CHAPTER 21.6: The fight of our lives
WARNING: murder, violence, blood, pyromania, self-defense

CAROLINE SHOOK OUT HER HAND AS THE witch's body fell to the ground. She kicked them as hard as she could in the face and their head snapped back, banging against the wall behind them and going unconscious.

"Goddamn," Leah said, standing taller and having regained some color to her pale skin. She looked energized, ready to go. Her eyes were a vibrant yellow, black vein elongated around them. There was blood on her mouth and chin, dripping down her neck. She was grinning, showing off her double set of fangs.

Caroline shot her a small smile before unbuttoning the witch's pants and yanking them off. She tossed them to Leah and then took off the witch's shirt, throwing it at her as well. "Put those on," she told the girl as she went over to the werewolf that Leah had drained and ripped a piece of his shirt, walking over to the girl and wiping her face from the blood.

"Thank you," Leah said. Caroline ruffled her hair and then turned around to let the girl get changed. "You know, you're stronger than the average person. We've all noticed at the house—You can turn around now—You can hold back the wolves and some of the vampires," the girl said.

Caroline fingered the material of Athena's sweater, the piece of clothes bringing her comfort. "What good is that strength if I don't know how to use it correctly?" The blonde asked with a sigh, fixing the girl's collar.

Leah shrugged, "Athena tells me it comes naturally at times. For certain people. It's an instinct. Obviously, you still need to train and stuff to get better, but there's ways to get that instinct going. She tells us to not think, just feel. It'll happen."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. She's never been a good fighter. Well, she's never been in an actual fight before. Nobody wanted to get on her bad side because her mom was the Sheriff, and she had no want to mess up her "pretty face".

"Yeah, well, Athena's also old," Caroline said, somewhat bitterly. She was over a thousand years old, of course Athena knew how to fight. It'd be weird if she didn't pick something up sometime. Leah raised an eyebrow. Caroline frowned, "we broke up."

Leah watched as Caroline got a distant look in her eyes. She watched as the blonde curled her fingers further into the sweater. She watched as panic filled the human's eyes.

Caroline shook her head, clearing it of all the ugly thoughts that had begun to swarm. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve to stop the tears from flowing and then looked at Leah. "Alright. Time to go," she said and walked over to the open cell door. Leah followed close behind.

"So, what's the plan now?" Leah asked quietly as they crept down the dimly lit hallways. Caroline was trying to find a window or some semblance of where they are. They came to the stairs leading up to a door.

"No idea, but first, we need to get out of this basement," Caroline murmured back, "can you hear how many people are up there?" Athena said that's how she's mapped out some of her heists and missions, using her enhanced hearing to figure out how many people and using her enhanced scent to figure out the types.

Leah held up a finger and closed her eyes, straining her ears. She frowned, her brows drawing together. "Something isn't right, Caroline," the Hybrid muttered as she opened her eyes again and looked at the blonde, "there's only four other people up there."

Caroline eyes the door, keeping it in her sight at all times, "I'm human and you were drained of blood. We had no way to fight back—at least that's what they thought. I don't think they counted on us being smart." Leah supposes that could be it, but something feels off. From the paranoid look in Caroline's eyes, the Hybrid suspects she thinks so too. "Come on, if we're in a basement, then there should be a cellar or back door," the blonde said quietly, pulling Leah's arm and dragging her down the hallway.

As it turns out, Caroline was right. Again. There were cellar doors. Leah reached up and tried to push on them, but they wouldn't budge. They were most likely locked from the outside.

"I can open them, but as soon as I do, we'll alert the rest of the house," Leah whispered.

"Well, you're faster now, right?" Caroline asked, raising an eyebrow. Leah nods. "Then you run. As fast as you can. You get out and you go find Athena."

Leah shakes her head, "no, they'll kill you. For real this time. They won't just knock you upside the head—I can't leave you, Caroline. Athena won't be able to handle it if you die," the Hybrid says, knowing the story of what happened to Cassidy and how devastated Athena was. She had been drowning for the years she had left with her children. And then she lost them too.

Caroline sighed, "I'll slow you down. You are my top priority, okay? Your parents miss you so much. You're alive. They're gonna be so happy. I'm not gonna take that away from them. Not again. So, the second these are open, you run. I'll run to and I'll distract them. We can't lead them back to the boarding house anyway, everyone else is there," she said.

"No, Caroline, seriously. You don't understand. If Athena loses you, she won't recover. Not again," Leah said with something akin to fear in her eyes, nothing but the truth in her words.

Caroline's brows furrowed, "again? What are you talking—"

"Find them!" Shouted a voice. The two whipped their heads behind them just in time to see a woman come around the corner with a long knife.

"Oh, that's an interesting kitchen knife," Caroline said, giving the woman an awkward smile. The woman twirled it around, raising it and having the blade toward her arm with malice in her eyes.

"Do you always make jokes when you're about to die?" Leah asked, not waiting for a response as she shoved open the cellar doors, the chains holding them closed snapping easily. The two quickly ran out of the cellar, booking it into the forest.

Caroline slows down, knowing she won't outrun them, and looks around. She finds a large branch and picks it up, snapping it on her knee and taking the sharper edge. She weighs it in her hand, satisfied and continues on her way.

Leah had disappeared, hopefully doing exactly what Caroline had told her too. The blonde could hear someone approaching from behind her, fast, and braced herself. She felt the presence before she saw them and shifted out of the way, the man running past her at a dizzying speed and smacking into a tree.

She snorted, unable to not find the scene funny as the man stumbles back and shakes his head to clear the fog. She gives him no time to react, snapping back into defense mode and shoving the branch through his back, right into his heart. He doesn't gray out like a vampire, merely coughs up blood and drops to the ground, eyes lifeless.

She yanks the branch out, looking away from the body. Killing someone isn't new to her, even if it's not a vampire. The muscle memory is too familiar. She knows she's done it before, she just doesn't remember from where.

"Well, blondie can fight," says a voice from behind her. She spins on her heel, coming face-to-face with a large man. She knows he's a vampire from the black veins underneath his eyes—barely visible, but there. "I thought the blonde ones were supposed to be dumb."

She clenches her hand around the stick. "We want you to think that so we can bite you in the ass later," she smiles sarcastically, taking a step backward.

"I bet you're good at that. Especially the ass kissing," he deadpans.

"You're right, surprisingly. I love kissing my girlfriend's ass. I'd for sure love to do it to my stalker. I mean, you should see their asses," Caroline says, raising her eyebrows and using her hands to over exaggerate how big they are. She was stalling and he was eating it up.

"If they're your stalker, how do you know who they are?" He asked, confused with a frown.

Caroline gives him a look, "'cause she wants to fuck me," she deadpans. He hums, pursing his lips and looking like he understands. She takes another step back and steps on a twig. She grimaces as he realizes what she was doing.

He smirks, the veins more prominent as his eyes shift to a black color, her iris red. "I've heard good things about the blood running through your veins. I'm gonna have fun making a feast out of it," he drawls.

Caroline scrunches her nose, disgusted. "That is not something you should be proud of, bud." Her eyes widen when her shots toward her, his hand wrapping around her throat. She reacts on instinct, swinging her arm and hearing a SNAP! as his elbow shatters. He cries out in pain, cradling his arm to his chest. Her eyes widened, looking down at her hand in confusion and bewilderment.

"H–How did you do that?" He asked, looking down at his already healing arm in shock.

Caroline clenched her hand into a fist and looked up at him, confidence shooting through her. She twirled the bloody branch and made a 'come here' motion with her fingers, determination set on her features.

He snarled and came at her again. He came at her quickly, giving her no time to recover, but she kept up with him. She doesn't know how she did, yet she anticipated every move. He threw his fist at her face, and he blocked the punch, but he landed a kick to her stomach, and she flew backward. She landed on the ground with a thud, the wind being knocked out of her stomach and the stick flying out of her hand.

He was on top of her in a second, his hands around her throat. Her hands went to his face, shoving it upwards in an attempt to snap his neck. Athena had told her once that while a broken neck doesn't kill a vampire, it leaves them unconscious and defenseless.

He smirks down at her, applying more pressure to her throat. Her vision begins to blacken around the edges, her head pounding and lungs screaming for air. She doesn't understand how she isn't dead yet, his hands should have crushed her throat. But she uses that opportunity, kicking him in the naval and sending him flying backward. The heel (which was pretty long) of her boot had dug into him which hurt like a bitch.

She heaved and turned onto her stomach, crawling to the branch that lay a few feet away. A hand grabbed at her ankle, and she looked back, seeing the vampire trying to pull her closer and away from her weapon.

"Why don't you fuck off!" Caroline rasped, kicking him in the face and getting her heel right in his eye. He screamed, jerking backward and bringing his hand up to his bleeding eye. Caroline shot forward, her fingers wrapping around the wood. She spun around and thrusted the branch through the vampire's heart.

He grunts, the air being knocked out of his lungs. He looks down at the weapon sticking out of his chest and then at Caroline. She stares him directly in the eye as she twists the branch.

His body turns ashen, black veins elongating from his skin. He falls onto his side, staring out in front of him with dull eyes.

Caroline breathes heavily, her chest moving up and down. She looks around the forest, finding nothing but darkness and the moon. She has no idea where she is and all she wants is to be in Athena's arms. She wants to see Hayley. She needs to be near them.

The blonde grunts, using the tree closest to her and pushing herself up onto her shaky legs. She leans against it for a moment, trying to regain her strength. She rubs her bruising neck and pushes off the bark, finally able to breathe somewhat normally.

She is able to walk maybe a total of three steps before she's being attacked again. Her feet are knocked out from underneath her, falling onto her stomach and face in the dirt. Her chin hits the ground causing her to bite her tongue. The taste of copper fills her mouth instantly and she grimaces, pain erupting from her tongue.

Her eyes widen as she's yanked backwards and thrown into a tree, her head hitting the bark and worsening the wound, making it bleed again. She doesn't drop to the ground, instead staying suspended in the air a couple of inches off the ground, her body stuck to the tree by an invisible weight.

Her vision is sort of blurry as two figures appear from the darkness. One, the woman from before with the knife, has her hand out toward Caroline. Witch. And the second, a slightly older woman, is holding a whip.

"You're a strong one," the older woman says, tilting her head and eyeing her critically. Caroline doesn't respond, partly because she's far too exhausted and partly because she just doesn't know what to say to that. "Claire could definitely use you," she hums.

Caroline recognizes the name from one of Athena's journals and scoffs, "I'd rather jump off the clock tower," she deadpans, her voice hoarse.

The older woman scowls as the witch rolls her eyes. Caroline whimpers when her body is shoved further into the tree.

"I told them we should've killed you the second we captured you," the witch sneers.

Caroline raises her eyebrows, "well, obviously, you don't have much of a say considering I'm still alive, huh?" She mocks, smirking slightly.

The witch's eyes darken, "I'll change that." Her hand slowly begins to clench and Caroline screams as she feels her body condense.

Suddenly, a figure tackles the witch and Caroline drops. Before she hits the ground, two pairs of hands grab onto her, keeping her upright. Another figure appears beside the older woman, the woman's head being detached from her body faster than she can react.

Caroline glances at the two people holding her up, almost sobbing in relief when Damon and Stefan's worried eyes meet hers. "Hey, boys," she rasps, leaning into Damon heavily. Stefan keeps a hand on her waist and arm while Damon has a hand on her shoulder and other arm.

Stefan sees the blood and for a moment, his mind blanks, but then he remembers who it is. He remembers the dull look in Athena's eyes two years after Cassidy's death. He remembers when he first came to Mystic Falls and saw the familiar light back in her eyes whenever she looked at Caroline. He remembers the terrified look Caroline and Elena had when he almost killed them on the football field.

Suddenly, her blood doesn't affect him much and all he wants to do is make sure she is okay. He gives the blonde a small smile, "hey, Care."

Hayley stands up and turns around to look at Caroline with worried eyes. She had snapped the witch's neck. Athena also turned toward Caroline; her eyes black. Stefan could tell she was trying to reel back in the darkness from the slowly receding black veins that had crawled up her neck. Leah appears beside Athena, stumbling into her. The older woman steadies her.

"You alright, blondie?" Damon asked softly, surveying the wound on the back of her head. From the way she was trembling and the unfocused look in her eyes, he'd say she definitely has at least a concussion if not worse.

"Never better," Caroline responded dryly, giving the dark-haired Salvatore a look. Stefan snorts but covers it with a cough when Damon glares.

"You need medical attention," Stefan says, brushing some hair away. He knows that even the smallest of head wounds bleed profusely, but this seems like far too much.

"Oh, yeah, for sure," Caroline nods and groans in regret when she gets dizzy. Athena shakes her head in amusement and walks closer.

"Tilt your head down," Stefan tells the blonde and Caroline does albeit slowly, so she doesn't get sick. He brushes the hair away from the wound to let Athena get a clear look. He's very aware of the three pairs of eyes watching his every move, ready to snap his neck the second he seems like he wants to drain the blonde. He's grateful honestly.

"Yeah, we gotta get you to the healer," Athena murmurs quietly, "boys—" She stops, her eyes going to the side.

Hayley shifts closer, also looking around as she feels a shift in the air. Caroline lifts her head back up, confused. Stefan and Damon tighten their grips on her, Stefan reaching for Hayley and Damon reaching for Athena, keeping the five closes together. Athena looks panicked as she looks at Caroline.

"I need you to drink my blood," she says, placing a hand on Caroline's cheek and looking her directly in the eyes. The blonde's brows furrowed in confusion. "Caroline, you need to drink my blood. We're not gonna be able to get out of here in time. There are too many of them."

Caroline gulps, terrified. She looks at Hayley who nods at her encouragingly. Caroline turns to Athena and nods. The redhead pulls her sleeve up and bites her wrist, placing it gently against Caroline's mouth and letting the blonde take a couple gulps. The blonde gags the second Athena pulls away, but her wound heals.

Caroline shakes her head out, clearing the fog, feeling the strength come back to her.

Hayley and Athena slide in next to Caroline, the two Salvatores standing on the outside of them. They all look out in front of them as their whole search party is pushed back into them, being surrounded by a variety of supernatural beings. There were over 200 at least. Athena holds out her hand to her left where Stefan and Caroline are. In her palm are two rings, the same ones that Hayley and Damon are wearing.

Stefan stares at it in shock. He was expecting to fight this fight with the knowledge he'd most likely die. Caroline takes the ring and slides it on. "Only I get to kill you," Athena says with a slight smirk, eyeing Stefan out of the corner of her eyes.

He smiles and takes the ring, sliding it on. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he says.

They turn back toward the group as the wolves, a few witches, and the vampires get into fighting position.

Athena takes a step forward, her eyes meeting a woman in the far back. The woman is wearing a cloak, pale green eyes burning into hers. Athena raises her chin, "Uccidili tutti," she says, the Italian slipping off her tongue with ease. [Kill them all.]

All hell broke loose.

Caroline knew she had strength, so she used it. She threw her body into a vampire that was trying to decapitate one of the younger wolves, knocking them off balance which gave the wolf the time to rip their heart out.

Athena slammed a demon's head into the ground and kicked a witch into a tree, the supernatural being impaled by a branch.

Hayley ran forward, jumping and using a tree to propel herself forward, the top of her foot connecting with a sickening CRACK! with a fairy's face. The vampire who they were fighting, snapped their neck a second later.

The vampire gave Hayley a smirk before going to help some of the others. The werewolf turned around, ready to go stick close to Caroline, but found herself a couple inches away from a snarling vampire and growling werewolf. She glances between them and then attacks.

She kicks the werewolf into the tree behind him and thrusts her arm backwards, the desire to connect with the vampire's face. Unfortunately, the vampire caught her arm and twisted it behind her back. She hissed in pain and then threw her head back, their nose crushing underneath the force. The vampire cried out, stumbling back in pain.

Caroline comes from behind them, using a large rock she found, and bashing his skull in. He falls to the ground, unconscious. Hayley's never seen something more attractive in her life.

Her elbow comes up, the werewolf running right into it and their head snapping back, falling to the ground with a pained whimper. Hayley stomps on their chest, crushing their lungs, and killing them instantly.

Caroline smiles slightly at Hayley, both of them taking a slight step forward. They both jump back when a vampire that's on fire comes running in between them. They're screaming in pain, trying to swat at the flames and stumbling through the forest. Finally, they fall to their knees and then drop onto the ground, dead.

The two women look at each other before looking at where he came from, finding Athena standing a couple paces away, hands encased in flames and eyes glowing—like actually glowing. They're dark blue with a hint of orange.

Athena swirls her hands around together, creating a large fireball and throwing it at a group of werewolves and witches that were surrounding Luther and two other young werewolves. Athena moved her hands and the fire followed, spreading to the ten enemies, but leaving the three in the middle unscathed. Luther gets the two other wolves out of there quickly, yelling a 'thank you' to Athena.

"Did you know she could do that?" Hayley asked Caroline, still staring at Athena in awe. Caroline isn't faring much better, her mouth opened slightly.

"Uh-uh," Caroline replied, blinking slowly. She startles when the vampire at her feet begins to move and kicks the back of their head hard, knocking them out again. She grabs a stick and shoves it through his heart to kill him.

Hayley shakes her head, snapping out of it as Athena rips someone's throat out. "She's brutal," the werewolf muttered, grabbing Caroline's hand and the two disappearing further into the fight to help.

Stefan and Damon have stuck together the whole time, working with one another better than they have in a long time. They haven't worked this well since they were human.

Stefan blocks and dazes while Damon finishes them off. Sometimes they switch if Damon gets caught off guard.

The youngest Salvatore kicks a demon's legs in and goes to take off his head but gets thrown backwards by the demon's wings. The demon is on top of him without a second, punching and kicking without letting up. Damon is stuck with a vampire 200 years older than him and can't get to Stefan.

Stefan yelps as the demon yanks his head backward by his hair. The demon positions their wings right above the youngest Salvatore, grinning maliciously, ready to impale the vampire.

The wing shoots forward but never makes it to their destination. The demon screams in pain as their wings are ripped from their back. Stefan quickly grabs a knife that had fallen on the ground and cuts off the demon's head. He looks up just as Athena drops the demon's wings on the ground.

Damon comes up behind her, his torso healing from a pretty bad stab wound. "What the hell is that?" He asked, staring down at the decapitated body.

"A demon," Athena replied casually, "they'll get punished for turning on their master." Damon and Stefan share a look of pure astonishment but decide not to question it. "Come on, boys, there are more people to kill."

"Don't have to ask me twice," Damon smirks, clapping his brother on the shoulder and dragging him toward a pair of witches that are causing a vampire and a werewolf an aneurysm.

Caroline and Hayley became surrounded a short time later. The enemy's side was depleting fast, and it looked like they were running out of reinforcements. That was good news because they were all becoming exhausted, the length of time the fight has been going on being unknown.

Two of the vampires held Hayley down on her knees as she thrashed around, trying to get away. A werewolf was holding onto Caroline, dragging her a bit away from the brunette as a witch raised a knife, ready to impale Hayley.

"You're gonna watch her die," the werewolf hissed into her ear, "just like we've had to watch ours die because of you."

"No! No! Please!" Caroline shouted, "Hayley—please! Let her go!" The blonde cried out and tried to pull away from the werewolf and run toward Hayley.

Hayley looked behind the witch and at Caroline, a sad truth in her eyes. The brunette knew she was going to die, but it'd be okay. She'd come back. The ring on her finger made sure of that.

The witch smirked and thrust the knife down in an arch.

Everything that happened next went in slow motion.

Caroline screamed, Athena sprinted, and Hayley closed her eyes. The ground shook as thunder crackled in the sky, lightning lighting up the clouds.

Back at the boarding house, inside of the secret room that held ancient artifacts, the winged spear began to shake, glowing brightly. It detached from the wall and shot through the ceiling, phasing through it, and flying into the sky. It paused for a moment, the moon shining behind it before it shot at lightning speed, a blue blur the only thing you see.

The werewolf that was holding Caroline flew off of her as she screamed, the air shoving them and making the blonde's hair fly behind her.

The staff abruptly stopped, Caroline's hand wrapping around the grip and her eyes glowing a bright, electric blue. Athena slid to a stop, her feet moving quicker than her body and causing her to fall to the ground. She stared at Caroline with wide eyes, her mouth dropped open in utter shock.

Caroline moved with ease, spinning around and dragging the spear with her, the blade slicing through the witch's body. Her eyes filled with rage as she breathed heavily through her mouth.

The knife fell from the witch's hand, her upper torso sliding off to the left while her lower body fell to the right.

The vampires that were holding Hayley backed away in fear. Caroline didn't let them get far though, shoving the spear into the ground and holding out her free hand. One of the vampires tilted their head up as thunderstruck, his eyes widening when he saw a lightning bolt striking down. Neither of the vampires were able to move fast enough, the two being burnt to a crisp and their bodies crumbling to dust, the wind taking them away.

Caroline swiped her hand and the same thing happened to the rest of their enemies, ending the fight and declaring them the winners.

Hayley looked up at Caroline, her chest heaving as she stared at the blonde with the same awe she was staring at Athena with. The redhead was in complete disbelief, an incredulous smile on her lips as she stared at Caroline, pride in her eyes.

Caroline glanced between them as the winged spear transformed into a ring and clamping around her left middle finger. Her eyes become unfocused and her eyelids droop. Her legs give out underneath her as she goes unconscious.

Athena catches her, holding her close and cradling her head. Hayley is by her side a couple of seconds later, her fingers twisting into the redhead's shirt.

Luther and Bellamy come forward, waiting for Athena's word. "Hold her for a moment," the Heretic whispers to Hayley and the werewolf pulls the blonde into her arms, hooking an arm underneath her legs. Athena turns towards the pack that all gathers behind Luther and Bellamy. "I want everyone home. Check the grounds for your friends and family members. We don't leave without anyone. Nobody is getting left behind. Once that's happened, you can all leave and I'll clean up the bodies," she said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

They all nodded and quickly got to work. Damon and Stefan didn't know any of them, so they started collecting the bodies, putting them into a pile. Athena turns toward Hayley and wraps her arms around the two women, careful to not wake Caroline.

"Are you okay?" Athena asked the werewolf, their heads resting together. Hayley nodded, their noses brushing. The Heretic moves slightly, leaning closer, her breath fanning over Hayley's lips. For a second, the brunette thinks that Athena would kiss her, but the redhead pulls back at the last second. "You can go home. Go to my room and clean up in there," she says, her face now expressionless.

Hayley frowns and sighs in disappointment. She gives the redhead a nod, shifts her hold on Caroline, and then walks away.

Athena watches her walk away, regret filling her.

"You should've kissed her," Damon says as he and Stefan appear on either side of her. Athena glares at him and he shrugs. "You know I'm right. I don't think Caroline would mind considering she actually did when we opened the tomb."

Athena shakes her head with a sigh, "I need to tell them about my past. I'm not gonna start something without them knowing who I really am," she murmured.

Stefan smiles sadly at her, crossing his arms, "I'm so sorry, Athena..."

"I know," Athena smiles sadly back at him. "Olivia, Gray..." the two look up, "go make sure Hayley and Caroline get back safely?" They both nodded and followed after the werewolf. She ruffled the two Salvatore boys' hair, "come on, kids. Let's clean up and then we can go home."

Damon groaned, whining like a child as Stefan pouted, grumbling under his breath. Athena rolled her eyes and pulled them along.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"EVERYTHING ACHES," CAROLINE complains as soon as Athena walks into her room. Hayley is drying her hair with a towel, dressed in black sweats and a black tank top. Caroline was sitting on Athena's bed, her arms wrapped around her stomach and her eyes staring at the wall in front of her. She was still in her clothes from before, blood and all.

Hayley dropped the towel next to Caroline on the bed and knelt down in front of her, placing her hands on the blonde's knees. Athena walked closer, brushing some of Caroline's hair out of her eyes.

"That's normal," Athena murmurs, brushing her thumb along the blondes cheek, "especially conjuring the amount of lightning. It takes a lot out of you. As you practice, it'll get better." She knelt down beside Hayley who shifted a bit to give her some space.

Caroline looks down at her left hand, spreading out her fingers and looking at the ring. "What is this?" She asked, "it was in that room with all the artifacts. What is that even? You had stuff from a thousand years ago in there."

Athena gives her a small smile, eyes soft, "I'll tell you after you're all cleaned up. I need to tell you everything."

Caroline looked over at her, her mouth slightly parted and her eyes glossy. "Really?" She asked skeptically.

It hurts, but Athena deserves it. The redhead nodded, "yeah. Really. No more secrets." Caroline smiles and looks away, nodding her head.

"Come on, you got to shower," Hayley taps Caroline's knees and stands up. Athena follows her, shrugging off her jacket and laying it on the back of her chair.

"I... I can't," Caroline said, causing Athena to turn back around. She's exhausted, her eyes sunken in and tired. She's paler than usual and she looks like she's about to collapse.

Hayley glanced over at Athena and then back at Caroline, "Athena can help you." The redhead's ears turn red, but her expression doesn't change. If it helps Caroline, she'd do anything.

Caroline, who is far too tired to be embarrassed, merely nods her head. Athena hums and walks over to the blonde while Hayley goes to turn on the shower. "What clothes do you want to wear after?" She asked.

"One of your shirts, please," the blonde replied.

Athena nods and goes to grab one of her bigger shirts, knowing Caroline likes when they fall around her knees. "Pants?"

"Mm-mm."

Athena grabs a t-shirt and a pair of sweats for herself, grabs a pair of panties for Caroline and one of her boxers for herself. She comes out of the closet and almost drops the clothes in shock.

She fumbles, catching all the pieces of clothing and stares at Caroline with wide eyes and a clenched jaw, chanting you have self-control you have self-control you have self-control multiple times in her head.

Hayley doesn't seem to be faring much better, gripping the doorframe and almost ripping the wood out. She's staring, her eyes unable to pull away from the blonde's naked form.

"I, um—" Hayley stammers, her cheeks flaming. She's suddenly winded, unable to catch her breath.

Caroline raises her eyebrows at both of them, looking unimpressed and walks into the bathroom, smirking once her back is to them. Hayley and Athena's eyes follow her as she goes and then they glance at each other.

Athena shakes her head and places the clothes on her bed. "Athena, hurry up!" Caroline calls, making the redhead grumble under her breath.

The Heretic grabs the back of her shirt and pulls it over her head with ease and then she unbuttons her jeans and pulls them down her legs. She hears a thud and then a groan and she turns around.

Hayley is laying on the floor, her arm thrown over her eyes and her other hand rubbing her knee. Her mouth is formed in a grimace.

Athena cocked an eyebrow, "are you okay?" She asked, amused, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Hayley gives her a thumbs up with the hand that was rubbing her knee. Athena stripes the rest of her garments off and pats Hayley's leg as she goes by.

Caroline is standing under the water, her eyes closed as the blood rushes down her body. Athena opens the door and slides in. She makes sure Caroline knows she's there before touching her and gently begins to run her fingers through the blonde's hair, getting the dried blood out.

Caroline leans heavily against her, closing her eyes and letting Athena take care of her. The redhead rubs shampoo and conditioner into her hair, scrubs the blonde's body to get any dirt or blood off, and then rinses her off. Once she's done, Athena calls for Hayley and the werewolf comes in, grabbing a towel off the rack.

Caroline blinks her eyes open as she steps out of the shower, shivering from the cold air that bombards her. Hayley wraps her in a towel and helps her dry off while Athena finishes her own shower.

Once the two are changed into their clothes, they gather onto the bed. Caroline sits against the headboard, leaning onto the pillows while Athena sits across from her, further away. Hayley stands awkwardly by the side of the bed, scratching the back of her head.

"I'll, um, give you two some time to talk—"

"Sit down, little wolf," Athena grabs the brunette's waistband as she tries to walk away and pulls her onto the bed. Caroline makes grabby hands towards the werewolf and Hayley sighs, sliding in next to her. The blonde leans into her, resting her head on the woman's chest.

Athena sighed and cracked her neck, thinking of where to begin. She guesses from the beginning.

She tells them about when she was born, back in 979 AD. She tells them about her siblings and her parents. She doesn't tell them everything, there are some things that need to remain a secret—that only certain people can know about or it'll put Athena in danger. It's not even written down anywhere, it's just general knowledge. She tells them about how her mother had tried to warn her about the curse Mikael was forcing her to put upon her children. She even tells them about the binding of her werewolf side and the reincarnation curse that her mother put on her because Mikael thought she was getting too powerful—he just couldn't control her anymore. She tells them about how her mother died at the hands of her twin brother moments after Alix sacrificed her life for Esther and Athena.

She tells them about how she fell in love with a young man twenty years later only for him and her older brother to betray her, leaving the man's little sister and herself to flee. She explains how she and her siblings have had to run for centuries to get away from Mikael.

Then she gets to the last century.

"I was with Damon at Princeton University. We were on our way to see Bree," Athena began, running a hand through her hair as memories begin to flood her, "he was being a dick as per usual. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him and I didn't want to sleep with Bree that day, so I was going to leave. When I bumped into a young woman named Cassidy.

She and I both apologized for running into each other and then we went to get coffee. We became friends and hung out whenever her class schedule allowed it. We fell in love and then I found out she was from a long line of powerful hunter witches. There I told her about who and what I was. We got married a year later and then..."

Athena pauses and thinks on her next words. Caroline sat up a bit, her brows slightly furrowed. Hayley raised an eyebrow.

"Our magic combined allowed us to conceive a child together," the redhead says softly. Caroline gapes and Hayley sputters. "Her name is Lorelei. Two years later... We had another child. Her name is Davina." She snaps her fingers and a frame appears in her hand.

Athena and Cassidy are standing next to each other, their arms wrapped around one another. Davina is resting on Cassidy's hip while Lorelei is resting on Athena's. In this photo, Lorelei was five and Davina was three.

She handed it to the two women across from her. Hayley grabbed it since Caroline was still in shock. The blonde slowly looked down at the frame without saying anything. Hayley smiled softly, they all looked so happy.

"They're beautiful," the werewolf tells Athena.

The redhead swallows down the emotion building up in her and gives her a smile back, "thank you," she whispers.

Caroline brushes her fingers along the side of Davina's face, looking between the two children. They are beautiful. They have Athena's smile and Lorelei has her mischievous look in her eye while Davina has Athena's fire.

She doesn't remember seeing anyone who would match their descriptions now in the boarding house though. And Cassidy has never made an appearance. Have they been married this whole time?

Athena sees the question in her eyes and begins to explain, "in 2000, our house was attacked by some old enemies of mine. Luna was protecting the girls as best as she could. My brother was also, but he was being swarmed by witches. When I got there, my oldest had protected my brother and he was able to get away, but Lorelei was so focused on him that she didn't see who was coming from behind. I killed the vampire that was going to kill her and Davina. I tried to find Cassidy. I looked and looked, but I wasn't the one who found her. Stefan did," she smiles sadly.

Caroline looks up, remembering that day on the football field when Stefan had lost control. "You want to sink into their neck and bite until their heads lay on the ground, apart from their body."

"Lorelei saw them first. She screamed and I thought I might have died again. I thought she got hurt, but she was looking at something. Stefan was holding Cassidy, draining her of all her blood. I tried to get there, but I was too late," her fingers wrapped around her neck, "he disappeared as her head fell to the ground. I caught her body and could only stare." Tears filled her eyes as she stared down at her hands, remembering the blood that covered them in flashes. "He killed her," she murmured.

Caroline threw herself at Athena, wrapping her arms around the redhead tightly. Athena hugged her back, tears beginning to fall from her eyes as she buried her nose into the blonde's shoulder. Hayley scooted closer and rested the sides of their heads together, wrapping her arm around the Heretic's shoulder.

"I couldn't save her," Athena sobbed, "and then I lost all three of them. They took them from me. I just wanted my daughters." The pain and sorrow in her voice made the other two start to cry too. Hayley kissed Athena's cheek and nuzzled the spot with her nose.

They all held each other for a little while. It took quite some time for Athena to calm down, but when she did, the three continued to stay close. Caroline sat curled in Athena's lap. Hayley ran her fingers soothingly through Athena's hair, her knee against the redhead's thigh.

"I lost my memory of my daughters two years later. It's been eight years since I've been able to hold them," Athena said, pursing her lips and rubbing her eyes. She shook her head slightly, "it's been even longer for my oldest."

Caroline looked up at her with a slightly dry look, "there's another?" She deadpanned.

Athena snorted and nodded. "I have four. Two are my biological. My oldest is the man who betrayed me's sister who I raised. She's very old. Older than Luna. But she stopped aging on her 25th birthday. The next one is my oldests wife. When I lost my memory, they did too," she explains, "my daughter in law lost her parents in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession. She was 18 then and was helping Great Britain in 1705 while my daughter was helping Spain. They met at a bar in Great Britain. They had that forbidden love trope." She rolls her eyes fondly as she thinks about them.

"That was a long time ago. Your daughter-in-law is still alive?" Hayley asked, raising her eyebrow.

Athena merely smiles. "Ace is my grandson," she says and Caroline snorts, amused.

"Daughter and daughter-in-law?" She asked.

"Nope," Athena said, releasing a heavy sigh, "his mother died in 1999. They came to one of my book signings in New Orleans. We were ambushed and his mother was killed. A good friend of mine took Ace to a safe place while I handled the threat. The book store was alright thankfully, my mother-in-law would've had my head on a spike if it wasn't."

"Okay, wait, how many kids do you have?" Hayley asked, counting five right now.

Athena looked up at the ceiling, counting in her head. Caroline stared at her, mouth dropped slightly and an incredulous look in her eyes. "Three biological daughters. Adopted daughter and son. A son-in-law and a daughter-in-law," she said.

"Huh. Not bad considering you're an old fart," Caroline hummed, swaying her head to a song inside of her head. Hayley burst out laughing, grinning. Athena smiled, rolling her eyes despite her amusement. Caroline giggled, scrunching her nose.

"I hate both of you. I won't stand for this slander. So unoriginal," Athena huffs.

Hayley almost fell off the bed, laughing harder as Caroline hid her face in Athena's shoulder.

Athena smiled.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

ATHENA SLID OUT from underneath the two women who were fast asleep and got out of bed. She left the room, heading down the stairs. She needed to get some more blood in her system. Plus the nightmares weren't helping her sleep.

She was walking past the living room when she noticed one of the lamps on. She stopped mid-step and backpedaled, her eyes finding the curled frame of Leah on the couch. The newly turned Hybrid was sitting quietly, staring blankly at the wall in front of her.

Athena had already begun to think of new exercises for Hybrids since their blood lust was a little harder to control than regular vampires. The redhead resumed her walk and went to the blood fridge, plucking a bag of B-negative from the rack and closing it behind her. She grabbed two glasses and then headed back to the living room.

"You know, staring at the wall isn't gonna solve all your problems," Athena says softly as she walks around the couch and sits beside the younger girl. Leah doesn't respond, blinking at the wall. Athena sighs and sets the glasses on the table. She tears open the bag and pours a healthy amount in each cup and sets the blood bag on the table. She takes the two cups and holds one out to Leah. The Hybrid's eyes flick towards it, letting Athena know she's at least awake. "Come on," she drawls, shaking the glass lightly.

Leah sighed and took it, bringing it to her lap with a sad gaze. Athena takes a sip of blood and leans back into the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table. Leah glances at them, making a disgusted face, "you know people eat off that thing," she mutters.

Athena gives her a small smirk, "my money, my table," she says. Leah scoffs through her nose, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Do you remember what happened before you died?" She asked.

Leah looks back down at the glass, her eyes turning sad. "Not really. It's in flashes if I'm being honest. I had a weird feeling that night and I wanted to talk to you about something anyway so I thought, why not crash a party?" Leah swallowed, her lips trembling, "they came out of nowhere. I tried to hold them off, but they were too powerful. I remember the pain from their knives and I remember a lot of blood. Then the next thing I knew, I was suspended in the air and somebody was feeding me a vile of blood, telling me that I'd be okay and that they were sorry they didn't get there sooner. They were wearing a hood and a clock so I couldn't see who it was. But they had dark eyes, almost black."

Athena thinks for a moment. The only blood that could successfully turn somebody into a Hybrid is two pints of Athena's blood from before her mother bound her wolf side that is locked away where nobody in the house knows, and the blood of her daughters Lorelei and Davina.

Athena knows who it was. "Lorelei saved you," she said with a small, pride-filled smile. Leah looked over at her, never having heard her speak her daughter's names.

"But the person touched me and I couldn't feel them," Leah says in confusion, her brows drawing together.

Athena nods, "she was astral projecting. You can see them, but you can't feel them. It goes both ways," she explains. Leah nods her head and looks away. She stares down at the cup of blood and then takes a sip. Athena raises an eyebrow, smiling when the girl scrunches her nose in discomfort. "Don't worry, dear, you'll get used to it," she says, ruffling the Hybrid's hair.

Leah smacks her hand away with a pout. "It tastes heavenly, it's just weird because I know this was in somebody's body at one point," she complains. Athena snorts and takes a sip of her own blood. They sit in silence for the remainder of their drinks and once they are finished, Athena gets up.

She flicks her wrist and the empty glasses disappear. "I'm going to go to bed, darling," she tells Leah who nods. Athena leans down and presses a kiss to the girl's hairline. "I'm happy you're home, love." Leah smiles up at her with glossy eyes and Athena smiles back. The redhead turns and walks up the small set of stairs that lead into the hallway. She pauses before she truly leaves and turns to look at the girl, "by the way, whenever you see Pearl, you should know that she stopped by your grave the other day." Leah looks up at her, eyes wide. Athena smiles, glad to know her feeling was correct, "if you need that advice you were looking for the other day, I'm always free." Then she goes back to her room, leaving the Hybrid.

She pretends not to hear the front door close a minute later when she gets to her room. She smiles softly, shaking her head fondly as she opens the door to her room.

Her smile drops when she sees the light on and Caroline sitting up in bed with her phone in her hand, looking scared. Hayley is sitting up too, a hand on her back and anger in her gaze. Caroline looks up at Athena.

"Bonnie didn't take off the spell," she says.

Finished: October 10th, 2022
Edited:
Word Count: 8270