-[Sheila]-
Never did she think her life would come to this. From guiding her granddaughter in discovering her gift to helping her open a tomb filled with vampires only to die and be resurrected by a…thing.
A thing, that was the only way she could describe Nathan Quinn. He wasn't natural, not in any way. From his seemingly limitless magical capabilities to the casual cruelty masked by smirks and charm. Bonnie was too young to see it, but Sheila had seen it all too clearly.
This was all a game to him. He didn't care about bringing her back to life. Watching him bend the laws of magic and nature as easily as sorting out a to-do list with only curiosity evident on his face was the eye opener. He didn't care about the consequences. Why would he when he could deal with them within the hour?
A monster was what he was. Her revival was only a side effect of the game he was trying to play with her granddaughter. A game that she had no choice but to watch play out. Who knew what he would do when he no longer felt like playing? The thought of it scared her more than she would like.
Bonnie bumbled around happily in his palm, oblivious, while she was turned to a glorified errand girl. With her changed appearance she had a rough time leveraging her old connections but she managed some of it. Brewing potions and elixirs was a delicate art that not many practiced anymore and as such, the more esoteric ingredients were harder to acquire.
Now she just had to hurry back to Mystic Falls. Who knew what the monster was planning now? Driving with the destination in mind, she couldn't help but feel agitated. Her skin crawled and her mind screamed at her for reasons unknown.
She would have brushed it off as simple paranoia if it wasn't for the fact that it only got worse the closer she to to the small town.
'Just what is going on?' In her confused agitation, she couldn't help but think of Nathan. 'He probably has something to do with this!' She could only push the pedal harder, moving with urgency.
-[Nathan]
Thirty minutes, that was what it took me to massacre roughly 200 witch spirits. Some of which I reaped of their knowledge, the others I destroyed in an instant. Though not in my physical body, my heart beat in excitement for conquest.
The speed at which they were destroyed was steadily rising as I quickly became more proficient in eradicating them from existence. They barely had time to band together to attempt to stop me.
I see a group of 40 witches chanting in unison, hands joint. My lips couldn't curl any further. The malevolent magic that destroyed their spiritual constitution gathered in my hands, the realm shaking from it.
In seconds I had gathered more power than an entire coven in my palm. Condensing it, I refined it into a thin pulse of destruction. Heavy magic pressed down on me from all angles but an outward pulse from my own magic pushed it all away. With a swing of my arm, the malevolent energy was hurled forward, shattering them into an unrecoverable powdered consistency before annihilating even that.
I realized something, a fault in the so-called balance of nature. Nature can only impose a balance when you draw from it. The creation of vampires was done through the magic Esther drew from nature and as such, nature made white oak the one thing that could take away their immortality. It was the same with a number of other spells.
I can't blame the magic users of this universe. Nature is their main source of magic, leaving them slaves to its shackles. My magic is mine and mine alone. I can feel the very essence of the world, of nature, trying to suppress my power. It was trying to shackle me to its rules.
I can only guess that my eyes were gleaming with a magical glow as my next victims saw me even through the darkness that had shrouded this dimension. They too didn't get a chance to resist as I raided their minds, harshly pilfering them for anything knowledge of importance before destroying them.
"Do you want to lecture me on your pathetic views on the balance of nature? Or have you simply resigned yourself to the consequences of your charlatan kin?" I asked, feeling someone creeping behind me.
Unlike the others I'd encountered, this one wasn't preparing magic to be used against me. Rather, its magic was connected to this dimension, actively trying to hold it in place.
"Neither. I'm simply observing the one who caught my interest. The same person who is able to casually oppose nature and come out on top." A feminine voice said from behind me, calm and smooth.
Turning, my eyes meet a familiar face. The ancient witch who started the story of immortality and the creator of this realm.
"Well I'll be damned. Qetsiyah, this is a pleasant surprise." I said, noting the fact that despite the destruction I had wrought, she barely seemed fazed.
"You know me." It was more of a statement than a question.
"I know of you. The woman who created the first immortality spell only to be betrayed by her lover and handmaiden. That's got to sting." I hummed with a shrug.
Qetsiyah being the actual genius of this world's magic would be an invaluable treasure trove comparable. Though she died before Silas, being able to craft an immortality spell and being the same person to create the cure was no joke.
"I've been watching you." She started after a moment of silence. "From the time you brought Vicki Donovan from the dead, to your battle with the spirits, even to killing Silas in his tomb. I've been keeping an eye on you."
"I'm flattered but is there a point to this?" I asked, fingers twitching. "In case you haven't noticed I'm kind of in the middle of something."
I have many more spirits to destroy and though I'm just itching to get back to it, I have enough sense to see that she wants something.
"I'm sure a lot of people can feel the impact of what you're doing here. I have a proposition." She paused before continuing at my urging look. "Bring me back."
"Why would I do that?"
"The girl you're hovering over, mentoring, she's my descendant. She's just barely scratching the surface of what magic is capable of. I'm a more valuable asset to someone like you." She said, pitching her case.
"Someone like me?" Now this is getting interesting. "What makes you think I can't just take what I want from you and end you here?"
"What would be the fun in that?" She asked, making me pause. There was a smug look on her face, aware of the point she'd touched. "You're strong, an anomaly walking on eggshells around mortals. Handling them with care so they don't break. Morality is but a mere suggestion to you but you can't show them that part of you. That dark part of you that could cause calamities out of pure curiosity."
"How long can you suppress that part of yourself? Bring me back. Let me be your confidant, your aide."
I stared in silence, dissecting her words and expressions. "You do realize that you're essentially selling yourself to me. If I bring you back, I will own you forever. Death will not save you, there will be no release until I deem so. What possible benefit could there be from this?"
"Everything. I have watched from beyond the veil for over two thousand years waiting for Silas' death only for you to come along and finish the job. Now you interest me. Your power, your wealth of knowledge of things even I haven't heard of, it all intrigues me. So yes, I'm aware of the implications." She stared back at me with an intensity that surprised me.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. An ancient witch like Qetsiyah pledging herself into possibly eternal servitude. A sane person would just kill her and avoid the hazard that she was but I was never one for sanity.
"Interesting." I muttered loud enough for her to hear before raising my hand to her, causing her to tense as my magic enveloped her.
Rather than destroying her like I had done to the others, I was doing something different. There were spells to enforce obedience; command spells. The efficacy of the command spell I'm performing is amplified by how much magic I'm putting into it as well as a slight twist I'd made from all the knowledge I'd acquired so far.
I branded her very essence, her soul. The magical marker appeared at the center of her chest for a moment, flowing ominously before disappearing. I could feel the magical bond between us, something I'm sure she could feel from the stunned look on her face.
"Are you regretting that choice now?" I asked with a smirk. Even if she did, there's no going back because I'm not letting her go.
"Not at all." She said with resolution and a little bit of…excitement? Very interesting.