𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 ━━ HOPE MIKAELSON ll

48

HOPE, ALARIC, LIZZIE, JOSIE, MG, KALEB, JED along with several others were worried sick. They could not find Jaxon anywhere. It had been a long tiring day for them, getting rid of Josie's dark side was not easy.

"Where the hell is this guy?" Alaric asked, bringing a hand to his forehead before he rubbed it. He turned to Hope who was leaning against the wall in his office, concern on her features, "I don't know. One hour he's sleeping and the next he's no longer in the bed."

"And nowhere to be found," Josie who was sitting on the couch added.

"I'm sure he's fine," MG reassured, "he's an immortal god. What's the worse that could happen?" His eyes went to the tribrid, "and— and you said he left a note, right?"

"The note said he's with his dad and that he'll be back soon." Lizzie chipped in, "it's been over eight hours. He can't still be with his dad."

"Have you tried calling him?" Kaleb questioned earning a nod from Hope. "Locator spell?"

"Not working," she mumbled, letting out a tired sigh. Landon looked at the tribrid and saw it as an opportunity so he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her to offer his comfort. Hope raised her brows and looked at the others who held confused looks on their faces at Landon's actions while Rafael let out a sigh and shook his head. His best friend was down bad.

The werewolf would've killed Landon earlier if not for Jaxon who got rid of Malivore just as Rafael was about to stab Landon with the golden arrow. However, once Malivore was destroyed, Hades decided that he has had enough of the Necromancer fooling around so he got rid of him with a snap of his fingers thus interrupting Rafael's action. Hades also gave Rafael and Alyssa back their entire souls as he realised that they were only dead because of Malivore; thus, him. He felt guilty so he felt like he owed them.

The room fell silent at Landon's actions.

"Landon?" Hope cleared her throat, "what— what are you doing?"

"Uh, comforting you." Landon replied, hugging her tighter than before, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" The tribrid asked, her hands still hanging at her sides as she didn't hug him back.

"Jaxon leaving," Landon said, "he shouldn't have left like that—"

"All right, lover boy," Lizzie scoffed, "he didn't leave. He'll be back and the last thing he'd want is to smell you on his girlfriend so back off."

"Who says he'll come back?" Landon asked, hugging Hope tighter. The sight was overall, pathetic.

As if on cue, the door to Alaric's office was pushed open, revealing a very dishevelled looking Jaxon. Alaric jumped off his table as the others stood while Landon immediately backed away from Hope at the glare he was receiving from the demigod, "back the fuck away from her."

The phoenix raised his hands to his sides in a surrendering motion, "sorry, I didn't think—"

"— Save it," Jaxon rolled his eyes, walking towards Hope who gave him a small smile, "hey."

"Hi," he brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, "did you think I wouldn't come back?"

"No, I was just worried." She placed a hand on the side of his face, "we all were."

"Yeah," Jed spoke up, "where the hell were you?"

"I went to get rid of Malivore," he informed, turning to them, "and I did. He's gone," he faced Hope again, smiling at her despite her surprised expression, "for good."

A look of shock crossed every single faces in front of him. The room went so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Then they all spoke at the same time;

"What?"

"When?"

"How?"

"Are you serious?"

"What did you do?"

"What does this mean?"

Alaric let out a loud sigh, "really? He's gone gone? Completely destroyed? No more black pits or weird monsters?"

"No," Jaxon shook his head, "no more of all that shit."

"How?" Hope asked, worry stretched on her features, "you said that if you did that, you'd cease to exist. Oh my god, are you going to be forgotten? Did you come back say goodbye?" She began panicking, "you can't leave me. I won't let you—"

"— I'm not going anywhere." He cut her off, amusement filled in his tone, "relax. I found another way, I'll tell you about it later." He then looked at Josie who smiled at him, "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help—"

"— Don't even," Josie interrupted, "we all owe you for what you did," she walked towards Jaxon, embracing him, "and I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Jaxon relaxed into her hold, not wasting a second before he hugged her back. Lizzie smiled at the two before she decided to join them.

"Oh wow—" Jaxon teased the blonde who was hugging him and Josie at the same time, "— today's full of surprises."

"Shut up," Lizzie muttered, relaxing in this well needed hug after the past few days. "I died and came back to life."

"Yeah?" Jaxon raised his brows as they broke the hug, "how was death?"

"Peaceful because guess what?" Lizzie stared at him, urging him to guess as he rolled his eyes, "I wasn't there."

"Damn right," The blonde nodded, laughing as Alaric patted Jaxon's shoulder, "looks like you guys have outdone yourself one more time." His eyes went to the rest of the students, "all of you. I'm proud of you all."

They all smiled, real genuine ones, proud of themselves as they began to talk and laugh, feeling care-free after months. Jaxon looked at Hope who wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, whispering, "I love you," just so he could hear. The demigod placed a lingering kiss on her forehead and whispered, "I love you too," back.

Meanwhile, Hades stared at the group of people surrounding his son and he couldn't help but feel like he owed most of them for Jaxon's happiness. He hadn't been the best father, he was barely there for Jaxon until recently. He couldn't help but sigh as he promised himself that he'd try to do better.