Tonight was the night.
A great deal of study had gone into the trial ahead, alongside brief instruction and a trial which exposed the nature of the Beast and the fortitude of weathered Humanity. Tonight would be the culimination of those efforts, as well as the implementation of will and physical endurance.
The best outcome: Succeeding in attaining her first Chrysalis and emerging from it with a greater understanding of the Soul. Moreso, it would mean the hope she had placed in her covenant was not placed in vain. It meant discarding the ignorance of the Slave and attaining a new place as a Supplicant.
The Worst: The Beast could overwhelm her, damaging mind, spirit, and body irrevocably. The corruption could be so complete that saving her could be impossible. She could be tossed into the throes of Wassail with her only salvation being the complete destruction that only Final Death can provide. No pressure.
However, even along the second path, none could say that Blackbird hadn't tried. If she was destroyed by her fellow Dragons, they could still say with confidence that, although the neonate failed to Change, she had confronted the Beast with the attempt to loosen its grip. And that is something that few Kindred even tried to attempt.
Tonight, within her den of opulence, Blackbird sat bare. Her face was fresh, absent of makeup. Her hair cascaded down in its natural locks. No jewelry nor other accessories decorated her form. Even her scent was natural, for Blackbird had abstained from oils and perfumed soaps as she had bathed in preparation for the night ahead.
Simple purity, bereft of distraction. It would be the best way to approach what lay ahead, or so the Daeva believed.
Blackbird had rested in her suite, letting the water dry on her skin and within her hair without interference. It had taken time, but to her it was a crucial step in the understanding of trials and coils. When a trial begins, other pursuits and concerns are secondary. When she was fully dry, the neonate slipped on a simple, linen dress, She had ordered it a woman who operated out of her home a few states away with exacting specification to ensure the material was 100% linen and worked by hands.
Then it was time to seek Lina Moretti to inform her that she was ready.