Okay, are we all ready for the long ass Author's note? I hope so, because I have some serious apologizing to do. I am so sorry it took forever to upload, but there was so much information that I wanted to get out there. Also, I am big on having proper history in my stories. Unfortunately, there isn't much to read on etiquette and everyday life in the 12th century, so it took a while to get it just right. I still don't have it where I like it, but I wanted to put something out there. We learn more about Fiametta and Philomena in this chapter, so read carefully!

On with the story! :D

I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide

It had been two weeks since Caroline and Sarah had, supposedly, been sent back in time. Klaus was still skeptical about it, but Sophie was unwavering in her message from the other side. To make matters worse, they were still unable to find these witches that they needed. Klaus was beginning to get annoyed, and the supernatural population was beginning to take notice. They wanted to know what had happened to their beloved queen and princess.

Klaus had been dealing with phone calls all week long from concerned subjects. There was one human girl- a bartender named Camille- who would not stop calling for Caroline. Klaus eventually pushed Elijah to deal with her, and he hadn't heard from her today. He was considering that a small victory. He was desperately waiting for news from the witches, and he didn't like feeling dependent on them for anything. But, if he wanted the two most important women in his life back, he would need to do some schmoozing. Luckily, he was a Jedi-master of bullshit.

Caroline had deemed him that after watching him talk his way out of a situation with another werewolf. He could have used force, but Sarah was in the house, and he just wanted one person in his life who didn't know of his past sins. Apparently that dream was flying out the window with every second she was in the past, where he didn't know her as his daughter. Would the spirits protect her? No, most definitely not. They don't protect anyone but themselves, but he did trust that Caroline would protect her.

In the middle of his depressing thoughts, the French doors that led to the patio creaked open. He turned to see who was there, but saw nothing. He didn't see, smell, or hear anything; but there was a shift in the atmosphere. The air around him seemed to be charged with power- lots of power. The only time he had ever felt something close to this much power was when his mother placed the curse upon him.

"Who's there?" he called out, in a demanding tone.

There was a clicking noise coming from down the hallway, and in the darkness he could make out a silhouette. No, not just one silhouette, but two. Somehow he was unable to see past the darkness to make out distinguishing features, but he knew they were female. They were both built like women, and their hair was blowing freely behind them. They both walked to the patio door closed it.

Once they were outside he could see them much more clearly. They were both blonde and curvy, but that was really their only similarities. One had wild curls that surrounded her head like a mane, and she wore all black- jeans, leather jacket, everything. Her expression didn't match her outfit at all, though. He was expecting her to look harsh and fierce, but she actually looked quite playful and mischievous. The other had loose curls- similar to Caroline's, but longer- and wore a simple black dress with a deep purple blazer. She looked sweet- like a young lady with a child's innocent expressions.

"Hello Niklaus," the wild-haired woman spoke.

"You know me?" he asked.

They both smiled, and the wild haired woman said; "Of course we do, and we know that you seek an audience. Although, we would greatly appreciate it if you would call off your witch. Her blasts of magic are giving us headaches."

"Who are you?" Klaus asked.

"I am Fiametta, and this is my sister Philomena," the wild-haired one spoke. Apparently she was the leader of the pair. "You are the one who's been searching for us, right? Please don't tell me we've been wasting our time."

"You know, you could have just called," Klaus replied, taking a seat across from them.

Philomena circled his chair with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Fia, his power is almost tangible," she breathed.

"Philomena, sit down. He's found his other half," Fiametta replied. Philomena smirked as she sat next to Fiametta. "I apologize for my sister's lack of manners. When you hear our stories you'll understand why she acts this way."

"And when will I be hearing this story?" he asked.

"Soon enough; we want everyone involved to be present. It's a very long story, and I'd hate to tell it more than once. But, we wanted to talk to you first," Fiametta said.

"What did you wish to speak with me about?" Klaus asked.

Fiametta sighed and said; "We need to discuss your daughter."

"She's not here at the moment," he replied.

"We know that. We know exactly where she is. But, we still need to discuss," Philomena replied.

Fiametta took over from there. "Now, I know you may be a bit confused about what exactly is going on here," she said.

"I think that's the understatement of the century, and I should know," Klaus replied.

The girls smirked and Fiametta began to speak again. "I understand that you know why she was sent back, and you're nervous about it. I can read you like a book, so don't bother with denying it. She will come through- I'm certain of it. Everything depends on her choosing our side," she said.

"What do you mean our side? What do you even have to do with this?" Klaus asked.

"I say our side because there is a witch who wants us all dead, and we do not want to die at the moment," Philomena said.

"And how do you know of this witch? Why was I meant to find you?" Klaus asked.

"The witch you seek is named Valencia, and we know everything there is to know about ending her," Fiametta said.

"How?" he replied.

"Because," Fiametta began, "she is our sister."

Caroline and Sarah had been in 12th century Italy for two weeks, and they hadn't even gotten past the gardens yet. Bonnie was training them in 12th century etiquette, and it was taking some getting used to. Apparently young ladies of standard needed an escort, and theirs wasn't here at the moment. Apparently the spirits had made it so that Caroline and Sarah were the daughters of a wealthy ambassador, and Bonnie was their cousin. It amazed Caroline just how much people would believe.

Thankfully, there were no lessons today. Bonnie finally granted them all a free day since it was so pretty outside. Now they were in the small wooded area behind the manor house and Bonnie was teaching Sarah and Caroline how to shoot arrows.

"Okay, so put the arrow against the string, and pull it all the way back. Make sure to touch your lips to get an anchor," Bonnie instructed.

Caroline was still having trouble getting it, while Sarah was a natural. She practically got it on her first try. Caroline had always been proud of Sarah, but she was really beaming in that moment. Sarah loaded another arrow and shot it into the knot on the tree.

"So, Bonnie, where did you learn to do this?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie paused in her actions, but tried to brush it off. "Oh, you know… here and there," she replied.

Caroline looked at her friend skeptically. "We're keeping secrets from each other now?" she asked. "You're blushing and smirking, which is what you do when you think of a boy. Come on, spill!"

Bonnie sighed and shot an arrow into another tree, while Caroline did well to lock her arrow in place. "Okay, I'll tell you. When the spirits brought me back, it wasn't here. I came back in Mystic Falls when the Originals were human," she explained.

Caroline's mouth fell open, but Bonnie wasn't finished. "They were completely different Caroline. I became friends with all of them- even Klaus! One of them taught me how to shoot… secretly," she explained.

"Why secretly?" Caroline asked.

"It was frowned upon for women to handle weaponry- just as it is today. We'd probably be shunned if anyone found out we were doing this. Anyway, Esther knew I was from the future, and that meant her whole family knew. They were actually pretty cool with it," Bonnie said.

"So who was it that taught you to shoot an arrow?" Caroline asked.

"That would have been me," a voice said from behind them.

They turned, and Caroline saw the youngest male Original standing behind them. "Kol," Bonnie said.

"Hello Bonnie," he replied with a smile.

"Am I missing something?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie snapped out of her daze, and turned her attention to Caroline. "Oh, um, kind of. I don't think you've properly met in the future. Kol, this is Caroline Forbes- the one I was telling you about. Caroline, this is Kol," Bonnie introduced.

Caroline held her hand out to shake his, but he took it and kissed the back. "Such a pleasure, dear Caroline," he said.

Caroline heard Bonnie huff a sigh and say; "She's taken, Kol. She's found her other half."

Kol chuckled and embraced Bonnie in a hug. "Don't worry, Bonnie lass. I was just being polite. Although, I am happy to know where you disappeared to," he said.

Caroline raised her eyebrows and shook her head. She had definitely missed a lot. Bonnie had some serious explaining to do. In the meantime, Sarah came running toward them from her spot near the creek, with a huge smile on her face.

"Mama! Look!" she shouted.

"What is it?" Caroline asked.

"I shot the apple from the tree!" she said excitedly.

Caroline smiled at her daughter and embraced her in a hug. "That is impressive," she said.

"Indeed it is. Bonnie, who is this young one?" Kol asked.

"This is Sarah- she's Caroline's daughter," Bonnie explained.

Sarah smiled and said hello, and Kol kissed the back of her hand as well.

"So, Kol, where is the rest of your family?" Bonnie asked.

"They're around here somewhere. They don't know I've returned from Asia. Rebekah is too besotted with her new suitor to notice anything," he said while rolling his eyes.

"Who is her suitor?" Caroline asked.

"I'm not certain, but I believe his name is Alexander," Kol replied.

Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other before making an excuse to invite Kol inside. Caroline remembered Matt telling her about Alexander and how he used Rebekah to "kill" the Originals. Caroline couldn't let that happen. That was part of their mission- to save those who shouldn't have died. They had to keep Finn from being daggered for nine centuries. The only way to do that would be to make sure they never got daggered in the first place.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

So now they had a name to put with the threat that loomed over them; Valencia. She was apparently the sister of these two blonde witches, who had made it their life mission to end her. Klaus still didn't know why- other than the fact that they were supposedly Valencia's sisters. That's why he found himself seated at the dining room table, along with his siblings, Stefan, and Elena. They had insisted that everyone must hear the story, and that they would only tell it once.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice," Philomena said.

"We live here. The notice wasn't that short," Rebekah snapped. She had always had issues with other women.

Philomena rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Fiametta put her hand up to silence her. Philomena took a seat next to her sister, and it looked as though she'd be pouting for the duration of the story. Klaus rolled his eyes- apparently all girls were the same in that respect.

"Now, let's remain civil, please. We are here to tell you our story. It's a long story, and it isn't the most exciting one you'll hear, but it's crucial that we let you know everything if you are to accept our help," Fiametta said.

"So, let's begin with introductions. My name is Fiametta, and this is my sister Philomena. I suppose the easiest way to do this would be for you to ask questions and we can answer them," she said.

"How old are you?"

"Where are your other sisters?"

"Why do you want your sister dead?"

All of these questions rang around them. The only ones not asking questions at a rapid-fire pace were Klaus and Elijah. They shared a look and Elijah cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Thank you. Let's perhaps do this one at a time," Fiametta said.

"Good idea. I vote we go from oldest to youngest," Klaus said.

"Seems reasonable. So, Elijah, you may ask the first question," Fiametta replied.

Elijah nodded and said; "Okay then, let's start at the beginning. Where and when were you born?"

"We were born in Rome during the fourth century, AD," Fiametta answered. "Next?"

"Are you vampires?" Klaus asked.

"No, we're not vampires. We do not need blood to survive," Fiametta responded.

"If you're not vampires, then what are you? How did you gain your immortality?" Rebekah asked.

Fiametta sighed. "During our human life, we were mere girls. Our father was a wealthy Roman Patrician, who married a girl from a very wealthy family. However, she had converted to Christianity- which was new at that time. He didn't like that. During their marriage, he tried his best to get her to convert to the old religion, but she refused. My mother bore thirteen children- six boys and seven girls," she explained.

Philomena finally spoke up- unable to resist putting her input into the story. "It is true that she loved her sons dearly, but nothing brought her more pride than her daughters. We were her favorites- it was never hidden how much she cared for us. We were the apples of her eye," she added.

"My father was away a lot- in meetings and other senate things. During this time our mother took it upon herself to raise us with Christianity. One day, when our father returned, our oldest brother told him what she was doing. So, he sought to harm our mother as punishment. He knew that sending her daughters away would kill her, so he sent us to become priestesses in the temple of Vesta," Fiametta replied.

"So, you and your sisters were Vestal Virgins?" Stefan asked.

"Yes, we were," Philomena replied.

"So, how did you gain your immortality?" Elena asked.

Fiametta sighed and said; "It's complicated, really. The Roman Empire was beginning to lose its foothold in the outer territories. They wanted to place special people at the very outer edges to make sure they kept their power. The people had to be strong and have abilities that the average person didn't have. That's why they chose us. Our father's bloodline had magic- not anything special, but it was there. They used that to give us immortality. To do this, they tied our life forces with things that they thought would last forever."

"What was yours tied with?" Rebekah asked.

"Mine was tied with the essence magic itself- the spirits on the other side. Philomena's life was tied with stone. You see, we can only be killed by our lifeline. The only thing to kill me would me magic- Philomena would be easily taken out by anything made of stone," Fiametta explained.

"What's Valencia's lifeline?" Klaus asked.

"Valencia was oldest, and therefore the first to turn. Since fire was sacred to the temple of Vesta, her lifeline was chosen to be fire," Philomena explained.

Stefan scoffed. "And no one has thought to light a match near her?" he asked.

Fiametta chuckled. "It's not that simple, little Salvatore. You see, Valencia learned long ago how to gain power from those that she killed. Like all of us, she can sense power. She craves it, and she's mad with it. She must be stopped," she said, ending on a serious note.

"I'm assuming you have a plan," Elijah said.

"Yes… sort of. Valencia is so powerful now that the only hope we have is if we give our powers to Sarah. She's the only one on Earth that could handle that much power," Philomena said.

"I'm not letting my ten year old daughter do something that could get her killed! Absolutely not," Klaus said.

"Wait, how did Valencia get this much power? Did they give her more when they turned you?" Stefan asked.

"No. Valencia learned of a way to harness someone else's power when she killed them. So, she killed our sisters one-by-one, and we're the only ones left," Philomena said.

"She killed your sisters?" Elena asked, appalled.

"Yes, which is why we have to end it. This can't go on," Fiametta said.

The room was quiet as everyone let that set in, but Rebekah had to be the first to speak up. "So, why are you saying Sarah is your only hope? Surely there are other witches powerful enough to handle the power it would take to kill her," she said.

"I can already assure you that there isn't. This has been foretold for centuries, and now it's coming true. Valencia is already getting her closest people together as backup, and the spirits have tasked someone from the other side to gather backup for you all," Fiametta said.

"Who is gathering backup for us? And who would they get as backup?" Rebekah asked.

"I don't know- I wasn't told that part. All I know is that there are so many people who weren't meant to die in the past; your brothers Kol and Finn, the vampire Sage, Rose and Trevor… the list goes on and on. Now Caroline and Sarah have to help fix it," Philomena replied.

Klaus scoffed and shook his head. "I don't think you heard what I said. I'm not going to allow my child to die just so we can bring these people back. I don't want her caught up in this- I only have so much time with her, and most of it has already been wasted!" he shouted.

Fiametta opened her mouth to speak, but Elijah spoke before she could. "Wait," he said, "if we render Valencia powerless, there would be no reason for Sarah to be caught in the crossfire. Every spell has a loophole, right? There has to be some way to take back the power she's stolen," Elijah said.

"That's too easy. It would never work," Philomena replied.

"Wait just as minute," Fiametta said after her sister's outburst. "I think he may have a point. If we can somehow suck the power from her like she did when she killed our sisters, we should be able to just kill her with fire. There would be no need for Sarah to harness all that power."

"Well, how do you propose we do that?" Philomena asked.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to bring back our sisters," Fiametta replied with a smirk on her face.

What the hell had they gotten themselves into now?