Lizzie's hand was held out in front of her as she held Hope in the air, preventing her from being impaled on the spike of wood below her.

She could feel the eyes of the rest of the student body as she made sure Hope wasn't going to die.

Josie let out a dark chuckle at the sight of her, which made her want to roll her eyes. She really went all out for villain of the year.

"You're late for your own funeral," she said, mockingly, but Lizzie could tell she was pleased that she hadn't run away.

"No, I'm just in time to kick your ass," Lizzie replied as she made her way into the stupid arena. Did she seriously have an arena made just for this? God, Josie sucked at playing the bad guy.

It was so over the top.

As she entered the arena, she looked at Hope, who was staring at her with a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Hope replied. "Thanks for coming back."

"Not like I had much of a choice," Lizzie pointed out, making Hope sigh.

"Did you drink the potion?" Hope asked, after a moment.

Lizzie paused, confused. "What potion?"

The look on Hope's face sent a feeling of fear through her. "MG didn't give you the potion?"

"No?"

They both look at MG, who had a look of horror on his face.

"No…no no no, I forgot it," he said.

"What? That's the only way we can make sure they both survive," Hope said, stepping towards him. "Where is it?"

"I don't know. I'll go find it," MG stammered out.

"There isn't time," Lizzie cut in. "We'll have to make due without."

"Lizzie, that means one of you will die and we can't stop it," Hope said, shaking her head.
Yeah, she knew. That was the whole reason she didn't want to be here in the first place. She was walking to her own death.

"I know, but what choice do we have? It's happening now, we don't have time to make a new plan," Lizzie said.

Hope stared at her. "I should have never sent MG to convince you to not run away…"

"Not like we can change it now. It's too late," Lizzie swallowed. "Guess Josiemort wasn't wrong about me being late to my own funeral."

Hope looked terrified. "There has to be something we can do. I can fight Josie again. Or I don't know…something."

"It's okay Hope," Lizzie said, grabbing one of her hands. "At least I get to die in style. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Hope squeezed her hand. "Then, siphon from me."

"What?"

"Josie has the advantage of a massive amount of black magic. So, she's stronger right now. Unless you have enough magic to combat it, you'll have no chance. We need to even the playing field," Hope said. "So, siphon from me as much as you can."

Lizzie swallowed. "If I do that, it would hurt like hell."

"I know," Hope gave a sad smile. "but this is my doing. I couldn't forgive myself if you died, Lizzie, so please do this."

Lizzie's eyes softened, "I once told you that we were in this till the bitter end and if this is my end, It's fitting that you're here."

A sharp breath escaped Hope's lungs and Lizzie could see the tears she was holding back. She squeezed her hand tighter with Hope holding on as tight as she was.

"Hurry up before you try my patience, we don't have all day," Josie's cold voice came from behind them.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, give us a moment, you evil queen wanna be."

She could hear the scoff of annoyance that came from Josie at that response, which returned a tiny bit of joy that this whole situation had sucked away.

Josie could pretend to be as evil and invincible as she wanted, but she was her twin, which meant she knew all the right buttons to push to get a reaction.

Focusing back on Hope, she squeezed her hand again as she started off slowly siphoning, blinking back tears.

"Lizzie?" Hope said softly.

She cocked her head in a silent question.

"If this goes south and you don't win, I'll find a way to bring you back, even if I have to dive into the deepest and darkest magics out there, okay?"

Lizzie smiled and nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you on the other side, whether it's sooner or later will remain to be seen."

Then, she changed her siphoning from only slightly draining Hope's magic to fully siphoning from her. She winced as she watched Hope grit her teeth in order to prevent herself from crying out and giving away what was happening to the other side.

Lizzie could feel the power filling her rapidly to the point that it was even starting to slip from her grasp of control. She held firm though, she siphoned even more and felt like she was vibrating from the magic.

It was far more than she had ever siphoned. Or at least, held without planning to use it. A shaking breath escaped her as she felt a tiny bit of a headache starting to form.

It was warning her that she was getting closer to her limit than she had ever before, which wasn't surprising when one considered how powerful Hope Mikaelson was without even having her vampire side unlocked.

Although Lizzie felt no other discomfort from the siphoning, and knew she could continue a lot more if necessary, she still stopped.

Opening her eyes, which she hadn't even realized had closed, she met the eyes of Hope. A flash of guilt went through her as she took in the pain in her eyes.

Hope's skin was pale and glistening with sweat, while her breathing was constricted as a little bit of blood dripped from her nose.

It was strange considering Lizzie could feel that Hope still had quite a lot of magic left - if she had to estimate, she would say she had siphoned half.

However, it was possible that most of Hope's state was to do with the pain of the siphoning. And having never lost this much magic at a time.

Either way, Lizzie gave the older girl a concerned look, only for her to wave it off.

"I'm fine," she reassured. "Just wasn't expecting it to be that painful. Siphoning can definitely be used as a formidable weapon."

Lizzie snorted. "Did you only just realize that?"

"Hey, in my defense, I've never felt the full effect of you guys siphoning before," Hope said, rolling her eyes.

Lizzie could see her skin slowly but surely gaining more color. She'd be fine in no time. It was nice to know that even the all powerful tribrid had some weaknesses, even if she would never use it against her.

She fought the urge to look over when she felt the weight of Josie's glare settling on her back. Looks like her time was up.

Meeting Hope's eyes, she let out a sigh. "Wish me luck."

Hope tensed. "I'll do you one better…"

"What-"

Lizzie didn't have time to react as Hope reached up, grabbing the back of her neck, and pulled her down so that their lips met.

Electricity went through her body the second they made contact. Or was it just arousal?

She wasn't sure as she barely had time to process what just happened before Hope pulled away.

She stared in disbelief as Hope gave her a tiny smirk.

"Good luck."

Lizzie's eyes flickered briefly to MG, who was staring at them with his mouth dropped open, but when he saw her looking, he gave a thumbs up making her laugh in disbelief.

"You done finally?" Josie said, from behind.

Lizzie nodded slowly as she turned to go to the middle of the arena, but Hope called her name before she was fully moving.

She looked over. "Just so you know, you're wrong," Hope said, something unreadable in her eyes.

"About what?" Lizzie asked, voice barely above a whisper, but Hope heard it with her werewolf hearing.

Hope smirked. "This isn't your bitter end, so fight to win."

Lizzie felt hot. She didn't know if it was because of the words or the magic flowing through her. Either way, she felt like she could do anything.

Maybe even win.

She gave a single nod in reply.

Turning to her sister, she approached the middle. She stayed silent as Hope argued for the rest of the student body to leave.

Josie hesitated before agreeing.

Lizzie felt like everything was heightened. All her emotions were threatening to spill out of her, but she held strong.

She didn't know how this would end. When she thought back to her early conversation with Alyssa, she felt her resolve falter.

She didn't want it to happen again. She also didn't know what 'it' was but all she knew was that if it did happen, she would never be able to come back from it. It would destroy her.

And whatever it was, had to do with Josie and the merge.

She let out a breath as she watched Josie approach her with a knife in her hand. She glanced back to Hope still standing in her corner, refusing to leave with the rest of the school. Even though, without a plan, she wasn't needed anymore.

That meant she was there for her.

Lizzie felt the resolve strengthen again as Hope mouthed the words 'fight' at her. She nodded because she had to win. No matter what.

If she didn't, who knows what would happen - what Josiemort and Hannibal Lecter would do. Although, the desire to run was strong.

She couldn't. Hope was relying on her. The real Josie was relying on her. The school. Her dad. Everyone.

Besides, Hope's words from before had made her realize that there might be a way for her to bring Josie back if she won. It was the only backup plan she had and she had to hope that Hope wasn't wrong about that type of magic existing.

"Let's get this over with," Lizzie said, grabbing the knife roughly from Josie's hands.

She ignored her twins reaction as she ran the sharp edge of the knife along her palm. With effort, she was able to prevent herself from reacting to the stinging pain the slice brought.

Handing the knife back, Josie did the same.

"It's time," Josie said, holding out her hands, smirking. It looked strange on her face - like it didn't belong.

Lizzie could feel her warm blood drenching her skin as she placed her hands in Josie's. She ignored the feeling of even more blood coating her hand.

Meeting her sister's eyes, they began the spell.

"Sanguinem desimilus... Sanguinem generis fiantus."

Over and over, the words were repeated.

The air seemed to chill and a sudden wind filled the place. Not that Lizzie noticed as all she could focus on was her magic meeting Josie's.

She could feel her magic fighting to win. To survive. She wanted to live, was that so bad? Though, was she really willing to kill her own sister in order to?

She didn't have an answer to that. Or maybe she did. Except it was buried out of reach of her memory.

The magic built like a pressure, she could feel her thoughts slipping as Josie and her seemed to become one. Meshing together.

She couldn't tell where one started and the other ended. They were no longer chanting. She couldn't think. She couldn't feel.

Everything was blank. There was a darkness enclosing her and Josie. It was pulling them down. She was starting to slip. She was exhausted.

Lizzie didn't want to keep going, but neither did Josie. It was a battle of wills. Who would falter first? Fall into the dark abyss to never return.

"Fight."

Hope?

Something changed in her. Her fading strength reminded her that she didn't have long. So, she focused on her sister as the realization hit her.

Josie was fighting against her - fighting to win. Lizzie couldn't fight against her sister, because she'd be fighting herself at the same time. So, instead, she would fight for.

For everyone that would end up hurt if she lost. For the sister that would never willingly harm her. For her friends. For Hope, who had lost enough people.

That was stronger. It had to be.

So, pulling all the last of her strength that she had, she pushed. Something slipped. The darkness enclosed around them.

And distantly, she felt her hands slip from Josie's as her back suddenly hit the ground. Everything went dark as she lost all sensation.


Then, she felt everything.

A pounding in her head. The cold hard floor underneath her. The feeling of her head resting against someone's neck, while her back was being held up against someone's chest.

The heat warmed her, but also made the floor feel even colder. Fingers brushed through her hair along with gentle whispers. Begging?

Her heart was pounding in her ears.

Lizzie groaned, shifting to try and relieve the stiffness that she felt. It didn't do anything, except make her more uncomfortable.

"Lizzie?" The voice pulled her from the fog and she forced her eyes open.

Looking down at her was Hope. Her blue eyes seemed even brighter than she remembered as they glowed in the darkness of the room.

Speaking of. "What happened to the lights?" she wondered, aloud.

Hope blinked, but she shook her head and smiled in relief.

"You're okay." It was whispered like a prayer to the gods.

"Obviously," Lizzie pushed herself upwards. "Unless this is hell, which could definitely be an option."

Hope laughed. "It's not."

The pure joy on Hope's face made Lizzie's heart flutter. She reached out, her hand coming to rest on Hope's neck.

This caused Hope to still and her face to warm. Lizzie licked her lips and Hope's eyes followed the movement.

That was all the permission Lizzie needed. She gripped her neck and pulled her forward as she pressed her lips to her.

Hope responded immediately and Lizzie's fingers reached up to tug sharply on the hair at the base of Hope's neck.

Instantly, a moan escaped Hope's lips, which made Lizzie feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Pulling back, she looked at Hope with a smile.

Hope blinked and swallowed thickly. "Lizzie?" Her name was husky on her lips, making heat go through her body.

"Yeah?"

"That was nice."

"Yeah."

The two girls laughed, but there was a hysterical note to it. It reminded them of everything that had happened. Lizzie's laughter stopped just as her heart dropped.

An unmoving body caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. The air left her lungs and she knew Hope had noticed what she had seen because suddenly her hand was in hers.

"Lizzie…" This time the sound of her name chilled her.

Her eyes stayed locked on the still brunette a few feet away. Lizzie's throat felt thick.

"I won." There was no joy in that. "I killed her."

The feeling of deja vu swept through her, making her nauseous.

Icy tears slid down her face. Lizzie didn't even know when she had started crying. She didn't care. It hurt. Her heart felt like it was breaking - being crushed into a million pieces.

"I'm so sorry."

Her eyes snapped to Hope's. She could see the inner turmoil and knew the other girl was blaming herself.

"This isn't your fault," Lizzie said, pain in voice. "It's mine."

"No," Hope shook her head. "Lizzie-"

Lizzie held up her hand, stopping her. "It was my idea."

That made Hope pause. "What?"

"I made the plan to put the sand clock in the prison world. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for that," Lizzie said, bitterly.

"You're wrong."

"How?" Lizzie asked, harshly.

Hope flinched, slightly, but explained. "You couldn't have known that Alyssa was going to link the ascendants together, so she could trap you guys in it. It's her fault more than it is yours."

Lizzie's face crumbled and Hope pulled her into a hug.

"We'll find a way to bring her back, Lizzie," Hope whispered into her shoulder.

"You promise," Lizzie said, voice small like a little kid.

"I promise."