CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Facing Darkness is Kinda My Thing

_________________

     WARM, FLICKERING light greeted Ryan as his eyes fluttered open, taking in the sight of his new surroundings. He pushed up from where he laid on the ground and found a strange, medieval-esc type building around him. Candles of varying sizes illuminated the shadow-filled room where colorful portraits and large tapestries hung on the stone walls.

     Ryan blinked, looking for any sign of his sister, but he paused and noticed his attire. He wore a dark brown, leather vest above a white, long sleeved shirt and pants a lighter brown than the vest. His boots were the same material of his vest, but were fare more sturdy.

     "What the hell?" Ryan muttered. He certainly didn't have that on when he went into Josie's mind.

     "Well, this is unexpected."

     Ryan turned to see his sister sat on the ground a few feet away. Her clothes had changed as well. She now wore a deep red dress and hood to match. "Why're you dressed as Little Red Riding Hood?" he questioned, drawing the girl's gaze to him as he stood.

     Hope climbed to her feet and gave him a once over. "Could say the same to you, Prince Charming."

     Ryan huffed, glancing around at the bizarre room. "I think it's safe to say Josie really likes fairytales. Which wouldn't be creepy, if we weren't stuck inside her mind."

     Hope nodded. "Yeah, her subconscious is weirding me out." She turned and called out, "Josie?"

     Ryan snapped to her and hissed, "shhh." Hope looked to him with creased brows. "You don't know what else is in here. Josie's Black Magic self is still running around in here somewhere."

     "Well, we need to find her somehow." Hope's eyes trailed around the room until they fell to the door stood ajar across from them. Light streamed in from the outside onto a line of bread crumbs. "Literal bread crumbs. Subtle."

     Ryan shrugged as they started for the door. "It's part of the fairytale vibe she has going on. You know, Hansel and Gretel?"

     Hope sighed, shoving the door open for them to enter the rest of the odd building they woke up in. "Yes, Ry. I know."

     The Mikaelson siblings continued to follow the bread crumbs out of what they concluded to be a castle. They weaved through a forest blanketed the night sky above their heads.

     At the sound of a branch snapping, Ryan stopped and forced his sister to do the same. "Did you hear that?"

     Hope nodded, before she saw something move through the foliage ahead of them. "Wait. It's okay. You don't have to run," she voiced and started after it.

     "Seriously?" Ryan exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with her. "We talked about this. You can't just start running after things in here."

     Hope held out an arm when he appeared at her side. Something rustled in a bush nearby, but neither of them could see what caused it. Hope raised her hands and swirled them in front of her chest. "Post tenebras spero lucem," she chanted to form a ball of light on her palms.

     Ryan looked to where a form appeared in the bright light emitted from the orb. It tried to remain hidden behind the green mass, despite the fact both of them could see it. "You can come out, now. We see you."

     Hope sent him a sharp stare. "What my brother is trying to say is, you don't have to hide, anymore. We're not gonna hurt you."

     Ryan rolled his eyes until the figure moved into their line sight. A waist-high pig stood in front of them, wearing yellow scarf and what appeared to be overalls. Josie's mind held no shortage of surprises.

     "Would you two shut your pieholes?" the pig retorted in a deep voice that startled both siblings. "And put out that light, before you get us both killed." He snorted.

     Ryan gaped at the pig for a long moment, before his eyes lifted to the canopy of tree branches that blocked out the starlit sky. "When we get you back, Jo, we really need to have a talk about your frightening subconscious."

     Without another word, the pig spun away from the Mikaelsons and waddled off through the forest.

     "Hey, would you wait up?" Hope exclaimed, hurrying to keep up with the pink, man-like animal.

     "Take your 'innocent children lost in the forest' act someplace else," the pig shot back to them and continued forward. "Last thing I need is some trigger-happy skirt doing magic near me."

     Ryan's brows furrowed, maintaining his long stride to stay next to his sister. "Why can't we use magic?"

     The pig paused and looked back at them. "Don't find out. And quit following me." He picked up his pace, waddling faster through the towering evergreens. "You don't belong here, youngsters."

     Hope scoffed, stomping across the fallen leaves at their feet. "Sexist talking pigs aren't really my thing. I'd love to leave, but we're not going anywhere until we find our friend Josie."

     "Yeah, so stop being insufferable and help us find her," Ryan added.

     The pig stopped. "What d'you want with her?"

     Ryan deadpanned toward the creature. "We're here to rescue her and bring her home."

     The pig's expression faltered at that. "Yeah, well, you're too late for that." He started to leave, again, but Hope stopped him.

     "What do you mean?"

     The pig exhaled and gestured to a grove of tree trunks cut a couple feet from the ground. "Pull up a stump," he said, plopping down onto one.

     Ryan exchanged a look with Hope. They needed to know where they could find Josie. So if they needed to indulge in a pig's retelling, they would. Ryan dropped onto a stump across from the creature, while Hope claimed one to his right.

     The pig took a deep breath and began, "once upon a time, this was a beautiful land. A peaceful kingdom, ruled by Princess Josette. And then the Darkness came. The princess tried to fight it, but using her magic only made the Darkness stronger. It was – tied to her somehow, and if she kept fighting it, the Darkness would grow to cover the entire land. So, Princess Josie placed a sleeping spell on herself so that she could never do magic again, and so the Darkness could never grow. If we wake her up, the Darkness will grow again. So – as much as we all miss her, this is how it has to be. Destiny's a bitch, huh, doll?" he quipped toward Hope.

     Ryan huffed, drawing the pig's eyes to him. "I don't really believe in destiny, so that's not a good enough reason. I made a promise that I would bring her back, and I'm not giving up on her because some pig tells me to," he stated and stood from the stump.

     Hope did the same with a smile. "And I think I know how to find her." She headed for where the long line of bread crumbs curved through the forest.

     Ryan followed her gaze until he found that the trail came to an abrupt end.

     "Uh, you don't want to do that."

     It took everything in Ryan to not shift into his wolf form and tear the pig apart. He whirled to him, finding a sheepish expression on his face. "What'd you do to the trail?"

     The pig shifted on his hooves. "Well, um, here's the thing. You – You're not gonna believe this. The uh – whenever, heh, the – uh, elements um," he pointed to the sky and looked back to find unimpressed stares aimed his way. "Uh, you know what, I ate it. Okay? I ate it! Ha ha! 'Why would I do that?' they ask. Because I'm disgusting, and I have no self-control." He gestured to himself. "Do you see the package that I'm working with, right now?"

     Hope gave the pig a flat look. "Okay, you know where this trail goes. You know where she is."

     The pig clamped his mouth shut.

     Ryan pressed his lips together and nodded. "Okay. You can keep it to yourself, but then my sister and I are gonna start doing magic."

     The pig gave him a flat stare. "The Darkness will come."

     Hope shrugged. "Facing darkness is kind of our thing."

     The pig huffed. "Fine. Fine! Gah! You're bossy little things, you know that?"

     Ryan simply grinned. "I prefer persuasive, but I'll take that as a compliment."

     The pig started through the forest in the direction of the missing trail of bread crumbs. "You weren't supposed to."

     __________

     Sunlight chased away the stars as a form of morning took over the landscape. Ryan didn't think he and Hope were inside Josie's mind long enough for the sun to rise, but he guessed the shift in time might have been possible. While there, he couldn't exactly tell what happened out in the real world.

     Ryan, Hope, and the pig continued through the seemingly endless forest until they came upon a site of ruins. Crumbled, stone walls jutted up from the ground, surrounding a large, rectangular slab covered in overgrown weeds and clumps of the demolished structure.

     Ryan could not tell what used to stand in its spot, but he realized it didn't actually matter. After all, none of it was even real. He rounded the supports that still obstructed his view and skidded to a halt at the sight before him.

     In the center of the ruins, Josie laid on an elevated stone table adored in a bright, yellow gown dotted with multicolored flowers.

     "Josie," Ryan breathed and rushed over to the girl's side. He looked down to find her eyes closed. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to wake her. "Josie? Jo? Come on, you gotta get up."

     Hope hurried over to him and set a hand on her arm to shake the girl. Despite the harsh movement, Josie's eyes stayed closed.

     "You should try kissing her, maybe," the pig voiced when he finally waddled after them.

     Ryan's nose scrunched toward the creature. "That's not gonna happen. She's asleep. That's far from consensual."

     The pig scoffed. "Well, excuse me, Mister Big words. You gotta better idea?"

     "I do," Hope stated, leaning up from Josie to raise her hand. "Surgere." She waved the waking spell.

     Ryan looked to Josie, hoping that the spell would force her eyes to open, but nothing happened. Nothing except a sharp squeal being emitted from the pig.

     "Hey! We said no magic."

     Hope turned to the pig with a roll of her eyes. "I know you're scared of the Darkness, but this is Josie's subconscious. Nothing can really hurt us here."

     Ryan froze when a loud thudding reached his ears. A low growl rumbled in the distance, having been picked up easily with his enhanced hearing. He turned to look for the source, but he stumbled when the pig's hooves clamped around his and his sister's and dragged them behind a still standing wall. They pressed against the moss covered stone as a snarl ripped through the previous silence.

     Ryan peaked around the side of the wall to see a massive, black furred wolf stomp into the ruins. He looked to the pig, who cowered against the brick at his back, and muttered under his breath, "what the hell is that thing?"

     The pig shook as he said, "that is the Darkness, sweetheart. And it can definitely hurt us."

     Ryan's brows furrowed. The Darkness was a giant wolf stalking Josie's fairytale mindscape? Not what he expected. He figured it would've been a depiction of Dark Josie running around in there, trying flay them with her Black Magic.

     But a giant wolf could work, too.

     The massive creature snarled as it searched the ruins, scanning the crumbling structure for any sign of them. "Little pig, little pig, who're your new friends? I can smell that magic's being used here, again."

     Ryan looked to Hope and found her gaze was pointed elsewhere. He almost asked what she was doing, but he stopped when she reached for a palm-sized rock sat on the broken wall beside their heads. Hope took the rock in one and lifted the other toward it, before Ryan shot out and swiped it from her hold. She gave him a sharp glare, but he simply turned and launched the rock through the air. His supernatural strength helped it sore away from the ruins and into the surrounding forest.

     A thud sounded when the rock hit something in the distance. Ryan risked a glance around the wall, watching as the wolf caught the noise. It growled, taking off in a sprint to investigate.

     Ryan exhaled, stepping out from their hiding place.

     The pig huffed and did the same. "Happy now, morons. You nearly got us all eaten – which is a lifelong fear of mine, I'll have you know. And now, the Darkness knows your magic-using asses are here."

     Ryan scoffed, walking back to where Josie's unconscious form remained. "My magic-using ass just saved us, so you might wanna show my sister and I a little respect."

     "After I pulled you both to safety," the pig countered in a high-pitched tone.

     Hope rolled her eyes as she spun to glare at the pig. "Oh, yeah. Thank you so much for pulling us behind a single piece of rubble."

     "What do you want form me? I got hooves for hands."

     "I want you to stop talking down to me, us, and be grateful that we just saved our bacon."

     The pig gasped at her word usage. "How dare you?"

     Ryan overlooked the "offensive" word and spun to his sister. "We? You were about to use more magic and out us to the thing. If anything, I'm the one who saved our bacon."

     The pig gasped, again, spinning away from the Mikaelson siblings with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

     The action captured Ryan's attention. He stared at the creature in confusion, while Hope sighed. "What?"

     Hope shook her head and started toward the pig. "We're sorry. It's just a figure of speech, alright?" He kept his mouth shut.

     Ryan didn't pick up on what made the pig angry until his previous statement registered. "Oh, right." His sister shot him a look, nodding in the pig's direction. He pressed his lips together, before he relented. "Why don't we call a truce, okay? We don't have time to fight. We need to get Josie back. Besides, when we wake her up, you'll never have to see us again."

     The pig lowered his arms and turned back to the siblings. "If we do that, the Darkness will only grow again. Princess Josie did what she did for a reason."

     "She made her sacrifice because she didn't know that help was coming," Hope exclaimed. "So, if we can't wake her up..."

     "Which we will," Ryan interjected, causing his sister to sigh.

     "...then we're just gonna have to defeat the Darkness ourselves," Hope finished, bringing the pig to stare at her wide eyed.

     __________

     For the first time since they entered Josie's mind, the pig actually proposed a useful plan of action. He mentioned that a huntsman lived nearby and could help them defeat the Darkness. Not that Ryan and Hope needed help, but the pig insisted.

     So that was how they found themselves on the doorstep of a secluded cabin in Josie's fairytale mindscape.

     The pig approached the front door, pushing it open with no resistance. He peered inside and voiced, "that's strange. He's always home." He moved further into the home and shouted, "hello? Mr. Huntsman! I brought some nosy friends."

     Ryan and Hope followed him into the cabin, taking in the warm, cozy interior that greeted them. Dozens of pictures covered the wall, along with what could only be a self-portrait of the man hung above the lit fireplace. A black pot sat above the flames inside, emitting a sharp tangy scent that filled the youngest tribrid's nose.

     Ryan hummed. Josie really did like her details.

     The pig sniffed at the air, noticing the strong smell. "Oh, stew's on. He must be nearby."

     Hope's gaze shifted across the room, before it fell to a collection of tools beside the far wall. She moved toward the basket that held them and picked up an axe. "Ah. Nice."

     "Sweetie," the pig spoke when he spotted her actions, "if you think that's enough to stop the Darkness, you are crazy."

     Ryan rolled his eyes. "We wouldn't need to fight the Darkness if you'd just help us wake Josie up. This is her mind. She has the most control here. Couple thoughts here and there, and poof – the Darkness is gone."

     "But, he won't." Hope grabbed a stray dagger from one of the huntsman's tables. "What do you say? Are you in?" she questioned, offering the weapon to the pig.

     "I – I would be no use in battle," the pig exclaimed. "I – I know, I bluster a lot. But, uh, I just get so scared, and then I say dumb stuff when I'm scared."

     Hope pressed her lips together and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

     The pig back away from her and pointed to the fireplace. "But I – I could finish the stew, though. Maybe find some bread. Uh, make you two a nice meal before you go off to die."

     Ryan gave the pig a flat stare. "Your optimism is astounding."

     "As is your sarcasm," the pig retorted, before he turned to the pot of stem hung above the fire. He tapped on the lid and then opened it to examine the contents. When he did, the pig squealed and dropped the lid as he scurried away. "It's a trap!"

     Ryan jumped when the door of the cabin swung wide and slammed into the wall behind it. The giant wolf from earlier, the Darkness, stood on the threshold and roared loud enough for the rafters to shake. Ryan's hand shot out, forcing the door closed with a burst of magic.

     Bangs sounded as it knocked against the cabin. "Little witches, little witches, let. Me. In!" A moment later, the door's hinges were severed and the wooden slab toppled to the floor with a thud. The wolf roared and slashed at the air.

     Ryan was thrown off his feet, slamming into the wall behind him as an unseen force knocked into his chest. He gasped and landed on the floor in slight shock. Of course the wolf could do magic. He looked to find Hope splayed across the ground across the cabin, but otherwise unharmed.

     A harsh squeal ripped through the room and drew Ryan's attention. His stomach dropped when the wolf grabbed the pig, unlatching its jaw to swallow him whole. "No!" he and his sister shouted, but the wolf continued to devour the pig.

     Ryan's eyes scanned his immediate vicinity and settled on Hope's discarded axe. "Motus!" he chanted, jutting his hand out toward the wolf. The axe lifted from the floor and sailed through the air to bury in the wolf's chest.

     The action forced the wolf to stumble, pitching backward onto its back with the pig's tail between its teeth. Ryan climbed up from the floor and rushed over to the wolf's immobile body. He started to breathe a sigh of relief until movement caught his eye. The pig's tail swirled, shifting as it slipped deeper into the fallen wolf.

     "Pig!" Hope shouted, running to her brother's side. She looked from the wolf to her brother. "Get him out."

     Ryan stared at her wide-eyed. "Me? No. You do it."

     Hope scoffed, but she reached out and grasped the axe still imbedded in the wolf's chest. She dragged the tool down, slicing through the creature's skin and muscle to somehow save the pig. The malleable mass of flesh pulsed around the deep cut, before something shot out covered in a think slime.

     Ryan cringed and then paused when the object took form of a human hand. The slime around it ripped and out popped a life-sized human being. Ryan blinked, recognizing the person who now stood in front of them. "Josie?"

     "What's going on?" Hope questioned, finding Josie stood where the pig should have been. "Where's Pig?"

     Josie glanced between the Mikaelson siblings as she ran her hands down the yellow corset of her dress. "Uh, I – I was the pig."

     Ryan could not help but gape at the Saltzman girl. Josie was the pig. They spent all that time trying to find Josie and wake her up from her sacrificial sleep, only to find out that she didn't need their help at all. In fact, she was perfectly fine and pretending to be a creepy, rude pig inside her mind.

     "I thought if I disguised myself the Darkness would leave me alone," Josie explained as she stepped away from the wolf's dead body.

     Ryan pointed her way and asked, "you were the pig?" Josie looked to him and slowly nodded. "You – you lied to us the whole time."

     Hope held up a hand to her brother with her dumbfounded stare on Josie. "Hold on. You do realize he said some really patronizing and – and sexist things to me."

     "No, I know," Josie exclaimed. "I just didn't want you to suspect it was me." She reached out and grasped Ryan's hands in his. The action would have thrown him off, if he were not still reeling at the revelation. "I'm sorry, but I needed you guys to think the pig was me because I need you guys to leave. Okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

     Ryan shook his head. "Josie, we're not leaving you here."

     Josie's grip tightened on his hands. "No, you don't understand. I can't have somebody else get hurt because of me."

     "No one else is gonna get hurt."

     A whooshing sound tore Ryan's attention away from Josie. The girl stumbled back into him as a black cloud encased the wolf's fallen form. Its dead body disintegrated, transforming into a vortex of darkness. It spun, fading as a figure materialized before their eyes.

     Dark Josie appeared, adored in a spiked crown and black gown that sparkled in the dim lighting.

     Ryan eased Josie behind him, backing toward the front door of the cabin. Hope shuffled with them as their stares remained on the manifestation of Black Magic.

     Dark Josie simply grinned. "I love that you thought it would be that simple."

     Josie spun on her heel, snatching ahold of Ryan and Hope's hands to pull them from the home. "Oh, my God, run!" she exclaimed as they took off through the forest.

     __________

     Night consumed the fairytale land soon after they fled the huntsman's cabin. Ryan did not know how long or how far they ran. He simply kept pace with Hope and Josie as they tried to maintain a sizable distance between themselves and Dark Josie. But as they approached the ruins from earlier, Josie's stamina began to wane.

     "We have to keep moving," Hope voiced when she noticed.

     Josie breathed hard, skidding to a stop near the devastated structure. "It doesn't matter. We're never gonna get away from her."

     "Jo, while you've been trapped in here, she's been rampaging in the real world," Hope exclaimed, keeping a firm grip on the axe in her hand. "Okay, she even tried to Merge with Lizzie."

     Ryan sent his sister a sharp look. Josie didn't need to know what her evil counterpart tried to do just yet. It would do nothing but make Josie want to stay inside her head longer.

     Josie whirled to the Mikaelsons with wide eyes. "Oh, my God. Is she okay?"

     "She's fine."

     "For now."

     Ryan and Hope glared at one another as they talked over each other. With one last sneer, Ryan turned his attention back to Josie and said, "look, Lizzie will be okay as long as we stop your evil double."

     Josie dropped down onto the elevated stone stab of the ruins. Her arms wrapped around her knees as she frowned. "She's more powerful than I am."

     Ryan sighed, kneeling in front of her. "Jo, she is you. And if you want to get absolutely technical, she's just a manifestation of Black Magic. You're the one in control, here. Not her. You."

     Hope nodded and lowered herself to their level. "He's right. You can control her somehow. I don't know how, but," she released a short breath, "Landon would have some theory about the psychology, and what part of your personality she represents."

     Josie leaned forward and dropped her chin onto her arms. "He would, wouldn't he?"

     Ryan cleared his throat, not really wanting to talk about his sister's current boyfriend and his crush's ex. He scanned the quiet forest that surrounded them, thinking of the perfect shift in topic. "Lovely subconscious you have, by the way. Very Grimm-esc."

     "Are we surprised?" Josie quipped with a long exhale. "My mom used to read us fairytales for bedtime stories. They were so calming. There was good guys and bad guys. Very clear rules that you had to follow. It all made sense. Unlike my life."

     Hope pressed her lips together. "Well, this fairytale sucks."

     "It's accurate," Josie replied. "I'm either the powerful, petty bitch or the good weak, victim."

     Ryan's brows creased. "That's what you keep telling yourself," he stated, bringing her watery gaze to him. "The story you keep replaying. That you're either weak and the victim, or powerful and the villain. You haven't known any different. You're only experience with this kind of stuff has been through your uncle Kai. Hope and I – we've seen the other side. Where supposed villains use their power to save people. You just have to tell yourself a different story."

     Josie stared at Ryan. Her expression softening as she took in his words. Ryan noticed and gave her the smallest smile.

     Before Josie could reply, Hope was jerked backward away from them. Ryan jumped to his feet and spun to see Dark Josie in the tree-line. He raised a hand to retaliate, but she waved and tossed him with a burst of magic. Ryan groaned as his body crashed onto the stone. He rolled onto his side and found Josie next to him, breathing hard as she recovered from Dark Josie's assault.

     "Boring," Dark Josie drawled. "Let's fight."

     Hope climbed up from the ground and slung her axe in the duplicate girl's direction. Dark Josie simply caught the tool with ease.

     "That's strike one."

     Hope huffed and raised her hands. "Icaeus," she chanted, causing a burst of blue to shoot toward her.

     Dark Josie held out a palm, absorbing the spell with her siphoning ability. She smiled. "Ah, thanks for the extra magic. That's strike two."

     Ryan pushed up from the ground, staying close to Josie as they watched Hope spare with her evil double. He would have joined his sister, but too many magic-wielders at play was dangerous.

     Hope looked back to them, more specifically Josie, and said, "Josie, you can fight her."

     Ryan glanced Josie's way. The girl visibly trembled and shook her head.

     Dark Josie hummed. "That's strike three." Her hand jutted out, shoving Hope into the partially standing wall of the ruins.

     Hope grunted and looked to them. "Josie, change the story!"

     Ryan froze as he watched his sister turn to stone before his eyes. "Hope!" he called out to her, but he didn't get the chance to help her as Josie clamped down on his arm and yanked him away.

     __________

     They ran through the forest, somehow circling back to the huntsman's cabin. Ryan dug his feet into the hardwood floor, pulling his hand out of Josie's as they rushed into the empty home. "What're you doing? We have to go back."

     Josie shook her head. "I – I can't."

     "You can stop her, Jo. You have to, or all of this is for nothing," Ryan exclaimed.

     "Boo."

     Ryan turned to where Dark Josie appeared in the cabin's doorway. He moved to attack, but was rendered motionless as the girl waved and knocked him back into a wall. Ryan tried to pry himself from the painted siding to no avail.

     Josie swiped a knife from a nearby table and shuffled away from her evil double. The back off her foot caught on a stray rug, tripped her to the floor, and forced her to scurry back until she hit the far wall. Her round eyes were glued to Dark Josie as held the knife up. "Please," she cried.

     Dark Josie laughed when she spotted the action. "I hate you. You're so weak and vulnerable."

     "Shut up!" Ryan shouted to the evil queen knockoff.

     Dark Josie glared his way, before she waved and cast a silencing spell on him. Ryan mumbled against verbal restraint, as well as the physical, trying his hardest to free himself so he could rip into the Black Magic manifestation.

     Dark Josie ignored his efforts and returned her glare to a cowering Josie. "You're the kind of girl who's so quiet that her father and mother forget about her in the chaos of Lizzie. The kind of girl Penelope won't fight for, anymore. The kind of girl Landon breaks up with in one speech. The kind of girl Ryan will never ask to be his girlfriend. The kind of girl who's destined to lose the Merge." She flicked her hand out, tearing the outstretched knife from Josie's hand. She adjusted Hope's axe in her hands and continued, "you needed me. Because without me, you would have never survived. This is what being strong looks like."

     Ryan wanted so badly to yank that thing's heart out.

     Josie's stare fell as her evil counterpart's words seemed to sink into her mind. Ryan wanted to tell her not to listen to what Dark Josie had to say. She was wrong. Josie did not need her.

     But it looked as though Josie came to the conclusion all on her own. "I was afraid of being strong," she muttered lowly, although still loud enough Ryan to hear. "I thought being strong meant hurting Lizzie. Or being like Kai. I told myself that being powerful meant being evil." Her stare lifted to Dark Josie, who grinned across from her. "But it doesn't. Ryan is strong – and he's good." She stood to her feet, glancing toward the Mikaelson boy pinned to the wall, before her attention shifted back to her double. "You made a story. I made a story where I was powerless. But that's not true. Because I can change this story."

     "Enough," Dark Josie exclaimed.

     Josie simply shook her head. "I'm not afraid of you, anymore. Because I'm holding the axe."

     Ryan blinked, almost missing how the axe held in Dark Josie's hands popped into Josie's.

     Dark Josie swirled her hand and chanted, "finidus. I just bound you to this cabin. You're trapped here forever.

     A small smile formed on Josie's lips. "I'm not trapped. Because we're not in the cabin, anymore."

     Ryan jolted as his body dropped and the world shifted around him. The huntsman's cabin disappeared, morphing into the decrypted, stone ruins. He snapped to where Josie faced the Black Magic manifestation. Her stained, peasant dress shimmered into a yellow gown adored in colorful flowers. The same dress her illusion wore when Ryan and Hope first entered her mind.

     "And – if you use your magic against me, it hurts you, too," Josie told her evil counterpart. "But most importantly – you're not wearing armor, anymore."

     The metallic plate that covered Dark Josie's dress vanished, exposing her black clothes to the night air.

     Without another thought, Josie swung out with the axe and sliced into Dark Josie's chest. She yanked her double down onto the stone table to her left. Dark Josie grunted, wheezing as the blade remained deep in her flesh.

     "It's over," Josie stated with a newfound confidence about her.

     Dark Josie scoffed, trying to pull the axe from her chest. "It'll never be over. As long as you have Black Magic in you, I will always find a way back."

     Josie crouched next to her and said, "we'll see." She leaned forward and placed a kiss onto Dark Josie's forehead, before she stood to her feet and turned her back to the defeated double.

     Ryan could not help the smile that formed when Josie looked his way. "You did it."

     "Thanks to you and Hope," Josie replied as she moved to stand in front of him.

     Ryan shrugged. "Eh, I think it was more you. After all, we are in your head."

     Josie released a long breath. "Speaking of," she reached out to him with her palm up, "I think it's time we get back to the real world."

     Ryan looked to her hand and up to her warm, brown eyes. The eyes of the real Josie. His Josie. His smile brightened as he set his hand into hers. "Gladly. Your fairytale one is mad creepy."

     Josie chuckled, gripping his hand tightly when the world faded around them. 

<July 23, 2020>

I actually really hate this chapter. Especially the ending. But I can't really do much else considering the season stops here. At least, for now. 

This is gonna be that last chapter for a while. Legacies is supposed to start back up in January, so we'll see what happens then.  

Don't forget to vote and comment. 

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.