Sitting Elena on the couch, Elijah crouched in front of her, taking her face into his hands as he searched her vacant eyes. She was staring off behind him, blind eyes unfocussed and unseeing.

"How long has it been like this?" He asked gently, lifting one of Elena's eyelids to examine her eye.

"A few minutes, it just suddenly went dark."

Releasing her other eyelid, Elijah dropped his hands from her facing, taking hold of one of hers when she sought him out. "Davina…"

"We need to find Celeste." She agreed, already on the same page as the Original in front of her. "There's something serious at play here; we need to find out what she did before it gets worse."

"One problem with that," Klaus pointed out, inserting himself into the conversation, "we need something of Celeste's to perform a locator spell."

"We have something." Elijah said softly, letting out a sigh. "I buried Celeste's body in a location only I was aware of."

Nodding, Marcel stepped forward. "A pile of old bones should definitely do the trick for a locator spell. You should stay here with Elena, I'll go and retrieve the body."

"I'll go with him." Rebekah said quickly, sensing the objections in the room. "Celeste may have put some protection around her remains; you might need backup."

Meeting the blonde's eyes, Marcel nodded slowly, turning to face Elijah as they both waited for him to relinquish the location.

Glancing at Elena, Elijah let out a soft breath, closing his eyes as he nodded softly, his heart warring with the pain of breaking his word to someone he'd loved. "Get some paper and a pen, I'll write down the location for you."

"Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Elijah murmured, looking down at where Elena held his hand still.

She squeezed his hand softly. "You don't seem alright. You've been really quiet since everyone left."

Marcel and Rebekah had disappeared as soon as Elijah had handed over the location of Celeste's body, shovels and duffel bag in hand to dig up the bones of the long dead witch. Hayley had insisted she was going to follow a lead on her family, leaving Klaus to accompany her, lest any harm befall the mother of his child or the baby growing in her womb. Davina had left to gather ingredients for the spell she needed to perform to locate Celeste from her former body, leaving Elena and Elijah alone in the large plantation house.

"Celeste wanted to be left in peace. When a witch's remains are consecrated, that power fuels the rest of their community. Celeste did not want her remains to be found; she made me promise to bury her where she would not be found."

"By telling us where she's buried you broke your promise." Elena whispered, letting out a soft breath and squeezing Elijah's hand again. "I'm so sorry, Elijah; I know what your word means to you."

Elijah mimicked Elena's soft sigh. "I cannot help but think that Celeste may have backed me into this corner to force me into making such a decision. The woman I knew would never have done this and yet…it has been centuries since I knew her; she could be nothing alike to the woman I knew."

"The people we love tend to be the ones who know how to hurt us the best." Elena whispered. "Forcing you to chose between your word and your family is the coldest way to get at you, Elijah, Celeste must know that."

"And yet I feel little regret for giving up the location of her body. What does that make me?"

"Human." She whispered. "You loved Celeste, and you gave your word to that person, not to the one who is trying to hurt you know. You kept your word until she forced you to break it, Elijah, that doesn't make you a bad person. The regret you do feel is what makes you exactly the man you are."

Smiling sadly, Elijah squeezed Elena's hand lightly, lost for words for the first time in centuries.

"You're a good man, Elijah," she whispered, blindly leaning her face against Elijah's shoulder, "don't let Celeste take that away from you."

Elena smiled softly as Elijah let go of her wrist with a soft sigh, allowing it to fall into her lap.

"Do you feel any different?"

"No, Elijah, I still feel the same as I did when you asked me twenty minutes ago." She smiled, patting the sofa next to her in a clear gesture for Elijah to sit down. "You don't have to keep checking on me all the time."

"You lost your sight rapidly, Elena," he denied softly, sitting beside her, "you could decline at any point."

"And if it happens that quickly then there's probably nothing you can do about it, Lijah." She sighed, holding her hand out until she felt Elijah place his in it. "Would you read to me? Just for a little while."

Squeezing her hand, Elijah smiled to himself, nodding slightly. "What would you like to hear?"

"Anything." Elena shrugged, letting go of Elijah's hand so he could fetch a book. "Surprise me."

Silence quickly fell over the lounge at an emphatic glare from Elijah, his arguing siblings looking at him sheepishly as they took in the room. Elena was curled up on the sofa, her head resting in Elijah's lap as she slept, a blanket, haphazardly thrown over her by Elijah, was held firmly in her fists.

"How is she?" Rebekah whispered, gently placing her duffel bag on the floor.

"Exhausted." Elijah returned, just as quietly and all too aware of Hayley straining to hear their conversation. "Her sight has not returned, but she doesn't seem to have deteriorated in any other way."

"I guess that's good." Marcel sighed, easily matching the soft tone of the Originals. "At least she's no worse, and we have what we need to find Celeste when D gets back."

Elijah's eyes flicked down the bag by his sister's feet, his tongue darting out to lick his lips as he nodded slowly. "There were no problems?"

"None." She confirmed softly. "Aside from Nik being an arse."

Throwing a glare at his sister, Klaus automatically began to argue with her, a sigh from Elijah stopping him in his tracks. "It's not my fault Rebekah and Marcel wandered into wolf territory, sorry for saving your sorry behinds." He muttered, rolling his eyes and folding his arms over his chest.

Rebekah scoffed, shaking her head, but choosing not to continue to argue with Klaus, not willing to anger Elijah. "How long has she been out?"

"An hour or so." Elijah guessed with a soft shrug, his hand automatically beginning to stroke Elena's hair when she let out a soft noise, squirming where she lay. "She's barely moved." He sighed, looking at Elena affectionately, soft worry lining his features.

"Hey, I-" Davina cut off her own sentence abruptly, smacking her hands over her mouth as she registered Elena asleep on Elijah's lap. "Ohmygod, I'm so sorry." She whispered through her hands, staring at Elena with wide eyes as she began to move, relaxing when all she did was nuzzle her face against Elijah's leg, settling again quickly.

Releasing a relieved sigh, Elijah offered Davina a soft, reassuring smile. "It's quite alright," he assured her, talking slightly louder to allow Davina to hear him, "did you acquire everything you needed?"

She nodded, lifting a bag slightly on her shoulder to draw attention to it. "The materials were easy enough to find."

"But?" Rebekah prompted, frowning at the younger girl.

"If Celeste is as powerful as she seems, the spell itself might be the problem." Davina sighed, biting her lip and shaking her head softly. "I'll make it work."

Letting out a yawn, Elena stretched out on the couch, confused by the object under her head, what had she fallen asleep on? Blinding feeling around, Elena found herself more confused by whatever she was led on.

"It's just me, Elena." Elijah whispered, gently taking her hand so as not to alarm her.

"I'm sorry." She returned, just as quietly. "I shouldn't have." Shaking her head, she groggily sat herself upright, jumping slightly when she felt Elijah's hand on her back, helping her sit up.

"Shouldn't have what?"

"Fallen asleep on you." She shook her head again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Elijah frowned, his voice marred by confusion even though Elena couldn't see him. "I would much rather you sleep."

Elena quirked the corners of her lips slightly, her eyes remaining closed while it was pointless to open them. "You wanted distance, this situation isn't fair to you."

"I don't want distance, Elena, I think you need it."

Smiling, Elena shook her head slightly. "I think I need help, Elijah, not space. I don't know how to deal with the emotions that have come back, or the fact that I'm so scared of what's happening to me."

"Emotions are a delicate thing, Elena," he whispered, squeezing her hand softly, "they require a lot of patience, especially with our nature."

Nodding, Elena sighed. "Did Davina find Celeste?"

"She hasn't performed the spell yet." Elijah denied. "We wanted to wait for you to wake up; we didn't want to risk Celeste fleeing before we could find out what she did to you."

Taking in a deep breath, Elena released it in one large huff. "Let's find out what she's done to me."

"She's hiding out in a cemetery? Seriously?"

"The ancestors are consecrated here." Davina explained softly, hugging her jacket to herself as she looked around. "Being here allows us to draw power from them directly."

Elena sighed, linking her fingers together where they rested in the crook of Elijah's arm. "So, we're hoping to get one over on a witch at the height of her power? Sounds like a great plan." She remarked dryly, oblivious to the amused looks the others shared.

"I still hold more power than Celeste," Davina reminded her softly, "everything's going to be okay."

Drawing in a heavy breath, Elena nodded. "Okay, okay, fine. Let's get this over with."

Allowing Elijah to lead her forward, Elena found herself confused when they suddenly stopped, stumbling and sure she would've fallen if not for Elijah's hold on her.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"There's a boundary spell," Elijah muttered, his arm flexing slightly against Elena's, "we can't enter."

"None of us?"

"Davina can." Klaus replied, his voice sounding surprisingly close to Elena's ear and making her jump.

"The cemetery requires invitations." Davina said softly, offering Marcel an invitation; Elena's confusion only growing when everyone remained silent.

"Did it work?"

"No." Marcel huffed, the frustration evident in his voice.

"Davina's connection to the invitational magic that binds this cemetery has been severed due to her reluctance to complete the harvest." A soft voice explained; the tightening of Elijah's arm on Elena's giving her a good idea of who spoke to them. "It's nice to see you again, Elijah."

"I wish I could say the same." Elijah returned. "What have you done to Elena?"

Celeste laughed. "I'm sure you'll find everything out in time. Elena, would you like to come in? I think we're long overdue for a chat."

"Could I have my sight back? I prefer to be able to see the people who are trying to kill me." Elena quipped.

"Unfortunately, that's beyond me, Elena," Celeste offered, somehow managing to leach some sincerity into her voice, "Davina will have to act as your eyes for the time being."

"Absolutely not."

"No way."

Protests came from Elijah and Marcel at the same time, and Elena let out a soft breath, reaching one of her hands forward slightly.

"Davina?" She murmured, glad when she felt a gentle hand grasp hers, a warm flow of magic assuring Elena of the owner.

"Elena." Elijah murmured tightly, taking hold of her wrist when she moved to let Davina lead her forward. "No."

Elena shook her head softly. "We need to know. We'll be alright." Gently, she pulled her wrist from Elijah's hold, allowing Davina to pull her forward into the cemetery; their arms quickly linking as they followed Celeste into the graves.

"It's nice to finally meet the woman who has enamoured my Elijah so."

Elena laughed. "I'm not sure you can call him your Elijah, Celeste; it sounds like it's been a very long time since that was the case."

"You sound jealous."

"Not at all," Elena scoffed, "it just seems ridiculous that you're so beat up about a guy who left you two centuries ago."

"He didn't leave me, his brother had me murdered."

"Oh, please, Klaus killed me himself, so did Rebekah, and what? You don't catch me lashing out at innocent people." Elena rolled her eyes, holding her body tall to try and calm the witch next to her, squeezing her arm lightly.

"I died because of Klaus, and even after all of his vindictive lies about witches had led to my death, Elijah stood by him. All because of his stupid vow." Celeste sneered, her voice dripping with a venom that suddenly had Elena wondering if she should have taunted her so.

"Why am I here, Celeste?" Elena asked forcefully, truly irritated for the first time at not being able to see, unable to fix the witch with a glare. "Your anger is with Elijah, not me, so why have you poisoned me? How?"

"The how is irrelevant." Celeste dismissed easily, beginning to pick up and tinker with various objects as Davina drew Elena to a pause. "As for why, Elijah cares about you, that in itself is reason enough. Besides, I believe you're the ones who sought me out, no?"

"This wasn't exactly what we had in mind."

"You want a cure." Celeste acknowledged. "There's nothing I can do for you, Elena."

Elena scoffed. "What does that mean? You did this to me, why can't you fix it?"

"You'll find out in due time. For now, I think you have enough of the answers you seek. I've taken up enough of your time."

"You haven't given us any answers!" Davina denied quickly, the fury from the young girl burning Elena's arm. "What was the point in all of this?"

"Davina-"

"No, Elena, what the hell was the point in bringing us here if she won't tell us anything."

"We need to go, Davina, right now." Elena said firmly, tugging on Davina's arm. "The point was to get us away from everyone else. We have to go."

Finally recognising the urgency in Elena's voice, Davina turned and began dragging her away, ignoring the sound of Celeste's laughter behind them.

"You're clever, Elena! It's a shame you're not clever enough to stay away from the Originals."

lauramorgenstern: Oooo yay! I love that I've been able to do that! I'm so excited and glad you're loving it!

HisSecretLover18: Thank you! We will get answers to what's going on in Celeste's head! Maybe not from her pov, but we absolutely will find out why she's doing what she's doing!

Guest: It's going to be pivotal over the next few chapters! I hadn't even considered not being able to admire everyone, poor Elena! Ooh, you know I love getting the chefs kisses, thank you so much!

elejahendgame (Guest): Awhhh, thank you so, so much! That's so amazing to hear!

MerylinnEmrys: Thank you so much! Gotta indulge in an Elejah fic every once in a while!

Emma (Guest): Ahhh, thank you so, so much! Sorry I kept you waiting longer than normal!

I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter! I went away to London for a few days last week and I haven't been far off bed-ridden since we got back, I've been so ill :(

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The Originals and Marcel have all disappeared! What? How? Why?! Let me know what you all think, and I promise I won't leave you waiting as long this time round!

As always, until next time

~ I x