Liliana activated [Shine] at the brightest level it could get to, closing her eyes as she did. The dark room was suddenly illuminated by painful rays. For extra assurance, she activated [Light Barrage] and sent it after the assassin, along with what she was holding in her hand. It was an explosive potion that produced mostly smoke. As the bottle flew through the air, Liliana activated [Dance of the Windsong], [Solar Samba], [Dancer’s Domain] and [Dancing Doubles].

Liliana jumped from her bed, [Leap] pushing her even further as the bottle finally crashed to the ground and filled the room with smoke. Lelantos had activated [Vanish] and was performing his part of the plan. [Bestial Roar] rang out, shaking the room moments before a loud crash announced him breaking down the door to her room and running off to find help. Her [Light Barrage] hit the assassin, and Liliana heard a small grunt to herald the attack’s successful hit. Little though it would do.

Liliana moved by memory, her eyes still closed tightly. Her spell would blind her as easily as the assassin at the brightness it was set to. Still, she hadn’t fully memorized the room, and she tripped over something, falling to the ground. She scrambled to get up when a heavy body hit her own, pushing her back into the ground.

“Clever trick there, girly, but yer ma told me all about those parlor tricks of yers. Got meself a skill to stop blinding,” a rough voice breathed into her ear. Liliana shuddered, fear almost freezing her solid. The assassin had caught her. Was she going to die here? Like this?

Panic filled her and Liliana struggled and twisted, activating every spell she could think of. [Radiant Revelry], [Light Burst], [Gust], [Soul Strike], she activated everything her Mana would allow until it dropped to a point even her channels cut off. Yet not a single of her attacks seemed to affect the man holding her down.

“Cute, real cute girly. Gotta give ya some credit for the moxie ya got. But didn’t anyone ever teach ya not to fight against someone so much stronger than ya?” the man asked with a chuckle as he flipped her over.

Liliana looked up at the man. [Shine] had turned off at some point, but light was pouring in from the hallway and illuminating the face of her killer. The man had shorn hair, but she thought she detected a hint of violet in the stubble. His eyes were a noxious green surrounded by black sclera. He was probably in his thirties, if Liliana had to guess. But with how Ranks affected age, he could be a hundred years old for all she knew. He was flipping a knife in his hand as he grinned down at her.

“Well, gotta get this taken care of. It’s nothin personal like, jus a job. Ya understand doncha? No hard feelings girly, hope for a better ma in yer next life,” the man told her as he gripped the knife and brought it down to her chest in a fluid motion.

Liliana watched the knife descend. It moved achingly slowly as her panic and adrenaline slowed time in her perception. It inched closer and closer to her heart.

Not like this. I don’t want to die like this! I WON’T!

Liliana reached for something, anything to save herself and something reached back, grasping onto her and her desperation. She was willing to offer anything, as long as she survived this night.

‘Anything? I can save you if you ask.’

Anything, please. Save me. I can’t die here.

‘As you wish.’

The pendant on her chest lit up. Dark blue light flooded from it, tinged with black as it wrapped around Liliana. A force shoved the assassin back and off Liliana as the light from pendant fully consumed her. Liliana felt her body lifting off the ground, but her mind was consumed with the power flooding into her veins. She’d thought her own Mana felt like a raging river when she used it, but it was nothing but a trickle in comparison to what was now rampaging through her. Sweet agony filled her, pain and pleasure twisting into one as more and more power surged into her body.

The power racing into her petered off as she met whatever limit her body had to contain it. It still felt like too much. A raging hurricane was wreaking havoc inside of her, tearing her apart and putting her back together all at once. She felt like a god with the power inside of her. Flattening the manor would be a simple task for her now. She knew with a flick of her hand she could release the power inside of her so easily. Yet she felt like she did not control the magic, instead it seemed the magic was holding the reins. As the magic seemed to grasp onto control, Liliana let it, her conciousness receding. Everything but the sweet pain of the magic itself faded, muted. As if nothing was quite real, as if she was in a dream.

The pendant was still glowing on her chest, and dark blue and black tendrils on magic floated around her like an ephemeral cape. Her hair was floating around her as if she was underwater, bits of blue and black magic curling through the tresses. Her feet hung a few inches above the floor as she floated. The most terrifying change, though, was her eyes. Though she couldn’t see them, they sent a shiver of fear down the back of the assassin, who had landed on his feet several yards from the girl. Her eyes were black, the barest hint of blue flashing like fire to be seen in their depths.

“I do not get paid enough for this shit,” the assassin muttered, and Liliana’s head sharply turned to look at him, her ghostly eyes piercing through the man.

“Cute trick girly, but yer still too weak to do more than tickle me,” the assassin said, though sweat was dripping down his face as he watched the floating girl.

“Die,” Liliana spoke, but it wasn’t her voice. It was twisted, as if someone had taken a male’s deep baritone and mixed it with her own voice. The effect was terrifying, and the assassin took a half step back as the girl raised her hand towards him, pointing a single slender finger at his chest.

Magic tore out of her body, as beautifully agonizing leaving as it had been entering her. It overcame the assassin even as he turned to flee. The dark magic filled his eyes, his nose, his mouth, even his ears. The knife he held dropped to the ground with a clatter as his hands scraped at the substance on his face. His fingers slipped through it as if it wasn’t even there, even as it stole the air from his lungs.

Liliana watched apathetically as the assassin fell to his knees, turning and crawling to her as the magic continued to slowly kill him. Her feet landed softly on the ground and she sidestepped his weakly grasping arms and walked to the dagger he had abandoned. Picking it up, she turned back to the man who had fallen to the ground. With one dainty foot, she kicked him over. His eyes were spinning wildly, no longer able to focus on anything, and Liliana knelt next to him. Taking the knife in both hands, she smiled sweetly at him.

“It’s nothing personal, no hard feelings. Hope for a better profession in your next life,” Liliana spoke, mimicking his words from before. Her distorted voice filled the air as she brought the knife down into his chest. She felt bones break under her strength until the knife was buried up to the hilt, pinning the man to the floor. Finally, the man died and the magic suffocating him broke off, sucked back into the pendant.

Liliana wiped her bloody hands off on her nightgown and stood, taking a few steps from the man when a force froze her. Her body was held taunt, as if she had been wrapped in bonds she couldn’t see. Her conciousness roused and panic floated, weak in her. The magic held her well, though, and did not release its grip on her body or mind.

The guards are coming. Best make this look realistic. A voice said in her head, sounding both like her and yet completely alien. Liliana hardly had time to understand it before the magic twisted painfully inside of her. She fell to the ground with a scream as the magic that had just saved her suddenly turned on her. Wounds and bruises appeared on her body and her screams reached a new pitch as bones broke. Then the magic was funneled out of her, disappearing back into the pendant. As fast as it had filled her, it was gone, the pendant dull once more. The only proof she had ever wielded such power was the dead assassin next to her and the wounds over her body.

‘You managed to get the assassin’s knife and used it to kill him. The poison on it was strong enough to kill someone a Rank higher than him. You were heavily injured in the fight.’ The same alien voice told her, somehow clear despite the pure agony filling her. As her vision slowly faded to black, it spoke up again.

‘The next time, I will need something in return for lending you my power, Liliana Rosengarde.’ With those last words, Liliana’s vision faded completely, and she knew nothing at all.

Liliana woke slowly. Her mind was a tangled mess, and as her heavy eyelids slowly raised, she winced. The light in the room was bright, like someone had opened every curtain and let the midday sunlight in.

Liliana raised an arm and winced at the ache in it as she rubbed at her eyes. How late was it? Weren’t they supposed to leave at noon? Why had no one come and woken her? As she looked around, wincing at how her neck twinged. How long had she been asleep? It felt like half her muscles had cramped.

“You’re finally awake,” a feminine voice spoke, and Liliana turned to locate the source. A woman in healer’s robes sat by her bed, closing a book. Her robes were pure white with a caduceus emblazoned in soft green on the front, announcing her profession as a healer for hire. Her platinum blond hair was tied in a tight bun atop her head, and her pure white eyes took in Liliana. The woman stood and began to hover her hands over her body. As she did, her hands and eyes lit up and the remaining aches and pains faded.

“You were torn to the abyss and back when I got to you. A broken tibia, two broken ulna’s, and a shattered sternum. A collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, and the copious amounts of internal bleeding. Not to mention the gashes and cuts all along your body. It’s a miracle you survived. Took me hours to heal you. Didn’t anyone tell you your natural regeneration does nothing for fatal wounds or broken bones? They cause status ailments that stop it from even working! Honestly,” the woman scolded Liliana as she finished her examination and pulled back.

“Wh-“ Liliana started, but she winced when she realized her throat was too dry to form words. The healer handed her a glass of water and Liliana gulped it down gratefully, the water the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted in her life.

“What happened?” Liliana asked, her voice still rough. The healer held a hand over her throat and the bit of soreness in it vanished under her hands.

“You were attacked by an assassin, and instead of running like a sensible person, you apparently fought back. Somehow you killed the cretin. A god must have been smiling on you that day,” the healer informed her brusquely as she stepped back. Liliana tilted her head, not understanding until the memories hit her.

First came the memories of the dream, and she felt her heart rip once again as she was reminded how little others thought of her. Then came the memories of the assassin. And the pendant. The possession as whatever was residing in the pendant, or using it as a medium, took control of her. The being had killed the assassin using Liliana’s body, then used the magic to wound her badly enough to make it believable that she’d fought and killed the assassin.

Liliana shuddered as the memory of being controlled, having her free will stripped from her and being used as a puppet fully hit her. Tears dripped down her face as her breath began to speed up. Panic was taking over her mind, and she felt an urge to throw the pendant far from her. She felt dirty, used, violated. Her free will had been stripped from her by some entity she didn’t know. Her life had been spared, but at what cost?

The being could’ve done anything to her. Liliana remembered how apathetic she’d felt, how she’d felt as if she was watching the events of a dream or a movie. Seeing it, but not registering it, not fully grasping what was happening to her. How all her emotions and feelings had been damped. So she couldn’t panic or fight off the being that had been using her. Everything but pain, and the euphoria of having so much power rushing through her, had been dulled. But the pain, oh the pain and the euphoria had not been. Those had been heightened, and stood out in her mind. The pain of having power, too much power shoved through her. Of having her body ravaged to better sell the story of her fighting off the assassin, even that had been enhanced.

The euphoria. It had been better than any pain-killing drug she’d been subjected to in her past life. Stronger than oxycodone, with a higher high than morphine had ever given her. It was addicting, and even with the feelings of revulsion swimming through her, Liliana craved that high again, with a ferocity she didn’t expect. A ferocity that scared her to her bones.

Her breath was coming in quick gasps and her heart was fluttering in her chest, trying to break free. Too many emotions were flooding her, as if trying to makeup for the time they’d been suppressed. Disgust was strong. She wanted to scrub every inch of herself to remove any trace of that magic from her. She felt like she could still feel it brushing against her, invading her body and mind. Revulsion at what she’d allowed to happen. At what she’d allowed to be done with her body. She’d killed someone again. Even if she hadn’t had control, it had been her hands that held the knife. Fear. What was stopping that being from taking control of her again? Of making her do whatever it pleased while it locked her in her own mind like a prisoner?

And hunger, a gnawing need for that power to come back. For it to fill her again with the indisputable strength it had offered. The power to defeat a Rank 4 as easy as breathing, the power to tear her stepmother down. To end the twisted game of cat and mouse they were playing. The power to right every wrong done to her. To bring her father to his knees and to finally force him to see her for who she was, not as a burden or as a tool, but as his daughter.

Those thoughts repulsed her as much as they enticed her. She wanted to be powerful, wanted her stepmother to be punished for her crimes, wanted her father’s acknowledgement, if not his love. But she didn’t want to sell her soul to get that. She didn’t want to give up her free will to some unknown entity to see her wishes come true. The price that was being demanded for power was one she would never be willing to pay.

Liliana gripped the pendant in her hand so tightly skin broke, and blood dripped down her arm. She was going to throw this cursed pendant away. Destroy it in fire, smash it to smithereens. No matter her need to experience the power again, she would not give up her free will, her agency. She wouldn’t become some addict itching for her next fix and ready to do anything it took to get her drug. As her arm started to move, to rip the pendant off her, but something stopped her arm from moving, stopped her from ripping the thing off her neck.

What if you need that power again? Her mind said. The price was too high though, losing her agency, her freewill. That was too much to ask for any power. She didn’t want to become a puppet for some unknown entity. Didn’t want to become an addict to a power not her known, beholden to someone else. Yet still her hand wouldn’t move and her breathing sped up further. She could feel darkness at the edges of her vision.

Is this how the original Liliana turned into a villain? Did she put this on and slowly fall to its sway until it twisted who she was into a monster? That thought just made her panic worse, ice cold fear freezing in her veins. Yet she still couldn’t get the pendant off, as if she no longer controlled her arm at all.

She heard a clatter, loud enough to break through her daze of panic and fear seconds before she felt a slash of pain, as if something had just cut her. A burning lance of agony shot through her mind and Liliana whimpered, clutching at her head. The agony receded quickly, though the pain from whatever had cut her didn’t. It took her a moment to realize that her hand was free, and no pendant rested in her grip.

“-aled her! You come in and injure her further? What kind of Bond are you?” the healer was berating Lelantos, who looked back impassively at the woman. Between his paws, on the floor, sat the pendant. It was covered in blood and its chain was broken, but it was finally off of her. Liliana sat up straight, unsure when she’d curled into a ball, and the healer directed her attention back towards her patient.

“Lay back down. You’re obviously not as healed as I thought. No thanks to your bond,” the healer directed, laying her hands on Liliana’s shoulders and pushed her down when the confused girl didn’t move fast enough. As she laid back and the healer set to healing the cuts on her hand and on her chest from where Lelantos had slashed the necklace off her. Liliana sent a feeling of gratitude towards Lelantos. She could sense him more clearly now. Her mind felt sharper.

Did the pendant muddy our bond? To further isolate me? Liliana wondered with a shudder. How much of her emotions, her thoughts, from the last several days had been her own? How much had been planted by the pendant? Thoughts of being the heir, of hurting Alistair to achieve it. The joy she’d taken in seeing the maid suffer. The thoughts brought bile into her throat. How had she not sensed the pendant twisting her? It had planted ideas in her she’d never wanted.

Liliana swore to herself to never use the pendant again. She’d find a way to destroy the thing. The thought of someone else getting it, it terrified her. The power she’d felt it was incredible. What could someone do with that kind of power? What if someone like her stepmother got a hold of it? If the pendant heightened dark emotions, it would positively feast on her stepmother. And a woman like that with that kind of power would be catastrophic.

“There, you’re fixed, again,” the healer shot another glare at a smug-looking Lelantos, “I am sorry for bringing up the events before you seemed ready to handle them.” The healer finished, sounding remorseful. Liliana shook her head and shot the woman a weak smile.

“It’s alright, thank you for your help. I think I’ll be alright now,” Liliana said, sending a wave of love towards Lelantos again. He had just saved more than her life. He’d saved her very being. Stopped her from losing who she was before she could see the danger lurking around her throat.