Title: Lapse
Rating: M
Genre: AU/AH
Pairing(s): Bonnie/Klaus, Kol/Lucy, Elijah/Abby, Stefan/Meredith, Bonnie/Damon (One-sided), Caroline/Tyler, Matt/Katherine, Marcel/Rebekah, mentions of past Bonnie/Jeremy etc.
Summary: "Taking advantage of the situation will be easy," Klaus said, "We can turn her into anything we want. The real beauty of it all is as long we keep her happy; meaning fed, fucked, acknowledged, and oblivious to anything involving Elena Gilbert, all the things that she was deprived of while in the company of the Salvatore, even if she begins to remember she won't think of asking any questions." An accident leaves Bonnie with no memories and the Originals use the fact to turn her into someone that no one is prepared to handle, least of all them. Guilt pushes the Salvatore to help Bonnie get her memories back; but along the way their motivations change. Whose side will Bonnie be on when she remembers, the Originals, the Salvatore, or her own? Post 3x18.
Warnings: Non-Canon, Dark!Bonnie, Character Death, Violence, Graphic Torture, Dark Magic, etc.
PART FOUR: WEAKNESS
"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths."
~ Lois Wyse
The fog that surrounded him was suffocating. He could barely see in front of him, but he walked forward anyway, unable to make out what was in front of him or behind him. Slowly the fog began to fade and he began to make out the buildings so close together that they almost seemed to be one.
There was a sound that started out faint, but then grew clearer. Music. Jazz. Then he saw it, a sign that read, "Bourbon Street". He knew now, exactly where he was, and as he heard the click of heels on concrete he knew exactly why.
Damon turned toward the sound, not knowing what to expect. His subconscious had created so many different images of her as of late. But this Bonnie that walked toward him was grinning, and not in a foreboding way that promised him harm. She wasn't the powerful force that got off on torturing him. But nor was she the martyr that followed orders. She was something in between. Dressed in all black, her green eyes held secrets. He was no more familiar with this Bonnie than he was with the lethal minx that had appeared in earlier dreams. For he knew that this was a dream. Reality was a far darker place, in which Bonnie no longer dwelled. In which Bonnie was likely dead.
He frowned as she stopped in front of him, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side. "Took you long enough to get here," she said.
"I wasn't aware that you were waiting for me," he countered.
She gave him a quizzical look, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Weren't you?" She asked.
She did something then. Something that frightened him. Something that scared him even more than the torture and the threatening had. She reached up and grabbed him, pulling him down until their lips met. Damon allowed the kiss because a part of him had always wanted it to happen. He kissed back because he knew that this would never be his reality.
When she pulled away, it was no longer Bonnie that looked up at him. Her dark hair had turned red and her brown skin had gone pale. Sage gave him a sympathetic smile as her hands fell to her sides. "Your mind has always been a very dark and hollow place Damon," she said, "But I've never seen anything as complicated and convoluted as your feelings toward the witch."
His eyes narrowed at her words. "You've been the one doing this," he accused, "The dreams have been you this whole time."
"If you've been dreaming about the witch that's your business," Sage answered, "This is the only dream I'm responsible for. And it isn't a dream so much as a warning."
Damon blinked, but nodded his head. "I'm listening," he said.
"I have made the mistake of trusting Klaus and I am about to pay dearly for it," she told him, "But it is too late to save me. Soon I will be dead. But the girl. The witch. If you can get to her and get to her soon then you can stop them from turning her into a monster."
"What do you mean by that?"
"She has power that is untapped," Sage explained, "Power that Klaus wants access to. Power that once released has the potential to bring the whole of the supernatural world to its knees. Their breeding her to hold the world hostage at their behest. She doesn't remember who she is. You have to find her. Make her remember."
Damon woke up to the sound of voices. Getting out of bed he followed the sound. The details of the dream were still fresh in his mind. He wasn't sure whether or not Sage could be trusted. She could have been luring them into some kind of a trap. But in truth he was growing desperate and they had no further leads on Bonnie's whereabouts.
Following the sound of the voices until he reached the living room of the boarding house he was surprised to see his brother sitting on the couch next to Abby Bennett-Wilson.
"What's she doing here?" Damon asked, eyes on Stefan.
Abby frowned. She shouldn't have been surprised that Damon could so easily talk about her as if she weren't there. Disregard her presence as easily as he had disregarded her life when he had turned her.
"I thought that she should know that her daughter is missing," Stefan said, breaking into Abby's thoughts, "And I figured that she could be of some help to us. I mean she might be a vampire but she still has Bonnie's blood, meaning if we can manage to find another witch then we could possibly pull off a locator spell."
"We don't need a locator spell," Damon sighed, "I know where she is. Sage got roped in with Klaus somehow and she's communicated with me through a dream. He wants to kill her and he's trying to unleash some untapped power that Bonnie has. They're in New Orleans. Do you know of any haunts Klaus might have down there?"
Stefan nodded. "A few," he said, "I should call Caroline and Elena. Whatever Klaus is planning doesn't sound good."
"Don't bother," Damon said, shaking his head, "They'll just get in the way. We'll take care of this ourselves."
"We might need Caroline to distract Klaus," Stefan said, "And Elena to distract Elijah. I can handle Rebekah. We can't just go in there just the two of us and expect to take down four originals."
Damon wondered if he should mention what Sage had said about Bonnie not remembering who she was. But he didn't know if she meant it in the literal or metaphorical sense so he decided to brush it off. "I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard but if you're that adamant about taking them then fine," he said.
"When do we leave?" Abby interjected.
"We?" Damon asked, eyebrow raised, "Who exactly invited you again, mommy dearest?"
"I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing," Abby spat, her eyes narrowing, "She is my daughter."
"Since when?" Damon countered.
"Fuck you," Abby said, "Since when do you give a damn about her anyway. You think I don't know what this is about? You don't care that Bonnie comes home safe. You're not worried about her because she is a girl in a den full of lions. You are worried about her for the same reason why you turned me instead of her. She is your power source. Your machine. Your witch on call. You want her back so you can use her point blank and period. You want to judge me? Go fuck yourself. I might be a shitty mother but at least right now my daughter is my main concern which is more than I can say for you."
Damon opened his mouth to retort but her words cut him. What the hell could he say? That he was realizing that he had treated her daughter like shit and was trying to change? What did it mean now? Now that they were certain that Bonnie was in Klaus' clutches and was in need of being saved.
Damon shut his mouth and responded in the only way that he could. He walked away.
:::
Bonnie Bennett couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She had done everything that she had needed to do to prepare herself for the spell. The others were setting things up in the basement. She ran her hands down the sheer black dress that she had to wear for the spell as she looked at herself in the mirror.
There was so much at stake. So much that could go wrong and it all hinged on her. What if the spell didn't work? What if it did and she wasn't as powerful as everyone thought that she was?
She didn't want to let them down. She didn't want to let Klaus down. Deeper even than that she didn't want anything to happen to any of them because she was not strong enough to protect them from the danger.
Bonnie turned as she heard footsteps behind her and she forced a smile as her green eyes met Klaus' blue ones. Even as she tried to hide her insecurities from him, he was able to read her. He frowned in concern as he reached out to her. Bonnie had his hand in her grasp before it could even make its intended journey toward her.
"What's wrong?" Klaus whispered, as he watched her thread her fingers through his.
Bonnie closed her eyes, her hair falling into her face as rested her head against his chest. "I keep thinking," she said, softly, "What if the spell doesn't work? Or what if it isn't enough? What if I'm not enough?"
"Bonnie-" Klaus began, but she shook her head, cutting him off.
"I know what you're going to say," Bonnie said, "Something that I need to hear like you always do. I appreciate that. I do. But the reality of the situation is that there's a chance that I'm not as powerful as everyone thinks I am." Something inside of her seemed to connect her power with her worth and as much as she didn't understand it she couldn't get away from the connection. "What use am I to you if I can't protect you? Protect us?"
"You're not here because I think that you could be useful to me Bonnie," he said. But wasn't she? She had been. In the beginning. Because he wanted to use her. Take her. Own her. Get revenge on her and the others. But it was something else now. Something different. Something more than the need to possess, though that was still there. There was something with no name between them that was close to being irreplaceable. "You're here because I want you here," he said, "Because I need you here."
Bonnie looked up at him. Her eyes searching, for what he didn't know. "Why?" she asked.
Even if he could explain it, he didn't want to. Didn't want to feel anything even close to vulnerability. It angered him, the things that she forced him to face just by looking at him, just by existing. The things that he wanted the most. The things that he had spent his existence coveting. Power, beauty, loyalty, goodness, darkness, strength. Those were the traits that she embodied. The pieces that made her who and what she was. Even in the state that she was in and losing her was no longer an option. But how could he say that without making himself look pathetic? But if he left the words unsaid it could be the thing that turned her back into the shell that she had been before the accident and where would that leave them then?
"I've never wanted anything that doesn't describe what you are," he forced himself to say, "You are perfect. That's something that the outcome of the spell cannot change."
Bonnie felt an array of emotions, only half of which made sense to her. "I don't ever know what to say to you," she murmured, "A part of it is because I don't remember the right way to act or what words or emotions would make sense for certain moments. A part of it is because I can't help but feel like even if I did remember I wouldn't know what to say anyway. But I want you to know that I need you too. Nothing makes sense when I'm not close to you. And as much as that scares me, even more than the things that I don't know. I think…no I know that not having you with me would scare me more."
Klaus leaned down and kissed her slowly and thoroughly before he pulled away. "I need you to understand something," he said, speaking against her lips as he pulled back slightly, "I need you to let go of your uncertainties and believe me when I say what I am about to say. Power or no power. Memory or memory. I will never let you go. I can't. Do you understand?"
Nodding Bonnie wrapped her arms around his middle as he leaned down and kissed her again. She silently made up her mind that she wouldn't doubt him anymore, even as a little voice in the back of mind told her that she should.
:::
Davina Claire set the charcoal that she had been drawing with down and handed the finished product over to her caregiver. She watched as Marcel Gerard surveyed the piece of paper with interest, his eyes taking in her drawing, noting the features of the girl she had depicted on the page.
"This is the girl that you've been seeing?" He asked, he brown eyes moving from the drawing to her.
Davina nodded, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "That's the one from my visions," Davina said, "The one that came with the old ones. I can feel her power even now, and if what I've seen comes to pass then she will only grow stronger."
Marcel frowned. "Why are they here?" he asked, "Are they after the city?"
Davina shook her head. "The old ones are running from something," she said, "And the witch is being manipulated."
Neither fact surprised Marcel as they had fled and left him during the vampire massacre running from their father before. And Klaus had always had a thing for power, for witches, and for manipulation.
"It won't last long," Davina continued, regaining his attention, "The spell that they want to perform. It is meant to give her access to untapped power but there is a reason that she was kept from accessing it. There has only been one other of her kind in existence and if this time is anything like the last time the supernatural world will be turned on its head. From what I've seen she'll be the strongest of them, unable to be killed like the others were. We can't stop her."
"Power is subjective," Marcel said, "If one is in danger of losing it, the thing to do is get in good with those who have it. Then manipulate them to work in your favor."
"So you're saying that you want to find her?" Davina asked.
Marcel nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying," he said, "If we know about her then there is a chance the witches know too."
:::
Sage's eyes snapped open and she awoke to the sound of chanting. She struggled against the chains that held her in place, but she was unable to free herself. Something was weakening her and she was certain that it was witch's power. She had just barely managed to warn Damon.
She looked around and noticed the originals standing in the far corner of the room. She told herself that she should find solace in the fact that she would soon be able to see Finn, but she did not. Could not. All she wanted to do was kill them all.
The witch stood in front of her, arms raised, voice low as she chanted. A crude pentagram, was painted on the floor in what looked to be blood and Sage found that she was at the center of it. She cursed and spat and yelled, but the witch's concentration never broke and her voice remained steady.
"Redde mihi quod meum est. Divina virtute et me venire," over and over she chanted. The flames of the blood moon candles rose higher and higher.
Sage watched in horror as the amethyst in Bonnie's hand elongated, morphing into a crude dagger. The witch let it go and it floated toward her.
Sage closed her eyes and accepted her fate. The dagger slashed her wrists firsts, then her bare feet, and then it slit her throat. The blood poured from her body, and the pain pulsed, as she was still alive, still suffering. She opened her mouth to scream but only blood poured out.
Her blood flowed and took the shape of the pentagram on the ground and finally the dagger stabbed her in the heart and twisted, before yanking it out of her chest, finally freeing her.
Bonnie caught the heart as it fell and tossed it into the air. The flames from the candles leapt up toward it, seeming to form a life of their own as the swirled around the heart and burned it to ashes. Next the flames swirled around Bonnie. She screamed as they engulfed her, the pain unbearable.
Klaus moved to race toward her but Elijah held him back, as Bonnie fell to the ground. "It's almost over," he whispered into Klaus' ear.
Klaus fought against him. As many times and as many ways as he had once wanted the witch to suffer, witnessing her suffering and knowing that it was being done in his name pained him. "It needs to end now," he hissed.
"Wait a little longer, brother," Elijah said, "Just a little longer."
Bonnie's screams filled the basement as the flames continued to grow. One last scream and the flames were gone. However, as the flames went out all that was left in their wake was ashes.
"What's happened?" Klaus demanded, "Where is she?!"
Elijah shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense," he said, a frown marring his features, "Not unless…"
"Unless what?" Klaus spat.
"Not unless she is more powerful than even we dreamed," Elijah said, his voice almost fearful, "I didn't think that this was possible. But it is much too late to turn back now."
"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked, as Elijah and Kol shared a look.
"He means we have awakened something in her that could destroy us all," Kol said, "The Salvatore are the least of our worries. If her memory returns…"
"I don't care what we've awakened," Klaus said, "We have to find her and make sure she is okay." The other's shared a look but when Klaus left the basement they followed.
:::
They were just outside of the city limits, the sign bidding them welcome to New Orleans was in sight. Just as Damon drove past it, a lone figure appeared directly in their path. Damon stepped on the breaks hard, causing the other inhabitants in the car to jerk forward as they pulled to a stop. He could barely make out the figure in the dark, but as he put the car into park he was able to see exactly who it was.
Damon sighed, as he opened the door to the driver's side and got out of the car. Stefan followed suite, climbing out of the front passenger's side. Abby climbed out of the back seat, leaving only Elena and Caroline remaining in the car.
They had been on the road for a while and they didn't want anything getting in their way now that they were close, especially not a ghost.
The spirit didn't smile as they looked at her, even though both Abby and Stefan looked upon her warmly. "Hello Sheila," Stefan said.
The spirit of Sheila Bennett rolled her eyes. "As much harm as you've caused my family, that's all that you have to say to me Stefan?" Stefan opened his mouth, but Sheila shook her head. "You had your chance to be good to this family a long time ago. Emily gave you a chance, I gave you a chance, and Bonnie gave you a chance. Each time you failed. Now it's too late. Turn around and go back the way that you came."
They all shook their head, but it was Damon who spoke. "We can't do that," Damon said.
Sheila raised an eyebrow at him. "Why not?" she asked, "None of you have ever had any issues with leaving Bonnie all alone on her own to deal with things before. To throw her in harm's way. Abandon in her when she needed you the most. What is exactly so different about the current situation?"
"Mom," Abby said, trying to change the subject and defuse the situation, "Are you here for the reason that I think you're here?"
Sheila gave her daughter a once over and nodded. "You left her because you were afraid that what was foretold would come to pass and now your abandonment of her is a part of the reason that it has."
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, "Elena said that Bonnie told her that she was the reason that Abby left. That it had to do with Elena and Mikael."
"I could care less about Elena Gilbert," Abby spat, bitterly, "I told Bonnie that because I didn't want her to know the truth. I thought if I kept it from her that I could keep it from happening. But obviously that didn't work."
Damon looked from Sheila, to Abby, and then back again. "Keep what from happening?"
"There's a reason that the Bennett name caries so much weight in the supernatural community," Sheila said, "Though, not many know that reason outside of the witches. One of the most powerful beings that ever existed came from this line. Her name was Qetsiyah, and before she was imprisoned on the other side, she was considered infinitely powerful. But it was foretold that after her there would be another, one more powerful. One greater, and she would be the last of the Bennett line. She would suffer and burn but she would rise up from the ashes like the phoenix and be reborn. A-"
"And she would be a god amongst men," Abby finished, "The master of all types of magic, and ruler of all creatures. The supernatural world would kneel at her feet and call her queen."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Damon asked.
Sheila smirked. "You are going to wish that it was," she said, "The spirits can't delay fate any longer. If you go any further then most of you won't leave this city alive and even if you do it won't matter. It's starting. This city will be the birth of her dominion and it will spread like wild fire. I just hope that the vampire species has enjoyed the illusion of being at the top of the food chain all of these centuries. Bonnie will bring the new age, witches will reign, and she will be above all. Witches created this world, we created you, the supernatural community owes us its existence and they will be reminded of that fact. We made the rules and now she will change them. You are about to be reminded why we are the ones to fear, and it will be a lesson that you won't soon forget."
Sheila disappeared a moment later. They all watched as she vanished.
"I don't get it," Stefan said, "If witches protect their own and Bonnie is going to bring about their rule then why would the spirits want to stop her."
Abby laughed without humor. "The goal of witches is to keep the balance," Abby explained, "She isn't talking about balance. She is talking about absolute control. There would be no balance. Everyone will have as much power and as much leeway as Bonnie wants them to have, be it witches, wolves, vampires, or the spirits on the other side. When she learns to control the power that she'll have, she will have control over us all."
"Maybe we should turn back around," Stefan frowned.
Damon shook his head. "I'm going," Damon said, "I don't give a damn about some new order. If we run now it'll get to us eventually any way. We owe her, Stefan. We can't stop. It isn't too late until we accept it is. And even if we can't keep her from unleashing her power, we can at least get her the hell away from Klaus."
:::
The tomb of Marie Laveau was a major tourist attraction but her body was not buried there. Her body was in an unmarked grave in a cemetery that housed her descendants. The tomb housed in the Saint Louis Cathedral that most thought held her remains actually served another purpose altogether. It was a sanctuary for witches. A place where the spirits of the most powerful of them dwelled, spirits who offered protection to those whom they deemed to be worthy.
"This is it," Davina said, as she held the flashlight toward the tomb, "This is where they led me. This is where she'll be. I can feel them. The spirits of her ancestors. They're preparing to guard her while her body gets used to the power." She frowned as she suddenly sensed something else. "It's much more serious than I thought," she said, turning to face Marcel, "She's a Bennett. The last of the line."
"The déesse?" He had heard whispers of things. Myths that spread among the witches. Things that he had thought inconsequential. The name Bennett carried weight but after the last of the line was born and nothing that was foretold came to pass, everyone had thought that the name was just that, a name. It seemed that they hadn't waited long enough, however.
Davina had always believed in whom the resident witches of the French Quarter called the "déesse". Whom the Greeks had called "θεά" when Qetsiyah first warned of her arrival. Whom the pagan witches had called "ásynja". Whom the old Haitian Creole witches that practiced vodou spoke of only as "deyès". Whom those who still worshipped the old gods of the spirits called "She". All those words only meant one thing, goddess. The visions of her had become so old, and the foretelling so fragmented overtime no one believed that she would ever exist. But Davina had always believed.
It was her desperation that caused her to cling to the belief. When she had first heard of her, the only thing that she really paid attention to was the fact that the girl would have the power to break rules set by the spirits, to change them. To master every form of magic both known and unknown. She had let herself hope then, after The Harvest; that if she could find the déesse, that she could change the rules and save her from The Reaping, from death. And now they had found her.
"If we protect her now," Davina said, "Maybe she will help me later." Her wish for a normal life was now forefront in her mind.
"And if she won't?" Marcel asked, suddenly full of foreboding. The girl was supposedly going to bring about a new age for witches, she could easily side with the others.
"She still deserves our help if she needs it," Davina said, "And she will. You don't have that amount of power without having trouble controlling it. The old ones won't be able to understand her. But I will. If you don't want to help I understand. The other vampires could be at risk, and even if they aren't…this city won't be yours for much longer."
"She can have the city if you're safe," Marcel said. He would miss the power, but in the end it was about survival. He knew what it was to survive. And he would survive. Even if that meant submitting.
Davina opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the ground shook beneath their feet. They could feel the power thick and knotted in the air, Davina more than Marcel. The skies clouded over and rain began to pour violently out of the sky as lightning struck the ground over and over.
The ground shook so hard that the walls of the cathedral began to come down. Marcel shielded Davina the best he could as the glass and rubble fell down around them.
Voices rang in Davina's ears. Of witches. Of the dead. They grew so loud that she screamed and then almost as suddenly as the chaos came it stopped.
They stood stock still, soaked and covered in dust, and they waited. Flames appeared around the tomb before coming together in front of it. As they died down and turned to ashes they left the body of a girl in their wake.
She sat on the ground, covered in dirt and ashes, naked, her knees pulled into her chest. Her eyes opened and they were consumed in white before fading into a forest green color. She looked at them her eyes wide and scared. The power she exuded was distracting and seemed to pulse all around them.
Marcel stepped forward but Davina shook her head. "It has to be me," she whispered, "I'm one of her own. For right now at least, that is all she will be able to understand until the power settles."
Still Marcel removed his jacket and handed it to Davina. Taking it Davina smiled, before she began to approach to girl. Her movements were slow, cautious.
She knelt down in front of her and studied her face once they were eye level. "Hello, déesse," she said, softly, "My name is Davina."
The girl lifted her chin, any trace of fear that she had seeming to disappear. "I'm Bonnie," she said.
Davina wrapped Marcel's jacket around Bonnie's shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry, Bonnie," she said, "You're safe."
:::
Marcel looked out of the window of the house that he had once shared with the originals and now shared with Davina. The witches were all outside, everyone in the quarter. The wolves as well. Even the vampires and his men had the place surrounded. They were waiting to catch a glimpse of the Bennett witch. She had not come into her power for more than an hour and already the guidelines he had set up for the Quarter were being ignored in her favor.
"At least they aren't here for me," Davina said, as she looked down as well, her eyes on the witches, "Do you think the old ones will come?"
Marcel nodded. "I know them," he said, "If they had her before they'll come for her now. They wouldn't pass up that chance at having all that power. Especially Klaus."
"You might know Klaus and the others but you don't know how he feels about me," a voice said from behind them.
They turned and watched as Bonnie entered the room, freshly showered and dressed in one of Davina's white lace dresses. The only reason that Bonnie had gone with them outside of her immediate trust of Davina, was the fact that Marcel had mentioned that he and Klaus were old friends.
"It isn't about the power," Bonnie continued as she entered the room more fully, "He cares about me and he needs me. That's why he'll come."
Marcel nodded, but on the inside he was skeptical. He knew Klaus well, and was well aware of how he operated. For Klaus love was equated with weakness, and power with strength. Those with power were manipulated. And there was no love that mattered outside of family. He had proven that time and time again when he had mocked his siblings for falling in love. When he had killed the people that they had dared to choose over him. When he had forced Marcel to choose between immortality and Rebekah. Love was not a priority to Klaus, it was something that was meaningless and made those with power vulnerable. And vulnerability was never an option.
He was playing the girl nicely though, getting her to believe something that Marcel knew could never be true.
Davina read the tension between them and stepped forward. "How are you feeling?" She asked, as she walked toward Bonnie.
"Fine," Bonnie said, "New. If that make sense." She had been hoping that with her power she would regain her memory but that had not been the case.
Just as the thought came to her an image flashed in Bonnie's mind. A man, black hair, and blue eyes. No, not a man, a vampire. Attacking her, biting her neck, trying to kill her. Bonnie shook her head and another image surfaced. The same man, strung up, being tortured by Rebekah. She saw herself, standing next to Klaus, heard Klaus' voice. "The man that killed your mother," he said.
Bonnie blinked, her mind racing. A name came to her. Damon. Yes, that sounded right. Damon. The vampire who attacked her. The vampire who killed her mother, but was her mother dead? She felt as if she was and yet she wasn't.
Unable to make sense of it Bonnie thought about Rebekah and Klaus instead. Rebekah had been torturing him, she looked angry. Was she angry that he had hurt Bonnie? Was this Damon one of the people that were after them? He was, had to be, she was sure of it.
"Come and look," Davina said, catching Bonnie's attention.
Bonnie stepped forward and walked over to the window. She looked out at the seemingly endless crowd of people. "Who are they?" Bonnie asked, "What do they want?"
"They came to see the déesse," Marcel grinned.
Bonnie frowned "Who is that?" she asked, clearly confused, "And what does that even mean?"
"Déesse," Marcel explained, "Is goddess in French. And the goddess they are waiting to see would be you."
Davina pointed to the mark that had appeared on Bonnie's neck. A pentagram, with a crescent moon on each side. "This mark," she said, "It's the symbol of the goddess. An outward representation of you power."
Bonnie touched her neck and bit her bottom lip. "I don't understand," she said.
"Don't worry," Marcel smiled a smile that somehow made her at ease and suspicious all at once, "You will."
:::
The last person that Klaus Mikaelson had expected to receive a message from on his search for Bonnie was Marcel Gerard. Considering what city he was in, he supposed that he shouldn't have been so surprised. However, he had been so focused on Bonnie he hadn't given anyone else much thought, least of all his former protégé.
As he and his siblings walked into the house that they had once shared together, Klaus ignored the memories that had surfaced in favor of listening for any sign of Bonnie.
One of the vampires that were loitering around directed him toward the stairs, and Klaus ran toward them, Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol following him at a much slower pace.
There had been a crowd outside, creatures of all sorts. It had taken them an hour to weed their way through and as they had Klaus was slowly beginning to understand what Elijah had meant about them getting themselves into something that they were in no way prepared for.
He heard Bonnie's voice before he saw her and was soon bursting into the room from which it had come. She barely had time to take in the fact that he was there, before he sped toward her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, as he buried his face in her hair.
She nodded, as she returned the embrace. "I'm fine," she said, "I feel good. Great even. New. I feel new."
"You're not hurt?" Klaus pressed rubbing his hands down her arms.
Bonnie shook her head as she pulled back from him. "I'm fine," she said, "I promise. I wouldn't lie to you."
Klaus winced and turned in time to see his siblings enter the room. "She's fine," he told them, though none of them had asked. Instead they were all looking at him strangely.
Ignoring them he turned back to Bonnie and took her face in his hands and leaned down and kissed her lips. "I thought I had lost you," he whispered.
Bonnie smiled at him as he pulled away and there was a clearing of the throat.
Klaus turned to face Marcel and forced himself away from Bonnie's side. "Thank you," he said, "For taking care of her old friend."
Bonnie stepped over to where Davina was standing near the balcony of the bedroom as the two began to talk.
"Not a problem," Marcel said, lowly, "I can't say that I'm surprised that you're involved with her somehow. I mean you've always had a thing for power. But after seeing the two of you together, if I didn't know any better I'd think that the power was just a nice incentive. That it's really about her."
Klaus laughed but it was uneasily. "You've simply caught me at a weak moment, Marcel," he said. He soon regretted his words when he remembered other words that he had said once. "Love is a vampire's greatest weakness," but surely it was too soon for fear of that.
Klaus swallowed and prepared for Marcel's response but it never came.
There were sudden shouts of cheers and wind howled in a way that could only mean that someone was displaying power. They could feel it as well, down deep. It was intoxicating and terrifying at once how strong it was.
Klaus turned to see that it was Bonnie. She had gone out onto the balcony and was demonstrating her powers to the crowd down below.
"Looks like the goddess has met her worshipers," Marcel laughed.
Klaus smiled. As he watched Bonnie he knew that no one in the crowd would ever respect her power as much as he did.