AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all! Sorry for the major delay in chapters again. Life has been very hard, more family matters, and also I had a dental emergency that resulted in some painful procedures...followed right away by a head cold that made me sneeze lots and bite on the painful area, so I've been a little out of it for a bit. Here's the next installment, hopefully life stops sucking so I can get the next one out sooner. Enjoy :)

CHAPTER 44

Soulless

"This place smells terrible." Hepzibah said this loudly, in a voice full of complaint. "Like someone ate rotten eggs, farted, then lit it on fire."

James grinned.

"..." Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "Ugh. Why can't you be more like Laura?"

Laura frowned slightly. "The air here contains a large amount of sulfur, which is a component of flatulence. Her analysis was not inaccurate."

Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "Spare me. That break-down wouldn't even get you into Scent Academy."

Cessily gave Laura a flat look. "There's a Scent Academy now."

"I keep forgetting how inferior Earth's education is. Doesn't even have a Scent Academy...you humans don't have any sensory training at all." Hepzibah sighed. "Such a dull planet. And it's pocket hell dimension is only a grade 4. At best. Now, the Tryl'sart hell dimension is a grade 20 hell dimension, with three-"

"Oh my god." Cessily looked at James. "Please. Make her stop. Right now."

James cleared his throat. "Hep, can you focus on looking for the others?"

"I have been-" Laura began to interrupt, but Cessily raised her hand, mouthing "trust me." So she fell silent.

"Oh, fine." Hepzibah sighed dramatically, her tail flicking. "I'll just do everything, why don't I? Because everyone else is so utterly incompetent." But she also fell silent and began to walk again, apparently concentrating on her senses.

Cessily shook her head and bit her lip, her eyes bulging briefly as she glanced at Laura.

Laura glanced at James, who was looking at the ground again as he often did, but noted that the corners of his lips were turned slightly upward. She had noticed this before, and remembered what Julian had said, about Hepzibah being "a joke." Did James not actually regard her seriously? Her eyebrows drew together. As much as the alien bothered her sometimes, she sensed this would not be a good thing, and she did not wish negative things for her. She decided to ask Julian about it later.

Ruth, who had been walking a few feet behind them, stopped. "She is coming."

"'She'?" Cessily asked.

POP!

"SHIT!" She exclaimed, stumbling backward with wide eyes.

A woman had appeared beside her. She had a human upper body, with a long, thin tail, and the legs of what seemed like a goat. Horns rose out of her forehead and curled back against her light blond hair. Deep shadows formed against her pale skin, even though she was well illuminated. She scowled at them for a moment, her smoking red eyes sweeping around the group, then a blue disc of light appeared beneath their feet.

POP!

They had been teleported somewhere. Laura whirled around, just as a creature came for her. Humanoid. Purple-skinned. With eight human-style arms. She popped her claws with a snkkt and slammed them into its belly, but it ignored her, grabbing her wrists and slamming her back against a stone slab, using another set of hands to lock shackles around them. The other sets of arms simultaneously shackled her ankles.

"Grrr!" Laura was twisting against her chains, but it was no use. They must be adamantium. She did not understand how the metal was anchored so well to the rock that it would not give. Normally, her metal-lined bones and slightly enhanced strength were enough to exploit such weaknesses.

Finally she gave up and began to examine her surroundings. She was now in a vast room with walls and floors of sandy red stone, full of slabs similar to the one she was now chained to. These were arranged in a circle. She tilted her head slightly as she heard footsteps approaching. Along with dragging noises. Laura watched as the creature reentered the room, dragging an unconscious James and Hepzibah. A second creature entered carrying Ruth, whose head was encased in a large metal helmet. Third and last was a creature hefting what looked like an enormous glass container, containing Cessily. She mouthed words that Laura could not hear as she passed.

POP!

Illyana was back, her red eyes sweeping around the room. "She is not here!" she hissed at the purple creatures, which had just finished securing the others to slabs. "Keep searching. Go!" She waved her fingers and they disappeared, as if they had ceased to exist.

Then she turned to her captives, and smiled slowly, exposing fangs. Her tail flicked back and forth. "You've wasted enough of my time, X-men. This ends now. I will have the soulsword." Illyana took a step toward Ruth. "I will question each of you."

She was now chained to a slab. Her mouth, the only part of her face visible beneath the large metal helmet, was set in a calm line, and her body hung easily from her chains, as though she were not resisting her capture at all.

Illyana placed her finger under Ruth's chin. "Telepath." She said this in a soft voice, her upper lip curling. "Future-seer. Tell me, do you see your fate if you don't give Gwynn up?"

"Yes." Ruth said this in an equally soft voice. Her chin trembled slightly. "But, pardon, I also see our fate if we do. I am sorry. Either way, excuse me, we all lose. A stolen soul will not stop the ache."

Illyana's eyes narrowed. She raised her hand and slapped Ruth's lower face, hard. Thwack! "Do not speak to me as if you know me, blind know nothing."

Ruth was silent.

Illyana turned to Cessily's tube next. "Ah. I remember you. The annoying metal blob."

Cessily glared at her captor, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"You're resistant to most magics…" Illyana grinned, reaching over and pressing a button on the top of the tube. A moment later, a blinding bolt of electricity coursed through it, and Laura could hear muffled screams. "But this isn't magic."

Magic? Laura's eyebrows drew together. She had encountered this before, through her experiences with Megan and later Nico in Murderworld, but she still did not know much about this force. Perhaps that was why she was so well secured to the slab.

"More of that later." Illyana looked at Hepzibah next. "You're a joke, right? You look like a giant squirrel."

Hepzibah bared her teeth. "Excuse me, I am nothing like a squirrel." Her bushy tail flicked irritably against its restraints. "I am a Mephitisoid. The closest earth analogy would be a skunk, and-"

Illyana rolled her eyes and raised her hand again. "You have the most annoying voice I have ever heard. Just never talk again."

"..." Hepzibah's eyes bulged, as she tried to speak, but could not.

"And you." Illyana had already moved on to James. "I heard your pulse elevate when I looked at the squirrel." She smiled slowly. "That will be useful. More later. Unless you want to make this easy and give Gwynn up now?" She looked around the circle. "There is one-and only one-way out of this for everyone. And that is Gwynn and her soulsword, delivered to me. I will let everyone go the moment I have her."

"No." Laura said this, her voice firm. She did not know yet what Illyana was capable of, but she knew that she would not give anyone up to her just to save herself.

Illyana glanced at her, her red eyes narrowing. "Very well." She raised her hand, looking at Ruth again. "Let's get started, then."

"Dudes, that castle looks scary." Santo grimaced. "We sure we wanna go in there?"

Julian gazed up at the big, dark, looming structure, and silently agreed. His first instinct was to fly the other way. But he doubted he'd get that luxury anytime soon. Just like he had no choice about coming here in the first place. He closed his eyes and kicked the dusty ground, trying not to let himself think about how frustrating his life was. He already had enough problems going on without a stupid side trip to a hell dimension on top of everything.

"Yeah, otherwise we're not getting out of here." Megan paused. "Besides, this has got to stop. I can't just keep running from Magik...I need to face her for once and for all. Be done with it."

"That may be for the best, dear." Frost, her voice flat. "For all of our sakes. And for the sake of my wardrobe."

Victor made a small scoffing noise, folding his arms. "You're worried about losing clothes? How about, oh, I don't know, twenty years of your life?!"

"It wasn't-" Santo began.

"We going to bust in or what?" Julian interrupted, his voice full of impatience. "Because I swear to god, if I lose twenty years listening to this stupid argument…" he gritted his teeth at the thought.

Silence.

"Great." He turned back to the castle. "If we go on foot, we're going to have a bunch of whatever-the-fuck those things are on our hands." He pointed at the shadowy figures in the courtyard, which vaguely resembled enormous bulldogs, with multiple heads.

"Hellhounds." Megan's wings fluttered.

"Sure." Julian pointed up at the top spire of the castle with a metal finger. "We could try flying up there."

"If only it was so simple." Frost sighed and nodded upward, to the right. "I have been watching the gargoyle sculptures on the ledge. They are...alive."

He paused and studied said sculptures for a moment. A twitching wing gave one away. "Son of a bitch."

"Quite." Frost raised an eyebrow. "Illyana has also telepathically warded the exterior, somehow. I suspect a spell. Judging by the face that I was the first to be attacked at the school, she is wary of mental intrusion." She glanced at him. "She will probably seek to disable us first."

"Wait, spell?" Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Like, magic?"

"Oh come on. I do it all the time." Megan's wings fluttered and she rolled her eyes. "Don't act like it's news to you."

"No, just...nevermind." He closed his eyes. "Whatever. Looks like we're fucked either way, so let's pick our poison and get on with it."

"Heavens. Language, dear." Frost shook her head. "You have spent entirely too much time with Logan."

Julian gave her a flat look. "Air or ground?"

Frost's skin began to glitter as it hardened. "Ground."

Santo cracked his large stone knuckles. "Awesome."

"Where is Gwynn?" Illyana hissed. Her hand glowed orange, and her captive's wrist began to smoke.

"AHHH!" Hepzibah tried to twist away.

Her red eyes narrowed. "Where is Gwynn?!"

"I don't know!" She bared her teeth. "Let go of me!"

Illyana held her hand in place firmly. "No. Not until you tell me."

Laura could smell burnt flesh. She tugged again at her chains, but they were as strong and secure as the last time she had checked. She watched helplessly as her teammate began to whimper. The goat-woman ignored her cries, only tightening her grip. There was a wet snapping sound.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHGH!" Hepzibah's scream was piercing.

"Hmmm?" James was raising his head. He took one look at what was happening and began to fight against his bonds, gritting his teeth and glaring at Illyana, his eyes narrowing.

"WHERE IS GWYNN?" She was demanding again.

"I TOLD YOU!" Hepzibah choked this out in between sobs. "I don't KNOW!"

"Whatever." Illyana tossed something to the side. "I'll get back to you. Use the time to think about the virtues of telling the truth, skunk." She turned to see James glaring, and smiled. "You seem to be taking something personally."

He gave her a steady look. "You're dead."

"I don't think so." Illyana reached up and ran her still-glowing fingers across his cheek, causing the flesh to bubble. "I think you are. Unless you happen to know where Gwynn is."

James said nothing, but his lip curled.

"The strong silent type." Illyana raised an eyebrow. "If I had one, that would be it. If I hadn't been kidnapped by a demon sorcerer when I was six years old, maybe." She hauled back her fist and plunged it straight into his ribcage.

"FUCK!" James exploded, his face twisting in pain.

Illyana's eyes narrowed. "I can kill you. Right now. Tell me where Gwynn is."

"Wouldn't...tell you...'f it was the...only thing I knew." He paused, then made a noise and spat in her face.

Illyana's reaction was instant. She yanked her arm out of his torso and held up an organ. It was still moving. Beating. His heart.

"NO!" Hepzibah yelped this sharply. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL-"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She looked at James, who was staring at the bloody mass, the life in his eyes fading.

"Let that be a lesson, X-men. I can end you all." Illyana tossed it on the floor and ground her hoof against it. "Novis."

James let out a ragged gasp, the bloody hole in his torso sealing. Then he began to shake against his chains.

"She will not stop until she knows." Ruth said this in a small voice. "Limbs and hearts, excuse me, are just the beginning. Skin can always come off. We all fall down. I am sorry."

Laura felt a deep feeling of unease.

"THE GARGOYLES ARE COMING TOO!" Megan shrieked.

Julian gritted his teeth, in the middle of body-slamming a hellhound into the cobblestone courtyard, his arm wrapped around all three of its necks, because it had proved to be immune to his telekinesis, but not his metal hands. Meaning that he'd had to get them dirty quite a bit during this fight already. And now there were fucking gargoyles. Perfect. The hellhound whimpered and rolled away, one of its necks broken, and he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked toward where she was pointing. Or was it blood? Probably a mix of both. He'd been bitten a few times already. He hoped Josh had landed with Laura's group.

Frost, Santo, and Victor had also been fighting on the ground, the former pair in a similar fashion to Julian, the latter relying more on his speed and agility than strength. It did the trick though, since the hounds weren't especially bright. There were just a lot of them. It felt like thirty or forty. Julian hadn't felt so overwhelmed by numbers in a long time, not since the fight against Kimura and the facility in Madripoor.

He squinted against the bright orange light of Limbo's sickly-looking sun, then he saw the gargoyles. A wave of them, gliding down toward the courtyard like a fleet of airplanes. Bombers. Except they didn't have-

"AHHGHH!" Victor screamed, as a fireball almost landed on him.

"Son of a bitch!" Julian shoved off the ground and shot up to meet the wave, hoping he could knock out at least a few of them if he smashed into them head-on, with his shield up. But the gargoyles had looked a lot, lot smaller from the ground, he realized, as he hit one enormous shoulder with a fleshy thunk! and bounced off, hardly even adjusting its course.

It was then that he realized the fireballs weren't coming from the gargoyles, but rather from the enormous fucking dragon that was swooping in behind them.

"God damn it!" he shouted, in defeat, because the dragon was unhinging its jaw and he had too much momentum to stop in time.

"Lady Darkchilde!"

Illyana did not look at the pinkish creature that had scurried up to her on six legs. She was holding Ruth's chin tightly in one hand, drawing the finger of her other hand down her cheek, curls of skin rising up in its wake and leaving deep red welts. Her flesh was covered in a criss cross pattern already.

"Nnnnngh…." Ruth groaned.

"Telepath." Illyana shook her head. "Precog. You can see all the pain I can cause you. Will cause you. And yet...you insist on protecting Gwynn. Why?"

"Because she is our friend." Laura said this.

Illyana looked at her sharply.

"Lady D-darkchilde." The creature said this again, stammering.

Her eyes flashed red. "WHAT?!" she hissed.

The creature bowed deeply. "We have Gwynn. She has been secured."

"..." Illyana turned to face it. "Why was I not informed immediately?"

It cringed. "I d-did try, my lor-I m-mean, my l-lady-"

SMACK! As Illyana backhanded the creature. It flew across the room and into a wall.

"BRING HER TO ME!" She shouted, her face contorted. "Her and anyone she was with! There must be no risk of her escape!"

The creature managed to scrape itself back together, then bowed and left the room.

Illyana looked at Laura again. "Now. You were telling me all about how she is your friend. Why would you be willing to die for another being?"

Laura thought for a moment. "Because it is the right thing to do."

"Hah." The blond woman smiled slowly. "Right and wrong. You're trying to tell me you understand these concepts?" She moved toward her, a curious tilt to her head. "Or are you just pretending to?"

Laura watched her, uncertain. Her nostrils were still full of the scents of burning flesh, bone, and blood, her ears full of the cries and groans of her friends. James hung limp in his shackles, exhausted from having his organs ripped from his torso over and over, Hepzibah was whimpering under her breath, her fur now covered in black, sticky goo, and Ruth was silent, her skin resembling a bloody grid. She did not feel she was the one who should be justifying her humanity.

Illyana reached her and stopped, gazing upward with her red eyes. Her lip curled. "In magic, the soul is the source of all power. The strongest spells are conjured from the most innocent and pure. The uncorrupt."

Laura gazed at her silently.

"Yours reeks of science. Synthetic. Fake." Illyana leaned toward her. "And the little you had to begin with is so tainted, it's stained black. My soul was taken from me, when I was a child...and I'm still purer than you." She paused, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Filthy, filthy animal." Then she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Julian shook his head slightly. He was uncomfortable, his back pressed to something hard and unyielding. Like a stone slab. There were screams. Somewhere in the distance. He couldn't tell who, though. He couldn't see either. He tried to raise his chin from where it had been resting against his chest, and found his movement restricted by something on his head. Great. He was so sick of everyone trying to block his powers. But if experience had taught him anything, it was that most underestimated his hands. He made fists and pulled them away from the stone slab, breaking through the chains like a hot knife through butter.

"Jenkins!" a nearby voice snapped. "I told you to-"

He pushed the large metal helmet, probably vibranium, off his head with his now-free hands. He had two options: attack with telekinesis, or telepathy. The hellhounds had been immune to his telekinesis, and his telepathy hadn't worked either, but he thought that might be because they didn't have humanoid minds. But that didn't seem like the case here.

"Nnngnnn!" The speaker, a purple, multi-armed creature that vaguely resembled a woman, was holding her head as she fell to her knees. A moment later and she was incapacitated, rolling onto her side, her large eyes sliding shut.

Julian reached down and broke the bindings around his ankles, then dropped to the ground and ran to the slab where Frost was bound, a similar metal helmet encasing her head. That just confirmed it. Illyana and her people had to be vulnerable to telepathy. Which was good for them, since they had two telepaths. Three, if they could find Ruth. He reached up and pulled Frost's helmet off, revealing that she was unconscious, her eyes tightly closed.

Wake up! He shouted at her.

Nothing.

We have to get out of here! Wake up, now.

Frost's eyes remained closed.

He reached up and slapped her.

"Dude!" Santo gasped. "Did you just-"

Frost's eyebrows drew together and she raised her head. "I-Julian? What are you doing here?" Pause. "Where is here?"

"Limbo, remember?" Julian began breaking her wrist bindings. "With all the hellhounds, gargoyles, and mother-fucking-dragons, and where time literally flies, so excuse me if I don't feel like giving you all that long to get with it."

"..." Frost nodded and closed her eyes. "Illyana has Megan, several rooms over. We will need to gather the others, then free her."

"Great." Julian finished breaking her ankle bindings, then helped her down. "The demons, or whatever these things are, are completely weak to telepathy, so don't even bother punching them. The one in the corner went down like nothing." He pointed to the purple creature still lying on her side.

Frost raised an eyebrow. "I suppose the humanoids would be telepathically vulnerable. Dr. Strange once informed me that anti-psionic sorcery takes a good deal of intricate and powerful spell work. Not likely that would be wasted on minions."

"Speaking of minions, you gonna bust me out or what?" Santo called.

Julian rolled his eyes, but headed toward his craggy friend, who looked somewhat comical, chained against a much smaller rock slab.

A few minutes later, they had regrouped, sans Megan, and Frost was leading them out into the hallway, clearing the path ahead. Julian focused on crippling the demons that chased after them. The humanoids he knocked out with a quick burst of psionic energy, but the creatures took longer, even with the help of the others. An incredibly fast, six-headed snake demon in particular almost kicked his ass and had him on his knees, head bowed and nose dripping blood on the stone floor, and if it hadn't been for Santo sneaking up behind it and clapping his enormous hands together, with the heads caught between, he probably would have wound up chained to a slab again.

"Th-thanks," he gasped when Santo offered to help him up.

His friend grinned. "Anytime."

Frost continued down the hallway, leading them towards a large arching doorway. Julian took a deeper breath, wiped his still-bleeding nose onto the sleeve of his t-shirt, then followed her in, as did Santo. Victor was the last one in.

They had entered a large chamber, full of slabs similar to the ones they had been chained to, and full of their friends. He could see James and Hepzibah, both of which were unconscious and bloodied, and a glass tube full of metal that he assumed was Cessily. It flashed every now and again with light. Electricity. His eyes narrowed. Illyana had been torturing them.

Next he saw Ruth, her helmet-covered head hanging low on her chest, her skin covered in deep red wounds, like a grid. Her lips were moving slightly, but she made no sound. She was speaking to herself. Chanting something under her breath.

Where was Laura? He saw an empty slab beside Ruth's. Did Illyana have her?

POP!

A woman had appeared in the center of the room. She was a strange creature, with a human upper body, a long, thin tail, and the legs of what seemed like a goat. Horns rose out of her forehead and curled back against her pale blond hair. She surveyed them with glowing red eyes. Then she reached out, and a wave of force swept them all off their feet and into the surrounding walls.

"Illyana!" Frost shouted. "This is not you! You are-"

"You of all people giving me advice! Villainess!" Illyana hissed this. "Be quiet and stop wasting my time. I have Gwynn now. I don't need the rest of you...but if you push me-"

Julian struggled against her hold, but his attempts had no effect whatsoever. He glared at her, starting to get seriously annoyed. Magic was almost as bad as time travel. This was-his eyes caught something behind her, a glint, the light of his powers reflecting off something metallic. In a pile of dust on the ground. There were more metal things in it. Then he realized what he was looking at.

Julian! STOP!

Frost's voice came from far away, even though she was speaking in his mind. He paused, distracted. She sounded disturbed. Alarmed. He wondered why, for a moment, and then he realized that it probably had something to do with the fact that he had his hands on Illyana's throat, and she was making tiny wheezing noises, on her knees, blood rolling out of the corners of her mouth. He gritted his teeth. Good. His grip tightened further.

She may be able to reverse it. But only if you stop, now. Frost's voice was deathly serious, as serious as it had been that time she had warned him about choosing his path. His eyebrows drew together. Reverse it? Then he remembered why he was trying to kill Illyana in the first place. Which only made him want to kill her more, but Frost's words lingered. And he had become aware of people shouting his name. Santo. Victor. James, too. His hands slowly relented, even though he had made already made the decision to listen.

"...kkttt…" Illyana crumpled to the floor, her eyes sliding half closed.

He pointed at the ash pile. "Bring her back."

"...I...what?" Her voice was raspy.

Julian grabbed her arm and dragged her to the pile. "Undo it. Now."

"..." Illyana wobbled slightly. "N-no, I-"

He twisted her arm, hard. "NOW!"

"Ahhgh!" She reached out her hand. "N-nov-v-is."

The metal and ashes swirled together and upwards, forming a cloud, then solidifying into a human figure, and then-finally-Laura. She made a high pitched noise and turned as if to run, but he reached out and pulled her toward him with his mind, wrapping his arms around her. "No, it's okay, you're-"

She was shaking all over, like a leaf caught in the wind. "...dark...it was d-dark…"

"Shhh." He rubbed her back, trying to reassure himself that she was alive again. Then he looked at Illyana again, still kneeling on the floor, and his eyes narrowed. "Let everyone go, and send us back. We're done here."

"I can't." Her eyebrows drew together. "I need-I need Gwynn's soulstones." Her tone was different, and her eyes were dimmer. Almost clear of the red color. "Limbo...Belasco's daughter is trying to seize control of it. Witchfire. She stole the Bloodstone amulet. If she attacks...and succeeds...she will be all-powerful."

"Why didn't you ask for our help?" Frost asked. She was surveying Illyana with folded arms, eyebrows raised.

"..." Illyana closed her eyes, bowed her head. "I...my soul...when I had the amulet...I was able to control myself...but…" her eyebrows drew together. "I...we...must get it back." Her voice was firmer now.

Julian's lip curled. "I have no intention of helping you do anything."

"You must." Illyana rose to her feet, her tail flicking. "If she conquers Limbo, next she will lead armies of demons against Earth."

"..." Santo frowned. "Shit, that sounds bad."

"Y'think?!" Victor rubbed his face with his palms. "God, I swear, twenty years later and you're still as dumb as a rock."

"Hey!" Santo glared at him. "First of all, it was two years for me, and second, that's real mean, Vic! I actually got diagonallized by Beast while you were gone, and he said I have a problem that makes me forget shit."

"Yeah right!" Victor gritted his teeth. "Wait a minute, did you just say diagonallized?"

"Yeah, you know, when the doc looks at you then tells you what's broke."

"The word is diagnosed, dear." Frost's tone was flat.

"..." Julian closed his eyes, but opened them a moment later at a touch on his arm.

"Illyana is telling the truth." Laura's eyebrows were drawn together. "We need to help her."

His lip curled again. "She tortured you."

"I have been tortured before." Laura paused. "But the girls...I cannot let these things happen to them. Witchfire must be stopped."

Julian gazed at her for a moment, then nodded slightly. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but you mind letting us go?" James called.

He started, having forgotten about them momentarily, but Illyana was already raising her hand and mumbling words under her breath. James, Hepzibah, and Ruth all fell to the ground, and then Cessily's container opened.

"AAAAHHHGHHH!" she screamed as she burst out of the tube and began to roll on the floor. Santo dropped to his knees beside her and patted her on the back, grimacing. "You're good, right, Cess? Look, you're out now!"

Cessily glared at him from between strands of her disheveled red hair. "Shuddup."

"Witchfire is in the cavern system, to the east of the citadel." Illyana was pointing at a map she had etched into the floor with some sort of spell, several minutes later. She had already healed James, Hepzibah, and Ruth with another Novis spell, and had also healed the damage the others had sustained from fighting. Now she was describing their battle plan. "Alone, without the amulet, I am not strong enough to confront her. With your help...perhaps."

"With my soul dagger, you mean." Megan sounded skeptical.

"Yes, that is what I mean." Illyana paused, and looked at Julian. "You as well."

He shrugged. "I can't do shit against magic."

"Not you." She looked down at his hands. "Those. They are...powerful artifacts." She looked at Santo and Cessily. "And you two. You have some immunity to spells. Witchfire does not know to use electricity."

Cessily glared at her. "You didn't even say sorry. I don't want to work with you until you apologize for torturing me for hours."

"Hey, I was a lizard for twenty years and you don't see me whining!" Victor snapped.

"You whine literally all the time, Vic!" Santo snapped back at him. "Dude, this is getting so old! Drop it already!"

"..." Victor's eyes bulged.

"Guys." Julian glared at them. "I can't believe it, but you're managing to make my experience in an actual hell dimension worse. Save it for when we're back at home and you're not slowing everyone down, got it?"

"Yeah." Santo frowned. "Sorry, Jules."

"That goes for everyone." Julian looked at Cessily, then at Hepzibah and James. "No apologies. I don't give a shit what beefs we have with Illyana-I personally still want to kill her-but she is not the target here. Witchfire is. So focus."

"Yes." Frost's voice was firm. "There is time for quarreling later."

"Fine." Cessily folded her arms. "But I don't have to like it."

Hepzibah's tail flicked, but she said nothing.

Julian looked at Laura, who was standing with her arms folded tightly against herself. "Eastern caverns then?"

She nodded, her eyebrows drawn together.

He sensed that she had been thinking about something else, but knew now wasn't the time to ask her about it, especially after he had just lectured the others about staying focused. He looked at Megan. "We're ready. Teleport us."

Illyana shook her head. "I'll do it. I know where she is." As she spoke, a blue disc of light appeared beneath their feet.

POP!

"Seize them!" a woman's voice shouted, almost in the same moment as they re-materialized. Julian barely had time to get his bearings before a wave of demons was heading his way. They were now in a large cave, with huge stalactites and stalagmites on either side. Deep, probably underground, judging from the way the ground sloped under his feet. He raised a shield around the others, even though he knew it would do little good in this situation.

Beside him, Frost was shifting into diamond form, and on his other side, Laura crouched and popped her claws with a sharp Snkkt!

They charged forward, at the same time as a wave of demons, meeting them head-on. Julian found himself wrestling another six-headed snake creature, wracking his mind for how he'd defeated it the first time, but then a set of adamantium blades solved his problem, lopping off four of the heads in one fluid sweep. He had no trouble finishing it off with his own metal hands. But almost as soon as it crumpled to the ground, he was presented with a new opponent, this one enormous. A green, lumpy-skinned giant. Swinging a large, thorny club at his head. He ducked. And watched in horror as the end caught Santo in the back.

"NO!" he shouted out of reflex, watching his friend explode into pebbles. He began to reach out, to help him reform, but Santo was already doing just that. Glowing lines criss-crossed his new body, like liquid magma.

"YEAH!" Santo shouted. "I forgot, Limbo rocks are way cool! Now I'm-"

A blast of orange light interrupted him. One of Witchfire's attacks had missed and come his way. Julian started, expecting Santo to explode again, but his friend remained standing in place.

"Heh! That tickles." He folded his big glowing arms. "Do your worst, lady! I'm immune to magic now. Practically invuncible."

"So close." Cessily said this as she swept past him, snaking around a demon that reminded Julian of a centipede. "I really think you'll get it right someday."

"God dammit." Santo grabbed the centipede out from her coils and slammed it into the crowd that the others were fighting off, using it in a manner similar to the club that had broken him earlier. He then threw it at the giant's face. "How you like that, buddy, huh?"

Something grabbed Julian from behind. Something with multiple hands. He struggled for a moment before remembering that he should use telepathy against humanoids, but before he could do anything, it jerked and released him. He turned around to see that Frost had punched a hole through its chest with her diamond fist, sending green slime everywhere, including across her face. She wrinkled her nose. "Goodness. That was rather more violent than I intended."

Julian grinned at her. "Try ripping out the heart next time."

She stared at him, but a moment later was distracted.

"This ends NOW!" Illyana screamed this as she lunged at a woman roughly in the middle of the cave. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before, his line of sight blocked by a tangled mess of demons, but now saw that she had very pale skin and dull orange hair, a little less vibrant than Cessily's. Red energy crackled all around her. He guessed that this was Witchfire.

Her lip curled as she considered her oncoming opponent. "I don't think so."

A red shield appeared around her as Illyana brought down her sword toward her head. The weapon bounced off, and she almost lost her hold on its hilt.

"Without your soulsword, you're powerless." Witchfire raised her hand, and Illyana rose into the air, grabbing at her throat and making choking noises, her goat legs kicking like crazy. Her eyes were bulging. She was clearly overwhelmed.

"Kill you, or finish the amulet? Decisions, decisions." Witchfire grinned. "Just kidding. There's no question what I'm going to do to you."

"We need to-" Laura began, to Julian, but Megan had beat them to it.

"NNYYEEAARRRGHH!" she screamed as she brought down her soul dagger. It passed through Witchfire's shield like it wasn't there, and lodged itself in her back.

"HYYURKK-" the woman's eyes flashed, red, and then, suddenly, it was over, as quickly as it had all began. She stumbled forward and collapsed on the ground, spread eagle, the smoking soul dagger sticking out from between her shoulder blades, along with a slowly spreading stain of what Julian assumed was blood. It must be corrupted or something, because it didn't look right. It was black and thick, and sizzling, like hot tar. There was a tink! as something shiny tumbled out of one of her hands.

Illyana dropped to the ground, on her knees, gasping. She hunched on the floor, closing her eyes and breathing through her nose.

And then all the demons around her stopped fighting.

"Uh." Santo paused to scratch his head, as the giant, who he had been trading blows with, ceased moving. He glanced at Julian. "Do I keep goin', or…?"

Julian shrugged. Which was essentially the theme of Limbo for him.

"Seems pointless." Victor shrugged. "Why fight something that isn't fighting you back-"

"AHAHA!" Hepzibah screeched this, raking her claws across the face of the six-armed demon she had been fighting, which was now standing motionless. "Take that! TAKE THAT!"

"Hep-" James grabbed her wrist. "Calm down."

"But it dared to stab me with its inferior grade 4 hell metal!" Hepzibah pointed to a small bleeding scratch on her arm. "See? The blade is not even poisoned. In the Tryl'sart pocket hell dimension, the wound would be bubbling and oozing puss in mere seconds-"

"Is she seriously complaining that her wound isn't bad enough?" Cessily interrupted.

James paused. "Uh. Think so."

Megan yanked her soul dagger out of Witchfire's back, rather violently. Her eyes were black and smoking. But a moment later the dagger was gone, reabsorbed, and she was looking at the body, her eyebrows drawn together and her mouth set in a line.

Illyana got to her cloven feet. She looked around, then spotted what Megan was staring at and walked toward her, holding out her hand. The shiny thing that had fallen to the ground when Witchfire died rose into the air and soared towards her. She caught the disc and curled her fingers around its edges. "Finally."

The moment it touched her palm, all the demons around her sank to their knees and bowed their heads. She paid them no heed, flipping the amulet open and reaching into it with her other hand. There was a brilliant flash of blue and golden light, then Illyana pulled out a long, glowing blue sword. A smile spread slowly across her features. She grasped the sword with both hands, then stabbed herself in the stomach, her eyebrows drawing together as if she was in pain. But it passed as quickly as it had begun. After a short while, she straightened, and looked at Frost. "It is done. Limbo is safe now. Thank you."

"Good." Frost wiped some green slime off her cheek, the glitter fading from her skin as she shifted back into her human form. "I was growing rather tired of the regular kidnappings. Perhaps now I can finally wear that new Versace jacket that I-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone started, alarmed by the blood-curdling scream.

"SPI...SPI...SPIIII..." Victor babbled this in an extremely high pitched squeak, pointing at a small eight-legged arachnoid demon with a shaking finger. "SPIDER!"

"Dude." Santo shook his head. "I thought something was actually wrong."

"..." Victor seemed to struggle for a moment. "SPIDER! BIG! LEAVE! NOW!"

"Stop bein' such a wussy." Santo reached out and picked up the spider, which didn't do anything. "He's friendly, see?"

"GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Victor stumbled backward andran behind Frost, whimpering.

Cessily closed her eyes. "Can we please go now?"

"Yes. I can teleport you." Illyana looked around the group, then paused, her eyebrows drawing together as she glanced at Laura. For a moment she hesitated, then she took a few steps forward so she was looking her in the eye. "I...apologize for what I said. Earlier. I wasn't myself." Her voice was softer than before.

Laura said nothing, but she looked down.

Julian glanced at her. "What'd she say?"

She shook her head.

"So bright." Ruth murmured this as she rejoined the group, having sat on the sidelines for most of the fight. "White. White hot room? No. No. Hard to tell. So much smoke. You'll see each other soon, sisters. But we'll all see soon, won't we? I can barely stand to look. Blinding."

Everyone turned to look at her, even several of the demons.

Santo cleared his throat. "Uh, ain't you already blind? Like, not to be mean, but your name is Blindfold and everythin'." He paused. "And...you don't have eyes."

Ruth acted as if she had not heard him. Her forehead was wrinkled.

"Okay, I think we'd like that teleport now." Julian put his arm around Laura's shoulders. "Every second we stay here, we risk years passing back on Earth. I'm behind enough on homework as is."

"The wedding!" Hepzibah yelped this. "What if we missed it?!"

James glanced at her. "Don't think that's possible."

She scowled. "Yes it is! I have been arranging for everything to happen on a certain Earth-date and I will be furious if it has happened without me!"

"Again, not possible." He paused. "Weddings don't happen if the people getting married aren't there."

"That's absurd." Hepzibah's tail flicked. "On my planet, an agreement to form a union is a binding contract and proceeds regardless of who is present."

"..." Cessily's eyes bulged. "Glad we don't live on your planet, jeez."

"Oh, Cessily. I had forgotten about you." Hepzibah glanced at her, then Laura. "You are both to be my bridesmaids."

"Wait, what?" Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "You can't just-"

Hepzibah waved her hand. "I have already ordered the equipment. It is done."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. He wondered how many times James was going to hear that in the future. Then he remembered what Laura had told him about the litter, and remembered that he needed to let him know. Sooner rather than later. He cleared his throat and looked at Illyana. "We're ready to go. Do it."

She raised her hands. "You do not need to worry. I will take you back to the exact time and place that I took you from." As she spoke, blue discs were appearing beneath their feet. And then...

POP!

"Goodness." Frost surveyed the meeting room, which had just re-appeared around them. The paintings had been ripped off the walls by the earlier Limbo portal, and the table and chairs were now gone. She sighed. "The meeting is cancelled. I need a drink, and a bath to wash away the slime. We shall reconvene tomorrow, in the morning."

"Yep." Julian cleared his throat. "Uh, Laura...I'll be home in a bit. James, you got a sec?"

His friend look puzzled, but shrugged. "Sure."

Laura nodded at him. A few minutes later, she and the others had left, and Julian was still trying to figure out how to make this less awkward. He finally gave up. "There's no easy way to put this...just...uh...your fiance has some plans to-"

James held up his hand. "Don't worry, I'm on it."

"..." Julian folded his arms. "You sure?" he asked, his tone skeptical.

"Hep is pretty crafty if you haven't noticed." James grinned. "What she doesn't know is I read her log book."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "You read her diary?"

"No, her log book. She has a book where she writes down all her schemes." James paused. "She, uh, might have kind of been bad when I met her. But she gave it up." Another pause. "Mostly 'coz her shit kept going wrong, for some weird reason." He grinned. "I like to think I'm having a good influence on her."

"..." Julian raised an eyebrow. "You sure she isn't going to double cross us at some point?"

"Doubt it." James shrugged. "And to be honest, if she does, it'll probably end up helping us out somehow. She was like the B-list movie version of a villain on her best days." He paused. "Seriously, though...she has a good heart. She likes you guys."

"As long as you're keeping an eye on her, I guess." Julian shifted. "So, just to be clear, you know about her plans for, um, the litter, right?"

He grinned. "It appeared as a two-page spread in the log book like a month ago. Had plenty of time to get the jump on it "

"Okay then." Julian paused. "All I can say is...good luck man."

"Thanks." James raised his eyebrows. "You too. Laura seems like a handful."

Julian shrugged. "Not anymore. She's actually the least crazy thing in my life."

"Yeah, I get that." James paused. "Beer?"

Julian considered this. "Sure."

When he got home, Laura was lying on the bed, in the dark, gazing at the ceiling. He couldn't see any blood, but somehow he knew she had been cutting. He leaned on the frame. "Went out for a drink, and we ran into Josh at the bar. Apparently, the portal missed him and he spent the whole night getting wasted while we were off fighting demons in hell, can you believe it?"

Laura said nothing.

His eyebrows drew together. "You okay?"

"Fine." She said this dismissively.

He hesitated. "You sure?"

Pause. "Yes."

He frowned. "I'm not convinced."

She said nothing.

He looked down, his eyebrows drawing together. "You promised you'd talk to me. What's wrong?" This was the second time in a short while that he'd had to press her to open up. She had been doing so well, and then...

She closed her eyes, and her lip curled slightly. "I do not want to talk about this."

His lip curled. "Laura. What did I say about you not cutting me out of your life again?"

She sighed, a noise full of exasperation, then she rolled onto her side and looked up at him. "That you...would not tolerate it again."

"Mhmm." He folded his arms. "So. What's it going to be?"

Laura closed her eyes, silent, weighing this. Then she lowered her face. "Illyana said...that my 'soul' is 'fake' and 'reeks of science.' And...that...it is...tainted." She hesitated again, clearly struggling with something. "She also said...that I...that I am a filthy animal." Her lip curled on the last word. It was clearly the part that distressed her most. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked up at him again. "Is that sufficient?"

Julian stared at her. "What? She said that to you?"

"Yes." She arched an eyebrow. "She also killed me."

"Well...yeah." He paused, feeling vaguely stupid. He had kind of blocked that out of his mind. The horrible moment where he realized Laura was gone. Then he refocused. "You don't believe her, though...right?"

"Why would I not believe her?" Laura's tone was stiff. "She was not lying. Her description was accurate."

"She's a soulless demonic goat. She was trying to hurt you."

Laura said nothing, but it was clear she didn't agree.

"Just...don't believe her. Whatever she said was bullshit." He stepped into the room, then sank down in front of her. "I've never met anyone like you. Most people...the place you came from...it would have made them a monster." He paused. "It made me a monster. For a while."

Laura flinched.

"No, I…" he closed his eyes, frustrated. "Look. I'm not explaining this well. I just-I need you to get how special you are. That you are who you are. You taught yourself how to be human. I think it means you're more real than everyone else." He looked at her again.

She frowned. "And the girls?" Her eyes looked slightly damp. He suspected this was her real fear. The thought that if she was not real, then neither were they.

He thought of the things he'd seen in their heads, when he had to scan them in Murderworld. Even the thought of Alice's crazy wonderland of a brain made him wince in pain. He grinned slightly. "Believe me. They're a hundred percent real." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Promise me you won't let Illyana get to you anymore, okay?"

"I...will try." She frowned. "But I do not know if I can."

"You can." He reached up and ran his metal fingers through her hair. "You can do anything." Pause. "Except cook."

Laura gave him a flat look, then shoved him.

He grinned. "It's okay. I love you anyways."

She smiled back, slightly. "Good."

A moment passed, then he leaned forward and kissed her, hard, his hands burying themselves deeper in her hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and soon he had joined her on the bed. Neither spoke again for a while.