Death of the Devil of Decay

The small hut looked very unassuming, but there was probably a magic ring around it, a spell that kept the interior of the little building warm and insulated against the howling winds outside. The hut was devoid of life, a thin coating of dust lying over every surface. It seemed that the place had not witnessed human activity in the past few months. After all, if dust could settle in a place which constantly had raging winds, it only stood to reason that this place had been deserted for...

A sudden kick to the door of the hut from without caused the room to be filled with the howling, frigid winds which reigned outside. A lone figure, small and huddled in a white cloak, pushed its way into the hut and threw its back against the door, slamming it shut against the boisterous elements outside. Instantly, the room was engulfed in a hush, the only testament to Mount Hakobe's savagery being the muffled sounds of the winds screaming outside.

The cloaked figure threw aside the outer garment to reveal a young woman, with somewhat wild purple hair. Her eyes scanned the room as she rubbed her hands against her bare upper arms, a look of disappointment slowly appearing on her face. She had hoped to find "him" here; after all, it was always where he stayed, and no amounts of convincing made him change his mind to move to more hospitable climes. She knew his reasons for wanting to stay here, and as much as the environment was a massive inconvenience, his reasons were logical. This was the best place to stay, if you wanted to have very few, deliberate visitors.

But now, he was nowhere to be found. With a huff, the girl sat on a low bunk in the almost pitch-black room. The room was chilly, but it was still better than what was happening outside. She glanced around. A merry fire in the hearth would be just perfect right now...

"Where did old man Gethin keep that tinderbox...?" she muttered, and as if in answer to her question, a spark popped in the fireplace, setting the already laid down straw and wood aflame. Her green eyes went wide with surprise for a fraction of a moment, then returned to their passive gaze, although a smirk played about her lips.

"Always the dramatic one, old man Gethin..."

"Theatrics really bring out the best in a show, little one," a voice echoed in reply, from nowhere specific in the room. The girl started, looking wildly about. The room was not large enough for anyone to hide completely, and from her position at the bunk, the rest of the room was before her. She could swear she was alone. But she had heard the voice, and it was most definitely Gethin.

"Is playing 'hide and seek' your newest pastime, gramps? And here I was, thinking I'd get one of those distasteful hugs."

An apparition of a man slowly formed in the dancing light of the hearth fire. "Hmm... the hugs. Yes, Belladonna, I should have pretty much liked to do that one last time," the form of Gethin replied wistfully.

"One last time?!" Belladonna wondered, as her eyes slowly widened, the implication of the message dawning on her. Her hands balled into fists as she rose to her feet, and her lower lip trembled. "No, Gethin... don't tell me you're..." she trailed off, unable to complete the statement. A tear ran down her cheek swiftly, and dropped from her chin. Gethin had been one weird coot, but he was the only thing she could call family after Ballack's betrayal and the death of her entire family. Little did she notice the tear that fell, sizzle as it touched the ground and send up a wisp of fume. Well, to be more precise, strange vapors were starting to rise from beneath her feet, but she was so caught up with trying to contain her emotions that she did not pay attention.

"Yes, child, I am deceased, but that is not the most important thing. I assume I know why you sought me out, and it would be wise if we discussed that, instead of trying to encourage you to accept what already is." The ghost paused. "Look at your feet, for instance. I take it you will need new shoes..."

Belladonna looked down, and saw that she was standing in a very small, smoking depression. The bottoms of her snow boots had been dissolved, and her bare soles could feel the wood of the flooring below. She sniffed, rubbing a hand over her eyes, and controlled herself. "Yes, Gethin. I broke the seal."

The apparition nodded. "Yes. I thought you would." It seated itself on an imaginary rest, and looked her over. "Let me quickly say that even though the corporeal me is dead, this is still myself, as Gethin as can be, so perhaps we may still say our goodbyes. However, I have but fifteen minutes, before my enchantment fails, and I leave this world behind. Also, in about the same time I leave, you will likely be attacked."

Belladonna sat down slowly, her expression dark as her surname. "Who are my likely assailants? The ones responsible for your demise?" The wraith nodded silently. A baleful smile touched her lips. "I'm a lucky girl."

The ghost waved a spectral hand. "I should have liked to keep you out of this, but you're one of the most stubborn children I have ever known. So, let's get you ready for them. Let us discuss."

Belladonna raised an eyebrow. "Eh? I thought there was going to be some sort of training..." Gethin's apparition shook his head and laughed. "Oh my goodness! The trash you children watch on all those horrid lacrima holo-vids. Please, this is not some movie designed for teenage audiences." His tone became more serious. "No, child. You have passed whatever ordeals of training you require. What you need now, is knowledge."

Belladonna nodded, then shrugged. "I guess that can work, too."

"First, control your emotions. You must relive your past. Now, let's start with what ails you."

Belladonna took a deep breath. "I'm falling to pieces, gramps. I've always felt like I'm just holding myself together, but I wanted... needed to be done with that feeling. So, I concocted the two death elixirs, and helped myself to them."

The apparition shook his head slowly. "Why would you do that?"

Belladonna gave an exasperated scoff. "What would you have done, if you were in my shoes? We both know that there was something inside me. It could either empower me, or kill me. And I wasn't going to let it do me in without trying to master it first."

Gethin nodded sagely. "Well, it would seem you have almost mastered it, but something holds you back. Let us address that. Do you remember what sort of things were pumped into your body, during the experiments?"

Belladonna nodded. "Mutagenic substances. Most of them were of divine and demonic essences."

"And do you remember observing anything?"

"Yes. I was able to identify the ones that were divine, because they hardly did my body any hurt. The demonic ones, however... let's just say that they defined the word 'excruciating' to an eleven year old girl quite clearly."

"And that is where your problem lies. You are yet to embrace that aspect." Belladonna frowned disapprovingly, but waited for him to continue. "You think that these... muta-whatever-you-call-its changed your body, and if you 'go with the flow', you will become more of a demon creature. Am I right?"

In the silence that followed, the girl nodded.

The apparition clapped his hands. "Bravo! Our problem is nearly solved. If I ate tortoise meat, does it make me a tortoise?"

"No."

"And if I grew up eating mainly bread and parrot eggs, they would add to my stature, but would I become more of a parrot as a result?"

A look of understanding crossed Belladonna's face. "No. Hmm... I think I get where you're going with this..."

"Not yet, child," the ghost interjected. "Now, can you talk and eat at the same time?"

She shook her head.

"The point is, that is what you've been trying to do the entire time. You made the death elixirs, which ought to have killed you outright, but you survived. Now, although you lived, you seemed unable to control the powers that came with them. The experiments may have modified your body somewhat, but it is at your heart and soul that you determine whether you are a demon or not."

"It's not that simple, gramps," Belladonna protested. "Demons and gods have anatomical and physiological..."

Gethin's wraith raised a hand. "We are not discussing your science. I would have loved to oblige you, but my time is at an end. Focus on the now, and disprove me all you want later."

The girl lapsed into silence, and Gethin smiled indulgently. "Oh, that there was more time... Anyway, if you want to enjoy breathing in air without obstruction, and you have a runny nose, what do you do?"

"Get rid of the mucus congestion. Blow your nose," she replied. "So, do that. Allow the power at your core to flow through you. Get used to it. Let it find expression through your magic. And then I will tell you a secret."

With another deep breath, Belladonna closed her eyes and let herself go. She had instinctively been holding something back, like someone who was trying to hold back a piss. True, one would function relatively properly, but the discomfort would remain. She felt her body fill up with a sort of energy; she couldn't tell if it was sickening or not, but then it seemed to seep into her skin, into her bones...

"Open your eyes, and tell me what you see."

Belladonna opened her eyes and looked around. "I see glowing purple stuff. Uh, am I doing that?"

"You are doing a lot more than that," the apparition said, rising to his feet. "And the rest is up to you, to use this ability as you see fit. My time is up..."

As Belladonna rose, the ghost of Gethin placed his hands on her shoulders, though she felt no weight whatsoever. "The Overlord tried to use your body as a template to restore his ailing health, using infernal poisons to accomplish his plan. Unknown to him, he only succeeded in providing your body with a resistance and countermeasure to such dark powers. Child, you have within you, the power to destroy demons."

Belladonna frowned slightly; she thought she could make out sounds outside. The apparition noticed, but waved to cut her off and continued quickly: "Once, I worked for evil, and I even served the Overlord for a season. However, I sought redemption for my past crimes, which eventually brought about my demise at the hands of my former masters. I cannot see the path down which you walk, but it seems dark. Please, Belladonna child, if you would promise me anything, promise me that you will not lose yourself in the darkness, while trying to help the light."

---

The ghost of Gethin began to fade, as Belladonna heard steps shuffling towards the door. She looked directly into Gethin's eyes and nodded, her own eyes beginning to water. The apparition smiled one last time, and was gone. And as if on cue, the door was kicked down, and three armed men charged in, the first aiming at her neck with a machete.

The single tear that managed to escape her eye simply vaporized, as a pulse of glowing purple gas surged out of Belladonna in all directions, knocking the men backwards. They screamed in pain and horror, their bodies being eating away by the corrosive gas, but their cries were shushed by the winds of Hakobe outside. Soon, there was silence, but Belladonna knew she was not alone. There was still someone outside.

Bursting through the wall which had been eroded by her power, she caught him off guard, a swift kick to the gut, knocking him into the snow. Gethin had told her he had been killed by his former masters, and she was going to find out who was responsible. To her surprise, as she interrogated the man, he remained cocky, claiming that his master would simply bring him back from the dead, and he and his companions would make her die a gruesome death for opposing their master.

She snarled in his face, an inch away from killing him... but she did not.

Instead, she let him go, and disappeared into the blizzard. When the man could see her no more, he believed that she had been cowed by his threats and had fled, and so he headed back, after checking in on his dead colleagues. And she followed him, able to pick his sounds faintly through the storm. She wanted to know where he had come from, and if he was working with a larger group.

Half an hour later, she happened upon a small village, hidden from the wind by large boulders. It was an odd village, for she could see no children, but what got her attention was the massive statue in the center of the village... a shrine to the Overlord. She slowly walked into view of the villagers, her eyes on the statue, wondering why people would worship a demon. Maybe he had cowed them into doing it out of fear, much like the cowards who had betrayed her family all those years ago. And she was spotted.

Okay, it had been stupid of her to just walk in without a plan, but what she witnessed next inspired an action... a macabre deed... perhaps the first of many. These villagers bore in on her all at once, shouting about how a sacrifice to their god had been found. Fear and revulsion manifested themselves in her powers, as a dark cloud that roiled out from her skin. She was somewhat pleased to note that the cloud was not as lethal as the previous purple fog that killed her earlier assailants; it incapacitated them, leaving them mostly in a drugged-like stupor. So, she walked about the village, wreathed in poisonous fumes, knocking everyone down or out, and asking questions from those who remained conscious. To her horror, she discovered that their worship of the Overlord was the least of their crimes. They were a bounty hunting village, who sacrificed visitors to their god, obeyed his word from his priests as law, and all believed in his ability to resurrect them.

"There are many of us scattered all over Fiore, so you will not escape punishment for your desecration," the high priest barked at her, even from his fallen position. We will be raised from death, given new powers, and we will destroy you and all who will not serve...

His voice trailed off into a death rattle, as Belladonna gestured in his direction, and a purple haze engulfed him.

"If there are this many of you, then I just have extra work on my hands. You do not deserve to be brought back to life. I will personally see to it."

About four hours later, a lone figure left the silent settlement and headed into the wind. The statue had been cut down and burned with fire, and nothing living was left... just about a hundred bleached bones wallowing in a green, slowly-freezing goo.

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