Chapter 1
Setting: Season 2 premiere. Hope sees Landon and Josie kissing, but Josie feels like someone is watching them and looks around mid-kiss to see Hope. Drama ensues.
Hope went through the trees looking for someone, anyone who might still be at the school. She had to find her friends and ... well, she didn't know what she was going to do after that, but it didn't matter - she had to see them. At the edge of the trees, she came out upon the section of the grounds near the old mill and saw something she'd never thought she'd see. Landon and Josie standing in front of a projector with an old movie playing, a sheet spread out on the ground in front of them where they'd clearly been sitting a moment ago. Landon was caressing Josie's cheek, and looking at her like he was about to kiss her. She was looking back at him with the same expression. And then they kissed, and Hope could hear her heart break into a million pieces. Her chest heaved, and an anguished look descended upon her beautiful features. Despite her familiarity with pain, she'd never even known it was possible to feel this much pain and anguish.
Josie sensed something was off almost the moment Landon kissed her. She felt like someone was watching them from the edge of the grounds. So, even though she most certainly did not want to, she looked around mid-kiss and saw something. A girl was standing in front of the trees at the edge of the grounds - a girl who she could swear she'd never seen before in her life but was somehow strangely familiar. Her chest was heaving and she looked like she was going through more pain than Josie could ever understand. Ten lifetimes' worth of anguish was visible on her features. With a start, Josie realized that she'd had the same look on her face when she saw Penelope kissing MG an year ago. The look that a person would have if they saw someone they loved kissing someone else. With another start, she realized that the reason why the girl felt strangely familiar was probably that she was one of the people who'd disappeared at the Malivore pit that night - after all, they couldn't even remember the two missing persons but it'd been fairly clear that whoever they were, the Salvatore students had to have known them. That was enough for her to break away abruptly.
"What's wrong?" Landon asked, clearly thrown off by her suddenly breaking apart from him.
Josie would've gestured but she didn't want to scare the girl away. Landon followed her gaze and his eyes landed upon the girl.
"That's the girl I see every time I die." He breathed, shocked.
Josie whipped her head around to glare at him.
"And you didn't think to tell me that before you set up a date with me?" Landon looked at her, puzzled. "Landon, she's clearly important to you. You know that there were two people who disappeared that night at the pit - two people we probably know, but can't remember. I could swear I've never seen her before in my life, but she still somehow seems strangely familiar. She looks like she just stumbled upon her boyfriend kissing another girl. You should've said something."
"And how could I possibly have known that she was an old girlfriend? It's not necessary that being important to me would mean being my girlfriend."
"Fair enough." Josie admitted. "But now we have a massive problem on our hands." She turned around and got a massive shock. The girl was gone. She turned back to Landon.
"Look, Landon, I know this isn't what either of us wanted, but now I have to go find her. I can't just let her go away somewhere broken-hearted like that. Can you please just wait here while I go look for her?"
Landon nodded reluctantly.
Josie placed an apologetic hand on his arm and then ran off into the trees looking for the mysterious girl.
It was a few minutes before she saw the girl, walking away as fast as she could.
"Hey!" Josie called, hoping she'd stop in her tracks. The girl ignored her and started moving faster. Josie was struggling to keep up.
"Hey, please just wait!" Josie was running as fast as she could, but the distance between them kept increasing. She stopped for a second to catch her breath and then pushed herself to the limit. Her legs were beginning to tire. But now she was beginning to close in. Slowly, excruciatingly, Josie closed the distance between them until she was an arm's length away from the girl. Even though the girl's face was turned away from her, Josie could feel the anguish on her face.
"Hey." Josie said softly but firmly, taking the girl's arm. The girl finally stopped and turned around to face Josie. She was still crying, tear streaks visible on her face, and the expression in her eyes broke Josie's heart a little.
"I know I'm probably the last person you wanna see right now, given that I probably just kissed your boyfriend - "
"I saw you. You didn't initiate it, he did." The girl said, closing her eyes in anguish. Then she opened her eyes again, a puzzled look on her face. "How did you figure out - "
"Trust me, I know what it feels like when you see the person you love with someone else." Josie explained heavily. "I'd recognize that look anywhere. And Landon says he sees you every time he dies, which means you're clearly important to him."
The girl bowed her head.
"You were there that night with Malivore, weren't you?" Josie asked softly.
The girl inclined her head backwards, anguish still visible on her face, and almost imperceptibly quirked her head - Josie realized with a start that that was a gesture of assent. She knew this girl.
"How did you - "
"There was an empty room at the school, and we found the DNA of two missing persons at the scene. And even though I could swear I've never seen you before in my life, you seem strangely familiar. We know Malivore takes away memories, which can only mean one thing - you were one of the people there that night."
The girl didn't respond and looked away as if she was thinking of leaving.
"Hey, look, you can't just leave, all right? I know our memories of you are gone, but once we figure out more about how all this works, we can get them back. We can have your room made up. I'll call my dad and we can figure this all out. You don't have to go through this alone."
"My being here won't bring you anything but pain. I can't let that happen. It's just who I am."
"And you know who I am." Josie said quietly. "I'd never let you leave in pain and try to deal with something like this all alone." She took the girl's hands in hers. "Come on. I'll ask someone to fix up your room. We'll go talk to Professor Williams, and get him to call my dad so we can figure this all out."
The girl closed her eyes in anguish. They stood there for a few minutes, Josie involuntarily caressing the girl's hands. She was clearly someone Josie had really cared about before her disappearance. The girl opened her eyes and bowed her head in a gesture of assent. Josie began walking back through the trees, holding hands with the mysterious girl.
They came to the edge of the trees. Landon was still there waiting for them.
"Hey." Josie said heavily. "We're gonna go get her room fixed up and talk to Professor Williams, so he can get my dad and we can figure out what's going on. You should probably come with us."
Landon fell into step a little behind them, although he shot a confused glance at the two girls before doing so.
They walked back to the school building and through the hallways to the headmaster's office. Josie knocked softly on the door.
"Come in." Professor Williams called.
They entered.
Professor Williams furrowed his brow.
"You're the girl who came here earlier today saying you were looking for a boy." He said, puzzled.
The girl bowed her head. Josie took over and explained.
"Um, Professor Williams. You remember that we found the DNA of two missing persons at the Malivore pit?"
"Yeah." He responded, still puzzled.
"Well, she came to the school again, and, I could swear I've never seen her before in my life, but she seems strangely familiar. We know that Malivore removes memories. And we know that there's an empty room upstairs which means one of the people who disappeared was a Salvatore student. I think it's her."
"Okay, but if that was the case, Miss ..."
"It's not my real name, but I've gone by it before, so Marshall is just fine." The girl said heavily.
"Okay, that's twice you've just kept something from us for no apparent reason."
"The first time around, you didn't remember me, and you'd probably find it really suspicious if I claimed to be a student you'd completely forgotten about, and my real name could be a huge red flag for you because you don't know me right now."
Professor Williams furrowed his brow further.
"Professor Williams." Josie said urgently. "Does she seem at all familiar to you, like from before you met earlier today?" Landon was watching the entire interaction, perplexed.
Professor Williams sighed heavily.
"Yeah." He responded. "Look, Ms Marshall, if you really are a Salvatore student like you say you are, why all the secrecy?"
"I'll explain everything, but ..."
Something clicked in Josie's mind. Professor Williams had only been in charge for a few days, after all - her dad had been Headmaster when the girl had disappeared. And the room - it had been cleared of all belongings, and her father had been the only one who'd gone anywhere near there - she remembered him saying he had something to deal with and then going off in that direction after they'd gotten rid of Triad. It made sense - a room with no belongings would've raised questions, questions that would've persisted unless her father had explained the situation away. That meant her father had been close to this girl.
"You were close to my dad, weren't you?" Josie asked softly. The girl bowed her head. "With all due respect, Professor Williams, I think she'd prefer to talk to my dad."
Professor Williams raised an eyebrow.
"O-kay." He said slowly.
"Can we get someone to have her room fixed up for her too?" Josie asked quietly.
"Yeah." Professor Williams said heavily and somewhat reluctantly. "I'll do that, and I'll call Ric."
Landon was still quite perplexed.
A few minutes later, Alaric's phone rang. It was Dorian.
"Hey."
"Ric, you remember those two people who disappeared from the scene at the Malivore pit?"
"Yeah." Alaric responded, puzzled.
"Well, it looks like we found one of them - a Salvatore student going by the surname Marshall. She's here right now, and apparently she won't talk to me but she'll talk to you." Alaric could hear Dorian shaking his head at the other end of the line. "Josie and Landon both say that even though they've never seen her before, she seems strangely familiar, and if I'm being honest, it looks like that to me too. You should probably come over here and see for yourself."
"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."
A few minutes later, Alaric walked into the headmaster's office. Dorian was sitting in the headmaster's chair and Josie, Landon and the mysterious girl were sitting in front of him. Alaric had to admit, she looked familiar. Of course, there were more reliable ways of knowing whether that was actually true, but if his daughter thought she seemed familiar, it was worth at least some consideration. Dorian had kept another chair in front of the three teenagers. Alaric sat down.
"Well, Ms. Marshall, you asked for me and here I am. Now, if you really were there that night at the Malivore pit, you could probably clear up a few things for me."
"Okay." She responded.
"What happened that night?"
She sighed heavily.
"I know it must've been traumatic." He said, keeping his tone carefully reassuring. "But unless we know what happened, we can't fix this. As far as I understand it, all your loved ones have forgotten you, which must feel like you died in a different and much more painful way than if you'd died entering the pit." Her expression hardened and became set in pain. He knew that look. He definitely knew her. "All of us clearly knew you, and I get the feeling you were close to Josie, which means we knew you well. You don't need to worry - we just want to help you."
"It's not that simple." The girl said abruptly. "You knew me, but right now you don't know me - and my real name, like I said, could be a huge red flag for you."
"So Marshall is not your real surname."
"No. It was my mother's surname but I always had my father's surname - and my father, in particular, is someone who you despised."
"You're gonna have to be a lot more specific than that. As a vampire hunter, I had a lot of vampire enemies, so if your father was a vampire, it's practically guaranteed that he and I tangled at some point. It's part of the reason why I prefer recruiting supernaturals with little or no immediate vampire family to speak of." Josie raised her eyebrows sharply - Alaric ignored her. "Look, if you really are a Salvatore student like you say you are, and we forgot you because of Malivore, you should be confident that we'd want nothing more than to help you. The whole point of the Salvatore School is to take in students who have the potential for great evil but whose potential for great good can be achieved if they're trained properly. No matter who your father was, I'd have accepted you as a student, and you need to be sure I'll do the same now - even if I don't currently know who he was."
"Klaus Mikaelson." The girl said abruptly. She seemed convinced Alaric would immediately demand she get out of Mystic Falls or something.
Landon nearly fell off his chair - that name was very familiar to him (Klaus was after all important enough to have an entire book dedicated to him in the library), even if he didn't remember this daughter of Klaus's who he'd apparently been dating. He could tell now that they'd been dating - some of the feelings he had for her were starting to come back, but he still couldn't remember her - really remember her, that is.
Josie was shocked but not all that surprised. She knew about the Mikaelsons because they were well-known in the supernatural world, but she didn't know much beyond that, likely because whatever it was that she'd ever known beyond that had disappeared with her memories of the girl. She knew the Mikaelsons had a bad reputation, but she had an implicit trust in the girl - but then, she clearly cared deeply about her, and she'd been brought up to trust in the good people had deep within themselves, rather than what was said about them. She understood the girl's impulse to keep her family a secret now, though - her father hated Klaus Mikaelson, and although she knew he'd never reject anyone who came to be a student, she knew it was unlikely that he'd react favourably to a Mikaelson. She squeezed the girl's hand softly in support.
Alaric, for his part, had a bit of a shock. He had refused to believe in Klaus Mikaelson's redemption when he'd shown up to convince him and Caroline to kill him while he still had the Hollow in him. He'd never trusted Klaus, or held anything beyond dislike and contempt for him - the man had been one of the worst people to ever exist in the history of the world, as far as Alaric was concerned. But while that made him wary, he reminded himself sharply that he and Caroline had made a commitment - they'd accept students with the greatest potential for evil, and they would give them an education that would focus on amplifying their best qualities (love, caring, compassion, whatever they could find within themselves) - and they'd teach them to go out into the world and be heroes instead of the villains they or others might assume them destined to be.
But there was another reason Alaric was shocked. Klaus Mikaelson was one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the world. And the surname Marshall - well, it had to be - there were few other women named Marshall who could've been around Klaus when this girl was conceived if his estimate of her age as somewhere around 17 was correct. Hayley Marshall, the Alpha of the Crescent werewolf pack who had had a storied relationship with the entire Mystic Falls gang, had been rumored to have had some sort of a thing with Klaus. He supposed that was how Malivore's memory erasure would work, too - the rumor had been correct and they'd had a child, but due to the erasure they only knew it as a rumor. How would that even work? Klaus was a vampire, he couldn't have children. Was this girl lying? He trusted that she wasn't, almost implicitly - but he had to make sure. How on earth could Klaus Mikaelson have had a child?
"Klaus Mikaelson was a vampire. Vampires can't have children. How could you be his daughter?"
The girl bowed her head.
"That's another thing Malivore has erased from your memories. He wasn't just a vampire - he was a hybrid. The Original Hybrid. His father was a werewolf, not the Viking Mikael. His mother - my grandmother - kept his werewolf nature suppressed, but he found a way to activate it."
The Original Hybrid? That sounded way too fantastical.
"I know I said we're going to try our best to help you, but for God's sake, this is ridiculous. I went up against Klaus Mikaelson quite a few times. If he was a hybrid, I of all people would've known. How could he have been a hybrid without me knowing?"
"When Malivore erases someone from your memories, they're gone completely. Anything and everything that connects to them in your mind is gone. You knew my father very well, and you knew my mother too. There was only one woman named Marshall who could've been around my father at the time when I was conceived - you knew Hayley Marshall, you know she was around my dad at the time and there were rumors that they were together for some time, and you can probably tell I'm around 17 years of age. If my dad being a hybrid hadn't been wiped from your memories, you could've figured out that hypothetically, my dad could've had a child - and Malivore's memory erasure doesn't work like that - it's foolproof."
Alaric trusted his daughter, and if Josie trusted this girl, he trusted this girl. He'd seen Josie squeeze the girl's hand in support, and he'd have to be blind not to see that Josie was trying her best to be a reassuring presence for the girl. So, even if the girl's story sounded a bit ridiculous, he believed her.
But something still bothered him. If Klaus was a vampire-werewolf hybrid, how would that even work? What would she inherit, if anything, from him in terms of supernatural abilities?
The girl knew what he was going to ask before he asked it.
"The whole story starts with Esther Mikaelson, my grandmother. She was a witch, and initially, my father and his siblings were all witches since they were her children. But after they were turned, they lost their witch abilities and became vampires. When my father killed someone for the first time, he activated his werewolf side but Mikael, my step-grandfather, had my grandmother suppress his werewolf side. Eventually he activated it again. So, when I inherited magical abilities from my parents, I inherited my father's vampire side and my grandmother's magic. And I inherited werewolf abilities from my mother. That makes me a hybrid of all three species - a Tribrid. Well, not a full Tribrid - I'd have to die to activate my vampire side, which I'm guessing has something to do with why things happened the way they did that night."
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked.
The girl glanced at Landon for a second. It had been years and years, but Alaric still remembered the way he used to look at Jo - the girl was clearly as much in love with Landon as he had been with Jo back then. That kind of love was rare, and to have that when she was a teenager - while living at this school with its constant threats of Malivore and monsters - most of which he admittedly should've been much better at dealing with. Although Landon seemed somewhat perplexed (which was natural, given that he didn't remember the girl at this point), some of the same feelings were visible in his face. Landon had been there that night, and they'd all given him the credit for destroying Malivore. What had really happened there that night? What was the girl's role? What the hell was going on here?
"Landon, I know you don't remember me right now, or anything that happened that night." The girl said, addressing Landon, who looked back at her, emotions chasing each other across his features. "And what I have to say about that might be very disturbing. If you don't want me to say anything, I won't say anything."
"I trust you." Landon responded quietly, smiling slightly at her. "I know there's seemingly no earthly reason why I should, but I trust you. And the sooner we all find out the truth, the better."
She nodded, squeezing one of her cheeks wistfully and a little sadly. Then she turned back to Alaric. Josie squeezed her hand softly in support again, and the girl smiled softly at her, her expression grateful.
"Malivore isn't just a black pit that can erase people from existence. Long ago, a witch, a werewolf and a vampire combined their blood with black magic to create a golem to get rid of monsters like dragons that used to exist in the world back then. He had a symbol on his forehead, and wiping it away would return him to mud, and that was what the Triad planned to do - but it was not to be. The golem was given the name 'Eater of the Dark' or 'Malivore' by the grateful humans who worshipped him as a god for saving them from the monsters and formed a secret society dedicated to worshipping him called Triad, after the three supernaturals who created him. But he became too powerful, and started dreaming of creating a species like himself. He made some attempts, the only successful one being a golem named Ryan Clarke, who could take on human form. Clarke joined forces with the descendants of the humans who had formed Triad, and they recruited witches. Clarke delivered Malivore to them, and the witches used black magic and three artifacts to turn Malivore back to mud, locking him into a form which was clearly recognizable as a black pit, which possessed the same abilities of removing monsters from existence as Malivore himself. Triad evolved into a company named Triad Industries which began using the pit to keep the world safe against all kinds of monsters. But they grew drunk on the power (eradicating anyone who was a threat, supernatural or human), and Clarke began working for his father again. At some point, Triad recruited a military veteran named Seylah Chelon, who they hired as an assassin for the monsters. Seylah realized that she couldn't remember the monsters once they were thrown in the pit. She started keeping detailed notes, and when they found out, they threw her in the pit too." Here, the girl stopped and started fidgeting with the hem of her jacket, getting extremely agitated.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Josie asked softly, placing an arm around the girl.
The girl looked back at Landon again, anguish flooding her face. Landon looked back at her in concern.
"Is it something to do with me?" He questioned. The girl nodded. "What is it?"
She closed her eyes in anguish. When she opened them again, her face was set in determination.
"I kept this from you once, Landon, and I've been regretting it ever since. This whole saga started when you found out ... what I'd kept from you. That night - it probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't kept it a secret and just told you when I found out." The girl started crying softly, and Josie placed her arms around her, and caressed the girl's arms gently, trying to comfort her.
"Hey, listen." Landon said, gently squeezing her shoulder. "I don't remember what happened that night but whatever it was, I know it was much bigger than what any one person did. You can't blame yourself for that, all right? It's not your fault."
The girl squeezed her eyes shut in anguish but she seemed somewhat comforted by Landon's words and his comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Well then, I guess I should just say it." She said after a second, wiping away her tears. "Seylah is your mother, Landon."
Whatever Landon had been expecting, it certainly wasn't this. He looked flabbergasted.
"So, let me see if I got this right. My mother is an international assassin who specializes in killing monsters?" The girl nodded. "That is awesome." He said, chuckling in amazement. The girl laughed softly in spite of herself. "So why were you so afraid to tell me that?" He questioned.
"Because I haven't told you about your father yet." The girl said softly. Landon seemed unsure as to how to react to that. She continued. "I don't know how else to say this. Malivore is your father, Landon."
Landon was completely thrown off by that statement. It took him a while to recover. When he did, he responded in a way that the girl clearly hadn't expected. "First of all, gross." She started laughing heartily, allowing some amusement to actually show on her face, which up until now had mostly borne a tortured expression. "Second of all, how the hell did that even happen? Isn't he just a mud robot?"
"He used to be." The girl said, chuckling softly. "But he got DNA and memories and experiences from each monster he absorbed, and that made him more sentient and self-aware until he became truly alive. That's why he and Clarke had their falling-out. Clarke was just a golem, and now Malivore wanted a real human child. That was you."
"So, what, my mother became pregnant in the pit? Again, gross." He said, causing the girl to dissolve into laughter again.
"Hey, I don't make the rules." She said, chuckling softly. "All I know is, Seylah went into the pit, and sometime afterwards she came out at a different place entirely, pregnant with you. She was worried about Triad tracking you and her down, so she gave you away to a local church and went into hiding."
Landon's expression was a mix of anger and understanding.
"I understand why she did it, but I can't help but feel like she abandoned me."
"I basically accused her of that." The girl said, her lower lip trembling. "I and Dr. Saltzman both tried to convince her to stay because she was your mother and you'd found her after so long almost by chance - but she believed she wasn't cut out to be a mother and you'd be better off not remembering her. And she knew if she sacrificed herself to Malivore, Triad finding you would be much less likely, so ... " At this point, the girl started crying again.
"She sacrificed herself to Malivore to save me?" Landon asked, horrified.
"Yeah." The girl said simply. "She did. And everyone forgot her. Everyone except ... me."
Landon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"After Seylah disappeared into Malivore, I found out that I still remembered her - all my memories of her were still intact - but yours weren't. You were convinced, as was the only other person who knew anything about the whole saga - Dr. Saltzman - that you'd come to find her but it turned out she was dead. I didn't have the heart to tell you that you had found her, after all those years, and almost by chance, only to lose her all over again - without even knowing that you'd lost her. So I kept it from you. And then you found out, and I realized I would've caused you much less pain if I'd just told you the truth in the first place." The girl was sobbing now, her chest heaving in pain.
Landon was silent for a few seconds.
"Well, you definitely should've told me." He said, although he wasn't really reproaching her. "But I can understand that it must've been a really painful decision for you, too - and if you made the wrong decision, you can't keep blaming yourself for it and everything that could possibly have happened because of it - you're a kid just like us, you're gonna make mistakes." He squeezed her shoulder gently again.
"Well, hold that thought, because I made a bunch of other mistakes I haven't told you about." The girl responded, regret flooding her voice.
Josie caressed the girl's arm, trying to comfort her.
"Whatever those mistakes were, we're here for you." She said firmly. "You can't keep punishing yourself. What you can do is tell us everything so we can figure out a way to move forward. All right?" She squeezed the girl's hand gently.
The girl nodded, smiling gratefully at Josie. She then returned to her story.
"After you found out, Landon, you left the school building and went for a walk. A Triad agent was at the school, and we had no idea. The agent was leaving the school and she found you and took you captive. We tried our best to find you, but we had no idea where you were. I finally figured out that you were at Triad, and we were going to go there and get you out, when they attacked the school. I finally managed to sneak out and got to Triad. There, things got really bad." The girl started hyperventilating. Josie immediately recognized the symptoms.
"Hey, look at me." She said to the girl. The girl turned around and fixed her eyes on Josie's. "You're having a panic attack. Just ... breathe, alright? Close your eyes and breathe. Just like me." She demonstrated, and the girl followed along after a moment's hesitation. Landon steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. Josie was momentarily struck by the fact that this hadn't really been an ordinary teenage relationship - the one between Landon and this girl. She'd only ever known about what was called "epic love" from movies and her father talking about their biological mother, but what was between Landon and this girl had to be that. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy - after all, even if she'd only developed feelings for Landon in the girl's absence, the fact was that right now, she did have feelings for him, and even though this girl had clearly been through hell, the worst parts of her wouldn't allow her to not feel jealous. She pushed the feeling down somewhere, and focused on helping the girl through her panic attack. Who was she to Josie? That question had been left completely unanswered. Because Josie knew she'd cared deeply about her - instead of acting jealously like she'd expected herself to, she'd been kind to the girl - not just because she deserved it after what she'd been through (even though Josie hadn't known everything, she'd known enough to understand that the girl had been through hell), but because she couldn't help but feel like the girl was a long-lost best friend or, perhaps, they'd been even closer than that. No, that was ridiculous - Penelope leaving had left the kind of void that had nearly destroyed her - if she'd been in love with the girl, she'd have felt much the same way about her disappearance, or more likely she'd have felt worse. Well, she could tell the void the girl had left had been nearly as bad as the one Penelope had left, so they'd definitely been very close. How close exactly, she couldn't tell. Had she had a crush on the girl at some point? Had it been deeper than that, and she'd locked those feelings away for some reason? Whatever it was, all she knew was that her heart broke a little whenever she saw the girl in pain, and she wanted to be there for her.
The girl was calmer now, and resumed speaking.
"At Triad, Clarke had you, Landon. He'd told you about Malivore's origin and how that technically made you brothers. I don't know what Triad had planned for you, but Clarke had something much worse in mind. Malivore hated being a golem, and now that he knew he had a real human son, he wanted to take advantage of that fact. The three artifacts that had originally been used to lock Malivore in the pit - they were the reason all those monsters came to the school. They were sent by Malivore to retrieve those keys. Clarke wanted to raise Malivore from the pit again, and he was using Triad to do that. Once he did, Malivore planned to - " Here, the girl seemed horrified and unable to bring herself to say whatever it was that she was trying to say. But she eventually did. " - he planned to possess you so he could have a human body to walk the earth in."
That revelation hung in the air like a storm cloud. Josie and Alaric were both beyond horrified, and Landon looked like he was standing in front of a black hole about to swallow him.
"Wait - what do you mean he planned to possess me?" He asked sharply.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut in anguish before opening them after a second and responding.
"He wanted a human body so he could become even more powerful than he already was, and that was his entire reason for wanting a human son. Once he had a human body, he could create an entire species of supernaturals, far more powerful than any the world had ever seen."
"I think I'm gonna puke." Landon said in disgust.
"It was somehow even more important to him that his ... host ... be you, because you were with me." The girl said, revulsion flooding her face as she looked away.
"Wait, wait, wait, I'm sorry - what?!"
"I'm a Tribrid - I'm more powerful than any other supernatural on earth. I'm also the only one who can destroy him. Um ..."
"Let me rephrase. What the everloving hell would that even look like?! If you're ... toxic to him, or whatever ... wouldn't I die if our ... " Again, he looked like he was about to puke. " ... DNA came into contact in any way? So he's smart enough to come up with this whole plan for world domination, but dumb enough not to understand how biology works?!"
Josie looked like she was about to pass out in disgust.
"We need to kill this monster before he destroys your life - both of your lives." She said sharply to the girl.
"It's not that simple." The girl said heavily.
"Um, I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be snapping at you right now, but, uh - what the hell are you talking about?!" Josie snapped at the girl.
"I'm not a fully activated Tribrid." She said heavily. "That's why, when I jumped into the pit to stop Malivore from being raised from it, it disappeared and he was locked in it again. But he didn't die. For him to die, I would have to be a true Tribrid - a true combination of all three species. Right now, I'm basically a witch-werewolf hybrid, albeit a very powerful one because I'm descended from two insanely powerful werewolf lines and I was trained by one of the most powerful witches in the world, but I'm not a vampire yet - I have vampire DNA, but to become a vampire and, consequently, a true Tribrid, I would have to die. And my life has been ripped apart by out-of-control vampirism, so I'm in no hurry to turn into a vampire, thank you very much." She said sharply.
"Well, we can find another way." Alaric said firmly. "And that's a discussion for another time. Before that, we need to figure out if we can find a way to reverse Malivore's mind wipes."
"That's next to impossible." The girl said abruptly. "Unless you use dark magic, and I'm guessing that's not an option?"
"Not for you, it isn't." Alaric said abruptly. "But your aunt, Ms. Mikaelson, is a different story."
"No. No. You're not bringing Aunt Freya here so she can find out I was erased from existence." The girl said fiercely.
"Well, I have no other choice. Malivore is powerful, so we require a powerful and knowledgeable witch to reverse whatever he's done. And you can't keep your return a secret from your aunt forever - you're gonna have to tell her at some point - I'm sorry to have to say it, but you already saw what happened when you tried to keep something like this a secret." Her lips tightened in anger. "I'm sorry."
"If all you need is a powerful and knowledgeable witch, why not Bonnie Bennett?" She said angrily. "Bonnie has been traveling the world for years gaining knowledge of magic, she's saved Mystic Falls many times over, and crucially, she's not my aunt. I don't want to have to explain to my aunt before her memories come back - I did it out of necessity this time, and it still feels like an ordeal I'd never want to go through ever again. Once it's done, Aunt Freya will come here of her own accord to see me - Bonnie isn't even all that familiar with me, so all you'd need to do is say you need help with a spell or something."
Alaric sighed and looked to Dorian for advice.
"You know she's right, Ric. You don't wanna be explaining to Freya Mikaelson that her niece was erased from existence on your watch, especially when she doesn't even remember said niece."
"Fine." Alaric said shortly. "I'll get in touch with Caroline, and get her to find out where Bonnie is. Meanwhile, Ms. Mikaelson, I'm not going to sugar-coat this - you're going to have a very hard time adjusting to things. But you can come to Professor Williams or to whoever else among your teachers you feel comfortable discussing your issues with - I'm sorry, but I won't be here - you're gonna have a new headmaster when the school reopens."
"My name's Hope, and, uh, while I sympathize with your situation, you did set up a secret system for depowering us that went into effect just when we were attacked by a bunch of fully-armed Triad agents, so I'm not surprised the school decided to change headmasters." The girl said abruptly. She then got up and walked off. Josie and Landon followed her out. Alaric shook his head in annoyance and left, leaving Dorian to process what had just happened.