IN WHICH - The last thing that Hope Mikaelson expected when she came out of Malivore was to still be alive, the second last thing she expected was to be disowned by most of her living family, and the final last thing she expected was some ancient be...
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THIRD PERSON POV
CHAPTER 12
The silence after Sophia's death was deafening, but it didn't last long.
"Damn it, Hope!" Daryl's voice broke through the stillness, sharp and furious. He was on his feet in an instant, his fists clenched at his sides, his eyes wild with rage. "You promised—you promised you could fix her, and now she's dead!"
Hope's eyes flared with a fire that matched his. Her breath came in sharp, uneven gasps as her body trembled, not from sorrow, but from the fury that coursed through her veins. "Don't you dare put this on me, Daryl!" she shouted, her voice cracking with the weight of her own guilt and anger. "You forced me to do this. You pushed me into it! You made me believe I could save her, and now you want to blame me?"
"Yeah, I am blaming you!" Daryl's face was red, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like it would snap. "You didn't know what the hell you were doing! You never know what you're doing. You think you can just fix things with your blood, your magic? Look at her, Hope! She's gone—and it's because of you!"
Hope stood, her hands shaking with the intensity of her anger, her fists balled at her sides. "You think I wanted this to happen? You think I wanted her to die?!" She took a step forward, closing the space between them, her voice low and dangerous. "I did everything I could! And you—you forced my hand. You kept pushing, kept begging, until I couldn't take it anymore. You wanted to save her? You didn't think for one second that maybe I couldn't fix it?"
Daryl's eyes burned with fury. "You should've thought about that before you started messing with things you don't understand, Hope! You should've stopped when you realized you were out of your depth! "
"I'm not out of my depth!" Hope screamed back, her voice raw. "I've been trying to find a way to save people for months. And you don't get to stand there and tell me that I'm not doing enough! I've barely known you for three fucking days and you act like you've seen everything I've ever done!"
She was so close to him now, the space between them charged with pure, unfiltered anger. Hope could feel the magic inside of her seething, but she didn't use it to calm herself. No, she was too far gone in this rage. Too angry at Daryl, too angry at herself. "What did you want me to do, huh? Just watch her die? Stand there like some helpless—"
"Stop acting like you're the only one who cares!" Daryl interrupted, his voice rising. "I didn't want her to die either, Hope! But now she's gone, and you don't even know what you've created—what's left of her. You think this is over?"
Hope's face contorted with a mix of hurt and fury. "What are you talking about? What's left of her?"
Before Daryl could answer, a low, guttural sound interrupted them. It was a noise that sent a chill down their spines. Sophia's body twitched violently, her eyes snapping open, the pupils wide and unfocused. A low growl rumbled from her throat, not the weak sound of a dying girl, but something far more primal.
