Chapter 25/Epilogue: Vasilissa Ashford Dragmir

LPOV

"So, where are you going for the break?" Maria asked me as we walked to class.

"Oh, my mom is taking me home to visit my dad's side of the family in California and then we are going to take a trip to Turkey because that's where my mom's dad is."

"Damn, I wish my parents would take me around the world like that. Where's the farthest you've gone?"

"Ummm…" I scratched my head for a moment. "I'm not sure, Japan? Russia? Whatever you consider the farthest."

"Wow, you so know your geography."

I just laughed. "Shut the fuck up. The teachers hate you more than they hate me."

"The only reason some of these teachers hate you is because of who your mom is."

"They're just jealous."

"Well… I don't know, she's kind of a… special case. I mean, she's in the friggen history books."

I sighed. "Maria, you know I don't like talking about that."

She raised her hands. "Hey, I'm not the hater here."

"Ugh, I know, but you don't have to point out all of my family issues every ten minutes!"

Maria rolled her eyes. "You are so dramatic. Most have already accepted your family. Even your mother's relationship with your father."

"Can we just stop talking about it?" She shrugged.

I loved Maria, but she could be such a pain in my ass sometimes. "So, is Zeke going with you on your trip?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really Maria? That was only like 2 times."

"You took him with you to California! And then to New York! I mean, I know you guys are close, but I can't believe your mom, of all people, let a guy go with you on your trip."

I didn't say anything after that, because I wondered the same thing up until right before my junior year started. She explained to me about how she was when she was a child. Guardians rarely spent time with their kids, which was still true today, and Zeke is one of those kids. My mom has actually grown on him, mostly because he idolizes her and everything she does. Mom likes attention sometimes.

We made it into class and my day went about mostly peacefully. That is, until after lunch.

I walked into my theories class, and the first person I saw was… you guessed it. Rose Belikov.

"OMYGOSH LISSA IT'S BEEN SO LONG."

In front of EVERYONE my mom ran to me from the front of the class and hugged me as hard as she could. "Mom, please stop."

She laughed and looked around the class, but continued to hug me. "Am I embarrassing you."

I knew what she would say even before I answered the question. "Yes, Mom, you are really embarrassing."

"Ok cool, so I'm just going to keep hugging you until every single person gets into class and takes their seats."

I rolled my eyes and pushed her off of me. She let go of me after having me struggle for a little bit. If she really wanted to, she could have kept me there forever. I don't mean to brag, but my mom's kind of a baddass.

"Mrs. Belikov, can you please come back up to the front of the class so we can start our lecture."

"Oh, come now, Manny, no need to be so formal."

Let's just say 'Manny,' is one of the teachers who hate me because of my family.

My mom had her hair up in a tight bun and she was wearing a tank top with cargo pants. The tank top gave a full view of her shoulders and neck which gave me a full view of my mother's scar as well as her many tattoos. From the rumors I've heard, a few more have been added to those marks. Many of the students had already sat down, so the view of her bare back cause quite a few whispers

"Hello, everyone. How many of you know who I am?" Everyone in the class rose their hand. "Oh, ok. Well, as you know, my name is Rose Belikov. I'm a guardian for Jill Mastrano, I'm normally in California with her and her family. Does anyone know anything else about me?"

One boy in the front- try hard- raised their hand. "You ran away from the Academy when you were 16, right?"

My mom laughed. "Yes, I did. Anything else?"

"Uh, according to what I've read, you're, like, one of the only Shadow Kissed, right?" My mom nodded again.

"Do any of you know what that means?" No one was willing to say anything in fear of getting it wrong. I knew enough about it to know why my mom sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night crying. "Ok, well, when I was going to the Academy, I had a best friend, the last in the line of the Dragomirs, Vasilisa." My mom's gaze fell on me for a moment, and I knew she was trying to keep composed, but my name has always been a touchy subject. "And she died. In a car accident, actually. Not by any Strigoi or some evil monster that lurks. The car swerved and we crashed, killing almost everyone in the process. Me, included." She let the info sink in for a moment. "However, Lissa, being the only one to survive, wielded a special magic, much like most of your friends have, whether it be fire or water or air, but hers was spirit. She could make plants grow, heal people and animals, and her compulsion was much stronger than other Moroi. When she saw me laying there dead she… sacrificed herself for me. She used every last bit of her soul to pull me back from the shadow world.

"Now, normally that doesn't kill a spirit user. But my condition was so severe, that it killed her. Normally, someone who is shadow kissed is bonded to the others spirit and is able to… hear their thoughts and feel what they feel. That wasn't the case for me. I was given everything from Lissa. All the darkness she had bottled up, all that power, it's in me." She looked around at the class, making sure everyone was paying attention. "I'm very grateful for her sacrifice, and I now live on knowing what she did for me gave my life meaning, even if it took a while for me to understand that."

She took a deep breath before continuing, and I think I heard someone behind me sniffle as if they were crying. "One of the… abilities I have is being able to sense Strigoi. I can feel them coming even when I can't see them. Also, when I'm outside of the wards, I can see the dead, if I let my mind open up enough. I can't see all of the dead so don't come asking to talk to your dead grandpa or something. However, those who can't pass on or are recently dead, they are the ones I can sorta see and communicate with.

"So, now that you know about my background, would anyone like to hear a story or ask any questions?" plenty of hands shot into the air which made me laugh as well as my mom. "Ok, ok, how about you?"

"Is it true you're married to a human?"

My mom kept her face composed, but I knew she was slightly annoyed. "Yes, it's true. My husband's name is Dimitri Belikov and he lives with me in California."

"How many strigoi have you killed?"

"Oh, gosh, umm… about 100 by now. When I was younger I used to really go looking for trouble." The students were astonished. 100 tattoos were too much for my mother's neck and shoulders. She had many Zvezda marks. I also know she's killed over 100. It wasn't only as a child that she went looking for trouble.

"What was one of the hardest battles you've fought." That really struck something inside of her and I could tell. For once, it showed on her face, but only slightly. Like a shadow hovered over her and then went away, but I still knew it lingered.

"I've fought in many battles, against large groups of Strigoi and singles. Each one has different strengths and capabilities, but I'm normally quick to get it over with. However, if you are the only one there, it's just you and them, it's an easy fight. You can take out all the moves because your intent, your only thought is to kill them.

"The hardest is when you have someone to protect, which is what you all will have. I had never really been trained for that. I wasn't prepared to think about, 'how to save them' rather than 'how to kill Strigoi.'

"It was before I was taken back to the Court, when I was hiding in California and I was being driven home by Dimitri and a Strigoi jumped in front of the car. He had been a student here, one of my classmates, who hated me so much that once he turned he made it his goal to hunt me down and kill me, make me miserable.

"They took us to an abandoned building, some factory or whatever. Both Dimitri and I were tied up. He didn't know what I was at the time, or what Strigoi were for that matter. Most of my weapons had been taken off of me except for a small silver dagger that I had… hidden." I wanted to laugh. Even though this was a very serious story, and it was pretty emotionally traumatizing for both of my parents, where she hid her dagger was… very creative. "I used it to cut the ropes and that's when 3 of the Strigoi came in. I used my dagger to stab it into the Strigoi's throat, it was too small to stab into the heart or chop of their head or anything. I slit the tendons off one of them and got the other one to fall on their ass so I could have enough time to untie Dimitri… I thought I'd die. I also thought it was much better that I died instead of Dimitri."

She rubbed her hands together and took another deep breath. "The fighting was brutal, and one of the ripped off most of my shoulder, which is how I got this scar." She turned around and pulled her strap down on her shirt so the huge dark scar could be visible to everyone in the class. "I lost a lot of blood fighting them. Stupid as he was, Dimitri found my gun and came back and shot at one of them. I used a fire ax to chop off the head of two of them before going after the one that had been shot and chased after Dimitri.

"It was so hard to focus, I had lost so much blood, I had broken ribs and my leg as all messed up. He had no idea what was going on. He had shot the Strigoi in the head and yet he was still moving. They were silver bullets, so it did do a little damage. I limped over as fast as I could to kill the son of a bitch. After that I passed out from the blood loss. Dimitri called one of my friends in Court who had come by before and that's why I had to come back to court.

"I was lucky the Queen wanted to keep me instead of killing me.

"Ok, so, any questions? What could I have done differently?"

One raised their hand. "Why didn't you run after the Strigoi Dimitri had shot first?"

"Well, if I had chased after him, the two who were fighting me would have easily defeated and killed me because I'd be too focused on him. I knew he had a weapon that delayed a Strigoi for enough time. If he had no weapon, than I would have chased after him."

"Well, Guardian Belikov, I think that's about enough time for today. If anyone has any other questions, Guardian Belikov will be on campus for the next few days. She has expressed she loves to show off and will answer any questions you have."

My mom laughed and the bell rung to let class out. "Lissa! Let me walk you to your next class."

I rolled my eyes but waited for her anyways. "Good story mom, you really know how to make the class cry."

"Yah, I saw that, poor girl, wait till she gets into the real world. So, how's school? How's your friends? Is Zeke coming with us this time?"

"Schools fine, obviously. Except that you give me a bad rep." I said jokingly. "They all expect me to be amazing." She patted me on the head.

"Lissa, you are amazing."

I smiled down at her.

That's right, I'm taller than my mom. "So your staying until the break?"

"Yah, Lissa wanted to visit a cousin that is going to the Academy. Our plans have changed a little bit for the summer. We are going back to California and going to Turkey, but I'm not going with you to Russia."

"Why?"

"Lissa has some stuff she needs to do. But, I'll be here when you guys get back. I expect the best behavior for your fathers family."

"Mom, I know. But, I'm surprised you're letting me go with just Dad."

"Ugh, he's been wining so much about you and him not getting enough alone time. I swear, he's so annoying sometimes. Plus, I need you to make sure he doesn't get killed in Russia. He can be really dumb sometimes."

"You're so mean to him."

"Well, he's getting old, and I'm his wife, so I do what I want. So, is Zeke coming?"

"Um, I'm not sure, sometimes he feels uncomfortable going…"

She laughed. "All the more reason! Do you have training with him next?"

I sighed. "Yes…"

"Good, because I'm going to be teaching todays class."

"Wow, you really do like to show off."

"And you don't?"

I scoffed, but didn't answer, which made her laugh. We walked in to see Guardian Ivashkov. "Well, if it isn't the most annoying Guardian I have ever met." My mom ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"It's good to see you Frank."

"Good to see you too Rose. You gonna help me with class today?"

"Of course. Is Adrian Jr. in any of your classes? I'm thinking of giving him a surprise and beating his ass in front of everyone."

"I had him last period actually."

"Damn, maybe tomorrow." Guardian Ivashkov laughed. "Well, lets get started."

Many groans and bruises later the day was over. Zeke agreed to go on vacation with us, totally not persuaded by my mother or anything….

It was nice to have my mom there, even if she was a little overbearing. However, I loved her. I loved my dad too, but he isn't allowed to visit the Academy yet. My mom's been really pushing it. And from what I've heard it's going to be ok soon, especially because her best friend was the King…

"OMG it's baby Adrian! How have you been?"

"Aunt Rose, can you please stop calling me that? I'm in highschool already."

My mom covered her hand over her heart like she had been struck. "You hit me hard kid. I thought you loved me…" She laughed and roughed up his hair with her hand. "Don't think just because your dad is the Kind means you get to be all high and mighty."

Adrian rolled his eyes. "As if. I don't even get the chance with you around all of the time."

My mom finally left to go eat her dinner with the teachers and then Zeke pulled on my arm. "Hey, mind if we go talk?"

"Sure. Hey, I'll be right back guys."

We walked out of the dinning hall and I followed Zeke until we were in a quiet hall. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry I'm invading on your family vacation again."

I laughed. "Look, my mom wouldn't invite you if she didn't want you there."

"But… do you want me there?"

I paused for a moment and my gaze softened as I looked at his nervous glance. "Yes… yes, Zeke, I love it when you're there." He simply nodded.

"Is it ok if I…" He reached out for my hand and I let him pull me into a hug. We stayed there for a moment, staring into each other's eyes.

"Zeke?"

"Yah?"

"Are you going to kiss me or…."

He laughed and then brought his lips to mine.

Yah, everything was just fine..

Hey everyone! I'm sorry to say this is the end! I mean, I could go on… but only if you guys push for it. If you are totally not satisfied with my writing and think it's imperative to know more, that TELL ME! I am not going to know what you want if you don't tell me. Even if you don't want more, tell me what you think of my writing! I love the reviews you give me. See you my next VA fic!