In this chapter I'm taking many liberties with Egyptian Mythology and creation theory. Of course, everyone believes differently so please don't think I'm trying to demean your religion because I'm not.
I recommend grabbing your favorite drink and snuggling up in your warmest blanket for this one, y'all, it's loooong. Double the size of the last chapter.
Elijah's part is just a nice little 'calm before the storm' section.
-15-
Elijah
Isolde was in the kitchen cutting yellow squash when he arrived at her home, freshly showered and changed. Finn was sitting at her kitchen table, nursing a glass of what looked to be bourbon and reading a worn book. Elijah nodded to his elder brother, tossing his suit jacket over the back of a chair and undoing his cufflinks to roll back his sleeves. Finn disappeared, leaving his chair empty.
By unspoken agreement, Isolde wasn't to be left alone again for the foreseeable future. Yet they all wanted to have alone time with her. To avoid what Elijah knew was going to be an inevitable argument in the near future, likely beginning with Kol or Niklaus, they'd all decided to vacate and give each other time alone with her. At least until they were more comfortable in their personal bonds..
She hadn't reacted to Elijah's entrance or Finn's exit. Elijah guessed she was focused on the task of preparing a meal for thirteen people. Niklaus had offered to let her utilize a few of the Mikaelson's compelled staff for the night but she refused the assistance. He finished rolling his sleeves and stepped right beside her, carding his fingers through her soft hair until his hand settled lightly on the back of her neck.
Isolde hummed softly and leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist in a side hug. "You're warm." Isolde murmured a moment later, turning into him fully and wrapping her other arm around him.
Elijah's eyes closed and he released a breath, letting his other arm wrap around her as tightly as he could without hurting her.
"Are you cold?" He asked, letting the hand in her hair glide down her back. "I can find you a sweater."
"M'fine." Isolde shook her head and tightened her hold on him like she didn't want him to go. His chest squeezed and fluttered at the feeling of being wanted. "Thank you. Just a by-product of the decapitation."
"What can I do to help?"
She pulled away with a small smile, patting him lightly on the chest as she turned away towards the stove. "This is an easy recipe and I store-bought some of the ravioli so it's really just about timing. You can toast the panko, though."
Elijah was busy toasting panko crumbs in butter on the stove when Niklaus filled Finn's vacated seat, downing the leftover bourbon and staring at Elijah and Isolde critically. "Well, isn't this domestic?"
"It would be more so if you helped Theon, Kol, and Finn set up the new patio furniture." Rebekah said, stepping inside through the back door. "The instructions aren't clear enough and they're all struggling, which is making Theon and Kol both snappy. Things are going to get bloody out there."
Isolde's shoulders shook with quiet laughter as Niklaus vacated his seat to oversee the chaos outside.
Watching their infinitely more volatile brother exit the house, Elijah smiled as Rebekah smirked. "There, that should keep them all busy." She came to stand beside Isolde. "I'm willing to bet you and I could go out there and have the furniture assembled in no time."
Isolde grinned at her. "What's funny is that Theo is pretending he can't do the assembly." At Elijah and Rebekah's confused look Isolde laughed. "He's messing with Kol to see how easily he can push Kol's buttons. Now Klaus is out there, too. Theon's having a blast, I guarantee it."
"That little fibber. He sent me in here to ask Nik for help." Rebekah exclaimed with an amused half-smile. "The cheek of him, I swear."
"You'll come to find that Theon likes to act as though he's not smarter than everyone else and take them by surprise when they least expect it. I hope Finn's having fun listening to them fight, I should open a window to hear it better." Isolde giggled, setting a dish in the sink.
Rebekah pushed up her sleeves and stepped up to the sink. She winked at Isolde. "I'll do these for you if you tell me embarrassing things about Theon."
Isolde just grinned and Elijah had the sudden realization that Rebekah and his mate were going to be close friends.
Niklaus
Niklaus was annoyed with Theon when the Mystic Falls gang arrived.
The elder immortal had taunted him and Kol relentlessly while they tried to set up Isolde's new patio set and had had a rough go of it. Klaus couldn't remember the last time he'd personally put anything together, he'd always compelled or paid a human to do such grunt work. Why Theon had insisted on doing it themselves when any of them would have made someone else do it was beyond him.
Finn was the one to put the whole set together whilst Theon, Klaus, and Kol argued back and forth. It had been done before any of them realized he'd even begun working on it.
An hour later everyone was seated at the two tables that had been pushed together on the patio. Theon and Isolde had insisted on serving as the hosts. It was odd for Klaus, watching two five thousand year old beings who lead their own personal Empires and fought a chaos god humble themselves to serve not only his family, but young vampires and actual human teenagers as well.
The Mikaelson's would never.
They had all begun eating, the conversation was light at first when Stefan Salvatore had evidently had enough and decided to ruin the amicable atmosphere. Truth be told, Klaus was about to do it himself, egear to see to the punishment portion of tonight's meeting.
"Not that dinner isn't nice and everything, but what do you want?" Stefan asked, glaring at Klaus, as if he'd been the one to call the dinner. "Give us Damon back."
Klaus' muscles tightened as his anger rose, he was about to lash out but didn't get a chance to respond as Isolde hummed (he noted that she did that alot, it seemed to be her way of drawing people's attention) and addressed the group.
"Can anyone at this table tell me how the gods were created?"
The table was silent, nobody knew how the gods were created. How could they know? Even the most renowned scholars of eld only had some half-decent theories.
"That's a trick question, darling." Kol accused with a smile, pointing his fork at Isolde. "There are many theories but one of the most prevalent is that gods are not created, they just are."
"That's a sound theory," Isolde nodded after swallowing a bite of her own dinner, "partially correct, even."
She leaned back in her seat, staring up at the night sky as a cool breeze fanned across the table. She extended an arm to point upwards toward the north star, the lights around them dimmed as if on a timer (though if Klaus had to guess he'd assume it was Theon) and they all glanced up.
"The universe is an infinite, cosmic, and conscious collective that encompasses all of creation spanning every planet both known and unknown. We call it The Consciousness; it is in all that we are, all that we see, all that we feel, and all that we cannot. It is more vast than any mind created on this earth could ever fathom."
"Sounds like 'The Consciousness' is just your term for God." Alaric scoffed around a mouthful of ravioli.
If Isolde didn't kill them all Klaus would see to it himself. He could see Elijah's tense shoulders where his older brother sat beside him. Poor table manners aside, neither Klaus or Elijah would allow Alaric to continue to disrespect Isolde. The hunter had already been dancing on a livewire.
Isolde lowered her arm back to the table, unfazed. "The core of The Consciousness is where the gods reside, a finite ring of darkness and light where life is a concept of creation and nothing more. They are not beings of organic matter that will one day decay and absorb themselves back into The Consciousness. They are ethereal; eternal, and from them is where The Consciousness begins and ends."
"You're saying the universe itself was created by the beings that dwell within the core of this Consciousness?" Elijah asked, he had leaned back in his chair, feigning nonchalance while nursing his glass of wine.
"No." She smiled at him. "I'm saying Alaric is right; The Consciousness is God, it encompasses the entire galaxy and beyond. The beings that dwell within the core are what binds God to all of creation. Those beings within the core are the first creations."
"I don't get it." Elena started, picking at her half-eaten dinner. "Besides wondering what this has to do with us getting Damon back... What were the first creations?"
Theon leaned forward toying with his knife, his plate empty already. "They have been called many names, I'll simplify it. They are the Ogdoad; Heh and Hauhet (formlessness), Kek and Kauket (darkness), Amun and Amaunet (hiddenness), and Nun and Naunet (primordial waters)."
"The eight Egyptian primordial deities," Stefan said with a raised brow after swallowing some of his ravioli. "You're saying those aren't just concepts, but beings that embody the concept?"
Isolde nodded. "Somewhat, they don't have organic bodies."
"So what's the point you're trying to make?" Matt asked, his arms were folded over his chest as he leaned back in his chair glaring at the table.
"Point is, the primordial deities are vast and unfathomable." Isolde continued with a slight frown, clearly starting to be fazed by the disrespectful attitude of the humans at the table. Klaus was beginning to feel his own temper rise as she continued without addressing it. "Millions of years ago, the Ogdoad decided to create beings to share the universe with; their children, though not created the same way you think children are created. Greater deities don't copulate. In order to create their children they created something organic and would place a part of The Consciousness inside of the organic mass. That's how we have the Sun (Ra), Earth (Geb), the Sky (Nut), and so on. It's from those deities, not the Ogdoad, that the rest of creation (like mankind) came to be."
"So… kind of like Adam and Eve? People really are created in the image of 'God'." Caroline interjected, her brow pinched. She was leaning forward with rapt attention, seeming to be genuinely interested.
A week ago, that might have endeared her to Klaus even more. Now he was just annoyed by her interruption of his mate's story.
"Not quite." Isolde laughed, eyes glittering in the low outdoor lighting. "The Catholics and the Protestants really did a number on mortals' capacity to understand these concepts. I know it's hard to wrap the head around. You don't have to fully understand to get the gist. What you need to know is that life existed long before people did, and people were created by the gods for their own amusement."
"From Geb and Nut, or Earth and Sky, came the Four. Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Set." Theon began, moving the conversation along before someone else could interrupt. "They ruled over the Earth from the time of Pangea on a part of the continent that while fully formed, is now known as Africa. More specifically, Egypt."
"It was an epic months' long singular battle between the Four and Apophis that caused Pangea to break, actually." Isolde grinned, sharing a smile with her brother before becoming serious once more. "About five thousand years ago, the Four got bored enough to place their consciousness into mortal bodies and made their very own children through copulation. It was the first time any of the gods had decided to do that, and it wouldn't be the last. But." She looked up at each person on the table. "These five demigods were different from any other that came after."
"They were all born mortal; like those who came later. But unlike those later demigods, these children impressed the greater deities. Once they came into adulthood Geb and Nut themselves deemed these children worthy of a part of The Consciousness. Channeling through Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys, the five children were given each a portion of The Consciousness and were thus propelled into godhood, though stuck in their original forms and unable to ever transcend this plane." Theon downed the rest of his wine and smirked. "From Osiris and Isis came Horus, the first born. The god of war; the king of kings."
"From Osiris and Nephthys came the first set of twins; Anubis and Amunet." Isolde informed, also smirking as Klaus glanced around at his family as the pieces of the puzzle began to click. Klaus leaned forward at the mention of Anubis, whom he now knew was 'Bis' Isolde's twin. "Anubis became the god of the underworld, ruling alongside his father. Amunet was embraced by the primordial Amaunet and gifted the shadows. Thus making her the goddess of the hidden."
He and Elijah exchanged a glance. They knew better than to interrupt right now but Klaus wanted to know just what their mate's powers entailed and how she could utilize the shadows. He had a few ideas but now wasn't the best time to bring them up.
"And from Nephthys and Set came the second set of twins; Thoth and Ma'at." Theon said. "Thoth became the god of writing, wisdom, truth, integrity, and medicine. Ma'at the goddess of truth, justice, and most importantly, order. Isis was quite fond of her and, along with a hefty chunk of Geb's consciousness, Isis sent her own portion into Ma'at and descended into the Underworld to remain with her love, Osiris, and her stepson. Ma'at became more of a concept to the Egyptians, but it was she herself who wrote the forty two concepts of harmony. Which, by the way, was a real pain in the ass for the first thousand years or so it took for her to ease up."
"Imagine your baby sister yelling at you for eavesdropping to find out what your birthday present was going to be and literally trying to put you in jail for it. Like really?" Isolde laughed with Theon.
"I'm sorry, what?" Matt asked, shaking his head with wide eyes.
"Allow us to actually introduce ourselves." Isolde turned away from Theon to address the table. "My name is Isolde Amunet Alexander and I am the daughter of Osiris and Nephthys. This is my younger brother Theon Thoth Alexander, son of Set and Nephthys. We are five thousand year old gods, and you" she pointed to the Mystic Falls gang, "by attacking our soul bonds have provoked us out of our long held indifference."
"Yikes." Theon grinned as the gang's faces paled and Klaus leaned forward with malicious glee. He almost laughed as Stefan hastily wrapped his arm around Elena, Caroline grabbed Matt and they moved to run.
"Fermali." Isolde spoke the Italian command and instantly Mura and two kittens came from nowhere, standing behind the gang's seats and warping into larger, dark manifestations that looked vaguely panther-like and skeletal. The gang stopped short and sank back down to their seats in wide eyed terror.
"Your cats are bloody matagots?" Kol asked incredulously.
"Did you think they were just going to be normal cats?" Theon laughed, reaching forward to take the half full bottle of wine from the table center and refilled his glass. "Mura was a gift from Bastet, she's almost as old as we are."
"What are matagots?" Rebekah asked, looking at Theo for elaboration.
"They're spirits that take the shape of an animal. In French lore they're known for being evil unless they're well fed, then they're known to be helpful to the person they've bonded with." Kol answered.
"Mura and her offspring aren't typical matagots." Theon shrugged, sipping at his second glass of wine and refilling Rebekah's. "They're servants of Bastet, and Bastet was close with my sister. She gifted Mura to Isolde as a kitten millennia ago. They're exceptionally powerful familiars."
"I was truly shocked she liked you so fast, Klaus. But it's not a bad thing." Isolde smiled at him and Klaus felt his heart rate increase at the fond look upon her face as their eyes met. Her next words nearly gutted him with the surge of incomprehensible emotion he didn't want to examine too closely. "If she thinks you trustworthy enough to be near you on day one then I will as well. Her judgement has never been wrong."
As if to accentuate her master's point, Mura left her kittens behind and walked up to Klaus purring. The familiar brushed her head against Klaus' shoulder (that's how bloody tall she was in this form) and he reached over to scratch her head, baffled and somewhat honored given the common history between cats and dogs. She sat by his side and didn't move away again, content.
"What are you going to do with us?" Stefan interrupted, looking less terrified and more angry by the second as he addressed Isolde. "We just want Damon, we have no real problems with you or your brother."
Klaus felt the beginnings of a grin stretch upon his face as he truly realized just how ridiculously out classed their enemies were at this moment. He leaned back in his seat and swirled his glass of wine with one hand scratching the back of Mura's neck.
All that was missing from the picture his posture painted was a crown.
Isolde smiled darkly at Klaus before turning back to Stefan. "Unfortunately your brother made an attempt on my life late this morning. Paired with your own planned intentions to eradicate the Mikaelson's, who are by nature of our soul bond now under the protections of the Royal House of Alexander, your motley crew has broken supernatural law several times over."
Isolde turned her full attention to the gang as Mura's offspring stepped closer to Elena, hissing and growling. The stench of urine filled the air around them as one of the cats lifted to lay its front paws on the back of Elena's chair hissing directly into her ear. Sharp, elongated fangs glinting. The doppelganger screamed, trembling in terror.
"Leave her alone." Stefan, Matt, and Alaric all belted, attempting to stand. They quickly discovered they could no longer move as dark shadows wrapped around their bodies holding them in their chairs.
Isolde's posture shifted, shoulder's drawing back and spine going completely straight. She placed her hands upon the arms of the chair, looking suddenly more regal in yoga pants and a cardigan than any of the impeccably dressed Queens Klaus had ever met.
She didn't remove her eyes from Stefan as she addressed Theon. "Are you ready to proceed, fratellino?"
Theon too had forgone all casual posture and drew himself to his full height, reaching over to grasp Rebekah's hand in his. He placed a kiss on the back of it and threaded his fingers with hers. To the Mikaelson's, who knew of many intricate royal customs from their time among them over the centuries, Theon's behavior was a declaration of intention.
Theon was treating Rebekah as his intended; his future Queen.
Rebekah seemed to try her damndest not to react but Klaus knew his sister was internally screaming with glee.
"We may begin, sorella maggiore."
Kol
Through Isolde and Theon's explanation of creation and how they themselves had come to be Kol had remained mostly quiet, soaking the details like a dry sponge. He could have never come to know this information without having met Isolde, he realized. No amount of study would have uncovered the depth of knowledge that the Alexanders had just by being.
He wondered how much more he could learn off Isolde before she got tired of his constant badgering. Kol loved to learn new things to the point of obsession and he'd long realized most people didn't have the tolerance for his exuberance in that regard.
Perhaps her estate in Italy had a rather large library she wouldn't mind granting him access too?
His thoughts were wandering and he briefly forgot that Isolde and her brother were beginning what seemed to be an informal court session.
The Mystic Falls gang were frozen in their seats. The doppelganger was sobbing and had already released her bowels when one of the matagots had hissed in her ear. The elder's, Stefan and Alaric, were both showing open defiance by glaring at Isolde and Theon as though that might solve their situation. The young blonde vampire and Rebekah's former crush were shaking violently, clutching hands with one another.
With a nonchalant wave of his hand, Theon canceled whatever illusion he had on the table because instead of the intricate centerpiece he'd placed upon it earlier that evening Damon Salvatore was laid out before them.
The gang screamed in horror upon the sight, Stefan trying to surge forward only to be held back by Isolde's shadows. Damon's head was caved in, but cleaned enough to notice that parts of his brain were scraped off. Intrigued, Kol noted that the missing bits of Damon's brain were a part of the cerebellum. What bit he'd learned about modern science in the last few days (he'd been researching) told him that a person could indeed survive without that.
As if to prove Kol's thoughts, Damon took a shuddering breath that sounded like there was blood in his lungs, if Kol wasn't mistaking the sound. The vampire's chest was also pulled open, ribs cracked in odd directions. This part of the younger vampire was a bit farther down the table from Kol so he couldn't see it as well as Elijah could but Damon's heart remained intact. Just burned to hell, likely with the introduction of vervain to his system. It also looked like Damon had sustained a deep puncture to his aortic valve.
"I had a bit of extra fun with him before everyone arrived this afternoon." Isolde informed them, inspecting a nail before looking towards Kol and his family. "Your dinner was prepared separately from theirs. I wouldn't do this to you."
Kol hadn't expected 'cruel and unusual' to be this level of cruel and unusual.
Matt and Elena looked like they were about to vomit when Isolde turned her malicious glare upon them. "I do hope you enjoyed your dinner. I hand made everything; especially Damon stuffed Ravioli. The brain is actually a tender meat though it's rather hard to get the taste just so. When you do, though, I've heard it's close to what lamb tastes like. I've never tried it myself. Oh- and I can't forget the blood infused sauce. That was improvised."
Nik was grinning so wide Kol wondered if his brothers' face would crack open. Elijah and Finn were both watching Isolde with rapt attention. One obviously intrigued and the other… surprisingly not disgusted.
Kol couldn't tell at all what was going through Finn's mind, but he did know that it had been Finn who had gone into the shed with Isolde when they came back from the grocery store. It had been Finn who'd stayed in the kitchen with her when Theon and Rebekah had arrived with the new patio set.
Deciding to dwell on the implications of that later, Kol himself recognized that he was delighted and, though he'd rather not let any of his family learn of it, aroused. He oscillated between wanting to watch this scene play out in its entirety and wanting to grab Isolde and slam her against a wall, taking her violently until she forgot anyone else had existed but him.
"You're both monsters." The doppelganger sobbed, snot and tears both dangling from her chin.
"There is no one in this world who knows what we are better than we do ourselves." Theon sighed but smirked sadistically to accentuate the fact that he didn't care one bit. He turned his dark eyes upon Stefan. "I wonder, who would be your choice should Isolde give you one. Would you take Damon, while he still has a chance at survival so long as you find yourself a strong enough witch? In doing so, you would give Miss. Gilbert over to us. Or would you take Miss. Gilbert and leave your own brother to his fate?"
Even Nik's eyes grew wide at that.
Stefan grimaced, his mind seeming to work quickly to come up with something, anything, that could get him out of this. "You said there were laws. We want representation."
"Indeed there are laws." Theon said, dropping his smile rather abruptly. "Allow us to break this down for you beginning with the eldest and worst offender; Damon Salvatore." Theon started, gesturing to the vampire on the table. "His crimes are many but most importantly he made an attempt on the life of a sovereign. Empress Isolde Amunet Alexander, via decapitation. He accosted the Empress in a grocery store wherein inquired about the whereabouts of one Bonnie Bennet. When he didn't receive the answer he hoped for, he used his strength and speed as a vampire to grab the Empress and slam her against the corner of a dumpster outside twice. Then, he pulled her head from her body."
Hearing it laid out like that, and learning that Damon had slammed Isolde's head off the corner of a dumpster had every Mikaelson's vampire face creep to the surface instantly.
Theon was undeterred. "Typically the accused would be given a chance to deny or accept guilt. That is unnecessary in this instance as I have acquired the video surveillance of the grocery store." Theon met Stefan's eyes directly. "This offense is punishable by execution, the means is subject to the will of the affected sovereign; Isolde Alexander."
"Moving to the next offender; Stefan Salvatore." Isolde interjected before Stefan could speak. "Stefan is accused of conspiring to murder Empress Isolde beside his brother Damon Salvatore, conspiring and attempting to eradicate the Original Vampires and thus attempted genocide of the species. Once again, the evidence we have is the voice recording I have on my own phone of the conversation you had in your home just last night. Additionally, Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert are accused and confirmed with video evidence of their attempt on Elijah Mikaleson's life via security footage from the gas station nearby the alley in which they accosted him. Would either of you like to plead your case?"
Stefan opened his mouth with a cocky grin. "If you have evidence of anything said in my home then it's subject to trespassing laws and is therefore inadmissible."
Isolde laughed. "We do have trespassing laws in the supernatural, you're correct. The Shade, however, are exempt from such laws so long as there is due cause. You had weapons in your possession that could harm the originators of your race. That is due cause. Would you like to plead again?"
When neither Stefan or Elena spoke again, Theon continued.
"Similarly, Alaric Saltzman and Matt Donovan stand accused of the same against Kol Mikaelson, the video footage of that attempt comes from the camera behind The Grill."
The two offenders remained silent, this time.
"Vampire's aren't used to considering video footage, what's your excuse?" Isolde asked them rhetorically.
Moving along, Theon looked at the young blonde vampire. "Caroline Forbes is here because of her part, though minimal, in today's plot. She has been accused of aiding and abetting the criminal behavior of the aforementioned offenders. We would like to grant you the opportunity to explain yourself."
Caroline's face was a mess of snot, tears, and saliva much like the doppelgangers. She hiccuped and sobbed through her whole testimony. "Damon just told me to distract Klaus, he said he was just going to ask Isolde about Bonnie. He didn't tell me what he was going to do, I'm so sorry. Please don… please don't kill me."
"I believe you." Isolde said very simply, pulling her phone out of her pocket. The shadows warped to cover the gang's mouths while Isolde's phone rang and she put it on speaker.
'What's up Sol?' A voice filtered through the speaker.
"Hey Vera, do you have Bonnie with you by chance? I have a question."
There was a vague sound of the phone switching hands.
'Hello?' The voice on the line caused a visible reaction in all of the Mystic Falls crew.
"Hi Bonnie, this is Vera's older sister Isolde. How's your first few days training with Vera been going?" Isolde asked sweetly. There was no way Bonnie would discern what was happening on Isolde's end of the phone, no matter how hard the gang was trying to call out for her.
Kol had to admit, he was more turned on than he ever had been in his life and by the expressions on Nik and Elijah's faces he assumed they felt the same way.
'Yeah, great actually. I think I've learned more than double with Vera in the few days that I've been with her than I have on my own in over a year since I gained access to my magic.' The witch sounded exceptionally happy about this.
"I'm so glad to hear it!" Isolde exclaimed. "Listen, I've run into your friends back here in Mystic Falls and they seem to think something bad has happened to you. I'm sure you have your reasons for not responding to whatever calls or emails they've sent but they're really getting on my nerves. Is there any message you'd like passed on to them? Get them off my back?"
'Oh, uh. I'm sorry about them giving you so much trouble. Can you just tell them I… I need time away from them. It just… it seems like because I'm a witch they're constantly using me to their advantage and that's mostly okay because I want to help the people I care about it's just… I don't know, I'm always the one who ends up hurt? Sorry, I can't articulate it better. I just don't want to hear from them."
"I understand, thank you for telling me. I'll be sure to pass the message." Isolde said, looking the doppelganger directly in the eyes. "Mind telling Vera I'll call her tomorrow for me?"
'Will do, have a good night.' The witch said, hanging up the phone.
Everything was silent for a moment save for the sounds of crickets in the background.
Then Isolde sighed. "If you'd asked me politely instead of accosting me in the grocery store that one phone call and message would've been all. It would've been over." She paused for a moment, taking a swing of wine before she continued, glancing at the blonde vampire. "By supernatural law, you're considered underage if you are under twenty-five or have only been immortal for less than five years, whichever falls first. Based on this law and your own testimony, you're free to go Miss. Forbes. I advise you to take the long way back to town to avoid the construction."
Caroline looked to her friends who were shaking their heads, the doppelganger crying out behind the shadow that covered her mouth.
"I'm so sorry." Were the last words out of her mouth before she fled to her car. Moments later she was speeding down Isolde's long driveway, kicking up quite the dust storm.
"The rest of you aren't so fortunate." Theon snapped, eyes narrowing. "Matt Donovan doesn't have the rights of a supernatural being. Alaric Saltzman and Stefan Salvatore are both adults, one a vampire hunter and the other a vampire. And Elena Gilbert falls in the in-between as a supernatural being and a human in one."
A shadow passed over the table, releasing a pen that dropped to the table and a slip of paper that floated down until it settled before Elena. Isolde gestured to it. "If you sign this, Miss. Gilbert, and adhere to it without deviating, we will allow you to live as freely as you can within it's constraints. I suggest you read it thoroughly."
As the doppelganger picked up the pen with a shaky hand, Isolde turned to Nik. "Originally, Elijah, Theon, Bekah, and I had worked on this contract as a means to secure the doppelganger's blood and preserve her bloodline for your hybrids. There were a lot of stipulations that you'd have to adhere to as well so that we could present a fair contract. Those are now gone."
Isolde turned back to the four remaining members of the Mystic Falls gang and the whole table tensed as the air went frigid and Isolde's eyes turned gold. "I don't help people who try to hurt those I care about. I will take everything you've ever had, every hope, every dream, every bit of happiness in your body until there is nothing left but a numb, mindless shell where you once stood."
Elena Gilbert signed the contract.
"Good." Isolde nodded her approval while a shadow dropped the piece of paper in Nik's hands. "I'll send you a copy in the morning. You're free to go, drive safely. Like I told your friend, try to avoid that construction."
The doppelganger fell over herself three times on her way to her car.
"Theon do you mind restoring the elder Salvatore?"
"Not at all." Theon responded, hand hovering over Damon's open chest.
All eyes were on Damon as everything started to snap back into place. The missing pieces of his brain began to reform, then were covered as the vampire's skull started to rebuild itself. His ribs cracked and snapped, organs stuffing themselves back into their original places until his skin folded back over and knit together. At last, Damon reopened his eyes with a sharp intake of breath and Stefan wept.
Kol had never seen a witch that could do magic quite like that. If he'd doubted that his mate and her siblings were gods before (which he hadn't) then he certainly would've had plenty of proof now.
Damon pushed himself off the table, stumbling to get over to his brother and basically fell on top of Stefan, who grabbed on tightly to keep Damon upright.
"As for the four of you," Isolde pointed out into the forest behind them, "you are free to go if you can make it past the creek ten miles south west of here on the way into town."
Alaric and Stefan got up and managed to wrap their arms around Damon to help him walk. Matt brought up the rear. Nik and Elijah both opened their mouths to protest but were stopped short as the lights around them flickered and died, plunging them all into darkness. Blinking a few times, Kol's eyes adjusted.
A dozen glowing eyes came forward through the darkness of the trees to the east, the opposite direction of the remaining Mystic Falls gang.
"Good luck, boys." Isolde said as the four men hobbled towards the forest. They were slowed significantly by Damon's injuries and by Matt and Alaric being human. "Esploratori imperiali per me." Isolde called to the darkness in Italian.
'Imperial scouts?' Kol thought, sitting up straighter, intent on not showing any form of weakness in front of his mate's people.
Six cloaked figures emerged from the darkness, each kneeling before Isolde. Six quiet voices addressed her. "Si, Domina Augusta."
With a wave of her hand, Isolde issued a kill command. "Uccidili."
The figures didn't move, they disappeared.
Seconds later, Isolde picked up her wine glass as Theon started laughing exuberantly. "By the gods, sorella, it's so good to see you motivated, it's been ages. I admit I wondered what hell you were thinking, letting that fool take your head off."
Isolde just grinned at the entire table. "Oh Theo, you know I couldn't pass up the opportunity for dinner and a show." She refilled her glass. "Who has room for dessert? There's more yet to get through tonight."
Can you believe we went through all that and there's still more that needs to be explained? I'm tired, I spend my whole Sunday on this one. lol