Freya, Davina and Bonnie were currently setting up a spell that I had found in my family's grimoires. It was an 'extraction' spell and seemed fit enough to remove the dark magic from Josie. The complication was that the dark magic needed to be put somewhere. We thought of putting the magic in the pendant Jo had brought along from the Supernatural Plane but we can't risk overpowering it and losing the pure magic in the process so we decided to put the magic in the dagger it had come from. We would then hide the dagger under a series of spells, to ensure no evil could get their hands on it.
While they prepared the spell, Stefan and Damon were driving the girls over here. Josie wouldn't be out for too much longer and we needed to extract the darkness from her as soon as possible. We decided it was better if Elena stayed away from all this so, last minute, Damon got Caroline to compel Elena and Stefanie a flight to New Orleans too.
As my thoughts trail off to Nik again, I see Jo approach me, from the corner of my eye.
"Hey," she greets with a strained smile. Alaric, Kol and Caroline seem to be too invested in their conversation to notice what else was going on here.
"Hi Jo," I smile back, genuinely happy that she was back and at least, got to see her daughters once.
"I...there's so much I could tell you right now but I don't even know where to start," she confesses, "I mean, let's start with me telling you how thankful I am for everything you've done for the girls and even Ric. They wouldn't have been where they are now if it weren't for you holding everyone together, like you always did. If it had to be anyone, I'm glad it was you who got to be the mother to these wonderful girls," she says as her voice cracks and tears start to pool in my eyes.
"And after the 'thank you' comes the 'I'm sorry'. I am sorry you had to adjust your entire future and give up on many of your own dreams because the protection spell picked you and you were made to feel responsible for two little kids when you were just 21, yourself. I am sorry you were put through so much chaos even all these sixteen years because of a stupid system that my coven had established on our bloodline. Ric told me how you got all your friends to look all over the world for a solution, about the countless sleepless nights you spent watching and worrying over them. He told me how you gave up on your own love for the girls and how you chose them over your own happiness, every time. I know you love the girls so much and you always tell everyone how thankful you are to have them in your life but I can't help but feel guilty for pushing you into something that changed the entire course of your life," Jo started to sniffle through her words as tears spilled down both our eyes.
"Jo, please you have nothing to feel guilty for. I...I'll be honest that I was terrified about raising two kids at first and for a while, I did think I'd just give birth to them and hand them over to Ric before going on with my own life. But the moment I held them in my arms, nothing else mattered. I didn't care who I was with or where I was. My own happiness didn't matter anymore because in one second, they became my source of happiness, my light in the darkness. They are the greatest things that ever happened to me. If anything, I feel guilty every time I think of everything you were stripped away from. Their first words, first steps, first day of school, first birthday- all these times and more, all I could think about was how you were supposed to be there with them, be their mother and how much you deserved it all. I am sorry life was so cruel to you," I reassure with a strained voice.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
