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Vervain.

Chapter 7: Two Can Play At That Game.

Boarding House:

Damon looked at the brunette lounging on a chair next to the sofa he'd laid his insurance on. Vicki, he thought the girls name was.

"So, you've been a vampire this entire time..."

Faye looked at him, and smirked impishly.

"Yep."

Damon snorted mildly amused by the brunette.

"And that just slipped your mind?" he asked, arching a brow.

Faye smiled, shrugging.

"You know, I've always had a selective memory," she replied.

"How long were you going to play human?" Damon asked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

Faye shrugged, swinging her legs back and forth from where they dangled over the arm of the chair.

"Until I felt like making an entrance," she said, and smirked, looking at him from under her lashes. "Before you ask, the answer is; I'm not here to hurt Elena. On the contrary, I'm here to protect her."

Damon looked at her in surprise.

"From what?"

Faye frowned and played dumb, blinking innocently.

"I'm not exactly clear on that myself, I was just told to protect her."

Damon raised an eyebrow, not completely convinced. He looked ready to say something when his phone went off.

"You'd better get that, could be important," Faye said, pulling a nail-file from her pocket.

"Damon where are you?"

Faye wasn't surprised to hear Stefan on the other end, and she chuckled at the brother's conversation. It reminded her a little of her and her siblings. Though she and her siblings were a lot more violent, and didn't make idle threats.

"What, did you fed-ex it to Rome?" Damon demanded, stepping over a stream of light and heading for the booze he kept.

"It's complicated."

Damon furrowed his brow.

"Just get it, Stefan," Damon snapped. "I'm getting bored, and impatient, and we both know I don't do bored or impatient."

"I need time," Stefan replied.

"Well, the clocks ticking Stefan, and I'd hurry." Damon smirked as his pale glowing blue eyes met her green ones. "Faye doesn't look too good."

Phaedra grinned at this, and heard Stefan begin to say something when Damon ended the call, and snapped his phone closed.

"Now where were we?" he asked.

Faye chuckled, and pointed at the couch where Vicki laid.

"I'd think of focusing on her, Damon," she retorted, and Damon looked at Vicki and sighed.

"Dammit, don't get blood on the couch, please," he called, walking over to her, side stepping beams of sunlight. "It doesn't come out easily."

He crouching behind the girls head at one end of the couch.

"She's going to be no fun today," Phaedra said with a sigh, standing up and walking to stand at the other end of the couch, one of her hands resting on her hips.

Damon nodded absentmindedly and bit into his wrist, and had Vicki drink.

"I'm gonna regret this," he mumbled and Faye smirked, sitting on the arm of the opposite end of the couch.

"Probably will, but that's to be expected."

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"Hecate, have you found her?" Poseidon asked during the council meeting after the Goddess of Witchcraft (and other domains) had appeared.

"Hmm, yes...but you may not like what I've found," Hecate began, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, unsure how they'd take her news.

"What have you found?" Zeus asked.

"It seems she was sent further back than I had anticipated," Hecate began, a slight frown on her face. "She ended up being found by a legacy of mine, Esther and her husband, Mikael. Over one thousand years ago."

The council was in an uproar, and it took Hestia's yelling at them, and the roar of her hearth shooting up angrily, to shut them up. Hestia sighed, shaking her head as she turned her attentions back to her hearth, poking it as it returned to it's normal warm size. Sometimes her family could be so immature; who was she kidding, they were usually immature.

"You said you'd found her in a small town, between the ages of sixteen and seventeen. How can she be here, and over a thousand years old?" Demeter questioned after a moment.

"She must be immortal somehow," Artemis said, "Similar to my hunters maybe?"

"She isn't a hunter though," Athena pointed out. "Otherwise you would have said something before now, Artemis, and that leaves only a few choices."

Hecate cleared her throat, getting their attention.

"I can answer this," Hecate said. "Esther, as I said was one of my legacies, my great-great-great granddaughter, and a witch. Unlike my children, her magic was greatly connected to nature and the earth, pulling on energy from themselves and sources around them in some instances. There are many names for them, and they began through the blessing of myself, or even being my descendants. They are also very much unlike my children, not as powerful, nor do they remember the true origins of their abilities and species. They've become rather arrogant, thinking themselves above most supernatural species."

"What does this have to do with my daughter?" Poseidon asked. "Phaedra isn't a witch, neither was Sally. I do know she contacted one of these witches and was put into contact with you."

Hecate nodded.

"Right, and as I told Sally chances were she could land ten year, fifty years, a hundred...anywhere in time. I never dreamed she'd land that far back, nor be taken in my Esther. It was bad luck on her part. Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with Esther, she was a lovely girl, I even gave her my blessing when she was young, enhancing her own abilities ten fold. She was easily the most powerful of her generation, on level with some of my children back then. I digress though. Later she married and started her own family, they settled in what is now Mystic Falls, Virginia."

Hecate made sure they were all following her words before she continued.

"I never really liked her husband, too traditional, even for those times, too hard of a man. He did care for his wife and children, though it was never really shown. The only time he really showed a kind bone, was when they took in Phaedra after finding her close to their property. They raised her well, I suppose, with their other children. Five boys and one girl. Most older, other than her sister, Rebekah and younger brother, Henrik. When she was older she married to their third eldest boy, Niklaus, and over their years together they had their own children."

"She's married..." Poseidon muttered, surprised.

"Reminds me a little of our family," Demeter muttered, looking at her brothers (though Hades was of course not present) and sisters.

The Olympians couldn't help but agree. It did remind them vaguely of themselves, only there weren't three boys and three girls. There had been five boys and two girls. Also, Phaedra was by no means Niklaus true sister, she'd been adopted and it wasn't abnormal for orphans taken into a family to marry into the family later in life.

Athena had listened to Hecate talk with thoughtful concentration. The names, they sounded familiar to her. Esther, Mikael, Niklaus, Rebekah...then she gasped so slightly the others nearly didn't hear her.

"By gods," Athena began, eyes wide. "She's one of the Originals..."

The others all looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was referring too, though Artemis began to catch on. There was only one group she knew that any supernatural creature or monster referred to as an Original. Vampires.

"Phaedra Mikaelson," Artemis said, eyes widening. "That was her...I thought she reminded me of someone but, a demigod."

"Enough, someone explain to me what Athena and Artemis was muttering about," Zeus demanded.

"Vampires," Hecate began. "I'm not talking of my Empousa either. I'm talking true vampires, stake to the heart, burn in the sunlight, invitation only, vampires."

Taking a deep breath the goddess of magic explained.

"Esther and Mikael lost their youngest child, Henrik, when he was young. Just a young teenager, and it nearly tore the family apart. Henrik followed his brother out one night, during a full moon when the werewolves were changing and was killed. Esther and Mikael decided they couldn't do it again, lose a child, or grandchild, so they completed a ritual. Something I would have forbidden if I could have interfered, but the ancient laws stopped me from doing more than warning my legacy. She didn't listen, and created the first vampires. The originals. Over the years more vampires were created, through the originals."

"And Faye..." Poseidon began, dreading the worse.

"Esther turned her children into the first vampires; Finn Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, Niklaus Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Phaedra Mikaelson, and Rebekah Mikaelson. They are known to the oldest of their kind, and feared as there is no known way to kill an Original. Niklaus and Phaedra are married, and are the most feared, as they are considered the most cruel of the siblings," Hecate said. "From what I have found, at the time, in 1012 A.D, Phaedra and Niklaus had four children, between the ages of five and a year old. Their youngest, Callisto, wasn't born yet."

"She was turned while pregnant?" Aphrodite asked, aghast at this.

"Hmm, yes. That didn't stop her from having the child though, in all logic, the child should have died in the womb, but Phaedra is a demigod. I believe this fact saved their unborn daughter, allowing her to carry Callisto to term, though she was born a vampire, aging until she became around seventeen and stopping. The other children were spared the fate of their parents, being so young, but the spell Esther used on them would lay dormant until they were turned once of age, creating original vampires instead of the vampires usually sired by the Originals over the years. Esther was a brilliant witch, though I never agreed with what she did, I also understood she was simply trying to protect her children, going about it the wrong way."

"So what do we do?" Apollo asked, speaking up for the first time. "Do we try and contact the daughter of Poseidon? She may still be a demigod, but she's also a vampire, considered a monster...would she even help us? Would it be a good idea to involve her? She doesn't sound all that heroic."

"Apollo speaks sense for once," Artemis said, half teasing her brother.

She knew Apollo was smarter than he let on, he was simply a laid back god, he liked to play up his ignorance to see how far he could go and what he could get away with. It was better than the darker part of her brother, commonly seen in ancient times, one just had to read the myths to get an idea.

"Phaedra has her moments, but from what I've found she is a kind person where it matters most. I believe she'll help us. Artemis, you've met her before," Hecate said, giving the moon goddess a look.

"You've met Faye?" Poseidon questioned, still trying to soak everything revealed in.

His daughter was a mother, and married, and while she may look the age of a young adult, she was truly over a thousand years old. She was a vampire, something not commonly attracted to demigods, but still counted as a monster in most cases because of the few who had gone after demigods. Mostly on coincidence or accident.

Vampires and most other supernatural creatures, such as werewolves (not to be mistaken for Lycans, the first 'werewolves' in existence, while the werewolves that turned on the full moon were a result of a witch cursing a bloodline. Lycans were led by Lycaon), and witches didn't know they existed, or had lost the knowledge of them over the years.

"Yes, uncle, I have," Artemis said, thinking back to the girl she'd met decades past. "It was 1901..."

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New ORLEANS; 1901:

Artemis didn't commonly come this far, onto the east coast, New Orleans was after all a hot spot for the Supernatural.

Some of her hunters were originally from here, and that was one reason she had come to New Orleans in the past. She never discriminated on where her hunters came from.

It had been just over two decades since she'd been in New Orleans last. It had changed, though not as much as she'd thought it would. She was currently tracking a monster, the Nemean Lion, which led her down an alley.

Not the safest of plans, but she was a goddess, she had little fear of danger.

Halfway down she noticed she was coming to a dead end, and went to turn around, only to see a man blocking her way. He was tall, in his mid to late twenties.

The look on his face did not impress Artemis, in fact it made her narrow her silver gaze at him. She was small compared to him, aged about fifteen or sixteen, a little older than the common age of her hunters for once.

"Where do you think you're going, girl?"

Artemis sneered, it was men like this that gave her and her hunters reason to hate males.

"Get out of my way, boy."

"Snooty, you must be one of those kind then," the man said, lust spread across his face.

Artemis' eyes nearly lit on fire in her anger at the pigs daring to grab her arm. Before she could act, turning him into a jackalope, or worse, the man was wrenched away from her and slammed into a wall.

"Ah ah ah, play nice scum," a female voice spoke coldly.

It was a girl, with tightly curled dark brown hair that fell to her hips, the sides pulled back by an elegant clip, which came to her aid. She wore a lace, cotton and silk dress, ivory in color with long sleeves and a high collar. Lace gloves covered her hands.

"Didn't your mother teach you to be gentlemanly to women?" the girl asked, a sneer in her voice. "What do we say to the kind girl?"

The brunette loosened her hold on his neck, and he turned his neck to look at Artemis fearfully from his position.

"I'm...s-sorry."

The girl smiled sweetly.

"Good boy."

There was a snap, and the male slumped to the ground, dead, once she released him. Artemis was, as hard as it was to believe, in shock. Still, at least she had figured out what the girl was; a vampire.

She'd come across one or two in the past, none like this girl though. She felt...different.

"You're not human."

Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

The girl smiled.

"For one, you're not scared. You seem not to be at all phased by death, and you're not asking me what just happened," she began. "Also, no human I've met has eyes quite like yours."

Artemis blinked, that was true enough, though none had ever realized her eye color was nearly impossible for a mortal to possess. She'd always figured it had somewhat to do with the mist, and mortals just ignoring the obvious and seeing what they wanted to see.

"I see, I'm thankful for your help," she said. "Though unnecessary."

"I realize this now. My name is Phaedra Mikaelson."

Artemis stared at the hand offered, noticing the parasol clutched in her opposite hand, and after a moment she accepted it.

"Selene."

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Artemis had given her a common alias, used when she wanted to keep a low profile, though the name was rather obvious. She and Phaedra hadn't talked long after that, and they soon went their separate ways.

She had no idea Phaedra was the same Phaedra her uncle was searching for before now.

"Did you find a location for her, Hecate?" Poseidon asked, after having listened to his nieces story.

"Mystic Falls, Virginia."

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"Bored," Faye muttered, closing another old book she'd found.

Reading was never her favorite hobby, mostly as it had taken her blood, sweet and tears to learn growing up. The letters jumbled, mixed and skipped around until finally her mother had done a spell to fix the problem. She'd learned it was called dyslexia in this day and age.

She'd always had an easier time reading Ancient Greek, one of the languages she was fluent in. she always loved Greece, Athens in particular had always been nice. Being as old as they were, her family tended to have mansions built in many places around the world. Greece happened to be one of those places.

"Hmm, I can think of something we could do that's fun," Damon said, appearing at her side.

Faye smirked, looking over her shoulder. Turning around and placing her hands behind her to lean against the table, Faye looked up into lustful eyes.

"Why, Mr. Salvatore, are you propositioning me?" she asked coyly.

"And if I am?"

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"So, what do we do? Do we send out a quest to contact her?" Hermes questioned.

"Is it safe, though? For her to be around the other demigods?" Aphrodite asked, unsure of the daughter of Poseidon.

"She could still be the Child of Prophecy. I don't think we have a choice," Apollo said, drawing everyone's attention. "If she had never been sent back in time she'd only be fourteen now. Technically speaking she's a thousand and fourteen..."

Artemis sighed, realizing where her brother was going with his words.

"So in two years when she turns one thousand and sixteen, she could still be the one of Prophecy."

Hecate sighed, annoyed by the Olympians whining and debating. They wondered why the minor gods were considering which side they should be on. Hell, if it weren't for the fact Phaedra was practically her legacy through Esther, adopted or not, she'd not have bothered being here now.

Helping Sally was one thing, helping Poseidon was a favor she owed him for what he'd done for one of her children a century ago. In her opinion she'd repaid both Sally and Poseidon by finding Phaedra, she didn't have to be here now, but she was, for Phaedra's sake.

She was aware of the mutterings going about, the Olympians weren't the only ones aware of the Originals now, and the fact the missing Daughter of Poseidon was one of them. The Titans were as well. It was only a matter of time before Kronos became curious enough to contact his granddaughter.

"I do not believe you have much to fear. Phaedra is a fearsome enemy to have, and a bit sociopathic at times, but she is still a kind person, as Artemis had experienced. Like Lady Hera and Lady Hestia, family means everything to Phaedra."

Some of the gods smiled at this, none more prominent than Hestia, Hera and Poseidon.

"If you need more proof of her character before you contact her, than allow me to assist," Hecate said, and clicked her fingers.

Mist curled and formed into a large circular looking glass, and shown in the center, almost life like, were people and objects commonly shown in a home. A quick way of seeing into the life of the intended person.

Poseidon's eyes widened as he took in the form of who he instantly knew was his daughter. He only had a baby picture to go by, but her appearance made it obvious who she was. She looked like himself in many ways, but female of course. She also had many of Sally's traits.

Her hair for instance was a darker brown than Sally's, but still brown instead of his black. Her skin was lightly tanned, lighter than his own by a shade or two, and her build was very much like her mother, though she was taller, about 5'9.

Her eyes were his, a bright sea green, but to look closely one could see ocean blue flecks around the pupil; it was only through his superior eyesight to that of a mortal he noticed.

She was with a man, early twenties, with raven hair and light silvery-blue eyes.

"Why, Mr. Salvatore, are you propositioning me?" the projection of Faye asked, and the raven haired man leaned closer, smirking smugly.

Poseidon glared at the scene, not liking how close the man was to his daughter. The gods all paid attention to the looking glass, wanting to see the mysterious daughter of Poseidon.

"And if I am?"

Faye chuckled, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she cupped the side of his face.

"I'd have to think about it, after all, I like you Damon and my husband can be oh so very possessive." She pushed Damon back gently and walked away, leaving him to look shocked, before he smirked, amused.

"You're just full of surprises."

Poseidon frowned at the male walking after his daughter, but kept his opinion to himself. He was too relieved to finally see his daughter, even through a looking glass, to let it be ruined by some vampire his daughter was acquainted with.

"Damon Salvatore, another vampire currently in Mystic Falls," Hecate said, seeing the curious looks on some of the gods faces. "I have to go now. I shall leave the looking glass here. It will randomly show you what Phaedra is up to. Be warned, she isn't the classic definition of a hero, some things may not be what you would expect from a demigod."

A second later Hecate left with a flash of light.

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"Hey, what did you give me?" Vicki asked after checking her neck out in the mirror.

"Some blood," Damon said bluntly. "You loved it."

"I did?" Vicki asked, and Faye snorted, entering the room with a glass of bourbon.

"Everyone does," she snarked, barely paying attention as Damon compelled Vicki and the two exchanged wrist.

"You want some?" Damon asked, holding out Vicki's wrist.

"I'll have to decline, I don't like sloppy seconds."

Damon shrugged.

"Suit yourself, Ms. Prissy."

Faye rolled her eyes, snorting into her drink. She'd been called worse.

"Let's have some fun," Vicki said, running over and turning on some music.

"I think that's something..." Faye muttered, trailing off as she danced into the parlor after the human girl.

Damon looked after them, and shrugged, following after them. Who was he to protest?

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"Oh, well, I wasn't expecting that," Faye muttered, hardly batting an eyelash as she looked down at Vicki's dead body.

"Hmm, I got bored..."

Faye nodded.

"Ah, the pitfall of eternity," she said, shrugging and going back to jump on Stefan's bed. "Want to come break Stefan's bed in with me?"

Damon's head snapped around, eyes wide, having clearly not expected such a blunt question from the girl jumping on the bed.

"Uh, now when you say break in..."

Faye smirked devilishly, titling her head slightly to the side as she slowed her jumping, and flopped onto her knees.

"That depends," she said. "Whether or not you can handle possible death in the near future should my husband find out."

"Hmm, I think I'll take my chances," Damon said, and turned to look at Vicki slumped on the floor. "We've got about an hour or two before she wakes up. She was pretty wasted before that."

Faye laughed when Damon joined her on the bed; the next hour and half was just what she needed after eighty-six years stuck in a coffin.

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The looking glass went clear, apparently to preserve Faye and her flings modesty, while Poseidon tried to come to terms with the fact his little girl wasn't such a little girl anymore.

The other gods weren't all that surprised, she was an immortal and from the way she talked of her husbands possessiveness this wouldn't be the first time she slept with another man. They got the feeling they had a pretty open marriage, and it was common for both of them.

They also got the feeling those flings didn't live long, if the warning she gave Damon was anything to go by.

"I love the fact they completely ignored the dead body in the room," Apollo said, chuckling and some of the other gods snorted.

"Girl may actually be interesting," Ares said, a look of some sort on his face.

Athena sighed.

"The girl will wake up, she had vampire blood in her system," she said. "I'm more concerned about Phaedra's lack of caring."

"She's a vampire, death isn't exactly something they bother themselves with," Artemis said. "If this meeting is over, I must be returning to my hunters."

Zeus nodded.

"We shall adjourn the meeting for now," he said.

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"Ow...what happened?"

"I killed you," Damon said from the chair he sat in at Stefan's desk.

Vicki looked over at the dark haired Salvatore brother, and stood, rubbing the back of her neck.

"No, seriously," she said, and she raised an eyebrow when Faye entered the room in a towel, running another towel through her wet hair.

"Oh, he's serious," Faye said, heading to where her clothes were scattered around the room.

Vicki looked between the two, and the bed, which was visibly broken down, the frame snapped in certain places. She shook her head and grabbed her own jeans off the floor.

"Seriously, what happened?"

"I killed you, you're dead," Damon said.

"He's completely serious, Vicki. You fed on his blood, he killed you, and now your dead," Faye said, sitting down on the broken down bed, and pulling her leather pants on.

"You're both wasted," she said, pulling her pants on as she stumbled past. "It was great guys, but I'm gonna go home."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You're about to get really freaky," Damon said, stepping in her way.

"Look, I had fun, but now I'm going home."

"You're already starting to fall apart, but okay," Damon said, stepping aside. "Go, I'm just warning you."

Looking over to Faye, who's pulling her dark blue corset top on, he gets an idea and turns back to Vicki.

"You know what, you should go," he begins. "If I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."

"Yeah, whatever...bye," Vicki muttered as she left the room.

"Tell Elena I said hi, oh and if you see Stefan tell him to call me!"

"That was cruel," Faye said, pulling her boots on. "Sending poor Vicki to Jeremy's...impressive strategy Salvatore."

"Mhmm, glad you approve."

"So, you think Stefan will be too upset we broke his bed?" she asked as she stood, taking one last look at the bed as she left the room.

Damon chuckled, following after her.

"He'll be too disgusted to be mad for long."