Belladonna

"If anyone unleashed these horrors on the landscapes, it is you.
    You dare to come here to Sanctuary? This is sacred ground, a Place of Light. You sully it with the mere presence of your filthy heart!"
    "Enough!" Yoshani shouted.
    No, Glorianna thought. It is not enough.
    The Dark currents inside her swelled with an anger that was black and undiluted. She stepped away from Lee. But before she said the words that were straining to break free, she sent out a command.
    Ephemera, hear me. The anger in this room is nothing more than wind, a storm that cleanses and is gone. This anger manifests nothing, changes nothing.
    But it would change everything.
    "I am not like you," Glorianna said, the fierce anger that flowed through her making her voice rough. "I have never been like you, because I am a direct descendant of the Guides of the Heart who walked this world long ago. I am like them, and I am connected to the world in ways you cannot imagine. But I also have the bloodlines of the Dark Guides flowing through my veins, so I command the Light and the Dark. I am not human. Not like you. I am Belladonna. You have never wanted any part of me.
    Now I want no part of you." She raised a hand and pointed at the Landscapers and Bridges. "Ephemera, hear me! Know these hearts. Any place that resonates with me is closed to them for all time. They may leave this landscape of their own choosing, but if they do not leave, send them to the landscape that resonates with their hearts. This I command."
    She turned and walked to the door. Then she paused and looked back at them. "The Eater of the World is free among the landscapes. If you don't hold on to your pieces of the world with all the Light in your hearts, It will destroy you and everything in your care."
    She walked out of the room, walked out of the guest house. Then she ran from the pain that threatened to cripple her.
    But even as she ran, she knew no one, not even Glorianna Belladonna, could run fast enough or far enough to escape the pain that lived in her own heart.
    Yoshani stepped in front of Lee. "It is done," he said, keeping his voice low so that only Lee would hear. "There is no need to say more. Go away for a few hours. Go see your cousin."
    Lee's green eyes were filled with icy anger. "My sister needs me."
    "There is too much anger in your heart, my friend. You cannot help her. Let your feelings spill on someone who can drink them in and not be hurt by them. Sometimes anger needs an echo before it can be washed away. Go. I will look after Glorianna."
    Lee glared at the Landscapers and Bridges, but he left the room.
    Yoshani closed his eyes and tried to calm the turmoil in his own heart.
    Opportunities and choices. It was a saying Glorianna often used to explain how the world worked to fulfill true heart wishes.
    He had seen the Light side of that saying, but until today, he had never seen the tragic side of it when the choices might cost so much.
    He turned to face the eight people in the room.
    "I am sorry," he said, "but you can no longer stay in Sanctuary."
    He gave them a few moments to deny and protest his words, then he raised a hand to command silence. "You cannot stay."
    "But we came here looking for help, looking for answers to what was happening in the landscapes — and what happened at the school," one of Bridges protested. "You said we might find the answer here."
    "The answer stood before you, and you would not see. You chose to turn away from her, and now she has chosen to turn away from you."
    The oldest Landscaper stared at him in disbelief. "Belladonna? She was the answer? She's a rogue!"
    "And that is all you see," Yoshani said sadly. "For you, she is nothing more than a word that evil used to shroud your hearts.
    So now you do not resonate with the currents of power that flow through Sanctuary, and you cannot stay here."

    "But she can?" one of the Bridges shouted.
    "Sanctuary is one of Belladonna's landscapes," Yoshani replied quietly. "She altered Ephemera in order to bring the Places of Light together so that we might learn from each other, draw strength from each other."
    They just looked at him, too stunned to speak.
    The youngest Landscaper wrapped her arms around herself "The school is gone. We can't go back to our gardens. How are we supposed to take care of Ephemera if we're all alone?"
    "You are not alone," Yoshani said, looking at each of them in turn. "You have each other. So you find a place where you can build again, begin again." And