T W E N T Y - S E V E N
Heart to Heart

THE FIRE WAS burning so brightly and beautifully, its ember flames licking at the air around it. Though the sun was still shining strong in the blue skies, it did not make the flames any duller as it should. Instead, the gold and orange of the flame seemed to be sending the air around us ablaze. Even as I sat a few feet away from the fire, I could still see the effects of its heat on the people around me though I myself could not feel it.

Fabian sat right by my side, accompanying me whilst I rested against the large roots of a great willow tree. There were already tiny beads of perspiration shining on his forehead before he hastily wiped it away, obviously affected by the heat of both the fire and the afternoon sun. Minnie was by the fire, eagerly listening to Dimitri's instructions as the both of them worked on the potion together. I watched them, eyes trailing after their every movement almost absentmindedly before sighing.

"What is it that is bothering you this time?" Fabian's words snapped me out of my train of thoughts, my eyes blinking blankly a few times before I turned to face him.

"What makes you think that I have something bothering me?" I questioned, truly intrigued. It was highly unlikely for Fabian to ask a question that originated from concern and it was making me a little jumpy and cautious since I was caught off-guard.

The dark-haired spirit shrugged. "You have that look on your face. The one whereby you seem capable of killing even the most innocent of children."

I snorted once rather ungracefully at his comparison, rolling my eyes as dramatically as I could.

"You would know."

"Well, I guess you can say that relating is not that difficult of a task. I've done much worse and I probably still will in the future." I thought I saw Fabian crack a small smile but it was gone before I could confirm it. "So what is it this time?"

"In the time that you were gone, I saw Lola again. The last sunset made her very powerful. I could hear her voice at the back of my head and it is slowly driving me insane," I confessed. Sighing, I dug my head into the palms of my hands. "I just want her to go away and leave me alone."

"She made you see something again, did she not?"

I looked up in surprise, searching Fabian's eyes for any signs of knowledge. Yet, I was greeted with what I have seen all along in Fabian's dark irises-complete utter emptiness.

"Yes," I said slowly, eyes still glued to his face. "She did, in fact."

"My senses are telling me that she made you see Dimitri," he continued, casually leaning back against the tree before shutting his eyes, as if trying to sleep.

"Okay. You are being scarily good at this and also frighteningly talkative, not to mention civil. Are you sure you're Fabian and not secretly Lucifer?" I was filled with doubt, nose wrinkling as I raised an eyebrow at him. "Cause if you are, I am sorry to tell you that what you are doing is a very old trick that I've fallen victim to before."

He rolled his eyes before reaching his fingers out to the nearest flower beside him. When he touched it, the daisy immediately shriveled before turning into a pile of gray ash. Although I've seen Dimitri do the same trick before, I couldn't help myself but cringe a little. Such a waste of a pretty flower but Fabian did prove his point. He was, in fact, the spirit of famine.

"I can tell that there is something disturbing you. Just because I am more on the quiet side does not mean that I am dumb. They say that those who keep to themselves tend to see more around them." Shutting his eyes again, Fabian looked relaxed for once. "What did Lola tell you this time that got you so worried? I thought you would know better than to listen to the words of a child."

My eyes darted to Dimitri unsurely. I bit down on my bottom lip, silently debating with myself on whether I should share this piece of information with Fabian. Yet, I could not come to a conclusion. Fabian and I weren't particularly close and if I hadn't even been able to tell my worries to Minnie, who was my best friend, why should I tell Fabian?

However, I need not even utter a single word. He must have noticed my too-long of a stare at Dimitri and Minnie for he soon sat up, both of his eyebrows raised in realization.

"She showed you the illusion of my brother being with your best friend intimately, didn't she?" He prodded.

As much as I wanted to snap at Fabian and ask him to shove off, I found myself unable to grasp any word to come to my defense. I sat there, gaping like a fish before letting out a long sigh.

"They weren't together that intimately but she did imply it," I conceded. "It seemed so real and the only way in which I managed to get myself out of that illusion was remembering the small details about Dimitri." I pointed to my fourth finger. "The ring that Dimitri wears all the time. She forgot to add that in."

Fabian truly cracked a small smile at that, nodding. "Ah, that ring. How funny its origins were but that's a story for another less busy day."

A couple of feet in front of us, the flask that hovered over the fire let out a puff of burgundy-colored smoke. Minnie coughed at the effect, turning away from the potion to fan the smell away. She must have done something wrong for Dimitri soon had a frown on his face, his lips moving rapidly to chastise Minnie. I could not make out the words but I knew it wasn't exactly nice, given for a fact that Minnie looked downright sheepish, her cheeks a vibrant scarlet.

"Looks to me you do not have anything to worry about what Lola had shown you. It was obviously false and nothing else other than a fear she thought you might have." Waving a nonchalant hand, Fabian murmured. "From past experiences, I had not even noticed anyone when I was with..." He paused, trailing off.

Turning around, I glanced curiously at Fabian. He seemed in pain as if something had caught in his throat and disallowed him to breathe. In fact, he appeared to be so confused and lost that his eyebrows were wrinkled tightly, dark eyes looking down onto the grassy ground while lost in thought. After a few seconds and he still had not finished his sentence, I cleared my throat lightly.

"Ida?" I supplied.

Fabian looked up, surprised. "Ah," he scratched the back of his head. "Yes. Ida. And so you need not worry about him fancying anyone else."

He was silent after that, back to his usual brooding self.

I couldn't help myself but frown. Just mentioning Ida made Fabian's spirit so down in the dumps. Yet, without me butting into his sentence and providing him with her name, he seemed to be at a loss for words. If I hadn't known better, I might even say that Fabian was beginning to forget about his old lover.

Yet, it wasn't too out of the question.

Ida had mentioned that after I was married to Dimitri, the rest of the world would forget that Ida even existed. The only person that would remember her would be me and she would be erased from existence. Unfortunately, the only hole in that was the fact that not only were Dimitri and me not anywhere near marriage yet, I was also dying. I did not know if that had something to do with Fabian's sudden lapse but it seemed as though the ending of my five days affected him as well.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about her?"

"Of course not," Fabian argued defensively, lips turned to a scowl. "I would never."

Lies.

"I just... I forgot for a really long time what it was like to be back in those days. It seemed so very long ago."

"It is." I nodded. "Some things will forever remain in the past. And yet, it is undeniable that you will carry a piece of it with you for the rest of your life. It is sort of a misery but a bittersweet one at that."

"Bitter-sweetness had never been something I desired. It was more of something I had to be forcibly stuck with for the rest of my immortal life."

"That is only because you have such a negative outlook on life." I wrinkled my nose. "There is a silver lining to every storm cloud but you never looked for it because all you desired was rain. Even when the water flooded your fields, you were so comforted by what you were used to that you did not bother looking for sunshine."

"You don't understand, Addison." Fabian sighed, shaking his head. "My heart died with her and love became more bitter than sweet. That is why I never bothered to love again. I do not have that many pieces of my heart to give."

Gently, I placed a hand on Fabian's shoulder as a sign of my support. Fabian flinched a little under my touch but otherwise made no motion of moving away.

"It's been a few hundred years. That's too long of a time for anyone to torture themselves, don't you agree? If your situation was flipped, wouldn't you want Ida to look for someone new too?"

His pure black irises left the green of the grass to stare at me, our gazes colliding. Fabian seemed determined to try and figure something out, his expression contemplating. However, he wasn't a given a chance to reply. At that moment, a set of footsteps neared us, causing the both of us to look up and me to drop my hand.

Dimitri stood mere inches in front of us, his eyes hard and fingers clutching the flask that Fabian had brought tightly. There was a burgundy liquid bubbling inside the flask, its smell oddly floral when I took a whiff of it.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything," Dimitri joked, breaking a smile.

"Of course not." I immediately lighted up at the sight of Dimitri's handsome features, patting the ground next to me. "Come take a seat. You too, Minnie."

I gestured for my best friend to come over and she did so without qualms, a relieved smile on her face as she plopped herself down right next to Fabian, in between the both of us.

"Here's your potion. This should be able to subside the effects of the sunset for a bit. You will still feel weaker than the previous day but your past lives should not be able to reach you from this point on." Carefully, Dimitri passed the flask over as I took it in my hands gingerly. "Careful, it's still a little hot," he warned.

I raised the flask to my lips, taking in a deep breath as I unconsciously reached for Dimitri's hand. The bubbling burgundy liquid inside of the glass flask smelt oddly of apples and wildflowers, a concoction that I was not too against drinking. However, not knowing the exact ingredients of the mixture still made me hesitate.

"Do I want to know what's inside this thing?" I asked, shying away from the flask when an extra-large bubble rose to the surface.

"I think it's best you don't." Minnie winced a little, nervously laughing.

Swallowing the bile in my throat, I lifted the mixture to my lips, taking in deep breaths to calm myself down. Just as I was about to drink the contents of the liquid, I heard Fabian speak up which caught my attention.

"Addison?" He said, which caused me to spin around and look at him. His lips were pursed together tightly, eyes dropping down to glance over Dimitri and I's connected hands before raising back up to meet mine. "She did."

Immediately, I looked away, unable to face Fabian any longer. I knew fully well what he had meant and that made my stomach churn uncomfortably. Without waiting for a second more, I tipped the contents of the flask into my mouth, swallowing it in one gulp.

[A/N]:

Hope you enjoyed reading. My exams are now over but I will also be overseas until Christmas Day. I will try my best to update [Lucius] before 2018 rings in but no promises on that.

QOTC: What was your initial thought of Fabian and what is your opinion on him now? Personally, he is my bean baby.

xx aurora