[3] Bloodline • Legacies ✓

xii.

chapter twelve.

Josie and Lizzie's birthday extravaganza was still allowed to happen, it was to be held at the end of the week. Which meant that the Mikaelson's would be in attendance much to the children's dismay.

Currently, Lizzie, Josie, Malik, Rina, and Rhea were in Emma's old office. The place was now vacant of any trace of the woman, and it was ready for the next counselor to arrive, someone who held more experience than Emma did. Which meant the whole school would undergo a full reset with getting evaluated so they could make sure that everything was correct since learning that Emma didn't have certain qualifications for the role given to her.

"So," Rhea spoke while setting down her mug of coffee. "The merge." Lizzie and Josie nodded their heads. "How much of your coven do you know about?"

The two girls shared a look before Josie spoke up, "Just that Lizzie and I are the last members of it."

Rhea nodded her head and sighed. "The Gemini Coven was really known for their cloaking spells, a single cloaking spell from them was so powerful that it took an extraordinary witch to break it. They were known for the ability to create prison worlds and there was a rumor that they could contact their ancestors before the collapsing of the Other Side." She explained. "However, they had a unique way of choosing their next leader from a set of twins."

"And that's where the merge comes in?" Lizzie asked her.

Rhea gave her a sad smile and nodded. "When a pair of twins are born into the coven, they undergo the merge ceremony once they reach the age of 22. During this ceremony, the stronger of the two would claim their twin's power and emerge with double the strength they previously held. Their weaker twin dies as a result, leaving the survivor to become the new leader of the coven." She told them softly.

"So, Lizzie and I..." Josie looked at a loss for words from the thought of one of them dying. "One of us would have to die for the other to live?"

"Yes." Rhea said to her. "However, it's not possible."

"Why not?" Lizzie questioned. "Not that I'm disappointed or anything, just why?"

Rhea looked at her twins and they sighed. "Because you two don't produce your own magic."

"Wait, wait, I'm confused now." Lizzie said. "What does this have to do with either of you?"

"My mother was a distant member of the Gemini Coven." Rhea told them. "We weren't close with the others in the coven, so we stayed away."

"Wait." Josie gasped while looking at Malik and Rina. "You two are apart of the coven too?"

"No." Rhea answered in their place so that she could explain more. "The members of the Gemini Coven bind their magic and life force to the success of the Merge ritual, as it has been said that, if the leader of the Gemini Coven dies before a new leader can replace them, then the rest of the coven will die as well." She explained. "Kai was the last leader before he took them all out, but my family never bound our life or magic to the coven like the others meaning my children were never bound to it, like you two were."

"So, you're like unofficial members?" Lizzie asked and Rina rolled her eyes at the witch. "What, I'm just trying to understand better."

"Essentially." Rhea told her with a small laugh. "Additionally, the major spells cast by the coven, such as the one that created the Prison Worlds, are also bound to the leader's life, so if the leader dies then the spells are no longer bound and cease to exist. So, when you two turn 22 and the merge doesn't happen because it cannot, all spells and grimoires from your coven, disappear."