Chapter Seven: Eyes From the Other Side
Kol
Kol was there, on the Other Side, watching the little warlock resurrect the witch as easily as breathing. He saw the golden light that shone from his palm and etched into the corpse of the one known as "Grams" like threads of fate themselves. He saw the little warlock chant in that unfamiliar tongue and watched as the old hag gasped breath, once more able to breathe.
He saw it all. Everything that happened since the boy had woken up at that cottage. Mostly because Qetsiyah had convinced him to keep tabs on the little witch, but the boy still managed to intrigue him nonetheless.
"This boy is quite the gifted warlock, especially for mastering the ability to cheat Death at such a young age," Kol observed Max's interaction with the witches, Grams and Bonnie. "It doesn't even look like there were any kind of nasty aftereffects with the resurrection…"
Kol spent the next few weeks observing the boy, who he eventually learned was named Maximus Bennett–Westphall. He was surprised to learn he was actually a Bennett, as it was rare for a Bennett warlocks to be born—let alone one as powerful as him.
Kol was even more shocked by the fact that the boy was also a werewolf—and one with such a huge wolf, to be sure. In all his centuries of life, Kol's never encountered a wolf that large before.
When he saw that Max could turn others, he was beyond simply invested in the boy. He became curious about whatever else the boy could do. His abilities were phenomenal; even just watching the boy was giving Kol goosebumps.
'He's not that much younger than me whenever I became an Original,' Kol thought, watching over Max's sleeping form from the Other Side. 'And yet he's mastered resurrection in ways Mother had never quite been able to. I wonder what else you can do, my intriguing little witch.'
Despite Kol's curiosity, Kol also subconsciously realized the boy wasn't that bad looking either. And, despite himself, fondness began growing toward the young warlock…
Max
Max woke up to a cold feeling, as if a presence was watching him.
Raising a brow at the sensation, Max closed his eyes, beginning to utter a spell. "Reveli—"
Mid-incantation, something else garnered Max's attention. His eyes opened wide, looking in a certain direction. The spell he placed along the border of the town—the one that tells him when a new supernatural person enters its limits.
A new one did. Just then. And based on its energy signature, it was quite powerful.
"Interesting…" Max muttered, right eye turning completely baby blue. "Looks like Katherine has arrived."
Max's gaze fell on Katherine as she began her conversation with Damon outside Elena's house, pretending to be Elena. The oscular ability itself allowed Max to partially astral project his soul and consciousness into any area within the confines of the spell he placed within town limits, while outwardly maintaining physical motor functions within his own physical body.
It was a genius work of spellcasting on his part, that mixed Atlantean magic functionality with Lobomancy. Similar to how Aqualad could summon and control water through his tattoos, the spell allowed Max to visualize live events within a given territory at will.
Meanwhile, on the Other Side, Kol is beginning to doubt his own senses…
The Other Side, Kol
Not only did the boy almost somehow perceive Kol, but Kol knew for certain he had at least sensed him. Now, Katherine—the very fox of a woman his own elder brother has been after for centuries—was here, in Mystic Falls. And to top it off, the boy seems able to sense her somehow through that eye of his.
Kol wasn't sure whether to be impressed by this witch's impressive list of abilities or intrigued by the boy's flawless use of them. He was considering both at this point.
'I need to see if he'd be willing to bring me back, maybe un-desssicate my own body in Nikky's hands,' Kol thought privately. 'Maybe make allies with the witch. Who knows, maybe he'd be fun to play with whenever I do return.'
Max
Max had just observed Katherine killing John Gilbert, his astral body standing before the scene. He did nothing, mostly because John wasn't essential to any narrative he truly favored. But, also because he did not want to diverge too far from cannon, otherwise his wisdom of the future becomes just AU knowledge.
That was the reason he'd chosen to have as minimal interaction with everyone as possible without actually going invisible. He wanted to utilize his wisdom of future events in ways that wouldn't result in unpredictable divergences. It was why he was only watching John get himself killed.
That, and the Gilbert Ring.
Seeing the famous Gilbert ring on the table, still on John's disused fingers, bloody and gory, Max quickly began chanting:
"Natir, Van, ak Espas, koute favè mwen, Porte mwen sa k' nan kè mwen désire, Nan men kò mwen vivan, vini li kounye a!"
Max repeated the incantation twice more before the ring vanished, and Max, too, left, having gotten what he arrived there for—appearing back in his own body, with a new ring in his hands.
He remembered the negative effects of the ring, how it strained the mind and psyche of whoever died too many times wearing it. He wanted to give this ring to Jeremy earlier than in canon. As for Alaric, he could create a third one himself, and, that way, the cannon wouldn't diverge too much. First, though, he needed to purify those nasty effects.
He began purifying the ring instantly, knowing of its negative effects.
'If I am going to give this ring to Jeremy for future events,' Max thought hastily. 'First, let's get rid of some of its flaws, bind it to the Gilbert lineage, specifically Jeremy's, so that it works even for him as he is now—a wolf.'
Focusing on the wanted, desired effects, Max's eyes glowed a brilliant white-ish blue as he chanted:
"ogrednU siht gnir, eht segnahc I kees dna tpadA ym lliw otni ti dna yfirup sti gnieb."
A white light enveloped the room, briefly blinding Max before dying down.
In the Gilbert ring's place, the ring had been cleansed and had a new, ineffably clean sheen to it. It radiated a cleaner aura this time—more purified than it had before.
"Good," Max murmured to himself, storing the ring in his pocket for the next time he hangs out with Jeremy, but only after creating a mirror duplicate of the ring(one that wasn't bound to the Gilbert line) he intended to give to Alaric whenever he next saw him. He would have to be clever not to raise flags, but Max was confident in his own wit to not fail.
"Now that that's out of the way, I need to plan for my mother's resurrection. The next full moon is in nine days. I have plenty of time to prepare for that and to bring Kol back to life from dessication. I just have to be clever and resourceful."
Nodding to himself, Max decided to go to the Witch Burial Ground Cottage to make sure he had everything he needed for the upcoming full moon.
Meanwhile, on the Other Side, a certain ghost was brimming with excitement at the mention of his name…