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┊        ┊       ┊   ┊    ┊        ┊ ˚✧
┊        ┊       ┊   ┊   ˚➶ ｡˚   ☁︎
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┊        ┊        ☪︎.
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❝LABYRINTH❞

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING: Heavy themes such as bad mental health and self harm will be in this chapter ⚠️

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Beau stood in the corridor, his eyes lingering on Sebastian while the vampire had his back to the Lazuli as he was talking to someone else.

The witch seemed frozen in place, as he thought about the words he was going to say to the former pirate, though he couldn't seem to put one foot in front of the other in order to approach him.

Further down the corridor, Beau could spot MG walking with Kaleb... and just like that the Greasley had overtaken the siphoner's thoughts yet again... because after all of the mostly onesided hostility between them, Beau knew he felt something for the vampire, other than annoyance.

The Lazuli sighed impatiently, as he didn't understand why this was so hard. His thoughts were soon interrupted as Valerie and Gia moved past them, Val pushing the latter in their wheelchair while Gia was throwing some of the excessive amounts of snacks they'd stolen, at students. "Free snacks for everyone!" They announced.

Beau caught a bag of potato chips and blinked in surprise as he processed how strangely he'd just received some free food. He wasn't going to question it though.

"Hey B, are you okay?" A voice then asked, as Beau spun around to see Eden, who'd gotten a read on his emotions from across the corridor. "Can you really read my annoyance and confusion from so far away?" Beau asked as Eden shrugged, "... Yeah."

Beau couldn't keep a straight face at her response before he sighed, "I'm so tired of feeling like this..." He admitted before Eden tilted her head, "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Beau nodded, before he looked around and realised just how many vampires with heightened hearing were about. "But maybe somewhere without so many potential eavesdroppers."

Moments later the pair were outside, sitting in the same spot Gia and Valerie had been that morning. "You know... from a young age I've always been so sure of myself." Beau began, before he opened the packet of chips he'd received earlier before offering it to Eden. The Winslow took a couple before Beau reached in and grabbed a handful.

"It started with little things like... I always knew I was good at playing piano... I always knew I was great at acting... and then it evolved into more complex things like, I knew I didn't just like girls... and so forth." Beau began. "I've never been unsure of myself but lately that's all I have been."

"How so?" Eden asked once Beau had paused. "I have feelings for Sebastian... but not only Sebastian." He replied. "Tori and Lucas think I am polyamorous but... I am the type of person who doesn't care for relationships. I've hardly been in any because I just don't like them... hell, I make fun of most people in relationships." Beau confessed, "So how could I go from happily being single, to not just wanting a relationship with one person, but two people?" The Lazuli asked.

Eden thought about it before she questioned, "Could it be that... you don't like relationships because they tend to be monogamous and you don't want to be committed to one person?" The Winslow suggested. Beau paused as he thought about it... before he realised she was right. "Possibly..."

Eden noticed how quiet the Lazuli seemed suddenly, as though he was thinking about it. She could sense apprehension, and realised that perhaps he was getting lost in his own head.

"You know..." Eden began, "I think being poly could be... a really beautiful thing." Beau glanced over at her, curious to where she was going with this. "I mean... in order to be with two people... you must have a lot of love to give. And sometimes... maybe people are meant to have two soulmates instead of one."

Beau thought that was wholesome, though thinking that MG was the other person in question made him slightly frown. Eden picked up on this and asked, "Is the other person you're crushing on, MG?"

Beau clenched his eyes shut before he nodded, "Yeah... it is." He said, opening his eyes again as he faced her. "I wished for so long that it wasn't... but that silly little vampire lives in my head rent free way more than I expected."

"Look... Sebastian is definitely my favourite out of your crushes... but even though MG is like a walking wet wipe, he is hot." Eden admitted as Beau was unable to hold back his laugh, "What kind of a fucking insult was that?" He laughed. "I'm so using that."

Eden then laughed too before her expression softened upon realising that Beaumont seemed more at ease. Beau wore a small smile before he reached into the bag and grabbed more chips, seeming thankful that he had opened up to Eden.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

Charlie looked relieved as he approached Liv and Niko by the Old Mill. "Hey guys." He greeted. "Hey Char." Olivia and Niko responded before Niko sighed, "Liv explained to me what you guys want to do. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Niko wasn't sure why he hated the idea of a head dive so much, but it was because the last time he watched one happen was when he saw Hope and Tori enter the mind of the Necromancer. The constant mentions of their parents caused the sisters to become overwhelmed with emotion.

"Yes, I need answers... these dreams are driving me crazy. I need them to either make sense or fucking stop." Charlie decided as he moved to sit down on the edge of the Old Mill's balcony. Olivia and Niko made themselves comfortable before Liv admitted, "You're gonna need to describe this girl to me, so I know what I'm looking for."

"Okay... well she has auburn hair... she seems kinda short... I haven't been able to see her face but she does wear darker colours when it comes to clothes." Charlie describe as Olivia nodded, "Okay, I'm gonna ask one last time do you want me to do this?" The Auclair asked, because she knew once she was in there, she couldn't really control what she saw. Charlie nodded, "Livvy I mean this when I say, I trust you."

Niko looked at the pair, again feeling worry but if they were set on doing this, he wasn't going to stop them. "Please be careful." They said to Liv, as the tribrid nodded, "I will." She answered before she placed her hands on Charlie's shoulders and closed her eyes.

When Olivia opened her eyes again, she was in the Salvatore school kitchen, and she could see Charlie, Aphrodite and Lizzie along with a girl to Charlie's description.

"Gosh, at least take me out to dinner first." Lizzie smirked at Aphrodite, trying not to turn into a blushing mess. Aphrodite, confident as ever, took a step forward and held out her hand. "Of course. I'm Aphrodite De Martel." She introduced herself.

Lizzie smiled back, "I'm Lizzie. Saltzman." She said, reaching out to shake Aphrodite's hand, though the pair held a gaze, and didn't seem to want to tear their eyes away from one another.

"Dude. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife!" Charlie whispered, as the girl with auburn coloured hair unintentionally let out a loud giggle, catching Lizzie and Aphrodite's attention.

"Shut up, Cookie monster." The girl then retorted to Charlie before she went to take the cookies from the oven. Charlie blushed with embarrassment at the nickname. Liv blinked in surprise, realising that perhaps this girl had been close to Charlie in some way.

Olivia then watched as the students continued talking, as she tried to listen for some form of name drop but didn't hear anything. The Auclair then tried to keep digging to find some other memories, and stopped when she saw Charlie and the particular girl walking down a hallway together.

Olivia observed as Charlie and the mysterious girl passed by Glen and Valerie as Charlie smiled at Glen who smiled back, but the Salvatore decided not to talk to him. The girl noticed this and looked to Charlie, "Why didn't you talk to him?? You've literally been rambling about Glen to me all morning, come on Char!"

Charlie blushed suddenly, "Uh... things are probably weird now because of... actually... no particular reason." The Salvatore began to explain, without explaining shit. "But... now I'm a little scared. I've never really had any luck with guys." The Salvatore admitted, as he thought about how his only experience with guys was his short term relationship with Beau.

"Oh please, you've never had any luck with girls either. Don't let that stop you." The shorter girl replied, referring to his past with Penelope. Charlie's jaw dropped open before he looked to her, "Ouch. Also, says you?? I've never seen you talk to girls despite constantly rambling on about pretty girls! How is the only person you've been with, Landon?" The Salvatore asked.

"Rude! And... girls are kinda intimidating to talk to I don't know how to do it." The auburn haired girl replied as the pair turned a corner, leaving Olivia to stand alone. "Whoever this girl is, seems to be Charlie's friend... maybe I can go back further and see if they've been friends for a long time." The Auclair decided.

Olivia tried to keep digging, though when she opened her eyes again she realised she had gone back by many years. She saw Caroline and Hayley standing beside one another near the entrance to the Salvatore school, as a small Tori and a much younger version of the mysterious girl stood nearby, seeming to bicker with one another.

"Stop riling up your sister!" Hayley reminded the auburn haired girl, who looked about seven years old. She replied, "Tori bit me!" Hayley frowned at Tori, "Victoria, what have I told you about biting people? No matter how angry they make you, it is not okay."

Six year old Tori looked like a deer caught in headlights for a moment before she looked at Hayley with the largest puppy eyes she could muster. "No, stop trying to look all cute, that doesn't work on me and you know it." Hayley reassured her stepdaughter, whose face fell. "Sorry Mama." Victoria replied embarrassedly.

Liv looked at the small girls, watching them play more civilly now, as she was realising that whoever this girl was from Charlie's dreams, she was a sister to Tori and a daughter to Hayley.

"Oh, there my kids are finally. Hopefully they'll get along with your girls." Caroline said, as nearly six year old triplets Lizzie, Lucas and Josie appeared, along with their seven year old sister Winnie (or in future, Charlie).

The four kids approached the other two, as the six seemed to play amongst eachother, though Hayley's eldest seemed rather shy. "Four kids... I thought two was a handful enough." Hayley joked as Caroline shrugged, "It's a handful alright. I considered myself lucky enough to have one kid, and then I was quite literally gifted three more... but I wouldn't change anything."

Everyone knew the story of the Saltzman triplets, supposed to be born to Alaric and his late almost-wife Jo Laughlin, only to be magically transported into Caroline right before Jo died. It was a unique experience to say the least, and although Caroline was technically a surrogate mother, she loved them as though they were her own children.

"How did Winnie adjust from being an only child to having three siblings?" Hayley asked curiously as Caroline glanced at the five kids, "She doesn't know any different. And she loves them all... but I found she gravitates more to Lucas than the girls."

And that part was true, although Winnie adored Lizzie and Josie, she was practically inseparable with Lucas. They were always play fighting together (and sometimes accidentally injuring eachother) and often playing catch together with a football. "Oh... she seems to be more a tomboy then?" Hayley replied as Caroline nodded, "Yeah I think so."

"How did your girls cope? I guess similarly they have slightly different parents like my kids." Caroline realised as Hayley shrugged, "They don't know any different either... despite all their bickering and play fighting that turns into actual fighting, they're really close."

Olivia smiled slightly at the scene, feeling as though she was getting somewhere now, though she decided to go back into the more future memories now, in hopes of finding more answers.

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A bandaged up Tori laid across a stretcher in the ER of Mystic Falls hospital, or at least the labyrinth version of their town. The Mikaelson had received instructions from Glen to remain still, and that he'd be back in a few minutes, so now she waited and was left to reflect on the chaos of the last twenty minutes.

From the time Tori had been brought to the hospital to this current moment, she seemed to have started to fight consciousness. A sleepy feeling kept threatening the hybrid, and Glen wasn't having it. "Hey Tori— Keep your eyes open!!" The Forde insisted, as the taller boy was applying pressure to her wound.

The Mikaelson's eyelids fluttered opened, as she turned to look up at him. "I have an idea." She began. "I hope it doesn't involve moving, because you're gonna have to sit tight for a bit." Glen pointed out. "I need you to help me to that lady." Victoria replied.

"... Why?" Glen asked reluctantly. "Because... If I take her stupid deal, you can leave." Tori explained as Glen's face fell, "I'm not taking you to the colourfully dressed lady so you can be stuck here forever." The Forde decided. "If I die here and you're alone, there'll be no way out." Tori reminded him.

"Instead, you'll be back home and reunited with Charlie." Tori added, hoping the mention of the other vampire may help to change his mind. "Oh yeah, only for Clary to try and kill me because I left you for dead. A wonderful plan." Glen spoke sarcastically.

Tori seemed slightly amused, though she then realised that the werewolf had remained calm considering their situation (well, externally at least). Her wound had also bled a lot more than she had expected, and it made her realise just how much she'd relied on her vampire abilities in their real world.

The blonde then noticed Glen had definitely been gone for longer than a few minutes, and started to worry that perhaps the Minatour had found him. She slowly pulled herself onto her elbows and tried to sit up, which was when Glen coincidentally reentered the room. "Woah, woah, you don't want to start the bleeding again." He insisted as Tori moved back onto her elbows. "I thought you may of had a run in with the Minatour." The hybrid admitted.

"No... I thought you might want a new shirt." Glen spoke, as it was now Tori realised he was wearing different clothes, and had gone to one of the seemingly abandoned clothing stores. Victoria then glanced down at her shirt, which was pretty torn up and covered in blood. "Yeah... that would be great." She admitted. "I've never seen you wear this much colour before." Victoria realised before Glen replied very quickly, "And you will never see it again."

"I need to stand up." Tori decided, as she attempted to sit up again. "Let me help." Glen then suggested, worried that if the blonde moved too much her wound would bleed again. Tori just nodded. The Forde carefully helped her off of the bench and onto her feet. "Thanks." Tori replied, as he let go of her.

The blonde then approached the sink and began to run warm water, before she washed the blood off of her hands. Glen then approached Tori and placed a new tshirt beside the sink. "Thank you." The Mikaelson hummed. "You're welcome." The raven haired boy replied as he moved towards the medical supplies, as he decided it may be worth taking some with them, meanwhile Tori removed her old shirt and cleaned more blood off of her herself before pulling the new shirt over her head.

"So... isn't it weird that we've been hit by cars, blown up and electrocuted yet we didn't have any injuries... we just "died" and respawned... but then I get shot by an arrow and it feels very real." Tori began to air her thoughts. "It's like... only some things in this world will genuinely kill us." Glen responded, "I don't really get it either... though I don't doubt that Minotaur is one of the things that can genuinely kill us."

Tori then turned back around as she realised something else, meanwhile Glen placed some medical items in his pockets. "You know... for someone who doesn't want to be friends, you are being a good one." Tori admitted. "... Because I didn't let you die?" He asked amusedly, as he turned to face her.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Tori joked darkly as Glen failed to keep a straight face as he laughed uncomfortably. "That is foul." He finally admitted a moment later as Tori laughed also, "Sorry I had to."

"Well... I'm glad you didn't die either time." Glen replied as Tori added, "Yeah... I think once was probably enough right?" She responded as the Forde tried not to laugh again, "You're done." He replied through his laughter. "Oh come on, you love dark humour!"

Glen rolled his eyes amusedly before he suggested, "Let's get going to the school." With that, the pair exited the room and entered the corridor, as they began heading towards the exit. Tori glanced around, seeming to take in their surroundings.

"This hospital in itself feels like it's own maze... it's insane." Glen spoke, as they seemed to have reached a dead end. Tori quickly took a few steps back, and closed the corridor door between them as she locked it. "What the hell?" Glen blurted out, as he moved towards the door. "I'm going to take the deal and put an end to this." Tori spoke quickly.

Glen's face fell, "Please be joking." He replied as Tori took a step away from the door. "We can find another way and both get out of here, neither one of us should have to stay behind." Tori spoke up, "We're running out of time, Glen. How much longer will we be able to avoid these traps and the giant ass Minotaur that wants to eat us?"

"If we keep delaying the inevitable then we'll both die here." Tori began to move away from the corridor door, in hopes of looking for an exit. "Tori, don't do this." Glen attempted again, as the blonde smiled sadly at him, "Hang tight, you'll be back in the real Mystic Falls soon." She insisted before she turned to leave.

"Oh fuck." Glen sighed to himself as he turned to look for some form of escape, though he realised without enhanced strength his options were limited. Regardless, he was determined to find an exit.

Much like Tori, who had found a door to escape from and began making her way back to the town square. She eventually approached the clue store, as she was starting to feel dizzy. The blonde paused for a moment as she realised her wound was bleeding again.

After catching her breath, she entered the Clue Store, her eyes instantly landing on the woman who sat inside. "I knew you were the smart one." The woman spoke, causing Tori to roll her eyes, "Let's just get this over with."

"Oh! Don't worry, it's not so bad being the Keeper. And one day, maybe you'll find someone to take your place." The keeper said woman as Tori shook her head, "I will never do that."

"Aw.." The woman replied as Victoria just deadpanned her. "I told myself the exact same thing." She said as she held out the bracelet for Tori to take. "Be careful with it. It's fragile. And if it breaks, you are not protected from the Minotaur anymore."

Tori looked at the bracelet before glancing up at the woman, "And my friend will be freed, right?" She asked, sternly. "He will be set free from the eternal pain of the labyrinth, yes." The keeper said. "Um... why did you say that like that?" Tori confusedly demanded. "He'll die, okay? That's what that means. Uh just think of it this way: either he dies or you both do. It's self-preservation, kiddo." The keeper replied as Tori frowned, "That's so messed up..."

"You know," The keeper began. "When I first took this deal, the previous Keeper told me that this entire labyrinth was built by a sorcerer centuries ago to punish a beautiful maiden who refused his affections. Because she didn't exist just for him, he punished her forever. But she got out. She traded places with another woman who came along, who then trapped another woman, and so on and so forth. I mean, you can't really blame us for trying to escape, can you? It's every woman for herself. That's the game."

Tori glared at the keeper, before having an idea... a possibly impulsive, not well thought out idea, but an idea nevertheless. As the Mikaelson maintained eye contact with the woman, she snapped the bracelet in half, right in front of her. The Keeper gave her a shocked look. "I guess no one is the Keeper now. I hope you know your maze as well as we do. Sorry... Labyrinth." She hummed, before she turned around to leave. 

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Faith glanced up at Lizzie, who didn't want to meet her eye. The siphon witch was looking around, trying to plan her escape. "How do you know Hope Mikaelson?" Faith demanded as Lizzie finally looked back at the auburn haired girl, who really was a clone of Hope, but something about Faith seemed much colder.

"Do you really want to hear about how deep our history goes?" Lizzie asked, deflecting with a question. "No, I want to know why you remember her." Faith explained as Lizzie scoffed, "Well you didn't fucking say that, did you?"

Faith glared at the blonde, "You are an annoying little thing aren't you..." She said as Lizzie let out what seemed like a combination of a slightly humourless laugh and a scoff, "Me? Little? That's ironic... because if there's something you Mikaelson sisters didn't get, it's height." She replied before Faith replied, "You don't realise who you're being an asshole too... I could kill you without hardly moving a muscle." Faith taunted as Lizzie replied, "Hmm.. maybe I should grab you a chair to stand on, so you can at least look me in the face when you try to be threatening."

Faith was not impressed by this, and instantly looked annoyed. "Tell me about the spell you were mentioning to... who you thought was Hope but was actually me." She ordered. "Oh well you see... that's none of your business." Lizzie responded as Faith glared harder. "It was a spell she needed help with." Lizzie decided as Faith continued to look at the Saltzman blankly, realising she was lying.

Faith's phone then rang, as Salem was calling her. At the timing, the Mikaelson sighed. "If you do as much as call for help or leave, I will kill you and everybody in this restaurant." Faith spoke bitterly before she answered the phone and quickly walked away. Lizzie just blinked, "Wow... she is her father's daughter." She thought before she got up and approached the bar.

"Hey, are you okay?" Finch asked quietly, as she'd been trying to observe their table. "Hope seems to be... not herself." She added. Lizzie quickly motioned for Finch to be quiet, seeing as though Faith was technically in earshot. "It's not Hope." The witch mouthed before she pulled out her phone and quickly sent her live location to Aphrodite and hurriedly typed "Don't come alone."

Placing her phone away before Faith could potentially see, Lizzie then looked to Finch, "Can I have a glass of water please?" She asked as Finch nodded, "Sure." The Tarrayo responded as she went to grab a glass. While the werewolf did that, Lizzie reached over and grabbed a notepad and pen from inside the bar and scribbled on the top page, "Do you have vervain?"

Finch turned back to face Lizzie, before her eyes landed on the notepad. The Tarrayo nodded as she placed the glass down and moved to grab a jar filled with vervain from a closed drawer. She opened it and placed a leaf inside the glass of water. Lizzie then reached over and took a handful of the herb from the jar before placing it in the glass as Finch's eyes widened.

The witch then grabbed a spoon and stirred it, trying to crush the herb so it would be absorbed into the water. Meanwhile Finch ripped the top page from the notepad so she could write on a blank one, "Can I call anyone for you?" Lizzie read it and shook her head before she took the pen from Finch and written, "Help is coming."

Lizzie then looked over to see that Faith was still on the phone, and quickly drank the water from her glass, frowning at the strange taste. She placed the glass down and looked at Finch, "Thank you." She mouthed as she went to move.

"Wait." Finch spoke, trying to keep her voice down. Lizzie turned back to the ravenette, who placed the vervain back in the drawer but had taken something else out. The werewolf looked over to see if Faith was occupied before she placed a wooden stake out for Lizzie to take. The Saltzman looked relieved, even though it wouldn't do much on Faith, it could at best buy her time to get away.

Lizzie reached out and grabbed the stake before quickly placing it in her jacket pocket, "Thank you so much." She mouthed as Finch nodded in return, and watched as Lizzie returned to her seat.

Stella then entered the Grill, giving her sister a smile as she approached the bar, "Hey Fi." The Lewis greeted as Finch looked up at the taller girl, "Hey Elle." She replied, though Stella could instantly see that she was troubled. "Is everything okay?" The heretic asked.

Finch moved over the bar to talk quietly to Stella, so that nobody else could hear, "I think one of the Salvatore girls are in trouble. She's sitting over there." Stella instantly scanned the bar, "Where is she?" She asked as Finch looked confused, "Right there???"

The sisters glanced over at the table where Faith and Lizzie had been sitting, to realise that it was vacant. "Oh fuck." Finch blurted out, as they'd left suddenly and subtly.

Meanwhile Aphrodite was walking through the town square with Clary, Myrical and Cleo by her side. "Olivia won't pick up..." Aphie sighed, as she tried calling her daughter again in hopes she could accompany them. "We'll be fine, Aph. We are four powerful witches, we can take down whatever has taken Lizzie." Clary reassured her.

Cleo smiled at the trio before her eyes flashed yellow, as she activated her inspiration powers in hopes it would work on them.

Aphrodite, Clary, Myrical and Cleo then entered the Grill, running right into Stella and Finch. "Where is Lizzie?" Aphrodite instantly asked, "She was just here... we don't know where they went." Finch explained as Myrical asked, "Who is they?" Stella answered, "Lizzie and... not Hope. It's like a clone of Hope."

"We need to find them." Aphrodite insisted as she refreshed her phone, as Lizzie's location updated. "They're in the woods." The De Martel realised, "Near Auclair academy, and where that party was held."

The redhead started moving towards the door, "Come on, let's go." She ordered, urgency in her voice. Clary, Myrical, Cleo and Stella all followed as Finch took off her apron. "Maya will be here to take my place in ten minutes, bye." She called out to the kitchen staff, as she hurried along before they could argue.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

When Olivia opened her eyes again, she found herself at Auclair academy. "What the hell..." She trailed off, as she walked around and tried to make sense of her surroundings. She overheard Charlie's voice, and followed the sound of it, eventually finding the Salvatore in Luca and Beau's old dorm, as he was alone with his brother.

"No, none of that is okay and I'm going to punch those brainless jocks for embarrassing you like that." Lucas was on a verbal rampage, after some of the Auclair jocks had humiliated Charlie. The Salvatore wanted to tryout for the football team, but being the arrogant, small minded guys they were, they didn't want to play with somebody who was transgender, so they decided to embarrass him in hopes it would stop him from trying out.

And Charlie no longer wanted to try out. Infact he wished he hadn't even considered it. The boy just stared into nothingness, as he couldn't really explain the empty, sad feeling inside after the incident had occurred.

"Charlie?" Luca then questioned, realising the boy had been basically silent while the Saltzman had been ranting. "Char?" Lucas asked again, catching the vampire's attention. "It's fine..." Charlie spoke, his voice sounding exhausting. "What do you mean it's fine?" Lucas asked, as he looked exasperated.

Tears filled Charlie's eyes as he couldn't bring himself to look at Lucas, "None of this is new for me, Luca. Ever since I started my transition it's been hell... everyone has something to say about it... and it's all hateful and horrible things." The Salvatore continued, as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks. "I should never have come out."

Those words broke Lucas' heart, the Saltzman felt tears fill his eyes as he moved to stand in front of Charlie, "I never want to hear those words come out of your mouth, ever again." Lucas began, as he placed his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "And secondly, I need names... because I'm gonna commit some crimes."

Charlie laughed slightly as Luca smiled weakly before he asked, "I'm not joking by the way... who were these people and what were they saying?" The Saltzman asked. "A lot of different people... Alyssa seems to be the usual ring leader... Lizzie stuck up for me a lot but then people would start saying horrible things to her too so I told her to stop."

Lucas frowned, "Why didn't Mum or Dad do anything about it?" He asked. "I don't think they knew how bad it was. It got to a point where I skipped most of my classes and Lizzie and Josie would bring me any work I missed so I could keep up. I tried avoiding certain corridors because I knew who would most likely be in them... it became so exhausting having to plan out every little part of my day to avoid running into people who didn't like me."

"The thing is... I started to believe the hateful things they were saying... and it made me really hate myself." Charlie admitted as Lucas felt his heart sink again, "Char..." He seemed reluctant to continue, because he was worried for Charlie's answer. Charlie looked up at Lucas, but didn't answer verbally. "Please be honest with me... do you still self harm?" Lucas asked.

Charlie looked away for a moment, and Lucas felt a tear roll down his cheek, as although he hadn't answered his actions spoke for him. "Sometimes." Charlie finally responded. "I mean... it's pointless because I'm a vampire now and my blood heals everything—" He fell quiet as Lucas spoke up, "That doesn't matter. You shouldn't be made to feel like this..."

Lucas and Charlie could hardly make eye contact with one another without wanting to both suddenly cry more. The Saltzman then pulled his older brother in for a hug, and without thinking the vampire hugged back. "I'm so sorry this has been happening... things are going to be different now, I promise." Lucas insisted, as he was determined to make sure that nobody bullied his brother again.

Charlie didn't know what to say as he cried in his brother's arms... he instantly wanted to apologise, in fear that opening up about all of this to the Saltzman was only burdening him, but Lucas would argue that Charlie could never burden him, and he wished he'd been able to do more prior to the Salvatore's transfer despite them being out of touch.

"I love you so much, okay? I swear to you that everything is going to get better." Lucas insisted, his voice shaky. "I love you too." Charlie responded, his sounding small and deflated, though his words were genuine.

And Lucas had meant every word he'd said. He started reacting angrily and at times violently towards anyone who ever tried to mouth a bad word about his brother, and eventually the bullying and the rumours ceased because people became wary of the Saltzman. The siphoner didn't care how many lectures he'd receive from Kiara, or how many detentions he'd have to sit through... he stood by his actions, and didn't regret a thing.

Olivia covered her mouth with her hand, as tears filled her eyes. She took a few steps back as she moved away from the scene, instantly wondering if her stumbling upon this caused Charlie to remember it also.

The tribrid found herself standing back at the Old Mill, having left Charlie's mind. She seemed lost for words, as tears stung her eyes. "Livvy? What's wrong?" Niko suddenly moved towards the Auclair, as she felt almost frozen with guilt, concerning Niko.

Charlie opened his eyes and exhaled suddenly, before he got back onto his feet. "Charlie, I'm so sorry." Olivia stammered, as the Salvatore turned to face them, as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, "I know that was an accident."

Niko looked between the pair, feeling rather lost. They decided to look into Olivia's thoughts, soon realising why she was so upset with herself. "Oh, Liv." The Shiratori blurted, sounding rather sympathetic because he could tell she felt absolutely terrible.

"Olivia accidentally uncovered some horrible things." Charlie said to Niko, before he turned back to the tribrid, "But I'm the one who kept insisting on you doing a head dive, despite not doing one before. It's the risk I took to learn the truth about these weird dreams... and thanks to you I learnt a lot more today than I knew initially."

"I didn't mean to see that memory, I swear." Olivia exhaled as Charlie tried to blink away the tears that were threatening to fall, "I know, Liv. I don't blame you, please try not to beat yourself up about it."

Olivia tried to calm her breathing. The ravenette herself tried to repress her own memories where she'd been a victim of bullying, and it had been extremely difficult. Every now and then she'd remember names she'd been called, and then suddenly it would all come flooding back. She feared she may have just done that for Charlie.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

"I've gotta find Glen... I've gotta find Glen." Was all Tori could think as she made her way back towards the hospital. By now, her wound had bled substantially and the colour in her face had paled. She was beginning to have a high temperature, which worried her.

Suddenly, the Mikaelson could hear the roar of the Minotaur, which worried her. "Oh great... this is it." Tori turned around, her eyes landing on the large creature which wasn't standing overly far from her. "I am moving way slower than I'd like, and I have nothing to defend myself with other than my fists." The hybrid thought.

The Minotaur let out another roar as it started rushing towards her at full speed. Tori looked around for any sort of escape, but with her condition it made her options more limited than she hoped. The hybrid braced herself, prepared to attempt to fight it if it got close enough.

Suddenly, the Minotaur cried out in pain and fell to the ground, having been hit with an axe. "Woah, that was a lot stronger than I thought it would be." Glen's voice could be heard, as he had thrown the axe. "Glen?" Tori blurted out with relief.

"Hey! I found this axe." Glen replied, before he approached the shorter girl, "I was looking for you... as you can see I didn't get very far." Tori admitted before she glanced at the axe, that remained in the back of the Minotaur. "I thought you were taking that deal." Glen replied as Tori shook her head, "That shady bitch left out a few important details... like, if I were to become the keeper you would die."

Tori clutched the axe's handle in her hands, as she lifted it, "And to be honest... it really shouldn't be either of our destinies, to be trapped in this labyrinth, dead or alive." She then slammed the axe into the monster's body, as it let out one last cry before it suddenly disappeared right before their eyes. "Let's go back home." The Mikaelson then smiled weakly, realising that maybe they'd found another way after all.

Suddenly, the pair were back on the grass, in the town square, wearing the same attire they had that morning. They sat up and looked around, realising they were infact back in the real Mystic Falls as they could hear cars driving by, and some civilians in the distance.

"We're actually back... this is great." Glen realised, as he got to his feet and looked around. The Forde then offered Tori a hand, she took it and got back onto her feet before letting go.

"How's your wound?" Glen then questioned, realising that she didn't look so pale or feverish anymore. Tori lifted her shirt slightly to reveal where she had been impaled by the arrow, only to notice that it was fully healed and as though nothing happened.

Tori let out a nervous yet relieved sigh as she let go of her shirt, "That was so close." She admitted before the keeper approached the pair. "You've found another way. You killed the Minotaur. Thank you." Tori and Glen faced the woman, "Not that you deserve it... but you're welcome." Victoria replied. The woman then left the pair alone, as she was about to discover the world decades after she left it.

Glen then looked back to Tori, "You should come back to the school. You are missed, you know?"
Tori smiled weakly for a moment, "I can't... not yet at least." The Forde paused, as he tried to think of why she was this hesitant to return. Glen couldn't understand what was holding her back, to his knowledge everybody was looking forward to her return... what he didn't know is she still had Faith's taunting words in the back of her mind. She now knew she was loved, but would she still be loved after doing the things she was going to do?

Glen then wondered, if the discomfort between them was perhaps a reason she didn't want to return. He really hoped it wasn't, because despite not talking to one another he'd only ever hoped she was doing okay.

He then thought about the day the pair had, and how his feelings for the girl had seemed to change... he went from being okay with not talking to her again, to realising that he did actually want to be her friend. But if Glen wanted to be Tori's friend, he knew something else had to happen first.

"I forgive you." Glen decided, as Tori seemed surprised by this. "What?" She asked. "I do want to be your friend, Tori. But before we can be friends, I need to do this. It's the only way we can move forward." And of course it made sense, though Tori hadn't thought of it like that. She did want to be friends, but in her mind she didn't deserve forgiveness... not just from Glen, but from anybody.

"How could you possibly forgive me?" Tori suddenly asked. "When we met again I was so manipulative to you, and when you stood your ground I shut you out and acted as though you were nothing to me." Tori rambled on, as she couldn't seem to understand. "I can forgive you because I know that wasn't really who you are." Glen replied as Tori looked exasperated, "That is such a cop out, I didn't lose the ability to control my actions, I just kept making really shitty, destructive decisions."

"Okay you were really terrible... but you've held yourself accountable and apologised. And it's... hard to stay mad when I understand what caused you so much pain." Glen paused, as Tori looked as though she wanted to say something, but decided to listen. "You were a kid whose world was completely shaken up after losing your parents... And although our circumstances were very different, I understood that a lot." Glen explained.

"I will admit, I was reluctant to speak to you again... and I wasn't sure that I'd allow myself to trust you again." The Forde continued. "But being stuck together in some 80s labyrinth and having to work together made me realise that after everything, you're still you... you're still the same person I was close with all that time ago." He added before his expression softened, "I know everything is different now, but you are somebody I would still like to have in my life."

Glen paused for a moment to take a breath, before he concluded, "So yes Tori, I do forgive you... please accept that." Tori seemed to be unable to speak, despite how many times she attempted to. She averted her eyes away from Glen for a moment, as the hybrid tried to make sense of her thoughts but they felt scattered. The Forde didn't know how, but her actions seemed to speak for her, as a realisation dawned on him. "I could forgive you over and over... and you won't allow yourself to be forgiven, which leads me to think... you've done something that has made you feel so guilty, that you can't forgive yourself."

Tori swallowed thickly, as tears filled her eyes. "How do you always manage to do that?" She exhaled in one breath. Glen had been right, Tori had done something that she was insanely guilty about, and she'd told no one. The plan was to keep it that way, she wanted to take this secret to her grave, but keeping it to herself was killing her.

She knew she'd feel relief if she told somebody, even just one person, but she also knew she couldn't handle the judgement that would follow. "I can't tell you... I can't tell anyone." Tori insisted before she started to pace around, seemingly growing anxious. Glen blinked, as he recognised where this was going. "You don't have to tell me anything. Tori, stop for a minute and just breathe—"

"I'm the reason Kiara is dead." Tori suddenly blurted out, as she faced the Forde. "If that were true... you may have done everyone a favour." Glen responded, though when Victoria didn't laugh or even really move at all, he realised she was being serious. The brunet paused and processed this before he replied, "Wait... honestly?"

"I'm being so honest, I paid somebody to kill her." Tori admitted as Glen seemed surprised. "But... why?" He asked. "To keep you safe. To keep Liv safe... god basically to keep everyone safe." Tori exhaled shakily, as she didn't want to talk about it... but now that the cat was out of the bag, she felt like she had to. "Kiara once attacked me. I confronted her about something and in return I learnt very quick about the dangerous powers she possessed and genuinely I thought there was a chance she could kill me." Tori began. "When I stood my ground, her first instinct was to threaten your life."

Glen's face faltered, as he'd had no idea. "She realised very quickly that she could manipulate me into doing anything, if she threatened you... and it was always at the back of my mind... even when I had no humanity." Tori continued, as it slowly began to make sense. Kiara had seemingly become a form of mentor towards Tori when she returned to the school, and nobody understood why... it was because the Auclair dished out dangerous threats to the hybrid, that she would happily follow through on.

"Being back at the school... I also realised how miserable she made her own daughter, especially by neglecting her when she needed her the most... and the more I looked, I realised in ways she made everyone miserable." Tori explained. "So I did attempt to kill her... a couple times actually. But she was always one step ahead of me... so I resorted to another solution..." Victoria trailed off.

A humanity-less Tori approached the ravenette haired girl, who was seated on a bench in the town square. The Mikaelson offered her a forced smile, before she moved to sit beside her. "And what do I owe the pleasure?" Ayanna Nyx asked sarcastically, instantly recognising who Victoria was. "I'm here to speak business, I hear you're the best around." Tori replied as Ayanna frowned, "I don't do business with your kind." She decided.

"Hm... and is it because I'm a vampire, or a Mikaelson?" Tori questioned as Ayanna responded, "Both. Although you and I both know you're not just a vampire. You're something entirely different... something that shouldn't exist." The ravenette spoke coldly.

Tori offered another faux smile, "Yeah, I've heard that one before." She admitted. "I already told you I don't do business with your kind, so stop talking to me." The hunter insisted. "Please... you think I want to offer business to you? Jeremy Gilbert's daughter?" Tori pointed out as Ayanna seemed surprised that Victoria had worked this out, as the ravenette for the most part kept her identity well hidden.

"That's why you're here, right? To visit him?" Tori continued to poke as Ayanna sighed for a moment, "Cute attempt at hiding it with the change of surname." Tori added as Ayanna asked, "Why can't you do it yourself? Vampires don't usually hesitate to kill."

"You think I haven't tried?" Victoria asked dryly. "The person I want dead is an Auclair witch, who is probably very used to people trying to kill her because she is always on high alert. She seems near impossible to kill." She explained.

"I feel like this where I call in an expert... Kiara won't see it coming, and everyone will finally be free of her." Tori decided, before she turned back to Ayanna, "I'll do it, providing you forget ever using my Dad as a threat again." She decided as Tori nodded, "Great."

"Wow... I don't know what to say." Glen admitted, as he seemed to be processing this. He felt like he couldn't judge, considering he had activated his werewolf curse and therefore taken a life, but if he were to bring that up Tori would argue that you couldn't compare a devastating accident to planned murder.

"But... I'm not judging you." Glen continued, as Tori seemed a little surprised. It was no secret that Kiara had manipulated all of her students in ways, and there was even suspicion that she'd carefully selected her enrolments to make sure the student body were traumatised and/or vulnerable teenagers she could use and manipulate to her liking. And... although the students weren't aware, the older Auclair had murdered a lot of people and had a long list of enemies who wanted her dead. Did she deserve to die herself? Everyone's answer may vary.

"You're not?" Tori managed to say as Glen paused before he shook his head, "I mean... murder definitely isn't great but... Kiara was a horrible person who wished horrible things on everybody... and... you were protecting the people you cared about."

Tori shook her head, "I had both of my mothers ripped away from me... and knowing how painful that felt, I still took someone else's mother away from them." She explained through tear filled eyes, and although Glen didn't like Kiara, he did sympathise with Liv for that. The werewolf asked, "Are you going to tell Liv?"

Tori nodded before she answered a few seconds later, "I don't want to... I know if I tell her, there'll be no chance of us ever becoming friends again... but she deserves to know the truth and to have the closure, so I will tell her."

Glen nodded, "Well... then your secret is safe with me." He decided. "I mean... this is going to sound grim as hell and I would never say this to Olivia... but look at how much better everyone's lives have been without Kiara." He pointed out, as while Tori agreed everyone's lives were better without Kiara, she was a little concerned to where this was going.

"At Auclair we... were all just lost and mostly traumatised kids with no place to call home, being taught by a dark witch to treat the outside world like some evil, negative place. She basically raised us to be constantly in survival mode, ready to attack... and not to trust anybody." Glen explained, "Now at our new school... we don't have to live like that anymore..."

"Did you really take my murder confession and find a positive side to it?" Tori asked, as she wiped away her tears. Glen smiled weakly for a moment before he replied with a joking frown, "That's what I get for dating an optimist for months..."

Tori smiled amusedly before she looked away, "I need to go... um do what you want with the information you learnt today, I trust you'll make the right call." She insisted, referring to the truth about the moonstone's disappearance, though she trusted he wouldn't tell anybody about how she indirectly killed their former headmistress.

"Take care of yourself and... I hope becoming a werewolf will be everything you've wanted." Glen insisted as Tori wore a smile, "I really hope so too." She admitted, "You've talked it up big time so my expectations are pretty high, just sayingggg."

Glen laughed slightly, "Oh so you're gonna blame me if you hate it?" He asked as Tori nodded, "Yes actually." She joked before she added, "You take care too, hopefully i'll see you and everyone else very soon."

With that, the pair parted ways, heading back to opposing schools.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

"Why did we leave the Grill?" Lizzie asked, as Faith had brought her to the woods. The Saltzman had recognised it was the place where they'd attended a party only nights ago, but also knew it was somewhat close to Auclair academy.

"That little werewolf girl behind the bar kept looking at me... I couldn't take any chances of her being onto us." Faith explained as Lizzie blinked in surprise upon realising that Finch was a werewolf, and was now annoyed because she could have siphoned from her to attack Faith.

"I gotta say... all this talking has made me very hungry. Maybe it's time for you to do some talking instead." Faith insisted, as she glanced at the taller girl. "Why are so obsessed with Hope? All you've done is question me about Hope!" Lizzie finally complained, hoping to rile Faith up so she could bite her, and ingest the vervain.

"What are you jealous? Jealous that she got to live with her parents and you didn't?" Lizzie taunted as Faith seemed taken aback. "Well have you ever stopped to think that your sisters lives weren't as perfect as you believe? They've lost more people than anyone I have ever known..." Before Lizzie could continue Faith cut her off, "They weren't raised by their abuser."

"Damn... trauma is really a competition to you..." Lizzie sassed as Faith was by now fed up. "Stop talking." She huffed. "I thought you wanted me to talk!" Lizzie responded as Faith suddenly sped towards her, causing the Saltzman to flinch. "I did warn you, little witch." Faith insisted, as she elongated her fangs before biting Lizzie again. The siphoner grit her teeth as she tried to ignore the pain, knowing that it wouldn't last long.

Faith pulled away from Lizzie, as she gasped in pain. Lizzie took this moment to siphon magic from the tribrid before casting a spell, "Incendia." As flames burned the tribrid, Lizzie decided to sprint as fast as she could, to get the hell away from the Mikaelson. Faith steadied herself as she put out the flames, and looked at the siphoner who was running. "Okay... now I'm gonna kill you." The tribrid thought, before she started speeding towards Lizzie.

Nearby, were Clara and Ethan, the pair trying to subtly hang out as Clara was practicing with her crossbow, using targets. "That is such a cool weapon." Ethan admitted, watching in awe as the Fell fired it, hitting one of the target's bulleyes. "I wasn't really interested in learning how to use it... but now I really love it." The blonde confessed.

"What can't you do?" Ethan asked rhetorically, feeling as though the Fell as a girl with many talents. "Make people like me." Clara responded suddenly as Ethan paused, "I like you." He replied. "You don't have to say that. I feel the pity." Clara admitted.

Ethan shook his head, "But I do like you... and I want to tell my sisters that we're friends." The Machado admitted as another stake fired from Clara's crossbow, hitting another target. The Fell then looked to Ethan, "That's a terrible idea." She insisted. "They'll get mad at you."

"Maybe, but it will pass." Ethan assured her. "Maya and Nina love me." He added. And the truth was, Ethan really wanted to hang out with Clara at school. He hated the jocks whom he hung out with now, and wanted to spend more time with somebody he actually liked, being Clara. Clara wanted to have friends at school, too... but she knew Maya and Nina would take a long time to come around to her friendship with their brother.

"Do you see that?" Ethan asked, seeing Lizzie running from Faith in the distance. "Yeah... what the fuck..." Clara trailed off before she saw Faith running after the siphon witch using enhanced speed. "That girl is dangerous." Clara realised, recognising Faith from the Grill, before she aimed the crossbow at the Mikaelson, and fired a stake at her. "What? Why did you shoot Hope?!" Ethan asked Clara, not following. "That's not Hope."

Faith stumbled, as the stake landed in her lower back. "Where the hell did that come from?!" The tribrid snapped, as she reached to pull it out. Lizzie took this chance to rush forward and stab her own wooden stake she'd been given by Finch, into the Mikaelson.

Lizzie exhaled suddenly before she ran towards Clara and Ethan, "Oh my god, thank you." Lizzie said to Clara before she reached to touch her shoulders, to siphon magic. The Saltzman frowned, "You're not supernatural?" She asked, looking exasperated. "Nope." Clara answered as Lizzie apologised as she removed her hands from the Fell. "What the hell are you guys talking about?? What do you mean supernatural?" Ethan questioned, as he was growing worried and very concerned.

Lizzie glanced back at Faith, as the tribrid was now pulling the second stake out of her body. "We need to run for our lives." The siphoner insisted as Clara grabbed her crossbow and trio started hurrying away from Faith.

Faith heard the trio trying to run and used her super speed to catch after them, but was suddenly met with another person as she was practically tackled to the ground. "Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend." Aphrodite hissed, as the redhead got to her feet after basically launching herself at Faith. The De Martel kept her glare on the tribrid, as veins popped out from under her eyes.

"You don't scare me at all." Faith insisted, waving her hand as Aphrodite was sent flying with the tribrid's magic. "Aphie!!" Myrical cried out, as the heretic landed in a tree. The Benning then rushed towards her, to help her out of it.

Clary then moved towards Lizzie as she held out her hand, "Siphon from me." She suggested as Lizzie nodded, before she reached out and took the witch's hand, as she siphoned magic.

"Are you guys okay?" Finch asked, as she neared Lizzie, Clary, Clara and Ethan. "I'm okay." Lizzie and Clara both replied. "What the hell is happening right now?!" Ethan asked, starting to panic. Lizzie looked to Finch before anyone could answer Ethan, "Get these two out of here." She insisted, as she feared that Faith would hurt them. Finch nodded before she looked to Clara and Ethan, "Come on."

Faith went to speed towards Lizzie and the humans again but was thrown back using magic, "Motus." Stella called out before she glanced at Cleo, "Any ideas?" She asked. "Yes, witches repeat after me." The Sowande called out as Myrical and Aphrodite approached Stella and Cleo.

"Ah sha lana, ah sha lana, ah sha lana." They all chanted together as Lizzie and Clary moved to approach them, as Lizzie joined in on the chanting now that she had siphoned magic. Clary moved to approach Faith, as darkness flickered through her veins. Her eyes suddenly turned black, as she used magic to lift Faith off of the ground and into the air.

"Clary?" Aphrodite blurted out, seeing the girls eyes darken over, similarly to what she had seen with Liv. "Who the hell are you?!" Clary demanded, as her eyes returned to their normal brown colour, although her veins remained black. "Somebody that you don't want to mess with." Faith answered, as her veins then darkened over also as she seemed to be able to move against Clary's magic.

Faith waved her hands, as spike-y vines suddenly extended from the ground by Aphrodite, Lizzie, Myrical, Cleo and Stella's feet and continued to grow before wrapping around the arms of the girls, burning their skin to the touch. "Don't siphon the magic!" Clary insisted, recognising that Faith used mostly dark magic. Faith's lip twitched into a smug smile before she casted a pain infliction spell, "Ah sha lana." With that, the five witches, who were already currently in pain, fell to their knees.

Clary rushed forward and closed one of her fists, before landing a punch on Faith. The Mikaelson took the hit before she decided to throw one back, as the pair started to fight. Aphrodite tried to get onto her feet, as she stood on the vines with one foot, and pulled her hands in the other direction, causing the burning vines to eventually rip, breaking the magic. The De Martel tried to slow her breathing, before she looked over at Lizzie, Myrical, Cleo and Stella who were all still being burnt by the magic.

"Incendia." Aphrodite casted a fire spell, as each of the vines trapping the other witches were ignited and burnt away, freeing the four from the spells. Instantly, Aphie moved towards Lizzie and reached out to take her hands as she moved them to examine her arms for injury, as there were evident burn marks. The heretic turned to Myrical, Cleo and Stella, noticing they had the same marks from the vines, though like Aphrodite, Stella's injury healed due to vampire blood.

Aphrodite then turned to face Clary and Faith, as the pair had been physically fighting one another while being amped up on dark magic. Faith caught one of Clary's punches and dug her nails into the Bailey's fist with enough force to draw blood, causing her to grit her teeth in pain. The tribrid then used her enhanced speed as she bent the witch's arm unnaturally, causing it to break.

Clary screamed in pain, as Faith shoved her aside. "Clary!!" Myrical cried out as she went to rush towards the Bailey, but she didn't get to as Faith's eyes darkened much like Clary's, and she threw out her arms, throwing a blast of magic towards the six witches which sent them flying off their feet and to all land metres away.

Faith went to take her leave, but not before she passed Cleo and spoke quietly, so that only the Sowande could hear, "Nice to see you again, traitor." She spoke coldly yet sarcastically, as the muse had been completely expecting a snarky comment from the tribrid.

With that, the Mikaelson was gone. Lizzie, Aphrodite, Cleo, Myrical and Stella all stumbled onto their feet, though Clary only sat up, her priority right now being her broken arm. Myrical rushed towards Carice, "Let me help you Clary, I have a healing spell." The werewitch insisted as Carice shook her head, "I can do it, it's fine."

Clary's eyes then darkened over, as suddenly using black magic her broken arm healed itself, making a disturbing noise as the bone fused back together, which caused everyone to cringe at the noise. "Is everyone okay?" Cleo asked, looking between the witches as Stella and Aphrodite were okay, just worn out, meanwhile Lizzie, Myrical, Clary and herself were injured as well as worn out.

Aphrodite's eyes were on the Bailey, who had done nothing but use dark magic during their combat. "Clary, you can't keep doing that." Aphie spoke up, feeling as though the use of dark magic was going to negatively affect the Bennett witch. "I'm so tired of people telling me what I should or shouldn't be doing... I'm the only one who stood a chance against Faith and that's because of these spells I'm learning." Carice reminded them.

"Did you not see what happened to Olivia?! Dark magic is dangerous!" Lizzie reminded the Bailey. "Auclair magic is different! This isn't as bad as people think! If I didn't use dark magic, we would have lost... someone could have been seriously hurt or even died!" Carice insisted.

"And now that that's cleared up, I have to ask: who the fuck was that?!" Clary spoke with frustration. Although Cleo knew, she didn't answer. "That was Faith Mikaelson, a fully activated tribrid." Lizzie answered as she moved to tiredly lean on Aphrodite's shoulder, as the redhead placed as arm around her girlfriend.

"That's Faith?" Clary asked, putting the pieces of the puzzle together as she felt a wave of frustration and disbelief wash over her. "That's the person my girlfriend has been spending time with? Some evil, dark magic using tribrid bitch?! You have got to be kidding me..."

"Clary..." Lizzie went to speak but the Bailey started moving away from the group, "I need to make a phone call." Carice declared, "I'll see you guys back at the school."

Stella felt like she could breathe, once Clary left the scene. "Well... that was riveting." The Lewis spoke sarcastically before she glanced at the four. "Clary feels blindsided..." Myrical spoke, trying to justify the Bailey's anger, though she hadn't seen her get fired up like that in such a long time.

"I mean... she has every right to be mad. Her girlfriend's sister just attacked all of us, why would she be supporting somebody like that?" Stella pointed out the obvious as Lizzie and Aphrodite remained quiet, although they shared knowing looks and seemed as though they were trying to communicate with their minds. And they were thinking the same thing, that there was more to this story... and that Faith was probably using Tori like Hope had anticipated.

"Come on, let's get back to the school." Aphrodite said to Lizzie, Cleo and Myrical before she turned to Lizzie, "I'm gonna carry you back to the school." She decided, seeing as though her girlfriend wasn't doing too well. "How?" Lizzie questioned. "Like this." Aphrodite offered a smile as she placed a hand on the Saltzman's back and motioned for her to lean back.

Lizzie confusedly obeyed as Aphrodite placed her other hand behind her knees and pulled the taller girl into her arms, carrying her bridal style. Lizzie blinked in surprise, "I'm a lot taller than you so this probably looks so weird." The siphoner admitted. "Are you complaining, babe?" Aphrodite asked as Lizzie shook her head, "Definitely not, this is great."

Myrical laughed a little at the girlfriends, before she moved to walk beside Cleo as the four started heading back to the Salvatore school after parting ways with Stella, who was heading home to Finch.

━━━━━ ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ━━━━━

"Tori doesn't have the moonstone." Glen spoke, as he now stood in Caroline's office, speaking to the woman who had been trying to track the item down. "How sure are you?" Caroline asked the Forde as he replied, "I'm completely certain."

"I'll have to talk to Landon again, and question some other students. Thank you very much for letting me know." Caroline offered Glen a smile as he returned it, before he left.

Moments later, he'd entered Charlie's dorm and the pair greeted eachother as Glen closed the door behind him before approaching his boyfriend. "Tori has the moonstone." Glen admitted as Charlie blinked in surprise, "Wow... my money was really on Landon." He replied.

"But... I just told your Mum she doesn't have it because..." Glen didn't get to finish as Charlie asked, "Wait... you've been with Tori all day?" Glen nodded, "It wasn't by choice. We were attacked by a Malivore monster—" Charlie didn't mean to, but interrupted again, "What?! Are you okay? Is she okay?" The Salvatore got to his feet and looked his boyfriend up and down as though to search for any sign of injury.

Now that they were standing closer to one another, Glen noticed how exhausted and upset Charlie looked. "Char, are you okay?" The Forde then asked. "Yeah... keep talking." Charlie suggested as Glen replied, "No, my priority is you. What's going on babe?"

Despite trying not to think about it, Olivia uncovering this particular memory around Charlie's past of being bullied causing him to self harm, was now all he could think about. He felt so drained by it, and wished he could think about something else. Charlie eventually exhaled, "My night has been terrible."

And that is how the pair ended up sitting on the couch in the common room, by the fireplace. Glen hoped with a change of atmosphere, perhaps Charlie would feel less suffocated.

Charlie opened up about what had happened that day, which lead him to talk more about how he'd been bullied, and his past of self harming. When Glen realised the Salvatore had said everything he wanted to, the brunet struggled to find the words to respond and instead pulled the vampire into his arms, to hug him.

"That's so fucked up. I'm so sorry all of that happened." Glen eventually managed to say, as Charlie shifted himself so he could return the embrace. "I thought it was all in the past... and that I'd never think about it again... I didn't expect it all to hurt this much years later."

"Well, Lucas definitely had the right idea: I need names, Charlie!" Glen insisted as Charlie chuckled slightly before he smiled weakly, "I think Luca did a good job at scaring them all away." He responded, thinking about how the bullying started to stop because Lucas was quite literally fighting anyone who tried to pick on Charlie.

"I do need to ask you an uncomfortable question though, Char." Charlie glanced up at the Forde, "Yeah?" He answered. "Do you... ever think about self harming now?" The werewolf asked as Charlie glanced away for a moment before eventually meeting his eye again, "No... I mean, I did think about it sometimes at Auclair academy... but since moving back here it actually hasn't crossed my mind at all."

"And... I made a promise to Lucas that I would never self harm again. I don't intend to break it." Charlie explained as Glen's expression softened, "Good." He replied, before he suddenly kissed the top of Charlie's head, causing the Salvatore to wear a small smile.

"Why did you feel the need to have Olivia look through your memories?" Glen asked curiously as Charlie answered, "I wanted to make sense of those weird dreams I was having..." Glen replied, "Oh! Did you end up finding anything out?" Charlie answered, "Somewhat. As I suspected this mysterious girl is somehow connected to Tori. I didn't get her name or anything though."

"Anyway, tell me about this monster." Charlie insisted, as he cuddled up to the Forde, "Oh god... where do I even begin..." Glen laughed nervously, before he tried to explain the bizarre experience the best he could. "Why is it lowkey giving Jumanji?" Charlie asked as Glen laughed amusedly, "No shit, it kinda was."

After the Forde finished explaining, Charlie asked, "What does Tori want with the moonstone?" Glen was reluctant to answer, in worry his words may spread... Charlie realised and quickly added, "I won't tell anybody. If you believe that she is doing the right thing, well... I trust you."

"She's found a way to unlock her werewolf side." Glen spoke as Charlie blinked in surprise, "Oh wow... that's awesome!" He replied, though he noticed the Forde looked slightly troubled. "Is it... not a good thing?" Charlie asked.

"It's a great thing... I'm happy for her... but she lied about something." Glen admitted as Charlie seemed curious. "Tori has a tell... and she doesn't realise I know it." He added before he explained, "I asked her if anybody is going to get hurt... and she answered with no."

"So somebody's going to get hurt?" Charlie asked, now seeming concerned. "Pretty much... but she isn't back for a little while, so I'm going to see if I can do some digging of my own, to find out more about all of this... because I don't like the idea that the people getting hurt in question, could be from here." Charlie nodded, "Yeah I agree... I can help you." He then suggested.

Unbeknownst to the boyfriends, Niko stood outside the common room, with their headphones on. He wanted to check on Charlie and make sure that he was doing okay after the events from earlier, but seeing as though he was in safe hands, Niko decided not to bother him.

The Shiratori turned to walk back to his dorm, but stopped when he realised he'd seen Ezekiel head towards the kitchen. Niko paused, as he debated continuing back to his room, before remembering their awkward interaction earlier.

Despite feeling nervous, the psychic found himself moving after the dormant werewolf. "Zeke!" Niko greeted, as the Mikaelson-Lockwood turned around, his face lighting up as he saw the psychic. "Hey Niko."

"Um... earlier was really awkward but I wanted to kiss you and..." Niko paused, suddenly feeling nervous as Zeke's lips curved into a warm smile. The brunette moved towards the psychic and reached out as he gently took Niko's face in his hands, "I really wanted to kiss you too." Ezekiel said, before he moved forward and finally kissed him.

Niko closed his eyes and kissed Zeke back, still stunned that this was even happening. When they reluctantly pulled away from eachother, Niko couldn't contain the smile on their face. Zeke just smiled back before they leant closer to one another and kissed again.

And while Ezekiel was finally kissing the boy he liked, his roommate was about to be confronted by the boy he used to like, but now loathed.

Aaron had been reading a new book when he suddenly heard a knock at his door. Confusedly, the Bennett placed it aside and got off of his bed to answer the door. On the other side of the door, stood Rafael who had been thinking constantly about Charlie's words.

Aaron opened the door and scoffed, as he instantly went to close it. The Waithe quickly placed his foot between the door and the door frame, as an attempt to keep it open. "What do you want Rafael?" The witch asked coldly.

"I just want to talk." Rafael pleaded, "Please." Aaron frowned at the werewolf before he sighed, and pushed the door open to allow the brunet to enter his dorm. Rafael entered the dorm and closed to door behind him, hoping to finally sort things out with the Bennett without verbal assault or fists being thrown.

A couple dorm rooms away, a door opened as Gia was leaving Valerie's dorm and heading back to their own. After making a total mess, the Forde now had dyed their hair, with the roots remaining black but it fading into dark blue ends.

Gianna started to wheel themself down the corridor to reach her and Aphie's dorm, but as she reached for her dorm key, she saw Landon passing by. "Hey!" The werewolf's face lit up, as Landon did a double take, noticing their hair, "Hey Gia." He greeted, blushing slightly as he thought her new hair was pretty.

"Your hair looks really cool." The Kirby admitted, as he stopped to talk to the werewolf. "Why thank you, Val helped me colour it." Gia responded before they asked, "Are you and Lucas okay? People have been saying you guys had an argument." The Forde added.

Landon sighed uncomfortably, as he remembered their argument, which was quite silly... and something that could have been avoided. "It was... a thing that happened... that I'm not happy about... but I can't change that it did happen." He rambled on. "Do you want to come outside with me? You can talk to me while I have the last of my cigarettes." Gianna spoke sadly.

"That would be nice... wait, isn't it bad to suddenly stop smoking?" Landon asked, though he wasn't really sure. Some of his previous foster parents were chronic smokers, but he himself had never been interested. "Yes it is bad, because I smoke so much I get very agitated and angry when I do stop." Gia explained, "But Valerie is trying to find me some more."

The pair moved down the corridor and went outside, eventually finding a spot where Landon could sit, while Gia smoked. "Lucas and I aren't very good at communicating..." Landon began to talk. "We've been together for months now and it's been so good... but when we have issues we have a tendency to pretend like we don't, because we want everything to stay good."

"I didn't realise that he's been struggling with this for a while and I should have talked to him properly about it but I was scared." Landon paused. "What are you scared of?" Gianna asked. "Of telling him the truth... because it relates to my trauma and I just... I feel terrible and conflicted and it's stupid."

"Lucas strikes me as a person who hasn't had an easy life... like most of the people that came out of that horrible school." Gia began. "I obviously don't know him, but I feel like he might understand more than you think... people with a lot of trauma have the tendency to be more understanding and empathetic towards other people and what they're going through."

"That is true..." Landon replied, seeming taken back by her response, as it felt rather accurate. "I did try to message him today... to see if he wanted to talk. He didn't reply though." The Kirby trailed off before he added, "He's probably not feeling well after this drink Dante gave him."

"Hmm... do I sense jealousy?" Gia poked as Landon frowned suddenly. "I'm not jealous of Dante... because Lucas wouldn't be interested in him. They're too different." He explained. "I don't want Dante to try anything though."

"I mean I can see why you would be jealous... Dante is hot." Gia admitted despite what Landon had just said, before they explained, "But I don't think you don't need to worry because he's also confused as shit... since meeting him I swear I've heard him have crushes on seven different guys and they were all short lived. If he has a crush on Lucas, it will pass." The Forde concluded.

"I hope so..." Landon responded, as he hoped Lucas was feeling okay, and that they could talk tomorrow. "Thanks for listening to me... I guess ramble? I weirdly feel better now." The phoenix admitted as Gia nodded, "You're welcome. I'm basically a therapist on wheels, at least I used to be."

"A therapist? Aren't you like sixteen?" Landon asked as Gia answered, "I didn't say I was a qualified one!" They explained, "Basically in every hostel I stayed in, I accidentally became the group therapist... mostly because every hostel was full of relationship drama but since I was younger than everyone I wasn't included in it myself."

"But it meant people were comfortable enough to complain to me about their side of the drama." Gia added. "It was good because I became an expert at giving advice and I became close to everyone I was living with." The Forde concluded as Landon seemed surprised by this, "Wow... interesting. You weren't intimidated by living with older people?" He asked, as it sounded suspicious to him that Gia's parents were okay with their teenager living under the same roof as many adults.

Gia shook their head, "Everyone else was over 18... but for the most part nothing weird happened. Infact everyone was pretty protective of me because I was a lot younger." The Forde fidgeted with their lighter, as they'd finished their last cigarette and didn't like that their hands weren't occupied. "Okay it's a bit cold, let's go back inside." Gianna suggested, as Landon liked the sound of that. With that, the pair started moving back inside.

Landon was surprised by how comfortable he felt around Gia in such a short amount of time, he didn't usually open up about anything but he found them quite easy to talk to. As the pair reached the dorm floor, Gianna stopped once they reached her and Aphrodite's dorm.

"Goodnight Landon." The ravenette flashed him a smile, as Landon felt like he stopped functioning for a second. "Goodnight Gia!" He quickly replied, before he started moving away towards his own dorm.

The Kirby frowned to himself: there was no way he could be possibly crushing on Gia... not when Lucas meant everything to him. He was determined to fix things with his boyfriend, so whatever feelings he may possibly developed for the werewolf, were to be dead, buried and never thought about again.

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Olivia was worried by the state of Myrical, when the werewitch entered their dorm. "Oh my god, what happened to you Riri?!" Liv asked, suddenly forgetting about the events of her day for a moment, as she approached the other ravenette.

"I met Tori's sister." Myrical answered before she added, "She is not very nice." The hybrid took her grimoire from her shelf and looked through it for a healing spell, to make her feel better. She said aloud the incantation to one, hoping it would start working immediately before she placed her grimoire back on her shelf.

"Faith?" Olivia questioned as Myrical nodded, "Yeah... she is very pretty but... she is scary." The Benning explained as Liv took this opportunity to dig at her best friend, "I thought you had a thing for girls you're slightly afraid of." The Auclair said, referring to her crush on Tori without humanity.

Myrical looked over at Olivia with an awkward frown, "Really? At least I can talk to girls." She sassed as Liv fired back teasingly, "Well that's a lie, because kissing doesn't involve talking." Myrical's face fell when she realised she didn't have a comeback. "I'm going to have a shower." She decided, giving up on this conversation which made Liv laugh.

Sometime later Myrical returned to her bed in warm fluffy pyjamas, and Olivia moved to sit beside the hybrid as they talked about the events of their day. "Faith was really strong... Clary managed to fight her but I think she was overusing dark magic."

Olivia's face fell, "I've tried to warn her... I'm scared she's in too deep now." She sighed as Myrical looked sympathetically at her best friend, "It's not your fault Livvy." She insisted, "But what I want to know is who would possibly be teaching her such dangerous spells..." Riri added as Liv frowned, "I don't know... it sounds like something my Mum would do, but she's obviously dead so."

Myrical couldn't help but to laugh before she felt bad for laughing, "Maybe Clary has an ouija board." She then joked, making Olivia laugh. "The only other person I can think of is Eliana... but she doesn't really practice magic anymore... and Clary doesn't have a good relationship with her." The Auclair confessed.

"What did you do today?" Myrical then asked Olivia. "I... think I traumatised one of my new friends." Liv admitted, looking guilty. "What, how so?" Myrical frowned, not really following. Olivia then explained vaguely what had happened, but didn't use names as she didn't know if Charlie was comfortable with any of this information being shared. "I'm sure they understand that you didn't mean it." Myrical insisted, and Liv knew that was the case but it didn't make her feel any less guilty.

Olivia eventually moved back into her own bed, and Myrical switched off her lamp before the pair continued to talk for quite some time. Myrical eventually drifted off to sleep, and Olivia was left alone with her thoughts... and her guilt.

There was then a soft knock on the door, causing Liv to sit up. The tribrid then quietly walked towards the door, trying not to wake Riri. She opened it, seeing Lexi standing there. "Hey Lex." Olivia smiled weakly, "Hey Livvy." Lexi smiled back before Olivia stepped aside, so that her girlfriend could enter her dorm.

Olivia moved back to her bed, and Lexi sat herself beside the Auclair, before she placed her head on the ravenette's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Lexi finally asked and quietly, "Charlie was asking about you after earlier." Olivia leant her head against Lexi's, "Did he tell you what happened?"

"Yeah... he said he doesn't blame you, but he's worried you'll still beat yourself up about it." The Salvatore replied as Lexi sighed, "Well... I am. I'm really glad Charlie and I have become good friends... and I'm sorry that I made him remember such a horrible memory." Olivia began before she sighed, "But also... today more than ever I realised how much I understand him."

Lexi's expression changed to one that showed worry, "Baby, what do you mean?" She asked softly, as she sat up to face the Auclair. "I used to get bullied too... and it was really bad. Maybe one day I'll tell you more about it." Liv began to explain, though she didn't want to mention details at least yet. "But... I sympathise because I know what it was like to be constantly harassed and belittled for being seen as different."

"I um... try not to think about it... and repress the awful memories... and I feel so bad that I uncovered that for Charlie." Olivia admitted as Lexi moved to place her arms around Liv as she pulled her into an embrace while Olivia sunk into Lexi's arms, allowing it.

"Someone started spreading rumours about Charlie at my old school... I used to get so angry at people for being mean to him." Lexi explained to Liv. "I'm sorry you had a similar experience... nobody deserves that at all." She added sadly before she leant her head against Liv's, as the Auclair was appreciating the comfort.

"Can you... stay with me?" Liv asked quietly, wanting to fall asleep in Lexi's arms. The Salvatore couldn't help but to smile, "Of course, you fucking cutie." The brunette replied before she moved forward to kiss her girlfriend. Moments later, the pair were cuddled up together under Olivia's blanket. "Goodnight Lex." Liv sleepily spoke as Lexi then yawned, "Night princess."

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Clary was pissed off to say the least... she felt betrayed by Tori, and not just for her sake but for everyone's. This whole time she'd been away from the school, she'd been spending her time with someone so violent and hateful, who initially attacked one of their own and eventually a handful of students.

Thinking about it only made her more mad, as her veins flickered with darkness again, and she found herself unable to think about anything else... like this anger was completely occupying her mind.

At Auclair academy, Tori had stuck to herself as she was exhausted after dealing with the Malivore monster. She also hadn't seen Faith since arriving back at the school, but did say a quick hello to Ezra and glared at Salem before retreating back to her old dorm.

Her phone suddenly rang, being Clary. The blonde placed her phone against her ear as she answered it, "Hey Clary." She greeted. "Tori, what the hell have you been doing..." Clary accused, her voice sounding upset and hurt. The Mikaelson moved to sit up, "... What do you mean?" She answered confusedly.

"All this time you've been away from the school, I have been vouching for you yet you've been hanging out with some violent monster! How can you stand by somebody like that?" Clary continued as Tori replied quickly, "You met Faith?" Clary exhaled with frustration, the dark magic trailing through her body as she continued, "Look, if you're going to support some evil bitch who likes to attack my friends, and people you literally go to school with, then I can't..."

"You can't... what?" Tori asked as Clary suddenly replied, "I can't be with you!" Tori's eyes widened, as now she was the one to feel blindsided now. "Clary, hold on what happ—" Tori began as Clary continued, "I just helped save Lizzie and I was terrified Faith would kill her... that she would kill all of us because she clearly has the power to do so. So if you're about to give me some excuse I—"

Tori grew impatient, "Clary, I have NO idea what you're talking about!" She spoke up, her voice sounding desperate... desperate because she didn't want to lose her relationship over something that she had no idea about, but moreso because if this was true, she would be absolutely outraged that Faith had hurt her friends.

"Are you kidding me?" Clary asked, "Babe I'm being so honest I have no clue what you're talking about, I don't even know where Faith is currently— But you need to tell me everything." Tori pleaded as Clary seemed taken back by this, realising maybe she had jumped to conclusions. The Bailey exhaled suddenly before she looked at her arms, noticing that her veins were darkened, as a result of the dark magic.

"Clary where are you right now?" Victoria asked, "I'm..." Clary was suddenly unfocused, as the realisation of how the magic was affecting her was occupying her mind. "Carice?" Tori spoke urgently as Clary snapped out of her trance, "I'm in the town square."

"Okay." Tori moved to her old closet, in search of a jacket. "I'll be there ASAP." The hybrid insisted, finding a jacket before she turned to grab some shoes. "Okay." Clary responded, feeling deflated now as she ended the call.

The Bailey exhaled shakily, as she realised how amped up she'd been from the dark magic... she couldn't believe she'd just suddenly threatened her girlfriend with breaking up. She really liked Tori, she didn't want anything between them to end.

The truth was, she had been shaken up by the days events... Lizzie being in danger was one thing, but fighting an enemy who could stand her ground against six strong witches? That was also terrifying.

The problem was, with the high emotions the dark magic was playing on it, and making Clary think and act in ways that were more negative. Now that she was aware of it, she knew she needed to be more careful.

As she waited in the cold for Tori to meet her, Clary hoped she hadn't just destroyed her relationship over a phone call that last hardly a minute.

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AUTHORS NOTE

Liv and Lexi being soft gfs: 💖✨💞
Tori and Clary being angry gfs: 🖤💢🔪

I have been really enjoying writing Clary's dark era tbh, though it will mean angst for her and Tori ))): (I love writing angst bye) but also... they could potentially be an epic team up against Faith?

And tbh the more lore that comes out about Tori without humanity, the more I realise how bad she was at the whole "no feelings" thing. Girl I give you an F!

Also I realise highkey, exes to besties is a super unrealistic trope... but you bet I'm using it multiple times throughout this story 💀

The Charlie lore in this chapter is emotional damage. Also Charlie and Lucas are the best brothers and I will not be taking any criticism on that. Them >>>>>

And lastly: Ayanna Nyx belongs to spariax ! She will be apart of the cast in Act 3