The first thing I did when I saw Matt again was run up to him and launch myself in for a great big bear hug, laughing brightly as we both grinned. "Hey you! Long time no see!"
"It's only been a month, Lia." Matt answered as the momentum of my jump carried us both backwards as he turned, swinging me around briefly before setting me squarely on my feet as I demanded to know how he was doing, how Penny was and if they were still enjoying their honeymoon bliss even after all this time. When he answered, I saw the light shining through him as he told me that Penny was pregnant with their first kid, a little boy of their own and I immediately felt over the moon for the both of them.
"Oh my god that's amazing! I can't believe it Mattie, you're going to be a father! I'm so happy for you and Penny, you're both going to be the best parents." I gushed, grasping him by the arms as I almost squealed like a teenager over the news. "Hey, any problems or concerns, then you call me right away, you hear? I'm there for you Mattie, anytime."
"Thanks Lia, I really appreciate that. I'll admit…I'm a little terrified." Completely understanding the feeling of being a new parent, I reassured Matt that he didn't have anything to worry about and that I'd come back with him this evening to give Penny a special upgraded check up with my magic to make sure that both she and the baby were healthy and happy. Anything I could do to ease her symptoms or help make her more comfortable, I was more than willing to lend a hand for Mattie. I then looked past his shoulder to see an older man who bore a striking resemblance to my best friend, and I quickly recognised him from a vision I had had before. "Uh Lia, this is my father Peter. Peter Maxwell. I found him, just like you said I would."
"Hey there, I've heard so much about you already from Matt. It's great to finally meet you." Peter greeted warmly as he stretched out his hand for me to shake and I willingly accepted.
"It's nice to meet you too Mr Maxwell. Please call me Lia." With the greetings now exchanged, we each continued our work on everything that needed to be uncovered, focusing on finding out the identity of the second siren as well as the purpose of the iron ball that we'd located. Dorian and Georgie, the interns, were both on board with helping as though Georgie had been compelled to forget about being momentarily controlled by a siren so that she could continue her life as if nothing had ever happened. Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss. It was only when Matt brought out a trunk full of research that had been kept in Tyler's locker that we actually started to get somewhere on the identity of the second siren.
Tyler had called and given us the hint to take a look at his research since it had been bequeathed to him by someone who had died, having him continue their research which had been started by a guy named Dalton, who had opened the vault for the first time in eighteen-eighty-three and inadvertently released one of the two sirens. Seline. At first I didn't catch onto the name, only thinking that I had heard it before until all at once, I suddenly yelled out a powerful curse word that made everyone jolt and stare at me as I had leaped to my feet and gripped onto the picture of the woman that Tyler had been previously searching for. "RIC!" Bellowing at the top of my lungs, I ran all the way to him as he came clattering out of the archives only to have the photo of the dark haired woman thrust into his face. "Is that Seline? Tell me that isn't your nanny!"
"Uh…yeah it is, why what's wrong?" When he saw the expression on my face, pure horror fell upon his before he was racing home and calling his nanny only to find that after taking the girls to the carnival, she had taken them both away. Caroline went completely nuts, the three of us getting to her family home to find that the girls had been taken, leaving no trace save for a picture that had been drawn by one of the girls with both Josie and Lizzie, as well as Seline and Cade himself, all neatly named and drawn with crayon. Both of them started to freak out but I was already focusing on what to do, going into their kitchen to grab the salt which I poured onto the table into a circle then got a map to do a locator spell, telling Caroline to fetch me something precious to both the girls like their hairbrush. "Can you find them? Will this work?"
"She may be a siren but she won't be able to block my magic. I'll find them, Ric. Don't worry." Waving my hand to light the candles that Caroline had already fetched for me, knowing the required ingredients for a locator spell from having seen Bonnie do them before, I lit the wicks and began to focus as I held a hairbrush in my hand, murmuring softly. The pile of salt I had poured over the map immediately started to move, showing me exactly where they were and once I had their location pinned, I allowed my magic to flow through the earth in order to keep track of them as the three of us headed out to get Seline and the girls back. Alaric had smartly brought the tuning fork along with him, so when we reached Oakwood and pulled up outside the diner where Seline was treating the girls to ice cream, he whacked it against something solid to make it ring and disrupt her psychic control over them as Caroline and I rushed inside. My hand smacked against hers and commanded her to sleep with magic before I grabbed hold of little Lizzie, picked her up and drawing her away as Caroline grasped Josie so that they were both away from Seline though they started to fuss and cry in confusion, the other patrons also murmuring at the sudden disturbance. "I've got them Car, you should calm everybody down. We'll get them home and find out what Seline did to them."
"Thank you, Lia. Thank you so much." Being a mother myself, I could empathise with just how terrified both Caroline and Ric had been to find their daughters missing and taken hostage by a siren. Not exactly the greatest ending to their day, but after both parents had hugged and coddled the girls until they could barely breathe, I took them aside and knelt down whilst holding their hands, smiling at them softly.
"Hey girls, you remember me, right?" They both nodded and told me that my name was Lia and that I was a friend of their mommy. "That's right. Now I know this must have been a little scary for you guys just now, but you see, Seline took you both away without telling your mommy and daddy, which is very bad. They worried about you so much, so we're going to go back home and I we're going to talk about everything Seline told you about a man named Cade. Is that okay?"
"Seline said that we should keep it a secret." Josie said to me as she wriggled anxiously, so I nodded my head in understanding and reached up to stroke her hair.
"And you guys did a great job, but now the secret is out and the grownups need to know what's going on. Can you be big girls for a little while and tell me all about it? If you do, I'll give you both a very special present. Something magical just for you. How does that sound?" Of course the promise of gifts, especially magical ones, always worked as an incentive and both Josie and Lizzie agreed to tell me everything that Seline had said to them about Arcadius so long as I upheld my end of the bargain. We brought them back home whilst Alaric took the unconscious Seline to the armoury in order to lock her up in an adjoining cell to her siren sister and keep an eye on her with the tuning fork until I could get there and place runes on the walls and a boundary spell upon the room to lock her in for good.
"Okay, Auntie Lia is just going to take a quick peek at you girls with her magic to make sure that you're both healthy. There's no need to be scared as it won't hurt, but you can hold mommy's hand if you want." Caroline said as she and I sat on the floor together with the twins, one either side of her as I faced them all. Josie and Lizzie nodded their heads and held Caroline's hand as I lightly placed my fingers against their temples, reading the flow of magic in their bodies and immediately found a psychic imprint placed on them by Seline which seemed to make them feel incredibly relaxed and trusting towards her. She had been effectively grooming them for months, and I hadn't noticed until now. I could punch myself for being so short sighted.
"Well the good news is, you guys are as beautiful as ever." I smiled at the both of them, playfully tapping their noses so that they giggled. "And there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Now as I promised, I have some special presents for the both of you. In this bag, I have a collection of magical stones. What I need you to do is each pick out three. Just three, but you need to concentrate and feel for the ones that call out to you especially. This is very important, so make sure you focus your mind, alright? Lizzie, you first." Reaching into my travel bag filled to the brim with magical objects, herbs, ingredients and precious stones, I picked up my divining pouch of velvet clustered with numerous small precious gemstones each with their own special power and purpose. I instructed them to pick their three stones and keep them hidden in their hands for the moment, waiting until both had their stones before I then put the velvet pouch aside then allowed them to reveal the ones they had picked.
As expected, both had picked a stone of aquamarine as it was their birth stone. For Lizzie, she had also picked out a hematite and rose quartz stones. "Interesting. See here Lizzie, these stones are the ones that called to you, yes? Well, this blue one here, this is called aquamarine and it is your birth stone, the same as your one Josie. This stone represents courage, balance and peace. This black stone is called hematite, which encourages optimism and bravery, and this pink one here is called rose quartz. This stone provides love, harmony and positivity. These are very special stones, and they will help you in the future to remain balanced and in control of yourself if ever you feel upset or angry." I explained to her, pointing to each stone in her hand as she listened intently with eyes filled with wonder.
"What about mine?"
"Ah, now yours have different meanings Josie. As well as the aquamarine stone, you have picked out the Bali turquoise and a diamond. The first one offers protection and suits a kind person best, whilst the diamond is a symbol of commitment, love and spirituality. Well done girls, these stones are very precious to you as individuals. Now I know right now it doesn't mean a lot, but trust me, it'll make more sense when you're older and I teach you a little more about just how special you both are, okay? Now. Hand me the stones back, and I'm going to make them into your presents with a little addition." Picking up two additional stones, I showed the intense black orbs to the twins who ogled at them curiously. "This is called obsidian. This stone will protect you both from anyone trying to play tricks on your mind. Now, watch this magic trick."
Taking out some more items, I prepared the spell on the coffee table in front of me with a few scented candles burning as well as incense, purifying the stones as well as the metal that I was going to use to reshape them into bracelets for the both of them. For Josie I used gold, and for Lizzie I used silver as the metals had their own properties that would add to the objects once combined, and after I had infused the stones with magic to activate their special properties, I reshaped the metal into bracelets which held the stones and used the obsidian beads into a necklace each for the both of them. "Now these bracelets will be a little big for you now but you'll grow into them. If you ever get the feeling that something strange is happening or you're scared, you can draw power from these bracelets in emergencies to protect yourselves." I explained as I handed the bracelets to the girls as they both gasped and admired them with fascination. "And make sure you wear these necklaces until mommy or daddy says it's safe to take them off. Okay? Remember, these will protect you from the bad people who try to play tricks in your head."
"Thank you Auntie!" Both the girls quickly jumped into my arms in order to hug me tightly, making me smile and draw them closer as I enjoyed their affection, whilst Caroline whispered a sincere thank you to me. With their necklaces on, Seline wouldn't be able to continue doing anything more with their heads and their bracelets would help them in the future. Once they became more aware of the fact that they were witch siphoners, having magic on hand could very well save their lives in an emergency. Although they couldn't draw magic from me directly, objects that I bless and imbue with magic was a different matter altogether. The last thing we want is for the sirens to figure that out and persuade the girls to siphon off the magic of my boundary spell, otherwise we'd all be in a hell of a lot of trouble.
"I can't thank you enough for all this, Lia. Those girls mean everything to me." Caroline said after we had tucked them up in their beds and sent them to sleep with a story, little nightlights glowing softly to watch over them as we slowly drew away.
"You'd do the same for me if it were Lucan that had been taken. Times like these, it's better when we all stick together." Now that the girls were asleep, I told Caroline the truth that there was still a psychic imprint on the girls but that she didn't need to worry and that I would take care of it. With everything now in hand, I returned to the armoury in order to deal with Seline, binding her to her cell and blocking her ability to use her psychic powers in order to interrogate her as to why she kidnapped the twins. Alaric was still in a state of unrivalled anger and wanted nothing more than to hurt Seline for putting his kids in danger, but Damon rather wisely pulled him away to have a drink instead whilst I deal with the siren. At first she didn't tell me anything, but a few knocks of the tuning fork had her soon singing a different tune, and she admitted that she took the girls with the intention of offering them to her boss, Cade the Devil, in exchange for releasing her and her sister Sybil from their contracts.
It made me sick to think that she would bargain away the lives of two innocent children and turn them into monsters for her own gain, to escape something that she had knowingly entered into. When it came to children, I showed no mercy or forgiveness. I left with the tuning fork still ringing, giving both Seline and Sybil a taste of what they deserved before calling it a night. It was still early enough in the evening that there was time to go visit Penny and Matt, so that's exactly what I did. She was glad to see me, surprised by the visit and hugged me tight before pulling me in where I shared a beer with Matt and gave Penny a druid check up to make sure that everything was peachy. I gave her candles to burn to fight against the nausea, and a special jade talisman to wear to encourage proper circulation in her bloodstream which would ensure that the baby would be born healthy and strong.
Considering we were close friends, it was the least I could do and as I laughed away happily with them both, I found myself missing my own son and wanting nothing more than to see him. Just a few more days, then I'll just go to him no matter what state Mystic Falls was in. A few more days, and I can pick him up and swing him around without a care in the world and I could finally hear his voice laughing and see his adorable smile with his mop of curly blond hair. Just a few more days…