The Young and Gifted

76. gestures of care and love

Hope's vision cleared to the familiar library of SBS and usually, she would have felt relieved to see the shelves and chairs once more. But she knew what the cost was. "Josie?" She called hopefully but the library was completely empty.

She rapidly swung the door open to try and find help because the witch was a priority. She was too concentrated to notice that people were staring at her marching down the halls. Hope's eyes landed on the figure she was looking for and she said, "Ric—" 

The principal turned around and narrowed his eyes. "You're not a student here—" Ric stopped talking and his pupils fluttered white for a brief second before he gasped. Then his normal eyes returned to hers. "Hope."

A smile broke through her face and she bolted for him, throwing her arms around him. "You don't know how much I've wished to hear that. I never thought I would see you guys again," she chuckled with tears of joy in her eyes.

Ric returned the hug and pulled away to look at her. "You're...you're back. I didn't even know you were gone."

She swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, the effects of the Legendarium. You only remembered me as a story of hope, like you remember the other monsters as just stories." Hope then recalled the situation at hand. "We'll catch up later. But Josie is in trouble."

His face instantly dropped with imminent concern. "What sort of trouble?"

Hope sighed deeply, nervously rubbing her arm. "I'm pretty sure she told me she became the Legendarium Master."

*

In seconds, nearly the entire school was familiar with Hope's return. And the fact that last year wasn't caused by an earthquake but mythical monsters.

Hope and the teachers were all in the room with her, welcoming her back. Caroline seemed concerned and happy at the same time. "I can't believe you jumped into the book to save us."

Hope shrugged. "My Aunt always told me that the biggest gesture of care and love are the ones you never see."

Dorian cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt but we need to figure out what is really happening if the Legendarium is back into play."

"You think it corrupted Josie like it did to Jo?" Ric said in a small voice.

Caroline paced around and Vincent shoved his hands down his trouser pockets. "By the sounds of it, the Legendarium holds immense power, right?"

"And it can't be destroyed, only nullified. I accepted to become a part of it if it stopped causing harm," Hope explained.

Davina stared at the tribrid in front of her, not believe how much she's grown. The last time she saw Hope...she shook her head. "And from what I heard, the Legendarium is a keeper to powerful creatures. Why don't we just give it another powerful being to shut it up?"

"It's not that simple," Dorian said. "The book has always wanted Landon because the Pheonix has somehow escaped. Now that Hope also broke free, I doubt it'll be open to making any new deals soon."

"Where is Landon?" Hope asked, her heart already jumpstarting at his name. In her time of darkness, his face was the only one she held dearly. She spent most of her time drawing aspects of the people in her life to remember but Landon's was the only face she managed to draw fully. Being in the Legendarium...it was like a blanket of stillness and emptiness was thrown over her to drown her at every breath she took. To muffle her voice of hope and dreams and love. She understood why the Necromancer wanted to kill himself rather than return.

Just as she asked the question, the boy himself walked in. "What the hell is going on? Suddenly everyone is talking about some legend book and I can't find Stephanie—" Landon stopped short when his eyes fell to Hope. They turned white and all his memories of her came cascading back in one go. He flinched, massaging his temples before he whispered, "Hope."

Hope waited. Because on normal occasions, Landon would have run to her to hug her, kiss her, hold her. But he didn't. Instead, the Phoenix looked trapped in some internal decision and Hope narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Caroline stood up abruptly and approached Landon. "Did you just say Stephanie is missing?"

"I—" he said, shaking his head from his thoughts to look at the vampire. "The last time I heard about her she told me she was going to the library. We were supposed to meet 30 minutes ago and I can't find her anywhere."

Caroline ran a hand through her blonde hair, clenching her fist. "This cannot be happening. Elena will hang my insides out on the clock tower when she finds out."

"Who's Stephanie?" Hope asked, sitting up on her seat with blunt curiosity.

The entire room seemed to disregard her question and Vincent said, "I saw Josie enter the library and not long after, Stephanie did too."

"And according to Hope, the Legendarium and Josie are missing from the library," Ric informed.

Davina clicked the pieces together but she wasn't sure if that was what they wanted to hear. "You don't think...Josie took Stephanie, right?"

"First of all, that's not Josie. She's under the influence of the Legendarium," Caroline paced around the room. "It's holding Stephanie hostage."

"What does the book want?" Vincent asked.

"The same thing it always wanted," Dorian responded. "Landon." They all turned to the boy and you could tell he was uncomfortable under the gaze.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Legendarium is manipulative enough to know that Stephanie is important to Landon," Ric said.

"I'm still not understanding what's happening," Hope announced. "Who the hell is Stephanie?" And why is she important to Landon?

It was silent and the adults gave Landon the opportunity to speak for himself. He seemed to be struggling with his own words, let alone his own thoughts. "Stephanie is my girlfriend."

~

"Are you blackmailing me?"

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