(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Sixteen

Daphne and Elena are alone in the kitchen now, finishing up the chili and setting it into an appropriate travel safe container. Someone rings the bell. Daphne motions for Elena to get it whilst she flicks through the cookbook. She feels like adding something else. More than just the chili. She is technically representing more than one family here. She could do a pie or a cake or something. She scratches at her head and hums a little.

.......

Elena wraps her fingers around the handle of the door and then pulls it open to find Caroline on the other side. She's holding a bowl of food in her hands and smiles brightly at Elena. Elena raises an eyebrow at her.

"I come bearing gifts!" Caroline announces excitedly. Elena points at the bowl.

"Please say that's not chili..." Elena teases. Caroline shakes her head and then steps aside. Bonnie appears from behind Caroline. "Bonnie!"

"I'm back!" They embrace each other, Elena hugging her friend tightly. "I leave town for the summer and everything goes to hell for the both of you" Caroline and Elena look at each other as Jeremy comes down the stairs, his eyes land on Bonnie.

"Bonnie!"

"Jeremy." Bonnie rushes over to him and they kiss and embrace one another. From the kitchen, Daphne leaves, tucking her wand into the belt on her skirt. She pauses and pulls a face.

"Urm what's this?" Daphne asks, motioning to Bonnie and Jeremy. "This wasn't part of your catch up"

"Oh, urm, well" Jeremy tries but comes up blank, there is a reason he didn't tell her about this, he knew Daphne wouldn't approve.

"Daph" Bonnie greets warmly.

"You two dating?" Daphne pushes slightly. It is a little weird. Considering. The age difference for starters. The fact that Bonnie has been Elena's best friend since Jeremy was in a diaper. It's weird. It's creepy. "I feel like you could both do better, like someone your own ages...You don't want to be that person, Bonnie"

"What person?" Bonnie asks. Daphne gives her a look.

"You know what person" Daphne scolds and pulls a disgusted face before shaking her head and heading into the kitchen. Bonnie and Jeremy share a look. Daphne holds out her hand and another book flies into her palm from her trunk. Bonnie's eyes widen a little.

"Wait, what was that? Are you a witch?" Bonnie asks, surprise in her tone, Daphne looks back at her and then nods.

"Yeah, keep up, Bonnie" She teases and heads into the kitchen.

"Daph's a witch?" Caroline asks as she looks between Bonnie, Jeremy, and Elena. Elena sighs a little. "Wait, Daph knows about the supernatural?"

"Keep up, Caroline!" Daphne shouts from the kitchen, Elena smirks and shares an amused look with Jeremy before his falls when he looks back at Bonnie and sees her looking thoughtful over what Daphne has said to her. 

..........

Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline follow Daphne into the kitchen, Bonnie needs to talk about this, to talk about the magic, to talk about why she had no idea. No one said anything. There was no hint. Daphne was just...Daphne. Eccentric and weird but in her own way. Bonnie wonders if that was her witchiness.

"So you're a witch?" Caroline asks and looks at Bonnie for an answer, but she had no idea about Daphne.

"Since I was a kid, yeah" Daphne answers, Bonnie looks at her surprised because her own magic didn't come to her until much later.

"Is that why you went away?" Caroline counters, Daphne hums and nods.

"I went to a wizard boarding school to learn how to use my magic" Daphne voices.

"Why didn't Bonnie go?" Bonnie looks at Daphne as she glances at her.

"Urm...Bonnie was older and well, it's different magic...." Daphne comments as she stirs the chili. "I practice with ancient magic, Bonnie uses traditional magic"

"Is that not the same thing?" Caroline asks. Daphne shakes her head.

"No, ancient magic is much more refined..." Daphne pauses as she tries to think how to word it. "The way it was described to me was that....ancient magic is a full nine-course banquet and traditional magic is cheese and crackers" Bonnie gives her a look. "They both have their merits, Bonnie, just my world doesn't like other magics. It's ancient or it doesn't count" Bonnie picks up the potions book and glances at Daphne. "To help Stefan" Daphne offers as she takes the potion books from her. Bonnie frowns.

"But he's a vampire" Bonnie comments. Daphne looks at her.

"So what?" She asks with a frown. "Why is that a big deal for you?"

"Because they're vampires, we're supposed to hate them, witches aren't supposed to be okay with them" Bonnie answers, Caroline gives her a look and raises an eyebrow. "We're supposed to be servants of nature..."

"Your kind, yeah" Daphne argues. "Ancient witches and wizards, those with pure magic, we have no problem with vampires" She shrugs a little and winks at Caroline before closing the lid on the pot of chili. Bonnie frowns a little, not really understanding that. She's been so hung up on Stefan and Damon and the trouble they've brought with them, and here is another witch, who doesn't care about all of that. "Plus you traditional witches forget that vampires were human once...Anyway...enough about me" Daphne turns to Bonnie. "How was your summer?"

"Oh...well..." Bonnie shrugs a little. "The problem with my dad's normal side of the family is normal made for a really boring summer" She admits with a small smile.

"After the last few days, I would kill for a normal family" Caroline comments and then looks at the chili Daphne made. "Since when did you learn how to cook?" She asks. Daphne smirks and shakes her head.

"I didn't...I used magic" Daphne argues. "No muss. No-fuss.....just...ta-dah....done" Elena smiles at her sister who winks back.

"It was amazing" Elena agrees. "...ow!" She complains and touches her chest where her necklace sits.

"What?" Daphne asks as she moves around the counter towards Elena.

"My necklace" Elena answers and pulls the pendant of the necklace off her skin. Her skin has a burn mark where the pendant touched her skin. "It burned me." She removes the necklace and holds it by the chain.

"Let me see it." Elena holds it out while Daphne looks at the pendant. "Where did you even get this thing?"

"Stefan gave it to me" Elena answers. Daphne could touch it, try to read it. Psychometry wasn't something she excelled at it at Hogwarts but she knows the basics. She could give it a go. She reaches out and takes the necklace from Elena. There's a zap and sparks fly out of it. Elena drops it. Bonnie and Elena look at each other. Elena seems shocked as Daphne ignores the sparks and closes her eyes. She sees flickers of images in her mind. A woman. A girl. Both blonde and both from a long long time ago going off of their clothing. She opens her eyes.

"Where did Stefan get this?" Daphne asks as she holds out the necklace.

"Why?" Elena asks.

"It's a witches talisman" Daphne comments. "And it's old....like...ancient old..."