The Ties that Bind - Part II - Edited 4/26/2015
Last time...
Bonnie successfully summons Manning back from the Other side, but it turns out that Manning is not himself and attacks the group, nearly killing Caroline. Right when he is about to pull Caroline's heart from her chest, Caroline touches Manning and is surprised when a strange light comes from her touch and burns him, forcing him to release her. V, now with her humanity back on after seeing Manning, subdues him and explains that Manning is possessed by a spirit called the Dark Mistress. She shares how she thinks this spirit may be using Esther as well, and that there is a way to possibly turn them both back to normal, leaving Klaus with mixed feelings.
A/N Yes. I'm alive. Just been really depressed and lost inspiration to write :(
I am determined to finished this though, especially with 350 Follows and 300 reviews!
The next 4 chapters I've been dying to write for awhile but the level of detail that I need to cover was A LOT! Anyways. I'm eager to find out your thoughts concerning these chapters. They are my personal favorites in this story arc.
Thanks to those who have started:
Following: Aleandra Odinson, Bekah0227, CMitchell, Jolly88404, Little Viking Big Eyes, Luvya2103, MidnightRaven23, Salsmy, TvGirl20, amaliesofie, baru42, dj42048, helimoen, jsdholland, kezryan2, klarobeauties, mokona1986, moonlightkiss1515, secret99, sweet sonata, swefangirl94, vermariess,
Favoriting:Bekah0227, Berry71, KayeBell, Salsmy, TvGirl20, Withinlust, helimoen, klarobeauties, shane1me, sweet sonata, vampireprincess141,
and Reviewing since last chapter: klarobeauties, salsmy, loveofavampire, tippy093, ellavm18, justanotherfiveminutes, sam, juseapeterson, seralina, remeyqueen74, lucy rocks, jaspergoddessofwar,
Surprise hint in the A/N at the end of this chapter along with the guest review response!
The Ties that Bind - Part II
It is but two hours since Manning's exorcism and the impact of knowing his spirit is still in existence propels V's steps through the gate at King's Park, gives them purpose. The minute Manning came to and shared his story, it became clear to V what she has to do, the ways in which she has to set all chess pieces to ensure that all essential pieces will survive to see victory.
The enemy had revealed herself, the Dark Mistress, a being so familiar to V that she feared if she looked in the mirror, she could still see remnants of her. For V to have ran so hard for all these years, just to see her face again, taunting her...
V thought Esther was the black king chess piece that needs to be captured but no.
She isn't. She isn't even a queen, the most powerful piece in the game, protecting the king. No.
It is clear who the Queen is for the black side of the chess board, which is why Esther is in New Orleans, not as a pawn, but a faithful rook, protecting the perimeter around the army before the Queen needs to step into play to defend the King, the Dark Mistress.
Esther isn't the only rook though.
The minute Manning mentioned her name, V knew she was the other rook.
A rook that needs to be captured, not destroyed for that surely would be a waste of the little kitty Kat, Ms. Katherine Pierce.
The window of time to make her move is narrow, but V is fast. She gets the ættartala, and tracks down Katherine and Elijah within an hour.
There, V uses her remaining powers to manipulate them both and here she is, standing from a nearby tree, unseen, watching the group of Klaus and Caroline confront Katerina and Elijah.
Words are said, threats are made, and as V planned, Katerina, under V's control, lunges for Caroline.
V remains unsurprised when Klaus gets to Katerina before she can touch Caroline. In his rage, Klaus flashes forward, ignoring Elijah's cries and rips Katerina's head clear off her body.
Then V waits for the magical shift, the temporary veil drop that occurs when the supernatural die, so they can be pulled to the anchor of the other side. It is invisible, unperceptible, the severing of the spirit from flesh, is usually is missed, but V, being what she was, no, what she, Alessia, still is, can see this, and the shift in the air is enough for Alessia to feel complete for just a moment when she is able to transform and extend the part of herself she missed so much. Her shoulder blades contract, the skin on her back tears but it is a welcomed pain for what emerges forth.
It allows her to hold open the veil, this extension of herself, among other things, (her thoughts darkening at the thought) but she keeps her mind on task as her second consciousness settles in.
"Really Alessia? Missed me already?" it sneers. "I was just making my way back to the Other Side. Why have you summoned me? More...favors to ask? Another lover's spirit to beg mercy for?"
Alessia clenches her teeth at the jab but swallows her anger.
"If I could do this myself, I wouldn't have called you, trust me," Alessia mutters under her breath.
"Well. It isn't like I have any control when we are together like this," says the mental voice disdainfully. Then it brightens. "Wait. Do you need me to kill again?" it cries eagerly. "How many? I'm always for a good massacre! The killing of the firstborn of Egypt, the slaughter of Mikael's first vampires on Manning's clan grounds, the black plague back in the Old World, Hiroshima, Nagasaki..." it lets out a dreamy sigh. "All will be well if that is why..."
"No," says Alessia, cutting it off, her eyes falling down on the spirit of Katerina Petrova who looking positively stricken looking at her decapitated body on the ground.
"Oh," the mental voice utters flatly in a bored tone. "You know she belongs to me. You have no use for a spirit so dark."
"She belongs to the both of us. I have chosen her."
Alessia feel the other consciousness bristle at this. "I'm starting to think you are doing this to spite me," it says angrily. "Whatever would be the reason..."
The mental voice stops in its tirade when it puts two and two together.
"A new Executioner," and Alessia can hear the satisfaction in its voice. "I approve. Manning was beginning to get boring. Well. Not really but..."
"No!"
Alessia's head snaps at Katerina's direction, her distressed cry echoing in the air. The Chooser of the Slain, the Serub, the Flame haired Assassin, V (so many names Alessia has borne while entrapped for millennium after millennium in this fickle, mortal and painfully physical plane, that all her titles, if any being knows them all besides The Creator, doubles as an incantation that can destroy her), almost feels sorry for her.
Almost.
Because Alessia knows the gift she is about to bestow on the doppleganger who has ran for her life 500 years. Now the hunter and no longer the prey to the more powerful.
If she accepts of course.
With Alessia's gift, Katerina would finally get her wish.
Immortality.
Invincibility.
A gift that would free Manning from his supernatural sentence, a fact that really is the driving force behind Alessia's gift.
For who doesn't in this universe bestow such gifts without something in it for them?
When Alessia descends from the tree she is standing on, her supernatural aura seeps around the doppleganger, making Katerina uncomfortable. Her eyes snap away from her body to look around frantically to detect the abnormality, before her eyes fall on Alessia, her eyes wide with fear taking in her true form.
In the dark of night, her armor reflects the moonlight like glass, her red gold hair is like flames licking the night sky and the hazel in her eyes overcomes the green and become circlets of molten gold, pupiless.
Her six "wings" extend their full length, not made of feather as ancient lore would make mortals believe, but an outworldly hard but tractable material taking the shape of feathers. They are sharp, iridescent, like prisms catching light, softly reflecting random colors as the "feathers" crackle like wind chimes in the stirring Australian breeze.
Katerina see all of this and swallows hard, knowing she is before something she has never encountered in her 500 years.
This moment, this realization going through Katerina's mind is the reason when Alessia's kind reveals themselves to mortals, the first words that come out of their mouths are:
"Do not be afraid," says Alessia.
Approvingly, Alessia watches Katerina snaps out of her initial reaction and lets out of a scoff, hand on her hip.
"Whatever. Like there is anything to be afraid of now," she states upset, with a meaningfully flourish to her dead corpse. Her eyes softens when she sees the hand of the Elder Original beyond the veil reach for her body but stops himself, his normally controlled demeanor falling away piece by piece as he looks hatefully at Klaus. His vampiric features in full bloom and Katerina's eyes widen at Elijah's clear loss of control.
"You..." Elijah hisses.
Klaus stares hard at him back while Kol is looking on giddy from the sidelines.
"Oh look. This is grand! Elijah's blown his top over the death of his precious doppleganger!" Kol states happily.
Bonnie shakes her head at him in disapprovingly, while Caroline stands up slowly, looking on apprehensively at Klaus and Elijah, biting on her lip guiltily. It is partially her fault the doppleganger is dead after all.
"Silence Kol," bites out Elijah in a tone that smacks the smile out of Kol's face instantly. His face now gives to realization when he sees how serious this is.
"Don't tell me you still loved her brother?" Kol says incredulous. "She's nothing but a Tatia copycat!"
"SHE WAS NOT!" he shouts furiously, a lone tear escaping his eye before he quickly brushes it away. "That is all you both ever saw! But I saw different. Katerina has-had," he chokes on using the past tense, "a passion for life. She was smart, cunning, and they'll never be another like her..."
"Elijah," whispers Katerina, moved.
As if hearing her, Klaus breaks the sentimental moment.
"Oh just wait a couple centuries," says Klaus heartlessly. "Another look like will tarnish the planet like this one and you can fall for that one too and regale us of your love for that one...oh wait," he pauses dramatically, his eyes widening in mock sadness, "Elena Gilbert didn't have any children did she Caroline?" he asks rhetorically before ending darkly, his gaze hard on Elijah. "No more dopplegangers to pine over dear 'Lijah. Good riddance."
It's the final straw which makes Elijah snap. He lunges at Klaus, with Caroline screaming at them to stop.
"I was finally going to be free," says Katerina, looking on blankly. "Nadia and I. I was going to get Klaus' pardon and I...We would be free."
Alessia nods. "Yes. This is true. For that, I am sorry, but you still would be weak, still vulnerable to Niklaus if he was to ever change his mind. Then where would that leave you and your daughter? You, stuck in a baby vampire's body, back to running for your life? Granted, with company, but never truly living. Your family, still unavenged..."
Not wanting to hear anymore of her truthful words, Katerina snaps.
"Yeah, so dying resolves all that?!" she shouts at her.
Alessia acknowledges her quietly. "Dying is simply a prerequisite to power you have always sought. You vampires should know this better than all beings. Without dying, it is impossible for you to transition into the vampire body that makes you stronger, faster, immortal. These laws have not changed, simply because you have now died as a vampire. Do not be so naive. Open your eyes!"
Alessia lets a tired sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Thus the problem with you mortals. All the answers are at your feet, but you close your mind to them."
Katerina looks at Alessia, turning her body to face her completely as she absorbs her words. "Are you saying, when you die as a vampire, you can be something more powerful?" she asks incredulous.
"More powerful than a werewolf, more powerful than a vampire, more powerful than an Original. Those creatures belong to a hierarchy that the living adhere by. Here, in the spiritual realm, possibilities are so much more. Whether you are chosen by me or you are allowed to transcend."
These terms Alessia uses are confusing to Katherine but more importantly:
"How do you know this?" Kat demands. "What are you-"
Alessia lets out a gasp, holding her head painfully when she feels the supernatural veil push back at that moment. She keeps it open, but she unable to keep her form, the other consciousness leaving her, reverting Alessia back to her fallen form of three "wings" instead of six, then to V the hybrid.
"You..." hisses Katerina, recognizing who she is, her fangs dropping.
V raises her hand in warning. "Don't be rash child. I'm on your side."
"You killed me!" Katerina accuses hotly. "You compelled me to try to kill Caroline!"
"I don't compel. I control..." corrects V, not thinking.
Katerina jumps on her, but V easily twists them both around to pin Katerina by the neck to the ground.
"Okay. Wrong thing to say," V notes quietly.
Katerina wiggle under her grasp to take swing at her, forcing V to slam Katerina's head hard on the concrete, making her see stars.
"Enough," she growls. "I know you don't trust me because I got you killed, but I need you to listen."
"Like hell I'll listen to you, you red headed bitch!" Katerina shouts hotly. "I'd rather drink vervain-"
"There is a hell Katerina!" V shouts over her in her face, stunning Katerina into silence as V continues on. "Even worse, Oblivion. There are consequences to living a horrible life, to killing innocent people and had I not done what I did, you would of died at a later date, trying to go the Other side only to find you couldn't and then..."
She can't finish. V instead releases Katerina, not looking into her eyes as she gets up.
"Then what?!" demands Katerina.
V sighs, looking at her. "Then you wish there was something called a true death because having your spirit be devoured piece by piece is far from something pleasant. And in Oblivion, it happens over and over again, till you go mad and ultimately lose yourself. Then no one knows what happens after that. Some say Lucifer himself comes to visit and he's become quite sadistic, that one."
Lucifer? The Devil? Seriously? Katerina wants to laugh at her, call her a liar, spit in her face, force her to bring her back to life, to Elijah.
Yet her instincts, the ones that have kept her alive so long, is telling her this is somehow real, that the solemn look on V's face is not an act.
"So what is my other option?" says Kat. "If killing me now has made a difference, what do you need me to do? Now that I'm dead, how do I transition into something more powerful?"
For at the end of the day, being the one that people feared, being untouchable somehow, is an allure that Katerine Pierce cannot resist.
"The anchor Bonnie Bennett is within your reach. Go to her now, and I promise you, you won't like what happens then. Or..."
V smiles.
"Have a bit a fun. Go to the Salvatore Brothers, lead them to where Elena Gilbert is, see your daughter, then go to Bonnie. By that time, Manning will be back on the Other Side and he will intercede for you. Just remember to mention seeing the red head with a triangle tattoo. I swear to you, you won't regret it. What?"
Katerina, whose face is twitching, itching to laugh, finally falls into full out laughter.
"S-Sorry," she says, holding her stomach, chuckling into her hand. "You want me to help Stefan and Damon play knights in shining armor to my knock off, boring rendition of me called Elena?" she sneers. "You've got to be joking! Once she's free, she'll more than likely hear about Caroline's impending death and offer her blood to make her an Original and if that happens, Klaus will have his happily ever after with Caroline, while I'm stuck on the Other side, dead, trying not to go to Hell or Obilivion, whatever? No. Just no. Why does he get happiness? He killed my FAMILY! He took my LIFE! Nothing against Caroline but, Klaus? I'd rather go to this Oblivion you keep going on about!"
"And to Oblivion you will go darling," says V quietly. "Niklaus, though he won't die, will go through pain, will hurt, will suffer. His path to redemption will not be easy and neither will yours but you will have no chance of getting all you desire if you don't let go."
Kat swallows hard, irate, turning away. Every fiber of her being wanted to get back at Klaus, make him suffer, and this nobody was here telling her to forget about it? That it will be handled?
"Whether you believe me or not, there are certain facts that are irrefutable," V tells her patiently. "You are indeed dead. Your body is right there," gesturing to it.
Katherine glances at her corpse, swallowing the metaphorical slap to the face and back at V. "Yes."
"Do the dead usually have any say in the affairs of the living?"
Kat hates how the red head is being so a matter a fact, but she answers her, no matter how much that answer hurts.
"No."
"So would it really be so bad to have a say in things a bit longer? To play manipulator one more time?"
"It isn't manipulation if I get nothing out of it," Kat points out.
"Who said you would get nothing?" says V. "You forget, you would get to transition into something greater after death. True immortality and invincibility. Something that not even Niklaus can ever receive."
The veil closes then, and V does not push back (not that she can in her current form) letting it fall.
"Choice is yours child. You've always be smart. Would hate to see you struck with idiocy now," she says with a smirk, flashing away before the veil completely falls, hiding her from sight.
Katerina looks at Bonnie, who is able to see her now, stare at her with pity.
"I'm dead," says Kat to her.
Bonnie nods.
Katerina walks slowly to Bonnie, passing Elijah whose neck had been snapped by Klaus no doubt, as the others watch Bonnie curiously while Caroline is the first to put it together.
"It's Katherine, isn't Bon?" says Caroline.
Bonnie nods again.
"Well. Can't say you'll be missed," says a smiling Kol, who can see Katherine too, "but you did make things fun, although a bit annoying. Sweet dreams darling."
Katherine rolls her eyes.
"Save your breath Kol," says Klaus, looking down at Elijah. "She's nothing but a removed thorn from our sides. Let her do what dead people do and go away."
Katherine stops and glares at Klaus.
"I swear. I should let Caroline die and then we'll see how much garbage you'll talk then."
Bonnie's eyes widen. "You really know how to save Caroline?" says Bonnie excitedly, and Katherine watches in satisfaction when Klaus' eyes snap up, terror in his eyes, before they harden.
"She's bluffing," he growls.
"I'm dead you idiot. Why would I lie?" Spits out Kat.
Bonnie repeats her words and Klaus flashes to Bonnie threateningly as if she can do anything. He realizes this quickly and in his frustration, he talks to the air.
"Tell Bonnie what you know."
Caroline's eyes fall to the ground, shaking her head, knowing it's useless. "She won't help us. She hates you too much, especially now," she tells Klaus. She lets out a defeated laugh as everyone looks at her sadly. "I'm really going to die huh? Hopefully it doesn't hurt too bad this time around," she says with mirthless chuckle that no one returns.
Klaus instead looks at Caroline, his eyes fill with pain, knowing what she won't say out loud.
"Maybe if you had let Katherine live, I might of had a chance, but now I'm really going to die, because you let your anger get the better of you."
Just seeing the defeat in his face is victory for Katherine. She wants to twist the metaphorical knife in his heart some more.
"Tell Caroline that she can thank Klaus for killing her," Katherine says with a smirk. With delight, she watches Bonnie's face fall further and Katherine disappears.
Kat hears V's voice in her head before she thinks of going to Stefan:
"So would it really be so bad to have a say in things a bit longer? To play manipulator one more time?"
And Katherine finds the answer to be no. Why not play the red head's game? Kat would help, but who said that Kat couldn't make them suffer in thinking she wouldn't in the meantime?
"Don't be so morbid, darling," says Kol, putting a hand on Caroline's shoulder. "We'll figure this out. We can find Elena without the doppleganger's help."
Before more can be said, Bonnie's phone rings, just when Elijah's phone comes to life at the same time.
Klaus quietly goes to Elijah and pulls the phone out of his vest pocket, while Bonnie picks hers up.
"Elijah! God! Is Nik with you? The wanker's phone is going straight to voicemail..."
"That tends to happen when your phone is blown to kingdom come," Klaus replies curtly. "Hello to you too little sister," he adds with a slight smirk.
"Nik! Thank God..."
"You know he doesn't exist."
After that, Rebekah's next words make Klaus's face go pale while Bonnie gapes into her phone piece and at the same time, she hears two conversations that cut her heart in two:
"Sod off Nik! This is serious. Hayley's been kidnapped by the witches." Rebekah's voice comes in through Elijah's phone in a panic. "They say they'll sacrifice her and the baby on the next full moon. It's in two days Nik and Marcel's minions and I can't find them!"
And through Bonnie's phone:
"Tell me you found Caroline Bon," says Matt over the phone. "It's gotten serious. Sheriff Forbes is in the hospital. She's dying Bon. Bon!"
In that moment, though physically they are so close to each other, Klaus and Caroline feel miles apart, as real life comes crashing in like a tidal wave.
A/N I know. Not what you expected huh? I hope you guys aren't too mad this wasn't the Manning exorcism chapter, but this was a loose end I needed to tie up. The next part will cover what happened before this scene, including Manning and what happens with Klaroline now that their lives back home have caught up with them. Will they stay together because Caroline can die any day now or will they separate? Will Kat really help after Klaus killed her? Let me know your thoughts via review.
Response to guest review:
Sam - You ask some great questions about Esther's actions since she has been resurrected. In the next two chapters, you will get your answer, but yes as hinted in the this chapter and the last, Esther is indeed being manipulated. At some point, it will be revealed how Esther is being controlled. Her story is a sad one but I will give a hint: Esther died before Manning transitioned into Executioner and while Amara was the Anchor. Let's say that when Esther went to touch Amara, to go to the Other Side, she had an experience like Katherine in which she couldn't cross. I'll leave you to think on what that means ;).
Will Esther being used matter to the Mikaelsons? That won't be answered until the final arc so hang in there! The real Manning is back, as pointed out in the beginning of the chapter, but the how will be given next chapter. I've already rewritten it like 3 times already, but it will be finished along with the Klaroline smut scene...oh. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing!
