In the end, I decided not to. As it turns out, it's a lot easier to decorate a room when you have two hands.

The stage was set for the arrival of Gaster and his prize. The windows covered with dusty curtains, a space in the middle of the similarly dirty floor cleared out. I had a vaguely mystical-looking enneagram drawn in chalk in the center of the room, the nine points connected by a circle. On each point sat a tallish candle, their flames dancing in the darkness, casting a soft orange glow that wasn't quite strong enough to illuminate the entire area.

I took the time to produce the Arcaneum Plagicium and look up several relevant-looking runes to decorate the enneagram with. Winging this sort of thing was a bit difficult, but at the same time kind of fun. The last time I had to deal with some mystical bullshit, all I needed was the corpse of a scholar and a small rune inked with their blood on their forehead.

I had everything set up the way I figured it should be roughly ten minutes before Gaster returned with Arianna. Everything was in its place, each line of chalk, each flickering candle, the placement of the tome on the floor before me as I sat cross-legged on the cold, dirty planks.

A chill crept down my spine as the doorknob fidgeted. The clicking of gears and shifting of bolts echoed like cracks of thunder in my skull.

This was it. This was it!

Rusty hinges protested as the door swung open. A tallish figure wrapped in a gown of damp silk collapsed to the floor. “Unhand me, you monster!”

Even with her words charged by electric anger, her voice was as sweet as the damsels in distress from stage plays and storybooks. How incredibly fitting.

Gaster soon followed her into the mostly abandoned warehouse, shutting the door behind him with the softest of clicks. He had a predatory grin on his face, but I was disappointed to note that his gods-awful stench came back with him. I specifically sent him into the moat and through the drainage pipes hoping that the water flowing through them would've washed some of that stink away. His hair was still wet and matted, held in place by the now gooey crap that had congealed on his skin from years of hiding in the woods.

Amber light flashed hungrily from my eyes. I did not address my disciple as he started at me expectantly. Instead, I turned my attention to our guest. “Welcome, Princess Arianna.”

The girl's head snapped up to get a look at me. She immediately recoiled, her beautiful features twisting in horror at the sight of my own. Her chest heaved with a fresh burst of adrenaline as she quickly scrambled to her hands and knees. Before she could rise, Gaster put his boot into her lower back, forcing her down to the floor once more.

“That will be enough,” I said flatly, casting a glare at him. Gaster immediately got the hint, bowed his head, and took a step back.

Shifting underneath my robes, I rose to my knees and inched towards the princess as she laid prone in the middle of the enneagram, thick sobs wracking her body as a couple teardrops mixed in with the dust and chalk. I reached out with a briar-knit hand, hesitating briefly before gently cupping her by the chin.

Why was I so worried about this moment? I felt myself overcome with a case of jitters. Some stage fright before the curtain rose. Panic rippled in the back of my mind, ready to grow into a full-blow attack. I trained weeks for this moment. Besides, I was in a different world, a different timeline, a different dimension. These people did not know who I was, they had not heard about the horrors committed by one Madison Freebird, the Briarheart of Concordia, the Scourge of Eiskalt, the Agent-Turned-Slayer of Pode.

For a brief moment, I entertained the thought of ripping a hole in the aether, stepping through it, telling Markov to eat a fat one and disappearing into my studies once more.

But... wasn't this what I always wanted? The power and freedom to do whatever I felt like to whomever I wanted? And now that I finally had it firmly in my grasp--and that I was fully licensed to commit these terrible, terrible acts--I wanted to give it all up?

I worked too hard for this. I couldn't back out now. I won't.

There were Grand Plans afoot, and I was going to be a part of them. Something important. Something lasting.

Looking back on everything, I think that's what I truly wanted. I just wanted to matter.

“Don't cry,” I hissed softly to the girl who had no intention of doing anything but. The princess tried to pull away, but I wouldn't let go. I gripped her jaw tighter, and forced her to look at me.

“Please don't cry,” I repeated myself, my tone still soft and comforting. “Instead, you should rejoice! You're about to be a part of something beautiful!”

The light of my eyes reflected perfectly in her own wide, red orbs. She tried to force out a few words, but I couldn't tell you what they were.

Instead, I soldiered on. “You do not know who I am. Nobody does. Not your books, your historians, the madmen who dwell in your asylums. Nobody remembers me. Nobody fears me.” I licked my teeth menacingly, just to watch the princess squirm in my grasp. “That all changes tonight. And you will be the one of the first to learn why I will not be forgotten again.”

It was hokey, but it would get the job done. I'd have to see if anyone around the office had anything would help me out with my “godly talk”.

Before Arianna could renew her struggles, I lifted her to her feet, and pushed my body up against hers until we both stood within the chalk circle. The nine candles resting on their points suddenly went out as I wrapped my vines around her trembling form. I could feel the dampness of her gown and the warmth of her skin pressed against my body. She tried to scream, but I latched my hands onto her face and squeezed my thumbs into her temples until her voice died down to a whimper.

Don't worry, honey. This is hurting me as much as it's hurting you.

The cloud of plague and spores building in my lungs brought a sense of urgency to the situation. This was it, this was my moment. I had to make my mark on this world. Give them something to truly fear.

I yanked Arianna's head towards mine until our mouths touched. The sharpened edges of my teeth cut into her lips as I parted them with my tongue. My thoughts blurred as I lost myself in the moment. Inch by inch, I bent her backwards, twisting my body to allow myself complete and total control of her.

I exhaled. Wisps of miasma ebbed from the gaps in my teeth as I forced the cloud of dead down her throat. I held her struggling form tightly as she gasped and choked and futilely hammered her fists against my arms and shoulders.

Breath. Breath in deep, princess. Become the tool of my vengeance.

It only took a moment, but it seemed to drag on forever.

My personalized plague mixed with the air in her lungs, with the blood that ran through her veins, with every fiber of her being. As the seconds ticked by one by one, she grew pale. She convulsed as her body fought against me and the virus that was already beginning to kill her.

I ripped my mouth away from her the moment the last of the violet cloud entered her. I gazed into her eyes, which were rolled into the back of her skull, the emerald shades of her irises barely visible. One thought ran through my mind. What the fuck was I doing?! I could have done this any of a thousand different ways. I could have simply breathed on her. I could have dipped my hand into the source of the river that divided the town, where people collected their drinking water from. I could have snuck into the banks and coffers where the city's riches were stored and contaminated them.

Why did I have Arianna brought here?

It all came down to Gaster.

As disgusted as I was with myself, assaulting the princess like this, it left an impression on the old hermit.

With this act, I had him enthralled. He saw what I had done, and would know the true horror of my act within a few day's time.

I released my grip on the princess, and allowed her to collapse to the floor in an unconscious heap. “Come before me, my servant,” I snarled at him.

Gaster immediately complied, throwing himself at my feet in a dirty lump of rags and flesh.

“Swear by my name. Swear your life to me. Swear you will serve none before me.” I was in no mood for theatrics any longer.

He may as well have broken a few of the floorboards, he pressed his face into them so hard. “My life is yours, my goddess.”

I reached into my robe and produced a pristine mythril dagger. “Let us seal our pact, then.”