The Fallen Slayer {1}

When All Falls Down

MYSTIC FALLS: PRESENT DAY

Refusing to let the tears fall, Rebekah forced her eyes to focus on the stars filling the sky as she and Buffy lay side by side in the garden, surrounded by sunflowers.

The story of Erik's death was not one the Original enjoyed reliving.

There was a reason his name was never spoken out loud.

His death had been the catalyst leading to the destruction of their family. Marianna had grown cold and hateful, and Nik had grown paranoid, always worried that Marianna would one day take back her word and kill him.

Which left the rest of the siblings to take sides. 

Kol and Finn had always sided with Marianna, hence why the two of them had spent more time in boxes than the others. While Elijah and herself had slowly stepped away from Marianna, instead focused on keeping Klaus under control.

It was strange to think how different their lives could have been if Erik had survived...if Klaus hadn't attacked Marianna during their time in Spain in the 13th Century.

"Had I known we could turn people back then, I would have turned him for her. In a heartbeat."

To be honest, the reveal that they could make more vampires just made the situation all the more horrifying. Marianna had held her husband's bleeding-out body in her arms with no idea that one drop of blood could have saved him.

The reveal that they could sire more of their kind had pushed her down a path that shattered Always and Forever.

Turning her head to glance at Rebekah, Buffy inhaled tightly as the Original's words hit her like a truck.

The truth was, she could have been Mary.

She had literally killed the man she loved and had nightmares of the battle over and over again, replaying his death in her mind. That kind of loss could drive someone to their edge, especially if they were forced to face the person who took their happiness every day for eternity.

Mary had to spend centuries by Klaus's side, despite the fact he had murdered her husband because if she left she would be truly alone.

And being alone as an immortal...was the most terrifying thing in the world.

It was what terrified Buffy the most about her new immortality.

Feeling alone for centuries had driven Mary to dive head-first into dark magic, becoming a shell of her former self.

There was a chance if she didn't find something to keep her steady and if she kept losing people...Buffy in a few centuries would end up just like that.

"Mary lost it." Rebekah continued "That night she came home screaming and when her eyes fell on Nik...she wanted to punish him. She was so far past anger and grief...she couldn't think straight. So she and my mother put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side. Esther turned her back on him and Mary was more closed off, she knew Nik hadn't been able to control himself but a part of her never forgave him. She buried all the anger and grief she had and ignored it. It spent 250 years boiling before finally Nik beat her to near death and made her do the spell so he could see you. That was the last straw for her. Everything she had kept buried down spiraled over. It isn't being a vampire that creates the humanity switch... it's immortality. You live long enough, you can trick your mind into thinking you no longer care."

"That's why you stay..." Buffy mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper "Immortality is a cruel thing, and if you're alone, then you really feel the time passing."

"You'll learn." Rebekah assured her, sympathy filling her voice as she turned to let her eyes meet Buffy's.


It was the horrifying fate of living forever.


"Nik told me the history between you...what he did to your aunt. You have every right to hate him, Buffy. But you also understand grey morality you wouldn't work with vampires if you didn't. If you were the Slayer you were expected to be, you would have killed, Stefan, Damon, and all your friends. So hate Nik, you don't have to forgive him but..."

"You can hate someone but still work with them." Buffy finished with a small huff, hating the fact that it was true. She wouldn't have worked with Spike in the past if she didn't have that grey morality.

The supernatural world wasn't as black and white as the Watchers Council constantly liked the preach.

She had seen the good with Stefan, Angel even Oz because as a werewolf the Council would have expected her to kill him as well.


"I both love and hate my brother. But with eternity you learn to move on..." Thinking back to all the lovers she had over the centuries that her brother had killed, Rebekah couldn't help but let out a harsh laugh "You can hate him, but you are like us now. A true immortal you'll never forget the reasons you hate him but if you let them fuel you... that's how you become, Marianna. In a thousand years, I don't think she ever found a true reason to live other than revenge. Eternity can be amazing if you can relish in the good as well as the bad. Marianna is the perfect example of how living in just the bad can ruin you. As is Mikael."

"Rebekah..." Buffy whispered softly as she sat up eyeing Rebekah closely, there was more to the story she could see it. And while yes, discussing immortality and its complexity was interesting that wasn't the reason she was here.

She was here for the story of Mikael.

To learn how their father turned into their living nightmare.

"What did Mikael do?"

"Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was pride. As a vampire that was magnified. And while Mary spent the night ripping her home to shreds he went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed my mother."