"no one
wearing a crown
comes
in the name of
peace"

It was funny how time seemed to stand still and speed up all at once after she heard her name, causing every nerve ending in Bonnie's body to feel as though it was simultaneously lit on fire and doused with ice. The weird part was that it didn't really hurt like she thought it might to feel those particular sensations all at once. If anything it was as though she was being charged, a neverending surge of energy seemingly running through her body, and while before that would have resulted in nosebleeds and an unwanted nap for a long duration of time, now it only left her feeling whole.

Which was funny because she hadn't exactly felt as though she was unwhole before, not really. Maybe a bit of longing to learn more, to become stronger with the magic that she had only begun to learn in the last few months, but not as though she was lacking anything.

Hecate waved her hand, motioning for Bonnie to follow her through the replica of the world they were walking through. It wasn't quite right, the colors too dull in some places, far too sharp in others. There was a darkness mixed with light here that screamed power within her with each step that she took. It reminded Bonnie of her grandmother. She was fairly certain she could even smell the woman's perfume as she walked side by side Hecate, could almost hear her voice in the wind that blew around them.

"I know that everything you have witnessed is difficult to believe," the woman started, and the world in front of them shifted again, a hazy whisp of shift blowing in front of them before showcasing images of a life from eons ago that she had only ever seen in paintings and movie representations. "To grasp as any notion of reality considering how much belief systems have strayed from the old ways."

That was putting it lightly. None of this made sense to her rational brain, and not even all of the insanity of the last few months with Damon and Stefan showing up in town equalled everything that had come to light with Klaus' Hades nonsense. Vampires and other monsters that one could become because of some twisted person's games was understandable. Gods thwarted by fate was still incomprehensible in so many ways.

"I considered a variety of ways to ensure you believed what is happening around you, but your doubt is a powerful weapon of yours, one that I believe would permeate anything that I might be able to show you." They stopped walking as they neared a clearing and the images shifted again. "Considering the hatred you have toward Hades and his current brethren, I do not doubt that you would allow your anger toward them to cloud your judgement if you weren't aware of the true consequences should he fail."

Giving more power to the vampires was something Bonnie didn't particularly want to do. Everything they touched ended in death and misery for those she knew. None of her friends would be the same because of the supernatural world that had entered her town and sunk its teeth into every inch of it, brokering for control.

Hecate motioned toward the mist she had conjured and Bonnie concentrated on it. "Twice the fates have attempted to destroy the second chance I gave my best friend and her husband. Once upon the awakening of Hades' true self."

Bonnie watched as the image of Klaus tied to a tree appeared. She couldn't help but smile and feel a sense of satisfaction as he screamed in pain as magic ripped through him. "The next upon the first chance to break the curse they had set upon him," Hecate continued.

And there was Katherine becoming a vampire and Klaus' rage at having been denied his werewolf side once again.

"The third will be the ending of my dear Persephone's life."

Caroline laying on a floor, stake piercing her heart, caused Bonnie's heart to lurch. That wasn't allowed to happen. No matter what the rest of this nonsense might have been, the world wasn't going to destroy Caroline like it had her Grams, like it had Elena. She might not have cared one bit about Klaus Mikaelson or the rest of the supernatural world but like hell was she going to lose Caroline too.

She looked back at the goddess, not sure if she was creeped out or comforted by the woman's smile.

"What do I need to do?" Bonnie asked before falling to her knees at the surge of power that erupted through her. There was no pain this time around but she dug her nails into the ground below her, needing something to anchor onto as the magic built inside of her, filling her as Hecate stood over her, whispering plans that Bonnie knew she had to fulfill.

Screw the fates and their twisted designs.

This time there got to be a happy ending. Or as close to it as monsters were allowed to get.

Time had always been a funny thing to Caroline. At times it seemed to drag on forever, countless hours seemingly taking place inside of one sixty minute class period and at others it moved far too quickly, her father packing his suitcase going by in a blink of an eye but the clock saying something completely different. She wasn't sure she would ever truly understand it or ever really have control over it; no matter how hard she worked to organize every single bit of her life into specific predetermined frames.

Or, she supposed how she used to do so. Schedules meticulously planned out for every day of the week, occasions timed down to the minute, and all of her milestones for the next five years clearly mapped out in her head. None of those maps had worked in weeks though because of her transition into vampirism. And while she had attempted to force herself into keeping to her carefully plotted out life, the amount of loops thrown at her had thrown her off-kilter, causing many late nights to create new plans that would still maintain all that she had wanted out of life.

Walking down the boulevard with Klaus though and listening to him recount the beauty of a sunset along the Amalfi coast had Caroline seriously rethinking all those plans she had been so steadfastly holding onto. Everything had revolved around her small town, even with college she had planned on going to the one nearby, never really venturing far from Mystic Falls. Thoughts of traveling through the world had always been easily squashed, replaced by goals of finishing college, marrying and settling down in town. She'd had her eye on becoming the next chair of the Mystic Falls planning committee, a role she had truly felt she had been destined for.

Now it seemed so small, the mere thought of being tied to that tiny town causing her to swallow hard.

Walking away from that town no longer seemed so daunting but felt freeing. Especially when compared with the rest of what she was working to accept and manage. "So what is it that you even do?" Caroline asked, though she didn't look at Klaus as turned onto the path that would lead him back to his house. "Like, alright, you were looking to break your curse and find me-Persephone or whatever, but what else? What's your day to day? Your month to month? Year to year?" Decade to decade. Her nails bit into her palm, the reality of eternity hitting her all at once. She refused to hyperventilate at the vastness of time that suddenly seemed to be in front of her.

As a vampire she'd figured her life would be a little longer than it would have as a human, but she hadn't really banked on eternity. Not with the Salvatores around. Death seemed to be an inevitability. But not so any longer, not with Klaus so adamant about her living.

"It's rather whatever you want it to be," he started and Caroline shook her head, not wanting to hear about possibilities. She wanted to know the reality.

"So what? When you've done everything the world has to offer does it just become this continuous path of never really ending monotonous step after step, replaying the same thing out from day to day?" God, was she stuck in a forever Groundhog Day? She hadn't even liked that movie.

The jerk had the audacity to chuckle at that, causing Caroline to narrow her eyes and wonder how quickly his eyes would grow back if she clawed them out in that moment. She would worry about her violent tendency at that point later. "You're still thinking as a human," Klaus told her and she really didn't like the way he smiled, the smugness to it with a hint of whimsy that had her pursing her lips, thoroughly annoyed.

"You'll have to alter your perception of time as a vampire. When you return to this place in a decade, it will look different than now; pieces of it altered in ways that you may or may not like. Give it a century and you may find nothing about this particular place warrants a place in your memory. The architecture of today doesn't always lead to the grand, long lasting pieces of the past."

"But my day to day depends on where I am, who I'm with, and what matters I need to deal with at any given time," Klaus continued as he led her out to the private garden in the back and toward the path that would lead to the ocean. "You have only glimpsed a piece of the supernatural world and I'd wager that piece has not given you an understanding of the breadth of it in the world around you."

"You keep saying supernatural world likes its different than the one we're walking around in." She swept her hand out, motioning to the path they walked along. Which made no sense to her in the slightest. If that was the case wouldn't she have known about it long before waking up as a vampire in that hospital room?

Though...apparently her mother had known about vampires and other creatures for awhile. Caroline wasn't entirely certain how that worked and with what little information she had from Damon and Stefan about the Council in Mystic Falls, she did know that there others were privy to information she hadn't known growing up.

He clasped his hands behind his back, grinning in that way that meant he knew something she didn't and found her questions a bit amusing. It rankled her, twisted her insides at the knowledge that she didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle and brought about a sense of deja vu as she glimpsed memories of a similar conversation in regards to the various Gods and Goddesses while walking with Hades in the Underworld. Caroline remembered that very sheltered past, the awakening of her mind as she'd broken free of the daylight and drank in the dark, shedding the maiden as she'd become the Queen.

"Like most towns associated with the supernatural, Mystic Falls did a rather decent job at working to contain any knowledge of that world from most who reside there. It's rather curious that you were not informed of any of the particulars though considering you're part of a family deeply tied to the supernatural world," Klaus continued and Caroline blinked at that. "I believe the Forbes family were always meant to be the town's protectors. Bennett's tied to witchcraft. Lockwoods to the werewolves. Gilberts are hunters. And well, you know what happened to the Salvatores."

Vaguely anyway. Katherine played her games, two vampire brothers later and that family tree had well and surely ended. "At one point they were hunters as well, but they seem to have lost that trait some time ago."

"And that's normal?" She twisted her lips at that, working through everything that he was saying. How was that anywhere near normal? "There are other towns around the world with groups like that? Like I know there are other witches out there." Obviously. Bonnie's family on her mom's side apparently were known for their witchcraft but did that mean there were other families as well?

"There are a number of witch families in the world, though they all tend to belong to one of four clans in the end. There are always off-shoots, but even their origins all come down to one of those." He stopped walking a that and she followed suite, watching as he looked off into the distance for a long moment before turning his attention back to her. "There had been a fifth, but my family's transformation into vampires put an end to it."

Realization dawned on her as she took in his words. "Your family were witches, right?" She vaguely remembered him having mentioned that the other day.

That wry little smile was back. "I was never one to excel at it, but my siblings-particularly Kol, Rebekah, and…" A pause as he took in a deep breath. "Henrik. They were quite gifted at it." There was a vulnerability in his gaze that Caroline didn't quite understand before he started to continue walking. "Probably because my mother had an affair with a werewolf from the neighboring village in order to have me. Got that trait instead."

"And they locked it up?" she prodded, wanting to know more.

Klaus nodded forward and Caroline glanced up ahead, stopping in her tracks as she caught sight of the beginnings of the sunset against the ocean. "There's a bench just to the right of the end of the path."

She didn't need to be told twice, flashing over to the bench and sitting down so she could take in the various colors. They mingled with the scent of the ocean, the clouds offering up more colors in contrast to the sea that darkened with every inch as the sun lowered beyond the horizon. There didn't seem to be enough words in her vocabulary to adequately put to words what she was seeing and Caroline knew she would struggle later on to express any of it to Bonnie during their late night phone call.

"As to your earlier question, Mikael-the man who I had known as my father-had always been particularly ruthless to me and upon learning that I was not his decided to cause me even more pain. I believe Esther hadn't wanted any of us to be more powerful than the other when she bound me," Klaus told her, pulling Caroline's attention away from the ocean and back to the man beside her. "Considering the betrayals of my other parents, they really should have tried harder. But both met their ends that day and I continued on."

If she hadn't looked at him, perhaps she might have taken the confession as him showing her vulnerability and maybe in a way it was. But the hardness in his features, the absolute delight as he cocked his head toward her, teeth shining in the moonlight as he continued reminded her all too well of how powerful and monstrous Klaus was.

Before she would have flinched from it, put as much distance between the two of them as she could manage; now she simply ran her tongue along her teeth, barely containing her own monster as she turned her attention back to the ocean. Caroline couldn't seem to feel that same sort of hate toward her mother that she heard in Klaus' voice toward his various parents. All she felt was grief, and while there was some anger mixed in with, it was nothing like what rolled off of Klaus toward his parents. Part of her even hoped that maybe Liz would come around.

But Caroline knew that hope could be a dangerous thing. One that turned into anger, to feeling betrayed when things didn't come to fruition. And eventually the hope extinguished itself, leaving a cold pit in her stomach, just as had happened as daily phone calls from her dad had so quickly become cards on her birthdays and Christmas, sometimes days after the occasion had passed.

She watched the colors bleed away, darkening until everything was draped in darkness, the only light coming from the moon.

"Penny for your thoughts, love?"

Caroline tilted her head, contemplating what she wanted to say before turning her attention toward him. Sitting around feeling sorry for herself did not seem like the best plan for the night. "Why don't you show me what the former King of the Underworld likes to do for fun around here? Because as much as I'm sure the whole painting thing and gazing out at the ocean is a thing you do. This is Miami."

His predatory smile was back as he stood, extending a hand to help her to her feet as well. "I know just the place."

Something had happened to the Bennett witch, that much was obvious to Kol as he watched Bonnie attempt the spell she had been working to master for the last few days. Gone was the hesitation, the worry that had permeated every inch of her, and instead there was a willingness that he hadn't quite expected to be shown so quickly. Not that he was complaining about the uptick in drive as she worked through the spell, completing it without any trouble this time.

He glanced over at Abby, wondering if she had managed to get through to the girl finally, but from the woman's confused expression that was definitely a dead end. The same look mixed with awe on the rest of the coven's faces ruled out the lot of them as well. Perhaps there had been a conversation with Caroline that had bolstered Bonnie into action. But the raw power that he was witnessing, the way she moved seamlessly through the motions now, words that had been stumbled over before with pronunciation now spilling effortlessly out of her had other theories dancing through his mind.

There had been various stories about where witches had originated from. Countless tales that had been recounted to him throughout the years, all of them steeped with bits and pieces of truth here and there as he'd learned with time. Watching how the myth of his family and their kind had evolved through the centuries had helped Kol learn to dissect the various stories that others told, finding the grain of truth mixed in. Add in that his brother had been the God of the Underworld at one point and it allowed for Kol to believe in a lot more than others seemed to.

"Who visited you last night, little witch?" Kol asked as he plopped down beside Bonnie, amused that her movements faltered for a moment before she continued on with the next spell. He waved off the others, not particularly wanting them around if this conversation was going in the direction he thought it might. "There's a number of possibilities, couple of different gods that are associated with witches through the various myths, but what with Nik and Caroline being of Greek origin, I'm going to guess it was your ancestor, Hecate."

There was that break in her concentration again and Kol tapped his fingers along the ground. Interesting. He did so like when he hit the mark on the first try. "Something must be up if she's finally inserting herself into the game after all of these years." Because that particular god hadn't bothered to help them out before then. "Are we going to play 20 questions? Not my favorite game, but it has its appeal when you alter the rules just enough to make it worthwhile."

"I'm trying to work here," Bonnie finally bit out, not bothering to look over at him as she waved her hand, the movement causing him to fly backward.

Whatever reaction that she might have expected, it certainly hadn't been laughter or the round of clapping that followed it. That really did break her concentration and Bonnie turned backward, shaking her head at the pure delight that bordered on mania that she could see in Kol's features.

"Well then." He marched back over to her and tossed the grimoire out of the way, ignoring the indignant noise Bonnie made as she scrambled to retrieve it. "Let's get working on the spells that will actually matter in the long run. Pity they're not in any grimoire that made it to this century."

Her startled expression at that knowledge was amusing and he let her take that in for a minute, delighting in the worry that changed into determination. Oh yes, he could see why Hecate would have tapped into Bonnie over any other potentials.

Kol tapped his head as she looked back at him, scowling. "Don't worry. I've got them all up here, little witch."

For a moment it looked like she would refuse, but Bonnie tilted her head as if listening to someone, though he couldn't hear anyone around them. She looked back at him, expression steely as she set the grimoire down. "Let's get this over with."

The raw energy of the club was unlike anything that Caroline had ever experienced. While she'd been to her share of house parties and other ones thrown in the woods, nothing compared to the beat of the music and hearts that surrounded her. She'd closed her eyes at some point, getting lost in the rhythm and heat that seemed to sink into her bones. It didn't even matter how close Klaus was standing to her now, hands on her hips as she moved to the music, mouthing the words to the songs she knew, and simply moving to the rest.

It was a heady experience, the feeling of euphoria something she wasn't about to give up for the moment. All of the pain, the confusion of the last few weeks, the hurt that had wanted to swallow her whole was washed away, pushed to the side to be dealt with at some other point. Now was not the time to think of her mother, or Elena, or the memories that made her yearn for things she wasn't ready to admit to wanting.

She twisted, turning so that she was facing Klaus, though she still hadn't opened her eyes. Caroline managed to take hold of one of his hands though, lacing their fingers together as they continued to move, bodies pressed together as she sang along to the chorus of the current song. His fingers clenched on her hip, tugging her even closer-something she hadn't thought possible and Caroline finally looked at him.

If it had been just lust she had seen she probably would have been able to scoff off the look he was giving her, and while that was definitely an emotion she was picking up, it was the utter adoration mixed with longing and a hunger she didn't think she would ever be able to quench that had Caroline sucking in a sharp breath. The gold of his eyes called to the monster within her and she didn't try to hide it this time, allowed the blood to rush to her face, eyes darkening as the veins under them became more pronounced.

Kissing him had definitely not been in her plans for the night, but she couldn't seem to stop herself as she delved forward, all of the reasons why she shouldn't long forgotten for the moment. All that mattered in that moment was him and her and the utter feeling of completion that permeated every cell of hers as her lips pressed to his. Her fangs scraped against his mouth and she groaned at the taste of his blood, pressing her forehead against his as she pulled slightly back, brain nearly catching up to her actions.

But Klaus was faster than her reactions, hands entangling in her hair as he kissed her with the longing of a thousand years. She felt it with every fibre of her being, through the way he seemed to cling hold to her while also managing to do so in a way that vibrated with how precious she was to him. It was everything and more than anything she could have ever wished for, and for the moment it didn't matter that he was the monster who had killed her friend, the one who had a hand in shattering the world she'd known.

He was the one who was helping her build up a world she had always longed for but never quite given words to, never believing herself truly worthy of any of it. But in that moment Caroline did believe, could see their future rolled out in front of them as she kissed him back, unspoken promises reverberating in the way her fingers clutched at his shoulders, unwilling to let him go.

The air shifted as he moved them out of the club, but Caroline paid no attention to it, grinning against his mouth as she was pressed up against the outside wall. The brick exterior bit into her skin, but she relished the scrape of pain as Klaus began pressing kisses along her neck, causing her to hum along as her nails dug into his shoulders as she fought between giving over completely to the sensations he was bringing forth in her or steadying herself.

The heady haze of pleasure was winning out, Caroline pressing her head back against the wall to give Klaus better access.

The cocking of a gun broke shattered it all though and before Caroline could even blink, Klaus had torn into the throat of the man foolish enough to approach them, head snapped off and dropping to the ground as the man's body fell as well.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, adrenaline running strong as she stared at Klaus', gaze focused on the blood smeared across his lips and jaw. The smell of the blood-calling to the beat inside of her that she tried so hard to keep under lock and key-coupled with the sight of him, cracked that finely tuned control Caroline worked so hard at. She allowed her eyes to darken, fangs dropping forth as she flashed over to Klaus, breathing in the scent of blood before she kissed him again.

There was an intensity to it now, a need that she couldn't shake as he kissed her back, taking what she offered and tugging for more with every passing touch. The monster within her roared, the pieces of the goddess that Caroline had been burying rushing to the surface and entwining with her in ways she hadn't known was possible.

The doubts of before seemed to melt away as Klaus' hands slid under the fabric of her shirt, fingers drawing against the skin of her back. It felt like temptation and coming home all at once, a completeness that Caroline hadn't believed was truly possible. But as they broke apart, staring at each other with their monsters both clearly exposed, and the longing echoing between them, Caroline Forbes knew there was no turning back.

It should have terrified her, had her pulling away and putting distance between them again so she could set everything straight. But after everything she had endured in the last few months, the cards she had been dealt and the losses she was certain she could never come back from, Caroline wanted nothing more than to embrace this future that made sense and didn't all at once.

"Let's go home." A thousand promises spoken in just three simple words.

She'd deal with the consequences in the morning.