05-10-2017, 11:21 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-10-2017, 11:22 PM by ZauberGrimm.)
This is where I'm posting my four part fan fiction, Grimm Ever After. It picks up with the epilogue from the final episode, with Kelly and Diana, and also has flashbacks to seven years earlier when Kelly and the triplets first woge.
Some character notes before we begin:
Kelly Burkhardt - part zauberbiest, specifically his left arm which grants him superhuman strength and telekinesis, a handy advantage when fighting wesen, he is also still a Grimm. He is in a relationship with one of Monroe and Rosalee's daughters(see below).
Julie - fuchsbau, daughter of Monroe and Rosalee, takes after her mother, named after Eve who never took her old name back. In a relationship with Kelly (see above).
Freddy - only blutbadt son of Monroe and Rosalee, named for his late uncle, like his father he tries to fight his urges, but unlike his father, he has no history of giving in to his urges and without that regret to guide him, he may be more inclined to fall off the wagon. He is in love with Diana, and she kind of feels the same way, but they have yet to admit it to each other.
Theresa - fuchsbau, daughter of Monroe and Rosalee, named after Truble, she is a bit of a wild child compared to her siblings. She is partial to bad boys and wants to be a criminal defense lawyer like Adalind so she can protect those lost souls she's so fond of.
“Happy Birthday to you…” Everybody sang to the triplets, Freddy, Julie and Theresa. Today they were turning thirteen and the whole family had gathered at a park to celebrate. And by family, that included not only their parents, Monroe and Rosalee, but also their less formal extended family, Kelly Burkhardt and his sister Diana, and their parents Nick and Adalind. For being two families, they spent as much time together as if they were one family. They seemed to be together for every special occasion, every holiday, every birthday, and most of the ordinary occasions in between as well.
The cake was set down in front of the triplets with thirteen candles lit for the kids to blow out. “Make a wish! One, two, three!” On three, all three kids blew out their candles together.
As Freddy looked up, he noticed a girl running through the park wearing a red jacket. He found himself fixated on her. He didn’t know why, or how long he was staring, all he knew was that suddenly Kelly was lunging at him with a decrepit looking left arm clawing at him, and in his eyes, he saw the reflection of a monster with a furry face, fangs and red eyes. As Freddy lurched back, he heard his sisters scream and saw their faces get furry, red and white with black noses like a fox. Nick grabbed Kelly while Monroe held his son and the women grabbed the girls. All the kids were screaming, they couldn’t stop themselves, their parents kept telling them to calm down.
“I guess it’s time we gave them the talk.”
The adults ushered the children into the cabin that came with their rental and sat them down for a very important conversation. None of the adults seemed to know what to say, Monroe Senior was clearly flustered, Nick and Adalind didn’t seem much better, they looked to Diana. Finally, Diana decided to break the silence. “Do you remember all of those fairy tales mom and dad told us when we were little?” Kelly and the triplets nodded. “Well, they weren’t just fairy tales. The truth is, we are what those fairy tales are about, and Nick and Kelly’s ancestors wrote those stories.”
Rosalee took over at this point. “Julie, Theresa, you are Fuchsbau, like me. Freddy, you’re a Blutbad like your father. We are Wesen.”
Monroe Senior came up to his son. “I’m afraid this means no more meat for you, we gotta start the wieder blutbad diet right away.” Freddy’s heart sunk and it showed on his face and his whole body slumped.
“And what about Kelly?” Julie asked. “What about his arm and his eyes?”
This made all the grown-ups look at each other in awkward silence again. Even Diana struggled to think of an answer. Then she looked at her brother and saw how scared he was to not know what was going on, just that he seemed to be different from everyone else. This was a feeling she knew all too well. “Your hand is zauberbiest, you get that from our mother. But your eyes are Grimm, you get that from your father.”
“What does that mean?” Kelly asked.
Nick finally spoke up. “Honestly, we don’t know son. This has never really happened before. Usually Grimms don’t get along with Wesen, but I’m different, we’re different. Still, even though we all love you, we were really only prepared to explain what it was to be a Grimm or a zauberbiest, not both.”
Kelly was confused, as was everyone else. “What do we do now?”
Again, confusion among everyone. Julie sat on his left side and held his hand. Diana sat on his other side and hugged him. “We’re just going to have to play it by ear little bro.”
Seven years later…
“Kelly come on.” Diana said as she entered the trailer.
“I’m almost done.” Kelly said as he was writing in his journal.
“Let’s go.” Diana urged more this time.
“Diana!” Kelly shot back.
“Hurry up.” Diana had very little patience.
“I’m coming.” Kelly had little more patience than his sister.
“Mom and dad are waiting.” Diana said to Kelly as she went to the weapons cabinet to pick up the Staff of Zerstorer. “We’ve got wesen to kill. The triplets are coming too.”
“Yeah, what’s taking you so long?” Kelly replied as he took the staff from his sister and left the trailer.
Diana sighed and looked back at the journal, closing it with her telekinesis before walking out of the trailer. Nick was waiting outside in a van with Adalind in the passenger seat and the triplets in the back with the seats in the middle for Kelly and Diana.
“You brought the staff!” Freddy exclaimed. “Wow, this must be serious.”
“It was Diana’s idea.” Kelly replied.
“Then why isn’t she the one holding it?” Theresa asked.
Kelly shrugged. “Because I wanted it.”
“And you always get your way ‘cause you’re the baby?” Theresa teased. “I guess you need it more since her powers are stronger.”
“Hey!” Kelly shot back. “I’m both a Grimm and a zauberbiest, the only one in the world as far as we know, beat that!”
“Most powerful hexenbiest in the world, virtual goddess, booyah!” Diana said with a hand in her brother’s face. “Keep the stick little bro, I was just getting it for you anyway.”
“Need some aloe for that burn, honey?” Julie said.
Kelly was aghast. “You too?”
Nick cut them all off. “Okay kids settle down.”
“Or what old man?” Kelly asked. “You’ll turn this car around?”
Adalind tried not to laugh, but let out a little chuckle in spite of herself.
Nick glared at her. “Actually, yes. I can handle a damonfeurer and his lackeys without you kids.”
“What if they’re all damonfeurers?” Kelly asked. “Aren’t they firebreathers? This sounds like a pretty big deal to me.”
“I can round up the old gang with some fire extinguishers.” Nick said angrily.
“You mean pops, mom, Hank and Wu?” Freddy asked. “All those geezers fighting dragons with fire extinguishers? I’d pay to see that!”
“Hey, respect your elders.” Adalind said. “If it weren’t for them, none of us would be here. They saved us as often as we saved them.”
Freddy looked at his sisters. “It would be funny though.”
“Hilarious.” Theresa enthusiastically agreed.
“Shut up guys.” Julie said, hitting both of her siblings. “I think Mr. Burkhardt’s serious.”
Kelly chuckled.
“What’s so funny now?” Nick asked Kelly.
“I’m just thinking of all the years blutbaden, fuchsbau, and hexenbiests lived in fear of Grimm.” Kelly put a mock scary emphasis on the word Grimm. “Now we’re calling you Mr. Burkhardt like you’re a high school teacher.” Even Nick had to laugh at this. “But seriously, what do we know about this damonfeurer?”
“Arsonist, typical.” Nick replied. “Seems to go after abandoned buildings, but it seems like they’re usually ones inhabited by squatters.”
“So he’s killing homeless people?” Kelly asked.
“That’s the weird part.” Nick answered. “There is little evidence that the victims are still in the buildings. It seems like whoever this is, they’re taking the victims with them and using the arson to cover their tracks.”
“So how do we even know this is a damonfeurer at all?” Kelly asked.
“We got tipped off by a witness who claimed they saw someone wearing a dragon mask breathing fire at the building.” Nick answered.
“And we’re thinking the fiery breath means it’s not a mask?” Kelly asked and Nick nodded. “So where do we find this dragon we’re going to slay?”
“After some investigation, I found that they seem to have some connection to a shop that we’re driving to right now.” Just then they pulled up at a shop. It didn’t seem particularly special at all, from the outside it looked just like any other store front, the sign was in Spanish and had a skull in the middle. The door said “closed”, but Nick charged in anyway and the others followed. Inside the shop was filled with occult paraphernalia, candles, sculptures, masks, and baubles of all sorts. There was nobody inside, but then they got to the back room and found one man sitting in a chair.
“I’ve been expecting you.” The stranger said. “You can relax and put the weapons away, the ones you’re looking for aren’t here.”
Everyone looked confused. “Who are you? And how did you know we were coming?”
“My name is Manuel Ramirez, but you can call me Manny. This is my shop. I had a vision about you, and I know how this will play out, it will be easier if we don’t fight.”
“And why should we trust you?” Nick asked.
“Because I can lead you to the geiers you’re looking for.” Manny replied. “And no, you’re not looking for a damonfeurer, you’re looking for a damn fool wearing a mask I made for him.”
“You’re a vibora dorada.” Nick deduced. “Which means you killed a damonfeurer.”
“Yes, I killed one person, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what this gang has done.” Manny replied. “The leader, who I only know as Cook, came to me, curious about what I could do. As you may or may not know, geiers eat human flesh to acquire their power, but he wanted more. He heard rumors of what my kind could do and when he found me, he insisted I make him a mask of a damonfeurer. I’m young and new, I’ve just barely begun to learn about this craft, he was my first customer, I was happy to take the job. But when I found my mark and injected my venom, I had a vision. A zauberbiest was to come to fight Cook, and I was to help him. I didn’t want to let him know because he would rather have killed me than let me help you. But I did take the first step to helping you. I not only took the face of the damonfeurer, I also took his arm to make a gauntlet to match the mask I made for Cook.”
“I thought you only made masks.” Nick said skeptically.
Manny shook his head. “The power is not just in the face, it is in the skin, all of the skin. This is the way of Xipe Totec. The practice of masks is just that it is the most recognizable body part, which makes it the easiest to focus power through. But only a fool would forget that the power of the hand is as great as the power of the head.” Manny pulled open a drawer and took out a scaly hand with the forearm encased in ornate wire mesh that seemed to fit perfectly between the scales. Manny presented it to Kelly.
Kelly took it with a look of recognition. “This bracer looks like the one I got for Christmas from the gefrienberenger six years ago after our first woges. I thought I lost it a while back. Where did you get this from?”
Manny shrugged. “He was wearing it when I took the arm. Damonfeurers have an obsession with precious metals, sometimes they even steal it. This one ran a jewelry and coin exchange, so he could have bought it off a thief who turned it in, or maybe he did manage to steal it from you himself. I believe it was the will of the gods that this bracer found its way back to you this way. In any case, I think he’s paid for his crimes now.”
“Dare I ask where the rest of him is?” Nick asked.
“I was working with geiers.” Manny said flatly. “They feasted on the remains themselves, a bonding ritual between Cook and his crew. This and the mask are all that is left of John Doe.”
“So where are these murderers?” Nick asked.
Manny put up one finger. “One more thing, before I help you, the zauberbiest needs to sign a contract.” He pulled out a piece of parchment and a knife. “You can read it if you want, but long and short it says you will only wear this gauntlet for righteous hunts and not use it against innocents, wesen or kehrseite, and obviously one special clause that you won’t use it against me.”
“I don’t think this is such a good idea.” Nick said, taking the contract and the gauntlet form his son.
Manny shrugged again. “Your funeral. They outnumber you two to one at least.”
Nick was unfazed. “I’ve done better with worse odds.”
“You won’t find them without me.” Manny reiterated.
“Why are you doing this?” Kelly asked. “Why are you betraying the geiers to help us?”
“It is the will of the gods.” Manny replied. “This damonfeurer’s spirit was split at death, the mask took the worst of his soul, the gauntlet has the best, and now Xipe Totec wants you two to fight for who shall truly inherit the power. I serve my god first before anyone else, so I just need to get you to Cook and let you two settle your differences.”
“You said you know how this will end.” Kelly pointed out.
“Yes, I did, and it ends with me leading you to Cook and the geiers.” Manny replied. “After that, it is in God’s hands, I am only a messenger.”
Adalind put her hand on Nick’s arm. “I’ll take Julie and Theresa back to the spice shop and we’ll prepare the spell that reverses the mask ceremony and make sure we have enough for both Kelly and Cook. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt for him to carry some extra power in this fight.”
“You’re okay with this?” Nick asked Adalind.
Adalind sighed and turned to Diana. She always seemed to know more about what was going on than anyone else. “What do you think?”
“Finally, somebody asks me for my expert opinion.” Diana said. She looked at Manny and her eyes glowed violet as she scanned him.
It kind of freaked Manny out and he woged. He saw his reflection in Nick’s eyes which freaked him out even more. He turned away and saw the same horror in Kelly’s eyes. “Both of you are Grimms? I was sure you were a zauberbiest.”
Kelly stretched his hand out, spreading his fingers wide into a claw like form and his arm appeared to wither and decay. “I’m both.”
Manny raised an eyebrow. “How did that happen?”
Adalind woged. “I’m his mother.”
“Well that is an interesting story I have to hear.” Manny said sounding impressed. “Assuming we live through all of this. Right now, how about you sign that contract as a sign of good faith?”
Diana took the contract and the gauntlet from Nick, looked them over with her purple eyes and smelled both objects. “Kelly will be fine.” She handed them to her brother. “Now go ahead and sign the contract so we can go finish off these geiers.”
Kelly cut his finger on his left hand and used it to sign his name, then handed it back to Manny. Manny did the same right below Kelly’s signature. The two signatures appeared to blend together into the shape of a claw and then disperse back into the signatures. “All set, now I will lead you to the geiers. And don’t put that gauntlet on until we get there, like I said the contract says only to use it for a righteous hunt, so it’s not in your best interests to use it before the hunt begins properly.”
Adalind got a cab for her, Julie and Theresa to go back to the spice shop, while Nick, Kelly, Diana, Freddy and Manny got in the van to drive to the location Manny gave them. Nick looked at Manny. “Remember, if anything goes wrong, I kill you myself.”
“As I said, I’m just supposed to get you to Cook and his cronies.” Manny said coldly. “After that, the future is unclear.”
“What does that mean?” Junior asked. “Whose side are you really on?”
“Nobody’s.” Manny replied. “I serve Xipe Totec and your fight is left up to you. However, regarding your threat, I’m hoping either you win or you die before you can follow through.”
“You really aren’t instilling confidence.” Junior said.
“And yet you’re still following me.” Manny replied. “I sense desperation.” That pretty much shut everyone up until they got where they were going.
Their destination was in the woods, a barn from an old farm that had fallen into ruin long ago. Once they arrived, they got out of the car and Freddy took a whiff of the air and woged. “I smell rotten flesh, I think we’re in the right place.” He continued to follow the scent and everybody followed him.
Nick looked around with a sense of familiarity. “I think I’ve been here before. I know this place.” He proceeded slowly and cautiously while Kelly and Diana trotted fearlessly ahead. Manny took his time bringing up the rear, not too slow, just not fast either. “This is a trap, isn’t it?”
Manny shrugged. “Maybe. Does it matter? Fate is written and nothing will change it.”
As they entered the barn they found the walls lined with cages with people inside. Freddy woged back to normal. “What the hell is this place? What is going on here?”
“What does it look like?” Manny replied. “I brought you to the geiers lair and there are people in cages, anybody care to take a guess?”
“These are the homeless people that are being taken from the burned down buildings. The geiers are saving them to remove their organs later.” Nick answered. “I know why I know this place now, it’s the same place where I caught some geiers operating years ago when I first found out I was a Grimm. But back then, they kept their victims tied to hospital beds to surgically remove the organs. Why is this set up different?”
One of the caged people spoke up. “Help us! They make us fight each other, the winner of the fight goes back to their cage with dinner, the loser…” His voice trailed off unable to find the strength to finish the sentence.
“...becomes dinner.” Nick answered. “Isn’t that right Manny?”
Manny nodded. “Geiers.”
“This is sick and barbaric.” Kelly said.
“This is why Grimms do what we do.” Nick said to his son. “Now let’s get these people out of here before the geiers get back.” They went around and opened the cages and let everyone out and directed them to the exit.
“Wait, where are the geiers?” Diana asked.
“Right here Grimm!” One shrieked as they entered the barn. There was a half dozen in this group and they charged at the intruders.
The bystanders ran as fast as they could while Freddy, Diana and Kelly woged and prepared to fight along with Nick. While Nick and Freddy relied on basic hand to hand combat to fight the geiers, Kelly used his staff and Diana repelled the rest with her telekinesis. As Nick finished off his opponent, he looked back to Manny. He had not woged and just stood there watching the whole thing. “This was a trap, wasn’t it?”
“How many times do I have to say I’m neutral?” Manny replied. “I just brought you here, I don’t care who wins, I’m just here to watch and congratulate the winner.”
“That will have to wait.” Kelly said. “I don’t see the mask on any of these guys.”
Manny looked around at the geiers’ faces. “Yeah, Cook’s not here, but I’m sure he will be, along with the other half of his crew.”
Nick pulled out his phone and made a call. “Adalind, have you and the girls made any progress on the mask reversal ceremony?”
“Yeah, we’re ready.” Adalind replied. “Where are you? We’ll meet you.”
“Ping my phone.” Nick said. “Or one of the kids. We’re at a barn in the woods.”
“What’s going on right now?” Adalind asked.
“We found the squatters from the burned-out buildings and got them out, they’re safe now.” Nick replied. “We ran into some geiers, but not all of them, which means Cook and his mask still hasn’t shown up yet and we’re going to need help, so get here as soon as you can.”
“We’re on our way.” Adalind replied.
Kelly looked a little confused. “Why do we need them to help us with the mask? Can’t we just get Manny to do it?”
Without breaking his gaze with his son, Nick simply said “Manny can we count on you to help us if things go south?”
“Nope, not a chance.” Manny said without skipping a beat.
“There you go.” Nick replied.
While they waited for Adalind and the girls, Nick called Hank and Wu to pick up the victims. There were a lot, so Monroe and Rosalee brought their vehicles too and Bud and his kids even offered to help with the transportation.
“Thanks for the help guys.” Kelly said to Bud’s kids. “Do you want to stick around for the main event?”
The eisbibers woged in fear. “W-w-we really gotta get these people back to town. Best to leave the fighting to the pros, right?”
Diana laughed. “He’s just messing with you. Nobody expects you to be here when the fighting starts.”
The eisbibers relaxed and their woges reversed. “Whew, what a relief. Don’t do that, you know eisbibers have sensitive hearts. You could have killed us!” They got in their cars and drove off.
Diana punched her brother. “He’s right, don’t do that, jerk.”
They waited patiently for the girls and the geiers, unsure of which would come first, but making sure they were prepared either way. They heard footsteps, and hoped for the best, but what came through the door was not the best at all. Cook led the other half of the gang into the barn. “What the hell happened here?”
Cook’s underlings charged the hunters and engaged them. One made the mistake of going after Kelly who promptly impaled him with his staff, making him the first casualty of this batch. Seeing Kelly as the strongest, Cook looked at him. “You’re mine.” He put on his mask and woged. It was exceptionally weird because mostly he woged as a geier, but his face was a damonfeurer. It got even weirder when he breathed fire. Kelly held up his left hand, woged and repelled the fire using his own telekinesis. It wasn’t as strong as Diana’s, but strong enough to stop the fire. As Cook looked through the fire to see Kelly he saw his eyes. “Grimm! And a zauberbiest?”
“Wait, there’s more.” Kelly put on the damonfeurer gauntlet.
Cook was surprised. “Where did you get that?” Then he noticed Manny in the shadows by the wall. “You! We had a contract!”
“And so does he.” Manny replied, woging as he spoke. “Now we see which one is truly worthy of the blessings of Xipe Totec. Let the games begin!”
The others were all preoccupied with their opponents. Even Diana was struggling, her opponent managed to get a hold of the staff stuck in her cohort and evened her odds with the hexenbiest. Nick and Freddy were going all out with their opponents, clearly stronger than the first wave. Kelly was on his own.
Cook threw a few punches, Kelly blocked and countered. They went back and forth for a few rounds, tried a few kicks, nothing changed. Desperate, Cook tried breathing fire again, Kelly dodged the attack. They went around like this for a few more rounds and before Kelly knew it, they were surrounded by a circle of fire. “Nowhere to run now Grimm! It ends now!”
“Yes it does.” Kelly held his hand out pantomiming holding a ball, and conjured a fireball, then threw it at Cook, knocking him into the wall of fire.
Meanwhile, Diana managed to get a hold of the staff and turned it against the geier. As she looked toward her brother she screamed. “Kelly!” Using all of her power she extinguished the flames. She rushed to hug Kelly. “Are you okay, bro?”
“Get away from me!” Kelly screamed lunging at her. He grabbed his left arm and tried to pull it back. He fell to the ground.
Just then Adalind and Julie entered the barn. “What’s happening?”
“Something’s wrong with the gauntlet.” Diana told Adalind.
Adalind rushed to her son’s side. “It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll make it all right.” She pulled out the incantation to fix the gauntlet. Before she could begin reading it, Kelly grabbed it and burned it. Then pushed his mother away. He tried to pull his hand back and screamed in pain.
“It’s all right, I have a copy too.” Julie ran to Kelly. She held his face and looked him in the eye and woged. “It’s me babe.”
Kelly looked at her and growled.
Freddy came after Kelly still fully woged. “Don’t you dare hurt my sister!” The two boys started fighting.
Nick looked at Manny. “Do something!”
“What do you want?” Manny replied.
Nick grabbed a hold of Manny. “You know damn well what I want, fix my son!”
“I told you, this is the will of Xipe Totec.” Manny replied. “I will not interfere.”
“That’s my son you son of a bitch!” Nick screamed. “Do something!”
“Or what?” Manny goaded Nick. “You’ll kill me? I can’t help him if I’m dead you need me alive, you won’t dare hurt me if your dear baby boy has to pay the price.”
Kelly shoved Freddy hard and he flew into the wall. Julie tried to get through to Kelly again. “Fight it Kelly! For me!” She rushed over to him and kissed him. As she pulled away, Kelly looked at his hand, it had returned to normal.
Kelly looked closer at his arm and realized he was still wearing the bracer. “Wait, what happened to the gauntlet?”
“Hmm… you must have absorbed it.” Manny noted. “That’s never happened before. Of course, we usually only use the face, and we never make them for Grimms or zauberbiests. It could be any combination of factors. Most unexpected and intriguing. I must see how this plays out.”
“You won’t see much from a prison cell.” Nick said getting his handcuffs ready. “You’re under arrest for murder.”
“What makes you think I’ll go quietly?” Manny said slyly.
“The fact that you are outnumbered by two Grimms, two hexenbiests, a fuchsbau and a blutbad as soon as Freddy comes to.” Nick answered.
“Okay, you got me.” Manny conceded, finally woging back to normal.
Freddy got up, as it turns out he wasn’t really knocked out at all and he was still angry and woged. He looked back and forth from Kelly to Manny and charged. It wasn’t quite clear who he was aiming for.
Diana stopped him. She grabbed a hold of him and forced his woge to reverse using her powers. She held his limp form. “A little help here please.”
Theresa finally caught up to everyone. “Sorry, there was one more geier out there I had to deal with. Is everybody okay?” She went to Diana to help carry her brother out.
As they left the barn, Diana noticed two gold coins on the ground next to Cook’s body. “Wait.” She reached down to pick them up.
“What is it?” Theresa asked.
“Oh nothing.” Diana said, not quite sure why she couldn’t be honest with her friend about what she found.
Seven years earlier…
“Show us a full woge.” Monroe said.
“Is that all you got?” Nick added.
“Yes!” Kelly replied. “No matter how hard I try it’s only my arm. I’m sorry.” Kelly began to cry.
Nick hugged his son. “It’s okay son. You don’t have to be sorry, you’re not doing anything wrong. We just want to know the full extent of your woge. We just want to know what we’re dealing with so we can help you. I love you son.”
“Hey Nick, maybe we should give him a moment.” Monroe said. “This can be very hard to take in, just let him relax for a moment, okay.”
Nick nodded. “I’ll be here for you when you need me.” He walked away with Monroe.
After a while, Julie approached Kelly. “So how are you dealing with all of this?”
“Okay, I guess.” Kelly replied. “I mean, I don’t even really know what I am, let alone how I’m supposed to feel.”
They were both quiet for a moment, then Julie spoke. “The others said they saw their worst selves in your eyes when they woged, but I wasn’t scared by what I saw at all. I saw something beautiful in your eyes, not a monster.”
Kelly blushed a little and stuttered as he tried to reply to her. “Of course, you are beautiful, no matter what you look like, you could never be a monster in my eyes.”
Julie blushed a little too. She took Kelly’s left hand in hers. She looked him in the eye and woged. “Still beautiful.”
“Still beautiful.” Kelly echoed, woging his hand.
Julie took his hand and rubbed it against her face, then leaned in to kiss him. Kelly couldn’t help but kiss her back.
Seven years later…
Back at home alone, Diana took the coins out to look at them again. They had strange symbols on them, like crooked crosses. She couldn’t seem to break her gaze, and she became overcome with a vision. She saw herself dressed in the finest silk dress she’d ever worn, heading out to a balcony, looking out over a crowd of people. They all looked at her, cheering her name, crying out in praise.
“Yes, my people, adore me.” Diana said to them. “Worship me!”
Some character notes before we begin:
Kelly Burkhardt - part zauberbiest, specifically his left arm which grants him superhuman strength and telekinesis, a handy advantage when fighting wesen, he is also still a Grimm. He is in a relationship with one of Monroe and Rosalee's daughters(see below).
Julie - fuchsbau, daughter of Monroe and Rosalee, takes after her mother, named after Eve who never took her old name back. In a relationship with Kelly (see above).
Freddy - only blutbadt son of Monroe and Rosalee, named for his late uncle, like his father he tries to fight his urges, but unlike his father, he has no history of giving in to his urges and without that regret to guide him, he may be more inclined to fall off the wagon. He is in love with Diana, and she kind of feels the same way, but they have yet to admit it to each other.
Theresa - fuchsbau, daughter of Monroe and Rosalee, named after Truble, she is a bit of a wild child compared to her siblings. She is partial to bad boys and wants to be a criminal defense lawyer like Adalind so she can protect those lost souls she's so fond of.
“Happy Birthday to you…” Everybody sang to the triplets, Freddy, Julie and Theresa. Today they were turning thirteen and the whole family had gathered at a park to celebrate. And by family, that included not only their parents, Monroe and Rosalee, but also their less formal extended family, Kelly Burkhardt and his sister Diana, and their parents Nick and Adalind. For being two families, they spent as much time together as if they were one family. They seemed to be together for every special occasion, every holiday, every birthday, and most of the ordinary occasions in between as well.
The cake was set down in front of the triplets with thirteen candles lit for the kids to blow out. “Make a wish! One, two, three!” On three, all three kids blew out their candles together.
As Freddy looked up, he noticed a girl running through the park wearing a red jacket. He found himself fixated on her. He didn’t know why, or how long he was staring, all he knew was that suddenly Kelly was lunging at him with a decrepit looking left arm clawing at him, and in his eyes, he saw the reflection of a monster with a furry face, fangs and red eyes. As Freddy lurched back, he heard his sisters scream and saw their faces get furry, red and white with black noses like a fox. Nick grabbed Kelly while Monroe held his son and the women grabbed the girls. All the kids were screaming, they couldn’t stop themselves, their parents kept telling them to calm down.
“I guess it’s time we gave them the talk.”
The adults ushered the children into the cabin that came with their rental and sat them down for a very important conversation. None of the adults seemed to know what to say, Monroe Senior was clearly flustered, Nick and Adalind didn’t seem much better, they looked to Diana. Finally, Diana decided to break the silence. “Do you remember all of those fairy tales mom and dad told us when we were little?” Kelly and the triplets nodded. “Well, they weren’t just fairy tales. The truth is, we are what those fairy tales are about, and Nick and Kelly’s ancestors wrote those stories.”
Rosalee took over at this point. “Julie, Theresa, you are Fuchsbau, like me. Freddy, you’re a Blutbad like your father. We are Wesen.”
Monroe Senior came up to his son. “I’m afraid this means no more meat for you, we gotta start the wieder blutbad diet right away.” Freddy’s heart sunk and it showed on his face and his whole body slumped.
“And what about Kelly?” Julie asked. “What about his arm and his eyes?”
This made all the grown-ups look at each other in awkward silence again. Even Diana struggled to think of an answer. Then she looked at her brother and saw how scared he was to not know what was going on, just that he seemed to be different from everyone else. This was a feeling she knew all too well. “Your hand is zauberbiest, you get that from our mother. But your eyes are Grimm, you get that from your father.”
“What does that mean?” Kelly asked.
Nick finally spoke up. “Honestly, we don’t know son. This has never really happened before. Usually Grimms don’t get along with Wesen, but I’m different, we’re different. Still, even though we all love you, we were really only prepared to explain what it was to be a Grimm or a zauberbiest, not both.”
Kelly was confused, as was everyone else. “What do we do now?”
Again, confusion among everyone. Julie sat on his left side and held his hand. Diana sat on his other side and hugged him. “We’re just going to have to play it by ear little bro.”
Seven years later…
“Kelly come on.” Diana said as she entered the trailer.
“I’m almost done.” Kelly said as he was writing in his journal.
“Let’s go.” Diana urged more this time.
“Diana!” Kelly shot back.
“Hurry up.” Diana had very little patience.
“I’m coming.” Kelly had little more patience than his sister.
“Mom and dad are waiting.” Diana said to Kelly as she went to the weapons cabinet to pick up the Staff of Zerstorer. “We’ve got wesen to kill. The triplets are coming too.”
“Yeah, what’s taking you so long?” Kelly replied as he took the staff from his sister and left the trailer.
Diana sighed and looked back at the journal, closing it with her telekinesis before walking out of the trailer. Nick was waiting outside in a van with Adalind in the passenger seat and the triplets in the back with the seats in the middle for Kelly and Diana.
“You brought the staff!” Freddy exclaimed. “Wow, this must be serious.”
“It was Diana’s idea.” Kelly replied.
“Then why isn’t she the one holding it?” Theresa asked.
Kelly shrugged. “Because I wanted it.”
“And you always get your way ‘cause you’re the baby?” Theresa teased. “I guess you need it more since her powers are stronger.”
“Hey!” Kelly shot back. “I’m both a Grimm and a zauberbiest, the only one in the world as far as we know, beat that!”
“Most powerful hexenbiest in the world, virtual goddess, booyah!” Diana said with a hand in her brother’s face. “Keep the stick little bro, I was just getting it for you anyway.”
“Need some aloe for that burn, honey?” Julie said.
Kelly was aghast. “You too?”
Nick cut them all off. “Okay kids settle down.”
“Or what old man?” Kelly asked. “You’ll turn this car around?”
Adalind tried not to laugh, but let out a little chuckle in spite of herself.
Nick glared at her. “Actually, yes. I can handle a damonfeurer and his lackeys without you kids.”
“What if they’re all damonfeurers?” Kelly asked. “Aren’t they firebreathers? This sounds like a pretty big deal to me.”
“I can round up the old gang with some fire extinguishers.” Nick said angrily.
“You mean pops, mom, Hank and Wu?” Freddy asked. “All those geezers fighting dragons with fire extinguishers? I’d pay to see that!”
“Hey, respect your elders.” Adalind said. “If it weren’t for them, none of us would be here. They saved us as often as we saved them.”
Freddy looked at his sisters. “It would be funny though.”
“Hilarious.” Theresa enthusiastically agreed.
“Shut up guys.” Julie said, hitting both of her siblings. “I think Mr. Burkhardt’s serious.”
Kelly chuckled.
“What’s so funny now?” Nick asked Kelly.
“I’m just thinking of all the years blutbaden, fuchsbau, and hexenbiests lived in fear of Grimm.” Kelly put a mock scary emphasis on the word Grimm. “Now we’re calling you Mr. Burkhardt like you’re a high school teacher.” Even Nick had to laugh at this. “But seriously, what do we know about this damonfeurer?”
“Arsonist, typical.” Nick replied. “Seems to go after abandoned buildings, but it seems like they’re usually ones inhabited by squatters.”
“So he’s killing homeless people?” Kelly asked.
“That’s the weird part.” Nick answered. “There is little evidence that the victims are still in the buildings. It seems like whoever this is, they’re taking the victims with them and using the arson to cover their tracks.”
“So how do we even know this is a damonfeurer at all?” Kelly asked.
“We got tipped off by a witness who claimed they saw someone wearing a dragon mask breathing fire at the building.” Nick answered.
“And we’re thinking the fiery breath means it’s not a mask?” Kelly asked and Nick nodded. “So where do we find this dragon we’re going to slay?”
“After some investigation, I found that they seem to have some connection to a shop that we’re driving to right now.” Just then they pulled up at a shop. It didn’t seem particularly special at all, from the outside it looked just like any other store front, the sign was in Spanish and had a skull in the middle. The door said “closed”, but Nick charged in anyway and the others followed. Inside the shop was filled with occult paraphernalia, candles, sculptures, masks, and baubles of all sorts. There was nobody inside, but then they got to the back room and found one man sitting in a chair.
“I’ve been expecting you.” The stranger said. “You can relax and put the weapons away, the ones you’re looking for aren’t here.”
Everyone looked confused. “Who are you? And how did you know we were coming?”
“My name is Manuel Ramirez, but you can call me Manny. This is my shop. I had a vision about you, and I know how this will play out, it will be easier if we don’t fight.”
“And why should we trust you?” Nick asked.
“Because I can lead you to the geiers you’re looking for.” Manny replied. “And no, you’re not looking for a damonfeurer, you’re looking for a damn fool wearing a mask I made for him.”
“You’re a vibora dorada.” Nick deduced. “Which means you killed a damonfeurer.”
“Yes, I killed one person, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what this gang has done.” Manny replied. “The leader, who I only know as Cook, came to me, curious about what I could do. As you may or may not know, geiers eat human flesh to acquire their power, but he wanted more. He heard rumors of what my kind could do and when he found me, he insisted I make him a mask of a damonfeurer. I’m young and new, I’ve just barely begun to learn about this craft, he was my first customer, I was happy to take the job. But when I found my mark and injected my venom, I had a vision. A zauberbiest was to come to fight Cook, and I was to help him. I didn’t want to let him know because he would rather have killed me than let me help you. But I did take the first step to helping you. I not only took the face of the damonfeurer, I also took his arm to make a gauntlet to match the mask I made for Cook.”
“I thought you only made masks.” Nick said skeptically.
Manny shook his head. “The power is not just in the face, it is in the skin, all of the skin. This is the way of Xipe Totec. The practice of masks is just that it is the most recognizable body part, which makes it the easiest to focus power through. But only a fool would forget that the power of the hand is as great as the power of the head.” Manny pulled open a drawer and took out a scaly hand with the forearm encased in ornate wire mesh that seemed to fit perfectly between the scales. Manny presented it to Kelly.
Kelly took it with a look of recognition. “This bracer looks like the one I got for Christmas from the gefrienberenger six years ago after our first woges. I thought I lost it a while back. Where did you get this from?”
Manny shrugged. “He was wearing it when I took the arm. Damonfeurers have an obsession with precious metals, sometimes they even steal it. This one ran a jewelry and coin exchange, so he could have bought it off a thief who turned it in, or maybe he did manage to steal it from you himself. I believe it was the will of the gods that this bracer found its way back to you this way. In any case, I think he’s paid for his crimes now.”
“Dare I ask where the rest of him is?” Nick asked.
“I was working with geiers.” Manny said flatly. “They feasted on the remains themselves, a bonding ritual between Cook and his crew. This and the mask are all that is left of John Doe.”
“So where are these murderers?” Nick asked.
Manny put up one finger. “One more thing, before I help you, the zauberbiest needs to sign a contract.” He pulled out a piece of parchment and a knife. “You can read it if you want, but long and short it says you will only wear this gauntlet for righteous hunts and not use it against innocents, wesen or kehrseite, and obviously one special clause that you won’t use it against me.”
“I don’t think this is such a good idea.” Nick said, taking the contract and the gauntlet form his son.
Manny shrugged again. “Your funeral. They outnumber you two to one at least.”
Nick was unfazed. “I’ve done better with worse odds.”
“You won’t find them without me.” Manny reiterated.
“Why are you doing this?” Kelly asked. “Why are you betraying the geiers to help us?”
“It is the will of the gods.” Manny replied. “This damonfeurer’s spirit was split at death, the mask took the worst of his soul, the gauntlet has the best, and now Xipe Totec wants you two to fight for who shall truly inherit the power. I serve my god first before anyone else, so I just need to get you to Cook and let you two settle your differences.”
“You said you know how this will end.” Kelly pointed out.
“Yes, I did, and it ends with me leading you to Cook and the geiers.” Manny replied. “After that, it is in God’s hands, I am only a messenger.”
Adalind put her hand on Nick’s arm. “I’ll take Julie and Theresa back to the spice shop and we’ll prepare the spell that reverses the mask ceremony and make sure we have enough for both Kelly and Cook. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt for him to carry some extra power in this fight.”
“You’re okay with this?” Nick asked Adalind.
Adalind sighed and turned to Diana. She always seemed to know more about what was going on than anyone else. “What do you think?”
“Finally, somebody asks me for my expert opinion.” Diana said. She looked at Manny and her eyes glowed violet as she scanned him.
It kind of freaked Manny out and he woged. He saw his reflection in Nick’s eyes which freaked him out even more. He turned away and saw the same horror in Kelly’s eyes. “Both of you are Grimms? I was sure you were a zauberbiest.”
Kelly stretched his hand out, spreading his fingers wide into a claw like form and his arm appeared to wither and decay. “I’m both.”
Manny raised an eyebrow. “How did that happen?”
Adalind woged. “I’m his mother.”
“Well that is an interesting story I have to hear.” Manny said sounding impressed. “Assuming we live through all of this. Right now, how about you sign that contract as a sign of good faith?”
Diana took the contract and the gauntlet from Nick, looked them over with her purple eyes and smelled both objects. “Kelly will be fine.” She handed them to her brother. “Now go ahead and sign the contract so we can go finish off these geiers.”
Kelly cut his finger on his left hand and used it to sign his name, then handed it back to Manny. Manny did the same right below Kelly’s signature. The two signatures appeared to blend together into the shape of a claw and then disperse back into the signatures. “All set, now I will lead you to the geiers. And don’t put that gauntlet on until we get there, like I said the contract says only to use it for a righteous hunt, so it’s not in your best interests to use it before the hunt begins properly.”
Adalind got a cab for her, Julie and Theresa to go back to the spice shop, while Nick, Kelly, Diana, Freddy and Manny got in the van to drive to the location Manny gave them. Nick looked at Manny. “Remember, if anything goes wrong, I kill you myself.”
“As I said, I’m just supposed to get you to Cook and his cronies.” Manny said coldly. “After that, the future is unclear.”
“What does that mean?” Junior asked. “Whose side are you really on?”
“Nobody’s.” Manny replied. “I serve Xipe Totec and your fight is left up to you. However, regarding your threat, I’m hoping either you win or you die before you can follow through.”
“You really aren’t instilling confidence.” Junior said.
“And yet you’re still following me.” Manny replied. “I sense desperation.” That pretty much shut everyone up until they got where they were going.
Their destination was in the woods, a barn from an old farm that had fallen into ruin long ago. Once they arrived, they got out of the car and Freddy took a whiff of the air and woged. “I smell rotten flesh, I think we’re in the right place.” He continued to follow the scent and everybody followed him.
Nick looked around with a sense of familiarity. “I think I’ve been here before. I know this place.” He proceeded slowly and cautiously while Kelly and Diana trotted fearlessly ahead. Manny took his time bringing up the rear, not too slow, just not fast either. “This is a trap, isn’t it?”
Manny shrugged. “Maybe. Does it matter? Fate is written and nothing will change it.”
As they entered the barn they found the walls lined with cages with people inside. Freddy woged back to normal. “What the hell is this place? What is going on here?”
“What does it look like?” Manny replied. “I brought you to the geiers lair and there are people in cages, anybody care to take a guess?”
“These are the homeless people that are being taken from the burned down buildings. The geiers are saving them to remove their organs later.” Nick answered. “I know why I know this place now, it’s the same place where I caught some geiers operating years ago when I first found out I was a Grimm. But back then, they kept their victims tied to hospital beds to surgically remove the organs. Why is this set up different?”
One of the caged people spoke up. “Help us! They make us fight each other, the winner of the fight goes back to their cage with dinner, the loser…” His voice trailed off unable to find the strength to finish the sentence.
“...becomes dinner.” Nick answered. “Isn’t that right Manny?”
Manny nodded. “Geiers.”
“This is sick and barbaric.” Kelly said.
“This is why Grimms do what we do.” Nick said to his son. “Now let’s get these people out of here before the geiers get back.” They went around and opened the cages and let everyone out and directed them to the exit.
“Wait, where are the geiers?” Diana asked.
“Right here Grimm!” One shrieked as they entered the barn. There was a half dozen in this group and they charged at the intruders.
The bystanders ran as fast as they could while Freddy, Diana and Kelly woged and prepared to fight along with Nick. While Nick and Freddy relied on basic hand to hand combat to fight the geiers, Kelly used his staff and Diana repelled the rest with her telekinesis. As Nick finished off his opponent, he looked back to Manny. He had not woged and just stood there watching the whole thing. “This was a trap, wasn’t it?”
“How many times do I have to say I’m neutral?” Manny replied. “I just brought you here, I don’t care who wins, I’m just here to watch and congratulate the winner.”
“That will have to wait.” Kelly said. “I don’t see the mask on any of these guys.”
Manny looked around at the geiers’ faces. “Yeah, Cook’s not here, but I’m sure he will be, along with the other half of his crew.”
Nick pulled out his phone and made a call. “Adalind, have you and the girls made any progress on the mask reversal ceremony?”
“Yeah, we’re ready.” Adalind replied. “Where are you? We’ll meet you.”
“Ping my phone.” Nick said. “Or one of the kids. We’re at a barn in the woods.”
“What’s going on right now?” Adalind asked.
“We found the squatters from the burned-out buildings and got them out, they’re safe now.” Nick replied. “We ran into some geiers, but not all of them, which means Cook and his mask still hasn’t shown up yet and we’re going to need help, so get here as soon as you can.”
“We’re on our way.” Adalind replied.
Kelly looked a little confused. “Why do we need them to help us with the mask? Can’t we just get Manny to do it?”
Without breaking his gaze with his son, Nick simply said “Manny can we count on you to help us if things go south?”
“Nope, not a chance.” Manny said without skipping a beat.
“There you go.” Nick replied.
While they waited for Adalind and the girls, Nick called Hank and Wu to pick up the victims. There were a lot, so Monroe and Rosalee brought their vehicles too and Bud and his kids even offered to help with the transportation.
“Thanks for the help guys.” Kelly said to Bud’s kids. “Do you want to stick around for the main event?”
The eisbibers woged in fear. “W-w-we really gotta get these people back to town. Best to leave the fighting to the pros, right?”
Diana laughed. “He’s just messing with you. Nobody expects you to be here when the fighting starts.”
The eisbibers relaxed and their woges reversed. “Whew, what a relief. Don’t do that, you know eisbibers have sensitive hearts. You could have killed us!” They got in their cars and drove off.
Diana punched her brother. “He’s right, don’t do that, jerk.”
They waited patiently for the girls and the geiers, unsure of which would come first, but making sure they were prepared either way. They heard footsteps, and hoped for the best, but what came through the door was not the best at all. Cook led the other half of the gang into the barn. “What the hell happened here?”
Cook’s underlings charged the hunters and engaged them. One made the mistake of going after Kelly who promptly impaled him with his staff, making him the first casualty of this batch. Seeing Kelly as the strongest, Cook looked at him. “You’re mine.” He put on his mask and woged. It was exceptionally weird because mostly he woged as a geier, but his face was a damonfeurer. It got even weirder when he breathed fire. Kelly held up his left hand, woged and repelled the fire using his own telekinesis. It wasn’t as strong as Diana’s, but strong enough to stop the fire. As Cook looked through the fire to see Kelly he saw his eyes. “Grimm! And a zauberbiest?”
“Wait, there’s more.” Kelly put on the damonfeurer gauntlet.
Cook was surprised. “Where did you get that?” Then he noticed Manny in the shadows by the wall. “You! We had a contract!”
“And so does he.” Manny replied, woging as he spoke. “Now we see which one is truly worthy of the blessings of Xipe Totec. Let the games begin!”
The others were all preoccupied with their opponents. Even Diana was struggling, her opponent managed to get a hold of the staff stuck in her cohort and evened her odds with the hexenbiest. Nick and Freddy were going all out with their opponents, clearly stronger than the first wave. Kelly was on his own.
Cook threw a few punches, Kelly blocked and countered. They went back and forth for a few rounds, tried a few kicks, nothing changed. Desperate, Cook tried breathing fire again, Kelly dodged the attack. They went around like this for a few more rounds and before Kelly knew it, they were surrounded by a circle of fire. “Nowhere to run now Grimm! It ends now!”
“Yes it does.” Kelly held his hand out pantomiming holding a ball, and conjured a fireball, then threw it at Cook, knocking him into the wall of fire.
Meanwhile, Diana managed to get a hold of the staff and turned it against the geier. As she looked toward her brother she screamed. “Kelly!” Using all of her power she extinguished the flames. She rushed to hug Kelly. “Are you okay, bro?”
“Get away from me!” Kelly screamed lunging at her. He grabbed his left arm and tried to pull it back. He fell to the ground.
Just then Adalind and Julie entered the barn. “What’s happening?”
“Something’s wrong with the gauntlet.” Diana told Adalind.
Adalind rushed to her son’s side. “It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll make it all right.” She pulled out the incantation to fix the gauntlet. Before she could begin reading it, Kelly grabbed it and burned it. Then pushed his mother away. He tried to pull his hand back and screamed in pain.
“It’s all right, I have a copy too.” Julie ran to Kelly. She held his face and looked him in the eye and woged. “It’s me babe.”
Kelly looked at her and growled.
Freddy came after Kelly still fully woged. “Don’t you dare hurt my sister!” The two boys started fighting.
Nick looked at Manny. “Do something!”
“What do you want?” Manny replied.
Nick grabbed a hold of Manny. “You know damn well what I want, fix my son!”
“I told you, this is the will of Xipe Totec.” Manny replied. “I will not interfere.”
“That’s my son you son of a bitch!” Nick screamed. “Do something!”
“Or what?” Manny goaded Nick. “You’ll kill me? I can’t help him if I’m dead you need me alive, you won’t dare hurt me if your dear baby boy has to pay the price.”
Kelly shoved Freddy hard and he flew into the wall. Julie tried to get through to Kelly again. “Fight it Kelly! For me!” She rushed over to him and kissed him. As she pulled away, Kelly looked at his hand, it had returned to normal.
Kelly looked closer at his arm and realized he was still wearing the bracer. “Wait, what happened to the gauntlet?”
“Hmm… you must have absorbed it.” Manny noted. “That’s never happened before. Of course, we usually only use the face, and we never make them for Grimms or zauberbiests. It could be any combination of factors. Most unexpected and intriguing. I must see how this plays out.”
“You won’t see much from a prison cell.” Nick said getting his handcuffs ready. “You’re under arrest for murder.”
“What makes you think I’ll go quietly?” Manny said slyly.
“The fact that you are outnumbered by two Grimms, two hexenbiests, a fuchsbau and a blutbad as soon as Freddy comes to.” Nick answered.
“Okay, you got me.” Manny conceded, finally woging back to normal.
Freddy got up, as it turns out he wasn’t really knocked out at all and he was still angry and woged. He looked back and forth from Kelly to Manny and charged. It wasn’t quite clear who he was aiming for.
Diana stopped him. She grabbed a hold of him and forced his woge to reverse using her powers. She held his limp form. “A little help here please.”
Theresa finally caught up to everyone. “Sorry, there was one more geier out there I had to deal with. Is everybody okay?” She went to Diana to help carry her brother out.
As they left the barn, Diana noticed two gold coins on the ground next to Cook’s body. “Wait.” She reached down to pick them up.
“What is it?” Theresa asked.
“Oh nothing.” Diana said, not quite sure why she couldn’t be honest with her friend about what she found.
Seven years earlier…
“Show us a full woge.” Monroe said.
“Is that all you got?” Nick added.
“Yes!” Kelly replied. “No matter how hard I try it’s only my arm. I’m sorry.” Kelly began to cry.
Nick hugged his son. “It’s okay son. You don’t have to be sorry, you’re not doing anything wrong. We just want to know the full extent of your woge. We just want to know what we’re dealing with so we can help you. I love you son.”
“Hey Nick, maybe we should give him a moment.” Monroe said. “This can be very hard to take in, just let him relax for a moment, okay.”
Nick nodded. “I’ll be here for you when you need me.” He walked away with Monroe.
After a while, Julie approached Kelly. “So how are you dealing with all of this?”
“Okay, I guess.” Kelly replied. “I mean, I don’t even really know what I am, let alone how I’m supposed to feel.”
They were both quiet for a moment, then Julie spoke. “The others said they saw their worst selves in your eyes when they woged, but I wasn’t scared by what I saw at all. I saw something beautiful in your eyes, not a monster.”
Kelly blushed a little and stuttered as he tried to reply to her. “Of course, you are beautiful, no matter what you look like, you could never be a monster in my eyes.”
Julie blushed a little too. She took Kelly’s left hand in hers. She looked him in the eye and woged. “Still beautiful.”
“Still beautiful.” Kelly echoed, woging his hand.
Julie took his hand and rubbed it against her face, then leaned in to kiss him. Kelly couldn’t help but kiss her back.
Seven years later…
Back at home alone, Diana took the coins out to look at them again. They had strange symbols on them, like crooked crosses. She couldn’t seem to break her gaze, and she became overcome with a vision. She saw herself dressed in the finest silk dress she’d ever worn, heading out to a balcony, looking out over a crowd of people. They all looked at her, cheering her name, crying out in praise.
“Yes, my people, adore me.” Diana said to them. “Worship me!”