Two Hopes?

Currently, Kol, Hope, Alaric and Dorian were inside Alaric's office.

Dorian was a friend of Alaric's and he worked here as the head librarian, and sometimes, substitute teacher.

Alaric was sitting in his chair, Kol in front of him, and Dorian and Hope were standing behind Alaric, on the left and right side respectively.

There was an awkward silence in the room as they were all staring at Kol, with an expression like looking at something extremely strange and incomprehensible.

When Kol suddenly appeared, it caused a commotion.

Everyone backed away, more people rushed in, there was a lot of yelling involved and everyone was panicked, until someone called him 'Stefan'.

Which he immediately corrected, revealing his real identity in the process.

Unfortunately, they didn't believe him. They thought he was lying and he was actually Silas who came back to life.

So they attacked him, in order to apprehend him.

But as expected, it didn't end well for them.

After spending a few minutes pasted on to a wall like unremovable human sized paintings, where no matter what spell, or how much strength they used, didn't work, they finally came to their senses and calmed down.

After all, Silas could never be that powerful. He had powerful telepathy, yet no telekinetic abilities.

Then after a session of questioning in the presence of a crystal ball that worked as supernatural lie detector, they finally believed him to be who he said he was.

And that led us to this, current situation.

Feeling embarrassed by all this staring, Kol broke the silence, "So... thanks! For the clothes I mean.", with a look that made his discomfort apparent.

But nobody replied. There was no change in their expression or posture whatsoever.

So he continued, "Though I think these pants are a bit too tight. And short! Not particularly fond of this color either...", but before he could continue.

Alaric interrupted him, "SO!... ah... you said... You're Kol Mikaelson? Tell me, have you ever heard of someone named Silas?".

"Yeah. I know I'm a doppelganger of Silas. What are you trying to say exactly?", Kol replied.

"How did that happen? If you're Kol Mikaelson, then how could you also be Silas's doppelganger? Unless, it's some kind of body swapping situation?", Alaric asked back, finishing with his usual, fake, awkward laughter, trying to lighten the mood.

Kol replied, "No! I was born this way.", and paused.

Then continued, "Are you an idiot? I already told you, I'm from a parallel universe. So it's a given that some of the things would be different.", in a frustrated tone.

Then continued, "One of my parents must've been a descendant and I inherited the genes.", speaking calmly.

After a short silence where everyone contemplated his words, Kol asked, "But you speak of me as if you know me personally? Or the Kol Mikaelson here! How so?".

Alaric replied, "Let's just say we have history. With the original family in general.", then he gestured at Hope, and continued, "Hope here is a Mikaelson. Klaus's daughter actually. There is a Niklaus Mikaelson where you're from, right?".

Kol replied, "Yeah. But Nik can't have children. He's a...", and paused. Seemingly contemplating something.

"A hybrid.", Alaric completed his sentence while nodding, "He may be a vampire, but he's also a werewolf. And due to his werewolf side, he can procreate.".

"I see! I suppose that is possible.", Kol nodded in confirmation as he looked at Hope curiously.

"But the fact that you didn't already know about it means that it didn't happen in your world, or maybe hasn't happened yet?", Alaric asked.

Kol replied, "Well, Hope here seems to be a teenager and not a vampire yet. Plus with everything I've seen thus far, I'll go ahead and guess, this is the twenty first century!".

Then continued, "And where I'm from, we're still in the fifteenth century. So Hope won't be born there for a while.".

Now everyone was amazed, "Fifteenth century?", "What!? How?", "You don't act like someone from the fifteenth century.", Dorian, Hope and Alaric exclaimed simultaneously.

Kol replied, "I told you, I travel the multiverse. This isn't my first stop, or the final. I've traveled to many different timelines, and many different worlds. Naturally, I picked up a few things.".

"Wait! Wait, hold on! If there's still Fifteenth century in your world, then that means my Dad is still alive there.", Hope interrupted before anyone else could say anything else.

But Alaric tried to interrupt her in a commanding, yet light tone, "Hope!", but he was interrupted.

Kol spoke, "It's alright, headmaster.", then turned towards Hope and spoke in a gentle tone, "Yes. That's right Hope. Nik is still alive. But I doubt he's still the same father you know. He... may have changed after your birth, but the Niklaus that I know is not someone you would miss so dearly.".

Hope argued in frustration, "Yeah I know! He was sadistic, ruthless, evil, cruel, vindictive and dangerous. He hid his true personality with his cheerful and charming persona, while in fact, he was a patient monster, a methodical killer capable of elaborate, extremely cunning and sinister plans. We're taught that in sixth grade here. 'Klaus Mikaelson - The Great Evil', it's a course book.", while glancing at Alaric.

Alaric was the writer of that book. So in response to Hope's gaze, he just kept quiet and looked away awkwardly.

Kol was also feeling awkward as he replied, "That... is a very accurate description of my brother, but it's disturbing that it's coming from you. We are going to talk about that in depth later, kid.", while looking at her strictly.

"Right! What I wanna know... is that if you can come to this world, then I can also go to yours, where he is still alive. Right? What is it? Some spell? Or some sort of ancient artifact?", Hope asked in a hopeful tone.

But before Kol could reply, Alaric interrupted, "OK! That's enough! This conversation ends here. Hope! Go attend your classes, you're already late. We'll discuss this later.".

But Kol interrupted, "No, hold on a moment there! I too have questions. AND. I don't know you.", pointing his finger at Alaric and Dorian.

"I will feel more comfortable if my niece stays here. In fact, whatever you can teach her, I can teach her better. So she won't be taking any of your classes today.", Kol spoke in a commanding tone.

Alaric and Dorian wanted to protest, but before they could, Kol interrupted, "I will not repeat myself!", in a louder commanding tone.

The scene of them being attached to a wall was still fresh in their minds, so they didn't pursue this matter any further.

In fact, Alaric wasn't a pushover. Usually, this wouldn't be enough to discourage him, but Kol was Hope's family, and he had been nothing but polite and cooperative with them from the beginning.

Kol then continued in a tone that inspired calmness, "Hope! We'll talk about that later, ok? First of all, tell me! How did my brother die here? And where are the rest of my siblings?".

Kol didn't come here by choice. After the DC movies world, he just wanted to go back home to his world, but instead he landed here.

Before trying to figure out WHY, he needed to know WHERE and WHEN he was.

He knew that he was most likely in the future of the original timeline of his own world, but he still needed to be absolutely sure.

After all, there are uncountable number of parallel worlds of any reality, and most are different from the original.

Kol needed to know the history of this world in order to confirm his guesses.

______________________________________________________

.

After his talk with Alaric and others and confirming that he was indeed in a parallel world to his own world, Kol felt lucky.

If instead he had accidentally travelled to the future of his own world, it could be catastrophic.

For instance, it could cause a temporal anomaly. Then trying to go back to his own time could create a flashpoint, which could have some serious consequences.

Kol didn't want to take that big of a risk, so he decided to make absolutely sure that before attempting to go back home, his locator/tracker/wrist watch, was completely fixed and working exactly like it was supposed to.

All in all, there was a valuable lesson to be learned here.

After the test with Jax, there had only been three more tests before Kol embarked on his journey to the multiverse.

Perhaps he had been a bit too easy going with the matters concerning his safety. Which was OK, since he couldn't die even when he tried to. But his life wasn't the only thing that mattered to him.

He needed to be more careful from now on, especially with matters that could directly or indirectly affect the safety of his whole world.

In the meantime, since he had no plans for ever coming back to this world later, he decided to stay here for a couple of years.

In the main school building along with everyone else for now, but Kol had plans for rebuilding the old mill by the lake later.

It was within school grounds, and in the show, a lot of stuff happened there, like Arachne's nest, or Lizzie meeting Sebastian, etc.

Once Kol fixed his locator, it wouldn't matter how much time he spent travelling, because he would then be able to go back to at any point in time in his world. Any point in time after his departure.

If he wanted to, he could spent centuries on this trip and still be away for only a couple of years.

______________________________________________________

.

Later that night, Kol couldn't sleep. He was feeling a bit peckish, so he went to cook something for himself in the kitchen.

"ChopTok! ChopTop! ChopTok! ChopTok!", sound of knife slashing through tomatoes and hitting the chopping board underneath.

As he was chopping some tomatoes, Kol noticed a shadow of someone standing by the door.

"Hope? That you?", he called out.

Then Hope walked out into the light.

She asked, "Can't sleep either?", while walking towards the kitchen counter.

"Not used to sleeping here. New place and all.", he replied.

Then continued, "Plus I was peckish. At first I couldn't keep my mind off that juicy little friend of yours downstairs, all locked up tight and ready to be served. But lucky for him, he's YOUR friend. So I thought, hey! Maybe I could do with a little grease instead! Then here I am, making a sandwich for myself, like a docile little carnivore.".

"How very considerate of you.", Hope replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

Kol commented, "Can't say your dear uncle Kol doesn't have you in his heart.", then he looked up at her and asked, "What about you? What's your excuse for being here in the middle of the night?".

By now she had already come behind the countertop. So she grabbed it for support and pushed herself on top to sit on the cold granite.

Then she replied, "I get restless sometimes.".

"So you're a wolf yet?", Kol asked while still working.

She replied, "Yeah. It happened in New Orleans. When Dad was still around.", in a sad, nostalgic tone.

"Well, then it makes sense. Your body has a lot going on inside.", Kol replied, trying to change the topic.

"Hmm.", she replied with her head down.

"Sigh! You miss him a lot, don't you?", Kol asked.

"I miss them both. Dad, and my mom.", Hope replied in a sorrowful tone.

Kol spoke, "I don't know anything about her.".

Then Hope looked at him and replied in an accusing tone, "There's a lot you don't know about. You call us family, yet you're not really family if you're not there for us when we need you the most.".

"Easy there girl! That's not me you're talking about. That's the other Kol. I would never abandon you, no matter what. Or Niklaus! No matter what he had done, I would never give up on family.", Kol replied in a determined voice.

Then Hope spoke, "There's no way of knowing unless you live it yourself. Anyway, there's no use talking about it now. It's pointless.".

Then after a brief silence, "We vowed to be there for each other. Always and forever. Blood ties us all together.", Kol commented.

Hearing this, Hope looked down in silence, like remembering something. Something sad, yet nostalgic, and strangely fulfilling.

Then after a while, she spoke, "You know, we used to paint? That was our thing. Whenever he had time, he would sit with me and watch me paint. The feeling of someone watching over you, a hand on your shoulder supporting you no matter how many times you stumble, protecting you from all the uncertainties in the world.", in a nostalgic tone.

And continued, "When he was gone, it was more than just sadness. It was like I was suffocating, trying to support the weight of the whole world on myself.".

And continued, "After my mom died, he was all I had. I thought we were free. That we could live a normal, happy life. But then I lost him too. Along with everyone else. Gone! In just one night.", at this point, she had tears in her eyes.

At this point, Kol had already done making sandwiches, so he came and gently wiped the tears off her eyes, and spoke, "It's not right for a kid your age to cry like that. I am one of the most powerful beings in existence, yet I can't do much about your situation. I've never felt so powerless!", in a frustrated tone.

Then he continued, "Taking you to my world would have some serious consequences. It would royally mess with space time continuum, while creating a massive, not so pleasant butterfly effect.", in a thoughtful tone.

Then with a sigh, " Sigh!", he spoke, "But things would be different if it's the FUTURE ME who does it AFTER you're born there. I just need to really remember this and when you're born THERE in twenty first century, I need to come back here to this world and bring you over there to see your Dad. Or in this case, your alternate Dad.", while looking at her.

And continued, "That way, centuries will pass for me, but only a few years will pass for you. AND, since we are talking about two parallel universes here, rather than two timelines of one world, it will not create any butterfly effect. Since the events that you know about would have already happened there. Much less messing with space time continuum!".

Hearing this, Hope seemed amazed. She just thought it was some kind of spell that allowed him to travel between worlds, not this over-complicated metaphysics.

But she was a student who got top grades in her class. So she still understood the gist of it.

She asked, "But wouldn't that mean there'll be two of me? Me from this universe, and the Hope from that universe, who would be the exact same age and appearance as me?".

"Yeah. You'll be like twin sisters. I am really looking forward to what kind of pranks you'll play on Nik.", Kol replied with amusement apparent in his tone.

Then he winked at her and continued, "In fact, I don't know if you know this, but I was quite the prankster in the family. I can give you ideas.", in a blithe tone.

Hearing this, Hope finally smiled.

After a while, she spoke in a thoughtful tone, "I know a lot about you from this world, but not a lot about YOU.".

Hearing this, Kol looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

So she continued, "I mean, you've seen the pictures. Everyone else look the same in your world too. Their personalities are similar too. So why are YOU so different from your version of this universe?", looking at him curiously.

Kol sighed, "Sigh!", and replied, "I don't know. It's obvious it's more than just looks. We're completely different, from a fundamental level. It could be some rare generic marker, or a single instance that separated us by causing us to choose differently in a seemingly ordinary, yet in fact an extremely significant choice in life that shaped us into two different people altogether.".

Then he continued, "I guess if I go really back, then it could be my wife, Astrid. She's most likely the reason.", while thinking about his teenage years.

Hope exclaimed, "Huh! You have a wife? I was not expecting that. That's another thing that's different. Not the marriage. But the Kol I know could not be categorized as someone cable of having a healthy relationship. At least not when in fifteenth century.", she seemed amazed.

Then she continued, "But I don't get why it could change you that much?".

To this, Kol replied, "Well, let's just say I was going through something when I met her. I had trouble accepting reality. Accepting the world as it was.".

Then continued, "Astrid was the only one who made me feel real. Like, not the part of the fantasy I thought the world was. She was all I had. More than anything, more than family. It was like, if I had her by my side, the rest of the world, be it fantasy or reality, didn't matter.".

"She seems pretty incredible. I would love to meet her.", Hope spoke in a hopeful voice.

"And you will, my little niece. You definitely will, now that your incredible uncle Kol had promised to take you.", Kol replied in a joyful tone.

At this point, the sandwiches were already prepared, so Kol put them into plates, and spoke, "NOW! How about we talk as we eat? You're a growing wolf. You need to feed. Don't go starting all that dietary crap that girls of this era do. You won't get fat no matter how much you eat. Your amazing uncle Kol guarantees it.", in a jocular tone.

"Yeah, ok. I could eat. Guess now I'm hungry too.", she replied with a smile.

It had been a while since she felt this way. The feeling of being with family.

Occasionally, she went to New Orleans to see Freya, but Freya had her own family now, so it wasn't the same anymore.

Kol spoke, "Good! Now, these are the best Salami and Ham sandwiches in the world, so how about we go eat in front of the TV? Neither of us can sleep and it's a whole new world for me here. A lot to catch up to. Plus it would excuse us for awkward silences and sad nostalgias, while giving us more to talk about.", as he offered her a hand to climb down.

"Ok! I know where the TV is here.", she replied as she climbed down.

Then they headed for the room with T.V.

______________________________________________________

If they are people who want a romantic relationship between Kol and Hope, then they'll be disappointed.

Kol and Hope are family. So that's never happening.

You see, this is precisely the reason why the novels with Harem tag mostly suck. Because MCs goes after anything that walks on two legs, and girls fall in love with them left and right without any reason whatsoever.

I'm not going to ruin the character development of my MC and this novel, just because a few people like that sort of thing.

About the delay, I know what I said about baby steps. But babies stumble and fall too.

There's this hypothetical digital banana peel here... you know where I'm going with this. It happens!