Passion | | Sebastian Sallow *under slight editing*

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morning Astoria was gathering her things to go out and find more camps. She and Ominis had taken out all of them that she knew of that were the closest to their current location, so it would be a long journey today. Not to mention she'd also be alone this time... Or so she thought she would be.

Sebastian came walking down into the kitchen, wand in hand, and ready to go. Astoria gave him a confused look; there was no way he thought she was going to let him go, was there?

"Um, Sebastian. What do you think you're doing?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion and placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm not letting you go out there alone," Sebastian said, mockingly copying her pose. "You know you'll get hurt and once that happens we're all screwed because you won't let me get out there. Well, suck it up because I am going and you can't stop me."

Astoria furrowed her brows. "Ominis and I-,"

Sebastian cut her off. "Ominis agrees with me. He's on my side and he thinks I should go. He doesn't want you going out there alone either so it's two against one and neither of us are changing our minds. He thinks I'm well enough to go out and I know I am. So I'm going whether you like it or not."

"W-what?" Astoria asked, her mouth agape. "Ominis said that? But you're still hurt!"

Ominis walked in as if almost on cue. "Yes, I did say that. Sebastian told no lies." He said. "Astoria you simply cannot go alone and we cannot let you. I'm definitely not well enough to go out, and Sebastian is well enough now whether you think he is or not."

It wasn't like Astoria had much of a chance of denying them at all so she just let out a sigh of defeat. "Okay fine. But do not get hurt more than you already are, otherwise I'm going to be twice as frustrated."

Sebastian chuckled, a bit of a teasingly smug look on his face. "Yes ma'am." He chuckled.

Astoria huffed before grabbing her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. She wasn't exactly happy about any of this but this situation was clearly not in her favor so there was no point in trying to say no or oppose anything. After all, Sebastian had healed up exceptionally well and he had all the pressure on her to let him go.

Sebastian gave a chuckle before saying goodbye to Ominis and heading out the door into the foggy swamp.

"There are only a few camps left marked on the map Ominis and I swiped from one of the camps. They are a bit further but it shouldn't be too hard to get to." Astoria said. Sebastian nodded his head as the two started taking off into the swamp. It was a lot of walking– tiring walking that would last all day. But it would be worth it once all those poacher camps were destroyed.

"It's been a while since it was just you and me," Sebastian said out of the blue. It caught Astoria off guard for a moment but it didn't bother her at all.

She nodded her head, "Yeah... it has." She agreed. "I remember when I first met you, and you were trying to cure Anne. We would go on all those quests together, sneaking around the school and the restricted section; always hiding from Ominis since we both knew he was going to yell at us if he ever found out what we were doing."

Sebastian smiled widely as he was remembering the fond memories of them at school. Of course it was a bit different now, they were adults, not to mention exes. But then when Astoria mentioned the part where he was trying to find a cure for Anne, he paled.

He had completely forgotten to tell them that there was a way to cure Anne but that they would have to keep Rookwood alive just long enough to do it. He contemplated telling her right then and there but he didn't want to stress her out any more than she already was. It was a scary thought to keep Rookwood alive instead of just killing him first thing when they got the chance since he had already survived the last time. But this was his sister, he had to take the risks. It was the last member of his family he had left and he didn't want to lose her.