AN: Each chapter has its own song:
Song : Goobye (Arcane from league of legends)
The month passed quickly—too quickly for Hope and for those she was about to leave behind.
She spent it preparing for her departure.
Every day, she trained with Marcel and Alaric, often until exhaustion, something difficult even for a Tribrid.
But she needed it—she needed that fatigue, that focus on every punch and kick that allowed her to forget, for a few hours, that time was passing and that even with all her power, she couldn’t stop it.
On some nights when she couldn’t sleep, she would shift and let her wolf run until she finally felt ready to rest.
As the days went by, she noticed that everyone wanted to spend time with her.
Her aunt Rebekah took her shopping, and if she hadn’t had her dimension, she wouldn’t have known where to store the equivalent of several wardrobes.
Her aunt used that time to tell her about the years she had spent traveling with her father.
“A thousand years is a long time, even if Nik enjoyed interrupting it with his daggers.
You are a newborn when it comes to immortality.
You need to find things that, even in your worst moments, will help you endure.
It can be passions like painting and music, it can be running in your wolf form, or it can simply be sitting by a lake and watching the water reflect your face.
We won’t be with you.
It was never supposed to happen this way, my dear.
It will break you, just as it will break us not to have you with us, even if we weren’t as present as we should have been.
I’m truly sorry, my darling.
But you can’t let that wound—our absence—consume you.
You survived.
You have been surviving since the moment you let out your first cry as you were torn from your mother’s womb.
You survived the Hollow.
You survived Malivore and its monsters.
You survived the death of your parents and your lover.
So you can survive once more.
One step at a time, my darling.
One step at a time.”
One evening, Kol and Marcel took her to a bar, and she drank until she could feel it.
It was easy to go unnoticed when the place had been rented out for the night.
Glass after glass followed one another, with no risk of a bartender interrupting them.
When the haze blurred her vision for a few seconds, truths she would have preferred to keep buried slipped out.
“I would have preferred having you with me, rather than watching you disappear for three years on a hunt for my father’s ashes.
I thought it was always and forever with the Mikaelsons.”
“You’re right, little witch.
We should have been with you,” Kol replied.
“But we had to grieve.
I can’t say I was exactly functional during those years.
I didn’t want you to see me like that.
I was truly just a shadow of myself.
Klaus and Elijah were the pillars of this family, and without them, the pillar cracked.”
“Niklaus was many things to me—a father, a brother, someone I loved and hated.
He was a huge part of me.
Rebekah and I needed to grieve.
Her even more than me.
That mission of recovering the ashes wasn’t just for you, it was for us too,” Marcel said.
“Sometime soon, we won’t be with you anymore.
You’ll be alone in an unknown world.
I know you carry Hayley’s kindness, but I need you to carry her fierceness too—and your father’s.
Show your enemies what being a Mikaelson means.
Don’t be afraid to be the villain in the story if it helps you survive,” Marcel added.
“Your magic is your strength—trust it, and follow your instincts.
And don’t be afraid to bring a little chaos with you.
Forgetting is sometimes hidden in humor,” Kol said.
Kol then placed something into her hand.
It was a silver coin, ancient in appearance.
On one side was the head of a wolf, jaws open and fangs ready to tear flesh apart.
On the other side was a lamb.
“When you’re truly unsure about a decision, flip it.
Choose violence or mercy.
Let the coin decide.
I carried it with me for centuries.
Unfortunately, it landed on the wolf more often than not.
Maybe it’ll be different for you,” he said.
“And Hope, stop keeping score.
I don’t think your little humanity-off phase had a bigger impact than killing a god.
But seriously, stop giving yourself penalties and rewards for every little thing you do.
Your parents would want you to be free—here and here.” Marcel said pointing first at Hope’s forehead and then at her heart.
“Be yourself, and stop judging every little thing about who you are.
In this new world, you have nothing to prove to anyone,” Marcel concluded.
Freya spent two weeks with her, helping her create an effective teleportation spell.
“You’ll be able to go wherever you want.
Don’t let anyone control you, gorgeous.
No one.
Be free.
I don’t know when we’ll see each other again, but don’t lose hope.
I love you, always and forever.”
At night, she would meet with Lizzie and Josie to drink their blood.
It wasn’t until near the end of the month that she finally understood why the goddess had given her that advice.
She still remembered the exact day.
Josie had wanted to clean the blood that had spilled onto the floor.
She had placed her hand on Hope to siphon her magic.
“I can’t do it.
It’s like your magic is hidden behind a wall,” she had said.
They tried again for several days in a row, without success.
“You’re actually immune.
That’s impossible.
Even Ken could be siphoned,” Lizzie had said.
“Maybe, like Hope’s blood curing werewolf bites, our blood is the cure.
Maybe if someone drank your blood regularly, they’d eventually become immune too.”
That thought reminded Hope that once she left, they would no longer have a cure for werewolf bites.
So she immediately rushed to prepare a large supply of her blood.
On the eve of her departure, she found herself in Lizzie and Josie’s arms.
“We haven’t always gotten along, but you became my best friends.
You’re my heroes.
I love you.”
When the final day arrived, Hope emptied her room.
Her photos and paintings were sent into her dimension.
Her family had also brought her more gold and various supplies, including a tent enchanted by Aunt Freya.
Hope had also gathered a considerable amount of food—meals she loved, her favorite milkshakes, and beignets from New Orleans.
She looked at the empty room, and before the tears could come, she closed the door.
It was a part of her life disappearing forever.
As she walked down the hallway, doors began to open.
The students watched her pass.
Some of them were probably glad to see her leave.
But then someone started clapping, and others followed.
After a moment of surprise, she smiled and lifted her head.
Goodbye, Salvatore School.
You were my refuge all these years, she thought.
She walked slowly toward the lake where she had scattered her father’s ashes.
Her family and friends were already there.
Aunt Rebekah burst into tears as she pulled her into a hug.
One by one, everyone took their time saying goodbye and offering words of encouragement.
In the end, she stood with her family gathered in a circle around her.
“This won’t be the last time we see each other.
Remember—you’re a Mikaelson.
Always and forever,” Kol said before the others repeated it.
“Always and forever.”
Finally, Hope turned alone toward the lake.
“I’m sorry…
I won’t be able to come see you again.
Uncle Elijah, Mom, Dad…
rest in peace.
I love you.
Always and forever.
I’ll carry what you taught me with me.
Goodbye, and thank you for your love,” she whispered.
Suddenly, an electric shock coursed through her body.
“It’s time,” she said.
At that instant, a portal opened.
Iridescent and unstable, it revealed nothing inside but the chaos of the void—a chaos she knew she would have to cross before reaching her destination.
She turned toward her family one last time.
“Goodbye.”
Before her stretched a shifting path, waves rippling across its surface.
At the end of it stood another portal.
When she stepped onto the path, her feet sank into it.
It felt like quicksand—then, an instant later, she was back on solid ground.
She had no idea how long the journey lasted.
Cosmic winds scorched her face, and her feet felt as though they had carried her for centuries.
When she finally crossed through the portal, she found herself in a dark alleyway.
She could hear noise nearby, though the towering buildings concealed its source.
Suddenly, she began to suffocate.
The toxicity of the air assaulted her senses.
Quickly, she cast a spell to filter the air, and only then could she finally breathe.
Hesitantly, she moved toward the sound and widened her eyes at the sight before her: crowds of people passing by, some without masks, in a world of glass and steel.