บท 18: 18

For a fleeting second, or less, darkness covered my eyes. The next second I was standing at the entrance to the Mikaelson estate. There were several lamps burning outside the house, lighting up the courtyard with their bright light. The warm evening breeze blew on my face. After standing for a while and enjoying the moment, I moved toward the front door.

It was not appropriate for a guest to teleport into someone else's house unannounced. I went to the door and knocked a couple of times. Soon the door opened, and behind it was Hope.

"Hope... do you mind if I go inside?" - I turned to the girl with a slight smile on my face. The girl in question froze, still staring at me with an unreadable look on her face.

"Hope, is everything okay?" - I asked, I really do not like her long silence. It seemed that when she heard my question the girl died down and nodded.

"Yes, yes, of course! Come on in!" - Hope answered me, and quickly stepped back from the doorway to let me in.

"It's a good thing the ritual went without complications, otherwise without stabilization anything could have happened, and if I had evolved and become just one of the Original vampires, I'm afraid I would always have to ask permission to enter the house, and that brings with it a lot of trouble..." - I was reminded of a moment in this universe as I walked inside the house.

"How's the plan to rescue and disarm Elijah coming along?" - I asked Hope walking beside me.

"Soon... it's going to start soon, aren't you...?" - There was a mute question in the girl's tone.

"Can I help you with this problem?" - I said, which made the girl tense slightly, and a second later she relaxed again.

"Yes..." - she let the air out of her lungs and answered.

"No problem. No problem. And I'd like to try out the new abilities I got with you." - I reminded Hope of the obvious, that if it wasn't for her, I would still be a pale and cold vampire.

We walked leisurely through the hallway, and soon we were in the room where the rest of the household was.

Our appearance was immediately noticed by the others. Particularly Freya, perhaps she was driven by a thirst for knowledge. Looking into her eyes I saw sparks of impatience mixed with fear, a strange witch.

I decided to ignore that for now, and asked a question.

"Of course, Hope had already answered my question, but I'd like to ask it again, when will you take care of Elijah?" - The sooner we restore his memory and destroy his pseudo-allies, the sooner I can get home, and finish what you started.

"Yeah... we just have to prepare the ritual and pick a place, but I guess that's not a problem." - Klaus' sister Rebekah spoke.

....

"You know, I was expecting this to be something difficult, an ancient vampire after all... and all that, but it was kind of disappointing..." - I frowned at Elijah, who was already in the ritual circle, looking at many people with a promising look, only he couldn't get out of the circle.

And my vision of the ancient vampires was shaken and turned upside down; it was easy to lure him out. Klaus managed to bite his girlfriend, and since, in addition to being an original, Klaus is also a werewolf, his bite is a death sentence for vampires.

That's how one of the Original vampires ended up trapped in a magical circle. My words didn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah... sometimes they're just like a bunch of dumb people with their "beliefs."" - Haley smiled crookedly at me.

At her words, the rest of the girls smiled in sync: Hope, Rebecca, and Freya. There wasn't a wicked sneer or anything like that in their smiles, but rather some kind of understanding or something.

"Come on, you two, do what you want and give me the antidote." - Shouted Elijah with glee, the more I looked at him the more my impression of him deteriorated, though maybe when he remembers everything it will have some effect on something.

Yeah...he came to us and surrendered, for which Klaus promised to save his girlfriend, who he himself hunted down and bit...

"Freya, Rebekah. All set?" - asked the girls Klaus, who seemed a little nervous. And I understand him, after all, his brother after all, his own blood.

After a couple of minutes Klaus also entered the circle. Freya was standing not far away in front of the circle. As the words came out of her mouth, the candles in the pentagram circle burst into the brightest flames. Well, here we go.

***

[Parallel Reality. 2012. The Day Before...]

"I can't help thinking that they're putting themselves in danger because I fell in love with a human." - The man said, looking at the people gathered around the fire.

"You have found your love, and you deserve to be happy." - The other man, the older man standing next to him, disagreed.

"But at what cost..." - the first man continued to insist.

"Everyone has something to fight for... I certainly do." - The man looked toward the vampires and werewolves, who were telling each other stories with smiles on their faces.

Of course, that conversation was Edward's with Carlisle. The family of champions, as the Cullen clan was otherwise called, where Carlisle was the founder.

Because of the lack of acceptance and understanding, because the Volturi did not understand the situation, a war was possible...and that was not what Edward wanted for his family, for Bella and his daughter Renesmee.

Edward's eyes flickered to the night tent that housed his daughter and his beloved as he thought of her. Such thoughts seemed to warm the vampire's cold and unbeating heart.

And a happy smile crept onto his face. Yes, together they would surely cope and overcome all adversity.

"And in sorrow...and in joy, eh?" - The vampire man thought, remembering the vow he'd made during his wedding to Bella, which only made his smile wider.

After finishing his conversation with Carlisle, who was like a father to him, Edward decided to spend some time with his family, so he headed straight for the tent where Bella was, who was telling their daughter something with interest.

***

There were a lot of vampires seated in the comfortably furnished living room. Many had happy smiles on their faces, and some were frankly bored... this wasn't the first time what was about to happen.

"First, I'd like to congratulate the newly admitted high school kids!" - Emma raised her glass with a luscious red liquid and smiled a radiant white-toothed smile.

Here she was instantly supported by a clamor of cheering voices. After celebrating this auspicious occasion, they all spread out in whatever way they felt comfortable. And began to talk on more mundane topics.

"How's work going at your clinic, Carlisle?" - Tanya asked in a friendly way, since their families had known each other for years.