Normality has returned to the Belmont House and the city; it has been three days since all chaos erupted. And believe me, when I say that I welcome the peace and quiet, I would think that the supernatural would have been stirred to such an extent that no creature would wish to stir for a very long time to come.

These past few days have not only been draining but very emotional, some more than others. Lilith has not been seen around much; she and Stefan have kept to the confines of her room. Edward is left to pick up the pieces at the Council business and with the daunting task of finding a replacement for Victor. Our dear Vampire Hunter has retreated to his own little nest and is happily carrying on with his life. Anastasia, well, there is something eating at her mind.

"My beloved, what does have you so troubled?"

"Sebastian, do you like it when I turn into an Ancient?"

"Well, do you wish for me to be honest or lie?"

"I think I don't even need to answer that."

"My beloved, it is a hideous creature which I have become accustomed to."

"So you are saying that I am hideous?"

"Not in that manner."

"But you just said it."

Why did my better part of my judgment not listen to that voice that says do not even attempt in answering such a question? But let us try to amend the situation.

"My beloved, I do prefer when you are a normal Vampire better; you do have the ability to mutilate me when you are an Ancient."

"Now I mutilate you?"

"You have so many teeth, what else shall you refer the, if I dare to say, slicing to?"

"Slicing? You are seriously for real now?"

"Let me state it this way. When last have you drank from me?"

"I can't remember."

"And why would that be?"

"Don't think you are clever now."

I can honestly say that I do not know where her question is going, but with each step, I am just putting my foot deeper into it. So let me be the one asking the question instead.

"My beloved, do you like turning into an Ancient?"

"No, I did in the beginning because of the power, but not anymore. I can honestly say that I hate it."

"Why? What has changed your mind?"

She proceeds to slide her hair to the side, revealing the soft, delicate skin, face, and neck to me.

"Look how it is ruing my body, look at my skin. All the Vampire healing power cannot heal skin that is being stretched beyond what is normal. It is unsightly, don't tell me that you have not noticed?"

"You are pure beauty to me; I have not noticed anything. I do think that it shall not get any worse."

"So it is bad? You just said you see nothing but beauty, and now you say it cannot get worse."

"Oh my god, this conversation is not going in my favor. Please, I beg, you are beautiful, no what you look like."

"It matters to me."

She goes quiet for another few minutes, clearly stewing with something in her head. I can see by the way she is twirling her hair around her fingers that this has to be something big. She only ever does this when she is in deep thought.

But she is right, not about being ugly, but about her skin stretching, for as an Ancient, you turn into something a bit bigger than your own form. And please let us not forget all those teeth that make her mouth open to an unnatural size. So I would in my head firmly agree that this is not the most pleasant of creatures to become apart from her power.

The question still begs, why does this have her so worried.

"My beloved, please tell me what is truly the matter."

…Anastasia POV…

With all the craziness that has been happening, I really have not stopped to take note of what is happening to my body. The first time, yes, I did see this, but I thought that it would go away, that it was only because I turned a few hours before. The second time, it was once again the same, coming home after a big battle. So this did not alarm me until now. It has been three days, it has not improved, and I dare to even say that it has worsened.

Now, I do enjoy have great power, but at what risk? Becoming a really old wrinkled Vampire? This does explain why Ancients are actually so ugly and old-looking; turning has made them into what they are. Well, I do not wish to be such a Vampire. There has to be a way to reverse what has happened to me, and I do know exactly where to look. But unfortunately, it is only this man next to me that shall be able to help me. Do I even dare ask?

"Sebastian."

"Yes, my beloved?"

"Please, will you help me get rid of it?"

"Get rid of what?"

"Being an Ancient. I don't want to be an Ancient; there must be a way to reverse it. Please, will you help me?"

"Are you being serious? I thought the power was something that you desired?"

"No, not anymore. I would rather have my youth than power."

I can see the way he is staring at me as if I have gone completely insane. I think he will only understand if his own beauty starts to fade. He has not experienced the ecstasy of me drinking from him gives his body and a long while now purely because I cannot control not turning into Ancient and then end up ripping him apart. There are truly so many other things that are far better than what power can bring.

Now there is the biggest question apart from him being willing, is if he can.

"Sebastian, do you still have the Books of Spells."

…Sebastian POV…

I was waiting for someone to bring up the question, now if being an Ancient does not hold great power, then having the Book of Spells truly does. But the question begs, do I want to harness the power? Even if I still have the Book, would I take such a risk? There is for sure no way that I shall try cast these spells myself, which does make me wonder if I do want to let anyone still know of its existence.

But in saying this, Anastasia is my beloved, my heart, my world, my everything. If she asks this of me, should I not then be honest to her, for we have said before and still stands that there shall be no secrets between us. I can, for certain, say that she shall never betray me.

"My beloved, why do you ask if I still have the Book of Spells?"

"I was hoping that withing those pages; there shall be a way to cure me of this godawful thing."

"You do know that if we do find one that it cannot be reversed. Your power, your legacy, it all shall be gone."

"Yes, Sebastian. I do not wish to be this way at all."

"Then let us get ready. I shall go retrieve the Book, and then we will set to go to Elloise."

"Why Elloise? Can you not do it yourself?"

"And risk turning you into a frog? That is not a risk I wish to take, for even though I love you, I shall not share a bed with such a slimy creature."

"God, you are full of compliments today."

I do hope that this one does not blow up in our face; we have done some silly things but playing with the Book just after we got it out of the hands of another greedy man. Does this make us any better then?

…Anastasia POV…

Sebastian has just proven to me once again that no matter what, he shall do anything for me, and that means even going back on his own words. I do believe that he did have a great inner battle within him, for he is not known as a man to do so. Does this then mean that he wants me to be a normal Vampire just as much as I do?

But now, in saying this, there shall be someone else that shall not be happy with my decision for me being an Ancient Vampire gave him the hope that one day I shall want to be with him. So in a way, my decision might make Sebastian happy, but it shall bring Zachariah pain. Then again, I am destined to be with Sebastian, I love him, and most of all, I carry his ring. There is no hesitation in me to do this.

So while he is retrieving the Book, I stand in the tall mirror in the bathroom and give this horrible creature one last look and bid it goodbye. Let us just hope I come home in return.

…Sebastian POV…

I do believe in my heart and in all honesty that I shall prefer for my beloved to be a normal Vampire. So it is without even hesitating that I find here in our room, and we make our way to go see Elloise.

Now we should not get excited, for we do not know if there is a spell in here that shall reverse such a cursed, if I may call it that. There might be no way for us to turn Anastasia back to what her normal self was; that is a disappointment that we shall have to live with as well. But the most important thing is that we have tried.

So we soon find ourselves at the entrance of the same woods where we nearly got ourselves killed. I can gladly say that there are not creatures in here that would wish to harm us this time around. We make the way in a slow walk down to where Elloise and her village shall be found. The fresh air and the smell of wet sand make you think of the simpler things in life. This reminds you that Vampires do as well wish to have their own normally in life, and this is what Anastasia craves.

Then what seems like a good half hour, we find ourselves in the clearing being escorted up to Elloise, and let me say she is indeed happy to see us, that until she sees the Book of Spells.

"Please don't tell me that you have that thing?"

"I thought it might come in useful some other time, and I think that it might just have, though I would add that it is for myself."

"Out with it then, let me hear what you want?

"Well, not me, but my beloved Anastasia. She was hoping that within these pages there would be a way to reverse the curse of an Ancient."

"I have not heard of one, but sit, and I shall look."

And so the wait begins; I do not need to mention that this Book has thousands of pages, we might just be here for a week. So with only an hour in, I finally hear Elloise speak again.

"Here, I have found one. I do not see any record that it has successfully been done."

"What do you mean by successful?

"Well, she can either end up a human again or die. And it has to be done at a full moon, which is in your luck tonight. So you want to do this, I need to source some of the ingredients?"

I then turn Anastasia, that too has heard every single word, and I can say that my heart is hesitant, for I do not wish to lose here. But I promised I would give her everything that she ever desired.

"My beloved, do you wish to go ahead with this?"