I own nothing but my own words.
This Can't Be How The Story Ends
It was her fault.
She was responsible for Landon's death.
Saying it out loud was impossible.
"I'm sorry," Alaric said. "Believe me, I know how much it hurts to lose people we love."
She turned and walked to the edge of the pier, holding the worthless empty relic in her hands.
She didn't just lose Landon. She got him killed.
It was her fault he was gone.
Just like it was her fault her parents died.
Hell, it was even her fault Clarke died—she didn't even try to save him.
Of course, she hadn't known she would regret that, just like she hadn't known she would regret having sex with the boy she loved.
If this supposed artifact actually did what it was supposed to, she could get Landon back, heck, she could probably even get Clarke back.
Her insides quiet as she thought about getting her parents back too.
But no, she couldn't do that to them. Mom was at peace. She was happy. She would never tear her away from that for her own selfishness. Living was hard and painful at times. Her mother didn't deserve to have to go through that again just because she didn't want to be alone. No, she would see her mother again one day, and on that day she will know her own eternal peace.
As for her dad… she just wanted him to find peace.
And if Landon was truly dead, then she needed to accept that maybe he found his own peace too.
But if he wasn't dead, then she wished she could wish on this device.
She wanted it to help return Landon to her, wherever he was.
She wanted her father to find peace.
And, with an internal roll of her eyes, maybe when she got Landon back, Clarke would come right along with him. She would just have to make sure he behaved.
Not like any of that mattered though.
This thing was empty. Useless.
With those last thoughts, she tossed it into the lake.
"I need your help," she said around the lump in her throat. "I can't believe this is happening to me again." Would the pain ever stop?
"He's gone," she said it out loud. She felt like she was shutting down on the inside as she finally gave up hope. "I'm never going to see him again."
She stood in silence, Doctor Saltzman comforting as best he could, as they stared into the night, neither of them knowing that the artifact activated as it sank deeper and deeper beneath the surface.
The girls were in pain.
Hope was in pain.
The black magic was flooding through their veins.
The ascendant they were holding glowed in the sick nauseating radioactive tone of the prison world he just escaped.
He didn't know how or why he was there, back in the real world, in the body he was in, but he was.
And whatever they were doing with that thing, they needed to stop now.
He rushed forward into the circle, bringing his arms up, and slashing down with his knife. Slicing through the ascendant, he destroyed it in one blow.
The power burst out, slamming into them all and flinging their bodies out of the circle and into the clearing around it.
Shaking his head, glad to find that he was still alive if a bit stunned, he climbed to his feet.
"Landon…"
He saw her. She was looking at him as if she wasn't sure what to believe.
He already knew he wasn't himself. Having Alaric Saltzman hug him after the flame-headed ferryman dragged him unceremoniously from the prison world into an unknown abyss before he landed in the real world again told him more than any mirror could that he wasn't himself.
Somehow, he ended up in his brother's body.
"Long time no see," Ryan said, knowing that sticking to the truth as much as possible would be the best way to cover his tracks until he could find his bearings on the current situation.
"Am I dead or is this another dream?" Hope asked softly.
He nearly laughed because this wasn't the first time she thought she was dead when she saw him—though they were in hell at the time, just not in the literal sense of hell after death.
"No," Lizzie said from behind them. "I'm pretty sure Landon has made it back somehow."
They both turned to look at the sisters who were struggling to hold themselves up.
"Cuz we totally see him too," Josie said.
Ryan looked back at Hope, and he was glad he did because her face lit up in the most beautiful smile before running.
And then she was in his arms.
He was holding her and hugging her, breathing her in.
Suddenly he wished he were in his own body, that she ran to him like that.
But he would take this.
He would gladly take whatever small bit of goodness he could get.
After everything he just went through, she was the only thing that could make him smile, really smile, for the first time in a very long time.
It just kept getting better.
The next day found him sitting with her curled up next to him on the dock. She was practically glued to him since "Landon's" return.
He didn't know what all happened in his absence, but if he was going to keep up this charade until he figured out his next move, he needed to make her believe he really was Landon.
Having lived since the time before modern civilization (and the one before that… and the one before that…), he knew the best way to keep his cover was to stick as close to the truth as possible.
So when she asked her first question, he responded as truthfully as possible.
"So, what do you remember?"
His answer to this one would invariably have a double meaning. He had no idea what happened between her and Landon, but mixing his truth with his reply, it wouldn't sound suspicious at all.
"I remember us, the last night we were together. How perfect it was," he said.
In theory, their last night was far from perfect, and yet spending his last day with her—opening up to her, and having that last conversation with her—it was all he had to hold on to. When he died, his 'essence' was dragged back to Malivore.
But this time, he had her.
It was enough.
Last time he was trapped for nearly a century and he had nothing. No one.
The memory of Hope was the only thing that kept him sane this time.
So, to him, their last night together was perfect.
"Until you dissolved into a puddle of mud…," she mumbled. "Which I hardly take as a compliment."
So that's how Landon 'died'. Though he was curious how it happened, he knew he couldn't ask.
Sucks to be you, bro.
"Then what happened?" she asked.
Stick to the truth, Ryan, he thought to himself.
"Darkness," he said, hating the fear that rose inside him at the memory. "After that…" Best not to give any truth there. Just fake it. The darkness was enough. She was in Malivore before. She knew what it was supposed to be like. "Darkness is the only thing I can remember."
"Makes you feel any better, I know what Malivore is like," she said. "Being so lonely, it's physically painful."
Except when she was trapped there, he was with her. He may not have been the best company, but she was never that lonely. Or in pain.
Since she wanted to lie, he decided it was time for at least one lie. Besides, it was cheesy and romantic as hell—didn't she eat that kind of crap up when it came to his pathetic brother?
"Deep down, I must've known you were looking for me. I think that's what made me find my way back to you." He resisted the urge to grimace.
While he was trapped, he may have fantasized she would come looking for him but deep down he knew she would never try to find him. He accepted that fact long ago. He didn't hold it against her. She had no way of knowing what really happened to him either way.
"Technically, we have Cleo to thank for that. We should probably get her a fruit basket or something," she smiled softly.
"She the new girl?" he asked, not recognizing the name.
"My roommate," she confirmed. "Was going great until we had this big fight. I'll probably be spending more time in your room from now on." She finished pointedly.
"As long as we keep it PG-13," he hastened to say as his mind raced. As much as her hugs and cuddles felt amazing, he couldn't have sex with her, not like this. He didn't know if she and Landon had ever gotten that far, but he wasn't taking any chances. He was a lot of things, but he would never take advantage of her like that.
Also, there was the fact that she would never ever forgive him when she invariably found out the truth. It was only a matter of time before she did anyway. She wasn't an idiot, and while he could pull the wool over the eyes of nearly anyone else, it wouldn't last long with her.
He didn't want her to hate him.
Since he would be stuck in this form for a while, he needed to set the rules for himself right now. And make sure she followed at least that one. Whether she had slept with Landon before or not, "Landon" would not be sleeping with her now.
Fortunately, she didn't find any problem with his shiny new rule.
"What was your fight about?" he asked, changing the subject.
"When I was struggling while you were gone, she kept pushing me to find a way to move on," she explained. "And then she killed the one thing that I thought might help me find you."
Everything about her fascinated him, especially this side of her where she let down all of her walls and let him in completely, even if it isn't him.
She caught him staring but didn't seem to mind, just continued thinking she knew what he was about to ask.
"A leprechaun."
"Oh." He raised his eyebrows slightly. Those things were tricky little devils, especially to catch.
"Long story," she said, then brushed it all aside. "Anyway, doesn't matter. I needed this. To be in your arms."
She snuggled closer and he loved every single minute of it.
"But?" he could also sense something was bothering her.
"But, I may have pissed off a whole lot of people in the process. I guess it runs in the family. When I was little, my Mom was taken by a group of vampires and my Dad had to go to extreme lengths to get her back. Things were never the same after what he did."
Knowing how diabolical Klaus Mikaelson was, he could imagine all sorts of horrors. Not that he couldn't relate. Sometimes the end did justify the means.
In this case, he couldn't fault her father in making sure she didn't lose her mother.
Not everyone was lucky enough to have one of those.
He would file the information away for a later date though because he saw the twins yesterday. It looked like he wasn't the only one who didn't mind using and manipulating said twins to get what he wanted. Finding more things he and Hope had in common made him smirk internally. He couldn't wait to point that out to her one day.
"Sounds like risking everything for the people you love is a classic Mikaelson move," he said, wishing he was one of those people. But he wasn't. She would never risk anything for him. Though he might be risking his own life when she found out he wasn't really Landon.
Maybe he should focus on a way to find the real Landon while searching for another vessel for himself. Maybe if he did that for her, she wouldn't be too angry when she discovered the truth?
"Always has been. Forever will be," she said firmly, smiling lovingly at him.
"You'll never have to go through that again," he said, deciding that would be his course of action. She wouldn't have to risk everything all over again to find Landon once she realized she didn't really have him because he will have already found him for her. "I promise."
He could give her that. He owed her that for saving him in the pit without even realizing it.
"I'll hold you to that," she said with a grin. "Now, kiss me."
He had been putting it off, knowing it was inevitable, that he couldn't pretend to be her boyfriend and not kiss her.
And honestly, he spent many a day trapped in hell imagining what it would be like to kiss her.
He could lie to himself, but there wasn't really any point.
He wanted to kiss her.
So he didn't hesitate when she told him to.
Leaning in, silently hoping she wouldn't hate him for this, he met his lips to hers.
And it was better than he ever imagined.
But she wasn't his. And she never would be.
He had to accept the truth, but it was hard, especially when a voice inside kept crying out that this can't be how their story ends.
Finished.