Chapter 3
Jenna’s blood boiled with rage as she recalled what this ‘Klaus’ had done to her sort-of-boyfriend. Are they still together after all the lies that he has told her? The secrets? It didn’t matter though, the sanctity of the body and the spirit and no, not in a religious way, but in a moral way… Klaus has defiled that by possessing someone. She might not have gone to Hogwarts like her friends had, she might have only discovered her magical roots and her gifts in the last seven years and had no formal training but she knows enough about magic to know that such a thing was forbidden.
Stefan took her to the boarding house while they assessed the danger she was in with Klaus when Elijah Smith entered the house with Elena. From the moment she had seen Elijah she had known that he was a vampire, an ancient one at that, but he had seemed calculating and honorable… noble, really so she had let her guard down. After the debacle with Klaus, she was more alert than ever before. She glared at the man.
“Elena! Get away from that vampire!” Jenna commanded.
Elena’s head snapped towards her, shock written on her face. “You… Aunt Jenna, you know about vampires?”
“You mean after finding out that some douche named Klaus who is apparently a vampire walked into our house possessing my boyfriend who apparently is a vampire hunter.” Jenna said and she saw Elena flinch but she continued on. “But you know what? I’ve known about vampires for years. I knew what the Salvatores were before you had even figured it out. I was just waiting for you to say something.”
The accusation was clear in Jenna’s voice, she knew that, but she had also known that her niece was playing a dangerous game. Everyone was just staring at her in shock. “How… how did you find out?” Elena asked, face pale.
“I found out in England. Ianthe and Neville’s parents were friends with quite a lot of vampires and werewolves who became their minders after they were orphaned. They all worked together to protect their friend's children. That was also how I knew that Mason was a werewolf.” She said with a sneer. Her anger reaching new heights now that she had discovered what had happened to her childhood friend.
“We had too! He exposed Stefan and Damon!” Elena justified. Jenna could see Elijah standing to the side, watching them with interest. She had noticed the special attention he had paid Ianthe and Neville during the tour and how his gaze had sharpened when she had mentioned the cousins’ minders. She let it go, for now, intent on getting her mind across. She wasn’t usually this temperamental but it had been building for quite a while now.
“And that makes murder alright? Look, I understand the fact that they’re vampires and they need to drink human blood in order to survive. Fine, sure, that’s their instinct, their nature! But killing someone in cold blood, that was murder and the fact that you can so easily cover it up, that you can just turn a blind eye at this? That you would be willing to do the same to Tyler who is only dangerous one night out of a month when your boyfriend can so easily lose control at any time? That’s hypocritical and I’m telling you now Elena, you’re heading down a dark path.” Jenna warned.
“You have no right to judge me! You don’t know…” Elena began but was cut off by Jenna raising a hand to silence her.
“I have no right? Elena! I’m your guardian! And you… what your friends have been doing? You’ve been getting people killed. Did you even stop to think about a werewolf’s nature? The part about them being wolves… they carry some of those traits over as humans. They find packs just like normal wolves do and packs always come to avenge their fallen. Believe me. So tell me, have werewolves started coming here? Killing people because you killed Mason? Did you anger them so much that the people in this town have become open season for them?” Jenna challenged and she could see the defiant look in Elena’s eyes even as she quailed a bit at her words.
It seemed that Elena still couldn’t understand the repercussions of her actions. And why would she? She was still a teenager, a sheltered one at that. And her friends were little better. The vampires in her lives were ill experienced and from the looks of it, were petulant and kept swinging between petulance and homicidal rage born from overprotectiveness directed towards her niece. And as much as she loved Elena, she wasn’t blind to the fact that the death rates had skyrocketed from the moment the brothers had entered Mystic Falls.
“Now, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to call your friends while I call Ianthe and you can all tell me what the fuck is going on around here.” She demanded.
They were all staring at her, she knew that they weren’t used to this side of her. In fact, she rarely let it out. She was still the great-granddaughter of Iola Black after all, and the fierce temper was in her, it just took a little bit longer. She gave them all a glare and Elena’s friends rushed to do her bidding.
[1:49 PM
To: Ianthe P.
Salvatore Boarding House ASAP. Bring Neville and whoever else along.]
[1:50 PM
From: Ianthe P.
OMW. Have Dudley too.]
The bell rang within ten minutes and true to her word, Ianthe was there with Neville and Dudley. She looked composed as she strode in, brow raised at the sight of Elijah standing in the corner. She pursed her lips, eyes taking in his features and found them to match Kol’s and Finn’s. Something about him was familiar, beyond just being her dream friends’ brother.
The other teenagers began to arrive at that moment and they all sat down. Ianthe stared at her friend expectantly, she knew Bonnie couldn’t feel it but she and her cousins could. The magic within her distant cousin was flaring madly and she could feel the beginnings of a magical tempest within the room. She closed her eyes and sent out her magic, willing it around her cousin like a warm embrace, soothing emotions sent to her as she touched Jenna’s hand. The effect was immediate and she knew that the others were able to sense the shift in the atmosphere as Jenna relaxed.
“Now then, what is this all about?” She asked once Jenna had taken a seat beside her.
It was Elijah who spoke. “For the past few weeks, some of you have been scrambling around trying to get to the moonstone, the supposed source of the sun and the moon curse. But in reality, that curse is a lie. The true curse is one that binds my brother, Klaus’ other nature. He was born from an affair that my mother had, his biological father was a werewolf and when our mother turned us into vampires, his other side was triggered and he became a hybrid, my mother’s secret had gotten out and our father was furious, my mother cast a spell to bind that side of Klaus and the key is the moonstone.”
“Just how long ago was this curse?” Dudley asked, he was fascinated by the curse but he knew that there was more to this than what he was saying.
“It happened within days of our turning. A thousand years ago.” Elijah replied smoothly. There was no hesitation and his tone was flat.
There was still something missing. A piece of the puzzle. “But that’s not all, is it? Otherwise, he would have been able to break the curse the moment he had gotten his hands on that stone so something tells me that there are other components to this.” Ianthe said as she stared at the Original Vampire.
“You’re right. He’ll need a werewolf and a vampire.”
“And?” Neville prompted. “Ia’s right. If that was all he needed he could have broken it immediately.”
“And he needs to sacrifice Elena Gilbert, the current Petrova Doppelganger. The original doppelganger’s blood and death had been used to cast the curse.” Elijah confessed.
Jenna groaned as her head dropped into her hands, shoulders shaking. “And because they were such idiots there are now both werewolves and vampires here.” She said.
“Do you have the moonstone with you now? I’d really rather study it for myself to see if there are alternate ways of breaking this curse.” Ianthe said, head tilting to Elijah.
“We, uh… we kinda lost it to Katherine.” Bonnie said, shifting uncomfortably.
“And who, might I ask, is this Katherine?”
“She was the previous Doppelganger. She ran away from Klaus and stole the moonstone once she realized he was planning on sacrificing her.”
“Wait! Let me get this straight, there’s an evil Doppelganger of Jenna’s niece running around and none of you bothered to warn her when it’s so easy to compel or convince her that it’s Ms. Gilbert and lure her into a trap?” Dudley asked appalled.
From the looks of the teenagers’ faces, it was clear that none of them thought of this. ‘Amateurs!’ She thought loudly projecting it into the minds of her friends. Neville merely rolled his eyes at her while Elena Gilbert stammered through another round of protests, trying to defend their decisions. They were ill prepared and it seemed like they were flying by the seat of their pants. While her plans were often risky, she always ensured that everything was thought out first, that the casualties were at a bare minimum. During the war, that was very rarely achieved… but this… this should have been easy if they had any common sense between their brains.
“Alright, any chance of getting it back from this Katherine?” Ianthe asked but the silence told her everything. Katherine must have already given it to this Klaus person.
“Did any of you actually get your hands on this moonstone?” She tried again.
“We… we had it but Katherine stole it from us.” Bonnie said hesitantly.
Ianthe looked at them. “Let me guess, you lot placed it somewhere you thought was clever but was actually very predictable.”
They all turned to Damon who refused to meet their eyes. “You idiots actually kept it here?” She screeched. They all quickly leaped to their defenses and the story spilled from their lips.
Ianthe raised her hand to silence them. “Shall I elaborate how dumb your plans are? I’ve already spotted several key flaws in all of your plans. 1. Killing Mason brought his pack here which gives Klaus a direct access to other werewolves. 2. I’m guessing you all knew the trigger for the werewolf gene but instead of keeping an eye on Tyler to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone, you lot were probably all for killing him which allowed him to kill someone, even if it had been in self-defense.” She said as she began to enumerate.
“3. All of you thought that confronting Katherine inside a public location would work without any fatalities and I can assure you, she’s probably planned for everything, it took you some pretty brute force to deal with her, didn’t it? Would have probably been more effective if you didn’t have to keep an eye out for civilians. At least no one would have died. 4. You had the opportunity to end that two-faced bitch but you didn’t. One thing you’ll have to understand is that people like that will always do what serves them best and the best thing to do is to end the threat.” She paused to let her words sink in. Her mind turning to Pettigrew immediately.
“And 5. You lot were stupid enough to keep it in plain sight and within the town.” She turned to Bonnie again. “You’re a witch aren’t you? Why didn’t you create a container that negated any tracking spells? Why not throw it into the water or send it somewhere else so that Klaus would be suitably distracted, no moonstone, no need for the Petrova doppelganger and I’m sure he would have tried to do everything to keep her alive so that another doppelganger would be born in the future.” She finished and she relished the silence that ensued from her tirade as they were staring at her with wide-eyed realization (or at least the children were). She was certain that her plans were never that bad.
Elijah chose that time to explain his plan as he brought out a box with an ‘elixir of life’. Well… there was only one elixir of life that she knew off and the time frame might work. She glanced at her cousins and they stared blankly back at her.
“So your plan is to use a magical elixir without an expiration date?” Damon asked incredulously as he inched closer to Elena.
“May I have the elixir? I want to examine it.” Ianthe asked.
“Yes, of course.” Elijah handed her the bottle. It was clearly full, and the bottle was old but she recognized the make of it.
Uncorking the bottle she sniffed it before handing it to her cousins. Grabbing a medicine dropper from her emergency kit, a tissue, and a seed from the packet she’d bought for her garden, she wordlessly summoned an empty flower pot and some dirt to the surprise of nearly everyone.
“You’re a witch!” Bonnie gasped.
She raised another brow at the girl for stating the obvious. “Yes, and my cousins have magic as well. Jenna knows this because we are distantly related through her mother, Miranda Gilbert’s stepmother.”
“So, Jenna’s a witch too?” Jeremy asked confused.
“Yes, she discovered it through an inheritance test that we’d done. She’s been learning slowly when she has the time.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Elena demanded.
“Like you all told me about your misadventures? It goes both ways, Elena.” Jenna said angrily.
A drop of the elixir on the planted seed saw it grow into a beautiful flower within seconds and everyone gasped at the life blooming instantly. “So it works. That’s good to know. Still not sure I want to chance Elena’s life on that.” Damon said.
“You wouldn’t happen to have gotten this from a Nicholas or Perenelle in Paris did you?” She asked Elijah.
“Yes, I did. A reputed alchemist named Nicholas Flamel before he died of old age.”
She and her cousins snorted at that. “Aren’t the Flamels your mentors in alchemy and potions?” Jenna asked confused.
“Yeah, they just celebrated their 655th wedding anniversary last May. My family and I went, it was a lovely celebration. It was a shame you couldn’t come with us. I really wanted you to meet Penny, that woman can outdrink werewolves.” Ianthe said with a fond smile at the thought of her mentors. Penny had been the one who taught her all about the habits of the French women and how to blend in with them. Sirius was most displeased when she started using it to charm boys.
“That’s… that’s impossible!” Stefan exclaimed.
“Yeah, no. Elixir of life remember? It extends life, rejuvenates, makes things grow… not… well, not restore things to life. I should know, they gave me the ancient texts of Abraham the Jew to decode it when I was ten and it was a bitch. We were vacationing in Italy and I barely spent time outside because it was highly sensitive and frail.” She said with a scowl. It had taken her a long time to decipher it and between that and her correspondence course with the Euro-glyph school… she had barely had enough time. Her childhood had been loving and fun but there was a lot of structure to it, her lessons both mundane and magical were bolstered with etiquette, politics, arts, music, dance, and muggle sports much like Dudley and Neville’s had been.
All of it to prepare for the eventual shit storm of the Noseless bastard and they were right in the end. It took all of her lessons on pureblood protocol to navigate the antagonistic climate that Fudge had set up against her and it took all of her lessons in mundane and magical self-defense and the like to win the war. In the end, it still hadn’t been enough and she’d lost a lot of loved ones.
“So we have nothing? Great!” The sarcastic drawl came from Damon. Even Elijah seemed troubled by it.
“Forgive me for presenting you with the realities that you are all faced with.”
“I thank you for telling me what would have been a fatal error, Ms. Potter-Black.” Elijah said.
Ianthe shook her head and handed him the elixir before staring at him once more. She and Neville had discussed confronting him about his familiarity with them and now seemed as good a time as any. She flicked her eye at her cousins, brothers really and knew they were thinking the same thing.
Elijah had been quiet for the most part, more content on watching the interactions of the people around him. While he was still sore over Elena Gilbert going back on her word not once but twice, he wasn’t surprised. Not by any of the children or the vampires in their cohorts. What did surprise him was the seemingly unassuming guardian of the Gilbert children.
She seemed so docile, a bit too cheerful, but harmless. That was, at least, until his little brother possessed her boyfriend and she’d revealed her knowledge of the supernatural. It was surprising to see her turn from such a gentle if a bit scatterbrained woman to a spitfire with a sharp grasp on the situation as she took control. It had been amusing to see them scramble to meet her demands but it was more shocking to learn that Ianthe and Neville or Astrid and Asbjorn had been raised by both vampires and werewolves, two races that had been enemies from the bitter beginning.
When she had appeared with Asbjorn and a stocky blonde-haired man, he took the time to look for more hints of his friends in the two of them. She was smart and had a sharp tongue and wits about her. A brilliant mind, calculating and strategic, much like Niklaus without the cruelty that his brother had developed after the loss of his love. She was still a match for his brother and one that may have had the ability to temper him had things been different.
Her excellent grasp of magic, her connection to the Sommers woman, her unique upbringing… he knew it would all entice his brother even without the benefit of her face and form. He wasn’t blind to the looks that she and Neville had been sending him, wariness and curiosity. He was curious as well. He needed to know if it truly was them, her.
“Elijah, answer me honestly.” She began, her tone brooking no argument. “You recognized Neville and I. How?”
Everyone quietened as she leveled him with a stare that he knew well. The one that made it obvious that she would not suffer any lies because she would know in an instant any lies that spew forth. He pursed his lips. “You are the exact replicas, doppelgangers, of two of our friends from our lives as humans.” He answered.
“So why don’t we just use them, then?” Damon asked and Elijah glared at him. He’d burned by Katerina’s actions before and he held no true fondness for this doppelganger but he wasn’t going to allow Astrid or Asbjorn’s doppelgangers or reincarnations to get hurt and he knew that Klaus wouldn’t take any action against them either.
“Because it wasn’t their blood that had been used. It was the Original Petrova Doppelganger’s blood, not theirs.”
“I think…” Neville began as he stared at him. “that you are working under a misapprehension. We aren’t doppelgangers.” He said gesturing to the two of them.
“Oh yeah? Then what are you?” Damon challenged.
“There are no doppelgangers in our family lines. Neville and I have been trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation for several millennia, it’s come to the point where we don’t automatically remember everything. Sometimes we don’t remember one life because there are no instances that would provide us with any triggers.” Ianthe said and Elijah’s heart leaped, this was proof.
It was such a twist of fate that the only one who could possibly reach Niklaus now didn’t remember him and was working against him but… well… his blood family may be far from him now but at least he had them. Maybe, maybe they could be his family once more? Maybe he could get back the old familial relationship he had with the two. Whatever the case, he was determined to protect the twins from Niklaus’ greedy and destructive grasp. The monster that he is now, the monster that could so easily dispose of his siblings didn’t deserve them, didn’t deserve her.
“So what are we going to do about Klaus?” Jeremy Gilbert asked.
“We are going to go through with the ritual. There’s no way he’s just going to let me go and he’s going to tear this town apart. I’m not going to stand aside and let that happen.” Elena said determinedly. “But you have to keep your promise and keep them safe.”
“I will.” Elijah vowed.
“Elena, no!” Bonnie gasped in shock. “I can do this. I’m a powerful witch and I can channel the others.”
“I’m sorry? Channel the others?” Dudley said with a frown.
“Yeah, the power of a hundred witches executed at the same spot. It should be enough to kill Klaus.” Bonnie said.
Elijah saw the twins glance uneasily at one another and at Dudley. “Don’t you have other witches that can help you? Channeling that much power can kill you and neither my cousins or I can even channel another person’s power. Our familial magic won’t allow it. Family magic sure, not some dead stranger’s.” Neville explained.
“Unfortunately, my two warlock companions have died during minor skirmishes between our groups.” Elijah said dryly.
“Wow.” Ianthe said with a scoff. “As much as I like you guys, your fuck ups really keep piling up. You all keep tearing away your options through your impulsiveness and lack of forethought.”
“I can handle it.” Bonnie insisted but Elijah could see the unease and conflict within Jeremy as if he was preparing to lose either his girlfriend or his older sister.
“So we’re just going to let Elena die?” Damon demanded. “And why aren’t you protesting? She’s your niece!” He said accusingly at Jenna.
“Because I’m thinking strategically. Rather than throwing a tantrum, another option we can take is to get as much information as we need and come up with a better plan but until then, we’ll have no other option if we want to make sure that more people don’t get hurt.” Jenna said, pained.
“You know what? You can all go to hell!” Damon said as he stormed away.
Everyone stared at him for awhile, at a loss. Elena and Stefan clung to each other tightly. From his position, he could see everyone, see the hope in Jenna’s eyes as she turned to Ianthe.
“Can you please…” Jenna began.
“I’ll get someone to do some research in my family’s archives. Surely either the Black Archives or the Potter Archives have something. I can even get Hermione to the Peverell Archives and maybe Hannah can look into the Longbottom Archives.” Ianthe said reassuringly as she pulled out a mirror.
“You’re seriously checking your makeup at a time like this?” Bonnie asked sharply but she was ignored.
“Luna Lovegood.” Ianthe said and Elijah, who had seen quite a lot of magical artifacts in his long life, had been shocked when the reflection changed to a blonde-haired woman with grey-eyes that held a dreamy haze.
“I was waiting for your call, Ianthe. You’re here to ask me more about the moonstone and the curse. I’ve already scried for you and I will tell you this, it would be as you suspect it was. I can tell you no more than what you already know. It would be best to read that letter.” She said dreamily.
“What letter?” Stefan demanded.
Ianthe merely glanced at the window and it opened, not a moment later an owl landed in front of her, dropping a letter written in expensive parchment and elegant script. Ianthe wasted no time in picking it up, handing the mirror to Neville while Dudley offered the owl some treats. Her eyes widened as she read what was undoubtedly a short letter.
“What does it say?” Elijah asked curiously and was given the letter to read aloud. It truly was short.
‘Ianthe,
Not everything is as it seems. Remember the end of your third year and the revelation at the end of your fourth. Tread carefully in this endeavor, one misstep will cost you much. Perhaps a return to the original spell would work. I trust you can manage this mischief.
Yours,
Bambi.’
“What the hell does that mean?” Jeremy asked.
“Uhh… third year was nearly getting killed by my werewolf uncle when I made the mistake of being out during a full moon. He was ready to attack me but the moment he got close enough he just sort off… looked at me and left. And fourth year? Hidden enemy? Death? The return of someone long since thought dead? I don’t know but it was definitely a warning and a lot of shit happened in school and I nearly died practically every year just from some of the stunts that I pulled.” Ianthe said and Elijah’s heart dropped at the thought of her out on another full moon and being so close to a werewolf at the time. She had been lucky to escape where she once didn’t.
“But the original spell. Do you have a copy of it?” She asked.
“I have my mother’s grimoire but I don’t see how it could help you, Klaus has torn through that thing more times than I can count.”
“I take it your brother doesn’t practice magic and never bothered to learn.”
“Not really, no. But there is also the problem with the fact that the entire book is written in Elder Futhark.”
“Well it’s a good thing my cousins and I are well versed in Elder Futhark due to our extensive magical education, besides, if we did know one another than the language will come easily to us. It’s happened with the other ancient languages we once spoke.” She said offhandedly.
“Very well. I’ll deliver it to you.” He said.
“Well, if you don’t need me anymore, I have to get back. Daddy and I are going on a trip to find some crumple horn snorkacks. And Ianthe, you’ve got another nasty infestation of nargles.” Miss Lovegood said dreamily.
Ianthe burst into laughter. “Bye, Luna!” She said cheerily.
“Your friend is…odd.” Elijah said.
“She is, she doesn’t see the world the same way we do but she’s a powerful seer and as a wise man once said, the absence of proof does not mean the absence of existence. It’s quite possible that she and her father merely erase their memories once they’ve discovered the existence of whatever mythical animal they’ve found in order to protect them and keep the mystery alive.” She said offhandedly.
“I suppose I can meet you at my home. I’ll allow you a one-time access into my home, my wards will ensure it. The only vampire that’s been there is Caroline and that was only to bring Tyler to me for help in his transformations.” She said as she stood.
“Stefan and I will be going now, I want to spend some more time with him.” Elena said softly before turning to leave.
“Just see yourselves out.” Stefan said before leading his girlfriend away.
Jeremy and Bonnie stood next. “We’ll go too. I want Bonnie to be as prepared as she can be. I’m not taking any chances with either of them.” Jeremy said before standing up.
“Well, it’s a good thing I have the next three days off. Though I was hoping to catch up on some more sleep, I’ve had a long shift at the hospital.” Ianthe said as she handed Elijah a slip of paper with an address on it.
The two men with her followed her as she stood and Jenna nodded at him as she led the way. They all stopped dead and Elijah was there in an instant. Alaric Saltzman stood on the other side of the door and Elijah wasn’t sure whether it was truly the man or if it was Klaus.
“It’s me. I promise!” Alaric said, alarmed at the weapon that Jenna pointed at him, one that seemingly came from nowhere.
“Why would he let you go?” Jenna demanded.
“He wanted me to deliver a message.” Alaric said. “He wanted me to tell you all that the sacrifice happens tomorrow night.”
Jenna turned to the three cousins who nodded back at her and she deflated. “Okay. We were just heading to Ianthe’s house to look for anything that might help.”
“Ianthe? Why? What good can she do?” Alaric asked confused.
Ianthe smiled at him in amusement. “I’m a witch, Alaric.” She said and smirked at the comical widening of his eyes.
“I… can I come with you. I don’t really want to go back to my apartment and I’ve never been.”
“Wait.” Elijah called out, stepping in. “We don’t know if he’s been compelled.”
“He isn’t. I’ve made sure of that. I cast a diagnostic spell on him.” Neville said with a glance at him.
“There’s something else. He… he took the scrapbook you were making for Ianthe. He seems very interested in her for some reason.” Alaric said hesitantly.
Elijah’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me that my little brother now knows of her existence?” He demanded.
“Yes, I don’t understand why… wait your brother?”
“Apparently, I’m an old friend and ally to Elijah’s family when they were humans. Reincarnation tends to do that. And yes, they are apparently brothers.” Ianthe drawled but Elijah had begun to tune them out. Niklaus now knew about Ianthe, perhaps not that she was his beloved’s reincarnation but that a woman that looked like her lived… that would make him more dangerous.
If he survived, Niklaus wouldn’t just leave when the rituals were complete, no, he would take her as his. Elijah stamped down that thought. It became more imperative for him to kill his brother now more than ever.
“Come to the house as soon as you can.” Ianthe said just before she drove away. Elijah had known many witches in his time and none of them were like her and her family.
As soon as Jenna and Alaric were settled into a room to refresh themselves and Matt and Teddy sent into the game room, Ianthe turned to her cousins and pulled out the parchment. She knew who the letter was from, how could she not. It was in her own hand and even still, she was alternatively called Bambi and Prongslet her entire life. And ‘manage this mischief’ it had given her the password.
Another owl swooped in and dropped a small package in front of her and was quickly given a treat before being sent away. Her cousins looked at her expectantly as she brought out her wand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” She said and the words changed in an instant.
Ianthe,
You knew it was yourself writing this in an instant. Don’t worry, you’ll be writing this about two weeks from now. You would have just received a package from me and inside it is an experimental time turner, polyjuice potion, a draught of living death and wiggenweld potion. Remember, just a drop should be enough. I know you’ve had your suspicions about this curse and I’ll tell you everything now.
The blood that was used to bind the curse was not the blood of the original doppelganger, it was yours. You had died a few days prior and Elijah’s bitch of a mother took off with some of your or our (?) blood. This is perhaps an even greater betrayal to her sons than you can even imagine. The original doppelganger’s name was Tatia and she was Elijah’s love, it would be helpful to note that the original curse that turned them into vampires had used her blood so I suppose it would be easy to take that leap. Besides that, I don’t think any of the siblings had even considered that their mother would go so low as to use the blood of Niklaus’ own recently deceased betrothed.
That’s right. You may confront Elijah about this (though do keep in mind not to mention the fact that your blood was used, yet), and I am sure you will and he will no doubt tell you that our death had been the end of all that was good and tender in his brother. That it had begun a descent into madness and cruelty and that it had turned him into a monster. Elijah will say this but you must keep in mind, Niklaus does what he can and has hardened his heart to protect his siblings.
He will not take Elijah’s betrayal well and Elijah is furious at Niklaus for supposedly throwing their daggered siblings into the sea where Elijah would never be able to get to them. I think that Niklaus believes that Elijah knows this to be false but Elijah does not. Ask him yourself, but again, do not mention anything. Let things play out as it will. From here on out, you will be remembering more of your time with them, you and Neville both.
And it will take awhile to understand but I know you, you will not allow a young woman to sacrifice herself needlessly. You know what you must do. Tread carefully, one wrong move and we’ll be dead for sure. But… Niklaus and his brother must believe that you have died. And before I forget, there is a bracelet there, within the package that I’m sure you can guess as to the purpose. In Dumbledore’s words ‘use it well’.
Best of luck,
You
She handed it to her cousins and Dudley was positively spitting mad as he read it. “I’m sorry, did your future self just say that you have to sacrifice yourself?” He demanded as he finally returned the letter to her. A quick tap of her wand and a whisper of ‘mischief managed’ and the letter was returned to its original state.
“I don’t like it either. And I don’t like all of this about my relationship with Niklaus. Finn and the others never told me.” She said with pursed lips.
“Maybe they don’t want to influence your decisions and your feelings.” Neville offered.
Ianthe looked at him. “I suppose so, but that isn’t how it works. There’s never a guarantee that I’ll love the same person twice. This isn’t exactly the first time that you or I have run into an ex-lover or spouse and all of the other times, there had never been more than passing fondness and care for them. I don’t even know the depths of my feelings for him back then.” She said as she struggled to recall the man.
“Well, I don’t like him.” Dudley declared.
She and Neville turned to him. “You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t care, he’s sadistic and ruthless and is about to use you as a sacrifice! Plus, you probably had sex with him in your past life and he remembers that and you don’t. He’ll try and get you into his bed and I’m not about to allow some ancient pedophile defile my baby sister!” Dudley said angrily.
“Oh Merlin, you sound like Ron.” She said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “And seriously? Ancient pedophile?”
“He sleeps with women who are centuries younger than he is. He’s a pedophile.” Dudley said stubbornly.
“And Elijah is…?”
“Not.”
“Because he has no interest in me.”
“Yes.”
“Even if we found out he was sleeping with a seventeen-year-old girl?”
“Yes, they’re not you. So I don’t care.”
“Okay,” Neville said, clapping his hands to stop the discussion before his brain conjured up any more images of a wrinkly old man trying to get into his sister’s bed.
Just before he could continue, she sat up straight and turned to the door as Elijah’s presence registered with the wards and the gates opened for him. She stood up and walked to the door, it was time to get answers. Her mind already coming up with a plan.
“I’m heading out.” Matt said as he met her in the entryway.
“Oh? Where too?”
“I’ve got a shift at the grill.” He said and Ianthe nodded even though she knew he was lying.
She opened the door for him and allowed him to leave, his head tilting to stare at Elijah as he passed. “Hello, Ianthe.” He said as he handed her the book.
She took it gratefully. “Come in.”
The moment he stepped in he froze and sniffed the air. “Wolf.” He said.
“Yes, that would be my son. His father was a turned werewolf. More along the classical myths, he was bitten and we know that Teddy may turn soon.” She said as she led him inside. This was going to be a long two days.