'Sup people! Here's the long-awaited (not) chapter 3! Please enjoy! Oh, and review! :D
Disclaimer: Aww, do I have to? Well, fine. I don't own the Night World series. That'd be awesome. But I don't. TT_TT
Ash sauntered across the city, until he finally came across the oldest vampire in existence (since Maia was dead): Lord Thierry. And, of course, with him was his Old Soul soulmate Lady Hannah. Ash had explained his quest for redemption to Lord Thierry the first night Ash ran into him after he left Mary-Lynnette. Naturally, Lady Hannah was there, but Ash didn't mind her hearing his ordeal – after all she'd been through, his so-called "ordeal" was probably nothing. But still, her advice was useful, and nothing was "nothing" to Lady Hannah. In the beginning, Ash was reluctant to seem weak and cowardly after building up his bad boy reputation for so long. "Just do it," were Lady Hannah's words. She assured him that he'd feel much better once he'd gotten it over with. And he had to admit – only to himself, of course – that the heavy burden of his past was a lot lighter – in fact, it was almost gone. Just this one last deed and he'd be free from everything. Well, everything except for the memories.
"Lord Thierry, Lady Hannah," Ash began formally, but then he dropped the formality and just blurted, "I'm almost done!"
One elegant eyebrow flew up on Lady Hannah's delicate face. "And you would be referring to…what, again?"
"Well, my quest, of course. What else is there in my life for me to finish right now?" Ash grinned. "Not to make you sound ignorant or anything…"
Lady Hannah's lips curved up in a smile. "Of course not. And what is this last thing you need to do before you can make Mary-Lynnette's life perfect?"
Ash's smile slipped away. "Well, I can only hope that Mary-Lynnette will forgive me. I mean, I left her right after I, uh, confessed to her and all, and I kinda just left her hanging. I mean, I haven't had any contact whatsoever with her in two whole freaking years. And not just that, but what if she's found someone else, someone normal, someone human? I haven't even started to think about that!"
Lord Thierry laid a fatherly hand on Ash's shoulder, looking concerned. "Ash. Come on. You're soulmates. Even if she has found a human who is a whole lot better than you – which really isn't hard to do," Lord Thierry added, grinning but then struggled to be serious when Ash glared at him, "I mean, well, the silver cord is strong. No matter what, being soulmates will overpower any other affection. It's just the way it is. And besides, I'm sure Mary-Lynnette will stay loyal to you, even after all this time. I haven't met her yet, though I would love to, but from what you've told me about her, which I assume is basically nothing, she doesn't strike me as the type to shy away from her soulmate status for normality. After learning about the Night World and, well, meeting you, a sensible person like her must come to terms with the fact that they'll never be normal, again. If they ever were. Really, who is normal?" Lord Thierry stared off into the distance, pondering his own unanswerable question – one of life's many.
Lady Hannah rolled her eyes but said, "He's right, you know. If normal is [insert definition], then no one is normal."
Ash sighed, frustrated. "Well, I know, but you know what I mean. A human. I've done so many horrible things as a vampire; what if she's, I dunno, had an epiphany or something? She might've realized that I'm actually a horrible monster and who wants to spend their life with a monster?" He ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. "Who knew having a soulmate would be so painful?"
Lady Hannah and Lord Thierry exchanged solemn glances, before looking back at the defeated teen vampire. Ash, having realized what he'd said, quickly raised his head and exclaimed, "I mean, well, of course that was only a rhetorical question and…!" He dropped his head again, groaning, "Sorry. That was careless of me." He stared unseeingly and unblinkingly at the ground, lost in his thoughts.
Lord Thierry tried to get Ash's attention. "Hey…Ash! Ash? Hello? Earth to Ash! HEY!"
Ash whipped his head around, alarmed. "What? What happened? Did I miss something?"
"Oh yeah. The world just ended, but you missed it," teased a grinning Lord Thierry.
Ash started to panic, but after a second he realized that Lord Thierry was messing with him. "Ugh. I never used to be gullible, I swear! What happened to me?"
Lady Hannah murmured gently, "You fell in love." She looked straight into Ash's strange eyes. "Now go! Mary-Lynnette's waiting." She gave his cheek a motherly pat and Lord Thierry ruffled Ash's sandy hair.
Ash, though not quite smiling, had an angelically boyish and hopeful expression etched on his face. He nodded eagerly and ran off toward his destiny.
"Who would've known that our Ash was such a romantic," mused Lady Hannah.
Lord Thierry cocked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me?"
So, whaddya think? Well, whatever. I'm working on my horrendous writing skills, okay?
Peace to all. B-)
Write on. Read on. That's my motto. :D
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