A.N: Hello all! swamped in work at the moment, I have been making small additions to each story I have going through my pipeline, so MonkHerrick the chapter I promised you for We Could Be Immortals is on its way, its almost completed. That being said this chapter was strange in the sense I don't really know if i managed to convey what I wanted through it, though I will probably reinforce and tie up loose ends in the next one.
Hope you all enjoy
PreludeOfWater
Chapter 2 - The Morning After Dark
The sweat was dripping off Stiles' brow, he had gotten so little sleep last night, and yet at the same time he knew that it was real, he could feel the ache in his mind, all the facts checked out, he knew that if he performed the ceremony that there would be a connection between the three of them and the Nemeton. He knew that other creatures would be attracted to it, what he never considered was the small fact that some of the creatures would use that path as a gateway into his mind to possess him.
Now he sat on his bed with heavy pants of breath now that dawn was beginning to rise, he had already told Scott that his grip on reality was slipping slightly when he lost the ability to read. Stiles hadn't been alone in that one though Allison had lost her steady hand when it came to archery...and maybe her aim was a bit off kilter, Scott had started up his asthma attacks and apparently if that wasn't enough a thousand year old demon had decided to take up residence in his mind.
In the back of his mind he could hear the dark chuckle the creature was making, speak of the devil and he shall appear. The dark shadows cast by the incoming dawn bumped and molded itself into the form of the creature that had haunted his nightmare.
'Oh Kit, you are going to have to get used to me. Steel your nerves for before the full moon arises you will have blood on your hands… This time you will know how to channel your abilities unlike what you did to yourself as a child.' The Nogitsune prowled up onto the bed its tails caressing the skin of Stiles' legs on the way up as he wrapped himself around his chosen human.
Stiles had went completely still, he had never told anyone about that incident, no-one knew.
'But I do.' the fox flipped a tail tip onto his face. 'So much power for one so young, not even the Nogitsune kits are permitted to feed on so much energy from someone so powerful.'
"Stop. Please." Stiles tried to sound firm but it came out nothing more than a broken whisper.
'The concept of pain is a foreign one to my kind but bonds are not lost to us, you did a lot that day child but you and your body where not built for what you did and the influx of such a powerful surge of energy, it had to be stored somewhere… the effects of which you are still feeling.'
Stiles at this point was well and truly lost as to what the fox was talking about he knew when he had first unconsciously used his abilities and tapped into the void, but the effects?
'Oh child, you overwrote the element of your spark in your desperation. A child of the earth and element to which you will always will hold an affinity too was smothered in the moment of desperation for the 13th element on the day of your black sun. The day you drew its power and held it inside you without being connected to it…'
Another tail wrapped itself up against him.
'You unconsciously used the energy to rip a connection to the void open within yourself...it's always there child, usually it happens when a human slips into madness but you contained it with your earth affinity, that specializes in barriers both natural and supernatural. The rest of the energy had to be spent but the connection hadn't settled.'
'This doesn't sound good.' was Stiles silent but shared thought.
'The energy settled in your mind Stiles, it releases in bursts and gives you the illusion of this Attention problem...those moments are the releases of the power you absorbed...and your still releasing it.'
Stiles couldn't think, it couldn't be possible, the fact the one time he actually tapped the void he couldn't have gathered that amount of energy from one person.
'But it wasn't.' The Nogitsune turned its muzzle to face Stiles 'You are thinking of this in the terms of wolves child. You are human, you are not of the wolf, of the moon. The Human is the most intimately connected creature in the grand scheme of things, not just their own species...their capacity to connect is what allows them to be possessed and turned if they can't use it properly...it's how you connected to the void how your mortal friend became a werewolf he connected to the wolf and the moon.'
The sun was firmly in the air now, school would start in an hour if he didn't get a move on to get ready but the fox had told him about humans in the perspective of the supernatural. That in itself was weird to consider that the normal perspective for you is also supernatural for the others.
Stiles watched as the physical manifestation of the Nogitsune disperse and couldn't help but reflect on its words as he got himself washed and dressed for the big day ahead.
He knew when he had first tapped into the power of the void, how could he not, although that being said the majority of the after effects made him pretty much numb to the world around him.
Pulling on a pair of jeans and locating his red hoodie he made a mental note to do some research into earth magic, having only performed it once it would prove useful in the future especially in the game considering the fox kept calling him a human even though they were currently classed as a Nogitsune...two yet one, he may still be able to cross mountain ash barriers.
'You're learning... for now though, I will leave you to your tiresome mortal idiocies and catch some rest.' The dark voice in his head faded and the invisible strain in his head waned. So the fox wasn't aware at all times? If he could somehow wield his spark to lock away some memories he could get a head start in the race they were playing.
Jumping down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder he called a goodbye to his father running out the door to his beloved Roscoe, now that jeep could survive a Nogitsune...he knew it in his heart.
After managing to get Roscoe started he made his way to school.
He had to somehow find a way to keep his thoughts to himself or lead someone to the conclusions that he needed them to make at the right time. Derek was an option, they may have this broody grunt snarl thing going on between them but when it counted they pulled through. The only problem with that being Derek doesn't know Stiles...both of them, the Good Stiles and Bad Stiles are a real thing and Derek has never seen him angry. No the only one who could possibly do this was Scott, the only variable he would never be able to quantify, and one of the very few people who genuinely managed to trick him. A bit dense, but loyal to a fault and strong too, Scott knew him better than anyone.
He would make his plans and he would scatter clues as to what they are. He would inflict the pain and the strife and conduct the chaos but in the end the one person that he could never fully predict would be the key component in getting both the fox out of him and hopefully defeating it at its own game.
First on the list though, Magic...or Coach Finstock whichever one found its way to him first.
