"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Josie asks, very concerned, as she sits on Hope's bed in her dorm room.
"I'm positive. I practically had to beg on my hands and knees in order to get Dr. Saltzman to agree to this." Hope says as she puts on a jacket in the mirror then turns to face a still worried Josie.
"Can you call me the second you get there and the second you leave?" Josie questions if Hope can call her when she gets there and Hope sighs as she sees that Josie is still worried.
"Yes, you have my word that I will call you when I get there and the second I get in Dr. Saltzman's car when I leave." Hope agrees to contact Josie, giving her word on the situation and Josie looks a little more at ease.
"Maybe I can come with you?" Josie suggests that she can come with Hope as her facial expression is light and cheerful.
"Yeah, no. Dr. Saltzman would kill me if I let you tag along. If Lizzie doesn't first, that is." Hope declines the offer of Josie coming with her, which has the brunette frown again.
"Speaking of, why aren't you with Lizzie?" Hope wonders why Josie isn't with her twin and Josie sighs deeply as she looks away evasively.
"She's going a little overboard with wanting to win the honor's council and I need some peace before handling it." Josie explains why she isn't currently with Lizzie and Hope nods in understanding.
"Understandable. Hey, do you think you can ask a witch to run Landon's 23andMe? I was supposed to be in charge of it but I convinced Dr. Saltzman to let me meet up with Mr. Williams." Hope expresses her understanding of Josie's words before wondering if the brunette can find a witch to help Landon, explaining that she was supposed to until she convinced Alaric otherwise.
"Um, yeah I can do that. I'm going to head to the garden to meditate and probably pray as well." Josie gets off the bed as she accepts the quest of finding a witch, then tells Hope what she'll be doing causing Hope to chuckle warm-heartedly.
"Well, I'll tell you what, given my usual bad luck, if you have any leftover prayers laying around then feel free to send them my way, okay?" Hope wonders if Josie could send her some prayers, hinting at the fact that she has bad luck and Josie is the one who chuckles this time yet it sounds forced, which has Hope realize that she's still upset.
"Look, it's a four hour drive. I will call you when I get there then when I'm getting ready to leave and I'll be back before you know it." Hope assures Josie that she'll return soon, which causes Josie to give her a small half smile in return.
"You're positive?" Josie can't help but be upset about Hope leaving the school by herself as she always leaves with Alaric, and Hope simply nods at her.
"Positive." Hope verbally confirms that she'll be back soon, despite having nodded, yet sees a tear fall down Josie's cheek.
Not entirely thinking, as everytime one of her aunts or uncles are upset their significant other comforts them with a kiss, Hope follows in those footsteps and places a hand on Josie's cheek before giving her a soft kiss on her lips.
"Hey, everything's going to be fine. I'm going to see you on the other side of this." Hope declares that everything will be okay and reassures Josie that nothing will happen.
"I'm going to hold you to that." Josie states that she's going to hold Hope to her promise of them seeing each other when Hope returns and Hope closes her eyes as she smiles to herself.
"Of course. I have to go, Dr. Saltzman is probably waiting." Hope claims that she has to leave, believing that Alaric is waiting after voicing her amusement with Josie's words.
Before she leaves, however, Hope heads to her closet, opens it, and rips a large leather jacket off of one of the hangers before picking up her packed bag then finally leaves her dorm room after giving Josie one last warm smile.
Hope is by Alaric's car, putting her bag in the vehicle when Alaric approaches her, seeming concerned.
"Okay, so here are the keys. You have everything you need?" Alaric holds up the keys to his car before asking if she has everything she needs.
"Yep." Hope simply agrees that she does as she goes to take the keys from his hand but he pulls them away from her.
"Look, if you're not comfortable in going, or if you've changed your mind…" Alaric is clearly trying to talk Hope out of going to meet up with Dorian and Hope cuts him off after sighing in annoyance.
"I'm perfectly comfortable in going to meet Mr. Williams. You can stop acting parental over me." Hope calls Alaric out on acting like a parent towards her after making it clear that she isn't backing out of it.
"Sorry, habit. Running a school with a bunch of kids, not to mention being a parent of two, it's kind of a default setting at this point." Alaric apologizes for acting parental towards her, explaining that it's officially a default setting.
"Uh, I had Rafael tidy up and fix the engine for you. It's an old car, I'd hate to have it break down on you." Alaric continues expressing his worry as he tells Hope he had Rafael fix the engine yet explains that there was another reason for it after Hope casts him an annoyed glare.
"Alright well, I should be back in a few hours. And don't worry, I have promised Josie that I would call her the second that I get there and when I'm about to leave." Hope confesses that she has promised Josie that she will call, which clearly eases Alaric's nerves as he hands her the keys to his car.
"Good. Um, travel safe." Alaric advises that Hope travels safely after expressing his relief in the fact she'll be in contact with one of his daughters.
"Oh, before I forget. Here, it's a book on dryads." Alaric gives Hope a book, telling her what it's about, implying that it will be helpful and Hope takes from him with a very appreciative look.
"Thanks, Dr. Saltzman." Hope thanks him with a smile then she hugs Alaric before getting in the car and driving away from the school.
Meanwhile, Josie is walking around the halls then confidently walks up to Penelope once she sees her.
"Hey, Penelope." Josie greets her ex, playing it cool as Penelope turns to face her.
"Josie. What a pleasant surprise." Penelope acknowledges her ex then states that Josie talking to her is pleasant as she smiles at her.
"Landon needs a witch to run his 23andMe. You up for it?" Josie gets straight to the point as every second passing is infuriating her.
"Why me?" Penelope immediately retorts with her own question, unsure of why Josie would come to her with that task.
"Emma is helping out the younger students, every other witch declined the offer, and Hope is off campus handling other business." Josie gives a quick explanation as to why she's talking to Penelope which has Penelope sigh in mild annoyance.
"Any other reason?" Penelope gives Josie a knowing look that clearly irks Josie, as she assumes that there's another reason that Josie came to her.
"You were actually the first witch that came to mind when I was asked to find one. But don't think it means anything." Josie shyly admits that Penelope was the first person to cross her mind after she was given the task to find a witch while looking away evasively yet immediately demands that her ex thinks nothing of it.
"What's with the poster?" Penelope notices that Josie has a poster in her hands but can't see what's on it.
"I'm promoting Lizzie for office on the honor's council and this is her campaign poster." Josie confidently responds to Penelope's question, which has Penelope yank it from her hands to look at it.
"Really? You actually think the witches are going to vote for someone who uses double plagiarism?" Penelope has the photo face Josie after scoffing at what the poster is representing.
"I'm convincing. I can ensure they vote for her." Josie continues to remain confident in this conversation but almost immediately frowns when Penelope gives her another significant and knowing look.
"It's not like Hope was an option." Josie dully confesses that Hope wasn't an option for the honor's council, which implies that helping Lizzie win wasn't entirely her first choice.
"If you don't want to help Landon integrate into the school, that's fine." Josie gets confident again after snatching the poster back and turns the topic back to Landon.
"I never said I wouldn't." Penelope claims that she never said if she would or wouldn't help Landon, sounding mildly confused before looking contemplative.
"But what if I do say no?" Penelope asks what will happen if she were to decline the offer in a flirtatious tone, which seems to irk Josie.
"I'll threaten you. But since you never said that you would help Landon either…" Josie trails off as she turns on her heel, about to walk away from Penelope after stating that she would threaten Penelope.
"How exactly would you threaten me?" Penelope calls after Josie, wondering how her ex would threaten her, which has Josie smirk to herself before she turns back to face Penelope with no smile.
"Let's put it this way. We both know that I have a thing for fire and I showed no remorse in burning your hair off. Don't think that I'll hesitate in burning you completely." Josie makes her threat, which implies that she'll burn Penelope alive, then walks away from her in a very confident manner, clearly happy with herself.
"Well played, Jo Jo. Well played." Penelope smirks at this threat, seeming surprised yet happy at Josie's confidence as she mutters to herself that Josie used an effective tactic on her.
Landon enters Alaric's office to see a short-haired brunette looking at the desk.
"Uh, hello?" Landon announces himself and the girl turns around, revealing herself to be Penelope.
"Hey." Penelope greets him as he looks at her skeptically.
"You are… no, don't tell me. Um, a witch student." Landon deduces that Penelope is a witch, even though he was clearly trying to figure out a name.
"How do you know that?" Penelope decides to question how he knows she's a witch and Landon simply shrugs.
"Dr. Saltzman told me that a witch would be in his office when he told me to head here. So, you know, power of deduction." Landon is straightforward with his answer that has Penelope roll her eyes in order to try and not look amused.
"I'm Penelope. So, let's start with some mystical blood analysis." Penelope introduces herself to Landon then gets to the point as she picks up a file that's on the desk.
"No." Landon reflexively declines Penelope's suggestion and she looks shocked.
"What?" Penelope voices her confusion as she wasn't expecting this response.
"These tests are to see if I'm allowed to stay at the school." Landon reveals that he knows what Penelope will be doing and she nods in agreement.
"I've heard about you. I'm not putting my fate in your hands, you hate me." Landon admits that he's heard about Penelope then makes it clear he doesn't want her running his tests as he uses the fact she hates him as a reason.
"Well, if it's any consolation, I hate everyone here, so. But be lucky it isn't Hope, she's known for being biased." Penelope tries to make Landon feel better by saying that she hates everyone at the school and also makes a dig against Hope, stating that she's the biased one but sighs in realization when she sees that Landon is still uneasy.
"Look, neither of us want to do this but you want to know who, or what, you are and I am the only one willing enough to help you. So, let's just get this over with." Penelope's voice has taken a genuine tone as she explains the situation and suggests that they just get the day over with which has Landon reluctantly nod, finally agreeing to do the tests.
With Hope, she has just reached Dorian's cabin and she takes out her phone to use it.
"Hey, Josie. Yes, I am at the cabin. I just pulled up. I gave you my word that I'd call as soon as I get here, you didn't think I'd lie. Well, I took a small sidestop." Hope gets out of the car with a paper bag and the book in her hands, admitting to Josie that she made a brief sidestop.
"Yeah, I will tell Mr. Williams that you say hello. I have to go, service is kind of crappy up here." Hope hangs up the phone, putting it in her jacket pocket after making a promise to Josie about saying hello for her.
Hope enters the cabin, much to Dorian's shock as he thought Ric would be joining him.
"Um, anything yet?" Hope wonders if Dorian has gotten answers from the dryad yet as she opens the book.
"Just light judgement. Where's Alaric?" Dorian simply states that there's only been light judgement before asking where Alaric is.
"Back at the school, I convinced him to let me come up here instead. So, you're a dryad, right? A living spirit of a tree?" Hope responds to Dorian's question before focusing her attention on the dryad, who seems surprised that Hope knows what she is and nods silently.
"Um, it says here that, uh, dryads were gentle creatures who lived among humans." Hope reads from the book in her hands and the dryad seems to take a liking to Hope as she walks toward her as far as the boundary spell will allow and looks at her curiously.
"Well, we're not your enemy. We're just looking for answers." Hope looks the dryad in the eyes to assure her that she's telling the truth as she says this.
"Humans are known to lie." the dryad simply voices her opinion on the fact that humans lie and Dorian rolls his eyes, having lost his patience.
"So are monsters." Dorian blurts the response that monsters lie, which have both Hope and the dryad give him offended looks.
"Mr. Williams, here. I had made a side-stop to Baskin Robbins, just have a cookie if you like." Hope reveals that she made a side-stop for ice cream and gives him the bag before returning her attention to the dryad.
The dryad, impressed by Hope's spunk, thinks for a long moment before finally speaking again.
"There is a man I cherish named Oliver. If you bring him to me, I will believe that you are trustworthy… or what passes for it among your species." the dryad makes a deal with them, hesitating briefly, before glaring at Dorian when she says her last statement and turns back to face Hope.
"Only then will I answer your questions." the dryad is very clear that she won't help them unless they find her lover and Dorian immediately jumps in before Hope can say anything.
"Whoa! We're not negotiating, right, Hope?" Dorian looks to Hope for backup in the fact they aren't negotiating but Hope seems to want answers.
Hope gulps nervously as she puts the book down then looks at the dryad again.
"Uh, what should we tell this Oliver?" Hope questions what they should tell her lover, Oliver, revealing to Dorian that she wants answers more than hold suspicion.
In response to this, the dryad's hands reach up in order to yank a necklace from around her neck then she holds it up to reveal that it is a simple chain with a just as simple golden ring hanging from it.
"Show him this ring. It belonged to him. He will come with you." the dryad hands Hope the necklace, and she takes it from her.
"Do you have a map Mr. Williams? So I can do the locator spell?" Hope wonders if Dorian has a map in order for her to do a locator spell.
"Um, I have a world map but not any of the US." Dorian admits that although he does have a map, it isn't of the US which has Hope sigh in annoyance.
"That won't work." Hope confesses that the world map won't work, seemingly sensing that Oliver is still in the US.
"Alright, just hand me the ring and I'll go to Bonnie for help." Dorian holds out his hand to Hope, who gives him the necklace, and he leaves, claiming he'll go to Bonnie for help.
At the school, in the backyard, Penelope is testing Landon to see if he has supernatural powers.
One of the tests involves a handkerchief tied to a high tree branch and Penelope is boredly watching Landon as he attempts jumping in order to catch it.
"Oh, come on. You are significantly taller than me. How can you not reach it?" Penelope makes it obvious that she's bored with running these tests as she mocks all of Landon's jumps, assuming that he should have a better chance at reaching it than her.
"I'm trying." Landon says that he's trying as he breathes heavily from the jumping.
"Next test." Penelope rolls her eyes as she announces that they move on to the next thing.
This next test involves Landon doing a handstand and after a few false starts, Landon finally manages to stay upright.
"I'm doing it! Now what?" Landon exclaims happily that he's doing a handstand then asks what to do causing Penelope to roll her eyes again as she pulls out a timer.
"Hold it for ten minutes." Penelope boredly demands that Landon hold it for ten minutes as she presses the start button on the timer.
"Gah! What?" Landon loses his balance, falling on his back as a result, after expressing that her response took him off guard.
Penelope sighs, very annoyed and bored with the fact that she's in charge of running all of these tests.
The third test is to determine if Landon has superhuman strength, which involves him trying to lift a huge tree trunk off the ground.
Landon attempts various ways to lift up the tree trunk, yet only manages to lift up one part of it off the ground, then he gets a look of determination when he sees the half he just lifted up.
With his new determination, he goes to his knees, crawls under the opening, and uses his legs to help him lift up the trunk.
Although it does take a few minutes, Landon is able to use his hands and knees to lift up the tree trunk, albeit briefly, as it doesn't take long for him to roll out from under the tree mere seconds before it falls back on the ground.
"Well, A+ for the creativity but you failed. You were supposed to lift it up completely with your arms." Penelope gives him an A for his creativity in trying to pick up the tree trunk yet admits that it's still considered a fail as he did it wrong.
"Okay, what's next?" Landon wonders what's next as he accepts the score that she gave him.
"Next? You failed the vertical climb, the long jump, and you straight-up refused to swim across the lake." Penelope seems shocked that Landon wants to know what's next for him as she reminds him of all of the tests that he failed and he gets a look of offense at the last claim.
"Yeah, well, excuse the foster kid for never having swim lessons." Landon confesses to Penelope that he's never had swim lessons, which is why he refused to swim across the lake before taking two steps closer to her with another determined look in his eyes.
"Look, I might suck at… everything, apparently… but I only have to pass one test to stay here, and I'm not giving up just yet. So, what's next?" Landon realizes that he sucks at everything yet makes it clear how determined he is to continue the tests before firmly asking Penelope what the next test is.
At this moment, however, Emma approaches the two of them, seeming curious.
"How's it going?" Emma asks how things are going and without hesitation, Penelope takes out the timer as she looks at Landon.
"Landon was just about to run sprints to the lake and back." Penelope decides to give Landon another test as she starts the timer, and without questioning, Landon begins to sprint to the lake.
Emma still looks curious about this and speaks up on it once Landon is out of earshot.
"What exactly are you testing for?" Emma questions what Penelope's testing for, which has Penelope smirk deviously.
"His ability to get away from me and Hope as quickly as possible. If he's to stay at the school, it's a total must." Penelope explains what the test is for, emphasizing the word, 'must', and Emma tries to look annoyed but still seems amused by Penelope's antics.
"Did you run the lineage spell that I left you?" Emma gets back to business, wondering if Penelope ran the spell she left her.
"Yep, the first thing we did. There's zero magic in his bloodline." Penelope confirms that they did the spell and admits that Landon has no magic in his blood.
"Hmm…" Emma looks contemplative as she processes this information but her simple words get Penelope's attention.
"Hmm?" Penelope repeats the words, confused and clearly curious on what Emma's thinking.
"Well, most humans have some trace of magical blood in their veins from a far-flung ancestor." Emma speaks up on her thoughtfulness, her response seeming to concern and intrigue Penelope.
"So, what does that mean?" Penelope wonders what Emma's words mean, somewhat confused.
"It means that we have to learn more about Landon's past." Emma explains what it means with a serious facial expression and Penelope nods at her in agreement.
Back at Dorian's cabin, Hope is looking at all the books on one of the bookshelves against the wall.
"What magic have you employed to find Oliver?" the dryad speaks up, breaking the silence, which has Hope stop looking at the bookshelf.
"It's a new spell called Google." Hope replies with a sarcastic tone of voice causing the dryad to frown, offended.
"You're mocking me." the dryad determines that Hope is mocking her, which has Hope chuckle for a moment.
"Yes, but only a little bit." Hope confirms that she's mocking the dryad but assures her that it's only slightly.
"Can you open the window? I would like to feel the breeze." the dryad suggests if Hope can open the window, stating that she'd like to feel a breeze.
"Um, until I know the extent of your abilities, I'd rather not." Hope expresses her slight uncertainty with the dryad's abilities which has the dryad scoff.
"You do not need to fear that I will deceive you. Unlike humans, dryads do not lie. We choose not to harm." the dryad reassures Hope that she chooses not to harm and Hope sits on the table across from the dryad.
"Well, in the human world, sometimes the truth does more harm than good." Hope exclaims that lying is easier than telling the truth.
After a long moment of silence with Hope and the dryad staring at each other, Hope speaks up again.
"So, who is this Oliver that Mr. Williams went to go find?" Hope decides to ask who Oliver is and the dryad's facial expression softens at the question.
"Oliver never lied. He was not like the other men who would come into the forest to chop down trees so that their houses could be bigger than other houses. He played music. He would lean against the trees and feel happiness. We fell in love." the dryad explains her lover, Oliver, to Hope, who smiles genuinely at the fact the dryad had a love.
"Why do you address your companion so formally?" the dryad questions why Hope calls Dorian a formal name.
"It's complicated. I go to a boarding school and he works there. I'm fifteen." Hope reveals her age to the dryad when given a curious look after mentioning she goes to school.
"You're so young." the dryad realizes that Hope is very young and Hope chuckles nervously.
"Um, you should know that Oliver might not be around. It's been… awhile since the days you remember." Hope turns the topic back to Oliver, trying to assure the dryad softly but the dryad is unconvinced by this warning.
"Oliver made a great sacrifice- he became a vampire so that we might be together forever. We decided to meet in the clearing where we fell in love so we could run away. But, circumstance got in the way." the dryad explains why she is unconvinced by Hope's words.
"Hmm…" Hope hums sympathetically as she nods understandingly while also sighing.
"I feel your pain. You've lost a great love. Not of romance but of family. You carry more than one loss." the dryad admits that she feels Hope's pain, looking at her in a very sympathetic manner, causing Hope to get a look of alert.
"Uh, okay. Empathetic, psychic tree. Check." Hope tries to cover up her emotions by making a remark with dry-humor.
"Is your humor helpful in masking your pain?" the dryad sees right through Hope's attempt to hide her emotions and Hope sighs sadly.
"No, not really." Hope dully responds that her humor isn't helpful at all.
"And you're right. I do carry more than one loss, including both of my parents." Hope is clearly saddened by this turn of conversation as she confesses to the dryad that she lost both of her parents.
"It hurts, it always does hurt. Sometimes to the most unbearable of pain but I remember the good times I had with them. I hold onto them for as long as I can because they're the key to helping me thrive." Hope gets emotional as she speaks about her pain while the dryad continues to stare at her sympathetically.
"It's a good thing though. At my school, there are at least two students on campus that remind me of the family members I lost. I see it in their eyes and their smiles. It makes me feel like I never lost them sometimes." Hope emotionally talks about two students that remind her of the three family members she lost as she remains upset, remembering her parents and uncle.
Hope seems to hear a car pull up, causing her to wipe her tears away and stand to her feet just as Dorian walks in.
"Good news, bad news. Bonnie did her witch thing on the ring, so…" Dorian trails off after saying Bonnie did a locator spell then a male with blonde hair enters the room.
"Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" the man looks around the room in confusion, unsure of why he's there but the dryad, who's happy to see her love again, rises to her feet and rushes to him.
"Oliver?" the dryad looks at him lovingly yet he just stares at her in confusion.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Oliver wonders if he knows the dryad, which has her frown and Hope watches the scene unfold with sympathy in her eyes.
"Let me guess. That's the bad news." Hope determines that the fact Oliver doesn't seem to recognize the dryad is the bad news and Dorian just nods.
"Yeah." Dorian verbally agrees despite having already nodded at Hope's words.