1:15 I'll Tell You A Story

I'll Tell You A Story

Part 1

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RECAP

You woke up tied to a chair, something stopping you from speaking and Landon was next to you. You looked up and saw Agent Clark coming towards you and him. "Agent Clark." MG's mom said as she approached.

"Mrs.G." He responded.

You and Landon watched the interaction. "Your asset failed her retrieval mission." As Mrs.G said that, Clark looked furious. "I cleaned up her mess."

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You twisted your arms, feeling the rope getting tighter around your skins, only if you knew a spell that could get you out. That's probably why they kept the gag on you and not Landon. Feeling eyes on you, you turned to see Landon looking at you. "What are you even doing here?" He asked. You just shrugged as you couldn't answer. "I'm still mad at you, by the way." Landon reminded you, you just rolled your eyes.

Footsteps were heard behind so you turned around and saw Clark coming towards you. "No one's watching us now." Clark said, looking at the both of you.

Landon decided to speak while Clark laid out some things on a table. "Look, I already told the other guys I don't know anything. You can kill me, but I'm part phoenix, so I'm just gonna come back to life in a burst of flames, and there's gonna be a lot of ash to clean up. And after I come back, I'm not gonna know anything." Landon rambled.

You glared at Clark. If looks could kill, he'd be dead. "I'm not here to interrogate you, Landon. In fact, I'm here so you can finally get some answers." Clark started.

Landon glanced at you. "Then why is Kate here?" Landon asked since you couldn't speak.

"None of your business." Clark responded. You and Landon stared at Clark confused when he said that.

But he decided to continue, untying Landon from the ropes but not you. "When they created the locks to Malivore, they also created decoys so no one would know which three artifacts were the real thing. I think you might be able to help me with that." He looked at Landon. "Is one of these artifacts calling to you? Like a whisper, an itch?"

Landon looked down at the photos. "A: I don't feel anything. And B: even if I did, I'm not helping the people who kidnapped us." Landon explained.

You tried getting out once again but gave up as it hurt your wrists. "Oh, this isn't for triad. No, they want these artifacts to stay hidden." Clark started, again. "To be clear, I want to toss them into the pit and unlock Malivore." He had a smirk on his face.

"Wow. Uh..." Landon trailed off. "Thanks for being honest. That's refreshing. But now I'm really not going to help you." Landon responded.

Clark looked Landon up and down. "I'll tell you a story. And at the end of it, you can decide whether you want to help me or not." Clark replied.

Landon scoffed. "You think a story is gonna change my mind?" Landon questioned.

Clark smiled slightly. "This one will. Because it's the story of your father."

Landon stared at Clark confused while you glared at Clark.

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Hope stared at her canvas, unsure of what to paint. Groaning, she placed it down, staring at your bed before moving to the door and exiting the room. As she left she saw Roman seated outside, talking with some students. She smiled at him before turning away and her smile dropping, turning corners to go to Ric's office.

Ric and Emma were already inside the room, Hope shut the door behind her and motioned for Ric to press the button, which he did. It made a beeping noise but then Landons voice played. "Hey, Ric." Landon said. "Sorry to take off like that, but I just needed a little time. So I'm going camping for a while." Landon explained through the speaker. "Hopefully I can catch up on class work later. Tell Raf and Jed hi for me." Then the message beeped, meaning that was it.

"Jed?" Hope asked confused. "Why would he say hi to Jed and not Kate? You should go after him. Something doesn't make sense. And where is Kate?" Hope asked, extremely worried.

Alaric stared at Hope. "Hope..." He trailed off.

Hope looked between the two adults. "Isn't it convenient Kate and Landon go missing at the same time?" Hope questioned. "Triad already tried to come for him once. It's not safe for him out there. But it doesn't make sense why they'd go for Kate also." Hope groaned, annoyed she couldn't find you.

Alaric sighed. "We kept a massive secret from him, and I think he just needs some time to process that. I think we should respect his privacy and just wait." Alaric replied with a calm voice.

Hope scoffed, mad. "Kate kept the secret from him and it doesn't explain her sudden disappearance." Hope fired back while walking out of the office. Hope walked from the office to the cafeteria, looking for food but found Lizzie and multiple cooking supplies everywhere. "Was there a monster attack in here?" Hope joked as she looked around.

Lizzie looked over at Hope. "There you are. I got tired of waiting, so I attempted a banana cream pie by myself." Lizzie explained.

Hope looked up at Lizzie, away from the mess. "Where is it?" She questioned.

"In the garbage. I said 'attempted'." She took off her apron and handed it to Hope. "So we're gonna go back to plan A, and you are gonna make it for me. Status update: Josie didn't come back last night. I think she slept in Penelope's old room, which is a really good way to get hepatitis B." Lizzie rambled on.

Hope looked down from the apron to Lizzie. "Have you slept at all? You seem a little-"

Lizzie cut Hope off. "Focused? Motivated? On point?" She listed off things Hope wasn't meaning.

Hope stared at Lizzie. "Sure. Yeah." Hope just agreed, looking down.

Lizzie then started speaking again. "Not sleeping in the same bedroom means that Twin Forgiveness Cuddle is off the table. But she's been holed up in the library, so a snack offering should do the trick." Lizzie smiled, looking down and throwing some stuff in a bowl.

Hope looked back up. "At some point, you might actually have to apologize." Hope responded.

Lizzie gasped. "Never apologise." She said to Hope as if she needed to be reminded.

"Okay." She whispered.

"Trust me, okay?" Lizzie questioned. "This is what we do. I'm selfish, then she sulks, and then I offer baked goods." Lizzie smiled again.

Hope just stared, confused. "Someone else's baked goods." This time she reminded Lizzie.

Lizzie tilted her head. "It's giving you something to do with yourself, isn't it?" She questioned while Hope kept quiet. "Your turn for an update." She turned around to go back to her bowl. "Any word from our mop-headed elf and cousin-girlfriend?" Lizzie questioned.

Hope looked away from Lizzie's eye sight. "He says he needs time to think but there hasn't been any word from Kate." Lizzie made a 'hmm' sound. "I don't know if I said something to Kate to make her leave?" Hope questioned but sighed. "I feel like if I could figure out the right thing to say, then she'd come back. And Landon would be with her." Hope explained.

Lizzie thought for a moment. "So practice." She said. Hope gave the blonde girl a confuse look. "Emma has this prism, that simulates a conversation. She makes me use it to talk to my mom and my dad when I'm in a state." Lizzie walked forward and kept talking. "I'll trade you one prism for a banana cream pie." Hope chuckled softly.

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You were still tied to the chair, you were getting annoyed now. "No offence, but I'm not gonna believe anything you say." Landon replied to Clark. "I mean, A-plus for manipulation, man. This is really frightening stuff, but-" Landon got cut off when Clark handed him a photo of him and his mum. "Where did you get this?" He questioned, grabbing it.

"It's all part of what I'm about to tell you." Clark responded.

Landon sighed. "Look, I already know about my dad. My mom got pregnant by one of the monsters in Malivore." Landon explained.

Clark smirked. "Well, then he'll be easy to spot in my story." Clark paused before continuing. "Around a millennia ago, in certain parts of the world, there were monsters. And in one region... there was no monster more terrifying than dragons." He started the story, already you were bored. "On their own, no faction was any match for dragons. So an unholy alliance was formed. A witch, a werewolf and a vampire-" He got cut off by Landon.

Landon sighed. "Walked into a bar. I think I've heard this one before." Landon sarcastically said. "Sorry." He said as he saw Clarks face upset he got cut off.

Clark decided to continued. "The Triad combined their blood, using black magic to create a golem capable of consuming the dragons. They spelled the creature to have an insatiable hunger. But their spell also made it unable to harm witches, werewolves, or vampires. They named it Eater of the Dark. When the dragons, in human form, returned to collect the treasure from all the villages they had attacked, it was waiting for them. It took them, consumed them. To their surprise, the creature was more effective than they could have dreamed. After the dragons were gone, it kept eating every monster it could, swallowing them into an endless space inside itself." Clark explained a lot of information.

Landon looked up from the book and to Clark, confused. "You're saying that the golem ate my dad?" Landon questioned.

Clark shook his head. "No, Landon. Your father is the golem. Eater of the Dark." Clark responded.

You and Landon stared shocked at the information that had just been told.

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Hope was sat in Lizzie's room, holding a book. At the sound of a knock she looked up, immediately standing. "Hi."

"Hi." Lizzie responded. "Knock yourself out." She held out the prism, Hope taking it. "The first time's kind of freaky, because you're basically talking to your subconscious." Lizzie explained.

Hope held out the book for Lizzie to take. "Thanks. This is for you." Lizzie grabbed it. "I saw your dad reading it. He keeps it locked up in his office, so it's bound to have something about that Merge thing Josie's looking for." Hope continued.

Lizzie looked up from the book and to Hope. "For once, your weird relationship with my dad actually comes in handy." Lizzie said.

Lizzie walked past Hope. Hope turned around, speaking. "Right. Uh, just be careful. If your dad's hiding something, I'm sure it's for a good reason." Hope explained.

Lizzie smiled. "I'm sure I can handle it, whatever it is. I just have this feeling that everything is gonna work out just fine. Can you feel it? It's like the whole school is vibrating." Lizzie took a deep breathe in. "We're both gonna get our people back."

Hope just nodded before turning around awkwardly and leaving the room. Hope made her way to the lake and placed the prism down. "Hey there." You smiled as you saw her.

Hope laughed. "Hey." She replied.

"Are you okay?" You asked as Hope just kept staring.

Hope nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Um...this is my first time talking to a magical hologram." Hope explained.

You smile faded. "Hologram? What do you mean, a hologram? What does that mean? That I'm not real? What are you talking about?" Hope watched you.

Hope looked scared. "Oh my god." Hope whispered You laughed at how serious she got. Oh my god, don't do that." Hope replied.

"Sorry." You replied.

Hope looked down. "Yeah."

You put your hands in you jacket pockets. "You just seemed tense. I was trying to break the ice." You replied.

Hope looked pack up. "Well, at least I know this is a pretty accurate version of you." Hope responded.

You looked between her eyes. "You can thank yourself for that, I guess." You paused. "You had something you wanted to say to me?" You questioned.

Hopes face turned to one of realisation. "Yeah. Um... I know we already made up after our fight but I just want to say sorry if I said anything that has made you disappear. So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I hurt you." Hope explained.

You looked at Hope confused. "What, that's it?" You questioned, Hope looked at you confused as well. "You're 'sorry if I hurt you'?" You questioned.

Hope half laughed. "I am." Hope replied, genuine.

You looked down, licking your lips before looking back up. "Okay, then I accept your apology if you're actually sorry."

"What's your problem?" Hope immediately asked back, getting angry with hologram you.

You searched Hopes eyes. "I mean, do you seriously think that speech would have worked on me?" Hope nodded, knowing you would accept it, or hoping you would. "I mean, come on, that's not what you actually wanted to say." You continued.

Hope scoffed, annoyed. "How would you know?" She questioned.

You stared at her. "Because I am you, remember?" You replied.

Hope sighed. "Fine. Then you tell me what it is that I want to say, and I'll say it." Hope argued back.

You looked down. "That's not how this works, Hope. You have to listen." You explained, being vague.

Hope looked confused. "Listen to what?" She questioned but then there was whooshing and you disappeared. "Even fake you in infuriating. God!" Hope groaned out, annoyed.

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A.N: Hope you enjoyed 🤍