Mazikeen rushed through the hallways, hurrying to herself and Hope's shared dorm. While Hope was astral projecting to offer Ken a one on one fight, Mazikeen had been trying to find her father only to learn that he had fled Mystic Falls.

Grace was gone too, but what Maze didn't know is that Kai rendered his wife unconscious before taking off with her body in the night. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want his wife to die either.

Mazikeen had a feeling this would happen, of course it happened as soon as she had made peace with the fact that her father was going to die. But now, with very minimal time before the battle Maze felt like the triggerman had to be her.

The heretic opened her dorm door, as Hope had just finished the spell. "It worked. Ken took the bait." Hope said with a smile, before she noticed Mazikeen's distressed expression. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Kai is gone. So is my Mum and I can only imagine he took her... I was finally accepting that Kai would be the sacrifice but now he's gone." Mazikeen rambled on, as Hope approached the heretic.

"It has to be me now, Hope." The Parker decided, as Hope shook her head. "Maze, no." The Mikealson pleaded as Maze cupped Hope's cheeks gently with her hands. "It has to be... I... I can't let anybody else die when I have a better chance of survival... and I refuse for Lizzie to trigger the explosion."

"I can't lose you." Hope spoke, her eyes filling with tears. "You won't. There's no leaving eachother, Hope. Not anymore." Mazikeen decided before she gently pressed her forehead against the tribrid's. "Just trust me."

"Fine." Hope decided, as a tear rolled down her cheek before the pair shared a soft kiss, hoping that it wouldn't be their last. As their lips broke apart, Maze used her fingers to gently wipe away the Mikealson's tears.

"I love you." Hope spoke, keeping her eyes on Maze as she hoped deep down that the heretic would change her mind. "I love you too." Mazikeen replied softly, determined to survive this.

❤︎

The battle had been off to a challenging start. Ken had finally appeared, but not after sending Aurora, who'd unsurprisingly changed sides, to fight Hope first.

Upon failing, Ken appeared and tried to kill Hope but Aurora had taken the hit and soon died. As Ken left Aurora and Hope, Ben, Caroline and Molly all tried to fight Ken to no avail.

It was Mazikeen's turn. The Parker began emerging from the woods, but hadn't expected Lizzie to appear beside her.

"Lizzie, what the hell are you doing?" Maze blurted in a harsh, loud whisper. "I'm not letting you do this alone." Lizzie decided, feeling as though it was obvious why she was here.

"No, what the fuck— get out of here!" Maze huffed as Lizzie deadpanned her sister, "God, Hope's martyr complex is rubbing off on you and it's not cute." She sassed the heretic before her expression softened. "Race you to Ken." Lizzie spoke before she vampire sped towards the god, as Maze was quick to catch up to her.

Ken scoffed at the pair of heretics, as he stepped into their prepared circle. "The last time you tried to steal my power, you could barely contain it." He reminded the sisters. "We've been practicing." Maze responded as Lizzie agreed.

Maze and Lizzie then reached up to grab ahold of Ken and siphon from him. "You smell that? It's phosphorus and sulfur." Lizzie spoke menacingly before Mazikeen added, "White fire and brimstone. And you waltzed right into it, asshole."

"Mazikeen! Lizzie! Wait!"

Maze and Lizzie's heads snapped around, surprised to see Grace speeding over to them. "Mum?" Mazikeen blurted out in surprise.

"Kai tried to take us away from Mystic Falls but the second I woke up, I had to come back. I can't let you put your lives in danger like this." Grace explained to Maze and Lizzie.

"Mum you have to go, we can't hold god magic off for much longer." Mazikeen spoke quickly before Lizzie added, "This whole place is going to blow."

"And as your mother, I'm not going to let you do this." Grace declared, "Let me take over." She pleaded as tears formed in Mazikeen's eyes. "No!" She decided.

Grace began to siphon from Ken, before she looked to Maze and Lizzie. "You both need to run, now." She insisted, as Mazikeen shook her head. "I can't let you die... Azzie needs you... I need you."

"I'm so happy I got to spend the last two years with you, Maze. You're the daughter I always dreamed of having." Grace spoke, through tear filled eyes. "I love you and Azazel more than anything." The Parker concluded as Mazikeen had tears rolling down her cheeks.

Lizzie placed her arms around Maze before she vampire sped them away from the scene. As soon as the explosion went off, a scream ripped through Mazikeen's throat as she cried out for Grace.

The Saltzman stopped, turning to see where Ken and Grace had been, as Mazikeen broke into a sob. "No... no— Mum!!" Maze screamed through her tears, as Lizzie held her sister in her arms, fighting the urge to cry also.

Caroline and Molly rushed over Lizzie and Maze, the women throwing their arms around the younger girls as Mazikeen just cried amongst their embraces.

Hope approached them, her expression faltering as she realised that Grace had taken Maze's place in being the triggerman, resulting in her death.

She wanted to rush forward and comfort her girlfriend, but noticing that Ken was unfortunately still alive she realised that the battle was far from over.

"He's mine. Caroline, get them to safety. I'll handle him." Hope piped up, as Maze and Lizzie looked over at the tribrid. Mazikeen opened her mouth to protest and insist that Hope didn't rush into battle, as she wasn't in any form to fight, but still being in shock by the explosion, words couldn't escape her mouth.

"Hope, you're in no shape to fight a god right now." Lizzie declared. "I have to end this." Hope decided as Lizzie's expression softened, "Then you're going to need a little help from a friend." The Saltzman insisted.

Caroline took Mazikeen in her arms, deciding to speed them to safety while Lizzie and Hope fought Ken.

"Our sire bond might be gone, Hope Andrea Mikaelson, but you and I are bonded for life." Lizzie declared, reassuring Hope that through her immortal life, she'd never be alone.

"Thank you." Hope whispered back, wanting to hug her best friend but deciding against it since they did have a god to fight.

Mazikeen broke out of Caroline's arms and approached Hope and Lizzie. "I want to fight alongside you both." She insisted, wanting in on the action.

"After what you just witnessed, are you sure?" Hope asked, knowing how painful it was to watch a parent die right in front of you.

Maze nodded through tear filled eyes. "I want to watch this motherfucker die." The heretic spoke harshly.

Hope was the first to approach Ken, as the god admitted, "I underestimated you, but it won't happen again. Even in my weakened state, you can't kill me by yourself."

"That won't stop me from trying." Hope shrugged. "Then you will die alone." Ken responded simply before Maze joined her side. "She's not alone." The Parker assured him.

"Neither are you." Lizzie added as Caroline, Molly, Clary, Cleo, Kaleb, Jade, Jed, Jesse, Finch, Ari, MG, Ethan and Azazel approached the god. Azazel was completely unaware that Grace had come by and gotten involved in the fight, which was a painful conversation Mazikeen was going to have with him later.

"Your move, Ken." Hope taunted the god, as he scoffed. "This changes nothing, Tribrid, other than the number of bodies that will need to be buried." He declared.

"Tell that to our dragon." Lizzie spoke up as Clary's wings shot out of her back. The dragon flew into the air, and blasted fire at Ken.

Everyone then worked together to fight him, mostly to keep him occupied so that Lizzie, Maze and Azazel could get close to the god and siphon him.

"Get the spear!" Mazikeen yelled out, before everyone was completely blown by a blast.

"Enough! You are children! You cannot kill a god." Ken yelled out. "But I can kill you." He insisted, grabbing hold of the spear and throwing it to Hope. It stopped right in front of her face, causing Mazikeen to let out a breath of relief.

"What treachery is this?" Ken asked before Cleo answered, "It is not treachery. It is judgment. My judgment as a Fury." She announced, as Jade could have sworn she had heart eyes as the Sowande just seemed so confident... it was hot.

"Dude. Wrong time." Finch nudged Jade, as she tried to hold back a laugh. "There's never a wrong time to be gay." Jade decided, with a laugh as the Tarrayo had to agree.

"And what do you find me guilty of?" Ken asked Cleo as the Fury answered, "You're a dіck. And your punishment is... her." She spoke, before motioning towards Hope.

"It takes god magic to kill a god, right?" Hope asked, flashing her vampire eyes as she kicked him. "This is for Grace!" Hope declared as she  thrusted the spear through his chest violently, putting an end to his life.

"Guess what that spear's made out of. I hope you rot in hell." Hope declared, as the thunderous sky cleared up, upon Ken being dead. Mazikeen rushed forward to hug Hope, feeling very proud of her girlfriend.

❤︎

By the docks stood the student body, as well as Molly and Caroline. They'd decided to have a water memorial for Aurora and Grace.

Azazel sobbed, as Mazikeen held her twin in her arms, crying all the while. The pinkette had grown to love Grace in the short time they'd spent together, so she could only imagine just how much more Azazel was hurting.

"Does anybody want to say a few words?" Molly asked, as Lizzie nodded before she stepped forward. "Aurora was a badass bitch. Our relationship was complicated, but she taught me that complicated doesn't mean broken. And I really hope that she finds peace... that both of them do."

As Lizzie took a step back, Mazikeen let go of Azazel as she decided she wanted to say a few words. "Grace, my mum, was only able to be present in my life for the past two years. In those two years she showed me so much compassion and kindness... she made me breakfast every morning and always told me that she loved me. She may have married a psychopath but she was an amazing woman who only ever wanted the best for Azzie and I. She deserved so much better." Mazikeen took a moment to compose herself, as she felt more tears threatening to fall.

"I'm grateful for the time that we got to spend together. May she rest in peace." Mazikeen quickly concluded, before she returned to Azazel's side.

It was then that Kai appeared, walking towards the dock. Caroline got to her feet to rush over to him, but Molly reached out to stop her, as the Hale expected he would be here to comfort his kids.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Mazikeen grumbled, upon seeing Kai. "I'm just here to pay respects to my fallen wife." The Parker declared, as Mazikeen noticed his eyes were red and puffy.

"It should have been you!" Mazikeen suddenly snapped harshly, as Azazel gasped as his twin. "You were supposed to trigger the explosion but because you chickened out, Mum took your place!" Maze cried out. "Now she's gone."

Kai averted his eyes away from the twins, and looked to Grace's wrapped body, which floated in the water. He felt guilty. Not because he wanted to save himself, but because the woman he loved was dead.

"Maze, Azzie. I want to speak with you both privately." Kai declared, as Azazel sadly nodded, wanting to hear Kai out. Mazikeen wiped her eyes before she reluctantly followed.

Now away from everyone, the Parker trio sat down. "I never wanted to be a Dad." Kai blurted out, as Azazel felt hurt by his words. "Yeah, no shit. You just wanted a heir to lead our coven." Mazikeen snapped, seeming furious.

"You're right, Mazikeen." Kai confessed, as Mazikeen genuinely seemed taken back. Of course, she had told herself this all along but to hear him actually say it did hurt.

"Not only did I have kids to look for a future leader for the Gemini coven, but I wanted to fulfil Grace's dream of being a mother.... Because even though I never wanted to be a father, Grace is the only thing that I have ever loved and I wanted to make her happy." Kai continued to explain.

"You both made Grace very happy. She loved you guys so much." Kai added as Azazel was trying to refrain from sobbing. Mazikeen placed her hand atop his, wanting to try and comfort her twin even though she too was hurting.

"Now that Grace is gone, I'll be leaving." Kai spoke up. "Now that Mazikeen has destroyed any chances of the merge happening, I have no reason to stay. So this is goodbye."

"Good fucking riddance." Mazikeen then seethed, before she got to her feet. "I don't care that you're not a father to me, because I'm pretty used to not having a father figure— but fuck you for doing this to Azazel!" The heretic snapped furiously. "Azazel deserved so much better than the shitty father that you are!"

"Maze! Please stop!" Azazel begged, as Mazikeen tried to slow her breathing as she realised that her hate towards Kai was hurting her twin. "I'll leave you two to say goodbye. I don't need a goodbye with you." Maze huffed at Kai before she left, leaving the Parkers alone.

Now on her lonesome, the heretic used her vampire speed to take her elsewhere. She wanted to be anywhere but near Kai, or near her dead mother.

Alone in the forest, where the Salvatore students had only been fighting that day, Maze let herself break out into a sob. She couldn't believe her biological mother was gone, and even though Caroline would always be her mother, losing Grace still left her completely heartbroken.

Tears rolled down Mazikeen's cheeks as she let her sobs turn into screams. The heretic violently threw her arms about, unintentionally interrupting the atmosphere as rocks and gravel flew in different directions, and even a tree had ripped out of the ground and hurled a few metres before falling to the ground. After a few moments she stopped, and tried to let herself breathe.

"Maze?"

The voice was so familiar... but there was no way.

"Maze? What's wrong?!"

Mazikeen's eyes snapped open, and they widened when she saw Landon standing there. "La... Landon?!" The Parker choked out, before she got to her feet.

"Oh for fuck sake, am I dead now too!?" Mazikeen blurted out as panic was evident on her face, before Landon couldn't help but to chuckle.

"No, no. I'm really here. I'm back." The Kirby admitted as Mazikeen rushed towards the former Phoenix and threw her arms around him. Landon was a little taken back by her strength, but quickly embraced her, holding the grief stricken girl in his arms.

"H.. How?" Mazikeen managed to asked, her grip on Landon being a little tight. Perhaps she missed her best friend.

"I guess there's always a loophole... and Jade and Cleo worked together to find it." Landon assured her, as Mazikeen stayed quiet as she just continued to hug her best friend.

Not once did Landon think about letting go, deciding that he would hold Mazikeen until she was ready to let go of him, unaware that she needed this hug more than anything else in the world right now.

❤︎

AUTHORS NOTE

I wanted to wait a few days to post this chapter and get more reads on Chapter 46... but I was actually way too eager to post this 😭