Chapter Text
Elena still had Samantha Gilbert's journal in her hand like it was something she didn't want to set down. As though even though she had read through it, it could still hold the answers to how to save Ric. It still felt crazy that this was happening. Meredith had been right about Alaric being guilty. Elena pushed the idea away because she knew and trusted him. But this journal... the way it talked about her ring, the same ring Alaric had died wearing numerous times... it pretty much proved that it's protection was causing him to kill people. That his mind was now poisoned by the dark magic in the ring and each death he had been resurrected from. Just as Samantha Gilbert's had.
Alaric sat hunched on the couch, the revelation like a shadow pressing down on him. Meredith stayed close, steady, and Elena finally forced herself to lay the journal down on the counter. Not because she wanted to. Because she needed her hands free. Because she needed to do something. Tea. It was not Alaric's preferred drink, but it was something soothing he could drink. Samantha's journal was beside her where she stood in the kitchen. Damon entered the house without knocking, wanting to see his friend and break the news. But when he glanced around and took in the expressions, it was clear they had already known.
Elena looked over and saw Damon before finding herself going over to him, the journal forgotten for the first time since she started reading it. "You're here," she said softly, the words catching on her breath.
Damon's gaze flicked from Elena to Ric, then back again. The corner of his mouth twitched—not quite a smile, not quite sorrow. "Yeah. I'm here," he said, low and steady.
Before Elena could stop herself, she pulled him into a hug, seeing the look in his eyes, no matter how much he tried to keep his emotions from his expression. And the way he had looked around showed that he knew the truth. The truth that meant there was a good chance they would lose Alaric. Damon's arms slowly wrapped around Elena and hug her close, taking comfort in each other's touch. I how it felt being around each other when it felt like other things were falling apart. But Damon knew he couldn't do this, couldn't be holding her like this. And there was more that needed to be done. He pulled away from her and looked at the girl he loved. "I take it you all know about Alaric and the ring?"
Elena nodded. "Meredith had Samantha Gilbert's journal, and I read it. It makes sense" she sighed, "even though I wish it wouldn't.
Alaric let out a humorless laugh, rubbing his forehead with both hands. "So I'm doomed to turn into some lunatic murderer every time I come back from the dead? Because that sounds like a really screwed up fate."
Elena headed back into the kitchen and poured the tea into a mug. She then carried the tea over and set it carefully on the coffee table in front of him. "We're not saying doomed," she insisted, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her. "There has to be a way to stop it. To reverse it or fix it, somehow. The journal didn't end with Samantha... it ended with her being locked away, not saved. That doesn't mean the story has to be the same for you."
Damon watched Elena as she said it, the desperation in her tone. He wanted to believe it for her sake, but the hollow look in Ric's eyes told him his friend didn't. "Elena..."
"No" Elena said firmly. "We aren't losing anyone else. There's always a way. We just have to find it."
Damon wasn't so sure, but he wanted it to be true as much as she did, so he didn't push. "Alright then lets see if our friendly neighborhood witch has any ideas in how to make this work out the way we want it."
"First, I think Alaric should do an MRI" Meredith suggested, "Just to see how it has medically affected his brain."
"Yeah you three do that. Call me with any updates. Between this, the newcomers, and the Mikaelsons, we're pretty spread thin. I'm gonna see what I can do on my end and let you know how it goes" His gaze was on Elena, who nodded.
Ric stared down at the steaming mug as if it held all the answers he didn't want. He didn't reach for it, just leaned back against the couch with a weary sigh. "Great. An MRI. That'll fix my homicidal tendencies," he muttered bitterly, though there was no heat behind it. Just exhaustion.
Meredith gave him a steady look. "It won't fix anything, but it might tell us how bad the damage is. Knowing what we're working with is better than fumbling in the dark."
Elena sat on the arm of the couch near him, her hand brushing his shoulder gently, wanting to give a little comfort to the man that was practically family at this point. "We'll figure this out, Ric. We're not going to let history repeat itself."
Damon watched them for a moment before heading out of the house to find something that could help any situation they were dealing with.
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Hope sat quietly in the dim room of a house on the outskirts of Mystic Falls that Dahlia and she were currently residing, her eyes vacant and unfocused as she stared at nothing in particular. She remembered nothing of who she was supposed to be, no clear sign of the life she'd left behind. Part of her felt... free in ways she couldn't explain, in ways she couldn't make her aunt understand.
The door creaked behind her, and Dahlia's voice broke the silence. "You're safe here," she said, kneeling beside her. Her hand brushed over Hope's hair, light but possessive, a reminder that she was not alone. "No one will hurt you now. You're with family."
Hope's lips parted slightly, but no words came. The question in her eyes was wordless, a silent plea for something just beyond reach. A name, a face, a memory lost to the void.
Dahlia's smile deepened. "There's no rush to remember. Sometimes forgetting is a gift. Life can be brutal"
Hope blinked slowly, the restful emptiness within her, but somewhere deep, a faint stir of something undefined lingered beyond the spell's reach. "Part of it feels like one. I dont know how to explain it" she said. "Like i finally get to rest, but that doesn't make sense. Why would my body feel any sense of relief from forgetti/ng. No matter how brutal life can be. "
Dahlia's eyes softened as she reached out to gently squeeze Hope's hand. "Sometimes, Hope, the mind protects us in ways we don't understand. It shields us from pain until we're ready to face it."
Hope hesitated, then asked, "Do you think I'll ever remember? Or am I just... lost?"
"Memories are threads," Dahlia said carefully. "Even if the tapestry has been torn, the threads remain. We just have to find them again, gently."
Hope nodded and looked at the spellbook Dahlia had given her.
"Rest now," Dahlia murmured, watching the tribrid holding the spellbook. " Let yourself heal in time. I will tell you more once you have rested. And we can perform some magic together as well. That should at least help you start feeling like yourself again, even if it is without memories" She took the grimoire from her.
Hope nodded after some hesitation before returning to her room. It took her time to get some sleep as she peered out of the window curiously before eventually getting in her bed and rolling over. Hope's fingers traced patterns on the blanket, searching for a thread to hold onto. Maybe tomorrow, she thought. What would she ask Dahlia in the morning? So many questions pressed against the edges of her mind, but she didn't want to burden her aunt. It wasn't Dahlia's fault she had lost her memories . But that didn't mean Hope didn't want to get some answers about herself.
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The doors of the Mikaelson mansion closed softly behind Landon as he stepped inside. Elijah glanced toward the second-floor where the others awaited. "Klaus is on edge. The binding spell weighs heavily on all of us"
"What binding spell?" Landon questioned, looking at Elijah in alert, concern growing inside his heart.
"All of the Mikaelsons are bound together. If one of us is killed, we all will be unless we can remove the binding spell."
Landon's expression was grave as he thought about what that meant for Hope and her family. Did this happen last time? Was this something that happened last time? Knowing how important it was to find Hope, Landon pushed his thoughts and fears away the best he could. He nodded.
Meeting Klaus was intimidating for most, but Landon had always believed in seeing past the legend. Though if he was ever going to magically time travel and meet her father, he would have preferred she be there. But this wasn't about him and first impressions. It was about locating Hope.
"I want to find Hope," Landon said. "And soon."
Elijah gave a small, approving nod. "As do we all, but she chose to leave. There is a chance we will be unable to find her, even with the most talented of witches."
"We have to try" Landon said. "My friends didn't want me to come here, but I knew that you all were our best lead at finding her."
Klaus came down the stairs, shoving his phone in his pocket after getting off of the phone with Kol. "Elijah, who is this guest you've brought to our door? I highly doubt you have delivered him as a snack"
"This is Landon-" Before Elijah could continue, Klaus interrupted, his focus now on Landon entirely.
"You're Landon? You are the one my daughter is in love with?"
"I am" Landon said with a small smile at the thought of Hope. "I am trying to find her. It's important"
"I suppose you are trying to return to your own time with her?" Klaus assumed as he stepped closer to the boy.
Landon nodded. "We aren't supposed to be in this time, We need to go" Guilt tugged at Landon's heart at the thought of Hope having to leave her father. He wanted her to be able to spend as much time with him as she could. But he also knew how Hope would feel if messing with the past got someone else hurt in the future.
"Hope left in order to ensure she wouldn't further mess with this time. She left days ago. I have tried getting a witch to track her for me, but she seems to have done a spell to create art with the blood from a tracking spell."
"Do you know some other way we could track her?" Landon questioned.
Part of him had a feeling he knew where she went, but that didnt mean she was still there. Especially considering what things from the past she could change just by being there. And he knew how she was bound to be feeling about that. Conflicted. In some ways she wanted to change things because then she wouldnt have to experience so much loss. But then she wouldn't risk the damage it could cause others, the uncertainty of the future in a time when her friends werent even born. But the main thing he cared about more than any of that was finding Hope and making sure she was okay.
"There are always ways to find someone, no matter how clever they believe they are at hiding" Klaus said. "Take Katerina for example. To this day, she still believes she managed to allude me. In reality, I knew where she was but favored scaring her and having her continue to run"
"Like you did because of Mikael" Landon said, remembering Hope mentioning that to him.
"Yes. It seemed only fair to inflict my own suffering onto the person that had ensured I would not be able to break my curse. Until, of course, I found out about Elena Gilbert" Klaus said. "Come, Landon. I shall pursue more efforts into locating my daughter." He already needed to check with some allies in regards to binding spells. Not that he was admitting to his allies that he and his siblings were linked. But any information about binding spells could help him figure out what precisely was needed to remove the link.
Landon looked around as he stepped into the living room and hesitantly took a seat after watching Klaus pour drinks and sit. The original hybrid pulled out his phone and began speaking with contacts while Landon waited anxiously as he took a sip of his drink. The phoenix's eyes drifted around the room and landed on the painting on the wall . He wondered if Klaus had painted the painting. It felt similar to the way Hope painted and yet so different. But he couldn't put it into words.
"Landon" Elijah spoke up as he walked inside the living room. "The phone calls will probably take a little while if you want to get something to eat or find something to do while you wait" He was offering Landon a chance to be around Klaus less, but Landon didn't accept it as he shook his head.
"I'll wait. I want to be here as soon as we know something" Landon said, "And if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know. I'm good at research, and I know Hope very well."
Klaus' gaze fell on Landon as he continued to speak with an ally, curious about the teenager that seemed naturally a bit nervous but not nervous in a way most people would be if they had known things he had done as he was sure Landon would have by now. He hung up the phone. "I've spoken with one of my allies. I have a few more I need to get in contact with. Some of the best trackers I have ever met in my lifetime. But whilst they are busy tracking her, we can do some tracking of our own. Just give me a half hour to speak with them" Klaus said.
"Do whatever you need to do" Landon said. "I'll still be here when you finish."
And so Klaus Mikaelson continued with his phone calls to get people to search for Hope, only his best people that he knew were willing to help. Meanwhile, Landon Kirby sat in his chair with the slowly emptying glass of whiskey and a map on the table in front of him as his mind filled with questions and trying to figure out if he was right about where she would have gone. And if she was still there. But his heart and mind told him that something was wrong. And that he needed to find Hope before it was too late.
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Josie and Lizzie sat together on the worn motel bed, a grimoire and notes scattered between them. Josie's brows knitted with worry. "Every time we try something, I get more afraid of what we could break. Time travel isn't a game-it's fragile. One wrong move and everything we know could unravel."
Lizzie sighed, her tone more relaxed than her sister's. "I get why you're worried, Josie. But stressing won't fix Hope's disappearance. We're already here. Changing things is inevitable. Especially since Hope has been here for a while. The best we can do is be smart about it." She said, despite her deep desire to go find their mom and interact with a younger version of her again.
"I know. It's just after everything recently, I don't want my spell to have caused even more problems" she let out a sigh.
"Look... Maybe if I had someone to cast the spell with, we could actually make some progress" Lizzie said, unable to hold back the thought any longer. It was hard enough holding it back as long as she had, given her tendency to speak without thinking things through.
" Lizzie, I can't — I can't trust myself around magic. Not anymore" Josie said. "And you've already exhausted the regular locator spells. Anything else at this point would require dark magic. And we know what happens then."
"I think you can handle it better than you think. You're not the broken one here. You were manipulated into using a lot of dark magic and lost control of yourself after breaking the hourglass full of that dark magic. All that magic is gone." Lizzie told her. "And now you're not even letting yourself do regular, natural magic"
"Lizzie, I said no" Josie snapped, shutting the grimoire and getting up. She took a deep breath and headed out of the room, needing a break from everything magical. Maybe then she could come up with a solution on how to find Hope.
Lizzie watched her go with a frown and sighed before looking through everything again. This was so not her preferred method of studying and problem solving. But after everything Hope did for her and this school, she had to find her, no matter what methods or problems she had to deal with.
She grabbed everything and made a stack of it before peaking out of the motel room window, spotting her sister going over to a vending machine. Lizzie stepped out of the motel room and headed off with the books in her hand, needing to find someone that could help them, no matter the consequences. If her sister couldn't help her with magic, she would find someone that could.
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After the MRI, Elena went into Alaric's hospital room, where he had just finished getting changed. She hated that this was happening to him, that it wasn't something she could definitively solve. "Well, everything is normal" she said as she looked at him, unsure of if there being nothing visibly wrong on the MRI was better or worse. It was hard to treat an invisible magical problem.
"Because there is nothing wrong with me. I didn't kill Brian Walters, I didn't kill bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach" Alaric said defensively before falling silent for a moment, his gaze landing on the ring that was currently on a small table. "Or I did, and I've gone insane, just like your ancestor, who... wore that ring."
"Look, Damon's right. We should call Bonnie. I'll talk to her. The rings were made by a Bennett witch. Maybe a witch can reverse the damage" Elena said, hoping it was possible. There had to be some way to help him.
Alaric nodded slightly, but he didn't seem to believe her. He picked up the ring and held it out to Elena. "Take it. I don't want it anymore."
Elena nodded. "I'll let you know when I hear back from her. It's going to be okay, Ric" she said softly as she took the ring and gave him a reassuring smile before leaving the room.
Once Elena was gone, a small smirk was on Alaric's face before it disappeared and he headed out of the hospital room to go home.
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Dahlia stood close and spoke softly, guiding Hope through the words of a simple spell. "Say it with me," she said, her tone patient but firm. "Feel the energy, let it flow naturally."
Hope repeated the words hesitantly, unsure of what she was supposed to feel. She could reel the magic stirring inside. It felt as natural to her as breathing, but something about this felt new. Dahlia watched her carefully, nodding encouragingly.
After a few simple spells to get started, Dahlia had given her a more complicated one for them to cast together. Dahlia had called it a protection spell, but something about the words scratched at Hope in a way she didn't understand.
But Dahlia was family. She could trust her family. A phrase popped into Hope's mind, but she wasn't sure if it was a memory or something else.
Family is always and forever.
The spell they cast involved their blood, herbs, and something else Hope wasn't sure what it was, but something held her back from asking. The spell was strong and powerful, but even after the spell, Hope still had strength to continue practicing for a while. How powerful was she?
Hope was both interested in the question and terrified to find out.
"Are we going to practice again?" she asked after a long silence.
"In a bit," Dahlia said. "Rest first. Magic takes focus. Here" She held out a glass of blood to Hope.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" The tribrid asked, though the hunger burning in her throat told her she knew exactly what to do. Just how part of her had told her the protection spell wasn't a good idea.
"I think you know, child" Dahlia said "I have to step out for a bit."
Hope didn't reply. She watched Dahlia leave, the door clicking softly behind her. She raised the glass to her lips and drank from it, the burning sensation in her throat soothing considerably now that the blood was in her system.
Alone, the quiet pressed in. Her mind spun, trying to catch hold of something. Anything. What was she supposed to remember? Who was she supposed to be? The emptiness stretched wide, swallowing thoughts and leaving behind only questions. And though part of her reached for the glimmer of memory deep beneath the surface, there was another part, quieter but stubborn, that didn't mind the silence.
It was easier like this. Without names. Without guilt. Without memories of the past. She didn't know who she was supposed to miss, so she missed no one and everyone all at once.
Maybe this was freedom.
And maybe that was the most terrifying part.