A/N:
I don't like this chapter.
So beforehand, I apologize for Kayla's behavior through the entire chapter.
I had a block through half of it because I didn't know what to do with her, but somehow found a way and I'm not sure if I like it.
But, she believes she's hilarious, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.
"IT WILL ALL BE PAINFULLY CLEAR SOON ENOUGH "
Everyone remembered them.
Goodbye to her cleanslate.
Goodbye to the new Kayla. And hello to the old one.
At least, if people now knew who she was, they just wouldn't see her dad. They would see her.
Something good had to come out from the whole mess. But, she wasn't sure if Hope felt the same way.
Landon who was with Josie. Landon who seemed happy with Josie now remembered the 'love of his life'.
"You guys never broke up" Was with how Kayla broke the silence that morning as they sat on a bench, watching the Malivore Portal.
Hope lowered the prysm she had used to conjure Landon, the projection of the guy fading away. "What?"
"You and Landon" Kayla clarified. Hope winced. "When I snapped his neck and we jumped to Malivore. You never broke up with him. So, technically you're still a couple"
"He's with Josie" Hope reminded in a small voice.
"You could go Poly" Kayla suggested. "I thought you had a crush on Jo once upon a time?"
Hope snapped her head to her best friend, widening slightly her eyes. "How do you know that?"
Kayla smiled mischievously. "I may or not may have peeked in your head when you and Lizzie were talking about your secrets to get rid of the Croatoan"
Hope rolled her eyes, sighing. "You're insensitive" Kayla beamed as if that was a compliment. "Don't smile. I'm not being nice to you"
"But I'm distracting you, baby" Kayla said slyly.
Hope paused as she realized that. She had stopped thinking about what was making her sad momentarily.
While a bitch, Kayla could be a good friend.
Hope smiled slightly, only for it to fade when she noticed Lizzie walking closer with a reluctant Josie behind.
"Reporting for portal duty!" Lizzie announced, cheerfully. She gestured at her twin who gave the two girls an awkward smile. "I brought backup"
"Jo" Kayla stood.
Josie may had been upset with Hope and her not being her favorite person, but her cousin... She got her cousin back. And she was glad for that.
"Kayla" Josie said, a small smile appearing as she actually walked closer to bring her cousin in a hug. Something that surprised the girl and made her awkwardly pat Josie's back, relaxing slightly.
As they pulled away, Lizzie was smiling brightly relieved but glanced toward Hope to see an awkward look in her face.
~8~
The awkwardness didn't leave even after the four girls sat together in two benches.
Hope had her arms crossed over her chest, unhappy Lizzie brought her twin sister, Kayla was looking around to find somewhere to look, Josie staring straightforward without saying a word.
Lizzie seemed to be the only one making an effort, speaking cheerfully. "So, this is nice, right? Together again"
"It's great"
"It's awesome"
"Fantastic. Yay"
The three girls replied at the same time in different flat tones, except for a one sarcastic cheerful one.
Lizzie swallowed the awkwardness, because the silence was killing her "I mean, for the two of you not to be talking to each other just because you're competing for the love of the same garden gnome I think we're more evolved than that as women"
"Absolutely" Hope said.
"Without a doubt" Josie added.
"I suggested a solution, though" Kayla mused, tilting her head left and right.
Hope flashed her a warning look over the twins' heads. Don't.
"Good" Lizzie told them, giving her cousin a curious look to which she flashed her an innocent smile. "Because, personally, I've never been better" the three girls looked at her. Lizzie seemed actually better, which for once they all agreed it was a good look on her "My work paid off. My mind is sharp. All perceived mental breakdowns were a figment of my imagination fed by two manipulative vampires who will remain forever my enemies"
"What's going on with Sebastian?" Kayla asked.
"Headmaster Downton Abbey wants us to enroll him to keep him off the streets" Lizzie answered. "But after deliberately letting me think that I was unwell, I will not let that happen"
The guy didn't seem that bad at first glance. He sometimes just looked... Lost. Kayla thought Sebastian deserved another chance.
I mean, she was equally or even worse than him and she got her second chance and look at her. She wasn't that bad anymore.
"You should forgive MG" Josie told her softly.
"Never" Lizzie replied.
"He didn't want to hurt you" Josie pointed out.
Kayla pointed at Josie, nodding in agreement as she looked at Lizzie. "He's crazy about you, he'd never do that"
Lizzie scrunched her nose, shaking her head. "He hid things from me" she sighed. "Zero stars"
"He's not the only friend keeping secrets" Josie told her.
Hope glanced at her shaking her head. "I didn't want to hurt you either"
"Yeah, well..." Josie said, lightly raising her eyebrows "Zero stars" Kayla and Lizzie exchanged a look. Yeah, this wasn't going well. Josie noticed the prysm in Hope's hands. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah" Hope answered. Josie nodded slightly. Hope handed it to her. "Here. I don't need it anymore"
Josie accepted the prysm "Thanks"
Lizzie smiled, gesturing at them "Look at us. Clear hearts and minds. Letting the power of our intellect rule the day over our emotions. Moving forward with dignity and grace" she spread her hands and put them around Hope and Josie's shoulders and pulled them closer on a side hug each. Kayla wanted to laugh out loud but didn't want to ruin Lizzie's speech and because the girls faces were priceless. For once she was glad she didn't sit on the same bench as them. "This is the true definition of girl power. I'm proud of us"
"Greetings, witches"
The girls turned around at the sound of an accented voice. Oh, they had stopped watching the portal for way too long.
Kayla rolled her head toward the man sitting next to her. How come she didn't feel when he sat at her side? He looked like someone out of the Egypt era.
"Who the hell are you?" Kayla asked, scrunching her nose as she slid away from him as far as the bench allowed her to.
Josie grabbed Kayla's arm to pull her up with her as they stood in alarm. Kayla stumbled back to her cousin's side with a sheepish smile. The four girls stood side by side as they stared down at the Egypt guy.
"An answer for an answer" The guy told them. "There are two sisters. One gives birth to the other. And the other, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are they?"
The girls looked at each other as they thought.
Kayla looked at Hope. "Nerdy girl?"
Hope flashed her an annoyed look. "You won't let that go, will you?"
Kayla grinned. "Never!"
Hope sighed at her friend but began to hum, thinking on the answer. "They're..."
"Night and Day" Josie answered. The other three looked at her. Josie looked at the monster man "The sisters are Night and Day"
Kayla pointed at Josie, "New nerdy girl. Sorry Hope. She was faster than you"
She pointedly ignored the odd looks aimed her way.
The Egypt guy smiled at Josie for her correct answer "Your reward for answering correctly is to know that you are in the presence of the master of the ancient lands" he spoke as he stood, looking proud and almighty. "The all-holy, ever-divine sphinx" the girls stared at him unimpressed, bored. Hope sighed, rolling her eyes upwards. Josie blinked. Lizzie nodded sarcastically and Kayla feigned a yawn. The sphinx looked at them, frowning. "People are usually more impressed"
Hope smiled fakely. "It's been a long semester" she flipped her hands toward him "Prohibere"
The sphinx froze. There was a woman jogging close by.
The four girls grabbed each other's hands. "Invisique"
The four of them and the Sphinx disappeared before the woman could see them.
"See?" Lizzie told them smugly. "Girl power"
~8 ~
"I told you this once and I'm telling you again. I'm not letting you do this alone"
Kayla sat just outside Mystic High atop of a table, legs crossed under her having waited for Hope as she went to talk to Alaric.
She knew her uncle remembered her now but she wasn't ready for that reunion. She meant it when she said cleanslate.
Also, New Orleans didn't sound that bad at this time of the year.
Hope stopped walking and sighed as she sat down, placing her elbows on the table near Kayla's knees, resting her chin in her hands. "I love you. But you have family here. You can't leave"
"I'm pretty stubborn" Kayla told her. "I'll be following you anyway"
Hope couldn't help but smile. She felt selfish not convincing Kayla to stay but they had gone through a lot the two of them and she didn't want to feel alone.
Kayla held her hand to Hope.
Without hesitation, Hope grabbed her best friend's hand, the two of them smiling slightly.
~8~
Buying tickets for New Orleans was the easy part.
Now they just had to board the bus.
Kayla knew, she just knew that things never were easy for them. She opened her mouth to talk.
Before she could though, Hope raised her hand without looking at her, eyes locked on her bus ticket. "Please. Please, don't say anything. Or you're gonna jinx it and we can't afford that, not now"
Kayla closed her mouth, knowing it was already jinxed as she noticed someone running closer. "I didn't say anything"
Hope looked at her in confusion.
It was just then when... "Hope!" Kayla pointed ahead toward a running closer Landon. Hope followed her gaze, shocked. He stepped closer and grabbed Hope's forearms. "Don't go. I need you"
Hope stepped back, slipping away from his hands and closer to Kayla, grabbing her arms. Kayla squeezed reassuringly. "Uh, I-I have to figure out a a way to close the portal"
Landon stepped closer, now glancing between the two girls. "Then I'll come with you two. I just couldn't stand losing you again. I love you, Hope Mikaelson"
Kayla glanced at Hope.
Hope looked touched and teary eyed, smiling softly. "Landon, I love you, too. Of course I love you"
Landon smiled brightly.
Kayla narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right...
"Aw, hell" Landon's voice rang behind them. Kayla whirled around to see a worried and shocked Landon making his way to them, Josie behind them. Landon looked angrily at his double "You had to find Hope?"
Hope and Kayla looked between the two of them.
"What the hell is happening?" Hope asked incredulously.
Kayla looked amused. "Talking about Doppelgangers. Now we have our own. Pack it up, Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce"
~8~
It was easy to tell who was the real Landon.
The other Landon was very infuriated with Hope, giving her puppy love eyes. And he looked very smiley.
The real Landon, well, was the child poster for hopeless and depressed teenagers.
They were back at the Salvatore School to hear Landon explain the new plan he and Josie thought of.
For Kayla, it was very disturbing to see two identical Landon's. She could barely stand one. Now two?
"This is SimuLandon" the real Landon explained as the simulation of him sat at his side, smiling brightly at him and lovingly to Hope who sat in front of them. Kayla was pacing behind the couch Hope sat at, looking both amused and wary at the Landons. "I used the prism to manifest my subconscious, and then Josie turned him into a golem" SimuLandon smiled at them. Landon looked at him kinda annoyed. "Show them"
SimuLandon pulled down his shirt to show the girls a glowing crystal on his chest. That was the prysm.
Landon explained how Headmaster Vardemus helped them using some sort of trident to bind the mind, body and spirit of SimuLandon with a spell.
Kayla pursed her lips. That didn't sound like conventional magic. "Dark magic?"
Landon glanced at her. "Yes"
Kayla mulled it over. Josie and herself had dealt with dark magic before. But Josie had this hourglass that helped with the side effects of it. For some reason, Kayla had conflicted thoughts about that hourglass. For once, it helped her get rid of any dark magic present on her and it did feel good, but she had sworn herself not to use it again and so she hadn't used dark magic she couldn't handle. But Josie? She was new at the whole dark magic. She'd keep using the hourglass to get rid of it. Overworking a magical object was never good and much less if it was something that dealt with darkness.
She just hoped Josie was using it carefully.
"We're gonna use him as a decoy" Landon explained. "We'll let the sphinx take him into the portal"
SimuLandon looked up from the crystal on his chest. "I don't want to go in the portal" He grabbed Hope's hand. "I want to stay here with Hope"
Kayla had to look away, covering her mouth to not laugh.
Two Landons very wary. But at least one was funny.
Hope looked at Landon uncomfortably "Uh, I think we need to talk to your subconscious about personal space"
Hope slipped her hand away from SimuLandon's grip.
Landon looked at his double, "I didn't realize he'd be so vocal. And fast. He ran away after we created him. I guess to find you"
Hope and Kayla looked at the simulation who smiled upon their gazes.
There was one problem though. Landon explained Josie bound him to the lunar cycle.
"So, when the moon reaches its apex tomorrow night Simu-me will disintegrate" Landon finished.
SimuLandon widened his eyes in alarm "What? Uh, no one told me that part!"
"How does that close the portal?" Kayla asked.
"That's where Hope comes in" Landon told them, looking at Hope.
They needed Hope's tribid blood inside SimuLandon's body so the moment he goes in, her blood in him would close the portal.
"There's a problem with your plan" Kayla told them. "Hope's blood is not enough to keep the portal closed"
"Not even with Kayla's spell" Hope added. "She turned her blood to mine so it would have been stronger but neither of us had active vampire blood in us. I have to activate my vampire side or Kay renact her spell with additional vampire blood but considering we're still not sure how further the side effects of her original spell will go, I don't want her to risk her craving blood and potentially be some sort of freaky ripper-" Kayla exclaimed as if offended, but Hope continued, looking at Landon as she kept finding holes to his plan. "So, Malivore is just gonna spit him out and create a new portal"
"Not if he disintegrates before there's anything to spit out" Landon pointed out. "Portal closed, no new portal opens" the girls looked at each other as they thought about the plan, thinking it sounded... Not so much of a bad idea. "Both problems solved. Life goes back to normal-ish"
"He really wasn't even thinking on risking Kayla's life" SimuLandon piped, looking at Landon "I mean, we know how important she is to you Hope. I wouldn't dare ever hurt you that way"
Aw. That was disgustingly sweet.
Hope and Kayla exchanged a look.
"Not bad, Birdboy" Kayla commented. "And uh..."
It was hard trying to say something nice to him as a simple thanks for being considerate after hating him for so long.
"Thanks and no problem" SimuLandon said with a bright smile directed at her when Landon didn't answer.
Landon gave him a wide eyed look, glancing at Kayla awkwardly.
"He really speaks your mind" Kayla smirked.
"I like nicknames" SimuLandon spoke, looking toward the real Landon. "Makes me feel special. Even Raf has a Nickname"
Kayla couldn't help it as she laughed. The most, genuine and amused laugh she had done since a year ago. She did like SimuLandon.
"Oh, my God" Kayla said under the odd looks Hope and Landon gave her. "Simu-You is hilarious" she said looking at Landon "And funny. And... Very in love with Hope"
"Yes, yes, yes" SimuLandon exclaimed as if he had forgotten something very important to tell Hope as he began to tell her he loved her too much several times, every time he could.
Landon gritted his teeth, glaring at a cackling Kayla as she giggled behind her hand. "Thank you for that"
"Yeah, no" Kayla shook her finger at him, still laughing "I can't watch this"
You're a bitch, Rivers.
"I know" Kayla directed to Hope, out loud. "Walk me later through the plan" she tapped her forehead. "I'll be... Anywhere else but here"
Kayla, still laughing walked away from the room, ignoring the way some of the students got out of her way and some others would give her kind smiles.
It seemed that not everyone forgot the reputation she used to have. Even though she had saved their asses too many times.
~8~
The blood transfusion was happening.
Kayla could feel it through the bond or link or whatever it actually was that she shared with Hope. But oddly she wasn't feeling weak for it as she expected she'd be because Hope would be too.
So she decided to be with the real Landon and keep him out of trouble. She won't have a problem on keeping him dead to screw things up, in case it was necessary.
The two of them were outside of the room, as SimuLandon and Hope talked to each other while the transfusion was on going and as she watched the emotions pass through Landon's face, she knew she'd really have to keep an eye on him.
It also made her like more the fake Landon than the one she had in front of him. At least, the fake Landon was honest and he wasn't stringing her cousin along.
Landon could have made his choice the moment he remembered Hope and realized his feelings for her were stronger than those he had for Josie.
She followed him toward the lake on the school, arms crossed over her body.
"I'll make sure you stay down there for an infinite amount of time" Kayla told him, sweetly.
Landon took a deep breath, knowing that she hated him and he accepted it and knew exactly why. "I would never expect any less from you"
Kayla smirked without humor.
Landon began to tie the rope around his waist as Kayla sat at the edge of the dock to tie the rope to a big concrete block.
"Hey, Landon"
Landon and Kayla looked up at Rafael's voice as he walked closer.
"Hi" Landon said as he took of his shoes.
"Wolfboy" Kayla greeted and her smile grew at the side glance Landon gave her.
Ha! So he really was upset she didn't use a nickname every time she talked to him.
Rafael looked between them, his brow furrowing. "What are you two doing, bro?"
Landon pointed down at the block Kayla was leaning on while sitting on the dock, her legs swinging back and forth, shoes almost touching the water.
"It's a failsafe to protect me against the monster" Landon explained as he took his jacket, handing it to Kayla who was feeling a bit cold so she shrugged it on. "The sphinx can't take me if I'm dead at the bottom of a lake, right?"
Kayla nodded in agreement, pointing at Landon.
"This is insane" Rafael told him, incredulously.
"Best idea he's ever had actually" Kayla commented.
"You just want to be the one to push me to the bottom of the lake" Landon pointed at her accusingly.
"I cannot deny that when it is the truth" Kayla admitted.
Landon rolled his eyes but chuckled a bit.
"Not exactly what I meant" Rafael shook his head.
"Ah, you meant the SimuLandon then" Landon clicked his tongue, nodding. "Yeah, it was insane"
"I mean everything" Rafael admitted, snapping. This made Kayla tilt her head and narrow her eyes as Rafael snatched the rope away from Landon, throwing it away.
"Woah" Kayla exclaimed "Calm down, puppy"
Rafael gave her a look as Landon stared at his brother figure in silent shock. Rafael turned to Landon, desperately and scared for his brother "Do you even see what you're about to do to yourself? I know that you're a phoenix and that you'll come back, but does that make it okay? And then there's these monsters and-and the attacks, and-and the plans and the backup plans, but according to the sphinx, it's not even gonna end any time soon"
Standing up and defending who you loved was something Kayla respected. That was what she liked about Hope sometimes and she respected it from Rafael too but there was something in what he said that didn't settle well with her.
"Wait a minute" Kayla scattered to her feet as she exchanged a look with Landon. He seemed to be in the same page as her. "You spoke with a fucking Malivore monster and you believed him? That sphinx is not a psychic, he is playing tricks on your mind to get you to give him Landon to take him to Malivore, didn't you think of that?"
Rafael fell silent for a moment, "Maybe I didn't. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I think because I know if all this keeps happening, you guys are gonna cook up another crazy solution. I don't even know how we got here. We came to this school because there was nothing out there that was safe for us. But now it feels like this is the least safe place on Earth"
"What else did the psychic sphinx tell you?" Landon asked after a moment.
"He said you'll never be safe as long as you're here" Rafael answered quietly.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Kayla didn't need to see Landon's face to understand what he was thinking about doing.
She was going to call him stupid when she gasped, sensing the SOS alert Hope was sending her. Her eyelids fluttered as she sensed her friend in danger, vaguely feeling someone holding her from falling backwards and to someone's chest.
"Hope" she murmured, focusing.
Kayla knew Hope wouldn't willingly tell her she was in danger, because she was a very stubborn girl to not let others put themselves in danger for her so it had to have been her spell linking them.
She saw Hope and...Clarke attacking her.
He was using a trident to try and stab her. She felt weak because of all the blood she transfused to SimuLandon. Her magic felt restricted too as if something was forbidding her from using it.
Clarke wanted to become a tribid because Malivore Daddy screwed him over, forcing his form to break down, putting on some sort of timer on him that forced him to consume people and monsters to stay stable but it wasn't working. He was still a mud guy through and through and was going to die if he didn't do anything.
He wanted to use a trident he and Josie made that transferred his consciousness to Hope's body to actually be able to kill his father and kill Hope as well because the two of them screw him up. Clarke even mentioned her, knowing all about their linking spell and how those work. If one dies so does the other. Three birds with one stone because he also wanted Kayla dead.
"She needs my help" Kayla snapped out of it, brushing off Landon's hands of her. He had been the one keeping her standing and not falling to the lake.
She began running toward the school, heartbeat erratic as worry washed her over for her best friend's life.
A small part of her knew she shouldn't have left Landon with Rafael, considering what the wolf had implied about taking Landon away from the least safe place ever and somewhere safer. But another part of her agreed that that was for the better.
It also didn't help that her mind was focused heavily into Hope being in danger. Hope who was vulnerable and Kayla could feel it. She didn't even realize her eyes were now glowing and she was faster than normal.
As she slowed down, she focused hard on Hope to pinpoint her location, hearing a window being violently being opened making her look up, seeing Hope weakly leaning against the balcony of Landon's room.
"Hope!" Kayla called out. Hope glanced to her friend and relief washed over her, the door breaking behind her making her look back to see Clarke had broken it and was now trying to unlock it. "Jump! I'll catch you!"
Hope trusted her best friend so without hesitation, she jumped down the balcony, feeling a force keeping her floating and gently placing her down, glancing to see Kayla with a hand out stretched toward her as the other clutched an object she knew had to be magical due to the red glow around her hand.
"Kay" Hope said in relief as she stumbled weakly toward her best friend. Kayla rushed closer, grabbing Hope's arm and passing it around her shoulders. "You came to save me"
"I do owe you a couple of savings" Kayla replied as they began to walk away from the school and from Clarke who had a beef against the two girls. He just had to kill one to kill the two of them. "Consider this me starting to pay you back"
Hope chuckled weakly, "You came fast"
"Werewolf speed, apparently" Kayla chuckled, as she had realized this the moment she stopped running. "Thanks for that by the way"
They were getting closer to the school gates but Hope was stumbling way too much, very weak.
"We need help" Hope admitted, clutching hard Kayla's arm.
"I know" Kayla murmured, "I hate being the damsel in danger"
"Too bad" Hope remarked, breathlessly. "Somebody help!" Kayla winced a bit at the yell, "Better be rescued as helpless little girls than being dead, don't you think?"
"Good point" Kayla reluctantly admitted.
It felt as if whatever senses Hope had were being enhanced through Kayla as if the spell she had done knew they were both in danger and was giving them the opportunity to save each other, because she sensed someone behind them, quickly pushing Hope away as she turned around, Clarke grabbing her throat harshly, cutting off her air supply.
"Well, well, well" Clarke mused, tightening his grip on Kayla's throat. Hope pushed herself up from the ground weakly, shocked and worried about Kayla. "If it isn't the useless hero. You can't save anyone, not even yourself" she tried to siphon him, the way she knew it'd hurt but... Nothing. Clarke wasn't made of magic she could use. "What? Like my father's little gift to you? He knew the way your kind works, so he fixed me enough for you not to siphon me. The only thing I appreciate him for"
"Screw you" Kayla gasped out, crawling at his hand.
"Not before I screw you over first" Clarke pulled out a normal knife from his pocket.
The trident was for Hope because she was the actual Tribid but he had to incapacitate the Siphoner first so she wouldn't get in the way
"Kay!" Hope exclaimed in horror.
Clarke raised the knife to stab Kayla when his arm was stopped from behind. Landon was there, preventing Clarke from killing the love of his life's best friend and who he had always wanted her to see him as a friend too.
"Hello, brother" Landon greeted coldly before punching Clarke in the face once, twice enough for him to get angry enough with Landon to throw Kayla away from him to the ground harshly, landing near Hope, coughing for air, holding her throat. Hope crawled closer to her friend, checking her neck. The two of them had matching marked necks due to the link. "I heard you scream" Landon began to walk closer to the girls "And saw Kayla running here. Is she okay?" Clarke got in the way, preventing him from getting closer to the girls, pointing the trident to Landon's chest, "Are you hurt?"
Hope was looking at Kayla as she nodded and weakly raised a thumb up before glancing toward Landon, smiling in relief "Better now that you're here"
"Can't believe a birdie saved me" Kayla murmured through a cough. She had felt pretty useless without magic or unable to defend herself. But Clarke was way too strong for her. Hope's werewolf strength showed up whenever the hell it wanted.
Clarke gritted his teeth as he glared at Landon, half his face and his lip were bleeding mud. "You should have jumped into the pit instead of your little girlfriend and her bestie" he pushed back Landon with the trident still touching his chest. Landon was smiling smugly at Clarke as if he knew something Clarke didn't. Clarke glanced behind his shoulder toward Hope, mockingly "Are you guys back together?" Kayla was now kneeling next to Hope, wrapping an arm the girl to keep her standing, the tribid resting against her friend's arm, both girls watching Clarke and the trident too close to Landon in worry. Clarke laughed amused and skeptical, turning back to Landon "The relationship drama it's so hard to keep up with sometimes"
Hope rolled her eyes, "So tired of hearing your voice"
Clarke began to walk closer to Hope and Kayla again, smirking "Don't worry. You won't have to hear it much longer"
Landon ran from behind Clarke, tackling him and starting to punch him, both of them struggling against each other. Kayla dragged Hope backwards away from the fight.
The trident had rolled away from them for a moment but Clarke suddenly took the upper hand, punching Landon and throwing him back and away, angry.
"I just don't get it" Clarke stood angrily, watching Landon struggling to get up.
"Oh" Landon groaned, getting up to his feet and slowly standing on his knees. "Get what?"
Clarke walked closer, kicking him in the ribs to bring him down again, several times "What our father sees in you. Sure, you can regenerate, but you have no magic. Someone always has to swoop in and save you" this time, a punch to his jaw, "You're pathetic"
"I don't care what you or our father think of me" Landon exclaimed from the ground, looking up at him, bleeding, standing up to his feet "I only care about Hope"
Before Clarke could attack Landon again, Hope who had stood up with Kayla's help was now behind him, using the anti magic shackles to hit Clarke a few times before he got the upper hand again, punching her in the stomach and then when she doubled over, kneeing her in the face throwing her back.
Kayla, with only little knowledge about fighting from Hope, intervened too, throwing the knife Clarke was going to stab her with toward his shoulder which landed in the mark making him hiss and reach out to pull it out when Kayla came down on him to punch him. Only one punch landed before he intercepted her fist, simply punching her once, pushing her down.
The hits Hope had received she had felt them too, after all. That felt more satisfying for him than hurting her actual body. She had jumped for Hope after all, it satisfied him that she'd die thanks to Hope's injuries. As if mocking her for her decision of sticking by Hope's side.
"Sorry, Hope, Kay" Clarke told them "This is family business"
Hope's injuries were mirroed in Kayla's body and due to her human form, it looked way worse in her than in Hope. Lip, nose and face bleeding and her body feeling way too sore to move. She couldn't even get up to watch the fight.
"Kay, Kay" Hope urged at her friend weakly to not close her eyes, keeping an eye as well on Landon and Clarke.
Kayla's state was her fault. Hope knew she should have found a way to break the link between the two of them before something like this happened. Her body could take it but Kayla was human, her body could take only so much. It was why she had cast a spell to make sure her weakness for the blood transition wouldn't affect Kayla through the link. It had taken her and SimuLandon a bit to find a spell for that to work while Kayla roamed around the school, not wanting to hear the guy saying 'I love you' to Hope every five seconds.
Hope had to break that link as soon as possible. She crawled closer to Kayla, shaking her shoulder to get her to open her eyes. She snapped her head toward Landon and Clarke, impressed that Landon finally got the upper hand, having Clarke in a headlock.
"Okay, I'm actually impressed, birdboy" They heard a weak Kayla said with a low chuckle. Hope turned her head to watch her, seeing her eyes fluttering open and close.
Landon smirked in pride as he heard the compliment from the hard to impress girl.
"Don't be" Clarke chocked his words, struggling on Landon's grip. "He'll always be the inferior son"
Landon peeked down at him, fighting hard to not let him get away from his grip "Well, it doesn't look like it from this angle"
It clicked for both girls what Landon was doing as Landon seemed to lower his voice and say something to Clarke.
"Landon, no!" Hope exclaimed, worried.
"Birdoy, seriously. I was starting to like you" Kayla said, wincing in pain as she tried and failed to get up.
Landon smiled weakly toward Kayla, before looking toward Hope "This is for you, Hope"
Landon forced Clarke's hand to stab him in his thigh.
"No!" Hope exclaimed in horror.
Clarke took advantage of Landon's pain and sudden weakness to slip away from the head lock. "Not what I planned, but at least phoenixes are immortal"
Clarke let him go.
Landon began to cough, stumbling backwards and shakily lowering his shirt to expose his chest.
SimuLandon had been in front of them the whole time.
SimuLandon looked at Clarke smugly. "Now you die tomorrow" he spread his arms in victory. "Boom. I rule"
The relief Hope felt that she wasn't gonna lost Landon was enough to keep her speechless.
Kayla simply enjoyed too Clarke's incredulous face to say something snarky, well besides that her head was way too heavy and she felt too much in pain to say something.
Clarke fell to the ground, body completely turned to mud as his consciousness traveled to SimuLandon's body.
'Yay, we won'. Was all Kayla was able to think before she actually fell unconscious.
~8~
When Kayla next woke up, she was in what used to be her room at the school. The bed was familiar and comfortable for her body.
She didn't feel pain anymore. As if she was healed.
"Hope's blood" A voice said from the door.
Kayla glanced to see Lizzie there. "Lizzie?"
Lizzie walked coser and sat in the bed, grabbing her cousin's hand, "You're not allowed to die, okay? We just got you back" Kayla frowned slightly. "You don't really have a say in this, Kay. You're coming back to the school. With your family"
Kayla sighed. "Liz-"
"We won't like you or get to know you as part of our family if you don't let us in" Lizzie said bluntly. "You pushed me and Josie away all these years because of who your dad is and I'm not gonna let Kai Parker screw even more my Family"
Once upon a time, Kayla would have defended her father's name, because it was all she knew, to be proud of him no matter what and love him. But, Lizzie was right, because of him she had forbidden herself to get close to the family she had left.
No. More.
Screw him.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're getting sentimental on me" Kayla teased.
"Of course I am" Lizzie said, yanking Kayla's hand to pull her closer to a hug, "You're family. I'm allowed to be cheesy and sentimental with family. And you almost died. I... I don't want to see that image again"
Kayla had tensed, not used to hugs. But she slowly relaxed. She didn't return the hug, simply melting in the embrace.
"This is awkward" Kayla commented after a moment. Lizzie scoffed in agreement, pulling away. "Where's Hope?"
"With Josie" Lizzie answered.
Kayla raised her eyebrows.
And so as if realizing leaving the two girls alone could end in disaster, Lizzie widened her eyes.
"Oh" Lizzie let out.
"They're not killing each other" Kayla reassured, amused. "I would know"
"Oh, the freaky link between you two" Lizzie said, huffing.
"Girl time" Kayla said suddenly, smiling at Lizzie.
Lizzie flickered her fingers as if she got the best idea ever, grabbing Kayla's arm and dragging her away from the bed and the room.
~8~
Lizzie had actually traveled to the kitchen for a bowl of ice cream and four spoons as she forced Kayla to wait for her outside the Twins room, linking her arm around Kayla's as she opened the door, the cousins walking in on a hug between Hope and Josie.
Josie opened her eyes to see her twin and her cousin walking in.
"Something told me I needed to upgrade from ice to ice cream" Lizzie told them, showing them the items she brought with her.
"I was not that something" Kayla told them. "I just reassured her you two weren't killing each other"
Hope and Josie chuckled as the cousins made their way to the bed.
Josie smiled at her cousin. "How are you doing?"
"Good as new" Kayla replied, smiling at her cousin. "How about you?"
"Drained and used" Josie said softly.
"Did you use..."Kayla trailed, furrowing her eyebrows. Josie nodded quietly. Kayla grabbed one of the spoons from Lizzie's hands and handed one to Josie. "If that still works, you'll feel better. But ice cream makes everything even better, or so I've been told"
"No sleepovers, Kay?" Hope teased. "I thought you and Penelope had them all the time"
"Do you see me or Penelope as the sleepover type of girl?" Kayla raised her eyebrows as she handed another spoon to Hope.
The twins and Hope exchanged amused looks, "Nope"
Lizzie smiled amused before sighing, "Well, sleepovers include gossiping and trash talk about those we don't like, so get this-"
"I used to talk trash about almost everyone with Penelope" Kayla said with a smile "I think we did have-"
Hope covered Kayla's mouth, gesturing at Lizzie to continue. "Shut up for once in your life" she whispered at her friend.
She was glad though Kayla was better and cracking jokes.
Hope would have hated if Kayla reversed to her old ways. Cold and lonely.
For sure the two of them have changed. And for the better, she knew.
Lizzie rolled her eyes at the best friends and continued talking as if Kayla hadn't interrupted. "Dad says that I'm not allowed to give Sebastian the boot until he has checked him out" Josie had opened the ice cream and began to eat, grabbing Kayla's spoon and grabbing ice cream with it, handing it to her cousin. Kayla swatted Hope's hand away from her mouth and gladly accepted the ice cream from Josie, both girls smiling at each other as Kayla shoved the ice cream to her mouth. "And now that there's no headmaster, no one is going to punish MG for his weaselly little ways. How ridiculous is that?"
"Very"
"the audacity"
"He should pay"