"Whoa! Mommy, what's that?"
Lilith smiled as her son, Nero, excitedly asked about the various carvings and portraits in the Emperor's palace. She didn't have any assignments for Belos to do at the moment, and decided to spend that free time showing her son around the place when he asked. At first, she was planning on showing him the artifact room, but he kept getting side tracked by all the portraits depicting the darker times that enveloped the Isles before Belos brought about an era of peace and prosperity.
Despite all the little distractions, Lilith couldn't help but find joy in it all; showing her son around as she carried him in her arms, seeing him smile, and adoring his boundless curiosity.
"That, my little raven, is a depiction of the Savage age. It was a time when the Boiling Isles were engulfed in chaos, and Wild Magic ravaged the lands."
The boy in her arms beamed with delight as he listened to her; his curiosity being satisfied. The baby she gave birth to was now an adorable four year old child. His hair was white as snow and his eyes a bright and pristine blue. He was wearing a blue shirt with black shorts and white sneakers.
"Where there a lot of fights and big scary monsters?"
"Well, I suppose. As it was the Savage Age, conflict was rather common. And the wildlife was far more viscous and untamed back then."
Something that admittedly bothered Lilith was her son's inclination towards violence. Now, he didn't pick fights with others, but he always seemed so enamored when hearing about various fights. She tended to find him either watching violent programs on their Crystal Ball or reading rather action focused books. When she questioned Matilda about it, she said that it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, so Lilith supposed it was her maternal instincts just flaring up due to this being uncharted waters for her.
Still, some of Nero's behavior was worrisome. One such instance was when Nero found his way into her closet and brought out the old saber that she was given; the one she posed with for the posters made to encourage other Isles citizens to work to join the Emperor's Coven. Seeing her son holding such a dangerous tool made her heart stop, and that was before he started swinging it around, pretending to fight monsters and spouting rather silly lines from his cartoons.
She immediately took the sword away and scolded Nero for messing around with it, though after he started shedding tears, she just as quickly comforted and cautioned him not to do such dangerous things.
Lilith really hoped that in the end, this would all just be a phase for her little raven. The thought of him getting hurt or getting involved with such dangerous things was something she didn't think she'd be able to bare.
"Well, hello Lilith."
Lilith turned and looked down to where the voice was. She saw a small, red skinned demon with scarlet eyes and yellow sclera, as well as a pair of conjoined hands that gave off the impression of hair tied into a bun. She was dressed in the high-ranking regalia of a white tunic with a high collar that hid her mouth from view.
"Oh, hello Kikimora." Lilith said, trying her best to keep her tone as polite as possible, despite her...less than pleasant thoughts towards the small, irritating demon in front of her. In part because Kikimora was her immediate superior, so the most she could do about her condescension most of the time was bite her tongue and hold her insults in, and also because half the things she wanted to say to the little beast weren't things that should be heard by a four year old child.
The last thing she wanted was for her son to develop a propensity for foul language.
"So," Kikimora began, "I take it you're showing your son around the Emperor's palace?" She asked, though clearly in rhetoric based on her tone.
"Momma, who's the tiny lady?" Nero asked as he pointed down as Kiki.
Lilith bit her tongue and tried her best not to chuckle as she saw Kikimora's eye twitch at Nero's innocent question that just so happened to insult her height.
"Child," Kiki started, though with an edge to her voice that made Lilith feel uneasy, "Why don't you go and explore the palace on your own? Your mother and I have something to discuss. It's something between adults, so I'm afraid you'll have to leave for this."
"Momma, can I look around, please?" Nero asked with bright eyes.
Lilith was rather apprehensive of letting her son explore the place alone. The palace was rather large and there weren't any Coven members in the immediate vicinity to serve as a tour guide. That and a large part of her didn't feel like trusting anyone with her son's safety. Still, with him begging her with those bright blue eyes, she had a hard time denying his wishes.
Sighing, she gently put Nero down and summoned a spell circle, which manifested a map of the palace interior. "Alright, but use this to find where you want to go. I don't want you to get lost in this place. Oh, and just in case..."
She then drew another spell circle, this time around her son's left wrist before doing the same to her own wrist. "If you ever need me at all, just call my name. This will help me find you, alright?" Lilith told Nero.
Nero nodded and reached up to envelop her in a hug, which she returned tenderly. When she released him from the hug, he happily ran down the halls with the map in his hands. Lilith waved to her son as he rounded the corner and left her sight.
"So, what did you want to discuss, Kiki?" Lilith asked as politely as she could.
"I'm simply here to voice my concerns, Lilith." Kikimora said.
"What concerns do you have?" Lilith asked, crossing her arms as she did so.
"Regarding your sister, the Owl Lady." Kikimora said, which briefly made Lilith's eyes widen.
It had been years since her sister had last been sighted. According to eye witnesses, she was reportedly selling what looked like random garbage. When members of the Coven went to apprehend her, she was gone without a trace.
Thinking about Edalyn made Lilith's heart ache. Despite their differences, she wished that she could see her and help her. Bringing her into the Coven was the only way she knew how, as Belos was the only one on the Boiling Isles with the power needed to put an end to Edalyn's…condition.
A 'condition' that's all your damn fau-
Lilith hitched her breath and shoved that thought down.
"And...what about my sister has come up?"
"It is less a matter of what has come up about her and more about you. Many among the Coven are rather concerned, you know." Kikimora said as she absentmindedly inspected her finger nails, which gave off an almost smug impression.
"And just what have I done that is so concerning?" Lilith asked, now feeling rather angered and offended.
"More so what you haven't done. You haven't made any attempts to locate or bring in the Owl Lady in the past few years. We are beginning to wonder if you're even taking you given duty seriously anymore."
Anger flaring for a second, Lilith took a breath and calmed herself before saying, "Rest assured Kiki, I am just as dedicated to enforcing Emperor Belos' will and bringing Edalyn in as ever. I have just been rather...sidetracked is all."
"Ah, yes, 'sidetracked'. I suppose that is one word for it, but that does bring us to the next matter of concern. The boy."
The anger appeared again, but unlike before, it didn't immediately subside no matter Lilith's attempts to make it. Instead, it stayed and persisted. "And what about my son is so concerning?" Lilith asked as she tried to keep her tone as restrained as possible, but her rage was evident in her voice.
"That you've been rather preoccupied with him. It would be understandable normally, but it becomes a nuisance when it gets in the way of your job."
"Well, Kiki," Lilith said, now clenching her fist from behind her back. "Know that while I serve Belos faithfully and always will, my son is just as important. If you had a child of your own, you would understand."
Lilith then began walking away, not wanting to discuss this any further.
"But you had plenty an opportunity to simply give him away." Kikimora called out, "You have a Coven to run, Lilith. You should have thought of that first rather than waste your time on a meaningless, bastard child."
Lilith stopped and shut her eyes.
Five years ago, she had that exact same mindset. To just give the child away and be done with it. Now, she couldn't imagine her life without her son, and she couldn't help but hate how she felt about him in the first place.
Kikimora's words brought something out of Lilith in that moment. It was a mix of self-loathing toward her past considerations and anger at her superior's words, both of which gave way to something else. Something primal and terrifying. She opened her eyes and saw red. Faster than many could comprehend, she was directly in front of Kikimora and clutching the front of her tunic. In anger, Lilith slammed her into the nearby wall and held her against it; a blaze of fire in her opposite hand as the small demon whimpered in fear.
"Kiki," Lilith growled out as she glared at the smaller demon, her low tone conveying every ounce of rage she felt at that moment, "Let me make one thing clear to you. You can call my own loyalty into question. You can admonish whatever failings I possess as the Head Coveness. You can question my ability to apprehend those that the Emperor wants brought in. That is your right to do. But if you ever even so much as think of insulting my son in any way, I will personally burn you alive and devour what's left of your corpse. Are. We. Clear!"
All Kikimora could do in her suspended state was fearfully nod at a rapid pace. Lilith felt her anger lower and she unceremoniously dropped Kikimora to the floor; a thud emanating through the halls as the small demon landed.
As Kikimora looked up fearfully at her, Lilith growled, "Now get the hell out of my sight."
The small demon at first crawled before swiftly shifting to a terrified run and bolted down the halls, trying to get as far away from Lilith as possible.
Lilith wouldn't deny that while there would probably be consequences for what she just did later down the road, she felt really good about what she just did. After all the subtle and not-so-subtle snark and demeaning that the obnoxious roach threw at her expense, making her flee in terror felt gratifying.
Just then, she felt something buzz on her wrist, causing her to look down and see that the spell circle she placed was now active.
"Nero," She whispered. Her son was calling for her.
Rather than run, she manifested her staff and took off, flying to find her son.
The locater she placed would glow brighter as she zeroed in on Nero's location. It took a few searches and sweeps of different areas, but she found the place that made the tracker burn brightest; the door to the artifacts room.
She quickly retracted her staff and opened the door and rushed to the center of the room, surrounded by the various artifacts and relics of the covens as they were suspended on their podiums. Rather than pay those relics any mind, she instead called out her son's name.
"Nero!"
No response.
"Nero! Where are you!" She got louder as she grew more worried.
"Mom?"
Lilith's head snapped directly to the source of her son's voice. She moved to around the area of the room where it came from and called her son again.
"Nero?"
"M-momma. I'm here."
Lilith spotted her son hiding in the corner behind one of the walls. She immediately rushed to her son's side and scooped him up in her arms, with Nero wrapping his arms around her neck in a tight hug.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Lilith asked in rapid succession.
"I was looking around, then I heard a voice and this scary monster showed up and I hid." Nero muttered under his breath as he clung to her as tightly as he could.
As she hugged him and shushed him to calm him down with reassurances that she was there now, Nero clung even tighter to her and buried his face into her shoulder. She also felt and saw that a shadow enveloped her. Holding Nero with one arm, she manifested her staff again to attack whatever scared her son. Before she could, however...
"I would advise against that, Lilith."
Lilith's breath left her body when the reverberating voice gave its order. She slowly turned around and saw who had spoke to her. The figure wore a gold mask with long, upward horns that bore hollow eyes that almost felt like they could see through your very soul. Their entire body was covered by a large white cloak with golden trim at the very end.
"E-Emperor Belos." Lilith said as she held Nero close and genuflected as best as she could. Despite her servitude to him, Belos was a terrifying individual, and if there was one thing Lilith knew she was afraid of beyond question, it was the Emperor's wrath. "Forgive me, I had no idea it was you."
"No, it's quite alright." The Emperor stated. "I merely saw that the child was lost, and I sought to help them, only for the child to run away."
"Oh," Lilith said, "Well, this is my son, Nero. Nero, this is Emperor Belos."
Rather than wave hello like he would with everyone else, Nero just buried himself deeper into her shoulder, completely frightened by the man in front of her. Lilith did her best to comfort her son; gently rubbing his back and letting him know that she was here, but he remained frightened. Seeing as the Emperor was the root cause of Nero's fear, Lilith decided that they needed to leave.
"I apologize, my lord, but we must be going now." She gave a slight bow and turned to leave. But before she could get very far...
"It is a good thing that you are present in this boy's life. He has an immense potential that only the Coven can draw out."
Lilith paused for a moment before turning her head back to the Emperor and dawning a curious look. Granted, she hadn't started training her son yet, but if what the Emperor was saying was true, then he must have had a truly immense potency as a witch if Belos himself acknowledged it.
"Really?" She asked.
"Quite. I sense a powerful heritage in his veins." Belos praised, which Lilith couldn't help but feel adulated by.
"Why, thank you Belos, but I really must be going now." She turned and quickly moved to the exit, not wanting her son to be afraid any longer as she felt his grip tighten.
"Yes, I believe you should be."
"Thank you, Emperor Belos." Lilith said as she and her son made their way back to their home and left the palace in almost a rush.
Today started so simple. It was just supposed to be a day with her son and exploring the palace together. But the encounter with her leader now left her feeling as anxious as the boy she carried in her arms. Despite the faith she had in him and the years she dedicated to his Coven, she felt uneasy from their encounter that day. As she kissed her son goodnight and tucked him in his bed, even staying by his side to ensure he slept peacefully and without nightmares, a part of her felt as though he was hiding something from her. As if he knew something about her son that she didn't. That thought just wouldn't leave her head that night.