Alaric entered the coffee shop, immediately spotting Jo at their usual table over by the window and making his way over to her.
"Hey, you're early," he greeted her with a pick on the lips before tossing his bag onto the seat across from her and sitting down. "Couldn't wait to see me, huh?"
Jo smiled at his comment.
"As a matter of fact, I couldn't," she replied truthfully, passing him the drink she'd ordered him and touching his hand. "There's something important we need to talk about."
Alaric took the drink from her, arching an eyebrow as he took a sip. "Okay," he said slowly, feeling a slight twinge of unease. "Is everything all right?"
"It concerns your friend, the one I helped bring back from the dead," Jo began carefully. She paused, inhaling deeply and weighing her words before continuing.
"There's a reason why my coven allowed me to do that, why they weren't against it like they normally would have been-and that is because Damon-and Enzo-happen to be the keys to unlocking something we have been trying to find for a very long time."
Alaric set his coffee cup down, pressing his lips together in a thin line. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, he wasn't happy that Jo had waited until just now to tell him this-but, on the other hand, he also wasn't really surprised that the witches had an ulterior motive for helping to bring Damon back.
He let out a tiny sigh.
"So, what is this thing you've been searching for, then?" he questioned, his other eyebrow rising to join the first.
Hearing the scepticism in his voice, Jo decided to give him the explanation that she hoped would make him more amenable to helping.
"It's called the Chrysalis-and, according to the legends, it's not a thing, exactly; it's more of a…force-one that's been buried beneath our feet for ages, and has the ability to turn the world into a place that will better accommodate people like me, your friend-and you."
Alaric's eyebrows arched up higher. "What do you mean, people like me?"
Jo reached over the table and gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.
"You're special, Ric; you've been exposed to the darkest parts of the world, and you haven't run from them," the witch declared positively. "In fact, I'd even go so far as to say you've embraced them: you're best friends with a vampire, you're dating a witch, you were even once a vampire yourself. If the Chrysalis is unlocked, none of us will have to hide what we are anymore-and you and anyone else who helps make that a reality will be well rewarded, instead of persecuted like you would be now."
Alaric's forehead wrinkled in a frown as he found himself actually identifying with her words. It was true-while he'd started out abhorring vampires and things like them, that had all changed when he'd actually gotten to know a few of them. Now his best friend was one of the most dangerous-and murderous-vampires in the world, and the woman he was in love with was a witch-and he did kind of like the sound of a world where he didn't have to lie to anyone about what they were. And, of course, there was that small, selfish part of him that wanted to find out just how this reality would benefit him as well.
He pressed his palm flat against the table top, exhaling softly before posing another question. "You've told Damon and Enzo about all of this as well?"
"We brought them in a few days ago, and they've already completed the first few steps to help us find the Chrysalis," Jo confirmed with a tilt of her head. She took another sip from her own coffee, then added, "The next ones, though, require someone with hunting experience, and your friends and I want that someone to be you."
The former vampire hunter knew he should probably want to think about this more-and he should probably have been more reluctant with something like this, but he wasn't. Even knowing that there were probably about a million reasons why he shouldn't, he wanted to be a part of this.
"I'll do it," he agreed after a brief pause, lifting his fingers to entwine them with Jo's. "As long as you promise to keep me informed of everything that's going on with this-and that nothing will end in you or Damon dying."
Jo's smile returned at that. "I promise," she consented, leaning over the table to give Alaric another, longer kiss, sealing the deal.
Another piece falls into place
The puzzle gets closer to being complete
It all comes to a head
At the place where it all began
It had been four months since the last time Stefan had set foot in his home town. Truth be told, he didn't think he would ever be able to return-and not just because he would have died if he had before now.
On the outside, nothing had changed-except for the Mystic Grill no longer being there-but, now that the anti-magic barrier was gone, Stefan felt something else in its place. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but it felt ancient-and infinitely more sinister than the Travelers' magic.
And Stefan was pretty sure it had something to do with his brother.
The younger Salvatore exhaled heavily, and forced himself to press on, making a beeline for Caroline's old house when his phone lip up with a text message from Elena saying that they were there.
The two female vampires were waiting for him when he arrived at his destination, both with expressions of obvious consternation on their pale faces.
"Where's Ric?" Stefan asked them, frowning when he noticed his former history teacher's absence.
Caroline spread her palms in a gesture of helplessness.
"Elena was calling and texting him all the way here, but I think he's on a date with that new girlfriend of his and probably has his phone off," she stated, tucking her thumbs into the pockets of her shorts. "But what exactly is going on? All Elena told me is that Damon's back and he tortured you and somehow managed to break the spell that was keeping us out of here. Why would he do any of that?"
"I don't know," Stefan admitted honestly, lifting one of his broad shoulders in a shrug. "Something happened to him while he was in oblivion; he has these ice powers now that are like nothing I've ever seen before, and he used them to torture me and help a group of witches perform some kind of spell on me that I think might have something to do with why he's now here and has broken the anti-magic barrier." He turned to Elena, and added, "I felt something when I first got into town, some kind of old magic, similar to what those witches used on me. Did you feel anything?"
Caroline also turned to Elena at that, curious to hear her answer.
"Yes," the female doppelganger replied, her tone extremely troubled.
She started to say something else, too, but was cut off when the ground suddenly began to shake, nearly knocking her off her feet with the force of it.
A chill went through Stefan's body and he clutched at the wall of the house, trying to stay upright while he wondered what was going on. Mystic Falls didn't have earthquakes, and besides, this didn't feel natural. This felt like it was being caused, somehow.
Stefan gritted his teeth as he felt fingers of ice against his skin and realized it had to be Damon-and/or Enzo.
Whatever his brother was doing-and for whatever reason-he really needed to find out before Damon could do anything more.
The hooded figure strode down the street, head bowed low, his presence unnoticed by all the other passersby-and that was exactly the way he wanted it.
His eyes scanned the masses of people traipsing through the town of Mystic Falls, scrutinizing for the strands of magic that would lead to what he was searching for.
The other members of his coven had no idea he was here; he'd gone on ahead without them, wanting to scope out the town for himself. He'd been here before, of course, but he hadn't had much time for exploring while battling the Travelers-so that was what he was here for now.
From his current position, it looked like any other town-but Luke knew better. He'd sensed the dark power stirring beneath the ground the last time he was here. The Chrysalis was somewhere close by-he could tell that even without the two keys around.
He continued walking through the town square, keeping his senses on high alert. There were threads of power all around him, echoes of all the supernatural beings who lived and had lived here over the course of time, but he couldn't find the one to what he sought-not until he came to the most unexpected of places.
His lips quirked faintly when he found himself standing in front of the previous site of the Mystic Grill-and saw that the ground was alive, pulsating with the same sort of power that emanated off the elder Salvatore and his partner. This was the next nexus point; this was a direct conduit to the Chrysalis-this was where they had to be to finally locate it.
He stepped closer, squatting down on the charred earth and removing one of his gray gloves so he could place his bare hand on what remained of the restaurant's foundation.
The stone seemed to writhe beneath his fingers, sending tendrils of what felt like liquid nitrogen trickling over his skin, causing him to have to suppress a shiver; even with his multiple layers of clothing, the coldness emitting from there was almost too much to bear.
The sound of a throat clearing behind him made him back away, whipping around to find the source of the noise.
"I never pegged you as the rogue agent type, Luke," Julian quipped, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the sign pole, staring the other warlock down.
Luke relaxed visibly when he realized who it was. "You know perfectly well why I'm here with the others' knowledge, Julian; it was your idea, after all."
His companion abruptly dropped the stern act, unfolding his arms and approaching the former building site with a faint smile.
"Was I right, then?" he queried, noting the blue tracery that had appeared on Luke's ungloved hand.
Luke inclined his head in an affirmative, lifting the hand to peer at it more closely.
"I could feel the presence of the glacies magicae stirring beneath the ground without any spells or help," he replied excitedly, eyes uncharacteristically bright and exultant.
The two keys aren't the only ones with a connection to the Chrysalis
Julian pushed back his black hood and gripped Luke's wrist, tugging his hand toward him so he could scrutinize it for himself. The blue lines were glowing more fiercely by the second, and spreading up Luke's arm, disappearing beyond the edge of his sleeve-something that definitely hadn't happened when Julian touched the ground over the nexus point.
"I suspected you might have a link to the Chrysalis that no one else in the coven does," he observed thoughtfully, running a pensive finger over Luke's hand before moving his gaze away from it. "You're a lot more powerful than you let on, aren't you?"
Luke lifted his shoulders in an evasive shrug.
"You might say that," he said, expression giving nothing away even as he leaned in, nose almost bumping against Julian's.
Julian knew what he was doing: daring him to use his powers to find out what he wanted to know. It was a trick he'd played before, back when Julian first joined the Gemini coven, to teach him some more invasive spells.
He rose to the bait, pressing his mouth against Luke's and casting out his senses at the same time, breaking into Luke's mind to get his answer.
Luke only put up a perfunctory defense allowing Julian in after only a moment and showing him what he wanted to see: Luke's true power.
Julian's breath caught in his throat as Luke took control, and shockwaves ran through his body-a demonstration of Luke's signature magic. It was stronger and sharper than anything Julian had ever felt before-and it made his heart thunder in his ears.
Lucas Parker is the true leader of the Gemini Coven-he simply chooses to share the mantle with his two sisters because he thinks they deserve it, too.
Julian pulled away after only a few more seconds, his lips feeling as though they'd just been in contact with an open flame.
"Satisfied?" Luke asked softly, brushing his thumb over Julian's singed lips with a whisper of power to soothe them.
Julian exhaled sharply, backing up with a nod. He had his answer.
As they broke apart, Luke's phone buzzed in his pocket, signaling a text message.
"The others are here," he informed his partner after withdrawing the device and reading the message displayed on the screen. He turned back to Julian. "Time to find the Chrysalis."
The Gemini coven met Damon and Enzo by the former site of the Mystic Grill, Jo arriving with a surprise guest in tow,
"Ric?" Damon said with surprise when he caught sight of his friend. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently, finding this Chrysalis thing could be good for me as well as the rest of you, so I decided to help out," Alaric replied with a slight shrug; that was putting his reasons a bit simply, but it was still the truth. He and Damon could-and probably would-discuss the full extent of his motivation at another time.
Damon made a non-committal noise at the back of his throat. Though he was a bit taken aback by Alaric's presence, he wasn't all that concerned.
Enzo raised an eyebrow. "So, what exactly are we doing here?" he wondered, scanning the charred earth around him as if he might be able to find the answer somewhere.
"We're here because this happens to be another nexus point," Luke declared as he and Julian entered the fray from the far side of the site, their faces shadowed by their dark hoods.
The blonde warlock lifted his head so he could meet Damon and Enzo's eyes before elaborating.
"Your powers should be magnified here, and, if you combine them with the glacies magicae and a locator spell, they should show us all the way to the Chrysalis."
Damon and Enzo turned toward each other and a moment of silent communication passed between them. Luke was right; their powers did feel stronger here. Moreover, they could feel the direct link this place had to the Chrysalis-all they needed was a little extra force and they would be able to find it.
The younger vampire inhaled deeply.
"What are we waiting for, then?" he stated, striding toward the centre of the site with a steely look in his bronze eyes.
Jo nodded to her companions, and, taking her cue, they all spread out, forming a circle around Damon and Enzo while Alaric joined the two vampires in the center.
"Harness your connection to the Chrysalis, and it will tell you what you need to do," Jo instructed them, drawing the hood of her green coat up over her head. "Once you've gotten started, we'll join in with the locator spell."
Damon and Enzo shared another brief look before obeying, closing their eyes and concentrating.
Damon was the first to see the thread; a thin gossamer strand of what looked like icicles, tying him to what he assumed was the Chrysalis-but it was hard to tell, for it was shrouded in mist. And, when he tried to peer past it, the whole thing exploded.
Another image blossomed inside his mind, this one making him even more curious, for it was of himself. He was kneeling in the exact same spot he was standing now-but there were differences. The charred ground was covered with ice and streaked with black. The witches were there, too, arranged, not in a circle, but in a scattered formation so they were covering nearly the entire site. And Enzo-Enzo was not beside him, but kneeling in front of him, his hand entwined with Damon's on the patch of ice between them.
You know what you have to do
Without conscious thought, Damon found himself moving to copy this image-and he knew Enzo was doing the same. Together, they lowered themselves to one knee, pressing their palms flat against the ground and calling their powers to the surface.
The ground beneath them trembled as ice pored out of Damon's fingertips and spread rapidly over the dirt. At the same time, Enzo's hands sprayed out blackness, making tiny motes appear on the smooth translucent surface.
As more and more ice emitted from him, Damon felt a sudden charge of energy deep in his chest, like something was calling out to him.
I can see you
Do you see me
He summoned more of his strength and the ice burst out of his hand like an attack, magnified by being used at the nexus point. As he did so, the voice in his head grew louder, clearer-and, as if sensing that, he heard the witches beginning to move around him and utter the first words of the locator spell, trying to hone in on the voice's location.
"This is not all there is. This world is not meant to be dominated by the mortals. You can make it more-you and your lover can take it for yourselves and your kind."
The thread appeared in his vision again-but this time, the mist was fainter. He could see where it lead-or at least, a fraction of it.
As if moved by some unseen force, his hand began to inch closer to Enzo's on the ground-and the closer it got, the more of what he knew to be the Chrysalis' resting place became visible.
And when they finally touched, they were able to see it all.
It was in Mystic Falls-that much Damon knew and had expected-but it was also in the last place he would have thought of.
"It's under Donovan's old house," the elder Salvatore declared aloud, opening his eyes and not bothering to conceal the bemusement he felt at that revelation.
Enzo opened his eyes as well, continuing to hold Damon's hand as she himself of the magic-induced fugue. "Donovan? You mean that human boy who used to work at that restaurant that was here?" he quipped, a faint crease appearing on his olive-skinned forehead.
His partner nodded.
"That's the one," Damon confirmed. "The single most mundane person in this entire town, and he was living on top of the Chrysalis this whole time."
"Well, that works out nicely, then," Jo commented, drawing their attention to her as she strode toward them. "If he's really that boring, then you'll have no problem killing him—for he was already meant to be the final sacrifice needed to unlock the Chrysalis."
Enzo arched an eyebrow at Damon, as if asking his opinion; he didn't have a problem killing this Donovan guy-he hardly knew him-so it was really down to Damon.
Damon's lips twisted in a cruel smile, and he got to his feet, helping Enzo rise as well, before turning to the witches and giving his answer.
"I've never needed a reason to want to kill that quarterback-but now that I have one, I don't need to pretend to feel guilty about it," he said without an ounce of hesitation or remorse.
Reveal your true self