A/N: Before I start off this chapter, I'd like to ask my Quotev users to please take a moment to vote in this journal: [link did not transfer over] to let me know which TVDU story you want me to write after this. My Wattpad users, please either comment where I post the question on this chapter OR on my post on my profile (should be pinned at the top). AO3 users, please comment at the end of the chapter. IF YOU ALREADY VOTED SOMEWHERE, PLEASE DON'T VOTE AGAIN, THANK YOU!

Which TVDU story do you guys want me to write once I finish Vendetta?

Fem Witch OC x Camille O'Connell (TO S2 - onward) - 0 votes so far

Fem Vampire OC x Kol Mikaelson (TVD S3/TO S2 - onward) - 8 votes so far

Fem Vampire OC x Rebekah Mikaelson (TO S3 - onward) - 7 votes so far

Fem Human OC x Damon Salvatore (TVD S5 - onward) - 3 votes so far

I'll announce the results next chapter. Thank you!

Vivianna felt vulnerable.

She knew she'd grown more attached to Kai than she'd expected to. That wasn't exactly the worst thing. But it did make it very difficult for her to cope, now that they were spending hours away from each other.

He seemed to be doing alright. After all, he was rekindling his relationship with his sister. He was putting all the medical knowledge he obtained in the prison world to use while healing Jo's patients.

Vivianna was practically being babysat.

A long time ago, she'd wondered how she'd feel, meeting her partner's family for the first time. It had been a silly thought, considering she hadn't had a long-term relationship that might lead to that.

But whatever she'd been thinking, it had been nothing like this.

"So," she said, looking over at Liv and Luke, who were on the couch across from her. "Are you guys just gonna hover the entire time?"

"Jo just wants us to keep you company," said Luke.

"You do realize this is my apartment, right? Like, I miraculously still had my own money and bought this place for myself and for Kai. Not for other people."

"We know that," said Liv, with slight irritation prevalent in her voice. "You think we want to be here? But you're the only person who can help us not have to Merge. So excuse us if we want to monitor your progress."

Vivianna rolled her eyes. "So Bonnie's the only one out there looking for dark objects that I can use?"

"You Travelers aren't exactly easy to find," said Luke. "Especially not for Geminis. A Bennett witch has a greater chance of finding the dark objects than we do. Not to mention she's friends with vampires, who can travel literally anywhere without having to pay."

Vivianna just pursed her lips. "Okay. Well now that you're here, I need your blood. Elements aren't exactly something I can use properly, but I can do a preliminary spell to allow me to channel you for the spell. It needs to be done on Gemini twins, because you guys would be the ones Merging. And it's better that it be you two and not Kai and Jo because you're both pretty matched in strength."

They didn't argue. She handed them a knife, and they cut into their wrists, depositing some of their blood into a small bowl.

"This is honestly weird," mentioned Luke, not bothering to remain silent behind a grumpy expression like Liv. "You're dating our brother. You're like... our sister-in-law."

"It is weird," said Vivianna. "But that's not really the focus of today."

"We got the letters. The ones you had him write to us. It's weird, hearing him sound so genuine on paper when we only ever heard bad things about him."

"He has a different emotional capacity now. He didn't use to be able to care for you, and now he can. And he feels guilt."

"Isn't it a little strange that you're closer to our age than his?"

"Oh, for the love of—" Vivianna held back a curse. "It's not strange at all, honestly. I was twenty-two when I got sent into that prison world. He was twenty-two, and he'd been twenty-two for a long time. We were the same age, and we are basically still the same age. Doesn't really matter what year he was actually born in considering his life was put on hold for eighteen years."

She ignored the way they looked at her once they finished depositing their blood in a bowl for her. She grabbed the jar with ashes, putting her hand in to mix them around, hoping there was some Traveler ash mixed in with that of the burned furniture in the cabin. She grabbed a small clump, then put it in the bowl, before dipping her fingertips in. "Odkaz kanál dvojče," she whispered. "Odkaz kanál dvojče... odkaz kanál dvojče..."

The blood and ash began to mix, turning into a greyish slime that slid up to her wrists, creating a loop around them, before it vanished into thin air.

"There," she said. "Grants me access to your bloodline. Do me a favor and don't try any major spells while we're linked. I don't want a repeat of last time."

"He nearly killed you when he siphoned that Traveler Magic off of Mystic Falls," said Liv. "How can you trust him?"

"He didn't know it was hurting me. As soon as he learned that it was, he stopped, and he didn't care if he lost power in order to save my life. And that was all when he was still a sociopath. I trust him with my life."

"Our dad's worried about that aspect of it," said Luke, pursing his lips. "Like, the fact you two are so connected... and it could lead to something else."

"Will everyone stop worrying about me being pregnant?" said Vivianna. "Kai and I aren't actively trying to have kids. We haven't slept together in almost three months, and I've gotten my period consistently since then. Your sister is the doctor, not you. I really don't need to be explaining myself, but it feels like I have to 'cause everyone is so damn concerned about my private life."

"Are you two even a thing, officially?" asked Liv bluntly. "'Cause we saw him earlier today and he uh... didn't know what to call you. Like when he was referring to you."

"We're not officially anything. Partners, basically. It just doesn't really feel right to be called his girlfriend. I feel like we're way past that. Even though Kai and I have only known each other for around half a year, it doesn't make sense to call it anything. We've been through too much to be worried about labels like that."

"Do you genuinely think that's gonna work out?"

"Yeah. I do." Vivianna cast them a weird look. "Is this gonna turn into an interrogation about my relationship status with your brother, or are you gonna be quiet and let me work on this spell?"

Obviously, this became a cause for ranting once Kai returned.

"They were looking at me like I was some sort of alien," said Vivianna, starting to unpack a few boxes that Alaric had retrieved from her old storage container, back when Julian was still alive. "Didn't let me have a single moment of peace."

"Kids these days," said Kai, coming to peek in the box. "Well, I guess we gotta thank the storage facility for never donating this stuff. We now have a blender."

"And a panini press and a waffle maker," she said. "Is this weird? Us just... settling down as quickly as possible to pretend like we weren't completely alone for almost three months?"

"It's just us trying to have things be as normal as possible," said Kai. "It felt really weird being at the hospital today. So... coming 'home' to a really nice apartment and finding you organizing it was just about the best thing that could have come out of today. How are you feeling? Day one post prison world. We didn't really do much in there. And suddenly there's so much we can do. We can literally go to a rave."

She shrugged. "We got put to work right away, so I guess it helps with the transition, but I still feel afraid. They're risking a lot to keep our return a secret. What happens when they decide it's too much? What if I do something to piss them off and they get their revenge?"

"I was talking to Jo today and honestly, from a bystander's point of view, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that we hated each other's guts for eighteen years. I think things are gonna be fine. We just have to get this spell done as soon as possible. As soon as my dad isn't the leader of the Gemini Coven anymore, we don't have to really worry about anything. He won't have the power to hurt us. Luke and Liv... I don't fully trust them, and they don't fully trust me, but they clearly care about Jo, and they can see that she wants to be nice to us. So I think that we can have some confidence that they'll keep the Coven in check if they try to come after us."

"I have an important question," said Vivianna, sitting back and taking a break from digging through the box. "Should we tell Damon about the fact that his mom is alive? I get a bad feeling about keeping it a secret. I'd still like to rescue the Heretics before this spell happens, 'cause we don't know if the world will collapse when the spell is done. And now, we know that Lily Salvatore is with them."

Kai pursed his lips. "Your call, Vivi. If you think Damon needs to know... then he needs to know."

"It's just... my parents are dead. They're dead, and they're never coming back. Your mom is dead and your dad is an asshole. We've lost our chance to have a good relationship. But he and Stefan think their mom died years ago. And that's not the case. They have a shot at having a parent again, and I think that's something we have no right to take from them, especially when we know otherwise."

"Just one thing. Maybe let's start with telling Damon, and not tell Stefan until we see how Damon reacts. He's the big bro. He remembers his mom more. Not to mention we have an actual relationship with him. And uh, Jo mentioned that Stefan's dealing with some stuff with this dude who won't stop bothering some chick he's trying to protect. No clue about that, but I think he's got enough on his plate."

That evening, instead of going to a rave (which they were both curious about), they'd driven in their new car from the little apartment near Whitmore, to the Salvatore Boarding House in Mystic Falls.

Damon had been alone. Apparently, Elena was doing some sort of study session with Caroline and Bonnie.

"Your first night in a new apartment and you two are here?" asked Damon, making a face. "Weirdos. Go do something that's not... butting in on my alone time."

"We wouldn't have come if it wasn't important," said Vivianna. "There's something you need to know. Something we found out about recently."

Damon raised his brows. "Well, spit it out, I'd like to return to drinking bourbon while I wait for my girl to text me back."

"Your mom's alive."

Damon's jaw went slack. "So you return from isolation and fancy yourselves comedians? Not funny."

"She's not joking, Damon," said Kai defensively, immediately growing annoyed that Damon didn't believe them. "We found proof that your mother was sent to a prison world with a group of Gemini siphoners turned heretics."

"So my mom joined a cult and got locked away."

"Not a cult," said Vivianna. "Heretics are... hybrids. Siphoners given vampire blood and turned. The notebook we found..." she brought it out to show him, "it lists your mother as their sire. And on the way here, Kai was examining some old Gemini journals Jo gave him when he finished his shift. We have a lot of proof that she was hanging out with six heretics."

Damon scoffed and starting to walk out the door. "Where are you going?" demanded Kai.

"To prove to you that she's not in a prison world!" called the vampire.

The two followed after him. They ended up slipping through the woods until they reached the Mystic Falls Cemetery. Upon approaching a crypt, they figured out what he was planning.

"Uh, do you need help?" asked Kai when Damon started to remove rocks on the floor of the crypt.

"No, I don't need help," snapped Damon.

"'Cause uh... if you're gonna dig up your mom's coffin or something... I could siphon from you and make that a whole lot easier."

Damon ignored him. The two had to watch for at least half an hour as he dug and dug, until finally, he brought out a coffin, using a nearby crowbar to pop the locks off.

"My mother died of consumption in 1858," said Damon gruffly, though he didn't pop the lid off. "We did not go through the trouble of moving this thing to the family crypt only to find out that she's not even in here. They have it all wrong."

"I don't think the Geminis would lie about something like that, Damon," said Vivianna uncomfortably. "They wouldn't have known about Lillian Salvatore unless they were living at the same time as her. These pages are all dated."

"If my mother was imprisoned in 1903, she'd be in her seventies," said Damon.

"Not if she were like you," said Kai cautiously.

Damon whirled to face him. "I know my mother. She's not a vampire. She is not in a prison world. She died of consumption in 1858."

"But you wouldn't know that unless you saw her, Damon," said Vivianna when Kai held up his hands in surrender. "If the last time you saw her was 1858... so much could have happened."

"She's not in a prison world!" snapped Damon.

Kai raised a brow. "Uh, if you're so sure of that, why haven't you opened the coffin yet?"

As if to prove a point, Damon tossed the lid off. When they all turned to look in, they found the coffin completely empty.

Damon immediately tensed, and got to his feet, before facing them. "Tell me everything you know about her. Now."

"Shouldn't we call your brother?" suggested Vivianna, handing him the journal so he could read everything that was written about Lily.

"Not until you tell me," said Damon, eyes scanning over the pages, and focusing on the photograph of the woman that was definitely his mother. "I'm not getting Stefan's hopes up. He was ten when she died. I was old enough to grieve properly, but if this all ends up being a lie, he won't be able to handle it if I give him false hope."

Kai just sighed. "Your mom's most likely some sort of psychopath, if she sired Heretics and was dangerous enough for the Gemini Coven to imprison her. She and the Heretics were captured on a dock in New York City in 1903. From what I found in the Gemini archives about her, she was turned in 1858, she faked her death, and went to Europe with her Heretics, where she went a little nuts. Bodies piled up, she and the Heretics moved, killed some more, moved again. All of them were said to be Rippers. There isn't an exact number of victims, but the Geminis estimated three thousand in total. The Gemini Coven made it their duty to stop them, and they cut the group off at New York Harbor before they could tear through Manhattan. By the time they got to the ship, everyone was dead. So they burned it right there in the harbor. Wiped their hands clean, wrote the names in the journal, and went on with their business as usual."

Damon looked like he might cry. "Damon," said Vivianna gently. "We can go and give you time to process everything if you need. I... I personally would like to give her and the Heretics a chance to redeem themselves. Make something of themselves outside of the prison world. Because when I undo the Gemini Merge Curse... the prison world may or may not collapse. I don't know for sure. So we wanted to give you the chance to decide—"

"What do you need to get her out?" asked Damon a bit hoarsely.

"The 1903 Ascendant," replied Kai. "Which we don't have. And we're not sure where we will find that. 'Cause we need magic, and we ain't got that consistently. We can't tell Jo or the twins because then they'll definitely blab to my dad, and the whole plan will go to shit."

Damon shook his head. "No... I need... I need to talk to my brother. Don't do anything. Don't... don't let them out."

He walked past them, leaving them to take it upon themselves to put the coffin back in the dirt and cover it up as best as they could.

"So, that went terribly," said Vivianna once they were back in the apartment. "But at least we told him. Did something good. I never asked... how did it go at the hospital?"

"Channeled my inner clown as much as I could," said Kai, kicking off his shoes. "Did my best to make the patients laugh while Jo explained to me what was wrong with them. Did a few spells to heal them. Then one at the end to wipe their memories of it. I think Jo gave me an A+ on that assignment. It feels... kinda nice, helping people like this. If I don't become some sort of engineer, I wouldn't mind trying to become a doctor. I did already start learning all this medical stuff."

Vivianna thought about it as she walked over to the kitchen, starting to put away all the supplies they'd gotten from the box earlier. "You could be a biomedical engineer. Maybe I'll be willing to study to be a doctor alongside Elena. I'll be a bit behind, but..."

"But you still feel passionate about teaching."

"I don't even have the patience to be a teacher, but I feel like it's the only thing I'd fully enjoy. You can lose patients and hurt people when trying to heal them... I'd face that as a nurse or doctor. But with teaching... passing on my knowledge... I feel like I'd really like that. I'd have to learn to teach Traditional Magic Theory or something... I can easily learn that before I start being able to do that kind of magic on my own. But where would I teach? There aren't any magic schools... that we know of, at least. Besides, I do still like science."

"So how about you start pursuing something down the science path, then if a magic school ever pops up, drop everything and start teaching?"

"Not a bad idea. Can you see me being a doctor?"

"I can see you becoming a Professor at a Medical School," he replied, tapping the side of his head. "Boom. Doctor stuff. Teaching. Science. Potentially even magic, if you learn of any witches in your program."

She smirked. "An even better idea. Have I told you lately how smart you are?"

He blushed. "I don't think you had."

"Well you are. Brilliant. Handsome. Unbelievably brave and funny..." she forgot about the supplies and turned to face him, sliding her hands up his chest. "Wonderful... experienced... ridiculously good with his hands..."

"What do you say we try out the furniture in this new apartment?" asked Kai lowly. "Now that we're out of the prison world and don't have to hold back." He put his hand on the back of her head, laying her down against the empty table.

The following morning had been far better than the one before it. They were giddy, and were completely safe and able to have breakfast together before Kai went to the hospital again, and Vivianna got back to working on the spell (with Liv and Luke hovering over her again).

Around midday, she'd received a text to her new phone from a number she didn't recognize. Though, the fact the message read, 'Need to talk ASAP. -Your favorite vampire' let her know that it was probably Damon.

"Kai's siblings are here," she murmured when she called him after she prepared them all something to eat. "What is it?"

"Stefan thinks we should get them all out."

Her eyes widened. "All of them?"

"Yeah. I guess um... he knows one of them. One of those names. A girl that he knew back in the day, had some unfinished business or something. So... find your Ascending thing, and let me know as soon as you have it."

"I'll tell Kai." She ended the call and dialed his number immediately. "Come on, pick up..."

"Vivi!" he said happily once he answered. "You're on speaker."

"This is awkward. Take me off of speaker. This is a private matter."

"If this is about last night..."

"Yes, it's about last night, I really want to talk dirty to you," she said sarcastically.

There was a scuffling sound, and moments later, he said, "Okay, you're off speaker and I'm in the bathroom."

"I was kidding! But now that you're alone... the Salvatores are in. Let's get those heretics and Lily Salvatore out."

"Well, you're gonna love what I have to say, even if it isn't a vivid description of what we were doing on the table yesterday. Jo has the 1903 Ascendant. We can go into that prison world tomorrow."