Chasing Destiny

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Daughter? So queen Coraline has died"

Both Damon and Ava nodded.

"You are so beautiful. I have thought about you"

Ava smiled.

"What about my father, where is he?"

Moria face turned cold, her eyes dropped.

"He was killed a few years back, during a raid. I took over as Captain"

Ava face saddened.

"Oh. I am sorry" she said.

"So, Moria why is it that you have returned?" Damon asked.

Moria met Damon's eyes, searching them.

"Well, with the death of James, my role as captain has become important. My body isn't getting any younger, and giving up on royalty and the curse that comes with it. I have come to find a way to ensure my youth, and live without the fear of death"

"So, your after immortality then"

"Yes that is correct. But Ava, I also extend the invitation to join me on my ship"

Ava's eyes leveled with Moria, unsure of what to say.

"Ava's life is on this island. She has a role to fill as queen, and she is not about to run away like her mother did" Damon piped in.

Ava stood quietly, unsure how to react. She had always dreamed of knowing her birth mother, knowing that Moria had no plans of staying on the island and would soon sail off into the seas. It could be her chance, her chance to know her.

"What if it was only a short while?" Ava asked.

Damon glared at her.

Moria tapped her chin, and smiled.

"That is possible. However, life at sea is not guaranteed"

"When do you leave?"

"When I get what I came for, a potion to assure my immortality"

"I will think about it"

"Come Ava" Damon said, grabbing her hand, clasping it tightly in his.

"Yes. It was wonderful speaking to you but the sea needs me and I have to find what I came for"

Damon pulled Ava away from the docks, his face was tense, his hand tight around hers.

When the Moria was far behind them, Damon spoke.

"You want to give all of this up? For what? Raiding other island, killing men with families, looting and never knowing what the day has in store for you?"

Ava shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I just thought I would like to know my mother"

Damon stopped, grabbing Ava's shoulders, leveling in her bright blue eyes.

"Let me tell you about her. She is selfish and her heart is with the sea, the cold dark sea"

Ava pulled his hands off her.

"You don't know her; how can you be so cold?"

Ava walked, Damon behind her on her heels.

"Because Ava, that is what she has proven. She left Coraline, who raised her, abandoned her role as queen, and gave you up. So what kind of woman does she sound like? The warm and nurturing kind or the cold and selfish kind?"

Ava turned around, her eyebrows narrowed and her cheeks flushed.

"Damon, stop! I get it, you don't want me to go. But I will make that choice for myself"