#deucalion/oc

[maria021015]

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 39!

“Good evening, you’re through to the existential crisis hotline. How may we question your existence today?” Zaida drawled as she answered her ringing phone that was just playing the chorus to Taylor Swift’s ‘The Archer’. Allison had been calling her a little more often now that they had talked things out, so it wasn’t so much of a surprise.

“Scott just came to the apartment,” The matriarch of the Argent family started without any small talk. The two of them had a joint solidarity that neither of them was going to allow any of the boys to dictate whether or not they were going to help. Even if that meant they needed to sneak around behind the pack’s back. Thankfully, Stiles had promised not to say anything to Scott about where they had gone the night of the full moon in exchange for a hefty box full of his favourite snacks - courtesy of Zaida.

“What kind of visit are we talking about here?” Zaida raised a brow, suggestiveness evident in her tone even though she was fairly certain she knew what kind of call this would be.

“He brought me one of my arrows from the school. I thought I cleaned them all up when I went back, but apparently, I missed one. So he knows I was there.” She explained, not acknowledging Zaida’s joke.

“Ooft, I bet he wasn’t too glad about that,” Zaida grimaced, knowing how adamant Scott had been that they both needed to stay out of that fight.

“Nope. He gave me the whole spiel about how the alphas are dangerous and that he’s scared of them and I should be too. He seems to think everything that happened the other day with the twins was just them playing around with us.” Allison reported and an involuntary shudder ran through Zaida.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were just trying to piss us off.” She admitted. The events of the other day were purely high school - literally and figuratively. “But the twins don’t strike me as that dangerous. It’s the rest of the pack I’m worried about, and I haven’t even seen them yet.”

“I really don’t think it would be that hard to take the twins down. So then I told Scott as much, and that I could take him in a fight-” Allison began, her tone shifting along with her story.

“Okay, that sounds like some serious foreplay.” Zaida interrupted and snickered.

“What would you know about that?” Allison shot back playfully. Thanks to Lydia, it had become a running joke that Zaida was the group’s resident ‘virgin/prude’.

“I may not have any experiences of my own, but I have heard about Lydia’s conquests in unfortunate vivid detail. So I know enough.” She snorted, slightly surprised that Allison was coming to her about this. It was just like she used to, before…everything. “What happened after that? Did you two spar, leaving one of you in a compromising position as tension built and led up to an almost-kiss?” After Allison’s silence greeted her she gasped giddily. “Oh my God, that’s totally exactly what happened!”

“It…I-” Allison stuttered, not quite knowing how to answer.

“Oh, just admit that there’s still something between you two! You guys didn’t end things because you stopped loving each other, it was because you needed space and time to figure things out and fix your relationship with your dad. Weren’t you always going to get back together again?” Zaida questioned, fully invested in this relationship. Sure, other flirtations may come and go, like Allison and Jackson, or Allison and Isaac, but it always came back to Scott. They all knew that in the end, it would be Scott and Allison. They were meant to be together and any other pairing just didn’t make sense.

“But I don’t know if I’m ready yet. Things still feel so fresh with Mom, and Dad and I are still trying to make things work but we’re both lying to each other.” Allison let out a deep sigh. “I can’t find it within myself to completely trust him when every other family member has turned out to be a psychotic killer.”

“Anyone in your position would be experiencing some major trust issues right now, and I get that. When I found out Xander had been lying to me, I completely lost trust in him. I practically moved out and couch-surfed because I couldn’t feel safe around him anymore, and he hadn’t done half of the things your family did. So, I can’t imagine how much harder it must be for you.” Zaida nodded in understanding of the girl’s dilemma. “And yes, it’s important you work things out before jumping back into a relationship, but sometimes things like that don’t really ever go away. You just have to learn to live with them, and waiting for them to go away might just be pointless. Sometimes you have to force yourself to be ready, even when you aren’t, and that’s when the real moving on starts.”

“How did you do it? You lost both of your parents��parents who sounded like they were amazing people. I just lost one parent - who was a murderer and put me through hell - and it feels like everything fell apart.” Allison let out a huff, not quite sobbing but possibly on her way there.

“Your feelings are a lot more complicated to digest than mine were. Yes, she was awful, but she was your mother. She raised you and was there for every day of your life. The guilt that comes with loving her and mourning her loss - even though you know the things she did and the person she was - is infinitely worse, in my opinion.” Zaida spoke honestly. When she actually stopped to think about everything Allison went through, her erratic emotions and behaviours kind of made sense. Trauma made people do crazy things. “Don’t get me wrong, it was really hard when my parents died, but I had Xander at the time. Leaning on him was what got me through those first few years.”

“How did you two fix things?” The huntress asked, searching for a way to make things right with her father. “That night in the warehouse district you were so angry, and now you two are living together again like it never happened?”

“Oh, I wasn’t just angry, I was seething when he told me the truth - both times. Finding out that everything was a lie was like going through my parents’ death all over again, and when I moved back into the apartment I definitely wasn’t ready to forgive him or face him, or even talk to him. But I forced myself to do it because I knew if I waited until the day everything was okay again, it would never happen.” She answered openly. It actually felt good to talk about it with someone who understood what it was like to have your whole life be a lie.

“What did make everything okay again? I mean, you seem like you’re fine with it all now.” Allison pointed out the almost nonchalant way she was telling her tale.

“When I did find out the truth about my parents and finally got the closure I was waiting years for, I didn’t feel any different. I always thought that getting those answers would fix everything, but instead, it made me realise the girl who I was and the life that I had was gone for good. There was no point in drowning in it. Even with everything going on this year, I finally feel happy because I feel alive again - not just like some shell of the person I used to be. I found a new version of myself here, and I love what my life has become. I’m not some ghost of a girl, moving from city to city and school to school, bringing nothing with me and leaving nothing behind. Now, things matter, People matter. I matter.” Zaida explained her own situation and it was oddly therapeutic speaking her journey out loud. It made her realise just how far she had come from the Zaida that had moved into Beacon Hills with the intention to disappear into the background and blend with the walls. A newfound sense of determination fell over her.

“You make it sound so easy,” The huntress let out a humourless chuckle from the other end of the line.

“It wasn’t. I would never have figured out it for myself if I hadn’t pushed out of my comfort zone. You actually started me on that journey, Allison, by being relentlessly kind and always dragging me along even when I tried to make up every excuse to hide away from the world. You were the reason I gave Lydia a chance and found my best friend. You were the reason why the two of us met Scott and Stiles - you brought our group together.” Zaida smiled as she recalled those early days in which Allison and her would stay up late on the phone talking about Scott, and Zaida and Lydia would pretend the other didn’t exist, simply sharing in Allison’s friendship. Those were the events that had kickstarted it all - the reason why she found out about the supernatural and about what she was. “You didn’t let me wallow in what my life used to be, you introduced me to a new one - and now I’m going to do the same for you. So don’t push Scott away. Don’t push us away. You’re part of this group, Ali - this pack, or family, or whatever you want to call it.”

“Where did you come from and what did you do with Zaida?” Allison laughed and sniffed, obviously having gotten emotional.

“Hey! I can be profound and genuine sometimes.” Zaida defended herself, sharing in the huntress’ laughter. “You just haven’t seen it because you were too busy shooting me in the leg with a crossbow.”

“And she’s back.” The taller girl rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop the broad smile that brought out her dimples and reached her eyes.

The sharp ringing of the doorbell prompted Zaida to roll off her bed and head to the entrance of the apartment. “Okay, I’ve gotta let you go. I think my pizza just got here, and food trumps you right now.” She ended the call and opened the door, ready to hand the delivery boy the money with an extra tip for such a fast service, only to find Scott McCall at her door. “Oh, uh…hi.”

“Hey,” He pursed his lips into a makeshift polite smile, but the boy was clearly stressed about something. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Zaida stepped to the side and allowed him to venture into the living room as she shut and locked the door behind him. Scott had only ever been at the apartment once, and it had been to try to sneak her out of her bedroom window for a beach day. She followed after him awkwardly. “So…to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“I need to talk to you-” He began in a serious tone, and Zaida’s mind immediately went to the beginning of her conversation with Allison.

“Okay, before you lecture me, I think that it’s important for you to consider that had Allison and I not intervened, your plan would have failed and Cora and Boyd would have continued on their rampage until the sun rose. So I think you should actually be thanking us.” Zaida immediately went into damage control mode, recognising her mistake when Scott’s brows furrowed in a confused expression. “Oh, you didn’t know I was there, did you?”

“Well, I do now!” Scott shook his head at her disapprovingly. “How did you even sneak away, Stiles said he was with you the whole…Stiles was covering for you, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah, and so was Isaac,” She admitted. “Sorry. Scotty boy, but you needed our help, and apparently you still need my help, otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now. So spill, what is it?”

“I went to see Allison,” He sighed and now Zaida understood what this was about.

“She already told me about the almost-kiss. Trust me, she’s thinking about it too, she’s just not sure if she’s ready yet.” Zaida nodded sympathetically and took a seat next to him on the couch.

“Wait, she told you about that? What else did she say?” The werewolf’s ears perked up and his spine straightened in surprise.

“Is that not what you came here to talk about?” She read his change in body language and discerned that she’d gotten it wrong once more. “To get advice on your Allison dilemma?”

“No, I came to tell you that when I left Allison’s I saw Deucalion in the elevator. The alpha pack are living in the apartment above her! So I went to tell Derek, and he already knew-” Scott began explaining.

“So he’s keeping information from us again, no surprise there.” The brunette drolled bitterly.

“He said that they’re planning an attack on the alphas tomorrow night, and they want my help.” The boy continued, that heavy anxiety returning.

“Oh, I’m no good with this kind of advice, Scotty. Isn’t that what we have Deaton for?” Zaida pointed out.

“I already went to see Deaton. I wanted to try and stop them from fighting. He told me not to, but to lead them instead.” He buried his head in his hands and she patted him soothingly on the back. “I don’t even really know what that means!”

“What did Stiles say?” She questioned, wanting to know the boy’s opinion considering he was usually right about these things.

“He thinks we should let them take each other out and not get involved, which is obviously not an option.” Scott huffed.

“Why not? It’s not our fight. The only reason why we ended up getting dragged into it is because you saved Isaac at the hospital, right?” Zaida pursed her lips. Sure, it was savage, but it made sense. “I know it sounds awful, but if we make it clear we don’t align ourselves with Derek, then maybe they’ll leave us out of it. Didn’t you say they just want Derek to join their pack? We have nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah, but they want Derek to kill everyone else in his pack to join them!” The werewolf exclaimed.

“Great, that would get rid of Peter for us!” She shrugged, half-joking and half not.

“And Cora, and Boyd, and Isaac.” Scott pointed out.

“Okay, yeah, you’re right.” She muttered under her breath. “Getting rid of Isaac was probably why Stiles suggested it, to be honest. I don’t know why but he really has it out for the guy.”

“Yeah, I wonder.” Scott snorted sarcastically. “How would me leading them into a fight, help anybody?”

“Maybe Deaton didn’t mean for you to lead them into a fight, maybe he meant for you to try to lead them into a peaceful solution. Convince Deucalion that Derek is a really shitty alpha who would add nothing to his pack. We have the evidence, he loses like every single fight.” Zaida jested, but from the look on Scott’s face, she could tell that she had given him an idea. “Wait, no. Scotty, I was just joking, don’t actually do that.”

“No, you’re right. Maybe I can just try to talk to him.” The boy nodded, getting up from the couch with a newfound sense of direction.

“Scott, that’s stupid. The guy is called the Demon Wolf for a reason. I don’t think he’ll care about anything you have to say. He wants Derek, and guys who are used to getting what they want don’t compromise.” She chased after him on his way out into the hall. “You’re just going to get yourself killed!”

“I have to try something!” The boy insisted, taking the stairs down two at a time as a young teenager in a Domino’s uniform climbed them, holding two boxes.

“Those are for me buddy,” Zaida sighed in defeat and pulled the cash from her pocket, exchanging the money for the pizza. “I’m gonna need them after that conversation.”

She carried them through the open doorway to the apartment and dumped them onto the coffee table, picking up her phone and re-dialling Allison. “Did you miss me already?” The girl answered.

“Hey, you’re gonna want to get over here. Scott just came past and…it’s not good news. If it’s any incentive, you can help me finish the pizza.” She offered.

“I’m on my way,” Allison agreed and Zaida could already hear her keys jingling in her hand. “Should we call Lydia or Stiles?”

“This isn’t really a Lydia or Stiles type of problem. This is a hunter kind of problem.” Zaida shook her head. “We may need my brother and your dad.”

Both Zaida and Allison had determined that they needed backup, and that came in the form of asking Chris Argent for aid.

“Someone needs to help them.” Allison pleaded with her father. After finishing their pizza they had gone straight to the Argent apartment down the street to see the man.

“Not us. I'm getting the consulting business back up and running again, and you need to graduate. That's a normal life, and it's what we agreed to.” Chris shook his head insistently.

“So, we just ignore it?” Allison gawked, appalled at his unwillingness to help.

“We stay out of it.” Her father nodded and then turned to Zaida. “You would do well to do the same.”

“There's a pack of alphas trying to kill our friends! How do we stay out of that?” Allison raised her eyebrows and interjected before Zaida could say much of the same thing. The huntress’ face broke into an incredulous expression.

“There's a saying for these kinds of situations - the kind you have to navigate carefully. It's called ‘threading the needle’. It's finding a safe path between two opposing forces.” Chris described their position with a metaphor.

“Sounds like saving your own ass.” Allison crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

“They're not your family.” Argent reminded her in a gentler tone.

“They’re not supernaturally-racist, psychotic murderers, you mean?” Zaida drawled, unable to help herself from pressing on the man’s bruise a bit to remind him of the people he had defended compared to the people he was now refusing to do so for.

“With all the family that I've lost, I could use a few friends.” Allison scoffed and turned her back on her father, storming back out of his office and into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving Zaida standing awkwardly across from Chris Argent.

“You helped us with Boyd and Cora, why not with this?” The girl questioned. She’d honestly thought better of the man since he’d given his aid, but apparently, the change in him only went so far.

“I helped once because they were going to kill innocent people. Derek is choosing to fight. What happens is his responsibility.” Chris justified his choice.

“And what about Scott? Scott didn’t choose to fight, he’s trying to choose peace. He’s naive and reckless, but he’s also kindhearted and inherently good. Would you be okay with letting something happen to him? When you know what he means to your daughter?” She tried to spin it a different way and manipulate his emotions into getting him to help.

“I lost my sister, my wife, and my father to this world. I’m not going to lose my daughter too.” That was all he was able to ground out, a slight guilt behind his blue eyes. “We’re not getting involved.”

“Allison gave Scott up for you. To heal and fix your relationship because you’re all the family she has left.” It wasn’t the whole truth - Allison had mostly broken up with Scott to find herself again and mourn - but Chris didn’t need to know that. “The least you could do is make sure he’s alive for when she finally decides she’s ready again.”

Zaida shook her head at him and walked out, leaving the man somewhat speechless. She knew that she and Allison had promised each other they were going to help Scott no matter what Chris’ answer was. Why the man would think they were going to stay out of it simply because he had chosen to was beyond her. If Chris wasn’t going to go for it, Xander was their only other option…

“Absolutely not,” Xander immediately denied Zaida's proposition that he help them back Scott up that upcoming night as the boy was planning on meeting the alpha pack’s leader to negotiate peace on behalf of Derek Hale. “If you think that an alpha is going to agree to Scott’s terms and not use the opportunity to take advantage of his innocence and jump him, then you are marginally dumber than I ever gave you credit for.”

“We know there’s no way he’ll go for Scott’s peace offering, which is why we’re asking you to help! As much as I hate it, you’re a hunter. You know how to take down werewolves, and that’s what we need to do.” Zaida tried to reason with her brother.

“The hunters disbanded when the Argent’s fell apart last spring. There is nothing that any of us can do against a whole pack of alphas other than not get involved.” He insisted, doubling down in his answer. “I don’t want you anywhere near this. Your nature is hard to smell out for wolves, but for an alpha of a whole pack of alphas…he’d be able to easily tell. The last thing we need is for you to get found out.”

“Come on! How can you not do anything when an innocent teenager might die!” Zaida exclaimed in outrage.

“He’s not an innocent teenager. He’s a werewolf who made his choice - an admittedly stupid choice, but a choice nonetheless. This isn’t our responsibility. I have been trying to come to terms with you being involved in this world, but I draw the line at this - it’s suicide.” Xander gave his final word. “If I find out that you’ve gone behind my back with this, I’m quitting my job and we’re heading straight back to San Francisco.”

“I can’t believe you!” Zaida screeched in frustration and imitated Allison’s dramatic exit, pulling her school bag over her shoulder and stomping out the front door, slamming it shut behind her. The girl hurried down the steps and out the front of the apartment complex to where Allison was waiting to give her a ride to Beacon Hills High.

“From that frown on your face, I’m guessing he didn’t go for it.” Allison sighed as Zaida got into her Mazda and fastened her seatbelt.

“Nope,” Zaida popped her ‘p’ with a frown. “Looks like we’re onto plan B.”

Xander was working the night shift and the only way he would know if Zaida left the apartment building was from the camera at the front door. If she snuck out her window and down the fire escape, he’d be none the wiser. Getting Allison away from Chris would be harder…especially with what was on the line. If Chris caught wind of Zaida’s involvement and spilled the beans to Xander, it was game over for her. Luckily the two weren’t really on speaking terms since the whole abrupt punching incident. Luckily they had until later that night to plan the huntress’ escape.

“Here, squeeze in.” Allison nodded towards Zaida, holding a small window half-open - the furthest it would go - on the top floor of the abandoned mall towards the outskirts of downtown Beacon Hills.

“You may be flat enough to fit but my fat ass definitely isn’t going to.” The much curvier girl eyes the window warily.

“Just try, it’s our only way in.” Allison shook her head at her friend, and Zaida slipped her arms through the space first to narrow the breadth of her shoulders and chest, using them to help her crawl through. As expected, her hips were too wide to fit, leaving her partially stuck. “Come on, suck it in!”

“I can’t ‘suck in’ my ass!” Zaida hissed in a whisper, careful to keep their sound to a minimum. This place was probably crawling with alphas. Nevertheless, she wriggled her hips and tensed the muscles to shrink them as much as possible, only just managing to scrape through the window frame. The inside looked far worse than she had expected. It was completely devoid of colour, simply a hollowed-out structure of grey stone pillars and floors. Stiles had discovered this place, and in his research, he’d found the mall apparently never finished construction - the funding had run out and the entire project had been abandoned. It certainly looked like it.

Allison’s lithe form slipped through effortlessly, and the pair slunk through the shadows, finding a position shrouded in darkness perched behind a handrail overlooking the multiple levels of the mall below. The glass pane had been smashed out long ago and the shattered dust was scattered across the ground. They were both careful to avoid it, not only in case of cuts but for fear of making any sound. They both knew how far Scott’s hearing could range and he was just an omega with a makeshift pack of a human, a hunter, a naiad, and whatever the hell Lydia was - a corpse detector, perhaps? Peering through the darkness with the heat-signature glasses Allison had handed her, Zaida could see multiple humanoid masses lighting up behind the glass. Thankfully, there were none near them, but she could see a narrow form behind a column much further down and two broader shapes across the other side. The twins. With a grim nod of her head, Zaida confirmed to Allison that their suspicions were correct. The rest of the alpha pack had shown up against Scott’s instructions to come alone.

Neither of them needed heat signature glasses to see the man standing at the base of one of the multiple broken-down escalators transitioning between levels. He was older than either of them had expected, and thinner, and shorter. In fact, to the naked eye, he didn’t appear very threatening at all compared to his fellow alphas. Especially not when Zaida recognised that long cane that he leant on to support his weight, with dark-tinted sunglasses to boot. Scott had told them Deucalion was blind, but her mind had conjured the terrifying image of ghastly scars across his face and milky-white eyes tinged with that glowing alpha red, instead of…well, this. There was something oddly familiar about what little of his face she could see for such a distance. Something in her knew she had seen him before. There was an energy pulsating from him that was almost recognisable, as if she’d felt it before. From where they were crouched they had a perfect view of Scott strolling out from the entrance opposite the escalators into what used to be the main lobby of the mall, accompanied by a familiar mop of golden brown curls. That wasn’t planned.

“You didn't come alone.” The alpha mused - his voice was far less deep than Zaida had thought it would be as well. All around he really hadn’t met any of her expectations, but she couldn’t shake that ghost of familiarity hovering over her.

“Yeah. This is Isaac.” Scott gestured towards Derek’s beta, who acted as though he was more in their pack than the Hale’s.

“I'm not talking about Isaac.” Deucalion’s tone was even as Derek took his cue to reveal himself, wandering out of the darkness and into the moonlight that streamed from the unfinished roof. It revealed he was already shifted, his claws out and facial features morphed into that animalistic expression.

“You knew I would do this?” Scott looked at the man, utterly appalled. With a stiffening of her muscles and stillness in her heart Zaida came to the same realisation as Scott. Derek had told Scott about their planned attack to get him to lure the alphas out under the pretence of peace only for the pack to swoop in and catch the alphas unawares - only it hadn’t worked. The alphas had either been planning an attack of their own on Scott, or were expecting the Hale pack. “Derek, don't! You can't do this so no one gets hurt. If someone else dies…”

“Him. Just him.” Derek growled in a low voice, only he had no idea that it wasn’t just Deucalion. He had brought back up.

“Just me? Now, how does a blind man find his way into a place like this, all on his own?” The alpha tilted his head, and a scraping could be heard as a woman slid down the column she had previously been hidden behind, her claws leaving deep grooves in the stone. Claws on both her hands and feet. This had to be the wolf that Isaac described who had drugged him at the hospital.

Another man came strolling up the escalator from the floor below - his heat signature had been hidden by the thick level of concrete between him and the glasses. Now he was more the beast Zaida had been picturing, all rippling muscles and viciously sharp features. This must be the wolf that had fought Scott at the hospital. From across the way, shirtless Ethan and Aiden approached the ledge, and at seeing the alpha pack members Boyd and Cora stepped forward from behind Derek. Both Zaida and Allison recognised the girl’s shifted form from the other night. Zaida couldn’t decide if it was a good thing that Derek had come with backup - seeing as the alphas had apparently been planning to attack Scott anyway - or if it had just sealed Scott’s fate.

Derek was first to make a move, headed towards Deucalion but swiftly being intercepted by the female wolf - ‘Toe-nails’, Zaida would call her - who stopped him with a kick to the head. The battle quickly began in full force, leaving Zaida and Allison staring and struggling to follow along. The twins took this as their sign to join the fray, somersaulting from the upper floor and coming into contact with one another mid-air. In a blur of skin, the two landed as one, and merged into a giant, brutal form. Issac charged straight for them. On the other side of things, Boyd was the strongest of the betas and took it upon himself to face against the wolf who had ascended from the lower level. ‘The Brute’ easily dodged the younger male’s blows, but Boyd did manage to land a good uppercut before Cora jumped in to help. It was clear that none of them were equally matched in skill or size with any of the alpha pack. Isaac barely reached the merged twins before being swiftly tossed to the side, forcing Scott to get involved only to be thrown into a concrete wall. Derek was still scrapping with 'Toe-nails', and briefly appeared to get the upper hand by twisting her arm and shoving his elbow into her face before the alpha regained the higher ground. There was a resounding snap as ‘The Brute’ broke Cora’s arm, and Scott cried out when the alpha twins clawed across his lower stomach. This was not going well, at all, and through all of the chaos, Deucalion simply stood serenely at the bottom of the damaged escalator.

“We have to do something.” Zaida urged the huntress, mouthing the words instead of speaking, not even daring to barve a whisper of a breath to avoid being heard. In the seconds that it took for Allison to slip her bow off her shoulder and move it into position, ‘The Brute’ got the better of Boyd. He held the beta down as ‘Toe-nails’ delivered a roundhouse kick, her nails leaving deep scratches in the boy’s chest, blood already blooming across his torn shirt as he collapsed to the ground. Cora rushed to help but the female alpha quickly took the young Hale down, stomping on her neck to pin her to the floor. Scott and Isaac were on their knees, both heavily injured by Ethan and Aiden. They had been overcome within minutes.

“Kill him. The others can go.” Deucalion instructed Derek calmly. “You're beaten. Do it, Derek. Take the first step.”

“Are we serious with this kid? Look at him!” ‘Toe-nails scoffed at the Hale. “He's an Alpha? To what? A couple of useless teenagers?”

“Some have more promise than others…” Deucalion hummed, his head tilting towards Scott’s direction, even though he couldn’t see the boy. He must used smell and hearing to identify people, Zaida thought.

“Let him rise to the occasion, then!” The female alpha growled, flashing her sharp teeth as she pressed down further on Cora’s neck, causing the girl to cry out in pain. “What'll it be, Derek? Pack or family?”

Derek looked as if he was actually considering it for a moment, staring regretfully at Boyd as the beta looked up at him with a pleading expression. “It’s now or never.” Zaida’s eyes communicated with Allison as she lifted her palms to the sky, calling upon the moisture in the damp air. The Naiad summoned the residue and moulded it into knives of water that were aimed straight at Deucalion. With the others distracted it would give them the opening they needed to take him out. Wolves could heal pretty damn fast, but if the man’s head was completely severed from his neck, he’d have no chance. With a slight nod of her head, Allison slowly rose to her feet and aimed her arrow, letting it fly straight over Derek’s head to strike the merged form of Ethan and Aiden, causing them to immediately separate as they fell. When they hit the ground they were two again instead of one. Allison didn’t allow them a moment to rest and took advantage of their surprise, loosing flashbang arrows one after the other.

“Your eyes... cover your eyes!” Deucalion warned his pack as they cowered away from the light, clutching their eyes. Zaida took the opportunity to propel her knives forward, the water solidifying into ice as they travelled through the air at an almost impossible speed. What she didn’t expect was for the blind man to lash out with his cane in a blur of movement, smashing the shards to pieces before they could get too close to him. His head whipped around in surprise, appearing to be searching for the source of the attack. He kneeled, hands feeling out until they landed on the ice. While Scott and Derek rejoined the battle below he began climbing the steps of the escalator, headed up to the level Zaida and Allison were perched on.

“Fuck,” Zaida cursed under her breath and scrambled away from the ledge on all fours - out of sight. “Ali, we’ve gotta go!”

Two hands gripped her from her shoulders and hurled her to her feet as her heart lurched in her chest. One of those hands moved to cover her mouth before she could scream. Allison swiftly shifted her aim away from below, locking her sights on the perpetrator with a menacing frown that softened when she saw who it was. Hot breath hit Zaida’s ear as the man whispered, “Get out of here, now!”

Her wide eyes relaxed when she realised she knew his voice and she pulled his hand away from her mouth and turned to glare at him for scaring the ever-loving shit out of her. She almost didn’t recognise Xander in all-black custom clothing with multiple knives and guns tucked into straps and holsters. He drew sleek double pistols with murder in his eyes and nodded for her and Allison to head in the opposite direction as to where he faced, his jaw locking furiously. Zaida moved to go after him but Allison gripped her by the wrist, shaking her head and tugging her away, back to the window they’d entered through. It was too dangerous for them, and they’d be of no further help to anyone if they were dead. They’d done what they’d come here to do. They’d given their allies the upper hand they needed. Zaida knew that, but she didn’t have to like it.

Allison slipped out of the window first, balancing on the wide ledge they’d climbed up to earlier to help Zaida out without falling off the edge, considering it was a struggle to pull her hips through. Now that they were out in the open, past the heavy walls of concrete, they were safer to talk in hushed tones. “We can’t just leave Xander to face Deucalion alone! He felt my ice shards coming - or he heard them, I don’t know - but he stopped them. There’s no way Xander stands a chance.” She protested in a whisper-shout.

“Xander is a hunter. He knows what he’s doing.” Allison assured her, reading the way back down the scaffolding.

“So are you!” Zaida pointed out whilst following the path the girl laid out for her even though the muscles in her arms screamed from supporting her weight as they climbed across the structure of metal poles

“I’m not fully trained! Xander has got years more experience!” She defended the man’s abilities. “I know you’re worried about him, but he’s going to be okay. I couldn’t say the same thing for us if we had stayed.”

“There was something about that man…” Zaida grumbled, recalling the blind alpha’s face and build and how she was so sure she had seen him somewhere before. The way he had felt the ice shards at his feet and looked up as if he knew exactly what they were unnerved her. That look on Xander’s face as he’d drawn his weapons had also left a mark on her memory. There was such hatred in his eyes. Was he truly that mad that she had gone against what he’d said?

“You mean Deucalion?” Allison clarified which man she was talking about, and Zaida froze, her blood running cold as she made a connection she hadn’t before.

“...We need to get back to the apartment.” She muttered with a newfound sense of urgency.

“I was wondering when I’d be seeing you again, though I admit I didn’t expect it to be under such circumstances.” Deucalion drawled dryly, his cane tapping against the hard concrete floor. Xander knew the man could sense he was there, so he didn’t bother trying to hide his position.

“I’m surprised you recognise me.” He ground out through gritted teeth, his anger and hatred pulsating through him in barely controlled waves.

“You’ve grown quite a bit since I last saw you, Alexander. No longer the little boy who would beg me to show you my eyes.” The blind man preyed on the memories Xander had buried a long time ago beneath his grief and anger. “I’m afraid I can’t exactly do that anymore, all things considered.”

“And you’ve not changed at all. You’re still the same power-hungry, murderous prick you always were. I’m just sorry it took me as long as it did to notice.” Xander snarled and raised his guns, pointing them straight at the man as they began to circle each other.

“That’s right, how could I forget? You hate me now.” Deucalion chuckled darkly, the tapping of his cane growing faster. “Last I heard, you were tracking me down in San Francisco. Then you just…stopped. Gave up. Fancy you showing up in Beacon Hills with the Hales. Must be fate! Ironic too, considering that I was the one who introduced your mother to them. Or did she never tell you about that? She was always a secretive woman. She kept that beach house of hers quiet for a while - until I found it. But you know all about that, don’t you, Alexander?”

“When I heard there was an alpha pack in town, I knew it was you. I knew this was my chance to finally finish what I started.” Xander spat his fingers twitching over the triggers.

“By all means! Give it your best shot,” The blind man held out his arms, waiting for the bullets to come flying - welcoming them. Xander let loose, pulling the triggers over and over and over again, shooting wolfsbane bullets into the air, only for Deucalion to twirl that cane expertly, knocking every single one away with superhuman speed and precision. Whatever Xander had been expecting of him, it hadn’t been this. Slipping his empty guns back into their holsters with dread settling into his bones he backed up slowly, preparing himself to run for the escalators.

“Now, why don’t you show me what you can really do!” Deucalion prompted him, approaching with a leisurely stroll and a villainous smirk. “Show me those nymph powers your mother was so famous for.”

A small sense of relief flooded Xander’s system. At least his plan had worked. In revealing himself in Zaida’s stead, Deucalion was none the wiser about his sister. At least one thing had gone right tonight. He’d known of course, that Zaida would go against his wishes and fight for her friends anyway. She was too stubborn and strong-willed not to. Instead, he reached into his pocket and hooked his fingers around a small object. With a flick of his wrist, he’d pulled it out and loosened the pin, tossing it at the blind alpha’s feet and turning to flee. The smoke bomb exploded, engulfing the man in thick air that dulled his senses enough for Xander to get away, sliding down the banister railing of the escalators and landing on the lower level. He immediately spotted Scott, standing and staring over a ledge with frozen grief in his eyes.

“Scott!” He called out to the boy, breaking into a run and grabbing the werewolf, dragging him away from the edge and pulling him towards the exits. The boy was borderline unresponsive, the other beta - Isaac - gripped Scott’s other arm and helped to lead him back outside and away from the alphas.

“I’ve got him,” Xander assured Isaac, supporting Zaida’s injured friend and helping him into the passenger’s side of his state-issued police vehicle. Isaac took the boy’s motorcycle and the other two betas - Boyd and Cora - hurried out of the abandoned mall as well, hopping into the black Camaro. The fight was over, and they’d lost.

“It’s here!” Zaida yelled at Allison, hauling Xander’s box out of his closet and dropping it onto the carpeted floor, kneeling to pull off the lid and riffle through the contents for that stack of photos. She didn’t have to look for long before she found exactly what she’d been searching for. The familiar face was grinning back at her, standing between her mother and father, only here he was over a decade younger and he wasn’t yet blind.

“Oh my God,” Allison’s hand went to her mouth with a gasp. “Deucalion-”

“Duke,” Zaida interjected to correct her. “They knew him as Duke. When I told Xander about the alpha pack…he wasn’t surprised because he’d never heard of them. He was surprised because he knew exactly who they were.”

The leader of the alpha pack had once led her parent’s pack. He was the same man who had killed his own pack members, finally finishing them all off when he took her parents’ lives that fateful summer five years ago. And now because of her, he knew there was another water nymph in Beacon Hills.

[joshdiaz]

— kelly cherry

@nolanhollogay

[bluecoolr]

Man's just obsessed with his wife

@solmints-messyocdiary

[the-ghost-bird]

Are Deucalion and Aruna new OCs of yours? Can you talk about them?

Hey anon, they're both ocs of mine, yes.

Aruna is a florist who wakes up and realizes she's been buried alive. I won't spoil too much because i plan on posting about it in a drabble called Flowerbed.

Deucalion has been around for a couple of years. She's my star wars oc, because star wars is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. After being abandoned by her family, she eventually becomes acolyte to Valkorion.

If you are familiar with Valkorion, you know he's obessed with immortality, to the point where he conducted rituals to steal the life force of entire planets to extend his own life and power.

The reason he chose Deucalion as his apprentice is because she doesn't need to conduct rituals to steal life force. It comes naturally to her. I won't elaborate any further because I'm hoping i can post this too one day.

[solmints-messyocdiary]

Odessa is roughly 6'5" :)

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Deucalion (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- Deuce by his family & friends

Age- 12 (immortal)

Location- Lunar district, New Olympus

Personality- A smart inquisitive young man, he's quite mature beyond his years. Getting into his angsty & sullen phase, there's quite a bit that threatens to burst from the surface.

Deuce comes from two great godly dynasties in the pantheon. His mom Celaeno is one of The Pleiades while his father is Prometheus (Titan god of forethought). Despite his parentage, Deuce managed only to inherit immortality, limited hydrokinesis (as it relates to lakes and ponds), as well as limited prophecy (in the form of undistinguishable dreams).

Even though he was born in the state of Achaea, Arcadia has always been home. His home there was a small mansion situated on the mountainside. Deuce loved going swimming & cliff diving with his childhood friends and riding their bikes through the wilderness park. At night, him & his mom would sleep in the observatory, eating way too many s'mores!

Now living in an (albeit nice) apartment in The Dianos Building in the Lunar neighborhood of New Olympus has been quite the change, but Deucalion and his mom still travel to Arcadia often.

A go-to drink for him is root beer flavored soda. He also likes ginger ale, water, hot chocolate, & blueberry juice. He also likes the blueberry smoothies his mom makes.

Deuce knows that his parents broke up when he was a toddler, but their friendship was always great in his childhood. He saw his father often and would talk to him daily. Deuce was even his father's ringbearer when he got married.

It's been a few months since his father's punishment in the Underworld and he misses everything about him- his strong warm hugs, his natural scent of clay & aftershave, his deep throaty laugh, and when they'd spend time together like playing basketball, playing video games, or working at his kiln.

Before his dad's punishment, Deuce liked his step-mother Pronoia. Sure, her quirky personality took some getting used to and he didn't understand her weird sayings/puns, but she was a geniunely loving person with a lightning bright smile. He also really liked whenever she made crab cakes with grilled oysters. Deuce hasn't seen her since she was committed to a mental hospital.

He has a single pet- a she-dragon named Nemirys who has dark green & copper colored scales. Deuce worked alongside Draco (god of dragons) to design and make his saddle. He rides her all the time, not just to & from school. Being on dragonback is the closest thing to freedom for him. It's one of the only times where he almost forgets everything.

His favorite video game is Escape from Charybdis.

Deucalion wishes that his father was around to see his growth spurt.

"Half-sister" is not a word in his vocabulary when it comes to Aidos (goddess of shame, modesty, humility, & respect). They're brother and sister and that's it. They're pretty close with Deuce being protective of her. During times where he doesn't feel like he can talk to anybody, his sister is a phone call or text away. They've been leaning on each other more since their dad's punishment and her mom's nervous breakdown. His mom has even invited Aidos to their apartment to sleep over a few times.

A guilty pleasure for him is an olympian burger (with extra bacon & onions).

Deuce's relationship with his mom has been a bit strained. He loves her, but he doesn't know how to be angry around her in a healthy way, especially when the subject of his father comes up or when they sometimes get hounded by the paparrazi- bombarding them with questions and hurtful rumors. Deuce sometimes helps out at the martial arts studio she owns. It's been a while since they shared a jumbo cinnamon roll at the bakery.

On his mother's side his relatives are his grandmother Pleione (Titaness of sailing & stars), his aunts The Pleiades (Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Asterope, & Merope), and his older cousin Hermes, as well as his other young cousins who are Merope's sons.

On his father's side, there's his grandparents Iapetus (Titan god of mortality, pain, & death) and Clymene (Titaness of fame & renown), his uncles Atlas (Titan god of strength & endurance), Epimetheus (Titan god of afterthought), and Menoetius (Titan god of rage, violence, & rash actions), as well as his cousins Calypso, Prophasis (goddess of excuses), Pyrrha, & The Hyades.

Deuce is obviously closer to his mother's side of the family since he was raised around them. When he visits Arcadia he'll usually go hunting with his aunt Taygete (Tig). Even though their situations couldn't be far from different, Deuce feels like he can relate more to Merope's sons (being that they can't see their father, who's infamous as well). He's mostly close with Ornytion (Orin) who's a year younger than him.

His other favorite dessert are the moon cakes his aunt Maia makes.

With his father's side, he's been trying to spend more time with them especially since his sister lives with their grandparents. Deuce likes Iapetus (and the fact that he tries to smuggle messages from him & Aidos to their dad). He was surprised at Clymene's response when she saw him for the first time (in a long time). She ran her fingers through his thick dark brown hair & kept touching his face, whispering, "You look exactly like him." Deuce did like going to Thessaly to see his uncle Epimetheus- in particular spending time with his many animals and beating Prophasis at Escape from Charybdis. Deuce has only gone to Sparta once to visit his uncle Menoetius where they went to a wrestling match. He was gifted with a pair of brass knuckles.

He's currently on break from school. Deuce attends an esteemed private school in New Olympus. He personally doesn't consider himself to "have friends", but he's cool with Thrasos (god of boldness, insolence, recklessness, & courage), Philia (goddess of friendship), and Thespios (god of acting). Deuce will also say hi to the smartest kid in school Epidotes (god of purity). Other godly students include Anaideia (goddess of ruthlessness, shamelessness, & unforgiveness), Dysis (goddess of the sunset), Pandia (goddess of the full moon), Telete (goddess of prayers), Krysothemis (Kristy), Pompe (goddess of rites), E.B, and Calocagathia (Aggie) (goddess of nobility & goodness).

Deucalion is a straight A student, but there's something that could potentially threaten his squeaky clean academic record. A couple of months ago, Deuce was punished- a week's suspension & detention for the rest of the term after getting into a fight with a cyclops student during a pep rally, who kept making wisecracks about his dad's punishment. In the fight, he used the brass knuckles his uncle Menoetius had given him.

Deuce appreciates the genuine kindness he recieved from his schoolmate Achelois (goddess of the moon & comfort). He repayed her kindness back by giving her a box of amygdalotas he bought from the bakery. He does think she's cute, but isn't ready to pursue a friendship.

At school, Deuce started up a charity drive to help with the flood relief in Arcadia.

In the pantheon, it's no secret how much he hates Zeus (god of the sky, thunder, & lightning). More than once the thought of him & his dragon setting fire to the royal palace has entered his mind. Aside from his father, Deucalion really looks up to Hephaestus (god of the forge).

In his free time Deuce mostly likes to keep to himself by listening to music, playing video games, or writing in his journal. He also enjoys mountain climbing, basketball, swimming, football (soccer), martial arts, baseball, and skateboarding.

His all-time favorite meal is his mom's fuqi feipan with lo mein.

"My brain is constantly flooded with thoughts."

[potato-geek]

My fanfic

[janedoeswriting]

The Way The Wind Blows (Stiles x OC) Chapter Six

Description: Rhiannon finds herself trapped within her guilty pleasure tv show— Teen Wolf. Now, she must choose which path to take… one that leads back home, and another that follows uncertain adventure.

Tags: extreme slow burn, frienemies to lovers, fix it fic, canon change, actions have consequences.

TW: angst, fluff, sexual harassment, anxiety, depression, obsession, domestic violence, manipulation, etc. Just please do not read if you are sensitive to difficult subjects.

(Hotel California by Eagles) **Note: I mean, duh.

It kind of felt foolish that they were on a bus going to a cross country meet. Stiles was restless. Between the tension of what had happened the night prior and everything that was going on, Stiles knew that they could be doing more productive things. For example: mourning the death of Derek. Another example: tracking down the Darach that has sacrificed a whopping six people so far.

Another example nagged at the back of Stiles' mind, but he didn't want to think about it. Rhiannon had already been plaguing his mind for nine days. Since she disappeared, he'd both discovered the root of the enemy- being a dark druid- and spent an inordinate amount of time trying anything he could to investigate her disappearance.

His father was doing the same-- working hours longer than Stiles had ever seen his father undertake.

Last night both Scott and Derek's pack had attempted to battle Deucalion and the alphas. It wasn't successful, and the remnant tension of it lingered in the bus like a rotting stench with no source.

Quizzing Scott on vocabulary was at least a welcome distraction to keep his mind off of everything that had occured. It almost worked.

"Okay next word-- incongruous." Stiles said.

"Um.. Can you use it in a sentence?" Scott asked. Stiles knew better than anything that Scott's mind had been just as equally distracted. This was a poor attempt as satiating the pain that persisted. "Yes-Yes I can. It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now on our way to some stupid cross country meet after what just happened. Incongruous."

Scott sighed deeply. "Out of place. Ridiculous. Absurd."

"Perfect. Okay next word, umm...," Stiles couldn't keep his anxiety to speak about it suppressed any longer. "Darach. Darach, it's a noun."

Scott gave him a look.

"We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for like five hours so why not?"

Scott closed his eyes and leaned against the window. Stiles looked at him incredulously, but he knew he was getting nowhere so he turned back to the tablet and cleared his throat. "Alright, next word..."

--

After the crime, Rhiannon drove for a couple hours before it set in that she had to stop somewhere as soon as she could. Not only was she running low on gas, but she couldn't very well be seen in public covered in crusty dried blood.

She pulled over twice before she finally found an abandoned gas station. Both of the previous ones either had bathrooms inside or someone pumping gas. Thankfully, this one was not only virtually abandoned, but the bathroom was both on the outside and unlocked.

It took her about forty minutes to quickly scrub herself clean. She had grabbed a change of Austin's clothes that she'd found in his duffle bag in the back seat. She used the hand soap in the bathroom to wash her hair in the sink, and cleaned the rest of her body with paper towels. She scrubbed at her hands vigorously until they were raw and nothing was caked under her fingernails any longer.

She finally used the toilet and left for the truck, wet paper towels in hand. She used these to wipe any dried blood off the door handle and steering wheel. Finally, she tossed out her bloody clothes and paper towels into the garbage can and pulled up to the pump.

She found Austin's credit card and held her breath as she swiped. It worked, and she quickly shoved the diesel pump into the tank. She leaned against the car, running her hands through her wet hair and sighing.

She couldn't risk being spotted, but she was starving. If she didn't get food now in this abandoned gas station, then she would have to stop when it was daylight out, which would be a horrible mistake.

Rhiannon sucked in a breath and made her decision. She would just have to keep her head down and hope she wasn't noticed. She grabbed the cowboy hat that was on the dashboard and plopped it on her head. She almost felt guilty for wearing a dead man's clothes. But the image of his milky white eyes and sharp eerie grin banished any sympathy she had for Austin at all. She walked into the gas station and the door binged at her entry.

It was illuminated in cool toned lights and all the fridges were lit up lining the wall. It was a tiny space, but jam packed with rows of items from top to bottom. A clerk was secluded behind a glass wall and mountains of tobacco products, scratch offs, and porno mags. It was an older women, aging poorly with greying hair. She was sitting down and looked ready to fall asleep. She didn't even so much as glance up at Rhiannon's entry. This was a promising sign. Rhiannon ducked her head and walked down the snack aisle. She grabbed bags of chips and candy and some water from within a refrigerator. Her hands were full, and she came up to the counter and quietly set it all down. The woman finally looked up at her. An ashtray full of cigarette buds sat next to her. Rhiannon longed for another cigarette-- she had chain smoked the entire pack of camels dry. But she had no ID and didn't want to risk it.

The clerk began to non ceremoniously scan the goods, but Rhiannon shifted under the weight of the woman's appraising gaze.

"You're not from here, are ya?" she asked. Her voice was weathered, like she had been yelling loudly earlier. Or smoking for thirty years. Rhiannon shook her head, pretending to be very interested in their selection of lighters. "You look... familiar." the woman said.

Rhiannon's stomach dropped, but she kept her composure. The woman finished bagging her things. Rhiannon shrugged, and dared to look into the woman's eyes not wanting to be too suspicious.

To Rhiannon's horror, a look of recognition settled on the woman's features. She went calm and numb in the face in a way that almost scared her as much as Austin's transformation into a monster had.

Her eyes widened and showed the entire whites of them. Rhiannon stepped back.

"You're hands... Your hands are red. Your face is red."

Rhiannon felt like the ground had moved under her feat. She knows. This woman knows what I did.

Rhiannon's fight or flight kicked in and she lunged for the plastic bag, ready to bolt out the door without paying.

The woman was too quick, and she grabbed her wrist-- the one that was already bruised and sore from when Austin had almost broken it. "You must return to Beacon Hills. You must find Scott McCall." There was no time for confusion, but the woman continued as Rhiannon fought hard to tug at her arm. "Rhiannon Watson. FIND SCOTT MCCALL."

The woman screamed this last statement, and Rhiannon did the only thing she could think of. She leaned down and bit the woman's hand as hard as she could. The woman finally let Rhiannon go, and she dashed out the door. The cowboy hat flew off her head in the process, and she barely had taken the gas pump out of the tank and left it abandoned on the ground before she got in her car and slammed the door. She tossed the bag of food into the passenger seat and struggled to put the keys into the ignition.

Just then, a gut-wrenching ear-splitting scream like nothing she had ever heard before erupted into the air. Rhiannon dropped the keys and held her ears, squeezing her eyes shut and crouching down. Rhiannon thought it was a gunshot momentarily, but when she sat up to look outside she found the entire gas station windows had shattered. By some miracle, the car windows remained in tact. Rhiannon grabbed the keys, and this time she started the car swiftly and peeled out of the gas station back onto the highway as fast as she could.

Rhiannon didn't stop shaking or driving twenty over the speed limit for another half hour. Finally, as the ringing in her ears began to subside, she slowed her pace and took several calming breaths. Her mind was reeling, and she looked at herself in the rear view mirror. She looked shell shocked- which is exactly how she felt- and her ears had a line of blood trailing out of them and down her neck. Rhiannon grabbed a dirty sock from the backseat and quickly wiped the blood away. The woman's words rang in her ears still. Eventually, she pulled over at an exit and closed her eyes, resting her forehead on the steering wheel with her eyes squeezed shut. Find Scott McCall. So that was it. The warning of a banshee. The scream of death.

She grabbed the road map from within the glove compartment, longing for her cell phone. It was confusing and difficult to drive without GPS. She traced the lines on the map using an old red pen. The ink led straight back in the opposite direction and ended right on a dot labeled 'Beacon Hills'.

Fuck.

--

Stiles was pretty proud of himself for his ingenious idea of getting Jared to vomit. His plan had worked-- they had no choice but to pull over at the rest stop.

But the state of Scott certainly didn't allow him any time for pride. His worry grew with every moan that Scott uttered. He and Allison carried him over their shoulders into the men's restroom as quickly as they could with Lydia closely following to try and block anyone from seeing them.

Rhiannon groaned. The uncomfortable sensation of light in her eyes ushered her to consciousness.

Sleeping in the truck wasn't ideal, but it certainly was better than being found as a missing person. She had driven all night, and found a secluded truck stop to park in and sleep. Thankfully, no cops or suspicious people had been there when she arrived in the wee hours of the morning. She had made it back into California, but was still a good ways from Beacon Hills. She had only gotten about four hours of sleep, she realized, as she checked Austin's watch that read 12:15.

It was noon, and trying to sleep during the day and drive at night wasn't working.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and groaning. Her hair was a mess and she felt like she'd slept on a pile of rocks. Her muscles were sore from both taking down a monster multiple times stronger than her and from sleeping in the car. Her morning breath was awful after all of yesterday's cigarettes and downing a bag of potato chips. She grimaced as her eyes adjusted to the California sun.

People swarmed the parking lot, and it was full of cars and trucks. She was all of a sudden much more awake, and ducked down, hoping nobody saw her. She was still a missing person, and in a stolen truck. And had killed a person-- who knew how long it would take for that murder to be traced back to her.

A big yellow school bus caught her eye as she peeked up just enough to observe the grotesque amount of people. A school bus?, she thought in confusion.

To her utter horror, students filed out in throngs coughing and waving their hands over their faces in clear disgust. A man was screaming out the window. Beacon Hills High School was stamped on the side of it. Rhiannon sucked in a short breath and ducked, pressing her back against the door as she crouched on the cramped floor. Fuck fuck fuck.

Rhiannon dared to steal another peek.

Her eyes searched the crowd of people. Rhiannon's stomach did another flip. There, Allison and Stiles held up a very horrible looking Scott McCall as Lydia looked around trying to block him from anyone's view. Rhiannon ducked down again. Find Scott McCall.

Fuck. She didn't want to find him so fast. She thought back to what episode this was. A school bus at a truck stop. Scott was dying. Derek "died". They were going to a haunted motel. Fuck. Rhiannon did a double take as she caught sight of a police officer on the other side of the truck. He hadn't caught sight of her yet, but he was patrolling around with a scrutinous gaze.

Rhiannon cursed, reached over to grab her bag-- the only evidence she had been in this truck (other than her fingerprints everywhere), and opened the drivers side door behind her to slip out as discreetly as possible. She blended in with the crowd of teenagers well, but was still getting strange looks from other students.

Thankfully-- none of them recognized her because she hadn't attended school. Still, her face was plastered on the news and it wouldn't be long before a stray student connected some dots. She ducked into the girls bathroom and found the handicapped stall.

Her appearance was horrible. She looked pale, and run down. Her hair was a mess, and purple circles hung under her bloodshot eyes. She quickly ran her hands through the tangles and made herself look somewhat better. She grabbed her toothbrush and ran it over her teeth and tongue without any toothpaste, and then begrudgingly took some gulps of water from the sink. It tasted like mold and metal, but Rhiannon swallowed it anyway.

Finally, she stepped out of the stall. A crowd of girls swarmed the sink mirrors and a que was forming for the bathroom. She ducked out with her head down and hands clutching her bag. She walked past students lingering around. A group of boys passed by muttering, and she caught someone saying "Closed for cleaning?" and another complaining about walking to the other side of the building to use the other bathroom.

Rhiannon hesitated, and then sighed and chucked her bag into the bottom of an outdoor trash can. It wasn't exactly ideal, but she didn't want to look like a run away when she ran into Stiles again-- not if she wanted to keep her place as Mr. Stilinski's foster daughter. And if a banshee had warned her to keep close to Scott McCall, staying at the Stilinski's was her best bet.

She approached the men's bathroom with a deep breath. The door was locked. She banged on it. "Closed for cleaning!" A voice shouted on the other side. It was clearly Lydia. Rhiannon banged again, harder. "We're closed!" Another voice sounded very loudly and angrily. Stiles. "Go. Away!"

Rhiannon sucked in a breath and despite her hammering heart, she banged again, harder and longer. She didn't stop until the door swung open violently.

"Go to-," Stiles began with a very harsh tone, but immediately caught in his throat at the sight of her. She looked up at him with weary eyes, but didn't have time to stand around and let someone see them. She pushed her way in and shut and locked the door behind her.

When she turned back, Lydia and Scott were gaping at her. Allison would have stared in shock too if Scott didn't grunt, and she turned back to him with a worry-struck expression.

Rhiannon didn't know how to approach this situation other than,

"Hi."

"Rhiannon?" Stiles asked, and something of relief and confusion both combined in his voice.

"Stiles." She said, but stepped by him to where Scott and Allison were crouching on the floor. "How is he?" she asked, lifting the shirt. The sight was putrid and disgusting. The jagged wound was growing blacker by the second and oozing with blood.

Rhiannon couldn't face Stiles, but she could do this.

"Rhiannon." Stiles said, more firmly this time as if he was realizing something. Rhiannon ignored him.

"Allison, grab some needle and thread. You need to stitch him up."

"What?!" Allison demanded. "You need to stitch him up. He isn't in his right mind. If he thinks he's healing, he will." She said, meeting Allison's gaze. They hadn't even properly introduced themselves, and Rhiannon was reaching for their trust. Willing it into reality.

"Trust me." she demanded. Allison stood, and moved to her bag. Rhiannon looked back up at Stiles, who was staring at her like a ghost.

"Get another shirt from Scott's bag."

Stiles didn't move, just stared. "What are you-?"

"Do it!" Rhiannon demanded. "Stiles, I'll explain everything later. Just go."

Rhiannon turned to Lydia. "Make sure the bus doesn't leave."

Lydia was appraising her in a similar way that Stiles was, but she didn't hesitate like he did. She grabbed Stiles' arm and dragged him out the door. Rhiannon walked up and locked it again as Allison used a lighter to sterelize the needle.

"How did you- How do you know what's wrong with him?" Allison asked, taking the thread and crouching down to Scott. Rhiannon shook her head, but said, "I can't explain how, I just do."

This seemed to be enough for Allison. She begged Scott to stay awake for a moment even when he complained he was tired. Rhiannon heard the fear in her shaky voice. She took the thread and attempted to push it through the eye of the needle. Her hands were shaking profusely, and Scott's groans and nodding head weren't helping. He was dying by the second.

"Come on." Allison begged, but it wasn't working. She couldn't do it. Allison squeezed her eyes shut. It dawned on Rhiannon what she was going through. "Your mom isn't here." Rhiannon said gently. Allison looked at her in shock as tears ran down her face. "Your mom isn't here. Take a deep breath." Rhiannon said, and Allison did so, desperately clinging to Rhiannon's calming voice. "You can do it, Allison." Allison turned back, taking another deep breath, and focused. A moment later, it was done. She desperately began to stitch him up and reminded Scott to stay awake.

Just as Scott was nodding to sleep, Rhiannon said his name. "Scott, stay awake."

And he did. Allison finished up the stitching, and Scott came too. "It's my fault." he said. Allison breathed a sigh of relief and clung onto those eyes that were growing more lively by the second. The wound was stitched up expertly, and Scott looked down at it. "Did you do that?" he asked Allison. She was the only person in the world to him in that moment.

Rhiannon stepped back, letting them have their moment. Stiles banged on the door, and Rhiannon wrenched it open as he rushed in with Scott's bag and a shirt in hand. He brushed by her, but Rhiannon saw him meet her eyes and he seemed struck again by the reality. She was there. She was really there.

He handed the shirt to Allison, who immediately helped him dress and stand. Stiles dropped Scott's bag and turned back to Rhiannon.

His eyes said everything. Explain. Now. Rhiannon sucked in a breath and said, "I'll explain everything in a minute, but right now I have to-," she started with Stiles fast on her heels as she left the bathroom and then stopped in her tracks. The cop had brought a friend, and now they were inspecting the empty red truck together. Fuck. Stiles grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "No, explain now."

Rhiannon glanced at the bus, where Lydia was desperately trying to convince Coach to keep the bus there just a few minutes longer. Rhiannon looked back to Stiles, grabbing his hand and removing it from her arm. "Fine. On the bus." Rhiannon said, and turned to help Allison carry Scott. Scott did a double take, and looked at her in dizzy surprise. He looked infinitely better than he had just moments ago.

"Rhi?" He asked as they made their way there. "Nice to see you, too." she said back.

--

"So your telling me you got kidnapped, escaped, stole his truck, and just happened to see us at this random rest stop on the side of the road?" Stiles asked on the bus. Rhiannon was actually glad they were in a public setting where Stiles had to keep his voice down, so he wouldn't yell at her.

Rhiannon nodded. Stiles was fully turned toward her, but Rhiannon faced forward in the seat next to him. Lydia was in the seat in front and looking back, listening to the story with just as much skepticism that Stiles had. Allison sat behind them, but she was too worried about Scott's dozing figure to pay them any mind at all.

Rhiannon didn't want to say it, but she didn't exactly have a choice. She had made the decision on the way back to Beacon Hills. "It was a wendigo."

Both Lydia and Stiles sat up a bit more, their attention sharpening. She glanced at Stiles, and then to Lydia. "He tried to eat me."

Lydia blinked at her, and Stiles' mouth hung open.

"A what?"

"Whats a wendigo?" Lydia bit out the question like Rhi had just walked out of crazy town. It didn't seem Lydia was warming up to Rhiannon well, and it made sense. They had only very briefly met, and all of a sudden Rhiannon showed up after nine days missing acting like she ran the place.

"It's a supernatural creature that feeds on human flesh." They both stared at her. "Like you actually believe that werewolves are the only supernatural beings that exist. Is Jackson being a giant lizard not enough to buy that wendigos are real?"

"How do you know about Jackson?" Lydia bit out sharply in a low whisper. Rhiannon looked her in the eye and could feel Stiles' stare burning into her. "Listen-- I know things. I know probably more than you know-," This was so true it was unbearable, but she continued. "I know you've been hearing strange voices. Finding bodies."

This shut Lydia up. Stiles grabbed Rhiannon's arm, but she didn't look at him. "How do you know that?" Stiles asked, a burning in his voice.

She glanced at him, looked down at her hands, and then back to Lydia. She had factored in the repercussions of what she was about to do over and over in her mind on the drive there. But she had already decided to do it, and there was no going back now.

Not after they knew that she knew about the supernatural, and everything that had happened the past few days.

"I don't know how I know things--... I just- I just do."

"Oh thats helpful. How are we supposed to belive you?" Lydia asked, and it was true. "You don't have to. I'm not asking you to."

"Oh, so we're just supposed to go along believe you aren't the- .. the Darach?" Stiles said it like he was both trying not to believe it but also like he had no other choice than to think it was Rhiannon.

Finally, she met his eyes. "If you don't trust me, fine. I wouldn't trust me either. Lock me up, then. Watch me. Next time a person is sacrificed, you can blame yourself for not letting me help you."

Stiles sucked in a breath at this and let go of her arm, which he hadn't realized he was still holding. Rhiannon turned back to Lydia. "The only reason I'm here is because I ran into one of your kind, Lydia."

There was a short moment of horrified silence. "One of my kind?! I'm not--," Lydia started incredulously. The look Rhiannon gave her cut her short. "You're smarter than that, Lydia. You know you aren't human. Not really."

Lydia sucked in a sharp breath, as if she had received terrible news. Which, Rhiannon supposed, she had. She wasn't human, and that must have been a shock to hear.

"Listen-- I don't-.. I'm not sure of what I know. I do know things. From the past. And things that may happen. But it's all like a blurry memory. Like a book I read once that I know the plot of, but can't remember the details. Some things come to me, and some don't. I'm not saying I know what I am, or if I can even tell you how to stop the Darach. All I know is that I can help you."

They sat in a heavy silence for a long time as they took in the information. Something had shifted in Stiles. He felt betrayed. How could she go missing for nine days, with himself and worse his father at fault? How could she just come back and know how to help Scott, know what Lydia was, and still expect them to trust her? He didn't. He didn't trust her, and that was all he knew. She was a liar, and something was off. "What..." Lydia said, and couldn't get the words out. Rhiannon put her hand on the seat in front of her and met the teenage girl's eyes. "You're a banshee, Lydia. You predict death."

--

There was a distinct feeling of being unwanted. The sun was setting slowly, and after Rhiannon had broken the news to Lydia nobody seemed to want to interrogate her anymore. She could feel that Stiles and Lydia both wanted nothing to do with her. She took her hint, and quickly made her way to the only empty bus seat. It was fine. She didn't need to be their friend. It had felt good to help them, though. To help Scott. To tell Lydia the truth. That feeling had been squashed by the mood that weighed on her. She knew they didn't trust, or like her. Maybe she had screwed up by telling them. Then again she didn't exactly have a choice. This stupid bus was her only way back to Beacon Hills. That is, if she made it in one piece.

Rhiannon thought about everything that had happened while she stared out the window. How she had ran into two different supernatural creatures in her attempt to escape Beacon Hills. She morbidly thought that maybe she was the beacon now. A horrific voice in the back of her head said, Maybe you are. You traveled through worlds. Who knows what sort of things you've changed just by being here?

This excruciating time alone also gave her a moment to collect herself and decide what her next plan of action was. And to try and sort through her memories enough to try and know what was coming next. She knew they were going to that haunted motel. That Boyd would almost drown himself in the bath. Isaac would hide under the bed. Ethan tries to cut himself in half. And Scott would very nearly light himself on fire. Stiles had saved him, that time. Would she have to sit by and let him? What would be the best way to help them all without disrupting the timeline and causing some sort of change in plot? Did this mean she couldn't help them?

It all felt wrong and horrible. Watching a Tv show was one thing. But actually being there was different. The timeline was different in real life.

Rhiannon looked down at her hands. Despite the great plethora of distractions, she could still see it. The blood on them. The smell of it. The sound of gurgling. The fading of light. She shook her head as if this would help her banish her thoughts.

"Hey." A voice said. She jumped, and turned. It was Scott, she looked around to find the bus was already empty. How had that happened? "Scott. Sorry- I- I got distracted." she said. He smiled, his bag slumped over his shoulder. He looked perfectly healthy. And like he didn't hate her. Stiles must not have spoken to him yet. He nodded and she got up to follow.

"Ya know, you have some questions to answer." Scott said, and to her horror when they stepped off the bus Stiles, Lydia, and Allison were waiting and watching her. She tried not to grimace and lolled her head to the side as if she were gravely inconvenienced by this. Which she was. It would require more lying. "Fine." She marched forward through them, and Stiles did a double take and caught up to her.

"You can't just-- walk away." he demanded. Rhiannon looked to him with a raised brow as the rest began to follow. "I'm not? Unless you want to talk about werewolves in the open parking lot," Rhi turned to Scott. "What room?" she asked.

Stiles stopped walking while the rest continued. He threw his hands up in exasperation and ran to catch up.

--

Rhiannon had been struggling to start this conversation for the past five minutes. They all sat on the beds, watching her pace until Allison evidently became fed up and said, "Wellll..."

Rhiannon sighed and turned to them. "Okay. Here goes."

She knew she couldn't tell the full truth, but she'd planned for this.

"Derek isn't dead."

The room went silent and Scott leaned forward in surprise. Evidently he at least believe her. The sceptical looks on the rest of them were enough to tell her she had to prove herself.

"Okay, okay. Maybe I need to start from somewhere better," Rhiannon said.

"I know things. Things about you all that nobody else knows. I don't know everything, of course, but- I do know some things. Like, for example, Allison-- I know you're family makes silver bullets with your family crest inscribed in them. You made silver arrowheads instead." She said, gesturing to her. Allison was taken aback by this, and the rest turned to her in confusion. Allison nodded. Evidently nobody else knew this fact about her.

"And, Lydia. Your grandmother's nickname for you when you were little was Ariel." Lydia blinked in shock at Rhiannon. Stiles stood up, as if this was too much, but Rhiannon laid eyes on him next.

"You had a hallucination at Lydia's party last year. It was your dad." But that was all she said about it, not wanting to bring up painful details of that memory to the attention of the room.

Stiles stepped back, and fell on the bed staring at her in disbelief. Rhiannon turned to Scott, but he looked more surprised by anything.

"The night Peter bit you, you dropped your inhaler. You haven't needed it since."

Rhiannon let them all marinate in these tidbits of information that nobody else knew about them. These pieces of truth that she hoped would convince them to trust her. Of course, Stiles didn't. "And what, do you think this makes us think your not the Darach?!" He demanded, standing up again.

"Derek is alive. He went to Jennifer's house, and she helped stitch him up. He's gonna be okay--," she started, but didn't know what to say about Jennifer. Could she tell them? Would it be okay?

She let the silence marinate. "You don't have to believe me now. That's fine. But you do have to know that we aren't safe here. Lydia- you have a bad feeling right? One you can't explain?" Lydia looked to her like Rhiannon was speaking to the choir and she desperately needed help. Rhiannon nodded at her reassuringly. "You're right, Lydia. This place is dangerous. We have to get out."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is totally insane?" Stiles demanded. "You just appear out of nowhere, saying all this stuff after you conveniently arrived to town right before the killings, and we're supposed to believe you aren't the Darach?"

Rhiannon had to admit, he had a point. She tried not to let his cold attitude hurt her feelings. "Doesn't seem like you have much of a choice right now, given that every werewolf in this place- Scott included- are about to have suicide-inducing hallucinations."

"WHAt are you TALking about?!" Stiles demanded. Rhiannon threw her hands up and turned, not believing this. She was telling the truth but he didn't believe her, and she had no way to prove the truth. "Fine." She finally said, and sat in the chair in the corner, crossed her legs and arms.

"I'll wait."

"You'll what?!"

"I'll. Wait."

She glared at him, and he glared at her back until his frustration peaked and he gave a yell and stormed out of the room. Scott quickly followed. Rhiannon huffed and turned her head, glaring at the back of the TV. She felt eyes on her and awkwardly turned to Lydia and Allison's attentive gazes. Lydia was appraising her, and Allison was watching her like she didn't quite know wether to ask her more questions or run away.

"What is a- a banshee?" Lydia finally asked, clearly not able to hold in her frustration. Rhiannon looked at her and her stony expression softened in sympathy.

"It's not a bad thing Lydia. It might be scary sometimes, but you can use it for good. It means that you know things that others don't."

"Like you?" "No." Rhiannon said quickly. "No, not like me. Your's are... different. And you can change the things you find out. You predict death, but that doesn't mean you can't stop it."

Lydia took the information in and seemed to turn it over in her mind. "Your scream helps. Sometimes you might... have the urge to just scream out your frustration or all the noise in your head. It can be dangerous if you don't learn how to control your power."

"My power?" Lydia questioned. Allion touched her friends shoulder and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Lydia. We can look into it when we get back."

"Deaton will be able to help you." Rhiannon added. "Much more than I can."

Lydia stood and walked to the bathroom to take a moment to herself. To Rhiannon's surprise Allison spoke to her.

"You knew about my mother. That I-- That I see her sometimes."

Rhiannon nodded.

"You also knew how to help Scott." Allison added. Rhiannon sighed and leaned her elbows on her knees, wringing her hands.

"I want to help Scott. I want to help all of you. I don't know if I can. I don't think I was supposed to, but... I can't not help you. It wouldn't be right." Rhiannon confessed, and it felt so relieving to get those thoughts off her chest.

"I know it may not feel like it right now," Allison said, with a gentle smile and soft gaze, "but you did do the right thing." Rhiannon smiled at her but it was more grim. She hesitated for a moment, but said the words.

"I know who it is. The dark druid." Allison was taken aback, but her attention sharpened.

Lydia had appeared from the bathroom and stepped forward, also listening attentively. Rhiannon looked at both of them. "It's Jennifer Blake. Your english teacher. She's performing a ritual-- to make her powers stronger. She's manipulated the events of tonight to try and get rid of the werewolves. To get them out of her way so she could continue her plan."

"So far, she's sacrificed Virgins and Warriors. Next, she'll try and do Healers, then Philosophers, and finally Guardians. With every threefold death her powers get stronger. She'll eventually be strong enough."

"Strong enough to do what?" Allison asked urgently.

"To kill Deucalion, and the pack of Alphas."

"Well, who is it?!" Lydia demanded. "Whose the first healer?" Rhiannon put her head in her hands. "That's the thing-- I don't know. I've been trying to remember but, it's like I said earlier. I can't remember some of the small details."

"Small details? Someone is going to die!" Lydia exclaimed.

Rhiannon could help the glare that she shot her. "Isn't it kind of your job to find out who's going to die next?" Lydia withrew sharply at the blow.

"That's if you're right about me." She said, but the room was heavy with the truth. There was something strange about Lydia. About her ability to predict death. To hear voices and ghosts.

"You know I'm not wrong. And if my powers only extend so far, then your's can fill in the gaps." Rhiannon concluded. It was pretty easy to pretend like her memories of a tv show were actually powers of predicting the future and knowing the past. And maybe they kind of were. Maybe she was some supernatural creature-- one that could travers the multiverse.

Lydia lifted her hand and turned her head, her eyes going distant as if she were trying to listen to something.

"What?" Allison asked. "Shh." Lydia said quickly as she craned her head to listen. She slowly approached the air vent above the bed, and lifted her ear to listen.

Lydia stepped back in a rush, her hand to her mouth. She desperately turned to them. "Did you hear that?!" She looked deeply disturbed.

"Hear what?" Allison asked. "The two people in the other room. They shot each other!" Lydia said, panic thick in her voice as the led the way out of the room. The two other girls followed closely behind her.

When they burst into the room and turned on the lights, they discovered it was deeply underway of a total reconstruction. Tools, drop cloths, and lumber took up the space of the room. Rhiannon gritted her teeth, noticing the very saw that Ethan would later try to use to cut himself in half.

"We have to find Ethan. We have to find all of them." Rhiannon said. Her voice was growing thinner and wearier by the second, and Lydia's shock and fear was enough to cause Allison to adopt the same level of urgency. "Allison, what is your great uncle's name?

"Great uncle-... uhh Alexander?" She asked. Rhiannon nodded. "And do you know how he died?"

"I-I don't know. My dad never talked about it."

Rhiannon nodded and looked to Lydia.

"Lydia, you aren't wrong about what you just heard. Grab the bible in the side table," she said, gesturing to the drawer. Lydia did quickly but was visibly confused.

Rhiannon took it and quickly flipped the front cover till an article fell from the book. Rhiannon crouched and grabbed it, holding up the title. 'Couple commits double suicide at Motel Glen Capri'

They both inhaled sharply.

"This motel is haunted. Allison, your great uncle was bit by Deucalion. He came here and killed himself so he would never turn into a werewolf. This motel has been haunted ever since, and any werewolf that steps foot here is in danger of being next." Rhiannon explained.

It was a lot to take in, but to Allison's credit she processed the information quickly. And unlike the boys, Lydia and Allison seemed to trust what she was saying now.

"Scott's in danger, isn't he?" she asked.

Rhiannon nodded. "And so is Isaac and Boyd. And Ethan. We have to get them out of this place before it's too late."

Allison nodded, serious like she was on a mission. Rhiannon was struck with the thought-- How does she do it? She's so strong and level-headed. Lydia's panicked expression moreso matched how Rhiannon was feeling.

"Here is what I know: Boyd is going to try and drown himself in bathtub, using a safe to weigh his body down under the water. Ethan is going to come in here and try to use that saw," she pointed to it "to cut himself in half." The two girls made horrified faces, but Rhiannon continued hurriedly.

"Isaac is hiding under his bed having a panic attack. And Scott... he covers himself in gasoline and tried to light himself on fire. Stiles saves him. Actually, he saves everyone." Rhiannon looked down at the floor in shame. She shouldn't have fought with him earlier. She shouldn't have let Scott and Stiles get seperated from them.

"We have to find Scott." Allison said with combined worry and determination. Lydia nodded. "We can split up and try to help them." "They won't be in their right minds. Only heat will help them."

"Heat?" Lydia asked.

"Burning them snapped them out of it. Like pain is the only solution. There were flares...? I don't remember where you got them from, but they worked."

"The bus. It has emergency flares." Lydia said. Rhiannon nodded, and they met eyes. This was it. Where Rhiannon's memory failed, Lydia filled in the gaps. In that moment, Rhiannon felt a connection pass between them. A mutual understanding.

"I'll go find Scott and Stiles. Lydia, you go to the bus and get the flares. Rhiannon, find Ethan." Allison barked out orders military-style.

Rhiannon nodded and pulled the lighter from Autin's cigarettes out of her pocket. She felt quite lucky that she had kept it.

They all turned and began to walk out of the room and ran straight into Stiles.

"Stiles? What are you doing, where's Scott?" Allison demanded. Stiles read the fear and urgency radiating off of all three of the girls.

"In our room, why?" Lydia cut by him and ran for the bus.

"What's going on?!" Stiles demanded.

"Take me to your room, now." Allison said.

Stiles looked to Rhiannon in both question and anger. That was when it happened.

Ethan was quiet and distant when he approached them. He didn't say a word and his eyes were glassy. He was gone.

Rhiannon stepped forward, struggling to make the lighter catch flame. He shoved her to the side as she tried to block his entrance to the room. His strength was too powerful, and Rhiannon was thrown to the side so hard she caught air. Thankfully, Stiles caught her just in time. She grabbed onto him desperately but her lighter had flown out of her hand and into the parking lot.

Allison acted quickly and ran into the room after Ethan, and Rhiannon did the same as soon as she got her footing. The sound of a saw turning on. Rhiannon's heart leapt into her throat. Allison grabbed onto his arm, and Rhiannon ran forward to help. Thankfully, Stiles reacted quickly too and grabbed his other arm. "The heater!" Rhiannon exclaimed. Allison and Stiles didn't seem to need any further instruction.

They used all their strength to throw him into it. He landed harshly and exclaimed in pain as the smell of burning flesh wafted into the room. In the process, the saw was thrown to the floor along with Stiles. Rhiannon's body reacted before her mind could, and she grabbed his arm. His face came within inches of the saw. She used her body weight pulled him up. The saw came to a stop, and Stiles stared at it in disbelief, looking back up at Rhiannon, who still held him desperately.

They were all breathing heavily and Ethan staggered back. "What just happened?!" He demanded.

"Get back to your room and stay there." Allison demanded as Rhiannon helped Stiles to his feet. "What the fuck?!" Stiles demanded. He was breathing heavily and shaking. "They're hallucinating Stiles. They've been poisoned by wolfsbane-- all of them."

"We have to find Scott." Allison said, more urgently now. Stiles nodded, and looked to Rhiannon. "I'll go find Isaac and Boyd. What room are they in?" She asked.

Thankfully, Stiles told her.

As they ran out the door, Lydia had made it back with two flares in hand. Rhiannon grabbed one and so did Allison. "Come on," Rhiannon said, and Lydia followed her to Boyd and Isaac's room. Stiles and Allison ran the opposite direction to find Scott.

When they got there, the door was open. Boyd was standing in the bathroom, holding the safe and about to step into the bath. As Rhi ran, she ripped off the cap of the flare and struck it hard.

It lit on the first try, and she made to Boyd who had two feet in the bathtub. She used it like a weapon and pressed it into his side. The safe dropped with a loud THUD and he let out a roar of pain. When he turned, his eyes were aglow and canines sharp. He came to, and looked around in confusion.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

Rhiannon turned and handed Lydia the flare. "Under the bed," she inscructed and turned back to Boyd. He looked in better shape, and had stepped out of the water.

"Wolfsbane. You're gonna be okay."

A yelp sounded in the bedroom and they rushed out, finding Isaac standing up from the floor and Lydia crouching down, still holding the flare even though it had gone out. She looked to Rhiannon and Boyd.

"You okay?" Rhiannon asked Isaac. He eventually nodded, but looked shell-shocked.

"We have to find Scott." Lydia said, standing up.

The two boys followed them out as they rushed to Scott's room. When they burst inside, Rhiannon let out a breath of relief when she found Allison clutching Scott in her grasp as she held him. Stiles was holding a still-lit flare.

After a few moments of that sweet relief, Rhiannon turned and walked out of the room. She thought about how thankful she was that they had gotten there before he'd gotten his hands on any gasoline. About how all of them were safe, and okay. Stiles had followed her out without her even noticing. She could really go for a cigarette. He looked at her as she leaned against a pillar, calming her breaths. "You saved them." Stiles said. That was all he said. Rhiannon finally turned and looked at him. "I wouldn't have been able to without Lydia or Allison."

She looked to where Lydia stood watching her in the doorframe, and Isaac and Boyd who were both doing the same now. Rhi stood back up. "Come on, let's get your stuff. It's gonna be a long night's sleep on the bus."

--

Rhiannon hadn't been mentally prepared for Stiles grabbing her arm and pulling her to the side as they loaded up into the yellow school bus. But she didn't protest-- she was too worn out.

"My dad thinks you were kidnapped. So did I." he said.

Rhiannon shrugged, but knew this wouldn't be enough so she said, "I wasn't lying about the wendigo, if that's what you're asking."

"Did you run away?" He asked. There was hurt in his voice, and for the first time Rhiannon considered that Stiles might have blamed himself after she had disappeared. At the time, she had been so angry with him that it didn't matter.

She thought about telling him what she had planned to tell the police upon her return to Beacon Hills. The story she had rehearsed over and over in her mind.

She decided against it when she looked into those brown eyes.

"I- I thought that Beacon Hills was dangerous. And it is..." she said, before continuing. "I tried to get out. I didn't want to hurt your dad. Or you. I- I didn't really think about anyone but myself. I just didn't want to get caught up in all this supernatural business and get myself killed. But it seems like the supernatural business just followed me anyway. I ran into a woman after I escaped Austin-- the wendigo."

His eyes told her he needed an explanation. "I thought he was a regular person, but he, uh. He wasn't. And then I saw this woman. She told me--... she told me to come back to Beacon Hills. To find Scott McCall. I think... I think that's the only way I can stay alive in this world."

She looked up at him before he could get a word out and quickly said. "You can't tell your dad."

"I know," he started, but she interrupted.

"No, you can't tell him I ran away. I... I know it's a lot to ask. You already have to lie to him so much about all this." and she gestured around, referring to the supernatural world. "I know it isn't easy for you. But I don't want him to think I ran away because of him. He was good to me. He took me in without question when he didn't have to. I didn't want to leave, but I was scared of what would happen if I stayed. And it wasn't his fault, or yours."

He sucked in a breath, listening despite clearly wanting to say something. She continued. "I want to stay with you."

This statement was totally awkward, and Rhiannon quickly followed up. "I mean with your dad, and at your house. I think... I think I was supposed to. Like how I think I'm supposed to help you now. Like there's a reason I'm here."

"You can't lie to police. They'll know."

No they won't, I've done it before. But she didn't say this thought.

"I want to try. I'll come up with a story. I'll tell the FBI agents it isn't your dad's fault. That I want to stay. But I need you to help me."

She waited in anticipation. He eventually nodded slowly. "Fine. But only because you saved my friend's lives. And I'm still not buying that you aren't the Darach."

Rhiannon held up her hands. "I don't doubt it. I'll tell you everything I know." Not everything, but he doesn't have to know that.

Stiles sighed.

"By the way, the wolfsbane is in Coach's whistle. Next chance you get, get rid of it."

Stiles nodded begrudgingly, and they boarded the bus.

"So is anyone gonna tell us who that is?" Isaac asked, gesturing to Rhiannon.

--

When they got off the bus, the police were waiting. Rhiannon had told Stiles to call his dad and tell him that Stiles had found her. Upon sight of Mr. Stilinski, she was caught off guard by a hug. Mr. Stilinski grabbed her and his son and pulled them in tightly. Rhiannon hesitated, and then sunk into the embrace. It felt good to actually have someone who was happy and relieved to see her.

When they pulled apart, he inspected her. She must have looked as ragged and dirty and smelly as she felt because his face was etched with worry. He then turned to his son, holding his face and neck in one hand and clapping him on the shoulder in the other with a proud sort of smile that only a father could muster for his son. "Good job, son."

Stiles blushed and looked down bashfully. "I didn't mean to find her. I was on a cross country trip."

Rhiannon smiled and elbowed him in the side playfully. "He did though."

"Actually, we have a few questions about that." an FBI agent said, stepping in much less friendly than Mr. Stilinski had. Rhiannon nodded, expecting this. "You too," they added to Stiles, who had begun to step away. Rhiannon looked to Stiles and sent him a reassuring smile, and Stiles in turn nodded back. They'd discussed the plan on the ride there, and knew they would both have to answer questions. It took a couple hours of questioning. The entire time Rhiannon had demanded from both the agents and CPS that she stay under the care of the Sheriff, who she said was the most fit to protect her after the events of her 'kidnapping'.

She covered the events that had occured, continuing to stick as close to the truth as possible. She didn't disclose the gory details of her murder, or of her running away. She instead claimed he'd apprehended her in the street with a cloth to her mouth, and when she came to she was riding in a car, tied up and gagged. She described a story of how she escaped from the truck when they had pulled over off the highway.

"I ran through a ditch. I fell, but kept running. There wasn't anything around-- not even a gas station. I didn't know where I was. I kept screaming for help. I thought maybe there had to be someone around. But it was nighttime. He pulled around and cut me off with his truck. I tried to run around it but he grabbed me by the wrist."

She held the bruised and swollen wrist in her hand as she spoke. Everyone in the room was eating it up, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. Especially when she dipped into the memory of the real terror she had felt during Austin's attack. His bloodthirsty stare with those soulless empty eyes. The teeth dripping with drool. Head cocking to the side as he cornered his prey.

She let the feeling bubble to the surface, and didn't have to fake the terror that came with it. "He had a knife. I-I kneed him... between the legs. He let go of me so I grabbed his head and brought it down onto my other knee. He was on the ground. His face was bloody, and he dropped the knife. I grabbed it. He started to try and come up again so I- so I stabbed him... Right here," she pointed to the crook of the neck. It wasn't true, she had stabbed him through the neck, but the details didn't matter.

"I was bloody, but I ran to the truck. I was scared he would get back up again, so I drove off down the highway. In the opposite direction we came from. I didn't have a phone, or know where I was going. I was going to pull over, but I saw a sign that said Beacon Hills on it. I didn't know how far it would be. I ended up driving for a long time. I got tired, though. I almost fell asleep on the highway. I stopped at the next rest stop I could. There weren't any cars, and I was too scared to get out, so I fell asleep in the truck.

When I woke up, it was daytime. There was a school bus, and that's when I saw Stiles and Scott and their friends."

"Your friends didn't want to call the police?" One of them asked.

"I asked them not to. I wanted Stiles to call his dad. The rest of the police don't matter."

They all glanced at each other. She had said this last part with a bit of venom.

Sheriff Stilinski himself had been asked to sit this testimony out due to his interfering biases, but Rhiannon refused to speak unless he was in the room. He said, "Rhiannon, I know you've been through a lot, but if you're ever in trouble you should contact the authorities. They're here to help you."

"No, your here to help me. Stiles is here to help me. They just hold me in little rooms and ask me questions I've answered a million times. They treat me like I'm crazy."

Her adamant biases in favor of Sheriff Stilinski and his son were purposeful. They weren't necessarily false-- she did like them. But she needed to make it clear that she had no intention of cooperating if the sheriff wasn't involved.

She had to make it clear that the only person who could help her was Sheriff Stilinski.

It took hours. Stiles and Rhiannon were both kept separate. Stiles' questioning seemed to go well though, because at the end of the day Rhiannon had returned to the Stilinski household after a hospital visit and some strict lecturing from both CPS and the sheriff himself.

The FBI had immersed themselves in the new investigation of Austin. Rhiannon had both given falsified and biased information about him. They had found the truck, which matched her story. But she wanted their discoveries to end there. If his body was found... she wouldn't know what to do.

It was a long night, and when Rhiannon finally thought it was over she heard a knock at her door. She crept over and opened it an inch. Stiles stood there with pursed lips.

"What?" She asked.

"Let me in."

"That's inappropriate."

"You owe me an explanation if I just-," he harsly whispered, "lied to the FBI for you."

Rhiannon could see in his eyes that he wasn't backing down. She stepped aside and he shoved his way through, closing the door behind him very quietly.

"Didn't your dad tell you that you weren't allowed to come into my room?" She asked him.

"How do you know that?" He demanded.

"I didn't. But now I do."

He gave her an exasperated look but gestured his hands around for her to speak. He was so expressive that Rhiannon knew what he was thinking at just about all times. She sighed and sat on her bed. The comforter was fluffy, which she normally didn't like, but ever since she'd begun living there she had grown fond of it. Stiles stood, but she waited for him to finally sit on the bed next to her.

"Listen-- I don't know what I am. I don't know how I got here or what I'm doing here. All I know is I can help you and your pack."

Saying it felt silly, but he didn't cringe so she continued. "For example, I know who the Darach is."

He held on to her words. "It's your english teacher. Jennifer Blake."

He blinked at her and she spoke so he didn't have to. She told him everything that she'd told Lydia and Allison the night before. About the sacrifices, and how she didn't remember details. About Lydia's powers and how they could use them to try and find out who the next victim was.

"The veterinarian that Scott works for? Deaton. He's an emissary. Well Jennifer used to be an emissary too. For a different pack. The female alpha? The one with the claws and is always barefoot?"

Stiles nodded.

"Well, she didn't kill Jennifer. And after she survived, Jennifer decided to take it upon herself to get revenge on them. Deucalion in particular. With each trio of sacrifices, she gains different powers. And with the next round-- the healers? She'll gain that power. The power of accelerated healing. And when she finishes all of them, she'll be powerful enough to kill Deucalion."

Stiles processed the information and Rhi could almost hear the cogs turning in his mind. "We'll need to talk to Deaton. He'll know more about everything than I will. He'll be able to help Lydia hone her powers. Maybe he'll even know something about where I came from and what I am."

She said this last bit knowing that it was the partial truth. Of course, she wasn't a supernatural creature, but maybe he had heard of people traversing time and space.

Maybe he was the key to getting her back. The key was here in Beacon Hills all along. Stiles took in this information slowly. Which was funny to watch, because Rhiannon didn't even know Stiles could sit still for so long. Finally, he said, "Okay. Tomorrow, we'll talk to Deaton."

==

Notes: Thank you! I love seeing you guys interact with my posts. I'm glad she's back at Beacon Hills now. Six episodes into season three already. You guys are getting a little taste of the 'fix it' aspect of this fic. Rhi's got a lot of opportunities to change things, so I'm excited to pan that out. The gif at the top is how I imagine Rhiannon to look-- grey eyes and brunette hair. She's a model named Andreea Diaconu. Obv I've had her and others describe her looks to be insanely beautiful so it only makes sense she looks like a model.

PART SEVEN

[sourmiguel]

With or Without You by @gingersnapwolves (wc62556, teen)

Summary: Derek thinks that the mating rituals are overly romanticized bullshit, but claiming a mate and defending them from challengers is something werewolves do, and his pack can't afford to appear weak after the fire. Especially not when Deucalion and his friends are in town for the rituals. Enter Stiles Stilinski, who offers to let Derek claim him so he won't be overrun at the ceremonies. Nothing goes as expected.

I really like this worldbuildling, the whole mating process, etc. I love Laura in this, too, and Gordon (OC) is great. A very good read.

[maria021015]

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s not safe to be out alone at this time of night?” Zaida taunted with a satisfied smirk. “There could be dangerous people lurking in the shadows.”

Deucalion chuckled in amusement, his healed eyes landing on her as they finally came face to face for the first time since that night on the hospital roof. “And here I was wondering the same thing about you.”

Zaida didn’t waste any more time on small talk. Instead, she launched forward, flicking her wrists outward and calling upon the water until two sharp ice blades lay clutched in her fists. She sliced at Deucalion, one arm aiming for his head whilst the other tried to take a jab at his stomach. He dodged both attempts with superhuman speed but Zaida didn’t let that slow her down. She came at him again and again, stepping forward with each attack, driving the wolf backwards until he was almost completely flush against the brick wall of the alleyway. Like she had told Stiles weeks ago - she was done running. She was done living in fear. Tonight she would take control - tonight she'd write the end of that ghastly chapter of her life. Tonight was the night that Deucalion would get what was coming to him.

With Deucalion pinned against the wall of brick, Zaid lashed out with a series of slashes. She thought that surely she had him now that he was cornered, but his reflexes were faster, and he still managed to weave away from her blows. Zaida cried out in frustration as her knuckles scraped against the rough surface of the wall, drawing blood with a sharp sting. With a swift turn, she was the one with her back against the wall and he stood in front of her without so much as a hair out of place whilst her chest heaved from exertion. Shifting into a defensive position, she narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to make his first move. Only…he never did. He just stood there watching her with a strange expression behind his eyes.

“What are you waiting for?” She egged him on, encouraging him to hurry up and get on with it. The anticipation was eating away at her, piece by piece. However, Deucalion simply stared.

Zaida growled in frustration as she shot towards him once more, only this time her blows landed precisely as she’d wanted them to. Her makeshift blades left deep rakes in the werewolf’s chest and stomach, staining his clothes crimson as the skin beneath healed rapidly. He did not move to defend himself - instead, he closed his eyes as if he were relishing the pain, and it only further sparked Zaida’s ire. What was he playing at?

“What are you doing?” She growled at him, shoving him with a double-handed thrust to his chest. He stumbled backwards a few steps but still did not answer her. Nor did he retaliate. He'd not tried to shift to the offensive even once, and now he was refusing to even defend himself.

Her anger only grew with her confusion and she instinctively reached out with her powers, feeling that buzzing connection as the water bonded to the blood that ran within him called to her like a siren's song. She drew the energy within her, following the flow and grasping at it. Deucalion's eyes widened as his lower limbs collapsed beneath him, forcing him onto his knees before her. He grunted softly, his face twisting into a pained expression that only gave Zaida the satisfaction she had been craving. But she didn’t stop there. Tugging at that flow of energy, power thrummed through her veins. It felt electric - almost euphoric - as she gave in to those primal instincts. She still didn’t cease her onslaught - not even when blood began to seep from Deucalion’s eyes, dripping from his ears. That was new. Yet still, he did not try to resist her.

“Fight back!” She screeched, tightening her hold, and more crimson liquid spilled from Deucalion’s nose, pouring down his face. She hadn’t initially meant to draw on his blood - she hadn’t even known she was capable of such a thing - but now that she had started she didn’t want to stop.

“No,” He gasped weakly. “If you must kill me to feel better then I will let you have your revenge.”

His words cleared the fog that had taken over her mind, the red draining from her vision as she released her hold on him in surprise. The thrumming energy dulled a quiet hum. “What?” Her brows drew together in a confused frown. She had prepared for a dozen other scenarios, but none of them had come close to that.

“You look like her,” Deucalion gazed up at her from the ground, blinking away the blood as it rolled down his cheeks. “Like your mother. I didn’t want to kill her - I didn’t want to harm either of your parents - if you can believe that. I cared about them deeply.”

“You’re lying,” She scoffed, but when she sought out his emotions she felt a wave of intense guilt wash over her. It was almost sickening.

“When I lost my eyesight, one of my betas turned on me. That was the first time that I spilled blood, but it wouldn’t be the last. I spent years getting drunk on the power that killing awarded me. I was consumed by it.” He elaborated, hanging his head low with shame etched into the deep lines of his face. “But still, I had no intention of hurting your parents. I wanted them to join me. Having heard of what I’d become, when I arrived at the beach house, your mother attacked me, and I…I lost control.”

“You actually expect me to fall for that?” Zaida sneered at him, her own fury igniting at the mention of her parents. How dare he even speak of them after what he had done? “I saw what you did to my parents - their bodies were mutilated.”

“I know that I cannot ever atone for my sins,” Deucslion’s tone was full of emotion - a stark contrast to the cold and calculated attitude she’d come to expect of him. “And I’m not asking for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I am truly sorry, for what you were forced to endure at my hand.”

“So what, you want me to believe that you’ve been following me for weeks to…apologise to me?” She rolled her eyes, not buying into what might very well be an act - a ploy to lower her guard. “What is this? Some elaborate hoax into tricking me into joining your pack? Or some half-baked attempt at gaining my trust so you can kill me too and take my power?”

“I have no pack - not anymore. Scott McCall not only restored my eyesight, but his character has reignited the vision of peace I once had. I was a lot like him for a time, and I’d like to be that person again.” Deucalion explained and Zaida could feel the truth behind his words. “I have seen the destruction my actions have brought and I want no further part in it.”

“Why have you been following me?” She questioned, peering at him through untrusting hazel eyes. She couldn't bring herself to believe anything that was coming out of his mouth. A deep urge inside her still begged for blood to be spilled - if not to save herself, to avenge her parents.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s not safe to be out alone at this time of night?” He called back to her earlier jab with a slight glint of mirth in his gaze. “I’ve been looking out for you. I owe your parents that much, at the very least.”

“I don’t need your protection, and I don’t want it,” Zaida clenched her jaw, her temper rising. When she looked at the man before her all she felt was hatred, yet she could feel his emotions and she knew he was being genuine. It left her confused and conflicted, forcing her to fight back against the voice inside her that was coaxing her to simply finish the job she had sought out to accomplish.

“I can see that,” He chuckled lightly, something akin to pride shining in his expression as he looked up at her. At the softness in his eyes, she knew she couldn't go through with it. She was a lot of things, but a murderer was not one.

“The next time I see you, I will kill you.” She promised through gritted teeth, hoping it was enough to ward him off as she turned her back on his bloodied form.

“Zaida,” Deucalion called after her and though she did not look back, she did pause to listen. “You hold the same darkness within you that your mother fought so hard to suppress. Don’t allow it to control you…the way I did.”

“I don’t need your warning either,” The brunette shot back stubbornly, leaving him behind in that dark alleyway. She found herself considerably more shaken than when she had started out on her journey that night. However, one thing was for certain - the man that she had faced was not the same man that she had met on that rooftop.

Zaida tried to sleep when she got back to the apartment, but instead, she remained wide awake, tossing and turning uncomfortably. She was unable to get the events of the night out of the forefront of her mind. The sight of Deucalion with blood pouring from almost every orifice, refusing to fight back even though she was well on her way to killing him, sat like a dead weight in her stomach. The guilt that she felt this time was entirely her own - she’d let herself get carried away, overwhelmed by the powerful thrill that her actions had brought. Maybe Deucalion had been right to warn her against her own darkness.

It very quickly became clear that she would not be getting any rest anytime soon, so Zaida swung her legs over the side of her bed, reaching for her joggers and pulling them onto her feet. She needed to clear her head, and it was that which led her out into the dead of night once more, allowing her feet to carry her along the well-trodden path through town and into the Preserve. When she’d started going for jogs months ago, it had been incredibly difficult for her to keep her breathing under control, but now it was almost like second nature. Once she fell into that familiar rhythm of her shoes hitting the ground like a steady drumbeat, everything else fell away.

The path she usually ran looked different now than it did in the daytime, but she didn’t feel as uneasy travelling at night as she would have expected. It had become somewhat normal over these past few weeks, though there was that aching void within her at her loss of the routine she had fallen into with Stiles. He still hadn’t called her about his nightmares since their talk that day - hell, they still hadn't spoken to one another one-on-one since then either. She’d come to miss their private moments, but she couldn’t really complain as she had been the one to ask for space. Still, there was something about being out in the middle of the night that made her feel close to him, and she couldn’t quite place her finger on why. That was, until she heard his voice and saw the flash of light up ahead.

“Is it just me, or are you getting a sense of extreme deja vu?” The boy was asking as he trudged through the woods, intercepting her path. Zaida’s jog slowed to a walk as she followed the noise, breaking through the thick bush to lay her eyes on two familiar figures.

“Wait, someone else is out here.” Scott paused, his head tilting upwards to take a long sniff of the air, likely having heard her footfalls. Whipping around, he locked eyes with the brunette, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “Zaida? What are you doing out here?”

“Zaida?” Stiles repeated her name in surprise, whirling to catch sight of her as she approached.

“I could be asking you two the same question?” She arched a brow at them inquisitively.

“We’re looking for a body,” Stiles answered simply.

“A dead body.” Scott clarified, and Zaida knew they were talking about the corpse of Malia Tate.

“Yeah because that worked out so well for you the first time.” She snorted sarcastically, falling into step beside them. “How’d it go with the Sheriff?”

“I couldn’t get a strong enough scent at the house,” Scott admitted, shining the light of his torch to illuminate their way.

“Hence why we’re wandering aimlessly about the woods looking for the wreck,” Stiles added. “Why are you out here?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” She shrugged dismissively, not wanting to get into the ‘Deucalion’ of it all at the moment.

“So you decided to go for a jog by yourself? In the middle of the woods? At night?” The boy shook his head at her in disbelief, unable to help himself when his concern for her spiked. “When Deucalion is still on the loose?”

“I don’t think he’s is going to be bothering us again,” She admitted, surprised at the truth behind her own statement.

“What? Did you see him?” Stiles’ ears perked up in alarm, his head shooting towards her.

“Something like that,” Zaida nodded with pursed lips. “I think Scott’s actually right though - he seemed…different.”

“Yeah, sure,” Stiles muttered sceptically, always the least trusting amongst them all. A brief silence fell over them all before he continued, changing the subject. “You know, if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet…”

“I know.” Scott let out a long sigh, indicating that it was something that had already been weighing on his mind.

“If it turns out to be something, like, triplets that form into, like, a three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that,” Stiles whispered.

“Yeah, me, either. Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore.” Scott shook his head, and all three of them jumped when a loud howl broke through the quiet. Stiles jerked, instinctively grabbing onto Scott, causing the boy to drop his phone. The device went tumbling down a short hill, splashing into a puddle.

“Nice one,” Zaida commented, overtaking the two boys to slide down the steep slope, bending over to pick up Scott’s phone.

“Sorry, buddy.” Stiles’ lips pulled into a thin line as he winced. “I hate coyotes so much - they always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless little animal.”

“It still works,” Scott commented as Zaida handed the device to him, the screen lighting up.

“Let me see the flashlight.” Stiles held out his hand, and the werewolf handed him the torch, allowing him to shine the light over the silhouette of an upturned, rusted car that had clearly toppled into the ditch. “I think we found it…”

“Uh, why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?” Scott wondered aloud as he followed the boy’s lead, approaching the wreck.

“Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out.” Stiles shrugged, bending over to peer at deep scratches in the aged metal. “Look at this - see those? Animal claws would be closer together, right? A lot closer.”

“Five fingers…” Zaida added, splaying her hand and running it along the marks.

“Then it was a werewolf.” Scott raised a brow at the evidence.

“So, my dad was right…” Stiles whispered grimly.

“What is that?” Scott asked, his eyes landing on an object inside the car. Reaching in, Stiles pulled it out to shine the flashlight onto an old doll.

“Well, that’s creepy as fuck.” Zaida’s body shuddered as a shiver ran up her spine.

“I'm hungry.” The robotic voice of the doll caught them all off guard as it spoke the pre-recorded message. Stiles screamed and dropped the doll to the floor as Zaida clamped her hand over Scott’s arm, her heart thundering in her chest.

“I think I just had a minor heart attack.” Stiles gasped and wiped his hands off on his clothes.

“No kidding,” Zaida nodded in agreeance, taking in a deep breath to soothe her racing pulse.

“Hey, guys...?” Scott pulled their attention away from the children’s toy, staring off into the distance. “Please tell me you see that.”

Following his line of sight, Zaida could only just barely make out the figure of an animal standing and watching them - only its eyes seemed to glow blue. “I see it,” Stiles confirmed.

“Me too,” Zaida swallowed thickly, her voice quieting so as to not disturb the animal. Without wasting another second, Scott went bolting off towards the trees, causing the creature to run.

“Wait, hey, Scott! Scott, wait!” Stiles called out after his best friend, but the werewolf had already disappeared, leaving both of them alone.

“Should we go after him?” Zaida questioned, hugging her arms around herself. It was safe to say that she was thoroughly spooked.

“Nah, he’ll be back,” Stiles shook his head, crouching to pick up that doll, shoving it into his jacket pocket.

“You’re keeping that thing?” Zaida wrinkled her nose at it in disgust. She’d always hated dolls.

“It could be evidence,” He reasoned, but was swiftly interrupted by another loud howl, causing him to jump and grab onto her arm. “Oh my God!”

“There, there,” Zaida smirked in amusement as she patted his shoulder, and he pulled away sheepishly.

“What? They’re freaky,” He defended his actions, shaking off his fear as they waited for Scott to reappear. Scanning the treeline with the beam of the flashlight, they found they couldn’t see any sign of the alpha.

“Maybe now we should go after him? What if he’s in trouble?” Zaida expressed her concerns in a quiet voice, shifting from one foot to the other to expel her nervous energy.

“Yeah,” Stiles relented with a stern nod. “Yeah, okay.”

Leaving the wreck behind, the two of them ventured further out into the woods - far off the path that Zaida usually took. The tension between them hung in a dense cloud, and Zaida contemplated whether or not she should say something for several minutes before actually breaking the silence. “So…how’ve you been?” She asked as she climbed over lifted roots, gripping onto tree trunks for support.

“Really?” He raised a brow sceptically at her attempt at small talk, shooting her a curious look over his shoulder.

“Okay, you’re right. That’s probably not a great question to ask, I know things are pretty shit right now. It’s just, I feel like we haven’t really properly talked since…well, since the other day.” She mumbled awkwardly, unsure of how to approach the subject.

“Which day was that?” Stiles asked, unable to hold back his mischievous smirk.

“Oh come on, Stiles, you know what I’m talking about.” Zaida rolled her eyes, already knowing exactly where this joke was going.

“No, no, just remind me - refresh my memory. Was it the day the cafeteria was serving tacos? Or the day that Greenberg almost made Coach cry?” The boy started prattling on about insignificant recent events and Zaida glowered at him as she swung to lightly slap the back of his neck admonishingly. “Ah, okay yup, it was the day you confessed your undying love for me.”

“Think again, Stilinski, I’m pretty sure that went the other way around.” She scoffed, although her cheeks flushed red.

“Okay fine, it was the day that I finally grew the balls to tell the amazing girl that I care about exactly how I feel about her. How’s that?” He dropped the charade and his lips pulled into a genuine smile that made Zaida’s heart warm.

“Better,” Zaida relented with an approving nod. She couldn’t argue against that one.

“Well, I’m not avoiding you, if that’s what you’re asking.” He finally circled back to her original statement - after he’d teased a shy grin forth from her lips. “I just wanted to give you some space and some time to figure things out, you know? And with everything else going on…”

“I just don’t want you to think that you can’t still lean on me when you need it,” Zaida explained the concerns that had been playing on her mind. “I don‘t want things to become awkward between us or anything. We were pretty freaking great friends before all of this developed, and I don’t want us to ever lose that.”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying,” He nodded along in enthusiastic agreement, grunting slightly as he pulled himself up a steep incline. “I don’t want that to change either.”

Zaida parted her lips to respond, but instead what came out was a sharp and sudden shriek as the foliage beneath her shoes gave way, causing her ankle to crumple and sending her sliding down a ditch.

“Zaida!” Stiles yelled after her, but the sound was muted by the crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs as she rolled onto hard ground.

“I’m okay!” She called back. Laying on her back, Zaida found herself staring up at a rock ceiling.

“Wait a minute, I think you found something,” Stiles commented as he slid into the small cave, reaching out to offer her his hand. She gripped it and allowed him to pull her into a seated position, shifting her legs under her to crouch in the shallow space. They were in a small and mostly hidden alcove of rock, the floor lined with torn and worn-out fabrics almost like a makeshift mattress. “It's a coyote den.”

“Werecoyote.” Scott corrected, his voice echoing into the space from the entrance. “It’s Malia,”

Both Stiles and Zaida looked at him in confusion. “The coyote…is Malia?” Stiles stared at his best friend blankly. “The little girl whose body went missing eight years ago ?”

“Well, we did see its eyes glow blue,” Zaida tilted her head as she dusted off her clothes, not seeing it as such a far-fetched theory. “It could be her.”

“Yeah, but that means that…” Stiles trailed off, connecting the dots. “She killed her own family and has been living in the woods since it happened.”

“Maybe she didn’t kill them on purpose - maybe she lost control,” Scott suggested, eyeing the nest before them.

“You see this?” Stiles shuffled forward, still crouching, to point out a blue puffer jacket amongst the mess of fabrics and toys. “This is Malia's. Remember? It's the same one she was wearing in the photo.”

“So it is Malia,” Zaida shook her head in disbelief. Werewolves, everyone had heard of, but werecoyotes? That seemed a bit out there even for her.

“...We shouldn't be in here.” Scott realised, moving further into the cave and kneeling by Stiles’ side.

“What do you mean?” Stiles questioned with a confused frown.

“She's not going to come back now. We just invaded her home - our scent's going to be everywhere.” The werewolf elaborated.

“He’s right. When coyotes smell that other animals have invaded their den, they temporarily abandon it - depending on the threat level of the animal.” Zaida added, recalling the fact from an animal book she’d read as a child during her zookeeper phase.

“But she’s not a coyote, right? She’s a girl,” Stiles corrected them both.

“A girl who has been living as a coyote for eight years - that’s almost half of her life. After that long in animal form, how human do you really think she’ll be?” The brunette wondered aloud. If the coyote with the glowing eyes that they had seen was really Malia, then somehow she’d managed to shift not just into a half form as most shapeshifters did, but completely into an animal. The only other instance of such a thing that they had heard of thus far was Talia Hale. And Laura. And Peter. Maybe it was a genetic thing? Some families had it and others didn’t…

“If she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?” Stiles highlighted Malia’s probable lack of options. Beacon Hills wasn’t known for having any elaborate cave systems.

“I don't know…” Scott admitted with a half-shrug, holding his hand out for the torch.

“Can you track her now? You think you got her scent?” Stiles asked and handed the flashlight over to his best friend.

“Maybe...But I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf…” The alpha slowly looked over the items once more with the light. “And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back.”

“The door's still open.” Stiles muttered bitterly and a chill ran down Zaida’s spine once more, her painting flashing in her mind’s eye.

“One more so than the rest,” She commented, and both boys glanced at her inquisitively, waiting for her to continue with an explanation. “It was something that I painted without realising it - three doors in a garden wall. Two were ajar, but the centre one was almost wide open with something waiting on the other side. At the time I thought it was just a painting, but now…I think it might be a warning.”

“That’s new,” Stiles cocked a brow at the foreign ability and Zaida grimaced.

“Tell me about it,” She sighed tiredly, crossing her arms over her chest. “So what’s our next move? How do we go about saving a girl who's been a coyote for almost a decade?”

“That sounds like a question for people who know a lot more about this stuff than we do.” He pursed his lips with a dark gaze behind his honey eyes.

“The Argents?” Scott suggested hopefully.

“They’ve got enough going on as it is,” Zaida shook her head. “Plus, this seems more like Hale territory.”

“That’s if we can get hold of them. No one’s heard from Derek - or even Peter - since they left to take Cora back to her old pack.” Stiles pointed out.

“If I can't get through to Derek, we're gonna have to find someone else to help.” The werewolf’s brows drew together as he considered their options. “This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of my boss' league…”

“...And more in my dad's.” Stiles finished his best friend’s sentence.

“Stiles, we’ve gotta talk to your dad.” Zaida looked at the boy. They indeed had a supernatural mystery on their hands.

“Why is it that you three are always finding yourselves in messes?” Xander narrowed his eyes disapprovingly as Zaida as he walked past them, on his way to examine the coyote den himself.

“Believe me, professor, I’ve been asking myself the same question for six years,” Zaida snickered at her own joke, quoting one of her favourite movie series of all time. Her brother just shook his head at her in disappointment before he moved on. She knew that later they’d undoubtedly be having a conversation about why she was out in the woods in the middle of the night.

“You're sure it was her?” Noah Stilinski asked them, approaching from where he’d just pulled himself out of the cave after investigating.

“I looked her right in the eyes, and they glowed, just like mine.” Scott nodded in confirmation.

“All of us saw it, they glowed bright blue, just like Derek and Peter’s.” Zaida backed the werewolf up, the red and blue flashing lights of the police cars around them illuminating their determined faces.

“It makes sense, Dad.” Stiles tried to convince his father.

“But it wasn't a girl - it was a four-legged coyote, right?” The man clarified, still attempting to wrap his head around the situation. Admittedly, it was a lot to grasp - especially for someone as new to the supernatural as the Sheriff.

“Well, okay…” Stiles searched his mind for an answer but came up empty-handed. “But yeah, see, that's the point that we don't exactly have figured out yet.”

“Okay, but if it was a full moon, and she did change while her mom was driving, then anything could have happened-” Scott jumped to the next part of the explanation, which was unravelling the mystery of the crime.

“-Horrible things could have happened! Ripping, shredding, tearing things-” Stiles interrupted, but Zaida quickly cut him off with a warning glare.

“-Which is probably what caused the accident!” Scott finished for his best friend.

“Think about it Dad, all right? They're driving. Malia starts to change. She goes out of control, the mom crashes, and everybody dies-” Stiles began to set the scene with a dramatic re-enactment.

“-Except for Malia,” Scott interjected briefly.

“She blames herself, all right?” Stiles nodded fervently. “Goes off running into the woods, and eventually...becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote.”

“That makes sense…” Noah indeed slowly, transitioning into a harsh whisper. “In a Chinese folktale!”

“We know this sounds a little far-fetched,” Zaida grimaced, but the man held his hand up to stop her.

“Honey, this isn’t just far-fetched. This is-this is insane.” He corrected, checking over his shoulder to make sure none of the other officers swarming the scene could overhear them. “I need this kept quiet. The three of you? Not a word. I don't want anyone hearing about this. I especially don't want Mr. Tate hearing about this.”

The man’s gaze scanned across all three of them, landing on Scott, who seemed in somewhat of a daze. “Scott?” The Sheriff tried to recapture the werewolf’s attention. “Scott!”

“Sorry…” The boy tuned back in distractedly. “What did you say?”

“Ahh, Sheriff?” Zaida chewed lightly on her bottom lip in apprehension as she recognised one of two figures approaching the crime scene. “I think it might be a little late for that.”

Turning to look at where Zaida was pointing, Noah groaned when he caught sight of Raphael McCall leading Mr Tate towards them from the cave. “Aw, hell…” He cursed and nodded to the two men by way of greeting. “Mr Tate.”

“Mr. Tate?” Agent McCall checked in with the emotional middle-aged man beside him - Malia’s father - as he clutched a rolled-up article of pink clothing that had been retrieved from the den.

“It's hers…” The man confirmed with a weak voice, his pitch wavering slightly.

“All right, wait here.” Raphael moved to leave but Scott stepped forward to intervene.

“Dad-” He attempted to talk to his father but was quickly cut off with a steely glower.

“I'll talk to you in a minute.” The agent interrupted. “I wouldn't mind hearing how your mom's okay with you running around in the woods this late.”

“Like you have any right to play parent when you were missing for half his life,” Zaida shot back at the man, growing moderately defensive. He had no right to judge Melissa when she was the parent who had stayed and was objectively a great mother.

“It seems to me that you wouldn’t know much about parenting, Miss Callis. Living with an irresponsible sibling who disappears and allows you to do whatever you want can hardly compare.” Raphael narrowed his dark eyes at her, and though her blood thrummed in her ears at his insult she held his stare challengingly. Stiles slipped his hand into hers, squeezing supportively and pulling her backwards slightly so he could step forward. Sheriff Stilinski quickly intervened before his son could bite back, calling Raphael over and away from them and Mr Tate.

“Can you listen?” Zaida asked Scott, wanting to hear what was clearly a terse exchange of words. The werewolf shook his head, still unable to control his powers. However, it was easy enough to hazard a guess at the general gist of the conversation. Agent McCall was swooping in on the case, and Sheriff Stilinski was fuming.

[spongyspingy-rising]

in honor of Worldbulding Wednesday, I out together a little directory to help people know what to ask about! my lair is currently a huge mess because I'm in the middle of rehauling a lot of my lore, but almost all my dragons that are NOT in sales, intake, breeding pairs, wayside inn, or junkbox, have lore! that said...

I'm currently trying to focus on building:

⚔️ Blackminster / Naramorr - my most 'hot mess' tab right now, I'm slowly building this lore as a gen1 exclusive foray into Actual Fr Lore (and I have pivoted away from Morsallis I decided to make that a separate au in my brain... ) (YES Iskal is still here don't worry about it) but I haven't fleshed it out much so. worldbuilding questions appreciated!

🩸 Blood-threaded - this is my clown ass obsession project. I've always liked linages. the first page of dragons have lore, but Deucalion and Calyci bear the bulk of it rn. I'm still trying to grind out proper bios for the guys on the second page, waiting for it to strike me...

but you can also ask about:

🕯️ Mothsgrave - not all the dragons in here have lore; actually, many of them don't yet! I love setting questions though, Mothsgrave is a small village on the edge of the Hewn City that often experiences touches of the Shade... something they have a specific village role for taking care of.

🧿 Godseye - this is a loose collection of Plague dragons, not all necessarily interconnected but largely existing in relation to each other. also a hot mess tab, the name is a placeholder based off an old lore idea I probably will not be using for this LOL

📜 Father Afield - my collab lore dragons! most of these are related somehow to dragons owned by @guardsbian. it's a special favorite out of my lair because I have a particular fondness in my heart for sharing/rping lore :)

please don't get me started on:

🗝️ Astramor - iykyk! anyone who is familiar with my old lore is welcome to ask about it because I still love it, but I'm trying to focus on it less for this wbw... it has run its course and while I might revisit it, I wanna play with new dollies :D

NEXUS - this is just my ocs. and my Alfis collection.

[bluecoolr]

@solmints-messyocdiary 's Odessa as the Harpy Wife and my Deucalion as the Warlord Husband :)

[the-ghost-bird]

Despite being conventionally attractive and knowing it, Deucalion secretely hates her body. Not because of any body image issues but because she feels her body is her prison

She's always felt contained.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

New-Ish ocs

Eve Dearly ( OUAT ) – Henry's twin sister, was adopted before Regina could get both babies, ran away from home and wound up in Storybrooke, the only person other than Henry to age or to realize that time is passing, adopted by Angel Dearly

Gabriel Whittaker / Klaus White ( OUAT ) – Snow's twin brother, Regina tried to have him killed in the Enchanted Forest and he's believed dead but he survived, lost his memories but is sure that if he can just meet Snow, it'll all make sense

Taken in by the Dumas family (Angel Dearly in the Enchanted Forest) and still lives with them in Storybrooke

Ginevra Maroni ( Gotham / The Batman ); x Bruce Wayne – Sal Maroni's daughter, looking to topple her father's criminal empire but has a very specific plan in mind and buts heads with Bruce over how to handle it

Helena Jackson ( PJO, TV verse )

Kirsi Tremblay ( PJO, TV verse ) – unclaimed camper of 5 years, originally from Quebec, sibling dynamic with Luke, unofficial co-counsellor of the Hermes cabin

Livana Gold / Amaris Pan ( OUAT ) – Peter Pan's daughter with a witch from Oz, she wants a child for bloodline magic & Peter basically wanted this child because he thinks if he sacrifices a child's heart from his own bloodline it will extend his own immortality, her mother found out about Peter's plans and went to Rumpelstiltskin for help, they make a deal for a protective charm in exchange for the child's name, the charm is designed that if she's ever in danger it'll bring her to him so he's raising her in Storybrooke, she ages at the same pace as Henry thanks to the charm

Malia Constantine ( Titans ) – bisexual british witch bitch, youngest member of the original Titans, didn't handle the group splitting up well and went a bit off the rails, now running cons to alleviate her boredom

Maristela Carrillo ( Harry Potter ); x Blaise Zabini & Theodore Nott – Slytherin Queen, knows what she wants and is not afraid to take it, stuck in the longest game of romantic chicken in the world with Blaise and Theodore

Michelle Beaton ( Gossip Girl ); x Blair Waldorf – Catherine Beaton's daughter (with Bart Bass, he doesn't know that), goes to the Hamptons with her mom and ends up in New York, Blair enemies to lovers

Veronica Bacall ( OUAT ) – Jessica Rabbit

Zoe Giardi ( Glee ); x Mike Chang – Kendra (Del Monico) Giardi's eldest child, cheerio, not part of the Unholy Trinity but friends with them, interested in trying out for Glee but her mom would hate it (so she convinces her mom that she should join to make sure Uncle Will isn't having an affair), Quinn would hate it (so she convinces Quinn that not only should she join but so should the Unholy Trinity so they can keep an eye on Finchel), and Sue would hate it (so she convinces Sue that the four cheerios should be her spies), but honestly she just wants to vibe

The Witching Hour ( Teen Wolf ) – extensive supernatural/hunter family verse, characters are still being named but currently have 16 characters cast

Originally part of the Calaveras, one man saw a young witch girl about to die in a witch burning, killed everyone who was part of it and then adopted her More defectors joined, not all related but consider themselves a family Hunt monsters, not the supernatural (would hunt Deucalion or Peter, would also hunt Kate & Gerard), take in kids whose families were lost to the supernatural world (supernatural kids whose families were killed by hunters, also hunters whose parents were killed by supernatural creatures, also kids who aren’t either but whose parents died in the crossfire) Travel wherever they’re needed but home base is in Argentina

Unnamed OUAT ocs:

also, recent-ish plot bunnies so I don't lose them all:

Mimi Morton (Glee)

Sutton Reeves (Glee)

Tracy Sinclair (Stranger Things)

Azaria Lynn (Twilight)

Coralie "Cori" Parks (PJO)

[more to come]

[noonaishere]

Masterlist of Older Works

These are all fics I wrote in 2020 and before.

I have tumblr versions of these on my main blog, symphonyofmars, but something happened with one of them where I fucked up some formatting or something and like half of a chapter repeats itself. I fixed it on AO3 but not here, so I'm only putting the AO3 links and I recommend reading them all there.

The works that are 18+ are clearly marked.

Redemption [Deucalion] (18+)

2016-2018

🌶️🔥Smut🔥🌶️

Fic type: traditional style

Pairing: Deucalion x fem!OC

Genre: Teen Wolf, canon complaint (mostly), AU (that starts after season 4), OCs

Warnings: paranormal violence, SMUT

Status: Finished

Ever since being let go by Scott and Derek, Deucalion has been in hiding. Except for the mercenary Braden, he hasn’t had contact with anyone in months and no one knows where he is.

Meanwhile, Scott and his pack are enjoying one of Beacon Hills’ rare quiet periods, but that is about to change. A grisly corpse is found and the hunt is on to figure out who – or what – the killer is before they can kill again.

House of the Dead [Malachi]

2018

Fic type: traditional style

Pairing: Malachi x fem!OC

Genre: Riverdale, AU, flashback, character past

Warnings: (none really, since it ended before things really got started)

Status: Unfinished but abandoned

This fic takes place after season 2. Malachi seemed like he was spiraling further out of control, but there was a time in his life where he wasn't. What was missing that made him so unhinged? How did the Ghoulies form and who formed it? And anyway, who doesn’t want to be the most powerful woman in the room?

[Sorry, this one is never getting finished. I liked writing this, but it was an experiment to see if I could return to a work every week to update it and the conclusion was: I can't. Writing a fic all at once like a book is the way to go, for me. It was also originally going to have smut, but I was editing Cold Hands Warm Heart at the same time as writing this, and that one ended up winning all my attention in the end. I do want to repurpose some of the OCs for an original book (and maybe even this version of Malachi since he's so OOC per the show), so they at least won't go to waste.]

Cold Hands Warm Heart [Loki] (18+)

2018-2020

🌶️🔥Smut🔥🌶️

Fic type: traditional style

Pairing: Loki x fem!reader

Genre: MCU, Marvel Comic Universe, AU, heroes (and characters I like) never die

Warnings: assault, extraterrestrial violence, copious amounts of fashion descriptions, raging against the machine, existential crises/angst, sass, SMUT, BDSM

Status: Finished

From my AO3 descrip: "This fic takes place in some weird space after Infinity War in which Loki didn’t die and had just faked his death AGAIN, because I refuse to believe he’s dead." So it's canon compliant up until a certain point lol.

Three Weeks [Henry Cavill]

2020

Fic type: traditional style

Pairing: Henry Cavill x fem!reader

Genre: real life AU

Warnings: none, mentions of quarantine and coronavirus

Status: Finished

The Reader is a script writer on The Witcher 2 and begins a budding romance with the lead actor, Henry Cavill. However, coronavirus is going around and no one is prepared. Love in the Time of Corona?

[This is partly inspired by all the footage of people finding ways to deal with the quarantine I saw at the time, and partly by the way the first season of The Witcher was told where; Geralt was in the past and Ciri was in the present (did I get that right? lol) and the two timelines overlapped at a particular point. It left me wanting to try doing that, you can be the judge of if I succeeded lol.]

Anyway, that's them. If you decide to read them, please comment 😊 I know they're old, but I still like hearing what people have to say, it gives me motivation 😊

Enjoy! 🥰🥰🥰

[griffin-wood]

something new.

ps: just thought of it and now I'm yearning to write sum siblings dynamics, let's freaking go. also implied, rus x apollo; the babies. and the second gen of kaia. (also, rus is sarah's oc, ty for letting me explore them heehe) forgive the grammar mistakes, this is literally written immediately without no proofcheck. :") AND uni is killing me a little bit, but some..treats in between the stress cause sob, i hope ur well <3)

tags: @yakov-vasilyev @wayhavenots @ambrosykim

The day isn't too busy for one apollo zarneki, he sits by the counter and went through his recent read. Something about the folkloric tales, and finally continuing his reading of the illiad that he borrows from his dad. The scribbles and annotations in the book was special, as he reads and did some quick research during his downtime at work.

To him, working at a bookstore feels equivalent to living a simple life. He adores being surrounded by books, and from time to time; he find it endearing seeing couples and group of friends come in to discuss the books in between the shelves and nooks of his tiny little haven.

There's always an old couple would sit by the window of the shop, they both can be seen reading together, spending their mundane time together. He always longed for a love like that, someone that shared the same interest in books as he does, to whispers sweet nothings in between the bookcases and reading in each other's grasp. A dream he always wanted to reach, as he saw the dream can be possible through her parents, Kent and Maia. They made his believe that love was real, yet when he's close to finding it everyone just wanted something lesser than him, and it made him stop believing at some point. But, he never stops wishing for it despite his twin keep teasing him about it.

He continue to read his book, only to hear some sighs in between the shelves. He wonders if he can lend a helping help, as the book was left upside down to the place where he left off and makes his way to the shelves. A particular shelve was his location, where he saw a stranger, looking quite stressed in finding a particular book from the shelves.

"may I help you?" He smiles politely, trying his best to help a customer in need. Thankfully the store is not as busy as it always is at the moment.

The customer turns around with a small smile, the demeanor he's giving off to Apollo was a shy quiet looking fellow. "I'm looking for a particular.. tale of Deucalion and Pyrrha. Some friends of mine recommended to come here since the selection is..a lot."

His eyebrows raised in surprise, that's the first he heard someone ever been so specific.

"Duecalion and Pyrrha? That's the first actually I've heard someone acknowledge their existence." He quips in surprise but not in a bad way, it's the best surprise.

The stranger just smiles at that suprised as well at finding someone who is familiar, "It's actually for my thesis, I'm writing on the folklorian myths of the Greek Gods."

Now he's intrigue, as the golden retriever boy says excitedly "god, that sounds amazing. I would love to read your thesis someday!" And then he realizes, he's too excited. He mentally scolds himself at that and smiles.

The stranger seems shy by the outbursts but presented a small smile, as Apollo notices and mentally scold himself again and again. "I am so sorry for the outburst, but I think I know what exactly you're looking for."

Apollo immediately grabs the ladder and climbs on top of the shelves grabbing a particular book, that was written specifically on that tale. He managed to befriend with most of the indie book publishers and many of them manage to give some of the rare copies to his shop.

"I believe this is the one you're looking for." He passed the book to the customer, who's smile widens at the sight of the book. It seems like he hit the jackpot. He wants to say something more, but he couldn't help noticing how in the midst of six billion people in the world, he met someone who actually has something in common with him. He has to say something, he have to!

"and by the way, I'm Apollo, and fun fact, was named by one of the Greek gods." He introduces himself with a funny looking grin, as the customer finds it quietly endearing but his reaction didn't give it away.

"I'm Ruslan." He says softly, a polite tone from him made Apollo smiles. The silence that follow was a bit awkward, but he couldn't help but want to know more about him but there's this fear of actually looking overbearing and terrified of scaring him away.

"nice to meet you ruslan, and hey let me check the book out for you." He says and leads Ruslan to the counter, where Apollo begins to do his duty of the cashier of the quiet bookshop alone, as Ruslan notices the books on his countertop. The Iliad and the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and this particular edition was limited.

He notices Ruslan eye-ing the books, and he smiles at that. "I am still half way through the Iliad, Homer had too much to talk about apparently." His words seems to poked fun and tease as he made Ruslan chuckle quietly.

"Homer's thoughts were unique, but some historian does question the authenticity of it." Ruslan adds seemingly an expert in the area of study, making Apollo smiles at the familiar knowledge.

He passes the paper bag, after putting some freebies and bookmarks from his shop as Ruslan pays. He gives him one last smile before he disappears from the store, leaving an awe-struck Apollo sighing happily. He maybe has found a new crush, which is quite early to tell. But he hopes someday their paths will cross again.

-

After his shift is over, he made his way back home to his parents for the weekend since his siblings are finally coming back home. Atlas is back from a backpacking trip in Spain, and Maria is back from college for the week. While his own twin, is also back from her abroad adventures for the semester holidays.

"you're late for dinner." Atlas says as Apollo steps in the house, earning greeting from Kent and Maia as well.

"Forgive me brother, there was a whole accident by the side of town. I had to take a detour." He says happily before sitting by his twin, before nudging her at the shoulder.

"miss me?" He prompts to Ari with a grin.

As she rolls her eyes, "Nope, I already missed the London air."

"Good to have you back too, sis." He says smiling as they all ate the food together as a family.

Once the night has grown late, the siblings decide to have a movie night of their own. He is tucked in within the blanket of the couch but his thoughts still follows the customer from earlier, he hoped his thesis went well. And their conversation keeps on replaying in mind.

"earth to apollo!" His thoughts were interrupted by Maria looking worried and a grinning Ariadne.

"you okay?" Maria asks softly, her hand squeezing his shoulder a little.

He quietly sighs, "you guys can see right through me huh?"

"of course, one of us got telepathic powers, and i literally live with you in the womb. So, we do." Ari says, nudging him a little.

Atlas observes his little brother for a moment before chuckling, "somebody's got quite a new infatuation huh?"

The younger one feels his cheeks redden, as the girls break into laughter. "Oh my god, you are crushing on someone!"

"I am not!" "You are so, who is this new fantasy man of yours huh? Didn't Rooney from last month supposed to be a good lesson mister?"

Apollo feels his cheeks redden, as Maria just gives him a quick squeeze. Despite everything, he knew his twin came from a kind spot, its just what they did. The banter.

"Okay fine, there's...this guy. He literally knows one of the rarest greek myths and he was so cute!" He exclaims excitedly and sighs, remembering their little encounter.

"and what's the myth about?" Maria voices squeak in between the conversation, all of the siblings are filled with curiosity at this point.

"Deucalion and Pyrrha!"

Maria's eyebrows perk in intrigue, "i remember that one, dad mentioned it years ago."

Apollo nods excitedly at that, "I mean, maybe he's one of the many that knew...but, something about him. I feel like I can burst into song right now."

Atlas just shakes his head at that, as Ari rolls her eyes at the enthusiasm.

"Well, did you even try to get his number?" The twin quips in curiosity, before apollo shakes his head.

"I..well, I didn't think it through and panicked, so I didn't."

Atlas pats his back at that, "hey, maybe one day; you'll meet him again. All that fate and stuff happened to me and Jaime, maybe another miracle can happen to you too."

Maria pushes a strand of her hair before smiling, agreeing what Atlas is saying. Ari seems to be reluctant to agree, "Do you really think the guy's legit? What if its just another repeat Rooney."

At the mention of the cursed name, he shives slightly.

"Rooney was straight up, forgive my language. An arsehole." Maria agrees, as the guy in Apollo's past used him most than actually loving him.

"I believe this time would be different...it feels, different." He whispers slightly optimistic in his voice at that. He didn't know what to feel, since he's not a mind reader, or a future reader unlike his sister. But, something about this new guy, screams much better than Rooney ever would be.

Ari stares at him a moment, and knows how he always be. The optimism in the little guy never died. "Fine, I'll wish as well for the mystery guy to return. And also, what was his name?"

"Ruslan." He announces to the rest and sighs, maybe it can be something or nothing. But, he'll never know if he never tries.

And then, it happened. Fate was written within them once more, when he sees his familiar form in between the shelves of the bookstore. This is a sign, a sign of something bigger and better.

The start of something new, better.

THE END.