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罢丑别苍….
Hope devoted four years of her life to finding a way of bringing lost loved ones back to life, the last of which was spent trying to convince a witch by the name of Pandora to teach her a spell that would make time travel possible. If she went back to before ‘The Hollow’ returned then maybe she could head everything else off at the pass. It was a risk but if she got both her parents and uncle back then it would be well worth it.
She paced anxiously as her gaze fixed on a ‘window’ to the past trying to gather the nerve to step through it as all the words of caution offered by the select few who knew the full extent of her plan echoed inside her head. There was a sharp intake of breath as the nineteen year old turned more fully towards it with a look of determination.
One hand lightly touched the pendant which bore the letter ‘M’ to steady her nerves then quickly stepped through the ‘window’ as she called it for lack of a better word as it didn't quite seem to be what she imagined a portal to be. The young witch turned looking back over her shoulder for one last glimpse of three women who’ insisted on being present when she attempted this before it closed.
狈辞飞….
Hope let out the breath she'd been holding as the ‘window’ closed leaving her cutoff from her own time. This would be no small undertaking and maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to insist on doing this alone but she didn't want to risk losing anyone else. There were about a million ways things could go wrong. She turned finally taking a look around she found herself standing in a cemetery but more importantly the very same one.
It was a relief to discover that part of her plan had gone as expected. She hadn't been quite sure that stepping through a ‘window’ into the past would put her in the same place as she was in her own time. But fortunately that was the case as she'd not been left in the dark about her location and had some ideas of where to go for any kind of help. Provided she could successfully convince someone of who she was.
Her gaze turned upward as she caught a glimpse of darkness floating across the sky, slowly beginning to follow it she stopped when it did then looked down at the grave of one ‘Jenna Sommers’ whose name she recalled from the journals of Stefan Salvatore. The woman had been one of her father's victims.?
When she looked up again the darkness had disappeared into a nearby grave, one eyebrow slowly rose at this turn of events. She didn't quite understand what had just happened and absently turned as if to ask if either Freya or Pandora had any ideas when she remembered she was alone now.
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Miranda walked through row after row of tombstones with her gaze passing over each marker. More often than not coming across a familiar name, a thing that was not at all surprising since her entire life was spent in this quiet little town. Some could be found within the pages of those journals that Grayson kept hidden away from the world but most were acquaintances at the very least.?
Her pace slowed at spotting a figure lingering near the family plot, one eyebrow rose as she contemplated whether a change of plans was necessary. If this young woman were a close friend of either of her children the odds of being recognized increased exponentially. Unless…no it broke her heart to think of all that was lost in the fire.
Her eyes briefly going to the graves belonging to most of her family. All the warnings she'd given herself along with those Pandora offered almost daily echoed inside her mind. It was like playing Russian roulette, or so she'd been told, wandering into town where anyone might recognize her.
Wooden bullets could be problematic enough on their own without factoring in the vervain and stakes the sheriffs department undoubtedly still carried.
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Hope was suddenly aware of no longer being alone, slowly turning in a small circle until she spotted a woman standing some distance away. There for a moment all thought stopped aside from a single question ‘what would her father do?’ While it was true there was nothing immediately threatening about the figure it didn't stop certain thoughts.
She kept turning back to the grave that now served as a hiding spot or incubator to whatever the darkness was. Following several uneasy seconds she stepped closer to it deciding it to be the more imminent threat. The tribrid stood immobile as she sifted through all the spells learned from both her aunt and mentor.?
Slowly kneeling down she carefully extended both hands with palms facing downward then lowered them to the earth. Her eyes closed as she began chanting in Ancient Greek, eyelids occasionally fluttering as images flashed through her mind almost like those created by a movie projector.
As she pressed on blood began trickling from her nose as whatever it was resisted her efforts to get answers.
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Davina understood all his fears about becoming involved in whatever was coming because she felt the same. It would have been so much easier to wash her hands of the whole situation were it not for the people in this town who'd taken her in. So, she'd come up with a compromise of sorts…they would follow the locator spell to wherever it led in the name of satisfying her own curiosity and then if he wished hop on the first plan to the farthest corners of the earth.
It had taken a little bit of doing but after gathering her supplies she'd tinkered with the spell until she thought she had something that might work. Tracking magic itself could prove difficult but to pinpoint a specific being without anything of theirs was next to impossible. Who's to say it wouldn't lead them back to the Salvatore Boarding School?
She'd studied the map for the longest after finishing the spell, having used her own blood as a means of tracking magic. It was no surprise when a few drops instantly slid across the paper to where the school could be found or that her own location was indicated as well.?
But there were three other locations where drops of blood had stopped…one at the center of town, another on its edge…possibly at a farmhouse and the final one lingered over the cemetery. She knew that Kol was reluctant to go there. Hell, she even wished she hadn't been in such a rush to solve this mystery because then they could have gone with the idea of using a drone instead.
Her eyes moving from the entrance of the cemetery back to Kol as she struggled with the impulse to head in that direction. She'd promised the next step would be his call if he let her get this far.?
(ooc: Well Damon did do that cool thing with the crow and fog in season one then never did it again. Figured I’d move them along a little bit if that doesn't work for you just let me know and I can work up something else and hold onto this for another time to be tweaked as needed.)
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OOC<Yeah the crow was in the books a lot.
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IC
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"Son of a bitch," Kol breathed in expected displeasure when he saw where the blood drops went. And the final one to the bloody graveyard.
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"Who else is back that? we probably wish had stayed dead," he muttered darkly, glancing toward Davina with open trepidation mingled with? annoyance on his face.
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"You're a brilliant witch. I knew you could do it, and way faster than a drone," he said, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. He was proud of her and no matter how crazy things got he always needed her to know that. She was the strongest, most talented and beautiful witch alive and he never wanted her to forget it in all the persistent craziness that was their life.
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"So should we be stupid and check it out alone or go for back up," he asked, tone unconcerned as he retreated to his usual flippant state.I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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“I don't know. Maybe if I could figure out what magic was used…I could come up with a way of tracking them down or at the very least identifying anyone recently resurrected.” Davina had doubts as to whether that was even possible and if it was whether she had enough power to pull it off. But the longer she considered the idea it started to feel pointless because most of his family's enemies he’d recognize on sight but then she wouldn't so there was that.
She let the compliment distract her from growing concerns about who else might eventually come calling. Smiling as she looked over at him without a word being spoken mostly because she didn't quite know how to respond. But the hand on her shoulder and his words helped calm the storm brewing within her mind.
At his question she allowed herself to look toward the cemetery then back again, silently hoping this next decision wouldn't be one she'd soon regret. “How about this…we go check it out and if things get too hairy then you use that speed of yours to get us the hell of there?” She hoped that was an acceptable plan because keeping her curiosity in check long enough for anyone else to get there probably wouldn't happen.
She'd already started towards the cemetery gate.?
(ooc: feel free to have them inside it or whatever.)
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"Deal, but if there is any trouble, you stay behind me," Kol said firmly, more than ready to apply vampiric speed to get them out as she suggested. He wasn't one to run from a fight most times, but if it meant keeping his girl safe, it was an entirely different matter and he'd never lose her again. Never.
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He reached for her hand as they moved toward the cemetery, linking his fingers with hers as his gaze searched the dusk ahead for a glimpse of?whatever was in? there. "Looks?like a girl, I think," he murmured.?Not until they slipped inside could he tell for sure, though. And something about her? looked familiar. He remained silent as they approached, leaving the social niceties to his witch as she was so much more of a people person.
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He could charm when he wanted, but just now, with all his plans being disrupted by more headache inducing magical?weirdness, he just wasn't feeling charming. Instead he'd stick with the roll of strong silent protector.
I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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“But I…” Davina started to protest only to realize that doing so would mean him doing whatever he deemed necessary to keep her from going inside that cemetery to investigate. It was moments like these when the young witch felt conflicted, a part of her wanting to express her own concerns for Kol in spite of knowing he wasn't so easily killed. “Okay, I will stay behind you.” It was her hope that was a promise that could be kept.
She interlaced her fingers with his, shooting a sidelong look in his direction as the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. It didn't last more than a few seconds as it felt somehow necessary to keep a straight face as they walked through the cemetery gate. Just off to one side she noticed a woman standing there almost perfectly still as if trying to avoid detection but couldn't make out any details to speak of.
Her eyes then moved to the figure kneeling at the foot of a grave with hands resting on the ground in a way that suggested the young woman might be working a spell of some kind. Had she summoned it? Or was she what they'd seen? Or maybe she was just looking into it the same way they were? All good questions.
“Um…hello?” She wished she'd sounded a bit more confident in her attempt to get the attention of the other witch as they got closer. It was becoming more apparent that she was struggling like one often does when either over exerting themselves via a powerful spell or coming up against someone stronger. “Maybe you should….” Looking to Kol and back again. “stop.”
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Hope refused to give up even when her spell began taking a heavier toll as her efforts were met with an increasing amount of resistance from whoever or whatever was hiding within the confines of this grave. There for a second she appeared on the verge of collapse but pushed through. Dimly aware of a familiar voice suggesting that she stop. It sounded like….Davina.
She had to know whether this…thing, whatever it was, posed a threat. But at what cost? If it forced her to use too much magic at once….now there was a thought she didn't care to finish. Of course, there was more to her than the average witch what with her being the tribrid and all. But that was no reason to get too cocky. Besides if she got herself killed solving this mystery then her parents along with her uncle would still die.
She supposed it was the stubbornness that ran in the Mikaelson family that made it hard to abandon this endeavor without gaining answers or rather more detailed ones that could be of some use. Leaning forward she nearly toppled over, quickly steadying herself as best she could though becoming more noticeably weaker.?
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“You NEED to stop.” Davina said more firmly, a look of concern on her face. Part of her suspected that the last of her three theories might be more accurate. This could be someone either Caroline or Alaric had brought to town to help safeguard and teach the children at the Salvatore Boarding School. She looked once more to Kol then back to their mystery witch.
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Hope fell forward the only thing keeping her from face planting was the fact her hands were still resting flat against the ground. Whatever had chosen this grave as its own personal incubator wasn't interested in having anyone knowing too much too soon. She weakly looked back over her shoulder to where the voice had come from, a look of recognition on her face. “Uncle Kol?”?
The words left her mouth before she'd had the chance to think them through or perhaps in her weakened state her mind was playing tricks on her. Either way she hoped her healing abilities would help with having over exerted herself magically. As the tribrid shakily rose to her feet she was thrown by this unseen force against one of the tombstones a couple rows away as three cloaked figures approached.?
She winced as her side hit the edge of the tombstone then fell to the ground at its base. Her eyes flashing a golden yellow, like those of a wolf, when they opened again and almost instantly seeking out the responsibility party. The sight of those figures flickering then disappearing in a swirl of black smoke was unsettling and made her think back to a few of the ‘creatures’ who Malivore had released when going after the artifacts. But it couldn't be that.?
“What the…” Her expression one of confusion, having been preparing herself for a fight up until that moment. But she had a strange sense they hadn't gone far as their actions seemed almost like a warning. Could it be they were protecting the contents of the grave? Or were they trying to keep someone from raising it? She supposed both were possibilities.?
Whose side were they on?
She caught a glimpse of rapid movement from the corner of her eye causing her head to whip around as she looked in that direction. Remembering the woman she'd spotted watching her before this all started she figured she had to have been a vampire to clear the area that fast. Question was, did she have anything to do with the party crashers?
The wind began to pick up as lightning flashed across a sky that until a second ago showed no signs of a coming storm. Little did she know this one was limited to above the cemetery. “That…can't…be…good.”
(ooc: if you have any ideas feel free to run with them as I have nothing set.)
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The woman, also watching as they were appeared to be a vampire. Frustrated, Kol was divided between speaking to her or addressing? the kneeling? young woman who appeared to either be causing the fuss or trying to stop it...
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Of course there were 2 people. He and Davina, so technically they could separate and each deal with one of these two women. Mathematically it worked out perfectly, but if Davina got the dangerous one and Kol was occupied or distracted with the other, it wouldn't work for him. Losing Davina again wouldn't work for him. Allowing anything to ever happen to her wouldn't work for him.
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The he got a glimpse of the girl's face when she turned to look at him. Klaus couldn't have had another child. And none of the rest of them could! But she did have a family resemblance about the eyes, didn't she? Always one to trust his instincts, he decided then that yes, she did.
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And then she called him Uncle Kol. Hope was an extremely powerful witch. What if she had done some sort of spell that aged her in an attempt? to fix something. If so she was still just a little girl and in more danger than she could surely handle. Rushing forward he scooped her into his arms. "Hope! What have you done," he asked, worry and alarm combining? in his tone. "And are you alright?"
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As he spoke, he spared a look to ensure Davina was still close to him, then cast his gaze about for the other watcher woman while brushing Hope's hair back from her face.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Hope stared up at the sky as lightning streaked across it with a sense of dread as omens went this couldn't be a good one. Casting a quick look around as she tried to determine whether the brewing storm was limited to their immediate location. But her little investigation was brought to a halt when her uncle lifted her from the ground, the action one she would have protested had she been stronger.
“Done? I haven't…” She started in confusion, half thinking he held her responsible for whatever was ‘incubating’ inside that grave or at the very least the beginning of a storm that appeared to be limited to the cemetery. Her expression slowly becoming one more of surprise at realizing he’d used her name. She hadn't been expecting anyone to figure out who she was or maybe it was that little slip of the tongue that clued him in. Whatever the case the young witch was relieved to already have someone in her corner.
“I think so.” She said deciding to answer his second question first in order to ease his mind and also to buy her a little more time to work up an explanation. “I just…overdid it a little.” Her eyes moved to the grave once more and quickly back again as she didn't much care to dwell on what she'd seen.
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Davina quickly turned in several small circles as she desperately searched for any trace of the three cloaked figures. Their sudden appearance and the manner in which they chose to fling the other witch left her severely on edge. Carefully lifting one hand to shield her eyes against a bright flash of lightning. What had they stumbled into?
She looked to where Kol had gone surprised at the name he’d spoken. “Hope?” Her tone mildly disbelieving as she figured his niece to be about seven years old and this young woman looked to be closer to her own age. How was that possible? Quietly sifting through what knowledge she'd gained while trapped on the ancestral plane and drew a blank.
There was a loud crack of thunder half a second before she was snatched out of the way of a falling tree that narrowly missed the rows of tombstones she stood between. “Thank…” She trailed off suddenly becoming aware that her ‘hero’ was not who she expected, a realization accompanied by a series of images and the sense that this woman could be trusted. “you.” She finished after a moment.
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Miranda quickly pulled her hands back at seeing a look in the young woman's eyes that mirrored that of a friend. Witch? She thought that had to be the case with the similarities or maybe it was the shock of having been moved so quickly. She couldn't tell for sure. “I am sorry. It's just…the tree was falling…and you…” Stopping as it occurred to her the girl was about Elena's age or appeared to be, a thought that left the vampire missing her daughter even more.
Coming out of the shadows to keep the girl from being crushed had contradicted every choice she'd made during any of her past visits to Mystic Falls. It was just better if all of her old friends and surviving family believed her dead. Or so she told herself.
Her gaze flicking over toward the grave next to Grayson’s where she was supposed to be buried. If he saw her now as one of the things they'd been raised to hate he’d not hesitate to drive a stake through her heart and perhaps it was something she should have done herself years ago.
It was then that she realized the darkness had chosen her empty grave. But why?
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"She had to have used some sort of aging spell. A really advanced game of playing grown up, I must say but not..."Kol's explanation to Davina concerning Hope's suddenly aged state broke off when the tree nearly fell on her and one of the previously vanished figures, perhaps? Just sprang from seemingly no where as only a vampire could do and dragged her out of harm's way.
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With Hope still in his arms, he sprinted to Davina's side faster than the mortal eye could trace. He wanted to be there if...if anything happened. If lightning struck? If someone tried? to attack her or take her from him? All of that? Hell he didn't know but he'd be ready for it.
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"Who the hell are you," he demanded of Maranda.
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"And lets get out of here while we sort...whatever all this is. I suggest somewhere safe from lighting. We have a car and we'll all fit inside. Hope your father is going? to bloody kill you. He's committed murder for less," he said dryly.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Davina suddenly became aware that she was staring but couldn’t look away whether from shock or disbelief it was hard to tell. The images of THAT night replaying over and over as if on some constant loop. She saw the car going off Wickery Bridge...watched as it was fully submerged and water filled the inside of the car. There was a look bordering on panic in her eyes as if experiencing the whole thing right along beside the Gilberts.
All but the man seated in the driver’s seat were unconscious as he looked from his wife sitting across from him to the backseat where Elena was someone swam up beside his window getting his attention. Someone she recognized from pictures she’d seen...it was Stefan Salvatore. He tried to save the father but he’d pointed to the backseat insisting his daughter be saved first.
“You’re her...Elena’s mother.”
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Miranda said nothing in spite of knowing that her silence would likely be taken as a silent confirmation. What could she have said? It was difficult convincing a witch who’d done as she suspected this one had of their being mistaken. Her eyes left the girl’s face moving to that of her companion who now demanded her name. With a reluctant sigh she responded. “Miranda...Gilbert.”
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Hope knew better than to do two spells that required so much power back to back, however, the situation seemed to call for it. But all the intel she’d been able to gather was vague at best because whatever was tucked away inside of that grave was old...like...really old and not into sharing at all. “My father...” Those words were spoken with the sadness of someone who’d lost theirs.
It hardly seemed fair that she’d lost him so soon after getting him back. Years with her father were lost because he along with his siblings had taken the Hollow into themselves in order to save her life. Oh, sure...he’d been angry when at fifteen years old she’d taken it back into herself but concern had weighed far more heavily on him.
She hadn’t wanted to die. She’d just wanted her family back...to save ‘always and forever’. But once again he’d put her first...done what he deemed necessary to keep her safe...to keep her alive and now he wasn’t. Four years passed since she’d buried both parents and one of her uncles. She didn’t know if she could prevent any of it from happening but she sure as hell intended to do everything in her power.
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Davina looked around at the cemetery seeing the figures again made her even more ready to get the hell out of here. “We should do that, like, now.” She didn’t want to stick around this place any longer suddenly feeling a chill that went straight through to her bones. Rubbing at her arms as if trying to warm herself.?
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Miranda seconded that as she wasn’t interested in sticking around to find out what was next in their ‘bag of tricks’.
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"Yes, your bloody father," Kol growled.
He lifted Hope and nodded to Davina's urging to get out of there.
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"Lets go, then. Looks like we're paying my eldest brother a visit so he can make his little girl reverse whatever aging spell she's used."
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Precocious wasn't even the half of it when it came to hope, he mentally grumbled to himself, half annoyed and half proud of her and impressed.
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No, he and Davina not being able to have kids didn't bother him in the least, he decided dryly.
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In the back of his mind he'd heard the woman's name, wasn't it Elena's last name she'd used? Interesting he supposed but there were more pressing matters, such as whatever else had Davina so worried. He hated to leave without discovering what the new danger was, but there were surely other ways to discover things that wouldn't put Davina or Hope into any danger...And damn it hadn't they been trying to get the hell out of here?!
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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“But he isn’t...that is he died four years ago.” Hope instantly regretted that little slip of the tongue and chalked it up to not being a hundred percent right now. But maybe it was for the best...if she had any chance of getting his help...of getting her uncle to believe a word of her story she’d have to level with him. Briefly looking from Kol to the others and back again as she was carried.?
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“Not an aging spell. Time travel.” How much could she afford to tell him? If not everything then she might be facing her little dilemma alone. Quickly shaking her head. “You can’t tell him. Not tonight. He needs this.” She had a hunch this was around about the time her father reconnected with Tatia and by that she meant married her.?
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“If you don’t believe me...go inside my head or call either my mom or aunt Freya they’ll tell you that my seven year old self is either safely tucked away in her bed or painting.” She hoped she could convince him because when they got wherever they were going or on the car ride there she was going to have to go into more detail. She knew that.?
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Davina followed closely behind Kol while making sure they didn’t leave Elena’s mother behind as she definitely had questions and didn’t want to have a hand in anything happening to her. Would she want to see her daughter? Why had she allowed her kids to believe her to be dead all this time? But no matter how hard she tried to focus on this she couldn’t shake the chill she’d gotten back there.?
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Kol glanced at Davina from time to time over his
shoulder to check on her as they headed quickly for the car.
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He did look into Hope's mind as she suggested. It
was the fastest way to confirm her story or to be free to have her for lunch if
she lied. But she didn't and for a second his steps faltered. Well at least he
and Davina had turned out okay he couldn't help thinking.
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"UYoiu and your aunt Davina need to have one of
those big witchy talks," he told Hope, proud of himself for that being his only
comment, considering.
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As they got into the car his mind was still
processing it all. He knew he should say something to Elena's mother but he just
couldn't find it within himself to care right now considering his own family had
stuff and they were the important ones...at least today.
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"Where to," he asked Hope, glancing back at her in
the car mirror where she sat in back with Elena's mom, as Davina sat up front
with him.
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OOC, Hope it was okay to get them into the car. If
not just go back and add/iss cool.
I'm friends with the monster that's under my
bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my
head.
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“Witchy talks?” Hope asked with a faint yet amused smile in spite of herself, knowing these last couple of months she’d been so incredibly focused on getting to this point that other areas of her life had suffered. But she’d felt it was her responsibility to save ‘always and forever’ since she felt like it was all her fault that three members of their family were no longer with them.
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She settled into the backseat of the car feeling a little less like she’d been hit by a semi. Bringing the fingertips of each hand up to gently massage her temples hoping it’d help a bit. “There’s a powerful witch living here in Mystic Falls and no I don’t mean Bonnie Bennett.” The last bit was added because she knew the tendency people had of leaping to that conclusion.
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“She has something that could help us with...” Suddenly stopping in the middle of a sentence as it occurred to her they might not know anything about ‘The Hollow’ yet. At first she hadn’t even realized she’d done it until her aunt turned in her seat to look back at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to..” In that moment she wished more of her preparations had involved working out explanations to be given under circumstances like these. “Okay. You know how it seems like something is coming for me? Well, it’s something called ‘The Hollow’, but HER name is Inadu and she’s an ancestor of the Labonair family...of mine.”
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She wanted to give her uncle more of a chance to process what he’d just heard but there were other things that needed discussing like where they were going and who resided there. Surely he’d heard the story but she’d offer an abbreviated version to be safe. “Well, the witch I was referring to is a woman named Pandora and yes...she is THAT Pandora and THE box is very real it’s just not what the story that’s been passed down would have you believe it is.”
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A look toward Davina confirmed that her future aunt wasn’t familiar with the real story behind Pandora’s box and so she continued. “The box wasn’t something she was given by the gods and it didn’t unleash all the evils into the world. She created it herself as a sort of mystical prison it holds ‘evil spirits’ and becomes a hell of their own making so to speak.”
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She tried not to dwell on how badly she wanted to see her parents again as the important thing was to change the course of events so that none of them would have to die. “Anyway people feared her and even bought into the story some asshole cooked up about her being to blame for the evils of the world so they burned her at the stake. Only what they didn’t know was that she’d used her death to power a spell that made her immortal in a way so that the box would always have its guardian.”
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Her arms had been wrapped about herself only a moment before the fingers of one hand idly traced the ‘M’ on her pendant that stood for Mikaelson. She remembered her aunt Freya saying that it’d belonged to Rebekah when she’d given it to her the first time she’d lost her family. “The time traveling spell was also her creation...she taught it to me so that I could save my family and the box could be used to imprison Inadu if we fail at keeping her from being resurrected.”
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She felt certain her eyes gave away that there was a lot more she wasn’t saying about ‘The Hollow’ and how it all went down though the conclusion that her family hadn’t been able to was easily enough formed based on what little she’d said already on the subject. “We have to find her.” The tribrid knew where the small farm was located but not whether the ancient witch would be home.?
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(ooc: It’s fine with me. It’s also cool if you want Kol to be familiar with Pandora or not.)
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Kol listened in silence, not interrupting even once
as his mind all too calmly struggled to take it all in. The deep inner calm he
felt blanketed in, he knew meant that he was worried, however. IT was one method
he used to cope with worry...it was sort of the opposite of his usual way before
Davina, the brief and brutal way which used to even serve to get him high. Now
the look in her beautiful eyes did that for him.
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"Okay," he said briskly after several seconds of
only the car's quiet?motor having a voice.
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"Well this isn't complicated at all."
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Sarcasm was his best friend and hadn't left him to
handle this one alone.
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"Never heard of this Pandora but the Greeks sure
got that one wrong it seems," he said with his usual dry cheek.
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"You wanna tell us what didn't work so we don't
even consider that? And why not just take this Hollow directly to the box and
skip her getting out, or is there no way to achieve that?"
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Nothing about this was going to be simple or easy
he knew. And he and Davina weren't going anywhere. DAMN IT!
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That thought caused his foot to come down on the
gas harder than he'd intended and he forced it to ease. It was never wise to
drive with one's emotions rather than their head.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my
bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my
head.
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As Davina sat there in the passenger seat listening to every word as she struggled to keep from begging Kol to get them as far from this town as possible. But she knew he wouldn’t leave his niece to face this on her own and she couldn’t ask him to either. Her thoughts turning to the very real fear of this being how she would lose Kol but she couldn’t say anything about it.?
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With a sigh, she resigned herself to knowing their travel plans were on hold indefinitely, quietly looking out the passenger side window as she knew if she were to look over at Kol he’d see the fear and concern in her eyes. It took everything she had not to cast a look his way when he put his foot down harder on the gas knowing it was likely a sign of his frustration with the situation.?
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“They figured out how to deal with ‘The Hollow’ because Vincent found a way of communicating with the one who killed her fifteen hundred years ago...Inadu’s mother. She provided him with a spell that would lock ‘The Hollow’ away inside of an ancient book. So, they lured her into a trap.” Hope hadn’t been present for any of this so all she had to go on was the account given by her aunt which she hoped would be enough.?
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“Vincent bound Inadu inside a circle of salt to buy himself time to cast the spell but she managed to break the circle and destroy the book. She locked herself inside of me. Cue ‘Plan B’. Without the book you all needed another way of dealing with ‘The Hollow’ so it was decided that save me you would each take a part of that darkness into yourselves. You, my father, uncle Elijah, and aunt Rebekah. It’d be the end of ‘always and forever’. It would be too dangerous for you guys to even be in the same city as each other.”?
?
She avoided Miranda’s gaze as she didn’t want to risk seeing a sympathetic look in the eyes of a basic stranger. “It also meant I could never see my father or any of you ever again because ‘The Hollow’ would try to get back inside of me.” Being without her father after having only just got him back had been hard and for a short while there had least been open community between them but that ended. She’d done some fairly desperate things all because she’d missed her father.
?
Hope felt the tears stinging her eyes causing her to bow her head slightly to keep anyone from noticing. It wouldn’t be easy to talk about but she knew she owed her uncle the whole story. “I was fifteen years old when I cooked up a plan that would force my father to come home again. It worked. He did. He came back to find out who’d kidnapped my mother.”
?
She took a shaky breath trying to reign in her emotions as memories floated to the surface. “She was supposed to be perfectly safe. I used a cloaking spell to hide her but...this vampire who considered hybrids to be abominations found where I’d hidden her and took my mother. For a while we didn’t know who had her but then they reached out and said that if I did the binding spell so that I couldn’t create more hybrids they’d let her live.”
?
She reached up tucking her hair behind her ear without looking to see whether her uncle had glanced her way. It was just easier to tell the story if she didn’t have to see the look on anyone’s face. “I was all set to do it with Aunt Freya’s help when my father found out about what I intended to do and he wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t want me going through what he had.”
?
Her fingers lightly wrapped around the pendant of the Mikaelson family crest as if the act of doing so brought some measure of comfort. “I ran away from school with a boy I liked who turned out to be Greta’s son and he took me to this house in the middle or nowhere. Mom was there. Next thing I knew he was putting these chains on me that kept me from doing magic. He said everything would be okay if I just did the binding spell.”
?
Without lifting her head she glanced at Davina who was still staring out the passenger side window. “Greta showed up with reinforcements. Mom...they did the binding spell on her...she was in so much pain. But when they finished she got free...and attacked Greta. By that time my father showed up to rescue us but uncle Elijah wouldn’t let him inside.”
?
She drew another breath then exhaled a bit shakily. “To understand why uncle Elijah was helping them over his family and the woman he loved you have to know that when you guys scattered he had Marcel erase all of his memories of ‘always and forever’...of all of us. But when he came through that door my mother thought he was there to save us instead he kept my father from being able to save her. She was pinned to the wall with Greta’s hand literally on her heart.”
?
“To protect me...she grabbed ahold of Greta and threw them both outside into the sunlight. It took me a long time forgive him for her death. They eventually made him agree to letting Marcel return his memories. In the days that followed I convinced aunt Freya to help me bring our family back together. I created a Chambre de Chasse that I used to keep you all from stopping me while I did a spell to extract ‘The Hollow’ from each of you and draw it back inside of myself.”
?
It honestly scared her a little to know what her uncle’s reaction would be to all of this when she finally finished telling him everything. “When my father discovered that it was killing me he came up with the plan of getting Caroline’s daughters to draw it out of me and put it inside of him then he’d kill himself getting rid of it once and for all. In the end uncle Elijah chose to die by his side...he broke the white oak stake into two pieces and...they staked each other.”
?
She was surprised she’d made it through talking about their deaths without falling to pieces but still she didn’t look towards the driver’s seat...to her uncle. “It’s my fault that my parents and uncle Elijah are dead. I have to fix it.” It was something that she’d never really forgiven herself for. “If we can put ‘The Hollow’ inside Pandora’s box before she resurrects herself I’m all for it. Though I’m afraid that I don’t know anything about how she pulled it off outside of the fact of her having killed uncle Elijah in order to do it.”
?
She thought briefly of Landon and the fight they’d had over her plan to save her family. “I know that when Inadu killed him aunt Freya put his spirit inside her crystal pendant and was eventually able to put him back inside of his body.”
?
?
|
?
Kol's emotions jumped a gambit of ranges as Hope
spoke.? His hands tightened on the wheel of the car as he forced himself to
remain focused on the road while his mind struggled to take in each outrageous
twist and turn of the story.
?
?
The only part he didn't completely mind was the
need to separate from his siblings, because it meant that Klaus could no longer
dagger or control them ever.? He had to admit that did have an
appeal.? Still having some...thing inside of him probably wasn't worth it,
tempting as it felt.? Besides, apparently it didn't last
anyway.
?
?
?
At the conclusion he opted for levity, turning to
grin at Davina, taking one hand from the wheel to lightly squeeze her thigh
before returning it to its task of steering the car.
?
"Well at least we survived it, Babe," he
drawled.
?
"So the worst didn't happen."
?
?
His expression became somber as soon as he finished
speaking, because he knew if Hope had returned to change things,?their
survival?could likewise change were they not careful.? But they would
be.
?
?
"Of course we're opting for keeping this thing in
the box," he said, including Hope and Davina in a brief glance before returning
his steady gaze frontward again.
?
"Hell if her own mother killed her, she'd either
really really bad or her family is like ours," he quipped.
?
He just couldn't help it.
?
"Hope...Did you ever understand what she wanted,"
he asked, somehow needing to turn his mind toward as many options or plan B's as
possible in case fate was fate and she still got out of the damn
box.
?
"It's a pity we can't just travel back before she
became the hollow and end it before she was so powerful," he added half to
himself, knowing how unlikely that was, but still, plan C was at least a
direction of thought that could perhaps be reapplied if necessary.
?
?
He knew ordinary people would have far more trouble
grasping this, but his life had already been full of such insane magical events
that on some level he was only mildly surprised. Filled with dread, of course,
but surprised, only mildly.
I'm friends with the monster that's under my
bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my
head.
|
Davina sat wordlessly staring out the passenger side window as she listened to all that Hope had to say and while she hadn’t exactly hated hearing of Klaus’s impending death she did feel badly for his daughter. She knew when she finally did look over at Kol it was obvious based on her facial expression that she was worried.
?
She tried her best to offer up a smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Well, at least that’s something...I guess.” His attempt at levity was appreciated but she couldn’t being afraid as they’d only just found each other and already there was trouble on the horizon.
?
“If I am understanding this right the plan is to trap Inadu inside of Pandora’s box to either prevent her resurrection or in the event we fail and have to face her.” Turning her head a bit more she looked directly at Hope. “She isn’t trapped inside of the box now?”
?
?
?
?
?
?
Hope shook her head once. “No. She isn’t. The Ancestors were the ones who locked her away. Not Pandora.”
?
?
?
?
?
?
“Why do you think that locking her away inside Pandora’s box is the way to go?” Davina wished she knew more about the witch in question but like everyone else it seemed she only knew of her from Greek mythology.?
?
?
?
?
?
?
“叠别肠补耻蝉别...迟丑别 ONLY one who can open the box is Pandora herself so there’s no chance of Inadu ever getting free if we can trap her inside it.” Hope had thought about this from every possible angle and knew the immortal witch was their best bet at putting an end to this without setting things in motion that would lead to the deaths of her parents and uncle Elijah.?
?
“Inadu was powerful from the moment she was born but craved more power still. The tribes were so afraid of her and what she might do that they imbued an axe with a part of their power and only the one who had given her life could take it. So, her mother was the one to wield it and the night they killed Inadu she used her death to power a spell...cursing those present so that every full moon they would become what they’d used to hunt her.”
?
She hoped telling them that part of the story would clear up a few things. “I thought about that but if those things never happened...”
?
?
?
?
?
?
“Then werewolves never would have came into being.” Miranda finally broke her silence.?
?
?
?
?
?
?
“Henrik wouldn’t have died. Grandmother wouldn’t have cast the spell that created vampires. My family would have died a thousand years ago and I never would have been born.” Hope stated as a means of showing how much thought she’d given to all the possible ways of dealing with her ancestor. She then glanced to Kol. “And you never would have met Davina.”
|
?
Kol nearly opened his mouth to say good, concerning
no werewolves existing, but when his niece pointed out that, through that
tragedy as it were, that he'd met the love of his life.? One hand strayed
from the wheel to briefly clasp around Davina's hand before releasing it and
returning that hand to hold the wheel with the other.
"Point taken," he said dryly, and
sighed.
"So what exactly we need to get this done safely
with as few people dying as possible worst case," he asked, gaze flicking from
Hope to Davina and back again, obviously asking both witches for their views on
the matter.
"If we need to call in a magical army, I do have
some connections."
Monsters stuck in your head
(We are, we are, we
are)
Monsters under your bed
|
Kat
Hugin