Chapter 32

Epilogue

Stiles groans at the sudden blast of noise that wakes him up and he really doesn't want to move, he is quite comfortable snuggled up to his personal space heater, i.e. his wolf. He and Derek had snuck off for a quick nap because they weren't interested in leaving as more and more packs had kept arriving thanks to Stiles and Master Lyra as things got bigger and bigger, but they had finally succumbed to exhaustion and had been sent off to rest. The party had started after the word came from Clarissant that the Council had agreed to Stiles' demand and it was still going on from last night and while there were more than a few who had apparently slipped off and were still asleep out like he was only seconds ago, there was also a substantial crowd awake and moving. Then the smells hits him.

"Food?" Derek suddenly wakes up and sits them both up looking around. There are new tables of food everywhere and Stiles spots Jaymin and Taleesa running around with several of the kids from the packs trying to keep up with the Centaur foals. They both stand up and start walking towards the tables groaning with food and more people that Stiles didn't recognize.

"Where did all this come from?" Stiles asks rubbing his eyes.

"High Alphas" a woman says flashing her golden eyes and bowing to both of them. "Coffee?" she offers and Stiles greedily accepts. Derek does too after a brief flash of his own eyes and a nod of thanks.

"Uh…sorry, did I meet you already?" Stiles asks her after his first few sips.

She laughs. "No High Alpha. I arrived about two hours ago thanks to Master Lyra."

"Ugh, it's too early for all that. Just call me Stiles."

She looks uncomfortable with than but nods. "As you wish."

"Whose pack are you in" Derek asks politely.

"The Garcia Pack, High Alpha. From Flagstaff."

"Arizona?" Stiles sputters and Derek looks equally surprised.

"Alpha Delgado told us of the news and we came. There are more than a few packs from your new territory" she says and points to three men all standing and talking with Alpha Delgado. All three of them flash their red eyes at them and then nod politely.

"Thank you" Stiles says to the woman as they walk over to the three foreign alphas.

"High Alpha Hale, High Alpha Stilinski, may I introduce Alpha Garcia from Flagstaff, Alpha Anderson from Pocatello, Idaho, and Alpha Davis from Park Valley, Utah" Alpha Delgado introduces the three alphas who all nod respectfully to both of them.

"When did you all get here? And how?" Stiles asks looking around still more than a bit surprised that there are way more people here than last night.

Alpha Davis smiles and looks at Javier. "When this one called to tell us that the High Alphas had just declared most of the western US a hunter free zone, and that the Hunter's Council had agreed to withdraw from the territory, then we had to come. Your Sorceress was kind enough to bring us here."

"How many Alphas are here?" Derek asks looking around the clearing.

"Not counting your pack? Twenty-six and counting" Alpha Delgado says happily.

"TWENTY-SIX!?!" Stiles yelps. "I didn't know that they were that many packs!"

"That's not all of us" Alpha Anderson assures him. "Just the ones who were able and willing to come. We wanted to meet the High Alphas and it seems like a party just happened and more and more alphas heard about it and then they wanted to come" he says looking around and smiling.

"I think we should gather the Alphas" Derek says looking thoughtful. "Did many Emissaries come?" he asks them.

"Pretty much all of them" Alpha Delgado says easily. "They are all over there" he points "speaking with your three."

"Three?" Stiles mutters and then he spots Lydia, Alan, and Marin with a group of men and women. "Ah, gotcha." He turns to Derek "You could take everyone to the House clearing" he suggests and Derek nods.

Stiles decides to walk over to the Emissaries and leaves Derek talking with the other Alphas and he spots several likely Alphas heading for Derek's group, called by some unknown means, though all of them take a moment to nod to him before continuing on. In fact, just about everyone is doing that. Okay, this is weird. "Stiles!" Scott says causing Stiles to jump.

"Jesus dude, don't do that!"

"Sorry bro, but have you seen this? Master Lyra has been bringing people in all morning. She even had to bring in a couple of her sorcerer friends to help. It's crazy!"

"Where's your mom? And your dad?" he asks not spotting them.

"Mom had a shift that she didn't want to miss so she's at the hospital. My dad and yours are back in town trying to manage things there. Mr. Argent went home but Allison stayed here. She has been speaking to some of the Alphas trying to get information about hunters that need to be watched. People are hesitant but she will win them over" he says happily.

"Where's everyone else?" he asks when he spots Lydia signaling him to come over.

"Boyd, Erica, and Isaac are around here somewhere, they have been dealing with more than a few people our own age who want to make this a regular thing. Jackson is pretty much waiting on Lydia and running to get her coffee and stuff. Yvette went home to sleep after all the stuff she did" he shudders a bit at that. "Cora and Peter are talking to some old Hale allies and oh! Eddie has three cousins who survived the attack. They weren't home and he didn't realize it. They have all joined a new pack, but he told them he wanted to stay here with us, which they all thought was cool."

"Having a True Alpha as your alpha is pretty noteworthy" Stiles admits, and Scott smiles happily.

"Stiles!" Lydia calls out and Stiles waves Scott off to go see his Emissary. He walks up to a group that is staring at him in a mix of awe, disbelief, and hope. "Everyone, this is Stiles, our High Alpha and theArcanist."

"Is it true you wield all six magics?" a woman about Melissa's age asks.

He nods. "Yes."

"But I can't see your Mark" she says in confusion.

"Oh sorry, which one did you want to see?"

She looks confused. "I am a witch" she says slowly.

He smiles and then she looks shocked. "I see it! You have the Witch Mark, but it wasn't there before."

"You bear the mark of the Morgaine and the Merlin" a man about his grandfather's age whispers while he stares at Stiles looking awestruck.

Stiles smiles and then man gasps. "You have the Druidic Mark now!"

"I can make any of them visible. And yes, Lizzie and Arthur apparently marked me when I visited them."

The man looks like he might pass out at Stiles calling them by their first names, but he turns to Alan and Marin. "This is unbelievable."

Alan nods looking proud. "Mr. Stilinski is rather unique."

"Arcanist?" a young girl, only a few years older than he and Lydia and looking very nervous, is almost startled by her own voice. "Is it true you are seeking to create an academy for magic?"

He smiles. "Well, it won't be Hogwarts" he laughs "but yes. A place to gather, share knowledge, teach, learn, study, and practice. I studied at the Majestic Library in Kamar-Taj and hope to build something similar here. We hope to be ready in about a year to invite people here."

The hour is him responding to questions as they all get comfortable with him. It takes him a bit, but he suddenly realizes that Lydia has been getting quieter and quieter and she hasn't participated in the last ten minutes or so of the conversation, which surprises him. He glances over and sees that her eyes are glazed over and she appears out of it. "Lyds?" Stiles says talking over a young druid from Utah. He stands up and moves over to her. He sees Jackson suddenly appear and take her hand, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"Lydia" Jackson says gently but Lydia starts rocking, shaking in his arms. Jackson looks up at him in concern. "What's wrong with her?"

"Arcanist?" the older druid says looking at him with concern. "Your Emissary is unwell?"

"She's a Banshee. I think she is hearing something" Stiles says absently.

"Banshee's hear death" Felisha reminds him, and he nods at the Marshall Emissary.

"But the fight is over. We won. No one else is in danger" Jackson says confused.

Stiles reaches for the pack bonds and yanks hard and feels everyone react. He can sense his father, Melissa, and Chris and all of them appear safe, but the rest of the pack he knows are moving towards him.

"STILES!" Derek yells and everyone clears a path for the High Alpha, with a pack of alphas running right behind him. He runs up to them and the Alphas almost instinctively move to stand with their Emissaries.

"It's Lydia. She is hearing something!"

Derek stops and looks down at the redhead in Jackson's arms and she is totally out of it. Her lips are moving but she is making no sound, not even one a wolf could hear. "Stiles? Is there danger? Did something get close" he asks his mate whose eyes are glowing brightly as he stares into the distance.

Stiles' eyes go back to normal. "I can't sense anything Derek. There is no danger that I can detect. Nothing but us is even close, no unknown creatures or anything as far as I can tell. I don't know why she is reacting like this. She usually hears a name, maybe we can…"

At that moment Lydia sits up, opens her mouth, and screams. They have all heard her scream before. She blasted the Darach so strongly that she ripped apart flesh. She screamed loud enough to summon the Hale spirits back to Earth. She has trained and gotten better, but this is nothing they have heard before.

The wolves, in mass, go down in agony as their ears suffer her assault. The only good thing about it is that it is completely undirected, so while it is loud and painful, it is not harmful. Unfortunately, for anything made of glass or anything glasslike, the same cannot be said as Lydia's scream shatters every piece in miniature explosions. Those with non-enhanced hearing aren't much better off in terms of pain, but at least for them it is more like a bad headache versus the wolves' migraines. Stiles also hears some car alarms going off around them and he can hear echoes further away and he wonders how far her scream is reaching. On an impulse, he reaches for the ley lines below and when it touches them, he almost jerks back in shock. The ley lines which are raging, echoing the haunting wails over and over again. He reaches out but the echoes are racing back and forth through every line he can touch, some sounding different enough that he realizes that is isn't just Lydia.

While it seems to go on forever, Lydia finally collapses into Jackson who had never let her go. He looks up at Stiles in fear. "I didn't hear a name."

"She's never been that loud" Derek says worryingly. "Who was she screaming for?" he turns to look at Stiles and freezes at the look of fear on his mate's face. "Stiles?" he grabs him by the arm. "What is it?"

Stiles swallows staring at Lydia. "It wasn't just Lydia. Other Banshees are screaming" he whispers.

"Other Banshees? What other Banshees?" Derek demands. There are no other Banshees in Beacon Hills he is certain.

"I think…I think it was all of them. Every Banshee, everywhere. Their wails are echoing through the ley lines around the entire planet" Stiles say staring at Lydia in fear.

There is a silence following his words like no one can believe them. "What does it mean?" Erica asks looking at Stiles for answers.

"I don't know" Stiles says shaking his head.

"LYDIA!" Jackson screams and everyone stares in shock at the scene before them. Lydia Martin, Emissary of the Hale Pack, Banshee, and Future Fields Medal Recipient turns brownish gray and in seconds dissolves into a cloud of dust-like ash. Several people scream in shock, but Jackson is desperately trying to hold on to her.

"JACKSON!" Erica screams as they watch him dissolve into the same kind of dust cloud, managing to look up at Stiles for only a second before he is gone too.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" someone screams. Stiles looks around and sees Alpha Flores turn to dust, an expression of shock on her face. He looks around and notices that more and more people are turning to dust. Centaurs, dwarves, two of the sasquatch, he can't keep track.

"Peter!" Cora screams and Stiles and Derek both turn just in time to see the cloud that used to be Peter Hale being blown away.

"Stiles, do something!" Erica wails looking at him, terrified as two girls she had been talking with both disappear.

Stiles is in shock. He feels them dying in mass, his pack bonds snapping one by one. He looks at the others and can tell it's affecting all of them. He looks at Derek in terror feeling the bond between them cracking. "Derek!" he screams and reaches out for the man with his magic, desperately trying to hold on to him, to hold him together, but there is nothing to grab onto. His magic doesn't make contact as he stares at Derek, the look on the Alpha's face was one of confusion, guilt, and sorrow as he reaches out to grab Stiles with a hand that's no longer there. "NO!" Stiles screams but its too late and the High Alpha is gone. Stiles falls to his knees in shock.

"Stiles! What do we do?" Scott yells just as Isaac turns to dust, Allison is crying as she was trying to hold the teen as he fell apart. "Are we being attacked?"

But it's too much and he knows it. The ley lines tell him what's going on. It isn't just here, it's everywhere. The lines are exploding, overflowing with power as everyone who dies sends their life energy into the Earth and the lines are trying to manage the avalanche of energy. Billions are dying, he can feel them, and not just humans, animals as well are also dying, and the flood of energy is too much for them to handle. Tears trailing down his face, he has to try to do something.

"Sheriff, we are getting calls about some scream" Tara says putting down her phone, not that she needed it. Everyone in the station heard that scream and it seems like most of the town did as well. "Is this one of 'those' things?" she asks him with a look of concern.

Noah shrugs. "I don't know, Lydia screams like that but even if she did we shouldn't be able to hear it here since she is still out at the party." He reaches for his phone as one of his deputies yells out and he looks up and sees deputy Adams suddenly turn to dust and disappear.

"What the hell?!" Raphael McCall yells just as two more deputies collapse into dust.

"SHERIFF!" Tara screams and Jordan and Rafe both look over and watch in shock as Noah Stilinski disappears, leaving only dust behind, slowly drifting to the floor of the temporary station. The shocked silence of the remaining deputies is broken by the sudden ringing of every phone in the place.

A scream pierces the emergency room and Melissa McCall runs over to see a woman staring at a dust cloud in horror. She doesn't see the doctor who was treating her. "What's happening?" she demands but the woman is hysterical, unable to answer her and Melissa thinks he might have to sedate the woman.

"Melissa! Rachel just dissolved!" Cindy comes screaming around the corner, tears flowing. "I was talking to her and she just turned to dust."

Melissa frowns. She is certain she heard Lydia scream. What is going on here? She feels a tingle and looks at her hand and watches in fascination as she sees it start to dissolve. She feels detached as she watches her body turning to dust. It doesn't hurt. She does hear Cindy screaming her name but then she's gone.

"Stiles! What do we do? People are dying everywhere" Allison yells looking around, ready to kill something, anything. They are under attack and she can't find anyone to fight. The wolves are looking terrified and he can hear Yndriesdi keening as her mate dissolved like the others. The loss of the dragon hurts but he doesn't have time for this.

"It's not an attack, at least not just on us" Stiles manages to get out.

"Not an attack?! Stiles they are killing us! It has to be the Council!" Cora yells, angry and scared.

"No! It's not just here. It's everywhere. The whole world. Billions of people are gone. And not just people. Animals, birds, fish, magical beings, everything. Half of everything is gone."

His words silence everyone. There are looks of disbelief, but the most common is fear. Fear that he is right. "It's true!" one of the betas scream and heads all turn towards her. "It's on the news. It's happening everywhere. New York, London, Bejing, Moscow, Sydney, everywhere."

Scott drops to the ground beside Stiles. "Stiles, my mom. I need to get to her!"

Stiles turns to his best friend and brother and shakes his head. "I'm so sorry Scott. She's gone" he says and sees Scott shake his head in denial. "My dad and Mr. Argent are gone too" he says looking at Allison who looks suddenly more like a young girl afraid than the bad ass huntress she is."

"What do we do?" Boyd asks holding Erica who is crying into his shoulder.

Stiles stands up and looks around the field, now at least half empty. He feels the magic tearing up the land, the planet can't handle this, he might be able to do something, but he needs time. "Scott. Listen, I can't explain this but you have to just listen to me, okay? Take charge. Get everyone to the sheriff's station or back to their homes to check on family if they aren't here. Find everyone who's left and get them together, so no one is alone or forgotten. Dave, Whulibela, can you do the same for the magical folk? Make sure things are okay. Alan?" he looks around and sees Marin shake her head, tears flowing down her cheek. "Marin, can you coordinate the Emissaries, I will need some magical help."

"Stiles who did this?" Allison asks looking scared.

"I don't know, but that's not important right now. We have to act now or it's going to get worse."

So ends Chapter Two of the Teen Sorcerer Saga. Please join us for Part 3 – High Alpha, coming in 2021.