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chapter twenty-seven ━ checkmate

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THOMAS HAD CHOSEN the perfect time to meet up with Jackson to talk about Oliver and the growing concern over what to do with the Crescent wolves. It gave Athena the opportunity to meet up with Lydia in the hopes of retrieving her memories. Ever since the situation, she was feeling more determined than ever to find a way to break Esther's hold on her. It was not fair to Thomas and she was not going to just sit around as he silently hoped that she could at least remember something from their time together. Though he may never talk about it, she knew, she just knew that deep down he wished she remembered him. They spent a thousand years together. All those memories were lost and if there was a way to get them back, she'd do anything.

Perhaps Lydia saw that desire in her when they first met or maybe she was making a kind gesture. Either way, she knew she had to give it a try. For him. After all he's done for her, and after all the patience he's had with her, it was time for her to put on her big girl pants and get shit done. That kind of attitude is exactly what would encourage her to pull on one of her casual dresses, slip on some sandals, and head straight for the apartment. She had made the decision not to tell Thomas because she could not bring herself to get his hopes up. If this did not work, she did not want him to be upset and heartbroken. She would save him the disappointment.

Athena found herself standing in front of the door to the witch's home, her hands trembling a bit at her sides, to the point where she had to clasp them together and take deep breathes to make it stop. Everything would be fine. Nothing would go wrong, there was no reason for it too. She should have done a background check on Lydia before she agreed to do this, but then again, the witch had been helpful last time so surely she would help her and not have an ulterior motive. Or maybe she was letting her heart speak for her head. Well, she did that all the time didn't she?

Her hand slowly raised up, rasping her knuckles three times against the wooden door, catering to proper human actions. She clasped her hands again, but this time, she kept them behind her back so she could easily hide her shakiness. She resisted the urge to tug on her dress, a nervous tick she had had since she was little.

Lydia opened the door faster than she anticipated, smiling pleasantly when she saw her. "Athena, please come in." She opened the door wider for her, allowing the older girl to step inside. "Here, we can sit at the table." The door shut and she became aware of how fast her heart was beating. Why was she so afraid? Did she think something would go wrong? Was she worried it would not work?

She sat down in the seat Thomas had sat in the last time, fixing her dress under the table. Finally, she allowed herself to give in to her habit, her fingers playing with the material. Even if something did go wrong, she could easily fight her. She'd been training with Thomas for quite some time now and she found she was pretty damn good at hand-to-hand combat, as well as dodging attacks. Though neither of those things would be good against a witch, she still had experience, that would at least aid her if things went south.

"How exactly do you intend to bring my memories back?" Athena asked once Lydia sat down with her, handing her a cup of tea, to which the Queen set it down on the table and quickly forgot. "I was told they were lost and that I could not get them back."

"Well that isn't entirely true," she told her as she sipped her tea. It reeked of vervain. Funny. "Your memories are lost. . .in a way. Your mother knew the consequences of that spell and yet she did it anyway in order to preserve her already tainted reputation. But, no magic is powerful enough to completely destroy someone's memories. Not even compulsion. Though the person may not remember, there is always the chance that they either are turned into a vampire and regain the memories or if they are already a vampire, chances are, the compulsion will break."

"So then where are my memories?"

"They are simply. . .locked away." Lydia got up for a brief moment, grabbed a grimoire, and then returned to her seat. She opened the ancient book, flipping through the pages. "Esther could not get rid of them completely, so she put them in one place, locked it, and threw away the key."

Athena's hope started to flutter in her chest. They weren't lost after all. She could get them back. It was possible. She had a chance. She—no, there was no way in hell that Lydia would help her get her memories back without something in return. She was led to believe the price would not be terrible enough for her to say no. Before she could even begin to think that this could be a bad idea, she wiped her mind clean of doubt. She had to do this. She wanted to do this.

"If the key is thrown away, how will you unlock them again?"

Lydia stopped at a page, her finger skimming the words in a foreign language. "There is a spell I was taught by my grandmother. The spell restores memories, though the process is rather painful." She glanced up at the female but Athena showed no signs of fear. "This spell was created to restore memories that are either forgotten through the person's life which is normal or memories that were forced down due to trauma. I will have to alter a few things and dig deep."

She nodded, understanding what she was saying. This was all way too easy. "What's the catch? What do you want in return?" The witch smirked. "I may still be adjusting to things but even I know that things come with a price. So, what is it you want?"

The book stayed open as Lydia placed her hands sideways on either side of it, leaning over the table a tad. The woman continued to stare at her without answering the question. They stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled back and withdrew a piece of paper from her pockets. She slid it across the table towards her, then looked back down at the book.

Athena brought the paper closer to her, her curiosity itching to know what was on it. But as her eyes scanned the parchment, she realized that what was on it was something extremely simple and insignificant.

"Names?" she spoke slowly, eyes flicking up to meet Lydia's. "I don't know any of these people."

"You don't have to know them. Honestly, it will be much better for you if you don't know them." She clasped her hands on the book, watching her every move, trying to gauge her reaction. The hybrid was not good at hiding her emotions just yet, but she managed. "The terms of our deal are simple: I will restore some of your memories each time you visit, I cannot do all of them at once. In return for each session, you will kill one person on this list."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Lydia did not seem to see a problem with any of it clearly, seeing as she shrugged at her words, ignoring her shock. "You are a Mikaelson correct? And you are a Queen. In order to be both, blood needs to be shed. Besides, each person on that list has it coming so you will not be killing innocent people."

She sunk back in her chair. Though she did not want to admit it, she had a point. Her family killed all the time, she killed before, she had tortured someone before, so why was this any different? That's because it wasn't. If these people had it coming, it should not be hard for him to kill them and act as if nothing happened. Her siblings used to kill people left and right and sometimes they did in order to protect their family. So, her killing a few supernatural beings should be a piece of cake.

Athena straight her back, clearing her throat. She nodded, making up her mind, which brought another smirk to the witch's face. "Okay, I'll do it. We will do one session a day and I will get rid of each person on the list. So can we start?"

Lydia chuckled, very pleased with her answer, maybe a little too much but there was no going back now. She made up her mind. She was doing this. There was a pit in her stomach, telling her that this was not a good idea. If Lydia wanted these people dead, it probably meant they were getting in her way. And if she became a problem later on, surely her siblings and Thomas would assist in killing her. Everything would be fine.

"Of course, dear." She stood up from her seat, rounding the table to her side. "Close your eyes." Athena did as she was told, her eyes shutting, her hands fisting her dress. "As I said, this process will be painful and it takes some time. Feel free to scream, no one will hear you, I've got a sound barrier up." That was not comforting at all. The witch's fingers pressed to either side of her head, settling against her temples. "Just relax, dear."

Athena prepared herself for the worst, her heart hammering in her chest, her instincts screaming for her not to do this. But she had to. She had to. Lydia began to chant. Despite the fact that she told herself it was going to hurt, she could have never anticipated just how bad it would hurt, until she felt as if her brain was being split open by fire.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes squeezing tightly as her death grip on her dress caused some tearing. The fire raced through her mind and it was almost as if she could feel Lydia prying open the lock on the door, pushing, and pushing until she slipped through the now slightly open door, the witch traveling through her sea of lost memories. The pain worsened when she began to force memory after memory out the door. All while this was happening, Athena continued to repeat the same thing in her head over and over again.

Do it for Thomas. Do it for him.

———

"If you would just reconsider—"

"I've made up my mind," Thomas snapped from his place at the window, his hands gripping onto the edge of the frame. "After the stunt, Oliver pulled with Nathan, I want nothing to do with your pack. I understand that you do not want to be alpha anymore but you are and you have done nothing to keep things like this from happening." He pushed himself to stand up straight, turning to face his ally. "One of our own was almost murdered."

"And I realize that," Jackson replied, stepping towards him. "But they will not listen to me. Oliver's hold over this pack grows by the minute. He's getting everyone on his side. He's convinced that he is an alpha and that the wolves do not need a King or a Queen. And he's making quite the case."

The two of them had been arguing for hours now, going back and forth, both standing their ground. Jackson may have a way with words sometimes, but Thomas was a King. He grew up with a father who molded him into a warrior, a warrior who made firm decisions, even if they were hard ones. After Nathan was nearly killed, he no longer had an interest in taking over as alpha of the Crescent wolf pack. What was the point? The wolves were now turned against him and Athena due to Oliver's manipulation. Though he could stick around and try to fix things, what was the point? The only way it would end is with Oliver dying for the crimes he's committed. Thomas was not sure that the other wolves would appreciate that.

His new plan was to somehow start building their own pack in New Orleans or somewhere else. The only issue was, he knew for a fact Athena would not want to leave her family, so he had to make a pack somewhere close. But how could he accomplish such a task, if there was a rival pack nearby? A fight would break out eventually and innocents would be harmed. The other option was for Nathan to expose Oliver, though he suspected that it would not work since the rising alpha had everyone under his thumb. Another option was to earn the trust of the wolves. . .if Oliver hadn't already made them look bad. Every plan he thought of came to one simple answer.

Kill Oliver.

Thomas was all for it. But, if he killed him, then he would have a bunch of angry wolves on his hands, and word would spread that the King had murdered one of their own when he should be trying to unite them as one. He was frustrated. His wolf instincts told him to just kill him or at least teach him a lesson. However, instilling fear among his people was not a good idea.

"I'm still not interested," he finally answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Jackson was desperate, that much was blatantly obvious. He did not bother hiding it, no doubt to persuade Thomas to change his mind. "You have to understand, I cannot do anything, I've lost control over the pack because of him. If you were not here, then I would have gotten this under control, but the problem is, you are. And those wolves now have the mindset that our rulers don't matter. That is not good for your reputation or her's. You have to fix this, not me. It's out of my hands now."

The former alpha stepped closer to him again, staring him in the eye. Jackson sighed heavily, his shoulders deflating. "Look, these wolves, myself included, grew up hearing stories about the Nyxs. We were told that our rulers would bring us all together and help us become strong and united again. For generations, people have hoped, prayed, and waited. How do you think our brothers, our sisters, our family are going to react when they hear that their King walked away when his crown is being disrespected?" Thomas still stared, his face a mask, concealing his emotions. "Oliver is taking your crown, your Queen's crown, and spitting on it and you aren't going to lift a finger?!"

"What would you have me do then, huh?" Thomas asked, moving close to him, making Jackson take a step back, slightly cowering under the gaze of the true alpha. "Kill Oliver? I've thought about it plenty of times but how is that going to make me look? I will have hundreds, maybe even thousands of wolves coming for me because I killed one of our own. This isn't an easy choice for me to make."

"I'm not saying it is," he argued, still fighting with him despite the crushing weight of his instincts telling him to submit. "What I'm saying is that we have all been waiting for you two. You are our King and King's have to make difficult decisions, it's in the job description. Sure, the wolves are going to be furious. But if you stand up for your crown, if you become the King we have all been waiting for, they will change their minds. We need a King who will make hard choices but still fight alongside us when battle comes. We need a King who is strong enough to serve justice to those of us who we consider family but have crossed the line. The only question you should be asking yourself right now. . .is if you are that King."

Thomas said nothing for a long time, mulling over his words. He knew he was right. Fuck, he was right. He looked away from him and walked back to the window of the cabin, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to earn their respect and killing Oliver or any other wolf who agrees with him would ruin that. A brutal King would have tortured him or killed him in front of his people as a lesson to never cross him and to instill fear. I did not want to be that kind of King. I wanted to earn respect." He closed his eyes before opening them, seeing a group of kids running to a nearby elder because some of Oliver's followers were walking towards them.

"Have you talked to Athena about this?"

That made him wince. Athena was a thirteen-year-old girl for over a thousand years, stuck in a kid-like mentality, only to be brought back and then aged up. She was still learning about the world and trying to balance a crown on her head at the same time. If he was being honest, she was not ready yet. She did not know what it meant to be Queen, she did not understand the political side of it all. And she was not strong enough physically to fight off their enemies. Or maybe that was just his protectiveness talking.

"No, she's still. . .trying to figure out who she is. The last thing she needs is this mess bothering her." He turned back to him again, running a hand through his hair. "I should go, she's probably waiting for me." With that, he got ready to walk past him, only for him to reach out and grab his shoulder.

"Think about what I said," Jackson offered.

Thomas nodded. "I will." The hand was removed and so he walked to the door, stopping right before he left. "Keep me posted, alright? I need time to think this over."

Jackson promised he would right before Thomas walked out, hands in his pockets as he made his way to his car. Instead of ignoring the eyes following him, he turned his head and glared at Oliver when he got to his car. Slowly, he allowed himself to smirk, watching as fear flashed across the wolf's eyes. He got into his car without a word and drove away.

He could not blame Oliver for looking frightened. Any wolf would have been if they saw the look in his eyes. It had been a look of silent promises, of danger, of victory. Oliver was playing a game of chess with him at this point, each of them taking turns, deliberating their next moves, the lowlife runt sprinting for the crown. Even though he knew he would not make it, he still tried and ended up falling face-first right before the finish line.

Because Thomas King had just said checkmate.

———

Lydia had described the first person on the list, Marie Kane, as a fellow witch and rival. Athena had been surprised by the honesty, intending to ask her just why this woman had it coming when Lydia quickly explained that Marie was responsible for the death of ten other witches in the French Quarter years ago. She had sold them out to Marcel in order to keep her own heart beating. That was enough motivation for her.

Killing Marie had been easy. All she did was go to the address attached to her name on the list, ripped her heart out, and left with her head pounding, her vision nearly black, and her mind void of guilt. After the spell was finished, she had passed out for a good twenty minutes, waking up to new memories floating around in her head. She nearly wept because it had worked. It actually worked. And after she got back to the apartment, she did cry, but for once, it was not out of sadness.

That's why, when Thomas came in, looking both agitated and smug, which was an odd combination for him, she was sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, her eyes red. She was sipping on a blood bag and the moment he walked in, she completely forgot about her current state. She jumped up, throwing the empty bag onto the coffee table next to another empty one, and practically jumped into his arms.

"Thomas you are never going to believe it. I—"

"Why were you crying? What's wrong?"

Athena suddenly remembered that her eyes were still very much red, causing her to laugh a little, feeling giddy. "Nothing's wrong, nothing at all." He didn't look convinced. In fact, he looked worried, his hands coming to cup her cheeks. "My memories, I think they're coming back." It was better if he didn't know and Lydia had agreed.

"He'll stop you from retrieving your memories," she had told her before she left to go find Marie. "He cannot know about this."

Thomas's concern dropped within an instant, his eyes lighting up with a look she's never seen before. "What? How? Which ones?"

She laughed again as his eyes became so transfixed on her. "A couple. The first one that I remembered was when I pushed you into that lake and then you chased me for miles until you caught up with me and then threw me into the lake with you. Our clothes were drenched and you felt terrible so you had to go searching for a hut we could steal clothes from." He became shocked. He hadn't believed her at first she guessed. "Another one was when I climbed a tree and then I fell and you got so mad at me that we ended up fighting until I started to cry. You immediately soothed me and apologized though. Another one was—"

He kissed her, taking the breath out of her lungs.

Athena kissed him but then pulled back, seeing the huge smile on his face. She could not help but grin too. "Anyway, as I was saying—" He kissed her again, only this time after they pulled away, he kissed her everywhere. She was attacked by his lips, giggles spilling out from her lips. "Thomas! Thomas!" He just chuckled and then swooped her off her feet.

Within seconds her back met the bed and he was attacking her kisses on her jaw and neck. She laughed harder, his stubble that was beginning to grow tickling her. She realized that he was saying things against her skin and she strained her ears, trying to catch what he was saying, though it all sounded like jibberish. Then she finally heard him.

"I love you, I love you, fuck I really love you."

She gasped softly, tears filling her eyes once more. She grabbed his face gently, moving him so he could look at her. Once they were face-to-face, eyes meeting, she caressed his cheeks and smiled.

"I love you too."

Thomas stared at her and then kissed her lips, pouring every ounce of emotion he possibly could into it and she returned the same. He flipped them over so she was on top, giving her the chance to dominate the kiss, her hands winding in his hair. They pulled away panting, settling for just laying next to one another. And they would have stayed that way, however, his phone started to ring, breaking their moment.

"Sorry," he murmured, taking his phone out of his pocket. Nathan. "Hey, what's up?"

"Um, sorry to bother you but. . .there's a body at the bayou. Figured I'd let you know."

They both frowned at that. A body? Had Oliver broke and killed a wolf? Or a human?

"Thank you for letting me know. We'll be there in a few." He hung up and then looked up at her, his thumb running along her bottom lip. "We'll talk more when we get back okay? I want to talk to you about something."

"Of course," she replied with a nod, offering a gentle smile to him. They got off the bed reluctantly, though he did keep her hand in his as they left the apartment and used their speed to get to the bayou instead of taking his car. They both expected nothing crazy and nothing they couldn't handle. And she was hoping that this was enough to take Oliver down for good.

The thing was when they did show up to see the entire pack gathered around, whispering to each other, everyone looking incredibly confused, her hope disappeared. Jackson was standing in the front with Nathan, Oliver at the front of the crowd. They made their way through them all, the wolves looking over at them curiously, no doubt wondering what their reactions would be.

Thomas saw the body first, his nose scrunching up when he smelt the blood and saw the bloody heart laying on the ground. "She's not a wolf." Nathan shook his head to confirm that she indeed was not a wolf. The King stepped to the side when he felt his mate trying to get past him to see the body, sighing deeply. The sight was gruesome. The body had been stuck to a tree with a huge branch, right through her chest. "Damn." He looked to Nathan and Jackson. "No one saw who killed her?"

"No, no one even knew she was in the territory," Nathan explained, his eyes darting briefly to Oliver. The only reason why he was even there was that Thomas was. Oliver would not dare pick a fight with him again now that it was common knowledge that he had become close friends with their King. "No one saw her die or anyone who could have killed her. Everyone in the pack as accounted for."

Through it all, no one saw Athena's horrified expression and if they did, no one commented. She came to a sickening realization when she saw the body, their face splattered with blood, and their heart lying nearby. She felt her stomach churn and her blood run cold.

Marie Kane's lifeless eyes stared back at her, taunting her. And Athena realized that not only was this the body of the witch she had murdered. . .

But her memory of the events that occurred between after she killed her and when she arrived to the apartment, were blank.

———

YIKES. Athena messed up big time. So yeah, she does not remember anything after she killed Marie, only that she got to the apartment and went on the couch and cried. Meaning, she does not remember ever putting Marie's body in the bayou for all of the wolves to see. Crazy, right?

I'm interested to know your theories on the situation so feel free to share.

I hope you guys have a great day/night and don't forget to vote on this chapter, comment your thoughts, and follow me for updates!

( credit : @pepperronys )