10. Hell Is Other People

Phoenix Stone,

Fall 1863, Confederate Front Line

A human Damon Salvatore, slowly woke up only to realise he was in the middle of a battlefield with gun shots and bombs going off all around him, he looked down at his stomach, realising he was severely bleeding, Damon slowly stood up, trying his best to ignore the pain, he then looked around and was shocked seeing the amount of bloodshed he was surrounded by.

"Damon" a familiar voice called out to the panicking human.

A confused and hysterical Damon turned around only to come face to face with his soulmate.

"Ria?" Damon said confused, wondering what Aria was doing here.

Before Aria could say anything, another bomb went off, causing Damon to shield his face, when he looked back up, Aria was no longer there, and suddenly all of her memories that Damon had remembered when he saw her were also gone from his mind.

"Salvatore!" someone called out, "Help me!".

Damon turned around to face the person who called out his name, "Henry" he realised, seeing his fellow solider, stuck underneath a canon, "Please" he pleaded, "You must help me".

Damon slowly walked over to Henry and rolled the canon off of him, causing him to scream in pain, Damon then helped Henry stand, "Come, we are getting out of here" he stated, putting one of Henry's arm around his shoulders, dragging both of them away from this mess.

***

After receiving a letter from his distress brother, Damon decided to take a leave however his supervisor told him that if he wanted to leave, he first needed to bring in the union sympathizers that were hiding, only then would Damon's leave be granted.

"Two weeks at home?" Henry asked Damon, as they walked through the words, with Damon looking down at his compass, "Can you imagine? How grand, I cannot wait to see my girl Olive, she's a real peach, you have a sweetheart, Damon?".

"No, but I have to see my brother" Damon replied.

Henry looked at Damon, uncertainty shown clearly on his face, "Damon, are you certain about this?".

"About what, Henry?" a slightly confused Damon asked.

"About the mission" Henry clarified, "These men? These deserters, we are supposed to capture? They are just regular fellows who do not believe in the cause, like me, like you".

"It is true" Damon said, "I could give a damn about this war Henry, to be honest, I only enlisted to please my father".

"But then how can you be fine with rounding up men just like you?" Henry asked.

"It is not my fault they deserted, Henry" Damon replied, "They made their beds, but now they're our ticket home".

Damon and Henry stopped walking as a large farmhouse appeared in their vision, exchanging a look, the two soldiers then proceeded to walk towards the front door of the house, once they got to the front door, Damon knocked on it, only for a young woman to open it.

"Hello, ma'am" Damon greeted, the very apprehensive woman, "Could you spare some dinner for two hungry soldiers?".

"No, sorry" the woman replied, she tried to close the door on their face but Damon could stopped her.

"I do not need to remind you that quartering is your wartime duty" Damon said, "Not to mention the law".

The woman stared at Damon and Henry for a moment, she finally stepped aside and let the two soldiers enter her home.

"Thank you, ma'am" Damon said, entering the house with Henry following closely behind, "Hello" he greeted, as they walked into the kitchen to see two more woman preparing for dinner, "We are your surprise dinner guests".

"Should I check the upstairs?" Henry whispered to Damon.

"Yes, please" Damon whispered back, as Henry slowly walked away, Damon turned to the ladies, "Henry here is going to freshen up, clean hands, clean mind", Damon let his eyes wander around the house, "I am sure you're not one of those families hiding munitions from the war effort, but orders being what they are, it is my duty to check", he opened of the cupboards, "I'm glad to see that someone takes the warning about the devil and idle hands seriously".

"We have a lot of fruit" one of the ladies defended.

"I see that, ma'am" Damon said, closing the cupboard, then proceeding to open a chest, but before he could conduct a checking, one of the woman opened the door near the pantry and let out two men.

"No, no, no, no, no, no" one of the men said, as both him and Damon pulled their guns out to each other, "Kindly lay your gun down".

"I do not want any trouble" Damon stated, slowly lowering his gun down and placing it on to the ground.

"If you turn around and go right now, you will find none, all we want is to go home".

Damon put his hands up in surrender and turned around, only to see Henry sneaking behind a wall, so he once again turned around and faced the men, "See, that is the problem" he said, "I want to go home, too".

Damon kneeled down, just as Henry shot at the men, starting a gun fight between the two soldiers and the two men, which in the end resulted in everyone except Henry and Damon dying.

"Oh god" a shocked Henry whispered, falling to his knees, "Oh god, Damon what have we done?" he cried.

Damon looked at Henry, equally as terrified, but before he could say anything to him, they heard a noise coming from the basement, making them realise there was still someone alive.

"Wait here" Damon ordered Henry, he then proceeded to take small and steady steps towards the basement stairs, "Please, enough blood has been shed" he said, walking down the stairs, "Lay down your weapon, please".

Damon held his gun up when he saw a shadow, when the shadow stepped forward and showed her face to him, Damon was shocked.

"Ria?" Damon asked shocked.

Aria gave Damon a small smile, "Hey, Damon" she whispered.

"You cannot be here, this isn't your time" a shaky Damon said, still holding his gun up to Aria, "You can't see me like this".

Aria slowly walked over to Damon and placed her hand on Damon's cheek, "It's nothing I haven't seen before Damon" she whispered, "Your actions have consequences, when are you going to learn that?".

Damon shoved Aria's hand away from his face, that touch wasn't the touch he was used to, it wasn't the touch he craved, there was nothing familiar about the touch and that scared him, "You're not here" Damon whispered, rapidly shaking her head, "You're not my Ria".

"Of course I am" Aria said.

"This isn't real" Damon whispered, ignoring Aria's words.

"Your spirit is trapped inside the phoenix stone" Aria revealed, a shocked Damon stepped back from Aria, the panic on his face, caused Aria to put the pieces together, "All of this, it really happened didn't it?".

"In 1863, I got a letter from Stefan, he seemed hopeless" Damon replied, refusing to look into Aria's eyes, "I just wanted to go home to him, even though I had my doubts, I started to round up deserters, it all went so wrong so fast".

"And like always, Damon Salvatore never took responsibility for his actions" Aria realised.

"What do you mean by that?" a furious Damon asked.

"We both know what I mean" Aria replied, "You and Henry covered of all this bloodshed up and never spoke up it again".

Damon looked at Aria in shock, "How do you know that?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter" Aria replied, "But Damon, it's finally time to take responsibility for your actions".

"Why?" Damon snapped, "For what? They were deserters, they ambushed us, I didn't come here looking to kill anybody".

"But you had your doubts" Aria retorted, "But despite that you stepped forward, you didn't stop".

"So, hell is being raked over the coals for something I haven't thought about in 150 years?" a furious Damon asked, "Sorry, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that".

Aria smiled at Damon, "Don't challenge me Damon, you know me, and you know I never back down from a challenge".

"You're not her!" Damon yelled, "I know my Ria, okay?! And you are not her! Having her face, doesn't make you, her!".

"The longer you keep in denial, the more harder this is going to get for you" Aria warned.

Damon chuckled, "I see" he said, "And this PTSD puppet show wouldn't happen to be, by chance a ploy to get me to feel remorse about all this is it? Because it ain't working".

Aria stepped closer to Damon, "This isn't about remorse Damon" she said, "This is about you paying for your actions".

Suddenly Damon looked down at his stomach when he heard a gun cock, he looked at Aria in shock but before he could say anything, Aria had pressed the trigger.

***

Damon gasped and opened his eyes in shock, looking around he realised he was no longer in the basement of that house, instead he was at the boarding house, laying on the table, with the phoenix stone on his bare chest.

"Damon?" a concerned Caroline called out, standing by his body, "Please tell me you remember who you are, come on Damon, say something".

"I know who I am, Blondie" Damon finally said.

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god, this means Valerie actually got the spell right" she said, as Damon sat up, "How you feeling?".

"Like, I just lived a day in the life of young Damon Salvatore" Damon replied.

"A day?" Caroline asked shocked, making Damon give her a questioning look, wondering why was she so shocked, "Damon, you haven't been dead for one day, you've been gone for three months".

***

"Are you sure you're fine?" a concerned Caroline asked, as Damon wore his shirt, "You seriously have no desire to lash out, go on killing spree, or even smash something?".

"Nope" Damon replied, "Which means we can talk about the thing you've been avoiding telling me".

"I'm not avoiding anything" Caroline said, refusing to meet Damon's eye.

"Liar" Damon said, getting off the table, "You told me that Valerie got me out of the stone, why would you ask Valerie for help when you had Ria? And even if she couldn't do the spell, she would have been here when I woke, but she's not, and neither is Kol, so I'm going to ask you one last time Caroline, otherwise I might just go on a killing spree, what are you hiding from me, Caroline?".

Caroline sighed, realising she couldn't hide it from Damon anymore, "When Julian stabbed you, Nora stabbed Kol" she revealed, shocking Damon, "And Aria, she had been trying so hard to bring you both back, but it had been two months and she kept failing, so she got mad, really mad, so she decided to go after Julian herself, and--".

"And what Caroline?!" a concerned Damon asked, "Where is she?!".

"Julian ended up stabbing her as well" an emotional Caroline revealed.

"You're telling me that Aria and Kol are stuck in here, and Valerie brought me out first?" Damon asked shocked, holding the phoenix stone.

"Valerie tried to bring all three of you back, but somehow she only managed to bring you back" Caroline defended.

"Where are they, Caroline?" Damon asked, "And where are my kids?!".

"The triplets are in New Orleans with Klaus, Elijah and Finn" Caroline revealed.

"And Aria and Kol?" Damon asked.

"In their bedrooms" Caroline replied.

"We have to get them out" Damon stated, "Call Valerie and tell her to come back".

"Damon, wait" Caroline called out, stopping Damon from walking away, "It took nearly all of Valerie's magic to pull you out".

"I don't care Caroline, now" Damon demanded, rushing towards his bedroom.

As soon as Damon and Caroline entered Damon and Aria's shared room, both the vampires were extremely confused seeing a empty bed and no sign of Aria anywhere.

"Did you store her in the closet?" a concerned Damon asked Caroline.

"She was right here" an equally concerned Caroline said, "I just checked up on her right before you woke up".

"Well, she's not now, Caroline" Damon snapped, "Which begs the question, how do you not see an unconscious tribrid walk out the front door?".

Caroline's eyes suddenly landed on a sticky note that was place on the side table, "Because she didn't walk out the front door" she realised, grabbing the note from the side table and reading it.

Who's Up For A Barbecue?

Caroline handed the note to Damon, "Someone took Aria".

Damon looked at the note in Caroline's note and immediately he knew who had taken Aria, "Julian" he spat, immense anger evident on his face.

***

After forcing Valerie to do a locator spell on Julian, Damon made his way over to the diner in which Valerie located Julian at.

"Damon, you're alive" Julian exclaimed, as Damon entered the diner, his eyes landed on Aria who was laying on the bar, he breathed a sigh of relief seeing her unharmed, "You know, I was half expecting the pregnant original or the cute blonde, but--".

"We're just going to have to settle for the soulmate" Damon finished, his eyes not leaving Aria's body, seeing Aria like this made Damon remember the three months he had spent without her, those three months were a nightmare for him, there was no way he was living without Aria again, he physically couldn't live without her, if there was no Aria, then there was no Damon, which is why Aria had to come back to him, one way or another, she had to return to him.

"Fine" Julian said.

Damon looked at Julian in vary, "What's that putrid smell?" he asked.

"Ah, that, yes" Julian said, "See, I was at a petrol station earlier, and I got a little bit carried away with the nozzle, I'm afraid your soulmate is quite soaked", Damon looked at Aria in extreme worry, he couldn't lose her, he won't lose her, "Come on, sit down" Julian urged, but Damon ignored him and kept staring at Aria, he just wanted her to wake up, tell him that she's okay and together they would end Julian, but no, Aria remained dead, "If you're not gonna join me for the meal", Julian lit a lighter, "I suppose I could just skip forward to the after dinner smoke", Damon glared at Julian but nonetheless sat down, causing Julian to smirk and put the lighter down, "So, do you want to talk about it?".

"Are we really doing this?" Damon asked, glaring at Julian.

"Yes, we're really doing this" Julian replied, "You know, I've never had the opportunity to share war stories with another stone survivor, come on, how'd you fare? Tell me everything".

"Gladly, as soon as Aria's home and her and Kol are soul-sucked out of that rock" Damon said, "We can all sit, pop open a bottle of chardonnay, chat and eat bonbons till the sun comes up".

Julian chuckled, "Perhaps I should start" he said, "So, upon waking up in that wretched world, I saw your mother, and then I killed her, every day for over a century, I watched her die, every day, for over a century, I had my heart torn out of my chest, yeah, it was complete and utter misery".

"Well, I had a slightly different experience" Damon retorted, "Overall, I'd give hell one star for horror and two very disappointed thumbs down for clever use of parable".

"So, it didn't work on you" Julian concluded.

"It was called hell, let's just say I had expectations" Damon said.

"I think you simply resisted" Julian said.

Damon glared at Julian and leaned closer, "Resisted what?" he asked.

Julian smirked at Damon, he then lit the lighter and threw it at Aria's body causing her whole body to go up in flames.

"No!" Damon yelled, trying to run over to Aria but Julian held him back, "No!".

"You resisted facing the pain, naturally and willfully push away" Julian said, stopping Damon from reaching Aria.

Damon shoved Julian away from him and ran over to Aria's burning body, with a cloth he tried to extinguish the fire but it wasn't working, "No, Aria, Aria, Aria--".

"Damon!".

Damon looked to where Julian was, however he didn't see Julian this time, he saw Aria.

"Ria?" Damon asked, not knowing if he should be happy to see her or concerned of how they were two Aria's.

"You're too late, Damon" Aria said, looking at her burning body.

"No" Damon said, as realisation suddenly dawned on him, he finally realised this was all an illusion, he hadn't escaped the phoenix stone, he was still trapped.

"Your love always ends up killing me Damon" Aria said.

"This isn't real" Damon said, shaking his head, refusing to listen to Aria's words.

"Of course it's real" Aria said, "I mean, why are you shocked? You and me both know, this is how our story is going to end, your love is going to end up killing me Damon, it's going to end up killing our kids too".

Damon looked at Aria in shock, but before he could say or do something, he suddenly was back at the battlefield in 1863.

***

Real World,

Damon's body laid in the middle of the Mikaelson's living room, the phoenix stone on his chest, and Caroline, Kol and Aria standing around him, Aria had managed to bring Kol's spirt back from the stone but for some reason she was struggling to bring Damon back.

"Dammit!" Aria yelled, frustrated that the spell wasn't working on Damon, "This makes no sense, why is this stupid stone not letting me bring Damon back!".

"The longer Damon stays in there, the more damaged he will be once he comes out" Kol reminded the two sisters.

Aria shook her head, "We should have just left Julian alone, you guys should have never gone after him or Mary Louise" she whispered, with extreme guilt in her heart.

"Stop blaming yourself Aria, you didn't know this was going to happen" Caroline said, placing a reassuring hand on Aria's shoulder.

"I don't get it" Aria said, "I managed to pull Kol out of that stone without any problems, why can't I bring Damon out?".

"Because he's not ready yet" Kol replied, a distant look on his face, "When I was in that stone, I could barely remember who I was, and then I was hit with multiple visions and tests, and those tests and visions weren't even the worst part of this hell, the worst part was hoping that you can get out of their on your own".

"But Aria didn't struggle reuniting your soul with your body" Caroline pointed out.

Kol let out a sigh, "That's because I gave in" he admitted, "I let hell break me, but we all know that Damon is much more stubborn then me, he'll do anything to avoid facing reality".

Aria looked at Damon, tears in her eyes, "If Damon doesn't face reality, there's a chance I might never get him back, right?".

"Right" Kol whispered.

Aria grabbed Damon's hand in her, "Come back" she whispered, tears slipping down her face, "Please Damon, come back to me, don't make me live without you, I won't be able to do that again".

***

After continuously living through the same loop over and over again and failing everytime to escape it, Damon decided to change his course, instead of going to the farm house to find the deserters, he decided to desert himself and walk back to Mystic Falls instead.

Damon looked down at the compass in his hand and kept walking in the direction it pointed in, only to somehow end up at the same farm house he has been avoiding.

"No way" a frustrated Damon whispered.

The front door opened and this time, instead of the usual woman, it was Aria who came out, she looked at Damon and gave him a small smile.

"Hey Damon, come in, I've been waiting so long for you" Aria said.

"Well, this is different" Damon said, as he and Aria walked into the farmhouse, where this time, there was no ladies and no deserters, "Where the hell is everybody?".

"Shh" Aria said, slowly peeking out the window, "Keep your voice down, they are near us".

Damon looked at Aria in confusion, "Who?" he asked.

Aria turned to Damon, "Confederates, Damon" she replied, "They are hunting deserters, they are coming to kill you, which is why you need to hide, go in the cellar, I'll distract them".

"Okay, this whole urgency thing isn't necessary because this isn't actually happening" Damon snapped.

"Are you deaf?!" Aria snapped back, glaring at her soulmate, "I literally just told you that the confederate soldiers are coming for you and instead of hiding, you want to argue with me? Please Damon, for the love of everything, go down to the cellar, I don't want to see them kill you".

Damon stared at Aria for a moment, then finally agreed and walked down the cellar, leaving Aria to deal with the confederate soldiers.

As Damon walked down the cellar, he suddenly came face to face with Kol.

"Hello, Damon" Kol greeted.

"Please don't tell me you're the light at the end of my tunnel" Damon said.

Kol chuckled, "Of course not" he said, "But I must say, your tunnel is definitely darker then mine, hey, you know, you should have told me about this, we could have compared notes about killing people for no reason".

"I had a reason" Damon defended.

"You always do, don't you, Damon?" Kol asked, "Your children, drinking buddy", Kol pointed a finger upwards, "Her".

Damon glared at Kol, "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that" he spat, "Proving that I do bad things for the people that I love?".

"This isn't about what you do in her name, Damon" Kol said, "It's about what you to do her, it's about what your love does to her", Damon looked at Kol in confusion, but before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, causing Kol to put a finger on his lips, "Shh" he whispered, "Don't make a sound, they're here".

"What the hell is going on?" a confused Damon asked.

Kol looked at Damon, "What always goes on, Damon" he replied, "Aria is sacrificing herself for you, your love overpowers her will to live, because of your love Aria will gladly leave her children without a mother but she will not let you die, do you not stop and wonder, how much easier Aria's life would be if you weren't in it?".

"I love her" Damon snapped, "I love her more than anything in this world, I will gladly die for her, I will protect her from any and every danger that tries to harm her".

"Will you?" Kol challenged, "Because half of the time the reason Aria's in danger is you, you decide to somehow mess something, and she is the one who has to clean up the pieces", Kol chuckled, "You should have never come into her life Damon, she was better off without you, she was happy without you, hell, when she didn't have your memories, that was the happiest she had ever been since finding out about the supernatural world, that sure says a lot about your love, doesn't it?".

"Stop" Damon warned, not wanting to listen to any more of Kol's words.

"I mean, you spit on the grave of the women who gave birth to you" Kol continued, ignoring Damon's warning, "You lie to yourself, even now, about what happened here, do you really think that man deserves a woman like Aria?".

"I love her" Damon whispered, slowly but surely breaking hearing Kol's words, "I'm nothing without her".

"And that's the problem, Damon" Kol said, as both he and Damon started hearing Aria's yells, "You put too much pressure on her, your love puts too much pressure on her, your love Damon, is slowly but surely killing Aria".

And just as Kol said that, the two vampires heard a gun shot and a body fall to the floor.

"No!" Damon yelled, trying to rush upstairs towards Aria, but Kol grabbed him before he could.

"You're never going to be able to save her, Damon" Kol said, "You couldn't save her when she died before, and you're not going be able to save her when she dies now, your love is going to destroy her, and you are just going to stand behind and watch the show, because that's the only thing you're good at".

"Stop" Damon whispered, rapidly shaking his head, "Stop saying that, I-I'm good for her, I can be good for her".

Kol shook his head, "No Damon" he said, "Aria's the best thing that's ever happened to you, but you are the worst thing that will ever happen to her".

***

As soon as Damon heard Kol's words, he suddenly woke up and once again found himself in the middle of a battlefield.

"Damon!" Damon heard Aria cry out, "Damon, are you able to move?" she cried, stuck underneath a canon, "Please Damon, help me".

"Why?" Damon asked, slowly standing up, "This isn't real".

Aria looked at Damon with tears in her eyes, "I'm your Ria, Damon" she cried, "Won't you help me?".

"You're not her" Damon said, "You're not my Ria, my Ria is outside waiting for me to return to her".

"If you can't save fake Aria, how are you going save the real one?" Aria asked, suddenly Damon was shot in the arm, causing him to yell in pain, "You feel that? That pain is real, the feeling you are feeling right now seeing me in pain, that's real Damon", suddenly the canon started slowly falling on Aria, "Damon!" she yelled, "Damon please! Help me, Damon! It hurts so much!".

"Ria" Damon whispered, tears welling in his eyes seeing Aria in pain, real or not, Damon Salvatore could never see his Ria in pain, so he quickly rushed over to her, he tried to lift the canon off of her but he wasn't strong enough, "No, no, no!".

"It's okay" Aria whispered, "It's going to be okay, Damon".

"No" Damon cried, trying to lift the canon again but once again failing, "Stay with me Ria, I'm going to save you".

"Damon" Aria sobbed, "I love you, I will always love you, and I'm glad that before I died I got to see you one last time".

"I'm so sorry" Damon sobbed, grabbing Aria's hand in his, "I'm so sorry Aria, I can't save you, my love always gets you killed, I am so sorry, you deserve better than me, I swear, I will make sure you get what you deserve, you deserve someone whose love won't kill you but will keep you alive, my love can't do that, which means I have to do the one thing I never thought I'd have to do, I have to let you go, just stay awake right now and I promise, I'll make it up to you".

Aria gave Damon one last smile, before closing her eyes and letting the darkness consume her.

"No" Damon whispered, "No! No! Aria, no!".

Damon bent down and put his head on Aria's chest and started sobbing, realising Kol was right, he was never going to be able to save Aria, he wasn't strong enough, instead he was the reason that Aria had to face death, Aria was good for him, but he was bad for her, and Damon just couldn't live with that.

***

Real World,

Aria sat by Damon's body, his hand in hers, once again chanting, trying to bring Damon back to her before the stone caused him so much damage that there was no bringing him back.

Suddenly, Damon let out a gasp and opened his eyes, gathering Aria, Kol and Caroline's attention.

"No" Damon said, taking in his surroundings, "No, we weren't done, me and Ria weren't done".

"Damon, I'm right here" an overwhelmed Aria called out, extremely happy seeing her soulmate awake.

Almost like Aria's voice didn't reach his ears, Damon sat up and started getting off the table, "I gotta get Ria back, I gotta get her back, I have to make things right for her, if I don't let her go then she'll die".

"Damon" Aria said, coming infront of Damon and cupping his face, "Look at me Damon, I'm right here, I'm right infront of you, I'm not going to die".

Damon stared at Aria for a moment, then shook his head and pushed Aria away from him, "No" he said, "No, you're not her, you're not my Ria".

"Damon--".

Before Aria could complete her sentence, Damon speeded towards her and attacked her, he broke her wrist and then snapped her neck, Kol and Caroline tried to restrain him but Damon stuck a piece of wood in Kol's chest and snapped Caroline's neck.

After everyone was unconscious, Damon expected to wake up in the battlefield again, but to his confusion, nothing happened.

"Why am I still here?" a confused Damon asked himself, he looked at Aria's unconscious body, "This isn't real, this isn't real".

***

Presenting 7x10 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter? This chapter made me feel so bad for Damon, also all Daria fans, from this chapter on Damon and Aria's relationship is going downhill, so be prepared, don't say that I didn't warn you!

Anyways, thoughts on Damon hallucinating Aria while he was in the phoenix stone?

Thoughts on the phoenix stone trying to make Damon believe that his love is bad for Aria?

Thoughts on what phoenix stone Kol told Damon?

Thoughts on Damon eventually believing that he had to let Aria go if he wanted her to stay safe?

Also...THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR 900K READS, YOU GUYS ARE HONESTLY THE BEST, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOVING ARIA AND DAMON'S STORY, PLEASE KEEP SHOWERING THEM WITH LOVE...they're going to need it in the next few chapters >.<