Otherworldly (Hope Mikaelson)

7-What Will You Choose?

"A kitsune? What even is that?" Lexi asked as she sat beside her father. Her unconscious sister was in the next room.

"Look, I know it's a lot to understand-" Hope begam, but was cut off by the dark haired Warner girl.

"You were supposed to protect Lucy!" Lexi snarled, eyes glowing red briefly. Zach and Hope shared a glance.

"Alexis, it is my deepest regret that I did not see Mundus coming." Zach said in his most placating voice. If Lucy was hurt, it would be on him. He should have sensed Mundus before he was coming.

"Mundus?" Lexi asked, her lips formed in an 'O' shape as if she were about to start ranting. "Who-?"

Malcolm placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder. Lexi immediately shut up, but her anger would not simmer. It was like a raging wildfire. Zach could practically see flames coming off of her.

"You're saying my daughters are some magical fox creatures?" The older man looked even older, a haunted look on his face.

"Your wife... how did she die?" Hope asked, her mind whirling. Some deep repressed memory from when she had no humanity was trying to surface. The tribrid could feel a headache coming on.

Malcolm cleared his throat. "Animal attack, they said. They found her in the woods outside our former home."

Hope's face became as haunted as the man in front of her. A flash of a beautiful brunette surrounded by snow and blood, a brief taste of blood forming on her tongue. Hope knew she was the reason for killing his wife.

"Your wife may have been a kitsune." Zach explained, ignoring Hope's weird behavior. "A kitsune is a shape shifting fox creature. People who are born with the kitsune blessing can trigger their powers by sacrificing something of the utmost importance to them."

"So then what did Scarlet sacrifice?" Lexi asked.

"We were hoping you could help us understand." Zach said, glancing at the room the redhead was resting in. Even after Hope's spell wore off, the girl continued to sleep.

"I think I know.." Hope said, her voice quiet. "She knew where to find me, specifically. She tried to attack me. Whatever she sacrificed had to do with her mother."

"What makes you say that?" Malcolm asked.

"Because I'm the one that killed her."

~~~

Scarlet's brain was fuzzy. She felt disoriented. She knew everything, her name, age, who the President was. Yet, something nagged at her, a dull ache in her heart. It was almost as if there was something she needed to remember, but couldn't.

Scarlet startled as she found that she could hear the voices in the other room pretty clearly, as if they were right outside the door instead of in the living room. Even her eyesight seemed sharper than before she had landed herself on the hospital.

Suddenly, Scarlet remembered how she turned into some sort of fox.. thing. She also remembered finding her... someone's killer. She knew this murderer had taken someone imported from her, but she couldn't remember who. She only knew that the murderer was close. She could practically hear that monster's voice.

The redhead opened her bedroom door, stepping out into the living room. A low snarl traveled from her chest to her throat, her blue eyes crackling like lightning.

Hope stood defensively, her hands ready to cast a spell.

"Stop!" A golden blast of power left Zach's hand, pulsing through the whole room. Everyone stopped immediately, their powers seemingly cut off.

"You! You killed-!" Scarlet's growl was cut midway as she failed to recall who Hope had killed.

"Our mother!" Lexi reminded her, wishing she could access the kitsune part of her. If she could, she and her sister could double team the murderous bitch.

"Sacrifice something important. Your sister chose her memories of your mother, so what will you choose?"

Lexi heard a whisper, like it was coming from right behind her. Instead of being startled by it, her mind began thinking over what exactly she could part with. She had a moment to think of losing the memories of their father, because he was still alive and they could make new ones, before a raging inferno engulfed her. She felt her body shift and change in ways it never could before.

Zach stared in awe as the older Warner girl turned into a gorgeous black fox with burning red eyes. In the light, the black fur seemed to crackle and shimmer like ignited coals. Upon closer inspection, the ends of the black fur were tiny embers.

Scarlet had a moment of shock before she turned into the beautiful red orange fox. The ends of her fur crackled with electricity.

Both kitsune ascended upon Hope. Scarlet's muzzle was alight with electricity. Her sister mirrored her with bright orange flames.

Zach was about to use his powers again when he heard a loud thump behind him. He turned to see Malcolm Warner, unconscious.

No, not unconscious. He was barely breathing on the verge of death.

"Hope!" Zach called, thrusting his hand back and blasting the two fox sisters back. "It's Malcolm. He's about to die!"

Both kitsune stopped immediately, their focus turning to their fallen father. Lexi let out a loud whine while Scarlet bowed her head, ears flat against her head.

Hope grabbed blankets and tossed them over the girls. As a wolf shifter, she knew that shifting back to human meant you shifted back fully naked. She then turned her focus to the only human in the room.

She bit her wrist and held it up to Malcolm's mouth, trying to squeeze the blood down his throat. She could feel the life fading from him.

Hope sat back as the Warner girls shifted back, both of them huddling under the blanket.

"Dad? Daddy?" Lexi asked, her throat clogged with emotion.

"He's gone.." Zach said, realizing that he could no longer sense the human's heartbeat.

Lexi let out a choked sob. She had done this. She hadn't meant to, but she had. Maybe there was some miscommunication when she sacrificed her memories of her dad. Whatever the reason, it was entirely her fault.

Malcolm shot up, his normal brown eyes now a deep red color. Gray veins formed under his eyes momentarily before his face became normal again.

Zach and Hope turned to each other, startled. Hope's blood must have made it in time.

"What the HELL just happened?"