『Act I • Side A』
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

✨🌙🔮🌙✨

Stiles Stilinski's life hasn't been the same since the morbid night he and his best friend stalked out to the woods in the middle of a night to investigate a ghoulish scene. It was the night that forever changed Scott, and forever changed how Stiles looked at people. Before going to bed he would walk to his windows and inspect the outside, just in case. Whenever he's alone outside (in school, or anywhere else in Beacon Hills, to be honest), he turns around and looks behind him every few seconds just in case. When he's with his friends who are cursed/gifted with unbelievable superpowers and are much more stronger than him, he stands behind them and puts his hands on their shoulders protectively when things become eerie, just in case. 

Stiles has never been someone who thinks twice. He was the impulsive type, always. But one thing that hasn't changed about him was his fierceness in protecting his friends- his pack of werewolves and witches. That part about Stiles Stilinski will never change. Also, unlike his friends, he is human, and he really hopes that never changes either. 

Outside, rain is pouring heavily. It's dark outside, the looming moon obscured by thick clouds. But it is even darker in Derek Hale's loft where Stiles is stranded with Cora Hale. He isn't exactly complaining, but without seeing his friends for hours together, Stiles is getting restless. 

Cora Hale is pensive, looking carefully at the raindrops falling against the window as she speaks. "They were there for two days," She says, recounting a story about young Derek and Peter. "Waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us. Hide and heal."

"So is two days standard or are we waiting for Derek to come back from an extended getaway?" Stiles asks.

The brunette wolf turns around, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you care?"

Stiles scoffs. "Why do I care? Let's see. Because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, my childhood best friend is suddenly a witch who is supposed to end all werewolves and Deucalion is now after her, Boyd was killed by Alphas—you want me to keep going? Because I can, all right? For, like, an hour."

Cora shakes her head, walking towards Stiles. "You think Derek can do anything about that?"

"Since Derek is the one everyone's after, it seems like he should be the one trying to do something about it, yeah."

"I don't know." Cora says. "There's something different about him. Derek wasn't like this when I knew him."

Stiles looks at her confusedly. "What was he like then?"

The sound of footsteps descending the stair catches the duo's attention, and they both look up to find the former Alpha walking down, apparently he eavesdropped their conversation. He narrows his eyes as he tries to recall, "A lot like Scott, actually." Peter answers Stiles' question. "A lot like most teenagers, actually-- unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers."

Stiles shakes his head like he doesn't understand. "So what happened? What changed him?"

Peter looks uncharacteristically empathetic. "He was changed by the same thing that changes a lot of young men," There's a half smirk on the werewolf's face. "A girl."

━━☆⌒.⌒☆━━

Much like young Derek who's life changed entirely just because of a girl, Scott McCall's life too is soon going to change because of  a certain girl he is bound to. That girl, unaware of it all, stands in front of the door to her house. Juniper does not have the courage to turn the knob and walk in to meet her parents, only for them to confront her about something they've known all along. Something that they kept hidden from her. 

Of all people, June had to find out from Eliza Fawkes that Lunar Witches were hereditary. That means Haruto and Mitsuki Tanaka always knew. It meant that one of them was a Lunar Witch too- probably her mother. 

She knows this is a conversation she needs to have, but her drumming anxiety keeps her rooted in her position. 

June shakes her head. No, this is something I have to do, and she turns the knob. As soon as she opened the door, she hears footsteps hastily rushing towards her. A few moments later, her mother appears. The resemblance between Mistuki Tanaka and her daughter is uncanny-- hair like black silk, straight and lustrous; eyes like diamonds, moonstone and amethyst combined. It's no secret that June got all her beauty and glory from her mother who, in retrospect, is the kind of woman little June wanted to be like. Mitsuki was sharp minded and sweet-tongued. She is kind to anyone who cares, but if you poke the snake, sweet venom will curse you for life. That is how Mitsuki is. That's how she holds her ground no matter how much people try to shake her down. 

Now, June realises that they may be more similar than just their appearances-- Lunar Witch and all. 

"Juno," She calls. Her face looks guilty, but her voice sounds resolute. 

"'Kaa-san," June responds in Japanese. She feels her eyes sting as the feeling of betrayal comes flooding back to the surface. The last thing she wants to do now is cry in front of her mother-- that would make her look weak. 

"We need to talk, Juno." Mitsuki says, extending her arm in welcome. June walks towards her slow steps and Mitsuki steadies her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Let's go to the dining room, your father is there too."

They reach the dining room where her father sits at the head chair. The excessive sweat on his forehead and the nervous fiddling of his hands tells June that he is as anxious as her-- if not more. "Juno, hi, come sit." He pulls a chair for her and June obeys. Haruto smiles at his daughter and it would have succeeded in hiding his tremor if not for the sweat on his forehead.

"Before you say anything, June," Mitsuki starts, taking a seat opposite June. "You were never meant to find out about this this way."

June's forehead creases. "'This way'? What does that mean? What way did you mean for me t find out?"

"You found out through someone else, an outsider." Mitsuki says. "It shouldn't have happened. In fact we meant for you to never find out about this."

June stiffens at the revelation, eyes wide. "What do you mean, Mom?" She looked to her dad for support, but Haruto avoided her eyes. "You never planned on telling me I'm a witch? Or that we live in a supernatural world? Or that Beacon Hills is literally a beacon for all things supernatural?"

"We never wanted to stay here!" Mitsuki snaps, her eyes narrow at her husband accusingly. "Your father had a hand in that decision, not me."

"I couldn't," Haruto finally speaks up, shaking his head. He meets his daughter's eyes. "Mitsuki needed to come here for... witch business." He cringes after saying the word, as though it was a curse. "We were supposed to stay here for only a year. But you ended up making friends and you were happy here. I knew that Style-boy was going to be a good friend the moment I met him, I knew that you found home here. And I just couldn't take it all away from you," Haruto finds his daughter's hand and clutches it tightly. "You were never happy in Kyoto. There was nothing we could have done to change that."

"I didn't like the idea at all." Mitsuki says, shaking her head. "I was against it strongly. I had a long fight with your father about that one, but he persisted." A small smile appears on Mitsuki's face. "At the end, I relented. But I knew you couldn't be safe here in Beacon Hills, so I had to take measures."

June bobs her head slowly, the puzzle pieces falling into place in her head. "That's why you kept me in the dark. You thought it could keep me safe."

"We had to ask the Fawkes' to act normal in front of you," Haruto chuckles. "That was difficult, they're all very proud witches."

"Yeah, but it did work. For a while." Mitsuki shrugs. "I suppose there are more supernatural beings in Beacon Hills than we'd anticipated. Of course, there's the Fawkes', there's the hunter clan- the Argent's, and the Ha-"

June's mother's eyes suddenly widened, horrorstruck. She latches her hand onto June's so quick that she jumps at the sudden touch. "The Hales." Mitsuki seethes. The hair on June's neck stands and she holds her breath. "You have to stay away from them, Juno. Never get close to any of them. They are werewolves, alphas."

June stays silent, not knowing what to say. But she starts feeling worried when she sees the look on her mother's, her wide warning eyes. "Stay away from all werewolves, Juniper. Us Lunars are allergic to them. The moment you let a werewolf into your life, you've signed your own death sentence."

Her heart beats faster. June thinks of Scott, of her nightmares of him, of his scarlet eyes burning a hole through her soul, of her pure fear of him in the dream. But then, she think of Scott-- his childhood friend. She thinks of her feelings for him, of how they are inexplicably connected with each other. She thinks of how every time she's in a room with him her eyes wander to him, wanting to hold him and kiss him. 

How can June let Scott out of her life when her feelings for him are so strong? How will her mother ever understand?

"What's wrong with werewolves?" June manages to ask, and her voice croaks unsteadily. 

Mitsuki goes silent after the question, almost like she was pondering about her answer. She looks at Haruto for assistance. "There is a... curse." He says, dark eyes looming over a forbidden world. "It's the kind of curse that puts any witch born a woman in the Lunar Coven in danger, but especially you."

Without warning, June's mind takes her back to Ethan Steiner warning her about the Demon Wolf, of how he was after her. It takes her back to when she met Deucalion, the blind werewolf. Yet her heart was pounding and her fight of flight senses were kicking so hard, but there was nothing she could do but wait. Wait for him to spare her, or kill her. He wanted her. He still does, but June desperately needs to know why. 

She senses the answers lie in whatever Haruto was going to reveal. "What do you mean 'especially' me, 'Tou-san?"

Haruto swallows as though that could kill his anxiety, he looks over at his wife to take over. "There is a curse on our coven, Juno, and any interaction between a Lunar and a werewolf could mean the end of supernatural existence." Mitsuki closes her eyes, deeply inhales and exhales as though trying to calm herself down. 

"There will be a special Lunar witch one day, and she will be the most powerful supernatural to exist. They call her the Selene. The Goddess of the Moon."

June can feel the chills. The hair all over her body is upright. "And if she meets with a werewolf... it's the end." Mitsuki moves closer to June and whispers the next words. "There is a really strong chance it might be you, Juno."

June's throat feels like a drought. Her heart feels like its being clamped shut by a large hand. "Why?"

"Because I was the most powerful witch alive, but I was not the Selene. But you..." She clutches June's hand tighter. "You are my daughter, and when you were born I can swear that for one second your eyes were purple."

There is a deep chasm and at the very end of it, fear hung by a single thread. At that moment a thought occurred to June. A thought she would forget, a thought she would never let herself think again, but it was a thought that became an omen nevertheless. 

I will end it all.

━━☆⌒.⌒☆━━

Scott McCall stands next to Allison Argent in front of a closed door, a grim look on his face. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Allison shrugged. "It's the only way he'll talk."

"And he knows about June?"

"So he claims," Allison says. "He may not know everything, but his information will of course help us understand whatever June is really. You told me Deaton seemed really tense about her."

Scott can only nod at that. He looks at her, staring at the dark eyes he used to adore. He loved how she looked at him before, like she adored him too, like she cared about him, like she loved him. Scott used to look at her the same way but now, looking back into her eyes, he can feel those emotions slowly walk away from her and towards another moon of a girl. A girl he swore to protect. 

He nods at Allison, it's almost indiscernible. "Let's do it," He whispers.

Allison opens the door to reveal an old man bound by a wheelchair. Gerard Argent is paler than he used to be and he looked utterly fragile and breakable, nothing like the formidable huntsman he used to be. His light eyes are sullen, wrinkles that fold over. He smiles like the cunning man he once was, but toothless. It was a creepy attempt to scare Scott off and it worked, because Gerard's skin looks like it can fall from his face. Black ooze drips from his mouth.

"Oh, come in Scott," Gerard calls, turning the wheelchair to face the teen wolf. He rolls up his sleeve. "Give this old man a little something for his pain."

Scott hesitates. That angers the old man, "If you want me to talk about your new little girlfriend, this is how it's going to happen." Gerard grunts angrily. 

The werewolf sighs, and as per the old man's request, Scott agrees to take away some of Gerard's pain. "If I do this, you have to tell us everything you know. Everything. And I don't just mean June."

Gerard nods, eagerly showing Scott his hand. 

Scott avoids the old hunter's lurking eyes as he holds his fragile wrinkled hand and tries to challenge the pain away from him. Black ooze travels from Gerard's veins to Scott's and the werewolf strains his body at the sudden surge of pain he feels. His eyes turn yellow as he channels his power until he had enough of the pain. 

Scott grabs his hand away and stumbles backward at the sudden overwhelm. Allison catches him before he could fall. "Tell me," Scott demands Gerard. "How can I save June?"

The old man spits some of the black ooze from his mouth as he looks at Scott with pity. "You're the one who needs saving, Scott. She- is going to kill you." 

a/n:  i love this story too much to abandon it so i may be really slow with updates but im trying to get there 😭😭 thank you to those who are still sticking around, youre the real ones-- and to those who started reading it recently i promise to try to update as early as i can !! 

pleaseeee comment it really boosts my inspo to write! ✨✨🧸🔮

p.s: i read a lot of comments recently about how the cat is actually called a familiar and not an anchor and i honestly did not know that (so ty for letting me know lmaooAo) i will make sure to correct it somewhat smoothly in a chapter when it comes up again 🙏 every day you learn something new