NB: So finally, the story has come to an end! Once again, I thank my readers who have kept through with the characters; given me comments and suggestions. I really really appreciate it.
Also to my editors: angin_berhembus and wildheartedangel, thank you for the great job in editing most of this series. However, in my excitement to post this chapter, I have done the editing myself so any mistakes are mine alone.
I will be writing a sequel to this story if you're interested, so keep checking!
xoxoxo
-ArtForm-
***
The sun was setting; delicate golden rays streaking across the rust- coloured sky. Fiona watched as darkness engulfed the great white star, a second at a time until it was completely dark. Even though there was nothing to see, she stood in front of the window for awhile longer, lost in her own thoughts.
Draven was in the kitchen again with their guests. Although she had lived in the pack for almost a year now, Fiona still found it amazing how often they needed to eat and yet stay so lean and svelte.
"Fiona..."
She almost knocked her head against the window in an attempt to turn around as fast as she could. The low tenor voice startled her and instantly alerted her instincts to fight. Furthermore, her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness and it was as good as being blind.
"Who's there?" she asked. It made her sweat to discover that she couldn't use her abilities without actually seeing the human or Vampire's form. Panic rushed over her as she realized that she had to rely on pure Vampire instincts and Fiona had no clue how to do so. There had been no need to hunt for prey and thus no need to hone her skills in heat and scent detection. Even then, whoever was calling her name had neither scent nor heat radiating from his body.
Fiona considered screaming. That would definitely retrieve help but something inside her kicked with the need to defend herself instead of always running away to Eian.
"Right. Let's do this," she whispered to herself, feeling her talons elongate to knife-like points. She also breathed in deeply to calm herself, feeling the fear wash away and her focus piqued. As soon as she did that, she found her eyes adjusting to the darkness at a faster rate until eventually she could see as clearly as it was day.
"Grandfather?" Fiona relaxed at the sight of the Ancient Pureblood smiling at her. It seemed that he had been leaning against the far wall in the room, observing her for some time.
"Very good, my dear," he commented. "Although I must say that the time it takes you to adjust could have cost you your life." He moved closer towards her and saw her talons retracting. "Don't let your guard down yet! I could be a shape-shifter and at this distance, even a Vampire at ease could get attacked."
Fiona frowned at his words. Why was he talking to her as if they were going for war?
"I'm not going to attack you Grandfather and you know that," she said, tilting her face up to look at him. She watched his lips curl into a smile before he took a few steps back.
"Ah... but I want you to," he said in a stoic voice. He sounded neither pleased nor fearful when he said it... but emotionless. Fiona wasn't sure what to do but her guard was up. She watched as his talons elongate and knew then that he wasn't joking.
"Grandfather?" Her voice wavered for a second. "Are... are you going to attack me?"
"Yes," was all he said before she felt herself thrown on the ground a few metres away from where she was standing before. Fiona growled in pain and was about to attack back when she noticed that he had disappeared; no where to be found.
Then she heard a faint sound of movement but was too slow to react and found herself flung against the wall on the opposite side of the room before landing on her butt. Now she was getting angry. Her furor was intensified by her inability to see him for he was moving too fast. She wanted to scream a command but she knew instinctively that her powers would be ineffective because her brain registers an empty room, not a threat.
"Not a threat..." She acknowledged the fact that he wasn't even attacking her but simply pushing her around. Very slowly, she calmed down; steadying her breath and tried to focus her mind on every single movement, sound and change of temperature in the room. This time, she sensed him moving towards her and although she couldn't see him, she deliberately crashed into his path, causing both of them to fly off in opposite directions.
"Oww..." Fiona massaged the back of her head for it had crashed into another wall, creating a crater in it.
"Here." She saw his hand offering her assistance to get up. Finally! She could see him. How the hell does an old Vampire move with such speed?
"You're really fast," she said, accepting his hand. "But I caught you in the end."
Aramis let out a soft laugh. "Yes, somewhat... and what did you learn from this exercise?"
Fiona raised her eyebrows in surprise. "This was a learning exercise?"
"I heard from Draven about this morning's lesson. I thought I'd give you a hand."
"That was quite a lesson I must say."
"So what did you learn?"
Fiona thought for a moment before answering. "My powers don't work when I don't see my target. And you, my target, move at such blinding speed. It's rather annoying actually."
Aramis let out a loud laugh; his handsome face breaking into lines of laughter, most prominent around his eyes. When he finally sobered down, he looked at her and felt his love for her growing in his heart. She was no longer the fearful child that came into his custody but was now a beautiful grown woman with an exceedingly strong ability, befitting of her Vampire status.
He smiled at her and took her hand in his, "Respect," he said, patting her hand gently. "That is the second key to control."
He watched as her face contorted into a look of bewilderment.
"The only reason why your abilities couldn't work was because you were too focused on finding my weakness. However, the moment you acknowledged my strength, it gave you some sort of control...and that; my child is the essence of respect in the battlefield. You have to respect your opponents' strength and weaknesses and work them both to your advantage. If you focus too much on their weakness then you have no control over their strengths."
Fiona stared, open mouthed at her grandfather. "Wow... I... I never saw it that way before. I only saw myself as being stronger than everyone else... and though I'm ashamed to say it, I did use my powers to do whatever I want. That's... not control at all isn't it?"
Aramis nodded and smiled at his granddaughter. So she has learnt her lesson after all.
"So... are you ready to go at it again?"
She nodded. "Bring it on."
***
The next morning, Fiona wandered back into the drawing room where she had her lesson with Aramis the previous night. In the daylight, she could see with more certainty the damage she and her grandfather had inflicted on the walls and furniture. She stifled a laugh as she examined the room with her eyes, trying to recall exactly how each dent on the wall was created. Then she spotted Draven, sitting on an armchair near the fireplace.
"It's not funny," he said in a voice that told her he was fighting between sounding severe and amused.
"I didn't create the damage alone," she tried to protest and ended up laughing. "Grandfather made some serious holes on the walls too."
She watched as his lips curved up involuntarily. Taking a seat opposite him, she leaned back and relaxed into the soft cushion of the armchair.
"You're doing really well," he said in a way of compliment. "It took me almost half a century to fully perfect my powers. And as you know mine isn't really offence-type ability so it doesn't take long to control."
