The usually bright and sparkling eyes that belonged to the teenager that was sitting stoically in the chair in front of him were empty and blank. Parrish gently placed his hand on top of Rory's knee,
"Aurora, can you tell me anything else?"
Rory didn't answer. The pain that she'd felt from the sword going through Allison's torso was still prominent, the scene replaying over and over again in her head. Her face was pale and the underneath of her eyes were red, telling the deputy that she'd been crying.
Parrish gently shook the girl's knee pulling her out of her head,
"Aurora, are you okay?"
"I'm fine"
Parrish took a breath in, feeling sympathetic but not allowing it to show on his face so she wouldn't feel pitied,
"Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?"
Rory shook her head gently,
"No. It all happened so fast"
"Stiles and Kira said it was the Nemeton that kept it trapped" Scott explained to Lydia, Rory and Deaton as he ran a hand through his hair.
"The problem is this isn't even a person you're fighting. It just looks like one" Deaton informed him,
"It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human"
"The shape of my best friend" Scott commented with a sigh.
"Someone caught it one. Someone can do it again, right?" Lydia said in determination.
"I don't know" Deaton shook his head gently,
"This thing was trapped a long time ago before the Nemeton was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore"
"Uh" Rory started, sniffling harshly once before frowning in thought,
"Is there anything that does?"
"Possibly" Deaton nodded over at her,
"When the tree was whole, its wood was sometimes used to contains powerful objects. But those objects are very rare"
"Wait a second" Lydia said frowning slightly,
"Powerful objects? Like an Alpha's claws?"
"Which alpha?" Scott questioned in confusion.
"Thalia Hale"
Everyone turned to look over at Rory in curiosity, wondering as to how Rory knew that, but the brunette didn't pay any attention to their glances, deciding instead to continue speaking,
"Derek was keeping them in this wooden box with a triskele carved on the lid"
"What if it was made from the Nemeton?" Scott asked suddenly.
"It was"
"How do you know?" Lydia questioned the Vet in curiosity.
"Because I made it"
Scott read over his phone before looking up at the others that were standing around the metallic table,
"Derek's got the triskele box. He's gonna meet us"
Scott's arm shot out and grabbed Rory as she rocked on her feet for a moment,
"What's wrong?"
"Something's happening" Lydia stated as she watched her best friend for a moment.
"I just had the worst feeling that we're running out of time" Rory informed them with a shake of her head.
"Yeah"
They all turned to look at the back entrance where Stiles and Kira were standing, although it was more like Kira was standing and Stiles was being held up by the girl.
"Yeah, I kind of got that feeling too" Stiles agreed through a deep breath.
"Scott, hold on" Stiles stopped the boy once the pack all got to the school,
"I know what you're all thinking. If this works, it might kill me too. But even if it does, you have to go through with it. Stick with the plan, okay?"
Rory's hand tightened ever so slightly on Stiles' wrist that was resting on her shoulder causing him to glance down at her,
"The plan is to save you"
"That's the plan we're going with" Scott nodded in agreement.
Stiles sighed gently realising that the pair were as stubborn as each other, he softly shook his head as he adjusted his arm over Rory's shoulders, the girl's other arm being wrapped around his waist.
"Oh, this is definitely not part of the plan"
The group all glanced around themselves to see that the room that they were in, which was usually a History classroom filled with rows of desks and a bookshelf at the back, was now covered in snow and looking like a garden.
"Like I promised, Stiles" The Nogitsune's distorted voice made them all spin around to see it and Oni at the entrance of the room,
"We're going to kill all of them. One by one"
"What the hell is this?" Stiles questioned as he gently manoeuvred Rory so that she was standing slightly behind him in a protective fashion.
"Where are we?" Scott questioned with a frown.
"Between life and death"
"Bardo" Lydia muttered to herself.
"But there are no peaceful deities here, Lydia" The Nogitsune informed the banshee bluntly before looking over at Stiles,
"You're dying, Stiles. And now everyone you care about is dying, too"
"What? What do you mean?" Stiles demanded with a frown.
"I've captured almost all of the territories on the board, Stiles" The Nogitsune informed them,
"The hospital, the Sheriff's station, and now, the animal clinic"
There was a solemn silence that passed between the pack as they realised that everyone that they cared about that wasn't at the school were all in some form of danger.
"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?"
"No, and I don't want to" Stiles said pulling Rory closer to him, his hand landing on her waist while both of Rory's were holding his arm.
"When a samurai disembowels himself on his own sword to maintain his honour, but that's not the cut that kills him" The Nogitsune informed the group,
"The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin who beheads the samurai with his own katana. Scott is you kaishakunin, I'm going to make your best friend kill you, Stiles. And you're going to let him. Because just like you, they're all going to die. Everyone touched by an Oni's blade. Unless Scott kills you first"
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"To win the game"
"This can't be real" Kira called out to Scott as the pair fought off the Oni, keeping them away from Lydia, Stiles and Rory.
"Yeah, tell that to them" Scott called back.
Stiles, who used the moment that Kira's sword was discarded to dive forwards and grab it, made everyone jump in fright.
"Stiles, no!" Scott called out in panic,
"Stiles"
"What is it saves you? What if it saves all of you?" Stiles questioned him.
"What if it's just another trick?" Rory demanded.
"No more tricks, Majo" The Nogitsune told her with a shake of his head,
"End it, Scott. Let your friend fall on his own sword. Do for him, what he cannot do for himself. Do it, Scott. Be his kaishakunin. Give up the game. You have no moves left"
Stiles' eyes caught something in the reflection of Kira's sword,
"I do. A divine move"
The boy tossed Kira her sword before advising,
"Stop fighting them. It's an illusion. You have to stop fighting them. It looks real and it feels real, but Scott, you gotta trust me. It's an illusion"
Kira and Scott went to take their first steps towards the door only for Rory to call out,
"Wait!"
"Rory-"
"No" Rory cut Scott off before her eyes glowed blue angrily, her hand shooting out and a barrier erupting from it that shot the Oni and the Nogitsune back leaving a pathway for the pack to walk through.
"We're okay" Scott breathed out once they were all out of the classroom,
"We're-"
The Nogitsune, who had now ditched his bandaged appearance and was now back to looking like Stiles, appeared. He tossed Scott and Kira off to the side before grabbing Lydia's shoulder and pulled her back in a gentler fashion than he'd done to Scott and Kira causing Kira to catch her and sending them both down on to the ground.
"This was my game. You think you can beat me at my game?" He demanded of Rory and Stiles as he walked towards them causing the pair to scramble back and away from him,
"Divine move? Divine move? You think you have any moves at all? You can kill the Oni, but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old. You can't kill me!"
"But we can change you" Rory told him causing all three to still abruptly.
"What?"
"You forgot about the scroll" Stiles reminded him.
"The Shugendo Scroll. Change the host" Rory added.
"You can't be a fox and a wolf"
The Nogitsune narrowed his eyes at Rory, taking a step towards her causing Stiles to tug her backwards slightly,
"You"
"You taught me how to play" Rory told him a smirk twitching at her lips,
"And I don't like losing"
Rory's hand collided with the Nogitsune's chest causing him to fly back into Scott, who caught him and then bit into his arm. A scream left him as his body started cracking, crumbling and then reducing down into nothing at their feet.
A fly was the only thing that was left from the body and it flew through the air before being captured by Isaac, using the triskele box that Derek had brought.
"Ah" Rory let out as Stiles collapsed, accidentally tugging her down with him.
A few moments passed before Stiles regained consciousness,
"Oh, god. I fainted, didn't I? We're alive. We all alive?"
Scott and Rory hesitated for a moment before exchanging a look, the former answering,
"Yeah, we're okay"
Lydia was soon on her feet and rushing out towards the courtyard causing Rory to follow after her in concern,
"Lydia?"
Once Rory caught up to the strawberry blonde she was standing still in the courtyard, tears brimming in her green eyes before she spun around and slammed into her best friend, holding onto her tightly as she cried into her shoulder.