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February 14, 20 Weeks
Lexa's heart fluttered when they pulled up outside the cemetery gates. The last time she had stood in that place bodies had littered the sidewalk and her favorite blouse had been ruined. She fingered the hem of her shirt, a near perfect replica of the top she'd had to burn, and tilted her head.
"Why here?" Klaus shut the car door with more force than necessary.
New Orleans was his favorite place in the world, and he had traversed nearly every corner of the planet, but being back in the city had him on edge. The last time he had stood in these streets the town he had practically built up from the ground had been on fire, curtesy of his father. He had lost friends that night and separated from Elijah, creating the wedge that had persisted for a century.
New Orleans was one of the few places his family had been truly happy, but it was also one of the places that he associated with pain. He had nearly died in the opera house and lost the vampire he had thought of as a son. New Orleans had torn his family apart and he still didn't know why. He didn't understand what mistake they had made to lead Mikael to them.
He pulled himself from his thoughts before he could dwell to long on the darkness. It was in the past and that was where it was going to stay; Mikael couldn't terrorize them anymore, he had seen to that several months ago.
This time he would not be leaving the city without his brother at his side.
"When I was here before," Lexa reached into the car for her bag, "Kol couldn't enter the grounds," she nodded to the gate. From the corner of her eye she saw Elena stiffen at the mention of Kol's name. "The vampires that wanted to kill me couldn't get in either. There's some sort of barrier that keeps them out."
"Doesn't that mean we can't enter?" Rebekah lifted a box of supplies for the spell and balanced it on her hip.
"Yeah," she nodded, "but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. You can't enter, but neither can anyone that will want to kill me after I start the spell."
"How are we meant to help then?" Caroline frowned at the iron gates.
"Stand watch," Lexa shrugged. "I really only need Elena; she's got the blood of a living relative."
Elena turned back from the gates when she heard her name and found Rebekah shaking her head.
"It's a lot of supplies," Klaus cocked an eyebrow, nodding to the heavy bag over Lexa's shoulder and the substantially sized box in Rebekah's arms.
"I can take the box," Elena's voice was quiet as she stepped forward. She pulled the box into her arms before anyone could object and spent a few seconds trying to figure out the best way to carry it; it wasn't that it was heavy, but the bump made it awkward. Over the last few weeks she had really popped and it was obvious to anyone that looked at her she was expecting; Jeremy had joked that she must have swallowed a basketball and drawn a true laugh from her, she thought that it might have been the first since the party.
A few more seconds of shifting passed before she hooked one arm over the top and rested the long side of the box against her hip. There was a slight twisting in her abdomen when the pressure settled.
"I could also take it," Jeremy cleared his throat.
"I've got it," Elena shook her head.
She felt like she needed to contribute more than just being present when the spell was performed. She fixed a small smile on her lips and stepped over the threshold onto the cobblestones.
"Besides," Elena glanced over her shoulder, "you'll be more use out here."
"She's got a point," Lexa followed her inside, "Klaus, Rebekah and Caroline can watch the entrances, but they can't enter. If we can't answer our phones for any reason they'll need someone who can come in and get us."
"You can come with me Jeremy," Rebekah nodded to the street, "we'll watch the other entrance."
Elena stiffened when Lexa's hand brushed her elbow, steering her towards the center of the cemetery; at least she thought it was the center. It was hard to tell since she had no concept of the size of the place.
"I've got something that's going to make you feel a little better," Lexa whispered. She was fairly certain they were far enough from the gates that Klaus and Caroline couldn't hear them, but she reasoned it was better to be safe than sorry.
"The father of one of my children is dead, and the other is for all intents and purposes dead," Elena muttered, shaking her head. "What could you possibly have that's going to make me feel better?"
"Hope?" Lexa tilted her head.
Hope; Elena sighed. She had hope but it was hard to focus on that after the road side run in. The starling had set her on edge and she half expected to see Esther rounding a corner ahead of them, prepared to strike them down before seeking out her remaining children. She wanted nothing more than for the spell to work so she could leave the cemetery with him. She wanted him alive and safe. She wanted Kol alive and safe.
All she wanted was for her family to be safe.
"You gave me hope when you translated the spell and told me it would work," Elena turned with her around a mausoleum.
"Okay," Lexa nodded, she slipped one hand into her bag and pulled out a long object; the metal glinted in the moonlight. "How about this?"
A slow smile took over her face when she saw what the blonde held.
He didn't know how long he had been dead, not exactly. He knew Elena had not yet given birth; at least she hadn't when he saw her last, but that still didn't give him an accurate timeline of events.
Time moved differently on the Other Side. He had no method of knowing whether he had seen Elena hours, days, months, or years ago.
He liked to think it had only been days and that at any moment she would be calling him back; that at any moment he would be able to hold her in his arms and pretend, for an instant, that none of it had happened.
He turned his head towards the soft voice that drifted through the mist. It was her voice, he was certain of the fact, but whether or not it was another trick eluded him. Still he took the first step and heard the hollow crunch of frozen grass underfoot. He walked until the voice was practically beside him and would have kept on walking if not for the hand that closed around his elbow.
"Open your eyes," she hissed.
He followed her instructions, forgetting for a moment that it was not her voice speaking to him; disregarding the hint of an accent on her tongue. The sight before him made his blood run cold.
He backed up, pulling her with him and stared up at the gate. The warmth receded the further he got until he was shivering from the cold once more and glaring at the black hole before him.
"That's not her is it?" He tried not to let his dejection show in his voice.
"No," V shook her head, "I don't think the living would call the same way as the dead."
And because he needs to think about something else, because he needs to talk about something to pass the never-ending stretch of eternity, because he needs to fill the lonely silence he asks the question.
"What's really beyond the gate?"
"I already told you, sugar." She crossed her arms. They were standing too close and it was raising the little hairs on the back of her neck. Could he see her through the flat black shrouding the worlds? Would he find a way to drag her in again?
"Hell," he nodded, "but you never gave the particulars." Elijah took a gentle hold of her elbow and eased her backwards until the fog shrouded the gate again. He saw her eyes still glued on the faint outline but the distance had the desired effect of getting her to relax even if it was only a slight sag to her shoulders. "Will you tell me?"
V rubbed her upper arms and stared. It was a bone chilling cold that never left so she was surprised when it lifted. Her eyes dropped to the black jacket he had draped over her shoulders; it did nothing to stave off the actual cold, there was nothing that would ever do that, but there was a quiet comfort in the weight that made her feel a little warmer.
"There are many dimensions for the afterlife. The one we're in came later; I think it might even be one of the youngest ones; it's only two thousand years old, at least… that's what the whispers say." V chewed her bottom lip.
The gesture tugged at Elijah's heartstrings; it was the same one Elena made when she was putting serious thought into less than ideal news.
"That one's old," she nodded to the gate, "really old. It's presided over by a man… He takes joy in suffering, tormenting those who have 'sinned' and it doesn't matter how big or small the deed was. He corrupts those who are good and devours the souls of those who are not."
"How can anyone devour a soul?" He frowned.
"By learning a person's worst deeds, and if there are none to speak of he seeks out their name. The people that have created names for themselves are considered as good as gone when they set foot in his domain, but if he never had cause to learn the name he sought it out."
"Is that the real reason you won't tell me yours?" Elijah steered her away from the gate.
"I tell nobody," she shook her head, "because once he knows your name…"
She trailed off, but Elijah didn't need to hear the rest to understand her fear.
"Tell me about the spell," he suggested.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She wasn't an idiot. She knew what he was doing, distracting her from her fear until they were far from the gate.
"I don't know much," she shook her head, "only that the living has to call back the dead: blood to blood."
"Now does that work for the one person," he glanced over his shoulder, "or for anyone who shares the blood."
"I would assume anyone," she turned to face him and shrugged one shoulder, "but why does that matter. Who else over here would share blood with your living relative?"
"What happens if you're pulled back through the gate?" From the corner of his eyes he saw the world growing lighter.
"I'll be tortured until I give him what he wants and then there will be nothing left of me, why?" She tilted her head.
"Because you've helped me V, and now I'd like to help you."
He curled his fingers around her elbows and she felt a breeze, as warm as summer, ruffle her hair. There was a tugging sensation behind her naval that increased as the soft sound of a rising voice reached her ears.
There was an unearthly shriek from the direction she thought held the gate and she dug her nails into his arms as her heart pounded; she didn't have time to think about how she hadn't felt her heart beating once in her time there before they were bathed in white.