Fighting Your Former Lover
Under the dim light of the church, Asha’s sharp features flicker like a ghost’s.
This is part of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, Through the Black Door. Go back to the first chapter. Or return to the previous chapter: “The Blue Faerie” or “Free the Faerie.” Check out the chapter guide.
“No,” you cry out at the older woman. “Asha, this isn’t like you. You were never this cruel back when we were still together. The colt may have done things wrong, and his mother may be deceitful, but he is still just a kid. The Asha I knew and loved would’ve been merciful. In fact, I was often the harsher one and you would counsel me to have mercy.”
Under the dim light of the church, Asha’s sharp features flicker like a ghost’s.
Her voice is grim but quiet. “That was back before I knew about the world and how unforgiving it is. Those who don’t even try to be good in the first place, don’t deserve our kindness or compassion.” Her gaze sharpens. “All right then, so you wish to fight?”
While your former lover’s eyes are menacing, you can’t deny the fact that she is an old woman while you are still a hale young twenty-four-year-old. You grimace. “Do I have to fight you for this? You’re already seventy.”
“So you think I won’t stand a chance against you, just because of my age?” Asha sounds offended, even enraged.
You’re not bad at fighting, since you had to learn how to defend yourself over the years. But do you really have the heart to attack a woman who is more than halfway to her grave? Let alone one whom you used to love with all your heart and soul.
Just then, there is an awful crash in the room to your right.
To your astonishment, the door of the room collapses onto the floor. The colt stands there, exuding a handsome glory. His facial expression is both innocent and accusing.
“But how can it be? We reinforced the iron,” Asha says with a snarl.
You are even more stunned when the black mare steps up from behind her son, her green eyes a blaze of threatening fire.
A strange man lumbers up to join them. He’s stout and muscular, and he wields something that resembles a club.
Asha gasps in horror and dismay. “Lionel, I never would have expected this of you. How could you betray us?”
The man’s face looks harsh and haggard. He replies in a low voice, “This here Isabelle is right. We can’t punish a child like this. Mercy is always better than vengeance.”
While you agree with him, you have a hunch that mercy is not the real reason why he’s helping the faeries.
Asha clearly has the same thought. She crosses her arms. “Has she blackmailed you? Bribed you?”
The man is sombre as he shakes his head. “No. But it’s time to let go. Do you really want us to keep a creature, let alone such a young one, trapped for so long? It’s a taxing burden for us, too. Why must we live like eternal prison guards, where we are ironically bound by what we wanted to bind?”
Wise words. But Asha is livid.
“Asha,” you begin, “I’m just as bitter as you are that we were so cruelly separated, and now, when we are reunited, we are too far apart in age. But that doesn’t mean we have to doom ourselves to misery for the rest of our lives. Let us let go and start over.”
Lionel nods at your words, his face tight with resolution. He lowers his weapon as though ready to stop fighting altogether.
Asha ignores him, and directs a wary glance at you. “That’s easy for you to say, Isabelle. Even though you left for faerie first, you’re still young and beautiful today. But I’m already old and worn, no longer desirable. What else do I have to hold on to except for this piece of vengeance?
“In case you suggest it, no, I don’t want your pity. I can see it in your eyes. Not only do you no longer want me, you’re also disgusted by what I’ve become. But you don’t need to worry. I no longer wish to be with you, either, even if we were still the same age.”
Her words cut deep into your core. But you know it’s true. No matter what your relationship was back then, you are now more than forty years apart. She’s old enough to be your grandmother.
And her changed personality bothers you even more than the age difference. She isn’t as sweet and loving as she once was.
At this point, the black mare interrupts with a sharp tap of her hooves. “If you want, we can strike a bargain. Asha, you can return to how you looked before. Your heart and mind will still be old, but your body would be young and healthy. You could be exactly the same age as Isabelle and you can be together.”
Despite her determination earlier, Asha immediately responds, her eyes glinting with a kind of hunger. “What’s the catch in this bargain?”
The black mare smiles and looks almost friendly. “I just ask you to kindly leave me and my son alone. I’m just like any other mother. Despite everything I have done, and what he has done, I love him and want him to have a chance at a better life.”
“But if we free him, he will wreak havoc against mortals and deceive them.” Asha frowns again.
The black mare and her son exchange a glance. Shi Lei says, in a surprisingly soft voice, “Qi Xiong, do you swear that you will never willingly cause harm to human beings?”
Oaths made by and to faeries are binding. The oath-maker goes through intense pain and sometimes even death if they break their vow.
Qi Xiong, the colt, nods, and in a solemn manner, he states, “I swear that I will never willingly harm any human being as long as I live.”
