Morningstar

42

Lydia and Luci sat with a still-injured Parrish in the basement armory of the Argent Apartment. When Luci had found out Parrish had been injured, she'd given him quite a piece of mind. Gerard and Argent had shown up along the line, and Luci had, in her words, been forced to promise Lydia she wouldn't do anything.

Parrish said exhaustedly, "Maybe someone should resurrect her."

He started walking away and Lydia and Luci rushed to stop him. "Don't go!"

Parrish turned to them. "My dreams aren't like yours, Lydia. I'm not just a harbinger of death -- I'm the cause of it."

Luci placed a hand to his cheek. "No, Jordan, you're not."

"I am, Luci."

Once again, he turned to leave and Lydia and Luci followed after him as they called, "Jordan..."

Argent and Gerard stepped in front of them before they could leave the room.

"Let him go," Gerard said from behind.

Lydia and Luci looked at him with contempt and exasperation as we asked, "Why?"

Argent let out a sigh. "Because as much as we believe Parrish could take on the Beast... Neither of us think he's our only hope at stopping it."

Lydia and Luci exchanged a confused look before she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"We think there's another."

Gerard smirked. "You two."

"Us?" Luci spat as her eyes flashed.

Argent and Gerard sat them down and explained what they knew about the Beast.

Gerard said, "Marie-Jeanne was a lot like you, Lydia. Skeptical of her own abilities. And once, actually, just as skeptical of the supernatural..."

He began explaining about Marie-Jeanne.

Lydia looked horrified at the two men, regarding what Gerard had told them.

"Why didn't he warn her?" Luci asked.

"He told her about everything that they'd seen during the war," Gerard replied as he inhaled deeply. "But, like I said... Marie-Jeanne was a skeptic."

They explained more about Marie-Jeanne.

Lydia and Luci heard a loud banging and the Beast roaring. Luci felt woozy and nearly collapsed.

Argent somehow managed to catch them before they fell and asked, "Lydia? Luci?"

Lydia and Luci replied in a dazed tone, "Something's happening."

"Now?"

Lydia shook her head. "We don't know... But something's wrong. We can't stay here."

Lydia and Luci got up to leave and Gerard, uneasy, called after them. "You two should hear the rest of the story."

She scoffed. "Why should we be listening to you?"

That earned her a stern look from Argent. "He knows it better than any of us."

Luci narrowed her eyes. "You're lucky I haven't killed you yet."

Lydia rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

Luci said, "Everything we've read says that the Beast was killed by Jean Chastel."

Gerard scoffed. "Who told you two that? The Internet? If that's your most reliable source of information, then you two might as well go."

Lydia and Luci exchanged another look, knowing they were being manipulated, before stopping and turning back.

She let out an annoyed sigh. "What happened next?"

Gerard continued the story. "Henri brought Marie-Jeanne to his home... A place protected by a circle of mountain ash trees.

"Marie-Jeanne knew she couldn't just take out another hunting party armed with mistletoe and rowan berries. She needed an advantage. She needed to know her enemy.

"Marie-Jeanne confronted her brother the moment she walked back into the tavern."

"The skeptic became a full believer that night. So, Marie-Jeanne went back to Henri to figure out how to kill both a Beast and a brother.

"Marie-Jeanne hunted Sebastien for three years until she finally cornered him in 1767."

Lydia's eyes, and Luci's, widened in shock as they put the pieces together.

"Damnatio Memoriae," Lydia and Luci said.

Argent nodded. "They erased every detail of him. Everything he signed, everything he owned..."

"They burned it all," Gerard finished.

Gerard wrapped up the story. "The name Sebastien Valet has been forgotten for over 150 years, but when it's remembered-"

Argent continued. "When the Beast remembers, the teenager inside is forgotten."

"Gone. Forever."

Lydia frowned. "But Marie-Jeanne didn't do it alone. She was never alone. She had help from Henri, the Magistrate, the town... even Marcel."

Luci stepped closer to Gerard and stared into his eyes menacingly. "We need Parrish."

Lydia said with determination, "She and I are going to find him."

They turned to leave and were stopped by the two men once again.

"Lydia, Luci, he's dangerous," Argent warned. "He's still a shapeshifter -- and one who's just beginning to understand his power."

Luci narrowed her eyes and retorted in a deadly soft tone, "And we're not?"

Argent sighed. "You aren't the same. You both access the supernatural -- it works through you."

"But it doesn't control you," Gerard added.

Luci's gaze darkened. "It may not control me, but I am one to fear, Argent."

Lydia glared at Gerard. "How would you know? Why do you care? Why are you suddenly on our side?"

Gerard picked up one of the Argent family's silver bars and slid it across the table towards Luci and Lydia. "Because it's my name as well."

Gerard continued the story. "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."

"Argent," Lydia realized.

"Marie-Jeanne was the first hunter," Argent said.

Gerard smiled smugly at them. "Our name will be remembered, Lydia, Luci -- for killing the Beast."

Lydia and Luci looked up at Gerard coldly as she said, "But she and I aren't Argents."

Luci turned to Argent as her gaze softened momentarily and said quietly, "And we're not Allison."

Argent looked like he lost his ability to breathe while Gerard smiled smugly as Lydia and Luci stormed out of the armory to find Parrish.