the end of everything

"WHY WOULD KLAUS GIVE CAROLINE AND TYLER UP TO YOU?" Alaric questioned Athena as he followed her through the woods towards the ruins, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Athena rolled her shoulders back, keeping her gaze forward so Alaric couldn't see her hesitation. "Maybe he was feeling gratuitous, I didn't linger long."

Alaric eyes her warily as they come to a stop outside of the tomb. "Are you sure he's not–" Alaric's words stop abruptly and Athena snaps around, her dark eyes widening when she sees an unfamiliar man standing before her, his hand outstretched in Alaric's direction.

The history teacher grunts, his hands scrambling up at his throat as he struggles to breathe around the invisible fist wrapped around his throat.

Athena swings her arm out, a dagger appearing in her hand that she points at the witch. "Klaus sent us here, there's no need to fight,"

The witch chuckles. "You expect me to believe Klaus gave them up?"

"Sorry the message wasn't passed on, asshole," Athena grits her teeth, taking a few wide steps away from the man glaring at her. "Let him go and you can live."

"Not gonna happen, sweetheart,"

She grunts in disgust, swiping her arm out and letting go of the dagger, watching it lodge itself into his throat with ease. The witch falls to his knees, his hands grasping at his neck as blood spurts out of his neck.

Alaric took in a greedy breath, his eyes full of gratitude as he took in air fast enough to make him lightheaded. Athena nods silently, her eyes shifting out across the woods. Brows furrowing, she feels something tweak at her senses and she holds a hand up to Alaric, halting his movements.

"What?"

"There's someone else," Athena looks out, eyes narrowing as she looks between the trees and along the property lines.

Before Alaric can question her, a bullet soars through the air and Athena turns her head just as it brushes through her dark hair. She watches in disbelief as the wooden bullet sails by, her eyes snapping to the blond boy standing a few feet away from them. "What the hell was that, Matt?"

"You're a vampire, aren't you? All of you," Matt shakes his head, a crazed look in his eyes. "And Stefan and Damon, they killed Vicki."

Athena grits her teeth and shakes her head. "They didn't kill Vicki, Matt. Vicki died from an animal attack–"

"Bullshit!" He calls, faces turning red with rage. "I've been taking vervain, Athena. Caroline's compulsion hasn't worked on me."

Her eyes widen and she inhales sharply, still eyeing down the barrel of his gun. "I'm trying to save Caroline's life right now, Matt, and I can't do that when you're shooting at me. Just let Alaric explain everything to you while I–"

Matt cuts her off, shooting a bullet at the ground near her feet.

Athena chuckles emptily and stalks forward, making Matt scramble to shoot again. Gritting her teeth, Athena grabs the barrel of the gun and bends it, the metal creaking dangerously. She yanks it from his hand and slams the butt of the gun into his head, his body dropping limply onto the ground.

"Oh, god," Alaric winces, eyes wide. "Is he alive?"

"Sadly," Athena rolls her eyes, throwing the gun off carelessly. "Stay out here while I get them."

Alaric shakes his head. "Wait, what if somebody else comes?"

Athena holds her hand out, a stake appearing in it that he warily takes. "Just use that. I'll be right back,"

Alaric nods, gripping the stake tight as Athena heads into the cave. "Be careful."

──────

"I screwed up," Damon pinches the bridge of his nose, standing before Stefan while Jenna relaxed in a room somewhere, trying to cope with the scary reality she'd been thrown into. Elena was off somewhere in the boarding house, finding ways to waste time while her life teetered on the line.

Stefan nods, not bothering to pity his brother. "Yeah, you did,"

"I was just–" Damon grimaces, stopping himself from speaking words he didn't even want to accept out loud. "I need to apologize to her."

Stefan's eyes widen briefly, but he nods again. "That's a good start, probably,"

"How can I apologize if she won't even talk to me?"

"Look," Stefan sighs, shaking his head at his brother's exasperation. "Athena's stubborn, but if she knows you mean it, she'll listen. But you have to mean it, Damon. You screwed up big time. I– I don't even fully comprehend your relationship with Athena, but you two are close, and I realize that she went behind your back and didn't tell you Bonnie was going to die, but she was doing it to keep all of us safe."

Damon clenches his jaw, suddenly remembering that Stefan didn't even know Bonnie was alive. With his compulsion, they couldn't risk anything slipping. "Yeah, I know,"

"And you know Bonnie would've done it with or without Athena's help. She was doing what she thought was the right thing."

"I know," Damon mutters, thinking of how Bonnie had scolded him when he'd told her what he said to Athena. His phone vibrates and he quickly pulls it from his pocket, seeing the text from Alaric.

'Klaus let Athena take Tyler and Caroline. I think she made a deal with him.'

Sucking in a sharp breath, Damon stops his brother before he can leave the room. "Hey, Stefan?"

Stefan hums, looking at his brother.

"Promise me you won't get yourself killed tonight,"

Stefan frowns, looking at Damon confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

Damon shakes his head, not divulging anything else. "Just promise me. Or promise Athena. Just stay out of it as much as possible,"

Stefan slowly nods, giving his brother an odd look before he leaves the room, seeking out solace in his bedroom while the hours dwindle and the moon begins to rise.

──────

Elena steps out of Jenna's room, shutting the door behind her gently so she doesn't disturb her sleep. She looks around but doesn't hear anybody in the house, so she huffs a short breath and walks into a bathroom a few doors down, locking the door tightly behind her.

She walks to the counter and takes her bag off her shoulder, setting it down on the smooth surface before beginning to dig through it.

Momentarily, she pulls out the glass vial she'd been given days ago by John and she switches it gently between her hands.

Stefan might defend her until he dies, but Athena would never give up on getting rid of Elena. Perhaps this would solve both problems. Stefan wouldn't sacrifice himself for her, and Athena could leave her alone.

She thinks of Katherine's advice from months ago in the tomb, and how she told Elena the story of how she became a vampire. At the time, she condemned her doppelgänger's selfishness, but now it seemed that Katherine was right.

No one else was going to save her, she had to play the cards she was dealt. And the vial of blood in her hands was her winning card. She had no other option, as she saw it.

Quickly uncapping the cork, Elena doesn't allow herself another second to think about it and she swallows the bitter blood with a painful grimace as it pools in her mouth and trails down her throat. The consistency nearly makes her gag, but she swallows it all and audibly winces at the taste.

Meeting her reflection in the mirror, Elena clenched the now-empty vial in her hand. She was doing the right thing. Nobody needed to know just yet.

──────

Athena stirs in the silence of the night, her eyes flickering up to the full moon above her where she stood in the driveway of the boarding house. When her dark eyes shifted downwards again, she was met with Klaus's smirking face and she felt herself instinctively tense.

"Did you do it?"

Athena nods quietly, forcing a smirk for bravado. "Your witch didn't seem to believe you were capable of being generous. Sad to see him go."

Klaus's eyes flicker with irritation and she relishes in the fact that she could even slightly inconvenience him by killing his witch. "Where is she?"

"Inside,"

Klaus steps forward and Athena steps towards him, making him stop. "Wait– just, let me get her. Please?"

Klaus takes in the desperation in her eyes, smirks, and nods. He can't deny himself the curiosity of whatever it seems the teenage girl has up her sleeve for getting Elena out of her compelled lover's hands.

Slowly, Athena turns towards the front door, but before she can even take a step towards the house, Damon and Stefan come rushing out of it.

Her eyes widen at the anger in Stefan's eyes and she immediately steps in front of Klaus, making Stefan's gaze shift to her. "Athena? What is this?"

"I'm sorry," She mutters, eyes drifting to Damon who watches her hesitantly, yet knowing. "I have to do this, Stefan."

"Athena, we talked about this," Stefan steps forward, gritting his teeth. "We can find out a way to keep Elena safe."

"I know," Athena smiles, nodding her head as she rests her hands on his waist. "I know you could. You could find a way to keep all of us safe, even if it meant getting yourself killed."

He looks at her in disbelief. "So why won't you let me try?"

"Because," She huffs, swallowing around the lump in her throat. "I'm not you. And I'm not willing to risk your life to save everyone. And you might hate me for the rest of our lives because of it, but I am doing the right thing."

She bites her tongue, a cry dying in her throat as she tightens her grip on his waist and runs her hands up to his chest. "I'm sorry, Stefan,"

He furrows his brows, hands on her waist as she runs hers to the sides of his neck. "What are you doing, Athena?"

She shakes her head, her grip closing on his neck. "I'm so sorry,"

Stefan's neck twists beneath her hands and a broken sound shatters through Athena's throat as he falls into her arms, limp. She falls to her knees, Stefan's form in her lap and she feels her shoulders shake with half-stifled sobs. She looks up suddenly, seeing Elena standing in the doorway with wide eyes.

The doppelgänger swallows roughly and steps out from the threshold, looking at Klaus. "I'll go. I'll– I'll go with you,"

"You sacrifice yourself at last, doppelgänger?" Klaus questions, clearly skeptical of her acceptance. "Feeling vulnerable with your only defender out of commission?"

He gestures lazily to Stefan, making Athena tense in anticipation of Elena's response. Shockingly, the doppelgänger shakes her head. "I'm tired of people dying because of me. This would've all been avoided if I'd just given up from the beginning."

"How noble of you," Klaus smirks widely, reaching for Elena's arm and gripping it tightly. His blue eyes shift to Athena, and he nods his gratitude once. "Thank you for all of your help, Athena. I owe you."

She blinks tears from her eyes as they disappear and she looks up as Damon approaches her hesitantly, kneeling before them.

"I'm sorry,"

She shakes her head. "For what?"

"All of this," He furrows his brows, confused at the sudden onslaught of guilt wracking his body. It nearly made his shoulders buckle, and he wondered just how long it'd been since he felt real guilt. "If I'd left you alone from the beginning, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Yes, I would," She says, voice scarily detached. "This is my fate. This is what he wants for me."

"Athena,"

"Take him inside. I have to go," Athena stands, looking down at Damon pleadingly. "When he wakes up, would you tell him that I'm sorry?"

Damon looks at her, his eyes widening with worry. "What are you doing?"

"I have to do this, Damon. Just tell him that I'm sorry," She stumbles away from him, not meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry to all of you."

──────

"Athena, you can't apologize for this, okay?" Bonnie's voice carried through the trees as the goddess walked alongside the witch, the trail leading them toward the spot where the ritual was. "You're doing the right thing. We both are."

Athena nodded her head, keeping her shoulders stiff as she tried to rid herself of the nauseating feeling that snapping Stefan's neck brought her. "I know. I know we are,"

"Hey," Bonnie steps in front of her, cutting her off with a concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Athena takes in a deep breath, looking into Bonnie's dark eyes as she forces a believable smile that instantly convinces the witch. "You're about to help a man who's otherwise a stranger kill your best friend. Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

Bonnie sighs, eyes flashing sadly. "Elena hasn't been my friend for a long time. I didn't– I was so blindsided by her manipulation that I had become someone I didn't like. I'm not happy about how this situation has played out, but it is the only way. As long as we both know that, we'll be fine."

Athena nods, smiling softly and more genuinely. "We'll be fine. Let's go, Klaus is probably waiting on us,"

They break out of the forest into the opening, and Bonnie waves her hand, lighting up the fire pits down the trail. The two watch as Elena's head snaps towards them, her eyes hesitantly leaving Klaus at the new arrival.

When Elena registers Bonnie's presence, she nearly buckles in relief, but the feeling quickly twists into dread when she sees Athena right beside her. "Bonnie?"

The witch shakes her head, looking apologetically at her old friend before switching her gaze to Klaus. "We're ready,"

Klaus claps his hands together, smirk widening. "Delightful. Elijah, you can bring them now,"

The older Original appears, two girls in his grip that struggle weakly against him. His eyes flicker to Bonnie, and they share a nod. "Nice to see you in better shape than last time, Ms. Bennett."

Bonnie smiles slightly, her thanks murmured beneath her breath as she takes her place at the altar. Elijah drops the two girls, and Athena watches their familiar faces flash with realization at their predicament.

Stepping forward as Bonnie encases them all in rings of fire, Athena smirks, her eyes drifting to Elijah. "I was wondering where Rose had run off to. Nice to know you found a use for her," Her eyes drift to the werewolf. "And the bitch that just couldn't stay away."

Athena kneels, looking into Jules' eyes. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd run when I told you to. Nobody ever listens to me."

She stands straight once more, watching as Klaus approaches Bonnie at the altar and pulls the moonstone from his pocket.

"I spent 500 years looking for this," He smirks slightly. "I hate to part with it."

Bonnie takes the moonstone, clutching it tightly as her eyes drift upward. "The moon has passed its apex. Do you know what you need to do?"

"Of course,"

Bonnie drops the moonstone into the bowl-like altar and blinks when it explodes into a small firework-like spark. Flames ignite from the sparks and Bonnie raises her hands, beginning to chant beneath her breath, the words drowned out by Jules' pained groans.

As Klaus walks towards them, Jules looks up at Athena through the tears in her eyes. "Everything I did, I was just trying to help Tyler. I didn't want him to be alone,"

Athena frowned, narrowing her eyes at the werewolf. "What a waste of your life,"

"Shall we make up for it?" Klaus smirks as the flames disappear from around Jules, and watches in amusement as the werewolf's gaze fills with panic.

Athena sees it coming from a mile away and she grabs Jules by the collar of her jacket right as she lunges for Klaus, and slams her onto the ground with a grunt. Klaus moves in a blur and pins the werewolf down, plunging his hand through her chest and ripping her heart back out with it.

A cry of shock comes from behind her, and Athena looks over her shoulder, seeing Rose cover her mouth in shock while Elena staggers away, careful not to touch the flames.

"Athena," The vampire's hysterical plea comes as Klaus brings the werewolf heart to Bonnie and holds it over the altar, the blood sizzling at a boil with the flame from the moonstone. "Athena, please,"

Rose crawls to the barrier of the circle, looking up at Athena. "You can't do this, you can't help them. Klaus is a monster, this will only make him stronger."

Athena kneeled, her knees bending as she set herself at eye level with Rose. "A month ago, you were handing us over to them. Now you're begging to be let go?"

"You don't understand–"

"No," Athena grits her teeth, keeping her voice carefully calm. "You don't understand, Rose. I have sacrificed everything for this, and I am not going to fail. I will not lose everything for nothing, do you get that? I will not end up like you, on my last straw and pleading for freedom to a stranger."

Her eyes flickered up to Elena, something threatening shining in them. "I will win,"

She stands silently and straightens herself out, walking over to where Elijah is standing defensively, ready to deal with any possible threat to the ritual.

Clearing his throat gently, Elijah shifted his gaze to Athena. "What you were telling Rose, Athena–"

"I don't want to talk about it," Athena cuts him off, looking up into his understanding gaze. "I'm doing the right thing."

──────

Stefan wakes with a gasp and Damon snaps his head towards him from the position he'd been frozen in over the past hour.

"Athena,"

"Stefan," Damon rushes towards his brother, helping him stand. "Stefan, she's not here. Calm down."

"Where is she?" Stefan gasps, grabbing Damon's arm and looking at him desperately. "Klaus– he took Elena– and Athena, she,"

He trails off, brows furrowing as he steps away from Damon and runs his hands over his neck. "She snapped my neck. Why– why would she do that?"

"Because she had to," Damon presses his lips into a thin line, watching irritation immediately flicker into his brother's eyes. "She's doing what she has to do to make sure we're safe, Stefan. She didn't want to hurt you, but there was no other choice. You would've gotten yourself killed."

"At least I would be doing the right thing!" Stefan exclaims, gesturing at him. "This– what you're helping her do? This isn't the right thing!"

Stefan attempts to get past his brother, but Damon grits his teeth and grabs Stefan's shirt, pushing him back into the wall with a glare. "Do you remember what I said to you the first time you got stuck in the tomb?"

Stefan pushes against Damon, but the vampire just tightens his grip on Stefan. "Do you? I said if anything ever happened to you, Athena would lose it. If you died, Athena would be done. There's no coming back from that, Stefan. So take your head out of your ass and stop being so stupid!"

The ripper grunts, fighting against Damon's hold. "I don't have control over it! It's the compulsion, and I can't do anything about it! I've tried."

"People have fought compulsion before, Stefan. If you have an incentive, you can fight it. You can combat it," Damon scoffs, dropping his hold on his brother. "The fact that you'd give up so easily on fighting this just means that you're giving up on everything you have with Athena."

"I'm not giving up on Athena,"

"Then what are you doing? Fighting her instead of the real problem? Everything Athena has done is for your benefit, and all you do is fight her on it! How can you sit here and say you love her when you can't even stop the self-sacrificing bullshit for five seconds?"

Stefan shoves Damon, sending him flying into the far wall with a grunt. Paintings clatter to the ground and Damon grits his teeth as he stands, rushing towards Stefan with his fist clenched. Damon slams his fist into Stefan's jaw and shoves him backward in quick succession, sending the bar cart toppling over.

Glass shatters around Stefan, and the blond vampire pushes himself onto his elbows. "I'm not letting this happen, Damon,"

"I know," Damon sighs. "That's why I'm stalling."

"You'll have to kill me again if you want me to stay here,"

Damon shrugs a shoulder, walking towards his brother. "Whatever it takes,"

──────

"Rose," Klaus approaches the woman with a stake, his smirk set in place as she stands fearfully. "How poetic that you stand here 500 years after stopping this the first time. It seems your cowardice finally benefits someone."

"Let her go," Elena's voice comes, and Klaus's eyes snap over to her. "You don't have to do this, you can find a new vampire. She only did what she did to help her family."

Klaus hums, appearing amused with Elena's prospects. "Speaking of family, I nearly got a hold of your precious aunt. What's her name again?"

Elena's stomach drops in horror and she clenches her fists. "Jenna,"

"Jenna," Klaus echoes, his tone taunting. "If it weren't for your lovely friend Bonnie, it would be Aunt Jenna here in Rose's place. So you tell me, Elena, which do you pick to die? Jenna, or the vampire who wanted to hand you over to me from the start?"

Elena bites her lip and looks at Rose, and her dark eyes shift back to Klaus. "Rose,"

Her voice barely comes out over the crackle of the flames surrounding her, and Klaus cups his ear despite having heard her clearly. "Say that again? Louder, please."

Elena grits her teeth and averts her gaze from Rose. "I choose Rose. Leave Jenna alone, please. Jeremy needs a family still."

Klaus hums, glancing back at the vampire before him. "You hear that, Rose? She chose you. Perhaps you should've left Trevor behind all those years ago, you might've had a fighting chance."

He clears his throat and looks over his shoulder at Bonnie. "Whenever you're ready, Bonnie,"

Bonnie nods, her chanting dying down as the flames around Rose disappear, leaving Elena the only one encased in them.

Rose's eyes dart around frantically and she disappears, suddenly behind Bonnie. She yanks the witch back by her hair and digs her teeth into her neck, making Bonnie cry out at the sudden pain.

Klaus rips Rose off of Bonnie and stabs her through the back with the stake, and Athena rushes over to Bonnie to help her stand upright again.

"Bonnie," She mutters the witch's name, meeting her dark eyes worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie breathes through the dull pain in her neck. "I'll be fine."

Bonnie shifts her gaze to Klaus, and then to Elena, slowly ceasing the fire around her. "It's time,"

Klaus walks over to Elena, smugly offering her a hand that she refuses as she walks past him towards the altar. He huffs an amused laugh and walks behind her, stepping over Rose as she stands across from Bonnie.

Elena shakes her head, tears skittering down her cheeks as she watches her once close friend chant her into an early grave.

Klaus turns her head, his grasp on her jaw anything but gentle as he forces her to look into his eyes. "Thank you, Elena,"

She grits her teeth, turning her head back to look at Bonnie pointedly. "Go to hell,"

Klaus smirks and his fangs drop down, and he wastes no time in sinking them into her neck. Elena gasps at the sudden pain but quickly feels her eyes fluttering as he drains her of her blood.

Klaus gasps as he drops Elena's limp body on the ground, veins crawling beneath his eyes. The flames in the altar suddenly extinguish and Athena watches Klaus with wide eyes from her place behind Bonnie.

Elijah appears beside her, anticipation obvious in his tense frame.

Klaus gasps shakily as he staggers away from the altar, hands out at his side. "I can feel it, it's happening,"

Right as Klaus falls to his knees, a ripple washes through the trees, bending them like twigs. It feels like a gust of wind, and it sends the four of them flying in different directions.

Athena rolls on the ground, clutching her ribs in pain as she feels them snap beneath the force of it.

Elijah quickly rushes towards Klaus, who looks at the two girls accusingly. "What was that?"

Athena shakes her head, eyes pinched shut in pain. "I don't– I don't know, we need to go. We need to get rid of their bodies."

──────

Athena stumbles into the boarding house, barely standing on her two feet anymore. The sun was nearly up at this point, and she stumbled into the living room, finding a mess of glass and splintered wood all over.

Frowning, her eyes flicker to Damon, who's slouched against the wall with an arm strewn over his knee. She steps down into the living room, seeing Stefan push himself up from a pile of glass and bourbon. "What the hell happened here?"

"He wanted to leave," Damon nearly whispered, watching his younger brother stand and face Athena. He shifts his gaze back to Athena, hesitance lacing his tone as Stefan approaches her. "I had to stop him."

Athena swallows roughly, meeting Stefan's gaze warily. "I– I don't,"

"Stop," Stefan's green eyes search her face and he shakes his head. "I can't do this anymore."

Athena feels her heart plummet onto the floor and she crunches the glass beneath her feet as she steps towards him. "What?"

"I can't be with you knowing that you don't trust me," He says. "We don't trust each other. We've been lying and keeping secrets from one another for too long, and I can't– I can't do it anymore. You need me to be something I can't be right now, and I'm sorry. But I can't do this."

"Stefan, I don't think this is what you need to be doing," Damon's voice comes from nearby, but it echoes in Athena's ears like they're miles apart. Her gaze stays locked on Stefan, who simply shakes his head and walks past her, and when he's gone from her vision, her eyes don't waver from the wall before her.

"Athena?" Damon appears before her and she blinks, brows furrowing in concern. "Athena, say something,"

Swallowing, she blinks out of her haze and looks into his eyes. "I'm going home,"

"What? No, wait– he's not thinking clearly right now, Athena. Clearly, the multiple head wounds have gotten to him– just go talk to him!"

She turns, shaking her head slightly, her movements stilted and almost robotic. "Goodbye, Damon,"

"Athena, wait,"

The front door closes behind her and Damon nearly drowns in the silence she leaves behind. His fists clench at his side and he grits his teeth, glancing around the mess they'd made of the living room.

Reaching forward, Damon grabs an iron poker and throws it watching it embed itself in the wall. He kicks his leg out and sends a side table flying, feeling his anger boil over as the night's events come to a bitter end.

Chest heaving with angry breaths, Damon's eyes flicker to the hallway that leads upstairs, and then to the hallway that leads to the front door Athena had just exited from.

He stands in the silence alone and wonders how everything has come together and fallen apart so quickly.

──────

Elena sits up with a gasp that echoes in the ruins of the old witch's house. Looking around with wide eyes, she looks down at her hands with vision clearer than she'd ever experienced. Leaves rustle in her ears, and bird songs echo behind them as if they were right before her.

Relief floods her and she mentally thanks John for doing something right for once.

In the end, everything worked out for her. That's all that mattered.

──────

"Where the hell did you go? And what the hell was that– when I said you weren't fighting for Athena, I meant for you to start fighting for her, not dump her!" Damon's voice echoed through the boarding house and he belatedly hoped that Alaric and Jenna had left already along with Caroline, the news of Elena's death fresh on their minds.

"I'm leaving," Stefan sighs, grabbing a pile of folded shirts from his dresser drawer.

"You're leaving?"

Stefan nods, not turning to face his brother. "I'm going with Klaus so he can make his hybrids,"

Damon scoffs, watching his brother's similar stiff movements. As if he was just going through the motions, and not emotionally processing anything. "So you dump your girlfriend and run off with the crazy hybrid? What the hell is wrong with you? You've spent the past month fighting every single thing that has to do with Klaus, but now you're gonna pack up and go on a road trip with him?"

"I'm doing it for her, Damon," Stefan sighs, turning to face Damon. "You were right, I'm not giving her what she needs, but I'll never be able to if I don't take control of my life. The first step in doing that is getting rid of my compulsion. Klaus knows a witch he promised to take me to if I traveled with him."

"Oh, and Klaus is suddenly Santa, just giving gifts out left and right? You'll owe him, Stefan."

"He said it was a favor for Athena," Stefan scoffs slightly. "Apparently he likes her company– he finds her 'homicidal tendencies' charming."

Damon is silent for a moment, and he crosses his arms over his chest with a frown. "You're an idiot. And I'm going with you."

Stefan furrows his brows, shaking his head incredulously. "What?"

"You're an idiot," Damon repeats, smirking at Stefan's glare. "A huge, full-of-shit idiot who makes stupid decisions. But I'm your big brother, and I want to be there every step of the way to remind you how stupid you are."

"Damon,"

"This isn't a choice, Stefan. Either I join your little boyband tour, or I go find Athena right now and let her kick your ass."

Stefan clenches his jaw and shakes his head in defeat. "Fine. We're leaving tomorrow."

──────

Athena walked into her house– her father's house, stepping out of her shoes stiffly. Her feet sit flat on the floor, and she walks down the hallway past the living room into the kitchen. Seeing no one there, she turns and walks back down the hallway she'd just come from, making a turn towards the short hallway.

She pushes her dad's office open and stands in the doorway, watching him startle at her sudden arrival.

"Athena?" He stands, rushing over to her. His hands cup her face, thumb tracing over her scar as he takes in the dirt staining her face, streaked through with tears, and the wild state of her hair and clothes. "What happened to you? Are you alright?"

She swallows her saliva, lightly coating her dry throat. It felt like she'd been in the desert for three days with no water when she spoke and she hid a wince at the slight discomfort. "I don't– I–"

She stops, shaking her head as she meets his concerned gaze. "I want to go home."

"You are home, prinkípissa,"

She shakes her head again. "I want to go home. To Olympus."

──────

author's note; hey... how y'all doin... 

originally published; 3.24.21.

edited: 12.4.23.

- liz