Disclaimer: Don't own Lost Girl.
Author's note: Well I am surprised by the reviews. I didn't actually expect to have as many in such a short time. I will say I am happy for all the reviews and I am thankful that so many of them were so well thought out. As commented before about the whole Lauren being enough thing, I was writing with her thoughts and feelings on the topic in mind. I am sorry to say but season three is enough to give Lauren a serious complex about her abilities to keep Bo happy. Sure she wants monogamy but it's a impossible reality. The fact that she concedes to emotional monogamy proves she is a lot more understanding than most people could ever claim to be but clearly her open mindedness doesn't exactly work out for the best in season three. I will also admit that I am only on episode four of season four so I don't really know how Lauren is in that season and I am writing more towards developing her within the situation I am placing her in. I don't care for the ending of season three and I want to make Lauren a more central figure even if it means moving outside of the Lost Girl world. So now to continue this chapter deals with what happens next and where Lauren wakes up. There will be a lot of explaining and some borderline crazy self talk. I hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for the reviews I do love reading them and they do help push me along. I am already working on chapter three but I don't promise it any time soon. Again I work a lot and transferring this story to type can only be done after I get home from a fourteen hour day. I can tell you honestly I don't always feel like turning on my laptop and doing a bit of work.
The good part about writing it out and then transferring is that I have been able to elaborate on the original ideas within each chapter. This particular chapter is three times longer than the one I originally wrote. So I guess my original short story isn't going to be very short. Anyways I am rambling and sleep deprived. Enjoy.
Lauren opened her eyes and stared into the night. Shifting her head to the side she knew something was wrong; there were no stars. Taking in a deep breath she coughed hard. Her body worked to catch up to the sudden revelations her brain was making; she was alive. She was alive and she was sore. Sorer than she had ever been in her entire life. Her body felt as if it had been repeatedly thrown onto the ground and then beaten. Turning onto her side to contain the coughing fit Lauren wondered how she had managed to survive and what survival actually meant. If she was alive then what had she become?
Turning onto her back Lauren regulated her breathing and opened her eyes. Staring into the darkness a knot formed in her stomach. She felt earth beneath her fingers. She felt the warmth of the air circulating around her cheek but she couldn't see the moon or the stars. Turning her head to the side Lauren stared at a pair of black leather shoes. Dragging her gaze up a pair of long legs, past a muscular chest and to a handsome face Lauren gasped. In all her life she had never seen a man so beautiful. A beauty that bordered on androgynous, a wonderful mix of feminine and masculine, that left a clear impression of male with a softness that made anyone's heart hurt at the sheer beauty.
"I didn't expect you to fall all the way out here." The man said with a note of laughter. His voice was a rich tenor that made Lauren shift her head to listen to him. "I am sorry about the landing though, I did what I could with the time I had."
"What?" Lauren croaked out unsure about the current topic.
"They were coming for you and you were nearly done with your transition. I couldn't afford you refusing to leave."
"Who are you?" Lauren asked her mind trying to grasp everything the stranger had revealed. She didn't remember falling and looking up she couldn't help but wonder where she fell from.
"I'm sorry for not properly introducing myself first. I am the Mourning Star." Pausing waiting for a reaction the man stared at Lauren before shaking his head. "Lucifer? The Devil?" He asked with a smile that would be devastating to any heterosexual woman, even to Lauren it gave her a slight twinge.
"How?" Lauren asked shaking away the twinge of arousal. She didn't have a taste for men and her death wasn't going to turn her straight. Her death, the thought caught in her mind and she couldn't help but think that science had taken a major blow with this sudden revelation.
"Really I am here telling you that Hell exists and that I am the Devil and the thing racing through your mind is science. I knew you weren't like the others. I am still surprised after all those years of trying your mother wasn't able to instill some kind of religious faith into you." Shaking his head Lucifer smiled fondly down at Lauren.
"No really how? How am I here? Am I dead? Where is here? How can there be a hell?" Lauren fired off each question unable to look away from the man who claimed to be the devil.
"Well even if she had been able to instill religion into that scientific brain of yours it all would have been for nothing since it is all wrong, well most of it is wrong." Lucifer continued as if Lauren hadn't spoken.
"Stop reminiscing and answer my questions." Lauren turned onto her stomach and forced her body up onto her hands and knees and then onto her feet.
"I am not reminiscing. You have a lot more courage down here than you ever had up there." Lucifer smirked pointing up. "And to answer all of your questions. You are here because I opened a portal into your world and pulled you through it. You are not dead you have merely transitioned. And there is a hell because I built it though I don't particularly care for calling it hell just like I don't particularly care for the name Devil. I mean honestly it isn't exactly very believable. As if I have the time to run this whole domain and then go up there making all of you humans do bad things. I am not nearly as creative as humanity gives me credit for. The Spanish Inquisition? That was good old fashioned human creativity. It's the joy of choice. It gave you lot the ability to really think out of the box. And before you ask the reason you are here is because you are the last scion." Smiling Lucifer wiped Lauren down before moving to walk away. "Are you coming?" He looked back to see a frowning Lauren who slowly nodded in agreement before following slowly after him.
Turning around as she walked Lauren looked at her environment with cautious curiosity. There was no sky that she could see, if it existed it was just darkness. Her sense of direction felt skewed and she wasn't sure if they were going north, east, west, south, or something in between. All she was sure of was that they were walking towards something that was darker than the sky. The shape was still obscure and details were blurry at best. Looking towards her right she noticed a field of grass and flowers. It stretched for as far as her eye could see. To her left was a empty stretch of land with nothing moving. Making a full turn and walking backwards she stared at the glowing horizon behind her. Mildly she wondered if there was a sun but she felt no change in temperature, nor did anything rise from the horizon.
"I'm surprised you aren't badgering me with questions." Lucifer commented not bothering to turn around and look at his charge. He knew she was brimming with curiosity and that as long as he held her interest she would follow.
"I will admit I am curious."
The simplicity of the response made Lucifer smile. "So why aren't you asking any questions?" He prompted.
"I assumed you would tell me whatever it is you wanted. I am at your mercy and it seemed a little pointless to push whatever leniency you may have towards me."
"Clearly you were a slave to the Fae for too long." Lucifer shook his head frowning deeply.
"You sound disapproving."
"Of course I disapprove. You are the last scion. You are slave to no one." Lucifer voice fell in rage at the mere idea. "I would have intervened sooner but it took a long time to set everything into motion. It took a long time for me to even realize what had happened. Out of all of them you have been the most troublesome Lauren. Always getting yourself into one scrap after another. I should have kept a closer eye on you but you were so headstrong and resourceful that I knew you would be able to take care of yourself. I suppose in a way I was right but I was also wrong. "
"Exactly what did you set into motion?" Lauren questioned feeling emboldened.
Smiling at the sudden fire in Lauren's voice Lucifer looked back at Lauren and then back to their destination. "I only found out you were a slave to the Fae half a year ago. Sadly things move a lot more slowly down here and keeping up with time on Earth is a lot harder than you would think. However, once I learned of your enslavement and the details behind it I started moving everything in the right direction. I am sorry you were forced to serve them for as long as you did."
"Why would you care?" Lauren interrupted with a touch of annoyance.
"You are the last scion remember?" Lucifer shook his head in disbelief. "So much for being a genius."
"That doesn't mean anything to me." Lauren stopped feeling a flush of anger warm her cheeks.
Laughing softly Lucifer stopped and turned to face Lauren. "There is that fire, that passion, that has driven you for so long. I was beginning to worry that the Fae had beaten it out of you. I knew you still had something of it though otherwise why else would you gravitate to the succubus?" Shaking his head at the thought of the succubus and all the pain she had caused Lucifer continued. "There is so much to explain and it will take more than one walk to get it all out in the open. So I will begin in the middle and move out from there. You are the last living member of my family. You are my final descendant."
"What about Alex?" Lauren interrupted a knot forming in her stomach at the thought of her brother.
"He's your half brother. He isn't a member of my blood. You are the last and because you are the last I need you. Over the last couple of centuries my bloodline has slowly died off. I knew it eventually would. The greatest gift I passed on to my blood was the ability to survive and you are proof of that. Now I need you to take over, you are my heir, and soon you will ascend to my throne."
"No." Lauren whispered softly shaking her head in clear disagreement. "This isn't real. This is a dream or the last of my neuron's firing off creating a final hallucination. This can't be real."
"It is and I am sorry for it. I imagine this is a lot like the moment when the metatron spoke to a mere boy and told him of his future, of the burden a father he didn't know had placed on his shoulders. This is a burden but it is also a gift." Lucifer paused knowing he had made a mistake in pouring out so much information so quickly. The problem was there was so much to tell and no real way to make sure he told it right. He needed to convince Lauren that she had a destiny to fulfill.
Taking a deep breath Lauren tried desperately to stave off the panic that was slowly working its way through her system. She could take being dead. She could take years of suffering and servitude under the Fae. She could take anything that was thrown at her. "How do I know this is real? How do I know this isn't a hallucination? A way for my brain to cope with the fact that I am running out of oxygen."
"Honestly there isn't much I can do to prove this is all real. Your body will eventually provide that proof but as of right now you are still going through the last pieces of the change." Lucifer began and stopped as he saw Lauren's eyes snap to his face, a question evident in her eyes.
"What is the change?"
"I made sure Isaac Taft got a sample of my DNA. I knew the man wasn't smart enough to test it thoroughly and I knew once I led him to you, that you would figure out how to make him into a hybrid. I whispered into his ear and into his dreams that he needed to turn you. That he needed to test out the DNA sample on you, that you were the only one who could handle it. I also whispered the formula to degenerate human DNA that he gave you. It was the only way to make you into me. You are a clone of me, genetically speaking. Your physical features are the same but you are an almost perfect clone of me. I must amend that."
"How is that possible?"Lauren shook her head feeling lightheaded.
"Well you are genetically related to me. The degeneration only destroyed the DNA that was human. My DNA, the piece of me that you were born with survived and bonded with the sample of DNA I made sure Taft found. Unfortunately the process isn't exactly pleasant and I am sorry to have put you through it but it was necessary."
"Somehow that feels like a lie. I can't help but feel like you are trying to manipulate me into doing something you want. Now considering all the other times I have been duped by a man into something I really didn't want you will forgive me if I am a little suspicious." Crossing her arms over her chest Lauren paused and looked down at her clothes. She was still wearing surgical scrubs. Either she was dead, dreaming, dying , or worst of all; really in hell.
"I am not lying but I suppose I am trying to manipulate you. I need you to ascend to my throne. I am tired. I know for you that doesn't sound like a good enough reason to drop all my responsibilities onto your shoulders but it is the truth. I am tired. I have existed since before life started on the planet Earth. I have slaved over this world for nearly five millennia. I have sacrificed so much of myself for humanity and now I am ready to pass my responsibility to the only other being I know will shoulder it." Lucifer looked at Lauren expectantly.
"Why me? Why not any of my ancestors or my children?" The moment she asked that
question she stopped in understanding, or at least partial understanding. "I'm not meant to have children am I?"
Shaking his head at Lauren's reasonable conclusions Lucifer gave his heir a little smile. "I chose you because you are the right person for the job. Your morals are flexible enough that you can handle the responsibility I am laying on you. You have lived as a free woman and as a slave, you have killed by accident and you have encouraged others to kill with reason. You are hardly innocent but the fact that you have truly lived allows you to connect. The fact that you are a scientist at heart allows you to see beyond the emotional but it doesn't stop you from empathizing. I have waited for a child of my bloodline to take over for me and you are that child." Pausing Lucifer motioned for Lauren to continue following him. "As for children I recommend you have them. I recommend you have a lot of them. Since they will be a part of you they can be raised here or on Earth. Once you are ready to rescind this position you must choose one of them to take over."
"Why should I take this job?" Lauren asked unsure of what to call the position she was being given. "Don't I have a choice in the matter?"
Frowning Lucifer silently cursed. "Yes you have a choice and I hope you choose to take over my throne. And the reason you should take this job is because it not only offers you freedom, it allows you to help humanity."
"How?"
"I know it is hard for your scientific mind to absorb but clearly Heaven and Hell exist." He said motioning to the land around them. "It isn't what the Bible or the Torah or any of the other religious texts harp on about but they do exist. The kingdom of God is only for God and his Angels. Hell is my domain and it is the realm of souls. All souls, good, bad, or in between come here to be judged. Once they are judged they go to their respective sections and wait to be cleansed of their past life and then returned to the Well of Souls."
"The well of souls? You have to be lying." Lauren shook her head sure that everything she was hearing was nothing more than a figment of her imagination.
"I find it strange that you can believe in the Fae but when I tell you heaven and hell exist you just shake your head and say no. Well wake up dear heir, it does exist and you are in hell. You are alive. You are an Angel now. And you are my heir to rule this realm, to save humanity, once I am gone." Lucifer voice rasped in anger at Lauren's obstinacy.
"What do mean by save humanity?"
Pausing long enough to look back at Lauren, Lucifer shook his head and started walking faster. He had forgotten how much time it took to walk around his realm instead of fly. "You are saving humanity because you are responsible for guarding the well of souls. You will also be responsible for cleansing souls and returning them to the well."
"Why is it important that they return to the well?"
"You know if you just let me continue versus constantly interrupting me you would have your information a lot sooner." Lucifer huffed out. "If the Well of Souls is empty then no soul can be reborn on earth. Humans think a variety of things, so do the Fae, in regards to souls but the fact is the amount of souls in the Well isn't infinite. It is a finite number and once the Well is empty it will take a lot of time to refill. We are in an uphill battle. More humans are born everyday than the amount that die or the amount that reenter the Well."
Shaking her head softly Lauren decided she had enough information for one day. She was still curious. She was beyond curious in fact but she felt as if her brain had been swamped with fairy tales and myths. The fact that she had spend six years of her life steeped in fairytale should have made everything she was hearing easier to absorb. Strangely it didn't and she knew in the back of her mind that everything Lucifer was telling her was the truth. It was that niggling spot that warned her she couldn't take much more, at least not today. "Just stop, please, I just want a long bath, a bottle of wine and a bed. Do you have any of those things?"
"Alright, the castle is only a couple of minutes away. When we arrive I will show you your room and have a bath prepared for you." Lucifer smiled but faced forward so Lauren couldn't see.
"The castle?" Lauren questioned before shifting her eyes to the horizon or what was once the horizon. Instead a massive castle occupied the entirety of her line of sight. "What is that?" She whispered softly.
"It's made completely out of obsidian glass. I know it is a tad dramatic but I love the color and it is a brilliant sheen when combined with firelight. I am sorry to say but we don't exactly have electricity down here." Lucifer moved his hands to encompass everything around him.
"Why do you keep saying down here? Are we under the Earth's crust?" Lauren stared at the castle in mild awe.
"No we aren't. We aren't even on the planet Earth is I am to be honest. I know mythology speaks of hell being below so I have kind of adopted the theme. However, we are actually an alternate reality that coexists with Earth. We are attached but completely separate."
"Is that why there aren't any stars?" Lauren looked up to the empty sky.
"I honestly didn't feel the need to create stars or a moon or a sun or clouds. The souls can create their own versions of such things within their own pieces of heaven and hell. I found that the less detail I put within my realm the more detail the individual souls were able to add. It helps to keep them happy and it also makes my job a little easier. As I have said before God gave humans the greatest gift and it wasn't just free will. When she gave you freewill she also gave you creativity." Stopping in front of two large double doors Lucifer pulled one open and motioned for Lauren to enter. "Feel free to look around." Lucifer gave Lauren a smile before walking to one of the souls and ordering a bath drawn for her and a bottle of wine along with a plate of food to be left in her room. As the soul wandered off to do his bidding Lucifer turned his attention back to Lauren. She had wandered into the tapestry room. One of the few places with a bit of extravagance in decoration.
Staring up at a floor to ceiling Lauren wondered what story hide behind the picture. "They are magnificent and they do have a story to tell." Lauren turned to look at Lucifer. "Am I ever going to hear them?" She asked moving to look at another tapestry.
"Yes, you will hear all of them. You will hear the whole history of the world. This room only tells a piece of that history. It tells of our first war and how we fell. It tells you how we changed the world, how we changed humanity. It also tells the story of how we failed in our original goals." Shaking his head of such maudlin thoughts Lucifer placed his hand lightly on Lauren's arm. "Come I know you are tired and I have ordered everything you asked for. Go have a nice bath and sleep well. Tomorrow we can talk. Tomorrow I hope you will believe me instead of thinking this is all a very strange dream."
Nodding her head Lauren thought that if it was a dream it was beyond anything her mind could have come up with on her own. Following Lucifer through darkend hallways lit only by the occasional latern Lauren wondered what was used for fuel. Giving Lucifer a look she decided that was a question for another day or another time. She was tired. Her brain felt foggy and her body felt sore. The long walk had helped loosen her up but she was still tight. A long soak would help ease out the stiffness and a good night's sleep would hopefully make everything look better.
"These will be your quarters." Lucifer smiled before opening a set of double doors and motioning Lauren in.
Gasping at the elegance Lauren walked into the room with a smile. It was larger than her entire apartment. On the far back wall was a four poster bed draped in midnight blue silk. The bedspread upon closer inspection was the night sky, smiling Lauren gave Lucifer a look before returning to her examination. One wall was made of glass and searching along the panels she found a set of double doors. She had to admit there was something about double doors that must have fascinated Lucifer when he built the place. Stepping out onto a large balcony Lauren spotted a small dining table and two chairs. It was clear the balcony was to be used for light meals or private dinners. Walking along the balcony she spotted a set of outside furniture including a chaise lounge and a bench swing. Considering there was no sun and no moon the reason for the furniture was a bit elusive. Lauren supposed it would be nice to sit out her with a bottle of wine regardless of the lack of ambiance. Shifting her attention to the horizon Lauren stared in awe at the rolling fields of wild flowers.
"I like to call them the Elysium fields." Lucifer said stepping out onto the balcony.
"Greek mythology influenced your kingdom?" She questioned smiling.
"No I influenced Greek mythology."
"Did you meet Odysseus?" Lauren quipped.
"That is a story for another time. You need to fully understand the workings of this realm before we get into human involvement." Smiling Lucifer turned to reenter the room. "Your bath is ready."
Returning to the room Lauren followed Lucifer to the bathroom. Containing a moan of pleasure at the sheer size of the bathtub Lauren smiled. It was large enough to fit two people. The bathroom was equipped with a shower, a tub, a vanity, a sink and counter, two mirrors, a closet, a toilet in a separate room. The entire room screamed elegant extravagance.
"I will leave you to your bath. Your robe is there and I ordered your wine and food to be left on the balcony for when you are finished." Seeing Lauren frown lightly Lucifer smiled before producing a glass of wine. "Let me correct myself. The rest of the wine is outside. I made sure you had a glass for your bath." Placing the wine glass on the edge of the tub Lucifer exited the bathroom and then Lauren's chambers.
Turning Lauren closed the bathroom door and stripped down. She was more than eager to relax and enjoy something. For a moment she wondered how long it had been since she was able to enjoy anything. Life had felt chaotic over the last couple of weeks and today alone had felt as if a year had passed. In a second, a plunge of a syringe, her entire life had changed. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with it. She wasn't sure she wanted to accept the possible burden Lucifer was trying to lay on her shoulders but the idea didn't disturb her as much as she thought it would. There was a form of freedom to be found in spending eternity or something akin to it, working as the devil. She would have no one to answer to. She would no longer be a slave. She would no longer be hunted down by the Fae. She would be as free as she could possibly be. There was responsibility, there was work, and it wasn't the life she would have chosen for herself, yet it was a life she thought she could live. She could always make time for science and research. It might never help anyone but it might. She could live the life she wanted within the parameters of the life she needed to lead. It sounded complex but as she slid into the warm water she felt herself come to peace with the road laid out before her.
Luxuriating in the warmth of the water Lauren smiled and took a sip of her wine. Her muscles were slowly relaxing and as she tipped her head back against the tub she could feel sleep creeping closer. Opening her eyes Lauren put down her wine glass and reached for the bath oils. Looking through the basket a part of her wasn't surprised to see all of her favorite scents. Picking out lavender and rose she put a few drops of each into the water. Soon the smell of both wafted through the room. Taking another sip Lauren let her mind drift to the people she would rather not think about, to the things she would rather pretend didn't' exist, at least for a little while.
"It's really over now." She mused thinking of the woman who still held her heart. Years of longing, misunderstanding, and hurt hadn't cured her of her love for Bo. 'You could go back for her now.' A small voice whispered in the back of her mind.
"No, I can't and I won't. I wasn't enough for Bo then and I don't think I am enough for her now. What I want I don't think she can ever give me, I don't think she can ever give to anybody." She said aloud ignoring the fact that she was talking to herself.
'It was foolish of you to want monogamy with a succubus.' The little voice chastised.
Nodding her head in agreement Lauren took a long swallow of her wine and put down the glass. Reaching for the basket she pulled out a loofa and a bar of scented soap. Wetting the sponge she lathered it and began the slow process of washing her body. It was relaxing and let her focus on something else besides the thoughts roiling through her mind.
'Don't you want her though?' The small voice whispered once she was done scrubbing down her body.
"I do but what I want isn't always what I need." She answered her own question knowing that external rationalization was sometimes necessary and did not mean she was going crazy.
'Well what is it you need?'
"I need to find myself first. I've spent too much time hiding and serving and bowing down to other people. I don't know where but I lost myself. I asked for a break and I know I need one. I was a fool to go with Taft. I was an idiot to think what he offered could actually help me fix myself."
'Isn't' that what you are doing now? Being a fool. Accepting the words of a man who claims to be Lucifer."
"Maybe and maybe not. I don't know if this is a dream or reality. I don't know if it's another pipe dream I am falling for but he seems sincere. I don't know why but regardless of how much I try not to I still trust him. I know when he is lying and since I called him on it he's been brutally honest." Soaking into the tub Lauren gently brushed her fingers along her skin making sure all the soap was washed away. "This might be what I have been searching for. I have no master here. I have all the time in the world to figure myself out now."
'You also have the responsibility of becoming the devil and supposedly cleansing souls before returning them to the supposed well of souls.' Shaking her head at her own internal skepticism Lauren wondered when she had lost the ability to have faith in people. 'You lost it when the one woman you supposedly loved kept disappointing you.'
"That's not fair."
'But it's true. She hurt you. It may not always have been intentional but she just kept doing it.'
"I hurt her too. I lied, I kept secrets." Lauren tried to rationalize her past with Bo.
'Everyone has secrets and she kept more than her fair share from you. She always led you on then kept you at arm's length. She wanted you but she always threw Dyson in your face. She's a succubus and whether or not you are ever willing to admit it one person will never be enough for her. You either have to accept that you can't have her because you are unable to accept her conditions or you have to alter your perception of monogamy when it comes to a succubus.'
The logic in the little voice made Lauren grit her teeth before stepping out of the bath tub. She hated not having anything to do for the sole reason that it gave her too much time to think about her own failings. It gave her too much time to talk to herself, to rationalize and analyze. Grabbing the robe hanging next to the tub Lauren hummed in appreciation of the softest cotton to ever touch her skin.
Opening the doors to the bathroom Lauren made a beeline for the balcony doors. Stepping out into what she assumed was night Lauren smiled as a warm wind caressed her cooling skin. The temperature was perfect and she wondered if there were seasons in hell. Pulling out a chair and taking a seat at the dining table Lauren poured herself another glass of wine. She had forgotten hers in the bathroom and didn't particularly feel like getting up just to get it. Leaning back in the chair she looked over the selection of fruit and cheeses Lucifer had ordered for her. Picking up her glass of wine Lauren took a sip and picked out a strawberry.
'You can't save us both, like you couldn't love us both.' The voice repeated the words she had spoke less than twelve hours ago, or so she assumed since her sense of time was askew.
"And she couldn't." Lauren whispered to the breeze before taking a bite out of the strawberry. "I suppose that is part of Bo's problem. She always wants to be the hero. She is always looking to save us and in turn we are always striving to save her from herself. I worked hard at saving her through science and Dyson through his sheer masculinity. Though Dyson has something of a hero complex as well. He should let Bo save herself and clean up after herself. We always cleaned up the mess she left behind. We thought we were protecting her but what if we were just enabling her to continue acting like a child."
'Do you really believe she is childish? Think of all the times she cared for you. She found the cursing nail, she saved Nadia. She harbored you when you ran from the Ash. She defended you against the Fae.'
"She also threw my slavery into my face and told me to return to my master. She knew I wanted her but it didn't stop her from always going to Dyson. She spent two years dangling me along before she was finally ready to commit and that was only because Dyson had lost his love. She slept with Dyson while she was with me and she kissed Tamsin without needing to feed." Lauren argued. "She is like a child who always wants the toy another child is playing with. She can be heroic, loyal, and brave but she can also be selfish, self centered, and willfully ignorant of the feelings of others. She crashes through situations without thought for consequence."
'Yet she loves you. You love her.' The voice reasoned and those words caught Lauren off guard. Made her think back to her three years of on and off relationship.
"Sometimes I'm not sure I do anymore. I don't think I will ever fully stop loving her but
we aren't on the same page. I don't think we ever will be. I mean time has never been our strong suit." Lauren took a long swallow of her wine before selecting a slice of melon and taking a bite.
'Now you have time.' The voice reasoned.
"And now I have time." Lauren mused wondering how much she could actually do with all the time she just might have. Immortality had never appealed to her. Death seemed reasonable, natural and it wasn't something she had wanted to run away from. She could have made herself into a hybrid Fae years ago but she had no desire to become like the people who made her a slave. She valued human life. She valued life and that was something the Fae didn't seem capable of grasping.