Song: Gun for hire (Woodkid) from Arcane
Hope POV
“Landon?”
“So you really went to the afterlife of my universe…
I’m surprised.”
Hope swallowed.
“Is he okay?” she asked nervously.
“He’s okay.”
“I gave him your message.”
“He wishes you all the happiness in the world, and he promised to open his heart if the opportunity ever comes.”
“He says he doesn’t regret a thing.”
Hope felt Jinx’s hand gently cup her cheek and realized a tear had slipped down her face.
“Hope…
that’s not all,” Jinx said, her expression turning serious.
“But for this, you’ll need to enter my mind and see what happened for yourself.”
“We’re soulmates.
It should be easier for us.”
Hope hesitated for a moment before resting her forehead against Jinx’s and closing her eyes.
When she opened them again, she found herself standing in the streets of Zaun.
She was certain it was a perfect recreation.
Suddenly, she noticed a trail of footprints on the ground.
They began to glow, guiding her toward a specific place.
She slowed as she realized where the footprints were leading her.
That alley.
That damned alley.
Like a silent spectator, she watched Jinx appear with Silco.
He pulled her into a hug.
“You’ve grown up so fast.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I would have remained human without you.”
“Don’t worry,” Jinx replied with a grin.
“The fact that you’re terrified every day of sticking that Shimmer injection into your eye proves you’re still human.”
“Jinx!” he exclaimed with an exasperated sigh before growing serious again.
“I never really said this.”
“But I’m proud of you.”
“For all the horrors this trade has brought, you’ve managed to keep a part of yourself pure.”
“Jinx…
I mean it.”
“You’re free.”
“I love you.”
“You’re my daughter.”
“If all you want is to keep building your inventions, then do that.”
“If you want to travel the world with your wife, then do that.”
“Go wherever your heart leads you.”
“And whenever you come home…
I’ll be here.”
He kissed her gently on the forehead before walking out of the alley.
Jinx watched him leave in stunned silence.
Then a huge smile spread across her face.
It made what happened next all the more tragic.
“Help!
Help!
Somebody, please help me!”
Hope wanted to tell Jinx not to follow the voice.
To stay where she was.
But this was only a memory.
Jinx spotted a little girl curled up behind a dumpster and knelt beside her.
“Do you need help?”
“Are you lost?”
The little girl nodded and took the hand Jinx offered her.
Jinx rose to her feet.
Hope watched as the four men she had captured earlier emerged from the shadows and closed in on her wife.
One of them drove a knife into Jinx’s back.
Then another.
And another.
Jinx staggered.
As blade after blade pierced her, she never took her eyes off the little girl.
“Silco took everything from me!”
“Now he’ll know what it feels like when he finds his precious daughter dead!” one of the men shouted.
Before long, Jinx collapsed to the ground.
But they didn’t stop.
Then suddenly, they heard a noise.
The four men exchanged glances and fled.
As he ran, one of them snatched Jinx’s jacket and tossed it to the little girl.
The child looked down at Jinx and whispered,
“I’m sorry.”
Then she disappeared into the night.
Hope fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she watched.
The seconds crawled by.
It made everything even crueler to know that Jinx had waited through every one of them…
Alone.
When Hope finally saw herself appear beside her wife, she almost felt relieved that the torment was finally coming to an end.
She watched herself speak to Jinx.
Then everything went dark.
When the scene brightened again, she found herself somewhere painfully familiar.
Limbo.
Hope’s heart tightened when she saw Landon.
She smiled at the way Jinx delivered her message, then listened in horror as he started telling embarrassing stories about her.
“I swear, someone covered in spider guts shouldn’t be that sexy.”
She heard Jinx burst out laughing.
“Beautiful under any circumstances—that’s Hope.”
After a while, Jinx got to her feet.
“I should go.
She’s either going to worry herself sick…
or burn the city down if I’m not there.”
“Before you leave,” another voice said, “could you spare me a few moments?”
Hope’s eyes widened when she saw who was standing there.
“You’re…”
“Hayley Marshall,” the woman replied with a warm smile.
She glanced at Jinx.
“And I suppose that makes me your mother-in-law now.”
Her mother was there.
Her mother was really there.
Hope felt the tears she had finally managed to stop begin to fall once again.
“H-Hello,” Jinx said timidly.
Why is she so shy?
Hope wondered.
She wasn’t shy around my father.
“Hello, darling,” Hayley said with a warm smile before pulling Jinx into a hug.
When they finally stepped apart, Jinx looked completely lost.
“Shouldn’t you be…
on the other side?
In the bright place…
in the light?” Jinx asked all at once.
If Hope hadn’t been so overwhelmed, she would have laughed at how completely different Jinx was around her mother.
“I wish I knew myself,” Landon admitted.
“It’s not that easy to leave this place.
So far, Klaus is the only one who’s managed to come back, and that required an extraordinary amount of magic.”
“I won’t be staying in Limbo much longer,” Hayley said gently.
“I wanted to meet my daughter-in-law.”
She smiled warmly at Jinx.
“But I also have a very important message for my daughter.”
She looked straight ahead, as though she could somehow see Hope.
“Hope, if you can hear me, listen carefully.”
“Gaia sent me here to tell you that it’s imperative you become attuned to your new world as soon as possible.”
“The fate of the supernatural on Earth depends on it.”
“You have one month.”
“One month to reach the deepest depths of this world and spill the Tribrid’s blood there.”
“When you’ve done that, repeat these words as many times as necessary:
Huic mundo me ancora, per sanguinem.
Fac hanc terram domum meam.
(Anchor me to this world through blood.
Make this land my home.)
“You’ll know when you’ve succeeded.”
“Time is running out, Hope.”
“And once again…
the world depends on you.”
Hayley’s eyes were filled with regret.
She hated that she couldn’t protect her daughter herself.
Hope had seen that look before.
“I love you, Hope.”
“One day, I asked you to tell me an epic love story.”
Hayley smiled.
“It seems you’ve done even more than that.”
“Be happy, my little girl.”
“And tell Klaus he’d better do his job as a father a little longer this time.”
With those final words, she disappeared.
“Well…
that was weird,” Landon muttered.
“You mean the fact that she met her daughter’s first love and her wife on the same day?” Jinx replied.
“Yeah, that was weird…
and embarrassing.”
“That is not what I meant, and you know it!” Landon exclaimed.
Jinx smiled.
“I really should get going.
It sounds like I have an urgent message to deliver.”
She paused for a moment.
“For what it’s worth…I think you’re a good guy.”
Then she dove into the water.
The memory dissolved around Hope.
When she opened her eyes again, she was back in their bedroom.
Only later would she realize that her wife had been holding her as she collapsed into her arms.
She hadn’t even heard her father come in, speak with Jinx, and quietly leave the room.
All she could see was her mother’s face.
It wasn’t until late that afternoon that she finally got up to take a shower.
There were four men she still had to deal with.
She had locked them away in the dungeon hidden inside her tent.
The first time she had asked, utterly bewildered, why a tent would need a dungeon, her aunts and uncle had simply stared at her for a moment before Rebekah had answered,
“You’re a Mikaelson.”
“You’ll understand one day.”
Now she did.
Some things were better handled in private.
She had already showered before returning to the manor.
Even so, she was convinced there was still blood behind her ears.
Blood was like sand sometimes.
It got everywhere.
Once she finally felt clean enough, she got dressed.
“I don’t want to know what you’re going to do to them,” Jinx said.
“But don’t bring blood into our bed.”
“Okay,” Hope replied with a sigh.
She couldn’t hide anything from her wife.
“I’ll be in my workshop, working on our project,” Jinx said.
“Don’t be too long.
We still need to talk about what your mother told us.”
“Okay.
I won’t be gone long.”
Hope smiled.
“After all…
I want to take my time with them.”
She leaned in and kissed Jinx before leaving.
Jinx rolled her eyes.
Of course she was going to take her time with them.
And she was fairly certain that the little trip through memories hadn’t helped matters.
Only a handful of candles illuminated the dungeon.
Hope descended the stone staircase leading into its depths.
Four men were chained to the wall.
Their faces were worn, their bodies already marked with bruises.
She had been in a hurry the last time and hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy herself.
His smile.
The one he’d worn while stabbing her wife.
Before she even realized what she was doing, she was choking him with her magic as the others watched in horror.
She didn’t stop until he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
She would not let them pass out.
They deserved no peace.
No rest.
Not after what they had done to her wife.
“What are your names?” Hope demanded.
“Why the hell would we tell you our names, bitch?” one of them spat.
“You’re not letting us go anyway.”
A scream tore from his throat.
Bloody tears streamed from his eyes.
When Hope finally stopped, he collapsed into sobs.
“Your names.”
“N-Nathan!” the man she had just tortured cried.
“Hunter!” shouted the one she had nearly strangled.
Two remained.
One of them was surprisingly calm.
The other had already wet himself.
“My name’s Jake!” he stammered.
“I’m sorry!
Please, let me go.
My mom must be worried sick about me.
Please!” he begged.
“Shut up, Jake,” the fourth man snapped.
“You’re crying over nothing, and your mother’s already dead.
She’s going to kill us—she’s Jinx’s wife.
If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll die before I do.”
“Oh,” Hope said, turning to him.
“You must be Theo.
The one who came up with this little plan.”
“Using a child to lure someone into a trap.”
“You’re a coward.”
“Call me whatever you want,” Theo replied.
“I’ve got nothing left to lose.”
“Silco took everything from me.”
“You can’t do anything worse.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Hope said, raising her hand toward him.
“Montre li sa l pèdi.
Montre li doulè a.”
(Show him what he lost.
Show him the pain.)
Theo’s eyes suddenly flew wide open.
“Mom?
Mom?
No!
Dad, don’t touch her!
No!”
A cold smile spread across Hope’s face.
For as long as she wished, he would relive his worst memory.
If he truly had nothing left to lose…
Then she would make him watch what he had lost, over and over again.
Her gaze shifted to the others, who were trembling in horror.
“Come on,” she said with a smile that, had anyone else seen it, would have reminded them of another Mikaelson.
“Let’s play together.”
Jinx POV
Jinx strolled into the bar as if nothing had happened.
She hadn’t told Hope the whole truth.
If Hope had known she intended to pass through the very alley where she had died, she never would have let her go.
But Jinx needed to do this.
She needed to face the fear before it took root any deeper.
She still trembled when she saw the dried blood on the ground.
But she had kept walking.
Jinx would never let fear control her.
She stepped into her father’s office and immediately felt a pair of arms wrap around her.
“Twice in two days.
That’s got to be a record,” she said weakly.
Even so, she hugged him tighter.
“You’re alive.”
“I’m alive,” she answered, guilt creeping into her voice.
Because that wasn’t entirely true.
When she left the bar and entered the alley leading to her workshop, a hand suddenly grabbed her arm.
Before she had time to think, she had already thrown the stranger to the ground.
She’d have to ask Hope to change the teleportation anchor.
This location had become far too predictable.
When she saw who was lying on the ground, she frowned.
“Sheriff Marcus?” she exclaimed.
“So we’re robbing people now, Sheriff?” she asked, her voice dripping with contempt as she emphasized the last word.
He was a corrupt sheriff.
Silco paid him to look the other way whenever Shimmer was involved.
Marcus climbed back to his feet with a grimace.
“I only wanted to speak with you for a moment, Mrs.
Mikaelson.”
Jinx froze.
“You know who I am?”
“The Enforcers carry scanners capable of reading identification medallions,” Marcus explained.
“You can imagine my surprise when I discovered you were wearing the medallion of one of Piltover’s wealthiest families.”
“What do you want?” she asked curtly.
“I have to confess something.”
“Something terrible.”
“Silco lied to you.”
“You can’t trust him.”
“Say what you mean,” Jinx said coldly.
“Vi.”
“Your sister is alive.”
“She never abandoned you.”
“And I know where she is.”