the legacy of my legacies

Chapter 1

Hope Mikaelson was no stranger to disappointment creeping into her life from as early as she could remember, wrapping thorns around anything good; strangling the joy from her life before she could even realize it had been there. She remembered being told as a child that her father was an all powerful immortal being and practically untouchable by anything. Yet here she was at eighteen years old, both of her parents already dead- dust in the wind; leaving her all alone. It's been so long that she was now used to being alone, preferred it, actually. The solitude made it so no one could get close enough to hurt her like her parents have, she quickly became a master at shielding her true emotions, hiding behind sickly sweet smiles while pushing her true feelings to the deepest corner of her mind. Her true self became lost to even her, surrounded by thick walls that even the most tender of people couldn't reach.

Having to bury your entire family while everyone else is getting ready for prom isn't exactly the best way to become popular. She was an outlier, an enigma. However, things are only going to get worse. What do you get when you mix emotional vulnerability, a crush spanning years, and the idiotic idea to lock herself up in her room to self loath? Well, you get everything that could possibly go wrong, and here she was, her life spiraling out of control. Why don't we get into exactly how that happened?

The day started out with the whole student body filled with the stress of winning the Mystic Falls Pageant. Hope however, had no intention of even going to this thing, but Lizzie somehow had it in her head that Hope was sure to win. The prodigal daughter had the trauma card on her side that was sure to guilt the judges into voting for her. Hope loathed to use her unfortunate life to win a stupid pagent, but here we are. The hardest part tonight is no doubt wearing the dress that was bought by her father for Caroline. The thought ripped a healing wound right open. As if it couldn't get worse, her man child boyfriend was mad at her for something she was unaware of. The energy to tend to Landon was depleting by the seconds. She had done enough for the day, and decided it was for the best to just go to bed and wash off any remnants of tonight's activities. Hope had the keys to Alaric's office and stole the half-drunk whiskey from under his desk.

A couple hours of drinking and painting in her oversized sweatshirt and maroon red stained sweatpants left her with a much needed calmed aura. Being a tribrid does have many perks, unfortunately one of them does not include the ability to get drunk. Hope has cleaned out the bottle and only feels a slight ting of sobriety fading. The moon has risen in the sky shining so bright, it casted a perfectly crafted shadow over her painting. She had worked on this piece of art for weeks now and used acrylic to create faces that resemble beasts and forgotten deities. Crafting a scene of love between societies unknown. Hope would be lying if she didn't paint so much to feel closer to Klaus. The brush strokes remind her of before he abandoned her.

There was a faint knock on the door only heard because of her increased hearing. Hope ignored it and pleaded that the stranger would go along if she stayed quiet.

Another knock, followed by a soft "Hope" caught her attention.

That was the voice of Josie Saltzman. The burning desire to answer the door and see the girl behind it was as overwhelming as it had always been. Hope knew from an early age that the beautiful gemini witch was someone she needed to be around. They only recently got close, but the amount of wasted time the younger girl spent on the forefront of Hope's brain was agonizing. They were never to be more than friends. Still the pull to set aside her own desires for the pleasure of Josie's got the best of her and Hope opened the door.

The sight that beholds her was heart wrenching. Josie was in a ravishing black strapless floor length gown, and a bun so compact not a hair was out of place. A single tear rolled down her cheek and you could tell she was trying to talk, the words kept getting caught in strangled shuddering sounds. Hope sighed,