Gemma Beatini

**Gemma Beatini** is a Noble of Troiani, who latter became Contractor to the Apocrypha Dementero.

## Story

### From Noble to Contractor

Gemma was raised as a noble of the Beatini family, one of Troiani's most prestigious families. She was harshly raised in order to fit in the royal court, which she did, becoming one of Queen Anetta's most trusted advisors. As a member of her inner court, she spent a normal, careless, albeit slightly bored, life.

This changed when a war between other Contractors accidently sent Gemma into the Apocrypt, where she met Dementero. In order to survive, Gemma pledged part of her Soul to Dementero, becoming bound to her as her Contractor. This allowed her to return to the real world.

### Contractor Gemma

This caused Gemma to understand and realize that most people around Anetta - including herself - already were contractors long before her, making her feel slightly betrayed by those she held dear. With the help of Celine Derilia, an impoverished member of the court who helped Gemma with surviving the Apocrypt, Gemma recovers however and attempts to understand the court's problems.

She first rescues Alyssa Auroria from an eternal slumber caused by her apocrypha Dracomnus. She learns from Alyssa that Anetta herself has succumbed to her Apocrypha Elsiemina's influence, her heart long-since frozen. With the help of fellow friends and contractors Opalina Decora, Yasmina Al'Baya and Oceane Aria, she attempts to save Anetta from herself.

### Night of Doubt

However, the presence of the taunting Wendy and Opalina uncovering that Gemma's best friend Charlotte Clementia was the Queen's hidden agent from the start infuriates her. Feeling betrayed and used, as she thought she was worthy to be the queen's champion, Gemma brutally confronts Charlotte, the two women's hearts shaken by the confrontation.

However, with Dementero's strange advice and Celine's help, Gemma eventually forgives Charlotte and apologizes for her actions, allying herself with the Contractor to stop and purify Anetta by using the power of Dementero to bind Elsiemina to his will. This causes Anetta to be restored to her original personality, allowing her to pinpoint the event's true culprit : Gemma's hidden bastard half-sister Irena Beatini.

### A Final Battle

Gemma, eager to purge her family's honor, attempts to confront Irena one final time. As the latter attempts to besiege Anetta's castle, Gemma uses Dementero's powers and absorbs part of them, feeling as her time is dwindling, and crashes against Irena's army, eventually defeating her and her formidable Apocrypha Cygnatius.

Even after that, however, Wendy appears, as the one who pushed Irena towards this way, forcing Dementero to absorb most of the Contractors' powers in order to become powerful enough to crush the heavens. Seeking revenge for the existence of the Apocrypha, she seeks to take Dementero's pact from Gemma. However, a madness-infused Gemma still refuses and manages to talk Wendy into forsaking her vengeance.

Wendy allows Gemma to survive her pact, taking in part of her burden and letting the woman recover from the painful connection with Dementero. Now intimately connected to her Apocrypha, Gemma would eventually have a daughter with him, Florina Beatini. Much later, to protect her from outside forces, she would, alongside the rest of the royal court, move to the Cheshire Isle.

## Appearance

Gemma is a stunningly beautiful woman with purple eyes and long, flowing silver hair. Her body shape is thin, yet in good shape, as she often practices fencing in order to be worthy of being Anetta's champion. She most often dresses in purple, and her facial expression is a serious one.

## Personality

Due to strict upbringing, Gemma's personality is at first what could be expected of a high-ranked noblewoman - courteous, intelligent and an extremely talented negociator, carefully hiding venom behind some of her words. However, Gemma remains empathetic and believes that everyone deserves a chance, refusing deterministic social outcomes to the profit of individual merit.

Gemma intensely believes in self-improvement and moral integrity as one's main virtues. However, she is much more emotional than what she likes to show, something that is more and more visible as her bond with Dementero grows. This bond also causes Gemma to feel emotions and feelings such as love or compassion much more vividly, resulting in her being passionnate sometimes to the point of instability.

## Powers

* **Contractor Powers:** Gemma, at the price of dwindling sanity and lifeforce, is connected to Dementero, which allows her to travel into the Apocrypt, as well as using Dementero's ability to control and take over other Apocryphae. She can also merge with Dementero to become a half-real monstrosity with immense physical powers.
* **Keen Intellect:** Gemma is extremely intelligent and was seen as one of the court's greatest minds. Dementero's natural madness only enhances this.

## Storylines

* Tales of the Fae recounts Gemma's story.

## Trivia

* Her Italian-sounding name ties in to the plane's name and to Florina's own backstory.
* She plays the role of the metaphorical story's Alice - the noblewoman escaping her rigid duties by falling into a dream-like world.