The New Life

Chapter Twenty- Three

23 VA Fanfic TNB Sequel_Chapter Twenty-Three

He looks exactly like how I remembered him to be. The slight smile that he always has when I looked at him, the intensity in his eyes when he look at me, everything.

I felt paralyzed. I want to move, to go to him, but I can't.

There was silence. We didn't speak. I couldn't speak. I don't know what to say. Maybe somehow, at the back of my mind, I'm afraid that speaking will break this, and Edmond will disappear.

Then he moved closer to me. He didn't float, he walked. Just like a normal human being. Like a Dhampir. For a few minutes, watching him walk over to stand closer to me; I believed he hadn't died. All I had experienced were merely a dream, a dream that I am finally waking up from.

The belief was broken when Edmond spoke.

"Dawn." He said. His voice was still the same. Just like how I remembered. But just softer than it had been, way softer.

Despite the soft volume, the magnitude in his voice almost caused me to collapse. That single word he said was strong enough.

Dawn.

It's my name, but it says so much more. It tells me that he understood. He understood everything I went through after his death, he was with me all the way, he saw my crowning, he saw my bonding with the Royal Guardians, he saw and was conscious of everything I experienced. Still, I have to ask, to speak to him.

"You saw everything, did you? You were there all the time." I whispered.

Edmond nodded. His eyes lowered to the necklace on my neck, focused onto the ring hung on it.

"Ry told you. They will guard you well. I trust them." He said, in the same soft volume. I almost couldn't hear him. His lips hardly moved.

Even though it was three short sentences, it is a lot of words for Edmond. He usually don't speak much; his answers are always short and to the point, his opinions likewise. The greed in me is desperately trying to ask for more. I need, and wanted more memories with Edmond.

Because at the back of my mind, I knew he will eventually move on, as I have. Regardless of the fact that he is here right now, my subconscious know, just as it had known to summon him that he will be brought back to his realm sooner or later.

It doesn't mean I was satisfied. While I stared at him, he stared back.

"I need you." I said. My emotions were all poured into that sentence, that plea for him to stay, in the hopes that he will, like he always had, bring a solution to what I have asked of him.

Edmond shook his head. "You have your Royal Guardians. They are the ones chosen by the Jewel." He replied.

There were silence again as we stared at each other. It was calming, knowing he was there with me, and right in front of me. I cherished the moment, keeping it close to my heart.

Then, his image started to fade. Like a torchlight losing its battery power, he was dimming at an alarming rate.

"You have to be careful. Study Rassvet, both theory and magic. Stay away from strangers unless you are bonded. The conspiracy have already started." Edmond warned.

My mouth opened, but no words came out. I could only watch Edmond continue fading, until I was brought into a total darkness.

I gasped and opened my eyes. Right in front of me was the glaring flame of the large candle I had lit in the middle of the board, and beyond was great-grandmother observing me over the light of the candle.