A/N: Neither Vampire Diaries nor its characters belong to me. I only own my OC, Artemisia.
Chapter 20.
Damon POV.
Damon still remembered the first time he had seen Artemisia in action. She had looked like a warrior goddess, her eyes glowing in their iridescence and her hair crackling with energy. Although she had killed Rose, Damon had admired the fluid way she had moved while battling with the female vampire. That night, he had vowed to get to know the enigmatic girl, whose very name suggested divinity.
All those times he had compelled her, it had tugged on the minuscule conscience he had had then. It had seemed wrong, even then, to him. But Elena had demanded, so he had had to comply, otherwise she would have had thrown a huge hissy fit.
His conversation with Sia had left him astonished, and his respect and admiration for her had shot up. He could hardly believe that such a slip of a girl could be so bad-ass. Later, when he had heard that she was the famed Valkyrie, he had almost passed out from the shock. Valkyrie was almost as infamous as the Original vampires. She was the judge, jury and executioner, all rolled into one, and no supernatural creature wanted to fall afoul of her and gain her attention. Valkyrie was rumored to be in the middle of the huge ruckus in New Orleans that occurred a year ago. Apparently, a lot of vampires and witches had died in that event, which was being called the Purge of The French Quarter. He had steered clear of that area after that. But after having seen Artemisia in action, Damon had had no trouble believing that she was the supernatural equivalent of the Batman.
He had agreed to keep her involvement a secret, since he believed he owed her that much, at least. Slowly, he had come to care for her, almost as if she was his little sister. He could see that she had a lot on her shoulders and wished that he could lessen some of the burden.
He was slowly being disillusioned with Elena, and could now see the cracks and faults in her character. He wondered why on earth he had not noticed it before. He guessed that it was Artemisia's influence. Though, Elena's recent tantrums had also played a part in his disillusionment, funnily enough.
He wondered why Elena seemed to hate her sister so much. He had observed their interactions and had come to the conclusion that while being very much frustrated at her, Artemisia Gilbert loved her sister and would die for her. Damon was just not sure if the feeling was mutual. And that worried him.
The moment Elijah came into the abandoned witch house, Damon knew that something was wrong. For one thing Artemisia was nowhere to be seen. For another, the original vampire's eyes had the same look Damon had had when he had thought that Katherine was dead. Damon was quite alarmed. He hoped nothing had happened to Artemisia; the thought itself made his undead heart skip a beat.
He met Elijah's eyes and silently pleaded with him to say something. Elijah's face turned somber and there was grief, and anger, simmering in his eyes. He knew then, that something had definitely happened to Sia. Damon just hoped that she had not done anything stupid.
Elijah gestured for him to remain silent, and he nodded his assent. Elijah nodded back and went further inside to meet with the rest of the gang. Damon followed him; apparently, it was a group discussion. The gang was seated in a semicircle, with some sitting on the floor. Elena looked uncharacteristically nervous, wringing her hands.
"Ah good. You are all here. This makes everything much easier. Now, first, I have with me an elixir I had acquired a few years ago. It gives the drinker immunity from death for a day. This will be useful for Miss Gilbert here," said Elijah, his eyes sweeping over the group.
He brought out a wooden box from his coat pocket and opened it. The box was lined in red velvet and had a flask containing a dark fluid in it. He gave the box to Elena, but not before Bonnie had checked it over and pronounced it authentic. Elena opened the flask with a hint of trepidation on her face. Downing the liquid inside, she shuddered and said, "That was horrible. But is that it? No flashes of light or candles going out?"
Elijah smirked and said, "It is a potion, Miss Gilbert, not a spell. The changes are internal."
Damon smirked slightly. He began to wonder about Artemisia and if she was okay. He had noticed the closeness between Elijah and her. They had tried to hide it and had done their best to act otherwise, but over the last few weeks, Damon had come to know her quite well and had spotted it immediately. They gravitated towards each other. He knew that Elijah would not let Artemisia come to harm unless he had no choice. What if Klaus had her? He suddenly felt cold at the thought.
He was brought out of his thoughts by his brother and Elena leaving. It was time for Elena to meet Klaus.
As he moved to leave the room, he felt a jolt of pain from his arm. He had forgotten about the bite. While he had been rescuing Blondie and Wolf Boy, he had been bitten by the werewolf. The bite was inflamed and he could feel his energy being slowly drained. He only hoped that he would get a chance to talk to Sia before he died.
He caught Elijah's eye and inclined his head towards the door. Damon led the way outside, with Elijah behind him. He turned around once they were out of earshot of everyone inside. He fixed Elijah with an unwavering stare and demanded, "Where's Artemisia, Elijah? Why is she not here? What did you do to her?"
Elijah sighed and said, "Calm down, Mr. Salvatore. I did not do anything to Artemisia. She made her own decision. Klaus needed a vampire sacrifice and was going to use one of you people. It seems as if the self-sacrificing streak runs among the Gilbert sisters, and Artemisia offered herself up as an alternative. Right now, she is in transition." Elijah held up a hand when Damon opened his mouth. Elijah continued, "Fear not. She will live. Klaus allowed a witch to put Resurrection Spell on her. I suspect he is intrigued by her. But believe me, it is not a decision I would have made. I simply had no choice in the matter; as Artemisia was kind enough to tell me, or rather, yell at me."
Damon was in despair. Two of the most important people in his life were getting sacrificed on an altar, and he could do nothing about it. The despair gradually gave way to resignation, and he made his way to the ritual site. Elijah had informed him that he no longer wanted to kill his brother, and that Artemisia didn't want him to, either. Damon was not as angry at that as he thought he would be, simply because he knew that he wouldn't be able to kill his own brother either.
They reached the ritual site just in time to see Klaus rip out the heart of a female werewolf and squeeze it over a bowl. Damon then noticed Artemisia calmly walk up to Klaus and lie down on the altar. Damon started forward, but found that he couldn't move. He looked towards Elijah, and found him similarly frozen in place, a look of despair and longing in his eyes.
Klaus kissed Artemisia on her forehead and readied the stake in his hands. She closed her eyes and Klaus brought the stake down, piercing her heart.
A/N: Please review, my dear readers!
Special thanks to Nikole596 for betareading this chapter.
Ciao!