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It Still Hurts

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YET ANOTHER VICTIM of a werewolf bite. Damon would be dead in a matter of a day at the most. The bite was already turning black and purple, veins crawling up his arm. It was only a matter of time before it reached his heart and killed him. Klaus wouldn't care. After all, all he wanted was to break his curse, take his sister, build his army, and reunite his family. He didn't care what happened to anyone else.

"So that's what a werewolf bite looks like," Katherine observed, peering over at the wound with a shaking Athena next to her. She had only been back for a few days and people were already dying. Death followed her whereever she went. First she and her siblings, and now the residents of Mystic Falls that were aware of the supernatural.

Damon nodded. "Yep."

Katherine studied it closer and then shrugged to show that it wasn't really as bad as she assumed it would be. She had never seen a werewolf bite before, never planned on it either. They were nasty things. "It's not that bad."

"Will be."

Damon stood up and rolled up his sleeve to cover the injury. Athena sighed, looking up at him even though he wasn't looking at her at all. "So you're going to die? There's nothing we can do to stop it?"

He looked at her. "Well, that depends. You know anything about a cure?" Little did they know, they would have a cure pretty soon. The sacrifice was happening while they were talking and Athena couldn't help but keep thinking about the people who would lose their lives. Elena, Jenna, and whoever Klaus chose as his werewolf. Elijah must have been with the others because she hadn't seen him in a while. Katherine and Athena both shook their heads. "Me, either."

Damon grabbed his jacket off the couch and put it on casually. Katherine leaned against the counter. "145 years and no last goodbye?" Her comment was meant to tease him but it seemed like he thought she was serious. The doppelganger knew he would survive the bite somehow.

"You don't get a goodbye," Damon replied.

He turned his back on them. Right before he could leave, Katherine sped in front of him, placing her hand on his chest. Athena raised an eyebrow, watching with confusion. "No. Don't leave mad."

"Us ending up on good terms isn't exactly on my bucket list, Katherine," Damon told her, rolling his eyes.

Damon attempted to leave again, but Katherine persisted. Athena felt awkward for sitting in the room. This was two people saying goodbye after knowing each other for over a century. Sure, Katherine had been the death of them, quite literally, but they still cared about each other at one point. "Klaus made me call Jenna to lure her out. There was nothing that I could do. I didn't have a choice," Katherine pointed out.

"That's why I gave you the vervain. So you had a choice," he hissed.

"It was her or me. I chose her."

Athena frowned at her statement. Katherine did look out for herself. In fact, she had for over four hundred years. She had gotten good at closing herself off and giving other people up in order to protect herself and to survive. Even though she couldn't quite understand it, the idea did make sense. Klaus chased Katherine all of those years. The only choice she had was to run. Giving herself up wasn't an option.

"I helped you. You owed me. Now when Klaus dies, you're going to walk out of here without a scratch and Elena's aunt dies. Somehow you're the only one that wins. How'd that happen?" Damon asked.

Katherine remained emotionless as she replied, "I didn't let love get in the way." It was the cold hard truth. She let men trail after her and she gave herself to them to amuse herself. Then when she was bored of them, she let them go.

"Enjoy an eternity alone, Katherine."

Damon walked past Katherine and she turned to look at him, calling out,  "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to offer myself as a replacement to Klaus."

"He won't take you. He saw your bite, he said that your blood is impure. I'm sorry, Damon. But Jenna's dead, there's nothing you can do about it."

Damon ignored her and left. Athena turned away and looked at her hands in her lap. Jenna was dead. Katherine was right. There was nothing they could do to change that or stop it. Unless someone offered to replace her. But even then, Klaus might not agree.

Katherine turned to Athena who had gone over to the couch and wrapped a blanket around herself. She wasn't looking at the doppelganger and so Katherine went over and sat next to her. "I'm sorry Athena. I really am."

"Even if you didn't do what he asked, I still would've lost someone anyway. It was either you, Jenna or Caroline. But that doesn't mean it still hurts."

She laid her head on Katherine lap and Katherine shushed her as she told her that everything was going to be alright. Both of them knew that that was a lie. Nothing would be okay ever again. Because Athena was now apart of the supernatural. And nothing would be the same as when she was only a child running in a field with her siblings.

"What will happen to me?" Athena asked Katherine fearfully. "What will happen to me once Jenna dies?"

It hadn't taken long for her to figure out that Jenna was part of her pack. She could feel the same emotion running through her veins that she felt with Katherine: a sense of wanting to protect her pack. But she couldn't. The second she would arrive, Klaus would kill Jenna right in front of her. What was worse: knowing and seeing it happen or not knowing and waiting?

Katherine sighed and continued smoothing Athena's hair down, trying to comfort her. "I don't know," she answered honestly.

Athena had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, a worry. Something was going to happen. And it wasn't going to be according to plan. Whatever it was, it didn't matter anymore. This was happening. The sacrifice was happening. Minutes had passed when the hybrid got a strange feeling in her stomach. She winced, clutching it. Katherine noticed and grew concerned. "Athena? What's wrong?"

The girl sat up, shaking her head. "I don't know." She stood up and began to pace. Jenna's name kept repeating in her head. She was waiting until she felt the woman's life slip away. Katherine followed her.

"Is it Jenna?"

Athena shook her head again. "I don't know." Continuing to pace, the pain dulled. She sighed in relief, finally stopping to take a deep breath. Katherine herself looked relieved. For a second there, she truly thought that the girl was going to die. She couldn't lose her.

Katherine smiled, going over to her. "Better?"

Athena began to nod but then she fell to the floor screaming in pain. She screamed Jenna's name over and over in agony, feeling like a string had detached. A pair of scissors can by and sniped the string. Jenna was gone. The feeling only intensified as Klaus crushed Jenna's heart over the fire, oblivious to how much pain his sister was in.

The brunette covered her ears from the sound, forcing herself to go over to Athena and to hold her. It wouldn't help. Athena sobbed into Katherine's arms. "No Jenna. No. No. No." She cried in agony, never knowing pain quite like this.

Suddenly, her bones started to crack. Athena's yells grew louder. But not even Katherine could help her now. The full moon shone outside, clouds rolling past. Klaus looked up at the sky, feeling his transformation slowly working its way through his body. He felt free. Katherine let Athena's body go and covered her mouth in horror.

"Athena! Athena!" Katherine yelled as she tried to make the young girl stop yelling.

Athena looked up and her eyes turned a bright violet and her veins came out as her bones continued breaking. "What's happening to me?" she asked through the pain. Katherine couldn't answer. She didn't know what was happening. One thing was for sure, whatever was happening to her, was not intentionally. If it was, Klaus would've stopped it from happening.

Then it hit her. Katherine gaped in shock. Klaus was breaking his curse. What if the curse that kept Athena in the coffin was the same one as the one on Klaus? Or a similar one at least. So there was no way for her to help the girl. Athena was on her own. "Kat! Help me!" Athena cried through the pain.

Katherine felt tears leave her eyes as she tried to calm her down. This was horrifying to watch, even for her. Watching as a child was turning into a hybrid just like her brother was nothing to smile about. "Shhh, Athena. It's ok. Everything's going to be ok."

But Athena only continued to scream. White hot pain flooded her body and the only thing she could do was lie on the floor. It was almost like she couldn't feel a thing and yet she could feel everything at the same time. This was worse than having a sword driven through your stomach.

———

At the sacrifice sight, Bonnie was chanting a spell, causing trees to fall down. Klaus screamed in pain, lying against the rocks behind the fire where he had broken his curse. He was vulnerable. Elijah approached him and that's when Bonnie stopped chanting.

"Elijah?" Klaus spoke just above a whisper. He held a hand out to his brother, pleading silently.

"Hello, brother," Elijah greeted. With one motion, he thrust his arm into Klaus's chest, grabbing ahold on his heart. "In the name of our family, Niklaus-" He twisted the heart and was about to pull it out when Klaus exclaimed to him.

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus exclaimed.

That made Elijah stop. "What?" It was like that moment in your life when you realize that everything you were, everything you had was all just a lie. For years he had spent hating Klaus for throwing his siblings into the sea. He couldn't comprehend how he could be so selfish as to not think of their sister who was lost.

"Their bodies are safe," Klaus told him. "If you kill me, you'll never find them. Think, we finally found Athena, our little sister. Think of how broken she will be."

Stefan was watching from nearby, recovering from a wound in his chest from a stake. "Elijah! Don't listen to him."

But the Original wasn't listening to him. Klaus put a hand on Elijah's shoulder, looking right into his eyes. If he died at the hands of his brother, that would be the end of their family. Knowing that they had destroyed themselves rather than others. "Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word...brother."

Something that was an importance in their family was giving their word to each other, the promises they made. None of them ever went back on it. Klaus giving his word made Elijah have second thoughts. If he killed his brother now, his siblings would be truly lost and he would never find them.

"Do it and I'll take you both out," Bonnie threatened when she saw him second-guessing himself.

"You'll die," Elijah pointed out.

"I don't care."

Elijah looked down at Klaus who was still silently pleading him not to do it. He looked back up at Bonnie and Stefan. "I'm sorry." Both of them ran toward the two Originals. Klaus smiled in relief, sighing. Before they could get close, Elijah grabbed Klaus and sped off. He eventually stopped running and set his brother down so he could continue the transformation.

"Find her Elijah. Go to Alaric's. Get our sister before they take her from us," Klaus directed.

He nodded to him and flashed away.

———

Athena was still screaming as the rest of her bones broke. Tears were streaming down her face which left hot marks. Everything in her body was hurting. Katherine was at lost of what to do, watching with her own tears. Elijah arrived and saw.

"Athena!" he exclaimed as he bent down next to her as she screamed.

"Elijah? What's happening to her?" Katherine asked with worry. He didn't seem to have an answer himself from the look on his face. But then he understood. Klaus broke his curse and was transforming into a hybrid at that same exact moment. Athena was doing the same even though she didn't do the sacrifice with him.

He shook his head, still not fully understanding how this could be. "She's transforming into a werewolf." There was a moment of silence between the two, besides Athena's screaming. "I have to take her to Niklaus. He can protect her."

Katherine nodded and smiled sadly at the girl. "You'll be okay, Athena." She pressed one last kiss to her head and then allowed Elijah to picked Athena up. The two flashed to the forest where Klaus was and Katherine was left alone. She laid her head on the couch and let one more tear fall.

———

Elijah reached Klaus's location where he was almost done transforming. He set Athena down and Klaus saw her, his eyes glowing a gold tint. "Athena!" Klaus managed to say through the pain. His sister was in pain and he could almost feel it in his body. She was right across from him, yelling and sobbing.

"She's transforming Niklaus. I don't know how but we'll figure it out. I'll be watching nearby," Elijah told him.

He flashed away, leaving the two alone. Suddenly both of the hybrid's screams died down. The forest was quiet until there was a howl from one of the newly transformed wolves. Klaus and Athena had turned into their wolves. They had become who they were meant to be for years.

Athena's wolf stayed on the floor for a few seconds as she whimpered at the loss of her pack mate. Klaus's wolf walked over and nudged the little wolf with his snout. She looked over at him and stood up, lowering her head. As if to apologize for what he did, Klaus's wolf continued to rub his snout against her's.

She hadn't forgiven him but her wolf growled playfully at him. Klaus's wolf growled playfully back and then they sprinted off into the woods together. The full moon was bright above them and a sound could be heard by all of the supernatural beings of Mystic Falls. Two wolves howling into the night. Two hybrids.

———

The funeral for both Jenna and John was a tearful one. Damon stood alone, a distance away from the group. Stefan came up to him. "We're going to head back to the house."

"I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes," Damon responded bitterly.

His brother sighed, casting a glance over at Elena who was touching Jenna's grave with tears going down her face. She sniffled and stood up, allowing Alaric to embrace her. Stefan looked back Damon. "Damon, she needs us right now. All of us."

"And then what's the plan, Stefan?" he questioned. "The curse is broken. How does one go about killing an all-powerful wolf-vamp and his two-faced older brother? And their younger sister who is no longer in the apartment with Katherine."

Stefan shook his head. "I have no idea. But we can't kill Athena. She's innocent and a child, Damon."

He didn't care and scoffed at Stefan. "We need to get an idea. Fast. I don't care if Athena is innocent. She is their sister and a hybrid just like Klaus. She can easily manipulate people into getting what she wants. They're all the same."

———

In the woods of Mystic Falls, there are two wolfs who were running around. Blood covered the one's fur while the other one was completely clean. The female sent the male a wolfy grin. Campers were up ahead and the two smelt them. Klaus's wolf looked over the edge of the cliff, his sister's wolf on his side. She growled at him and he listened, racing off after the humans below.

How was it possible that Athena was part werewolf? How could she be a hybrid like Klaus? What will she do when things only get more intense? The reason being that she had become a true Mikaelson. A true Original Hybrid. And what would she do when both of her parents came back to life, along with her siblings being undaggered? What would she do when the twist happened?

———

What did you think about Athena transforming?

Why do you think she transformed the same time Klaus did?

What do you think about Katherine and Athena's friendship?

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