Lilia: A New Dawn

Akari sat at her desk, staring at the open report on her computer screen with a conflicted frown. The cursor blinked accusingly, as if mocking her hesitation to submit the document detailing the recent mission abroad with Lilia.

With a weary sigh, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, massaging her temples against the impending headache. Ever since returning from Europe, she had been wrestling with a crisis of faith regarding the enigmatic Lilia.

By all logic, Akari should despise and distrust the horned woman without question. Ever since her life was upturned by a succubus, she always harboured a fierce loathing of demons, succubi in particular. Even after countless missions as an agent, occasionally involving reasonable supernatural beings, Akari's ingrained prejudice persisted.

Yet somehow, against all reason, this particular demoness stirred conflict within her. After their first tense encounter, Lilia had defied Akari's assumptions at every turn - showing restraint, selflessness, and compassion highly atypical for her kind.

Initially, Akari had clung fiercely to the belief it was all an elaborate act, a beguiling facade to conceal the cruel monster lurking beneath. But as their uneasy alliance progressed, glimmers of sincerity had begun piercing the fortress of Akari's cynicism.

The more she observed Lilia, the more something rang true in her words and actions. As much as Akari hated to admit it, she was starting to believe the outlandish claim that Lilia had once been an ordinary human boy named James. Absurd as it seemed, no other explanation adequately accounted for the jarringly humanlike behaviour Akari glimpsed in the demoness.

Which brought Akari to her current dilemma - how much to reveal in the official mission report. Bureau protocols dictated she include every pertinent detail about the unapproved detour to London and Lilia's mystical communing with the relic. Yet after Lilia's show of trust, Akari somehow couldn't bring herself to break Lilia's trust.

Frustrated at her own conflicted loyalty, Akari opened her eyes and glared at the unfinished document. She only had to press "Send" and the report would be on its way to her superior officer for review.

Chewing her lip, Akari deleted the portion summarizing the London visit and Lilia's contact with the relic Vigil. The report was sparse but contained adequate high-level details without exposing Lilia's unauthorized activities. Before she could second-guess herself again, Akari quickly clicked "Send" and sat back with a shaky exhale. Right or wrong, the choice was made now.

Pushing away from her desk, Akari headed out of the office to clear her conflicted thoughts. Maybe some fresh air would help restore her usual composure. But as she made her way downstairs, Akari found her feet carrying her instead to Agent Collins' private office.

Of all the people in her life, Collins was the one she trusted without reservation. The man who had saved her from a horrific tragedy and devoted himself to her care for years after. Surely, he could help reconcile her reeling doubts.

Raising a hand to knock, Akari was startled when the door suddenly swung open. Collins stood in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically flustered. His jacket was askew, hair mussed as if he had been raking his hands through it.

"Akari! Thank heavens, I was just coming to find you," Collins exclaimed. Before Akari could respond, alarms began blaring loudly throughout the building. Red emergency lights flashed as a stern voice came over the intercom.

"Priority threat alert! All senior field agents report to Briefing Room 3 immediately. I repeat, immediate assembly for briefing on Priority Threat."

Akari and Collins exchanged a startled look as the alert message repeated several times. Around them, agents scrambled to respond to the emergency summons.

"We'd better get moving," Collins said tersely, sliding on his suit jacket and securing his gear belt. Together, they swiftly made their way through the controlled chaos toward the briefing room specified. Akari's pulse quickened, wondering what dire situation could have triggered such an urgent call to action.

The briefing room was already filled with New Atlantis Bureau of Control's most senior agents, grim-faced and prepped for action. At the front of the room, a screen displayed disturbing security footage - some kind of spatial tear with a blond man emerging, followed by the abduction of whoever had been unlucky enough to encounter him first.

As Akari and Collins slipped into seats near the front, the Bureau Chief - a severe woman in her 60s - stepped forward to address the assembled agents. She tapped the frozen image of the mysterious man.

"Approximately thirty minutes ago, this unidentified hostile breached spatial fabric near Downtown Plaza, absconding with the low rank hero known as Ace."

Murmurs swept the seated agents at this revelation. The Chief raised a hand, silencing the room. "The abductor displayed abilities far exceeding any known supers. Our priority is investigating the anomaly, locating and retrieving Bellamy safely comes second."

She began assigning tactics and search zones, pairing each senior agent with a team. Finally, the Chief's gaze turned sternly to Akari and Collins.

"You two are our most experienced field operatives and have extensive knowledge of otherworldly threats. Head to the plaza and analyse the breach site for any clues on the hostile force we're dealing with."

Akari and Collins stood quickly. "Understood ma'am!" Moving briskly, they headed for the parking garage and Collins' unmarked black sedan, bound for Downtown Plaza. As the car screeched onto the street, sirens wailing, Akari tightened her grip on her concealed talismans, bracing for whatever unknown enemy awaited them.

 

 

James stretched with a content sigh as he and his friends left the school building, the final bell having just rung. While part of him was eager to continue their magical training, the thought of simply hanging out and relaxing was also quite appealing after a long day of classes.

"So, are we heading to your place again to study those ancient tomes, or should we do something more fun?" Nathan asked eagerly as they walked.

James chuckled at his energetic friend's obvious preference. "Actually, I was thinking we could just chill out somewhere and take it easy today." He paused before adding, "But I did want to show you guys something I brought back from my trip."

Alex and Mia exchanged curious looks as James rummaged through his backpack, finally pulling out the ornate leatherbound tome gifted by Vigil.

"Whoa, is that some kind of magic spellbook?" Nathan asked, leaning in for a closer look.

"Sort of, this belonged to none other than Merlin himself," James replied. "It's a compendium of his magical knowledge across many subjects."

"Whoa, shut up!" Nathan exclaimed. "Merlin as in THE Merlin? From all the legends?"

"James, where on earth did you find something like this?" Mia asked in astonishment.

"Remember that trip abroad I mentioned?" James then quickly summarized finding the tome during his overseas mission, leaving out the more unbelievable details. His friends listened raptly, clearly fascinated yet bewildered that James had come to possess such a mythical book.

"Do you think it really contains any valuable knowledge?" Alex asked once James had finished his account.

"Only one way to find out." He placed his hands on the tome, trying to open it. However, the book remained firmly shut no matter how hard he tugged on the cover.

"That's weird...it was open before," James muttered with a frown.

A thought struck him. When he read it last time, he had been in Lilia's form. Perhaps the magic sealing the book responded only to her?

"Let me try something real quick," James said and swiftly triggered his transformation into Lilia causing his friends to jump in surprise.

"Dude, a little warning next time!" Nathan exclaimed, though there was no real annoyance in his tone.

"Whoops, sorry about that," Lilia chuckled sheepishly. "Had to test a theory."

She again grasped the tome, channelling a trickle of mana into it. Sure enough, the book easily swung open this time. Lilia's hunch had been right - the compendium seemed to respond to Lilia in specific. Curious why Vigil would impose such a restriction, but she realized that he most likely didn't want anyone else to access the tome.

"It worked!" Mia exclaimed, scooting closer to try and glimpse the pages. But strangely, they appeared blank to her eyes.

"That's weird...all the pages are empty," she said with a puzzled frown.

Lilia realized that the magic that prevented others from opening the tome made it so that only she could view the tome's contents.

"You're right, it must be enchanted so only I can read it," she mused. "No doubt another safeguard put in place by its creator."

"Hmm, it seems I'll have to transcribe or read the information out loud for you all to benefit from it," Lilia mused.

She began carefully turning the ancient parchment pages, skimming through Merlin's elegant handwritten entries. The compendium covered a vast array of subjects ranging from fundamental magical theory to topics well beyond Lilia's current skill level. But she soon found a section devoted to the underlying principles of spellcasting.

"Here we go, looks like these parts focus on magical fundamentals," Lilia explained to her friends. "Things like sensing and shaping mana, various techniques and so on, way better explained than in the notebook we used so far. Could be helpful for improving shellwork."

Mia's eyes lit up eagerly. "That sounds perfect!"

Meanwhile, Alex peered over Lilia's shoulder futilely at the cryptic tome. "Man, wish we could actually read it."

"Man, this magic stuff sounds cool and all, but can we get some food now?" he complained. "I'm starving after sitting through all those boring classes."

That reminded Lilia that Nathan had been with them the whole time. She'd gotten so absorbed in examining Merlin's compendium that she'd momentarily forgotten her energetic friend was there too.

"You're right, we should grab a bite to eat," Lilia laughed. She closed the tome and moved it to the side.

"Ooh, let's go to WacDolans!" Nathan suggested eagerly. "I'm craving some fries and a chocolate shake right now."

Mia made a face. "Ugh, that place? Their food is so greasy."

"Aw come on, you're no fun," Nathan shot back playfully. "Alex, you'll come with me, right buddy?"

Alex held up his hands. "Hey, don't drag me into this debate." Though the amused twinkle in his eyes made his preference clear.

Lilia chuckled at their banter. "Alright alright, WacDolans it is. But only because I don't want Nathan whining all afternoon."

"Yes!" Nathan cheered, pumping his fist. "Let's get going then, slowpokes."

He started off down the street at a brisk pace. With a shared laugh, the rest of the group hurried after their impetuous friend. Lilia tucked Merlin's mysterious tome securely into her shadow before joining them. There would be time to study its arcane knowledge later. For now, she was content to simply enjoy some light-hearted time with her friends.

 

Soon the brightly lit fast food joint came into view. Nathan made a beeline for the counter to place an order big enough to feed a small army. The others followed at a more sedate pace, though Mia continued to complain at the grease-laden menu.

But despite her complaints, soon they were all sitting at a booth happily munching on fries, burgers and milkshakes. Nathan somehow managed to polish off his giant pile of food before the rest of them were even halfway done.

"So, find anything cool in that book yet?" Nathan asked Lilia between voracious bites. "Any secret spells or something?"

Lilia dipped a fry in ketchup as she considered the question. "Honestly, I've just skimmed the basics so far. But I'm sure there is much we could learn from it."

"I will need to transcribe parts of it though," she added.

"That's probably for the best," Alex remarked seriously. "Don't want you turning into some all-powerful mage while the rest of us still can barely cast a few spells."

Mia snorted at that. "Please, she is already basically a superpowered magic goddess compared to us." She smiled teasingly across the table. "We'll be lucky if we can even manage to reach her current level after months of practice."

"Hey hey, let's have some more confidence in ourselves," Lilia said supportively. "With enough dedication, I know you're both capable of great things, magic or otherwise."

"Exactly, you just gotta keep working hard," Nathan declared through a mouthful of burger. "Maybe you guys can figure out a way to teach me some magic too thanks to that book."

The conversation drifted to more light-hearted topics as they finished their food. Plans were tentatively made to meet up again for more magical study sessions over the weekend.

As they exited the restaurant, Lilia felt her phone buzz with an incoming call. She fished the device from her pocket and saw Akari's name on the screen. Odd that the normally stoic girl would call out of the blue like this.

"You guys go on ahead, I need to take this," Lilia said apologetically.

"No problem, we'll see you tomorrow," Mia replied as the trio of boys waved and started off down the street.

Taking a deep breath, Lilia answered the call. "Hello Akari, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she greeted politely.

"Lilia, I'm afraid we have an emergency situation that requires your attention," came Akari's stern voice without preamble.

Lilia's gaze sharpened, previous light-heartedness evaporating. "What happened?"

"A violent spatial tear has opened near downtown, and an extremely dangerous entity emerged," Akari explained urgently. "It abducted a young hero before we could respond. Collins and I are already there investigating. But I think there is something that I need to show you in person."

"What do you mean," Lilia breathed. "And where do I meet you?"

"We've cordoned off the intersection of Pine Street and 7th," Akari instructed briskly.

Lilia's blood ran cold at the ominous implications in Akari's words. This was no ordinary request if it had Akari actually requesting her aid. "I'm on my way," she confirmed tersely before ending the call and breaking into a swift jog toward the location specified.

While navigating the busy city streets, Lilia's mind raced with possibilities of what could be important enough to warrant Akari's cryptic urgency. Had one of the mythical Blades awakened? Something connected to Endless Fantasy again? Lilia quickened her pace, muscles coiled in anticipation of the unknown awaiting her.