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𝐔 𝐍 𝐃 𝐄 𝐒 𝐄 𝐑 𝐕𝐈 𝐍 𝐆

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Dax watched the man he had seen Hope with earlier stand-up and seemingly crack his neck, "Somnum," He said as he stepped out. The man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out. Hope looked over to him confused but ran over and wrapped him in a tight hug, "aderit murum," Dax muttered

Hope was pulled back into the wall by an invisible force, "What are you doing?"

"I can't let you sacrifice yourself, Hope," Dax said as he walked out from behind the column, "I am sorry you feel that way about your parents though," Dax gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Dax, I can't let anyone else sacrifice themselves for me," Hope said as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Too bad, little witch. You're not fully activated, and if everything you just said is true, you won't be able to stop that pit," Dax said with a teary smile. Hope opened her mouth to say a spell, "Silentium," Dax said as he held his hand out in her direction.

Hope tried to speak, but no sound came out. She looked up to him as tears cascaded down her cheeks. Dax gave her a sad smile, "It wouldn't have worked with you. Only one of us is a full tribrid," Dax said with a sad smile, "Let yourself be happy, please, I know you won't remember me saying this, but I need you to let yourself be happy. Grow old, have kids, and get yourself a good husband. I'm sorry I won't be there to see it, but I know you can find happiness. I love you, Hope Andrea Marshall Mikaelson," Dax said as he began to cry. He glanced down at the pit to see it bubbling.

"Does it count as breaking a promise if the person you made it to won't remember?" Dax asked as he stared into the pit and tears fell down his cheeks at the thought of not saying goodbye, "I kinda promised the boy I love that I would be back, but turns out that's not what's happening here," Dax wiped his tears. Dax was about to jump in when he remembered that Hope took the man with her, so he would do the same. He didn't want whoever he was to hurt his cousin after he was gone and could do nothing about it. His sob story didn't matter, "Surgere."

The man shot up from his spot on the floor, "Who are you?"

"Someone who is taking you with me," Dax answered before performing the same spell he saw Hope did, "Imitantor pupulus."

The man seemed amused at Dax's efforts, "Unlike your sleep spell, whatever you think you just did-" Dax rolled his eyes and slammed his hand over his own mouth. The man copied him and cut himself off. Dax slowly removed his hand and the man copied his movements, "How'd you do that? Why did I do that?" He asked worriedly.

"Basic second-grade mimicking spell," Dax answered with a smirk, "You know what else we learned in second grade?" Dax asked as he took a few steps closer to the man, "Follow the leader."

"You don't have to do this," The man said as he struggled not to copy Dax's movements.

"I know, but I have to get some enjoyment out of my own demise, right?" Dax smiled a bit. He took one step over the railing.

"But you don't even know who I am!" He said as he began to panic.

"All I have to know is that you hurt her," Dax looked back to Hope with a sympathetic look for a moment before turning back to the man and grabbing his throat. They swung their other leg over the railing and slowly leaned until they fell into the pit.

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Dax climbed out of a large hole. It wasn't the one he had fallen into. This one was somewhere in the woods. Dax looked around. It took a moment but he realized he was in the woods near the Salvatore school. Dax smiled brightly as he covered his mouth. He thought destroying Malivore would have killed him, but he was very much alive.

"No wonder the school was attacked so much," Dax muttered as he dusted off his jeans. He made his way to the front gate of the school. It was pitch black outside. He smiled brightly when he saw Dorian pulling out of the school. He stepped out into where his headlights could see.

"I didn't see you. Are you okay?" Dorian asked as he stepped out of his car and walked up to Dax.

"Yeah, Dorian, somehow I'm okay," Dax nodded with a deep breath.

"Glad to hear it, but how did you know my name?" Dorian was on edge.

Dax forced a smile, "Parking pass," Dax pointed to the car.

"Always hated that picture," Dorian smiled as he pointed to his car with his thumb. Dax gave him a forced laugh before his face fell, "What brings you out here tonight?"

"A boy, unsurprisingly enough."

"Oh, well, uh, we're all locked up in there. Everyone's gone for the summer."

" Always knew my taste was bad, but I didn't realize it was this bad," Dax chuckled a bit, "Thanks. Uh, sorry to bother you," Dax forced a smile before he began walking away.

Dax frowned as his head hung low. He began walking in the direction he hoped his car was in. He had left it at the triad facility, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do if it wasn't there. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and twirled them in his hand as he began to walk. He wanted to get to New Orleans.

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Dax smiled, only slightly relieved, when he saw his car. He climbed in and his smile widened as he realized all of his things were still there. He was amazed it hadn't been robbed. He looked to his speedometer to see four pictures. He frowned as he looked at them. 

The first picture was of him and Hope as babies with Ashe, Dax's father, Erika, his mother, Ray, his sort of stepfather, his uncle Klaus, his Uncle Elijah, and his Aunt Hayley. It was one of the few pictures he had with most of his family in it. There were almost no pictures of their entire family. Everything got so crazy when Dax and Hope were little that they never had time for family portraits other than the ones Klaus and Hope managed to paint together before they were split up.

The second picture was of him, Hope, and Hayley. It was taken a few months before Hayley died. It was taken before Dax died, and a part of him was jealous of his past self. Everything was simpler back then. Granted his family was split apart, and he could never go and see them in fear of the Hollow deciding to try to use him as a vessel, but he still had some of his family around. After he jumped into the pit, he lost everyone, and he could pretend to believe otherwise, but he knew. He knew that no one knew him any longer. He knew that no matter how much he wanted to he would never take what he did back. Hope got to keep her happy life with her school friends and that was all that mattered.

The third picture was of him and his father. It was one of if not the last picture they took together. Dax was eleven and his dad seemed so young. Hayley and Ashe raised Hope and Dax while most of their family was in a Chambre de Chasse, and Niklaus was held hostage by Marcel. They were the only family, or people for that matter, that Dax knew until he was seven years old.

The fourth picture was of him and Brett. It was taken right after they had their first kiss. Dax had Brett's lacrosse sweatshirt on, and Brett had Dax's on. 

Dax hadn't realized he was crying until he was sobbing. He rested his forehead on his steering wheel as he cried. He felt like he was being suffocated. Deep down, he knew it was going to happen eventually, but he thought it would have been slower. He thought that he would lose everyone he loved slower than all at once. He thought Malivore was a win-win. He would never have to lose anyone else, and no one would get heartbroken over him going because they wouldn't remember, but everything went wrong. Dax was still there and instead, he lost everyone. 

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Dax ended up sleeping in a hotel. He didn't have much money left on him, so he had to compel his way in. He didn't have access to any of his things since they were all in California. He couldn't begin to think of ways to undo the effects of the Malivore Pit.

What he hadn't expected from coming out alive, was the nightmares, and the way he relived them every time he closed his eyes. He had spent nearly two months in the pit. Granted he didn't know that until he got a charger for his phone.

In that time, he watched the creatures in the pit get destroyed before the pit was. He had no idea how he made it out of the pit alive considering he had thought himself to be dead a few times while in the pit.

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Dax had decided to stop in New Orleans on his way to California. He needed to make sure they were okay, and that they would stay that way until he was able to figure out how to get everyone's memories of him back.

Maybe he should have gone to them for help, but they didn't know him. If Dax had learned anything about being a Mikaelson, it was that they never trusted outsiders. He was visiting his father's grave when he saw them.

There they were, right in the center of the city. They were taking a walk. Hope, Freya, Kol, his cousin Nik, and Davina were all out together. Dax watched from afar with a teary, sad smile. Hope alone seemed more carefree than Dax had seen her in a long time. The family was together and happy, and oh, how Dax was jealous.

He looked back down to the name engraved in the tombstone in front of him. Asher Gavin Johnson, Beloved son, brother, and father. Dax kneeled in front of the grave and ran his fingers over the engraved letters.

"Sorry about your brother," Dax muttered quietly. Dax stood back up and shoved his hands into his pockets. He stared at the tombstone once again before walking away.

He was surprised when a certain redhead ran up next to him, "Do I know you from somewhere?" She asked with a smile as she knitted her eyebrows together.

Dax forced a small smile, "I don't think so."

"It's just you were visiting my Uncle's grave and I thought I knew all of his family... and I swear I know you from somewhere."

"Ashe was a friend to my mother. I have to go now," Dax told her before walking away quickly.

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Dax left New Orleans behind and moved onto Beacon Hills. Once he got there and had access to his grimoires, he just knew that he could get people's memories back. He had to at least try to do it without Freya's army of witches because eventually, his aunt Freya wouldn't be there.

He wouldn't deny how awful he felt. It was almost time for school to start up again, and he was tired of the constant weight he carried around with no one knowing who he was. Part of him wanted to scream and tell everyone who he was, but he also knew how crazy everyone would assume he was. In Beacon Hills, Brett, Liam, and Mason were the only people he knew enough about to really prove his story, and even then, if the world had one less tribrid, it could calm down.

It also meant everyone in Beacon Hills would be safer. They already lived in Mystic Falls 2.0 where only the good guys seemed to die. Dax's absence could make sure it dialed back a bit. He wanted to believe they were safer because if they weren't he had left them alone in the summer and they were no safer than they were when he left. That is why he wanted to find a spell to bring the memories back himself. He knew if his aunt's circle of witches did it, they would bring back everyone's memories of him. He only wanted his friends and family to remember what he was so that they could be safer.

Dax knew he would need help coming up with the spell, and he knew one person who had studied magic more than he had. Despite being a hybrid, he had always been interested in magic and studied it as if he were a witch. Bash would be a great help, and he didn't have many people to go to outside of Dax, so Dax assumed he would still be in Beacon Hills. Especially considering that he and Erika no longer got along as they had before Kayden's, his best friend's, death.

Dax knew something was off the moment he stepped out of his car. He felt it in the air, but he wasn't sure what it was. He cautiously made his way to the door. He knocked as he kept his eyes and ears peeled for movement. Dax was very confused by who opened the door.

"Alex?" Dax asked as he stared wide-eyed at the boy.

"Do I know you?" The blonde boy responded.

"Veritas tempus," Dax said before asking, "Where is the man who used to live here? His name was Bash."

"I killed him and buried him in the yard," Alex looked to Dax alarmed, "What did you do to me?"

Dax felt the breath get knocked out of him. It was his fault Bash was dead. He left Alex asleep in the basement. He didn't get rid of him before running off to go play the hero. It was worse knowing that Dax could have saved him. It was so much worse than Bash forgetting him.

Dax took a shaky breath as his eyes burned with tears that he refused to let fall. He pressed his lips into a firm line and balled his fists as he began to shake with rage. He looked Alex in the eye as he tilted his head to the side. He stepped inside. Dax glared at Alex and he lit on fire. Alex screamed as he crumbled to the floor.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he glared at Alex with a burning hatred, "Eatenus exstinxisti," Dax muttered and Alex's body stopped burning.

That's when he knew what he had to do. He didn't deserve to be in their lives. He killed his uncle, Bash, and his ex-boyfriend. He didn't deserve to have someone to lean on. He deserved to go through it alone. His own personal hell.

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