Wine, loud chatter, a pressing warmth and the sound of glasses clinging together.

The music that was playing was all too familiar to Robb. The slow, wailing violin was almost unrecognizable due to the crowds' noise but that song, that miserable, haunting piece of music would forever haunt his dreams.

Like it did now.

Robb was standing in the midst of the sept of Bealor that was decorated with tons of flowers and candles, tables and chairs covered in drinks and cakes. Almost all of the people were dancing slowly like they were completely hypnotized by the music. Robb's eyes followed a red long carpet till his eyes met the grand table where the bride and groom were seated.

"Elena." Robb breathed out her name when he saw her there, her eyes shooting daggers through his chest. She fumbled with her scarlet red dress that contrasted with her pale skin. There was hate and disappointment written all over her face like he had just left her to the dogs.

Which he evidently had. At Elena's side Jaime was seated with Ethan standing right behind him, a satisfied smirk decorating his face. That wasn't the only thing though, at Jaime's side sat Sansa and Ramsay who was looking at the feast with joyful eyes which usually meant no good.

When he had taken in all that he also noticed the overbundance of red all over the tables and floor. At first he thought that it was just wine but now he knew different.

This wasn't a wedding, this was a funeral.

And the dead were the only ones allowed.

~

"Hey Steve!" He felt something hard collide with his already throbbing cheek. "Wakey wakey!" His taunting voice continued as he felt something else collide with his other cheek. Steven groaned, slowly lifting is eyelids as his eyes tried to adjust to the darkness of the room. "Don't die on me yet, Stevie, there's so much more I want to do."

Steven's eyes slowly became used to the darkness of the room. It was a cold, dark one, the only thing in the room being a table covered with weird-looking tools and in the other corner multiple crossed and chains. His breath hatched in his throat and his arms pulled on the chains when he noticed them there.

"Castiel? Mary?!" He spotted his other children as well, all chained to the wall and covered in blood. Mary seemed asleep but his other kids were all awake and looking at him with fear-filled eyes. "No, no, no." Steven started to thrash around, trying to break the chains that bound him to whatever he was bound to. "LET THEM GO!!!"

"You and I both know I can't do that." Ramsay appeared in his line of sight, his mad eyes boring deeply into his. "Not after what you did to me."

"Please, let them go, they have nothing-"

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Ramsay yelled. "My powers, my wings, my everything!" His hands glasped around Steven's neck. "So now, I'm going to take everything from you." He smiled madly. "One by one, slowly, intimately." Ramsay looked straight into Steven's eyes. "You will watch your family die."

~

"Damon." Her voice woke him from his trance. He frowned as he opened his eyes, seeing only fire surrounding him. The warmth was pressing, all consuming like it was sucking all of his energy right out. "Evelyn?!" Damon turned around swiftly and tried to locate where her voice came from. He walked over multiple wooden planks, tripped over a broken cabinet and shook at the sight of small bones on the burning floor.

"How could you do this?" Her voice was broken like she was crying.

"Evelyn? Where are you?" Damon yelled as he walked through another burning hallway. No matter where he looked he only saw fire and burning wood.

"Daddy!!!"

"Felicity?!" Damon's eyes widened and he started to pick up his pace. He ran through the hallways, sped through broken doors and jumped over the burning furniture but he seemed to get nowhere.

"Father, please!" Abigail's voice echoed through the house. Damon panicked, turning around in the hallway. His heart thumped like never before, the adrenalin rushing through his body.

"Abigail! Where are you?!" No matter where he ran, no matter how many turns he took he never seemed to find anything or anyone. Just broken, burning furniture and rooms. The voices continued yelling though so even though Damon knew he wouldn't find them, he continued searching.

Evelyn's broken voice repeated over and over in his head. "You did this to us."

~

Elena had recognized where she was before she even opened her eyes. The red wedding. She walked through the pools of blood, watching the bodies on the floor. All of them were dead or either dying. "Talisa." She looked up at the sound of his voice. Robb was crawling towards the body of his wife while clutching his chest.

"Elena." She looked to her side and saw Gillian, leaning on the table. There was a sword that was pierced right through his chest. He looked at her with accusing, angry eyes as he stumbled towards her. "You're too late, they're all dead."

Elena frowned for a few seconds. "No, I saved them." Elena looked back at Robb who had lifted Talisa up in his arms. "I saved him." Elena looked around. "This isn't real, you're not real!"

"What are you talking about-" Gillian protested but Elena had lifted her arm before he could finish.

"I've been through this before." Elena's eyes became determined. "Ethan!!!" She looked up at the ceiling of the great hall. "You can't fool me, not for a second time!!!"

Before she could even comprehend what was happening she was lying on the cold hard floor. She could feel the warmth of the fire, smell the smoke and hear the shaking of the ground. Elena groaned and pressed her eyes shut when her head started to throb violently.

"Abigail, join me." Elena heard Ethan's voice from afar.

"No, you let them go!!!' Elena lifted her head from the floor to see how the others were doing. Unlike her, they hadn't broken free from the spell. On the contrary, most of them were screaming in fear and pain, thrashing around on the ground. Elena's heart skipped a beat when she saw Robb there, his face contorted in utter fear.

"They're not important, Abigail, but you are." Ethan's voice sounded tempting. "Together we can rule this kingdom as father and daughter. You and me, together."

"What?" Elena was just in time to catch the distraught look on her face. Elena tried to get on her knees and lift herself from the floor, the spell's effects slowly wearing off. She felt a moisty, small round thing nudge her side.

"Loki?" Elena whispered when she looked at him. The wolf softly whimpered and sat down, his tail swaying on the ground anxiously. Elena's eyes narrowed as she looked back at Ethan. He was making his way towards Abigail through the thick black smoke.

"You're my daughter, Abigail." Ethan smiled as he opened his arms. "Where else do you think you got your powers from? Such a power you can't inherit from just someone."

"That's why you let me live and not Felicity." Abigail spoke to herself rather than to Ethan. Elena silently got back on her feet, reaching for her bow that lay a few feet away. She knew she had little time till the others succumbed to the spell.

"You know you're not like them. You will never fit in, never truly belong with them. But with me, you could achieve great things." Ethan continued.

Abigail's eyes connected with Elena when she had picked up her bow. She saw the hesitation in Abigail's eyes, saw the temptation starting to set in. "I just want to live normally." Abigail's eyes didn't leave Elena's when she nocked an arrow, didn't once falter. "That's a life you will never be able to give me."

Elena let her arrow loose and immediately sprinted towards Ethan, letting Loki jump on him first when he was still in shock due to the arrow in his side. Ethan was able to throw the wolf off of him but wasn't on time to stop Elena from grasping his hands and twisting them behind his back, trapping him.

"Abigail, now!" Elena yelled while struggling to hold the protesting Ethan who growled furiously.

Abigail grasped the dagger from under her black cloak as she ran towards Ethan. Just when she came into his range he knocked his head back, catching Elena completely off guard. She stumbled backwards till she collided with the remains of a house. Ethan then lifted his arm and threw Abigail's body backwards until she also fell to the floor.

"Stop trying to-"

"Ethan." Her voice had frozen Ethan right to the core. He stood still, too afraid to turn around and face her. "Stop this, please." Her velvet voice echoed through his head. Ethan shivered, his eyes turning dark green instead of completely black. "Look at me." She demanded.

So he did. Ethan turned around to face her, his arms falling to his sides.

"This isn't you." Evelyn's light blue figure stood on the hill. Her thin, elegant eyebrows were slightly knotted together in sympathy, her long black eyelashes almost hiding her prominent green eyes from sight. Her thin legs made their way towards him. "What have you become, my sweet Ethan?"

"Evelyn." Ethan breathed out her name.

He hadn't noticed that Elena had picked up the dagger that Abigail had dropped. He was on time to hear her footsteps advancing on him so he turned around quickly, shaking his thoughts off Evelyn from his head. He dodged Elena's attack and grasped her by her throat, lifting her up till her feet couldn't touch the ground anymore.

"Don't think for once that you could kill me." Ethan's eyes darkened again but didn't turn back to the complete darkness as before. "You know what, I've had enough of you." He started to narrow his eyes. "Just for your information, I learned this from Steven." He started to suck out her life force, watching as the blood drained from her face and left her as pale as snow.

Elena started to gag, her heart stopped thumping and her blood froze everywhere in her body. Her eyes widened in shock as Ethan started to draw out her powers, the light blue essence flowing out of her. 'E-Ethan." She stuttered as she held tightly onto the arm that held her up. Her eyes drifted towards Robb who's thrashing had somewhat stopped. He wasn't going to make it if Ethan didn't stop the spell right there and then. Elena's heart filled with dread, knowing that she wasn't going to make it. She then looked back at Ethan, seeing his dark green eyes staring at her viciously.

"Nooo!!!" Abigail's yell made Ethan drop Elena's body to the floor and turn around. Ethan growled angrily and prepared himself to attack.

It all happened too fast. Before Elena even had the chance to look what had happened, if the dagger had really worked, her whole vision was clouded by a thick, black cloud that engulfed everything around her. Only Abigail could truly see what was going on, and it was horrifying. She saw how the thick black substance found its way out of Ethan's body, the thick smoke coming mainly out of his mouth.

Abigail was knocked back and thrown on her back, crawling away from the darkness that was leaving Ethan. Just as fast as the cloud had appeared around them, it left. Abigail followed it with her eyes till it was no longer in her sight.

"Ethan?" Abigail turned her head towards Damon when he spoke, seeing him crawling on his hands and knees towards his brother. All the others had awoken too, mainly just looking around themselves to see what was going on. Abigail turned back towards Ethan and saw him sitting there on his knees with his hand pressed against the wound in his chest, his eyes covered by his long locks. Damon and Elena both watched in silence and anticipation, mostly fear. When he looked up though their hearts seemed to break into a billion pieces.

"Damon, Elena?" His eyes were the clearest shade of green that Elena had ever seen. All of the hate, the madness had vanished from his eyes like he had just been cleansed from all of the stains on his soul. "What happened?" His voice even sounded different, not like the low growl that was before but more warm.

"Ethan?!" Damon sped towards him when his body fell backwards. He caught him in his arms, lifting him up till his head was leaning slightly against his upper arm. Ethan looked at Elena as she also quickly came to his side, her hand reaching up to his cheek.

"I, I don't fully understand, I-" Ethan stuttered as his face contorted in pain, groaning as his hand grasped the hilt of the dagger. Tears ran down his cheek as he looked between Elena and Damon. "What have I done?"

"Sssh, it's okay now." Damon reassured him as he lifted him up in his arms. "You're safe, it's gone. You'll be all right."

"The darkness." Ethan's eyes widened as his face paled. The blood was flowing out of his body without any delay, even though Elena tried her hardest to stop the flow. "It captured me, Damon, I couldn't do anything."

"I know, I know." Damon tried so hard not to cry while holding his brother. He looked up towards Steven who had lifted himself from the floor, trying to see if he could help somehow. Steven only looked back sadly though. So Damon looked back at the green eyes of his brother, the eyes that he thought he would never see again.

"I tried to fight it, I really did." Ethan continued while he balled his hands into fists and then relaxed them again, trying to fight the pain. Tears escaped from the corners of his eyes as he looked at Damon and Elena, his eyes filled with guilt. "It was too strong, or I... I was too weak, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." Elena tried to reassure him with a smile but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lift the corner of her mouth. So instead she just gently ran her thumb over his tear-stained cheek.

"It was so dark, so cold." Ethan mumbled as his eyes filled with tears. "It was like I was drowning for all those years, engulfed by only darkness and ice. I was so lonely..."

"We're here now, Ethan." Elena tried to shake him from the memories. "We've got you."

"Elena." Ethan breathed out. His body relaxed somewhat as the pain became dull. His kicking and thrashing stopped and he let Damon hold him tight. "You've grown so much." He smiled at his sister. "Look at you." He laughed as his hand flew up towards her face to catch a tear. "I can still see you running around in the house with your tiny wooden sword and pink dress."

Elena smiled as she leaned into his hand, closing her eyes as she let the tears escape from her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't watch you grow up into such a beatiful-" Ethan's face contorted into pain, his hand holding the dagger tightly. When the surge of pain had somewhat gone by, he looked back at Damon. "Damon, I-I'm so sorry, I...I do not think I'm going to make it."

"Yes you will." Damon bit on the inside of his cheek. "You will, you hear me?" His eyebrows knotted together as he slightly shook Ethan in his arms. "You're going to stay with us. There's no leaving for a second time, you hear me? I won't let you go again."

"I'm sorry, Damon, I'm sorry." Ethan mumbled.

"Just hang on there, okay?" Damon held his brother tightly. "We won't lose you now that we've just got you back. I can't lose you."

"I've been dead for years." Ethan's body was slowly feeling more and more numb. He couldn't feel anything anymore, couldn't move any of his muscles. All he could feel was the tears on his cheek and the warmth of his own blood on his chest and hands. "But you saved me." Ethan looked at Elena and Damon. "You never left me, I can't... thank you enough."

"You don't have to." Elena sobbed as he grasped his cold hand tightly. "Just stay with us."

Ethan's eyes glossed over and the tears stopped running. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can."

Elena let out a heart wrecking sob as Damon looked away and bit on his cheek hardly, tasting the iron of his blood.

"I'm just happy that you're here." Ethan smiled slightly as he tightened his grip on Elena's hand. His breath became slower and his heartbeat even more slow as he looked up at the sky above. The storm had gone by. He could finally see the sun, the light shining into his eyes. He savoured that, the light that shone down on him, light that he hadn't seen or felt in years. "My family." He breathed out.

"Ethan?" Damon shook his body when his eyes continued to stare. "Hey!" Damon shook harder. "Wake up!" Damon yelled as he grasped Ethan's shoulder. "C'mon!!! Open your eyes!" Damon watched for a few more seconds, his eyes widened in fear. But Ethan's eyes didn't move, his chest didn't rise or fall. "No, no, no." Damon started crying. "Don't leave me now, you fool!"

"Damon." Elena placed her hand on his shoulder. Damon looked at her tear-stained face. He saw how she tried to hold herself together, tried to appear strong for him. Just as him, she had lost a brother. "He's gone."

Damon looked back at Ethan and saw how Elena's fingers softly pressed his eyes shut. He seemed peaceful, like everything that had happened was just a nightmare. Like he had just returned from a hard day of work and was sleeping at home.

"He was my brother." Damon's voice broke. "I just had him back."

Author's note

Hey there little guardians!

Just a quick note: There are only 2 chapters left, including the epilogue. If I continue being this excited this story will be done within 2 weeks. So hang on tight for a little while longer!

See you next chapter!
(I was actually really proud of this chapter tbh, it finally felt like I had actually nailed it.)

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