Chapter 16

Malivore stepped towards Hope a vicious grin on his face. He had sworn to avenge his father and his murderer was barely 15 feet away. His view of Hope was suddenly obstructed by his own visage. Kirby had placed himself directly between Malivore and Hope. He had taken a fighting stance and his eyes never left Malivore's for even a moment.

"Really? You'd defend her? After everything she's done?!" Malivore snarled at Kirby, unable to keep the disgust from his voice.

"I exist to defend her from you." Kirby replied calmly.

"Landon? What the hell is going on?" Hope said barely visible from behind Kirby.

"Oh my god, Hope, I remember now. I remember everything." The voice of Josie making itself known.

Looking around Malivore saw a similar wide-eyed expression on the face of everyone in the room.

I guess it defaults to returning everyone's memories. He thought as he began to consider his next move.

Before he could take another step, he felt something stab into the back of his neck. He turned to get a good look at what had attacked him, only to find Professor Saltzman standing behind his desk with a dart gun aimed directly at him.

"What the hell?!" He yelled right before three tranquilizer darts hit him square in the chest.

The sudden impact made him keenly aware that the pain in the back of his neck was also the result of a tranq dart courtesy of the headmaster.

"Four darts? Four fucking darts! Are you kidding me?!" Malivore roared as his vision faded, his control over his body left him and the last thing he saw before falling into unconsciousness was the floor rising to meet him.

"Dad! What did you just do? You could have killed him!" Josie exclaimed as she bent down to check on the possible corpse of her boyfriend.

"He was going to attack Hope, he said so himself. I needed to control the situation before things escalated." Alaric said without a hint of remorse.

"By making by boyfriend overdose on tranquilizers?!" Josie yelled back.

"Your boyfriend?" said Hope as she made her way around Kirby to face Josie, Alaric, and Clarke. "Ok, we told you everything you wanted to know, your turn. What the hell is going on?!"

Alaric took it upon himself to elaborate on the summer from their point of view with Hope and Josie periodically trading awkward glances. Kirby for his part silently kept an eye on Malivore until the headmaster finished.

"I didn't know about this system." Hope said, the hurt evident in her eyes as she looked at Kirby once Alaric stopped talking.

"Your turn Landon. What just happened to you?" Josie asked him in a concerned tone.

Kirby took a deep breath before responding.

"The bloodline quest for Gemini. Do you remember the unlock condition?" Kirby asked.

Understanding instantly hit Josie.

"You needed to dissociate, split, and merge. We couldn't figure out how to get you to safely dissociate."

"Right, when Landon returned the memories of Hope to everyone Landon's mind couldn't handle the conflicting emotions. Everything he learned about you that directly affected him had generated quite a bit of rage and hate. Being flooded with love all at once for someone he currently hated was enough to cause the split." Kirby responded while looking at Hope.

"Why are you talking about yourself like you're not Landon?" Hope asked.

"Because I'm not, not wholly at least. I'm Landon's capacity for love." Kirby pointed to the Malivore's body on the floor. "He's Landon's capacity for rage and hate. We're two halves of a whole. It's why we agreed to go by our chosen surnames for now."

"Landon hates me?" asked a visibly hurt Hope.

"A very small part, one that doesn't really know you." Kirby assured her.

"So, you unlocked the Gemini bloodline?" Josie asked hopefully at the same time.

"Not exactly. We've only partially unlocked it, to complete the process we need to merge." Kirby responded.

"What's stopping you?" Alaric asked abruptly.

"There are two methods to merge from my understanding. First, we can agree to merge. Second, one of us can kill the other and merge that way. But you might want to hold off on us merging until I let you know what we just learned from my father." Kirby said before launching into an explanation of his father's letter.

"We have 18 days before a supernatural apocalypse?" said Alaric with a scowl etched on his face.

"Landon had an idea he was going to run by you before the split, I think it has merit if you'd like to hear it?" Kirby asked.

"What is it?" said Alaric.

"The prison world." Kirby answered. "We need to get the gate into the prison world before the deadline, that way if it does shatter all the monsters will still be trapped. The only problem would be that the gate has to be attached to Landon."

"Luckily we now have two Landons, so long as the one we send to the prison world has the gate we can keep the world safe." said the headmaster.

"No!" shouted both Josie and Hope at the same time.

"We were going to volunteer to go before the split. It's the best solution we could come up with." Kirby replied.

"When he wakes up is he going to try to kill Hope?" asked the headmaster.

"Most likely." Kirby responded.

"And you can make it so that he's attached to the gate while you aren't?"

"That's correct."

"Ok, everyone has had a rough night, for now get some rest. We'll talk to Emma in the morning." said the headmaster.

"What are you going to do with him?" Kirby said, referring to the body of Malivore still laying on the floor of the office.

"Don't worry about it, I'll figure something out. Now get to bed."


Everyone spent the night in turmoil.

Josie spent the night in her own room for the first time in months, wondering what Hope's resurgence would mean for her and Landon. Despite how ardently she had wished for his Gemini bloodline to be unlocked for the last few months, it was now the furthest thing from her mind.

Hope spent the night in her emptied room dwelling on her regrets. She regretted jumping into the Malivore pit and all it had cost her. Eventually Kirby and Malivore would have to merge again, once the gate had shattered and there was no more risk of monsters out of legend be set loose on the world. Once that happened the boy she loved might be lost to her for good.

Clarke spent the night debating the merits of escaping the school, or rather he spent an hour debating. The time after that was spent escaping. He barely knew Landon, and his loyalty had always been to his father. He wished his little brother the best of luck, but he was out.

Alaric spent the night wrapping the body of Malivore in spelled chains to keep him from escaping, moving him to the cage under the school and calling Emma to set up a meeting in the morning. He did not enjoy the prospect of trying to convince her to send another student to the prison world, even if would save countless lives.

Kirby spent the night convinced that Malivore would revive and attack Hope. He lay in his bed alert and ready to rush to her defense. Luckily his increased attributes made staying awake for several days at a time a trivial matter.

Raf spent the night tossing and turning his time spent locked in wolf form was not so easily forgotten. Memories of forest trees, the gamey taste of a freshly hunted deer, and the biting cold of the night's breeze all took turns flashing through his dreaming mind.


When morning arrived, Alaric met with Emma. The conversation between them quickly devolved into an argument which eventually settled down again as the headmaster finally managed to convince the guidance counselor of the necessity of banishing one of the Landons to the prison world.

It turned out that Emma could enact the banishment on Malivore's corpse. They set the spell to take effect the following day to allow Malivore more time to revive before the he would be transported.

Alaric wanted to give his students an opportunity to say their goodbyes to Malivore before he was sent to the prison world.

As luck would have it Malivore resurrected in a pillar of flame in the early afternoon. Kirby had been keeping watch and alerted Alaric as soon as the first flame flickered across Malivore's body.

Alaric decided to have a private word with both Landons before he let anyone else know that Malivore had awoken. Unfortunately for him, when Kirby texted Alaric he also texted Hope who took it upon herself to let the rest of the super squad know. So, he was unpleasantly surprised to find Hope, Josie, and Raf already present outside Malivore's cell.

"Great." The headmaster muttered under his breath as he caught sight of them.

No sooner had he spoken than the fire gave new life to Malivore.

Malivore broke through his ashen coffin with some minor difficulty due to the chains wrapped around him.

Rolling over so that he was lying on his side, he noticed Josie first followed by the rest of his so-called friends and then finally his headmaster.

"Why am I chained up and in a cage?" He asked in a deceptively calm manner.

"Because we needed to keep you from attacking Hope, I warned them you would probably try the moment you revived." Kirby responded, his protectiveness over her still going strong.

"I see." Malivore replied, after which he used his newfound ability Smoke Form to become intangible and let the chains drop from his body.

The sight of Malivore being replaced by humanoid shaped smoke accompanied by the sound of the clattering chains shocked all his observers, and no one more that Kirby.

"Surprise, Asshole." Malivore told Kirby immediately after reforming his body from the smoke.

"How did you do that?" Kirby asked.

"Guess you don't have all the answers, do you?" He replied with a snarl.

"Enough!" Alaric shouted to break up the fight before it started. "We also have you here because we're going to be sending you to the prison world to keep the gate from shattering here and killing countless innocent people."

Malivore took a moment to look at each of their faces, until he stopped on Josie.

"Let me get this straight, without so much as a conversation with me you decided I deserved to be sent to a prison world because it's convenient for you?" He mocked them. "This plan bears all the hallmarks of a classic Hope/Alaric collaboration. Rash and rushed while missing vital information. Bravo."

He finished of his statement with a sardonic slow clap.

"We know you are Landon's rage and hate. If we have to choose between one of you, we choose to keep his love." Hope said defensively.

At this Malivore began to chuckle darkly.

"That almost right, honestly you're only a few degrees off from the truth. That being said, they're pretty fucking crucial degrees." Malivore replied, his simmering rage making itself known.

"What do you mean?" Josie asked worriedly.

"What I mean is that Kirby is Landon's love for Hope specifically. I am Landon's hate for Hope specifically." He said, meeting Josie's gaze waiting for the information he provided to sink in.

"Which means what exactly?" Josie asked, the smallest hint of fear beginning to seep into her voice.

"It means," Malivore gestured to Landon as he continued "that he's not the part of Landon that's in love with you. I am."

Josie's eyes widened at the implications of his statement. Hope for her part looked had the decency to look ashamed that her desires took priority with the headmaster over his daughter's once again.

"If I wanted, I could burn through the magic that would take me to the prison world and stay here, you're all aware of that right?" Malivore continued mocking their efforts.

"No, no I was not." Alaric responded while glaring at Kirby.

"Don't worry, I won't. I'll make sure the gate won't break in a place that can hurt innocent people. You would have known that if you had just asked." Malivore reassured them. "That being said, once I'm done fulfilling my father's dying wish, I'm going to find a way out."

A vicious smirk etched itself across Malivore's face and took a moment to stare down Hope.

"When that happens, I suggest you run."

"You're not going to kill me, Landon." Hope replied soothingly.

"That's an interesting theory, let me know how it plays out for you."

Josie having gathered her wits finally spoke up.

"What about us?" She asked.

"Your father just condemned me to a timeless prison with only your psychotic uncle for company. A plan which you at least provisionally agreed with. Doesn't exactly bode well for the future of a relationship." The loss in his voice plain for all to hear.

"I didn't know." Josie quietly replied, her expression downcast.

"Did you even ask?" Malivore countered unable to bring himself to look at her.

Malivore turned to look at Alaric once more.

"Like I said this entire plan reeks of your incompetence and when I get free, I'm coming for you too."

Alaric barely had time to form a frown before the spell took hold and Malivore faded away.

The entire group turned a disapproving glare upon Kirby.

"I told you everything I knew, if some of the information was not completely accurate it was because I was misinformed, not because I intentionally hid it from anyone." He said with a shrug.

Josie was the first to respond.

"Was he being honest? Is he the one who loves me?" She asked desperately, searching for some hope to cling to.

"We each have all of Landon's memories up until we split, however, some of the emotional connections that are present with those memories are missing. For example, I have all the memories related to hating Hope but the emotion itself is removed." He stopped of a moment before continuing to push forward with his explanation. "It's the same thing. I remember the entirety of our relationship, and I remember the thoughts I had about my feelings regarding you, but the emotion itself is not present."

Tears had begun to stream down Josie's face partway through his explanation.

"I'm so sorry." Kirby said, visibly uncomfortable with the display. "I genuinely didn't realize it was the case until Malivore pointed it out."

"The person I was in love with probably hates me now and you think a halfhearted apology makes any of this ok?!" Josie yelled, looking around for a place she could siphon magic and attack the person responsible for this entire mess.

Her father grabbed Josie's shoulder and forced her to face him.

"I know you're hurting right now, go get some air and calm down. We'll discuss this when you're feeling more rational." Alaric said, all sense of levity had left him the moment Malivore had awoken and began speaking.

Raf who had maintained his silence throughout the discussion stepped up so that he could face everyone and interrupted them before the arguments could continue.

"You all lied to me." Raf stated. "You said he was Evil Landon, that he would try to kill us the moment he revived. But he just let himself be sent to a prison world so that innocent people wouldn't die."

"Raf…" Hope whispered.

"No! You don't get to talk right now!" Raf suddenly roared. "Five months! I was stuck as a wolf for five months because of you, and not once did Landon ever leave me alone! Even when I thought he would be better off without me and hid from him, he would still go out of his way to look for me EVERY. DAMN. DAY!"

Raf turned to Kirby.

"I feel like you made me betray my brother, and I can't even hate you for it because you're a part of him. Are you my brother?" He asked the part of Landon that had been left behind.

"I'm sorry, familial love was too intrinsic a part of Landon's loyalty to Malivore and his hate for what Hope put you through. He has those emotions, not me." Kirby replied honestly.

Taking a moment to calm down and collect his thoughts Raf aimed his next statement at the headmaster.

"I won't abandon him, not again. Send me in with him." He pleaded.

"Raf, I can't do that. We sent him there for a reason, so long as he's in possession of the gate, he's a danger to anyone around him. I won't allow it and even if I did Emma wouldn't preform the spell. It was hard enough convincing her banish Malivore." Alaric replied.

"Then I'm done here." Raf said while glaring at the headmaster. "I'm done with this school, and I'm done with you. When my brother comes back, let him know I had nothing to do with this shitshow."

Raf forced his way past everyone, determined to make it to his room and pack up all of his and Landon's things. As far as he was concerned the real Landon was the one everyone had just abandoned, and he'd rather die than spend one more moment than necessary inside this hellhole disguised as a school.


Malivore blinked and suddenly everyone had disappeared. Still locked in the cage he took a few moments to plan. The prison world existed perpetually in 2018, so his first order of business was traveling to Triad Headquarters. Hopefully the Malivore pit existed within the prison world, and if it did, he might be able to use it to strengthen the gate and keep it from shattering.

Following that he had to find a way to get stronger quickly to prevent the gate from shattering or to deal with the repercussions of his failure to do so.

Kai.

Supposedly it was impossible to die permanently in the prison world, if he could find Josie's psychotic uncle and repeatedly kill him, he might be able to farm him for infinite XP.

Other than that, there wasn't much else to do.

"Might as well get started." Malivore said aloud.

Using Smoke Form he flowed through the opening left by the bars of his cell fairly easily. He quickly retook his human shape and made his way upstairs.

He made his way through the building taking note that while it was the school it was also furnished drastically different. As if it was a house instead of a school.

He fought his rage as he passed the front doors. The fire inside him begged to be allowed to wipe the location from existence, his logical mind countered with the knowledge that it would be perfectly restored come morning making the entire endeavor a pointless gesture.

Walking onto the open yard, he took in a deep breath as he looked up at the sky. He brought himself down into a crouch, while his flame wings spread wide behind him. Leaping upwards, he flapped his wings downward for greater lift.

Once he got enough height, he oriented himself in the direction of Triad Enterprises headquarters and began to soar forward.