** COMPLETED **
(This is a Lydia Martin GirlxGirl story)
Florence Clarke has lived all around the world with her adoptive family since her parents left her when she was young. And where her family goes, destruction tends to come with.
But one day...
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Chapter Fifty-Four 🌒 Maid Of Gévaudan 🌘
"That letter would eventually find its way into the hands of a young woman. A skilled hunter who would later face the Beast armed with nothing but a steel-tipped pike. She would be known by history as the Maid of Gévaudan... But her real name was Marie-Jeanne."
Lydia, Florence and the still-injured Parrish were still in the bunker where Gerard and Argent are telling them what they know about the Beast. Florence glanced over at Parrish to see he looks discouraged and overwhelmed after everything that he has just learned about his nature as the Hellhound.
"Maybe someone should resurrect her." He said before turning to walk out the door, but Florence grabbed his arm, "Where are you going?" She said and he turned to her. "My dreams aren't like Lydia's, you know this, we have the same dreams. I'm not just a harbinger of death- I'm the cause of it." He said then turned to leave again making Florence go to follow him.
"Jordan fucking Parrish!" She called out and went to leave but Gerard stopped her, "Let him go." He said making her turn to him an annoyed look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?" She asked, "Because as much as we believe Parrish could take on the Beast, especially with your help... Neither of us think you are our only hope at stopping it." He said making both girls look at him confused.
"What do you mean?" Lydia asked, moving to stand next to her girlfriend, "We think there's another." He said as Gerard walked over. "You." He said, looking at Lydia making them look at each other. "Marie-Jeanne was a lot like you, Lydia. Skeptical of her own abilities. And once, actually, just as skeptical of the supernatural..." Gerard said, starting to explain everything again.
"Why didn't he warn her?" Lydia asked a little while after Gerard told some of the story, "He told her about everything that they'd seen during the war. But, like I said... Marie-Jeanne was a skeptic. They searched from dawn 'til dusk, hoping to find the Beast where it slept. But, they knew they'd most likely only encounter it at nightfall. It was just after midnight when the first torch went out..."
All if the sudden, Florence and Lydia both hear a loud banging noise along with the sound of the Beast roaring. To Florence it sounded like it was inside the bunker, but it hits Lydia with such force that she gets woozy and nearly collapses. Florence quickly catches her before she falls while Argent stepped forward, "Lydia?" Argent asked.
"Something's happening." Lydia said and Florence nodded in agreement while Argent raised his eyebrows, "Now?" He asked and Florence shook her head slightly. "I don't know... But something's wrong. We can't stay here." She said and her and Lydia were about to leave when Gerard stopped them.
"You should hear the rest of the story." He said making Florence scoff and turn to him, "Why should we even be listening to you of all people?" She asked and Argent gave her a stern look. "He knows it better than any of us." Argent said and Florence chuckled sarcastically and nodded. "Yeah... He knows a lot of things. Like how to control a Kanima. I watched drown a teenager and then take control of the Kanima. But yeah, let's trust him." Florence said and Gerard chuckled.
"I remember training your father, Oscar." He said making Florence look at him with a dark glare, "Yeah? And I remember burning him alive... Kinda like what your daughter did to an entire family which cause her to get her throat slashed." Florence said and Lydia grabbed her hand while Argent sighed.
"Everything I've read says that the Beast was killed by Jean Chastel." Lydia said after a moment and Gerard scoffed, "Who told you that? The internet? If that's your most reliable source of information, then you might as well go." He said and Lydia and Florence glanced at each other. Both of them clearly wanting to leave but yet, much to Florence's despise, still wanted to know about the Beast.
"What happened next?"
"Henri brought Marie-Jeanne to his home... A place protected by a circle of mountain ash trees. Marie-Jeanne knew she couldn't just take out another hunting party armed with mistletoe and rowan berries. She needed an advantage. She needed to know her enemy... Marie-Jeanne confronted her brother the moment she walked back into the tavern. The skeptic became a full believer that night." He explained
"So, Marie-Jeanne went back to Henri to figure out how to kill both a Beast and a brother. Using a steel pike, forged out of wolfsbane, mountain ash and Marie-Jeanne's blood, under the light of a full moon." Gerard said making Florence freeze slightly, her eyes widening while Lydia looked at her equally as shocked.
"What is it?" Argent asked noticing the look on the girl's faces and Florence took a deep breath. "Do you know where it is? The pike?" Florence asked making Argent look at her confused while Gerard smirked slightly, "You mean the one thing that can kill you, for good?" He asked and she gave him a glare.
"Do you know where it is or not?" She asked and he chuckled, "No one knows for sure where it is. We assumed it got destroyed over the decades." He said and Florence glared at him for a moment, feeling like he was lying. But before she could say anything else he continued the story, "Marie-Jeanne hunted Sebastien for three years until she finally cornered him in 1767."
Gerard started talking about how Marie-Jeanne telling her brother about how history would only remember him as a Beast making realization cross over Florance's features. "Damnatio memoriae." She said and Argent nodded, "They erased every detail of him. Everything he signed, everything he owned..."
"They burned it all. The name Sebastien Valet has been forgotten for over 150 years, but when it's remembered." Gerard said, "When the Beast remembers, the teenager inside is forgotten." Argent continued.
"Gone. Forever." Gerard said and Lydia frowned slightly, "But Marie-Jeanne didn't do it alone. She was never alone. She had help from Henri, the Magistrate, the town... even Marcel." She said and Florence took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
"We need Jordan. I'm going to go find him." Harlow said and turned to leave but Argent stopped her, "Florence, he's dangerous." He said making her turn to him with a dirty look. "He's still a shapeshifter- and one who's just beginning to understand his power." He said and Florence scoffed before gesturing to herself and Lydia.
"And what about us? Lydia has a scream that can blow up your fucking brain. I can turn into giant bird of fire but yeah sure, Jordan's the dangerous one." She said and he sighed and shook his head.
"You guys are not the same. You access the supernatural- it works through you." He said, looking at Lydia before turning to Florence, "And it works with you." He said. "But it doesn't control either of you." Gerard said making Lydia shoot him a glare. "How would you know? Why do you even care? Why are you suddenly on our side?" She asked.
Gerard picked up one of the Argent family's silver bars and slides it across the table toward Lydia and Florence, "Because it's my name as well." He said as Lydia opened the book. "Marie-Jeanne never left Henri after the death of her brother. And their relationship became more than a partnership. They married, and she took his name."
Lydia picked up the silver bar, which has the Argent fleur-de-lis stamped onto it, and realization crossed over her features. "Argent." She said and Argent nodded, "Marie-Jeanne was the first hunter." He said and Gerard smiles smugly at the girls.
"Our name will be remembered as well, girls- for killing the Beast." He said and Florence squinted at him. "But we're not Argents." She said and Lydia turned to Argent, "And I'm not Allison." She said before Florence grabbed her hand and they both walked out the bunker.
