ADELAIDE KANE: MARIANNA VON SWARTZSCHILD
10TH CENTURY A.D
In a small hut a young 18-year-old witch with raven hair running down her back to her waist and brown-grey eyes, couldn't help but rub her shaky hands together nervously as she continued to pace up and down frantically.
She was still stuck in a state of shock.
Inhaling tightly, the raven-haired beauty turned to face her adoptive mother "Mother, please." She begged as she finally stopped her pacing.
She just couldn't comprehend how Esther could ask of her such a task.
It was against all laws of nature.
The spirits had forbidden it for a reason.
"You cannot ask this of me."
The elder woman sighed before standing from her seat. Circling the table she placed her hands on the girl's arms trying to calm her.
"Please, Marianna you are my last hope. The spirits have turned on me. I need your help."
Ever loyal to the spirits and Ayana Bennett, Marianna frantically started shaking her head as she pulled away. Given what Esther was requestioning of her, all she could do was stare at her in horror.
To write a spell like this?
What she was asking...it couldn't be...it was wrong.
"It's inhuman, it goes against all the laws of nature."
"These are my children, your siblings, Marianna." Esther argued causing the young witch to flinch ever so slightly as she thought about the recent loss of the youngest of their clan "I have already lost so much. You know that it's possible, you have the sight. Marianna, you know it can work, vampires exist because of demons, they contain immortality...you know replicating it is possible."
Cupping the raven-haired girl's face in her hands Esther smiled softly as her thumbs stroked Marianna's cheeks "You have immortality now, do you truly wish to be alone? You could have our family with you. You can help me. Please, I took you in, and raised you as though you were my own. So please, do this for me."
Marianna sighed deeply as her conflicted mind continued to battle against emotion and duty.
Pulling away from Esther, Marianna focused on the grimoire that had belonged to her birth mother.
A grimoire that was now covered in her brother Kol's notes.
If she did this she could lose everything, but if she didn't...she could lose the only family she had ever known.
"The spirits gave me immortality to help guide the future generations. Not to use my power for this."
Dark magic based on demonic energy would not end well.
Glancing out of the small makeshift window, Marianna froze as she spotted her siblings outside.
Her brothers and her sister.
The family that had taken her in. That had made her a part of their family.
Taking in a shaky breath the raven-haired witch sighed. They were her family.
Always and Forever.
They would come before her promise to the spirits.
They had to.
She owed them that at least.
"I cannot perform the spell." She whispered finally turning back to face Esther tears filling her eyes as she made her final choice.
A choice that would end up being the death of her good heart.
"But I will help you. I will write the spell, but first...I will need the Blood of The Slayer."
MYSTIC FALLS: PRESENT DAY
"Did Stefan tell you why he wanted us over?" Elena asked curiously as the two girls climbed out of Buffy's jeep.
Elena practically kissed the ground in relief, every time she got in a car with Buffy behind the wheel, it was truly an utterly terrifying experience.
Rolling her eyes at the way Elena was staring down at the floor in relief, Buffy just shut her door shut and focused on the question "Nope. Just said it was big with the importance. He sounded a lot like Giles...it was creepy."
Elena snorted slightly before moving to knock on the Boarding house's front door.
Not even a second after she had knocked, Damon opened the door smiling almost awkwardly as his eyes landed on Buffy.
Almost worried that the potion didn't work in the end.
Buffy, who was completely clueless about what had been revealed the other night merely groaned at the sight of Damon "We were summoned. Stef called, and said it was big with the drama and stuff."
Damon offered her a tight smile before opening the door and allowing the two girls to enter "Right this way." He told them, purposely having to avoid eye contact with the blonde.
While, yes, he had been worried Mary had screwed him over, knowing Buffy didn't remember was relieving yet strange at the same time.
Buffy, who hadn't noticed the way Damon was watching her, made her way into the hallway smiling as she spotted Stefan who quickly moved towards her.
Despite the fact that they were still broken up Stefan cupped her face in his hand examining the fading bruises carefully. After seeing Elijah hurt her he had been worried.
He had never seen Buffy take a beating like that.
"Are you okay?"
Buffy couldn't help but smile and reached up squeezing his wrist "I heal fast." She assured him before sighing.
He had that 'everything is bad' look on his face.
"What's the jest?"
Hesitating slightly, Stefan groaned before finally stepping away revealing Rose standing on the other side of the room nervously watching the two girls she had kidnapped.
Stefan quickly caught Buffy as she launched forward, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her against his chest to keep herself from killing Rose.
Elena's eyes widened in terror as she stared at the vampire "You!"
While Elena continues to stare in shock Buffy was still frantically trying to get out of Stefan's hold without hurting him "Does no one take my death threats seriously anymore?!"
**
"Ok, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years." Rose explained as she stood opposite the group, who were now all sat on the couches listening intently to the information she had managed to gather over the centuries.
Information about Elijah and the rest of The Originals.
"And I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap. It makes me envy the other kind. But Klaus, I know is real."
Klaus was apparently the one to fear. The big dog who everyone was trying to gain favor with by handing Buffy and Elena over.
Buffy couldn't help but frown in confusion. How was that the big bad's name?
Klaus didn't exactly sound terrifying.
"Klaus? Who names their child Klaus?
When no one seemed amused by her, Buffy rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Rose.
Rose sighed before turning to face Buffy, hoping that her next words would help her see the severity of their current situation "Apparently he's the one from the Fallen Slayer prophecy."
That got Buffy to freeze up.
Klaus was the one whose fate was rumored, at least according to Rose, to be entangled with her own.
The idea of her life being entangled with an Original Vampire did not summon a fuzzy feeling in her stomach.
Whoever this Klaus guy was, Mary had seemingly gone through a lot just to make sure Buffy and he never met.
Honestly, after what happened with the last prophecy she had popped up in Buffy had to admit she was nervous. More so because they knew nothing about The Fallen Slayer prophecy.
"What is the prophecy?" Stefan asked curiously, as he squeezed Buffy's hand softly. He had noticed the way her entire body had tensed up at the mere mention of this prophecy and he had to admit he wasn't doing much better.
The idea of Buffy being entangled with someone like Klaus... was terrifying.
Rose despite feeling for the clearly nervous blonde shrugged. The truth was she didn't know. That Prophecy had been nothing but rumors and echoes for centuries, only two people knew the truth and both refused to tell anyone "No one knows except Klaus and Marianna."
Buffy couldn't help but groan loudly.
This officially sucked, it wasn't even like she could look up this Prophecy in a book, the only people who knew were the guy currently gunning for her and the witch who had seemingly disappeared "I'm not liking the not knowing." She huffed as she leaned back in her seat "Last time I was in a prophecy...I died!"
Given that Damon had not known that piece of information, his glass of bourbon completely slipped from his gasp.
The glass shattered loudly on the ground as he continued to stare at Buffy.
She had died?! How the hell had he not known that?
Ignoring his shocked expression, Buffy turned back to Rose, intrigued to find out more about the mysterious Klaus "So...who is he?"
"One of The Originals." Damon explained, "He's a legend."
"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan added.
While Elena frowned in confusion, Buffy's eyes widened in realization "The Old Ones." She whispered under her breath drawing everyone's attention.
Not that she noticed, she was too focused on trying to remember back to her conversation with Chuck when she had been digging for information. Back when she still hadn't known that Stefan was a vampire.
Stefan had only received a tiny portion of the information she had learned that night about his species.
Elena frowned as she turned to her cousin "Buffy?" She prompted her cousin to continue.
Buffy sighed before glancing between the group, surprisingly even Rose's focus was glued to her now, eager to find out what she knew.
"They're your first generation. The witch who created your kind, they were her first. All vampires like you guys come from one of them."
Her words caused Damon to frown and he quickly turned to stare at her completely flabbergasted. How the hell did she know this? He had no prior knowledge about how his kind was created yet he had been a vampire for 145 years.
She had only known about his kind for about 6 months!
"What? We were created by magic?" He hadn't known that "Figured we were just the evolution of the lesser kind. Now you missy know it all, how do you know more than I do?"
Buffy just rolled her eyes "Because I always do. You are the guy that assumes something doesn't exist if you haven't seen it yourself. Most things are older than you."
Vampires like Damon were probably some of the youngest supernatural creations in existence when you put it in perspective with the rest of the supernatural world.
Damon glared down at her, offended by her commentary "Hey, I knew about demons."
"Because you were banned from the demon black market." Stefan piped in.
Buffy snorted.
Damon glowered at his smug younger brother "Shut it, hero hair. Buffy spill."
"I want the demon market story eventually." Buffy told him. She totally needed to hear another one of Damon's embarrassing demon stories.
Damon rolled his eyes, as he tried to hold back a smile at the excitement on her face "Just spill."
"Chuck the historian told me."
"Am I supposed to know who the hell that is?"
Stefan sighed "The demon Buffy tortured for information on our kind." He explained.
The idea of Buffy torturing someone caused a sly grin to cover Damon's face and he quickly turned back to Buffy, a bright smirk covering his lips "Ooh fun, I love it when Buff goes dark and tortures people."
In no mood to hear about how much of a turn-on, scary torture Buffy was to Damon, Elena purposely turned back to Rose who was still processing the magic revelation "Old Ones, The Originals? Like Elijah?" She asked, hoping to get them all back to the main topic at hand.
Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes at that "No. Elijah was the easter bunny compared to Klaus."
Giving the pixie-haired vampire a pointed look Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. In her opinion, Elijah was as far from a freaking bunny as possible "Says the girl who didn't get thrown through a ceiling and have her arm dislocated. Plus bunnies don't wear $2000 suits."
Rose sighed, before rubbing the back of her nervously, trying to think carefully of what to say next. She didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing and ending up with a stake in her heart "Klaus is the real deal."
"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan explained as he moved over to Buffy, standing directly behind her seat. As though preparing to hold her back from staking Rose.
Buffy nodded before rubbing her knees with the palm of her hands as she processed everything she had just heard. To say it was a lot was a bit of an understatement. She had already been forced to learn about one species' vampire history and now all of this with The Originals...it made her head feel like it was going to explode.
She had been kind of hoping Chuck was joking, because this was a lot to think about.
Plus, given that Elijah had been able to get into her head, it meant that the Originals might have a whole range of powers they had no idea about.
"Okay." She breathed after a good minute of organizing her thoughts "I think I got it. The oldest vampire in time from your species wants to sacrifice Elena on an altar... and then something to do with me. But we don't know what."
"Yes." Rose answered automatically only to roll her eyes as both Stefan and Damon piped up at the same time with a simple "No."
Buffy couldn't help but sigh as she glanced between the three vampires, all of which were saying different things "Okay now confused again."
"What they're saying is—" Damon piped up before glaring in Rose's direction "I mean if what she's saying is true..."
"Which it is." Rose argued only causing Damon to scoff and roll his eyes before gesturing to the blonde vampire Slayer "And you're not just saying it so Buffy won't kill you..."
"Which I'm not."
With that, Damon winced slightly before turning back to Buffy, despite wanting to reassure her everything was going to be okay...at this moment he couldn't "Then we're lookin' at a solid maybe."
Buffy couldn't help but exhale loudly in exhaustion. This was all getting so complicated, with all the supernatural drama they dealt with on a daily basis, Mystic Falls was seriously starting to feel like Hellmouth 2.0.
Running a hand through her straight blonde hair, she adjusted in her seat before thinking back to her phone call with Giles this morning.
He had spent weeks researching the sketch and finding out as much about this Sun and Moon Curse as possible. And when it came to history...she was full Team Giles on this, especially after he added that Angel had known about The Originals. Given Angel was over 100 years older than both Stefan and Damon, his information was a little more solid.
"From what Giles told me about the curse this morning, I think I'm Team Rose on this."
Rose smiled smugly only summoning an annoyed grumble from Damon who quickly moved to pour himself a drink.
Ignoring his brother's childish antics, Stefan quickly crouched down in front of the two girls, they had to be the focus right now.
They were the ones Klaus wanted.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Stefan reminded them, a small glimmer of hope filling his voice as he glanced over at Rose, in hopes she would agree "So no one else even knows that the both of you exist."
"Not that you know of." Rose argued bluntly.
Damon scoffed at the very unhelpful blunt tone. This was so not helping keep the panic to a minimum. They needed to not panic until they could get more information.
"That's not helping."
"She's right." Buffy told Damon, suddenly drawing a confused look from the blue-eyed vampire. Sighing under his gaze, Buffy pulled herself to her feet before pacing back and forth.
They had to think practically here.
They had to think smart.
Klaus was more powerful than all of them...they couldn't just ignore this. They had to prepare.
"Think about it Damon, Mary knows about us and she's not exactly predictable." She argued before gesturing to the pixie-haired vampire "Plus like Rose explained to me Mary changed fate, but that's it. This means that while no one else knows about Elena, everyone loyal to Klaus..."
As she trailed off Rose quickly stepped forward finishing the blonde's sentence for her.
Surprisingly the two of them were actually getting along. They were both practical thinkers.
The truth of the matter was Buffy was right.
Klaus had been looking for her for centuries.
He had never stopped.
"Will be searching for you. They have been for centuries."
Stefan clenched his jaw tightly as he circled around the couch. He didn't want this to spiral out until they knew more. Right now, they didn't even know if anything Rose was saying was the truth.
"Look, other than Mary I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. And she's a manipulative liar. We're talking about Mary's word, plus centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know what's real."
In the supernatural world, it tended to be the things that you assumed didn't exist that were the most powerful.
"He's real." Rose assured them with a terrified stutter "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus then you're an idiot."
"All right we're shaking." Damon joked "You've made your point."
Suddenly, Elena who had been extremely quiet during the whole debate grabbed her bag and stands turning to Buffy with a nervous look, clearly wanting nothing more than get the hell out of here "Buffy. Can we-?"
Buffy sighed not wanting to leave. However, she froze as she finally took in the expression on Elena's face.
The human doppelganger was completely freaking out and trying to hide it.
Plus, this conversation about where she was probably going to be sacrificed on an altar was clearly making it worse.
"Sure." Buffy breathed as she grabbed her bag, closely following her cousin.
As she moved to leave she paused as Stefan turned to her in confusion "Where are you going?"
He was worried.
Not only because of Klaus but the fact of the matter was Buffy was still injured and vulnerable. Until her stitches healed she wasn't at full power.
"School. We're late." Buffy explained before sighing and lowering her voice so Elena couldn't hear her "She needs a normal day. A human day. Just give us that."
With that, Buffy turned away and headed straight out the front door leaving the three vampires in her wake.
**
Elena was insane!
"You want me to what?!" Buffy screamed at the top of her lungs as she stared at Elena completely flabbergasted.
She had already agreed to Elena's crazy plan to skip school to speak to Katherine but that was mainly because she didn't want to go to her math class.
But what Elena was asking her to do next, was asking a lot.
Elena sighed as she and Caroline continued to walk down the steps toward the tomb while Buffy lagged behind.
She had expected Buffy wouldn't respond well to the request.
"I need you to keep Mary busy." She explained once again as Buffy finally dragged her feet over to the two girls so the three of them stood in front of the closed door of the tomb together.
"Look you said it, she's unpredictable. One minute she's Katherine's sidekick and the next she is throwing her under the bus. I need you to make sure she doesn't have a change of heart while I'm talking to Katherine."
Buffy shook her head, she didn't like any aspect of this plan.
Yes, while she was dying to talk to Mary to get some details, she was more concerned about leaving Elena alone with Katherine.
Just because there was a barrier between them it didn't mean that Katherine wouldn't find a way to kill her.
"How the hell am I even supposed to find her? Girl's a teleporter. Tel-eport-er. Meaning she could be on a beach in Spain at the moment for all we know."
Elena rubbed her hands together nervously because the fact was while Buffy was right, they all knew one thing...Mary was obsessed with keeping Buffy breathing "You know she's keeping an eye on you. So she's more likely to reveal herself around you. Plus, this means you can learn the rest of her story."
AKA: Finally learn about The Fallen Slayer Prophecy.
There it was.
Elena knew exactly how to hit Buffy's buttons. Buffy was dying to know more about Mary and this Prophecy and Elena knew that.
With Elena throwing that in her face Buffy literally couldn't say no. She wanted to know more, correction she needed to know more.
"I don't like this." She mumbled reluctantly before nodding in agreement "But I get it."
Buffy wasn't the only one who needed answers, Elena did too.
With the decision made, Buffy sighed running a nervous hand through her blonde hair before turning to Caroline with a pointed gaze.
If Caroline couldn't do her job all of this was for nothing "Remember your job right?"
Caroline nodded "I still don't know how I let you talk me into this. I'm a terrible liar."
"Look, just keep Stefan busy. He's been extra protective-y since the whole Buffy gets thrown through a ceiling thing."
"Stefan's gonna see right through me."
Buffy couldn't help but groan slightly, they didn't have time for Caroline to be unsure "Care, you're our friend. Do you promise?"
Caroline grumbled in annoyance at the statement. She hated it when the cousins double-teamed her with the girl code.
It was extremely cruel.
"Stupid cousins, a double whopper of the girl code. So not fair." She moaned before rolling her eyes in defeat "Fine. I'll do it."
"Good!" Buffy cheered before glancing over at Elena who gives her a small nod.
It was time to wake the sleeping kitten up.
Buffy inhaled tightly before stepping forward and carefully starting to lift up the tomb door.
With a small grunt, Buffy moved the door to the side allowing the girls to see inside the darkness of the tomb.
"Ew." She mumbled as she spotted her now dirt-covered hands. Groaning, Buffy wiped her hands on her jeans before glancing over at Elena nervously "Stay on this side. Don't do anything stupid. And remember Klaus only. Don't digress. I'm giving you a small period of time to do this then I coming back. You understand?"
Elena smiled, despite Buffy barely being 6 months older and her cousin, she always acted like a protective big sister.
"Yes." She promised before hugging Buffy tightly.
The truth was Buffy had the toughest job of them all, she would have to be in a room with Mary.
It was dangerous and terrifying, but a risk they had to take.
"Be careful."
**
Buffy couldn't help but groan loudly as she stood in the middle of the forest.
She absolutely hated this plan!
Not only would it be creepy speaking to the woman that jumped between looking like her and the sketch she had drawn, but she literally had no idea how the hell to get ahold of her.
Mary tended to just show up.
Kicking the dirt on the floor slightly Buffy inhaled tightly, praying that Elena was right, that Mary was spying on her like a creepy ex-boyfriend.
"Mary!" She screamed into the quiet of the forest.
She officially felt like a crazy person.
"Mary come on! I know you and your crazy bat ears are watching me."
Staring into the empty woods Buffy couldn't help but groan in annoyance.
There was nothing, nothing but silence.
The one time she needed that crazy witch to show up was the one time she wasn't making her appearance.
Scoffing Buffy turned to head back to the tomb only to freeze as she felt the wind pick up behind her before finally that dreaded English voice piped up.
"Bloody hell, your voice is loud. You called?"
Spinning around Buffy's eyes widened.
Leaning against one of the trees as she stared down at her nails was Mary.
The witch sighed at the silence coming from the blonde. Rolling her eyes in irritation the raven-haired beauty tapped her nails against her arms impatiently "Well? I haven't got all bleeding day."
Buffy rolled her eyes before grabbing her bag off the floor.
She was already ready for this conversation to be over.
"Okay, drama queen. Look, I have a little something for you."
With that, Buffy slowly pulled out two large books and held them up allowing Mary to read the titles.
"Von Swartzschild" Mary whispered before letting out a harsh laugh "Been a long time since I heard that name. What's the other one?"
Grinning at the curiosity in the witch's voice Buffy couldn't help but smirk "I figured you were not gonna tell me jack, so I have a gift for you."
Ever the bookworm Mary watched Buffy curiously "What is it?" She asked, genuinely curious. If there was anything that would capture her attention it was a book.
"This is The Codex." Buffy revealed holding back the urge to smirk as she spotted Mary's eyes widening in astonishment.
Mary was like a crazy old female witch version of Giles. It was beyond disturbing.
"Willow sent it to me when we clicked that I was involved in another prophecy."
Mary grinned as she stepped forward, her eyes glued to the book filled with dark history and prophecies "Color me intrigued. You have a deal. Gimme."
Buffy shook her head as the witch held out her excited hands like a small child.
If they were going to do this, they were doing it on her terms. She needed to hold the cards for once.
"Hold your horses. Talk. Then you get the book material."
Mary groaned loudly before shrugging. She had to hand it to the teenager, she was quickly learning how to manipulate her. Then again, if she got the book in the end she didn't much care.
Either way, Buffy finding out the truth wouldn't change fate.
She had tried 500 years ago yet somehow fate had found a loophole to get things back on course "Fine. Have it your way." She huffed before glaring around the forest in disgust.
She had literally grown up in these woods and she still detested them.
"But, first. If we're gonna talk, that's gonna happen somewhere not so...miserable and depressing."
When Buffy frowned in confusion Mary merely giggled in amusement before waving her hands.
The woods started to spin around them.
Buffy groaned as her vision starts to spin causing her to drop to her knees as the sudden need to puke filled her gut.
Holding back the urge to hurl, Buffy glanced up at Mary, however, before she could question it she froze as she spotted where they were.
Instead of the quiet forest surrounded by trees, Buffy found herself standing in an elaborate library with glass stain windows and white shelves stacked with hundreds of thousands of books.
Honestly, it was very Beauty and the Beast.
It was completely stunning.
"What the—Where are we?" Buffy asked as she stared around in confusion while using the glass table beside her to pull herself up to her feet.
With the way her head was still spinning she didn't trust that her knees were stable right now.
Mary smiled before walking around the wobbly Slayer and over to one of the bookshelves, her hand hovering over the written material.
"This is one of my favorite places. It's my library, well technically it's a pocket dimension but that's beside the point. I've been expanding my collection for years. Yet I have never been able to get ahold of that book. I figured this would be an appropriate location."
How Klaus and Elijah ever managed to keep things from the past with them at all times she would never understand.
The both of them had so much crap from the past thousand years.
Buffy took in several deep breaths before sitting down at the table and placing the Von Swartzschild book on the table.
Taking the book as a signal that Buffy wanted to get to business, the witch grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses before moving to take her own seat.
As Mary poured them both a glass of rosé, Buffy tapped her fingers nervously against the glass.
It was time to get some answers.
Pushing the book forward Buffy quirked an eyebrow at Mary as she raised her own wine glass bringing it to her lips "I've gone through this once or twice. There's not much. Only that your parents and siblings were killed in Europe and then you disappeared, assumed dead."
At the mention of her long-dead family, Mary sighed tapping her fingernails against the glass table.
The wine in her glass quickly vanished down her throat.
She had been barely five when her family was slaughtered but the memories still haunted her.
"It's a rather complicated and long story." She admitted with a small shrug forcing images of her mother and father's burnt bodies from her mind "A thousand years ago, when I was barely five, my parents and siblings were killed in a fire. In what is now known as Germany. I survived because my father's sister Akina got me away shortly before she died of the plague. She put me on a boat and I went to the New World."
Buffy frowned slightly as she watched the witch carefully, she could almost see emotion appearing in her eyes at the mention of her parents...almost.
Sighing she sipped her own wine before leaning forward. She could not feel compassion for the witch right, there were just too many questions.
It was time to get the rest of the story.
"What about you and the Originals?"
**
SPAIN: 1252
"Make it stop!" Marianna screamed loudly, her voice echoing through the castle her family was residing in.
She just couldn't get the voices in her head to stop screaming.
It was pure agony.
Groaning in agony the witch stumbled to the ground crashing painfully to her knees as her hands latched onto her hair, yanking on the ends tightly.
Honestly, ripping her hair out would be more pleasurable than this.
The images being forced through her mind made her brain feel like it was going to explode and crack open her skull.
Just as blood started to leak from her nose, dripping onto the ground, the doors to her chambers slammed open.
"Marianna!" Elijah exclaimed as he rushed into the room only to freeze as he spotted the witch on the ground crying out in agony.
Her eyes were completely white, her normal brown irises gone from sight.
Before he could move to comfort the immortal witch his youngest sister Rebekah pushed past him, rushing straight over to the witch who crawled into her arms.
"Bekah." Marianna sobbed as she clutched onto the blonde vampire, trying to force the images from her mind.
There was so much pain.
So much death.
"Shh." Rebekah soothed as she ran her hands through the witch's hair, trying her best to comfort her.
Not that there was much she could do.
Spotting her brother's confused gaze Rebekah sighed "She's having a vision again. The Spirits are still upset with her for helping Mother. This is her punishment. The visions used to be painless. Now they're excruciating for her." Rebekah explained as she continued stroking her elder sister's back, trying to comfort her.
Elijah sighed in worry before crouching down beside his two sisters "What do we do?"
There was nothing they could do but be there.
Placing Marianna's head in her lap Rebekaj allowed the witch to squeeze her hand as she focused on Elijah "There's nothing to do. We must let it pass."
While her siblings debated how to help her, Marianna was still stuck.
Unable to tear herself from the visions.
Visions of a girl.
A girl with blonde hair and green eyes, with insane amounts of power. It was like nothing she had ever felt before.
"I may be dead. But I'm still pretty."
"She is The Slayer."
"Is this Hell?"
Through all the images and echoes of unfamiliar voices filling her brain Marianna couldn't help but frown as she spotted a very familiar face appear at the end.
A face she knew all too well.
Niklaus.
As her brown eyes finally returned to normal the raven-haired witch despite her weakened state pulled herself to her feet, stumbling over to her desk.
Instantly she reached for paper and ink.
"Mari?" Rebekah whispered "What is it? What did you see?"
Marianna merely ignored her sister. She could feel herself fading, her body desperate to sleep but she had to finish.
She had to write it down before she forgot.
She had to write down The Prophecy she had seen, even if the spirits were screaming at her to stop.
"What are you doing, Marianna?" Elijah tried but the witch merely shook her head as she turned back to her siblings, shoving the paper into Elijah's arms "Get Niklaus." She whispered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she finally collapsed into Rebekah's arms.
As Marianna fell into a deep slumber, Rebekah sighed in worry before carefully lifting her up and placing her on the bed.
"Marianna, poor girl." She whispered as she pushed the hair out of her sleeping sister's face before glancing back at Elijah who was still staring down at the paper intently.
"Dolore stimulatus cum a mortuis resurrexerit" Elijah read in disbelief.
This couldn't be right.
Why would Marianna write this?
It made no sense.
"What does that mean?" Rebekah asked.
"A Slayer risen from death."
**
PRESENT-DAY
"Wait-hold up." Buffy cut off Mary's little tale as she held up her hand silencing the witch who rolled her eyes in annoyance at the interruption but still moved to refill their wine glasses.
Alcohol was definitely going to be needed the deeper they got into this.
There was no way to do this sober.
Ignoring the witch's glare Buffy leaned back in her chair staring at her in shock as she took the newly refilled glass of wine.
It was weird enough knowing that Mary had considered Elijah her brother and whoever this Rebekah chick was but...she had the vision 800 years ago.
It was insane.
"The vision of me? That got you cursed. You had that 800 years ago?"
Mary merely shrugged as she tapped her nails against the glass table "Correct, though...technically it wasn't the vision that got me cursed and hexed. Witches are petty, I will get to that. Back in the 13th Century, I still had the sight. I saw a prophecy. I saw fate, Niklaus's fate. Which as I learned that night, was entangled with yours."
At her words, Buffy's jaw dropped open.
She so did not like the sound of that.
"Huh?"
**
SPAIN: 1252
"What's the bloody hell is going on?!"
The sound of Niklaus' roaring voice, caused Elijah to sigh as he continued to hold a wet cloth to Marianna's forehead, while Rebekah sat beside her running a hand through her hair.
"She had a vision, Niklaus." Elijah explained as he pulled away from the witch placing the cloth back in the bowl of water before facing his brother.
Klaus merely rolled his eyes, suddenly wishing that he had sent Marianna off with Kol.
He was getting really sick of Marianna and those visions. To him, they were nothing but desperate cries for attention.
"And your point is?"
"This one had something to do with you."
At that, Klaus paused, his eyes widening.
Maybe she wasn't so useless after all.
"Was it to do with the curse? Has she seen a doppelgänger?"
"No." Marianna whispered as she slowly rose from the bed taking in a shaky breath. She was still weak, and Rebekah was having to hold her up just to keep her knees from buckling.
Squeezing her sister's hand softly the witch offered her a weak smile before turning to face the impatient vampire who was glaring at her as he tapped his foot "This is not about the doppelgänger." Inhaling tightly she sighed as her brown eyes meet his curious blue "Nik, I saw fate, your fate. In the future, there will be a young woman, very beautiful and strong. A Slayer."
At the mention of the word, Slayer Klaus' jaw clenched tightly.
They had enough run-ins with Slayers in the past. They were a pain in the ass and not as easy to kill "Am I to be killed by some bleeding slayer?"
Marianna shook her head in amusement at his automatic reaction. She wasn't surprised by his response, she had expected that he would jump to the worst-case scenario.
Closing her eyes she allowed her mind to drift back to the vision.
The girl, her resurrection, and then...her with Niklaus.
"No. This Slayer, she will be different. She's a Slayer who has experienced death."
"What is some important about the dead Slayer then?"
"The spirits showed me a prophecy." Marianna explained as she carefully walked over to her desk. Taking a seat she focused on her brother, whose's eyes were glued to her.
"You will find the Slayer on the Hellmouth and the two of you will be the most powerful force on this planet. You will drink from her when you break the curse and it will bind the two of you. And once the time comes your power will double as will hers. The two of you together will be an unstoppable force."
At her words, Klaus let out a small breath. That sure as hell wasn't what he had expected but slowly a small smirk covered his face.
With a Slayer by his side, he would be untouchable.
"A Slayer for my Queen."
Marianna couldn't help but gulp nervously as she twisted her fingers "Nik, the Slayer...her clothes were not of this time. She hasn't even been born yet. And won't be for a long time. But... the spirits said she will be the strongest Slayer to ever have lived. She will not join you easily."
Klaus merely shrugged, a Slayer was still a woman and he had a way with women "Well I'm a rather charming man. I'll convince her. Show me what you saw."
His request caused her to gulp and quickly focus down on her fingers like they were the most interesting thing in the world.
She couldn't do that.
In all honesty, she shouldn't have even told him about the prophecy, to begin with.
She couldn't risk him finding out what she looked like, he would go mad searching for her.
Just like he had the doppelgänger.
The Spirits had made it perfectly clear that she was to never let him find this girl or there would be consequences. She wasn't allowed to let the prophecy come to pass.
If The Fallen Slayer and The Hybrid united...it would mean the end of everything.
They had sent her a warning.
Wanting her to stop the Prophecy not help her brother learn about it.
At her silent refusal, the soon-to-be hybrid glared down at the witch taking a threatening step forward "Tell me!"
"I can't!" Marianna exclaimed as she finally glanced back up at him. If she told him, the witches would take her magic, she would start aging rapidly and then be trapped on The Other Side "The spirits say if I show you, that's it. They'll be done with me."
Despite her words, Klaus's glare never faltered. Instead, he sped forward and suddenly Marianna found herself pinned up against the wall of her room, a tight hand wrapped around her throat.
"Show me!"
"Nik! Let her go!" Rebekah begged as she tried to intervene only to have Klaus shove her back toward Elijah.
"Niklaus!" Elijah warned only to be shocked as Klaus launched the witch across the room.
In less than a second Elijah's body collapsed to the ground with a snapped neck.
"Do not interfere Rebekah, or there will be a dagger in your heart." Klaus hissed as he shot a glare at his youngest sister before moving back over to Marianna who was laying on the floor, covered in glass from where she had crashed into the mirror.
Wincing the witch tried to crawl forward only to cry out as Klaus kicked her in the stomach harshly.
As she cried out in pain the vampire merely pressed his foot against her neck cutting off her oxygen supply.
Just because she didn't age, didn't mean she couldn't be killed. Especially now that she had broken the Spirits rules by telling Klaus about The Fallen Slayer.
Mary's eyes widened as she felt the life being drained out of her.
He was enjoying this, she could see it in his eyes, his temper had always been overwhelming. Like a sickness. He enjoyed the power he held over others, including his own family.
Unlike them, she wasn't truly immortal and he just loved to remind her of that.
As she felt herself growing weaker Marianna panicked.
She didn't want to die, she wasn't ready.
"I'll do it." Marianna coughed, gasping in relief as Niklaus removed his foot from her throat.
Gasping loudly she turned onto her side coughing up blood violently onto the floor before allowing Rebekah to help her back up to her feet.
Smirking at his win over the powerful witch Klaus clicked his fingers "Come on. On with it."
Marianna glared at him but walked over to the table and lit a candle. She would have to find a way to outsmart the spirits quickly.
Because once she did this...that was it, her time was short.
Closing her eyes tightly she took in a shaky breath, her hands resting underneath the burning candle. Wax started to drip onto her palm before she took Klaus's hands in her own.
"Facies tempus locus." She chanted "Statua tulit legendo Hectorem pugnantem indicaverunt mihi."
Klaus's eyes widened as he suddenly found his mind filled with images of a girl with blonde hair and green eyes.
A girl that would battle terrifying foes yet somehow defeat all the odds and survive.
A Slayer that would die yet be returned to the land of the living.
Finally, an image of himself and the girl filled his mind, the two of them glaring at each other from across a room.
Yet despite the glares being exchanged, his eyes were completely focused on those Forest Green eyes.
Eyes that belonged to his mysterious Slayer.
Mary gasped and stumbled back, blood pouring from her own brown eyes.
"Are you satisfied now?" She snapped harshly as she stumbled over to Rebekah.
A sly smile covered Klaus's lips "Very much so."
**
PRESENT-DAY
"So that's why he wants me?" Buffy whispered as she stared up at the witch.
She had to admit she had been stunned to silence by the brutality of what had happened.
The idea of a man like that coming for her and Elena...she had to admit it terrified her.
"Because you told him that he had to drink from me and whatever?"
Mary sighed clenching her jaw tightly as she thought back to the pain Klaus had inflicted upon her that day. It had destroyed their relationship for good.
They had always argued even as children, but that had been her last straw.
There had been a time in her life when she would have done anything for her family. It was the whole reason she spent two hundred years writing a spell that would break the curse.
"Precisely. Klaus was obsessed with the idea of power. Knowing that his power would double, made him that much more determined to break the curse."
"The Sun and The Moon Curse."
Mary couldn't help the proud smile that covered her lips. She certainly hadn't expected Buffy to know about that.
At least not yet.
"And here I thought you weren't a book girl."
Buffy rolled her eyes, she was not in the mood for banter. Crossing her arms over her chest she pushed back to the story "So if you the vision didn't cause the curse and the hex, what did?"
"I was never meant to tell Nik." Mary admitted with a sigh. The Prophecy was beyond complicated, far more than that one vision had truly led her to believe.
Though Buffy would learn the pieces as time passed on her own.
"The second he saw my vision, I felt nothing but fire."
**
SPAIN: 1252
Marianna let out a loud scream as she stumbled through the halls of their home in a desperate attempt to get to the attic.
An attic she vowed never to enter.
But alas she didn't have a choice. It was the only way.
As another wave of pain hit her the raven-haired beauty panicked as she spotted the skin on her hands slowly turning to a weak grey.
She was running out of time.
The magic was rushing out of her body.
"Please. Please. Don't abandon me." She screamed at The Spirits as she shoved open the attic door and stumbled inside.
"You have taken advantage of the gifts we gave you." A voice she recognized as Ayana whispered in her mind "Don't worry sister once we take your magic, you will fade quickly."
"No!" Marianna cried in refusal before moving over to the shelf where her spell books were.
Ignoring the hundreds of books she and Kol had gathered over the past 200 hundred years, she raised her hand towards the black metal box on the top shelf "Recludo."
At her words, the case snapped open and a large book floated into her hands.
Staring down at the Grimoire, Marianna couldn't help but gulp. When she had acquired this she had been warned to lock it away.
Expression was too dangerous for any witch.
Ignoring her fear the witch opened the book her eyes falling on the warning:
'Almost limitless power, strengthened by sacrificial magic. It will darken your soul...proceed with caution!'
Clenching her jaw the young witch allowed tears to stream down her face as she listened to the screaming The Spirits in her mind. All of them were begging her not to give in to this abomination.
"I'm sorry." She cried "I don't want to die."
With her final decision made, Marianna placed her hands over the book and closed her eyes.
Black mist slowly flowed from the book and into her, sending veins of darkness through her entire body.
Waves of power rushed through her...it was almost euphoric.
However, in between the power, there was another rush of pain causing her to let out a howl of pain as what felt like fire burned through the flesh on her face.
It felt like pure hell fire had been pressed against her skin, flesh melting and smoking.
"Miss Marianna? Are you okay?" One of the servants called as he entered the attic freezing as he spotted Marianna leaning over a book with her eyes clenched shut.
Shaken out of her frozen stake, Marianna clicked her neck loudly as she stared down at her hands.
The grey skin had returned to normal.
Inhaling tightly she spun around to face him causing his eyes to widen as he spotted her face.
Half of her face was now completely covered in fresh burnt skin and blood.
Her eyes were completely black, void of all emotion.
"I will be." She whispered before raising her hand causing the black mist to exit her hand and move toward him. Twisting her wrist she smirked as his neck snapped loudly echoing through the house.
"Sanguinem quam potentiae consulebant. Sacrificium sanguis pro virtute." She whispered smirking as his life force exited his soul and flowed right into her causing her to exhale in relief at the wave of power that filled her chest.
"That's better."
**
PRESENT-DAY
"You gave into darkness?"
Mary shrugged slightly as she downed her glass of wine "It was that or die." She explained simply, as though sacrificing an innocent human was nothing more than an inconvenience.
"The spirits took my magic, as well as the immortality they granted me. I had been alive for almost three hundred years, I would have died the moment the rest of the magic left my body. I did what I had to do to survive. Choosing to do that is what caused the hex. A final punishment before I cut ties with the spirits."
Spotting the look Buffy was giving her Mary rolled her eyes before refilling her drink "But unfortunately they cursed me too, hence why I have not been able to fix this." She gestures to the burns on her face In order to break it "They mocked me by making sure the only glamor I could use would be a constant reminder of what I had done. To break the curse, I would need a specific spell, which was stolen, and blood from the five magical families who were responsible for the hex."
It was a lot, especially given that the last living member of one of those witch lines worked directly for Klaus.
Getting to Maddox let alone his blood was not going to be easy.
Buffy, who was still taking in all of this information, gulped as her brain tried to process everything. It was a lot and it wasn't exactly simple "So what's the darkness thing that comes out of them?"
"It's their life force." Mary explained "That's how I lived for all those years after I lost my immortality. Human sacrifice allows me to not only use the dark magic but allows me to keep myself young."
At the small smug smile that crossed Mary's lips, Buffy couldn't help but clench her jaw "You're disgusting."
Mary chuckled "You would see it that way. But the magic I use has a price. Not only does it darken your soul...but like with being a vampire, there is a hunger. For me the hunger is power. I learned to adjust over the years. Control it. I created the amulet to store life forces and lost souls so that when I was weak I could recharge. But that takes time...weeks at certain points. When I am in a bind or desperate I need to perform a large sacrifice. The larger the spell, the more energy I need. The amulet just means I don't have to do it as often anymore. Plus, I insured that if I was ever killed my life force would be tied to the amulet. Whoever had the necklace only has to say a short phrase. Basically, my life force goes into the necklace, and then I am reincarnated once the magic inside recharges me into a living force. It's rather complicated, the specifics of it."
There was a long pause of silence between the pair before Buffy quirked an eyebrow at the witch.
If Mary was so close to The rest of the Originals, not just Klaus why leave them?
Why had she been with Katherine for all this time?
"Why aren't you with the Originals anymore."
"Well, after I lost my power and my face, let's just say I wanted Klaus to pay. But I wasn't able to receive my revenge until the doppelgänger appeared."
Slowly Buffy's eyes widened in realization "Katherine."
"Yes. Goes back to England, 1492."
**
ENGLAND: 1492
"Katerina you must run." Marianna warned Katerina as she pulled her outside of the mansion and into the gardens.
Her eyes quickly scanned for any signs of the guards, they didn't have long until the others realized the doppelganger was not in her room.
Katerina couldn't help but shake her head as she stared at the witch in terror.
She didn't understand what was happening. Marianna had grabbed her from her chambers without so much of a word.
"I don't understand. Marianna, what is happening?"
"You need to run." Marianna repeated more urgently.
She didn't have time to argue with the human. It wouldn't be long before Klaus or Elijah noticed the doppelganger's absence.
"Klaus is going to hurt you. He is going to kill you. So you need to run!"
At the witch's desperate words, Katerina gasped in terror, tears filling her eyes as she realized just how much danger she was in.
Marianna was her most trusted friend here, if what she was saying was true then she didn't have a choice.
"Where am I supposed to go?"
"The woods." Marianna whispered as she wrapped a shawl around the Bulgarian girl's shoulders before pulling the hood up, making sure to conceal her face "Trevor. He will find you. He will get you to safety then I will come and find you. I promise."
Katerina took in a shaky breath before pulling the witch into a tight hug. She couldn't help but be grateful. Marianna was going against her own family and risking her own life to protect her.
"Thank you, Mari."
Marianna smiled as she pushed the curly hair out of the girl's face before squeezing her hand "You're welcome. Now go. I will deal with Niklaus. Go!"
With that, Marianna watched Katerina run into the forest.
Once the girl was gone a small smirk formed on her face as she heard the yelling coming from inside their home.
Strolling back inside she chuckled as she spotted Niklaus in the middle of destroying the doppelganger's room "Missing something, brother?"
At the sound of her voice, the vampire spun around rage filling his eyes as he spotted the all-knowing smug look on Marianna's face.
Letting his anger fuel him he sped over to the witch grabbing her by the throat "Where is she?!" He howled as he slammed her up against the wall "Where is the doppelgänger?!"
Rolling her eyes at his violent display Mary merely waved her hand sending Klaus tumbling into the opposite wall before fixing her ruffled dress "She's gone. You'll never find her, Nik."
"Why would you do this to us!"
Marianna scoffed.
He always seemed to forget the hell he put her through. If something didn't directly benefit him then nothing else mattered.
"Why?! Our entire childhood you hated me! Don't pretend you didn't I could see it on your face. You took everything good from me yet I forgave you because you are my brother but what happened in Spain, what I saw in your head when I showed you my vision... because of you, I lost everything! I lost the last shred of who I was. And yet you expect me to be grateful! I am a monster because of your impulsive behavior!"
With that, she twisted her wrist causing Klaus's leg to snap. The sound of his bone snapping filled the room with his cries of agony.
Raising her hand the flesh on the right side of his face started to burn and blister.
She wanted him to feel all of the pain she suffered because of his selfishness.
The brother who she had saved from their father so long ago was gone.
"But now that I've embraced the monster, the darkness. All I want is to make you suffer. I'm going to take away the things you want most. Starting with the doppelganger. And then I'm going to make sure you never find the Slayer."
At the mention of his Slayer, the vampire growled wanting nothing more than to rip her head from her body.
"You're not strong enough to do that."
"But I will be." She taunted before using her magic to snap his neck like a twig "I'll be seeing you, Klaus."
**
PRESENT-DAY
"You're the one who saved Katherine?"
Mary chuckled softly at Buffy's question as she remembered back to just how easy it was to make Katherine run.
It had barely taken a slight nudge before she legged it out of the woods.
"Klaus wanted to drain every ounce of blood out of her body on some alter. I knew she would be terrified. One push and she ran."
At the mention of what Klaus had planned for Katherine, Buffy couldn't help but gulp.
Because Katherine had run, her fate was now Elena's.
Klaus was coming for Elena.
Taking in a shaky breath Buffy grabbed the bottle of wine, bringing it to her lips taking three deep gulps "That's what he wants Elena for?"
"Bingo." The witch breathed as she moved to take her seat once again "Katherine didn't want that for herself. She was going to run no matter what. I just made sure that I would be the one she trusted."
Buffy rolled her eyes, she had to admit Mary really was the more manipulative of the two.
But she had 1000 years of practice to be fair.
"So what was your master plan for revenge then?"
"I changed fate."
**
BULGARIA: 1492
Approaching the small cottage, Marianna groaned as the scent hit her full force.
Death.
Climbing off her horse, she couldn't help but flinch. The Petrova home was covered in bloody corpses. All of them were ripped apart viciously, torn to shreds, and tortured.
Definitely Klaus.
"Dear Lord." She breathed as she picked up her skirt and stepped over the bodies shaking her head in disgust "Subtle as always Nik." She whispered in disbelief before making her way toward the cottage.
Pushing open the door the raven-haired witch rushed into the bedroom and sure enough, pinned to the wall with a sword embedded through his chest, was Katerina's father.
Laying on the bed as she sobbed over her mother's corpse... was Katerina.
"Katerina."
Katerina gasped in terror before sighing in relief as she spotted the witch. I
Instantly a loud sob escaped her and tears continued streaming down her face as she finally broke.
"Mari." She cried "He killed them."
Marianna sighed softly before moving over to the newborn vampire and wrapping her arms around her, allowing the Petrova girl to sob into her chest as she grieved "I know darling. I'm so sorry."
**
PRESENT-DAY
Klaus slaughtered everyone.
Buffy felt like she couldn't breathe as she listened to Mary's tale.
Pulling herself up to her feet she stumbled away from the table her hands shaking violently. Klaus had killed Katherine's entire family just to get back at her for escaping and now Klaus was after her and Elena.
It wasn't just them in danger.
It was their family and everyone they loved.
Klaus would kill them all to get to the two of them.
Mary tilted her head curiously as she watched the blonde have a silent panic attack "You're realizing now. Aren't you?" She whispered softly as she watched Buffy closely "What my brother will do to get to you and Elena? I am not trying to upset you, Darling. You should not underestimate him. If Elena runs Klaus will kill your entire family. And you're already short on members as it is."
"Shut your mouth" Buffy hissed taking a threatening step forward.
Mary sighed quickly raising his hands in surrender.
After living for so long and being a part of a family that was constantly threatening each other, she forgot that some families didn't stab their siblings for fun.
"Apologies. Now...keep an open mind on what I am about to tell you next."
**
BULGARIA: 1493
One year.
That was how long they had spent evading Klaus' capture.
Katerina and Marianna had been running and hiding in the shadows until today.
They had needed time in order to start getting their plan in motion, hence why they had finally returned to Bulgaria.
As they approached the small village Marianna sighed nervously, twisting her amulet between her fingertips.
This was going to be the most powerful spell she would probably ever cast.
All it would take was one little slip-up and all of the death would be for nothing. They were literally about to sacrifice all of the elders living in this village and Marianna wanted to make sure it was worth it.
She was leaving over 30 children with no parents so this had to go perfectly.
"This will work." Marianna whispered to herself as she tightened her grip around the yellow amulet "We will get our revenge, Katerina."
"He will kill us." Katerina argued.
Marianna scoffed "He can try. But once we are done here we will disappear. I promise you. I won't let him hurt us."
Katerina sighed as she turned to glance at the village, her eyes falling on the group currently dancing around the bonfire "How is sacrificing a large village going to hurt him exactly?"
"Their deaths will give me the strength to take away the thing Klaus wants most. The children are safe?"
"Yes, compelled with new families."
Marianna let out a relieved breath. Her conscience was already going to take a hit by doing this but at least she could live knowing that the kids of the village would never remember the horror of what would soon occur.
The once innocent Katerina slowly broke out into a smile before shrugging, better they die than the two of them "Well then I guess we better get to work."
With that, Katerina bent down and lifted the burning torch, holding it against one of the houses, causing it to catch fire.
As the flames started to spread around the village, Marianna allowed her eyes to flutter shut as her fingers started to twist into the dirty floor.
Magic sparked through the air, fire rushing through the entire village.
Destroying everything and everyone it touched.
Screaming quickly filled their ears.
Katerina turned to the witch nervously "You ready?"
Nodding Marianna inhaled tightly before raising her hands towards the burning-to-death screaming villagers, taking it all in, taking their sacrifice in, allowing the power to completely consume her.
Slowly as red and black veins worked their way up her arms, Marianna's eyes filled with darkness.
"Saeva mutari alter velit . Tolle quod infernum sit petere licentiam occulit. Sinite illam ut effugiet eam fortunam habituros."
A loud roar of thunder and lightning spread through the air.
"It shall be done." Marianna whispered before darkness consumed her and she collapsed into Katerina's arms.
**
PRESENT-DAY
Buffy felt physically sick as she stared at Mary in horror.
She had sacrificed an entire village!
Knowing what she had done just to spite Klaus...Buffy couldn't even stomach the sight of the witch.
"You sacrificed an entire village just to get back at Klaus?"
The accusation in Buffy's voice caused Mary to roll her eyes. It was 500 years ago, all guilt about that experience had disappeared centuries ago.
"Stop with judgy eyes. I did what I had to do."
"You're a psychotic lunatic bitch."
"Yes. Yes, I am. Immortality does that to you." Mary admitted without argument.
Immortality was a gift just as much as it was a curse. No matter how hard you tried to remain good or stick to your morals, it was impossible to do forever.
As much as she had hated performing that spell, she hated it even more now. Because it had clearly all been for nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that Elena and Buffy were cousins her plan would have been perfect.
She had just been a little bit unlucky in that aspect but she had still managed to delay the prophecy.
Buffy glared at her before looking at her phone to check the time. She was done with this, she didn't care if Elena was still speaking to Katherine, she just couldn't stomach being here any longer "We're done here. Take me back."
Rolling her eyes the raven-haired witch merely shrugged "Fine." She said without argument before waving her hand causing the room to yet again spin before the two found themselves back in the heart of the woods.
As Buffy grabbed onto a tree trying to get her head to stop spinning the taller witch merely held out her awaiting hands "My book please."
Buffy sighed before standing up straight and tossing the book over.
Before Mary could take the book and disappear though, Buffy cleared her throat, rubbing her hands together nervously.
Mary had changed her fate...changed something about her life to try and stop this Prophecy so she never met Klaus.
She had to know what had been changed.
"What did you change?" She asked causing the witch to up "You said that the spell changed my fate. What exactly did you change?"
Honestly, Mary didn't want to tell her.
500 years ago she had no idea what would actually cause Buffy to be forced to leave the Hellmouth but once she had discovered what her spell had done, the guilt kicked back in.
If she had known what the spell would end up doing to Buffy she never would have done it.
"I took away the thing that bound you to the Hellmouth. The only thing that could possibly keep you there." Mary admitted softly as she placed the book in her bag before offering Buffy a remorseful look "But trust me if I had known 500 years ago that it would lead you to the doppelganger I would have done something else. If I had known...what I did to you...I never meant for that to happen."
There was a long moment of silence as Buffy thought back to her last day in Sunnydale.
Acthla, The Curse, and finding her mother.
Her mothers very sudden death.
The sickness had seemingly come out of nowhere.
Instantly, Buffy's heart started pounding against her chest at a frantic speed and she stumbled back her back slamming into a wooden tree.
"No, no, no, no." Buffy stuttered as she stared up at Mary through glassy eyes "Please tell me my mom didn't get sick because of your spell?"
Mary inhaled tightly before letting out a guilty breath, she had never meant for this to happen.
"I am truly sorry. I didn't know that it would cause the illness in your mother to spread faster, I just knew that the spell would force you away from the Hellmouth."
Buffy crumbled to the ground no longer able to feel her own legs "Why--why do you need me away from the Hellmouth?"
"I needed you hidden." Mary corrected "I knew he would look for you there but had I known that the Doppelgänger would end up being your cousin and that I would involuntarily make finding you both easier for him...I never would have done it and you would have had 3 more years with her."
Three more years.
Buffy wanted to scream, she could have had three more years with her mom. They could have fixed their relationship instead of their last ever conversation resulting in a massive fight.
"Why did you want me hidden?"
"Klaus will break the curse."
The certainty in Mary's voice instantly caused Buffy to panic "No." If Klaus broke the curse then that would mean Elena would be dead.
She couldn't let that happen, she refused to let that happen!
Mary sighed before moving to crouch down in front of the teenager handing her a tissue "He always wins. And when he does, he will take you from this town and try and fix what I broke. To reset the path I tore you from. I don't care if the curse is broken. That means very little to me it always has. It might make him less of a paranoid twat."
"You're not answering my questions." Buffy whispered through her tears as she glared up at the witch in utter frustration.
She was avoiding the questions, circling around them.
"Do not let him take you." Mary told her, suddenly more serious than Buffy had ever seen her. There was this intensity in her voice that had the terror spreading through Buffy's body intensely.
"Buffy, run. When the curse is broken you take your family and run like hell. Just because he wins does not mean I want him to get everything he wants. The Prophecy never occurring...might teach him some bloody manners. If he can't find you...then the Prophecy can never be completed."
Mary's warning hung in the air before she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
Leaving Buffy frozen and alone in the middle of the woods tears streaming down her face. All she could do was think about her mom, all the memories they could have made together with those extra three years.
She would have given anything to have that extra time with her.
To make amends.
Slowly heavy sobs started vibrating out of her chest and Buffy completely curled in on herself.
She felt completely broken inside.
Through her sobs Buffy didn't even process the fact that someone was now crouched down in front of her, desperately trying to calm her down.
"Buffy?" Elena whispered as she shook the inconsolable Buffy's shoulders as Stefan hovered behind her, his concerned eyes glued on his sobbing ex-girlfriend.
Caroline had ended up spilling the truth about what the girls had really been planning, hence why he had found Elena hanging outside the tomb in the middle of a conversation with Katherine.
"What is it? What happened with Mary?" Elena whispered only for her eyes to widen in panic as Buffy completely collapsed into her chest, uncontrollable sobs no closer to stopping.
"It's my fault." Buffy sobbed "All that time--I lost it, she lost it because of me."
Elena glanced over at Stefan shrugging in confusion before moving to wipe the tears from Buffy's cheeks.
She had never seen Buffy so distraught.
"Buffy, what happened?"
Taking a shaky breath, Buffy blinked violently, tears still spilling down her face as her voice cracked.
"It's my mom, when Mary tried to keep me from meeting Klaus...it killed my mom."
**
Buffy hadn't spoken in hours.
She had been silent since Stefan brought them back home and he had no idea what to do. She had just been silently swaying on the porch swing glaring up at the sky as she twisted the charm bracelet around her wrist.
Her mother's charm bracelet.
Her eyes were void of all emotion.
"Buffy..." He tried but there was no response.
Sighing, Stefan moved over to her, crouching down in front of her, purposely placing his hand on her knee to stop her from swaying.
Buffy flinched slightly at the action but kept her eyes glued to the sky as silent tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
She couldn't hear it, she just couldn't.
Otherwise, she would fall apart.
"I can't talk about it, Stefan."
"You have to." Stefan whispered as he moved to sit beside her on the bench.
He could see what she had learned was destroying her inside, and if she let it all bottle up...then she would crumble.
"Don't shut me out. Buffy, please."
Buffy clenched her jaw as let her eyes drift to the bracelet around her wrist. Rested comfortably against the bracelet that matched Caroline's old vervain necklace.
Though they had removed the vervain after she turned so she could start wearing it again.
The longer Buffy stared at the charms filling her mother's bracelet, the harder it was to keep herself steady.
But she needed to keep herself strong right now.
With everything that was coming, she didn't have time to fall apart.
"I got the truth." She said flatly, completely emotionless "That's all that matters. It's not just me and Elena who are screwed. It's everyone, one wrong step and they will die."
Again, Stefan tried to move to comfort her only to have the blonde slap his hand away.
Shaking her head as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to escape her.
"No! Don't! Mary slaughtered an entire town to keep me away from Klaus and that resulted in my mother dying three years before she was meant to! My mother is dead and now everyone else is at risk! Just because of some stupid feud between Mary and Klaus. And now Elena is at risk because of that stupid curse."
Inhaling tightly, Buffy groaned loudly before jumping up from her feet only for her legs to crumble and she collapsed to her knees violently sobs escaping her.
Stefan was by her side, catching her in his arms as he lowered them both down to the porch floor.
"If I had just stayed dead after the Master...maybe none of this would be happening, it's my fault." Buffy sobbed into his chest "My entire life every one around me has died and it's not anyone else, it's me. I'm the problem."
As Stefan tightened his arms around her, Buffy continued to cry, unable to stop the utter terror filling her.
Klaus was coming.
He was coming for them.
And for the first time...she had no idea if she would be able to beat this evil.
Despite not wanting to admit it, she knew it in her heart...
Klaus was going to win.