Damon felt a pang of pain from Kol ripping out his heart for a split second after awakening in another time, another place. Based off his attire he'd guess Rome but the city didn't look like it, but it had to be somewhere in Italy. Definitely nowhere in modern times, that's for sure. Damon had no idea what year it was now, but that really wasn't the point. The spell sent him to where Blair's past lives were and that was the point, trying to play time detective wasn't.
"Can't believe people actually dressed like this," Damon muttered as he gathered up the fabric of whatever the wrap thing that was around him was called and followed the stream of people. Where was he going, once again he had no clue, but same as before…it felt right.
Damon emerged in the marketplace where many people were dealing at the various vendors. After touching his belt he found a pouch present with what felt like a nice sum of money. Whoever's body he'd taken over appeared to be well enough off. Either that or he was a thief that stole it. It's not like he had any memories of the people he inhabited and honestly, Damon really didn't want to put too much thought into that. His mission was to find Blair's past life and put another crack in the tether between her lives and Klaus.
He thought things had gone well with Ailia but that all faded away when he saw Klaus down the way with a lovely young woman at his side. They were laughing and talking with one another as he offered her various things from the vendor they were closest to. He couldn't believe that was Blair's past life but didn't get a good look at her eyes to know for sure. Even if it was Blair's life, something must have happened. Ailia had such a hatred for them how could this life be so different?
Damon was pulled from his thoughts when the woman approached him and when their eyes locked, he knew it was her.
"I was starting to think you would never appear again," Nysa said with a pleased smile because her thoughts proved to be false.
"I just left Ailia," Damon replied, able to understand her with ease, his face hard with jealously. "What are you doing with him?"
Nysa addressed his first statement before answering his question. "You may have just left Ailia, but I have had several lives between then and now – as Nysa. You were not found in any of them and I did look for you, Damon." She looked around to make sure Klaus was till busy before answering his question, "Perhaps I judged him too harshly in the past. Or perhaps I know that by being with him I will never have to watch him die."
"There's a lot you don't know, Nysa," Damon replied, wanting to once again tell her everything. "Klaus is a monster and he will kill everyone you love."
"I don't believe that," Nysa countered. "Klaus may be many things but he would never harm someone I loved. He could never hurt me like that."
"Maybe not now, but he will." Damon's words were firm on that.
"There is no way for you to know that," Nysa retorted before turning around and walking back over to Klaus.
Nysa was certainly going to be a challenge, but if he managed to sway her then maybe the link would be greatly weakened. It seemed like Nysa's feelings for Klaus were far stronger than the others he had seen so far. What she said about him not appearing in every one of her lives made him wonder how the spell picked and chose where to send Damon and when. Then again, it wasn't important. The soul of the woman he loved more than anything was walking off with another man and that was something Damon could not stand for and wasn't going to.
It didn't take long or even much coin to find out where Klaus and his siblings were staying. It just so happened that Nysa was staying with them as well as their guest. Now that he knew where they lived it was just a matter of getting inside and spending as much time with Nysa as he could. Perhaps there was a backwards way of doing it – getting close to Nysa first and inside the villa second.
Nysa was well known in the marketplace, everyone seemed to love doing business with her and the local children adored her. Once again it wasn't very hard to learn what he wanted to – that Nysa came to the Marketplace just about everyday whether to shop, visit, or play with the children. So getting in with Nysa first was definitely the best course of action. He couldn't push her too hard, though. That would likely backfire and blow up in his face.
The following day, Damon went back to the Marketplace and sure enough there she was and without Klaus at her side. That seemed like the start of a good omen so he approached her with a piece of ribbon in his hand. "I saw this and thought of you."
"Are you trying to bribe me for my affections?" Nysa asked with a playful laugh and glint to her eye.
"With a piece of ribbon? I think I can do better than that," Damon smirked, but tied the ribbon at the bottom of her long brain anyway.
"I like simple," Nysa admitted, admiring the simple piece of cloth. "Thank you, Damon."
Damon smirked proudly to himself because he felt like he was getting somewhere. When this started he wasn't sure what he would feel for Blair's past lives. Yes, he already fell for Andrea and Blair herself, but when it came to the others he was hesitant in the belief that he would feel the same for them. There was no worry about this now because it was clear to Damon that Blair, the woman he loved in her entirety, was made up of bits and pieces from her lives before. How could he have doubted what he would feel for them when they were a part of her?
"What are you thinking?" Nysa asked curiously. It looked as if Damon was a million miles away and she was wondering where he had gone.
Damon was instantly pulled from his thoughts and smiled at her. "I'll tell you all about it, if you like?"
Nysa looked almost hesitant but when her eyes locked onto his, she didn't feel it any longer. "Alright. But I do have one condition."
"Name it." Damon was willing to do just about anything for her, he realized.
"Do not speak ill of Klaus." That was all Nysa wanted. "He is very dear to me in this life and I do not wish to hear it."
"You're just trying to make me jealous," Damon teased and he actually got a laugh out of her from that before her face turned serious. "Alright, I promise not to talk about the bastard."
Nysa's face screamed that he just did the opposite of what he asked.
Damon held up his hands in an 'okay, okay, I get it' manner. "Sorry. I had to get one last shot in."
"You are impossible," Nysa all but laughed as she led the way.
"I would love to be able to say that's the first time a version of you has said that to me, but it's not. So…you might want to get used to it." Damon smiled wide when Nysa laughed again. She had just a lovely laugh and even if he wasn't already in love with her soul, he would have easily fallen in love with her anyway.
Nysa and Damon were so consumed in their conversation – him telling her about the spell and being from the future and everything else Blair didn't think he should tell her past lives – that they didn't realize Finn had come into the Popina where they were drinking their wine.
Finn saw how close Nysa seemed to be with the stranger and found it to be to his advantage. He was not a fan of Nysa – he didn't trust her. She had let slip a time or two things she not be able to know and yet did. Finn had wanted to take her out of the picture but did not want to start a rift in the family. But if her death could be blamed upon the stranger then that would make all the difference in the world. If he going to do it then the time would be now, and so he acted upon it.
Meanwhile, Nysa listened to everything Damon had to say about his love story with her future lives and not one bad thing was said about Klaus. Damon kept his word on that and she found it admirable. At the end of it all, she said, "I am sorry, Damon, but this is a bit…unbelievable."
"You're Cursed to come back life after life but me getting sent back to see you over and over again is unbelievable?" Damon laughed and sipped at his wine.
"Alright, you may have a point there, but there's something I don't understand." Nysa held out her cup with a smile when a woman came over to refill it then proceeded with her question. "If you already had the future me in your life, then why get sent back to see the others?"
"I can't answer that," Damon replied, knowing if he broke his word with Nysa that she likely wouldn't speak to him again. At least that's the strong vibe she gave off if he spoke badly about Klaus again.
"Why?" Nysa was about to take a sip of wine but saw Finn across the way and lifted her glass in greeting before drinking.
Damon was about to answer that but stopped when Nysa suddenly looked like she was going to be sick. "Nysa?"
"I don't…" Nysa began to say but cut herself off when she started to cough up blood.
"Nysa!" Damon exclaimed and caught her when she collapsed. He laid her back on the floor, shouting, "Someone help!" Damon turned back to Nysa, but there was nothing he could do – she was already gone. "No. No. Breathe!"
How could this have possibly happened? She was fine seconds ago. His thought was answered when his eyes moved to Nysa's cup. There was only one explanation for this. "Poison." Damon couldn't explain what made him turn around and look up, but he did and he saw Finn standing among the crowd and then he remembered something Blair said before about never accepting a drink from Finn again. Was this what she was talking about?
The only thing keeping Damon from going after Finn in that moment was knowing that in the future he was going to die. Now there was only one thing left to do…make sure that he followed her soul wherever she was off to next and that's what he did.
End Journey 3 - Nysa