It has been exactly thirty days, one month, seven hundred thirty minutes, since Elena's death, since the sacrifice, and since Stefan was forced to leave Mystic Falls with Klaus. It was hard for Emily sometimes when she realized that she couldn't go hang out with her twin sister or cuddle with her boyfriend but Emily was dealing with it. The thing that helped Emily the most was her being the Protector of the Innocence.
The Radkova witch felt more confident and in control of her magic abilities everyday that passed and she adapted more and more. Emily honestly fell in love with being a witch. It wasn't just something that she had to deal with. It was something that Emily actually enjoyed doing.
Emily loved waking up and learning a new spell. Emily loved the long conversations that she had about magic with Deaton and Bonnie. Emily loved reading more about Maria Radkova and the magic they share. It was always a new and exciting adventure for the newest witch.
While Emily found happiness in being a Radkova witch, she still did have her moments of grief like any normal person would after the death of her twin sister and the disappearance of her boyfriend.
The days that Emily really missed her twin sister or felt saddened over her death, the Radkova witch would always find herself with Damon either drinking bourbon at the boarding house or they would go to the Grill and spend all their night getting drunk and cheering one another up with talking about happy memories with Elena.
The days that Emily really missed her boyfriend, the Radkova witch would lock herself up in Stefan's bedroom and check on her boyfriend's well-being or she would send him comforting messages to his mind through the spells that Bonnie had found for her.
The two spells had really helped Emily a lot this last month. She may not be able to get a response back from Stefan but it helped her cope as she knew the Salvatore vampire was listening to her and that she could check on his well-being and she could feel his emotions. The Radkova witch could only hope her messages were helping Stefan keep him sane while he's stuck with the hybrid.
Emily, for the most part, was doing a lot better than she was doing last month. Emily was, to simply put it, surviving. Things weren't perfect but Emily was making the most of her days as best as she could. It definitely helped that she had her family (Jenna and Jeremy) and her friends (Stiles, Scott, Allison, Deaton, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric, Damon and Tyler) in her corner.
The Radkova witch woke up this morning at six in one of her Elena funks that she got sometimes when Emily was really missing her twin. Emily didn't want to talk to Damon about old memories of Elena or hang out with Caroline and Bonnie right now. Emily just wanted to feel the presence of her twin sister, so Emily decided to go to the Gilbert house for a little bit.
The Radkova witch quietly slipped out of her bed when she had her plan and grabbed Stefan's dark blue hoodie from her closet before she slipped it on. Emily grabbed the Radkova grimoire off of her desk, her cell phone, and her laptop before Emily quietly headed downstairs of the Salvatore boarding house. Emily didn't want to alert Damon, Jenna, or Alaric (the last two were staying here while Jenna got used to be a vampire) that she was leaving, so Emily kept very quiet as she grabbed Jenna's car keys from the living room before the Radkova witch snuck out of the boarding house.
Emily felt a sense of calmness as she drove to her childhood home with the soft sounds of Adele that Aunt Jenna always loved to listen in to playing on the CD player in the Honda vehicle. The Radkova witch reached the Gilbert house after four songs on Adele's 21 album. Emily parked the Honda in the driveway before she grabbed her grimoire along with her cell phone and laptop before she headed to the house.
Emily unlocked the front door with her key before she called out, "Jer?" The Radkova witch wasn't sure if her brother was awake, sleeping, or not even in the house. Emily didn't want to scare Jeremy if he randomly saw her walking around the house when he thought it was empty, so the Radkova witch searched through the living and the kitchen before she headed upstairs when she couldn't find the younger Gilbert.
The Radkova witch passed by Jenna, Elena's, and her own bedroom as she went to the last door at the end of the hallway that belonged to her brother. Emily gently knocked her knuckles on Jeremy's door but when she did, the door slowly swung open. "I'm coming in!" Emily called out as to warn her brother in case he was going dressed.
The eldest Gilbert gave her youngest sibling a few seconds before Emily pushed the door and slowly entered Jeremy's bedroom. Emily soon frowned when she found her brother's bedroom completely empty with a unmade bed (it's not like he ever made it when he was here). The Radkova witch slowly moved through Jeremy's bedroom before her worry quickly went away when she noticed her brother's laptop was still open and warm. Emily figured that he must have rushed off to somewhere this morning.
Once Emily realized that her brother was probably just being a normal teenager, the Radkova witch exited out of Jeremy's bedroom and closed the door behind her before Emily headed to her twin sister's bedroom. The door was closed just how Emily and Damon had left it last week when they came over to spend time with Elena and her spirit.
The Radkova witch slowly twisted the silver doorknob before Emily slowly entered her twin sister's bedroom. "Hey, Lena," the young witch softly murmured as she greeted her sister from the other side. Emily knew it was silly to speak to the dead but it always comforted her to speak out loud to Elena.
"I hope you're doing okay," the Radkova witch murmured as she closed the door behind her. "I'm doing good," Emily continued as she slowly walked further into her twin sister's bedroom. "I... I just miss you a lot today," Emily mumbled with a slight frown on her face. "I woke up this morning thinking about you. I think it's because I'm used to having Sunday morning breakfast with you, Jenna, and Jeremy," Emily expressed herself to her deceased sister.
Emily looked around her twin sister's bedroom with a soft smile on her face as she already felt calm from being in here for only a few minutes with the smell of Elena and her things. "I hope you don't mind if I use your room to study," the Radkova witch spoke to her deceased sister's spirit once more, "I always feel closer to you in here."
The young witch rose her right eyebrow as she slowly circled around the room as if she waited for some sort of supernatural disturbance from Elena that showed that she didn't want Emily inside of her bedroom. However, when no doors slammed or no picture frame fell to ground, Emily grinned murmured to her twin sister, "thank you."
Emily moved further into her twin sister's bedroom as she placed her laptop on Elena's dresser before Emily moved to the queen sized bed. The Radkova witch placed the grimoire and her cell phone on the center of the bed before Emily climbed on top. The brunette girl crossed her legs and got comfortable before Emily opened up the Radkova grimoire to get started on her daily studying session to build up her magic and further her education in spells.
The Radkova witch never did have a certain spell that she wanted to practice. Emily would just go through the large grimoire and study different ones. The brunette girl opened the book of magic to the spot that she had stopped on yesterday with a yellow post-it note. Today's buddle of spells were all very simple and some of them were quite funny. Emily couldn't help but lightly chuckle when she read a spell to mentally slap someone across the face or make someone forget their own name.
Emily silently read over a few pages of spells for a good fifteen minutes before she decided to perform a few of them. The Radkova witch flipped the page in her grimoire before she decided to do the one at the top of the page. Emily quietly read the spell in her head before she realized it was a spell to put items back in their original places.
Emily slowly glanced around her twin sister's bedroom to see if anything was out of place before the brunette girl zeroed her green gaze onto a framed photograph of Elena and Damon that was moved from it's place on the bedside table to the white vanity in the corner of the room. Emily quickly remembered that the oldest Salvatore picked up the photograph the last time that they were here.
The Radkova witch turned her gaze back onto the grimoire as she read over the instructions to the spell. Emily found out that she needed to focus on a certain item while she utters the incantation. Emily also read that she would start to feel a tingle in her body to let her know that the spell was working. The brunette girl silently read over to the Latin words a few times in her mind to memorize the spell before Emily focused her green gaze onto the framed photograph.
"Revertere, revertere. Redi ad dextram macula," Emily slowly and clearly chanted he spell as she kept her green eyes locked onto the photo of her sister and the eldest Salvatore vampire. "Revertere, revertere. Redi ad dextram macula," the Radkova witch chanted once more before she started to feel that aforementioned tingle in her arms and shoulders. Emily focused even harder before she murmured once more, "revertere, revertere. Redi ad dextram macula." [Return, return. Return to the right spot].
The Radkova witch immediately grinned when she saw the framed photograph slowly lift up from the vanity table and slowly move through the air. "Revertere, revertere. Redi ad dextram macula," Emily chanted over and over again as she zeroed her attention onto the floating item.
Emily felt like a kid in a candy store as she watched as the picture of Elena and Damon slowly landed onto the small table beside her without a single sound. The brunette girl reached over and picked up the framed photograph before she lightly chuckled. "That's a neat trick when I don't want to clean," Emily muttered to herself in amusement.
The Radkova witch placed the framed photograph back in it's original place on the bedside table before Emily focused back onto the grimoire. Emily scanned the book of spells for a few seconds before she found an interesting spell that had to do with her icy powers. Emily silently read over the contents of the spell before she found out that it was a way to produce water.
The Gilbert girl found it a strange spell to want to have. However, Emily figured it was like how other witches how could produce fire when they needed it. If I ever set a fire in the kitchen, this spell will definitely help, the Radkova witch jokingly thought.
Emily took a few minutes to read over the incantation and the instructions to the spell. The Gilbert girl found out that all she had to do was to conjure the ice from her fingers like she usually did and chant the incantation before water should appear. Emily had no idea in what capacity the water would appear but she decided to give it a try.
The Radkova witch read over the spell a few times until she memorized the words before Emily focused her green eyes onto her dominant right hand. Emily thought about the ice icicle producing out of her finger tips and the feeling of the coldness in her palm before the ice icicles quickly sprouted from Emily's hand.
"Aqua stillans, aqua veniens, aqua pluvialis apparens," the Radkova witch slowly uttered the incantation as she focused her green eyes onto her icy fingertips. "Aqua stillans, aqua veniens, aqua pluvialis apparens," Emily began to smoothly chant over and over again before she started to feel a new sensation of coldness overtake her hand. [Dropping water, water coming, rainwater, water appearing].
The Gilbert girl's green eyes quickly widened as she released a loud squeal when the ice icicles instantly turned into liquid and water started coming out of her palm. Emily hurriedly stopped focusing on the ice to stop the water from coming out from her hand. "Crap," the young witch mumbled when she saw Elena's bedroom floor had a puddle of water.
Emily pushed the Radkova grimoire to the side and stood up from the queen sized bed before the Gilbert girl quickly exited out of Elena's bedroom and headed to the bathroom. The Gilbert girl grabbed a baby blue towel from the shelf in the corner before Emily went back to her twin sister's bedroom.
Emily got down on her knees in front of the clear liquid before she quickly cleaned up the puddle of water with the blue towel. The Gilbert girl made sure that the hardwood flooring was cry, so she nor anyone else would slip on it before Emily tossed the wet towel towards the door while Emily made a mental note to take the towel to the laundry room before she left the Gilbert house.
The Radkova witch released a heavy sigh once she jumped back up on Elena's bed and got comfortable in her spot. "I'm never doing that inside again," Emily mumbled as she could only imagine how much of a mess she could have made if she didn't end the spell in time.
The Gilbert girl lightly chuckled to herself at her very eventful morning for a supposed to be lazy Sunday before Emily focused her attention back onto the grimoire. The Radkova witch skimmed over the spells before she picked a random one on the page. It was a spell to change a witch's face to make it unrecognizable.
Emily found the spell quite interesting, so she decided to give it a try. The young witch read over the content of the spell and found out that she had to read out the incantation and describe a facial feature before it would change.
Once the Gilbert girl had memorized the incantation, Emily walked over to her twin sister's vanity table and took a seat. Emily looked at herself through the oval mirror before she slowly uttered the incantation, "faciem tuam muta. Faciem meam muta. Adiuva me, cela." Emily figured the spell was working when she felt a tingle on her face. [Change your face. Change my face. Help me hide].
The Radkova witch thought for a moment at what she wanted to change before Emily spoke it out loud, "red hair." The usually brunette girl gasped as she watched as her hair slowly turned into a deep red color. "Damn, that's cool," Emily murmured with a giggle as she ran her fingers through her now red hair.
After admiring her new hair color, the Radkova witch thought about what else she wanted to change about her appearance. Emily smirked when she thought of something before the Gilbert girl added to the spell. "age twenty years."
The Radkova witch stared at her reflection through the mirror before Emily slowly watched as light wrinkles appeared on her face and her green eyes looked as if they had seen some horrible things. "The years do not do me well," Emily muttered as she definitely looked way older than just twenty years.
"Revertere, revertere. Ostende mihi verum seipsum," the young witch muttered the reverse incantation before Emily watched her face slowly return to it's original state with her brown hair and soft green eyes. Emily released a breath of relief once she was back to herself. "I will not being trying that again unless it's absolutely necessary," the brunette girl muttered as she felt a shiver run through her body from the image of her older self.
The Radkova witch silently walked back over to Elena's queen sized bed before she climbed on top. Emily got comfortable in her spot before the Gilbert girl focused her green eyes back onto the book of spells. Emily slowly flipped through the Grimoire as she tried to find an interesting spell that she hadn't heard of or read about yet.
The Gilbert girl looked through the grimoire for a good ten minutes before Emily felt her whole body froze when she read over the title of a spell - 'Heart Resurrection.' Emily quickly shook herself out of the trance she found herself in before the Radkova witch hurriedly read over the content of the spell. Emily was shocked when she found out the spell was exactly what she thought it was -- to bring someone back from the dead.
The Radkova witch never thought a spell actually existed to bring someone back to life. Emily always figured it was like black magic like she would see in movies and TV shows about witches. The young witch didn't want to get her hopes up over the spell that could possibly bring her sister back, so Emily decided to call someone she knew who would definitely know more about this than she does.
The Gilbert girl quickly jumped off of Elena's bed before Emily hurriedly grabbed her laptop from Elena's dresser. Emily brought her laptop back to her sister's bed before she opened it and signed in. The young witch's hands were practically shaking as she logged into Skype before she pressed onto Alan Deaton's contact picture and pressed the video call button. Emily nervously bit down on her thumb while she waited for the druid to answer her call.
It felt like forever for the Radkova witch but it was actually only forty seconds before Deaton accepted the video call request and appeared on Emily's screen. The Beacon Hills vet immediately smiled when he noticed the young teenager. "Hello, Emily. How are you doing today?" Deaton politely asked as he greeted the Protector of the Innocence.
"I'm, uh, I'm okay," Emily anxiously mumbled as she wasn't exactly sure how to bring up the topic of the resurrection spell. "I was studying, you know, and I found a spell that I had some questions about," the Radkova witch finally told the druid after a few awkward seconds had passed between them.
Deaton quickly grew curious about what the young witch wanted to talk about, so he stood up and closed his office door at Beacon Hills Animal Clinic before Deaton sat back down on his desk chair. "What is it?" The druid inquired as he gave Emily his full attention.
The Gilbert girl nervously bit down on her bottom lip as she silently stared down at the opened Radkova grimoire for a few tense seconds before she looked back up to the druid. "It's... It's a resurrection spell," Emily anxiously informed the older man.
Deaton's brown eyes slightly widened in surprise when he heard which spell that the young witch was asking about. "What do want to know?" The druid cautiously asked as he really hoped that Emily wasn't thinking about performing it. Deaton could only hope that the young witch was just curious about it.
"I, uh, just found it a few seconds before I called you," the Gilbert girl uttered with a light chuckle. "I was wondering if you could tell me about it before I got my hopes let down," Emily mumbled as she anxiously played with her fingertips. Emily didn't want to have all this hope of being able to bring Elena back only for it to be crushed, so Emily wanted to know what she was dealing with as soon as possible before ideas started building in her mind.
"You should know, it's a very dangerous spell, Emily," the druid immediately warned the young witch. Deaton couldn't warn her enough over how dangerous it is. The resurrection spell was one of the biggest spells that anyone could perform and it definitely wasn't safe.
"I figured that," Emily mumbled. Even if she wasn't a witch and surrounded by supernatural beings, Emily knew it goes against nature to bring someone back from the dead. "I just need to know if it's possible," the Gilbert girl practically begged the druid as she felt her green eyes cloud up with unshed tears. This could mean the absolute world to Emily if she could actually bring her twin sister back.
Deaton released a heavy sigh before he slowly nodded his head and mumbled, "it's possible." Deaton knew he didn't want Emily to do the dangerous spell but he did want her to be well informed, so Deaton stood up from his desk and grabbed a large book from his shelf.
"Radkova witches are one of the strongest covens out there, so they are able to do the spell without as bad as repercussions that someone witches experience from bringing someone back from the dead," Deaton told the young witch once he sat back down in front of his desk and began flipped through the book until he reached the section about resurrections.
"The spell seems so easy, though," Emily mumbled with her brows deeply furrowed as she stared down at the aforementioned spell. The instructions looked as simple as any of the other spells that Emily has tried. All Emily really needed was the body, the heart, a pentagram, and candles before she would say the spell and do a few things to bring the person back to the world of the living. Emily just didn't understand why it seemed so easy when she never seen or head of anyone doing the spell.
"Don't be fooled by the contents of the spell," Deaton warned the young witch as he knew exactly what she was thinking. "It may seem easy but it puts a big toll on your body during and after the spell," the druid informed Emily, "it doesn't matter if you are the strongest being in the world or a God, there will always be consequences when you bring back the dead.
"Like what?" The Radkova witch curiously inquired. Emily wasn't stupid. She knew there would be affects to bringing someone back but Emily honestly didn't care. The Gilbert girl knew Elena would at least try to bring her back if she was in her place. Emily also just didn't want to let her twin sister down again after what happened at the sacrifice.
Deaton silently looked down to his book and skimmed through the words about resurrection spells before the druid focused his gaze back onto the Gilbert girl. "Every witch experience something different after they bring someone back from the dead," he informed Emily, "the majority of witches experience nightmares, their magic being taken by their ancestors, death by life for a life, and constantly pain through their bodies -- and that's only a few of the affects."
"What about for a Radkova witch?" The Gilbert girl curiously inquired before she mentioned to the druid, "you said they are stronger than most witches." Emily figured the Radkova coven experienced things differently than other witches.
"That is true," Deaton affirmed what the young witch thought before he focused his gaze back down to his book. The druid silently read through a few cases of a Radkova witch bringing someone back to the living. Deaton quickly realized that a witch from the Radkova coven all experienced the same repercussions.
"It seems like all witches from the Radkova coven or witches who follow the Protectors of the Innocence way of practicing magic experience hauntings from the dead, seeing things that aren't actually there, unable to what is real or a dream, nightmares, hallucinations, and the worse one of all -- the feeling of someone or dark shadows constantly following you," Deaton uttered as he went through the list of things that the Radkova coven went through after bringing someone back to life. "It will always feel like something is wrong with you," the druid added his own two cents of what Emily would feel if she went through with the spell.
Emily wouldn't lie, those things did scare her. Emily didn't want to experience constant nightmares and hallucinations every day of her life. Emily didn't want to live in fear of her own self. However, the reason why Emily was so willing to do this spell is what made Emily forget about all those repercussions. Emily would do and experience whatever she had to if it meant that she could bring her twin sister back.
"Is there any way to stop them?" The Radkova witch asked the druid. Even though Emily was going to go through with the spell, it would at least be nice to know if there was anyway that they could stop or control the affects that she would feel afterwards.
Deaton shook his head as he released a heavy sigh. "You can't undo this once it's done," the druid informed the young witch. "You will always feel that darkness until the day you die," Deaton stated before he added with a slight shrug, "sometimes you will even want death to come to you because of these repercussions."
Emily grew silent as she took in the older man's words. The Gilbert girl wasn't taking what he said lightly. Emily knew this was serious and very dangerous. It could possibly ruin her future of having complete happiness. However, Emily knew one thing for certain. Emily knew she would have her twin sister by her side through all of this and that was really all Emily needed.
"I'm going to do it," the Radkova witch announced as she quickly looked up at Deaton through her computer screen with a gaze of determination in her green eyes.
The druid released a heavy sigh before he muttered as he slowly shook his head, "I told you these things, so you wouldn't try this spell, Emily." Deaton wasn't stupid. He knew the exact reason why Emily asked about this spell. Deaton just wished that she would change her mind after hearing about all of the bad things that would happen to her.
"This spell isn't something to play with," Deaton warned the young witch once more, "if you perform this spell, it will mess with your psyche and it will make you feel like you don't have control over your body." The Beacon Hills vet shook his head as he muttered, "there is no spell to make those feelings and emotions go away once you have them."
"The witches won't be happy, either," Deaton added. The druid briefly glanced down to the book in front of him as he pointed to the section of the Radkova coven's resurrection experiences before Deaton spoke once more, "I know it's not mentioned for the Radkova coven but there are stories that the witches of your ancestors --- or in your case, Maria's ancestors -- will stop you from doing magic when you really need it."
"I hear you. I really do," the Radkova witch assured Deaton to let him know that she wasn't taking what he said lightly. Emily was definitely listening to his warnings but she couldn't let that stop her when something so important was on the line.
"I need to do it," the Gilbert girl told the older man through her computer screen. "It was my fault that Elena died to begin with. If I had only protected her better then she wouldn't be gone right now," Emily mumbled with a deep frown on her face as she thought about her twin sister before Emily added with a look of determination on her face, "I need to at least try to bring her back. Elena deserves that much."
Deaton completely understood why the young witch wanted to do this particular spell. Deaton couldn't imagine losing someone so close to you like a twin but there were certain limits that you couldn't and shouldn't mess with.
"I know she's your sister and you miss her but sometimes things happen in life," Deaton gently and calmly told the Radkova witch. "We may not understand it or wish for it to happen but we just have to accept it. This is not a way to move on," the druid tried to console Emily over the lost of her sister before Deaton warned the young girl once again, "this spell is incredibly dangerous, even for a Radkova witch."
Emily released a heavy sigh at the fact that the older man wasn't getting why she needed to do this, despite the affects that would happen to her afterwards. "You saw what happened to me the last time I had to experience my sister's death," the Gilbert girl reminded Deaton about how she went a little witchy crazy. "I can't keep living like this," Emily mumbled as she slowly shook her head before she stated, "I need Elena back, we all do."
"And what if she dies again?" Deaton questioned as he countered the young witch's reasoning. "It will be just even harder to bring yourself back if you have to experience her death all over again," the druid of Beacon Hills informed the Gilbert girl. If Emily had to go through losing her sister again, there may be no way to bring her back to herself after how difficult it was for her the first time around.
"I don't think you or anyone else will understand why I'm doing this unless you're in my place," the Radkova witch told Deaton as she released a heavy sigh before she mumbled, "but I have to try." A soft smile slowly lifted onto Emily's face as she spoke of her sister, "Elena means the absolute world to me. She's literally my other half in this world."
The Gilbert girl placed her hand over her heart as she softly murmured, "it pains me to not have her by my side." Emily let her words soak into the druid's mind before the Radkova witch uttered in complete seriousness, "I understand the consequences and I'm willing to accept them if it means it will bring Elena back."
Deaton silently stared across the screen and into the young witch's green eyes for a few tense seconds as he observed Emily before the druid released with a heavy sigh when he knew there was no way to change her mind. "I completely advise against doing this spell," Deaton stated before he added after a long pause, "but... I understand why you feel like you need to do this."
The Radkova witch immediately released a breath of relief that Deaton was finally understanding her reasoning. "Thank you," Emily murmured as she slightly bowed her head to the older man. "I'm sorry I put you on the spot like this," the brunette girl apologized before she praised the druid, "but thank you for listening to me and explaining the importance of the spell."
"I didn't really touch on the spell itself," Deaton reminded Emily before he told the young witch, "I will email you all the information I have on the steps and what you need to do." The druid of Beacon Hills waited until he knew Emily was listening and absorbing his words before he ordered the young witch, "I want weekly updates on your condition once you have completed the spell."
The Gilbert girl quickly nodded her head before she promised, "I'll make sure to call or email you anytime I feel differently than I usually do or if I start experiencing the stuff you mentioned."
"Good," Deaton murmured before he told the young witch, "I will keep a record of all of your experiences, so I can try my best to help you through them."
Emily softly smiled at the druid through her computer screen from the fact that he wanted to help her so much. "Thank you," the Radkova witch murmured, "thank you for walking me through this."
The druid of Beacon Hills shot Emily a small smile as he accepted her praise. "I wish I could change your mind but I know I can't, so I'm happy to help you in anyway I can," Deaton told the young witch. "I wish you well in bringing back your sister," Deaton murmured as he wished the teenager good luck on this difficult spell before he added, "I hope to hear from you soon."
The Radkova witch quickly nodded her head and murmured, "I talk to you later," before she pressed the red button to end the Skype video call with the druid. However, as soon as the line to Beacon Hills was disconnected, Emily released a loud and happy squeal.
Emily was usually a person with great calmness and patience but the Radkova witch couldn't help to be excited and loud that she was one step closer to bringing her twin sister back. Emily wasn't stupid. She knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park but just the thought of Elena being back in her arms sent a certain thrill through Emily's body.
The Radkova witch found herself softly chuckling when she could feel warm tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. It was, of course, happy tears this time around. "I'm going to bring you home," Emily whispered as she turned her head and looked over to the framed photograph of her twin sister, "I'm not going to let you down this time."