09. What Was Hope Doing In Your Dreams?

2:00am

After the long trip, Alec and Nova decided to go rest and Asher and Hope decided to deal with whatever Alec and Nova brought with them in the morning, leaving Mia and Jayden alone with the urn.

"If the urn is starting to glow, how long do you two thing think before our next monster shows up?" a curious Mia asked Jayden.

"God knows" Jayden said, sitting with Mia in the common room, "This is the first time an artifact has glowed, by the way, where did you and Hope hide the urn?".

"Hope said I'm not supposed to tell you" Mia said.

"Beg your pardon?" Jayden asked, thinking he heard wrong.

"Hope thinks it's safer with less people knowing the location of the urn" Mia informed, "And I kind of agree with her".

"And I think the person who should know where the urn is should be me" Jayden stated.

"And I think it should be me" Mia retorted.

"Mia" Jayden warned.

"Jayden" Mia teased.

"Mia, this isn't the time to prove to your brothers you can handle monsters on your own" Jayden said, knowing all to well why Mia was doing this.

Mia sighed, "That's not why I'm doing this, I genuinely think less people that know the location of the urn, the better, anyways forget all this, you tell me, what the hell are we supposed to tell everyone? I mean I think they deserve a warning before a monster attacks them on exam week".

"Well, I think we have to tell them some sort of truth" Jayden realised.

"What about the times the truth isn't something they can handle?" Mia asked.

"Is this about Landon's mom?" Jayden asked.

Mia sighed, "Landon has been looking for his mother his entire life, and the moment he finds him, she dies on him, I know the feeling of losing my mother Jayden, if I can stop Landon from feeling that pain, then I will".

"And I'm supposed to believe that you have no feelings for Landon?" a jealous Jayden asked.

"Yes" Mia said, "I don't have feelings for Landon, I have feelings for you Jayden Benjamin Mikaelson, if you're going to believe anything, believe that".

A smile formed on Jayden's face, "Yeah?".

"Yeah" Mia repeated.

Jayden stepped forward, he cupped Mia's face in his hands and placed his lips on top of hers, "The trick is give the right amount of information" he whispered against Mia's lips.

"We've been through this with the knife" Mia reminded against Jayden's lips, "This time we have to do things differently, more responsibly".

"I think that will mean you will need to write a speech for our headmaster" Jayden said.

"Yeap" Mia confirmed, before placing her lips back on to Jayden's.

***

"Yesterday, I came into possession of another malivore artifact" Alaric informed, addressing the student body, "It was my hope to find a method of containment before it signaled another monster, but given the emergency meeting I've just called, I'm sure you can guess how well that went".

"Nice speech" Hope whispered to Mia.

"Thank you" a proud Mia whispered back.

"But rest assured we are taking every precaution" Alaric continued, "Sheriff Donovan has been kind enough to open the doors of the Lockwood Mansion to us, so Mr. Williams and Ms. Tig are now in the process of evacuating our students from the lower grades".

"Sheriff Donovan only agreed to lend us the Lockwood mansion after much threatening from our fathers" Nova whispered to her best friends.

"You know he doesn't like us, he always has trouble when it comes to helping us with anything" Mia reminded.

"Why don't we just evacuate the damn artifact?" Caleb asked Alaric.

"Well, we are much more well equipped than the world at large to handle the arrival of a monster" Alaric replied, "Once we know what we're dealing with and the problem is contained, than we can reassess what to do with the artifact, if any of you would like to evacuate, please talk to Dorian or Emma, however, exam week will continue as scheduled, wherever you are", immediately everyone started complaining, "I know, I'm sorry, I can't exactly call the state accreditation board and tell them that we're cancelling the exams because of monsters, we'll get through this, I promise, try and get some rest, okay? Good night".

"Any of you evacuating?" Mia asked her best friends.

"What do you think?" Hope asked, letting Mia know she wasn't leaving.

"I have four exams in the morning, I don't have time to evacuate" Nova said, making her best friends laugh.

***

4:00am

Jayden had come to the library to study for the exams and ended up falling asleep on the table.

"Jay, hey" Mia greeted, placing her hand on Jayden's shoulder and shaking him awake.

Jayden groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "Oh, I fell asleep?".

"Yeap" Mia said, "Looking very cute, might I add".

Jayden looked at Mia, a confused expression on his face, "Mia Salvatore, are you flirting with me?".

"So what if I am?" Mia asked, a cheeky smile on her face.

"I didn't know you knew how to flirt" a confused Jayden admitted.

Mia placed a hand on Jayden's cheek, "Well I do, especially with you" she said, before kissing Jayden.

Suddenly Jayden's dream broke when someone slammed their fists on the table, "Where is it?!".

Jayden looked at the man infront of him in shock, "Mikael?! How the hell are you here?".

"You pathetic little punk" Mikael taunted, "Where the hell is it?!".

"What the hell are you asking me about?" an extremely confused Jayden asked, wondering how was his dead grandfather standing infront of him.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Mikael yelled, shoving Jayden's things to the ground.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Jayden yelled.

Suddenly Mikael pulled out a belt and behind him a woman in a veil appeared, "You know, what I want" the woman said.

Jayden looked at the woman, then at Mikael, "I don't know what you want!" he yelled, just as Mikael went to hit him with the belt, immediately breaking Jayden out of his sleep.

A panting Jayden looked down at his arm and realised there was a belt mark there, almost like his dead grandfather had actually hit him.

***

7:00am

Mia looked at the mark on Jayden's arm in concern.

"You got hurt in a nightmare?" a concerned Asher asked his best friend.

"I know everything I said sounds absolutely crazy, but I swear it's the truth, one minute I was studying in the library and then I fell asleep and then I started rapidly dreaming about things" Jayden informed.

"What did you dream about?" a curious Alec asked.

"Um, about Mikael" Jayden revealed, deciding not to tell Asher and Alec about him dreaming about kissing their sister, "He showed up in the library with a belt in his hand".

"Is there anything else you remember?" Mia asked.

"There was a woman behind Mikael" Jayden informed, "She had a veil over her face, and was wearing an old black dress, she said you know what I want, I think she wants the urn".

"Meaning the next monster has officially showed up" Asher realised, "You know, I read about many creatures in many cultures that appear only in dreams".

"But a woman in a black dress and veil is really specific" Alec pointed out.

"Does this mean this woman can control our dreams?" a slightly shaken Jayden asked.

"Seems like it" Asher said.

"But that also means this woman can find out what we fear, otherwise how did she know that seeing Mikael will shake Jayden up?" Alec pointed out.

"A night hag" Mia suddenly said.

"What?" Jayden asked.

"I think we're dealing with a night hag" Mia informed Jayden and her brothers.

***

"Our latest monster is a night hag" Alaric informed the student body after being informed by the triplets about it, "A malevolent spirit trapped on the astral plane that can only interact with us through dreams, in this case, nightmares".

"So, like Freddy Krueger?" MG asked.

"Well, in the sense that what happens to you in your dreams seems to also happen to you in real life, yes" Alaric replied, "But the good news is we're safe, so long as we stay awake".

"Stay awake?".

"Now, I've lined up more evacuation shuttles" Alaric informed, "They should be running all afternoon, so please, for those who don't want to stay and fight, take advantage of them, all right, that's all".

"What about you?" Landon asked, walking over to Mia, "You have any bad dreams last night?".

"To have bad dreams I would need to sleep first" Mia replied, "I have too much going on in my mind right now to sleep".

"Yeah, same, just got the first day jitters" a nervous Landon admitted, "So, has Alec or Nova told you if anything has come back to them yet about our little amnesia trip? I mean, this can't all be a coincidence, right?".

"Why will Alec and Nova tell her that?" Jayden asked, coming to Mia's rescue after seeing the deer caught in a headlight expression on her face the moment Landon asked her the question, "And honestly Landon, no offence but we have bigger fish to fry right now".

"Okay" Landon whispered, he looked at Mia, "Can I at least help you solve this problem? I can be a research assistant, I'm CPR certified, and I know a little tai chi".

"You want to help?" Jayden asked, stepping between Mia and Landon and shoving Landon away from Mia, "Then do us a favor, and evacuate".

"Is Mia leaving?" Landon asked.

"She's Mia, do you really think she's going to leave while this school is in trouble?" Jayden retorted.

"Okay, then thanks, but I should probably get to class" Landon said, letting Jayden know he wasn't leaving the school either.

Once Landon had walked away, a furious Jayden looked at Mia, "You might not have feelings for him, but he definitely has feelings for you".

Mia let out an annoyed sigh, "I can't think about that right now, like you said, I have bigger fish to fry right now".

***

5:00pm

Jayden and Mia were back in Alaric's office with Landon, Alaric had called them after a panicked Landon came to his office with a bloody hand, turns out Landon had fallen asleep in class where he was met with the night hag and in order to wake himself up, he stabbed himself with a pencil.

"The senior witch faculty has mixed together a batch of energy herbs to help you stay away, so, for those of you who are not getting on the evacuation bus, for lack of a better term, please dose yourself responsibly" the trio heard Alaric say through the speakers, currently he was at Emma's office while Jayden and Mia used Alaric's office as a place to figure out a plan to deal with the night hag.

"Alaric is so getting sued" an amused Jayden said, "Or someone's definitely going to hex him, both things will be extremely amusing".

"You don't have to be so hard on him" Landon said, as Mia tended to his wound.

"Are you talking to me?" Jayden asked, glaring at Landon.

"I'm just saying, at my last school, the gym teacher was dealing coke under the bleachers" Landon defended.

"Okay Landon, let's get one thing straight, just cause we're in one room together, that does not mean you have a right to talk to me" an annoyed Jayden snapped.

"Jayden" Mia warned.

"Ow" Landon winced in pain as Mia applied a paste on his wound.

"Sorry" Mia quickly apologised, blowing air on Landon's wound while Jayden tried his best not to rip Landon's head off his body, "It's nearly done".

"What do you think she meant when she said bring it home?" a curious Landon asked the duo.

"By home I'm guessing she means malivore" Jayden informed, "Seems like her plan is to torment us until we give her the urn".

"Right, but if the night hag is a monster that's trapped on the astral plane, then how can she even physically take the urn anywhere?" a confused Landon asked.

"God knows, according to the book, the night hag isn't supposed to affect our reality either, but my welts and your hand proves that theory wrong" Jayden pointed out, "As you can see, sometimes in fairytales and urban legends the stories get twisted".

"Like a human dragon" Mia teased.

"Relax, Asher, Alec, Nova and Hope are on research duty" Jayden assured, "If the night hag figures out a way to get the urn, we'll figure out a way to stop it from bringing it to malivore".

"Well, at least it was a pretty memorable first day" Landon said, as Mia bandaged his hand up.

"Good for you" Jayden said, "Because I'm pretty sure it's just about to get more memorable".

"Because the night hag is most likely just getting started" Mia realised.

"Exactly" Jayden said, "You sure you don't want to evacuate with the others, Landon?".

"I worked so hard to get here" Landon reminded, "If I run at the first sign of trouble, what's the point?".

"The point is that you will be safe" Mia retorted.

"Honestly, you are taking care of me better than anyone in my life ever has, Mia" Landon admitted, making Jayden roll his eyes in annoyance, "Course, I had to stab myself to get your attention".

"You know she has a boyfriend, right?" Jayden snapped.

Landon looked at Mia wide eyed, "You do?".

"I do" Mia confirmed.

"Who?" a suddenly jealous Landon asked.

"Me" Jayden revealed, before standing up and storming out of the office.

"I should probably go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid" Mia said, rushing after Jayden before Landon could say anything.

***

After changing her clothes, Mia entered the gym where Jayden was very aggressively punching the boxing bag.

"Hey, boyfriend" Mia greeted, a teasing smile on her face, "You're gonna rip that bag".

"I'm almost done" Jayden said, "I'll get out of your way soon".

"Or you can spare with me" Mia suggested.

"You hate sparring" Jayden pointed out.

"I don't hate sparring, I just hate the people Alaric made me spare with" Mia retorted, "And plus if I don't stay active, I will fall asleep and become the night hag's next target, you don't want that do you?".

"No, I don't" Jayden said, "Something tells me your nightmare might be the worst one".

"Something tells me that to" Mia laughed, "So shall we?".

"We shall" Jayden said, stepping over to Mia and immediately the duo started sparring.

"You're being gentle" Mia accused, blocking one of Jayden's punches.

"I have a thing for you Mia, I can't punch you with my full weight" Jayden retorted.

"Well forget that you have a thing for me, because I'm about to" Mia warned, rapidly trying to punch Jayden but he very easily blocked her punches and grabbed her wrist.

"It will hurt, Mia" Jayden warned.

"I can take it" Mia assured, trying to kick Jayden but the Mikaelson boy jumped back, but Mia didn't give up, she once again tried to kick him and this time succeeded in kicking Jayden's chest, causing the Mikaelson alpha to stumble back, "So if I take you down, does that make me the new alpha?".

"Keep on dreaming" Jayden said, rapidly punching Mia and eventually succeeding in pushing her to the ground, "You good, baby?".

Mia looked at Jayden, a huge smile on her face, "Never better" she said, quickly standing up and once again attacking Jayden, eventually she twisted his wrist and kicked the back of Jayden's knee to bring him to the ground, she then straddled him with her hand around his throat, Jayden did nothing but smile at the youngest Salvatore.

"Wow" Jayden whispered.

Mia chuckled seeing the awe expression on Jayden's face, she moved and laid next to the panting Mikaelson, "Wow" she whispered to a smiling Jayden.

***

"Jayden!" Landon called out, rushing over to the Mikaelson boy after seeing him walking down the corridor.

Jayden let out an annoyed groan, "Jayden, turns out you were right, I don't belong here, so I have decided to leave this school forever" he mocked, turning to face Landon.

"No, actually, I took Mia's advice and I stayed busy, and I think I found something" Landon informed.

"You found something?" Jayden asked, clearly not believing the boy infront of him.

"Yeah come on, we need to find Mia on the way" Landon said, before running away from Jayden to find the youngest Salvatore.

"I swear to god, when is he going to learn leave my Mia alone" Jayden snapped, before rushing after Landon.

***

"Okay, let's pretend for a second that the research isn't wrong" Landon said, entering the library with Mia and Jayden right behind him, "Maybe the night hag can't hurt us in real life, maybe the night hag can't leave the astral plane and get ahold of the urn, so maybe we are not dealing with a night hag".

"Dude, the thing talks and walks like a night hag" Jayden reminded, "What else could it possibly be?".

"That's exactly what I was wondering, so then I started going through all these books, and boom" Landon said, opening up a book and showing Jayden and Mia a page.

Mia stood next to Landon and looked down at the book, "A Oneiroi?" she read, "What's that?".

"Uncle Elijah told me and Hope about an Oneiroi once" Jayden suddenly remembered, "It was in one of his random myth lessons, from what I remember, an Oneiroi is a black winged shapeshifting dream demon from Greek mythology".

"Yeah, of course he knows what it is" a slightly bitter Landon mumbled, realising his one chance to impress Mia failed as she was now giving Jayden an impressed look.

"But what would a monster get by disguising itself as another monster?" a confused Mia asked, "Doesn't a black winged shapeshifting dream demon not sound freaky enough?".

"Because if we knew what it actually was--".

"We'd figure out a way to stop it" Jayden finished Landon's sentence, a wide eyed Jayden then looked at Mia, "We need to go find your brothers, now!".

Before Mia could say anything, Jayden grabbed her hand and rushed them out of the library while a jealous Landon watched on.

***

8:00pm

Jayden and Mia ended up finding Asher and Alec in the  common room.

"I beg your pardon?" Alec asked, "We're dealing with a black winged what?".

"Black winged shapeshifting dream demon" Jayden and Mia said together.

"I realise that it doesn't sound ideal" Mia said, "But we shouldn't focus on that, we should focus on the fact that we finally know what we're actually dealing with, now we can finally fight against it".

"And how do you suggest we kill a dream demon, Mia?" a confused Asher asked.

Mia gave her brothers a sheepish look, "Yeah, this is the part you two aren't going to like, we aren't going to kill a dream demon, I am".

"What?" Asher and Alec yelled in shock while standing up from their seats and glaring at their sister for even entertaining the thought of putting herself in danger.

"Just hear me out, I can't fall asleep because I know the location of the urn, so I need you three to pull this dream demon out of the dream plane so I can kill it" Mia said.

"No" Alec protested, "Absolutely not".

"Alec, I'm not a child anymore, stop treating me like one, I can do this!" Mia snapped.

"We're not treating you like a child" Asher stated.

"Aren't you?" Mia asked, a challenging look on your face, "Look, I might be a siphoning witch, but that does not mean I'm weak, you two are forgetting Malachai Parker himself trained me, and I am Aria Salvatore's daughter, I can handle myself, you two have to let me do this, please guys".

Asher let out a sigh, he knew no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't cage his sister up, eventually they would have to let her do her thing, "Even if we do agree with your shitty plan".

"Which we're not saying that we are" Alec quickly added, sending a glare towards his brother.

"How the hell are we supposed to pull the demon out of the astral plane and into our waking reality?" a confused Asher asked, ignoring Alec's glare.

"If it's anything like Freddy Kruger, then we just grab it and pull it out" Jayden said.

"Please don't tell me you're supporting Mia's idiotic plan" an annoyed Alec told his best friend.

Jayden let out sigh, "Look Alec, I get that you're worried about Mia, trust me, so am I, but you've got to believe in her, she can do this, plus she won't be completely alone, she'll have Nova and Hope as back up".

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Alec yelled.

"Well it bloody should!" Nova snapped, as her and Hope entered the room, "Stop whining like a child Alec, we are not some damsel in distress, if Mia says she's got this, then she's got this".

Hope looked at Asher, "You three go to sleep, we promise you, we've got this, Ash, trust me, I won't let anything happen to my best friend".

Asher looked between Mia, Nova and Hope, after a moment of thinking, he finally nodded his head, "Fine, let's do this".

"Seriously?" an annoyed Alec asked.

"Seriously" Nova retorted back, "Go take a nap Salvatore!".

***

10:00pm

"Alright, remember one thing, whatever we see in there, it's not real" Asher reminded his brother and best friend as they set their beds up in the gym.

"Trust me, I know, I faced my biggest nightmare remember, which oddly enough even I didn't know was my grandfather" Jayden said.

"I wonder what my worst nightmares going to be" Alec wondered.

"Probably something extremely disturbing" Nova said, as the three girls walked over to the boys.

"Naturally" Alec said.

Mia looked at her brothers and secret boyfriend, "Sweet dreams, guys".

Jayden looked at Mia and gave her a reassuring smile, he knew she was worried about them, but he knew, as long as the girls had their back, they were going to be just fine.

***

11:00pm

Mia, Hope and Nova hovered around the three boys, who were now all in a deep slumber.

Hope kneeled by Asher's body, "Please be okay".

Nova glanced at Alec, "You're stronger than all of them" she whispered.

Mia sat by Jayden, "I'm waiting for you, so please come back to me in one piece" she whispered.

Asher gasped and opened his eyes in shock, looking around he realised he was chained on a chair, with his hands and feet bound and mouth covered, immediately he tried to get out but failed miserably.

"I will not allow it" a shocked Asher turned to his side hearing a familiar voice, his eyes went wide in shock seeing his father, Damon Salvatore, standing there, "My son will not become like his mother, you will become a monster, you will become a vampire Asher, and you will show the world why the Salvatore's are known as monsters!".

When Jayden opened his eyes, he found himself chained to a tree, he tried to snap the chains off but failed and suddenly he started screaming in pain as his bones started breaking, he was going through his werewolf transition.

Alec opened his eyes and found himself in a room full of beheaded bodies, "Of course you're a ripper" Stefan Salvatore said, suddenly appearing infront of Alec, "You didn't think the ripper gene would end with me, did you?".

Jayden screamed in pain, he stopped screaming once he felt hands on his face, "Shh Jayden, it's okay, you're okay, I'm right here with you", Jayden opened his eyes and saw Mia standing infront of him.

"No, no, no" a panicked Jayden mumbled, trying to shove Mia away from him, "You can't be here, get away from me Mia".

"It's okay Jay, you're not going to hurt me, I trust you" Mia assured, stepping closer to Jayden and cupping his face in her hands, "You're gonna be fine".

Jayden looked at Mia, "I'm not so sure I am" he mumbled.

"No!" Alec yelled, glaring at his uncle, "I am not a ripper, I am nothing like you".

Stefan smirked and kneeled infront of his nephew, "That's where you're wrong Alec, you are exactly like me, do you know how many times I hurt your mom? I loved her but seeing her with my brother killed me, same way, seeing Nova with Asher kills you, you're gonna hurt her, just like I hurt Aria, only difference is, you're gonna succeed in killing her".

"No!" Alec yelled, "I would never do that! I would never hurt her!".

"It's who you and your brother are" the dream demon said, suddenly appearing infront of Alec as Stefan disappeared, "Look around at all these bodies Alec, this is what happens to whoever loves a Salvatore, this is what you and your brother will cause to Nova".

The dream demon appeared infront of Asher, "You can deny it all you want, but everyone knows that Damon Salvatore was a monster, he will always be known as a monster, and you, as his oldest son, will take after him, you are a monster Asher Salvatore, and there's nothing you can do to change that!".

The dream demon appeared infront of Alec again, but this time with a dead Nova in her hands, "This is all your fault Alec, Nova's death, is on you".

A teary eyed Alec looked at Nova's dead body infront of him, he nearly lost control when suddenly he heard someone, you're stronger than all of them.

Nova's voice filled Alec with a new sense of confidence, causing him to look up and glare at the demon, "Nova's death isn't on me, but yours will be".

Alec lunged forward and tried to grab and pull the night hag, when suddenly she disappeared into thin air.

Mia leaned forward and started kissing Jayden, who gladly kissed her back, as he was kissing her, his hand went up to her neck where he felt something wet, opening his eyes he was shocked seeing Mia's eyes wide opened and her neck bloody, with her blood all of Jayden's lips.

"No, no, no!" Jayden cried, cradling Mia's dead body in his arms as both of them fell to the floor, "No Mia! I love you, I can't be the reason you die! This isn't real, it can't!".

"It soon will be" the night hag said, appearing next to Jayden, "A Mikaelson and a Salvatore? That is a recipe for a disaster".

Jayden glared at the night hag, he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her arm and she suddenly disappeared into black smoke.

"You don't want to see reality Asher, then you know what to do" the night hag told the oldest Salvatore.

A teary eyed Asher looked at the demon infront of him, "Damn straight I do" he said through the mask around his mouth, managing to free his hand and grabbing the night hag, who once again disappeared into the air.

In the real world, the three boys woke up with a gasp, "Mia?!" a panicked Jayden called out, quickly standing up and glancing around the gym for the youngest Salvatore but not finding her anywhere, "Mia!".

"Is this reality?" a slightly disorientated Alec asked.

"Did they kill it?" a confused Asher asked, wondering what happened while they were asleep.

"Why don't I see any dead dream demons laying around?" a worried Alec asked.

"What the hell is happening?" Jayden wondered.

"Whatever is happening, I sure as hell hope the girls are okay" Asher said.

***

The dream demon walked down the corridor, he stopped walking when he came across a painting of New Orleans stuck on the wall, he quickly ripped the painting apart, revealing a Mikaelson safe behind the wall, he ripped the safe open but to his confusion the urn wasn't in the safe.

"My bad" Mia said, appearing at the end of the corridor, "I might have told the boys the wrong hiding place for the urn".

The monster and Mia glared at each other before they both started running towards each other and the moment they were close enough, both of them lunged forward to attack.

***

"I grabbed the damn monster like you told me to Jayden, so why didn't it work?" a worried Alec asked.

"We don't know it didn't work" Asher retorted, "And once again, where the hell are the girls?".

"Last I saw Nova was in my dream" Alec revealed.

"And Mia was in mine" Jayden added.

Alec and Asher both looked at Jayden, "You dreamed about our sister?" Asher asked his best friend.

Jayden's eyes went wide in shock once he realised what he had just revealed, he quickly looked at Alec, "You dreamed about your brother's ex-girlfriend?" he asked, hoping to take the attention off of him which worked as Alec's eyes went wide and Asher's glare turned to his brother.

Suddenly the three boys heard rumbling, "What the hell is that?" a confused Alec asked.

"Forget that, why were you dreaming about Nova?" Asher asked his brother, "And what was she doing in the dream?".

"Why do you care?" an annoyed Alec snapped, "You two aren't together anymore Ash, so stop attacking like a jealous boyfriend, you have no right on her anymore!".

"Hey!" Jayden yelled, cutting the brother's argument before it could even get started, "Forget the dreams and focus on reality, where are the girls?!".

Before Asher and Alec could say anything, the gym doors shattered open and both Mia and the monster flew in, the boys quickly moved out of the way before they could land on them, once they gathered themselves, the three boys quickly stood up and stood behind Mia.

"Stay back" Mia told the boys, gathering herself, "This is my fight".

Before any of the boys could stop her, Mia jumped on the monster and pulled him to the ground, she wrapped her hand around her throat but before she could cause any damage, the monster wrapped his hand around Mia's throat and started choking her, as Mia started coughing, Alec, Asher and Jayden took a step towards them but quickly stopped when Nova and Hope rushed into the room.

"Stay where you are!" Hope yelled to the boys.

"Mia, eyes!" Nova yelled, before throwing Mia an arrow, who easily caught it, she then pushed the monster's hand off of her throat, and after breaking the arrow in half, stuck both the pieces in the monsters eyes, making it scream in pain before it disappeared into black smoke.

As Mia took deep breaths to gather herself, Hope suddenly started clapping, "That was so sexy" she praised.

"I think I might be turning gay for you, Mia Salvatore" Nova admitted.

Mia laughed hearing her best friends while the panicked boys finally took a breath of relief.

***

After everyone had calmed down, they all scattered to their separated rooms to rest, it was a long day for all of them, after grabbing himself a snack from the kitchen, Alec was walking back to his room when Nova came out of her, Hope and Mia's shared room.

"Hey, hero" Nova greeted, a huge smile forming on her face once her eyes landed on the middle Salvatore.

"Hey" Alec whispered, giving Nova a small smile, when he looked at the St. John girl all he could remember was her dead body.

"You were great tonight" Nova praised, not sensing Alec's changed mood, Alec simply gave Nova a small nod and turned to walk away, this time Nova sensed the change in him, "What's wrong? Ever since you came out of the nightmare world, you seem different".

Alec took a deep breath before facing Nova again, "Ever since we were kids, you loved Asher and hated me".

 "Alec I don't--".

"I know the only reason you hated me was because you thought that I hated you" Alec interrupted, "But the truth is Nova, I never hated you, I could never hate you, the only reason I acted the way I did was because I hated the way you made me feel, the way you still make me feel", Nova's eyes went wide hearing Alec's confession, "The reason I pretended to hate you isn't because I'm ashamed of my feelings, it's because I feel like I'm betraying my brother, my loyalty for my brother and my need to keep you safe, they go above any feelings I feel for you, so you and I have to stop talking like this Nova, we have to stop talking period, because if we don't I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself, my feelings will keep getting stronger and I won't be able to hide them behind hatred anymore, and eventually I'm going to end up hurting both you and Asher, my brother is never going to trust me again and because of me, you will always be in danger".

After saying what he needed to say, Alec turned around and walked in the direction of his room while a shocked Nova was left standing there, immense guilt feeling her heart, she wondered this whole time how did she not realise Alec had feelings for her.

***

Jayden sat infront of the fireplace in the common room, when Mia walked over to him and without saying a word sat next to him, she looped her arm around his and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I have a speech, can I say it?" Mia said after a moment of silence.

Jayden let out a chuckle, "You sound like my mom" he said, placing a kiss on top of Mia's head, "But yes, of course you can say it".

"My entire life I've been known as the weak triplet" Mia whispered, "The triplet that is always afraid and I've been okay with that because I kind of accepted that I am weak, I can't do the things my brothers can do or what my mom used to do, I know you and my brothers always want to protect me, but the way you guys keep me in the dark, keep me away from everything, a part of me started believing that you guys believed the same thing".

Jayden immediately shook his head, "Mia I will never--".

"Let me finish" Mia interrupted, "If I don't say this now, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say this to you Jay", Jayden nodded his head in understanding, "But tonight something changed, I fought a dream demon, I killed it and I realised I'm not weak Jayden, yes I can't do the things Alec and Asher can do, or what mom used to do but that's not because I'm weak, it's because I'm not Aria, or Alec or Asher, I'm Mia, I'm strong, just in a different way, I know you want to hide me away from these monsters but you can't do that, the more you guys hide me, the more I will fall apart, I am a Salvatore, I have to fight to stay alive, but I can't do that if you won't let me, are you getting what I'm saying?".

Jayden turned and faced Mia, he cupped her face in his hands, "Mia, I know more than anyone in this world how strong you are, I swear to everything, not once did I think that you are weak, I didn't hide you from the monsters because you were the weak triplet, it was because I was afraid to lose you, I know you are strong, you handle so many responsibilities, things other people can't even dream of handling, you know what today taught me? I have to stop being afraid of losing you, I have to trust you and I have to trust myself, I know you can fight, and I have to believe that I can keep you safe, so I promise Mia, no more secrets, no more hiding, now it's time for the world to see that Mia Salvatore isn't the weak triplet, she's the strongest".

A teary eyed Mia smiled hearing Jayden's, suddenly she straddled the Mikaelson boy and after placing her hands on his face, she pulled him into a heated kiss, Jayden's hands automatically going on her waist while deepening the kiss.

***

Presenting 1x09 of Broken Hearted!

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