chapter 23 : Regulator

Several days later, in the basement of their building, Harper closed the stone tomb he had also enchanted to begin Marcel's time ritual as Sadie watched him begin to dry up with a worried look.

 Harper: You don't have to worry, he'll come out of there with the strength that corresponds to his rank.

 Sadie: Why do all this for us? You didn't have to...

 Harper: I've always done what I want to do, Sadie. Very talented wizards or witches are sometimes gifted with the gift of premonition, especially regarding people they know. Marcel would have faced unfair treatment from those who gave him the illusion of being part of their family.

 Sadie: The originals…

 Harper: We may have laid the foundations of his empire today, but he was able to grow it all on his own with your help after he was left to die. It would be unfair for everything to be taken away from him because he lacks power when his leadership is so excellent. I'm giving him what he needs to face his enemies later, I'm not crazy enough to believe he can beat the originals or the others but he's not alone. We had to find a balance, and that's what I did... 

 Sadie: The regulator…

 Harper: Ahahahah this nickname amuses me. How is your relationship?

 Sadie: We cling to each other. I am sometimes haunted by my memories of Jake, my late husband, and he still has some of his feelings for Rebekah. He loves me, I know that, but in the long life we had, especially him, we have all inevitably had a past romance always within us and that's completely normal.

 Harper: So much wisdom, we really are old people in young bodies. How is Karen doing?

 Sadie: I don't know why you left without telling us anything but Karen suffered from your absence. She was able to rebuild her life, especially after finding the descendants of Tilly and John.

 Harper: Lenny told me. Witches apparently, I hid from you that Tilly was in fact a witch and I apologize for that. What are the Marston witches like?

 Sadie: Quite powerful, there were also wizards in her lineage even if they were rare. Karen actually discovered that one of these wizards had been married to a witch in Virginia, a Bennett witch. A family apparently powerful in magic.

 This news greatly surprised Harper who asked her if she had the name of the woman in question. When Sadie revealed to him that it was a certain Sheila Bennett, his mind went blank.

 Harper: This man's first name was Alfred?

 Sadie: That's right, Alfred Marston according to Karen. Did you know him?

 Harper: I knew his wife, I only knew the first name of the man she had chosen. If I had known that he was a descendant of Tilly and John then I would have sought to know him better.

 Sadie: One thing is certain, both families are powerful and the children born to them are likely to have great potential in magic.

 Harper: If Karen is happy then don't tell her anything about me coming here. I'm based in Virginia so I'm going to take care of the witches from the Bennetts and the Marstons.

 7 days later, Harper took Marcel out of the stone tomb and immediately began Sadie's temporal ritual.

Marcel had gained over 900 years in age and combined with his over 200 years, he now technically had a body over 1000 years old and the strength to match.

When we knew that Marcel with a little over 200 could have the combat prowess of a vampire of 500, it was due to his ability to take the best of what was taught to him by several people at once, 'appropriate and end up surpassing his masters in these areas.

 He had been educated by the originals, had learned to fight from Klaus and Elijah who have monstrous combat experience, add to that the fact that physically as a human he was a very good fighter, even managing to beat Rebekah in fencing, Marcel was a true prodigy.

Now taking into account all these factors and the enormous power-up that Harper had just given him, Marcel no longer had to fear the originals and could defend his empire himself if necessary.

Of course, he would lose in a fight to Elijah or Klaus but the fight will be tricky even for them. He'll lose for sure, but he'll lose like a King... 

 As for Sadie, she had gained more than 600 years of age and she could compete with a 1000 year old vampire in combat.

Why ?! Her human predispositions which made her an extremely formidable fighter even for men had been exacerbated knowing that with Marcel she had learned several forms of modern combat or combat sports.

Marcel is very athletic and this is shown in the series, where some stagnated on their skills acquired over centuries of experience in a backward world, Marcel learned more from modernism which corrected the shortcomings of obsolete methods, it was valid in the field of combat.

 The couple was powerful, very powerful on all levels and took on more confidence. However, Harper had to advise Marcel on one thing, if he saw the originals again then he should not show arrogance if only out of gratitude for everything they did for him.

He'll fight if he sees himself seriously threatened but above all he must show respect towards his elders because respect is far from being a sign of fear but of greatness or nobility.

They were old people and if Klaus wanted to act like a savage then he had to prove himself better than the man who raised him.

 Harper ended up separating from them even though the couple sincerely wanted him to stay but he still left, promising to come back when necessary.

Harper made his way back to Mystic Falls where he arrived late in the afternoon and immediately went to the cemetery where Sheila's grave was to pay his respects as he regularly did.

 As tears fell from his eyes, a female voice spoke to him.

" You knew my grandmother ?" Harper heard and turned around to see Bonnie behind him looking at him strangely.

 Harper: My name is Harper Freed, I am an acquaintance of Sheila.

 Bonnie: You're a Freed! You are certainly the extraordinary doctor everyone is talking about. (comes closer) How did you know my grandmother?

 Harper: Sheila was a very good friend for a long time and someone for whom I had an affection beyond words. You must be Bonnie, his granddaughter. I am sincerely sorry for your loss, I mourn her myself and I will certainly do so for a very long time to come.

 Bonnie: Thank you but it's a little too strange, grandmother told me she fell in love with a Freed in her young years before meeting my grandfather but you seem so young.

 Harper: Did you inherit his gifts too?

 Bonnie: I'm not sure I understand...

 Harper: I'll be more explicit then. Are you a witch like your grandmother was? I knew about her and your family.

 Bonnie: Who are you?

 "A vampire who had a love affair with your grandmother..." Harper said looking into Bonnie's eyes and the girl's gaze changed to become hostile towards Harper who she tried to give an aneurysm to but the magic of the spell was immediately absorbed by him.

 He barely raised his index finger as Bonnie's magic became chaotic and she suddenly had a splitting headache.

 Harper: There's no point in doing that, stop before you sincerely annoy me because I don't tolerate attacks or threats against me, child. I'm not your enemy, I'm just paying tribute to your grandmother and it was nice to meet you, Bonnie.

 Bonnie: Are you a wizard ?! That's impossible... 

 Harper: That's right, I'm a vampire and a wizard. Your grandmother certainly told you that we are errors of nature, abominations and that it was impossible for us to use magic but anomalies like me exist.

 " Incendia…" He recited the basic fire formula and a circle of flames surrounded them, it freaked Bonnie out.

 Harper: You can go home, go to your grandmother's room and look at her old photo album and then you will see me there. Sheila may be gone but you won't be alone little one.

 He tenderly placed his hand on her shoulder as the flames went out and he wiped the tear that ran down Bonnie's cheek as she cried without knowing.

He immediately disappeared from there quickly to return home where he found Pearl (still alive) and Anna whom he greeted before seeing Lexi who literally jumped on him to kiss him.

 When Harper left for Louisiana, she was genuinely afraid that he had decided to leave her again but he had sent her a message to inform her that he was helping an old friend in New Orleans, it had her greatly reassured and even if she was a little angry, they ended up eagerly undressing each other in their bed.

 In the evening, Harper was going to have a drink at Mystic Grills to enjoy a good atmosphere when in the parking lot he saw something that intrigued him, a woman dressed in black and trying to strangle Alaric with one hand. It was Isobel, his ex-wife and Elena's biological mother.

 "Give her my message otherwise I'll kill everyone who lives here one by one, starting with the dear students in your class..." She threatened Alaric but she saw his frightened look turned intrigued as he stared at something thing behind her.

She let go of Alaric to turn around and found herself face to face with Harper who looked at her with indifference .

"Harper…!" Alaric himself was surprised to see him there and when Isobel heard this name, cold sweat ran down his back and fear immobilized her.

 Harper: I don't really like when the lives of innocent people in my town are threatened, unfortunately some members of our species think that anything is allowed.

 "Harper...Harper Franklin, the Regulator..." She said with genuine fear looking into his eyes, she thought about running away but knew that this monster could rip her head off without hesitation the very moment she considered running.

 Harper: I see you know me, there are very few people who know about me and my name is no longer Franklin but Freed. How about following me? I will torture you and learn everything you know and keep you alive instead of killing you now.

 He suggested smiling and the fear in Isobel's eyes intensified before he strangled her with one hand like she did with Alaric and she felt Harper's immeasurable strength, it was a true monster who was said to be able to stand on an equal footing with the originals who once reigned with him in New Orleans.

 Harper: (To Alaric) Inform the others of my return, you can be sure that your students are in absolutely no danger.

 He then disappeared with her to take her to his mansion directly to one of the rooms in the basement where he set up a restraining spell to prevent her from leaving there before violently throwing her against a wall, the impact shattered her skull and temporarily killed her giving Harper time to set up and prepare his torture instruments.

 She came back to life, looking at Harper who had hitched his coat to roll up the sleeves of his shirt and he looked at her smiling.

She woke up in time for him to start his torture session.