A/N: Again, this was **[Error]** not meant to be seen.
*******
"It's a curse."
Lilith rolled her eyes as the puppet representing her old self spoke fiercely.
"It is a gift," the cloaked figure insisted, raising a hand with the calm certainty of a divine preacher.
"The ability to empower your subjects and make them subservient…" It turned toward Lilith's puppet. "…is a gift secretly desired by every ruler, good or evil."
"Ruler?" Lilith's puppet tilted its head. "What are you trying to say?"
"It is quite simple," the cloaked figure replied. "In this game of betrayal, you are the most important piece, Lady Lilith."
"What?" Lilith's puppet faltered, taking a step back.
"You have your gift," the cloaked figure stepped forward, a faint eagerness creeping into its movements. "Use it. Turn the Lumini into your dark subjects, into daemons."
"Twist them against Queen Phoebe and usurp her throne. Become the queen of the daemons to cement the betrayal."
"I…" the voice of Lilith's puppet trembled with fear and rage.
Even now, remembering those words filled Lilith with disgust.
"I will do no such thing to the Lumini," it declared. "They're not just Phoebe's beloved subjects, but they are also my people. The people who accepted me despite my dark mutation."
"To transform them into twisted puppets…" The words came out sharp with revulsion. "Is something I cannot do."
"What if they want you to do that?"
The winged figure's sudden question caught the other figure off guard.
"What?"
The winged figure held its gaze. "I… traveled all over the realm and spoke to the people."
"They all wish to help Her Majesty."
"By betraying her?" Lilith's puppet asked sharply. "By becoming dark abominations?"
"If that is the price they must pay, then they will do so without hesitation."
The certainty in Naberiax's voice lingered heavily in the room. Even Lilith had forgotten how resolute he sounded that day.
The winged figure bowed its head.
"I will once again approach every single Luminus, and I will ask if they are willing to become your dark puppets."
"If they agree… then we will move forward with this heinous scheme."
"They will agree," the cloaked figure said softly.
There was no amusement in its voice now.
Only certainty.
"They will see becoming daemons as the punishment they deserve for betraying the queen they love."
It tilted its head slightly.
"They reflect their progenitor more than they realize."
"For such betrayal, they will gladly surrender their freedom, their minds… even themselves."
"That will be a fitting punishment for us," the winged figure agreed. "To betray our queen, who placed us above even herself, is an absolute sin."
"I will accept that eternal damnation."
Lilith watched the puppet speak those words without a hint of hesitation.
And even now, she still remembered the hatred she felt toward them for it.
"For treason against a god, the punishment is usually death," the cloaked figure continued. "Becoming a daemon will not spare them from that fate."
Then it turned toward Lilith's puppet.
"As the one who gains authority over their bodies and souls, you must enact a death sentence on them."
A brief pause followed.
"But not immediately."
The figure's voice remained smooth.
"For the sake of the next act in this twisted charade… they must continue to exist."
"There is a second part?" Lilith's puppet asked in a dangerous voice, its patience visibly thinning.
"Indeed," the cloaked figure nodded calmly. "By the end of the first part, we will have the tragic, imprisoned queen and the evil usurper."
"And in the second part…" An invisible smile seemed to form on its blank visage. "We will need a savior."
The room fell silent.
Lilith felt a faint chill crawl through her even now.
"A savior," the cloaked figure repeated softly, almost reverently. "Someone who will take Queen Phoebe away from this world… away from all of you."
"For her to truly obtain freedom, she must let go of her past."
The silence that followed stretched painfully between them before Lilith's puppet finally spoke.
"Who is this savior you speak of?"
"That," the cloaked figure replied, "is something you must discover yourself, Lady Lilith. Though…"
It slowly gestured toward the window overlooking the Tear. "I can suggest where you should begin looking."
"Look beyond the Tear."
Its voice remained calm.
"We humans are quite good at producing saviors."
Lilith's puppet stared at it in disbelief.
"You…" Its voice trembled with restrained revulsion. "You want me to search for a savior in humanity? The same humanity from which you, the architect of this evil, hail?"
The cloaked puppet remained unbothered.
"The rest of humanity is not like me," it replied. "I am… an exception."
A brief pause followed.
"There is no human like me, Lady Lilith."
"And there never will be."
Even now, Lilith still remembered how unsettlingly certain those words had sounded.
"Use the Tear," the cloaked figure continued, smoothly returning to the plan. "After your sister's mind finally collapses, invade the human world."
The room grew quieter.
"It is the only way you will draw humanity's attention. You must force them to notice you."
Its voice remained steady, almost gentle.
"Humanity will send both its worst and its best against your army."
"And for that, you must become something dreadful in their eyes. Your army must inspire terror. It must become the nightmare that drives humanity to resist."
"It will take years… decades… perhaps even centuries." The cloaked figure tilted its head slightly. "But eventually, you will find the perfect human."
"The one destined to become Queen Phoebe's savior."
"And are you certain of that?" The winged figure asked.
The cloaked figure nodded.
"Humans are a fascinating existence. Among them are monsters, saints, cowards, kings…"
"And every now and then…"
Its voice softened.
"Someone extraordinary appears."
"There will be one who can save Queen Phoebe and may not even realize it themselves."
Lilith watched her past self remain silent.
Now knew exactly what kind of human that savior had turned out to be.
"And what about you?" Lilith's puppet finally asked. "Are you the best or worst of humanity?"
"I don't know," the answer came instantly. "I don't even know if I am human."
"But this much I know," its voice sharpened with certainty. "You will find a savior."
"Capture them. Allow them to escape. Lead them to Queen Phoebe… and force them away from you."
"That is all you must do."
Then its voice lowered.
"And remember this, Lady Lilith. You will have to be cruel."
"You will have to become evil, and there will be countless deaths."
"Even the Incarni will come to despise you."
The room felt colder with every word.
"So…" the cloaked figure whispered.
"What will it be?"
Lilith could feel the turmoil and the silence twisting through her past self.
She felt the fear, the disgust, and the hesitation.
Finally, her puppet spoke.
"Naberiax. Ask the people."
Its voice was strained.
"If even a single one refuses, we will not commit this treachery."
The winged figure bowed.
"I will depart at once, Lady Lilith."
With the sound of fluttering wings, it turned around and left the room, leaving the two puppets alone.
Silence settled over the study.
Then.
"You."
The puppet's voice was raw as it addressed the cloaked figure.
"What is it you want from me?"
"What do I want?" the cloaked figure repeated calmly.
"I will tell you my price after imprisoning Phoebe."
It stepped closer, too close for comfort.
Then, with unsettling gentleness, it took hold of the puppet's hands.
"You will require absolute power to suppress Queen Phoebe," it said softly. "Power great enough to defeat her."
"And I will grant you that power, Your Majesty."
Even now, Lilith could feel the disgust surging through her past self.
"This treason will never happen."
For a moment, the cloaked figure stood perfectly still.
A smile slowly carved itself across the blank puppet visage.
It was terrifying, and it was utterly wrong.
It was as though the puppet itself had become incapable of containing it.
"We shall see."
The scene shifted again, this time glitching as though the memory itself was beginning to corrupt.
Lilith blinked and suddenly found herself standing within a vast hall that was all too familiar.
Massive, ornate pillars of bright crystal stretched upwards into a blinding light above, while the walls and floor were of white that almost seemed to glow with their own purity.
She knew where this was.
Or rather… where this used to be.
Phoebe's throne room, millennia before it had been blackened by Lilith's touch.
A cold shiver crawled through Lilith as realization struck her.
She knew exactly what kind of memory this was.
She had been certain she had discarded it long ago.
And yet, somehow, it had revealed itself to her once more.
"So this is the plan?"
She froze when she heard that calm voice.
A frigid claw wrapped around her heart.
She didn't want to turn around and face that voice, yet her body moved on its own.
Turning around, she saw the puppet representing her old self standing before the throne of crystallized light.
And sitting on the throne…
Lilith couldn't believe it.
She had forgotten her past self, but forgetting Phoebe had always been impossible.
Phoebe of the Restoration sat upon the throne, her face calm and her eyes filled with light and life
A painful contrast to the hollow, empty gaze she carried now.
Even back then, she was breathtaking to look at.
Her simple royal garments flowed elegantly around her figure, while the helical crown of stars hovered gently above her long hair.
When she smiled, Lilith felt the cold hand tighten around her heart.
Yes, Phoebe was socially awkward.
But once you came to know her, she was calm, gentle… and impossibly easy to love.
Her puppet stood frozen before the throne.
Phoebe tilted her head slightly.
"You look distressed, Lilith."
The puppet finally spoke. "This is treason."
Its voice trembled. "This is blasphemy."
Phoebe remained quiet, patiently waiting for her to continue.
Lilith could already feel where this memory was heading.
And even now, she hated it.
"They- We want to seal you away," the puppet continued. "To imprison you."
Phoebe's expression barely changed.
"I see."
"You…" the puppet faltered. "Your selfishness is slowly killing you."
A brief silence followed.
Then Phoebe smiled faintly.
"Well, you and they are not entirely wrong."
The puppet stared at her in disbelief.
"You… understand what is happening?"
Phoebe leaned slightly against the throne.
"I understand enough."
Her voice remained calm as she spoke. "They wish to free me from myself."
The puppet's hands trembled violently as they formed tight fists.
"Why are you so calm?!" it demanded. "This is madness!"
Striking itself against the chest, it continued.
"Punish me! Execute that scheming man! Be enraged and do something!"
"And will that resolve your concern with my fatal flaw?" Phoebe asked softly.
Her question caught the puppet completely off guard.
"You… are okay with this?"
Phoebe looked away for a moment, and Lilith noticed it immediately.
Even now, after everything, she still remembered that brief flicker of sadness.
"I know my selflessness is slowly consuming me," Phoebe admitted quietly. "I accepted that long ago."
Her gaze returned to the trembling puppet.
"But seeing you distressed because of it…" Her voice softened further. "That deeply troubles me."
Even now, those words still unsettled her.
The puppet's hands shook with anger, shame, and grief.
"You idiot," it spoke through clenched teeth. "You dare to be selfless even now?"
"I'm sorry, Lilith," Phoebe replied gently. "It's my nature… and my fatal flaw."
She let out a soft chuckle.
"To be honest, you would make a terrible ruler."
Phoebe smiled warmly.
"But I believe you will make it work."
Straightening herself upon the throne, she spoke with quiet certainty.
"Do what you believe is right, Lilith. The choice is yours."
Her smile softened again.
"Although… I am happy that you told me this."
A faint awkwardness entered her expression. "You really didn't have to."
Phoebe rose from the throne and slowly approached the puppet.
Its form trembled with every step she took.
Even now, Lilith couldn't fully fathom Phoebe's actions that day.
"Lilith," her smile faded as she gently held her hand.
This wasn't the unsettling and chilling touch of the cloaked man before, but a touch filled with a deep warmth and love.
"Be careful, sister," Phoebe warned softly. "That man is a dangerous existence, so be prudent when you are with him at all times."
Her expression grew more serious.
"I have a feeling he will one day become an unfathomable threat. One capable of placing all of creation in danger."
Even now, remembering those words sent a chill through Lilith.
Phoebe continued.
"So even if you choose to work with him… remain careful."
Silence lingered briefly between them before Phoebe spoke again.
"Alisax will not accept this plan."
She gave a faint, almost helpless smile.
Even now, Lilith remembered it clearly.
The outrage and the disbelief Alisax felt that day.
She had nearly attacked Naberiax when he proposed the idea to her.
"She has always been terribly stubborn for the people she loves," Phoebe continued softly.
"If Naberiax asks her to betray me, she will most likely try to punch him first."
A weak, disbelieving laugh escaped the puppet.
"You… already know?"
Phoebe nodded gently.
"Alisax loves me too much to accept something like this."
Then her gaze lowered slightly.
"But Naberiax…" A trace of sadness entered her voice. "He loves me enough to accept it."
Silence settled heavily between them.
Even now, Lilith still hated how calmly Phoebe understood all of them.
"One wishes to protect me," Phoebe said quietly. "The other wishes to save me."
"And both choices will hurt them."
The puppet lowered its head, unable to respond.
Phoebe gently squeezed its trembling hand.
"Remember this, Lilith."
"No matter how low you fall… you will always be my sister.
Those words had remained with Lilith even now.
Perhaps that was why, after everything, she still continued calling Phoebe her sister.
Then Phoebe closed her eyes. "This conversation should not exist."
Lilith's puppet froze.
Phoebe slowly stretched out her hand.
Light particles quickly swirled around her fingers and formed a thin needle.
"It would not be much of a surprise if I knew the plan beforehand," she admitted awkwardly, lightly twirling the needle between her fingers.
"What are you doing?" the puppet asked, panic creeping into its voice.
"Don't you remember your lessons, Lilith?" Phoebe asked gently as thin strands of light floated from her head, creeping towards the needle.
"I am an Incarnus, the physical manifestation of Lux, and in essence, of ardor," she explained.
"My very existence is tied with ardor."
"And that includes…" She lightly spun the needle again, guiding the glowing threads through the air. "My memories."
Lilith watched silently as the fine threads slowly stitched themselves together into a long ribbon of light, faint symbols flowing across its glowing surface.
"This is a neat trick I've been using for millennia to remove any irrelevant memories. Helps to keep my head clear."
"These are my memories of this moment," Phoebe explained softly, running a finger over the ribbon's surface.
She smiled. "With my authority of Restoration, I can restore this ribbon of ardor to the state it possessed before these memories were engraved upon it."
Her crystalline eyes fell on the puppet.
"This way… I can forever forget this moment. I will never know the plan to betray me."
The puppet stared at her silently.
"And", Phoebe continued softly. "I will never know just how much this hurt you."
Lilith felt something twist painfully inside her chest.
Even now.
"You fool," the puppet's voice trembled. "You do not have to do this. I will never carry out this evil."
Phoebe gave a sad smile.
The white ribbon slowly burned brighter in her hands.
"It doesn't matter. Whatever happens… we never had this conversation." Phoebe replied nonchalantly.
Her gaze softened once more. "But, if you decide to take the plunge…"
For the first time, Phoebe's composure faltered.
"Then let this be our final, true goodbye."
As the ribbon of light burst into white flames, Phoebe embraced the puppet.
"I love you, Lilith, my dear sister."
And with that, the curtains closed on this twisted puppet show of memories, leaving Lilith in total darkness, one that clung close to her like a lover.
Her expression remained unchanged, yet there was a faint tremor in her hands.
She didn't need to see the rest of her memories to see what happened next.
Naberiax returned, and just as she feared, that man's words proved true.
In the end, she went through with the plan.
The act of turning every single Luminus into her twisted, shadowy daemons sickened her to her very core.
Acting like an evil usurper disgusted her.
But it worked.
Phoebe had truly forgotten their previous conversation and was caught completely off guard.
It tore Lilith apart when she plunged those Agony Thorns into her sister's divine flesh.
Killing her dear friend Alexander was even worse.
Desecrating his corpse and throwing it before Phoebe so she could watch it decay across millennia nearly shattered whatever remained of Lilith's restraint.
To see and hear Phoebe scream in agony as the unfathomable pain ravaged her body was torture to Lilith.
At first.
Lilith still remembered the horror she felt when something inside her responded to those screams.
A small thrill.
Something dark.
Something deeply wrong.
She had recoiled from it immediately, and then it returned again.
And again.
Over time, the horror faded faster than the pleasure did.
That realization frightened her far more than the screams ever had.
But that realization was not enough to stop.
Not when that man's power coursed through her veins.
Not when she held dominion over Phoebe's realm itself.
Not when she possessed strength rivaling the Incarni.
Millennia passed, and slowly, Lilith stopped pretending.
The cruelty was no longer part of an act.
The hatred became real.
Or perhaps it had always been there, buried somewhere deep inside her.
Tormenting Phoebe no longer filled her with guilt.
It filled her with joy.
A twisted, possessive joy she convinced herself was love.
And that was the most horrifying part.
Even now, Lilith understood that somewhere along the way, she had stopped loving Phoebe correctly.
But by then, she no longer cared enough to stop herself.
And in the end…
Even a goddess will break.
Phoebe's collapse should have been Lilith's greatest triumph.
Instead, it hollowed her out.
The joy vanished, and all that remained was emptiness.
And so Lilith turned her gaze toward the Tear.
She had indulged herself long enough.
It was time to find a savior.
Lilith invaded humanity, unleashing a new horror upon their world.
But none of them was worthy.
Of the countless humans she selected, every single one met a horrifying end.
None was enough.
And as the centuries passed, Lilith found herself enjoying humanity's suffering far more than she should have.
She created horrors simply to watch how humans would react to them.
One could only imagine her delight when she created the first wraith and fused it into a daemon.
Watching the wraiths twist humans into monsters exhilarated her. Even more amusing was the weakness she designed into them.
A flaw that forced humans to burn their own comrades alive.
The sheer despair it created fascinated her endlessly.
At some point, Lilith stopped searching for a savior out of duty.
She began searching simply because she enjoyed the hunt.
That was, until she found him.
A young man she glimpsed through Zygaxis's eyes.
White hair and crimson eyes with a beauty that rivaled the Lumini themselves.
Lilith froze the moment she saw him.
Something about him felt horribly familiar.
Something deeper.
A resemblance buried beneath fifty thousand years of memory.
Back then, she had dismissed the feeling as meaningless.
Now…
She wasn't so certain anymore.
And the moment Lilith sensed Mordred's potential…
She knew she had found the savior.
And from that point onward, her attention belonged entirely to him.
She was delighted when he fell into the Tear.
A part of her desperately wanted him dragged before her immediately, but she restrained herself.
He first had to survive her Abyss, and he did, with flying colors.
Even now, remembering it filled Lilith with a strange excitement.
Mordred had surpassed every expectation she possessed.
And somewhere along the way, her fascination twisted into obsession.
Then obsession became desire.
Imprisoning Mordred for ten years had never been part of the plan.
That was entirely her own selfishness.
Her own hunger.
The only form of affection Lilith truly understood anymore was possession.
If she broke him and comforted him afterward, then eventually he would belong to her completely.
That was how her twisted mind understood love.
And the most disturbing part was that her feelings for Mordred had never been fake.
Not even once.
It ultimately took Naberiax himself to remind her of the original plan.
When Mordred plunged the Agony Thorn into her body, the pain genuinely exhilarated her, despite expecting it.
Lilith slowly shook her head in the darkness.
She truly had become something monstrous.
When Phoebe finally appeared in the sky above the Abyss, her face blank and puppet-like, her eyes devoid of emotion, Lilith had been delighted.
The horror came afterward.
But only as a tiny flicker.
Nothing more.
And yet…
When Phoebe embraced her one last time before covering her body with countless needles of light, Lilith felt relief.
Her gaze lowered into the darkness surrounding her.
Back then, she never even managed to say goodbye.
She exhaled slowly.
It didn't matter anymore.
A faint frown touched her lips.
It was almost time for him to arrive.
Lilith couldn't help but wonder whether that man was even alive anymore.
"Fifty thousand years…" she muttered. "That means five thousand years have passed in the human world."
Surely someone like him should have vanished into dust long ago.
And yet…
Lilith found herself unable to truly believe that.
After Phoebe's imprisonment, the cloaked man had simply left, claiming there would one day come a time for her to pay the price for his services.
Then the millennia passed.
And with her realm isolated from the outside world, Lilith never learned what became of him afterward.
Her thoughts drifted once more toward Mordred.
Toward the thing that had first unsettled her about him.
That strange familiarity.
Back then, she had dismissed it as a coincidence.
Now…
She wasn't so certain anymore.
The surrounding darkness suddenly began to crack apart.
She was waking up.
Lilith closed her eyes.
And when she opened them again, she found herself back within her bedchamber.
Black cloth covered her body like bandages, wrapped over her many wounds. The cloth and her soft blankets were the only ones that covered her body at the moment.
Lilith felt cold.
She felt… exposed.
Which was unusual, since she never paid much attention to her nudity.
For a while, she simply remained there in silence.
The bizarre puppet show still lingered in her mind like poison.
And then…
There was a knock on the door, its sound echoing through the chamber.
Lilith immediately sensed Naberiax beyond the door. And there was another presence beside him.
Her entire body instinctively went on high alert. She barely sensed the second existence at all.
That alone was deeply wrong.
"What is it, Naberiax?" she asked quietly.
A pause.
"Who is with you?"
"A guest, Your Majesty," the High Commander replied.
Lilith froze.
She had never heard Naberiax sound nervous before.
A cold chill crawled down her spine as realization dawned on her.
"Enter," Lilith said carefully, forcing her voice to remain steady.
The doors slowly opened.
Naberiax entered first, and behind him walked a cloaked figure.
It was a woman, as Lilith observed.
Her face was hidden behind a smooth, featureless metal mask. Yet despite that concealment, Lilith instinctively felt something disturbingly familiar about her.
Several strands of pure white hair slipped free from beneath the hood.
The sight of them immediately brought Mordred to mind.
The masked woman bowed politely.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. It is an honor to finally meet you."
Her voice was serene and her words measured, yet almost casual.
Lilith felt her heartbeat quicken slightly.
The woman's way of speaking was eerily familiar, yet strangely, Lilith couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
Then the woman straightened.
Lilith could feel the invisible gaze behind that blank mask settle upon her.
"Father sends his regards, Queen Lilith."
A brief silence followed.
Then the woman spoke once more.
"It is time to pay the price."
******
Author's Message
Heyo readers! This is justafox!
With this rather very long chapter, we've completed volume three of Modred's Rebirth!
Yay!
Huge thanks to all of you for your wonderful support! Thank you very much for keeping up with my abysmal release rates. I'm getting less time nowadays since I am currently working on my thesis, and I get very tired after returning from my workplace. But I always try to type new chapters whenever I am free and not distracted *ahem*.
Anyway. I am looking forward to Volume four, which I would probably start releasing after a short hiatus of one to two weeks.
Volume four is going to be an awesome one, where we will learn more about the world of Mordred's Rebirth and reunite with old characters and even meet fresh faces as well.
If you guys have any questions, be sure to ask me in the comments. I'm having an idea of a short teaser for the next volume. Let me know if you guys want something like that.
And again. Thanks for reading Mordred's Rebirth!