The love for my enemy

Chapter Twenty: Awakening

The battlefield was chaos. Dark energy rippled across the ground, Sebastian’s forces pressing in from every direction. The sky churned with unnatural clouds, streaked with lightning that cracked like a whip, illuminating the carnage below.

At the center of it all stood Arianna.

Her heart thundered, her vision blurring as the Blade’s whispers grew louder, wrapping around her mind like chains. Her hands trembled, her body vibrating with an unfamiliar energy that clawed to be let out. Around her, Klaus, Damon, and the others fought desperately to hold the line, but Arianna could barely hear them over the relentless voice in her head.

“Power… destiny… unleash me.”

Sebastian stepped forward through the chaos, his dark figure impossible to miss. In his hand, the Blade of Thorns pulsed with a sickly red light, as though it was alive, feeding off the destruction.

“Stop running, Arianna!” Sebastian’s voice rang out, cold and commanding. “You can’t deny what you are. The Blade chose you!”

Arianna’s breath came faster, the pressure in her chest unbearable. The whispers screamed now—an endless roar that drowned out everything else.

Klaus’s voice cut through the madness, fierce and protective. “Arianna! Don’t listen to him!”

But it was too late.

Sebastian raised the Blade of Thorns, pointing it toward her like a beacon. A dark surge of magic erupted from its surface, a spiraling wave of energy racing toward her. Arianna’s instincts kicked in, her hands snapping up as she screamed.

Everything stopped.

The world seemed to hold its breath as a blinding light erupted from Arianna’s palms, colliding with Sebastian’s magic. The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield, knocking everyone to the ground—Klaus, Damon, Sebastian’s forces, all of them.

Arianna stood in the center of it, untouched, her eyes glowing an eerie silver. Power coursed through her veins, raw and unrestrained, lifting her slightly off the ground. She could feel it now—all of it. The Blade’s other half, long dormant, had awakened inside her.

Sebastian stared at her, his smug confidence faltering for the first time. “What… what are you doing?”

Arianna’s voice was cold and steady, echoing with an otherworldly tone. “Finishing this.”

She raised her hand, and a pulse of magic shot from her fingertips, slamming into Sebastian. He cried out, skidding backward as the Blade in his hand flickered violently, as though rejecting him.

The power didn’t stop there. The energy inside Arianna crackled, spreading outward in waves of light. Creatures around her screamed, Sebastian’s vampires turning to dust as her magic touched them.

Klaus, stunned, pushed himself up, watching her with a mixture of awe and concern. “Arianna… you have to control it!”

But Arianna couldn’t hear him. The power was too loud, too intoxicating. Her heart raced, her body floating higher as the light expanded. Sebastian, weakened but defiant, glared at her through gritted teeth.

“You think you can stop me?” he hissed. “You don’t even know what you’re wielding.”

Arianna turned her glowing gaze to him. “I don’t need to know. I just need to end you.”

She raised both hands, preparing to release another devastating blast—

“Arianna, stop!”

Klaus’s voice broke through the haze, but it wasn’t just his voice—it was his presence. Suddenly, he was in front of her, his hands grabbing her face, forcing her to look at him.