A/N: This is long overdue and I'm sorry it's taken that long.
The sun rose over the hill in the morning through the valley, lighting up the camp. It was still early when the rays of the sun shone into Lemony's eyes. She began to stir, her eyes cracked open slightly, she checked her watch 6:35. She closed her eyes again and rolled back over to sleep, she didn't need to be up until 7:30. She lay there trying to ignore Izabelle's tossing and turning in her sleep. Eventually Lemony began to drift back to the land of sleep.
That's when she heard knocking on the front door. At first she tried to ignore it, hoping she was hearing things.
Then it sounded again, only louder this time. Someone was calling for her, she obviously wasn't imagining it. The knocking didn't stop.
Slowly Lemony sat up in her bed, dragging her feet out from under the warm covers and into thee cool air, she knew the floor would be cold, so she quickly slid on so socks then she stood up grabbing the cardigan from the end of her bed. All this while the knocking was going on.
"Alright. Alright. I'm coming." Lemony croaked, her voice still hoarse.
She reached the door and unlocked it. Stood there, fully dressed, with sword in one hand and shield in the other, was Dexter. He had been up for hours by the look on his face.
"Why are you not dressed yet?" Dexter asked looking Lemony up and down. "Do you know what time it is?" He asked.
"Do you?" Lemony replied, she stepped outside and pulled the door with her, so not to wake Izabelle up. "It's not even seven yet."
Dexter sighed. "Breakfast is at eight, but we're going to get ahead of the crowd."
"What do you mean?" Lemony asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Do you like strawberries?" Dexter asked, Lemony nodded. "Then go and get dressed, we're going to get some early training in. Bring your scythe."
Lemony nodded. "My first day and I'm up crack of dawn." She sighed before going inside and shutting the door in Dexter's face.
————
The next day The Pack were crowded around Stiles' jeep, they were all tired, none of them had slept that night. Malia and Lemony had gone to the morgue in the hope that Mr. Stewart would want to talk to them, but nothing. He refused to show up. Lemony had even jumped though The Window to see if he was there hiding, but he had refused to come out, he probably was watching his daughter wreak havoc somewhere. Eventually the sun came up and they had to go to school. Malia had to drag Lemony out of the hospital as Stiles was waiting outside the building, honking his horn.
They were all stood around trying to discuss their next plan. Lemony was stood with Malia. Lydia was pacing back and forth as she thought aloud.
"Tracy wasn't just having trouble sleeping." Lydia said. "It was a real disorder. It was night terrors." She walked up to joined the group.
"Well, now she's the night terror. Especially since no one can find her." Stiles added to her point.
"Okay, I know we're all tired and miserable." Scott panned to everyone in the pack, no one had really slept last night and it showed.
Scott's attention stopped on Liam's friend, Mason. Who was smiling from ear to ear. "Except for you."
Finally Mason blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry." Mason looked at Scott for a second. "This is all just mind-blowing."
He looked around the circle, then his attention stopped. "You're a Kitsune!" Mason exclaimed. "I don't even know what that is!"
Kira shied away from the situation. "I'm still learning."
"And you're-you're." Mason's attention went to Lemony.
"Daughter of a Greek Goddess." Lemony mumbled, Malia put a protective arm around her.
Mason smiled. "Sweet." He mumbled.
"Liam, we said you could tell him." Stiles stepped in otherwise Mason wouldn't have run through everyone there. "Not invite him to the inner circle!"
Mason looked at Liam and mumbled loudly. "Uh, I'm in the inner circle?"
Liam's response was simultaneous to Stiles. "No."
"Guys, look, back to Tracy." Scott said, getting them back on topic. "She's just one lone wolf-- we can find her."
Malia shrugged. "One lone, serial-killing wolf."
"Uh, she only killed one person, you know? The other two were mauled." Stiles looked over to her. "All right, what do we do when we catch her?" Stiles said emphasising the 'catch'ing part.
"I say we put her down." Malia said bluntly.
Lemony looked at her. "Malia. Stop."
"Intense." Mason mumbled.
Lemony looked over to Mason and smiled. "Welcome to the Inner Circle." She whispered to him.
Mason smiled back.
"Guys, lets concentrate on catching her, first." Scott explained. "We'll figure out the rest later."
They all nodded.
Before Scott could walk away Lemony called out to him. "Scott I can try and find her or her dad. Please."
"Lemony you tried all night. You're exhausted." Malia replied before Scott could think up a response. "Just rest, you've had it full on since you got back." Malia put her hands on Lemony's face.
Lemony tried to get out from her grasp. "You don't need to protect me all the time Malia. I can handle myself." Lemony sighed, throwing her bag back on her shoulder, she then walked away from the group towards the school.
———
Dexter had dragged Lemony out to the strawberry fields, the camp still quiet as the rest of the camp mates slept. The two of them crept through the empty strawberry fields, even though the rest of the world was asleep, they didn't want to wake them.
Eventually the two reached a clearing in the bushes. The bushes were littered with little red pops of colour, being contrasting colours the red strawberries stood out on the green bushes. Lemony was in awe of the the number of strawberries, such a simple thing yet it amazed Lemony.
The two of them grabbed handfuls of strawberries and put them in an empty bucket. They made their way to the training ground, they munched on the strawberries as they did this. A bit of different to her usual breakfast of toast but she didn't mind. Maybe this different breakfast would put her in a different mind set for this training session that Dexter had planned for her this morning. She had no idea what to expect but she was ready to try, especially seen as she hadn't seen Erica anywhere since last nights outburst at her expense.
Finally after reaching the training ground Dexter put the empty bucket to one side and began to strap on his armour. Lemony stood there twiddling her thumbs, she was still unsure on how to successfully put on the armour. Once Dexter had finished strapping up his, he helped Lemony into hers, he explained to her the tricks of it, such as getting it the right way round and how to tighten it along with the information that she still needs to keep some room to move, fight and breath.
"Right where shall we start?" Lemony asked, she fiddled with the ring on her finger.
Dexter thought for a second. "I'm honestly not sure, I've been at this for so long that I can't remember the first lesson anymore." He explained.
"Well that's reassuring isn't it?" Lemony said, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm.
Dexter, picked up his sword he'd put down to put on his armour, he stepped backwards from her. "I guess we can start of talking about our stances and how you properly hold and defend yourself from an attacker, because once you can defend yourself properly you can strike back."
Lemony nodded and blinked a few times at him. "What am I getting myself into? I nearly died three times after waking up from a coma and I'm back in the firing line."
Dexter hold the sword in both hands as Lemony twisted the coin on her ring. The all too familiar bubbles appeared and multiplied creating that scythe that has become a part of her at this point.
The bubbles popped and disappeared, leaving the scythe in their wake. She spun the weapon in her hands, then holding it up in front of her face, she looked at Dexter and smiled:
"Bring it."
———
Lemony had enlisted the help of Mason, she had tasked him to find somewhere dark and quiet for her. While she lost her tail of her girlfriend who didn't trust her was never too far behind, every corner Lemony rounded you can be sure Malia would a minute later. Eventually her brother came over to her.
"Do you know where Malia is?" He asked her.
Lemony sighed. "Give it a minute, she's coming." Lemony walked on past her brother.
Sure enough Malia rounded the corner and Stiles distracted her with a conversation about her mother.
Lemony dipped into a classroom one she hadn't been in before, there thankfully Mason was waiting. He looked surprised to see Lemony, and he was. Lemony looked the same.
"How did you know I-" Mason began to ask.
Lemony put her fingers to her lips, shushing him. She gestured to the door behind her, hoping he'd get the hint. But Mason was new to this, Lemony was just hoping he would have some common sense to listen to her.
Mason nodded and dramatically tiptoed over to her, Lemony stood there watching Mason be all ridiculous.
She waved her arms to get him to look at her. "What are you doing?" She mouthed with the occasional sound coming out.
"Being quiet." Mason whispered back.
"Well stop." Lemony whispered back. "Where did you find?" She asked, her voice still hushed as Mason walked to the back of the room, he opened the storage closet door and peered back to her.
Mason smiled like a puppy trying to please it's owner. "This classroom will be empty for this lesson. No one to distract you." He explained.
Lemony nodded, dropping her bag in the closet. "Nice."
"Can I ask what you're doing?" Mason said, as he watched Lemony take off her jacket.
"You already did." Lemony smiled, she looked at him. "Project my consciousness into the land of the dead and looked for Tracy's dad, then therefore hopefully find Tracy." Lemony shrugged, she got in the closet and sat down in the dark.
"What?" Mason asked.
Lemony rolled her eyes. "Never mind then. Close to the door." She said, just before it was shut completely, Lemony spoke. "Thank you for helping me Mason." She smiled at him.
Mason smiled back and closed the door.
Lemony was left alone in the darkness and silence, she closed her eyes and sat waiting. She waited for the world around her to disappear, to fizzle into the land of the dead. She pushed her mind to the ends of herself, welcoming the darkness.
Before Lemony could peacefully open her eyes, the closet door swung open. A figure grabbed her arm and began to pull her out of the closet.
She thought it was Malia having found her. Instead when she opened her eyes she saw Mr. Stewart.
"Quick! Tracy is in trouble." He said, his hand still clutched onto Lemony's arm.
Mr. Stewart pulled Lemony through the halls, they passed around and through the still living students.
He dragged her all the way, Lemony heard the lesson bell ring. She didn't care that she was going to miss one lesson. She'd missed a whole year last time. Lemony felt as if she was finally winning, like she was doing something good. She was useful.
Mr. Stewart had pulled Lemony into a classroom, Mr Yukimura's history class, she liked Mr Yukimura, he was kind.
Lemony watched all the students sitting there bored as anything, they were daydreaming, playing with their hair, sleeping, one was on their phone.
The image of our youth. Lemony thought.
In the back sat Tracy. Her head down, her fingers clutching the desk, he hair was unkempt and unruly. She was breathing heavily, like she wasn't sure where she was.
"She thinks she's sleeping." Mr. Stewart told Lemony, the two stood there watching the young girl.
Tracy got so overwhelmed at one point she snapped the wooden desk in front of her.
This got the attention of the girl next to Tracy, she looked over at her and asked her something. Lemony couldn't quite hear but she knew if the girl got too close she would get hurt.
"Please. Do something." Mr. Stewart asked, looking at Lemony.
She nodded.
A ringing pulled Lemony back to the land of the living. She jumped, she hit her head on the back of the closet.
Someone had pulled the fire bell.
Lemony scrambled to get up and open the door. She ran.
———-
Dexter and Lemony had only gone a few rounds, and she was already exhausted. Dexter had shown her the basics, how to hold yourself when being attacked. He demonstrated a strong stance to her, how best to hold her weapon. Though Dexter had no clue how to wield a scythe, he showed her with a sword in the hopes that she would tweak it to apply to her.
"So," Dexter said, as he swung his sword at Lemony, "how are you finding camp?" He asked as the two metals clashed against one another.
"It's only my second day," Lemony shrugged, as she jumped sidewards and swung at Dexter's back. "But it's good. A nice change from home." She said.
Dexter blocked the steel of her scythe with his own sword. "What makes it a 'nice change'?" He asked, spinning on his foot and aiming his next swing low, for her legs.
"Well" She breathed as she jumped over the swing of his sword and aimed the butt of her scythe for his back, hitting him on his armour, between the shoulder blades, he stumbled as she stepped back. "There is considerably less death here than in Beacon Hills."
Dexter stood up and lowered his sword. "Right, being someone who can see death, that must be pretty shit for you." He offered her his hand.
Lemony didn't take it for fear he'd flip her over or something along those lines. "Shit is an understatement. Everyone I've known that as died I still see, it's a reminder that I couldn't help." She shrugged.
Lemony stepped away for a second, she made her way to the bucket that held the strawberries earlier, there were two bottles of water. Lemony took one out and began to drink.
"At least you can still see and talk to your loved ones." Dexter shrugged, grabbing his drink alongside her and taking a sip.
Pulling the drink from her mouth, Lemony took a look at Dexter, he looked like something was bothering him. She didn't want to press it, so she offered him a small smile. "You have a point."
Dexter smiled back, putting his drink back in the bucket. "So onto more important matters." He said, grabbing his sword that Lemony hadn't realised he'd dropped. "Anyone special back home?"
Lemony stopped her next gulp of water and looked at him, pulling the bottle from her mouth she cleared her throat. "Not that it's any of your business, yes. Her name is Malia."
"Really?" Dexter smirked. "I didn't think that you would be seeing anyone. How'd you and Malia meet?" He asked, taking a seat in the grass.
Lemony sighed and joined him. "If you must know, we met through my brother. They were dating at the time."
Dexter laughed. "You stole your brothers girlfriend?" He asked, Lemony nodded. "That's hilarious. So she's into both guys and girls them?" He asked.
"Got a problem with that?" Lemony asked.
Dexter shook his head. "No, just never met someone like that." He shrugged.
"It's called: bisexuality. And you have." Lemony explained, she gestured to herself. "She's right here. She's never been with a guy but she's still bi."
"Interesting." Dexter nodded. "If it makes you feel better I've never been with a guy either." He said in a very serious tone.
Lemony started to laugh at him. Dexter kept his serious look about him. "Not funny Dexter." Lemony chuckled trying to calm down.
"It's a little funny." He said, putting his hand up, gesturing a small amount with his two fingers.
Lemony sighed, calming down. "What's with this, I thought you weren't a nice guy. You just wanted to teach me to fight." She twisted the coin on her ring and her scythe began its disappearing act.
"You're going to have to get me one of those." Dexter said gesturing to the ring on her hand. "I did. You already knew how to fight, it's in your blood. I'm just helping you tweak it." He shrugged.
Lemony nodded. She thought about how much Malia would like Dexter and how they'd probably get along. Both running head first into danger, no doubt Dexter having more of a plan than Malia.
"Alright I have an idea." Dexter said pulling her back into the real world. "We have one last fight for the morning before going to join the camp for the day."
"Okay." Lemony sighed, she'd just put her weapon away. "What's the catch?" She asked, thinking it sounded too easy.
"You win, you don't have to tell me anything." He said.
Lemony raised an eyebrow. "Anything about what?" She asked.
"Let me finish." He said, standing up. "You win, you don't have to tell me anything. I win, you tell me what happened between you and Artemis."
Lemony froze. "How'd you?"
Dexter smiled. "So that's a yes then?"
——-
A/N: So so so sorry it has taken me over a year to update this story. I have had this chapter written up for ages! But the last bit (the fighting with Dexter) I got stuck, not sure where to go or what to write. I have loads of ideas for this story it's just getting from one part to another, say I have an idea to bring Dexter and Izabelle to Beacon Hills for a reason but I need to get there.
Thank you for bearing with me, and I am sorry again but if I keep getting nudged I might get there. I'm also trying to complete my Level 3 NVQ in Childcare as well so that will also take priority.
Back on topic, I had a thought for Chiron's character: Pedro Pascal? Someone suggested Chris Evans. If you have any better suggestions please give them to me.
Em. X