Disclaimer: I own none of the Teen Wolf original characters or plotline.

Chapter 25

(Chloe's POV)

As soon as the portal closed, and Abby was through, I summoned hellfire to my hands and made it look like I was going to fend off something that was approaching me. I heard Abby scream out my name just as the portal shut but I felt no remorse for what I was going to do.

It's better me than Abby. I told myself as a large black canine creature with red glowing eyes walked towards me from behind some trees. I stared at it silently as it growled at me, showing off its impressively large sharp teeth. "Take me to her," I commanded, and the creature turned and began to walk back from the way it had come.

Silently, I followed mentally preparing myself for the act of taking another life. No, Leia is already dead. Besides, she's the one who began this game — the one who stole everything from me. I clenched my fists as I thought about it. I was bitter that much I knew. I should be grateful to have the opportunity to make what happened in that coma world a reality. Should have been ecstatic to see him in the flesh. But…

All I felt was the hollow reality that I got played for a fool. I saw those emerald eyes look at me with no familiarity. I felt nothing from him. There was no connection: no history, no bond. He wasn't my Derek. My Derek had died the moment I woke up from that treacherous dream world. The weeks that had followed after I had to realize that none of it was real. Derek wasn't real, not the way that I knew him in in the other place. I felt like my soul had been ripped in two. Everyone thought I was going through mental and emotional trauma, but it was so much more. Jessie and Abby felt it, but neither of them had ever said a word. They only stayed close to prevent me from physically harming me.

The amount of physical pain I endured for those weeks only made my inner turmoil worse. I cried as I felt like something was slowly getting ripped from my very core. A torturously slow sensation lighting every nerve ending in me on fire. I had begun to think it was some form of invisible hellfire. The few times I had managed to pull enough strength together and try and end it, Jesse and Abby always stopped me. Some small part of my mind hated them for it. When I had gone through losing the baby and feeling Derek betray me, in the coma world, I thought that was the worst pain anyone could have wished on them. Oh, how wrong I was to believe that was ever true.

I clenched my fists so tight; I felt blood trickle from my palms. It was an outward attempt to reign in my emotions. I could feel tears prickling at the backs of my eyes as I remembered every vivid detail of being with Derek right before I woke up to the truth. Derek, I miss you. I thought forlornly. I'm going to make her pay for what she did to us, for taking you away from me.

"Oh, look Nathan!" a feminine voice exclaimed. "She came!"

I focused my gaze and noticed that the creature had led me back to the Nematon that appeared at my awakening. I hated it. It brought me to him. I raised my hand and let loose a blast of blue fire at the supernatural tree stump that led me to this place so I could be taunted and reminded of what I lost. Burn. I thought vehemently.

A laugh rang out, and I looked up to see the bringer of all my misery, hanging all over my father. Desperate bitch. "You do realize it that if you have to put a spell on him, it's not real, right?" I sneered at her. "If you were smart enough to do this grand scheme, I would have thought you would have been intelligent enough to know that simpleton fact, Leia."

Leia's laugh stopped, and she let a sinister smile grow across her lips. "Now, now, Chloe. No need to get nasty." Leia stood from my father's lap, her gown elegantly swaying down her legs and gently brushing against the forest floor. She was a beautiful woman, with her long ebony locks and ivory skin. Ruby colored irises gleamed with a dark sense of pleasure from the pain she knowingly caused me. "I thought you would have been happy to see Derek. I mean here it was you thought none of it was real." She taunted.

I snarled at her and let loose another fireball in her direction. Unfortunately, some sort of shield deflected it. "Bitch," I growled.

"Mm, maybe." She said dismissively. "But honestly, how else was I going to get you to understand what it was like for me all those centuries ago? Hm?" Leia walked closer to me and raised an elegant brow. "To know what it felt like to have your soul ripped in two. To feel that hollowness when the one thing that made you feel complete would never be with you again."

She had begun to circle me slowly, and I kept my gaze on her as she moved. "So, you were trying to get me to empathize?" I spit back at her. "You only served to piss me off. Wrong approach with me, witch." I mumbled a spell I recalled from the coma world when I had found Jack half dead at the keeper's library. Leia's eyes widened and tried to put up her shield, but I was too quick and caught her off guard. She had blood trickling from her arm that she had raised to block the attack. "I'm here to kill you, Leia. Make no mistake about that." I lunged forming an energy blade and letting my nagual powers come forth closer to the surface.

I couldn't lie to myself as I attacked Leia. I was blind with rage, pain, and revenge. I wanted her blood, her soul to be crushed in my own hands. She wanted me to empathize. Oh, I empathized aright. I knew exactly what she felt, only I wasn't going to spew threats that would take centuries planning before I could act. I was going to do something now. I knew who had wronged me. She…I fell to the ground from a sudden blow…will die, today. I growled as I looked up and saw my spell-induced father had entered the fight on behalf of the wench. Even if it's the last thing I do, this cunt…I felt my body begin to shift…will die.

"Chloe!" I heard a voice ring out, but it was too late. The rage fueled by the pain I had experienced reached its peak, and I let go feeling myself shake and feel a spike of power rush through me. I felt something pulling me, but I ignored it as my vision became hyper-focused on Leia's trembling form. I hadn't been in wolf form since I woke up from the coma. I never felt the need to change, unlike right now.

I slowly like my chops as I went down on my haunches slightly before moving to strike. My father entered my path, but I quickly circumvented around him and opened my mouth to release an energy orb. I don't know how I knew I could do that, but I didn't care her. I heard Leia scream and when the smoke cleared, I saw her body laying mangled and bloodied from the attack. I made my way over to her. My paws were connecting; I with the earth with the same steady rhythm I felt my heart beat at as I realized I had won. I stopped hovering over her, staring at her body scanning for the spot that would make her disappear forever.

Find the light. A voice told me. Absorb the light, and she will be no more. I continued to scan until I saw the faint light. It was where Leia's heart was supposed to me. I inwardly sneered at the irony. I readied myself to end everything when I a voice broke my concentration, making me pause mid-strike.

"Snowflake! Don't do this! This isn't you!" Derek…my mind whispered as I turned to see him banging against a barrier I hadn't noticed before.

No! He's not your Derek! The dark voice from my mind countered.

Derek must have seen my hesitation because he rammed against the barrier even harder for a moment. "Snowflake, I know you think I'm not the same Derek from that coma," Derek started to say.

You see! He admits to not being your beloved. The voice cheered in my mind. Why was it so eager for me to finish Leia? I started to wonder.

"But, I know you, just as well as that Derek did," Derek continued. I felt my eyes widen at his words and I knew my form had relaxed some because the second voice in my head began to roar in anger. It didn't want me to listen to Derek. Why? Something suddenly didn't feel right.

"Snowflake," Derek's eyes glowed purple as we locked gazes and my eyes responded. "Snowflake, this isn't you." He whispered to me. "Come back to me," His eyes were begging me at this point, and I felt my anger slowly dissolve, and I began to shift out of my wolf form. "Please, come back to me, snowflake."

At this point, I was completely ignoring the second voice in my head as I began to make my way over to Derek slowly. My wrist started to pulse, and I paused to look down and see my Cimaruta glowing a bright silver color and become as it was in the coma world after Derek and I had mated. How was this possible?

Snowflake? Derek's voice spoke in my mind very softly. My head snapped up, and I saw a look of uncertainty on his face.

"How?" I whispered.

"I protect my family." I heard my mother's voice speak, but with a dissonant sound to it. I turned and saw glowing silver eyes from my mother's form. Looking closer, I felt my eyes glow, and it was almost as a translucent outline of another figure etched itself around my mother's figure. Leta? My mother's possessed form nodded her head silently. But, how? I looked back down at my wrist then looked up at Derek to see him forcing his way through the barrier.

His face contorted as I heard him partially shift and roar as he used some of his werewolf strength to push against the barrier. He was fighting hard to get to me. But, why? He doesn't know me.

I recalled his words when I first laid eyes on him here at this very tree stump. You. I know you. I don't know how, but I know you. That's what he said. Some part of him instantly recognized me even though we had never met before. I watched as Derek let out a loud final roar and he finally pushed through. For a second, he stood dazed, but quickly shook it off and ran over to me pulling me into his arms.

"I couldn't figure it out at first," Derek whispered into my hair as I heard him inhale deeply. "Now, I know how I know you." He pulled away slightly and held my face between his hands gently. "I was dreaming of you and what was going on between us in that coma world as you experienced it." I heard a small gasp escape my lips as Derek continued. "I lived through all of that with you, snowflake. I remember when I marked you. When it happened, your face was blurred but, the instant I saw you in person, my instincts put it together before my head did." His fingertips brushed against my neck, and I felt a pulse ripple through me. "Forgive me?" he whispered, leaning in and giving me an Eskimo kiss. I glanced at his neck and saw my mark begin to swirl into existence on his skin.

"How though?" I whispered in confusion still not quite understanding how it was all possible. Derek's fingers brushed against my mark again, and I shivered for a moment until my instincts kicked in, and I turned away from Derek quickly and stopped a blade from plunging into my back.

"As sweet as this all is, I'm beginning to feel ignored!" Leia screamed as she pressed her weight into the blade more. I collided with Derek, and we fell to the ground. How in the bloody hell is she moving? She shouldn't be able to move, let alone walk, after the hit she took from me earlier.

"Chloe, look out!" Jesse called out. I had been too distracted by my sudden train of thought I did see Leia move again until it was too late. It felt as if time slowed down to torture me and have the last laugh.

Derek had seen Leia move before I did and quickly rolled on top of me and took the blade into his back in place of my chest. Leia let out a frustrated cry as she pulled away, the tip of the dagger dripping with Derek's blood. I couldn't breathe. No. No. No, no, no. This was not happening again. "Derek?" I felt my voice crack, and I saw my hands shake as I reached out to touch him.

He gave me a shaky smile as he collapsed to the side. "Derek?" I cried out again. "Why did you do that?" I tried to lift his shirt to look at the wound, but he kept batting my hands away. "Let me see it." I protested.

"It's just a knife wound. I'll be fine." He tried to soothe but suddenly began to cough up blood. I took the chance to lift his shirt. I gasped at what I saw.

"I'm afraid not pretty boy." Leia cackled. "That's from the waters of the underworld. If a living mortal touches or ingests the waters, it can be quite…deadly." Leia smirked. "It works very quickly as you can see. He doesn't have long." She toyed with the blade then lifted it to her lips and gave it a lick. I wanted to hurl as she hummed in delight at the taste of blood.

"Okay, I even think that's disgusting and just wrong," Peter mumbled, a look of uneasiness crossing his features as he and the others watched on from the other side of the barrier.

"Delicious." Leia grinned, and that's when I noticed.

"You're not Leia." I watched as Leia's eyes turned as black as coals, from her irises to her whites.

"Very good, Chloe." Leia's voice changed now; it was dissonant. It was similar to how Leta spoke through my mother but different. It was darker and tainted with sinister intent. "Since you wouldn't finish Leia off, I decided to absorb her and finish you instead."

"You were the one provoking me to kill her. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Leia's form made a broad gesture. "Power, my dear. Power will get you very far I in life and…in the afterlife." Leia's form sighed. "The underworld is home to many demons, several of whom have prestigious roles to uphold both in the underworld and outside the underworld. I wanted my own role. I worked so hard and was ever so patient since the moment I was created. I was patient for centuries, if not eons and what does it get me? Nothing. I was supposed to become the next God. But what does Aita do? He and that nitwit of an older brother, Tinia, go back on their word and make Calu, the next god. The god of wolves, protectors of the mortal realm." Leia sneered for a moment before an evil grin replaced it. "Watching all those choices become regrets caused me to feel such…elation…surely, Aita and Tinia would remove Calu after what his actions resulted in with Leia." Leia huffed. "No, the buffoons didn't hold him accountable at all." Leia's hands clenched in rage. "I was going to make them pay; I would make sure to become so strong that not Aita or Tinia would be able to stop me." Leia chuckled. "So, here we are. My plan is finally coming to fruition. A few bumps along the way, but nothing I couldn't handle and correct quickly and efficiently."

"All of this, because you were jealous?" Jesse asked incredulously. "What are you, two years old?" Peter quickly grabbed Jesse and placed his hand over Jesse's mouth.

She gave him a startled look to which Peter responded, "Not helping, love."

"Hm, maybe I'll kill you first before going after my divine brethren." Leia moved towards Jesse, flicking her wrist making the barrier fall instantly.

A blast of hellfire at Leia's feet made her pause. "Your fight is with me, demon. Not them," I spoke coldly. One of my hands was on Derek's wound; I was pouring as much healing energy as I could put into him to slow down the process of the poisonous underworld water.

Leia started laughing when she noticed my hand. "Do you think you are saving him? Oh, you poor foolish child, you are only prolonging his pain and imminent demise."

I stayed quiet and stared her down. "You are two years old." I finally spoke, a seriousness in my tone, despite the teasing words.

Leia growled and grabbed my neck, wrenching me away from Derek, who groaned and tried to reach for me unsuccessfully. "Don't," he whispered. "Please, let her go."

"No, I think it's time your little mate took her rightful place as a means to the ending I have planned for all the realms." Leia's mouth stretched open at an inhuman degree, and suddenly I felt like the air was being pulled right from my lungs. I grabbed the hand that had my neck and tried to pry it away from me. She's absorbing me! I panicked and tried to claw at Leia more. The more I struggled, the faster my strength seemed to be sapped from me. My arms began to feel heavy, and I couldn't hold them up anymore. I saw Leia's eye flash from gold and then green right as it became hard for me to keep my eyes open any longer.

"Tulcha! Enough!" A loud booming voice exclaimed, and suddenly I was dropped and began coughing violently. I suddenly needed to be close to Derek and weakly I turned my head to look at him. Derek.

"Oh my god!" another new voice exclaimed. "Look what Tulcha has done to you two!" I felt the presence of someone sitting beside me, and I didn't have the energy to flinch away. As if the person sensed my apprehension of being close to an unknown. "Don't worry, my dear, I'm going to have you fixed up in just…a moment." It was a female, I could tell that much as I let my eyes close momentarily.

"No, no. Open your eyes. You need to keep your eyes open for me dearie." The woman coaxed and I felt a warm sensation start in my chest and slowly spread. What was she doing? "I'm putting your soul back inside you; it's a delicate process. Would have been much harder if we had arrived a second later." The woman explained.

I felt my strength return to me. "Derek…" I croaked.

"He's fine. Esplace is tending to him. He will not die from the river water of the underworld." The woman soothed.

I swallowed harshly feeling my throat tighten as emotions began to come forth in a rush. We're going to be okay. I internally breathed.

"Yes, you are." I felt a hand gently pull me up into a sitting position. "You should be able to move just fine now. Your strength will return completely within the next couple of minutes."

I looked to the woman and gasped. She was beautiful. Long brown locks flowed around her while a crown of flowers adorned her head, perfectly complimenting the white gown she was wearing — her skin a gentle tan color.

"Thank you, Persipnei." I heard my mother's voice say, no longer dissonant.

"It is no trouble. It is entirely Aita and I's fault. We never thought that things could be influenced like this and never cared to be involved in the affairs of the mortal realm. Clearly, we need to be involved if we are to prevent anything like this from happening again. Nortia has gotten that through to us very clearly." The goddess replied.

"Thank you…for saving me…and Derek." I managed to get out.

"I am sorry that this happened to you, Chloe." Persipnei placed her hand on my shoulder, and I tensed for a moment. "To all of you, actually. Aita and I are taking Leia and Tulcha back to the underworld where they will suffer the repercussions for their actions. My only hope is that you can find it in your hearts to forgive us for not stopping this sooner."

I gave her a small smile as I glanced over to see Derek sitting up. His wound healed, and he was no longer coughing up blood. "Better late than never." I finally said, locking eyes with Derek. He gave me a small smile, and I felt my smile grow even more.

I looked away from Derek and did a quick assessment and noticed that I felt a little different. "Um, not to be rude but, I feel a little different." I looked at the queen of the underworld hesitantly.

"Think of it as an apology present." Persipnei smiled. "Nortia insisted actually. She believes that you and Derek are the key to the kind of future that we want for the mortal realm." She gestured to Derek, who had stood at some point and hovered just a bound away from being able to get to me. When the invitation was given, I was quickly scooped up into his arms, and my breath was taken away as our lips met. I vaguely heard Persepnei continue speaking, "You're going to be nature's legacy."

I just smiled at Derek. I didn't care what came our way or what we would become of us. If I had him, I could face the apocalypse and not care.

I love you, Derek. I linked to him leaning in close to him again and breathing deeply.

He gave me a loving smile and leaned in to capture my lips again. And I love you, Chloe.

Always. Our voices rang together through the link.

**THE END**

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this work of mine and being with me as I evolved as a writer. As much as I have thought about editing it from the beginning to bring it up to where my writing style is at now, I have decided not to do this and instead begin working on my own unique works and posting some of them on Wattpad (Name: Selestia Marluth)! Please find me over there to read the original stories that I will begin working on once 2019 starts so I can get some more of your feedback and thoughts as I continue my journey to become a better writer! See everyone next year!