darkest timeline } { of complicated spells and spying on the enemy

[deathlessness]

Freya: [about a day after the Mikaelsons visit, Freya arranges for Derek, Stiles and whoever else to meet them at the nematon. She heads out there in the early morning to get ready and whoever wants to take part can join her whenever they're ready]

Bonnie: [she and Tyler arrive ahead of Damon's visit, mostly because they want to separate themselves as their own distinct entity. And while she knows the kind of magic Freya does, she still can't help but be a little concerned and curious as they leave the house] Mind if I tag along?

Tyler: Yeah, of course. I'm not sure why I need to be there myself, but it'll be interesting to watch.

Bonnie: [she shrugs] Maybe Freya wants extra supernatural power, just in case?

Tyler: If that was true, she'd ask one of the other alphas.

Bonnie: Then maybe she wants an extra set of hands to watch their backs.

Tyler: THAT I can do.

Bonnie: Good. [and they'll follow the Hales involved out to the tree and down to the root cellar where Freya's set up a ring of candles and a map. She glances over to the group, and flashes a smile]

Freya: Settle in and get comfortable.

Peter: [he nods and takes up a spot near the cellar stairs, planning on keeping anyone from interrupting them.]

Stiles: [and he's trying to look at the setup so he can understand the spell they'll be doing] Looks like a locator spell of some kind.

Derek: But we don't know who it is, so how can we locate them?

Tyler: [he'll relax near Peter, since he'll be extra muscle if the old man needs help]

Bonnie: Not quite a locator spell. This ... is something else.

Freya: The power of an alpha is ... finicky, metaphysically speaking. In a lot of ways, it's bound to those who wield it, but in the space between one alpha falling and another rising with the same power, it still is "owned" for lack of a better term, by the previous alpha. At least until the new alpha reclaims the previous pack, or starts making one of their own.

Stiles: So you think that the power still has Talia's essence in it that can be tracked? Which is much better than sitting around in the living room reading auras, I gotta say.

Freya: Again, not exactly. [she settles, cross-legged on the ground at the head of the circle] There's an old alpha trick that involves seeing through the eyes of their pack members. Most these days consider it to be an invasion of privacy, but it's something they are capable of. There are also some rare instances when a beta with a particularly strong bond could do the reverse. See through the alpha's eyes. Normally it only comes between a mated alpha and their beta partner but given the extent to which Talia relied on Derek for her own metaphysical needs, we might be able to take advantage of that. See what our alpha is seeing and get our clues that way.

Stiles: Huh. Well, this is going to be fun.

Derek: Yeah, says you. [takes a deep breath, then looks at Peter] Why me over Peter? Peter was her second and brother?

Freya: Peter spent the better part of the last decade three thousand miles away. You were in her space, in her home. She drew the most from you. It's not a matter of a personal bond but an exchange of energy.

Derek: Oh. [licks his lips, then nods] Alright, what do you need me to do?

Freya: Sit. [she gestures to the spot in front of her] I'm going to put you into something of a trance. You'll be able to convey information and respond when I ask you questions, but everything else will feel a bit like a dream or watching a movie.

Derek: [nods and does as she asks.]

Stiles: Need any popcorn, buddy?

Derek: Shut up, Stiles.

Freya: [smirks at Stiles before reaching forward and placing one hand against his chest, the other against his shoulder, dropping her voice so that it's more for him than the rest of the room] Close your eyes. Take deep, even breaths. Try to quiet your thoughts and focus on the sound of my voice. [and with that, she'll begin to chant]

Derek: [easier said than done. He tries, but her voice isn't enough to ground him, so he listened to her heartbeat and breathing to find a slow rhythm to follow his breathing to]

Freya: [she's going to help him out. the more he manages to find his ground, the stronger, it feels her voice gets as the magic begins to take effect. he can feel himself drifting, slipping into that space between awake and dreaming and once the spell is grounded, she opens her eyes to look at him] Derek, I want you to picture your mother. Draw her into the front of your mind.

Derek: [he doesn't feel any reason not to do what she asks, so he does. It's from a memory of a picture he has in his wallet. It's his high school graduation and she's just hugged the daylights out of him and Laura has them pose for a picture. Her smile was the thing he cherished most and the mental image builds from there]

Freya: Once you have the image formed, I want you to reach out for her. Open your mind and let her in.

Derek: But she's not there. [because she's dead]

Freya: Not fully. But a piece of her is. It's out there and we need to find it, remember?

Derek: Right. Okay. [he thinks about the times where his mom was exhausted. How she'd be on the couch and he'd come over to snuggle with her on the couch and watch movies until they both passed out. He remembered her touch, how when she stroked his hair at those times, it was like she was wrapping her love around his soul. So he focused on that, trying to reach for it into the darkness of his mindspace, yearning for that touch to try and draw it in]

Enzo: [and when his eyes open, he's walking along a crowded city street. There's a bit of a chill in the air, and the body in question is keeping his eyes dead ahead, so it's hard to make out any landmarks]

Derek: [he gasps as he feels the connection, a tear slipping from his eye] I'm in a city. It's crowded and... and people are cold.

Freya: Can you make out any landmarks? Catch any business names?

Derek: [he keeps watching, then shakes his head] No. the person's just focused on the street ahead of them. [he tils his head] I think it's a man.

Freya: How can you tell?

Derek: He passed a couple. The man didn't look at me. The woman did, with those eyes that.... you know. She's interested.

Freya: Fair enough.

Enzo: [as he makes this observation, they veer off, opening the door to a bar that reads "Duffy's." The place is crowded, but he moves with purpose, making his way through as though he's looking for someone]

Derek: Just entered a bar. Duffy's.

Stiles: [time for some google fu to find out where a Duffy's bar is.... and he gets 34 results where most are in Missouri.]

Enzo: [strides into the room, and eventually his eyes land on his prey, a pretty girl with long dark hair with a bit of a wave to it] There you are. [his voice has a bit of an accent, British maybe?]

Allison: [the girl turns and flashes him a smile] There I am? You're the one who's twenty minutes late.

Enzo: [his eyes glance down, attempting to look bashful] Traffic, love. Afraid it couldn't be helped.

Derek: It's a guy. I can tell from the voice. He has a British kind of accent. And he's meeting a girl...

Freya: Do you recognize her?

Derek: I don't know. She's younger than me. More like Cora's age. Dark hair, brown eyes... nice smile...

Freya: See if you can catch her name.

Allison: Well, since you decided to be late, your punishment is having to pay for dinner.

Enzo: Well, if that's all, maybe I'll be late more often.

Allison: [shakes her head as she pulls him towards one of the booths] C'mon. Let's order, I'm starving.

Derek: Okay. [and he goes quiet for awhile, focusing on observing]

Enzo: [for a while, most of it is small talk, until Enzo starts trying to convince her to come away with him for the weekend] It will be fun.

Allison: I don't doubt it will be. But ... don't you think it's a little soon for something like that? I thought we were taking things slow.

Enzo: Yes. You're right, I did agree to slow. But I also think this is a once in a blue moon opportunity. And you did say you were free.

Allison: For a local date, maybe. Not going out of town.

Enzo: Allison ...

Derek: ... Allison...

Peter: [and that gets his attention, because he makes it his job to stay aware of threats to his family]

Enzo: [Allison turns down his weekend trip more firmly, but there are some drinks and dancing and lots more flirting]

Freya: [does catch that look from Peter, but won't bring it up while they're in the middle of the spell. she'll save that until later]

Derek: [mutters under his breath] Fucking go to the bathroom already.

Enzo: [don't be mad he's enjoying his date. Also public bathrooms are gross. But fine, fine, after Allison leaves he'll head to the restroom to do his business]

Derek: [he tries to use the edges of the line of sight to get a glimpse from the mirror of his mother's killer. He's close to it, and he's trying to keep his breathing slow and even]

Enzo: [eventually, he does go wash his hands, because he's not a barbarian. the mirror is smudged, blocking some of his face but Derek will be able to make out a shock of dark hair, a trimmed goatee, handsome features and dark eyes. but he's not anyone he recognizes. No one he's ever seen before]

Derek: I see him! but he's not someone I've ever met. [he tries to tug on his mom's energy, wanting it to give him a name to go with the face]

Enzo: [unfortunately, Talia never met him either. There are very few people who will recognize this face. side effect of being in a coma for the better part of the last decade and change]

Derek: [well, he's determined to get more answers, so he's going to stay until he gets them, or the spell can't go any further, or his body can't go any further. But he knows the face and committed it to memory.]

Freya: [unfortunately, Freya can only hold it for so long, and while she lets Derek follow him out of the bar and back onto the city streets, revealing a Missouri license plate or two to match Stiles' Google search, he's not able to get any more identifying details before Freya has to end the spell, leaning to the side and trying to catch her breath] I'm sorry.

Derek: [and while he feels exhausted, he keeps his eyes closed and waves his hand towards Stiles.] Paper. Pencil.

Stiles: Um...

Bonnie: [reaches into her bag and rustles around until she finds a clean napkin and a pen] Best I've got.

Derek: Ok. [and he's going to take it and focus on making a rough sketch of the face he saw. He's not the best artist, but it still looks roughly like what he saw]

Bonnie: [goes to peer over his shoulder, and makes a face] I can't place him. I don't remember him from the summit at all.

Peter: [and he'll come over to look, along with Stiles]

Stiles: Well, at least he's kinda hot. [Derek gives him a look] What? It'll make him stand out!

Freya: Time and place, Stiles. Time and place.

Peter: [and he's going to take a closer look. Will he recognize him?]

Freya: [unlikely. Enzo was a nobody before the coma so he's even more of one now]

Peter: Did you get anything else?

Derek: He's in Missouri. I saw license plates.

Freya: Missouri. He moves fast.

Stiles: Well, I've got a list of Duffy's there, but that probably isn't going to help much now.

Derek: We should still go, try and see -- [and he's going to stand up too fast and collapse into Peter's arms, spent]

Freya: [frowns at that, slowly pushing up to her feet] We should take him back to the house.

Peter: Yeah, I'll get him back home. Meet you there?

Tyler: [and he's going to wander over to take a look at the picture] I can drive out that way on our way home. Maybe see if I can get a look at him?

Freya: I think there might be an easier target to find. He said Allison. It's possible that it's Allison Argent.

Stiles: There are a lot of Allisons in the world. Why would it be her?

Freya: If you were a freshly turned alpha looking to make a power play, wouldn't you pick an Argent who's not as educated in the ways of the world?

Tyler: It's the fastest way to get himself killed. But yeah, I can go find her.

Stiles: I can help with that. Give me two hours at the computer and I can tell you everything you want to know. [blinks] And that sounds a little stalkery.

Freya: Just confirm with Derek before you go that that's who he saw.

Stiles: Will do. When he's more... awake.

Peter: [has carried Derek home and up to his bedroom, gently tucking his nephew in] You did great. Just rest.

Derek: [and he'll relax into the bed and he's out]

Freya: [nods] I should probably go take a nap myself. [and she slowly starts to get herself to her feet]

Stiles: Need me to do the cleanup? [because he so wants to dissect the magic components]

Freya: Can I trust you not to experiment while you do?

Stiles: [innocent face] Sure.

Freya: [eyes narrow]

Bonnie: I'll keep an eye on him.

Freya: Thank you Bonnie. [and with that she will head back to her car to return to her hotel unless someone intervenes]