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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 18

Rian...

...he's so different. He's caring and kind, and he gave me something that Lailoken and Taron couldn't.

Rian gave me control.

It's the first time I've ever felt empowered and it set me at ease, knowing allowing him to mark and claim me was a choice well made.

Rian is sitting on the railing of the porch, watching as Taron spars with Brilite. She's smaller than he, but scrappy and her true born self shows through when she easily out maneuvers him. He wanted to though, to learn to fight differently against those who outmatch him in strength.

Taron is learning the mental game in stride. It's a nice change and the claim Lailoken bestowed upon his neck doesn't go unnoticed...

...nor the mark Lailoken bears as he talks to Glofish and Samami. They speak in hushed tones, relaying to Lailoken that they have continued their search, but nothing turns up.

I lean against a wooden post on the porch, glancing from Rian, to Taron and then resting my gaze on Lailoken. It doesn't make sense how no one can find where my abusers have gone.

Unless...

...someone doesn't want them to be found.

It wouldn't surprise me if Lars is knowingly behind this, allowing whatever plan to continue to unfold. If he's behind their hidden purpose...

...he'll have blatantly betrayed the council in plain sight. Not that he hasn't already on many different occasions, but those can't be proved. Hell...even my blood memories hold no semblance of his presence. Rian and Lailoken would have been able to see...

Dad was right.

"Everywhere?" Lailoken asks and Glofish nods her head with a somber look set on her face. Her gaze glances to me and she releases a sigh and shakes her head.

Glofish replies, "There are no energy signals I can pick up...not even ones that were reminiscent at the Thornton estate or Castle Valentine."

What?

Can she sense or feel something about others?

These hybrids are no mere hybrids...

...but what's blocking their abilities?

"Delaney Starr?" Lailoken questions, turning to Em 'n Em as she strolls from the tree line.

Em 'n Em shakes her head and states, "Delaney is in a coma. Aohdan found her when all this shit went down...there was a note though," she pauses and arches a brow, "...it read, 'tempt fate and search her blood memories'. Aohdan's refusing anyone to bite his sister to see what's happened..."

There's something not right. That doesn't sit well with me. Furrowing my brows, Lailoken asks the question on my mind, "What do the royals have to say about that?"

"Cormac's smart as ever and said to heed the note," Em 'n Em shrugs and states, "Dante's getting agitated about being blatantly taunted while the Hybrid Queen holds the same thoughts as Dante."

Dad...

Winter is coming to an end.

Perhaps spring will bring something new.

Though they continue to talk, hearing Brilite snicker with laughter as she pins Taron to the ground, "You rely on brute strength-"

"You're a young girl!" Taron snaps back with frustration.

"So? Doesn't make you more powerful than me, Alpha," the way Brilite says this gives Taron even more frustration. She shakes her head and states, "We all must accept our limitations, and not try to trample over them in a deceptive effort to win."

Taron just lies on the ground letting what Brilite says to him seep in. Rian chuckles lightly, watching everything unfolding while Lailoken glances to Taron.

We all need each other...we provide strength where our weakness show fault to one another. That is what creates a perfect balance.

My gaze lingers on Lailoken.

Light and dark.

Am I really that dark?

Or better yet...will I become that dark?

Icy seeps into my elbows, my gaze flickering downward as I notice the way the purple hues glimmer from the spider web tattoos. I feel the sensation tugging at the corners of my mind, regarding it for a split second and focusing hard. This only distorts the existence around me easier and I calmly breathe out, allowing my eyelids to flutter shut for a split second.

They reopen again when I hear Rian...

"Loki!"

Though, Lailoken and Taron are already moving toward me. They feel the slight pain that corrodes my mind, but I have to stop fighting and just accept it, or it's going to consume me...

Glimpses...I see the road again, blending with the sky and a sharp tug in my veins allows for me to take a few steps away from the pack lodge.

Lailoken's voice holds an edge as he asks, "What do you see?"

"Memories..." my voice trails of.

"She's not having a vision?" Brilite asks with confusion.

I shake my head, feeling the pull taking me a few more steps away until I'm halted. When I blink my eyelids rapidly a few times, I glance up to see Lailoken. He has a hand on my shoulder, his eyes holding mine as he asks, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know..." I honestly am completely unsure of where the end destination will reside. When I glance away from him, I say, "I remember finding my way to Elysium through my subconscious memories..." I breathe out as everything shifts into focus, "...I was taken somewhere..."

Rian whispers, "I remember..."

Taron glance from Rian and then to Lailoken.

Even Lailoken replies with, "The eve before the winter solstice..." as his voice trails off he notes, "...you were blindfolded to your destination. I'd hoped to find some way of searching for the estate you were taken to, but I couldn't see beyond what you did."

"The rebellion?" Glofish asks with hesitation.

"Acacia, you are the key to finding them," Lailoken nods and then tells the others, "we're leaving," he pauses and states, "head to Castle Valentine as if we can find evidence of where they have gone, we're going to need the council to be summoned."

Glofish, Samami, Brilite and Em 'n Em are quick to nod and reply with, "Yes, Alpha Loki."

Lailoken turns back to us three and says, "We will not engage if Acacia is able to locate this place...not unless it's safe to do so and I'll mind link with the others once they reach Castle Valentine."

The sensation that courses through my veins begins to draw on me harsher, exhaling sharply as I walk away and out of Lailoken's touch. They don't stop me though, my mates following me as we begin a journey that can't be taken quickly on the back of a wolf. After much distance having being covered, my subconscious brings us first to the school...

...standing on the steps as the flickering visualization of the SUV becomes an image across my mind. I let it slip through me, my eyelids flutter shut as the energy courses around my being. What becomes even more surreal, is when I awaken my subconscious thought into present time, taking the road off to the side with my mates stepping with me the entire way. It continues to draw me, this feeling beckoning me as the sky and road no longer connect with one another.

The are many side roads and twists through to a portion of low hills before we reach a peak. When I come to a halt, staring at the vast expanse, Taron breathes out, "Where are we?"

"My pack has searched here before..." Lailoken furrows his brows with concern.

Rian shakes his head and says, "I don't like this place..."

It holds an ominous aura, walking forward until the road trails off. Walking across the grass, I feel it, hearing silent thoughts and voices almost as if...

...they belong to the dead?

"Acacia, wha-"

Lailoken's voice cuts short when I kneel down next to a small patch of grass. Furrowing my brows, the pulsation draws me closer and when the wisps begin to encircle my hands, I know to let myself fall into the darkness.

I outstretch my arms, my palms downward as the energy draws what's hidden beneath the surface. I can feel my mates' presence behind me, surrounding me as the earth slowly crumbles up and away until finally, what's lifted from buried beneath the surface is a...

...bag?

It rests in my hands, but what also is pushed up through the surface is a knife. It hovers in the air, the wisps encasing it while Taron stammers, "Wh-What is t-that?"

Rian furrows his brows while Lailoken tenses.

Slowly, I open the bag, peering inside before I whisper, "Strange."

A moment later, I over turn the bag and allow the contents to drop onto the grass in front of me. Lailoken's voice raises, "Fallen stars."

"My dad told me about those once before," Rian hesitates, an uneasiness passing over him before I stare at them. They don't appear dangerous, but when I go to reach for one of them...

Lailoken warns, "Don't touch those..." his voice holds an edge as he states, "...curiosity killed the cat and in your case...kitten."

"These would fall, the Starlight Dance," Rian is speaking to himself while Taron is listening, Lailoken walking around slightly.

My heart skips a beat, the knife still hovering as the whispers continue to rise. They invade my mind, racing through my thoughts and feelings. I feel their pain, their anguish...

...murder?

I reach out and grasp the handle of the blade, bringing it closer to me before I clench my hand tight together. My breathing is uneven as I slowly open my fingers, Rian talking to Taron behind me...

...though as I bring the edge of the blade to the palm of my hand, Lailoken yells, "Don't!"

The blade slices open the palm of my hand and I exhale sharply. When I blink again, I see before me an outlined hue of an estate. The purplish colors illuminate around me, though my mates are no longer with me.

Is this a vision?

I hesitantly stand to my feet, holding the dagger tight in my grip while walking closer to the entrance of the estate. It's wispy in itself, the door slowly melting away as I come to stand in the entryway. I see vampires, many of them talking to one another as I realize this is a coven.

"Lady Arin," one calls as he runs through my form, feeling a chill trail down my spine.

Arin?

He dashes into the living are, turning a corner before I follow him. I see him halt before the presence of a woman and man. He's breathing hard as he says, "It's death outside."

Furrowing my brows, I don't understand what he means by this. As I glance around, I see the many stars that scatter the walls, an illumination that I believe not all can see. As they turn a light shade of red, the woman tilts her head to the side and says, "We need t-"

The man besides her asks, "Asteria?"

Darkness surrounds the room, figures manipulating reality as I glimpse those coming into focus. A harrowing scene of those dropping dead, corpse littering the room as a figure appears before the man and...

"Asteria Arin," his voice is dark, glimpsing him with black hair and amethyst eyes. A dark look crosses his features as he states, "A debt has to be paid, a life for a life..."

Her eyes widen and the man guards her stating, "Blood has been spilled, wicked-"

At the raise of the dark figures arm, the man collapses onto the ground, convulsing before he stops moving. Asteria stands with her head held high, her eyes holding that if this darkness and those who continue to walk around the estate and ensuring the coven members are dead.

"Blood has been spilt, goddess..." his voice trails off, though he chuckles, "...but I'm taking more than what was bargained for."

"Demon-"

"You're the nocturnal oracles, their visions and your stars will belong to me," the man speaks with, my heart beating fast before he raises his hand and wisps of purple and black reach out and encase the woman. She screams and he chuckles, "Your mortal form is weak..."

When he stops, her body falls to the floor, symbols etched into her skin. The man turns around, walking toward me and when I'm about to scream, he pauses right through my being. I breathe hard, glancing around before I follow him into the hallway and see him standing in a doorway. I hear him say, "Your debt is repaid."

My heart stops in my chest...

...when I hear my dad's voice ask, "What?" He growls next with, "Who are you?!"

The man says, "Tresor Vossen, although the name will mean nothing to you as this will be the last time you see me." The man raises his hand and chuckles, "You're the twin that lived..." his voice trails off before he states, "how very interesting indeed."

It pains my heart when I hear dad scream before he is brought down and forced to his knees.

Tresor snaps his fingers and motions to the people standing behind him. They leave and backtrack down the hallway, retreating out of sight as dad is doubled over, clutching his chest while attempting to catch his breath. There is a woman that yelps when a book flies from her grasp, Tresor now holding it in his left hand.

Without another word, he disappears from the spot he had been standing only a few seconds ago.

I'm in horror as I back away, shaking my head in disbelief. Everything is shifting around me as I see next, time passing until dad kills the woman. He drops her to the floor, and as the images distort further...

...I see flames.

This was dad's home.

That was his mom.

Dad's mom was a goddess?

What does that make dad?

Tresor Vossen...

...Nimue and Lars' dad.

He killed her in cold blood. What worries me though?

Asteria Arin held a mortal form but what did Tresor do with her abilities? How did he use them?

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Imaginary by Evanescence

💫--To Be Continued--💫
-Updates Alternating Days Till Complete-

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