"So, mud boy, give us a teaser," Lizzie leaned back and stared hard at Clarke. "Tell us one thing about the curse of the Gemini coven that we don't already know."
Clarke considered her for a moment. It was a reasonable request. He wouldn't give too much away, but he could prove he did actually know something. He needed to get on the blonde's good side if they had any hope of getting her to help.
He settled into a seat by the window to put himself on her level, make him seem less imposing. A tactic from his days with Triad.
"It's not a curse in the strictest sense," he explained. "Someone didn't curse the coven. The coven did it to themselves."
Hope's eyes widened and Lizzie leaned forward.
"You're telling me my ancestors thought, let's just slap the twins of every generation together, cause them untold torment, pit them against each other, oh, and the victor gets to rule the coven? And they did this on purpose?"
"Yes," Clarke nodded.
Lizzie sprang up and paced.
Hope sat down to give her space.
"Why!?" Lizzie demanded to know.
Clarke shook his head. "That's all you get."
"Argh!" she groaned in frustration. "Hope, make him talk! Read his mind or something!"
"It doesn't work that way," Hope explained. "He can read my thoughts, I can't read his." Except in wolf form, but she didn't need to know that.
"Next time Josie wants to use black magic to link you to someone, she should be more clear," the blonde grumbled, glaring at him.
Smiling that smug grin of his, Clarke knew he had her. She was going to help.
Suddenly Lizzie grasped her stomach and groaned in pain.
Hope sprang up. "What's wrong? Is it the wound? Do you need to sit down?"
"No, it's—" she gasped.
Hope pulled back, holding her nose. "Oh my God, Lizzie, what is that smell?"
"It's why I came to see you," she backed away, her face turning red. "Can you make him leave?! Oh my God, this is so embarrassing." She backed away further and ran for the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Hope held up the prism. She looked at Clarke and shrugged apologetically. "You might want to block this one out."
Wrinkling his own nose distastefully, he nodded though it was more about blocking out thoughts. He feared there was no blocking that out.
Deactivating the prism, Hope searched for air freshener and then scented candles when she found none, groaning when the only candle she could find was Alyssa's bacon scented one. She lit it anyway.
She braced herself and went to the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"
"No!" Lizzie replied sharply. "As if the pain in my side wasn't enough, I have to deal with twin sympathy too!"
"Oh...Oh!" Hope finally understood. "You mean Josie..."
"She's still doing black magic! And I'm the one dealing with the after effects," she hollered through the door. "Please tell me you have more toilet paper. I didn't think anyone ran out since the great TP shortage of 2020."
"It's in the cabinet behind you," Hope answered, feeling bad as she heard Lizzie moan again.
"Worst morning EVER."
* * *
Landon woke feeling like something was missing. He looked around and remembered he fell asleep with Hope in his arms. She must've left without waking him.
He didn't know how to take that. Usually when she slept over, she woke him up if she woke before him. Granted, this was the first time in a while that she had fallen asleep next to him as usually he crashed in Raf's bed, but still...why hadn't she woken him?
Yesterday was a pretty big day for him. Not only had he saved Dorian, he flew—like actually flew—for the first time, with great big wings of fire. He saw the look on Hope's face when he landed too. It was that hero look he was striving for.
He knew she was probably still beating herself up over choosing to save the Saltzmans instead of him, but he had saved himself. And she did make the right choice. Though, if he was as useless as she once accused him of being while under a magical creature's spell, things would've ended quite differently. He would still have rather she save them over him anyway. He didn't think she would ever understand that—or forgive herself for her choice—but he was cool with it.
The bathroom door opened and he looked up thinking maybe it was Hope, but no. His roommate, best friend, and brother was finally back. He left the bathroom shirtless with a towel over his right shoulder.
"Hey! Did I mention last night I'm glad you're back?" Landon asked with a smile.
"Hey bro," Rafael nodded at him. "I hope it was okay, me coming here last night, what with you and Hope...?" He indicated the bed with a knowing look. "I almost left again when I saw she was here, but you were both sleeping and I didn't know where else to crash."
"Oh, no problem," Landon said, shaking his head. "We just fell asleep. Nothing like that has happened since you left or anything."
"Oh, okay," Rafael said.
"Besides, it's your room too," he swept a hand out.
"Yeah, but," he grinned. "Just remember to put a sock on the door if you need to since I'm back."
Landon nodded stiffly, shifting uncomfortably. He didn't like to talk about that stuff with Rafael when it came to Hope, not because of Rafael's feelings for her but because he and Hope hadn't even talked about it. He was content to wait until she brought it up.
Their relationship had been through too much lately to be anywhere near ready for that. He knew he loved her and she loved him. But things were far from perfect. Never mind that his memory had been wiped clean of her and she hadn't told him when she got back, there was also that little thing last year where she didn't tell him the truth about his mother. She lied by omission to him twice now, for his own protection, his own happiness, she said. It still bothered him because he wasn't sure if he trusted her to never do that again.
How could he have sex with her if he wasn't one hundred percent sure he trusted her?
Did he want to have sex with her? Yes. But, for now, he was happy where they were, which was still figuring things out. There was no need to rush into anything. He had never been in a serious relationship before so he was taking it one day at a time hoping he didn't do anything to screw it up.
Rafael gave him a teasing smile then walked across the room to his dresser.
Lost in his thoughts, Landon almost missed it but muscle memory made him glance at Rafael's side. After going through so many foster homes, he always checked on his foster siblings, especially Rafael, to make sure no new bruises showed up.
"What's that?" he sat up, bringing his legs down off the side of the bed, pointing at Rafael's stomach.
"What's what?" he asked, looking down.
"It looks like you were cut," Landon stood up.
Rafael looked at the long cut, brows furrowed. He turned to get a better look at it in his full length mirror.
"Who did that to you?"
Rafael traced his fingers along the mark, puzzled.
"I...don't know."
* * *
"So," Lizzie cleared her throat, putting on airs that dared anyone, including him, to bring up the earlier situation at their own peril.
Hope bit her lip, praying the blonde didn't look at her. She felt really bad for Lizzie, but the situation was making it difficult to look at Clarke. She knew she might not keep a straight face depending on his face, so she had activated the prism but kept her eyes trained on her comforter.
"If you guys want Josie to help us with the spell to bring Clarke back, assuming you could actually convince her to help after what you did," anger flashed in Lizzie's eyes as she glared at Clarke. She did not like this person, but she needed the information he held. "Then we need to find a way to get the black magic completely out of her."
"Not necessarily..." Clarke said, ignoring Hope's mirth. He could really care less about the blonde's digestive issues. He just wanted to get on with it. "In fact, you'll need it for the spell."
"No!" Lizzie turned on him. "We're not doing black magic. You may have manipulated my sister, but you aren't manipulating me, mister."
"But—" Hope started.
"I said, NO, Hope," the twin shifted around to look at her. "We aren't doing black magic! I'm scared of what Josie's become. None of us are doing black magic. It's earth magic or it's not happening at all!"
"Then you'll fail," Clarke concluded.
"Then we'll just find out about the merge another way."
"No, you won't," he said with absolute certainty.
"Then we won't!" Lizzie threw her hands up in exasperation.
"There's always another way," Hope interjected. "We'll figure something out to get you a body," she said to Clarke. "We don't have to do it right away. I blocked any creatures from coming through...at least I hope it worked, so we don't have to worry about the portal for now. We'll figure out a way to help Josie first. Then we'll get Clarke his body back...somehow." Even she knew she sounded uncertain.
Clarke sunk back in his chair in defeat. They were all delusional. Without black magic, it wasn't happening. His father had created him using it; there was no way he was coming back without it. Heck, black magic was the reason he still existed now.
Lizzie nodded. "So how do we get the black magic out of Josie?"
"Siphon it?" Clarke offered.
The blonde looked at him as if to say, 'Really?' "That's great, take it out of Josie and put it in me. Just stop. You're not helping."
"What if we try our original plan again?" Hope asked. "I mean, get another sand clock, have Josie put the magic in it, then drop it in a new prison world?"
"That could work, I suppose," Lizzie thought it through. "Assuming we could actually get Josie to put the magic in it."
Clarke laughed loudly.
"You two really think you're going to find another mora miserium?" he asked.
"You did, how hard could it be?" Lizzie asked.
"Triad had that stored for at least a century," he said.
"Oh," she deflated.
"I could ask Vincent for help in finding one?" Hope said. "He isn't going to like it, but he might have some idea of where to look?"
"By all means," he replied, knowing it was pointless. It was created to store the effects of black magic by people who didn't like what black magic did to them. Once they realized the magic came rushing back when it inevitably broke, they stopped making them. There was also a bit about other dark witches using a full hourglass to boost their own powers. Anyone who did like the effects of black magic—mostly because that's the only magic they used—wasn't interested in recreating that particular dark object. They wanted to hold onto their own power, thank you very much.
"And in the meantime, I could talk to Josie?" Hope asked Lizzie.
"I can deal with my sister," the twin said. "I have some choice words for her." She wasn't pleased about that morning's shenanigans. In the prison world, Josie had cleared out the sympathy effects to save her life. If she was, once again, feeling the effects then Josie had to have used black magic since they got back.
"There's actually something else I need to ask her about," Hope said. She needed to see if Josie could return the memories of Sebastian. She knew Lizzie was done with him, but she also knew it would make her friend happy to know the ancient vampire had survived if only she could remember him.
Clarke, listening to Hope's thoughts, remained silent. Returning those memories wasn't the problem. The problem was Sebastian returning at all. Hope hadn't realized yet that Sebastian's return might have meant another portal had opened. Sebastian may have come through before she cast the spell to block the portal but, either way, Malivore couldn't contain the vampire. Sebastian was back in this world and depending on when he arrived, well, that was another problem for the Salvatore school and his brother to deal with. He didn't want Hope's attention anywhere else but on helping him.
"Then make sure you tell her about him while you're at it," Lizzie said, indicating Clarke. "So what did Frodo have to say about his brother hitching a ride in his girlfriend?"
"She hasn't told him yet," Clarke announced, his smarmy smile showing his amusement.
"I will," Hope insisted. She honestly hadn't even thought again about telling Landon. After her initial decision, too much had happened. She sort of...forgot that it was kind of important.
"You are so screwed," Lizzie said, shaking her head.
"Gee, thanks," Hope returned sardonically. But she wasn't wrong. She had put it off too long.
"Maybe it's for the best," Clarke suggested. "That dream you had last night—"
"Clarke!" she threw a pillow at him, not that it could actually hit him.
"He can see your dreams?" Lizzie asked, intrigued.
"Make appearances too," he said, grinning.
"Way to be creepy, Freddy Krueger," the blonde told him.
"Funny, because he is a nightmare," Hope sighed dramatically.
Clarke smirked.
"Anyway," Lizzie turned to Hope. "I have class to get ready for. Last I saw, my evil twin was heading to the library. Try not to get on her bad side."
"I'll do my best."
* * *
"Maybe we should ask Doctor Saltzman?" Landon asked.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Rafael said. "It probably happened during the time before I ended up in that camper, when I can't remember."
"Malivore!"
"What?"
"I wonder if whoever did this to you went into the Malivore pit," Landon suggested. "Maybe that's why you can't remember?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Rafael latched onto his brother's theory, willing to accept that. "And I definitely don't want to remember how this happened. So it's all good."
"It looks bad though."
Rafael shook his head. "It looks like it's already kind of healed up. Super wolf healing powers and all."
"You sure you don't want to ask anybody...?"
"I'm sure," Rafael said. "I'm not sure about my schedule since I've been gone so long...what class do you have this morning?"
"I don't," Landon's eyes sparkled. "I'm gonna practice flying, see if I can do it again. It's so cool. Check it out, I'm meeting Wade in the clearing. Come with? You might get to see me in action."
He nodded then looked at him. "Wait, Wade?" he asked.
"Yep," Landon grinned. "He's a fairy."
"Oh...kay?" Rafael agreed with some confusion. He clearly missed a lot.
"Sweet!"
* * *
"Hey, Jos," Hope said, approaching the twin and trying to act as natural as possible. Josie still looked pretty much like she always did.
"Oh hey," she looked up from her book. "What's up?"
"Listen," the tribrid began. "Someone else went into the Malivore pit, so I was wondering..."
"You want me to restore the memories?" Josie asked, eyes widening. "Who is it?"
"He's a...friend of Lizzie's?" Hope tried to explain, but really, how does one explain Sebastian? "He stayed behind to be the anchor in the prison world so you could all survive."
"I wondered how we'd all gotten back," the brunette said. "Sure, I'll do it. Just let me—"
"I was thinking tonight?" Hope interrupted. "There's no hurry, and since everyone passes out it'd probably be best if—"
"If I did it when most everyone is already asleep," Josie finished with a slight smile. "No problem, Hope. Anything else?"
Hope struggled to figure out how best to bring up Clarke.
Josie's head suddenly came up and her eyes filled with the ominous black.
"Josie?..." Hope asked cautiously.
She raised a finger to indicate Hope should give her a second.
"We're not alone."
Hope's breath caught and a chill ran down her spine. Josie had said that in her dream. Despite the feeling that maybe her dream had been a premonition—and the fear for Landon that came with that possibility—she wondered if she meant they weren't alone because Clarke was listening through Hope and she somehow knew it.
Josie's head turned left while the rest of her body remained straight forward, giving a creepy effect. Suddenly, her head swung to the right and she used her finger to shoot out a cloud of magic, black as night.
Hope sat back quickly to watch the magic rise up off the floor and come towards them.
It was more than disconcerting to see what looked like a human eyeball attached to an optic nerve floating within the black smoke.
"What is that?" Hope said with disgust. "That's so gross."
"A spy," Josie said in the same matter-of-fact tone she had used when Hope projected into the prison world.
The dark eyed girl tilted her head, looking at the orb curiously.
"Perdere," she said.
The eyeball twitched before shrinking, the magic consuming it until it was completely destroyed.
"Who..." Hope realized human parts, zombie, it all added up to one. "Necromancer."
Nodding as if that answered all of her questions, Josie turned back to look at the other girl, eyes still dark as night.
"Clarke. He was with you before. Why?"
"He's linked to me," Hope explained carefully. She was relieved Josie had brought it up so she didn't have to. "I'm going to try to put him back into his body, but the Necromancer turned it into another Malivore portal. So I need help..."
"I will do it."
Hope's skin buzzed as she sat up straight. "You...want to help?"
"Don't need help," she said.
Stunned, Hope leaned back. Josie wanted to help Clarke? Lizzie would kill her if she let Josie use black magic to bring Clarke back.
"I thought you hated him," she said. "Since when are you his...biggest fan?"
"I owe him."
"What for?"
"The magic."
Feeling another hum in her skin, she grasped her necklace to ground herself. Dark Josie wasn't upset with Clarke because she was grateful for the power. Well, that was new.
"It's a big spell, are you sure you don't need help?" Hope asked, thinking of how drained she had been after putting the seal over the portal.
Josie stared at her.
"I'll take that as a 'no'." She still thought it would be too much for her, she would definitely be weak after doing the spell and need to...siphon more. She suddenly had an idea to help Josie and Clarke.
Abruptly, Josie's eyes closed and she slumped. When her eyes opened again, the black was gone and it was their Josie.
"Hope?" she asked. "I asked if you needed anything else?"
"No..." Hope said softly. "I have everything I need."
* * *
"Dad, I don't think Josie's okay," Lizzie admitted to her father.
"Why?" Alaric asked.
"Twin sympathy," she explained. "I had some more...residual effects this morning." She groaned thinking about it. One day she wanted to make her sister feel what it felt like, except she would have to do black magic to do it and she refused to. Especially after she saw what it did to Josie.
"Are you sure it's not just from her doing the spell to get us back here?" he asked.
Huh. She hadn't thought of that.
"I guess it could be," she said, suddenly uncertain.
"I think that's all it is," he said. "But let me know if you notice anything else."
"Okay..."
Leaving to go to her next class, she sent Hope a text telling her she thought the black magic really was gone.
Not gone. Have plan. Come see me later tonight.
With trepidation, she confirmed she would be there.
She hoped Clarke made another appearance if only so she could chew him out for what he did to Josie some more. She hated that she needed anything from him. She also hated that Hope was helping him. She didn't understand that at all. And the way they interacted with each other...
She would warn Landon to watch out, but he didn't even know there was a problem yet.
Hopefully that all went well, whenever Hope told him about Clarke. Landon was a pretty understanding guy, so maybe it would be fine.
* * *
"Noooo!" The Necromancer, or Ted, as he still referred to him in his head, tossed over his seeing eye pot for the last time.
Chad stood back, waiting for Ted to get over his temper tantrum.
"We were finally getting somewhere good!" he complained. "They are going to search for another mora miserium! I bet they do too, those kids are terribly resourceful."
"They are," Chad agreed.
"I'm going to need to step up my timetable," the dark sorcerer said thoughtfully. "I need to be restored to my full power."
"What are you going to do?" he asked, wary of what would happen next. He really didn't want anyone else to die. He felt completely powerless though. He had been turned into a puppet. Just call him Kermit.
"You'll see..." Ted grinned devilishly.
* * *
If she hadn't already seen that he really could fly, she would think her boyfriend had lost his mind. He was clearly obsessed with flying. Yet, he couldn't seem to figure out how to do it again.
"Put more flap into it?" Wade suggested.
Landon moved his arms like he was imitating a chicken. "I told you before, this wouldn't work. The fact that I'm trying it now just shows how desperate I am."
Watching them, Hope giggled. He really was adorable.
Rafael put his hands on his shoulders, effectively stopping his movements. "You look ridiculous."
Landon laughed, "I know." He dropped his arms. "What do you suggest?"
"Maybe it's not about what you're doing physically," Rafael said. "Maybe it's about what you're feeling? Both times you flew, what was happening?"
"The first time I was with Hope," he said. "And the second, well, Dorian's life depended on it."
"So, it's an emotional thing," Rafael concluded.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Wade interjected. "Do that instead."
"Do what, exactly?" Landon asked.
"You know, feel," Rafael said. "Deeply. Just use your emotions."
Landon tried to focus with his arms spread out, searching for some feeling or emotion. He came up empty and said, "Flap flap?" before laughing and dropping his arms again.
Hope laughed out loud along with him, catching his attention.
He brightened considerably, waving at her.
"Take a break," Rafael said. "Go see your girl."
Not needing to be told twice, Landon went to her.
Shaking his head, Rafael watched his friend. His brother was truly lucky to have her. He wished he didn't have some feelings toward her himself, but he did. Eventually he would get past it and be able to be friends with her again. In the meantime, he felt like even talking to her or being friends with her was a betrayal to Landon. He wouldn't be hanging with her because of the friendship; he would be hanging with her because he liked the way it felt to spend time with her.
He absentmindedly rubbed at the cut on his abdomen through his shirt. He lied to Landon. He did want to know how it happened. Something didn't feel right when Malivore was mentioned. He didn't think that was the reason he couldn't remember. He just didn't know the real reason. It scared him, losing time like that. It was a complete blank. Even when he couldn't remember Hope, he didn't lose a large chunk of time.
"That doesn't look good."
Distracted by Landon's new friend, Rafael looked back at the happy couple...who didn't look too happy.
The fairy was right. Landon, who very rarely argued and avoided confrontation, was frowning and arguing with Hope. She appeared worried, apologetic, and a little desperate.
What's that about?
* * *
"So he's here, listening right now?" Landon said, trying to wrap his mind around her words.
"No, well, maybe?" She explained. "I always warn him before I see you so he can block...things out."
He blanched. Things? Meaning, all of their private moments that had apparently been shared with his brother since...when?
"How long has he been linked to you?"
"Since the night the portal was closed," she answered.
"That long?" He was shocked. That was the night they got back together. "And you're just telling me now?"
"Yes."
"Why now?"
"Because you should know," she said. "Especially since we'll be getting his body back soon."
"His what?" Landon gripped his head, trying to take it all in. "You can't possibly be thinking about bringing him back."
"I am."
"He tried to help our father turn me into a meat suit, and he tried to kill you," he said, dropping his hands back to his sides. "He's not a good guy, Hope. Why are you helping him?"
"He's got information about the twins' merge," she said.
"Fine, bring him back. Get the information and just destroy the body again," he argued. "He would do it to you."
"I can't do that," she shook her head.
"Why not?" he pushed.
"Because he's—" she cut off suddenly.
"He's what?" he latched onto her words. She was holding something back and he wanted to know what.
"He's...a friend," she said softly, looking like she was only just realizing that herself.
He turned away, unable to believe her words.
"He's not as bad as you think," she didn't know how to explain. "It'll be okay. Please, just trust me."
He was silent for several long moments.
"No."
"No?" she asked.
He turned back around. "You put your foot down about me being the hero, so this is me, putting my foot down over this. You can't bring him back."
"You didn't bother listening to me about the hero thing," she pointed out, feeling a little taken aback.
"No, I didn't," he said. "You've been protective of me to the point of obsession. It's my turn to protect you, and I'm telling you, no. You aren't going to help him."
"You're telling me what to do?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, for once I'm telling you what to do," he said. "I've always supported you in anything you wanted to do, even though you don't always support me, but I'm not supporting you in this."
"I've always supported you," she said, confused and trying to placate him.
"Please don't do that," he said, shaking his head. "Don't patronize me. You didn't support me when I was trying to fly—"
"I didn't want you to get hurt!" she interrupted.
"You treated me like a child," he said. "Which I was okay with because I know you love me and just want to protect me. But this relationship takes two. If you want me to listen to you, you have to listen to me."
"I do listen to you," she said. "I'm sorry if I've gotten a little crazy trying to protect you, but I just didn't want to lose you."
"That's not the point," he said. "I don't care about that; I care about you bringing Clarke back."
"If I don't bring him back, if I unlink him, he'll just cease to exist," she said.
"Good!"
"I can't," she shook her head. "I can't do what you want. I'm sorry."
How could he possibly reach her? She was making a horrible mistake. How could he get her to see reason? She hadn't been very reasonable for a while now, especially when she tried to stop him from becoming who he wanted to be. She needed to take a step back, take a break and see the bigger picture.
That's it, he realized. No matter how much the idea hurt him, he had to do it for her. He had to protect her the only way he knew how.
"I think we should take a break," he said.
Her head shot up in shock. "W-what?"
"I think it's what's best," he said with more confidence than he felt. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he had to.
"B-but, no," her eyes shimmered. "It's not. It's not what's best. We can figure this out, you can't just—"
"I'm sorry, Hope," he said stiffly. If he stood around a moment longer, her tears would break his resolve. He turned and walked back to his friends before she started crying.
"Landon?" he could hear her tearful voice over his shoulder. Just keep walking, just keep walking. It's for her own good. "Landon!?"
"Everything okay?" Rafael asked, looking over Landon's shoulder at Hope still standing across the clearing.
"It will be," he said, as if saying it would make it true.
He returned to the spot he picked for his flight launch that was a safe distance from the guys if the blazing wings ever worked. He reached down deep inside, focusing on the one emotion screaming at his insides.
"So, I was thinking—" Wade started to give a new theory on flying.
Before he could finish, Landon's wings swung out in a burst of red hot flame.
Rafael and Wade cheered in amazement.
He looked at the sky and sent out his emotions to his wings. They answered his command and he flew up.
Everyone on the ground stared in amazement, except for one lone girl who was trying desperately to hold herself together.
* * *
Lizzie stomped her foot impatiently.
It was later as Hope had asked, so why was she taking forever to answer her door? Fortunately, Alyssa Chang was still in a cell beneath the school. Her father was making sure to drag out her punishment, ensuring the girl had seen the error of her ways. He would probably release her tomorrow though. In Lizzie's opinion, she should totally be expelled.
Finally hearing the turn of the knob, Hope opened her door and she looked positively wrecked. Her eyes were a puffy mess, her face was splotchy and her hair was falling out of her ponytail all over the place.
"What happened to you?"
Hope left the door open and walked back to give Lizzie space to come in.
Lizzie did, closing the door behind her.
"Hope?"
She shook her head, obviously trying to keep herself together. She didn't succeed as her face crumbled when the tears started again.
Lizzie didn't know what had happened, but she knew when she was needed.
She reached out her arms to Hope who practically flung herself into them.
It was going to be a long night.
* * *
In the dark of the night, Josie focused and cast the ancient Japanese spell to return all of their memories as she told Hope she would do.
She made sure she was sitting in her bed when she did it. She waited as long as possible for Lizzie to return to their room and fall asleep before she cast the spell, but it didn't seem like her sister would be returning that night.
Within moments after she cast the spell and everyone, including herself, had passed out, her bedroom door opened.
White eyes glowing, Rafael made his way to the side of her bed. He pulled her blankets back.
Slipping his arms under her, he quickly lifted her and left, disappearing into the night.