Black and White : Part 7 ~ Lilian ~ "Oi! look out the window Lily!" "What is it Sith?" I asked, getting out of bed. Suddenly I felt her paws on my head, waking me up. I walked towards the window, rubbing my eyes. "What?" "It's a transition! Holy kittens! Look, it's so cool!" "Calm down," I yawned, "It's only a transition. I've seen them about a dozen times already." "But it's so cool!" Sith meowed, "Plus it's a time transition! I can't believe I get to see something like that from inside this creepy mansion." "Hey, someone gave me this mansion. Don't offend it!" "Oh whatever. Just look at the transition!" I looked out the window as the scenery cracked and chipped away. Time transitions are pretty messy. Behind the cracks is the future in the human world I guess. The mansion is a magic home that's pretty rare. It can experience both time and location transitions. Time transitions are pretty hard to come across but I guess the mansion really is a valuable artifact to experience it six times already. As soon as the transition was over, I took one of the silver pocketwatches that I hung on the wall and opened it. It's currently 2010 in the human world. Wow, that's a pretty big time leap. "I wanna go out!" Sith cried. "No way, I'm sleepy," I yawned. "I wanna go out! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!" "Okay! fine we're going out!" I quickly changed and pulled out a purse from my drawer. I looked at the mirror. "Do you think I look human enough?" I asked Sith. "Uhm.... Nope!" "What do you mean? I checked the fashion of this time period and I'm wearing the things that they are!" "Trying sealing your energy." "I already am! I'm already wearing more than ten different seals! Can't you see all my earings bracelets and the ring around my neck?" "Really? You somehow have this... weird air around you." "Huh?" "You're uhh... how do I say this," Sith commented, "Too beautiful." "Haaa?" "You're too pretty!" "What the hell Sith?" "I get it now! You have this other-worldly presence. Your face is beautiful just like a doll's, you have fair skin and your eyes are practically sparkling. You're too pretty to be a human. You have a witch's traits." "Oh god," I groaned, "Then what?" Sith sat on the table for a while, thinking, her tail wagging slowly from side to side. "Why don't you wear a hoody?" "Hoody? what's that? Something with a hood? Won't I look like a reaper?" "No you moron," Sith sighed, "It's a human jacket style. It has a hood on it. It'll cover your face and skin. The weather in the human world right now doesn't seem to be especially hot so you should be okay." She pulled out my warp drawer and pulled out a red 'hoodie' thing and a pair of jeans. She threw them at me and I changed into them. Comfortable enough... "Now let's go," Sith said, biting and tugging the hem of my jeans. I followed her out. When we got out, we were up in the mountains. "How are we supposed to get down?" I asked. Sith sighed and tapped the floor with her paw and suddenly a portal opened. "I didn't know you could make portals." "I learned. Since I figured you'd turn into a shut in and you're too lazy to use magic, I learned from your classes." "Wow, you were listening to that long ass lecture? Oh well, at least my presence in class wasn't a total waste." "Yeah yeah. Now let's go! I wonder how much the human world has changed?" We stepped in the portal and walked straight to through the portal. When we found the exit, Sith jumped out. THUMP. Did I hear something? I peeked out the portal. The portal was high up in the air, above a tree. When I looked down, Sith was on the tree rolling over. I jumped down and landed on the ground beside the tree. "I knew there was something wrong with the portal." "Oh shut up," Sith said, jumping off the tree, "Where are we?" "Right, now that you mention it, I have no idea." I looked around. It looked like a park. There were benches and trees. I walked around the area with Sith following behind. We're probably still in Europe since the transition was time not location. Suddenly a girl bumped onto me. She had light blonde hair and blue eyes. There was a weird familiar smell on her. "ой, простите!" she said quickly before leaving. I translated her words to mean 'sorry'. "I think we're in Russia," I thought to Sith. We continued walking while speaking telepathically. "Did you notice anything weird about that girl just now?" I asked Sith. "You mean the smell?" she asked back. "Uhuh." "Of course, she's a Romanov." "Romanov? You mean the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov? it's been a while since I've visited them." "Yeah and they're all probably dead now." "Really?" "They're humans. They don't live very long." "Good point," I said, a little dissapointed, "It was fun though. The escape from the shooting part." "Are you serious? I never want to have to go through that again." "But we did save the family. Thank god we teamed up with Ilya. She can teleport faster than me. She's the best teleporter I know." "Anna gave you a hell load of jewels after that didn't she?" "Uhuh. A whole pillow of them. It was full of holes though. Bullet holes. We became good friends pretty quickly." "Alexei turned into one hell of a cutie didn't he?" Sith said, dreamily. "You're a cat you moron." "Sheesh what a way to crush a young maiden's dream." "Young maiden my ass." We continued walking until we reached the woods near the park. When I stepped inside, Sith jumped to my shoulder. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Baba Yaga. We're in Russia. We can't miss out going to Baba Yaga." "I hate that sorceress." "Don't be like that. She's really nice." "Well only to you. She almost threw me down a cliff!" "That was an accident. And you wouldn't have died even if you fell back then." Sith growled and I smiled. When I found a good spot, Sith jumped down and opened another portal. We walked through ot again until we found the exit. *SWISH* I caught a glimpse of a tomahawk as it landed beside me. "Holy shit! What the freak was that?" Sith said. "We're in Baba Yaga's woods alright." "She trying to kill us or something?" "No way. It's just a trap to get rid of tresspassers." I took out and opened my purse. I shoved my hand inside and quickly took out a broom. "You're gonna use a broom? Won't people notice that you're a witch?" "Relax. It's just merchandise broom. Not a real broom." I held it horizontally about the height of my waist and let go. It floated nicely. I hopped on it, putting my feet on both sides. Sith jumped down and sat on the edge of the broom in front of me. "If we fall, I'm gonna curse you to death," Sith mumbled. I smiled. "We won't," I reassured her, "Probably." Then the broom moved. It went up to the sky until we could see the castle. I tapped the side of the broomstick and it flew forward. "Whooooo!" I shouted excitedly. It's been a while since I last rode a broomstick. "If we fall..." Sith said, holding on to the broomstick tightly. "I know," I laughed as the adrenaline got to my head. When we got to the castle, I lowered the broom and landed in front of the front door. I jumped off and Sith jumped to my shoulder. I picked up the broomstick and shoved it back to my purse. "That purse looks pretty handy," Sith said, "I should buy one later." "You should," I agreed, "But warp purses are pretty expensive." I walked to the door with Sith on my shoulder. The door was gigantic. I'd say about 50 meters tall and 30 meters wide. I looked up. The air was fogged and there was mist everywhere. "Nick!" I shouted, "Please open the door!" I stood there, trying to pick up the sound. "Who is it," I heard a man's voice from the other side. "It's me," I answered, "Lilian. I came with Sith. Is Baba Yaga home?" "Yea she is," he said as the door creaked open, "Let me just open the door for you." I watched as the door slowly open. "Need a hand there?" I asked. "Yes please," I heard an answer from the other side. I went over to the corner of the door where there's a gap and put my hand in between the gap. The door was a meter thick. "Stop pushing Nick. You might fall," I said pulling the door. I held it with both hands and easily forced the door open. When I heard a rough laugh from inside, I went inside to find Nick. He stood there, four meters tall and laughing. "Long time no see Lily!" he said in a low and buff voice. I laughed. "Yep! It's been four years!" I said. "Only four years? I must've missed you a lot then." "Thanks," I said, hugging him. "Eww," I heard Sith say, "Get your hands off that Yeti. He stinks." "As grumpy as usual are you now, Sith?," Nick said, scratching his head. He has soft white fur all over and his green eyes glowed. "Be nice!" I told Sith and the Yeti laughed. "Do you need a ride to Baba Yaga's room?" he said gesturing at his shoulder. "Sure," I said, and he lifted me up, resting me on his shoulder. I felt Sith's claws on my shoulder. "I hate the Yeti," she mumbled to herself. "Wait a second," Nick said, "Let me close the door." Suddenly I heard an explosion on the other side as the door shut quickly. Nick turned and walked through the castle corridor slowly. "How is she?" I asked as Nick strolled along. He's going pretty fast with his long legs. "She's as beautiful as ever," Nick grinned, "Still very cheeky though, and don't forget active. She's been ordering me around since you disappeared on her." "You make it sound like I ran away," I smiled, "I got permission you know?" "Well believe it or not, the Baba Yaga loved you as if you were her own apprentice. She still worries about you. Sometimes she'd even try to spy on you through her mirror," Nick laughed, "You'd always catch her doing it though." "Oh, so those Vission Gaps were hers?" I said, a little surprised, "If I'd known I would've let it be." "You're pretty good at getting on people's good sides are you," Nick said interrogatively. I laughed. "It's not like I'm doing things to get on people's good sides. I'm pretty much always doing what comes to mind," I looked down, "Besides, I don't see the point in making strong people my enemy." "Ghahahaha!" Nick laughed, "How humble of you! Speaking as if you're a weakling! But you're very calculating! I like that about you!" "Thanks for the compliment I guess," I said, scratching my head. We walked and talked for about five minutes and finally arrived in front of Baba Yaga's door. I'm feeling kinda nostalgic. "Yaga! Lily's here to visit!" Nick shouted, and the door creaked open. It was just big enough for Nick to fit in, so he put me down before going in. I went inside after him with Sith on my shoulder. The room was bright, full of potions and experiments. Light shone through the large window on the side. "What does the ungrateful brat that I raised want with me?" I heard a familiar voice. I looked to my right and found her standing with her back towards me on her experiment. She has wavy golden hair that reached far down to the floor, spreading everywhere, almost like Rapunzel. It was beautifully groomed as usual. "Hi! I'm here to visit you and maybe help out on something here," I said cheerfully. She turned around, and when she did the light shone at her, revealing a face far more beautiful than any that all mankind has every seen in the past millenia. She's the witch who abandoned her race and fled to the human world. The humans who told her tale described her as wretched and old. Apparently she was so beautiful that the human mind can't handle it so it created a horrid image as replacement. "Help? Thanks to you leaving, I've lost a valuable errand runner who could basically do anything!" she said said grumpily, "After all the time I spent raising you, in the end you left without hesitation! Now you come back to see me after four years! Know your place!" "Hahaha, well I'm currently in hiding. But then a time transition happened. So we decided to visit." "Time transition? You do remember that this place has an Absolute Time right? You could've visited from the past and the time here would still be the same as if you visit in the future. The time in this castle goes by my years not the humans." "Yeah, well... I couldn't actually figure out that this was Russia until the transition so, yeah." "How laughable! For the magician I raised to be so clueless!" she said haughtily. I just smiled at her snide remarks. After three years of staying as her stand-in apprentice, I've long grown immune to them. "So? What did you come here for?" she asked again, this time with serious tone. "Nothing. I only came to visit," I replied, smiling. Well I hadn't expected less from the Millenia Alchemist. She's smarter than most. Her lips formed an amused smile. Then she looked at Nick. "You can leave now, Nicholas," she said to him. He looked startled for a moment, then he quietly left, closing the door behind him. "I don't think it's wise to use the Gift so leisurely," I said after he left. Baba Yaga laughed. "You can still amuse me even after all this time," She laughed, "Well little witch, I don't think that it's wise to tell me what to do. So, what do you need from me girl?" "I want you to make me a Memory Potion," I replied. No point hiding it now. Sith clawed at my shoulder. I almost forgot that she was there for a second. She looked at me, her eyes dead serious. "Memory Potion? Did I hear wrong? You and I both know very well that Memory Alteration is strictly forbidden," she replied, turning her back on me to continue what she was doing, "Many have suffered from this ability. Even the spell is forbidden, what do you think would happen if a potion was made? Potions are tools for people who cannot cast spells. Even the weakest of Zeroes can use the potion. Things can go very bad for someone if it falls to the wrong hands." "Are you saying that you can't make one?" I tried. "Taunts don't work on me, if you haven't figured that out yet." "Ah well, I tried," I said, "So what would it take for you to make it for me?" "I won't make it," she said shortly. Well there's no way I can change her mind now that she decided. "What if I talk to Triglav?" I offered, "I'll talk to him and tell him to tell you my oracle." "Huh?" she said, looking over to me. I could tell that she was interested. Nothing interests her more than oracles. She's always been especially interested in mine. "Please," I said, "I won't tell anyone that you were the one who made it. Just this once. I'll never ask you to do anything for me again." "Hmph, and I suppose this is for the boy whom you care so dearly for?" she asked. "Yes it is," I said bitterly, "I want him to forget all about me." "And what good does that do for you?" "Nothing. But it will keep him away from danger." "What makes you think that this would end well?" "I-I don't have much time left," I answered. I could feel Sith grip my shoulder. I haven't told her about it. It's no surprise that she'd be angry. "Hm?" Baba Yaga looked at me suspiciously, "And why exactly is that?" I bit me lower lip, "You already know why." She laughed, "Why don't you go to the oracle first and make sure? Don't go deciding things on your own, silly girl." I looked at her. Does this mean she'll do this for me? "Well? What are you waiting for? Go to Triglav, and I'll make sure the boy won't remember a thing about you by the time you come back." "I understand!" I replied immediately, "Thank you!" I turned around to leave the room. "Lilian!" Baba Yaga called, just as I was about to open the door, "Are you sure you want this? It would hurt you deeply if he were to forget you." "Yes it would," I replied, looking back at her, "But it would hurt me most if he were to suffer because of me." "I understand," she smiled gently, "Indeed you are different than the rest of your kind." "Does that make me similar to you?" I asked. Her expresion softened. "Perhaps," she replied, "Now go and use my Portal Chamber, it'll save time. Remember what you promised me. I will be expecting your payment in due time." I nodded and left the room. "I hate you so much right now," Sith said after we left, "You're gonna get it from me later."