Chapter 21

I don't own TVD

"It is indeed"

Bonnie almost chortled at the look on Kai's face when his sister and Alaric disappeared from before him along with all the guests.

Shooting out her arms from at her sides, Bonnie muttered a quick prayer, and lowered her arms. As she did so, she leaned back, regarding Kai and how he had changed in the past few months.

He had grown a beard, and apparently brought a tux, which he filled out rather well, all things considered (Don't tell Damon).

As she leaned back, Kai thought it his chance to lunge at her, but instead he remained rooted to the spot.

This was it, all month long they had prayed and planned and plotted, and now all their hard work would pay off.

Standing in the empty warehouse with the priest/vampire hybrid, Bonnie's mind drifted back to the last time she saw her daughter.

Mina was sitting on the edge of the bed, chatting with her cousin Hope, who had already grown close to Mina's size and intelligence. They were a lovely pair, a perfect picture of thriving opposites. Mina with her dark, chocolaty curls framing her small, cherub face, was the perfect negative to the picture opposite her. Hope, who stood identical in height with the girl, had long, soft waves the color of strawberries, and angular features that made her look something like a small elf from one of Mina's storybooks.

They had been spending every moment together since they met, and were watched carefully by the eyes of their new Guardian, Dahlia. Both groups of parents (Bonnie and Damon, and Jackson, Hayley, Klaus and Abby) had agreed to send The Twins, as they had come to refer to them, off to the Vatican under the sole protection their Great Aunt. It was a giant risk, to be sure, but they had come to the conclusion, that three people jumping time and space, was a lot less conspicuous than 23.

In the last week before they would leave together, Dahlia had been the parental figure and the parents had become the visitors.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but they did what they could.

The girls, who were sharp for their age, knew and understood their fate, and made it their duty to have as much fun with their parents, while they could.

"There's no time" Dahlia started, staring into the fixture before her. It was a large cross, and on it, the girls had begun to affix small, delicate flowers, ones they had made with their own hands.
Everyone's eyes turned to the Cross.

As they watched, the small flowers at the edge of the cross started to wither and fall off, crumping into piles of confetti at its foot. Somehow, Dahlia had woven the house' security into the flowers. The Heritics had somehow found them, and now they were siphoning off the power that kept the house hidden.

"What can we do?" Bonnie's desperation had crept into her voice. She could feel her husband, slipping back into the protective shell he had built around himself. Suddenly she had gone to having a chance at keeping her family safe, to losing them while they were still in the room with them.

"We can't all leave" came Celeste's voice.

Much like her husband, Celeste was more than capable of giving sound advice. And, just like Elijah, it wasn't always the most welcomed of advice.

Before Bonnie could form a proper retort, Caroline cut in.

"She's right Bonnie, you five can go with them, the rest of us will stay here and-"

"And what Care? Stand around waiting to die? No! I won't let you, I can't lose you. Care."

"Your friends right" Dahlia spoke up, "we can't all go, it's not safe. But even if you five do come with us, it will only make things more dangerous."

Her last statement was punctuated by a flower, this one closer to the center of the Cross than the last ones, falling off and crumpling into a soft, powdery dust.

"So, what are you suggesting then Dahlia? That we simply let you take our daughters halfway around the world in a secret place that none of us can get to?"

Klaus was seething now, but his words voiced the concern on everyone's minds.

Could they even trust Dahlia?

This was a good idea before, when everyone, all 23 of them were going. But now, with it being just the three of them? Nuh-uh, not gonna fly.

"What other choice do we have Niklaus? Look around you. The Heretic's are quite literally at our door step. If you have another plan, please, voice it now, we are all ears."

Elijah really had a way of making people hate him, but he was right.

There wasn't any time, and they had no idea what could be waiting for them outside the cellar doors.

"So what can we do?"

Abby's question lingered in Bonnie's mind now, as she thought about the way her mother had persuaded the oldest hybrid known to man to listen to a plan that wasn't his own. Make no mistake, Abby Michaelson did not like this plan either, but there really wasn't time to come up with another.

At Dahlia's command, Celeste had brought all the walls of protection as close in to the basement walls as she could get them. This meant, that now the cellar had about, a day or two worth of protection at the rate the Heretic's were hitting. It also meant, that most likely, the Salvatore House would be compromised. If they didn't get out of there by another route, they wouldn't be getting out of there at all.

So they had about a day, for all the vampires in the house to dig a tunnel outside the city.

With the power of a cloaking prayer, it was relatively easy to disguise the dig. Meanwhile all of Bonnie, Celeste, and Dahlia's attentions were focused on the girls. Getting as much of their power's signature into another, sacred object without causing physical problems or drawing attention to them, was no easy task. It was made easier by suppressing their powers, but it came with unimaginable consequences.

The term, 'sleeping beauties' came to mind on that tearful day.

The twins had learned a new prayer.

While all of this was going on, Mina and Hope had their own part in the plan.

Side by side in their matching caskets, the little beauties lay, and here they would stay until they were masters of their own powers. It was the safest way to hide their power from the prying eyes of the Heretics. The Vatican's protective barriers would shield them even further, and by putting themselves into a deep sleep, their powers were subdued so that they seemed dead.

Indeed, their complexions were so pale, their skin so cold, their pulses so slow, both sets of parents had to strain every decibel of their supernatural hearing to catch the sounds of their hearts beating.

The tunnel was set, and everything was going according to plan. All that was lacking now, was the final departure. No one knew when or if they would ever see the girls again. Mina and Hope were not regular children, they did not have regular powers. And so they were doing all they had to hope for the best outcome possible.

The night before, all involved had tried to be cheery. The priestesses had been creating supplies on the side for their little event. Balloons and music, junk food and games, they were all badly faking at being happy. Even the girls' smiles had a melancholy note. It was their bon voyage party, and was held in the place of Jo and Alaric's bachelor and bachelorette parties.

After the singing was done, and the cake was cut, everyone sat solemnly in a small, natural sort of semi-circle. Sarah, Matt, Alaric, Jo and Tyler were the first in line to say their goodbyes.

We all have our parts to play.

If all went well tomorrow, this could possibly be the last time they saw the two girls, they were mortals, and as such, could not be guaranteed to survive this battle, or the wait until their nieces' powers were reigned. The whole team had hashed out in incredible detail, the major aspect and minor hinges of their plans for the coming days, there was nothing left now, but to say goodbye.

Pictures were taken, hugs were given and moments were pressed into memories. As the first group entered the tunnel from the Salvatore Boarding House sadly, it was the second batch of emotionally unstable supernatural powerhouses that were up to bat next.

Klaus, Hayley, Elijah and Rebecca, along with their spouses, had each added a drop of their blood into a pair of enchanted lockets that Kol had concocted. The younger, former vampire couldn't attend, mainly because of Davina's complete and utter hatred for Klaus, and his want to save his family from the disappointment. He sent his love in this way, a sort of cloaking mechanism had been added to the devices by Celeste, who after thorough inspection, allowed the trinkets to be bestowed upon the girls.

It was tearful to say the least, and at least seven times Bonnie had thought to abandon the whole project and just steal away with her little girl and fend for themselves. But, alas, cooler heads prevailed and she just stood there, hands covered by the pockets of her skirt, left elbow touching that of her husband.

Silence reigned supreme in these moments, there was nothing left to be said. Indeed, it was hard now for Damon to look Bonnie in the eyes. Those beautiful orbs, green as the sea, had once been his only solace, but not now.

He had once again added distance between them. He feared letting her down. When they were in the prison world, she and Damon had shared many things by look or touch, but now he couldn't. Couldn't look at her and fee; the same elation. The woman who gave him the love he had waited his whole life to feel, was standing right next to him, and instead of seeing the future, instead of seeing everything he closed himself to her. Even the touch of her elbow, which could before open a channel of thought so intimate it scared him, was as though she wasn't even there beside him.

Now every time he saw his wife, he felt as though everything that were happening were his fault, he blamed himself. If he had just been stronger, if he had killed Kai, then his mother and her groupies wouldn't be rampaging their way through the town, and pulling his house, the one they had shared, down brick by brick looking for his daughter.

Lily had not always been that way, power hungry and mad with the desire to obtain more. She had been a loving mother. She was the one who had brought him sweets and stories, whenever his father was cross with him. It was often in those days, and she was like an angel to him, soothing his wounds. Now it seemed that instead of soothing him, she wanted to create new wounds herself. Ones that were beyond flesh, ones that cut to the soul.

She must know what Mina means to him, what she means to Bonnie who betrayed her, or else she wouldn't be trying so desperately to take her from them. If that was the case, then when he did get out of here, he was going to rip her, and her lackeys limb from heretical limb.

But in the here and now, he needed to focus. To force meaning into his heart. He focused his wife now, who, despite all his efforts to push her away, was still reaching out for him. He hardened his resolve to murder his mother in cold blood, and let the touch of her elbow be enough to keep the matricidal, self-loathing at bay. For now, he could hold his head up for Mina, he could do it for Hope.

It was no secret now, that the Heretics were watching them. The combined strength of old knowledge, dark power, and the ability to siphon power off of their own vampirism, made hiding the girl a task for all three priestesses. Nevertheless, the attacks continued.

Before this, they had seen the rolling blackouts that seemed to last for days. There were severe droughts stretching only the afternoon hours, hailstorms, riots, and falling skies over the course of a week. And that was just the beginning.

Once they were in the basement, all the power of the three priestesses had to be focused on keeping the cellar impenetrable. It was exhausting work, but they shared the labor, and even in these conditions, they were able to see the benefits of their combined strength.

When the Original party were done giving their gifts, it was the Mystic Falls gang's turn. Stefan and Caroline had gone ahead and given the girls a small diary each. Bonnie had enchanted them for the twins, and so they would be able to write in them in their dreams and the entries would be transported back to those left behind. The original notebooks themselves were given one to each set of parents.

Bonnie and Damon went last.

Damon's stoic face, which he had been holding all night long, his mask that kept everyone outside his pain, cracked just a little bit. A tear slid down his cheek as he held his little girl in his arms and whispered to her things that any father would say. When he was done, he stood, sniffling and looking away as Bonnie knelt to hold little Mina one last time.

After presenting their gift of matching miss cuddles to each of the girls, the rooms were cleared out and each parent stood back as the three elder priestesses stood in a triangle around the two younger and began to pray.

Her eyes snapped up to the vampire crossbreed that was trying to siphon the power from her hold on him. She would have to get over that. A vampire is fast, a vampire with the ability to use the power that turned him, it was going to take everything she had and more to bring him to his knees.

Fight of the century?

Yes, please.

A/N: One more left!

Gotta get to work on the sequel!

-4GMK