Changed

A Tree

Scott laughs and steps away, clapping Isaac on the back. "Glad to see ya, now we're looking for Deaton. You know where he is?"

Isaac gestures behind him. "He's in the back, tending to one of the puppies."

Scott nods and gestures for us to follow him, heading into the back room.

We find Deaton feeding a Yorkie, who by he looks of him, has just had some kind of sleep medicine.

Deaton sees us and his face brightens. "Hello, friends." He says in his husky rumble. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Scotts face is not smiling. As a matter of fact, none of us are smiling.

Deaton notices.

"Is everything all right, my friends?" He questions, rubbing his hands on his khakis.

Stiles steps forward and shows him Lydia's notebook. Deaton flips through the pages, examining each tree carefully, with an expression of concentration.

"My, my," he says, biting his lip. "Wouldn't you know."

Scott and Derek exchange confused glances.

"What is it, Deaton?" Derek asks, taking a step closer to me.

Deaton purses his lips and tilts his head. "Well, by the looks of it, it's the Nemeton. It's how the dark Druids are assembling to become stronger and more powerful so they can defeat you. You, my friends, are in for quite the challenge." He says wisely.

Deaton's intelligence radiates from his words and we hang onto every one of them like they're worth our lives.

"What's a Nemeton?" Stiles asks.

"Who are the dark Druids?" Scott.

"What's a dark Druid?" Me.

"What do they want?" Derek.

"How do we beat them?" Peter.

"Is that my tree?" Lydia.

We all turn to look at Lydia. She's pointing at Stiles's arm, on which is the same tree Lydia has drawn, etched onto his wrist.

Stiles immediately pulls his sleeve down. "Um, yeah, I drew it so I wouldn't forget it."

Derek smirks and slaps his head, making Stiles blush furiously.

I feel my face heat up and my stomach twists. I ignore it and glare at Stiles, who looks at me awkwardly, trying to read my expression.

Deaton crosses over to his desk and pulls out a credit card. "There's only one way to figure out where your parents are, kids, and it's extremely dangerous. Very risky."

We all look at each other and Scott takes the lead. "How do we do it?"

Deaton looks at each of us in turn. "You will be risking your lives. If it does not work, which is very rare that it doesn't, there's a slight chance you will not wake up. Are you up for that?"

Scott lets out a breath of air and looks around.

I nod my head along with everyone else. "Let's do it." I say bravely, taking Derek's hand.

Derek looks at my quizzically, surprised, but I look straight ahead, pretending I don't see him.

Deaton shakes his head, looking at us with concern. "Only three of you," he says, pointing.

"Scott."

"Stiles."

He pauses, racking his brain. And then he points a stiff finger at the curly haired boy.

"Isaac."

I look around; Scott and Stiles look worried. Isaac looks frightened.

"You will each need someone who gives you a pull back to reality. Who has a connection with your life that will be able to restore your mind to its normal state. Who has some sort of bond that ties you together, and will be able to lead you back to normality."

Lydia immediately steps toward Stiles, but Deaton shakes his head.

"But-"

"Lydia," Deaton says gently, "you'll be sitting this one out. I want you to be completely aware in case anything happens."

And by anything, he meant if she sensed any dead bodies.

Stiles looked around, taking us each in. "Then who's-"

Deaton ignored everyone and took his own approach. "Derek, you'll be with Isaac."

I knew that was coming. I knew Derek's close bond with Isaac.

"I'll be with Scott," Deaton continued.

I narrowed my eyes and looked around. The only person left was....

"And Stiles, your pull will be Cora."