Winter walked into the Salvatore School's courtyard, her eyes dark with the knowledge of what was to come. Hope had called her there, and she knew that it wasn't good news. She looked around, taking in the sights of the place that she had called home for so long.
"Hey, you okay?" Alaric asked from behind her.
Winter turned to face him. "I'm fine," she said softly.
"You don't seem fine," Alaric pressed.
Winter sighed. "It's just... everything is changing so quickly. People are moving on, and I'm still stuck here."
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked.
"I mean... Hope is gone, Landon is gone," Winter trailed off. "I'm still here, but I don't know why anymore."
Alaric put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to leave just because they did."
Winter nodded slowly as she looked into his eyes. "Maybe you're right."
Suddenly, Josie walked up to them, looking frazzled. "Guys," she said in a rushed tone. "Kurutta is back and there's an oni at Mystic Falls High School!"
"What?!" Alaric exclaimed as he started running towards the gate with Josie following closely behind him.
Winter took a deep breath before following them, knowing that whatever was coming next would be dangerous and could possibly change everything forever.
Hope sat by the Malivore portal in the Town Square, lost in thought about her father, Klaus, and Winter, her half-sister who was also a tribrid like herself. Suddenly, Lizzie and Josie came in for "portal duty". The tension was palpable between them.
Lizzie spoke first. "Hope, hey! So glad to see you here."
Josie noticed Hope holding the hologram prism and asked hesitantly, "Hey Hope, is that what I think it is?"
Hope nodded. "Yes."
Josie took it from her and examined it closely. "Wow, this is amazing! Where did you get it?"
Hope shrugged. "It's a long story. But I'm glad you like it."
Lizzie interrupted their conversation. "You know what? We're too strong to let one boy come between us!"
They all nodded in agreement, just as a new monster appeared from Malivore; the sphinx.
The girls were worried that they might be seen by passersby with the sphinx around. So they worked together to make themselves invisible as they defeated the monstrous creature.
Afterwards, Lizzie spoke up again. "Okay guys, that was awesome! But we need to talk about this awkwardness between us."
Josie added in agreement." Yeah and we need to talk about Landen too!"
The three powerful girls finally hashed out their issues and decided that nothing was worth tearing apart their bond.
As they walked away with a newly restored friendship; Alaric watched them with pride as he whispered to himself: "The power of female friendship is unstoppable"
