"go, eden. i...i don't want you here unless you want to be."

—

A LIFE DEBT in the Wizarding World if unpaid could result in catastrophe. Thankfully, Eden had fulfilled her life debts. Almost.

And often, Eden, like many others, didn't focus entirely on owing life debts or saving them. They were more common during the war, but returned soon thereafter, or not at all.

The only unpaid life debt she owed was to Draco Malfoy, but it was substantial and he didn't hold her to anything or demand obligations.

But now, she had two life debts.

One to Draco Malfoy.

And one to Katerina Petrova.

"You do not have to do this, Eden," Elijah reminded her gently, hand moving over her hair softly.

Logically, Eden knew he was right. Katherine had done more damage to her family than good, but she had saved Eden's mind in quite possibly her weakest moment since the Manor. And, indirectly, her life.

Eden couldn't stand aside as Klaus ruined her.

"I know," she nodded, pressing a kiss to his palm. "I'll see you tonight."

"Hurry," Elijah responded. "Klaus will not wait."

"And what are you planning?"

Elijah didn't respond and they both knew what that meant. He was resuming the original plan — the destruction of his own brother. Someone Eden shouldn't care about — and didn't, truly — but that she felt oddly protective over.

She didn't say anything in return, and he sped off.

She supposed silence was as painful as his lies.

Or, at least it hurt just as much.

Eden opened the door to Alaric's apartment with a quick Alohamora, feeling a swell of pride surge through her. That didn't even feel difficult. She'd come so far from that first night in Mystic Falls.

Whether it be the town or the people in it, or simply her own inner strength; Eden was finally on the right path.

"Hello, kitten," Katherine's voice — so like Elena's, and yet, so eerily different — purred as Eden walked inside. "Come to break me free?"

Eden shrugged, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. "No," she answered easily. Katherine's face fell a fraction, a minute detail she would've otherwise missed if she didn't have Elena's face. "Klaus will only chase you again, fueled with more anger and betrayal, and it will only make everything worse."

Katherine crossed her arms. "I didn't take you for someone who doesn't pay their debts," she pointed out coldly.

Eden ignored the jab and continued on. "Draco and I have arranged for you to stay at Narcissa Malfoy's cottage," Katherine's eyes moved to Eden's face, shock written over her own. "You'll be safe there, from anyone else hunting you. Or just...if you want to settle down. But Klaus has to let you go."

"I know you're his...but he won't listen to you about me," Katherine objected, her voice tinged with defeat. "No matter how much you bat your eyes."

"Maybe," Eden agreed. "But he'll trade us."

Katherine sped in front of Eden, looking down at her in confusion. "What?"

"I can't save Elena from Klaus, though I'll try to save her from death, but...I can save you, Katherine. No one has ever saved you."

"What's in it for you?" Katherine demanded immediately; eyes filled with distrust.

Eden was reminded of Pansy then. Suspicious, meticulous, dangerous. Both women were similar in that regard and both of them had a heart buried beneath mountains of pain. And both women had found someone who saw through their Machiavellian demeanor and treasured the heart inside.

"I can meet Klaus properly," Eden answered gently. "In a way he'll be comfortable with. And without...other people's objections and opinions about him; about me."

Katherine watched Eden for a moment. "Elijah doesn't know," she realized softly. "I heard you both out there. He thinks you're okay with Klaus dying, doesn't he?"

Shame flooded Eden's face and she looked away, torn by her own heart. She didn't want to help Klaus, she wanted him dead. But something in her was telling her not to. When she thought about looking him in the eye upon his death, she was filled with revulsion and terror.

"Elijah will come around," Eden half-shrugged. "Klaus is his brother. He doesn't admit it, but he loves him and misses him. He'll never go through with it."

"You really believe that don't you, kitten?" Katherine asked, taking a seat on Alaric's couch.

Eden nodded. "I'm offering myself to Klaus. Wherever he wants to go, for however long. With the condition that I'm allowed to see my Wizarding friends when I wish, and he never hunts you again."

"And if he says no?" Katherine scoffed. "It's not a very compelling argument."

"He won't," Eden replied softly. "I...think he'll be happier if I come willingly. And I really believe he'll be grateful you saved me. It'll ease him."

Katherine looked doubtful. "Fine." She stuck her hand out. "After I'm free, we're even?"

Eden nodded, shaking her hand.

"So, kitten," Katherine clapped her hands together. "Coffee?"

"It'd be my pleasure."

—

Not even fifteen minutes passed before the door opened again and both girls looked to the door with wide eyes.

Eden had poured some bourbon from Alaric's closet — she knew where the good shit was, thanks to Jenna —into the coffee and was quickly becoming inebriated.

For someone who enjoyed drinking, she'd somehow become quite a lightweight.

Klaus looked simultaneously confused and furious to find Eden in the apartment, and he made it clear with the glare he shot the girls.

"Something you'd like to confess?" He asked, nostrils flaring.

"Alright, ya've got me," Eden nodded, her accent thicker with the alcohol. "I did not put my name in the Goblet of Fire." She burst into giggles, remembering Harry's tumultuous experience with their classmates after Crouch Jr. put his name into the cup.

Her thoughts shifted to Cedric and she sniffled, a sad look coming over her face. "But y'know what happens to people who do it, anyway?" She rambled to the two confused vampires. "They die." Eden shrugged. "Ced's dead." She snorted. "Morbid, but that rhymed. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Is she drunk?" Klaus' attention turned to Katherine. "You've invited in my Valinn and inebriated her the night of my ritual?" He sped in front of Katherine and as he moved to grab her, Eden put her wand to his throat.

"I'll petrificy you." She paused. "Wrong word. Hang on, I'm just a wee bit tipsy. Katherine, can I have some water?"

Katherine nodded, eager to be away from Klaus, and sped to the kitchen, then back to Eden with a glass of water.

"Woosh, woosh," Eden babbled, taking a sip. "All you lot do is woosh around everywhere. Wish I had super speed. I'd be like Grant Gustin only hotter." She paused, then pouted. "No, he's way hotter than me."

"I sincerely doubt that," Klaus mumbled, and then his eyes widened as though he didn't mean to say that.

Eden grinned, a light tinge to her cheeks. "You think I'm hot, Klaus?"

"Why're you here, Eden?" He asked, changing subjects.

"Oh," Eden shrugged. "I'm freeing Katherine because she's way cooler than I thought she was." She took another sip of her water, the buzz dimming a bit. "And I owe her a life debt. This is me repaying it."

"I'm not solving your problems for you," Klaus countered, scoffing. "Figure out how to help her yourself."

"She saved me, Klaus," Eden set the water down. "When Damon locked me in that basement, I was losing my mind. Genuinely. If she hadn't rescued me, I'd probably be in St. Mungo's by now."

Klaus' face tightened at her words and a flicker of emotion passed over it. He looked from Katherine to Eden. "I'm not stopping my ritual, Eden."

"I didn't ask you to," she replied gently. "I haven't asked you to, not once. Not since Elijah told me about us."

His face darkened at the mention of his brother. "No, but I'm sure our dear Elijah has plans for my death. And you're more than happy to go along with it, so long as you get to be together, right?"

Eden felt like she'd been slapped, and it must have shown on her face. He opened his mouth to say something but noticed Katherine slowly inching away from them. His eyes turned to her. "You're staying put, Katerina."

Eden crossed her arms. "No, she isn't. Let her go."

"No."

"You're already killing my niece tonight, do you really have to make me suffer with the consequences of a life debt, too?"

Klaus' face twisted and he seemed to roll his eyes. "Are you always this bloody irritating?"

"I'm actually quite pleasant," she responded with a scowl. "You just happen to bring out the worst in everyone. Probably because you're a total dick."

"People who want things from me don't usually demean me in during their demands," he told her coldly.

Eden stared up at him defiantly, matching his glare with her own anger. "Well, people are usually afraid of you. So far, I just want to break your stupid face."

"You enjoy my face," he smirked down at her. "Admit it."

"Let Katherine go."

"Admit it."

"If you let her go, you have me," she bargained, softening a fraction. "Let her be free. Permanently. Don't chase her again. And I'm with you."

Confusion filled his gaze and he took a step back as if the words actually pushed him. "What?" He breathed out.

"Let her go and I'm yours."

"Don't—" his hand clenched. "Don't say that. Don't just toss those words around, Eden, you can't — Katerina," he sped to her. "If I ever see you again, I will kill you. But I will no longer hunt you and if you tell anyone of my mercy on you in an attempt to gain power, I want you to take a stake and drag it through your heart," he compelled her. "Go."

Katherine was gone in an instant, leaving a heaving Klaus and mildly surprised Eden.

"Do not ever try to bargain yourself," he whirled around on her, glaring down at her. "You think that's what I want from you?" He asked furiously, barely restraining his voice from a shout. "To keep you as some sort of prisoner for my own..." he grimaced, looking ill at the thought.

"You truly think me despicable, don't you," his eyes flickered over her face. "I don't want to kill Elena, Eden. I want the doppelganger dead and my curse broken. She just so happens to be your niece." He shook his head. "Go, Eden. I...I don't want you here unless you want to be."

Frowning, Eden watched his emotions flicker and still as he looked away. Hiding from her and himself.

"No, Klaus," she placed a hand on his arm and his eyes found it immediately. "I...this is all super confusing for me, okay? A month ago, I was planning how I'd kill you. And now...I'm being told that you're another part of me and my boyfriend, who is coincidentally, your brother, is trying to kill you, despite our connection. Which, might I add," she continued. "You've yet to properly explain to me. So, I offered a way for Katherine to get out and for me to ask questions and —"

"—I don't want to be your owner, Eden, you're not a slave—"

"—That is so not what I was doing—"

"—It definitely felt like it. Moving from one prison to the next —"

"—Hang on, have you owned people before? Were you a slave owner?"

His face darkened into a cold fury. "Never, ever insinuate that about me, Eden." He spoke lowly, eyes meeting hers, blazing a storm. "Not for a single second. I've done terrible things, and I will continue doing them, but I've never committed a crime I cannot justify."

Eden stilled, nodding at his words. She didn't fear him, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, but a part of her...she understood why people did. If that's how he looked when truly angry...she never wanted to see it again.

"I don't know what you want from me," she admitted softly. "I don't...I can't give you what you're asking. My heart belongs to Elijah—"

"—Please, don't say that, Eden—"

"—And," she continued, ignoring the way her stomach filled with butterflies at the sound of him pleading. "You're hurting my family tonight. Irreparably so. Jenna is a very forgiving person, and she's forgiven a lot of people for a lot of things, but I don't think she could forgive either of us if I...accepted this. Accepted you."

He winced, the words hitting him. She didn't mean to be harsh or seem inconsiderate, but she didn't even understand the connection with him. At least, in the Wizarding World, soulmates were brought to the attention of Muggleborns at age eleven, and then slowly understood until they were of age. But this?

What the hell was she supposed to do with this?

"Just go," he responded quietly. "You paint me in the worst light, Eden, and I don't think my words will change that. The Salvatores, my brother...you've been warped against me, and I haven't had a chance to prove myself."

"So, prove yourself," Eden begged. "Tell me about this, about our connection."

"And then what?" Klaus asked, moving away from her. His presence was different now. He felt...smaller. Like a kicked puppy. "You'll run away into the sunset with me?" He scoffed. "I was a fool coming here with the idea that you'd...but you'll be happy." He rolled his eyes. "So just go. I'll presume to see you at my ritual tonight?"

Eden nodded; words stuck in her throat.

"He won't succeed in killing me."

"Everyone always leaves eventually," Eden replied softly.

She didn't say anything else, feeling strangely...sad about the entire situation. She walked to the door and with a small glance back, finding Klaus pondering a glass of bourbon with a devastated look on his face, she left.

—

"The sacrifice is completed in stages as the full moon sets," Elijah explained to them all as he opened the car door for Eden. Ever the gentleman. "First the werewolf is killed, then the vampire, finally the doppelganger."

"Have we figured out who the vampire is?" Eden asked curiously, looking between Elijah, Stefan, and Alaric.

Elijah's head tilted a fraction. "Klaus is poetic and vain. He'll want someone to complete the sense of power breaking the ritual will grant him. If it's not Katerina, as you claim, Eden, then I am unsure. It could be anyone from our past."

"Has anyone else escaped him like Katherine?" Stefan asked dubiously.

Elijah's soft sigh answered their question. "Once Elena dies," he continued as they walked to the abandoned witch's house. "The curse will be broken. Klaus will become hybrid."

Eden hated the surge of happiness Elijah's words brought to her. It felt like a part of her was betraying the rest of her. Klaus claimed he didn't want her to be his, and yet, she knew a piece of her already was. Elijah's gaze snapped to hers and she felt a pang of jealousy, then sadness.

She'd forgotten they could feel one another's emotions. She wished she could explain how confused she felt. How she loved Elijah, and only felt bound to Klaus. She wished she knew how to break her connection to Klaus.

"So when do we attack?" Alaric asked.

"Elena's death will activate his dormant werewolf side," Elijah explained. Eden winced a bit, recalling Remus' howls of pain during each shift. She hoped she wasn't connected to Klaus in the way that she could feel his pain. "He'll be vulnerable during the transformation. That's when Bonnie comes in."

"And you're sure Bonnie will survive this?" Stefan asked Elijah.

Eden couldn't bring herself to truly care whether or not Bonnie survived, too overcome with her own emotions that apathy was all she could offer the younger witch.

"If she can deliver him to the brink of death," Elijah clarified, "I'll finish the job myself."

Eden looked away from them all at Elijah's words, feeling nauseas. She hated the idea of Klaus being right. His words echoed in her mind.

"I'm sure our dear Elijah has plans for my death. And you're more than happy to go along with it, so long as you get to be together, right?"

Eden hated that he could be right. That he would just be...dead.

But it was good that he died, right? She'd wanted it for months now, ever since she'd first met Elijah. But to be killed by your own brother when trying to break himself free from a curse? Did Klaus truly deserve that?

In technicality, all Klaus was trying to do was become his true self. His destiny. And if Elena weren't involved...

She hated that trail of thought. The rational, logical side. She wanted to throw it in a bin and never look at it again.

—

"Bonnie did the locator spell," Elijah informed Eden and Stefan. "They're at Steven's quarry."

Eden was leaning against a tree, her limbs weak and head throbbing. She was building up a sweat, feeling like her skin was on fire, but she couldn't figure out why. Elijah moved to her side and brushed back a piece of her hair.

"Sweet girl," he muttered, pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. "Elskan, this is worse than I thought."

Eden nodded, leaning against him. He pulled her close, speaking with Stefan in low tones, but Eden could hardly hear them over the sound of her own heartbeat. Was it always this loud? Always this heavy in her chest? Her entire body ached, sluggish. She felt disoriented and confused and snuggled against Elijah's chest.

"Love you," she mumbled against him. A burst of happiness hit her, and she smiled at the idea of making him happy. He pressed a kiss to her head.

"You're ill, sæta," he sighed. He looked to Stefan again. "She's...connected to Klaus," he admitted begrudgingly.

"Valinn," Eden added, trying to be helpful. "That's the term for it. Supposedly. Valinn makes me think of Vader. I always had a thing for Darth Vader."

"I don't find that the least bit surprising," Elijah smirked a bit.

Stefan looked between the two. "Don't...is she his soulmate, too? I thought — I thought you could only have one."

Elijah tensed. "It's...not common to have multiple, but it has happened. That isn't the case with Eden and Klaus, they're—"

"—Is it some sort of spell?" Stefan inquired. "Can Bonnie put a stop to it?"

"Bonnie rhymes with Ronnie. I miss Ron."

Elijah resumed his hand in Eden's hair, quieting her again. "It's a complicated connection that even I have not learned the true extent of. I had no intention of breaking it until I realized Eden was my soulmate."

Stefan walked closer to the pair. "What are you saying, Elijah? You want to turn sides?"

"I want to keep Eden safe," Elijah answered calmly. "That is my purest intention. Everything else comes after."

Stefan's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to kill Klaus?"

"I will do what I must," Elijah answered evenly.

"You will try," Eden stood straighter. "Ahhhhhh!" She shouted, holding up her wand. "Pretend this is a lightsaber," she told the pair. "Why are there three of you?"

"Eden, now's not the time," Stefan snapped. "Are you killing him, Elijah? I need your word."

Elijah hesitated, glancing to Eden. "I will do everything in my power to kill him," he promised. "But if it means losing Eden, I cannot swear that to you."

"This whole plan is contingent upon you, Elijah," Stefan reminded him. "I know I've wanted to kill my brother a thousand times, but...I've never been able to."

Elijah steadied Eden, who fumbled a bit, clutching her head. "Klaus was not my only brother," he revealed. "I had siblings. Parents. I had a family. Klaus hunted them down and took them from me. He scattered them across the seas where their bodies could not be found."

"That is super dark," Eden grumbled. "My vision and your story. I hate Klaus." She looked up at the pair. "Hey, we should kill him," she suggested.

"You want revenge," Stefan concluded, glancing to Eden, who was busying herself with her jacket, stripping of it and fanning herself.

Elijah paused. "Sometimes there's honor in revenge, Stefan."

Eden shook her head. "Nope, nope," she declared. "That is a dangerous slope, my love. Lots of people I know have gone down a terrible path with that mindset."

"I won't fail you," Elijah told Stefan.

"Please end this," Stefan replied, walking off.

"End me, more like," Eden sighed. "I feel like shit."

Elijah turned back to her, resting his hand against her cheek. "I know, Elskan, I'm sorry. It'll be over soon."

"Think you'll love me t'morrow?" Eden asked, nuzzling against Elijah's chest. "And the next day and the next? That's a looonnngg time, Lij."

"Oh, Eden," Elijah whispered, pressing a kiss to her head. "I'm so sorry for what this is doing to you."

"Just sick," Eden wrapped her arms around his middle. "Been through worse."

Elijah didn't respond to that and Eden fell asleep standing to the sound of his heartbeat.

—

Eden followed Elijah, Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon outside the witch's house, stumbling over herself. Alaric trailed behind her, but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"Bonnie!" He shouted. "What is this?"

"I've got you, Elskan," Elijah guided Eden, who felt like death incarnate. "Just breathe."

"Make it go away," she whimpered, leaning against him. He picked her up easily, walking them away from the others to the car. "Please, Lij, just wanna feel better."

"I know, Kærasta," he opened the car door and slipped her into the seat, buckling her up. "Trust me, I'm trying."

"I can't trust you," Eden muttered, eyes closing again. "But I..."

—

Eden was on fire.

It was the cruciatus, it had to be. Every part of her body burned. She couldn't move her limbs, couldn't control her screaming, but she could hear it.

Someone was holding her, stopping her from convulsing, but she could still feel it. She was crying, her mind was breaking, her bones were snapping.

Everything was wrong.

This was worse than the cruciatus. It was torment, it was pure hell. It was unbearable. She wanted to die. She wanted the flames to eat her alive and then —

Trembling, Eden lifted herself up. Was she supposed to watch it happen? This felt cruel.

Their shadows, Elijah's hand in Klaus' chest. Only, she could feel it, too. Her heart was slowly being ripped from her chest, each tendon tying it to her organs was shredding, snapping.

She could hear it; couldn't Elijah hear it?

"Please," she whispered, weak. She tried to move her limbs. Tried to go to them. She had to tell him. Had to get him to stop. It was too much.

Mustering the only strength she had, Eden pulled herself upright and stumbled over, clutching her chest and falling halfway into the open field. The calmness of the lake taunted her. She longed to feel such serenity, such clarity, in simply existing.

To allow other creatures to thrive in murky depths below, without a question of whether or not they deserve it. She couldn't stop to wonder if Klaus deserved this. Did Elijah deserve revenge? Justifiably so. Yes, he did. And Eden deserved the pain this entire night had caused her.

But did Elijah deserve to kill his younger brother? Someone he once devoted most of his existence to. A person he'd sworn to protect. Promised to love and care for.

And did Klaus truly deserve to die at the hands of his former best friend? The one person he depended on for centuries, and only days after meeting the person he was destined for. Klaus' head turned to Eden, and their eyes met.

Then Eden felt it.

The same tug, the pulling she'd felt with Elijah once she'd accepted their bond. But it was different now. Heavier. It pulled her heart back into her chest, let blood flow through her veins again. It was raw and powerful and eternal and she didn't realize how much she needed it.

"Elijah, stop," she spoke up, slowly moving towards them again.

"Eden, he killed them all," Elijah snarled, a murderous look on his face. It was the first time she'd ever seen him with such unrestrained fury. And she wanted to take it away from him, take away his pain, his anger.

She recalled Klaus only hours prior, the same look in his eyes. They were so bruised, so bloodied from a war they'd been fighting their entire lives, but never stopped to understand why.

"I didn't bury them at sea," Klaus ground out.

Eden met Klaus' eyes again and she softened.

"Spare him and you all die," Bonnie called out from a few meters away.

"Stop," Eden spoke again. "If you kill him, I die."

Klaus met Elijah's gaze then, tearful. "Don't, Elijah," he begged softly.

For a moment, Eden felt as though she were intruding on something so personal and intimate between two brothers. A moment of clarity, of honor, of integrity. But then realized they were coming to the understanding because of her, not in spite of her.

Elijah pulled his hand back. "We'll come for you," he told Eden softly. "Be good."

And then they were gone.

But so was the pain.

Eden fell onto her back, panting, gasping for air and holding her chest, eyes closing in relief. She allowed herself a moment to breath before gathering her thoughts.

Elena.

Eden jumped into action, rushing across the field, ignoring Bonnie's shouts, kneeling down at Elena's side.

She checked her pulse.

None.

She pulled out her wand and aimed it at Elena's chest, using the spell Draco had conditioned into her mind after she explained the ritual. Elena's back arched and then fell flat again.

"Come on, darling," she mumbled, casting the spell again. At the same time, Stefan was opening her mouth, pouring a vial of blood replenishing potion into it. "Please, please, 'Lena, don't die on me."

They waited, checked her pulse.

Nothing.

Another cast. Another vial.

They waited, checked her pulse.

"She's got a pulse," Eden exclaimed, relief surging through her. She let out a sob, wrought with emotions from the entire ordeal and the pain she'd felt earlier, resting her head against Elena's chest. "You're okay, love. You're okay. We're all okay."

—

next chapter we get the road trip + damon with a werewolf bite oooooh will klaus heal him after what he put eden through? idkkkkk. also if anyone was wondering who the vampire was, it wasn't important in this chapter but it IS important. and no, it wasn't jenna. klaus doesn't want to harm eden or her family, but didn't have a choice with elena. hope you guys were okay with this? ik she wasn't SUPER involved in the ritual, but it was doing a LOT to her physically. we'll get into more details with this later. dw gang. i'm SO hyped for what's coming y'all have no freaking idea.