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"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food," Jenna said, pouring coffee for Adelia and John when Elijah and Andie walked in.
"Would you like some help?" Adelia offered, putting down her cup.
"No no, I'll be back in a minute," the strawberry blonde woman stopped her.
"So... I know this is a social thing, but I... I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here," hesitated Andie.
"I'd love to answer," smiled Elijah.
"Make sure to ask the difficult ones, they happen to amuse our historian," Adelia chuckled, sharing a look with her husband.
"Great, that's so great," Andie perked up as Damon and Alaric entered the room. The former sat down glaring across the table at John. "Ric, would you do me a favour and grab the notebook out of my bag?" she requested and Alaric walked over to her bag.
"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?" Damon quipped.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that."
"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list," the Salvatore looked at him.
"You're the one to say. Family is sacred. Mr. Gilbert is here for his daughter and that is enough of a reason to grant him a spot on that list," Adelia grinned as Damon's mood visibly diminished and added, "above yours ironically."
"No Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the... you know what? Excuse me, guys. Sorry," Andie hollered and got up to help Alaric find her notebook.
"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asked.
"Killing Klaus? We were not aware of that aspect," Adelia's raised an eyebrow. "We're saving your daughter, killing him is not our intention. Neither Elijah nor myself harbor any desire to get on his bad side when he's been known to hold a grudge for centuries."
"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again," Elijah informed them.
Adelia's phone beeped with an unknown message and she opened it, only for a frown to appear on her face.
From: unknown
I hope you still prefer diamonds.
Andie came back with her notebook and sat down while the witch contemplated the identity of the sender.
"Okay. My first question is when you got here to Mystic..." the reporter started when a glint of the hunter's reflection appeared over her phone screen, threateningly close to Elijah and the Laurentis heir immediately acted.
Adelia instantly caught Alaric's hand mid-air before getting up to dislocate his limb with a jolt, crushing his wrist with a snap and threw him on the floor without a care.
All attention turned to them and everyone at the table got up in shock at such actions happening so rapidly. Seeing a dagger in Alaric's possession, she stepped over his palm, digging the pointed heel into his knuckles as it broke with a resounding snap, making the hunter shout in pain.
Damon rushed at her and Elijah slammed his head on the table, holding it there before he compelled Andie to forget and leave. John retook his seat with a gulp when Jenna entered hearing the ruckus but dropped over the floor, being put to sleep by the witch.
"We have a problem, don't we?" Adelia gave the dagger to her husband who pocketed it, nodding impassively while she dialled Stefan. "Hello Stefan, my humblest greetings to you." She waved her hand and Damon got pinned over the adjacent wall, screaming his lungs out.
"Adelia?" Stefan frowned.
"Please hurry home or I can use the same dagger to slice off your brother's head and you have certainly seen my handiwork with the wolf, haven't you? He wouldn't survive," the witch said over the phone as silence ensued over the other end.
"What is happening?" the younger Salvatore asked fearfully, listening to his brother's screams.
"Let's talk in person, I do appreciate a good company. I have Alaric and Damon here, the culprits. John's fate we've yet to decide. Come soon," she ended the call while looking at Elijah. The witch looked at her broken heel and tsked before discarding them, going barefoot.
"I presume we are thinking the same?" Elijah asked. "I should inform the Martins of the recent developments," he said and left the room to make the phone call.
"So John? You know me, don't you?" she asked the doppelganger's father when he nodded, making her smile. "Good."
Elijah returned with a drink and handed it to her who gulped it down in one go as they waited for Stefan and Elena to arrive.
After what felt like an hour, the duo ran inside the Boarding House to see Damon pinned on a wall, his appearance veiny and red. Alaric and Jenna slumped on the floor and a couch respectively, the former's hand bent at an odd angle with tears flowing down his cheeks and John seated silently at the table, looking absolutely nervous. They noticed Adelia and Elijah reading in chairs like the people around them weren't being tormented.
"What have you done to them?!" Elena rushed towards her aunt.
"This one is quite good, Elijah," she gestured at the book before turning to look at the doppelganger. "Nothing much. Alaric's injury wouldn't affect him as long as I want him conscious and Jenna is under a sleeping spell. I prefer to have an audience, but since your aunt is not aware of the supernatural I decided to keep her out of it. Hurting innocents is not my forte," the witch replied and put down her book before eyeing Stefan as his blood started heating up, sweat dribbling down his face.
"Rectify the situation soon, Klaus isn't that understanding of other people's knowledge," Elijah added, turning over a page.
"Why are you doing this?" Stefan asked, panting.
Adelia walked towards Alaric, "I apologize, Mr. Saltzman," she pointed to his Gilbert ring, "It is quite handy to have things like that in your possession, dark magic at its finest. Temporary reprieve to the Other Side but I wouldn't misuse it if I were you, you never know what you might encounter there."
"I had no idea they were going to do this," said Elena, getting up from beside her aunt.
"You didn't stop them either, did you?" Elijah got up, giving her a look, "I know when you lie, Elena."
She glanced away, avoiding his stare.
Suddenly Alaric got up and shot a wooden stake towards Adelia with his other hand. Elijah immediately fleeted over to his wife, catching the stake in motion.
She sighed while Elijah's eyes blazed with fury. He instantly went behind the hunter and snapped his neck, horrifying everyone as Alaric's body fell to the floor motionless.
"Alaric should consider himself fortunate, of course," the Original stated with disdain, "for the ring."
"You two will pay for this. I will kill you once I get free of this," Damon's hoarse voice echoed throughout the room.
"You have the audacity to threaten her in my presence, Damon? Threaten me?" Elijah glared, walking towards the pinned vampire. "Don't you ever learn?" he plunged his hand into the vampire's chest, gripping his heart as everybody's eyes turned wide.
Blood gurgled out the Salvatore's mouth as he struggled against the magic. Stefan tried getting up but found himself in a similar situation and looked towards the heretic who was drumming her fingers on the table impassively.
"Give me a reason to even consider sparing your life, Mr. Salvatore," the Original tugged his hand lightly and Damon flinched. "You have challenged me at every turn and I let it go for your sake but threatening Adelia is what I consider unforgivable."
"Who is she to you?" Stefan groaned.
"Sweetheart," Elijah looked towards his wife, "Shall I do the honours?"
Adelia dragged a chair from the dining table in the middle of the room, the sound of the chair legs screeching against the wooden floor, rousing the tension even more as everyone processed the situation. She sat, her leg crossed over another.
"For what dear? Killing him or reintroducing yours truly," the witch smiled with a tilt of her head.
"Whatever shall appease you," the oldest vampire hummed.
"Unfortunately, we must stick to the plan. I'd gladly see him dead some other day. For now, he must live," Adelia declared and Elijah immediately retreated his hand from Damon's chest cavity who turned to breathe heavily.
"As you wish," Elijah smiled, cleaning his hand with a handkerchief and quietly went to stand behind her.
The witch glanced at John who was strung up with fear. "Would you like to add something?"
"John, this is not the time for a joke," Damon gritted his teeth in anger and pain when the older Gilbert remained silent.
"She is his wife," he muttered fearfully but did not let the fear seep into his features.
"What?" the elder Salvatore frowned.
"Adelia is my wife," Elijah stated loud and clear. Everything came to a standstill as everyone heard it. The declaration they had not expected and never the relationship.
"You lied to us," accused the younger Salvatore. How could they have missed such an important detail?
Everything fell into place. Adelia's arrival consequently to Elijah's, her knowledge of the Originals, her easy rapport with the vampire. Elijah's strange affection for the witch hinted by Damon, their easiness around each other and foremost of all, Adelia's willingness to help them. They should've been more careful.
"We never did. We answered every question of yours with utmost honesty, you just didn't ask the right ones," answered the witch.
"That is still a lie, Adelia," the doppelganger continued. "Is that even your real name?"
"Omission is not a lie, it's a matter of perspective," smiled Elijah.
"And our perspective was quite different than yours. The deal is off since you broke your end of the deal," Adelia replied and the Salvatores' frowned in confusion.
"He was trying to kill Elena," John spoke.
"And you're being mistakenly led on by facts that are not even true. Sorry for the inconvenience of Katherine, I prefer keeping risks to a minimum. The variables were too fidgety," the witch said.
"Elijah's deal with her is in question, but yours isn't," Stefan tried.
"Adelia never made promises. She helped you all because I wanted her to do so," smirked Elijah.
"And I was willingly doing the same graciously until you tried to kill my husband," said Adelia, sparing a glance at the dead hunter. "Alaric would agree with me in his current predicament."
"Please stop this," Elena requested.
"I will let you all suffer a bit more. You will also learn that your actions might have certain consequences. So much for a deal in protection," she replied when Elijah's phone suddenly started ringing. He took out his phone and glanced at the unknown number before answering it.
"Elijah," the voice on the other end spoke before he could answer. Both him and Adelia stiffened, their gazes immediately meeting. The other occupants in the room fell silent seeing the tension in the air as the Salvatore brothers tried to listen to the conversation. "What do I hear about you looking for me?"
The Original without a word handed the phone over to his wife who took it reluctantly. He got settled in a chair, helping himself with a drink as he stared unfazed at Adelia.
Adelia brought the phone to her ear and took a deep breath. "Klaus."
Every person in the room froze at the name, their eyes going wide.
"Love, how are you? Elijah is speechless, isn't he?" Klaus said with apparent glee in his voice.
Adelia stared at her husband who nodded before he gulped down the drink and a smile took over his face. "We have the moonstone," the vampire-witch stated, looking at her companions whose face turned into one of shock.
"What did you say?" he sounded angry and she could understand why.
"We have the moonstone, Niklaus," she repeated firmly. "We have Katerina and a certain Stefan Salvatore. You do remember him, don't you?"
Every person except Elijah seemed confused at the mention of Stefan. The man himself furrowed his brows in thought unable to make out the reason.
"I will end Elijah if you are lying, love."
"You do that and you will find the moonstone at the bottom of a sea. Sounds familiar?" Adelia's eyes twinkled in amusement and Elijah grinned, clearly remembering his last encounter with Klaus. "We have another doppelganger too," she finished and Elena looked terrified.
"What do you want?" Klaus questioned after a moment.
"Why don't we have the discussion somewhere else? You need us more than we need you," she told him as Elijah looked at his watch and shot her a look.
"You are still same as ever. So diplomatic... where are you?" he questioned after a moment.
"Come and find us."
"Diamonds. I hope you still love them," he humoured.
A speechless Adelia gulped as she was hit by a sudden realization–of course, the text. "We'll be waiting," she ended the call before he could say anything.
"They shouldn't have done what they did. Please, Elijah," Elena realized the gravity of the situation. Klaus knew about her. They needed the Original's help and Adelia's.
"The deal is off," the Original reinstated.
"I'm renegotiating," fought back Elena.
"You have nothing left to negotiate with," Elijah smiled, amused as the doppelganger looked at him and his wife and extracted a knife from Alaric's jacket.
"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death," she said fiercely.
"He is coming, either way, darling. We won't look for him anymore, he'll come to us. We have to thank the moonstone for that," the witch informed them.
"The artifact, it was the moonstone," realized Damon.
"Not quite but nothing I said was ever a lie."
"Indeed. The Salvatores won't let you die," Elijah reaffirmed.
"No, they won't. Stefan will feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before... promise me... you won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you," initiated Elena.
"You don't learn, do you? They tried daggering my husband and I should let that go even if they've harmed him? And you expect no retaliation, how unfair," the witch hummed.
"You heard Adelia. I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff," Elijah said.
Elena looked at others and stabbed herself all of a sudden and fell down. All the onlookers looked shocked while Elijah's impeccable postured twitched. His wife's impassive demeanour didn't falter as her hand grabbed his, signalling her intent.
"Quite an extraordinary show and we have a good view too. Darling, you do remember those plays we attended, don't you?" Adelia asked her husband.
"I do dear. I remember that memorable one in... Moscow, was it?" Elijah replied, drumming his fingers against the headrest of the chair his wife vacated.
"My favorite. The difference? This protagonist has real blood all over her with a bout of martyrdom running in her veins and is under a psychological delusion that this noble act will convince us to pardon every crime her loved ones have committed against us," the witch smiled, pacing in front of the doppelganger.
"Heal her. She's going to die!" Damon shouted at them.
"You said you'd protect her, please," Stefan almost begged, watching the love of his life gasping in pain.
"I said I'd protect her when others would harm her, nothing of her fascinating suic*de attempt. And I know Elijah... he said he'd protect her loved ones and he would save her after Klaus arrives in town, nothing of before," she replied. "The previous saving incidents were a courtesy."
"Indeed, my love," the Original smiled at her.
"Please, Adelia save my daughter! I beg you," John got up from his chair.
"I appreciate the concern of a father, John, and I do understand it, but it's time the people here learn that they shouldn't cross us. I promise to heal her of course, don't you worry," she told him, taking a glass from the table and walked over to Stefan and cut his forearm to collect his blood in it. She made her way over to Elena and kneeled down, trying to get her to drink the blood which the doppelganger refused.
"Please Elena, drink it," Stefan requested his girlfriend.
"Why are you being so damn stubborn?! Take it!" Damon ordered, enraged.
"No! Promise me and I'll drink it," Elena looked at Adelia.
The witch sighed, "I'll keep the blood here. Drink when you wish for it," she got up. "On a second note, this doesn't belong to you." Adelia touched the necklace around the doppelganger's neck and suppressed the hiss that followed after touching the vervain tainted locket.
Elena's bloody hand took the necklace away from the witch's reach. "What do you mean? Stefan gave it to me. You will not touch it."
"Then Mr. Salvatore should know to not start declarations of love on other people's belongings," Elijah stated, looking down at the doppelganger.
"It is mine!" the Gilbert girl shouted.
"No, it is not," Adelia cooed and the necklace immediately settled in her hand from the doppelganger's neck. "This belongs to the Original family, an heirloom if you'd say. I will return it to the rightful owner." A tear slipped down Elena's chin already missing the first gift Stefan had given her. "Now. Drink sweetheart," the witch pushed the glass of blood to the doppelganger.
"I will kill myself after drinking the blood," the girl on the floor cried out.
"You are overestimating your importance, Ms. Gilbert," Elijah told her, a tired breath escaping his mouth over the doppelganger's stubbornness.
"Elena, take the blood," John kneeled next to her, trying to get her to accept the glass.
"It's your choice now. Drink and heal or drink and die, but know that I will gladly put you in the same tomb as Katerina. Klaus would love painting the town red," the witch reaffirmed.
"Miss Gilbert, do not waste our time. Make a decision. My wife and I treasure time to the seconds," Elijah said.
"You would still help us?" Stefan questioned.
"You didn't even consider knowing the entire truth. From now on we are implementing our own methods, we will leave tonight and negotiate directly with Klaus. Protecting the doppelganger is no longer a concern of mine since you lot do a fine job yourselves," reiterated the Original.
"Klaus will definitely come and some ragtag group of people won't be able to stop him. You can find a way of saving Elena yourself. We very much appreciated the help from you all. Thank you for the moonstone," Adelia told them grimly and then snapped the Salvatores' necks with a wave of her hand. She spared the breathing occupants a glance before walking out of the door with Elijah.
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Klaus sat down on the bed with a huff, the two gift boxes over the nightstand. He wondered how much they have changed since he last saw them. Maybe a lot, but then maybe a little.
He pulled open the drawer and took the frame out, the crease in the middle not bothering him anymore. He looked at the two of them and a sigh escaped his mouth, not of annoyance but one of relief. They said they had the moonstone, Katerina and another doppelgänger but it was impossible. But they wouldn't lie to him and Elijah would never.
The Original laid down on his bed, everything coming to overwhelm him. But he ignored it in favour of believing the pair occupying the frame sitting over his chest. Turning over the frame so he could see them, he internally questioned whether they would forgive him.
Elijah was a master of forgiveness and he knew it better than anyone else but Adelia... she forgave but never forgot.
He could still recount every incident where she admonished him for his behaviour much to Elijah and his displeasure and he accepted it all—he may or may not have been thinking about the shade of blue he was going to use in the next painting while she continued berating him. He concluded he'll have to work extra hard to earn her forgiveness, more so than Elijah's.
But he was not the one who asked for forgiveness. It shouldn't matter to him whether they forgave him or not, but he wanted them to.
He missed talking to them.
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"We never expected this. We failed. The deal is off, the only person who could have saved us from Klaus is not helping us anymore," Elena said after being healed by Stefan following the Original's departure. "What should we do?"
"Katherine could've given us information, but Adelia has made sure we cannot approach her," Stefan answered.
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith played us all along," Damon commented, downing a glass of bourbon and offered one to a healed Alaric.
"My wife chooses her battles wisely," Alaric recalled the Original's words from their first encounter just as John entered after he dropped Jenna back at the Gilbert House.
"I am sparing you tonight John because I am tired and aching all over," Damon told him, taking another swig from the bottle, "but you will die."
"I did not know her identity until she introduced herself this evening," John started. "Adelia Laurentis, the honourable Original's wife is respected by every supernatural faction because of her kind nature."
"Oh, I saw the kindness tonight, alright," the elder Salvatore rolled his eyes.
"True to her word much like Elijah, she is said to be extremely loyal to the Originals. Rumours have it that she is an Original herself, no weapon wielded by others bring her harm."
"And Elijah still killed me for attempting to stake his supposedly immortal wife," Alaric groaned.
"Good to know we are dealing with an immortal witch and unkillable Originals," seethed Damon.
"How do you know all this?" Elena asked John.
"People talk. The Originals are infamous," the Gilbert replied.
"Adelia is now on Klaus' side," Stefan added.
"She was always on his side."
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"We have the moonstone so you shouldn't worry, Elijah. Klaus knows and he will come to us," Adelia assured Elijah as they sat in the backseat of the car.
"We could have saved Elena but they refused our help," he said, running a hand through his hair worriedly.
"We tried," she told him, taking his hand in hers when Elijah looked at his wife.
"And if your suspicions are correct? Niklaus will grow more agitated than before and this time we know there would be no doppelgangers. I would do anything for him and you know it."
"Those are just assumptions, Elijah, but there is always a possibility for anything. Knowing the extents to which the curse was created, we shouldn't take the risks," Adelia patted his thigh in assurance.
"He indicated so in our last encounter, my love. He wanted the Original witch to get it done his way and purge the kind he considered abominations," the Original replied and kissed her hand. "If having another family outside us grants him happiness, then I shall leave him alone."
"You say that, but you worry about him. Give him time, Niklaus needs to realize it by himself," the witch smiled at him and looked outside. "Where are we headed?"
"Cloverville. We haven't visited her for a while," Elijah answered, drawing her closer to himself. She caressed his hand, leaning her head against his shoulder when they sped past the sign of Mystic Falls.
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January 1860
Cloverville, Louisiana
Elijah trekked along the gardens of the Laurentis residence, enjoying the brief appearance of winter sun. He stopped in his tracks listening to the swish of heavy fabric against the grass.
He peeked sideways to notice Adelia crouching over a plant, muttering a spell that immediately revived it. He smiled at such an innocent act and decided to watch her. She went on to every wilted plant and brought it back to life. Her smile was contagious.
Suddenly the spell did not work anymore when she tried to get a flower to bloom. Her demeanour visibly faltered and Elijah realized she must have exhausted her magic. Seeing her this sad tugged at his heart and he made his presence known by clearing his throat.
She whipped around, surprised at his entrance as her heart rate picked up which he definitely heard and internally grinned.
"You seemed to have encountered a problem," he said.
"That I have," she dejectedly agreed, looking back at the flower and looked around to notice the absence of her chaperone.
"May I be of any assistance, Miss Laurentis?" he offered, walking closer. Elijah looked thoughtfully and held out his hand, confusing her. "I am a vampire, an eternal source of magic," he stated and unfurled his fingers for her to take. "Please."
"It will hurt you," she told him, ignoring his extended hand.
"I am an Original. I can endure a bit of pain," he smiled.
Adelia seemed unsure and hesitantly grabbed his fingers, touching them with her own and his smile widened even more. She turned her attention towards the flower and started siphoning off the Original.
Elijah gasped silently as he felt the nerves in his body being pulled at repeatedly and saw her fingers glowing red where it touched his. It was strange but it was fascinating. He had never seen something like this in his lifetime. His fingers automatically clutched hers, seeing the rose bloom and the witch stopped siphoning.
The Laurentis heir grinned and turned towards Elijah to find him looking at her. Her breath hitched, noticing the proximity and felt the roughness of his fingers enclosing her nimble digits.
The witch abruptly pulled her hand away, avoiding his intense gaze. "Thank you," she mumbled.
The Original leaned towards her and she glanced sideways at him with a frown, "Your chaperone is certainly lousy at their duty, Miss Laurentis," he whispered into her ear.
As if breaking out of a daze, Adelia stepped back from his hold, clutching the shawl tighter around her. She turned on her heels and began to walk away when halfway she looked back at him before picking up the pace and soon disappeared out of sight.
He stared at her retreating figure and continued his trek around the revived parts of the garden when a grin broke out on the Original's face.
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Their feet stopped in front of the entrance to the Laurentis House. Elijah clutched Adelia's fingers, a bouquet of fuchsia entangled in zinnia in her possession. It was almost dawn and the rosemary blooms in the Original's hands turned alight with various shades of the rising sun. She traced the engraved stone beside the main gate indicating the residence of a long gone family.
Her finger caught a curve of a letter immediately, making it bleed as a trail of blood flowed down the stone into the ground. The sapphires in their wedding rings started glowing when the iron gates screeched against the ground as it opened a notch. Elijah pushed the gates and walked inside with Adelia by his side.
The house stood in front of them, still in its glory for Adelia couldn't let the house she grew up in falling apart in debris. Taking an offbeat route along the barren land which used to flourish with greenery once, the pair walked behind the house as the lake appeared in front of them. Their feet descended upon a cobblestone pathway towards the destination when the Original suddenly stopped.
Adelia halted and turned her attention to where Elijah was looking and found a bouquet on a bench. Her breath hitched and she immediately looked at the vampire who caressed her knuckles reassuringly before glancing around.
"He was here," Elijah repeated what she had been thinking.
"Daisy and Hawthorn, he always got them for her," mumbled Adelia.
"Klaus is not far then. He will come to us."
"I don't know. She must be waiting for me," she impassively replied and continued walking away from him when Elijah looked down at his feet and followed after her.
The sun came above the horizon as the lake shimmered in the hues of golden sunlight.
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A/N: Adelia and Elijah's past is slowly resurfacing!
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last edited: 12/2023