It had been two weeks since the collective defeat of Malivore and Dormammu. Hope Mikaelson, who was being hailed as the saviour of her world, was in the gymnasium of her school and was having a field day vamping towards walls and punching them. Occasionally, she would use the punching bag. I was looking over her, in my astral form, as she started magically throwing things around. I can't get over how creepy I sound right now. Suddenly I felt a tugging sensation, alerting me that I was required in my physical form. Giving a last glance at the red-headed girl with anger issues, I willed myself to go back into my body.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a dark-haired, brown-skinned tallboy, Dawar. He looked anxious. "What happened?" I asked him.

"Well for starters, Amenadiel is in the courtyard. Harsh is trying to have you ousted and everyone is worried about you. Master Khan has been asking me non-stop about you." He said, hinting that this was just the beginning.

"Tell Master Khan that I am ok. Also, you need to work on how you wake people up." Saying this, I got up and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Dawar wasn't in the room. I quickly changed into blue jeans, a green t-shirt and black sneakers. I looked into the full-length mirror in my room and what I saw was someone completely different than a few weeks ago. Though it was still the same brown-skinned face with specs. The only difference was that I had grown taller to almost six feet and put on a fair amount of weight. I was broader now as well. Feeling slightly better, I went to the courtyard to find Amenadiel. He was talking to a fair-skinned, muscular boy who I recognised as Harsh. Amenadiel was the poster boy of the "strong black man" stereotype. Although extremely good looking and also a literal Angel, he was very down to earth (ironic ain't it?) and kind.

"Oh don't worry about that." I heard Amenadiel telling Harsh before he spotted me.

"Don't worry about what?" I asked Amenadiel. Harsh was bowing to me in greeting. I ignored him and kept my attention on Amenadiel. About two months ago I was named Sorcerer Supreme. That meant everyone had to bow to me until I said otherwise and everyone did, except Dawar, who thought I wouldn't punish him. Well, he's not wrong.

"The stones," Amenadiel said. "We need you in Los Angeles. I will explain on the way." He said to me, after giving me a raised look.

I turned to Harsh, "That would be enough," I said, feeling sorry for him. After he had stood up properly, I continued "Please get my bag by the bedside. Also, my watch and please ask Dawar to meet me here." Bowing again, he went to do as he was told.

"He's not as bad as you made him out to be," Amenadiel said, watching Harsh walk away.

"Well, you don't know him properly. How's Lucifer?" I asked him to change the subject. I know, I am very subtle. Amenadiel was God's firstborn and brother to the devil, Lucifer.

"In trouble. Father is retiring. He wants your help, not just him, me as well. Mikael wants the throne for himself. He has rallied the other angels against Lucifer. Lucifer thinks that you will be able to equalise the battle." He said. All of that sounded like bad news. Mikael is Lucifer's twin who uses fear as his superpower. I had a run-in with that angel not very long ago. Least to say, I wanted in if it meant beating him to an inch of his life.

"Why do you really need me, Amenadiel?" I asked him.

He sighed. "Because Mikael has control of the Flaming Sword." He admitted.

"That's all you had to say, you idiot." I scolded him just as Dawar and Harsh entered the courtyard.

"Thank you," I said to Harsh, taking the watch from him. I looked at Dawar and continued, "Keep an eye on Salvatore school. If anything goes wrong, figure out a way to deal with it." I turned around, created a portal and stepped in with Amenadiel.

Hope knew that being a vampire meant heightened emotions. Combine that with being a werewolf and witch, well it certainly wouldn't be controllable by a teenager dealing with the death of most of her family. Hope knew she was special. Not long after losing her parents, she was forced into a fight with a literal mud man who could erase anything from anyone's memories just by absorbing them. Then she had to be killed to unlock her vampire side just so that the said monster could be killed.

It did help that her friends, Lizzie and Josie, had taken the leap with her and become vampire-witch hybrids called Heretics. But in her heightened state, Hope felt responsible for their choice. It's not your fault Hope. They made their choice and I am proud of you all. She remembered the words her headmaster, Alaric Saltzmann had said to her after the battle. She was super-aware of the fact that she had changed. It was evident in the way everyone walked on sea-shells around her. She knew Alaric expected her to act like her father but she wasn't Klaus the killer, she was Klaus the one who loved. Hope's supernatural hearing alerted her to someone's footsteps and gave her just enough time to put everything back in its place after hulking out in the gymnasium.

The person in question was her Aunt Freya, who pulled her into a hug, where Hope promptly broke down. The two women stood there holding each other until Hope calmed down. In the same week, Caroline, the school's headmistress and mother to Lizzie and Josie, along with their father, Alaric started work on repairing the school and helping it back into some normality. Hope decided that the best thing for her was to stay at the school and learn control. Marcel Gerard, along with his wife Rebecca, Hope's aunt, decided to stay at the school. Although Hope knew he was there to ensure she didn't hurt anyone, she was still grateful.

Dawar here. Dabeet said he wanted me to contribute to this "masterpiece of a story". I don't agree with the title though. He is now giving me a dirty look so I'll do what he has asked me to do.

A little about me, I was Dabeet's teacher during his training. I am a vampire and served under the Royal Army during the Second World War before being turned into a vampire. We are good friends but earlier Dabeet and I didn't get along after he graduated. Dabeet would compromise missions, he would question authority and be suspicious of everyone. It seems justified now but at that time, no one thought so.

The story picks up two weeks after that day Dabeet left for LA. We were still following his orders but the two of us were getting bored about how mundane the job was getting. We had placed magical and technical bugs in the school on the first day we had arrived. It had been risky and we had almost woken up the entire school when Harsh bumped into a statue and almost knocked it over. Thankfully, he caught it in the nick of time and no one woke to discover us. We had rented a hotel room in town and were spying on the school. Nothing had happened in the past fourteen days except for teenage drama. Dabeet would be a perfect fit in the school, just saying.

"How much longer are we going to stare at that stupid screen?" Harsh complained loudly. I sighed, this was the umpteenth time he had said the exact same thing.

"What do you want to do? Go down there, get into a fight, win the fight and then what? You know that Dabeet isn't wrong in saying we need to interact with the supernatural world, right?" I asked him, my eyes glued to the laptop. I was sitting on the desk while Harsh lounged on the couch, scrolling through his phone. I changed the spy view to the courtyard of the Salvatore school. Unable to locate Hope, I scrolled through all the rooms we had placed a camera in until I found her in her room, painting.

"Okay. Let's not go to the Salvatore School. But, we have been here for two whole weeks and nothing's happened yet. Why not just call it a day and go back to Kamar Taj?" Harsh pressed me.

I turned around to look at him. He had put his phone on the coffee table and was looking at me. I took a deep breath, "It's not about being here as a quick response team, it's about being the first line of defence. If Hope loses control, the Salvatore School would only slow her down at best. Dabeet was keeping an eye on this ever since Malivore took control of Landon." Landon was Hope's boyfriend and Malivore's son (long story). Harsh rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his phone. I turned my attention back to the laptop when I saw a familiar figure enter.

"You still wanna do something different?" I asked Harsh, turning my head ever so slightly.

"I thought you would never ask." He said, grinning.

Fifteen minutes later we were making our way to the Salvatore School. On the way, I texted my plan to Dabeet.

"So let me get this straight, you want to assault the school you told me you weren't going to attack?" Harsh asked me.

"We are not going to attack the school. We are going to defend it." I reiterated.

Nobody except Dawar describes me using such kind adjectives. At least not to my face anyway. Back to the story.

The day Harsh and Dawar were forced to reveal themselves, Dawar called me and explained the situation. I then asked them to stay at the Salvatore school until I could get there. At least to say, he wasn't pleased with me at the time of my request. Now? He won't leave until I drag him out using magic ropes. If people listened to me even half the time, they would be twice as good.

During my business in Los Angeles, something weird happened. See, in Los Angeles, I was forced to use the stones but in their usual annoying fashion, they did more than what was asked. We had used the old stones for situations that ended up killing people who would have otherwise lived. I'll tell you about one such instance, the Hollow was an extremely powerful witch, who cast the werewolf spell. We had used the stones to give her infinite misery by making her sort of immortal. I do not want to know who came up with that brilliant idea.

After I was done with the angels, I decided to do what I was good at, stalking. I lay on my bed and willed my astral form to travel to Mystic Falls. Upon reaching the school, I couldn't find anyone in the common room or even the drawing-room. They should be eating right now. It's dinner time. Where the hell is everyone, I thought, exploring the school. Heading down to the basement where they had their cellars (what kind of a school is this!), I noticed most everyone present there, including Hope and Freya Mikaelson. What are they doing here? I thought, which shouldn't have been my first reaction.

Inside the cell, they were standing outside of, was someone who should long have been dead. No, no, no, no. Not possible, I thought, heading into the cell. Lying on the bed inside was a man, broad, dark-haired, his pictures were hung around the school and one was also present on Caroline's desk. I was looking at none other than Stefan Salvatore, the legendary vampire who sacrificed himself to kill Katherine Pierce, a very notorious vampire. Looking at the people outside, I noticed Caroline crying out of disbelief, Dawar was speaking to her about something and Caroline mostly communicated in nods.

I looked around and tried to spot Harsh, but when I couldn't, I went back to my physical body and immediately gave Dawar a call. He picked up the second time I did.

"What!? I am busy. Can whatever it is you have, wait?" He said, sounding stressed.

"Well, in this case, both our tasks are the same. Tell Caroline I am coming there. Get the kids in bed. I'll handle it from here." I told him. I felt him calm down and he then proceeded to ask me the question I had predicted.

"Are you still spying on us?" He said with well-concealed anger.

"I'll answer that tomorrow. Get everything ready, I'll be there in ten minutes." I hung the phone and then packed up. After checking out of the hotel, I went into a dark and empty alley where I conjured a portal for Mystic Falls.

I was expecting a party or a fight when I arrived and not a sleepy town. Heading to the school, I couldn't shake off the Hogwarts vibe it was giving. Big black gates, dark ominous woods, one barely lit pathway to the main building of the school, Snape approves. When I reached the door of the school, I did a quick check for magical traps. To my dismay, I didn't find a single enchantment. So lame, I thought, at least make this a little challenging.

I then opened the door and stepped into the school. To my right and left were corridors leading to the classrooms and dorms. In front of me was the common room. Couches were placed around the fireplace. Bookshelves adorned the walls of the room and sitting on the couches were the adults along with Dawar and Harsh. Dawar spotted me first and, noticing him, everyone turned to me.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. I walked towards them and placed my bag near Dawar's feet. Realising that a 'hi' wasn't enough, I added, "I am Dabeet."

One by one everyone present started to introduce themselves to me, even though I knew all of them. Alaric, Caroline, Freya and her wife Keelin. As I was about to start, the door opened again and in walked a man and woman. I hadn't seen them before. They looked like they were together. The man was looking around the school as if reminiscing and also as if expecting a surprise. The woman was looking expectantly at me. No, I realised, she was looking at Caroline or at least her blonde hair as Caroline hadn't turned around at all.

"Elena, Damon," Alaric said standing up. Elena rushed to him and pulled him in a hug. Damon followed his partner and hugged Alaric as well. He then started talking to Alaric and Elena went to talk to her childhood friend. After some final introductions, everyone took their seats.

"I want to know what happened today," Damon said before I could. "Is it true? Stefan's back?"

"Yes. We found him passed out in his room. Scared some of the students." Dawar explained.

"So he just appeared there out of nowhere?" Elena asked. I could tell she was afraid.

"I am assuming, he appeared there in the morning and that there was a faint glow around him. Almost like a pure white light had surrounded him. I am also assuming that upon finding him, Dawar ran some tests and was bewildered to find that it really was Stefan Salvatore, not someone using a copying spell. I also think that since his appearance, Mr Salvatore hasn't woken up. Is there something I missed?" I said drawing all attention to me.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened. What did you do?" Dawar said, accusing me.

"Does everyone here know about the infinity stones? If not, Dawar will give a brief explanation." I said. Damon, Elena, Freya and Keelin didn't know so after Dawar was done explaining, I continued, "Around sixteen years ago, most of you were fighting someone known as Cade. We had used the stones to make him killable. But that changed everything. The series of events that took place after that, wouldn't have happened if the stones were used differently. Meaning Stefan wouldn't have died. Although it's very possible that you two brothers would still have become human." I said looking at Damon.

"Okay, so what changed? How did Stefan come back to life?" Caroline asked me.

"I recently used the stones to fight certain entities, however, one of them must have used the power to undo the damage inflicted by the stones. I don't know who. If I knew, I would immediately take care of it."

"Who were you fighting?" Keelin asked me. I could tell she still did not believe the story.

"If I tell you, you'll run away screaming," I said, dead serious. "Look, all of this is a lot to take in. Take my word for it, get some sleep. It'll be better in the morning. Also, you need to put up defensive spells around the school, luckily, there are a lot of people in this room who are quite talented. Including three people who should be asleep."

"Who? Everyone here is someone who needs to be here." Harsh said.

Grinning, I replied, "I am glad you brought that up. Listening in on this conversation are Hope Mikaelson, Elizabeth and Josie Saltzman. Come out, girls. Invisibility spells are good and all but even they can't hide everything."

Immediately, the three of them appeared beside Elena, startling her. I looked at Harsh only to see him scowl. Amused, I looked at all Alaric who was giving a disappointing look to Hope. She seemed to be getting scowls from her aunts as well. I smiled at them reassuringly.

"That was an excellent invisibility spell. I couldn't spot it until after Elena and Damon arrived. Also, it's nice to see you trust Dawar and listen to him." I said. The girls looked at me, confused.

"Exactly. We four make a great team." Dawar said, piping in. "Of course I didn't tell them where the request had come from."

Before I could clarify the situation, Caroline spoke, "You asked them to turn invisible, break curfew and listen to a conversation that doesn't involve them?"

I just shrugged. "Mrs Salvatore, these three fought Malivore and won. They have proved themselves to be strong in ways most people aren't. Also how old were you when you were fighting things stronger than yourself?"

Having no answer, Caroline accepted defeat. Alaric stood up and looked at his students. "Good spell or not, rules were still broken. You will strengthen the magical borders of the school in your free time. Now back to bed."

"I insist you let Hope stay," I told Alaric, locking eyes with him.

"What else could you possibly have to tell us?"

"I can't tell you, I am afraid. It's on a need to know basis only."

"You are a kid. Tell me what it is and I will handle it."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Mr Saltzman. But I am the strongest supernatural on Earth. I am sure that between the two of us, I am more suited to handle supernatural activity. Don't you agree?" I don't usually pull rank but in some cases, it's just needed.

Everyone else was looking at us like an epic tennis match was going on and to be fair, maybe it was. Alaric looked as though he wanted to Hulk out in the gym.

"Fine, Lizzie, Josie back to bed. Hope you may stay. I am assuming you will want some of us to go out as well?" Caroline asked me, calming Alaric down.

"Yes, please. However, I think Mr Salvatore will need your help downstairs. He has just woken up and might be famished. I only need the Mikaelsons here anyway. Thank you for hearing me out." I said, surprising everyone. As everyone cleared out, the only people left were me, Dawar, Harsh and the Mikaelsons.

"As I said before, the power of the stones was used to undo the damage, but it wasn't random. Last week, I was tracking the trail of Dahlia, Esther and Mikael." After I said this, Freya's reaction made me pause.

"I don't believe it! They can't be back. We killed them." She said angrily.

"Yes. You Mikaelsons have no regard for the people who work hard to kill you. You find some loophole to come back. But it's not just those three. It's also Klaus and Elijah and Hayley. I am sure you would be very happy for their return." I said with a faint smile on my lips.

"Mom and dad are back?" Hope said, her voice breaking. I need to work on how I break such news to people. "Where are they? Why haven't they come to meet me?" With each sentence, her voice became angrier. Everyone, except me, seemed worried about something. Oh right, anger issues.

"Hope, calm down please and sit. I'll explain why they haven't come to you yet." Immediately she sat down and I continued, "Whoever took the power, ensured that whoever came back, would be so placed that I would be busy. Okay, that doesn't make much sense, but your parents and uncle woke up near your grandparents and great aunt, who haven't stopped trying to kill them. They don't want to come to you because they don't want to harm you."

"So let's go find them. You are the strongest sorcerer, find them. Let's go help them."

"It's not that easy, Hope. Besides, I already sent a search party for them. Right now, you need rest, lots of it."

After agreeing with me, (Hope did it very reluctantly at the time and is now glaring at me) they went to get some sleep and I followed Dawar to his room.

When I woke up, I was on the floor. Dawar and Harsh shared a room in the school and I was sleeping on the floor between their beds. Those two were still asleep. I checked my watch and it was still seven o'clock. I got up, brushed and went down to rummage for food.

I wasn't the only one up at this time. Sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich was Josie Saltzman. I took a plate, a sandwich and some apple juice and walked up to her table.

"Hi, can I sit here?" I asked her. She was reading a book and looked up from it when I spoke.

"Sure." She said, shutting her book and putting it beside her. After which she wiped her hands on a napkin.

"I don't think we properly met. I am Dabeet." I extended my hand to shake hers.

"Josie." She shook my hand rather nervously.

"Why are you so nervous? Usually, it's the boy who's nervous speaking to a girl."

She laughed and then said, "True but you aren't most guys. I mean have you heard the way Dawar speaks about you? He made you sound super powerful and aloof."

"I am super powerful. Aloof? No. I make a lot of mistakes. But I would like to know more about you. A self-less witch who is stronger than most people her age. I think you could beat Harsh to a pulp. If only someone trains you."

She smiled at me and then took a bite of her sandwich.

"Do you always do this?" She asked me after some time.

"Do what?"

"Walk up to people and just start talking like there is nothing that separates you from them?"

"The only thing that separates people is ego and I have tried very hard to keep my ego well buried. I know what Harsh thinks of me. It's what most sorcerers think. But most who do know me, they think very positively about me." I think my voice reflected on the pain I felt because I saw Josie's face go soft with sympathy.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think you are nice."

"Why thank you, Ms Saltzman, I feel so much better hearing that," I replied laughing.

"I want to thank you for covering for us last night."

"Oh don't mention it. It's my pleasure." I said bowing. She started laughing again.

Her gaze shifted to someone behind me and her laughter died. I turned around, to see Harsh taking breakfast. Oh, I thought.

"You don't like him?" I asked her.

"Not really. He just looks down at everyone. The only people he speaks properly to are….."

"Your sister and Hope?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"He is a homophobic little bitch who is also a teenage boy. I have no idea how I figured it out." I said sarcastically and she laughed while I smiled while Harsh gave us sour looks.

After I was done with breakfast, Josie offered to give me a tour of the school. We soon found ourselves in the school's garden of magical herbs.

"This school is well funded," I said in awe.

"Yeah, it is. We have Hope to thank you for that. Speaking of her, what did you say to her last night? She was in tears after you spoke to her."

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. She hasn't spoken at all. Of course, she has been asleep all that time too…...but it's not like her."

I knew that Hope confided in Josie and Lizzie quite frequently. The three had gotten quite close while fighting Malivore.

"I don't think it's my place to tell you if she hasn't yet," I said. Suddenly I noticed some movement behind Josie. "Hey, why don't you go in? I want to explore a bit by myself. I'll find you after?"

Josie looked at me suspiciously but agreed to meet me back at the mess. When she left, I walked towards the woods to find someone waiting for me.

The girl was around five and a half feet tall. Dark skinned with shining black hair, spectacles covered her black eyes. I smiled, I didn't think I would meet her this early.

"Iris, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I said approaching her.

"Well, I am here with news." She said, smiling at me.

I remembered how we had met, she had pissed off a couple of dark sorcerers and I had helped her by killing them for her. A couple of days ago, I had asked her to help me search for the six Mikaelsons and tell me when she did. Iris was not an ordinary sorcerer, she was a Heretic like Lizzie and Josie.

"You found the Mikaelsons? How? I couldn't find them and I am the most powerful sorcerer."

"That's the thing. I didn't find them using magic, I found them by tracking someone else. It appears to me like they managed to shield themselves from purple shields."

"Two questions. One, who were you tracking? Two, who could shield them from me?"

"Well, there are quite a few ways you can hide from purple shields. The most obvious one would be black shields. But I don't know any sorcerer who uses them."

"You still didn't answer the first question, Iris. Also, I am pretty sure I asked you to figure out who was hiding them and not how they were hiding. I know how they are hiding. If I remember correctly, I told you that myself." I scoffed, I knew which sorcerer was hiding them, or at least, I had an idea.

Iris gave me a harsh look and I returned it until she sighed and continued, "I couldn't make out who was hiding them. I don't think they even know they are being shielded. Also, I couldn't find all the Mikaelsons. Just the older ones."

I waited before she added, "The person hunting them, it's Chhaya."

I sighed. Chhaya was a witch, a very powerful witch who was taught how to fight sorcerers and win from a young age. She is a contract killer, who not long ago, was hired to kill me. Needless to say, I won and she admitted defeat. We respected each other but at the same time, hated each other.

"Tell Chhaya to leave the Mikaelsons alone. Also, I won't be searching for the Mikaelsons now. Can you do it for me? Leave the sorcerer to me. I'll find him. Where did you track the Mikaelsons to?" I said.

Iris looked at me and said, "Sure, I'll search for the Mikaelsons with Chhaya if I can. I last tracked them to Richmond. Why do you ask?"

"I just don't want to be blind-sided by a couple of witches and a vampire. When were you in Richmond?" I said, curiously.

"Last night," Iris replied, sounding worried. "It will still take them a day to come here and you are here. You don't think they would openly attack the school do you?"

"No, at least not without the sorcerer shielding them," I said and started walking towards the school, my mind racing.

"Hey," Iris said, jogging towards me, "What do you want me to do now?"

I stopped and looked at her. "Get Chhaya to stop hunting them. She will only make things difficult for me and I don't want to end up killing her. Tell her she owes me for leaving her alive. Go with her, find Klaus, Elijah and Hayley. Get them here asap."

"Deal," Iris said and then vamped away from me.

I went back to the school and directly headed to Caroline's office. Caroline's office was a little farther from Alaric's. I knocked on the wooden door and waited.

"Come in." I heard a reply, opening the door, I peeped into the office before stepping in. The office was huge. A floor to ceiling window was behind Caroline's desk. Paintings and photos covered the walls. A couch and coffee table was in front of me. Looking up, Caroline motioned for me to take a seat on the chair opposite her. As I took my seat, she said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"How is Mr Salvatore?" I said.

"He woke up for about thirty minutes last night. Just enough for us to feed him. He is still sleeping. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just wanted a status update. Also," I leaned in closer, "I know where the Mikaelsons are."

"Where are they? Shouldn't you be telling all this to Hope and her family?"

"Six Mikaelsons were brought back. Three are heading towards us and the other three are trying to come here as soon as possible to help."

"I am lost."

"Mikael, Dahlia and Esther are heading here to kill Hope. A sorcerer is helping them. Klaus and the others are trying to cover the gap so that they can stop or at least slow down their parents."

"Do you mean to tell me that one of the most powerful witches is coming here to kill one of my students and she has an original vampire and the original witch on her side?" She said, scared.

"I don't mean to tell you, Mrs Salvatore, I am telling you that. Fortunately, you have a superb team to handle them. My immediate worry is about the sorcerer who is helping them. They seem to have shields that can hide from me. Basically black magic."

Caroline looked shocked and just stared at me as such.

"You know that just staring at me wouldn't solve this mess, don't you? If it would, then by all means please continue your staring." I said smiling. That snapped her out of her shock and she got up. She started walking towards the door and went out. Confused at what had just happened, I stayed seated until minutes later, she came back and following her was every adult present in the school. I got up from my chair to look at them and then looked at Caroline.

"Well? Will you tell us what you need us to do or not?" Caroline asked me.

Even today, when I have commanded all of Kamar Taj at their biggest battle, I shy from commanding people elder to me. I looked at everyone in front of me one by one. All of the teachers along with Freya, Keelin, Alaric, Elena and Damon were there waiting for me.

"Fine. We will put up defensive charms around the perimeter. Nobody in or out without me saying so. If you want to back off, do it now."

When nobody moved, I continued, "Klaus along with Hayley and Elijah are on their way to try to stop Esther and her partners. For simplicity, let's just call them Tango A's. Tango B's will be the enemy sorcerers. Team Alpha, the Klaus, Hayley, Elijah group will arrive by tomorrow. Our job right now is to evacuate all the kids who are too small to fight or don't want to fight. I am not going to call the rest of Kamar Taj because that would just mean more potential enemies. If you need anything, transport, food, manpower let me know. These sorcerers are powerful. We just need to hold them for a day if attacked. Any questions?"

"How will we evacuate if the traitor is here? Won't they come to know?" Elena said. I expected that question but had no answer.

"Give me an hour to do better on the details please. I'll get back to you," I replied. My mind was racing, I barely heard Caroline telling the rest to meet us back in her office after an hour. Once everyone left, I bolted out of the room before Caroline could say anything. I quickly found Dawar in the mess talking to Hope. I quickly did a scan of the room and saw Harsh in the back talking to some of the students. Now's my chance, I thought.

Immediately, I summoned my shields and leapt over a table and vamped to Harsh. When he saw me, I almost felt bad about what was going to happen. The poor guy didn't even get a chance to summon his shields before I whacked him with mine. He fell to the ground, dazed and I didn't waste time. Summoning whips, I threw them towards Dawar. He was shocked to see them wind themselves around his waist as I pulled them and threw him towards the other end of the room. He snapped out of his shock just in time to extend his shields to soften the blow. However, the damage was done. He hit his shoulder hard and was stunned. On the other hand, Harsh was also recovering and tried to attack me by summoning energy swords. I was ready for him and parried him with my swords, which broke his swords. Within a blink of an eye, I vamped myself behind him and snapped his neck. His body fell to the ground. I turned to see Dawar.

He had recovered and looked ready to fight. Again, I vamped to him and summoned my swords, Dawar was expecting that and had already created a shield for defence. I immediately changed tactics and instead somersaulted over him and hit him with my shields. He stumbled and that's all I needed to finish it. I vamped behind him and snapped his neck before he could even react. His body fell to the ground and when I looked up, I realised all the students looked scared and some were ready to fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline come to the mess and her hand went to get her mouth at the sight of the two boys' bodies. I used magic to bring Harsh's body next to Dawar's and immediately made a portal beneath my feet. I feel with the bodies into a cell in the cellar. That could have gone better, you could have ensured Caroline knew what you were doing at least, I thought and immediately set to the task at hand.

Half an hour later I went back to the ground floor of the school and saw everyone gathered in the corridor, surrounding me. Caroline was standing in the front, flanking her were Alaric and a newly recovered Stefan Salvatore.

"Uhh, Caroline, what are you doing?" I asked her though I perfectly knew why.

"You attacked two people in the mess. From what I can tell, you did it for no reason and you also ended up killing them. Give me one good reason why I should work with you even now?" She said with anger evident in her voice.

"Fine. I attacked them to see if they were people we could trust. Everyone's shields break when I hit them with mine. One of the shields that don't are black. I needed them to think I was going to kill them. Besides, I only snapped their necks. They'll heal. Didn't they tell you they were vampires?" I explained. My answer took her aback.

"Vampires can't do magic," Hope said from somewhere in the back.

"Yes, they can. I am human and I am doing magic. Why not vampires? Anyway, that's a discussion for another day. I snapped their necks because I wanted to run some more tests to see if they are using black shields or not. They aren't. They'll get up soon and be very hungry and angry. Also, now we can tell everyone about what's going to happen. If you'll excuse me, I need to set up defensive charms around the school." I said and tried to walk away but Alaric stopped me.

"No, you won't. Hope will go with you. Do you want our trust? Then prove it." He said with a tone of finality.

"Alright. Hope can come." I said with a sigh.

Five minutes later I was walking towards the edges of the school's boundaries with Hope at my heels. Once I reached the edge, I made a similar spell to the one Dawar had to shield himself. I snapped my fingers after the spell was done and the shield expended. I started to walk towards the other side. I looked back to see Hope curiously observing me.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Hope?" I asked her, stopping.

"You just killed your friends and here you are going about your business as if nothing happened. How? Also are you a vampire?" She said curiously.

"Because I know I didn't kill them. Also, Harsh is a frenemy at best. Dawar, well it won't be long before one of us snaps and ends up killing the other. No, I am not a vampire. I have vamp speed because of my shields." I said and started walking.

"Huh. Why don't you like Harsh?"

"Have you met him? Why do you like him?"

"I have and slightly. Yeah. Why shouldn't I?"

"That just means you don't know him that well. Also, I saw you when you were trying to stop me from killing Dawar but let me kill Harsh. Let's be honest Hope, you don't like him much."

It was true, she had tried to intervene but Freya had stopped her.

"You had the time to notice all that?"

"I did." We had reached the other end and I was already putting up the shield.

"You know what? You are arrogant. Dawar had explained the shield levels and their strengths but he didn't tell me anything about vamp speed with purple shields. Not the point, how do you expect them to fight you when their shields break just by touching yours?" She said, her voice rising.

I turned to look at her, my anger rising. Calm down. Not worth it. I waited for a couple of minutes and calmed myself. I looked straight into Hope's eyes. Most people would have run away but to her credit, she stayed.

"Arrogant is it?" I said, struggling to control my voice. "Do you know anything about me? Did Dawar mention any of that? Just because I am strong doesn't mean they can't fight me. Do you think everyone I fight doesn't fight back? It takes a lot of strength to make your shields strong enough to withstand my blows, chalo, I'll grant you that. But isn't it my job to ensure those two are strong enough to do that?" She didn't answer. "Next time you say something like that to me, ensure that it's correct, why don't you?" I walked off.

I hadn't gone much far when I heard Hope walking towards me. "Look, I am sorry but….." I didn't listen to the rest. Around a hundred feet in front of me, near the tree line, I saw two girls come into my vision. One of them was injured and leaning on her partner for support. Without giving it a second thought, I vamped towards them. As I had thought, one of them was Iris, the other was Chhaya. Chhaya was badly injured. It looked like her leg had been shattered. She was limping and almost unconscious.

"What happened?" I asked Iris when I reached them.

"Dahlia. She crushed her beneath some pipes. I moved her out of the way but her leg got stuck. Dabeet, I was wrong, they aren't a day away but hours. I tried to put enough distance between us but…" Iris almost collapsed. I held her and Hope went to Chhaya. I made Iris sit near a tree and opened a portal directly into the school's medical room. We moved the two girls into the room. I then went to fetch Elena. I found her in the library, reading a book with Josie.

"Mrs Salvatore, we have a medical emergency, two girls are in the infirmary, one has shattered her leg and the other has gone into shock. Increased heart rate led to a collapse. The one with the non-broken legs is a vampire. She will need blood. The other one is human." I explained as she got up and rushed to her new patients.

"Who are they?" Josie asked me.

"My friends," I said after a pause. I didn't know what else to call them.

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know. But they took them out, they are strong. I have been underestimating them." Anger rose into my throat.

An hour later, I was still in the library reading a magic book. It's called a Grimoire. Or at least that's what Josie had told me when I had asked her for one of their 'magic books'. Elena walked in as I was reading a page about a boundary spell.

"So, I gave some vampire blood to the human girl. She should be alright in a couple of hours. As for the vampire, there wasn't much to do. I set up an IV and am giving her blood." She told me and I nodded in response.

"Did you check Chhaya, the human girl's vitals?" I asked her as she was turning to leave.

"I did. They were normal. Why do you ask?"

"Chhaya is a witch. Her coven is called the Simithi coven. They are unique to India and they specialise in killing sorcerers. They do some kind of spell on their children so that vampire blood won't heal them as fast as it usually does. It has a side effect that doesn't let them take the blood when their heart rate is high. If you give it to them at that time, well, most end up dying."

"Oh. I didn't know covens like that existed."

"The same way you didn't know sorcerers existed," I said with a slight smile.

"Maybe. Anyway, let me know when Chhaya wakes up." Elena replied and walked away.

Shutting the Grimoire, I walked to the infirmary. Standing at the door was someone I had killed not too long ago.

"Look what the cat dragged in," I said grumbling. Harsh looked at me with hate in his eyes. "Awww. Don't look so sad, I am sure you will be useful someday." I said, smiling now. He didn't reply.

"What are you doing here, Harsh?" I said all seriousness returning to me.

"Somebody has to be here in case they wake up. I didn't expect you to be here. Why don't you disappear again?" He retorted.

Anger seized me and the next thing I knew, I had pinned him to the wall behind him.

"Ever since I got here, all you have done is insult me. Do you have any idea what I could do to you? Another word. Just one toe out of line, and I promise you, no one would be able to stop what I do to you. Oh and one more thing. Keep your pathetic twentieth-century ideas to yourself. You know, you disappointed me by being clean off dark magic. Trust me, I will make these tests frequent for you." I said, letting him go. He straightened his hair, brushed his shirt off and walked away.

"Wow, you make him miserable don't you?"

I turned around and saw Chhaya sitting up. For quite some time, well ever since I and Chhaya got onto talking terms, there have been rumours in Kamar Taj that the two of us were involved. That being said, Chhaya was good looking. Dark, long hair, black eyes, brown skin and slightly shorter than Iris. If she wasn't an assassin, I would have been very intimidated by her.

"Not as miserable as he made me. Rest. The interrogation can wait." I told her, pulling a chair to sit by her side.

"I am fine. Stop fussing over me." She said as I reached for the glass of vampire blood on her bedside.

"How did they give you vampire blood if you were unconscious?" I asked her as I handed the glass to her.

"Thank you. I was awake for some time. Well, partially anyway. They managed to force-feed me some. How long have I been asleep?"

"About thirty minutes. Well, if you aren't going to sleep, just answer a few questions for me. What exactly happened when you were searching for your bounties?"

Chhaya took a deep breath and looked at me. She had received a couple hundred thousand dollars in the mail. A letter inside the envelope along with the money told her that the money included was about a third of the actual money she would receive if she hunted down Klaus, Elijah and Hayley. At the time, she had thought that it was a joke until one day she came across a witch who claimed that she had seen Klaus Mikaelson. Realising that the letter was not a joke, she started hunting the trio. She then ended up at Richmond thinking she was tracking Klaus, instead, she found Mikael along with Dahlia and her sister. That's when Iris found her.

"I didn't realise she was watching me at that time. But I knew it was dangerous to engage the three of them. So instead I observed them." She told me.

After observing them for a couple of days, she realised that Dahlia and Esther were preparing for some kind of spell. Mikael on the other hand was preparing for a fight. Today, at about eleven o'clock, Chhaya had slipped up and gotten spotted. Mikael saw her and directly started to attack her. Chhaya was stronger and was winning the fight until Dahlia joined the fight. Chhaya had tried to run away but Dahlia and Mikael had followed her. She managed to reach an abandoned warehouse halfway between Richmond and Mystic Falls. Hurt and tired, she had entered the warehouse but Dahlia and Mikael found her. Mikael distracted her by fighting her and Dahlia used her magic to break some pipes hanging from the ceiling. Iris arrived just in time to throw her off, but the pipes fell on her legs, crushing them. Iris then vamped them away from those two, who gave up after the warehouse.

"So, to sum it all up, you were discovered at eleven, it took you what? Two hours to get to the warehouse? Then assuming you fought for half an hour in the warehouse, you got injured at one-thirty. Then it took Iris another two hours to get you here. Yep, that checks out." I said, taking a glance at the clock on the wall that read 4:30.

"Yeah." She said, looking at me weirdly.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, making me jump. Caroline was standing at the door looking at the two of us.

"Um…..you wanted to give us a briefing?" She said, pointing towards me.

Oh right…… I had completely forgotten.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit. Thanks, Mrs Salvatore." I told her.

When she left, I turned to Chhaya.

"Get some sleep. You need it. Also, tell Iris I got everything I needed from you. Elena told me you would recover by tonight. So if you both want, you can evacuate tomorrow." I told her before turning to go.

"We explained the situation to all the parents. They agreed to come to pick their kids up." Caroline was saying as I entered the room. "You heard me didn't you?" She asked me.

"I did. I can make individual portals to their doorsteps. But that's not very practical. Why don't we set up some kind of pick up point for the parents? I can make a portal there, teachers can escort the kids until all parents pick up the kids. As a bonus, it can be far from here." I suggested.

"That sounds better. I'll go find a space for that and call the parents." Alaric said, getting up. It was only then that I noticed the people in the room. Everyone present in the morning was there. The only new addition was Hope.

"I thought this meeting was only for adults." I joked as Alaric left the room, shutting the door.

"It is but Hope is here on a different matter. I asked her to stay because it might concern you." Caroline told me.

"What might concern me?" I asked her. The statement didn't make sense. I didn't even know Hope that well……. Not personally anyway.

"I want to go and get my parents. But I am not able to find them using locator spells. You know where they are. Tell me." Hope looked me straight in the eyes as she said that.

To be fair, I didn't know where her parents were. All I knew was they were making their way here. My main concern was keeping Hope safe. Try explaining that to a Mikaelson.

"No," I said flatly.

"Why not? They are my parents Dabeet." Hope was on the verge of tears, I could feel it. Tears, I don't like to argue with people who are crying. It physically hurts me and I feel very self-conscious right now.

I softened, "Look right now, I have two girls in the infirmary because of your grandparents. To be frank, they are just as strong, if not more than you. Yet, they are in the shape they are. Do you know why? If I send you to find your parents, what do you think will happen? Your grandparents and great aunt will come after you. They don't care about the school. They want you. We are fighting here for you. I hope you realise that." I finished with a tinge of anger in my voice. Fine, call me unfair and ruthless for keeping a girl away from her parents. I said what I said.

"Well then let's go and get my grandparents. We killed them before, we can do it again!" She shouted the last word.

"Hope you do know that the last time your family fought your grandparents, you were two and correct me if I am wrong but each time your grandparents come back, your family has a tougher time dealing with them." I saw Freya nod in agreement with me.

Hope must have noticed it too because she went absolutely quiet. "So what's your plan?" She asked me after some time.

"The plan is to wait it out. Mikael and the other two sisters are coming here anyway. Elijah and your parents ran to lead them away from you. By now they must have noticed. I will send a team to ensure they get here fast. We know that a sorcerer is helping them. I just don't know their motive. If you want, you may stay for the meeting. I'll vouch for you. But only if you have permission from your aunts." I told Hope looking her dead in the eye.

"That's not going to happen. Dead or not, Klaus and Hayley wouldn't want Hope to fight this. Not when I am there." Freya said.

I shrugged and Hope stormed out of the room. I didn't think much of it at the time. But little did I know Harsh was waiting for something like this.

It took us all night to plan the evacuations. The plan was to evacuate the students to a farmhouse owned by Freya. It was well protected and in the middle of nowhere. In my books, there was no place better. Dawar would stay with the kids and the teachers in the farmhouse until everyone had been picked up by their parents. Following this, he would come back to the school to help with the fight. On paper, the plan looked good. But if reading and hearing about war stories have taught me anything it's that plans always go wrong. We made a backup plan and a backup plan for the backup plan. There were five hundred students in the school. The farmhouse could house about a hundred. That meant five shifts of a hundred students all while preparing for a fight with some of the most powerful people on Earth. I mean anyone can handle that………...right?

It was four in the morning when we were finally done scheduling everything and informing the parents how and when to pick their kids up. I went out into the garden for some air and was joined by Dawar. We just stood there in silence for some time.

"You think they can handle it?" He asked me.

"Handle what?" I responded while looking at the moon.

"This. All this. You know what I mean." He gestured very vaguely towards our surroundings.

"Do I think they can handle the fight that's coming for them tomorrow?" I turned to him, "No. I don't. But I am not thinking about them."

"What do you mean?"

"I sent Iris and Chhaya to escort Team Alpha here."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Think Dawar. During the First Battle of Earth, I broke the stones. In the Second Battle, I remade them. Here, I would have used Hope as bait to draw out her grandparents, kill them and then help her find her parents. Why am I not doing that?" It was a rhetorical question and Dawar knew it. When he didn't answer, I continued, "Because other than you and Harsh, there is just one other sorcerer strong enough to force Tango A to listen to him. If my hunch is right, he has gone to all sorts of lengths to ensure all this went on without a hitch."

Dawar stood there next to me, shocked. "Do you have proof?"

"No. But he has motive, means and opportunity. I can't think of anyone else who can even come close to doing anything that has happened till now."

"The sorcerers who attacked us that day looked Chinese." He said, his voice dropping.

"I am sure they did. But you would have also noticed them being shorter than average and also slightly malnourished."

"No. Nobody in their right mind would do something that risky."

"Maybe not. But North Korea getting a very powerful sorcerer on their side? One who has been referred to as the third most powerful sorcerer? I am sure they wouldn't have refused."

"If your hunch is right and it usually is, how are you going to draw him out?"

"I don't have to draw him out. He wants to draw me out. All I have to do is show that I am falling for his trap. This is why I am asking everyone to be evacuated. Caroline knows this. So does Freya."

"So we wait?"

"We wait."

I will say this when Dabeet came to me and asked me to contribute to this story I was shocked. I didn't think we had this kind of chemistry.

My name is Hope Mikaelson. I am a tribrid who comes from a family of villains. But on the contrary, I am a hero. At least that's what everyone tells me. My story is a long one. People hate me for being alive and those who love me……… well, they pay a price.

After I stormed out of Caroline's office I went straight to my room. I was able to control myself until I shut the door and then I let it all out. I screamed and magic expelled from me in waves. The glass on the windows shattered, books kept on the table flew into walls and worst of all (though at that time I was too angry to care) my paint bottles burst, spewing the liquid onto the wall. After I was done, I was breathing slightly hard but I felt relaxed. I heard a knock on the door but before I could say anything, it opened and Harsh stepped in. He looked around, conjured a shield and waved it. Immediately, the glass flew back into place, books picked themselves up and went into their designated cabinets and my paint bottles fixed themselves. The paint, however, stayed on the floor and walls.

"Some things cannot be fixed." I heard Harsh say.

I turned around but stumbled. Harsh vamped to me for support. He helped me sit on my bed and awkwardly sat down on the bed opposite me.

"Thank you," I said thinking about how Dabeet had said Harsh wasn't a very good person.

"I heard what Dabeet said to you." He confessed to me.

"About what?" I asked him, thinking if he had somehow read my mind.

"About how he doesn't want you to go search for your parents."

"Well, then you know why I am so angry," I said, struggling to control myself.

"I can't pretend that I understood Dabeet's plan. Neither can I agree with him especially if he wants to keep you away from your parents. You are right, he knows where your parents are. It's just that most in Kamar Taj don't like your father. He cares more about his popularity than actual lives." I was stunned but at the same time, I found it believable.

"Do you know where they are?" I asked Harsh curiously.

"I do. I can help you get them back. You heard Dabeet's plan, he wants to wait it out. But your parents don't have enough time. I know the sorcerer who has them. He will kill them by tomorrow." Harsh said very seriously.

One of the first things I learnt was how to tell when someone was lying and as I looked at Harsh, he was telling me the truth. Anger swelled in me. How can Dabeet, being the so-called Sorcerer Supreme, not be ready to save them? I thought.

"Hope?" Harsh asked me.

I looked at Harsh, my eyes burning. "Let's do it."

Ten minutes later, we were sneaking into the grounds. As soon as we reached the end of the boundary spell, Harsh opened a portal. Without giving it a second thought, I stepped into the portal and suddenly felt my neck snap.

Josie filled me in on the details afterwards. Dabeet and Dawar came to find me early in the morning but couldn't. Dabeet performed a locator spell but realised that the same spell, that had blocked him from locating my parents, was blocking his efforts. Frustrated and angry beyond belief, he mobilised all of Kamar Taj's electronic assets. Within fifteen minutes he had access to all the security cameras in the world. Soon he had located me down to the last coordinates. When I finally woke up, I realised that I was hung upside down with my mother tied at my back and in front of me was a fight going on.

When I couldn't find either Hope or Harsh anywhere, I wanted to slap myself. "We have been played like fools!" I shouted and punched a wall, making a hole into it.

Dawar looked at me, amused and also concerned. "We will find them. They can't have gone far."

"Harsh is a sorcerer. I doubt he had to walk far to get far."

"I wish we had the technology to track transportation portals." He sighed.

Technology. That's it. Why didn't I think of it sooner? I ran to my room and Dawar followed me. Taking my bag out, I took out the fifth-generation iPad I kept with me at all times. Dawar was taken aback.

"You can't possibly be kidding me. You still have that? I thought you were asked to destroy it." He said, lowering his voice into a whisper.

I switched on the iPad and looked at my friend. "What they don't know can't hurt them. Also, it's not like I use it that often." I said, smiling slightly.

The iPad was extremely special. It was unbreakable, thanks to magic, had no limits on RAM and memory, hardware that could update to the latest software without difficulty and most importantly, had access to all satellites and cameras. I bet I could even use it to access nuclear weapons. Seeing all of its capabilities, the older sorcerers, who ran Kamar Taj in my absence, had asked me to destroy it. Of course, I didn't. Not because I needed it for sorcerer business but because I wanted to use it to play games.

The iPad came on and I soon was able to access CCTV cameras in the country. I typed in the keywords of what I needed to find. After a second it showed me the location of a warehouse and the social security numbers of everyone in the warehouse.

"Got them. Get Freya and Caroline. We need to go. Now!" I told Dawar who rushed to get them.

Ten minutes later everyone had gathered on the grounds.

"When we go in, expect heavy resistance. All of you know that this is a rescue mission. If you die……." I paused, "Walk it off."

I created a portal to the warehouse and we stepped in. When we reappeared on the other side, I was impressed with how 'super villainy' the whole setting seemed. It was shaped like one of those hangers where they stored F-22's. I saw a side door into the warehouse. Entering it, I saw that it was quite spacious. It was quite dark but not dark enough that I couldn't see what was in front of me. My magical sensing told me that there were stairs straight ahead at the other end. Probably to the first floor (second floor for you Americans). The first floor was just a rectangular walkway that left a huge atrium in the centre of the warehouse. Speakers were attached to the walls periodically. Suddenly, I heard the speakers come active.

"Hello and welcome!" A voice boomed from the speakers, a voice I recognised very well. "You are all gonna die. Please do not resist." The voice then started laughing. I looked to my right. Dawar looked at me and nodded, telling me he also recognised the voice.

"Oh, dear Dabeet. You can't catch me. So stop looking for me. Isn't that what you had said to me when we were playing Apex Legends?" The voice taunted. That statement confirmed all my suspicions.

"That was different. This is different. Just give up Viraj. You can't hope to beat me." I yelled out.

Viraj was one of my friends at Kamar Taj. He had always been one of the powerful sorcerers. He would have been stronger than Harsh if he had played his cards right. When I became Sorcerer Supreme, we drifted apart. He never caused much trouble until he turned a Sanctum against me. After I was done slaughtering the Sanctum I cornered Viraj. He had been practising black magic to unleash Dormammu on us again just so he can be the new God and order me around again. Just one problem with that plan, Dormammu wouldn't spare anyone.

"Why are you doing this Viraj? Just so you can boss me around? C'mon man. Do you want to unleash Dormammu on us?" I asked him when he didn't reply.

"That was the old plan Dabeet. See I got a new insight into things. I realised that it would be smarter to kill your crush in front of you. I just wanna watch the world burn. The Mikaelsons will wage a war with Kamar Taj. I'll ensure the Mikaelsons are winning. Then I'll come in, save Kamar Taj, take power and save everyone." He said with a slight laugh.

I didn't hear most of what he said after the "crush" thing. My jaw hurt from clenching it. Anger juiced around inside me threatening to kill everyone should I lose control. Before I could do anything, the speakers began to play 'Cool Out' by Imagine Dragons. The nerve of that bitch!

"Cool out, cool out. Just before I go…….." I heard Viraj sing along through the speakers.

Ironically, his bad singing just enraged me more. I looked at Dawar next to me. The message was clear, let's kill this ass. I looked straight at the stairs leading to the first floor. I vamped to the stairs but before I could take another step, the music stopped.

"I would think twice before you do that. You see, if you look to the ceiling, you will see six people. All tied up and chained perfectly. Harsh is floating slightly below them. All you have to do is defeat each sorcerer I throw at you. If you win, you can save these people. Otherwise………. Well, I don't have to tell you, do I?" Viraj said as though he were talking about homework in school and not killing someone. As he finished, three spotlights came to life illuminating three pairs of people tied upside down from a beam on the ceiling. In the centre was Hope tied with another woman who I guessed was Hayley Marshall. To their right were two men whom I recognised as Klaus and Elijah. To the left of Hope and her mother were two Chhaya and Iris. Another spotlight illuminated Harsh floating on a shield right below the hostages.

"Don't do this Viraj. If you wanna be Sorcerer Supreme I will resign. Don't hurt anyone." I tried negotiating.

Viraj laughed. "Dude, if I wanted to be Sorcerer Supreme, I would have given the stones to Dormammu. Now let's start. Sorcerers, attack!"

Immediately, sorcerers from the North Korean Sanctum surrounded us, separating Freya from Dawar and Caroline. I was at the stairs, isolated from the others. One of the sorcerers attacked me. I conjured my swords and hit his shields. As expected, they shattered and the sorcerer was thrown back. Taking advantage of the hesitation of the rest, I vamped to Freya. She was doing pretty well against them but she was outnumbered and about to be stabbed in the back. I blocked her attacker with my fists and pushed him back. I conjured my swords again and went on the assault. All the sorcerers attacking us backed off after seeing me. Freya was breathing hard and was slightly cut up but otherwise, she looked fine. The sorcerers attacking Dawar and Caroline however didn't stop. I took Freya's hand and vamped her with me to them. I threw a sorcerer away from Caroline and made a protective shield around us. Some of the sorcerers, who hadn't seen the spell, attacked us but when they hit the shields, they flew into the wall on the other side of the warehouse. Seeing that, all sorcerers stopped fighting. Suddenly, I heard someone clap. Turning in the direction of the sound, I saw that it was Viraj. Fair-skinned, tall and lean with black hair, Viraj was smiling.

"You know, you did pretty well. I wasn't expecting you to defeat them this quickly. No problems, I am here now. But wait, I forgot the VIPs for today's fight." Saying that, he conjured a portal in the air and from the portal fell Mikael, Dahlia and Esther. "See? Now it's much more fun." He conjured a shield and threw it in a circle. I didn't have time to conjure my shields, thankfully, he wasn't after me. The black shield sliced through all the Korean sorcerers, killing them. I shut my eyes.

"That was for failing me." He said after all the sorcerers were dead. He waved his hand and all the blood and bodies vanished. I opened my eyes and looked at Viraj and his smiling face, my anger visible. Mikael regarded Viraj with a calculating look. Viraj noticed him and started laughing. "Do you think you can take me, Mikael? I sent five sorcerers after you and your friends and you couldn't fight them. What makes you think you can fight me? It's so cute you think that you can." He said grinning. He looked at me as if saying, can you believe him?

I subtly lowered the shield charm in case of a fight. I looked at Dawar conveying this to him. In the meantime, Harsh glided down and landed next to Viraj.

"Didn't take much for you to change, did it?" I targeted my anger at Harsh.

"Oh don't blame him Dabeet. I offered a much better deal than you ever would have. Also, between the two of us, I am definitely the more interesting one." Viraj said.

My mind was furiously trying to calculate the odds. Freya could hold Esther. Mikael wouldn't attack his favourite daughter…… Would he? I could try to take Harsh and Viraj but two powerful sorcerers? At the same time? Especially if one had black shields? Doubtful. I glanced up. Hmmm……….

All this while, Freya was trying to convince Mikael to side with her while Viraj was watching them, amused.

"Father, please. She is just a child and they are your children." Freya was saying, referring to Hope and her parents.

"Don't worry my child. We won't hurt you. We just want the abominations gone." Mikael replied.

"Oh shut it, Mikael. The only abominations here are you, your wife, her sister and these two idiots." I intervened. Dawar looked like he wanted to stop me but I signalled him to trust me. "You know what? I genuinely think I preferred you three dead. As for you two," I motioned towards Harsh and Viraj, "If you think you can win, you can't. I am the Sorcerer Supreme for a reason."

"You are a vain child. Do you really believe you can fight all of us off?" Dahlia said.

I laughed and Viraj looked taken aback. He didn't like being stood up. "Try me you thousand year old…" I can't tell what I said to her and I am sure most of you have an idea.

The reaction was immediate, exactly as I expected it. Esther made the first move to save her sister's honour, she tried to use a blasting spell on me. That was all I needed. Before she could finish the enchantment, I had vamped to Harsh and gotten a good hold of his neck. I threw him at Esther who had to quickly change the spell to throw Harsh away from her but she used too much force than required. Harsh flew into a wall, knocking him unconscious. In the meantime, I had conjured swords and started fighting Viraj. Coming out of shock, Viraj snarled at me and parried my strikes. His shields were strong enough that they didn't break on the first contact but they didn't last. On the fifth contact, one of his shields shattered giving me enough time to kick him away. He expected it and dodged my strike before regaining his balance and resuming the fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dawar fight, Mikael and Dahlia, while Caroline and Freya kept Esther busy. It was a balanced fight. Just one mistake on either side meant the other's victory. Refocusing my attention on Viraj, I defended his strikes and saw that had left his right guard down. Taking advantage, I kicked him there, making him lose balance.

Viraj fell and rolled away from me before I could attack him any further. I took a chance and glanced up to see Hope awake. An idea, a very risky and stupid idea formed in my head. I looked at Viraj who was breathing heavily and getting up slowly to fight me. I attacked him again with renewed strength. He conjured a shield to block my attack, rolled and got up on his feet.

"You won't even let me get up slowly." He said with frustration. I just shrugged and smirked at him. With anger fuelling him, he charged at me. I conjured a shield and threw it Captain America style. He slid on the floor, conjured his shield to protect his face. The purple shield deflected towards the chains tying the hostages. As Viraj slid towards me, I somersaulted over him and landed on the other side.

He got up on his feet and realised what I had intended to happen. The purple shield had cut the chains and the hostages had been cut loose. As they fell, Hope softened everyone's descent using magic. Now conscious and aware of her surroundings, she rushed to help Dawar as Viraj watched. I attacked him again and his anger got the better of him. His attacks became erratic and I took advantage of them. I pushed him behind me, as he tried to punch me. His momentum did my work for them. He became unbalanced and threw his shield at me. I used my sword to knock the shield aside but in my tunnel vision, he came up to me and punched me. I fell and this time, he had the advantage. He tried to stab me using his swords, I rolled aside and the sword got stuck in the ground next to me. Conjuring shields, I hit him in the face and got up to my feet.

On the other hand, Hope had taken Mikael out by snapping his neck and was now fighting Dahlia with Dawar. Caroline was injured but Esther was fighting a losing fight against Freya. Viraj also seemed to notice all this at the same time as me. Suddenly I felt my feet lift off the ground and I flew into a wall. When I opened my eyes, Dahlia was dead, so was Esther. Everyone else had been thrown into a wall. The remaining hostages had chosen that moment to come to and looked around confused. In the middle of the warehouse, Viraj stood with red-coloured shields. He was breathing heavily and then noticed his shields.

"No!" I heard Dawar yell from somewhere to my right. Red shields were bad news. Dormammu used red shields, while his counterpart, God, used purple. That meant with Red shields, Viraj was at the same level as I was. This was bad.

Viraj also realised the situation because he started laughing.

Have you ever felt so helpless like no matter what you do, what you want won't be possible? At that moment, that's exactly how I felt. As Viraj stood there laughing, I did a final calculation. Purple shields can kill anything except angels. Red shields are at the same level, which means Viraj could kill everyone present in the warehouse.

"What are you laughing about dumbass? You haven't won yet." I said standing up.

"Well it's funny don't you think?" He said, barely able to contain his laughter.

"You mean how funny it will be when you lose? Yeah, I guess it is." I conjured my shields and got into position. If I couldn't defeat him, I could at least injure him.

Seeing that, Viraj laughed louder and vamped to me. Vampire speed? Just great. He tried to punch me, I blocked it and conjured a sword and went for the head. He ducked and tried to stab me. I swirled to the side and tried to snap his neck. He vamped away from me but something about this vamping speed felt different. He was much faster than was possible. The only thing that allowed me to see his movement was a trail of red left in the wake of his run like smoke coming from a car. As he came at me with that speed, I had to quickly guess what he was going to do. I conjured a shield and blocked to my right. Thankfully my guess was right. It stopped Viraj in his tracks and he stumbled, allowing me to counter. I tried to stab him but he again dodged it.

This time, however, he wasn't able to go supersonic as he sped away from me. I vamped in front of him and attacked him with my swords. I didn't see him conjuring a shield in his left hand and attack my stomach. Hope saw that and vamped to push me away. Thankfully, his attack didn't get either of us.

Seeing Hope, Klaus, Elijah and Hayley attacked Viraj ferociously. Viraj laughed and dodged their strikes. Freya joined in the attack but Viraj's only response to her was to stop laughing. Caroline gained consciousness and came to escort me and Hope away from the battle. I came out of my shock and vamped Hope and Caroline to the other end of the warehouse. Dawar noticed what I was doing and conjured ropes to pull the other Mikaelsons away from Viraj. Chhaya and Iris tried to distract Viraj while Dawar and I got everyone else away from him.

As I was getting Klaus, who was the last one left fighting Viraj, away, I heard a girl scream. I looked back to see a cut in Chhaya's shoulder. Seeing that, something in me snapped. I conjured my shields and vamped to Viraj, Dawar conjured whips and pulled Chhaya away as Iris vamped away from us.

Immediately, Viraj turned all his attention to me. He conjured a sword as I turned my shields into a sword. It was only later would I realise that our swords were glowing brighter than usual. When our swords collided, both broke. Viraj's sword's broken half embedded itself in my shoulder while mine embedded itself in his feet. The force threw both of us a hundred feet away from each other. When I fell to the floor, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I saw Iris, Dawar and Hope were standing next to the feet of my bed. It took me a minute to realise that I was in the same bed Chhaya was not two days ago. The irony seemed to wake me up fully.

"Oh, you are up. I'll go and call Elena." I heard Hope say.

"What happened since I have been unconscious?" I asked no one in particular.

Dawar told me that the blast had been strong enough to blow the warehouse. Dawar had been able to create a shield just in time to save everyone. Harsh had also woken up in time to save himself. Mikael had died. Somehow, Viraj and I had been spared and that Viraj had just been dazed when he was thrown away and was able to conjure a portal and escape. All this had happened when everyone had rushed to help me. The only silver lining was that we were able to take Harsh captive. He was in a cell in the school that had been enchanted by all the powerful witches in the school.

"So now we have a super-powerful sorcerer who might be stronger than me trying to bring Dormammu back?" I asked Dawar.

"Looks like it." He said as Elena entered the room.

"Oh good, you are okay. How are you feeling?" She asked me.

"Pain. Why didn't you give me vampire blood?" I said.

"We did but it didn't work," Dawar replied.

Great! So vampire blood doesn't work on wounds from red shields. I was starting to feel lucky.

"On the plus side, human medicine seems to be working on you. You will recover but until then, no fighting." Elena told me.

She left the room as there was nothing left to be done. I turned my attention to Dawar. "Tell all the Sanctums about Viraj. No sorcerer is to fight him under any circumstances. If he asks for anything, tell them to negotiate or at least stall. Use my iPad to find him. Keep me updated about his whereabouts. Lastly, it's time to tell the supernatural world about Kamar Taj and more importantly Viraj. Interrogate Harsh. Maybe he knows something. Also, how's Chhaya?"

"She is fine, just resting. I'll ask her to meet you when she gets up." Iris said.

"No, it's fine. I was just asking. Also could you please send Caroline here? We need an overseas base if we want to hunt Viraj and I have a feeling that he is going to target the school." I said. Iris went to find Caroline.

"What do you want to do about Mikael?" Dawar asked me.

"Isn't he dead?" I asked him, confused.

"No. I lied to everyone because Klaus might then try to kill Mikael." He confessed.

"I would like to kill Mikael," I said exasperated. "Fine, take him to the Delhi Sanctum, put him in a cell there and ensure he is being interrogated at all times. Also, do it now, I don't want Freya finding out about it."

Dawar left just as Caroline entered the room. Wait, you really think that happened? Real-life timings aren't like that, you know. After about fifteen minutes, Caroline entered the infirmary.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked me.

"Like I got stabbed by a mystical sword," I said and she smiled. "I think Viraj will attack this school."

"Why?"

"Because he knows he is stronger. He came to my level about an hour ago and can do things I can't. He knows he can finish me off but, my purple shield must have done as much damage to him as his red shields did to me. So we have some time." I explained.

"So use the stones. Why didn't you use them in the warehouse?" She asked me.

I laughed slightly. " I did. That's what made my shields stronger but I noticed that they also made Viraj's shields equally strong. So using the stones is a no go."

"So now what?" Caroline asked me, looking scared.

"In emergencies, the Sorcerer Supreme can command all sanctums to come under one roof. That place is called the Sanctorium. With your permission, I could make the school the Sanctorium for this fight." I explained.

"But this is a school. We teach students here. How am I going to assure the parents that their children will be safe? If they even want to send their kids here now." Caroline was having a freak-out.

"Look, Mrs Salvatore, deep breaths." I instructed, when she had calmed down I continued, "By tomorrow morning, all parents will know everything about Kamar Taj. They will realise that there is no place safer in the world. Right now, Viraj can hurt whoever he wants. If parents send their kid here, Viraj won't dare come and even if he does, the best sorcerers of every sanctum will be here under my direct command to ensure the safety of every student."

Caroline thought about it for a couple of minutes. She then looked at me, "Let's do it."

Two weeks later

I woke up and looked around. It was still dark but something about the room felt different. I looked around and tried to get my bearings when I heard someone groan next to me. Instinctively, my hand went to the nightstand I had forgotten was there. I found my specs and wore them. With clearer vision, I was able to make out the shape of a girl next to me. The only problem? I have never had girls in my room. I stumbled out of my bed to find myself fully clothed in clothes I had left in Delhi. I conjured my shields.

"Whoever's on the bed, get out slowly. Any sudden movements and I'll kill you." I told the figure. She slowly climbed out and in the faint light of my shields I could make out the girl's face.

"What are you doing here Hope? For that matter, what am I doing here?" I asked her. I was thoroughly confused. Just last night, I had been strolling in the gardens at the Salvatore School.

"I don't know. Also, can you put the shields down and not treat me like someone who'll kill you? Besides, I was going to ask you the same thing." She told me. Realising that I still hadn't put my shields down, I waved them away. "Where are we?"

"Hope Mikaelson, welcome to the Delhi Sanctum, the birthplace of Kamar Taj," I said walking towards the door of my room. When I opened it, I saw a clock on the wall in front of me. It was a grandfather clock with gold arms, shaped like a birdhouse and with a picture of a parrot in its face. The time read 12:45 I looked at the window a couple of feet to the right of the clock, it was dark. A sorcerer walked past me after smiling at me. No, no, no. Absolutely not, I thought. I looked to my left and saw the one person I miss the most every day.

"Dev!" She yelled, motioning for me to come towards her. Her motion made it look extremely urgent. I started running to her and upon reaching her, pulled her in a hug. The sorcerer who had walked past me earlier saw us, showed me a thumbs up and walked away.

"Uh……" Anu said as I released her. "What's going on?" She asked me. Anu could have been called my sister. She was around my height, had my skin tone and also had the same specs as me.

"Nothing." I said, "I missed you." I finished lamely.

"You saw me just a couple of hours ago. Also, we need to go. Now! Unless you want to rethink this." She said, looking at me curiously.

"No, let's do this," I replied, looking her dead in the eyes. Anu turned around to leave.

"Who's she?" Hope asked me. I jumped slightly at how close she was to me. I had completely forgotten about her.

"That was the captain of the special forces of Kamar Taj. Also my best friend."

"Kamar Taj has special forces?" Hope said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yes, we needed one to hunt rogue sorcerers and ensure Sorcerer Supreme's didn't misuse their powers. The current SF can't hope to beat me, but at the same time, they ensure the sanctums don't revolt against me." I said and started following Anu.

"So…she, what's her name?"

"Anu," I said, trying to control my emotions.

"Anu, she is your best friend and also captain of special forces of Kamar Taj? How does that work?"

"She isn't the captain of special forces, she was the captain. Now, I command the special forces. The only exception is God himself chose me for the role."

"What do you mean by she was the captain?" Hope said with a slight laugh.

"I mean, she died and therefore is no longer the captain," I said, trying hard to keep my voice monotone.

Hope fell silent. We walked a couple of minutes in silence before we spotted Anu waiting near a door.

"Finally!" She exclaimed. "I have been waiting for like forever. Anyway, are you ready? Last chance to back out."

"I told you, Anu, I am in," I said before she could scream at me and blow the whole operation. She just rolled her eyes and conjured her shields. At the risk of sounding sexist, her pink shields burst to life and she placed them on the door we were standing in front of. While the door was opening, I kept an eye out for anyone.

"So……if Anu is dead, why are we able to talk to her? Also, what are you guys doing?" Hope asked me.

"My guess? We are in a memory palace. A memory palace is a place that can be accessed by any sorcerer as long as they know the target's deepest, darkest moment. If the target allows the intrusion, it is possible to use this method as therapy. Of course, it all depends on consent." I said.

"Oh, that's just great. I mean it doesn't feel like you are doing something illegal at all. Wait, what are you doing anyway?"

"Stealing the infinity stones. This is the moment that I started on the path of becoming Sorcerer Supreme." I said with a slight laugh. Hope looked at me like I had just talked about killing her parents.

"I am sorry you do what?"

"Hey! It's done." Anu said, making Hope and I jump. I walked towards Anu.

"You sure we won't disintegrate if we push it open now?" I asked her.

"Trust me a bit, will you? Of course, I won't let you disintegrate. I am the captain of SF for a reason. It took some time like it always does, but now we have access to the Stones." She said, smiling.

I didn't say anything, I thrust the door open.

There was a time when I used to think that opening the forbidden door would result in the stones killing you, if you got through the enchantments put up by every Sorcerer Supreme that would ensure your immediate disintegration. Nothing like that happened of course. I opened the door and saw six pillars, slightly taller than me, that held the stones. I could feel the power of the stones hitting me in waves and I felt like touching them.

"Don't touch them," Anu warned me. Touching the stones would result in an overload of magic and ultimately kill you, I remembered what they had taught us first about the stones. The only person who could touch those stones was God himself, not even Angels.

I took out my Amazfit and opened it, immediately, the stones rushed to the watch and embedded themselves in it. What I hadn't anticipated was that the stones were rigged to set off an alarm that would ring through all the sanctums. As soon as the alarms rang, Anu and I bolted from the room. We managed to make it to the main door of the Sanctum, only to find it being shut by the guards. I conjured my Blue shields and threw them at the guards. The guards had to stop shutting the door and block my shield, giving the two of us enough time to run out and conjure a portal to the United States.

Anu was in charge of making the portal and because of her we were almost hit by a bus. I did not want to get hit by a bus (What? I saw B99 and Gina got hit. It wasn't pretty). As we stumbled onto the sidewalk, barely missing the bus, I looked around to see huge screens on the buildings around me. The place is so iconic that I don't even have to name it and everyone will understand.

"Times Square?!" I asked Anu, getting a couple of weird looks from everyone around me. "Of all the places, you choose New York?" I said. Before you point out that she just saved our lives, New York is home to the American Sanctum. At that time, we had the Infinity Stones. Every Sanctum would have heard about how the stones were stolen from the Delhi Sanctum not long after the Sorcerer Supreme had died. Controlling the Infinity Stones meant that the Delhi Sanctum could be challenged for leadership. That meant every Sanctum in the world would have sent their special forces to take the stones from us.

"Think about it, it's the perfect cover. They won't expect us to come here." She did have a point, neither of us liked American sorcerers. Why? That's between us. I didn't have a problem with most who I liked but in general………… I think Kamar Taj would have been off without the Americans.

I thought about all this and then nodded. "What next?" I asked Anu but suddenly, I felt everything around me go dark.

"What's happening?" Hope asked me.

"I think we are transitioning into the next darkest moment of my life," I told her.

"So…..how many of these are there?" Hope was looking at me with either sympathy or 'what have you gotten me into. Probably the latter.

"You don't wanna know," I told her earnestly.

Suddenly, the blackness morphed into scenes, like a slideshow. The first scene showed me and Anu fighting some sorcerers in an alley, the next showed the two of us running towards a cliff and jumping off, only to create a portal below us. The scene that followed was slightly longer. It showed the two of us standing in a wasteland and looking at some people, they were demons really, as they moved towards us. Dormammu was in the front and he came close to us to take the stones. Just then, Harsh emerged to my left and attacked Dormammu's forces as I conjured a sword and swiped at the stones. The blast threw me and Dormammu away from each other. Energy burst from the stones and vanished into the sky. Seconds later, Dormammu screamed and disintegrated along with his accomplices and then, the blackness returned.

I stood in shock. All of these memories had been buried by me to stop the pain. I have never felt so………lost. I sat down and concentrated on my breathing. After some time, when I had somewhat cooled down, Hope came and sat next to me.

"Dawar didn't tell us that you stole the stones." She said, cautiously.

"Most of Kamar Taj denies the fact that when I stole the stones, they tried to kill me. Dawar is no different. He knew what I was going to do but he was forced to fight me." I replied, looking at her.

"Why did you have to steal the stones?"

I looked away into the darkness, waiting for something to show up. When nothing came, I looked at Hope.

"Dormammu is not exactly a being. He is a consciousness, who dwells in a different dimension and also takes the form of any being. A long time ago, sometime after creation, the infinity stones were used by God to isolate Dormammu into a different dimension……"

"Why?"

"Because Dormammu is a destructive force. God on the other hand is a creative force and now you can do the math. Anyway, after he used the stones, he gave them to us Humans. Around the time you first found out about Malivore, we found out that Dormammu was close to breaking through the confinement placed by the infinity stones. Kamar Taj had two choices, either break the stones and use their energy to banish Dormammu and figure out a way to make new stones, or, keep the stones and fight Dormammu until the end of time. The problem with the second option was that there would be numerous casualties, both human and supernatural. As you can guess, the Sorcerer Supreme at the time thought that the second way was the only way. The rest of Kamar Taj disagreed. He discretely ordered Anu and me to steal the stones…..and well, you know the rest." I explained. The darkness persisted, was it revolving? How had I not noticed that before?

I audibly cursed I would love to put it in writing but then it wouldn't be appropriate I think. When I was done, I looked at Hope who looked at me weirdly.

"What?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow. I didn't say anything. I instead went closer to her, making her step back. Invading someone's personal space always ensured a confrontation.

"How did we get here, Hope?" I asked her, my voice dropping to a whisper.

"I already told you, I don't know." She said, her voice wavering.

"Revolving darkness, my worst memories and you. It's quite a touch I must say. What I couldn't figure out was, how did Viraj break through my mental defences? Now I know he didn't." It all made sense now. Okay, some of it made sense. I still have no idea how I didn't burst out laughing.

Hope took a step back, sensing a fight. "I still have no idea what you are talking about." She said, trying to look convincing.

I hate it when people lie to me and ever since I became the Sorcerer Supreme, every sorcerer who has lied to me currently occupies a bed in the ground. But seeing her lie to save herself just proved my theory. I vamped to her and leaned into her ear.

"Why do you continue to lie, Mikaelson?" I asked her in a whisper.

"I am not lying!" She almost screamed back.

I smirked and summoned my shields. Within the blink of an eye, I swiped my shield at her head and it went flying into the darkness.

People have often asked me how I learnt to control my anger. I always laughed at their question and politely replied with a smile and turned to leave, always leaving them confused. Truth is, I never learnt to control it. It's the one thing Master Kumar regrets about me. I can't express my feelings about anything well and so, use my anger to convey my thoughts. Of course, all this rambling, thought therapeutic, is not entirely useless. As Hope's head went soaring and her body dropped, my anger calmed down. Immediately, I heard someone behind me. A second later, I was about to snap Hope's neck again.

"Dabeet, what are you doing?" She asked me in a panic. It was like she didn't even remember anything about me severing her head from her body. I pushed her away from me and looked up.

"This isn't a memory palace, it's a hell loop. What I need to figure out is, how I died and also why you are in my hell loop." I told Hope (or to be more accurate, the demon playing her), looking her dead in the eyes.

"A hell loop?" She asked me confused.

"Demons torture humans by making them relive their worst memories with slight modifications. Of course, the said human has to die before they can be tortured like this. But you knew that. Why are you in my hell loop?" I wondered out loud for the second time. I shut my eyes and tried to think, suddenly, a memory came to me.

During my days of training at Kamar Taj, I had been assigned the role of keeping an eye on the Salvatore School. Sorcerers with blue shields, called Blues, monitor all supernatural activity in the world while the SF and the other masters act on them. As a blue, I was given the job to monitor Landon Kirby, Hope's ex-boyfriend who died because he was a vessel and son of Malivore, so that particular relationship was doomed from the start, to be honest. Initially, Landon's path crossed a lot with Hope's. Slowly, I started to feel this need to protect Hope. On my days off, I would do all the research I could on Hope Mikaelson. I had mentioned this to Viraj one day, who at that time was my only friend. He had laughed it off and teased me about it. It hadn't bothered me as much as it did during the fight in the warehouse.

My mind took a different tangent now, I liked Hope, there was no denying it, but I felt guilty about liking her. Guilt is what keeps me from telling her exactly what I feel, and guilt is what keeps humans in Hell. It can't be that easy, can it?

I looked back at the faux Hope and vamped towards her. I looked into her eyes and smiled slightly. I cupped her left cheek with my right hand. She leaned into my hand and I thought it was a green light.

"Hope Mikaelson, I could never tell you this in the real world, but I really like you and because of that, I also know exactly how complicated your life is. I just hope that someday, the real you feels the same way towards me as I do." I said, still looking into her eyes. I slowly leaned in about halfway and waited for her to do the same, which she did after me, and our lips met. That's just great, my first kiss is with a demon cosplaying as my crush.

When I pulled back, everything disappeared and was replaced immediately with a cave.

The cave looked familiar to me, so much so that I knew it inside out. I was kneeling in the centre of the cave and had my hands in front of me to support me. I slowly got up and stumbled towards the wall for support. Just as my hands hit the wall, Anu came in and looked at me, then towards where I had been not five minutes ago. I was standing next to the wall farthest from the mouth of the cave, where Anu was standing. I looked to where Anu was looking and saw six stones, each with its own aura. We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"You did it! I can't believe it, but they are right there!" She said, almost shouting, running towards me and pulled me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Ouch! Loosen the grip a bit please." I said, laughing slightly. I looked at the Infinity Stones again in disbelief.

"The gateway will open in three hours. What do we do till then?" Anu said, looking at me expectantly.

"Right now, all sanctums have banded together to fight Dormammu. If we take the stones to them, can we trust them to not take the power for themselves?" I asked Anu, who remained silent, giving me my answer.

"Let's get some rest. You have been up all night." Anu told me.

"So have you. Besides, knowing you, you'll put me to sleep and not sleep yourself. You sleep, I'll take the watch." I said.

She looked like she wanted to argue with me but just then, we heard footsteps in the tunnel leading to the cave. Soon, we were surrounded by koloks. Koloks are dog-like creatures that hold a piece of Dormammu's soul. They were hesitant to attack us, probably because they could sense the stones. I summoned the stones into my watch and got ready in case I had to use them. Koloks are dangerous, one bite or even a scratch would transfer Dormammu's soul into the victim. I didn't waste any time and tried to use the stones but they didn't work. Seeing that the stones didn't work, the koloks attacked us. I summoned my shields and started to defend myself. Anu also did the same and slowly, we started to go from defence to attack. The tide turned and I killed every kolok coming at me rather easily. They soon figured out that Anu was a softer target and changed course to charge at her. I noticed this very late and ran to help Anu but it was too late. A kolok bit Anu, who screamed. Seeing her in pain, something inside me snapped and I threw my shield at the koloks, vaporising every one of them. I ran to Anu and helped her up.

"It's okay," I said, summoning bandages from the first aid bag and started to treat her wound.

"What are you doing you, idiot?" Anu said, screaming with pain.

"Trying to stop the bleeding until I can figure out how to use the stones and heal you," I said before tearing off another piece of bandage with my teeth. Kolok wounds weren't treatable with normal supernatural medicines but they could be healed using the infinity stones. Of course, there were complications. Every kolok bite worked differently on every human. This made it hard to predict a window for treatment. I just had to hope for the best.

"Dabeet," Anu said, calmly. "I can feel the soul trying to fight mine. I can't hold it for long so listen to me." I looked into her eyes, stopping everything. "It's been an honour to fight alongside you. Be proud of yourself. You created the infinity stones themselves. The last Sorcerer Supreme saw leadership in you, so lead. I know you………"

She didn't finish. Her body went limp and before I even had a chance to register that, I felt her hands close around my neck.

When I looked at Anu, I didn't see the usual black eyes. Her eyes were pitch black, like what a black hole would look like.

"Dormammu," I said, trying to keep my emotions in control.

"So you are the one who has been making my life miserable. It would be a pleasure to kill you." Anu, no Dormammu, said. Anu's soft voice had been replaced by a raspy masculine voice.

"Don't steal my lines dude. Director! Cut!" I still don't know why I said that but at that time, it worked. Dormammu looked at me, confused. Taking advantage, I conjured a sword and swiped at him. He instinctively dropped me and rolled away from me. I landed on all fours but Dormammu wasn't used to Anu's body and took a while to recover.

I got up and got ready faster than him. Her? Them? Dormammu got up and saw me taking the warrior stance, I summoned the shields to my fist and extended my right fist forward while keeping my left behind for defence. My blue shields, I realised, were glowing brighter than usual. Dormammu didn't give me a chance to figure out what that meant. He conjured Anu's pink shields and charged at me.

I enlarged my shields and relocated them to the back of my palms and blocked his strike with my right hand. I switched the shield in my left to a sword almost instantly and attacked him. Dormammu rolled away from me with vampire speed. As he retreated, I switched the weapons to the other hand. I ran towards Dormammu and tried to stab him but he had gotten the hang of using a human body. He sidestepped and tried to sever my head with a sword, it was something I had seen coming. I ducked and conjured a shield into my right hand as I pushed myself towards his chest. I hit the mark and Dormammu lost balance. I immediately switched to swords and dual-wielded them to strike him. He conjured shields in defence which shattered when the swords made contact.

The blast blew us away in opposite directions. The impact made a hole in the ground we were standing on. Shockwaves had spread and compromised the integrity of the walls of the cave. As I got up, I realised that the cave would collapse with another attack like that. An idea came to me, one far dumber than stealing the infinity stones.

As an ignorant human, I didn't believe in the concept of God. When I had joined Kamar Taj, I had learnt that there was someone who was God and I hated him. At that moment, I prayed to the same God for the well-being of my favourite person. I looked at Dormammu and rage, hatred and love all took over me. Everything felt clearer. I channelled my anger into my shields, making them just strong enough to fight pink shields while maintaining the ability to best it.

My shields changed colour to Purple. Dormammu's expression changed when he saw them. I charged at him and everything felt heightened. My speed was greater, I felt more flexible and stronger too. I didn't even realise that I had vamped to Dormammu. When I reached him, we locked swords, none wanting to pull back now. We turned in a circle and soon I had my back to the mouth of the cave. I held the position and pushed Dormammu further into the cave. When he was a foot away from the wall of the cave, I looked into my best friend's eyes.

"I am sorry," I whispered, confusing Dormammu. I conjured a shield in my free hand and swiped it at the locked swords. Dormammu didn't realise what was about to happen until the shield hit our swords. The blast was stronger than the previous one. The blast knocked me towards the mouth of the cave and I landed on my back in the tunnel leading away from the cave. The rest of the cave crumbled. I don't know why the tunnel didn't crumble but had that happened, I wouldn't have lived long enough to type all of this. Soon, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I wasn't in a cave or even in Hell, I was in a dorm room.

Three days ago

"Nothing here. Thousands of books and nothing about transversing through dimensions." I was frustrated and threw the book at the bookshelf opposite me. Dawar looked at me with concern and weariness. We had been cooped up in here for the past week and a half, leaving occasionally to get some food and rest. Caroline had been asked by Master Khan, my ex-mentor, not to interrupt us. The week after the battle in the warehouse, I was barely able to get up. The day that I didn't feel dead, I had made my way to the library. In the week of my absence, Dawar had coordinated with Master Khan and shifted the SF headquarters to the Sanctorium along with a fully stocked library. As promised, Caroline also received Masters who were teaching chosen students Helreich magic, headed by Master Khan.

"Well, what if he isn't transversing dimensions?" Dawar asked me. He made a valid point. When I had woken up, I had come to the library to search for anything about vampire speed. Dawar had found me first and had breathed a sigh of relief. When Elena couldn't find me in the sickbay, she had activated the search protocol, designed to ensure I wasn't taken away by Viraj. I had to then explain to him about my need to be faster than Viraj. Upon hearing that, Dawar gave me a confused look and proceeded to clarify that they hadn't seen Viraj move. They had just blinked and seen him next to me. I had been dumbfounded and worked out the theory that he used an alternate dimension where the time went slow without the need of a portal. We had been in the library to try and figure out how.

"He has to, it's the only possibility," I said, closing my eyes.

"What if it's something only Dormammu's followers can do?" Dawar persisted.

We stayed in silence until we heard the door of the library open.

"Whatever you boys have been busy doing can be made faster if you just ask for help." I heard Master Khan. Teamwork was his motto and he ensured to drill it into every mentee he has ever had.

"We are here, master," Dawar replied to master Khan.

He appeared in our aisle just as Dawar finished speaking. Master Khan was a short, balding, brown-skinned man. He was fifty but could still take almost all of Kamar Taj singlehanded.

"Master." I nodded my head politely while Dawar bowed slightly.

"Supreme one." Master Khan replied.

"You don't need to bow to me, Master," I said as I noticed him getting ready to bow.

"And you don't need to call me Master." He said, standing straight.

"Dawar, could you please go and get me a status on the Afghanistan Sanctum?" I asked him.

"Okay. Master." He greeted Master Khan before leaving.

Once he was out of ear-shot, I said, "I call you Master because you are the only one on the Council of Elders that I trust and also because I look up to you the most."

"I am honoured you feel that way and since you brought up the council, I feel obligated to inform you that they think you should look for a confrontation with Viraj." Master Khan said as I started looking for another book.

"How do you feel about the 'wise' suggestion?" I said opening a book I found.

"I feel that it's garbage and I let the council know that. But, beta, you should let me help with your research."

I shut my book and put it back. Looking into Master Khan's eyes, I said "Dawar told you, didn't he?"

"As a matter of fact, he did. He told me about your theory and I have to say, you figured it out quite fast." He replied smiling.

"So I am right?" As I said that, I felt like the same fifteen-year-old that used to be the worst at Kamar Taj.

"Yes. But you are searching for it in the wrong place."

"Oh, okay then I'll just head to the North Korean sanctum and ask Viraj how he does what he does," I said sarcastically.

"I meant you need to search for the solution in another section and not in the Vampire section." He said patiently.

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" I said feeling frustrated.

Master Khan sighed and continued, "Well, Viraj was practising dark magic. The magic used to follow the path of Dormammu."

"Dormammu is the anti-god. Sort of like the original devil…." I said, finally understanding what the Master was trying to tell me. I rushed to the Devil section and started searching while Master Khan helped.

"Found it." He said, taking a book out and handing it to me. I quickly opened it and started reading.

I skimmed until I found what I was searching for and started reading aloud, "While Lucifer may be thought of as the angel turned devil, Dormammu may be known as the original devil. Both have distinct powers and while it is impossible to know everything about everyone, we know quite a bit about Lucifer whereas little to nothing about the original devil. One power that the original devil had that Lucifer doesn't is the ability to seamlessly move through dimensions." I finished and looked at Master Khan, my brain felt like it had just gotten a load of Red Bull, "It makes sense, Lucifer and the other angels cannot do magic and therefore can't move through dimensions. Dormammu can go through dimensions seamlessly. At least I know that now."

"If Viraj can travel through dimensions like Dormammu and you can create things like God can, isn't it possible that you can do other things God could do?" Master Khan asked me.

"It is." I said, looking at him, "But how do I unlock all that power?"

"I think Viraj was able to unlock his potential in the first go because he is sure of himself. I know you think you too are but there might be something you missed. I took the liberty to find out what Viraj was doing in the weeks leading up to the battle of the warehouse. He visited the Simithi Coven….."

"Which specialises in testing oneself." I finished while interrupting the master. Earlier it would have gotten me punished, however, we just stood there looking at each other. I knew who I needed to go to now.

It took some time but Chhaya agreed to conduct the test on me under the condition that the Simithi Coven be allowed to learn Helreich magic. I had to bargain it down to giving the Coven a place on the Council of Elders before she started the test on me. I was under the test for three days before I woke up to find the Sanctorium under attack.

When I woke up, I remembered everything that had happened until I lost consciousness in the test. Chhaya ran towards me when I stumbled out of the bed. My nose was bleeding and I felt like I had just run a hundred kilometres (sixty-two miles for you Americans).

"What's going on?" I asked Chhaya while taking support from her. I could hear footsteps, explosions and grunts of pain from outside.

"The day you went under the test, Viraj put a siege on us. For two days, Master Khan and Dawar tried to negotiate with Viraj. Today he lost patience and attacked us. Thankfully, Master Khan was prepared for it. He managed to bring in hundreds of sorcerers to protect the school." She explained as she helped me to a chair. After ensuring that I could balance myself, she went to the side table and came back with a syringe and vial.

"What's that for?" I asked her in a daze.

"The stuff I used to put you under makes you dizzy. This is something that will take that dizziness away." She said taking the liquid into the syringe.

"Ouch!" I yelped when she stuck the needle into my arm.

"Sorry." She replied without a hint of apology in her voice. "You need to hurry. Master Khan is fighting Viraj. You have been under the test for three days, I hope you figured out whatever you had to because if not, we are done for."

I stood up after she was done speaking and looked at her. I felt different as though something was trying to burst through me, something I always knew existed but never dared to use it. I vamped out of the door while Chhaya followed me.

Within seconds I had reached the common room and was looking at the fight going on there. Klaus, Caroline and Elijah had teamed up to fight off two sorcerers I recognised as Kim Jong Un's private guards. Behind them, next to the fireplace, Elena, Damon and Stefan were ushering the kids into a safe room magically built by Master Khan. I shifted my attention back to the sorcerers and shut my eyes, focusing on the throbbing energy in my gut. I could sense the potential and I let a little of it leak. I opened my eyes as I vamped towards the two sorcerers at a faster pace than before. I grabbed their shirt collars from the back and threw them towards the wall behind me. One of them died on impact after crushing his spine, the other was severely injured and tried to conjure a shield but before he could succeed, I stabbed him. I turned to Klaus.

"Where's Viraj?" I asked him.

"I don't know. He was fighting Khan near the woods. Hope, Hayley, Josie and Lizzie were helping Khan." He said, sounding anxious. I nodded my head and vamped out of the school. While vamping I allowed a little more of the energy into me and started to help every friendly sorcerer in my way. Seeing me, most of the dark sorcerers closed in on me but every time they succeeded in isolating me, I allowed a little more energy to flow and literally blew the sorcerers apart. Soon, the tide turned and our side had higher morale. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Hayley fighting a sorcerer. She tried to punch the sorceress, who just sidestepped and punched Hayley. Hayley lost her balance and fell but before the sorceress could finish her kill, I vamped in front of her and tore her heart out. I dropped the heart and helped Hayley up. Her face was covered in blood, most of which had dried up.

"Where's Viraj?" I asked her. I had to lean next to her ear because of the noise around us.

"The waterfall. Freya was tracking Hope and she lost connection there." She said next to my ear. I felt an instinct and extended my hand. Hayley looked at me confused and put her hand on mine, I put my free hand on her hand and shut my eyes. I concentrated on the energy in me and focused it on my hands. I heard Hayley gasp in pain but I pushed through. When I opened my eyes, I saw the werewolf pupils in her eyes glow and then go back to normal.

"A nice night for a werewolf don't you think?" I said smiling even though there was no full moon. Hayley smirked before I turned and vamped away from her. I made it through half the woods when I heard the howling of a wolf. I smiled to myself, I was no way near releasing the true potential in me but I knew it was already awesome.

When I reached the waterfall, I couldn't see anyone there. I concentrated on my potential again and released a little more. When I opened my eyes, I stumbled and had to catch my breath but it paid off. My ears caught the scream of a girl. I vamped towards the sound. I reached a clearing and what I saw caught my breath, not in a good way.

Viraj was fighting Master Khan, Dawar and Hope and he was laughing. Lizzie and Josie were cut up and were pinned to trees with red blades going through their shoulders. When I looked at Viraj, I realised he wasn't laughing anymore. Hope was taking the lead and kept throwing punches and used magic to use the trees around to smack him. Master Khan and Dawar blocked Viraj's strikes and pushed him back. If Viraj had not been as strong as he is, I would have died laughing there. The trio's luck didn't hold, Viraj transversed and threw Dawar and Master Khan away. Hope, who was behind him, tried to attack Viraj but he transversed again and appeared behind Hope. He got a good hold of her neck and threw her behind. Her neck didn't snap but she lost her balance and had to stop to catch her breath. Viraj stopped to admire his handy work and looked around, I went behind a tree and moved towards the trees facing Viraj. When I reached the trees, I placed a cloaking spell on myself. I can't explain why I felt I needed to delay my intervention.

"It's a shame Mikaelson, you could have lived and so could your family. But you had to side with these deadbeat sorcerers and now………you will die." Viraj said. He conjured his red swords and turned them into throwing knives as he threw them towards Hope. Instinctively, I made an arrow with magic and fired it towards the knives. The three weapons intercepted each other a foot away from Hope but I was prepared. I vamped to Hope, made a shield in front of us and pushed her away from there. The shield absorbed enough ripples of the blast that they didn't harm me and Hope. My cloaking spell, however, disappeared. When the dust settled, Viraj saw me and his expression turned to worry.

No turning back. You suppressed a lot of power you received when your shields turned purple. You know what you need to do. I heard Master Khan say in my head. Unleash hell. I replied. Telepathy had always been tricky for me, now, nothing was tricky. It was all clear. I looked Viraj in the eyes and asked him a silent question, What are you going to do?

Viraj conjured his shields and took the warrior pose, in response. I decided to do something different. I took a pose similar to the warrior but the only notable difference was that my thumb, index and pinky fingers were extended. We started circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Viraj grew impatient and attacked first. He changed his left shield into a sword to swipe at me, I blocked it and used my left leg to kick his undefended right. The kick made contact on his gut and he stumbled to the left in pain and I stepped back. I took my pose again while Viraj recovered and took the pose again. We started circling each other again and Viraj remained patient. I charged at him with dual blades and he got ready to defend. A foot away from him, I jumped and somersaulted over him. I kicked him and this time, I didn't stop, I went on the offensive using both swords to attack him. I slashed with my right sword while throwing my weight behind the strike. He sidestepped to my right but didn't expect me to turn around anti-clockwise and strike him with my left sword. He blocked it in the nick of time. I again somersaulted over him and tried to stab him with my dominant hand. When he managed to evade the strike and attempted to attack me from the left, I turned my left sword to a shield and blocked it. The impact forced me onto my knees while it threw Viraj five feet away from me. He fell on his back, I immediately vanished my sword and shield and made an arrow. Before I could fire it, Viraj got up, snarled at me and threw a shield at me. I fired the arrow and intercepted the shield halfway between us. I didn't wait, I vamped through the smoke from the smoke and threw a punch at Viraj. He stepped behind and I pulled back as he started his assault. I blocked most of his punches until he kicked me in the chest. I lost balance and Viraj, not one to lose an opportunity, transversed. I could see the trail but it was in a circle. Suddenly, I felt a punch in my back, when I turned, I felt another attack on my back. I yelped in pain as the assault continued. I tried to jump over and escape, except Viraj was ready for that. He pulled me back into the circle and continued his attacks.

I curled up into a ball and shut my eyes. Remember that strength, my inner thought said. It was like a bulb in the darkness. I let go and yelled in anger. Viraj was sent flying and the rest stumbled as energy was expelled from me. When I regained control of my senses, I felt extremely different. Strength flowed in my muscles that was humanly impossible. My eyes were sharper and I could hear and smell more than any vampire, werewolf or other animal. I could sense the heat of the day, the coolness of the wind and, later Dawar would tell me, my eyes glowed purple. An aura surrounded me that glowed purple. The best features were the purple wings on my back. When I looked at Viraj, I could sense the fear in him. I sped towards him.

Flying is often faster than running, combine that with the speed of an original vampire and no one could compete. That is what Viraj must have felt like as he saw me fly and pick him up. He thrashed around punching me, but I didn't feel any pain. Once we were high enough, I dropped him and he tried to grow wings but failed. I sped towards him and reached him to punch him once for every time he punched me and then some. When we were a couple of feet above the ground, I pulled up and Viraj fell, making a small crater on impact. I landed next to him and all around us, people appeared. Sorcerers that were loyal to me and students, teachers and others from the Salvatore School. Viraj tried to get up but I pushed him back with my feet. I conjured a sword and put it next to his neck because of which he stopped resisting. I leaned towards him.

"Do you know why you lost? Because Dormammu wants humans to do his bidding. God, for all his stupidity, cares about us. That's why I became an angel while you will rot in prison if I don't kill you first." I whispered into his ear.

He nodded and I stepped away from him. Two sorcerers came to take him away. I looked at Master Khan who nodded. Dawar kneeled.

"The Sorcerer Supreme. Kamar Taj bow to your guide, protector and eternal master." He shouted. As if on cue, every sorcerer, vampire, witch, werewolf and human present kneeled. Earlier if Dawar had done something like this, it would have been a joke. At that moment, it was genuine and I, for the first time, believed it. I collapsed my wings.

"FOR EARTH!" I said and everyone repeated it using magic to make fireworks in the sky.

Two months later

"I mean she is so young and I wanted to send her to a normal school," Chloe said. We were in Caroline's office, I was sitting next to Chloe and Caroline was on the other end of the desk.

"She is. But she is also an angel. We will take care of her Chloe. Rest assured." I said. After the battle, the Salvatore School had decided to remain the Sanctorium and under Kamar Taj, they had flourished. I had persuaded Caroline to accept half human and half angels. She had agreed. Charlie, Amenadiel and Linda's son, was already assured of a place. We just had to convince Chloe, Lucifer's girlfriend, to allow the infant in her arms, Aurora, to come here for training. It took some time but she agreed. While Caroline helped Chloe with paperwork, I headed to the gym. I wasn't the only one. I saw Hope beat a punchbag senseless.

"How's your family?" I called out.

She turned, nodded her head in greeting and replied, "They are okay. That reminds me, they have a party next week and would appreciate your presence."

"It would be my pleasure," I said. "But it would be awkward if I didn't have a date," I smirked. Hope rolled her eyes at me and went back to hitting the bag. I held the bag in place while she continued.

"Well, we could go together if you want." She said after some time. She looked at me curiously. Anyone else would have stumbled but not me.

"It's a date then," I said smiling. She smiled and continued her workout. After some time we got bored and sparred with each other. I won of course and it may have turned into a make-out session which she may have won. After that, I didn't look back ever.