JFK International Airport, New York, 2011年1月29日

One of her brothers taps her softly on the shoulder, effectively waking her up. They have landed. As they pick up their handbags and start walking down the stairs of the jet, Thomas catches up to her and matches her pace.

"What's the plan?"

It is a testament to the effectiveness of their organisation that this is how they best operate, following her orders, because despite Kyriake's indifference towards being assigned leading roles, she has never bothered to change their dynamics. Usually it would be her to come up with a plan of action, and Thomas and Nikolaos would be the ones to figure out the details. Which works just fine for them.

"First we should head to the Raiba Resort and deal with the resort's monthly inspection, so everything's in order. Then we go to Virginia, which reminds me" she turns to check if her other brother, Nikolaos, is paying attention to their conversation, "you should probably call Yaeko, see if the Patrons have given us any guidance. And well, also ask Viktor for information we might need while being here."

She lets out a tired huff while looking up at the wispy clouds dyed in the soft oranges of the early morning. She is no seer but even she can sense how troublesome this whole issue will become. Discreetly, she prays to Hachiman-sama for any patience he would be kind enough to spare her. She has a hunch she will very much need it in the near future.

( And not even a day afterwards, the Fates will indeed prove her right — oh, those old ladies certainly will laugh at her misfortune until they cannot breathe on the other side of the proverbial crystal ball. )

• • •

It has been ages since the last time he left Eurasia, Tom's mind wanders as he studies the private area where their jet has been stationed. He's always been the one sent out all over Europe, given his more Greek features compared to his sister's. Thoughts of his last task abroad come unbidden to his mind when he follows his siblings into the resort they have to check out in New York. A skyscraper, huh, figures. Unlike the rest of his family, he has never really cared for the luxury his family's wealth provides, firm in his opinion that minimalism is the better lifestyle.

Kyr politely greets the staff waiting for them in the foyer, and they are led to the floor that has been cleared and booked for the duration of their stay. Once they arrive at their respective rooms, he drops his handbag on the king-size bed, and leaves to meet his siblings back in the foyer. By the time he gets to the hall, he can see his sister deeply invested in a conversation with the Resort's manager, her polite professional mask firmly in place, all the while Niko merely wanders around.

"Have there been any problems as of late?" He chimes in once he's close enough to Kyr and the manager can hear him.

"There have not, young master," the manager achieves to get out, having been startled by his sudden appearance. Tom simply summons his most innocent-looking smile that has Kyr rolling her eyes —and damn his dear sister if she can even make such an ugly gesture look graceful. When he has fully approached them, he draps an arm around his sister's shoulders, and wordlessly steers her away from the manager and in the direction their wandering brother has left off.

Once they are out of earshot, he lets his arm fall and questions Kyr with curiosity lacing his tone: "Now that the resort thing has been settled, shall we head to where Yaeko-hime's staying?"

He can practically see the gears turning inside his sister's head, and when she straightens and looks up, now that's her tell when she's made a decision.

"We certainly should. I've already got Vik's and Minato's files on the same topics she's asked for a few days ago, so we're up to date. All that's left is for us to read them on our way to…" she trails off picking up her phone to check the location their cousin has sent them, "...Virginia. Mystic Falls, to be exact."

"You hear that, Niko?" Tom raises his voice so it carries to where Niko's at, appreciating the admittedly wondrous views they could witness from the resort's entry driveway.

───── •᯽• ─────

Unknown location, unknown time

He cannot be sure about how long it has been since he entered the weird in-between nowhere that he had been transported to. The last he remembers is Ayaka asking him about the place where he died, and him answering her after an indefinite amount of time pondering whether to tell her or not.

He opens his eyes to the place he has thought he would see immediately after his death, just like every time he was being kept in his coffin in a quasi-death state. The Other Side. The supernatural afterlife for those with aspirations yet to be fulfilled. Regardless of him being an Original or a warlock, he has always known one day he'd end up here —especially considering it had existed since before his family even moved to the New World.

He is back to Mystic Falls, this accursed town… —one of them anyways, New Orleans for sure gives it a run for its money. It is bizarre as Hell, he thinks. He sees everything as if he's behind a one-way glass —he can see them but they cannot see him. And it drives him beyond mad. Much to his genuine surprise, Earth is still very much intact. No dead walking on the living plane, no end of the world as they knew it, no ridiculously ancient and powerful Immortals around —actually, not even his siblings. Where the heck are they? The smell of murder is so lacking in the air that he is hard-pressed to reconsider whether his siblings are still in Virginia at all.

Before he gets to think about it too deeply, he feels himself being pulled northbound, like a tightrope guiding him to somewhere he does not know. It has been centuries since he's felt magic like a part of himself, but he would recognise such sensation anywhere and anytime. So the link is a product of a magical spell, how interesting.

( "My name is Inazuma-Jinshi Yaeko," she told him. "You may call me Ayaka, so as not to confuse me with my earthly counterpart," she has said. )

Because he has nothing else to do —or so he tells himself to excuse his interest being piqued by a complete stranger— he follows the insistent tug that wants to drag him to places unknown. After all, it should be worth a try — check if the sorceress has been truthful, and is willing to bring him back. And if she is doubtful, well… he can always dial up his witchy charm —that kind of thing doesn't get rusty even if one's spent a century collecting dust in a casket.

• • •

Nova Scotia, Canada, 2011年2月5日

She senses him before he appears behind her. Being a sorceress certainly has its perks, and having an ever-loyal kami at your service does as well. Kaito has hooted softly to notify her of the Original's intention to follow the thread that now tied them together, for which he has got a few pats in appreciation.

A faint figure materialises at her back, and she can practically taste the curiosity rolling off him in lazy, generous waves. When she turns around, he is just short of three feet away from her.

"Hello there, darling. What a peculiar situation we find ourselves in. I see we have matters to discuss." His offhandedly offered statement is nothing but an implicit order. In a way, however, Yaeko finds it the tiniest bit endearing — it sort of reminds her of the playful retorts and cheeky grins one of her favourite cousins has as trademarks, the cheeky heartbreaker. Nonetheless, the ghost she finds herself facing is definitely not his cousin, and so she internally rolls her eyes at his arrogance. He will learn, eventually.

"Kol Mikaelson," she simply acknowledges with a nod. "Indeed, we do have things to discuss. As a matter of fact, we have other issues to attend to as well. Reason why we are here in the first place." Like that, yes, redirect his attention. There are other things with a higher priority than resurrecting a ghost.

She sees him finally take in their surroundings, noting they aren't anywhere he used to frequent. Despite being a ghost, the sorceress is sure he is still able to feel the air around them, and it will not be too long before he starts questioning what they have to do on a forsaken island in the middle of nowhere.

"Where, exactly, are we, love?" And there it is, the slow spelling yet threatening tone. Truly, supernaturals are so predictable at times.

"Nova Scotia, Canada. You know, where a certain ancient Greek Immortal is buried in stone."

His suddenly alarmed face would have made her splutter a choked laugh had his mood changes not almost given her whiplash.

"Hey, calm down, would you? We're here to stop the potential Apocalypse from having a chance of happening."

She is awarded with an outstandingly incredulous glare on the former Original's part. Yep, he's now upset. How unexpected —note the sarcasm there. "Calm down?! Woman, I've been murdered in my attempt to do exactly the same —which by the way you've allowed to happen without so much as a warning, but I'll get to that later— and you tell me to calm down?"

She makes a swift motion with her right hand and the vampire's complaints cease at once. She sends him an unimpressed glare of her own, brow now arched, daring him to try to keep going. He eventually settles, but it does nothing to lift the murderous air around him. She could have been a bit less blunt about it, not going to lie.

"The events had to happen just as they did, otherwise we would risk the whole timeline imploding. It wasn't until your death that we sorcerers could get involved," she starts to explain with as much patience as she feels she can muster —it is at times like these that she has half the mind to send a prayer in thanks to her parents for making her babysit her younger cousins once upon a time. "Humans needed to be dealt an ultimatum, and so they were. I've interfered enough already by not allowing your sireline to die with you." An exasperated scowl mars her face. "Besides, do you see any Greek Immortals running around right now?"

With another wave of her hand, she lifts the silencing spell she has cast on him, giving him back his voice. His next words are considerably quieter than his previous ones have been. "What do you mean about an ultimatum? How did you stop my sireline from dying, anyway? Also, I was told I still had a role to play. What the Hell was that about?" Okay, so one: he really doesn't like not knowing, and two: it seems he has already met her divine-self, how convenient.

"Everything will be answered in due time, don't worry. Firstly, though, we should seal Silas. So, shall we?" With a tilt of her head, she points to the entrance of the cave before which they have been standing.

Narrowed eyes are the only thing she gets for a response, before they both go inside the Immortal's resting place.

• • •

In all honesty, Kol Mikaelson does not really have a clear opinion on any of this. At first when he came across the sorceress back in Mystic Falls, he did not think too much of it and ended up brushing it off. So what if there was a new unknown player on the board? It did not seem as if she was going to involve herself anytime soon, so it would have been a moot point to look into it considering the idiots that were running about sticking their noses into matters they knew nothing about.

Never let it be said that Kol Mikaelson trusts easily, because he absolutely does not. But if there is one thing he would cast aside for a while his pretty much warranted hostility, it is the promise of new magic to explore. And the woman before him is the key for it. Besides the obvious fact that he has never been able to study any kind of sorcery before, she seems to be keeping to her word so far — at least when it comes to the rising of Silas, or more like thwarting any and all attempts at it.

He follows behind the woman as she enters the cave, and he is suddenly glad she has her back turned to him because he is sure he is sporting a stupid grin that makes him look childish as Hell —sue him, chances like these are certainly quite hard to come by when one's been forcefully turned into a vampire and been robbed of their humanity and magic along with it.

He takes a moment and focuses on not lashing out — no good would come out of letting himself be guided by his monstrous instincts while in company of a sorcerer of unknown calibre. Because it may have been a good thousand years during which he learnt to accept and enjoy to their fullest all the perks that his new form offered, but there would always remain the hollow in his chest wherein his magic used to reside.

"Anything you'd like to tell me before going into that shady cave we have a few feet ahead?" He proddes in an attempt to get some more information on his current situation. The sorceress' only response is a terse nod, as if she is ruminating how much to disclose. He can appreciate that, he supposes — it would make him way more suspicious if a random stranger confided in him all the details of a delicate situation such as the one they are in. That he has to like it, though, is nowhere implied.

"I am willing to explain in full, or as much as I'm allowed to say anyway, once we are done with the cave. Just so you know, this 'shady cave', as you called it, is the entrance to Silas's tomb."

He feigns a shudder. "Exactly my point, shady." His face morphs into a roguish smirk before he can help it. Inwardly, he merely laughs at her obvious annoyance.

He keeps walking after her as she makes her way into the narrow space, and immediately notices there must be something amiss. He can no longer hear the soft chirps of the few birds outside, the wind that has been howling not even five seconds before had all but halts suddenly, and now a very real shudder climbs up his spine. His eyes unconsciously zone into the woman who has just stopped, and before he can start to put into words the doubt and scepticism piling up in his mind, she opens her mouth.

"His presence is here, and he doesn't seem to be very happy about me being here." He notes she does not sound overly concerned, not in the slightest, which makes him even more curious about her if it is possible, but also kind of weary. To him, her statement can only be interpreted in two ways: she either has no self-preservation instincts —contrary to what he inferred days before by her coming to America because of the Immortal—, or is endlessly more powerful than she let on. Frankly, he is just as much out of his depth as a fish trying to fly.

It seems she sees his faltering, because she quickly backtracks a bit and attempts what he supposes is her best to reassure him. "He definitely doesn't like people coming here if they're not to be his key out of his prison, but to be fair, it's not like he can do anything about it. My Patrons have already spoken, and I as the representative of the Eastern Sorcerers have made my decision, as well. There's nothing he can do to stop my involvement in this."

And that is it.

About an hour and a half later, they are finished sealing the hollow in which he can only assume Silas is entombed, apparently using a mixture of Blood Sorcery and Divine Intervention for good measure. Now that he has been dealt with… Kol can in all honesty admit he is still feeling quite confused. Besides, it sort of comes across as… anticlimactic, shall he say? The ancient warlock was regarded as one of the most powerful ones the Western World had to offer in all its history, and all it takes is a sorceress, not even 30 years old, to finish him off? Of course she hasn't killed him, but she has made sure he is equally neutralised.

The bubble of silence around them shatters the moment he steels himself and asks what has been his one and only constant question ever since he has come back to the Other Side. "Are we done yet? Will you answer my questions now?"

He's met with her deep chestnut eyes locked in a contemplating gaze. He's unsure of her intentions from here, but he's not about to show himself so vulnerable in the presence of a virtual stranger. Her next words, unlike what he would expect, manage to make him shudder. In anticipation or in fear, well, that's only for him to know.

"My gods have led me to you because you have yet an important role to play, Old One." She deliberately pauses here, and her eyes now glow in an eerie way, as if emanating a divine-like golden halo. "I shall reconstruct your body, and from then we'll move on to hunting off some… troublesome humans," she finishes with a slight grimace that can very clearly convey her dislike.

He feels his brows rise with each word that leaves her lips, with every twist of her ethereal face, with every micro expression in which said face contorts, be it due to concentration or frustration.

"You'll be giving me my body back already?"

"Yes, on the way back to Mystic Falls I'll also be catching you up to date, and yes, I'll be answering some of your questions." She must have seen something on his own facial expression, because her last statement gives him more than he's had for the past several decades. "Yes, I may as well explain about my brand of Sorcery on the way too."

Now that is a leverage she has over him that he can get behind. And oh, if it doesn't sound promising.

Little does he know, he will be in for his one defining moment for the rest of his life.

All across the states, the Iordanou siblings look up at the sky, stars still falling, now joined by two new lights.