Alright, I'm just stating that there was a lot of time and age consistencies in the TVD universe, I'm fixing them:
2019 (TO Season 4): Davina would have been turning 24 since she was born between 1994 and 1995 (and I chose 1995). And her birthday is also in May.
2026 (TO season 5): Hope and Harmony would be 13 going on 14. Not 15, as Freya stated on canon. Lizzie and Josie Saltzman were 12-years-old.
2028 (Legacies S1): Hope Mikaelson and Harmony are 15 to 16, which means the Saltzman twins turn 14. And if I introduce Stefanie Salvatore, she'd be born in 2021 and 7 years old.
Now, back to the show...
Salvatore Boarding School...
Harmony's POV
WHAT...
THE...
FUCK!?
This is so not how I saw my day going and of course, Hope sees to that with her own fuck-ups! Didn't she consider the idea that anything they drink on their way to Mystic Falls would have vervain in it!? I found out with rotten luck during my first 7 years here when I took a trip to town and nearly choked to death after ingesting vervain from a water fountain!
And I will NOT force myself to remember the explicit feelings of being drowned in the process!
Now, here I am with what I can tell is an increasingly pissed-off werewolf running behind me as I went down to the cellars- Oh, I mean "Werewolf Transition Space".
NOTE THE SARCASM!
This place, right next to vampires drinking human blood and witches learning dark magic, is one of the major issues I brought to Alaric and Caroline during my stay here. The first mistake was almost rationalizing it as a kid, but it didn't last long. Can't really when your mother could turn into a wolf at will and the Crescent Pack lives on the bayou where they have lots of space to run around on. This is partially why kids from the pack don't go to school with me even when they had my mother's backing, triggered or not.
Except for Henry Benoit...
I shook my head at the condescending voice in my head, reminding me of the shy, tormented hybrid-that-was. I have no time for dwelling in the past right now.
I grew up with werewolves and felt that maybe it was an occupational hazard for those just turning for the first time. But after that first turn, they shouldn't be confined to cells! Wolves are still creatures of Nature and deserve to be outside when they turned. It was practically our right despite being a curse!
And then, I triggered my curse and turned. The pain sucked, just like Mom said it would, but under that Full Moon, feeling weightless from all my burdens and pains and, what I would later learn, freedom from my visions. It was all worth it. And our "Hellmaster" and Headmistress were taking that away from us! If they were really so worried, they would have had the witch teachers put up a boundary spell around the school and stretching out to certain parts of the woods so they could run but not go anywhere near humans or make it so poor souls won't wander into our territory during those nights.
And now, here I am, heading towards that wretched place because those "spaces" are really a bunch of underground cells and where else are you going to hold a human with vervain in their system away from prying eyes!?
In hindsight, I'm glad Rafael is having a rational (angry but rational) response to this because I would've had to really tear into him if he was the type to just let this happen to someone he deems as family.
And this is coming from someone whose family would do this daily.
Flashback...
"No, Rafael," I proclaimed. "Everything is not okay. Landon's in trouble."
I watched as Rafael's eyes went from confusion to realization to fear to a dark sense of rage burning in his eyes that I recognized well enough when a loved one was in danger.
...A rage that I may or may not have executed when I learned what Hope did to my mother.
"Do you know what happened to him?" he asks.
"He's in the cellars."
"WHAT!" he growled and I hurriedly shushed him as I gripped him by the shoulders.
"Do you want everyone to come in here or do you want to get to Landon undetected?" I advised. "I know how to get to him."
This explanation seemed to calm him down a bit, but the rage was still in his eyes. Good.
Rafael shook my hands off him and begun pacing back and forth. "Why would they do that? Landon hasn't done anything wrong and... God, he's probably freaking out right now!"
I raised an eyebrow. "Is he Clausraphobic or something?"
He raised his head. "Right on the money! I've had my shares of good and bad foster homes, but Landon has been through more of the bad ones than the good ones. Despite last night, the Gonzales family is actually one of the better ones for the both of us."
I decided to file that information for later.
"But still, why?" he pondered. I held back a snort.
"You want the censored or uncensored version?" I gave him a minute to understand what I asked before he nodded.
"Censored, please," he groaned, rubbing his head as if he felt a headache coming on.
"Alaric dubs them as underground transitional spaces, confined enclosure where werewolves go to transform under full moons without risking them running wild and hurting anyone, a place you'll likely find yourself in next month, but they also double as cells for a normal human being," I explained.
"Will you tell me what's going on? Especially that thing you did with your eyes?" he mentioned. Well, if he's going to continue to be a student here, he'll find out anyway.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll tell you on the way. Now let's go." I gripped his hand and headed towards the door when he stopped me.
"Wait, what about him?" he asks, nodding his head towards MG's (literal) frozen figure. Right...better to fix that before he gives Alaric the heads up!
Dropping Rafael's hand, I walked towards MG, still as I left him. I raised my head and...
"Regelo," I incanted, causing MG to unfreeze and the ice disperse from his body, freeing him.
"-not what it looks like!" MG finished, looking frantically at us. Huh, maybe it did do what I want after all.
Rafael looked ready to charge at MG, but I stopped him and glared at MG.
"Listen to me, Teacher's Pet, and listen good. I would love to go all 'These aren't the droids you're looking for', but I'll do you one better. Keep your mouth shut that you ever saw us or even dare go to Alaric, and you won't find a nice bowl of fresh human blood with a Holy Bible by your bed when you wake up tomorrow!" I threatened.
I buried the guilt growing inside me as MG flinched when I mentioned the two worst things he could be near at school. I hit low and below, but I needed to ensure his silence.
Besides, I'll apologize to him later with rabbit blood.
MG nodded. "Okay, but you do know it isn't what it looks like, right?" he inquired. I decided to play along.
"Rafael was looking for his brother, but I'll take him to the wolves instead. He needs to be exposed to his own kind," I lied.
Then that annoyingly good, megawatt smile erupted on his face and it seemed almost as if this was just a minor misunderstanding and all was right with the world!
"Cool! So, uh, see you at the party tonight?" he reminded me. I internally rolled my eyes.
The party that no doubt Hellmaster knew about and would break before midnight? Of course, I knew. Penelope told me days ago!
I had work tonight.
"Sure. Whatever. 'Cmon, Ninja Turtle, I'm taking you to the school pack," I lied again as I dragged Rafael out of the office.
Flashback ends...
And yet, here we are taking the stairwell to the cellars to make sure Landon isn't losing it.
"So, let me get this straight: You're a Psychic?" Rafael rambled as he hurried behind me.
I chuckled. "Not a Psychic. A Seer. They may sound the same, but the differences are simple yet complicated to explain. Trust me, my mentor has psychic abilities and she'd tell you that I'm waaaaayyy too close to skirting the lines between Seer and Empath! You ever watched those reruns of That's So Raven or Raven's Home? Well, Raven and her kids are actually more like Seers than Psychics with minimum moments of Telepathy. Psychics are more entering minds and memories while Seers can see into the future or past if utilizing spells. So all-in-all, you can thank Disney for introducing that part of our world to you at a young age! The person behind it must have either been a witch or just one very creative human being with good instincts!"
"Alright, Seer. And you can see the future?"
"That's where I'm an anomaly," I explained hastily. "Basically, bad stuff happened to me as a kid and it gave way to my Seer abilities. Unfortunately, my visions are more like instant gateways to the past. Like you do NOT want me seeing any dirty laundry in that head of yours. And if your a bad person, maybe like a serial killer, then you can only guess what just standing in my proximity would do to me."
I could never see the future, just the past. And those visions were mercilessly uncontrollable at 7 years old! And when Mom brought the Mikaelsons home...
"But I eventually got a better grip and control over it!" I added once we got off the stairs and took a turn. "Actually, I had three mentors, but the one designated for my Seer abilities? She was a Seer herself. She would have been dead for two years in May."
Rafael went quiet. "I'm sorry."
I halted and turned to him. "Why apologize? You're not the one who brought those responsible for it to my doorstep."
We kept walking until we got to the dark, underground holding cells for werewolves. I hated coming here. Despite being a curse, this place felt like everything was wrong with being a werewolf. Like it's something to be ashamed of, to hide, like a rotten dirty secret.
Kind of like Alaric.
"So, take away the fact you've definitely changed early 2000s Disney Channel for me, did you have anybody else to help control them? What happened to the other two mentors?" Rafael questioned. I think talking to me was helping him calm down more and feel a bit at ease from the rage I knew he was packing earlier.
"I only have two mentors now, and I only trust them now. One lives in New Orleans, my hometown, and the other lives here in Mystic Falls. They're also my legal guardians with a solid custody agreement. My late teacher, Ivy, gave some form of instruction to the mentor in New Orleans and he's been helping me ever since. And the one here? She's more witchcraft-based but occasionally dabbles into my visions. In superpower terms, I have Retrocognition, to see past events. But..." I trailed.
"But what?" he pushed.
"Recall what I said about me skirting the lines of Seer and Empath?" I recalled.
He nodded.
"Well, all magic is rooted in psychic energy," I continued. "And if there is a high amount of stress in what I see, I, uh... let's just say I step into that person's shoes."
That seemed to clink in Rafael's head. "You can relive the event as if you were someone there."
I sighed. "Yeah. So, another thing: That quip about being a serial killer?"
I watched as Rafael shuddered. He finally understood.
"You are either the killer or the victim."
I nodded. "Never the killer, always the victim."
If I'm lucky, I can see what led the killer to do what they did, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise, or maybe it's the dead just wanting to be recognized through me, but never saw myself as the one inflicting the act. And with no access to the future, I can only take hints through the past.
It's like being in an Expression Triangle, only instead of humans, witches, and hybrids being murdered, I was caught between Seer, Psychic, and Empath! Oh my!
3rd POV
Landon Kirby was curled up in the cot, trying to calm his breathing and fight off the panic attacks that came with being stuck in a cell.
Flashback...
Lying in a cot inside a dark cell, he awakened to the sounds of birds singing in the background. With a twitch of the hand, he opened his eyelids a bit as he rose, briefly wondering when he fell asleep but went into high alert once he took in his surroundings and realized that he was in a cell.
He walked hastily to the metal bars of the entrance, only to find himself locked in.
Landon began to pace around, his breathing coming out in shaky breaths as sweat started pouring down his face. Realizing quickly that he was on the verge of a panic attack, he tilted his head back and tried to clear his mind.
Then, the flashes came.
"No!"
A woman screaming.
"Let me..."
A man shouting.
"No!"
Being thrown into a closet with an intimidating figure glaring down at him.
"You sit here and think about it."
The sound of a door locking. Rushing to opening it.
Locked in.
"Please, don't lock me in here! Please!"
Banging on the door.
"PLEASE!"
"Landon."
Landon jumped, broken out of his reverie at the sound of a familiar voice. He turned around to see Hope Mikaelson on the other side of the entrance.
"Hope!" he called out with a breath of relief. "Can you get me out of here?"
"Not yet. But you're not a prisoner here, I swear," she stated calmly, which just made him more nervous.
"I'm in a witch dungeon."
"It's a werewolf transition space," she corrected.
"Super. I'm not so good with, you know...small spaces." he tried to explain.
"We won't keep you here long. No one expected you couldn't be compelled," Hope tried to explain.
"I don't know what that means," he said.
"MG tried to erase your memories of this place, but it didn't work." Hope explained, though noted the slight-frenzied look on his face.
Landon chuckled darkly. "So now what, I'm a hostage? Where's Rafi?"
"He's fine. You're fine, too," she assured. "Look, compulsion doesn't work on people who take this herb called Vervain. The town sheriff sometimes slips it into the coffee at the gas station we were at this morning. It takes about a day to pass through your system, but you just have to wait it out."
Landon exhales, understanding but not like the situation one bit as he turned to sit on the cot. "Sure. Yeah, no big deal. Yeah, I'll just sit here alone in the witch dungeon with my thoughts."
Hoe diverted her gaze, knowing she wouldn't wish this experience on anyone.
"Would you... I mean... could you wait it out with me?" he asked. He looked up at her with a pleading look in his eyes. He didn't want to be left alone, locked away.
Hope found herself looking into his, wishing that she could offer anything to comfort him, but found herself saying, "I'm really sorry about all of this. But it was nice to see you again."
Watching her walk away, Landon bowed his head and sighed in defeat.
Flashback ends...
Landon could understand. The world is a big, scary, and hypocritical place to be. Of course, you take about the supernatural in TV shows and read about them in books, but he had to be fair. The world will NEVER be ready for their true existence to come out. He's heard of the Salem Witch Trials and given today, where he no doubted there were some real witches caught up in the process, this was just a small example of what could happen when those with "normal" views cross paths with those who are different!
And to make it worse, said "different" can turn into wolves, suck blood, and apparently do mind control, and if he had to wager with witches...some very bad stuff. No matter if they can blend in, different is different and even though the world has come so far in gender norms, religion, and sexual orientation, there will always be discrimination and opposition.
But...different was cool. And he did not just feel this way because the guy he loved as if he was his own brother was a werewolf.
Maybe thinking about not being in a close-quartered cell was taking the edge off. His heart wasn't beating as fast as it was when he first woke up.
Seeing Hope after two years wasn't so bad either, even though she explained to him that it was just until the vervain was out of his system and he was susceptible to mind control again.
But she got even more beautiful in two years and with a kind personality.
He hoped Rafael was doing okay though. After a month of anger issues and maybe walking on eggshells around him, the fact that Alaric said this was normal should be putting him at ease.
"...andon..."
Landon must've been really worried if he was hearing his voice in his head.
"...Landon..."
Or maybe he was vividly thinking about him too hard.
"LANDON!"
Landon's eyes widened as he jumped off the cot and grasped the cast iron bars of the door. He wasn't imagining it. That was Rafael's voice!
"RAF? RAFI!?" he yelled, shaking the bars to signal his location.
Relief flooded him as he saw Rafael coming running to the door and he would hug him by now if they weren't separated. Rafael felt the same way when he heard Landon call for him, found him in a jail-like cell, and quickly took in his appearance.
Pale, shaking, and somehow (maybe it's a werewolf thing) Rafael could hear his heart racing and smell the sweat dripping off his face.
He was going to KILL Alaric when he finds him! Why not just send him with Rafael if he wanted to keep an eye on him? There was no reason to hold him prisoner like this!
Landon recognizes the telltale sign that Rafael was going to lose it and grasped his hand.
"Hey, hey hey! I'm okay!" Landon assured, putting a smile on his face. "I'm fine."
But the young werewolf was having none of that! "Landon, I've had to get you out of locked up closets and lockers! I can smell the sweat and anxiety dripping off you and your heart's racing like a horse! You. Are. NOT. OK!" he growled, his golden eyes flaring.
Rafael began ringing the bars, trying to shack them out of place to free him when Landon heard a voice.
"Take away the fact that those are enchanted against werewolf strength, you're not going to be able to take those apart. Luckily, you got a witch who can do better!"
Landon turns his head to look out further beyond the cell and sees someone beyond his line of sight. Whoever said that was apparently female and maybe, with his optimistic luck, she helped Rafael find him!
"Raf? Who is that?" he asked.
Rafael stopped shaking the bars and turned to look behind him. He didn't know why but welcomed the distraction to calm down, reverting his eyes to normal. "Landon, meet Harmony. Harmony, meet my brother, Landon."
He stepped back and a beautiful girl stepped in front of his cell. A really, really beautiful girl that could only compete with Hope.
She had long dark hair that flowed long past her shoulders, her light olive skin highly complimenting her hair and making her stand out as if a shot in the dark, something radiant that didn't belong in a dungeon. Her hazel eyes twinkled in mischief with a depth he felt the urge to inch away from but an inviting smirk that could draw him in.
Frankly, if he had to name a greek goddess that he'd happily let kick her his ass, it would be Artemis.
"So...You are the brother Alaric sent down to the dungeons and Hope just let that happen," she assumed, which she wasn't technically wrong. But Landon felt like he had to defend Hope.
"She didn't let them!" Landon defended. "She came down here and explained everything to me!"
Not-Artemis shrugged her shoulders. "Explained what? That the vervain in your system meant locking you up instead of spending the remaining time you have left with your brother? Having MG erase everything you learned for "your" safety, which was really for the school and could potentially leave you defenseless against anything supernaturally malevolent enough to kill you? Or the fact that Hope Mikaelson didn't do anything as she let you get choked and dragged out of Alaric's office like you were a body to be disposed of?"
She gave me a smile that made him back away from the door while Rafael looks incredulously between the both of us.
Then, the rage kicked in.
"THEY DID WHAT!?" he roared, backing away from the cell and heading back the way he came. Harmony didn't know how he was going to track them down, Rafael doesn't actually know how to track yet, and as much as she'd love to see Alaric beat down by his own student-to-be, for a good reason, she couldn't let him. One tour was not enough to track down Alaric Saltzman!
Even if she did know where he was...
And that might be sparring with Hope at Steven's Quarry...
But Rafael doesn't need to know that now!
She ran up ahead up him and laced her hand on his chest.
"Resido!" she chants, hitting Rafael with a calming spell that works wonders on werewolves. Especially violent-prone ones.
Rafael felt a wave of calmness flood his body, tingling from head to toe, and was targeted at his center. His breathing was suddenly slowed and relaxed and his mind was instantaneously cleared. His body was no longer shaking in tremors and his rage was swiftly dissipated.
Rafael went still and he didn't know how he felt about that.
Landon snapped his head at her, watching the entire thing in astonishment. "Where were you last month when he was losing it!?"
She smirked. "Sorry if I didn't know you existed at the time."
Now it was time to set a boundary! Harmony schooled her face.
"Rafael, as much as I would love to see a student give Alaric the beatdown of his life," she admitted, "let's not do that! Instead, I offer an alternative. One that says no one knows you left and no one sees you on campus.
Both boys looked at her, partially curious and partially feeling a bit of dread at what she's planning.
This time, however, Landon looked closer at her.
Especially around the eyes and...!
Harmony turned to look at Landon and somewhere in her eyes, behind the mirth of whatever she was plotting, was a hint of a threat. Like she knew what he was thinking and was advising him to keep his mouth shut.
Suddenly, Landon felt sweaty again, and it wasn't the claustrophobia acting up.
At the Old Mill...
"Tell me again why we're helping someone we don't know?" Penelope Park questioned as she followed Alyssa and Harmony to the woods with various ingredients in hand for the spell, a special brand of magic chalk, a shovel, and a bag of Salvatore clothes.
Harmony pulled out her phone and flashed a photo of Landon in the cellars with Rafael. She watched Penelope's eyes widened in disbelief looking up to Harmony to the photo to the brunette again.
There was a steel look in her eyes. "Let's fuck Alaric's shit up!"
And with that, they found a space further out from prying eyes and started to work.
It was fairly simple. The witches would create a golem made from the earth and spell it to look like Landon, but the only cincher is that it wouldn't look exactly like Landon.
And that was their side of the operation. Landon was specifically instructed to create the closest to near-perfect pentagram circle using special chalk, courtesy of the art department, back in the cellars.
Since removing Landon would result in Alaric putting the school on high alert until he's returned to his cell, then he couldn't leave. If Harmony can't take his body out of the cellars, she'll just take his conscience.
Harmony completely respected the golem lore and its roots with Jewish folklore, but she hated possession spells. So a human-like mud man walking around like a student with Landon's mind was a compromise. The plan was to create a body from the earth, center it on a pentagram, and bring Landon's subconscious to the golem.
And that was the witches' part. Landon had to be in the circle, lying down and completely calm during the process, or else who knows where'd he'd end up! While the spell isn't dark magic itself, Harmony isn't going to mess with someone's mind without making sure everything went off without a hitch!
The process was simple: Harmony dug up the earth to collect dirt and gathering sticks, Alyssa set out the candles, three jugs of water candles, the chalk all while Penelope set about creating the circle with a shovel.
She might seem like she had the simplest job, but she's the most meticulous! Between all three of them, Penelope is nothing but careful at the best-laid plans. Harmony would go as far as to say she's a laidback perfectionist at heart who does best behind the scenes.
Alyssa is Penelope's other half in regards to stirring chaos for her benefit. If Penelope works in the shadow, Alyssa thrives in the spotlight. Right behind her and Penelope, she's Public Enemy No. 3 in the Saltzmans' eyes and is very proud of it. And she's the slyest witch Harmony could ever know. While initially unpleasant, Alyssa's unpredictability is one of the reasons all 3 girls are best friends.
And Harmony? Take away her obsession with photography over her painting, she knows how to at least sculpt a body, which is an integral part of this operation.
They just hope it doesn't crash and burn...literally.
In the transitional spaces...
Rafael was pacing back and forth in front of Landon's cell as Landon moved the furniture around and drawing a pentagram in a circle and placing candles around it. He couldn't help but think he was going to regret ever agreeing to this!
To be fair, from the way Harmony proposed this, it seemed simple enough. Landon is asleep and his mind goes to an earth-made puppet so he could walk around campus undetected...then he remembered that this was real life, not a TV show and Landon's life could be in danger!
Why was he trusting her when he barely knew her? Yes, she helped him find his brother and she filled him in a little bit of her not-so-all-seeing ability, but why did he agree to this so easily!?
And why did Landon okay this!?
"Dude!" Landon called out, stopping his foster brother in his tracks ."You're making me nervous and it's my mind on the line!"
"Bro, what did you expect!" Rafael exclaimed. "Look at this! We are asking witches to help us!"
"Whelp, you only live once!" Landon rationalizes as he excitedly finished his pentagram and placed the candles around it. "Who else can say they were a part of a witch spell? This is AWESOME!"
"Glad someone's enjoying the idea of being a body invader..." Rafael muttered.
"I mean, sure, Dr. Saltzman was a bit vague on the story," Landon continued nonchalantly, "but apparently, you being a werewolf is the result of a witch curse, which is triggered when you kill someone."
"Yeah, I know!" Rafael snaps but instantly regretted it. "Look, sorry, man. My guides told me on through the tour."
Landon slumps his shoulder down and stops what he's doing to walk to the bars of the door. "It's cool."
"No, it's not!"
"Yes, it is!" Landon countered, staring deeply at him. "Cassie's death was an accident! Plain, simple, and not vehicular homicide! It's not your fault that by some literal cursed standards, her death was your responsibility, hence why you can turn into Jacob Black on a full moon."
Rafael gave him a look of disbelief. "Jacob Black? Really? You wanna go Twilight on me?"
Landon tilts his head and thought about it. "Yeah, you're right. You're much more like a Paul Lahote."
He began to guffaws in fits of laughter and if these bars weren't between them, Rafael would've punched him, even as he did join him in laughter.
"But...But...But all jokes aside," Landon continued, trying to restrain himself from smiling, "It doesn't seem like a bad experience. This stuff, vervain? I need it out of my system so I can leave."
"So? I'll just go with you," Rafael said as if it was the most rational thing to do.
"Raf, you turned into a wolf! And I don't know about you, but I clearly saw you had no control over yourself! Imagine if Hope and Dr. Saltman weren't there. Imagine if I was in there! Do you really think that would've ended well?" Landon questioned.
There was an unsettling quietness between them as the scene settles into Rafael's mind.
No, it wouldn't. If it was that bad, it would've been all blood, guts, and galore. And regardless of how bad it seemed for the Gonzales' to blindside him, he never wanted to hurt anyone, much more, Landon.
He's all he's got.
"Nah, man. I know you! At the very least, I could have told you apart from the rest!" he stated in denial.
"Before or after I was minced meat!? Dude, you were all animal. Complete Beast Mode!" Landon exclaimed, forcing Rafael to look at him. "And I doubt you would have been able to live with yourself."
At the Old Mill...
"Whew!" Alyssa panted, wiping her forehead. "Think we overdid it?"
The group tilted their head to the side as they examined their hard work. A dirt-like statue filled with sticks laid inside a pentagram dug into the ground and traced in with chalk while the 3 bowls filled with water, a match-lit fire, dirt with moss, and an empty bowl left for air. Candles were alit around the pentagram and it looked decent enough for the trio.
"Nah, but we definitely could've done better," Penelope noted.
"And ruin these nails? Seriously?" Alyssa complained.
"There's a time such where needs were redundant and you were more focused on saving your own life. Besides, dirt's good for your skin. Ever heard of mud baths?" Harmony teased, looking at the group's varying degrees of dirt covering them.
It took a bit more time than she'd prefer and Alyssa had to help get her hands dirty crafting the golem. It would have been a bit more helpful just to make a crystal ball infused with wind magic, but the Asian witch didn't have one of her favorite tools on her.
Penelope gave her a knowing look. "Only applies with indoor facilities and bathing suits. So, can we get started?"
Harmony nodded and quickly pulled out a small, written note.
"Nuntium misit ignem."
They watched as the note disappeared and hurriedly began lighting the candles joined hands.
Transitional spaces...
Landon jumped in fright when a burst of flames appeared from nowhere and a small piece of paper landed on the ground. He picked it up, read it, and quickly lay down in the circle.
"It's time?"
"Yeah!" Landon Let's do this!"
The Old Mill...
"Ignis, aqua, terra, aer, hanc vitam vas invocaverimus te, Vim vocamus in die, qua invocaverimus te spiritus profertis, Ignis, aqua, terra, aer vasculum istud uiam animae invocaverimus, intrare..." the girls chanted as they keep their hands clasped in one another.
Magic flowed all around and between them as they asked Mother Nature to create to help them with their task.
This was one of Harmony's original spells, tweaked with last-minute but double-checked cramming. She learned a variant of this particular spell on the road with her mother as a child when she tried to save a dying puppy from a hit and run. The witch helping her mother at the time took pity on her and tried to help, but alas, not every dog has its day.
But that was a failure that inspired her to find alternative ways to save a life, walking a thin line with Possession Magic without the moral issue of using someone else's body without the tenant's permission.
"Ignis, aqua, terra, aer, hanc vitam vas invocaverimus te, Vim vocamus in die, qua invocaverimus te spiritus profertis, Ignis, aqua, terra, aer vasculum istud uiam animae invocaverimus, intrare..."
A powerful wind blows around them. The rising flames from the candle arose as the chalk began to glow within the circle, illuminating the mud body. Slowly the bowls tipped forward, causing the water to levitate and spill into the golem. With help from the air, a whirl of fire arouse from the next bowl and burrowed in, causing a mist of steam to elevate from the sculpture. Next and finally the dirt and moss levitate and molded themselves into the golem's body while the steam itself acted as the air element needed.
These combined elements slowly began forming, Water for blood, Earth for skin, Fire for body temperature, and Air for breath.
With intense concentration, the girls focused their magic on sculpting the finer features into the golem.
In The Transitional Spaces...
Rafael watched as the pentagram started to glowing with Landon inside. He rubbed his hands anxiously as Landon did his best to keep calm and not freak out.
It felt like falling, in the back of Landon's mind. Like coming back down and further as he could feel his conscious sleeping. It was almost like going to sleep...
Just he'd be waking up in a new body instead...
Until suddenly, the glowing began to wavering until it began to fade.
"Landon? Landon!" Rafael called out, rattling the bars as he looked on
At the Old Mill...
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The abrupt interruption scared the girls out of their concentration. And like that, it was over.
The circle broke. The candles blew out and the glow from the circle was faded away and their almost finished golem came tumbling down into a pile of dirt. Concentration was shot to hell with no second chances of redeeming it and Harmony snaped her year towards the intruder, not hesitate sprouting wolf eyes towards the interloper that botched her plan.
And there, in all her glory and innocuous posture, was Josie Saltzman.
At the Transitional Spaces...
"Ugh," Landon groaned, blinking and adjusted to the light as he found himself still in the cell.
If having his consciousness transferred felt like falling asleep, waking up felt like being abruptly woken by one of his foster dad's kicking him out of the bed to start the day.
"Landon, you alright?" Rafael asked worriedly.
A bout of dizziness crashed through him and gave him a headache.
"N-No," he grumbled, rubbing a hand through his hair to soothe the ache. "Not unless you got an Advil on you. What happened."
"Beats me," Rafael ground, half-heartedly out of relief and confusion. "I think Harmony's plan failed."
Landon looked around and patted himself to see he was still all there. "Yeah. It definitely did."
Two hours later...
Headmaster's Office...
"Why is it whenever something happens, it's always you three?" Dorian asks, exasperated at the young girls seated before him, legs crossed and completely unapologetic.
"Aw, Mr. D, why you gotta put it like that?" Harmony pouted.
Dorian gave her a pointed look. "Don't you start with me, Miss Mikaelson!"
A steel look erupts cooly in the brunette's eyes and the other girls, well versed in that look, glanced away.
"Kenner!" Harmony voiced sharply. "My name is Kenner! Harmony Eve Kenner! Don't confuse me with Hopeless!"
That tone carried a deep tension in the air and fortunately, Dorian cut it with a sigh.
"Alright, Ms. Kenner. Why is it when something even remotely close to shitty happens, it's you and the rest of the Midnight Falls coven are involved?" he asked again.
This time, Alysa said her piece, "You always assume in a school of 200 students, we're the main three singled out?! Well, Harmony, definitely get-"
"Hey!"
"-but not me. Maybe Penelope-"
"Somewhat true," Penelope interjected.
"-but not always me!" Alyssa defended.
Dorian could only look at the tree in disbelief before raising his head for a higher being to give him strength.
"Okay, so you guys definitely didn't try to create a golem?" he questioned.
"Golem? What golem?" Penelope piqued. "We were just trying to see if we could use Traditional magic to make a vessel without giving life it itself."
"And that's the thing: Why would you do that?" he asked, a bit relieved he was finally getting somewhere.
Until he spoke too soon once he caught glimpse of a dangerous, taunting look in Harmony's eyes.
"Why did Hellmaster Alaric take the new student's foster brother and put him in a cell? No. Actually, the real question is why was he so eager to remove an integral part of a newly-triggered werewolf's life without even letting them say goodbye?" Harmony inquires, challenging the school librarian - and backup headmaster of choice.
That shut up any response Dorian had prepared himself for. Which was the last thing he needed to know.
So, of course, the Salvatore equivalent of Mean Girls used that as leverage.
Dorian groaned and rubbed his face as he mentally prepared himself for the headache he feels coming on.
"Alright, since you three seem to always know what's going on," on par with Lizzie Saltzman, he thought, "explain to me from the very beginning. What happened?"
The next hour was spent with Harmony elaborating colorfully how she met Rafael, who was looking for his brother, Landon and how they came back to this very office and caught MG with said brother's earphones, using her Seer Sight and revealing just what went down that led to Landon being put away, before finishing the fact that she led Rafael to him and concocted the idea to place Landon's conscious in a golem to spend his last day with Rafael fairly without interruption until Josie stopped them.
By the time she was done, Dorian felt that headache head-on and debated whether or not to punish the girls or throttle his boss at this point.
He knew the deal. And he got why bringing the boy here was a...decent idea. Before the students ' admission, those who weren't already supernaturals or In-The-Know needed to be compelled to leave for the school's safety, whether they be parents, legal guardians, siblings, or friends.
But even then, even he could have thought of several ways that could have gone better!
Dorian looked at the girls, who looked at him expectantly. They did magic outside of the classroom, which was against the rules, but even he knew that was a very weak rue since witch students did it anyways. He could give them detention but between their brain cells, the boundary spell trapping them would be down within the first 30 minutes they left them alone. He could still do so anyway, but what Harmony had given him was enough to not completely blame them...
"Ugh!" he moaned. "Alright, here's this: I'm gonna let you girls off with a warning! You hear me! One more slight, and it's detention for all of you. Alright? You three are lucky it was me Josie came to and not her father."
"Speaking of which, why is that?" Alyssa asks, turning her head towards her friends.
Harmony snorted. "Likely with Lizzie. Where a wild Jo-No is found alone, Queen Elizabeth is either nearby or having an episode."
"Ooooh!" Penelope winced. "Yeah, she definitely is or was going all out before. Apparently, she crossed the line of irredeemably no return with Rafael and took it out on the entire kitchen."
"Seriously, what the fuck did she say now!?" Harmony scowled. They both may technically suffer from mental disabilities under the umbrella term of Depression, but that didn't mean anything where their personalities clashed.
Penelope was just about to whisper in her ear when a coughing sound came from their 4th audience, who wasn't even surprised they forgot Dorian was right in front of them. And while he could reprimand them for talking about a student, even he was going to throw in the towel and let them out.
"Goodbye girls," Dorian said, making a shooing gesture in which the girls laughed and walked out the office.
Later that evening...
In Harmony's attic dorm...
"No!"
"Yes"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"NO!"
"Yes, she did!" Penelope exclaimed as she looked through Harmony's closet. Each of the girls was dolled up for a particular party in the woods, but one of them was going to a different change of venue tonight.
"Ladies, ladies, we've been going to school with that trainwreck for years! This doesn't surprise me in the slightest and neither should you!" Alyssa pointed out to them with a brush before going back to work on the brunette's hair.
Harmony would've groaned or facepalmed herself if it wasn't going to ruin her hair and the makeup Penelope put on her.
She got it. Bipolar Disorder meant your motor mouth moves faster before your brain can fully signal to you to shut up when you're saying something offensive. She gets it. God knows Harmony gets it. Clinical Depression is a bitch like that.
But calling someone damaged and that you're "happy" they killed their girlfriend to be eligible to go to school here? That almost takes that cake of all the ridiculous shit Lizzie Saltzman's pulled!
Almost...
And let's not forget the fact Rafael is 17 and she and her sister will be 15 soon! In Harmony's eyes, that age and the mental gap didn't mash well!
"And MG likes her? I swear that beautiful, Bi closeted mess seriously needs to broaden his horizons," Harmony sighed.
"Could be worse," Penelope states as she went through the closet, "and by worse, I mean he could like Lyssa here!"
A defensive "Hey!" came simultaneously with a rough jerk in Harmony's hair.
"Easy, easy! These luscious locks took their sweet time growing in and I don't need you yanking them out!"
"And you call me vain!" Alyssa said as finally put a pin into the elaborate braids in her half updo.
"No, Vain is Lizzie and her superiority issues and the fact she can't read Josie for the filth she is!" Harmony muttered...and didn't blink an eye when a pen came flying at her and she raised her hand to stop in mid-air.
"Shut up, Monie!" Penelope clapped back, "Josie's still my loving ex."
Both Harmony and Alyssa shared a look and gave her "The Look". A look that had been perfected 9 years in the making and called complete bullshit to whoever it was pointed at.
"You're loving ex?" Alyssa raised an eyebrow and threw her head back in disbelief.
"Yes, Aly, her loving ex who is hellbent on demonizing her over their breakup and can't seem to figure out it was for her good that her loving, selfish girlfriend did it for," Harmony scoffed.
Penelope just shook her head and threw out a silver shawl. "Seriously, Monie, it's time to buy more dresses. Dresses or pants-suits. Where did Dana say this party was?"
"Like the one at the Old Mill. It's near the old Lockwood estate by the lake," Harmony explained, getting up from her seat at her dresser to take a small treasure box off her dresser.
"Gonna pick out one of your mom's clothes?" Alyssa asks.
Harmony smirked at the Asian. "Girls, what the motto?"
A growing look of satisfaction erupted on their faces.
"Dress to impress, but prepare for unrest!" they shouted in unison before falling into fits and giggles.
"And when all else fails, my mom holds the holy grail," Harmony declared before placing her hand on the box. "Praeclusio."
A light shimmered from within the box before Harmony opened it and began pulling out various clothes and jewelry. Harmony grumbled a bit once she realized most of the dresses were borderline maternity, black and casual. Alyssa got her hand smacked for trying to sneak one of her mom's shirts of the bed. Not that she could blame her, Hayley Marshall always had a few nicer selections from her tomboyish wardrobe.
But if she was going to wear silver, she needed a bolder color and...
"AHA!" Harmony squealed victoriously as she pulled out a red mini dress.
"Alright, that is cute! How much do you want for it?" Penelope joked while "reaching" for her purse.
"Priceless!" Harmony stated as she turned and pulled out black leggings from her drawer.
A lightbulb went off in Alyssa's head. Red with silver. Definitely, something to stand out in the middle of the woods.
The girls quickly helped her get dressed and were not surprised by the results.
"Now, you got your setlist?"
"In my phone and a copy forwarded to Dana."
"Gia?"
"Safe, already well tunned and ready to go."
"And your phone?"
"Will never leave my side and have you guys on speed dial," Harmony listed, "and you guys hold the fort and update me on any developments at the party?"
Penelope faux gasped and pulled out a red notebook with an eager gaze. "Lizzie's not going to be there, so my eyes and ears are peeled."
"Jed could use the distraction now that he's aware there's another werewolf on campus," Alyssa sighed, faked nonchalantly.
"And send me any texts if anything interesting comes up," Harmony reminded. "Oh, I love you."
"We know," the two let out simultaneously.
Penelope looked at her phone. "And we need to go, right now!"
The witch ushered the group out of the dorm and into the hallways.
"Wait! Grab Gia!" Harmony voiced, prompting Alyssa to spin, and grabbed the violin case of the bed.
The girls ran down the hallways and barely down the staircase before they nearly barrelled into Rafael and some of the other wolves passing by. Rafael caught Harmony just in time before she crashed.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" he joked.
"You're looking at one, can't you tell?" Harmony joked before rushing away.
Rafael barely had a moment to take her radiant appearance before he was pulled away by the other werewolves he befriended earlier.
Suddenly, Harmony stopped in her tracks and turned around.
"Raf?"
This stopped him in his tracks to turn as well.
Harmony took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't help Landon."
Eyes widened, with a bit of surprise, Rafael gave her a small smile. "Hey, it happens. That doesn't mean you didn't try though."
Feeling relieved he wasn't angry with her, she quickly smiles at him before rushing off.
The dusk was settling into the evening, making Harmony glad the Full Moon was last night. Though just it already happened didn't mean there weren't high tensions in the air. With Penelope and Alyssa staying behind, Harmony made haste in her boots as she ran to the outskirts of the back acres. Clutching her violin case in her hand, Harmony's pace quickens when she caught sight.
From the distance, she could see a blonde lob of hair poke its head out the driver's window and began shouting.
"GET IN, LOSER! WE'RE GOING PARTYING!"
"DON'T CALL ME A LOSER, YOU BLONDE BIMBO!" Harmony quipped back, not even hiding the growing smile on her face.
"DOES THIS HAIR LOOK LIKE IT BELONGS TO A BIMBO?!" the driver yelled back.
"IT'S BETTER THAN LIZZIE'S!" Harmony teased before she made it to the car.
Inside were two fashionably dressed young ladies, one a light-skinned African American girl with frizzy, chocolate curls
and hazel eyes and the other beautiful caucasian with bonds, curly hair, and blue eyes that were giving a skeptical look.
"My hair looks better than Lizzie's?" she asked warily.
"At least it doesn't look straight from a bottle," Harmony answered honestly.
Instantaneously, the skeptical look morphed into pride and bashfulness that had to remind the tribrid that had Dana Lilien been a witch instead of a normal girl, the Salvatore would explode with the two egos between her and Lizzie Saltzman. Despite the one-year-age gap, those two were the embodiment of any rivalry YA high school supernatural story as far as cliques, popularity, and "human vs. supernatural" cliche goes.
"Got my setlist?" she said as she quickly got situated in the back seat.
"Already forwarded and ready and Sasha already called the promoter," Dana stated as she shifted the car into gear. Sasha turned and looked pleased at Harmony's attire before turning to Dana.
"Why don't you just admit you're her agent?" she asks.
"She doesn't pay me enough."
"I can't afford her until the summer."
These responses were simultaneous enough, but the answer was clear.
With no time to waste, the blonde shifted the gear from reverse into drive before speeding off into the night.
Old Lockwoods Estate in the Old Woods...
"If all of the kings had their queens on the throne
We would pop champagne and raise a toast
To all of the queens who are fighting alone
Baby, you're not dancin' on your own..."
The woods exploded in with loud music as various teenagers and alcohol danced around a huge fire. LED lights hung from low branches and a long and constantly filling table of snacks was devoured as groups of partygoers either talked dance or made out deep in the woods.
Right next to the lake, a small stage was lit up with a soundboard, stereos, and right upstage, a lightly-boozed Dana was singing onstage with an elemental Harmony Kenner, or as her preferred stage name-
"CON-CORD-DIA!"
"CON-CORD-DIA!"
"CON-CORD-DIA!"
The crowd was jumping in cheer as the melodic flow of her violin blended with the techno-pop of Ava Max through the entire woods and shooke the foundation. Harmony strung and danced across that stage with Dana following suit behind her, moving along as if the music coursed through them rather than the other way around.
"Can't live without me, you wanna, but you can't, no, no, no
Think it's funny, but honey, can't run this show on your own
I can feel my body shake, there's only so much I can take
I'll show you how a real queen behaves, oh
No damsel in distress, don't need to save me
Once I start breathin' fire, you can't tame me
And you might think I'm weak without a sword
But if I had one, it'd be bigger than yours..."
Concordia is Harmony's Sasha Fierce. The goddess, a musical attribute. An elusive deity that appears once in a blue moon. Despite being a symbol of Peace, her methods are anything but! Using her violin as a weapon, one strike of her chords can send evildoers running, protect the innocents, avenge the wronged.
"If all of the kings had their queens on the throne
We would pop champagne and raise a toast
To all of the queens who are fighting alone
Baby, you're not dancin' on your own
Disobey me, then baby, it's off with your head
Gonna change it and make it a world you won't forget, oh-oh, oh
No damsel in distress, don't need to save me
Once I start breathin' fire, you can't tame me
And you might think I'm weak without a sword
But I'm stronger than I ever was before
If all of the kings had their queens on the throne
We would pop champagne and raise a toast
To all of the queens who are fighting alone
Baby, you're not dancin' on your own..."
Concordia. A mythical, shifting, fair yet seeking avenger of melodious order who won't hesitate to ensure those who do wrong shall face the consequences of their actions.
And for everything Harmony's been through, an avenger is what she needed the most. And if she couldn't get one, she'd become one.
"In chess, the king can move one space at a time
But queens are free to go wherever they like
You get too close, you'll get a royalty high
So breathe it in to feel the love
If all of the kings had their queens on the throne
We would pop champagne and raise a toast
To all of the queens who are fighting alone
Baby, you're not dancin' on your own..."
With her back pressed against Dana's, Harmony strung out the final note that ended the song and bought about thunderous applause.
"CON-CORD-DIA!"
"CON-CORD-DIA!"
"CON-CORD-DIA!"