One True Love

One True Love
by Ryan Brady

It's not easy being a puritan succubus. Especially one so incredibly beautiful. Fall-from-Grace would never admit it, but in the back of her mind she knew it to be true. Over the years she had learned to ignore the constant ogling of every male creature whenever she walked through the streets of Sigil. She had learned to ignore that her very nature drew the gaze of men like flies to sugar. And she had learned to ignore that their gaze was only drawn by her physical shell, not by what lay beneath, within her mind and soul. Sometimes it was difficult knowing that a man could never see her for who and what she truly was. It was difficult knowing that a man would never care what she thought or believed. It was difficult knowing that she could never show a man her heart without blinding him with her flesh. It was the fate of all her kind. And it was a fate she had come to accept.

There had been many men over the years who had proclaimed their undying love for her. She had learned to ignore these trite proclamations as well, knowing that they were brought on not by anything from within their own hearts, but by the very aura that her kind exuded. Eventually, the words "I love you" became virtually meaningless to her. She had heard them spoken to her so many times, and every time she had to remind herself that those words were truly empty. To her, they were words that had become synonymous with "I lust for your body," and she cringed every time she heard them. In her younger years she had tried to explain it to them, telling them that it was this cursed aura of hers that twisted and warped their emotions. Naturally, they all denied it. They all insisted that their love was true and genuine, unfettered by any unnatural force. It usually took quite a few cruel and harsh words on Fall-from-Grace's behalf to finally get them to break free from her grasp and realize that they had been mistaken about her. It broke her heart to have to do such things, for they were mostly good and kind men and really didn't deserve to be spoken to in that manner. But inciting such harsh emotions within them was the only way she could give them a moment's chance to escape from the web of that accursed aura of hers.

About the only male that didn't seem to be affected by her charm-inducing aura was her companion, Dak'kon. Perhaps the chaotic nature of his Githzerai heritage shielded his mind from charm effects, or perhaps his unrelenting focus on the teachings of Zerthimon allowed him to push them aside. Regardless of the reason, it was certainly refreshing to be able to talk with a man who's eyes would stay focused on her own for the length of their conversation instead of wandering down to other parts of her body after a few seconds. If only he could teach his trick to her other companions.

The newest member of their party seemed especially vulnerable to her charms. She felt bad enough that she was corrupting the thoughts of such a kind and gentle young man, but the fact that he was a paladin--a paragon of virtue and restraint--made it even worse. She would have preferred not to take him into the group, but the others were quite insistent that they should take him up on his offer to help them find a way to leave this strange, backwater prime world they had stumbled into. Supposedly he knew of someone that had a gemstone which could open a portal back to Sigil. As very few people on this world were experienced in planewalking (or even knew what planewalking was for that matter), this was most likely their only chance to return home to Sigil and get on with their quest to find what had happened to The Nameless One. So she agreed to let him journey with them for the time being, though it was a reluctant agreement.

Jaycen was the paladin's name, and he claimed to be a veteran adventurer. Yet for all the experience he supposedly had, she found it quite odd that he could be so susceptible to her charms. It wasn't always that way, though. Indeed, when she had first met him it almost appeared as though her aura had no effect on him. But it was only a matter of time before his eyes began staring at her a little longer than is custom, flowery prose crept into his conversations with her, and eventually his attention became undividedly focused on her and her alone. Fortunately, he had yet to say those three words to her--the three words she hated to hear. But they had several conversations over the past few days that led her to believe it was only a matter of time before they came slipping out of his lips.

When they had first met, Jaycen was a bit apprehensive of her. He said he had fought several of her kind in the past and was suspicious of her claim of being a "puritan succubus." Perhaps this is what was able to help him resist her charms at first. If that was the case, she wished that suspicion would have continued throughout their time together, for as he began gaining trust in her, so too did he begin slipping into the tangled web of her charms.

She cursed herself for letting it happen. She should have politely excused herself and retired to her bedchambers instead of staying up into the wee hours of the night with him on so many evenings to carry on their discussions of philosophy, sociology, planar geography, and chaos theory. She should have declined his offer to take that midnight stroll around the city or to go with him to that jousting tournament that his paladinic order was sponsoring. Oh, that jousting tournament was the worst mistake she had made. The looks he received from his fellow knights when he was seen in her company were nearly unbearable. She wanted to scream and run away when she saw the way he lashed out against them and claimed that he would cast aside his membership in their order if they would not tolerate her presence. How strong her charms must have been for him to even consider such an extreme action.

She had been so selfish in her desires. She had enjoyed his company and his conversation, and the way he made her feel when they were together. Once, just once, she wanted to forget that it was all a ruse and that his supposed feelings for her were little more than an illusion. Yet that was all it was. A sick, twisted illusion of her own design. An illusion she knew yet still willingly and selfishly accepted in her own moment of weakness. A moment of weakness that nearly destroyed a man's life.

She had spoken to him very little since that day, trying her best to avoid him and carry on with their quest of try to find this planar portal gem as quickly as possible. She met all of his questions with cold, terse answers, and tried to put an end to any attempts at conversation before they had a chance to start. She would ignore his chivalrous deeds and, though it broke her heart to do so, would respond to his attempts at flattery and flirtation with callous condescension. Anything to try to give this man a chance to break free from her charms. Yet it didn't seem to be working. The colder she acted, the harder he tried to win her back. Why couldn't he just take a step back and see what was happening? Why couldn't he see that he was being drawn in to her demonic powers? By the gods, they were a paladin and a succubus! What else could be happening?

As it turned out, they found the gem the very next day and, fortunately, its owner was more than happy to open a portal back to Sigil for them. Jaycen insisted that he wished to go back with her and simply wouldn't take no for an answer. He seemed so sincere in his desires, but Fall-from-Grace knew better than to give them any credence. He had fallen so far into her enchantments that he could not break free on his own no matter what she did. She would have to find a way to escape back to Sigil and ensure that he could not follow.

It was such a cruel thing that she did, but it was all she could think of at the time. She agreed to let him return to Sigil with her, but told him that he needed to inform his Order of his decision. It was, after all, only right to let them know of the new path he had chosen. She would remain here, keeping the portal open until he returned. He agreed, and hurried off to tell his Order of what he had decided. As soon as he was out of sight, she quickly grabbed the gemstone, leapt through the portal with the rest of her companions, and smashed the gem as they reached the other side--forever sealing the portal back to Toril.

When Fall-from-Grace and her companions arrived in Sigil they returned to the Society of Sensation to rest up and plan their next planar hop. Dak'kon noticed that over the next few days Fall-from-Grace was absent from many of their planning meetings and skipped several meals as well. Realizing this to be very uncharacteristic behavior for her, he decided to check up on her and make sure she was feeling alright. He found her in her chambers, curled up on her bed with her graceful wings wrapped tightly around her and weeping softly.

Dak'kon inquired as to what was troubling her, and Fall-from-Grace replied that she could not seem to get over the emotions she had come to feel toward Jaycen. She had never seen her charms have such an effect on a man before. And for the briefest of moments, she almost thought that Jaycen's feelings for her might be genuine. In her heart, she so desperately wished that they could have been. She cursed her mother, and cursed her race, and cursed her very nature. In all her years as a Sensate she had come to experience so many emotions and sensations, but the one she had never come to know--and never would come to know--was true love. This cursed charm-aura of hers would see to that.

Dak'kon opened his mouth to reply, but quickly thought the better of it. Perhaps now was not the best time to tell her that Jaycen was an Inquisitor. And that Inquisitors are immune to charm spells.