Chapter 42

"So you have been very busy then", Rebekah spoke with a slight laugh "You burnt down someone's house", she continued laughing even more. "They had vervain, it was the best way to destroy it", I responded, completely denying the accusation that I burnt down the house for fun. "You always did have an affinity for fire," Katherine spoke through a giggle, refuting my denial. "That doesn't mean I burnt down a house, just because I like fire," I respond, laughing at their attempts to argue against me. "I thought it was revenge for them attacking you, outside the tomb," Caroline spoke up, joining in against me. "Caroline, I am hurt, I thought you were on my side" I said feigning hurt at her words.

I laughed before continuing to run through the general events since I arrived in Mystic Falls, answering any questions that Katherine, Aurora and Rebekah had about the events. "So you're going for being in control of Mystic Falls, I shouldn't be surprised you have always been ambitious. Most of Europe is still under your control at least partially" Katherine spoke. "Well, for us to have some civility, we need to have a system of governance. We can't just have every vampire carving up territory for themselves and murdering anyone that gets in their way, especially murdering other vampires. Europe has been far more peaceful than America because of the laws I have instilled there," I said, explaining why I was doing what I was doing.

"Your whole plan with Elena", Caroline began before pausing for a moment before continuing ", why can't you just siphon the curse from Klaus instead of going through the entire ritual?" she asked, confusion evident on her face. "I mean that is how your magic works, right?" she finished her question.

"My magic does work like that, I can syphon magic away from almost anything, but the curse placed on Klaus works differently. If the moonstone and doppelganger blood had not been used then I would be able to syphon it away. But the doppelganger blood and the moonstone act as a kind of barrier, complicating the spell. Magic acts like a chain, binding Klaus's werewolf side. Usually, I would just be able to syphon the chain away. The moonstone and the doppelganger act as lock and key, which I can't just syphon away, it secures the spell. It is perhaps not the best explanation, but it is the best one I have". I explained to Caroline, my answer seemed to satisfy her.

"I suppose that makes sense. Sort of," Caroline responded. "That is why Elena has to be sacrificed to break the curse, along with a vampire and a werewolf, you see. When the curse was made, it was thought that we would be the only vampires ever. That was one of the many precautions put in place. At the time, the only way for him to break the curse would have been to sacrifice one of our siblings, and even he would not have gone that far. Thankfully, we found out that we could make other vampires, so that would be solved. " I said continuing my explanation to Caroline.

I sat for a moment quiet having taken over the room at my words. "have you heard word from our other brothers" Rebekah asked breaking the silence. "yes I sent word to both Kol and Finn, both are on there way and should be here within the next week, two at a push" I answered, gaining a slight nod from Rebekah. "That's good, we will need them with us" Rebekah responded quietly. 

That confirmed my thoughts that she thought it would end in a fight, she also thought that the two of us against Klaus and Elijah was not a clear-cut battle. Kol and Finn being with us would make it far more clear of a fight, hell, even just Finn and I could fight them and win. 

"Let's set that all aside for now, until then, we still have a lot to do around the town. Two originals in town will most certainly make sure that all of Pearl's vampires are completely loyal, though I don't think we have any problems with them. It is nice to have the extra assurance" I spoke. Rebekah nodded at my words, understanding that her presence here would help cement my rule. 

I was about to continue the conversation when a knock at the door interrupted us. Alexandria got up to answer it and, a moment later, returned with Elena in tow. "Elena, it's good to see you", I said, before standing to introduce her to those in the room she did not know. "And this is Katherine, another doppelganger", I said, finally introducing the two doppelgangers to each other.

"Nice to meet you," Elena said to Katherine offering her hand to the older doppelganger. Katherine took it "You too," she said before turning to look at me "She is hot", Katherine said with seriousness. Elena blushed at her words before I spoke, "and you have a massive ego", I laughed out at Katherine, basically complimenting her. Katherine let a grin spread across her face at my words before she went back to looking at her doppelganger.

"We do look the same. I know you said we were perfect copies of one another, but I still thought there would be at least small differences" Elena spoke out quietly. "Yes, it even surprised me the first time I met Katherine. She was so similar to Tatia that it shocked even me" I responded to her words. "It's like looking in a mirror" Elena spoke again in complete shock. Even though I told her how similar her doppelganger was to her, she hadn't grasped that they were truly a perfect copy of each other. Katherine, too, seemed kind of shocked, well, everyone in the room apart from Rebekah and me was at least a bit surprised. Rose and Alexandria may have known Elena for some time, but seeing them right next to each other was a surprise for them.

Even after seeing multiple doppelgangers in my life seeing two in front of each other like this was still slightly unsettling. Two people being this alike was unnaturally wrong. 

"Rebekah, how have my Louis and my heratics been in Europe?" I asked her. Looking at her, I saw a slight bit of worry on her face that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "They are all alright, it's just that they are all extremely busy at the moment. A band of hunters has appeared; they killed several young vampires in our territory. Marco is leading multiple heretics to hunt them down and kill them, but he hasn't had much luck," she answered. That was not too bad. I had expected we would have trouble with hunters eventually, and Marco was more than able to deal with them. 

"There is also the fact that werewolves have been spotted in increased numbers, and there have been multiple conflicts with them. Though no vampires have died as of yet, Luis thinks there could eventually be trouble" she continued with a slight amount of hesitation. Again, that was not too concerning. Louis had told me of the werewolves increasing in number, and with heretics being able to syphon werewolf venom away, it was not a massive problem. 

"On the upside, Aya and the strix that left the main branch with her have completely joined us. Louis is putting them in roles around Europe, mainly in government, hospitals and other important areas," she finished. 

"That's not too bad, Louis, Marco and Aya can keep the peace for a while until we return. They will not fail, I taught them well," I said, assuring Rebekah that it was not too worrying.

It was almost a week before Finn appeared, Sage at his side and with word that Kol would arrive soon after. With Finn finally arriving, that left us with three originals in Mystic Falls very few things would stand against us successfully.