to be.

" oh, a guessing game, fun, " josie raises her hands to clap while a smug expression rests on their features. a game stefan would ultimately lose because surely your old history teacher and best friend/future wife's dark child, therefore stepchild, from the future was definitely not on the salvatore's radar ( or completely the truth ). " would love to see what you come up with. go for it ! " josie was sure there'd be some nod to katherine in whatever he came up with, and if not, they'd be interested to hear what else came to mind. maybe she'd just come out with the truth afterwards, just to see his brain break.

oh , how they knew how that went ..... it made little difference who sought who in the end ----- the fates were equally unkind. and once they had a taste for you ?? a sigh. " hereditary , i fear. " though , did they not shoulder some burden ?? was there nothing they could have done to stop this ?? to have stopped them ?? but now they were ...... their little monsters unleashed on the world ----- and by gods if they hadn't torn it asunder. " -but my hands are no less stained with blood. "

hereditary, maybe artie's was too. not that they knew their biological family in the slightest. though if tragedy and trouble were gerard/mikaelson traits, they fight right on in. was this the time for an entire nature verse nurture debate ? probably not. " so family drama is an everyone kinda thing ? no one left unscathed ? " most of artie's life experience was gained in a world unlike this one. more than half their life was marred by the constant and undying need to survive even in an abyss. and what had they come out the other side to ? a new hellscape, one of the past. one of their family's own making.

a sigh of relief. ghosts , spirits , whatever ...... he didn't play with that. " ain't the same. you can't eat no ghost. " dead things were supposed to say dead. vampires ?? at least those were real , something you could sink your teeth into ...... but ghosts ?? what was he supposed to do with that ?? call a priest ?? didn't sit right with him ..... " -you got somewhere else in mind ?? "

" ain't that the truth, " she huffs out a forced laugh. the ghosts that didn't physically manifest were the worst of the bunch. the phantoms birthed from all the loss and devastation inside her. pj would prefer the supernatural kind, the ones attached to real souls, at least that she knew what to do with. " y'know, you look like you could use a drink and i'll be honest, i think i could to. any objections ? "

❝  ⸻ Good . It's not in mine either . ❞ akasha always spoke bluntly in how she felt . Something he sister and mother told her it was good but not always . she never did anything by mistake . when she did or said something she meant it . ❝  it's a waste of time to live in regret or guilt . ❞

apologies were a sign of weakness, at least that's what he'd been told as a child. and when it came to his family, it was the truth. it wasn't exactly true to say he'd never apologized before, because he had. when it benefitted him. everything warren did was in service of himself, sometimes a sorry went a long way. the next statement uttered by the other, he could fully get behind. guilt and regret constantly evaded him, not that he was searching much. " life's too short for any of that shit, " he replies with a smile and dismissive wave of his hand. " enough bad stuff out there, don't need to turn it inward. "

❝  ⸻ You fought for the good and the world ❞   Cordelia couldn't help herself and rushed to hug him . She missed him . ❝  not for your happiness ... I want you to fight for your happiness . do what you want to do and feel without holding back ... you deserve that much and more . ❞ she pulled away to look at him .  

the words were somehow both comforting and gut wrenching. his true and blissful happiness was intrinsically tied to complete and utter destruction. it didn't mean he couldn't find bits and pieces here and there. and then one of those very pieces is in his arms again and he holds cordelia tightly against him. " and what if my happiness lies within the good in the world ? " he offers with a raised brow.

❝  ⸻ I want ALL of my daughter back . Not just some alter ego version of her , The part that she wanted to lock up and NEVER accepted about herself. which she should . ❞ Caroline just wanted her kids to be safe after all . and having just a version of her daughter going about calling herself DARK JOSIE , was something she wanted to end . ❝  I don't want to talk to DARK JOSIE or light josie or whatever you want to call this . just Josie . My daughter . ❞

" yeah, well. the josie you're looking for can't come to the phone right now. i'll make sure to lose the message. " even as they spoke as dismissively as possible, they could feel a stirring inside them that simply wouldn't do. this was why she had avoided the blonde in the first place. a clamoring inside to reach out to her mother. one that wouldn't exist had they not been too comfortable siphoning the curse when it was first placed. " have anything else to say ? i'd make it good because you probably won't be seeing either of us for a very long time. " more distance, that's what dark josie would create if it would save them from either banishment or whatever personality integration caroline was on about.

" why are we doing this ? " she questions with narrowed eyes. " i know how to fight. i know how to hit. " the girl had been in plenty of scrapes over the years and had managed to get out the other side, magical and otherwise. not unharmed of course. cuts, bruises, broken bones, whatever it was, she survived. " that a promise ? " brow raised, now her interest was piqued. all she wanted was to be alone. as painful as it was, it still somehow hurt less than being in the presence of chris, wyatt, hope, or any one else melinda desperately wanted to be close to. " one good punch and you're off ? "

the longer she stayed there in that moment with piper, melinda could feel the ice shrouding her heart beginning to melt. slightly. as much as she wanted to put distance between the pair to sooth the ache that she felt looking at piper, she couldn't. it had been so so long. " eh, the dentist is nothing. i kinda liked the little fluoride mouth guard as a kid. they had a good bubble gum flavor. " reminiscing about her childhood, where piper existed. while a small smile was present on melinda's face, there was something melancholic about it. well, melinda had only three charges in her entire career. one, had slipped through her fingers. another death haunting her. something she didn't ever want to admit to anyone. " sounds like the world is lucky to have you. " it was and why was she suddenly jealous of that world that had her mother where she didn't.

" right, you said hit me, and i did. you didn't say how hard, " melinda counters easily. the girl knew well enough how to fight, how hard she needed to hit when the time called for it. this moment wasn't one of them. " not trying to break my knuckles. "

Filling the shot glass to the brim, the very mortal blonde slid it across with ease, before making a final remark. "If this doesn't make you feel like your insides are on fire, I'm doing my job wrong." Not a job she particularly held in high regard, but this was Cami, she took pride in whatever she did, it was her strong sense of ambition, probably.

his hand lifts in time to catch the glass pushed in his direction. giving it a proper look, warren brings it up to his lips and downs the contents. the burn slid down his throat bringing a scrunch of his features. " you've earned my vote for employee of the month. "

He'd been around hundreds of years at this point, but he was usually pretty good at putting a face to a name, so it was unlikely somebody from his past with whom he'd forgotten, he felt confident in that sentiment. "You're not from around here, I know that much."

" no, just visiting. i hope. " they had a world they desperately wanted back. " you been in the city long ? " artie knew the answer, they just didn't want this conversation to end. didn't want to walk away from him.

" guess that's what eighteen years in a hell hole will do to ya, " they muse with a small shrug. " unless you're also talking about before that. but hey, abandonment at two, gaining a family, and then abandonment again at ten. what chance did i have ? " while there is a slight bite to their words, they didn't really feel it. any anger or animosity artie held for the way their life had shaped up was reserved squarely for the universe. not hope. even after all these years, after all they'd endured in quor'toth, artie still saw them as family.

pj couldn't help the soft laugh that puffed out of her with prue's words. " i was speaking abstractly. more like just simple temperature change. all science, i swear, " her hands lift slightly in defense. lowering her voice and leaning in a little, she continues, " plus, freezing isn't really my thing. "

pj was nothing if not incessant. especially where her family was concerned, her sisters beared the brunt. guilt was something that had burrowed itself deep inside of her the second her mother was no longer living. a feeling of responsibility over parker and peyton had always existed, but that deepened. the guilt started spreading uncontrollably as pj watched peyton slip through her fingers. unable to shield her sister from whatever pain she experienced. so of course after not seeing the other for a bit, pj used that pesky sensing of hers and beamed right in. she'd swallow any vitriol that came her way. the cupid-witch could feel the anger emanate from whatever it was trapped in that tank while doing everything in her power not to feel anything from peyton. pj's empathetic ability was on the fritz, but her sister deserved privacy. nell. she knew the name, remembered the face. " is he a demon ? " pj's chin tilts in the tank's direction.

how was it that new orleans had already held too many unhappy reunions ? that sunnydale and los angeles had followed him east ? it truly shouldn't be a surprise. his failings had a nasty habit of rearing their ugly heads often. a curse of his own doing. a spell he casted himself through his actions. actually separating himself from angelus proved to be an impossible. that reminder was right before him now. " i can make a call, see if a dumpster can be here in an hour or so. does that timeframe work ? "

a brow raised. pouty , petulant children phased them little ---- they had a hand in raising five of them. " no. " a pause. " i trust you can make your own trouble well enough , yes ?? you needn't be pulled into mine. "

" more like it finds me, but hey, same thing i guess. " they raise their shoulders in a shrug. artie hadn't asked for any of the trauma, trouble they'd been thrown into since birth. did anyone ? none of the other children tossed into quor'toth had either. " did you make this trouble yourself ? " artie inquires with a quirked brow.