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xp_logsAfter leaving Muir to chase down leads on her bloodstones, Illyana ends up back in Limbo, taking charge and leaving her former tormentor in charge while she continues the hunt.
The first thing Illyana noticed as she slipped back into Limbo was how much darker it felt. She supposed it made sense, the various safe havens she’d encountered as a child all drained before her return to earth, and the last of her own garden drained during that disastrous mishap with the chocolates.
This, then, would be one of the first things she set to rights.
The white magic came to her slowly, Rahne’s smile and innate kindness still fresh on her mind. Crags grew, rocks and hills with ethereal grass and flowers, an homage to her roommate and friend and a safe space for those who needed a moment of rest. Whispered words had wards springing into place, soft suggestions that encouraged those who needed the haven while warning away those who wished harm. A sporting chance, just as she’d had as a child.
She took her first rest there, too, heart weary and mind dreading the exploration of a place whose torments still featured heavily in her memories. But she wanted to get her Bloodstones back–stitch her soul back together if only she could find the pieces and figure out a way.
After some rest she continued on, Soulsword slipping into her hands and armor forming faster with every demon that attacked. Fighting through Limbo–and with Limbo, as it resisted her efforts to change small areas into havens and give other denizens a brief respite–was exhausting work, and Illyana found herself resting again what felt like a few short hours later.
Eventually she made her way back into the large city area she remembered growing up in, lesser demons flickering out of her way with sharp chitters as they spotted Soulsword. Illyana firmed her spine as she gazed up at the citadel she’d escaped from so many times as a child, pressed her hand firmly to the door in front of her, and let Soulsword tap a mocking beat against it as it swung open. The decor hadn’t changed, she noted, but she wasn’t particularly surprised.
“Knock knock asshole I’m baaaaaaaack,” Illyana sang into the empty foyer as she stepped in. The door slammed shut behind her, and she could almost feel S’ym’s annoyance in the thread of magic that enhanced the bang.
But Illyana wasn’t a scared, cowering little girl anymore, and she was willing to do what was necessary to find her own peace. “Stop playing magic tricks and face me, you sniveling coward,” she called out, stalking further into the citadel. She came to a stop just inside the courtyard, a stone table and small shrine off to the side serving as the only acknowledgement of some of the activities that happened in the space.
A prickling at the edge of her consciousness was all she needed to know that S’ym had answered her taunts, but the bolt of eldritch fire whizzing past her hair was a solid confirmation. She spun away from it, Soulsword ready to flick and protect even as her free hand moved in a protective sigil. The magic settled over her skin, a warmth reminiscent of Ororo’s hugs. A duck and a spin, Soulsword striking to the side and connecting with another sizzling blast. She clenched her free fist briefly, then spread her hand wide as a ball of glowing energy formed above her palm.
Learning a little bit about earth sports had been useful, as the catch she’d sometimes watched but would never admit to ever playing had her sending the blast in a hard, straight line. A frustrated curse came from the shadows, and S’ym finally stomped into the courtyard.
S'ym greeted Illyana with a little wave. "Howdy, kid!" he said around his cigar with a smile. That was one of the dangers of S'ym - he looked and sounded friendly right up until he wasn't. "Long time no see." he said, then one of his hands flexed in a series of arcane gestures as he cast a warding between himself and Illyana. "Should probably be gettin' on home before I gotta hurt ya real bad-like."
Illyana looked around, one eyebrow raised imperiously. “Is home not the place where you’ve spent the most time?” It was mostly rhetorical, though truthful enough. Limbo was terrifying, overwhelming… and still home, mostly. “Hand over my bloodstones and I’ll be happy to leave you to it.” She’d still work up the various havens, give the place back some of the light that had been lost when she’d had to drain her garden. But she was here for one thing, and she’d leave relatively peacefully so long as she got what was hers.
"See, that's the thing." he said, gesturing with a hand to reveal a sliver of blood-red soul energies crystallized into a solid form. "Belasco, he's been real generous-like in handin' out the party favors. And if you got a party favor, you got yourself a nice little slice of Limbo here." he continued as he made the Bloodstone disappear. "And I ain't givin' up what's mine just becuz you ask real nice-like." he said, his smile disappearing. "Ain't got nothin' against ya, girly, but I gotta do what's best for me."
“And who put Belasco away, hm?” Illyana crossed her arms, unimpressed. “I let him live, defeated and bound, but you? Who delighted in tormenting a child? Dragged me back kicking and screaming, laughing and relishing in my pain and terror?” She’d walked slowly towards the warding as she talked, digging just the tip of Soulsword into it as she came into reach. There was a crackle and snap as the magic holding the wards began to fail, and after a few moments she stepped casually over the remnants as though they’d never existed. “You’ve got a party favor that doesn’t belong to you, but I’ve got the weapon of your demise. Would you like to negotiate, asshole?”
S'ym shrugged. She wanted to get within his reach, well, it was her funeral. But she did just cut through his ward like it was nothing, so that was worth thinkin' about real careful-like. "Kid. I'm a demon. Demons gonna demon. You outta know this by now. But the thing you may not be realizin' about S'ym is that once he's bought, he stays bought. All that shit when you wuz a little? Belasco wanted it, so I made it happen. So whaddya say you put that thing away and we talk dis over like normal folks? I got somethin' you want, you may have sumthin' I want."
“Your life is something you want, I imagine.” Illyana stopped short of grabbing reach, but close enough she didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard. A few gestures of her free hand, and a stool rose out of the ground, leaving her a place to sit. She crossed her legs at her ankles, then made a ‘go on, then’ motion at S’ym.
"See, it's real simple-like. You can hop between Limbo and all the other places in the cosmos. Me? I'm a native here. So you're gonna need someone to keep the locals in line when you ain't here. Figger that could be me. In exchange, you bump off Belasco for good-like, I cough up my stone, and then I sit in the big chair when Yer Ladyship ain't here. Simple, right? And you were gonna go fuck up Belasco anyway so it ain't like I'm askin' fer sumthin' you wuzn't gonna be doin' anyhow." he said. "And when Yer Ladyship is here, the chair is yers and S'ym steps aside." he added hopefully. Inside his head, he thought that Illyana was mortal and soon enough she's get old and sloppy, make a mistake. S'ym could afford to be patient.
“And you tell me where Belasco hid the other two stones.” The demon might not know, but Illyana could do a minor spell for truth to ensure that. Wouldn’t force him to tell the truth, but it’d let her know if he was lying. She didn’t want to sit on the throne full-time yet either, and with S’ym willing to defer to her, most of the other demons would fall into line as well as they ever did. And the ones that wouldn’t, they could take. It perhaps wasn’t the ideal, but then the ideal no longer existed. It could work, so long as S’ym was content to not grasp for even more. “You have a deal, if those terms work for you. Belasco stripped of his powers, you my top advisor and left in charge when I have to go top-side.”
"Can't tell ya what I don't know, toots." he said with a shrug. "I know he's probably keepin' one in case you get all frisky-like but de udder one? No clue. Could be anywhere." he said with a shrug. "But yeh, you got a deal. Sounds real good to me, Boss Lady. I'm thinkin' I need to go bust some heads, remind de udders of who's really in charge here." Namely him, but he took orders from Illyana herself. "Figger I can get dat sorted while you go deal with Belasco."
“Bloodstone please.” Illyana’s voice was prim as she held out a hand. “Belasco will be dealt with, and we can talk shop before I continue my hunt.”
"Sorry, toots." he said with another shrug. "You go deal with Belasco, then the stone is yers." he countered. "S'ym wasn't born yesterday." Or the last century. Or the last ten centuries. But time in Limbo was a flexible thing indeed.
“Goes both ways. I get the stone, then I deal with Belasco. Or I could just kill you. Your choice.”
"You kill me, yer gonna have to sit on that big spiky chair and wrangle everyone here that wants a piece of you." he pointed out. "No more school, no more big bro, no more stuff you want to do." he pointed out.
“School’s stupid,” she retorted. Honestly. That wasn’t an incentive to leave him alive. “You aren’t the only demon down here willing to negotiate for a chunk of power, you’re just the one already here and doing the job. Bloodstone. I have no reason to go back on my word.” The ‘unlike you’ was left unspoken but hung clearly in the space between them. Her fingers flexed, a show of her impatience.
"I'm not." he said agreeably. "But I am the strongest and the most accomplished sorcerer behind you and Belasco." he pointed out. "So you wanna make me yer enemy? We can do that. Done it before. I ain't gonna go down easy or soft and you're gonna have to spend a lotta power to take me out." he said. "Power yer gonna need against Belasco. So whaddya say, toots? You off Belasco, I give you the stone."
“Dealt with him, can deal with you.” Illyana yawned, not bothering to hide her boredom at the negotiation. “Stone first, then I’ll deal with him. Magically binding oath or your death, but the stone’s coming with me. Now.” If he tried not-compromising again, she’d see how he enjoyed the pointy end of Soulsword. Maybe some purification charms. This was getting tiresome.
"Your oath. Sworn on blood and power." he said, recalling the Stone to his grasp so she could see it. "Swear, then it's yers and we can go mop this Hell up." he said, lighting his perpetual cigar stub.
Illyana stood, letting the stool drop back into the ground with a thought, and crossed the short distance to S’ym. She cut her palm on one of his claws with the briefest wince, clasping her hand over the bloodstone and curling around his palm. “I, Illyana Rasputina, the sorceress known as Magik, swear on my blood and power that in exchange for returning my bloodstone currently in his possession as well as freely exchanging information on the locations of the missing pieces, should he gain that knowledge, do swear to the demon S’ym that I will deal with the sorcerer Belasco in a way that prevents him from regaining power and taking over Limbo. Are we agreed?”
"As thou hath sworn, so does S'ym, demon of Limbo, doth swear in return." he said, and then dropped the Bloodstone into her appropriately bloody palm. "Still don't know where the other two are but if any of dose other chuckfucks know, I'll make sure to pass it along." he said with an inhumanly wide grin.
“Excellent.” Illyana healed her palm with some of the magic Ororo had taught her, then slipped her locket out from her shirt to secure the stone in it. “Belasco still in the dungeon I dropped him in?”
"If he's not sitting on the big chair, dat's likely where he iz." S'ym confirmed. "Good look, Yer Ladyship. Be lookin' forward to seein' yer arse on the big chair." he added, then disappeared with a gesture.
Illyana made her way down to the dungeons, humming a macabre but somewhat jaunty tune as she moved down the levels. There was no need to hide her presence, but there was also no need to monologue or do much more than ensure she was actually applying the magical binding to the correct person. Her lips curved as she took in Belasco’s figure. Defeated but not broken, a face that contorted with anger as she moved into the light. She considered asking the whereabouts of her bloodstones, but talking would just give him a chance to try and make a break for it.
Soulsword traced careful sigils in the air as she moved, binding Belasco’s magic and sinking a geas deep into his soul, making him unable to access any portion of it without sincerely apologizing to the innocents he’d taken and sacrificed. There was always an out, in magics like this, but she wouldn’t tell him what it was and didn’t expect him to come to the conclusion on his own. And many of his sacrifices were now dead, making it harder for him to complete the deed.
She left without saying a word, only tipping her head in his direction before turning and going back the way she came. Eventually she came upon the room she’d been locked in as a child, warding it safely and collapsing on the bed she’d shivered in so many nights. Hashing out the details with S’ym could wait. She had her stone. Belasco’s magic was sealed. Limbo was hers.
(OOC Note: Thanks to Erik for socking S'ym for me while I worked on getting into Illyana's headspace!)
The first thing Illyana noticed as she slipped back into Limbo was how much darker it felt. She supposed it made sense, the various safe havens she’d encountered as a child all drained before her return to earth, and the last of her own garden drained during that disastrous mishap with the chocolates.
This, then, would be one of the first things she set to rights.
The white magic came to her slowly, Rahne’s smile and innate kindness still fresh on her mind. Crags grew, rocks and hills with ethereal grass and flowers, an homage to her roommate and friend and a safe space for those who needed a moment of rest. Whispered words had wards springing into place, soft suggestions that encouraged those who needed the haven while warning away those who wished harm. A sporting chance, just as she’d had as a child.
She took her first rest there, too, heart weary and mind dreading the exploration of a place whose torments still featured heavily in her memories. But she wanted to get her Bloodstones back–stitch her soul back together if only she could find the pieces and figure out a way.
After some rest she continued on, Soulsword slipping into her hands and armor forming faster with every demon that attacked. Fighting through Limbo–and with Limbo, as it resisted her efforts to change small areas into havens and give other denizens a brief respite–was exhausting work, and Illyana found herself resting again what felt like a few short hours later.
Eventually she made her way back into the large city area she remembered growing up in, lesser demons flickering out of her way with sharp chitters as they spotted Soulsword. Illyana firmed her spine as she gazed up at the citadel she’d escaped from so many times as a child, pressed her hand firmly to the door in front of her, and let Soulsword tap a mocking beat against it as it swung open. The decor hadn’t changed, she noted, but she wasn’t particularly surprised.
“Knock knock asshole I’m baaaaaaaack,” Illyana sang into the empty foyer as she stepped in. The door slammed shut behind her, and she could almost feel S’ym’s annoyance in the thread of magic that enhanced the bang.
But Illyana wasn’t a scared, cowering little girl anymore, and she was willing to do what was necessary to find her own peace. “Stop playing magic tricks and face me, you sniveling coward,” she called out, stalking further into the citadel. She came to a stop just inside the courtyard, a stone table and small shrine off to the side serving as the only acknowledgement of some of the activities that happened in the space.
A prickling at the edge of her consciousness was all she needed to know that S’ym had answered her taunts, but the bolt of eldritch fire whizzing past her hair was a solid confirmation. She spun away from it, Soulsword ready to flick and protect even as her free hand moved in a protective sigil. The magic settled over her skin, a warmth reminiscent of Ororo’s hugs. A duck and a spin, Soulsword striking to the side and connecting with another sizzling blast. She clenched her free fist briefly, then spread her hand wide as a ball of glowing energy formed above her palm.
Learning a little bit about earth sports had been useful, as the catch she’d sometimes watched but would never admit to ever playing had her sending the blast in a hard, straight line. A frustrated curse came from the shadows, and S’ym finally stomped into the courtyard.
S'ym greeted Illyana with a little wave. "Howdy, kid!" he said around his cigar with a smile. That was one of the dangers of S'ym - he looked and sounded friendly right up until he wasn't. "Long time no see." he said, then one of his hands flexed in a series of arcane gestures as he cast a warding between himself and Illyana. "Should probably be gettin' on home before I gotta hurt ya real bad-like."
Illyana looked around, one eyebrow raised imperiously. “Is home not the place where you’ve spent the most time?” It was mostly rhetorical, though truthful enough. Limbo was terrifying, overwhelming… and still home, mostly. “Hand over my bloodstones and I’ll be happy to leave you to it.” She’d still work up the various havens, give the place back some of the light that had been lost when she’d had to drain her garden. But she was here for one thing, and she’d leave relatively peacefully so long as she got what was hers.
"See, that's the thing." he said, gesturing with a hand to reveal a sliver of blood-red soul energies crystallized into a solid form. "Belasco, he's been real generous-like in handin' out the party favors. And if you got a party favor, you got yourself a nice little slice of Limbo here." he continued as he made the Bloodstone disappear. "And I ain't givin' up what's mine just becuz you ask real nice-like." he said, his smile disappearing. "Ain't got nothin' against ya, girly, but I gotta do what's best for me."
“And who put Belasco away, hm?” Illyana crossed her arms, unimpressed. “I let him live, defeated and bound, but you? Who delighted in tormenting a child? Dragged me back kicking and screaming, laughing and relishing in my pain and terror?” She’d walked slowly towards the warding as she talked, digging just the tip of Soulsword into it as she came into reach. There was a crackle and snap as the magic holding the wards began to fail, and after a few moments she stepped casually over the remnants as though they’d never existed. “You’ve got a party favor that doesn’t belong to you, but I’ve got the weapon of your demise. Would you like to negotiate, asshole?”
S'ym shrugged. She wanted to get within his reach, well, it was her funeral. But she did just cut through his ward like it was nothing, so that was worth thinkin' about real careful-like. "Kid. I'm a demon. Demons gonna demon. You outta know this by now. But the thing you may not be realizin' about S'ym is that once he's bought, he stays bought. All that shit when you wuz a little? Belasco wanted it, so I made it happen. So whaddya say you put that thing away and we talk dis over like normal folks? I got somethin' you want, you may have sumthin' I want."
“Your life is something you want, I imagine.” Illyana stopped short of grabbing reach, but close enough she didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard. A few gestures of her free hand, and a stool rose out of the ground, leaving her a place to sit. She crossed her legs at her ankles, then made a ‘go on, then’ motion at S’ym.
"See, it's real simple-like. You can hop between Limbo and all the other places in the cosmos. Me? I'm a native here. So you're gonna need someone to keep the locals in line when you ain't here. Figger that could be me. In exchange, you bump off Belasco for good-like, I cough up my stone, and then I sit in the big chair when Yer Ladyship ain't here. Simple, right? And you were gonna go fuck up Belasco anyway so it ain't like I'm askin' fer sumthin' you wuzn't gonna be doin' anyhow." he said. "And when Yer Ladyship is here, the chair is yers and S'ym steps aside." he added hopefully. Inside his head, he thought that Illyana was mortal and soon enough she's get old and sloppy, make a mistake. S'ym could afford to be patient.
“And you tell me where Belasco hid the other two stones.” The demon might not know, but Illyana could do a minor spell for truth to ensure that. Wouldn’t force him to tell the truth, but it’d let her know if he was lying. She didn’t want to sit on the throne full-time yet either, and with S’ym willing to defer to her, most of the other demons would fall into line as well as they ever did. And the ones that wouldn’t, they could take. It perhaps wasn’t the ideal, but then the ideal no longer existed. It could work, so long as S’ym was content to not grasp for even more. “You have a deal, if those terms work for you. Belasco stripped of his powers, you my top advisor and left in charge when I have to go top-side.”
"Can't tell ya what I don't know, toots." he said with a shrug. "I know he's probably keepin' one in case you get all frisky-like but de udder one? No clue. Could be anywhere." he said with a shrug. "But yeh, you got a deal. Sounds real good to me, Boss Lady. I'm thinkin' I need to go bust some heads, remind de udders of who's really in charge here." Namely him, but he took orders from Illyana herself. "Figger I can get dat sorted while you go deal with Belasco."
“Bloodstone please.” Illyana’s voice was prim as she held out a hand. “Belasco will be dealt with, and we can talk shop before I continue my hunt.”
"Sorry, toots." he said with another shrug. "You go deal with Belasco, then the stone is yers." he countered. "S'ym wasn't born yesterday." Or the last century. Or the last ten centuries. But time in Limbo was a flexible thing indeed.
“Goes both ways. I get the stone, then I deal with Belasco. Or I could just kill you. Your choice.”
"You kill me, yer gonna have to sit on that big spiky chair and wrangle everyone here that wants a piece of you." he pointed out. "No more school, no more big bro, no more stuff you want to do." he pointed out.
“School’s stupid,” she retorted. Honestly. That wasn’t an incentive to leave him alive. “You aren’t the only demon down here willing to negotiate for a chunk of power, you’re just the one already here and doing the job. Bloodstone. I have no reason to go back on my word.” The ‘unlike you’ was left unspoken but hung clearly in the space between them. Her fingers flexed, a show of her impatience.
"I'm not." he said agreeably. "But I am the strongest and the most accomplished sorcerer behind you and Belasco." he pointed out. "So you wanna make me yer enemy? We can do that. Done it before. I ain't gonna go down easy or soft and you're gonna have to spend a lotta power to take me out." he said. "Power yer gonna need against Belasco. So whaddya say, toots? You off Belasco, I give you the stone."
“Dealt with him, can deal with you.” Illyana yawned, not bothering to hide her boredom at the negotiation. “Stone first, then I’ll deal with him. Magically binding oath or your death, but the stone’s coming with me. Now.” If he tried not-compromising again, she’d see how he enjoyed the pointy end of Soulsword. Maybe some purification charms. This was getting tiresome.
"Your oath. Sworn on blood and power." he said, recalling the Stone to his grasp so she could see it. "Swear, then it's yers and we can go mop this Hell up." he said, lighting his perpetual cigar stub.
Illyana stood, letting the stool drop back into the ground with a thought, and crossed the short distance to S’ym. She cut her palm on one of his claws with the briefest wince, clasping her hand over the bloodstone and curling around his palm. “I, Illyana Rasputina, the sorceress known as Magik, swear on my blood and power that in exchange for returning my bloodstone currently in his possession as well as freely exchanging information on the locations of the missing pieces, should he gain that knowledge, do swear to the demon S’ym that I will deal with the sorcerer Belasco in a way that prevents him from regaining power and taking over Limbo. Are we agreed?”
"As thou hath sworn, so does S'ym, demon of Limbo, doth swear in return." he said, and then dropped the Bloodstone into her appropriately bloody palm. "Still don't know where the other two are but if any of dose other chuckfucks know, I'll make sure to pass it along." he said with an inhumanly wide grin.
“Excellent.” Illyana healed her palm with some of the magic Ororo had taught her, then slipped her locket out from her shirt to secure the stone in it. “Belasco still in the dungeon I dropped him in?”
"If he's not sitting on the big chair, dat's likely where he iz." S'ym confirmed. "Good look, Yer Ladyship. Be lookin' forward to seein' yer arse on the big chair." he added, then disappeared with a gesture.
Illyana made her way down to the dungeons, humming a macabre but somewhat jaunty tune as she moved down the levels. There was no need to hide her presence, but there was also no need to monologue or do much more than ensure she was actually applying the magical binding to the correct person. Her lips curved as she took in Belasco’s figure. Defeated but not broken, a face that contorted with anger as she moved into the light. She considered asking the whereabouts of her bloodstones, but talking would just give him a chance to try and make a break for it.
Soulsword traced careful sigils in the air as she moved, binding Belasco’s magic and sinking a geas deep into his soul, making him unable to access any portion of it without sincerely apologizing to the innocents he’d taken and sacrificed. There was always an out, in magics like this, but she wouldn’t tell him what it was and didn’t expect him to come to the conclusion on his own. And many of his sacrifices were now dead, making it harder for him to complete the deed.
She left without saying a word, only tipping her head in his direction before turning and going back the way she came. Eventually she came upon the room she’d been locked in as a child, warding it safely and collapsing on the bed she’d shivered in so many nights. Hashing out the details with S’ym could wait. She had her stone. Belasco’s magic was sealed. Limbo was hers.
(OOC Note: Thanks to Erik for socking S'ym for me while I worked on getting into Illyana's headspace!)
