Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or TO
I just want to say that I am not at all satisfied with this chapter but it was just taking too long. I'd rather write something bad rather than sit in bed reading fanfiction and rewatching TVD or else I'll never finish this book.
REVIEWS
Krugerjanien: Thank you.
Misnis09: Thanks so much for your continued support. We'll probably return to Mystic Falls in 2009 and for the sacrifice when they make a deal with Klaus. Jenna's not just going to sit down and let her niece be sacrificed.
deathsdoor666: Thank you. Here you go.
Overall, I just want to thank everyone for being with me over the past few months. This is the longest story I've written so far and I'm not stopping until it's complete. Thanks for all the reviews. There haven't been any mean comments, just constructive criticisms and praise. And I want to thank everyone for that. I sometimes feel inadequate, like my story sucks and no one's going to like it, which is what I go through when updating a new chapter takes longer, but looking at the comments makes me realize that people like my work and I'm not a horrible writer. It motivates me to continue writing. I don't want to disappoint you all so, please enjoy this new chapter.
"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other." - Mario Puzo
Ch. 15 - Fourth Of July
"No!" Jenna stood up off the couch. She paced back and forth in the middle of the drawing-room. "No, no, no no! No!" She stopped and turned to me. "You can't just expect me to sit back and let my niece be sacrificed just so the most powerful being in the world can grow his already overinflated ego."
I closed my eyes, letting her let out all her frustrations. I already knew this would happen but when I figured out that Elena was the doppelganger, I made sure to tell her immediately. I would never want to keep such a thing about her family from her. No matter how strained Jenna's relationship with her sister has been over the years, Jenna still loves Miranda and would never do anything that would make her sad. "Jenna…"
My heart clenched when I saw tears fill Jenna's eyes. "I can't do that to my sister. I can't do it to her." She quickly ran out of the room and slammed the door to her room.
I sighed. I didn't want to see Jenna sad, but I expected her reaction. I empathize with her. If someone told me that one of my family members had to die for someone else's selfish ambition, I would have done anything to keep my family safe. If it was Matt or Ria who needed to be sacrificed, I wouldn't hesitate to find a white oak stake to kill the Original Hybrid. Gods' will be damned.
Slowly, everyone else filled the living room after Jenna had gone. Each of them took a seat on the couches and armchairs in the middle of the library. "So, Elena Gilbert is the Doppelganger. How'd you figure it out?"
"I remember that when I was younger, I hated the idea of Elena interacting with Matt and Ria. I didn't want them becoming friends with her to get caught up in her drama," I explained. I was so pleased when Matt and Ria began to dislike the spoiled brat, especially since I hated Grayson Gilbert. "According to the journals, everything that happens is because of the Salvatore Brothers' obsession with the doppelganger. They'd rather watch the world burn than see anything bad happen to her."
"I feel bad for Jenna," Ria said. Her eyes widened as she raised her hand to her lips. "I'm gonna have to tell Care, aren't I?"
"Leave her alone for a while. We don't want Jenna to have to split her loyalties. She has to come to know the danger and decide what she wants to do for herself," Enzo said. "So, what's our plan?" Matt, Ria, and Enzo turned to look at me.
I just turned my gaze to Lora. "Lo? First on the list?"
"I've researched Triad Industries. They're a private company. The only thing I could find on them was that they're an intelligence company and the name of their CEO. I also have the address of their headquarters. Everything else is secret."
"I don't care for Elena's birth mother or the Salvatores so I'm not gonna do anything about them. I want to focus on Malivore. We can't have some random woman fall into a black pit of goo and come out pregnant with his human meat suit 2 years later. We have less than 2 years to take care of that," I explained. "Enzo…"
"I'll talk to Slater," he said. "When it comes to finding out things that people want to keep secret, there's nothing he can't find out. I just need to mention dragons and Camelot to him. I'm sure he'll even find us Excalibur."
"Okay, but say we find a way to Triad Industries and Malivore," Ria said with a raised eyebrow. "Then, what?"
"Only the Tribrid or a dragon can kill him, and last I checked, we don't have a magical vampire-werewolf-witch baby hidden anywhere around," Matt said looking around the room. "Nope. No dragons either." I rolled my eyes at my little brother's antics.
"It'll be easier to find a dragon since we know there are still a few scattered around," Lora said. "According to the journals, there should be a dragon girl somewhere in the Continental US. We just need to look for a fire-breathing kleptomaniac."
"Second on our list: Find an American dragon." I let out a sigh. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I slowly began to realize how difficult it would be to find a dragon. I knew a dragon existed somewhere and I was planning to find one somehow. For now, I just want to move on and not worry about the high level of difficulty we were playing at. "3rd on the list: I need to find The Key to the Magic Archive. We could find something about dragons. Maybe even another, more accessible, weakness for Malivore."
"We'll probably need to do all this before 2008."
"Other than Malivore and the Travelers, how do we handle the Originals? Almost everything that happens after 2009 has something to do with them," Ria asked.
"I'd like to know, too." We all turned back to see Jenna standing in the doorway. Her eyes were red and her chest heaved up and down, showing she had been crying. She held her head high as she walked in and took a seat on the couch beside me. She turned in her seat to face me. "I looked over some of the journals again. I know the Hybrid needs the doppelganger's blood to make more Hybrids. I doubt he'll believe us if we just tell him that."
I smiled at Jenna, pleased with her intelligent deduction. Even in her emotional state, she was able to calm down and think clearly. "No, he won't. He'll think he knows everything about his curse and believe that we're trying to trick him, especially since you're the doppelganger's aunt. He'll threaten to make us watch as he kills everyone we love."
"So what do we do?" Jenna asked once more, her eyes firm.
"We need to make a deal. We'll need leverage. One, we already have the moonstone, which I used your blood to seal."
"And without it, he won't be able to break his curse. He'll need my blood to unseal it."
"But are you willing to do that, Jenna? Without the moonstone, Elena won't be needed for the sacrifice."
We all remained silent in the room. I already knew what I would do if Elena was my family. I'm a selfish person and my family's safety and happiness means everything to me. If it was me, I would have thrown the moonstone into the ocean so it could never be found. But, Jenna would never do such a thing. She cried when she read the Original Hybrid's story. She empathized with him due to her own feelings of inadequacy in the eyes of her parents. I could see the gears going on in her mind as she debated Elena's life for the Hybrid's curse.
"If you want, I can even cloak Elena so he'll never find her."
Jenna closed her eyes. She opened them again, her hazel eyes sharp as she stared at me. "No. I don't want to kick the can down the road, only for another innocent girl to have to be faced with this in another 500 years. We'll have signed her death warrant and we'll be no different than Katherine. I know there's a way for Elena to live through the sacrifice. We just need to give him options."
I smiled and nodded at Jenna. "Alright. We need to find the brother, the Noble Original. He wants revenge because he thinks his siblings were thrown into the sea. If we offer him his siblings, he'll be more willing to make a deal."
"But the Hybrid has his siblings. If he's keeping them locked up for decades, he won't just let them out when he knows they'll try to kill him or at least keep him from breaking his curse," Matt said.
"We'll need to find his father and the white oak stake to kill him."
"Since they'd been running from their father for a millennium and he daggers his siblings to keep them from drawing the attention of their father, he'll have no reason to keep his siblings daggered if the Hunter is dead."
"One problem: We have no idea where the Original Hunter is."
"I do. He's been desiccated for the past decade," I smiled. Mikael was one of the memories that were the clearest in my mind. I remembered the fear and dread I felt when I saw him all those years ago. Just the thought of him still made me shiver. I would hand him over to Klaus on a silver platter without asking for anything in return. "In 1995, the day before Ria's birthday, I ran into Mikael in Mystic Falls and had an emotional breakdown. I hadn't remembered why before, but now that I think about it, he probably came for Elena."
Jenna gasped, tears forming in her eyes again as she clasped her hands to her mouth. "But, Elena was barely 3 years old then."
"That same night, I had a vision. When he went to the Gilbert house, he scared Miranda and Grayson, who asked Abby for help. She used Dark Magic to desiccate him, so the Spirits took her powers from her. She left Mystic Falls. I don't know where Abby is or where she put Mikael, but I can find him."
"So we have a lot to offer the Originals," Ria said, "is what you're saying."
"Yeah. We have the moonstone, we have the doppelganger, and we have their father. We'll prove that we're on their side to make The Hybrid more willing to listen to us. Not to mention two of my previous lives were close to the Originals. They know of the Magi's power. We just need to make our case that he needs the doppelganger alive to make his Hybrids." I turned to Jenna and took her hand in mine. "It's just a general plan for now. We have a few years to make a coherent plan. I promise you Jen, I'll try to find a way to magically bind the Hybrid to his word so he can't kill Elena, even if he tries to."
"So how do we find the Originals?" Ria asked.
"Oh, they'll find us. They're powerful vampires who are always looking for talented witches who are friendly to their kind. We've made ourselves known in the Supernatural community since we're selling daylight jewelry. They'll be looking for us. Both the Hybrid and the Noble Brother." I turned to Lora. "Lora, you need to contact Slater. He's the one they'll approach if they want to find us."
Lora nodded, typing an email. "I'll set up a meeting. I've also been looking to create a spell to block mental manipulation abilities. To protect Enzo's and Slater's minds from compulsion and dream manipulations. I can place one on Caroline and Jenna too." Lora sighed. "We also have Silas, the Sirens, and the Devil. That spell's gonna have to be a fortress."
"Okay."
Enzo crossed his leg over his lap on the armchair. "If someone is looking for the doppelganger and the moonstone, they'll approach Slater. He'll let us know," Enzo told Jenna. "Don't worry, Jenna, we'll keep Elena safe until we can make a deal with the Originals."
Jenna nodded slowly. "Thanks," she whispered.
"So, how are we going to split these tasks?" Lora said. "I'll do more research on Triad Industries from the business end."
"I'll take on the search for the dragon," Enzo said. "I'll use Slater's help. I'm sure he'll be overjoyed over the prospect of meeting a dragon."
Matt looked at Ria. "Do you want to work together?" he asked his sister who nodded.
"Yeah. Mattie and I'll look through the journals again and see if we can look for clues about the identities of more people." She shrugged. "Since it's Mystic Falls, it won't be too hard."
"I'll be on Magic Archive duty," I said. I turned back to Jenna, who was almost in tears. "Jen, we've already changed the future by a lot. Sheila is dead. We have Emily's talisman and grimoire. We could open the tomb now with zero consequence. Even the futures of you and Caroline have changed significantly. In the journals, you were still working on your thesis in 2010, but you'll be finished with graduate school by next spring. We can change everything. Elena and you won't have to lose family and friends." I pulled her into me, hugging her as her tears fell. I passed my hands soothingly on her back. Matt, Ria, and Lora came to wrap their arms around Jenna's back in comfort. We all hugged her. "It's okay, Jenna. You have us: family."
July 4, 2006
Since arriving in New York, Caroline hadn't had time to hang out with her friends much or make new friends. She only had two years to reach her goal and she had been spending almost every hour of every day in the gym. Her schedule was so full for the next two years that her aunt would be homeschooling her starting this Fall and the next so she won't lag behind on her schooling. She had to do world championships and team and individual qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics.
She had been living with her aunt for over six months. When her mother realized that she needed more practice with a professional coach, Caroline was sent to New York in January and her aunt was more than happy to homeschool her. She had been working non-stop since with barely any free time to make new friends outside of the gym, or hang out with her old friends who had just moved a few cities over.
Caroline was thankful for being friends with a group of Magi. She was constantly drinking water from the Moon Pool and Phoebe's Physical Recovery Potions that she didn't suffer from muscle fatigue like the other gymnasts did. Ria made a special massage oil to use to help relax her muscles since she couldn't be drinking the Physical Recovery Potion every day. She drank a few milliliters of the potion 6 nights a week before bed so she wouldn't suffer from sore muscles the next morning. In the mornings, throughout her workout, she drank water that had some of the water from the Moon Pool to keep her energized and her mind focused. She never used these boosts during her competitions but using them for practice allowed her to practice for hours without stopping or suffering from any physical consequences.
At first, she resisted using the magical items. She thought it was cheating since her fellow gymnasts didn't have any magical help. Enzo, Lora, and Phoebe convinced her by telling her using magic to practice is no different than other gymnasts using monetary resources to get a private coach or a private gym. Gymnastics was first and foremost a sport that showcased an athlete's individual skill. The magic helped her mental focus and hastened her physical recovery but it didn't make her stronger or more skillful at gymnastics like some performance-enhancing drugs. She used the magic to push her body to the limit, to perfect her routines. It was used for nothing more. She would never accept anything gaining victory through underhanded means. If she did, she was certain that she would displease the Olympian gods, especially Nike.
The day was the fourth of July and she finally got a break. She spent the morning with her friends, touring Greenwich before they stopped to watch the big independence day parade moving through the streets. Everything was a sea of red, white, and blue, from the spectators' clothes to the floats and twirling flags. As she watched Miss Greenwich on her float with all the other pageant girls, Caroline couldn't help it when her mind wandered back to Mystic Falls. Mystic Falls had parties for everything, from national holidays, to local founding celebrations. Her mother, like always, would most likely be working, keeping the peace through town while everyone else was celebrating.
In the afternoon, they headed into New York City in two cars, Matt, Jenna, in Phoebe's SUV while Enzo drove Lora's car with Caroline and Ria gossiping in the backseat. Instead of heading for the congested Times Square like most tourists, they went to the North Meadow in Central Park. They laid a large blanket on the grassy field on a hill. Enzo placed down the picnic basket and the cooler as he began to set up their food on the blanket.
"Seriously, I hate New York," Jenna grumbled as she picked up a slice of watermelon. "The city's congested with people and cars, no parking, and the close proximity of the buildings makes me feel claustrophobic." It was among the many reasons why they didn't move into the New York City metropolitan area. They were all small-town folk at heart and New York City was the last place they wanted to be. Mystic Falls was a town of less than 10000 people, surrounded on all sides by forest and country. They liked their wide-open spaces, which was why Phoebe chose a house with similar characteristics as they had back in Mystic Falls.
"Didn't you find a place in Brookline?" she asked Phoebe. "You could have moved to Boston and you still would have been able to find clients for your businesses. And you'd still have yard space and still be close to the city center."
"I wanted to be near Care," Ria replied, taking her favorite buffalo chicken wrap with a can of soda from the cooler.
"Awe, thanks," Caroline said as she pulled her best friend into a side hug.
"Sorry Jen, but our Sunshine gets favoritism," Phoebe quipped, raising her head to look at Jenna over the wide rim of her white sunhat. "We're close enough to Boston that you can come home every weekend and holiday. Caroline is still just a teen. If we moved to Boston, we wouldn't be able to be together like this."
"Vampire and witches love it here," Lora said. "More clients for businesses."
"Vampires like getting lost in the crowds. It's easy to pick up someone, feed on them, make them forget in a town where people are always coming and going," Enzo said.
"I get it," Jenna said. "New York city's congestion is good for something." She let out a heavy sigh. "I'm thinking of coming to work here when I'm done with school. I can live at the house. No need for an apartment."
"I always wondered about that," Matt said looking at Lora, Jenna, and Enzo. "Why don't you guys have your own apartments? I mean, I'd think you guys, since you're adults, would want your privacy and get separate apartments rather than stay at the house all the time."
Lora and Jenna exchanged glances, raising their sunglasses over their heads before they turned to Matt and replied, "Money."
"Why would I want to get an apartment when I have my own room in a large house, filled with food and a bunch of outdoor space," Lora said. "Do you know how many young women would kill to be in my position? It's not like I can't get an apartment. Let's say I got a one-bedroom in New York for 2500 dollars. That's over 30000 a year. Let's not forget I'd also be paying for utilities and internet and other stuff. I can put that money into the house we bought together or into investments."
Jenna raised her hands. "I've been looking to work at psychology clinics nearby after grad school, so I'll be moving into the house full time after graduation. I actually like hanging out with you guys at the house. It's just like Lora said. I have an apartment in Somerville because it's cheaper than living in Cambridge and with the train passing right by my apartment, I just ride a few stops to get to campus and I can take a free shuttle to get to the med school. If I could not live in an apartment, I wouldn't."
Caroline gasped loudly, "So that's why you really wanted them to move to Boston. So you wouldn't have to live in your apartment."
Jenna shrugged, "Well yeah."
"Sucks to be you, Jenna," Caroline bantered and Jenna harrumphed.
"Personally, I don't mind being with you guys," Enzo replied. "I travel the most, so when I come back, I like gathering at the house with all of you. I feel safe and secure without the feeling that I have to watch my back all the time. I've never had a permanent home in all my life. Coming back to you guys, all the hugs and laughs you give me, and even when you're annoying, just feels like home."
They were all silent, contemplating Enzo's words. They all knew what he had gone through with Augustine until Phoebe rescued him. He traveled a lot the years after he regained his freedom, but he came back and has stayed close to them since then. He leaves sometimes to travel for recreation. Enzo has found traveling to be very therapeutic, representing the freedoms he has. Every so often, he'll relive his trauma at Augustine, believing that the life he's led over the years has been nothing but a dream. And he fears waking up to find himself in his cell in that basement, starving and alone. He would surely fall into despair and hopelessness if it was all true. He couldn't bear to lose the connections he's made with the young children who have all filled his life with love and hope with their presence alone.
They exist and he is happier for it.
Phoebe and Lora each grasped one of Enzo's hands, smiling warmly at him. "You know we love you, Enzo," Phoebe said. "You don't have to watch your back when you're with us, 'cause we got you."
"You can share the same blood and still hate each other. We're a family but we chose one another. It's not just blood that binds us together; it's loyalty. We like each other and share common goals and morals. We choose to be together." Lora said as she looked at Matt, answering his question with finality. "I think it's why we prefer to be around each other than not."
It was a happy Independence Day as they watched fireworks on a boat on the river that night. They dropped Caroline home first By the time they returned to Greenwich, it was past midnight and they entered the house yawning and sluggish. Everyone made their way to their bedrooms to turn in for the rest of the night and lazy morning the next day.
July 11, 2006
It was the night of the full moon and the members of the Silver Moon Coven stood together in ceremony. Matt sat aside as he petted Teddy Bear's head on his lap as he watched the spider crawl out of the cauldron, up the side of her face into the clip in her hair. Matt followed his sister's example and performed the Familiar Bonding Ritual with Teddy. He was resistant in the beginning, but he wanted Teddy to always be with him. And since he couldn't physically take the large dog with him to school and other places, carrying him around in a dog tag around his neck, always connected to him, was the next best thing.
Enzo, Phoebe, Matt, Ria, Caroline, Jenna, and Lora stood around the table after Matt's successful familiar bond was made. Another ritual was performed under the light of the full moon.
Lora passed around with a knife, slicing each person's wrist and dripping a small amount of their blood into a bowl. When the ritual began, the wind whipped around them as lightning flashed overhead. The moonstone jewelry they wore glowed as Lora began chanting the spell. She dipped a length of rope into the mixture of blood and herbs. The other Magi chanted with Lora as lightning struck the mixture in the bowl seven times. The rope animatedly came out of the bowl, wrapping itself around each of their left wrists where the cut was made. As Lora finished the incantation, the bloody rope disintegrated into the open wounds before they slowly began to close. Once the wound closed a tattoo of the rope formed around the wrists. The design of the tattoo was a Gordian knot woven repeatedly around the wrist with many symbols invoking the many gods and some text written in ancient Greek.
Slater looked at the new email he had received on his phone from Miss Heinz. It'd been three years since he began working with Lora and the Silver Moon Coven and he had never been so busy in his life. Before, he was just filling his time, his eternal life, with knowledge, learning as much as she could. Now, he barely had time to read a book, let alone go to college.
After they started their information network together, he was on the phone or laptop or tablet every hour of every day, receiving reports from the people -both humans and vampires- he had working under him all over the world. Whenever the three heads -Lorenzo, Lora, and Medea- needed something, they would send him an email, and he would delegate jobs to the people under him.
He had met the elusive Medea once in those three years just as an introduction. She was young but powerful. She never contacted him personally.
He sat in a booth closer to the back of the restaurant, reading a text he had received from Enzo. They had become friends over the years. Among Slater's many degrees was a degree in psychology. He worked with Enzo as his therapist to help him deal with all the trauma he went through. Enzo had become like Slater's vampire older brother, showing him that going to school wasn't the only way he could spend his eternity. He had become stronger, physically, in using his abilities as a vampire. With Enzo's connection to the Magi, Slater had learned more about the supernatural world in the past three years than he had done in his past 30 years as a vampire.
Enzo slid into the booth across from his friend. "Been a while, Slate. How're you and your new girl?"
"We're doing good, thanks. Taking things slow. After all, I have forever," Slater said.
"It's gonna be hard to be with a mortal," Enzo said. "Do you think she just wants you to turn her?"
Slater shrugged. "I don't know." He decided to change the focus of the conversation. "How've you been?" Slater asked.
Enzo pulled out a sage incense stick and lit the end with a lighter. He placed it on a holder in the middle of the table. "Busy. We'll be even more busy in the next few years," Enzo replied.
"I noticed. I've been receiving so many emails from her this week asking for my help doing some research into some company."
"Yeah. We all have our focus. You're gonna love what I've got to tell you, mate." Enzo smirked when he saw the glimmer in Slater's eyes that appeared every time they brought something new to him. "Dragons."
Slater's eyes widened. He said nothing. He sat back against the chair. Of course. Fucking dragons. First, it was Magi. Then, Werewolves. Then he found out that the Greek gods were also real. Slater yelped, "Hah!" Then began laughing out loud. "Of course there are dragons."
"Yep. They can shapeshift into humans. And they're the fire-breathing, treasure-hoarding kind," Enzo explained. "There happens to be one wandering around the American wilderness somewhere and we're going to find her."
When he regained his composure, he leaned closer to Enzo. "I'm in."
I'm sure everyone can tell that I don't know much about gymnastics or the Olympics so I'm generalizing. Broad strokes.
Phoebe uses the name Medea as her alias in the supernatural community.
This is already the longest fanfic I've ever written since I joined the site.
Thank you for reading.
