Atropa Belladonna (Ghost Widow)

[Kaos Arcanna]

The dead do not change; this is why so many of us go mad.

Some of us are angry over the life that we left behind—a destiny left unfulfilled, a lost love, a dream denied.

The strong emotions that we felt as we died exist within us forever—and at a fever pitch that the living can never fully comprehend. Fear and hatred; love and lust. Despair. A refusal to submit to fate ...

We are ruled by what we were.

I wanted two things as I died: I wanted to live with an all consuming passion, and I wanted Paolo to survive.

These two things shape me still.

I might have fallen into the madness and despair when I found myself still trapped on the mortal plane if not for Paolo. I could not give into the impotent fury and helpless rage of the dead when Paolo still breathed ...

My poor Paolo ...

If I had been the rational creature that you see now, I would have urged him to seek medical care. I would have sent him on his way to find help. If only to find out what happened, Arachnos would have restored him ...

But I wanted Paolo at my side—I NEEDED him at my side. I could no more let him go than a mortal could gnaw off his own arm.

So I led him down ... down beneath the ruined building that burned around us. I made him eat whatever he could catch. I made him drink the befouled water ... I used abilities I did not fully understand and channeled mystical forces to fan the faint embers of life within him into a burning flame.

I saw him change. I saw him twist from the handsome man that had held my heart from the moment I met him into the misshapen Wretch that stands beside me to this day.

And not once did he complain or beg me for release.

My sweet Paolo ...

I have done terrible things—things that can never be forgiven. I have lied. I have betrayed. I have killed. As a mortal woman, as a eternal spirit, I have sewn disaster and misery in my wake like few other creatures in history ...

And yet the one thing—the only thing—that I truly regret is the life that I saved ...

My Paolo ...

If only we had not loved each other so, perhaps we both would be at peace now ...

[Kaos Arcanna]

The rest of my story you probably know.

When Arachnos investigated, they discovered that my spirit still lingered on the mortal plane. When they tried to exorcise me, my poor Wretch came to my rescue, and the tale of our prowess so impressed Recluse that he bade the Mu to free me from the place of my death that I might enter his service. Ever since that day, I have served him ... served Arachnos.

There is a geas upon me, you know. I exist so long as Arachnos exists. This gives Recluse power over me ...as he fully intended.

This does not please me.

But that is a concern for another time.

There are three things that I desire: to live again, to find release for my Wretch, and to gain revenge against those who wronged me.

The first two have not yet been accomplished. I have been betrayed time and again by those who have promised to serve me. There is too much of Paolo within Wretch to allow him to leave me ...

But revenge ... oh yes, there is still hope of revenge.

Lord Recluse would not approve of this desire of mine—if only because it does not serve his ends. So Arachnos does not aid me in this ...

That is why I turned to you, Destined One.

The old man that I had you bring to me—yes, you know who he is now.

He spent a fortune to evade me, dabbled in occult forces to delay me, but he had no way of knowing that I would send you after him. After nearly twenty years, I will finally see the face of my father once more ...

I have already learned much from him. I know now why he was able to escape me time and again. I know now how he always seemed to be just one step ahead of me ...

And I know that Nocturne is not the one who told him to expect me all those years ago...

It is fitting, in a way. My entire life was a story of one betrayal after another—why would I think that she would have been any different?

I have one more task for you, Destined One. One more chore for me and all our accounts will be settled.

Bring her to me, Destined One. Bring me the woman that betrayed me more than any other. Bring the one that I once called sister and would have died for.

Bring me my murderess that I might pass judgment upon her.

Bring me Pia Marino.


((Another of the stories I posted to the roleplaying forums as Blue Battler.))