[ Content Warnings: sickness, and mentions of animal death. ]

'You're sure that the parents aren't wesen?' Monroe questioned.

'I'm not sure of anything.' Nick said. 'I just haven't seen any indication that they are. And this is different than anything I've ever seen.'

'You mean he didn't woge?' Rosalee asked.

'No, this is more like a battle within.' Nick replied.

'It's classic devil worship as far as I'm concerned. But we're hoping you have another explanation.' Hank added.

At this Basil (a person with short red hair, green eyes and freckles all over their face. They worked at the shop as the delivery person. Nick and Hank had met them the day before) Monroe, and Rosalee looked at each other, causing Nick to sigh.

'What?' He queried.

'I kinda thought--' Monroe started. 'I mean, they're myths, right?'

'Yeah, well that's what people thought about me.' Basil mumbled, taking a book off the shelf and handing it to Rosalee, who then walked around the table to stand next to Monroe.

'You're not thinking--' Rosalee asked.

'Grausens, right?' Monroe said, finishing her sentence.

'Yeah, that's what it sounds like.' Rosalee replied.

'Is that a wesen?' Hank asked.

'Not really....' Monroe said.

'Every generation has heard stories about Grausen. They go way back.' Rosalee said.

'They used to think they were a wesen spirit, that would invade a child.'

'But never a wesen child.' Rosalee added.

'Keheresite kids only.'

'But the thinking has changed since medicine and science have advanced. Now some believe it's a mutation.' Rosalee continued.

'So, which is it?' Nick asked.

'Nick, they're incredibly rare. I mean--' Monroe said.

'It doesn't matter, because they've always been dealt with the same way.' Rosalee stated.

'How?'

'They would disappear. The wesen council was responsible for dealing with them. Sometime in the, uh, 1600s the council communicated for the first time with the royals and the grimms. They forged and alliance, for the safety of all of them.' Rosalee explained.

'Supposedly grausens, if left to maturity, grow into some of the worst people the world has ever seen. The world's most notorious psychopaths, wreaking havoc on like whole continents sometimes.'

'Wesen wer often to blame for what Grausen have done, that's why the council have stepped in.'

'Who is this council, anyway?' Hank asked.

'They enforce wesen law.' Belle answered.

'You guys have your own laws?' Hank said, incredulously.

'Oh, baby.' Monroe muttered.

'If this is indeed a Grausen we have no choice but to inform the council.' Rosalee stated.

'And inform them means what?' Hank queried. 'Daniel disappears?'

'Yeah, it's like a death sentence for the kid.' Monroe replied.

'It's a death sentence for us if we don't tell them.' Basil and Rosalee said at the same time.

'How do we even know that he is Grausen?' Nick asked.

'The law is clear. Even if it a possibility we have to inform them.'

'That's why we shouldn't even be talking about this!' Monroe whispered. 'We shouldn't even be having this conversation.'

'Now, you tell us?' Nick said, exhausted.

'Look, if we'd known that you were going to talk about Grausen we would have said don't talk about Grausen!' Monroe yelled.

'You worry about the council, we'll worry about the kid.' Hank said.

'No. We get to worry about both.' Nick stated. 'Thanks.' Nick and Hank then left the shop, bell jangling behind them.

'Can't we just let Nick run with this?' Monroe questioned.

'But if they found out that we didn't report it, plus that we'd been working with a hybrid and a Grimm behind their backs?' Rosalee replied. There was a pause in which Monroe exhaled.

'Then, I guess it's just a matter of who goes to whose funeral first.' Monroe sighed.

'Well, I am not going to your funeral - or anybody else's.' Rosalee said. 'I have to tell them.'

++

'Yeah, that was their theory, their myth, their belief.' Nick explained, placing the book onto Juliette and Briar's laps. 'There's something going on inside this kid and I just can't figure it out.

'Listen to this,' Juliette said. '1920, after my encounter with what I now conclude to be a grausen I'm left with one undeniable certainty. Grausens aren't the province of Grimms; as they're not wesen. I have therefore informed the council as my ancestors have done in the past.' Next to Juliette Briar sighed. 'But I am left with a nagging question,' Juliette continued - not phased by their partners' interruption. 'I don't believe that this is possession by any sort of devil or demon, I believe that it is a disease; of what manner I know not, 'nor how it is transmitted. Does this make sense, based on what you've seen?'

'Well, at the hospital they said that his white blood cell count was high.' Nick responded. 'And that his immune system was stressed.'

'Which suggests infectious disease.' Juliette replied. 'How long did the parents say that this has been going on for?'

'About a year.' Nick said.

'What happened a year ago?' Juliette asked.

'I don't know.'

'Well, maybe you should ask.' Briar snarked, under their breath.

'Maybe it could have been transmitted sometime before that - depending on the incubation period.' Juliette said.

'Well, what disease would cause this kind of behaviour?' Nick questioned.

'There are all kinds of pathogens, viral and bacterial, that could interact with the central nervous system or older portions of the brain that control behaviour.' Juliette said. Next to her Briar screwed up their face in mock disgust. 'And new pathways are discovered all the time.'

'But this is a long history....' Nick trailed off.

'Yeah, but it's not very common. Which could explain why it isn't well understood. You need to talk to the parents, and figure out exactly what happened a year ago.' Juliette said.

'I'm supposed to talk to the parents about pathogens and incubation periods?' Nick asked.

'No, I will go get my coat.' Juliette laughed, placing the book back onto Briar's lap. Nick then placed his arm on the back of the couch, and Briar scooted closer to him.

'I take it that you're not coming with us on this one?' Nick queried.

'Nope! I don't think I'll be needed; you two have your hands full with this one. Besides I'll make sure to tell her I think her science talk is sexy when you get back.' Briar replied, winking.

++

'Well, that's a weird place to put your shoes.' Nick said, looking over at Juliette from the doorway.

'Oh.' Juliette mumbled, taking her shoes from the bed. Nick walked past her and stood next to Briar, who was in bed reading a book.

'Hi.' Nick whispered, kissing the top of their head.

'Nick, I don't really think that Daniel's behaviour is viral or bacterial. It had to have a more direct impact on his behaviour.' Juliette said, then paused. 'You know a colleague of mine did a case study when I was in vet school about a group of thoroughbreds.' She then took her earrings out and placed them on the bedside table. 'They were flown to Dubai to race and there was a storm that forced their transport plane to lay over in Jordan. By the time the horses returned to the US they were exhibiting signs of extremely aggressive behaviour.'

Nick sat down on the bed, causing Briar to pull the sheets back for him.

'Jordan. That's where Daniel and his parents were.' Nick said.

'She argued that the horses should be saved. That their behaviour was caused by a protozoa, similar to toxoplasmosis. And that if she could just kill the parasite then the horses would return to normal.' Juliette continued.

'Did it work?' Nick asked, pulling off his shoes.

'No, they destroyed the horses before anything could be done.' Juliette sighed.

'Yeah, well that seems to be the standard treatment for anything they can't explain.' Nick said sadly.

'That's very depressing. I hope you're planning on changing that.' Briar replied.

'Oh, don't worry. I will be.'

++

'People wouldn't have necessarily understood the concept of a parasite living within the body hundreds of years ago.' Juliette explained. 'And if it manifested itself physically and was interpreted as possession by the devil, then yeah you can kinda understand their rush to judgement.'

'So you're saying that there's a way to get the protozoa out of Daniel?' Nick questioned.

'No, I'm saying that we have to kill the protozoa in Daniel.'

'Well then, how the hell are we going to do that?' Juliette only shrugged in response. 'Without knowing what it needs to survive, I don't know.' Nick hit his head against the headboard in exasperation, and took his phone from Briar who had it in their hands.

'It's Monroe.' Briar said.

'What are you still doin' up?' Nick asked, absentmindedly hitting Briar in the arm.

'Ow.' Briar muttered, sliding back under the covers. Important phone conversations be damned, they hated being cold. A few moments then passed and Nick's call was finished.

'What was that all about?' Juliette asked.

'The council. They sent a man called Alexander to check on Daniel; and Monroe and Rosalee don't think he's there to help.'

++

'We're sorry to bother you, Mr. Keery.' Nick said, as the man opened the door. Nick was standing on the doorstep next to Annabelle, Juliette, Basil and Hank.

'We, uh, we think that we may have figured out what's wrong with Daniel.' Juliette explained.

'What?' Mr Keery said in disbelief.

'It's possible that when you went to Jordan on vacation and Daniel became ill, it wasn't the flu.' Juliette replied.

'No, it was the flu. He had flu symptoms and everything, the doctor examined him and you didn't. And now you're here saying that, that what?' Mr. Keery argued.

'We think it could be a very rare protozoa, like a parasite, and it could have been living in the water when Daniel went swimming.' Juliette said, keeping her tone level.

'Where's Daniel now?' Nick asked.

'He's in his bedroom, sleeping.' Mrs. Keery said. 'If what you're thinking is true, can it be treated?'

'Hopefully. But first we'll need to identify the parasite. That can be done by testing for antibodies.' Juliette replied.

'Do you mind if we look in on 'im?' Nick questioned. 'Then we can talk about possibly getting him reevaluated.'

++

'What do we know about this council guy?' Hank asked.

'Well, I know nothing. Basil said that they knew him, but so far I haven't been able to get them to tell me exactly how or why. I think it's a sore subject.' Nick replied quietly.

'He's right. It is.' Basil said, entering the room; glass of cold water in their hands. 'You'll get there, eventually. Also, next time, please talk about me when I'm actually in the room. Now, Nick, have you checked the airlines?'

But before he could answer their question there was a crash from upstairs. Something was wrong.

++

'He's freezing.' Mr. Keery lamented. Juliette then placed a hand under Daniel's head and began to lift him. 'Wait, you have got to be careful when you wake him up.'

'He's really cold. I think he's hypothermic.' Juliette said, turning back to Briar, Nick and Daniel's mother. Daniel's skin then shifted, and everyone moved back, aghast.

'It's happening again.' Mr. Keery said.

'We have to get him back to the house and warmed up.' Juliette ordered. Nick then put his arms out in front of her, stopping her from doing anything else.

'If this thing needs a human body to survive, isn't that dependent on the temperature of the body?' Nick asked.

'Yeah...' Juliette replied.

'Well, what if the body gets too cold to support it?' Nick suggested.

'It would die!' Juliette said.

'Wait, what are you two talking about?' Mr. Keery and Briar questioned together.

'Certain organisms can only survive within a narrow temperature range. The drop in his body could kill what's inside of him.' Juliette explained.

'Well, how do we know that it isn't going to kill Daniel to?' Mr. Keery rebutted.

'If his body temperature were to drop to far, to fast,' Juliette said, looking back at Nick - begging to say something, to stop the potential murder of this boy. Instead, he shook his head and she knew that they had to go along with this plan.

'How do we know that that hasn't happened already?' Briar asked.

'Nick, we can't do this!' Juliette cried.

'No! This could be Daniel's only chance!' Nick yelled.

'He's my son!' Mr. Keery shouted.

'Then it is our decision.' Nick replied. Mr. Keery then looked to Nick and Juliette and then back to Daniel, placing a hand on his neck. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Daniel started to leak green mucus from his nostrils.

'Gross.' Briar murmured.

'What's happening? What is that?' Mr. Keery asked frantically.

'It's the parasite - it's dying. We need to get him back to the house now!' Juliette ordered. 'Nick, get a sample.' Nick did so, and Daniel's father picked him up and began to carry him back to their house.

'Daniel's going to be okay, right?' Briar questioned.

'Yeah, I think so.' Juliette replied.

++

'As Daniel Keery's body grew so cold and slipped into hypothermia the Grausen could no longer survive.' Nick narrated. 'Subsequent tests on the boy proved that I've got what--'

'Proved that the unicellular eukaryotic organism, identified as damionia esbetzia, was responsible for the behavioural changes in the boy.' Juliette replied, finishing Nick's sentence for him. She then leaned over and kissed him by his right eye. 'It's not always easy knowing what to believe in.'

'How do you spell eukaryotic?' Nick asked.

'E-U-K-A-R-Y-O-T-I-C.' Juliette spelt.

Nick smiled again then, he was so happy that this was the woman he was planning on marrying.

[ Author's Note ]

1) I'm sorry for the abrupt ending, I couldn't figure out how to changed it - and that's the way it ends canonically, so I hope it doesn't make too much difference?

2) Also, Basil's here!! They will get explored more, I promise. But (for now) if you want more content of them I have oneshots up in my one-shot book (chapters 15, 16 and 17, I believe.)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment or vote! :]

[ Word Count: 2265 words ]

[ Written: 12th September 2022 - 20th September 2022 / Published: 20th September 2022 ]