Princess of Hell

"She is alive," Kyriakos said quickly, his ethereal flames flickering with what might have been sincerity. "I never intended to harm her. You might not believe this, but Agent Clarke agreed—"

"Stop playing games," I snarled, cutting him off mid-sentence. My claws extended involuntarily as rage surged through me. "I don't care what lies you've told yourself. Bring me to Faith. Now."

The lich's skeletal form seemed to sag slightly. "Of course. Follow me."

He turned and began walking through the chaotic laboratory, his bone feet clicking against the metal flooring. I stayed close behind him, with Aria and Isabella flanking me. The alarms continued their maddening chorus as we passed overturned equipment and scattered crystalline components.

"Please forgive the current state of the laboratory," Kyriakos said over his shoulder, stepping around a toppled apparatus that sparked with residual energy. "The experiments have been… more volatile than anticipated."

We navigated through several corridors, each more dishevelled than the last. Magical diagrams covered every available wall surface, some scratched out and redrawn multiple times. The air grew thicker with magical energy as we progressed deeper into the facility.

Finally, we arrived at a large circular chamber dominated by a complex ritual circle carved into the floor. At its centre, suspended in mid-air by glowing magical restraints, was Faith.

But this wasn't the partially transformed Faith I'd left at the VCD headquarters. This was something else entirely.

Her body had completed its succubus transformation—curves more pronounced, skin bearing a subtle luminous quality, and small horns protruding from her forehead. Her eyes blazed with demonic fire as she thrashed against the magical cuffs that held her suspended three feet off the ground.

"—rip you apart, you walking corpse!" Faith was screaming at Kyriakos. "When I get out of here, I'm going to hunt down your precious daughter and show her exactly what real torture looks like! I'll make her beg for—"

Then her gaze found mine, and everything changed.

The rage in her expression shifted, becoming something predatory and hungry. Her lips curved into a smile that was equal parts seductive and threatening.

"Lily," she purred, her voice carrying an otherworldly resonance that made my body respond despite my horror. "Finally. Kill this pathetic excuse for a lich and get me out of these restraints. Then we can have some real fun."

The way she said it, the hunger in her eyes—she wasn't talking about casual conversation.

"What have you done to her?" I demanded, whirling on Kyriakos.

"I was forced to restrain her," the lich explained, his tone becoming more clinical. "At least in her demon state. She was rampaging through my laboratory, destroying centuries of research. Her condition isn't immediately life-threatening—I may have exaggerated somewhat to ensure you came quickly—but the transformations are becoming more frequent and violent."

Faith continued struggling against her bonds, alternating between threats directed at Kyriakos and increasingly explicit promises directed at me.

"The next shift should happen…" Kyriakos paused, studying Faith carefully. "Right now."

The change was dramatic and instantaneous. Faith's demonic features melted away like smoke, her horns retracting, her eyes returning to their natural brown. Her body shifted back to its original proportions, though she retained the single demonic eye and small horn from her partial transformation.

But more importantly, the rage and lust vanished from her expression, replaced by confusion and pain.

"Li…ly?" she said weakly, her voice human again. "What's happening? Where am I?"

Kyriakos gestured, and the magical restraints dissolved. Faith dropped toward the ground, but I was already moving, crossing the chamber in an instant to catch her before she hit the ritual circle.

She felt warm and solid in my arms, blessedly familiar despite everything that had changed. Her human scent mixed with traces of demonic essence, creating something uniquely her.

"I've got you," I whispered, holding her close as she trembled against me. "You're safe now."

* * *

Faith's trembling gradually subsided as she regained her bearings. I helped her sit up, keeping one arm around her shoulders for support.

"I'm okay," she said, though her voice still shook slightly. "The transitions are getting easier to handle, but they're happening more frequently."

"What transitions? Weren't you kidnapped?" I asked, looking between her and Kyriakos. "What exactly happened here?"

Faith glanced at the lich before meeting my eyes. "He did kidnap me, but once we got here, he explained the situation. About his daughter, about what he's been trying to accomplish."

"And you agreed to help him?" I couldn't keep the incredulous tone from my voice.

"My condition was deteriorating anyway," Faith said firmly. "The VCD doctors had no idea what was happening to me. Kyriakos offered a potential solution."

I turned to stare at the lich. "Then why didn't you tell me this in the first place? Why make it sound like you'd kidnapped her for experiments?"

Faith looked at Kyriakos expectantly. "You said you contacted both the VCD and Lily to explain the situation."

The lich's skeletal features somehow managed to convey embarrassment. "I may have… avoided that particular step. I was concerned about potential interference."

"Interference?" My voice rose dangerously. "You mean you were worried I might actually help instead of letting you play mad scientist?"

"Your attachment to Agent Clarke could have compromised the delicate nature of the work," Kyriakos said defensively.

"Speaking of your work," Isabella interjected, "what about that charming laboratory we visited? The one with the flesh monsters and centuries of failed experiments?"

Kyriakos's flames dimmed noticeably. "That represents my… shameful past. After discovering my daughter's transformation, I allowed grief to consume me. Zophiel, the angel you met, encouraged my research, stoking my obsession until I nearly lost myself completely."

He gestured helplessly with his skeletal hands. "I managed to claw back some measure of reason eventually, but when I saw Agent Clarke's condition—the partial transformation, the instability—it reignited old impulses. Even then, I assure you, my current methods are more hum—"

"Oh, spare us the sob story," Isabella cut him off sharply. "For all we know, you're manipulating us right now the same way this angel supposedly manipulated you."

"Whatever the truth regarding my motivations," Kyriakos said quietly, "the fact remains that Agent Clarke needs my help to stabilize her condition. Without intervention, she will continue cycling between forms with increasing violence until her body can no longer handle the strain."

Faith squeezed my arm. "He's right about that part, Lily. Each transformation is getting worse. And yes, his experiments are what caused this instability, but he also seems to know how to fix it."

"So whether you trust me or not," Kyriakos continued, "we must work together if you wish to save her."

I stood slowly, helping Faith to her feet. "Actually, we don't have to do anything. What if I just take Faith and leave? Let my parents handle this situation?"

The temperature in the chamber seemed to drop several degrees. Kyriakos's ethereal flames flickered erratically.

"I would accept whatever punishment they deem appropriate," he said after a long pause. "I deserve whatever fate awaits me."

The resignation in his voice caught me off guard. I'd expected threats, bargaining, or desperate pleas. Instead, he simply stood there, awaiting judgment.

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Faith moved to stand beside me, no longer needing support. "Lily, I know this is complicated, but if there's a chance to fix this without escalating things…"

I studied both of them, weighing options. Finally, I sighed.

"Fine. I'll help you. But if I suspect you're trying to pull another one of your tricks, I'm taking Faith and leaving immediately. My parents can sort out the aftermath."

"Understood," Kyriakos nodded.

Aria stepped forward, her usual cheerful demeanour replaced by something much more dangerous. "And I'll be watching your hands, lich. Try anything funny, and you'll discover just how creative I can get."

* * *

Kyriakos moved to a control panel across the chamber, his skeletal fingers dancing over crystalline interfaces that hummed with arcane energy. Various instruments began powering up with soft chimes and glowing displays.

Faith turned to me, her expression curious despite everything we'd been through. "So about your parents—you mentioned they were ready to intervene if something went wrong. What exactly makes them so… formidable?"

Aria's eyes lit up with anticipation as she settled onto a nearby bench, though I noticed she kept her gaze fixed on Kyriakos. "Oh, this is going to be good," she said with barely contained glee. "I've been waiting for this conversation."

Isabella raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.

I felt heat rise in my cheeks. There really wasn't any way to ease into this revelation. "Well, I mentioned once that my father was Lucifer. And by Lucifer, I meant… the Lucifer. You know, fallen angel, ruler of Hell, that Lucifer."

Faith's eyes widened. "Wait, does that mean—"

She cut herself off abruptly, glancing around the chamber as if suddenly aware we weren't alone. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly as she processed the implications.

"And my mother is Lilith," I continued, watching Faith's expression shift from shock to something approaching existential crisis.

"Yeah," I said softly, understanding her unspoken question. "Imagine the horror and confusion I felt when I woke up like this."

Faith stared at me for a long moment, clearly struggling to reconcile this information with everything she thought she knew. "I… that's…"

"Though it turns out, even if they are intense," I added quickly, "they're surprisingly okay parents. Overprotective, sure, but they genuinely care."

Aria snorted with laughter. "Intense is putting it mildly. Your mother literally made assassins explode into gore just by looking at them."

"That was protective instinct," I protested. "And it was very effective."

Isabella nodded approvingly. "I found their reaction quite reasonable, given the circumstances."

Faith was still processing, her hand unconsciously touching her small horn. "So when you said they'd come if something went wrong…"

"I meant the literal King and Queen of Hell would personally show up to retrieve me," I confirmed. "Which is why I really don't want to have to call them. Kyriakos might be powerful, but my parents would turn this entire facility into molten slag without breaking a sweat."

"Also," I added, lowering my voice slightly, "you don't have to worry about Isabella and Aria knowing any of this. They've been keeping my secret since we became friends. Though you might want to keep some of the more… private details about our past away from Kyriakos's ears."

Faith glanced toward the lich, who appeared absorbed in his preparations but was undoubtedly listening to every word. She nodded understanding.

"This explains so much about you," she murmured. "The way you carried yourself sometimes, the confidence that seemed to come from nowhere…"

"Well, apparently being Hell royalty comes with certain innate traits," I said wryly. "Who knew?"

Aria practically bounced on her bench. "Oh, you should see her when she gets really angry. Her eyes glow and everything. It's terrifying and fascinating."

"Aria," I warned.

"What? It's true! Remember when you threatened Valentina? I thought she was going to faint."

Isabella chuckled. "That was rather impressive. Very regal."

Faith looked between my friends and me, a strange expression crossing her face. "You've really found your place here, haven't you?"

The question caught me off guard. There was something wistful in her tone, tinged with what might have been loss.

"I suppose I have," I admitted quietly.

Kyriakos turned from his equipment, ethereal flames flickering. "The preparation is complete. If you're ready, we should begin the process immediately."

* * *

Kyriakos gestured toward the perimeter of the chamber. "I need you three to step back from the centre. Please move to the edges of the room."

Faith positioned herself where he indicated, her expression wary but trusting. I exchanged glances with Aria and Isabella as we moved away, something prickling at the edge of my consciousness.

The lich began activating his equipment, crystalline displays brightening as arcane energy hummed through the air. Then, without warning, separate magical circles flared to life beneath our feet—one around each one of us except Kyriakos.

I tried to step forward toward Faith, but my foot met invisible resistance. The circle held me fast.

"What the hell?" Aria pushed against her own barrier, her face darkening with anger.

Faith spun around, her partially demonic eye widening. "What's going on? Kyriakos, what are you doing?"

Isabella's voice cut through the chamber like ice. "Lich, do not think for a moment this is going to end well for you."

I pressed both hands against the barrier, feeling magical energy crackle against my palms. "Kyriakos, what are you doing? Release us now."

The skeletal figure turned toward us, his ethereal flames dimming with what might have been regret. "I am truly sorry, Princess Morningstar. But there is no other way. I will gladly accept whatever punishment you and your parents have in store for me once this is finished."

Something stirred deep within me—that familiar sensation I'd felt when facing Cain, when Faith lay dying in my arms. Power bubbled up from some primal source, urgent and demanding release.

"You see," Kyriakos continued, moving to a section of the chamber I hadn't noticed before, "I do indeed wish to save my daughter."

He pressed his hand against what appeared to be solid wall, and a panel slid away to reveal an alcove containing a large glass vat filled with glowing fluid. Suspended within floated a succubus with chestnut brown hair and pale skin, her eyes closed as if in peaceful sleep.

"Lyralei," he whispered, pressing his skeletal hand against the glass.

The circles beneath our feet began to glow brighter, and sudden, searing pain lanced through my entire body. I gasped, doubling over as that awareness I'd experienced before crashed over me—the sensation of seeing everything, understanding the connections between all things, feeling the fabric of reality respond to my will.

But this time was different. This time I had no control.

The pain was enormous, far worse than when I experienced the reformation. It felt like something was forcing open a door that should only open from the inside, tearing at the very essence of what I was.

Through the agony, I saw him clearly now. In Kyriakos's skeletal grasp was a small vial, and within that vial, dark liquid caught the chamber's magical light.

My blood. The blood I'd given him in exchange for his help.

Understanding hit me like a physical blow. He was using my blood as a sympathetic link, a way to guide and control the True Magic that flowed through me. The power that should respond only to my will was being tricked, redirected through the connection he'd forged.

"You bastard," I managed through gritted teeth as power surged through me, but not toward my intended target. Instead, it flowed exactly where he wanted it to go—toward the vat containing his daughter, toward his own desperate gambit to undo centuries of grief.

The force building within me was immense, threatening to tear me apart from the inside as it bent to his will rather than mine.

* * *

The agony tearing through me intensified as Kyriakos continued channelling my power toward his daughter. Through the haze of pain, I watched Aria slam her fists against her barrier, purple energy crackling around her hands as she tried to break free.

"This won't hold me forever, you skeletal bastard!" Aria snarled, pouring more magic into her assault on the circle.

Isabella stood perfectly still, her ice-blue eyes calculating as frost began forming around her feet. She pressed her palms against the barrier, and I could see the magical energy fighting against her attempts to freeze it solid.

Neither of them was making progress. The circles held firm.

That's when Faith moved.

She stepped forward, one foot crossing the glowing boundary of her circle as if it didn't exist. Kyriakos's ethereal flames flickered with shock.

"Impossible," he hissed. "The barrier should contain any—"

Faith's form suddenly shifted, her human features melting away as vampire characteristics emerged—elongated canines, pale skin, predatory grace. In that moment of transformation, she slipped completely through the magical barrier like it was nothing more than colored light.

Kyriakos abandoned his equipment, rushing toward her with skeletal hands outstretched. "You cannot interfere! My daughter—"

But Faith was faster. She sprinted across the chamber and slammed into me with her full weight, knocking me backward. The sudden impact sent me tumbling out of my circle, rolling across the stone floor behind the magical boundary.

"No!" I screamed.

"No!" Kyriakos echoed, his voice a hollow wail of despair.

But our screams were immediately drowned out by Faith's.

She convulsed within my former circle, her body arching as the redirected power latched onto her instead. The magical energy that had been tearing at my essence now flowed through her, and I watched in horror as her transformations accelerated beyond anything I'd seen before.

Human to vampire to succubus to something in between, over and over, faster and faster. Her features shifted so rapidly I couldn't tell what she was becoming. Her hair changed from brown to black to silver, her eyes cycling through colors, her body contorting as different physiologies fought for dominance.

The screaming continued, raw and desperate, as power drained from her in ways I couldn't understand. Something fundamental was being pulled from her very core, something that had been left behind when I'd brought her back to life.

The magical machinery around the chamber began sparking, overloaded by forces it wasn't designed to handle. Crystalline displays cracked, arcane conduits burst with brilliant light.

Then everything exploded.

The chamber filled with blinding white energy, and darkness swallowed everything. Faith's screams cut off abruptly, leaving only the acrid smell of burnt flesh and the mechanical hum of damaged equipment.

I lay on the cold stone floor, my ears ringing, unable to see anything in the absolute blackness. The silence felt wrong after so much chaos and pain.

"Faith?" I whispered into the darkness.

No response.

Emergency lighting flickered to life, casting the chamber in dim red illumination. I pushed myself up on trembling arms, blinking away the spots in my vision.

Faith lay motionless within the now-dead magical circle.

But she looked different. Her skin had taken on a greyish pallor, and two horns protruded from her forehead, both larger that the one that had been there before. Her hair had settled into pure white, and when the light caught her face, I could see that two sharp canines extending from her lips.

She wasn't moving.

I crawled toward her on hands and knees, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Faith," I called again, louder this time.

She didn't respond.