Word Count: 3768

Last chapter!

No one spoke as they all filed back into the house. Celie immediately went to the bar and started mixing drinks as Harper handed out beers and poured wine for the elders. They all needed a drink after that revelation.

"There's no telling how many of them are out there now," Harper finally spoke. "There's no way to find them, they could be anywhere, and it could be years before they come back or show themselves, and who knows how many they could recruit in the meantime."

"I was happier before she started answering my questions," Celie said.

"Are we sure she was telling the truth," Lorelai asked.

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive she was," Celie answered. "I don't know how I know that, but I know she was."

Just then they heard the door open and a few seconds later Adam came in smiling until he looked around the room.

"What happened?" Adam asked, his happy mood immediately falling away just by seeing the looks on their faces.

"Su and Cole had six sons that they sent out last winter to teach and recruit more tritons to their army," Harper answered.

"Oh shit," Adam said, as the implications of those words hit him. "We're fucked."

"We really are," Celie agreed, knocking back the rest of her drink before pouring herself another.

Everyone was silent for several moments, each turning it over and over in their minds.

"There has to be a way to find them," Harper said. "There has to be something we can do! We just need to go over all our options carefully and come up with a plan."

"That's my girl. Think it through, figure it out, never give up, never surrender," Matt chuckled, putting his arms around Harper. "If anyone can figure it out, I know it's you."

"I'm not as confident as you," Harper sighed.

"I am," Celie said suddenly, and smacked her hand down on the bar. "We can figure this out! We have to, we don't have any other choice, so bitching and whining about it is going to do us no damn good at all. We keep doing what we were doing before we fought them on the beach. Nothing has changed. Yeah, there are more of them out there, but we figured their whole species was evolving, this is no different."

"Celie is right," Eden said. "We assumed the worst before we met Jenny and learned of Cole, we keep doing what we had planned. We notify as many sirens as we can, we keep our eyes open for them, we kill as many as we find. We know more now than we did before. We know for sure they are learning, they are communicating, they are coming together to fight us. We didn't know that before, so we're still in a better position than we were in."

"Yes," Ara said. "We keep calling to our kin, we kill as many as we can, we stop being complacent, we wipe them out!"

"Before we go down the 'wipe them out' road," Celie said, glancing at Ara apologetically. "Just as Cole's spawn are out there recruiting murderers, there are probably just as many Bo's and Vall's out there trying to survive. Those two never wanted to be a part of this, they never wanted to fight us or kill us. They don't eat people, they never did. Vall grew up in a family, her parents were mates, there have to be more like them. What do we do with them? How do we find them and help them? I'm sorry, I want to stop them as much as everyone here, but I don't want to become them in the process."

"I agree," Mesa said, nodding. "I don't want to become like them either, and if we slaughter them without mercy, we will be no different. We have always prided ourselves on our ability for peace and compassion, we cannot forget who we are. But we must not assume that every triton is the same as Vall and Bo, because very few of them are. We must speak more to the triton Su, and more to the mates, we must find ways to differentiate the two without putting ourselves at risk."

"Yes," Ara said, looking reassuringly at Celie, then winked. "Let us wipe out the evil so that the good shall thrive."

Harper has been chewing the inside of her cheek staring at the floor as the discussion went on.

"Callum," Harper said suddenly, surprising everyone. "What kind of GPS trackers are out there that could be used on a person without them knowing? Not a phone or something they carry with them, but inside a body, underwater. Is there technology out there that could do that?"

Callum stared at Harper for a few seconds, thinking.

"DARPA might have something like that, but nothing on the commercial market," Callum responded.

"What is DARPA?" Eden asked.

"US government advanced research agency," Callum responded. "I have no doubt they have something, but it's likely classified and not something you can buy on amazon."

"Any chance you have hacker friends that could help you find out?" Harper asked.

"I just might," Callum grinned.

"You want to let her go," Celie said, suddenly realizing where Harper's line of questioning was going.

"What?!" Several voices rose at once.

"Harper wants to tag Su and let her go, then track her whereabouts and follow her to find out where she goes," Celie explained, her eyes never leaving Harpers. "Don't you? That's where you're going with this. If anyone can find Cole's sons, it's their mother."

"You know me too well," Harper grinned at Celie.

"I will not agree to let her go," Eva said.

"I don't need your permission," Harper responded, with a raised brow.

Eden turned but a glance from Celie stopped him before he could even draw a breath to say anything.

"Before this turns unpleasant," Silas said, standing up. "I believe Harper is proposing to do so only under the assurance that we can track her movements and she will lead us to her sons and the other tritons. Only if we can do so safely, is that true?"

"Let's talk about truth," Harper said, standing, and turning toward the elders.

Celie immediately came out from behind the bar to stand beside Harper, giving her unequivocal support. Matt stood on the other side of Harper and Eden moved to Celie's side.

"There's something you're not telling us," Harper said. "You know more than you've said, you need to come clean. NOW."

"All of you," Ara said, staring pointedly at the siren elders as she and Sagan moved to Eden's side. Giving no doubt as to who they trusted.

"With all respect," Lorelai said after a second, looking at the elders. "If you know something more than you've said, please, you must tell us."

It was a tense stalemate until Moira sighed.

"We're still trying to determine if what we've heard has any merit at all," Moira said.

"Well, we're flying blind here, we need every possible piece of information you can give us, whether it has merit or not," Harper folded her arms over her chest. "We've been fighting and theorizing with no direction this whole time, and I'm sick of it."

"We also need to know who we can trust," Celie said. "If we can't trust our own elders, the leaders of our kind, to tell us what they know, then why are you even here? If you're not going to share information and help us, then just leave, because you're drinking a lot of wine and it looks like I'm gonna need it soon."

And just like that, all the tension was gone from the room as everyone laughed.

"I'm not kidding about that," Celie grinned. "We're almost out of vodka and you guys are going through the wine, you don't want to see me sober."

Again, the room erupted in laughter, and Eden put his arm around Celie and hugged her close.

"Well, you've made a compelling argument," Silas chuckled after a second. "We will share the bit of...hearsay...we know as long as you don't cut off the wine."

"Hearsay?" Harper asked, relaxing a little.

"Yes," Enna replied. "There was once a prophecy that has been passed down through the ages of our people, it spoke of the rise of the tritons."

"A prophecy?" Ara asked, anger in her tone. "Why have we heard nothing of this?"

"Yes," Mesa said, glaring at the elders. "You should have informed us of this the moment we arrived."

"We thought it best to assess..." Charo began but Eden cut him off.

"That is not solely your decision to make," Eden said hotly. "We are not like the wolves, elders do not hold all the power here, you are not above us."

Silas and the other elders exchanged glances.

"Maybe they didn't tell you," Celie whispered quietly to Moira, who was watching the confrontation in confusion. "But in siren culture, elders are respected, but they don't really hold any power, it's shared equally with the strongest warriors. They had no authority to keep shit to themselves, they're probably going to get their asses kicked here soon."

The wolf elders glanced sharply at Celie, who just pressed her lips together and shrugged.

"Tell us of this prophecy now," Eden commanded angrily.

"It is said the prophecy was spoken by the last golden siren," Eva said. "She spoke of a great time of upheaval; she said the tritons would one day rise on the back of the first leader's strongest son."

"Cole," Harper said grimly. "The first one to try and unite them."

"You didn't think that was relevant?" Winter asked in annoyance.

"We didn't know he had sons," Charo said.

"We didn't know he didn't either," Sagan snapped.

"And you?" Harper said, turning to the wolf elders. "What is it you're not sharing? Because I know you're hiding something."

"We've recently been contacted," Moira said hesitantly.

"Contacted by whom?" Porter asked, eye narrowed in irritation when she hesitated.

"A Seer," Silas said, causing Lorelai to glance up sharply.

"When did she call?" Lorelai asked.

"Last week," Moira answered. "She said she needed to see the 'Moon Blessed Empath' and asked that we send her."

Harper's head snapped up.

"Who's that?" Celie asked, confused.

"You," Harper said.

"What?" Celie stared at her.

"You're the only one it could be, unless there are other moon blessed people out there we don't know about," Harper said, holding up her wrist. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not an empath."

"I'm not either," Celie argued.

"Yes, you are," Moira said. "You just haven't come into your full power yet."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Celie snapped. "Seriously, now is not the time to be all cryptic and shit."

"The moon does not give her blessing easily, child," Atticus said. "There is always an...ability that goes along with it."

"Then what was my ability?" Harper asked.

"I don't know, only you can answer that," Moira said.

"Well, that totally cleared the everything up," Celie said sarcastically.

"The Seer will know," Lorelai said.

"Who's 'The Seer'?" Harper asked, air quoting.

"Her name is Eclipse," Lorelai replied. "She's a witch."

"Wait...are you being serious?" Celie asked when no one said anything else.

"Yes," Moira answered.

"Ok, so are we talking about witch like Wiccan witches with crystals and herbs, or like Samantha from the show Bewitched?" Celie asked. Then rolled her eyes when all the elders and sirens stared at her. "Seriously? Have you guys never watched Nick at Night? How am I the only person who's seen that show?"

"I've seen that show," Porter volunteered.

"Me too," Matt chuckled.

"We're the only cool people in this room," Celie said to them.

"What?" Eden turned to her.

"You're excused because you've been living in the ocean with no TV," Celie said, patting him on the arm. "The rest of you need to relax and veg out in front of the TV every once in a while."

"For the record," Adam said, holding up a finger and gesturing between him, Reese, and Callum. "We've seen the show, I just didn't want to jump in until you started criticizing."

"Anyway," Harper interrupted. "When you say 'witch' what do you mean exactly? Like what is different about a witch from a normal person, do they cast spells using potions and shit or do they have powers?"

"They use spells, potions, and some have powers," Silas answered. "Like us, some are stronger than others, but they are not as powerful as the witches of old, much of their lore has been lost. Most of their kind were wiped out along with ours, for pretty much the same reasons. Their past is well documented, you can read about them in any library book on the subject."

"The seer is blind, she was born during a solar eclipse, the last burst of light from the sun before the moon covered it blinded her as she opened her eyes for the first time." Moira explained. "The moon goddess then came to her and told her since she was blinded by the moon, she would be blessed by the moon with a greater sight. She has warned us of many things, she has never been wrong before."

"And now she's calling you and requesting you send 'moon blessed empath' to her?" Harper asked.

"Yes," Silas answered.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Celie said, just as Harper exploded.

"What else did she say? What else haven't you fucking told us? We've had people die! A man died in my goddamn house while I held his hand because these fucking things tried to eat him alive and you guys are over here, keeping shit to your-goddamn-selves while we're racking our fucking brains trying to figure shit out! Celie almost fucking died! Do you realize that? She fucking bled half her goddamn blood out on this fucking floor and you are over here, with your holier than-fucking-thou bullshit, keeping secrets, deciding that we don't really need to know any of this shit!" Harper's voice got louder and deeper as her wolf began to surface.

Harper then turned her fury on the siren elders who all stood staring at her with wide eyes.

"And you! You were HERE! You watched me sew her up! You saw what they did to Sana, you watched us carry her body up here! And you still kept your secrets, because you thought you were so much more fucking intelligent than the rest of us. That you know so goddamn much more than we possibly could!" Harper's face was red, and her eyes were glowing amber as she surveyed all the elders. "Well, I've had it! I'm done! You're going to tell us every fucking thing you know, or think might have the remotest relevance on this situation, and that's not up for debate. It's not an option, it's not a consideration, it's not a recommendation, it's not a request, it's going to fucking happen. And if I ever find out that you're still keeping secrets after this conversation, I'm going to have your asses. Every damn one of you better recognize that."

"You will show respect..." Silas stood up.

"No, you will!" Celie shouted and held up her wrist to show that the moon symbol was glowing.

A hush fell over the room as everyone stared in shock.

"The goddess herself spoke to me," Harper said in a low voice, Ria coming through to show her anger, holding up her own glowing wrist. "She blessed me and Celie. Has she ever spoken to you? Has she ever given you her blessing? No? Then are you prepared to meet her at the end of this life and explain why you didn't help her blessed when you had the chance? When we asked?"

"We shouldn't have to throw hissy fits to get information from you," Celie said, shaking her head. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Silas raised a brow at Celie.

"Are you to lecture me, child?" Silas asked, the corner of his lip twitched.

"Yes," Celie planted her hands on her hips. "Obviously."

"It's been an age since anyone thought they could lecture Silas," Moira said.

"It's clearly overdue," Celie snorted.

"Clearly," Silas chuckled, dispelling much of the tension from the room. "But you are correct, we have not been as forthcoming as we should have been. We needed reminding that you were chosen, and that it is not our place to control you, but to help guide you."

"As if anyone could control either of them," Porter scoffed.

"It probably doesn't seem like it to you," Matt said, wrapping his arm around Harper's waist. "But these pretty girls are two of the strongest willed people you'll ever meet. They make it look easy, but it's not."

"Good," Enna said. "You will likely need that in the coming days."

"Was that all the prophecy said?" Ara asked. "Just that they would rise on the back of Cole's son?"

The siren elders glanced between each other for a second, causing Eden to cross his massive arms over his chest and glare at them.

"Speak!" Eden commanded.

"The prophecy stated that there would be a time of great upheaval and war, that the tritons and their allies would rise on the back of the first's leader's strongest son, and that sirens alone would not be able to defeat them" Enna said.

"Their allies?" Ara shouted, a bit of her siren power coming through her voice and making all the wolves in the room wince. "They have allies and you have not told us this? Who do you think you are to keep such secrets from us?"

"There's more," Enna held up a hand. "Those blessed by the moon shall guide you and unite the children of the goddess and lead you to war. Beside you shall there be the beasts of the earth, the great hunters of the seas, and rulers of the sky. Together you shall face the tritons of the deep and the great horned serpents of old. Beware of fighting alone, for without your allies, you will surely falter, and the dominion of the seas shall be lost."

"Well, that's just fucking great," Porter said. "Who the hell are the rulers of the sky?"

"You're the great hunters of the sea, right?" Harper asked.

"No, we are not," Eva said. "That is a reference to another species, we're not sure what they are supposed to be. We assume the beasts of the earth is a reference to you, if we go in order, we have to find the great hunters of the sea next, then the rulers of the sky."

"And how in the hell are we supposed to find them?" Celie asked.

"You're going to lead us to them," Enna said.

"Well, then we're double fucked, because I can't lead myself to the damn store without getting lost," Celie snorted, prompting chuckles around the room.

"Is there any reference to a time frame for all this?" Harper asked, her brain in overdrive. "How long do we have to do all this? Is it a month, a year, five years? Any clues on that?"

"Not in the prophecy," Enna replied.

"I think that's likely where Eclipse will come in," Lorelai said. "The fact that she sent for us at this time is significant I'm sure. I agree with Harper also, you're most definitely the empath, Celie. You're the most compassionate person I've ever met, the one who feels the most, who cares the most. There's no one else it could be. Also, Harper is pregnant, there's no way she's going to be the one leading a war. The goddess wouldn't have blessed her with child if it was her destiny to travel the world searching for allies and leading a war."

"Oh god, this is a nightmare," Celie said, leaning over with her elbows on the bar and her face in her hands. "What does an empath even do? What does that mean? I don't get this."

Eden rubbed Celie's back, trying to comfort her as best he could.