NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Guess who's back! YAAY! I had to take some time off to recharge and recover from a major bout of Writer's Block. During that time, I read tons of fanfic, and Jessica619's Into the Woods series caught my fancy. This story is a continuation of that series, and I strongly recommend that you read the stories that Jessica's written to bring yourself up to speed. Those include (in order), Playing With Fire, Into the Woods, Out of Time, and Taken. Otherwise, you'll be lost.
I asked Jessica if I could use her ideas from that series, and I got her permission. She was also gracious enough to provide me with some spoiler-ish content for the latest episode in this series, Taken. Since Jessica is placing Taken on hiatus with many of her other works in progress, I thought it would be a cool idea to continue the series with this work.
UPDATE: Looks like Taken has been updated. I'm still going forward with my continuation, and it'll be cool to read and compare each story.
Which brings me to…
DISCLAIMERS: Not my characters. They are the property of WWE. Original Into The Woods series is the property of Jessica619, and concepts, ideas and some turns of phrase are used with permission.
Sacrifices
By Debwood-1999
Prologue
Agartha was in ruins.
Everything was scorched and burned. Trees were snapped like matchsticks. Ponds and streams and lakes were dried up and nonexistent. What used to be grassy fields and hills filled with wildflowers were now hills of dry dust and fields of dirt. The once grand castles and cozy pack houses and cabins and quaint cottages were reduced to rubble. And the Wyatts—what was left of them—were piles of bones and ash.
And it was all the result of the actions of a greedy, monstrous man and his pack, and the machinations of his evil seer:
Shortly after his "wedding" to Nova, Bray Wyatt entered Roman into an underground fight tournament, where wolves would fight each other for money and supremacy. To Bray, however, the tournament wasn't a tournament so much as it was a means to destroy the Reigns pack, as well as others whom Bray considered a threat. The collared Reigns males were easy pickings for Bray in his wolf form, and a collared Roman had no choice but to fight a newly captured Seth and Dean to the death. After they were slain, their respective mates were handed over to the Rogues for their pleasure.
Bray faced Roman in the final showdown. To ensure that Roman would fall in defeat, he cheated and used Asuka's power to dismantle the last Reigns.
The sight of her soulmate lying on the ground, broken, bloody and nearly dead, was too much for Nova to bear. After holding back and trying to be strong, she finally snapped. She let her Phoenix emerge.
As Bray celebrated his victory and demanded blind, unconditional surrender and servitude, Asuka made her move. Now that the Phoenix was unleashed, Bray was no longer needed. She removed the bracelets that bound Nova and Bray together and uncollared Roman. By the time Bray realized that he was no longer bound to his "wife," and that Roman was uncollared, Asuka and Nova were long gone.
A horrified Wyatt realized too late that he'd only been a means to an end. Asuka had betrayed him.
Unaware of the seer's treachery, a now uncollared Roman took his Hellhound form and slaughtered Bray and the rest of his pack of dirty wolves. During that bloodbath, Asuka took Nova to anyone who could possibly stop the wicked seer from controlling the Phoenix.
Her first stop was Silvermist, where the remaining Reigns pack was camped.
Nova, now under Asuka's control, killed the women and children, and the fairies who were guarding them. Most of them were innocent, and their deaths were quick and painless. Others, namely Nova's parents and their witch friend, weren't so fortunate.
Nova's Phoenix burned Paige alive, ripped out Bryan's heart and crushed Brie's throat before turning her attention to bigger prey.
By the time Roman realized his mistake and returned to Silvermist, his remaining pack had been decimated. The ones who managed to escape the massacre fled to the human world, never to return.
The body count continued to climb as Roman continued his desperate pursuit. Drunk on power, Asuka used Nova's Phoenix to destroy the Undertaker, Kane and the Druids. The Council, the Basilisks, and Nova's grandparents met the same fate when they tried to stop her.
At the end, it was just Nova, Asuka, and Roman. Asuka tried to force Nova to kill Roman, but one last shred of humanity kept her from committing that last evil act. Instead, Nova briefly broke free from Asuka's control and turned on her, literally vaporizing the evil seer.
Finally, she turned on Roman, blaming him for putting her into such a perilous situation. He didn't protect her like he said he would he would, and now he would pay.
Roman was heartbroken. The girl he helped protect during her childhood, the one he'd been destined to claim and mark as his own, was gone. In her place was a hurt, angry, murderous, vengeful spirit. Nova had been so traumatized by her ordeal with the Wyatts that her Phoenix had taken complete control. She would never return.
He took his Hellhound form once more, hating himself for doing so, but knowing that it was the only way he could end Nova's suffering. But before Roman could deliver the killing blow, Roman's demon Finn appeared and took the broken Alpha to the Underworld.
To blunt the pain of losing Nova to her Phoenix, Roman began collecting souls for his demon. Collecting wicked souls was like cocaine for Hellhounds. Roman became addicted, and as his addiction grew, he lost more and more of his own soul. Neither he nor Nova had any memory of who they were, or of what they meant to each other.
A group of survivors hid from Nova underground. They wanted to kill her as retribution for what her Phoenix has done, not only to Agartha, but to their friends and loved ones. They even had a plan in place, but the Phoenix was far too powerful. She'd kill them before they had a chance to blink, let alone carry their plan out.
One of these survivors was Bray's own daughter.
Bray Wyatt was responsible for forcing the Phoenix out in the first place, but he and his pack were little more than ash and bone. Since Abigail was Bray's daughter, that would have made her guilty by association. The survivors could have used her to take out their fury on.
But they chose not to.
In Abigail Wyatt, the survivors could sense deep remorse and regret. A feeling of sorrow and heartache. Her father had been responsible for the destruction of Agartha, not her. And she'd lost people that she cared about as well.
It was this remorse that led Abigail to emerge from hiding with a meager bag of provisions to take with her on a long journey to her father's land, in an effort to find something to fix the catastrophe that her father had brought.
She knew it would likely be a suicide mission, but she just couldn't stay underground. Living in fear was no way to live. If she died, then at least she would go out bravely.
She was pale but resolute.
She was ready.
~~~AGARTHA~~~
The land was so burned and desolate that no landmarks could be seen to help Abigail navigate. But she identified the hills and valleys and found her father's territory.
Abigail fought the urge to break down and cry as she pawed through the rubble of what used to be her father's cabin. After going through what was left of his books and maps, she found what she was looking for. A map to the Eastern realms.
The Eastern realms lay far away from Agartha, untouched by Asuka and Nova's wrath. It was also where Asuka and her brother lived. Bray's seer, Asuka, was gone of course, reduced to vapor in the final battle. But maybe her brother could help.
Everything that Bray had written about Shinsuke Nakamura was unfavorable. Bray called him a demon, a monster who refused to use his magic the way that Bray wanted. Of course, Shinsuke's magic was the benevolent variety. He used it to help and to heal. His was the complete opposite of his sister's.
And it was exactly what Abigail was looking for.
The Eastern realms was several days' journey from what was left of Agartha. It would involve a trip through the dark woods-or what was left of them. Getting to the dark woods would take some time. The landscape was so blackened and scorched, there were no landmarks to help Abigail navigate.
Sighing, Abigail put the map to the Eastern realms the inside pocket of her cloak. The sooner she got there, the sooner she could find Shinsuke and fix Agartha.
"Who are you?" snapped a cold, female voice.
Abigail turned and a figure stepped into view. It was female, and she was thin, almost emaciated in appearance. Her skin was pale, almost white, and deep circles were carved under her red and black eyes. Her waist-length dark hair looked dry and brittle.
It took Abigail a moment to recognize the wraithlike figure in front of her. "Nova?"
"Who are you, speak now," Nova commanded.
"My God, Nova! What's happened to you?"
Nova's red-black eyes narrowed into slits. She held up her hand, and it lit on fire. "Who are you, I won't ask again!"
"My name is Abigail, I'm Bray Wyatt's daughter ..."
"WYATTS!" Nova shrieked. "I thought they'd all been destroyed by the Hellhound."
"Destroyed?"
"The Hellhound decimated the pack. Deservedly so, especially since your father raped Nova and destroyed the Reigns pack. He wanted so badly to become the ruler of all of Agartha. Of course, he teamed up with the wrong seer. And that didn't end well."
"This isn't you, Nova..."
"NOVA'S NOT HERE!" The voice was loud and shrill.
Abigail tried to take a step towards Nova-the Phoenix- but a burst of energy knocked her off of her feet and sent her sailing. She struck the trunk of a tree- what was left of it-and tumbled to the ground. Her face scrunched up from the pain that bloomed in her back, and her eyes rolled back in her head.
A moment passed, and then a groan escaped Abigail's lips as she caught her breath and sat up. She suspected that this was just a warning shot; if the Phoenix had thrown her any harder, her spine might have cracked.
Abigail was undaunted. "I don't wanna hurt Nova. I wanna set things right. Let me help her."
"LIAR! You don't want to help Nova, you want to control her. You don't think I've heard the stories! Bray Wyatt is responsible for all of this! He did this! What's to say that you won't do the same to me and Nova?"
"No! I'm not like him!" Abigail fired back, desperately. "What my father did was reprehensible, and I am so sorry for what he did to you, and Nova, and Agartha. I know that Nova's still in there! And I'll get her back, and I'll fix this."
"NO! I promised Nova that I'd never let anyone hurt her again, and I won't break that promise." The Phoenix glared down at Abigail, her red-black eyes standing out in incendiary relief against her paper-white skin. Abigail thought she saw a spider web of veins on her face and arms. The Phoenix was draining Nova's body of its life force, and Abigail feared that it was only a matter of time before Nova was completely lost.
"No, stop! Look what you're doing to Nova! You're killing her!"
"I'm not killing her!" spat the Phoenix. "I love her! She's safe, and I'll never let her be hurt again!"
"But you're hurting her by keeping her like this! Try to remember what things were like before all of this went down," Abigail tried to reason. "Nova had friends, a family, people who loved her! She had a mate who would lay down his life for her-"
"THEY WERE ALL WEAK!" The voice that burst from Nova's mouth echoed and screeched in Abigail's ears. "Nova's parents were useless! They tried to stop her from exacting revenge. So I ripped her father's heart out of his chest. Then I crushed her mother's throat. Serves her right for not telling Nova the truth."
"That wasn't your doing! Asuka was using you-"
"SHUT UP! THAT DOESN'T MATTER! THEY WOULD HAVE HURT HER ANYWAY!"
"It was an impossible situation," Abigail tried to point out. "My father and his seer made sure of it. But I wanna fix it if you just let me!"
The Phoenix continued, ignoring Abigail's words. "Roman offered himself in exchange for the Reigns women when your father kidnapped Nova. A misguided attempt to protect her and save his pack, and we all know how that played out. Some mate and guardian he was-"
"My father and his seer had his powers bound," Abigail explained. "It wasn't his fault, they were too powerful-"
"He could have found another way, but he didn't!" the Phoenix bellowed. "He deserves to be in Hell for what he didn't do! He deserves to spend eternity hunting down wicked souls. It's the only thing he's good at! And as for the rest of his pack, the ones who didn't escape… well, let's just say I have a nice collection of fur rugs and winter coats."
Abigail shuddered at the implication behind the Phoenix's words.
The Phoenix continued. "The Council wanted to kill Nova. Said she was a threat to Agartha. They didn't want to help her, like they claimed. I saw them for the control freaks they were. I even gave the Council a choice. Disband their group and bow to me. Submit or perish. I'd be their judge, jury and executioner."
The Phoenix let out a wry laugh. "Of course, you can see how that played out. Anyone who could do Nova harm, I took care of. Anyone who dared to stand in my way, I took care of as well."
Abigail swallowed the painful lump in her throat. "This is no way to live."
"Yes it is!" cackled the Phoenix. "Life without the Council is so much better. So much easier! I'm everything! Judge, jury and executioner. No boundaries! No rules, except one. Bow to me. Doesn't that sound fantastic?"
"No!" Abigail shook her head vehemently. "That doesn't sound fantastic. It sounds horrible. Without rules, there's chaos. There's destruction. Look around you. This is what happens when there are no rules! The Council was in place for a reason. Maybe you didn't agree with their decisions, but they were there to maintain order."
"ENOUGH!" screeched the Phoenix. "I'm getting tired of arguing with you. I'm giving you an ultimatum. Bow to me…"
"No." Abigail's voice was steady.
"Do you value your life that little, Abigail? I said, bow to me!"
"And I said, no!"
The Phoenix raised her hand again. The flame surrounding it grew brighter and hotter. "Last chance, Abigail Wyatt. BOW TO ME, OR YOU'LL SHARE THE SAME FATE AS THE OTHERS!"
Abigail's voice was quiet, but firm. "Then I guess you'll have to kill me, because I'll never bow to you. Not like this."
"Very well, then." The Phoenix looked almost disappointed. "I'd hoped for a moment that you'd realize the futility of your argument and join me. But you're just like your father was. Ignorant and foolish, and persistent to the point of self-destruction."
Abigail watched as the Phoenix drew her flaming hand back as if she was about to pitch a baseball. She had no doubt in her mind that the Phoenix was about to deliver a killing blow. "At least I can leave this world knowing that I tried to help."
"I don't need your help. Nova doesn't need your help," hissed the Phoenix. "She has me, and that's all that she needs." A sardonic grin flashed across the Phoenix's face, "Tell your father hello for me."
Abigail let a sob escape her lips. She shut her eyes and lowered her head. I'm sorry! she whispered, just as …
A sudden flash of light lit up the bleak sky, and a clap of thunder made the air vibrate with its power. Before anything else could register in Abigail's head, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her up off the ground.
You're safe, I've got you, a soft voice assured her, before everything went black.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Hopefully my extended hiatus from FFDN didn't hurt my writing any bit. Good to be back!
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