Chapter 38

Mystic Falls, A Week Later

The spell worked in spectacular fashion, finding me easily as I was eating breakfast. In front of my eyes a scrunched up piece of paper assembled itself in the air with a burst of fire. Someone had burnt up the message while casting the spell, and that led to the reverse happening before me. I caught the ball of paper before it could fall on my omelet and brought it in, eyebrow raised as I unraveled it and read the message contained within.

Vali,

Charlotte's descendants send our regards and beg you for an audience in the French Quarter of New Orleans. If you are willing to hear us out, seek Jane-Anne Deveraux.

I blink at the message and set it aside, going back to my omelet, "… Huh. Charlotte. That's… I really should have guessed that."

Shrugging I finish my breakfast off with a nice full glass of delicious blood and stand up. It would seem I have a visit to make. Grabbing my jacket and shedding my Rolex I head back to the streets of New Orleans, once again the Master that certain people in the city will recognize, once again a hybrid to any supernatural beings with the senses to sniff me out.

It takes me a couple days to arrive in the city as the sun begins to set and when I do I have a decision to make. I could go straight to the Deveraux's but part of me enjoys following the same path as Klaus in the original timeline, for at least a little while. Entering the bar I know I can find Marcel and his people at, I make it three steps in before Ravia is in front of me, eyes wide, "Master?"

I smile at her, leaning down and kissing her forehead, "Hello love, it's good to see you again."

She melts into my arms before looking up at me and smiling back, "I've done everything you've asked of me Master."

I chuckle, even as Marcel approaches with Rebekah not far behind, "I expected nothing less my dear, I knew I could count on you."

Marcel speaks up as he draws closer, brow furrowed by wide smile on his face, "Who's your friend Ravia? Never seen you get so excited over anyone before."

Rebekah ruins the grand reveal as she steps up a moment later, a mixture of happy and confused, "Vali? What are you doing in New Orleans, why didn't you call?"

I just grin as Marcel looks at me with new eyes, "Well now sister, there's something to be said about arriving unannounced once in a while, isn't there? Besides, I wouldn't have bothered showing up without an invitation, but I actually received one. Seems there's a certain witch looking for me."

Marcel perks up at that, frowning deeply, "… And do you know this witch's name?"

I smile, "Indeed I do, a Jane-Anne Deveraux."

Marcel grins at that, "Yeah, about that. You'll want to come with me."

I raise an eyebrow and look at Rebekah to find her just shrugging and smiling tentatively. My sister never has been that good with secrets. Ravia of course has been kept in the dark, Davina is only known to Marcel and Rebekah at this point. I follow him out onto the dark streets and watch as his nightwalkers come out of the woodworks in a blatant show of force. Marcel stops only long enough to grab a small branch off of a nearby tree before moving on.

As the street fills with baby vampires I smile as I catch sight of Jane-Anne being pushed through them, her hands tied in front of her as she's led towards Marcel and I. Ravia stands to the side and slightly behind me, ready to carry out any order I care to give, while Rebekah stands with Marcel. Jane-Anne is pushed forward to stand before him, and Marcel begins his theatric performance.

As he strips the twigs from the springy branch he's carrying, he speaks clearly and loudly, "Jane-Anne Deveraux! Everyone give a hand for Jane-Anne!"

The nightwalkers get into it, catcalling and whistling and cheering in general for several long moments before quieting down.

Marcel smiles and repeats her name, "Jane-Anne Deveraux, you stand accused of the practice of witchcraft beyond the rules set forth and enforced, by me. How do you plead?"

Jane-Anne clenches her jaw defiant in the face of death as she answers, "I didn't do anything."

Marcel wags a finger in her face, "Now that, is a lie! You know it, I know it, and you hate that I know it!"

He chuckles, "It drives you witches crazy that I'm aware of your every move! That you can't do magic in this town, without getting caught!"

He becomes solemn as he looks at Jane-Anne, "Why don't we just cut to the chase, shall we? Tell me why you invited my friend here to town."

With that he gestures at me and Jane-Anne's eyes follow, widening comically, "Y-you're Vali? You're friends?"

I smile as I step up beside Marcel, "I am he, a pleasure to meet you my dear. As for Marcel and I, we've only just met for the first time, but I can easily see us becoming friends in short order, after all, it was with my help that he built all of this."

I gesture around us and Jane-Anne collapses to her knees, the defiance and stubbornness gone from her, hopelessness taking over as their apparent last resort is revealed to be at least partially behind their plight to begin with.

I bask in that abject despair for a moment before placing a hand on Marcel's shoulder, "Marcel, as one ruler to another, I must ask you to do me a favor and spare this one. I told her ancestor over eight hundred years ago that I would help her descendants as best I could. I'll take responsibility of the Deveraux sisters and make sure they stay out of trouble, if you can do this for me."

Marcel raises an eyebrow at that, looking down at Jane-Anne for a long moment before nodding, "From one ruler to another, I'll grant you that favor. Just sate my curiosity, what did her ancestor do for you that gained such a favor eight hundred years down the line?"

I chuckle, "Ah, Charlotte was probably the most mercenary witch I ever met. In exchange for the small favor of killing her sister and retrieving her dead mother's grimoire, she made me my first fifty daylight rings. They were probably the first of their kind. Though not many would know it, the Deveraux's descend from the first witch to make it possible for vampires to walk in the sunlight."

Jane-Anne has looked up again as I describe her ancestor's deeds and it's clear from the horror on her face that Charlotte's acts had not managed to be recorded through the last thousand years like my name had been.

Marcel chuckles too, though it sounds a bit forced, "How… interesting…"

I grin as I step forward, pulling Jane-Anne to her feet, "Isn't it? I'll make sure this little witch gets home. We'll have more to talk about tomorrow Marcel. There are threats to New Orleans that you aren't fully aware of."

Marcel frowns but nods slowly, whistling sharply to his nightwalkers to disperse them. Soon enough Jane-Anne and I are left alone on the streets. I grab her up bridal style before she can protest and flash through the city, arriving quickly at the back of Rousseau's where a staircase led up to.

Letting her down, she steps away from me quickly, taking the stairs two at a time, taking her keys out and opening the door to the apartment her and her sister share. I follow as she steps over the threshold and immediately turns around, jaw clenched, "You aren't invited inside."

I come to a stop at the entrance of the apartment and smile, "You should reconsider. After all, I've come to help you complete the Harvest and bring back your daughter."

Jane-Anne can only stare at me with her mouth open as Sophie is attracted by the sound of our voices, stopping right behind her sister, "Jane-Anne what are you still doing in town, you were supposed to be gone by now, safe! Marcel will be looking for you…"

Jane-Anne turns to her sister and grimaces, "He won't be. Vali here has made sure of that…"

Sophie blinks and looks past her sister to me, eyes wide, "Vali? You came?"

I grin wickedly, "Of course I did, such a lovely message, how could I not?"

Jane-Anne's jaw clenches back up as she looks at me, "He's working with Marcel Soph. He was with him when Marcel's nightwalkers dragged me into a mock trial."

Sophie turns betrayed eyes on me, and I can't help rolling my own in response, "This whole back and forth is getting ridiculous."

I step forward, moving over the threshold of the Deveraux home much to the shock and fear of both sisters as they back away from me, giving me room to step inside the apartment, still smiling. Jane-Anne swallows convulsively, "I didn't invite you inside…"

"You didn't, that's true. I'm not exactly your normal vampire though. That isn't what I'm here to talk about though. We all want the same thing, to complete the Harvest."

This distracts the sisters from considering how I could possibly have already had an invite, Sophie frowning and crossing her arms across her chest, "How do you know about the Harvest? Why would you want to complete it?"

Smiling, I spread my hands, "I'm over a thousand years old sweetheart. I know about the Harvest because I've had vampires in the area for the last two. And I want to complete it because I know what happens if it isn't finished."

Jane-Anne blinks at that, "If it isn't completed, the girls sacrificed don't come back and our entire coven loses our ancestral magic. But why would you care about that?"

I smile, "Well, there is the debt I owe to Charlotte, letting Monique stay dead and you lose your magic would probably go against the spirit of the promise I made, even if it wasn't a binding oath. But the real reason I'm helping is because that's not all that happens. If the Ritual isn't finished, Davina will slowly deteriorate and as she does so, she will destroy the city around her in the magical backlash. I prefer not to lose New Orleans and everyone in it, my sister enjoys the city too much for me to let it come to pass."

Both sisters are speechless at this point so I turn and walk towards the still open door, stopping in the threshold for only a moment, turning towards the Deveraux Sisters and grinning, "I implore you both to sit tight and stay out of trouble for just a few days. I'm going to save the day, but you'd ruin my grand heroics if either of you got yourselves killed doing anything foolish."

I punctuated that with a wink and then I was gone, leaving the sisters to their own devices. Hopefully they made the right choice.

XxScenebreakxX

As soon as his nightwalkers and Ravia had gone their separate ways Marcel made a bee line for Kieran's church with Rebekah on his heels.

As they blurred through the streets of New Orleans Rebekah called out, "Marcel! What's the rush?"

Marcel growls as they come to a stop in front of the Church, "We need to move Davina, maybe get her out of town entirely. I couldn't exactly say no to your brother when he asked so nicely for Jane-Anne's life, but now that he has her under his thumb, he'll know all about Davina and the Harvest by sunrise."

He moves into the Church with Rebekah close behind and heads for the small attic room Davina has been staying in, talking as they go, "So we get her out of town now and then we negotiate with your brother, find out exactly what he's going to want to leave us alone."

It's as he finishes saying this that they both come to the door of Davina's room, to find it knocked off its hinges. Marcel rushes inside only to find the room empty and looking like a whirlwind tore through it. Davina's drawings are strewn across the room and there's glass on the floor from the broken window.

"No… no no no, this isn't possible, how could he have known where she was, how could anyone have taken her given her strength?"

While Marcel is steadily losing it, Rebekah finds a letter, "Marcel… it has your name on it."

With a snarl, he snatches it out of her hands and tears it open, reading the letter quickly.

Marcel,

As you may have guessed, I have Davina. I'll swing by your compound with her tomorrow after sundown. We'll discuss your options. Until then, please refrain from doing anything stupid.

Sincerely,

The Master

Marcel growls as he crumples the letter into a fist, before punching that fist through the closest wall in a fit of anger. He turns to Rebekah and points at her, "I can't let this stand Becca. Your brother has overstepped his bounds in my city. I need to know now, are you with me, or are you with him?"

Rebekah steps forward, responding instantly, "You Marcel, always you. But I fear you're underestimating Vali, he's a hybrid, like Nik. He can't be killed or brought down by any normal means."

Marcel scoffs at that staring around the torn up room one more time before snarling and turning to leave, "He's the one underestimating what I'm capable of. Let's see how he deals with a hundred nightwalkers while trying to keep ahold of Davina. He's going to be walking into the biggest trap I've ever made."

-x-X-x-

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