AN: okay, I totally suck. I'm sorry for not updating sooner, I've been having issues trying to upload, then my USB decided it didn't want to work. Then the stress of moving for university, and making sure everything has been sorted… anyway..
I want to apologise for the shortness of this chapter, there wasn't too much room improvise with this episode apart from bits and pieces with Charlies family. However, I didn't want to skip this episode all together, either way I hope you enjoy this Chapter, feel free to leave a comment, I love to hear what you all think and it always encourages me to write and upload faster when I know you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it.
-Love Sam x
Chapter Eight: Visionary: Charlie P.O.V
"So tell me again why we're visiting your Grandfather, the grandfather who broke the hunters code, threated Mellissa, stabbed Scott, and hurt however many innocents, all for information Stiles may be able to get from Cora?" I asked from the back of Allison's car, Allison and Scott in the front seats.
"Gerard will have more information on Deucalion then Cora." Allison said. She had been on edge since earlier on in the day when the decision to visit Geared had been made.
I don't know how I had been persuaded to join Scott and Allison, I would've been fine staying with Lydia, researching, reading more of my mother's Journals.
Scott had asked me to join them, his soft puppy eyes causing me to cave.
-ONE DAY EARLIER-
"I don't know why you want me to come Scott, I'll be of more use with Lydia, checking through my mother's journals. We know Deucalion knew my family, there is bound to be something in them somewhere…"
I was leant against my locker, books in hand, ready to head to econ, when Scott had come over telling me I would be joining him and Allison.
Don't get me wrong, my friends, and I care for them but I sure as hell didn't fancy spending an hour in the car to and from the care home Gerard was residing, with Scott and Allison's awkward tension and hidden feelings, just the thought caused an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
"But wouldn't it make sense, that Gerard would know information about your families' involvement with the Hales? I mean wasn't your mother shadowing your grandmother while she was a part of the Hales pack?" Scott said.
"But we don't know that for sure…" I started, but Scott came closer, voice quiet as he spoke.
"Please, Charlotte I… I can't lose it around Gerard. With you there, I know I'll be calm enough to deal with him, okay? I just… Please?" Scott sounded so vulnerable, his eyes almost pleading. I couldn't bring myself to speak, so I nodded my head instead.
"Thank you" he whispered and kissed my cheek, before we made our way to econ.
"We're here." Muttered Allison, breaking me out of my thoughts. Undoing my seat belt and pulling my bag onto my shoulder, I opened the car door, following after Allison and Scott.
-x-
I trailed into Gerard's room behind Allison and Scott, unease flowing through my body. A bald aging man sat in a chair by the window, a black stained tissue held in his right hand.
"Mm. Did you bring him?" Allison's Grandfather asked when she came to stand in front of him.
"Oh. Oh, come in, Scott, and give an old man a little something for his pain." Allison's grandfather said, smirking slyly, holding out his arm. I glanced at Scott, his face remained emotionless, giving nothing away.
"You don't have to do this." Allison muttered to Scott, turning to face him with her back to her grandfather. I remained further back, preferring to stay unnoticed for now.
"If you want me to talk, this is how it's going to happen." Geared crocked at Scott, before he began to cough, and splutter black liquid into his tissue.
"If I do this, you have to tell us everything you know." Scott said, making sure to keep his hand out of reach of the retired hunter, making sure he understood the deal.
Information, for pain relief.
"Everything."
Slowly Scott held out his arm, grasping Gerard's hand in his own, black veins seemed to flow from the hunter's arm into Scotts. While Gerard let out a breath of relief, Scott flinched from pain. As I watched the flow, my right hand and arm began to throb with an almost dull ache.
"All right that's enough," I quietly told Scott after a few mintites, gently taking hold of the crook of his arm and pulling him away from Gerard.
Scott glanced down at me, nodding slightly and letting me know he was okay. Unfortunately, this drew Gerard's attention to me.
"Brooks. Lily…no Charlotte?" His croaking voice pulled my attention away from Scott.
"Charlie." Spoke Allison, I glanced between her and her grandfather uncomfortably.
"You look like her. Your mother, when she was your age."
"Lily looks more like out mother; I look more like our grandmother." I replied, trying desperately not to sound affected by his words.
"The last time I saw you- "he started,
"We made a deal." Scott said tightly, bringing Gerard back to the reason behind our visit.
"They found a third body?" Gerard said, slowly looking back to Scott, a few sharp breaths left my lungs as I tried to make my breathing go back to normal.
"Another doctor, right after Scott found Deaton." Allison supplied.
"Right after? Almost like it was expected he'd survive." He raised an eye brow, his words held hidden meaning.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Scott asked sharply.
"How do you know your dark druid isn't your wise veterinarian himself? Maybe he knew you'd find him. Maybe he planned it that way." Gerard smirked.
"He would never let anyone innocent die." Scott growled out.
"Don't be so sure. You'd be surprised how far some people would go to get rid of someone like Deucalion."
"Or someone like you?" Scott replied to the hunter without hesitation.
"I don't go easily, though, do I? You know, Scott, you've made me something of a celebrity here. I'm a medical mystery. The cancer is now virtually undetectable, but the doctors have no clue why my body keeps producing and ejecting this bizarre black fluid."
"Your body's rejecting the change. You aren't strong enough, your body couldn't take the stress. The change is more successful in teens and young adults. Your illness is only a contributing factor to why you haven't turned, your age is the other." I told him, but by the end I was speaking so quietly I expected only Scott to hear me. All eyes were on me, I shifted uncomfortably before I awkwardly shrugged.
"I never talk this much," I muttered to the group. Scott chuckled softly and Allison smirked, amused by my nervousness.
"I did what you wanted me to do. Tell us how to beat him." Scott said, before Gerard could comment.
"You can't. I've tried." He responded.
"Then this is a complete waste of time. He doesn't know anything. Sorry you did this. Let's go." Allison spoke to us both, taking hold of my arm, guiding Scott and I away.
"Wait." Her Grandfather called out, "I can tell you one thing. Deucalion may have lost his eyes, but he's not always blind." Intrigued we made our way back towards him. I put my hand into my pocket and slyly pressed a button on my phone, ready and recording, so we would have the information later.
He began to tell us about the arranged meeting between packs.
"They were all there... Ennis, Kali, Deucalion... each with their own packs, before they'd killed them all and decided to form their little all-star team."
"But they didn't all live here, did they?" Allison asked.
"No, but there was an exceptionally powerful Alpha who did live here. She had a capacity to shape-shift that was rare among her kind. That made her something of a leader, the kind of person that they would go to for advice and guidance... "Gerard glanced at me.
"Talia Hale." I said spoke softly.
Gerard nodded in conformation, before he continued on with his tale, informing us about what Allison's father and he found all those years ago.
The nemeton.
"It's a sacred meeting place. Ancient Celtic druids would usually choose a large, older tree in a grove. It would represent the center of the world. There was a belief that cutting or harming the tree in any way would cause serious problems for the surrounding villages." Chris had told him.
"Problems?" asked Scott.
"Fires, strife, plagues, death, destruction, the list goes on." He responded.
"How does he know all about Celtic symbols and druids?" Allison asked.
"Know thy enemy, Allison. The older wolves had a relationship with the druids. They called them emissaries." Gerard said and looked at me once more.
"Like my boss, Deaton." Scott said.
"Like my mother and grandmother…" I muttered to Scott.
"Do you know the myth of Lycaon?" Gerard asked us.
"I know it's where we get the word "lycanthropy." Scott said. By now Scott, Allison and I had taken seats, listen, and trying to make sense of what he was saying.
"According to myth, some Greek citizens believed they owed their lives more to Prometheus than to the gods of Olympus. And some followers even took names to honor the titans instead of the gods."
"Like Deucalion." I said softly.
"The son of Prometheus. Lycaon didn't just refuse to honor the gods. He challenged them. He invited Zeus to a banquet and then tried to serve him the flesh of a human being."
I felt sick.
"Angered, Zeus blew the place apart with lightning bolts and then punished Lycaon and his sons by turning them into wolves. The part that's lesser known is how Lycaon sought out the druids to help turn him back to human." The hunter continued.
"Why druids?" Asked Scott.
"The belief was that the ancient druids knew how to shape-shift. They couldn't make Lycaon and his sons human again, but they did teach them how to shift back and forth. And so the druids became important advisors to the packs."
Scott glanced at me, a knowing look on his face.
"I wasn't really surprised when Deaton and (Charlies grand mum) came to arrange a meeting with Deucalion. As William Blake said, "any sinister person who means to be your enemy always start by trying to become your friend." Gerard said.
"How do you know they… he wasn't going there to make peace?"
"Because I'm not an idiot. Do you know the Sanskrit fable of the scorpion and the turtle?"
"Yeah, the scorpion asks the turtle for a ride across the river." Scott said.
"And when the scorpion stings the turtle, dooming them both, what does he say to explain his behavior?"
"It's my nature." I spoke.
"I know a werewolf's nature. I knew exactly what was coming... a trap."
He spoke of his Deucalion, how he became an Alpha of all alpha's and the reason he could no longer see, as a man that is. As a wolf is a different story.
"He sees as a wolf?" Scott said
"He's not always blind." Gerard repeated his words from earlier.
"Maybe we can use it against him." Allison said to Scott and I. Effectively this ended the convocation. I nodded to Gerard before we got up, ready to leave.
"Scott. Oh, I think about you sometimes, Scott. I do. I wonder, what if I'd done things differently? Getting the bite to cure my cancer. And I wonder when it became my nature to believe most things couldn't be asked for but had to be taken."
"I don't believe you. The whole time that you were telling your story, I was listening to your heartbeat. It never went up. It never went down. It was steady the whole time." Scott spoke suspiciously.
"Because I was telling the truth." The hunter said convincingly.
"Or because you're a really good liar. If you lied and it gets people hurt... I'll be back to take away more than your pain." Scott threated, before taking hold of my hand and pulling me from the room.
-x-
Can you drop me off at Lydia's?" I asked Allison, once we all got into the car.
"Okay, Charlie are you ok-" Allison started.
"I'm good, I just told Lydia I would give her an update." I said.
"I can take you home after if-" Scott said turning in his seat, Allison glanced at him slightly.
"No, don't worry I might stay at Lydia's." I told them, finally managing to convince them.
We pulled up out front of Lydia's a while later, it was dark out by this time and Scott was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"If you aren't staying let me or Allison know, okay? With the Alpha pack causing issues and the sacrifices, it's not safe for anyone of us to be alone right now." Scott said, Allison spoke next.
"Or have Lydia take you home, or Lily pick you- "
"Guys!" I said, laughing slightly. "I'll be fine."
Then I got out of the car before either of them could respond.
Allison waited until I got to Lydia's front door before she drove herself and Scott home.
-x-
"I need you to drive me somewhere" I said walking into Lydia's room. She was sat on her bed flicking through a fashion magazine.
"Hello to you too" She snipped, without looking up at me.
"Lydia. Please. I'll tell you about what happened tonight on the way. Please."
I asked, talking quickly. She looked up, not speaking for a moment or two, before she nodded and agreed after seeing the desperation on my face.
"okay." Lydia said, picking up her keys and leading us from her room.
"Thank you" I said quietly, letting out a breath of relief.
"You owe mean one hell of an explanation." Muttered Lydia.
-x-
"You're kidding, right? "Lydia said as we sat parked outside the old cottage.
"Let's go." I said before she could say anymore, and got out of the car.
It was the same. Nothing had changed. Not the slatted pathway, or the freshly planted flower beds, not the cherry red front door or the white window panes. It was all the same.
Taking a deep breath, I rang the door-bell. Waiting with bated breath for her to open the door.
Finally, the door opened, reviling the one person who at this moment in time that I needed the most.
"Charlotte?"
"Hey Gram's."
-x-
"Would you like a cup of tea Lydia?" Grammar asked Lydia after pouring me a cup.
"No thank you Mrs Williamson." Lydia said politely, well as politely as she was capable.
"None of this Mrs Williamson malarkey, call me Gram's"
Lydia nodded and smiled lightly.
Gram's placed the kettle on the tray that was set on the coffee table, and sat in her arm chair, opposite from Lydia and I who had sat on the chairs opposite in the living room.
I slowly took a sip from my cup of peppermint tea, before I placed my drink on the coaster on the table.
"I found them. The Journals, that mother wrote and I've met Deaton; I know you taught him, both of them." I let out all in one breath.
"Very smooth." Muttered Lydia.
Grams just smiled, she remained relaxed and didn't seem to be alarmed by the fact that I knew. She didn't even ask me how I knew.
"I thought it would be you who discovered it first out of the three of you children. You were always a curious child."
"I need you to tell me everything, everything you know. And I want to know why you left it all behind." Why she left us behind. I waited, my hands twisted in my lap as I shifted to the edge of my seat waiting for her answer, to see if she would give me one.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like some tea Lydia? This may take a while." Grams finally spoke, pouring herself some more tea. Lydia relented, accepting the cup Grams placed in front of her, then sat back and waited.
"There's something you need to understand before we start. There are things that you won't like to hear, and there are things you aren't ready to hear just yet."
She began, I sat back and nodded before I spoke quickly.
"I want answers; any you can give me. We'll get to the family disagreements later on. I need to know about what we are, about what our family can do and has done. And I need to know… about Deucalion."
Grams eyes widened slightly, "What have you gotten yourself into this time girly?" I glanced at Lydia who just shrugged and continued to sip at her tea.
"Please… I just, I need to know." I muttered not really answering her question. Seeing as she hadn't answer any of my questions, she wasn't getting anything either.
It had been a long while since I had seen Grams and Gramps, they showed up to my mother's funeral but that was just after Andy was born. And even before then I hadn't seen them since I was young. I never got the whole story from my parents, they had always told Lily and I that we were too young to understand grown up arguments. All we knew was that grams and dad had fought, causing a rift between our families.
"I assume you know that our line originated from the Druids?"
I nodded as she spoke.
"And that our family has aided the Hale pack, as emissaries?" I nodded once more.
"Well before we aided them, we we're mainly healers. Helping those in the supernatural community who needed it, whether that be healers or advisors. We used the gifts we possessed to help those in need of it. But no Druids were the same, some chose a darker path, and a darker magic to the rest. They sacrificed humans, and used dark power for selfish gain, for Statius, or they used their gifts as if they were for higher, doing dark deeds for others. Sooner or later the Darkness would become all consuming, Turing them into something else, something to be feared."
"Darach" Lydia said, placing her tea cup on the table besides mine. Seeming more intrested than before.
Grams nodded sullenly, before she continued on, telling us of the power and skills we had as emissaries, a new name we gained after the name of Druid Became tarnished.
"Druid, or emissary lines have been dying out, but ours… ours remains strong. Deaton will soon begin to teach you our ways, and responsibilities. But most importantly he will teach you how to be a healer, like me, like your mother. Then you can teach Andy, and so on."
"And Lily?"
"Lily will have her own path. She will decide once she has the knowledge of this world, what she will do with it. "
I glanced at Lydia. I didn't understand what she meant.
"But if Andy will learn why wouldn't Lily?" Lydia asked, "Doesn't she have the right?"
"Of course she has a right. But her circumstances are… different." Grams said uncomfortably.
"Different how?" I was confused, why would Lily be different, how would her path be any different. I knew Lily, once she knew about this she would freak out initially but after a while want to learn all that she could about this world… well after she was finished being pissed off that I hadn't told her sooner. She would want to be a part of this world. She would want to help.
"Never mind that now. Lily is not why you came here tonight." Grams spoke softly.
"No…" I muttered before I spoke again.
"You were there that night, you and mum. You were there the pack Alphas met, with Talia Hale, as her advisor?" I asked, but it came out as more as a statement than a question.
Lydia looked at me confused, I gave her a look that told her that we would talk more later.
"Yes, I was there. The Hale pack were kind and honourable people, wear's and humans alike. Talia was a brave woman with many powerful skills, skills like you wouldn't believe." Gran spoke highly of her, awe and pride was clear in her voice.
"She possessed a rare quality, she could transform in to a full wolf form. She was a leader of not only her own pack but the leader of many. It was an honour to serve as an advisor to the Hale pack. As I am sure you will discover."
"And healing?" I asked.
"I will teach you trades of our family, but Deaton will be a fine teacher. He will tell you all you need to know; he will guide you." I nodded, slightly disappointed that she seemed reluctant to teach me fully, but I would take what I could get.
For the time being.
"Tell us more about Deucalion." I said next, waiting for more information.
"Something you need to understand is Deucalion wasn't always the he is now, something changed in him. He was wounded and he found power, a dark source of power that consumed him. Much like that of the Darach. He committed acts which turned him into the monster he is now. He murdered members of his own pack, took their power for his own, then convinced other alphas to follow in his footsteps, creating his new pack. His alpha pack. "
"And now he wants Derek to do the same." Lydia spoke. I glanced at her, I tried to keep my face neutral. Deucalion wanted power, the power that could be unchallenged by others. He wanted the power and strength of a True Alpha.
Scott.