Gale walked back into the room, in her nymph garments. They were ceremonial garments whenever using tremendous amounts of strength or power. It was a long piece of grey cloth that wrapped around her left shoulder and breasts, before spiralling around her stomach to cover her ass and each thigh separately. Though no signs of a clasp or button were to be seen, the piece of cloth held firm to her body, stretching and moving with it. Her champagne hair had been taken out of its braid and now fell down to her lower back. Her feet were bare, and she gave a small shiver as she stepped on the cold, dark grey floor.
The tubs were filled with water, ice, and the herbs she prepared. She walked over to Deaton as he began speaking to the would be sacrifices.
"All right. What did you bring?" Deaton asked. Stiles, Scott, and Allison nervously looked at one another.
"Um, I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great," Stiles said. His eyes were glossy as he spoke.
"Well, it doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton comforted. Gale pulled her hair onto one of her shoulders, revealing a large spiral scar on her back. Deaton began spread the juniper paste on it.
"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked, drawing everyone's attention to the small object in Allison's hand.
She gave a small nod. "My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code," she said.
"Scott?" Deaton said. He had finished applying the paste, and boy, did it burn. Gale kept her eyes shut tight, scrunched her face in pain.
"My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked," Scott said.
"Okay, the three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially, well, dead, but it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether. Gale can hold you in place, but you need someone to pull yourself back to." As Deaton explained this, Lydia and Allison shared a smile.
"Lydia, you go with Stiles," Deaton said. His voice left no room for arguing.
"Are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under," Allison said as she looked at Isaac than back to Scott.
"It's okay," Scott said. Scott looked at Gale as Isaac turned to her as well. She avoided their gaze and focused on the floor; her tether to Isaac was of no importance right now.
"What is Gale going to do?" Scott asked as he slowly pushed his body into the burning cold of the tub.
"She'll stand at the foot of one of the tubs and keep the energy flowing to keep you alive," Deaton explained.
"Make the cut," Gale said. Deaton moved behind her and using a surgical knife, quickly stabbed it into her back before dragging it in the spiral shape. Gale shoved the aconite into her arm, and a gasp escaped her mouth because of the pain. She struggled to walk to the front of Scotts' tub, and she fell to her knees, grabbing at the metal.
"You're the alpha. It's the strongest connection out of the three of you," Gale explained. He nodded to her in acknowledge before turning to Stiles.
"By the way," Stiles started, "If I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something: your dad's in town."
Scott looked shocked for a second before allowing Deaton to push him under. Each of them gasp as their bodies start to die and their souls move out.
Gale quickly enacted her power, pushed the energy through the tubs and ground and air, everything to preserve them. She cried out, the power is tremendous, and as their bodies float upwards, Deaton signals for the tethers to let go. It's only been a minute, but Gale can feel herself becoming weak.
"They're supposed to be done by now, doc," Gale struggled to say. "I'm going to need more wolfsbane."
Her hands are clenched around the tub, her knuckles have long since turned white from the pressure.
"Why is it taking so long? Are they going to be okay?" Isaac asked.
Gale wailed in pain as Deaton injected more wolfsbane into her arm. Her skin is turning bluish, and her eyes are glowing all white. She's becoming the visage of a real nymph now. Gale feels the small horns poking out from her temples, as they break skin and push back above her ears.
"Deaton, more wolfsbane," Gale demanded.
"What's happening to her?" Lydia asked.
"She's transforming into her nymph form. Much like the transformation of a werewolf. She's exerting a lot of energy to preserve them," Deaton explained.
"She looks like she's in pain; is she?" Isaac asked.
"I am in pain," Gale snapped, "Thank you for reminding me."
"I can take some of the pain awa-" It's Deaton that cuts Isaac off.
"Do not touch her; it could disrupt the flow of energy."
Her skin was now a full pale blue and her eyes are all white. Her horns reminded Isaac of small, curved shells that sat upon her head. Her skin was damp with sweat. She smelled like she normally does, except now there's a different smell. It smells like power.
"How long are they going to be under? I thought it was only supposed to be a few minutes at most," Gale said. Her voice is a little deeper, more guttural, and Isaac would be lying if he said that he didn't find that hot. He shook his head, it's not the time to be think of her like that.
Gale knows that Isaac could touch her not disrupt the process. She knows this so well, it hurts. Jennifer had called it mating. It wasn't mating. That was werewolves. It was a tether, a connection. Gale was tied to Isaac, and that was that. He was her tether, her connection to the world of humans. If it was for him, Gale could find the power to do anything. Gale often thought about tethering, how one sided it was. She would never move on, and Isaac could be happy with anyone. Apparently that anyone was going to be Allison. She shook her head, pushing the thoughts to the back her mind.
"They should have been out by now," Deaton said. Gale could hear the worry in his voice. Because, yeah, they should have been out by now.
"Their souls are preserved, and I can keep them still for only so long before I have to let go," Gale said.
"Just give it a little more time," Deaton said as he walked out of the room. Gale thinks he might be going to research something, to find out why it's taking so long to find their parents and the Nemeton.
Lydia looked exhausted. They had been up all night preparing, and Allison, Stiles, and Scott went under in the early morning. It was almost noon, and it seemed like they weren't coming up for a long time.
Isaac watched over the two girls, not feeling the slightest bit of tiredness. Lycanthropy had its perks. He waited patiently as Lydia's eye began to shut. Once they did, he focused his hearing, and Isaac couldn't find Deaton. He must have left to get something.
It was an impulsive decision, Isaac made. He knew he shouldn't, but Gale looked weak. If he could take away just a bit of pain, give her just a bit of energy, maybe she could keep going. Deaton didn't say that helping Gale would certainly disrupt her. Maybe he could add a small circuit to it, help defuse the strain on the nymph.
Isaac walked over to Gale. Her body was tense, as she sat on her ankles upright, holding the edge of the tub for tremendous pressure. Isaac could see the small dents that curved around her grip. The nymph turned to look at Isaac, and before she could say a word, he had dropped down on his knees next to her. Isaac quickly placed his hands on top of hers and pulled the pain away.
Gale gasped. "Is-saac!"
"Did I ruin it?" Isaac said. Gale could hear the quickening of his heartbeat, the shake of his voice.
"No, it worked," she managed to say. Relief washed over Isaac as he sighed.
"It doesn't hurt so bad, when it's two of us, huh?" Isaac asked.
As the pain trickled up his arm, Isaac couldn't imagine feeling how much pain had been their before. As he examined the woman beside him, Isaac realized something: Gale wasn't letting him take half the pain like he had intended, maybe only a fraction or less. How had she even survived for hours on her own was a mystery to him."Let me help you, Gale." Isaac's voice sounded more like a growl.
"No," she answered. When she offered no explanation, Isaac pushed, trying to take more pain. He felt a slight bit more, but Gale was resisting.
"Don't take more than you can handle, Isaac." Gale sounded concerned, like she wasn't sure he would survive more. The pain was only that of a broken bone, but as a werewolf, those kinds of things hardly hurt anymore. "This is my power, this is my cross to bear. The help is appreciated, but if you take anymore, you could get dragged under like they are. I won't let that happen to you, Isaac."
"Okay." Isaac surrendered. He stopped pushing for more and more, and he let Gale lead.
Gale simply turned to look at him, and the smile on her face told him everything he needed to know. It was in that moment, that Isaac knew no matter what, he would always try to protect Gale. Sure, he was still attracted to Allison, and, no, he wasn't suddenly in love with Gale. But there was a sudden lightness inside him as he faced her. Isaac didn't know what this meant, but he felt a lot closer to Gale now.
Isaac let his mind wander, and suddenly, it was getting close to dark. Deaton still wasn't back, and Lydia was still asleep. Allison, Stiles, and Scott were still under. He looked at her, really looked at the nymph that was suddenly so important to their survival. He knows that he saw her all the time before they started interacting. Gale was always around, in class, at the game, in gym class, in physics, in French. Isaac always noticed her, knew her as the coach's daughter and a really quiet and shy person. Everyone knew she danced and ran track and cross country, but that was it. She hardly talked to the other students, and it seemed like Gale always had somewhere to be. Now, Gale was everywhere they needed her to be. Isaac couldn't have been more grateful.
He heard a car pull up, and Isaac knew it had to have been Deaton. He whispered as much to Gale before he ripped himself away from her and walked across the room to sit.
Deaton walked in the room and looked around, suspicious, worried, and confused. "They should have been out a long time ago."
"Do you think they're really dead?" Isaac asked.
"Don't underestimate me, Isaac. They're going to come out of it. I know it. Their energy is peaking; I don't know how to explain it. They're just, just more powerful at the moment," Gale said.
"That's a good sign," Deaton said. "We have seven hours until the full moon rises. They'll need to be back soon."
Gale tried to listen as Isaac, Deaton, and the now awake Lydia talked, she really did, but after more than twelve hours of constant concentration, Gale just didn't have it in her. Gale held steady, pained but steady. She tried to close out all thoughts but the task at hand, celestial preservation. Gale had never been able to keep someone this long, couldn't even keep her mother for ten minutes. Now, here she was keeping three people in a state between life and death for over twelve hours. Her mother would be proud. Her sisters would be proud. With new found energy, Gale pushed a little harder, pulled a little stronger, and held a little a tighter to the souls suspended in front of her.
Gale began counting seconds and minutes.
Fifteen hours, fifty eight minutes, and thirty eight seconds.
Fifteen hours, fifty nine minutes, and twenty four seconds.
Fifteen hours, fifty nine minutes, and fifty nine seconds.
Sixteen hours, zero minutes, and one second.
As the numbers flashed in her mind, suddenly the three sacrifices gasped for air as they came up.
Gale let a tired smile slip as she realized, she had done it.
