A/N: I'm actually really excited about this one - it's probably gonna finish the next chapter. But I've never really tried for a Greek myth type AU before so please go gentle on me - I'M FRAGILE. Okay, let's clear things up:

Caroline - Lady of optimism. Yeah, this is a new one.

Elena and Katherine - both are twins and both are Aphrodite.

Kol - Dionysus. Come on, he drinks and parties all day.

Klaus - HADES. I get the feeling Klaus is a little out of character because I've twisted him to have a sense of humour. He had a sense of humour in Vampire Diaries, didn't he?

Mikael - Zeus. 'Nuff said.

Esther - Hera.

Elijah - Poseidon.

Rebekah - the female version of Eros. Okay, she's really hard to put a Greek goddess to.

Meredith - Artemis because Kol likes messing around with her arrows.

Damon - Ares. Hehe.

Stefan - Hephaestus. I hope I spelt that right.

And Marcel's just there.

Enjoy!

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red wines, laughter like water

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'I've had a perfectly wonderful evening—but this wasn't it.'

Groucho Marx

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the night sky is changing

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"My lord," Marcel whispers as he pushes an envelope into his master's hands. "You have an invitation."

Now, isn't that very strange?

"Well, there's no need to whisper," Klaus, Lord of the Underworld, AKA Hades AKA Evil One AKA Self-Proclaimed Awesome Than The Rest, chuckles as he eyes the invitation. "We're all dead, here!"

Lord Klaus sits, powerful and proud, in his curling throne, with his head high; a strong sharp crown of icy thorns and hinting strongly of death presses on his bed of hair. He has resided in the Underworld Palace for centuries, seen nobody else but Marcel and has conversations with the occasional serial killer—

"So what're you in here for?"

"I'm a serial killer."

"Me, too!"

— and his sense of humour has not really improved.

"Do you think it'll explode if I touch it?" he asks Marcel who wonders if it's alright for him to laugh.

Curiosity flickers up in him and he frowns at the invitation for a minute, before taking it and holding it between his index finger and thumb—for who would invite Klaus to anything? He's been pushed out for so long it's unheard of—the invitation shimmers in his teetering grasp. It's gold and glittery—he scoffs, Olympus gods; show offs—and strains to be torn open so Klaus rolls his eyes and tears the envelope.

Instantly, the invitation screams, "YOU'VE BEEN INVITED TO THE WINTER SOLSTICE! YES, YOU, LORD KLAUS—what are you talking about, Caroline? Why'd you invite him—I'm inviting him, Elena, because I've never seen the guy; I mean, everyone's always talking about how evil he is and what if—Care, sweetie, he's not like Edward Cullen, okay? He's evil, pure evil and Lord Mikael will kill you—I'm still inviting him, Elena! And you know how much I hate that Twilight crap …Argh, this invite's been messed up, now. I'm gonna have to make another one—,"

"Looks like they sent the wrong invite."

Klaus looks amused as the invitation finishes the conversation and rips itself up automatically, shiny glitter falling to the floor. Without saying a word, a servant melts from the walls and rushes up to Klaus' feet, brushing away the glitter from the grey stone. Klaus bends his head, acknowledging the servant's presence momentarily, as Marcel moves closer.

"My lord, do I have permission to send your consent for the Winter Solstice?"

Wrapping his hand around his staff, Lord Klaus wonders—who is this Caroline, why has he never heard of her before? Perhaps she is a minor goddess, he thinks, and promptly nods, an intriguing smirk pushing at his lips.

"Tell them I accept the first invitation I've had in centuries," he tells Marcel and his eyes flicker with a dark light as he continues, "Won't it be fun to see everyone again?"

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Lady Caroline, goddess of optimism—no, really. Lady Katherine AKA Aphrodite actually appointed her as the goddess of optimism—dances in the ballroom with Lord Kol, god of baseball bats—just kidding, he's the god of wine and parties—, ruby-red laughter tumbling from her lips. The gorgeous blue gown flows around her like a softly blossoming flower as she snaps, "Kol! Hands off!"

"It's your majesty, Care," Kol says cheekily but stops pushing his hands down Caroline's waist. "Haven't we practiced enough, you control freak you?"

His words are tinged with a hint of mocking, enough to let Caroline know he's only teasing, as she rolls her eyes and bats at him laughingly. Soft violins and gentle harps play in a soothing melody as the two practice—the music tilts and falls into the room gorgeously, harmonious strings whispering sweetly through the air.

"The Winter Solstice ball is tonight, Kol," Caroline replies. "And I know it's really foreign for you, seeing as you're too irresponsible, but I organised the whole thing and I should be able to dance properly—,"

"Rather than just getting drunk and dancing on Damon's throne, like you did last time?" Kol grins at her as he suddenly grips her fingers and twirls her as the harps rise in volume.

"You were supposed to stop me and yet you danced along beside me—Damon was going to murder us both!"

"See, your problem, Care?" Kol says as she dances along with him, "is that you're too uptight. The fact that our lives were at risk was a bonus! And it's not as if we could really die—,"

"You had someone film me and posted it up on the Olympus website," Caroline remembers, "You're lucky I didn't actually find a way to kill you."

"You know you want me, really," Kol waggles his eyebrows suggestively as Caroline laughs at him.

"You wish, Kol!" she says, as Kol lifts her up into the air.

"So," Kol begins, "who's this surprise guest? And is she hot?"

Caroline bites into her bottom lip nervously. "Right," she gulps, "the surprise guest—I almost forgot," she lets out a nervous laugh that sounds like a satyr choking. She may have, sort of, actually neglected to tell anyone—barring Elena, whom she swore to secrecy after blackmailing her with the usual 'I know what you did with Lord Damon'—about the identity of the surprise guest.

"Caroline!" someone calls and Lady Rebekah, goddess of love—the other one—stalks in the ballroom. She's finely clad in her Winter Solstice attire already; a pure-white loose gown that streams around her, soft sheaths of silk push itself out at her waist and it's got a bateau neckline, the bodice decorated with dozens upon dozens of twinkling beads. Her blonde hair is in loose curls, swept to one shoulder and she continues, "We've been looking for you for so long—Katherine's searching for you in the market place though I bet she's gone to get those heels she was going on about and—why are you wasting your time by dancing with my good-for-nothing brother—,"

"Oh, sister, darling," Kol pretends his heart's been impaled, clutching at his chest overdramatically, "you wound me so."

"Got to go, Kol," Caroline blows him a kiss.

"Missing you already," Kol calls as she leaves the ballroom. For one second, he wonders—who is this mystery guest and why did Caroline blush so heavily when he probed her? Perhaps darling Caroline's breaking the rules—but then, in Olympus, there's really only a few rules, most of which Kol and Caroline have put into place:

1) No inviting Lord Klaus anywhere—courtesy of Lord Mikael.

2) No stealing Lady Esther's sacred cows for milk—they're not to be mixed with human Coco Pops.

3) No drunk dancing on Lord Damon's throne.

4) No filming one of Lady Katherine's slumber parties or any slumber parties—Kol's to blame for this one.

5) No messing with Lady Meredith's arrows—again, Kol.

6) No running away with Lord Stefan's journals.

You know, the usual—wait a minute.

Kol frowns.

Hmm.

Caroline wouldn't—no, she can't—but then, it's Caroline—so maybe—

She wouldn't really invite Lord Klaus of the Underworld to the Winter Solstice Ball, now, would she? It is Caroline, he supposes; she's a bit of a rebel and she'd do anything for cookies. But breaking Lord Mikael's rules?

Everyone's terrified of him.

She wouldn't dare.

Or maybe she would.

"Caroliiiine!"

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The Winter Solstice Ball is magnificent.

Dozens of gods and goddesses enter through the huge gaping arched doors, where the pale winter theme flows on—the ballroom is draped entirely in white, icy balloons courtesy of Lord Stefan, god of machinery, float around the room, sprinkling soft delicate flecks of snow and there's a fancy band at the corner, striking up the old harps and violins once again. Gentle notes tinkle into the room and almost immediately, the guests begin to waltz—ballgowns lavishly decorated with laces, pearls drift about the room mesmerisingly and the room is lit with a rather pure sort of light that flows around with Lady Caroline who swishes around frantically—

"Come on, come on—people need food!" she snaps at the passing waiters who are all too used to this and don't even try to stop her when she gulps down a glass of glistening nectar followed swiftly by a glass of red wine.

"Where the hell is Elijah?" she demands—the god of the sea is the guest of honour and she's taken the time to reserve him a special seat and if he doesn't get down here in five seconds—

"This is the Winter Solstice Ball," she clicks her fingers at the band, "not a funeral! Pick up the tempo, damn it!"

—and despite her panic, she's done a fantastic job.

Lady Katherine, goddess of love, whooshes into the ball, ever the overdramatic one, with her gorgeous gown streaming out around and she practically glows effortlessly but that may be just the body glow Rebekah lent her. Caroline rolls her eyes as the eyes of the male population in the room follow her and then groan simultaneously when Katherine proceeds to kiss Stefan senseless. Lord Elijah follows after, bringing a very strong smell of fish with him, and Caroline follows him quickly, spraying her favourite Hope perfume after him, smiling innocently when he frowns at the sounds curiously.

Lord Mikael sits on his throne proudly, as Lady Esther traces designs onto the arm of her chair idly, and congratulates Caroline. "You've done a beautiful job, Caroline," he says, smiling at her.

"How would you feel about organising the Summer Solstice as well?" Esther offers and Caroline is about to nod and do her happy dance when—

"It was a hypothetical suggestion, Damon! I haven't actually doodled rainbows and fairies all over your battle armour!"

Caroline freezes. Uh oh. She quickly pastes a smile on her face. "Excuse me a moment, your majesties," she says before turning around in one blonde furious twirl, ready to do some damage control, "KOL!"

Mikael and Esther chuckle before turning to each other and frowning, as Caroline huffs away, trying to find their devious son. Mikael gets up off his seat. "Lady Esther," he begins, "would you like to dance?"

"What about that Ayanna nymph—don't you want to dance with her?" Lady Esther spits angrily. "What happened to her?"

"You turned her into a bull, my dear."

Already, Lord Damon, the god of war, is getting into an argument with Kol and Caroline can see him not-so-discreetly sharpening his sword so she twirls, hissing, "Elena! Code Red! Code Red!"

Lady Elena—she's another goddess of love because they're twins—launches into action almost immediately, smiling seductively as she pushes herself into Damon's arms and bats at Kol to get away. "Hey, you…"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Caroline yanks at Kol's arm.

"Ahh, there you are!" Kol says brightly. "I tried to find you but the wine was calling me and when will everyone else realise that the mortals actually have a wider choice of alcohols? Have you guys ever heard of a vodka and tonic?"

Caroline blinks at him and rolls her eyes. "Kol—,"

"And the mystery guest!" Kol smiles. "I know who it is."

Her smiles falls fast. "Kol—,"

Before she can say anything, the doors to the Winter Solstice Ball crash wide open, the ball goes completely silent for there he is. Devilishly handsome in a sharp suit and with a smirk that says he knows it, Lord Klaus of the Underworld smiles—

"Did you miss me?"

Lord Mikael drops his glass of wine.

Rebekah gapes. Elijah stares. Kol wonders—white wine or red for the show that's inevitably about to go down?

Caroline tries for a smile. "Welcome back, Lord Klaus?"

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to be continued