Chapter 17 – While we were gone
Elena exhausted, "It is so good to be home." as she plops down on the couch. Damon still walking in the front door overloaded with their luggage, "Just follow me, you can drop them here in the entryway." a 20 something man follows, equally loaded. Damon reaches into this wallet, pulls out a hundred dollar bill and hands it to the young man, "Son, thanks, for all the stops, my, Mrs. really appreciated it. And, the unpacking duty, above and beyond. Keep it up." The driver looked at Damon in a confused way, said Thank you and shut the door behind him. Elena laughed, "You know he was thinking. Dude, you're my age, why are you talking to me like I'm your kid or something." Damon smirks at her, "I'm a father and almost 200 years old, I talk to everyone like they are my kid." Damon walks over to the couch and falls down next to Elena, "I think you bought out Greece and Italy. I didn't realize you were such a shopper, Mrs. Salvatore." Elena laid her head on his shoulder, "I will admit, I did go a little overboard on baby clothes." Damon added, "and toys, and shoes, and furniture. Elena, we have stuff that had to be shipped airfreight." Elena stood up and straddled him, he rolled his eyes, took a deep breath to admit defeat as she leaned down to kiss him, even though her baby bump was a bit in the way, "Damon, Peanut needs to understand where their magical heritage comes from, and we found out so much more about the Salvatore name that you and Stefan can be proud of, we had to bring some of that home with us too." His hands settled on her amazing backside, as he enjoyed her attempt in manipulating him. He wasn't going to let her know he had already conceded 8000 miles ago, where the argument almost started. He would only admit to himself, Elena was right all the time, especially when it came to him and his deepest feelings. It was both comforting and disturbing how well she knew him. Elena deepened her assault on his senses, he lost his ability to think.
"Apparently, the honeymoon isn't over." A familiar voice broke through the passionate embrace, Damon tucked Elena's head toward his shoulder, so he could respond, "I sure as hell hope it never ends, Mate. So go the fuck away, so we can get back to it." Enzo took offense, "Watch your language, my girls will be coming down shortly, Wilma's ears are developing". "NO WAY" was the shout coming from the upstairs hallway. Elena slides off Damon's lap. Damon laughed, "Still working through the alphabet." Bonnie answers, "Yes, thank god he is almost done, the Q's almost killed me." Elena stands up and walks over to Bonnie, each of them examining their growing baby bumps, they hug tightly with tears coming down, Elena cries, "You are so beautiful, look at you. How are you feeling? What did the doctor say? Is everything going well?" Bonnie and Elena talking over each, "Did you have any problem abroad? How was the honeymoon? Was Italy everything I told you it was? Did you try that torte in the corner café? I'm so glad your back." They hug again with more tears. Damon and Enzo look at each other and mouth at the same time, "Hormones!"
"Welcome home, Brother." Stefan says as he walks in the front door, he looks like he just came in from a construction site. His hair is full of concrete dust, his clothes are filthy, he is wearing work boots and a fully stocked tool belt. Damon confused, "Hello Brother, what have you been doing?" Stefan smiles, "Helping Ric out at the Armory. Things are really progressing. We have most of the internal cell walls down and there is a new cave discovery every other day. We could use your help when you get settled in. I'm going get cleaned up. I will be back in a few to catch up. Have you seen Care? Is she back?" Enzo responds, "No, she is still out. She called, everything went great. She and the girls were able to find the entire list." Stefan grins, "Perfect, I will let Ric know, he promised not to stay all night again. Someone needs to call him and remind him to get over here tonight." Damon watching all the exchanges, "We are soo missing something, what is going on?" Enzo smirks, "You were gone for 2 months, life goes on, Mate." Damon impatiently, "We were gone 41 days not 2 months."
Elena catches her brother in laws attention, "Stefan, when you come back down, do you mind?" as she points to the baby bump." Stefan looking down from the stairs, "My niece or nephew missed me?" Elena rubbing the baby bump, "I think so, Peanut has been a little anxious the past few days, I have a feeling a bit of Uncle magic will have a calming effect." Damon joins the conversation, "You didn't tell me!" Elena turns to look at him, "No, I didn't. I was having a wonderful time. You would have made us come home early. Peanut was fine and happy, just a little restless at times. It wasn't something that you needed to worry about, there wasn't any draining going on, the baby wasn't harming me in any way. I completely lived up to our agreement in every way without a gray area. So don't get ruffled, Damon." Enzo strokes the fire with Damon, "So we are still doing the Peanut thing, you didn't see any Shaman or Witch priest give you a gender hint?" Elena answers back, "No, Enzo, we are doing it the old fashion way, a real doctor with a real ultrasound machine." Damon, Stefan and Enzo laugh, Damon responds, "Baby, old fashion is waiting until the baby is born and seeing if there is an innie or an outie." Elena snarls back at him, "I said Old Fashion, Damon not ancient." Damon decides not to get any more on his wife's bad side, "I better get all our stuff upstairs" Enzo offers, "Let me help, Mate. Looks like you bought out Europe." Damon pointed to Elena as she and Bonnie are heading to the kitchen.
Caroline opens the front door, she walks in with a big wooden crate in her arms. The twins follow their mother inside carrying gift bags, once they see their Uncle, they rush past their mother's legs, "Uncle D… Uncle D…" Little voices cry out from two little bodies hurling themselves at Damon. He crouches down on to his knees, not quite realizing how much he missed these munchkins until he sees the smiles on their faces as they both collide into his arms at the same time. Damon laughs, "Geez, you two, what happen? I think you grew a foot taller each while we were gone. Who gave you permission? I want to know now, who did it? Did Mom or Dad? Zio? Who was it? I'm going to kill them now." As Damon tickles and laughs with them, he hugs and kisses the tops of their heads.
Bonnie and Elena walking from the kitchen, each holding a bowl filled with ice cream covered in crushed cookies, talking in between bites, look up and see Damon being attacked by the twins. Elena can't help herself, the pregnancy hormones get the best of her, and she starts to tear up, "He is going to be the best Dad." Bonnie surprises herself as a tear falls down her cheek, "Who would have thought that the evil selfish vampire Damon Salvatore was such a human softie when it came to kids!"
Damon bellows from across the room, "I heard that I'm not a human, I'm a witch."
Caroline put the wooden crate down, she sped over to Elena, "I have missed you!" she hugs Elena tightly, "Boy, did you pop out while you were gone. You look amazing." Caroline couldn't help it, she rubs Elena's baby bump, "Hello, there… Woww…. Can you show me yourrrr." Caroline stares out in the distance, the whites of her eyes are blood red, the irises of her eyes are golden amber, her body is rigid. Bonnie puts her bowl down on the table and rushes to Caroline, and tells anyone, "Get Stefan."
Footsteps are coming down the stairs at that moment, Stefan fresh from the shower, hears his name being yelled from Elena's voice. He hurries his pace, as he turns on the landing, he sees Caroline, "Bonnie, how long?" Bonnie answers, "Less than a minute, I don't know where the crystal is." Lizzie is the one that answers, "I know, it is in Mommy's purse pocket. I can get it." She jumps off Damon and runs to the wooden crate. Stefan is right next to Lizzie when she finds the Amazonite Crystal in the side pocket, Stefan takes the crystal from her hand, "Nice job, Lizzie, now let's get Mommy back from her adventure, shall we?" Lizzie nods her head and says, "Is she going to tell us where she is visiting now?" Bonnie takes on this question, "Of course, she always tells us about her adventures."
Damon is looking at Caroline, she has her hand on Elena's baby bump. He immediately goes to Elena's side, "Is the baby ok? What is happening?" Elena confused, "I have no idea, we are fine, the baby is fine, I'm fine. I don't feel anything different at all." Bonnie tries to calm him down, "Damon, Elena and the baby are not in danger at all. Caroline is having a vision. Right now, her vision has taken her soul either into the past or future." Stefan takes hold of Caroline's hand and gently opens her palm, "Honey, it's time to come back home now." He puts the crystal in her palm and closes her fingers around it. Caroline's entire body jerks and her eyes stare at him. Stefan grabs her tightly, "Hey there sweetheart. It's Stefan Salvatore, your husband. You are Caroline Forbes Salvatore. You are at the Salvatore Mansion. Are you with me, yet?" Caroline blinks and looks around, then she looks back at Stefan. Stefan's softened voice beacons her, "Hey there, I see you." He smiles and loosens his grip on her, "Welcome back, let's get you to the sofa." He gently lifts her in his arms bridal style, like it was the most natural thing to do.
Damon completely startled, "What the hell just happened!" He is so confused, everyone is acting like this was a normal occurrence, he continues, "Is she possessed, did something happen to Elena, to the baby? Someone better start talking?" As the last word comes out of Damon's mouth, a wind current sweeps through the front door.
Bonnie uses her magic to shut the front door, then turns to Damon, "Damon, sit the hell down and relax. As always you are being such a Drama King. We are about to tell you and Elena about OUR adventures while you were on your honeymoon." Stefan gently stroking Caroline's hair while she is slowly realizing what is going on, starts to talk in even and comforting tones, Stefan takes over the conversation, "At the Armory, Ric has been finding more caves that have been magically cloaked. These caves have magical artefacts in them. Our Caroline found an artefact that dates back to Demetrius, actually older. It turns out, this little green crystal is an amazonite stone, mystical in origin and it belonged to our magical ancestor's, Gaia's daughter, the Goddess Themis. She was the goddess of divine law and order, she also had the mystical gift of sight." Caroline sits up, "I was at the Armory with the girls and the crystal glowed, at least that is the best way of explaining it when I hovered my hand over it, the stone would twinkle. Things happened and I touched the stone. All the mystical energies that were housed in the crystal were transferred to me. Now I'm a Mystical Seer, every once in awhile, I get a vision. When I do, my soul gets teleported into the vision and the crystal puts me back into my body. If I'm holding the crystal during the vision, then it isn't a problem, I stay in my body the whole time." Stefan chimes in, "Brother, which is a reason we are happy you are home. I want to see if you and I can chip a piece of that crystal off so that I can have a necklace or some sort of jewelry made for Care to wear all the time."
Elena laughed, "Another daylight ring." Caroline responded, "Bitch!" Bonnie roared in laughter, with ice cream dribbling out of her mouth. All 3 of the ladies started laughing until tears came down their cheeks. Stefan and Damon looked at them with completely squinted eyes and arched brows, basically, they were thinking their wives and friend had gone crazy. Bonnie took pity on the brothers, "The laughter stems from an old conversation. Trust me, you had to be there. And NO we aren't crazy." The ladies started laughing again.
Stefan rolls his eyes, "Ever since we figured out that she isn't dying, Care has had some fun with her visions. Two weeks ago she got a vision off of me from 1864 with Katherine. That was a lot of fun trying to explain." Stefan threaded his fingers through his hair. Caroline laughs, "I've also had informative visions about Demetrius and Silas, don't forget those. And don't be so dramatic, I only asked why you were so stupid since she was so manipulative. And they were falling for all of it, with their tongues hanging out, drooling…Seriously, Damon, she was so blatant about it, I can't believe you of all men. Elena, you should have seen her. It was like watching a bad Jessica Rabbit cartoon. She would flutter one eyelash and they would" Damon interrupts, "Caroline, we lived through it. WE don't need a play by play. Can we move on to what and why you are having visions of our past?" Stefan was thankful that his brother got back on topic, "Yes, so Care has visions of both the past and the future. Her visions are filling in some of our knowledge gaps. She also has the ability to see the magical essence. Care, why don't you explain it?"
Caroline looks at Elena and then at her baby bump, "Ok, Elena, I wish I could take a picture of you through my eyes right now. Your body has a beautiful white glow around you, and Peanut has greens, blues, browns, and yellows around your baby bump all the colors are clear and bright, meaning good positive magical energies. You and your baby create earth magic. Damon has the same colors around him, some of his colors aren't as translucent or clear and bright as the baby's are, that means that Damon's magic has the ability to turn dark. Damon has the ability to use his magics for good or for dark purposes, it's up to him. It is the same with Stefan and Bonnie's magic, their mystical colors show the same characteristics. We have figured out the more mature you are with your magic, the more control you have over it, meaning, the ability to practice free will to use your magic for good or dark, that is why the colors around you can change to either translucent or cloudy."
Caroline looks up at Stefan, he nods his head, she continues, "I can see all types of magic. If something, anything actually has a mystical energy, I can see it. Basically, all of Mystic Fall is a hotbed of mystical energy. Pretty much every Founding family member is surrounded by mystical energy, even the Fells." Caroline stops for a moment, she watches as the information settles into the minds of her family. Elena is the first to start talking, "If Mystic Falls is a supernatural lighting rod, then the founding families were drawn here. Does that mean all of them are supernatural? We already know that the Lockwood's carry the werewolf gene, the Salvatore's are witches, and Gilbert's hunters. That leaves the Fells and Forbes." Caroline adds, "Plus the Bennets and Maxwells, Matt's family line." Damon smirks, "That's right, Donovan's a Maxwell." Caroline smiles, "Matt's line has somehow crossed over with the Forbes. The Forbes have been the peacekeepers or balancing force. Throughout history, Forbes made decisions to kill or not kill supernatural beings based on their evil intentions. This explains my mother's fondness to Damon, deep down she knew he was a good guy, way down, really down, earth core deep, he was a good guy." Elena interrupts, "Caroline, knock it off. We all know who Damon is now and was. Let's move on with the story." Caroline winks at Damon, "I have to give him some grief, Elena, after all, he is Damon Salvatore." Damon gives Caroline his classic eyebrow wiggle with a special sparkle to go with it, then raises his hands and shrugs his shoulders in a 'what can you expect' wordless answer. Elena looks back and forth between the two family members and shakes her head, she then speaks directly to Stefan, "Will they ever stop giving each other a hard time?" Stefan laughs, "Has Jeremy ever let an opportunity go by of giving you a perfectly timed insult or the embarrassing personal fact you are hoping not to share with everyone? Elena, give up, they have officially reached sibling status. We are doomed to an eternity of misery." Everyone got a laugh from that statement. Damon grinning, "Ok, Stef, I'm over it, at least the misery part. So does this mean that Care is our new secret magical detection device?" Caroline sits up taller, "That's me, Team Salvatore's secret weapon."
Caroline continues to explain her new magical power, "The Fell's were a bit harder for me to figure out. I went around all of the local Fells. None of them had much mystic energies, with the exception of the youngest baby boy, I think his name is Thomas, named after his ancestor and Mystic Fall's Founder Thomas Fell. I have a feeling that wasn't exactly an accident, fate might be putting something into play. For now, his magically energies are completely pastel and white with a bright emerald green surrounding him, exactly what a mystical medical baby should be. Here is the important part, when I went to the Fell's donations to the City Hall Founder's archive, ALL the artefacts were supercharged with mystical energies. We are talking every single piece, even the rifle and dinner place setting. If the girls touch them, they would be super juiced for days."
Elena starts shifting around anxiously in the sofa, Damon stands and extends his hands to her, knowing that she needs to walk around a bit. Elena looks up and smiles, she takes his hand and feels the strength of his casual assistance that brings to her to a standing position. She bends back with her hands on the back of her hips, giving a nice relaxed stretch, thinking about everything that Caroline is saying as she walks around the facing sofas. Elena looks at Caroline, "All the Founding Families are magical?" Caroline nods her head and continues, "Mystic Fall's is a mystical hotbed. We are a magnet for the supernatural. Basically, if you have a speck of magic in your DNA, you are going to find yourself on a trip to our quaint little town."
Damon knows what Elena is thinking, "It is nice to know we are just the next generation of supernaturals. All of us are just another branch of the old Oak Tree." That gets Elena's attention and Damon a smile. Damon formulates a few thoughts, "Stef, am I correct in assuming that you have already mapped out the hot spots around town and specific areas of major concern that we should be keeping an eye on?"
Caroline and Stefan look at one another with gloating smirks, when Stefan answers Damon's question, "We've been doing just that. In the library is a map of Mystic Falls and the surrounding area, Caroline has it color. She will go over it with you later."
The front door opens, all the heads turn as Ric walks in, "What did I miss?" Elena walks over and throws her arms around him, "Just us coming home. I have missed you." Ric wraps his arms around her, "That little one inside there is getting bigger." Elena steps back and rubs her baby bump, "I know, I'm officially fat." Damon corrects her, "You are gorgeous, sexy, beautiful, amazing and growing my child. SO watch your mouth, Peanut can hear your words. No Body shaming MOM!" Ric adds, "Elena, you look radiant. The most beautiful " He stops and looks up at Caroline, then continues, "Actually, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but, I'm surrounded by the most beautiful women in the world. You and Bonnie remind me so much of Caroline and how she just glowed with Lizzie and Josie. I'm going to risk my life and say she never looked more beautiful and radiant." Caroline snarled just a little, "Hey, I'm a hottie now too. But I'll let you live, just because our daughters love you." And blows him a kiss. Caroline knows that he still harbors some of the love that he felt for her when they were raising the girls as a traditional family unit. They were in a good place, open and honest, she loved Ric as a friend, as family, as the father of her daughters, she would always be there for him, but her heart, her soul that belonged to Stefan. Ric knew that, understood it and supported her. That didn't stop that look from coming across his face every once in awhile, when he was looking at her and remembering a specific feeling or thought. She knew the look, that look always made her feel warm and loved inside, Ric would always have a special place in her life. She returned his look with a bright smile that said 'your special to me too', Ric looked away from Caroline and put his attention back on Elena, "So little Momma, how do you feel?"
Elena still rubbing her baby bump, "Hungry all the time now, I swear, all I think about is my next meal. Speaking of food, I'm heading the kitchen for a snack." She leans on her toes and kisses his cheek, "I missed you." And heads to the kitchen. Ric smiles, "She never changes, all she has to do is look at me, and it makes me feel like the most important person in her life. How does she do that?" He looks around as just about everyone makes some sort of physical gesture to agree with his statement, that just is the magic of Elena. Back to what he walked into, Ric notices everyone is in a serious mood, "So what did I walk in on? Conference? Strategy session? Barn burning?"
Caroline stands up, walks over to the liquor cart and pour a bourbon, "We just brought Damon and Elena current with my new mystical powers." Ric smiles at how Caroline's voice always has such pride when she says 'My mystical powers'. He sits down in one of the leather chairs in front of the fireplace as Caroline brings him the bourbon. Ric is not surprised by the gesture, she continues to talk as she goes back to her seat and sits down, "The other part that has been interesting is how many objects have mystical energies. Damon, you wouldn't believe how many things here at the Mansion, especially the stuff you guys kept from before you turned. Almost everything has magic in it." Stefan adds, "Everything, except the Football. Our football is a dud. Can you believe that? After all the hours that we put on that ball, even with Katherine, I honestly thought there would be some sort of mystical something on it. Care said nothing." Stefan was sincerely disappointed, Damon smirked at that one, and he knew that Stefan was hoping there was a magical reason why he lost to his older brother with that old football. Damon changed his thoughts to what Caroline was saying, "Are we talking good or evil magic?" Caroline answers, "Less specific magic and more mystical energy, something that the girls can harness for their magic. The real answer to your question is either, it is the magical power that can be used for good or evil. It depends on who is able to access it. That is the interesting part, Bonnie tried to access the energy from a few of the objects, like the pewter candle holders in the library. They had the strongest energy source." Caroline got up and picked up one of the candle holders. Damon stands up and walks over to her, "I remember this, it was in Mother's room. It was on top of her Armoire. I don't think I ever saw it with a candle in it." Elena walks back into the room, just as she touches Damon's arm a spark flies between Damon and Caroline.
The year is 1835. Damon and Caroline are watching a young Lillian Salvatore sitting in a rocking chair, it what is clearly a baby's nursery room, rocking a small infant by candlelight. They recognize the candle holder immediately. Lily's voice gets their attention, "My beautiful little girl, are you smiling for Mama. Oh, I think you are. My precious Cathalina." Damon and Caroline look at one another, Caroline mouths 'who is that?' Damon's shoulders go up and down in confusion. Hiding behind the heavy drapery windows, they stay hidden.
Lily stands up, and lays the infant into an ornately carved wooden cradle, "Sleep my precious one, please. You must sleep. Please try not to dream. Your father does not understand your dreams. He is not an open-minded man. You slumber peacefully. I shall be but a moment from your side." Lily left the room.
Damon and Caroline come out from behind the curtain, Caroline asks in a whisper, "Do you know this room? Damon shakes his head no, he walks to the cradle, and looks into. Damon looks down and see a carbon copy of himself as a baby, his raven black hair, his crystal blue eyes, his nose, even the same rose colored lips. This baby was dressed in pink clothes, pink bonnet, pink blanket, he looked around and all the walls had pink wallpaper, there were dolls on the shelves. This was a girl's room. This baby couldn't be him, this was a little girl named Cathalina. Caroline put her hand on his shoulder, "Damon, she's a witch. I can see all her power around her. Your mother was talking about her dreams. I don't think they are dreams. I think the baby is giving your parents visions and they don't understand them." Damon put his hand down, and the baby grabbed his finger, she smiled and started moving her arms and legs. Damon knew, "Caroline, this is my sister. What happened to her? Why did we never grow up with her?" Caroline doesn't have an answer, "Maybe we can find out, Damon, someone is coming up the stairs, we need to hide." Damon doesn't want to, he releases his finger from his sister's grasp. The two-time travellers head back to their hiding place by the windows. Giuseppe Salvatore follows Lillian into the nursery, "Lillian, that child has the devil in her. You know this. Those dreams, you had them when she was inside your womb. And now, that child is cursing all of us, everyone in this household." Lily stands in front of the cradle, in front of her daughter, "No, she is a baby. There is nothing evil about her. Giuseppe, please, just look into her eyes, you will see. She has my eyes and your mouth. Please she is us, she is a Salvatore, she is our daughter, our firstborn." Giuseppe Salvatore was never a man to be persuaded once his mind was made up, "The Bishop will be here tomorrow. The tests will be performed, as my wife, you will support this, I demand it. And if the tests are positive. The Bishop will know what must be done next. He will have our full cooperation in this matter. Do you understand, Wife?" Lily lowers her head, "Yes, husband, I understand." Satisfied with his wife's response, Giuseppe turns and leaves the room. Damon starts to leave the cover of the heavy drapery, Caroline grabs his arm and shakes her head. Lily turns to her little baby girl, "You have shown me dreams of two other boys, your brothers, Damon and Stefan. Oh my little Cathalina, I don't know what to do. Do I run with you and never meet them? Or do I risk you, and wait for them? Somehow, I think that decision was just taken away from us. I wish I could make you understand somehow to please just be a baby, an innocent baby tomorrow." Lillian was a godly woman, she got down on her knees and intertwined her fingers, "Please God, protect this innocent child, she is a blessing. My daughter is not evil, she has a gift, I yet do not understand. I need time to learn, to understand. She has shown me there are brothers to come, more innocent children that you have chosen for me to bring into this world. Please dear God, help me protect my daughter."
Damon and Caroline felt the pull, Caroline knows what is going to happen next, she quickly scans the room for every detail she can, something in the on the table right next to the cradle gets her attention, a statute, she focuses on it, she tries to clear her vision by blinking, it is too late, they were back in the grand hall of the Mansion. Elena was holding Damon's hand, with Peanut's magic, she had seen everything through Damon's eyes. Caroline had the Amazonite crystal in her hand, Stefan was by her side, "Well that was new."
Damon stood up, "Damn him, Fuck him! God, he was a bastard. He had her killed. HE KILLED everyone one of his children. ALL OF THEM!" Damon paced the floors, he needed to break something, murder someone, eat someone, Damon wanted to be a vampire at that moment. Elena understood this part of Damon, "Damon… DAMON… DAMON.. Look at me." She finally got his attention, "Tell Stefan what you heard and saw, you have to talk about it. You can't keep it inside, you are not a vampire any more, no more murder sprees, no more screwing up. You're a witch and a Dad. You are NOT Giuseppe Salvatore." That really did get his attention and Stefan's. Stefan turned to Damon, "What happened?" Damon looked at Caroline, "Care, you ok?" Caroline nodded, "I'm good." Damon put his hand out in front of Stefan, "Come, Brother, I need some air. I need a whole lot of air. I might need to throw around some trees while I tell you all about our time travel trip." Stefan grabbed his hand as his older brother pulled him to his feet. Damon immediately turned and headed out the front door with Stefan right behind him.
Caroline told everyone else what they witnessed. Bonnie was disgusted, "It happened in my family too, in Salem. It was one of the reasons why Emily was indebted to Katherine. Katherine saved Emily's family in Salem, in exchange, Emily and her brother stayed with Katherine." Elena covers her abdomen protectively, knowing that the baby growing inside her was a witch, something as simple as being born on a wrong day would have made a difference on whether Peanut has a happy life or not. The fate of Cathalina Salvatore was not lost on Ric either, "That isn't going to happen now. Our school will make sure of it. Supernatural children will never have to feel unloved again." He looked at Caroline, who nodded in agreement.
Elena knew Damon would want to know everything he could about his older sister. The conversation had turned to the Salvatore journals and archives. Each of them took a shelf of the library and started searching. After quite a bit of time had passed, Ric was the first to find something, Ric held up a ledger from 1835, "I found something, here's an entry from February 1835. 24 yards of pink floral wallpaper. Caroline is that what you saw on the walls of the nursery? Pink floral?" Caroline walked over to him, with a book in her hand, "Yes, it was definitely, pink floral. I wonder how long it took to purchase the wallpaper. If it was something the store had in stock or if it was special ordered. Cathalina did not look very old, maybe 6 months old. She was so young." Caroline put her book down, "I found Giuseppe's journal from 1834, look at this." Elena and Bonnie join them, Caroline flips thru the journal quickly, everyone notices exactly what she was showing. The journal had pages torn out of it, from the month of May, every few pages had a page missing. Elena asks, "Has anyone found the journal from 1835?" Everyone shakes their heads, Elena takes a deep breath, "It's got to be here somewhere. Those Founders wrote about everything." Bonnie goes back to her ledger, "This is strange, I have an entry in one of the Milling records for an infant's coffin on July 12, 1835, with no name." Each of them looked up at the same time, did they just find the date of Cathalina death.
The front door opened, Damon and Stefan had come back. Elena and Caroline put their books down and left the library. The wives entered the great hall and saw their husbands. The brothers looked ragged, they had been using their magic, Damon's hair was wild with leaves in it. Stefan had scorch marks clothes. The wives went directly into the open arms of their husbands, without saying a word, they held them tightly.
Long moments had passed before the brothers eased their grip on the ladies, at last, Stefan looked up, "I can't believe it. We have an older sister. And she was magical. All those years of guilt for killing him, and he deserved it. He killed or had her killed. She was a baby. A little baby. Our sister." Caroline held his head, "She knew you were coming, she showed Lily that her brothers were on their way. She loved you before she even knew what that meant. She was protecting you." Caroline felt a tear on her skin. She walked with Stefan to the sofa in front of the fireplace.
Damon put his hands on his child, he sent a current of his magic through Elena's skin. He got down on his knees and kisses her baby bump. Damon whispered, "You will never be harmed, you are so special. Your gift is so special. You are loved so much. Your father loves you so much, your mother loves you. We will protect you with our lives. You will never know anything but love from your family." Elena heard every word, she stroked Damon's hair while he whispered his promises to their child.
They stayed in the great hall for another hour, just holding each other. No words were said. Damon and Stefan collected themselves in the arms of their wives. They felt the love and support. Their brother bond was stronger, they had felt each other's rage and hatred of Giuseppe. Damon was able to show Stefan everything that he experienced in the time travel through their brother magic. Now it was time to heal, the past has to stop haunting them. That is what they decided after the rage had subsided. The brothers had a future to live and a family to protect. There was a new Salvatore family line that was being made and it wasn't going to be ruled by bigotry or fear, it had Caroline and Elena, who knew nothing but love. Their children would be raised surrounded by love and the supernatural.
Caroline sat up, "Damon, I wanted to ask you about a sculpture I saw in Cathalina's room." Damon looked over at his sister-in-law, "Sculpture?" Caroline took Damon's head in her hands, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She let the image of the room fill her mind and then Damon's, she then focused on the sculpture and let that image float into Damon's mind. Caroline asks, "See the bronze sculpture on the shelf behind the cradle, do you recognize it?" Damon shuts his eyes and lets the image take over his subconscious.
Damon is back in the nursery, he is looking at his mother rocking his baby older sister. He notices that Cathalina is holding on to his mother's finger, just like she had held on to his. He refocuses his attention to the details of the room, he walks past the cradle to the bookshelf behind. He fingers the books on the top shelf, many of them on in the library right now. His hand drops to the second shelf, in front of him was a hand-painted portrait of his parents, they were younger, he guessed, they sat for it right after they were married. Next to the portrait was an expertly crafted wooden box with multiple hues of color and mother of pearl inlays. Damon run his fingers across the top of the box, it looked very familiar, he would have to remember where he had seen this box before. Damon wished he could open the box to see it contents. His eyes rest on the sculpture that Caroline is asking about, he recognizes it, just not from the his Salvatore history, it's from the visions that Demetrius had used to teach him and Stefan about their magical heritage. This was the Goddess Themis and that is the same Amazonite crystal that gave Caroline her magical abilities. Damon turned his head and looked at his sister, then back at the crystal. Could his sister's powers have been transferred into the crystal somehow? When his sister, a witch died, if she died in this room, the psychic imprint would have stayed, because of her age could her powers have been released, just to find the closest mystical object?
Damon breaks the connection with Caroline, they are back in the great hall of the Salvatore Mansion. Caroline gasps, "You know what it is. Damon, don't you? It is the same crystal." Damon answers, "The sculpture is the Greek Goddess Themis, the goddess of visions, wisdom and justice. She was considered the wisest of the oracles and the daughter of Gaia. She was known for being a seer of good and evil." Damon was getting anxious, "Where's Bonnie?" Elena responded, "In the library with Ric." Everyone gets up and follows Damon to the library.
Bonnie looks up from the extra-large ornately carved desk, "How's everyone doing?" Elena, who enters right on the heels of Damon, answers, "Better than expected. Did you find anything else?" Ric answers, "We found quite a bit of purchases, doctors fees and some interestingly missing pages, and then this." Ric lays the ledger open for everyone to see, he puts his finger on an entry dated July 14, 1835 payment to Benedict Fenwick $750.00 US Dollars. Stefan recalls, "Hey, I remember that name from our tutors, wasn't he the Bishop that wiped out the Salem witch coven in 1829." Damon answers, "One and the same, brother. And $750 in 1835 was a fortune. Good ole Daddy was paying for a major sin."
Damon stepped back, he sat in one of the leather chairs, "So we have dear old Daddy who was stupid as fuck when it came to supernatural. He happened to be part of a long line of powerful witches. So if Demetrius was telling us that we were the next in line to be groomed for this major collection of Gaia magic. Wouldn't it make sense that our magical ancestral line would have a helper or guidance counselor of some sort, say a big sister who could see magic auras and had visions to help us." Stefan walks over to Damon, "Hey, Elena's cleansing ritual, it cleared Caroline too. We've been trying to figure out why Care hasn't felt bloodlust since the ritual. This is it, the ritual removed the dark magic, the negative magic that used from the original vampirism spell. That has to be the reason Care was open and accessible for new magic." Ric adds to that, "Transferring magic isn't as easy as opening and closing a door. It has to be linked to the brothers. If your sister was the original seer, she was born into the bloodline, the Brothers bloodline. It was her magical birthright. Since your destinies weren't altered by her death since she died before either of you were born. Her magic had to be preserved. The ancestors must have figured that a Bennett witch, Emily, would have felt or saw the magic in the crystal, and known what to do with it." Bonnie joins, "That makes sense, then when you two bonded with Caroline as soul mate and sister, you created a magical connection to the Brother Magic, to Gaia. You brought Caroline into the Brothers coven as a full member that created the ability for her to be your Seer. When Care touched the crystal, the magic was just going home, to its rightful coven."
Damon furrows his brows, "Does this make Blondie a heretic?" Damon was glad that looks couldn't kill, especially considering the one that he was getting from Care. Stefan gets the conversation back on topic before his wife and brother start a duel, "So we have a Bishop from Boston coming to Mystic Falls to kill a baby witch, a seer witch, and her entire existence is wiped out. Then we are born, Lily 'dies'" Stefan uses his fingers dramatically, "Katherine comes to town, turns us and in the meantime, our Mother was also turned. Seems like someone or thing went through a whole lot of trouble to make sure the Salvatore's of Mystic Falls didn't die out." Caroline answers, "Sounds like the warriors for our army are getting into place."
The six comrades take a breath, each of them feels like a major clue in a Sherlock Holmes Mystery Novel has just been discovered.
Stefan brakes the silence, "Damon, I've always wondered why Father let Katherine stay with us. Giuseppe wasn't the most neighborly or hospitable person. I wonder if it had anything to do with Cathalina, if his guilt had somehow caught up to him." Damon replied, "Maybe so, it didn't do any of us much good in the end. Giuseppe murdered all of us." Damon stood up and walked back to the desk, he picked up the ledger, "Stefan, Do you remember the spring of '60, when the Old Man took Mother to Washington DC?" Bringing the leather-bound book to his brother, Stefan's eyes followed the ledger as Damon put it down in his lap, "Yes, they were away for over a month. What about it?" Damon smirked, "Tommy Fell invited me to their plantation outside of Richmond, he had to conduct some business for his father. You threw the biggest tizzy about being left behind, so I ended up taking you with us." Stefan disagreed, "It wasn't a tizzy, I simply asked if I could go with you. I wasn't fond of father's manager Mr. Wilder, back then." Damon rolled his eyes, "As I was saying, look at these names." Damon's finger pointed to 3 entries on the ledger. Stefan answered, "They worked at the Fell's plantation." Damon shook his head, "Yep, I would put money on it that our family loving father asked Mr. Fell for a Founding Family favor. And these guys are the ones that cleaned up our sister's belonging and buried, destroyed it, or whatever to it." Stefan looks at Damon, "If the sculpture of Themis survived…" Damon is nodding his head up and down, Stefan is thinking the same. These hired hands didn't 'destroy' their sister's valuable processions, they took them.
Ric is watching every look and gesture between the brothers, "If there are more items from Cathalina's room, there might be more of her magic still around?" Stefan brows crease, "More powers intended for Caroline."
All the eyes in the room slowly move to Caroline, with the realization her role just moved up to general in this small army.
