A/N: And we're at the end of 3A. A big thank you to everyone who favorited and followed this story, and a giant hug for those who've stuck around since chapter 1!

TwasABanshee'sLonelyWailing: Nersaac/Isis/whatever-pairing-name-you-want-to-giv e-to-Neris-and-Isaac will always be endgame! I dislike Allisaac too, but since Jeff Davis is going to be playing with it in 3B, I'm forced to go along with it. BUT, that being said, you have to remember there's still a blood bond in play between Neris and Isaac, so who knows what's gonna happen. In answer to your other question: I'm probably not going to update this story during the break, but I will have a separate story with one-shots coming out sporadically until 3B comes out.

LynZann: I haven't decided yet if I'm going to give Neris a new love interest, though I do know she won't be constantly pining after Isaac. Aside from Scott and Stiles, I see Stiles and Neris as my BroTP, so there's going to be some focus on that in the next upcoming chapters as well as seeing how Scott and Neris adjust to Scott's being a full Alpha and how that impacts the Alpha bond they share.

I Soul Burning Flame: Thank you for your lovely review! I'm really glad you've enjoyed Neris and Kaeho! Also, the price Neris has to pay might not be Isaac; you've pretty much guessed why she broke up with Isaac, but it might not be enough of a sacrifice. We shall see...

And thanks to xXbriannaXx for your review as well!

To elaborate what I said about the series of one-shots: they'll be posted under the story title "Run Swiftly Until Dawn". I will also take suggestions, so if you have one please PM me.

Stay gold, my lovelies!


"Neris! Neris, wake up!"

She could hear her name being called, faint and distorted, from the blackness that surrounded her. She winced, the remnants of pain clinging to her skull as she opened her eyes. Kaeho was leaning over from his seat in the back, his hands on Neris' shoulders and he shook her to consciousness.

"Are we okay?" She asked, bringing a hand to her forehead and feeling the blood from her – now healed – head wound.

"I'm fine; you guys took most of the impact," Kaeho told her. "But Stiles is still out."

"What?" Neris pushed him back to look over to the driver's seat.

Stiles was slumped up against the door, bleeding from the temple. His eyes were shut and Neris couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

"Stiles!" Neris shouted as she fumbled with her seatbelt, yanking it off and moving to straddle Stiles' limp body. "Stiles, you can't be dead," she pleaded, grabbing his flannel and shaking his body. "I will not let you be my sacrifice. Wake up!"

Nothing.

"Stiles, please!" She begged wildly, raising her hand and bringing it down sharply on his cheek.

At the impact, Stiles jumped awake. "Agh!" He grunted, raising a hand to cup the wound near his temple, looking confusedly at his friend who was currently sitting on him. "Neris, what the hell are you doing?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing," Kaeho remarked, staring at her in bewilderment and worry.

"Trying to wake you up," Neris replied. "I don't know how long we were out, but we've lost time and we need to go."

Neris wrenched the driver's door open and slid off Stiles, still bemused at what had transpired. The two boys climbed out of the Jeep to follow her, Stiles pausing only to grab the bat from the back of his ruined vehicle.

"Stiles, do you know where this thing is?" Kaeho asked, raising his voice over the wind as they swerved though the trees.

"It's in the preserve," Stiles answered, "Near where we were on the night Scott got bit!" He looked over to Neris. "The circle is closing," he recited.

"The circle must not be closed," Neris finished. "It's just as he said: things were set in motion when Scott was bitten." She looked over to Kaeho. "Are you sure there isn't anything we can do about the storm?"

"I told you," Kaeho lectured. "The storm is magically created; if we add my magic to it then it's going to rebound and make the storm worse." He paused, "Wait, what do you mean 'we'?"

Neris rolled up the sleeve on her right arm, displaying the Strophalos Hades had branded her with.

"The hell?" He shouted, his eyes growing wide as he stared at the mark.

"No time to explain," she warned him, "but we can do something; I know we can!"

Kaeho stared at her, debating momentarily on whether or not he should get her to explain why she was marked with the Wheel of Hecate, but decided against it.

He gave her a small nod, "Okay, let's hurry."

He took off running, Stiles and Neris following him, as Stiles pushed ahead to lead the way. They weaved through the trees, pushing against the wind that seemed as if it were trying to keep them away. As they came upon the Nematon they skidded to a stop, horrified by the crumpling soil around the ancient stump.

"Oh, my god; it's collapsing!" Neris shouted. "She's burying them alive!"

She thrust her hands out instinctively, willing the ground to respond and stop crumbling around her friends' parents. However, it wasn't enough – the response was slight and she wasn't strong enough to hold it up on her own. The sky became tinged with orange as the lunar eclipse began, shooting bright rays across the woods.

"I can't do it." She could hear from down below. "I can't hold it. I can't hold it."

"It's too much." Another voice cried. "It's too heavy."

"Oh my god, Allison and Isaac are down there too!" Neris shrieked, whipping her head to Kaeho, who was looking despairingly as the situation. "Kaeho!"

Kaeho snapped out of his shock and flung his hands out in front of him, mimicking her actions. From her periphery, Neris saw Stiles rush over and slide down beneath the crumbling soil.

"Stiles!" She yelled after him.

Just as the last of the cellar roof came down, struggling under the commands of both Jennifer and the two teens above ground, Stiles arrived and shoved an aluminum bat under the collapsing beam. Though it wasn't enough to stabilize it completely, it gave Neris and Kaeho enough time to gather their own strength and keep the ground from collapsing.

"I always said aluminum was better than wood." Sherriff Stilinski sighed.

Stiles launched at him, pulling his dad in for a hug.

The others looked around, seeing dirt still streaming in from all sides. Stiles noticed this as well, pulling away from his dad to shout at the two teens above ground.

"Neris! Kaeho!" He yelled. "Dirt's still pouring in!"

"We know!" Neris shouted back. "We're trying, but there's only so much we can do!"

"She's drawing off the telluric currents," Kaeho added. "She's too powerful; the only thing we can do is keep fighting her."

"What can Neris do?" Allison asked, "Kaeho's the one with magic."

Stiles sighed, "I don't know how, but somehow Neris pulled the ground up. Just a little, but she could."

"But how is that possible?" She pressed, but all Stiles could do was shrug.

Above ground, Neris and Kaeho still fought against Jennifer's storm and her pull on the ground around the Nematon.

"Are you okay?" Kaeho asked, looking over to Neris to see her hands beginning to shake.

"Honestly?" She gave a breathy laugh. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Just keep breathing," he coached. "Imagine the pull on the ground as something tangible, something you can control. It's not just about fighting her; it's about making the ground obey."

Neris closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, imagining silvery threads extending from her outstretched palms and forming a web over the ground. She opened her eyes, and though the threads weren't there, she could still feel her connection with the soil.

"That's it," Kaeho grinned. "If you weren't a siren, you'd make a good mākutu."

Neris laughed lightly, "Let's not get crazy now."

They looked up as white light began to bead the sky once more and saw the orange tinges recede from the moon – the eclipse was ending. But then the pull became stronger; Jennifer was now fighting with them to suffocate everyone in the root cellar.

"Isaac!" Neris yelled. "The eclipse is over – you have to keep pushing up! She's fighting us!"

"I'm trying," he yelled back, his voice sounding guttural as he struggled against the beams.

Neris and Kaeho exchanged fearful looks, and grabbed each other's hands, combining their individual pulls became combined. A shift came in the telluric currents around them, jolting them slightly as the wind began to calm.

"Did you feel that?" Neris asked, breathing heavily from the exertion.

"Yeah," Kaeho nodded. "I think….I think Jennifer just died."

Neris' eyes widened in surprise, overcome with shock and relief. The wind slowly came to a stop and the opposing pull from the ground dissipated.

/

Underground, everyone could feel the ground calm and tentatively removed their hands from the beams.

"Is it over?" Allison asked.

"Neris?" Stiles yelled, "Is it over?"

"Yeah," he called back. "Yeah, I think it is. Are you guys okay?"

"We're okay!" He told her, relieved laughs bursting out of him.

Sherriff Stilinski began to laugh as well, pulling his son in for a hug. Stiles' phone began to buzz and he pulled it out of his pocket, pressing it to his ear as he answered.

"Scott?"

"Hey, are you okay?" Scott asked, sounding utterly relieved.

"Yeah we're okay. We're all okay." Stiles said, looking up at the huddled figures of his friends and families. "How about you? You okay?"

Scott paused, "Sort of."

"You think you can come get us?"

"Of course."

"Great, okay, um….bring a ladder." Stiles told him, causing everyone to chuckle.

"Is he coming?" Neris asked, poking her head through one of the holes left in the ground.

"Yeah," Stiles replied. "Hey, shouldn't you be keeping us from dying?"

Neris shook her head, "Kaeho's holding it up. Jennifer stopped fighting us We, uh…..well, we think she might be dead."

"Might be?" Allison asked.

"Well, you never know until you see the body," Neris clarified. "And, besides, look at Peter."

"So, it's not really over?" Stiles questioned.

"No; no, I think it's over. If Jennifer is still alive, I don't think she'll come after us again," Neris replied. "Not when she knows we'll fight back."

"Yeah, about that," Stiles folded his arms across his chest. "Are you ever going to tell me how you could do that stuff?"

Neris grinned, "One day. When everything's back to normal."

"So, never then?"

"We'll see," she chuckled.

/

As school rolled around yet again, Neris dragged her weary self out of bed and got ready to face the day. As she was driving to school, she passed by Kaeho's house, surprised to see a moving van in front of it. She pulled off the road and parked in front of their neighbor's front lawn, making her way to Kaeho. He stood in front of the open garage door, putting various things into brown cardboard boxes.

"So, you're leaving?" She asked as she reached him.

"Yeah," he replied sadly. "My teachers called. They said I fulfilled the task I was given when I came here, and now I'm heading home.

"Yeah, I figured that's what would happen." She replied, earning a confused look from Kaeho. "Hades told me."

"That will never stop sounding weird," Kaeho chuckled.

Neris laughed as well, nodding in agreement. "Yeah; yeah, it's pretty bizarre." She paused, "So, what'd you do? To prove to your teachers you could finish your training, I mean."

"I was more focused on trying to protect you and your friends than on defeating Jennifer and Deucalion." He told her.

"So, instead of using your powers to kill you used them to protect, and that proved you wouldn't go to the dark side," Neris clarified.

"Exactly," he nodded. "Now, are you going to tell me why you have Hecate's Wheel burned into your arm?"

"It's why I was pulled down to the Underworld," she answered. "Hades told me that you'd be leaving, and once you were gone there'd be a void in the pack's abilities. So, he offered me the mark to fill it."

"And then you come back to life and break up with Isaac. That doesn't make any sense. You guys love each other."

"I know."

"Then what? Are you secretly in love with someone else?" Kaeho asked half-jokingly, but then he pulled back and grew serious. "If it's me, you should know I just like you as a friend."

"Oh, shut up. I'm not in love with anyone but Isaac." Neris rolled her eyes. "You of all people should remember the fact that once a siren loves, her love is absolute. I won't ever stop loving Isaac, but I can give him up. Just for a while. It's safer for him."

"And how does the blood bond play into that?"

Neris shrugged. "It could either break, or he'll still feel a heightened love for me."

"But even if it's the latter, you know he'll gravitate to Allison," Kaeho argued. "You can't think she'd be a safe option. Not when she's tried to kill him."

"He's tried to kill me, and I still dated him," she rebutted. "Hades said that by accepting the mark of Hecate I'd be granted special powers, but that a sacrifice would have to be made. Hopefully letting the guy I love go off and be happy with another girl is sacrifice enough. At least, enough to make sure none of my friends die."

"Do you think they will?"

"Hades wouldn't tell me what was coming," she sighed. "Just that it's going to be bad, that' we'll face more killers. I can feel it already, that calm before the storm. Whatever it is, it's not going to give us a lot of time to recuperate."

"Well, if you ever need me again, you know how to contact me," he told her, tapping the side of his head.

Neris smiled lightly, "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too," he told her, pulling her in for a tight hug. "Now, I think it's only fair that I give you some kind of gift since you helped me prove I can be an official mākutu."

He pulled out of the hug and took her left arm in his hand, passing the other one lightly over the flesh. Neris felt a sharp pinch and a tingle as he did so, and when he pulled his hand away she saw he had left his own mark on her skin.

"It's called a Pikorua," Kaeho informed her. "The single twist stands for the bond between two people as well as the path of life and eternity. In this context, it refers to our friendship and how we'll meet again one day."

Neris smiled, wiping away little tears, "Thanks," she laughed lightly. "You be good, okay?"

"You be good," he teased, nudging her slightly. "And be careful."

/

Neris walked through the hall of the school, sidling up next to Stiles as he walked along.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "And I don't mean physically, by the way."

"You mean the sacrifice?" Stiles asked, sighing. "I still feel it."

"The darkness?"

He nodded. "Right here," he pointed to his chest.

"Hey," she nudged him lightly with her shoulder. "You know that if you ever need me, I'm here for you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I took care of you enough times," he joked softly. "Now it's your turn."

Neris snorted, rolling her eyes.

"So, you and Isaac…" he began.

"Yeah, me and Isaac." She nodded. "I thought you'd be pleased, though. You did say I was too good for him."

"Let's not get a big head here," he grinned. "What did Kaeho say?"

"Kaeho's going back to New Zealand," she told him.

"Aw, man," Stiles sighed. "That's rough."

"I didn't know you were so close to him."

"No, it's just…we didn't find Jennifer's body."

"What?" Neris asked, only slightly shocked at the news.

"Yeah, when Scott, my dad and me went back to the distillery, she wasn't there."

Neris looked up and sighed loudly. As she lowered her head, she asked, "Do you think Derek's really gone?"

"I don't know," he replied. "But wherever he is, I hope he and Cora are okay."

"Yeah, me too." Neris agreed.

"Even Cora?" Stiles quirked an eyebrow.

"Even Cora," she grinned.

The pair walked into the main hallway, seeing Scott standing there looking at their other friends. Lydia was leaning against the lockers, Aiden leaning next to her as he spoke. Danny and Ethan were walking hand in hand down the hallway, and Allison and Isaac walking down the stairs, talking and laughing.

As they reached Scott, Stiles came up behind him and grabbed Scott by the shoulders, shaking him lightly and patting them to get his attention. As Scott saw his two best friends, he grinned widely as the trio began walking down the hall.

Through everything that had happened – people dying, lying, and coming in and out of their lives – the one constant in all of that was the three of them.

They had each other to navigate through the darkness, and they'd have each other to get through whatever was coming.