A/N of Important Info:
I changed the title aha! "The Vampire Diaries Melody" is no more!
I will say this now: I have not watched all of this series. Honestly, back in the day (lol) I was watching until my friend let slip that Kol died and my breath stopped, my palms shook and I couldn't bring myself to watch it anymore. I've tried to watch it again over the years but TBH my ADHD refuses to allow me to sit through more than an episode at a time because its just boring and Elena is annoying and so recently it's become something of a soundtrack that I listen to while I fold clothes aha… awkward. Anyway, so, even though I haven't watched anything past season 4, I love most of the characters enough to try write the story that I've always wanted to, plus from what I watched on youtube, my heart belongs to Enzo and need him in my writing and I want him to have a happy ending in some form that doesn't involve him dying multiple times so he shall be a feature in my story, though there's only like a 3% chance that he'll end up the love interest.
Speaking of romance, I don't know how I want to pair people yet. I think I'm gonna wing it, wait until they all meet and see where the chemistry lay. I absolutely adore OC stories, but fuuuuuck they annoy me when its just adding another character to steal lines, you know? So, hopefully I actually succeed in creating an original character and original scenarios. Again, please send your feedback. I'd like to know what I'm doing right and wrong and what people would like to see. I can't guarantee I'll add all ideas, of course, but no one ever said 'stop feeding my muse' aha. One thing I really will not tolerate, however, is hate. If you don't like it, understandable. I don't have a gun to your head forcing you to read. I'd really rather not read that kind of shit; it kills all my motivation and genuinely encourages me not to even bother. I won't stop writing, but I will stop sharing so please be kind so as not to ruin it for the people that actually want to be here.
Disclaimer: I'm creating a fictional story based on my appreciation of a fictional work that is not mine for my own pleasure and to better my writing skills, not for profit. There are also mature themes and mature language choices littering this story so please be warned.
Anyway, as I was saying, apparently there are sirens in the show and talk of souls but my idea of a soul is a little different (maybe) and as for sirens, I'm going full sailor drowning, curious critter, immortal mermaid in my tale. Hope you like!
Side note: If anyone is interested in being a Beta, let me know. I'm also thinking of throwing this on other sites too. I'll let you know if I end up creating an account there. Might have to if things turn raunchy aha!
This half-baked story idea was inspired by the voice of Ashley Serena. Look her up on youtube. Her songs 'In Your Arms,' and 'My Jolly Sailor' inspired my mermaid and swim around in my head every time I write about my little siren singing.
Pronounciation: Kuh-lie-uh-pee. Nickname Lia (Lie-Uh, like Lya for Lyanna in GoT lol!)
Athánatos: Ath-ah-na-toz
Chapter 1Kaliope's mind was in shock. Absently, she curled around herself; her scaled tail protecting as much of her body as she could as she continued to plummet at high speeds from her position in the sky.
Falling from hundreds of feet in the air!? What the fuck!
Sure, she could control the winds, she'd literally invented how to manipulate that particular element over a thousand years ago, but she never taught herself how to fly with the ability! Was she the first siren to be sent to space!? Kaliope was extremely cross. Someone, somewhere, obviously held a grudge, but for what?! Honestly, it wasn't like she was some kind of monster. She was a mermaid for Poseidon's sake. She didn't kill… many, she didn't hurt- uh, no, um… she didn't steal… much.
Tsk.
She was a 2,722-year-old siren; a fact that caused enemies to hesitate not only was she part divinity, but her age indicated how strong she was! This had to be a cruel prank set up by an idiot because, surely, the idiot who sent her up here knew that she wouldn't die. Hello? Immortal, much? Plus, she knew how to hold a grudge!
… Ugh.
Kaliope opened her eyes slowly, regretting it instantly as the wind stole all their moisture after only granting her a glimpse of her own tail, barely having enough time to see the greens, blues and purples gleam through the black. Don't get her wrong, she's still outraged!
… But this was taking too long.
She was getting bored.
Battling the ferocious pressure of the wind under her, Kaliope uncurled herself and faced down, risking it once more to see water not 2 feet in front of her. Her arms threw themselves around her head as she cringed, bracing for impact…
That never came.
Huffing, Kaliope opened her eyes again, squinting against the air and crossing her arms as she glared at the water in front of her, still the exact same distance away. She might appreciate the joke later when she's not trying to convince herself not to go on a murderous rampage until the person who set it up 'fessed up.
Curiously, Kaliope extended her arm to brush the surface of the water. Like a puppet with its strings cut, she suddenly lost her position in the sky. With a squeak, she crashed through the surface, her gills, hidden behind her ears and ending just under her jawline, immediately flaring wide to take up the task of breathing. She sighed, the last of the air filling her lungs rushing out in a stream of bubbles and puffing her cheeks. Taking a moment to just enjoy the way the water caressed her, rejuvenating her oil-slick-coloured tail and charcoal fins, she lazily ran her glowing green gaze over what she could see, her long inky black locks enjoying the weightlessness as they swayed gently around her. She could barely sense any life in this body of water. A river, large and deep it seemed, judging by the graceful current, there may be a waterfall up further. She slowly poked her head up through the surface, looking around with too-bright eyes. Trees, banks, nothing that told her where she was, though judging by the number of species of flora that she didn't recognise, she would say that she was very far from home. With a slight frown, she dropped back beneath the surface, summoning up her connection to her choir of sirens.
Nothing.
Swallowing around the lump in her throat, Kaliope sunk to the riverbed. Digging her hands into the sediment and closing her eyes, the mermaid hummed softly, connecting to the planet's ley lines, half intrigued and half fearful of what she'll find.
It took barely minutes, but information started pouring in, whispering its secrets, its happiness and its sorrow. The siren's face went slack in surprise.
Different.
This world was different.
She was on a different world!
There was no Fae, no Sprites, no Nymphs, no Mers. She was alone in a world that, apparently, was frustrated and desperate. Expression was a destructive disease, Silas had overstayed his welcome, Amara not only needed, but wanted to die, Qetsiyah had created a sure-fire way to essentially break the world with her pollution of the natural order, Travellers were egotistical and bitter, witches were egotistical and judgemental, vampires were a relatively new race that were linked together through blood magic and had been accepted, if not welcomed, by Mother Nature into the ecosystem, werewolves were almost extinct due to fear, prejudice and straight-up suicide.
Just, ugh. What a mess.
But, oh! All the new things she could learn! New adventures to be had!
The world needed a new source of energy. The Other Side was sucking the magic meant to return to the earth, magic wielders were not relinquishing their hold on what they saw as their power when they died, not to mention that their ancestors still living gave them a connection to the earth's magic in return for being able to use the magic of ghosts' past.
No, what this planet wanted was access to Kaliope's Gods Realm. Mount Olympus and its never-ending power. It was a risk-free endeavour because of the symbiotic nature of the relationship between the realm and the Gods that resided there. The only way it could ever be in jeopardy was if there were no more Gods. The earth was giving up on its own people and seeking assistance in a last-ditch effort to survive, and all Kaliope had to do in return was accept this world as her own and create the connection.
So easy.
So worth it.
She'd do it just to get away from the judgemental assholes that were the rest of her race.
Kaliope of the Cuan Choir was not special, she knew this. It was not for any personal skills she had, nor was it something that she could do by herself. She was not the strongest of her race, nor the oldest, nor wisest. She grew bored easily, lied way too easily, caused as much trouble as a siren not yet out of its first century did and didn't much care for the human race. If she'd guessed this right, she was here simply because of happenstance; time and place of random selection. Though, she could admit to herself that if anyone older than she had arrived on this planet, they would have absolutely obliterated the natural balance. She would be the strongest being on the planet by far and she wasn't even 3,000 years old yet.
Sirens, much like the vampires here, grew more with age.
This world had taken a desperate measure, reaching blindly for anything that could help stabilise it, and had summoned a Siren; a creature of water, born from Greek Gods and Muses, a being that could feel and listen to what the ley lines whispered in a language no other mortal would know or ever get to know, a language only those with Muse blood could decipher.
Taking in fresh water and letting her eyes drift close, focussing on the veins of the Earth, on the pain, on the hole in Mother Nature's soul. Kaliope opened her mouth, and sang.
*TVDM*
Stefan couldn't believe it, looking at the face of a seemingly human Katherine. He snapped out of his stupor and dragged her out of the car, swimming for the shore. It was times like these that he cursed his weakness, hating himself more than he could sometimes bear in the face of how useless he was on his diet. He could be so much more if he only had enough control, but he didn't want to feed on people.
He didn't want to be a monster.
He knew in his heart of hearts that the man was not going to be alive by the time he went back, but he knew he was going to try anyway. He dragged the girl onto the bank, looking at her once more with an odd stirring in his chest. Was she Katherina reincarnated? Come back from hell to haunt him? Was she a different person entirely? Was she-
Stop.
He shook himself, determination filling him once more as he spun to re-enter the water. He took one step in before he froze.
Warmth.
Acceptance.
Contentment.
Happiness.
He released a shuddering breath and opened his eyes, not having realised they'd fallen closed as he relished in the feeling so deeply. His breath caught in his throat at the sight before him.
The water was softly glowing, making what was once a basic body of water into something of a fairy's portal. Fireflies danced atop the surface, frogs had been brought in and soft splashes of fish he didn't even realise lived in the river were jumping across the top, trying to catch themselves a flying meal. Before he could question his sanity further, he heard it.
Or rather, her.
Hauntingly high notes soft as a sheet of silk but as warm as a wool blanket by a hearth gently ran over him like water in a bubbling brook. His knees felt weak, his stance as stable as leaves in the wind and his heart as full as it had ever been since becoming a vampire. He could do nothing but stand there and let the song wash over him.
*TVDM*
A soul was fading.
Kaliope's song had served its purpose, connecting her to the planet and its inhabitants. Her previous ability to use mortal souls for her own gain had been 'edited' so that she could do the same to the souls of this planet. Through this process, she'd felt the struggle of a soul trapped in the water.
Her tail pushed her through the water, travelling miles in seconds. Her tune changed as she looked at the mortal vessel, her inquisitive shanty slowing and moulding itself into a soft melody to ease the man's suffering, to comfort him in his end and help him to a peaceful afterlife. She would not save him; she didn't know him. He was a mortal who had come to the end of his journey and she would not intervene.
She would, however, take his soul memory as payment for such a tranquil passing.
The curious thing about Sirens was, because they were born of divinity, they did not need sustenance. They required not water, not sunlight, not sleep, not air nor food. They simply existed, but they existed with a thirst, a hunger that was never sated when it came to knowledge and emotion. Curiosity was both their greatest strength and their biggest weakness. Sirens had often been caught and dragged to shore by promises of knowledge and how things worked. Though they could not die, they were as weak as any human being during their first 100 years. Young and reckless sirens were often captured with sweet promises of facts and findings. So, in order to prevent such situations from happening anymore, near 4,000 years ago, the Marine Choir invented the ability to absorb soul memories.
The difference between memories on the soul and memories in the mind was emotion. When a brain recalled past events, it was clinical. When a soul recalled past events, it was with nostalgia, calling up the emotion that had been felt. It was where memories of meaning were held. So, while not as vast as a human brain, anything with a strong emotional stamp would always imprint on a soul. Those passionate about learning were always the favourite, leading to the unfortunate stereotype that bookworms receive when it comes to their inability for social interaction.
Of course, it also had everything to do with the fact that beings of divinity could not manipulate a mortal vessel in such a way, having no connection to exploit, but an immortal soul? Totally up for grabs.
An adult human could easily live their life with a clean soul, but it would not be so easy for the people around them. Where the heart keeps the body living and the brain keeps a person thinking, the soul keeps a person, for lack of a better word, 'human.' A person without a soul was classed as a psychopath. A person who had their soul wiped clean by a siren was a sociopath, at least until they built up emotional connections again; after all, it's not like sirens wiped them of the ability to feel. They'd feel 'human' again. Eventually.
Kaliope's song echoed through the water, coaxing tiny, brilliant balls of light to come to her. So many colours; lilac for love, gold for family, red for anger, black for despair, blue for sadness, green for jealousy, yellow for happiness, all the emotional memories floating to the mermaid to the beat of her song. The traffic of colours eventually thinned and stopped, leaving behind an empty soul and a dead human. The siren watched as three intertwined threads of almost-smoke – one a royal purple, one a thick bronze, one a translucent white – escaped the corpse and rolled around themselves to form a vague replica of their mortal shell before disappearing completely. Kaliope smiled softly as the spirit vanished from view before she closed her illuminated emerald eyes.
The memories immediately started playing behind her lids; memories of a woman – Miranda – who was in the car already deceased with him. Memories of a teenager – Isobel – and a birth and a child that was not theirs – Elena – but was his brother's – John. Memories of a child of their own – Jeremy. Memories of a woman – Abby – fleeing after The Destroyer sought his adopted daughter but was dealt with. Memories of a college and a man – nay, a vampire – and research on healing with vampire blood – Lorenzo St. John A.K.A. 12144. Knowledge of science and medicine, studies and experiments, surgery on his human patients, torture on his vampire patient. Tonight, family night, Elena had gone to a party and they were picking her up because of emotional distress and inebriation. Elena, who was not in the car. A man, no, a vampire saving her. A vampire that should still be close.
Brilliant eyes tinged the water around her with an emerald sheen as they snapped open, searching the water diligently for the supernatural creature that was close with the daughter. She opened her mouth and sent her highest of high into the water, listening as the sounds came back to her, drawing a picture of her surroundings. The man – Grayson – had hated vampires with a vengeance, believing them to be abominations as they appeared in one person's telling in a journal and yet the hypocrite had the nerve to place all his hope on the vampire who took his daughter away.
Kaliope was already planning her first stop in this new world. She needed a friend and who better than the soon-to-be liberated Augustine Vampire. First, however, she needed clothing and an identity. Well, she may as well use the existence of vampires to her advantage.
After what seemed like an age but was only a second, Kaliope finally heard where a pair of feet were standing in her water, her eyes flashing as she opened her mouth to send a single emotion piercing in the young vampire's direction.
Couldn't have anyone discovering her identity so soon, now, could she?
*TVDM*
The glow had died, the soft luminescent blue had faded, condensed into a green tinge closer to the newly-submerged car. Finally, Stefan was able to shake off the swell of emotion that had kept him docile, able to move after what felt like hours but was barely a minute.
He took a step.
He stumbled in agony.
A piercing note shot through the air, instantly blowing one of his eardrums. He groaned, trying to shake the ringing out of his head as his ear started healing, only to be struck again. Not by pain, but fear.
Pure, unadulterated horror coursed through his veins. The hairs all over his body stood to attention, his hands started shaking, his eyes blowing wide, his gut churning. Stefan started panting, his eyes darting from side to side, searching for the enemy that had his very soul begging him to run, run, run. He couldn't stay there any longer.
Without even looking back at the Katherine look-alike, barely hearing the sounds of the sirens that were no doubt heading for the crash site on the bridge, Stefan ran and kept running even after his instincts stopped screaming.
*TVDM*
His thoughts weren't strong enough today.
Enzo had cycled through his list of greatest hits; he'd thought of Maggie, of Damon, of the sun and the sky and the grass and love and hate and food and blood and the passage of time and still…
Nothing was strong enough to distract him from this.
A ripper virus, the kid had said. And yes, in comparison with the other scientists, this fellow was a kid. Young, new, ambitious, wanting to use him to eradicate vampires rather than saving humans like that Gilbert wanted to. An ambition that must not be shared with the rest of his torturers, judging by the fact that he was here at 21:24 on Friday, May 23, 2009 according the blonde scientist who was casually cutting into what he thought felt like his stomach while recording the process. Enzo scoffed weakly around the tube stuck down his throat, ignoring the look he received at the movement. He couldn't wait to get revenge, a desire he still wished for after all this time, a tangible need that nearly consumed him. Gods, he wished he had the nerve to just turn it off, but he couldn't. Emotion was all that was keeping him from breaking completely. His love for Maggie and his wistful curiosity, wondering if she'd had a family and found love, his deep almost-hatred for Damon for leaving him to burn, his overwhelming need to see the outside world again and his longing to feed on Whitmore blood.
Having collarbone to navel cut open and his insides on display so that blonde doctor could study how he digested blood was a pain fiercer than any desire to do or see anyone.
Finally, after half an eternity he was sure, the doctor knocked him out with vervain, meaning that today's experimenting was done.
He succumbed to the acid in his veins with relief, not knowing how very close he was to being free to roam the earth again.