A/N: Not sure where anyone who reads this is from, but it's 11pm my time and I apologize for the late update! Normally would try for earlier but hey it's still Thursday LOL

From now on every Tuesday I will be posting this story's companion, Rise II: Devil in Me and every Thursday I'll update Monster. Within a few weeks both stories will be on track with one another. Devil in Me is a Supernatural based companion. Kind of like how the CW does their crossovers, that's what I'm trying for TVD & SPN.

For more updates like my Facebook page!

xoxo
Kuraki-chan

04x14: Down the Rabbit Hole

36: They Haven't Seen Anything Yet.

"Who knew Death would take so long to reap my ass, huh?" Lethia grinned with blood on her lips and teeth, her voice weak.

"Stop it, Let," Klaus rolled his eyes, still petting her hair as her head laid in his lap on the couch.

"Oh let a dying woman have her fun. Afterall," she grinned again, "I am coming back for round two."

"Provided Auriel can accomplish some genuinely awful magic. And that's coming from me, luv. Well, if it isn't little orphan Lockwood. Come to show how laughably impotent you are against me?" Lethia tried to sit up and see but Klaus pushed her gently back down.

Tyler's footfalls came around the couch. He did his best not to look at the bleeding blonde as he unraveled a sword from a blanket. "Found this in your attic."

"And you think finding the sword brings you closer to the cure?"

"You tell me. I was playing around with the handle on the ride over, and I found this." He started fiddling with the leather on the top of the sword, revealing some sort of turning device.

Klaus chuckled a little. "So what do you think 'this' is?"

"It's called a cryptex," came Caroline around the couch. Tyler and Lethia looked at her strangely. "What? I've seen The da Vinci Code. You turn the different sides to the different symbols to get the translation on the other side. And with the magic of the internet, Elena sent over these." She held up photos of Jeremy's hunter's mark. " So now all we have to do is cryptex away."

"Right. Well, might I suggest using the magic of the internet to purchase an Aramaic-to-English dictionary from your nearest retailer." He smirked.

"What's Aramaic?" the slowly dying wolf coughed up some blood, making Caroline and Tyler wince. "It sounds familiar."

"It's a dead language," Caroline replied softly. "It hasn't been used since, like, biblical times."

"Qetsiyah's native tongue, I'm guessing," Klaus shrugged still smirking. "You know, even if you had the best dictionary in the world, it could take days to translate. Perhaps even weeks. "In bas so-teen-too ara-ma-eet."

"What does that mean?" Tyler questioned.

"If only you spoke Aramaic," Lethia breathed, her amber eyes flashing emerald for a split second.

"Daciana may have been fluent," the Original vaguely explained with his focus on the girl in his lap. "Fluent enough in the language of the Vasile family to teach me a thing or two. I wouldn't be surprised if Nova knew a few words."

Tyler stomped off to try and decode what he could. Caroline looked between the two. "If you happened to want to help, we wouldn't stop you."

"He has no need," came Riel down the stairs. "No need for the cure or for Silas to breathe. The cure was necessary to revert Elena and be able to use her doppelganger blood to make hybrids - or just one singular hybrid." She gestured to Lethia, dying on the couch. "There wouldn't be enough time to spare Lethia's life by waiting on the cure. I'm going to do a spell and put her in transition myself."

"That's insane!" the blonde vampire shouted. "Is that even possible?!"

"I'm going to find out," the brunette smiled sadly. "If hybrids need Petrova doppelganger blood to complete transition then I'm going to use Vasile blood for my spell. They're pretty much doppelgangers, right?"

"Like switching between 1% and 2% milk," Lethia laughed, spitting up more blood.

"Won't that create the opening to sire more hybrids with Vasile blood…?" Caroline started to sweat.

"Oh no, just this one singular." She gestured to Lethia. "She's a Kross wolf bound by a Moore's spell to a Vasile vampire. To put her into transition and wake her up I'm going to need Vasile blood and it's only good for her thanks to the spell that links her to Nova and the properties of the Vasile blood that link each one of them."

"Okay," Tyler stood in the kitchen doorway, "but how do you plan to do that if Nova isn't even in this country?"

"Well it certainly does explain why I have been summoned to this house."

Only Lethia recognized that it was fear first to appear in Klaus' eyes when he heard Daciana's voice. He became rigid and cold, putting on a facade to keep Daciana from seeing it. "You need to be invited in to this home, sister," he reminded her without looking behind himself. "A human owns the deed and you are still a vampire."

The ravenette cocked her head to the side, hair falling in waves down her side. She donned tight, dark grey jeans, black heels, and a black blouse. She stared at the back of her brother's head with fire in her emerald eyes. Slowly her tantalizing eyes wafted over to Tyler. "You made a fatal error in calling Nova," she purred, deathly calm. "Now she will know her purpose for finding the cure is unnecessary. She will no longer seek out Elena becoming human, ever again. Elena will forever be Nova Vasile's progeny and that is not something you twerps have grasped the reality and truth of." When everyone remained silent, her dark maroon lips curved towards a sinister smirk. "I wonder, have you heard of one 'Abby Bennett's' untimely meet with the true death? I understand she was from here, and your little witch's birth giver before turning tail and running."

"Shut your fuckin' pie hole!" Lethia tried to shout at her. She ended up coming off extra raspy and spit up more blood.

"Abby isn't dead," Caroline muttered with her hand over her mouth.

"I will not lie to you," Daciana's smirk darkened. Lethia saw the fear crack through Klaus; something about those six words giving him anxiety. "Abby Bennett could not handle being a Vasile progeny. The Power drove her mad. So mad that she took off her daylight ring and burned to ash. It's a curse on our blood, unfortunately. Each person we turn must face trials and must face them with their maker. To do it on your own is just suicide."

"Daciana that's quite enough," Klaus spoke up, still not turning to face her.

"I'm surprised Nova stuck around when Elena turned," she ignored him. "She's been looking for a reason to get out of town with Damon and get rid of that damn Petrova line. Such a plot twist that she stuck around and helped Elena adjust when no one even knew a damn thing. Elena Gilbert is going to make one hell of a vampire." She snickered.

After hearing everything, Klaus kissed Lethia's forehead and gently slid out from beneath her. He walked up to the front door with his head held high, deeply burying the fear creeping up his spine as he stared into her malefic eyes. He stood taller than her, but not by much with her heels on. She stared up at him mockingly, knowing he wouldn't (and couldn't) do anything to her. "What does that mean for Lethia, being turned into a hybrid with Vasile blood?" He demanded through grit teeth.

Daciana got as close to the barrier as she could, grinning up at him. "I suppose we'll find out real quick, brother."

"Nova, I don't know if you'll get this in the bumfuck you must be in, but if anyone will it'll be you."

She stood slowly as Tyler's voice played into her ear. The sun was starting to rise, a gentle wind jostling her hair around.

"Something happened...something really bad. It's Lethia; she...she was hurt."

She could hear his voice cracking in the recording as she picked up Damon's jacket in the sand, taking in the scent close to her face.

"She'd been looking for Riel all day - you know, the creepy chick who can change her hair on command that works for Klaus? Probably to try and break him out of Elena's house."

There was an extra scent on the jacket she didn't recognize. She could identify Damon's and her own with ease, even Lethia's, Elena's, Stefan's, Bonnie's, and Jeremy's. But there was one that just did not belong.

"When Lethia came back again, I asked her why she was looking for Riel when someone else came to the house looking for her too."

A man's scent definitely. The cologne gave it away. And it was recent, stronger than the rest of the scents she could pick up. She dropped the jacket and darted off after the scent.

"The man...he wore a black suit," Tyler's voice cracked again and started to shake. "And his fucking eyes turned black! Like, the whole thing. And he had a silver blade, but it wasn't made of silver…"

Nova stopped in her tracks in the middle of the woods. Her lips parted, eyes widened with each word. A man in a black suit with black eyes.

"Oh God, Nova...Lethia thought it was only silver. She-she went straight for him after he tossed me aside like scraps. He was going for her and Klaus next."

She started getting flashes that made her dizzy. She caught a tree for support, leaning against it. She could see dozens of people in black suits, men and women alike, charging towards her (or whoever's eyes she was seeing from) in a clearing.

"She tried so hard...but that bastard...he got her. Rammed the-the 'angel blade' I think he called it right into her. I swear I almost saw Klaus fucking Mikaelson fall to his knees."

The flashes looked down to her/a hand. It was gripping a silver blade so tight that the knuckles were white. There was an inscription beneath the small hilt. A symbol.

"That's when the guy told her…" He took a breath and sniffled, his voice quavering. "He told her he knew who she was and that the blades are made of titanium. He stabbed Lethia with titanium."

Nova nearly fell to her knees. The last vision she saw was the blade slashing across the people in suits, their eyes turning black before they glowed bright and dropped to the ground, completely dead. She took a deep and choking breath as tears started to streak her face. She heard every word through the flashes.

"He stabbed Lethia with titanium."

She used the tree for support as she checked the rest of her notifications quickly. Tyler had also texted her, informing her that Riel was going to try and save her because Klaus' blood wasn't healing her. Riel would perform a spell. Lethia already drank Klaus' blood. Their entire, good natured, purpose for finding the cure had been shattered. And the worst part was that Nova couldn't even be there for Lethia. She bit her lower lip and shakily dialed Elena, her phone forcing the call to reach her progeny.

"Nova!" the brunette exclaimed with relief. "Where are you? We just got to the coast and found Damon missing. I think someone took him."

"Someone did," she choked back through grit teeth. She forced herself to take another breath. "I woke up on the scene. I'm in the woods looking for him."

"What's the matter? You don't sound okay, and something doesn't feel right."

"It's Thea," the ravenette sobbed. "Tyler left me a voicemail. She'd been stabbed with titanium but I need you to not react right now, okay?"

"How am I supposed to not react?" Elena whisper yelled back. She walked a few feet away from prying ears. "Tell me what's going on, Nova. Please."

"You don't need to take the cure anymore. All that will do is ruin all of our progress and give Klaus an army."

Elena continued walking off when Stefan kept eyeing her down. Rebekah had been desperately searching for service and quite irritated when Elena's phone rang. "So what do we do now?" She heard Nova take in another shaky breath and hold it before letting it out.

Her emerald eyes were exhausted and wrathful as they stared up to the rising son. "We're still going to get the cure because I don't trust anyone else with it. Chances are that Stefan will try to cure us all with it. No thank you. I need to find Damon." She shook her head.

"Who could have taken him? It would mean someone else is on the island with us."

She thought for a moment when it struck her. "One of the hunters! When Jeremy's mark was completed it must have activated or whatever on the other four. It is the Brotherhood of the Five, meaning four others aside from Jeremy."

"Sounds reasonable, but you can't kill him then. Which means he'll keep hunting us."

Nova smirked, fire burning in her eyes. "And that tells me I'm going to have to work with some finesse. Keep going on like nothing changed, can you do that?"

"Like I'm still taking the cure when we find it and go back to the sweet human everyone else prefers me as?"

"Precisely, tovarăş. I'll find Damon, you find the cure." She ended the call and pulled her sai blades out of her boots.

Elena used an app on her phone to quickly translate what Nova had called her, smiling softly when it loosely translated to 'companion'. It was better than pizdă.

"Okay," came Caroline's voice, "this is it. We've translated all the symbols on the tattoo. 'Passage inside...requires a young senator, and a pretty flower.' Okay, none of this makes sense!" Klaus chuckled and spoke in Aramaic, further confusing her.

"Reikalinga galinga ragana ir pilnas žydėjimas," came Daciana from the porch. She leaned over the side rail, looking out at the peaceful and unsuspecting human neighborhood.

"Yeah cause that helped at all," the blonde quipped back. "What the hell language even was that?"

"Lithuanian," the elder Mikaelson replied, watching his sister out the doorway carefully. "Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full bloom."

"What are you doing?" Tyler questioned skeptically.

Lethia saw Klaus just over the couch, watching Daciana intently. He didn't trust her. "I don't need to tell you my reasons. Caroline." She jumped and he waved her over. "Bring my sword over here."

Daciana turned, leaning her back against the railing and eyeing her brother hauntingly. "Silas rests on the far side, the means of his destruction at hand." She read when Caroline was close enough.

"How the hell did you read that?" the blonde groaned. "You're literally not even in the house!"

"I suppose I've got devilish eyesight," the ravenette snickered.

Klaus was far from amused. He cut an icy glare back at her. "Turn the cryptex to the right," he snarled at Caroline with his gaze fixed on his sister. The blonde vampire turned slowly until both siblings ended up telling her to stop. "The top of the hilt reveals a key to a nautical map. Turn it to the left."

"Now turn the other piece," Daciana added, sidled right up to the door barrier nosily.

The elder brother made a face. "There's something else."

"What does it mean?" Tyler demanded.

"Yra tik viena dozė," Daciana grinned, the Lithuanian dripping like venom off of her tongue. She started to chuckle and run a finger along the barrier. "You fools are severely unprepared for the war about to begin. That cure will be needed upon waking Silas to kill him."

"So we use it on Silas, then we'll use it for whoever wants to use it," Caroline argued.

Lethia's face paled slowly as she understood slowly what Daciana meant. She'd picked up a few things of Lithuanian in her time and understood the words 'one dose'. It didn't take a genius to deduce the rest. "Caroline, no-" she tried to intervene, but found herself too wounded by then.

Daciana started to laugh, a sound that made each of them cringe even a flinch away with fright. "Oh how you've all severely misunderstood. There won't be any sharing, Barbie."

"I'm sure you want nothing more than to get it for Rebekah, but we want Elena to be happy and normal again. We can make it so everyone gets what they want."

"No, you can't," Klaus' voice nearly cracked. He looked to his sister with pain in his blue eyes. "Even if we wanted to we couldn't, Caroline. There is only one dose of the cure."

"And with it goes your hopes of curing me, brother," the ravenette spoke in a honeyed tone. "I know that's the only reason you woke me, knowing the cure for vampirism was at your blood stained fingertips. Hate to tell you, it probably wouldn't have done much to benefit you."

As soon as she saw Rebekah get a call through Elena had ears on the conversation. "Hello?" The blonde answered eagerly.

"Hey, it's Caroline. We have the translation of the tattoo. We're emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now."

She looked down at her phone. "Got it, thanks."

"Actually, it was me."

Elena saw her freeze up when she heard Klaus. "Nik. You helped?"

"You sound so surprised, little sister. Even Daciana is here as Riel needs her blood for Lethia."

"Always happy to bleed for the Vasiles and their comrades."

Something changed in Rebekah's eyes when she heard Daciana. "Shouldn't I be? I mean, you don't want me to be human. You don't want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the cure?" Elena waited painfully for Klaus' response.

"Perhaps I want my sister to finally know true, unblinded happiness." Elena expected to see Rebekah dripping with joy, instead finding her in a much darker place. Rebekah was frozen, something breaking in her eyes. "There is one more thing, Rebekah." His voice became much quicker for fear he wouldn't say it in time. "There is only one dose of the cure. You need to find it first and take it home. It's the only way we'll-"

"Nik!" She called, realizing the call cut. "Nik!"

Elena covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. She quickly scrambled for her phone, texting Nova what she just heard. Waiting for a reply she started to wonder what exactly Klaus had meant. Had he wanted the cure for Daciana? If so, why? After a minute, her phone vibrated with a reply.

Fuck that. We'll get it first.
Maybe for a little vindication I'll ram it down Stefan or Katherine's throats.
I'll find you once I find Damon, I promise.
Stay on course.
xx

Her eyes darkened with each word she read until the irises were entirely black, her countenance blank and cold. She deleted the texts and slipped her phone back into her pocket, her eyes returning to normal.

Vaughn was shoving Damon along when they came across a body, throat ripped wide open. Damon's eyes widened the longer he stared at the corpse, realizing his eyes were held open by rigor mortis setting in. The hunter immediately looked to Damon. "Was that you?"

He shook his head slowly, eyes unable to look away from the bloodied body. "No, but I know whose handiwork that is and you might want to let me go before she finds us."

Vaughn scoffed and shoved him forward. "Why? Was it your girlfriend? Oh, my bad, it's fiancee now, isn't it?"

Damon mocked his scoff and rolled his eyes. "If you've been stalking us so well like you claim than you should know my Nova and not to piss her off."

"I know that Nova has already had a taste of the Hunter's Curse. She wouldn't be daft enough to try it again."

The ravenette found as he walked that the vervain ropes binding him were slowly burning less and less. He started to fiddle with him out of Vaughn's sight. "Of course she's not. It just means she'd get extra creative." He smirked, eyes flashing black quickly. They made it to the cave, Vaughn dragging him inside, and saw the ropes that Shane already used to take Bonnie and Jeremy down. "Well, here we are. Looks like someone beat us to the punch." Realizing he was no longer in any pain, Damon snapped the ropes and turned on the hunter.

Vaughn whipped out his gun immediately. "That's a shame, Damon. Hate to kill ya. Say, how'd you finally break those ropes?"

He smirked, the hunter not realizing Damon's gaze had fallen behind him. "You don't know the first thing about Nova Vasile soon to be Salvatore."

As if on cue, Nova rushed in at the hunter and grabbed him in a tight chokehold that forced him to drop his gun. Before he lost all consciousness he fired one more trap at Damon, causing Nova to tighten her grip. She was desperately trying to refrain from breaking his neck. Vaughn struggled against her, flailing one hand to his side where he got hold of a stake and rammed it back into Nova's gut before succumbing to the darkness.

She let out a grunt as she tossed him to the floor, her back hitting the cold, cave wall. Damon was tied to a post with a vervain soaked trap. She reached down to remove the stake but it caused her a great deal of pain. Elena and Stefan then ran in, horror and concern all over the brunette's face. "Keep going!" Nova yelled when Elena ran towards her. She spat out a mouthful of blood; Damon writhed beneath the vervain trap as the pain died down slowly. "Go get the cure, Elena. Do it."

"But you and Damon-!"

"Will be just fine," Damon assured her. He knew he could break free in a moment as the pain subsided.

"I already handled Rebekah," Nova added. "Go get the cure."

"Come on, Elena," Stefan urged at the ropes.

"At least let me get the stake out," Elena argued, making her way to Nova.

The ravenette grabbed her by the collar and pulled her down to her level on the ground. "Do you hear my words, Elena? Go get the cure."

"I hear you just fine, Nova, but you're hurt."

She took Elena's hand gently, looking her in the eye. "I'm with Damon now. We will meet you but I need you to go down that rabbit hole, Elena. Please."

Finally her progeny gave up and leaped into the cave's hole with Stefan. Nova let out a sigh of relief and wrapped her hand around the stake. "Oh please don't, Nova," Damon pleaded as he started breaking free of his own trap.

"Like you'll do any different when you get free?" She snickered. "Ah, this is gonna suck." She inhaled a breath, puffing out her cheeks, and ripped the stake forcefully from her abdomen. Her groan of pain rang through almost the entire island. She scrambled to her feet and over to Damon, ignoring the slowly healing hole that still bled.

"I got it," he told her softly before ripping it all away. "The vervain stopped hurting and there's only one dose of the cure."

"I know," she fell into his arms that wrapped protectively around her. "Riel is using some spell to turn Lethia instead because she was…" Her voice broke, sentence cutting off.

Damon pulled back a little, brushing her hair from her face. "What's wrong with, Thea?"

Tears started to form in her emerald eyes as she stared up at him. "She was stabbed with a titanium blade by a man in a black suit with entirely black eyes…"

For a moment they just stared at one another, comprehending what exactly was going on. Damon opened his mouth to speak at last when Nova's eyes flashed gold. It looked like a shock to her as well, as though she had felt it through her eyes. A burning, stabbing pain started to spread across her skull. Her knees buckled and caved, Damon preventing her from hitting the ground.

"Nova!" He called to deaf ears.

Lethia was barely breathing as she laid on a bed in the spare room of the Gilbert house. She was abnormally pale, almost translucent. Her hair lacked as much life as her eyes, askew across the pillows. Riel hurried around the room, finishing writing sigils all over the windows, doors, and walls with her own blood. On a table beside the bed she had set up an old, wrinkled, black grimoire with strange writing inside and a small bowl of Daciana's blood.

"Will this affect Nova…?" The blonde asked weakly.

As Riel finished the sigils and looked over the spell again (for the millionth time it seemed) she sighed. Lethia could see the pain and uncertainty in the girl's eyes. "It probably will," she admitted quietly. "My magic can feel your link because it was carved with Moore energy and it's flapping open like a screen door in a hurricane."

She chuckled dryly, both literally and figuratively. "Yeah, sounds about right. We really fucked up this time. Think we opened Pandora's Box for good. Are you sure this will even work? And if it does, what it'll do to us?"

"No, I don't know for sure, Lethia. I'm deeply sorry." She bit her bottom lip. "I'm not sure what your being a hybrid will do across the Moore link to Nova, or how your body will handle Vasile blood. But this spell should work." She fingered the old grimoire with a look of pain. "I made sure I had the right book just for this."

"One of Klaus' finds?" She smiled softly.

"Actually, no…"

The two were quiet. Lethia decided not to pursue where Riel got the book, knowing well that they didn't have the time. She looked up at the ceiling with tears dancing in her eyes as her vision started to fade. She took a deep, shaky breath, fearing it might be her last. "What if it doesn't work…?"

The brunette froze from head to toe, eyes wide with fear. She opened her mouth to give some kind of answer but when she looked to Lethia, the wolf had already stopped breathing. Adrenaline shot through Riel and she immediately scurried around to begin the spell. As she began to chant, the sky outside turned dark. Any trace of her changed appearance faded as the magic started to flow. Tears slipped from her eyes as they ignited bright blue.

"Please don't let Klaus kill Tyler."

Daciana's head turned slowly to look at the blonde vampire bravely before her. She sat on the porch swing of Elena's home, staring out at the quiet area. "You deeply care about him, don't you?"

"I love him," Caroline answered thoughtlessly, on the brink of tears.

The ravenette waved her over calmly, motioning for Caroline to sit beside her on the swing's bench. Hesitantly she did, being sure to leave some space between the two of them. She looked at the Original, seeing something pensive in the young woman's emerald eyes as she stared back to the neighborhood. "My brother is obsessed with his reputation. If he allows Tyler Lockwood to walk free without punishment when he turned Niklaus' hybrids against him would be social suicide. Above all else he would want to. Niklaus is a monster."

"I'm not asking him to forgive Tyler. All I'm asking is that you guys let him live, somewhere far from here."

Daciana's head turned slowly again to face the blonde. "You'd wish a life of constant running from Niklaus - and I should he ask of me to pursue Tyler, running far enough away from you, instead of a quick death?"

"At least I'd know he was alive. I could live with that. I could make my way back to him. Run with him. I don't care. Wouldn't you feel the same about at least your siblings? Klaus kept you all in boxes yet you still care."

Daciana saw something in the girl's eyes that almost warmed her frozen heart. Something she saw in her own descendant's eyes, only much stronger for Nova. But that was likely because Nova knew she could fight for Damon's life, even against the Mikaelsons. Caroline knew her place but loved Tyler so deeply that she'd bargain anything for his life. "You realize that Tyler running will only fuel my brother's fire more, yes? Nik loves the thrill of the hunt; it's where I get it from." She smirked. "After he turned all of Nik's hybrids against him, after he tried to kill him, after Tyler made it his life's mission to find the cure so he could use it against my brother-"

"We all want the cure," Caroline interjected defensively.

"Do we?" She cocked her head to the side. "Do you?"

She looked away to the floor of the porch. "It doesn't matter. There's only one, so it's not like I'm gonna get it anyway."

"But if you could...you wouldn't, would you?" When Caroline remained silent, she continued. "You prefer who you are now to the girl you once were. You like being strong, ageless, fearless. The Mikaelsons took me in when I needed it the most. They protected me from some very lethal people and made me strong enough to protect myself when they couldn't. Being a vampire is empowering, but I'll never deny that I'm a monster no different than Niklaus. Maybe worse. But you and I aren't so different, Caroline."

"Then show me. You know how much I love Tyler. You can see how scared I am to lose him. If you and I are so similar, then show me your compassion. Show him the mercy that I would show you."

She almost laughed. Instead, it came out as a small chuckle. "You've been quite brave to talk to me like this, Caroline. Tell him to leave town immediately. And tell him to run and hide in a place we will never find him. Mercy is not something that comes easy to us, Mikaelson or Vasile."

Caroline wanted to just thank her, but she couldn't help herself. "What exactly do you know about the Vasiles...?"

She realized quickly what a fatal mistake it was. As soon as the words escaped her lips she saw something in Daciana's emerald irises that froze her to her core. She saw fire, tragedy, blood, but also the darkest light she'd ever witnessed. Was that even possible? As she started to shake she witnessed Daciana's irises bleeding to black. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to get up quickly but the ravenette's hand snapped around her wrist, holding her firmly beside Daciana. Caroline desperately tried to avoid eye contact and found it impossible as she fell into a trance. Slowly, her blue eyes started to bleed black.

"Tyler Lockwood may have a headstart on running for his life provided you find me Clara Vasile. That is the most mercy I can offer you as both Vasile and Mikaelson. Find me Clara Vasile."

"Nova!" Damon called desperately as he held her in his arms. "Nova, can you hear me? Baby, please!"

She gave way to a gasp of air, the veins appearing and vanishing beneath her eyes that blazed bright gold with a thick black ring around the outside. Her fangs had forced themselves out, extending fully over her bottom lip. She was panting, almost hyperventilating, when her eyes caught sight of something. Someone. She had long black hair in thick waves down her back, wrapped tightly in beautiful black cloth resembling a kind of dress with a sword on her back, and eyes as dark as her hair. The rest of her features were soft; high but rounded cheekbones, long lashes that touched her brows, flawless skin. She looked like the rest of the Vasile clan with black eyes like Zina.

"I mean you no harm, Nova," she spoke calmly. "I am not one of Silas' hallucinations or any hallucination of the sort. Hallucinations are not real."

"Then who the fuck are you?" Nova demanded through grit teeth. It felt like her body was on fire. Damon looked around frantically, unable to see anybody else.

The woman looked sad, downtrodden. "I never thought it would spiral this horribly…"

Down in the cave, Elena used the dark and tunnels to her advantage to ditch Stefan. She jogged through the caverns when her hypersensitive ears caught someone else nearing her. "Stefan?" She called, skidding to a stop. She looked around quickly and took a step when she smelled it. Perfume. And not Nova's. A rock thudded across the ground. "Hello?"

"Elena," the disembodied voice purred back.

Her eyes widened with horror and rage. "No!"

"Nova, what are you seeing?" Damon demanded, still looking around hopelessly. "Who is it?"

"Do not allow him access to see me," she told Nova adamantly.

"As if I have a choice," she scoffed.

"You do, actually. You're quite powerful, Nova. Especially involving Damon Salvatore. Unfortunately any woman not born with Vasile blood cannot see my true form otherwise their eyes would burn from their skulls."

"Then why do I get to see you?"

"Because you are in danger, Nova. You've got a target on your back."

She laughed dryly, her head lolling across Damon's arm. "You're gonna have to be more specific with the death threats; a lot of people have their sights set on my head on a platter instead of my shoulders."

"A lot of bad people have been searching for my stone for a long time, child. I couldn't give it to anyone, trust it to anyone. Surely none of my power hungry siblings. They tried to own me, control me, get me to use my stone for their whims. They and worse will seek you out to do the same. You must protect my stone without allowing it to consume you."

Nova's eyes widened, lips parting, with each word. Realization started to flood through her. She was growing weaker because of her link to Lethia as the blonde began to fade. Her heartbeat was as shallow as her breaths. "Are you Rem…?"

She smiled softly and knelt beside Nova. "I suppose you can call me that. It was my most common nickname thanks to my baby brother." She put her hands on each side of Nova's head and a golden light began to glow. Her eyes lit up a gleaming emerald and Nova started to feel better slowly. She understood at last. Rem was an angel. A real angel.

Her face contorted suddenly before she began to panic. Her eyes returned to their normal black, the golden glow from her hands dying slowly. When the light finally ceased, Rem grabbed the sides of her face desperately. "Fight, Nova. Fight like Hell and never stop. If anyone can right my wrongs then it is you."

The angel vanished suddenly, harshly breaking the link to Nova and sending her back into writhing pain. Damon held her tightly, jaw clenched. "Elena!" He shouted painfully into the well. Maybe if all three of them were together…

Someone did finally jump out of the well, and through her blurred vision Nova started to think it was Elena. She realized quickly that it wasn't, rage flooding through her. Damon jumped up first, sitting Nova against a wall, all in vain. As soon as he was within arm's reach Katherine Pierce snapped his neck mercilessly. Nova let out a fowl snarl and forced herself to her feet. She landed a couple of good blows before Katherine shoved her off, sending her staggering into a wall.

Katherine laughed a little. "You're not looking so good, Nova. As much as I'd love to mop the floor with you right now, I'll save it for another day."

"Get bent, Katerina," she hissed back, spitting a mouthful of blood on her nice heels.

"I'm going to ignore that solely because there's still some info on you Vasiles not even I have. Especially this 'Rem' person. I know you're no good at staying down; I'm counting on it this time." She smirked.

Nova was still bleeding from the stake she took the stomach, let alone her link to Lethia. She fed off of her rage and lunged at the brunette again. Katherine grinned in her face and kicked her in the sternum with the shoe dripping with Nova's mouth blood. The ravenette bounced off of the wall, falling beside Damon just as unconscious. Katherine tapped them both with her foot before making off with the cure.