Disclaimer: I only own the mortals and plot. All of the other characters and stories belong to Rick and the CW.
"Is shrimp gumbo still your favorite?" Marcel asked Hazel as the three of them sat down at a table in the corner of the pub. "I remember you couldn't get enough of it back in the day."
Hazel smiled tightly at the man sitting before her. "Yeah, it is." She quickly looked down at the menu to avoid the questioning glances of her boyfriend.
Marcel smiled his blinding white smile at the two, "You're in luck, then. This place has the best gumbo in town. The tourists love it, and the locals don't look down their noses at it." Hazel and Frank both laughed, but Hazel's laugh did not possess its usual charm and liveliness.
"Hazel?" Marcel asked. "Are you OK? Is there something bothering you?"
Hazel sighed and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "It's just a lot to take in. Were you a vampire when you were with my mom?" Her voice was starting to rise in pitch, and Frank reached for her hand in an attempt to calm her. "Did she know? Did you bite her?"
Marcel shook his head solemnly. Hazel's reaction was a common one. "I never fed on your mom, and she never knew what I was. She never even knew that she was a real witch." A small smile graced his lips. While Marie had been demanding and self absorbed, she was also charming and adventurous. Her affair with Marcel was a casual fling for both her and Marcel, but it was fun while it lasted.
"I'm sorry, Marcel. I'm just really new to this whole vampire thing," Hazel admitted.
"How long have you been like this?" Frank asked Marcel, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Since 1835. I -" Marcel was interrupted by the waitress who came to take their orders. After she left, Marcel did not continue.
"What were you saying?" asked Hazel, prompting him as she was eager to know more.
Marcel shrugged nonchalantly. "We're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about that information you came all the way to the quarter for." He grinned at Hazel and Frank. "It must be some pretty important information for you to come back. Are you two in any sort of trouble with some vampires?"
Frank shook his head. "No, not really. We just have some important questions about vampires to ask."
"Okay shoot" Marcel agreed.
Hazel took a deep breath and launched into her question. "We know that when a vampire dies, their skin turns grey with grey veins."
"Have you been hunting vampires, Hazel?" Marcel joked.
Hazel laughed quietly. "No, no. I was just wondering if that could happen to a vampire's skin without it dying. Is there any case when that may happen?" She paused and looked at Frank silently asking if she should push further with her inquiries. He nodded at her and gave her a look of encouragement. "More specifically, if an object like a dagger could make that happen to someone's skin."
Marcel raised his eyebrows. Hazel was obviously skirting around telling him something. "Yeah, but it's really rare. Only the first generation of vampires can be put to sleep by a set of magical daggers and because they are for all intents and purposes dead until the dagger is removed, their skin turns grey as if they were dead, but the chances of you even running into an original are almost impossible."
Frank and Hazel shared a look. That described what happened with Elijah and the dagger perfectly. Frank took a bite of his sandwich. "Who are these first vampires?"
Marcel raised his eyebrows in mild shock. "You haven't heard of the original vampires? You know the Originals, the Mikaelson family? Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah, Kol?" As he spoke, he watched the shocked expressions of the couple. "Wow, you guys weren't kidding when you said you were new to this whole vampire thing."
Before Frank could vocalize his confusion, Hazel gently squeezed his hand. They didn't know how trustworthy Marcel was and it was better to keep what they knew to themselves. Hazel quickly found a coverup for their question. "I just was wondering because of how little I know about vampires and came across this drawing of a vampire in an old book of my mom's."
"Oh, well I'm glad you asked me instead of another vampire. If the originals knew you were asking questions about the daggers, things would get nasty real quick. It always does with them." Marcel made a sour face at his food.
Frank checked his watch. "Hazel we had better go." He turned to Marcel. "It was nice meeting you. Thanks for answering our questions." He and Marcel shook hands.
Hazel stood up after finishing the last of her gumbo. "I enjoyed seeing you again, Marcel, and thank you for the gumbo. It was really good."
Marcel smiled at the two. "If you find yourself in New Orleans again, look me up." The couple was almost out the door when Marcel called to the two of them. "Oh, and if you two do ever run into the Originals, don't trust them, just get as far away as possible before anyone you care about ends up dead."
Hazel and Frank looked at one another in shock before hurrying back to a now rested and ready to travel Mrs. O'leary.
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Normally Frank would never even consider using a phone, but under the circumstances it was the only logical means to communicate what he and Hazel had just learned to their friends. Once they arrived in New York, he and Hazel somehow found a pay phone and quickly dialed Annabeth's cell phone number.
"Hello?" Annabeth asked when she picked up her phone.
Frank sighed with relief. He wasn't sure if he would be able to reach her or not because he had never even thought about using a pay phone before in his life. "Annabeth. It's me and Hazel. We got some information that you're not going to believe."
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"We need to tell Chiron!" Percy announced as soon as Frank and Hazel finished their story. "He needs to know about Elijah before any campers are hurt by him."
"You think he will try to hurt some of the campers?" asked Hazel.
Will shook his head. "I don't think he will. We have blood bags in the infirmary, and I noticed a couple missing when we were last there, but I just figured I had messed up my inventory or something, but it is possible Elijah took them."
"I think we should try to talk to Rebekah first." Annabeth interjected. After seeing the confused looks on the faces of her friends, she elaborated, "Out of all of them, Rebekah is the one who knows us best and is frankly the most approachable. I mean sure, she's got an edge to her, but she doesn't feel as sinister as the others."
Nico nodded. "She would also be speaking with us in a public setting. I'm guessing that vampires can't rely on the mist so she would have to remain civil."
"Ok" agreed Thalia. "We'll talk to Rebekah first, but I doubt she will be very friendly."
"Beep, beep, beep!" Annabeth's watch screamed.
Annabeth quickly switched off the alarm."Guys, we need to get back to school. We only have ten minutes until lunch ends."
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After school, Percy and Annabeth caught up with Rebekah, who was getting ready to leave.
"Hey, Rebekah!" Greeted Percy.
Rebekah looked up from her phone to see the couple standing before her. "Oh, hi, Percy, Annabeth. What's up?"
"Well we were going to go grab some ice cream and we wondered if you wanted to come," Annabeth explained to the other blonde. The group had decided that an ice cream parlor was the perfect private yet public place to have this particularly volatile conversation, plus Rebekah had made it pretty clear she had a sweet tooth so it wouldn't be very hard to lure her out there.
Rebekah smiled awkwardly, "I don't want to crash your date."
Percy and Annabeth quickly looked at each other in surprise. "It's not a date." They responded at the same time.
Annabeth laughed at their synchronicity. "Nico, Will and Thalia are also coming. It's just a group thing. Sorry we should have made that clearer."
Rebekah's awkward smile soon transformed into a genuine one. "Oh, well then, I'd love to come."
"The others are waiting outside. Are you good to go?" asked Percy.
"Yep, I'm all good." Rebekah confirmed.
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"So, Rebekah," Thalia prompted, methodically stirring her mint ice cream as she spoke. "How long have you been a vampire?"
Her friends immediately turned to her with a mix of exasperation, concern and shock on their faces.
Rebekah chuckled. "Wow, considering how long you've known about vampires, you're rather quick to figure things out."
"Wait, you knew that we knew?" asked Will. They all thought they had been so careful. How could she have known?
"Jeremy spilled the beans" the original replied. Seeing the betrayed looks around her, she continued. "Oh please, the Hunter didn't do anything wrong. He's just painfully aware of what is standing between him and death and what he needs to do to keep it there. It's not like you told him to keep anything a secret."
The demigods exchanged concerned looks. While their ways of expressing it were all different, they all were thinking the same thing. Just how much did Mr. Gilbert tell her?
Annabeth shifted uncomfortably. "What else did Mr. Gilbert say?"
"You're wondering if he told me you were Demigods." Rebekah casually stated. "He didn't have to. I already knew."
"Because your brother told you." Will guessed.
Rebekah's smile faltered. "My brother?"
"Yeah, your brother." Thalia smiled. "Elijah. You know. Dark hair, tall, wears a suit. Is any of this ringing a bell?"
Seeing Rebekah's stony face, Thalia continued. "Oh, yeah. We know all about your family."
This assertion snapped the blonde original out of her surprise and she soon painted her patented smirk on her pretty face. "Everything? I somehow doubt that. Still, I have to give you credit. You figured things out faster than I would have guessed." She checked the time on her phone and smiled again. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of homework." Rebekah got up, threw away her now empty ice cream cup and stalked out the door.
Nico looked around at his friends. "Well . . . that was . . . interesting."
AN: Hey, guys, I bet you thought I forgot about this story, and I'm so thankful for anyone who still remembers it. I've kinda been holding this chapter hostage for like two years and I figured I should just go ahead and release it. Thank you for all the feedback and support, and thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed, and gave Kudos.