#excuse any errors lol

[24kmagiic]

Issued from the High Throne of the Ancients, Sealed by the Crown of Mystic Falls:

In light of the recent scandal involving Her Grace Bonnie Sheila Bennett, Duchess of the Ancient Flame and Heiress of the Bennett Dynasty, and His Grace Niklaus Mikaelson, Duke of New Orleans, and Hybrid Lord of the Ton, this decree is hereby issued to preserve the sanctity of the Social Season and the ancestral order of the realm.

Let it be recorded in the Great Book of Manna and Courtly Law and etched into the Cosmic Registers:

Any couple entering into engagement without formal matchmaking endorsement is subject to a trio of ancestral rites:

The Veilwalk — a rite of emotional truth

The Court of Truth — a magical inquisition judged by the Ancestral Council

The Unbinding Waltz — a final public display of magical and emotional harmony

Said trials shall be observed by the Crown and her appointed Magical Council. Completing all three rites shall result in formal betrothal, sanctified by crown and coven. Failure to comply or succeed shall result in:

Revocation of ancestral holdings

Public dissolution of all noble titles

Magical exile from the Court of Ancients

Eternal shame sealed by song and scroll

The trials must conclude with the Full Moon of Beltane. Any interference will be met with swift and supernatural consequences.

May the bond be true, the trials merciful, and love rise from the ashes of scandal.

Signed and Sealed,

Her Majesty, Queen Esther Mikaelson High Sovereign of Mystic Falls Keeper of the Hollow Crown

A Most Inconvenient Vow

May 4 - Arranged Marriage (ish) Queen Esther’s Manor A Week Later - Still Spring 1812 AD

“When proximity breeds a scandal, the crown demands commitment. A curious solution for an even curiouser couple…”

“As if being tethered to a Rake isn’t enough, I have to prove that I like him, too.” The disdain in Bonnie’s voice made Klaus chuckle.

“All you need to do is channel that vitriol into passion, and you’ll be fine.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore his comment. “She’s your mother, Klaus. She knows you better than anyone else. She’ll know you’re lying even if we manage to pass these ridiculous trials, which, might I add, have never been enacted, so I don’t see why we’re being singled out.”

“You said it already.” Bonnie turned to face him with a perked brow. “She’s my mother,” he smirked. “And she’s been singling me out since the world learned of her transgressions.”

Bonnie frowned. It was true. After her great ancestor Ayana cast the spell to create the Original family, the duality of Klaus’s nature was revealed. He was born of a Lycanthrope and therefore could not be the child of King Mikaelson, The Forgotten.

“Well, that isn’t fair,” Bonnie said softly. “For you or me.”

Klaus changed the subject so swiftly that Bonnie had difficulty keeping up. “The trials can be manipulated if you speak the truth,” he began. “For instance, if they ask about your undying affections for me, you can say something along the lines of how you can’t stand to breathe the same air as me, yet you always manage to get lost in my eyes,” he said, batting his eyelashes. He pinched her cheek, quickly pulling away when she lit his glove on fire.

Bonnie giggled as he struggled to dispose of the charred garment. She watched as his fingers healed with supernatural precision. He removed the other glove and threw it at her, which she also burned in mid-air.

“I’ve never gotten lost in your eyes,” she lied.

“Lying isn’t very becoming of you, Lady Bennett.”

“And yet you’ve put me in a position where I have to lie at least thrice!” She huffed and squared her shoulders. “Let’s get on with it. The sooner we complete them, the sooner we can live in banishment.”

“Together? I have stowaway houses scattered throughout the kingdom. You’d want for nothing, all I ask is that you—”

“If you finish that statement, I will burn your arse alive,” she snapped.

Klaus held up a hand and chuckled. “As you command it, My Fair Lady. Come. Night is approaching, and the trials wait for no one.” He offered his arm to her, a simple act that made her heart falter slightly. He was gracious enough not to tease her if he heard it, and for that, she was thankful.

“They emerged hand-in-hand… but the Veil saw what even they would not admit.”

The silver glow of moonlight bathed the Ancestral Grove in its glory. She and Niklaus had walked there together, but now, they faced the veil alone. She glanced to her left and watched him from across the Garden as he entered the veil without hesitation and exhaled deeply before taking the plunge.

The mist was thick and teeming with ancestral energy. Her eyes frosted, a ghostly white hue as the physical world melted away, replaced by the mystical energy of the ancestral plane. The blinding white glow faded into something softer as ghostly figures began to take shape before her.

It was her. A version of herself, not much older than she was currently. She watched as visions of life flashed before her eyes. It showed her surviving the trials, navigating a very public ‘break up’ with the Hybrid Rake, and then living a life of duty. Peaceful, reserved. Fullfilled…

But not happy, she noticed.

The feeling of ‘what if’ lingered in the center of her chest, but the visions began to shift before she could contemplate it.

Before her now was a joyful Bonnie, filled with light, love, and laughter. There was a spark in her eyes that was missing from before. And more importantly, she felt fulfilled. True fulfillment that didn’t come from her duties as a witch or the burdens that came with being the ‘last of her name’. She felt certainty.

And then she saw him. The Hybrid, The Rake, the Bane of her existence. Laughing alongside her. She should have been shocked. Should have turned her nose up in disgust. Instead, she felt… familiarity. The same vitriol present whenever he was near was no longer masked with feigned disgust. It was unfiltered, unapologetic.

It felt freeing.

Bonnie’s eyes stung with unshed tears as the visions began to fade. She blinked several times before her eyes landed on a young boy, no more than twelve. Alone beneath a full silver moon, wrecked with emotion and soaked in blood. The sight made her falter. She approached him slowly and knelt before him.

When she spoke, her voice didn’t come from her throat but her mind, and somehow he heard her. 

“What is the matter?” she asked. The boy lifted his head, his face tear-stained, his expression distraught.

“It’s my fault. I caused this.” She knew that voice. It wasn’t that of a boy. It was that of an eight-hundred-year-old hybrid. Her breath caught as she stared into the young boy’s eyes—the same eyes she’d been accused of getting lost in. She saw the regret, the vulnerability, the disgust he held toward himself. Her heart ached.

She gasped as everything faded to black, stumbling back when she was ejected from the mist. She fell against Niklaus with a soft thud, who stood behind her with an amused expression. He helped her regain her footing before glancing over her shoulder.

“What did you see that made you overstay your welcome?”

She had a hard time adjusting to reality. Rather than answer him, she gripped his shirt, clinging to a version of him that did not exist in this realm. A version she didn’t wish to let go of just yet.

Niklaus’s smile faltered briefly, noting her haunted expression. His ears twitched at the sound of her racing heart and noted how she clenched his shirt. He quieted. Rather than tease her, he simply let her be, allowing her time to adjust—allowing her to use him as her anchor.

“What happened?” She finally whispered, staring not at him but through him.

He nearly answered before he knew what he was saying, even though he wasn’t sure exactly what she meant. Yet somehow, he knew she was speaking beyond their current predicament.

What happened to you, she wanted to say, but caught herself just in time.

“I think Grandma Bonnie has been out too late. Let’s get you back to your chambers before you crack like a nut,” he teased, though he wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or his.

Bonnie remained silent, allowing him to guide her back to her quarters in silence. She needed to pull herself together.

But when they arrived and he turned to leave, she couldn’t help but ask: “What did you see?”

It was brave of her to ask, knowing she wasn’t ready to share what she’d seen. But she needed to know. He seemed so… unbothered, and it was unnerving her.

The vulnerability in her eyes caught him off guard, and every witty remark he had rehearsed was swallowed in an instant. “Just a girl, sorry—a woman—trying to survive the best way she knows how.”

For whatever reason, his answer didn’t feel good enough.

The two of them stood in silence before Bonnie scoffed softly. “So, a mess,” she teased at her own expense. The urge to correct her surged within him, but the moment slipped before he could seize it. “Goodnight, Niklaus,” she said softly before disappearing behind the oak door.

He stood there silently for a moment before vanishing into thin air. Bonnie lingered by the window, watching the spot he’d once occupied before blowing out her candle. Two more days and she’d be free from this, she hoped.

Or did she…

“Pretend all you like, Your Graces—this author knows true spark when she sees it.”

The Court of Truths would be the most intimidating of the trials, or so the Duchess thought. Their truths laid bare wouldn’t have been such a distressing thought if they hadn’t entered this predicament by lying through their teeth.

Bonnie sat nervously outside the Ancestral Court, waiting to be summoned. She was a wreck and what’s worse? Niklaus wasn’t saying a word.

No witty remarks, no dazzling charm, nothing. Only the pensive expression he’d worn since earlier that morning when he picked her up. “They’ll ask a series of questions,” he finally spoke, his tone more serious than she was used to. Still, she clung to every word, desperate to escape her ruthless ruminations.  “Answer them as honestly as you can, but keep it short. Less is more.” 

“You wouldn’t happen to know the questions, do you?” Her tone was so hopeful he nearly laughed.

“We are the first couple ever to have to go through this, so no, Bonnie, I don’t know what the questions are,” he snapped, though there was no real ire in his tone. Bonnie recognized what he was doing instantly. It was a lifeline—a means to help her release the nervous energy currently holding her hostage.

She immediately jumped on it.

“Well, forgive my asking. You’re what? Nine hundred years old, and your mother’s the queen. Silly of me to think you’d actually know something.”

“Eight hundred and thirty-one, and I know nothing, just like you.”

“You don’t look a day past a thousand.”

“And I’ll never reach it if you keep talking me to death.”

The door swiftly opened, signaling it was time to enter. She wasn’t sure when he’d grabbed her hand, but she didn’t fight it. The pair walked in sync, presenting a good front to the spectral eyes following their movements. The Ancestral Court was more of an amphitheater. A dark corridor led them to the open area. There were no walls, no ceiling, no confinement. Just vast openness meant to intimidate. They moved to the center of the theater, where the bright violet and gold floor immediately glowed—the Bennett and Mikaelson crest colors. 

Each of Bonnie’s steps created a violet trail to the center, and she stared in awe at the golden steps following Klaus. She looked into the hillside where the spectral figures of their ancestors sat, waiting and observing. Though she couldn’t make out their specific faces, she felt a familial bond emanating from each one.

As she stared in awe, Klaus remained fixed beside her with an almost bored expression. She brushed the back of his hand with her thumb to gain his attention, nearly flinching when his gaze burned through her. Her mouth went dry, and the words died on her lips. What she planned to say was long forgotten, and to her relief, a loud, genderless voice spoke. The voice came from everywhere around them, making it hard to pinpoint the source.

“Do you come with love in your heart, and truth on your tongue?” The voice asked.

Bonnie exhaled slowly, answering first. “I do,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t betray her. Thankfully, the question was vague enough for her to mean it.

Niklaus nodded, “I do.” 

Bright flames traveled around the circle they stood in, trapping them both. Bonnie could only assume that the fire would subside once the trials were completed and tried not to think of what would happen if they failed.

“Then let the Truth be summoned. Let what you hide be laid bare. Let what you deny be spoken aloud. Let what you fear be faced.”

A surge of magic filled the air, thick and humming. The ground between them illuminated with ancestral runes, and a tether of light flared from Klaus’s chest to Bonnie’s—and another from Bonnie’s to Klaus’s.

Bonnie winced as her heart rate accelerated. She could feel him and was sure he could feel her too. She didn’t like the sensation of being read. She felt exposed in ways she’d never experienced.

Klaus, to his credit, did not smirk.

The voice returned. “Duchess Bonnie Bennett… what do you desire most?”

Bonnie froze at the loaded question. How on Earth was she supposed to answer that? When she parted her lips to speak, a golden mist flowed from her chest and swirled above them.

The image it created knocked the wind out of her.

It was him. Not the Hybrid Rake she loathed but a gentler version of him. A softer side she’d seen in the Veilwalk. A version she’d made up. He laughed beside her in the vision, kissed the inside of her wrist, and held her in a garden at midnight.

Bonnie’s heart stopped.

Gasps rang out from the invisible audience seated beyond the spectral veil. From beside her, Klaus’s breath caught. Bonnie’s face flushed two shades darker.

“Wait—” Bonnie began, horrified. Her chest twisted with emotion. “That isn’t—I didn’t—”

But the vision didn’t lie. It never did. The truth had been summoned, not spoken, and couldn’t be manipulated like they’d planned.

At the revelation, her heart rate accelerated tenfold, and she closed her eyes, hoping the ground would swallow her whole.

The voice pressed on. “Duke Niklaus Mikaelson… what do you fear most?”

Klaus’s jaw locked. His chest rose sharply as the light pulled from him, unwillingly.

A violet mist flowed from his chest, hovering in the space above them. A spectral version of herself appeared, following Niklaus through the woods. When he turned to face her, his face was distorted. Not the man he presented at court, but the beast who feasted at night. The one she’d heard stories about. The one mothers warned their little girls about at bedtime.

Bonnie watched as the spectral version of herself ran away from the monster, horrified by what she’d seen. In the vision, Niklaus reached for her as she left in an almost heartbreaking way, yet even as she ran, there was no hatred in her eyes, just sadness and disappointment.

Bonnie couldn’t look away—not from the monster, but from the man who feared she’d see it… and leave.

She felt Klaus flinch before the vision disappeared.

“Do either of you deny these truths?” the voice asked.

Klaus swallowed, hesitating momentarily before stepping forward to place much-needed distance between them.

Bonnie ignored how his warmth left her exposed to the coolness of the air surrounding them and tried not to follow him. She wasn’t sure when his closeness shifted from irritation to comfort, but she opted not to question it.

“No,” he finally said.

Bonnie’s voice cracked as she spoke. “No.”

“Then you may proceed to the next trial. But know this—it is not love you must perform, but the truth you must survive.”

The trial ended with the ancient runes of their family crests intertwining on the floor below them. Golds and Violets mixed until they formed a new sigil—a Bennett-Mikaelson crest.

Bonnie felt her insides twist with unspeakable emotions. It wasn’t just a crest. It was a destiny neither of them had asked for, and one they could no longer unsee.

The light faded, and the flames stilled, yet Klaus and Bonnie remained motionless. They were too exposed to move or even look at one another. 

Bonnie was the first to break the silence.

“…You’re afraid I’ll leave?” It wasn’t exactly what she intended to say, but she was too curious to take it back.

Klaus didn’t answer immediately, and at one point, she was afraid he wouldn’t answer at all. “I’m afraid you’ll see me clearly… and decide I’m not worth staying for.”

Bonnie stared at him wordlessly. The court had stripped her raw, revealing one undeniable truth: this was no longer a facade.

He wasn’t playing anymore.

And neither was she.

Her chest heaved, the weight of the realization gnawing at her. “You think I haven’t already seen you?” she whispered.

“Not all of me.”

Klaus met her eyes, his intense gaze making her squirm as it always had. Yet, for the first time, she didn’t look away.

And neither did he.

His hand twitched as he instinctively moved to grab her hand, yet he faltered. Instead, he stepped ahead, creating more distance between them. Bonnie felt the familiar pang of rejection. The same one she’d felt that night. The night that sealed their fates.

She watched him walk away, but didn’t follow. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she was afraid of what might come if she did.

“A most inconvenient vow, indeed. And yet… how quickly inconvenience becomes desire.”

Find the 2nd installment here...

Find the 4th & final installment here...

[groupie-inspired]

The meet & greet

I was just thinking over how I ended up wanting to be a groupie in the first place and I am having all these flashbacks of stuff I did when I was younger. Here is one of those stories.

The summer before my freshman year (I was 13), my best friend S and I decided to go to a Shane Dawson meet and greet in the city. It was in a Barnes and Noble. In order to get in, you had to get a color coded wristband and buy at least one signed book. The problem was, my friend’s dad was NOT about that getting up early stuff at that moment so I was responsible for securing our wristbands. Let me tell you, this was a fucking ordeal. My dad and I get there at around 6:00... the line is already around the block. Mind you, this an NYC block— not a normal block. I’m thinking, oh shit. I get in line and my dad stays off to the side. I end up speaking with some girls and we’re all like chatting and one girl recorded me for her vlog. I never did get to see that vlog, though. It’s hard for me to describe this part of the story because it was like a never ending expanse of nothingness. It was a line. All I remember, is that the disorganization of the whole thing was immediately clear. I don’t remember the exact details of when the doors were meant to open, but all of the sudden some girls (I mean boys were there but not as many) are walking out with their books and red wristbands. That means they were the first in, but no one was supposed to be let in yet. Then things stop for a really long time and I’m like. Omg.

Fast forward, this goes on for multiple hours. FINALLY, I somehow am inside. I think I cut it pretty close because my wristband was purple, and if the first girls had red ones this was a ROYGBIV situation. I knew going in though, that it was only supposed to be people who were there who got wristbands. I had to somehow get another wristband out of the cashier. I get mine and put it on, and my dad says to him, “Her brother isn’t feeling well so he didn’t come to wait on line, can we have another for him?” The guy experienced some hesitation but overall was really nice, so his attitude was, “I’m not supposed to do this, but if you buy two books I’ll give it to you.” My friend wanted a book anyway, so we were golden. Boom. I got it. I go home for a few meager hours of rest before I have to go back again for our time slot.

My friend’s dad and her meet me at my house. There’s a bus stop around the corner, and we wait there until we catch the bus into the city. Once we get there, the situation gets really chaotic. It was the end of July so it was HOT as FUCK out. But we aren’t at that point in the story just yet.

Naturally, we go and sit inside the store. Her dad left to do something for a minute so we were just there on the floor. A girl with winged eyeliner and frizzy blonde hair comes up to me. “Hey, how did you get a wrist band?” In hindsight, knowing what I know now, I’m pretty sure this girl was probably significantly more experienced in this type of situation than I was. She wasn’t waiting on line if she was able to work around it. So I tell her, “Oh sorry, you had to be there this morning. I’m not sure if they have any left, but you can ask.” She goes and asks, and she was told no. I didn’t see her again until later.

At some point, we were told to move upstairs. Then, we were told to move outside. They kept playing fucking musical chairs with where they were going to have the crowd. We stood in that heat for hours. In those days, I wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t emotionally prepared. But there we were. I met some other people too. One girl had colorful hair. I think I can’t remember this event as well as others because the sun on my head gave me memory loss or something 💀.

After an extended period of time, we are finally brought into the building again and wait in yet another line. Once we’re at the second level, I see the blonde girl again. The security guard is standing right by the escalator, and from his expression I can see he is worn out. Who wouldn’t be, given the dismal state of the crowd control in that place? I guess I can’t blame the store for being unprepared... it’s a bookstore, not a concert venue or something. I can see her assessing the situation. She chooses what she deems the correct moment, and slides into the horde of us that are waiting to be let up to the final level— the last thing standing between us and what we came here for. He’s checking everybody’s wrist bands. She almost gets past him, but no such luck. He gets quite an attitude with her, and I get the impression that wasn’t their first interaction that day. She goes off to the side and starts texting.

My friend and I are let upstairs where we wait again. There’s a whole security thing we have to go through, and finally we are able to take our photo with Shane Dawson. He was really nice, but by this point I was less than enthused about the situation. I saw on Instagram that people who stayed upstairs or had different colored wristbands got to see a speech of some sort, and got to use fun props and pose with him and everything. I was a little annoyed. Still, the photo happened and it was nice. The girl who went before us, though, was having a total meltdown. I mean, hysterical crying. Shrieking. I didn’t understand why this girl was out here letting it all go instead of making a good impression. Sometimes I wonder what her and blonde girl are doing these days.

We took the bus home. The whole day was exhausting. I know now that meet & greets are not worth it, like at all. But I was thirteen I didn’t even know that there could ever be another option— not in regards to that specific situation, but just in general. I just wanted to meet the person who’s content I admired, and interact with them.

My point in telling this story, is that I think I always had the groupie spirit in me LOL. I’m not in the scene yet, obviously, but mostly because of circumstances making it so I haven’t been able to try. I’m a hard worker when it comes to this stuff!! But I don’t have the necessary toolkit *cough* ID *cough* to even gain entrance to the places I want to go. Let me tell you, I did HOURS of research. I asked friends. I asked my friends’ friends. Unfortunately, to no avail. As of now, I can only go where the law lets me. My main goal right now is like... trying to network I guess? When I can go to concerts, I’m trying to meet other girls who maybe know what they’re doing or have resources that I don’t. At this point I don’t really care what anyone thinks or what anyone tells me is the “right” way to be. I’m a creative person and I have a need to be around other creative people, what can I do? I love music and art and the world and I need to be around people who know what it means to truly love those things and have it as an inseparable part of yourself. I’ll keep trying!

If you all thought this story was fun I definitely have more I can tell you about. I appreciate if you give me feedback, it helps me know that people are listening and that I’m not screaming into the void. Xx