08. Ordinary People
"Why is she with us again?" Aria asked Alaric, as they, along with Elena walked in the tunnels underneath the Lockwood's property.
"Because she heard me and Damon talk about the cave, I tried to stop her but she wouldn't take no for a answer" Alaric explained.
While Natalie and Damon were having their heart to heart, Mason Lockwood had taken Alaric down to the cave, telling him that down here was a weapon that could kill Klaus.
"Great" Aria whispered, "Elena, you realise whatever Nik killing weapon is down there, I'm not going to let you use it".
"And you realise I'm not going to stop until Klaus is dead" Elena retorted.
"You won't be able to kill Klaus if your dead first" Aria mumbled, which Elena didn't hear, but Alaric did, causing him to laugh, but he quickly covered it with a cough.
"So the Lockwoods have no idea these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena asked Alaric.
"Yeah, careful where you shine that thing" Alaric replied, gesturing towards the torches both the girls were holding, "Bats hate the light".
Aria looked at Alaric in shock, "You never mentioned any bats Ric!".
Before Alaric could say anything Aria heard someone whisper her name, causing her to turn around quickly.
"Boo!" Damon yelled, scaring Aria.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Aria yelled, slapping Damon's shoulder.
"Scaredy cat" Damon teased, placing a quick kiss on Aria's lips.
"Just ignore him, that's what I do" Alaric teased.
"He wouldn't be able to live if I started ignoring him" Aria teased, giving Damon a teasing smile.
"So you really can't get in?" Elena asked, getting fed up of Damon and Aria's interaction.
"No, it seems even the ancient Lockwoods were anti vampire" Damon said.
"Ancient?" Aria asked confused.
"See for yourself" Damon replied, grabbing Aria's hand and taking her towards the cave, "Well, this is as far as I get to go".
Alaric, Aria and Elena entered the cave and Aria was immediately hit with deja vu, she felt like she has been down here before.
"I've been here before" Aria whispered.
"What?" Alaric asked.
"I feel like I've been here before, not in this life, but in my past one" Aria replied.
"Me and Ric figured that out Ria" Damon said.
"How?" Aria asked confused.
"By these" Alaric said, showing Aria the ancient symbols on the wall.
"What is all this?" Elena asked confused.
"As far as I can tell, it's a story" Alaric replied, "In simple archeological terms, it's a really, really old story", Alaric shined his torch towards one of the symbols, "That right there is a moon cycle, a man, a wolf".
"A werewolf" Aria realised.
"Yeah, it's the Lockwood diaries" Damon said, "Pictionary style".
"I don't understand" Elena said, "I thought the Lockwood came here with the original founders in the 1860s".
"This isn't the Lockwoods" Aria said, "This is the people who we used to live near".
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked.
"In my past life, me and the Original family, we used be neighbors to werewolfs, that's how Henrik died, and that's why vampires were made, to protect themselves against werewolves" Aria explained.
"How were vampires made exactly?" Elena asked.
"I-I don't know" Aria replied, her head starting to hurt.
"Ria" Damon warned, "Don't strain yourself, just relax, Ric show her the rest".
"Names, and they're not native, they're written in runic" Alaric showed, "A viking script".
"Vikings?" Elena asked shocked.
"This name here, when translated, reads Niklaus" Alaric revealed.
"Klaus" Elena realised.
"And Elijah" Alaric read, "Rebekah, these two names is what made me and Damon realise that Aria has been here before and that this isn't fake, it's very real".
"What do they say?" Elena asked confused.
"Ariana and Kol" Aria said, her mind suddenly remembering the time the names were written.
"Rebekah, let me have at it" Klaus complained, as Rebekah carved her name into the cave.
"Quiet, Niklaus" Rebekah snapped, "I'm to have my concentration if I'm not to slice off a finger".
"Father will not like you handling the blade" Klaus said.
"Well your father isn't going to find out" Ariana said, walking into the cave with Kol right beside her, "Finn and Elijah took it upon themselves to make sure Mikael doesn't realise where we are, their only condition, that we don't forget to crave their names in the cave as well".
"Let's face it darling, whether they told you or not, you were going to regardless crave the whole Mikaelson family's name down here" Kol teased.
"Everyone except your mother" Ariana joked, "Plus, people need to know who we are, in a hundred years time, other people will move into this village, they must know who lived here first, it's all about--".
"Leaving behind a mark" Klaus, Kol and Rebekah said simultaneously, making Ariana look at them sheepishly.
"You know, you can make fun of me all you want, but you all know I'm right" Ariana said.
"We never said you weren't" Rebekah said, "Here, finish the job".
"Oh, so you give the blade to her but not to me" Klaus complained.
"They are girls Nik, they are always going to stick together, leaving us poor men behind to cry" Kol teased, making Rebekah and Ariana laugh.
"Damn right" Ariana said, "Now excuse me, I have to finish leaving behind a mark".
"These are the names of the Original family?" Elena asked.
"All of them except their mother" Aria replied.
"How do you know that?" Elena asked confused.
"Because I craved these myself" Aria revealed, "I remember, I was so adamant on leaving behind a mark, and this was the idea I came up with".
"What's the last two names say?" Elena asked.
"This one, says Mikael" Alaric revealed.
"Mikael" Elena whispered shocked, "Mikael, as in the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?".
"Yep" Damon replied, "I now like to call him Papa Original".
"We don't know what this last name is, we couldn't translate it, Aria I'm hoping you would know" Alaric said.
"Finn" Aria replied, "It says Finn".
***
Alaric, Damon, and Aria were back at Alaric's apartment, looking at the pictures of the cave, Elena finally gone.
Alaric sighed, "These images tell a story, to learn the story, you have to decipher these images, Aria do you know the story?".
Aria and Damon were behind Alaric, training.
"Sorry Ric, I don't remember, I'm still not sure how these memories work" Aria replied, slightly out of breath, she went to stake Damon but he caught her hand.
"Sloppy" Damon commented, making Aria laugh.
"Shut it Vampy, I'm trying" Aria said.
"Ghost of Christmas past, Mason Lockwood said the cave would lead to a weapon that could kill Klaus" Damon said, blocking Aria's kick.
Aria suddenly stopped and looked between Damon and Alaric, "Are you both going to kill him?".
"What?" Alaric asked shocked, "Of course not Aria, we both know how important the Original family is to you, we would never hurt them".
"But, we still need to find the weapon so we can destroy it, specially now that Elena knows, she's going to try to get to the weapon with Bonnie's help, to end Klaus once and for all" Damon said.
"You guys really think after what Grams said to Bonnie, she's still going to support Elena?" Aria asked.
"I think that Bonnie is confused, she doesn't know to do" Alaric replied.
Aria sighed, "Yeah, I guess".
"I'm hoping these images would at least tell us what the weapon is, give us some sort of advantage" Alaric explained.
Before Aria could say anything, her phone started ringing.
"Beks?" Aria answered.
"You and Caroline need to come to the Boarding House" Rebekah said.
"What why?" Aria asked.
"Because Elena's going to be there, she wants to know the story of the Original family, and why she shouldn't wake Mikael up" Rebekah revealed.
***
Elena entered the Boarding House to talk to Rebekah about her family, entering the house she heard loud music playing and in the middle of the living room, she saw Caroline, Rebekah and Aria having their own little fashion show, the three girls were trying to pick out a dress for homecoming.
"This dress makes me look fat" Caroline complained, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Shut your face Care, you look amazing" Aria said, checking herself out, "So girls, thoughts?".
"You are not wearing a black dress to homecoming Aria" Caroline said.
"Why not?" Aria asked, "I like this dress".
"Because black is a funeral color, it's not made for homecoming, you should wear this one" Rebekah said, handing Aria a baby blue dress.
"Wow, that's really pretty" Caroline complimented, "It's final Aria, you're wearing that for homecoming".
Aria groaned, "Fine".
"Rebekah, your wearing this dress" Caroline said, handing Rebekah a red dress, "It will compliment your skin really well".
"Is it bad that I'm really excited for homecoming?" Rebekah asked.
"Nope" Caroline replied, "I'm excited as well, this homecoming is going to be epic".
"Let's hope so" Aria said.
"We know so" Caroline and Rebekah said simultaneously, making Aria laugh.
Elena, having enough of the trio, finally coughed and made her presence known to the three girls.
"Oh, your here" Caroline said, already feeling her mood deteriorate.
"I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael" Elena told Rebekah, completely ignoring Aria and Caroline.
"I need to get drunk for this" Aria said, grabbing the champagne bottle.
"Hey, I want some to" Caroline complained, snatching the bottle from Aria.
"Leave some for me as well" Rebekah said, she then turned to Elena, "Let's get one thing straight, you do not threaten me, you will learn what I allow you to learn, is that clear?".
A slightly frightened Elena, reluctantly nodded.
"She's scary when she wants to be" Caroline whispered to Aria, making both the girls laugh.
***
"How fun is this?" Rebekah asked, as the four girls entered Stefan's room.
"Very" Caroline replied, as her and Aria ran over to Stefan's bed and started jumping on it.
"Come on Beks, join us" Aria said.
"Later, first I need to snoop in his drawers" Rebekah said, opening Stefan's drawers.
"I want to snoop as well" Caroline said, jumping off the bed, while Aria laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.
"We shouldn't be here" Elena said.
"Of course we should, come on, like you've never wanted to snoop?" Rebekah asked, taking out one of Stefan's boxer briefs, and throwing it at Caroline, "Boxer briefs, now that's a change from the 20s".
"Eww, eww, eww" Caroline complained, throwing the brief towards Aria.
"Hey!" Aria complained, throwing the brief towards Rebekah who easily dodged it.
"Are you three going to mess around all night, or are you gonna start to tell me your story?" Elena asked, frustrated.
"You're the one whose intruding on our sleepover" Caroline snapped, "If you can't tolerate us messing around, then you can just go away".
"You really are no fun" Rebekah told Elena, "What do you want to know?".
"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe" Elena replied, "How did you guys end up here?".
"My parents had just started a family when a plague struck their homeland" Rebekah replied, going through Stefan's journal, while Caroline laid next to Aria, both girls playing thumb war, "They lost a child to it, they wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate".
"So how did you end up here?" Elena asked, "This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet".
"You do realise that your history books aren't always right" Aria said, losing to Caroline again, "Dammit Care".
"You suck" Caroline laughed.
Rebekah shook her head at Caroline and Aria, then turned back to Elena, "My mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirts of a mystical land where everyone was healthy, blessed by the gifts of speed and strength, that led my family here, where we lived amongst those people".
"The werewolves?" Elena asked shocked.
"To us, they were just our neighbors" Rebekah replied.
"That's what I said" Aria interjected.
"My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years, Ariana's family for over four years" Rebekah informed, "During this time my family had more children, including me".
"Wait, pause on the story" Aria said, sitting up, "Do you know where my family came from?".
"Honestly, I don't know" Rebekah replied, "Whenever we asked you or Sebastian, you both always dodged the question, all we know is that, wherever you came from, that place didn't leave good memories for you two".
"Wait, whose Sebastian?" Caroline asked confused.
"Ariana's brother" Rebekah replied, an angry expression on her face, "Let's just say, he was one of the worst person I knew".
Aria frowned hearing Rebekah, she remembers the first time Elijah mentioned Sebastian, he said he wasn't the best brother out there and now Rebekah was saying he was the worst person, after Elena left, Aria knew she had to ask Rebekah for more information on him.
"You make your family sound so normal" Elena said, getting Rebekah's attention back to the story.
"It was" Rebekah said, a small smile forming on her face, "Once a month, both mine and Ariana's family retreated to the caves beneath our village, the wolves would howl through the night, by morning we'd return home".
"That's why the cave felt so familiar to me" Aria realised, making Rebekah nod.
"One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother, Henrik, suck out to watch the men turn into beasts" Rebekah said, "That was forbidden, Henrik paid the price, and that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors, and one of the last moments my family had together as humans".
***
Caroline, Rebekah and Aria laid in Stefan's bed and snooped through his journal, while Elena sat there annoyed.
"Did you three get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?" Elena asked.
Rebekah sighed, she handed the journal to Caroline and got up from the bed, and picked up a photo of Stefan and Elena.
"Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple" Rebekah said.
"No one does" Caroline mumbled, making Aria lightly nudge her.
"Why would you?" Elena snapped, last thing she wanted was to get judged by an Original, "You don't know anything about who he really is".
"I get Damon and Aria or even Kol and Aria, I know for a fact, when the time comes, Aria will gladly turn to be with the man she loves the most, but you won't, I could tell you don't want to turn into a vampire, so tell me Elena, why are you wasting Stefan and your time?" Rebekah asked, "He's a vampire, we're a predatory species, we don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives".
"Is that why you did that little fashion show earlier?" Elena taunted, "Because you don't care about the homecoming dance? You know what? I'm just gonna go".
"You haven't even heard half the story" Rebekah said.
"And you're not going to tell it" Elena snapped, "You're just bored and looking for someone to push around, find someone else to play with, maybe you can compel yourself a friend".
Caroline and Aria glared at Elena, and suddenly, Caroline speeded over to Elena and wrapped her hand around her neck and slammed her to the wall.
"Rebekah doesn't need to compel herself a friend because she has me and Aria" Caroline said, letting go of Elena, "We are her friends and we won't tolerate you hurting her".
"If anything Elena, your the one who needs to compel a friend, everyone except Bonnie has left you, and if Bonnie listens to her Grams then she won't be around for any longer with this bitchy attitude of yours, thinking your above everyone, news flash, you're not" Aria snapped.
Rebekah looked between Aria and Caroline with a smile on her face, if felt nice having friends who would always have her back.
"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give" Rebekah revealed, trying to ease the tension, "It belonged to the Original Witch".
"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Elena asked, standing away from Caroline and Aria.
"Not just the hybrid curse" Rebekah replied, looking at Aria in concern, "She's the one who turned us into vampires, she's the one who brainwashed Tatia to kill Ariana".
***
"So vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asked shocked, walking down the stairs with the three girls.
"What else would it be?" Rebekah asked.
"A curse" Elena replied.
"So judgemental" Caroline taunted.
"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive" Rebekah said, smiling at Caroline's words.
"Yeah, but why stay?" Elena asked confused, "If they were so afraid of the werewolves, why not leave?".
"Pride" Rebekah replied, "My father didn't want to run anymore, he wanted to fight, and be superior to the wolves, where they could bite, we had to bite harder, where they had speed, we had to be faster, agility, strength, senses".
***
"In her hands?" Elena asked confused, as Rebekah informed her of the conversation between her father and mother, "How could she do anything?".
"Because my mother was also a witch" Rebekah revealed, "The witch of the Original family, the Original witch".
"What?" Elena asked shocked.
"Elena, she's the one who made the whole Connor witch being connected to a vampire curse" Aria reminded.
"But it wasn't meant to be that, she was intending to make a curse that whenever a vampire came across a Connor witch, they would kill them" Rebekah reminded, "But as we know, my brother Kol changed the spell, he couldn't let anything happen to the girl he loves so much".
***
"Where do they keep their best vintage?" Rebekah asked Aria, knowing she would know.
"All their alcohol is vintage" Aria replied.
"If your mother and brother were a witch--".
"Am I? No" Rebekah replied to Elena, "A witch is nature's servant, a vampire is an abomination of nature, you can either be one or the other, never both, my mother did this for us, she did not turn, which thank god for that, couldn't imagine spending forever with the murderer of my best friend".
Aria gave Rebekah a small smile.
"How did you turn?" Elena asked.
"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality" Rebekah replied, "That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood, and then he drove his sword through our hearts".
"He killed you?" Elena asked shocked.
"And he wasn't delicate about it, either" Rebekah replied, with teary eyes, making Caroline and Aria look at her in sympathy.
***
"It was euphoric" Rebekah said, explaining the first time she tasted blood, "The feeling of power was indescribable, but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences, the spirits turned on us and nature fought back, for every strength, there would be a weakness, the sun became our enemy, it kept us indoors for weeks, but Ariana found a solution to it".
"I did?" Aria asked confused.
Rebekah nodded, "You were the one who made us daylight rings".
"Wow" Caroline said amazed, while Aria stood there shocked, "And here I thought my best friend couldn't get more powerful".
"Even though Ariana found a solution to the sun, there were other problems" Rebekah explained, "Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out, the flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion, and the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away, so we burned it to the ground, but the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated, the hunger, blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else, we could not control it, and with that the predatory species was born".
***
"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asked.
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene" Rebekah replied, "With that, he became my father's greatest shame".
"Yeah, Elijah told me this part of the story" Elena said, "Your mother had as an affair with one of the werewolf villagers, Klaus wasn't his son".
"She tried to make it right" Rebekah explained, "She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side and then she turned her back on him, but Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride, as a vampire, that was magnified, he went on a rampage and killed half the village, then he came home and killed her".
"Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked shocked.
"He said she broke his heart, so he would break hers" Rebekah replied, "He tore it from her chest as Nik and Kol watched".
"Kol watched Mikael kill his mother?" Aria asked shocked.
Rebekah nodded, "This was after you had died, Kol and Nik had gone to kill mother themselves, but Mikael did the job for them".
"You let them go after your mother?" Elena asked shocked.
"Of course I did" Rebekah snapped, "She was the reason the Mikaelson's lost the one thing that kept them human, if my father didn't kill her I would have".
"What happened after?" Caroline asked, before Elena could start with her judgement.
"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, we all stayed so we could bury Ariana" Rebekah revealed, "All five of us promised to stick together always and forever, till the day our humanity returned back to us".
"Always and forever, even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?" Elena asked, "And the rest of your siblings are still daggered, so much for the vow, huh?".
"Elena, keep the judgement to the minimum, you don't know why Klaus did, what he did" Caroline snapped.
"Hundred years after Ariana's death, Finn lost the will to live, he never wanted to turn into a vampire in the first place but Ariana convinced him to live, but after her death he fell apart and eventually he told Nik to dagger him" Rebekah revealed.
"Finn asked Nik to dagger him?" Aria asked shocked, Rebekah nodded.
"And once Kol found out that Katherine had gone around killing the whole Connor bloodline, he went off rails, he is the Original ripper, he went around killing people and ripping their head off, and Nik was forced to dagger him" Rebekah said.
"Aria, really kept your family together, didn't she?" Caroline asked, Rebekah nodded.
"Without her everyone fell apart" Rebekah replied, giving Aria a small smile.
"Well, I'm back now, and I'm not leaving anytime soon" Aria said, she then turned to Elena, "We both know whatever happens, you're going wake Mikael up, you want him to kill Nik, but I'm not going to let you succeed, go ahead, go wake Mikael, but remember, you are starting something, you won't win".
"A doppelganger against the strongest family of vampire, who do you think will win Elena?" Caroline asked.
"Klaus has a hold over Stefan and my life" Elena snapped, "I want him dead".
"Do what you need, wake Mikael at your own peril" Rebekah said, "But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart, and I get my temper from my father".
"You should leave Elena, now!" Caroline snapped.
***
Caroline groaned seeing Elena come back, "Why are you back?".
"I thought we told you to leave, twice" Rebekah snapped.
"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked.
"Nik and Kol were there, they told me" Rebekah replied.
"They lied to you" Elena said.
"And how would you know that?" Aria asked, "Were you there?".
"The cave where you craved your and the Mikaelson family's names is covered in symbols, the story of their family, how the Mikaelson parents came here" Elena replied to Aria.
"We already know that" Caroline snapped, "Get to the point".
"Just like Ric, Bonnie went and took photos of the cave" Elena said, showing the girls a bunch of photos, "This is the symbol for hybrid and the original ripper, this is the symbol for your mother, and this is the symbol for the Connor witch, of Aria".
"That's the necklace Kol gave Aria" Rebekah whispered.
"And this is the story of the original witch's death" Elena said, showing the girls one last photo, "The original ripper and hybrid killed the original witch, for the Connor witch, it wasn't Mikael, it was Klaus and Kol".
Rebekah looked at the photos then looked at Elena with a blank look on her face, "What are you hoping to achieve with this?".
"They killed her Rebekah, and then they made up this entire lie about your father so that they wouldn't lose you" Elena replied.
"Are you that dense?" Rebekah asked, shocking Elena, "Did you forget about the part when I wanted to kill my mother myself? I don't care how she died, all I cared about was that she is dead".
"But she's your mother" Elena said shocked, she was hoping this would bring Rebekah to their side, but here, she didn't care.
"Who separated me from my sister for one thousand years!" Rebekah yelled.
"Elena, you need to leave" Aria ordered, seeing Rebekah get upset.
"But--".
"Leave Elena!" Caroline yelled, causing Elena to flinch and finally leave.
"Beks, you okay?" Aria asked.
"Why would they lie to me?" Rebekah asked, looking at the photos, "Why did my brothers lie to me?".
"Because they didn't want you to hate them" Caroline replied.
"But I would never hate them" Rebekah snapped, "I wanted my mother dead as much as they did".
"Because no matter what, she was your mother" Aria said, "No matter how much you hated her, both Kol and Nik feared that if they told you, you would hate them".
"I would never" Rebekah said.
"We know, but your brothers were still scared to lose their little sister" Caroline said.
"I'm not going to let them kill Nik" Rebekah said, determination shown clearly in her eyes.
Aria and Caroline exchanged a look, "Neither are we".
***
"Hey" Aria whispered, entering Damon's room and seeing him laying on the bed.
"Hey" Damon said, "How was girls night?".
"Good, until Elena crashed it" Aria replied, laying next to Damon, "Caroline and Rebekah are currently sleeping in Rebekah's room, but I couldn't sleep without you so I came here".
Damon smiled, "Come here then".
Aria smiled and placed her head on Damon's chest and just breathed in his presence, today's events had tired her out.
"Are you going to tell me what Elena did?" Damon asked, placing a kiss on Aria's head.
"Can I tell you tomorrow?" Aria whispered, slowly falling asleep.
"Of course" Damon whispered, tightening his hold on Aria and closing his eyes.
***
Okay, need to clarify some things, Damon never released Stefan from the cell, and he never met Mikael, next chapter you guys will know how the Elena gang met Mikael 🙈
Also the Mikaelson family dynamic in this book is going to be completely different from the show, they are going to be messed up but still are going to stick together.
Thoughts on the flashback of Aria in the cave with the Mikaelsons?
Thoughts on Finn asking Klaus to dagger him?
Thoughts on girls night with Aria, Rebekah and Caroline?
Thoughts on Kol helping Klaus kill their mother?
Thoughts on Rebekah not caring about her brothers killing her mother?