ℙ the third; (17th)

[eternityalone]

[When Katherine awakens in the middle of the night, it's Katherine that realizes just what the castle has done to her. All her talk of getting ahead of the castle, of not allowing it to use their weaknesses to its favor and she'd been traipsing around the grounds as a naive, hopeful woman. Katerina was a part of herself that she'd long since kept locked up. Now, not only had others seen, but others believed her to be new to the castle -- even Damon... Damon newly arrived is unsure of what to think. Of course, she can't keep up the act for too long. She's not human... and even she can't fake Elena for too long with Damon near.

Exhaling, she reaches for the journal and does the only thing she can think to do.

Use the castle, just as the castle used her.]


Now, that was alarming -- to say the least. I think I went home for a while. [A pause as she flips the pages, purely for dramatic purposes.]

Actually, I know I did. Can someone tell me what day it is?


Damon ]

Well, at least now I know who you are. [And then some... but all in due time.] Though, I am curious how far into my future you end up getting. That was a lot of anger for anyone to hold for only just losing me, even you. I take it your transition gets completed? Emily did find you and give you the rings? I have to admit to being exceptionally curious to know when you're from.

[Why yes, Katherine is going to pretend she's only come from just leaving Mystic Falls. Why would she want to let on anything else?]

Comments

[succubitch]

Thursday, the 20th of September.

Welcome back.

[eternityalone]

Thank you. [She allows a bit of relief to come through in her voice, though she holds back any familiarity. The joyful thing about being able to control her emotions, now that she's a vampire again, is flawless ability to lie.]

I was trying to sort out the date, but it doesn't seem anyone places dates on these journal entries. I'm still getting used to them being a resource, but trying to rely on them doesn't seem the wisest of choices.

[succubitch]

You make it sound like they're new to you? [Or is this a new version of Katherine, like Damon. Something she missed while she was unconscious.]

[eternityalone]

I only arrived a month ago. Though, you might have met me as Katerina. It seems the castle has a sense of humor.

[succubitch]

My mistake. I knew a previous version of you, it would seem.

[eternityalone]

I've heard that I was here previously. I'm sorry if I don't remember, but I hope you're alright with me trying to rekindle whatever familiarity we had.

[succubitch]

I don't see anything wrong with that, no

[eternityalone]

May I have your name?

[succubitch]

Lilah Morgan.

Katherine

[untilmydarknessgoes]

[Okay, he's new to this whole castle thing, but going home and coming back like that all of a sudden right when she abandoned him for over a century? It seems a little too convenient.

Either way, while Damon had a small drop of sympathy for Katerina, there's none of that for Katherine. He's approaching this with caution & taking everything she says with a grain of salt. Because even if she did really go home and get a little more caught up to his timeline? That means she's right back to being conniving and all that innocence is gone.]

Yeah. Everything went perfectly according to your plan.

Damon ]

[eternityalone]

You sound displeased. I seem to recall someone wanting this very much not just a few months ago. [Again, she'll play this angle just as easily as she pleases.]

Katherine

[untilmydarknessgoes]

[And he's just going to play right back.]

Well, you know how it is, Katherine. You transition and all those emotions get heightened. Guess it just didn't work out in you favor, huh?

Damon ]

[eternityalone]

[She pauses, moving through her room to change her wardrobe from the 15th century up to the 19th century. God, she does love corsets.]

It's something I wanted to be there to help you through, but I assume they went through with burning the church. [This is where all her knowledge comes into play since she knows Damon bargained to have them entombed, but Katherine will simply choose not to know that piece of information.]

It wasn't safe for me even if your father hadn't caught onto everything. Though, given the warning you gave Katerina -- maybe you know more than I thought you would.

Katherine

[untilmydarknessgoes]

[He doesn't believe that for a second. She took off and never looked back. In the end, Katherine was only into anything for herself. Hell, for all Damon knew, he was just back-up in case Stefan refused to transition.]

Well, Katerina was a stupid little girl who obviously didn't listen so I can't say it matters that much.

Damon ]

[eternityalone]

[Ouch. That's a bit harsh.]

You realize you asked the impossible of me, don't you? I leave here and everything I learn, everything I've been told -- it's locked away. [Katherine actually experienced going home for real at one point. She knows how it feels to come back and have time displaced and be unsure of how to reconcile both timelines.]

Even if I wanted to run from him... I wouldn't have known why. [She did run, for the record - just a tiny bit too late and with something that definitely wasn't hers to begin with.]

Can you imagine what Klaus would've done if I had run and told him that a man from my future in a magic castle told me to leave?

I'd be accused of being a witch... or insane. I'm sure that's why the castle removes those memories.

Katherine

[untilmydarknessgoes]

That wouldn't exactly be my fault if you were really naive enough to talk over running for your life with Klaus beforehand, now is it?

[He sighs.]

Look, Katherine, just do me a favor and find someone else to annoy. There's a strict no-eating-people rule here and I can't exactly adhere to it with you around.

[He's already irritated enough with the fairies around.]

Damon ]

[eternityalone]

A no-eating people rule? [CAN YOU HEAR HER SMUGNESS?]

Since when do you like to play by the rules?

katherine }

[alias_savant]

[It's the same voice. The accent changed, and the pattern of speech was different, but it was the same.

Neal had no illusions about what Katherine was, and it's understandable that she would feel the need to reinvent herself every once in a while, but Neal knows what's like to live your life completely within a con, and it's not an easy thing to do.

At least, it wasn't easy for him. Katherine's had decades if not centuries to perfect it. He wonders if she ever gets tired of it.]

How long were you home for? If you don't mind my asking.

[his interactions with Katerina hadn't been the same as his relationship with Katherine, and for a moment, he almost forgot she had left.]

neal ]

[eternityalone]

Long enough. [She answers knowing full well that he knows about her being a vampire, but she's still playing this close to the chest.]

The people that spoke to me when I was Katerina, they mistook me for Katherine. I'm guessing this isn't my first trip here?

katherine }

[alias_savant]

No, it's not. We were friends the first time you were here.

neal ]

[eternityalone]

Friends? And now that I'm not Katerina, not the wide-eyed innocent girl you knew? Do you still want to be friends?

katherine }

[alias_savant]

[there's a pause for a moment.]

I was friends with Katerina because I knew you as Katherine. Personally, I think innocence can be a little overrated.

neal ]

[eternityalone]

Can I ask how well you believe you knew me?

katherine }

[alias_savant]

[there's another pause, his fingers tapping above the paper as he tries to determine how much to tell her.]

You told me you were a vampire. And you told me about vervain.

[which is a big chunk of the reason why he trusts you, Katherine. You told him that you wanted to make sure you wouldn't be able to hurt him, but you never said anything about the fact that you'd lie to him.]

neal ]

[eternityalone]

[She can hear the pause, nearly feel the hesitation in his words. It's for this reason alone that she trusted him with this, because he is placing value on the information, he does keep it close to himself.]

Are you upset that I don't remember? [There is true curiosity in her tone, a hint of sadness, but she's trying hard not to let too much out of her tight grasp of her emotions.]