“I think it would look really nice if it were entirely red…” Avery mused, running her fingers through Lilith’s hair.
Lilith blushed lightly. She was still trying to process everything that had transpired the previous night. She had peered down to see her naked body multiple times now in an attempt to confirm that what happened was actually real. She had had something of a crush on Avery, but it felt like everyone in the facility did. Lilith had always been far too afraid to say anything because of the rumors that she often heard about the fact that Avery was prohibited from having relationships by her mother, but given the actions she had taken of her own accord, that likely was just a strange rumor that people spread because they had nothing to deny it.
Lilith was actually very flattered that she had been the girl that Avery seemed to have affections towards, amongst all the other people in the facility that she could surely have her pick of if she really wanted.
“I-I guess I’m just not as bold as you… I could never dye my hair a color so different from my natural like yours,” Lilith responded.
Avery gave Lilith a confused expression. “What do you mean…? My hair isn’t dyed…”
Lilith’s hands moved up to Avery’s hair, curiously examining the purple strands all the way down to the roots with a fine attention to even a slight hint of imperfection, but she found none.
“But… you’re a direct descendant of Strataros, right?” Lilith asked, curiosity growing in her voice.
“I mean, yeah.”
“It just doesn’t really make sense to me. I mean, your mom has purple hair, but it’s way darker than yours… a-and… a totally different hue…” Lilith pulled her hands back from Avery’s head and sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter all that much anyway… Y-Your hair looks really pretty and it certainly suits you, so I think that’s all that should really matter, you know?”
Avery stayed quiet for a bit before nodding and rolling over in bed. It didn’t last all that long though as a knock came on the door.
“Avery, darling, are you in there? Have you seen that girl, Lilith? Lothia said you and her were sparring together last night, but now I can’t find her anywhere,” Zeraph called from the other side of the door.
Avery practically shot out of bed, quickly pulling on the first pair of underwear and shirt that she could find before rushing to the door, motioning for Lilith to cover herself. Avery practically tripped in to the door, opening it up and smiling up at her mother. “Hey, mum… No… haven’t seen Lilith anywhere…” Avery answered, panting slightly.
Zeraph gave her a suspicious look and then pointed behind the girl in to the room. “Is that not her hiding underneath your sheets? Unless of course you’d like me to believe that you were sleeping with an actual dragon.”
Avery lowered her head and sighed. “No… That’s her…”
“That’s what I thought. Lilith, dear! Please vacate my daughter’s room, so that I may have a talk with her,” Zeraph called in to the room.
Lilith shot up in the bed and wrapped the sheets around her, unfurling her wings and flying off for her room, feeling a great need to get herself out of there as quickly as possible.
Zeraph placed a hand on Avery’s shoulder and sighed, leading her back in to the room. She took a seat on the bed and motioned for Avery to do the same. She followed and sat down next to her mother, looking up at her, slightly concerned.
“Avery, darling, I’ve never been particularly hands-on with what you do in terms of your romantic or sexual partners and I was actually very happy that you were avoiding both of your own accord. However, I don’t think I want you to be engaging in a relationship with that girl. Being in a relationship will only distract you from what’s important, your training.”
“I know… But I can date this girl and also train…” Avery grumbled.
“Even if that is the case, it will hinder both of you, making the training far less effective. After all, you still have a ways to go. I just want you to be able to achieve your greatest potential.”
Avery just sat there in silence for some time, unsure of how to respond until it finally came to her. “Why do I even need to train? I’m already strong and I have to raw power to be successful enough as is. Why do I need to try and be the very best? It’s not like it really-” Before she could finish her thought, Avery was sent flying backwards from a strike from her mother across her face. Avery stared back at her in horror as she held her face which now had three rather deep claw marks that had been torn in to her cheek. They seemed to be emitting dark purple steam.
Much to Avery’s surprise, her mother met her with a similar look of horror on her face. She made a move towards Avery, but this only caused the girl to crawl backwards. Zeraph tried to decide what to do before she simply rushed away, closing the door behind her. Avery just continued to lay there, clutching her face in horror at the actions her mother had taken. Tears began to well up in her eyes before she simply shut down, falling over and balling her eyes out as her thoughts raced, trying to understand why her mother would strike her.
---
A few hours later, once Avery had somewhat recovered, she found herself at Lilith’s door once again. This time, not trying to seek romantic companionship, but simply a shoulder for her to lean and maybe cry on. She didn’t have any other way that she could think of to process all of this and Lilith had always been there whenever she needed. With them now supposedly together, Avery hoped that she would be able to help even more.
When the door finally did open, Avery was not met with the eager and flustered face of her adorable lover, but instead a face full of fear. The moment Lilith laid eyes on Avery, her face practically drained of all color before she slammed the door. Avery tried to stop it, but it was locked before she could even think to move.
“Lilith… please… Let me in… I really need to talk…” Avery pleaded.
Lilith stared at the door from the other side, tears welling up in her eyes as she reached for the handle, but then her hand began to shake and she gave way to her fear, falling backwards.
On the other side of the door, being met with no response, Avery simply slumped down against the door, sighing softly and absently reaching her hand up in the air. “I just… my mum… she… she hit me… I know that shouldn’t be really surprising… hell… this isn’t the first time… not even the first time I’ve cried, but all those other times were different… this time… it felt… it felt like she was angry at me and I don’t even know why… I just was trying to say that she always says I have to be training, but she never really says why… She…” Avery stopped, her hand hanging in the air.
Her mind raced as she thought of her mother. She jolted up to her feet, staring at the door, tears beginning to fill her eyes before she bolted in the opposite direction of the room, heading towards her mother’s room. Without even knocking, she slammed through the door and glared at her mother, tears staining her face.
“I cannot believe you…”
“Avery, darling, what are you…”
“You told her not to speak with me! How could you?! What is wrong with you?! What kind of mother would do that!” Avery screamed at her mother, sparks crackling all across her body as she clenched her fists tightly.
“I did what I believed was best for you! How dare you question my decisions! You ungrateful girl!” Zeraph shouted back, pushing her desk to the side, her hand raised in a claw. She was about to bring her hand down before she saw the fear in her daughter’s eyes. Her hand dropped to her side and she stepped back.
“Leave.”
Avery’s brain was running on overdrive. The words rang in her head as she tried to process such a simple request.
“Leave!” her mother called once more.
This time, Avery’s body acted on its own, turning away and running, carrying Avery out of the room and back in to her own room which was still a mess from earlier. She fell to the bed, her whole body shaking as she tried to process for the second time today. Everything was so confusing. Her mother had never been violent before. Why all of the sudden?
As she was trying to compose herself, there was a soft knock on her door. Soon after, Lothia peaked inside. Once he had confirmed that she was inside, he walked in and offered Avery a soft smile and a hand. Avery took it and came face to face with Lothia whose expression quickly shifted from soft to deeply serious.
“I need you to follow me, Avery,” he said, his voice taking on a tone she had never heard from him. It was startling.
However, as Lothia exited the room, Avery found herself scrambling to follow closely behind him. And so she did. She followed him out of her room, through the facility, and to the elevator that lead out. Avery’s eyes widened as Lothia motioned her inside. She had never before been allowed outside of the facility, but if it was Lothia, she knew it was serious. The elevator ascended quickly and once they reached the top, continuing on in silence, Lothia made his way out in to the world beyond the strange shack that Avery found at the top of the elevator.
Stepping outside, Avery was met with a world she was fully unfamiliar with. The first thing she found was that it was incredibly bright. As she looked upwards, she saw a myriad of colors painting the world above. From her friends, she had learned this was called the sky. It apparently covered the entire world above. She didn’t have much time to admire as she was whisked away by Lothia who continued on in to an area all full of trees. Avery wanted to take the time to admire them, but Lothia was not slowing down.
Eventually, they reached their destination. In the side of a mountain, there was a large, reinforced gate with the sigil of destruction. Lothia pressed his hand to the center and the sigil began to glow, causing the massive gates to open inwards to a large cave in the side of the mountain. Within the cave, there was something that Avery didn’t fully comprehend. It seemed to be some kind of distortion in the air. It was about a foot taller than her and shaped like a scar. All around it, she could see the world being distorted. Without hesitation, Lothia stepped inside and vanished. Avery’s heart was racing, but she had to see where this was going and so she followed Lothia inside.
The first thing that struck Avery as she stepped foot in the strange new place was that it was incredibly cold. Her skin was tingling in all of the worst ways. Everything around her was so dark, the exact opposite of the world above the facility. It seemed like they were in some kind of cave, though the stone wasn’t like what she was used to. It was deep purple and seemed to emit a strange dark fog that blanketed the floor. In front of them, in the center of the massive cavern, there was an enormous lake that seemed to be pitch black. Occasionally, glowing white ripples popped up on the surface, but other than that, the surface was completely still.
Much to her dismay, Lothia began walking towards the black lake. On the other side of the lake, off in the distance, there appeared to be a small golden bridge, or at least the beginning of one. However, instead of going around to the bridge, Lothia simply dove straight in to the water. Not wanting to be left behind, Avery followed close behind, diving in and coming to find that it was definitely not water. It seemed to be tugging at her very being and it was not actually pitch black. Outlined in the water, Avery could see all kinds of things in white light including an absolutely massive structure which Lothia was swimming towards. Avery followed closely behind, trailing him to what seemed to be an opening on the side of the large structure.
They entered through the opening, emptying out in to what seemed to be some kind of dark mansion or castle. There were almost no lights at all, other than the occasional flashes of white from the lack outside, so Avery made sure to stay closely behind Lothia.
“Lothia… what is this place…?”
Lothia didn’t respond, continuing on further in to the structure. Eventually, the hallways emptied out in to a large circular room on the side of the building that had windows on all sides. Hanging in the air, suspended with golden seal all over their arms, there was a dark figure.
“Hello, Avery…” the figure rasped.
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