I looked at her, letting my eyes linger for a mont, 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 srizing at the ti, almost beautiful in a surreal kind of way. To see soone sculpt themselves so freely, as if age and form were just clothing to wear and discard, it was honestly sothing 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 rembered the questions I had carried with since then, the ones that weighed heavily every ti I t one of the others. I had already asked Elise, after eting her again for a while, about the reason for my existence—why I had been born, and more specifically, what role I was ant to play in the larger picture. But even Elise, the firstborn, claid she didn’t know. She had only shrugged off the question with a faint smile that gave no peace of mind. Maybe the others knew sothing. Maybe we were being prepared for a purpose none of us wanted to face.
I turned to Estelle afterward, asking her the sa 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. Sothing about her always felt more like trouble than clarity.
And now, fate had brought before Leonora—another part of Lilith. Soone tied to in ways I still couldn’t fully understand. We had been born on the very sa day, but I had no idea how or why. Elise had once explained that Lilith’s fragnts weren’t born all at once. She herself had been the first to co into being. But in my case, and Leonora’s, and Veronica’s, it was different. We had all been released at the sa ti, in the sa breath of existence. Only Estelle had co after us, the last one.
I didn’t know what it ant. I didn’t even know if it ant anything at all. But sothing inside kept gnawing at the thought that there had to be a connection, that there had to be so greater reason behind it all. And with that thought digging into my mind, I opened my mouth to ask.
"I ca here for the sole purpose of asking you sothing. 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 down?"
I t her gaze without flinching. "I’ve been turning over sothing in my head for a while now, sothing that’s been bothering . I figured it was better to just co 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 ti we et."
Her eyes narrowed, studying 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 , 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 sothing 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 beco 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 eting with us like this. If you ever complete the requirents for her resurrection, then it’ll be over for you."
Her words lingered in my chest like a cold weight. The requirent 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 beco of 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 requirents 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 sa 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 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 ans, between you and ... it’s possible we might end up doing it, isn’t it?"
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