Wanderers - Part 1
Watching his older brother tear out the heart of a woman who looked exactly like his dead friend was already hard enough for Stefan. Watching as his older brother get his neck snapped magically from across the clearing when there was nothing that Stefan could do to prevent it was even worse. In the blink of an eye, Damon's head was bent at an odd angle and a loud crack, similar to the boom of thunder on seconds before, filled the clearing. Damon's body flopped over onto the ground. He and the Victoria look-alike were piled on top of each other, just a tangled mess of limbs.
"Damon!" Stefan shouted in shock. He flat-out sprinted the distance between him and his brother. Once he reached him, Stefan dropped to his knees and took a quick inventory of the situation.
His brother was dead, at least momentarily. Stefan felt around Damon's neck. It had been a clean break, a break that could only come from someone extremely strong or by magic. Stefan rolled Damon off of the other dead person in the pile and bile rose up in the back of Stefan's throat, threatening to spill over.
She was so similar. It was like Katherine and Elena all over again. Her eyes were blank and unseeing, and Stefan could only imagine this was what Victoria had looked like when she had passed away the night before.
And the smell...
She smelled like a Sunday dinner and a morgue all at the same time. On the surface, her scent was that of death. It was like charred bodies met day-old corpses. But deeper, beneath the surface, the scent of her blood called out to Stefan. It took everything within him not to react. Her bloodied heart was still clutched in Damon's hand and Stefan was entranced, watching as the blood congealed and slid off of the dead organ in little rivers.
Stefan bit his tongue, hard. He shook his head and got up, taking a few steps away from the pair so he could try and clear his mind better. So many things had happened within the past several minutes, and it wouldn't do good to be drunk on the scent of the Victoria look-alike's blood.
The sound of someone approaching him was the only reason he was able to tear his eyes away from the bodies in front of him. When he put a face to the footsteps, he bristled and prepared to run.
Kelly LeBlanc watched Stefan with quizzing eyes; there were so many layers in her look that Stefan had a hard time deciphering anything from her. Was she responsible for the Victoria look-alike? It had been obvious from the literal lightning in her hands that the only reason the chaotical magic attack had paused was because she had forced it to. And she had been a witch? How had Stefan missed that?
"You have questions," Kelly stated after a while of silence.
Stefan let out a harsh laugh, shaking his head. "You don't know what I want, so don't even think you do."
"I had my reasons, Stefan, and you have had yours for keeping your secret just that: a secret," Kelly said firmly, moving to stride past Stefan. His arm shot out warningly, though, and Kelly paused. "Stefan..."
"What are you doing and why did you kill Damon?" Stefan demanded, glaring at Kelly.
"He let my daughter die, Stefan," Kelly snapped back, equally as defensive. "You think that I was honestly going to let him live? He's lucky that's as far as I was able to get. If he and my daughter had just hated each other a little bit more, your brother would have been gone for good ages ago. Now, allow me to save your lives. Again."
Stefan tensed up and there was a low growl threatening to rip out of his throat, but he stepped to the side. He was in no mood to go up against a witch that day...if that was what she really was. Her powers had been unlike anything Stefan had ever seen. Most witches required words for their magic to work. For Kelly, all she had to do was...move. It was startling.
Kelly approached the two dead bodies, her eyes glazing over as she took in the Victoria look-alike. She sucked in a sharp breath but knelt down beside Damon. She patted his pockets, before slipping her hand into one of them. She retrieved Victoria's anklet, which had been stored away safely with Damon. Stefan didn't question how Kelly knew that was there. Kelly stood up and moved to the woman. She knelt down and with a gentility that Stefan hadn't seen for a while, wrapped the anklet around the woman's ankle, clipping it together.
Kelly stood up and looked towards the group of vampires, who hadn't moved despite Stefan's and Kelly's conversations. "Take them both inside. Put her up in one of the rooms."
"Did you do this?" Lexi demanded, flashing up next to Stefan. The glaring look she sent towards Kelly could have melted ice, it was so heated. Lexi breathed heavily and her eyes ghosted with tears. "Did. You. Do. This?"
"Victoria was the best thing that ever happened to my life," Kelly retorted, standing tall. She didn't appeared frazzled by Lexi's building rage. "I would never do anything to harm her, even if it meant never seeing her again. She deserved rest and relaxation. I can only imagine the horrors she's faced since she's met you all."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Vicki dying," Kelly listed, hands on her hips. Stefan's eyes widened in disbelief. No one knew about Vicki. No one except the group that was gathered there right now. "Victoria taking the place of Caroline with Damon. Victoria taking the place for Caroline with Logan. Need I continue?"
"Caroline and Damon?" Stefan couldn't help but question, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean Victoria took her place?"
"Inside the house, now," Kelly ordered, cutting him off. She flipped around and stalked off, folding her hands across her chest. She shivered, as if trying to fight off the chill. "Someone grab Caroline and call Bonnie and Elena. I'm not going to explain this twice."
Stefan gestured for Lexi to grab the Victoria look-alike, and then shot a look over to Lee and Zach. The vampires caught the look and they disappeared; Stefan assumed that Lee was going to bring Caroline into the house and Zach was going to grab Elena and Bonnie.
Stefan turned back to his brother and knelt down, slinging the older man over his shoulder. Stefan was grateful for his vampiric strength; Damon wasn't that big of a guy, but he wasn't exactly what some would call 'light'. Stefan staggered up and moved quickly, moving at his heightened speed. Stefan dropped Damon onto one of the couches in the living room, figuring that when he woke up, he would want to be where all the action was happening. Stefan made sure he was as comfortable as a dead person could be before turning around to survey the room.
Lexi was walking down the stairs, her arms already devoid of the look-alike's presence. She marched over to Stefan's side and planted her hands on her hips.
"I need you to answer me honestly, Stefan," Lexi ordered, and Stefan nodded. It was the least he could do for his age-old friend. "How much do you trust Kelly?"
"Before tonight? As much as any other human, maybe a little more," Stefan explained, letting out a defeated sigh. "That woman cared about Victoria. So damn much. She's the kind of mother that you want desperately as your own. She was not afraid to take down anyone who claimed she was not a fit mother. But now? She has some sort of magical essence inside of her, Lexi, and I didn't catch that. Neither did Damon, or you and Lee, and Zach, who's known her since they were in high school. If none of us saw that, then how much do we really know about her?"
"Enough that you should know I'm a great eavesdropper," Kelly interrupted, and the two vampires flinched apart, looking towards the mother with twin startled expressions.
"You were a mile from here!" Lexi gasped, pointing sharply in the direction they had all just been in. "That should have at least taken you fifteen minutes!"
"I'm a fast walker," Kelly stated, giving a lighthearted shrug.
The sound of the front door opening distracted the three of them and they all turned to watch as Lee, Zach, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena all entered, Caroline looking the most pissed off. Lexi threw her hands up in exasperation. "It seems like everyone's arriving faster than usual."
"What the hell, guys?" Caroline demanded, taking larger steps to walk in front of the group. She was upset, that much was obvious. "Whatever happened to 'we're a team, she's also my best friend, we're going to figure this out togeth...' - holy shit!"
She froze and her eyes widened in shock as she spotted Damon's limp body resting on the couch. Even from that distance, it would be clear to see that the man's neck was broken. Caroline's hands fluttered to her mouth and she whipped her head towards Kelly, Lexi, and Stefan. Her eyes were moving so fast that they couldn't settle on just any person. "Did you guys kill him? Is this what this is all about? Are you going to kill me?"
"No one is killing anyone," Stefan said firmly, holding his hands up.
Kelly gave a little shrug and mumbled, "Maybe not yet." Stefan sent her a glare. Was this really the same woman that had made him hot chocolate in her kitchen? It didn't seem that way.
"H-He's dead!" Caroline shrieked, pointing towards Damon with a shaky hand.
Elena and Bonnie finally came upon the scene and Elena gasped too, though she didn't seem as freaked out. Damon probably informed her on their little road trip to Georgia about vampires little nifty trick involving death. Bonnie's eyes were just wide and she didn't look like she could say anything.
"Caroline Elizabeth Forbes, take a seat and settle down," Kelly demanded, giving Caroline a stern look. "Everything will be explained in a second, but I have had the worst night of my life and I need you to reign it in with the shrieking, please."
And of course, with Damon's perfect timing, it was at that exact moment that he woke up with a startled shout, his hands moving to clasp his neck as he growled angrily.
That was roughly around the time that Caroline passed out.
"You snapped my neck," Damon grunted, accepting the ice pack from Zach with barely a sniff. Damon maneuvered the bag of ice around his neck until it rested upon the particularly sore spot. He let out a small hum, leaning into the bag. With his free hand, he snatched an offered out beer bottle from Lee. He popped off the top with one hand and took a mighty chug. He brought the bottle away from his lips with an audible pop and continued to glare at Kelly, who sat on the other couch all by herself. "I don't like you."
"I don't like you either, Damon, so my heart's not really broken up by this all," Kelly answered easily.
Damon had been ready for blood when he woke up back in the living room instead of the forest. His first instinct had been to jump up and to maul the woman for even daring to hurt him. His second, slightly less lethal, instinct had to been to locate the woman who looked like Victoria. She was dead, he knew, but he still had questions her dead body could have answered. Such as was she really Victoria LeBlanc or somebody else?
Stefan and Lexi had held him back, preventing him from feasting upon Kelly's heart, and Lee left to grab him a blood bag to help satiate his hunger. Meanwhile, Caroline Forbes had apparently passed out upon his reawakening, so Elena and Bonnie (who both mysteriously had shown up out of nowhere) took her to one of the room's upstairs to rest. They would decide what to do with her later. Zach said he would keep an ear out for her.
Once Elena and Bonnie had returned, the group brought them up to speed on what events had taken place that night. Because of this, everyone was sitting on (or standing behind) the couch opposite of Kelly. While Kelly sat contentedly by herself, Damon sat her direct opposite, with Lee to his left, Stefan and Elena to his right, and Lexi, Bonnie, and Zach standing behind the couch. None of them wanted to be close to Kelly right at that moment. Damon had a feeling that Kelly didn't blame any of them.
"We're all here, so start explaining," Stefan ordered. Damon grunted as his neck made an audible click sound as he turned to adjust the ice pack to a new sore spot. "How the hell do you know information that hasn't left this group of people? What...what the hell are you?"
"The second one's easier to explain so we'll go with that one first," Kelly sniffed, leaning back against the couch nonchalantly. "It's a long, complicated history, so let me start off by saying that I am a witch. Just not your stereotypical Bennett witch."
"We could compel you, though," Damon huffed, shifting on the couch cushion. "Witches can't be compelled."
"It's called 'acting', Damon," Kelly retorted, giving a look that said 'seriously?'. "Victoria wasn't the only one with talents in the arts."
"I've never seen witches like you before," Lexi commented. "Most of them speak incantations to access their magic. You just had lightning in your hands."
"My family was gifted with a different type of magic," Kelly began, moving to rest one of her arms across the back of the couch. She moved her free hand as she spoke. "Witches who need incantations to use their magic, such as the Bennett family," she gestured to Bonnie and out of the corner of his eye, Damon saw the girl flinch, "have what is known as segen magic. It's spoken magic. My family, the LeBlanc family, are witches who use styrenes magic. Physical magic. We don't need incantations to make magic; it's more of a point-and-shoot type of deal, although it requires much more control than that. Each LeBlanc witch has a type of element that helps them along the way. My mother's styrenes magic came out with earth, and mine just happened to be lightning. The first one ever." Kelly seemed really proud of that fact.
"Magic is passed down through familial lines, though," Lee stated in confusion, tilting his head to one side. "Victoria said that you were adopted, so how can you be a witch with the same properties of a..."
"You may call us White Witches," Kelly advised. She gave a small smile. "Yeah, I understand the irony of that." She rolled her eyes playfully before continuing, "It all starts back in the 1860s. The first White Witch was actually a Founder of Mystic Falls named Piero LeBlanc. He was a great warlock. Not the first person in documented history to use styrenes magic, but that's a discussion for a different time, but he was the first of my familial line. White Witches are not given their powers through DNA. It's much more...harder...than that. There is something that connects every White Witch to each other, and because of that, they always seem to find each other. There hasn't been a biological child in my family line. Ever. It started with Piero LeBlanc when he adopted his son, and it kept going on for ages, up to me and Victoria."
"Is every LeBlanc a witch?" Elena questioned, and Kelly nodded. Elena's eyes widened as the news sunk in. "W-Which means -"
"- Which means that Victoria was a witch," Damon stated. Kelly's nod again confirmed that. There was a silence that permeated the room. Damon was well aware of the pounding of Kelly's heart, and Elena's and Bonnie's. He really wished that Lee had gotten him another blood bag. He was starting to get hungry. "But that's not possible. Victoria had been compelled, on more than one occasion."
"Which concerns me," Kelly sighed, shaking her head. She bent her arm on the back of the sofa and cradled her head in her hand. Damon could see tension in her shoulders and it looked like Kelly was fighting back a headache. "Victoria was aware of her powers, I was sure of it. But...everything changed after the car accident. Ever since she woke up from the coma, she's been like an entirely different person. I just...I don't know what happened."
"You didn't try to revive her tonight, did you?" Zach questioned. His voice was much gentler than anyone else's had been. Damon could feel the empathy as he spoke, as if he was one parent talking to another. "That wasn't you."
Kelly shook her head. "I know my place when it comes to magic, and that stuff is blacker than I am. I don't try to tango with that. All I know is that roughly three hours ago, my heart felt like it was ready to seize, completely give out. I have never been through so much pain before. It felt...it felt like..."
"Like what, Kelly?" Zach asked calmly.
"It felt like the beginning of the end," Kelly admitted, turning to look up at Zach. "It terrified me. I have never felt anything like it. So I got up and set about fixing it. I trusted my instincts to take me where I was needed, and it brought me, after a long run-around, to your backyard. A-And that's when I saw her and...it all clicked."
"What clicked?" Damon demanded, sitting up straighter. Kelly bit her lower lip and looked away and Damon's hands tightened into fists. "Kelly, do you know what the woman was? Do you know why she looked like Victoria?"
"Yes," Kelly whispered. Kelly sucked in a sharp breath. "She doesn't just look like Victoria. She is Victoria."
The comment was like a sucker punch to the gut, but Damon was shaking his head, trudging forward. "That's not even remotely funny, Kelly."
"I'm not joking."
"Victoria died in my arms last night," Damon growled, jumping to his feet. He ignored the woozy feeling he had from the head rush; he also ignored his brother and Lee trying to urge him to sit back down. "She bled to death! I had to listen to her heart stop beating, damn it! She didn't drink vampire blood. Whatever that thing was out there, it wasn't Victoria!"
"It was, and I can prove it!" Kelly shouted, jumping to her feet. She marched around the coffee table, standing within arm's reach. Damon's fingers itched to wrap themselves around her neck and just squeeze until she begged for mercy. His bloodlust was through the roof. "The anklet."
Damon blinked. That had not been the proof that he had anticipated. He spluttered, "The anklet?"
"The anklet," Kelly confirmed, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "I spelled that thing to resist compulsion, among other things. One of the little bonuses I added was that it would only attach itself to Victoria. If that woman out there had been an imposter or a doppelgänger, the anklet wouldn't have secured, but it did. That just proves it."
"Then how the hell was she alive and why was I forced to watch her die again, in my arms?" Damon growled, jabbing a finger at Kelly. "Huh? Tell me that!"
"I didn't think it was real," Kelly insisted, throwing her arms out to the side. "Alright? Are you happy? I thought it was a myth because none of it made sense!"
"What, Kelly?" Damon yelled. "What is she?"
"Immortalis."
That voice did sucker punch Damon so hard that he lost the ability to breathe (which shouldn't have been a problem since he didn't breathe in the first place). He whipped around, his neck cracking angrily at the sudden movement, but he couldn't care.
Standing at the doorway between the entryway and the living room, wrapped tightly in a black blanket that he recognized to be his, beside Caroline who looked ready to pass out again but was standing strong, was Victoria.
She was standing shaky on her feet, and she licked her lips to stall for time. When she spoke again, her voice was raspy, but it still sounded like her. "H-He called me the Immortalis."
His Mama Bear.
She was alive.
Victoria shifted awkwardly from her stance in the doorway. Her hand, which was clamped firmly between Caroline's fingers, was starting to grow numb but she didn't have the heart to pull away. She didn't want to pull away anyways. She was convinced that at any minute, everything and everyone would fade away and she would find that it had all been an elaborate dream.
The vampires, plus her mom, Elena, and Bonnie, were all looking at her with different emotions on their faces. Disbelief, surprise, confusion, joy, relief, guilt, pain. It was all bundled up and it made Victoria's gut feel funny. It already did feel funny. The fact that Caroline was holding it together just a little bit better than she was didn't help either. When Victoria had woken up in Damon's bedroom to hear yelling coming from downstairs, she had changed out of the bloodied dress she had been wearing for hours into some sweatpants and a shirt that she stole from Damon and one of his blankets. While she had been sneaking downstairs, Caroline had cornered her, ready to flip out over how the hell Damon had come back to life. She didn't even seem that freaked out that Victoria was alive, which made Victoria really concerned. She swore to explain everything as soon as she could, but she needed to talk with everyone.
"C-Can someone say something?" Victoria asked hesitantly. Her eyes didn't know where to settle. Every face held an emotion that felt like she was being punched in the gut when all she really wanted was a strong hug. "I-I'm feeling really weird right now."
"H-How -" Stefan tried to begin, but he was cut off when a large black shadow shot through the living room.
One moment, Victoria was standing on the ground, holding onto Caroline's hand tightly. The next, she was swooped up into Damon's arms, her feet off the ground. Damon buried his face into her neck, inhaling sharply and Victoria clung to him, equally as hard. She wrapped her legs around his waist for stability and pressed her forehead into his shoulder, taking a breath that didn't feel strong. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight to try and stop them from falling.
"You're alive," Damon muttered into her ear, squeezing her waist even tighter. "You're alive. You're alive."
"I'm alive," Victoria replied, sniffing pathetically.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"I don't blame you," Victoria whispered in reply, shaking her head. "I don't blame you at all. You protected them. I-I would have killed somebody. Thank you."
Damon gave her another squeeze and Victoria felt him turn his head just enough to plop a long kiss against her head. Victoria hummed a 'thank you' and snuggled into his body. He was cold; he hadn't drank caffeine in a while, it seemed.
Victoria was the one to start pulling away from Damon. It was obvious that he didn't want her to go, but she patted his shoulder reassuringly. They had things they needed to discuss as a group.
Damon set her back down on her feet, making sure she had her balance before taking a step back. Victoria nodded thankfully towards him before moving wearily into the living room. She took up residence on the couch that wasn't overflowing with people. Damon quickly took a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders protectively. Caroline followed like a lost puppy, collapsing onto the couch cushion on the other side of Victoria. Their hands met and Victoria gripped hers tightly, trying to silently reassure her that everything would be alright. Answers would come in time.
Zach was on his knees in front of her in the blink of an eye, but Victoria didn't flinch. For once, she had anticipated the movement. It didn't startle her. The older Salvatore placed his hands on either side of her face, studying her eyes. There was a glassy sheen in Zach's eyes, but no visible tears. "Are you alright? Do you feel any pain anywhere?"
"I feel fit as a fiddle, Zach," Victoria answered honestly. She gave him a small smile, one that he reciprocated. "I haven't felt like this...ever. I feel really good. Really, really good."
"If you feel any pain or discomfort at all, you find me immediately, got it?"
Victoria nodded her head in agreement and Zach gave her a fond smile. He pulled her head forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Victoria closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the feeling. It was so fatherly. It brought a different kind of warmth to her chest than the one she got with Stefan and Damon. Zach let out a harsh breath of air, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers. "I am so happy to see you, Ms. Watson."
"Me too, Sherlock," Victoria sniffed, pulling away and giving Zach a warmer smile.
The vampire got up and moved around the couch, taking a seat beside Caroline. He spoke to her in gentle whispers, wanting to see how she was faring with everything. Victoria blocked out their conversation as she focused back on the rest of the group.
"I know we all probably want a big, messy, tear-filled reunion right now, and trust me, I want it too," Victoria began, licking her lips. "But right now, what we need is answers."
"How much of our conversation did you hear?" Kelly asked, her voice ten times more shaky than it had ever been.
"I'm sure everyone can fill me in later, but I got from me being a witch and on," Victoria confessed. She shivered and wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders, as well as she could with one hand. "That's...some news indeed."
"You -" Stefan began, but his voice cracked and he paused, taking a moment to breathe before he continued, slightly stronger now, "- You said that 'he' called you an Immortalis. Who is 'he'? And what is an Immortalis?"
"That requires a bit of a story," Victoria mused, shuffling on her seat to get comfortable. "When I was...passing at the gym, Damon used compulsion to paint me a picture of this beautiful meadow and a lake. Very Twilight-esque, may I say. Everything was beautiful and peaceful. It didn't hit me until I went back a second time, which I will explain, that it's actually a place that Damon and I have been to."
Damon sent her a look of confusion and Victoria gave him a silly grin. "When you started chasing me after I escaped captivity with Vicki, remember? I didn't notice the lake at first because you were chasing me, but you mentioned it a couple of days ago when I was under house arrest here."
Damon nodded his head slowly. She had been severely bored that day, so she had pestered Damon into speaking with her and that was a subject that had come up (mostly due to his conversations about being competitive with Stefan).
"Anyways," Victoria dismissed, turning away from Damon to address the room again. Everyone's eyes were trained on her, unblinking. "It was really nice. No pain, no fear. I-I was sad because I knew I wasn't going to see any of you, but I knew I would be at peace. What more could I ask for?" She shivered. "Then I heard a voice. It was beautiful and so harmonious with the environment. It was 'his' voice. He just spoke one word. 'Immortalis'. Then everything faded to black. It was at that moment that many things registered in my mind. I was moving, I was wrapped tightly against something, and I could breathe; not well, mind you, but still."
"The body bag," Lee surmised, his eyes widening in shock. "You woke up in the body bag."
"I was so confused and pained and fearful of everything that the world just exploded," Victoria continued. She gripped onto Caroline's hand tightly, needing her support to stay grounded. "I-I couldn't control anything. One moment, we were driving and the next, the world had froze a-and I was in the forest. Something chased me. I was so scared. The next thing I know, I'm running across this road, almost getting hit by a car, and I'm at the boarding house."
"And the rest is history," Bonnie finished, her brow furrowing. "B-But you keep saying 'he'. Are you talking about...?" She didn't finish the sentence, but gestured up roughly towards the ceiling.
"This was not any kind of deity," Victoria stated firmly, shaking her head. "If it was, he was very good at keeping it a secret. No. When Damon...stopped me, I woke back up by the lake. But this time, I wasn't the only person there..."
Victoria let out a strangled gasp, a scream tearing from her throat as she bolted upright. Her hands flashed to her heart and she panted. Her heart felt like it was threatening to tear itself out of her chest. Victoria's eyes flashed around fearfully. She was back. How the hell was she back?
She was in the same position she had been when Damon compelled her to think of the lake and meadow. Her dress was repaired. How the hell did that happen? Damon's arm had gone straight through her chest. Victoria had remembered the sharp rush of pain that flooded her system before she had passed away, her eyes trained firmly on Damon's.
"You're back."
The voice. Victoria recognized that voice. It was the beautiful voice from before, the one who spoke the word 'Immortalis' before she woke up to darkness.
Victoria flinched to the side, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. And then...she spotted him.
He was tall, about a head and a half taller than she was. His skin was pale, with a head of stunning dark brown hair and strong brows. He looked to be around her age; not seventeen, twenty-one. He wore clothes from the twenty-first century: a gray v-neck shirt that fit him well and tailored to the muscles on his body, along with black jeans and sturdy, leather boots. He stood off to the side, his hands in his pockets, watching her with a guarded expression.
"Who are you?" Victoria demanded, scooting away. The boy - well, man was probably a better describing word - didn't move towards her. He just stood where he was. "Where am I? What the hell am I doing here?"
"You lost control, didn't you?" the man continued, not at all acknowledging the questions that Victoria had posed. He spoke with an American accent, though there was a hint of something else in there that Victoria couldn't quite place. "I admit, I was rather hopeful that you would have had a little more stability, but the circumstances of your death were rather...violent. I don't blame you for how you reacted."
"What?" Victoria breathed, blinking in terrified confusion. "You saw that? How the hell did you see that? Who are you? Where am I and what is happening?"
"I'll take your question one at a time," the man said softly, holding his hands out.
He gestured towards the ground beside her, asking her silently if he could take a seat beside her. Victoria gave him a sharp nod. She could quell her fear if it meant that she could finally get some damned answers. The man gave her a small smile that was rather cheeky before he approached her, taking his time. He took a seat beside her, sitting Indian-style, and gestured for her to get comfortable.
Victoria dragged her legs close to her body, keeping them down so she wasn't flashing a total stranger, and nodded her head for the man to begin speaking.
The man gave her a reassuring smile that didn't really do much for her nerves and began, "I understand that you are scared. I was too. But unlike me, you have someone here to help you along your journey. That's me, if you didn't catch that at first." He let out a chuckle, but continued on before Victoria could say anything else. "My name is Henri. I, when I was alive, was what you are now. The Immortalis. For me, I was the original Immortalis."
"What the hell does that mean?" Victoria questioned.
The man, Henri, gave her a smile but stated firmly, "All in due time. Each Immortalis creates a place of peace in their minds, where they go when they are put to rest. You, with the help of that vampire Damon, created this world." He gestured around towards the meadow and the lake, and the beautiful sky above with its blues and fluffy white clouds. "Out of all the places of peace I've encountered, this is perhaps my favorite." He looked back towards her and Victoria noticed his eyes were a warm dark brown. Like a mixture of chocolate and caramel. As if her favorite, comfort drink was made a color and put into the man's face. That's it. She was losing it. "I saw what happened to you in the mortal realm because I have taken upon the task of your Keeper."
"My what?"
"Keeper. Think of it like a mentor," Henri supplied. "Since I have been an Immortalis, I will be able to guide you through your new journey."
"What is an Immortalis? I-I've never heard of it before."
"No, I don't suppose that you would have heard of it," Henri admitted, tilting his head to one side to observe her. "You may think of an Immortalis like a phoenix. We are not impervious to death, like vampires may be. We die; some more than others depending on the level of clumsiness. The thing is for us that we always come. No matter the death, with a few exceptions."
"Why did I act like that? I-I've never seen any kind of magic like that, except in movies," Victoria asked, worry filling her bones.
"It is all natural," Henri reassured her, offering his hands out to Victoria. He gave her a nod, and Victoria dragged her hands hesitantly from her sides. She placed her hands on top of Henri's outstretched hands. He held her hands gently and with a level of care that Victoria had only placed on top of Noble's head. "There is so much information to share, but I'm afraid that we will have very little time for that now. I can only give you these words of wisdom before we part, hopefully for a while. I don't want to see you back here for a long time, young lady." He gave her a stern, but playful glare and Victoria found her lips poking up a smile for the first time since the...incident. "Your life is going to change forever, and I wish there was something I could do to prevent it, but I can't. Keep your emotions level. Do not swing too far into hatred or sadness or things will get worse. I believe you can succeed; perhaps be the strongest Immortalis we have ever seen."
He squinted suddenly at her and his warm smile turned slightly sad. His posture sagged a little, but it didn't stop the light in his eyes. "It's time for you to return. Remember, peace. You will be fine."
"I still have so many questions," Victoria tried to protest, but Henri shook his head.
"For another time," Henri mused.
Henri then brought up both of her hands to his mouth and he laid a soft, gentle kiss on them. There was nothing romantic in the gesture; it didn't cause any warm fuzzies inside of Victoria's stomach. It was just...sweet.
"Go forth and make me proud, Victory," Henri laughed, nodding his head in goodbye.
Victoria's eyes widened. "Wait! That name -!"
Light filled Victoria's world and everything disappeared.
"...and then I woke up in Damon's bedroom," Victoria finished, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly. "More confused than ever."
"So you can't die," Lee stated incredulously. Victoria gave a little nod. "Like, ever?"
"I can die, just not stay dead," Victoria corrected gently. "It's...really weird. But Henri did say that there were...exceptions to that rule, so let's not go around testing it."
"And you didn't know about this from..." Stefan began, giving her a raised eyebrow look to silently ask her if she had known about this creature from the TV show.
Victoria shook her head. "This never came up. This is all very...fanfiction like. Maybe a little too much. Ugh." She shivered. "It just raises more questions than answers."
Damon's arm around her shoulder pulled her gently towards him, so she adjusted herself until she was snuggled tight against his side. She let out a shaky breath and he rubbed his thumb warmly against her shoulder. "Well, I'm sure we can figure that out later. You have just died twice in the span of twenty-four hours and it seems like you need to sleep. Really badly."
"I can stay awake longer," Victoria insisted, although her body betrayed her and she rubbed one of her eyes wearily. "Seriously?"
"Your sleepiness says otherwise," Damon snorted.
"Before we all go," Lexi sniffed. She turned slowly and her eyes narrowed as they landed onto Kelly. Victoria stiffened up at the look. It looked downright nasty. What the hell had happened between her second death and that moment? "There's just something that needs explaining. Now."
"And what would that be, Lexi?" Kelly demanded, looking towards Lexi.
Lexi pointed at Kelly. "That. We've never met, and yet you know my name. Even if Victoria had told you, I haven't taken a picture with her or anything, so you wouldn't be able to put a name to my face. And then there is the fact that you know about Victoria and Logan, and you know that Vicki died."
Victoria's head snapped to the side and she looked towards her mother in disbelief, her eyes wide in disbelief. Kelly looked guilty, but she didn't back down in her stare-off with Lexi. She didn't even turn to look towards Victoria, not even when the adult-turned-teen whispered, "What?"
"I can explain, baby girl..."
"Then you better do it now!" Victoria insisted, sitting up straight. "You knew? You knew and you didn't say anything?"
"What was I supposed to say, baby girl?" Kelly demanded, flipping around to face her. "Listen, there's so much you don't understand and I wish I could help explain it to you, but I can't!"
"Then try! Just say it!"
"Listen, if I tried to change something, it would have had disastrous consequences..."
"'Tried to change?' Then you knew what was going to happen? What the hell? Explain now."
"Baby girl -"
"- Now!" Victoria screamed, her shoulders heaving in frustration.
"None of you are real!" Kelly shouted.
There was silence in the room. No one could speak.
"Excuse me?" Damon spluttered after a moment. "I think we need a little more explanation than that, Kelly-Beans."
"You're all fictional characters," Kelly breathed, moving her hands to rub her face. Victoria stopped breathing. "Your lives are based off of a TV show, a TV show world that I have been living in for almost twenty years."
More silence. Then slowly, everyone turned slowly to look at Victoria (everyone beside Caroline, who looked on the verge of passing out again). Kelly looked at everyone in confusion, before she looked towards Victoria.
Victoria had a look of utter disbelief and shock on her face. It was only when her chest started to burn that she realized she needed to keep breathing. Henri did say that he didn't want to see again soon.
"Why are you all looking at my daughter?" Kelly asked in confusion. "Am I missing something?"
"What's your name?" Victoria whispered.
"Excuse me?"
"What is your name?" Victoria repeated, licking her lips. "You said 'none of you', which implies that we are all fake. if you are real, then you should not be Kelly LeBlanc. What is your name?"
Kelly was silent for a moment, uncomfortable with the sudden change of questioning. Then, her shoulders slumped in defeat and she answered, "My real name is Kelly Addams. I'm from the year 2022, where I was twenty-three years old. Something...bad...happened to me and I ended up in Mystic Falls at the age of seventeen in the year 1991. This entire place is from a fictional TV show known as The Vampire Diaries."
All heads whipped back to look towards Victoria. She had never thought she would be confessing this to her mother so soon, but she knew it was the right time.
"My real name is Victoria Vanacore," Victoria breathed, and Kelly's eyes widened as the news set in. "I'm from the year 2021, where I was twenty-one years. Something bad happened to me too and I ended up here at the age of seventeen in the year 2009." A knowing look passed through Kelly's eyes and she gasped. Victoria let out a weak laugh, one filled more with disbelief than any other kind of emotion, and asked, "Mom, are you a Wanderer too?"
A/N: SURPRISE! Victoria's alive, the title of the story makes sense now, more characters no one has ever heard of before, knowledge about the LeBlanc witches, and what's this? Is Kelly LeBlanc a Wanderer? Yes, she is! FYI, I'm going to get a little fudgy with the birthdates of some characters just for it to make sense of them all going to high school at the same time, okay? Okay.
Datoria fans have clapped back at Vilijah fans and they have tied for the leading spot! Meanwhile, Stetoria fans are just vibing XD. I swear, Stetoria fluff will be coming soon! You will be awarded for your patience during these trying times.
THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):
ROMANTIC:
Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (16.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Elyse1821, Lime, herewegoagain, K, Yukihino-Sama, emma, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana, Hayden
Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (32): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson, Guest (7), Guest (8), Guest (9), guest (1), hfgfgfrdr, lillen20, Yolo, theappleseed, Guest (10), Juko, Bulma, Ellay, V, Ghest, charlievini, Guest (13), Guest (14), Guest (15), TrembleB4DietCoke, dhariti, Hayden
Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (32): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200, Guest (11), Anaidiana, Dalia2009, wolfcorgi, Nia, Rory, Teghan-Potter1370, Guest (12), Shiro7, alessandra92
Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (5): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10)
Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2.5): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar, Guest (11)
Team Vinn {Victoria/Finn} (1): silentmayhem
PLATONIC:
Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, silentmayhem
Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria
Zinn {Zach/Finn} (.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r
Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25
Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (.2): Orange keys 25
Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime
Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (1.2): LoyalElijahFangirl, hfgfgfrdr
Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110
Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry
Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (1): Guest (10)
New Followers!: Aurora Mikaelson, Katt8500, Frida Claire, MissingIdeas, Nya-nya05, Prometo, Nya-nya05, BrookeWorm3, ToxicTears14
New Favoriters!: Aurora Mikaelson, batesmotel45654435, professorjaunearc462, Prometo, henrydanger328382, Emmalue, Golden-Lordess, BrookeWorm3, 03Isabella, ToxicTears14
Onto reviews!:
alessandra92: Thank you! Your vote has been added.
Guest: I'm not even going to deny that I am a major Elijah fan. That man can really wear a suit. Just because I am an Elijah stan, that doesn't mean that Elijah would be best suited (haha, suit puns) for Victoria. I'm just a nerd who wants my lovable Mikaelson in the lead. Plus, Datoria fans got their revenge anyways and have evened up the scores.
DBZFAN45: It is Victoria LeBlanc! Tada! We got a lot of answers in this chapter. Feel free to submit more questions that need to be answered, because I'm lowkey having a hard time remembering them all XD. Victoria also doesn't remember the burnt bodies, so that's going to be an awkward conversation someone has to have with her. I totally should have named that last chapter What In The World Is Victoria LeBlanc? because it would have fit so nicely as a tie-in to a previous chapter title (Where On Earth Is Victoria LeBlanc?). Oh well. Oh yeah, Esther and Kelly will be having some spectacular fights (will they be on level with the Kelly LeBlanc vs. Kelly Donovan fights we'll be having later in the series? Perhaps). As for your take on the Shipping Wars, I agree.
lillen20: Hello! Thank you! Here's the explanation. Yeaaaaah...did you see that twist with Kelly coming?
Guest: I do love the little Papa and Mama Bear vibes they got going on. That did make me smile. Your vote has been added, and you are Guest (15).
TrembleB4DietCoke: I do tremble before diet coke, so your vote has been added!
dhariti: Your vote has been added!
Hayden: Thank you! Your votes have been added.
Lime: Hey you! Mama Kelly is awesome! I love her so much. I did get food. It was good. Their relationship will be definitely different than it usually is. So whoo! And yes, more pre-coma Victoria information will be spread. Yay! And double yay! Here's more of your information. He's doing alright. I'm going to give you the honorary 350th review of the story because the person who was 350th was...unique in their review and I didn't like it as much, so this goes to you. Congrats ;)
So yeah, fun times everyone! I don't got much to say except that the story has only just begun! Until next time!
BecomingFearless1F