Alright, I'm well aware that I've received multiple reviews asking me not to sacrifice Aria so it is with a heavy heart that I post this chapter…

Alright, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. In order for my story to progress well as it goes on and so that the second season runs smoothly. Again, I am so, so sorry if anyone hates this chapter, I almost hated writing it but I have an idea and I want to stick to it.

On a more positive note, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I've already had the chance to open some presents with my family and give them presents in return. I've facetimed my best friend and we opened our exchanged presents with each other. Heck, I got my mum a frying pan because she couldn't think of anything else that she wanted!

Alright, but back to this, I'm also not going to put an author's note at the end of the chapter because personally, I think it's an ending that speaks for itself. Maybe I'll also post another chapter tomorrow, maybe not. All I know, is that this is the best Christmas present I'm able to give to you all.

I own nothing. Now let's get on with it!

As Always, SecretMidnightRose

~*•°•*~

The Italians call them strega. The Yoruba of West Africa call them aje, meaning mother. Where the Mikaelson's mother Esther, was from, they called them häxa, and in New Orleans, they're called witch. Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them and burned them. Whether adversary or ally, they have been a force to be reckoned with. Their ancestral magic anchors this city. There's never been one all-powerful witch until New Orleans was blessed with not one but two. Aria and Davina.

~*•°•*~

Aria sat beside Davina as they talked in hushed tones before the door opened and Marcel walked in, a tray of food in his hands.

"Go away!" Davina screeched as she sat up and threw Marcel against the wall.

"Come on. You two gotta be starving. You haven't eaten since-"

"Since your best friend killed Davina's best friend?" Aria questioned bitingly as Marcel flinched slightly.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened to this kid Tim."

"We're sorry you don't hate Klaus for what he did or want to make him pay!" She shot back.

"He'll pay for what he did one way or the other, but right now, I just want to make peace with you two."

"Why? So we can be one big happy Frankenstein family?" Davina spat as she threw yet another object at him.

Down the hall from them, Klaus and Elijah sat with Hayley as they listened to Davina's outbursts, a mixture of amused and annoyed.

"Well, that's going well." Klaus commented sarcastically.

"If you were trying to win the girl's trust, perhaps poisoning her one true love was not the most splendid idea." Elijah spoke.

"Are there any more inopportune deaths you'd like to wave in my face?"

"Give me a month. I'll get you list." Elijah sassed as yet another bang sounded from Davina's room.

Klaus sighed in annoyance as he stood up, "Young, old, dead or alive, witches are a pain in the arse."

~*•°•*~

Davina glared at Marcel before she began gagging and coughing, hunching over on the bed in pain, "Davina? Davina!" Aria asked, kneeling beside her on the bed and looking at her in concern as dirt began falling from her mouth.

The door banged open and Klaus walked in, "What's with all the racket?" He demanded before stopping in his tracks as he saw Davina, "Bloody hell."

She began coughing again and the house began to shake violently, as if an earthquake was causing all the disturbance. Klaus left the room to look out over the first floor of the Compound to see the same thing happening out there.

"What the hell is going on?" Rebekah yelled up at him as Klaus sighed.

"Davina."

~*•°•*~

Rebekah walked into Aria and Davina's room quietly and sat down next to her on the bed, her expression a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

"Hey. What kind of game do you think you two are playing? I said disrupt the household, not destroy the whole city." Rebekah demanded.

"She didn't do it." Aria said immediately.

"I swear. I-I don't know what's wrong with me." Davina stuttered tearfully.

Down the hall, Klaus, Elijah and Marcel were all sat in a room, each vampire confused,

"This is madness. How can a 16-year-old girl shake the entire French quarter?" Klaus questioned as Marcel shook his head in confusion.

"I've seen her rock the church, but I've never seen anything like this."

"How did you control her when she was in the attic?"

"I didn't have to." He turned to Klaus accusingly, "But then, I never killed her boyfriend."

Klaus sighed in annoyance, "Yes, yes. We've been over this part already. The point is in her present state she's useless as a tool against the witches."

"She's not a tool. And before you say it, neither is Aria." Marcel snapped.

"Something's wrong with her. And your daughter will be too concerned to do anything else of use."

"Davina has too much power that she cannot control. That much we already knew." Elijah placated, "But why is it manifesting itself in such an aggressive manner?" He wondered to himself before he stood up in realisation and went to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Klaus questioned.

"This is witch business. Let's ask a witch." Elijah said simply, not sparing a glance behind him.

~*•°•*~

Sophie stared down at the collection of drawings of Celeste that were scattered on the table, in shock. Elijah could practically see the wheels turning in her head,

"So you have stolen the remains of the very person that Davina's been drawing for months and Aria has been tormented in her dreams about. Would you care to explain this startling coincidence?" Elijah asked.

"I can't. I didn't even know who Celeste Dubois was until I-" She was cut off when the house began to shake violently. Sophie grabbed onto a table in alarm whilst Klaus simply looked irritated.

"Was that Davina?" Sophie asked when the earthquake died down.

"Charming little habit she's developed." Klaus said sarcastically.

"And the earthquake I felt today?"

"Also Davina. And, she's taken to vomiting dirt." Rebekah added as Sophie's expression turned more panicked.

"Oh. We have a huge problem. I thought that we had more time, but we need to complete the Harvest now."

"Said the desperate witch, conveniently."

"I'm serious! That earthquake you just felt is a preview of the disaster movie that is about to hit us."

"Why should we believe you?" Elijah asked.

"You've met Davina, you know her story. For months now, she's been holding all the power of the three girls sacrificed in the Harvest ritual. A force that was meant to flow through her and back into the earth. One person was never meant to hold that much power. It's tearing her apart, and it will take us down with it."

~*•°•*~

Aria sat in a downstairs room in the compound across from Kol, "Apparently We need to prepare. According to Sophie Deveraux, as Davina self-destructs, she'll cycle through four stages that represent the four elements that bound together the Harvest."

"So the earthquake?"

"Yes. Earth stage comes first. Then comes wind, and since each stage is more intense than the last, let's just say she'll blow the roof off this place. Then after the wind is water. Rain, flood..."

"How bad?"

Aria sent him a wary look, "Quite bad, actually, but that's not the worst of it. The last stage is fire, and since it's the last…"

"It will be by far the worst." Kol finished, "This can be stopped, right?"

"Yes, but you're not gonna like how."

He looked at her curiously and she took a shaky breath, "They want to complete the Harvest." She said as Kol's eyes widened.

"No!"

"The witches say the girls will be resurrected."

"They're liars, you said so yourself. They lied about everything and they'll say anything to get what they want."

"Kol-"

"Aria, if they do the Harvest, Davina will die."

"Kol-"

"You won't let that happen and because you know how you were created you will sacrifice yourself. You're not a Harvest girl. You will die. And I won't let you."

"Kol!" Aria shouted as he paused, "You can't stop me. I'm doing it whether you like it or not."

"Aria-"

"I'm not here for your entertainment. You're worried that if I die, you'll be alone again. I'm sorry, but I'll do whatever the hell I want to do. Davina can't be fixed. This is the only way. And if I have to die so that she has a bigger chance of surviving, even if it means my own permanent death, I'm doing it. You won't tell me otherwise." She said before standing up and storming out of the room.

~*•°•*~

Marcel stood at Davina's bedside whilst Aria was sat on the bed next to the younger witch. Aria spared a glance over her shoulder for what seemed like the tenth time in the past minute and sighed when she saw the two vampire guards still standing by the door. She turned back to Davina and gently traced circles on her hand. She ignored Marcel standing to the side of her and instead focused on Davina, a gentle frown on her face.

She heard Marcel let out a sigh behind her and pulled the IV of sedatives out of Davina's arm.

"Aria, enough is enough. I got her." He said as she startled and stood up.

One of the vampires at the door spoke up, "Hey. Klaus said not to-"

"I'm done caring what Klaus says." Marcel spat as he quickly snapped their necks before picking Davina up and leaving the compound with Aria.

~*•°•*~

Aria sat next to Davina in the storage container down at the docks, she hadn't talked to Marcel since he'd brought them here but all the same, she hadn't tried to attack him which he considered progress. She smiled as Davina slowly woke up, confused as she looked around anxiously. When her eyes landed on Marcel, she panicked and threw him against the wall, grabbing onto Aria's hand in fright.

Marcel groaned in pain, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I don't believe you! You want to kill me, just like everyone else except 'Ari." Davina yelled tearfully.

"I'm the one who put a protection spell on you, Davina. That's why Tim's dead and you're not. And before you throw me again, if I had known anything was gonna happen to your friend, I would have protected him, too." He swore as the two girls looked up to him in surprise.

"You're the one who saved me?" Davina asked quietly.

"Yeah, but now the witch who did the spell is in league with the rest of them, so I had to take you two away."

"So you could use me as a weapon?" Davina asked suspiciously.

"I'm trying to keep you guys safe. Please, look at me. I messed up. All this power that you two have, it gave me an advantage. It helped me punish the witches, and it let me run the city, and I let that mean too much. All right? But that's over with now. One survivor to another, all I want to do is keep you both alive, I swear." He turned to Aria, "I raised you as if you were my own, Aria. I watched you learn to talk and walk. I would never want to hurt you."

Davina held onto Aria's hand tighter and she spoke for the girl, "Davina's scared. She doesn't know what's wrong with her."

"You two aren't alone. We'll fix this."

"You won't let them hurt us?" Davina asked quietly.

"No. Nobody's gonna touch you two."

~*•°•*~

"If we can just wait it out a few more weeks... Help us, please? I don't know what they'll do to 'Ari but I don't think it'll be anything good." Davina murmured as Aria flinched slightly at the reminder.

"I will." Marcel promised, "And when it's over, I'll do what I should have done - get you both out of town."

Davina smiled slightly, "I had a dream that Tim wasn't dead. He played a song that he wrote for me, and he kissed me, and we were just normal." She said before there was a presence and voice from the door.

"That sounds like a beautiful dream." Rebekah murmured.

"What are you doing here?" Aria demanded.

Rebekah ignored her, "But it was just a dream."

"Get out!" Marcel yelled.

"This is killing her. Your stubbornness will mean her death. And who knows? Maybe this'll begin happening to Aria."

"I promised I'd fight for them. I'm not breaking that promise."

"No one is asking you not to fight. You're the only family that those girls have apart from each other. You owe it to them to fight for them to live."

~*•°•*~

"Marcel, it's okay." Davina said soothingly.

"No. I failed you. Both of you."

"I'll die whether I do this or not. I mean, now the only option is-is whether I take everyone with me. If you look at it that way, it's kind of selfish not to do it." Davina said, chuckling slightly.

"There has to be another way. This is not how it ends."

"And if it is... If this is all I have, I've had a lot. I had Monique, and I had Tim, and I had people who fought for me from the moment you and 'Ari met me." She said as she gripped Aria's hand tighter.

"Davina…"

"Most people don't get that even if they live to be a hundred." She said tearfully, "Marcel, I'm ready."

"And so am I." Aria murmured as she looked up to the duo.

"Aria, no." Marcel said immediately as Davina shook her head.

"If my death means Davina has a better chance of coming back, I'm doing it."

"Ari, you're not a Harvest Girl. No one knows what'll happen to you if you die in this thing. I don't want you to die for me." Davina said as Aria gave her a sad smile.

"You're the sister I never had, D. And that means that I care for your life over my own." She looked up to her father tearfully, "Let me do this, dad. Please."

~*•°•*~

Aria, Davina and Marcel walked into the Lafayette Cemetery, each more nervous than the next and Marcel most of all. The trio walked towards where Sophie was preparing to complete the ritual as fire began burning around them. The fourth sign. Once they got to the altar, Marcel gently set Davina down as Aria stood next to her. Sophie headed towards Davina.

"Do you believe in the harvest?" She asked shakily.

Davina spared Aria one last glimpse and smiled gently, "I believe." She replied nervously, turning back to Sophie.

With a barely shaking hand, Sophie raised the blade and slit Davina's throat. Davina's mouth opened in a silent scream and grabbed at her throat before she fell back, Marcel catching and laying her down on the ground as Aria choked back a sob. The rain which had previously been pouring down so strongly ceased in almost a second and Davina's arm glowed as the magic left her body to hover millimeters above the surface of the earth.

Aria's attention turned to the side slightly when she heard yells.

It was Kol.

She took a deep breath and, admittingly with difficulty, she turned away from him and back to Sophie.

The Deveraux witch turned to Aria and took a deep breath, "You were created for the sole purpose that the Harvest may be completed and the power from the Harvest Girls may be moved back into the Earth. Because you were created into a living soul, you'll have to be treated as a Harvest Girl. So, do you believe in the Harvest?"

"Aria! Aria listen, please love, don't do this! I'm begging you!" Kol yelled, his voice drowned out even though the only thing there was in the graveyard was utter, suffocating silence.

Aria took a deep breath, "I believe."

Sophie took a hopeful breath and held the knife up before slitting Aria's throat. Her eyes widened in surprise and her hands went up to her throat before she collapsed backwards, the last thing her eyes locking onto being Kol's horrified face as all the power from Davina flowed into her and then back into the ground. Marcel moved to get her but Sophie held her hand up and shook her head and held her hands over Aria's prone body as she began to speak.

"After the Harvest comes the Reaping. Their sacrifices made and accepted. The Elements each willingly sacrificed. We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones." She said as the group waited.

Nothing happened and Kol felt his entire world rock.

Sophie spoke again, this time more forcefully, "We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones." Sophie took a shuddering breath as tears began gathering in her eyes, "Resurrect your chosen ones! …Please? I beg…" She whispered as she dropped to her knees beside her niece, sobs racking her body, "No!"

~*•°•*~

From that moment, many things happened in the city at once.

Marcel had a devastating breakdown in his home, his daughter and the girl he'd grown to care for as a daughter were now both dead.

Klaus was blamed by his adopted son for the death of Aria.

Rebekah contemplated where all the power could've possibly gone to if the Harvest Girls were all supposedly dead.

Sabine, also known as Celeste DuBois resurrected three other witches. Bastianna, Genevieve and Papa Tunde all in order to get Elijah Mikaelson and his family to suffer for her death all those years ago.

And Kol Mikaelson, for the first time in centuries cried.

~*•°•*~

But unknown to them all, was that whilst the Ancestors of New Orleans no longer had any use for Aria Gerard, there was one witch. One witch out of them all that found use in the teenage witch and kept her alive in a limbo. Similar yet drastically different to the one the Harvest Girls were all trapped in.

Aria had thought, leading up to when her death would come, that perhaps she'd see a bright light or something. Instead, when she opened her eyes and saw the Abattoir courtyard, she had to admit that she was slightly confused.

The witch felt a sudden chill run through the air and bit back a gasp at how purely cold it felt. It wasn't cool, it wasn't just cold, it was freezing. As if it wanted her to hurt.

And it did.

"Are you going to sit there? Or get up." A voice asked.

She moved so that she was sat up, and continued to look around until she saw a pair of feet. Her eyes travelled upwards. The feet had legs. The legs had a body. The body had arms and a neck and the neck had-

"Who the hell are you?" Aria demanded, her eyes narrowed.

The woman, whoever in hell she was, gave her a dark smile. A smile that Aria instantly knew would be the death of her. The words she next spoke sent a chill up Aria's spine, "Allow me to introduce myself, darling. My name is Dahlia. And it's time we had a long overdue chat."