"What are you doing up, love?"
Irina froze at the knowing smile Rebekah was giving her.
She could feel her heart racing as Rebekah walked towards her and a part of her feared that Rebekah had caught on to her plans.
That maybe Rebekah was going to snap her neck.
"Are you alright, Fire?" Rebekah worriedly asked.
Irina blinked out of her haze, inwardly mocking herself for believing that Rebekah would know of her plans.
It was then she noticed that Rebekah looked like a mess.
"Why are you up Bekah?" Irina frowned in concern.
According to her plans, she should already be exiting the building, but she didn't care at the moment.
Rebekah was more important at the moment.
"I...couldn't sleep," Rebekah reluctantly admitted. "I just keep thinking about how I'm always cast aside by the people I love."
Irina could metaphorically feel a knife stabbing her in her guts because of the guilt she felt.
After all she was going to cast Rebekah aside. She was going to betray Rebekah and was sure she'd feel ashamed for years to come.
"I..am sure that is not true," Irina muttered. "You have your brothers."
She almost winced, knowing she was saying something false.
Klaus and Elijah both had the habit of disappointing and hurting Rebekah.
Rebekah chuckled.
Irina flinched at how broken it sounded.
"That's the thing, Fire. They never choose me when it matters. I have stuck by them for years, have helped them through their darkest...and yet, I never seem to be their priority."
Irina's eyes softened and before she thought about it, she wrapped her arms around Rebekah.
"I'm sorry. I am so sorry."
Rebekah's own arms wrapped around hers and Irina could feel the blonde's chin against the top of her head.
"Even you Fire. You will always choose that whore above everyone else, no matter how much she hurts you. Just like I will always choose Klaus over everyone else."
It was true.
Irina, no matter how much she pretended otherwise, was well aware of how much Katerina has and will continue to hurt her.
But she'd choose Katerina, anyway.
Always.
"We are the little sisters, it is what we do."
Rebekah gave a wet chuckle, causing Irina to smile.
"You, Fire, are going to burn me and anyone else in your way one day."
Irina blinked as Rebekah broke their hug to smile at her.
"That," Irina softly started,"Is simply nature."
Before she could do anything, Rebekah placed a kiss on her forehead.
"It is," the Original agreed.
Irina stared at Rebekah as the blonde walked away.
If Katerina was there, she would have said: "Better you than I."
However, Katerina wasn't there. Irina was.
What did Irina say?
Nothing.
She walked away as well, her mind back on her plan. By now, she was sure that Katerina was a vampire or at least in transition.
Two hours later, Klaus would wake up alone.
But by then?
Irina would be long gone.
.o0o.o0o.
Finn watched, disdained, as his little brother sucked the blood out of a stranger.
"Is he always that sloppy?" The vampire who had removed the daggers from them asked, an annoyed and impatient look adorning his features.
Finn couldn't blame the vampire really, considering Kol had just tore through his fifth human since he had woke up. Finn himself had simply drank a moderate amount from a human girl before compelling her to forget. It was ultimately a fruitless gesture, considering the human girl had became Kol's third kill.
"He's the wildest of us all," Finn simply replied in a neutral tone, wary of the strange vampire.
Even though Finn absolutely despised his family at times, Kol was his little brother and he would not allow anyone to hurt him. Well, he tried to not let anyone hurt Kol. He was sure he wasn't doing a good job at looking out for his little brother, considering he had a dagger inside him for quite a while judging by how Kol was more ruthless than the last time he had saw him.
Finn would love to have a little chat with his other siblings about it, but he knew that their 'little chat' would end in Elijah and Rebekah pinning him as Niklaus drives a dagger in his heart for another long century.
"What's wrong? You look-"
"I am fine," Finn cut the strange vampire off, inwardly cursing how there was a tremor in voice. He coughed, hoping to erase the cough as he faced the strange vampire, wondering where Niklaus was. "But I believe you have a few questions to answer."
"I agree," Kol chuckled, letting the lifeless woman fall down with a careless shrug. Kol hadn't even bothered to wipe the blood off of his mouth. But then again, it made no difference considering his whole body was covered in blood.
The strange vampire smirked at them. "Hey, hey, I'm just the puppet here," he admitted, holding his hands up in a non-threatening matter. "My princess was the one who asked me to bring you two back to the conscious world."
Finn narrowed his eyes at the vampire, now on full alert. "You do not work for Niklaus."
"Obviously," the vampire scoffed, "His charisma does not exactly attract me."
"Why not?" Finn wondered.
Kol, however, made an amused noise. "What I would love to know is, who would go out of their way to piss Nik off? Most likely one lacking sense, but I am still curious."
His words seemed to make the vampire snap, Finn realized as the vampire glared at his little brother. Without much thought, Finn tensed and prepared to intervene if the fool attacked his little brother.
"What I am curious about," the vampire gritted out with a forced smirk. "Is who in their right mind would go against the ruler of the travelers?"
"The travelers?" Finn asked, confused.
Kol laughed. "Now this is an interesting turn of events. I thought you bunch were extinct! Though, most likely, after a few days you bunch will probably be extinct for real for angering Nik."
"The princess did say this will not be a fun job," the vampire sighed, shaking his head at them as if they were children. "The Originals are almost as arrogant as they are ignorant about the supernatural world. They do not even have a clue that we are responsible for the existence of doppelgangers."
Kol's laughter abruptly cut off at the vampire's words.
Finn himself fixed the vampire/traveler with a wide-eyed look.
"Oh, look at the time," the vampire/traveler mockingly smiled. "Maybe we will meet again, but for now, the princess awaits."
.o0o.o0o.
"Niklaus! Rebekah!"
"Nik! Elijah!"
"Elijah! Rebekah!"
Three panicked and enraged Originals stood in their dining hall, breathing heavily.
Elijah, being the normal voice of reason, quickly steeled his panic and frustrated confusion as he raised an eyebrow at his siblings. "What is the matter with you two?"
Neither Rebekah nor Niklaus paid the other any mind as they whirled to look at Elijah with panicked eyes that reminded him of when they were children and would often come to him with their problems or fears.
"Kol and Finn's coffins are gone!"
"Irina is gone!"
Elijah felt himself tense up in surprise as his siblings faced each other with confused looks.
"That is impossible, Trevor and Rose are supposed to be guarding them."
Rebekah managed a sound between frustration and worry, "I found Rose staked. Trevor and the coffins are missing."
Her words caused a fury within the two brothers who valued greatly loyalty.
"But Fire," Rebekah blurted out, recalling the warmth she had experienced earlier while wrapped in Irina's embrace. "She cannot be missing. I saw her just moments ago..."
Niklaus made a frustrated noise, "Damn it 'Bekah, I looked for her everywhere I could think!"
"Maybe she is with her whore sister!" Rebekah sounded equally frustrated.
"That is plausible," Elijah intervened. "Katerina is also missing."
"They would not leave without informing us. Irina would not just..."
Rebekah made a noise of agreement. "Perhaps Trevor is responsible for Fire's disappearance as well."
Elijah bit back the urge to add Katerina's name in, knowing that Rebekah only cared about Irina. He was probably the only one who cared for Katerina. Niklaus only cared because Katerina was the key to getting rid of the curse.
"Elijah, gather our allied witches. Rebekah and I are going to have a little chat to all our vampires. We are going to get our family, Irina and the doppelganger back."
Rebekah gained a confident stance, mirroring the mirthless smirk Niklaus was wearing.
Elijah felt himself straightening up as well, his lip twitched up in an almost amused smile.
One does not simply mess with one, let alone three, Originals and live to tell the tale.
(Irina sneezed.)
.o0o.o0o.
Dear Nik,
I wonder, do I still have permission to call you that? In case you have not realized yet, I left. I was not captured or taken. I have betrayed you and I will not apologize. You were going to kill my sister...
Irina made a frustrated noise, finding it hard to write the letter she was busy with. The one she had written for Rebekah and Elijah were simply so easy that she wondered why she was having difficulties writing Nik's. Or Klaus, considering she probably wouldn't be allowed to call him 'Nik' ever again.
A twinge of regret nagged at her and she quickly crushed it.
Elijah's was easy to write, because she had simply told him that in another life he could have married Katerina and they could have been family.
Rebekah's left her with a sense of hope. Because she admitted the truth to Rebekah in her letter and she told Rebekah everything she had wanted to tell Rebekah since she had saw Rebekah on TV back in her first life.
But writing Nik's letter left her feeling like she was crazy. How could she hate and love someone so bad? How could she understand someone so well yet still feel angered by their reasons? How could she want to ask him to choose her over breaking his curse? How could she feel this mess of emotions when she had not even known the Original for that long?
"Princess?"
Irina startled before eyeing a raven-haired traveler.
"I, forgive my nerve, but I must urge you to finish up so that we can move on. Us travelers cannot stick together too long and we need you to direct us to the next stage of your plans."
Irina nodded at the female traveler, feeling a bit overwhelmed at being the leader of the travelers. Yet, this was the price she would pay so that Katerina can live. So that her mother could at least live with one of her daughters. So that Nadia could have a relatively normal childhood without having to be on the run.
That is why Irina will pay the price for their happiness.
"While my sister is hiding in plain sight, I want to go to the land where you lot have hidden Amara."
"Very well, princess."
.o0o.o0o.
Chapter End.
.o0o.o0o.
Author's note: it's been a long time, huh? Story's back! Expect another update soon.
Questions:
1. Should I speed up the story?
2. What is Irina planning with the Travelers?
