the world stops for no one

SCHOOL HAD BECOME SOMETHING OF A PASTIME FOR ATHENA, SEEING AS IT WAS HER LAST WEEK IN ATTENDANCE. It wasn't like they had much left to do work-wise, so she didn't see any harm in slacking off or convincing her friends to, either.

She'd convinced Bonnie to ditch history, saving them the stuttering, sad mess that was Alaric in the wake of Jenna's absence. She had no interest in listening to him fumble around his words every time his eyes landed on her like he was afraid she'd strike him down right then and there if he misspoke about the 18th century or something.

It irritated her, but she'd rather him be fearful than think he had any sort of upper hand. After everything had happened, Damon had gone to Liz and sold her some story of Elena turning herself into a vampire and going on a rampage, which wasn't a lie so much as a very compressed, minimal version of the actual story, which saved them all the hassle of trying to explain why Elena was missing and to be presumed dead in a year's time when the search became 'useless'.

For about a month, Bonnie had to play the grieving friend, but it was easier to move on from people's curiosity with Jeremy not in school, and Jenna gone, too. They'd all been spared from Tyler and Matt, as the boys seemed to take Elena's death as a natural surrender. Though they still attended school together, it was much easier to pretend they didn't exist, seeing as they tucked tails and ran the second Athena came into sight.

Athena had more or less moved on from the events of the summer and instead found herself wondering what her future would hold after she graduated. She knew she would graduate high school, it was inevitable of course, but now that it was here, it felt unbelievable. Especially after the mess she found herself in last year during junior year, with Stefan and Damon's abrupt appearance in her life. Once you find out vampires are real, amongst every other thing that has happened, graduating high school became very low on the list of priorities.

It was a wonder, though, that she'd managed to come almost full circle. She'd gone from focusing completely on high school and presumably, eventually, college, to being swept up in the storm of monsters, and now she was focusing on school again, settling into the calm that came after the storm.

Well– focusing on school was a broad phrase. She was more worried about the fact that she now only had eight days to write the best Valedictorian speech her rinky-dink high school had ever heard, find a dress fit for her goddess status, along with Bonie's, and worry about Klaus getting back on time with her brother and friends.

And, on top of all of those things that could be otherwise worry-free in the long run, she had a witch she'd never met, coming to her, begging her to find the supposed cure for vampirism for her little brother, whom Athena had also never met.

Perhaps it wasn't particularly healthy of her, but Athena had come to find a bit of comfort in the chaos of Stefan and Damon's world of monsters, which had slowly become her own, too. She figured it was probably a side effect of the title she bore, some part of her that her father created to like chaos, even if it wasn't a war, per se.

She'd never admit it out loud, but even though it had nearly ruined her life, she had also never felt more alive than when she was carrying out these strategic plans she'd crafted, or hunting someone down like prey. Some part of her craved the chase.

It's why she knew she was going to say yes to Jo already. Even though she was going to be careful with it, she knew she would help the woman and her brother. She made her mind up the second Kol had confirmed the cure was real.

Briefly, she wondered if she would take the cure if she was a vampire. Perhaps if she had never met Stefan, she wouldn't have a reason to live forever, so she could see it happening then, but fortunately, she'd never have to wonder what would've happened if she'd never met him.

"Please tell me you've found my dress for the dance,"

Athena turns her head, blinking out of her thoughts from where she'd dazed off, staring up at the clouds in the blue sky. She hummed slightly, nodding her head against the textbook she'd laid it on. "I've got options. We can go tomorrow and try them on, yeah?"

Bonnie nodded, a relieved smile growing on her lips as she examined Athena's relaxed form. "Can I ask why you were so determined to pick out my dress?"

"Oh, Bonnie," Athena sighed wistfully, giving her a smirk. "You're too pretty to play stupid."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Seeing that she wouldn't be getting a straight answer from the frustratingly secretive girl, she moved on. "Are you nervous about tonight? Meeting Luke?"

"No,"

"No?"

"Why would I be nervous? She's a witch and he's a baby vamp, that's, like, nothing compared to half the shit we deal with. I think I'd struggle more with calculus than I would with them."

Bonnie huffed a laugh, giving her a conceding nod. "Right. Have you made up your mind already, then?"

Athena nodded, wrapping a strand of her long hair around her manicured finger. "Yeah. What's the harm in helping them? I mean, I'm just curious about this cure, or whatever. You think if we find it, you could figure out what it's made of?"

Bonnie raised a brow. "Why? You wanna make more?"

"No, no," Athena shook her head, pausing contemplatively. "I mean, it's not like we know any vampires that would want to be human again, right?"

"Not to my knowledge, no,"

"Right, so," Athena waved her hand. "Call it a professional curiosity."

The witch snorted, shaking her head at Athena. "What exactly are you a professional of?"

Athena narrowed her eyes, grinning wickedly. "Everything, Bonnie. Absolutely everything."

──────

"Look, I'm going to be completely honest with you guys," Athena placed her palms on the desk, looking between Jo and Luke's nervous faces. "We're going to help find the cure."

They both let out sighs of relief, and Jo looks like she could burst into tears, but Athena holds up a hand, pausing their celebration. "But we're gonna do it on my terms, alright? That's how things get handled around here,"

Luke nods furiously, his eyes wide with hope. "Yeah, yes, of course. Anything you want,"

"In exactly eight days, I am graduating from high school. I have survived a lot of shit these past few years, so I will not be missing graduation unless I am actually dead, alright? So, if you can survive these next eight days, give or take, as soon as I finish my Valedictorian speech and grab my diploma, I will be more than happy to devote my time to you."

Athena stepped away from the desk with a small smile. "Until then, it's all about me. So, go find a hotel, or have Lukey here compel some human for a house," Heaving a sigh, she clasped her hands in front of her. "Something tells me that this is going to take a while, so you might as well get comfortable before it all goes to shit."

Jo's dark brows furrow against her pale skin, and she gives Athena a questioning, concerned look. "Are you– do you think something's going to go wrong?"

"Not necessarily. But I have long since learned that absolutely nothing in this life is as easy as it seems," She blinks, dark eyes suddenly full of that coveted wisdom, and grace coming about her that one wouldn't expect from a teenage girl. "And nothing comes without consequences."

──────

"Athena, I don't know about this..."

"Bonnie, if you don't come out of the dressing room, I'm gonna go in there and cause a scene, and nobody wants me to do that."

There's a brief pause before Athena sighs in response, but she smiles victoriously nonetheless when she hears the curtain slide open and sees Bonnie step out.

The tan dress sits out against her complexion for a multitude of reasons. It's deeply cut in the front, and crosses over her collarbones and around her neck, falling into the mesh, off-the-shoulder sleeves that cuff tightly around her wrists. The skirt billows out to the ground, swishing against her legs, revealing the slits that go up both legs, nearly to her hips. Throughout the entire dress, though, a gold glimmer is weaved through it, and golden, shimmering stars that look like something magical in themselves cover the entire thing.

When Bonnie turns to look at herself in the mirror, Athena sees the light reflecting off of the glimmering gold and she imagines Bonnie's eyes coated with the same color, and she knows that she did a good job.

She stands with a small smile, approaching Bonnie in the mirror as the girl examines herself. "So, what do you think?"

Bonnie lets out a slow breath, running her hands along the fabric in awe. "Athena, it's... it's beautiful. I don't know how I could ever repay you for–"

"None of that," Athena huffed, turning her nose up. "I wouldn't have gotten it if I wanted something in return. This is our last school dance, and as an actual goddess, I won't have one of my best friends show up looking like anything less,"

"Thanks," The witch smiles, her crooked grin on display in the reflection as she looks at Athena. "So, do you have your dress picked out?"

"Mm, not yet. But, when I do find one, you and Care will be the first ones to see it," Athena pauses briefly, her dark gaze shifting to something serious. "Actually, Bonnie, I, uh– I do have something I want you to do for me,"

Bonnie's brows furrow, but she nods, urging Athena on.

"I know that you get busy sometimes, with all the saving our lives and stuff, but these feelings you have– you should act on them. I think you'd be surprised at how it turns out,"

Bonnie's eyes widened and she took in a breath, giving Athena a small shake of her head. "Athena,"

"I think I've already told you you're too pretty to play dumb," Athena stepped away, smiling understandingly at the witch. "I promise you, Bonnie, he feels the same way. And he– he's serious about it. It's real, for him. So, even if you change your mind, or it ends up not working out for whatever reason, just don't break his heart."

Bonnie bites her lip, keeping her emotions at bay. When she meets Athena's gaze again, she shakes her head firmly. "I won't,"

──────

Athena tossed and turned restlessly, her mind racing with anything but sleep. Flipping over in bed for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour, she let out a heavy sigh and stared towards the window where the dim moonlight shone into the dark room.

Stefan's arm tightened around her waist and he groaned softly. "Are you ever going to fall asleep tonight?"

His sleep-heavy voice makes her feel bad, and she turns again to face him, able to make out his tired gaze in the darkness. "Sorry,"

He sighs softly, hand brushing up to comb her long hair from where it's fallen over her cheek in her restless state. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Athena's silent for a moment and she anxiously chewed at her bottom lip, contemplating just giving him a platitude so he could go back to sleep, even if she was up all night. Then she wonders if maybe she should just tell him the truth because he'll know if she's lying either way.

"If you don't stop thinking, your brain is going to explode,"

Athena grunts at his teasing comment, letting out a tired sigh. "I just– I don't know. I guess I've just been thinking about the whole vampire cure thing."

Stefan's brows twitch as a frown pulls at his lips. "What about it? Do you not want to find it anymore? Because you know we don't have to help them–"

"No, no," She softly interrupts him, shaking her head against the pillow. "That's not it. I don't care about helping them, I'll do that and just get it over with. But– you wouldn't take the cure, right?"

There's a moment of still silence where Athena instantly regrets asking the question that's been on her mind, and she hides her face in a pillow when Stefan reaches over to flick on the lamp.

"Athena,"

"No," She groans, the sound muffled by her pillow. "I shouldn't have said anything, let's just go to bed."

Stefan's hand rests on her back, rubbing it comfortingly. "Athena, honey, look at me, please."

Reluctantly, Athena flips onto her back to find Stefan leaning over her, a fond but concerned smile on his face.

"Is that really what's been bothering you?"

"I know, it's stupid, but I just–"

"It's not stupid," He cuts her off, brushing strands of her dark hair off her face. "I'm more worried about the fact that you think I would take the cure."

Huffing, Athena looks away from his knowing stare, focusing her gaze on the ceiling past his head. "Well, I– I know that you maybe would have at some point, and I guess I'm just a little worried that some part of you might still want to, even though we're... you know."

"Soulmates who were made immortal to be together forever?" He supplies, earning a short, uncharacteristically shy nod from her. "You're not wrong. I would have probably wanted to take it at some point, but that... that all went away when I met you. Everything changed when I met you, Athena."

"Tell me about it," Huffing, she relaxes slightly, his words soothing her nerves more than she expected. Laying flat, she lets him hover above her, eyes roaming his face. "I wasn't– I didn't mean it in a mean way, you know. It's not like I think you want to leave me or anything, it's just... you wouldn't think that there's a cure for vampirism. You're basically bringing someone back to life, but without magic, and that's a little insane. So, I just wondered if you never thought about it because it was never a possibility before now."

Stefan raises a brow, nodding slowly as she explains herself a bit more. "And because it wasn't possible until now, you think I'd suddenly want to become human again?"

Athena nods quietly.

"I wouldn't," He firmly states, shaking his head. "I wouldn't do that, not unless there was a way for you to do it, too. When I was a ripper, before Lexi found me, yeah– I wanted to be a human again. I wanted to be anything but a ripper. But now, because of you, I have control and I'm happy. And if there had been a cure back then that I took, I still would've found a way to stay alive until I met you."

Athena sniffs, glaring up at him. "You're such an asshole, why do you have to be so romantic?"

Stefan lets out a shocked laugh, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'm so sorry that I love my beautiful girlfriend, and that I tell her nice things. I'll start being mean, okay?"

She nods, biting back more tears. "That'd be great, actually, thank you."

With a grunt, Stefan lets his arms go slack and his weight falls on top of Athena, making her let out a breathless noise as he buries his face in her neck. "Shit, you're heavy,"

Stefan makes a scandalized noise into her throat, and she smacks his shoulder when she feels the prick of his teeth nip at her skin. "You're heavy, asshole,"

"Stop calling me names," He pouts, lifting his head slightly so she can hear his whining. "I am nothing but nice to you."

Athena's eyes widen and she lets out an incredulous laugh, the sound making Stefan smile. "Yeah, right, you are such a little shit sometimes! And you fool everyone with your stupid green eyes, and your stupid hair, and– and–"

"And my stupid face?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I can't control the fact that I'm ridiculously handsome, and everyone wants a piece of–"

"Okay, that's enough out of you, Casanova," Athena scoffs, but she can't quite keep the laughter out of her voice as Stefan grins at her. "Are we going to go to bed now that you've sufficiently brushed your ego?"

"No,"

"No?" Athena echoes incredulously. "What, your head isn't big enough yet?"

Stefan shrugs, leaning his weight down on her again, this time more gently so she can breathe. "Figure I should make up for being so mean to you, you know?"

It takes a moment for realization to dawn on her, but after a second, it clicks and she's nodding furiously. "You absolutely should– please?"

"Alright," Stefan presses a kiss to her lips, already trailing kisses down her jawline. "But first, you have to agree to the fact that I'm sexy, and everyone wants a piece of me,"

"Stefan!"

──────

"I'm so glad that you're having a good time with Klaus, but I graduate high school in four days– three after today, and if you aren't here, I will kill you."

"Athena, I'm a god, I can't be killed."

She sits forward in her seat, face set in a glare that her brother can't see through the phone. "And I am telling you, I will find a way to get it done if you aren't at my graduation. Do you understand, Josh?"

There's a pause on the other line and Athena raises a brow, hearing a soft, unintelligible murmur before his voice comes back louder. "Right. Well– we'll be there. Promise."

"You better," She ended the phone call there, setting her phone on the table before her as she sat back in her seat again.

"So, what are those idiots up to?"

Athena glances at Rebekah, watching the blonde blandly lift her drink to her mouth as they sit amongst the students in the cafeteria. "I don't know, but I think Josh has passed on the message to Klaus that they need to get back here before graduation, otherwise there will be hell to pay."

The Original nods in agreement before leaning closer to Caroline, nudging the other vampire. "How's the dance planning?"

Caroline let out a strangled groan that had them all hiding smiles as she focused their attention on them, looking away from whoever she'd been furiously texting for most of their lunch period. "After planning every half-decent dance this school has had, I don't understand why people still doubt my vision. I'm halfway to strangling Trixie at this point,"

Athena hummed in agreement, picking at her food uninterestedly as she leaned into Stefan's side. "She always messes with you, Care, she's just a jealous bitch,"

"Yeah, well, she can be jealous all she wants because I'm graduating in four days and after that, she can spend her senior year pretending that she's anywhere near as amazing as I am."

"Speaking of graduation, we're still having that party, right?"

Athena nods in Bonnie's direction, her response delayed by the warning bell that rings out through the room. "That's the plan, but Damon obviously isn't on board with the whole," She vaguely waves her hand around as they all get up from their table, dumping their trash before heading into the hallway. "Teenager-infested house thing."

"He's gotta get over that," Caroline huffs, her attention back on her phone as she tapped away, earning an amused look from Athena. "At least this last time we won't have to have a party full of humans we aren't eating ever again."

"Human you aren't eating sitting right here," Bonnie inputs lowly, still smiling despite her half-hearted words. "Damon doesn't care about our parties, he just likes to complain."

"Oh, I'm sure you know all about his complaining,"

Bonnie reaches a hand out, slapping at Athena's arm as the group laughs at her teasing. "Stop it. You know what I mean– he's a huge softy."

Athena nodded, pursing her lips to hide her smile. "Yeah, for pretty witches that could snap his neck in a heartbeat."

Stefan mirrored her exaggerated nod, earning an unamused look from Bonnie. "Very niche type, that one, but it checks out."

"I hate all of you, you know that, right?" Bonnie can't keep the laughter out of her voice as she speaks, though, and Athena knows she isn't taking their teasing to heart.

Quickly, though, the light atmosphere between the group fades when three familiar faces suddenly step out in front of them, blocking them from continuing down the hall.

Tyler, Matt, and Alaric all stand, hesitant but stern looks on their faces.

Already glaring, Athena shoots a look in Stefan's direction before taking a step forward. "What's the issue?"

"We need to talk," Alaric sighs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can't imagine you have anything to say that I want to hear,"

He makes a face, a stern look turning almost pleading. "This isn't a threat of any sort. We just need to ask you about something– someone."

Athena huffs a laugh, shaking her head slightly as she shoots her dark glare toward Tyler and Matt, who can barely meet her eyes to begin with. "Well, Elena's dead, Jenna's gone, and so is Jeremy– nobody else you could need to ask me about, so–"

"Do you know Jo Parker?"

Athena stopped, gritting her teeth at the interruption and the words themselves. Heaving a sigh, she looked around the now-empty hallway and resigned herself to being late to class, despite not caring all that much anyway. Lunging forward, she grabbed Matt and Tyler by the scruff of their necks, digging her nails in as they groaned in pain. She shoved them through the doorway into Alaric's empty classroom and watched as they both stumbled to catch their footing.

Spinning on her heels, she faces Alaric as he follows after her, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie joining, too.

"What do you know about her?"

"That she's not who she says she is."

"Are you going to elaborate? Because if not I'll just figure it out myself and then snap your neck for wasting my time."

Alaric put more distance between them, unfolding his crossed arms as he sighed. "The other day– I saw her approach you guys. I got curious, so I asked the front desk if she'd gotten a visitor badge. She checked in under the name Jo Laughlin."

"Well, that's what she told us her name was, so," Caroline trails off, propping a hand on her hip.

"Right," Alaric nodded. "Well, when I got home that night, I decided to do some more digging. You know... it's not like we get new faces around here often. At least not ones that nobody knows."

"So, you're paranoid now," Athena hums. "Noted."

Alaric raises a brow. "Can you blame me?"

"I'll give you that one," She waved him off easily. "Hurry up, please. I'm getting a manicure after school and if I need to kill someone before then, I need to know."

The teacher looked briefly disturbed at her cavalier nature, but quickly dismissed it, deciding to focus on the subject at hand. "I barely found anything on a Jo Laughlin, but I kept digging because my gut was telling me something was up. Turns out, she's not Jo Laughlin, she's Josette Parker, from Oregon."

"Is Laughlin her married name, then?" Stefan asks, leaning against a desk.

"No ring, I looked," Athena looked at him, her curiosity admittedly piqued. "So, what did you find on Josette Parker? Assuming you kept digging, that is,"

"I did," Alaric clears his throat, leaning over his desk to spin his open laptop around for her to see an old digital file of a newspaper article. "I found this article, from the 90s."

Athena bends down slightly, eyes skimming the words detailing the gruesome murders that took place within the Parker family. "Okay, so her brother goes crazy and kills their whole family, and she changes her name to get away from it. Not exactly suspicious behavior."

"Did you know she's a witch?" Tyler's voice comes from behind her and she shoots him a look over her shoulder, raising a brow.

"Obviously I knew she was a witch, Tyler. Even if she hadn't told us, I'd have known. I don't let strangers wander around Mystic Falls, especially if they could pose a potential threat. What is so special about Jo Laughlin-Parker, the weird witch from Oregon?"

"They're all witches," Alaric says, shutting his laptop. "I asked around in some hunter circles about the Parkers, and apparently, they all belonged to something called the Gemini Coven. Her brother, Malachai, the one who killed all of them, was Jo's twin. And all of her other siblings are twins, too. The hunters told me that when they become of age, each set of twins does some sort of competitive ritual and whoever wins absorbs all of the powers from the other."

"But... that would kill them. You take a witch's power, you take their life," Bonnie says, shaking her head confusedly. "All of them did that?"

"Except for Josette and Malachai."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that Malachai and Jo didn't compete because he killed their siblings," Caroline waved her hand around, looking slightly disturbed. "But what does that mean for us? That has nothing to do with what Jo wants our help for."

Alaric nodded in agreement. "She wants you to help her little brother, Luke, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"One of the hunters I contacted lives up in Oregon in the same region that the Gemini Coven does. They have a deal struck, kind of like I do with you. Keep the peace and nobody has to get hurt. She told me that something big happened in the coven recently, and the Parkers shunned the boy– Luke."

Athena sighed quietly, irritation flooding her as she looked at Stefan. "Because he turned,"

Nodding in agreement, Stefan looked back at Alaric. "What else did the hunter say?"

"She said the coven didn't take to him kindly, despite not having killed anyone during his transition. Once a witch loses that connection–"

"They lose their family," Bonnie mutters, looking down at the ground somewhat despondently. "So, Jo hears about us, brings Luke here, and asks us to find the cure for vampirism so they can go back to their coven."

Athena stays silent, processing the new information.

"But how do they even know if turning him human will give him his powers back?"

"They don't," Stefan shakes his head at Caroline. "But they're desperate enough to try."

"And pathetic enough to ask us to help, despite it being dangerous," Athena mutters, scoffing.

There's silence for another moment before Caroline speaks up again. "So, are we gonna, like, go home and kick their asses or something? I'd kinda feel bad hurting Luke, considering he's just a baby vamp, but give me five minutes to suck it up and I'll do it."

"No," Athena gives Caroline a short smirk before her face falls back into something more severe. "We're not going to tell Jo or Luke that we know about them."

"So... what are we going to do?"

"We're going to find the cure," She looks up, meeting Alaric's gaze. "And once we do, then we'll confront them and ask why they lied. And, you know what, Alaric, since you've been so helpful, you can help us find the cure, too."

"What?"

"Yeah," She smirks. "So get a hold of your hunter friends again, and put out the word that you've heard about the cure. I want as much information about it as possible. Tyler– reach out to any werewolf packs you're still in contact with, and see if they've heard anything about it. Matt–"

Athena stops, observing the human. "You'll be wonderful bait for anything we may run into."

She gestures towards the door and Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie all get up and leave. Athena follows behind them, stopping just before she steps out of the room completely, looking at the trio watching her warily. "Oh, and, uh, just so you know– if any of you think of double-crossing me, I'll kill you and your entire family. I mean, what's left of all of them, I guess."

──────

author's note; coming back strong with bamon and lots of foreshadowing. lets see if any of you guess the plot in the comments (it has in fact happened multiple times, and it is so hard to not say anything) also, will have pics of all the dresses for the dance when the time comes :) yk i'll never leave y'all hanging

originally published; 11.15.22. 

edited: 12.11.23.

- liz