Two things ran through Nathan's head while he stared out the window of the moving van. One was why he was here in the first place. And two, did the girls always bicker like this? He pretty much knew the answer to it both.

Spring break had come in all guns blazing and Nathan thought he could finally spend some time with his mom. As it turns out, her workplace is a bitch and she was sent out of town for an assignment. The two had a lengthy and sad conversation about it over the phone.

As for the second part, yeah, Hope and Lizzie pretty much were always at each other's throats. He'd learned that from being in the school for this long. The bright side of this little trip he had been recruited for was the brunette sat in the seat in front of him, listening to her playlist for the road.

"Dr. Saltzman, this van is very.. white of you" Kaleb commented, his tone dripping with displeasure. He was clearly unimpressed by this vehicle.

"It's retro" the headmaster informed him, giving him a look.

"It's a gas-guzzling atrocity on wheels, is what it is" Lizzie snarked, pinning an unimpressed look on her father. Hope beside her shuffled through a bag she had with her and pulled out a sandwich.

"I brought snacks" she held the sandwich up.

"Oh, sweet" Lizzie turned her ire of the girl who sat beside her. "Did you pack them before or after you decided to FOMO your way into our trip?" the blonde questioned.

"Like I'm going to let you guys go monster chasing without me" the auburn-haired girl scoffed.

"So, Nathan" Dorian called the boy's attention to him and Nathan looked over to the man. "Emma tells me your magic is shaping up to be one of the biggest mysteries of the school" he stated with a smile. It was clear that the man was both interested yet not so much to ask about it. Clearly, he wanted someone to tune this petty argument over whatever it was Hope and Lizzie were arguing over. Nathan welcomed the conversation with a smile.

"Honestly it's just as much of a mystery to you guys as it's to me" he stated. "I'm still learning new things every day out of nowhere"

"Like that shock thing you did yesterday," the man asked. "How did you do that? And who taught you? Surely you had to have an idea of that before you actually did it" the man asked. Beside him, even Emma looked very curious to know.

"Honestly, I just did it" Nathan gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "I remember Hope saying that a light shock had catapulted the slug out of her. So, I thought about just a little shock. And then it just happened. I used the momentum of it on Penelope too but I think I hit her a bit harder."

"And the hall?" Emma inquired. "You didn't have a visual of it or what was exactly going on behind the closed doors. Yet you were able to do it to them as well."

"I pictured it" Nathan explained. "In my head, I pictured be sending waves of electricity, weak ones obviously. I imagined the whole process and my magic responded to me."

"Interesting" Emma hummed. "Your magic seems to respond to your needs on instinct over being pulled out. Like compulsion on Kaleb, the trapping of the Oneiroi. You thought about them and your magic gave them to you."

"Your mind is your greatest asset" the Necromancer's voice echoed in his mind. The words seemed to make more sense to him now that he thought about it. He was able to do things he imagined in all the circumstances he had to use his magic. Even when he first unlocked it. He had imagined it and it happened for him.

The sound of the three girls fighting broke Nathan out of his musings. He looked forward and blinked in surprise when he saw that the three were almost on the stage of fighting with their hands. The headmaster lucky stopped that from escalating. Nathan reached out and gave Josie a comforting squeeze on her shoulder, Josie putting a hand on his and giving it a squeeze.

"You two read Harry Potter right?" Nathan turned back to Dorian and Emma, who looked like they were about to talk about something. Nathan felt a little guilty interrupting them.

"Of course, we have" Dorian stated and Emma agreed with a nod of her head. "Why are you asking?"

"Well in Harry Potter there was this segment of mind magic. Legilimency, Occlumency, and the sort. Does anything like that exist in real life? Or something close to that?" he asked.

"There might be," Emma said with a thoughtful hum. "It's uncommon so you don't see it often. But we can look for it in the library once we go back" the woman assured him and Nathan gave a nod of his head. He let the couple have some time to themselves after that, choosing to stare out the window and think about it. Fiction is often influenced by legends and lore. Maybe he might luck out here and find something that would come in handy to him.

A moment passed with music blaring from the car stereo before Dorian and Emma passed sandwiches to them all. Nathan accepted one gratefully and bit into it without a moment wasted. He was very hungry. A few minutes passed and the ride comes to a pause, courtesy of Josie throwing up inside the car.

The headmaster stopped on the side of the road and everyone scurried out of the van. Josie was the last one to get out, a bit shaky on her feet. Nathan helped steady her on her feet. And by the looks of things, she wasn't done heaving everything out.

"You guys clean up the insides while Josie and I go and help her finish off," Nathan told the others and walked off with the girl a bit deeper into the forest.

"Not taking me off to make out or anything are you?" Josie asked with a teasing grin, which faltered when she felt another round making its way up.

"Not with that mouth we're not" Nathan snorted, holding the girl a little tighter. They found a good tree and Josie knelt in front of it. Nathan held her hair back and let her finish heaving out the rest of what she had to throw out. Nathan stood looking anywhere but below him, humming to himself to not hear the sound of her heaving. As he looked around his eyes fell on a figure watching them from a distance. Nathan's eyes narrowed on it. The figure did not move, sticking to the spot behind a tree and just watching. At that distance, Nathan could not make out who it was, what they looked like, or if they were friendly or not. After a moment they just vanished, making Nathan blink in surprise.

He let go of Josie's hair and felt himself rush over to the spot. He knew there was a chance that the whole thing was a trap, trying to lure him away. But his body seemed to not listen to him. Nathan stopped where the figure had been but found nothing. Even the fallen leaves under the tree looked undisturbed. He looked around again, finding the figure now standing further away and watching him. He followed after it. This went on for a while, the figure vanishing and reappearing and Nathan following after it. It had soon led him to this clearing somewhere in the middle of the woods where a lone oak tree stood tall and proud. And judging by the size of it, it was very old. Nathan found the figure stood in front of the tree, still shrouded in darkness, like a shadow that became corporeal.

"Hello?" Nathan called out to it. But the figure did not reply. But slowly it began to fade away, revealing a crevice on the body of the tree. Nathan frowned, approaching it. Something was inside of it, he could feel it. Something that was calling out to him. He slowly put his hand through the opening and felt around. It was dry inside; the sound of leaves rustling came out from it. His hand touched something cold and immediately Nathan found his world in darkness.

The world was burning around him. Building broken, people dying all around him. Nathan felt his eyes sting and his heart clench. He knew these people, he grew up with them. He learned about himself with them, learned everything that made him what he was today, a leader, a protector. Yet he had failed to do that. He had failed to protect the people he called family. He had failed them all.

The sound of a loud crash and groans erupted from behind him and turned to look. Shadows danced at the edges, their red eyes glaring daggers at him. They wanted him dead, they wanted to kill him, rip him to shreds. Like they had done to the rest. Anger boiled in his veins and he felt his magic come out in full force. The flames around him came to a standstill and were drawn to him, making a layer around him like armor. He was ready. He would destroy them all or die trying.

"Nathan!" a girl's voice made him jump. He looked around and found Josie stood there, worry etched on her face and her hand still raised slightly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just" the boy turned and found to his surprise that there was no old Oak tree in the middle of the clearing. It was a stump, an old rotten and decaying stump. Nathan stumbled away from it, his face portraying the shock he felt.

"Let's go back" the brunette muttered softly, a hand on his back turning him away from the stump. The walk back was silent, companions holding onto each other's hands tightly. Josie felt the grip he had on her hand and knew that Nathan was freaked out by something. And that had to be something big, considering Josie had never seen the boy freaked out in the slightest.

The others held out a questioning glance once the couple had made their way to the rest. Nathan was too out of it to notice but Josie had glanced at them and gave a silent 'do not ask' warning. Josie requested and Hope accepted in sitting in the back this time so Nathan got to sit with Josie in the middle row, sandwiching her with Lizzie who sat on her other side. The journey started once more and the festive mood returned slowly. But Nathan did not take part in it. He did smile when Josie played her ukulele and sang a song, he really enjoyed that part. But other than that, he had been spacing out a lot. And the few times he had drifted off, the thing he saw came back in the form of a nightmare and he woke up with a startled gasp. That made everyone worry more about him, but none of them asked.

They reached Maple Hollows without anymore pitstops and the adults moved towards the bridge while the students stuck around the van, doing some stretches to get rid of the stiffness in their body. Nathan stood with his back leaning against the van, his mind still on what he had seen. He jumped a little when a hand fell on his shoulder. Jumping back, he saw it was Josie, looking at him with wide eyes full of surprise.

"I didn't mean to startle you" the brunette stated, her shoulder slumping slightly. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry" a hand went through his hair, a frustrated sigh falling from his lips. He walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in for a and burying his face on the top of her head.

"Are you okay?" Josie asked, moving away just a bit so she could look him in the eyes. "You've been awfully quiet and jumpy since I found you in the woods back there" her eyes soft and her gaze gentle as she stared into his own eyes. Nathan gave a small smile at that and leaned his forehead against hers, a new habit the two had picked up that he found was rather comforting and liked by them both.

"I'm okay" he whispered and Josie craned her neck slightly so their lips were barely brushing against one another. The headmaster came back right then and the two had to separate, much to both their displeasure. They all got back in the car, Dorian being left to look for the urn in the river. Their task was to look for any signs of the plagues this monster brought forth. Every one of them knew just what they were dealing with.

"Welcome to Maple Hollows!" Kaleb exclaimed dramatically when they passed through the borders of the town.

"Girls," the headmaster turned around. "And Nathan" he added at the look from Josie, " you take the fountain area. See what you can find out" he instructed and dropped them off exactly where he said he would.

The group of four walked around the place, looking around at the people gathered there just minding their business. It looked very much a mundane peaceful town.

"Fun fact: this town has the biggest ball of yarn in the country" Josie informed the rest of the group once they had all regrouped by the fountain after asking around if they had seen anything out of the ordinary. "And nobody's seen anything strange" she added with a drop of her smile.

"This isn't exactly a hotspot of activity" Lizzie stated and brought the attention of the group on to her. "Our hopes of finding anything are going up in smoke" she added, putting extra emphasis on 'smoke'.

"Wait, are you passive-aggressively referring to that fire in my dorm room three years ago?" Hope asked, turning around to look at the blonde with an incredulous expression on her face.

"You mean the one that you set on purpose to sabotage our spring break trip with our dad?" Lizzie asked innocently, giving Hope a shocked look. "No, Hope. Why would I talk about that?" she asked with the fake shock still playing on. Nathan rolled his eyes at the blonde, already growing tired of this fighting.

"Can we focus on the problem at hand? Please?" Nathan cut in before any more words could be exchanged, earning a glare and a thankful look from the blonde and the ginger respectively. Beside him, he heard Josie let out a gasp of pain and he turned to her.

"Something stung me" the brunette complained, pulling up the arm of her sweater to reveal a sting mark that looked a lot like a large boil.

"Gross" Lizzie and Nathan said in unison. Their eyes moved upwards in unison at the sound of buzzing and blinked at the sight above them.

"We should take cover" Nathan muttered grabbing hold of Josie's hand and pulling along as the four ran. They found their hideout in the form of the library building and shut the doors behind them. A silent spell from Hope reinforced the doors just as the insects began to hit the door. Or maybe it was people still stuck outside. Or maybe both, they didn't care. They kept the doors shut and the people already in there were protected from the assault of locusts.

"What do we do?" Josie asked, keeping her voice down so only the three with her could hear.

"Camp out until they fly off" Nathan answered, looking to the door. Those should hold them off. At least, he thought those should.

"Well Hope could always go out and burn them all down" Lizzie drawled, earning a glare from Nathan and Hope.

"Seriously, now is not the time" Hope shot back, the agitation clear in her tone.

Lizzie went to speak but the pounding on the door stopped. The four of them looked over with confusion at it and waited for another barrage. But it never came. Tentatively Hope moved forward and opened the doors. The locusts were still there, but they were on the ground and dead.

"We need to find Dr. Saltzman" Hope spoke, walking out and onto the streets, followed by the other three. "This way."

"Does this way take us past the fire station?" Lizzie asked, her snarky comment making the tribrid, the siphon, and the other witch groan in unison.

"Oh, my God. We barely just survived a biblical plague" the tribrid exclaimed, letting her annoyance ooze through her voice. "For the last time, I didn't start that fire, and I've never ruined a spring break."

"Yeah, Lizzie, now's not the time" Josie muttered, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Your boil" Nathan muttered, gently taking the brunette's hand and pulling it up. The boil looked like it was giving birth to another one.

"I think I'm gonna be sick again" Josie muttered, making a gagging motion.

"Pick up the pace Mikaelson, Faust. My sister needs" Lizzie turned the corner and froze. The other three froze behind her and saw men in hazmat suits putting people into lines in front of a tent while a few of them cleaned up the dead locusts. "Medical attention" the blonde finished her earlier sentence.

"Well this works then: Nathan muttered, taking Josie over to the tents. They were met with Alaric, Kaleb, and Emma and the six of them joined the line near each other. The inside of the tents was filled with patients who got stung and doctors who looked well equipped to handle the situation.

"I don't get it" Hope spoke up behind Alaric and Emma. "The locals that we met said that they hadn't seen anything, meaning the first sign of trouble happened after we got here."

"How did these people get here before the bugs?" Emma asked.

"Maybe they are tracking them like we did" Nathan supplied an idea. "Like meteorologists but with bugs."

"Or maybe they are tracking the urn" Josie suggested. That thought did not settle well with the group.

"Whoever they are" Alaric mumbled, "they are too prepared, too organized, and well equipped to be responding to some random insect call."

"You together?" a woman asked, holding a clipboard in her hands.

"Yeah, you know, we just came in from Roanoke to see that giant ball of yarn you guys have" the headmaster explained, spinning a web of lies. Nathan must admit that the headmaster was good at that.

"And these are?" the woman motioned to the rest.

"This is my wife" he motioned to Emma, who gave a little over-the-top laugh. That made the younger members of the group share a look. "These are my daughters, from my first marriage. This is Nathan and Kaleb, they are uh"

"My boyfriend" the twins spoke up, Josie taking Nathan's arm while Lizzie did it for Kaleb" the woman let out a small huff and let them through. As the group walked through, Nathan stiffened suddenly. Looking back, he saw a guy staring at them and he raised an eyebrow"

"Everything alright?" Josie asked, gripping his arm a little tighter.

"I'm not sure" Nathan mumbled. That guy did not feel right. Something was off about him.

By the time Josie's turn came up for treatment, night had fallen. Nathan hadn't seen the guy again, but the whole scenario seemed unsettling to him. Hope came and joined them.

"Hey, who is that guy?" Josie asked, motioning to the person the headmaster was speaking to.

"This creep we met in Kansas, when you guys went to Europe" Hope explained, her eyes narrowing down on the guy.

"Why were you in Kansas?" Lizzie asked before nodding to herself. "Oh, wait, let me guess, it involved you insinuating yourself into a situation only you could be the hero."

"As a matter of fact, yeah" Hope snapped, now glaring at Lizzie.

"Enough" Nathan growled lightly and the two bickering girls looked at him partially in surprise and partially in annoyance. "She went to rescue Landon from something while he was looking for his mom" he explained. Lizzie seemed to only get huffier while Hope just stared at him in shock. That made Nathan raise an eyebrow at her in question. The tribrid looked away, looking at her feet before looking up again.

"Okay, fine. You know what?" Hope looked right at Lizzie now. "Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I wanted what you had. A simple day with my family. I lost half my stuff in that fire, including the only painting I made with my dad. Why would I do that to myself?" her rant had made all the other three sit in stunned silence. For Lizzie, it was her realization that it was not just her that had suffered in the events, or that it was not her that had suffered the most. For Josie, it was something Nathan was not entirely sure about. And for Nathan himself, he just gave Hope the space he knew she would want. Hope was not an open person, someone who just talked about her problems with anyone. And after what she said right now, she wasn't looking for someone to comfort her.

The headmaster called on Hope as he passed by them, the guy beside him. Nathan and the guy met eyes and his eyes narrowed on the stranger. He did not like him one bit. There was something odd about him. He felt no magic on him, yet he also did. Like a lingering smell. Nathan had never felt anything like that before.

The three moved away and Lizzie got up as well. Nathan gently brushed his hand against Josie's and the girl grabbed on to it immediately, giving it a tight squeeze.

"You know something don't you," Nathan asked and Josie gave a slight nod. He gave a little nod and leaned his head on hers. Josie said nothing but held his hand and leaned into him, the two choose to be in silence. Lizzie came back to that sight but did not comment on it. And after a moment Hope and the headmaster came back.

"Get up" the man spoke, making the three stand up. "We are going for a mummy hunt."

The streets were emptied and the darkness of the night was pushed back by the street lights and those set up in front of stores. Five people walked down the silent road, led by a man with a crossbow. Directly behind him was a boy with his hands stuffed in his pockets, his eyes looking glumly forward and behind the boy were three very powerful witches.

"Some people found it helps to clear their conscience before heading into battle," Lizzie remarked, throwing Hope a dirty look.

"Not stopping you" Hope muttered, looking around their surroundings.

"Now is not the time" Josie hissed and Nathan found himself agreeing with his girlfriend.

"It's always the time for truth" Lizzie countered and then turned to Hope again. "Last chance, Hope. If you didn't start the fire to keep us from going, then why were you so mean to me afterward? I'll tell you why. Because you were guilty."

"Girls!" the headmaster hissed. "Quiet back there. Please."

"I wasn't mean to you" Hope looked to Lizzie with narrowed surprised eyes. "You were mean to me."

"Because you were telling people about my episode" Lizzie explained with a calm that Nathan was surprised had come to her in this circumstance.

"Your what?" Hope looked at her questioningly.

"My episode" Lizzie stopped and turned to look at Hope. "The one I had when our trip got canceled. You told everyone I was witch bipolar."

"I would never do that" Hope muttered, the shock of this revelation clear in her tone.

"Guys, seriously, what is the point of even talking…"

"Just drop the act" Lizzie snapped, cutting off Josie before she could finish her sentence. "I had my first, occurrence. My mom took me away to get help and you decided to use that against me"

"Guys" Josie stopped, as did Nathan and the headmaster. But Hope and Lizzie didn't seem to notice at first.

"I didn't even know. I swear, I would never" Hope spoke softly to Lizzie and the blonde's face evened out a bit.

"Guys" Nathan called out to them and the two snapped at him.

"There's a mummy on Main Street" Josie stated, now all of them looking at the mummy that was approaching them. They took their stance, the headmaster standing in front of his four charges.

"So, what, do we, like, rush it?" Lizzie asked, looking to her sister then Nathan, and then Hope.

"It's seven feet tall" Hope pointed out. "We hold our ground until it's close enough to attack."

"Okay," Josie nodded her head, "Dad, get behind us."

"I can't do that," the headmaster told his daughter, "I have to protect you, all of you."

"No offense, Dr. Saltzman but you and your crossbow are kind of man spread in front of three powerful witches" Hope cut in a bit impatiently.

"No, Hope" Nathan spoke up. "Don't sell yourself short here. You're powerful too" he joked and received a playful roll of the tribrid's eyes in return.

"Four witches" Hope corrected with panicked amusement. The headmaster froze, conceded, and rushed behind the four. In unison the four witches muttered a spell and erected a shield between the mummy and them, blocking the barrage of locusts the thing spat out at them.

"I think we should really charge it now" Lizzie muttered, sounding very nervous.

"Not yet!" Hope snapped. "On the count of three," she muttered, staring right into the Mummy's eyes. "One" she counted, Nathan's hand turning into a fist. "Two" she muttered and Josie stood ready to attack. But right when she was about to count down to three, Hope began to cough and choke. Locusts began to pour out of her mouth and soon Lizzie and Nathan followed her example. Josie cast a quick spell to protect herself before she cast a fire spell that burned the mummy to ash, making the urn and scarab clatter to the ground.

"Worst spring break ever" Lizzie groaned, now stood on her feet and looking at the mummy dust with disgust. Josie moved to Nathan who was frozen on his spot on the ground, his eyes wide.

"Nathan?" Josie put a hand on the boy's shoulder and jumped back when he flinched and jumped away. He was shaking, eyes wide. He had seen something, or had felt something for sure, Josie guessed. She waited for him to calm down before approaching her again.

"You're not okay" she spoke to him, her tone dripping with accusation. "What happened to you and why are you so jumpy all of a sudden?" she asked him, keeping her voice low and gentle. But her eyes were hard and demanding of the answer.

The scene shifts to the outside of one of the tents set up for the people of the town. The students were sat neatly around the car while the headmaster told them the details of the plan. The scarab would bring the mummy back and the mummy would cause chaos and make an opening to take the urn back. But Josie was not focused on that. Josie had her eyes and ears for her boyfriend.

Nathan told her what he had seen in the forest, the vision. He had told her previously about his research into the symbol he kept seeing, about the abilities he learned of having. He told her what the Necromancer told him and that it was true. Josie listened to him patiently, giving her inputs where her thoughts were necessary. But other than that, she listened, holding Nathan's hands the whole time.

"And then you saw me using fire and it triggered you" Josie sighed, her grip on his hand tightening. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Nathan let out a gentle scoff, "you killed a frickin mummy! You were badass JoJo" he grinned leaning it to kiss her on the cheek and nuzzle his nose against it. "Also, I think we gave Lizzie diabetes."

Josie craned her neck to look over to Lizzie who was making gagging motions. The brunette rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face. The wind picked up and everyone stepped out of the car. People screamed, rushing out of the tent. The mummy followed them not long after, hissing and roaring.

"What the hell happened?" Agent Clark came rushing in.

"I don't know. He should be dead" the headmaster motioned to the rampaging mummy.

"Clearly he isn't" the Agent countered, looking at the mummy with narrowed eyes. "What's it doing?" he asked.

"Probably looking for the urn" Nathan muttered. "Give it to him, please? I don't think we can properly handle him in this place."

Agent Clark brought his walkie talkie out and talked into it, words came from the other end, telling him that the urn was missing. Exchanging fake shocked looks, Clark asked for their help. The headmaster shared a look with Kaleb who rushed in, snatched the scarab, and threw it to the twins.

"Guys hurry" Hope requested, watching as the mummy stamped its way towards them. Nathan moved to the front, his eyes shifting to bright green. He held his hand out and from it burst out bolts of lightning that threw the mummy backward against the tent, every electronic device around it bursting and sparking.

"Sorry for the damage" Nathan muttered, panting slightly. The lightning trick was still very new to him and without proper control, he was not only sapped off of a lot of his strength, but it also left him physically in pain. The mummy stood slowly but it did not charge. It stood its ground, watching Nathan until the glow in its eyes vanished and it froze on the spot. The boy turned around and saw that the scarab had stopped glowing as well. The magic had been fully siphoned and the mission was completed.

The Salvatore School drove away from him, the headmaster wishing him a good night and a funny little joke. They stopped at the outskirts of town where Kaleb's source, the woman who had noted them down when they were back at the tents, obviously compelled. She handed the urn to Kaleb who in turn handed the urn to Dr. Saltzman. But before they could drive off, another car pulled up behind them and walked out Agent Clark, followed by another man who had Dorian and Emma with them. Tight-lipped Alaric left the van with the urn in hand but returned with Dorian and Emma, no urn in hand.

The rescued couple were passed out in the back, Nathan sat beside them. In front of them were Lizzie, Hope, and Josie, talking about the fire and everything they had been arguing about the whole day. But Nathan's attention and focus weren't on them. His attention and focus were on the little oval-shaped red stone in his hand. The one he found inside of the crevice in the tree.