Chapter Text
Time. What was time? Was it a straight line that followed cause and effect perfectly? Was it a serpent that slid around in a circle, over and over again, repeating the same events with no chance of an ending? Or was it simply an abstract concept humans invented because of their never-ending need to control everything around them?
Landon Kirby didn't know. Time had escaped him. As he walked around the city he was currently in, he wasn't entirely sure how long he had been in the prison world. He wasn't sure how long he had been away from the girl he loved with all his heart. And the reality was, he wasn't sure it mattered. Whether it was weeks, months, or years, he would love her and he knew she would love him.
Landon took a step inside a warehouse and looked around cautiously. Several of the monsters were still in Mystic Falls, but he knew some had left. Landon was not going to stop being careful. He looked around the warehouse that looked similar yet different to how it had been a year previously, when Clarke had brought him here to find the third artifact. It seemed like a lifetime ago after everything that has happened since.
"Why do you still need me?" Landon had asked, confused as to why they were still there. Why he couldn't just leave.
"I don't need you. Daddy does." Clarke had replied, siting in a chair. "You're the golden child. The one he was trying to create, remember? The perfect son. The one who could create the new bloodline. Because of you, he'll be able to launch the species."
" I'm . I'm not interested in, like, procreating or whatever, okay? Especially if it means I'm spawning an army of evil minions."
"Oh, didn't I mention? You're just the host."
"The what? "
"The host. Biologically speaking, - you're the living organism... - "
"I know what a host is! I've seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Are you kidding me? Tell me you're pulling some kind of lame brotherly prank right now."
"You wanted to be special, right? The foster kid looking for a family, believing that you had a purpose if only you could find it. Turns out your purpose is to be a meat suit for the most powerful monster ever to walk the earth."
And Landon had. For a short time anyway before he died in this very prison world and came back to life.
His hand lowered down a bit to the bone whip hanging down beside his leg. He remembered the first time he had seen the headless horseman. How he had let it sweep him up and carry him out there towards Malivore. He was much less equipped to fight at that time. Now, however, he knew how to fight to survive. And he had been doing it nonstop since he arrived in the prison world after escaping Malivore.
Without making a sound, Landon walked over to the shelves. It was more empty than it had been before. Some people from Triad probably had cleared it out a bit after their attack on the Salvatore School. The organization was no longer active as far as Landon knew. He picked up one of the artifacts and looked down, examining it before setting it down. His mind was turning in thought as he looked at everything that remained on the shelves, and he started walking down the aisles, trying to see if there was possibly anything he could use to get him home. He had read some books while hiding out in places, trying to find a way out. He read about a few artifacts and decided to come see this warehouse.
If there was any chance at all that there was a way out here, he had to try. Even if he had no idea if they were here or even if they would actually help him achieve his goal. But he wasn't going to sit around and wait for someone else to find him. He was going to get himself home. No matter what it took.
Suddenly, Landon felt himself still as he heard the slightest noise. He turned his head and pulled out his machete with small stains of blood on it, ready to fight. He moved silently further away from where he heard the sound, careful not to bump any of the shelves as he prepared himself to fight.
Though once he caught sight of the creature, he felt fear course through him. He recognized it. It was the same creature that had made him hallucinate getting rescued over and over again. It was the same creature that ensured he couldn't trust anything he saw. And that terrified him. Stealthily, Landon moved around as the creature got further inside. Landon gripped the blade in his hand and got behind the creature for an upper hand. He moved to strike at it but got thrown back into one of the shelves, causing artifacts to clutter to the floor.
Landon winced slightly as he felt the cut on his arm but ignored it and quickly got up before going to fight the creature. After a bit of a struggle, he cut off its head. He started counting in his head, familiar with how long it took them to resurrect, and he picked up some artifacts off of the floor. He touched one and suddenly, the room was full of a white light that sucked him in.
After blinking a little, he began to process where he was. In front of him was the familiar Mystic Grill sign on the window of the bar and grill. He stilled in confusion, wondering how he had gotten there. In his lightly visible reflection on the window, Landon noticed the bright blue coloring of the Mystic Grill uniform on his body.
"Hello?" One of the teenagers from Mystic Falls High questioned, somewhat snapping him out of his thoughts.
In front of him were two teenagers, a blonde and a brunette, both about 16. The brunette who had spoken to him looked at him with a mix of confusion, annoyance, and expectancy. It was only then that he realized he was holding a tray with two drinks. She was a customer. His customer.
This couldn't be real. It had to have been that creature messing with his mind. It didn't make sense. There was no way he could have gotten out like that. And even if he did, he was missing his outfit and his weapons, which made him feel very vulnerable. He breathed out a little and gave them their drinks before leaving without a word.
His heart was racing a little as he looked around. There were people. All sorts of people. But it wasn't the first time he had hallucinate being rescued and getting out. Though usually Hope was right there with him. He wasnt sure what was going on. But a hallucination was the only thing that made sense. He found himself a few knives, a lighter, and a change of clothes and then went towards the Salvatore School, wanting to see Hope if by some miracle it wasnt a hallucination.
Once he arrived, he froze a bit, thinking. He had to make sure nothing came with him. He would stay in the woods for now just to make sure and then he would go in once he knew it was safe. Though he would feel a lot better with his weapons and mask. Landon was still expecting himself to suddenly be pulled out of this.
Landon got passed the gate and looked around a little. He distanced himself from the school but was close enough at the moment that he could see the people walking about as he hid. He couldn't see Hope from where he was yet so he retreated further into the woods, planning to find her again soon. Make sure she was alright.
By the end of the day, he still couldn't see Hope anywhere. He hesitated before sneaking inside the school at night. He needed to make sure she was alright. Then he'd leave to finish making sure nothing had followed him. Then he'd reunite with her.
Landon moved quietly up to her room, swiftly hiding once someone was about to pass, and he finally reached her room. He quietly opened the door, knowing if she saw him that the reunion would happen sooner than he planned. But if it did, he'd just make sure to keep an eye around everything else. Though Landon still wasn't sure this was real. He kept expecting himself to snap out of the hallucination.
He creeped open the door to her bedroom and stepped inside. There was only one bed, and she was not in it. He frowned a little and gracefully moved to her desk. Her room looked quite different. Full of things he had not expected to see. He looked down at things that were on her desk, wanting to get an idea of how long he had been gone. Though that still wouldn't answer the question of why he was suddenly at Mystic Grill in his old uniform. He looked at a photo of her family and kept his gaze on it for a moment before continuing to look. He saw notes for school. Labeled with a date from three years before Landon went into Malivore. This didn't make sense. And where was Hope?
He looked around and stilled as he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He looked younger. His hairstyle, his face's shape... it was all younger. He pulled up the sleeve of his arm and noticed the lack of scars. His recent wound was no longer there. What was there was a recent cigarette burn. He ran his thumb over it gently, barely noticing the pain. Was it possible to be in the past? Was this part of a hallucination or did he somehow escape and travel back in time? It didn't make sense, but he supposed anything was possible at this point.
Landon looked around and climbed out of the window before landing down at the ground before sneaking into the office once he saw it was empty. He assumed they must be in bed, though like always, he kept his hearing alert. Trusted his instincts. He went over to the secret small room and pulled out a couple of the weapons, shoving it into a bag he had found. He closed the secret door carefully, making sure to be quiet. Looking at the desk, he found confirmation that it definitely seemed like the time when he was 15. With this in mind, he slipped out of the office and left the school. He got himself a bus ticket to New Orleans and took a seat at the bus stop. His mind brought him back to the last time he was journeying to New Orleans.
"What is this?" Landon had asked as Hope put a magical bracelet around his wrist
"Think of it like a... 'click your heels together three times' kind of thing. If you ever need me, just press it, and my bracelet will lead me to you." she had told him, looking back up at him.
She had started to leave, and he pressed the button on his bracelet. She turned to look at him.
"I wanted to see if it worked." He had explained to her, and they had rushed to each other before kissing in front of the bus that had been approaching.
He looked away and stood up as a bus arrived before getting on, ready to find Hope. He was tense and relieved that not many people were on the bus. He knew it was going to take time for him to get used to being around anyone. But right now, what mattered more than his lack of social skills and the fact this could all be fake or the possibility of being ambushed was finding Hope. Though his body didn't ease up the whole ride to New Orleans, and he kept expecting to suddenly be back at the prison world with the monster.