16. There's Always A Loophole

With her bag in her hand, Hope walked into the common room where Asher was, "Hey, you okay?" a concerned Hope asked, Nova and Mia having told her what Kol told the brothers.

"No" Asher admitted, "My mind is haywiring, can you tell Mia that I'm sorry for not joining the fight to get Landon back".

"You don't have to apologise to me, Ash" Mia assured, walking over to her best friend and brother, having heard their talk, "I'm not going alone, my squad is joining me".

Asher and Hope looked towards the entrance of the common room and their eyes landed on Nova, Jayden, Kaleb, Lizzie, Josie and Jed.

"Jayden's going with you?" an annoyed Asher asked.

"Asher" Hope warned.

"Well he was supposed to stay here with you and Alec but since both of don't want any company, he's coming with us" Mia informed.

"Where's MG at?" a curious Kaleb asked.

"He's on his way" Hope replied, "Let's load up while we wait for him, come on".

After giving Asher a small smile, Hope and the rest of the group walked outside, Mia stayed behind to talk to her brother, "You know, Alec's here as well" she said.

"So?" Asher asked.

"Come on Ash, you both found out something life changing, you shouldn't deal with it alone, if anyone will understand what you're going through, it's Alec, because it's going through the exact same thing" Mia said, she patted her brother's shoulder, "Just talk to him please, I don't want my brothers to be on the opposite sides when they need to be right by each other's side".

Mia walked away from Asher, leaving him behind to think about her words.

***

Mia joined the rest of the group and together they stepped out of the school, however before they could reach their van, their way was blocked by a bunch of people carrying weapons and shields.

"Oh sorry, we were about to knock".

"Who the hell are you?" an annoyed Lizzie asked.

"And why are you blocking our path?" Nova asked.

"Name's Burr, triad industries" Burr introduced.

Immediately Hope, Nova and Mia stood next to each other, Mia held her best friends hand to siphon off of them, the trio tried to use their magic to hurt the people from triad, but to their shock and confusion, their magic didn't work.

"I got this" Kaleb assured, putting his bag down on the ground, he tried to speed towards the men to attack him, but the moment he stepped into the sun, his skin started burning, he yelled in pain as he realised his daylight ring wasn't working anymore, immediately causing him to step back.

"What you don't got is magic" Burr revealed, "Which is why your daylight ring won't work, and what we have is stakes, wolfsbane, and other things, so I think you should invite us inside".

Nova, Mia and Hope glanced at each other, all three of them wondering how the hell were they supposed to fight these people without their magic.

***

"We're looking for an artefact known as the chalice of arimathea" Burr announced, as he addressed the whole student body of the Salvatore school while the other triad members distributed pictures of the chalice to the students, "We have reason to believe it's part of your school's collection, now you know this place a lot better then we do so the sooner you help us find it, the sooner we'll be gone, triad thanks you for your time".

From across the room, Asher and Alec looked at each other, both brothers had a similar look of anger on their faces, and both the brothers had only one thought in their mind, they were not going to let triad win.

***

Asher, Alec, Mia, Jayden, Hope and Nova rushed into Alaric's office, Hope quickly rushed towards Alaric's phone, she let out an annoyed sigh, "It's dead" she informed.

"Then we need to find the school's cell" Asher stated.

"No shit sherlock" Alec said, as the group started searching Alaric's office.

"You really want to argue now?" an annoyed Asher asked.

"Can we not be at war with each right now?" Jayden snapped at his best friends, "We are literally in a do or die situation".

"I swear this shelf had books on it" a confused Nova remembered, standing infront of the bookshelf in Alaric's office.

Mia looked at the shelf, "Yeah, it should".

"So where did the books?" a confused Jayden asked, as Nova picked up the box that was on the shelf, she placed the box on Alaric's spell.

"Whatever these people are using to block our magic, that must have removed the clocking school Ric made a witch do on this box" Nova concluded.

"Shock, Alaric hides things from us" Alec taunted, as Jayden picked the box up and started shaking it.

"Jay, unless it has the school phone in it, it doesn't matter" Hope said, grabbing the box from her brother's hand and placing it back on the table.

Asher looked at Alec, "Usually when Ric hides something from us, it's for our benefit".

Alec glared at his brother, "Now you're defending Ric?!" he asked, "Seriously?! You know what Asher please do tell how hiding the fact that my own brother is going to kill me, was for my benefit?".

"You will only die if you lose the merge" Asher retorted, "And tell me something, why aren't you equally mad at dad?".

"Oh trust me, I am plenty mad at dad" Alec stated, "And don't pretend like we both don't know whose going to win this merge, it's definitely not going to be the broken brother".

"Can you for once not play the victim here?!" Asher snapped.

"And can you both just shut your mouth?!" an annoyed Nova said, shutting both Alec and Asher right up.

"I found it!" Mia suddenly announced, gaining everyone's attention, "I found the phone".

"Pass" Asher demanded, snatching the phone from his sister's hand, making both Alec and Mia roll their eyes.

"Well, however this is gets extra credit" Alaric said the minute he answered Asher's call.

"Ric it's me Asher, we have a huge problem" Asher informed, "Triad has taken over our school".

"Is everything okay?" a worried Alaric asked.

"For now" Asher replied, "But I don't know how long everyone's going to be okay, none of us have any of our powers".

"What do they want?" a curious Alaric asked, trying his best not to panic after hearing all his students were defenseless against triad.

"For some reason they think that the third artefact is somewhere in the school" Asher informed.

"You're kidding" Alaric said.

"It's called the chalice of arimathea" Asher revealed, "Do you have any idea if we actually have that?".

"We don't have the chalice of arimathea, do we?" Alaric asked Dorian, who was with him.

"I'd have to check the old armory records but not to my knowledge" Dorian replied.

"Listen, I've got to find my way into the school but just promise me you're not going to do anything crazy" Alaric said, knowing out of everyone, Asher, Alec and Jayden were the ones who were most likely going to do something crazy and impulsive.

"The whole school is in danger Ric, you can't expect me to stand in your office and do nothing" Asher argued.

"Asher, for once in your life will you please just listen to me" Alaric pleaded, "If triad wants the chalice, help them get the chalice, you don't have your powers, you are vulnerable, if you try to resist someone can get hurt, do you understand me?".

Asher looked towards his brother, who already had a feeling what Alaric was telling him, so he immediately shook his head, they were not giving triad what they wanted, Asher gave Alec a small nod and without saying anything to Alaric, he hung up the phone on him.

"So what are we going to do now?" a worried Nova asked.

"We find a way to get our powers back and then we kick triad's ass" Alec stated.

"I'm down with that" Jayden said.

"But Alaric told us to not do anything crazy" Mia reminded.

"And when was the last time we listened to Alaric?" Nova asked.

"Exactly" Jayden said.

"We're not letting triad get their hands on that chalice" Asher stated, just as the doors to Alaric's office opened and Burr stepped in.

"Well, at least we know where you stand" Burr said.

"You're damn right we do" Hope said, glaring at Burr.

Burr looked at Hope, "You're not very scared of me, are you?".

Mia stood next to her best friend, "No, we're not".

"How about now?" Burr asked, pulling a gun out of his pocket.

Alec let out a laugh, "That's the thing you're gonna use to scare us?".

"This gun will never harm a human child, you six however", Burr started loading the gun up, "These bullets were formed from the mud of the malivore pit, and weaponized by triad scientists, they can break the skin of any supernatural like a knife through butter, fester, infect them, disintegrate them from the inside out".

"Look, we have no idea where the chalice is" Mia said.

Burr looked at Mia, "I believe you, this is just for fun really, eenie", Burr pointed the gun at Hope, "Meenie", Burr pointed the gun at Mia, "Miney", Burr pointed the gun at Nova, immediately the three boys were on alert, realising Burr's target was one of the girls.

Alec glared at Burr, "Mo, asshole!" he shouted, charging towards Burr, causing him to aim his gun at Alec and shoot at him, however before the bullet could hit Alec, Nova stood infront him and the bullet ended up hitting her shoulder.

"Nova!" Alec yelled, as Nova fell back into his chest.

"Lock them up" Burr ordered his men as the rest of the group crowded around Nova, extremely worried for her, while Alec started drowning in guilt, his biggest fear came true, Nova got hurt because of him.

***

Alec, Asher and Nova were locked in one cell, while Mia, Jayden and Hope were locked in the cell infront of them.

"Are you crazy?" a furious Alec asked Nova, sitting infront of her and looking at her wound that seemed to get worse with each passing second.

"Am I crazy?" Nova asked, "I wasn't the one practically begging him to shoot me".

"I was trying to get his attention off of you, Hope and Mia" Alec defended.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Nova asked, "Ever since you found out about the merge, there's this crazy look in your eyes, you've developed a death wish, haven't you?".

"Well I'm sorry that I wanted to have a honorable death and not a cowards one" Alec snapped.

"There's nothing honorable about trying to get yourself killed" Nova snapped back, in the process moving her shoulder, "Ow!".

"Dammit Nova, stay still" Alec said, a look of panic on his face.

"Hey!" one of the men from triad said, hitting his stick on the cell door, "Keep it quiet in here!".

"This isn't a prison yard, asshole!" Alec snapped, once the guard walked away, Alec let out a sigh, "God, I have no idea what to do".

Asher sat infront of Nova and Alec, "Me too".

Nova looked between Asher and Alec, "No" she said, "You two aren't giving up, you don't give up", Nova looked at Alec, "I'm dying Alec", Nova looked at Asher, "And only you two can save me, you two come through for everyone, so you have to come through for me as well, I don't want to die you guys, I still have so much I want to do, I need the two of you more then I've ever needed you before", Nova grabbed Alec's hand in her one hand, while her other hand grabbed Asher, "We're gonna get through this", Nova glanced at her other friends who were looking at her with teary eyes, "Together".

Asher squeezed Nova's hand before turning to Alec, "I guess it's hero time".

Alec shook his head, "No, it's villain time".

Asher smirked, "I suppose that suits us better".

Suddenly the guard came back and banged on the cell door again, "I said keep it down in there!" he yelled, when suddenly he fell to the floor, Alec and Asher immediately stood up and saw MG standing by the door with a dart gun in his hand.

"Did someone say hero time?" MG asked.

***

"A blood fountain?" Asher asked MG, once he had freed all of them, "That sounds gross".

"It's even more gross in person, trust me" MG said, "I was looking for a way to shut it off but I couldn't figure out how".

"Alright, I'll go find the secret tunnel I guess" Hope said, all of the group now gathered in Nova, Alec and Asher's cell.

"I'll come with you" Asher said, making Hope give him a nod.

"Thanks" a grateful MG said, "If we get our magic back we'll have the upper hand".

"Then I'll be able to siphon the poison out of Nova" Mia said.

"Okay, me and Hope will be back as soon as we can" Asher said, he looked at Alec, "Keep Nova alive".

"Wait, you two need to go help Landon" MG stated, "We don't need you to be here".

"You really think I care about Landon right now?" an annoyed Asher asked.

"If you don't go rescue him I will" Mia warned, "So the choice is yours".

Asher looked at Mia in annoyance, he then looked at Hope, who nodded her head, he then looked at Alec who shrugged his shoulders.

"Please go" Jayden said, "I really don't want Mia to go rescue that hobbit".

"Why?" a confused Alec asked.

"Because he's jealous of him" Mia informed.

"Gross" Asher commented.

Alec let out a sigh, "Ash, go" he said, "You and Hope save Landon, the rest of us will save our school".

"Go" Mia told her brother.

"I swear to god, if you don't leave I will puke on both of you" a weak Nova warned Asher and Hope.

Asher and Hope smiled at Nova's comment before finally leaving to go rescue Landon, once they left, Landon turned to Alec and Nova.

"You two need to stay out of sight till we all get out magic back" Jayden said, "Alec, you need to stay with Nova, right now she can't protect herself".

"I wasn't planning on leaving her side anyways" Alec said, sitting next to Nova and holding on to her hand, while Nova looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"Meanwhile we're gonna go get everyone else ready to attack triad" Mia said, looking at Jayden who gave her a nod.

***

"Don't suppose this thing comes with a instruction manual" Hope said, as both and her Asher looked at the blood fountain that was made up of skulls.

"What if we just smash it?" Asher asked.

"We don't know what smashing it would do" Hope pointed it, "It might make things worse and not better".

Hope and Asher suddenly froze when a torch was shined on them, both of them breathed a sigh of relief when they realised it was not a member of triad it was Alaric who had used the secret tunnels to enter the school.

"I thought I told you to wait for me" an annoyed Alaric told Asher.

"Is it really shocking to you that I didn't listen?" Asher asked.

"God, you are just like you mother when it comes to stubbornness" Alaric said.

"Thank you, I take great pride in that" Asher said, giving Alaric a mock smile.

"What happened to your arm?" a worried Alaric asked, grabbing Asher's wrist and seeing a bullet hole in his jacket.

Asher and Hope immediately looked at each other in shock, "The triad guy shot at us with malivore mud, he must have gotten you too" Hope told Asher.

"But I didn't feel it" a confused Asher said, when suddenly realisation drew on him, "It's because malivore mud doesn't affect me".

"Wait, if it doesn't effect you that means it doesn't effect Mia and Alec either" Hope pointed out, "Which means--".

"If Alec got shot he would have been fine" Asher realised, "But now Nova's dying".

"Oh my god" Hope whispered.

"Nova got shot?!" a shocked Alaric asked.

"Yes and just save the lecture and help us turn this stupid thing off so Nova can be saved" Asher said.

Alaric looked at the blood fountain, he started tracing the symbols that were on the skulls of the fountain and suddenly it turned off, "Which was super easy apparently" Hope realised, "How did you know how to do that?".

"This is a dark object" Alaric informed, "Created by a group of extinct witch like people called the travelers".

"I know all about the travelers" Asher said, "Mom wrote about them in her diary".

"Anti magic was kind of their thing" Alaric said.

"How did triad even get it in here?" a confused Hope asked, "How did they know there were tunnels?".

"Listen I will explain everything to you two later but right now I have to make sure Nova is alright or Enzo is going to kill me" Alaric said.

"Wait hold up, Ric!" Asher called out, stopping Alaric from rushing away, "Tell Alec to give Nova his blood".

"Why?" a confused Alaric asked.

"Dad's blood always healed mom" Asher reminded.

"Yeah but that was because they were--", Alaric's eyes suddenly went wide when he realised what Asher was hinting at, "Wait, you think Alec and Nova are--?".

"Recently I've been observing them a lot closely then before, and honestly if after mom and dad it can be anyone, then my bet's on them" Asher said.

"Wait, what are we talking about?" a confused Hope asked.

"I'll explain later" Asher told Hope, he looked at Alaric, "Just tell Alec to give Nova his blood, trust me, it will heal her".

Before Alaric could say anything, Asher grabbed Hope's hand and the two rushed the opposite direction of Alaric.

***

"It's not working" a panicked Mia told Alec, as she tried to siphon the poison out of Nova but it wasn't working, "I can't siphon the poison out of her".

Nova let out a bitter chuckle, "Just my luck, well I guess you two should say your goodbyes now".

"Shut up, Nova" Alec snapped, him sitting on side of the St. John while Mia sat on the other, "You're not dying for me!".

A teary eyed Nova looked at Alec, "I couldn't think of a better person to die for" she cried, as she slowly sat, she looked at Alec and placed a hand on his cheek, "My childhood enemy, my present complicated friendship, I just wish I could have find out what the future held for us, maybe in another life?".

Alec shook his head, "No" he cried, "No, you can't leave me, not like this", Alec joined his and Nova's foreheads together, "Please don't leave me".

"You know, if I could go back, I'd do it all over again" Nova admitted, "I'd rather me die then you, Alec".

"It's not supposed to be like this" Alec sobbed.

"But it is Alec" Nova whispered, she separated herself from Alec, after wiping his tears, she looked at her best friend who had stood up and was now standing by the cell bars, sobbing, "Make sure my funeral is according to my taste, don't make it bland and boring".

Mia started sobbing harder, "I'm sorry Nova, I'm so sorry".

"Why are you sorry?" a confused Nova asked.

"I thought I could siphon the poison but I can't, I can't save you, please don't hate me" Mia cried.

"Hey, come here" Nova said, holding her hand towards her best friend, who stepped forward and immediately placed her hand in Nova's who pulled her to sit next to her, "I can never hate you Mia Salvatore, you are my best friend, my sister and I know at times I can be annoying but never complain, do you know why I always annoyed you?".

"Why?" Mia cried.

"Because you were the one person after dad that I knew for sure would never leave me, no matter what I did" Nova said.

"Then why are you leaving me?" Mia whispered.

"I'm having my hero moment, let me have it" Nova said, she looked at Alec who was holding on to her hand tightly, "Now both of you stop crying and take me upstairs", both Alec and Mia looked at Nova in confusion, "Jayden is up there fighting alone, he needs us and I don't want to die hiding, I want to die fighting".

***

Jayden stood on top of the stairs, he looked down at Kaleb who was checking if the sun burned him or not, after realising his daylight ring was working again, Kaleb looked up at Jayden and gave him a small nod, Jayden then looked at the mirror behind, he looked at his eyes and a smirk formed on his face when his eyes glowed yellow, with his glowing eyes, Jayden stood on top of the stairs again and let out a loud alpha roar, letting everyone in the school know it was time to fight.

Burr pulled out a gun to shoot the students, when Jayden jumped from the top of the stairs and tackled Burr to the ground, he then jumped off of Burr and started punching any triad member that came near him, "Kaleb, get the kids into the bus!", Jayden then turned around and realised Burr was back up and him and all the other triad members had their guns pointed at him, with a smirk that resembled a lot like his dad's, Jayden used his magic to make all of their guns fly into the air, they then suddenly turned into flower petals and rained down on the triad members.

"Their magic is back, someone get down to the tunnels and fix this!" Burr demanded into his walkie talkie.

***

Burr glared at Jayden, "So you think you're a superhero or something?".

"Yeah, I do" Jayden said, giving Burr a mock smile.

"Too bad I got kryptonite" Burr said, pointing his gun that was full of the bullets made from the malivore mud at Jayden, however before he could shoot, his neck was suddenly snapped, Jayden looked behind a now dead Burr and realised it was Nova who used her magic to snap Burr's neck.

"Figured I'd take the guy responsible for my condition down with me" Nova said, giving Jayden a weak smile, while Mia and Alec supported her from each side.

"Why hasn't the poison being siphoned yet?" a confused Jayden as he rushed over to the trio.

"I can't siphon the poison" Mia whispered, "It doesn't work".

Jayden looked at Mia in shock, "If you can't siphon the poison, that means that Nova is gonna--".

"I'm gonna die" Nova finished.

***

Alaric barged into Mia, Nova and Hope's dorm room where he saw Alec sitting beside Nova, who was laying on her bed, looking very close to death, while Mia and Jayden sat on Mia's bed, both looking at Nova with tears in their eyes.

"Ric" Mia sobbed, "It's bad, it's really bad".

"Alec, give her your blood" Alaric demanded, handing Alec a pocket knife, while everyone looked at him in confusion.

"What?" a confused Alec asked.

"Just trust me on this, give Nova your blood" Alaric said, "There's a chance it might save her".

Alec looked at Alaric then at Nova, then without wasting anymore time, he made a cut on his hand, he then put his non-injured hand behind Nova's neck and helped her slightly sit up and then he fed her his blood, Alec didn't question Alaric when he asked him to feed Nova his blood, all he knew was that even if it was a small chance of his blood saving Nova, he was going to take it.

***

Asher and Hope managed to sneak into triad industries, it wasn't that hard considering most of the triad employees were focused on their school and not the malivore pit, the moment the duo entered the room that had malivore's pit, they saw Landon trying to save himself from a headless horseman, they saw the horseman grab Landon by his neck and slam him to the wall, he then snatched the third malivore artefact which wasn't the chalice but was an arrowhead, the horseman threw the arrow head into the pit however before it could reach the pit, Asher used his magic to draw the arrowhead into his hand.

"Asher" Landon whispered, breathing a sigh of relief seeing both Hope and Asher here, "How did you two find me?".

"Mia and Rafael figured out the clues you left in that voicemail" Hope informed as the horseman let go of Landon and started walking towards Asher and Hope, "You're great at riddles but you should probably add fight training to your course work".

Asher looked at Hope, "Ready?".

Hope nodded her head, "Yeap, feel free to take notes, Landon".

Asher placed the arrowhead by the window sill, and after exchanging a look with Hope, both of them turned to the headless horseman and charged at him together.

***

"I really Hope and Asher are okay" a worried Mia said, laying next to Nova, who thanks to Alec's blood was all healed up.

"They probably saved both Landon and the world by now" Nova teased.

"Yeah, those two make a pretty good team" Mia said, she looked at Nova, "Just like you and Alec", Nova didn't say anything just gave Mia a small smile, "New feelings are arising, aren't they?".

"Yeap" Nova admitted, "And it's terrifying the shit out of me".

"Don't be terrified of these feelings Nova, embrace them, enjoy them, because trust me when I say this, these news feelings are going to be one of the best thing that's going to happen to you" Mia said, before Nova could say anything, a knock on their door caught their attention, "Come in!".

The door opened and in came Alec and Jayden, "Hey" Jayden greeted Mia, "Can you come outside with me? There's something I need to talk to you about".

"Yeah sure" Mia said, before standing up from her bed, before leaving she looked at her brother, "I know I don't have to tell you this but take care of Nova, okay?".

Alec simply nodded his head and after giving Nova a small smile, Mia left the room to talk to Jayden, leaving Alec and Nova alone.

"How you feeling?" a worried Alec asked, sitting on the side of Nova's bed.

"Much better then before" Nova assured, as she sat up and looked at Alec, "You saved me".

Alec looked at Nova, "You saved me first".

Nova smiled at Alec, "We're a great pair, aren't we?".

Alec laced his fingers with Nova, "Yes we are" he said, as Nova gave him a smile.

***

"What's this about?" a curious Mia asked as Jayden dragged her into his room.

"Okay, I know you're gonna say I shouldn't have taken this but I couldn't help myself, it's another thing Alaric is hiding from us and I needed to know why" Jayden said.

Mia looked at Jayden wide eyed, "Tell me you didn't".

Jayden gave Mia a sheepish look before he pulled out the red box they saw in Alaric's office from under his pillow, "I had to".

"Jayden" Mia scolded.

"Oh come on, like you weren't curious about this as well" Jayden said.

Mia let out a sigh, "What's in it?".

Jayden opened the box and pulled out the one thing out of it, "It's this but I have no idea what it is".

"Ascendant" Mia whispered.

Jayden looked at Mia, "You know what this is?".

"I do, but I don't know how I know it" a very confused Mia admitted.

"That's concerning" Jayden commented.

Mia looked at Jayden, "Very".

***

The headless horseman kept trying to hit Asher and Hope with his whip but both of them kept managing to avoid him, to their annoyance it seemed like their magic hardly effected the monster, Hope went to punch him when he grabbed Hope's arm and twisted it, Asher quickly jumped and kicked the horseman in the chest, separating him and Hope.

"Why the hell won't this thing die?!" Asher asked.

Hope looked at Landon, "You know sci-fi stuff, so how do we kill him?".

 "Headless horseman is more fantasy" Landon clarified.

"Is there a helpful part in this or not?!" an annoyed Asher asked, as the horseman stood back up again and faced the duo.

"In the Tim Burton movie they defeated them by giving him a bride" Landon informed, as the headless horseman wrapped his whip around Asher's ankle and pulled him to the floor.

"Hope, I'm going to kill him before I kill this monster!" Asher yelled, as he removed the whip from his ankle and stood back up.

"That wouldn't be my first choice" Landon quickly clarified.

"Me neither" Hope said, as both Asher and Hope used their magic to attack the horseman again, this time their magic working on him causing him to flip in the air and fall to the ground.

"In the OG cartoon he had a pumpkin head that he might keep with his horse" Landon said, when suddenly his eyes landed on something hanging on the horseman, "Correction! He's got it under his cape, kill the head, the body dies, that's science fiction!".

"Great" Hope said, as the headless horseman stood back up, he tried to whip Hope but Asher quickly stood infront of her and caught the whip in his hand.

"One head coming right up" Asher said, as the horseman dragged Asher towards him, the moment he was near him, Asher kicked the horseman on his chest, causing him to hit the wall before falling to the ground, the head ended up falling out of his cape and down the stairs where Landon was.

"Oh god why is it moist" a disgusted Landon said he picked the head up.

"Give me it!" Hope yelled as the horseman jumped over to Landon, however before he could grab his head, Landon threw the head in Hope's direction, who quickly broke a pipe from the railing and caught the head by stabbing it with the railing, just as Hope did that, the horseman ended up falling to the ground, dead.

"Suck on that Tim Burton" Landon said.

"You good?" Asher asked Hope.

"Perfect" Hope assured, "You?".

"Perfect" Asher said, making Hope smile at him.

"Nothing like young love is there?", Asher and Hope turned towards the new voice in the room, they saw Clarke standing next to the window sill Asher had placed the arrowhead at, "Shame it has to be so short lived", Clarke looked at Landon, "You'll find baby brother one of our family's worst trait is", Clarke grabbed the arrowhead, "That we're terribly clumsy".

Before anyone could stop him, Clarke threw the arrowhead into malivore.

"No!" Hope yelled, as a bright light shot from the malivore pit.

***

"Aren't you going to clap or something?" Clarke taunted Asher and Hope as they looked down at the bubbling pit of Malivore while the sirens went off behind them, "That was a total power move".

Asher glared at Clarke, he grabbed the headless horseman's whip that was laying by his and Hope's feet, after picking it up in his hand, he whipped it in Clarke's direction, it ended up wrapping around Clarke's neck and when Asher pulled on it, Clarke's neck was snapped in half and he fell to the ground.

"Damn" an impressed Hope commented.

"Okay, we gotta think, we have to figure something out to keep him from rising" a panicked Landon said, his words catching both Asher and Hope's attention.

"How do you know it's a he?" a suspicious Asher asked.

"Ooh, we have a lot to catch up on" Landon informed.

***

"Wow, that's a lot to take in" a shocked Hope admitted after Landon told her and Asher everything Clarke told him, "So malivore's your dad?

"Weird, huh?" Landon asked.

"Very" Asher stated, "And here I thought me being Damon Salvatore's son and Kol Mikaelson adoptive son gave me issues, that can no where compare to the issues you're gonna have".

"Not the time" Hope told Asher, "So malivore can't be killed, that's why triad turned him into goo?".

Landon nodded his head, "Quick study".

"Nothing in this world is truly immortal" Asher pointed out, "We've seen it with the Mikaelson's, we've seen it with my mom, nature will never allow a truly immortal being to live on this earth, there's always a loophole".

The trio's eyes landed on malivore's pit, in which the bubbling had gotten worse, "Any brilliant ideas?" Landon asked Hope and Asher, "Cause I think we're running out of time".

Asher thought about it for a moment, before he let out an annoyed sigh and closed his eyes in frustration, "There is one idea" he informed, he looked at Hope, "An idea that you're definitely not going to like".

"How bad is it?" Hope said, knowing the look on Asher's face all too well.

"Really bad" Asher stated, before stepping forward and pulling Hope into a tight hug, "Take care of yourself".

"Ash--", before an extremely worried Hope could complete her sentence, Asher broke the hug, he looked at Hope and placed two fingers on her forehead, immediately causing her to fall unconscious, Asher caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground and gently placed her down.

"What the hell man?!" a shocked Landon yelled, wondering why did Asher do that to Hope.

Asher ignored Landon's yell and instead used his magic to snap his neck, knowing his phoenix side will bring him back to life.

***

The moment Alec stepped out of Nova's room, his phone started ringing, taking it out of his back pocket, he realised his brother was calling, "Ash" a relieved Alec greeted, breathing a sigh of relief once he realised his brother was okay, "Are you and Hope okay?".

"We're fine" Asher assured, "And Landon's fine too, is Nova okay?.

"Nova's fine, turns out all she needed was my blood" Alec informed, causing a sad smile to form on Asher's face, his theory was right, "Where are you three? I'll come pick you guys up".

"We're at Fort Valley, Georgia" Asher informed, "Hope's going to need you once I'm done so write the address down".

"First of all, Fort Valley? That's triad headquarters" Alec remembered, "Second of all, why would Hope need me when she has you?".

"Because I'm not going to be here for much longer" Asher revealed.

"Asher" a worried Alec said, recognised the tone in his brother's voice all too well, "Don't do anything stupid".

"There can't be a merge if one of dies" Asher whispered.

"That's not an option!" Alec yelled, "You are now allowed to sacrifice yourself for me!".

"Don't worry Alec, I know when I jump into the pit most likely you and Mia would be the only ones to remember me, so I can't have that, that's why before calling you I did a spell that will make sure the moment I jump into the pit and everybody forgets me, you and Mia will also forget me" Asher informed.

"For gods sake Asher, please don't do that, just wait for me, please" a panicked Alec pleaded.

"There's no time to wait for you, Clarke won, he tossed the final artefact into the pit, malivore is gonna rise unless one of us stops him" Asher stated.

"How do you that it's us that can stop him?!" Alec asked, "What if you jumping into the pit does nothing but kill you and malivore still rises? Then what Asher?!".

"That won't happen" Asher assured.

"You don't know that!" Alec yelled.

"Malivore was created by three different species, but when it came to destroying him, those species couldn't do anything, only the first tribrid could" Asher revealed.

"The first tribrid?" a confused Alec asked, "Mom?".

"No, mom's doppelganger, Adriana, she defeated malivore, that's what Clarke told Landon" Asher informed, "And now it's only her bloodline that can defeat malivore again".

"You, me and Mia" Alec realised, "We're the ones who can defeat malivore?".

"Yeap" Asher said.

"Ash, this is is just a theory, we have no idea if what Clarke told Landon was even true or not" Alec said, "Just wait for me, we'll figure something else out".

"There's no time to figure anything else out" Asher argued, "It's one of us Alec, before mom was the answer to every problem, and now as her children, it's us, I won't watch Mia or you sacrifice yourself so it has to be me".

"No it doesn't!" Alec argued back, "You want someone to jump into that pit? Fine, I'll do it!".

"I'm the older brother Alec, this is on me" Asher stated.

"Don't use the older brother card on me, Asher!" Alec yelled, "You don't have no idea what this will do to me and Mia".

"Which is why I'm going to make sure you two also don't remember me" Asher said.

"Asher please" Alec pleaded, as tears welled in his eyes, "Don't do this, I can't lose my brother".

"You know for years I was so angry with mom and dad for sacrificing themselves for us" an emotional Asher admitted, "But today I'm in their position, and I realise I would do anything in my power to keep you, Mia", Asher glanced at Hope, "And everyone else that I love safe, I finally understand mom and dad, now be a good little brother and support my decision".

"Screw your decision!" Alec snapped, "I don't support it, I will never support you in this madness".

"Come on Alec, mom and dad aren't here to say it so I need you to say it, say that you're proud of me" Asher cried, tears slipping down his eyes.

"Dammit Ash" Alec cried, "Of course I'm proud of you, and I know mom and dad are too".

"I sure hope so" Asher whispered, "Now I need you to do something for me".

"Anything" an emotional Alec said.

"Grab anything and everything of mine, from my room, from Ric's office, and burn them" Asher stated, "There should be no trace of me in that school".

"But Asher there's so many group photos of you in it, I can't burn them all" Alec pointed out.

"No, but you can use your magic to make me disappear" Asher stated.

"Do I tell Mia?" Alec asked.

"No" Asher immediately said, "Mia doesn't find out about this".

"She's gonna hate me for not letting her say goodbye" Alec whispered.

"Well luckily she won't remember anything, no memories, no anger" Asher said, suddenly a roar caught his attention, he looked down at malivore's pit and saw a golem like face emerging from the mud, "Alec, I've got to go, do everything I said".

"Wait Asher, just hold on" a panicked Alec called out.

"Sorry little brother, that's not an option" Asher said, "Just promise me you'll do exactly what I said".

"Dammit Ash, I hate you for putting me in this position" Alec snapped.

"Promise me Alec" Asher demanded.

"Fine!" Alec yelled, "I promise I'll do everything you told me to".

An emotional Asher hanged up the phone, he placed his phone in his back pocket and looked down the railing, just as he was about to jump, he saw Clarke get back up, "You brothers just refuse to die".

"Sorry" Clarke said, snapping his neck in place, "I was eavesdropping, what are you waiting for?".

"You're not going to try to stop me?" a confused Asher asked.

"Hell no" Clarke replied, "I was only trying to raise my father because I am terrified of him, and I knew he would find a way out someday, but if you're right about this loophole, it'll actually kill the bastard once and for all, be my guest", Asher walked over to where Clarke was standing, "And if you're wrong, well no harm done, because you'll be dead, so go on, I'll be rooting for you".

A smirk that was awfully similar to his father formed on Asher's face, "You'll be doing something else for me", Asher used his magic to pull Clarke towards him, immediately causing a panicked expression to form on Clarke's face.

"What are you doing?" a scared Clarke asked.

"Taking you along with me" Asher said, wrapping his hand around Clarke's throat and jumping with him into malivore's pit.

***

After doing a spell that will remove Asher from all and any pictures, an emotional Alec stood outside the school, infront of a bonfire, with tears in his eyes as he watched all of his brother's things burn.

Suddenly Alec let out a gasp and looked around in confusion, wondering what he was doing here and why was he crying?

***

Mia, who was sitting in the common room with Jayden, let out a gasp and looked around in confusion.

"You good?" a concerned Jayden asked.

Mia looked at her boyfriend in confusion, "Jay, I think something really bad happened".

"What?" a curious Jayden asked.

"I have no idea" Mia said.

***

Back at Fort Valley, Hope groaned and slowly sat up, immediately she was confused, she placed her hand on her heart and took a deep breath, for some reason it felt like something really important was taken from her.

Hope's phone ringing caught her attention, "Hey Alec" she answered, pulling her phone out of her pocket and seeing Alec calling her.

"Hope, stay where you are, I'm on my way" Alec informed.

"Alec, I can't remember what happened to me" an extremely confused Hope admitted.

"Yeah me neither, I just found a note with an address on it, saying you need me, it's my hand writing but I don't remember writing it or who told me write it" Alec revealed.

"Do you think we're forgetting someone?" a worried Hope asked, looking down at malivore's pit, which to her shock was no longer mud.

"I have no idea" an equally worried Alec admitted.

***

Presenting 1x16 of Broken Hearted!

How was the chapter? I changed some of the malivore lore to make it fit to the triplets and Connor bloodline, hope you like it!

Thoughts on Nova taking the bullet for Alec?

Thoughts on Asher figuring out that Alec's blood would save Nova's life?

Thoughts on the conversation between Asher and Alec before Asher jumped into the pit?

Thoughts on Asher jumping into the pit and everyone forgetting him, including Alec and Mia?