Aleksander let the heavy silence linger for a moment before turning his full attention back to his aunt.
He looked at the deep lines of exhaustion on her face and the gray in her hair.
She had spent a lifetime serving Nature, but age was finally catching up to her.
“Aunt Sheila,” Aleksander said softly, his tone shifting into something deeply serious.
“I can heal you.”
Sheila blinked, pulled from her anxious thoughts.
“Heal me? Aleksander, I’m just getting old. It’s the natural way of things.”
“Not anymore,” Aleksander replied firmly.
“Bonnie is going to be dragged right into the middle of a massive storm, whether we like it or not. She needs you. She needs you to be strong enough to guide her, and more importantly, she needs you there to make sure she doesn’t foolishly sacrifice her own life trying to play the hero.”
At the mention of Bonnie sacrificing herself, Sheila’s hesitation instantly vanished.
The fierce, protective fire returned to her eyes.
If staying strong meant keeping her granddaughter alive, she would do whatever it took.
“Do it,” Sheila agreed quickly, sitting up perfectly straight.
Aleksander smiled warmly.
He didn’t ask her to stand or prepare a complex ritual.
He simply reached out and gently placed his hand on top of hers.
He didn’t even chant this time.
He just exhaled, letting his power flow freely.
A sudden, brilliant wave of emerald-green and warm golden light bloomed from his palm, wrapping completely around Sheila.
The air in the room smelled instantly of fresh rain and blooming jasmine.
Lexi watched in absolute awe as the magic washed over the older witch.
It wasn’t just a simple healing spell; it was a complete restoration.
The deep wrinkles on Sheila’s face began to smooth out like time itself was running backward.
Her posture straightened as decades of joint pain and fatigue were completely erased.
The stark gray in her hair melted away, replaced by a rich, vibrant dark brown.
The glowing light faded, sinking effortlessly into her skin.
Sheila gasped, her eyes flying open.
She looked down at her own hands, turning them over.
The frail, shaking fingers were gone, replaced by the smooth, steady hands of a woman in her absolute prime.
She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating with the strong, effortless rhythm she hadn’t felt in thirty years.
“Oh, my word,” Sheila breathed out, her voice no longer raspy, but strong and clear.
She looked up at Aleksander, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
“I feel… I feel like I could take on the whole world.”
Aleksander leaned back, a satisfied smirk crossing his face.
“Good. Because knowing this town, you might just have to.”
Sheila nodded, flexing her youthful hands and soaking in the renewed strength coursing through her veins.
She was ready.
But Aleksander wasn’t finished.
“Both Salvatore brothers will probably arrive in Mystic Falls soon.”
Sheila’s newly restored brow furrowed.
“Damon will come too?”
“He will,” Aleksander nodded, his expression turning serious.
“And that complicates things. You see, Qetsiyah’s coven didn’t exactly take it well when she broke the fundamental rules of Nature. After she and Silas created the immortality spell, it caused a massive schism among the witches.”
Aleksander leaned forward, weaving the ancient history for them.
“Some were conservatives. They wanted to maintain the balance of Nature and refused to use magic to create unnatural abominations like immortals. This faction eventually became the traditional witches—your ancestors, Auntie, who dedicate themselves to serving Nature’s will. But the other group believed they could use their pure magic to achieve greater things, just like Qetsiyah did. They eventually became known as the Travelers.”
Lexi listened intently, fascinated by the hidden mechanics of the supernatural world she had lived in for centuries.
“The traditional witches feared the sheer power the Travelers possessed,” Aleksander continued.
“So, they placed a massive curse on their entire subculture. It stripped them of their access to traditional forms of earth magic and cursed them so they could never gather or settle as a tribe without invoking disasters. In retaliation, the Travelers killed Qetsiyah. But to mock her legacy, the Traveler leader at the time cast a powerful, binding spell of their own.”
Aleksander looked directly at Lexi.
“They cursed the Doppelganger lines. Amara’s bloodline—which includes Katherine and Elena—and Silas’s bloodline—which includes Stefan. The spell dictated that the two shadow-selves would always be drawn to each other, in every lifetime, regardless of where they were in the world.”
Lexi went completely rigid.
The devastating weight of what that meant crashed over her.
She thought about Stefan, the decades of agonizing guilt he carried, and the desperate, consuming love he had for a woman who had ultimately ruined his life.
“So…” Lexi frowned, her hazel eyes clouded with conflict.
“Stefan never really fell for Katherine? It was just a spell?”
Aleksander sighed, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand.
“It is an iffy subject. The Traveler spell guarantees that the universe will actively bend to push them into each other’s paths, creating an undeniable magnetic pull and a profound sense of destiny. But the actual emotions they develop once they meet, the choices they make out of love or obsession—it’s incredibly hard to tell where the magical influence ends and genuine free will begins.”
Rejuvenated or not, a headache was starting to form.
Between immortal grudges, cursed bloodlines, and destiny-altering spells, she couldn’t help but feel that her ancient ancestors had left behind an absolutely exhausting amount of trouble.
Aleksander and Lexi stepped out onto the porch, leaving the Bennett house behind.
Before getting into the silver McLaren, Aleksander turned back and offered a casual wave to Sheila.
Standing in the doorway, she looked radiant and powerful in her restored youth, giving her nephew a firm, grateful nod before closing the door.
Aleksander slid into the driver’s seat, and the engine roared to life, shattering the quiet evening air as they pulled away from the curb.
The streetlights of Mystic Falls were just starting to flicker on, casting long shadows across the dashboard.
Lexi watched the quaint, peaceful town roll by her window for a moment before turning her head to look at him.
“How do you feel about them?” she asked quietly.
“Bonnie and Elena?”
Aleksander kept his eyes on the road, driving with an easy, one-handed grip on the steering wheel.
He offered a slight shrug.
“For Bonnie? I definitely feel bad. She’s my blood. She’s about to be dragged into a supernatural war she didn’t ask for, simply because of who her best friend happens to be.”
“And Elena?” Lexi pressed.
“I feel a little bad for her, I suppose,” Aleksander answered, his tone turning slightly more analytical.
“Her life is about to become an absolute storm. But you have to understand something about Doppelgangers… they survive by adapting, and that adaptation usually makes them incredibly manipulative and self-obsessed.”
Lexi raised an eyebrow, thinking of the innocent, slightly shy teenager she had just met.
“She seemed pretty sweet.”
“She is kind now,” Aleksander agreed, glancing at the rearview mirror.
“But she will change. When the vampires come, when the danger becomes real and people start dying for her, that survival instinct will take over. It has happened with every single shadow-self before her, and it will happen again. It’s just their nature.”
Lexi frowned, clearly troubled by the bleak, inevitable outlook for the girl.
She looked at the man sitting next to her, thinking about the absolute, god-like power he held in his fingertips—the power that had just casually rewritten a car’s molecular structure and reversed thirty years of human aging in seconds.
“You’re the Embodiment of Nature,” Lexi questioned, a hint of frustration in her voice.
“Can’t you change anything? Can’t you just stop it from happening?”
Aleksander’s grip tightened just a fraction on the leather steering wheel.
The easy, charming demeanor faded.
He let out a long, quiet sigh, watching the dark road stretch out ahead of them.
“Some things are meant to happen, Lexi,” he answered softly, his voice leaving no room for argument.