Beacon Hills She-Wolf

Chapter 20: Mistletoe and Poison.

-Anything? -Julia/Jennifer asked, and Derek didn't answer. -Derek, I know what you're thinking. That I'm using you, that everything that has happened between us is a lie, or that I'm evil. A bitch--
-Woah, stop there. "Bitch" is my title, you're not worthy of it. -Carol cut her.
-Yeah, you don't get to compare yourself to a Heather. -Alice agreed.
-What, I... Since when is "bitch" a compliment?!
-Since 1989. Now go on with your speech.
-Ok... Anyway, I know you think I'm a despicable person, Derek. But I hope you're not thinking the most superficial tbought. "Is that her real face? The slash, mutilated face revealed by the mistletoe. Is that what she really looks like"? Before all that... Julia Baccari. That was my name.
-I don't care. -Derek finally spoke.
-I guess I should have changed it to something with different first letters; I think I read somewhere that people always pick aliases that are subconsiously derivative of their original name; It's a way of not completely letting go of your identity, since your name is so tied to your sense of self. Do you know what else is? Your face. The one that's supposed to be staring back at you in the mirror. Not some hacked up atrocity that you can't even recognize.
-I still don't care. -He shook his head again. But he denied before she could barely finish talking, his eyes were fixated in the void, and his shoulders were tense. If Carol wasn't used to analyzing body language (something she had in common with her mother), she wouldn't have noticed that he was concentrating a lot of his energy in keeping himself from breaking everything around them and slashing the woman's throat.
-But I bet you're curious.
-Then I suggest you never gamble. -Alice rolled her eyes.
-Yeah, I personally don't like dramatic backstories. Having suffered in the past doesn't give you the right to be an idiot in the present. -Carol said, a subtle hint of guilt whispering in the back of her mind that Julia wasn't the only one there with a troubled past.
-But I bet you wonder exactly what happened. -Julia continued.
-You were an emissary. -Derek finally turned to face her. -They tried killing you along with the rest of the pack. Mystery solved.
-I was Kali's emissary. And I was the one she couldn't kill. I was still alive, and she knew it, but she just walked away. And I used the Nemeton to survive. For years, the Nemeton's power was virtually gone, like the dying ember of a burned out fire. But a few months earlier, something happened that caused that ember to glow a little brighter, something that gave it a spark of power again. The sacrifice of a virgin.
-Oh, you have got to be kidding me. -Carol instantly deduced which virgin she wad talking about.
-Beacon Hills is just a living proof of Chaos Theory. -Alice stated, having connected the facts as well.
-Emphasis on living. Seriously, this town is alive, and it is posessed.
-Wait, you're saying that... -Derek left the words hanging, not believing that even this could be his fault too. It wasn't, really, but Carolinne knew it would take a whole lot of energy to make him understand that.
-You didn't know what you were doing back then, but killing Paige in the root cellar, sacrificing her there, gave power to the Nemeton. -Julia explained, and only Carol would realize how he clenched his jaw and the glimpse of painin his eyes. -You gave it power again, you gave me power. Just enough to hold on to life a little longer. Long enough to be found. Now, you know mistletoe is important to Druids, but do you know the myth of why people kiss under the mistletoe?
-No.
-It's a Norse myth. Balder, the son of Odin, was the most beloved by the other Gods, so much that they wanted to protect him from all the dangers in the world. His mother, Frigg, took an oath from fire and water, metal and stone, and every living thing, that they would never hurt Balder. At a gathering, they tested him; stones, arrows, and flame, were all hurled at him; nothing worked. But there was one God who wasn't so enamored of Balder. The God of mischief, Loki. Loki discovered that Frig had forgotten to ask mistletoe, a tiny, seemigly harmless plant, and completely overlooked. Loki fashioned a dart out od mistletoe, and it killed Balder. Frigg was heartbroken; she decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it. So now we hang mistletoe underneath our door during the holidays, so that we will never overlook it again.
-Ok, I love mythology, and I have to admit that was quite an interesting story, but what exactly was the point of it? -Carol asked.
-The point is that we were the overlooked; the emissaries. It was a mistake Deucalion and the Alphas should never have made, because I made an oath of my own: from virgins and warriors, from healers, philosophers, and guardians, to loan me their power so that I could teach those monsters that their monstrous actions would never be overlooked.
-You've killed innocent people. -Derek acused.
-So have you. I know the real color of your eyes, Derek. And I know what it means.
-Don't even try to compare! -Carolinne defended him and he looked down. -A mercy kill is in no way similar to several sacrifices with a selfish purpose.
-Maybe. But I'm not asking you to save just my life. I'm asking you to save everyone they'll ever hurt again.
-You can't beat them. -Derek stated.
-Are you sure about that?
-Do you want an honest answer? -Alice asked.
-Boyd asked you right before he died, what happens to a werewolf during a lunar eclipse? You didn't get the chance to tell him, but you know, don't you? What happens, Derek? During the total lunar eclipse?
-We lose all our power.
-I'm still angry about that. -Carol commented.
-You knew?
-I told her. -Alice informed.