The story of Livia

[Livia’s point-of-view]

21 years ago

Late at night, when the skies are already dark and the stars are shining, the people of Merton are heading to their homes, eager to go to their beds and sleep. High above them though, too far for any of them to notice in the dark night, a figure is flying high above them, looking down and inspecting their village.

“Finally.” Livia thinks to herself. “This place was harder to find then I though. There are just too many trees here. So very different from home.”

Livia studies the different houses, trying to discover which would be the one where the richest person here lives. When she finds it, she pulls her batlike wings closer to her, and starts he descent. When Livia gets close to the trees behind Mr. Enzo’s mansion, she slows down and dives under the canopy. Eventually, she gets to a tree close enough to the mansion where she can see the lights in the house, but remain hidden from the inhabitants herself. There are still a few lights on inside the building. As long as they are she has to wait. It would be far too dangerous for her to enter now. Especially after all the augmentation she had performed on her.

When Livia was younger, she heard many stories about humans. About how pathetic and weak they are, but for some reason have bodies that are mostly similar to demons. The only real way a demon stands out from humans is with their horns. Livia didn’t want to look similar to lowly creatures like that. She wanted to be as different from them as she could, while still looking like a demon. So, after having earned enough money, she paid a flesh grafter to give her a cute tail, as well as adjust the color of her skin and make it look red, her favorite color. If only then she had known that eventually she would end up having to infiltrate the human kingdom.

But it wouldn’t have mattered. After having proven herself, the flesh grafters used their magic to make some beautiful black wings grow from her back. For demons, wings are a status symbol. There is no way she would have them removed just to have an easier time infiltrating the human kingdom. If only Livia had one of those disappearing skills other rogues have. That would have been so useful. At least she has [Soundless] and [Lockpicking]. Those 2 are great. And [Warm Blooded] makes it so she can face the cold of flight without issues. But to be able to join an S rank’s party, you need more than this.

The S ranks are the heroes of the demon realm. The people that either are leaders, or are in line to becoming leaders later in life. If you can’t be born as one, the next best thing is to join their party and benefit from them by being close. The problem is that S ranks prefer to surround themselves with A ranks, and Livia is only a B rank. Sometimes, a B rank with a rare skill is still accepted, and Livia does have a rare skill. It is called [Mind Meld] and it allows her to send her consciousness into the mind of someone who is asleep. Normally, you need to be an A rank mage with a very specific set of magic elements. The issue is that this [Mind Meld] is not exactly a skill Livia can use in combat, but only when her target is asleep. It is the reason why she gets mocked every time she tries to join an S rank’s party. What these idiots can’t see however is that this skill is more powerful then normal dream magic and thus far better for getting information out of people. See, what all the other demon’s don’t realize is that once Livia is in a person’s mind, she can not just read the dream, but also choose the dream. And one of the things people can dream of are their memories.

It is this reason that Livia was able to make it all the way here. To this Enzo’s mansion. Whenever she infiltrated a human’s dreams, she searched for any information regarding Zrephian artifacts. They may have been made by humans, but back then humans actually knew how to place valuable enchantments onto objects. Most humans only remembered rumors, but as Livia went from one human to another, eventually she gathered enough rumors that a pattern started to form. One that led her to this mansion. The man of the house is rumored to either possess one or even more artifacts. All Livia has to do is get into his mind and see if he remembers getting one as well as where he has hidden it. Then she can claim it for herself, return with it to one of the demon S ranks and prove she is worthy of joining their party.

Livia takes another look at the mansion from her lookout and notices the last of the lights going out. Perfect. She will wait another half hour to make certain everybody is fast asleep, then she will make her move.

After another half hour has passed, Livia flies over to the mansion. She searches for a point of entry. Eventually she finds a window that leads to one of the bedrooms. The starts by activating her [Soundless] skill, making so she can pick the lock without any noise, and then she uses both her lockpicks and her [Lockpicking] skill to open the window.

Inside, she finds 2 women who are fast asleep. Servants, it would appear. They are unlikely to have the information Livia seeks, though. It is their master who should know this mansion inside and out. It is him she needs to find.

Livia sneaks out of the room and searches along the hallway for the master bedroom. She opens up a few doors, each leading to another servant’s bedroom, until eventually she opens a door to a much larger room, with finer furnishings and a much larger bed. As a matter of fact, a bed large enough for 3 people to sleep in.

Livia sneaks up to the bed and leans over to see a man sleeping in the middle, with a black skinned woman closest to her and an albino-like woman on the far side. It seems like the rich guy enjoys exotic women. Livia then leans over the black woman, places her hand on the man’s forehead and closes her eyes.

“Alright, let’s see what filth this pig is dreaming of.” Livia thinks before activating her [Mind Meld] skill.

As Livia transports her consciousness into Enzo’s mind, colors start to appear before her. They take on the shape of one of the maids. A pretty girl who is simply doing her job. Then Enzo walks up to he and holds her hand. They start talking and the girl starts blushing.

“Enzo, you better not let Noah hear you say that. You know how jealous he can be.” The maid says.

“Good thing I only compliment your beauty when he is never around.” Enzo replies. He brings his head close to her head and sniffs her hair. “Ahh, if only you would let me spoil you, Marie. Just one kiss from your beautiful lips. It’s all I ask.”

The maid then places her hands on Enzo’s shoulders and says, “Oh, Enzo. If it’s a kiss you want, you can have that for free.”

Then she places her lips on his and kisses him.

“Yeah, right.” Livia thinks. “Women in a relationship don’t do this in the real world. Only in dreams.”

Regardless, this is something Livia could use to her advantage. She places her own conscience inside Marie, becoming Marie, and breaks the kiss she’s having with Enzo.

“Oh my, what a wonderful kiss.” Livia says dreamy. “I feel like you make my heart beat faster.”

“If that is what one kiss can do, imagine what else I can do if you let me.” Enzo replies. He then takes Livia in a close hug and starts kissing the nape of her neck.

“Ah, Enzo.” Livia moans, playing the role of a horny maid. “We shouldn’t. Imagine what Noah would say if he finds out.”

“Let him find out.” Enzo says as he continues to kiss Livia passionately. “Leave him and choose me. He can’t do anything against me. He would never dare touch you, Marie. Certainly not if you become my second wife.”

One of Enzo’s hand goes for Livia’s butt and gropes her. Such instinctual behavior. Truly humans are inferior to demons.

“You’re right, Enzo.” Livia moans. “You are the better man. It would be better for me to choose you over Noah. I just have one request. I have always wanted to see a Zrephian artifact. You have one of those, right? Just once I would like to see it, and then I shall be yours.”

Enzo pulls back and grins. “Oh, Marie. I have exactly what you are looking for. Follow me.”

Enzo starts walking to the door while holding Lydia by her hand behind him. The door opens by itself and as they walk through, then enter a room which contains a special looking dagger. Ugh, Livia didn’t want to see the artifact itself, she wanted to see the way to it. So, she used her powers to pull both herself and Enzo back to the room they started in and this time, when they go through the door, they are hearing through the mansion. They don’t so much walk, but glide, through the halls, down the stairs, to Enzo’s study. Then Enzo moves a bookcase with an ease that can only be done in a dream. He takes her down another stairway and finally they are back in the room with the artifact.

“Look at this, Marie.” Enzo says as he grabs the artifact. “It is a dagger that was used by the last princess of Zrephia. When you use it the right way, you can make it teleport right into your hand.”

As he brags about his treasure, he comes to stand behind Livia. He holds the artifact up in front of her, so she can better see it, while at the same time also pushing his hips against her butt. Despite his advances, Livia smiles. A weapon that was used by the wicked princess herself. There will be many a demon S rank that would love to own a treasure like this one. Now all she needs to do is get out of this dream and follow the path to …

Suddenly, Livia’s connection with Enzo’s dream gets broken. Both because her hand is no longer in contact with his forehead and because her own head is in pain. The next thing she notices is herself falling on the ground with a woman screaming “Demon! There’s a demon here!”

Livia looks up while holding her head where it hurts. She sees the albino maid is awake and holding a broken vase while trying to wake up the others.

Both Enzo and the black maid quickly wake up. This is bad. Livia will have to fight them now. She starts to get up, but the black maid rushes towards her and gives Livia a few punches before she can even stand. The bitch hits pretty hard too. Is she a fighter or a monk? Suddenly, the black maid is behind Livia and has her in a **** hold. Livia reaches for the arm that is on her throat and tries to pull herself free, but it’s no good. This maid must be a C rank. Or maybe has a skill that improves her muscles. Everything starts to go dark for Livia. Bested by a human. How pathetic. Perhaps the others were right about her being a failure.