Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).
For those who have been reading Inactions and Consequences and have been wondering about my updating that story. I have started to re-read it myself as although I do have the plot for chapter 41 ready, I can't remember the finer details. So I'm posting this chapter and then reading that story so that I can address the plot hole. I had an idea a while ago and it was something which could be altered and I made a note of it. So I'll go through it and see if it works. It will take a bit of work to establish the ending and the rest of the journey to get there before I can write the chapter with confidence, but when I do I can resume the story.
Elena's Fantasy Diaries only has 2 chapters left. I will be concluding that story in December as my wrist needs to get better before I can write a mammoth chapter like that story requires. Once that is finished, I will be concentrating on this story and Inactions and Consequences. Happy Eternally Ever After will be resumed once I have finished either this story or Inactions and Consequences, whichever comes first.
I think that clarifies the future updates, unless I end up in a plot hole of course. ;)
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Damon was sat on the couch in front of the fire, arms folded and scowling. For the last half an hour he'd been trying to light a candle with little success. He was even more annoyed as this was one of the few spells he'd actually mastered. However this wasn't how he'd been lighting the candles, he was using an incantation he'd made up based on what he knew Bonnie did, and from his own slightly limited knowledge of Latin. Damon hadn't told Freya or Vincent any of this information, they were his teachers, they were supposed to teach him the correct spells, not for him to make them up.
"You're not trying hard enough." Freya insisted. "You just have to look at the candle and want to light it." she said.
"I thought you said you'd mastered lighting candles." Vincent frowned.
"I have." Damon pouted. "Just not the way you are showing me." he admitted.
"As long as you're not tapping into dark magic, there is no right or wrong way." Vincent told him. "Regardless of their heritage, every witch casts spells differently. That is why we use grimoires. To keep a record should we ever need to use the spell again or for it to be reversed by you or another witch." he said.
"Haven't you studied these spells to see if they work?" Freya asked.
"I'm too old to study." Damon complained.
Vincent rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he said shaking his head and holding his hands up in resignation. "If you don't want to help yourself, I'm not going to waste my time and magic helping you." he threatened.
"I didn't say I won't." Damon quickly backtracked. "It's just harder to learn new skills as you get older." he insisted
"Ahem." Freya interrupted. "I'm over a thousand years old and I'm not too old to learn, so don't give me that crap." she sneered at him. "I'm also biologically older than you, so don't use that excuse either." she shook her head. "Now use the incantation you've been using to light a candle." she folded her arms and glared at him.
Damon sighed. "Fine." he coughed and turned to look at the candle. "Phasmatos ignem accende lucernam." he said snarkily.
"You need to put more effort into it than..." Vincent started, but suddenly stopped as the candle in front of them lit. "Okay, you weren't even concentrating. And that wasn't ancient Greek which is what I'd have thought Travelers used." he frowned. "How did you do that?" he asked.
"I said the words and it lit." Damon raised an eyebrow.
"Did you feel the need to want it to light?" Freya asked as Damon shook his head.
"Didn't have to. The words were enough to convince the candle to light itself." Damon shrugged.
"Wait, that's not how you perform spells." Vincent frowned. "Magic is practiced through need, not instruction."
"Did you use it like compulsion?" Freya asked.
"It's the only way I could figure out how to do it." Damon explained. "After being a vampire for a hundred and fifty odd years, you tend to get into habits. You don't ask for things, or want things. You tell them someone or something to do what you want. Getting out of the habit of compelling people was hard, then I found out I could do magic, my automatic sense was to try compelling the candle to do what I instructed it to do." he explained.
"Would you be able to do it even if you didn't want the candle to light?" Vincent asked.
"Compulsion doesn't work that way." Damon frowned.
"Let me get this straight. You are compelling the object to do what you want in Latin, that is all." Vincent asked.
"Well I ask the spirits because Bonnie did, don't know if it works without asking them." Damon shrugged.
"Try it without asking the spirits, because I don't think you are drawing on their power." Freya told him. "I use a different type of magic, and I don't need to draw on the spirits. Maybe your magic is more like mine." she suggested, blowing out the candle.
"Okay." Damon nodded turning to look at the candle once more. "Ignem accende lucernam." he said as the candle lit.
"Well that clears it up. You don't need to rely on spirit magic." Vincent said looking impressed. "So if you just say what you want to happen in Latin it does?" he asked.
Damon frowned. "Not entirely sure. I did ask the kids to clear their rooms in Latin once, but it didn't work. They just looked at me like I'd grown another head." he said as Freya simply raised an eyebrow. "What?!" Damon asked as he saw the expression on her face.
"Magic doesn't work like that. Maybe controlling inanimate objects, but people, animals and environments won't respond the same." Freya explained. "Have you documented what does and doesn't work?" she asked as Damon shook his head.
"Traveler magic died two thousand years ago." Vincent explained. "We have very little information about how they practiced it before the great divide. We know they were normal witches, but how they chaneled their magic is a mystery. You, Elena and the kids, are possibly the only people left who can practice this kind of magic. Not even modern day travelers would be able to if they still existed." he told him. "We can't help you without knowing how to help." he said.
"We need to know how you can use your magic." Freya continued. "For instance you only have to use instruction for elemental spells. But how do you practice curses, biological spells, Locator spells..."
"I get the picture." Damon sighed. "Are you wanting me to keep some sort of journal?" he asked, practically spitting out the word 'journal' in distaste.
"Do you have a journal to write in?" Freya asked.
"No!" Damon replied. "Pft! Who uses books these days? I got a tablet and an external hard drive." he smirked.
Freya headed over to the dresser and pulled out a book and pen. "I'd suggest you do it this way first." she said. "In a hundred years, if someone needs to read a spell you created to reverse it, they'll have more luck reading a book than a tablet, as they'll probably be outdated by then." she shook her head in disbelief. "You of all people should know that."
"But it doesn't have predictive text or a spellchecker." Damon said sarcastically.
"Diagrams are easier to draw in a book." Freya insisted holding the book out to Damon, who eventually took it.
"Do you need to say the words when you light the candle?" Vincent asked.
"Don't know, why?" Damon replied.
"Just try it." Vincent smiled as he blew out the candle.
Damon looked at the candle and repeated the incantation in his head. Suddenly the wick lit up and the candle was burning.
"Not all spells need to be spoken." Freya told Damon. "If you can cast a spell without speaking the words, it is always better." she expalined. "This is why the grimoire is so important. You keep a record of your incantations, even if you never need to say them. That way they can be reversed if necessary."
"Well, well, well. Another Salvatore brother writing a journal." Came the accented voice of Rebekah, prompting everyone to turn around, seeing her and Marcel stood watching them.
"Rebekah." Damon grimaced. "Marcel." he greeted Rebekah's husband with a little more warmth than the Original sister.
"Hey man." Marcel grinned at Damon. "Hows it goin?" he asked.
Damon raised an eyebrow and gave a disgusted look. "They want me to write a journal." he said.
"A grimoire." Vincent corrected him.
"Whatever, it's not me." Damon complained.
"Damon!" Elena said firmly as they all turned to see her and Keelin join them in the party. Damon looked down sheepishly.
"Hey Elena." Marcel offered his biggest smile and kissed Elena on the cheek. "Keelin." he nodded.
"How do you do that?" Rebekah asked Elena.
"That's Elena's way of threatening to cook." Damon explained. "Works a treat with the kids too." he laughed.
"I remember throwing something of Elena's down the drain." Rebekah sneered, reminding Elena of the time she threw Elena's daylight ring into the sink at a party she was hosting. Elena had managed to retrieve the ring before it disappeared and she'd burned in the sun. That was just after Elena had turned, when they were at their height of hatred for each other. Elena looked at her finger where over the recent years, she'd taken to wearing her daylight ring once more, as a reminder of her past, just as Damon had.
"It survived." Elena smiled, trying to be nice as she walked over to Damon and sat next to him.
"What have you learned?" Damon asked, trying to steer the conversation clear of magic and of Elena and Rebekah's bickering.
"We were looking at chrmozones." Elena told him. "Vampires are almost identical to humans in their make up. A few minor differences, which explain a lot of what we know about vampire biology. But there's stuff in there which we don't understand." she said.
"Which is where your results come in handy." Keelin told them. "We have vampire you and the human witch version of you to compare. Which, is the closest we have to a before and after transitioning vampire. Unless we have a human volunteer who is prepared to run lots of tests before turning, and then turn afterwards, this is as close as we're going to get to compare the same person being both human and a vampire." she grinned. "It's really exciting."
"Have you gotten any closer to the issue of fertility yet?" Marcel asked.
"Elena had an idea." Keelin replied looking to Elena to explain.
"My friend Caroline, who was a vampire gave birth to twins." Elena explained. "So we know it is possible for a vampire to be pregnant and carry a baby until full term. However certain vampire don't priduce certain hormones, which is why they can't procreate."
"So why the heightened sex drive?" Damon frowned.
"Good question." Keelin shrugged.
"Maybe it's all down to emotional need and magic." Elena suggested. "However, when Caroline became pregnant, it kick started her hormones and her body worked normally for that period of time." she said.
"Which means with hormone therapy, it might be possible for a female vampire to carry a child." Keelin added. "Although there is the question of whether she'd want donor eggs or not, because I haven't gone as far as seeing what we can do about the eggs as I haven't looked into it. Either they're dead or they're frozen in time, which means we just have to find a way to unfreeze them. Same applies to sperm." she smiled.
"Are you saying science might be able to fix what magic can't?" Damon frowned, looking at Elena in shock.
"Yes!" Keelin replied. "People have their eggs and sperm frozen these days, I think it is possible vampire eggs and sperm might be in a similar state. We just have to work out how to unfreeze them. Then with hormone injections, I can't see any reason why a female vampire can't have her own children, apart from her need for blood. But for older vampires that's not an issue." she shrugged.
"But why look into this if Rebekah is going to take the cure?" Damon asked.
Elena, Rebekah, Keelin and Marcel looked at each other before Rebekah spoke.
"We think there might be problems after taking the cure." she said. "You and Elena had no problems with your first two, but you've been trying for years now and Elena still hasn't gotten pregnant with a third child. I'm also a witch, there is a chance I could have the same problems. I might not even get the opportunity to have one child if there is an issue. I don't want the cure if I can't have a family."
"And this is the back up option?" Damon asked as Rebekah nodded. "And the tests being run on Ben and Jess, they're not just for our benefit are they? You want to know what will happen if you have kids and how the cure might affect them." he urmised as Rebekah and Marcel nodded. "We're your fucking guinea pigs." he raised his voice.
"It's not just like that." Marcel insisted. "You need our help, and so do your kids. It benefits both of us. We're the ones who are going to have to have the IVF treatments if need be." he said.
"So you don't want the cure?" Elena frowned.
"If Ben and Jess are affected by the cure, and Marcel and I can have children without it, then I'd prefer that option." Rebekah admitted.
"And I don't want to lose Rebekah, so it's a win for me." Marcel shrugged, which both Damon and Elena could completely understand. They just wished this had been an option for them before they took the cure. That way none of this would be happening to them.
"What would you do if it worked?" Damon asked. "New business venture, IVF for vampires?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Who knows." Keelin replied shaking her head. "I'm just interested in the medical aspect of it all. Money means nothing." she said.
"I bet it doesn't." Damon muttered under his breath.
"I heard that." Marcel snapped. "This is just for us." he assured them. "The only people who will benefit from any of this research are in this room right now, very close friends and family." he said. "If this got out, everyone would want to have kids, and not all for the right reasons."
"Can we get back to the magic?" Vincent asked. "I know this is fascinating stuff, but the magic itself is also related to these tests."
"Did you learn anything?" Elena asked.
"Nope!" Damon replied.
"Yes!" Freya disagreed. "Damon uses a compulsion like mechanism for lighting candles. Except he can do it without saying the incantation. Not only that, he doesn't rely on the spirits." she explained.
"What does that mean?" Elena asked.
"It means it is a whole different brand of magic, like nothing I've seen before." Vincent shook his head.
"Have you talked it over with Kol?" Rebekah asked as Freya shook her head.
"We've only just found out about it." Freya told her. "We've only tried a basic elemental spell." she said.
"Is there anything else we should know about?" Rebekah asked.
The group proceeded to fill them in on Bonnie's exploits and the possibility of a new 'Other Side' created by Bonnie's psychic blast. They also discussed the options of who was possibly responsible, and if their suspicions were correct, how they would be able to find a willing volunteer to travel over to the other side. However Rebekah came up with a clever idea.
"How about a spell which can look into the future?" Rebekah suggested. "Surely there is one possible. Some witches use tarot cards. Or is it all fake?" she asked.
"It's possible." Vincent agreed. "But very few witches can successfully perform that kind of magic. A friends of mine called Ivy was one of the few I know who possessed that ability. But she's dead now." he shrugged.
"Well that's helpful." Damon said sarcastically.
"The future is fluid." Vincent explained giving Damon a brief dirty look. "Most witches can give it a try, but it's hard to be accurate." he said.
"Can either of you two do it?" Elena asked. "If we know who we can ask to find go to the other side for us, we can create the new Gilbert ring and find our unwilling volunteer as soon as possible." she said.
"Am I the only one who is a little concerned about what type of other side this could be?" Damon asked. "Do we even know if it is the same as the one created by Qetsiyah? She created hers on purpose."
"I said I'd do it." Keelin interjected.
"We don't know if a human can go there." Rebekah warned her. "The other side was for supernatural creatures only, although Matt and Ric managed to cross over. But that was only because my mother intervened. Otherwise I'm not sure if a human would be able to go there." she said.
"The last person to create one through a psychic blast before Bonnie just happened to be the devil." Damon told Keelin. "Who knows what's lurking in Bonnie's other world." he said.
"We know Enzo is there." Elena smiled.
"Exactly!" Damon agreed. "I rest my case."
"And for all we know, Stefan could be there too." Elena folded her arms.
Damon took a deep breath. "Don't you think I've thought about that?" he said sadly. "But lets just say it is someone from the other side. What do we do to stop them?" he asked.
"Send them to the Prison World." Freya suggested.
"How?" Damon asked.
"We've got some of Josie and Lizzie's blood, and some of Bonnie's. I think between us we can create a new one." Freya suggested.
"Problem, we'd need to find out where Qetsiyah's tombstone is and destroy it." Damon told them. "Only Bonnie and Katherine know where it is. Which is a problem if Katherine is the one behind all of this. Remember, she's also a witch. She'd be out within a week." he said.
"We need to get Bonnie back sooner." Elena said. "If it really is someone from the other side, they could be listening to this conversation right now. No cloaking spell will be able to protect us."
"I'll give the divination a try." Freya told them. "I cant be certain it will work, so I'll need something from all of you to help fuel my power." she said. "It doesn't have to be much, but something which isn't of too much significance." she warned them.
Rebekah passed Freya an earring. Marcel used his phone. Vincent gave her a bracelet. Elena used a brush and Damon put in a credit card. As Keelin wasn't supernatural, she wasn't of much help.
Freya took a piece of string and created a loop with a knot, similar to a hangman's noose. Inside the loop, Freya placed the items plus a candle. On the other end, she placed a ring she was wearing to use as the connection.
"I thought you didn't practice this?" Damon frowned.
"Not very often." Freya admitted. "It's not something I like to do, because the future is too fluid. Only when we are looking for something specific can this type of magic be used." she said.
"Are you sure you're up for it?" Damon raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Damon!" Elena glared at him.
"I'm a one thousand year old witch." Freya glared at Damon. "One of the most powerful witches on the planet. Of course I can do it." she said as the candle in the middle of the loop lit. "Now let me concentrate." she said. Freya took hold of the rope and closed her eyes, a look of concentration formed on her face, however after a while it was replaced with frustration and she dropped the rope. "It won't let me channel your magic." she said looking at Damon and Elena. "Which means you must be seers." she said.
"I can't see into the future." Elena frowned.
"Me neither." Damon agreed.
"You won't have if you haven't tried." Freya told them.
"The children are seers." Vincent said. "It had to come from somewhere."
"But you never suggested we were seers." Elena frowned.
"No but if the children are, you are likely to be too." Vincent told them. "I didn't recognize most of the types of magic what I saw when I ran your tests. They could have been the magic of powerful seers from thousands of years ago." he said. "If we know what type of magic Damon or Elena would need to access, maybe one of them can do the spell."
"Have you got the results?" Freya asked.
"Sure." Vincent nodded as he pulled out his notebooks from his bag. "Here." he passed them to Freya who opened them and began to study the results.
Freya looked at the images as Rebekah and Marcel gathered to look at the results too. Only Damon, Elena and Keelin didn't bother as they meant nothing to them. But Rebekah herself was a witch and Marcel had been deeply involved with witches for at least a century, meaning he knew a lot about dark magic. However still some of the symbols were completely unknown to all of them.
"Do you think Kol will know what they are?" Freya asked Rebekah,
Out of all of the Original siblings, Kol knew the most about witchcraft in general. Freya herself was a powerful witch and Kol was only a vampire, but he'd traveled with many lesser known covens and had a vast amount of knowledge of different types of witchcraft and dark objects. He was probably the most knowledgeable person on the planet when it came to the history of witchcraft. If anyone would know what some of these symbols meant, he would.
"We could always ask." Rebekah replied.
"I didn't think we were going to involve Kol in any of this." Elena frowned.
"I told him." Rebekah admitted sheepishly. "He's not bothered about it yet. Davina thinks she has enough power to stay young long enough for us to have used it before Kol does and then they can have a family."
"Is that possible?" Elena frowned.
"Witches can slow the aging process down somewhat." Damon nodded. "I knew a witch in Chicago called Gloria. Must have been over a hundred years old, didn't look a day over sixty." he said.
"All depends on when a witch starts to slow the aging process down." Freya explained. "Most want to join their ancestors, so they allow themselves to age naturally. They only slow it down if they have a better reason to stay."
"If they have nothing to die for, so to speak." Damon explained.
"And the witch you knew? Why did she slow the aging down?" Elena asked.
"Gloria had nobody to run her bar." Damon explained. "She had no family, her bar was her life. She didn't trust anyone to take care of it after she was gone." he said.
"Oh." Elena frowned. "That's sad." she said as Damon rested his hand on her knee.
"Didn't do her any good." Damon shrugged. "Katherine killed her while she was torturing Stefan."
"Oh!" Elena nodded. "Okay, so Davina should be fine until Rebekah dies to have a family with Kol?" she asked.
"Yeah." Marcel nodded. "Davina is really powerful. It suits them both to have to wait a century and a bit." he shrugged. "Kol will do everything he can to protect you. It means a lot to him." he said.
"Wow, who'd have thought it. Being protected by crazy Kol Mikaelson." Damon shook his head. "It just seems a little...off." he frowned.
"He changed after meeting Davina." Rebekah told him. "He fell in love and calmed down. Sound familiar?" she asked raising an eyebrow as Elena took Damon's hand in hers and smiled at him. "Love changes people Damon." Rebekah added as Damon frowned. He remembered those exact words being said to him once upon a time by Andie Starr, his ex fake, semi compelled girlfriend who Stefan had killed. Andie had been a great confidant and had offered some exceptional pearls of wisdom, which to these days he still found useful. That particular piece of advice was probably the most soothing, honest and soundest advice anyone had ever given him.
"Okay, I believe you." Damon sighed. "Get Kol's opinion if you think he might know something." he said. "But if you must know, the kids don't do anything special, it comes to them in a dream." he told them.
"What sort of images do they get?" Freya asked.
"Well up until a couple of days ago, I'd have said basic things like seeing what they were getting for their birthdays or Christmas." Elena told them.
"It's become a real pain in the ass trying to buy for them." Damon shook his head.
"What changed a couple of days ago?" Freya asked.
"The kids both had one of their dreams." Elena told them. "They usually have them at the same time. Except this time it was a vision from the past." she said.
"Are you sure?" Vincent frowned as both Damon and Elena nodded.
"The both were dreaming about me and Elena being vampires." Damon frowned.
"We never told them about our past as vampires. We had decided to wait until they were older." Elena explained.
"It was definitely a vision." Damon explained. "They saw the green light they usually see when they have their psychic dreams." he told them.
"And you never thought to ask them how they had these dreams? What they did to make them happen?" Vincent asked.
Damon and Elena looked at each other sheepishly and shook their heads as Freya started taking pictures with her phone of the notes Vincent had made.
"Why is this so important?" Elena asked.
"If we know how to help you see into the future, then it will speed things up." Vincent explained. "The sooner we know what we're up against with Frank, and who he's working for the better. Is there anything you can tell us about him?" he asked Damon.
"We didn't really share our history too much when we worked for Billy." Damon told him. "I just know he was turned by Katherine. He's about five hundred years old and from England. Moved to the states a couple of hundred years ago and that's about it. He always did seem to have a lot of friends." he frowned.
"Maybe he was still working with Katherine." Elena suggested.
"Probably." Damon nodded. "I was the one who went hunting for Katherine's ID's, although I didn't know it at the time. She must have had the heads up for when I wasn't around. Maybe Frank was her little spy." he said.
"Back to the task at hand." Freya interrupted them. "I've text the pictures over to Kol, however, I might have an idea." she smiled as everyone looked at her, waiting to find out her suggestion. "Hypnosis!" she said. "You said the kids saw a green light. If I hypnotize one of you find the green light, then maybe you will be able to see into the future." she shrugged. "It's worth a shot."
"I'll do it." Elena offered. "That way if Katherine is involved, I'll know whether it's her or me." she told them as Freya took a metronome from a cupboard in her desk and placed in front of Elena.
"Are you sure?" Damon asked softly. "I'll do it." he offered, but Elena shook her head.
"I need you all to back away from Elena." Freya told the group. "Including you." she said to Damon as they walked over to the other side of the room. "All phones are to be switched off." she called out as everyone reached for their phones and placed them on silent.
Freya set the metronome going and sat in front of Elena. The only sound was the ticking noise of the metronome as Freya waited a moment for everyone to settle down.
"Okay, so I need you to concentrate on the sound of my voice." Freya told Elena in a soothing voice. "First of all, I need to to relax." she said. "Take deep breaths, inhale, count to three and exhale." Elena did as she was told for a few moments. "Now I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are in the most beautiful place ever. A place which makes you just want to relax and fall asleep. But it has to be somewhere safe." Freya instructed as Elena closed her eyes. Her body visibly relaxed as she did so. "Where are you?" Freya asked.
"I'm sat beside the lake outside my parents old lake-house." Elena told her.
"That's good. I want you to imagine there are no lights on inside the lake-house and the door is closed." Freya told her as Elena nodded. "Now I want you to get up and open the door, even though you cant see inside." she said.
"The door is open." Elena told her.
"I want you to look for the green light." Freya said softly. "You can't turn any lights on. I just need you to look for that light." Elena nodded and fell silent.
"I can see the green light." Elena said.
"That's good." Freya smiled. "Now I need you to walk up to the light and tell me what you see inside it when you get there." she told her as the room fell silent once again, except for the sound of the metronome.
Elena forehead creased. "I can see Damon." she told them. "He's on the other side with Katherine. But he's in transition. He's becoming a vampire."
Everyone except Freya looked at Damon in shock. Clearly something was wrong with Elena's vision as there was no way Damon could become a vampire again. Maybe she was seeing the past like the kids were.
"I want you to turn around and walk back outside." Freya told Elena.
After a moment, Elena spoke. "I'm back outside." she said.
"One the count of three, I want you to open your eyes and wake up." Freya said. "One, two, three."
Elena opened her eyes and looked around the room at the still stunned audience.
"What happened?" Elena asked. "What did I see?"
"You told us you saw Damon and Katherine on the other side." Freya told her.
"You said I was in transition." Damon frowned as he returned to her side and sat down next to her.
"That's impossible." Elena shook her head.
"Actually, it isn't." Freya disagreed. "I could make him an Original!"
I apologize to those who actually know how to hypnotize a person. This was the closest I could get when I researched it online.
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. They are always appreciated.
If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.
Mandzipop.