La Guerrera del tiempo by Starsea

el sueño más profundo

Theme: Poison

Belladonna. Literally meaning: "beautiful lady".
Named for the Italian noblewomen of the Renaissance who often used drops of the berry juice to enlarge the pupils of their eyes, and look more attractive.


Setsuna sat at the table, her pulse pounding in her throat. Her arms and shoulders were bare and cold, gleaming brown in the candlelight. Her dress was ruffled crimson, complimenting her colouring and the richness of her hair. She stared at the berries on her plate and tried to remember just how many an adult could eat before they got sick... before they died.

"There are two types of berries in front of you, my dear." He templed his hands, smiling. She gazed back, hating him. "Blackcurrants... and deadly nightshade. One, of course, harmless; the other... well. The name speaks for itself, I think. Choose the blackcurrants and you will go free. Choose the nightshade and you won't be in a state to care."

Setsuna clenched her fists under the table. She didn't have her transformation pen and even if she were able to transform, he was not a youma. Just a highly unpleasant human. She gazed down at the separate piles of berry, both gleaming softly, and closed her eyes. Her abuela's voice came back to her through the long years.

"Algo que tiene un sabor amargo, tiene buenas características, Sunita. Los dulces son atractivos, pero te hacen mal."

Setsuna opened her eyes. She took one berry and put it in her mouth. It was incredibly sweet, making her mouth water for more. She swallowed and took one from the other pile. It was bitter compared to the first one, the taste refreshing the back of her mouth. She ate every berry from that pile and sat back.

Gracias, abuela.

She looked up, ready to fight for her freedom now, ready to hold him to his bargain. He was slumped forward in his chair. For one moment, Setsuna thought he'd had a heart attack while she was eating, but no. His chest was moving in and out, very slightly. All the berries on his plate (he'd only had one pile) were gone and someone was leaning on the chair, someone with wonderfully familiar green eyes.

"I swapped his blackcurrants for deadly nightshade. Just enough to put him in a very, very deep sleep. Hope you don't mind."

The chair fell over as Setsuna stood up. She told herself that she was not going to jump on him and burst into tears, or throw her arms around him and start kissing him. "I don't mind," she said carefully. "I don't mind at all. Could we leave?"

She managed to restrain herself from kissing him until they were safely home. Then all restraint vanished... and so did the dress.


Title: The deepest sleep
Abuela: Grandmother
Abuela's advice: "Something which tastes bitter has good properties, Sunita. Sweets look nice, but they don't do you any good."
Gracias: Thank you

DISCLAIMER: Meioh Setsuna belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

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