#also possible headcanon: turned werewolves get a little yellow in their eyes after being turned

[pluto-glow]

You know I had to draw a Garroth to go with Laurance

[pokibal2001]

The Song of the Abyss

An excerpt from my incomplete novella idea and brainchild of mine, based in the beginning of the second story arc of the series. There’s a lot of vague plot points and story headcanons all over the place so it might get confusing, so I’m just going to say that there’s a hint of a much bigger ongoing adventure behind the scenes. 

Also, since this is just a rough draft, expect some potential grammar mistakes and poor sentence structuring as well as future editing updates. 

22/5/2019: Changed and added a few details.

29/5/2019: Altered several details and canon re-positioning of events.

16/6/2019: No longer canon, as backstory has been changed.

Warning: It’s gets creepy! And a bit heart-wrenching, maybe, depending on how you see it.

Summary: A modern day white mage dreams of the beautiful sea underwater, the calm before the storm and the shadowy abyss that belies beneath it. 

The ocean winds caressed her warm cheeks, snowy white hair fanned out and flying amidst the salt-scented gale. 

She was dreaming again. 

Agnes knew it the moment she let her gaze wonder into the horizons of the endless sea, the waves lapping at her sand-coated feet. 

The sun was slowly setting into the ocean, the sky lit ablaze in fiery orange like a sparked match amidst the clearly visible starry night. Steely grey eyes speckled with tiny golden flecks widened, mesmerized by by the sight before her.

Without even needing to look around, Agnes could already tell she was on some sort of remote island, standing in a quiet beach where there was nobody present. Her left hand shivered slightly, noting the absence of a cherished lantern in her grasp. 

Before she could even begin to wonder what exactly was happening, Agnes startled upon hearing something from a distance. 

A strange sound, so almost imperceptibly soft that her strained ears could barely detect it, emitting from the surface of the water.  

Was it humming? No, there are words being spoken, but with a certain melody. It sounds almost as if it was...

Singing. 

Someone was singing.

But Agnes couldn’t hear the lyrics being sung. The words were not understandable and near gibberish, almost like it was recording a person butchering their spoke English words and reverse the audio on high volume. 

A glitchy mess of static words playing underwater, to be exact. 

Except... She finds the melody of the scratchy song strangely beautiful.

Agnes couldn’t describe it. She has no innate musical talents, does not have a trained ear for music and could not understand for her life, distinguish the differences in genres between two similar sounding songs. 

That’s how hopeless she was when it comes to music. Her singing was almost an equivalent to a walrus cry and she has no talent whatsoever with any type of musical instrument.

Yet, she could not deny the peculiar beauty of the fragmented song, echoing soundly from the depths of the sea. 

An impulse. A desire. The need to understand. 

Agnes’ naked legs started moving on their own, each step a splash that sent rippling waves onto its glistening water surface. The sound of the crashing tides upon the sandy shores accompanied the unearthly song of the deep.

The woman could feel her feet walking down a path of squishy wet sand descending downwards like a hill underwater. The water surface grew taller and taller, soaking her cotton white dress lined with creamy yellow accents all over, until her whole body was completely submerged in seawater.

Strangely enough, even as Agnes gasped in shock and bubbles came out from her mouth, she doesn’t quite feel the panic she should’ve felt when seawater rushed down her throat. Then again, she knew it was a relatively odd dream. Drowning just wasn’t possible and she instinctively knew it. 

But that wasn’t was truly surprised her, no. 

It was the gorgeous sight of exotic coral that popped out like a radiant underwater garden. Swarms of various tropical fishes swam cheerfully among the crystal clear water, their unique scales glistened and complementing their equally colourful environment. 

The soothing ambiance of rushing waters filled her ears, drowning out the scratching melody that lured her into the sea. She did not question it. 

As little bubbles gushed along her sweeping arms when she swam out into the open waters, Agnes wonders how her subconscious could come up with such a vast diversity of species that she could not recognize apart from an odd clown fish and regal blue tang, since she doesn’t have that much interest in marine biology. 

She doesn’t deny her awe, however, at the sheer beauty of such an riveting sight. 

A moment later, something soft prodded the right arm and Agnes turned her head to look down at what might possibly one of the cutest animals she has ever seen in her life. 

It was a seal pup, and an incredibly adorable one at that. 

Its curious black eyes stared inquisitively at her, the rubbery nose on their muzzle twitched and quivered cutely. It tilted its fuzzy head for a moment when all of a sudden, there was what seems to be a glint of recognition and awe in its puppy dog eyes.

Agnes wasn’t sure exactly. Were animals supposed to have recognizable emotions in their eyes? 

Before she could ponder about it though, the seal sudden lunged forward and Agnes was too slow to react properly. Closing her eyes instinctively, she swallowed down a bit of water, which was a strange sensation indeed, when she felt appendages akin to flippers wrapping around her arm.

When Agnes opened her eyes again, the seal was nuzzling its soft muzzle onto her arm with such sheer affection that she could practically feel the love pouring out of its warm fur in the cold waters. The simple joy in its black orbs and the twitching in its tail were enough to show her that the little seal considers her a cherished friend in a short amount of time. 

Agnes’ eyes teared up, her heart positively melting into a gooey mess of joy as she reciprocated the seal pup’s loving hug with an embrace of her own. 

How did she deserved such a fluffy sea potato showing so much love to her? 

As she cuddled and cooed at the ball of grey fluff, her mind wanders. If Agnes wasn’t dreaming of a heavenly Great Coral Reef, then what else could she possibly dream of? This fantastic reality of the underwater realm was way too realistic for her pitiful artistic mind could picture about. 

“Brooke!”

Agnes and the seal pup jerked up, turning their heads at the direction of the voice that called out to a name that the seal pup clearly reacted at with a soft mewl from its muzzle... Or her muzzle?

“Brooke, where are you? We can’t wander too far in this waters!”

The young woman was slightly confused. While talking to other people in dreams weren’t an uncommon occurrence for Agnes, the voice that was obviously that of a grown woman sounded far too real for a figment of imagination. Agnes wasn’t perfect by all means, but she had enough practice in dreaming to know a bit of difference between real and fake.

But wait a minute, the last time she met and interacted with another person was-

Agnes’ eyes widened in shock as she took in the figure of the person floating before her. While the person was clearly a woman, she was also definitely not a human being.

After all, there was a scaly fishtail below her waist where the non-existent legs should be. 

The mermaid could only be described as simply beautiful. Curvaceous upper body, silky black hair and high cheekbones complimenting her navy blue jewels for eyes. Cobalt metallic breastplates hugged snugly to the mermaid’s chest, decorated in pearly white lines. The scales on her fishtail were that of resplendent sapphires. 

It was almost like staring at royalty in their most finest, if there is one for the mysterious race of aquatic beings famously known in popular culture and romantic literature. 

Agnes thought of herself as pretty at times when she feels confident enough to admit it, but even she couldn’t compete with the level of beauty that the mermaid had unwittingly displayed in front of her. That, and it was not the typical fanfare of creatures that Agnes dreamed of every night. 

The mermaid, gracefully swimming in elegant strides with a swish of her fishtail, stopped abruptly and floated upright as she stared wide-eyed at Agnes. Her expression nothing sort of pure shock, and the feelings was mutual with Agnes. 

How on earth can Agnes explain exactly just what she feels when seeing a fairy tale creature that literally looked like she popped out of the pages of a children’s storybook? Added with the hyper-realism of a sugar-coated fantasy that hasn’t lost its magic charm, she wasn’t exactly sure how to sort out the mess that was her feelings.

(In other words, she was inwardly squealing. Werewolves and vampires are special on their own, but mermaids?!)

The mermaid then opened her mouth, “You’re-”

But alas, whatever the mermaid attempted to say towards her was interrupted by an onslaught of disembodied voices that screeched the same barely legible lyrics that reverberated underwater like static.

This time, however, the once alluring melody that accompanied it was non-existent. It was no longer a soothing presence that Agnes once thought it was, but an atrocious menace to their ears. 

Like nails scratching on a cardboard. 

“-AFjC-hopes-HDIOLhsa-scattered-asdh-dance-ALHSDh-storm-aphd-”

Agnes let go of the seal pup, hands immediately reaching up to cover her ears as she closed her eyes with a tight, grimaced expression on her face. She could scarcely hear the baby seal whimpering and the mermaid’s frustrated groans despite her covered ears, failing to block out the infernal noise. 

It was a horrid noise, loud and deafening, hurting her ears like a hurling sledgehammer. The poor seal’s ears. The mermaid’s ears too. She wants it to stop. It can’t stop hurting their ears. 

Why can’t it stop!?

Lo and behold, it did. 

Agnes was still with terror, body shaking as she refused to open her eyes. She took in deep breaths, distracting herself with the alien sensation of seawater gushing down her throat without drowning her lungs since it was a dream and dreams don’t make sense.

With bated breath, she mustered the courage to open her eyes once more.... 

Agnes let a silent scream, eyes dilated in pure horror as bubbles escaped her mouth. 

Only to see a deluge of inky black darkness consuming everything in sight, torrential rainfall battering the choppy waves of the sea as maelstroms and hurricanes battered the water surface.

Leading the deluge from the above rode a ship enshrouded in wispy shades, unaffected by the unholy storm its presence brought in its wake. The starlit night was warped with such horrific distortions that the once peaceful sky turned into a never-ending black mass of stormy clouds, a dark beast raging behind its cursed master. 

Any tropical fishes and marine mammals that somehow managed to escape the demonic onslaught of darkness that swallowed the coral reef in sight had their efforts rendered fruitless, as the harsh water currents dragged the poor creatures back into the shadowy deluge.

Agnes trembled in fear. She knows this darkness all too well. Even in a different form, its lust for destruction has not changed in the slightest nor was it sated. 

The seal pup (Brooke?) was swimming beside her shook violently, whimpering in sheer terror. Even the mermaid was too stunned to react properly, petrified by the infernal storm that would soon consume them within its dark jaws. 

The harsh water currents then reached the motley trio, breaking them out of their terrified stupor. 

While Agnes was close to burst out in tears as she tried to push back the pulling currents, she turned to see the mermaid tearfully hugging the crying seal pup in a protective embrace as they resists the pull of the dark deluge.

Their desperate struggle in the face of such disaster pierced her heart with shocked epiphany, which was enough to ground Agnes back into reality and steel her nerves with gritted teeth as she stifled her own scream as much as she could.  

She won’t let them be taken by the darkness, no way!

After all, this is her dream. Even without her lantern, she still has magic. 

Spreading her arms wide, Agnes focused deeply for the white magic within her. Both of her open palms emitted a warm-hued light, igniting the rest of her body in a radiant aura of the rising sun. 

Narrowing her glowing eyes, Agnes pulled back her hands and cupped them on the middle of her sternum. The brilliant radiance that surrounded her was quick to spread, reaching out for the dumbstruck seal and mermaid as she pulled them into the safety of her shining light.

Soon enough, the ship that brought disaster in its wake reached the three of them, the blaring screech of its horn echoing throughout the darkened ocean. The shadow that hang beneath it envelops them, casting the trio into a pitch-black void.

That was when everything stopped.

There was no heavy pitter-patter of torrential downpour battering the water surface, the ferocious water currents halted suddenly and the inky blue waters that surrounded them was quiet.

Far too quiet, in fact.

The only comfort they had within this unnervingly silent void was the shimmering bubble of radiant light that protects them from the surrounding darkness. 

Agnes took the chance to glance over at her unlikely companions in concern and mentally sighed in relief that the mermaid and the seal pup were safe and sound, if somewhat shaken. 

She pointedly ignored the piercing stares that burns her pale skin as she asked them, “Are both of you okay?” 

The mermaid stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before her lips shakily curved in a grateful smile. She closed her eyes as she bowed her head humbly, much to Agnes’ shock. 

“Thank you so much for saving us, Radiant Maiden,” the mermaid murmured graciously, her melodious tone tinged with wonder and relief as she looked up again with her arm gently wrapped around an equally awed Brooke.

Even though Agnes was underwater, even if it was a dream, her mouth had never felt so dry. 

“No, I’m not-” The white mage then sighed tiredly, bubbles coming out as she rubbed her forehead with one glowing hand. Her other hand twitched at the reminder of her absent lantern. She eyed the mermaid and seal pup warily, “What are you doing all the way out here? How did you even know how to dream walk, or swim in this case, I guess, and ended up here?”

The seal pup bowed its head guiltily like a kicked puppy, and the mermaid looked downtrodden, “We know the risks. We were just... We were too eager to for a momentary escape from our lives in reality that we didn’t...”

“Say no more,” Agnes nodded her head with newfound understanding, staring at them with sympathy. God knows how often Agnes dreams to escape her own troubles in life, “I know what you mean.”

The mermaid shook her head in self-admonishment, “We should’ve known better than to linger here in these waters for too long, not when the remaining Wicked Bastions are running amok in reality.” 

Agnes’ bright gold-hued eyes widened like saucer plates as she covered her mouth, “... The news traveled that fast?” 

“Yes, blessed maiden,” The mermaid nodded her head grimly and the seal pup fidgeted beside her, “Even from the seas, we still could see the tainted moonlight seeping through the water surface,” She then glances down with trembling lips, “Never had I imagined such a horrid sight.”

Memories of Agnes’ previous conflict with the first Wicked Bastion flashed in her mind. as it’s cursed contents leaking and fogged over the town of Luvarille she was staying at on the day of the Bleeding Moon. 

It was an unnaturally horrid sight, oozing out so much scarlet miasma that it dripped from the moon like a gaping wound. It was almost as if someone murdered the moon and hanged its bloody corpse in the blackened sky, a ring of death that reflects its unearthly radiance upon the street, bathing innocents within its crimson malice. 

All the while overseen by the vengeful spirit of the Lady and her blood-soaked grin.

“Am I...” Agnes gulped nervously, her heart beating erratically, “Nearby?”

The mermaid tilted her head in confusion, “I... supposed so, yes. If you are here, then you are near Palomedian Island.” 

Agnes jerked her head at the mention of the island. That’s where she and the others were heading at-!

“Palomedian Island?” She repeated the name, wide-eyed.

“Yes, it’s where the Warden guards over the Bastion of-” The mermaid gasped and shuddered, sharply staring beyond their light haven, “-the Abyss.”

The sheer horror and panic that flooded the mermaid’s navy blue eyes left Agnes taken aback, as she tightly hugged her seal companion. Brooke, at least that was what Agnes could distinctly remember the name the seal pup was called, looked equally distraught by the revelation. 

Following their fear-struck stares, Agnes stifled a gasp as she truly realized the dire enormity of their situation upon seeing nothing but an inky blue abyss everywhere. No matter where she looks, there were only bottomless depths where nothing exists but blackened waters voided of light. 

Silence was all it offered for the lost victims swimming within its pitch-black darkness and even then, Agnes knew deep inside her heart that somehow... It wasn’t a guarantee. 

A sweetened lie to sooth its paranoid victims, that it was only themselves all alone wandering, floating in the deep abyss. 

Agnes should’ve notice it. Yet, even with all the light that shone from her entire being, she didn’t notice it. The way it-they move so quietly, lurking beneath them like sharply focused predators.

“We can’t be here!” The mermaid exclaimed, downright panicking as they saw something rushing past them beyond the outskirts of the light barrier, “This is their territory! They will come for us-!”

A massive screeching of all things unholy underwater from all directions assaulted their ears. 

It was already too late.

A webbed claw, scaled a sickening green, pierced through the light to grab Brooke by her flippers. It tore the yelping seal pup away from them and into the darkened waters, much to their horror. 

“NO!” Agnes screamed out for the seal pup, her heart breaking into pieces just hearing Brooke’s desperate whines in the darkness but she too was being held back by more webbed claws that pierced through the light barriers. 

“BROOKE, NO-!” The mermaid shrieked as she tried to reach for the taken seal pup, but was grabbed by even more webbed claws that held her hair and arms. Already there were bloody scratch marks present on her body. Whatever this horde of sea monsters were, they were terribly rough.

Dragged out of the light and into the darkness with sheer prejudice, Agnes could hear the mermaid distinctly and rebelliously screamed back at the invisible horde tearing her away, “LET GO OF HER, YOU INBRED BEASTS!” 

The light sphere faltered and dimmed, golden white motes disintegrating into the darkened waters. As Agnes struggled with her own personal assault of horrendous webbed claws scornfully pulling her apart, she noticed something odd about her attackers through whatever little light there was to illuminate the dark despite the painful haze she was under.

They happened to looked almost similar to... Humanoid fishes. 

They looked viscerally horrifying, for their lack of lips, sallow greenish gray scales on their bodies and sharp monstrous fangs protruding all over from their gums does not make a good image of them. Their beady black eyes stands out in the darkness, gleaming with absolute hate that burns in those dark depths. 

At least the nice mermaid looks remotely human from the waist up, but these monstrous fish people... Do they even have any resemblance of humanity? 

“No...” Agnes croaked, hearing the desperate cries of Nerida and the mermaid (she should’ve asked for her name, dammit) echoing in the dark, the rush of moving water pounding her ears, the condemning screeching of whatever these fish-scaled beasts were... All but lowly fading into the background noise of these pitch-black depths. 

Is this end? Will this dream end by being ripped apart by monsters living in the abyss? They strayed too far from their dreams into these bottomless dark depths. Was this the punishment they deserved for not heeding the warnings?

“...No,” She repeated hoarsely, compassion burning beneath her heated skin. Even when she just had met Brooke, the adorable seal and the mild-mannered mermaid, she will never leave them behind. Never let them die. Not even in a dream. Not when she could do something to stop this. 

“No.” Agnes says once more, more firmly. Defiant. Determined. Memories of the people she held dear in life flashed through her mind. 

She thought of her wonderful parents, full of warmth and passion. She thought of her sweet little brother, a feisty fiend with a courageous soul. She thought of her protective older sister, aloof and cold yet shined with a heart of gold.

“No!” Agnes shouted out defiantly, causing some of the slightly more skittish fish people to back off. 

She thought of her once loving boyfriend, even from afar in both time and distance, she could still remember the warmth left behind on her shoulder where his hand clasped.

Agnes closed her eyes.

“You’re really wonderful, you know that?” He says quietly, the winds ruffling his messy blonde hair as he glanced at her with vivid green eyes that brightened brilliantly like a sunny sky.

They were watching the star-lit night sky together, on the roof of his family’s house. She glanced down humbly, her cheeks blazing a scarlet hue, “I did-I did what anyone would do. I can’t just let him bully the guy like that!”

He grinned proudly at her, gently squeezing her right shoulder and his warmth lingered even after he let go, “And that’s great! I’m just amazed you actually managed to make him back off. We all know how much of a stubborn ass he was.” 

She sighed softly and nodded her head, conceding his point, “I still couldn’t believe it. Me? Standing up to the biggest bully baddie in school?” She shook her head, snorting disbelievingly, “I still thought it was a crazy dream.” 

He chuckled bemusedly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into a side hug as he nuzzled into her hair. Relaxing in his embrace, she snuggled closer to him as she rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart thumped loudly with soft beats.

He then murmured into her ears, his tone so soft yet so burning, “If you asked me, you’re a dream come true.” 

“That’s so corny!” She laughs, taking in his warm scent. Spice and sugar, passionate and sweet in all the right doses, “Am I that sort of crazy dream to you?” 

“Truth is stranger than fiction,” He grinned enthusiastically back at her as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, “And I won’t have it any other, Agnes.”

Agnes opened her gold-freckled grey eyes, ablaze in brilliant starlight. 

“NO!” She screamed defiantly into the void, a supernova of shining radiance bursting from her very being. 

The explosion of bright light briefly illuminated the darkened waters, revealing an endless and empty sea of navy blue. The marine animals and corals were nowhere to be seen.

The resulting blast sends the monstrous fish demons careening away back downwards into their void, freeing Brooke and the mermaid from the horde as they were the only ones unaffected by the light. 

Curiously enough, a few of those same fish demons strayed at the bottom, eyeing them warily. Had Agnes known to pay attention, she would have noticed that one of them in particular was staring at her intently from the depths. A pair of blackened orbs that flared brightly, not in malicious fury, but with hope of redemption. 

But the Abyss has no mercy, not a moment of respite to consider what that means. At least, not for her. 

Black, rusted chains sprung from the darkness below, slithering through the blackened waters too quickly for Agnes to react. She felt the chilly metal made contact with her skin, wrapping around her legs in a vice grip. 

She could only make a brief eye-contact with the other two, even with the brief moment of dim lighting, and saw the horrified expressions on their faces. The mermaid was pale as snow and seconds before screaming, and Brooke...

The stress and terror that marred the seal pup’s tear-stricken muzzle was heartbreaking.

With no hesitance, a split-second decision made. 

Agnes reached out both her hands and shot two bolts of holy light aimed at the two, setting the mermaid and seal pup alight in sanctified luminosity. She couldn’t see their reactions, never noticing how that same individual fish person dashed into a beeline as he joined the two into the light. She smiled contently in her ignorance, regardless. 

They’re safe, back in the waking world and that’s all that matters to her. 

She closed her eyes as more black chains wrapped around her body like a snake. Entrapping her, leaving her no other ways to escape except to break free, and even that’s nearly impossible on its own. Just like the Death Curse she was subjected to.

The black chains then abruptly yanked her down, feeling the rush of water bubbles coursing all over her body as it dragged her down deeper into the Abyss. 

Darkness was all she knows.

It stopped?

The black chains that once wrapped around her whole body remained limp, sinking downwards until it loosely hangs around her legs. They never moved, not even a hint of its usually malicious intent. 

Agnes opened her eyes to see absolute pitch-black darkness. She couldn’t even see anything, not even her hands. All she knows was that she was floating in an abyss as deep as the sea trenches, silence pervading the blackened waters like an incoming plague to her disturbed ears. 

Despite the fact that she could technically conjure up her own light, deep inside, her gut was not letting her to do so. 

How deep did she go? Never mind the fact that the water pressure would have already crushed her whole body at this depths in reality-

A broken heart, oh wishing star

Her hope shattered in the waves

Agnes jerked back in shock at the melodious words being sung from nowhere and in all directions, her already stressed out paranoia reaching its brink at the presence of whatever was lurking in the dark, watery depths.  

The waves swished and splashed, her eyes once tinged with longing blackened into despair as they glanced on land above water.  

For those lost themselves in the depths,

In light and shadow and the forgotten year

Bubbles streamed out of her open mouth, her breathing uneven. There was a heavy pressure on her beating, achingly constricted by thorny vines. Agnes doesn’t understand, but somehow, she felt as if she should have known. For what reason, she doesn’t know.

All those hopeful moments, their hopes, their dreams, the memories of what had been and the possibilities of what could have been. 

A distant soul, none so burdened

 His love no longer in the seas

There were petals of light that bloomed radiantly in her sight, contrasting so deeply within the void of blackened waters. Enchanting, alluring, swishing back and forth like fireflies buzzing under a moonless night.

The ground creased and cracked, his arms firm and tender as they held another lover within his grasp. 

However, Agnes remained rooted in spot, floating stiffly in the water. She even backed away slightly when of those little lights drifted far too close for her comfort. 

For as long as he breaths,

In air and water and the forsaken earth

Never had he once looked at the waters with even a hint of guilt.

Despite their luminescent beauty, the longing to touch what was there in the dark, for Agnes, they felt cold. 

Empty. Sterile. Isolation. 

They will never be together 

She never had a chance. 

An emotionless swarm that surrounds their mistress who peered into view, a feminine silhouette floating gracefully in the Abyss. Her naked skin a radiant navy hue and her impossibly long hair fanned out into the blackened waters, each strand a never-ending extension into the void. 

It was in that moment Agnes realized where the song had came from, for the woman turned to her with parted lips and a wide smile as sharp as her hollowed glare, eyes an endless shadow like the depths she was trapped in. 

Together as they danced,

Droplet of black tears fell from the sky.

She sung out loud and the little motes of light surrounding her flickered into nothing, leaving the inhuman female remained as the only source of radiance left.

In her madness and his joy,

Envy and fury swirled and churns, the waters choppy and menacing .

Bitter cold that seeped into her chilled bones was all Agnes could ever understand in her frozen mind, as the woman smiled wider ever so slightly at her. 

Their storm shall reach the shores

The tidal vortex consumed the land, an eternal maelstrom that left nothing but the remains of a broken heart. 

She disappeared, fading into the darkness. 

Agnes shivered quietly in the silence, her mind on overdrive. 

This was no longer just a nightmare. This was a warning. 

An omen of a disaster.

She needs to wake up-

A hand gripped her shoulder. There was no physical sensation to be felt nor was there any warmth, only the shadow of what should have been there but no longer was. 

No matter how much Agnes wanted to pull away, she couldn’t.

“Gaze into the abyss,” She whispers into her ear, her voice sharp and foreboding and a tinge of mania, “And the abyss stares back at you.”

An unnatural compulsion pressures Agnes to look down into the deep, dark depths. The motes of light returned, but this time... 

Illuminating a monstrous behemoth of an eye staring back at her.

Though her mathematics may have not been the best, she blankly estimated the size of the eye to that of her whole body judging from the distance between them thanks to the light provided.  

It was only then Agnes realized upon looking closely that those little lights weren’t really shining orbs floating in the water but rather, bioluminescent bulbs attached to the top of semi-transparent tentacles that were on the bare edges of visibility. 

The appendages were connected to a much bigger mass enshrouded in darkness, a serpentine body larger than Agnes has ever seen in her life as it spans out downwards into an endless watery void. 

Fear was a feeling she knew all too well, and the lack of a lantern in her hand was a striking reminder that burns like blazing charcoal on her terrified mind.

Even with the woman behind her and the black chains wrapped around her legs, she was nothing more than a trembling ant awaiting to be crushed into bits by the titanic beast that laid before her.

“Can you understand what I desire, Maiden?” Her smile was a siren’s song, loud and alluring and Agnes just wants to know what was going on. 

The sea monster shifted its serpentine mass to her direction, its crowd of bulbous glowing tentacles flared ever so slightly. Two behemoth eyes, windows to an unfathomable navy abyss, pierces through her stilled and fear-addled body. 

“What we desire?”

The Beast of the Trench opened its maw and roared.

The abyssal sea quavered and deafened in the wake of it’s unholy roar, as it lunged towards Agnes with the sight of endless rows of serrated fangs being the last thing she’d ever saw. 

Trapped within its jaws, the Beast savagely feasted on the bodily remains of its  prey, bones crushed and organs spilling out into the blackened waters as the woman’s mad laughter echoed throughout the void...

Agnes abruptly opened her eyes, her chilled lungs gasping and heaving for air. 

Rising up from her bed quickly, she placed one hand on the middle of her sternum to soothed her rapidly beating heart while her other hand frantically reaches out for something on the bedside table.

Smooth metal made contact with her hands and warmth rushes all over her body. The albino woman took in a big breath before exhaling in relief as she felt the comforting ring handle in her grasp, the light within the lantern shining brightly in response to her distress.

After a moment of silence and focused contemplation in the fact that she’s breathing on land once more, Agnes swallowed a nervous lump as she finally digested the dark implications of her latest dream. 

Skittering over to the side of the bed, she let out a soft hiss as her feet made contact with the cold floor. It did not take long for her to quickly decide bringing along her blanket covers with her when her exposed skin met the piercing sting of the chilled air. 

Sinking into the abyss, no end in sight, forever lost in the dark-

With the blanket cover hung over her shoulders like a protective shroud and her hands holding the lantern that provided warmth within it, she brisk walked out of her designated room and into the dimly lit corridors. Her mind undergoing tunnel vision on one location in mind.

Darkness, claws, eyes, I-no, focus!

By the time Agnes had regained conscious notice of her surroundings, she already stood before the door of the one person who had to know what was going on. Even if the aching heart hammering in her chest begs her not to.

Her gold-freckled grey gaze stared intently at the aged wooden door, randomly specific thoughts surged through her mind.

Baggy eyes from stressful nights, unkempt white hair that she should have tied up into a pony tail and cold-induced rash patches that sticks out on her pale skin... She should’ve placed more care into herself. He would definitely admonish her if he saw-

No, he won’t care. Lost memories were as fickle as the death curse that chained her down.

Shaking her head, Agnes threw those unnecessarily hurtful thoughts away. There were far more alarming matters that he has to know and her own feelings were not a priority at the moment, as she hurriedly knocked on the door with a clenched fist. 

She heard the muffled reactions behind the door, his confused exclamation followed by another person huffing in irritation. With a jolt of mortifying realization, Agnes could not stop the burning shame burning in her cheeks. 

How could she forget? 

Before she could flee however, the door swings open and warmth flowed out from the room. 

There stood a tall fair-haired young man, looking stylishly charming as always. Despite the rather simple green-toned pajamas he wore, his posture remained impeccably balanced like a noble prince.

That part hasn’t changed. 

“It’s late at night here, what do-”

Frustration was immediately dispelled from his blinking eyes, a deep green as vivid as iridescent emeralds, upon taking in the sight of Agnes’ ragged form. Eyebrows raised upwards into his disheveled blonde bangs, he tilted his head in concern. He raised his hand up, seemingly as if to reach out to her, but then hesitates in his movement and reluctantly backed down. 

Her right shoulder suddenly felt cold, and it’s not from the frigid air of the hallways. 

Agnes swiftly gazed downwards, numbly noting his floppy slippers. The same type of footwear that she brought for him as a present for Christmas two years ago, which had elicited tears of joy from him as he hugged her in a lovingly appreciative embrace. 

A sentiment that was no longer shared between them.

“Agnes?” The way her name rolled off his tongue felt so foreign, so very unfamiliar, like pinches of sea salt dusting on a scabbed wound, “What’s wrong?”

Behind him stood a woman with black hair that flowed down in curly waves and chocolate brown eyes that sparked in passion, clad in a red sports tee and grey pants. The brief traces of exasperation left on her face melted away into wide-eyed worry.

Agnes gripped the handle of her lantern tightly. She had to tell them, of the threat, the warning that rang soundly in her mind.

“I had another dream.” 

The woman, whose name was Gabrielle, Agnes recalled in a twinge of frustration, gasped in horror and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. Her other hand reached out for his stilled hand, their fingers lacing together protectively in a natural embrace.

Agnes swallowed a bitter lump.

Knowing him, he would have cracked a joke or two at her expense like pointing out about her being bundled in a giant mass of blankets or something else to ease the tension before they could start on anything serious-

“Where is it located?” He demanded softly, the crinkles around his green eyes tightened and brows furrowed in a serious demeanor. Whatever left of his supposed light-hearted mirth was absent in his stern gaze. 

Agnes closed her blurry eyes, a burning sensation that floods behind her eyelids.

“It’s at Palomedian Island.”

Done! :D

[enemymine2000]

Fandom rambles: Eye colors

Disclaimer: Okay, I'm a Sterek fan. I became one without so much as seeing one episode of that god-forsaken show that pairing originated from. I started watching after about a year of reading purely Sterek fanfiction. I stopped watching after season 5, because no matter what, I simply couldn't take that amount of stupid anymore. I refuse to rewatch it for the same reasons.

I started to ramble to myself about „stupid Paige and stupid fans for taking Peter's words at face value“ like many times before a couple of days ago, when again some fan took Peter's narrative and made it the basis of a pointless case about Derek's „type“ and blue eyes and his transformation. Don't even remember the correct context anymore. Didn't stop me from continuing to ramble. So it wrote it down to get rid of it. Hopefully.

P.S. English is not my first language, but the language in which I always operate when browsing my fandoms. I know I make mistakes. But I don't care. Also fandom wank not welcome. Just stating my opinion here and putting out my headcanon.

That being said…

I believe Derek became an alpha again when he “died” and thus triggered his transformation into full wolf.

Don't give me that "but his eyes were not red"-argument. Eye colors are deciving in canon at best.

We were fed the line that betas who have killed innocent lives have blue eyes, normal betas have yellow ones and alphas' glow red practically from day one. But there is barely evidence supporting it. Yes, Scott's eyes turned red after becoming True Alpha - whatever that may be. But in all seasons since Scott never actually has shown true "alphaness". He doesn't lead, instead he practically disbands the pack after Derek leaves for hopefully greener pastures. He just has one real beta, an unwilling one at best and isn't seen to have a real connection with Liam.

When Scott was bitten by Peter it was all about him being practically enthralled by his alpha and being forced to go out and hunt (and kill) with him. Nothing of that sort ever happens between Liam and Scott.

Practically all of the planning for the pack and most of the "education" of the beta(s) is in fact done by Stiles, who is the glue that keeps all these different people together. Yes, Derek's eyes turn red after he killed Peter and thus ascended to “alphaness”. Just like we are led to believe Peter's eyes turned red after killing Laura. We never actually see how the eyes thing works when there is a natural progression from one pack alpha to the other like it had to happen to Laura, when Talia died in the fire. Or how the “alphaness” chooses its next "host", when not forced to “jump ship” by killing the previous one. In scientific terms "We just don't have enough data!"

Okay, so what about how someone becomes alpha. Scott became alpha supposedly by sheer strength of will and character - or so says Deaton, who is an unreliable narrator at best, because the sneaky bugger doesn't like to share important information.

We saw Scott getting stronger for a while, but it only started after the icebaths. Which were supposed to stop the sacrifices of the parents, but were clearly surrogate sacrifices. So something fishy there.

Okay, Darach sacrificing parents was stopped, but Darach's aim of sacrifices was fullfilled. Only they came back and each brought something with them. Because, you know, the door was ajar.

The void came with Stiles, Allison had walking nightmares of Kate and turning into her, but Scott saw himself becoming more werewolf.

So true alpha my ass!

Scott brought something more powerful with him, woke the beast inside him and that was, what was able to push through the mountain ash barrier and turned his eyes red.

But Scott rarely feeds that beast, because he is a special little flower, who rather have everyone he loves die, than really do something to protect them. Who rather manipulates others to do the dirty deeds - like biting people or just being responsible for things. And can't fess up to his responsibilities, when he actually did do something - like taking care of his freaking beta after biting Liam, like admitting to using Derek non-consentually to bite Gerard so he himself didn't have to.

So the power seems to dwindle again. Maybe it (the thing that came back with him or simply his spark, because something must transfer to spark a transformation in a previously purely human being) even transferred some to a better host - again thinking of Liam, who is ever so angry and willing to do, what needs to be done. Alpha material if I ever saw one (and somewhat reminiscent of Derek pre-giving up his alphaness for Cora).

As stated Laura became alpha after her mother and former alpha, Talia, died in the fire. Talia, as stated by Gerard, was made something of a leader because of her rare ability to fully shift. He never stated whether she became an alpha before or after aquiring that ability.

But my theory is, she became alpha after she could shift into full wolf.

Hear me out. I think it is a genetic trait, that runs in families of born werewolves. Which is why it's so rare. Bitten weres will never be able to achieve it, because they lack the genes (active gene combination more likely, but I don’t feel like going all biology AP here). And born ones will need it from both their parents to do it. And even then they seem to need a certain state of mind.

We know Derek only achieved the full shift after he came to terms with his own humanity, after letting go of his anger issues and accepting his own fallacy. His "death" at the time of his first full shift is only a coincidence.

Talia is shown to have a sort of nearly eerie calm, a serenity about her in the scene where she meets Deucalion, despite the serious topic and dangers discussed.

Fandom thinks that the Hale pack has been matriarchial, because Talia's alpha went to Laura. Again, not enough evidence.

Assuming my hypothesis is correct and the serenity of the the full shift enables the werewolf to become alpha in their own right, Talia could very well have become alpha outside of the normal order. Which is supported by Peter's feeling that he should have been alpha and has "always been the alpha". Maybe he was actually next in line of natural succession and being groomed like Laura had been groomed, but then Talia went and became literally one with her inner wolf and the spark went to her after their previous alpha died. And she went on to lead her pack in a strong and confident way.

So no killing, but also no normal inheritance. Something different. Something a true “True Alpha” should be able to do.

Something Scott never did and Derek always tried, but couldn't do, because he couldn't embrace his wolf after feeling at guilt for the fire for so long and being angry at the world and especially himself for it.

But Derek let go of it all, when he sacrificed his spark so Cora could live.

Peter - being the instigator behind it - probably had hoped that Derek's “alphaness” either reverted back to the family line, therefore himself, or simply vanished, so he would have only to deal with one pretty incompetent alpha (Scott; in contrast to an alpha, who was willing to learn, to do what was needed and became stronger for it) to claim it for himself again.

And Derek's name didn't appear in the deadpool anymore, while Scott's bounty rose, while Peter was again in a prime position to manipulate him. Maybe even getting him to willingly give up his spark to him?! (Berserker-plot; “I can’t even keep myself safe and am a danger to my friends, here,Peter, take that burden from me.” - But there was Stiles and his somethingness and Derek evolved and disposed of the threat and well, it didn’t work out. Next plan. Damn, Eichen House. How inconvenient.)

Derek evolved. Losing his spark allowed him to come to terms with his life. He let go of his anger and Stiles took its place as his anchor. Humanity in its purest form. Flawed, spastic, vulnerable, but oh so strong.

Coincidently he died to be "reborn". I think, his eyes just would have started flickering back to were-life at some point anyway, but him being in mortal danger probably sped up the process a lot. Because werewolf healing couldn't have gone amiss in that situation and human Derek was a bit left without it for a moment here.

Now "reborn" or evolved, Derek possesses the same serenity as Talia did. He knows how to lead, but chooses not too. But he is responsible enough that should the need arise, he would take up the mantle once more. Which will be when his eyes will turn back red. But he doesn't need that additional sign of power right now, so they flash blue.

Okay, blue eyes.

Supposedly eyes flash blue, if a were killed an innocent. But what defines an innocent? Neither Deaton, Derek nor Peter ever give details.

We are shown scenes of Peter's narrative of how Derek's eyes turned blue. I don't call them flashback for a reason.

It is not Derek's story!

Evidence: Peter and Derek were impossible to roam high school at the same time. I don't know about your schools, but any adult not belonging to the faculty had to announce their present at my school. Without good reason you would be banned from campus if caught. (Again: I'm in Germany, where we don't have security guards in public schools and aren’t paranoid af.) Still Peter was supposedly always there to give young Derek advice and watch it all go down.

According to his driver's license Derek was 22 at the beginning of the show (born November 7th, 1988 according to Google). The Hale Fire was supposed to have happened at least 6 years prior, which is the amount of time Peter spent in a coma. So Derek was 15/16 during that time, which would make the possible timespan between Paige and Kate no more than a year.

Peter was born during the 1970s. Which according to the timeline of the show would put him in his early 40s about now, so maybe late 30s at the beginning of it. Let's say he was 38/39, when he went on his alpha rampage.

Meaning he was 32/33 at the time of the Hale Fire and about 31/32, when Derek supposedly fell in love with Paige in his sophomere year.

That's a big fat "nope" right here. One thing for a 22 year old to stroll the boundaries of campus and sometimes enter the school undetected while its in session, but 32 is a stretch even with good werewolf-genes.

On top of that I believe that would it have been Derek's story, he never would have fallen into Kate's trap the way he has. He would have been extra wary including anyone not family in any kind werewolf business. Not to mention still grieving.

No, Derek fell for Kate's trap because he was still able to trust her with his secret. And the innocent life lost which turned his eyes blue was his own among others. He lost his innocence and felt personally responsible for the Hale Fire.

No, Paige was Peter's first love and the reason his eyes flash blue. He was the high school basketball star, he was bright-eyed and slightly narcisstic. It would therefore be in character for him  „to keep the things he finds“ - meaning having Paige bitten to keep her with him forever – and to keep her save from dangers the only way he knew how.

The Nemeton was cut down somewhere between World War II (the events surrounding the summoning of the Nogitsune in the internment camp) and 2003, when the meeting took place. Derek not knowing the members and details of the Alpha Pack would make more sense if it was Peter's story.

A 15year old beta would not have been involved in the meetings and I doubt Talia has told her children more than she absolutely had to about potential dangerous pack business.

Although Ennis was supposed to have bitten Paige in Peter's narrative, Derek shows no sign of recognition or special kind of anger towards him, apart from Ennis kidnapping and killing his betas of course.

15 year old Peter however, possibly groomed to become the next alpha by his parents until shortly before that, would personally know alphas of different packs. Maybe even a younger Ennis, who maybe just became alpha himself and needed to have more betas. For an alpha is always stronger when he has more betas.

Peter is an unreliable narrator, for he will always put himself in a favorable light and to have the story around Paige fit into the time in which he told it to Stiles, he mixes in the element surrounding the meeting of the packs with Talia in the old destillery.  

So he can use his own personal story to manipulate the pack around Scott against Derek's attempts at leadership and at the same time disclose some of his knowledge of the members of the Alpha Pack.

Peter never shows and tells without some form of personal gain.

Also in hindsight it would make so much more sense for Talia taking Peter's memories of his daughter Malia, if having to mercy-kill Paige had been his story.

Realizing that his lover, the Desert Wolf, wanted to kill their child and probably having to fight the mother to get her to back up and definitively having to give up the baby for its own safety, would be a painful memory Talia would want to spare her brother.

(Remember we only get the Desert Wolf's unreliable narrative of events in season 5, when Peter was already taken by the Ghost Riders and therefore erased from memory of all involved. Corinne would therefore only have Talia to lay the perceived blame onto.

So she may not have been forced to bring the child to term, but did it because she actually loved Peter. Or because Peter told her that it was also his and she could leave, after she had delivered the baby. But she would not have been able to remember when she started to track her daughter down.

Which she incidently only stated doing once Peter had disappeared. Never once during the fourth season, when there was a certain confusion about the Desert Wolf and the She-Wolf – who turned out to be a werejaguar; how's that for a misnomer – was there any indication Corinne was travelling north to Beacon Hills. She was simply there and assassinating things/people in the deserts of Mexico and Southern California.)

So, back to topic:

Paige nicely fits into the hypothesis of Peter being next in line for alpha in the Hale pack, but then Talia went and managed the full shift, making her spark go all alpha and throwing that plan out of the window. And leaving Peter with guilty-blue eyes shortly after. (Maybe even because he didn’t want to go to his better-than-thou sister for help with finding this yellow wolfsbane which Chris used to cure Gerard and Peter, walking encyclopedia on all things supernatural, surely at the least had rumor about before having Paige bitten. I mean, come on, the Hale’s where supposed to be as very old family and they sure would have taught the knowledge of all variations of wolfsbane to all their children! He might in panic not have remembered, what exactly, but Peter surely would have known, that Talia would have ways to help. Instead he hid in a root cellar. - But that is a whole nother ramble.)

Since the alphaness needs to have a next generation - the only thing we know for certain - Laura becomes next in line, while Peter is pushed back even further.

Derek gets roped in by a young, ambitious hunter chick, which leads to most of the family being killed and his eyes turning blue.

Fast forward 6 years Peter kills Laura and becomes alpha the „unnatural“ way, bites Scott, because he is at the wrong place at the wrong time and an alpha needs betas.

Scott becomes flashy yellow eyes and refuses to learn how to be a werewolf, just how to use its powers, if he can stop suck so much at life with them. (Like creeper-stalking his (ex-)girlfriend or becoming the number one jock in school.) The only thing he really doesn't like is when someones is to be killed. No matter who and why, he can't have that.

Cue the Darach, who wants to kill pretty much everybody. Scott gathers all the will and power he possesses (or which possesses him) and breaks through her mountain ash circle. The exertion sparks the possible alphaness every werewolf has or allows the thing he brought back through the door to take over for a moment, just enough to spark the flame. Flare the red eyes.

Questions left to ponder, should new information get available:

1) Theo's eyes stay yellow even after killing. Is that because he is a chimera or because he doesn't feel guilt?

2) Malia's eyes are blue. Because she accidently killed her adoptive mother and sister and feels guilty about it? Or is it because she is a werecoyote and not a werewolf? (Different concepts of social structure and as loners more likely to kill, if even in self-defence? The Desert Wolf is a merciless killer and Malia states without emotion, that coyotes kill their young.)

3) Kate's eyes glow green? Some unexplained powers? Or simply a matter of different species? And why did she work towards the plan with Peter? Yes, he turned her – with his claws, which is another WTF?! - but he is not her alpha, because he is no alpha anymore and well, she hates all weres. 4) Jackson’s eyes are snake-like green-ish as kanima, sometimes glow orange-ish and flash blue after being “killed”, subsequently anchored by Lydia and then turned into a werewolf. So do have kanima only glowing eyes, when called by their master? Or before they start their transformation towards the cocoon-thingamabob? If a were-species can change (through change of personality and) another bite or deep claw-injury, why doesn’t it happen all the time during fights? (Bonus: Does that mean Hayden is now purely werewolf without a trace of chimera? Also Jackson is still technically Derek’s beta. Why would Derek allow his beta to leave him without ever mentioning him ever again? I am utterly confused by this god-forsaken show.