The two of them sat on the grass, talking their heart out. They discussed about things they had missed in each other's life. Mostly, Ashton was the one answering these questions as Avalina wanted to know about all the little things her son had to go through after they were taken away.
Although she was angry at her inability to protect him, she felt a bit happy that his childhood wasn't as difficult as she had imagined.
Although she was careful enough not to say such a thing in front of the boy. Regardless of whether what she thought was worse or not, it must have been hard for Ashton to go through it all by himself.
It was Ashton's turn next and to Avalina's surprise, some of the questions he asked made her feel that he was much more mature than an average child of his age. The trauma had forced him to mature faster than them.
Little did she know, Ashton's maturity was not because of the trauma and such that he had suffered. But because of the points he had invested in increasing his intelligence.
To Avalina's credit, she answered all of Ashton's questions to the best of her ability. Most of the questions he asked her were about their family and his father. Sadly, there wasn't much Avalina knew about him. In reality, there wasn't anyone who knew about him or what happened to him.
"The land of the undead is a mysterious place. Shrouded by mysterious particles floating in the air, it makes it impossible for even satellites and drones to scan the two continents they rule over. " She said while shaking her head.
"I tried my best to find him as soon as I got my hands on the resources to do so. But it was all in vain. The undead are just too damn good when it comes to hiding their tracks or hiding themselves. It almost makes me believe the things we know about them aren't even true, to begin with."
Ashton nodded along. As much as he wanted to find his father next, he didn't think it was going to be possible for a while. After all, the undead had little to no contact with the other species since the war with humans had come to an end.
Also, the treaty they had with the vampires and the werewolves made it impossible to venture into their territories without their permission first. If someone still made their way to the land of the undead, despite the treaty stating not to, they never return.
On top of that, Ashton was nowhere near as strong as to make an enemy out of an entire species. Not yet anyway. That being said, he still had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her. The 'real' questions, that were not about their family.
"While I was gathering more information about you and dad, I came to know some very... fascinating things. Like you being the founders of the rebels and what not. Is it true?"
Avalina nodded, "Yes, it is... and yet look at us now. The three founding members of the resistance had been turned into the three different species they swore to fight against. Funny, don't you think?"
Maybe Ashton was imagining things, but for a moment, he could see that Avalina had gotten all worked up. Especially when Ashton took a pause while asking her the question. But when he completed his question, she let out a short sigh of relief before answering.
'Is she hiding something?' He thought all the while smiling at her, 'Why would she do that? Is she trying to protect me from something or am I simply overthinking things?'
Ashton's perception skill was high enough to notice the smallest changes on the face of anyone in front of him. While his [Heartbeat Sense] perk could ensure whether a person was speaking the truth or not.
As much as he wanted to trust every word that came out of his mother's mouth, at that moment, he needed to ensure Avalina wasn't lying to him. Even if it was all to protect himself. Thankfully, he didn't have to turn on his vampire genes to use the passive abilities associated with those genes.
"I also got to know about... the weapon."
At that moment, Avalina's face went from all smiles to being as expressionless as a corpse. Ashton had finally asked one thing Avalina was praying to the gods he wouldn't. But she wasn't a priestess that the gods would listen to her prayers.
"Ashton, it's getting late. Maybe we should discuss it-"
She tried her best to evade the question, but she had no idea who persistent Ashton had grown up to be. The little boy who used to do everything she asked him to, was long gone. Years of being by himself had taught him one thing, he did what he thought to be the best for himself.
"Ma... don't try to dodge the question. You said you were going to answer all of my questions. So here's the question. Why am I called the weapon?"
"..."
"Fine. If you don't want to answer then I won't force you." Ashton got up and turned to leave, "You must have your reasons to hide it. However, I'm not going to be here for long... this might even turn out to be the last time you ever see me."
Of course, it wasn't going to be the last time she would see him. But Ashton had seen the power of a little tactic known as emotional blackmail.
Although he felt like the worst piece of shit subjecting her mother to something like that, he needed to do it to get the answers he needed to know, out of her mouth.
Avalina pursed her lips, knowing that regardless of whether she told him the truth or not, it was highly probable Ashton would leave her. However, the burden of such a secret was too much for her to handle, she didn't want to subject her son to the same even if it meant losing him forever.
"I see... goodbye then, mother."