12|let it end
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"Stiles, please," Riley pleaded, trying to get past the wall that was the Nogitsune to reach her husband.
The Nogitunse laughed in her face, "It's pointless, little Sylph. He's weak. He's gone."
"Stiles, I need you," she said, ignoring the Nogitsune.
With a sigh, the Noitsune twisted the blade, "Enough of this charade. It was cute but I'm tired. It is time for the game to end."
The Nogistune ripped the blade free of Riley's abdomen and the woman screamed. As she dropped to her knees her hands went to her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. The woman looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Not healing as fast as you thought?" he chuckled. "Iron doesn't just take longer to heal, little Sylph. Iron makes you human. You have to heal like a human," he told her as he held the iron blade to the side of her face.
Her skin split open and she began to bleed as he dragged the blade downwards. Riley tried not to react, clenching her teeth to keep from screaming again. She couldn't, however, stop the tears in her eyes brought on by the pain.
"And if it's severe," the Nogitsune continued. "Then you'll die like a human, too. This is the sacrifice that it takes to win the game."
The Nogistune lowered the blade, holding it to her throat. Scott and the others tried to move forward but the Oni stood in their way. Scott called his friend's name several times but she ignored him, not looking away from her husband's eyes.
"I thought that it had to be one of us who sacrificed the other for this to work?" she asked, trying not to show any fear, even though she was terrified.
The deity sneered, "You already did the work for me, gorgeous. I'm just going to wait for you to bleed out."
Riley could feel the blood soaking the shirt, her body growing weaker by the second. She decided that it was time for one last ditch effort. She pulled one hand away, resting the bloody palm on his face, speaking directly to him. "You are the love of my life, Stiles."
She wasn't sure whether it was a figment of her imagination but Riley could have sworn she saw a flicker in his eyes in that moment. Suddenly, the Nogitsune pressed the blade harshly against the skin of her neck.
"Don't even try it," he growled.
It was the way he spoke - his tone - that gave him away. He wasn't talking to her.
"Stiles?" Riley said hopefully, noticing the internal struggle that seemed to be going on in front of her. "I know you're there. Come back to me."
At her words, she could feel the knife shaking against her throat. Maybe Stiles wasn't gone after all.
She stroked her thumb against his cheek, "Come back to Aayla. To your family."
"I'll kill her," the Nogitsune hissed to the man he was possessing. He yanked the woman's head back by her hair, allowing him better access to her neck as he pressed the knife threateningly, "With your hands, I will kill her right in front of you."
"Please, Stiles, I love you," she pleaded, tears running down her cheeks. "You are my everything."
As her friends continued to call out to her, Riley quickly realised that she had run out of time. The Nogisune wasn't just going to let her bleed out after all. Maybe Scott would get to play white knight after all.
Riley took a deep breath and turned to Scott. "Look after Aayla for me," she instructed attempting to smile. She then closed her eyes, preparing herself.
"No," she heard the Nogitsune growl loudly. "No."
A moment later, she could no longer feel the blade against her throat. Instead, she could feel a hand on her face. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw that the Nogitsune was now kneeling before her.
"Riley?" it said gently.
Riley eyed it carefully, before allowing herself to hope. "Stiles? Stiles, is that you?"
He dropped the knife completely, letting it clatter against the stone beneath them as he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it's me," he confirmed with a soft smile as he brought her into his arms, holding her close without trying to hurt her. "What have you done to yourself?"
The woman winced in pain as she embraced him, not wanting to let him go. "Did you really think that I would ever kill you?"
"I might've tried to convince you if it meant you living," he admitted, as if she didn't already know. He pulled back to look at her stomach, seeing the blood still flowing steadily between her fingers. "We need to get you out of here."
Riley shook her head before looking around, "No. We're not done here." When she heard a screeching sound, she turned to her friend, "Allison!"
The woman readied her bow and arrow, trying to find the source. Out from around a corner, the Nogitsune stepped out. Except this time, it was in its original form - the bandaged creature that was once Corporal Rhys.
Once he was out in the open and storming his way towards the Stilinskis, Allison took her shot. The arrow plunged itself into the creature's forehead. The Nogitsune wailed in anger and pain as it gripped the arrow's shaft.
It ripped it out and tossed it to the ground, growling. Chittering echoed around them as the Oni reappeared, drawing their blades. Stiles swore beneath his breath as he removed his jacket. He leaned forward and wrapped it around Riley, tying it tightly around her stomach to try and stem the blood flow.
Riley cried out in pain, which hurt Stiles just as much. "I'm so sorry," he said quickly, kissing her forehead. "Wait here. I'm going to try and get Aayla out of there."
The woman nodded, pressing her hand over the top of the jacket as she watched Stiles go. He ran to the cage, dropped beside it, and examined it. There were no locks - there wasn't even a door. He needed a werewolf or something to open it for him.
"Stiles? What's wrong?" Riley called out to him when she noticed he had stopped moving.
He looked back at her, disappointment clearly on his face, "I can't get her out."
They were all beginning to get worried but thankfully, the Oni weren't the only ones to appear.
Not too far back, Parrish had torn a hole in the barrier that the Nogitsune had created. Behind him followed Malia, Argent, Melissa, Peter and Isaac. They all came in fighting, stepping up and taking out the Oni.
Argent retrieved his gun, firing at them as they ran at him. Each one he shot disappeared in a gust of black smoke, the man showing no signs of slowing down.
"What is that?" the Nogitsune hissed.
"Silver, you motherfucker," Argent answered as he shot another.
Riley watched as Eli went over to Derek, untying his father. The woman waited, preparing to ask her cousin for help in releasing her daughter. She gasped in pain as she stood up and stumbled over to her daughter and husband, dropping beside them.
"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy," Stiles said quickly as he caught her.
"Our daughter is in a cage, Stiles. So no, I won't take it easy," she told him firmly.
The man swallowed heavily. "This is all my fault. I'm-"
"Don't you dare apologise," Riley demanded, reaching out with her free hand to hold his hand. "This was not your fault. At all. So don't you dare blame yourself."
Stiles looked like he was going to respond, but was cut off by Peter. "Looks like you two might need a hand over here."
Riley breathed a sigh of relief, "Please help get her out."
The man nodded, not trying to make any deals or get anything out of the favour. He stepped forward and grabbed hold of the top of the cage. He started to pull, roaring as his eyes turned blue. Finally, the top came loose and Peter tore it off. He threw it away and leaned down, lifting the young girl from the cage.
"There you go, sweetheart," he said to Aayla gently as he handed her to Riley. "Go to your mum."
Riley wasted no time taking her daughter in her arms, no matter how much it hurt. "Thank you," she said to Peter, tears in her eyes.
Again, Peter nodded. He wasn't used to being thanked for the things he did. Being around Riley and Malia more often made him realise just how much he had missed and how much he had actually regretted missing it. He wasn't about to allow his daughter to lose her child like he had.
The others finished destroying the rest of the Oni, leaving the Nogitsune to fend for itself. It roared in anger and it moved to stand in front of them all. The pack gathered together, staring across at the creature.
"Do you remember, Scott, the gift that you gave me?" the monster asked as it took a knee. Every member of the pack with a weapon prepared themselves. Riley, on the other hand, held her daughter close, tucking the girl's face against her chest so that she wasn't watching.
Stiles had jogged over to the others, getting a spare gun from Argent since the Nogitsune didn't exactly retrieve his from his luggage. None of them knew what to expect but Stiles knew that he was going to protect his family.
"The bite of the Alpha," the Nogitsune continued, an unsettling calm in its voice.
Stiles looked over to his friend, seeing a glimmer of realisation in his eyes. They all flashed back, remembering what had happened. To save Stiles the first time, Scott had bit the Void version; he couldn't be a wolf and a fox, after all.
"The power of the werewolf." The Nogitsune let out a sickening growl as it climbed back to its feet. It began to tear at the bandages on its face, fighting to free itself.
All of the onlookers took a step back, horrified by what they were seeing. The bandages tore away and finally, the Nogitsune revealed its newest form. It was still burnt and wounded, but it was also now a werewolf. Its fangs bared, ears pointed and eyes glowing green, it roared at them all.
Riley could hear Aayla crying in her arms at all the noise. The woman tightened her grip around her daughter, whispering to her softly to try and calm her down. She wouldn't have been surprised, however, if the young girl could hear her heartbeat - her mother was terrified.
The Nogitsune's glowing eyes simmered down until they were beady green pupils glaring out at them all. Scott didn't waste any time transforming, his eyes red as he growled. Derek, Eli and Isaac ran over to him, transformed and ready to attack alongside their Alpha.
When the Nogitsune roared once again, the werewolves charged. Just as they got within three feet of him, they all disappeared.
Riley looked around, immediately worried, "Where did they go?"
"I don't know," Stiles said, eyes scanning the area. "He could've taken them anywhere."
Peter lowered himself to assess her injury, "Why isn't it healing?"
Riley took steady breaths, attempting to smile, "He tricked me. . . the knife was made of iron." An ironic cloud of realisation dawned on her and she laughed darkly.
"What's so funny?"
The woman looked up at him with sad eyes, "This is how my mother died."
Peter felt his heart sink at her words. Riley's mother had been one of the only people he had truly cared about in his life - her loss wasn't something that he had gotten through easily. The thought of losing his daughter in the exact same way was unimaginable. He had to get them out of there so she could get help.
"You're not going to die," he told her, leaving no room for her to question the comment.
The universe decided to give its own two cents at that point. Riley covered her mouth as she started to cough violently. When she stopped, she lowered her hand, both of them seeing that it was splattered with blood.
Riley didn't bother starting an argument. Instead, she reached over and held Peter's hand with her clean one. "I'm sorry for what I said and I know you probably think you owe us nothing, but I need to ask you a favour."
"Riley. . ." the man said slowly, looking at the blood trailing from the corner of her mouth.
"Please," she said, making direct eye contact with him. "I need you to look out for them; Stiles and Aayla. Her abilities are going to come in one day and whether Stiles likes it or not, he's going to need help."
"No," he responded, shaking his head. "Like you said, I don't owe you anything. So, you can be there and teach her yourself. I'm not-"
"Dad," Riley almost sobbed. Just hearing the word was enough for him to fall silent - she had never called him that before. "Please, just stop. They're gone, we don't know how to get out of here and I am dying. If you do one thing for me in this lifetime, let it be this."
Riley didn't let go until the man had nodded. She gave him a grateful smile as she let go, holding her daughter close. She wasn't sure how much longer she would have with her, so she was trying to make the most of each second.
When she saw Stiles walking back over she was quick to wipe the blood away from her hand and mouth. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Riley assumed that she looked as awful as she felt, but still nodded, "I've been better."
The man put an arm around his wife, kissing her temple. He could feel how cold she was and the dark couldn't hide how pale she was. Stiles wasn't an idiot, she was bleeding out.
"They'll be back and we'll get out of here," he told her. Riley just nodded again, not saying anything. "I love you."
The sylph looked up with a gentle smile, "I love you, too."
Holding onto hope had worked for Stiles, the werewolves reappearing over on the Nemeton. He told her that he would be back, loading the gun and running in the direction of the tree. All of the others did the same, knowing that the werewolves would need help.
Not wanting Aayla to be alone when she eventually passed out from blood loss, Riley climbed to her feet and stumbled in the direction of the Nemeton. Aayla was trembling in her arms, still having no idea what was going on. She stopped beside Melissa just as Eli and Isaac were thrown from the Nemeton.
Parrish ran forward, jumping onto the stump and grabbing hold of the Nogitsune. He held tight but the creature wasn't exactly going to just stand there and let them kill him.
"Hold him!" Scott shouted. "We gotta hold him."
"You can't! You'll both burn up with him!" Parrish told him.
As Riley watched her best friend and cousin, she noticed Peter moving out of the corner of her eye. "What are you doing?" she asked quickly.
"You were right earlier," he informed her. "I am selfish."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
He went over to her quickly, smiling softly, "Your mum always told me I had the capability to do the right thing. I figured I should finally prove her right."
The man ran before his daughter could stop him. He leapt onto the Nemeton, throwing Scott off. Derek looked at him with wide eyes. "Peter, you won't survive this."
"I know," he said quickly, aware that they were running out of time. "I started all of this. Let it end with me."
"Peter-"
The man just smiled, "Look out for my girls for me."
With that, he threw his nephew aside and wrapped his arms around the Nogistune. Realising what was about to happen, it roared furiously.
Peter grinned as he looked at the hellhound, "Light this fucker up."
Parrish nodded before tightening his grip, engulfing the three of them in fire.
"No!" Riley had screamed, eyes wide as she fell to her knees.
The fire burned bright, all of them watching helplessly. They heard Peter roar as the Nogitsune still tried to get away - he wasn't about to let him go.
Finally, the fire went out and the only one left standing was Parrish.
While the others walked in the direction of the Nemeton, Riley finally felt the blood loss take hold. Her vision began to go spotty and the last thing she saw before she passed out was Stiles running over to her.
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(A/N)
I wasn't sure at first how I was going to do it, but it was always going to be Peter in my version. It feels more poetic than Derek.
I hope you liked it, there are still a few more chapters to come.
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