Liliac’s Nightmare

By: ARTgazer12

The young leader’s mind rushed to everything that just happened in the short couple of seconds. She met two of High Roller’s flunkies, found out that the Eagle King, Maya’s father, was the one to cut off her father’s arms,  she accidentally harmed the only one she considered a sister, and then ran away. But now, she ran into something new. Liliac was still uptaken by this “Heaven” creature. His appeared seemed normal enough, but something about him caused Liliac’s spine to shutter. The deer came close, VERY CLOSE, to Liliac’s face. “I will ask again…” he spoke, “What is your wish?”

“Y-You can actually grant wishes?” she managed to say. The deer answered her with a simple nod. The young human slowly sat back up, wiping her eyes full of tears. “And…i-it will come true?”

“That depends…” Heaven spoke as he walked around her. “Wishes are difficult. I cannot guess what your wish is, and I cannot judge what wish you make. You must decide on how specific you want your wish…” However the real truth was being held from her. The deer’s smile was slightly uncomfortable, but Liliac was too busy being lost in thought. Wishing for her father back would be pointless; High Roller could capture him again and that would leave all of his teammates still captured. Wishing for all of them freed would not solve the problem either. The only thing that could fix everything is if High Roller never went into power. But to be safe, she decided to think a bit bigger. “Okay Heaven” she spoke, “I’m ready to make my wish.”

The human looked concerned to the deer, even more than before. His eyes now looked like black voids and more red liquid, possibly blood, was coming out. “YeS…?”

Liliac took this aside, closed her eyes and took in a breath. “I wish that High Roller and all of his allies never came into power.” The human smiled and opened her eyes, but she screamed. Heaven no longer looked like what he came to her as. Blood was gushing out of his eye sockets and mouth. From his mouth were two long pink tendrils, also soaking in blood. At the ends of each of these tendrils were possibly his eyes. The two tendrils twisted around, but the eyes were looking on each side of Liliac. The human felt her foot was wet. She looked down and once again screamed. Heaven’s fallen blood was beginning to pool under her and slowly rise up. She attempted to run, but the blood began to form tendrils and encase her, snagging her legs. The blood continued to rise and snag, getting every part of her body. His blood formed a cocoon around her. She could only hear a few last words. “YoU’Re wISh…iS gRaNTeD!”

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It was unknown how long she stayed in the blood red void. But, soon the light of day broke through. The young human sat up, shaking off what blood there was on her. “What…happened…?” Then, all at once, the memories came back. “My wish!” She stood up and looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed in this area. She checked her belongings, everything was the same. “How can I tell if it really worked…?”

The only thing Liliac could do was wander around, looking for any clues to the confirmation of her wish. As she walked, Liliac’s mind began to wander; what kind of paradise did Hidden Kingdom become? High Roller was the main cause of everyone’s suffering, not just hers. Chusi’s father, the past Snake King, would probably still be alive, as would be for the past Sheep Queen. Her teammates, the twins and Scale Gray, would have their parents back. A lot of things could be changed for the better with High Roller gone. Pretty soon, the young leader heard and felt the presence of another coming. She looked ahead, seeing two figures approaching. Thinking quickly, she ducked into a nearby tree. She waited as she watched the two come closer. The human’s eyes widened as they came into view. They were two animals, a Liger and a Rabbit. Their color schemes were very different, but she recognized who they were once they spoke. “I’m telling you I smelled blood out here!” the Liger spoke. “The sweet scent never escapes me…”

“Jackal, you really need to stop going after every scent” the rabbit spoke.

“You mean like how you go after vegetables every time you smell them Ulyssa?”

“Hey! They’re delicious!”

The human jumped down from the tree and headed towards them. “Raya! Jade Claw!” The two animals turned in surprise. The Liger did not even smell the human, let alone saw her. “I can’t believe you guys are here!” She hugged the liger, awaiting the return of it. However, the hug was not returned. Instead, she was shoved to the ground with loud growls ringing in her ears. The human looked up with wide eyes.

“YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH HUMAN?!” the Liger snarled.

“But” the gray-haired girl spoke, “But we’re friends…”

“Friends with a human?” the rabbit questioned, “You must have fallen on your head.”

Liliac was so confused. They were Raya and Jade Claw, but they looked so different. And High Roller never took power, so, why did they hate humans? Her answer would have to wait, for there was now a crater right beside her head. The human subconsciously dodged a punch from the new Jade Claw. “Don’t question her, KILL HER!” He let loose a stream of flames right onto Liliac. She backflipped out of the way, but her clothing was slightly singed. Now the human knew this could not be the real Jade Claw; he was never this violent.

“You miss, my turn!” She was alerted from behind just before Raya rushed in. Liliac was knocked back against the tree she hid in before. Raya was jump roping, her being suspended inside the jump rope itself. Liliac was stunned; she had never seen that trick before, let alone Raya. The rabbit charged again. Liliac needed to protect herself. She pulled out her staff and swung it, however, she took more recoil than Raya. The shocked human tried it again, but again, she bounced back more as Raya never budged an inch. The rabbit looked pleased, “Keep doing that, it’s funny.”

Liliac backed away, “H-How can I beat you two?”

They now stood aside each other, sharing an equal stare of evil, “YOU CAN’T.” The human fell back as they approached, scuttling across the ground on her back. Her eyes were wide and her pupils shook. Sweat ran down her back and face. Liliac had never been this scared in her entire life. Her mind wondered how it could be any worse. That was, until she heard the flapping of wings. Something landed behind her, and before she could see what it was, the figure gave her a swift hit to the head. The human passed out on the ground. “Maya!” the liger roared, “You always ruin our fun!”

The eagle looked to them with a stern eye. “You two never follow any orders properly. This human needs to be brought to our Master, so I suggest you do it now. Before I decided to take it into my own hands.” She glared at them, “And we both know what will happen if that happens…” The liger and rabbit quickly went to her order and grabbed Liliac, rushing off to their master’s fortress. Maya simply flapped her wings once for a straight takeoff.

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The human felt herself in the void of unconsciousness. She could only get bits and pieces of what was happening in the outside world. The human felt like she was moving, a few voices rung through. She needed to wake up, she demanded that her body woke up. The bright light of life blinded her for a few seconds before her eyes adjusted. She was being dragged by Jade Claw, or at least the Jade Claw lookalike. Now under a new light, Liliac got to see the changes. Jade Claw’s markings were completely different, appearing more slash marks than the memorable curves he had. Speaking of curves, his figure seemed more feminine, but his voice was still male. The human would question that for later. Heavy black marks were around his eyes, and the ring on his mouth had two weighted pieces dangling from it.

Liliac turned her head, seeing “Raya” hopping beside them. Raya’s fur was much darker, her body pattern looked like clothing for some strange reason. One of the most noticeable features was this giant black spot over her right eye, making her appear as if she had a black eye. Every other feature about her was just about the same.

Then, Liliac saw who knocked her out. Maya walked with a high level of pride and had a steely gaze. Liliac no longer saw kindness in her eyes. Black markings covered Maya from head to toe. There was a noticeable scar on her chest, but other than that she was the same. “Emperor Truly…” the trio spoke with a bow.

The human looked ahead, only to double take on what she just saw. Sitting on a throne was Ape Truly. Only, he was dressed in different clothes. He wore fine silk robes colored with bits of gold and green. Ape Truly wore a bright round mask, looking very human, and a glittering crown of gold adorned his head. He looked down, “Diamond Tail Jackal, Uylssa, you only brought me a simple human?”

“This human tried to attack two of our own” Maya answered. “We know your rules of humans.”

“Commander!” Everyone in the room was surprised to hear this. Liliac spoke again, “Commander, what’s going on? Why are y-”

“SILENCE!” The booming voice shocked the young human girl. Truly got up from his throne and walked down the stairs. The gaze he gave the human girl was unsettling, sending chills down her spine just by making eye contact. Truly grabbed the girl by the back of her hair, very roughly. He twisted her neck back then brought his face close to her, “Listen once human, and listen good. I am not “Commander Ape Truly.” I am EMPEROR Truly. Emperor, as in, ruler of you and every one of your kind. I have no idea how you know of that old name, but, you will NEVER speak that name EVER AGAIN.” He yanked her head back, pulling hard on her hair, “DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?”

Liliac wanted to nod but could not; the Emperor’s hand made that impossible. “Y-Y-Yes your highness!” she managed to stutter out. With the proper request, she was released. The human’s head dropped, hiding the face of horror that she now held. The world around her was starting to influence her. This was nothing that she wished for. In her head, she wondered how things could get worse.

As if to answer her question, a harsh, dark purple light emanated from behind them. Emperor Truly looked up, “He’s a bit early…” The bright light moved erratically behind the others before crashing down between them and Truly. A humanoid figure was seen from inside the ball of light. As the human “stretched” out the light died down. The man’s skin was light and his shoulder-length hair was gray. The only article of clothing on him was a ripped pair of pants. One feature that was immediately noticed was the glowing markings on his body; it was almost like the man’s skeleton was glowing the same dark purple energy. For some reason, this “human” looked familiar to Liliac. “What do I owe this sudden visit?” Truly asked.

“I sensed some strange power here” he spoke. The voice made Liliac’s eyes widen. “It sensed familiar, but I had no idea so I came to check it out.”

“D-Dad?” The human stood straight. His head turned, but his body did not. Liliac became horrified as his face was revealed to the human girl; it was the face of her father. Or rather, what was left. This human’s eyes will filled with complete insanity, like years of torture finally made his mind snap. His hair was messy, some strands stuck out while others were smooth in place, and his face was torn up slightly. A sinister smile stuck on his face as if it was painted on. His entire body turned, but in the opposite direction of which his head turned, snapping into place one it came round; watching this nearly made Liliac lose her lunch.

“Dad?” His voice went from sinister to spine-tingling creepy in less than seconds. It was now his turn to fiercely grab her hair, for which he did as his face became dangerously close to hers. “Why did you just call me that, little human?” Liliac had a full front seat view of his teeth; razor sharp and pointed like an animals. “Are you the little source of power that I sensed?” His mouth opened, a forked tongue rolled out and licked her cheek. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. The tongue went up and over her forehead, down her cheek and then back into his mouth. Lin Chung smacked his lips, as if savoring the taste of her sweaty skin. As if even possible, his smile grew even wider, “Ah! What a tasty little morsel you will be!” Liliac’s eyes widened as she was then tossed to the ground. “Keep this one alive! I will be back for her later!”
Emperor Truly nodded as the Lin Chung burst back into energy and shot off. Liliac was motionless, frozen, a look of complete and total fear written on her face tenfold. Truly snapped his fingers as two bears came in. They grabbed her roughly by the arms and then dragged her off.

She was tossed in a dirty, cramped cell. They locked it before walking off. None of this mattered to Liliac, she was too lost in her own mind. Lin Chung was a demon. No, correction, her FATHER was a demon. This thought went through her head as many times as there were spots on her sister. Her wish was supposed to free him, not turn him into a complete monster. Is that also why Raya and Jade Claw changed? Everyone and everything was just messed up. Heaven was supposed to make wishes come true, but why did all of this happen?

Her thinking was snapped back to reality when she heard clanging metal. Liliac looked up, seeing her cell being unlocked. Her releaser was none other than Maya. She looked down, “Good, you are out of your trance…” She opened the cell door, “Come on.” Liliac was confused completely. Maya was the one to even suggest the idea to send her to this place, and the one to knock her out! This was puzzling to no end; making Liliac’s mind swirl and ache even more. But still, the eagle was not one to wait. She grabbed her arm and picked her up, “Lin Chung wants you for something. When he wants someone, it is not for a pleasant chat, so I suggest you come with me.”

Short on answers and not really under any circumstances to ask even more questions, Liliac followed the eagle; much to her disliking. After escaping the holding cells, Maya grabbed Liliac by her shoulders and flew. The face of fear has become familiar with Liliac, because she was once again wearing it. The flight was not very long, especially since the location was not entirely far. When they landed, Liliac immediately hugged the ground. Maya rolled her eyes, allowing the human to have her overdramatic moment. After literally kissing the ground, the gray-haired girl realized where she was. “Hey wait, is this, Cheetah Castle?!”

Maya nodded, “Yes, you’re here because s-”

“MOM! PINK SPEC!” The eagle turned to see Liliac running and screaming towards the village. The eagle rolled her eyes again before soaring to her. The human girl ran as fast as she could, tears nearly flowing out of her eyes. After seeing her own friends attack her, the old commander turned, and her father insane, she needed to see at least one being she loved. Before she could reach the huts a pink blur ran by her. This blur shocked her, but Liliac was almost overjoyed to see it. However, another blur raced by, this one being blue. The two blurs circled her before stopping abruptly, stirring dust and dirt into the air. Liliac coughed and waved the dust off, but as her sight returned, she saw a familiar shade of pink. “Spec! Oh I-‘m so happy t-”

The human stopped dead in her tracks. The shade of pink was familiar, but the animal it belonged to was not. The two animals were cheetahs; the larger one was pink while the smaller was blue. The pink one had a scowl on her face and bandages over her chest. It was unknown of how severe the injury was until Liliac looked to her left arm; it was gone. This Pink Spec lookalike had only three legs. “What are YOU looking at human?” she growled.

Liliac could only collapse to her knees. Before all of this happened, she attacked her own sister. She sliced her left shoulder, to which was what this cheetah had; only a shoulder and no arm. She felt her mind go deeper into the black abyss of fear. Deep down, very deep down in her subconscious, it told her that it was not her fault. But the fear did what it always did; cloud her mind, telling her everything but the truth. Maya landed right beside her, “What are you doing?! You’re not supposed to head there!” Even the yelling of her most hated animal could not snap her out of it. The eagle had to admit she was concerned; she had never seen a being literally freeze in fear, especially not twice in one day. “Human…?” The eagle princess poked her with a wing. This seemed to do the trick, for the gray-haired human jumped back, flailed her arms and screamed all at the same time. “Calm down, what’s wrong?”

“M-M-My…” she stuttered out, pointing to the cheetah that just stopped her. “M-My…s-s-sis-sister…”

“Sister?!” Spec spat, “Bah! You are crazy human. I do not have a sister, and if anything why would it be a human. The only family I have now is Blue Spot, my little brother.” Pink held her brother close as the little cheetah hid from her. “Besides, I stopped you because we already evacuated the others.”

“T-The others…?” Liliac asked. She was carefully brought to several cars parked on the outside of the territory. There, Liliac saw many humans inside them. She quickly ran to each one, looking for a specific person. Just as she climbed down from another, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The human turned to see a familiar face crying with tears of joy. “L-Lovely…”

The two hugged each other, making small sobs. But, the moment of peace was soon ruined. Lovely grabbed Liliac roughly and shook her, tears falling from her angry eyes, “Why did you do this?!”

“I-I don’t know what you mean!”

“YES YOU DO!” her voice was deep and cracked. Her hair was growing behind her, waving as angrily as the one that owned them. “YOU MADE A WISH WITH HEAVEN!”

The girl was shocked to find out that Lovely knew Heaven and knew she made a wish. “B-But it was just a harmless wish…” she tried to convince her, “I-It was only small…”

“That does not matter!” Her voice calmed down a little but it was still maniacal. As they talked, storm clouds began to form above them. “Heaven will take any wish, no matter how small, and make it into a living Hell! Why do you think I’m like this!” Liliac was confused for this, until lightning crashed. In the short seconds of the lightning crash, she saw it; the real Lovely. Lovely was a human girl, normal with short black hair and pale skin. But Lovely had a Yaksha on her head, a slightly sinister one, but a Yaksha all the same. When the lightning caused the vision to return, Liliac saw the difference; Lovely was actually combined with her Yaksha, her appearance that she knew her by much different.

“Lovely, I-I’m so sorry…” Liliac spoke but she was only slapped by her. Shocked by this slap, she was quickly hugged. They two embraced each other tightly. “I-I promise…I’ll fix this…”

“HUMANS!” The eagle princess had been shouting for several minutes. The storm clouds were very dark, but they had a dark purple hue. Lovely and Liliac both turned to the eagle, only to share in looking up. The cloud broke apart slightly, an orb of energy floating down. Liliac swallowed a heavy lump in her throat when she saw who was in the orb.
“I thought I told you cheetahs not to help the humans…” Despite the displeased voice, he still smiled. “And YOU.” His gaze was set on Liliac, “I TOLD YOU to STAY…” The loaded cars set off, frightful of the demon Lin Chung. He let out a roar as the energy burst off of him. The light was blinding, shielding everyone from what he was doing. Whatever it was, it caused the ground to shake with a loud ‘THUD!’ As the light died down, Liliac was the first to look to him; she regretted it. Lin Chung was suspended in a massive body composed entirely of his dark purple energy. If it was even possible, the demon had a wider smile on his face. “NO ONE ESCAPES FROM ME! YOU WILL BE MINE!” Lovely protected the young leader, but she was smacked right out of the way. Liliac screamed her name out just before she was grabbed herself. The demon laughed as his entire body glowed brighter. Liliac felt something drain out of her, something she was not sure what it was. However whatever it was, it was making her feel weaker and making the demon’s body grow bigger and stronger. The situation seemed dark for the young hero; soon she would fade from this world. She had no friends, no family; nothing was left. If she knew this was going to be the end, she would never have wished to begin with. The girl’s eyelids felt heavy, her body felt numb; the last bits of life starting to fade from her. Was this how it was going to end?

Her body was numb, but she could feel the pressure from her body to be released. A pound followed, which triggered a sudden intake of air. Her sight regained full strength as did her other senses. Lin Chung was being attacked by Maya. The sight itself confused Liliac to no end. The eagle looked down inbetween her attacks, “Human! Go! Run!”
She stood up, legs still shaking from her unconsciousness a couple seconds ago. Her mind raced as she saw the scene. An eagle, an alternate version of Maya, was risking her life to save hers. “Why are you doing this?!” Liliac called out. “I thought eagles hated humans!”

Maya ducked and dodged the attacks, “My best friend was a human, a human girl, she looked like you. My father killed her on the spot for being near me. I could not bear to see any more humans get killed. I couldn’t see you get killed.” Something formed on the eagle’s face, something not seen for a long time; a smile. Liliac also did the impossible, she smiled back.

The sweet moment was short lived, as Lin Chung grabbed Maya. The eagle screamed as his “claws” dug into her body, staining her beautiful blue feathers red. The demon brought her close to his face, “You want to play the hero? Then, YOU WILL DIE LIKE THE HERO!” He squeezed harder, causing Maya to scream more as her blood dripped to the ground. Liliac could not move, she could not attack; she could not do anything but stare at this horrifying feat. But, she saw her friend’s eyes. They were not eyes of fear or sadness, but determination. They were telling Liliac to do what the eagle wished. With a heavy heart, Liliac ran.

She ran without looking back, ran until her legs were sore, but kept going. Tears formed in her eyes as she ran. She eventually fell from exhaustion. She did not care where she was nor did she care. She only wanted one thing right now. Unknown to her, a being came from behind her. It looked like Heaven, only it was not. This deer had the lower body fully intact, but its neck and skull were nothing but bone. The deer looked to the victim of his brother’s latest actions. The girl cried, “I…I wish I never made a wish with Heaven…”

Though covered in blood, a lantern eel slithered from the neck of Hell and shone its lure over the girl. “Your wish…is granted.” With a bright flash, everything was black.

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The black void of unconsciousness started to lighten up. Even in her unaware state, she knew seeing black was much better than seeing red. She heard a few voices, though they were inaudible at the moment. Her blurry vision cleared slightly, showing a few globs of green and black. They cleared even further, showing a familiar face of the reptilian medic. Shari “looked” at Liliac and gasped, “You’re awake? You’re awake! Hey guyth, Liliac ith awake!”

Several heroes came into the room as Liliac was collecting herself. The first thing she saw was a big pink cat, nuzzling her face while tears fell from her eyes. Pink Spec made a purr that sounded both sad and happy. Liliac could only do the same thing, wrapping her arms around her cheetah sister. The one thing she loved most about this, she had two arms. The two eventually were separated as Liliac managed to sit up. She saw just about everyone in the room, at least those that could fit. She felt a familiar coolness sticking to her hand. The leader raised her hand, seeing Asphalt. She could not help but to nuzzle him as he did back, even after sticking. Though, a few questions arose in her head, “What…happened?”

“We found you passed out in the middle of nowhere” Red Ray spoke out. “We brought you back here.”

“You were covered in blood” Oddette added, “It was pretty cool.” She was punched in the shoulder slightly from that remark.

“You were out for five dayth” Shari spoke. “We were all worried for you, ethpecially Maya.”

Liliac turned to the doorway. Maya stood there, against the wall, looking down and rubbing her wing. The human did not look away from her. Maya was the one member of Big Green that she did not trust. She was the one who was always ignored, always mistreated, always blamed. But, the memories of the wish world made her realize something; Maya is different. Eagle King did capture Lin Chung and slice his arms off, but Maya never have anything to do with her father. She was more than likely still an egg. Liliac now understood everything she had ever been told, everything she was taught. The years of built frustration and rage vanished as if it was nothing. She cleared her throat, “Maya.” The call of her name attracted the attention of the princess. “Could you come in please?”

Maya looked uneasy, as if Liliac could blame her, as she stepped into the room to greet her human friend. At first she simply stood at the front of the bed, but she was shocked when Liliac wanted to get closer. Maya stepped to the left side of her bed. “W-What is it?” she asked. Liliac asked for her to bend down, to which the eagle did. With a strong embrace, Maya was then hugged by Liliac.

“I’m sorry” were the first words spoken by the leader. “I put years of my anger of eagles onto you. But, I was wrong to do so. Maya, you may be an eagle, but you are not like the ones I encountered years ago. You’re smart, brave, and a great teammate. I cannot promise that things will change overnight, but if you could give me another chance that would be the only thing I ask.”

There was a brief moment of silence. No one bothered to speak at all. But soon, the human leader felt feathery wings hug her back, as well as a feathery head on her shoulder. Maya was practically in tears as she hugged Liliac. “I-I’ve been waiting a while to hear that…”

“As was I.” Everyone turned in a bit of shock to see YX. He was getting better thanks to Shari’s help, but now he was looking much better. His eyes did not hold a sense of anger or annoyance to Liliac; no, they held peace and happiness. “It appears that the raging storm in your heart and mind has cleared. The hatred you have no longer exists.”

“Wait” Pink interrupted, “Does that mean…?”

He nods, “That is correct. Liliac Chung, on this very day, you are free to stay in Big Green till the rest of your days.” Everyone clapped for this great honor. Liliac could only bow in her bed to the spider demon. Behind him was Lovely, who did not look too pleased at Liliac. Though, she gave a nod to her, understanding what she needed to do. The woman merely nodded back, but with a smile this time. For once in a long while, things were looking up.