《My Shapeshifting Life》Chapter 11
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"You escaped from a United State's prison, and decided to flee to Europe? Would you explain more in-depth for our viewers, Ms. Lilith?" An obviously excited reporter asked her. She sipped tentatively at the drink in her hands, ignoring him for the moment.
They'd obviously accepted her request to carry her over to the mainland, but in exchange, they'd asked (begged) her to let them interview her first. Obviously, they were quite desperate for the prestige it would bring.
She spit out the drink, grimacing. Eating and drinking, as well as sleeping, had become more or less impossible. Sure, she could put stuff into her stomach, but it felt incredibly unpleasant.
Coughing slightly, she turned back to the camera. "Sorry, sorry. Ah, no. It wasn't really a prison, more of a containment camp. It wasn't bad, actually. They gave me a pretty nice room, allowed me restricted access to the internet, and generally treated me well and with respect. Although, I did overhear that they wanted to try and find some way to control me through the experiments I'd willingly cooperated with. It was what led me to decide to break out." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head, fingers brushing against her wings.
They felt new and awkward, but she loved them anyway. She hadn't yet had the chance to soar the skies, but she already knew she was going to love it.
"Oh my. What sort of experiments? Was it anything... juicy?" The reporter asked as the cameraman brought his tool even closer to her face. She gently yet firmly pushed him back, regaining her personal space.
"No, not really. They tore up my chest and belly to see what happened when I used my powers, shot me a bit to see how well I could respond, and ran a bunch of other tests I didn't bother asking about. Fun stuff, really." She lazily said as she walked away deeper into the helicopter, looking for somewhere to sit out the rest of the ride.
She hummed slightly, frowning a bit when the reporter and cameraman continued to follow her. They'd left behind the fancy-looking yet very much incumbent camera set behind, instead opting to take a smaller set that the cameraman could carry.
"Holy macaroni! They tore open your stomach and looked inside you? That sounds quite gruesome!" The reporter exclaimed, looking torn between being delighted and grossed out.
"Haha, no, no. It really wasn't gruesome at all. I've long since shut off my sense of pain, and in the first place, I could be chopped into a million pieces and be perfectly fine. My powers make it quite hard to kill me, you see." She laughed.
"Oh? May you grace our viewers with a little show of these so-called 'powers'?" He exclaimed. Lilith lifted an eyebrow, shifting her bored gaze from the camera to the reporter.
"Didn't you get a nice visual before? You know, what with the giant snake and all?" She asked. The man laughed slightly, his face turning a bit awkward.
"Uh... Yeah, but I'm sure the viewers would love a little, more family-friendly, demonstration." He explained. Lilith rolled her eyes before lazily lifting an arm.
The fake clothing on her arm was re-absorbed into her skin, allowing her pale arm to shine through. She could easily make it as dark as the night, but she preferred the vampire-look coloring. Did that make her a racist? Maybe. She certainly didn't believe so, especially considering her powers.
As she lazily thought over mundane things like those, she easily allowed her flesh to do its thing. It shifted and writhed a bit for drama's sake before rising out of her arm, forming three finger-sized Liliths. The cameraman aw'd and ooh'd all through the spectacle, staring with starry eyes at the little Liliths on their creator's arm.
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They waved their little hands, flashing three tiny yet cheeky grins before being absorbed back into Lilith's main body. "Impressed? Good. Go bother someone else. I wanna be alone for a bit." She said before closing her eyes and returning to her thoughts.
In truth, she was just getting a bit of stage-fright. She knew perfectly well that there must have been quite a lot of people on the other side of the camera, and to be honest, she was already starting to doubt her earlier thoughts about wanting to be a celebrity.
Thankfully, the paparazzi crew seemed to have been placated for now as they shut off the camera after a quick outro. The two men quickly thanked her for her time before skedaddling to another side of the helicopter, off to do whatever it was that paparazzi did.
It was only an hour later that the first reporter, the one she'd saved, came back to himself. The first thing he did upon returning to the land of the living was, predictably, to throw himself at Lilith's feet, thanking her with tears practically free-falling from his eyes.
"Uh... Yeah... You're welcome? Please refrain from touching my wings like that." She awkwardly said as the man hugged her tightly, his hands occasionally brushing her newest additions. The man laughed openly, separating from her.
She eyed the man warily, feeling a bit put out by how touchy he'd just acted. She understood and accepted his gratitude towards her, but considering her slowly growing pride and, if she was to be honest with herself, arrogance, she wouldn't easily accept being manhandled like that.
She shook her head, clearing her mind of her slightly darker thoughts. Different people had different ways to express their gratitude, and she could respect that.
Two hours later, they finally reached their destination. Lilith had been entertaining herself by staring out the window and gazing at the ocean, which admittedly, hadn't been quite as nice as scrolling through a phone.
Still, she could deal with that. She continued to gaze curiously out the window as a man she hadn't spoken to yet approached her. She looked up at him, causing him to fidget from her mere gaze alone.
"Ms. Lilith, we've arrived. We're at the French coastal city of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a beautiful little city. There are a few envoys waiting for you, with many more rushing over. I heard that the Archangel is also awaiting your arrival."
Lilith's gaze sharpened as her eyes abruptly focused on his own, causing the man to gulp. "You... Hm. Just know that if there is any sort of trap, American or not, I won't hesitate to use deadly force to escape, and as I already threatened, I have no problem offering my services to any enemy of whichever state decided attacking me is in their best interest."
The man looked stunned for a second before turning flabbergasted. His mouth opened and closed, no words able to leave from it. Finally, after clearing his throat and taking a few seconds to regain his composure under Lilith's quite intense glare, he answered back.
"Uh... I see. I do not know if this is a trap or not, Ms. Lilith, I'm just a co-pilot..." He nervously said, trailing off as Lilith's gaze turned elsewhere.
"Yes... I suppose you are. My apologies, you're not the person I should get mad at even if it is a trap." She sighed after a few moments. She wasn't really angry in the first place, but she'd felt the need to drive the point home. Now, though, after thinking about it for a little bit, she quickly realized that she'd acted quite foolishly.
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Still, she meant what she said. If they were driving her right into a trap, she wouldn't hesitate to whip out a several kilometers tall titan form and lay waste to the entire city if need be. She highly doubted they, or anyone for that matter, could really stop her from escaping if she pulled out all stops.
Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, dismissing her increasingly cynical thoughts. They wouldn't be dumb enough to pull a stunt like that when she was fairly sure every country was watching, right? The negative reaction alone that such a thing would cause should dissuade them from trying, not to mention the fact she'd already easily escaped another country.
Oh well. She glanced out the window, seeing the quickly approaching land as the helicopter neared its landing area. With but a thought, she sharpened her gaze to one a thousand times more focused then an eagle's, staring at where she was fairly sure the aircraft would land, if the big, white H was of any indication as well as all the people surrounding it.
There were a few obviously wealthy people there, and by wealthy, she was fairly sure they were the 0.01% level of wealth. Along with them was an entire slew of reporters and cameraman lining the sides. She also spotted a few relatively famous politicians that she faintly recognized, most of them she'd only seen in passing while scrolling the internet.
However, the person who drew almost all of her attention was an extremely tall and muscular middle-aged man. Eight pure white wings very much different from hers sprouted from his open back, and considering the golden halo that shined brightly upon his head, it was difficult not to recognize what he was.
The extremely handsome man's face lifted upward, his eyes staring straight into her own. Despite the difference, both parties could easily meet their eyes.
The angel in question let out a neutral smile, nodding once. Startled out of her examination, Lilith gave a small smile in return. She dearly hoped the man knew English since she had a few questions for him.
She tore her eyes off of her fellow metahuman, instead looking at the co-pilot that was standing awkwardly some distance from her.
"Any idea when we'll arrive?" The man flinched at her question before catching himself. He coughed awkwardly into his hand, "Uh, yeah, we should land within the next ten minutes..."
Giving a lazy grunt as an answer, Lilith rose to her feet, impatient. She headed over to the now-closed exit of the helicopter, swinging the door open and allowing a rush of air to come into the aircraft. There was an outraged cry from the pilot in his cabin as the helicopter abruptly slowed down to prevent anyone from being thrown out.
"What are you doing?!" The co-pilot screamed as he held onto a solid surface for dear life, Lilith glanced back at him, revealed a smile filled with inhuman teeth and jumped out.
Her wings extended and expanded, the reinforced flesh easily suspending her body in the air. She'd decreased her body weight before jumping out, and she knew for a fact her wings were strong and resilient, so she had no worries despite this being the first time she'd attempted this.
She savored the feeling for a few more moments before shooting forward at ten times the speed of the helicopter, easily arriving at the large, white H in less than a dozen seconds. She grinned at the stunned men and women around her, enjoying the attention she was receiving.
"Hello. My name is Lilith." She said in French, her accent shining through quite harshly. The people around her quickly recovered from her shock while the paparazzi crews practically salivated as their cameras all pointed at her.
One of the most opulent-looking men in the crowd stepped forward towards Lilith, but before he could do anything, the angel stepped forward, crossing the distance between him and the shapeshifter in a single step.
His face was akin to that of a Greek god, and Lilith allowed herself a moment to appreciate the sight before focusing back on his eyes. He held the same smile as before, a perfectly neutral turn of the lips.
"Greetings, sister. I have waited for your arrival for a long time. May the Supreme bless our meeting." The angel spoke, his voice ethereal enough that it made Lilith blink for a bit, trying to adapt to his strangely human yet inhuman voice.
"Ah, yes... Greetings? You speak English?" She asked hopefully and a bit awkwardly. The man's smile didn't change, but Lilith could somehow tell that it had become a bit warmer.
"I speak all the languages under the Supreme One's creations. The English language does not evade the Supreme's oversight." He spoke, causing Lilith's hopes to be immediately thrown into the toilet and flushed away.
A religious fanatic. Great.
Oh well. It kind of made sense with the whole angel look, and besides, even she was beginning to question her atheistic beliefs as of late.
"No, my sister. Worship means little to the Supreme, for Its desires are not something our puny minds will ever be able to comprehend. I am a mere pawn in the greater game, here to guide the lambs of this planet." The angel spoke, causing Lilith's eyes to immediately sharpen as they focused on him.
"Mind reading? Impressive." She spoke, voice turning a bit colder. Her body was practically immortal, but as far as she could tell, her mind might very well be her weak point.
She didn't know why she suddenly felt so endangered. The man had done nothing to harm her, and yet, her mind was already churning out ideas to counter anything thrown at her.
"Aah, do not worry, my sister. I was gifted with many, many abilities by the Supreme. However, unlike your own gifts, I was also given greater responsibilities. Your own task will be made known soon enough, sister. I will also gladly help you shatter the weaknesses imposed on you, if it may lead you to trust me."
Lilith blinked, taking in his words. She relaxed her stance, forcing herself to calm down. She stole a peek at the people around her, eyes twitching when she noticed how many of them looked quite confused as they stared at the two metahumans.
"I merely prevented these lambs from overhearing us, sister. Worry not, nothing of harm will befall them from my hands, not unless the Supreme wills it." The angel said. Lilith glanced back at him, forcing a smile to appear on her face before heading over to the awkward-looking man who'd tried to greet her.
Out of all the metahumans she'd met so far, not that she'd met many, this guy easily took the first spot for the weirdest one. Still, he didn't seem too bad, so she could tolerate him
Sighing, she extended her hand to the man in front of her. Time to face the music, as they say.
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