14. It's Been A Hell Of A Ride

"Well, this is creepy" Damon commented, looking down at his desiccated body.

"You shouldn't talk to yourself and expect an answer" Cade said, appearing behind Damon, "That way lies madness.

"Oh, speak of the devil" Damon taunted, "The devil, what the hell is going on?".

"Your body is spent" Cade informed, "Right now, you're in the space between spaces, on death's literal doorstep, call it limbo, if you must".

"Well, that makes sense" Damon said, "Sebastian siphoned me like a juice box", Damon then looked at Cade in confusion, "Why are you here?".

"I want the ashen dagger" Cade stated, "The one weapon that can kill me".

"Well, you're out of luck, because I don't have it" Damon retorted, "And last time I checked, I wasn't your errand boy anymore, what happens if I refuse to play fetch?".

"In layman terms?" Cade asked, "I drag your soul to hell".

"Go for it" Damon challenged, "I'd rather burn than serve you for another second".

Cade smirked, "I believe I have something that will change your mind" he said, taking small steps towards the oldest Salvatore, who in turn gave him a confused look, wondering what could he possibly have that will change his mind about helping him.

***

"Mom, me and Alec are going outside to play football!" Asher yelled, running down the stairs with Alec behind him.

"Stay in the driveway and come inside as soon as I call you for lunch!" Aria yelled from the Salvatore's living room, while doing Mia's hair, "And no magic!".

"Got it!" Alec said, running outside with his brother.

"Don't cheat this time" Asher warned his brother.

"I never cheat" Alec defended, an offended look on his face.

Asher gave his brother an are you sure look, but nonetheless he proceeded to kick the football towards his brother and the two brothers started their football match.

"Alec" an annoyed Asher yelled, as Alec kicked the football into a bush.

"Alec, Asher, lunch is ready!" Mia informing, running outside.

Alec looked at his brother, "Get the ball, I'll see you inside" he said, rushing inside with his sister.

"I hate you!" Asher yelled.

"Back at you!" Alec yelled back.

Asher shook his head and went over to the bush Alec had kicked the ball, but to his confusion, the ball was no where to be seen, he started to look around and was confused seeing the ball at the end of the Salvatore driveway, Asher sighed in annoyance while running over to grab the ball, not wanting to delay lunch and hear a scolding from his mother, however as soon as Asher grabbed the football, someone grabbed him from behind.

"Where's Asher?" a confused Aria asked, as Mia and Alec ran into the kitchen where both Aria and Kol were.

"Outside" Alec informed, sitting on the dinning table, as Aria placed a plate infront of him.

"I'll go get him" Kol told Aria, who gave him a grateful smile.

"Ash?!" Kol called out, coming outside and looking for the oldest triplet, but to his worry, Asher was no where to be seen, "Asher, where are you?!", Kol looked around the whole front yard but Asher was no where to be seen.

"Kol?!" Aria called out, stepping outside the boarding house after realising both Kol and Asher hadn't come inside, "Where's Ash?".

Kol looked at Aria in a panic, "I can't find him, he's not here".

"What do you mean he's not here?" a shocked Aria asked, looking around for her son, "He couldn't have just disappeared into thin air".

"He didn't".

Kol and Aria turned around and came face to face with a even more worried Damon.

"Cade has Asher" Damon informed.

"What?!" Aria asked.

"How?!" Kol asked.

"Long story" Damon replied, "Cliff notes, you two were right about not trusting Sebastian, I had a nasty run in with him, it didn't end well, he screwed me over and kidnapped Asher".

"Sebastian turned my son over to Cade?!" an enraged Aria asked.

"Apparently" Damon said, "But Sebastian being Sebastian, he tried to cheat the devil, kept an ace up his sleeve, and now Cade wants that, too".

"Let me guess, in exchange for Asher" Kol realised, he then glared at Damon, "I told you not trust that moron, Damon!".

"I get it, I screwed up again, but hey, at least now it's confirmed that the dagger is the thing that kills the devil" Damon defended.

"And I'm going to go on a limb here and say that's the very thing Cade wants in return for our son" Aria snapped.

"That will be correct" Damon whispered.

***

Sebastian sat at a bar, drinking the night away when Kol walked over and sat next to him.

Seeing Kol, a smirk formed on Sebastian's face, "Mikaelson, to what do I owe this pleasure?".

Kol looked at the bartender and signaled for a drink, "Didn't think I'd ever see Sebastian Connor at a karaoke bar" he commented, trying his best to stick to the plan and not just rip Sebastian's head off here and there.

"Me neither, but since Cade has given me a second chance at this whole thing after I gave my sister's oldest son over to him, I've decided to try everything this world offers, starting with karaoke bars" Sebastian said, "Speaking of the child, I'm assuming you're here for him?".

"I already know you don't have him" Kol snapped, glaring at Sebastian, "What I'm here for is the dagger".

"Yeah, you're not getting that buddy" Sebastian stated, "That dagger assures that Cade doesn't drag me back to hell".

"Cade won't be able to drag you back to hell, if I do it first" Kol threatened, "Just give me that damn dagger so I can go kill Cade".

"Uh, first of all, Cade's the devil, you don't just kill the devil, because if you kill, you destroy hell as well" Sebastian informed, "Second of all, once you kill Cade I know for a fact you and my dear sister are gonna come after me, having the dagger isn't just safety from Cade, it's also from you two".

"Fine, I tried the good way, I should have known it wouldn't work on you" Kol said, and before Sebastian could do anything, Kol smashed his head on to the bar, rendering him unconscious and causing his body to fall to the ground.

"I thought I was supposed to smash his head in" Damon said, walking over to Kol after compelling all the humans in the bar to ignore Sebastian and Kol.

Kol shrugged, "I couldn't resist myself" he said, getting off the bar stood and bending down to search Sebastian's body, after a little bit of looking he finally found the dagger in his jacket pocket, he took it out and showed it to Damon, immediately causing a smirk to form on his face.

***

While Kol and Damon had gone to capture Sebastian, Aria had taken Mia and Alec to the armory, where Klaus and Caroline were with their children, the group deciding to stay together at the armory to keep all the kids safe.

Mia and Hope stood infront of a mirror, giggling while trying on their flower girl dresses, while bored Alec and Jayden laid on the single bed in the room, playing thumb war.

Aria and Caroline entered the room and immediately the two mothers were shocked seeing what their daughters were wearing.

"How did you--?" a confused Caroline asked, glancing at the top of she shelf she knew Aria had put all her wedding related stuff.

"Girls, these boxes could have fallen on you" Aria scolded the two girls, walking over to them with Caroline, and helping Hope out of the dress, while Caroline helped Mia, "You two really need to learn how to be careful".

"And these dresses are not play clothes" Caroline stated.

"Mom, we're practicing for Ari's wedding" Hope defended.

"Yeah, practicing how to ruin it" Jayden mocked.

"Jayden" Caroline warned.

Aria sighed, "Girls, I told you this before, there isn't a wedding happening anymore".

"But why not mom?" Mia asked, "You and Dad are together again, so why aren't you getting married?".

"Bunny, it's not necessary that two people who love each other get married" Aria said, "And it's not because they don't love each other, it's because some people don't need a label to know how much they love each other".

"But I want you and dad to get married" Mia cried.

"Hey, don't be upset" Caroline said, wiping Mia's tears.

Caroline and Aria's attention went toward a box on the floor next to Jayden and Alec that Mia had accidently caught on fire.

Aria quickly rushed to grab a blanket to put the fire out while Caroline made sure the boys were away from the fire.

Once the fire was out, Aria looked at Caroline, "This is what I was telling you about" she said, as Caroline looked at Alec and Mia, then at her sister, concern evident on her face.

***

"When were you going to tell me that the triplets were asked to leave their preschool?" a shocked Caroline asked her sister, while Klaus poured them a drink.

"Hey, in my defense, I thought Hope or Jayden would have told you" Aria said.

"Well, they didn't" Caroline snapped, "You said the losing control of magic was new".

"And when did I say them getting kicked out of preschool was old?!" Aria retorted.

"Here" Klaus handed Aria a drink, "You look like you really need one".

Aria stared at the glass in her hand, "I don't know what to do, my son is missing, and my other children are lighting the room on fire".

"And there's also the thing with Damon" Caroline added, knowing her sister all too well.

Aria looked at her sister in confusion, "What thing with Damon?".

"The awkward talk about the wedding thing" Klaus clarified.

"There's no awkwardness between me and Damon" Aria defended.

"That's cause you're avoiding it" Caroline retorted.

"Before you and Damon broke up, you two were engaged, and now both of you are avoiding that, what are we talk" Klaus said.

"I'm not avoiding anything" Aria snapped, "I'm just happy with the way things are, is it really necessary to add label to our relationship?".

"No, what's necessary is knowing what you are" Caroline retorted, "Boyfriend and girlfriend".

"Or fiancés" Klaus finished.

"What exactly is stopping you from asking Damon?" a confused Caroline asked.

Aria sighed, "I haven't asked Damon to clarify, because I don't want to hurt Kol".

"You think Kol would be hurt if you and Damon get engaged again?" a slightly shocked Caroline asked.

"I don't know" Aria admitted, "All I know is that for five years it was just me and him, we even got engaged, the last thing I want is to hurt him by getting engaged to someone else".

Klaus sat next to Aria, "I know my brother Ari, I know that nothing matters more to him then your happiness, and he knows that your happiness lies in Damon".

"It's the reason he let you go" Caroline said, sitting on the other side of Aria.

"So if you and Damon do get engaged again, I don't think Kol would be hurt, I think he might be the happiest seeing the two most important people in his life happy" Klaus said.

Aria stayed silent thinking about Klaus and Caroline's words, but before she could reach a conclusion, the armory doors bursting open caught the trio's attention, they walked over to the railing and looked down to see Damon and Kol dragging in a unconscious Sebastian.

"Sorry" Damon said, "This place had the nearest holding cell, little help?".

***

Damon placed a unconscious Sebastian into a cell, he then turned to Caroline.

"So you just opted to help me with this homicidal lunatic instead of staying up there with your husband and sister" Damon said, "Care to elaborate?".

"Given what you just dragged in, I think you should be the one explaining" Caroline retorted, as Damon walked out and Caroline locked the cell behind him.

"Sorry, blondie" Damon said, "Probably safer if you don't get involved".

"Just tell me this, is this part of the plan to get Asher back?" Caroline asked.

"Everything we're doing is to get Asher back" Damon assured.

"Good" Caroline whispered, "I just hope he's okay".

"He's okay" Damon said, "He's a Salvatore, we're always okay".

Caroline gave Damon a small smile, but before she could say anything, Sebastian groaning from his cell caught their attention.

"You two shouldn't be worried about Cade having Asher as much as you should be worried about what's happening to him and his siblings" Sebastian said, slowly standing up, "I mean whose going to help you guys figure out what's happening to triplets who have descended from the Connor bloodline, if only you had someone from the Connor bloodline who can help".

Caroline and Damon looked at each other, the smirk on Sebastian's face was enough to tell them that he knew what was happening to the triplets, but they didn't know what he was going to ask in return for this information.

***

"What the bloody hell were you thinking bringing him here?" an enraged Klaus asked his brother.

"There was no where else to bring him" Kol defended, "We don't even know if he can be killed since technically I already killed him once, he's dead, how do you kill a dead person? All I know is that finally we have a way in which we can kill Cade once and for all, that kind of takes number one priority Nik".

"I'm really surprised getting rid of Sebastian isn't your number one priority" Klaus commented.

Kol sighed, "Trust me, it's taking everything in me not to bury that bastard alive, but I can't take the risk, but don't you worry, as soon as I'm done with Cade, I'm sending him back to where he came from".

"That better be sooner than later, I'm not sure I can tolerate him for too long" Klaus warned.

"Which is why I told Caroline to keep an eye on him and not you, I have another job for you my dear old brother" Kol said

"Which is what exactly?" a curious Klaus asked.

"Since your last name is neither Maxwell or Donovan, it means you can ring the hell bell without literally bringing hell on Mystic Falls" Kol informed.

"And what will ringing that bell do?" a confused Klaus asked.

"Hopefully, weaken the devil" Kol revealed.

***

Damon drove himself and Kol to the waterfall Cade called them to meet at.

"Why the hell did Cade call us here?" a confused Kol asked, stepping out of Damon's car.

Damon took the dagger out of his car, "Beats me, he doesn't wear the cape or carry the pitchfork, so maybe that's just his way of being dramatic" Damon said, walking over to Kol, "Things have a way of getting bloody with Cade, we may not have another chance, so, I have a question for you?".

Kol looked at Damon, "Really?" he asked, "Now is when you want to do a question answer?".

"Are you for sure happy with me and Aria?" Damon asked, a question that has been bothering him since he and Aria got back together.

"Where the hell is this coming from, Damon?" a confused Kol asked.

"I love her Kol, with everything I have, but I know so do you, and at times your love really rivals mine, I just want to make sure that me and Ria being together won't affect our relationship, or even yours and Ria's" Damon said.

Kol sighed, "I won't lie and say it doesn't hurt, obviously it hurts Damon, but not in a bad way, I'm happy that you and Aria found your way back to each other, let's face it Damon, it wasn't you that came between us, I was the one who came between you two" Kol said.

"That's not true" Damon said, "You and me both know, if I wasn't in the picture, it was always supposed to be you and Ria".

"But you are in the picture" Kol whispered, "You're always going to be in the picture, and I'm not mad about it, you two are made for each other, maybe me and Ria will be together in another life, but this life, she belongs to you, and I'm never going to be the reason as to why you two aren't happy together, I will never not be happy for you two, now are you satisficed with the answer, because I've got a devil to kill and the longer we stand here chit chatting the more likely Cade finds out about our plan".

"You actually believe what Sebastian said?" Damon asked, "About killing Cade destroying hell as well?".

"I don't believe a word that comes of that person's mouth, but right now, his words are all we have" Kol said.

Damon sighed, "This is suicide Kol" he said, "And if we screw this up, we don't know what he'll do to Asher".

"Which is why screwing up is not an option, for either of us" Kol stated.

"I can't lose him, he's my son" Damon whispered, "But I can't lose you either, your my best friend".

Damon looked at Kol and just as he was about to attack him, Kol, already sensing that, pulled out a vervain syringe from his back pocket and injected Damon with it.

"I can't lose you or Asher either, Damon" Kol whispered, as Damon's unconscious body fell to the ground, Kol then bent down and grabbed the dagger from the ground and after taking a deep breath, proceeded to walk forward to find Cade.

***

"Mom, when's Ash going to come back?" Alec asked, as Aria tucked him and Jayden into their shared bed at the armory.

"Soon baby" Aria promised, "As soon as you fall asleep, mommy's going to go get Asher".

"He's okay, right?" a worried Jayden asked.

"He's perfectly fine" Aria assured, refusing to believe anything would happen to her son.

"I'm sorry for losing control of my magic recently" Alec apologised, "And also for not being able to help Mia".

Aria gave Alec a small smile, "It's okay, you don't have to apologise, whatever's happening to you three, Care Bear is going fix it while I go get Asher, which is why I need you guys to stay in bed till either me or Caroline come back, okay?".

"Okay, mom" Alec said.

"Promise, Ari" Jayden said.

Aria bent down and after placing a kiss on both Jayden and Alec's foreheads, she stood up and placed the comforter over them.

"Sleep well" Aria whispered, running her hand through Alec's hair, "When you wake up, I promise your brother will be here with you".

***

After putting Mia and Hope to bed, Caroline made her way over to the cell in which Sebastian was trapped in.

"Hello, my sister's adopted sister" Sebastian greeted, a smirk on his face.

"You killed Aria before, so why would you be interested in helping her kids now?" a curious Caroline asked, not knowing if Sebastian was trustworthy or not.

"Because I've seen the same thing happen to their mother" Sebastian explained, "She might have forgotten but I haven't, I remember seeing her accidentally set things on fire when we were kids, I remember our parents thinking how gifted their child was, obviously I was the only one who saw how dangerous she truly was, hell is, she had all this power, but she didn't know how to control it, I tried to tell my parents how dangerous she was but they didn't understand me, instead they isolated me from her, thinking I would hurt her in my jealously, I mean can you imagine that? I wasn't always full of so much hatred Caroline, you can thank Ariana's parents for that".

Caroline sighed, "How do the triplets learn control?".

"If you want the triplets to learn control, probably shouldn't have brought them to the place that's oozing out magic, magic that's calling to the triplets" Sebastian said, "The artifacts, the books, the talismans, everything in this building calls to the magic the triplets have".

"So the triplets magic is going haywire because we brought them to the armory?" Caroline asked.

"Bingo!" Sebastian said, "This is probably the worst place to bring newbie witch and warlocks who are trying to learn to control their magic, oh and it's a even worse idea to bring a siphon here, because there is literally magic in the walls for the siphoners to siphon".

Caroline watched in vary as Sebastian placed his hand on the wall and his hand started glowing orange, as the glass started cracking, Caroline quickly took a step back from the window, but before she could get away, Sebastian used his other hand to give Caroline an aneurism, he then used his magic to snap her neck, just as the glass shattered, allowing him to finally step out of the cell.

***

"Cade?" Kol called out, entering the cave Cade had informed he would be in, "Cade?".

Walking further into the cave, Kol was shocked seeing an unconscious Asher laying on the floor.

"Ash!" Kol yelled, rushing over to the unconscious child, he kneeled down and immediately focused his hearing on his heartbeat, he breathed a sigh of relief hearing Asher's heartbeat.

"I can see why you both love her".

Kol turned around and saw Cade standing behind him, immediately Kol stood up and stood infront Asher infront of a protective way.

"Aria" Cade clarified to a confused Kol, "I can see why you and Damon love her, she's a beautiful soul, made dimmer, perhaps, by her association with the two of you, I have to admit, you're not the vampire I was expecting".

"What did you do to him?" Kol asked, glaring at Cade.

"Did you bring the dagger?" Cade asked, Kol pulled it out of his back pocket, "Ah, you indeed to kill me, how optimistic, is that the form you think your atonement will take?".

"I don't care about atonement, I care about killing you as lesson for anyone who dares looks at my family the wrong way" Kol stated, he then looked down at the clock on his watch, "In one minute, my job is about to become so much easier".

Cade looked at Kol in confusion, not knowing what he was on about, but just as the clock on Kol's phone turned 8, Cade held his head and yelled as pain shot through him, giving Kol the signal he needed about Klaus starting to ring the bell.

Kol walked forward and stabbed Cade in the arm, he then punched him in the face.

"Hope you're ready to go back to hell, Cade" Kol said, glaring at the devil, who was now laying on the floor in pain.

***

As Klaus was ringing the bell, his phone started ringing, taking it out he was confused seeing a video call from Hope's iPad.

"Hope?" a confused Klaus answered.

"Dad" Hope whispered, hiding underneath the bed with Mia.

"Aren't you two supposed to be asleep?" a concerned Klaus asked.

"We were sleeping but then we heard glass smashing and mom and Care Bear aren't here" a scared Mia cried.

"We're really scared dad, we're hiding under the bed" Hope informed.

"Hope, listen to me" Klaus said, "Remember the place I told you and Jay to hide if any monster came?", Hope nodded her head, "I need you to get Alec, Jayden and Mia and go there, hide there till I, or Ari or Caroline get there, okay?".

"Okay, dad" Hope whispered, hanging up on Klaus, who quickly rushed to keep the kids safe, completely forgetting about the bell he was supposed to keep ringing.

***

Kol stabbed Cade in the chest, he tried to push the dagger into his heart but Cade fought back, suddenly a smirk formed on Cade's face.

"Heroic effort" Cade taunted, slowly starting to overpower Kol, "But it seems your bell stopped ringing", Cade punched Kol causing him to fall to the ground, "I miss this kind of violence, it's personal, direct", before Kol could recover, Cade gave him three rapid kicks on his stomach, "Now, it's time for you to die, Kol", Cade went behind Kol and right before he could use hell fire to kill Kol, Damon's voice stopped him.

"We had a deal, Cade" Damon said, announcing his presence.

Cade let go of Kol and glared at Damon, "Our deal was that you would bring me the dagger in exchange for Asher".

"So what?" Damon asked, "You got what you wanted, now it's time for you to pony up".

"Fine" Cade said, "I will give you one soul", Cade turned to Asher and using his mind to lit a ring of fire around his unconscious body.

"No!" a worried Damon yelled.

***

Aria was in her car, driving to the address Kol had messaged her, telling her this was where him and Damon were meeting up with Cade, as she was driving, Aria's head suddenly started pounding.

"Ahh!" Aria yelled.

"Aria!" Amelia called out, appearing on the passenger seat after hearing her daughter's yell, "What's wrong, baby?".

"Something really bad is happening, mom" Aria cried, her one hand on her head, the other gripping the steering wheel.

"Aria, you need to park the car to the side otherwise you're going to crash" a concerned Amelia said.

But Amelia's voice didn't reach Aria's ears, as suddenly her head was filled with visions of Cade, a circle of fire around Asher's unconscious body, and Damon's yell.

"Aria watch out!" Amelia yelled, seeing Aria's car having changed lanes and a truck speeding right towards them, just as Amelia thought the car was going to crash into the truck, Aria managed to gather herself and quickly turn the wheel to change lanes and barely dodge the truck.

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief, "I swear you're going to make me, a ghost, grow white hair young lady, what happened to you?".

"I had a vision" a suddenly very panicked and worried Aria informed her mother, "There was Cade, and a circle of fire around Asher, turns out mom, you're not the only person I have a psychic connection to, I think I have a connection to Cade as well, Cade who is currently trying to burn my son alive".

"Aria, keep a cool head" Amelia warned, "We are talking about the devil here, you can not lose yourself when fighting him, calm down".

"I can't calm down, mom!" an enraged Aria yelled, "My son, my soulmate, my best friend, they're all in danger".

"And you can save them" Amelia stated, "But only if you keep a cool head, one mistake and the devil wins, are you understanding what I'm saying?".

Aria looked at her mother, after taking a deep breath, she nodded her head, "I understand what I have to do, mom" she said, making Amelia give her a proud smile, knowing her daughter had this.

***

"The question is which soul will you save?" Cade asked, as Damon looked at the fire around Asher in panic, "Asher, your son's or Kol, your best friend's?".

***

Klaus was currently in his car, driving as fast as he could towards the armory, he knew Aria had gone to save Asher so she wouldn't answer her phone but he was worried as to why Caroline, who was supposed to be with the kids, wasn't answering her phone either.

Klaus breathed a sigh of relief when Caroline picked the phone up on the fifth attempt, "Caroline".

"Uh, wrong person".

The sense of relief that briefly came over Klaus, immediately washed away hearing Sebastian's voice on Caroline's phone.

"What the bloody hell did you do, Sebastian?" a furious Klaus asked, "Where's Caroline?".

"Oh, she's just laying on the ground, having a small nap" Sebastian informed, walking the empty corridors of the armory, "Taking care of four kids really did a number on her".

"Sebastian, if I was you, I would run as far away as you can from me, because I swear if I get my hands on you, I will rip you limb from limb" Klaus threatened.

"Don't worry, soon you won't be able to find me, but before I disappear I need to murder the two Connor witches you have in this place, you can relax Klaus I won't harm your kids, they're not my target, granted Ariana was my original target but turns out the devil wants her so I can't kill her but I'm strongly urged to end her bloodline" Sebastian said.

"If you even harm a hair on those two, you are going right back to hell, Sebastian!" Klaus snapped.

"We will see about that, see I'm pretty sure by the time you get here, those two will already be dead" Sebastian stated, "See you soon Klaus".

Before Klaus could get another word out, Sebastian ended up hanging up on him.

"Dammit!" a panicked Klaus yelled, pressing harder on the pedal, needing to get to the armory sooner then later.

***

"I'm curious Damon" Cade said, "What's it like to be the first person to know how hell on Earth feels?".

"Screw you" Damon snapped.

"A more important question, then" Cade said, taking a step towards Damon, "Who is it going to be? I suggest you answer soon, or the flames that seem to be getting closer and closer to your son, will make the decision for you".

"Damon" Kol groaned, lying on the floor, Cade having rendered him useless, "Choose Asher, choose your son".

"No, I can't, I'm not saying the words" Damon stated, refusing to choose between two very important people in his life.

"Then don't, I'll say it" Kol said, "Cade, take my soul".

Cade, instead of listening to Kol, ended up kicking him down, "Enough from the angel on his shoulder" he snapped, before turning back to Damon, "I'm doing you a favor Damon, you have been torn between your love for Aria and your friendship for Kol recently, haven't you? You want to be with Aria but you don't want to hurt Kol, but you can end all the pain and suffering now, choose one of them and the other will be out of your life forever, you will never be conflicted again, choose".

Damon looked between Kol and Asher, "I choose me" he finally said, "Kol's lived a supremely messed-up life, his soul's already damned, so take me".

A smile formed on Cade's face, "I have to say, I'm intrigued".

"Well, act now, because it's a one-time offer" Damon warned.

"Are you aware of what you're offering me?" Cade asked, wanting to make sure Damon knew what he was offering him.

"My soul" Damon replied, "In eternal anguish, twisted, black and delicious, just like you like 'em, so, come on! Eat me!".

"I'd like nothing more" Cade stated, a smirk on his face, he took out a wooden stake from his back pocket and threw it at Damon's feet, "But it requires you being dead".

"Damon, don't" Kol pleaded, "Don't do this".

Ignoring Kol's plead, Damon bent down and picked the stake up in his hand, "Sorry, Kol" he apologised, tears in his eyes, "It's been a hell of a ride, tell Ria that I love her, tell my kids that I love them", Damon placed the stake on his chest, he then looked at Cade, "Put my son out first, then promise me you'll keep your grubby paws off his soul, permanently".

Cade turned to Asher's unconscious body and put the fire around him out, "Done" he said, turning back to Damon, "Your move, Damon".

"Damon, don't" Kol once again pleaded.

"See you in hell, Cade" Damon said, once again ignoring Kol.

"Damon, she won't be able to live without you!" Kol yelled.

Damon looked at Kol, "She'll have you" he whispered.

"No" Kol whispered, "No!" he yelled, as he watched Damon stake himself in his heart.

***

Sebastian walked the corridors of the armory, searching of any sign of the children.

"Alec! Mia!" Sebastian called out, a dagger he found in the armory in his hand, "Won't you come out and meet your uncle Sebastian?!", Sebastian walked into the vault, as soon as he entered the vault he started hearing the distant voice of Mia and Alec.

"Mom told you, we are not supposed to slip away from each other" Sebastian heard Alec scold Mia.

"I didn't slip away, I fell and you kept running" Mia argued.

Sebastian chuckled, "Stupid children" he whispered, before following the voices, which led him right towards a wall, "Oh can particularly feel the magic oozing", Sebastian put his hands on the wall, but to his shock once he finished siphoning it wasn't Mia and Alec he found, it was Klaus, his phone infront of him, playing a voice recording of Mia and Alec.

Before Sebastian could do anything, Klaus used his vampire speed to rush over to him and smash his head against the wall, rendering him unconscious.

***

A devastated Kol sat near Damon's dead body, he then looked towards Asher, who was still unconscious, his eyes then landed on the dagger that could kill Cade, the dagger that Cade had carelessly dropped on the ground, a determined expression formed on his face, he knew what he had to do now.

***

"There's no point hiding, Damon!" Cade called out, walking around in the limbo, trying to find Damon's soul, "You're dead, your soul belongs to me, I'm psychic, remember? I know you can hear me".

"Hiding ain't my style, Cade" Damon said, walking out of the woods, thunder rumbling around him and Cade, "But annoying you, on the other hand--it's right up my alley, so I guess this is where the tragic tale of Damon Salvatore ends".

"Look on the bright side" Cade said, "Your suffering is just beginning".

Cade closed his eyes and everything around Damon started shaking, then without his will, he was starting to be pulled towards Cade, he tried to stop but he couldn't when suddenly whatever Cade was doing, stopped.

"Well, that was anti-climactic" Damon taunted, as Cade opened his eyes, "We taking an Uber instead?".

"We have a visitor" Cade informed, "And her pain will be almost as sweet as yours", Damon turned around and saw Aria walking towards them, "Miss Connor, you're just in time".

"Where are Damon, Kol and Asher?" a concerned Aria asked, her not being able to see Damon's ghost.

"Don't worry" Cade assured, "They're safe, except for Damon, Damon's very dead".

"What?" a shocked Aria asked.

"Relax" Cade said, "You share my psychic gift, so if you'll just open your mind".

Aria closed her eyes, the next time she opened her eyes, she was met with Damon's ghost.

"You shouldn't be here, Ria" a concerned Damon said.

Aria ignored Damon and looked Cade, "I'm not going to let you take him away from me".

Cade chuckled, "I'm afraid this isn't up to you Aria, Damon sold his soul to me".

"Like you mentioned before Cade, you're not the only psychic present in this room" Aria said, "If you want to take him, then you're going to have to fight me first".

"I was hoping you'd say that, but I warn you if you attempt to keep Damon's soul on this plane, your mind will surely shatter" Cade warned.

"Ria, we can't leave the triplets without any parents" Damon snapped..

"Living without you is not an option for me Damon" Aria whispered, tears in her eyes, "I don't want to die, but I can't let you die either".

Just as Aria said that, the wind around them picked up and Damon was flung towards Cade, however he held on to a rock that appeared on the ground courtesy of Aria.

"Did you not hear me?" Aria asked, glaring at Cade, "You're not taking him!".

"Or maybe your body will give out first, leaving your children without a father and a mother" Cade taunted.

"Stop talking!" Aria snapped, as blood started pouring out of her nose.

"For the last time, release Damon, or risk losing more than him!" Cade threatened.

"He's right, Ria" Damon said, "You got to let me go".

"Never!" Aria stated, as the weather around them started getting worse.

"Please" Damon pleaded, not wanting to see his soulmate hurt, "Let go, Ria, or I will".

"Don't you dare, Damon Salvatore!" Aria yelled, but Damon ignored her warning and slowly started letting go of the rock, he rather him go to hell, then Aria suffer to save him, "Damon, stop!", Damon tried to let go but Aria wouldn't let him, the psychic battle between Cade and Aria got even more intense, but Aria could feel herself lose the battle, "Damon" she cried, just as Damon's hands slipped, both Cade and Aria were brought back to reality as in the real world, Kol had stabbed Cabe with the dagger.

"Did you see this coming?" Kol taunted as Cade started coughing out blood.

"Go, to hell" Cade spat out.

"Not before you" Kol stated, pushing the dagger deeper into Cade's chest, both Aria and Kol watched as the dagger disintegrated and Cade's body started glowing orange and eventually blew up, the blast pushing both Kol and Aria to the ground.

Kol coughed and groaned in pain, after gathering his breath, he turned to Aria, and saw her coughing on the ground while ash fell on both of them.

"You okay?" Kol asked, slowly crawling over to the tribrid.

"Never better, nice save by the way" Aria coughed out.

"Thanks" Kol said, helping Aria sit up.

"Are we late for the group hug?".

Kol and Aria turned around and huge smiles formed on their faces seeing both Damon and Asher.

"Mom!" Asher yelled, running over to his mom and hugging her tightly, "Are you okay?".

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Aria asked, hugging her son back, tightly, afraid all of this was a dream.

"I'm okay mom" Asher assured.

"I'm so glad" an emotional Aria whispered.

"You okay?" a concerned Kol asked Damon.

"Yeah" Damon assured, as Aria stood up, "That little psychic blast must have blew me back into my body, let me do the dirty work next time, okay?".

"We'll see" Kol teased, stepping forward and hugging the oldest Salvatore.

After hugging Kol, Damon looked towards Aria, who was looking at him with teary eyes.

"Ria" Damon started, taking a step towards Aria, but before he could say anything, Aria ended up slapping him across his face, "Ow!".

"Oooh" both Kol and Asher whispered, both very amused.

"You are an idiot, Damon Salvatore!" Aria scolded, "I hate you so much!".

Damon smiled at Aria, "I love you too".

"I said I hate you, not I love you" Aria snapped.

"But we both know what you actually meant" Damon teased.

Aria shoved Damon, "What did you say? Let go of me Ria, are you freaking insane?!".

"I was trying to protect you" Damon defended.

"So was I!" Aria yelled.

"Ria, I really don't know why you're so angry, I mean at the end everything turned in our favor didn't it?" Damon said.

"What if it hadn't Damon?" Aria asked, tears in her eyes, "What if I had lost you?!".

"But you didn't" Damon retorted.

"But--", Damon interrupted Aria by kissing her, immediately causing Kol to cover Asher's eyes.

"Come on Ash, let's go before your parents completely forget about us and end up showing something neither " Kol said, picking Asher up in his arms and leaving Damon and Aria to themselves.

Once Damon broke the kiss, Aria glared at him, "You--", Damon once again stopped Aria from talking by kissing her.

"Damon--", Damon once again kissed Aria.

"Screw it" Aria mumbled, before pulling Damon by his collars and kissing him, Damon's hand automatically going on her waist.

Once the pretty intense and heated kiss was over, Damon attached his forehead on Aria's, "Forever?".

"And ever" Aria smiled.

***

"Hey" Aria greeted, entering Damon and her shared room in the boarding house.

Damon, who was standing infront of the fireplace, turned around smiled at Aria, "Hey, what are you doing here, I thought you were going to go get rid of your brother?".

"I am, but I wanted to do this first" Aria said, taking small nervous steps towards Damon.

"Do what?" a confused Damon asked.

Aria showed her closed fist to Damon, "Open it".

"Okay" a slightly amused but more curious Damon said, opening Aria's fist and to his shock finding the ring he gave Aria, "Aria--".

"Wait" Aria interrupted, "Before you say anything, please let me speak, because if I don't speak now I'm afraid my nerves won't let me speak ever, Damon, since the moment we met, you and I have gone through a lot, today we beat the devil together, and I've been talking to Klaus and Caroline and I know you've been talking to Kol, we're both so nervous for our future, but I don't want to be nervous anymore, I just want to live in the present, with you, basically what I'm trying to say is that, Damon Salvatore--", Aria got down on one knee and held her ring towards Damon, "Before I go and get rid of my murderer from my past life, I was wondering if you will put this ring back on me? Will you finally plan the wedding that should have happened five years ago? Will you finally make me Aria Salvatore?".

Damon let out a teary chuckle, he immediately got down on his knees, he put one of his hand behind Aria's neck and the other hand was on her cheek, he then attached their foreheads together, "I was planning to propose to you tomorrow".

Aria chuckled, "I just figured it was my turn to propose, I know it isn't as great as yours but I was in kind of a hurry" she said, "So will you Damon? Will you marry me?".

"Of course I will Ria" Damon whispered, "I've wanted to marry you since the moment I laid my eyes on you Aria Connor, I would love nothing more then to call you my wife and have my last name be attached to yours".

Aria smiled, she held out her ring, "So then make it official".

"Gladly" Damon said, taking the ring from Aria's hand, he then turned her hand around and slid the ring into her ring finger.

Aria and Damon looked at each other, both having huge smiles on their faces, Damon then pulled Aria closer to him and kissed her, words couldn't describe what he was currently feeling, he was hoping this kiss would let Aria know how much he loved her and how happy she just made him in this moment.

***

An unconscious Sebastian woke up and immediately he realised he was chained up in a chair and was in a dark storeroom type room, with nothing but darkness around him, the only light coming was from the one bulb hanging on the top of his head.

Sebastian let out an annoyed groan, "Great, I'm back in hell".

"Wrong brother", Sebastian looked infront of him and saw Aria making her way over to him, "You're not in hell, because hell doesn't exist anymore, Cade is dead, and with him hell is destroyed as well".

"Little sister really killed the devil, huh?" Sebastian mocked, "I'll be honest, I definitely had my doubts, but you just love proving people wrong, don't you?".

"Yes, I do" Aria said, giving Sebastian a mock smile, "Hey so did I mention that I'm psychic?".

"Nope" Sebastian said, "And honestly I don't care, just let me lose, okay?".

"Yeah, not happening, even if I do set you lose you're not going to be able to escape" Aria said, making Sebastian look at her in confusion, "You really shouldn't have come after my kids, now this prison world is your punishment".

"You can't trap me in a prison world" Sebastian stated, "Not without--".

"Not without an ascendent, right?" Aria finished, pulling out an ascendent from her back pocket, "You're forgetting Sebastian, I'm the leader of the Gemini coven, making an ascendant was a cake walk for me, are you impressed with my imagination brother, I felt like a dark person like you deserved a dark place like this, so, for the last time, goodbye big brother, hope to see you never".

"No" Sebastian whispered, as Aria started to walk away, "Aria, wait! Please! You're gonna make me lose a bet!", Aria stopped in her spot and turned to her brother, confusion evident on her face, wondering what he was on about, "God, you guys are so gullible, how you fell for all this is beyond me".

"What the hell are you on about Sebastian?" an annoyed Aria asked, in no mood for her brothers games.

Damon placed two glasses on the table, he smiled hearing footsteps, turning around a huge smile formed on his face seeing Aria, his official fiance, "You're here, I just got out some champagne, figure we would celebrate, the last time we got engaged we never really got to celebrate it, you know with you being in a three month coma and all".

"Damon" Aria whispered.

Damon looked at Aria and frowned seeing the worried expression on her face, "Ria, what's wrong?" he asked, walking over to the tribrid, "Wait, you're not regretting proposing are you?".

"No" Aria immediately said, "No that's not it, I just came from talking to Sebastian, we didn't destroy hell, Damon".

"Because of you idiots killing Cade, which thank you so much for, hell is now in much better hands" Sebastian explained.

"What are you talking about?" a confused Damon asked, "If Cade's not running hell, who is?".

"Oh, you want to know if not Cade then whose running hell?" Sebastian asked, "Here's a clue, someone much worse then Cade, for you at least".

"Think Damon" Aria said, "Think of the only person you and I would put above Cade".

"She knows all of yours and Damon's weak spots, Aria" Sebastian continued, "This was such an easy game for her".

"Think of the one person who has always hit both of us in our weak spots, over and over again" Aria told Damon.

"She will stop at nothing to make sure you and everyone you love suffer" Sebastian told Aria.

"This person wants revenge, from Nik, from me, from you, she wants to be even because she believes we did wrong with her" Aria explained to Damon.

"Don't you dare say it, Ria" Damon warned, finally realising who Aria was talking about, "Listen to me, we won, you hear me? Don't you dare say that name!".

"The myth, the legend, the baddest bitch of all" Sebastian started.

"Katherine" Damon finished.

"Katherine" Aria repeated.

"We're toast" Damon realised.

"Very much so" Aria whispered, looking at her soulmate in immense worry.

***

Presenting 8x14 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Sebastian kidnapping Asher?

Thoughts on Aria, Damon and Kol defeating Cade?

Thoughts on Aria proposing to Damon?

Thoughts on Damon and Aria finding out about Katherine being the mastermind behind everything?

TWO CHAPTERS REMANING, I REPEAT! DAMON AND ARIA'S STORY HAS ONLY TWO MORE CHAPTERS REMANING!