I will be your reaper...

Poison research

Aradia's POV

It's been a week since I woke up. Erebus is still asleep, but I sit and read to him and the thing in his arm that Uncle Felix calls a drip is feeding him, so he'll be okay! I just...I miss him. It feels empty without him. I can't remember but, it feels like we've always done everything together. My cousins and Nicholas come to play with me a lot, but I usually don't want to leave Erebus. It doesn't feel right to have fun without him. I open my mouth to tell Erebus about how I slept as usual, but Mum shouts me down for breakfast. I kiss Erebus' face and run down the hallway and down the stairs. I hear Dad yell not to run, but I giggle and do it anyway. That's when I'm scooped up by Grandpa Conrad and he sighs "Dia, my darling! Daddy and Grandpa are telling you not to run so that you don't hurt yourself. Come, let's go give everyone their good morning kiss." I nod happily, kissing Grandpa Conrad's cheek first. He sets me down by the table and I kiss the cheek of Grandma Louise, Daddy, Mummy, Auntie Celeste, Uncle Jaxon, Auntie Sophia, Cousin Mabel as well as my Uncle Noris and Auntie Talia.

Just as I'm about to ask where Auntie Chelsea and Uncle Evan are, five rowdy boys come barreling toward me like a bull. "Dia! Our turn, our turn! We want a good morning kiss from our favourite cousin too!" I huff. The boys line up and I start oldest to youngest - Dylan, Lucian, Chase, Freddie and Charlie. They all giggle and run to the door when they see Nicholas come in with his parents. They rub it in his face that they got their good morning kiss first and Nicholas looks like he's about to cry while his father, Uncle Evan is trying his best to hold in his laughter. "Goodness, Nicholas. Are you jealous?" Nicholas stomped his feet in return and nodded his head "I wanted to be the first! Daddy, I told you to hurry up! Now you've made me last!" tears fell from his eyes and I sighed, quickly rushing over and kissing his forehead "Good morning, Nicholas! Don't cry okay? My grandpa got the kiss first!" Nicholas nods and sniffles while I reach up to Uncle Evan. He picks me up and I place a kiss on Aunt Chelsea's cheek and then Uncle Evans.

Auntie Talia sighs as I'm placed down and making my way to my place on Daddy's knee to eat my breakfast. "Lily, we're so jealous. I wanted a daughter and instead, I have five boys!" everyone nods in agreement as my Dad lifts the fork to my mouth and I monch the pancake. My mother wiggles her eyebrows proudly "My daughter is the prettiest Princess in the entire universe! I understand your jealousy, Talia!" Aunt Talia huffs and playfully smacks my mother's arm while pouting "You're right about her being a Princess. The entire pack loves her so much they've put her on a pedestal. Maybe I should give my position to Aradia instead of Dylan!" Uncle Noris cackles which Auntie Talia nods and my mother shakes her head furious "No waaaay~! She's gonna be Beta!"

My mother gave a childish voice but Dylan came to run over and tugged his father's jacket "I agree! Let's make Dia Alpha! Or she can be my Luna!" My father choked on his coffee and Uncle Noris' mouth hit the floor. My mother's eyebrows were raised while the fork hung mid-air and Auntie Talia wiggled her brows at my mother "Hohoho~ My son has said it best! She can be my daughter-in-law and then I won't have to be jealous!" the other four trouble makers ran over and huffed, claiming they would be the ones to marry me instead. I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my pancake while my father choked and my mother buffered. It was then that we all turned to hear someone scream 'NO!' before pouncing onto Dylan and throwing his fists wildly.

Uncle Evan and Noris were straight up to drag the boys apart while Nicholas kicked and screamed "I won't let you! I'll marry Dia! She can be Gamma!" Alpha Noris sighed "That's enough, boys. Think of Aradia's feelings!" All six of them had lowered their heads in shame and Auntie Celeste burst out laughing "Goodness me! Our Dia isn't even bothered, look at her while she eats her pancakes!" She wasn't wrong...The only person I would be with forever would be my brother. Because I'm his protector. Dylan and Nicholas approached and pulled at my blue dress. I looked down and blinked "We're sorry Dia...We just want you to have all the good things. Don't hate us, okay?" I nodded with a smile "It's okay! I already have all the good things. Look at all this family we have! Instead, I'll give all of you guys the good things, Okay? Now we just need Erebus to wake up..."

Dylan and his brothers nodded "Yeah...We wanna play with Erebus too...We asked Mummy and Daddy to buy him some toys that we can gift him. We hope he likes them..." I grinned and patted each of the boys' heads. "Erebus will love them, and you guys! Thank you for loving my little brother". Their eyes lit up and they bounced happily. Nicholas looked as if he was reminded of something and quickly ran to a bag his father brought with them. He pulled out a book that looked new but slightly worn and ran back over "Dia, Dia! I got this book for us to read to Erebus tonight. Can we?" I nodded happily, very proud of these boys and grateful for their love.

However, something in the pit of my stomach dropped and I looked around for the sour smell. My father looked confused as I frantically searched, climbing from his knee and stopping in front of my mother who sat across the table. She giggled, grabbing a glass of apple juice and lifting it to her mouth. I quickly reached up and smacked it away "No! Don't drink that! It's poisonous!" Everyone quickly stood to their feet and my mother looked confused. "Dia, don't be silly. It's just apple juice" my mother sighed and I shook my head "It's not! It's the same smell that I smelled on you before at the hospital! It smells sour!" I growled at the spilled apple juice and my Auntie Celeste touched my mother's shoulder "Don't forget what you told us about Artemis. She said the twins would know and be able to detect that poison."

My mother quickly stood at my words and stepped away from the table, remembering her encounter with Artemis, whoever that was. Uncle Noris ushered the children to their room while I was trying to follow that sour smell. I managed to follow it to the kitchen on the other side of the pack house. There were no staff here given that the breakfast had already been served, so the adults just watched as my nose did its job. Everyone stood in silence for at least ten minutes before I stopped in front of a wall. My father came over and frowned "Dia? What is it?" I pointed at a specific part of the wall "It's behind there, Daddy."

Uncle Noris came over and grabbed a knife that was on the side, slotting it between the planks and prying it off. Inside of the wall was a vial of clear liquid. It seemed as though no one else could smell it, but it was so sour that my face twisted. I covered my nose and Aunt Celeste took the vial, Uncle Jaxon staring at it with her. "Is this it? It looks like water." I nodded "It smells so sour. There's something in it. Something moving."

Uncle Jaxon stared at me with a frown so I placed my hands over his eyes on instinct, my hand glowing along with my eyes. He gasped, seeing what I was seeing. I pulled my hands away and he scrunched up his face "Dia is right, tiny worm-like creatures are moving inside of it. Don't get it on your hands." Auntie Celeste crouched in front of me "Darling, let Aunt Cece take a peek too". I did as she asked and she grimaced, bringing it closer to get a better look. When she was done I took my hand away and put it against my Dad's nose. My hands yet again glowed as I twitched my nose. Within seconds he shook his face away from my hand, his complexion pale "Goddess! That smells horrific! Is that what you smell, Dia?" I nodded in response and he quickly covered my nose in worry.

Aunt Cece sighed "I'll take this to the lab and see what we can dig up, we'll need Dia's senses though..." I nodded "That's easy. I saw it in my dream". I pressed my forehead to hers, giving her the blessing of sight and smell. I did the same for each adult in the room except my mother. Marks on their forehead glowed blue and they looked at me with curiosity. "Dia, tell Daddy. How did you do that?" I pointed to my mother "I saw a wolf do this to Mummy in my dream. I won't give Mummy the same blessing because those worms are after her, so I don't want her near them" I watched my Dad nod and my Mum smile at me.

"In that case, Jaxon and I will head to the lab first. Lily, Dia has already said to stay away. It's probably for good reason. We should create a duplicate vial, put some water in it and put everything back to normal". Uncle Noris agreed and got on it right away while Dad picked me up and took me back to the room I shared with Erebus. I climbed onto the bed and snuggled my brother happily, beginning to chat away, telling him about how I slept, how my morning was, and in what order I gave my morning kisses. The Quintuplets and Nicholas came into the room with Mabel and they all climbed into the bed with Erebus and I, Nicholas beginning to read his story.

Soon enough, we were all taking a nap on the large bed, only being woken up at dinner time to eat.