"Magi, sorcerers, wizards, and Hexa are but a few words that were used to describe these individuals. In the modern era, the term witch is the label most associated with these individuals. Since the dawn of creation, Nature, an omnipotent and mystical force has acted to maintain the balance of life. Everything from birth to death falls under its domain. Witches are servants of nature, and thus could be described as Nature's agents on the material plane."
From The Tales of the Mighty Siphoner
Oh, please, Liz. I came first. Vampires are nothing more than a disgusting perversion of me. I'm unkillable, I'm immortal, and I'm psychic, and to function, I need human blood but don't ever call me a vampire. "
— Silas to Liz in I Know What You Did Last Summer
"Altering someone's lifespan is what started this whole mess in the first place. I've learned my lesson. I'm not saving your life. "
— Qetsiyah to Katherine in Death and the Maiden
A.N
Don't quote me on this, but I think I heard somewhere that Paul was tired of playing Stefan because their personalities are so different, so they wrote a character that is basically just Paul but also a psychopath so he wouldn't be bored. Amidst the sea of other snarky villains however he was pretty forgettable, and the hype of him being a bigger threat than the Originals remained just that: unrealized hype.
I just realized what a huge missed opportunity this was to play with character loyalties and paranoia. Like a real-life game of Among Us. Anyone could be Silas at any point. Why shouldn't we keep Caroline locked up in the dungeons for a week with no outside contact? So what if she grows to hate us? It's for the greater good, after all.
Silas was the most overhyped, under-utilized villain in the whole show. Throughout the whole of season 4, he was built up as this huge threat that even the originals were scared of who would in kols words "trigger the end of all time."
Then within a few episodes of season 5, he takes the cure and was killed. He barely actually did anything of note his whole time on screen. Posed no real threat, and killed no main characters.
The potential they had for him being he was 2000 years old is crazy. But they threw it away to give us the goddamn travelers, some of the most boring villains ever in the show. It's such a damn shame, Paul Wesley was playing the role so well too.
Ugh, I loved seeing Paul Wesley play a villain. Silas was definitely powerful, he could be cunning and he 100% wreaked havoc. I think he had a solid motive, but not a very impressive one. As much as I loved seeing the dobsley chemistry with Simara, I found it dull that he just wanted Amara and the Cure so he could die. Overall, he was a good villain but still, there was a lot of untapped potential for this character.
Also, I will NOT be tolerating any slander.
There is an info dump in this chapter
Also just to put it out there
Most Powerful Creatures:
1 = Hope (Tribrid)
2 = Marcel (Enhanced Original)
3 = Bonnie (Psychic Witch)
Most Powerful Hybrids:
1 = Klaus
2 = Hayley
3 = Tyler
Most Powerful Vampires:
1 = Rebekah
2 = Elijah
3 = you decide (I'm thinking Aya or Aurora De Martel)
Most Powerful Heretics:
1 = Valerie Tulle
2 = Nora Hildegard
3 = Mary Louise? (IDK u guys decide)
Most Powerful Witches:
1 = Qetsiyah
2 = Inadu
3 = Dahlia
And pls don't ask where's Hope because Hope is not just a witch
Also canonically, in TVD Qetsiyah is known as the most powerful witch in all history.
Dahlia and Inadu haven't been introduced yet and Hope isn't born in this story cuz it ends with Klaus and Bonnie getting together.
Bonnie and Elena sat in Sage's car as they drove to Mikaelson Manor.
Finn was in the backseat with Elena, telling her what his younger sister likes and dislikes, and Elena dutifully noted it down on a notepad.
Sage shook her head with a fond smile as she looked at the pair in the back through the rear-view mirror.
She was glad that Finn didn't hold a grudge against what the previous doppelgangers have done and instead was getting to know the doppelganger in front of him and even going as far as to set her up with his sister.
Bonnie sat at shotgun, with her eyes closed as she hummed to Rihanna's 'Only Girl in the World' song on the radio.
She tried to ignore the dark presence that had been building up over the past couple of months but now it was too strong to ignore.
And it was better to get rid of Silas now than later.
But first, she still had to kill Esther before she turned Alaric into an enhanced original.
A.N. Just a reminder
Enhanced Original Vampire is a term used to describe the type of Original vampire Alaric Saltzman became when Esther recast the Immortality Spell to turn him.
She made changes such as binding Alaric's life to a doppelgänger, whereas the other Originals' immortality was granted by the white oak tree.
This meant that he could not be killed at all, as long as Elena lived, thus meaning even the white oak stake or the white oak ash daggers have no effect on him, as they will not even neutralize him.
The only way he could die is if someone killed Elena, which is why he had to guard her life.
His darker personality was enhanced as well, as Alaric's true personality is now gone completely, replaced by the psychotic vampire-hating serial killer that was created as a result of using the Gilbert ring to come back to life too many times, along with Esther manipulating his mind every time he died.
("I'm going to make him strong, fast, like my children. Indestructible. For one final time I'm going to tap into the dark magic I used a thousand years ago. Like my husband Mikael before him I will make Alaric into a true hunter, the vampire to end all vampires."
— Esther about Alaric in Do Not Go Gentle)
The last thing Bonnie needed was for Esther to make Alaric an Enhanced Original when she already had to deal with Silas and Hayley Marshall.
Bonnie winced internally remembering that Hayley had sent Tyler's hybrid pack to their execution via Klaus.
She seriously had to warn Tyler not to go against Klaus and instead take his mom on a nice holiday in the Bahamas.
What was her list again?
Bonnie took out her phone and went to her notes.
*Have a brunch date with Elena. Check.
*Finalize the plan to get rid of Salvatores. Check.
*Go to Mikaelson Manor to talk with Kol about Silas. Kind of check. (Going to Mikaelson Manor with Finn, Elena, and Sage)
*Get Mikaelsons on your side to get rid of Silas.
*Kill Esther.
*Have a "vision" about Freya to reunite her and Finn because they deserved better.
*Hayley Marshall?
Hayley Marshall was someone Bonnie was unsure about what to do with but before she could delve into her thoughts about the she-wolf Sage had stopped the car and announced, "We're here."
Elena and Bonnie linked arms as they walked behind Finn and Sage towards the door of the house.
Before Finn could open the door with his key, Kol opened the door with a grin.
"Bonnie," he exclaimed, seeing the Bennett Witch had actually come.
His grin faltered slightly at seeing the other three of her companions with her but he put it back up, missing the worried face of Bonnie.
"Brother, sister-in-law," he nodded at the pair.
Sage nodded back whereas Finn breathed out an inaudible sigh of relief.
If Kol was behaving, then maybe the meeting would go well, Finn thought.
But as soon as the thought came, it disappeared as he remembered who his family was.
He sighed internally, hoping the meeting would go quickly so he could go with Sage to what she called a 'driving lesson' on the mechanical machines wagons that took up the streets.
5 minutes later, they were all seated in the board room (Bonnie recognized the place, in the original timeline, Klaus had taken her there to break the linking spell between him and his siblings.)
Rebekah entered the room but at one look Elena went to walk back out but only sat down when Klaus made her sit down in a chair and when Bonnie promised that she wouldn't have dared set foot into Mikaelson Manor if it wasn't important.
"Why have you come here, Miss Bennett?" Elijah asked after a few moments of silence.
The doppelganger, who sat beside Bonnie on the sofa, leaned over to whisper, "Bonnie, you got this. OK? Take a deep breath and remember that you are Bonnie fucking Bennett and you will not be afraid of 'older than the dirt in the forest' vampires."
Klaus raised an eyebrow at the doppelganger's last statement but chose not to comment and instead watched the witch that had been on his mind all night.
Sleep was not something Klaus needed in his life.
It was an exceptional advantage as well, having no fatigue to wear down on his bones or exhaustion dragging down his eyelids.
As an artist, it blessed him with the many art pieces he had hanging around in his homes and museums across the globe.
And last night, he had painted.
He painted only her.
Bonnie Bennett.
Every art piece he made, from dusk till the moment he heard of her arrival at his manor, was dedicated to her and her alone.
In his eyes, Bonnie Bennett was the goddess of not only glorious magic but of beauty.
Oh, how he would worship at her altar.
Bonnie was nature herself, he concluded after staring at her.
She went from the quivering nerves of the leaves of autumn as they fell from the trees to the harsh winter cold blowing out any source of warmth.
As Bonnie Bennett closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she turned from a nervous lamb in a lion's den to a leader hardened by the flames of hell in her many days of battle.
"2000 years ago," Bonnie began the story of how a warlock had been betrothed to the witch and how she created the immortality elixir so they could live together. But the warlock had fallen for the witch's handmaiden and took the immortality spell with her instead of his betrothed.
Bonnie had to conceal her smile at seeing both Rebekah and Elena murmuring some curse words about the warlock before Rebekah looked at Elena with shock at being in agreement with her before she looked away missing Elena's smile in her direction.
Bonnie continued how when the witch found out about the warlock and the handmaiden together and made a cure for immortality.
That got Rebekah's attention even more.
Bonnie tried to avoid the blonde's sharp gaze on her and instead opted to look at her bag on the table that contained Qetsiyah's grimoire.
The witch tricked the warlock into thinking that she had killed the handmaiden but instead made her the anchor to the other side.
Kol interrupted, "Darling, can you explain it now seeing as you were in quite a rush yesterday to go back to dancing with my brother."
Bonnie fought hard against both her fierce blush and avoiding Klaus's gaze.
"The Anchor to the Other Side, simply known as the Anchor, is a mystical object or a supernatural being to which the spell that created the Other Side was bound. It is also used as a "gateway," for ghosts to cross over to the Other Side. As a result of this role, the being who is the Anchor is forced to feel the death of the supernatural as they pass through them.
In certain instances, such as when a particular spell is being cast by a witch, it is possible for a ghost to exit the Other Side (through the Anchor) and be resurrected in the world of the living again. However, doing so causes a lot of damage to the Anchor, which risks destroying the Other Side along with it."
A.N. Amara
"I am the anchor to the Other Side, I can see everything."
—Amara explains that she sees ghosts from the Other Side.
Before Kol could ask Bonnie continued, "The Other Side is a supernatural dimension where the spirits of dead supernatural beings resided in a state of purgatory or limbo. It was created by the witch with the intention of forcing the warlock to spend an eternity with her on the Other Side instead of moving on and finding true eternal peace with the handmaiden. "
Rebekah demanded, "So if we die, we're stuck there!?"
Bonnie just shook her head, "It's complicated especially with your situation being not only vampires but the Original vampires. We'll talk about that on another day if we have time. Where was I?"
Not really that complicated.
Just not on today's agenda.
But to put it simply, in order for the Other Side to continue existing (as it did for thousands of years), it had to be bound to something that was eternal. This is what prompted the witch, to create the first Anchor and placed it on the handmaiden; one of the first immortals.
This ensured that the spell that created the Other Side continued to exist. If the Anchor was destroyed somehow, the spell would be broken and the Other Side would be destroyed, freeing every deceased supernatural ghost residing there to whatever dimension they are meant to go after death.
"The witch had tricked the warlock into thinking that she had killed his lover, the handmaiden. When she had, instead. placed the handmaiden into eternal suffering by enforcing her to take upon the role of Anchor to the Other side."
Bonnie's head snapped to Klaus as he remembered where she left off in her story.
He grinned at having her attention before saying, "Love, I do believe the saying is, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'."
Bonnie couldn't help the smile that overtook her face at Klaus saying her favorite quote from The Mourning Bride by William Congreve.
At seeing Elena's grinning face from the corner of her eye, Bonnie cleared her throat and carried on with the story.
"To add to the handmaidens suffering, the witch desiccated her and left her as a statue, unable to move as she was forced to feel and endure the pain of every supernatural being who died and passed through her to get to the Other Side.
The witch then entombed the warlock with the Cure for immortality on a remote island in hopes that he would take it, die a mortal death (as a witch), and be trapped on the Other Side with her forever.
However, shortly afterward, the witch was killed by the Travelers for creating the immortality spell in the first place, in doing so, she went against her duties as a servant of nature and upset its balance, which then caused a rift in the witch community."
At Elena and Elijah's confused expressions, Kol was the one to explain, "Travellers are a right pain in the arse. Like the magic police if you will. To put it simply, they're a mysterious, once powerful, cursed sub-culture of witches. Very little is known about the structure of the group, but membership seems to be earned by birthright and people are still considered members even when they lose the ability to use their magical powers.
True to their name, Travelers adopt a nomadic lifestyle; they are constantly on the move. For this reason, it is possible for outside factions to hire their services at the right price. Tensions have been rising between the Travelers and other witch covens for centuries, and the threat of war is always present in the air." Kol ended his explanation with a more dramatic flair.
Bonnie interjected, "Shortly afterward, the Travelers gained possession of the handmaiden's petrified body and spent over 2,000 years constantly moving it around to various hiding places to prevent it from ending up in the wrong hands."
Olivia to Jeremy about the Travelers in Rescue Me
"They're more like the ugly stepsister. Travelers have a grudge toward anyone that draws their magic from Nature. Something about witches cursing the land to turn it against them. Now they're on the move."
Bonnie didn't understand why Silas didn't work with the travelers.
They didn't even need to be fighting, at all.
In fact, their goals were compatible.
If Silas had made a deal with the Travellers, both of them would have everything he wanted.
Step one: Silas takes the cure.
Step 2: give Amara the cure.
Step 3. Kill Amara and Silas and as Amara dies, so does the Other Side, and Silas and Amara leave in Peace.
But use Silas' plan to bring back Bonnie to bring back Markos instead.
Then the travelers could have killed Tom Avery and of course, Katherine would be dead.
Then boom!
Doppelganger prophecy.
No need to get those pesky Mystic Falls people involved in your plot.
Just tap their veins.
Easy peasy.
Bonnie resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Not only was he pretty shitty to swear his love to someone and pledge to marry her than backstab her to be with someone else, but he was also an idiot.
"What is the point of this story, Bonnie?"
Rebekah's hands twitched with impatience as she wanted the Bennett Witch to get on with what she was here for so she could leave with the doppelganger.
She turned to look at the brunette who had entered the manor side by side with the Bennett Witch.
Narrowing her eyes, Rebekah wondered why this doppelganger felt no fear towards her.
Tatia was an evil person who would play wicked games and even try to push her into the water knowing how Rebekah feared drowning.
Katerina, or Katherine as she now goes by, tried her best to impress the sister of the man she was meant to marry.
Rebekah only knew her for 4 months before she was daggered by Niklaus for suggesting the absurd idea of letting Katerina go.
Elena, on the other hand, looked at Rebekah as if she was ready to die.
As if Rebekah was the right hand of death.
She hated whenever Ele- the doppelganger would look at her like that.
But now, something had changed.
Like Elena had been dead for so long and now was alive.
Rebekah pushed all her walls high and firm, wary of what the brunette would do if she let go of her guard even for a second.
She lashed out at any action the doppelganger would do for her.
From holding the door.
Rebekah would stomp on her toes as she walked away.
She missed Elena smiling at her despite the pain in her toes.
Helping her cheat on a very hard Geography surprise pop quiz.
Rebekah dug her nails into Elena's arm for thinking she was some dumb blonde.
Elena was too much in awe at Rebekah initiating direct contact to feel the pain.
To even invite her to clubs after school.
Rebekah would glare at her before walking away, making sure her hair would slap into the doppelganger's face.
She missed Elena's dreamy face as she felt her hair and was unaware of the brunette's thoughts of braiding it.
Bonnie sighed as she realized the Mikaelsons wouldn't understand the threat unless she got to the point.
She got a newspaper out of her bag and threw it onto the table so the Mikaelsons could see the front page.
12 BODIES WERE FOUND SLAUGHTERED IN THE FOREST.
DANGEROUS ANIMAL ATTACK OR SERIAL KILLER LOOSE IN OHIO?
Kol sucked in a breath confusing his siblings at his reaction but Kol paid them no mind, only staring at the symbol ingrained onto the pentagram on the forest floor where, if he looked harder, he would see dried blood from the bodies.
Kol felt as though he was back in the 14th century, listening to the cult of Silas and how he would bring hell on earth rightly for his wrongful imprisonment.
He was lured in by the idea of Silas bringing back his magic but when they showed him the scroll with the prophecy, he felt disgusted with himself.
There, right next to what he deemed Silas's symbol to be, was a Bennett Witch's symbol in the prophecy as she was the one to imprison Silas.
Kol knew instantly that Silas was in the wrong if he had dared to cross a Bennett Witch who was nothing if not a loyal creature to nature and nature herself.
He slaughtered the cult before stealing every artifact they had and had a new life mission - Make sure Silas never walked the Earth.
If Niklaus let him out of his coffin, he would find his contacts or their descendants of them (depending on how long he was left to rot in the coffin) to see if the cult had died out.
And they never did.
So he would continue to massacre them and then he'd be back into the coffin.
And the cycle would repeat.
That is until he tried to create a dagger for Niklaus to stop his brother from ever daggering him again so he could be free.
But Rebekah ratted him out.
He could see her smiling from the corner of his eye as Elijah and Niklaus had daggered him.
The pain he felt from that was more than the pain of the dagger piercing his heart.
When he awoke, he was going to stay for a few weeks before leaving but when his mother decided to host a ball, he decided to leave then while his family was preoccupied with the mask of pretending to be humans.
But then Bonnie Bennett came.
Bonnie Bennett was a dangerous person.
And with her came a dangerous feeling - hope.
Hope that someone would listen to him.
Hope that someone would help him.
Hope that someone would care about him.
Hope that someone would love him.
Bonnie Bennett could smile at a person and make them feel at home.
He hated that feeling because it made him yearn for it even more.
Home.
A place where you are with your family, where you are loved and cared for.
Where you are safe.
And Bonnie Bennett's smile made him long for that idea even more.
He was taken out of his thoughts when a hand was placed on his cheek and a voice called his name soothingly.
Kol was met with soft green eyes looking at him with concern.
Why was she concerned?
Bonnie stroked Kol's cheek to wipe away the tears.
When Kol looked down to see the wetness on his cheeks he looked so shocked.
Almost as if he thought he couldn't cry.
And that broke Bonnie's restraint as she all but grabbed him into a hug.
Kol was stunned for a moment before he burrowed his head into the crook of Bonnie's neck and continued to cry.
"I'm sorry," he tries to apologize, to speak but he can't stop crying.
He doesn't even know when he started crying.
"I just-" Bonnie only shushes him, stroking his back comfortingly.
"You don't have to explain to me Kol," she reassures.
And it feels as though she's trying to kill him.
Why was she so kind to him?
Why was she telling him he didn't have to explain his actions?
He had to.
As a man, he couldn't cry.
It wasn't right.
It made him look weak.
But Bonnie was hugging him and basically telling him that it was ok to cry.
And, God, when was the last time he's been hugged by anyone?
Unbeknownst, to him Bonnie had thought the same thing.
Bonnie held Kol tighter into her arms when she realized that she didn't know.
She didn't know when Kol had last been hugged and that hurt her a lot.
After a couple of moments, Kol let go of Bonnie not meeting anyone's eyes.
Bonnie only placed her hand on Kol's shoulder in a knighting way and declared, "Kol Mikaelson. I have now collected you in as my stray."
A.N. Basically what Tony's doing to Peter.
Elena gasped happily as she stared at Bonnie with something akin to awe.
"We're getting another stray?"
When Bonnie nodded her head, she squealed and tackled Kol onto the sofa with a hug.
She let go after a moment smiling as she pulled Kol back into a sitting position and placed her hands onto his shoulders and exclaimed, "Welcome to the family, Kol."
"What is occurring right now?" Elijah asks as he was in a state of confusion.
Elena visibly brightened at the question and turned to Bonnie, "Please let me tell the story."
Bonnie only laughed at her friend's antics and waved her hand to say 'the stage is yours'.
The doppelganger cleared her throat before taking a dramatic tone, "It all began on a summer's day when Bonnie was crying after she watched a bird she healed when its wing was broken, fly away. It was in the woods when it began. A young Bonnie was oblivious to how her life was going to change forever.
The great Vicki had come and found a crying Bonnie. Vicki had seen the potential that Bonnie had and taken her in as a stray. That was the day our family started. Ever since then, Bonnie would collect in strays. I was the first stray Bonnie ever collected." Elena smiled smugly.
Klaus had listened to the story attentively as he learned something from Bonnie's childhood.
"Who is Vicki?" he asked.
The doppelganger was obviously lost in her thoughts when she smiled at him and said, "Vicki is," before she paused.
"Vicki was," she started again before she stopped again, a lost look on her face.
"Vicki was our friend?" The statement came out as a question and her words became quiet as she trailed off.
Everyone in the room had watched as the bright smile had fallen off of her face and her enthusiasm had died down.
Bonnie placed her hand on Elena's arm and questioned softly, "Elena, who is Vicki?"
A look of pure disgust overcame Elena's face as she turned to Bonnie and hissed, "Why the hell would you even ask that, Bonnie? Vicki Donovan was a drug addict who died a long time ago. Yeah, it's sad she died and whatever but she wasn't anybody important to think about anyway."
Klaus went to stand up and grab the doppelganger by the throat for speaking to his Bonnie like that but was stopped by Bonnie's tired sigh and whispered to herself, "Not again."
She waved her hand and watched Elena slump asleep and fall into her lap with sadness in her eyes.
But then something changed when the sadness bled into anger and fire lit her eyes, making the green look so toxic it could kill you.
Klaus was now the one to stare at her with awe.
"This," she gestured to Elena's head laying down on her lap, "is one of the reasons I came here today."
But Bonnie had to explain the main reasons why she came.
Bonnie took out a recording device and clicked play.
A male voice came from it as the device came alive.
"Trust me, Connor. I mean, she has nobody. I've observed her for a few weeks. She maintains the same routine. Wakes up, goes to school, goes home, and just stays there. She has a garden to tend to. She never uses her magic.
It's so obvious how with Sheila dead, she's scared and has nobody to guide her. It makes her easier to manipulate her into using Expression. And when she taps into that power, Bonnie will help us raise Silas. It's quite poetic. Her ancestor was the one who had trapped Silas into the tomb and now with Bonnie as her descendant, she'll let him go."
Bonnie stopped the recording and tossed it into Sage's awaiting hands as she glared at the tiny device as if it would make the man appear in front of her.
"You didn't tell me anything about this," Sage said accusingly to Bonnie.
"Because you would've killed him," Bonnie counters.
"And why shouldn't she?" Kol asks.
When Kol turns to Bonnie, she can see the grim horror on his face, "That man had just admitted to stalking you for weeks, watching you do in what you thought to be your private moments, and is planning to have you learn Expression magic, which is heavy dark magic for any witch to tap into, so you can raise Silas,"
"The man in the recording is Atticus Shane. He is a 30-year-old professor of the Occult at Whitmore College, with my Grams as his predecessor. When I found out that someone had taken over Grams's job, I went to greet them. Instead, I found him meeting with Connor Jordan who is a member of the Brotherhood of the Five."
Klaus reacted to that immediately and demanded, "There's a hunter of the 5 in Mystic Falls?"
Bonnie shook her head, "Currently he is 7 hours away living in an apartment an hour from Whitmore College so he can go to Shane because, despite being a member of the order, he knows knew about them or their purpose, nor did he know any of the other members except for Jeremy Gilbert, who he identified as a potential member when he was able to see his Hunter's Mark in Denver."
At everyone's shocked face, she shrugged her shoulders, "What? He's a potential threat and you think I won't have whatever information I can get off of him."
Sage, Klaus, and Kol's shocked faces melted into one of pride as they looked at the Bennett Witch.
Elijah is the one to address the Jeremy problem, "How do you know that your significant other is a potential member of the 5?"
Bonnie's nose scrunched adorably as her face contorted into one of confusion, "My significant other?"
"Your boyfriend, love," Klaus explains bitterly in a jealous tone of his witch being taken.
Bonnie chuckled, "Jeremy isn't my boyfriend. It was an act because he wanted to get the other founding families off of his back so he asked if I could pretend to be his girlfriend."
"Why would he need to get the other founding families off of his back?" Rebekah asks.
"Because he's gay," Bonnie stated.
"So your entire relationship..." Klaus trailed off not wanting to hope.
Bonnie continued, "Was fake."
When Klaus he looks at her again, his features are radiant with an emotion it takes her a moment to name.
Victory.
Bonnie was about to ask what he had won, when Rebekah demanded, "Why are you here Bonnie Bennett?"
This took the witch's eyes away from the hybrids as she turned to face everyone.
"The story I told you is not a story. It's history. The warlock's name is Silas, the handmaiden is Amara and the witch's name is Qetsiyah."
Finn is the one to blurt out in seriousness of the situation that they were facing but didn't let any of his anxiousness seep into his voice," You cannot be possibly telling us,"
Bonnie interrupts, "That there is a 2000 years old warlock who cannot be killed unless he takes the cure and is going to be raised unless we stop him? That is exactly what I'm telling you."
The room was silent for a few moments before Sage asked, "What is your plan then, Bonnie Bennett?"
"Step 1, explain to Mikaelson about Silas.
Step 2, get their help to defeat Silas.
Step 3, steal Kol and kill him myself if Mikaelsons don't believe the threat that Silas poses.
Step 4, let Shane think he's manipulating me when in reality I'm stealing all his artifacts.
Step 5, find the cave where Silas is from Shane, and stick the cure into him, therefore killing him and getting rid of the threat.
Step 6, go home and celebrate.
Step 7, have a bad guy like a murderer or rapist compelled to kill Connor, if he poses to be a bigger threat, to avoid Hunter's curse.
Step 8, celebrate again.
Step 9, kill Esther.
Step 10, Go to prom."
"Wait why the bloody hell would you need to kill our mother?" Rebekah shouted.
Bonnie turned to Klaus and asked, "Why didn't you tell them?"
"I thought you were going to tell them, Love."
"Why would I tell them? You're their brother."
"They wouldn't believe me."
"Why would you think they'd believe me then!"
"As wonderful and entertaining as this lover's quarrel is," Kol butted in, "Why don't you just tell us now?"
Bonnie let out a nervous chuckle as she realized she was arguing with Klaus in front of everybody.
"Long story short, your mom is trying to kill you but the crisis has been averted seeing as I stopped her spell last night. Klaus was with me if you want clarification."
"But she wants to be a family again," Rebekah denied not wanting to hear how their mother betrayed them again.
Bonnie shook her head, "Esther feels it's her job to get rid of you because she made you into what you are even though the spell wasn't even hers." she muttered the last part bitterly.
"What did you mean by that Miss Bennett?"
Bonnie winced realizing that they heard her as she momentarily forget that everyone in the room was a vampire.
"Ayanna Bennett was the one who gave the immortality spell to your mother but Esther had changed it to make you all faster and stronger and whatever. Ayanna Bennett had gotten that spell from her ancestor who is my ancestor who is the one who created true immortality - Qetsiyah Bennett, AKA the woman scorned."
Kol gasped dramatically as he turned to Bonnie and questioned, "Are you telling me that your Ancestor created us?"
Bonnie nodded, trying to keep the pride off of her face and smile.
Elijah is the one to ask, "What does it mean to be a true immortal then Miss Bennett since I'm presuming that you don't believe that we are?"
"Sure, you guys are somewhat immortal, but all you truly need to do is send a white oak stake down their hearts. And as for other vampires, you can get a twig or take off their ring or poison them with vervain. You guys have weaknesses.'
A.N Esther's version was inferior as proven by the fact that (a) Silas can walk in sunlight, (b) was impervious to any stake (even the White Oak), (c) immune to any damage through the heart, and (c) even unaffected by The Magic Purification Spell made by the Travelers which were all weaknesses of the Original Vampires.
Bonnie continued once she let it settle in that she knew that the white oak stake could permanently kill them.
"Immortals, however, did not have any weakness like this. Qetsiyah's spell was much more powerful and difficult than Esther's. Imagine how many sleepless nights and days it took her to construct the spell. Don't forget that immortality was a tale unheard of during those times, considering Qetiyah's spell is the oldest immortality spell that has been shown to exist in history. Meaning she didn't even have any kind of template to work on, no instruction guide. Only her own power.
The cure is the only known weakness of the genuine immortals: Silas and Amara. The cure is also the only known substance that can successfully undo true immortality and revert the un-dead back to a living, breathing human being without the need to channel any power source which is essentially a Resurrection. The Magic Purification Spell is inferior to The Cure because it kills a Vampire in the end once they become human."
Bonnie's tone had taken a tone of admiration as she spoke of her ancestor, "Sometimes I forget how powerful Qetsiyah was. Literally, almost everything can be traced back to her spells. Not to mention her blood alone was believed to be able to provide the same amount of energy as a comet or other celestial event. Which, in a witch's spell is A LOT."
Klaus looked both curious and intrigued when he asked, "Why is it that we've never heard of her before then?"
Why have they never heard of her, indeed?
If there is one thing Bonnie hates, it's how she and her bloodline has been degraded so many times.
Bonnie sighed as she realized she had a lot to live up to.
Not only from the original Bonnie but also her entire bloodline.
A hand came onto her shoulder making her come out of her thoughts and turn to see Klaus sitting next to her with concern in his eyes.
"Where did you go?"
"Just thinking about how to give you an answer to your question. I mean why have you never heard of her? Kol heard about Silas from his stupid cult but Qetsiyah is meant to literally be the most powerful witch in the history of everything. She is the source of immortality and the true progenitor of all vampires. Her knowledge of witchcraft and her raw magical power is so great and so intense that she is capable of essentially creating an army of superpowered beings that are nearly indestructible.
She can create new dimensions because she decides to, and she can ensure that she and every single person she cares about or who she merely wants to keep alive would live forever purely through her will. She redefines the history of the supernatural world and defies the laws of nature itself simply because, unlike nearly every other being that has ever lived, she can. But how has no-one heard her remains a mystery."
NOT.
Because, like so many of the female characters in The Vampire Diaries, her actions are purely driven by an obsession with a dude.
An obsession with an exceptionally unexceptional dude that doesn't even like her back.
A dude who is literally manipulating her into using her unimaginable power to allow him to spend eternity with someone else.
The most extraordinary woman in the history of the world's desire for some guy is literally the foundation of every supernatural event that has ever happened in the series.
But what makes Qetsiyah and her storyline with Silas and Amara all the more absurd is that the foundation of vampirism isn't just the obsessive romantic love of a very powerful woman.
It's that, once Silas and Amara betray Qetsiyah, the entire story transitions from the saga of a Qetsiyah being manipulated and used by Silas and Amara to the most extreme case of "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" that the writers could have possibly come up with.
Because the super-powerful Qetsiyah doesn't just sit around and let herself get played.
She creates the Other Side with the intention of trapping Silas and keeping him away from Amara at any cost, because if she can't have him, then no one can.
Honestly, this plot twist doesn't even stand up to the slightest amount of scrutiny because it's just so ridiculous.
Qetsiyah is a witch so powerful that it is beyond imagination.
Meaning that she is a character who could quite literally rule the entire world if she just decided that she wanted to.
But of course, she doesn't do that.
Because revenge for being jilted by her lover is the only thing she is willing to dedicate her life, her death, and all of eternity too.
Again, it is unfortunately unsurprising that The Vampire Diaries created the most powerful woman in the history of the world and made her into an unhinged harpy who is willing to completely devote her life to screwing over the guy who cheated on her and the woman that he cheated on her with.
But it's a perfect demonstration of how the series tends to look at its female characters entirely in relation to the men who do or do not love them, and it's sadly, pathetically contrasted to the way that they seem to see their male characters.
And yet it is not surprising in the slightest, because the entire story was seen through to a violently misogynistic point of view that barely seemed to acknowledge that women exist outside of their relationships with men.
Oftentimes, the women of TVD will fight, kill, rip themselves apart, and even die just for the chance that some guy might deem them worthy. And if they won't deem them worthy, then what is life even worth living for?
But in retrospect, it's incredibly disappointing that the most powerful person who ever existed STILL has no value for themselves or within the narrative without a male character to revolve around. Qetsiyah should have been the kind of character that even human history books wrote about, like Cleopatra.
A glass of water appeared in Bonnie's eye line.
She looked up to see Sage looking down at her with what she dubbed as a mom glare.
"Drink, you look like you're either going to pass out or lay flame onto the town."
Bonnie drank the cool water, letting it wash away the thoughts.
Rebekah had a concentrated look on her face as she remembered what Bonnie said earlier, "Bonnie you said that Elena was also one of the reasons you came here after you made her pass out. Why?"
Tired green eyes hardened like a warrior tired of battle but still fighting.
Bonnie stroked Elena's head and said, "This is the result of long-term compulsion,"
"Who compelled her?" Finn demands, with anger seeping out of his tone.
Bonnie only shook her head and smiled bitterly as she looked down at her sister in everything but blood.
"Two years ago, Stefan Salvatore had come to town and was the hot topic everywhere. Every girl wanted him and every guy wanted to be him. Caroline and I were happy that he had helped Elena find her smile again after her car crash. She was—she was fun. And she was wild. Braver than the rest of us. Always the first one to jump, from so much higher up than the rest of us ever dared go. She used to laugh a lot, and she liked to play games, and she smiled so much."
"What changed?" Rebekah is the one to ask.
"Her parents died and nearly took her with them. Do you know about the car accident? Sometimes I think I never understood Elena at all until after the funeral. I didn't know she could be sad. I didn't know she could keep secrets, or that she could lie, or that she could hurt someone else. I didn't realize her heart could ever go cold."
"A cold heart wouldn't be so eager to forgive you, or invite you in." Klaus is the one to reply.
Bonnie looked at him with understanding before she turns her head back to Elena laying on her lap.
"When I first made contact with Stefan, my hand had touched his when I gave him Elena's number before they started dating, I felt cold. I was trapped in darkness. It felt like how I imagined death to be. But when I went to sleep after he dropped me off home and his hand touched mine again, my dreams were covered in blood."
Bonnie's eyes took a faraway look as she was lost in her story, "Before I found out I was a witch, I always thought I had a strong gut feeling. I would find things that had been lost for weeks. I would remember things about my relatives that I've only met twice like Aunt Joanna, Lucy's mom, who likes to have her tea stirred anti-clockwise 3 times.
So I trusted my gut feeling. Not a week later, Stefan's brother Damon came into town and things went to hell. Literally. Caroline strives for knowledge and proves everyone wrong in the stereotype that she was a dumb blonde.
I mean on the first day of school, when Stefan came she found out a lot about him, in her words 'his name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue.'
Bonnie chuckled as she looked at Sage, "I was surprised she got that in one day when she replied that she found all of that between the third and fourth period."
Elijah is the one to comment with an impressed look on his face, "That is a short time to find out so much about a new person."
Bonnie only replies, "How do you think I found out so much about Connor?"
She continued, "Anyway, Caroline came over to dinner with Damon Salvatore wearing a hideous scarf around her neck,"
"He didn't," Rebekah hissed as she hated the dread that filled up inside her as Bonnie continued her story.
Bonnie only nodded her head solemnly, "Oh but he did. It was an accident, the way Caroline told us her story. She was drunk, a hard feat to accomplish as her tolerance levels have shot up ever since she woke up a vampire. But Caroline was no quitter and she needs the alcohol. It was a night when the three of us were spiraled out on the floor of Bonnie's room, sipping away at Rudy's dwindling collection of vintages.
Tears fill her eyes as she remembers how the other Bonnie and Elena had found out.
"I just thought, here's this sexy older guy and he's interested in me. I thought I was dreaming but it was really like a nightmare. Sometimes, late at night, I hear something scratch at my window and I think it's him and he's come back and he wants more from me. Like I hadn't already given him everything. My body, my blood, it wasn't mine when Damon was around."
"Caroline did he...?" Bonnie can't finish her question, covering her mouth like she's about to vomit.
"Blood isn't the only thing he used me for." She says quietly.
"Caroline," Elena whispers, her eyes misty. "Caroline, I'm so sorry."
"Why? You didn't assault me." Caroline takes another burning gulp, using the back of her hands to wipe her tears away.
"We could have done something," Bonnie says.
Caroline collapses into their arms, answering the unspoken question. "There isn't anything you could do. Elena's human and you're just learning how to be a witch. What could you have done?"
"What could we have done, she asked. I would have killed them. I was ready to kill for Caroline. But then it wasn't only Caroline I had to kill for. It was Elena as well."
Elena sank to her knees as she sobbed out her pain.
Caroline and Bonnie looked at each other in shock, not expecting this reaction from the doppelganger.
They had wanted to talk about Elena's behavior the past few months since the Salvatores came to town but she would just brush them off.
So Caroline knocked her out and took her to Bonnie's house where neither Salvatore was invited.
But when Elena woke up, it was like she had woken up for the first time.
She started to explain how she met Damon first before the car crash, and how he compelled everything away.
How he wanted her to be Katherine and get with Stefan but then go to Damon.
How Damon was dismayed to learn that he kissed Katherine instead of Elena and breaks Jeremy's neck in retaliation to Elena's rejection and would have killed Jeremy if it wasn't for the Gilbert Ring.
How Damon attempts to use compulsion to force Elena to kiss him but Elena was luckily wearing the vervain necklace which spares her from Damon's mind control and she answers the vampire's advances with a firm smack to his face.
How he compelled her not to ingest vervain.
Or when she found out that Stefan had stalked her for weeks after the car crash because she looked like Katherine.
How she was a 16-year-old girl thinking the guy she was dating was 17 when in reality he was over 163 years old, making her a minor in the situation.
How Stefan knew about Demon abusing Caroline but did nothing about it.
How Stefan is a ripper which meant he had no control over his bloodlust and still wanted to be with her knowing he could kill her at any time.
Elena couldn't take the pain anymore.
"She wanted to die," Bonnie whispers, "She feels violated and felt unsafe in her own mind and body. She feels like she can't make decisions anymore without having someone disagree with her or make her do something else. Elena was the most outspoken of us, always making her opinion known. But now, she feels like she can't leave the house anymore."
Klaus is the one who wipes away the tears that drop-down Bonnie's cheeks despite her still not looking away from the doppelganger that lays peacefully sleeping on her lap.
"What do you want us to do?"
Rebekah, surprisingly, is the one to ask this.
"I want you to forget everything that Elena has done to you,"
When Rebekah looks to protest, Bonnie insists, "Elena was compelled when she daggered you, Rebekah. Before she did, she was going to find out when Klaus daggered you so she could help you catch up on everything you missed. And I mean sleepovers at her house every night, going through movies, fashion, and music."
Rebekah's face fell into one full of vulnerability.
"She was going to do that for me?" she whispers, eyes trained on the doppelganger.
"She really liked having you as a friend, Rebekah. Elena cares about you."
Cares.
Not cared.
But cares.
As in Elena Gilbert cares about her in the present tense.
Rebekah found herself nodding in agreement to Bonnie's demand, "I will forget only if I get clarification from the doppelganger herself."
"Deal, but call her Elena. She hates to be referred to as the doppelganger."
Rebekah nods.
"What do you plan to do with the Salvatore brothers then love?"
Bonnie smirks at Klaus, stunning him momentarily, "By the time, I'm done with them, they'll be begging me to kill them."
Kol chuckles darkly and turns to Bonnie and asks, "May I join in with that plan?"
Elijah also extends the request.
"I got first dibs," Sage declares.
Klaus inquires, "What are the plans for the rest of your day, love?"
"All I have to do is call Caroline to tell her that you guys agreed to help, call Jeremy back to Mystic Falls, and make dinner to eat with Finn, Sage, Caroline, Elena, Tyler, Kol, Matt, and Jeremy to celebrate Finn and Sage reuniting, Kol joining our stray family and Jeremy coming back."
Klaus nods before stating, "Change of plans. You can have dinner here at the manor."
Everyone in the room turned to look at Klaus.
Sage glared at him.
But he paid them no mind, only staring at the witch in front of him.
"What do you mean?"
Klaus smirked at Bonnie this time, elaborating, "You can add another celebration to the list for dinner. As of tonight, you, Caroline, Jeremy, and Elena are all going to be staying here."