"AND SO, SAVITRI AND Sayavan lived happily ever after."
"A beautiful story, once again. I'm impressed."
"Another glowing review? I'm flattered."
"Only for you, Valentine. Only for you."
Cordelia Vane watched with a tiny smile as the old, weathered vampire closed the book with a smooth gesture. The sunlight filtering in from the window lit up his pallid skin like a myriad of diamonds, sparkling in rays of red, blue, green, and orange, not unlike the ring that sat on her middle finger, glowing just as brightly, if not more so.
Valentine caught her gaze in his own, trapping her human eyes with his infernal red stare. When he smiled at her, the corners of his eyes crinkled like wet paper.
"You're not tired yet?" he teased. He flicked her toes with the gentlest of touches, his inhuman strength nonexistent as he tested her reflexes. When she jerked her leg back, he grinned. "Seems not."
"Not yet," Cordelia agreed. "I still have a little bit to go before then."
Valentine's smile faltered just for a split second. She knew he was looking at the needles in her arms, the monitor on her finger, the machine that practically breathed for her; he would always feel some form of pity for her condition even if he had nothing to do with it himself.
"If I could have taken it all away before you were born, you know that I would have," he sighed sadly. "A million times over, I would have."
"I know you would have, old Val. I wouldn't doubt it for a second." She reached over and took his freezing, stone cold hand in hers, covering his knuckles with the other. "But this was how fate decided I would be, and so I am. There is no happiness without some suffering in this world."
"And I am aware of that every time I look at you," he mumbled softly. His eyes went to the ring on her finger and he touched it softly, observing the diamonds glitter with a sight that she did not possess. "You have decided, then?"
Cordelia felt him visibly stiffen. The breathing he faked to make her more comfortable stalled completely until he was nothing more than a statue. The apprehension he felt was palpable--he was worried she would back out.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "I've decided to stop being selfish and let you go. You want to end this life, my friend, and... I'm going to let you. But only on one condition."
"Anything," he swore. His old face sagged with promise. She knew that he meant it. "Whatever you wish, dear Cordelia. It is yours."
"I want you to live for me."
Valentine's eyes went impossibly wide--in shock or disbelief at her audacity, she didn't know. "Cordelia"
"Let me finish," she interrupted gently. She reached up and with a pale hand, patted his cheek gently. It was as cold as ice, as it always was. "I want you to live for me until I die. That is, when I succumb to this illness and become the next progenitor. I want you to see the world one last time for me before you go."
"I see," he replied quietly. "And until then? What will you do?"
Cordelia smiled a little too wide to be normal. "I have heard of a peculiar child that resides within a coven in Forks, Seattle. Adelaide tells me that she is both human and vampire. I would wish to leave this hospital and witness her for myself."
Valentine chuckled. He was well aware of her curious mind, always fascinated by the unknown. "Adelaide tells you too much, my dear."
They both laughed at that. Adelaide never told her anything unless she explicitly asked; she would never deny her anything.
When their amusement faded into a comfortable silence, Valentine asked,"How long will you have without the help of these machines? Truly?"
"Ah..." Cordelia furrowed her eyebrows. "The doctors say little more than six months. Adelaide says that as long as I take the venom you've given me for the transition preparation, I have over a year or so in me."
After that, her lungs would fail, followed by the rest of her internal organs and finally, her heart.
"Yes," he agreed. "My venom will preserve your cells and allow you some time, she is correct. But the moment your heart gives out, the transition will begin."
The transitionfor Valentine, he called it the "Kiss". Every progenitor passed down the memories and powers of their one true creator to another in a form of rebirth; the only difference was that normal vampires could not draw the transformation out in such a way as Valentine was able. A vampire was not able to receive those memories and gifts. Only a human, malleable and vulnerable, could take those for themselves.
Valentine was also the only vampire who could willingly make himself age into antiquity. He had once been young and handsome. Cordelia had a scrapbook dedicated to both him and herself since she was six; as the years went on, he aged himself more and more, following the role of father and protector as she grew and grew sicker.
Valentine was a lot of things, but he was her best friend and father first and foremost.
"I know." Cordelia shrugged and brushed her hair back from her face. "But the leader of the coven is a doctor. As long as he's able to take care of me in that time, I'll feel relatively safe even as I die. And Adelaide will be there, too..."
"Mm." Valentine nodded. He twisted her ring back and forth on her finger, a tiny little frown forming on his face. "Yes, but I... I would like to be there, before I pass on and gift you my memories. I feel it would bring me peace to see you one last time before I go."
Cordelia snorted. It was so unusual coming from her that Valentine jerked forward.
"You think I wouldn't call for you before then?" she huffed. "You underestimate my love and selfishness for you. I'll never die before I see you pass on."
"Good. Good." He patted her hands. He fell silent for a few moments, observing her face, and said,"You will make a beautiful progenitor, Cordelia."
A blush flushed through her cheeks. He had never ceased to tell her that, or that she was beautiful in general; albino she might be, but Valentine loved her as she was, not for what she looked like. He even admired her eyes from time to time, remarking she would look just the same, only with redder eyes.
"You just wanted to have a female body when you were younger," she accused, jabbing her finger into his shoulder playfully. "Don't lie to me, you know you did."
"Maybe," he replied loftily, avoiding her gaze. "Maybe not."
When she felt herself getting tired, Adelaide entered with a green plastic tray. She set it upon the table and opened it up to reveal her lunch for the day: asparagus roasted in butter and a small dish of mashed potatoes. To Valentine it looked like a snack; but for Cordelia, it was a feast.
"You eat less and less these days," he noted with just a tinge of worry. "The doctors haven't said anything?"
Adelaide replied for her, seeing as she was occupied with a forkful of asparagus,"They aren't concerned. The medicines she's been given don't allow for a large appetite. She just throws it up again later."
Cordelia nodded her assent. While the two vampires spoke in hushed tones, as if anyone could hear them, she took the time to observe her caretaker and bodyguard.
Adelaide was tall for a woman. She stood around six feet tall and nearly bumped into every threshold she could find, mostly because she wore heeled boots with heels like daggers. She wore a long leather trenchcoat that swept the floor and was studded with metal at the shoulders, elbows, and hems. Her hat was the same, covering her blonde locks, and studded around the edges with sharp pyramids. She was awfully out of place anywhere she went except for a charity ball or Cosmopolitan event, maybe. Today, she wore her hair in a braid, and that was all that was different about her.
As she ate the rest of her food, she grew steadily more drowsy, until she fell asleep with the fork in her hand and half chewed asparagus in her mouth.
Delicately, Adelaide took the fork out of her hand, scooped the food out of her mouth as quickly as she could, and covered her back up with her blankets.
"Take care of her when the time comes," Valentine told the other vampire as he stood. "Soon, I will no longer be here to do it for you."
Adelaide nodded. "Yes, sir."
"I'll arrange for the discharge papers."
"Of course. Also..." Adelaide withdrew a piece of paper from her coat pocket. On it was a list with little squares to check off, all of it in Cordelia's cramped handwriting. "She wanted me to give you this before you left. I supposed she knew you would leave after she told you."
"Smart child," he laughed. He took the paper and scanned over it.
It was a bucket list if he had ever seen one. Right at the top, circled in giant red ink, was one of the most gut wrenching tasks he had ever read.
Make amends with the Volturi.
Valentine sighed and tucked it away into his pocket. "The things I do for you, Cordelia... The things I do for you."