Book Two: Aquiver (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Alaric sits in the boarding house living room between Derek and Damon. This is it. They are ready to get Diana back. Everything is in place. Artemis is prepared. He looks to Artemis as she enters the room with a teapot in hand.

"So is everything ready?" Alaric asks them, Artemis nods.

"Yes.." She answers. "She's not as bad as I thought she was going to be" Artemis admits as she sets the teapot on the table next to a mug, Bonnie looks at her. "A lot more stable then Eva was after this amount of time"

"Diana is not Eva" Derek defends from the couch.

"Yes, I agree..." Artemis opens the box. "Diana was one of my best students....but she was always going to be, with my blood in her veins"

"How are you doing with all the...." Bonnie motions with her hands as she moves towards Derek. "Weird?" Derek snorts a little and shrugs.

"It's all batshit" He admits. "But....should have known" Bonnie frowns. "Being Diana's friend growing up, weird was her forte, trouble was her forte...." Bonnie smiles and nods in agreement. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised she's in deep trouble now...."

"And the whole...werewolf thing?" Bonnie starts.

"Yeah, I'm kind of glad I missed out on that" Derek tells her. "I don't have the temperament to be a werewolf" Bonnie chuckles.

"No, no, you are unlike the other Lockwoods"

"I'm not a dick?" Derek asks her, she smirks. "I assume my real dad was like a hippie or something" He offers and shrugs.

.................

Diana stands in the center of the room, her eyes flickering around each of them gathered there, before stopping on Alaric, he gives her a reassuring smile. She tries to smile back but she is worried about this. About what going back will do to her, how it will change her. Bonnie holds out a mug to Diana who wrinkles her nose. Remembers how bad it tasted the last time. She takes the mug and lets out a breath.

"Bottoms up" She mumbles and then drinks the entire mug. She then gags. "Tastes just as great as I remember" she grumbles, Artemis smirks a little and takes the empty mug from her. Diana blinks a little, the black in her eyes flickering in and out as the herbs take effect.

"How do you feel?" Damon asks Diana.

"I am tripping" She answers and stares at Damon, she is looking at him weirdly. "Giant hot dog vampire man" Damon smirks a little and shares a look with Elena who smiles. "I am tripping balls" Diana adds as she looks up at the ceiling lights. She then chuckles and laughs to herself. "Balls" She repeats. Alaric just watches her with worry, finds no humor in this situation, any other time, any other issue, and he probably would.

"She is still lucid enough that we don't need to tie her down" Artemis offers as she looks over Diana. "Unlike the last time..." Artemis adds. She then holds up a green crystal and meets Diana's eyes. They share a look. Artemis nods and Diana smirks, her eyes turning black. Artemis throws the crystal down, breaking it open, and from it, a black mist smokes up and around Diana. She takes a deep breath when it wraps itself around her. Covering her in a black layer of some rock-like substance.

"What's it doing?" Alaric asks alarmed as Diana slowly begins to disappear behind the rocks.

"I told you...it's purifying her" Artemis explains. "She will be fine." She adds but it doesn't help their worry when they are witnessing Diana turning into a petrified version of herself. It finally covers her all and a Diana statue stands before them as the room begins to shake and rattle with her powers. Books fall from the bookshelf. Items on tabletops fall. And then it stops as soon as it started. The rocks then explode outwards with a quake before turning back into mist form, the mist then flows down into the broken crystal, repairing the object as it goes. Diana falls to her knees and then to her side as she is overtaken by unconsciousness. Alaric and Elena instantly move to her. To check on her.