Alyssa Chang was going to confirm their choice.

"Stay still," said Alyssa, holding out a small white orb to Lizzie, who was going to demonstrate how it was done. "You're afraid. No... you're absolutely terrified."

"No crap," said Lizzie, rolling her eyes. "That's why we're here. I don't need your stupid bowling ball to tell me that, okay? Josie is basically Darth Vader."

"Would you please shut up? I need to concentrate. Thanks in advance." She closed her eyes, concentrating and making it glow brighter. "You're not scared of Josie hurting you, you're scared of hurting her."

Lizzie nodded. "I've done so much to hurt her already. I just don't want to make the same mistake again."

Alyssa made a face as if she'd smelled something rotten. "I don't need a crystal ball to know that Josie would tear you apart. The Merge is a battle of wills. The simple fact that you're afraid of winning and losing makes you a dead duck. Your turn."

She turned to Rhysaenya, but Lizzie butted in. "Are you seriously telling me that I'm going to die because I became a better person?"

"Ironic, isn't it? The good news is that you won't die because you can't even handle this."

The blonde scoffed. "Well, in that case, screw personal growth, okay? I am going back to looking out for number one, to being selfish. To hell with the Merge!

"That's the spirit," said Alyssa cheekily. "But you're not the main player anymore."

She held the orb toward Rhysaenya, then drew it back into herself, furrowing her brows. "Right off the bat, so much more ruthless. You're not afraid to win. You're not afraid to kill and you're not afraid to hurt someone for the greater good."

"I could do that if I were still a bitch," said Lizzie under her breath.

Alyssa opened one eye to glare, as if insisting she shut up. "But you are also afraid to lose."

Rhysaenya admitted to it, toying with her necklace. "Because if I don't do this right, we lose her. But I will do what has to be done."

"I can see that. You're willing to risk yourself to keep everyone else safe. You have faith in your team, trust that the plan will work. It should be enough for you to replace Lizzie. In a real Merge, you'd beat them both."

Lizzie scoffed. "Well, it's not going to be a real Merge anyway—"

"Won't it be?"

Josie was in the doorway, smirking at them. "I thought we had an alarm system for this," muttered Rhysaenya.

"You did," said Josie, gesturing to a mound of herbs at the corner of the door. "But that is nothing against me. Lizzie... tsk, tsk, tsk, I wasn't aware you were trying to get out of the Merge. I suppose I'll have to punish you for that."

She flicked her hand, snapping Alyssa's neck and letting her body fall. Rhysaenya couldn't even gasp, not having been expecting it. "Was that drastic enough for you, Lizzie? If you don't show up tonight in your own body, I'll start killing your actual friends. Starting with the dragon." She smirked, gesturing to her arms. "Keep an eye on those cuts."

Rhysaenya fell at Alyssa's side while Josie strode away, unbothered. "She's dead," she whispered. "She's actually dead. What the hell do we do?"

"Rely on Hope Mikaelson to save the day," said Lizzie snarkily. "As per freakin' usual."

Rhysaenya carried Alyssa's body into Hope's room, where everyone was gathering to discuss next steps. Lizzie had gone right to inform her father, who would most likely get the remaining students not part of their squad out of the school. The danger had escalated, and only the immediate friend group could be expected to deal with it.

"The cuts aren't healing," said Hope, examining Rhysaenya's arms. "And you're still warm."

"But you drew the dark magic out," she muttered. "Shouldn't I be better? Someone give me vampire blood."

"Wait—" Hope frowned, tracing her finger over the edge of one of the cuts. "No. Your body is reacting to the dark magic as if it were a virus. Like it's been exposed to it before and is fighting back. I thought I just reacted fast enough but honestly, even in the short time it took to get you here, the effects should've been worse."

"My mother was made from dark magic," said Rhysaenya. "I was born of it. And I spent a thousand years in Malivore. Maybe my body is used to it?"

"Exposed to it is a better term. Because the cuts are still pretty bad. She has to have done it for a reason..."

"We said she wanted to take us down, right, preventing opposition?"

"She could have shot you in the neck, Rhysaenya. We've seen she doesn't care who she kills."

"No but maybe she had to hurt me to send a message then let it not be lethal to make sure Lizzie didn't chicken out of the Merge and when she saw we made a plan for it, she had to take a more 'drastic' measure."

Kaleb snapped his fingers at them. "Let's focus on this later. We can't use a decoy anymore. Josie knows about it. If Rhysaenya or anyone else goes into Lizzie's body, she'll just snap their neck and go after Lizzie anyway. Which we aren't equipped to handle because we have to find that Kai dude and take him down."

MG sped in. "I have bad news. Lizzie's car is gone. She bolted."

Rhysaenya threw her hands up. "New plan— we find Kai, see if we can pick his brain for ideas, and then kill him, while someone tries to get Lizzie back. If she doesn't show up, Josie is going to kill us all without hesitation."

"There is no getting through to Josie at this point," said Kaleb.

"Well, we're not giving up on her," said Hope. "We need to bring her back."

"Tell that to Alyssa, Hope."

"If we give up now, she'll have died for nothing. The rest of you will follow and if my plan does work, it won't mean anything without you all there. Someone needs to bring Lizzie back." She eyed MG, already singling him out for the job. "She needs you, MG. We all do."

He nodded, then sped away.

Kaleb sighed. "Then can we at least rely on an aggressive approach for Kai? There's no way we're going to manage anything being tame."

"I'm all up for being aggressive," said Rhysaenya. "This is a special case. This man is a psychopath and there is no changing him, nothing to consider other than the fact we need to stop him before he gets more powerful. We know where Josie will be tonight. That's one advantage. If we can find Kai before then... we minimize how much we have to deal with. To that end... vampire blood, please?. I need to be able to fly."

Kaleb was the first to offer his wrist, despite Hope looking skeptical, letting her cut in and take a few sips until the wounds on her arms were gone. "Okay," said Rhysaenya, cracking her knuckles. "Let's go find our Heretic."

It took Hope less than fifteen minutes to track him down. Alaric wasn't about to let them go on their own, so the tribrid took it upon herself to knock him out and prevent him from coming with them. She placed a protective spell on Rhysaenya's throat, having everyone else take a weapon of choice along for the ride. Landon was the only one not joining them, given he hadn't gained enough control of his phoenix powers to help them.

Rhysaenya was a bit more annoyed carrying multiple people on her back. Usually, she could hardly feel the weight of someone against her neck, feeling no more than a slight tickle. But with Hope, Kaleb, Raf, and Jed all clinging to one another, it was becoming less of a tickle and more like an itch that couldn't be scratched, which meant she was uncomfortable the entire time they flew over the town.

"I think landing in this clearing is a good idea," said Hope, beckoning Rhysaenya down. "We'll go the rest of the way on foot."

"Can I say it?" yelled Raf over the wind as she made her descent. "How do you tell a dragon to land?"

"Tegun," said Jed, rolling his eyes. "But she can understand English, dipshit."

"How are you not fangirling right now? We're on top of a dragon!"

"It's not that big of a deal," said Hope.

"To you. You rode her all the way to Georgia. Well, I guess that's why Jed also didn't feel excitement, he'd already—"

Rhysaenya let out a puff of smoke as she laughed, making the three boys let out a yell of fear, shielded as Hope thrust her hand up to redirect it. "Done fangirling?" she asked. "Good."

Rhysaenya landed as carefully as possible, flopping her body down to let them dismount. "How do you feel?" asked Hope as she shifted back.

"Fine," she said, pumping her arms. "Cuts are gone, I don't feel feverish anymore. It was so minimal, I don't think—"

"Woah!" Kaleb grabbed her arm, rolling up her sleeve. "Damn, you look like Josie."

Hope noted the blackened veins right over where her cuts had been. "But it was healed. I got all the dark magic out."

"Yeah, except you didn't."

The tribrid stood between them and Kai, who was wiggling his fingers at them. "What do you mean?" asked Hope suspiciously.

"I mean... you didn't. You know, sometimes being a nerd comes in handy."

"What did you do to me?" demanded Rhysaenya.

"Oh, no no no, it's what Josie did to you. Honestly, she's so much more fun like this. Except for the part that she wants to kill me now, but I'll take care of that just like I always do."

"You turned her into this!"

"Mm... can't take all the credit. She did it to herself, too! But she did take a few pointers from me. Namely... get an inside man."

"A what?" snapped Kaleb.

Kai laughed heartily. "Ah... you remember how in Game of Thrones, if you didn't burn the bodies of the dead, that Night King guy would turn them into White Walkers and be able to mind control them? Kinda like that. See, Rhysaenya here got infected and little Hope Mikaelson tried to fix it, but she didn't get all the black magic. I knew it was only a matter of time before you came to find me and who better than a dragon to transport you? She's killed me several times by flying overhead and just Dracarys'ing the life out of me. So I suggested Josie put in a delayed reaction. Inevitably... you'd heal her with vampire blood. And it would just serve to accelerate the infection. Now imagine a rabid dragon that only served Josie. Kinda cool, right?"

Rhysaenya gulped, trying to be brave. "Well it won't take long for us to kill you, so you won't live to see it."

He smirked. "No? Astrevus."

She felt the sensation of someone gripping her throat, a searing in her toes that rose into her head. She coughed, fire expelled without her say-so, a bug caught in her throat and scratching at it like glass to make it impossible to stop spitting out tongues of flame that made their way right to where her friends were standing.

"While you've been playing checkers, I've been playing chess," said Kai smugly as Hope and the others tried to shield themselves from the fireballs now incinerating the forest around them. "Dark Josie will gather up a whole lot of magic, which will then come to yours truly because, well, all I needed was for you guys to come up with an idea to show me how best to get in there undetected. Ha... you thought I'd come when they were vulnerable... a decent idea but not the best one. No, your plan was brilliant. Wouldn't be the first time I beat my non-twin in a Merge. I'll take over Lizzie's consciousness and beat Josie myself. All while you four will be occupied with the dragon that's about to go on a rampage."

Hope let out a scream, directing it right to Kai, who seemed to glitch and disappear. He hadn't been there at all.

"Guys," Rhysaenya panted between forced coughs. "I can feel it— like an itch— it's crawling like a bug— I can't stop it! You have to knock me out!"

"We're trying!" said Kaleb. "But we can't even get close!"

"Hope—"

"If I freeze you in place, the fire could build up in your throat and I'd be making you blow yourself up! I'm trying to think—"

"Well, hurry—" she careened forward, sneezing and sending another fireball right at Raf's head.

"Hope!" yelled Raf. "You have to go and stop Kai! We'll handle Rhysaenya!" He shoved Jed out of the way, a flaming branch snapping overhead and crashing down right where they'd been standing.

"But you three—"

"He's going to go for Lizzie and MG next! You have to take him down, find Josie, and get the magic out of her!"

Hope was struggling to make a choice, unsure who she should save, who she was meant to prioritize. Rhysaenya was staring at her with teary eyes, already in immense pain. She begged her to go, begged her to make sure Kai didn't get ahead of them, that he didn't kill both twins and take their power. At last, the tribrid chose to speed away, in pursuit of Kai.

"If I have to die to save them," managed Rhysaenya weakly, swallowing as hard as she could to try and lubricate her throat, "so be it."

"Not an option!" said Raf. "You're still talking to us, so there's gotta be another way!"

Rhysaenya tilted her head down, trying to focus the fire on the ground. The trees were beginning to groan around them, more branches falling around and threatening to bash open their skulls or simply set them on fire. "My throat is dry, it makes me cough," she groaned, sinking down and holding her head. "If I can stop feeling like I have to cough, I'll stop having to shoot fire and– ah– ah– AHHH!"

"She's transforming!" yelled Jed, grabbing onto Raf and Kaleb to pull them away as he saw Rhysaenya thrashing around, skin glowing red and beginning to look scaly. "Run– just run!"

"Fight it, Rhysaenya, fight it!" shouted Raf, struggling to stay where they were. "Keep down the cough– tell the fire to go somewhere else!"

"Guys, we really have to get out of here!" insisted Jed, a tree creaking overhead. "We can't put out a forest fire!"

Kaleb pointed at a figure rushing up behind them. "Maybe we don't have to."

"Here!" yelled Hope, holding up a strange sphere with lumps all over, and small symbols carved in, resembling a bomb a lot more than it did something that might be of use. She threw it, letting Kaleb catch it. "Put it in front of her!"

He sped to Rhysaenya, setting it down right by her mouth. Hope cried out a spell she couldn't hear, making her back arch painfully, the fire shooting out directly into the sky, creating a tornado that sucked the trees inward, draining the fire away. She screamed and reached around wildly, her own body being dragged side to side as her mouth seemed to contain the tornado, swirling it in place until all the fire shot into the small object beside her, ripped out of her mouth and running out only when she had nothing left to give, wheezing and looking around wildly to try and figure out what happened.

"What are you doing here?" she rasped as Hope dropped down beside her, cradling her head and coaxing her mouth open to make her drink water.

"I couldn't leave you," she insisted. "Besides, you really think the boys were going to put out a fire?"

Rhysaenya tilted her head back, seeing the trees were blackened and dead in a perfect circle around them, but no longer and fire and definitely not spreading into the rest of the forest. Hope blew into her hand, guiding it into the trees and breathing life back into them. The blackness melted away, bark regenerating and leaves brightening until the gaps over here the fallen branches fell were concealed.

"But Josie," panted Rhysaenya. "And Kai... what is that thing?!"

"This is a Dépôt D'argent," explained Hope, picking up the artifact. "A mystical battery cell to drain and store away all kinds of magic. I asked my Uncle Kol to get it here as fast as possible. He and Vincent made a replica after the original was used up on the Ancestral Well. I thought I could use it to store the dark magic in Josie, but I wasn't sure it would contain it. Judging by the fact it contained your fire... it will work. And this is what I'm going to use against Kai."

Rhysaenya flew as fast as possible, zipping through the air as Hope guided her, right to where the tribrid had already dispatched Sebastian to help Lizzie and MG handle Kai. A tall cloud of smoke could be seen in the distance, emerging from over a gas station.

The dragon dipped suddenly, landing as fast as she could to let them off and turn back to aid Lizzie, Sebastian, and MG, who were barely holding up against Kai, who seemed all-too-relaxed wielding the fire from one of the burning pumps.

He didn't stand a chance with the eight of them there. Even Hope alone would've decimated him now that they had nothing to worry about; the Dépôt D'argent only worked to use his magic against him. Had Lizzie wanted to deal the killing blow, they all would've let her have it. By the time they brought Kai to their knees, there was only one person they turned to.

Rhysaenya didn't feel anything as she ripped his heart out, just as Kol Mikaelson had taught her to.

"We're running out of time," said Hope, a total of seven people now on Rhysaenya's back as she raced back to the school. "It's about to be eight o'clock. If we're not there on time, she's going to kill whoever is there."

"What's our actual plan now?" asked Lizzie. "Kai is gone, Rhysaenya's not under his or Josie's control, the last thing is to get the black magic out of her, but Hope... can that thing contain the black magic?"

"It has to," said Hope. "If something goes wrong... I put a 'plan B' in place."

Raf made a face. "Plan B? What's plan B?"

"If, for whatever reason, something stops me from finishing my spell and she goes through with the Merge... I've linked Lizzie to Landon. If she dies, so will he, but since he's immortal, he'll come back and bring her with him. Josie will be vulnerable enough and you all would be in charge of keeping her contained. Use the anti-magic manacles and carry her into my room... it'll keep her trapped until we can make another attempt. I am just really hoping we don't have to do that."

"I trust you," said MG helpfully. "You got this, Hope."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Plan B had too many things that could go wrong.

"You're late to your own funeral," said Josie, glaring at Lizzie as they stormed into the gym behind her. "Almost... too late."

Lizzie's heart dropped when Josie flicked her hand, revealing she had Alaric and Landon both tied up behind her. "I found this silly little trinket in the basement," said Josie, toying with a golden arrow. "And Dorian's human mind was so susceptible to my influence... he told me all about the phoenix books he encountered, and it seems this golden arrow is fatal to creatures of fire."

She pointed it at Rhysaenya. "Īgñividosi, a phoenix in your language, right? Turns out I don't even need to hit you in the throat to kill you. The arrow is reusable, too... how convenient for me."

Lizzie eyed Hope, who realized that their survival really only could rely on 'plan A.' Hope stepped forward, placing the Dépôt D'argent in the blonde's hands.

"I know you're really in there," said Hope, circling her. Josie smirked, apparently entertained. "You're one and the same. And you, on the outside, think Josie is weak. But she's stronger than you'll ever be even with the black magic. No one could shoulder the burdens that you carry. And you're always there for your friends when they need you. Everyone has light and dark in them. You, Josie, you've brought light into our lives so many times... it's okay to be selfish sometimes. None of us would hold it against you. You can be powerful without the darkness. You just need to give yourself a voice."

"All this talking," said Josie coldly. "I don't hear enough Merging. If she isn't brave enough to face me, well... it only takes one of us to kick it off." She thrust her hand out, dragging Lizzie toward her. "Sanguinem–"

A bright green light exploded out of the Dépôt D'argent, completely swallowing the three figures closest to it. The others wasted no time in swarming toward Alaric and Landon, freeing them and pulling them out of the line of fine as a second explosion of purple light followed, right from where Josie was standing.

Rhysaenya pulled everyone she could hold onto the ground, shielding her ears and closing her eyes to muffle the sound of Josie's anguished screams. When the light faded, she could see Lizzie holding the Dépôt D'argent tightly, Hope beside her to wave her fingers delicately and draw the dark magic right into the orb, chanting, "Magia tollox de terras, magia tollox de terras–"

Lizzie joined her near the end, right as Josie's legs gave out, bringing her down and clutching desperately at her chest, trying to catch the magic and keep it inside for a while longer, perhaps thinking she still stood a chance at gaining the upper hand. The bulbs overhead burst, leaving the gym in pitch darkness with only a shaky, ragged breath left behind, then a quiet voice whispering, "Josie? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she whimpered. "I'm okay."

Hope held out her hand, creating a small ball of light that illuminated her tired face. Alaric rushed to her side immediately, hugging both of his girls tight and beginning to cry.

"Thank you for not giving up on me," said Josie weakly once they'd gathered in the living room, settling her with a blanket and some green tea. "Even though I didn't deserve it."

"You know," said Alaric, "one of the many joys of being your father is getting to see you slowly figure out how much you deserve. And one day, you'll realize that what you deserve is to never be given up on."

Josie smiled weakly. "Is Mom almost here?"

"She landed in Richmond an hour ago. Won't be long now. Are you sure about this, Josie?"

"I killed somebody, Dad. I can't be here." She reached out to Lizzie, who offered her a small coin. She clasped it tight in her hands, "Oribos turai filio." Her hands glowed for a moment, then stopped.

Alaric sighed. "I saw your biological mother do a spell like that once. Did you just–?"

"I just put my siphon power into this coin. Just... just for a while. 'Til I'm ready to use it." She handed it to Hope. "Will you keep it safe for me?"

"Of course," promised Hope. "Always."

They all heard the sound of a car pulling up outside. Josie got to her feet, accepting the suitcase Landon offered. "I... I don't know when I'll be back," she said, voice breaking. "I don't know how long it's going to take before I'm okay. I can't... I can't pretend those darkest parts of myself don't exist. I have to accept them. I have to learn control, to reach out when I need help. When I'm ready to use my magic again, I want to come back stronger. But in the meantime... everything I have to learn, I can't learn here."

"Keep yourself safe," whispered Rhysaenya, the first to reach over and hug her. "Whatever you need... we're there. No judgment, just love."

"Thanks," said Josie, laying her head against her shoulder. The others slowly joined, until Josie was buried in the center of a gigantic group hug, just as Rhysaenya had been when she returned from the prison world.

Caroline was going to take Josie with her to see Bonnie Bennett, who was currently visiting Niagara Falls. From there, they would head back to Europe to decompress for weeks, months, however long it took. The important thing, for everyone, was that Josie got the help she needed. Her mother was definitely not going to send her back before she was ready.

"I know we've been through a lot in the last few days," said Alaric at their next assembly. "Well, months, really. Okay, uh, it's been a rough couple years, to be honest. And I wish I could say the worst was over. But no matter what comes next, I firmly believe that we will be able to get through it if we stand united as a school, a community. That being said, I don't think it would be realistic to go back to our normal schedule given what we all experienced. As such, I've decided to give the entire school two weeks off. During that time, campus will remain open for anyone who would like to stay here. Dorian and Emma will be present, meals will be served as usual, and activities will be scheduled for each day in the event anyone wishes to participate. Additionally, I've asked a supernatural psychologist to spend that time here and make himself available to all of you. Vincent Griffith is a great resource, completely confidential, and very experienced in the field. Not to mention his son Nik is a student here, and he has a personal interest in checking in on all students. Those of you who do not wish to stay, please let us know of your plans so we can account for where everyone will be during our hiatus period. We will accommodate anyone who needs additional time away or wishes for further resources. Thank you."

"Will you be going to New Orleans?" asked Rhysaenya, leaning onto Hope's shoulder.

"No," she admitted. "Vincent is coming and that means my Aunt Freya and Aunt Keelin will be staging in a hotel in town. I want to be able to do a few things with them and my cousin Nik. I wanted to go to New Orleans with Raf, but he's going on a road trip with Landon since Josie ghosted him and he's pretending he's fine by insisting they go find Raf's mom. Why... have an idea?"

She didn't want to tell her that she was hoping to tag along wherever she went. She didn't know how to say that she felt safest away from the school when she was with her.

She kept seeing Hope's face, the furrowed brows and shining blue eyes from when she cradled her after saving her life, stopping the forest fire and making her feel like she could breathe again.

She wasn't sure why it kept popping up. Maybe that sort of thing happened when one almost died.

"Just curious," said Rhysaenya dismissively." Lizzie apparently likes both MG and Sebastian, so that should be a fun two weeks for them. Jed and Ethan are going camping with Maya and her girlfriend, who Jed swears is a werewolf, but he hasn't been able to prove it. I think... I'm going to take some time away. Ryan told me he still has access to Triad's bank account and he thought I might like to go to the beach in California. It's been so long since I swam in the ocean."

Now it was Hope thinking of Rhysaenya's face, the relief she'd had when she realized Hope had come back for her, how she'd grabbed hold and didn't want to let go, knowing she would be okay simply because Hope was there. She didn't know why the idea of Ryan taking Rhysaenya to California for two weeks alone bothered her.

"You should do it," she urged. "It'll be fun."

Rhysaenya managed a smile. Why was I hoping that she'd ask me to stay? "Great. Then... I'll see you in two weeks."