Limbo (Flashback)
Limbo trembled.
The cracks in the sky had not healed — they had spread, bleeding light and shadow into every flame.
Even the demons whispered now, their laughter replaced by dread.
Illyana sat in her cage again.
Older. Stronger. Her eyes no longer full of tears, but of something sharper — purpose.
She had spent years obeying two masters:
Belasco, who taught her how to suffer.
Eva, who taught her how to survive.
And now both lessons had become one.
She stared at the runes glowing across her cage — seals of fire pulsing with infernal rhythm.
Each one hummed with Belasco's power.
Each one whispered submit.
Her hand rose, trembling at first, then steady.
The silver warmth she'd learned from Eva burned beneath her skin, meeting the dark fire Belasco had forced into her veins.
They clashed.
They screamed.
They fused.
The light in her palm turned black around the edges.
Her chains began to melt.
Illyana's lips parted. "I won't die in this cage."
The air split open as the seals shattered, crimson sparks spiraling into the storm.
When the smoke cleared, the cage was gone.
Illyana stood barefoot on the ash.
Her hair whipped around her face, her eyes faintly glowing gold — not entirely human anymore.
Limbo itself recoiled from her presence.
Limbo – The Throne Room
The citadel shook.
Flames climbed the sky, black lightning tearing through the cracks above.
Limbo itself screamed as its ruler and its prisoner faced one another.
Belasco stood atop the throne steps, his silhouette framed in fire.
"You cannot kill me, child," he said calmly. "I am in every shadow, every scar, every thought you have left."
Illyana's hand trembled around her sword, her body battered and half-broken from days of battle.
"I'm not afraid of you anymore."
Belasco smiled. "You should be."
The ground erupted beneath her as chains of molten steel lashed from the floor, wrapping around her arms and legs.
She struggled, but the chains pulsed with his magic — dark energy burning through her veins.
"You are mine, Illyana Rasputina!"
The brand on her collarbone ignited, spreading black veins across her skin.
Her screams echoed through the hall as her flesh shimmered, silver light giving way to infernal red.
Her fingers clawed at the ground as horns began to push through her hairline.
Her eyes burned gold. Her teeth sharpened.
Limbo roared in approval.
The air shimmered with her heat. Her shadow stretched unnaturally long — wings unfolding from it like fire made flesh.
"Yes…" Belasco whispered. "Embrace it. Become the weapon you were born to be."
Illyana staggered upright, her voice low and guttural. "I'll… never be your weapon."
You've carried my fire too long to deny me.
The voice wasn't just around her — it was inside her, twisting like a serpent through her thoughts.
Power surged, intoxicating, unrestrained. For a moment, she felt unstoppable.
She raised her sword, and its silver glow warped into black fire.
The throne shattered from the force of her aura.
Belasco laughed, spreading his arms as if welcoming the storm.
"That's it! Let it consume you! That is freedom!"
Illyana screamed, her body shaking under the flood of energy.
She could feel herself slipping — her humanity breaking apart under the weight of what she'd become.
Then, through the chaos, a single voice cut through the storm.
Illyana…
She froze. The sound was faint, distant — a memory.
Don't fight the darkness… understand it.
Light doesn't destroy shadow. It shapes it.
Make it yours.
Eva's voice.
Illyana's breath caught, the sound of her heartbeat echoing through the flames.
Belasco lunged, claws dripping with black fire.
"Too late!" he roared. "The darkness owns you!"
Illyana's eyes flared — one blue, one gold — her aura surging brighter.
She raised her sword, voice steady and cold.
"No… I'm not darkness. And I'm not light."
She stepped forward, power crackling like thunder.
"I am Illyana Rasputina."
The golden light flared, colliding with the black fire until the two became one.
The blast tore through the citadel, sending shards of molten stone flying in every direction.
When the smoke cleared, she stood at the center — changed.
Her old prison rags had burned away, replaced by something new — born of both Heaven's light and Hell's flame.
Black leather and gold steel wrapped her form like living magic, sleek and battle-ready.
The chestplate shimmered with faint runes that pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, half-angelic glyphs glowing beside infernal sigils.
A cropped jacket of scorched hide clung to her shoulders, its torn sleeves stitched with radiant thread.
From her hips hung chains forged from the same metal that once bound her — now fused into her armor like trophies of defiance.
Her shorts and thigh guards gleamed under the stormlight, built for movement, not mercy.
Tall boots traced in golden flame left glowing footprints in the ash.
Her long hair flowed wild and free, its tips fading from silver to ember-red as if touched by Limbo's fire.
Every motion radiated purpose — grace born from destruction, power wrapped in beauty.
She was no longer the girl who'd fallen into Limbo.
Power bled from the cracks in the world.
Limbo shuddered as light and shadow clashed, the two forces swirling around her like twin storms.
Belasco stood amid the chaos, laughing through the smoke.
"You've become exquisite," he taunted. "A perfect blade. My blade."
Illyana's grip tightened on her sword. Gold fire coiled along its edge, the heat rippling through the air.
"Not yours," she said.
She moved first — blindingly fast.
A step became a blur; the ground shattered beneath her boots.
Her sword carved through the air, gold arcs trailing after every swing.
Belasco raised his claws; black fire met gold light with a thunderclap.
The explosion threw them apart, each sliding across molten stone.
He vanished in a burst of flame, reappearing behind her.
His strike came low and fast — she pivoted, the flat of her blade catching his claws. Sparks screamed across the room.
She kicked off the wall, twisting midair.
A roundhouse landed across his jaw, followed by a downward slash that ripped open the floor beneath them.
Belasco caught her wrist mid-swing, crushing pressure forcing her to her knees.
"You wield my power, child! You can't—"
Her free hand flared with light. She slammed her palm against his chest.
The blast hurled him through a column of black stone.
He staggered to his feet, laughing through blood. "You can't escape me!"
Dark tendrils shot from the floor, grabbing her ankles, her arms, wrapping around her throat.
Illyana snarled, golden veins burning beneath her skin.
The light flared, bursting outward in a halo. The tendrils turned to ash.
She blurred forward again — teleporting this time.
One instant she was gone; the next, she appeared above him, descending like a meteor.
Her sword crashed down. Belasco blocked with both arms —
the impact sent shockwaves racing across the hall, cracking the walls, splitting the ceiling.
He roared, driving his knee into her stomach. She spun away, landing hard, one hand pressed to the ground.
He recovered instantly, slashing with one hand while summoning a wave of molten fire with the other.
She cut straight through it, golden trails splitting the flames apart.
Her aura ignited fully now, a storm of light and shadow spiraling around her.
The Soul Sword screamed — a sound like a choir and a demon's roar entwined.
Belasco lunged, voice rising in fury.
"You were supposed to serve me, not become my executor!"
Illyana met his charge head-on, eyes burning with gold and blue light.
"I learned from you, Belasco. Every lesson. Every scar."
She spun, her blade flashing.
"And now—" she said, driving the sword through his chest, "I'm returning the favor."
Their blades collided again, faster, harder, each strike sparking new explosions of gold and crimson.
Limbo itself seemed to pulse with their rhythm.
She caught his next swing, twisted his wrist, and slammed the pommel of her sword into his ribs.
Belasco stumbled, and she drove her knee into his chest, forcing him back.
He lashed out again, slashing wildly. She stepped inside his guard.
Her sword flared brighter than ever.
She thrust forward, the golden edge driving through his heart.
Belasco's roar echoed through every corner of Limbo.
His power poured out in black rivers, swallowed by her light.
He tried to speak, to curse her, but her voice cut through his.
"I'm not darkness. I'm not light. I'm Illyana Rasputina."
She twisted the blade.
A burst of gold light swallowed him whole.
When it faded, Belasco was gone — nothing left but drifting ash and the echo of his scream.
The air still shimmered with the echo of power — gold and black twisting like smoke through the ruin.
Illyana stood at the center of it all, the Soul Sword lowered at her side.
Its golden edge still pulsed, faint but alive, reflecting the fire that danced across her new armor.
Her breath came slow, uneven. Each exhale released more heat than the last.
Then, a whisper.
Did you think you destroyed me? No, little Illyana… you merely gave me a home.
She froze. The voice wasn't in the room — it was inside her.
Her vision blurred; for a moment the world flickered red.
The edges of her armor darkened, shadows bleeding up her arms.
"No," she hissed through her teeth. "I won't be your weapon."
You think freedom burns cleaner? It's still my fire in your veins.
Illyana forced herself upright, gripping the sword with both hands.
The light within it dimmed, then steadied — gold wrapping around black fire, caging it, taming it.
She breathed deeply, her aura calming. Limbo bent around her will. The world listened to her heartbeat.
The whispers quieted. Not gone. Just waiting.
A circle of light formed beneath her feet — runes spiraling outward, the same ones once used to drag her here.
This time, they answered to her.
The portal opened before her, gold and blue fire churning at its edges.
Through it, she saw sunlight. Clouds. The green of a world she'd nearly forgotten.
Home.
You'll come back.
The voice in her head was almost gentle.
Illyana's grip tightened on the sword.
"Maybe," she whispered. "But not for you."
The whisper faded.
She turned toward the dying fires of Limbo one final time.
Eva's voice — only memory now — drifted faintly through the heat.
Find my son. Mend the wall.
Illyana smiled, soft and sure.
"Don't worry, Eva," she whispered. "I'll fulfill your promise."
She stepped through the light.
The portal sealed shut behind her with a low hum —
and Limbo, for the first time in centuries, was silent.