Chapter 13: Alone Together

Alister was lying there on the ground of the Croft manor library. He was pushed every now and then by a very worried Vianca. He stirred a little, but not enough for Vianca to notice. She continued to try to wake him up.

"Alister? Alister, please wake up," Vianca pleaded. Alister heard the voice and his eyes slowly opened. He looked over and sees Vianca sitting there.

"V-Vianca?" He asked as he looked up at her. She smiled and hugged him.

"Oh Alister, you're ok," She said happily. "I was so worried. I thought that something went wrong and you weren't ever going to wake up." Alister sat up and placed a hand on his head, which hurt ever so slightly.

"How long was I out for?" Alister asked as he looked over at her again.

"About 2 hours now," Vianca answered as she sat there with him. Alister remembered everything he learned from the memory.

"Vianca, why didn't you tell me that being in this amulet would eat up your life basically?" Alister asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Vianca sighed and got him to let go. She helped him up and he continued to wait for his answer.

"I don't think you understand what she meant by that, do you?" Vianca asked as any emotion that she had prior was replaced by grief. "What she meant was that as she did rituals, she will tap into the life force of the spirit in order to complete the ritual itself. This means that during the rituals she is using up the lifeforce of the spirit. Being in the amulet, does not. It just traps me here." Alister looked down at the amulet around his neck and then back at her.

"I guess was a little worried considering just the sheer fact of that I would have…." Alister said as he stopped himself. He stopped and took a deep breath. "That I could've lost you." Vianca stared at him for a moment, but then smiled at him. She reached over and placed a hand on his cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere Alister. As long as you are in possession of that amulet, I'm not going anywhere," She said comfortingly. "You're not going to lose me and I don't plan to lose you anytime soon either." Alister stared at her for a moment with a lot of feeling going through him at that time. He remember all the vows and he knew he wanted to ask her about them.

"Hey, how about I take you somewhere we can talk and I can show you something that I think you'll like?" Alister asked as he took her hand in his.

"Oh, really? Where? And what will be talking about?" Vianca asked curiously.

"Well, the place is a surprise, so you'll have to wait til we get there," Alister said with a chuckle. "We can talk in general, but I will be asking you a couple questions because I know now all the vows you made that you don't remember."

"Oh ok, well at least I'll remember that, and it'll be nice to get out of the Manor that's not going to a dingy dungeon," Vianca said with a small smile. Alister smiled back at her and led her out of the library. Alister and her were walking along this path that lead away from the manor.

"I usually go this way when I want to clear my head," Alister said as he looked over at her. Vianca smiled up at him and looked around at all the nature.

"It's really peaceful out here," She said with a bit of calmness to her voice. Alister noticed them coming to a the hill that he remembered so well. He pulled her up the path a bit more.

"Come on I wanna show you something," Alister said as he pulled her a bit. She laughed and allowed him to pull her. The went up the small hill and were met with a beautiful view. There was a mountain range that peaked over the trees and behind it the sun was setting, letting off beautiful colors as it did.

"Wow, this…" Vianca said as she stared at the view. "This is amazing." Alister smiled at her comment and continued to watch the sunset with her.

"Hey, I know that a lot is happening and I know everything is hard to deal with, trust me on that," Alister said as he got Vianca to look at her. "Just know that I am here and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. I promise you that." Vianca stared up at him for a moment and smiled.

"You don't know how much that means to me, Alister," Vianca said with her beautiful smile. She hugged him and he hugged her back. They stayed there for a long time and talked for the most part.

"Hey let's try and see what all the vows are so we can figure out what powers you really have. Does that sound like an idea?" Alister asked as he glanced over at Vianca, who was now staring up at the stars. She looked over at him and nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Vianca answered as she stood up. Alister got up as well and thought for a moment. "Well we know I can float, make shield-like veil, shoot well..energy blasts, teleport, detect dangers such as when you are in trouble specifically, and I can go into a sort of berserk mode."

"Ah ok here's one," Alister said as his memory came back to him. "You vowed your spirit to be robust and never falter." Vianca thought for a moment and looked around.

"Hm…what would that mean," Vianca said as she thought for a moment. "Well, robust means strength so….maybe I'm strong?"

"Well you can try either picking me up, or picking up that rock to see," Alister said as he sat down on the grass and waited. Due to not wanting to hurt Alister, she went to the rock. She grabbed it's edges and pulled at it. With much to their surprise it came out of the ground quite easily. She held the boulder about her head and looked at Alister.

"Well, that answers that question," She said with a chuckle. She tossed it off to the side and it landed with a loud thud. Alister chuckled at her and continued. They went through all the vows that she made and learned quite a few different powers that she had.

"Alright let's review all of this," Alister said as they began to walk back down the path. "You can't just float, you can fly and pick others up while doing so. You can also lift stuff ten times my weight, you can see perfectly well in the dark, and you can go invisible. You also have that berserk mode, which I won't mention much, detect the dangers for me and whoever is wearing the amulet, make a shield-like veil, and teleport you and others to any place you've been. You also have the power to control things around, such as you can make things travel across a distance at will, or simply make a fire get worse or better."

"Yeah, that seems to sum it up," Vianca said as they walked together. "I can't believe I can do all that stuff." Alister nodded at her and they continued to the manor. They got inside and went to the library as usual. Once inside, Alister closed the door and looked at her. She sat down on the couch and he followed her. They both sat their in silence for a moment until one of them spoke.

"Hey, Vianca?" Alister asked as he looked over at her. Vianca looked at him as if waiting for his question. "What do you plan to do once...once we get you unattached from this amulet and possibly you know in a real human body?" Vianca seemed caught off guard by the question, but turned and looked down as if contemplating the notion.

"I...I haven't really thought of that," Vianca said as she looked down. "I would say go home, but there is no way for me to do that. Truth be told, I've grown quite fond of being around you Alister." Vianca had a small blush come to her cheeks, which usually wasn't very visible with the green glow that she gave off, but the color differentiation in her cheeks made it visible.

"V-Vianca," Alister said in a soft voice. "I enjoy being around you too, Vianca. I can't explain it, but being around you makes me happy." She looked over at him slightly surprised and she turned away as the blush grew slightly.

"If it's alright with you Alister," Vianca said. "I...I would like to stay with you after this is all over." Alister smiled at her and nodded.

"It's perfectly fine with me. I will gladly let you stay," He said with a small laugh. Vianca laughed to and then rested her head on his shoulder. Alister put his around her shoulders and smiled to himself. "I don't mind at all." The two stayed there close to one another all night and ended up even falling asleep on that couch together. It was peaceful...for the time being.