Lilia: A New Dawn

After deciding he'd had enough for one day, James opted to head home rather than hanging out with his friends. He was worn out and he knew he owed his parents an explanation. Torn between spilling the beans and keeping things under wraps, he settled on facing them to ease their concerns.

Pausing at his front door, James hesitated before stepping in. He took a deep breath and made up his mind to come clean about the day's chaos, but he'd leave out the dream—it was too mortifying to share.

He entered the house, noting the comforting sounds of life within. The soft murmur of the television and the clinking of dishes accompanied by the simmering of a pot that hinted at a meal being prepared. "I'm home," James called out, his voice permeating the tranquillity of the domestic scene.

As James closed the door behind him, his mother emerged from the kitchen, a dish towel in hand. Her eyes met his, a wave of relief softening her expression upon seeing him unharmed. Shortly after, his father joined them from the living room, the murmur of the news broadcast trailing behind him.

"James, we're so glad you're okay," his mother said, pulling him into a tight embrace. "The radio mentioned an incident happening on the route you take to school. We were worried sick when you didn't pick up your phone."

Releasing a sigh, James hugged her back. "I was walking to school when this crazy superpowered fight broke out. Had to dodge some flying rubble and my phone must've slipped out."

"A fight? You're not hurt, are you?" his dad asked, concern creasing his brow.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken," James reassured them. "But yes, the phone’s a goner."

"Phones are replaceable, your life isn't," his mother said, dismissing the concern. "We have a spare you can use for now."

His dad was half-watching the TV now. "They're talking about that mess you mentioned. Seems a blue-skinned woman with silver hair took down three baddies all on her own. Caused mayhem, left the crooks half-dead, then vanished. Nobody knows who she is."

Chills ran down James' spine; the details matched his dream uncannily. He tried to rationalize it as coincidence—his game character looked similar—but he couldn't shake a deeper sense of unease.

James chatted with parents about school and work as the evening news droned on. They didn't show any footage of the incident, leaving the identity of the blue-skinned woman a mystery.

Exhaustion finally got the better of him. Mumbling something about being shattered from the day's drama, he said goodnight and trudged upstairs to bed, feeling every step weigh him down.

In autopilot, he changed into his comfy PJs, brushed his teeth, and crashed into bed. Sleep pounced on him in an instant, plunging him into a deep, black slumber.

Later that night, a weird sensation jerked James awake—a feeling so odd he couldn't place it. His eyes opened to a groggy haze, expecting the usual dark of his room. But instead, he felt like he was lying on something out of place.

Groping around, he found it—a tail? His tail, trapped under his back? In a flash of disbelief, he sat up, only to meet Lilia's startled violet gaze in the mirror. This had to be some half-awake delusion, a dream he needed to snap out of. He pinched himself hard, expecting to wake up.

But the silver-haired reflection stayed put. Panic crept over him, icy and uncomfortable, twisting his stomach into knots. The thought of anyone, especially his sister, seeing him like this was too much. The fear of facing curious stares and endless questions tomorrow made him queasy.

He'd always wanted a superpower, something majestic, something valiant. But waking up as a woman? This wasn't the superhero dream he had as a kid.

Determined to make it through the night, James, temporarily trapped in Lilia's body, decided to stay put in his room. It wasn't necessarily a forever thing—it could just be an ultra-realistic dream or a fleeting hallucination. Whatever it was, he'd deal with it come daylight.

But as it turned out, the night had other ideas. Lilia's body seemed to come with a set of supercharged senses. The city sounds he'd usually tune out were suddenly crystal clear, so much so that sleep was off the table.

Resigned to his wakefulness, James lay in bed, waiting for this bizarre experience to end, while the urban symphony played on. And then, an odd snippet of conversation pricked his ears. A man and a woman nearby were deep in a strange discussion that sounded straight out of a movie script.

"This should be the place," the woman stated with authority. "The device points to a recent surge of astral activity in the area"

"Do you think it's the same type of outsider?" the man asked.

The talk was getting juicy, and James—or should we say Lilia—couldn't resist moving closer to the window for a better listen. It seems that his, well, her hearing had improved dramatically; she could make out their words through a closed window from two doors down.

"It's very unlikely, but with all the supes around, the last thing people need is another threat to worry about," the woman responded, sweeping a bizarre gadget around.

Who were these people? What were they talking about? Lilia squinted for a better look. The man had the vibe of that secret agent from the virtual reality flick; the woman, meanwhile, looked like she'd just bailed on an anime expo—her outfit reminiscent of a shrine maiden's attire but with a little more sass.

As Lilia eavesdropped on the enigmatic exchange, her curiosity flared, overpowering the bewilderment that had gripped her since her unexpected transformation. The conversation hinted at a realm where not only heroes and villains existed but also myth and magic.

Emboldened by this revelation, Lilia resolved to delve deeper. Despite her uncertainty about how to utilize the abilities of this body, or even if she could, her heightened senses enabled her to discreetly monitor the situation from a safer vantage point.

However, she first needed to address her clothes; she was still clad in her pyjamas, but she found changing the attire quite embarrassing. The feeling stemmed from the realization that this was her body now and that she would have to gaze upon it's every detail as she changed her clothes.

Ultimately, fearing that she might be losing something of herself by doing it. She decided on a compromise of some sort, donning a coat over her pyjamas and slipping out the window to avoid rousing her family. Fortunately, her room was on the ground floor, which made for an untroublesome departure.

Once outside, Lilia followed the pair with a newfound agility, moving with a grace previously unknown to her. She eavesdropped on the duo's conversation using her sharpened senses.

"Why do you think central sent us here?" the man inquired of the shrine maiden before shaking his head in disbelief. "Isn't this way below our abilities?"

"They must have their reasons," the woman responded, sweeping her device across the area. "At the very least, consider it a vacation."

Suddenly, the woman spun around, her gaze darting in Lilia's direction. Taken aback, Lilia narrowly avoided detection, darting behind a massive tree in an instant. Her new body certainly outperformed her old human one in every aspect.

"Akari?" the agent inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"I've located the source; it's right by that tree," she declared, pointing to Lilia's hiding spot. "Get the talismans ready; we're going in."

The exorcist duo, clad in their respective secret agent and shrine maiden attire, made their way to the tree with purpose. The man, whose badge was now visible to Lilia, identified him as Agent Collins, carried a satchel that emitted the soft jingle of metal on metal, while the woman, clutched a set of intricately inscribed talismans.

"Remember, the incantation must be precise," The shrine maiden reminded her companion as they neared the tree. "We can't afford to botch the sealing ritual."

Collins grunted in response, his focus on the task at hand. "Just a nascent demon," he muttered under his breath. "Seems like an overkill for me."

They were a mere arm's length from the old oak when Lilia, overcome by a sudden impulse to clarify her eavesdropping, emerged from her hiding spot. "Wait!" she blurted out.

Akari and Collins whipped around, their expressions a mixture of shock and confusion. There, standing before them in an oversized coat over a pair of plain pyjamas, was a figure straight out of their field manual's section on demonic entities: a blue-skinned woman with horns and glowing violet eyes.

Collins, his hand frozen mid-reach toward his satchel of talismans, was the first to break the silence. "Who the fuck…"

Akari, her eyes still fixed on Lilia, blinked several times. "You're... not the tree."

Lilia's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a moment before her survival instincts kicked in. With a squeak that was equal parts embarrassment and fear, she pivoted on her heel and dashed away, her bare feet barely making a sound on the soft grass.

The exorcists stood motionless, staring after the retreating figure. It took a full ten seconds for them to regain their composure, their training not quite covering this particular scenario.

"Was that a succubus?" Collins finally asked, more to himself than to Akari.

Akari shook her head slowly, her fingers tapping against the stack of talismans she held. "Could be. But something's off. A succubus would have tried to charm us, not run-away in... pyjamas."

 

The two watched as Lilia's figure vanished into the distance, their mission momentarily forgotten.

"We should follow her," Collins suggested, but Akari held up a hand.

"No, let's deal with the tree first. We can't leave it half-exorcised. Then we'll regroup and track her down," she said, turning back to the oak with renewed determination.

Collins sighed but conceded the point. Together, they performed the simple exorcism ritual, their movements synchronized and their voices melding in an ancient chant. The tree seemed to sigh as the last of the talismans glowed and vanished, its dark energy dissipating harmlessly.

With the tree secured, the exorcists gathered their things. "We'll need to report this," Akari stated. "A fully formed demon, especially if it's a succubus, could be a threat if left unchecked."

"Yeah, the higher-ups will want to know about this," Collins agreed as they began walking towards their vehicle. "But hey, no casualties tonight, right?"

Akari nodded, her mind already racing with plans to safely contain or exorcise the mysterious demoness. "We'll prepare for a confrontation, but with caution. She didn't attack us, and that's a good sign. Maybe she's hasn't indulged in her desires yet."

"And let's hope she stays that way until we find her," Collins added, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips despite the gravity of the situation. "We'll come back later, lay some traps, and wait. She can't have gone too far."

As they reached their car, Akari paused and glanced back at the tree, then at the path Lilia had taken. "Stay safe until we return, miss succubus."

With their plan of action decided, they climbed into the vehicle and drove off, leaving the park in silence once more.

Lilia's heart pounded in her chest as she sprinted away from the exorcists, her feet barely touching the ground. The night air whipped through her silver hair, which streamed out behind her like a banner. Despite the force of her flight, she couldn't outrace the embarrassment that flushed her blue cheeks a deeper shade. She had been seen, confronted, and in a vulnerable state—clad in pyjamas that now felt ludicrously childish.

As the adrenaline began to ebb, Lilia's pace slowed. She stopped, panting, tucked away in the shadows of an alleyway. The reality of the situation settled upon her like a heavy cloak. Just hours ago, she was James, an ordinary student with nothing more to worry about than school tests and video games. Now, she was... what? A demon? She shook her head, trying to dispel the thought. She felt far from being a legendary battle mage. She was just... embarrassed.

Sneaking back home was a quiet, introspective journey. Lilia had to admit, the physical agility of this body was remarkable. She effortlessly leapt over fences and navigated backyards with a grace that James could never have managed. Yet, those feats were overshadowed by the mortification that clung to her like a second skin.

She reached her window, thankful for her room's ground-floor location, and slipped back inside. The familiarity of her room provided some solace, but the reflection in the mirror was a stark reminder that James' world had shifted on its axis. Taking a deep breath, Lilia shrugged off the coat and crawled into bed, feeling the softness of the sheets against her unfamiliar skin.

Sleep should have been elusive due to the noise she couldn't quite ignore, but somehow exhaustion won out. Her body felt perfectly fine, but the mental toll of the recent events dragged her into a deep sleep.

When morning light filtered through the curtains, it was James who groggily opened his eyes. He sat up, heart racing, and immediately checked his hands, his arms—his everything. He was himself again, unmistakably, undeniably James. A rush of relief flooded through him, so powerful it left him momentarily breathless.

He stumbled to the mirror, expecting at any moment to see Lilia's violet eyes staring back, but no, it was just him—James, with his mussed hair and bewildered blue eyes. He let out a laugh that was more hiccup than humour, a sound of pure, thankful release.

The first order of business was to check if anyone had noticed his strange absence or nocturnal activities. He crept to the door and listened. The house was quiet, his family still asleep. No sign of a disturbance. He was safe—for now.

But as he prepared for school, the memories of the night lingered. Lilia's senses, her agility and the exorcists—he couldn't dismiss them as mere dreams. It had all felt too real, too visceral. And what if it happened again?

With a new sense of caution, James dressed and readied himself for the day ahead. He needed to find out what happened to him, why it happened, and whether he could control it. But for the moment, he had to return to the routines of normal life and hope that Lilia's existence would remain a secret.