" I really only liked Alli. "
»»———- ———-««
The trio reluctantly listened to what Gerard had to say. He told them about the first appearance of the Beast and the lady who killed it: Marie-Jeanne or The Maid of Gevaudan. When he finished his explanation, the old man slid a book across the table towards them.
"Maybe someone should resurrect her." Jordan remarked.
He turned on his heel and started towards the exit.
Chris sighed and dipped his head in disappointment while Asher huffed in annoyance. Lydia looked towards Jordan.
"Don't leave," the redhead says.
The HellHound turns back around. "My dreams aren't like yours, Lydia. I'm not just a harbinger of death. I'm the cause of it."
"Oh, who gives a shit?" Asher snaps.
Jordan pauses.
"Look, no one fucking cares, Jordan, all right? We need your help to save this stupid town, so whatever fantasies your HellHound side is having, don't really matter. You're not a killer, so stop acting like you just crossed us all off and now you're heading out to kill the rest of the pack. It's stupid." Asher tells him. "Maybe the HellHound is a little crazy, but that isn't on you."
He shakes his head. "I can't help you with that. Leaving is how I can help."
With that last word, Jordan starts to leave.
"You bitch-" Asher scoffs and goes to follow him, Lydia on her trail.
"Let him go." Gerard stops them.
Asher turns around so quickly it slightly startles the other three in the room. Her glare is set on Gerard as if she's about to snap his neck, which is why Lydia grabs her shoulder. However, the banshee is glaring at the man just as hard as Asher.
"Why?" Lydia asks.
"Because as much as we believe Parrish could take on the Beast..." Chris rounds the table to stand in front of the girls, "neither of think he's our only hope at stopping it."
Asher's glare drops to a confused expression. "What does that mean?"
"We think there's another." Chris says.
Gerard walks over to them with his weird smile, blood still plastered on his upper lip. He stops beside his son and his eyes fix onto Lydia, "You."
Asher looks at the girl beside her.
"You don't have to do anything. You know that, right, Lydia?" Asher looks down at her from where she's seated on the table.
Lydia softly closes the book in front of her and lets out a breath. "I just don't know if I can... Besides, if Jordan won't then who else can stop all of this?" She looks up to Asher.
The lioness shrugs. "I dunno. I just said you don't have to. Especially not if it's the Argent's telling you to do it."
"I thought you were okay with the Argent's. Well, besides Gerard... and Kate." Lydia titled her head.
"I really only liked Alli." Asher says low. "Don't tell him I said this, but I still don't really trust Chris."
Lydia looked confused, "What? Why not?"
Asher sighs. "I know there's no reason for me to be so distrusting towards the man, but... There's just not a lot of people I trust anymore."
"Do you have a list, or something?" Lydia wonders.
"Sorta." Asher hums. "You, Deaton, Scott - sort of -, Reya, Malia. Danny."
Lydia nods. "Liam? Kira? Stiles? Mason?" She lists off. "And why only sort of for Scott?"
"Well, besides Danny, who I still talk to everyday, Scott's my best friend. But he doesn't trust me like I trust him, so... I've lost some trust. And I love Liam like a brother, but until Hayden's truly and completely on our side, he's too susceptible." Asher explains this like she's waited for months to talk about it, her words prepared and said without hesitation. "Kira, I trust with my life, but the kitsune is too out of control. She doesn't trust herself; I don't trust her fully. For Stiles... Well, he's an asshole. We made a bit of friendship progress, then he ran it over with his dumb jeep, so I couldn't care less about the idiot. And Mason, well... I think he's alright, but there's something about him that I can't place." She shrugs.
The banshee takes in her words before nodding. "You still talk to Danny?"
Asher raises an eyebrow, "That's what you took from that?"
"No! I just didn't realize you still talk to him. Is he doing okay?" Lydia asks sincerely.
Nodding, Asher smiles at the thought of Danny. "Definitely. He's got a boyfriend - that's human and not flaky like Ethan -, he's got a nice place with him, college is going well, he's got a cool job, and he's happy. We try to talk on the phone every night, but with everything happening recently, I've only been able to shoot him a few texts."
"I'm glad he's happy. Danny deserved to get out of here." Lydia says.
"Yeah. I miss him though. Besides the twins, Danny was my first real friend."
Lydia smiles softly at her. She slowly looks back down at the closed book in front of her. Asher raised an eyebrow at her in silent questioning. Lydia nods which leads to Asher hopping off the table before the two turn towards the door.
They didn't get very far as Gerard walks into the room and starts to speak, "Marie-Jeanne was a lot like you, Lydia. Skeptical of her own abilities. And once, actually, just as skeptical of the supernatural."
He dove into another part of the Marie-Jeanne story: her brother coming home, her getting asked to hunt the beast, a little boy getting killed by the beast, Marie-Jeanne agreeing to hunt it. As Gerard told the story, Chris eventually joined them, Asher ended up back on the table while Lydia walked around.
"Why didn't the dude warn her?" Asher asked.
"He told her about everything they'd seen during the war." Gerard said, walking towards the table. "But as I said," he picked up a small bucket with bullets in it, "Marie-Jeanne was a skeptic." He dropped another bullet into it.
--------------------
Reya and Malia work their way into the school, weaving through the panicked students and players as they try to find Stiles or any of their other friends.
Malia turns and grabs a random dude that was running about and shoves him into a wall. Reya stumbles to a stop beside her.
"Where's Stiles?" Malia barks.
The kid doesn't answer, not paying her much attention.
"Look at me!" She orders and he looks at her with wide eyes. "Do you know who Stiles is?"
He shakes his head, "I don't know."
Reya sighs and grabs her best friends arm, "Let him go. He's just scared."
A loud clattering noise to their right signifies Reya's point and Malia releases the poor dude. The two glance at each other before Malia looks away to pull her phone out. She grabs ahold of Reya's wrist as she starts walking down the stairs with her phone to her ear.
"Braeden, it's me." Malia says as calm and steady as she can. "I'm at the school and we need you."
"Tell her to bring, like... All of her guns." Reya adds.
"Bring your shotgun," the werecoyote shares a look with the chimera, "Bring all your shotguns."
--------------------
As another part of the story dies on Gerard's tongue, Lydia almost faints. Weird things to say in the same sentence, but that's genuinely how it went.
The banshee stumbled back as she feels something, Asher catching her by the shoulders because she was closest to her.
"Lydia? You all good?" Asher wonders.
"Something's happening," Lydia reveals while leaning into Asher's embrace slightly.
Gerard and Chris share a look. Chris steps forward towards them. "Now?"
"I don't know." She answers. "But something's wrong." Lydia looks down, "I can't stay here."
Asher feels her phone buzz in her back pocket. She carefully grabs it the best she can without making Lydia almost fall again. Her eyes scan the text. It's from Reya. "Yeah, I can't either. Rey texted. Shit's hitting the fan at the school."
"You should hear the rest of the story." Gerard insists.
Lydia slowly turns to look at him, "Why should I be listening to you?"
The werelion raises an eyebrow while putting her phone away. "That's what I've been saying this whole time."
"He knows it better than any of us." Chris interjects.
Lydia removes herself from Asher's hold and walks over to the table, leaning back against it. "Everything I've read says that the Beast was killed by Jean Chastel."
Gerard looks up, "Who told you that?"
"She just said-" Asher starts.
"The internet?" Gerard ignores her. "If that's your most reliable source of information, then.. You might as well go."
Lydia glances at Chris for reassurance. He nods at her. She looks to Asher next.
"Do whatever you want to do, Lydia. Unless Rey starts to spam the hell out of me, I'm with you." Asher promises.
The redhead sighs and faces Gerard once more, "What happened next?"
"Marie-Jeanne knew she couldn't just take out another hunting party armed with mistletoe and rowan berries," Gerard says after another bit of the story. "She needed an advantage. She needed to know her enemy."
He went on to explain Marie-Jeanne passing out drinks in the bar to honor their dead, but really she was testing the people to see who it was. Marcel, her brothers friend, cut his hand, she took him outside, he told her to go to the cellar, where she found a hoard of dead bodies. Marie-Jeanne came back with her crossbow and was ready to finish him, but discovered it wasn't him, but he was covering for the real killer. Her brother, Sebastien.
Lydia had moved on to sitting down at the table, resting her arms against it. Asher leans against it beside her.
"Marie-Jeanne confronted her brother the moment she walked back into the tavern," Gerard says as he walks around the room.
He tells the two teenage girls about how Sebastien practically reveled in the fact that he was what he was, claiming it was who he was and what he was meant to do. Marie-Jeanne wanted to tell the people in the tavern, but Sebastien told her how he would kill them all. Then, the man got up to leave, but not before taunting his sister about how they were family and she couldn't and wouldn't kill him.
"The skeptic became a full believer that night." Gerard says. "So, Marie-Jeanne went back to Henri to figure out how to kill both a beast and a brother."
The man told them how Henri assisted Marie-Jeanne in the forging of her spear, the spear that would eventually kill the Beast.
--------------------
Scott was not winning his fight against the Beast. Obviously. As the monster got closer to him, Scott painfully got back to his feet after he was thrown into the stairs of the library. His eyes travel all the way up to the Beast, who's standing over him, shadows covering him fully. But before he or the other werewolf in front of him could make a move, Scott spots something coming up from behind the Beast. His eyes widen and he quickly ducks out of the way.
Liam, healed and feeling a bit better from his previous fight with the crazy murderous wolf, slams his fists into the side of the Beasts head when it starts to turn to him in surprise. Liam hits the ground soon after, the Beast only stumbling.
It wasn't over, though, as shots begin to get fired. As Scott throws himself over the railing to above being hit from a miss, the Beast turns around to see Braeden shooting at him with Malia and Reya on each of her sides, looking as if they're ready to fight.
The three slowly stalk forward as Braeden fires shot after shot at the Beast. It doesn't hit the ground, but it recoils each time it gets hit with a bullet. Malia lets out a loud roar while her eyes shine blue.
The Beast turns and hits the stairs, catching itself with it's hands? Paws? Whatever they were. As Braeden doesn't let up, the Beast growls at them angrily.
Reya flicks her claws out. Just in case. Liam and Scott look up from their spots on the ground.
Finally having enough, the Beast shoots forward and flies out the window, glass flying everywhere and a huge whole left. A distant roar could be heard.
The two girls run over to the friends. Liam was already up and trying to help Scott, so Malia joins and the two of them get their alpha up with some difficulty. Once he's up, Liam walks over to Braeden, Reya on his tail to check him over, which leaves Malia supporting Scott.
"You didn't seriously think you were gonna have a chance against that thing, did you?" Braeden asks him, looking at him like he's crazy.
Scott shakes his head instantly. "No!" He turns to look out the window, where everyone else has been staring at. "But I got it's scent."
Reya lets out a strangled breath. She glances around when she notices all the different heartbeats in there with them. "Another good thing, I think you saved a lot of lives, Scott. It didn't get to anyone else in here, you distracted it."
She feels Liam lean up against her for support. Reya wraps an arm around his shoulders and gently patted the side of his face. He groaned before dropping his head onto her shoulder.
"I hate the Beast." He mutters.
"Yeah, it sucks."
--------------------
"Marie-Jeanne hunted Sebastien for three years until she finally cornered him in 1767." Gerard says.
He told the finale of the story: Marie-Jeanne impaled her brother as the Beast, he shifted back and taunted her about the injury until it took full affect, she told him what it was made of, she said that no one would remember him, and if they did it would be as the Beast. He died, she took her pike back, and then it was over.
"Damnatio Memoriae." Lydia recalls.
"They erased every detail of him," Chris tells them. "Everything he signed, everything he owned." He looks at Lydia when she stops to stand beside him.
"They burned it all," Gerard added.
Asher rolled her eyes. "Do you ever shut up?"
Once again, as if it was his birth right to do so, Gerad ignored her remarks. "The name Sebastien Valet has been forgotten for over one-hundred-and-fifty years, but when it's remembered..."
Chris hastily picks up where he left of, "When the Beast remembers, the teenager inside is forgotten."
"Gone. Forever," says Gerard.
Lydia tilts her head. "But Marie-Jeanne didn't do it alone. She was never alone. She had help from Henri, the Magistrate, the town, even Marcel."
Asher nods. "We need Parrish."
"I'm going to go find him." Lydia says firmly, turning on her heel.
The lioness follows swiftly. "I should get to the school, see if our people are alright."
"Girls, he's dangerous." Chris stops them. "He's still a shapeshifter. And one who's just beginning to understand his power."
His words cause both Asher and Lydia to turn around. Her hands rubbing into her thighs, Asher wanted to yell at him. But Lydia opened her mouth first.
"And I'm not?"
"You're not the same." Chris says.
"Because she's not a shapeshifter?" Asher remarks, tone dripping with venom.
Chris glances at her, sort of apologetically. He sighs and looks back at the banshee, "You access the supernatural; It works through you."
"But it doesn't control you." Gerard speaks up.
Lydia looks at him, "How would you know? Why do you care?" She stares at him with distrust. "Why are you suddenly on our side?" She walks closer.
Gerard pushes himself up and takes a few steps. He slides something across the table at her. Lydia catches it. She gives him a look.
"Because it's my name as well."
Asher glances at Lydia, then at Chris.
"Marie-Jeanne never left Henri after the death of her brother. And their relationship became more than a partnership. They married and she took his name."
Lydia runs her thumb across the bar of silver he slid to her. She looks down at the fluer-de-lis symbol molded into it and finally realized.
Asher did as well. "Argent."
Chris walks over to stand next to his father, "Marie-Jeanne was the first hunter."
"Our name will be remembered as well, Lydia. For killing the Beast." Gerard says to her.
Lydia slowly lands her gaze back onto the older man. "But I'm not an Argent." Her eyes move to Chris as she carefully picks her next words. Her head tilts just a bit, "And I'm not Allison."
Chris' face noticeably drops just slightly. He and the other two watch as Lydia finally leaves, not saying another word to any of them.
Asher swallows any words she had to say when she heard that. She balls her fists up tightly and then lets them go. Asher looks up at Chris. "I've got to get to the school. Um... See you around, Argent."
She doesn't spare them another glance before she follows after Lydia to leave and go find her friends. As she walks out of the hideout thing, her phone buzzes again.
How the hell am I getting signal down here? She thinks to herself but checks the message anyway.
From Reya. Beast. Gone. Scott. Hurt. Braeden. Malia. Liam.
But then a few minutes later...
Get here soon.
Asher frustratingly types out a message before shoving it back in her pocket. She doesn't quite get why she has to go there when everything's done for the night. Why can't she just go check up on Scott at his house? Or just go home? Despite her reservations, Asher decides to go and meet up with them anyway.
When she finally gets there and finds Reya, she's gonna wish she listened to herself and just went home.
»»———- ———-««
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shorter chapter than usual, i'm sorry! i just followed the episode and this was pretty much all that came out unless i added everything about marie-jeanne and i'm just too lazy man... i summed it up, though, so yeah!!
anywayyy... why would asher wish she never went to the school? (if you follow my editing account on tiktok, then shhhh! (bers3rkers.wp btw wink wink))
don't forget to vote and comment!
thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed!!
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