Fangs and Swords Book Three: The Blood of the Supernatural

Chapter Seven: We Want Poison?

Disclaimer: I don't own TVD, TO, or HOO

Chapter Seven: We Want Poison?

They had learned two things from Nike. One, that two of them were destined to die: a supernatural, and a demigod. Two, that they needed to get some sort of cure so that they had a chance of saving whoever was about to die.

The morning they arrived in Pylos, Piper, Frank, and Bex went to get the cure. Sheila and Josh went to find Finn Griffith.

They decided that Josh should go because he was Finn's cousin, even though they hadn't seen each other since Josh was six and Finn was sixteen. Sheila would explain about the hellfire and Arcadius. She was pretty sure due to her Bennet blood she could harness it if Finn was able to summon and help her control it.

Plus, it never hurt to have a pyromancer on the team.

Bex would wait in Pylos in case they needed backup, but her and Finn had always had a... tumultuous relationship, even though he was a decade older than her. Bex could also be a bit hot-headed in sometimes the worst moments.

Sheila had her own reason for wanting to go as well. She had recovered what was left of the cure from Silas's cave, but it seemed like a diluted form of the original. Maybe Silas or Qetsiyah had been trying to make a new cure, and hadn't finished, or they just failed in whatever they were trying to do, but Sheila wanted to surprise Josh with it. She knew he was struggling as a vampire, mainly due to being a ripper. And... selfishly, she would love to have a normal- or as close to normal as they could get- with him. 

They tracked down another witch, who pointed them towards Finn's direction. After a few dizzying turns and cramped alleyways, they arrived at a dilapidated apartment building. Josh raised his hand to knock, but Sheila stopped him. "It might scare him off," she said, instead using her magic to unlock the door.

When they entered the room, they found it filled top to bottom with reams and reams of paper. "Interesting for a pyromancer," Josh noted, lifting a page.

"They're ancient grimoires," Sheila said, amazed. "He must be collecting them."

Suddenly there was a crash from the other side of the room. "We're not here to cause any trouble!" Sheila called out, then cringed, because that was exactly what they were going to do.

"Finn?" Josh called out. "It's your cousin."

The papers quivered as a tall, slender man turned the corner. He had dark skin and hair bleached creme which was shaved short. A row of gold earrings lined one ear and another ring hung from his nose. His eyes were a striking blue, and Sheila could see why it was so easy to track him down- he stood out.

"Josh?" Finn asked, frowning. "Is that you?"

When Josh nodded Finn sighed. "What do you want?"

"We need your help," Sheila said. She launched into an explanation of the demigods and Arcadius, but Finn waved his hand, cutting her off.

"I can't help you," he said.

"Why?" Shiela pressed. "We need you. You're the only one who can activate the hellfire."

"I haven't used my pyromancer powers in years," Finn said. "Not since they got out of control."

"Out of control how?" Josh asked.

Finn shook his head. "I don't talk about it. And I can't help you, so you might as well leave."

Sheila tugged on Josh's arm, intending to talk to him about some way to convince Finn, but he shook her off. "Listen," he said. "I don't know you, mainly because you left, and abandoned our family. Your parents have been worried sick, especially because you refused to tell them where you were and stopped sending letters last year. Which is disgraceful, by the way. We're Mikaelsons, and granted we're not always the best at family, but we're supposed to stick together. And I don't know why you don't use your powers, but this isn't some silly quest. It's life or death for the literal entire world. So man up and get over yourself!"

Sheila's jaw literally dropped. She had never heard him talk like that before. 

Flames burst out of Finn's fingertips, setting one of the pages on fire. Sheila quickly stomped it out, then looked at Josh, who was smirking. "I knew that would work," he said.

"You're worse than Bex," Finn grumbled. "She's not coming, is she?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they got back onto the ship, Finn and a ton of boxes of books in tow, Finn couldn't stop glaring at everyone on board. If it was weird to have another official adult on board, no one said.

The ship was now pretty much at full capacity. Annabeth and Sheila were sharing a room, Bex and Piper were sharing one, Marcella was with Hazel, Josh was with Percy, and Branson was with Jason. Only Leo and Frank had their own rooms, although Leo's was basically all machine parts. They moved Fin into Hedge's old room, which still smelled like Gatorade, although Finn didn't seem to mind. 

"I need to speak with the firewielder," Finn announced once he had set his things down.

They all sat down in the conference room, Finn and Leo sitting together. Leo was fiddling with some tools and pieces of metal. He looked even skinnier, if that was possible, like he was losing sleep.

"Arcadius will summon hellfire first, to burn and scourge the Earth," Finn said. "We must control it, but we must also fight fire with fire. We can create our own fire meant to destroy the hellfire itself. It is called heavenfire. It will not hurt any living thing save for those who come from hell."

"That sounds perfect," Josh said. "Can you do it?"

"I'll need Leo's help to create it and Sheila's help to control it," Finn said. "But there's only one issue. Once unleashed, it won't distinguish between good monsters and bad ones."

"So it will kill us if we get caught in the crossfires," Bex surmised.

"Yes," Finn said. "It's the only way to defeat Arcadius."

"Really? Or is it the most convenient way for you?" Bex narrowed her eyes at him. "How do we know this will actually work?"

"It could me too, remember?" Finn snarked back. "Still pessimistic as ever, aren't you Reba?"

"Don't call me that," Bex snapped. She turned and stormed out, stomping up the stairs. 

"Well that was productive," Finn said. "Nice to see nothing has changed."