A/N: This is a sequel to Farewell, My Love and The Wilting of a Flower. It was written by my best friend Hanna and me. You have to have read at least The Wilting of a Flower to understand this. Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and I own chocolate... my own, at least. Enjoy, and please, please review!
Storytime
"So, your childhood was basically torn between war and starvation?" Chrystal sat down on the riverbank and looked up at the stars.
"Oh, no," Sesen said, smiling and sitting down beside Chrystal. "I had a very large family, you know... of course, now they're almost all dead." She grimaced at the thought. "But when I was little, I had seven brothers and four sisters. Four of them didn't live to see adulthood. But you're right, I grew up in difficult times, what with the war and the starvation and all that." She grimaced down at her own body. "One thing's for sure, now, anyway. I'm never going to be fat."
Chrystal laughed. "There's something good in everything."
Sesen smiled at that. "Yes, that's true. Anyway, my father was a warrior, and he was very strict. He was away from home a lot when I grew up, but when I reached maturity he had to stay home. He grew too old to fight anymore. Frankly," she added, "I'm just amazed that he survived all those battles." She sighed. "My mother was strict, too, but kinder. She knew... thought... that I would be the one to take care of them when they grew really old, so I guess she thought that I would be kinder to them when they were old if they were kind to me when I was young." Sesen stared into space for a little while.
"You, at least, had parents." Chrystal murmured.
"I did," Sesen agreed quietly. "And they fought really hard to get food to everyone... like that basket of corn I was bringing to my oldest brother when I first met you, you know. That was a regular occurence. Anyway, there were so many happy times, too. But the most vivid memory I have of my human life is of when my youngest sister was killed, or maybe of the first man I killed. I've already told you some parts of that." Sesen looked sadly at Chrystal. "My sister was expecting her first child when it happened. She was so happy. And then..." She shuddered. "Robbers broke into the house. Myriam... my sister, I mean... she tried to stop them. And they killed her." If Sesen was human, she would have cried. As it was, she could only sob dryly. "That was also the first human I killed. I killed the man who murdered my sister. It wasn't self-defence. It was vengance." Sesen curled in on herself, refusing to speak anymore. She put her arms around herself and shuddered.
"Don't worry about it. The past is the past, don't dwell on it." Chrystal put her arms around Sesen. "I have had my fair share of killing. And that was not self-defence or vengance, it was for fun."
Sesen gratefully leaned into Chrystal's embrace, but she still shuddered at her words. "For fun!"
Chrystal smirked. "Some I actually killed out of vengance, but they weren't really the people I wanted to kill, just representatives of them."
"Oh." Sesen pulled in a deep breath and straightened up. "Anyway, story of my life. That was pretty much how it was my entire childhood. Family members getting killed, robberies, mercenaries, and all that shit." She looked at Chrystal. "What about you? How was your human life, and your life before I met you?"
Chrystal stood up. "It's not so far to go there..." she murmured. "Since we are on the same continent, why don't I show you my birthplace?" she asked out loud.
"Okay." Sesen stood up, too. "Lead the way."
After having run a while Chrystal stopped on a hill.
"There it is." She looked down at an empty spot in the landscape.
Green grass, trees, rivers... "There doesn't seem to be any village or anything there," Sesen commented.
"The village was destroyed over 400 years ago." Chrystal started walking.
"What happened?" Sesen asked quietly.
"I was born a little bit over 400 years ago. My mother died in childbirth. I never saw her, but according to many I look exactly like her. My father was the chief of the village and the best warrior we had. He raised me to be a warrior and he was very strict. With him it was impossible to be a child." Chrystal fell silent.
Sesen looked sad at that thought. "Our childhoods were much the same, then."
"Not really. When I was still more a child than an adult, a stranger came to our village. He challenged my father to a fight for the position as a chief and me as his bride. The stranger decided that the fight was to be held at night and at a place were no one could see them. The winner would return with the loser's head. The next morning, the stranger came back with my father head in his hand." Chrystal threw Sesen a look.
Sesen looked horrified. "That must have been very hard for you."
"It hit me hard when I only saw his head, but I couldn't dwell on my grief. I moved on pretty quickly. Our new chief, Eric, was fair and kind. He didn't force himself on me, he respected me for who I was. After a couple of years I gave birth to my only child, Edward." Chrystal smiled a little. "We lived happily for a while... Then one day, when Edward was younger than I was when Eric became chief, the neighbouring village attacked us. When they retreated I ran after them to make sure that they left. I had missed one enemy and he came running from behind and plunged his sword through one of my lungs."
Sesen looked like she was going to be sick.
"Well, after that, a vampire came out of the woods and offered me an other chance at life. In the state I was in, I agreed and because of that I am a vampire today. I stayed with my creator for about a year and then I returned to the village. They didn't greet me well at first, but when the sun shone on me, they thought I was an angel that had been sent by the gods to save them." Chrystal shook her head. "Humans believe anything." She smirked. "My reunion with my family wasn't so good." She stopped by two piles of rocks beneath a tree. "Eric and Edward were werewolves."
"Werewolves?" Sesen asked, astonished, unable to help herself. Then she shut her mouth again. And she had been so sure that she could listen without interrupting.
"Yes, werewolves. By the way, they smell of wet dog, in case you would ever meet one. Anyway, we didn't kill each other, like we were expected to have done. We loved each other too much to do anything like that. A few years passed and we couldn't get any happier, then it happened." Chrystal looked at the piles of rocks. "Vampires attacked the village. The humans fell to their bloodthirst. I tried to run away with my family, but the other vampires caught up to us. I tried to save Eric and Edward, but..." She fell silently to the ground. "They didn't survive." She laid a hand on one of the piles. "I burned the village and buried the humans... and... my beloved I buried here."
Sesen looked sadly at the tumuli. "I don't know what to say," she murmured. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." Chrystal stood up. "The past is the past and we can't dwell on it. Life moves on and so should we."
Sesen nodded. "We should, but we can't always do that. I can't, for the life of me, forget the day when my youngest sister was killed, no matter how much I want to. It's not easy. But we'll make do with what we have, won't we?" She smiled at Chrystal.
"My story doesn't end like that." Chrystal looked at Sesen. "After it all I started traveling for about a hundred years. Then I met a vampire from the Romanian coven. He invited me there and they welcomed me with open arms." She shuddered. "I was their killing machine." She smirked. "I submitted myself to them. I hated taking orders from people. I hated being someones ragdoll."
"Who doesn't?" Sesen muttered.
"Well, it's said time heals all wounds. They might heal, but they'll always be there." Chrystal looked at Sesen. "We should never forget who we once were, or our loved ones. It is the memories of them that keeps us going."
Sesen nodded, then she brightened up. "Okay, enough with the philosophical chatter. Where to next?"
A/N: This happens about ten years after Chrystal saved Sesen from Murtagh. Review! Please!!