Hello loves!

Right, before I get into the chapter, I seriously need an answer to a question.

When in hell am I going to need to know how to find how many electrons sit on a Lithium atom's rings? Seriously, Chemistry is my favourite science – I'd take it over Biology and Physics any day – but I will never, ever need to know this stuff. But apparently school doesn't care.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. They seriously mean the world to me.

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

~*•°•*~

Aria felt her world stop spinning as she came back to the one Dahlia had created with a sudden jolt. She still had her mouth open to speak once more but, well, now there was no one to speak to. She sighed and looked around the room, thanking the fact that Dahlia wasn't there before she turned to lie down on the mattress and look up at the ceiling as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

When she woke the next morning, she dressed in a black bell sleeved top with white ripped jeans and simple black ballet flats but before she could even pick up Dahlia's Grimoire, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Did you manage to create a foothold yet?"

She spun around in surprise and sighed, reaching up to place a hand over her rapidly beating heart as she glared at Dahlia, "Yes, actually. But I won't be able to tell you if I have a heart attack."

"You're already dead." She pointed out as Aria paused before rolling her eyes in annoyance. She took a deep breath before standing up and moving to stand in front of the witch.

"I found out that Sabine is being possessed by a witch named Celeste DuBois. She's your nephew Elijah's old lover. She was drowned for being a witch a couple hundred years ago and apparently, she's managed to cheat death all this time. That's why she can see me." Aria offered as Dahlia hummed underneath her breath.

"Celeste DuBois. I believe I might've heard of her."

"Anyways, she's been jumping bodies and then offing herself to jump into others for centuries. That's how she can see me, and that's how she's able to talk to me."

"Have you been able to create a foothold?" Dahlia asked as Aria wilted slightly.

"Well, uh, I-I've been able to use my magic a-a bit."

"So in short, you've failed so far." Dahlia summarised.

"I wouldn't say I've failed." Aria protested, defensive nature rising.

Dahlia shot Aria a short glare, "Well I would. You must create a foothold as soon as you are able or else there will be no hope of bringing you back."

"Dahlia, I'm trying here. It's just difficult, I don't know what you want me to do to create a foothold in the-" She couldn't finish her sentence because her mouth opened in shock and her hands moved to the sides of her head as she cried out in pain.

"You have such potential, Girl, but you must remember, without me you are dead. Without me, you are nothing."

"I-I'm sorry."

"You could do so much if you just let yourself." She continued.

"Please-please-" Aria murmured as she dropped to the floor and blood began to leak from the corners of her eyes and nose.

"Please?" Dahlia asked, her head tilted.

"Please make it stop. I'll be good." She gasped out as Dahlia stopped the spell. Aria breathed in shaky heaps of air as the older witch moved to kneel down in front of her.

"Excellent. That's all I wanted to hear." She whispered as she gently tucked a strand of her hair behind Aria's ear as she flinched. Dahlia's hand moved to cup her chin and she gripped it tightly, forcing Aria to look her in the eyes.

"Now was that so hard?" She asked as Aria shook her head. She then stood up and spoke again, "Try to practise some spells again. I expect a strong foothold when I see you next." She said before she left the room.

Aria stayed frozen for another moment before she practically jumped up onto her bed and opened the Grimoire as she chanted quickly, feeling the world spin around her before almost instantly coming to a halt. When everything calmed down, she let out a shaky breath as she calmed her breathing and quickly beating heart.

She hadn't even thought about the fact that blood was practically smeared across her face, wanting to get as far away from Dahlia as possible, until she heard another voice from inside the room, "Little witch?"

She flinched and stood up, keeping her back to Kol, "You're here." She stated.

"Well I figured that you had to appear somewhere. This was my best guess." He murmured.

"Would you mind leaving me alone for a moment?" Aria asked.

"Aria-"

"Please?" She snapped. Instead of leaving like she had asked, multiple times, he walked up behind her and grabbed her arm as he spun her around. His expression changing from obvious annoyance to concern instantly.

"What happened?" He asked quickly. She gave him a look and he sighed, expression turning from concerned to guilty. As if he'd done it himself.

"I'm sorry."

He meant it.

He actually meant it.

Blinking away her surprise, she spoke, "It's not your fault."

"We'll get into who did it in a moment, all I know is that whoever it is, had a connection with Mother and you clearly wanted to get away from them as fast as you could."

Aria nodded and moved over to the bed, flickering her wrist and watching as a bowl of water and a small cotton flannel appeared on the bed in front of her. Before she could reach for them, Kol had already taken the flannel and dipped it in water before gently moving it up to her face and wiping away the blood.

"Someone that knew my mother well caused this. The least I can do is clean it up." He murmured, giving her a small hint of a smile,

"So what did you do?" He asked, now smirking at her. She gave him a confused look before understanding dawned on her face.

"Apparently, the witch-bitch doesn't like a lack of results. She felt it fit to punish me." She gestured to her face, "And remind me that without her, I'd be dead. Without her, I'm nothing."

He seemed to tense at the final comment and took a hard breath before continuing to wipe away the blood, "I'll find a way to break you away from this witch. I promise."

"You can't make promises like that, Kol."

He placed the flannel down now that all the blood was wiped clean from her face and cupped her chin arrogantly as he smirked, "I can. And I am." He waited a beat, "And she's wrong, you know. You're not nothing. You're special, Aria Rebekah Gerard."

Aria looked at him with something akin to awe as he awkwardly let go of her face and stood up, "Well, considering you're still the only one in this God-forsaken world that can see me, how about I help you with whatever you have to do?"

"Kol, I can't drag you into this. If she found out-"

Kol scoffed, "I'm already dead, Little witch. And technically, so are you. So let's go. You can tell me all about the Wicked Witch while we walk."

Aria gave him a look but never the less, stood up and walked over to the door and opened it before walking out. The duo walked in relative silence until they reached the front doors and she spoke up,

"The witch, from what she's told me, is… well she's your aunt. -On your mother's side." She sent him a glance out of the corner of her eye and his expression turned into a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"My… my aunt? Mother never said she had a sister."

Aria snorted slightly, "I'm not surprised."

"Is she alive? Or is she dead?"

"I… don't know." Aria settled on after a moment, a crease in her eyebrows, "But I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way to cheat death. Her power… I've never felt anything like it before. It rolls off of her in waves."

"What did she promise you, Little witch?"

"She promised that she'd bring me back to life and protect my family."

"In exchange for what?" Kol prompted.

Aria hesitated slightly, "In exchange for her to channel my magic."

"Oh."

His voice was void of emotion and his face was also unreadable.

Damn it.

"She thinks I'm genuinely going along with it. And apart from her thinking I don't know how to much of anything when it comes to magic and thinking that I don't know when to hold my tongue, for the most part your aunt trusts me. I mean, she's already given me a Grimoire."

"Little witch I'm not sure if you're clever or utterly mad."

"Little of both." She grinned as she opened the gate to the Cemetery, "Now, Dahlia is powerful, she can watch me and see what I'm doing. But she isn't infinitely powerful, I worked that out after spending little less than half an hour with her." She murmured, more to herself than anyone else. Never the less, Kol let out a laugh, "How'd you figure that?"

"She knew about you, which means she's powerful. But as I said, she isn't unstoppable. No, she needs my power. I don't know why. But, if I use a cloaking spell and then layer a… silencing spell over it, maybe I'll be able to lose her. Already, she's controlling the world I'm in, I just need to find out what she's drawing from…"

Kol laughed, "Slow down, Aria. Now, go back to the first bit. You want to combine a cloaking spell and layer a silencing spell over it? There's no telling it would work, besides, there are multiple things that could-"

He stopped when Aria smirked at him and sighed, a small smile tugging at his mouth, "You've already done it, haven't you?"

"Obviously. Otherwise I very much doubt I'd still be here talking to you right now. I suspect Dahlia would pull me back."

For a moment, worry crossed Kol's face but he quickly ridded himself of it, "Do you think she can see others around you?"

Aria pursed her lips together in thought, "I don't think so." She decided on, "She was very selective with what she said. Besides, she had no idea about Sabine… Celeste. I have a feeling it might just be a group of select people." She said in an afterthought as they stopped beside a group of people. Witches.

"What's happening?"

"Not a clue." Kol responded as they moved closer to the centre of the group. As they were doing so, they felt a sudden gust of wind until Elijah stood almost directly before them.

"Back up brother dearest." Kol said sarcastically as Aria smirked.

"My siblings have been taken. Where are they?" Elijah demanded.

Monique glared at the Original, "You're interrupting my Aunt Sophie's consecration." She said as the trio went silent.

"What?" Aria whispered, expression crumbling. As if by instinct, Kol grabbed her hand gently, she startled at the sudden contact and even he seemed to realise what he was doing but never the less, neither of them moved to take their hand away from the other.

"How did this happen?" Elijah asked as Monique gave him an eerie smile.

"Aunt Sophie was a casualty of war."

"Monique, I recommend you give me what I want. Unless, of course, you'd like me to level this place and everything in it."

"That won't be necessary. I have a message for you from Celeste." She said ominously as she raised a hand towards Elijah and began muttering underneath her breath. Elijah, seemingly suddenly uncomfortable, pulled at the collar of his shirt before simply ripping the top button of his shirt open.

A name was tattooed on this chest.

He then itched at his wrist until he pulled the sleeve back revealing the name Sabine.

"To find what you're looking for, follow the path she left behind." Monique said.

~*•°•*~

"Anything?" Elijah asked as he walked into the main courtyard, unknowingly having both Aria and Kol follow behind him.

"They're putting eyes and ears out everywhere. Day walkers are working every contact we've got. Cops, dock workers, guys in the Treme... Word is out. Anyone trying to earn favour with me gets a lifetime of it if they find them." Marcel spoke.

"Good. I need a pen and paper."

"Hey, am I taking orders from you now, or are we in this together?" Marcel asked as Elijah walked into one of the upper rooms of the house and took his suit jacket off, Marcel, Aria and Kol once again following him.

"Pen and paper, Marcellus. Now!" Elijah snapped.

Marcel sighed, "I want her back just as much as you do, you know... The both of them." Marcel said quietly as he turned back to get what Elijah had requested. Elijah shrugged off his shirt and Aria cleared her throat gently as she averted her eyes, the tiniest hint of an awkward blush covering her cheeks.

"Hayley!" Elijah called out, the werewolf walking into the room not moments later.

"Elijah! You're back. Did you find any-" She stopped herself short when she noticed Elijah had his shirt off and was covered in tattoos and gaped awkwardly, "-Thing?" She looked at him in confusion, "What is happening?"

"I need you to make a list of these names, please." Elijah asked as Hayley looked closer at some of the names in curiosity, "Sabine? Elijah, what is this?" She questioned as Aria turned her head to look at the names closer, focusing on the ink.

Only the ink. She reminded herself.

"I believe they represent the names of the women Celeste inhabited for the past two centuries." Elijah commented offhandedly.

"You know, I'd have thought your brother would've been taking things with a touch more… well, more." Aria murmured.

"'Lijah has always been a stick in the mud." Kol remarked as Aria chuckled slightly. Marcel re-joined the duo and handed pen and paper over to Hayley.

"It's called a Devinette. It's old school. Kind of a riddle. Witches use them to teach their kids. Solve it, and it disappears."

"Been teaching Marcel witch business, have you Aria?" Kol questioned.

"Of course I have." Aria replied with a small scoff.

"Why? What's the point?" Hayley asked.

"Celeste forced me to make a choice between yourself and my siblings, and now she means to mock that choice, taunting me with a childish game. The longer the game, the more they suffer. To find Klaus and Rebekah, we need to solve this riddle. The solution lies somewhere in these names."

"The name next to Sabine... Annie La Fleur, she's the witch that was shunned from her coven just over a year ago. Never knew why, but I can find out." Marcel said as Elijah nodded.

~*•°•*~

Aria and Kol listened a few metres behind both Elijah and Marcel as a man they'd found who knew Annie La Fleur explained what he knew about why she'd been shunned from her coven, "Annie was a good girl." The man explained, "The witches did her wrong, shunning her like that. Claiming she was doing dark magic." He scoffed lightly, "There's no way. But they had proof. So, she just quit, and I can't really blame her for that. 'Cause once you've been shunned, what's the point in going on, you know?"

"She killed herself. Drowned herself in the Mississippi…" Aria murmured.

"She was shunned, little witch." Kol replied, his voice just as quiet, "Once you've been shunned…"

"It'll ruin your life. He's right. I mean, what's the point going on?"

"Celeste clearly tired of her body. Then she took over the body of… Sabine?" He asked for clarification as she nodded.

"All these names… These lives, stolen that Celeste gets her revenge on Elijah…"

"What's done is done, little witch. There's no choice but to go forward and see where they take us."

He held his hand out in a teasing invitation and, with a smile and slight eye roll, Aria took it as they followed Elijah and Marcel.

They followed the duo to a place Aria told Kol was called 'The Pit' rather appropriately and waited until the vampires all startled when a man was, quite literately, thrown into the room and then into a chair.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I just love Elijah's way of handling things?" Aria murmured as Kol snorted.

"Wh-what do you want from me?" The man stuttered, terrified.

"Well, I assume you're familiar with this pigsty, quite appropriately known as the Pit. See, awkwardly enough, only weeks ago, a group of human beings just like yourself slaughtered many of the companions of the vampires that you see assembled before you here."

"You run the records room at City Hall. We're told the former Mayor kept a detailed record of the supernatural community. A ledger of names of witches, werewolves and vampires. Specifically, their death records. We need it."

"I-I don't know where it is."

"I think we both know that's a fib. Anyone feeling hungry?" Elijah asked rhetorically as he closed the door a little, limiting the sunlight in the room as some of the night walkers moved closer.

"Damn, Elijah." Kol whistled.

"Cold." Aria murmured; an amused laugh being pulled out of her.

The man's eyes widened and he quickly covered himself, "Oh! Okay, w-wait! They moved the records after the Mayor died. They're at the sacristy of St. Anne's Church."

"See? There. Wasn't so difficult, now, was it?" Elijah smiled.

"You're all bloody terrifying." Aria murmured as Kol, for some reason that was beyond him, felt himself frown in thought.

~*•°•*~

Hours later in St. Anne's Church, Aria and Kol were both watching Marcel and Elijah searching through the Supernatural community's documents and whilst it had been mildly interesting at first, it had gradually grown to be mind-numbingly boring.

"Can I just name the million other things I'd rather be doing right now?" Aria drawled, a long sigh falling from her mouth.

"Go ahead. Might be more interesting than these two." Kol responded, equally as jaded.

Aria perked up when a familiar name reached her ears and leant forward slightly, "Marcel, here's another name from our list: Brynne Deveraux. Says here she drowned herself some twenty years ago. Do you recognize the name?" He asked curiously.

"Brynne? Yeah, yeah, we used to hang out." He smirked slightly and Aria wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Knock around a bit."

She did not need to know those kinds of details about her father's life.

It seemed Elijah was on the same mental road as her, "You can spare me the details, please."

"She used to do some spells for me now and then. Girl had power. Cursed a whole pack of werewolves just because they were pissing me off. Speaking of, what do you think Klaus is gonna do when he finds out that you left him to suffer while you saved Hayley and her wolf friends?"

"Let's avoid discussing matters that are not your concern, shall we, Marcellus?"

"Oh, come on, Elijah. I got guys all over this city. You honestly think that I don't know that the Crescent wolves had a little family reunion out at the plantation last night? Thanks for letting the house burn, by the way. Good riddance. But my question is, what's Hayley doing with that bunch?" He asked, genuine curiosity seeping through his façade.

"Marcel, I'm aware of your history with the city's wolves, and I assume you understand that if you lay a finger upon Hayley, it will be the last thing you do on this earth."

"I see I hit a nerve. And just when we were getting along."

Elijah sighed and quickly changed the subject, "We were right. Every name upon my flesh signifies a witch who died by her own hand. All but one."

"Clara Summerlin. Ring any bells?"

"None."

"Okay, well, if she didn't off herself, then how did she die?"

"Influenza Epidemic of 1919." Elijah said after a moment. Aria watched in fascination as the names tattooed onto his body vanished, leaving him shocked, "I suppose we have our answer, though I have no idea what it means."

The duo quickly exchanged a look before they left the church to leave for the Mikaelson Compound. Around half way there, a gasp left Aria's mouth as everything began to spin around her.

"Aria?" Kol's voice reached her ears and she turned to look back at him.

"I'm going back."

"Don't come back yet." He said forcefully, as if knowing that was what she was planning to do.

"Kol, we're finally onto something!"

"It's dangerous. That spell… It's dark magic. And it is unstable, little witch."

"Kol, do you have any idea how angry she'll be with me if I haven't created a strong enough foothold?" She asked as Kol went silent.

"You've began to create one. I already have a foothold. You've been talking to me." He said after another minute.

"It's not enough." She stressed as everything began to spin a moment later.

"Aria, please. Just stay away for now."

Aria gave him a smirk, annoying his warnings as she faded away and back into her room. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before moving back to the Grimoire and turning it to the page the spell was on. She went to open her mouth before hesitating.

The spell is unstable. Kol's voice echoed in her mind.

Was it worth going back?

As if in answer, she felt a chill fill the room, "I expect a strong foothold when I see you next."

Dahlia's reminder from earlier echoed, not only in her head, but in the very room itself.

Aria looked around wildly and a cold voice laughed. It didn't sound happy. It sounded bitter.

"I am everywhere, Girl. This is my world; I create the rules."

"What do you want?" Aria whispered. Screw not trying to sound scared, she was terrified.

"Exactly as I told you. You will create a foothold before it is too late."

"It's a dangerous spell, Dahlia-" Aria began before she clawed at her throat suddenly, trying to get rid of… well, whatever was trying to bloody strangle the life out of her!

"What was that?" Dahlia asked.

Aria could hear the smirk in her voice.

She tried to speak but all that came out was strangled breath, she felt the pressure ease up before disappearing completely and let out a sigh of relief, "I'll do it." She said meekly.

God, if only Marcel could see her now…

She sighed and glared at the walls surrounding her before moving back to the bed and the Grimoire, she took a deep breath before she began to chant, instantly feeling that it was different to the other times she'd done it. She felt sick.

Never the less, she landed and looked around her as she gathered her bearings, she wasn't in her room, rather the street Kol had left her on. Instantly, she headed towards the compound and within minutes, she found herself walking through the large entryway. She heard voices from upstairs and headed towards them, finding herself appear in the study.

Kol was leaning against the wall, observing Hayley on her laptop from behind her. His attention soon snapped to the door when he heard it open however and Aria felt a small sense of anxiety wash over her once she saw his expression.

Within seconds, he was standing in front of her and he didn't look happy.

"Little witch, I told you not to come back." He said lowly.

Aria glared right back, "Little hard to listen to you when your aunt is trying to kill me. Again."

At least that shut him up if anything.

She cleared her throat and gestured to Hayley, "Anything?"

He shook his head before looking behind her again as Elijah walked into the room.

"Hey, look, I found-" Hayley began before noticing Elijah had his hand up as if to quieten her.

"You were right about the Deveraux witch."

'Deveraux witch?' Aria mouthed to Kol who shrugged, his expression just as clueless as hers. Marcel walked into the room and whatever Kol was about to say was cut off,

"Find anything about Clara, the mystery witch?"

"Not much. She was a nurse at the…" She squinted to read the screen, "Fleur de Lis Sanitorium." She said as Marcel froze, the terror on his face speaking volumes,

"Recognise her?" Hayley asked as she clicked on a picture and pointed to Clara on the screen as she showed the two vampires and, unknowingly, two ghosts, "Top row, second from the right."

"No, I don't. Marcel?" Elijah asked, turning to look at said vampire before pausing at the worry on the man's face.

"Marcel?" When he didn't answer, Elijah tried a new tactic, "Do I need to remind you that Niklaus and Rebekah are somewhere suffering horribly? If you know something, talk."

"The Sanitorium. That's where you'll find them." Marcel murmured.

"Are you sure? How do you know?" Hayley questioned, sharing a confused glance with Elijah.

"I just know."

"How do you know?"

Marcel sighed, "If I'm right, you need to know exactly what we're walking into. We did something, Rebekah and I... I think the witches are trying to use it against her. It was, uh... something that you're not gonna like."

"Little witch, what has your father done?"

"I don't know." Aria responded; her voice meek at all the countless possibilities.

~*•°•*~

Aria and Kol had just listened to Marcel's quick and simple explanation of what he and Rebekah had down in the early nineteen hundreds and both were, to put it plainly, dumbstruck.

"Of all the things they could've done…"

"They led father straight to us." Kol murmured in a reply, though he was talking more to himself than her. He'd been daggered but then again, even when human, he hadn't exactly been Mikael's favourite. If he had managed to find and kill Klaus which had been his goal all along… what would he have done to the rest of them? Daggered or not? He'd never actually paid that realisation much thought.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Elijah began speaking. For once, the usually so calm and composed brother sounding angry. No, not angry. Nothing short of completely livid, "For the better part of a century, I have wondered how Father found us, what foolish mistake that we had made to destroy our time in the one place that we could finally call home. Did you know, I even blamed myself for a time, Marcellus?" His tone was light, uncaring.

And to Aria, that made him all the more terrifyingly dangerous.

"Elijah-" Hayley tried.

He ignored her.

Elijah sped across the room, holding Marcel up against the wall by his throat, grip tight, "Dad!" Aria yelled out, moving as if to run over. Kol caught her hand and pulled her back.

"Aria, you can't do anything. There is no way to interact with the living from here. Believe me, I've tried."

"I can't just leave him!"

"You have no choice."

"Like hell I don't! Dahlia said I could create a foothold; this is a perfect opportunity!" Aria yelled. Kol sighed in impatience and placed his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. He vaguely heard her cursing him in, admittedly, a rather colourful vocabulary but paid her no mind.

"Niklaus treated you like a son." Elijah hissed, "Rebekah-"

"I loved her." Marcel spat out, "I still love her. All we ever wanted was to be together, but as long as Klaus was around, that was never gonna happen. But hey, I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, huh?" He growled as Elijah narrowed his eyes before dropping him.

"When Niklaus learns the truth, there will be no end to his rage. I will not let my sister suffer that wrath."

"Then we need to get to them before he learns the truth." Marcel insisted as they all left the room.

"Are you done trying to intervene, little witch?"

All he could make out were mumbled words and, with a small amused smirk, he spoke again, "What? Sorry I couldn't quite make that out,"

Aria stopped mumbling and before he could ask why, she let out a short laugh. He grinned in fondness and lowered his hand, "Well then, are we to follow my brother?"

Aria, with a small quick look of annoyance because of his stunt a mere moment ago, nodded and the duo left the room.

Kol didn't realise that for the umpteenth time since meeting her, he'd smiled again. Truly smiled.

~*•°•*~

Elijah, Marcel, Aria and Kol arrived at the Sanitorium as they exited the car the two ghosts had hitched a ride in.

"We should divide the building. I'll start at one end, you at the other." Elijah announced.

"I would say the same thing, little witch but considering that there is a very good chance that Celeste or whatever in hell she calls herself is probably in there, I'm not sure it's the best plan."

"I don't think that's gonna be too much of a problem." Aria smirked, pointing towards where Celeste was walking down a stone staircase, Hayley quickly sneaking up behind her and hitting her over the head and knocking her out.

"Hey, there, witch bitch. You and I are gonna have a little chat." Hayley growled.

Kol sent Aria a quick smirk before he began to walk towards the building. Aria went to follow him before she felt something warm on her face, she moved her hand up and felt blood running from her nose. She risked a quick look back over to Kol, hoping he hadn't saw before she wiped away the blood and walked after her fellow ghost.

They arrived in the basement just in time to see Marcel rushing down.

"Just the man I wanted to see." Klaus announced, a manic grin on his face, "Rebekah's punishment won't be complete until she watches you die." He continued as Aria felt her stomach drop.

She didn't give a crap what the repercussions would be, not even from Esther. If Klaus so much as touched another hair on Marcel's head…

"Nik, it was my idea to summon Mikael. If you're gonna hurt anyone, it should be me." Rebekah panted from her spot on the floor.

"Such loyalty to your beloved. You know, if you had offered me even a fraction of the same, I wouldn't have to do this." He said, walking closer to Rebekah with each word until he was stood right in front of her, Papa Tunde's blade poised right above her heart and Aria felt Kol tense beside her slightly. Klaus raised the blade and, with narrowed eyes, Aria sent the blade flying out of his grip and across before clattering to the floor, glowing a dull white before fading. Klaus' eyes widened an almost comical amount as Elijah entered the room quicker than Aria had ever seen any vampire move before, grabbing the blade and stabbing it into Klaus' heart instead of Rebekah's. Klaus let out a loud guttural yell of sudden pain and Elijah caught him as he fell back, "Go. Both of you. Run as far and as fast as you can. Run!" Elijah yelled as Rebekah and Marcel did just that, leaving Klaus and Elijah alone.

"I did it." Aria muttered, "My magic worked. I created a foothold."

She turned to Kol, smiling in relief before it dropped and her eyes turned questioning at the frown on his face. He gestured to the spot under his own nose, jaw clenched. Aria cursed silently as she wiped away the blood leaking from her nose, "I told you there would be repercussions, Aria. You need to leave. Now."

"Kol, I-" She cut herself off when Aria felt herself wobbling slightly.

The next thing she knew was that she was on the floor with Kol hovering over her, arms around her and stopping her from hitting the ground, eyes concerned. He searched her face for any further sign of injury but Aria gave him a small, weak smile, "Thanks. But she's calling me back."

"I promise, I will get you away from her, little witch."

"You help me?" She teased as she felt her eyelids droop slightly, "Doesn't that feel a little unnatural?" She grinned as he mirrored her expression.

"Every time you say goodbye all I can see is you dying in the cemetery all over again." He muttered, "There are no words for how much that night terrified me, little witch."

"I'll see you again tomorrow. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that."

"Thank you, Kol." Aria whispered before she felt darkness overtake her.

And there he went again, falling a little deeper.

~*•°•*~

As Always, SecretMidnightRose