Chapter Text
“I cannot believe that you started dating the walking antithesis of a do not resuscitate order while I was in France,” Lizzie squinted at her twin in disgust as they walked through Mystic Falls.
Josie scoffed at her sister in admonishment, “Landon’s sweet, Lizzie. And he kept me company in between helping dad pack up his things. I bet you found something to do when you were done helping mom.”
The blonde paused as she considered her twin’s words. Seeing a therapist probably didn’t have the same effect as obtaining a new significant other but it did pass the time.
“That is entirely besides the point. I’m not mad at you for having a summer fling, it’s just that it’s the unseasoned chicken wing you chose,” Lizzie teased her once more about her taste in romantic partners. “First, the incarnate of Satan and now the underwhelming Fawkes? Such a spectrum of personality.”
Josie groaned in annoyance, her face burning, as she shoved at Lizzie’s shoulder.
A light glare was shot at the brunette before she continued on with her spiel, “I also still don’t believe that he was the reason Malivore disappeared. He doesn’t exactly scream ‘defeater of Mud pits’, the boy is more likely to drown in one.”
Lizzie turned to her twin and arched an eyebrow, searching Josie’s face for any indication she felt the same.
The grimace contorting the siphon’s face said it all.
“Ha! I knew it,” a broad grin spread over Lizzie’s face as she crowed in triumph.
Josie sighed as she pulled her thoughts to together, “I don’t think it was Landon that stopped the pit, but I have a theory as to who did.”
Lizzie glanced around the park before guiding them to a bench. This was going to require her full attention and scheming is always done best in comfort.
“Spill it Joey,” the blonde demanded. “What’s been going on during the era of the parental switch?”
“I’ve been helping dad pack up his office-“
“Meaning, you’ve been packing whilst he drinks. Do continue,” Lizzie interjected.
Josie gritted her teeth but kept calm, “Yes. Anyway, he had some burned files in his trash but they weren’t completely ash. It was like he lit the fire accidentally and then put it out once he realized it was there.”
“Not the worst thing he’s done intoxicated but at least the school is still standing.”
“Yeah, but I could make out some of the words on it. It was a student file.”
Lizzie squinted in confusion, “Why would our father be destroying someone’s records?”
“That was my question,” Josie was getting excited as she was finally able to explain this to her twin. “Then I saw the part of their name that wasn’t burnt: Mikaelson.”
The blonde blinked in shock.
Josie watched as her words sunk in to her sister.
3….2….1…..
“A Mikaelson?!?!?”
There it is.
“Exactly how I reacted, but there aren’t any Mikaelsons that would be enrolled and I doubt dad would let them do it anyway,” Josie elaborated upon her twin’s reaction.
“I think he’d whip out the crossbow if one of them even entered Mystic Falls,” Lizzie was becoming intrigued by the findings.
Her dad hated Klaus Mikaelson more than anything; in fact when they helped the man essentially sacrifice himself, their dad almost threw a party before their mother ran across the room to hit him on the back of the head.
The idea that Alaric Saltzman let a Mikaelson inside the school, nevermind attend it, just did not compute.
“Did he tell you what they were?” Lizzie asked for more, a manic gleam entering her eyes.
“Bold of you to think he’d explain anything to me, but he didn’t even know what it was!” Josie was working herself in a full blown information dump. “He didn’t remember , Lizzie.”
The emphasis on the word made the blonde begin to connect some dots. A mud pit dissipating out of nowhere, a Mikaelson having a school record, and their father not remembering.
One of the most paranoid and untrusting men in regards to the supernatural forgot pertinent information about the Mikaelson family.
Alaric Saltzman who holds knowledge close to his chest and hoards it like a vault.
That man not remembering? Red flag. The reddest of flags.
Lizzie had never seen a more damning piece of evidence.
“Whoever this Mikaelson is, went to this school and fell in the pit,” the blonde verbalized the theory Josie had for the last few months.
“Exactly, and there’s more,” Josie smiled at her twin, teasing further information.
“Joey, I swear to God, if you don’t currently have a murder board set up in our room then I will be severely disappointed in you,” Lizzie threatened with a smirk.
The twins shared a calculating look of triumph; they may be two completely different people but they were both raised by Caroline Forbes-Salvatore. If there was one thing they knew how to do, it was supreme organizational skills and their application to ensuring any machinations went off without a hitch.
“I had a powerpoint presentation ready to go, Liza, but as this came up in conversation I had to forgo that,” Josie tone matched her twin’s devious expression. “There’s a door across the hall from our room. And I didn’t remember who it belonged to.”
Giddiness bubbled in Lizzie’s chest. It was always nice to see this side of her sister.
Confidence in her own abilities and knowledge was something Josie had always possessed. Being able to show other people and take charge though? That was a rarity.
One of the reasons Lizzie even went on the trip was to help the both of them grow out of their set roles.
Lizzie learned that she didn’t need to go on the offense as the first defense and how she didn’t need to take up the room to be seen.
This summer let Josie grow into herself independently of being the role of support. And it looked fabulous on her.
“Mysterious missing Mikaelson’s room,” the blonde piped in.
“Correct, I siphoned the lock on the door and the bedroom was completely lived in,” Josie’s voice became hushed, as if talking about them would make the Mikaelson appear. “Bed unmade, art supplies scattered around the room, stacks of grimoires, and there were pictures too.”
“So, we have a visual?” Lizzie leaned in, making sure the townies weren’t able to hear.
“She’s a teenager,” the brunette went on to explain. “I think she’s a witch, so she could be Freya’s daughter.”
A spark lit up in Lizzie’s eyes as she contemplated a Mikaelson witch at the school. Besides the coronary that their dad would surely have, the blonde was looking forward to having another person who understood what it was like to not be a traditional witch.
It would be nice for her and Josie to have a friend who got them on that level. Plus there was the added fact that surely this girl would know a bunch of spells that their father would want to ban without a thought.
Lizzie grinned at her twin in excitement, “We have to find a way to bring this girl back! Her family probably has a room filled with random shit belonging to a girl they don’t remember! Ooh and we can-“
Before the siphoner could continue to brainstorm any possibilities, she noticed that there was a large gathering of townspeople growing in the square.
“Oh what fresh hell is going on now?” Lizzie grumbled as she pulled Josie up from the bench.
They began to walk towards the crowd, taking in the murmurs of confusion and concern.
“-happened to her?”
“-shaking like a leaf-“
“-put the camera away, don’t be a di-“
“-flinches when we take a step clos-“
“-gonna call 911?”
The twins shared a worried glance as they attempted to wade through the slew of mortals.
Lizzie huffed out a breath, annoyed at the obstacles in front of her. Clearly, there was a girl that needed help and these imbeciles weren’t gonna make the cut.
Whilst Josie had a summer of learning to be more independent and forceful, Lizzie knew that she wasn’t aggressive enough to pull the bitch card this soon. Hero time.
She jostled her way through, shoving at the mob intermittently, “What the hell are you people doing?!? Son of a bitch, can’t you see you’re making it worse? Stop crowding her!”
She finally pushed through to the front, Josie strutting behind her, to see a girl curled up on the ground.
Lizzie halted, her voice caught in her throat as she took in the sight of the girl in the center of the crowd.
Blood was caked under nails clasped on the side of the teenagers head.
Auburn hair streaked with dirt and dried blood.
Her entire outfit was filled with tears and stains. Slashes and rips in the fabric reveal slowly bleeding wounds.
The whimpers coming from the girl receded as her breathing rapidly picked up, her head snapping to attention as she frantically searched her surroundings.
Lost blue eyes connected to Lizzie’s and stayed there.
The siphoner stood frozen as she noticed the other girl’s features. Unable to react to Josie gripping her arm in alarm, Lizzie was violently reminded that women were extremely attractive and that she was about to have an entirely new problem to deal with now.
Recognition flared within the redhead’s eyes, a hopeful smile overtaking her face as she shakily rasped out, “Lizzie…”
The blonde’s jaw fell open as she finally turned to look at her twin.
Josie’s eyes were wide in shock and awe as she stared at the traumatized teenager that was looking at Lizzie like a lifeline.
She gulped in trepidation before pointing out what she noticed the second she entered the area, “I think we found her.”