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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄.
[0𝟑]. 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆
𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐃, 𝐏𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐎.
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 】
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❛ 𝘏𝘖𝘗𝘌 𝘔𝘐𝘒𝘈𝘌𝘓𝘚𝘖𝘕 𝘒𝘐𝘕𝘋
𝘖𝘍 𝘏𝘈𝘚 𝘈 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜 ❜
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𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 the Mystic Falls High's residents, Lizzie had stomped away in a rage, leaving behind Nathaniel and Jed with MG and Kaleb. Though that was short-lived once the nephilim and the alpha began their walk back to the Salvatore Boarding School to inform Doctor Saltzman about the bucket occurrence before Dorian had the chance to. Because Nathaniel knew the blow would be significantly softer if he was the one to tell Alaric, and the softer sentence suited him better after not being at full capacity succeeding the de-gracing incident.

"Hope's really gotten under your skin, huh," Jed voiced, kicking along rocks as he treaded beside Nathaniel.

Nathaniel scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

Jed snorted. "Only dense people couldn't pick up on the tension between you two. It's kind of obvious."

"Hope Mikaelson tried to kill me, so whatever you're implying is completely wrong," Nathaniel rolled his eyes before slightly eyeing his friend. "Not to mention, Hope and I have despised each other since I first saw her and she decided on making my life hell."

Jed hummed. "You're dense, Nate."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"What I said. You're either dense or you suppressed the whole Hope Mikaelson faze you had when you met her."

Nathaniel stopped in his tracks. "There was no Hope Mikaelson faze."

Jed snorted again, stopping beside Nathaniel. "Oh, no? If I do remember the events correctly, you tripped and fell on your ass when you first saw her. Then you ran to me to tell me how you just saw the prettiest girl in existence talking to Josie and Lizzie. You literally fell for her right then and there."

"I did not," Nathaniel contradicted, embarrassment settling on his features. "We were seven and I was stupid. And besides, it was before I got to know the real piece of work she is."

"You sure about that?" Jed insisted, a knowing chuckle abandoning him. "Because that faze lasted until you were close to turning eleven. You used to get all tongue-tied when you talked to her. It was cute."

Nathaniel groaned. "Oh God, stop. I had repressed that whole part of my life to save me the embarrassment."

Jed smiled, patting Nathaniel's shoulder. "You know, it's not a stretch those feelings could be resurfacing."

Nathaniel's playful demeanor quickly shifted as he turned rigid and serious. "Don't be stupid," he rolled his eyes, shrugging off Jed's hand from his shoulder. "She's annoying, a know-it-all and a grade A buzz-kill. The only reason we even acknowledge each other is to keep the peace for Alaric's sake."

"Okay, touchy," Jed huffed, a smirk in place. "So, it's safe to say the emo ex-boyfriend who suddenly made an appearance doesn't bother you in the slightest?"

Nathaniel lightly grumbled. "Did I mention she tried to kill me?"

"Once or twice," Jed waved off, instantly noticing the change of topic. There was a slight pause as Nathaniel glared at him, and Jed shook his head. "Are you going to tell me what happened or am I supposed to guess?"

Nathaniel exhaled in annoyance. "She tried draining me of my grace on our last extraction mission."

Jed deadpanned. "Then how are you still kicking?"

"By the miracle of God," Nathaniel sarcastically responded to the question he deemed stupid. "She stopped, Jed- one second she was dead set on taking me out and then the next she completely forgot about it."

Jed nodded, hesitating for a moment. "Did it ever occur to you that killing you wasn't her endgame?- anyway, how the hell do you de-grace a nephilim? Isn't that like blasphemy?"

Nathaniel furrowed his brows. "Black magic. Hope found a how to kill nephilims guide in her grimoire. She went out of her way to look for it, why wouldn't it be her endgame?"

Jed shrugged. "I don't know, stud- It's just that Hope Mikaelson kind of has a thing for you. I can't see her trying to kill you."

"Hope doesn't have a thing for me."

"Everyone at school begs to differ."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Jed tilted his head. "Come on, Nate. You get under her skin like no one else. Literally no one gets to her like you do. She's always doing these little things to give you comfort when you're anxious- even when you pretend you don't want them- and every time you make some side comment, she smiles like a schoolgirl. Also, you both spend a lot of time together. I'd find it weird if neither of you were pining."

"No one is pining!"

Jed rolled his eyes. "And where pining is, oblivious dumbass follows."

Nathaniel scoffed. "You're impossible."

"Me?" Jed asked incredulously. "I'm not the one hiding my un-dying love for Hope Mikaelson."

Nathaniel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, we're not going anywhere with this. Let's just head back and pray Doctor Saltzman doesn't decide on grounding me until I graduate."

Jed exhaled. "Fine by me."

The situation that greeted them once they arrived at the Salvatore Boarding School sent shivers up Nathaniel's spine. It hit the nephilim that something wasn't quite right when he heard nothing but silence and a few low voices that lead into the ground floor. Emma, their counselor and a few other younger students stood around what seemed to be Lizzie's unmoving body and Nathaniel had expected the worse.

"What the hell happened?"

The nephilim's question brought in everyone's attention- including Alaric's.

Nathaniel swallowed. "Is she-?"

Alaric shook his head, quickly reading Nathaniel's thoughts. "No. She's not- I'm calling Dorian. She'll be okay."

"Nate!" Pedro called out, quickly running towards Nathaniel.

Instantly, Nathaniel lowered himself to one knee, spreading out his arms to engulf the curly-haired boy in a hug once he hit his chest. "Hey, you okay?"

Pedro nodded against Nathaniel's shoulder, fisting his small hands in the nephilim's shirt. Nathaniel huffed out a breath before squeezing the small witch, subsequently letting him go to rise at full height. Once he did, Nathaniel noticed an odd-looking dude standing by Lizzie. The nephilim's eyebrows knitted together at the center and the stranger gave him a weird look.

"He saved me," Pedro voiced, pointing at the stranger.

"Who's the clown?" Nathaniel asked, eyeing him. "And why's he wearing a dress?"

The stranger deadpanned. "It's a chiton."

Nathaniel nodded. "So, a dress."

That's when Alaric stepped in. "Nathaniel, that's Perseus."

"Cool," Nathaniel gave Alaric a look. "And why is Percy in our school, Ric?"

Alaric rolled his eyes. "Perseus, Nate. As in son of Zeus."

Nathaniel groaned. "Great. Fan-fucking-tastic! We have a demigod now?"

"Believe me, it wasn't by choice," Perseus responded, not too pleased with the tone the nephilim was displaying.

Nathaniel snorted humorlessly as he turned to Alaric. "What happened?"

The explanation was brief, not really answering Nathaniel's previously asked question. But when Alaric called Dorian and Nathaniel overheard their conversation, the nephilim almost wished he would've stayed unaware of the situation. A fucking gargoyle. And Lizzie's heart could give out any second with that damned grayscale that had her paralyzed.

Alaric hung up the phone before looking over at Lizzie, who at the moment, was being tended to by some of the younger witches. By the look mirroring the one Nathaniel on his face, it was evident both were worried. And rightfully so. Lizzie's life was on the line.

"We are on lockdown. No one goes outside. Period. I want you all in your rooms. Upper class, you're on the buddy system. Lower class, I want you to go with Emma to the Grand Hall, okay? Everyone, let's go," Alaric instructed, finishing it off with a clap.

It was seconds before students spurred into action.

"Nate," Alaric caught his attention. "Go with Lizzie. I'm gonna try to draw it away from the school."

Nathaniel scoffed. "No way, Ric. I'm going with you."

"Nate-"

"You're not going by your fucking self."

There wasn't much fight in Alaric after that- even when the demigod went with them.

As night fell and after a quick run in with the gargoyle, the three were back in Alaric's office to try and form a plan. The knife was swiftly taken off Alaric after the run in, where Perseus tried to subdue the gargoyle using what he claimed to be Medusa's head- which Nathaniel seemed skeptical at first. It wasn't until the gargoyle didn't stiffen up that Nathaniel rolled his eyes because the gargoyle already was stone and Medusa's head was useless.

Alaric sighed. "How's your grace going?"

Nathaniel shook his head. "It was my first thought- I can't heal her, I'm not back at full charge."

"I'm sorry, grace?" Perseus asked.

Nathaniel breathed in heavily through his nose. "We'll fill you in later, Spartacus."

Then, something caught Alaric's attention from his peripheral vision. Quickly, Doctor Saltzman was putting down the book he was paging through to walk to the frame of the door to peak out. He saw Hope was walking down the hall.

"What are you doing here?" Alaric asked just above a whisper.

Hope jumped, startled. "Oh, my God. You scared me!"

The exchange was short as Alaric pulled Hope into his office where she came to face Nathaniel and Perseus. Nathaniel noticed as Hope's face turned confused once seeing the demigod and his choice of attire, but she commented nothing of it. The nephilim almost smiled once noting she was unharmed, but he reeled himself in just in time, remembering their current status and how much they couldn't stand each other as his face turned blank.

"Dorian was supposed to keep you away."

Hope nodded. "He tried. He lost. But here-" she held out a small, think and old looking book with a triskelion printing on the front. The front read Medieval French Folklore. "Killing Gargoyles 101. He thought you could translate it."

Alaric groaned when he noticed the book wasn't in English, despite the English title as he opened to the front page. Doctor Saltzman cursed slightly before inspecting a few pages and Hope impatiently twitched in her spot before Alaric, waiting for him to grasp something that could help them. It wasn't long before the tribrid sighed, ready to redirect Alaric to the task at hand.

"So, are we on our own, or did the Gauls provide clear instructions?" Hope asked.

Alaric breathed out. "In a nutshell, it says hit hard. Repeat as needed."

As that was said, everyone was startled when they heard stomping footsteps and shrieks coming from the gargoyle. The stomping steps quickly caused the overhead lights in the hallway to swing around and that's what it took for the four to take action. As they ran towards the sounds, Alaric did his best to recap what happened to Hope before they came across the creature.

When Nathaniel turned a corner into the ground floor, he bumped into Josie and he held on tight to the witch so she wouldn't fall over. The biggest sigh of relief left the nephilim as he pulled her into his arms, squeezing tightly. Josie returned the hug almost as tight, if not harder, breathing in the scent of Nathaniel's shirt before she noticed Alaric from the corner of her eye. No words were exchanged, but everyone knew what they needed to do.

The loud stomping noise brought them out of their short-lived relief as it continued to pick up, seemingly closer to them. Nathaniel quickly sensed it, being the first to as he quickly turned on his heel, facing it. In seconds, the gargoyle roared at him and spread its wings, making the grinding stone sound heard whenever the gargoyle moved.

Suddenly, the creature leaped into the air, using its wings to glide over the staircase and down onto the floor, landing directly before Nathaniel. The nephilim quickly dodged the gargoyle's attempt to stab him with the knife it took from Alaric. And from the corner of his eye, Nathaniel noticed Hope was ready to fire whatever spell she had in mind at him, but she was too close. Before she could chant, Nathaniel sprinted towards her and pulled at her waist, making them both fall on their backs as the gargoyle swing at the tribrid, barely missing her.

As Nathaniel and Hope scrambled to get back on their feet, the gargoyle readied itself to attempt and stab Hope for a second time. Nathaniel immediately noticed they weren't going to be able to stand and fend the creature off in time. So, with a heavy breath, the nephilim was on his knees, shielding Hope with his body, readying himself to feel the burn of the knife cutting through his skin.

But it didn't come.

Instead Nathaniel heard Alaric yell as he rushed forwards toward the gargoyle.

"No!"

Nathaniel was horrified.

"Dad!" Josie yelled.

Alaric shoved himself between Nathaniel and the gargoyle, gasping as the creature stopped his assault just centimeters from stabbing Alaric in the chest where his heart laid. The gargoyle was stunned by the turn of events and Alaric shocked in his place gasped for air. The two stared at each other for a long moment as the gargoyle processed the situation and Hope and Nathaniel stood to their feet. The tension was quickly broken when Perseus swung his sword and broke one of the gargoyle's wings. The creature shrieked and following Perseus action, Josie swung her axe, breaking off the remaining wing, causing the gargoyle to roar ferociously.

"Fluctus impulsa!" Hope quickly spread her arms and the knife flew out of the gargoyle's hand, landing near the staircase. After realizing she can't do it on her own, the tribrid held her hand out for the gemini witch. "Josie, help me."

Josie looked at Hope anxiously. "How?"

"Just repeat after me," Hope stated, turning to Perseus. "You better get yourself ready with that sword."

Perseus nodded as Josie ran over to Hope, clasping their right and left hands together, causing them to glow red as Josie siphoned her magic from Hope. Simultaneously, the two chanted the previous spell to immobilize the gargoyle and as it stood in place, it roared out, trying to break free from the incantation.

"Now, Percy!" Nathaniel yelled.

Following the command, Perseus used his agility to spin on his heal and swing his sword before impaling it into the gargoyle's chest. Suddenly, the gargoyle trembled in its place before exploding into a shower of small broken pieces of stone, littering the floor, tables, and chairs in the room.

Josie wasted no time in turning to Alaric, eyes red like she was ready to cry. "How could you jump in front of them like that? You could've died, Dad!" She scolded Alaric for his recklessness.

Alaric's expression softened. "Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me because my research said so-"

Before Alaric could elaborate further, Josie stormed away with tears in her eyes and Doctor Saltzman sighed as he looked at Nathaniel who scowled in his direction.

"You need to start forgetting about your research and remembering you're human," Nathaniel shook his head, agreeing with Josie. "And that you've got kids. It's bad enough we don't have Care. Now you wanna take yourself away from us too?"

Alaric hung his head.

He couldn't fight with that.

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unedited.
nate's crush on hope is ughhh
and lizzie and nathaniel are my
new favorite in-the-works brotp!
you can read perseus' point of view
in the prologue of his book! it's 3200
words so he's thoroughly introduced.
also, lizzie and perseus met.
jdhfkjfhkf i love them.