Chapter 16: Lilian and Bellatrix

Name: Lilian Fraser

Age: 21

Birthday: 31 October

Personality: Doesn't like hurting people, reserved, slightly awkward

Strengths: Potent healing magic, even more potent attack magic (if she used it), high emotional intelligence

Weaknesses: Awkward in social situations, a victim of her own kindness, underconfidence

Favourite things: Kind people, squirrels

Lilian summoned her prismatic sword, her red hair whipping fiercely in the wind. It had taken on a red hue this time instead of the light yellow hue one might expect from light-based magic. She danced through one, another, dismembering them and slicing them apart, a wild grin in her eye. The Cardinal, unfazed, raised her hand.

"Dry Ice Magic: Frost Tendrils."

Thin, icy tendrils appeared out of nowhere, each one hurtling at Lilian. She raised her hand. "Prism Magic: Walls of Babylon!"

Four prisms appeared out of nowhere, each refracting light and reinforcing it with mana to form a barrier, which took the brunt of the attacks. Out of nowhere, however, a tendril of dry ice appeared and blocked it.

"Walls of Babylon? You, interloper," Iona Veska began, "are a devil. You must be smited, for my honour as a Cardinal of the Church and my duties as a Shining General of the Diamond Kingdom."

"My name is not interloper," Lilian replied, malice dripping from her voice. "My name is not Lilian Fraser. She is no more in control. It's Bellatrix. Bellatrix Delmira. And I will be the one to make sure you meet your end."

"Bold words," the Cardinal said, not caring about this declaration. "But how can you fight me when you're fighting yourself?" More Holy Paladins began to reform from the remains of the ones Lilian had just defeated.

"Oh, I'll find a way," Bellatrix smirked, and rushed at the seemingly endless army of Holy Paladins.

Nebra, meanwhile, felt absolutely useless. She couldn't really do much, considering that the Cardinal was already creating mist as a sub effect of her Dry Ice magic. But then she smiled. There was one thing she could do.

"Mist Magic: Solid Mist Clones!"

Multiple Nebras appeared all around the dungeon room, throwing the Cardinal off. She scowled, the most emotion she had shown all day. "Sapphire Magic: Azure Cascade."

A downpour of tiny sapphire droplets, each pointed, each deadly, began to rain on the Nebras and Beatrix, destroying each clone and forcing Nebra out of the mist. Beatrix, meanwhile, had a different approach.

"Prism Magic: Prismatic Armour!"

Armour that seemed to be made out of prisms appeared around Beatrix, taking the brunt of the attack for her. The Cardinal's eyes widened, and the rain of sapphire started to increase, to the point where Bellatrix was kind of pushed against the wall. She broke a sweat, and cursed quite audibly. The Cardinal grew angrier at her profanity.

"Do not defile my ears with your filthy words!" she said, a growl appearing on her face. "Dry Ice Sapphire Crystal Magic: Heavenly Indigo Javelin." Both her and the numerous paladins around her raised spears, made out of dry ice, reinforced with a sapphire coating.

"First wave," she said, her voice resonating. Thirty or so spears flew at Bellatrix, who sliced most of them with incredible reflexes, but two or three connected and impaled her. She pulled them out of her body, discarding them, but the Cardinal was getting ready to make her second order.

"Second wave."

Bellatrix gritted her teeth as the second wave of sapphire and dry ice javelins hurtled toward her, the deadly points glinting with the Cardinal's combined magic. With each impact, her prismatic armour shattered further, sending sparks of refracted light scattering through the air. She could feel the cold biting deeper with every passing second, her reflexes slowing as frost began to creep up her skin.

"Prism Magic: Fractured Lens!" Bellatrix cried, spinning on her heel. The air around her shimmered, and dozens of refracted copies of herself appeared, each one slightly out of sync, making it impossible for the remaining javelins to distinguish her true form. The Cardinal's eyes narrowed, but the Paladins—mere creations of her magic—were undeterred, charging in at Bellatrix with the same single-minded intent.

"I have no interest in your tricks, witch," Iona Veska spat, her cold voice cutting through the noise of battle. "You think illusions will save you?"

Bellatrix smirked, even as blood trickled from the corners of her mouth, the toll of the injuries becoming clear. "It's not the illusions you need to worry about."

With a flick of her wrist, her prismatic sword reappeared, taking on an intense red hue once more. She danced among the Paladins, her blade a blur of light, carving through the regenerated soldiers with ruthless efficiency. Every swing, every strike seemed more feral, more precise. Her red hair, matted with sweat and streaks of blood, whipped around her face like a banner of war.

The Cardinal was already preparing her next spell, her sapphire eyes burning with righteous fury. She raised both hands, and a surge of blue light began to gather at her fingertips.

"Dry Ice Sapphire Crystal Magic: Holy Beryl Tempest!"

A vortex of freezing mist, sharp shards of sapphire, and dry ice shot toward Bellatrix, engulfing the room in a maelstrom of deadly cold and crystal. The Paladins continued to charge, the mist swirling around them like a storm of divine punishment.

Bellatrix braced herself, pulling her sword into a defensive stance, but the force of the tempest sent her crashing back into the stone wall. The impact forced the air from her lungs, and she fell to one knee, blood dripping from her lips. Her vision blurred for a moment, and in the chaos, a voice whispered in her mind—Lilian's voice.

"You can't keep this up forever," the voice said, small and frightened.

Bellatrix snarled, pushing the voice down. "Not now. I won't let you take control now. I will finish this." Her voice was guttural, laced with defiance and rage.

The Cardinal approached, her calm veneer unshaken. "You're losing. You're broken. Return to the nothingness from which you came, Bellatrix Delmira."

But Bellatrix's grin only widened. "Not yet."

With a roar, she shot forward, faster than before. Her prismatic armour reformed in a flash, now glowing with a violent array of colours, all focused into her blade. She slashed upward, sending a concentrated wave of refracted light toward the Cardinal, who barely managed to raise her hand to block.

Bellatrix was upon her in an instant, their eyes locking.

"Prism Magic: Shattered Spectrum!"

Her sword split into countless fragments, each one a deadly shard of light that flew at the Cardinal, piercing her defensive magic. The Cardinal cried out in shock, the first real hint of vulnerability flashing in her eyes as the shards sliced through her mist, chipping away at her magic.

But Bellatrix's triumph was short-lived. The Holy Paladins converged on her, striking in unison. She managed to cut down several, but one landed a brutal strike on her side, the point of the spear biting deep. She let out a sharp gasp, but didn't fall.

Instead, she laughed.

...

A small, dilapidated house stood on the outskirts of a rural village, its windows covered in grime, its walls damp with mould. Inside, a young Lilian Fraser, only ten years old, sat huddled in the corner of her room. Her red hair, wild and untamed even then, hung over her bruised face. She clutched her knees to her chest, biting down on her lip to keep from crying.

The shouts from the next room reverberated through the thin walls. Her father's voice—booming, angry, drunk. Her mother's sobs—quiet, resigned. Lilian had learned long ago that crying out for help never worked. It only made things worse. Her father had told her she was useless, weak, an abomination. He hit her for everything, for anything.

On this night, something inside her broke.

She heard the door slam open, the heavy footsteps approaching. The dim lantern light flickered as her father entered, reeking of alcohol, his hand already raised to strike her.

"Lilian! You little—"

But before he could finish, something changed. Lilian's eyes, wide with fear, began to glow. The soft amber that once coloured them shifted into a violent, prismatic hue, swirling with colours that didn't seem natural.

And then… silence.

The room grew cold. Her father paused, his hand frozen in the air, confusion flashing across his face. He looked down at Lilian, but the girl that stared back was not the same.

"My name is not Lilian," the girl whispered, her voice far too calm, far too cold for a child. "It's Bellatrix."

Before her father could react, the air around him shimmered, light fracturing in strange, twisted patterns. His body convulsed, and in an instant, his arm was severed, sliced clean by an unseen force.

He screamed, but Bellatrix didn't flinch. Her small hand reached out, and more fractures appeared, refracting the light into deadly sharp blades. With a flick of her wrist, her father was gone—disintegrated into nothingness, torn apart by the very light around him.

Her mother rushed in, her eyes wide with terror, but she too was met with the same cold, emotionless gaze. Bellatrix moved faster than she could react, and with a single gesture, her mother collapsed, her body twisted and broken by the prismatic light.

Bellatrix stood there, blood spattered across her face, her small body trembling with power. But beneath it all, deep within her mind, Lilian screamed.

That night, Lilian Fraser lost full control, and Bellatrix Delmira was born—her mind forever fractured, split between the frightened child and the merciless killer she had become.

...

Bellatrix continued to laugh, the cold sound echoing in the hallowed halls of the dungeon.

"Have you finally gone insane, witch?" the Cardinal asked, her eyes narrowing.

Bellatrix didn't respond. Instead, she shortened her prismatic sword, and started stabbing herself repeatedly, her laughter continuing to ring out, red eyes gleaming with madness, veins popping out of her head.

Nebra, who had been watching this ordeal with quite some terror, had her eyes widen even more. "Beatrix!" she screamed. "What are you doing? You'll kill that girl!"

"Silence, insignificant trash."

The words cut like a dagger through Nebra, and she fell to her knees in terrified silence.

Beatrix turned her attention back to the Cardinal. She coughed, blood dripping down her chin. But the look in her eyes was one of pure, savage determination.

"I've fought myself every day," she muttered, "but this fight? This fight is mine."

The Cardinal's eyes narrowed even further, her gaze sharp and unyielding despite her injuries. "Sapphire Magic: Sapphire Carver."

In an instant, a shimmering blade of pure sapphire appeared in her hand, glistening dangerously under the fractured light from Bellatrix's magic. The weapon was beautifully crafted, but there was no time to admire it—only a deadly intent that burned in the Cardinal's eyes. She clutched the blade tightly, her knuckles white as she prepared for one last stand.

Bellatrix's grin returned, feral and wild. The prismatic sword in her hand flared to life once again, pulsing with a fierce red hue. She could feel Lilian's resistance, but she shoved it down. Not yet. This is my fight.

Without a word, the two women charged at each other.

Bellatrix moved like a whirlwind, her prismatic sword leaving trails of refracted light in her wake as she swung it toward the Cardinal. Iona met her blow with a swift parry, her sapphire blade singing as it clashed against Bellatrix's weapon. The dungeon walls reverberated with the force of their collision, shards of light and sapphire scattering in every direction.

The two women were evenly matched, their movements fast and precise. Bellatrix's attacks were vicious and relentless, each swing meant to maim or kill, while Iona's movements were graceful but no less deadly. She parried and countered with skill honed over years of combat, her sapphire blade cutting through the air in sharp arcs.

But Bellatrix was faster.

She dodged a horizontal slash from the Cardinal and spun, her prismatic blade slicing across Iona's armour, leaving a deep gash in the sapphire plating. The Cardinal hissed in pain but retaliated with a sharp upward thrust, narrowly missing Bellatrix's throat as she twisted to avoid the strike.

"You're slowing down," Bellatrix taunted, her eyes gleaming with savage delight. She feinted left, then brought her sword crashing down with blinding speed.

The Cardinal barely managed to block, her sapphire blade cracking under the pressure.

"You think you're righteous, but you're just a dog for a broken kingdom!" Bellatrix yelled.

Iona's expression hardened, but she said nothing. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and Bellatrix could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She pressed the attack, her sword moving faster, her strikes becoming more brutal. A sharp kick to Iona's chest sent her stumbling backward, crashing into a pillar of dry ice.

Before the Cardinal could recover, Bellatrix was already on her. She swung her sword in a deadly arc, aiming to end it.

But at the last second, Iona raised her hand. "Sapphire Magic: Radiant Shard!"

A blast of sapphire shards erupted from her palm, forcing Bellatrix to leap back, narrowly avoiding being skewered. The shards embedded themselves into the walls and floor, glittering dangerously, but Bellatrix only laughed.

"Desperation suits you, Iona!" she sneered. "But it's over."

With a roar, Bellatrix surged forward once again, her prismatic blade flashing in the dim light. She feinted to the right, then brought her sword down with a savage strike aimed directly at the Cardinal's heart.

The Cardinal, however, resolved that she would not be beaten. "Dry Ice + Sapphire Combination Magic: Kelvin!" she yelled, a crazed glint in her eyes.
A small ball of compressed dry ice and sapphire appeared in each hand. She smashed the two balls together with a grunt, and the resulting explosion froze almost everything in the room, moving with a surprising intensity towards Nebra, who cowered.

When the dust settled, she was still there, and it was instead the Cardinal who was bent double on the floor. Bellatrix was by her side.

"Prism Trap Magic," she whispered. "Prismatic Mirror."

The Magic Knight, if she could still be called that, moved with lethal grace, her prismatic sword flickering between shades of crimson and violet as she closed in on the Cardinal. The battlefield, now a war-torn space of shattered ice, fractured sapphire, and scattered light, pulsed with raw magic. The Holy Paladins, once endless in number, lay in pieces around her, dismembered by Bellatrix's blade. Iona Veska, the Cardinal, was now on one knee, her elegant sapphire armour cracked and covered in blood, mist swirling around her as she tried to summon the last vestiges of her magic.

Bellatrix circled her slowly, savouring the moment. Her wild grin only grew wider with each painful breath the Cardinal took, her red hair a blazing halo in the dim light of the dungeon. Each step brought a new thrill of power, the thrill of victory.

"You're on your knees now," Bellatrix said, her voice low and dripping with malice. "A fitting position for someone who thought she was so righteous, so untouchable. Do you feel fear yet, Iona? Because you should."

The Cardinal's lips parted, but no words came out—only a gasp, her body shaking from both pain and the cold bite of Bellatrix's magic. The frost from her Dry Ice magic still clung to the air, but it did nothing to stop Bellatrix's relentless approach.

With a sudden burst of energy, the Cardinal raised her hand for one last spell, but Bellatrix was faster. In an instant, she was upon her, her prismatic sword slicing through the air. She disarmed Iona effortlessly, sending her weapon clattering to the ground.

Bellatrix grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground with terrifying ease. "Dry Ice, Sapphire—none of it was enough. None of it could stop me. And now you die."

She raised her sword, her eyes burning with murderous intent. The blade shimmered as it refracted the remaining light in the room, turning it into a deadly edge that would sever the Cardinal's head clean from her body. The moment was perfect—victory was hers.

But just as Bellatrix prepared to deliver the final blow, something inside her shifted.

A small, quiet voice began to whisper. It wasn't her voice. It was Lilian's.

Stop… the voice pleaded. Please… I don't want this anymore…

Bellatrix's grip faltered for a split second, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "No. Not now. You stay down." She gritted her teeth, trying to push Lilian back into the recesses of her mind. But the voice persisted, growing louder, stronger.

She's beaten. There's no need to kill her, Lilian's voice urged, her presence pushing against the walls of Bellatrix's control.

"Shut up!" Bellatrix screamed, her free hand flying to her temple, clutching her head as if trying to crush the invading thoughts. Her vision blurred for a moment, and in that brief second, the grip on her sword weakened.

The Cardinal, still in Bellatrix's grasp, gasped for air, barely conscious, but Bellatrix's internal struggle was more pressing.

Please, Bellatrix… Lilian begged, her voice trembling. I can't keep letting you do this. You've done enough. I'll take it from here.

Bellatrix's breaths became ragged, her hand shaking. She had fought for control for so long, had drowned out Lilian's voice in battle after battle, but this time was different. Lilian wasn't just a whisper anymore—she was pushing back, fighting to reclaim her own body.

"No!" Bellatrix roared. She dropped the Cardinal, stumbling backward, clutching her head in agony. "I won't let you take this from me! She deserves to die! Iona Veska deserves this!"

But the more she fought, the more control slipped from her grasp.

Suddenly, the grip on her sword slackened, and the prismatic blade vanished, fading into shimmering light. Bellatrix's wild, bloodthirsty expression melted away, replaced by a look of confusion, pain, and then… regret.

"I-I'm sorry," Lilian's voice broke through, softer now, but filled with the weight of what she had done. Her eyes—no longer glowing with Bellatrix's intensity—were wide with shock. She looked down at her hands, stained with blood. "I… I didn't want this."

Her entire body trembled, and she fell to her knees next to the Cardinal. Tears welled in her eyes, and for the first time in what felt like years, Lilian Fraser was in control.

The Cardinal, too weak to move, could only watch through blurry eyes as the person who had nearly killed her wept beside her.

Lilian's voice cracked as she whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… Prism Magic: Refracted Healing Light!" Small prisms appeared around the cardinal, showering her with a warm radiance of light. Cardinal Iona Veska lay still, her breathing ragged, her heartbeat faint, but still hanging on to life

The room, once filled with violence and magic, now fell into a heavy silence, the air thick with the aftermath of a battle that had been as much internal as it had been external. Bellatrix had been pushed back, but she was still there, lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for her moment to return. But for now, Lilian had won.

For now.

A/N: This is my longest chapter so far, and I think it's also my best!

Would you like a few slice of life chapters after this arc?