My Little Ventrue Pt. 05 Ch. 09

And Tash joined her. Because, why not?

"When the blood was gone," Maria continued, "and it was only Lucas and I, he would... he would settle. The harsh wall that guarded his soul would fade, and sometimes, he would set his head upon my lap, and melt away. He'd speak of his trials, his doubts, of his pain."

"This was... b-before his revival?"

"Yes. Torpor did not treat him well, Natasha. Not once did I meet that man, the man who had doubts, the main whose resolve was only as deep as was... reasonable. Lucas was hungry for power and determined to grab it before his sleep, but the awoken Lucas was a new creature entirely. I do not envy Damien, to have spent so long caring for the sleeping body of his sire, only for the raised Kindred to be a... deluded fool, a zealot to the core."

"Are... you g-getting along with Damien?" Talking. A normal, natural conversation with her old boss; a Kindred over a couple centuries older than her. In the past, she'd defer such things to Julias, who'd handle conversations like this with finesse. This was Tash stepping well out of her comfort zone; Maria was too, though. So, even ground... ish.

"The boy is devout, and diligent. At first, he and I agreed his becoming a right hand was not possible. Did you know that?"

"I d-did not."

"But, with time, we've all grown to trust him. And, I admit, it is nice to hear him speak with me of the Testament of Longinus. There are few left that consider the word of such a figure to be something to consider. Few left who fear God."

A million responses to that jumped to mind. It wasn't scientific, it wasn't evidence based, so how could anyone believe it. But then again, Maria couldn't even walk two feet without leaving a trail of ghostly mist behind her, so, the supernatural was more easy to accept for someone like her. Or Tash just lived in constant denial of the supernatural nature of Kindred. Not anymore though, not after the things she'd seen, not after the things Antoinette had shown her.

Maybe it was time to consider that... maybe, Maria, Damien and Lucas had decent justification for their religious beliefs.

"I admit m-my knowledge of... Longinus is a l-little lacking."

"The tale of Longinus, the Spear of Destiny, of Christ's death, it is all very... powerful, and fills a Kindred's life with purpose. Lucas followed that purpose, and while I believe age and power corrupted his undead soul, as it does so many, I do believe his faith never wavered. I had... I had hoped if I offered you to him, as a tool to defeat the sheriff, perhaps victory would soften him, and return the man I once loved." She sipped her drink again, and traced her scarred finger along its contours. "A silly girl's hope."

Tash looked down, and let the weight of that sink in. Yeah, it was a silly girl's hope, the classic 'love can change him' fallacy that destroyed so many relationships. It was stupid, and pathetic, and something Tash would trip and fall into if such a situation came her way; she had no right to judge.

Tash's mind began to drift to the events of the night. The ritual which had ended with Jack's face drawn on paper. Did Maria have something to do with that? No, Maria had no reason to perform such a ritual. But, Art and Matt said it likely had something to do with the weird red wraiths of Dolareido, and the trail led them to Jacob doing something weird with that Black Blood spirit. And there had been a corpse, a walking, moving corpse, which had randomly collapsed when the three of them had disrupted the ritual.

"... If... if you could talk to Lucas again, M-Maria... What would you say... t-t-to him?"

Maria looked up from the glass, and met her eyes. Look down, look down, look down. No good, Tash's gaze was locked with the ghost woman's, and wasn't going anywhere.

"... I would say to him that I love him, little Vola. I would confess many things to him, and once the confessions were over, and I had recomposed myself, I would demand he cease his unending quest for power." Again, the ghost lady's eyes drifted to the drink, and she took another sip as she stared into the void. "I would do almost anything for such an opportunity."

That was very on the nose, and Tash had to focus to not let out a squeak.

"I'm sorry... that it ended the way it d-did."

"Yes, well, I cannot blame the Prince, or the sheriff, for killing him. Self defense, and Lucas had it coming. A tragedy, in all its manifestations. And as much as I would love to speak to Lucas again, to have that fool back in my arms, I would council against revenge." She got up, and poured herself more blood from the kitchen. To see a corpse walking around her kitchen, reaching into her fridge, like she was a frat girl trying to get drunk and forget an ex boyfriend, was an image Tash would remember for years.

"D-Did... did you come here... for anything else?"

"Looking for me to leave, Vola?"

"N-No! No, just... you never talked about yourself much, even when I w-w-worked for the Invict-tus." Tash stirred in her spot on the couch. If she didn't move, stayed put and listened, maybe Maria would confide in her, tell her about her secret involving spirits.

"What is there to speak of? You know of my past as much as I do, Tash. Blurry memories, a haze of pain and anger over the damage this transformation has done to me. It is a told story, cliché at this point."

"... N-Nothing's a cliché when it's happening to you." Much as she'd like to take credit for the line, she'd heard it elsewhere, and it stuck with her.

"Too true." Maria didn't rejoin her on the couch this time, instead taking a stool at the counter. Even more unusual for the prim and proper corpse. "... thank you, for listening to me, Natasha Vola. It has been a long time since I've talked with anyone openly. Not since before the purge."

Not since before Lucas took his fifty-year torpor then. Poor woman. Tash had Jessy and Julias, and slowly but surely, her circle of friends was expanding to include Jack and Antoinette, and even Beatrice, Damien, and Fiona were not uncommon people for her to see. She could talk to people if she wanted, let out some of her troubles. Maria had no one.

Tash got up, stepped into the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of blood, as well.

"... you can... t-tell me now."