Post Chapter Four - Belladonna (Patreon)

They were alive.

It was the singular thought that dominated her mind as she walked back towards the cathedral with the grimoire in hand. Of course, Belladonna already knew this. She had seen her love before now. Had talked to them. But this was different.  It was as if their presence had finally slotted into place and now Belladonna could only think of how she could make them corporeal again. Give solidity to a fading light.

Fucking Milo Next and his antics.  Messing around with a grimoire that should have been burned and scattered to the void. Not even Bella would touch that book for a spell. She would study it, learn all she could from it, and then she would make sure it could never be opened again.

Stepping underneath an old awning, Bella sniffed the air. Rotten peaches permeated the walls, coating the stone with a sticky flesh that breathed that fermented fruit into the world.  No one was coming to clean up this area of the market. No one cared enough to.  When goblins were the very ones attacking and eating the inner walls of the realm, the desire to help and rebuild was hard to muster.

Ground gems lined the streets, embedding into the cracks with a glittering hue.  They crunched under her feet as she navigated her way through the broken alleys and through storm drains that were thick with sludge.

Pim’s shop had not survived. Nothing but the stairs leading to his establishment stood any longer. But he had done what he could, set up a small table, and began to rebuild.

“My lady Malady,” he greeted, bowing with a flourish as she approached. “I’m afraid the kind of gems that are your favorite are no longer available.”

She hummed a bit, running her fingers along the slick bark of a tree that had not been there before.  “No. I suppose business is not well.”

“It is enough to get by.”

The goblin hobbled over to her, one of his ears flat against the side of his head. She noticed a limp as he used the table to steady himself.  Blood was heavy in the air. “What happened?”

He waved her off with leathery withered hands. “A scuffle.  Now, what can I do for you today if you are not in the market for gems?”

She set the book down onto the counter and slid it towards him.

To Pim’s credit, he did not flinch. Though, he very well should have. The power radiating off the tome was potent, the binding of the book made of goblin flesh and old magic that was long ago deemed too dangerous for this world.  Out of everyone in the market, however, Belladonna only held a few with the highest esteem. And when it came to curses, Pim was the one to talk to.

“I need to know how to get the lanterns back on.  And I’m almost certain this book holds the key.”

“It’s a cipher system, is it not?”

Belladonna nodded. “I can read it just fine but I am unsure what type of mechanism is in place for the reader. I have a suspicion this book has triggered quite a bit without anyone's knowledge but the author.”

“Could be. Could be.” Wrapping his hands in cloth, Pim reached out, flipping the book open.  He examined it for a moment, running his fingers along the edges of each page.  “It’s harmless, now. Reading it at least is. Though, I can’t attest to what the spells can actually do.”

“What do you mean?”

He closed the book, tossing aside the wraps into a burn barrel with other debris.  “There was a soul in there before.  I can see the empty spot in which it waited.”

Bella’s eyes darkened. “How powerful of a soul.”

“More powerful than I think you’d like.  Long story short, you should be able to view the book, without issue, but as always, be careful of whatever spells you read from it.”

She looked down at it. So the soul of Lucinda Albright had been in Milo’s hands for years on end. There was a small bit of satisfaction from that. Lucinda was known to think most of the market was beneath her but a special hatred had been saved for someone like Milo.  It almost made up for the waste of space that Milo was to know that Lucinda had to endure whatever riveting conversation he had regaled her with over the years.

“Is there a way to trap the soul back into the grimoire?”

“Perhaps.  Though, that will take sacrifice. Usually soul bonding is not done lightly.”

“I don’t care about the pain that comes along with it.”

“We are not speaking of pain, m’lady. We are speaking of unspeakable sacrifices. Desolation so severe that there is very little recovery.”

Devastation like an entire market street being burned, the occupants being burned with it and then trapped within their own personal hell.

Bella took the book, wrapping a binding around it until it disappeared from view.

“Alright, how can I help you, Pim.”

There was a moment where Pim was going to wave her off but the whip of magic surrounded him as Belladonna compelled the truth from his lips. “Continue to come get jewels,” he said.

“Come to the chapel,” she urged. “Set up shop where you are to be appreciated.”

“I am a goblin. I am not appreciated anywhere while my kind are running around the streets, eating the very land we live on.”

“I can protect you.”

Leaning forward, he sniffed her. “You can barely protect yourself.  You need to feed.”

“I have.”

He looked at her evenly. “You need a specific feed. A heart feed.”

The bristle of emotion that overtook her elongated her face, morphing her into the monster that lived beneath pristine skin. She breathed through her nose, pulling back. “Working on it. 

She pulled far more gold from her pocket than was necessary and placed it on the counter. “A meeting is happening for all the Barons soon.  I’ll be putting a motion forward for restoration.”

“I will not hold my breath,” Pim said, already turning back to his ‘shop’.

“You shouldn’t. I hear you can pass out from that.”  Belladonna gave him a grim little smile, the two of them nodding at each other as they wished the other goodbye.

It went without saying that they desperately hoped to see each other again.