KAI MADE A SOUND OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT in the back of his throat at the end of the story. "So, in short, it's about a professor who made a young, skinny, orphan, and abused boy fight an all-powerful wizard."
"What? ― No!" Katherine sputtered.
Kol clicked his tongue in disapproval, and just when Katherine thought he would put some sense into the siphoner, he proved her wrong too. "Well, it's more like a story about a reckless teenager who never understood where the line between sacrifice and self-slaughter is drawn."
"Ah!" Kai hummed in response.
"My god!" Katherine moaned in distraught from the passenger cabin in the back row. "You have ruined it. I never thought it was possible― but you guys destroyed Harry Potter for me."
Kai and Kol half-shrugged at each other and chose to stay silent.
And not a moment later, Kai declared loudly, over the noise of the helicopter's rotors, "We are here," when the island of Nova Scotia came into their view.
After showing the magical knife Jo had locked away her magic in, Katherine asked Kai to help find the grimoires the Gemini Coven had about the Travelers. With Kai's ability to do magic once again, uncloaking and getting his hands on a different variety of books had been easy.
Katherine had spent the better part of the night at the Parker house going through all the grimoires she found necessary, while Kai had gone through maps and all the routes that would get them to Nova Scotia with Kol helping them both when needed. When the first light of dawn broke, they loaded everything they would need into the helicopter. And only when Kai checked the fuel and other necessary functionalities of the plane and approved it for their journey did they set off.
It took them a solid three hours to reach the island of Nova Scotia from Portland, Oregon, and halfway through the ride, somehow, the conversation stopped over the differences between wizards and warlocks. And when Katherine remembered 1994 doesn't have Harry Potter, she decided to introduce the book series to Kai Parker and then gone over a detailed explanation of the magical world, only to backfire in her face at the end of it all.
But, really, though, what more can she possibly expect from a narcissistic psychopath and sociopath.
As soon as they landed on a flat clearing without any difficulties, the two vampires got off the plane and let off a relieved breath. They wasted no time in seeking the tomb.
Katherine walked half a pace ahead of the two with a map in her dainty hands, leading them on the marked path that will point them to Silas's tomb, hidden within the depths of the island.
"Are we even going in the correct direction," Kai began in a loud voice as he tried not to trip over a fallen sapling.
"I am sure," Katherine said with certainty, her voice echoing off the trees. "I have memorized this place over a hundred times. I know where I am going."
"―Just asking," Kai muttered under his breath, looking over the mass of black trees. He still thinks they are lost.
Dry leaves crunched underneath their feet as she passed through the trees and entered a clearing. At last, Katherine came to a halt. She looked around once more to take in her surroundings before confirming.
"This is it," Katherine whispered, glancing at the map and back to the cave in front of her. It was the spot Atticus Shane had marked in his maps and books. Katherine knows this won't be that easy in the real world. With Silas and his illusions in control, it was a risk there. But here, not so much.
"So this is where the most powerful immortal is trapped for two thousand years, huh," Kol murmured to himself as he stepped forward to take a look at the map in Katherine's hands over her shoulders to check if they were really there.
Katherine turned to her right and walked up the stone steps, entering the cave that directed them towards a large hole with the other two following her close behind. She then tucked the map in her jeans pocket and stretched her hand outward for the siphoner to take.
"What?" Kai said, confused when he saw her holding out her hand.
The vampire rolled her eyes, explaining, "We have to jump down this well, and since we didn't bring any ropes," she gestured towards her palm and the well, conveying him to jump along with her help.
"Do I have to?" Kai asked, bending forwards to take a look at the well. "Creepy is not exactly my thing. I can't even see how deep it is, and we don't even have a flashlight."
"Oh, come off it. I ruined my thousand-dollar boots for this," Katherine muttered, tugging at his arms to jerk him forward, and grasped his palms tightly. "Can't you bear a little creepy if it means we can get out of here?" And before he could complain any further, Katherine took a dive off the edge of the pit, causing Kai to let out a shriek in surprise. The vampire fully knows the landing would be smooth from what she saw from the show, after all.
"It's empty in here," Kol, who had been the first one to jump, voiced out. "No inscriptions," his voice echoed as he went into a new chamber inside the cave and met with a dead-end, "―no drawings." He paused. "but there is a geometrically perfect circle!"
Kol crouched to the ground and brushed away dirt and debris with his shoes to reveal a circle carved into the ground. "I think this is the spot, darling," Kol announced, looking up to meet Katherine's eyes. He then turned towards Kai, "Think you can open this up, mate?" he asked, sweeping his hand over the dirty ground and stepping out of the circle to give him space.
Kai made a noncommittal noise in his throat. "Um, sure," Kai said dubiously. He didn't know if there was any magic to siphon off the ground or if the spell to break a two-thousand-year-old enchantment needs more magic than he has at the moment. Kai took a deep breath and placed his hands on the ground.
As soon as the chant left Kai's lips, the rocks rained down around them, and the cave shook under the spell as if a small bomb had set off. Great chunks of tunnel ceiling thundered to the floor. And before they knew it, the thin layer of the ground underneath them cracked open and descended into a pile of rubble, revealing a new tunnel underneath. It was quiet as the grave until the younger vampire decided to break the silence.
"Man, Tessa took this imprisonment to a whole new level," Katherine said, waving her hand over her face to clear the dust. She had to crawl, fall, and trip over to reach a tomb that is not even influenced by Silas's mental power.
"Tessa?" Kol inquired, leading the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.
"Qetsiyah," elaborated the younger vampire offhandedly.
"You give a nickname to a pre-historic witch, and Colin here―"
"It's Kol -" Kol corrected, his words falling onto Kai's deaf ears.
"―gets to call you darling and all, yet I can't call you Kitty Kat," Kai countered. "You are very biased, you know? I thought we were friends." The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead, so Kai had no option other than to follow in the footsteps of the vampire before him.
"A, we are not friends, but merely acquaintances out of necessity," Katherine said. She had been half-joking when she said that. In the last nine months that she had been into the new fictional world, Catherine had acquired many nicknames that she stopped keeping a list of them. "And, B, I forgot I even asked that of you," the younger vampire told Kai honestly, "But sure― if you want to, then -go on."
Kai narrowed his eyes in the dark. "And you won't call me Malachai?"
"Not unless you get on my nerves― No," Katherine allowed.
"So, I can call you Kitty kat - actually, I changed my mind. I will call you Rina, short of Katerina."
"My name's Katherine," The doppelganger tried in vain for the nth time. "Katerina is so out of date."
"Don't care," Kai said, walking past her, his voice bright with false cheer, and Katherine couldn't help but curse out Kol in her mind for taking that name out in front of the resident sociopath.
After a few moments, the three reached a halt. In the lower cavern, the trio approached a side chamber containing Silas's tomb. There was a human-shaped figure lying on a table, and in its hands was a small box, lying atop its chest. It was wrapped in layers of veins and roots and fossilized.
"This whole thing screams creepy," Katherine thought aloud, breaking the eerie silence.
"By the way, don't you think this is a little too easy," Kai asked, folding his hands, examining it.
"It won't be so in the real world," Kol muttered, inspecting the tomb in fascination, knowing he won't be able to do so again. "Silas in our world is powerful even trapped. He shows you illusions, get into your head, and makes you do things he wants you to do. The whole island will be his playground." He paused for a second as he clutches the box that contained the cure and takes it out forcefully with a grunt. "And if he gets out of here, then there will be hell on earth."
Kol opened the box to see one small vail of liquid potion. Katherine stepped forward to peer at the magical elixir about which the show went on for seasons. She couldn't help the snort that left her mouth when she saw Kol was the first one to get his hands on it this time around, considering he died in the original timeline, trying to stop everyone from getting their hands on it. The irony was hard to miss.
"What's so amusing, love?" Kol asked as he placed the box in Katherine's awaiting hands as promised on his part.
"Nothing," Katherine shook her head as she looked over Kol's shoulder to gaze at the tomb. "He had the means of his destruction close to his heart for two millennia, and Jo had hers in her underwear drawer."
Kai, who had been glancing around, wheeled around to stare at the vampire, with his face lightly scrunched up. "Didn't want to hear that ―but good to know Jo had enough confidence in my revenge and me." He then stepped forward to reach for the head of the tombstone, but Kol bet him to it.
It was their ticket to get out of the prison world, after all. The core of that tombstone is made up of Qetsiyah's calcified blood and is of great significance among the witch circles. There was no way the two vampires would trust Kai Parker with that amount of magic, not until he gets them back into the real world.
"Jeez," Kai backed away, raising his arms in surrender. "You guys need to start trusting your teammates more."
"You quite literally stabbed your own family," Kol countered promptly, pointing out the fact they all knew.
"We all have our moments," Kai defended himself, his voice feeble. "But, trust me when I say, I would never do it to you guys. I mean, you are like the only people I have in this world, like literally."
"We'll see about that after you keep the end of your bargain, eh," With that, Kol pulled out the tombstone from the fossiled rock, crumbling it a little under the force.
★ ➷ ｡• ☆
It didn't take long for them to get out of the caves and out of the island. And as planned the day before, they set the course back to Atlanta, Georgia. Because no matter how early they want to go back to the real world, they can't do it from the Canadian island. Even though jumping the portal is easy with all the necessary ingredients in their grasp, that doesn't mean they can appear at the place they preferred.
If they were to jump portal in Silas's island, then they would appear in the same place back in the mortal world, which is a big no-no. To risk all this only to be trapped in a magical freak show with no way out is quite pitiful. And since they can't do it even from Kai's place, aka the enemy territory, they have decided to go back to Georgia, where they left off from.
After a few more hours of bickering and trading death threats, eating chips, and drinking blood, they safely reached Katherines' bungalow on the outskirts of the city. Kai wasted no time searching for the perfect place that would help them to jump the portals to the real world. The siphoner took the ascendant and held it up to the sky as he trekked up the woods behind the house with Katherine and Kol following him in his wake.
"All we need is a purple backpack and an anthropomorphic monkey, and Kai gets to play Dora the explorer," Katherine proclaimed a few minutes into the hike, glancing at the siphoner, her eyes glinting in amusement.
"A who?"
"It's a cartoon for little children," Katherine explained to the two pop culture illiterates she was traveling with, "―She is this seven-year-old Latin girl that goes on quests and is extremely talkative and downright annoying with her repetitive questions."
"Are you sure you are five hundred years old, darling?" Kol asked instead.
Katherine paused for a moment, coming to a complete standstill. She turned around and held the Original gaze in a hard-glare. "I am eighteen, and I like cartoons, Disney, and most of the shit kids watch these days ―Problem?"
Kol raised his hands in surrender, probably deciding it's a battle he is better off fighting with the doppelganger at the moment.
"I found it," Kai called heartily, right at the minute, interrupting their staredown. The two vampires walked up the slope ahead and turned around a clump of trees, coming to a halt when they reached a clearing. Kai gave them a dimpled smile, positively writhing with excitement. "Now, all we need is an eclipse to be directly overhead of us― In perfect alignment with the Gemini constellation."
"Wonderful," Kol drawled, still carrying the headstone in his hands. He turned to look at Katherine, "Let's go get our bags, darling. Time to leave this godforsaken world behind."
"You could leave the stone here, you know," Kai said as both vampires turned to get back to the chopper, "There's still time for the eclipse. It's not like I am gonna leave anywhere until then. I don't even know the spell to get back, you know. It's in Rina's brain."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Katherine called over her shoulder, "I am a paranoid bitch, and I don't really believe you when you say you don't know the spell ."
"Fine," said Kai in exasperation. "Suit yourself."
"We will," Kol deadpanned.
It took them no time to find their way back to the place where they landed the helicopter. Two packed bags of Gemini coven grimoires were in the back row. All the three had kept aside their own choice of books in them.
"I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss the Mystic Falls gang and the pack," Katherine scoffed, thinking back to the days where she thought of them as a nuisance. Oh, How the times have changed. She was trying not to kill Caroline half the time, unable to keep up with her happy, bubbly self. "Miss your family yet?" She inquired, turning to face the Original.
"I would definitely take Elijah's hour-long lectures about humanity and redemptions than spend one more minute here," Kol decided.
Katherine let out a snort, "Yeah. This place gave ―Silence is deafening― a whole new meaning." She paused, thinking, "―Makes me wonder how he spent years in here."
Kol lifted his shoulders in half-shrug. Even though he spent centuries in a box, with the fear of being forgotten by his own family, he never experienced or thought how this type of punishment would feel. Alone in an isolated world and imprisoned by a family that deemed him an abomination for something he was born with and had no control over.
Kol was suddenly glad to be a Mikaelson.
Katherine sighed deeply, breaking the silence once again, "You know he is going to kill his whole coven once he gets out, right. Kai is not gonna stop until he gets his revenge."
"I know," Kol said, "And I have no intention of stopping him." He paused, "But that doesn't mean I will actively help him either."
Katherine nodded with a noncommittal hum, dropping the subject.
In no time at all, they reached the spot where they will portal jump in a few minutes. Kai was sitting on a rock nearby, drawing stick figures in the mud with a twig he had found for himself.
"It seems we do share a similar talent for art," Katherine commented, announcing their presence. "I thought you have perfected everything the world has to offer in your free time here ―guess not."
Kai hummed, throwing the twig on the ground and wiggling his fingers, "Yeah, arts really not my thing, apparently. I suck."
"You and me both, buddy," Katherine said with a snort. "Come on, get up. The eclipse we happen in a few more minutes."
"Nine, to be exact," Kol spoke, looking at his watch.
Soon enough, the sky started darkening as the eclipse neared, and Kol reluctantly passed the magical Canadian rock to Kai. "Cross me, and I will kill you in ways you will never imagine," Kol warned, his eyes cold and dark.
"You need to loosen up, Cody," Kai said with a sweet smile, taking the tombstone from the vampire's hands and wasted no time in siphoning it. As expected, the blood pooled up, and magic oozed off it. Kai took a deep breath as he relished in the new form of magic that coursed his veins, and once the headstone was nothing but a rock, he dropped it to the ground.
"You full?" Katherine inquired, raising her eyebrow.
"pwefh," Kai blew out his cheeks, looking absolutely thrilled. "Absolutely." Without another word, he took out the ascendant that was soaking in Bennett's blood and held it up to the sky. With a click, it unlocked.
The trio huddled together, standing under the direct light of the eclipse, with everything they want in their hands. "The spell?" Kai inquired, staring into Katherine's eye, once they all held the ascendant.
Katherine exchanged a glance with Kol before looking at Kai in mild surprise. "You really didn't know?" Kai shrugged, and Katherine relented eventually. "Sangina Mearma, Ascendarum Cavea."
Kai nodded his head once at Katherine's enunciated words and repeated it as a chant. With each chant, the ascendant untwisted in Kai's hands. At last, with one last definite click, and a flash of blinding light, they all disappeared into thin air, leaving the shattered pieces of ascendant on the ground in their wake.
★ ➷ ｡• ☆
So, they did it. Finally!
Now it back to routine for Catherine, I guess, the usual villains and Machiavelli's plans.
Anyways, I was watching season 6 again, and in the fifth episode, Bonnie comes to a conclusion that Kai doesn't know the spell and hence decided to kill him off. Then she goes through one of the Bennett grimoires and finds it, coming to the conclusion her Grams had a hand in the banishment. And then, during the thanksgiving thing, Kai says, he watched the spell two times and figured out how it works. So, I'm guessing he really didn't know the spell to get out until he watched Bonnie perform it. So, I decided to keep it that way.
BTW, how was it?