The final book was told in the point of view of the surviving daughter of Guardian Showl. It surprised her after all every main character had been terrible and irredeemable before. She though wasn’t cruel or devious, she was hardened and sometimes cold but she tried to do the right thing. As her story went on she tried to work with the briefly mentioned other guardians to find those who were killing off the guardians.

  She was written like the author meant her to be the hope and the resolution of whatever was going on. Nerezza felt hope and compassion for the girl. She was sent before the power of the Guardian’s seal which again hadn’t been clearly explained to fix it and be recognized as a Guardian herself. Touched the magic which was black as night and it reacted to her but then it shifted to a dark blue pulse and exploded. She tried to control it but it slowly tore her apart then shattered through the world ending it.

  Nerezza stared at the last line feeling shocked and numb. Then she stood sharply up packing all the books in a box and shoved them away. She wanted to forget them but she found that going through her normal life was more difficult. She was dreaming of the books of hopelessness.

  Then she decided that if this author was going to write so terribly she’d just write her own version. She went through the stories picking out the minor and background characters she felt that could have changed things, events that if they had just gone a bit differently could have stopped other events. It became her all and it was therapeutic to write a different future. She’d done it for her own life. She had an entire box of notebooks filled with her hopes and dreams things she wished she could have said.

  Relationships she wished she could have had.

  Those never felt like they were really worth it. This felt significant to her and when she got through it didn’t feel as haunted by it. Except for she didn’t know enough about the Icortos house to think of how to save them and she wanted so badly to.

  She’d been so focused on this one book series that she hadn’t looked at any of the shipments in a while. They’d built up. Nerezza thought about finding a silly romance novel to distract herself for a bit. To take a break but instead found another green bound book with nothing else written on it. When she opened up the inner cover it read The Effect but there was no number or indication of when in the time line it was supposed to fall it simply was. Then she blinked at the name Belladonna the wife of Guardian Showl and the mother of the final main character.

  Nerezza jumped when she heard her mother’s rage filled shriek. She looked out the window and caught sight of her mother blasting one of the Heaven Fruit trees. Her harem were set on others around. Nerezza was surprised for only a moment, only wondered why for a moment before she decided she was more curious about the book then what was happening outside.

  “She wouldn’t tell me anyway.” She whispered.

  Nerezza opened the book.

  Belladonna was described as exceedingly beautiful woman from a very well-off family. She was the most valuable asset of her father able to charm most anyone. Belladonna though hated her father for many reasons including his lack of care for her and his overall obsession with the secret order of the Blue Rose. She had a childhood acquaintance who’d been mentioned in an earlier story during the eradication of a group of nobles whose were aiming to release beasts in the Kingdoms of Linros, Corinle and Portas in order to control the trade routes. In this story it was revealed that actually that group was a distraction for the Blue Rose’s true motives to take out a few key figures and place new ones close to different Guardians.

  Belladonna knew this she knew that her friends died because of the plan but decided there was truly nothing she could do about it.

  There was a break and then it introduced her walking into the Order of the Seven Shadows an organization that’s goal was to maintain the integrity of Shadow magics. They worked in tandem with the Guardians on occasion but were only truly tied to the Shadow Guardian the current one being Guardian Showl.

  Belladonna was invited by a friend to visit and she’d accepted the invitation because her father hated it when she got involved with anything close to the Guardian’s. While there she ran into the Guardian Showl and a group of Order Chiefs. Belladonna prided herself in her reputation, whether it be her looks, her brains or her skills and one of her greatest skills was her control over fire. She was more then happy to show off her skills.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Belladonna liked being the spectacle the receiver of admiration so she found the Guardian Showl who stood unwavering and simply polite to be very boring and too on guard for her own preference. She much preferred her Lord Pari’s way of things he was bright and loved the game of pretend and secrecy. Hiding from everyone.

  Nerezza frowned. She was positive the main series made it seem like Belladonna and Lord Pari didn’t get together until after Guardian Showl’s death. She continued to page through.

  The Lady received a letter two nights after her show of power offering the idea that she and the Guardian Showl would be an ideal union.

  From everything she read in all the books she saw no reason for Belladonna to accept. She held a position on her own to have the ability to refuse. She knew she had that power and if she revealed her relationship no one would even question her choice. But Belladonna accepted simply because her father told her that he forbade it.

  At the union ceremony Belladonna looked over Showl continuing to criticize his entirety comparing him to Lord Pari. He also had an almost annoying resistance to her charms never giving her more then politeness. She would leave it all behind but she’d already made the commitment and it would look poorly to break things off without reason. She was sure she could find a reason.

  The story continued to have them not agree on most. Especially things that involved things around her father or Lord Pari. But Belladonna would go the Guardian Showl’s room every night and he’d meet her in every way she asked. Which was why she was sure that her charms were wearing him down. Guardian Showl must be in love with her.

  Nerezza really didn’t like Belladonna and in baffled her how the woman managed to be with the Guardian Showl but only mentioned the Guardian’s son’s as a passing indication of his location and never by name. Even the vague indication was only about five times. Even when her own daughter was born she simply thought. ‘My child might just be the most beautiful and angelic person I’ve ever seen.’ Then the child dropped out of the story not to be mentioned again until the very end.

  Honestly the affair between Belladonna and Lord Pari was not a big reveal. It was honestly more baffling to Nerezza that she took this long to think about divorce again. She was pleasantly surprised to see a perfectly reasonable divorce plan and agreement written up by this normally irritating character.

  Then her blood ran cold when Belladonna didn’t choose the perfectly reasonable but instead chose to follow an offered plan by Lord Pari. He told her about a plant being studied by his fellow mages that caused paranoia, forgetfulness and a loss of function.

  She added it to his tea. Sat with him as he drank it never once wondering if she should do it.

  She only planned on doing it until he showed noticeable signs and she could claim his lapse as the reason for her divorce request. No backlash on her and he could move on and gradually recover.

  But in fact Belladonna pushed things a bit too far and his mind broke. His ego was destroyed.

  Nerezza hissed out a breath knowing from her own basic knowledge of dark magic that without an ego if the body doesn’t die as well the magic itself has nothing reigning it in. It answered her question.

  How did a man who loved three boys so much, was so devoted to them suddenly kill them?

  ‘He looked at the boys and there was nothing in the Guardian Showl’s eyes. Not Love. Not recognition. Not guilt as he cut them down. I saw with a jolting fear that even though my daughter was in my arms it wouldn’t be a protection. So, I turned and ran. His magic tore across my skin in a pain like I had never known before my daughter screamed in the same pain. Then like an avenging Angel my beloved Pari appeared and slaughtered the beast. The beast of my making. But after all this maybe this death was a mercy for the Guardian.’

  Mercy?

  It fell blankly on her shoulders.

  “No Belladonna. There isn’t any mercy in these stories.” Nerezza breathed. Nerezza stood grabbed her note book and sat she poised her pen as the windows all darkened and a seal clicked into place. Nerezza blinked looking around and felt a sinking in her gut. She stood shaking holding her notebook close and she went to her favorite seat wrapping a blanket around herself.

  She’d always known this day could come.

  Why else would her mother need something that had her blood.

  Without her own magic it was impossible to escape, so Nerezza didn’t try instead she wanted to be as comfortable as she could be.

  That seemed to be too much to ask for too. The magic flared and it tore through her fractioning as her magic was thrust into her in unrelenting waves. She screamed knowing no one would care she cried hot tears. Then the building energy exploded from in her.

  And she fell to the ground from her chair nothing left in her.

  Still as she was fading away she swore she felt her book pulled out of her hold. She used the last of her energy to look for it.

  A figure.

  Flittering pages.

  A shadowed smirk.

  A shorter flip and the pain was gone.