“Aunt Freya!” Hope exclaimed.
“How?
You shouldn’t be here.”
Freya frowned.
“So if Lizzie hadn’t contacted me, what were you planning to do?
Just disappear without saying anything to your family?
How can you possibly think that’s okay?”
Hope lowered her eyes in shame.
“I thought saying goodbye would’ve been harder on all of you.
Our family has already lost so much.”
“And yet you still didn’t call us, knowing how much this would hurt us.
Did you even think about finding a way to stop your departure?
And if we can’t stop it, at least finding a way to contact you or track where you end up?”
Hope looked more and more distressed with every word.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop it.
But she also hadn’t tried to find a way for them to reach her.
Then she felt a hand gently rest on her head.
“That’s why you have family and friends—to help you.
Stop trying to do everything alone.
Lean on your pack.”
Tears slowly rolled down the Tribrid’s face.
Freya pulled her into a hug.
“I don’t want to leave you.
I don’t want to go!” she cried out.
“We’ll find a solution.
You’re not alone.
Come on, follow me,” Freya said, helping her to her feet.
They walked toward the entrance hall.
Hope’s eyes widened when she saw that they were all there.
Kol, Rebekah, Davina, Keelin, Marcel.
Alaric had returned as well, and beside him stood Josie, Lizzie, and Caroline, along with her other friends.
“You all came?”
“It’s better than having to read a letter from you,” Josie said angrily.
“Baby Saltzman’s right about that one,” Marcel added, equally furious.
“So, does anyone have any ideas?
You can lecture her later.
Right now, we need solutions—and fast,” Freya said.
Over the next few days, they practically camped out in the library.
Hope also placed the grimoires she had taken from the family vault there, under the irritated stares of the Mikaelsons.
She had tried to be discreet about it, but there were only so many accusing looks a person could endure.
One evening, she took refuge at the old mill.
She had run for a while in wolf form, trying to escape her anxiety.
“You’re hiding again.”
“I’d hide too if I’d decided to run away and forget my friends.”
Hope sighed before hearing Lizzie and Josie sit down beside her.
“You’re right.
I should’ve told you.
But talking about it makes it real.
I kept hoping I was wrong, that I was imagining things.
I didn’t want it to be true.”
At those words, Lizzie and Josie wrapped their arms around her.
“We’ve been waiting days for you to finally talk.
But you always have to be dramatic,” Lizzie said.
“No matter what universe you end up in, we’ll find you.
You’re not alone, and you never will be.” Josie added with conviction.
Suddenly, MG appeared in front of them.
“Freya’s calling for you.
She found something.”
When Hope entered the library, a complex magical circle had already been drawn on the floor.
Candles had been placed along its lines, and at the center lay flowers and herbs.
Freya poured her blood over them.
Four witches, including Davina, stood at each cardinal point.
The five witches began chanting in unison.
“Spirits of nature, answer our call.
Bring us your wisdom and your guidance.”
The plants and blood burst into flames, and from the earth, a figure slowly took shape.
At first glance, it appeared feminine, though its features were indistinct.
“I was beginning to think you were going to keep me waiting, Hope.”
She knew Hope?
When Hope looked toward her aunt, she saw Freya pale.
This was not what she had intended to summon.
“You know who I am, don’t you, Freya?
Every cell in your body knows.
The Mikaelson bloodline has always been one of the most deeply connected to me, alongside the Bennetts.”
“Ga…
Ga…
Gaia,” Freya whispered, as though even speaking her name was blasphemy.
The summoning circle trembled.
“That is one of my names, among many others.
Mother Nature, and so on…”
At their shocked and terrified expressions, she laughed softly.
“Oh, come now, enough joking.
These witches won’t be able to sustain this circle for much longer.”
“Are you here to kill me?” Hope asked.
“That would be counterproductive.
After all, I’m the one who orchestrated your conception.”
At those words, an uproar erupted throughout the room.
Hope stood frozen, her eyes glistening with tears she struggled to hold back.
She had always believed she was a mistake.
“You have no idea how many favors I had to call in from Fate for that single moment between your parents to exist.
You truly are one of my finest creations.”
Tears now streamed freely down Hope’s cheeks.
Yet everyone could see the burden she had carried for so many years slowly beginning to fade.
“Then why do I have to leave?” she asked.
“You must leave because you are slowly becoming a goddess.”
A stunned silence followed.
“I’m sorry, what?” Lizzie shouted.
“Mortals have a strange understanding of what gods are.
They think gods are simply born that way.
They are not entirely wrong—for the greater beings, existences so powerful that a single glance from them would drive mortals insane.
But there is another category: those who attained divinity after accomplishing great deeds.
Your destiny was always meant to lead you toward that path.
Unfortunately, something I did not foresee occurred.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be forced to leave this soon?
Then why?” Hope demanded.
“The divine spear.
That spear was created to kill you.
But Ken failed to realize that the spear had developed a consciousness.
To it, its ultimate purpose had failed.
So it submitted itself to you.
It did not disappear—it bound itself to your soul and entered a dormant state until it could fully harmonize with your soul.
However, it is a divine weapon, one that can only be wielded by someone possessing a fragment of divinity.
To support its ambition, it used the divine essence you had accumulated through your achievements and solidified it into a fragment of divinity—something that should not have appeared for another thousand years.
You could have remained in this world while possessing only divine essence, but the moment that fragment appeared, the universe began rejecting you.”
“But Ken and the other gods were able to stay here.
How am I any different?”
Gaia sighed.
“The presence of the other gods and their actions already placed this universe in danger.
They were only minor gods, yet even their existence weakened this reality.
This is still a young universe, and your power is destined to surpass theirs.
So it chose to protect itself by sending you to a stronger universe—one capable of accepting your fragment of divinity.
Because if this world weakens any further, it will perish.”
“Can we go with her?” Lizzie asked.
Hope looked at Lizzie in surprise.
If she had ever doubted how much this girl cared about her, she no longer had any reason to.
“You’re not going anywhere, young lady.
You haven’t even graduated yet,” Caroline said.
“It’s impossible,” Gaia explained.
“Traveling to another universe is like a ship sailing through a storm-raging sea.
Without a harbor to anchor itself to, it would be devoured by the waves.
Hope does not know her destination, but her nature and her fragment of divinity will protect her.
Only after she arrives will she be able to serve as a beacon for you, and that cannot happen until her soul has fully harmonized with that world.”
Hope exchanged looks with her family—filled with sadness, but also hope.
“How long before she’s harmonized?” Freya asked.
“That varies from universe to universe.
It could take a day…
or a hundred years,” Gaia answered before extending a necklace toward Freya.
Hanging from it was a crystal the same color as Hope’s eyes.
“When this crystal begins to glow, the time will have come.
You will only need to use it to locate her.”
Freya quickly took the crystal and fastened it around her neck.
“How much time do I have left?” Hope asked.
“One month.
In one month, the universe will expel you from this world.”
Hope sighed.
Suddenly, one of the witches coughed, blood appearing at the corner of her mouth.
“It is time for me to leave,” Gaia said as her form slowly began to melt away.
“Why did the spear choose me and not Cleo?” Hope asked.
“It has a consciousness.
It simply loved you more.
Hope, in this new world, do not merely survive—live, love or time will become unbearably long.
One final piece of advice: drinking the blood of those siphoner witches for a few days would not be a bad idea.
I believe something interesting may happen.”
With those final words, she disappeared.
Hope felt several arms wrap around her.
“You are not leaving without a wardrobe for every possible occasion.”
“I’m not letting you go off on some grand adventure without teaching you a few new offensive spells,” Kol said.
“We’re resuming your training.
We have no idea what kind of enemies you’ll face.
You need to be ready,” Marcel said, with Alaric nodding in agreement.
“We are officially your blood bank for the next month.
Say goodbye to Bambi juice,” Lizzie declared, while tears filled Josie’s eyes.
At least, for now, Hope would not be alone—and she would cherish these moments.