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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.
[𝟏𝟒]. 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒
𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄.
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 】
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❛ 𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘠 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌, 𝘛𝘐𝘎𝘌𝘙.
𝘕𝘖 𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘚𝘛? ❜
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THE BLOOD FOUNTAIN WAS THE least of Nathaniel Forbes' worries when Lucifer's words kept repeating themselves like a mantra in his head. And accompanying that being the scene of Hope Mikaelson dying playing on a continuous loop. Not to mention the slight problem of the hideous wound sprouting purplish-black veins on his ribcage. It was safe to say Nathaniel wasn't off to the greatest of starts with plan save Hope and maybe the rest of the world in the process.

Then again, when did the nephilim ever really get a break from anything?

"You're the most stubborn asshole I have ever met in my entire life," Hope said in a huff as she trailed behind Nathaniel.

Nathaniel snorted. "Go off."

Hope rolled her eyes. "You're not going with me."

"Shut up, Hope," Nathaniel stated calmly.

"Stop!"

Hope stood before Nathaniel, blocking the nephilim from taking another step before the tribrid looked deeply into his eyes. There was fear there, and the nephilim could feel his heart pounding in his chest as her eyes pleaded with him. No words were uttered but Nathaniel knew that Hope wanted him to stay behind. And it wasn't about Landon. It was finally about Nathaniel for a change. Which even though it touched the nephilim's heart, he wasn't about to send Hope off to her death.

"You're hurt," Hope tried to reason, looking at the hole in Nathaniel's button-downed shirt. "We don't know how bad it is."

Nathaniel shook his head. "Keep moving. There isn't a thing you can say to me to make me stay here."

Hope groaned in frustration. "Why?"

"Because I said so!" Nathaniel's voice echoed through the tunnel, leaving Hope stunned in her place. "I made the choice. You don't make decisions for me. Now either we go together or we arrive separately, but I'm going. Take your pick."

There was a slight redness to Hope's eyes as her cheeks slowly turned a pink shade, but Nathaniel didn't comment on it. She could be hurt all she wanted, but the nephilim was going to do what he had to to protect her.

That's when Hope turned on her heal and continued walking down the tunnel. Nathaniel treaded closely behind her, and before they knew it, they were standing before the fountain MG described. Blood dripped down the skulls and Nathaniel couldn't help but make a gagging expresión.

"Gnarly," Nathaniel commented, walking around the fountain and inspecting it.

Hope scoffed. "How the hell are we even going to turn this thing off?"

And something clicked instantly in Nathaniel's head when he saw the sigils on the skulls, a memory unlocking itself to serve the nephilim, which turned out to be the first good thing to happen in recent events. Without much say, Nathaniel traced the figures as blood tainted his fingers. When the last one was outlined, the fountain instantly shut off. There was silence as Hope looked at Nathaniel intently.

"How did you know how to do that?"

Nathaniel avoided her eyes. "It's dark magic. They tried to subdue me with something like this years ago. It just didn't work on me."

"Who's they?" Hope pushed.

Nathaniel was about to respond when his eyes caught the bullet-sized hole on Hope's sleeve. The nephilim's whole body tensed and instantaneously the tribrid's arm was in Nathaniel's grasp. There was no fight when Nathaniel pulled up her sleeve entirely to reveal no trace of what was currently spreading on the nephilim's own chest.

"What the hell," Nathaniel said just above a whisper.

Hope was stunned. "It didn't affect me."

Nathaniel and Hope's eyes locked, and something close to relief washed over the tribrid's features.

"What?" Nathaniel inquired.

"Drink from me," Hope stated.

Nathaniel narrowed his eyebrows. "Easy there, tiger. No dinner first?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot. The bullet didn't affect me!"

It didn't take long before the meaning underlying Hope's sentence finally made sense in Nathaniel's mind. The tribrid was immune to whatever freaky Malivore shit laced those anti-supernatural bullets, which could potentially mean Hope's blood counteracted the effects they were having on Nathaniel's body.

Or at least that's what the tribrid was praying for.

In a second, Hope bit into her wrist, drawing blood instantly and Nathaniel looked intently at the growing droplets oozing from her self-inflicted wound. There was hesitation on the nephilim's features, but Hope egged him on as she pushed her wrist towards him to take. There wasn't much say before Nathaniel's lips covered her wound and the bitter taste of iron touched his tongue as he held onto her hand.

A crimson drop fell from the corner of Nathaniel's lips once the nephilim separated from Hope. There was a slight pause before Nathaniel lifted his shirt to watch as the veins retracted into the wound, seemingly curing the venom in the nephilim's system, which earned a sigh from Hope as a small smile formed on her lips in pure relief.

But that didn't last long.

Nathaniel immediately hunched forward before falling to his knees. Coughs and gags ensued, the nephilim vomiting up black bile as again, purplish-black veins spread across his body evenly, not leaving a single place on Nathaniel without covering.

"Nate!"

All Nathaniel could do was wheeze as Hope tried using magic to calm him, but that deemed to be futile. The tribrid's hands held onto his forearms tightly, but all Nathaniel could focus on was the burning sensation running down his throat and spreading towards the bullet wound on his ribcage.

It was a few seconds before it all stopped.

And Nathaniel looked up at Hope.

There was a look of confusion on the nephilim's face as he breathed heavily when Hope's expression was something between surprised and horrified as she looked him over.

"Your eyes," Hope stammered.

Nathaniel's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

Hope swallowed. "They're black."

Nathaniel's heart skipped a beat.

"Nate, I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen."

Nathaniel shook his head. "We need to go."

Hope held onto Nathaniel. "Are you crazy? This thing just got ten times worse. You need to stay and wait for Doctor Saltzman so that he can fix it."

"Hope," Nathaniel exhaled sharply through his nose. "We're not arguing over this again. Move."

Nathaniel could feel the venom burning off his grace the same way Hope's spell did, but the nephilim's irritation only served to push him further. Like a junkie getting his dosage, Nathaniel liked the feeling of losing the blueish-white divinity. Even when it included the scorching hot poison filling him up.

"I can't watch you die," Hope admitted in a whisper.

Nathaniel stilled.

The nephilim knew the tribrid was scared. Nathaniel felt the same anxiousness Hope felt, but it wasn't him that was meant to die at Malivore's doorstep. Hope was. And Lucifer, though scheming and conniving as he was, seemed genuine enough for Nathaniel to take that seriously. Or maybe the nephilim just couldn't handle the thought of her dying and him having known that information beforehand.

"You won't."

That felt like a lie.

But Hope wasn't about to change Nathaniel's mind and somewhere in the tribrid, she knew that. And without another word, Hope gave the nephilim a worried plea of an expression before it washed off her face and they were walking out of the Salvatore School tunnels into the fields.

Getting to Malivore was a blur, and to Nathaniel that was more literal than figurative.

And just as what seemed to be the headless horseman tossed the last Malivore key, Hope used telekinesis to stop it from hitting the black goo pit before it levitated towards her hand. Subsequently, Landon's surprised expression landed on Hope as the monster held onto him in a tight grasp.

"Hope," Landon sighed in relief.

Nathaniel scoffed.

And that's when Landon's eyes fell towards Nathaniel and the surprised expression was back on his face with a hint of dismay.

The horseman dropped Landon before making a B-line towards Hope but before the monster could make it, Nathaniel stepped before her, his senses at high alert. If Hope was meant to die there, then there wasn't a chance Nathaniel was going to let her risk herself.

"Nate!" Hope warned.

And the headless horseman swung his spine laso, barely missing Nathaniel as the nephilim ducked. With his lower position, Nathaniel rotated and used his leg to hit the horseman's shin, causing the monster to fall instantly on his back. Hope took this opportunity to use a spell, but it didn't seem to affect it in the slightest.

"You know sci-fi stuff," Hope turned towards Landon. "How do we kill him?"

Landon stammered. "Uh, Headless Horseman is more fantasy."

Nathaniel scoffed. "So you're still useless."

Landon rolled his eyes. "In the Tim Burton movie, they defeated him by giving him a bride."

"Not helping," Nathaniel huffed.

"Can't you just smite it?"

"Little low on grace here, genius."

The headless horseman stood and just as it tried using its laso for a second time, Nathaniel balled up his fist and the monster hunched over. The pain the nephilim was inflicting did nothing but slow the horseman down and burn some grace with it.

"Stop," Hope pleaded. "Your grace, Nate."

But Nathaniel continued.

"How do we kill this thing?" Nathaniel grunted towards Landon.

"In the old O.G cartoon he had a pumpkin head. That- he might keep it with his horse?" Landon finished in a question, then realization fell on his features. "Correction! He's got it under his cape. Kill the head, the body dies."

"Awesome," Nathaniel groaned.

And as the nephilim stopped using his divinity, the headless horseman waved his laso in Nathaniel's direction, only for the nephilim to grasp it as it struck him. There was a groan that followed when it hit Nathaniel's palm and black grace oozed from the wound.

"Not good," Nathaniel murmured.

The nephilim pulled on the laso, making the headless horseman stumble. Hope on the other hand made a move for the bag clasped to the monster's belt, but before anyone could cry victory, Nathaniel felt his entire world stop. As if in slow motion, the nephilim watched as the headless horseman let go of the laso to clasp Hope's hair in it's hand and subsequently pull her towards itself.

"Hope!"

Then it happened.

Nathaniel only heard his own yell through muffled ears, as if his no was kilometers away. The headless horseman's hand pierced through Hope's chest, her heart pounding as the monster grasped it and tore it from her body. Blood was instantly visible and a lifeless Hope soon hit the floor, the horseman letting her unbeating heart fall next to her.

Lucifer hadn't lied.

And even with the knowledge he had, Nathaniel couldn't prevent it from happening.

A grief filled roar abandoned Nathaniel as the nephilim swung the spine laso in his hand at the headless horseman. But instead of aiming it at the monster, Nathaniel aimed for the clasp to the bag holding its head. And as it hit the nephilim's intended target, the head fell.

Nathaniel instantly used his telekinetic abilities to haul the head into his hands, which caused the headless horseman to sprint towards the nephilim. But it came to holt when Nathaniel used his bare hands to burn the head, leaving behind ash, and with that, the lifeless horseman fell on its back.

"Oh, God," Landon breathed.

And Nathaniel turned to him to find Landon besides Hope as he cried over her lifeless body. Tears welled up in Nathaniel's eyes, and if it wasn't for the fact that Hope was dead, the nephilim would have noted that that was the first time he had cried since he was a kid. With a hard gulp, Nathaniel kneeled before her, taking in her calm expression and the thought of it almost seeming like she was sleeping crossed the nephilim's head.

"What are we going to do?" Landon asked.

Nathaniel was at loss for words.

Then Lucifer's crossed his mind.

You'll give up your life to save hers.

And Lucifer be damned, because Nathaniel wasn't even going to think twice about it. There was a sigh as Nathaniel's index finger caressed Hope's still warm cheek and a smile spread across his lips. The nephilim didn't live his life as a hero, but he sure as hell was going to die one.

The nephilim placed both his hands on Hope's temples before shutting his eyes. Nathaniel could feel Landon's confused gaze on him, but the nephilim just continued. A power surged and the burning sensation the nephilim had been feeling just began to multiply, tiring him even further, but that didn't stop him. Even when Nathaniel's grace faltered and Hope's body began to glow gold.

Then Nathaniel remembered how he had felt that time he fainted in the woods before waking up in heaven. The drowsiness, the hot flash of pain, the lack of grace. The nephilim was almost out of juice. And even then, his love for Hope was stronger.

A wave of power burst when Nathaniel opened his eyes and Hope's instantly shot open to connect with the nephilim's.

He smiled and Hope mirrored him.

Then his body gave out.

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unedited.
some of you were aware already that nate was going to die at the end, so good on you for paying attention to foreshadowing. anywho, this was the final chapter, but you'll be getting an epilogue and subsequently book 2 following nate into season 2.

sorry i've been away for so long,,, i finally had my baby a month ago and things have been hectic.

stay tuned for the epilogue, my friends <333.