I've been trying to write this chapter for the past few weeks now, and I realized that Letharia Vulpina has got to be the worst episode for me to put into a book even though I absolutely love watching it. So, there's probably a lot of mistakes in this chapter. This episode is the most gutwrenching for me to write, and I just wanted to let you guys know that I love all of the support that you've given me through this book. This chapter is 9K words, just to make up for the lack of updates that I've had lately. I love you. I'm sorry.

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FIFTY TWO;

DESTRUCTIVE KNIGHTS

It seemed like, no matter how hard she tried, the blood refused to come off her hands. The paramedics offered her a towel after they were able to pry her away from Coach's unconscious body, but that did little for what was already dry. The last time she was put in a position like this, it was Scott's father that she was keeping alive and that was a fragile memory all on its own. Sage didn't like the idea of someone's life being placed in her hands; she didn't like the idea of being responsible for something that could be bound with a thousand different outcomes. Had Coach been just a few inches shorter, or had the arrow been a few inches higher, another life would be placed on Stiles' hands with the remaining blood on her own. Now, all she got was a, "Your father would be proud of you, Sage. You saved this man from bleeding out," when the reality was all she did was sacrifice Luke's hoodie and her ability to think.

"If you keep rubbing anymore, your hand is going to fall off," Scott proclaimed, the teenage boy coming back from speaking to the paramedics about Coach's condition. Sage lifted her head when she heard him, the towel stopping its mission to take off her hand in the process. The werewolf sent her a weak smile before grabbing the cloth from her trembling fingers, placing it in the back of his pocket so that she wouldn't be tempted by it. "So, everyone's talking about you saving Coach's life. They said if we'd have taken out the arrow, he would have bled out by the time they arrived. It would have hit one of his organs if anyone moved it."

The blonde returned her eyes to the ground, fingers finding their way to twisting her ring. It didn't sit right in her stomach to know that people were actually capable of thinking she saved Coach's life when, if anything, she was just the fastest one to her knees. "It's common sense. I didn't do anything that any other person wouldn't have."

"Still, Sage," Scott answered, his eyebrows furring as he squeezed her shoulder in comfort, concerned with the way she was staring at the stained blood. The tense events between the two of them from this morning were gone like they never existed, one of the great things about being friends with Scott McCall: there was never any grudges held. "You've got to give yourself more credit sometimes."

She shook her head at the thought, attention moving away from her skin over to Stiles, who was speaking to his father near the cruiser. The second that Sheriff Stilinski showed up on the scene, his entire charade slipped from the sheriff of the town to the father of Stiles the moment he saw his son. Just like Sage and Scott, there was curiosity in Sheriff Stilinski's mind as he couldn't help but wonder where Stiles had been for two days and what he had been doing. No one was up for the job of telling the man that his son was being controlled by a murderous, psychotic spirit that went by the name of the Nogitsune, of whom was responsible for the hospital incident and the one with Coach - and, that they had absolutely no idea how to help him.

"Scott, what are we doing to do?" Sage's voice barely carried over to the boy, the question feeling more rhetorical than ever as she continued to observe Stiles while he talked to his dad. He looked like their Stiles, he talked like their Stiles, but she didn't know if she could ever see him as their Stiles after what has happened. It was like they were playing a continuous game of chess, and every time they thought they had a winning move, another one of their pieces was thrown to the side in a useless attempt. A better opponent came to wipe them off the board. Sage just never thought that opponent would be someone they all trusted with their lives.

"Take it a day at a time, like we always do," Scott opted, his own eyes following to where Stiles was encased in his father's arms as the two hugged. Sage's lips tugged down as she gave Scott, what she could of, a frown before turning away from the scene, uncomfortable with watching the reunion occur.

Before either of them could let the silence fill the air, Ethan was calling the blonde and the alpha over to the back of Stiles' jeep. "Hey, Scott, Sage. You guys better look at this."

Sage and Scott turned to look at one another in confusion before walking to the back of the jeep. Ethan had been shuffling through the entirety of Stiles' jeep, and apart from finding jackets and lacrosse gear, there wasn't much. The only thing that did spark the werewolf's interest was a second duffle bag found in the back, different from the one that Stiles brought into school. Ethan had already begun the process of taking things out of it, small details in the certain items catching the attention of both Sage and Scott at the same time.

"This is the same wrapping paper we used on Coach's birthday present," Scott informed Ethan, lifting up the roll of paper all while he inspected it at the same time. He instinctively peered over at Sage, wondering if there was any sudden remembrance that she had towards the time when she suggested the prank they should play on Coach. He never thought twice about Stiles' accusations towards her involvement with William Barrow, not until things began to reveal themselves with the Nogitsune.

"Isn't that William Barrow's thing?" Ethan asked, glancing in between the two teenagers with little knowledge about the situation. His brother had been the one to eavesdrop on the conversation between Scott and Stiles, not himself. "A bomb made from nails and bolts, all wrapped in a birthday present? Where did it go off?"

Scott's shoulders tensed when he finally realized the answer to Ethan's ending question. Even Sage, who was oddly disoriented about everything involving Barrow, felt her posture tighten when she understood what the twin brother was trying to infer. She saw the news that day. Barrow hadn't just murdered an entire group of students with supposed glowing eyes in an every-day surrounding. He had walked onto a school bus with a shrapnel bomb, killing four teenagers who were within the vicinity of his body. The idea of the Nogitsune not wanting to recreate such an atrocity was more unrealistic than the idea of him actually repeating the scenario.

The two teenagers closest to Stiles Stilinski turned to look back at him and his father, understanding that the incident with Coach was not the only thing that their best friend spent his time doing in those forty eight hours. If their assumptions were right, and this wrapping paper was used once again for something more volatile, there was no way to predict how many lives would be lost at the end of the day.

Slowly, Scott turned back to Ethan with defeat written on his face. "On a bus."

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It took five minutes to return back to school from the preserve trails, half the amount of time that it took them to get there in the first place. All three teenagers in the jeep were on edge, Stiles more than anyone as he had to face the considerable chance that Coach's injury may not be the only thing he created by the end of the night. Sage and Scott were just as silent as before, Scott having generously taken the wheel after realizing that neither one of his friends were emotionally capable of being behind a wheel. Aiden and Ethan agreed to meet them at the school, more open to running back as opposed to experiencing the uncomfortable car ride. It was quicker in that sense as well, and basing on the conversation that Aiden and Sage had before all of the current events, it would be better to create a distance between them, just as much as there should be distance between Sage and Stiles. That wasn't an option, though, and the tension filling the air of the car was thick as ever.

The blonde rubbed her hands together once again, her eyes tricking her into believing there was still blood on them, but there was no visible trace aside from a brighter shade of her skin. Not only was she forced to deal with a bomb supposedly being placed on a school bus by Stiles, but she also had to configure a way to get Derek out of the mess at the Sheriff's station he got into. A text message from him was the only notification on her phone when she forced herself to check it, it simply stating that he was about to be arrested alongside Allison's father. She didn't have time to question it. Derek as a fugitive was something that would have to come after the Nogitsune's extremely lethal game of chess, all of his destructive knights being placed around every inch of Beacon Hills.

"You don't think I did it, do you?" Stiles questioned from the passenger's side of his jeep, voice off putting as it faltered from the insecurities he had about his ability to inflict harm. When silence was the only answer he got, the teenage boy glanced over at the two in the vehicle with him. "I mean, I can't be... I can't be capable of doing that, right?"

Scott's grip visibly tightened against the steering wheel, something that Sage picked up on when she looked up but Stiles failed to see himself. Neither one of them were sure what to say, knowing that they couldn't console their friend without fearing that it would set him off, followed by the main reasoning of not knowing whether or not their words would be the truth. They didn't know how a Nogitsune worked. They didn't know what it wanted with Stiles. The only pieces of information that it continued to give them was chaos and destruction, which led them to the silence, unable to tell Stiles that he wasn't capable when they were all aware that whatever inside of him was.

"You're not a murderer, Stiles," Sage muttered, her sentence disoriented after having spent so many minutes quiet. Scott glanced at her in the back through the rear view mirror, wondering where she was going with her statement. She met eyes with the werewolf, letting him know tacitly that it was all she was going to let escape her lips. Nothing more.

Thankfully, they were at the back lot of the school before any other immoral questions could leave their thoughts. The second that they saw the situation happening around them, Sage wondered if she should have spoken to Stiles at all. Deputies were pushing teenagers back, making sure that they weren't in a close enough vicinity of the bus for there to be an sustainable injuries, while teachers did their best to check on all the students that were panicking about the threat. Scott and Stiles wasted no hesitation jumping out of the jeep, Sage following a few seconds after with heavy steps. Her eyes inspected the entire row of buses, stopping abruptly when she saw that Deputy Parrish was speaking to Stiles' father, looking as if they were in a disagreement over something.

"Sage?" Stiles called out, his eyes darting over to the direction she was staring at, noticing Parrish pull on what looked to be a uniform meant for hazardous devices. His lips pursed into a straight line, reaching forward to grab a hold of Sage so he could pull her out of her second world. The moment that he touched her, she jumped, startled, and turned to Stiles with apprehension shining in her green irises. "Sage, they're telling everyone to get behind the barrier."

The blonde swallowed hard, her gaze on the place where Stiles touched her for a few seconds longer than he enjoyed seeing. With reluctance, she nodded and took once last glance at Parrish and Sheriff Stilinski before following after Stiles. Ethan and Aiden were already standing among the crowd of panicked teenagers, two pairs of eyes carefully inspecting Stiles with mistrust still shadowing in every blink. Those around were whispering frantically, clinging onto friends as they tried to figure out what was happening. It was highly unlikely that the teachers and deputies told the students that there was a bomb threat when they ordered them off the buses. That was why all of the people standing in the crowd around Sage, Scott, the twins, and Stiles let out gasps when they saw Deputy Parrish step onto the bus, protective gear on his body as a precaution.

It seemed like everyone in the line of sight of the bus fell into an abrupt silence as they waited for news on whether or not a bomb was placed on the bus. Sage's shoulders tensed, knowing very well that if there was a single slip in Parrish's hand, an explosive could go off and they would all face that damage. People didn't even seem to breathe, too fearful of what was happening in front of them to bother functioning their lungs. After a few deafening seconds, Sheriff Stilinski's radio tuned in, loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's not a bomb, Sir, but there is something in here."

Parrish walked to the front of the bus, something barely visible from so far away held in his hand. Only when he pressed it against the glass of the windshield did all those close enough get a clear image of what it was. The five cautious teenagers in the front of the crowd felt their faces contort in confusion, glancing at each other while wondering what in the hell Sheriff Stilinski's name plate had to do with the Nogitsune and the remake of William Barrow's bomb. While everyone else suffered from oblivion, Sheriff Stilinski's face went to straight realization, understanding what the message meant and how it was directed at him.

As if the placement of timing was exactly what the Nogitsune wanted, Sheriff Stilinski rushed out the words through his police radio. "The bomb is at the station! Evacuate everyone immediately!"

The sheriff's reaction was immediate while all others were faltering, Stiles' father running to the closest police cruiser and falling into the driver's side with three other deputies trailing in behind him. Sage was the next person to break free from the shock, her emotions quickly ranging from pure surprise to an utterly distraught amount of horror the moment that she placed all of the pieces together and realized who was sitting in that police station. She stuck her hand out, attaching it with Scott's wrist to get his attention away from the dispatching deputies over to her. The next words that slipped from her mouth had been executed specifically to inform those around her that they needed to leave right then and there.

"Scott, Derek and Argent are at the station."

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Nothing will prepare a person to walk into a perfect representation of absolute pain, the humanity inside of a soul preventing that from ever being possible. Everything happening around the station moved in slow motion as the three teenagers forced themselves out of the jeep, narrowly avoiding a screaming officer that was requesting immediate back up as dark blood and ash trailed down his face. The smoke from the explosion hit them head on the moment that they stepped through the doors, Sage's eyes burning when she felt her chest begin to hollow from the visceral remembrance of the last time she inhaled the same type of toxins. Unrightfully so, this time seemed to bring just as many deaths as standing in front of the Hale house did, and she had to blink away the dust to adjust her eyes to the destruction of the station.

Scott was having a harder time coping with all of the bodies lying helplessly on the floor than anyone else, unable to believe that all of this was actually real. He had seen ruthless murderers with no morals hidden in their hearts, he had seen the lowest parts of the most shattered people, and he had seen some of the best people break under the pressure to be perfect, but he had never seen something like this. He had never seen an action this close to heart be accomplished by someone who had the brightest of personalities, and someone who was incapable of even wanting to do something like this to people that became a second family to him over the years. Scott couldn't believe that Stiles, the Stiles that was standing right beside him, would actually create such an atrocity.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the blonde standing next to him quickly brushed past his shoulder, watching her rush over to Derek Hale and Chris Argent. The relationship that Derek and Sage had was something of an enigma, much like all relationships that Sage involved herself in. The two of them had been through too much together to ever be apart for more than a few weeks, but the last year and a half had taken a toll on both of them emotionally and physically. There was a faltering line that they stood on. Sage had hit a point in her life where she was so unstable that she feared Derek would try to fix her, and Derek was so internally ruptured that he was incapable of having Sage help him survive. Even so, they needed one another. They always had and they always would.

"Derek," Sage called out, reaching the two men and quickly grabbing a hold of her best friend's face in her trembling hands, trying to see how much damage was done. His eyelids were falling shut from the amount of pain he felt, shoulders growing heavy the longer that he stood, which exposed the blonde to the thousands of shards that were prodding his back. "Hey, Derek. Look at me."

The man reluctantly opened his eyes, meeting with Sage's green ones to see that pure concern was flashing in every single glance she took at his weak posture. Swallowing hard, he couldn't help but be thankful that she was keeping him upright with her hold, knowing that if she let go he would fall. "I'm okay... I'm okay."

Sage inspected him once again, wanting to be one hundred percent positive that he was actually alive from such an ravaging explosion just before she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Turning to her left, she noticed the look that Argent was giving to Derek and realized that there wasn't any damage on the man aside from a single scrape on his cheek. It didn't take very long for her to understand what happened, and she felt her mouth open in an attempt to process words. The only thing that the two men ever had in common was lycaonthropy, something that they were on opposite lines of for the longest time. To know that Derek saved the life of a man who vowed to end his only a year ago proved that redemption existed, if only in certain cases.

"Sage!" Stiles' voice spluttered out, gaining the blonde's attention to see that himself and Scott were crouched over a deputy's body, unsure of what to do about the injuries the man sustained from the blast. Sage couldn't help but feel her heart fall in knowing that she would, once again, have to get the blood of another one of Stiles' victims on her hands.

Argent only squeezed her shoulder, giving her a single nod when she turned to look back at him. "Go. I'll take care of Derek."

The teenage girl gave one last inspection of Derek before taking a deep exhale and moving quickly over to the two boys, crouching down on the other side of the man's body. The first thing that she noticed was the larger portions of glass that embedded themselves into his body, much larger than the ones that Derek had, which nearly forced her to turn her head away as she grew nauseous at the sight. The second thing nearly had her lurching forward to convulse completely, realizing that she knew who the dying deputy was. It was the same man that made it his mission to piss Sage off last year, and nearly every single time she visited the station afterwards. The man had even gained the nickname 'Deputy Dickhead' over the recent months, which only made knowing that there was no way to save him bring back the brutal reminder that Sage was not a hero.

And, at the same time, there was so much irony in knowing that every person who had even the slightest of placement in her life was slowly being destroyed by a posed image that they had normal lives. Sage never gave the deputy the time of day, never thought to question the life that he came home to until it was being taken away right before her eyes. Her immediate reaction to turn away from the man's body was noticed by Scott, who assumed the worst when she didn't even make an attempt to touch his wounds. Despite how many times they were faced with the reality that death was something they had to grow used to, neither one of them could bring themselves to give up on a person until all hope had been ceased. The Nogitsune, Stiles, knew this. He used this.

"Can you do something?" Stiles asked after a few seconds, looking at the girl with expectancy. Something flashed in his eyes when he noticed the shattered expression that crossed across her face, the blonde barely bringing herself to glance down at the man again. He knew who the deputy was and the rocky relationship they had. When she shook her head dismissively, he went to the next option that he had and focused on Scott. "Can't you take his pain? Anything to make it easier?"

The question triggered an alarm inside of Sage's mind, something that nearly had her reaching out to stop Scott from doing anything with too many reasons as to why taking any more pain from another person was not a good idea. However, she didn't. She knew that there was nothing that would stop Scott from helping the man in the only way he knew how, and that she had to accept that. The blonde could only watch as the werewolf grabbed a hold of the deputy's trembling hand, which she felt compelled to do all on her own five seconds before once she understood that they would be the last people the man saw before his death.

Sage knew the moment a million sharp, agonizing stabs felt like they were piercing her body that Scott began the process, but she refused to say anything as she clenched her teeth together tightly. The deputy's body lurched forward at the transfer, his eyes opening wide while a gasp escaped from his lips. The altor was already worn down from earlier in the day when Scott helped Isaac, and after he grabbed a hold of Coach's hand on the track field, she knew that all of that pain was building up inside of herself with no escape. With the werewolf doing it for the third time in a single day, it was becoming impossible to ignore the dizziness that she was beginning to feel the longer that she stayed standing. She was overwhelmingly relieved when she felt the sharp stinging end, only to open her eyes and see that the man laying down in front of them was no longer breathing. That was when she realized that the pain had been the only thing keeping the man alive.

Sage pushed herself away from the deputy's body, her hands beginning to tremble all over again as she tried to get as far away as possible. The nausea crept back on her as her vision began to haze everything into blurry figures, barely registering that tears were beginning to form in her eyes for the first time in so long as she gaped at the man. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of her, plowed right through her chest in an attempt to stop her heart. The first emotion that she felt ever since she came back to life and it was absolute, gutwrenching guilt. Disappointment. Rage. Her mind raced with so many things as she tried to think of everything she could have tried to accomplish to save the man instead of just sitting there, useless like she had become in every situation. Much like the lifeless man in front of her, she was collateral damage.

The sound that brought her back was Sheriff Stilinski's voice only a few inches away from them, piercing the air as he noticed how the three teenagers were sitting around one of the many deceased deputies in the station. He didn't want any of them in this place any longer, not when they didn't need to be exposed to the horror that his own son had created unknowingly. "Get out of here! Go! Move!"

Scott didn't waste a second reaching for Sage, grabbing her upper arms to hoist her up from the ground as she continued to stare at the deceased deputy. Stiles was right behind their stumbling statures, the teenage boy keeping his eyes on the man as his hand reached out to grab a hold of Sage's other arm, each of them doing their best to guide the other away from what happened. Only when someone came running into the three disoriented best friends did they realize that the world was not moving in slow motion, and they could not avoid the inevitable fact that there were still more things that they had to face before their night was over.

Kira stood there, pure fear evident in her eyes as she told the the words that they had been adamant on disregarding ever since they found Stiles in the basement this morning. "The Oni, they're coming."

Scott, despite what happened only moments before, was the only one with the quickest recovery process, Sage and Stiles still staring back at the man who had become nothing in a matter of minutes. They were forced to turn away when Scott reached over Sage's body to grip the teenage boy's shoulder, successfully getting him to turn in the right direction and blink at the werewolf. "Stiles, we've got to get you out of here."

Stiles nodded, blinking as he adjusted his eyesight on their new problem. The four of them made their way to leave the station, Sage falling in the back with sluggish steps. She had only been brought out of her ultimate haze when another person grabbed a hold of her arm, and glanced over to see that Allison's father was standing in front of her with a perplexed expression on his face. Derek was nowhere to be seen, which meant that the former hunter had probably taken him out of public eye before the paramedics could demand that they help him. Sage opened her mouth to let the man know that she had to go, glancing back towards the exit of the station to see that her friends were already outside, but was stopped when he tightened his grip on her arm.

"Sage, you and the others need to be careful around Stiles," Argent explained, his words rushed as he kept his hold on her arm. He wanted to make sure that the blonde was hearing his words and not letting them go in one ear and out the other. She needed to understand that she was going to be getting into a car with someone who was more dangerous than any of them understood. "He was the one who set us up to be here when the bomb went off. You have to be careful."

Sage looked at him for a few seconds, trying to digest the warning in the best way possible given everything that was happening around them. The only answer she could give him was a nod, swallowing hard before slowly slipping from his grasp. Worry still encased his eyes as he watched her leave, knowing very well that if anyone was going to be in danger around a Nogitsune in Stiles' mind, it would be the one other person that Stiles cared about most. His father was already targeted by the Nogitsune, which meant that it was only a matter of time before the teenage boy's ex-girlfriend was next; and, if the thing was willing to create an explosion to take out what his father devoted his life to, there was nothing stopping it from taking everything from the teenage girl who was already losing everything.

Argent's words continued to ring through Sage's mind as she jogged over to the powder blue jeep that everyone was anxiously waiting for her in. Scott sent her a questioning look, no doubt wondering what had held her up, but didn't bother questioning it as he leaned forward to let the blonde get in the back of the car with Kira. The kitsune didn't bother saying anything to the altor, well aware by just a single glance that Sage was barely holding up in the situation. Instead, she just leaned forward to begin a conversation. "Where are we going to go? The Oni aren't going to stop until they find Stiles."

"We're a bit limited on options considering half of the town is back at the station wondering what the hell happened," Sage explained, clenching her jaw as she kept her eyes on Stiles. She didn't see why the Nogitsune would want Derek and Argent in the same place as the bomb, not unless it was it was the thing's primal goal to infuriate Sage by going through people she cared about like tissue paper.

"The animal clinic?" Kira opted, glancing over at Sage before moving towards Scott for confirmation. She was still a stranger to the supernatural, and even though she was picking up on things every day, the three other teenagers in the car with her knew much more than she did from a year of experience.

Scott nodded at the kitsune's idea, figuring that it was the only place left in Beacon Hills that they could resort to using for the time being. "Yeah, the place is lined with mountain ash just like my house. It'll buy us some time."

"Alright, but can they get through it?" Stiles asked, his main concern on whether or not his life would still be in danger if he went to the clinic. He hadn't been there the night that the Oni came to Scott's house. He didn't know how much damage had been done, and how much they all went through while he was in the hospital. The only thing he knew was that he needed to be protected.

"Eventually," Sage muttered, remembering back to how the entire house started to shake when the Oni began to break through the barrier of ash. It was ironic that they were comparing the times because, in both, she had another person's blood on her hands, and both times, she thought they were going to lose the fight.

"Nobody's got any better ideas?" The question hung in the air as the four in the car only glance each other, knowing that Stiles' life was hanging on the balance of whether or not the mountain ash would hold them until the sun came up or they developed a better plan. With no one opting on any better option, Stiles sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hands. "Alright. Animal Clinic."

Sage couldn't shake Argent's words, even knowing that they were facing bigger issues than reasons as to why the Nogitsune framed Derek and Allison's father. She knew that the Nogitsune had a plan, and that it involved thousands of strategies that none of them were able to understand without access to more information about the thing. She also knew that everyone was depending on her to be the one to answer those strategies, seeing as they were rooted in the mind of Stiles and she was the only one who had the capability of deciphering the boy. The more that she tried to put the pieces together, though, the further the puzzle would fall apart. The only constant in any of them was uncontrollable pain, something that she had grown quite familiar with in the past hours.

She didn't see why someone had to be injured while they were on the cross country trail, or why the Nogitsune felt the need to make a distraction plan while the real one was set up five inches away from her best friend. If the Nogitsune was truly embedding itself on the idea of death and destruction, it would have wanted more deputies in the station rather than sending half of them out on a false bomb threat and an altercation on the trails. There was no reason for so many events leading up to the explosion at the station, not unless it wasn't the final event. It absolutely infuriated her not to know the answer to something, especially since it felt as if all of the clues were statued right in front of her.

Her diagnosis of the Nogitsune's plan was momentarily put on pause as they pulled up to the animal clinic. Scott and Stiles didn't waste a second throwing their doors open, Sage and Kira climbing over the seats and following after them soon after. A storm was picking up outside, rain beginning to fall in heavy downpours over their heads as they rushed towards the back entrance of the clinic. Before they could even get the door open, a shuttering sound of figures materializing out of the darkness caught their attention. When they turned on their heels slowly, they saw that the Oni were, now, only a few feet away from them with their swords inching close for a fight.

Scott quickly turned to Stiles and Sage, who were useless in this situation given that there was nothing they could use to fight, and tossed them the keys to the clinic doors. With an urgent snap in his voice, he ordered the two to hurry. "Stiles, get inside!"

The teenage boy didn't waste another second watching as he turned to the lock, trying his very best to open it with his shaking hands and the little light they had. Sage and Kira kept their eyes on the fight, the blonde feeling an utterly intense amount of pressure build up in her chest as she realized that she was once again living the reality of the nightmares that used to keep her awake at night. Scott let out a rippling roar as he continued to avoid the swords that the Oni swung his way. Neither one of them noticed when Stiles finally got the clinic door open, both unaware of anything besides the alpha fighting off supernatural creatures that were willing to mercilessly kill him.

"Sage! Kira!" Stiles snapped, trying to gain their attention through the heavy rain. Only the blonde glanced back, finally noticing that he was waiting for them with the door cracked open. "Get inside! Guys!"

Both Sage and Stiles watched with absolute surprise as Kira began to throw things at the Oni, taking one of them by surprise when they edged towards her with their sword ready. With some outstanding ability, the teenage girl flipped the demonic figure so that it was sent towards the ground, stretching to grab the sword that was left abandoned by the Oni. Everyone stopped their hast movements to watch as the brunette traveled with the weapon as if it had been attached to her from the moment she was born, Kira managing to slash at two of the Oni. The action had sent Scott into surprise, astonished that the girl was capable of handling the sword with little struggle.

That astonishment had been quickly changed to absolute agony as he felt something go straight through his abdomen, the sharp, "Watch out!" that went stumbling from Sage's mouth only a moment too late as the alpha opened his mouth to gasp at the impact of the Oni's sword. The blonde across from him wasn't even sure if the pain had hit her yet, or if she was just in so much shock that her nightmares were not just nightmares, but the realism that the Oni cared little for who they killed in the end. Only when Kira screamed out at the sight of Scott did Sage feel the pain begin to flood through her veins, carrying up to the highest of the walls that she built to never break. The fear of her abilities going into overdrive continued on as she realized that this would be the forth time today she had felt nothing but pins and needles puncturing every part of her body. She didn't know what would happen when that wall of protection broke.

Her vision had become a blur through the injury and the rain, washing away the image of Kira shoving the Oni to the ground once again and Stiles rushing forward to grab a hold of Scott. "Get him inside! Get him inside!"

Someone had grabbed a hold of her, dragging her into the clinic and out of the pouring rain. She began to focus her eyesight on Scott, who leaned up against one of the examination tables for support as he let out a series of groans and pants. Sage clenched her jaw tightly as she pushed herself off of the door frame, using the wall as support for her shivering frame. Kira was quick to grab a tight hold on the handle of the sword, looking back and forth from the weapon to Scott in order to make sure that he was ready for how much it was going to hurt when she pulled it out. The altor flinched away instinctively at the sight, directing her eyes away from the scene and to the right, where she noticed Stiles was standing.

A firm scowl was on his face as he watched Kira, the blonde not even having the ability to use her words to warn the two as she watched Stiles grab a hold of the kitsune's wrist, preventing her from pulling out the sword. She let out a cry at the tight hold he had on her, turning to look at Stiles in horror only to be slammed into the table. When Sage and Scott adjusted their eyes to the sight of Kira on the ground, they noticed that the brunette was unconscious and not capable of getting up any time soon. Stiles turned away from the girl, his lips pressed into a tight line as he inspected the two people he had left to deal with in the room.

Finally, his face broke of the void emotion and he gave them a smile. "Who's next?"

Sage met Scott's panicked gaze, the two of them unsure of how to proceed when they were being cornered by their best friend and a sword was still penetrated deep into the werewolf's abdomen. Stiles noticed the exchange between them and rolled his eyes, figuring that if they weren't going to choose than he was. The smile was still on his face as he turned to the werewolf, moving to take a step forward with his hands outstretched like he were going to pull the sword out. Sage knew that his intentions, that the Nogitsune's intentions, were less than a compassionate gesture and took her own step towards the body of the teenage boy that she knew better than herself, his mind somewhere deep into a darkness that he couldn't escape from.

"Stop," she instructed, her word rushed as she tried to get him to back away from Scott. The alpha gave her a look of protest, both friends refusing to allow the other to face a fate much like the deputies at the station. They were more than aware of what the Nogitsune could do to people. "Stop. Do whatever the hell you want to me, but just leave them out of it, okay? You want to hurt someone, hurt me. I face the repercussions either way. Just... just don't hurt them."

Stiles' posture went straighter as his shoulders tightened at the teenage girl's response, slowly turning so that she could see that the smile had dropped from his face, and what was left was a dark expression as if Sage said everything he didn't want to hear. He began to take steps closer to the blonde, noticing that she was refusing to make any move backwards. "Noble, Sage. Really. You and Scott are truly two of the most noble people that I've had the chance to meet. Two of the most pained, as well. It's no wonder Stiles is your best friend."

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice surprising calm as he got even closer to her, stopping only a few centimeters from her nose. There was no way she was going to give the Nogitsune the satisfaction of seeing her whither away in fear, knowing that she would rather have it kill her than manipulate her.

"I want you, Sage," Stiles answered, a small tilt of his lips giving the girl in front of him the only reminder she needed that this was not the boy that she fell in love with. "I had you. I had all of that power living inside of you, and I had everything that I've ever wanted. Stiles was getting too curious. He knew when you didn't. You didn't even know, Sage. You didn't know how I could feel every single part of you, how I got inside of your head and saw your dirty, little secrets. The blood was on your hands for a reason. You're the one that started this."

Sage Connelly felt a heavy weight fall on her in that moment and knew that her wall had just been completely shattered. The physical pain from all of those people, the absolute torture that she felt when Scott took what he could from them, was nothing compared to the mental abuse that gutted her alive when she heard Stiles reveal to her the one thing that she never once considered. The shortage of time, the absolute feeling of hollowness, the sharp intensity in her skull, all of it was connected. A mortified expression crossed over her face as her tight exterior collapsed, the girl sucking in a deep breath as her vision began to blur. The Nogitsune standing in front of her could only send the girl a sinister smirk, taking a glance back at Scott to see that he was just as torn up about the reveal as the altor was.

Sage turned her attention back to Stiles, trying to blink away the weakness that he was perfectly exploiting. "If it's me that you want, go ahead and take me."

"You're too dark for even me, Sage," the Nogitsune explained, his words continuing to pierce the parts of the teenage girl that he knew were still open wounds. "And, since I can't have you, I'll have to settle for what creates you. A Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain. What you are happens to be the living thing for all that I desire. That weight that's crushing your chest right now, the pressure that's starting to build up in your throat, it's all of what you've taken from people that you care about today. It's consuming you. You always wished that it would go away. I'm going to make it go away, okay? You won't have to feel anything."

The blonde took a step back, her body shaking in tremors as she, for the first time in a very long time, felt complete and absolute fear. He could see straight through her. The Nogitsune knew every flaw in her character from what he accessed while she was under its possession, and it knew what her biggest fears and her worst qualities were. It had been manipulating every single situation from the moment it evaded her mind, from the jab at the comparison of her idea during Mischief Night for Coach Finstock to the deliberate placement of her best friend in the station that the bomb went off at. Sage understood, then, that it wasn't the Nogitsune's destructive knights that he was playing the game with, it was her own.

She had backed into the wall before she realized where she was going, giving the Nogitsune the perfect time to grab a hold of her to keep her in place. Almost immediately after his hands wrapped around her upper arms did she feel like someone was sucking the life out of her, Stiles' brown eyes flashing in front of her as she noticed black veins beginning to appear under his pale skin. It wasn't pleased with the extraction he was getting from the blonde teenager, though, and his eyebrows furred into a tight line as he raised one hand from her arm to grip her neck. For the first time since she had broken up with Stiles, she felt his lips smash into her own. It wasn't the agony in knowing that it wasn't her ex-boyfriend that was holding her captive, it was the agony that she felt as her body slowly became weak in his arms. The Nogitsune, like promised, was taking everything from her.

"You're killing her!" Scott snarled from behind the two, wanting to jerk forward to help Sage only to let out another hiss as the sword inside of his body protested the idea. He could see that all of the black lines cascading down the teenage girl's body were slowly fading, and was even more aware that everything about Sage Connelly was built on the structure of pain. He didn't know what the reprecussions would be when the Nogitsune took seven years worth of pain away from her. He didn't know if she would survive it. "Sage, you've got to fight it!"

The seconds felt like hours, Stiles only releasing his grip on Sage when she began to fall in his grasp. By how much energy was running through the Nogitsune at the moment, it was well aware that it had taken everything from the young altor from the moment she discovered her abilities. The pain of watching her family burn to death in a fire, the torture of how many times she has fallen on the side affects of another man's blade, and the utterly empowering disposition of the entire identity of the teenage girl was now his own. Discarding the source, he let go of Sage and watched as she fell to the ground at his feet. The pain had been the only thing keeping the girl alive.

"Well," he hummed, his eyebrows raising as he stepped over her limp arm, moving his attention to his next victim. Scott looked ravage after watching Sage fall to the ground, a growl spitting from his mouth as he ignored the fact that it was the body of his best friend that he was tempted to snap at. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It's fine. She was just collateral damage, Scott."

The alpha looked at his best friend with pure disgust. "She was seventeen."

"Oh, I'm well aware," Stiles answered, just before he let his eyes travel down to the sword that was still preventing Scott from doing any damage to the Nogitsune. Something flashed in his eyes again, much like when he went towards Sage, and his fingers danced along the grip as he grinned at Scott. The teenage boy didn't even have the ability to protest, his thoughts only ringing with the fact that Sage Connelly did not have a heartbeat.

Only when he felt the sword being pushed deeper into his stomach did he gasp out loud, tears beginning to build in his eyes as he stared at his best friend. "Please, don't."

"It's okay," Stiles comforted, beginning to twist the sword to create an unexplainable amount of agony for Scott, the werewolf letting out a muffled groan as his teeth ground together. "Does it hurt? Hey, look at me. You and Sage really should have done your reading, Scott. I told you that a Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain. This morning, you took it from Isaac; then, you took it from Coach; and, then, from the dying deputy. All that pain, you took it." A monstrous face crossed over Stiles as he reached one hand to grip the teenage boy's shoulder, one that Scott never thought he would have to see. "Now, give it to me."

Something heavy felt like it was pressing against Scott's chest, exactly like the description that the Nogitsune gave to Sage right before he took everything from her. It was a hollow sensation, one that had the werewolf gasping for breath as the weight was leaving his body. The only thing that stayed in his mind was how much it hurt to feel numb, even as he watched Stiles absorb all of the darkness that was looming in Scott's heart. Even when he pulled away from the exchange, Scott noticed that a part of him was missing, like an exceptionally large portion of his humanity had just been given away unwillingly.

A grin stretched along Stiles' face as he noticed how broken Scott looked. "You really have to learn, Scott. You really have to learn not to trust a fox. No, 'cause they're tricksters. They'll fool you. They'll fool everyone."

"Not everyone."

Stiles quickly looked over at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, his eyes set on destruction only to be left with a syringe being injected into his neck. Almost immediately, the fox's system rejected the wolf lichen, its vision becoming shapes and colors until it collapsed to the ground completely. There was no use in fighting it, the fox's eyelids already beginning to grow heavy as it stared ahead at the cold face of a blonde girl. Sage Connelly's head lay directly next to his, creating a destructive image that the brightest of hearts are always bound to burn out.

Scott let out a startled inhale, gaping at Deaton in bafflement as the man turned to look at the Oni's sword. The werewolf tried to let out a series of questions, but nothing came out as he felt a searing pain in his abdomen the moment that the veterinarian pulled out the sword. A harsh groan fell from his lips as he contorted his face, clenching his teeth together as he tried to find the words to say. The only thing that managed to escape his lips through heavy pants was a single name. "Sage."

Deaton's eyebrows furred at the sound of Sage's name and he looked at the ground, quickly bending down to a crouch when he noticed the lack of movement in the teenage girl's chest. Two of his fingers went to her neck, searching for a pulse while Scott watched with a lump forming in his throat. He couldn't hear her anything coming from her, her heart completely still as Deaton took his hand away to direct his eyes over to Scott.

"She's not breathing." The most destructive knight had been herself.

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The story isn't over yet, just hold out for me. This is all part of the plan.