Capítulo 13: In Search of Solutions
[01/02/2030, Salvatore Boarding School]
In his room, with the door leading to the balcony open as the cold winds of later winter entered the room, John sat by the desk in his room. He held a pen in his hand, with the object constantly moving as the paint from it gave color to the letters and images the boy drew on the blank pages of his book.
He enjoyed the silence which permeated the room, the silence that permitted him to think out loud his thoughts and not be disturbed.
"Come in." He suddenly said.
Next moment, his door opened, revealing a beautiful and graceful figure
All over the world, there were few people he wouldn't care to interrupt his studies, with the girl entering his room being one of them.
"Any progress?" Hope asked. Her words' meaning is obvious to the boy.
"Nothing." John said, shaking his head. "There is no visible way to stop one of the Saltzman twins from dying in 6 years." He explained.
Two days ago, Hope's aunt, Freya Mikaelson, notified them of what is the curse that afflicted the twins of the Gemini Coven, also known as "The Merge". And the news terrified one of them, whilst the other faked his terror, but was genuinely worried about the twins.
"The Merge" can be said to be a curse and a tradition. Every couple of twins born in the Gemini Coven must merge at the age of 22 or before, resulting in the twins performing a ritual in which the winner absorbs the loser's magic and characteristics of their personality, with the latter dying in the process.
The knowledge of the curse and what it is was enough reason for John to search for a way to find a way to break it without the need of hiding it.
However, it seemed even with him "knowing" about the curse was not enough for him to magically find a way to break it. Right now, he only knew one.
"However, that doesn't mean there isn't a way to break the curse." John leaned his body forward, interlocking his hands as he got Hope's attention. "They will die. But rise again as vampires."
Listening to the answer, Hope nodded in silence understanding why this would work. "The twins have until they turn 22 years old. If they stop aging…"
"They don't have to merge." John said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And since they are siphoners, one of the twins would become a witch-vampire hybrid. This would probably be enough to break their link to the semi-extinct coven, and thus the curse as well."
"A new Heretic…" John's words suddenly reminded Hope of the coven described in the files of Mystic Falls, written by Alaric. Exiled siphoners from the Gemini Coven who would later be known as the Heretics, a witch-vampire hybrid coven. "How certain you are of that working?"
"Sincerely? I have no idea." John shrugged. "We are lacking examples. Apparently, no member of the Heretics had a twin sibling, and the only hybrid who had a twin was Malachai Parker, but his situation is too complicated. Before he even turned, he had already merged with another twin from his coven and had to take the magic from his twin to successfully complete the merge. But, since our twins are siphoners, even if we had a willing to die gemini twin, the other couldn't hand their magic since they don't have one. In the end, one would have to die anyway." He explained, showing the problems his idea had. "Unfortunately, one of them becoming a vampire is the best option we have right now."
"I bet Dr. Saltzman already thought about it once. And knowing him, he drank the whole night to get that thought away from his mind." Hope commented, her expression a worried one.
Alaric Saltzman is someone who interacts with all supernatural species and is comfortable around them, but that doesn't imply he'd feel comfortable knowing one of his two daughters would become a vampire, an immortal being driven by bloodlust. The sheer fear of one of them becoming a ripper or someone as Klaus or Kol Mikaelson terrifies him.
"If one of them had to become a vampire, Lizzie would probably be the best." John said, his comment drawing a questioning look from Hope, as if she was asking if he was right in the head. "Believe me. Someone with a restricted personality like Josie would be worse. Imagine, someone like her who holds herself too much suddenly has all her emotions, sentiments and desires amplified by the vampiric nature. These amplified desires would be enough to break the barriers she put on herself, and to reconstruct them would be harder than ever." John commented, his words making sense to Hope now. "She probably would follow a path similar to Stefan Salvatore." He added.
Thinking about it, remembering the personality shown by the man in his diaries and how he was described in the files of the town, Hope had to agree there was this possibility. "You are probably right…" Hope said, letting out a tired sigh. "What are we gonna do?"
"I know one thing we can do to find better solutions." John said, getting Hope's attention. "We need to know the origin of the Gemini Coven's Curse. We need to know where it came from." He stated with confidence, knowing they could learn more about the situation if they learned more about how the Gemini Coven was cursed.
And Hope agreed with him, knowing there was no better thing to do. "It seems like the best thing we can do right now. It may be hard since the coven is 2.000 years old and much of their ancient history is probably lost, but we can try to find something." Hope said, rising from the bed. "I am going to start now."
"Wait, wait." John suddenly said. "Come here." He patted his tight.
Hope gave him a questioning and daring look.
"What? We sleep in the same bed. Are you shy from sitting on my lap?" John said.
Rolling her eyes, Hope walked to him and sat down on his tight. "What is it?" She asked, putting her arms around his neck.
"I think we've been too focused the last two days about the twins, then I thought we could think a little about us, you know?" John said, his fingers sliding over her smooth cheek. "I was thinking we could take tonight to have some fun. We could go to the town and do something."
"I think you are forgetting that I am the lonely girl since you are apparently the former introvert guy. Even though you spend 90% of your time in your room, my room or the library." Hope said, a playful smile on her beautiful face.
Her words made John chuckle, agreeing with her. "I know, we are not the most socializing people in the world. But I also want to experience a few things with you. You know, having a date with the girl I like seems like a great idea to me."
"Hm… then I am the girl you like." Hope teased him, her face approaching his as she closed her eyes, her lips touching his.
Enjoying the feeling of her lips for a moment, John nodded his head when they parted. "Don't be silly. If I didn't like you, I would be the dumbest man in the world."
"Yes, you would." She agreed, taking his lips for a brief moment once again. "Then, where are we going tonight?"
"I was thinking about the Mystic Grill. Everyone talks about the place."
"A family restaurant and a bar. How romantic…" Hope teased.
"You have no idea." John said, both of them engaging in a kiss again. This time, their lips were not the only part of their bodies who joined the kiss. Their tongues came in contact with each other as one or another invaded the other's mouth or clashed halfway.
The deep kiss continued for a long time, enough for Hope to use her flexibility and strength to change her position from sitting on one of his tights to standing in front of him, her arms around his neck and legs crossed around his torso as he continued sitting on his chair.
"How about…" Hope said, her words interrupted before she completely retreated from the kiss. "We do something else?"
"Like what?" John asked.
"Tomorrow, me and you will go to Richmond. I will buy you a few things." Hope said, taking a look at his clothes.
"Hey, my clothes are fine." John said, faking taking offense.
Hope scoffed at that. "Yeah, if you consider all of them were worn by a magical hunter 15 years ago, they are in a fine condition." She said, "Not to mention there isn't one of them who seems about to rip apart every time you exercise."
"Okay, maybe I could find new clothes." John said, agreeing with her. "I will give it to you. But, I am paying for the food. You are already doing too much for me." He added.
"Oh, and how are you going to pay for it, Mr. No-money?" Hope asked, mocking him for not having a single penny with him.
To that, John smiled mischievously. "I have my ways."
"Okay…" Hope said, choosing to believe in him.
Giving one last peck on his lips, Hope raised from his lap, swiftly moving her legs to stand up in front of him. "See you at 7:00 AM tomorrow? We'll rely on you to get there fast."
"I will be up early." John said.
Looking at her figure as Hope left the room, John lifted his head and stared at the roof, thinking about one thing. I have to ask Alaric for a loan.
[Scene Break]
"No." Alaric said.
"Why not?" John asked.
"Because I don't want my student to repay me for taking gold out of someone's or the government's land." Alaric answered, giving him the reason why he wouldn't loan any money to John. "Look, if you promise to repay me fair and square, by working, I will lend you the money."
"I'd rather fly to the nearest drug point and take their money before asking a vampire to compel them to find themselves a better life." John replied, not content by the idea of him working.
Right now, working would take him time from doing essential things, like searching for a solution to the twins' curse or his study about the physiology of the supernatural creatures. Which was progressing since he had plenty of examples.
Not to mention he really had no need to work right now. He had a place and food provided, clothes and even a phone.
"You will do no such thing." Alaric stated, taking a more authority tone.
"And I am not working either to pay a loan of a few hundred dollars."
"Then no money." Alaric said with a shrug, acting as if he won.
"You know I could just fly to international waters and extract some gold that belongs to literally no one and pay you, if you are so against me taking someone's gold, one that they will never learn about."
"They will certainly not if you take it." Alaric said, a tired sigh coming out of his mouth. "Look, I don't want you to go out there using your powers. What do you think will happen if some satellite spots you flying over the ocean and taking out a few kilos of gold?"
"Wouldn't happen. I can use my powers to spot artificial electromagnetic waves sent by the satellites and evade their scan or simply disrupt them. And if you don't think that's enough. I can go underwater and do it. It's not like a fucking sea turtle will report me to the government." John replied, giving more reasons why he could do it and for the man to accept his idea.
And listening to him, Alaric really couldn't think about one good reason for him not to do it but the usual excuses.
"Sigh… You are going to give the same proposal to someone else if I don't accept, right?"
"Right."
"Is there some way for me to convince you to not use your powers?"
"None if I don't really see any problem." John answered in a serious tone.
"Ah… I am getting too old for this bullshit." Alaric said, lying on his back on his chair. Then, he took his wallet and took out a few hundred bucks. He is the principal of a school full of witches from prominent covens, of course he is rich as well. "I want it paid with interest."
"Okay, okay." John said, taking the money before storing it in his pocket, not even counting it.
"You can go now." Alaric said, almost shooing John away with his hands. "I have work to do."
However, John kept sitting on the chair. His expression changed into a serious one, the mood in the room immediately changing with that as Alaric noticed it. "What is it?" The Headmaster asked.
"Actually, we have one more thing to talk about." John said, interlocking his hands in front of him. "I know about the Merge." These words were spoken with perfect rhythm, with his voice not lagging on any part, just to show his seriousness about the subject.
And Alaric listened to him loud and clear, because his reaction was almost immediate as his gaze intensified. "How do you know about that?" He asked with authority, much clearer this time. To be honest, it was more of an order.
John didn't rush his words and calmly explained where he learned the knowledge from, recounting the story of how he figured out Penelope's tricks and Hope getting the diary.
Listening to it, Alaric raised his hands to his head. His palms rubbed his temple and hair. "Does anybody else know?"
"Only me and Hope. Penelope probably only knows it is a curse, not knowing the details, and even then she remained quiet. Everyone knows she is still into Josie and would prevent telling her something like this if the situation doesn't call." John replied to him.
"Good, good…" Alaric said, a little satisfied with that. "What… What are you gonna do with that information, exactly? Why did you tell me you know of it?" He asked.
"I wanna help." John said, leaning his body forward. "The twins are good girls, even if Lizzie tries not to." John decided to ignore Alaric's glare. "I don't want to see one of them dead. That's why I did some research the past few days."
"And?"
"Nothing." John shook his head. "I didn't find anything you probably didn't already do. The only possible way I could think of is one of them becoming a vampire."
"And that's why you will never tell them about this, you understand me?" Alaric said, pointing at John. "I know my girls. They certainly would die for one another and become a vampire if that meant saving the other. Look, I dealt with vampires all my life. Originals, ancients, rippers. The last thing I want is for one of my daughters to live eternally drinking blood. Even the most remote chance of one of them turning off their humanity is enough for me to do unspeakable things." His words were heavy, carrying his intent in making the girls never find out about this possibility. Confirming something John already knew about, Alaric would do anything to save them and prevent them from becoming vampires.
"I know, me and Hope already agreed on that. Penelope is not a problem as long as we don't say a word to her. Keep her in the darkness. She probably thinks your daily behavior translates to the curse not being anything huge." John said, nodding his head. "As for your daughters becoming vampires, I don't wish that for them as well if it's not a very willing choice. That's why I decided to reveal to you that I know about the curse, so I can learn what you know and see if you have what I am after to find any information which can help."
"And what is it exactly that you are after?" Alaric asked.
"I need to know more about the Gemini Coven." John replied. "It's a curse, right? So someone threw it at them. We just need to know who and how and we can see how to reverse it."
"Too late on that. Thought of the same thing years ago." Alaric said, rising from his chair. He walked to one of his shelves and grabbed a book, tossing it on his table in front of John. "However, the history of the Gemini Coven is far too old. Much of it is lost. There are records of their history going as far as 2.500 to 3.000 years. However, everything after the 2.000 is basically speculation." Alaric said as he sat back, raising his hand to his chin, taking a contemplative stance. "And to make it worse, the Gemini Coven is dead. All great witch covens and even werewolf packs have tales, stories only told orally. Important ones about the coven and their history. And right now, all of those are lost as my psychopath brother-in-law killed them all."
John listened to Alaric's words as he flipped the pages of the book, making use of his super speed to give it a quick look to see if he finds anything worthwhile.
"But there are members, or at least former members, of the Gemini Coven alive, right? Valerie Tulle, one of the Heretics is alive, correct?" John said, asking a question he already knew the answer. As for implying Kai as well, he decided against it since it was never mentioned that Kai Parker was locked in a prison world again in the files compiled by Dr. Saltzman. For what everyone knew, he was dead. The only ones who knew he was alive almost forgot about him.
"You deducted it from the books?" Alaric asked, referring to knowing Valerie was alive. He also didn't particularly imply she was alive. But he also didn't say the contrary.
"Yes." John nodded.
His answer brought a little smile to Alaric's face, satisfied by his student's deduction. However, that was not enough to overcome his own disappointment. "Unfortunately, as she was a siphoner, Valerie was kept out from the coven's traditions. She doesn't know any history I don't know."
"Fuck." John cursed.
"Fuck it is." Alaric agreed, looking under his table and seeing the bottle of whiskey. Shaking his head, he returned to state at John. "Caroline is also searching for it. Something that could tell us more about the Gemini Coven's past. They are an at least 25 centuries old coven, their branches reaching every place in the world. Someone out there must know something about them. We just have to find it."
"Hm… Ever asked for the Mikaelson's help? I know you and them don't get along but you also thought that a 1.000 years-old should know something." John said.
And to John's not much surprise actually, Alaric nodded. "I asked help from Hayley to see if they had anything when Hope enrolled in the school. Unfortunately, it seems taking everything away from everyone they killed didn't get them the knowledge I searched for." His words showed his disappointment. If his daughters could live because Klaus Mikaelson killed someone a few centuries ago and took everything away from them, he would honestly not care. He would gladly sleep with the weight in his consciousness if he knew his daughters could live happily.
"It seems we are really out of options." John said, now his turn to let out a sigh as he threw his back on the chair's back. "This is going to be harder than I expected."
Alaric scoffed at John's reaction. "Believe me, boy. I tried and searched every single thing possible to try to break this curse. It's not because you know that the solution will appear out of nowhere."
Listening to it, John started to nod his head in agreement with Alaric. However, midway through his action, his mind seemed to grasp something.
Yes. Maybe me knowing doesn't help. But someone suddenly knowing sure can help. John thought, his mind running miles as he thought of something to maybe learn more about the curse. Or maybe those trapped may know. Thinking of this, John faked a sigh and rose from the chair. "I will go back to my studies, Dr. Saltzman. If for any reason I find anything, I will tell you."
"Thanks, John. This means a lot." Alaric said.
Nodding at him, John walked out of the office.
As he crossed the corridors, his steps resounded through the corridors as John found his way to the school's library. Quickly, he was standing in front of one of the school's showcases, the glass box displaying an ancient dagger from unknown origins.
Suddenly, John's vision changed, with the world gaining new lights. And with it the dagger changed.
Its rusty and bent outer appearance now shone with a radiant deep blue light that condensed around the knife. On its blade, glyphs and runes of all types were carved into it, translating a spell that was engraved into it. As for which exactly, the boy didn't know.
If we don't know. What about some of the beings locked inside Malivore? John thought, staring intently at the dagger.
——————————————————
Notice: Just a note to thank you all for the support the last few days. The fanfic has grown immensely and I wanted to thank you all. Even though I can't publish as I want due to studies and training, I am still happy with the development of everything. One more thing, I decided to change a few things in chapter 10. None of the plot, just a change of characters. I decided to change Kaleb for Dorian, because I think it makes more sense in what was written and what I plan to work with these characters in the future. That's it for now. Thanks for all your support and help, see you soon - Author.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder