Elijah felt like he'd woken up in an alternate universe. He was watching as Elena stood by Kol's side and cast a spell. He didn't even know she was a witch. However, her being a witch was probably the least disturbing part of her behavior thus far. She'd stood by his side as he recovered from the dagger being taken out. She'd offered him comfort. She'd spoken to Niklaus as though he was a spoiled child that she was saying no to for the first time. And both his siblings seemed to tolerate it. Niklaus didn't let anyone tell him what to do, and Rebekah barely listened to Elijah, let alone a practical stranger.
"How long was I daggered?" Elijah asked as he stared at Elena. He felt like it had to have been an eternity for so much to have changed since he was temporarily killed.
"A few months," Klaus said.
Elijah stared at his brother in disbelief.
"Don't feel bad, brother. All of this nonsense took place within the span of the last twenty-four hours," Klaus said.
Soon, Kol bolted awake and gasped.
"Hi. You're alright," Elena said as she put a hand on his back. He'd been daggered much longer, so he was going to need more care than Elijah.
"Blood! I'm starving!" Kol exclaimed.
"Here you go, dear," Elena said before handing him a bag of blood.
Kol opened it and sucked it down within seconds. "More!"
Rebekah grabbed another blood bag and handed it to her brother.
Kol snatched the blood bag from her and devoured his meal as quickly as the last one.
"Come on. Let's get you out of there," Elena said before gently taking ahold of his arm and helping him out of the coffin.
"I need more!" Kol said as he was moved to the couch next to his brother.
"I know. Don't worry. There's plenty," Elena said before giving him another bag. She then stood next to him and waited to see how he would react when he was finally sated enough to be coherent.
As soon as Kol had fed enough to think properly, he was out of his seat and glaring at Nik. He took a step towards him. "You bastard!"
"No, no. None of that," Elena said before raising her hand and returning Kol to his seat using magic. She kept him sitting just as she had with Rebekah the night before.
"Let me go! He daggered me!" Kol fumed.
"I know, sweetheart. You have every right to be angry, but I won't have you attacking each other. There are better ways to resolve disputes than with violence," Elena said firmly.
Klaus snorted. "This coming from the woman who tortured our father before taking him out."
"Every rule has its exceptions, and most apply to that son of a bitch. Besides, I meant with family, and Mikael hardly qualifies," Elena said.
"You killed our father?" Elijah asked in shock. Just when he thought he couldn't possibly be more dumbfounding, another revelation hit. Not only did he not realize Elena was able to kill someone like his father, but he didn't think she was capable murder. He was beginning to rethink every interaction he'd ever had with her.
"No, he isn't dead, but he is desiccated in my basement. He'll remain that way until I'm ready to kill him," Elena told him.
Kol looked at Elena and slowly smiled at her. He didn't know who this woman was, other than being a doppelganger, but she was clearly extremely powerful, and he respected power. "You're a powerful one, huh?"
Elena smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hi, Kol. I'm Elena. It's wonderful to meet you. How are you doing?"
"Well, I'd still like to kill my brother," Kol said before glaring at his older brother once more.
Elena squeezed his shoulder. "I know you're angry. You weren't treated fairly, but I promise you that you will never be daggered again."
Kol unconsciously leaned into her touch. Her comfort felt nice, even if it did come from a stranger, and he appreciated the promise, even though he doubted she'd be able to follow through with it.
Elena smiled sadly as she felt her nephew lean in for more support. He clearly craved comfort and attention. They probably all did, even if Klaus and Elijah wouldn't admit. Well, she had no problem giving it to them. Her sister had failed spectacularly to give her children what they needed, but she would not. She would give them what they deserved.
"I assume you're the only reason I've been undaggered, so thanks for that, darling," Kol said as her hand moved down to rub his back. It felt nice. He relished in it. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him like this, if it had ever happened at all.
"You don't have to thank me for that. Are you alright for now? Can I tend to your older brother?" Elena asked as she pointed to Finn's coffin.
Kol was reluctant to have her stop touching him, but he supposed she had to eventually. "Yeah, I'm fine.
Elena squeezed his shoulder one last time before going to Finn's coffin and opening it. He was dressed in very old clothing. He had to have been in there for a while. "How long has he been daggered?"
Klaus pretended to ponder the question for a moment. "About nine hundred years, give or take a couple of decades."
Elena turned and stared at her nephew in disbelief before turning back to Finn and removing the dagger. She grabbed the other two and placed them all on the table before casting a spell. They all turned to liquid silver before her eyes and then she vanished it. She would do the same with the one she took out of Rebekah later.
Klaus gaped in horror as he watched the daggers disappear from existence before his eyes. He couldn't believe she'd actually done it. She destroyed his daggers. "What the bloody hell have you done?! You had no right…"
"I suggest you sit down and keep your mouth shut for a while! Nine hundred years! Are you out of your damned mind?!" Elena asked sternly.
Kol smiled giddily. He'd never heard anyone talk to Nik like that, except for Elijah, and Elijah never followed through when he tried to take Nik to task.
Elijah just sat there staring. He no longer had words at the moment. He decided he'd just wait to see what happened next.
Elena sighed before turning back to Finn. She uttered the spell to wake him up quickly and then she grabbed a blood bag from the table. She opened it for him. She knew he probably wouldn't know how to do it himself. He was from a time when they didn't exist.
Finn bolted up from his coffin and started breathing heavily. He felt the overwhelming desire for blood. He hadn't felt this hungry in his entire life.
Elena put a hand to his neck and brought the one with the blood in it to his mouth. "Put your mouth to the tip and suck.
Finn wasted no time in doing as she asked. The blood was gone within seconds, far too quickly for his liking.
Elena held her hand open and looked towards her niece to grab her another one.
Rebekah grabbed about four of them and opened one before giving it to Elena.
Elena gave it to Finn and helped him drink. She did it about four more times before Finn looked like he was coherent. She then took him by the arm and helped him out of the coffin. "Come on, sweetheart."
Finn was led to the couch put on the other side of Elijah. He started breathing heavily. He felt quite traumatized by the ordeal of being daggered for so long. He was only unaware of it for so long before he became conscious of what was happening to him. It was a maddening experience.
"Shh. It's okay," Elena said. She sat next to him and put an arm around him. He was shaking. It wasn't any wonder. He'd been cut off from the world much longer than the rest of his siblings. "Take some deep breaths. You're alright."
Finn did as the woman suggested. He didn't know who she was, but she was very kind. Her advice helped. He started to calm down. "Thank you. Who are you? You look like a girl from our village."
"That's because I'm her doppelganger. My body was created to restore a balance of nature. My name is Elena. I want you to know that you never need to worry about being daggered again. I destroyed them," Elena told him.
"Are you a witch?" he asked.
Elena nodded.
"Thank you for what you've done, but why would you do it? Witches hate our kind," Finn said. He couldn't really blame them. He had been a witch too, and a large part of him hated himself. Vampirism went against nature.
"Not all witches. I have nothing against vampires. I see them the same way as any other creature. There are good, grey, and evil. I'd consider myself grey," Elena said.
"What do you mean by that exactly?" Kol wondered.
"I mean that I will do whatever is necessary to protect what I consider mine, no matter what the consequences might be to anyone else. I wouldn't consider that good, but I also wouldn't consider it evil," Elena explained.
Kol grinned. He liked her a little more with every word. He certainly knew what she meant by what she'd just said. All his family had done for centuries was protect each other regardless of the cost.
"Elena, will you please tell us what is going on?" Elijah asked with a bewildered expression on his face. He'd waited as long as he could, but he felt like he was in a bizarre dream.
"Yes. I'm sorry, Elijah. I know you've been very patient, as always. I've been less than honest with you since we met," Elena told him.
"Yes, I'd gathered," Elijah said.
"As you all know by now, my name is I am the Petrova doppelganger. My name is Elena Gilbert. At least that's who part of me is, but I am also someone else entirely. I lived and died more than a thousand years ago. The night I was murdered, I performed a spell so that I could live again inside of another. However, before that happened, I was your mother's sister," Elena explained.
Elijah felt as though his jaw must have hit the floor. A thousand different scenarios entered his mind as he had tried to figure out who and what Elena was, but that one was never even a possibility to him. He looked over at Niklaus and Rebekah, and neither of them seemed surprised. They had already been told all of this. "You… You're our aunt."
Elena nodded.
Finn inched away from her in slight fear. He knew of only one sister of his mother, and he'd been warned about how dangerous she was. "D…Dahlia?"
Elena frowned as she looked at her oldest nephew. For the firs time, he seemed afraid of her, and she didn't like seeing that. "No. I wasn't aware you'd met Dahlia. Your brother and sister didn't seem to know about her. There were three of us. Dahlia came after me. My name was Anora. You have nothing to fear from me, Finn. I will never harm any of you."
"Nik would probably already be dead by now if she had any intention of it," Rebekah said.
Finn relaxed some upon hearing that it was not Dahlia he and his siblings were conversing with.
"You met one of our mother's sisters and didn't tell us?" Klaus asked.
"I'm still on the fact that our mother has any sister at all," Kol said.
"There was bad blood between the three of us at the end, which would explain why your mother didn't tell you about us," Elena said. She would have to explain the whole story to her nephews, but she wanted to give them a little time to adjust.
Rebekah snorted. "That's a nice way of saying they murdered you."
"Rebekah," Elena admonished lightly.
"Our mother killed you?" Elijah asked. He was having trouble with all of this. He had so many questions, but he barely knew where to begin.
"It's a long story, and I will explain it to you later. Yes, your mother took my life with a lot of help from other witches. However, I want you all to understand that I hold no ill will against any of you. You are all innocent," Elena said.
Kol laughed. "I think that's the first time we've ever been called innocent."
"Why did you lie? Why did you let Niklaus kill you? You could've easily stopped him," Elijah said. If she was powerful enough to incapacitate his father and project herself into the future, she was capable of subduing his brother, maybe even killing him.
"Because what Esther cursing him was nothing but abuse, and I wasn't about to let it stand. The only thing I regret is the cost. As for hiding it from you, there were things I needed to accomplish, and I needed my identity to remain hidden until I did. I also want to tell you how sorry I am for daggering you, Elijah. I did that for your safety. I know you think you're invincible, but I've seen what the Salvatores can do. They're idiots, but that works out for them sometimes, and they were being aided by John Gilbert. I didn't know what other tools they had at their disposal. For all I knew John was in possession of a white oak stake or a witch with enough power to kill you. I took it out as soon as I was reasonably sure you would be safe," Elena explained.
Elijah didn't know what to say. His shock was profound. That whole time, he thought he was protecting Elena until the sacrifice, but according to her, she was trying to ensure his protection.
"Listen, there's a lot for us all to talk about, but you have all been through a lot today. I think you should take time to recuperate from the daggers. We can talk again later. You're all welcome to stay here, and I'd like you to, but there will be rules you have to follow. That's another thing we can discuss later. For now, I'll leave it at one big one. My younger brother lives in this house. He's not to be harmed. Actually, I don't want any violence in this house at all," Elena said.
Elijah nodded. "You have my word. We will all be courteous, and no harm will come to Jeremy."
Elena smiled at her nephew. He was a lot like her. He considered himself the protector of his siblings and essentially the parental figure over them. It was the way she'd felt about her sisters when they were young. She hoped to take some of that burden from him. He had a responsibility forced on him that never should've been his to bear. She wanted to give him a chance to have his own life. They all deserved that. "Thank you, Elijah. I'll hold you all to that. Why don't I show you around? You can all change. There are extra clothes for you all."
They all nodded and stood up. Elena led the way out of the room.