CHAPTER 12 – The Return
10 months had passed since Sean took possession of not just one but two of the keys from Burkhardt. From then, he abided to the condition the Grimm had threatened towards him out of fear that he might make things difficult for him before the keys could procure him the influence he sorely needed. However, once his objectives are met and he rise to power, he's already devising a plot to get a firm hold of Burkhardt and he could use Adalind to accomplish that.
Before, when Burkhardt discovered his heritage and left his girlfriend as a result, Sean found it as a lost opportunity as the Grimm had discarded the only evident weakness that can be exploited against him. But now, it didn't only reveal that he has plenty but one of them is a person he is very familiar with.
Once the throne is and with Catherine at his side, he's confident that he has enough means to once again sway Adalind to his side. And once Adalind align herself with them, Burkhardt will follow.
Having them all, he can further solidify his position once he is crowned as king of House Kronenberg. Who would dare challenge his authority if he had them at his disposal? However, that's remains a thing for the future. He doesn't have a crown or a throne yet. It doesn't matter how many aristocrats supports him. As long as his father sits in the throne, he can always name himself as the king.
Then, as Sean was pondering over his next move, a man in a suit came into his office without knocking. "Who are you?" Sean frowned at the sudden intrusion.
"Just a messenger," he simply said as he handed to him an invitation. "An invitation from House of Varia. A month from now, the coronation of the new King will be held here in Portland. The heads and the heirs of the other Houses are invited, as well as the significant figures in Portland belonging to the Wesen community. The new King of the House of Varia wishes for your attendance."
Sean's irritation was instantly replaced with confusion. The new King of the House of Varia? Among the 7 Royal Families that grapples for control over the Wesen community, only House of Varia is stepping back which is expected given that their founders are archivists instead of ruling figures. However, whenever they spoke, everyone listens. When they say 'do this', everyone complied.
They don't grapple for power not because they are not interested but because they don't have to. With what they keep in their libraries and vaults, they literally have the means to destroy the modern world. That's why everyone listens and complies with them.
However, Sean wonders for two things. First, who would be the new King? The present King is known to be unwed, so the successor is highly likely to originate from a vassal House. Then, whoever he is, how did he get to know him? Sean is certain that he'd never been active towards any other Houses except of his own. Second, why here in Portland?
Unlike again the other 6 Houses, House of Varia has no official fief. Not because again that they don't have the resources to possess land but because they can name any land anywhere in the planet to be their fief and let it go at any given time in case they fancy another. This is a privilege given to them by the 1% of the 1%, the true ruling figures that governs the world from the shadows.
The current King wants his seclusion, so the land where he reigned was in Alaska. But this successor had fancied Portland and Sean wonders why?
"Excuse me," the messenger's voice snapped him of his musing. "My apologies but his Highness had strictly instructed that I must return with a response right away. So, what would it be?"
It's yes of course. Only a fool will defy House of Varia.
When the messenger left, Sean's phone rings. It was Catherine. "What is it?"
-Sean, you won't believe who just came to my house.
Catherine said excitedly. Sean already had an idea which further plagued him with more questions but he still let Catherine officially confirmed that assumption.
-A messenger from House of Varia came, inviting me for their new King's coronation.
"So did I," Sean replied.
-You think this is sign that they are acknowledging you too as the next king of Kronenberg.
"Hopefully." That could be the case but why invite Catherine too?
Regardless, they will find out in a month's time. Hopefully, the reason is to his favor.
The peaceful dinner time in the Burkhardt mansion was suddenly interrupted by the presence of a figure that's been banging their front gate while screaming.
Receiving this, Nick immediately accessed the security camera of the front gate and was shock upon identifying who she is.
It was Juliette.
And in the middle of the heavy rain, clad in a worn out trench-coat and with a backpack hanging on her back, she repeatedly and desperately bangs the gate, screaming, "Hey! Anyone here?! I don't know who you guys are but Jeff told me head here! Please, I need your help!"
Nick didn't waste time. He opened the gate right away and sends his securities to bring her inside.
"Nick?" When she saw him, she immediately run to him and cried. "Nick!" Embracing him, her shudders radiates to him. Her face is pale and her hands are as cold as a corpse. She's greatly shook, afraid, and above all, confused.
After some time comforting her and deducing that she'd somehow calmed down, Nick asked, "Juliette, what happened?"
However, she was unable to reply as she had, at the point, fainted.
His men immediately brought her to the nearest guest room and their housemaids changed her with dry and warmer clothing. Nick also had to heal her as she had a high fever. She is fine now but is completely exhausted. Also, they still have to bring a Doctor the next day despite Nick healing her for the reason that while changing her clothes, the maids noticed the bump in her stomach and later, Adalind confirmed that Juliette is pregnant.
"She looks awful," Adalind said as they tend to her at bedside. "What do you think happened to her?"
Nick slowly shook his head, "I don't know. What matters for now is she's safe."
"By the way, how did she find you?"
"She didn't," Nick refuted. "She has no idea that this was my house. All she said is that Jeff told her to head here." He then shook his head, "I don't know any Jeff."
"I do." But Adalind does. "Can I check her things?" Nick took Juliette's backpack and hand it over to Adalind. Searching through her things, she found what she was looking for. A black card, and written there in white text is their address. Adalind's expression instantly turned woeful upon seeing this card. "I hope it's not it but I think I know what happened to her."
Adalind didn't share her assumption and instead decided to wait for Juliette to wake up.
By this time, the twins, curious of what's occupying their parents, had followed them in Juliette's room. "Is she okay?" Diana concernedly asked.
"Let's hope so honey," she said to their daughter.
Kelly, on the other hand, didn't spoke any word of curiously and had instead floated and landed beside Juliette's face. Kneeling there, he reached out and lightly patted her face. However, after a few pats, he made a sad, pouty expression and moved away.
But when he was about to leave the bed, his attention was then directed to Juliette's stomach. Crawling towards there, he once again reached out and lightly patted the bump of her stomach. This time, Kelly widely smiled, and happily giggling he exclaimed, "EVAAA!"
Things needn't need further musing onto how everything pieced together. However, under Adalind's persuasion, she and Nick decided to wait until Juliette wakes up to discuss everything.
It took longer than they expected though.
The doctor came the next day to check onto Juliette's condition. Aside that she's a little underweight, there doesn't seem to be a problem with her pregnancy. But given that she's unconscious and her body needed supplements, the doctor hooked her with an IV and Nick commissioned a private nurse to care for her.
From then, it took two more days before Juliette regained consciousness. She woke up with a start before looking around hysterically, "Where…where am I?"
Fortunately, the nurse and Adalind were there to reassure her of her safety. "It's okay, you're safe, you're safe."
"Where is this place?"
"You're at our house," Adalind replied, rubbing Juliette's back. "How are you feeling?"
Adalind asked but as she did, she heard Juliette's stomach grumbled so she immediately told the nurse to tell the housemaids to prepare food.
Juliette ravaged the food prepared for her which startled even Juliette herself.
Seeing this, Adalind then remembered the time back in the old timeline when she found Eve living in the tunnels. She was also in the similar position, alone, hungry, and with nowhere to go. It's sadly odd to see that even in this timeline, this body of hers is ridden with the same fate.
After that, Adalind called Nick, informing him of Juliette waking up.
An hour later, he arrived. "How are you feeling?" Nick asked.
Juliette glanced between her and Nick then said, "Like I shouldn't be here."
"Well, you're in no condition to do otherwise," Nick said with concern but firmly. "We want to ask what happened to you but if you needed more rest, we can do that later."
"No, I'm fine," she refute. "But I don't know if you'll believe me. It all seems too crazy to be true."
Juliette then told them what happened to her during the last 10 months.
After the confrontation that happened back then at the precinct, Juliette decided to leave Portland and ended up in Utah. There, she met and started dating Jefferson Smyth, a patent attorney.
They've been dating for 6 months and around a couple of months ago, they started living together. However, a month after that, a group of assailants raided their home and when Jeff was fending them off, his skin changed similar to that of a corpse. Their assailants also transformed to have animal like features. Terrified, she didn't look back when Jeff told her to run.
The next day, she caught in the news that Jeff had died and their house was burned down. The local authorities had also listed her as a suspect. Juliette wanted to clear her name but before he died, Jeff had told her to trust no one except for the person living in the address written in the black card he gave her.
Pregnant and with no one to trust, she flee with nothing else but her faith on Jeff's final words for her. That's how she ended up being backed here in Portland and before their front door after nearly a month of being on the run.
"I didn't realize he was referring to you, Nick." Juliette said to Nick.
"Actually, Jeff was referring to me," Adalind corrected. Both Nick and Juliette turned to her. "Jeff was a friend of mine back in college. More than a friend actually once upon a time. I gave him this homing card the last time we've met in case he seeks me in the future."
After Nick and before Sean, there was Jefferson Smyth in between. He was like half of Nick and half of Sean put together, ambitious but with a good moral compass. A pretty rare combination for a Zauberbeist.
He was a perfect boyfriend but in the end, the attraction of Sean along with the insistence of her mother ultimately won her over and she ended her ties with Jeff. "I didn't expect that he still held into this."
"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Juliette remarked. "How can that card have your present address if you two had last seen each other years ago?"
Adalind smiled softly. "You said you saw Jeff shifted into corpse-like monster, right?"
Juliette nodded, shuddering slightly over the thought. "Like I said, it was crazy. The terror of that night might have caused me to see things."
"You were not seeing things Juliette," Nick told her.
"What?"
"Juliette," Adalind called back her attention. "Did Jeff looked like this," she said and woged.
Juliette screamed and retreated back. "Oh my god, no! Get away from me!"
"Juliette it's okay," Nick soothed her and Adalind de-woged.
Hours had passed. Nick and Adalind had slowly explained to Juliette everything she saw. About Wesens and the Grimms like Nick. She's shaken but had been accepting to their explanations.
"Beisters can create homing cards to give to people whom they want to know their whereabouts later on," Adalind explained. "Once activated, it will reflect the present address of the beister who gave the card. That's how it led you to here. Jeff led you to me."
