CHAPTER 10
Hope lightly tapped Freya's arm before Alaric could decide to lose his shit on; a) Penelope eavesdropping girl who broke his daughter's heart, b) Marcel, for not hearing the eavesdropper, or c) the Mikaelson who was currently living out her Darth Vader fantasy... Penelope dropped to the ground and was promptly summoned inside once Freya deemed the coast clear. Nobody else saw what just happened. More importantly, nobody heard.
The doors mutely slammed shut; courtesy of Hope, who had remained in her seat for the whole altercation.
Penelope was dropped in a gasping heap. Caroline was looking at her with a disapproving look. Lizzie was fixing with her with an aggressive expression of savage glee. Josie looked worried. Alaric was trying to compartmentalize his anger…and failing. Marcel just looked bemused, and Hope was clearly wearing her thinking cap.
Penelope, much to her credit, had recovered quickly, looking up into the unforgiving eyes of Freya Mikaelson. "Let's all calm down," Caroline said diplomatically.
Freya sat down slowly, more like dragged into her seat by Hope. Penelope noticed that, and quickly scurried to her feet. Eavesdropping on Alaric and Caroline? OK. Eavesdropping on Hope, Josie, and Lizzie, in addition to two strangers? Also OK.
When one of those strangers was Freya Mikaelson however? That was a solid NOPE. All the witches and vampires had heard some variation of the horror stories coming out of New Orleans over the last decade and a half. Many of those stories involved the eldest Mikaelson sibling to some degree, and even the contradicting stories made her out to be somebody only the defeated dead seemed to cross.
"I'm so sorry!" Penelope managed. Her face was paler than anyone in the room had ever seen it. Fear was a new look on Penelope for everyone.
"And you are?" Freya asked softly, but in no way less threatening.
"Pen–Penelope," the terrified teen managed.
"Well then Penny, care to explain why you were listening in on us? And how you were able to mask your presence?" Freya asked.
Penelope shot Alaric a panicked look, but he seemed mostly in line with Freya. Audibly swallowing, Penelope whispered, "I thought it was odd that Dr. Saltzman blew off classes today, and that neither Hope nor his daughters were anywhere to be seen. Lizzie blowing off class isn't too uncommon," Lizzie harrumphed, "but Hope doesn't miss classes anymore, and neither does Josie. So I thought something was…afoot. We've been under attack recently, something might've been really wrong." All solid arguments, but the people who knew her, knew better.
"And when you realised what you were eavesdropping on, why didn't you stop?" Hope asked.
"Would you?" Penelope replied.
Marcel tried and failed to hold in a chuckle at Penelope's retort aimed at Hope. The tribrid returned a look that prompted Marcel to say, "What? She's got a point there." The other adults in the room fixed him with varying reproachful glares.
The Saltzman twins however looked upon him in a new light, who knew Hope's much older adopted brother was such a rebel? There was a lull, nobody spoke, just sent each other some significant looks. Freya was clenching and releasing her hand, like she wanted to rip Penelope's heart out or something equally unpleasant. The dark-haired witch was not unobservant of this, and noticeably flinched away from the blonde.
"So what now?" Lizzie asked with a little less of her usual haughtiness. Judging by the looks around the room, nobody was quite sure. It wasn't exactly a life-or-death situation. But it could become one. If it was public knowledge that Hope was giving her blood to the two witches who could become hybrids? Things could get ugly in unpredictable ways.
"Well, I suppose asking nicely won't suffice, will it?" Josie asked with edge.
"Are there any unbreakable vows that can be taken?" Lizzie followed up.
"This isn't Harry Potter," Penelope muttered.
"No. It's not, and no, Lizzie, there isn't," Freya said. "There are magical oaths, yes, but not ones that you can expect to keep when made under coercion."
At Hope's inquiring look, Freya mouthed, 'Later.'
Alaric realised that contorting his jaw in anymore stress would see him reprimanded by his dentist so he said, "Penelope, what would you do, if you were in my place?"
"Seriously?!"
"Dad, I don't think–,"
"Girls, please," Alaric said firmly. He turned his gaze to the equally flabbergasted Penelope.
The room was quiet in anticipation. The only two people who seemed to be aloof were Hope and Marcel. Caroline seemed less incensed than Alaric or their daughters, but Freya seemed personally insulted by the whole eavesdropping thing.
"I don't know," Penelope at least had the grace to look cowed.
"I have an idea," Hope's lilt of a threat echoed throughout the room.
Freya turned to her niece, eyebrow raise. The other adults in the room also turned their heads or eyes to the young woman. They recognized that tone; the way Hope let that phrase hang in the air, it was an uncanny resemblance.
Penelope looked at hope with real fear. She may not have ever met Klaus Mikaelson, but the perturbed expressions on her Headmaster and Headmistress' faces were enough of a tell to suggest there was real danger in the air. Especially when Hope's family were here to back her up.
Josie and Lizzie quickly exchanged meaningful glances before, "We can't kill her Hope," Lizzie spoke up quickly, unexpectedly.
"Or tamper with her memories," Josie spoke up as well, aiming her words at both Freya and Hope. Freya seemed to properly take notice of the young brunette all of a sudden. To her credit, Josie didn't shirk from the much more powerful supernatural's gaze.
"Well," Freya drawled, "if you insist."
"Dammit Freya," Caroline groaned. Freya put her hands up in a darkly humorous 'what? me?' gesture.
Alaric was just rubbing the bridge of his nose. 'How the hell did this get so out of control so quickly?' Anybody who knew him did not need him to verbalize his thoughts. He was broadcasting them loud and clear.
"I won't tell anyone. I promise," Penelope swore unwaveringly. "I won't. But I also want to know how dangerous things really are." Penelope's fear was slowly turning into something resembling determination. It was an attempt to distance herself from Freya and Hope's anger, but it was not a foolish request either.
Hope eyed Penelope curiously and decided to put her ire aside for a moment to capitalize on the opportunity Penelope's words opened up, "Pretty dangerous. We don't know what the knife is, or what it does, or why Landon and every other non-standard supernatural we encounter wants it so badly. But we do know more will come. And frankly as things are," she paused, now talking directly to her two professors, "most of the witches in particular are fodder. The werewolves have a new alpha in Rafael. The vampires are well, vampires, they'll be fine. But other than home or illicitly-learned torture spells, the witches of this school are vulnerable."
Caroline spoke up, "We don't want chaos," Hope nodded. Not an unexpected answer. To be fair to the forever-young mother, witches uncontrolled could be a fucking menace, and everyone knew it.
"Chaos? Like vampires getting off with a wrist slap for attacking the sheriff and compelling cheerleaders like Dana to do god knows what with him? Kaleb is just gonna do it again once his time-out is over," Lizzie's venomous hiss, surprising everyone. "What? Am I out of line? We know at he at least drank from Dana, but all the other cheerleaders had similar marks. Do we know it was just him? MG caught him with Dana, but what about the other girls?" she fixed both her parents with a dark stare, "look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't kill the vampire if that happened to Josie or me. Tell me."
Caroline started to say something, but she choked on air and thought better of it. Alaric sat back in contemplation. "Putting Vervain in the tap water won't always protect us you know," Josie added quietly. "We aren't saying the girls were raped, but it's still an intimate violation and you know it. Wiping her memory of it can't sit well with you."
Freya nodded her kudos at the young twins. Alaric and Caroline's pained and obviously conflicting reactions drew every eye but hers. But she noticed both Hope and Penelope had identically protective, albeit better hidden, reactions than Alaric and Caroline. Hmm.
"Alright," Caroline said softly, drawing a measured look from Alaric. She shot his complaint down without words, "You can learn offensive magic. Limited, but certainly strong enough to put down a vampire. It's only fair, since I'm sure Hope's gotten all sorts of tutoring," Caroline looked at Freya, asking for input.
"Yeah. Even if Hayley didn't ask, I would've taught Hope offense anyway. Granted, the enemies of the Mikaelson Family are not standard, and are far more than your lowly Kaleb," she said as she poked Marcel in the arm. He had the dignity to look embarrassed.
"Thank you," Hope said, addressing Caroline. Hope knew she and Alaric would have to hash out her betrayal of their arrangement, but she knew it would be okay between them. "Now regarding Penelope, I have a solution." The girl in question stiffened, but there was a commotion that cut off Hope's verdict.
Emma the counsellor burst through the doors, "Alaric, we've got a problem!" Instantly, everyone was on their feet. "What's the situation," Alaric queried as he located and equipped his crossbow.
"There's a Cyclops trying to smash down the front gates, my boundary spell is holding, but not for much longer," Emma wheezed as she tried to catch her breath.
"Well, it's show time then isn't it?" Marcel chipped in as he rose to his feet and cracked his neck in the most aggressively masculine way possible.
Freya rolled her eyes, but she nodded, summoning the knife to her, eyes blazing as the blade ignited at her touch, a predatory grin split her face, "Let's see what we can do."
Freya turned to the headmasters and declared, "We've got this, but you should have some of your witches put up additional boundaries up around the mansion once everyone's inside." Alaric nodded as Freya and Marcel swiftly moved past Emma into the hallway.
Hope's eyes lit up her face as she watched them go, but it wasn't predatory anticipation like her aunt. Josie noticed with a barely noticeable hitch in her breath that she was seeing what unconditional love looked like on Hope's face.