𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 ━━ HOPE MIKAELSON.

70

"LIZZIE, WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Hope asked as her and Jaxon followed Lizzie who replied, " you are a ticking time bomb. I'm gonna show you how to take care of it before you hurt someone, or worse, cost us the pageant."

They finally stopped, Hope and Lizzie facing each other while Jaxon just stood beside Hope. "I'm fine. Okay? I just needed some air—" Lizzie cut Hope off, "you are far from fine. You are one small moment away from a meltdown, trust me. I know the signs. You know that feeling inside, like a balloon constantly filling up, always on the verge of popping?"

"Maybe," Hope mumbled resulting in Lizzie raising her brows, "well, let it pop. Scream as loud as you can."

"Wait, if you're actually gonna do that, let me leave first." Jaxon spoke up, pointing to his ears, "I have enhanced hearing and this looks pretty boring anyway so I'll see you two back at the school." And then he began walking away, mumbling 'why the hell did I even come here' to himself.

As he was walking back to the school, he halted in his steps when he saw an unfamiliar statue. He narrowed his eyes and stood in front of it as he analyzed it. His eyes widened in realisation as he let out a whistle, "Veronica? Damn, who did this to you?"

Bringing his hand up, he flicked his finger on her head, "I don't like you," he tilted his head to the side, "should I do something about your little problem or not, hmm? But whoever did this to you is probably still out there so I should go fix that problem before she or he turns someone else into a god damn statue."

"Jaxon?" Hope's voice made the demigod turn around. "Who are you talking to?"

"MG's mom," he shrugged, pointing to the statue, "she was turned into a statue."

"Wait, what?"

**

MG and Alaric were both called outside to see their little problem. MG stared at the statue of his mother with a frown evident on his face, "who would do this to my mom?"

"Well, not just who would... Who could?" Hope asked, seeming as confused as ever as they've never seen something like that before.

"It could be a bad spell translation, a potion mishap?" Alaric suggested as Hope added, "or a monster."

The Headmaster looked at her, "there's no reason a monster would be here."

"Unless this sentient jar of artisanal mayonnaise activated a new artifact," Lizzie said, turning to Landon, "what did you touch?"

"Everything," Landon responded, "we cleaned the school from top to bottom, remember? But if we're just gonna throw out wild theories, here's one: what if the person who did this showed up today, out of nowhere, acting all buddy-buddy, manipulating romantic feelings to get someone's guard down?"

"Do you seriously suspect Roman?" Hope questioned while Jaxon furrowed his brows at Landon's sudden interest in Roman. "Yeah, we all should. The timing is too convenient."

"Look, I know you're new to this whole thing but a vampire doesn't have the ability to turn someone into stone." Jaxon explained to the phoenix who was about to say something but Alaric interjected, "all right, Lizzie, Hope, you keep an eye on the contestants. Jaxon, MG, we're gonna search the campus. Landon—"

"—I'm gonna go ask Roman some questions," Landon cut Alaric off earning a scoff from Hope, "yeah, super helpful. Ask a vampire how he turned a woman to stone."

"All right, everyone stay alert and be careful out there." Alaric said, dismissing them as they all went their separate ways.

Jaxon walked towards Hope, "be careful out there. Don't spend too much time with Lizzie," he glanced at Lizzie who was smiling sarcastically at him, "it's dangerous."

"Don't get turned into stone."

"You know I won't."