Episode 8, Glimpse from The Past

Previously on Legends Going out of her way to save Derek Hale's life, Seraphina Argent proves that she means no harm to the werewolves.

Meanwhile Kate's former partners in the Hale House fire turn up suspiciously dead, worrying Chris and Kate Argent who confide in Seraphina that they believe Derek Hale was on a vendetta spree, being the new Alpha and must be hunted down. Seraphina assures them she'll look after Allison but warns them and other hunters to keep off hunts without her permission.

A scene of Seraphina digging in the middle of the night is interrupted by Derek Hale. It's revealed to be Laura Hale's grave, who was buried by the Hunters, given the fact that Acrontium was stuffed down to keep her in wolf form. Derek confirms that he believes she was killed by the new Alpha, not the hunters.

Seraphina's sympathy and her actions to give Laura a proper burial softens Derek's heart and he agrees to work with her to find the new Alpha, if she promises to be honest to him.

Seraphina swears she's never hurt an innocent wolf in her life.

As Seraphina leaves, she remembers Katherine Argent stating she burnt the Hale family because, she, Seraphina, asked her to.

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"Katherine Gina Argent, by virtue of your age and keeping in mind other factors, the Council has come to the decision that you shall not be held solely responsible for the Hale House Fire. However, you are hereby put on probation. You can not use a weapon without prior permission from the Council"

The heavy masculine voice stopped speaking. Kate, with her head still bowed, heard a scuffle around in the corner somewhere. A rough pair of hands grabbed her, one of them pushing her head down firmly to keep her from lifting it, the other clasping tightly and painfully around her arm. The white dhoti clad man steered Kate out of the hall. He let go of Kate and practically threw her out. She stumbled for a few paces before regaining her footing. Kate turned back but the heavy ornate doors shut before she could take a look inside or glance at the man who'd escorted her.

Kate hurried towards the doors, a look of deep panic on her face.

Her father was still inside.

"Gerard John Argent, as Katherine Argent's legal guardian and Karta of the Argent family, the Council has deemed the numerous deaths to be your fault. You are hereby stripped of your Hunter privileges. You shall receive none of the retirement benefits and are mandated to retire to a permanent residence. You are no longer allowed to be within 10 kilometres of a Violet Area, defined under the Code as an area with an active hostile werewolf pack. Christopher Whitelaw Argent is declared the new Karta of the Argent family.
Violation of any of the terms will expedite incarceration or more serious measures.

…..

….

Seraphina stumbled over her feet.

"Watch it!" Allison cried, trying to catch hold of her arm but Seraphina steadied herself. Her bag slid off her shoulder and sprung down to her arm.

"Are you okay?" Allison asked her, concerned

Seraphina nodded. She looked the worse for wear. Her eyes were puffy and red. Her clothes looked woebegone. Her hair was unwashed and untidy. Her face bore a distinctly grumpy expression. Infamous for being socially reserved, people especially avoided Seraphina that day.

As they walked out into the parking lot, the sun rays hit them directly. Seraphina cringed and raised her hands to shield her eyes from the sun while muttering inaudibly. Though Allison couldn't make out the words, she had shrewd suspicion what they might be.

"Have you been drinking or something?" Allison asked "That's quite a hangover"

Seraphina gave Allison a confused look bordering on exasperation. Allison shrugged and continued walking. Nothing about her added up. From looking way too old to be in High School, to her Aunt's obsession and her mother's hatred towards her, she, Allison was sure that Seraphina Argent was hiding something.

Allison usually avoided talking or walking with Seraphina. They'd bumped into each other in the hall, despite her best efforts to dodge the almost zombie like woman, and so now they walked together out towards the school compound.

In the distance, Allison noticed Stiles' van and the man himself standing next to it. No doubt Scott was with him, just standing out of view. Allison found herself smiling softly, however it faltered as Scott came into view and as did the man he stood next to.

Allison knew the tall, dark hair profile quite well. She'd seen him lurk around quite some times. Allison remembered even pointing him out to Scott once.

For some reason, everything about him made Allison feel uneasy. Right from his piercing dark eyes to his muddy shoes

As they walked closer, the man glanced in their direction. Allison saw him give a slight nod. She whipped her head to her side. Seraphina still looked as antagonised as ever but Allison could've sworn she'd seen Seraphina nod back.

With a final word to Scott, the man turned and walked away. Allison glanced at Seraphina again. She was sure her eyes had followed him. The two were obviously more than just acquaintances. As they reached Scott, who held out his arms for her, Allison decided to push the matter to the back of her head until further information.

…..

…..

Seraphina Argent yawned widely.

Derek Hale frowned at her.

"Oh no, go on, I'm listening" Seraphina said, blinking rapidly to get Derek back into focus "The wet canary…?"

The Hale House's living room was dark, gloomy and de void of any good interiors. Spread on the table in front of them were various notes and documents, some with photos attached, that Derek had amassed in his pursuit.

It was late into the night and Seraphina and Derek were to be found pouring over the papers while the later gave a steady running commentary and the former nodded, fighting to be attentive.

"Veterinarian" Derek repeated firmly "Alan Deaton, look, if you don't want to –"

Seraphina stretched her neck back on to the back rest of the chair. The seat was bumpy and very uncomfortable. Seraphina wasn't much for comfort but this was one time she wished she had a better seat.

"I'm just so-so tired" she yawned again "Allison thought I was hungover, I guess four nights of absolutely no sleep would do that to you… Go on, I'm listening"

"He's got a suspicious air around him. Even though he's hardly ever in office, he's pretty well known and despite being so well off, prefers to stay alone. I got Scott to get a job under him. He hasn't found anything as yet, but we're still looking."

Seraphina widened her eyes and shuffled around the papers in front of her.

"Hey" she said suddenly, pulling out a yearbook photograph of a young boy "I know him, he's a werewolf too"

Seraphina looked up from the photo at Derek, who was staring icily back at her.

"What?" She protested

"I just spent fifteen minutes explaining to you how this guy could be the Alpha and it's now that you tell me you know he's a werewolf"

"Oh" said Seraphina, keeping the photograph back gingerly and resting her chin on her hand.

"Alan Deaton, Seraphina" Derek said a little loudly, "did you sense his werewolf side too?"

"Who? Oh no wait, wait, I know, that animal doctor… I don't know, I haven't ever been that close to him. I was a little distracted the last time I went to his clinic" she said, referring to the time Derek got shot in the arm and making his stomach twist as he remembered the events. "I'll check him out"

She yawned again.

"Coffee?" Derek asked her, exasperated

"No, I don't drink coffee… Some cold water would be nice, if you have a refrigerator"

Derek rolled his eyes and got up from the chair to walk over to the kitchen. He pulled open the nearly empty fridge door and a blast of cold air hit him. Derek didn't really keep it stocked save for a couple of beer cans, preferring to eat out mostly. In fact, the kitchen was probably the least used room in the house. Derek pulled out a water bottle and walked back into the living room.

Seraphina had her head down on the table.

"Here" he put the bottle next to her head but she didn't stir.

Derek tilted his head to look at her face better. Seraphina wasn't resting her head on the table, she'd fallen asleep. was slightly open, she'd start drooling any second now. As her breathing eased, the air was filled with the sounds of soft snores.

Derek bit back a grudging smile, gathered the papers into a bunch, turned off the lights and trudged over to the couch and collapsed on to it. Ever since Derek had come back to live in the house, he'd been crashing on the couch in the living room rather than the bedrooms. Derek twisted and glanced sideways. He was just a few metres away from her. He watched her back slowly rise and fall in a rhythm.

With a sigh, he turned his head back and closed his eyes.

…

…

It was as if someone had tampered with the wires for the visuals from a television. The voices were crystal clear but the screen not so much. It was all hazy and just a blur of colours. She couldn't make out the grass from the trees or the moon from the stars.

She was running, fast as the half breed she was.

She heard the howls and the screams. She smelled the blood. She quickened her pace, the rustling of the leaves louder. Clearly, she knew where she was going.

She came to a pause, and yet none of the contours came into focus. Her vision was still unclear. The sounds of snarling reached her ears. A giant heavy grey something leapt over her, knocking her down in the ground. Her hands grabbed at the beast's fur. Effortlessly and without the slightest quickening of her pulse, she twisted around, bringing the wolf in an arm lock. She felt it struggle against her. She tightened her grip. She locked her legs around what felt like the trunk of a tree. With sheer brute force and a loud crack, she snapped the beast's neck. Its body went limp.

As it turned from carcass to corpse, she pushed it off her. She got to her feet and blinked rapidly, stumbling around as she did so.

She was definitely high and probably drunk too.

She squinted around, trying to make sense of the world around her. The sounds of a child's sobs reached her ears. She followed them to a few steps ahead where next to two massive unmoving blurs on the ground was another, smaller but moving shapeless blur. She squinted at it, trying to get it into focus.

"Aye launde, ke – "

She stopped herself mid-sentence.

English she thought firmly. It took her brain a few moments to look for the right words.

"What's your name, boy?"

The boy's sobs subsided as he looked up at her. As she looked at him, his face came into sharp focus and so did her surroundings.

"Gera- "

Seraphina Argent woke with an agitated start due to yet another half-formed memory manifesting as a dream. She pulled her head up from the table, rapidly blinking her eyes to get the sleep out, and a trail of saliva sticking to the piece of news clipping she'd drooled all over. She hurriedly wiped and crumbled up the paper using it to clean any residue. Her erratic hand movement knocked over the water bottle Derek had placed hours ago. With her quick reflexes, she out her hand and caught the bottle just before it made contact with the ground. Still half bent and her arm in the position it had caught the bottle in, she turned her gaze at Derek asleep. She looked sideways then, with turning into a small thoughtful pout, she let go of the bottle.

The soft thud woke Derek up immediately.

Seraphina adjusted herself back on the seat with a soft satisfied smirk on her face, but the next second had leapt up; her eyes had fallen onto the window. Soft rays of sunlight seeped in through the covered glass.

"Wait is that the time?" she cried, looking at the watch on her wrist "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"What?" said Derek, a little groggily "I thought you said you were severely sleep deprived so I thought a few hours of rest would do you good"

"I- "Seraphina Argent found her expression softening slightly at the gesture. She looked back at the table and started shuffling around for the keys to her bike.

"Thank you" she said "I-I better be going… Chris said something about meeting at the McAllisters'… Don't want any unwanted suspicion"

"Meeting?" Derek asked, raising his eyebrows "What, like a hunters' meeting? This early in the morning?"

Seraphina shrugged, finally finding the keys.

"Er, okay" said Derek, rubbing his eyes, then with a little hesitation he added, "bye?"

Seraphina had already reached the door by this point. She stopped, a soft smile almost playing at her lips.

"Bye" she said without turning back and walked out of the house.

The dream seemed a lot less disturbing and thought provoking than it had a few minutes ago.

Seraphina trudged out to through the woods, taking her usual path to the point she parked her bike at, a few metres away from the Hale House. Her heart still a little light, she turned to look back at the manor. Something caught her eye. She shifted around to gain a view relatively devoid of branches and trees. She could see a police vehicle parked some distance from the house. Three uniformed officers, one bald, middle aged, followed by two younger and sturdier, carefully climbed out of the car and walked over to the house.

She heard the knocking. A few moments later, Derek Hale opened the door.

She heard the man say in a heavy southern accent "Derek Hale?"

"Yeah" came Derek's voice, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"The Sherriff wants you down at the station"

Derek glanced at the two policemen who stood silently in the background.

"What for?" Derek asked

"Kiddo, the law and order situation in Town isn't really at its best, is it? "

" Look, I had absolutely - "

Seraphina saw the two men advance towards Derek

"Just come quietly, kiddo" the old man said

Seraphina saw Derek glance in her direction briefly before closing the door behind him and walking with the cops to the car where he climbed in the back.

Seraphina didn't move till the car was out of sight.

...

….

Seraphina Argent didn't slow her bike down till it was parked outside the McAllister house. It was the sound of soft chatter and the reality of what she was about to face that brought her back to the present.

She parked her bike next to the other posh cars in the driveway, the muddy brown vehicle looking as odd and out of place as her dusky skin in a sea of white was about to be.

Seraphina took a deep breath and walked inside.

Her entry had an almost hushing effect upon the gathering. Voices died away as she walked past the people speaking. It was as if a path was being cleared for her to walk through and reach a man standing there.

The man, in his seventies, stood pridefully upright, balding at the top with a crown of white hair. He was thin and didn't look very old but his tired yet sharp eyes gave his age away.

Looking at Seraphina, his face fell into a relaxed expression of familiar recognition, one which Seraphina failed to reflect.

"Seraphina Argent" his voice was quiet but powerful. He extended his hands and embraced her. Pulling away he held her shoulders and looked her up and down.

"Look at you! Alas, age has ruined me, but you look exactly the same as you did years ago!"

She forced a smile.

"Father" Kate said lovingly linking her arm through the man's and looking at Seraphina with the same if not more affection. "Shouldn't we start already?"

"Yes, yes" said Gerard Argent, smiling at Seraphina.

"Friends" he said in a carrying voice "We are gathered here as a mark that we've had enough" he paused, perhaps more so for dramatic effect than for lack of words "Everyday our friends are turning up dead, murdered. And these beasts are to be blamed. What do we do? Stay quiet? Hide in our homes and hope we won't be next?"

A few people shook their heads, while others made noises of agreement.

"We, my fellow hunters, do what we do best. We hunt. We kill every last one of them. We skin their fur off their live bodies and hang it out for others as a warning of what's to come!"

Seraphina's heart had quickened with every breath. She hated confrontation. She was a coward. And yet, what kind of a woman would she be if she let this go. She took a lot of deep breaths, think, Okay, now I'll say something, Okay, this time definitely, but no words came out of . She mentally pushed herself and they tumbled out before he could quit wrap her tongue around them.

"Nahi-Nostop"

Gerard paused. Everyone turned to look at her.

Seraphina's body felt as hot as the sun.

"No." she said, as firmly as she could manage it. "We've been straying off the path long enough. It's time we do things right."

As she spoke, her voice grew more confident, more assertive. Taking herself by surprise, she continued "For long, I've seen my fellow hunters in the west stray away from the path our ancestors lay down ahead of us. The virtuous path of no innocent souls being harmed. The Code, we neglected, it's time we go back to it. Much innocent blood has been spilled already, but no more. I do not deny the slaughter of our fellows, but if we mercilessly hunt them back, are we any better than them? Does it not make us the beasts?"

Seraphina paused, mimicking Gerard, letting the words wash over the audience.

"As the senior most member here, I assume charge. Hunts shall be sanctioned, and only with approval may the designated hunter step out. We raise our weapons, only for defense and in the name of justice, not in the name of murder. We prove ourselves to be worthy hunters, not mercenaries."

While her words did not rouse the same enthusiastic response as Gerarld's, the score of people gathered there did seem genuinely touched and convinced.

A strange sense of pride engulfed Seraphina, and she found herself smiling slightly. Her body, which previously felt hot as the sun, now felt as if it was bathed in a golden light.

As people shuffled around, some to speak to her, Gerald Argent, edged closer to his son.

He leaned close to his ear and whispered.

"I do not know who that woman is, but she sure as hell ain't Seraphina Argent"

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Glossary

Karta: Doer, manager, head of the family, basically like a human alpha male.

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