Ch. 35

Kol froze right outside the door as soon as I said the name, eyes growing wide and face paling as he immediately jumped to the worst conclusion, "Vali, you didn't…"

I can't help grinning as he trails off, so terrified of the idea of Silas that he can't even ask the question for fear of an answer. I put that fear to rest by shaking my head, "No, I didn't. Silas is dealt with Kol. Buried and gone, and I share in your desire to keep it that way brother."

I place a hand on his shoulder and look into his eyes, "Out of all of our siblings Kol, it is you who I find myself identifying with the most. That's why I want to show you more than the others will ever know exists, and it's why I saved you for last. Now come and see what I have for you."

As we descended into the depths of the mansion, which had more basement levels than it had above ground floors, Kol responded, "I remember your doll in New Orleans offering me untold magical knowledge on your behalf. Is that what you're talking about now? I won't lie, it sounds better than what you offered any of our other siblings, but after you name dropped Silas I can't help but be disappointed if that's all there is."

I grin, "Oh the Archive is always open to you little brother, but no, it's not what I wish to offer you. I'd like to think I'm a bit better at pinpointing your greatest desires than that."

We reach the basement floor I'm heading for and begin moving onto the floor, which is rather busy activity wise, vampires and witches working together in unison. I begin to lead Kol through the crowded room to the next when I stop, frowning as I notice a female vampire tied to a chair, being tortured by one of my vampires.

She has stakes pinning both of her hands to the chair she's tied to and it's clear she's in serious pain as I walk over, curiosity peaked. Kol follows with a raised eyebrow, easily recognizing this as a detour. I stop the interrogator as he prepares to drive another stake into her and smile, "Hello there. You know who I am of course. Who is this?"

The vampire immediately turns his full attention to me, bowing slightly in deference, "Master, this one is an intruder. She tried to sneak down here a week ago. We think she's a Traveler Spy sir, and they sent her because they thought we wouldn't notice an extra vampire. She didn't even make it past security."

I smile at that, looking at the woman, even as she stares about with weary defiance, her jaw clenched shut, "And does this spy have a name?"

Her interrogator shook his head, "She hasn't given us anything yet sir, but a little bit more time and she'll break."

I smile, "Well now, you have an hour. I have a prior obligation to my brother here, but once that's done I'll come back and deal with this one myself. No killing her off until then alright?"

The vampire thug nods in understanding, grim determination across his face. As I turn to continue walking towards my original goal and Kol falls into step beside me, I can't help grin as I hear the Interrogator speak to his prisoner, "You might as well talk now. You really don't want the Master to deal with you personally."

Kol finds it amusing as well based off his snickering even as we come into a new room with a large sarcophagus in the center and archivists scurrying around it. Kol frowns as he takes it in before looking at me, "What is this?"

I grin wickedly, "Tell me what you know of the Other Side Kol."

Kol blinks at the tangent but answers, "Its supernatural hell. Witches have an easier time with it, able to communicate with each other and even communicate with living witches, but vampires and werewolves supposedly can't. Why?"

I move to the sarcophagus and open it, revealing Amara to my little brother, "Because the Other Side is an inherent part in Silas' story dear brother. The hell on earth he's prophesized to unleash is the Other Side. The reason he wants to do so is because of this woman."

Kol looks upon Amara's stone-like face, two thousand years of dessication leaves her looking more like a statue than a corpse, "Another doppleganger? How many of these things are there?"

I laugh at that, "Sometimes it seems there are too many Kol, but no. This is Amara, the second immortal and she's the reason the dopplegangers exist in the first place. You see Kol, two thousand years ago, Silas was just a powerful witch, part of a group known as the Travelers. He wished to live forever and convinced his fiancé to help him create an elixir for them to drink on their wedding day."

I chuckle, "And then he promptly stole that elixir for himself and Amara, his true love. His fiancé found out of course and being that she was a powerful witch in her own right, she had the capacity to take revenge. So she took Amara and dessicated her, before using her to create and anchor the Other Side to our reality. Then she convinced Silas she'd killed Amara, and locked him away with the cure."

I shrug my shoulders, "She hoped that he would take the cure and die, so that he would be forced to spend eternity on the Other Side with her. He's chosen not to so far, and that's why witches fear his return. I've made sure that his return won't ever happen Kol, but we still have Amara to deal with, the anchor to the Other Side."

Kol frowns as he takes in the female immortal, "I don't mind the impromptu history lesson much, but why tell me all this?"

"Because Kol, this is part of what I'm offering you. I want to remove the anchor and destroy the Other Side without bringing it here to our world. I want those already on the Other Side to move onto their true afterlife and I want you to help me complete this task."

Kol furrows his brow, "That's a rather tall order. Why does the Other Side need be to destroyed if you've taken care of Silas? Why do you seek to wage war with those already dead?"

I shake my head, "Silas is dealt with, that I'm sure of. Most of the living beings who would seek him out are dealt with as well. But as you said, dead witches still have a hold on the living world. Given enough time, the dead will try to find ways to come back themselves and raise Silas for their own agenda. I would prefer we stop them before then."

Kol nods slowly at that, "Agreed. But then, this sounds like a solely magical endeavor. In that department I have always been sorely lacking, so how do you wish for me to help?"

I grin at that, "Well now, that's where your gift finally comes in brother." I whistle sharply, and all seven of the archivists who had before been working in the room stopped what they were doing and came to stand before us. All of them were male, and all of them had similar looks and a similar build to Kol. With all eight of them standing together now, it was almost uncanny.

Kol frowns at their appearance, "Vali, I hope this is some sort of a joke. I'm not nearly as vain and self-centered as you're making me out to be, and if they're for my pleasure, I assure you that I am solely into women."

I chuckle, "I'm sure little brother. Do not worry, I have plenty of female witches who would jump at the chance to get in bed with the great Lord Kol. I may have bragged about you a bit too much. But no, these young men have a different purpose, one I think you'll enjoy."

With a gesture, all of them turn around and expose their upper backs, showing off neat lines of holes. I grin and look to Kol, "Do you recognize this?"

Kol frowns, "They've been prepared for body possession. Brother…"

I grin as he trails off, "Yes brother. For you. My witches have long since perfected the act of body jumping. I'm not inclined to do it myself, but I always knew you might enjoy the chance to experience magic again one day. These seven young men have pledged through magical oaths to serve you until the day they die. One for each day of the week so that you don't wear them out too quickly."

The archivists turn back around at my say so even as Kol stares at them, "Why would they agree to this?"

I smile and nod to one of them, and he steps forward to address Kol, "The pursuit of knowledge is all any of us want Lord Kol. Under your tutelage we are sure to discover magics never even heard of. Sacrificing some of our time so that you may experience magic again is the least any of us can do in exchange for your guidance and mentorship."

Kol looks absolutely floored, and it's completely obvious how starved for respect and admiration he is as he swallows thickly. Of course, I already knew that, just as I'd known exactly what to give Elijah and Rebekah. He turns to me slowly and grins wider than I've ever seen from him, "You were right Vali, you did save the best for last."

I clasp a hand on his shoulder, "I want you to understand that this gift comes with no strings attached brother. You will always have access to the magical knowledge at my disposal, and you will always have access to these seven so long as they live as well as replacements. There's a waiting list of volunteer. Know that my request of you concerning helping me destroy the Other Side is just that, a request. Your gifts are not dependent on your acceptance of this task."

Kol stares at me for several long moments before nodding slowly, "I understand. But I'll still do it, if nothing else, as a way to learn more of the magic centered around it. I promise you Vali, the Other Side will be destroyed and Silas' threat will finally be dealt with. You've given me all the tools I need to do it."

I grin and pull him into a hug, startling him somewhat severely. I end it only a second later, holding him at arm's length and smiling, "Excellent. I'll leave you to it Kol, your new assistants will show you how to transfer your consciousness to one of them. I have a spy to interrogate now. We'll talk again soon brother."

He gives me one last nod and I leave the room at a casual pace. Kol will either succeed or fail, but truly it matters not. His new little group is one of five that is currently looking for a way to destroy the Other Side, and they are in fact the smallest of those groups. They have an edge in that I've given them Amara, but at the end of the day, so long as the Other Side is unanchored and gone I'll be happy.

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I have a smile on my face as I make my way back into the larger room and walk over to where the torturer is still at work trying to break our little spy. Once more I stop him and he turns to face me. I raise an eyebrow, "Find anything out yet?"

He grimaces and presses his lips together firmly as he shakes his head. It's clear he's afraid of punishment but I just chuckle, patting him on the back as I take his place in front of the tied up vampire.

Her head is hanging down now, and she's clearly lost a lot of strength given the amount of blood her tormentor has bled out of her. I reach down and grasp her chin, pulling her head up so she's forced to look into my eyes. I shake my head, keeping my eyes on her even as I speak to the tense interrogator, "There's no need to be ashamed, I wouldn't have expected you to manage anything from this one. She has fire to her, just like her mother."

The woman's eyes immediately open wide as she stares at me in shock and I grin wickedly, showing off my pearly whites, "Isn't that right, Nadia Petrova?"

She looks so confused and her vow of silence finally ends as she answers me, "H-how?"

I just chuckle, even as I step forward, place my other hand on the top of her head, and twist sharply in a move that breaks her neck and leaves her unconscious. Tearing away her restraints I pick her up easily and sling her over my shoulder as I look at the vampire interrogator who's eyes are rather wide by this point as well, "My turn."

I make my way back upstairs and find a bedroom in short order to plop Nadia in. Leaving her laying on the bed, I zip away to grab a blood bag and arrive back just in time to find her waking up. I toss the blood bag into her lap and stand there as she drinks from it greedily. As soon she's done she's off the bed away from me. Unfortunately the room is windowless and I stand between her and the doors.

I raise an eyebrow at her but make no move to attack. She seems to be torn between fashioning a stake to use against me and asking me what I know of Katerina. Eventually she deflates a bit and chooses the latter, "How do you know who I am? How do you know my mother?"

I grin, "I'm not sure you're in the position to be asking the questions, but if you answer mine, I'll answers yours. To answer your first question, I've known who you are for quite a long time Nadia. I am heavily invested in the doppleganger bloodline. Now, I'm curious to know who you think I am."

She frowns but slowly accepts the little game I'm choosing to play with her, "I assume you're the Enemy. If you knew who I was already, why were your people in the dark? That guy was beating on me for hours every day for a week."

I blink at that, I can practically hear the capitol E in Enemy, "Because some things are need to know Nadia. What is the significance behind naming me the Enemy?"

She shrugs, "The Enemy is what the Travelers call the mysterious shadow organization that's been hunting them down for the last several centuries. It's the reason that so few Travelers remain at this point and all they've been able to figure out is that whoever's behind it somehow has vampires and witches working together. Given everything I've seen in this place and given that the Travelers sent me in the first place to try to get back some sort of sarcophagus, I assume that this is that shadow organization and you're in charge of it, or at least highly place."

She frowns as she asks her question after that long speech, "Why are you invested in the doppleganger bloodline?"

I take in her answer, considering that for a long moment before grinning, "Well, they're right, I am the Enemy. And you're also right about me being in charge, the one all the way at the top. I like that title too, The Enemy. I'm going to keep that one."

She swallows thickly at that, noticing that I haven't answered her question, she begins to tense up, "Why would you just tell me that? What if I got away and told the Travelers?"

I grin at that, and by the way she tenses further I know I must be pulling off evil smirk really well right now, "Well first, you aren't going to be leaving this room. Second, who's really left to tell? At this point the Travelers barely exist. The last group of any real size was the ones protecting the Sarcophagus, and they're all dead now. If I had to guess, you were sent here by one Traveler and one alone. Gregor, yes?"

As I correctly name her boyfriend Nadia makes an attempt at escaping, moving in a blur of speed towards the door, only for me to grab her by the hair and slam her into a nearby wall, pushing her up against it with my body even as I pull her head back with one hand and run the other hand down her side to rest on her hip, "Nadia… you shouldn't have done that."

She snarls and struggles against me, but finds such efforts fruitless, and eventually stops, putting a brave face on and resting her cheek against the wall for a moment as she speaks, "If you're going to kill me, just do it. I won't tell you anything else."

I can't help but laugh at that, "Oh if only you knew how many times I've heard that one darling." Spinning her around I initiate compulsion as soon as her eyes meet mine, "You will stop fighting me, you will stop trying to escape. You will do whatever I say."

I release her and she just stands there, leaning against the wall for support, her eyes wide, "You're an Original."

I snort at that, "Darling, I'm the Master himself. I'm the smart Original."

She swallows convulsively, "I thought the Master was a myth."

That just causes me to grin, "We're all myths love. Believe me when I say that I am the Master. Though I suppose the Enemy has its own charm to it."

Nadia just stares at me, "What are you going to do to me now?"

I ponder for several long moments before pulling out my phone and dialing up a number. Katerina picks up instantly, "Yes Master?"

I grin as I look at Nadia, "Hello Katerina. Where are you right now love?"

Katerina pauses for a long moment before speaking in a small voice, "… Chicago."

"Perfect! I'm standing here, and I'm in a good mood now that I've dealt with my siblings. I'm feeling incredibly magnanimous. So, I've got your daughter here and I'm going to give her to you. You two can reconnect or whatever while I deal with one last bit of family business. Just make sure she stays out of my hair, or I'll be forced to kill her alright?"

Katerina's response is less than eloquent, "… What?"

I sigh, "Katerina, keep up please. The daughter that was taken from you in the late 1500s. The one you looked for after becoming a vampire, but were never able to find. The one who got herself turned into a vampire to continue searching for you for the past five hundred years. That one. Come and do some mother-daughter bonding Katerina, it's been five hundred years."

I hang up without another word, knowing that Katerina will eventually get her act together and approach the manor we're currently in. Nadia looks a combination of tearful and hopeful, having latched onto a specific piece of what I just said, "She looked for me?"

I roll my eyes and don't deign to answer that, pointing at Nadia even as I walk towards the door, "Stay. You can leave with Katerina and Katerina alone. No more working with Travelers. Oh and when you get the chance let someone know where Gregor is so we can deal with him alright?"

I'm out of the room before she can protest the fact that I've just ordered her to give her boyfriend up for death. She'll do what I say because of the compulsion and that's all that matters. I've got something more important to deal with now anyways. As I walk down the hall towards an elevator that will take me to another part of the complex entirely, I let a slow grin spread across my face.

It's time to speak with my mother.

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