Hello loves!

Right, before I say anything else, I need an opportunity to vent. You can obviously skip this if you want but seriously. I need this.

I've spent the past week in Lockdown (obviously) and my teachers have been… I'll be nice and say supportive. Although, they seriously misjudged us. They've all been leaving the Teams calls whenever they give us work to do on a website. It is not nor will it ever be a good idea to leave a class of twenty-four students alone and without supervision. It is a horrible idea and though I love my English teacher, I really do, she is so nice, she was being momentously stupid leaving us yesterday. The chat was being spammed, no one was doing the work and everyone was practically plotting against her when she re-joined. It was the same with my Chemistry class. We had a test and my teacher had given us a test. I would be severely surprised if no one looked up the answers because of the lack of supervision.

*Takes deep breath*

Alright. I'm done. Now, I'd like to respond to a review I got, again, you can skip this if you want,

Guest – Thank you so much for your review, it wasn't all over the place and definitely something I'd do if I reviewed to a story so please don't feel sorry if it was too long. I'm way ahead of you on the idea that when Aria comes back, she'll be intimidating Esther. And like you said, it did always confuse me that Freya and Kol never had much of a relationship considering his repeated admiration for witches, it was just a major plot hole in my opinion. And I won't lie, I laughed at the part where you said about Marcel disapproving from a distance as Kol helps Aria have fun, it's totally something I can see myself writing him to do – just him watching his daughter whilst remaining completely oblivious to the fact that Aria is playing matchmaker for him and Rebekah. But wrapping this up, thanks for your review. It definitely boosted my confidence in this story.

Now, for the final time, lets get on with it! I own nothing apart from Aria.

~*•°•*~

Aria tossed in her sleep and whimpered slightly as a thin sheen of sweat formed on her forehead, she turned the other way again as her whimpers increased in volume until she sat up with a loud scream. Not even a minute later, Dahlia came into the room, her expression the opposite from the stoic one she'd been showing the past few days.

"What is it? What happened?"

"I…" Aria shook her head in confusion, "I don't know. I was in the Lafayette Cemetery." She murmured, "Sabine was there. She… she said that…" Aria trailed off as horror appeared on her face.

"Told you what?" Dahlia asked quickly, a faint crease in her eyebrows.

"She said that it would be foolish of me to go back."

"Go back? To the living world?" She asked as Aria nodded.

"She's something else." Aria whispered, her tone both awed and scared, "She's powerful in a way she's never been before. It can't be her. She's either channeling something or-or she absorbed the power of the Harvest. Even then she's too powerful. She knows spells that I've never even heard of before."

"This may be a problem."

"You think?" Aria snapped.

Dahlia ignored Aria's sarcastic words, "This… Sabine. Do you know her?"

"No. No I've never really talked to her much. Why?"

"She was able to see you. The living cannot see the dead in that world. So either she is dead herself… Or she has already died and come back."

Aria looked at her in confusion, "But that-that's not possible. Unless…"

"Unless she has been jumping bodies over the years."

"So, if she isn't Sabine, then who the hell is she?"

"That is what you need to find out." Dahlia said, her eyes straying over to her Grimoire as Aria sighed.

"Alright. Give me a moment to change and I'll go back." She said as the older woman nodded and left the room. Before the door closed however, she said one final thing, "Be careful this time Aria. If this… Sabine is able to see you, then she could be dangerous. If she tries to attack you, don't hesitate to strike back."

~*•°•*~

Aria set the Grimoire on the bed in front of her and took a deep breath before tying her dark chestnut hair up into a rather messy ponytail on the top of her head. She was dressed in a soft grey tank top with a cardigan a shade darker that reached mid-thigh and dark blue slightly faded jeans with black boots reaching just below her knee.

She traced the spell and, with a small grimace, began to chant.

The world began to spin, although less than it had the first time and she quickly opened her eyes to find herself back in her room. Unlike the last time when she hesitated, she immediately headed to the door and walked through the hallways until she reached the street outside the Abattoir.

She looked left and then right before deciding to walk straight to the Cemetery. On her way there, she thought about what had changed in the past… well… however long it had been since she had died. She'd met Dahlia, managed to lie (to an extent) and convince her that she was on her side, found a way to travel to the physical world in mere minutes and finally, discovered that Sabine wasn't really, well, Sabine.

She arrived at the gates and headed straight towards where the tourists would be gathering. Coincidentally, around the Deveraux Tomb. She hid behind the tourists and listened to Sabine talking,

"Each tomb is well cared for. Families honor their dead with display of affection and respect." She turned to the headstone, "This place belongs to the Deveraux family, known throughout the Quarter for their strong connection to witchcraft. And, if you look close, these fresh bricks tell us someone in the family has recently fallen." She said before there was a loud scream from inside the tomb. Startled, Aria turned to it as the tourists all backed away. The bricks were then blasted off of the wall as a figure fell out of the tomb.

She heard the tourists frightened mutterings but watched as Sabine crouched down and smiled at the girl.

"Hello, Monique. Welcome back to the land of the living."

Well shit.

Aria followed Sabine and Monique as the tourists slowly dispersed into the crypt a few meters away from the gravestone. She turned to the entrance as she heard footsteps running closer and saw Sophie enter, "What is it? What's going on?"

Sabine gave Sophie a sinister smile that the latter seemed not to pick up on, "It's a miracle."

Sophie looked at Sabine, confused before her eyes landed on Monique and they widened.

"Monique? You're alive!" She rushed over to her niece and grabbed her closer in a hug as tears trickled down her face. Monique hugged her back but she didn't seem as enthusiastic about it.

Why?

Her eyes strayed around the room until they landed on a shadowy figure in the corner, simply observing the scene with barely any enthusiasm. The figure sighed and Aria felt her technically nonexistent blood run cold.

She'd know that bored sigh anywhere.

She backed away from Sophie and Monique and practically ran out of the crypt and then out of the graveyard onto the street as she walked back to the Abattoir quickly.

Dahlia had said that the dead could see the dead if they were still attached to the living world.

If that were the case, then she'd have to be careful.

She couldn't have Kol finding her.

Not yet at least.

~*•°•*~

When Aria found herself once again at the Compound, she paused before walking closer to where a small group was gathered around… she let out a sigh of annoyance. They were gathered around Papa Tunde's corpse. Elijah crouched down to look at it and Klaus sighed,

"Can I get you anything, brother? A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?" He asked sarcastically.

"You have a theory you'd like to share with us, Niklaus?"

"Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel pointed out.

"It's rather a large and ominous chicken, wouldn't you say?" Elijah asked as Aria bit back a laugh. Who knew the stoic Original had a sense of humor?

"Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well. If he was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?" Klaus asked as Rebekah joined them.

"Well, don't you look cheery. Listen to this, a girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the city of the dead. It was Monique Deveraux."

"What?" Klaus asked quickly.

"The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle."

"Maybe it is. They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected. This is how we're gonna get Davina back and by extension, Aria. Kill the witch who took her place." Marcel said as a voice sounded from a staircase behind them.

"I have a theory about who one of them could be." Hayley held up some drawings Davina had created and put together, "Celeste. I mean, it's got to be. Davina was trying to tell us, she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming. Aria was having vivid nightmares whenever she was in the same room as them."

Aria winced before her eyes narrowed. Her nightmares had been because of freaking drawings?

Klaus sighed, "First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back." He looked pointedly to Elijah, "This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us."

After Klaus said that, the family split up and each went on different routes throughout the city. She was pretty sure that Klaus was going to the church so she wouldn't be following him. That only left Marcel and Elijah.

She'd decide Elijah.

~*•°•*~

Turned out that Aria made the right choice. Elijah led her straight to Sabine or whoever the hell she was. She was walking down the street, alone before she turned to face him. Aria quickly hid behind a wall so that she was still in hearing range yet Sabine couldn't hear her. Quite frankly, she had no clue how it worked.

"Elijah. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Sabine asked.

"My family needs an ally among the witches, and you've helped us in the past. Perhaps together we can avoid an unnecessary conflict."

"They may be willing to make a deal, if it were with the noble Elijah. But there will never be any peace at long as it involves Klaus."

"Is that what all this is about? You want my brother out of town?" Elijah asked as Sabine scoffed.

"I'm just telling you how they feel. My people are scared, they're desperate, but they're not dumb."

Aria scoffed. Debatable,

"You have a niece on the way. It stands to reason you'd be willing to discuss how to run him out of the city." She continued.

"Let's walk together. You can take me on one of your famous tours." Elijah said after a moment of contemplative silence.

More walking it was, then.

Yay.

~*•°•*~

Aria had, by now, followed Sabine and Elijah probably through half of the city and if they didn't begin to say anything interesting, she'd see just how much magic she still had in this world, despite Dahlia's warnings.

"So, this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1700s when the city burned for the first time." Sabine paused when Elijah didn't comment and spoke again, "Am I putting you to sleep?"

"As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother… Celeste." Elijah said as Aria's eyes widened.

Celeste?

Elijah Mikaelson's old lover?

The one she'd been having nightmares about for months?

That Celeste?

Aria had a million questions swirling around in her head but she tried to control them as she continued to listen in on their conversation.

"How did you know?" Sabine… More like Celeste asked.

"As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near. And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered. Could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then, I recalled the lovely Sabine. Your visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last Elder within your coven. Ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed, unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game, indeed. But to what end?" He questioned.

Aria looked at them in confusion before Celeste stepped closer to Elijah and kissed him. As she pulled back, she smirked as Elijah began to feel weak, visibly shaking as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"Oh, Elijah, my lost love... After all this time, don't you understand? I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow. Always and forever."

Elijah lost his footing again.

"What have you done to me?" He gasped out.

"Oh, it's a simple enchantment. You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah, I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. Always and forever was the greatest mistake of your life." She said as he collapsed down to the ground.

Elijah took in a ragged, deep breath and looked back up to Celeste.

"You poisoned me with a kiss." He let out a rough and slightly choked laugh, "At least you haven't lost your sense of irony."

"We may have time for more. But first, I'm going to cure you of your greatest flaw. This absurd devotion to your lunatic family."

"Your anger is with me. Now, if you have come here seeking revenge-"

Celeste cut him off, "Oh, I'll have my revenge. Starting with Klaus. He is gonna know pain and torment like he's never felt before. Unless you choose to save him, of course. But then that leaves Rebekah, your tragic sister. She's about to find herself in quite the predicament. You could save her. But then that leaves Hayley in jeopardy..."

Elijah let out a small moan, "No. No, no..." He begged.

"Poor girl. She has no idea how dangerous it is to be loved by you. Oh well. With your body weakened by my spell, you won't be able to save them all. You'll recover with just enough time to choose one. Who will it be?" She wondered before letting out a small laugh, "I can't wait to find out." She whispered, watching as Elijah's eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

"I know you're there, Aria. Might as well come out now." She called out as Aria tensed. She sighed and walked out from the wall and came to a stop roughly five foot away from the witch.

"You can see me." Aria stated as Celeste let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Of course I can see you. I know whenever you're near me. Like when Papa Tunde died? You were right there in the Cemetery. Though it does beg the question, how are you not completely dead?"

"That's for me to know and you to, well, agonise about because I'll never squeal."

Celeste glared at her and Aria laughed, "Oh come on Sabine. Or Celeste. Whatever you call yourself. If you didn't want a sarcastic answer then you shouldn't have asked a stupid question. Why would I tell you? I mean, honestly?"

"You're no match for me." Celeste said as she walked a step closer to Aria, "You may have cheated death but so have I. Multiple times." When Aria stayed silent, she spoke again, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

Aria smirked, "Never mistake my silence for weakness, love. No one plans a murder out loud."

Celeste's smug look turned positively murderous but before she could even open her mouth to say anything, she let out a sudden groan of pain before she grabbed her stomach and dropped down to the floor, unconscious.

When Aria looked up behind her she wasn't quite sure whether to smile or grimace.

"That's my witch. All sarcasm and apparently no tact." Kol grinned, "Now. This one had a point." He turned serious, "How are you here?"

Aria gave him a small sad smile, "Ouch. Months of stalking me and you don't seem happy to know I'm not dead… Completely."

Kol's expression, one she knew he would deny being concerned if she asked, crumbled and he walked closer to her. His eyes searched her face as if worried she wasn't real or she'd disappear before he sighed, "Aria Gerard. You are a sight for bleary and battered eyes. You're also stark raving mad, do you have any idea what that witch could've done to you?"

"I may have a spell or two up my sleeve." Aria murmured, thinking back to Dahlia – Kol's aunt's Grimoire. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and slight suspicion before Sabine began to stir.

"Come on, you can't stay here for long." He said, looking back slightly nervously, "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"The Abattoir." Aria said instantly. He gave her an odd look but none the less conceded and followed her back home.

If she kept being so reckless, he'd find himself finding yet another reason to fall deeper.

Into love? He didn't quite know yet. But it was certainly something along those lines.

~*•°•*~

Aria walked into her room with Kol behind her and spared a quick look at the clock on the wall opposite her bed, realising with a sinking heart that she barely even had ten minutes before the spell would force her back.

"How are you alive?" Kol asked, eyebrows creased as he searched her face.

"The Ancestors left me for dead." Aria said as she sat down on the bed, legs crossed, "I'm not a part of their Coven. Not really. But another witch… thought I might be of use to her." She said quietly, avoiding looking him in the eye.

Kol reached out and she felt a cold hand underneath her chin as he tilted her head up, she looked at him with slightly wide eyes, "I can feel you. God, that's weird." She whispered as he smiled slightly before turning concerned again.

"What witch saved you? How are you… here?" He asked, gesturing around the room.

She looked back down and she felt his confused eyes on her before they moved behind her and to the Grimoire. She heard him mutter a confused word or two under his breath before he took the book gently, his hand tracing the pattern on the front before he turned to look at her, eyes wide.

"I've seen this symbol before. In Mother's Grimoires." His eyes widened, "Please don't tell me it's her."

Aria shook her head instantly and Kol sighed, expression relaxing, before turning confused again, "Well then how did my Mother have a Grimoire just like this?"

She gave him a guilty look, though she wasn't quite sure why before her eyes snapped back to the clock as it chimed six. She'd been there since twelve so… so she'd have to go back now.

"Kol. Kol I have to go."

"Aria wait-"

"No. No it's fine I'll be able to come right back."

"Aria!" He said as she turned to look at him. Now he looked scared, "I recognise that symbol. It is dark magic. Incredibly dark magic. I am begging you, stop using it."

"Kol I-"

"Promise me. At least for a while." He practically begged as she nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"I promise." She said quietly as she held the book and began to spin.

Even when she was gone, Kol continued to stare at the spot she'd just been sat at and sighed.

"Thank you, little witch."

~*•°•*~

Now, I found myself severely disappointed with the way Kol and Aria's second meeting went but I genuinely couldn't find another way to write it. I hope it wasn't as crappy as I thought it was.

As Always, SecretMidnightRose