She didn't believe in happily ever afters. Why would she? The world she knew was complete chaos.
Demons roamed the streets freely, killing any witch or mortal that got in their way. Witches turned on each other in an instant. She lived in constant fear that she would be found and killed.
Lord Wyatt did not let those that opposed him live for very long and her last promise to her mother had been that she would never follow him. He started the trials that had seen her parents and sister burned.
They were just like him. He was supposed to understand and help protect their community, not destroy it.
Her magic hadn't fully manifested yet. She was terrified that she wouldn't be able to control it and would be caught. She'd seen what had happened to those even just accused of magic.
If Wyatt didn't kill you, the Witch Hunters would.
No, she couldn't find it in herself to believe in happily ever afters. Not in her world.
Nightmares, however, she could believe in.
Each morning, she would wake and barely succeed in suppressing her screams. She feared her magic as it grew more and more out if her control each day. Every night when she moved hiding spots, her eyes would catch sight of burning buildings and trees and she'd faintly wonder how many flames had begun to burn because of her.
The girl was almost glad of her power because it made hiding in a bit easier. Pyrokinetic witches were rare. Her mother had drilled this into her skull at a young age and always - always - made sure she was careful. She learned how to not just blend in to a crowd, but to be completely invisible in one. Often, her father would joke that she could also turn invisible.
This allowed her to stay safe for two years after Lord Wyatt took over the world.
When he found her, she refused to follow him. Two days later found her standing in a room, tied to a pole. Gasoline was spilled on the floor and the pole, ensuring it would light up.
For the first time in years, she prayed for a happy ending. She hoped the flames would not hurt her. But they never even got the chance to do so.
There was a boy that saved her. He was the leader of what they called the Resistance. She knew him on sight and nearly cried with relief when he froze everyone in the room.
Christopher Halliwell was the only person in the world she felt she could trust.
He was the first person to treat her like a human in years. He helped her and even accepted her into the Resistance without hesitating.
It seemed he remembered her sister - his once best friend.
Despite being only twelve when she joined, she was one of the Resistance's best fighters. Many people would come to fear her in the following years s she learned how to fight and defend those she loved.
Her name struck fear throughout Wyatt's regime. She had escaped his prisons many times, taking as many innocents as possible with her. She had even given the man himself a scar and earned herself a nickname.
It often made her blush when she heard how the mortals still permitted on the Earth's surface spoke of her.
Belladonna was a deadly force. Belladonna would take down the regime. Belladonna would help end their suffering.
But they didn't know that 'Belladonna' was only seventeen. Or that 'Belladonna' had seen far too much. Or that her name was Anibel Feldspar.
They didn't know of her past or that she cried herself to sleep most nights. They didn't see a shell of a girl. Sometimes she was grateful for that; other times, she was mad because of it.
But it helped to spread fear through the regime's ranks. Her reputation as the fearsome Belladonna helped her free people and strike down some of the demons that terrorized the world. If demons feared you, it was easier to vanquish them, she'd found.
But for every demon they vanquished, four more seemed to fall in league with Wyatt.
The Resistance was slowly crumbling and they knew that. She was days away from turning eighteen when they started planning to save Wyatt. She had begged Chris to allow her to be the one to go.
He was the leader of the Resistance and meant more to the world here than trying to find whoever turn Wyatt. She was trusted enough to send back without the possibility of her killing the young boy. She was not going to be left here and do nothing and she hadn't the slightest clue how to lead his Resistance.
Chris had just laughed calmly and pulled her into a hug. He would be safe, he assured her. But he didn't change his mind and six months later, he found himself twenty-four years in the past.
From then on, Belladonna fought harder with less patience and more skill. She helped everyone she could and organized many, many groups to hide, rescue, and hunt. She had found that in all her years beside Chris as one of his friends and advisors, she learned how to lead. It did also help that Bianca was there with her.
They fought in battles side by side for months, fending off Wyatt's men. It was only after nine months that they lost. It was just supposed to be a rescue mission, but they were ambushed by a large group of demons.
Neither woman remembered anything other than when they appeared and the flames that spewed from Belladonna's hands.
She woke in a prison to screams from other witches as Wyatt tortured them for information. Anger boiled beneath her skin, but the flames did not rise as she had thought they would. But Wyatt just grinned gleefully and continued.
She knew he blamed her in part for Chris. For years, he'd been trying to get him to join him, but he would not. He was more resistant to Wyatt after she'd begun fighting with them than before. Somehow, that meant it was her fault.
She watched as others were killed and harmed by Wyatt's hand. Then, she met Bianca again. She known what had and would happen the moment the other woman appeared in the prison block.
Flames longed to dance across her skin and burn Wyatt away from them all. She screamed at Bianca not to give in, that whatever he had threatened wasn't worth it and saw the conflict in her friend's eyes. She was cursing and yelling at Wyatt when it happened.
The sword had little resistance as it slid through her and appeared on the other side of her body. She felt the hilt hit her back and watched as Excalibur was pulled out, covered in her blood.
She didn't remember dying. She remembered the pain and then closing her eyes.
Suddenly she was waking up. Her sister was screaming her name and yelling that they were going to be late. She didn't understand at first, but then memories began flooding through her mind.
A smile lit up her face as she realized Chris must have done it. Wyatt wasn't evil in her new memories.
Merlia kept yelling at her and she remembered what today was. It seemed strange to her, but she carried on as she thought she should. To her surprise, no one noticed a difference and she didn't feel out of place.
It wasn't until the reception that she was able to talk with Chris. She hugged him and thanked him. He immediately knew what she was talking about despite the fact that she had not mentioned it.
In fact, she only knew he knew because he stated that he was glad she had not remained dead.
She chuckled and changed the subject, congratulating him and welcoming him to the family. (And maybe she assured him that if he ever hurt her sister, Belladonna would make her return - or, in this case, debut. Maybe.)
Over the years, she began to forget what few others remembered. Her memories of living alone in a world on fire were fading. But she refused to forget entirely.
A few days after the wedding, she began to grow a small garden of flowers that she would continue for the rest of her life. So, while she was forgetting, Belladonna never truly disappeared as her namesake continued to grow and flourish in a little space of the Magic School greenhouses.
They were a small reminder of the life that could have been and once was. It was a reminder to believe in the possibility of a happily ever after. She smiled to herself as she taught her daughter to take care of the belladonnas.
Yes, she decided, she most certainly believed in happily ever afters.