A thousand and one apologies for the late update. Life took a turn for the unpredictable and chaotic after I finished university - with flying colors, yey! - so I didn't have any time to finish this chapter. But here it is! And it's almost forty pages long.

Anyway, thank you so much for your continued support of this story. You've no idea how much it meant to me that you kept leaving reviews, following and marking it as one your favorites. So I really hope you like this chapter!

Ps. Hope you and your loved ones are safe and happy in this crazy time.


CHAPTER V

THINGS THAT NEVER FADE AWAY

Denmark, 1495 A.D.

When she was five years old – or maybe six; honestly, after so many years, her memory was a little fuzzy on the details – Ingrid had learned something that defined her from then on.

She didn't remember how it'd began. In her memories, it all had started when she'd found herself alone and vulnerable in the outskirts of the woods, being attacked by Erik, the oldest son of the chief of their village. At the time, he'd been twelve years old, had some experience fighting and, for some inexplicable reason, had a very, very obvious grudge against her. Maybe it was because of her magic – which had already manifested itself by that point, letting everyone in their village know there was something off about her – or maybe it was simply because of the small, shy, orphaned girl made for a very easy target. But, for whatever reason, Erik had decided that attacking her was a perfect way to spend his afternoon.

It'd been only taunting at first – that much she could remember – but it'd escalated rapidly after he'd gotten frustrated with her lack of reaction. And, before she could comprehend what was happening, he'd been throwing small rocks at her. Ingrid had tried to run away after the first stone had hit her, but Erik had been older and faster, and he'd been too caught up on his own twisted entertainment to understand he'd been hurting her. And so, in between one moment and the next, she'd found herself on the ground, trying to protect herself as he seemed to loom over her, laughing and throwing stones at her.

Most children would have cried in that situation. And a part of Ingrid had wanted nothing more than curl herself into a ball and cried her eyes out. But the more he'd laughed as she cried out in pain, the more her fear had turned into a type of fury – rage – she hadn't known before then.

Even at her young age, she'd known that what he was doing was very, very wrong.

So she'd remained curled in the grounded, feeling her body's suffering at every stone thrown at her, and felt how her fury grew and grew and grew until something – deep, deep inside of her – had snapped.

Even centuries later, she remembered with perfect clarity what happened next. Her magic had flared out from inside of her – wild, powerful, and uncontrollable – and had sent Erik flying away from her. His body had impacted a nearby tree, making a gruesome sound that had seemed to echo through the whole forest, and then he'd fallen to the ground, like a ragdoll without its master. And Ingrid had slowly sat, trembling from head to toe, as she stared, in a mix of horror and panic, at the blood coating the ground around Erik's motionless body.

She'd screamed.

And, suddenly, Elijah had been right there next to her, taking in everything with his intelligent brown eyes, from her bruised self to the injured teen a few feet from them. After a moment, his face had set onto a resolute expression that she hadn't seen before then and, without a word to her, he'd marched towards Erik and started pummeling him without mercy.

Later – much, much later – she would look back to that moment and understand why Elijah did what he did, why he'd stained his innocent hands with the blood of someone she'd hurt. But in that instant, she hadn't understood. Not yet. 'Stop it, Lijah!' she remembered crying out, rushing towards them in panic, no understanding why her big brother – who was good and just and kind – wasn't helping Erik out 'You're hurting him more! Stop!'

But Elijah had ignored her completely and, before she could do anything, all hell had broken loose when several people – including her uncle and the chief of the village – had appeared, rushing to separated Elijah from the unconscious teen on the ground. Everything had become a blur then, one moment they'd been in the woods and in the next, they'd been in front of the vast majority of their village, as the chief passed sentence for attacking and gravelly injuring another person.

'Six lashes.' the chief had declared, glaring down at Elijah. 'Two for every broken bone on my son's body.'

Ingrid had been five – or six, or whatever – but she hadn't been stupid. She'd known her magic was responsible for Erik's broken bones. She'd been the one who deserved the punishment, no her big brother. So she'd tried to step forward and take the blame but Elijah had stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder before she could even open her mouth.

'Don't.' Her big brother had said sternly, staring directly into her emerald green eyes. 'I was the one who attacked him, not you… Do you understand, little sister?'

Then Elijah – noble and kind Elijah; her big brother who told her stories at night about warrior princesses and magic; who was only eleven – had marched forward with his head high and his back straight, and took a whipping, in front of the vast majority of their village, with a dignity that most adults didn't have.

She remembered – as vivid as if it was happening right then – how she'd gone running towards him, crying out in horror as the whip made contact with his back for the first time and her brother's face had contorted in pain. She'd been begging as she ran – Please. Stop. He's my brother. Please. It's my fault. Don't hurt him. Please. – but nobody had seemed to hear her.

Nobody but Finn.

'Stop, little sister.' Finn had said, his voice rough and unstable as he imprisoned her in the cage of his arms 'Don't make this worse…. Don't make Elijah's efforts go to waste.'

Ingrid had gone limp in his arms, silently crying as she'd watched her big brother took a punishment that was meant for her. All because Elijah had wanted to protect her, his cousin by blood and his little sister at heart. And she'd known – with a certainty that had accompanied her from that day forward – that it was all her fault. Because if she hadn't lost her temper, then her magic wouldn't have hurt the chief's son and Elijah wouldn't have been forced to take the blame. Her lack of control over her magic was responsible for her big brother's pain and the chief's son's injuries.

So, from that day forward, Ingrid had tried her best to never lose her control over her magic ever again.

It hadn't been easy. Mainly because her magic was tightly bound to her emotions and, behind her smile and kind nature, Ingrid hid a terrifying and explosive temper. But also because she'd lived half of a millennium surrounded by a group of people with clashing personalities who loved to bicker and contradict one another. It hadn't been easy but, for the most, she'd managed to avoid accidentals burst of unrestrained magic by perfecting the art of never losing her temper.

Sadly, nothing was perfect and there were days when her control slipped.

Days like that one, where the only thing she wanted was peace and quiet as she tried to finish designing a very, very, very complicated ritual – which involved the perfect combination of a set of very volatile and powerful ancient runes and a modified version of the fidelius charm – in an effort to create the perfect safe haven for her family. Because, if everything went according to her plans, the ritual would turn the mansion where they were living in into a magical sanctuary only accessible to the six of them. After the ritual was completed, the mansion would be their perfect refuge in any case of emergencies because, like with the fidelius charm, the knowledge of the house would be unable to exist on the minds of anyone who wasn't them, even if they were literally in front of the window. What was even better, unlike the normal fidelius charm, there would be no secret keeper – and therefore no risk of the protections falling apart – as the magic would be anchored to the house itself.

In other words, it would create the perfect safe house for all eternity, which was something her family desperately needed.

That was why she'd spent the vast majority of the last three months locked inside her personal study, amidst dusty and ancient tomes of runes and charms, tons of parchment, eight blackboards and so much chalk that she was a little surprised by the fact her hair hadn't turned completely white. She'd barely slept – no matter what anyone else said, two hours of sleep every other day was perfectly reasonable – and her only company had been Kol – who, after much complaining over how obsessed she'd become with this idea, had sat down beside her and had been helping her on the research part of the ritual – the house-elves – when they brought their meals – and, from time to time, Niklaus and Elijah – when they teamed up together to force her to eat or sleep.

So, all in all, it was perfectly understandable that the fuse of her temper had shortened to the point of almost non-existence.

And, at that moment, her family's bickering was all but lighting up the fuse on fire.

Because, for some unfathomable reason, her family – and she wasn't even sure when Finn and Rebekah had returned from their trip to the countryside – had seemingly decided that her personal study was the perfect place to fight like little children over simple things that, after so many centuries, they really shouldn't be fighting over.

And, as their voices raised, her temper – and with it, her magic – flared up inside of her.

"- only you would get your heart broken after spending less than two months with a bloke. I don't know what you were thinking-"

"-oh, it's clear she wasn't thinking. Falling for a human, completely pathetic-"

"- shut up, you moronic little troll-"

"- do you really want to go there? When you're no better than a strumpet-"

"- that's enough! Our sister had gone through enough already without-"

"- of course that would offend your pathetic sensibilities, you dull excuse of a-"

"- enough! All of you! We're family and we'll start behaving-"

Ingrid wasn't exactly sure when it happened.

One moment, she was trying to read a paragraph for the fourth time as the voices of her family kept raising in the background; and, in the next, she felt her magic surge inside of her – powerful and wild – as everything in the room started to shake. The irritated voices quickly turned into surprised squeals as objects started to violently fly around the room and the ground itself started to tremble.

She wanted to stop it – she really did – but her emotions were so over the place that her control over her magic was slipping from her like water through her fingers.

And then, in the midst of all the chaos, a familiar pair of hands were placed on her shoulders, anchoring her – and her magic – to his presence. "Breathe, my love" Niklaus whispered in her ear, squeezing gently her shoulders as he hugged her from behind. "Just close your eyes and breathe."

In a way, it almost appeared to be a form of magic, the way his mere presence served to ground her, helping to soothe her frayed nerves and, at the same time, calming her legendary temper in a way that almost nothing else could do.

It was also ironic in a way.

Since, most of the time, the love Nik and Ingrid shared served to enhance their emotions, not calm them. When it was about the other, their emotions were almost impossible to control as sadness quickly turned into despair and annoyance to rage. Concern became intense protectiveness and joy turned into blinding happiness. Because, at the end of it all, when it came to the other, their emotions burned as bright and fierce as the love they shared. For them, being in love was like an eternal flame that kept growing as the years turned into decades and then into centuries. Their love was a flame that never stopped burning. And their emotions, when it concerned the other, were a perfect reflection of that.

Which made it all the more ironic that, when their fury was no directed to the other, Nik and Ingrid had the uncanny ability to ground each other, calming their respective legendary tempers with almost terrifying efficacy.

And it was no surprise that, at that moment, her husband's presence served to calm her down. Almost without realizing, Ingrid took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to erase everything from her mind – from her growing annoyance towards her family to her general tiredness and then to growing concern over her ability to actually create the ritual – and get hold of her emotions. With her eyes closed, the only thing anchoring to the world was the hands of the person she loved the most. The same person who was asking her to breathe.

So she did.

She took a deep breath and then she did it again. And again. And again. Until she felt her magic settle down within herself again, as her fury ebbed away and rationality kicked in, reminding her that she loved her family with all her heart and, in all their eternity together, she'd never used her magic against them, at least not with the intention on attacking or harming them. And she'd no intention on starting now, much less over something so petty and inconsequential.

After a long, long sigh, she opened her eyes and turned her head a little to rest it in Nik's chest. "I'm fine now." she promised, feeling how he nuzzled her hair with his nose. "Thank you, dearest."

"Think nothing of it, my love." Nik assured her "We should have known better than fight here, especially when you're working… But, don't worry, Elijah is making sure our siblings are being properly scolded for their behavior. "

It was only then that she noticed how quiet everything had become. Surprised, she turned around and gaped at the noticeable absence of her siblings in her private study. She lifted an eyebrow, bemused. "I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, no words weren't needed to make them leave." Nik said, looking a little too proud of himself as he sat by her side "My face alone told them how much they would suffer if they didn't leave immediately as quietly as possible…. And Elijah took care of the rest."

Ingrid smiled, letting her head fall into his shoulder. "Thank you"

"Anything for the light of my life." He promised, kissing her temple. After a moment, he spoke again but this time his voice carried a note of concern "Are you feeling alright? I haven't seen you lost control like that in a few decades, and never over something as inane as our bickering."

"I know." she groaned, feeling ashamed of her lack of control. "I should have handled it better. I know that… but it was just too much. The voices were getting louder and louder, and then my head started ringing and before realizing I'd-"

"-lost control" Nik completed, frowning. His head was tilted to the side as he studied her with familiar intensity. "Why are you pushing yourself so much over this ritual?" he finally asked, his shrewd eyes narrowed. "For you, this kind of drive is usually reserved for matters of life and death…. So I've to wonder, what makes this ritual so important?"

She stared at her husband – feeling trapped and exposed in a way that was unfamiliar when it came to him – as her heart started to beat faster in nervousness. And the worst part was the fact that he could perfectly hear her beating heart and draw his own conclusions from there. "Ingrid…" Nik said slowly – carefully – his eyes never leaving hers. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Yes, she wanted to say, there's a lot of things that you don't know.

At that moment, as she looked into Nik's eyes – those green-blue eyes that she'd fallen in love with when she was a child – Ingrid wanted nothing more than to open her mouth and tell him the whole truth. She wanted to make him understand why she was so desperate for this ritual to work. She wanted to tell him she was doing this to guarantee his safety. Their siblings' safety. Because, if worst come to worst and her fears about Death's words were proven true, then their family's protection would be ensured.

So she opened her mouth, ready to tell him everything she'd kept silent for so long, and felt how her magic surged and got her words stuck halfway through her throat. The binding of her magic was unyielding, powerful, and permanent, and, in a moment of clarity, Ingrid was reminded of the vow she'd made to Death what it seemed like a lifetime ago.

'I promise to never tell another living soul about you' she'd told him at the end of their first meeting. And five centuries later, her magic was making sure that she kept her promise.

Ingrid sighed, knowing her hands were tied.

The vow would stop her from telling Nik anything about her encounters with Death. But maybe he could know a version of the truth. "I just want to make sure our family is safe."

Most people would have been satisfied with that – it was a reasonable explanation after all – but her husband wasn't one of them. If anything, his eyes seemed to narrow further in suspicion. "Where's this fear for our security coming from? We're safe. We've been for years. Nothing has threatened this family since…" His voice trailed off as his face contorted into a ferocious snarl as he jumped to his feet. "Is this because of that backstabbing doppelgänger whore? Is she the root of your fears?"

Nik didn't wait for a confirmation from her – it was clear by his palpable wrath that he thought he'd solved the puzzled – and wasted no time in starting ranting about all the ways he would enjoy making Katerina Petrova pay for what she'd done. And Ingrid had to admit that even for her – who had partaken in all sorts of bloodsheds in the last half of millennia – some of her husband's ideas seemed a little too excessive. Then again, in Nik's mind, dismembering Katerina and then cooking all of the parts on a boiling cauldron filled with vervain while the doppelgänger was still alive, was a way of eradicating her supposed fears. And also avenge what had happened.

And, if nothing else, Ingrid had to concede that her most recent meeting with Death was a result of Katerina's betrayal. Which meant that there was some sort of truth to her husband's accusations.

"Katerina's actions made me see that our family needs a sanctuary." Ingrid said, cutting off Nik's long – and imaginative – plan of revenge. "A place only accessible to our family."

His face visibly softened at her words. "That doesn't mean you've to push yourself to the brink of exhaustion…. We've all the time in the world."

She shook her head immediately, refusing to dwell on that thought. "I can't stop now… Not when I'm so close to finishing it."

Nik was visibly exasperated with her response. But, after a moment, he sighed in resignation and retook his seat beside her. "Very well, my love. In that case, let me help you." He said, taking her notes in his hands. At her surprised stare, he huffed a laugh. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Ingrid. I might not have your knowledge – or Kol's – but I've spent the last half of millennia by your side. And I've picked a few things along the way."

She returned his smile with one of her own, knowing how true his words were. Then proceeded to spend the next hour explaining to him everything she'd done so far. "And, as you can see, I've almost everything solved. The only problem is that I can't seem to find a way to make sure the protection of the ritual lasts forever."

At her words, Nik's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Without any kind of recharge?"

"Yes."

She could understand his reaction. What she was trying to do was completely unheard of. Wards, spells, and enchantments of protection weren't designed to last forever. Normally, both could last for decades – maybe even centuries if the caster had been exceptionally powerful – but, eventually, the magic in them would start to deteriorate until it faded away. There were exceptions of course. Ways to ensure that the magic was recharged from time to time, making it possible for the magic to last indefinitely.

A clear example of said exceptions was Hogwarts.

The school's protections were one of the strongest in existence – a natural consequence of being created by the combined magic of four of the most powerful wizards and witches in history – but the duration of said protections was anchored to the headmaster or headmistress of the school. The founders had created them that way to make sure that the protections would last for as long as the castle stood standing. Because, as long as there was a clear head of the school, their magic would serve to control, and as a recharger, to the wards and enchantments on the castle and its grounds.

But what she was trying to do was completely different. As she wanted to create a kind of protection that would never need to add more magic to ensure it didn't fade away. She wanted something that, once created, would last forever.

After a long moment, her husband hummed in thought. "Then you'll need to use something eternal to fuel the ritual." He paused, seemingly considering something. "Something like our blood."

"You know why I can't use your blood." She argued immediately.

The blood of the original vampires was powerful – extremely so – but she'd stopped using it to create wards after the first few decades due to the risk the bloodlines presented.

It'd come as a surprise when they'd finally understood – in terms of magic – how the transformation from human to a vampire truly worked. The blood served to make sure the transformation took place, yes. But it was the magic in the blood which connected all the vampires in existence. All of the vampires of a bloodline shared the same blood – diluted and less powerful but still the same – that their respective original. And that meant, in magical terms, that the vampires of a bloodline were recognized by Lady Magic as one single magical family, which their respective original as the head. And because of that, all the wards created with the blood of an original vampire would allow inside the vampires of their bloodline.

And since they'd found out about that, all the blood wards they'd created had used Ingrid's blood.

Something that Nik knew very well.

"I'm not saying that the blood should be the key to the protection, only the fuel." He argued as he scanned the formulas draw in the chalkboards "The way I see it, our blood would ensure that the protections last forever and you can bind the key to let people in into another thing."

Ingrid opened her mouth, ready to argue his words, but closed it immediately as she considered his words. Because, the more she thought about it, the more she realized the merit of his idea. If she could find something that bound the six of them together – besides their blood – then she could use that as the key to ensure only them would be allowed inside their sanctuary, and the blood would only be used as a fuel to make sure the magic in the protections never died out.

And, as her mind raced with all the possibilities, something clicked into place when her gaze fell on the familiar Mikaelson ring on her finger. Something that bound them together and only the six of them had.

Oh.

That was perfect.

Laughing in happiness, she threw her arms around Nik's neck. "You're a genius" she proclaimed, peppering his face with kisses. "I knew there was a reason why I've stayed married to you."

"I'm glad that I could be of service." He said dryly, more than a little amused, as he pulled her closer and kissed her properly.

She let herself be pulled into his arms, giddy with relief. Because, from then on, no matter what happened to her, Niklaus and the rest of her siblings would always have a safe place to live.


&&&/05/&&&


Tyler was dreaming.

He was dreaming with memories of silly pranks and a girl with sunshine in her hair. His partner in crime. The one who had a smile that made him feel invincible.

He was dreaming with a time long lost, filled with laughter and innocent happiness. A time, long ago, before his father had hit him for the first time. Before he'd understood why his mother drank so much. A time long before he'd set himself on a quest to become strong enough to not fear anything – not even his own father – and had ended up lost – and alone; so utterly alone – on the process.

But, little by little, his memories started to lose their hold on him and he was able to hear the voices.

"-only needs a hair to work"

"And are you sure it's safe? No lasting effects?"

"Of course it's perfectly safe. I've been using it since I was twelve and it'd always come in handy…."

"Well, if you're sure."

There was something familiar about the two voices, especially the last voice, something that restlessly tugged at his memory until he remembered who the girl with sunshine on her hair had grown up to be. Caroline. Caroline Forbes. And, as he thought about that, Tyler's memories came back to him in a rush.

The masquerade party.

Drinking with Matt and Sarah in his dad's study.

Fighting with Matt until Caroline had appeared out of nowhere and dragged Matt away.

Sarah stabbing him without cause or reason.

Pushing Sarah away and accidentally killing her in the process.

Caroline trying to calm him down as he felt something – untamed, powerful, and freakily familiar – awoke inside of him.

And then a muffled 'Sorry for this, Tyler' before pain exploded at the back of his head and everything went dark.

With a strangled gasp, Tyler jerked awake, sitting stride on the couch of his father's study as he tried to get his breathing under control. Instinctively, his eyes sought the place of the floor by his father's desk where Sarah had fallen after he'd pushed her. The place where her body had been lying after he'd killed her. But there was nothing there. Nothing at all. It was, in a lot of ways, like nothing had happened. Like his memories were a result of too much alcohol or a feverish dream. But that wasn't possible. His memories – all of them – were real.

He was sure of it.

Tyler only needed to examine the changes within himself to know that. It wasn't the fact that his vision had improved to a point beyond human reach, making the world around him somehow sharper and clearer. It wasn't because his sense of hearing was suddenly so good that he could hear not only his beating heart but also the hearts of the two other people in the room with him. And it didn't have anything to do with the fact that, based on their scent alone, he knew who those two people were.

No. The reason why he was so certain his memories were real was that he could feel another presence – wild and powerful and unrestrained and animal – just under the surface of his conscience. Awake and waiting. Ready to take over him. And Tyler knew, with terrifying certainty what – or who – that another presence was. His wolf.

The wolf that had awoken inside of him after he'd killed someone he'd known for years.

With a shudder, Tyler turned around – no willing to think more about what happened; because he was sure he would end up crying if he did – and faced the two other people in the room with him, the ones who had stopped talking as soon as he'd woken up and were now carefully watching him.

Seeing Caroline there – still impeccably dressed in her short red dress – wasn't a surprise. Not when she'd been the only other person with him who had seen what happened. And also because he was pretty sure she'd been the one who knocked him out after he'd started to freak out. But Aria Black's presence – and why the hell was she covered in dirt, blood, and God's knows what else? – was another matter altogether. Especially when he didn't have the best history with her. Or as much as a single invitation to go out, which had been swiftly but politely rejected, a drunken mishap where he'd gotten a little handsy, and a sprained hand – his – could be counted as history.

And, to be honest, on a good day, he would have preferred to swallow his own underwear before show any kind of vulnerability in front of Aria – or Caroline for that matter – but there was something in her emerald green eyes – a quiet sort of knowing empathy – that made him forget about trivial things like his wounded pride and focus on what was really important.

"You know." Tyler said, his gaze going from Aria's knowing ones to Caroline's sympathetic eyes. "You know about me."

Caroline made a face at his words, shaking her head and remaining frustratingly silent. And for all that she seemed perfectly composed, Tyler knew her enough to recognize the nervousness that was lurking in her cerulean gaze. "Don't lie to me, Caroline. I know you better than that." he insisted, fighting down the urge to snap at her for lying to his face.

The blonde huffed, in aggravation if he would guess, but finally nodded with a resigned sigh. "Yes, I know."

"How?"

Nobody should have known. His uncle Mason – in those rare moments in which he'd been willing to talk about what being a werewolf entailed – had said it'd had become so rare for a Lockwood to trigger the curse that it'd become a tight-lipped secret even among the members of their family, as there were some of them – like his father before he died and now his mother – who didn't know anything about it. And Caroline, who didn't have anything to do with his family, shouldn't have known anything.

And yet she'd known what was happening as soon as Sarah had died.

At his question, the blonde pursed her lips and stared at him in consideration. Knowing her for as long as he did, he would bet anything that she was making a mental list of the pros and cons of telling him the truth. She'd always been like that, even when they'd been children. Always meticulously in control of everything around her, leaving nothing to chance. But – to his open surprise, because it denoted a level of trust he hadn't known Caroline shared with anyone – the blonde turned towards Aria, her cerulean eyes seeking reassurance for something he didn't understand. In response, the petite black-haired girl nodded in encouragement. And, for some reason, that was all that Caroline needed, because she turned in his direction with a determinate look on her face.

"I knew about you because of this." And then, Caroline's face – the familiar face of someone he'd known his entire life – changed completely right before his eyes, morphing to something he'd never expected to see outside horror movies.

Fangs. – Tyler thought dazedly, feeling rather glad he was still sitting on the couch as his legs felt like jelly at the moment – Caroline had fangs.

"You're a vampire." He whispered. And even if the words sounded ridiculous to his own ears, he knew it was true. Somehow, someway, while he wasn't paying attention, his life had turned into a supernatural story.

"I am." His childhood friend confirmed, visibly wary. "Are you afraid of me?"

It took a moment or two – because he still felt like someone had smacked him in the head with a brick – but he managed to voice his feelings aloud. "Of course not. You're still the same Caroline I've always know… besides, I don't think I've got the right to be afraid of anyone anymore." No after what he'd done.

For some reason, Caroline didn't seem to know what to do with his response, as she stared at him in disbelief for a solid minute before shaking her head. "But… but… why? I've killed someone before!"

"So have I." he replied, shrugging, even if his stomach twisted in discomfort every time he thought about Sarah.

"You're an idiot." She decided, turning away from him, but not before he caught sight of the blooming smile she was trying to hide.

He stared at her in bewilderment, mentally wondering what he had done to make her react like that. But instead of asking why she was acting so strangely, he decided to focus his attention on the only other person in the room. The one who had been watching them in silence with barely conceal fondness on her emerald green eyes.

"Are you a vampire too?" Tyler asked Aria, genuinely curious.

She seemed to find her question amusing if her growing grin was anything to go by. "What makes you think so?"

"Honestly? Because it would explain a lot about you." He said, throwing a pointed look at her blood-stained clothes.

Aria snorted, a smile still firmly in place. "No, I'm not... But I'm not a common human either. I'm a witch." And with those astonishing words, because apparently, all the other surprises of the night hadn't been enough, she made a little gesture with her hand and the flower base in front of him turned into a real-living-breathing-baby dragon.

Tyler gaped, feeling faint again, as the dragon huffed a ring of smoke towards him before it – he? she? – made itself comfortable in the coffee table on his father's study.

"Aww! He's adorable!" Caroline gushed, kneeling by the other side of the table to start petting the dragon without any kind of reservation. In response, the baby dragon started to purr like an overgrown cat, clearly enjoying the attention the blonde was giving him.

Looking at the way Caroline was beaming, clearly at ease with the blatant display of magic, Tyler had to wonder when her view of the world had changed so much. Perhaps – he thought hysterically, feeling on the brink of a mental breakdown – petting baby dragons have become the new normal for Caroline. After all, at some point when he wasn't looking, she'd been turned into a vampire. And, like that wasn't enough, she'd also become the new best friend of a witch who could turn flower bases into baby dragons.

Right.

Right.

He could handle that. He could.

"So you're a witch." He said, turning his head completely towards Aria and choosing to ignore, for the moment, the purring baby dragon in front of him.

The emerald-green eye beauty looked like she was trying very hard to not laugh at him. But, eventually, she managed to adopt a, somewhat, neutral expression and nodded. "I'm a witch."

"And you decided to tell me your secret because you and Caroline are part of Mystic Falls' supernatural club and want me to join?" he asked, half-dreading the answer. For what was left of his sanity, he really hoped that was not the case.

However, his question seemed to sober the two girls. Sighing, Aria waved her hand and – thankfully for his piece of mind – changed the baby dragon into its original state as a flower base.

"It was the only way for you to trust us." Aria explained, shrugging "I doubt you would have let me handle everything if you hadn't known about my powers."

He frowned, more than a little confused. "I don't… I don't understand."

"We're trying to protect you, Tyler." Caroline said gently, like she was afraid he would bolt at any moment. "The thing is… Mystic Falls isn't the boringly common town we've always thought…. And your life could be at risk if certain people discover the truth about you."

Something heavy settled in his stomach when he heard those words. A part of him – the part that had grown up knowing he was untouchable in Mystic Falls – wanted to scoff at her words. He was the mayor's son and nobody would be foolish enough to put him at risk, no when his mom wouldn't need supernatural aid to rain hell on anyone who dared to harm him. But the rest of him reminded of all the unbelievable and impossible things he'd seen until then. And for all that, he couldn't ignore the fact that Caroline knew even more of this bizarre supernatural world than him. And if she was worried, then he would be an utmost idiot to not take her seriously.

"That's why Caroline called me." Aria added, redirecting his attention back to her. "To take care of everything and make sure nobody suspects what happened here tonight."

Without permission, his eyes strayed towards the spot on the floor by his father's desk where Sarah's body had been the last time he'd seen it. The place where, at the moment, there was nothing on it.

"I took care of her body." Aria answered his silent question "I'm going to make sure her body is found somewhere far away so her family can properly mourn her, but I'm also going to make sure nobody ever founds out the real story of how she died… You have my word."

"Why are you helping me?" he croaked, not knowing how else to respond. "I killed her… I… I'm a murderer and I deserve to be judged for that."

Aria huffed, rolling her eyes. "No, you really don't." she said, sounding exasperated. "Listen to me carefully, Tyler Lockwood. You're a seventeen years old kid who was born with a latent and powerful gene in his blood. A gene that's designed to make the carrier more powerful than any normal mortal, so that one day the werewolf curse can be activated. And, what's worse, you were not raised with that knowledge, nor did you received any sort of training in how to handle your abilities properly… And because you weren't trained, nobody can blame you for what happened. Not even yourself."

There was a lump on his throat that he tried desperately to ignore. "My uncle Mason tried to train me before he left." He argued in a whisper.

In the corner of his eye, he saw the way Caroline flinch slightly at his words. But before he could ask her about it, Aria shook her head, her eyes burning with an emotion he couldn't identify.

"Did your uncle teach you how to control your inhuman strength? Did he give you the means to control your explosive temper? Did he explain in detail how the werewolf gene works? Because if he didn't, he failed to train you properly."

He opened his mouth, ready to defend his uncle, but the words got stuck on his throat when he realized that, excluding the advice to keep practicing sports, his uncle had been very reluctant to talk with him about the werewolf curse. Though, to be fair with his uncle, after he'd realized how out of his depth he was, Tyler had stopped asking questions.

"I know a lot about werewolves, Tyler." Aria said, her tone was gentle but firm at the same time. "So believe me when I say that Sarah's death wasn't your fault. And because I truly believe that, I've no problem in helping you to cover everything up."

There was only one thing he could say to that, really. "Thank you." He tried to sound as sincere as he felt and, judging by the way Aria's face softened, Tyler thought he'd managed it.

"Now, it would be better if the two of you stay here for a while before joining the party again." Aria announced, suddenly cheerful as she pulled a flask out of nowhere. "I'll make sure Sarah is seeing exiting this room and talking with other people before she leaves the party, drunk and alone."

He stared at her, incredulous. "And how on earth do you plan to do that?"

At that moment, Aria's smile was full of mischief. "Like this." she said, taking a long sip of the flask. And then, right before his eyes, Aria's body started to change at an abnormally fast pace, morphing completely until, in her place, stood a grinning Sarah. "What do you think?"

Tyler gawked, his jaw hanging somewhere near the floor, as he tried to comprehend what had happened right in front of him. Luckily – because it seemed like he'd been rendered speechless more times that night than any other day of his life – he wasn't alone on his gawking, as even Caroline seemed a little stunned by the display.

"I know you said you would look like her but I didn't expect something like this… If I didn't know better, I would think you were her." Caroline said, voice filled with wonder.

Sarah – Aria – shrugged as she waved her hand in the direction of her clothes, changing them to look exactly like Sarah's. "Like I've told you before, magic is a wondrous thing and it has many, many uses. Besides, this way, nobody would question anything… Now, remember what I said about staying here for a while, I'll go first." Suddenly, she grinned from ear to ear "I haven't played the act of a drunk teenager in ages, this should be fun!" And, without waiting for any sort of reply, she practically skipped out of the room.

"Right… do you want to drink something while we wait?" Caroline asked after a moment, like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. As if they hadn't just seen Aria Black transform her appearance to look like the girl Tyler had killed less than an hour ago. "Vodka? Tequila? Bourbon? All of the above?"

Tyler gaped at her, speechless once more.

Caroline took one look at him and nodded, decisively. "All of the above is."


&&&/05/&&&


Sometimes – in those rare moments of quietness in between all the craziness – Elena wondered how her life had turned up to be the complete opposite of what she used to want.

Because, at some point, in between her parents' death, her first meeting with Stefan and Damon, and then, eventually, discovering she was the doppelgänger of her psychotic vampire ancestor, her life had become a story straight out of a fantasy novel filled with endlessly supernatural happenstances. And, for the most part, she liked better this new version of her reality. It wasn't the normal life she'd envisioned for herself when she was younger – her husband wouldn't be her childhood sweetheart and her children would grow up hearing stories about the supernatural instead of fairytales – but this new version of her reality had allowed her to experience true love – the kind of love that inspired stories and lasted for eternity – and she wouldn't give up that love for anything.

Even if it meant missing classes because two vampires – who she hadn't met before in her life – had decided to kidnap her.

"But who are the originals?" Elena insisted once more, after Trevor – one of her kidnappers – failed to explain why it was so important that she was delivered to them.

Since the moment she'd woken up inside the creepy and old mansion with only Trevor and Rose for company, Elena had set herself on a mission to discover everything there was to know about her situation. Especially after they'd told her she'd been kidnapped because she was the Petrova doppelgänger and her blood was the key to break the sun and the moon curse.

Sadly, neither of her kidnappers were being too forthcoming with their information.

"The original vampires." Trevor said absently, not even looking in her direction, clearly more focused on covering all the windows from the light of the sun than answering her. "The first family… The rulers of the vampire race."

Elena started, surprised by his words. "I didn't know vampires have rulers."

"Not officially, no." he said, playing with his hands in an obvious nervous gesture. "But, as I just said, they're the originals and their word is pretty much law amount our kind…. And because Rose and I pissed them off five centuries ago, we've been forced to be on the run since then."

Before she could comment on that, a voice – clear and pointed – added her thoughts to the conversation, reminding her of her presence.

"Did you just say we? Because I think you're counting too many people." Rose said, not even turning towards them from her position by the only open window, allowing in the light of the sun.

Out of her two kidnappers, Elena was warier of Rose. She wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was because Trevor's actions felt familiar to her. It was in the way he mocked her all the while keeping a close eye on her, letting her know that, for all his threats and taunts, he wouldn't harm her, no seriously, because she had some value to him. But Rose, on the other hand, regarded with a kind of cold indifference she wasn't accustomed to. There was no lust, no love, no compassion, no dislike, and no hate in her eyes. When Rose looked at her, it was almost like she was an object that held little importance to her, and that put her more on edge than she was willing to admit.

It didn't help the fact that, out of the two of them, Rose seemed the leader.

"Alright." Trevor admitted, grimacing "I pissed the originals off and Rose was caught on the crossfire because of me."

"What did you do?" Elena asked curiously.

"He made the fatal mistake of trusting Katerina Petrova. And we ended up losing everything along the way." Rose told her, absently holding a pretty necklace – her daylight charm? – as she looked out of the window. "But we won't make any mistakes this time." She added, turning to Trevor, who looked properly chagrined.

"I already told I'll behave myself."

He looked sincere enough to Elena, especially because he hadn't been moved by her earlier pleas of help, but Rose only snorted, shaking her head. "You've to mean it, Trevor." the vampire insisted "Elijah is a man of his word. If he accepts the deal, we'll be free… Don't you want that?"

"Of course I want to be free!" Trevor declared, but there was an odd emotion on his eyes that Elena couldn't understand. "But I know them. I know him…. And after what I did, I don't believe he's going to be willing to pardon us."

"He will." Rose assured him, lifting her chin as she held onto her pretty necklace "After all, there are only two things the originals want. To break the curse…. And her."

"Who?" Elena inquired, after realizing they weren't looking at her. "Katherine?"

Trevor barked a derisive laugh, shaking his head. "Please… For them, Katerina is nothing but a traitor who's going to get capture soon enough, and then she's going to spend decades getting punished for her betrayal, getting tortured over and over again, until they get bored enough to allow her the sweet relief of death." He said, sounding indifferent and dismissive like he wasn't talking about someone he'd once risked everything for. "No, the one they want is someone of extreme value for them. The most powerful witch in history. The Immortal Witch. The Lady In-"

"That's enough, Trevor!" Rose snapped, cutting him off, her face set on a fierce scowl. "Don't say her name. Not in front of her."

"Oh, come one, Rose." He protested, whining like a child. "It's not like the doppelgänger is going to live long enough to tell anyone."

Elena pressed her lips together, fighting back the indignation rising inside of her. It rattled her, the way they talked about her. For them, she wasn't a human being with dreams and loved ones. She was just the doppelgänger, the key to break the sun and the moon curse.

"I said no." Rose said, her tone biting and final. "We gave them our vow."

Trevor snorted. "It's not like this will be the first vow we broke. We're on the run, remember?"

"You might have broken your vows to them, Trevor. But I made a vow to her. And it's a vow I'm not willing to break… Not even for you." Rose's words carried something Elena wasn't sure she'd seen before. A rare kind of loyalty – she thought, watching how Rose held onto her necklace like it was a lifeline. Perhaps it was loyalty towards the person who gave her that necklace.

"Yes, I know perfectly well where your loyalties lie, Rose. No need to remind me." Trevor murmured, shaking his head and turning away from Rose. But for all his apparent indifference, Elena thought his eyes had flashed with fear for a moment when Rose had spoken. "Elijah should be here at any minute."

"I'll check the perimeter outside." Rose offered.

"I'll call our contact and make sure he got our message." Trevor nodded.

And, without a word or look towards her, the two vampires flashed out of the room, leaving Elena alone for the first time since she'd woken up in the dreary and dusty old mansion.

With a sigh, she let herself fall into the old couch. She needed time to think about everything she'd learned so far, and she also needed a way to ensure this Elijah didn't take her away. Surely he would understand that she was human and didn't deserve to die just because she was Katherine's doppelgänger?

Just then she felt something on one of her pockets. Curiously, she took out a piece of paper filled with Bonnie's familiar writing.

'Stefan and Damon are coming for you. Don't worry. –B.'

And, for the first time that day, Elena allowed herself to smile. They were coming for her. Soon enough, she would be safe once more.

She just needed to hang on for a little while more.


&&&/05/&&&


She was going to convince Aria to add a class on how to get away with murder 101 to her lessons, Caroline decided as she listened to the rumor mill about Sarah's death.

It wasn't because she was planning on murdering anyone anytime soon – if it depended solely on her, Caroline would never see another dead body ever again – but due to the fact that she wasn't naïve enough to believe she could live her immortal life without facing any dangers. It was inevitable, that someday, sooner or later, she would bloody her hands again and when that happened she wanted to know how to deal with the situation.

And, as last night had proven, Aria was an expert on how to spin a murder situation to make it look like a normal and ordinary accident.

Caroline didn't know all the details – there hadn't been enough time for a full recap when Aria had called her just before sunrise to tell her she'd taken care of everything – but she knew enough to be impressed. Because, according to the police officer who had gone to notify the school's faculty about what had happened, Sarah's death had been ruled as an unfortunate and tragic car accident. Supposedly, multiple witnesses had seen Sarah, who had been perhaps drunker than anyone had realized, leave the masquerade party and hop on her car. And, as a result, she'd been unable to react fast enough when a deer had crossed the road, causing an accident which had killed her on impact. That was what had happened. All the evidence pointed to it. And everyone believed it.

Everyone except Caroline. And, of course, Tyler. And that was only because they'd seen with their own eyes how Sarah had died.

Which made it all the more impressive.

Aria had used a combination of magic and lies to create a full-proof masterpiece that had exonerated all of them of any kind of blame. And Caroline was determined to learn how to do the same. After all, with everything that was happening in Mystic Falls, it would probably come in handy sooner rather than later.

"Aren't you going to help?" Tyler asked, his voice nothing but a whisper, as he pointed with his head the large group of their classmates who had decided to gather around Sarah's locker in an effort to put together a memorial for her. They'd been working on it since the bell had rung, ending the classes for the day, and, so far, they were failing to put together something moderately decent.

"No." If things had gone different – if she hadn't been turned or if she'd no idea about the supernatural – then she would have been there, taking charge of everything even though Sarah had been nothing but a classmate to her, someone with whom she'd shared a lifetime of classes and extracurricular activities but nothing remotely personal. Nevertheless, none of that had been meant to be. And, after helping to cover up what had really happened to her, Caroline had no place on Sarah's memorial. "I don't belong there."

Tyler nodded solemnly. By the uncomfortable – and guilty – expression on his face every time he so much as looked in the direction of Sarah's locker, she knew he understood her feelings a little too well.

The two of them had grown up normal, believing that there was nothing more than their boringly common lives and they'd been snapped out of that misconception with the blood of someone else's in their hands. In a way, their situations were so similar that it was uncanny. After all, at the heart of everything, both of them had been irrevocably changed after taking someone else's life. And, just like Aria had done for her, Caroline would be there for Tyler, stopping him from drowning in his own guilt and making him understand it hadn't been his fault, not really. "I'm starving." She announced, purposely turning her back on their classmates. "Let's go to The Grill and grab a bite."

"Sure." He accepted immediately, sounding distinctly relieved as he matched her strides and left Sarah's memorial behind.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were sitting on the most private booth of the restaurant, far away from the door, prying eyes and Matt's curious gaze. They were eating their burgers as Tyler grilled her for details about Mystic Fall's supernatural secrets, how she'd been turned, and her relationship with Aria.

He wasn't outright prying or anything but it was obvious he was very, very curious about everything – who wouldn't? – and Caroline was having a hard time being honest without revealing too much. It wasn't like she was planning on hiding the truth from him or anything. Because she was perfectly aware of the fact that – as a new supernatural creature – he deserved to know the full truth of the world he was now a part of, especially the part of what really happened to Mason.

Sadly, some of the things she needed to tell him were of a very sensitive nature and the most popular restaurant in their town was not an adequate place to reveal such things. Any public space was a horrendous suggestion, really. And that was because, as someone who still didn't have any control over his new powers, Tyler needed to learn the full truth somewhere far away from any curious eye, where he could let lose his temper and not end up revealing himself in the process.

More importantly, Aria needed to be there when Tyler learned the whole truth. She was the only one who could tell him about the secret magical world.

The only silver lining was the fact that Aria had promised to tell Tyler everything very soon – like as soon as she saw him next – and so Caroline didn't felt too guilty about omitting parts of the truth, only vaguely uncomfortable.

"Is that why you trust her so much?" Tyler asked after Caroline finished explaining to him – in very loose details – how Aria had saved her life after she'd been turned and then she'd taken her under her wing, teaching her everything there was to know about this new life. "Because, to be frank, I always thought hell would freeze over twice before you would blindly trust someone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, offended, as she crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrows in a silent challenge, daring him to continue with that line of thought.

Instead of backing down like she'd been hoping, Tyler crossed his arms and stared back at her, arrogant and amused at all once. It was a familiar look on his face, one she hadn't seen in a while. And there was a part of her – the part that wasn't annoyed about his comment – that was relieved to see a familiar expression on his face. Even if she would never admit it out loud, it was good to know that Tyler's new activated lycanthropy hadn't killed all of his usual arrogance.

"It means that you don't trust easily, Forbes." He explained, slowly and deliberately, so much so that she wanted to throttle him. Just a little. "Not about the important stuff, anyway… You never have. No even when were children."

"That's not true!" she protested immediately, indignant "I trust people! I do! I always have! I even trusted you when we were children! Or do you not remember all of the amazing and superior pranks we used to pull off together?"

Tyler's lips twitched like he was fighting down the urge to smile, and his eyes softened slightly but he shook his head and stared determinately at her. "Yeah, I remember. And you know what else I remember?" he asked "How the two of us used to butt heads because you never let me work alone on a prank… At least not without your approval, or constant supervision."

"You need to be supervised, Lockwood!" she argued, hotly "Your original idea of a funny prank was putting bleach in our parent's drinks! I needed to make sure nobody was going to be seriously hurt! Or worse!"

Under all her indignation, Caroline was perfectly aware of what she was doing. She knew her words could irate him, and she was saying them anyway because making Tyler angry was the most effective way of stopping this line of conversation. After all, his temper had always been his Achilles heel, the quickest way to cloud the sharp and cunning mind he normally hid behind a mask of cockiness and bravado.

To her surprise though, instead of getting angry, Tyler only smirked in her direction. His eyes dancing with smugness, as if she was the one who was behaving exactly as he wanted.

"No, I don't think that was the reason. Or at least, not completely…. Do you know why you don't trust people, Forbes? Because doing so would mean you've to give up control to others, and that goes against your neurotic control-freak nature." He said, looking straight into her eyes.

In any other circumstances, Caroline would have flinched at the familiar words, hurt by the fact that another person she cared about only saw the worst parts of her. It would have crushed, to be so openly rejected by someone she only wanted to help, someone she thought was in a similar position as her.

But the hurt she was expecting didn't come.

And it didn't come because Tyler's words lacked the biting and cruel sting with which so many others had said some variation of those same words. His tone of voice was plain and casual like he was saying something that was perfectly natural, and his laid-back posture was a reflection of that. More importantly, there was nothing hurtful or hateful in his gaze, only steady reassurance.

And she knew, with a certainty that was almost scary, that he wasn't trying to hurt her.

It took a couple of times but she untied her tongue enough to whisper some sort of retort. "You said it like it's a normal thing."

He shrugged, still completely relaxed. "It's a part of who you are, who you've always been. There's nothing wrong with that." He paused, his tone and expression becoming more awkward than casual but not for that less truthful. "Especially because that part of you doesn't define you. There's more to you than that, Forbes."

There was something in her chest – something warm, and light, and wonderful – that grew with his stiff but sincere words, as well as his comforting expression. But Caroline refused to name it or dwell on it. Instead, she raised her chin and pretended to be unaffected. "And here I thought you stopped being friends with me because I'd became an insecure and neurotic ditzy blonde."

Tyler huffed a small laugh, his mirthful eyes never leaving hers. "That's funny. Because, as I remembered it, you were the one who decided that being friends with an impulsive, hotheaded jerk was too much trouble."

"I think I called you a jackass, actually." She shot back.

"And I actually said you were acting like a bitchy princess" he fired right after.

They held gazes for a long moment – their eyes filled with mirth and the dozens of things they weren't saying out loud – silently daring the other to say something else. Caroline was the one who broke down first, throwing her head back as she laughed freely, feeling how a weight she didn't know she'd carried disappeared from her shoulders. A second later, Tyler was doing the same, practically guffawing.

After a long moment, long enough to get their laughter under control, he shook his head in warm exasperation. "Gosh, we were such brats."

"We were." She agreed, fondly. "I don't know how anyone could have put up with that."

"They were trying too hard to get into our good graces to say anything."

"Probably… But it's weird how all those things have lost their importance after everything that has happened recently."

Her comment served to sober him up, making him grimace. "I know what you mean…. With everything that happened last night… well, it put things into perspective, isn't it?"

She nodded in silence, understanding the feelings shinning in his eyes more than she thought possible.

For someone who didn't know their history, it would be very strange how quickly they'd formed this sort of camaraderie and understanding. But to Caroline, it felt a lot like the clock had turned itself back and she was a child once more, sharing conspiratorial laughs and secrets when the friend who understood her the most.

The truth was that, among their group of childhood friends, Tyler and Caroline had always been the odd ones out. The rebellious ones. The ones with the mischievous streak and the natural desire to prove themselves. They'd been the only ones who had dared to face their parents' wrath if it meant to go and have some adventures on their own. In contrast, Bonnie, Matt, and Elena had been the good and dutiful ones. The perfect examples of how they should behave.

And even if it'd stung to know they weren't what their parents wanted, they'd at least stood together on the outside and, back then, that had been enough.

They'd been very close back then, Caroline remembered. Thick as thieves. Or at least, they'd been until they'd started to grow apart in middle school when she'd started to act the part of Miss Perfect Popularity and he'd became the alpha male of their school, as he played the part of the cool guy who didn't care about anyone.

But somehow, someway, among all the crazy and unbelievable turns their lives had taken, they'd found themselves back again on the same side. And for that, she was grateful.

"You haven't answered me, you know." He said after a while, bringing her back from her deep thoughts.

"Eh?"

"About Aria Black." He clarified "And why you trust her so much."

"It's complicated."

"The way I see it, everything in our lives is complicated right now... And it can't be worse than discovering werewolves, vampires and witches are real."

'You've no idea' Caroline thought but bite her tongue before she could actually say it out loud. It wasn't the right time, not yet. So, instead of dwelling on the things she couldn't say, she carefully considered his question as she looked in the direction of the ceiling, lost in her memories.

"You're right." She admitted, after a long while "I trust Aria… I trust her more than I've ever trust another person ever before. And it's not just my life and secret I trust her with… I trust her to guide me on the right path to happiness."

In front of her, Tyler stared at her with wide eyes, stunned. "Well, that's… A lot of faith and trust for someone you've only started to really get to know a couple of months ago."

"I know it sounds crazy." She acknowledged, because if someone had told her a year ago that she would end up trusting someone that much, she wouldn't have believed it either. "But nobody has cared for me in the way Aria has done. She… She has done so much for me in such a short time, and I... I've come to love her, Tyler. Love her as if she was my older sister. Family."

She expected Tyler to say something – anything – but he just gaped at her, more than a little surprised. However, his dark eyes weren't disbelieving or disapproving, and Caroline found herself relaxing as words kept pouring out of her mouth. "Aria isn't perfect. I know that. She's ruthless and vicious when angered. She's stubborn and proud, and sometimes I think she would prefer to break before bending to anyone else's rules. And she won't hesitate to kill and bloodied her hands if she thinks it's necessary. But… but she isn't cruel. She's honest and loyal to a fault. She's also caring, cunning, kind, and intelligent. She hates injustice and prejudice of any kind. And she loves so deeply, Tyler…. So much so that I don't doubt she would trade her life, thousand times over, for those she cares about… And I'm lucky to count myself among those she considers family."

He didn't say anything for a long time, just mulling her words in silence, until he finally nodded, decisively. "In that case, I'm happy for you. You deserve someone like that in your life."

"You could have Aria in your life if you wanted. Me too." Caroline said, without thinking, only registering her words after she said them. But, for once, she didn't regret speaking without thinking because she meant what she said.

"I…" he said, staring at her like he couldn't comprehend her words.

"I told you Aria cares, Tyler. She won't hesitate to help you… And I might not be able to help you in the same she can but I promise I'll be there by your side, helping in any way I can. I promise." She vowed, staring at him earnestly.

A heartbeat passed. And then another. And then Tyler's face softened, making him look vulnerable in a way she didn't remember seeing before. "Okay"

"Okay?" she repeated, starting to smile.

"Okay." He confirmed, returning her smile.


&&&/05/&&&


'Promise me, Elijah.' Ingrid had begged him once, after everything had been said and done. And after she'd managed to get a similar promise out of everyone else in their family. 'Promise me you won't kill Rose-Marie if your paths ever cross again, that you would give her the benefit of the doubt.' And even if he'd hated the very idea of it, he'd promised. For her. His little sister. The heart of their family. And the one whose death hunted him – them – even a hundred years later.

And that promise was the only reason why, after he'd arrived at the abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere – only a couple of hours away from the town where once, a thousand years ago, had stood the village where his family had lived – and he'd laid eyes on Rose-Marie for the first time since that fateful day more than five centuries before, he'd suppressed his instinct to kill her. Oh, he'd wanted to do it. Desperately so. But he'd made a promise to his little sister and he was going to uphold it.

So he'd stilled his hand.

And that gave him enough time to take notice of the fact that Rose-Marie was standing under the sunlight without burning. And that… that shouldn't be possible. Not when the curse was still in effect.

Stunned, his eyes zeroed on the familiar necklace hanging on her neck, the one that shouldn't work anymore, no if she'd truly betrayed his family. And as he understood what that meant, he'd to suppress the urge to laugh hysterically. Because, of course, even from beyond her grave, his little sister still found ways to prove him wrong.

Ingrid had been right all along.

"Rose-Marie" he greeted her, far more cordially than he would have only a second ago, masking everything he was feeling behind his usual polite mask.

"Elijah." She greeted back, her voice cracking slightly due to her nerves. But even as nervous as she was, she still nodded her head in a show of respect he hadn't expected from her. At least not until he'd seen the necklace.

He hummed, mind racing as he tried to put together the pieces of a puzzle he'd thought solved for the last five centuries. Trying to understand her role in what had happened. "I see you still have the necklace my sister gave you."

Rose-Marie's hands immediately went to her neck, clutching a said piece of jewelry protectively against her, like if she was afraid he would take it away. "It was a gift from my lady."

"Yes." he agreed, thoughtfully, carefully analyzing the emotions shining in her eyes as he tried to get at the bottom of everything "A reward for the kindness and care you'd shown her. She thought you loyal to her… And yet, not even twenty years after she gave you that necklace, you chose to betray her and our family."

"I could have never betrayed my lady." She said, fierce and steadfast and loyal. "I would have died for her."

And as he stared into her eyes, Elijah found himself believing her, which meant that the fault of everything, besides Katerina, fell sorely on one person.

"…Tell me, does your pet Trevor still uses the daylight ring our family gave him?"

She frowned, clearly thrown by the quick and unexpected turn of the conversation but, after a moment of silence, she answered all the same. "No. He told me he lost it as he helped Katerina escape."

Elijah snorted derisively, not being able to stop himself. "Of course he did." He murmured as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place, showing a picture he should have seen all those centuries before. Rose-Marie's only crime, he understood now, was being too loyal and gullible towards someone she called family. And that was something he could understand perfectly well.

"Though, I've to confess to being curious about why, after so many years, you've decided to contact me. And here, of all places." he said, gesturing with barely hidden distaste the old mansion in which they were in. "What you want?"

"I want to negotiate a pardon for me and Trevor, so we don't have to run anymore… I want our freedom back… Can you grant me that, Elijah?" She petitioned. She was clearly nervous but her eyes were resolute, showing him the kind of loyalty her little sister used to appreciate so much from her.

He pretended to think about it, pacing around the room as he observed her into consideration. "I can if I see it fit." He said, speaking in loose terms and not agreeing to anything in detail.

Rose-Marie nodded and started speaking, telling him things about Katerina he'd already known – of course, she hadn't died in 1864, there were enough reports of her after that year to invalid any credibility to her supposed demise – but he found himself listening attentively all the same, curious as to where the conversation was going. And he was rewarded when she told him she'd found Katerina's human doppelgänger.

It shouldn't be possible, he knew. The Petrova Family line had ended. He knew that for a fact. His family had made sure of that. After all, when they'd discover her hand on what had happened, Niklaus, Rebekah, and Kol had been all too happy to kill Katerina's entire family, as well as every other living person in her village. And Elijah had made personally sure that no one survived that massacre.

A living human doppelgänger shouldn't be possible.

But Rose-Marie was convinced – he could see it in her eyes – and she'd spend enough time with Katerina to not make a mistake at identifying her. Thus, there had to be some truth to her words. And the only way that was possible would be if Katerina had had a child before she'd met them. She'd been old enough. And, back then, a child out of wedlock would have been sent away after they were born, as they were perceived as a reason for shame and disgrace. The child would have grown away from the family village, continuing Katerina's – Tatia's – bloodline on secret, far away from his family's radar.

Yes, he could see that.

A human doppelgänger.

One who's sacrifice could be used to break Niklaus' curse.

"Show her to me." He demanded.

"Elijah, please. I know you're a man of honor.… Give me your word you'll grant us our freedom." Rose-Marie pleaded.

"I give you my word." He vowed, already knowing what he was going to do. In his mind, he added 'I give you my word that you'll be forgiven. After today, you'll be free.'

Rose-Marie exhaled, shoulders dropping in visible relief, not understanding the true meaning of his words. After a moment, she nodded and guided him to another part of the old mansion.

There were only two other people in the room. Trevor, whom he expertly ignored for the moment, and a perfect replica of Tatia and Katerina, staring at him with terrified doe eyes.

It was uncanny, how exactly alike the three of them were.

Once, the similitudes between them would have tugged at his heart and soften his disposition towards this human girl who shared the face of his first love. But that wasn't the case anymore. He'd been fooled by that face once before and his family had been the one to pay the price for his mistake. He would never make that mistake ever again.

Therefore, he stopped paying attention to the girl after he'd confirmed for himself the fact that the girl was indeed human. Instead, he chose to turn towards the two vampires watching from a safe distance. Rose-Marie was smiling slightly, already feeling safe in the belief that everything would be alright for them, but Trevor was shaking in nervousness, making himself as small as possible and trying to avoid looking at him, probably afraid of attracting his attention to himself.

Sadly for Trevor, Elijah's attention was already on him. It'd been on him since the moment he'd entered the room, even if he'd appeared focused on the doppelgänger. After all, the time for reckoning had finally come.

"Rose-Marie has negotiated a pardon for the both of you in exchange for the doppelgänger. Did you know that, Trevor?" he asked slowly and deliberately, voice even and deceptively calm, luring him in a false sense of security. For Elijah, justice was sweeter that way, when it was delivered slowly and without warning, after his enemies had fooled themselves into thinking they were safe.

Elijah might not share his younger siblings' legendary tempers but that didn't mean his feelings were any less deep and vivid than theirs. If anything, it meant he felt things far longer than them. They were quick to anger, to sadness, and to laughter, but as quick as those emotions came, they could go just as swiftly. But Elijah's case was the complete opposite of them. Feelings didn't come as easily for him but when they came, they could stay with him for centuries, waiting to be unleashed just under the surface of his perfectly composed mask.

And his fury at Trevor's betrayal had accompanied him for five centuries.

"I…" Trevor started to say, still not looking at him "Thank you, Elijah. You don't know what that means to me…. I know I failed you…"

"Yes. You certainly broke your oath towards us quite thoroughly."

The younger vampire flinched, bowing slightly his head. "And I would live to regret it for the rest of my days."

Elijah hummed. "I've to wonder, what are you going to regret? Helping Katerina to escape? Or the way in which you did it?"

At his words, Trevor's body started to shake, and, for the first time that day, the younger vampire lifted his head and make eye to eye contact with him. And in those eyes, Elijah saw a growing panic for the direction in which the conversation was going.

"For all of it." Trevor finally murmured, looking away once more. "Please accept my forgiveness."

"See, that's the complicated thing. Rose-Marie has secured a pardon for you, for letting the doppelgänger escape… But we both know that's not the extent of your betrayal." He said, his voice suddenly cold and unforgivable. "For helping Katerina escape, I could have forgiven you in exchange for this human doppelgänger… But I would never forgive the way in which you accomplished that goal."

Trevor's face fell, lips quivering as he bowed his head. "Please, Elijah. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have but I loved her-"

"Stop." he demanded "I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. Nothing could justify what you did."

"What- What are you talking about?" Rose-Marie asked, her face was contorted in worry and anxiousness as her eyes darted between the two of them.

"Have you never wonder how Katerina managed to escape from our mansion undetected, Rose-Marie?"

"Elijah, please! Don't! I-"

"How she avoided all the magical protections we put into place? How her absence went undetected for so long?" he continued, staring into Trevor's eyes, unmoved by his tears. "Well, I'll tell you how…. Your dear friend Trevor, to whom you've been so loyal these five centuries, helped her in her effort to end the life of the person who was in control of all those said magical protections. And they almost succeeded."

From a logical and strategic point of view, it'd been quite a clever plan. Kill – or almost kill in this case – the witch who was responsible for all the wards and protections of their mansion and surrounding areas so the magical protections would fall. And after that, it'd been only a matter of smuggling Katerina out of their estate without being caught by the guards. And that had been easy enough, considering the fact that Trevor had been, at the time, the captain of said guards. The only problem with that mastermind of a plan was the fact that it involved killing – or attempting to kill – Ingrid.

His little sister.

"No! No! You-" Rose-Marie cried out, hands clutching her necklace as she stared at Trevor in utter betrayal.

"Oh, but he did." he said, flashing towards Trevor and grabbing him by the throat.

For Elijah, it didn't matter that Ingrid had managed to survive that attempt against her life. Because he could still remember the panic and fear all of them had felt as they stood by her bedside, fearing the worst as they watched her grew weaker with each second that passed. He could still remember how long it'd taken her to completely recover from the entire ordeal. He could still remember all of it and he would never forget.

And Trevor was going to pay with his blood for it.

But first, he focused on the strong among of magic he'd been feeling on Trevor since the moment he'd stepped into the room. He wasn't as good as feeling and detecting magic as Kol – none of them were – but he'd trained under Ingrid – and later Kol – until he'd mastered the ability in a way no other vampire in existence – except, of course, for his siblings – could. Therefore, after a second, he was able to determine the surge of the magic in the plain collar Trevor was wearing under his clothes. And, by the amount of magic concentrated on the object, it was no doubt a wiccan protection charm, designed to stop the curse for as long as the person was wearing it.

Without hesitation, he ripped off the collar.

The effect was instantaneous.

Trevor cried out, scratching his face as the most physical aspect of the curse started to take effect and letters were slowly, and painfully, burned into the skin of his face. In the background, he heard how the doppelganger gasped in obvious fear and Rose-Marie fell to her knees as the truth was revealed right in front of her eyes. But Elijah only had eyes for Trevor, who was moaning in pain as he tried to cover his face and the words on it.

T-R-A-I-T-O-R.

"When you swore yourself to us and accepted the daylight ring we gave you, you entered a magical contract with us." Elijah announced, eyeing in disgust the marks on Trevor's face. The proof of his betrayal. "And, in the instant you decided to take action against us, that same daylight ring we gave you would have stopped working and trigger a curse upon you. One that would have followed you for the rest of your days."

The curse had been created by Ingrid during their second century on this earth, after someone who'd worked for them had betrayed them and sold them to Mikael, but the whole idea behind it had been a work effort from all his siblings. It was a combination of their personal's desires for retribution against a traitor. Finn's desire for a punishment that would live as long as the betrayer did. Niklaus' thirst for constant and inescapable pain. Kol's idea of using against them the very thing they needed. Rebekah's demand for retribution that would humiliate them. And Elijah's desire of taking permanently something from them, something that could not be reversed. All of that combined in a curse made by Ingrid's magic. A curse designed to be a permanent reminder of the consequences of ever betraying their family.

"But you knew that already, don't you, Trevor?" Elijah asked, almost amicably, holding the collar in his hand. "After all, you've been using this charm to protect yourself from the worst consequences of the curse." Because the curse's secondary effect was inescapable, no matter what they did to counterattack it. And that was cursing the person so no daylight jewelry of any kind would ever work on them again.

"Elijah-"

But he wasn't interested in hearing any more of his pleads and pathetic attempts to justify his actions. Without any kind of warning, he shoved his hand into Trevor's chest and ripped his heart out. He ignored Rose-Marie's and the doppelgänger's cries at his actions. Instead, he stared at the marked and grey dead face of Trevor and felt something settle in his chest. At last, justice had been served. "No one hurts my family and lives." He declared in a whisper, tossing carelessly the heart away and then cleaning his hand with his handkerchief.

"As promised, from here on out, you're free, Rose-Marie." He added to the vampire still weeping on the floor. She didn't say anything, just continue crying, her whole body shaking with her silent sobs.

Knowing there wasn't anything else he could say, he turned towards the doppelgänger, who had turned very pale and was staring at him with terrified eyes. "Now, it's time for the two of us to go."

"No! Please!" the human girl pleaded, taking a step back from him. "I'm only seventeen! Please don't take me!"

At her words, he almost rolled his eyes, already completely exasperated. "I don't really care about your personal wishes or wellbeing." He admitted, lifting an eyebrow in silent reproach "And if I were you, I would be very cooperative from now on, as you don't need to be completely unharmed to be useful." The threat was vague but, after what she'd just seen, it served its purposes well enough judging by the way she all but trembled at his words. "So, what's going to be?"

The girl stared at him in fear, not saying anything aloud. But behind her fright, he could see something else. Something he'd seen in two other faces just like hers. A hidden cunning focused on creating a way to turn the situation in her favor. And because he'd seen this particular trait of the doppelgängers in action, he wasn't caught by surprise when the human lifted her chin and opened her mouth again. "What about Katherine?"

"Katerina?" he repeated, confused "What about her?"

"Well, you've been after her for centuries, right?" the human said, her voice gaining confidence the more she spoke. "I know where she is and I can tell you… but only if you let me go."

"Are you trying to bargain with me?" he inquired, disbelieving and amused in equal measures. "Oh, child, you have no idea with whom you're trying to deal with." And because he didn't have any desire of prolonging their conversation more than was necessary, he crossed the distance between in less than a second and grabbed her by her throat, lifting her head to obligate her to look directly into his eyes, trying to enter her mind. But, to his mild-surprise, he found his powers weren't working on her.

Shaking his head in self-deprecating – because, if he focused, he could detect the faint but present odor of vervain in the air – for no realizing it sooner, he tore the necklace full of vervain from her neck and tossed it away.

"Hmm, now that's been corrected…. Let's see what you know about Katerina." He said, trying again to enter her mind.

Without the vervain, getting inside her memories was too easy. The girl was human and young, lacking the kind of strength that could help her to try and resist his mental assault, especially when she didn't have magic at her disposal for protection. And he was not only one of the original vampires, but he'd also learned the arts of mind magic directly from Salazar Slytherin himself. There was no universe in which she could have to protect her mind from him.

He focused his attention on learning everything there was to know about Katerina through the girl's mind and, soon enough, he was reliving her memories, experiencing them as vividly it as if he'd been there next to her. He watched in silence as the human doppelgänger – Elena – learned about the existence of Katerina and their similitudes, and then he watched her and her little gang of friends as they tried – and failed, time and time again – to outsmart Katerina's games. And the more he watched, the more Elijah felt his curiosity grew because it was obvious to anyone with some sort of common sense that Katerina wasn't just playing games out of spite but carrying out some sort of plan.

The only question was, what was Katerina Petrova planning this time?

Before he could think more about it, he found himself walking next to Elena through the hallways of her high school. The girl was – for once – completely alone but, judging by her determined expression, she wouldn't be for long. After a moment, she entered a classroom without knocking and announced her presence by saying 'I want you to stay away from Caroline.'

Elijah was so focused on feeling appalled by the complete disregard of manners that it took him a moment to notice the only other person inside the room. And when he did, he felt like all the air of his lungs had been knocked out of him. Because he knew the person sitting behind a small desk on the other side of the classroom. He knew her better than he knew himself.

Even if he hadn't seen her – smiling and real and alive – in three hundred fifty-eight years.

'You know I'm a member of the faculty, right? Even if I don't teach you anything, you shouldn't talk to me like that.' she said, her voice light and almost indifferent despite the clear threat to her words.

At that moment, Elijah couldn't do anything but stared entranced at her. Stared at those familiar emerald-green eyes – those same eyes he'd seen for the first time more than a millennia ago, when Finn had put her tiny, tiny body in his young arms and told him that she was their family, their little sister, and it was their job to protect her from then on – and realized she looked just like he remembered. From her face to her voice to her mannerisms and even the way her emotions shone in her familiar emerald-green eyes.

It was her.

His little sister.

And as that thought registered on his mind, he found himself quickly making his way towards her, forgetting for a moment that she was just a memory inside the doppelgänger head and he couldn't interact with her. Forgetting everything but her. Because nothing else mattered but the fact that, after so many years of wait, she was finally alive and in front of him.

"Ingrid" he called her, his voice nothing but a reverent whisper that carried all the emotions that threatened with overcoming him. "It's me, little sister, your big brother Elijah…. I'm here."

But despite his words and the pleading in his voice, Ingrid didn't turn in his direction, didn't even spare him a glance. She just sat behind her desk, head tilted to the side as she focused all her attention focused on the doppelgänger, who had kept talking to her like he wasn't there at all.

And as he watched how his little sister kept ignoring him – she'd never been good at ignoring those she cared about – Elijah was forced to remember where he was and what she was.

Ingrid was alive and in front of him.

But she wasn't there. Not really.

At that moment, she was just a memory inside the doppelgänger's head.

'-know what you're doing.' The human girl was saying, voice fierce and resolute.

'Oh?' His little sister asked amused, mouth curling up in a smile so familiar that his heart ached with it. 'And according to you, what's my diabolical plan?'

'I know you're working with Katherine! And I won't let you turn Caroline against me!'

Ingrid threw her head back and laughed, carefree and amused and familiar, and it almost made him weep in a way he hadn't done in centuries, not since she'd been killed. Because he'd missed her every day for the last three hundred fifty-eight years and now she was just in front of him, alive in this earth once more, but she was still out of his reach and it was torture in a way he had never experience before.

'Thank you, Elena. Really. I needed a good laugh.' She murmured after she calmed down, still smiling.

'This isn't a joke!' the girl protested, indignant.

'But it is…. And the funniest part is that you haven't even realized that yet.'

And after hearing those words, Elijah decided that this was enough, he didn't need to see more. So he took one last look at his little sister and let go of his control over the doppelgänger's mind, allowing the memory around him to disappear.

In a blink of the eyes, he found himself again in the real world, staring into the unfocused eyes of the doppelgänger. Without a word, he put some distance between them as his mind and heart battled about what to do next.

Because this – Ingrid being alive once more – changed everything.


&&&/05/&&&


"He's a werewolf? Truly?" Teddy asked, face alight with a kind of childish wonder she hadn't seen in a while.

"Truly." Aria confirmed, pressing her lips together to suppress her smile when Teddy's hair changed color to a bright exciting marigold.

"And he'll be part of our family? Part of our pack?" her son insisted, so excited that his forehead was almost touching the surface of the mirror.

Aria felt herself melt at her son's words, finally understanding why this was so important to him. It didn't matter that he hadn't activated the werewolf curse, the wolf – through dormant – was still a part of Teddy and he'd always been curious about that part of himself. And it was obvious that he was excited to call family someone else like him, someone who shared and understood that part of him in a way that Aria would never be able to.

"Yes, little wolf... If he accepts, Tyler will be a part of our family." She promised him, smiling gently.

After all, that was the only way she could reveal herself and the magical world to him without breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.

Tyler was a muggle werewolf without alpha or a pack with some connection to the magical world and that meant he wasn't allowed to learn the secret of their world. Not when there wasn't anyone who could respond for his actions if something went wrong. But that changed completely if he was adopted into her family. Because then, he would belong to a magical family and, therefore, he would be a part of the secret.

But to adopt him into her family, she would need to ask him first.

Because, unlike what had happened with Caroline, Aria hadn't formed an immediate magical guardianship with him the night before. And, the more she thought about it, the surer she became that it was because she hadn't given him any promises of protection for the future or other things like that. And consequently, Lady Magic hadn't made a formal bond to recognize her intentions.

Which meant she needed to use the old fashioned way to become Tyler's magical guardian. And, as he was seventeen already, she needed his explicit consent to form the bond between them.

She wasn't worried, though. He was going to accept, she was sure of it. Not only because she could provide him with the knowledge and tools that he needed to thrive as a werewolf. But also because she knew enough about Tyler to be certain that he wanted a place to belong, that he secretly craved for a family – friends; pack – that would accept him as he was and still choose to stand beside him through thick and thin.

Judging by his expression, it seemed that Teddy shared her confidence. "Of course he's going to accept. We're going to his family and pack!" he proclaimed, grinning from ear to ear "It's going to be extra-ultra-mega brilliant, mum! Can you believe it? Our family is going to consist of a witch, a wizard, a house-elf, a vampire, and a werewolf! How bloody cool is that?"

"So are you really okay with this?" she pressed on, needing to be completely sure he would be comfortable with welcoming another person into their family, especially when he hadn't even met Caroline yet. "With me becoming the magical guardian of another person?"

Teddy's smile softened into something more fond and pure. "Of course, mum… I- I'm happy to have more people to call family." He bit his lip, glancing away, and then, shyly, he added "Because… I know that, no matter what, I'm always going to be your son, right?"

"You'll always be my little wolf, Teddy. My son." She promised him, fiercely. And, from somewhere deep, deep down, she added another vow. "Always and forever."

Teddy ducked his head, trying to hide his pleased grin, but his flushed cheeks and his suddenly red hair gave him away. She didn't say anything though, knowing better than most how important it was to know the unconditional love of family. After a moment, his hair changed back to turquoise and he lifted his head, smiling at her with that carefree grin that reminded her of her father and godfather. "Well, then, I don't see why you can't keep adopting more people into the family." Suddenly, his whole face light up "Maybe we can adopt a baby centaur next, mum! Or a baby goblin! Or… or… or a dragon! Mum! We should definitely adopt a baby dragon next!"

Aria snorted, barely managing to contain her laughter at the idea of repeating the whole experience with Norbert – or Norberta – ever again. "Keep on dreaming, little wolf."

"But mum!" Teddy protested, pouting rather adorably. Immediately, he launched himself on an amusing and impressive argument on why they should add a baby dragon to their family.

The smile on her face – equal parts amused and loving – accompanied her through the rest of their conversation, as they talked about his classes, then debated which magical places they should take Caroline and Tyler when Teddy visited – in little more than a week – and, after more than two hours of talking, said their goodbyes for the day.

When the smiling face of her son had disappeared from the surface of the mirror, Aria checked the time, considered the time difference, and decided that it wasn't too late in England.

"Neville Longbottom." She called.

The surface of the mirror went foggy for a minute, then another, and then it cleared to reveal the familiar face of her best friend and practically brother, Neville. But what wasn't familiar was the disgruntled expression on his normally amiable and handsome face. A second later, it morphed into a small, but genuine heartfelt, smile when he saw her. "It's good to see you, Aria."

Instead of reciprocating his feeling – because it was really good to see him, even if it'd been only a few days since they'd talked for the last time – she asked what was going on her mind. "Are you alright, Nev?"

"Yeah." he said, sounding extremely weary as he scrubbed his face with his fist "It has just been a long day."

She squinted up as she tried to place the background of his face. After a moment, she recognized the place and gaped in shock at him. "Are you- Are you still in your office in the ministry? At this hour?!"

He nodded, slumping into his chair in clear exhaustion. "Yeah. I'm been trying to finish all my paperwork for the new bill today… But I'm starting to think it's a lost cause."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still working." She apologized, feeling properly contrite. She knew, better than most, how much work it was needed to hold a seat in the Wizengamot and do it well. After all, before she'd been forced to leave vacant her seat on the Wizengamot and trust Neville with her two votes, the two of them had spent hundredths of sleepless nights working together as they learned everything they needed to know to hold the seats of their ancestors. "I'll call you later."

"No, no, let's talk now… I wasn't lying when I said it was good to see you, Aria." He insisted "Besides, the paperwork isn't urgent. Not really. I was just working on it as a distraction."

She frowned, Neville wasn't one to normally avoid his problems. At least he wasn't as long as didn't involve his grandmother. "What happened with Augusta?"

His lips quirked up in something that would have resembled his usual smile if not for the sardonic and self-deprecating edge of it. "We argued last night. Loudly… About Luna and her incoming nuptials."

She winced in sympathy. "Oh, Nev."

"I'm happy for Luna. I am!" he assured her, quickly and fiercely, blue eyes shining with sincerity "I love her. I'll always love her. She was my first love… But I'm not in love with her. Not anymore."

"I believe you, Nev." She said, smiling softly "First loves are… a complicated mess that always left behind a mark." The two of them shared a look of silent understanding. "And I know you want the best for Luna… What I don't understand is why you were fighting with your grandmother. I thought Augusta would be thrilled at the news."

Neville rolled his eyes. "She was. Very much so." He said, sounding completely exasperated. And with reason too, as Augusta's dislike for Luna, as a romantic partner for his only grandson, was legendary. "At least until she found out Luna had personally invited me to the ceremony. After that, she was furious. She went on a long rant about how Luna had the nerve of not only breaking my heart so well that I've never had another serious relationship after that but to also throw her newfound happiness at my face… And well, I couldn't stand there and let her insult Luna. So we kind of got into a shouting match by the end of it."

"Bloody hell" she murmured with feeling, picturing perfectly well how that discussion had gone.

For the longest time when they'd been young, she'd thought that, out of everyone else, Neville and Luna were going to be the ones who would make it to the end. Even after they broke up a year after the war ended, she'd held onto the hope that they would eventually get back together. They just… had have fit together in a way that had been beautiful and almost perfect.

Sadly, the war had irrevocably changed something in them. Afterward, Neville had decided to not pursue his old dream of becoming a herbologist, and instead, he'd focused all his attention on his duties as Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, wanting to use the political and financial power of his family to help create a better future for their country. In contrast, Luna had wanted nothing more than be free of responsibilities, so she'd decided to travel the world and become a magizoologist. And that clash in their dreams had forced them to eventually break up, even when they were still very much in love with the other.

It'd been a hard lesson for Neville, to understand that sometimes love wasn't enough. So much so that it'd taken him years to talk about Luna without a mix of longing and regret. And it'd taken him even longer to get completely over her. Even then, almost a decade later, he still chose to remain single.

"And even knowing all the drama that's going to cause with Augusta, do you still want to go?" she asked after a moment, already knowing his answer.

"Yeah." He confirmed, smiling with all the honesty in the world "She's my friend. I want to be there for her on her special day."

"I know I've said this before to you, Nev, but, someday, you're going to meet someone as special as you, and you're going to be very happy with them." She promised him, seriously. Because someone as good as he deserved nothing but all the happiness in the world.

Her words caused him to smile in innocent shyness. And, for a moment, he almost looked like the timid and shy kid she'd met in the train to Hogwarts all those years ago. He coughed, embarrassed, and tried to redirect the conversation. "Well, that's enough about me…. Why don't you tell me the reason why you called me?"

She gasped dramatically, pretending to look offended. "Wanting to talk to my best friend isn't reason enough?"

"This late? No." he replied, lifting an eyebrow in exasperation "You called me for a reason. So why don't we skip right to it?"

"You're not fun." At his expectant expression, she sighed. "Fine, fine, be that way… I wanted to know if you're still in contact with that shady potion master, you know, the one who's perfect at his work and with not asking questions."

"Sure, our greenhouses provide him with most of his ingredients." He paused, suddenly looking at her much more intently. "But what potion do you want to buy?"

"Wolfsbane" she said, watching how his eyes grew as wide as plates. "I'm going to need a steady supply for the next few years at least."

Neville groaned. "Merlin, in what trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

"Hey! I've you know that trouble is the one that finds me-"

"That's what you always say." He said, exasperated. "Okay, start explaining, and don't leave anything out."

And so she did.


&&&/05/&&&


Elijah came back to life well into the night, still stuck into a wall with the stake one of the doppelgänger's vampire protectors had used to stab him in the heart. With a grimace of shame – because it was downright humiliating to be bested by two baby vampires and a human – he pulled out the stake and throw it away.

He was weak. Painfully so. But that was to be expected, as coming back to life always took a lot of their energy. Fortunately, it was something that would be fixed as soon as he drank some blood.

For a moment, as he stood in the old and abandoned mansion, he contemplated the options ahead of him after everything that he'd learned that day. Even if, deep down, he already knew what choice he would take. It was, after all, the only thing he could do now that he knew his little sister walked in the land of the living once more.

With a determinate nod, he lifted his left hand, where, in his middle finger, he carried the Mikaelson Family ring and touched the lapis-lazuli stone in its center five consecutive times. "Sanctuary" he intoned, saying the word in his native tongue, ancient Viking.

Instantly, he felt the pull on his naval, and then he was yanked through space as the portkey took him to the safest place on earth for him and his siblings. A second later, he found himself standing in the familiar foyer of the Mikaelson's mansion in Copenhagen, Denmark, which Ingrid had turned into a magical safe house for them more than five centuries before.

And even with how everything had changed in their family after her death, this house was the only place on the earth that his family considered neutral – and maybe even sacred – ground.

A pop alerted him of the fact that he wasn't alone anymore and he turned around in time to see Polly, the only house-elf still bonded to his family, get teary-eyed at the sight of him. Her aging face breaking into a wide grin and her hands played with the hem of her little dress, which was beautifully decorated with their family emblem. "Master Elijah!" she greeted, bowing until the tip of her nose was touching the floor. "You're back! Polly is so happy to see you!"

Elijah smiled, fond, as he knelt in front of her and touched her cheek with gentle hands. "It's good to see you too, Polly. I've missed you."

Polly had been working for them for more than six centuries and she'd proven herself, time and time again, as an unavailable and extremely loyal part of the family. Even now that they didn't stay together as a family, she'd worked diligently to take care of all the family's properties still in use – besides taking care of this mansion, which was her main residency – and also tending to the special needs of any of them could have at any particular time. And because he didn't like to overwork her, he tried to call her to ask her for something as little as possible.

But, after some months without seeing her, it was really good to be in her familiar presence.

"Polly will get Master Elijah's room ready right away!" the elf promised, still beaming at him. "And she will prepare him a welcome feast!"

"Thank you, Polly." He paused, debating internally, and then added "Please, prepare the rest of the rooms… I'm going to send the call."

The elf gasped, even more wide-eyed than when she'd seen him first, and then she started to nod furiously. "Polly will take care of everything!" she vowed and popped away immediately.

With a sigh, Elijah got to his feet and made his way to the family study. The double doors of the room were closed and he could felt the powerful magic that resided on them, adding even more layers of protection to the room that held some of their most valuable artifacts. Carefully, he put his left hand on the center of the double doors and he felt a brief pulse of magic before the rooms opened to him in a silent welcome.

Quickly, he walked towards the magnificent round table that stood in the center of the room with six chairs around it, each one with a name beautifully carved in the back. The surface of the table was perfectly smooth, except for an area in the very middle of it, where the Mikaelson family emblem was carved. And, if not for the magic he could felt on it, it would pass as nothing but pretty decoration.

It'd been more than forty years since the last time a call had been sent. The last time, it'd been just as the First War of Voldemort on Great Britain started to gain momentum and the vampire race had been approached by both sides for alliances. And the call had been sent to take a decision on the matter. They would have never supported Voldemort, especially not when Ingrid herself had been a muggleborn, and supporting him would have been an insult to her memory. But the Light side, led by Dumbledore, had not been any more appealing. And so, in the end, they'd chosen neutrality. The vampire race would keep itself out of the war.

But that had been a mistake. As it'd allowed Voldemort to attack the Potters and, as a result, his family had lost all contact with the last descendant of the Peverell family.

Elijah shook his head. None of that mattered. Not anymore. With a decisive nod, he touched the emblem with his ring, said in his native tongue "Always and forever" and felt his ring burn for a moment on his finger.

A second later, one by one, all the names, except for one, carved on the back of the chairs light up, signaling that the call had been sent.

That done, Elijah took his respective seat, chuckling a little when, not a moment later, a warm and large cup of blood appeared in front of him. "Thank you, Polly." he said as he took the cup in his hands, knowing she would know he was thanking her even if she wasn't physically present in the room.

He was almost finishing drinking the blood, feeling infinitely better already, when the very same air around him seemed to shift and, a moment later, four figures appeared in their respective seats around the table.

"Well, I hope you've got a good explanation for sending the call, Elijah." Rebekah said, sounding haughty and annoyed in equal measures "Because I was in the middle of something."

"Did the call interrupted your shopping, sister?" Kol taunted, smirking in clear mischief "Or maybe it stopped you from banging some poor unsuspecting sod?"

"Enough, Kol!" Finn reprimanded, already sounding exasperated with their antics. "We've more important things to talk about. Starting with an explanation from Elijah of why he decided to send the call."

After Finn finished speaking, he, along with his two youngest siblings turned towards Elijah, their expressions expectant. But Elijah had only eyes for the sibling who had remained uncharacteristically silent. And, as if he was reading his thoughts, Niklaus lifted an eyebrow in a silent demand for an explanation from his seat at his right.

Elijah took as a fortifying breath before meeting Niklaus' eyes with his own, knowing he owned it to this brother to say the next words while looking directly at his eyes, so he would know he wasn't saying any lies.

"It has finally happened. Ingrid has been reborn… She's alive once more."


...and here it is! I've been waiting for this revelation since the prologue I think. All the originals are awake! Living separately in different corners of the world, but awake. You'll know more about it in the next chapter but this is for now.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about it!

Ps. I've been thinking about side pairings - because the main focus of this story would always be Niklaus and Aria - and I want your opinions on who should end up with whom. I'm making no promises because I've two pairings that were part of my original idea for this story, but I would like to know your thoughts on this matter.