IV. SHE WHO IS NOT SOUGHT

   STEFAN Salvatore was going to die.

He hadn't entirely processed his decision to rush into the tomb, but the second he heard Elena's scream, his decision had been made. He was not losing someone else— not if he could stop it.

And as he crept through the dark tomb, attempting to step over the bodies of the desiccated vampires that lay at his feet, he allowed himself to process the decision he had made.

It was inevitable that one day he would die. Sure, he had escaped the cruel grasp of death many times before, but he knew one day he wouldn't. And perhaps this is what he deserved, to die a painful and anguishing death that was almost symbolic to the way he had killed and fed his addiction.

But more than anything, he just wanted Elena to be okay. He could allow himself to succumb to his grief and pity himself when he knew she was safe and out of the tomb. The tomb that he was going to be sealed in for the rest of his life as a desiccated reminder of who he once was.

The tomb that lay below the place where his sister had been murdered.

He knew he deserved it, but Elena, she didn't.

A rush of relief ran through him when he found her in the tomb, but it was quickly taken over by the surge of anger he felt when he saw her wrist torn open and pressed to the lips of one of the vampires and Anna standing behind Elena, holding her in place.

He was quick to pull Anna off of Elena, throwing her against the stone wall, "Let her go!"

Pulling Elena up from the ground, he shoved her in the direction of the exit, urging her to run, "Go, go! I'm right behind you."

He allowed himself to look at her retreating figure for a second longer than he needed to before turning back to block to exit from Anna.

The scent of Elena's blood lingered in the air and Stefan tried to ignore the ache in his gums. The whispers grew louder around them, the vampires not only feeling Elena's presence but having the aroma of her blood in the air was intoxicating.

Stefan's fingers ran through his hair and tugged at the roots as he hovered over, dropping his hands to his knees as he breathed in heavily through his mouth. He pushed himself forward, going in the direction that Elena had gone, but stopping at the entryway.

He knew he was going to die and in some ways he had accepted his face. But the look on Elena's face, he would never be able to stomach that.

"Stefan, what are you doing?"

Bonnie shook her head, flipping through the pages of the spell book, "It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it."

   "What is it?"

Stefan finally looked up, meeting Elena's eyes. "I can't."

"Can't? Can't what?"

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet."

Elena moved closer to him, brows furrowing at Bonnie's words. "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?"

"I heard you scream."

"Stefan, we can't leave him in there. We promised him. Both of us."

"I know."

Shelia stepped around one of the torches, pursing her lips in thought before speaking, "Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long. You go find Damon."

As Stefan stepped back into the darkness of the tomb, the whispers grew louder in his head, a jumble of mumbling of words and sentences, some entirely incoherent while others he could briefly make out.

"She's here."

He tried to ignore the whispers, shaking his head as he turned the corner, sighing when he finally found Damon in the corner of the tomb, muttering to himself, "She's not here."

"She's here."

"Damon."

"She's here."

"She's not here."

"She's here."

"What?"

Damon spun around to face Stefan, tossing the blood bag he had against the wall with a scream, "She's not here!"

"She who is not to be sought but is to be found."

Stefan stepped towards Damon, gesturing for Damon to follow him. "Damon, we need to get out of here."

Damon continued to pace, hands shaking at his sides as he muttered, "It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside."

"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out."

"How could she not be in here?"

"It's not worth spending all of eternity down here. She's not worth it!"

Damon turned on his heels, "No!"

The veins appeared under his eyes in a mere second as he launched himself towards the wall, letting the flesh of his knuckles meet the brutal stone of the wall— splattering his blood across the rock.

"With blood similar to her own, she is found."

Damon continued to bash his fist against the stone with a cry, only stepping back when the stone began to shake and crack beneath his touch.

Stefan grabbed his arm, pulling him back as the stone slabs shook and began to break into two pieces and part away from one another— exposing something to them.

There was a coffin.

Behind the slab of stone, a small room was hidden. Lit with candles adorning the walls, Stefan could make out a small coffin in the dead center of the room, covered with layers of vines and flowers that despite being in the dark, did not seem to be missing a day of sunlight, remaining vivid and lively under his scrutiny.

Damon stumbled into the room, grabbing onto the edge of the coffin to hold himself up. He leaned over the edge before immediately jumping back towards Stefan, whispering under his breath as he approached the coffin again, "No. No. No. This can't be real."

"Damon? What is it?"

Stefan stepped around him, moving towards the glass coffin with caution. His fingers trailed over the tops of the vines, pushing them aside to view inside the casket.

He felt his blood run cold.

How?

Damon approached him from the side, coming to stand beside him, pressing his hands flat against the glass with a stuttered breath, "Ivy?"

Stefan's body worked faster than his mind, his fingers finding the latch the the coffin and tearing it open, his hands going to her shoulder's and grasping them, "Ivy? Come on. Ivy?"

Her body wasn't cold to the touch, but she didn't make any indication that she was waking up.

If she was even alive.

Damon swatted Stefan away, grabbing at her shoulders and shaking her, "Come on, Ivy. Please wake up. Please."

Stefan took a second to look at her to make sure it was really her. He felt guilty that he had forgotten so much of the intimate details of her face that he had memorized growing up.

When his eyes fell to her locket around her neck, he knew it was her.

Elena's faint voice screaming pulled him back to reality. He pushed the coffin open entirely, bending forward to pull her into his arms.

Damon stumbled back, wiping his bloody hands across his face, "What're you doing with her?"

"The tomb is going to seal us in. We have to go, Damon. Now."

Stefan kept the body close to him as he rushed towards the exit, Damon on his trail. For so long, he had believed his twin to be dead and that her death was inherently his fault. But now, by some sort of magic, his twin was laying in his grasp, somehow looking the same as he had last saw her.

He fell to his knees when he came of of the tomb, laying Ivy down in front of him and brushing the hair from her face. Falling back onto his knees, he looked up as Damon followed his path out of the tomb, falling to the ground behind him.

Elena's face twisted in confusion as she stepped forward, eyeing the girl who lay on the stone floor. She was quiet as the Bennett witches came to a stop with the spell, but a look of recognition crossed her face. "Stefan? Is that, is that Ivy?"

Bonnie looked up as she detached hands with her grandmother, an odd expression painted across her face, "Ivy?"

Shelia looked at the body in front of Stefan and Damon as though she had seen a ghost, immediately glancing down and flipping to a page that had been marked, "With blood similar to her own, she is found."

Stefan's head whipped up at the familiar words, "What did you just say?"

"She who is not sought, but is to be found. With blood similar to her own, she is found."

   Bonnie stood up on shaky legs, muttering the same words under her breath before turning to the pair of brothers, "Did one of you bleed on something?"

   Damon nodded in a sort of daze, "I did, yeah. The wall broke apart and there was a room."

   There was a flicker between the two witches as they eyed one another before Shelia stood up, grabbing one of the torches in her hands and moving quickly towards the stairs that led up into the woods, "Quickly, grab the girl and come with us."

   "What is happening?"

   "Stefan, listen to us. Grab her and follow us."

   Bonnie grabbed their things and followed her grandmother, eyes wide as she made her way up the steps.

   "Stefan, what is going on?"

    Looking up to meet Elena's eyes, Stefan shook his head gently, "I don't. I don't know what's going on."

   Laying a hand on his shoulder, she nodded at him, "Okay, you and Damon go with Bonnie and Grams. I need to check on Jeremy. Just call me when you figure out what is going on." She bent down and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before turning to look at Damon, "I'm sorry that you didn't find her in there."

   Choosing to ignore the look Damon was sharing with Elena, Stefan slipped his arms beneath his sister's knees and neck, pulling her up with him as he went to stand up and follow Bonnie out of the tomb.

   The brothers remained quiet as they ventured into the woods, trailing behind the pair of witches that were leading them further into the darkness.

   They could've been being led to their deaths, but they didn't even seem to care.

   The were absolute fools when it came to their sister.

   And after of this time of believing she had died alone and in a horrific manner at the hands of their father, just seeing her, that would've been enough to die happy men.

   Stefan cradled her in his arms, tilting her face towards his and trying to make her face out under the faint glimmer of the moon.

   Someone grabbing his elbow caused him to come to a stop; realizing that the three people with him had also stopped and were standing before a grand archway of trees in the middle of the woods.

   It was hard to see in the darkness of the shadow of the trees, but with the slight gleam from the moon and the flicker of the flames as Shelia approached the archway, he was able to make out some details.

   The archway had been formed from a few trees, twisted and turned to make a curve, vines winding and bending around the branches and limbs of the trees— coming all the way down to the base of the trees, covering a fair amount of the ground with vines.

   Shelia stuck the torch into the soil, standing it up straight as she gestured to the line Bonnie had drawn in the dirt and grabbing one of the glasses that they had used for the spell earlier from her bag, holding it out towards Damon, "I need your blood."

   "What for?"

   "Your questions will be answered in due time. For now, I need your blood."

   With a weary eye, Damon bit into his palm, holding it over the glass and squeezing, letting his blood drip down, filling the cup.

   When she had enough, Shelia stepped back, approaching the archway of the trees and vines, all while mumbling under her breath. Her index finger traced the rim of the cup, dipping down to get some of the blood, and bringing it back to trace the rim again.

   Her voice was strong but barely audible against the sounds of the forest at night. Continuing to speak under her breath, Shelia dropped into a kneeling position, holding to cup out in front of her body and tipping it over while moving her arm in a circle.

   The vines at the forest floor twisted when met with the blood, coming to life as the three other people watched.

   The vines twisted and twirled as they awakened, curling up around the archway of trees and tightening in place before they went still. The trees beyond the archway rumbled as they shifted, parting to expose a cottage covered with vines and flowers.

Shelia beckoned them forward, "Come."

Stefan's eyes darted around as he held Ivy close to his chest. The gravel walkway to the cottage was short; he eyed the small well to the side of the cottage and the lights that were on inside. But as they neared, he noticed a woman standing on the front porch, the majority of her figure hidden beneath a dark green cloak.

As they neared the cottage, she pushed the cloak away from her face, exposing her dark ebony skin to the moonlight, her skin glowing beneath it. Her hair was pulled away from her face and tied up in a series of braids, leaving her face open to their view without the cloak.

There was a calm aura that filled the air from her presence. Stefan couldn't make out her face until they neared, his green eyes clashing against the dark chocolate brown eyes she possessed.

Her voice stood out against the silence and crinkling of leaves, a hint of an accent buried in her voice, "Sheila, I saw you coming."

Stefan stopped a few paces behind Shelia, watching as her head bowed slightly before she spoke, "I suspect you see a lot of things, Emmeline."

The woman 'Emmeline' shrugged, her red lips pulling into a smile, "It's a great gift yet a terrible burden to see what has not yet happened. But, I'm afraid you lot are not here to discuss me."

"She who is not to be sought, but is to be found," Shelia murmured.

"With blood similar to her own, she is found," the woman completed with a nod. "Got to love us witches for our vague words and prophecies. Come now, we have been waiting for you."

Damon and Stefan lingered behind the three witches as they walked around the cottage and came across a stone building that looked similar to a mausoleum.

   The stone structure was larger than the cottage was, with the steps leading up to the entrance stark marble against the dark stone. The stone had been carved at the top to say two words: Covina Creaturae.

   The woman waved her palm over the door, whispering before she pushed her palms against the stone, opening the door for them all. She stepped to the side, allowing them to enter first.

   The room was brighter than Stefan had expected, several torches covering the walls along with the moonlight that was pouring in from the glass ceiling. In the middle of the room, marble table stood, four figures in similar cloaks at each side.

   The figure at the side at the back of the room pushed her hood down, exposing her dark tawny skin and freckles to Stefan's eyes. Her hair, much like Emmeline's, had been pulled away from her face in a series of braids and then tied up. She eyed the body in Stefan's arms as she squared her shoulders back, "The moon is in its placement."

   Emmeline came walking around Stefan, gesturing to the table, "It is time. Darling, if you would please lay her down on the table."

   Stefan pulled his twin closer to him, instinctively stepping towards Damon, "Who are you?"

   "You will learn everything you need to know when it is time. Now, we must do this before the moon shifts."

   "What're you going to do to her?"

   One of the other hooded figures pushed her hood down, her fiery red hair clashing against her green cloak. Her hair whipped in her ponytail as she turned to Stefan, her eyes narrowing, "Listen, we only have a small amount of time to do this. Keep this up and I'll just snap your neck and do it myself."

   The girl at the head of the table reached over and smacked the girl on her hand, "Enya! Will you ever learn to have some empathy?"

   "I have empathy! What I don't have is patience! You and I both know that if we don't get this done tonight, the moon doesn't align again for years."

   "Telling the boy that you're going to kill him if he doesn't do what you say isn't going to make him trust you!"

   "I was being honest! Sorry, I don't exactly have the time to coax the guy to trust me right now, Terra."

   "Girls," the woman 'Emmeline' stepped towards them and Stefan could tell from her tone that she was scolding them. The two girls settled, stepping back into their places as Emmeline turned to the brothers, "We can help your sister. Like I told Shelia, I saw this coming and we have been preparing for this day for years. I know that asking for your trust is a long shot, but I can promise you, we only want to wake her."

   Stefan looked away from her to gaze at Damon, the brothers sharing an unspoken conversation before Stefan nodded and turned back to face the witches. He gently stepped forward, laying his sister down on the marble slab, brushing the hair from her forehead before he stepped back.

   Emmeline nodded to him as she moved across the room, grabbing a ceramic bowl from the edge of the marble table and moving to the end with the woman named Terra. The other two girls had abandoned their hoods, but Stefan was too focused to look them over. Instead, his eyes were trained on Ivy's petite body under the moonlight.

   Emmeline laid the bowl beside Ivy's head and Stefan could tell that it had been filled with herbs and other dried substances. The flames around the room flickered as she began to whisper under her breath.

   She held her hands out away from her body, palms facing up. Stefan stepped closer, trying to watch as the other witches pushed the cloaks down their arms, exposing their wrists and palms as they mimicked her, holding their hands out and palms up.

   Emmeline had been whispering the spell before, but regained a normal level as she held her right hand out to her side, "Earth."

   The woman beside her, who Stefan believed was named Terra, held her left palm out, a small flower growing above her skin and falling into the ceramic bowl before the two woman joined hands.

   Emmeline drew in a breath as she extended her left hand to the other side of the table, her voice clear and loud, "Water."

   The woman with raven hair held her palm up, a swirl of water appearing above her fist skin and then like the flower, falling into the bowl before she grasped Emmeline's hand.

   Emmeline nodded to the girl closest to Terra, the redhead who they had called Enya, "Fire."

   Enya straightened her shoulders, holding her palm out and smiling to herself when a flame appeared and hovered over her hand. Leaning forward, she blew against the flame, causing the flame to turn to ashes, flowing down into the urn before she joined hands with Terra.

   The girl at the other end of the table held her hands out at Emmeline's last words, "And wind."

   A small spiral of wind spun from her hand over to the pitcher, twirling and spinning it around as the girl then connected her hands with the two others, completing the circle. Emmeline broke apart from them a second after, the two girls on either side of her instead grabbing onto one other, keeping their heads down as they continued chanting.

   Emmeline reached for the bowl, dipping her finger in as she leaned over Ivy's body, her fingers covered. Stefan mimicked her body language, moving closer to watch as she traced what appeared to be runes onto Ivy's skin on her exposed arms and upper chest.

   The chanting grew louder as the girls began to lift their hands up in the direction of the moon. When Emmeline was finished writing, she moved back from Ivy's body, placing her hands on Ivy's temples; joining in again on the chanting.

   The vines around the room began to twist and slither towards the marble table, curling around the base of the structure and creeping up the sides of the table, wrapping the vines around Ivy's wrists and ankles before linking all of the girl's hands together.

   Once the vine had swiveled and fastened its limbs around the witches, the tunes that had been painted across Ivy's flesh began to glow.

   It started out quite dull. Stefan wasn't even entirely sure if it was truly happening or if it was just reflecting off the light provided by the candles. But gradually, as the chanting began to grow in sound, the runes began to glow brighter.

   A glow rich in a gold color contrasting against Ivy's olive skin. Stefan blinked as it continued to grow brighter, finally looking away when it had become too bright.

   He blinked a few times as he turned back to the table, the glow settling as the vines began to unravel and return to the base of the marble table.

   Ivy's body remained still as the girls released each other's hands, stepping back from the table and pulling their cloaks back over their arms, leaving their hoods down.

   Emmeline, who had been standing at the head of the table with her eyes closed, finally opened her eyes with a sigh before her gaze moved to the Bennett witches who stood at the corner of the mausoleum. She bunched her cloak up at her feet, moving towards them and releasing it, letting the fabric pool at her feet as she spoke. "You have done the ancestors a great service tonight and they will not forget the good you have done here," Emmeline held her hands out to the Bennett witches, clasping her hands around their own, "we are in your debt."

   The woman bowed their heads in an odd sort of way to Stefan before releasing the woman's hands, stepping back and exiting the building in complete silence.

   Damon, finally seeming to have regained himself, was glaring at the witches, "What did you do to her?"

   "We are helping her."

   "Helping her?" Damon scoffed, striding towards Emmeline with a snarl, "How are you helping her, huh? You what, chanted the magic words and she's just going to wake up? She was dead for over a hundred years!"

   "Never dead," Emmeline shook her head, seeming unbothered as Damon moved in her direction, "only lost."

   Damon growled under his breath and Stefan moved forward to grab his brother, stopping when a gasp was heard in the room.

   Damon's anger long forgotten, the brothers turned in the direction that the gasp had came from.

   She was sitting straight up, green eyes wide and darting around. The ivory night dress was in the same state it was in the night she vanished, one of the shoulders having fallen down her arm, showcasing the runes that were sprawled on her shoulders, the base of her neck, and upper chest. Her lips parted as she took deep breaths in, her eyes finally finding a pair that were identical to her own.

   Dropping Damon's forearm from his grip, Stefan scrambled towards her, "Ivy?"

________

qotd: stefan or damon?
(personally, i would pick stefan
any and every day.)

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