Thirty-eight
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Damon ends the call and turns around to face them. "Stefan will keep my mother away for as long as he can. We're all good."
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Alaric asks in a doubtful voice, his arms folded.
"It's worked before," Damon says while Kai nods, still working on the ascendant, "it's how we got Bonnie to know there was magic in '94 for her to use and come home."
"So you're gonna… project yourself over there," Jared summarizes, more than skeptical.
"Something like that," the witch whispers distractedly.
"I wanna come." The Gemini looks up at him. "I wanna see her."
"Look, I'll take you to see her tomorrow if you want, but I need to do this one alone."
The Lightbringer frowns, ready to object, but Damon is the one to agree with Kai for once: "Creepy leader's right, here. Last time we all tried to go, we couldn't interact or anything. The more, the magically heavier, for some reason."
"I only need to jump in, remove the spells; and let her know we're on our way to get her back."
Jared stares at the witch at these words, trying to figure out how and why he has this persistent intuition that Kai is sincere about all this. Isn't he supposed to be a sociopathic killer? Damon did mention he absorbed his brother's feelings during the merge but this here goes beyond anything he was expecting: he looks more than ready to help; the guy genuinely seems good.
"And you'll give her the ascendant, right? Cause she needs it to escape?" Alaric asks.
"She's got one," Kai assures him. "Each world has its own version of the ascendant – because my coven likes to work in pairs, in case you haven't noticed. This ascendant here has never left this world. I was holding on to a different one when you pulled me out; that's why we need this one to get in and hers to get out."
"But I don't understand why you're going over there to remove magic instead of just getting her back," Jared insists. Damon opens his mouth to answer, before realizing he doesn't know better on this one. He turns to the witch with an inquiring look.
"Hello, celestial event missing?" the witch reminds them. "For a portal to actually open, we need to harness a lot of power. Like, a lot. Now, I'm powerful. Like, way more than any witch you've ever seen, but not quite eclipse-powerful." Jared lifts a skeptical eyebrow. "More like… sunrise-powerful. Or a shooting star. The point is: I'm not really going in; all I can do with this nearly-empty ascendant is project myself long enough to take down the spells; maybe talk to her if we're lucky. Got any messages?"
All three men frown at him and he rolls his eyes. Whatever.
"How many spells do you need to remove?" Alaric asks.
"There's one around the house, to keep the warmth in," Kai starts counting, "then there's the ward on Andy's door, and the one on mine. Can I go now?"
They take in his impatient look and realize the longer they wait, the more chances for those heretics to suck out his spells and grow stronger. Damon winces and heads to the console to pour himself a drink – he really doesn't like it when there is nothing he can do. He shows the bottle to the others and they shake their heads, intently watching the witch getting ready.
Alaric takes a step back, letting him some space to work, while Jared takes a step forward, examining the newly-assembled ascendant and the Gemini. He frowns when seeing his ringed hands shake and recoil over the artifact, and they share a glance. Was that vulnerability in his eyes? And shame?
"Everything okay here?" the Lightbringer asks in a low voice.
The witch lowers his gaze and slightly nods, swallowing with difficulty.
"Just not looking forward to diving back in," he lets out as easily as he can.
He clears his throat and closes his eyes, taking a second for his magic to settle before he starts chanting. Jared definitely doesn't know what to make of that; if anything, he is starting to feel grateful towards the witch for helping protect Andy; and if that guy is as powerful as he pretends to be, sunrises and shooting stars aside, then they might actually have a chance to bring her back. No doubt this time, with him conducting the magical operations, they'll succeed.
All three of them watch him during his trance, scrutinizing his face for any clue regarding what's going on in 1903. After some time, Alaric eyes Damon's drink and the vampire silently pours him one. He also pours another one for Jared, who finally accepts it. They sip in silence and wait.
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Mystic Falls, Virginia – November, 1903
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Kai opens his eyes and inhales, shivering with uneasiness. From the grim light that filters into the living room, he knows he is back. Winter Hell. The winds are howling against the old house and the same snow is continuously pouring from the sky. The silence, the loneliness; he swallows with difficulty and closes his eyes for a second. He clenches his fists when his hands start shaking again, and sweat gathers on his forehead at the thought of being trapped once more, but he exhorts himself to calm. This is temporary; he gets the spells down, checks on Andy, and he's out. Simple as that.
He takes a deep breath and nods to himself. First things first, his rises a hand high above his head and focuses on the temperature wall he cast around the house when Andy suggested they should move to 1994. He can very easily summon the memory of that day; it's all very clear to him.
"It's always gloomy and freezing over here, while it's always warm and nice over there," she points out.
"Is the weather your only grievance about 1903?"
"Well, the facilities are definitely more modern in '94, since you ask," she adds with a nod.
"How about I isolate the house with a spell? Would you drop the moving-in project?"
"Can you?" she asks, candidly interested. He smirks at her and she smiles.
Once he's certain the first spell is undone, Kai doesn't waste time and heads upstairs. Andy's door his closed. He concentrates on moving through it, thanks to his absence of consistency in this world, and looks around; it's empty. He steps back and rests his palm on the door, channeling back any magic he ever put in there, realizing now that every time he enforced the spell after she swore someone had tried to open her door, it only made it more appealing to the heretics.
The witch clenches his jaw, trying to push away the thought of them realizing they could draw from the spell and opening the door, their threatening, desiccating figures entering the room at night, all six of them, while she was asleep. Would he have sensed it? Would he have been able to rush over here and take them down before it was too late? He should have known. He should have had a better access to the archives, and not just to pieces of information. He never worried about having to face old, desiccating vampires if they were indeed in this prison, but heretics? He should have taken her to '94 when she asked him, she'd be safe from them. If anything were to happen now that he's gone… His entire body tenses and he shakes the thought, heading to his bedroom now.
He rests his hand on the door, then his forehead, knowing without having to look that she is in there. His heart has been racing in his chest since he got here but now it's for different reasons. What is he supposed to say to her? How does he explain– How does he begin to apologize for being the one that was saved? He's not the one who deserved a ride back. Bonnie's voice invades his mind, echoing his own thoughts: it was supposed to be her.
He exhales and finally works the last ward down, before stepping through the wooden door and the chair wedging it. Andy is there, sitting on his bed. She's looking throughout the window, her stooped back to him, and all he wants to do is reach out. Can he?
Andy's body stiffens and all of a sudden, she's standing, facing him, and holding her dagger in a defensive position. For a second, only a second, her brown eyes pierce right through him and he feels like she can see him. He knows it doesn't work like that but she can sense his presence when he uses the Invisque spell; if anyone can perceive him here, it's her.
However, her eyes keep searching in his general direction; she knows that something has changed in the room, and she thinks him a threat. Just like before.
"Andy," he gently calls out. A whisper, barely audible, even for him. She shivers. Her eyes soften and she lowers her dagger for an instant, a brief one, before straightening back up, ready to fight whomever or whatever is messing with her. "Andy, it's me," he says, wishing she could see him.
"Kai?" she murmurs in utter confusion, "Where are you? Are you back?"
"Not exactly," he smiles sadly. "I'm here through the 2013 version of the ascendant, just like when I sent Jeremy back to see Bonnie." She nods and he takes a step towards her but freezes when she steps back with defiance. "It's alright; it's me."
"I can't see you," she whispers, tears pooling in her eyes. She looks exhausted, and so sad. "I can't even properly hear you, I–" She lowers her dagger and shakes her head; Kai taps more into his magic, as much as he can, in order to give his projection all the consistency possible. "Am I going crazy? Am I imagining all this? It's just me now, I can't even tell–"
"I'm here."
She looks lost and confused and it's more than he can handle; he fills the distance between them and wraps his arms around her. She starts and freezes, and he doesn't know exactly whether she can feel him completely but one thing is certain: he didn't step through her and he's holding her now; he can almost feel her. He taps even more into his magic, trying to render his presence as real to her as he can. She finally wraps her arms around him as well, hesitantly. "I'm here, I promise."
He keeps whispering it, burying his face in her hair and holding her as tight as he can. Who is he trying to comfort right now, he couldn't tell. Probably the both of them. "I'm so sorry, Andy," he needs to tell her, "I tried to stall as long as I could–"
"I know."
"I just touched it and it started pulling back, I couldn't stop it. I'm so sorry."
"Are you gonna bring me back soon?" she asks, about to cry, and he knows that his leaving has taken one more toll on her nerves. He would be in the exact same state of mind if he'd been the one to stay here alone. Hopeless, desperate to come home. He holds her closer. "Cause being stuck here on my own is, like, the worst nightmare ever." She tries to smile, but she's about to break.
"Not tonight," he hates to answer, "you're gonna have to hold until the next celestial event."
"When will that be?"
"Andy–"
"When," she repeats with more authority and he can't fight her.
"Twelve days."
She goes silent while the news sinks in. Twelve days. She'll starve before that. They were supposed to go grocery shopping in two days, she can probably last over a week with what's left, and she'll have to be careful about her rations. And what about that presence she perceived in the cave? She's powerless now, alone. So many things can happen in twelve days. All alone. She clings to his coat, on the edge of losing it, and he pulls back just enough to look her in the eyes; but she can't see him.
"I don't want to be alone," she whispers, before chewing on her lip to keep the tears from falling. "Tell me this isn't happening."
"Listen to me, we're all working on getting you back, and we will; I promise. In the meantime, you need to hold on, okay? I need you to hold on. And you need to keep wedging the door, don't go out at night; promise me."
She frowns at that. "Why? Do you know what's out there?" He swallows, debating whether telling her or avoiding her fears to grow. "Parker," she insists, her voice is about to break, "What is here? Who is here?"
"Lily Salvatore's heretics," he whispers.
"Okay," she says, waiting for more information.
"They're former Gemini siphoners, who were cast away. They were turned into vampires, meaning they can feed both on blood and magic."
"They," she repeats, chewing on her lip. "How many of them?"
"Six," he whispers. Andy doesn't say anything, but he's pretty sure to know where her mind is going: it was hard enough to fight one siphoner, what is she supposed to do with six of them? Siphoners with the abilities of vampires. And she's all alone to face them. She could die in there, and no one would know. She shivers and he rubs her arms, comforting her as well as he can. "Listen, I had to remove all the spells I cast on the house, to make sure they won't absorb them. It's gonna get cold and you'll have to move the wardrobe around if you want to be safe at night. They shouldn't bother you during the day, remember they're weakened vampires."
"I'm moving into another house," she decides.
"I need you to remain as close as possible," he objects. "Jared wants to come and see you tomorrow, make sure you're alright; he'll want to–"
"Jared is here?"
"He's over there," the witch nods. "It didn't take him long to get everybody to work on getting you back. He's the general you described."
He watches the shadow of a smile bloom on her lips and he grows desperate to kiss her. Is he still allowed to do that? Now that he's gone back without her, that is.
"He's here," she whispers, nodding to herself. "He came."
"Of course, he came. He's been breathing down their necks for weeks; the others can't wait to pull you back so they can get rid of him; though I must say there might be a bit of bromance emerging between him, Alaric and Damon."
She smiles for real this time and he finally can breathe. She's gonna be okay, she is strong and she's gonna make it out of here triumphantly. It's only twelve days, she's already done so many more. He rests his forehead on hers, breathing in as much of her scent as he can. He doesn't care for the ache pulsing in his temples, he simply wants to remain here all night with her; he wants to stay here for twelve days.
Unfortunately, 2013 starts pulling him back, slowly, inexorably. The pain in his head increases and he clenches his jaw. Not now, he's not ready to let her go– Just a couple more minutes. "I'm gonna have to go," he whispers and she clings harder to his coat.
"Wait…" she trails off, closing her eyes. She doesn't know what to say, except 'don't leave me alone'. Andy rests her forehead on his chest; can she feel him? The magical pull insists, and he forces his magic to cooperate; he's the Gemini leader, the rules of this prison worlds shall bend to his will and he shall remain here longer; but the more he taps and the more rapidly his grip on Andy seems to dissolve. "Stay," she requests in a low voice.
One word, one simple word that breaks him.
"I'm right here."
"You're vanishing," she says, her voice losing volume, as if the distance between them were growing, "Kai?"
His vision becomes a blur and he tries to hold on to her as long as he can, but he can already make out Damon and Alaric's voices in the living room. No, not yet, just– His eyes shoot open and he takes a deep breath, as if he'd been holding it for a long time. Before him, Jared's concerned face is examining him and Kai reaches a hand to the blood pulling under his nose and on his chin.
"What happened?" the Lightbringer immediately asks.
"Told you," Damon answers easily, "the spell became too demanding and he lost his connection." He grabs a tissue on his way to the witch and also hands him a drink. The Gemini's face is pale as a ghost; they certainly don't need him to wear himself out to death, that would strongly diminish their chances of getting Andy back.
"What happened? Did you see her?" Jared presses him and Kai recoils.
He nods, wiping the blood off his face before accepting the drink with a grateful nod.
"She's fine," he reassures her brother-in-law. "Not in the best of spirits but she's safe for now. I took down all the spells, so they have no magic to draw from, and I told her to be careful about the heretics. She'll be fine."
He brings the glass to his mouth but puts it down and nervously rubs the back of his neck. If only he'd stayed a little longer–
The front door opens and Lily Salvatore comes in, closely followed by Stefan. The other four turn their faces to her and see her eyes draw directly to the ascendant, resting on Kai's lap. She lifts a hopeful glance to Damon.
"Are you reconsidering freeing my friends?"
"We're working on it," he assures her with a smirk, before taking a sip. "Good night, mother."
One thing is certain, he is not looking at her with love in his eyes, but rather with anger and despise. Her gaze lingers on the ascendant, then on Kai's face, and Stefan passes an arm around her shoulders, leading her towards the stairs. They silently wait for doors to close upstairs before sharing glances. "Little bit of advice, here, Gemini-freak," Damon says, casting a glance toward the staircase and not seeing the witch close his eyes at his words, "ward your room against vampires tonight."
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Aster's quick word: So, I know it's not my day buuuut... I was kinda feeling like it. So, ya know... let's! XD Have a great week! :)