"Long time no see Rebekah… Klaus."
His voice was pleasant and soft, but threatening at the same time.
"Not long enough." Rebekah scoffed.
"Who are you?" Jeremy asked, attempting to sound strong and threatening.
"Oh, silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Leonardo, but I often go by Leo." Leo explained.
"To what do we owe the pleasure, oh great archangel?" Klaus asked sarcastically.
Neither of the originals specifically liked Leo, especially after he broke Rebekah's heart decades ago. Rebekah never truly got over it. It became clear that Leo wasn't to be trusted after he betrayed Klaus, in fact, Leo had once planned to kill them.
If not for Leo's immortality, he'd have been dead the moment he betrayed Klaus.
"I'm not here for you." Leo enlightened.
"Then tell me, why are you here?" Klaus asked while Rebekah was giving Leo the side-eye.
"For her." Leo said as his eyes landed on Elena.
There was something in Leo's eyes when he looked at Elena, it was almost like a sympathetic look mixed with another emotion Klaus couldn't identify.
Before Klaus could say something that could possibly get someone killed, Rebekah spoke up.
"Her? What could you possibly want with her?" Rebekah questioned.
"I've been ordered to either help or kill her." Leo responded, not sounding too bothered by either of them.
"What." Jeremy said.
"If you lay a hand on her, I'll take my sweet time torturing you. I will make you wish you could die." Klaus threatened.
"And what have you chosen to do?" Rebekah quickly interrupted.
"I would like to help her if I can, but if the demon is too powerful I simply wouldn't have a choice but to kill her." Leo explained.
"Demon?" Rebekah questioned.
"Yes, you see when Helen was born a powerful demon, whose name shall not be spoken, entered Helen's body and hid in the shadows waiting till Helen was powerful enough to handle the demon. It slowly poisoned her soul as time passed. It would've been successful if it wasn't for the orekatua wolf spirits." Leo educated.
"Orekatua wolf spirits?" Rebekah questioned.
"The two spirits that are inside of Elena and your brother… have you truly not heard of them?" Leo asked, looking between Klaus and Rebekah.
Leo could tell by the look on Klaus's face that he knew about the wolf spirits. Leo sighed before continuing.
"Helen's death was no accident, the orekatua wolves led her out to the woods on the full moon to be killed. They hoped that would've killed the demon inside of her, but it had not. When Helen had finally died, the demon went straight into Elena. It immediately started to take over, without her even realizing until it was too late." Leo paused and looked at Elena.
"She's still fighting, even after it torments her daily. She's one of the strongest souls I've ever come across." Leo admits.
———————————————-
"You said she seemed different… different how?" Stefan asked, holding Caroline's hand.
"It was like she was a completely different person, and when I touched her I saw something, only for a split second." Bonnie explained.
"Well, what did you see?" Damon asked impatiently.
"I think it was… a demon." Bonnie gulped, recalling the feeling of dread she felt when she came face to face with it.
"A demon? News flash Bon Bon, they're not real." Damon almost laughed at that.
"It's true, Damon. Even I could sense something was wrong." Enzo confirmed.
"Do you think she's being possessed?" Caroline asked.
"She did seem a little like herself, so it's hard to say." Bonnie sighed.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Damon asked.
"The only thing we can do." Stefan said, beginning to stand up.
"Which is?" Damon asked.
———————————————-
Elena stirs in her sleep, causing them all to stop talking. They watched as Elena's eyes opened and closed multiple times to adjust to the light.
They observed her carefully, unsure if it was Elena or the demon who had woken up.
Elena slowly sat up on the bed, holding her hand to her head, wincing as she felt a slight headache.
She paused when she noticed them. As she turned she could see the worry on their faces. They tried to hide it, but she could read them like a book.
Then it clicked…
They know.
She had to think quickly, what would Elena do? Wait, why was Leo here? Doesn't matter, she'll just play dumb.
"Is- is this real?" Elena questioned,
They paused and looked at each other, still unsure of what to do.
"Elena, are you okay?" Klaus asked, beginning to walk towards her.
How ironic, it was only moments ago when the real Elena saw 'Klaus' do the exact same thing.
"Stop! Please stay away from me!" The demon mimicked.
Klaus immediately stopped and looked at her again.
"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked.
"I- I don't want to hurt you." The demon said with a shaky voice.
"Drop the act, we know what you are." Leo informed.
The demon paused, how had he known she was acting. Leo hadn't even met the real Elena so how would he know?
Unless…
"It was you this whole time." The demon stated, laughing hysterically.
"Yes." Leo said, keeping all of his attention on the demon.
The demon stopped laughing and looked at Leo seriously.
"How unfortunate, I actually enjoyed your company. It'd be a pity to kill you, but alas I have no other choice." The demon paused.
"I suppose you want this vessel to stay alive, correct?" The demon questioned.
Leo did not respond.
"How about you?" The demon asked Rebekah, noticing the angels blade in her hand.
The demon chuckled, knowing her answer.
"Let's make a deal. In exchange for the vessel's life, you will give me the angels blade." The demon bargained.
Although the demon was talking to Rebekah, its eyes remained on Leo, watching his every move.
It was unsure why Leo hadn't done anything yet.
Rebekah pulled out the angels blade and handed it to the demon. The demon couldn't help but wonder if this was too good to be true. Everything about the situation seemed off.
The archangel had done nothing throughout all of this, neither did the love of its vessel's life. They both just stood there, watching.
Or had they been waiting? If they had, what could they be waiting for?