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1994 Prison World

"What are we looking for?" Kai asked, yelping as he was smacked in the face by a tree branch. Klaus stifled his laugh, he'd moved the branch out of the way for Maya, and then let it go as soon as she passed.

"A tombstone," Maya replied, shaking her head at Klaus's antics.

"A tombstone?" Kai looked sceptical, "Out here in the woods? Why?"

"Because, it's exactly what we need to get out of here," she stepped over twisted roots, and refocused on the magic she could feel pulsing around her.

"How'd you even expect to find some random rock around here?!" Kai panted, gesturing around to the surrounding wilderness.

Maya stopped and look over at him, "Are you serious? You can't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

Shaking her head in disbelief she walked over to him, she couldn't believe that he'd been alone for 16 years and had never tried to perfect his abilities, then again, she had a thousand year old Vampire as her teacher, and he had no one. "Okay, Siphon 101, close your eyes, and find that void inside of you, where the magic should be."

"Huh?"

"You wanna know how I can find something brimming with magic, when I have no idea where it is, do what I tell you to!"

"Alright!" Kai closed his eyes, and tried to do what she said.

"Just concentrate, it's like a vacuum, a black hole, that's trying to latch on to any bit of magic that it can find."

Frowning, Kai tried to look within himself, he'd never done this before, he'd always been searching for magic, never taking the time to focus on himself, because how would that help him? It took him a few minutes, but he found the place where his magic should be, "Okay, now what?"

"What direction is it pulling you in? That void is gonna point you to the strongest source of magic it can find." Maya watched as his brow crinkled in concentration, as he tried to sort through what he was feeling.

Opening his eyes, Kai looked towards Klaus, "Him," he said.

"Yeah, the magic in Nik is a thousand years old, and it gets stronger everyday," Maya nodded, "You work on that, and you'll be able to differentiate between magics, hexes and curses. Just like I can differentiate between the thousand year old magic in Nik, and the two thousand year old magic that we're looking for. Which is in that direction," she pointed to her left, "Now let's go." She spun on her heel and marched off towards where she could sense Qetsiyah's tombstone.

Present Day, Real World

Elijah was back at the plantation house when there was a knock at the door, he frowned, no one should know where he was staying, he was very careful about not being followed, and before he left, Freya had made sure to put a cloak him from attempts to find him. Opening the door he was surprised to find one of the his brother's Vampires, Delia. "How long have you been here?" he asked, the Vampire was one of Klaus's minions.

"Klaus has a couple of us spying on Marcel," Delia replied, "He said nothing about you coming to New Orleans."

"My brother is currently...occupied," Elijah moved to the side and gestured for the younger Vampire to come in, "What is going on with the Witches in the French Quarter?"

"Sir?"

"They are nowhere to be found, and the young Miss Claire has gone missing."

"Oh!" her eyes widened in realisation, "A couple months ago the French Quarter coven took part in a ritual, Marcel's Vampires interrupted and it resulted in many from the coven ending up dead. Most of them are in hiding while they regroup."

"What ritual?"

"Sacrifice."

/ / /

Elijah wished that he could say he was surprised with the information that he'd been given, ritual sacrifice of young girls, children really, unfortunately, he wasn't. He'd been alive a long time, and seen plenty of barbaric rituals in his life, but his family had prevented such practices in New Orleans. "Where is Miss Claire now?" he asked, after finding out that Marcel had rescued her, and had been keeping her hidden.

Delia shook her head, "I can't be certain, but Marcel has been spending a lot of time at St Anne's recently. The church was closed after a massacre, there's no reason why he'd be there, unless he was using it to hide something, or someone."

Elijah was tempted to go and see for himself, but he would be better served to be a distraction for Marcel, while Klaus's minions made sure that Davina was there to begin with, "Find out for me," he said, "I will hold Marcel's attention, and if you do find Miss Claire, give her this," he wrote a quick note, folding it over and handing it to her. He dismissed her and for the first time in two months, he felt like he was actually getting somewhere.

1994 Prison World

Maya, Klaus and Kai stopped in front of a cave that she'd led them to, and she grinned, she could see the tombstone that they needed, but before that, she was going to take the opportunity to collect the one thing that had caused most of the problems in Mystic Falls, the cure. She muttered a spell, to clear away the debris that was covering up the perfect circle on the ground.

"What is this place?" Kai asked, looking around curiously, he could feel an immense amount of magic coming from inside, and was itching to siphon it.

"This is the tomb belonging to the first ever immortal," Maya said, trying to figure out how much magic she'd have to absorb in order to open it, figuring it was probably a good thing that she had another Siphon with her, "Do you have that emerald that I left you?" she questioned, looking over at him.

"Yeah."

"You used all the magic in it, didn't you?" she said, for once not annoyed at his lack of magical discipline.

"No!" Kai shook his head, but noticed that she wasn't buying it, "Yes," he finally said.

"Good, you're gonna help me open this tomb," she motioned to the ground, where the magical seal was, "And you'll need a place to put all that extra magic."

Klaus raised a brow, she hadn't really mentioned why this was the place that had what she needed, "The first immortal?"

Maya glanced at him, she didn't want to say what exactly she was there for, not in front of Kai, not when she knew that he couldn't be trusted, "You remember the first night you found the daggers?"

Klaus stiffened at the reminder of that night, of what Rebekah had been promised, which had caused her to betray her family, a cure, "You mean…"

"It's here," she nodded.

"You want it? Why?" Was it to give to Rebekah? To keep it? To destroy? Something like that was a weapon that could be used against him, and he couldn't allow that.

"It was made to kill Silas, and he needs to die," Maya replied softly, she knew that he would be worried about this, his paranoia would be making him think that he couldn't trust her.

"Silas is a myth."

"We're standing in a copy of his tomb," Maya said, "I promise, this is just for him."

"Maya-"

"I need you to trust me," she said, "You know me, you know everything, please, trust me."

Klaus clenched his fists, holding himself back from flying off the handle, he knew they needed to remain united while in front of Kai, "Um…" Kai glanced between the two, "What's going on? Who's Silas?"

Klaus gave her the tiniest of nods and she turned back to Kai, "Just someone I have to kill when I get back to the real world, kind of a kill him before he even knows I exist type thing."

"Pre-emptive murder!" Kai gave her a wicked smile at that, "Sounds like fun!"

Rolling her eyes she shook her head, "Whatever, help me with this," she motioned for him to join her, and he knelt on the ground next to her, taking out the emerald, he held it in one hand, while the other laid on the circle and he began to siphon. While Maya placed both hands on the ground, having more experience with re-directing the magic directly into her talisman.

Even with help, it took them two hours to siphon away the magic seal, with both of them casting random spells to burn off the excess magic. Once they'd finished, the stone covering the tomb crumbled and Maya raced inside, finding small brown box which held the cure. Kai and Klaus followed her and the other Siphon eyed the box with interest, "There's a lot of power coming off of that," he said, not even thinking when he reached for the box, but Maya yanked it out of his reach.

"Not for you to siphon Kai!"

"Alright, I get it!" he held up his hands in surrender.

"Let's just get the tombstone and get the hell out of here."

"Where is it?" Klaus asked.

"It's the weird triangle rock back at the entrance."

"Will you at least tell me how a rock is gonna help us get out of here?"

Maya rolled her eyes at that, and they all left the tomb, Klaus grabbing the stone and keeping it close, "It contains the calcified blood of an ancestor to the Bennetts."

Kai stopped short at that, "Wait-Bennett blood?" he asked, not believing what he'd just heard. "We have Bennett blood?" That meant that there wasn't just a chance of getting out of there, it was a certainty. "Bennett blood?"

"Yep," Maya nodded, "Bennett blood."

Klaus eyed the other man suspiciously, he needed to fly them back to Virginia, so that they would get back in time for the next eclipse, which meant that he couldn't keep a hold of the tombstone, Maya would have to guard it, and the cure, making sure not to let Kai get his hands on either one, "This time tomorrow, we'll be back in the real world."

Present Day, Real World

Damon had just dropped Liam and Luna off at the pack house, he'd tried to be as present as he could with them, tried not to act like a total dick, because he knew they were missing Klaus and Maya. But was his birthday damn it! Maya was the one that convinced him to celebrate it, because he had friends now, he had best friends, and yes, he had other friends, he had Kol, and Jenna, and he had Enzo, but it wasn't the same. All he wanted to do was head to the Grill and drink himself into a stupor, maybe hang around on the highway out of town, and indulge in a little murder. He was about to leave the pack house, when he received a 9-1-1 text from Caroline, causing him to frown, what could it be now?

/ / /

Damon sped over to the Sommers home, extending his senses as far as they could go, suspicious when he couldn't hear a single heartbeat in the vicinity. Why would Caroline call him home if there was no one here? The house was dark, it definitely didn't look like there was anyone there either, where was everyone? Shaking his head, he walked inside, flipping on the light he jumped in shock as the house was full of people, yelling "SURPRISE!"

"What the-" he looked around, wondering how the house had been decorated and where all these people came from, without him knowing.

Caroline and Enzo came up to him, smiling, "Happy Birthday!" the blonde exclaimed, wrapping him in a hug, before he could protest.

"Barbie, what did you-"

Caroline cut him off, "Maya and I had been planning your party for ages, she'd be pissed if you didn't have a party just because she wasn't here."

"How did you even do all this?" Damon gestured to the party that was now in full swing around him, loud music playing, people dancing and joking, Caroline must have invited a bunch of college students from Whitmore, because he knew that most of these people didn't live in Mystic Falls.

"I had a little help," Caroline shrugged, nodding over to Stefan who was in a corner of the room, looking out of place around all of the people that were having a good time.

"Stefan?!" Damon exclaimed in surprise, "How did you-" he shook his head, "What am I saying? Nothing stops you when you want something."

"Well?" She asked, gesturing at everything.

"Thank you, Caroline," Damon smiled, and she shot him a grin, before flouncing off to make sure that everyone was being served.

"Happy birthday, Damon," Enzo said, getting his attention and Damon laughed.

"I can't believe you managed to keep this from me!"

"Give me some credit," Enzo replied, "I'm not Jeremy!"

"Hey!" the young man in question came over, intent on wishing the birthday boy well, "I heard that!"

"You were meant to," Enzo deadpanned.

1994 Prison World

"I can't believe you made us stop for that," Maya said, shaking her head as Klaus packed up Nefertiti's bust, that up until then had been housed in the Ägyptisches Museum in Germany.

"This is one of the most beautiful faces in antiquities to ever have existed," Klaus said, "Of course I was going to take it!"

"You know it's just a copy right?" Kai asked, loading up on his own stuff that he'd deemed to be valuable, "Like it's not the real thing."

"And that's why I plan on stealing the real one, and replacing it with this," Klaus said, "So I can have the original."

Maya rolled her eyes at that, "You know sometimes you're such an art nerd," she said, causing him to scowl at her. She waved her hand moving the crates of things that they'd decided that they wanted to take with them, into one area together. Klaus was the one who had the largest amount of stuff he wanted to take back, paintings and sculptures that had been meticulously boxed up, so that they would be safe during travel. Kai had mostly grabbed junk, his pager, a bunch of baseball cards, and some cassettes. Maya had stuff that she was bringing with her too, she'd been to every jewellery store in New Orleans, Rome, Salem, and New York, emptying their contents so that she could use them in her business. She also had stacks of grimoires that she never would have been able to get her hands on, and had broken into the Claire crypt in NOLA, taking every dark object that Kol had helped to create inside, not to mention that she had the cure with her.

Kai raised a brow as he finally looked at everything that they had gathered, "Uh…exactly how are you planning on getting all of this out of here?" he questioned, "Especially that," he pointed at the baby blue Camaro that Maya had found and decided to bring back, she wanted to give it to Damon, she knew that he already had one, but she also knew that he'd be insanely happy to have a spare.

"Seriously?" Maya asked, doing an excellent impression of Caroline, "I'm magical, I'm gonna shrink 'em down."

"I've never seen a spell like that," Kai replied.

"I made it up," she shrugged, looking at the crates first and casting her spell, "Detrecto ad decimam in magnitudine," she said, causing the crates to shrink down to one tenth of their size, and Klaus placed them into a bag, before loading them into the car. Maya repeated the spell on the car, so that Camaro became more manageable.

"You can just do that, make shit up?" Kai watched as the spell worked, intrigued, he'd never been afforded the opportunity of having magic lessons, everything he knew how to do, was trail and error for him, and he didn't have an endless source of magic to practice with, so it was mostly error for him.

"That's how all spells are made, most magic is about intent…" she paused, "And a little about ingredients."

"Alright," Klaus said, handing the tombstone to Maya, and picking up the car, "The eclipse is coming, it's time to go."

Maya nodded and guided the two of them to a clearing, not far from the Boarding House, "You know that we need to get to the tunnels below," Kai said, "We'll need shovels."

"Oh Kai," Maya sighed, "You have so much to learn about Vampires," she glanced over at Klaus who smirked, he took a step forward, and slammed his foot down, causing the ground they were on to shake and collapse, revealing the tunnels, just in time, because it was starting to get darker. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Present Day, Real World

Damon sighed as he escaped the noise of the party and headed into the kitchen, where the servers were, refilling drinks and trays of food. He poured himself a drink and stepped just outside, sitting on the porch swing around back. He tried to have fun, he really did, but he missed his friends, and it sucked. He would go back in ten to fifteen minutes, before Enzo and Caroline could notice that he was missing, because they'd both worked hard on his party, and it was fun, he was just distracted.

"Damon," Stefan said, following his brother out of the house, finding him sitting in the dark, "Why aren't you inside?"

"Just needed a break," he shrugged, taking a sip from his drink.

Stefan sat down next to him, glass in one hand and bottle of bourbon in the other, offering his brother the bottle, "I uh…noticed that Klaus and Maya aren't here," he hedged.

"They're busy," Damon muttered.

"Too busy to come to your birthday?"

Damon scowled, "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"So tell me!" Stefan exclaimed, "The entire time you've been here you've haven't told me anything!"

"Why would I?" Damon asked, "We may be brothers, but it's not like we're family anymore! I promised you an eternity of misery remember? And you haven't trusted anything I've told you, hell you tried to lock me up because you thought I was murdering a bunch of locals!"

"Damon, your best friend came to town to sacrifice my girlfriend on an alter of fire, and your girlfriend helped! Who it turns out wasn't actually your girlfriend!" Stefan replied.

Damon snickered a little at that last part, "That last thing was just because we wanted to mess with you, but it's not like Elena stayed dead, she was never going to stay dead, I don't get why you're so upset about it."

"Damon!" Stefan shook his head, "She's my girlfriend, I love her, how could you not see the problem?"

"Your girlfriend that doesn't want to be a Vampire," Damon pointed out, causing Stefan to falter, "She made it clear when Maya asked her if she wanted to live like Caroline, didn't she?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with-"

"You're a Vampire, Stefan, as much as you hate it, you are. You're immortal, you'll never get sick, never grow old, you can't stay in a town like this for more than a couple of years. Elena doesn't want to be a Vampire, and you're just ignoring it. She wants to have kids, grandkids, she wants to grow old, you can't do any of that, so why are you so upset about her dying?"

"Just because I can't have that life with Elena, doesn't mean that I don't want her to have it," Stefan replied, "She was going to lose the opportunity to even have a chance to live it, Damon."

"But she wasn't," Damon said, "I kept things from you because I didn't want you to screw everything up, and you proved that the moment that you had a little bit of information you almost did, and nearly got her killed permanently."

"I know that now," Stefan replied, "But think about it from my perspective, you promised an eternity of misery, what better way to do that than to hurt the woman I love?"

Damon shrugged, his brother may have had a point at that, it's not like he'd been a bastion of good judgement over the years, and Stefan had been witness to his worst moment, "It's not like it matters anymore," Damon shook his head and stood to go back inside.

Kai, Klaus and Maya appeared in the woods, it was late at night, almost too dark for the two Siphons to see, they'd both stumbled, upon arriving back in the real world, tripping over tree branches that were sticking out of the ground. Klaus snagged Maya by the waist, preventing her from falling, but did no such thing for Kai, meaning that he landed flat on his face groaning, "Thanks for the help," he sneered, seeing Klaus's tight grip around her.

"It's not my job to take care of you," Klaus sniffed in disdain, ensuring that the miniature car he was holding was intact, along with the (now tiny) bag full of priceless artefacts, jewellery and magical objects, that they'd take from the prison world.

"Could you two stop arguing for five minutes!" Maya hissed, scowling at them both, and looking around, "Did it work? Are we back?" She thought they were, but she didn't want to celebrate until she was sure.

Klaus tuned into his heightened hearing, and picked up the sounds of cars driving, and animals all around, and the inane chatter of the humans around them. "We're back," he confirmed, his happiness evident in his eyes.

Maya's smile grew, "Mansion or the house first?" she asked, wanting to know who they were seeing first.

"The house," Klaus replied, knowing that the moment he saw the children then he wasn't going to leave them, he'd been keeping track of the days that they were in the Prison World and he was fairly certain that they'd arrived on Damon's birthday, and there was no way that Caroline wouldn't have given him a party.

"Okay," she nodded, giving him her hand, "Let's go."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Kai stopped them before they sped off, "You can't just leave me here!"

"Why not?" Klaus asked impatiently, he wanted to show up at Damon's party, and then get to his children as fast as possible.

"I've been stuck in 1994 for sixteen years!" he exclaimed, "I don't even know what year it is now!"

Maya raised a brow at him, "Just add sixteen, its 2010."

"I don't know anything about being in 2010!"

Rolling her eyes, she looked up at Klaus, "He's not staying at the house."

"He's not staying at the mansion," Klaus replied, not even contemplating letting Kai near Liam, Luna and the rest of the pack.

"We'll drop you off at a bed and breakfast in town, and someone will come and get you in the morning," Maya said.

"Why can't I just stay with you and Nikky?"

Klaus growled at that, taking a step towards the annoying Siphon, only stopping when he felt Maya's hand on his chest, "First of all, it's Nik, secondly, it's Klaus to you, and thirdly, we've been stuck with you for months, we want to be alone with our families, and you certainly can't be trusted around them."

Kai placed his hand over his heart mockingly, "That hurts, really, you don't trust me?"

Maya looked up at Klaus pleadingly, she just wanted to go home, and Kai was slowing them down, his eyes turned golden, and grabbed the other Siphon, whooshing to Mrs Flowers Bed and Breakfast, and getting him a room, "I've paid for the room," he dropped a couple of hundreds on the dresser, "Someone will meet you out front at 12 tomorrow." Klaus whooshed back to Maya before Kai could say anything else, picking her up, and the car, and heading straight to her house.

/ / /

Klaus and Maya arrived at the back door of the Sommers house, just in time to see Damon stand up, "It doesn't matter anymore," Damon said, turning to go inside.

"What doesn't matter anymore?" Maya asked, causing him to freeze, and spin back around, with wide eyes. Damon's jaw dropped and smile began to make its way across his face, and he opened his arms. Maya grinned, letting go of Klaus, she raced over to Damon, and jumped into his arms, laughing in delight as he gripped her tightly.

"You're back," he breathed in disbelief.

She buried her face in his neck, "You didn't think that we'd miss your birthday, did you?" she whispered, pulling back so that she could look him in the eye, "Happy Birthday Damon!"

Damon spun her around in excitement, "You're back!" he cheered, finally letting her go, and he locked eyes with Klaus, who was watching the two with barely veiled amusement, "Nik! You really have a thing for birthdays, don't you?" Damon asked, not one to be sentimental, especially in front of witnesses.

Klaus came over to them, "Happy birthday mate," giving his friend, his best friend a rare hug.

Damon pulled back, "How are you-when did you get back?"

"Like five minutes ago," Maya said, "We wanted to give you your present before we saw the kids and Mom."

"You're not my present?"

Maya shook her head and motioned for Klaus to hand over the miniature car, after he took the bag of antiquities out, "This is," she said.

Damon took the car, giving it a slow once over, "Is this…a perfect replica of my car?"

"It's a little more than that," Klaus said.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

Maya glanced at Stefan, who was watching them curiously, "I'll tell you tomorrow," she said, "But uh, keep it safe, and uh, nice and level." Damon grinned and nodded, "Now, Enzo, Sunshine, Mom, where are they?"

"Blondie and 'Zo are inside, Jenna's at the mansion, watching the kids," he said.

/ / /

Maya and Klaus made their way inside, followed by Damon and Stefan, Caroline was the first to spot them, shrieking in joy, and running over to them, grabbing Maya and spinning her around, catching Enzo's attention, who followed immediately lifting both girls up. Klaus frowned, "I'm feeling decidedly left out." He muttered, causing Damon to snicker in response.

Enzo planted a kiss on Maya's cheek before letting her go, and grabbing Klaus in a hug, catching the Original off guard for once, "Why the bloody hell did it take you so long?!" Enzo demanded.

"Memory issues," Klaus replied, letting go of Enzo, noticing that Stefan hadn't left yet, so couldn't elaborate further.

Enzo moved back to Maya, throwing his arm over her shoulder, pulling her to him, and because Caroline wouldn't let her go, the blonde came with her, Enzo buried his nose into Maya's fiery locks, taking in her unique scent, feeling a part of him settle now that his family was finally back together, "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you so much," Maya replied, one arm tight around Caroline while the other was wound around Enzo.

"Don't ever do that again!" he ordered, pulling away as he could feel his emotions bubble to the surface.

"What are we standing around for?" Damon asked, finally in the mood to celebrate, even knowing that Maya and Klaus were leaving to see the rest of the family, "We're at a party!"

Davina worried her lip, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do with the knowledge that there was an Original in town, she wanted to reach out to them, but couldn't, not without Marcel getting suspicious. She stood and began to pace, trying to wear out her nervous energy, when she heard movement just outside the room. Her hands automatically came up, opening the door so that she could see who it was, and it was a Vampire she didn't recognise. "Who are you?" she demanded, her magic holding the woman in place.

Delia was frozen where she stood, and fought instinct to struggle against the magic, "I have a message, from Elijah."

"Elijah?" Davina raised a brow, she recognised the name, he was the one that was with Maya's mother, or at least, she was pretty sure that's who he was. "What's the message?" Delia struggled a little, but managed to pull the note from her pocket and held it out to the Witch, Davina used her magic, to take the note from her without moving, and opened it. Elijah had written that he'd been sent by Maya, and that he wished to speak with her, "If he wants to speak with me, then where is he?"

"Elijah's distracting Marcel, he also gave me this," she took out a small vial of blood, "He said that you would know what to do with it."

Davina cautiously took the sample of blood, knowing that she could use it to astral project to him, she would use it to determine whether he was telling her the truth, and if he was, she would tell him where she was, until then, this Vampire couldn't remember where she was, just in case.

Klaus and Maya hadn't stayed at the party for very long, wanting to get to the mansion, to see the rest of the family. They opened the door to the Mikaelson home, knowing it was late, so were unsurprised to find it dark and quiet. Klaus could hear quiet murmuring upstairs, Rebekah and Jenna's voices, were coming from the family room upstairs, they couldn't hear Freya or Kol, but that was probably because they were in the magic room, which had been soundproofed, for security reasons. He could also hear the steady breathing of his children, who were presumably fast asleep, he whooshed Maya upstairs to Rebekah and her mother first, "Maya!" Jenna gasped, being the first to notice the two of them, standing in the doorway, she jumped up and raced to her daughter, almost tripping over in her haste to get over to her, squeezing the life out of her as soon as she reached Maya.

"Nik!" Rebekah's face lit up when she saw her brother, in his arms in less than a second.

"Sister," Klaus whispered, eyes closing as he held her to him, he'd missed Rebekah desperately, out of all of his siblings, she was the one who'd remained by his side the most, the one who, no matter how terrible he'd been to her, she'd always been there.

"I thought you'd never come back," Rebekah admitted, she'd been terrified, and unable to help in any way to get them back, she didn't know what she would have done if she'd never seen her brother again. She'd had a taste of a world without Klaus, when he'd banished her out of his life, she couldn't say that she'd liked it.

"In a thousand years, no one has ever been able to keep me from your side," he said, "No one ever will, I promise you."

Elijah was sat in the reading room of the plantation house, waiting to see if Davina would appear before him, Maya had said that Davina was talented, and she'd proved that by completely erasing her existence from the Vampire Delia's mind. He took a sip of the wine he'd laced with blood, thinking about his family, his missing brother and potential sister-in-law, he thought about his paramour, trying desperately to get her daughter back, and he himself could do nothing to help her, but perhaps Davina could.

"You're Elijah," Davina said, stepping inside reading room, impressed when he didn't startle at her appearance. He was certainly dressed as Maya had described, and she could see the resemblance he had to Kol.

"I am," he nodded, placing the glass down, and standing.

"You look like your brother," she said.

"I have been told that Kol and I share a resemblance."

Davina shrugged a little at that, "You dress better."

Elijah gave a half smile at that, "I'll be sure to mention it to him."

"Where's Maya?" she asked, "I would have thought that she'd be here by now."

His smile dropped at that, "Niklaus and Maya…how much do you know about Maya?" he asked, unsure of how much she was actually aware of, "Of…who she is?"

"You mean that she comes from the Gemini Coven? That she's not quite like any other Witch that I've met?" she wouldn't say it out loud, not when she didn't know if the house had any protections up.

Elijah nodded, "She and Niklaus were drawn into a trap, by the Gemini Coven."

Davina's eyes widened in fright, "What happened? Is she Okay?"

"She's alive," Elijah replied, "But we cannot reach her, where she is…"

Davina knew what he was talking about, what he wouldn't say in a city full of enemies, prison worlds were not well known, in fact, the only ones who were aware about them were the Gemini, as it was their spell, and the Bennetts, whose blood acted as a key, "How long?"

"Just over two months," the Original said, "Kol and my sister are working on a way to get them back, but before she was taken, Maya was worried for you. I told her I would come looking for you, to ease her mind, and all I found were secrets and death."

Davina frowned, motioning for him to take a seat, "My coven performed the Harvest."

"Harvest?" Elijah questioned, "What is that?" Delia had told him what she could, but he wanted first hand knowledge of the sacrifice.

"It's a ritual our coven does every three centuries, so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors; they keep our ancestral power flowing."

"I've never heard of it," Elijah shook his head, making a mental note to ask Freya or Kol about it when he had a moment.

"Because a Harvest always seemed like a myth. A story, passed on through generations like Noah's ark. The kind some people take literally, and some people don't." She looked away from him, crossing over to window, thinking back to that night, "They had the girls of our community preparing for months. Four would be chosen for the Harvest. They said that it was an honour, that we were special…"

"What happened?"

"They said our participation would bring our family strength, health... that we'd forever be celebrated as saviours of the community. But all they really wanted was more power. So, I left before they could get it. Soon they'll run out of time, because after the Harvest, comes the Reaping. And if they don't complete the Harvest, there won't be a Reaping. Soon, all the Witches in the Quarter will start to lose their power. Eventually, they will cease to be Witches altogether."

"So, what does it take to complete this ritual?"

"I have to die."

"What?" Elijah was shocked, Delia had told him about the girl's deaths, but he'd been hoping that with the interruption, it would mean that Davina wouldn't have to die.

"That's was the Harvest was. They said they'd put us four girls in a state of, like, peaceful limbo as part of the offering. And then later, at the Reaping, we'd awaken and be reborn. I never got as far as the limbo part, which means the Harvest isn't complete. That's why the Witches are so freaked out. The Reaping is in a few months, and if they don't finish it before then, it's over. All I have to do is wait it out."

"And then what?"

"They're punished, and I'm free."

"Of magic? I was under the impression that you loved being a Witch."

Davina paused at that, "For a long time I didn't, I felt alone, isolated, and I thought about leaving New Orleans, even though it meant that I wouldn't be able to access my magic."

"So what happened?"

"I met Maya," she smiled, "She was kinder to me than any of my coven, she made sure that I was protected, even before she really knew me," she fingered her bracelet, "And she let me in on her business…even without magic, I could live a comfortable life."

"But not one that you want."

"It's a small price to pay for not dying…" she looked back at him, "My friend Monique. She was a part of the Harvest too. She's lucky. No one fought for me, my mother knew what would happen, and she didn't care, but someone fought for Monique. The only one who ever spoke out against the Harvest was Monique's aunt, Sophie Deveraux. She was the only one who questioned the Harvest. We thought it was such an honour, we had such faith. We were so stupid," Davina shook her head, giving a disbelieving laugh at her idiocy, "I should have been on my guard, I should have known something was wrong."

"So how did it begin?" Elijah asked, walking over to her, standing next to her at the window, finding the need to comfort the young Witch, but he couldn't.

"We were led out like princesses. My mother was so proud, and Bastianna, one of the Elders, called upon the four elements to bind our past and future magic together. Earth, to connect us to our ancestors. Water, to heal the community. Wind, to carry us to our ancestors and back. Fire, to purify. After all our preparations, we knew exactly what to expect. For weeks they told us that the magic in the knife they used to cut our palms would put us to sleep, and that later at the Reaping, we would all be resurrected. They said we'd awaken, and all be together and more powerful than ever. And it was just like we rehearsed it. All that was left was a little cut on our palms for the blood sacrifice…" She looked up at him, "To be born, you must sacrifice, Bastianna asked if we had faith, and then she slit the first girl's throat. We screamed, and tried to get away. The only thing that stopped me from being grabbed by the Witches was this," she showed him her bracelet.

Elijah nodded in understanding, "Maya made this for you."

"She's pretty great at protection spells, I guess because she's been hunted her whole life."

"Everyone involved in the ritual knew that the sacrifice would happen."

"Except the four of us. They weren't putting us to sleep, they were slaughtering us," Davina said emotionally, feeling all the fear that she'd felt that night rise up within her.

"I begged for someone to help. My own mother turned away from me. Sophie screamed and screamed for her sister, anyone, to do something. But the Witches did nothing."

"Yet you survived. I have a feeling that it wasn't just Maya's protection that kept you safe."

Davina nodded, "Marcel showed up, with his Vampires, and they started killing the Witches, he says that he has rules against hurting kids…but he was too late, when Bastianna was killed, Agnes tried to complete the ritual, killing the third girl, Marcel saw me fight of the Witches and helped me. The Witches fled, when the realised that they wouldn't be able to finish the ritual, but Sophie remained, holding her niece's body, and then was when we saw it."

"What?"

"Monique's magic left her body, but instead of flowing into the Earth, like we thought it would, it went into me. Every girl who died released her power on to the next… When I was the last one, I suddenly had all of it, all the power that was supposed to be released back into the earth to appease our ancestors."

"So…the Harvest was actually working?"

"Something was working. And I knew that I was supposed to be killed so the Harvest could be completed and we would all be resurrected. But…they lied to us about how they were killing us. How do I know they weren't lying to us about coming back? But mostly, I just didn't want to die. So, I let him save me, I thought Maya forgot about me…when she didn't come for me…I thought she didn't care."

"Maya cares very much for you Davina, and if she could, she'd be here," Elijah reassured.

"Yeah, I'm getting that…I mean she sent you here." Davina met his eyes, "What now?"

"Perhaps you could tell me where you are, so that we can meet in person, discuss our next steps."

"What if Marcel finds out?" she asked, worried, she didn't want to upset him, he saved her, he was continuing to keep her safe, but she didn't like staying locked up in the attic, it made her feel like a prisoner, even though she knew he didn't mean to make her feel like that.

"I think you'll find that I can handle my nephew, Davina."

"Marcel's your nephew?!"

"I was so worried," Jenna said, sitting down, not taking her eyes from her daughter, "We couldn't figure out where to find Bennett blood in 1994, I-" Jenna broke off, tears welling in her eyes, her daughter had been gone for over two months, two months of sporadic contact, and not knowing if she would ever find her way home.

"I know," Maya nodded, holding her mother tightly.

"Our worst freaking fear!" Jenna said, "When I heard you call for me…we worked so hard trying to keep you from the Gemini, and now they know you exist, they know where you are!"

"It's why I sent Noah here," Maya replied, "He did come here? Didn't he? The Hybrids didn't just kill him on sight, right?"

"He came here," Jenna confirmed, "He, um…he told us who he was and I um…I confirmed it. He said he'd keep an eye on the coven for us, let us know if they were planning anything else…"

"I thought you two were looking for other people like us, that's what you said the last time we talked."

"Yeah," Jenna nodded, "That was the plan, but Rebekah was worried about the coven coming here, so he went back, and she sent out her own Vampires to look for others…while Kol, Freya and I looked for ways to bring you back. How did you get back?" Jenna asked, scrubbing her face of all the remnants of tears that had leaked out at the arrival of her daughter. "The last place we sent you didn't have any Bennett blood, you said that."

Maya shrugged, "Nik reminded me about Greece, and then everything just sort of slot into place, I remembered where to find some blood, and also figured out how to take care of a major problem before it becomes a problem."

"What about the Gemini? What are we going to do about them?"

Maya gave a little smile, and Jenna noted the calculating look in her eyes, "We may have brought something back to take care of that particular issue."

"Something?" Jenna questioned.

"Someone," Maya clarified.

"You brought back the prisoner?!" Jenna hissed, "He killed his brothers and sisters!"

"To be fair, Nik does that all the time," Maya shrugged.

"Maya!"

/ / /

Klaus pulled back from his Rebekah, opting to see Kol and Freya next, but his baby sister wouldn't let him go, gripping his hand in her own, almost afraid that he would disappear if she let him go. Klaus fought the urge to smile at that, it reminded him of when they were children, and Rebekah would demand to come with him when he was fetching wood in the forest, and she'd cling to him, to stop him from leaving without her. "Come sister," he said, tugging her out of the room, giving Maya and her mother more privacy, "I should let Kol and Freya know that we're back." Rebekah tightened her hold on him, and followed him to the magic room, where he pushed the doors open, finding his other siblings bent over grimoires, attempting re-create the ascendant that had been destroyed.

"Missed me?" Klaus asked, smirking as their heads shot up in surprise, Kol was the first to regain his senses, and almost knocked Klaus over with the speed that he collided with his brother, hugging him for mere seconds, before pulling back and straightening up.

Kol punched Klaus in the arm, "What took you so long?!" he demanded.

Klaus let out a laugh at the question, allowing Freya to slot herself into his other side, wrapping her arms around his middle, "You're back," she breathed in relief, she and Kol had been working day and night to try and figure out how to retrieve Klaus and Maya from the prison world, barely sleeping, barely eating, killing themselves trying to get their family back. "How?!" She asked, she needed to know, they'd obviously found what they needed to escape, but she needed to know where they'd found their salvation, just in case the Gemini Coven managed to capture one of them again.

Elijah had been making his way over to the St. Anne's Church, when he'd received a jubilant call from Jenna, making him aware that his brother and her daughter had come back to Mystic Falls. And it was like he could feel a literal weight lift from his shoulders, his relief was palpable, and as a result, he perhaps wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings, and therefore didn't notice that one of Marcel's nightwalkers had spotted him going into the church.

"Davina?" he asked, stepping into the doorway of the attic, spotting the young girl standing at an easel, frantically sketching something in charcoal.

Her head snapped up at the intrusion, tensing, before realising who it was, "Elijah," she said, feeling a smidgen of hope at the sight of the Original, "Come in," she didn't stop her drawing, she needed to know who was casting a spell in the Quarter, unable to determine whether it was something being used to locate her, or something more benign, she had no choice but to provide Marcel with the images of any Witches that were doing magic in the Quarter, just to make sure that she was safe.

Elijah took measured steps inside, watching as her fingers smudged the charcoal, forming an image, and he was struck by the similarities between the way she concentrated on her artwork, and Klaus, when he found himself inspired to create, instead of destroy. "You're very good," Elijah spoke quietly, "Who is she?"

"I don't know," Davina shook her head, "I just know she's doing magic in the Quarter."

"Is she looking for you?" Elijah asked, concerned.

"I can't tell," She sighed as she put down the charcoal, and washed her hands, "Marcel will come by in the morning, and I'll give him the sketch, he'll find her and…I dunno what he's gonna do, he just makes them stop."

Elijah suppressed the urge to sigh, Marcel was using Davina's ability to control the Witches no doubt, killing any that defied him, that would be the most likely, but he didn't think that he should bring that up with Davina, not without knowing for certain. "I have good news," he said, causing her to look up at him, away from her drawing, "Maya's back."

"What?!" Davina's eyes widened in surprise, "She's back?! When? How?"

"Jenna just called me, she and Niklaus arrived at mansion about an hour ago, although I wouldn't expect her to contact you until tomorrow, I believe that her time is currently being split between Caroline and her mother."

"I can't believe it," Davina shook her head, "Does she know that you found me?"

Elijah nodded, "I relayed the message to Jenna, I suspect that once she is settled, Maya will be rather anxious to speak with you."

"I-" she took a step forward, but paused, "I wanted to tell you to take me to her," she frowned, "But I don't know if I'll be able to sense the Witches in the Quarter if I leave New Orleans…If I can't tell when the Witches are doing magic, how can I make sure that they can't find me?"

The Original frowned, his plan was to convince the young Witch to go back to Mystic Falls with him, but she had a point, neither of them really knew the extent of her abilities, and that lack of knowledge really hampered their ability to make a safe decision for her. "You wish to stay here?"

Davina looked around the attic, she hated it there, it was cramped and hot, and dusty, and no matter how much Marcel had tried to fix it up, it didn't change the fact that she felt like a prisoner, "I hate it in here, but I won't be safe out there."

Elijah looked thoughtful for a moment, there was one place she could go, he could take her back to the plantation house, it was a sanctuary away from the Quarter, but close enough that Davina would still have access to her magic, "I have an idea…"

Maya and Klaus had finally managed to peel themselves from their family, they'd peeked in to see the children, but both of them were fast asleep, and neither of them wanted to wake them, and so had fallen into Klaus's bed, sleep coming to both of them easily.

In the morning, Klaus rolled to his side, eyes closed, his arm being thrown over Maya's side, he sank deeper into the mattress, but unable to drift off, as his hand touched another body. Frowning, but refusing to open his eyes, not wanting to be pulled from the most peaceful night's sleep he'd had in months, he felt around, bring his hand towards him, there were definitely extra bodies in the bed next to him, when there should have only been one. He opened his eyes, and pushed himself up on his elbow, shocked to find not only Caroline, with her arms firmly wrapped around the Siphon, but Jenna was also behind them both, sharing the bed with him.

Shaking his head, Klaus rolled out of bed, careful not to disturb them, and left the room, he'd wake the children and speak to his pack, while Maya rested with her mother and best friend.

The moment Marcel heard that Elijah was inside the church, where he'd hidden Davina, he'd raced over there, as fast as his age would allow, "DAVINA!" he yelled, bursting into the attic, frantically looking around for her, knowing she wasn't there, because he couldn't hear her heartbeat. She was gone, her clothes, her art, everything that he'd gotten her was gone. The only thing she'd left was the sketch that she'd done that night, and a note with two words, 'I'm Okay.'

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