The Sorceress | Klaus Mikaelson

S E V E N

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The rest of the school day droned on, and Arabella couldn't be happier when the last bell of the day rang out. She was more qualified than every teacher in there, yet they were trying to teach her. It was humiliating, frankly.

After stopping at the hospital to get some blood bags, and the Grill to get a drink, Arabella walks through the doors of the Boarding House, more than ready to reside in her greenhouse and practice some spells.

"I'm home, and I brought food!"

"Good for you! Now shut up, I'm reading!"

Arabella rolls her eyes at Damon's voice, tossing her bag into a chair and walking down to the basement to put away the blood bags in the freezer. Just as she's about to open the lid, however, she hears a grunt and shout of pain.

"Dammit," She sighs, speeding over to the cellar just in time to find a wooden stake being shoved through Katherine's stomach by an unknown force.

"Help me!" Katherine sputters, falling back while clutching the stake. Arabella rushes forward, crouching down by Katherine.

"What the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" Katherine grunts in pain as Arabella pulls out the stake, her eyes wide as she stares at something behind the witch. "Arabella..."

The Salvatore turns around in time to see the dagger slowly sliding out of Elijah's desiccated body.

"What the hell?" She whispers, but takes action nonetheless. Holding a hand, her eyes begin to glow as the magic is drawn from her amulet. "Incendia!"

At that moment, Stefan and Damon run down, staring between the two girls and the fire spewing from the Original.

"What are you doing?!" Stefan yells over the flames.

"It's a witch!" Arabella yells, her hand still stretched in concentration.

"Get over there and do something about it," Damon hisses, slapping his brother's arm. Stefan nods, and runs back upstairs.

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Arabella rubs her face tiredly as she walks into the kitchen at two a.m. After finding out she had killed the teenage Martin witch, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Especially when his father decided to aim an attack on Elena as revenge. Sure, they were trying to wake up an Original, but they had reasons to do what they did. And they were witches. One of her kind.

She tries not to let the guilt eat her up too much, but it is still there. Either way, all of those problems can wait another day. Right now, she wants ice cream, Netflix, blood, and bourbon.

Arabella is rummaging through the freezer, cursing her brothers under her breath as she does. How is it that the only ice cream they have is butter pecan? Not to mention, it's over two months old and buried deep in the back.

This should be a crime, in her opinion.

As Arabella is rummaging through the fridge, she hears two sets of footsteps slowly walk into the kitchen, recognizing them immediately as her brothers.

"How do you guys not have any ice cream?" She asks, not yet turning around. "I'm gone a few years and you think it's okay to not have ice cream?" Arabella turns around, the butter pecan in hand, frowning at the grim expression Damon and Stefan hold on their faces. "What?"

"I had a chat with Katherine," Damon speaks first, his brows furrowing. "We know, Bella," Arabella's breath hitches in her throat. She looks down, slowly setting the ice cream on the counter.

"Know what?"

"Really? You're gonna play dumb about this--?"

"What we wanna know," Stefan raises his voice slightly to cut off their brother. "Is why you thought you had to hide this from us?" Arabella's throat dries as she tries to keep her composure. There are about a million other things she'd rather talk about than this. Just not this.

"You could be talking about anything," She keeps up the act, turning and opening the utensil drawer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to--"

"We know about Naomi and Noah," Stefan cuts her off. "We know they're dead, Ara."

Arabella knew where they were going, but the spoon in her hand still clatters to the floor at the mention of their names. She closes her eyes slowly, taking in a deep breath.

Damon laying a hand on her shoulder causes her to jump and whip around, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill. She quickly blinks them away, refusing to cry right now.

"How did Katherine even know?" She asks evenly. Damon sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know that old hag. She has ears everywhere," Arabella nods, wrapping her bare arms around herself. She's suddenly freezing.

"Why did you feel the need to keep it a secret?" Stefan asks, tilting his head to try and get eye contact with his sister. Arabella avoids his gaze, walking over to the island and taking a seat in one of the bar stools. She stares down at her hands in thought. "They're the reason you're here, aren't they?"

She doesn't know how to answer that. At least not fully. Because the reason she's here is far more complicated than she could even begin to understand.

Naomi and Noah Dominguez were twin witches Arabella had met years ago, back in the 70's, when they had saved her life. She had became close with them from there, and due to magic, they were able to stay young and youthful, not looking a day over twenty. She loved them, to put it simply. They were her best friends.

Were. It still stings.

"Yes," She finally responds, still not looking up. "The Sun and Moon Curse. Witches everywhere have heard about it by now, and many of them were trying to stop it. Naomi and Noah were no exception. But Noah..." Arabella sighs, gazing off. "He became obsessed. He was so scared of Klaus breaking the natural order, that he came here-- to Mystic Falls-- where he knew the moonstone would be. I guess he hoped to destroy it or something... I never found out."

The tears begin to gather again in Arabella's eyes, but she doesn't try to push them away this time.

"He did the spell wrong. It just went so... wrong. It incinerated him," Damon winces at her words. "He had linked himself to Naomi without her knowing, to channel her magic as well, but..." Arabella swallows, a single tear trailing down her cheek and dripping onto the white countertop. "So, I got to watch as one of my best friends literally turned to dust, right in front of me. Definitely not an experience I would recommend."

A mournful silence falls over the three. Damon and Stefan may have not been close to the twins like Arabella was, but they considered them allies. Stefan considered them friends. Their death still hit them in a soft spot.

"And the reason I didn't tell you?" Arabella straightens up, wiping her face with both hands and looking up. "I don't know. Honestly. I guess I just didn't want to talk about it... not yet."

"You came to finish what they started," Damon states, crossing his arms. Arabella nods.

"Frankly, I don't care all too much if this curse is broken. We can already walk in the sunlight, and werewolves don't scare me. But like hell if I'm just going to let my two best friends die for nothing," Damon and Stefan share a worried look, but nod, nonetheless. They know when their sister gets like this, it's fairly hard to talk her out of anything.

And God help anybody who tries to stand in her way.

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