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it's fate, not you
"I'M SORRY, HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?" Athena looked at Stefan incredulously, her wide eyes shifting back and forth between her boyfriend and the woman who had nearly gotten her killed yesterday. "Did Elijah hit you in the head too hard?"
"Athena, just hear her out. She has information about the Originals," Stefan pleaded with Athena as she stormed into the living room, finding Damon sitting there with the same irritated look on his face that she was sure was on hers right now.
"Do you approve of getting information from the woman that tried to bargain me off to said Originals, or are you sane?"
Damon sighs, standing to pour himself a drink. "Oh, I'm definitely not sane, but I think it's reckless and stupid to get information from her."
Athena claps her hands together, turning to face an apologetic Stefan. "Never would I have thought there'd be a day where Damon is more sane than you, Stefan,"
"Listen," Rose steps forward, an understanding look in her eyes. "I don't know that much about them, and I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with this vampire crap. But Klaus, I know is real,"
Stefan's mind hums at the name and he briefly frowns at the odd sensation, unable to follow any sort of trail that would lead to a coherent explanation. Clearing his throat, he shakes his head. "Klaus is one of the Originals, from the first generation of vampires,"
Athena furrows her brows at Stefan but reluctantly looks to Rose. "Like Elijah?"
Thinking back to the situation at the abandoned house, she wondered just how much her mind was capable of, especially when it led her to undagger Elijah before they left. It had barely made sense in the moment and even if she wasn't trustful of Rose, she figured there had to be some sort of truth in her words.
"No," Rose sighs at Athena, her tense shoulders relaxing only a little bit. "Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He was a foot soldier, Klaus is the real deal,"
"Klaus is known to be the strongest," Stefan hid the confusion in his voice, hoping Athena would miss it entirely.
The goddess scoffs, looking at the three incredulously. "What, so not only is one of the oldest, strongest vampires in history coming to Mystic Falls to presumably kill me for harboring you, but you were going to sell me to him?"
"Yes,"
"No," Damon glares at Rose, who rolls her eyes. "Klaus isn't coming for you, at least not that we know of."
"Great," She claps her hands together. "I'll go get her right now, and we can just meet the homicidal vampire at the city limits. Sound good?"
Damon begins to agree, but Rose and Stefan both stop them. "Klaus won't stop there," Rose shakes her head. "He– he's malicious, and evil, and a true psychopath. He'll kill all of us if he thinks we're plotting behind his back, or trying to hurt him."
"Okay, first of all, there is no us," Athena gestures between the brothers and herself, frowning at Rose. "There's you, who has infringed on our us. Second of all, we're not doing either of those things, so there's no reason for Klaus to go all Jack the Ripper on us."
She shakes her head, standing up from the couch. "We just hand over Elena and keep Katherine locked in the tomb for all of eternity, and everything will be fine. Elena will be dead, Katherine will be rotting, and you will be across the world, kidnapping someone else. Sounds like paradise to me,"
"Me, too," Damon raises his hand, giving Rose a sardonic smile that she glares at.
Stefan shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Athena, I wish it were that easy. But Klaus isn't someone you can bargain with. He'll want more than Elena, and we have to be prepared for whatever it is, which means for the time being, we need to keep Elena safe and figure out how to protect ourselves against Klaus."
Athena grits her teeth and looks away from Stefan, knowing there is at least an inkling of truth in his words. Sighing tersely, she looks at the three people standing before her. "Okay," She nods, pushing her hair off her shoulders. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but why isn't Elena here? I mean, if this all comes down to her, shouldn't she at least have some sort of idea that she's in danger?"
"You're right," Stefan furrows his brows at Athena. "Where do you think she'd be?"
"Well," Athena heaves a sigh, pulling out her phone. "We got kidnapped yesterday and it was her fault, which means her victim complex is skyrocketing, which most likely means she's cornered Caroline into telling her every little thing that's been going on because Bonnie has a backbone and won't tell her, and now she's going to find out some way to 'help' us,"
Athena air quotes the word help, her eyes rolling in annoyance. "But because she's not actually helpful, it's only going to cause problems for us in the future. My best guess is she's finding out more about the Originals, or more about this stupid curse that everyone's so afraid of."
She sighs as she quiets, looking into three sets of eyes with a slightly accusing look of her own. "Anyways," She draws out, grabbing her bag from the floor. "I'm going to school until one of you finds out where Elena is because I don't care enough to do it myself. My best advice is to contact Caroline."
The three of them watch her go and the door to the boarding house slams shut with her departure, seemingly snapping them from their shocked stupor.
Rose clears her throat slightly, looking at the brothers. "Am I the only one who was utterly terrified just now?"
Damon smirks slightly as Stefan sighs, presumably thinking of following after Athena. "You'll get used to it. Athena's an acquired taste,"
"What's her," Rose makes a vague gesture. "Deal? She's not a vampire, but she came back to life. And she's not a witch, yet she conjured vervain."
He taps his temple, giving her a wink as he passes before her. "It's all in the name, Rosie. All in the name,"
──────
"You were right, Elena went to get information about Klaus from Katherine,"
Athena snorts, pressing the phone against her ear as she rolls her eyes. She watches Artemis grab another quiver of arrows for her bow. "Of course I was, and of course she did. Did she tell you what Katherine said?"
