Ich Beurteile Alle
Disclaimer - I only own the ideas of the wesen race called Hälblut/Quartal Kindern (Half-blood/Quarter Children), the heritage concoction named Bringen Sie Ihr Erbe Trank (Bring Out your Heritage Potion), and my OC James Schwartznacht. After that, all things Grimm related are owned by various, highly rich VIP executives chilin' on their private beaches. (I will add on to my disclaimer as the story progresses.)
AN - Because there are 7 days between each Grimm episode release, I will assume there are 7 days between each case in the Grimmverse. So I will also assume that 3 days are condensed into an episode for each wesen case, Fair Enough? I only wanted to settle this so people aren't as confused as I was while writing the story. Every odd numbered chapter will be present time, while every even numbered chapter will be a flashback of sorts explaining the history. I will try and have each chapter with at least 1,000 words, I will also try to post at least once every two weeks.
Character pairings: OC/?, Nick/Juliette, and Monroe/Rosalee
IMPORTANT! Relevant Information for this chapter:
This chapter is starting from 5 years in the past, So don't get confused.
Adalwulf stands for 'Loyal Wolf' in German.
Winter in St. Petersburg usually starts in late November.
Enjoy!
"When the first snow falls,
the Angels weep,
for one of theirs has lost their wings"
-B.L.P
Chapter II
October 21st, 2007
Portland, Oregon
It was quite a peaceful morning for the population of Portland; the birds were humming a little tune as they prepared for incoming winter.
It is here in the city of roses where James has lived for the past 3 years.
As the residents of the city stir in their beds, James Schwartznacht has already dressed and has been ready for the day for at least 30 minutes.
Waking up at 7 was considered a routine for James, everything after that was a jumble.
James walks out the front door heading towards her black Mercedes when out of the corner of her vision she notices her standard suburban mailbox was occupied.
That's odd, she thought.
Her mail was usually delivered with the rest of the blocks on Monday.
It must be something urgent.
James jogs to the curb and pulls out a letter made of expansive looking parchment.
On the back of the paper was her name written in elegant scrawl.
It couldn't be…
As she turns the parchment around in her hand the first thing to catch her eye was the dreaded navy seal.
The Verrat.
"Damn, there goes my peaceful weekend…" She huffs.
Grumbling, she trudges back into her quaint little home, stripping off layers of autumn clothing.
Loosening her light blue knitted scarf from around her neck, while leaving her matching light blue beanie on top of her obsidian locks as she looks at herself in the mirror.
Onyx, Water and Snow, she mused as she remembers her mothers description of her appearance.
James had been born on the coldest night of winter that was why she was so pale her father would always joke.
Her raven hair had gone from excessively curly to slightly wavy over the years, it had grown out from the shoulder length she had kept it at as a child, and it now reached the bottom of her rib cage.
Her ice blue eyes stared back at her as she gazes at her pale reflection.
James sighs as she reaches for the letter opener just below the reflecting glass; she slits open the envelope only to reveal a letter of the same overly expansive material, which falls on to the floor.
She crouches down to pick it up, she then moves to her kitchen for better reading light.
As she sits on one of the light wooded chairs of kitchen table she gazes out her window to her front yard.
I need to tend to it before the snow comes.
James turns her attention to the letter in front of her.
She slowly reads the letter; afterwards she scans over it highlighting the important details.
Go to St. Petersburg, travel to the Kovalevsky forest, avoid being seen by memorial guards, and search tombs for a royal key.
"What the hell is a key doing in the Kovalevsky forest? " James murmurs.
"I'll have to leave in a few days. Maybe I can get someone to garden while I'm gone" She sighs.
She stands from the chair and heads back out the door, putting on her various autumn apparel back on.
Closing the front door and locking it behind her she retakes the route to her Mercedes, stopping just before sliding into the car to glare suspiciously at the mailbox.
Seeing that it hadn't gathered anymore unwanted occupants James found it safe to leave.
As she starts pulling out of her driveway she quickly flips out her black nokia and punches in speed dial, placing the phone in the stand right above the radio, she waits for the call to begin.
Driving with a cell phone in your hand is dangerous. But, if you place it on speakerphone you can act as if the conversation you are having is with your quite intelligent GPS.
Nifty, eh?
It rings twice, and answered right when the third begins.
"Hello?" The voice mumbles.
Probably still sleeping. James rolls her eyes at the thought.
That's what he gets for not having a proper job.
James smirks. "Hey Sleepyhead, It's Me. How does coffee at iHop sound right about now?"
"Of course, of all the people to call me at 7:45 for Coffee it's you. Don't you have any other people to bother?" The voice replies in an annoyed manner.
She laughs at his response. "Whoa! Down doggie! For your information, 7:45 on a WORK day is pretty late, mister clock fixer."
"Now get up and get dressed, if you make me wait, I WILL make pay~!" James sings the last part as she turns the corner onto the main road.
"Yeah yeah, you say that everyday." He grumbles.
True to her word, James waited 10 minutes before ordering a hot chocolate.
Although it was a "Coffee" meeting, she didn't drink it.
It wasn't that she didn't like it, but as a child her father would tease her about being the same size the rest of her life after seeing her take a sip of his coffee every morning.
She never had any since then.
As she waited James looked out the window to see that it had started to drizzle, giving the world outside an extra gloomy look.
James watches as the light yellow 'punch buggy' (as she had dubbed it) pulls in to the already half full parking lot.
As the bell above the door rang to announce a new customer James quickly ducks under the table, counting the seconds till he found her.
"You know, after several other breakfasts' that you have made me attend, they all started the same way. The hiding under the table doesn't really work anymore. Besides, your table is the only one without a cup of coffee on it."
Drat.
"Well, it's good to see you too Monroe!" James chirps as she crawls out from under the table.
Monroe rolls his eyes. "Well, you got to our spot in time. I remember the last time we came that eisiber family had sat down right as we walked into the door"
She frowns as she remembers the memory. "Yeah, I remember that too!"
Monroe holds out his hand for James to get off of the tile floor.
She gratefully accepts as he pulls her up.
As they slide in to their usual seats Monroe finally pops the question.
"So, What's the topic this fine, albeit early, morning?" He asks as he sips on his suddenly there coffee cup.
When did that get there? She thought as she gave the cup a scrutinizing glare.
"James?" Monroe asks again. Why is she staring at my cup like that?
She snaps out of it and laughs sheepishly.
"Sorry, I just zoned out for a bit! What was the question again?" She asks.
"What's today's topic?" Monroe prompts.
"Oh right! Sorry, I'm a bit paranoid this morning. Which goes back to the topic. I got a letter this morning, it's from the Verrat" By the end of the sentence she had picked up a cold and business-like demeanor.
"Oh man! Really? Wow. What do you have to do? Kill someone?" He asks in a bewildered tone.
"Eheh, Thankfully no, not yet! I just have to go off and desecrate a grave…" Her voice wanders off…
"What? Man, you know how wesen are with their ancestral dead bodies!" Monroe exclaimed.
James sighs. "Yeah, I know. And the worst part is its not just one, it's how ever many I have to search until I find a key on them." She glowers as she stirsher quickly cooling cocoa.
She looks up when it takes a little to long for Monroe's response. When her eyes fall on his face she couldn't help herself, she bursts into uncontrollable cackles.
"James! This is serious!" He leans in and hisses.
She waves it off with her hand. "I know but it isn't really my choice in the matter is it? Besides, it's either me patting down dead bodies or the Verrat delivering mine."
He huffs but let's it slide, knowing she is most definitely correct. "Fine, where do you have to go to commit the crime?"
She thinks back a little then finally remembers. "Well, if my memory serves me well then the Kovalevsky forest near St. Petersburg." As she finishes she takes a sip of her beverage and grimaces.
"Um, Waiter? Can you please heat my hot chocolate up? Thanks" James says to the passing waiter. With a positive response she turns back to Monroe.
He gives her an incredulous look. "So Russia. Your going to have to crack open your snow gear for this one."
She laughs. "Yeah, I know. I actually have to leave in a few days and should be back in a weeks time."
"How's your clock?" Monroe suddenly asks, whenever in doubt, speak of clocks.
"He's in need of a check up actually." James states warmly as she remember her old grandfather clock that sat in her hallway.
"What was his name again, Adal something?" He asks with a curious tone.
Her smile widens considerably when Monroe remembers part of his name.
"Yup! Adalwulf! Apparently my great-great-grandfather made him. And then my great-great-grandmother named it after a wolf pup they had kept as a pet." James recalled the story her father used to tell her of her ancestors.
"Yeah! It was through Adalwulf that we met! Remember that?" Monroe asks with a melancholy smile.
"Just like it was yesterday," She responds.
October 24th, 2007
Kovalevsky forest near St. Petersburg, Russia
She gazed up at the sky, white snowflakes falling around her like pure downy feathers.
Feathers… She muses as she remembers her mothers' stories of Russian winters.
"When the first snow falls, it isn't snow, but angel feathers. It symbolized the first of winter and the darkest age." Her mother would say.
She held out her leather-clad hand out and watched as the snow landed in her hand. James quickly clenched her hand, making both the memory and the snowflake disappear.
"Why is it so freakin' cold?" James mutters.
She was currently running through the snow-covered forest.
Winter had come a month early to the city of St. Petersburg, much to James' dismay.
So here she was, going to desecrate a multiple mass graves, wouldn't this be fun?
As she turns in the direction of the sight she hears a noise, a noise similar to a gun being cocked.
James quickly whirled around, quick enough to see the path of the bullet, but not fast enough to dodge completely.
Fuck, this is going to hurt. She thought as she jumped to her left.
Pain spread through her right arm instantly.
She gasps as her body hits the ground; at least snow had its uses. James thought as her body was enveloped in the cold, yet cushy substance.
With great strength she staggers to her feet, clutching her bleeding arm to her chest, she looks at her attacker.
Her eyes widen, Standing in front of her was a team of 5 hexenbeister.
Judging by the identical outfit that they were all wearing it didn't take her time at all to guess where there alliance were, besides she had seen the costume countless times growing up.
They were Hexenbeist serving under the royal family.
But which family member... James thinks.
The one holding the gun begins to speak, but the words are meshed together as James stumbles.
I am losing too much blood. She muses as she makes out a few of the hexenbeists words.
"You walked right in to our trap. His Majesty has ordered us to take you to his personal Lab, usually we just leave the target to die, consider yourself lucky." He declares with a haughty smirk.
If she hadn't been shot in the arm she would have wiped that smirk right off his face.
"Heh, good luck waking me up when we get there." James replies dryly.
The world was mixing.
White.
So much white.
White and red, oh so pretty…
She feels herself being rolled over and hoisted over a shoulder. She cranes her neck to the sky.
Has the world always been this dark?
Black Sky, White ground, and Red Red blood….
So much blood...
Red on White, White on Black.
"Don't die on me, Quartal Kind" The Hexenbeist huffed.
Quartal Kind.
Quartal Kindern.
Oh that's right, I am a Quartal Kind, aren't I?
I don't know anymore.
I just want to sleep.
And sleep she did….
Underneath an abandoned building near Moscow, Russia
September 6th, 2012
As James opens her eyes for the first time in what feels like days she is immediately aware of 4 things.
She was in some sort of tank, she was in a scanty bikini, she was being injected something in a LOT if places, and that the pain in her right arm was completely gone.
What the hell is going on here? She thought.
What was the last thing I remember? Being picked up . . . by a royal Hexenbeist.
Shit, she had been kidnapped.
Suddenly a wave of fatigue crashed over her, James had barely enough time to register how tired she was before she was knocked unconscious.
12 Hours Later…
"Wake Up!" A garbled voice exclaimed.
James bolts upright from sleeping, back straight with alertness.
Whaa… "Where the hell am I?" James demands.
As her vision clears of sleep she becomes aware of her surroundings.
She was in a white medical looking room the held only a hospital bed, which she was currently in, and 2 other people…
Wait, as she looked more closely she realizes they were Geiers.
Geiers and Hospitals don't mix, Not A Chance.
"You are currently in His Majesty's Personal Lab." The female Geier robotically states.
James narrows her eyes. This isn't good, not at all.
"You are required to demonstrate your wesen related abilities to his majesty in two weeks time" The other, more manly sounding Geier continues.
"What makes you think I have any abilities." James scoffed.
The two wesen share a secretive look before turning towards the metal door.
"Wait! Where are you going?" James frantically calls, but it is too late.
She is now the sole resident of the room.
"Wesen abilities my ass" she mumbles as she sits back on the bed.
"It's not like I can suddenly woge now." She grumbles.
But…. What if they did something to you in that tank? The little doubtful part of her mind whispers, spreading seeds of panic through out her thoughts.
There's no way they can change a Quartal kinds DNA. She thinks desperately.
See? Nothing cha… She woges and looks down out her hand.
"Oh my god." She whispers wide eyed.
In front of her were not human hands, but the scaly claws of a wesen.
"What did they do to me?" She whispers.
To Be Continued...
AN – I applaud anyone who knows the relation between Grimm and the date October 21st.
Here was my second chapter, please tell me if you like the "Odd in Present Time and Even in the Past" Plan for the chapters!
So what do you think of James? In the next two chapters we will go more in depth concerning James' character and past life.
Reviews would be lovely!