of her nose and instead of just covering her nose with her hands, she followed her little sister's example.
Once she had done so she took slow toddling steps towards the plant like a newborn. She'd get there eventually if no-one rushed her. That thought though made Nadia annoyed with herself and she starts to speed up and walk beside Lilith.
Once Lilith herself was close enough to the plant, she placed her hand over it. It cast a large shadow over the entire plant, exactly what she wanted. She used her magic to suck all the kinetic energy out of the area covered in darkness.
Smells were just tiny parts of something that entered your nose and were analysed by your nerves. Healer training was useful every now and again. Lilith figured if she stopped the motion of all those tiny particles, she'd be able to decrease the rate at which the smell proliferated.
It didn't seem to change much but once they were out of the area where the smell had already spread it would probably matter. She picked up the toad flower with the hand not holding the cloth and tried to think about where she would put it.
She couldn't just carry it around with her. Lilith might have had massive mana reserves but the annoying thing about mana was you never knew how much you had left. One second you could feel like your tank was full and you were ready to cast any spell you could imagine. The next second you reach in and grab at the embers of what was once your mana. Before you can react, you drop to the floor and faint.
Lilith had seen her sister go through it so many times the lesson was practically drilled into her skull. She had never actually run out of mana herself but she had also never tested her limits either. She had experimented with her power, learning what kind of forces she could affect within shadows and how much that would cost. The problem was that she never ran out of mana, so she didn't know how much she actually had.
This was why she didn't know how long she could actually suck all of the kinetic energy out of a space for. She'd slowed things down before but never frozen them in place. She needed somewhere to put this thing before she suddenly found her infinite mana reserves running dry.
She quickly searched her surroundings but all she found was endless hallway. She considered chucking it back at the twins who were clearly in the next hallway over but that would only make the twins miserable and it wouldn't make the smell go away.
She looked at the windows but she dismissed the idea. Breaking a carpet was one thing but even a princess couldn't get away with breaking a window. Lilith was starting to get a little stressed now. She still had this plant and she didn't know where to put it.
Then she remembered that they didn't smell the plant at first. How did the twins manage that? Lilith tried to think back and she assumed there had to be some sort of container. She quickly started to search. Nadia looked at her confused as she rummaged around the pieces of the broken pot and mud on the floor.
"Looking for a sealed bag." Lilith said succinctly. She didn't want to inhale the smell any more than Nadia. She couldn't look through the pieces with her hands so she'd resorted to poking at them with her feet. Lilith had shoes on however, so the endeavour was pretty much pointless. She was hoping to inspire her sister.
Sure enough, seeing that Lilith had a plan, Nadia started to search herself. She got on her hands and knees starting to rummage around. Eventually Nadia's now dirty hands pulled a small bag out of pile of dirt and broken pot. Nadia sighed in relief when she found it and soon realised she really shouldn't have.
Once Nadia handed Lilith the bag, she stuffed the rancid plant inside of it. She then squished all the air she could out of the bag, releasing her magic from around the plant so the air could move out of the bag. Once she was done, the bag was closed and not much changed.
Nadia thought everything was over at first and took her hand off her nose. Then she realised the smell wasn't gone and gagged. "I thought you were going to get rid of the smell." Nadia complained as she pinched the bridge of her nose before anything else. Then she tried to steady herself and failed miserably, slumping against the wall in a still standing posture.
"I did. This is merely the lingering… aroma. It is not an issue we must personally deal with, nor is it our responsibility. If we had left the plant alone however, it may have well spread through the entire castle. Regardless of the twins' culpability in it's inception, we would have to take responsibility for not properly containing it." Lilith explained tiredly as she started power walking away from the smell.
Her sister followed a little way behind her, still swaying from the assault on her nose. "I appreciate the thought for my reputation but any thoughts for my poor nose." Nadia was practically whining like a child at this point.
"I find the prank fairly meagre in comparison to some of their previous endeavours. Humans often find adjustments to the senses easier to make than adjustments to their mentality." Lilith explained jovially already starting to get the pep back in her step as she rounded the corner and readied to scold the twins.
"You're just inhumanly good at turning off your senses. It's a little like your body is a puppet to you. You can just turn off inconvenient parts of it. I really envy that ability right now. How come everyone calls me Marionette but I get none of that?" Nadia continued to whine.
Nadia was right though. Lilith had an odd knack for just ignoring what her body told her when it was inconvenient for her. Pain, emotions, senses. It didn't matter. It felt like Lilith had a switch. That or she just didn't have them in the first place. Some people actually believed the latter and Lilith herself claimed that her body's impulses were probably duller than most.
Lilith though, just ignored Nadia's whining. Something else she was inhumanly good at ignoring. Years of practice. She turned the hallway corner to find a pair of children. She couldn't see them looking up at her with unsavoury grins.
On the left was the girl of the twins Calytrix. More commonly known as Cally. Remembering her memorable features, her eyes were unlike any other member of the imperial family. The famous baby blues. Her hair was a mix of brown and red and looked like beetroot stems extending from the back of her head down to her shoulders.
Cally's grin turned into a smirk as Nadia turned the corner and she stuck her tongue out at the older imperial. Nadia was going to do the same in return but realised the smell still lingered in the air and decided against it. Instead, she gave the girl a small pout and a glare.
On the right was the boy of the twins Felis. His eyes were not as memorable, a muddy brown. He was still the only one who possessed them however. His hair followed the eyes' example and looked a little like a mud pit had formed on the top of his head. It was chaotic and curly, looking ready to drag you into it's depths.
Unlike his sister though, he was smiling but also looking at Lilith. She could feel his anxious gaze perusing her face, searching for any dislike, anger or fear. Finding none, she could hear a small exhale of air as his body sagged.
Both of the twins shared a feature however. Lilith remembered it because Nadia had often complained about it when it first started. Their fingernails were constantly dirty, their palms rough and their skin occasionally full of blisters.
"That ended kinda quickly… Magic is just unfair. Why can't we get some magic. I could do some really cool pranks if I had the ability to stop people in their tracks." Cally complained a little sulkily. She was still smiling so she was clearly satisfied and just complaining for the fun of it.
"My magic affects shadows alone I'm afraid. I find it difficult to believe you could ambush someone in a dark hallway. I will say however that my magic has other uses. As an example." Lilith said and then she placed the bag with the carrion plant in it under the cloth.
A second later the bag started to float. It continued to rise steadily right until it hit the piece of carpet Lilith was holding over it. It continued to bounce around under it though. Bobbing around and almost seeming like it was trying to escape. Every time it darted slightly too far in any direction, it would suddenly slow and bob around in a different one.
Upon seeing this sight the twins were amazed. Their eyes sparkled like they found a new toy, focussing on Lilith with awe. "That's so cool." Cally shouted staring at the still bobbing bag with the plant in it.
"How do that?" Felis asked. He wasn't one to speak up often but even he was interested enough to at least try asking. Nadia meanwhile knew what Lilith was doing and couldn't help but be impressed. 'She's absorbing the gravitational energy from the bag and the plant at the same time. Then she's absorbing the kinetic energy when it goes in directions she doesn't want it to.' Nadia was in silent awe of the magic on display. Her own control was not nearly so precise.
"My affinity is shadow under the dark genus. You are unlikely to possess it I'm afraid. You are more inclined to get Nadia's affinity. My mana levels are something you may or may not possess. Those are simply discovered with time." Lilith explained as she signalled her sister.
Realising it was her turn to put on a display of some kind Nadia racked her brain. Eventually she remembered a trick than an old air mage had used to get his subordinates' attention. Nadia snapped her fingers and the sound rebounded off the walls in so many echoes you could feel the vibrations in your bones.
It slammed into the ears of everyone present like a sledgehammer and Lilith, having not expected it, nearly fell over and stopped using her magic. The bag started to fall to the ground but she caught it and managed to stay on her feet. She attempted to glare at her sister. Unfortunately, Lilith's special method of sight meant she often forgot to look at people. So now she was just glaring at the floor.
The twins were dazed for a moment staring at Nadia's fingers not sure how they could produce that much noise. Being told magic could do cool things and then seeing someone snap their fingers and create a sound that loud was something entirely different.
They continued to stare for a moment until Cally blurted out. "I want that!" rather loudly. Lilith's demonstration might've been cooler but hearing she couldn't get it had put a damper on Cally's enthusiasm for magic. Seeing that her more likely option could be just as useful had her excited. She could think of so many ways to use that noise. Just surprising a maid with that would be enough to make them drop whatever they were holding.
Felis didn't show the same outward enthusiasm that his sister did but he was clearly interested. He was staring intently between Lilith and Nadia trying to figure out how they got their magic so he could get some of his own. He could be so much cooler with magic.
"Do you though?" Nadia teased. Lilith had been leading the way with the twins so far and she wanted to change that. Nadia was finally recovering from that horrid stench and she refused to let Lilith steal her role as best big sister.
"Mmmhhmmm. I want it! I want it! Gimme magic!" Cally chanted as if it was some sort of incantation. She was trying to give herself magic through sheer will alone. Unfortunately many had tried that method and failed.
"There is currently a single method by which you may possess magic. In your cases, you need only talk with father." Lilith explained and Nadia pouted. She wanted to reveal that one.
She decided to one up Lilith this time and said "I think father will be fine with you two learning magic. You're about the age we learned it. But we're not going to help you convince him ok? That's up to you." Hearing Nadia's explanation Cally nodded eagerly.
"Leave convincing father to me." She proudly exclaimed. Felis meanwhile was fidgeting with his hands and hopping from foot to foot. Seeing this Nadia turned a gentle look at him, urging him to come out and say whatever he was holding in.
"When get magic. Will you teach us?" Felis asked shyly. Nadia couldn't help but let out a sisterly smile while Lilith just nodded like it was natural.
"While I would certainly enjoy watching your first use of magic for the sake of study. I'm afraid there isn't much we can teach." Lilith explained.
"Gaining magic is akin to gaining an extra limb. The use of it comes ingrained and there is likely very little we would know about it's use." she continued and soon afterwards her sister also chimed in.
"We'll help you think up some creative uses for your affinity if you like but before you get it, there isn't much we do for you." Nadia added. Cally pouted and Felis stared at the ground. Quickly afterwards the two recovered.
"Well whatever." Cally said sulkily before perking herself up once more.
"Then lets go to the forest!" She suddenly declared and one of the adult royals blinked their eyes. Felis simply nodded along, not willing to contradict his adventurous sister.
"Do you know what time it is?" Nadia asked stunned. The party had lasted near enough the entire day. There was a reason they had to clear their schedule every time one of these things was held and the twins expect to go to the forest now?
"It's going to be rather dark and I don't imagine we shall be allowed egress for long." Lilith informed the twins. They both nodded like this was obvious before Cally spoke up again.
"We're intrepid explorers. The dark doesn't bother us. Not. One. Bit!" Cally declared confidently emphasising the end of her sentence. Felis' hesitant eyes were completely missed by his sister as she declared this.
"Right…" He muttered nodding his head like a bobble doll. Nadia sighed at the clear power dynamic between the two. Lilith wanted to check outside to see how dark it was but didn't really have a way to measure it.
"If that's what you both want. Maybe we can think about some creative uses for your possible affinities during the carriage ride." Nadia slumped in defeat as she started walking outside.
Cally grinned and started marching behind her sister with Felis doddering after her. Lilith followed behind the group and the colour drained from the two twins as she did so. She wanted to keep an eye on them in case they did something else or ran off somewhere.
"Whoa…" Cally muttered as she looked at her hand. She started waving it in front of her face, moving it from left to right and up to down. The weird colouration of her own hands seemed to fascinate her.
Felis did the same a second after though unlike Cally he stopped after the first wave. The group travelled through the imperial halls while chatting. Cally was asking Lilith if this black and white thing did anything special but Lilith would just put her fingers to her lips and smile.
In truth it was akin to monitoring magic. Lilith could drain the colour from anything with a shadow and therefore 'see' it. This was how Lilith saw the world and only something she rarely used when she needed to actually see. She could do the same if they were in the shadows of course, she just needed mana in a shadow near them.
Felis was a little uncomfortable seeing himself in black and white. He kept looking at his hands and making sure they were still there. His head was constantly facing down and looking at himself. Occasionally he would bump into his sister or stop and fall back into Lilith's waiting arms.
The corridors were filled with all sorts of knick knacks from the Empire's previous conquests that Lilith always took a short glance at but moved on. She'd seen and studied all of them. The twins however still walked up to the odd artefact and asked Lilith for where it came from.
As a sort of apology for the way her goal makes her act Lilith often explained her knowledge when asked. The twins likely knew this. Lilith had no problem divulging the history of each artefact they had their eye on. She would often add details others would not know. Above their heads for example.
A chandelier made of a strange crystalline material lit the hallway and caused shadows of their figures as they strolled down these halls. When the twins looked up and saw the light refracting off the material that made up the chandelier they smiled. It wasn't the first time they saw it but they decided to ask Lilith about it any way. She always knew more than their teachers anyway.
Lilith explained that it was a reward for conquest. Made of a material Utazona considered a national treasure. Nadia had helped conquer the country several years ago and the territory was given to the Jupiter family after the war. The material came from their country's main attraction, a mountain mine containing a variety of strange ores. This was just a rare quartz variety they had been able to mine there.
Felis was a little more interested in the history than Cally. She seemed to only pay attention when Lilith mentioned that the crystal was a variety of quartz. Felis meanwhile had his eyes glued to Lilith the entire time and appeared to listen to the end before nodding to himself.
The chandelier wasn't the only thing on display. Podiums propped up a variety of unattainable items from a variety of nations annexed or destroyed by the empire. Lilith explained the history of several examples at the urging of the twins. The items on these podiums shifted out every so often and some of the new ones had caught their fancy.
A small cold metal box was balanced on a podium. It had a handle on it's front that opened to find a mechanical marvel on it's insides. Lilith explained with fascination that historians and scientists study to this day how this item was used to preserve food.
They knew from historical texts that if you put food in the box, it was supposed to last longer. Unfortunately the empire couldn't figure out if it even could preserve food. They assumed some trigger needed to be met that they just did not currently understand. So the project was shelved and it was displayed as nothing more than a decoration.
a perfectly preserved blood red bat corpse was the next to catch their eye. Though Felis was slightly too squeamish to go near it. He was still interested in the history. Cally on the other hand, had to be stopped from poking the poor thing.
This was apparently some form of rare specimen caught just after the world was reborn. Whether you believed in the Earth's rebirth or not, the corpse was proof the animals had fundamentally changed from what they studied in old texts.
Unfortunately, the records were so old they were lost to time. Writing was primitive back then at best and no one thought to document the corpse. Even it's preservation was somewhat dubious. It had been refurbished by the church of the old ones and stored in their vaults. Something the empire raided when they took over Texisana.
Lilith's explanations were long and a lot of them were tuned out by both the twins and Nadia even though one of the twins sometimes asked for them. Lilith herself didn't really mind though, it was good to refresh her knowledge on such subjects by explaining them.
They ran into a few maids, guards, bureaucrats or the occasional minister along the way. The maids were cleaning up after the party and gave them deferential bows as they passed, even if there was disdain in some of their eyes when they looked at Lilith.
The guards were far more pleasant. Most of them recognised Lilith's achievements even if they thought she was cursed. Nadia's efforts paying off. She got genuinely respectful salutes from them, as did every other member of the group of course. Some of the older looking guards would talk to Nadia about certain traditionalist gatherings as they passed.
Lilith and the twins didn't pay much attention as they never attended these gatherings but it often held them up, given that Nadia had to participate in such conversations. She would always come back with a slightly strained smile on her face and Lilith could see she was sick of getting interrupted.
The bureaucrats and ministers were all pretty much the same. They just gave Lilith a condescending glance, Nadia a respectful bow and the twins a small nod. Some of them were a little too tired for even that. They would nod and almost nod off as they passed, the dark circles under their eyes a clear indication that they should be forgiven such an indiscretion.
Whispers of the 'Blood princess' would reverberate through the halls occasionally from all of the groups with all sorts of different tones behind it. Respect from the soldiers, condescension and fear from just about everyone else.
Nadia's face got even stiffer when these comments were hurled their way. Her eyes had turned cold and whenever someone mentioned the name, she would glare at them and they would immediately shut up.
Any more interruptions and Lilith feared her sister would do something drastic. They did make it to the doors out of the palace soon after however, meaning Lilith didn't have to think up a way to calm Nadia down.