-[Stefan]-
Damon was at it again. While he wasn't outright attacking Nathan, he wasn't too far off. The Founder's day celebration only reminded him of that. It also keyed him in on some new information.
John Gilbert, Elena's uncle, is in town and knows the truth about vampires, about he and Damon. If what Nathan implied was true, he didn't have a good opinion of them. That was bad, and by the look on Damon's face as the celebration's ended a few days ago, it would only get worse.
His brother had a penchant for making bad matters worse, exponentially worse. Alaric is trying to make sure Damon doesn't just snap John's neck but there's only so much he can do before being in danger of getting his own neck snapped.
All of this plagued his mind as he pondered. Could be really stop Damon if he decided to do it? Sure they were both turned at the same time but Damon had the advantage of a regular human blood diet. As much as it bothered him to admit it, surviving on animal blood made him far weaker than his brother. That meant that if Damon decided that John or anyone else wasn't with the trouble, he couldn't do anything to stop it.
That admission led to him standing over the fridge in the cellar of the Salvatore boarding house. The open fridge contained numerous packs of human blood, different types from different people. If he could learn how to control it then Damon wouldn't be a problem. The problem with that is that the last time he tried, he relapsed in the Ripper that he was.
Could he really risk that just to keep Damon in check?
"I really hope you're not planning to do what I think you're about to do." A female voice said from behind him. A very familiar voice. "Whatever you're brooding about can't be bad enough to make you want to go through another episode."
He spun on his heel in shock and disbelief at the woman standing at the doorway. The same blonde hair and face she had when she was killed. "Lexi?"
"In the flesh." She announced, walking in.
"How is this possible? How are you back?" His mind immediately went to Nathan but that didn't make any sense. Nathan shouldn't even know Lexi or have any reason to resurrect her in the first place.
"It's a long story and, believe me, it's not going to answer any of your questions."
-[Nathan]-
Laying in bed I can't help but feel dissatisfied. A hint of boredom had set in. Despite my machinations, there's barely any pushback or massive enough plot divergence. While I hate to lose, it doesn't mean I don't like a challenge or some chaos every once in a while.
At this point it seems nothing less than setting half the town ablaze would give me some excitement. Perhaps I should go to New Orleans and stir up some trouble. Or maybe I should go full darkseid and stage an apocalypse… Nah, that'll be too messy. I doubt anyone here would be able to stop it, humanity would be extinct by year's end.
That could be interesting though. Starting humanity from scratch and molding the world as I pleased. I tossed that aside as well. I'd get too bored in the Stone Age. Is this what they call a god complex?
Huh…
Movement beside me caught my attention. Shifting the covers and sheets, Bonnie let out a groan as she was roused from the grips of sleep, the slightly baggy shirt being the only thing protecting her modesty.
No, it's not what you think. While we slept on the same bed, it's less lewd than you'd expect when looking at the full picture. The high from winning the pageant had rode off but the aftermath let the events leading up to it finally settle.
Learning she was a witch, losing her grandma, mourning her, Elena hiding things from her, me bringing Sheila back to life, protecting Sheila from the machinations of the witches on the other side with included one of her ancestors, teaching her magic, giving her a taste of the freedom her grandmother tried to restrict and now winning the pageant that I pushed her to take part in.
During the course of all of this, she had subconsciously started to look towards me for approval, trying to endear and prove herself to me. She's like a putty in my hands.
"Someone had a good night's rest." I teased with a small smile.
"Mmmm?" She hummed groggily.
"Rise and shine! It's a beautiful morning." I said, waving my hand and causing the curtains to pull open, letting the sun in. In response she pulled the covers over her head with another groan. "No hiding under the sheets."
Another groan of frustration. The sheets were suddenly magically yanked into the air, Bonnie following it a second after. Floating off the bed and into a standing position, I lowered her down into my arms and the sheets neatly onto the bed.
This time she didn't resist, letting her arms fall on my shoulders and behind my head. "That's not even remotely fair."
"I know." I said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "But we both have a long day ahead of us and we have to get ready."
She was going to try and make peace with Elena. Rather, Elena called her to meet up and she guessed it was probably going to be a heart to heart. I, on the other hand, have a few personal errands to run.
Some would argue that with Magic Materialization money would never be an issue, they'd be absolutely right but it's more delicate than that. Creating money itself is stupid, no explanation needed. Instead, I went for rare and valuable metals. I couldn't create too much gold in order to not reduce its market value, so I branched into other similarly valued metals like Rhodium.
After creation, I had Pearl sell them at the highest possible value. A little compulsion here and there was involved but all is fair in business. Between that and my ability to teleport around the world, there was no fear of saturating any one market. Why did I do this? Because I can. The appeal of having so much disposable cash is too much to pass up.
I'm going to go Wayne style and buy a few properties around town. It wouldn't hurt, right?
Xx-Xx-Xx
Astral projection, the art of separating or projecting one's consciousness, mind or spirit from the material body. It's quite easy once I get the hang of it. The feeling of my spirit leaving my body is… quite an experience, an odd one.
Pushing away my discomfort, I looked down at my body on the physical plane that posed as though I was enjoying the warm morning sun on the balcony. Neat.
Still, astral projection was only one part of my agenda. I wandered around the town for a while and I have to say, there are a lot of spirits roaming around. Some witches, others vampire or werewolves but that's not what I'm looking for.
It didn't take long for me to find it, or sense it to be more specific. The feeling of being watched by something c a collective. It was all around me yet out of reach, as if protected…by a veil.
"There you are." I muttered with a wicked smile, magically pushing on the veil that separated the physical world from the Other side. Within moments I was in.
All around me were witches, tense and vindictive. Each of them looked at me with murder in their glassy eyes, I can't blame them. Oh wait, I can.
"You are a fool to come here." One of them hissed, a Bennett from the familial resemblance.
"You pervert the balance of nature with your theatrics and stupidity. All for what? Your lunacy has gone far enough." Another witch spoke out, a much older one.
That did nothing to lessen my smile. "On the contrary, you were all fools to think that this flimsy veil would keep you safe from me."
Even in this form I had access to my reservoir of power. Blurring forward, I grabbed the elderly witch, guiding my magic to do as I pleased. Her eyes widened, a pained noise rising from her throat at what she felt me doing. It was no spell, just my magic obeying my will.
Her form flickered, cracks appearing all around her spirit. Before she could let out a proper scream, I ripped her soul apart into unrecoverable pieces.
A gasp rang through the large colony of witches that surrounded me, horror clear on their faces at my actions. I can feel the excitement rushing through me.
"Don't get scared, you have the advantage in numbers." I mocked them, letting my malicious intent taint my magic, causing some to scamper away. "Oh I love a good hunt. Let's finish what we started, shall we?!"