- Remember to comment and vote xx

1999

"Have you ever met Grandma?" MJ asked Ryos.

They were sitting in the back of the flower shop, eating lunch.

Their mum was talking to someone in the front, and they were only there because it'd been a half day for schools. They'd originally planned on going home, but their dad had been called by his brother. The pair had been talking for an hour or two and needed the space.

Their father had passed away, and their mother had refused to tell MJ's dad about it.

"Nope."

"Why aren't we allowed to meet her?"

"No clue," Ryos went a little quieter, "Dad was crying..."

MJ looked down, feeling guilty, "I know."

"I've never seen him cry before."

"Neither," She started to fiddle with the housekeys their mum had left on the table, "What do we do?"

"We don't do anything."

"We need to do something," MJ frowned, "Whenever we cry, dad cheer's us up."

"Yeah, because he's dad," Ryos shrugged, "He always knows the right thing to say."

Incredibly true.

"What are we meant to do?"

MJ didn't know.

She didn't understand her dad's family. She'd never even met any of them, and her Uncle was the only person who'd ever had anything to do with them. They were planning a holiday to visit him at some point.

"Can we make a promise?" She held her pinkie finger out.

He took it, "About what?"

"If you ever die, I don't wanna find out about it over the phone."

"You do know we don't get to pick how we die, right?"

She slumped a little.

"Hey," Ryos tapped her chin, "I promise that you won't find out about it over the phone. I'll be old and wrinkly and in a gross hospital bed."

"Stop!" She complained, "I don't wanna think about you dying!"

"You started the conversation!"

"Yeah, as a simple yes question! Not a storytime idea!"

He completely messed up her hair, "It's not like you have anything to worry about."

She gave him a look.

"We're kids. Neither of us are gonna die anytime soon."

"Why are you two talking about when you're gonna die?" Their mum walked into the room, pulling a disgusted face.

They didn't respond.

"Death is..." She shook her head, "Death is a natural part of life, but – "

She managed a smile.

"If I have any say in it, neither of you are going to die."

Ryos stuck his tongue out, "I don't wanna be a vampire."

"You're not gonna be a vampire," Ana laughed, "I just meant, nothing's gonna hurt either of you as long as I'm around, which means you don't have anything to worry about."

And their mother screamed indestructible, from the way she moved to the way she talked.

"Your grandfather was old, and death was the next step for him, but you?"

She bopped MJ on the nose while messing up Ryos hair.

"You're meant to live."

2012

It was an interesting day and a bit of build-up to...well, MJ didn't know.

The Travellers had captured Elena and Stefan thanks to Enzo messing with Luke.

Not only was MJ judging Luke for all his comments and his inability to notice Enzo was dead while tracking him – but now this. Ghost-Vicki-Donovan had tried to kill her, and she'd fought on through despite not being able to see her. The fact ghost-Enzo had managed to take on a witch and win was a little ridiculous.

Whatever.

Every time MJ did a tracking spell, by the time they got to the location, The Traveller's had moved, and Ryos would text her about how he could sense her trying to find him, sending her a countdown clock titled;

'How Long They've Agreed To Roll With My Plan.'

Meaning

'How Long Before the Travellers Try To Kill You.'

The way he was phrasing it gave her hope. It was The Travellers plan, not his. He. Ryos. Her big brother. He was trying to keep her alive, and because of that, and because she needed a bit of council about the mess that was her back, she finally caved and texted that she was ready to see him.

"I can't wait to watch you die."

"Once you're trapped with the rest of us, you might be helpful."

She'd managed to get about three hours of sleep, then the nightmares would get a little too real to handle, so she'd downed a coffee and an energy drink or two to keep Esther and a few other witches at bay.

"You know I'm right. You know you'll be the death of them."

The collapse of The Other Side was making it too easy for Esther to interact, so if MJ fixed that, she had to believe the nightmares would stop, and her head would stop feeling like free real estate to the crazy lady.

She didn't even know what Esther was trying to do.

It just felt like she was trying to scramble her brain, but her brain was also a lot stronger than it had been the first time Esther had hexed it, so it kept fighting back and kicking her out.

All her mind magic exercises from the summer were really paying off.

She was operating off of minimal sleep, and when she'd been awake, she hadn't exactly been safe either.

Ghosts could definitely sense her, passing through looking for ways to find peace. No matter how much MJ wanted to focus on writing spells to save the day, she was finding it harder to say no, especially to the ones who weren't talking about how much they wanted to see her die.

If she failed, the ghosts were getting sucked into oblivion.

The least she could do was try and help them see a certain place one last time, find an old soft toy, or visit a special spot.

She was exhausted, eyes tired from reading and writing, incredibly stressed, and getting sick of the hisses from the shadows. It was reaching a point where she didn't actually know how sunny or rainy it was because colour kept seeping in and out as more spirits appeared out of dark corners to whisper in her ear.

"MJ."

They were gonna make her snap, and MJ could not afford to snap.

"Let me come," Ty argued as she headed out of his house to the address her brother had given her.

"No."

"MJ – "

She waved her hand, knocking him out.

It was for his own good.

The house was in a more secluded section of town, a drive away from the rest of society, and it looked right out of a cheery sitcom or a Disney channel show. From the outside anyway. Pale yellow wood, a pretty porch and white fence – two floors and a tiled attic roof.

When she took her first step inside, beady eyes were watching as she searched for Ryos's face.

Ish.

She was actually searching for a face from Julian's head, and the second MJ saw her, she subtly bumped into her.

A woman called Maria.

"MJ!" Ryos called, coming down some stairs, "Welcome."

She just glared.

"Follow me."

She did.

Ish

As MJ walked through an open living room to a back room with a fireplace, Maria blinked.

It took MJ a moment to get readjusted in her body, carefully looking around. No one was watching her. She was Maria. Quiet. Just lost her husband and not connected to anything too important.

Her absence wouldn't be noticed.

She was the perfect head for MJ to jump into, splitting her consciousness.

'Maria' grabbed a jacket to make it seem like she was going on a walk, then slipped down a side corridor and flipped the hood up.

The first room she reached was Stefan, opening the door enough to slide in, looking him over quietly. Her friend was tied to a metal table, bleeding out to the point he couldn't really see anything, barely able to move as MJ undid his chains.

His hands were stained red, like a thick layer of wet paint, arms and chest opened up and dripping into buckets.

"Who's there?" He mumbled as the final lock dropped to the floor.

"Shhh," MJ knew Maria had some magic, but it wasn't anywhere near as strong as her own, so the healing spell she tried didn't do much, "Get out of here."

He crumpled to the floor slightly.

"Come on, Stef," MJ put her hands over the wounds to repeat another healing spell, "You've gotta go."

"You think doing this means you're a good person?"

He started to heal a little bit quicker.

MJ put his arm over her shoulder to move to the room opposite.

Elena's.

She was hung from the ceiling pipes, fresh cuts down her arms, blood all over her mouth. Looking at it made MJ's stomach turn, thinking of all the other similar set-ups she'd had to witness over the year, trying not to get too lightheaded. Disgusting and terrifying.

"We're getting sucked into a hole in the sky."

"Save us."

Elena saw figures coming towards her, raspy breaths getting shallower.

For them to need that much blood...MJ was shaking her head.

She didn't wanna know how many Travellers were in Mystic Falls for them to need that much blood, and she didn't really want to think about what they were going to do with it. Another mass sacrifice to destroy the Other Side didn't make sense. That would just leave them all dead.

And the spell Ryos had given Bonnie had only mentioned the blood briefly.

Elena's sweaty face finally relaxed a little when she realised who it was, "Stefan..."

"Elena," He went to her side to untie her.

"Run," MJ stressed, "Call Damon, and get as far from here as you can."

She was shrinking away, wanting to be subtle since inhabiting a Traveller was about more than just getting her friends free.

"I'll find you later."

She needed to stay in the body to get as much information as possible first.

As Maria started to make casual conversation with a few of the other Travellers, the actual MJ stopped in the doorway to the fireplace room. Markos was sitting in the chair, a stern look on his face as he stared at the crackling fire, a little bit of blood on his cheek, and a presence that made MJ nervous

"You're wasting time when we need your help."

"I've always wondered what meeting one of you would be like," He didn't even look at her.

"One of me?"

He didn't respond.

"Floare or Siphoner?"

"The latter."

"Well," She looked to Ryos, who seemed far too relaxed as he nodded for her to go in, "Nice to meet you, I guess."

"You don't mean that."

"You're right," She nodded, "I don't. But I was raised with some manners."

Ryos snorted, "Not true."

She really stared at him.

Her brother's face, yet a guy she was slightly terrified of.

What if he did want to hurt her?

How the hell was she supposed to react to that?

He was wearing a satin short-sleeved pattern shirt, only half done up, properly exposing the intricate lines of the tattoos, as well as a collection of marks on his skin she'd never seen before. Fingernail-like shapes that seemed to have been pressed into him rather than inked, four talismans around his neck.

Two looked identical, bronze and silver shields with black detailing, then a bone slab with a protective rune on the front – almost like a case. Then, the final string decorated with three-wire rings, tiny stones pressed into the top of them.

The linen trousers with the wrapped bottoms just felt too like the nomads she'd met.

MJ couldn't picture him hurting anyone. He was a peacekeeper, a doctor—someone who volunteered in orphanages.

But Tyler had seen him slit someone's throat.

He was a witch, just as much as she was, and he had their mother's blood in his veins too.

Ana Ruiz had been raised by pacifists.

That hadn't stopped her from almost singlehandedly wiping the Travellers out.

"I actually have a question or two," MJ tried to stay focused, "If that's allowed?"

Ryos perched on the internal windowsill, "Of course it is."

"I wonder if possession's a thing...would I be safe if I possessed you?"

"It's for Markos," MJ ignored the stabbing feeling in her head, "So I'd appreciate it if he looked at me?"

A spirit was unsuccessfully trying to work out how he could possess her.

She was incredibly happy the guy wasn't a witch.

"Stop wasting time."

Just because he wouldn't succeed didn't mean his attempts weren't causing white spots in her visions, triggering a migraine.

"Vermin don't deserve to be looked at."

"Ignore him," Ryos waved a hand, "He's in a mood because of what you did to Julian."

"Sorry," MJ crossed her arms, feeling guilty enough about that already, "But, not to point out the obvious, locking him in Ty was a death sentence anyway. If you're planning to destroy all magic."

"A death on our terms," Markos stood up suddenly.

"So sorry to be an inconvenience," MJ glared up at him, "Take the warning. Don't hijack my best friend."

Silence.

"Anyway," Ryos prompted, "Questions?"

"Why wipe out all magic?"

Markos gave her a bored look, "That's your question?"

"One of them," She nodded, "I was raised to believe it was all Floare versus Travellers – well, Floare don't even practise ancestral magic. For all you know, wiping it out won't even stop them; it'll just stop everyone else."

"You see, we have a dilemma," Markos kept his body still as he talked, "At our core, Travellers are Floare. Our magic is outside of the ancestors because it's theirs."

MJ processed that, "You can't wipe out their magic without wiping out your own."

He didn't bother responding.

He didn't even bother to nod.

MJ felt herself zoning out a little.

She couldn't let herself. Any slip might cost her the hold she had on Maria.

"And it's not about the curse itself," He was back to looking at the fire, "The Floare cast it to keep peace with the ancestral witches. Because those witches gave them a choice."

There was a lot of intergenerational hate that MJ didn't like.

"Even if they still have some sense of their magic in our new world, it won't be anywhere near as powerful."

"This isn't just about freedom," MJ followed, "It's about complete and total revenge."

"I have a lot of people I want revenge on right now."

"I bet you do too."

"Revenge on everything witches stand for; every grimoire, talisman, vampire, and even those daylight rings your friends wear."

"You want revenge on your brother for abandoning you."

"On the witches for casting you out."

"What's your problem with vampires?"

As annoying as the ghosts were, if MJ interacted with any of them, someone would comment about her having voices in her head. She wasn't in the mood to be called crazy again.

"Crazy."

"They're perversions of pure magic," His tone was calm and to the point, "I'm going to destroy any perversion to restore natures true balance."

"And what if that just makes it worse?" MJ started to look around the room, "What if nature's happy as is?"

"It isn't."

"How would you know that? You've been dead for over a thousand years."

"I've been watching the world crumble for over a thousand years."

"Warning," Ryos said jokingly, "My sister is a sympathiser to the creatures of the night."

"They've been a natural part of the world for so long that wiping them out would create a power vacuum," MJ pointed out, "It's like...when you kill all the foxes, you get a squirrel infestation that destroys the plant life."

It was a bit of an odd example, but it was where her brain went.

"You need every part of an ecosystem. Removing a variable doesn't do any good."

"Mira."

She started to move her hands a little, ignoring the whisper outside the window.

"Magic is the same. You can't wipe it out without actually causing a bigger disbalance."

"I'm wiping the world clean, and maybe you're right," He shrugged, "It will be chaos."

"MJ."

"Siphoner"

"Listen to us."

"But then it will settle, and the world will be a better place."

"One I won't be alive to see," She added.

"You will be," Ryos didn't miss a beat, passing her first small test.

Markos rolled his eyes, "Your situation is an interesting one."

"Interesting?" MJ didn't want to know how much information Ryos had told Markos about their life.

"You're destined to kill each other," He gestured between them.

"We're not."

"Either he kills you in a sacrifice to release your magic, or you kill him."

"To gain what?"

"Nothing," Markos smiled, "You kill because it is your nature."

"Let me take control."

MJ shivered.

It wasn't her voice.

That was what she had to remember.

All the voices were just witches trying to manipulate her to do bad things. The things they said weren't her thoughts. They weren't her true self. MJ knew that Markos wasn't correct either. If she did a weird ritual and killed Ryos, she'd gain a natural store of magic that would stop the magic deficiency and the reaction to dark magic.

But she'd be killing her brother.

"Why Mystic Falls? Why start it where so many people will try to stop you?"

"It's nice, has a rich history, and," He eyed up the room, "It can be easily changed."

That wasn't incorrect.

"Now!"

If he'd picked a big city, too many people would question what was going on, and he'd actually have to think about space and architecture. He could make Mystic Falls a blank canvas pretty easily by just overthrowing the unstable council.

"The reason I wished to bring you here," He rubbed his hands together, "You will gift your brother your family line."

"No chance."

"You will – "

"Or what, you'll get your little cult to start chanting and make me?"

Silence.

"You're not exactly the most terrifying group of people in the world, and I could definitely take you."

Internally, MJ felt like her skin was crawling, but she didn't need to let them see that.

"Them, maybe," Ryos clicked the bone talisman, "What about me?"

She was right. It was a case, and inside sat the three stones Julian had told her about, slightly different shapes; blue, green, and red. Red meaning he'd stolen the Essí stone she'd stolen from him back from the Tibetan troupe she'd left it with. The Péthane had kept theirs safe in Egypt, the Asey in India still had their's, she had the Aonso, and then the missing Travellers Stone.

...Confirmation some Floare had it hidden away somewhere, MJ assumed.

"Ryos..."

"I don't wanna fight, MiMi," He said softly, "I just want the Aonso Stone so I can do the spell properly."

"You shouldn't be doing the spell at all!"

"Shouldn't I?"

"You don't need to destroy all magic to save me."

"But I do."

"Then it's not worth it."

"It is!"

MJ was about to yell back, but he kept talking.

"Really think about it!" Ryos pushed his hair back, "You know my stance on magic, and vampires, and all of this bull, and tomorrow morning? It could all be gone."

"...I don't want it to be, though..."

"So the rest of humanity should suffer because you've been Stockholm Syndromed by groups of serial killers?"

"He's not wrong."

"Drift away and let it be mine."

"No one else gets hurt the way we have. Because there's no magic to hurt them."

MJ thought about it.

"No vampires to kill parents."

She took a deep breath.

"No witches to demand sacrifices."

His entire life was a massive retaliation to their childhood.

"It wouldn't even kill wolves – it would free them from their curse.

"Do I need to die, Ryos?" She looked him in the eye, and she searched for her brother, "For a curse this big to break, you need a sacrifice of power. Am I that sacrifice?"

He stood up, face dropping.

"Ryos?"

"What's happened to us?"

She didn't know what that meant.

"You're looking at me like I'm the monster."

"It's because you're unstable and manipulative, and he deserves better."

She closed her eyes to stop herself from welling up.

"When you're living with the Original Family."

Her knees felt weak.

"When you can't even stay in a city for more than a year and a half because the supernatural life tears everything apart. When I'm trying to keep you alive – and you decide, I'm the evil one?"

"He'll realise you aren't worth it one day too."

"I think you've made your point," Markos was in front of her when she opened her eyes, "Either pledge yourself to our cause or give your family line to your brother so he can grant us full access to the magic inside it."

She looked down at her neck, knowing there was no point hiding it anymore.

She slipped her thumb into the daylight ring and took a step back, "No."

Markos grabbed her shoulders, trying to get in her head, only to get blasted into the opposite wall.

Ryos managed to put his hand up to catch him before his head hit back, dropping his partner back to standing.

"MiMi?"

"No..." Markos seemed interested in something for once, "That wasn't her."

Ryos raised an eyebrow.

MJ swallowed, "I think you might've gotten a wave of what's on my back?"

"You've been prepared."

"What?"

"Someone's prepared you as a host, then locked you off..." Markos started to smile, "Fascinating."

"Back up," Ryos shook his head, "What's he talking about?"

MJ tugged at the back of her shirt while turning around, showing the bottom puncture wounds.

"A ghost knocked me out, and I woke up with this."

"Nu-uh, no chance," Ryos was shaking his head, "I'll fix it."

"Let me in."

"Markos!" Someone rushed in, "The bodies have been stolen from the tunnels."

All heads turned to her, and she just laughed while putting her hands up.

"I honestly have no idea."

"You go deal with that," Ryos nodded to him, "I'll make sure she isn't tampered with and get her on board."

"Call me when you're ready," Markson followed the minion out of the room.

They were alone.

"Ry – "

"Turn around again."

"Ryo – "

"Mira," He spoke louder than her without yelling, "Someone's trying to jump into your body."

Probably Esther?

"Lie down and shut up so I can make sure it doesn't work."

She had wanted him to check it out for her anyway – hence why she'd decided to even come.

"He could kill you right now."

MJ lay on the couch in the living room, the house having been cleared of Travellers while they'd been chatting, and she rolled the back of her shirt up while Ryos got to work.

"Kill him first."

She didn't know what to say to him.

He was trying to help her by working with The Travellers and checking her back. But MJ would put up with The Travellers potentially hunting her down. She'd rather that than magic ceasing to exist. Especially since she felt pretty safe. Prior to Ryos, it seemed like they'd been dying off, and The Mikaelson's would keep her safe once the New Orleans hex was dealt with.

Her phone started ringing.

"Can I answer it?"

"You're not a prisoner, MJ," He ground some herbs into a paste in a bowl, "Call whoever."

"MJ," Josh's voice when she answered, "Um, have you spoken to Davina?"

"I've texted her to check in a few times, yeah."

"Has she said anything weird to you?"

"Not really – why?" MJ wanted to sit up, but she also wanted her back dealt with.

"Stop him."

"Purge yourself and be free."

"Because Marcel asked her to do something, and now she's telling me to skip town, and I feel like that's a bad combination."

A beat.

"Because I may have had something to do with the Feast of Blessings situation."

Something she'd already known.

"But I haven't exactly been called to the front lines since, and I'm majorly – "

"Josh!" MJ stopped him, "Breathe."

He did.

"If Davina's telling you to get out of town, get out of town."

"Seriously?"

"I told Marcel to make peace. I told Klaus to make peace. But if they're not doing that?" She sighed, "They're not the ones who are gonna end up dead Josh, it's the rest of you. Get out of town."

Josh was tapping something, "There was another attack."

"What?"

"Marcel captured Jackson and put him in a room full of explosives."

"You're kidding me!"

"No."

"Men are stupid!"

He managed a laugh.

"Josh, genuinely," MJ stressed, "Stay as far from it as you can."

"Relinquish control and free yourself from everything."

"I'll...I'll try."

She paused.

"I can't leave Davina."

"Jo – "

"Like, you and her, and Sam and Cami," He sounded shakey, yet decided, "You guys have been, like really good friends through all this...I can't just leave her to deal with it."

"Then..." She hated not being there, "Stay safe, stay hidden. I'll call her to tell her to stay out of it too."

"Thank you."

Marcel shouldn't have got her involved.

"And, while you do that, can you see if she's been sleeping? Because she kept looking around me like she could see something I couldn't, and she looked really tired."

"Will do," MJ knew that type of expression, "Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

She texted Jackson to check that he was okay then flicked through her contacts.

MJ knew her brother was eavesdropping as he moved the paste onto a long bandage, but she focused on dialling Davina. All her worries and fears about her situation disappearing around her other life. She could focus on them and pretend Ryos wasn't about to wipe out every supernatural species out there.

"MJ," Davina spoke awkwardly, "Hey."

"Josh snitched on you," She didn't sugar-coat, "What's Marcel got planned, and why is he involving you when he knows that'll just get you on Klaus's hit list?"

"He's not properly involving me," She defended, "He just asked me to do a few small spells."

"That's involving you, D. What's going on?"

Silence.

"Davina."

"What's going on with The Other Side?"

"What?"

"You're with the root of the problem, right?"

MJ looked to her brother.

She had been caught up by Bonnie about the fact he'd led the spell to burn the Travellers up so Markos, the stone-faced bore, could come back to life and destroy everything.

"Yep, I'm with the problem."

Ryos almost smiled.

"Just how bad is it?"

"It's falling to pieces, and spirits are being sucked to hell."

"And are you stopping it?"

"I'm going to try to," She went tense as the bandage got pressed into her spine.

Then, MJ realised something.

"A spirit's hounding you, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't say hounding."

"Davina. Stay away and don't do anything they want."

"Why not?"

"Spirits aren't something to mess with, and unless it's someone you know, they're taking advantage of you. It will go wrong and get somebody killed."

"I think I can handle it."

"D – "

"You were telling me to be more confident."

"In magic," MJ stressed, "Magic that helps."

"This could help."

"What is the spirit offering you?"

"Revenge."

"Definitely no!"

"Fine," Davina said too quickly, "It's not like I know how to help him anyway."

"Him?"

"The spirit's a guy. What about it?"

"Just, okay, do not make deals with spirits."

The ghosts in the room with her were giving her judgey looks.

"I've been doing it most of my life, and it's exhausting, and it usually causes someone to die."

Her way to save her ghosts was getting a bit messy.

"For my peace of mind, don't do it."

Davina sounded like she was caving, "I'll tell him to shove it."

"Thank you."

Another bandage got placed, and Ryos began to chant.

Davina could just about hear it, "What's going on with you?"

"A ghost did something to me. I'm getting it removed."

"Oh!"

"I'll be fine," MJ didn't want Davina worrying about her, "I'm just in for a bit of a crazy day. Talk to you soon."

"Soon."

She put down and listened to the spell, watching the way her brother's tattoos had a light glow to them that felt otherworldly. There was a warm fire as the marks on her spine faded to nothing.

She still didn't move from the sofa once it was done, "Thank you."

"I can't leave you as an open head," He smiled, patting for her to come up, "What ghost was it?"

"Just some angry witch."

If she told him, he'd turn it into another lecture about the Originals.

"Well, your safe from her now."

"Are you, though?"

"You could be safer."

With The Travellers sent on missions across Mystic Falls, MJ's subconscious was still in Maria, and she'd gotten in the first car she could find and begun to drive. Markos was going to talk to Damon about the bodies, apparently, which meant Elena and Stefan still weren't back with him, which was a problem.

It meant MJ would have to keep two bodies going for a little longer, which was starting to drain her.

Lying on the sofa had been a nice moment of rest. Once MJ had been 'healed,' Ryos had started to reminisce about small things from their childhood, giving her a bit of an opportunity to zone out on him; smile, nod, and give basic responses while focusing on Maria.

She finally found the pair of them on a back road back to Mystic Falls, Elena waving her hands in the air and talking to the universe, Stefan holding his thumb out in the hopes of hitch-hiking.

"Not what I was expecting..." Elena commented as she noticed Maria in the driver's seat, rolling down the window.

"Alright," Stefan leant in to compel her, "Let's cut to the chase. You're giving us a ride."

"Seriously, Stef," She nodded to the back, "Get in."

They both tensed.

"Do I know you?" He asked slowly.

"Momentary catch-up, my name might actually be MJ, and you might love me just a little bit."

Elena's eyes went wide, "MJ?"

"I got invited to the hideout, jumped half my mind into the easiest target, then broke you two out," She caught them up, "Now get in the back since The Travellers are coming for you."

They didn't waste time after that announcement, seeing some blood bags waiting for them and started to feed. It wasn't enough to get them back to full strength, but it was a lot better than what they'd been able to find in their journeys. They also explained that they'd phoned Damon, and part of his Traveller body stealing was to try and buy them a little time.

"It was too risky to haul you out of there myself," MJ was then explaining why she'd taken a hot minute to track them down, "So I had to circle back."

"So, you're just here with us," Stefan clarified, "And your brother?"

"It's...I would ask one of you to drive since it's really hard to do it well when you see two locations, but I also don't think we'd be safer considering the bloodlust deliriums."

"You might have a point," Elena agreed, "Um...thanks,"

"I wasn't about to leave you guys hanging. Literally."

"How long have you been able to do this type of stuff?" She asked, "Because like, you're fully in control of another person's body right now, and I'm torn between thinking that's really cool and being incredibly concerned."

"My summer was pure magic training," She repeated, "And New Orleans, man. All the witches there are trained from childhood. I have to work way harder than I did here to keep up."

She couldn't exactly teach magic if she didn't know magic.

"And then you factor in working with larger amounts of magic more consistently through siphoning Klaus and Elijah, and you get little old me able to pull off crazier tricks."

"How long's it gonna last?" Stefan checked.

"No clue," She answered honestly, "First time doing it, and I'm low on sleep, and I need magic in case Markos tries to kill me, so...I'm getting you guys as far as I can, then tapping out."

"We'll be able to drive whenever you have to go."

"Thank you again," Elena rubbed her own neck, "And uh, I know I already said it on the phone call, but thank you for the ripper virus stuff."

It was technically their first face to face conversation post-Katherine, and MJ was happy to say...she was chill about it. She wasn't Elena's friend, but they also didn't need to be friends to be polite to each other. And MJ cared about Stefan.

It infuriated her a little that Elena seemed to think she and Damon were like her and Kol, but until MJ actually brought Kol back to life, she'd bite her tongue.

"Risky Move."

"Your mind is already fractured. That means you're open."

"It means you're weak."

"Seriously," MJ complained aloud, "You've followed me into someone else's head?"

Stefan leant forward, "MJ?"

"Witch whispers, ignore me," She focused on the road, "I haven't slept."

"Are you safe right now?"

"No."

"No clue."

"No clue?"

"Help us."

"The Traveller's spell is grounded in my brother's magic. If he starts it, I don't know how I'll stop it."

"So you're gonna make sure he can't start it?" Elena's tone was messy.

"He wants the necklace off me, which makes me think he's worried about something to do with it," MJ was planning on top of sharing two bodies, "I just need to work out what, and I need to get him the hell away from them since they seem to have mind-washed him."

"Mind-washed him?"

"They found him when he was eighteen and fed into all of his bad thoughts about the supernatural because he was a way for them to get power," MJ huffed, "I just need to wake him up to the crazy and get him out of there."

"Are you're sure you can handle that alone?"

"I'm sure."

She glanced at their faces and thought about the bodies she'd freed

"Did he do anything to you guys?"

Elena closed her eyes to rest for a moment, "I didn't even know he was in the house."

"He came in to see me," Stefan revealed, "Only once, though."

"And can you remember it?"

"He came in, made some apologies and started talking about 'a big picture I don't understand,'" He had a hand resting on the window, "And that you'll see the light soon enough."

"I didn't get an apology," Elena grumbled.

"I don't know, it was all really weird," Stefan pulled a face, "The whole coming around thing did feel a little brainwashed."

"Exactly!" MJ nodded, "And I'll get through to him."

She just needed to buy time.

"Bonnie told me you're part of the reason The Other Side is collapsing," MJ was still sitting on the sofa as Ryos relaxed into a chair.

"I am."

"Why?"

"I needed to bring Markos back."

"So he's a witch who can actually save us."

"Why?"

He shrugged.

She leant forward a little, "Ryos."

"Does the reason matter?"

"You've condemned a bunch of spirits to hell, so I'd say yes, I'd like to know why."

"It's," He moved his head like he was tapping his ears on his shoulders, "It's a complicated situation."

"That's not an answer."

"Just drop it."

"Markos is using you. You have to realise that."

Ryos looked bored, "He's not."

"You brought him back to life, and you can't give me a good reason why."

No response.

"You've been leading this group since you were eighteen," She repeated, "I went through Julian's head."

Seen all of his memories of how Ryos helped them on his own.

"And I honestly can't find a good reason why you needed Markos here. You knew how to get rid of the spell on the doppelgängers, and you know all the other spells. So why'd you need him here?"

"It's not that I needed him here, necessarily, but I did what I needed to do."

"Tenebris Anima Vestra Contundito Morte – "

MJ pushed the chanting to the back of her head, "You're not making sense."

"I am," He shifted to sit a little straighter, "You're just focusing on the wrong information."

"Fine," She growled, "I'll change my question – where are you getting all this cash from?"

Another thing in Julian's mind?

Ryos had been supplying The Travellers with the money to move around bigger distances, get from Europe to America, and start rebuilding lives even if they couldn't settle. And, on top of that, he'd been doing scientific work with unexplainable funding. She'd seen the Whitmore Accounts. She knew they weren't behind him.

"Augustine wasn't funding you."

"Nah," He dismissed, "Augustine was just a 'fun' side project for me."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that everything I ever gave them was developed for other reasons," He sounded smug, "They didn't pay me for research. They paid me for results."

Confirming what she already knew.

"So where'd the money come from?" MJ frowned, "Other people you were selling viruses to?"

He groaned in self-defeat, "Guess you caught onto the fact I made the ripper virus?"

"Little bit."

"Funny story about that," He stood up, "Wes was...he was always jealous."

An odd place to start.

"Not a magic fan, and this really funny thing happened."

MJ crossed her arms and watched how smoothly he moved around the room.

"I gave him this updated version of the ripper formula, so it would work on Damon," He used his hands a lot when he talked, holding a presence despite the fact she was the only one in the room, "Older vampires are stronger. They have more control...For it to work instantly, it needed a power-up, which actually came from a magical base I developed."

"And why's that funny?"

"Because he was so against using magic boosters."

MJ nodded for him to keep talking.

"It was witch ingredients, and the thing Wes did that was funny? Well, that werewolf venom update he did?"

A pause for the dramatics of it.

"He accidentally triggered something in the magic."

"...Because there's magic in the venom that reacted with the base you made," MJ finished the thought, "You think it's funny because he hated magic but indirectly did magic."

"Et Conteret Spiritum Frange Vitam Nolite Corde – "

He smiled at her proudly, "I'd already made a version of the virus that was deliberate, i.e. a lot more deadly, hence why I had a cure on hand."

"Why make cures?"

"What if I infect the wrong person?"

"You're making things to kill off a species you hate," MJ knew she was pulling a face, "Why does a cure matter?"

"I'm not an asshole, MJ."

"Debateable."

"Harsh."

"Earned."

"I'm not just planning on pulling a Wes and stabbing every vampire I meet with it."

"No, you're planning on wiping out all magic."

"Exactly," He nodded, "Faster, almost instantaneous death."

She groaned audibly.

"And no one has to kill anyone else."

"Still not understanding the cure making side," Her hands came out, "And still not hearing an answer about where you got the money from?"

"It's a power thing. Having a cure means people don't just kill me."

MJ could understand that.

Before she could force him to answer the question about where the money was coming from, her phone rang again.

She went to dismiss it – except it was Sam.

"You should take it," Ryos's features relaxed, like he was happy people were calling her.

That just put her more on edge.

"Digame?"

"Have you been told about what's gone on with the moonlight rings?"

"I was told Marcel filled a room with dynamite."

Sam made a funny noise, "Yeah."

"Sam," She glanced at her brother, "I'm kinda in the middle of something?"

"K, well, I'll be quick – Oliver's been acting really weird? Blonde guy – "

"That worked with the witches and tricked Rebekah?"

"That's the one. All up in Jackson's business, acting like a douche to Hayley, and I think he might be a mole or something."

"To who?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Sam sped up his words, "He's trying to start a revolution every five seconds, and I heard him talking to Francesca Correa over the phone."

"And we already know she's shady. Have you told Hayley?"

"Yeah, and she said Marcel told Elijah and Klaus that he got his bombs off her too."

MJ froze, "Which means she probably had something to do with The Bayou Attack."

"Exactly," Sam paused to say something to someone else, then got back to her, "I'm with Cami right now. Francesca came up to me asking some weird questions about the fact I was a werewolf in the vampire den months back, and I went straight to Klaus because I'm not an idiot."

"She doesn't know what you are?"

"I don't think anyone other than Jackson's realised."

MJ really thought about that.

"Only problem? We have no idea what her motivation is."

"And Cami?"

"She's been after my uncle's key," Cami's voice was calming to hear, "I've found a secret room and stuff Kieran had. Dark objects."

"Which is why we called," Sam summed up, "Did you take your notes on that type of stuff with you?"

"No, it's still in The Compound. Feel free to go get it to help you classify and understand stuff," MJ realised something, "You can get in, Sam?"

"I'll get it."

"Good luck," MJ went to hang up.

"Wait!" Sam said quickly, "Second thing about Francesca, she was avoiding your hands."

"She was."

"Did her brother's do the same?"

She thought about meeting them after the Feast of Blessings, "Yeah, actually. They did."

"Isn't that odd?"

"I thought it was really odd but didn't have much time to think about it."

"K," Sam was nodding.

"Why?"

"She made some comment about how much easier her life is without you around."

"Dammit," MJ should've clicked sooner, "She was trying to stop me sensing magic."

"It would make sense, right?"

"It would."

"It's just working out what she is, so we know what we're dealing with."

"Kieran had files on all the supernatural people in the city."

"He did?" Cami hadn't found them yet.

"In the back room at the church. Even if she's not in them, see if you can find a grandparent or something."

"How'd we find out her grandparent's name?"

"Correa is a family company. They'll be something somewhere online, um," MJ tapped a hand, "Kieran's stuff is all by name, and he did have some human files too in the green cabinet by the door."

"Thank you."

"Let me know if you find anything."

"Will do."

"Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

"Bye MJ!" Cami added.

"Have fun staying out of your family history," MJ teased before hanging up.

"No matter where you go," Ryos mused, "You end up with everyone relying on you."

"Rely?"

"Ut Sub Terra Esse, Ad Tenebras Usque In Sempiternum."

The voices hadn't underscored her life when she'd been on the phone, either time.

She didn't understand why, but she was grateful for the momentary break.

"Not in a bad way," He quickly said, "At least with New Orleans, it seems more like healthy communication."

"Something you're not good at."

"Wow!" He chuckled, "You're on an insulting me roll!"

"You're dodging my questions."

"I'm not dodging. They're just not important."

"You used to answer all of my questions."

"When you were six, and the questions were about stuff I was studying in school."

"Well, now I'm older, and I wanna know why you're destroying The Other Side."

A mouthful she'd never thought she'd have to say.

It felt ridiculous.

"You should be asking," He opened the curtains to look onto the street, "About the Gemini Twins."

"Why?"

"I did a spell with the girl one, Liv. Went in her head while I was channelling her."

"Breach of privacy."

"She was lying to everyone. I wanted to know why."

"You were lying to everyone."

"I wasn't lying. I was withholding information."

"Same thing."

"Massive difference."

"I don't care about the Gemini – "

"The Gemini Coven don't understand what they're dealing with when it comes to me."

"When it comes to The Travellers," MJ corrected, "You're not one of them, Ryos."

"True. They treat me like a god."

"You sound ridiculous."

"I don't."

"Who lets an eighteen-year-old lead people? They're using you!"

"Tenebris Anima Vestra Contundito Morte – "

"I have all the power, MJ," Ryos finally didn't call her MiMi demeaningly, "I have all the magic. All the information. And none of them question me on anything!"

There was a look in his eye that she didn't like.

"The Gemini don't know what they're doing," He repeated, "They think it's all tied to the doppelgängers. That their lives keep this going. Because I gave Liv and Bonnie a spell that said so."

"You told me it was just their blood, not their life force."

"And I didn't lie to you."

"But why did you need them to think that?"

"Because then the Gemini will be after them instead of me."

"You?"

"The spell is happening, and the blood ties everything together. Acts as a destructive force. But it's tied to us, our magic."

MJ's necklace felt heavier around her throat.

"You don't need to die, MJ, but you're right. A spell this big results in death."

"Which means?"

"The rush of death to power it will be the death of every supernatural creature who can't suspend themselves without magic. They die. You're free. No longer hunted for being born."

What the hell was MJ meant to say to that?

Call him crazy?

"Damon's little stunt with the bodies is really stupid," Ryos smiled, "You want to talk me out of this?"

His eyes turning blue despite the fact he wasn't using magic.

"You want to talk me out of this? You want me to help you find a way to undo the damage I've done to the Other Side and wake up from Markos's influence, but you've got it all wrong, MiMi."

"Et Conteret Spiritum Frange Vitam Nolite Corde – "

She slowly stood up.

"It's too late."

"The Travellers don't need their original bodies to do the spell," MJ stated the obvious, "Liz killed Matt; she's human, but it counted because of the Traveller in her head, so he got resurrected."

"This morning," He confirmed she was right without having to actually answer, "All that blood we took was distributed out. Even if we couldn't, the idea I'd be stupid enough to put all the bodies in one place for anyone to steal is insulting!"

"You?"

"I've cloaked most of them."

"Just how many Travellers are there in Mystic Falls?"

"Travellers are everywhere," He said simply, "They're the faces that surround you every day."

"Ut Sub Terra Esse, Ad Tenebras Usque In Sempiternum."

"The ones you don't notice," He was enjoying himself a little too much, "Their heads on straight."

It was getting harder to find the brother she knew in the guy in front of her, pinching her arm.

"Seeing magic for the poison it is."

"Magic isn't poison."

"You are, though."

"Look at yourself!" His voice got louder, "Your entire life, witch spirits have been trying to kill you. You never sleep. You overwork yourself to desperately please a bunch of creatures who will never deserve the help you offer."

She couldn't let herself think that was true.

"People die, over and over, because of those creatures – because you save the people who kill the innocent – For god's sake!" He shook his head, "Magic ruined our mother. It ruined our family, and it's time to break the cycle!"

"You sound ridiculous!"

"Look me in the eye and tell me magic didn't ruin you."

She went to say it.

But she couldn't.

Her eyes dropped, "You think I'm ruined?"

"Of course he does."

"Look at yourself."

"I think my baby sister? The little ball of energy who got paint everywhere and smiled every time she saw a flower? I think that girl never stood a chance."

Silence.

The ticking of a clock somewhere in the house.

Her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"Those spells you used to hear the ancestors chanting?" He dropped his voice to sound comforting, and it made her want to hug him so he could make all the bad things go away, "They were death curses."

The same one she could hear in her ears now.

"You never stood a chance, MiMi," He repeated, "As long as magic exists, everything around us will die."

"It won't."

"Hasn't it already?"

Vicki, Ric, Carol, Kol, Jeremy, Katherine, Jenna –

Jenna.

MJ had technically helped kill her.

Jenna had been nothing but kind to her, and during her summer of Klaus and Stefan helping, MJ had let herself forget about her, the way she'd probably one day forget about Carol.

No.

She'd never forget about Carol.

"You never really cared for any of them."

"You'll forget them, or you'll kill them."

"You're a siphoner."

"It's your nature."

"The Travellers were cursed. They just want a home, a family, and a better life. Doesn't that sound beautiful?" He preached, "A dream of peace, where there's no more fighting."

There was exhaustion in his stance she didn't quite understand.

"A dream they're willing to die for it. That's how bad it's gotten! They'd rather die than keep living if living means running and watching the entire world reject you."

MJ couldn't look away from him.

"Don't you, of all people, understand what that must feel like?"

It was something about the blue pulling out all her worst thoughts, chanting the names of everyone she'd killed after that very first accident in New York.

New York had been an accident; everything since then had been a choice.

"You're nothing but a curse."

"Mystic Falls will be the start."

Elena had literally told her that everything started after she'd come to town. She'd said it after Jeremy's death but before she'd flipped her switch, and maybe she had a point.

"And once the spirit magic's gone from the town, the curse will finally be broken. From there, the spell will ripple outward, unravelling spirit magic as it spreads," Ryos came closer, turning his hands like he was drawing a diagram, thinking he was getting through to her, "Only pure magic - our magic - will remain."

"Every vampire will die."

"No more monsters hurting you ever again. No more reason to hate siphoners as there's no spirit magic to siphon," He continued, "No more groups fighting, no more divides because there's no magic to divide them."

"Ryos," She took his hand, "Stop whatever this is. Stop before it goes too far."

"You've come here to reason with me when you should be listening to me."

The tattoos were glowing.

"This is what needs to happen."

The conviction mixed with tiredness on his face had her going through a mental loop.

"You don't need to die, but if you fight it – you will."

"What?"

"If you try to reject the spell as it passes through you, it will kill you."

"Ryos!"

"I don't want it to!" He defended, "The siphoner is still part of the spell; they just don't die in my version."

"Part of the spell, how?"

"What's the point in telling you – "

"Because you need to put a spell through me? Apparently?"

" – When you're not willing to listen."

"I am willing to listen – "

"Or even try to understand the cause."

" – You're just not answering any of my questions!"

"You're not willing!"

MJ started to hear chanting from outside.

"If you were willing, your mind wouldn't be split right now."

She bit her lip.

"You think I wouldn't notice?" He laughed at her, "I live with body jumpers!"

"You had my friends locked up. I needed to help them."

"And that's the problem," He sighed, "All these attachments you have. The things that make you think this is all worth it."

"Ryos – " She hated the way it sounded like he was in control.

"Since you've been familiarising yourself with body jumping, do you know about how to use a spirits residue?"

She didn't know what that sentence meant.

"Because you don't really know anything."

"You're not a real witch."

"You can't help us."

"You can't help anyone."

"It's the little connection left behind by a spirit when it's kicked from the host body," He'd smiled during the silence, "Even if the spirit is gone for good, think...a shadow, or an imprint."

"And?"

"And, you can use that imprint to do things."

Silence.

"Do things, like track, or tie people together."

MJ took a step away from him, "What?"

"Julian was back in his own body for about five seconds before he died for good, and in those five seconds, I caught that connective tissue between him and Tyler Lockwood."

"Ryo – "

"And then I moved it to Stefan Salvatore."

She didn't follow, "Okay...?"

She'd been expecting something worse than that.

"Once a base connection between two people is there, you can manipulate it into other things."

"An example?"

"You can tie two heartbeats together."

MJ's face went slack.

"And..." He waved his hands, a voodoo doll flying from his bag, "You can then tie it to an object."

"...If you stab that, you stab them?"

"I needed blood to strengthen the connection," He fiddled with the fabric arms, "We were bleeding Stefan out all night – so that part was easy."

"You made that last night?"

"If one dies, the other will start too. Stefan's blood, Tyler's spirit. All in one controllable doll."

"The death of them."

MJ felt her hands start to shake.

"They trust you. They think you can help."

"But you'll disappoint them. You know you're nothing but a disappointment."

"And right now, those two Gemini twins will be on the lookout for a pair of doppelgängers. Because they've heard the chanting, and they know the spell's about to begin."

"And you told them the way to stop the spell was kill the doppelgängers," MJ realised.

Her breathing picked up.

She was in Maria.

She was with Stefan and Elena – she could keep them safe.

"Why?" She sputtered out, "What does killing my friends get you?"

"It doesn't get me anything, eh," He rubbed his hands together, "No, it does."

"Hm."

"It keeps Liv and Luke tracking them rather than trying to stop me."

"You want me to do this willingly, Ryos?" MJ shook her head, "Doing this will kill all my friends."

"Only the vampire ones."

"That's most of them!"

"You'll make new friends," He reasoned, "You always do."

Because she'd always moved.

"And these ones won't want anything from you! They'll just be friends – real ones."

The chanting got louder, and MJ looked to see no one standing outside.

The noise was in her head.

It was different to the spell that had been getting cast in her head, the spirits trying to save themselves or something. It didn't feel like it was in her head.

"You can hear it because of the necklace," Ryos started taunting, "If it's getting too much...if you're about to have another one of your little episodes..."

Every step he took towards her, she stepped back.

"All you gotta do is take the necklace off."

"No."

"Mir – "

"No!"

His hand turned, and she was shoved to her knees.

"It doesn't have to get violent."

Something was slamming against her temple, making her cry out.

"The spell has to go through you," He wasn't blinking, "It takes your siphoning ability and transfers it to the earth."

Taking the ancestral magic out of everything.

"But I need the stone to do it properly."

"Because you don't have enough magic to do a spell that big on your own," She choked out, "Do you?"

"Not without a sacrifice.

Her death.

"Unlink Tyler and Stefan," She begged through the stinging in her head.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I came to this town with a very simple goal. Get rid of the toxic points in your life."

"How are they toxic? Because they're vampires?"

"Because I've been inside the heads of all of your friends," He'd made physical contact with all of them, "They're un-special and mediocre. They bring you down!"

He paused, and the eyes turned brown.

"Actually, you know what, Caroline and Bonnie get free passes."

Back to blue.

"Stefan Salvatore claims friendship. In his head, he has you idolised as a pillar of loyalty and support he can always trust, yet he lets you get battered around because of a crush on a girl who slept with his brother like it was nothing."

There was a bang on the back of her head.

"He let an immortal hybrid kidnap you so he could go after a cure to try and save his dying relationship."

"That's just how people who are in love are!"

"No, it's how self-centred toxic people are!" Ryos shook his head, "How many times has Damon Salvatore tried to kill you?"

His hold over her tightened, and MJ could feel herself start to choke.

"How many times have you not killed him because of Stefan? Damon Salvatore's head was a freaking treasure trove of reasons to let him die, and handing him over to Augustine was the highlight of my week!"

MJ's elbows kept seizing, causing her fingers to shake.

"Knowing Wes would infect him and the mess that is Elena Gilbert! God! It made my life easy."

"You set all of that up?"

"I jumped Katherine into Elena."

Her vision was starting to blur as he only let her breathe just as she was about to pass out.

"Elena was a waste of space and a self-absorbed bore, but then Katherine was too suspicious, so," He clicked his teeth twice while gesturing to the door, "She had to go."

The way he moved, it was like nothing bothered him.

The only thing that mattered was getting her to listen to him, but MJ was just desperately trying to free herself as she started to lose feeling across her body.

"And Tyler?" Ryos pulled a face, "Tyler spends his life shooting himself in the foot. You basically hold his life together – but that shouldn't be your job! And he's hurt you before."

"Because I let him. I wanted to make him resist compulsion!"

"Which is insane!"

"You're insane."

"No, MiMi."

A vein was larger on his forward as he came closer to her.

"I'm saving you. And you're not even grateful!"

"Okay," MJ forced herself back to her feet, breaking through his magic, "I'm done! I'm not listening to you, and I'm not going to let you wipe out magic and kill everyone."

"The spell's already begun."

MJ paused, "You haven't done anything to me yet.

"Like I said, you don't need to die."

'I don't mean to be rude,' Elena was asking in the back of her mind, 'But would you mind if I drained your carotid a few ounces?'

'Elena, you are aware this isn't my real body?'

'Exactly, so it's not technically gonna hurt you?'

'We're two blocks from home. Wait.'

Ryos noticed her concentration break and lunged at her, hand going on her forehead.

He was blasted back, shaking his hand out.

"Damn, you've learnt how to protect your head."

"I have."

'A word of advice, you guys need to really keep a low profile – ' It was too late.

Liv was standing in the middle of the road.

MJ put her foot on the gas, ready to drive straight through her when Ryos held the dial talisman in his hand and began to chant.

There was a rush of heat down her cheeks, blood staining, completely back in her own body.

"There we go," He smiled cruelly.

"Ryos!"

"You wanna save Stefan and Tyler from the super-twins?" He patted her chin, "Just give me the necklace, and I'll break the connection."

"That'll only save Tyler."

"Give me the necklace, let me do the bit that involves you, and you can leave to save Stefan yourself."

"But then you'll boost the spell, and they'll end up dead anyway because they're vampires!"

"Oh well," The smile grew.

"Oh my god," MJ shook her head and covered her face, "Ryos, let me help you – let me get you away from here, and tell me how to stop the spell."

"You don't really want to stop the spell."

"I do!"

"I'm not going to let you."

"Then you're not going to get the necklace."

"Then I guess Liv will be killing Tyler and Stefan while," He lifted both hands, and MJ was slammed back into a wall, unable to defend herself, "I force the magic out of you."

His first try was to just grab at the necklace and pull it off her neck, but MJ wasn't stupid.

She'd cast about fifty protection charms on it. A trick she'd got herself to learn after she'd been part of interrogating Shane about Silas. It was not leaving her body unless she wanted it to.

"Ryos," MJ tried to move her head, only for it to be pressed further into the wall as the tears started to burn her skin, "You can't genuinely want to do this."

He sighed, "I don't want to do this part of it."

He put a hand to the side, and a dagger was summoned.

"This was always your fate."

He tried to cut the chord, but it didn't work.

"It's him or you."

"Mira," Ryos put his hand on her neck to force her face to look at him, "If you fight, you will die."

"I'm not going to let you do this."

"I don't want to kill you."

Her eyes were watering under the grip, "Then don't start this part of the spell."

"I can't live in a world with magic anymore."

"You say this about keeping me safe," She started to choke, "You're the only one hurting me right now, Ryos."

He pushed her jaw up higher, toes and fingers getting pins and needles from all the power holding her down.

"Realise that this isn't who you are."

"This is exactly who I am," His voice went lower, closer to her face, "I am a person who helps. Who sees the big picture."

"Then kill me!"

He was just staring at her.

"You care about 'the big picture' so much – do the full spell. Let me fight – and let me die."

Silence.

"The big picture will be exactly as you want it. Magic free."

She didn't like the silence.

"I..." Ryos slowly shook his head, "If The Other Side's collapsing, I can resurrect you. The Floare way or through the collapse."

She hadn't expected him to actually say that.

"Ryos," She tried to push against the magic binding her down, "Ryos!"

He took the knife blade and held it into the light.

It wasn't like the Travellers Knife, it wasn't as fancy, but it seemed to spark in his grip.

"Tenebris Anima Vestra Contundito Morte, Et Conteret Spiritum."

A bone hilt, white and almost soft-looking. Oddly shaped but perfect for fingers to wrap around, then a silver blade with engraving up the centre.

"This is all you, MiMi," He shook his head, "It didn't have to go this way."

"Frange Vitam Nolite Corde, Ut Sub Terra Esse."

"Just don't do it!" She begged, "Just wake up from whatever Kool-Aid they've shoved down your throat."

He turned from her, going back to his table of ingredients.

She still couldn't move.

MJ muttered a release spell, wisps of blue energy appeared around her ankles and wrist, slamming her right back down so her head hit back with a slight crack.

She tried to siphon the spell, but vomit rushed up her throat.

"Ad Tenebras Usque In Sempiternum."

MJ just about managed to stop before it came out over her, but the feeling stuck.

Sick in her stomach and wooziness on her head.

The blood from her eyes reached the bottom of her face and dripped onto her shirt.

It hissed like acid.

"It's not Kool-Aid," He cut the dagger into a box, and when it came up, it was dripping with some kind of liquid, "It's the right thing to do for humanity. It's what our mum should've done instead of stealing power."

"You know you deserve this."

"Our mum knew magic was a good thing!"

"Our mother hated magic!"

Technically, Ana had told MJ that at graduation.

She'd said magic had been the evil in her life, and taking the magic had been the worse thing she'd ever done.

Ryos took the wet blade and start to sprinkle herbs from a shaker over it.

MJ tried three more spells to get herself off of the wall, but with every word, and squirm, and plea for him to stop, she was shocked with electricity, frying her muscles and making it even harder to focus.

He came back towards her.

"You can't escape MiMi," Ryos tapped the necklace again, "I'm pulling on three stones."

"Pulling. Think about what that means."

For the first time ever, the voice had told her something helpful.

"Pulling..."

MJ closed her eyes.

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox, Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

"Stop fighting me, MiMi. Fighting me means you'll end up dead."

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox, Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

The necklace began to glow around her neck.

Something stopped her from siphoning the spell, but she could siphon what was powering it.

All of the stones were technically connected.

Siphoning her own one, she could tune in.

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox, Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

"Stop," Ryos's eyes flickered back to brown, and MJ was free.

She jumped forward, darting around him and rushing to the door.

"Show us exactly who you are."

Her hair was yanked back by his hand.

"This is all for you, MiMi," He whispered into her ear, grip tightening, "You just need to have faith, and I won't need to resurrect you. You'll just live."

"Let me go!" She kicked back, crushing his foot and leaving a few hairs in his hand as she teleported out of the house.

As MJ sprinted down the path, her knees snapped, hitting the floor, face straight into the pavement.

"Stop running!" Ryos was in front of her, "This needs to happen now."

The blue was back.

"Please don't kill me!"

Nothing.

"Please – Ryos, Ry," She tried to heal herself, "I don't – I can't – "

"List off everyone who's died because of you."

She tried to crawl forward.

"Hreinskilni Syndir."

MJ lost control of her body, mouth moving without consent.

"Tanner, Vicki, Anna, Henr – "

She tried to force her mouth shut.

"Talk."

He commanded, the blue of his eyes controlling her, and she was out again. The same way she'd 'compelled' Marcel's drum group.

"Pearl, John, Jenna," MJ started to cry, "Jules...her pack."

As she listed, he turned his hand, and blood started to pour out of her mouth.

He cut the knife on his palm.

"Elena, I killed Elena – but, but I brought her back!"

"Vermin."

"Leech."

"This isn't about your guilt MiMi. It's about waking you up to what magic has made you," He used the blood streaming from the edges of her mouth to add it to the knife, "You are destined to destroy everything."

"No I'm not!"

"Not if I take away the magic."

The blade's tip was tapped against the necklace, wisps of orange travelling up the metal and around his wrists.

"I'm not a monster!"

"Yes, you are."

"I know you're not," He used her neck to pull her up, "But the magic makes you one."

MJ's knees were still broken; her only way to be up was his hands.

"It makes all of us monsters."

The way Ryos's eyes glistened as he looked at her made it even harder for MJ to struggle.

"Keep listing."

"Daniel."

The hybrid she and Jeremy had killed.

"Ally and Scott."

The human faction in New York, who'd died when she'd kill the tomb.

"Crazy and weak."

"Andie Starr. She died because Damon was compelling her, and if I'd just stopped it, she would still be alive," MJ was shaking her head, reliving every moment, "If I'd been open about helping Stefan and talked Elena down, Andie would still be alive."

A circle of blue fire appeared around them.

"See it, MJ, see what you are."

Indirectly responsible for a lot of death.

"If the magic's gone, you have nothing to be guilty about."

"Taking away magic doesn't change what already happened!"

"But it'll stop anything else from happening."

Lines appeared under her, a pentagram leaving scorch marks on MJ's clothes and blisters on her skin.

"Let it happen," Ryos pressed the tip into her forehead, "Let me free you."

"Ryos – "

"When you wake up," His eyes captivated her again, pulling more names out, "It'll all be gone."

"Caroline died – Katherine killed Caroline because I got Elena to allow Damon to give her vampire blood, and Katherine found out!" MJ sobbed, "And she found out because Bonnie and I were talking about it in front of her! And I knew it was Katherine, not Elena!"

"Hreinskilni Syndir."

His fingers clawed tighter around her neck as he began to cut down.

"Ric," She sobbed, "Ric died because – because – "

Because he'd been losing his mind, and she'd been more focused on Kol and the Originals and losing her mum.

"He died because he'd taken me in."

"He thought you'd be worth it."

"You're not."

"Carol."

She was shaking, but she couldn't stop talking.

Whatever magic Ryos had hijacked – the stones giving him too much power?

It made him almost like a siren. Impossible to say no to – but if MJ didn't say no to the spell, everyone would die.

"You'll be the death of all of them."

"Ničení A Vykoupení Elefthería Katastrofí."

MJ started to scream.

Ryos reached her chin, a deep cut down the centre of MJ's face, then he pulled her hair back to force her chin up, making two cuts at the top of her neck, along her jaw. The entire thing turned her scream into a gasp, air fleeing her lungs.

Her body was being opened up; every bit of blood was cutting through her soul to carry magic into the ground.

"Just shy of useless."

Even if MJ sometimes thought that she deserved to die, the rest of the supernatural community didn't.

If she gave up and let the spell happen – she'd make it out alive, but they'd all be dead.

If she didn't find a way to stop the spell...

"Ryos," She mumbled.

The knife went into her stomach, and the wail that came out was something between a scream, a sob, and a cry for help.

"You're being so dramatic."

"Please," She was desperate, "Please stop."

It was her big brother, and his face was focused, the way it would when they'd play chess or compared piano music, and MJ just wanted to wake up from the nightmare Esther was giving her.

"Try harder."

"Abominations of nature need to be wiped out."

"Ryos," She could barely keep her voice going, the scars on her face burning like an open spot she'd accidentally rubbed vinegar into.

It was a bad dream.

It was Esther trying to break her.

MJ knew it had to be a trick because there was no way Ryos would actually do this to her.

He couldn't genuinely love her the way she knew he did if he could listen to her begging and still drive a knife into her face.

"I'm so sorry," Her hand weakly grabbed at his to try and push it away, failing miserably.

"You always fail."

"Kouzlo Kouzelnictví Elefth – " Ryos was gone in a flash, body flying across the road.

"I told you," Tyler picked her up easily, "You shouldn't have gone alone."

She shook her head, "Ty..."

He was alive.

"Matt texted," He rushed out, "Elena and Stefan found him at The Grill."

"Stef – "

"Said he wasn't leaving you behind."

Stefan had survived the run-in with Liv and Luke.

"They kinda had to thought since the daylight rings stopped working."

As a hybrid, he didn't need a daylight ring – so he could risk hanging around a little longer.

Relief flooded her system.

For about five seconds.

"You need to go!" MJ tried to roll out of his arms, legs still broken, "The spell – it's started, and I – I can't stop it!"

He bit into his wrist and shoved it in her mouth, "No chance."

She swallowed and felt her body ease up a little.

"Ty – "

"I'm not leaving you to die," He repeated, "No chance in hell."

"His dedication to your life makes him a lost cause."

"Hybrids are atrocities too."

Ty tensed, tumbling down and sending them both to the floor

"I don't have time for this," Ryos huffed, back on his feet and coming towards them, blue tattoos glowing, grey veins across his entire body, "The spell doesn't stop once it's started. She'll die if I don't finish it."

"I won't let you," Ty could fight the magic better than her, but as he pounced at him, his body burst into flames.

Tyler was burning.

"This is you."

Kol had gone down in flames.

"This is what creatures like you do."

She'd seen Katherine's burnt and destroyed corpse.

Blue flames exploded out of Tyler's eyes and ears and back, consuming him completely until his scream was the only thing ringing in MJ's head.

"I have what I need from you," Ryos's hand was above Tyler's head as his hybrid body managed to just about keep him alive, "I just need to release it from a grounding point."

"No – "

"Kouzlo Kouzelnictví Elefthería Katastrofí."

"No, no, no!"

"Svoboda Kai Epistrof Elefthería Katastrofí."

"RYOS!"

The fire went out in a wave of static through the air.

"Kouzlo Kouzelnictví Elefthería Katastrofí."

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox," MJ fought him for control of the magic, "Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

"Svoboda Kai Epistrof Elefthería Katastrofí."

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox," She was staring at Tyler's blistering skin, watching it slowly heal, "Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

Tyler was still alive.

"Kouzlo Kouzelnictví Elefthería Katastrofí."

"Vtáhnout Do Mě, Aso Utox," MJ's connection was flickering, wanting to match with the other stones rather than fight them with her, "Trávixe Mésa Mou, Aso Utox."

"Svoboda Kai Epistrof Elefthería Katastrofí."

Her voice was cut off.

Ryos placed a hand onto Tyler's head, holding it up once more before letting him fall, so he could pick the knife back up and make his way back to her.

The final cut began, across her face.

From her left cheek to her right, under her bloody eyes and across the bridge of her nose.

Tying the spell completely to their bloodline – their magic.

It was like MJ's spine was being ripped out of her body then stuffed into her mouth, all while blood was both coughed up and shoved down her throat.

"Just die already."

"You were born to die."

"You'll wake back up, and you'll be free," Ryos was breathing the words into her ear while trying to keep her steady, "Think about that freedom Mira."

"SHUT UP!"

The outburst sent him flying across the street, the knife turning to dust.

The spell was tied to them.

To her.

"That wasn't very nice," Ryos growled, pushing off the car he'd hit.

Her hands were shaking.

MJ couldn't wake up, and her brother was trying to kill her.

But it was her brother.

Adding to the blue and grey on his body, his eyes turned green as he shot his hands towards her just as MJ pulled at her throat and shoved the necklace forward, breaking the chain in a snap.

It caught the spell and caused it to spiral up and away like a shield.

The collision of power had a line of destruction cracking across the tarmac, just skimming past Tyler as he pulled himself back up. He was scanning around for something to use, eyes turning yellow and ready to shift when he couldn't find anything.

"You bring death to the world."

He moved at vamp-speed, but Ryos responded quicker, hand forward, so Tyler's forehead hit his palm and stilled.

"Kouzlo Kouzelnictví Elefthería Katastrofí."

Something changed in the air, the yellow flickering out of his eyes, fangs vanishing.

"Svoboda Kai Epistrof Elefthería Katastrofí."

Tyler's neck snapped.

No vampirism to save him as the spell stripping magic was funnelled straight into his body.

"NO!"

"He seems a little –

– Can you find a way to get me –

– kill him –

– real witch –

– against nature and you sho –

– Lockwoods were always rude."

The world flashed completely yellow and slightly out of place, then blue and too far down, and every street light exploded as the moment replayed like a joke.

Klaus doing it in the gym.

Her brother doing it in the street.

Both times, Tyler had died because of MJ's stubbornness.

His body hit the road.

"If you were my siste –

Still waitin –

– r I'd kill you."

"I'm sure yo –

– g for you to be useful'

– u deserved it."

"That, MiMi," Ryos dusted his hands off, stepping forward, "That was you're magic."

Tyler had been stripped of magic.

"Siphoning," He waved his hands, healing her knees then forcing her to cough up the blood Ty had fed her to heal, "Leeching."

The cuts reopened, starting the transfer of power again

"Killing."

"You know he's right."

Every abandoned car on the street was humming as she couldn't look away, tears streaming down her face.

"You know you need to be purged from this world."

"He came back for you, and for that, he died – for you, he died."

"Because you're a plague."

"Because you're a failure."

"Playing master when you're a weak and sadistic child."'

"You wanted this."

MJ had promised Mason she'd protect him.

Carol had looked after her, died for it, and now her son was dead too.

"Didn't you want this?"

"Didn't you ask for power?"

"Didn't you want to see what power could really do?"

Her best friend was dead.

And if he was dead, and Ryos was telling the truth, Stefan was dead too.

"They were always going to die."

"They were dumb enough to believe in you."

Stefan and Tyler.

MJ couldn't breathe.

"If you were dead – "

"If you just died – '

"If you'd just let me do it," Ryos was crying too, "Listened to what I was saying!"

"But you always lie!"

"I'm not lying anymore!"

The spell was still happening, and her new family was the first victim.

"None of this would've happened," He gestured around, "If you'd just believed me."

"They still would've died!"

"But it wouldn't have been like this!"

"Dinti Tu Sedo Ruina," MJ needed to stop the magic, "Ra Damic Box Maluc."

Ryos didn't know the spell she was using, "Wait..."

"You think you can do anything?"

"You think you can stop nature? Stop what was always meant to happen?"

"Die already."

"Drop dead."

"Put everyone out of the misery that is having you in their lives."

"Lim Ala Dar Ala Loke Gae La."

"Ràng," He was rebreaking her legs.

"Fall."

"Sacré Sang Lien Vivant."

"Congel Zmrazit Ar."

"Fall down dead."

"Lim Ala Dar Ala Loke Gae La," MJ lost feeling up her arms, "Sacré Sang Lien Vivant."

"Srdce Přestávka Nitro."

She gasped, heart squished in her chest as he tried to make it stop.

If her heart momentarily stopped, her spell would too, but she'd still be alive enough for the spell to finish.

"Listen to it stop beating."

"Give up."

MJ swung her hand over her head and down, smashing the charm to pieces on the road.

A sonic bomb burst out as all the magic exploded, about to push the spell across the country until she spoke the rest of the lines.

"In A Pran Khos Suptia."

It retracted in an instant, rushing straight into her body.

Ryos froze, "Mira!"

"Dinti Tu Sedo Ruina Ra Damic Box Maluc Lim Ala Dar Ala Loke Gae La."

Winds appeared out of nothingness, whipping through the abandoned street, so strong that no one could move against it. Ryos, forced to watch as she became the anchor to the power, screams appearing around them, desperate to be heard, crying out of every tree and grass-blade covering the lawns of the houses.

"Just kill him."

"Just kill the vampire!"

"If you're not going to help us, why am I even watching all this?"

"But you need to help me."

"Still waiting for you to be useful."

"Where can we find a real witch to help us?"

"If you were my sister, I'd kill you."

"I'm sure you deserved it."

"Do your promises mean anything, though?"

"Are you good at anything?"

"Didn't you enjoy the rush?"

"Vermin."

"Why does he care about your life?"

"Because you're a leech on the world."

"He'll realise you aren't worth it one day too."

"Why would she gift this to the scum of the earth."

"He's lost his life because you will fail him."

"See the monster that you are."

"Siphoners don't care."

"Stop lying to yourself about who you really are."

"Or you could make the world a better place by removing yourself from it."

"You could be safer."

"All these people could die because of you."

"You know how to stop this."

MJ screamed and relived a different moment.

When she'd saved possessed Bonnie from the witch coven. Fire had spun out of her body in the shape of a bird, killing the witches in an instant. The difference, MJ only touched trying to control the magic back then, doing it a second time, accepting the magic; she had total control. She'd used the correct spell to prep her body to host the magic.

Tyler was lying dead on the floor, and her brother had killed him.

"Sacré Sang Lien Vivant In A Pran Khos Suptia."

The spell finished with a bang, knocking the air out of everything to create silence.

Her veins were lava under her skin, eyes possessed, and wings of fire protecting her from his next spell before folding away to heal her legs. They were keeping her on her feet as the jewel pieces melted to nothing across the black road, specs that had hit her skin binding with her essence like oil dripping into her pores.

MJ could hear something.

Caroline.

Screaming for help next to Stefan's dead body.

And she could feel how every spirit moved around her, life and death dialling her senses to a new level of connected, ready to both burn her up and help her.

Tyler's dead body.

MJ shoved a hand forward, and golden fire rushed at Ryos, only to be met by his own blast of blue repelling it back, both rippling into the sky.

"You're nothing but a curse."'

Tyler.

Her brother had killed Tyler in front of her, and everyone else was going to die if she didn't stop it.

"Mâna."

One spell was all it took to have Ryos's body hit the road, chest open, heart in her hand.

The voices stopped.

Beat

Beat

...Beat

The blood poured between her fingers, warm, then dead.

MJ woke up.

She was holding her brother's heart in her hand, Tyler's dead body a few metres from her, and part of her was still dying.

The sacrifice had started.

It was moving through Mystic Falls.

She could feel it.

She could feel everything.

"No," MJ started to shake, "No, no!"

She ran forward to Ryos's body, shoving the heart in.

"I didn't – I take – NO!" She was balling, "Take it back!"

Nothing.

No ancestral whispers.

"I didn't want to do that! I didn't mean to do that!" Her eyes couldn't focus, jumping between Tyler's face and his, "I just wanted it to stop!"

She was on her knees, pleading to the sky, face stinging as ice-cold energy left her system.

Tyler had been stripped of magic.

Ryos had killed Tyler

She'd –

She'd killed her brother.

"I take it back!" MJ was begging the universe, "I'll die! Okay?"

She was covered in blood, her face cut down the centre, horizontally and vertically, an open stomach, and two lines on her neck, and her brother's heart was in her hand as she shoved it into the hole she'd made in his chest.

"I'll let you kill me; I'll stop fighting!" She could barely keep herself up, "Just give them back!"

She'd been in control.

She could've done anything to knock him out, but she'd killed him.

"I – no," MJ couldn't handle it, every word causing the tarmac of the road to crack around them.

Tyler.

Stefan was dead because she'd failed to save Tyler again.

Tyler had trusted her, and she'd let him die.

Then she'd killed the last of her family.

"No, no, no," MJ buried her head into the chest, getting more of his blood on her, "I'm so sorry."

The oxygen was sucked out of her body.

Oxygen and metallic blood pouring from her soul through every cut, every scar she'd ever received getting pulled open by forks to drip over his body. Forks stabbing and stabbing and stabbing until she was bruised and bloody, desperate for relief – but she didn't deserve relief.

Her hands were glowing.

"Wait," MJ was begging the spirits, but she didn't need to beg the spirits, "WAIT!"

Floare could bring Floare back, and she had the power of the entire line in her body, ready to be used.

She could undo the worst thing she'd ever done.

But Tyler.

"Ty," MJ shuffled away from both of the bodies, scraping her hands and her elbows, "Bonnie – no."

Problem.

"Ryos is dead," She stood up, wiping her hand over her stomach injury to collect the blood, "The spell – the spell is still moving."

Magic flowed through the living and the dead.

"I – I can use – no," She needed to stop the spell, "Don't make me choose."

If she brought Ryos back to life –

"That would be channelling the power into him," She closed her eyes, "Which would complete the spell."

A way to complete it without killing her.

Because Ryos had written a spell that didn't involve killing her.

The magic was only killing her because she was fighting against it.

"Which would kill everyone."

And, to thank him, MJ had killed him.

"But, if I stop the spell..."

Walking forward, she used the blood on her fingers to draw sigils on his face.

"Please don't make me pick."

The first mark went on the head, then one on the back of both hands, then four symbols on four points on the ground around the body that she could connect into a circle.

"I'll die. Just give everyone back, and stop the spell!"

MJ knew there was no point pleading her case.

That wasn't how it worked.

If she was dead, she couldn't control what the magic did, and there was no world in which the universe would actually help her. It wouldn't value her sacrifice and fix her mistakes.

Was it even a sacrifice anymore?

Her death would be a blessing.

Ryos's body fit perfectly in the centre of the circle.

"I'm so sorry," MJ could barely talk, "I – I don't – you're right...this is all me – I – I can't – "

Inhale.

Exhale.

She placed two fingers on her right wrist, burning through her skin to draw blood and leave two vampire bite like marks, repeating the movement on her left one too.

Then MJ started to trace shapes around them, speaking the words she'd learnt from her summer travels.

"Dinti Tu Sedo Ruina Ra Damic," MJ was only saying the spell because she knew the experience would be over in a few days, "Lim Aya Dar Aya."

The magic wouldn't be staying in her body; it wouldn't stay cut off.

"Sacré Sang Lien," She just kept thinking about the ancestors who'd told her she would be the end of the Floare, "In A Pran Khos Suptia."

She wasn't the end.

She was only cutting off the Aonso Floare Magic, and it was only for a few days.

Because it was the only option.

"Dinti Tu Sedo Ruina Ra Damic Box Maluc."

MJ walked towards her brother, stepping over the body twice.

"Lim Ala Dar Ala Loke Gae La."

She started to circle the outside.

"Sacré Sang Lien Vivant," MJ stopped at her head and closed his eyes, "In A Pran Khos Suptia."

A thunder strike hit his body, down from the sky, catching her in the electricity too.

It severed the bond between the magic and the people who'd been born connected to it.

Supercharging just her.

"I'm so sorry."

Everything rippling out of her stopped, settling where it was.

The spell was over.

- Tyler and Stefan were dead.
- MJ had killed her brother.
- She'd cut off four hundred witches from their magic source.

Ryos had linked his magic to The Travellers. He'd needed the stone back because it was the way to stop the spell. Because whoever had the stone – whoever hosted the magic, could cut the magic off.

And to stop a spell, you had to cut the power...

MJ completely broke down.

The only thing she could hear over her own sobs was the screaming of the ancestors she'd forced into her body by breaking the stone. Screaming at her. Screaming because they'd been trapped in her mother once. But even her mother had never properly cut them off from the rest of the Floare.

Her mother had just been a host.

MJ had just broken one of the oldest rules the Floare had, betraying her ancestor's sacrifice by taking the power for herself.

"I didn't want this!" She covered her bloody and red eyes, "You have to believe me."

Nothing.