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Edited 5/16/19

I am incredibly grateful to all my followers, so feel free to ask me to update soon and so on and so forth, but please keep in mind that I have a lot going on, also my attention span is shit, I work full time, and have a kid. So it could be weeks or months before a specific story is updated, as I have already proven. I'm sorry, but my muse is a fickle and quite an uncooperative little beast.

I have no beta so the mistakes are mine and mine alone. If you want the job PM me.

4.

Before she even opened her eyes, Cali knew something was very wrong. The bed was to soft, even with the use of her magic she had become used to lumpy beds, the sheets to smooth, and there was no traces of the furs she had grown accustomed to. The gentle, natural and earthy smells surrounding her had been replaced with sharper, false scents, man made.

Emerald eyes flew open, a gasp leaving bowed lips.

Cali looked around in panic, and her fear was confirmed, the room she was in was very modern. Her stomach clenched. Throwing off the covers over her body, she absently noted she was still in Nik's tunic and nothing else, the scarlet haired girl stumbled towards the door of the unfamiliar room. Her head was pounding, and the artificial lights overhead were not helping in the least.

Coming to a stairway, Cali gripped the rail in a death grip, afraid if she loosened her hold, she'd topple down head first. She felt disoriented, dizzy, and more than a little light headed, her head was also pounding like a drum, and she knew she should probably sit down before she hurt herself. But that wasn't an option. She had to get back, she needed to. The last thing she remembered was.. oh gods...

"Cali you're awake!" Looking through squinted eyes, she spotted Hermione with an arm full of books, strangely the other girl didn't look like she'd aged a day.

"Hermione..? Is that you?" Her hand came up to rub at her forehead, hoping to release some of the building pressure.

Now, there was a reason the universal translation spell wasn't recommended for long term use. It tended to twist and bend the users actual speech patterns over time. Cali hadn't noticed such a thing until she tried to pronounce her old friends very English name. Her accent had changed quite dramatically. Her words far less throaty and more.. rhythmic? Or maybe that wasn't the right word.. it didn't matter, Hermione was rambling about something.

Flicking her wrist, the twenty-three year old woman canceled the translation spell completely, so she could keep up with Hermione's fast paced words.

"-been out for hours, every one was starting to worry." That was probably a lie. "What happened? You just disappeared one second, and then reappeared a moment later looking.. different." Cali froze, her panic increasing to dangerous levels.

"What do you mean? I've been.. gone.. for four years." She pronounced the words carefully, very much out of practice in speaking her native language.

She really should sit down, in her experience these things always got worse before getting better.. if they ever got better that is.

"Four years? No, it was less than a minute." Her friend put the stack of books she was carrying on an end table, a worried frown on her face.

"It does not matter." Shaking her head, hoping to clear it a bit, Cali grit her teeth against the wave of dizziness. "I need to go back."

"..Back?" Her friend approached her like she was a cornered wild animal, dangerous and unpredictable.

"Yes, back. I must go back." Were they speaking the same language here?

"You.. you can't." Hermione spluttered.

"It was not a question." Emerald eyes glared, rather impressively given the state she was in. "Where are the others?"

"Looking for me Princess?"

Her head jerked to the side, a cocky looking man, no vampire, was standing there. He had black hair, and vivid blue eyes. She recognized him, but for the life of her, couldn't remember his name. He was the older of the two vampire's Hermione was involved with.. but she was still drawing a blank when it came to even his family name.

"What was your name again?" He looked genuinely surprised, and even a bit offended. "No, I'm looking for the children of Mikael and Ester.. the Original's, where are they?" Wobbling slightly, she took another step forward.

"Why are you looking for them?" Hermione looked downright alarmed by that point.

"Maybe one person in this town actually has good taste." Rebekah sauntered into the hall were they were standing, Cali still at the base of the stairs. "Don't worry little witch, my brothers will be here any minute, they were tired of waiting and went out for.. a snack." She pronounced the last two words with a false sort of delicateness.

"Bekah!" The relief in the witch's voice was palpable.

"Am I to take it that we know each other?" The blonde gave her a searching look, blue eyes tracing over her narrowed on the dark green tunic.

Those words were like a stake to the heart, no pun intended, and Cali felt the strength leave her legs. She ended up sitting on the bottom stair. Confusion was swiftly followed by denial. No, no there had to be some misunderstanding. Rebekah had to be jesting. She had to be! A laugh, some where between amused and hysterical left her lips. Until she saw the honest confusion in the other's face.

"Oh gods." Her voice seemed to come from far away, even to her own ears. "You.. you don't remember."

"Sorry." She didn't sound very sorry.

"No, no, no! This is all wrong!" Standing, her magic lashed out sending everything within ten feet of her flying, even the vampires and Hermione. "This cannot be. I.. I met you when you were only twelve winters old, I lived with you for four years! We.. we're sisters! Oh gods, I may be sick."

Her hand came up to cover her mouth, she hadn't felt half this bad the first time she was pulled through Time.

During her small breakdown she didn't notice the others gathering in the hall. The rest of Hermione's friends were there, but more importantly the Mikaelson's were all there watching her as her face crumpled in obvious despair. But Cali soon rallied herself, her jaw setting in the determination she was known for.

"You have to send me back." She grabbed Hermione by the arms, her emerald eyes desperate and slightly wild.

"I can't." There was sympathy in her friends tone, but her voice was unwavering. "It's a miracle you survived traveling through the time stream a thousand years, not once, but twice. It shouldn't be possible. Even if I knew how, and I don't, if you tried again.. you could die." But Cali brushed her words aside like nothing more than an annoying fly.

"I have vampire blood in my system, I will not die for long even if that is the case." Shock seemed to reverberate through the room.

"She's out of her mind." The cocky vampire announced cheerfully.

"They must've brain washed her. She can't be compelled can she? I mean Mione can't." The Tatia look a like whispered to the Bennett witch.

"You would be turned? Lose your magic?" The nature witch asked incredulously, stepping forward, as Hermione stared wide eyed.

"There is always a price to pay in magic. The trick is deciding if what you desire is worth the consequences." Cali quoted going for the books Hermione had been carrying, assuming they dealt with the ritual that sent her to the tenth century.

"Calla you have to listen to me." Hermione surpassed panic, looking absolutely terrified. "It isn't possible. No listen!" She insisted when the scarlet haired girl made to interrupt. "The timeline protects itself, which is more than likely why you were thrown back to your original time to begin with. You don't belong there."

"I cannot just leave them there. I will not leave him there!" Again her magic made itself known, swirling around her like a furious storm, her eyes glowing a poisonous emerald.

"Him?" Hermione asked quietly. "Oh Cali... you didn't."

"Of course she fell for an Original, just our luck. I need a drink." The dark haired vampire disappeared with a roll of his blue eyes.

"Was it me?" Looking over, pained emerald eyes landed on Kol, she glowered, flicking her hand and sending him flying into the closest wall.

"I think that means no." Rebekah snarked.

"Why's it always Elijah or Nik?" Kol complained as he got to his feet, dusting wood chips from his clothes.

"Cali." Hermione took her hand. "They don't remember you. I told you, the timeline protects itself. Whatever memories you had with them, whatever your relationship was with them, it's nothing more than a dream now. You do not belong there."

Looking into the faces of the Mikaelson's, Cali realized the truth of Hermione's words. They all looked highly interested, some even sympathetic, but there was no recognition there. She saved sea green eyes for last. Seeing those eyes looking back at her without a hint of affection or familiarity was worse than any physical torture. It tore at her heart like nothing she had ever endured in her twenty-three years of life.

"It does not due to dwell on dreams." She murmured, emerald eyes still locked on sea green, and then there was a crack, and she was gone.

"What have I done?" Hermione asked rhetorically, tears in her eyes as her trembling hands came up to cover her mouth.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Elena assured rubbing the curly haired witches shoulder in support as the vampires took off in an unvoiced agreement to find the famous, half naked, witch.

"No, Cali doesn't know how to let go. She doesn't know how to lose. And she loves more intensely than anyone I've ever met."

xXx

The falls 'Mystic Falls' was named for had once been a raging river which veered off into several smaller streams, it had also been the only source of fresh water to the small Dane or 'Viking' village settled in the area. Now, a thousand years later, it was little more than a pretty set of small waterfalls. And calling it fresh water, would be a stretch.

Cali and Rebekah used to come here every morning to collect buckets of water for the day.

Emerald eyes were fixated on the water pooling along the bank, rubbish and other discarded items swirling in the slow current. She was trying very hard not to think, not to feel. The downed trees and torn up ground around her a testament to why feeling was a bad idea at the moment. Two hours had passed since she apparated away from that house full of strangers and ghosts, and yet the all consuming hole in her chest only seemed to get larger during that time.

Cali had lost people before, people precious to her beyond measure.

She watched Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, and Fred die before her eyes. Saw the bodies of Remus, Tonks, Hagrid, and so many others when the final battle finally ended. She saw Henrik's tiny body after being torn apart by wolves. Losing Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah to Time felt all to similar to those heartbreaking moments of loss that were burnt in her mind and haunted her dreams, painting them red when she closed her eyes.

Realizing Nik was lost to her, like he had never been hers at all, was so much worse.

Cali loved the others. She loved them as family, and it didn't matter that they didn't share a drop of blood, because family was more about bond than blood anyway. But she was in love with Nik, and had been for three years by that point. She loved him with an intensity that she never could have even fathomed was possible before meeting him.

It was absolute, binding, and at the moment more than she could bare.

Almond shaped green eyes blinked rapidly, and she swallowed thickly. Her hands were twisted in the linen green tunic falling almost to her knees, and dried blood coated the bottoms of her bare feet, though the cuts that had been there had long since healed thanks to the vampire blood lingering in her system. Cali sat on a large, mostly flat, rock just feet away from the falls.

It had been two hours since she arrived in that place alone, but her solitude didn't last longer than that. Elijah silently sat beside her on the bolder she had chosen. Her shoulders drooped slightly at the invasion. And she had to forcibly remind herself that this wasn't the man she had seen as an older brother, this was a stranger wearing his face, a ghost, a dream.

"I was so furious when I realized I had been thrown back in time." Her voice was oddly void of emotions. "I cursed Hermione for getting me stuck in that situation, and swore all manner of vengeance upon her." A humorless smile twisted her lips.

"What changed?" The eldest 'Mikaelson' brother asked curiously as he draped his suit jacket over her shoulders.

"What else?" Cali shot him a questioning look. "I grew attached." With a shrug, she pulled the jacket closer around herself, it was still the early hours of the morning, and quite chilly given her lack of clothing. "When I appeared there, whether by coincidence, fate, or just a quirk of Potter Luck, I almost literally landed on top of your youngest siblings." This time the smile that lingered on her lips was more genuine, though bitter and pained. "Rebekah was twelve, and already a little lady, she was scandalized at seeing how I was dressed, never mind the fact that I appeared out of seemingly nowhere."

"Yes, that sounds like my sister." Elijah laughed lowly, fondly.

"To be fair, tank tops and skinny jeans were far from acceptable clothing choices for women then. She probably thought I was a prostitute." She rolled her eyes with a huff. "Henrik though.." Her voice trailed off, sharp and pained. "He thought I was a goddess, or a Valkyrie- there to collect the souls of warriors. They took me to your family, your mother, and the rest is history I suppose."

"You stayed with us?" Brown eyes looked over at her, soft and curious.

"Yes." Cali nodded. "We told everyone I was your mothers niece who had been recently orphaned. I was grateful.. but like I said furious. I badgered your mother, and her coven, for any way to send me back. I spent a great deal of my life in the wizarding world, but no matter how old fashioned or backwards, it did nothing to prepare me for life in the tenth century. I could deal with the endless chores, that wasn't so different to how I grew up so it was hardly an adjustment. But I hated the way women were treated. The way Rebekah was treated, the way I was treated. Like property, a prize to be won, a pretty face all the men wanted for themselves. I despised the idea of being nothing more than a homemaker.. and a broodmare of course. The strict gender roles grated on me, and I dearly missed indoor plumbing."

"I imagine that would be quite difficult for you." He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking over at her thoughtfully. "Not only adjusting to everyday life in a time so different from your own, but going from being seen as the pinnacle of strength to a woman to be coveted and protected."

"Pinnacle of strength? Hardly." Shaking her head, the green eyed girl scoffed incredulously.

"You are the strongest witch born in the last century, at the very least. You're a war hero, the savior of your people."

"Is there some sort of measuring stick for such things?" But then she shrugged again, sticking her arms through the sleeves of the jacket around her, and pulling them up so her hands weren't covered. "I'm no hero, just lucky. Anyway. It was Rebekah and Henrik I grew close to first. Simply because it was them I spent the most time with, along with your mother. Me and Rebekah being female, and Henrik being so young. And it was all down hill from there." She rolled her eyes again. "Eventually I became used to life there, it was a simpler time, but more meaningful. I wasn't the Girl-Who-Lived or Lady Potter-Black. I was just Calla, daughter of James. I had a family. And I was happy."

"And you fell in love?" Elijah asked/stated, brown eyes peering at her.

"And I fell in love." Cali confirmed in a whisper with a nod, looking away as her eyes stung and her fists clenched so hard her nails dug into the fleshy pads of her palms.

"Niklaus was always quite fond of the color green, ever since he was a boy." The older man stated, gesturing to the bit of green tunic showing where the jacket wasn't completely pulled close.

"Does it ever stop?" Green eyes peered up at the Original, tears she wouldn't allow to fall glimmering in their depths, and a hint of pleading in her tone.

Elijah sighed deeply, not needing her to elaborate, turning his face from her to look out over the water. He didn't answer, and that in and of itself was answer enough for her. She closed her eyes in despair, wondering why people did this to themselves. Why they would torture themselves, it was not, in fact, better to love and lose, and she would rather to never have loved at all.

Cali steadfastly ignored the voice in her mind calling her a liar, insisting that she wouldn't trade a single moment of her time with him, no matter the cost.

"We should return to the Salvatore house." Ah, she mentally noted, that was the name of the other vampires. "They have all been out looking for you, and I would like to limit my siblings involvement with the others as much as possible."

"Right." She didn't want to go back, she didn't want to see them, him.

"All will be well. Did you, per chance, witness my mother cast the curse on Niklaus? Did you see the creation of the doppelganger line?" He looked down at her as she stood, waving her off when she offered him his jacket back. "Keep it."

"No." Cali shook her head, long hair almost to her hips swaying back and forth. "That's the thing, Tatia already was a doppelganger."

xXx

They arrived back at the Salvatore Boarding House with another crack.

Elijah must have called off the search party before approaching her, because all, well most, the people who had been their earlier were already waiting for them. When she offered to apparate him back, she was expecting him to say no. It took a lot of trust to allow someone to side-along apparate you, and Cali knew she was nothing but a stranger to him. So she was shocked when he agreed, and the knot in her chest loosened just slightly with the show of trust.

"Cali.. are.. are you alright?" Hermione came up to her at once, her hands fluttering like she wanted to physically help her, but didn't know where to start.

"I'm fine Mione." In truth she was calling on all her skill in occlumency to keep her face blank, and all the will power she possessed not to look in Nik's.. no Niklaus' direction.

"Cali.." The bushy haired girl worried her bottom lip, disbelief written over her features.

"The others left?"

The emerald eyed girl changed the subject, she didn't actually care about the missing people. In fact she was quite grateful they weren't there. Seeing as in, in her opinion anyway, they didn't need to be there to begin with. All of the Originals were there except Kol, along with the dark haired Salvatore, the Tatia look alike who's name she couldn't recall, and the Bennett wiccan. The blonde vampire and the doppelgangers' brother were both missing along with the green eyed Salvatore.

"Care had to meet up with her mom, Jeremy is with Tyler, and Stefan had other things to deal with." The Bennett witch helpfully answered.

"As did Kol." She almost flinched at the sound of Niklaus' accented voice, so different than it was just hours ago, but still undoubtedly his.

"I see." Cali pulled Elijah's coat tighter around herself, wanting to get this over with, and it seemed she wasn't the only one.

"Well Princess, do you got what we need?" The Salvatore vampire asked... Darren?

"Don't rush her Damon!" Hermione scolded, oh, Damon.. close enough.

"It's fine, I'd very much like to get this over with so I can get back to England." And dear Merlin, she never thought she'd say such a thing. "The spell was all for nothing it seems. Tatia was already a doppelganger, I have no idea when or how the line was created, but it didn't start with her."

Disbelief, everyone was looking at her in disbelief.

"That.. that can't be!" The newest doppelganger protested, and Cali felt a bit of pity for the girl.

"I'm sorry but it is. That's why her blood, in part, was used in the ritual to create vampires, why she was sacrificed to curse.. Niklaus." She hoped no one noticed her stumble over the hybrid's name, but it was doubtful, and she berated herself for it silently.

"No." The hazel eyed Bennett argued. "She was chosen as a punishment for causing a rift between Elijah and Klaus." At that Cali barked a laugh, her occlumency mask shattering momentarily.

"You're mistaken." She shook her head, amused despite herself. "There was a fight between Elijah and Niklaus, but that was nearly four years before they were turned. There was no rift between them by then." Walking over to the drink cart, she poured herself a small amount of whiskey, without asking.

"But.." Looking back she saw the confusion still on Hermione, the Bennett, and doppelgangers' faces.

"Are you saying the doppelganger trollop wasn't sleeping with both my brothers?" Rebekah flounced up to her, pouring her own, much larger, drink.

"Decidedly not." Her voice came out harsher, more possessive, than she intended, and Cali grit her teeth, she didn't have the emotional control to have this conversation, she really needed to get out of there.

"Huh." A finger came up to tap against the blonde's chin as blue eyes raked over the scarlet haired girls face. "Well which one was it? Elijah.." She tugged at the jacket Cali was still wearing. "Or Nik?"

"Does it matter?" She questioned before turning back to Hermione, leaning against the fancy cart behind her with her drink in hand. "The ritual to create the Originals was done in a set of three. The sun was channeled for power, the earth for rejuvenation or healing, and the white oak for immortality. All of this gathered magic was bound in blood, blood rich in different magics. Ester's blood, and Tatia's blood, which we knew was magical, but wasn't the same as either type of known magic ."

"You said the ritual was done in sets of three, that mean's there would have been three blood donors to bind each element being channeled..?" Hermione almost asked, but not quite, it was obvious she already knew the answer.

"I am the sun, the blood that gave the vampires their power." Pulling up the suit jacket sleeve, she showed her wrist to her friend, and everyone else in the room. There was a thin white scar across the dainty appendage. "Ester was the earth, fitting not only because of her magic, but since she was their mother, her blood brought healing. And Tatia the white oak, the source of immortality."

"You knew what was going to happen.. Did you even warn us?" Rebekah snapped from beside her.

"I didn't warn you." Her voice was something between apology and resolution, she felt guilty for what she had done, or failed to do, but she didn't regret it.

"Rebekah enough." Elijah stepped between them as the female Original stalked forward.

"Don't!" Cali drew her wand in the same instant, pointing it at Hermione who had drawn her own, and placing herself in the way of any spell fire that could have been aimed at the blonde. "Don't. She has every right to be angry with me."

"Oh goodie, drama. This was getting extremely dull." Damon smiled condescendingly but then scowled. "You're all blocking the drinks."

"Damon please." Both Hermione and the doppelganger pleaded, exasperated. "Don't make things worse." The Tatia look a like rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine." His own eyes rolled. "This all seems pointless anyway. The Magical Princess didn't find anything useful on her stroll through Time, as far as I can tell, we're done here. You," he gestured to the Originals, "can all kindly get the hell out of my house. Unless you wanna go another round?" He wiggled his brows at Rebekah, and Cali wrinkled her nose.

"You slept with him too?" First Hermione, then Rebekah, what was wrong with the girls she knew.

"Wait!" Hermione interrupted. "I.. will you still show us the memory of the curse, there might be something you missed, anything.."

Cali had forgotten how stubborn her friend could be when she was set on a particular course of action.

"Hermione, I'm telling you, Tatia was already a doppelganger when I met her, and that was four years before that vile curse."

"Still.." The bushy haired girl insisted.

"It's a very personal memory, and it won't be of any help to you." The green eyed girl snapped feeling highly uncomfortable.

"Oh don't be that way." She sucked in a breath, wishing he had just stayed quiet. Another lie to tell herself as her heart beat rose in response to the sound of his voice. "I don't mind if they see." Niklaus approached her, coming to a stop just in front of her. "Let them see who the true monster of this story is." Stubbornly, she kept her eyes on his chest, though everything in her was screaming at her to look up at his gorgeous face, to look into the eyes she would, and did on many occasions, happily drown in. But then he took her chin between his fingers, and tilted her face up. "Is there a reason you've not glanced at me once since you arrived?" The pad of his thumb ran just under her eye. "Green has always been my favorite color. But you know that, don't you love?"

Looking into his face, into his eyes, Cali's own face twisted painfully.

"No!" Hermione denied angrily, striding forward. "Not him, any of them but him!"

Please take a moment to review! I'm not exactly happy with this chapter, but I'm pretty sure it's as good as it's going to get. So... here it is! Tell me, is it as bad as I think? Or am I just being paranoid?