EPILOGUE ONE: QUESTIONS BEST NOT ASKED
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In the pouring rain, Derek stands at a graveyard while his new circle stands around him. His new Submissive holds his new granddaughter while sobbing at the four gravestones. He never expected to find his mentee like this, not in a hundred years. He looks up when his new Alpha clears his throat.
"We should get going..." Troy says before pulling Molly into his arms. "Alexia will catch a cold if she is out here any longer, Merrow blood or not." He tugs Molly towards the awaiting limo before the five of them crawl into the back of it. "Please drive us home," Troy says before raising the divider between the front seat and the back seat.
Once home, Derek holds his new grandchild and tries to soothe her to sleep. "Meine kleine Bienchen." He sits in a rocking chair and slowly rubs her back. "Shhhh... Geh schlafen, meine kleine Liebe." He smiles as her unique eyes slowly close. He gently rocks the chair and thinks back to when he first had the feeling of her magic.
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A fifteen-year-old Derek snaps up his head after he feels a trace of Death's Magic. "Yes, boy! That feeling is the magic our clan has been searching for the past thousand years since we lost it. You may have declared yourself to be a solitary Pareya, but I foresee you gaining yourself a circle." An ochre-skinned elderly man rasps out in their native language German while Derek blushes all the way from his ear tips to his chest. The man continues after giving Derek a happy look. "The magic did not come from Germany, but I severely doubted it would be. Too many Dragels have left this continent." He spits on the ground in disgust. "Too many Dragels have died here. Maybe our ancestors had the right idea of leaving this cursed planet." He sighs and sits next to the boy. "I know Lady Death had our forefather stay here for a specific reason, but I'm starting to disbelieve it's been for any reason whatsoever..."
"Don't despair Great Grandfather! I'll find that magic if it's the last thing I do." He swears before his magic turns his body shadowy for a minute.
"No boy! Don't make promises to Lady Death like that! We may be her second favorite clan because of our forefather, but that can easily be stripped of us!" The man bellows before sighing and grabbing Derek to cuddle. "You better hope you find that magic, mein Bienchen. Otherwise, it may be the death of our millennium-old clan."
Derek shakes his head and gets up off the grass. "Don't be silly, Great Grandfather. Father and mother are in perfect health! Our clan will live on for many years to come!"
"Oh mein Beinchen. The arrogance of youth never looks attractive." The older man says before he pats the young boy on his cheek. "Let's go inside, hm? I know your Aunt has been craving your favorite cookies with her being late in her pregnancy."
A thunderous sound snaps throughout the forest before the old man springs up and shoves the boy behind him. "That is the warning alarm. They're here. Run Derek! Run! You're the last scion of the main Perevell family! You cannot die! Port to the magic district and get out before you're dead like the rest of the family! I'm going to go to try and save my daughter and granddaughters!" He spryly runs to the now burning manor in the distance.
"No! Grandfather!" The boy wails before thinking about also running to the house. He hears the screams in the wind along with the fire crackling in the distance and starts crying before porting to Berlin's magic district. His body falls to the cobblestone road and he sobs for a second thinking of his now-dead family. But before anyone can try to help him, he stands up and quickly walks over to a shadowy alleyway. He changes into the image he knows as his Great Grandfather's bearer. He slowly limps away from the alleyway with a cane in his right hand before he walks out of the district into the muggle area of Berlin before looking back in the direction of his home and porting away for good.
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Three days later an owl finds him four hours away from his family’s estate. He eventually takes the letter off the owl before reading it. He gasps and then quickly appears next to the wizarding hospital in the nearest town to his now burnt-down shell of a former home. He quickly does a glamour ward to remove any signs of him being a Dragel before sprinting into the building. He goes up to the main entrance desk where nurses were telling people to go. He impatiently waits in line before asking where his baby cousin is. He is sent to the pediatric ward before he has to wait for the nurse in charge of the baby to help him.
The nurse shows up with a sad look on her face. She beckons him to join her in the small nursery room. “As you see, your cousin was safely delivered. She is a completely healthy young witch.” At this, she looks at him with pity in her eyes. “Her mother and the two that came with her on the other hand...” She stops at this and gives him a clenched smile. “I’m sorry to say that all three died the day they arrived. The older gentleman died saving who we assume was his pregnant daughter, your aunt, and his young granddaughter, your cousin.” After she says this, she stops to give him time to grieve. When she sees his face having absolutely no emotion, she reluctantly continues. “The older man died of smoke inhalation as well as numerous third-degree burns on his body. His daughter died of smoke inhalation as well as childbirth; unfortunately, she bled out while giving birth and we could not save her. The young girl died of smoke inhalation as well as second-degree burns on her body.” Here the nurse stops to give the young baby to her nearest relative. “I’ll leave you to feed her as I go get the discharge paperwork for her and the death paperwork for her family. I’m sorry for your loss.” The nurse puts a hand on his shoulder and shows him where the rocking chair is. She puts a box of tissues next to the chair. “Call us when she’s done feeding and we will show you how to burp and change her.”
He slumps down into the chair and stares at his only other living relative. The emotions of the past few days finally overwhelm him and tears stream down his face as he realizes the situation he is in. The magic that his side of the Perevells was meant to be split amongst the entire family. Even those that were not Dragels shared a small part of the magic. He puts the nipple in the bottle and starts to feed the last baby ever related to him.
He starts whispering to her while staring at the absolutely stunning emerald green eyes that she had gotten from her missing father. “It’s okay, baby bee. Since I know you aren’t exactly my kind, I’ll find you a nice family with ties to mine to give you to. They’ll keep you safe as they have to keep their own necks safe.” He sadly smiles at her as she grasps at his fingers. “Ah, bee, if only you could have met your mother and grandfather. The old man would’ve loved you.” He kisses her forehead and just stares at her as she finishes feeding from the bottle. He presses the call button to recall the nurse.
After she shows him how to change the baby’s diaper, she gives him the discharge paperwork for the living baby and his not living relatives. “If you have any questions, feel free to come back to the Diamond Grove Hospital. We’ll send the bill to the Gringotts bank account that was indicated on the sheet you gave us. Have a good day, and again, sorry for your loss.”
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Derek heads to an inn for the night before heading to the Gringotts to see if they can contact the Bulstrode family for him to take the child to join their family. The next morning, Derek and the baby head to the Gringotts in Britain to talk with the goblins. Derek enters the bank before a goblin dashes at him and tells Derek to follow him. After the goblin escorts him to a private chamber, a goblin with many pieces of jewelry tells him to take a seat.
“Derek Perevell, Lord of the Perevell clan. I am saddened to see that you and the babe are the last two known surviving members of the clan.” says the well-dressed goblin. “It is a shame that one of the last known Dragel safehouses was destroyed by the greedy wizards.” The goblin spits on the ground in anger before composing himself. “Now, what can Cloict of Gringotts do for you today?” The goblin asks Derek before waiting for an answer.
Derek furrows his brows before recognizing the name of the goblin. “Cloict, son of Vriohukt?” Derek asks the goblin and after the goblin nods, Derek relaxes into his seat. “Good. I’m glad you’ve taken over our...my account, as it is your right.” Here Derek pauses before resuming. “What I need is for you to urgently get in touch with the Bulstrode family. The line that specifically still holds Dragel roots in their genes. I need them to take the child. Not only am I not old enough to really look after a child, but I also have to find the quest that created this Perevell clan. You know of whom I speak.” He looks at the goblin’s face and notices the goblin choking down a breath of air. “Good, you know of whom I speak. Well, I might have found Her line. I cannot both take care of a young child and do that. Therefore, I am willing to have the baby adopted, but not blood adopted into the Bulstrode line. They will raise and protect her until she is an adult. And if she miraculously is a Dragel, they will send her to Nevarah for her safety. If they accept, she is to have a one-galleon dollar dowry allocated to her husband along with a three-galleon dollar allotment for her safekeeping under said husband. And the same for any children she may have & so on. If any of them are found to be dragels, there needs to be word sent to Nevarah to quietly send them there. Once there, my Nevaran Perevell relatives are to be alerted and told about them. They are allowed to take the same amount of money if moved to Nevarah upon marriage and birth.” He signs a paper giving these instructions and sends it to the goblin. “Send this to the bank Phoenix Holdings. They have the other set of my family’s accounts and this will give whatever family this child has the ability to withdraw said money in Nevarah.” Derek sits back in the chair and takes a deep breath. “That is all for now. In the future, I may end up in Nevarah with how long my family lives with the magic.”
Cloict snaps his fingers and sends a message to the Bulstrode line that Derek wants. “I sent a message to the current Lord and Lady of the Bulstrode. They both carry Dragel roots but are not Dragels themselves. They have two daughters, one born in 1873 and one born in 1880, so this child would easily fit in amongst them. The child’s eyes though, where did they come from?” The goblin asks Derek as he looks into the girl’s unique eyes.
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“I am not sure, I think the father’s name was something along the lines of Everson?” Derek says while choking down tears. “I was supposed to meet him the day of the fire.” A tear drips out of his eye and he angrily swipes it away.
“Hm.” The goblin says trying to figure out a possible name. “Wait? Do you mean Evanson?” Cloict gasps as he stares at the baby. “The eyes make sense now! They are known for their famous emerald green eyes. I wonder why this one decided to leave Nevarah as there are no lines here on Earth with it...” At this, he pauses before his eyes widen. “Except the Bulstrode clan you want to give the girl to many, many generations ago! They’ll easily be able to pass off the eyes as a one-off thing!”
At this two people appear in the room. “Lord Goblin and Lord Perevell, yes?” Asks a man with brown eyes and greying hair. “What is it that you want?” He stops speaking as soon as he sees the babe. “Dearest! She has your families’ eyes!”
The lady gasps and picks up the girl. “You’re right!” She narrows her eyes and grabs her wand to threaten Derek. “Where did you get her? There are none from this clan here on Earth anymore! Did you steal her from Nevarah?!” She holds the babe tightly in her arms to protect her from the other man.
Derek sighs and explains the whole story again. After he is done he looks at the two with hope in his eyes. “Are you willing to take her in as your own and protect her? I am unable to do it. You seem to be protective of her already.”
The lady sighs and looks at the babe. “It’s true, husband. I am already falling in love with her.” She brings her eyes up to her husband. “We need to help her! We cannot let those wizards have a grasp at one of the last good dragel lines.” She caresses the baby’s face. “Plus I already have a name for her. Violetta. A flower first found in Germany and is in line with how both we and the Evansons name their female children.”
Derek sighs in both sadness and pain when the man agrees. “Two last things: the Perevell magic is meant to be spread across many generations to holster the magic given to us by Lady Death. I will try to shield her as much as possible from it, but as long as she doesn’t become a Dragel, the main function of the magic will not engage. The magic will only increase her life to around double what it naturally should be. If she turns into a Dragel, the magic will fully activate and we will have to fully share the magic until both of us have children and grandchildren to spread the magic to so she will have to be sent to Nevarah for her safety. Same with any children she has with her husband.” Derek takes a sip of water to give them time to think everything over. “The last thing is that Violetta will have 1 million galleons from the Perevell bank account as a dowry for her husband. She will also get 3 million galleons in her name for her pleasure. Any children of hers will get the same and I do mean every child. If they are sent to Nevarah, Cloict will have given my bank there a paper saying that the children can pull out the same amount from the Pheonix Holding bank upon marriage or bonding.”
The two humans look at each other before nodding. The man walks forward to shake Derek’s hand. “We’ll do it, Lord Perevell. But we request that you do not come to visit our daughter or her children in the future.” Derek nods in agreement. “However, Gringotts is to tell you whatever you wish to know about Violetta and any children she may have in the future. We will try and tell the children and their spouses to let you get information about the next generation, but only if both parents agree on it.” The two men shake hands before Derek nods to the couple and ports out to the wilderness to grieve in his pain and loss.
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As time goes on, Derek cannot find any trace of the magic he felt right before the attack. Even going to the ruins of the castle does nothing to have him find the magic. Eventually, he gives up on finding it for Lady Death but does not alert her of this (so he does not lose his head). Over time, he tries to find his clan’s missing items but is not able to find hide nor hair of any of their locations.
Years quickly go by as he looks for them. He occasionally gets updates from Gringotts about little Violetta, but once she dies, he does not have the heart to ask about any of her children. He slowly moves around from place in Europe to place trying to find the mysterious magic, but never succeeds.
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In 1981 he finally feels the magic again, but it is over too quickly for him to trace it. He debates contacting Lady Death about his failure but instead decides to move to the United States to try and track it down there.
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In 1997, he starts picking up on it again. But instead of it being in Europe like he thought it would be, it was in the United States like he was. “Hmmm,” he says before planning it out. “With as many sparks that are being given off, I can probably try and start pinpointing the location it’s coming from.” He ports away to the closest location he can find.
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It isn’t until 1999 that he is able to officially find it, but destiny stays his hand from telling Lady Death. He follows the circle of hidden Dragels for a year before hearing about a Dragel hunting guild and joining them in the Midwest. He quickly realizes that the Dragel hunting guild is after his quarry as well and tries to stop the kidnapping of the child, but it never happens.
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It isn’t until 2001 that things came to a halt. The kidnapping was planned while he was away but was able to still join the group that would be doing the actual kidnapping. Sadly, things did not go as planned for Derek or his new circle.
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Once Lady Death had left and Joni was grabbing the rest of her circle, Derek had to figure out a plan that would satisfy Lady Death about his grandchild and mentee. He looks over at Brian and wishes it hadn’t gone this way, but he didn’t have enough time to get Brian to trust him. After the rest of his new circle joins them, Derek tells them his plans for the future.
“I know this is quite unexpected, but Joni can tell you that I’m telling the truth. Lady Death is my patron; she has been searching for Brian’s line for the past 7 centuries to refind them after almost all the Dragels left for Nevarah. My forefather came over from Nevarah to help Lady Death find Her line. Unfortunately, we have only had small bits of magic come our way until about 1882 when a small burst of magic caught my attention. But our fortress was attacked by Dragel hunters that day so we, I, was never able to find it. I saw another about 1981, but I never was able to find that either.”
All the Dragels look at each other in shock and horror along with recognition of one of the said years, but it is Alpha Troy who speaks up. “Wait? 1882? How are you this young if you were alive in 1882? That would make you, 119 years old! You look like you are in your 30s! Are you a necromancer??”
Derek looks shocked before he chuckles. “No, not a necromancer. Just one of the last of a formerly large line of Dragels and Dragel carriers. The magic that Lady Death gave us to help find Her line has stretched out our lives. Had the rest of the family been here to shoulder the load of the magic, I would look and act my age. Since I am the last one remaining, the magic is stretching my life significantly. But now that I have found Her line, she may give pity on me and allow me to die with my circle.” He looks at the four of them.
Joni quickly speaks up. “Yeah, about that. What did Lady Death mean when she told you to join with us? Do we have no choice in the matter?”
“If you want to live long and healthy lives, far away from the gaze of Lady Death, yes,” Derek says while staring at the four of them. “I wish it wasn’t like this, but it is now our future. Trust me, you do not want her mad at you.” He thanks Molly as she gives him a handkerchief. “Thank you, meine Schmetterling.” He wipes the blood off his chin and five obvious claw marks appear.
Molly gently grabs his chin. “No! What did this?!” She tries to heal the wounds but fails to do so. What? How can it not be healing?” She looks at Troy with worry in her eyes before looking back at her new Paryea.
“Don’t worry, Schmetterling, they will heal over time. It is the price you pay for angering Her Lady.” He says with a gentle smile on his face as he removes Molly’s hand and holds it in his. “I need to interrogate these two.” Here he kicks the two dead wizards. “Lady Death has told me to do whatever is needed to figure out exactly who this is and if anyone is left alive, to tell Lord Aiden.” At the blank looks on their faces, he explains more. “Lord Aiden is Lady Death’s first Hellhound. I met him once as a boy when he checked up on our progress. I can easily send him a message to wherever he is.” He turns to caress Alexia’s cheek before grunting out, “I need Molly and Alexia to leave. They do not need to see what is about to happen. And someone needs to join them in case there were wizards here that escaped.” His new Alpha ports his new Submissive and grandchild to a safe location along with the dead bodies of his new daughter’s circle. “Okay, Joni.” He tells his new Beta. “I don’t know how much you have seen about necromancy and making bodies tell you no lies, but you’ll have first-hand experience in a minute.”
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Two hours later, they have interrogated every dead body there. “Let me message Lord Aiden, and then we can leave for the house.” Derek says before sending off a message. “Greetings Lord Aiden. I don’t know if you remember me, but my name is Derek Perevell of the Earth Perevells. I finally have found Her line and Lady Death knows; but there was a problem and the grandmother of said child is being hunted by a wizarding hunting guild. There are two members left of the society. An old man by the name of Old Clint and a young woman who is the widow of his great-great-grandson. They both seem to be living somewhere in the Midwest and the young woman may be pregnant so you’ll want to take care of her before she spawns the next generation of hunters. My new circle will be moving to the coast where I can more easily guard them. Tell Lady Death that I would appreciate her coming to the funerals of my new circle’s daughter and her circle. It would give her a chance to say goodbye to my mentee’s bearer and the ability to introduce herself to the child.” Derek sends off the message and the three of them join the rest of the circle
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Five months later, the last of Allani’s circle was laid to rest. At the funeral, many people showed up, including Queen Amalia of the Water Fae Court and her young song along with both Lady Death and Lord Aiden. The young boy spent most of the time cuddling with Alexia before saying goodbye and wishing her luck on her tide from here on out. Lady Death and Lord Aiden introduced themselves to her before also saying goodbye. After that, we just stood in the rain and stared at the tombstones.
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At this moment, Derek snaps out of his memories as he sees movement next to him in the nursery. But it is just Troy walking in to check on the two of them. “It’s okay Derek.” Derek sighs before putting the now deeply sleeping Alexia in the crib. “She’ll get over it in time; wounds like this never heal, but they do scab and scar over.” He walks over and touches the scars on Derek’s chin. The two of them bump heads and cuddle before Derek leaves the nursery to his cold and lonely single bed.. “Joni and Molly are in bed.” Derek pauses at this, waiting for Troy to continue his sentence. “And both of them want you to join us from now on.” Derek turns around and looks at Troy before Troy speaks again. “Okay, let me rephrase that for you. All three of us think it’s time to join us in our bed. Let us bond and then let the sorrows of the past wash over us so that the future can happen.” Derek looks at the other man before rushing to him and deeply kissing him. Both men walk out the door after turning off the light.