IN ANOTHER LIFE , josie saltzman ✔️

44. No Queens

After Rafael getting send to a prison world with his parents, a musical on the school grounds, the Necromancer's appearant defeat, Landon getting turned goo and the school losing almost all of its students which lead to new students enrolling... well, I came back for the time being. Who cares what happened in the meantime?

I stood in my old room and sat down on Hope's bed, the aforementioned being somewhere else. The only person I'd seen was Lizzie and she was loathing me from a distance. I picked up my book I'd retrieved from Hope's drawer and put it on my lap. The blue stone I once gifted Josie was currently sitting on Hope's nightstand. "Excuse me. Who are you?" A person said as the door opened and closed. I turned my head to the dark-skinned, medium heightened teenaged girl infront of me. "Amaya Mikaelson. Who are you?" I asked and stood up. "So, you're Amaya? Wow." She asked and I lifted an eyebrow. "That's what I just said, isn't it? What are you doing here in my room?" I said in return and she chuckled. "Your room? I'm sorry. Since you've been gone for so long, Hope chose me as her new roommate." She said and I sighed. I shook my head as I remembered. "Right, of course." I smiled and she stepped away, seemingly scared at my changed behavior. "Decaeus memorae." I said and lifted my hand, forming my hand to a fist. I exited the room and closed the door behind me as the spell took effect. The almost normal tingling feeling didn't kick in, but I shook the thought off.

I quickly left the school grounds and walked into the town, setting myself down in the town square on a bench. "Amaya?" I had opened my book to the page where I had placed the bookmark in and looked up to where the voice came from. "Josie." I sighed in relief and stood up to hug her. "God, I missed you so." I whispered in her neck and put my arms around her waist. "I missed you, too. And you've missed so much." She said and glowed. We sat down on the bench and I held her hand as she told me that she now goes to Mystic High. "There's this girl, Finch, who gave me the tour who apparently can't take a hint." I chuckled and then looked at her. "Can we not talk about some girl from Mystic High? How is everyone else?" I said and she nodded, putting her head on my shoulder. "Well, Lizzie's told me that you've said some really mean things to her. What's going on with that? With you." She asked quietly and her hand slipped out of my own. I looked down and took a deep breath. I couldn't lie to her. "I had to. There's, um, this shady organization that kills revilas all around the world. They're creating clones to gain more information about the person's life while they get into their target's head and extract memories, experiences. All the things that makes a person... a person." I explained and she lifted her head, looking at me. "How do you know all this?" She asked and took my hand again. I put my other hand on it. "Because that's what they did to me, Josie." I whispered softly and looked down. "And that's why I left. I spent weeks in Meridial with Ruby, reading thousands of books, only to be told that there's this whole other species called fae and I wouldn't be surprised if they had actual wings. And then there's this Astoria Chamberlain, probably a relative of Sophia, who's presumably behind the killings." I rambled and let out a deep breath. "Sometimes I just want to go to sleep and never wake up. And I know how this sounds, but truth be told, I mean it. Josie, I can not do this any longer. First Malivore, whom we can't defeat because he's constantly popping up. And now this? I... I can't." I cried out and put my face in my hands. My cheeks felt hot and probably flushed red but I didn't care. "Sometimes I just feel so alone that I wanna die. Because it's constantly me against the world." I cried into my hands and Josie put her arm around me and hugged me. "You're not alone. Whatever will come, I am by your side." Josie told me and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, and I sobbed. "You're not alone." She whispered again.

Josie and I spent the afternoon in the town, sitting on benches, outside of cafes and the Grill. She helped me understand my own notes and spells, even though they were revilas written. I told her about Ruby and Alya, and the Orders. I just wished I knew how it all tied together. "Whatever all this means... this was born hundreds of years before I was." I muttered as I turned a page. "Rose Carter, luna magicae." I whispered and looked up to Josie. "Luna magicae?" Josie asks before she tilted her head down and continued to read. "Apparently..." I scoffed and continued reading out loud. "a rank... in the Regulus Order. Just under grand magicae, which is Alya now. And has been since 400 years." I raised an eyebrow and closed the book in my lap. "Astoria Chamberlain, the fae of the underworld?" Josie snickered as she read and looked up to me. "Fae? What, like a fairy? With-with the pointy ears and the-the wings?" Her melodic laugh sounded and I looked down on the grass. "Amaya?" Josie asked quietly and I folded my hands together. "So, um, they don't actually have wings anymore but they do have pointy ears, so, yup, there's that." I said and looked down on my hands. "I know how it sounds, okay?" I looked up and saw Josie stifle a chuckle. "The thing is, they're all so very beautiful, but obviously poisonous and deadly. You spend five minutes with one and you feel yourself compelled to never leave their presence." I said and recited a passage from a book I'd read and memorized early on in life. "It's complicated. I actually never saw one. I only know what I heard."