Kai returned and found her curled up.

She'd turned onto the side that didn't hurt as much, and had hugged a pillow, placing herself in a more comfortable position. He smiled a bit, seeing that the ice pack was still properly pressed onto her. He brought the blanket up, covering her with it and leaving her supplies at her bedside.

He'd gone into the kitchen, spreading out his other acquisitions. A map, some bandages, more medicine, clothes, blankets, and just enough food to eat that day before they traveled to get the Ascendant.

"Hey," Vivianna said sleepily when she came out of the room, having smelled something in the kitchen. She found Kai had made her some beef stew, which caused her to smile before sitting down and starting to eat.

"Take your medicine," he said, offering her a bottle of water. "It might help with the cramps and the bruising."

"Thanks," she said. "Got everything you needed, too?"

"Kind of," he said. "I'm thinking we should stay in Mystic Falls while we figure out where to go. So I didn't get too much. I don't want you carrying anything. How do you feel?"

"Still really sore," she said. "No one had ever beat me like that. I'd been in fights and all that... but jeez, that's the first time someone genuinely fucked me up. Usually I'm more able to defend myself."

"He's got years of practice," said Kai bitterly. "I learned to fight so that I could hit back. Good ol' dad just loved tossing me to the ground and kicking me repeatedly so I'd 'learn my lesson.'"

"I hate that he did that to you," murmured Vivianna. "My parents were so gentle with Julian and I. This is so messed up."

"It makes me so much angrier thinking about the reason he was doing that. He really thought it was justified, or something. As soon as we get out of here, I'm gonna fucking kill him. I don't care about the guilt. If you had actually been pregnant, that would have been a forced miscarriage. The fact he tried that without knowing for sure is just unforgivable."

Vivianna pursed her lips. "Kai, there's something I need to tell you. Something that I did. And I worry you're not gonna be happy with me."

Kai frowned. "What is it, Vivi?"

"When you two were fighting and I ran into the room... I kinda already knew we weren't gonna make it out of there. I knew I wasn't strong enough. And since the phone and the laptop were too far away for me to send a distress call... I grabbed the letters you wrote for your siblings and sent them all to Jo. I'm hoping that she received them and maybe, just maybe, has it in her heart to try and get us out, because your dad straight up admitted that he had to have the twins steal the Ascendant from her. She didn't want to trap us. Maybe she'd be willing to get us out."

Kai stared at her, trying his best not to be angry. He'd been silent, and Vivianna bit her lip, trying not to tear up.

"Please say something," she whispered.

"I wasn't ready to send those letters yet, Vivi," he admitted. "I wanted to do it in person. Or my mail, I don't even know. But I wanted to do it on my terms."

"I know. And I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. I swear, I will never invade your privacy like that again. I just— I reacted, because I was scared that if I didn't send it out... if I failed to get back to you... no one would know, and no one would go after you. Joshua would have killed me and you would have been all alone."

"I get why you did it, Vivi. I just wasn't ready for her to see that yet. I... I just need to take a walk."

Vivianna started to cry the instant the door closed behind her. She brought her shirt up, wiping her eyes before forcing herself to continue eating, even though she was no longer hungry.

He didn't come back for several hours. And it made her so much more miserable. She'd gone back to the bed, curling up and hugging the pillow, thinking that maybe she'd gone too far. Maybe she'd violated his privacy far too much. She'd fallen asleep in a pool of her own tears, completely forgetting about the eclipse until Kai arrived once evening hit, gently prodding her awake.

"Time to get up, Vivi," he said gently, sitting beside her. "You need another dosage of medication."

She slowly opened her eyes, not sure if she was actually seeing him. He brought up his hand, carefully wiping the tears away with his sleeve.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad at you," he murmured. "You were just trying to save us. There wouldn't have been any other way for other people to find out where we are. It's okay, Vivi."

"It's not okay," she said dejectedly. "I shouldn't have done it. I should have scribbled a note instead, or something."

"Look, Vivi, chances are, my dad burned that entire cabin down along with the Ascendant to keep anyone from getting us out. Those letters would have burned. And on the off-chance he didn't burn it, he would have found them, and I wouldn't have liked that. It's okay. I'm not mad. I shouldn't have been mad in the first place."

She sat up, pulling him into a hug. He held her carefully, afraid to squeeze too hard, since she was still recovering.

"Let's check on those bruises," he said, lifting her shirt. "Ooh... ouch..."

"How bad?" she asked, grimacing.

"Well, it's really reddish purple right now. All over your belly. More on your left side. Maybe I should get some paste or something that'll alleviate the pain better. Are the pills helping?"

"I don't know, let me take my next dose and we'll see. I can cook us—"

"No, no, I came to wake you up because I already cooked. Still have some leftover beef stew, but I grilled some corn and onions, too."

He picked her up, carrying her to the kitchen and setting her down in front of her plate. The two ate in silence, and when Vivi was done, she drank more water to down her pills.

"You aren't taking medicine," she observed. "Did he not hurt you as badly?"

"Mostly punches, but they didn't really leave marks. It was a lot of internal pain in my brain."

"Maybe we should go to a hospital and go into those MRI machines and see if we can figure out if anything is wrong."

"I mean, I think I would have felt something wrong earlier. I'm more worried about you, Vivi. I still have a slight headache, but it's fine. It'll go away."

"I'll be okay, too. Eventually, the bruising will fade. We should go to sleep after this. Try to recharge and be ready for going after the Ascendant tomorrow."

"Alright. I got some blankets so I can enjoy a much fluffier 1994 couch."

"We don't actually have to sleep in separate beds. I know I said that but... I'm kind of used to sleeping next to you now. I don't think I can sleep unless I'm with you."

He'd been extra careful when they'd curled up later that evening. He'd wrapped his arm loosely around her chest, spooning her from behind, and keeping a pillow between their hips so that he wouldn't disturb her. She'd fallen asleep instantly, and he'd followed suit not long afterward.

"Do you think Jo actually got the letter?" he asked her the next morning, before either of them got up.

"I would hope so," said Vivianna. "She should have read it by now, if she did get it. Unless she wasn't at work... I kinda imagined it finding her at the hospital? I don't know if it dropped into her palm or into her office or into her nightstand at her house. I really am not sure."

"Well, at any rate, we just have to hope that when she finds it, she reads it right away. And wonders about me. Maybe asks my dad. Hey... did he have Bennett blood? He needed that to lock us in here."

"Yeah, he had some blood. I really hope it's not Bonnie's. She isn't the only Bennett. He could have gotten it elsewhere. If she wanted to trap us, she would have done it herself."

"I hope that's true, cause..." he pursed his lips. "Yeah, I just hope that's true. I don't want to even imagine her betraying us. I'm mad enough at those stupid twins."

"They haven't exactly gotten to know you. All they've known is what your dad tells them. And obviously he doesn't have the nicest things to say. Maybe Jo will give them their letters and feel... inclined to undo what they did."

"Fat chance of that. That would take a fucking miracle."

"Well, what we need right now is a miracle. Because I'm not mentally able to think of any solution yet. Just going to New Orleans and seeing what we find, if we don't find magic in the Bennett house."

"Let's just do that. There's no reason to stay in Mystic Falls. If we're gonna be stuck here long term, we might as well go and stay somewhere new. Somewhere that doesn't have bad memories for us."

"Somewhere that we can be even somewhat happy," said Vivianna. "If we have to be stuck here, at least we're not alone."

"I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't made it in here with me," whispered Kai. "I... I literally don't know how I would survive it. Probably spend the rest of my days killing myself until the prison world was eventually collapsed."

"I'm staying right here, next to you," she told him. "I'm not going anywhere."

They were the only thing that kept the other sane for the weeks they were in there.

_

"This has to work," said Jo, holding the charred Ascendant in her palm.

It had taken around eleven weeks to come up with a plan to contact Kai and Vivianna. The letters had been unfortunately deposited on Jo's desk at the hospital, which had been left abandoned for a week after their arrival due to her taking time off of work to try and improve her relationship with the twins.

The twins had no idea that their father had imprisoned Kai. They thought he'd wanted the Ascendant in order to hide it, because he feared Jo would destroy it to keep Kai from being sent back. He had told them that he wanted to have it just in case Kai needed to be 'punished' again. He claimed that as long as Kai didn't show his face, all was well.

Jo had returned from her vacation time feeling closer to her siblings, but also, sensing that something was off. She figured that Kai might have contacted her by now to try and Merge. Was it possible that Vivianna had actually convinced him to drop that idea?

Then, she'd found the letters.

"Dear Josette," Kai had written, "I'm not sure how this letter will find you. Maybe I'll have the guts to deliver it in person. Maybe I'll be a coward and send it via mail. I just hope you keep reading, because something's happened. Vivi cured me. She took away my sociopathy. And the emotions kinda all exploded on me at once. I feel all this guilt and pain and I wanted to hurt myself. Vivi suggested I write letters and burn them. I don't think I can bring myself to burn yours because I want you to hear what I have to say.

"I fucked up. I know that. And as much as Vivi says it isn't my fault, because I couldn't really think any differently, I know that I'm the one that tore the family apart. I know that my jealousy got the best of me. I saw you, then saw myself, and all I could feel was rage. I was supposed to be more like you. We were twins. There should have been more similarities. Instead, there seemed to be every single difference known to man, and I had to suffer for it.

"I don't think I can ever forgive our parents for how they treated me. Because even if I'm a monster, no one deserves to be treated like that when they're just a kid. I didn't understand any of it, and yet I was always being shoved around. Vivi always talks about her parents, and it's so weird to me. Because they were so nice and understanding. Maybe it's not good to compare it, since she was everything a Traveler should be. Still, from what she mentioned, it seems like siphoners used to be worshipped by the Travelers. I didn't want to be worshipped. But I did want to be loved.

"I didn't feel that love. Not with you, not with Joey, not with our parents. It made sense in my head to act out. Get myself kicked out. I thought that if I were free and alone, I could be happy. Instead, I was kept in that damn house. And I just got lonelier. More ostracized. Until the day I snapped. And I killed four of our siblings. They were innocent. I know that. And I'm gonna hate myself forever for what I did to them, because they didn't deserve that.

"I feel like my body is gonna give up. I want it to. I feel like I should burn in Hell for taking their lives away when they were just starting to live them. I wrote them letters, too. And I'll probably read them to Vivi. I don't know why she cares about me when she knows the truth, Jo. I don't know how she can see good when there's nothing there. Even before she cured me, I felt something for her. She was something beautiful. Like a guardian angel I'd been missing my whole life. She's the first one that's ever made me feel completely accepted. She's what I want to be. She tries to be better even though she wasn't the best person in the past.

"So I guess that's what I wanted you to know. That I want, more than anything, to be better. I don't expect forgiveness or love. I'll understand if you never want to see me again. Trust me, I would react the same way if our roles were reversed. I just hope you know that I am, truly, sorry. And if given a chance, I will do whatever it takes to prove that I can be civil. That I can be the brother you should have had. I want to start making up for my sins. Which I know will take a really long time, and will never undo the wrong I committed. But I have this fantasy that one day, we can sit on the porch swing and drink Zima together and joke around like we did before everything happened. And in that fantasy, you're proud to call me your brother."

She'd shed several tears when she finished reading what he wrote. Because even in his words she could tell that there was a change. Small, and something she'd need to see with her own eyes. But something she had faith in. She genuinely believed that if given a chance, he would spend the rest of his life making it all up to her.

"Ric," she'd said, when she finished reading the letter. "I need to contact Bonnie."

At the time, Bonnie had been in New Mexico. Jeremy had elected to attend art school, and had brought Bonnie along so that she could take a few interesting classes at the University of New Mexico while Jeremy studied at the Santa Fe Art Academy.

It had taken a few days for Bonnie to return to Whitmore. When she had, Jo had explained the situation, begging for her help with a Locator Spell.

They'd found the burned-down cabin about three weeks after Kai and Vivianna had been sent back into the prison world. In its ruins, they found the Ascendant, seemingly damaged beyond repair.

And so begun their task of fixing it. Alaric had pitched in, looking for replacement parts that could be welded using different materials. Jo had told the twins about what she wanted to do, and they'd kept it a secret from their father in order to work spells that might just fix the Ascendant.

Bonnie had been researching ways to contact Kai and Vivianna without going into the prison world. She wasn't sure what to say just yet, but she knew that she wanted to be ready to do something, because she was certain that even if they somewhat fixed the Ascendant, they wouldn't be able to go into the prison world fully. Which meant they really only had the chance to send a message and give Vivianna and Kai a clue to get out.

Surprisingly, Damon had been the one that figured out how to get them out.

He'd been talking to Elena about the cure, when suddenly, it clicked. He'd called Bonnie and Jo immediately, telling them that all they had to do was get Vivianna a message about Nova Scotia. She was a Traveler, after all, and she had to know about where Silas was buried. It wouldn't be an easy find, but if they managed a face-to-face, Damon and Bonnie could explain it to her, since they'd actually gone on the expedition back when Professor Shane had been alive.

There was only one problem. The Ascendant couldn't manage to send the two of them at once.

"It can only be one of you," said Jo, looking down at the Ascendant in her hand. "I only just got my magic back. I can't sustain the spell that long. If Bonnie helps me, it will be better. Liv and Luke are already doing the spell to keep the Ascendant from shattering. We don't have much time. We don't know where they are. It can only be one person. So Damon, Elena, and whoever else went to Nova Scotia, rock paper scissors."

"I'll do it," said Elena. "Damon should stay here so Bonnie can channel him, give an extra boost."

"You're not going in there," said Damon, making a face.

"You got kidnapped by a vampire hunter before you got to that cave," said Elena with a playful smile. "I made it the entire way there. Let's forget what happened after that. The only other people who know how to get there are Jeremy, Rebekah, and Stefan. Two of those aren't here, and Stefan's already busy keeping a lookout in case Joshua Parker somehow finds out about this spell and tries to mess it up. We need to help them. Quickly."

"Fine," said Damon. "Five minutes. Be fast about it."

They started the spell, and Elena closed her eyes, putting her hand on the Ascendant.

She appeared in New Orleans, where Kai and Vivi were laying on a balcony, trying their best to tan.

"I think we need a different tanning lotion," said Vivi, taking off her sunglasses. "Or maybe, we just can't tan in a prison world." She looked up at the doppelgänger. "Elena?"

Normally, Vivianna wouldn't have understood 'the hype' behind the doppelgängers. But now, she did.

Elena gave them detailed instructions to get to Nova Scotia and find the rock with Qetsiyah's blood and magic stored away. She'd left before she could say much more, but they had all the information they needed.

It took almost a week, but they managed to escape. Exhausted, they arrived in Mystic Falls, and found that Damon was waiting for them.

"My lucky day," he said, though he didn't sound completely enthusiastic. "We've been taking turns guarding here, wondering when you two were gonna show up."

"You will not believe how hard it is to go into caves when you're not an immortal vampire," said Vivianna with a slightly cheeky smile. "Nice to see you, too."

"Thanks for this," said Kai, coming up to shake Damon's hands.

"Holy shit," muttered the vampire. "You're actually civil. I didn't even know you could say that and genuinely mean it. Guess that means your twin sis is gonna put you to work now."

"Put me to work?" asked Kai.

Jo debriefed them once they saw each other.

"This is for you." She handed a small jar of ashes to Vivi. "This is all the ash we could gather from the cabin. We're not sure what part of it is Traveler ash and what part is furniture, but we're really hoping some part can help you have some magic... at least until the spell on you is broken. The others are gathering more dark objects for you as we speak. They're trying to get you as many as there are in the world to help you with your spells."

She then faced her brother. "I read your letter. And I want you to prove that you want to be better. You're gonna be working with me. I am a doctor who hates losing her patients. I also happen to be terrible at magic. I want you to do the spells on them. Heal them. Show them genuine compassion. And then, I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

"What about me?" asked Vivianna. "What am I supposed to do while he's here? We've... we haven't..."

"We haven't been separated in months," said Kai. "Neither of us are used to it."

"In the meantime," said Jo, "you can work on the spell to break the Gemini's Merge Curse. The twins are ready to take up the position of leader. But they want to do it together. And unless they Merge, the only way to dethrone my father is to get rid of the Curse that made him the leader in the first place."