regency au } { of long journeys and vanquishing monsters

[deathlessness]

Freya: [is waiting for the group when they arrive back at the manor, but her welcoming smile dims slightly when she sees the somber look on all their faces] Things are going that well?

Kate: [is tired] Is Marcel here? [she only wants to tell them what they saw once]

Freya: He and Danielle are setting up some more precautions, but he will be here to meet you all for dinner tonight.

Kate: Good. Thank you for hosting us.

Freya: Of course.

Ben: [he'll pull up beside Hope, having been worried about what they'd find when they got here] I need to go to the bayou and check on Claudia.

Freya: Your sister is here. She and Jason agreed to move to the manor where we had more of a stronghold.

Ben: [and he lets out a deep breath, relaxing] Thank you. Has there been any sightings of him here yet?

Freya: [shakes her head] No, not yet. But we've had everyone on high alert.

Raf: I can go rally our pack [to Hope]

Isaac: And I am of service however you need me to be.

Lydia: [climbs out of the carriage next to Isaac with Allison, and just takes the place in, feeling much death here, but all long gone]

Hope: [nods to Rafael] We're going to need all hands available. Lizzie, Josie and I are going to head to the library to see if we can find something on this kind of possession in Elijah's collection.

Freya: As of now, we only need you to make yourselves at home. I've had rooms prepared for your stay.

Josie: Good thing I love that library.

Isaac: [links arms with his wife, because he could use a nap and going to their room sounds fantastic.]

Ben: I'll come to the library in a bit. I need to see my sister.

Raf: [and he's going to turn his horse around and head for the bayou]

Hope: [nods] Take your time. You know where to find us. [and with us she'll take the witches and head off to the library]

Allison: [will agree with that, letting Isaac lead her away as they all fall in step behind Freya and they head to their rooms]

Isaac: [and they will get shown to a room, and he will hold the door open for his wife] I'm not fond of sit and wait patiently.

Allison: I know, but this isn't our turf. We should know what Marcel knows before we proceed.

Isaac: See, I know that, and I know it's smart, but I also worry the longer this creature has Liam, the less likely we will be able to save him.

Allison: You aren't the only one thinking that. But rushing in blind to try and save Liam isn't going to truly help us if we only wind up making more enemies in the process.

Isaac: Which is the reason my feet stay planted here.

Allison: Good. [smiles as she leans in to kiss him] We will get Liam back, though.

Isaac: [kisses her back] I'm more concerned about Malia.

Allison: I think we're all concerned about Malia

Isaac: She was a toddler when I started as a squire at the manor. I've watched her grow up. Seeing her hurting, it's like reliving the time that Liam was sent away for stealing and she lost her world.

Allison: I can't say I blame her for being thrown by all of this. Especially seeing how far back the Doctors manipulation of Liam seems to go.

Isaac: [nods, thinking] You know, everyone's looking for a solution to La Bete. But are they trying to find why the doctors took him, or how?

Allison: From what Kate tells me, it's a very delicate process, possessing a person with someone else's spirit using science the way they did. They kept creating these chimeras - creatures who featured talents and sometimes even body parts from more than one type of shifter.

Isaac: Which explains Jonathan.

Allison: There must be a trait that all of their experiments shared that made them a viable candidate.

Isaac: Which they'd have to see before they choose the subject.

Allison: They had Liam from the time he was a baby it seems. It's possible that they crafted him to fit their needs.

Isaac: But they still choose him. Most people don't just offer up their babies to scary scientists.

Allison: They might if they're poor and have too many mouths to feed already.

Isaac: [pauses a moment, then sighs] Okay, you got me there.

Allison: We live in a cruel world. Sometimes circumstances don't always line up in someone's favor.

Isaac: I guess not.

Allison: We can determine the details later. Right now we need to determine how to reverse the damage done.

Isaac: Aren't the witches doing that?

Allison: [nods] We should also be looking for the means of containing him.

Isaac: Do you think wolfsbane would work on him?

Allison: He's still a wolf, so yes, but I would worry about the damage done to the host as well. Mountain ash should work though.

Isaac: I don't think it works on chimeras. Jonathan leaned against the cage bars and didn't react.

Allison: Then that's unfortunate. We'll have to get creative.

Isaac: Alright. Let's think like the doctors. How did they handle this guy the first time?

Allison: The first time?

Isaac: Yeah. I mean, the kids found the body in a large tube of liquid. Same with Jonathan. How did they get him into it? Was it willingly or force? Does did that green stuff have a specific purpose?

Allison: Well, he was dead before he entered the tube. It makes him rather malleable that way. I can't speak to what they did with Jonathan though.

Isaac: So if he was dead, how did they kill him?

Allison: Marie-Jeanne killed him. By stabbing him through the heart with an iron pike mixed with mistletoe and her own blood. Which, oddly enough, one of the Doctors crafted into a walking stick. Kate recovered it after she killed him.

Isaac: [listens, then smiles] Mistletoe.

Allison: How do you mean?

Isaac: If mistletoe is a component, that means it's something that can hurt him. On its own, it probably won't kill him, but...

Allison: Mistletoe is poisonous for werewolves in general.

Isaac: I'm sure then that a pack like the Crescent Wolves have worked with the Mikaelsons to make a cure for it. So if what we do to La Bete hurts Liam, if we can free him, we could also help cure him.

Allison: I think that might be a bit extreme.

Isaac: We're talking about a serial killing werewolf that's soul was shoved into another wolf, probably as early as when he was a toddler, and destroyed an entire village for fun. I think extreme needs to be on the table.

Allison: Is it worth it if it kills Liam faster than we can save him? Mistletoe is a slow poison, but it's not that slow. Especially in the quantities that we would need to have an impact on a wolf like La Bete, since it's now an alpha wolf.

Isaac: Well right now the only solution we have involved stabbing the host with a iron spike covered in mistletoe and Argent blood. Pretty sure Liam isn't going to live through that. But if we can poison it enough to even get Liam back to the main consciousness, we could see if he can give us information

Allison: Not necessarily. Apparently the other solution is a hellhound.

Isaac: That also sounds pretty extreme

Allison: Apparently all we have are extreme options, until the witches come up with something else.

Isaac: Why can't we ever deal with a threat by sitting down and talking about feelings?

Allison: You could always go into politics?

Isaac: I don't want to talk about my feelings [though he does. all the time] I want the bad guy to tell us why they want something so things can be settled peacefully.

Allison: [she laughs] Well, I think this particular bad guy just enjoys the hunt and the kill. He won't be satisfied another way.

Isaac: If he enjoys the hunt... how much hunting can you do in a village in a day to cause that kind of destruction?

Allison: It happened over several nights for months. And the leader of the Dread Doctors hid the bodies to protect him. So they were mostly disappearances, not deaths. Also there were multiple villages involved.

Isaac: I'm talking about the one we found on the way here.

Allison: Oh. Right. [a pause] Well. Powerful werewolves can tear through a body quite quickly.

Isaac: But that wasn't hunting. That was just murder.

Allison: I don't know if Sebastien sees a distinction there.

Isaac: It can also show that there's a different motivation behind his actions this time.

Allison: Like what?

Isaac: Well, he doesn't have the doctors to cover for him. He didn't hunt. The bodies were still there. It was a village right off the main royal highway that anyone would stumble across.

Allison: So you're saying he was trying to prove a point?

Isaac: I don't know, but maybe?

Allison: Kate knows the lore better than I do. Maybe she'll have a better idea.

Isaac: Maybe.

Allison: For now, we just need to be prepared and on our guard in case he comes here next.

Isaac: [nods.] I may go and walk the grounds, get a familiarity with the scents so that I'll know when something is off.

Allison: [nods] That's a good idea. Take someone with you.

Isaac: I'll ask Ben. He can tell me what some strange scents are.

Allison: Good. Stay safe.

Isaac: You too. [and he will kiss her before leaving to find Ben and start a patrol]

Allison: [and she will finish settling in before going to the library]

Lydia: [where the banshee is observing the witches, occasionally peering over their shoulders as she tries to get a sense of what the spirits are trying to tell her. nothing is clear yet, but she also hasn't really used her powers for much. her husband also doesn't approve of this trip but Allison needs her help, so she is going to give it]

Josie: [and not wanting either to feel left out, she will shift to give them both room to join them] Please join us.

Lydia: [shakes her head] I'll stand.

Allison: [goes to take one of the offered seats, however] Keep an eye out for anything about banshees, and if they can impact spirits.

Josie: We've been looking, but most possession cures are more of an exorcism.

Allison: That's more for demons, not ghosts. At least that's what I've been told.

Josie: Yeah, in the religious sense, but you can do exorcisms in other cultures for different things. I don't think anyone has a real cure for a werewolf possession.

Lydia: [head tips to the side] Then perhaps we need suggestions for curing werewolves.

Josie: Like, turn them human?

Lydia: [she nods] I know it's not something we can literally do, but all old wivestales have an inkling of truth to them, don't they?

Josie: It's worth a shot. But that does risk turning Liam human as well.

Lydia: I think the possession is the larger problem, don't you?

Josie: Yes, but creatures link their identity to who and what they are. This Sebastien has taken over Liam's identity. If we cure the werewolf problem, it could lock Sebastien as the main personality permanently, or it will take away Liam's wolf side, which he's had since he was at least five according to Parrish, without his consent. And if he has taken a cure, more than likely he won't be able to be turned again.

Lydia: [purses her lips because she doesn't know how to explain] Sebastien was unconventionally made. Not just by the Doctors, but before he was turned.

Allison: [squints at her] How do you know that?

Lydia: [shrugs] They told me. There are ... a lot of dead people in this town.

Josie: It is Orleans. That is one of the key features here. [small smile]

Lydia: Yes, well. They told me that Sebastien Valet was turned by drinking water from the pawprint of a werewolf.

Josie: Hmm. [and she's going to go back into her books, because she read something about werewolves and paw water]

Lydia: [and that's about all the useful information she has, so she's going to continue pacing, and trying to keep on the same wavelength]

Josie: [and after another half hour] That's why I couldn't find anything. Sebastien goes by another name in these books-Jeziah Lou-Silvre. Huh, I wonder why he changed it.

Allison: [frowns] He was never an Argent. Marie-Jeanne married in.

Josie: And the women in your family keep the name Argent instead of taking their husband's surname, correct?

Allison: Depends on the Argent. But I inherited control of my family so I needed to be an Argent. Kate I think kept hers just to be contrary.

Josie: Well, it says here that a La Bete is created when someone drinks from the water in a werewolf paw, and Jeziah... or Sebastien... slowly overtakes the person until their memories and essence are replaced by La Bete. If the doctors made Liam drink this water, it would have turned him into La Bete. [looks up at Allison] It says slowly... it doesn't give a timeframe of how long the process takes.

Allison: I've never dealt with a werewolf made this way before. How do we reverse the process?

Josie: [goes back to read] Well, it says that silver won't kill it, but will weaken it. [turns a page] Oh, that's interesting.

Allison: The silver?

Josie: No. It says here that a theory to reverse it would be to wake the essence of the person La Bete replaced so they can fight their own way back.

Allison: How do we do that?

Josie: It doesn't say. But how would you normally get the attention of someone else?

Allison: Use their name?

Josie: Yeah. But since Liam isn't the one using the ears, maybe it's an energy thing. I remember before Liam started to change, he clamped his hands over his ears, but we didn't hear anything that could cause him to react in pain like that.

Allison: [eyebrows up, then turns to Lydia] Then maybe we need a very specific frequency.

Josie: Part of a witches' ability to use magic--not just witchcraft--depends on how attuned they are to the energies. Every single witch has their own unique tune. We also use a person's tune in location spells. The object they owned would have remnants of that energy on it.

Allison: Can you project it back at them?

Josie: Yeah, you just have to know your target so you aim correctly.

Allison: That certainly isn't a problem. At least, we hope.

Josie: If we can't remove him, at least with Liam in control, we can let him make the choice on what we do to him. Maybe even give him a chance to say goodbye if it comes to that. [she hopes it doesn't]

Allison: I don't think letting him linger in any capacity is an option. Sebastien, that is.

Lydia: [none of this feels right but she's just going to wander to the window, tuning out of the conversation and trying to see if there's anything else she can pick up on]

Josie: Not even for telling him the situation and giving him choices?

Allison: Sebastien has already had his life. He died a long time ago. He doesn't get the opportunity to steal someone else's.

Josie: No, but if it comes down to no other choice but to kill him, he gets to do just that by our hands.

Energy: [Lydia will start to hear a hum, almost like the sound of a musicians triangle. There's an whisper that can be heard in the noise saying 'silver']

Allison: Do you honestly think with everything we know about him that he will willingly choose to leave Liam?

Lydia: [There's lots of silver, you need to give her more context, weird voices in her head]

Nadine: [her ghost is in the room, moving to Lydia] The boy is of silver. He doesn't know, but his heartsong still resonates with the chime.

Lydia: [quietly, since to everyone else she's going to be talking to herself] So if I match the frequency, I can separate them?

Nadine: Silver weakens La Bete, but it runs in the boy's essence to give him strength.

Lydia: That doesn't make any sense.

Nadine: [were you expecting a direct answer?] Those of silver will know.

Lydia: [no, she's just annoyed] ... What does that mean?

Nadine: Ask them. [and her voice will fade, replaced by the hum of the silver triangle again]

Lydia: [makes a frustrated noise]

Allison: Lydia?

Lydia: I'm fine. The dead are just perpetually unhelpful.

Josie: What are they saying?

Lydia: That Liam is "of silver"?

Josie: ... Liam is made of silver?

Lydia: She says it makes him stronger but riddles are not my strong suit.

Josie: [goes back to the book] It said that silver will not kill, but will weaken La Bete...

Allison: [turning it over in her head] That's the phrase she used? Of silver?

Lydia: Yes. Why?

Allison: Sometimes the older members of the family will use it to refer to us. The Argents.

Josie: [thinks] Liam is of silver... [eyes widen] Liam is an Argent.

Allison: [blinks in surprise] ... No. [though she doesn't sound completely certain of that]

Josie: Parrish said that Liam doesn't know his surname. There has to be other branches in your family beside the one you come from.

Allison: Yes but we keep tabs. And they all hunt in some capacity. If an Argent child had been stolen, we would have known.

Josie: Unless they never told you at all.

Allison: [straightens and frowns] Some branches of the family broke away when Gerard was in charge, but we had been mending those bridges. Unless they were lost so long ago they fell out of the family's history ...

Josie: Is there a family journal, or Bible, that lists this information?

Allison: Not here. We would have to go back to Paris for that, and I'm afraid we don't have time.

Josie: [looks at Lydia] I guess we need to trust the voices.

Lydia: So Liam is an Argent. Is there anything we can do with that?

Josie: Well, we were already at finding a frequency to use to say his name. We have a full name now... so maybe that would work? Did the voices say anything else? Maybe a hint as to how it would work?

Lydia: There was a sound? I think I do have the frequency, yes. I just have to mimic it.

Josie: Okay. So we just need to find him and do that. [thinks] But how do we find him? And make him stand still to do that?

Lydia: He doesn't have to stand still. A banshee's scream is quite a force. Finding him is going to be the trickier proposition.

Landon: [pokes his head in the door] Marcel and the hellhound are here. It's time for dinner.

Josie: Oh, I need to clean up. I came up here right from the road.

Allison: I think we all do. Landon, tell them we'll be there in a moment.

Landon: [nods and heads back down to the dining room]

Josie: [and she'll arrive after changing out of her riding clothes and washing her face. She can take a real bath tonight.]

Parrish: [is already down there, talking to the young men]

Danielle: [is perched in a corner, studying the fancy trappings of the Abattoir]

Marcel: [raises an eyebrow at her] What is it?

Danielle: [glances back at him with a smirk] Your family home is rather pretentious.

Marcel: [snorts] I wouldn't say you're wrong.

Parrish: [and he will excuse himself from the young ones and go over to greet them] It's a pleasure seeing you again, Lord Gerard. M'lady. [he gives a quick bow]

Marcel: Lord Parrish. May I introduce my dear friend, Danielle Perinneaux.

Danielle: [nods] Monsieur.

Parrish: I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner.

Danielle: [gives him a small smirk] It is not as though you can wish yourself from one place to another.

Parrish: No, plus you can only push a horse so much without causing them harm.

Danielle: I don't think anyone expects more of you than you are able to give. [because everyone needs that reminder] And we needed our own time to prepare as well.

Parrish: I'm not sure I'll be able to be prepared for this, myself.

Danielle: You care about the host. I don't blame you for being uncertain.

Parrish: [he wants to correct her and use Liam's name, but he knows for her to be able to go into this battle, she can't see him as a person.] I'm also responsible for him. Have been since he was a kid. You tell me how I can help support you.

Danielle: [she knows the answer is stay out of her way, but she knows that wouldn't be concered an acceptable one, and these are Marcel's allies. Not that that's her problem, per say, but she tries not to put herself in situations that will make her few friendships complicated] I know assurances that you will let me do what needs to be done isn't something you can offer. But hopefully the witches have found something that will be of use.

Parrish: I hope so too. But it you find that you need extra firepower, I've got enough to back you up.

Danielle: I understand. But I would be careful. It would be terrible for this all to succeed on for you to be lost in the process. [because there is a means of killing phoenixes, even if Parrish hasn't found it yet]

Parrish: Losing anyone is not part of the plan.

Danielle: Good. But just to be safe, I would avoid anything made of gold.

Parrish: I will take that under advisement. [and ask more questions later]

Danielle: Good. [deep breath] For the record, I don't enjoy this.

Parrish: I don't expect you to.

Danielle: [she shrugs] Some can't separate it. Take things ... personally. Not that I've been in many situations like this before. But I remember what the Dread Doctors did to the children of my village, trying to create this beast. I wish to return the favor by making sure that however this ends, it ends for good.

Parrish: We're almost there. The Dread Doctors are no more.

Danielle: Good. My only regret is that the first time we killed them it didn't take.

Parrish: They exploded this time, so I'm not sure that's possible this time.

Danielle: That's true. They didn't explode last time.

Marcel: Though to be fair, you would think that tearing a heart out would have the same end result.

Parrish: People who could do this to children... they never had a heart to begin with.

Marcel: I don't disagree. [smiles as Kate comes in the room] But we should discuss this more over dinner. Please, sit.

Parrish: [nods and he goes to follow, pulling out Kate's chair so she can sit]

Marcel: [does the same at Danielle before smirking at Kate] You know I'm still disappointed I wasn't invited to your wedding. I like to feel like I was there when it all started.

Kate: I was married and he was engaged to another woman.

Marcel: And yet here we are now.

Kate: [rolls her eyes] We didn't have a lot of time to send out invitations.

Parrish: It was a very quick signing with no pomp. You would have been bored.

Marcel: Perhaps, but I still would have enjoyed witnessing it all the same.

Kate: I'm sure you would have enjoyed your time to gloat.

Parrish: [just chuckles and starts to make a plate]

Kate: [the rest of the group does the same and eventually they get around to strategy:] Have you found anything?

Josie: We found something that might help bring Liam back as the main person... we think. Not really sure what the effect would be.

Allison: We also discovered that he might be ... an Argent.

Kate: [blinks] Come again?

Parrish: What do you mean by that?

Josie: Well, the lore is a bit confusing, but it talked about how to become La Bete is something that follows through a family line from Sebastien.

Allison: According to a spirit Lydia spoke with, Liam is of silver.

Kate: That's a phrase I haven't heard in a while. But I don't remember any children being born around his age.

Josie: We were thinking that perhaps it's a branch that split off a long time ago?

Parrish: The doctors got him really young. He didn't know a life outside of their lab when I met him.

Kate: My father alienated many branches of the family, but Allison's managed to mend bridges with most of them. We would have known, I think.

Parrish: [thinking, then looking at Kate] The village that was destroyed on our way here - did anyone from those families live there?

Kate: Not that I'm aware of, but it's possible.

Josie: There was also talk about how silver can hurt, but not kill the beast, and then the voices said something about how silver can strengthen Liam.

Kate: But it was a ghost talking so were they being literal or metaphorical.

Josie: I don't know. There was a lot of talk about silver going on. [looks at Lydia]

Lydia: [shrugs] Don't look at me. But given that La Bete was not a conventional werewolf in the way he was made, we're thinking that some of the unconventional tricks might work. Like perhaps using their Christian name to turn them back?

Kate: Sebastien or Liam's?

Lydia: Liam - perhaps that will help separate the spirit from the body.

Parrish: And if we can do that, then we can save Liam and destroy La Bete for good.

Lydia: That is the hope anyway. In theory, I can separate them. You all will have to do the rest.

Ben: [and before they can say anything further, the wolves in the room are going to get the scent of blood just outside the main door. Hope will recognize it-- Ben]

Hope: [she snarls and she is on her feet, running in the direction of the blood before anyone can stop her - Danielle and Marcel, rise to follow her]

Parrish: [yeah, and he'll be up seeing others going]

Raf: [standing as well] Ben's hurt.

Ben: [and he's leaning against the manor wall near the door, exhausted and dirty, a set of claw marks from his right cheek, down his neck, and across his shoulder. It isn't deep, but it wasn't meant to be.]

Hope: [drops next to him, examining his wounds] What happened?

Ben: La Bete. [he winces, moving his jaw pulling on the cheek scars. When Marcel arrives, he tries to look up at him] It has a message for you.

Marcel: [he and Danielle come to a stop next to them, fire already starting to rise from her shoulders as her eyes glow orange] What did he say?

Ben: [his eyes flash yellow for a moment in response] He wants the hellhound... or he'll kill Isaac. [swallows] And through him, whichever Argent is mated to him.

Danielle: [grins, but it's not a nice one] My pleasure. Where?

Ben: He said that Kate and Marcel would know.

Marcel: The house? [glances to Kate as she joins them]

Kate: I would assume. Or the nematon.

Danielle: [closes her eyes, reaching through her connection to the tree to see if that is the case.]

Nematon: [Oh yeah, danger be here big time]

Parrish: Is that where you fought him the last time?

Danielle: No. But that's where he is. [glances back to them] Bring the banshee and the horses. We need to move quickly. I hope your plan is ready.

Raf: [listening in from inside, relaying everything to the rest of the table] We have to go, now.

Josie: Now? But we're still not sure if this will work!

Lydia: Unfortunately, we'll have to cross our fingers and hope. [and she will get to her feet and prepare to follow]

Allison: [is already getting to her feet to follow them] I'm going.

Kate: I wasn't going to stop you. [but she does have the walking stick for when the time comes]

Josie: [looks at Lizzie & Landon] I should stay and help Ben. Lord Hale's wounds didn't instantly heal.

Lizzie: Probably alpha wounds, like his uncle. We'll keep you posted.

Hope: [still focused on Ben] Will you be alright?

Ben: I want to come with you. [not because he doesn't think she can handle herself, but because this is just as much his fight as hers]

Hope: [shakes her head] You need to heal. [she doesn't want him getting worse]

Ben: [sighs, but nods] Come back to me. [puppy eyes]

Hope: Always. [squeezes his hand before getting up to follow the rest. once they are all assembled, they begin their trek to the nematon]

Sebastien: [and because it's been awhile since Ben left and he's impatient, he'll make sure they know he's not joking by beating up on Isaac a bit. Nothing fatal, but enough to leave him unconscious on top of the nematon, splayed out almost like a werewolf sacrifice.]

Allison: [feeling all of it, she's plenty angry by the time she gets there, but she doesn't dare cross the line of the hellhound, bow in hand as she remains perched on her horse]

Danielle: [meets his eyes as she comes into view, flanked by Marcel and Kate] You called?

Sebastien: Do you know, in a church of a once town north of here, was a fresco painted of us in battle?

Danielle: I've heard. [she's not impressed]

Sebastian: It depicts this moment between us. One where you are beneath me. [his eyes flash red]

Danielle: I wouldn't get your hopes up. [Her eyes flash in return. She's more hound than woman - has been for a long time - and she doesn't intend to give any quarter] Though you're certainly welcome to try.

Sebastien: [and without retort, he will lunge for her and their epic fight shall begin!]

Danielle: [and she will hold her ground, taking some blows but eventually managing to pin him back against a portion of the nematon before turning her gaze on the banshee] Now!

Lydia: [and she will hope that she does this right, drawing on whatever power she can and screaming Liam's name across the space, waves of power echoing through it]

Sebastien: [and the Beast will scream, then blasting the essence of Sebastien out of Liam and into a black and blue storm cloud with red eyes, leaving Danielle holding onto an unconscious werewolf. He howls in anger, making the air tremble around him before going to rush at the banshee]

Kate: [Allison brings up her bow to shield Lydia, and Kate quickly steps ahead of them both, walking stick in hand, and deftly tries to stab upwards where she hopes the heart would be. if not, maybe it will hurt a little]

Sebastien: [and he rolled a 2, so that hits home and he screams, then disapates and is gone forever.]

Parrish: [runs over to check on Liam, but the baby werewolf burned all his energy fighting free of La Bete and is totally not waking up anytime soon because he needs a nap]

Allison: [which is fair. Kate turns to check on the women behind her but Allison is just running across the clearing to check on her husband]

Isaac: [he's groaning because Lydia is loud and he just managed to roll off the stump after he woke up to her scream. He'll look up at her, nice and bruised with a few superficial cuts] Hey.

Allison: Are you alright?

Isaac: [nods] I'm okay. Is Ben alive?

Allison: [nods] He's fine. The witches are looking to him now.

Raf: [he's also going to check on the girls to make sure they're okay]

Parrish: [when he can't wake Liam, he's going to pick him up easily into his arms] Is there a way we can check and make sure there's no way it can come back in him?

Lizzie: More knowledge than Hope or I have. You'll want Freya for that.

Nematon: [thank you, Danielle. Glad there are no dead kids this time.]

Isaac: [with Allison's help, he can slowly stand. He's not going to be running a marathon anytime soon, but he'll be fine]

Parrish: Then let's head back. [and he will look at Danielle and Lydia both gratefully] Thank you.

Danielle: [so is she. they've both had their fill of dead kids. she nods to Parrish and then back to Marcel] Let's hope it's another twenty years or so before we have to do this again.

Marcel: I'll do my best. [And with that, they will all head back to the Abattoir to get some rest]

Ben: [and he's going to be bandaged up and sleeping when they return, happy magic drugs that aren't affected by his metabolism]

Hope: [and she will go sit by his side, waiting him to wake up]

Ben: [which he will after a bit, his nose picking up her scent. He'll open his eyes to look over at her, still kinda high] You made it back.

Hope: We did. And we got Liam back too.

Ben: Good. That's good. Isaac?

Hope: Safe. Everyone's safe.

Ben: And La Bete?

Hope: As far as we can tell, gone for good. Lydia was able to force him out of Liam's body, and Kate stabbed him, but they're going to have Freya examine Liam to be sure.

Ben: And then they'll go home.

Hope: Well, Liam is unconscious, and likely has a lot to heal from. They may still be here for a few days.

Ben: I hope they get word to Malia, though. And we can get news on Peter.

Hope: I can send them a message, though there won't be a witch to send anything back.

Ben: True. Still, let her know.

Hope: [nods and reaches for a piece of paper and candle from his desk, and will send the note to Malia]

Malia: [the note arrives in her pocket while she's sitting with her father, and she reads it, letting out a small sigh] They figured it out. Liam, I mean.

Peter: [who is awake but still healing] Good. He should be home soon then.

Malia: [nods] He's still unconscious so it will probably be a few days before they leave.

Peter: Hopefully long enough so I can finish healing to let you fuss over him fully when he's back.

Malia: [swallows and nods, because she's not sure how much fussing she wants to do until she gets some answers]

Peter: [sees that] Just go easy on him, and remember he's the victim in all this.

Malia: I know. I won't ... I don't intend to be cruel. [but she doesn't know how things won't be a little tense until they are able to talk]

Peter: He understands you by now to know that. And if the poor boy is lucky, he won't remember anything that's happened in the last few days, but enough to give you the answers you seek.

Malia: If it was ever him at all.

Peter: [reaches over to squeeze her hand] Have faith. The creature who attacked me was not anything like the boy who you fell in love with, right down to his scent.

Malia: Perhaps that was because he didn't have the ability to break out before. [your daughter is not good at faith, Peter]

Peter: [he'll just have to have enough faith for them both. But it saddens him to see her so defensive] He's not Theo, sweetheart. If Liam knew he was a danger, he would have put as much distance between you and him as possible.

Malia: [she wants to say if it was him at all, again, but she doesn't. instead she glances back towards the window] He was so different when he returned. I assumed it was simply time, and discipline, but now, who knows.

Peter: You know, he probably felt the same about you.
Il
b>Malia: I wasn't possessed.

Peter: We don't know if he was possessed at that point either. [squeezes her hand] Don't go borrowing trouble until we know more.

Malia: His knight was one of the Dread Doctors. We can't dismiss it as a possibility.

Peter: And we can't use it to confirm our worst fears either. We don't know enough yet.

Malia: It's easier to prepare to be disappointed.

Peter: Easier, perhaps, but it gives you nothing to look forward to, or to hope for.

Malia: [at that the anger she's been stewing in boils over] This isn't a dessert at dinner or a good harvest. I might have married a demon. Why does everyone seem to think that I have no right to be concerned about that? [he was in her heart, in her bed, had his children - it's a violation she's not sure she is able to process and balancing on a razor's edge is all she can manage. Hoping seems like setting herself up for too high a fall to be able to survive, while preparing for disappointment leaves her room to be surprised]

Peter: There is being concerned, and then there is catastrophizing. Yes, you should be concerned about what happened to him, and you need answers. Is there a chance? Yes. But do I believe that this La Bete was in control for the last twenty years? No. [time to be stern father] And if you come at Liam with accusations and already condemning him for something he had no control over, you will lose him anyway, fulfilling your own disappointment preparations.

Malia: [she grits her teeth, and as the door swings open and Laura enters, she gets to her feet and prepares to storm out] I'm going to check on the boys. [and with that she will brush past her cousin and out into the hall]

Laura: ... I was going to ask if I was interrupting, but apparently not.

Peter: [sighs, exhausted] Where did I go wrong that I failed her to be able to have hope?

Laura: [she tips her head to the side, as she closes the door behind her] Malia's never been one for ... fruitless emotion, Peter. You know that.

Peter: I know, but I can see it in her eyes. She's preparing to be disappointed by whatever they've learned about Liam, instead of having hope or faith in her husband.

Laura: [moves to take Malia's chair next to him] I don't know. If it were my husband and I discovered that he happened to be possessed by one of the greatest monsters in history, facilitated by someone we all thought we could trust, and nearly killed my father, and I wasn't sure whether or not any of our relationship was with the person I thought it was, I think merely preparing for disappointment is a step up from where I would be.

Peter: I've seen this creature, though. When he took over Liam, his scent changed completely. Not a hint of Liam's scent. I've never smelt that before, not off of him. Whatever happened to get him possessed, I don't think it was finalized until now.

Laura: But we can't say for sure. [she doesn't want to think it either, because if there are any other option it would crush her own husband, never mind her cousin, but that doesn't stop it from being an option] And it's a much stronger blow if all you are willing to consider is hope, and she has children to consider. [children who may have been impacted like this] It's easy for any of us to say that she should hope. We didn't marry him. We didn't share the most intimate parts of our life with him. We don't have to think about whether whatever was done to him could have been passed down to your grandchildren. [they should, but not the way that Malia has to consider it] I think blind hope might be more than we can ask of her right now.

Peter: I'm not saying she should have blind hope. But if all she expects is disappointment, what happens when he returns and can't see anything but that -- what happens to their family then?

Laura: There's a difference between preparing to be disappointed and expecting it, Peter. [she leans back in her seat] And maybe you're correct. Or maybe the creature was simply hiding it's scent the entire time. If he comes back and remembers nothing of their life together, what will she do then?

Peter: She won't know until it happens. There are too many hypotheticals in this that we can't plan for all of them. I always want to have plans in place, and backups and contingencies--you know this. But there isn't enough information to be able to make a real plan, and so planning for all the ways this could go wrong is only going to continue her spiraling, and that is also not good for her or the children.

Laura: Maybe not. But I don't think think telling her to assume the best is the best approach. And having low expectations it won't make her any less happy to see that she's wrong.

Peter: I also did not tell her to assume the best. I told her to have hope--not the same thing. She has questions that need answers. She should be cautious. She should have a plan on how she wants to approach him when he returns, and when to allow the children to see him again after she gets her answers. I honestly think that it may be best for Liam to stay with the knights when he returns and let Malia choose how and where that discussion will take place, and if she wants a third party there to facilitate the conversation. However, as much as I love my daughter and will protect her to my dying breath--she's not the only one involved in this. Any strategist will tell you that you need to also think about the opposing party and what they are bringing to the table both with answers and emotions. If Liam doesn't remember their relationship, it's safe to assume there's more he won't remember, maybe all the way back to before Parrish even met him. If he was himself until being taken over, he may not remember the last few days--or he may, and how will he feel when he returns knowing what "he" did? How do we handle his state of mind and any ramifications that may happen if Malia doesn't get the answers she wants? That is what should be focused on, if not by her, then by us. [and all that talking has taken a toll and he slumps back into the bed further]

Laura: I don't disagree. [she reaches over to squeeze his hand] And we can prepare for that. But I think for now, allowing her to feel her feelings rather than bottling them and allowing them to explode on Liam later is for the best.

Peter: [he just nods, squeezing back weakly] Alright.

Laura: I'm also sure that Kate will likely send word once they have answers regarding Liam, so we will be able to better prepare her. [but that's something they can address when the time comes] Rest. Malia will figure things out.

Peter: I hope so. [and he'll shift back into the bed to rest better]

Laura: [and she will sit with him, and just wait for further word from the group back in New Orleans, and hoping that things will not turn out for the worst]