The next day, Sage was awoken by her phone ringing.
Stretching out, she finds the bed empty.
She sits up and calls out for him, "Finn?"
"Oh, good. You're up. I found us a new place, and I'm ready to go whenever you are," he said, walking in. "Are you going to answer that?"
"Right, the phone," she said, a bit taken aback by how normal he seemed after last night.
"This is Sage," she answered.
"Thank god you picked up, I was worried sick," came the frantic reply.
"Troy? What's going on?" asked Sage. stifling a yawn.
"Vampires all around the world have dropped down dead, and no one knows what's going on. Everyone's freaking out," said Troy rapidly.
"Wait, what? Slow down, you're not making sense," said Sage, confused.
"I'm telling you, vampires everywhere are dropping dead. A large chunk of the vampire population just died on the spot, and no one knows why. Everyone's losing their minds searching for answers, and the upper echelons who survived are scrambling to bring things back under control. Hell, it's all over the news with governments and markets reacting, though it hasn't been stated what they're reacting to. This is big Sage. The world felt it," said Troy.
Sage then thought of something as she caught the eye of Finn, who didn't seem surprised at all.
"I'm going to have to call you back," said Sage, scooting to the edge of the bed.
"What should I do here?" Troy asked. "We also lost some."
"Keep everyone placated for now and get things under control. I'll call you back when I have answers," said Sage.
"Alright, but keep in touch, I don't want to lose you," said Troy.
"I will," said Sage, hanging up.
"Great. You ready to go?" asked Finn.
"You heard?" stated Sage.
"I did."
"You don't seem surprised," said Sage.
"I'm not."
"Care to explain?" asked Sage.
"Shouldn't you already know?" Finn asked, confused. "You were there after all."
Her mind was running a mile a minute, trying to figure things out.
"I was there? Do you mean at the warehouse? It's Rebekah, isn't it? It's because of her, because she's an Original?" asked Sage, piecing things together.
Finn gave a slow nod, confirming everything, "It is."
Sage's eyes widened as her mind ran wild with thoughts, "Did you know that killing an Original does this? Did you know our lives are tied to your own?"
"Yeah, Mother figured out how each original sire line is linked back to them. I could of sworn I told you this already," said Finn, not understanding why they were having this conversation again.
"You most certainly did not! I would have remembered if my life were tied to yours," said Sage, trying not to raise her voice.
"You're angry? Does that bother you?" asked Finn, concerned.
Sage took a breath, "No, no, it doesn't bother me, I'm fine dying with you. It's just sad to think about the rest dying needlessly with us." However, it was disconcerting to think she could have died at any moment in the past without knowing why.
"If you say so," said Finn, not caring about other vampires.
Sage sighed, knowing she would have to ask whether he was ready or not, "So, this happened because of Rebekah… How exactly did you kill her? I thought you could only die from a white oak stake?" she questioned him out of regard for their wellbeing.
"White oak is the easiest way; otherwise, you need to destroy the body so thoroughly that nothing remains to come back from. Magic can only heal so much," Finn explained.
"Okay... We should keep that to ourselves. If anyone asks, you used white oak," said Sage, not wishing anyone to get any smart ideas.
"Sure," said Finn uncaringly, "Shall we go?"
"Go where?" asked Sage.
"A new place where you need to be invited in, then we need to visit some witches," said Finn.
"Alright," said Sage.
Inside the car, listening to music, her mind was still mulling over everything.
Her head suddenly snapped towards him as a thought hit her. "By the way, where is your mother?" she asked, thinking of the biggest threat.
"Finn?" asked Sage, only to see him zoning out, listening to the music.
"Hm?"
"Concentrate Finn. Where is your mother?" asked Sage.
"Ah, well, you see, Damon wasn't entirely wrong," said Finn.
"What?" questioned Sage.
"She wanted to link us and use me as a sacrifice to kill them, so I killed her," said Finn bitterly.
"Oh Finn," Sage mourned for him, wrapping him in a one-armed hug, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"You know if I had known I had a sire line, I might have gone through with it," said Finn.
She stiffened, not knowing what to say to that.
Finn smiled, "But I'm glad I didn't because I got to meet you again."
Sage smiled, "Me too Finn, me too."
After setting up their new place, he took her to the witches.
Pulling up to the compound, they got out.
"You sure we can trust them?" asked Sage.
"Well, I wouldn't tell them anything important, but yeah, we have a deal of sorts," said Finn.
Mary opened the door before they could knock.
"Who's your friend?" Mary asked cautiously, very aware of what transpired at the apartments thanks to the news, knowing it was in the general direction he lived.
She recently did a locator spell to check on him using one of the teacups he drank from and found he was protected, but doesn't recall giving him anything more than the one-time string to fight his mother with.
Her first thought naturally went to her competitor, their rival, the Night Garden coven; however, she discounted it, doubting they would risk their lives for the new spell book he gave them on the word of a vampire alone.
"This is Sage, my wife," Finn introduced, putting another great big smile on her face since the last time.
"Hello, it's lovely to meet you," said Sage, acting cordial.
"Tch, and how old are you?" asked Mary, clicking her tongue indigently at how unfair the world is. In her old age, she began to resent those who looked younger, vampires especially since they could stay eternally so. If only they hadn't had to live like parasites or lose their ability to cast magic, she would have become one long ago.
Sage's face screwed up before returning to a neutral expression, having lost all goodwill towards the old bat, "Old enough," she answered leaving the threat unsaid.
Mary sneered, "Right, well, I suppose you want to come in and make a deal."
"That's the idea," said Finn, quickly becoming annoyed.
"Well, come on in," said Mary, leading them into the living room, past the rest of her coven that was ready to act should the need arise.
Finn ignored them as Sage followed closely behind, not shying away from their glares.
"What's on the agenda today?" asked Mary, taking a seat.
"First off, do you have any spells that would prevent tracking from technology?" asked Finn.
"Technology? Like cameras, phones, and such?" asked Mary, intrigued.
"Yes," said Finn, "It's how my family found me. Don't know if you heard, they massacred the whole building."
"I've heard," said Mary, and then something clicked. "Suppose they couldn't compel anyone because of all the vervain we gave you, so they went on a killing spree. " She sighed, sitting back in her chair. "That's some family you have."
"Got it one. You can see why we need to kill them then," said Finn.
"Technology huh? Interesting idea, never thought of it before, but we could look into it," said Mary.
"Yeah, I figured it would have to be crafted, and should you be able, I would be willing to pay handsomely for it," said Finn.
"I'll keep that in mind. Anything else?" asked Mary.
"If there's another witch out there you don't mind dying, I'd like their name and location. I need something done that I don't particularly want others to know about," said Finn ominously.
The unusual question that should have put her on guard actually put Mary at ease, making it less likely that he was working with someone else.
She grinned. "I can think of one or two, but be warned: Killing a witch will put you on their radar. Like your brother Klaus, who can only get help from the dregs of our society now if he's lucky."
"What about the witches that give out daylight rings?" asked Finn.
Mary frowned, "Those would be the dregs, or who some like to refer to as traitors to humanity. No witch of status will care about what happens to them."
"Good," Finn approved.
"Is that all?" asked Mary impatiently, finding she had nothing much to provide for a good deal.
"One more thing," said Finn, taking out a vial of white oak ash. "I'd like a locator for this." Intending to pilfer the rest of his brother's stash once and for all.
"Certainly, hand it over to Eva and she'll take care of it," said Mary.
Business concluded, Finn and Sage headed for the door.
"Ah, before you go, I have one more question, if you don't mind," Mary said, stopping them at the door.
"I'm listening," said Finn.
"I know you've been busy and may have missed the news, but there was a high number of unusual vampire deaths around the world, causing mass destabilization. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" asked Mary, carefully observing their reactions.
An uncomfortable-looking Sage didn't stop Finn from answering, as there was no way to hide something this huge for long.
"I killed one of my siblings," answered Finn.
"Ah," said Mary, nearly rendered speechless, not expecting him to come right out and say it, for this was huge, this was probably the biggest, most important secret to date.
"You can see why we need to kill them then," repeated Finn with a grin, and sensing her next unasked question, he went on to say, "And while I also have a sire line due to some unfortunate circumstances, (Sage winced.) I'd advise against taking any actions against my person should you wish to keep receiving my help, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm dedicated to personally wiping them out myself after everything is said and done."
Sage wondered what that would mean for those like Troy, those she didn't want dead.
However, they both failed to realize what that would mean for witches.
"I think we can continue working together just fine," Mary grinned, though nothing said would have changed that. She still wanted his spells and to wring him dry of everything she could until there was nothing left, and then maybe she would do the world a favor and end him.
She was a bit dissatisfied with how efficient he's been though. She could only hope the rest of his siblings put up more of a fight, forcing him to come crawling back to her for more help.
Of course, that left out one important question: how did he kill them? Personally, she was betting on enough magic to get the job done, but it wasn't clear what he used to do it, and it would be nice to know, for unknown magic always carried a risk, and she was getting old.
What she really wanted, better yet needed, was his mother's spell books. The books of the witch who discovered immortality for her family would likely have one hidden there for herself, she just had to get her hands on it first.
She knew it wouldn't be easy. There was a reason the witches never went after the Originals; they were known for wiping out covens who opposed them.
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