(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Seventy-Six

The door to Daphne's bedroom opens as Elena lets herself in. She has no reason to expect anything more than Daphne sleeping in her bed. Maybe bundled up in her blankets to comfort herself after what happened with Damon, but what she does not expect, is to find that Damon is curled around Daphne's back, arms around her, head buried in her neck as they both sleep soundly in her bed. Seems Elena missed a lot last night. Last she saw there was some tough tension between them following that thing with Kol. She didn't think they would settle it so easily. Both of them are stubborn. But it seems things worked out. Elena hesitates heading any deeper into the room. She was going to talk to Daphne about what Esther spoke to her about at the party. But she really doesn't want to disturb them. When they've been through so much to get here. Elena worries her lip a little. Torn between waking them and leaving them.

"Out with it" Daphne comments, eyes still closed as she shifts a little, Damon's arms then tightening around her.

"Or better yet, out with you" He adds. Elena looks away a little, clearing her throat. "You're letting all the cold in" He complains turning onto his back and covering his eyes with his arm, tugging the blankets up around him higher to get warm.

"What do you want, Elena?" Daphne asks her sister softly, Elena lets out a breath and then nods. Agreeing with herself to just get it out and over and done with, then she can leave them alone.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night...." Elena admits. "Esther is planning on killing her entire family" She continues. "She's linked them all together with a spell. Whatever happens to one, happens to all of them"

"Blood magic?" Daphne muses. "That's some serious shit" Damon hums a little, listening to them, letting it sink in.

"Wait..." He draws out. "So if one dies?" He starts, letting it sink in.

"They all die" Daphne assures him. Damon drops his arm to look at Daphne who nods.

"Well, that's great!" Damon offers, leaning up a little. Because that is good news. All of their ducks finally falling into place. "Klaus will finally be dead. We win" He then looks at Elena, expecting the same level of excitement from her, but does not find it. "Why do you look like someone just shot a panda bear?"

"Uh, because to kill Klaus she has to kill all of them, including Elijah" Elena points out. "And he doesn't deserve this!"

"I'm supposed to care about Elijah?" Damon asks.

"Daph?" Elena asks, trying to plead with her to agree with her. But to be honest, Daphne agrees with Damon here. The death of one good one to kill four bad ones, it's a risk they have to take. It is a loss they are going to have to take.

"Elena" Daphne starts, but her tone tells Elena what she doesn't want to hear. "He's right, Klaus has to die" Elena shakes her head and turns to leave. Daphne sighs. "Wait" She stops Elena from leaving. "Elena, they've almost all tried to hurt you and this family and all of our friends. If even one of them is left alive, none of us will be safe"

"Elijah might agree to a deal" Elena argues. "To leave..."

"And then he could change his mind in a year" Daphne counters. "In five, in ten, in thirty, and we'll all be living with that hanging over us....that threat is always going to be there. You really think he's going to let us all live our lives in peace after killing his family?" Elena looks down. "All of them have to go" Elena nods a little, she understands that. She can see why it has to happen, but that doesn't mean she likes the idea of it. "Now get out" Daphne adds, Elena glances at her. "It's too early for all this drama...."

"Okay," Elena whispers and then smirks a little before she leaves, closing the door behind her. Damon glances at Daphne as she lets out a breath, adjusting the blankets.

"Alright, let's just get it over with" Damon starts. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really" She whispers. "Because if we talk about it, I'll start freaking out again" He snorts a little but has spent enough time with her to know that she's not being overdramatic. She has been freaking out about whatever it is she is scared of. Whatever it is that she won't tell them about. The reason she was reluctant to get involved to start with. "And I kind of like being with you" She adds, quietly, fiddling with her hands in her lap. Damon smirks a little before he full-on smiles.

"I kind of like being with you too" He admits as he shifts closer to her, brushing her hair back as she turns to look at him. His eyes are soft as he looks at her. She finds herself smiling with his admission. He leans closer, brushing his lips over hers before she touches his neck, drawing him in closer for a deeper kiss.

.....

Later, Daphne sits at the Grill with a coffee, she wasn't getting any research done at home because Damon was around and poking for attention the whole time. He was only trying to be affectionate, but right now, they have more pressing issues to deal with and she can't concentrate on that fluffy honeymoon stage of their brand spanking new relationship. And she's scared. The more time she spends with him, the more time they are all touchy and kissy and feely, she knows that she is going to start panicking about the phoenix stuff before she gets around to telling him about it. And she knows she has to. She has to tell him, and Elena and Jeremy. She just wants to get Klaus dealt with first. If they can do that, then Jeremy can come back and Daphne can sit them all down and tell them. So she ignores her rising inner panic, and she avoids Damon, but not in a bad way avoids him, she just needs to put space between them so she doesn't screw it up. And instead spends her time in the Grill with that really old burnt book with the phoenix on the front. Going through language books and apps and anything else she can

"It is Koine" Kol informs her, she frowns at the book and then looks at him. He's standing next to her table. Watching her. Being creepy.

"What?" She asks. He smirks and pulls out the seat at her side to sit with her.

"The language" He explains. "It's Koine" He touches the front of the book, taking in the detailed phoenix. "Dead Greek language....which does make sense, considering the original mythology of the phoenix..." He looks at her as she frowns. "Klaus told me about your...curse" She scoffs and looks away from him. But she can't read this book. And he can. She closes her eyes, realising that she might just need his help.

"So you can read this?" She whispers, he hums and nods, running his fingers over the inscription on the cover.

"Fire-bird malediction" He translates. "Phoenix curse" He simplifies. "Hmm" He muses as he opens it up to read the inside. "It's a diary" He offers, she frowns and looks at him. "Dating way, way back...." He turns the pages, flicking through them. "It seems to be accounts from past phoenix-cursed" He realises. Every few pages it changes handwriting, sometimes languages, each one telling a different but similar story. Death. Destruction. Chaos. He stops and stares down at the book, finding that the second half of the book is empty. He realises. She is supposed to fill in the later pages. Eventually perhaps. He closes the book and pushes it back to her. "I could translate it for you, of course"

"Let me guess" She starts with a snort. "It'll cost me" He hums and nods. "Then I'll make do without it then" She argues, turning a look on him. She is not going to make a deal with him. She stands and takes the book from the table before she walks away. Not at all interested in talking with him, to begin with, even less so now he won't help her. Though at least she knows something about the book. It's a start.