SOL - Generation Six - Chapter Ten
It's about bloody time, isn't it?! I think this is the longest I've taken to put out a chapter without any forewarning. Everyone was away, it seemed, and so I concentrated on editing instead of sims. Next chapter will be Starrs.
Enjoy ~
Last time....
“A picnic?” Lauren asked, delighted, as she saw the blanket and box Nyc had laid out before she had arrived at the park. He smiled at her, genuinely pleased that she was surprised. He was shocked that Emily hadn’t tried to stop Lauren after their recent spat over her and what she did (or didn’t) need to know.
They hadn’t made any progress. Nyc’s suggestion of finding the three other items in the prophecy-list hadn’t gone down well.
Lauren sat on one corner of the blanket. She opened the box curiously and her grin widened with each thing she found - homemade pasta salad (from a recipe book), sandwiches cut into triangular shapes, baked chocolate muffins (his first batch had been a failure, the second a pleasant surprise) and some of those tiny potatoes that tasted a lot nicer than they looked. He watched happily as she found the paper plates and matching napkins and shone with happiness.
“Do you approve?” he asked.
“So much,” she told him, reaching over to peck his cheek. “This is wonderful!”
Nyc gestured to the foods. “Help yourself.”
“You treat me so well,” she laughed.
“Not well enough,” he told her seriously. “I always want to do more for you. Not sure what to do, though. Not good at the whole...” he waved between them. “Relationship thing.”
Lauren’s gaze softened. “Nyc, you’re wonderful. You’re everything I could have hoped for.”
Nyc swallowed and looked down at the plate he was holding. He didn’t deserve her, really. She was so good and pure and that was entirely why he’d got to know her, of course, but then - then -
Then she’d given him one of those bright and loving smiles and he’d been so lost, damn it. He didn’t realise it was possible to feel like - like - this.
“I love you,” he told her quietly. Her gaze jerked up to his, stunned, and a faint blush decorated her cheeks.
“Really?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he promised. “You’re so amazing. You’re forgiving and lovely and kind and wonderful. You make me want to be a good person. You make me crazy when I’m not with you, and crazier when I am.” He laughed a little. “I haven’t had a good thing in my life until I met you, Lauren. So yes. I love you. I love you so much.”
She swallowed and her eyes watered. She threw herself at him and hugged him tightly - he wrapped her arms around her too, treasuring how close she was. “I love you too,” she said, pressing her lips to his. “I love you and I’m sorry but I just knelt in the pasta salad.” She gave a helpless giggle.
Nyc looked down to see she was right; her knee had flattened the cheap plastic case and it had spilled out over the blanket and her skin. He laughed. “Oh well. It was probably crap anyway.” He kissed her again. “I think I forgive you.”
Lauren was laughing too much to respond to him and soon he was laughing too - at her, at the salad, at everything. He was laughing and his sides hurt and his eyes were tearing up and he’d never felt this good, this happy, this satisfied.
And it was all because of her.
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Aalia pursed her lips. “You are old, grandpapa,” she accused.
Ven snorted as he took advantage of a shortcut in the game. “Guilty as charged, ruthless pup.”
“I thought you weren’t old?” Dova put in distractedly, half watching the game. “Just aged. Like cheese.”
Justin giggled.
Dova nodded. “It does explain the smell, doesn’t it?” And he cackled when Ven reached out to swipe at him.
“I don’t like you looking old,” Erin said, pouting. “Don’t you have magic to stay young forever?”
Ven sighed and reached out to nudge Aalia, who had overtaken him on the game they played. She leaned into his touch automatically - despite Ares being the only Alpha they knew, they could tell that Ven had been one too. “Wouldn’t use it if I could, pup. There are people I want to see,” he said. Dova nodded.
The kids ran outside to play and Ven patted Dova’s knee. “How’s Korra?”
Dova made a face. “Her father just passed away, how do you think she is? Still, Ayr did well.”
Ven nodded. “Imagine living that long, though.”
“I couldn’t do it,” Dova agreed. “I suppose that’s why Aunt Isabelle and Uncle Kian took the cure.”
Ven hummed. “Do you think Quinn ever will?”
Dova thought about it. “Not while he feels like he has people to protect.”
“So never?” Ven snorted and Dova laughed in agreement.
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“When do you think you’ll be the Alpha, Ali?” Erin asked, legs swinging underneath the chair.
“When I’m ready,” Aalia said promptly.
Justin snorted in a perfect imitation of Ven. “And that is why she is going to be Alpha.”
“I wouldn’t want to do it,” Erin said in her sing-song voice. “It seems scary.”
Justin shrugged. “She’ll be a good Alpha,” he said with confidence.
Aalia grinned at her brother. “And you’ll be a good ambassador.”
“Isn’t Quinn the ambassador?” Erin asked, blinking her wide eyes.
Aalia nodded. “For now,” she said. “I just feel... It’s Justin. It’s not Quinn.” She nodded to herself. “I’m sure Quinn will be there if we need him.”
Erin hummed and leaned back to stare at the sky. “You guys are always so serious,” she complained. “Let’s talk about something else. Let’s play a game!” She looked around. “Let’s play tag!” She leapt off the seat and touched Justin before bouncing off into the back garden. Aalia laughed and scampered away. Justin followed them out while Ven and Dova watched from the window, contentedly.
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“Nuh uh,” Cassy said. “I call bullshit. What’s the rhyming slang for that, fucker?”
“Language,” Emily scolded. Cassy spluttered.
“You swear in your sleep more than I do in the whole day!”
“Now, now, girls. Are you fighting over me?” Owen asked, laughing when Emily looked faintly disgusted. “Boy do you know how to make me feel good about myself.”
“Someone has to keep your huge ego from becoming insufferably big,” Cassy drawled. Lauren frowned at poked Cassy’s arm.
“You guys are so mean! Owen, you should feel good about yourself. You’re a good person.”
While Owen flushed at the compliment, Cassy cackled. “And that’s all that matters to Lauren.”
“That’s what should matter to everyone!” Lauren said, appalled.
Emily said nothing. She thought about Nyc. Would her opinion of him change when she found out? It was a matter of when, not if. As much as she had distrusted Nyc, and as much as she didn’t like him now... Lauren did. And he was smitten over her - it was embarrassing. Emily hoped that she would still think of him as a good person. She wasn’t so sure herself but his heart seemed to be in the right place.
“It helps if they’re hot,” Cassy pointed out. “Like Damien. In the year above us? Yeah, you know who he is! God, that boy could -“
“Cassy!” Owen wailed. “Please don’t talk about your crushes on guys or girls. It’s not something your brother needs to know!”
Emily laughed. “No, no tell us more Cassy.”
“You’re evil,” Owen glared. “Full on twirling moustache evil.” He turned to Lauren. “How can you think she’s good?”
Lauren smiled. “She is. No sister of mine is going to be evil!” she laughed.
Cassy blew out a breath. “That’s hilarious. I think one day you’re going to see exactly how morally ambiguous Emily is, or at least realise you don’t see eye to eye on... well, anything.”
“Shhh,” Emily ordered, waving her hand at Cassy. “Don’t spoil her view of me. She’ll never know of my chaotic neutral alignment.”
Owen laughed. “Chaotic neutral? I’d say neutral-neutral. Actually, I don’t know. You’re not that bad when you get down to it...”
Emily sighed dramatically. “It’s like you don’t know me at all, Owen.”
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“Sweetie?” Nyc drawled, knocking on her door.
Emily spun around, eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“Relax, babe, no one is in the house. Were you too busy hacking to notice?”
Emily scowled. “This hacking might save your life, darling. You could at least be grateful.”
“Are you actually looking for the vial of time?” Nyc asked, genuinely surprised. “I thought you were going to refuse.”
“I was, and did.” She gave a stubborn growl. “And then I realised that as much as I want to keep Lauren away from this... if these people get to you, we’re all fucked - including her.”
“Nice logic, as always.”
“It is infallible,” she agreed. “I need more information about it. What is it?”
Nyc dragged the beanbag to sit beside the desk. “A vial,” he said. “Of time.”
Emily stared at him. “Thanks for that essential piece of information,” she said dryly. “Let’s try it again: what is it?”
“That’s all it is. It’s a vial. It has time inside it.”
“Okay, what happens if you uncork it, or whatever?”
“Nothing, really. The time comes out of it but it just fades into the world if it’s not directed to do anything.” Nyc cracked his knuckles. “Question: where are we keeping these things when we find them?”
“The Council. They have specific buildings for this kind of stuff. Don’t worry about getting it in there, I’ll take care of that.”
Nyc narrowed his eyes. “Quinn?”
“Quinn,” she confirmed. “If he doesn’t already know, he will do soon.”
Nyc shrugged. “If you say so, doll. What do you know so far?”
“That your father stole it from the Old Ones, that he used half of it on you and buried the other half somewhere - they think. Why did he combine you with time? What does time have to do with a wolf?”
“He was doing whatever he could to get me powerful enough to fight the Old Ones,” Nyc shrugged. “Trying to change me into a fucking wolf was part of it.” He leaned forward. “So they think he buried it?”
“Yeah. They only have speculation on where - speculation that proved to be false every time.” She sighed. “Any ideas?”
“Lycaon lived until he made the first werewolf, Alpha, right?” He waited for Emily to nod. “Right, well, that was only a few years after I was aided by the Gods so... It’s going to be somewhere in Alexander the Great’s land. Probably Alexandria.”
“Not in the library, I hope?”
Nyc’s eyes darkened. “It’s an injustice that it was burned down.”
“And not just once,” Emily said.
Nyc scowled. “Anyway, it’s more likely in some of the ancient tombs and things. Maybe buried with someone. He was morbid like that.”
“So how do we even start tracking it down?” Emily wondered aloud.
Nyc shrugged. “Maybe we should ask the Gods. They’ve helped me so far.”
Emily blinked. “Yeah, well, maybe as a last ditch attempt.” She frowned when Nyc rolled his eyes. “Believe what you want, Nyc, I only believe things I can see or have proof of.”
Nyc shrugged. “Do you have a better idea?”
Emily bit her lip. “Not really.”
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“So. I still don’t know where it is.”
Nyc didn’t look up from the book he was studying. Emily saw it was Shakespeare's plays and grinned to herself smugly. “What a surprise.” He flicked a page. “What next?”
She took a deep breath. “I’ll get back to you on that one.”
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Their relationship had been built on nothing but arguments, pet names and their desire to keep Lauren out of things for so long that seeing Nyc with an uncharacteristic expression of sadness shocked her so much she almost fell out of her chair.
“Nyc?” Emily asked. He stood at her door and jerked when she called to him. He quickly shook his head and continued into her room. “What the hell was that about?”
Nyc shook his head again. “What did you find?” he asked instead, gesturing to the screen. Emily narrowed her eyes. She almost turned around and answered him, but at the last minute she closed the laptop.
“What’s wrong?” she repeated, folding her arms. “Is Lauren okay?”
“Of course,” Nyc said, as if offended she wouldn’t be. “It’s nothing about Lauren. What did you find?”
“No, we’re not doing this. Tell me what’s up.”
Nyc flung his hands up in the air in a mirror of Emily’s gesture of exasperation. It would have been amusing if she’d noticed at another time. “Why do you suddenly care?” he asked.
“We’re working together,” Emily shrugged. “I think we need to have some form of communication that isn’t calling each other sweetheart and arguing. Come on,” she said, poking Nyc’s arm. “The quicker you tell me why you had a long face, the quicker we can get back to work.”
He opened his mouth to answer and then broke off, confused. “Long face?”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Never mind.”
Nyc sighed deeply, and she swore he wasn’t going to answer until he finally admitted; “I miss home.”
The retort, the tease - it was on the tip of her tongue. She took a breath, about to say it, and instead surprising herself with a, “why?”
Nyc shrugged. “You have no idea how different it is here. Good, in most ways, but it’s still... strange. I want to find something familiar for once.” He looked so dejected that she inwardly sighed. Alright, fine. She would try to comfort him.
“We could go to Greece. Might help.” There. That would do.
Except Nyc snorted. “Most of the He- sorry, Greeks, were not actually in what is Greece today. I spent some time on the coast of what is now Turkey, and a lot of my later years in Alexandria. Sometimes it shocks me how unlike home this is, and how isolated I am - but then I remember what it was like.” He shrugged. “Absences makes the heart grow - what is it, fonder?”
“Uh huh,” Emily answered, spinning around to open up the laptop again. “Well, we might be visiting Alexandria soon anyway.”
That caught Nyc’s attention. “We’re actually going?” he asked, leaning forward to scan the screen when she pointed at it.
“Yeah, Athena’s breastplate would have been there too if it hadn’t been stolen by thieves. Or the Old Ones, I’m willing to bet.” She glanced at him. “Seriously though, why there?”
“My father had the vial long after I left. He would have either had it with him or with someone he trusted. When things started to go badly, he would have hidden it somewhere so at least the Old Ones wouldn’t get it. Alexandria was bustling at that point, heaving, and it would only grow. It was the centre of culture for the world for a time. Hiding it there makes more sense than leaving it in Athens or some ruin where it would be plundered by our foes.”
“Well, Alexandria has grown. How are we going to find it?”
“Why is it ‘we’?” Nyc asked, raising an eyebrow. “You seem to forget you have responsibilities here.”
“Pft, school,” Emily snorted.
“Your pack,” Nyc reminded her.
“Oh.” She paused, then shrugged. “I’m not leaving you to go out there by yourself.”
“I’ll survive,” he shrugged.
“Would you?”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
“They won’t let you go.”
Emily turned back to the computer, scowling. “I’ll tell them it’s for a project or something. Or a birthday present, or graduation present if we can hold it off until the end of the year.”
Nyc tilted his head and leaned over her to see what she was doing on the laptop. “You’re graduating early for this generation, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “Don’t like school, don’t need it. I’ll teach myself if I have to. I have more important things to worry about.” She looked pointedly at him.
“Oh no, sweetheart, you’re not tossing your future away because of me.”
“Don’t be so egotistical, honey, I would be doing this regardless of needing to babysit you to Alexandria. The only thing we have to worry about is Lauren.”
“Lauren?” Nyc repeated, raising his brows.
“Don’t know how you did it in Ancient Greece, but nowadays a girl’s boyfriend and her sister going off on a holiday is frowned on.”
“In Ancient Greece the women were confined to the houses,” Nyc said, then at Emily’s indignant look he scowled at her. “I didn’t say I agreed with it.” He frowned. “Is it uncommon for friends to take trips together in the summer holidays?”
Emily looked thoughtful. “...No. Good thinking, batman.”
“Wha-“
“Never mind,” she sighed. “Lauren and Owen and Cassy could come too, if they wanted. We could easily ditch them once or twice to go vial finding.”
“But would they be in danger?” Nyc said, mirroring Emily’s thoughts.
“Crap. Probably. Okay, new plan. I’ll go to Alexandria, you won’t tell Lauren you’re going. Tell her something else. You’re visiting relatives. Does she think you have relatives?”
“I assume so. She won’t ask in case she upsets me,” Nyc said, smiling fondly. “I could make up an aunt in a different country. That would work.”
“Alright. Leave me to think of some way to convince mum and dad.” Emily rubbed her hands together. “We need to get you a passport.”
“A - what?”
Emily snorted. “Leave it to me, okay?”
Nyc eyed her dubiously. “...Okay.”
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“Mum, dad,” Emily said sombrely. Immediately her parents straightened up and passed wary glances to each other. She almost rolled her eyes, but managed to refrain. Lauren looked over from where she sat doing her homework on the sofa, a habit Emily had long since dropped. “I’ve decided that I’m leaving school after this year.”
She waited.
Elyssia sat back, stunned. Cameron’s eyes went round in shock, but then he opened his mouth to protest. “But you’ll leave with minimal grades, Emily - you’re only sixteen. I’m not trying to say you’re not an adult, and that you don’t think things through, because that would be wrong, but you’re still a very different person now from what you’re going to be like at eighteen or nineteen. It’s a huge choice. You might regret it massively.”
Elly nodded. She took over from her husband, worry lining her brow. “Honey, have you thought this through? Why on earth would you want to quit school?”
“I hate it,” Emily said simply. “I hate the teachers, I hate my classmates - Cassy and Owen excluded, of course - I hate the subjects. It’s not my thing. I don’t learn like everyone else, or at the speed they do. It’s stupid; they play by the rule that teaching one way will work for everyone, which is bullshit.”
“Emily,” Cam frowned.
“Sorry,” she shrugged. “True, though. I’m not quitting education. I’m just... moving on.”
Elly and Cam exchanged a look. “College?” she said hopefully.
“Quinn,” Emily said. “You know the Council has school-like programs. Well, that’s what I’m doing. It’s mostly from home, self-taught, this one, but there are going to be trips and stuff.”
Cam’s brow furrowed. He linked his hands on the table and seemed to be thinking things through for a moment, trying to find some way to attack the subject - some weakness that he could exploit - but, of course, he found none. The Council’s programs weren’t over exaggerating when they claimed to be the best. They had something in place even before the Council officially existed, and now in an official place in society, and under scrutiny of the law, they provided lessons for those they had taken in for training or protection. Eventually his shoulders slumped. “What are you thinking of learning?”
“A little bit of everything,” Emily supplied. “Until I figure out what I want to specialise in, I’ll try all sorts.”
Elyssia sighed. She rubbed her hands over her face tiredly and finally gave her husband a helpless shrug. They both knew how pointless it would be to try and push Emily on a course she wasn’t happy with. “Does Quinn know?”
“Of course,” Emily lied, and that was that.
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“Quinn, I want to enrol into one of your program things,” Emily said over the phone.
“I know.” His voice was dry over the phone and Emily grinned at the familiar put-upon tone of voice he always used for her. “Your parents called me after you broke the news to them. I insisted that I knew your plans and that you were already on the list.”
“You’re awesome,” Emily promised. “I swear to help you do your train-y things. And all that.”
Quinn snorted. “Uh huh. And what about these trips that don’t exist?”
“I need to go to Alexandria and you’re going to cover for me.” Emily stopped pacing and took a second to orientate herself. She walked back to her computer and wiggled the mouse, reading the prices for the flights. “Also I need a passport for a friend. And money for a plane.” She paused. “It’s best not to ask,” she added.
She heard a sigh down the phone. It sounded very much like Quinn was trying not to laugh. Then, all of a sudden, he became serious. “I wouldn’t be much of a Seer if I needed to ask, Emily Williams.”
“Uh oh, full name,” Emily mumbled.
Quinn ignored her. “I knew this was going to happen before you were even born. God, why else do you think I told your mother not to get pregnant again?”
“Um, what does that have to do with my totally legit holiday to Alexandria?”
“Because,” Quinn said. She could practically hear him frowning and trying to figure out how much to say. “This is a very delicate situation you’ve totally accidentally found yourself in. Had you another sister or brother... well. I think you can figure it out.”
“Death, destruction, pain?” Emily asked. “Nice. Hey - wait. TOTALLY ACCIDENTALLY? Quinn, what the hell do you mean?” She paused. Quinn waited on the other end of the phone while she worked it out. “WAIT! You set Nyc and Lauren up together?!” She wanted to scream it but settled for a hissed, outraged whisper because even the soundproofed walls wouldn’t hold that in.
“Well, I tried to get him to run into you first. And he did, literally, but your sunny personality and his sunny personality clashed and it didn’t work.”
Emily tried to wrack her brains to remember when this happened, but came up with nothing. “Does Nyc know?” she asked slowly.
“Of course not,” Quinn snorted. “Give me some credit. I’ve been setting people up since before your parents were a twinkle in -“
“Okay, that’s great but you can stop now, thanks,” Emily interrupted. “Alright. So you know about the whole... son of Lycaon and transported in time and Old Ones... stuff?”
“I know the barest minimum. I’ve literally done all I can without endangering people. If I involve myself, the Elite will know, and then the Council will know. We’ll storm in there and people will die. A lot of them.” Quinn sounded sombre and reserved. “And it’s likely we’d lose. This sort of thing needs precision and skill, both of which I’ve trained into you.”
“Nice to know I was part of a bigger picture,” Emily said around a mouthful of cake. She brushed crumbs off her top. “So I’m on my own?”
“I’ll help you for some things, like this. Don’t ask me to get involved. I can’t.” Quinn didn’t sound happy with that, but if he seemed to think it was necessary then necessary it was. “I’ve been training myself in self restraint. Danni is very proud. We might even be able to take a holiday this year.”
Emily laughed. “Good luck with that one. Thanks for the tickets! I’ve emailed you the links.”
“Thanks,” Quinn chuckled. “Hey, I need you think on something for me. The Council is always in need of clever minds behind field agents. If you want to be a handler, well, you have some years to think on it.”
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“Lauren?” Nyc asked, knocking on the doorframe as he glanced into her room. She twisted around to see him and her face split with a wide grin. He, of course, found himself smiling back instantly. “Hey, I need to talk to you - no! No, not like that. That was worded horribly, I’m sorry.”
Lauren laughed somewhat shakily. “Oh, um, good! What is it?”
“I’m going to take a bit of a holiday,” he said, coming into the room and pulling her up to stand in front of him. He swung their hands together, smiling. “Just for a week or two at the end of June.” He squeezed her hands. “To America.”
“Oh?” she said, interested. “Just to travel?”
“To see... family.” He grimaced. “An honorary aunt. I stayed with her when I first visited the Americas, and I suppose she became my adoptive aunt.” Even as he was saying it, he wished he had someone like that in his life.
Lauren smiled softly and stepped closer into the circle of Nyc’s arms. “I’m glad you keep in touch. That’s lovely,” she said, resting her head on his chest.
He tightened his arms around her and found comfort in the embrace. He rested his chin on her head and let his eyes close. “I won’t be able to stay away from you long,” he promised.
Gods, wasn’t that the truth.
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Oh, while I remember, I've been watching a show called Dollhouse (by Joss Whedon, the Firefly guy and the Buffy guy) and finished the two seasons the other day. You guys... you should seriously watch it. It's the best show I've ever watched (though I do like Firefly a little better). I'm not exaggerating when I say that the twists are unexpected even when you think you know what's going to happen. Holy hell guys. Please watch it so we can fangirl over it together!
Also.. old!Vova :( They don't have long guys D: