"Come on sweetheart, time to wake up."

Once again Caroline found herself lying on the deck of the ship after just having been brought back to consciousness. The moment her eyes fluttered open the pain in her head began to make itself known and she groaned softly.

"There we go," the voice spoke again. Caroline blinked a few times to make the blurry mess that was her surroundings come into focus. Finally she realized that the person leaning over her was no one other than Klaus. "Seems like I can't take my eyes off you for a second or you almost get yourself killed," his eyes were dancing with amusement and Caroline's defense mechanism immediately kicked in at the sight of him laughing at her.

"I did not almost get myself killed," she shot back at him. She refused to acknowledge the painful throbbing in her head out loud but scrambled into a sitting position. It didn't make things much better and only made her feel dizzy.

"Take it easy, love," Klaus warned her. "You don't want to try any sudden movements."

The fact that he was telling her what to do – and in what sounded like a concerned voice, none the less – made Caroline burn with fury. He was not allowed to act like he cared for her wellbeing. It didn't matter that he had saved her life once. He was a pirate and she was not going to listen to his orders.

She straightened herself up a little more but reluctantly followed his advice by doing so slowly. It seemed that pirates wore heavy boots that made quite an impact when they crashed against someone's head. Her eyes darted around herself and she realized that everyone that had been on the little adventure was standing around them.

Caroline was surprised to find that they had brought Rebekah along. Kol had a firm grip around her upper arm and while she was glowering at him she made no move to escape. The new piece of information that this seemed to be a giant family gathering was still making her head spin more than it already was.

"Has no one ever taught you pirates not to fight a man when he's down? It's cowardly," Caroline huffed, mostly because the silence pressing down on all of them was making her highly uncomfortable.

Someone in the group laughed but Caroline wasn't able to catch who so her deathly glared was directed at Klaus.

"Pirates don't fight by morals. That's what makes us pirates," Klaus replied simply. "Now, if you could be so kind to hand over the necklace."

Caroline tried – and failed miserably – to keep the surprise off her face. The fact that she had managed to grab the necklace from the floor was supposed to have gone unnoticed by everyone in the chaos. She had been sure that no one had seen it happen. Apparently, she had been wrong.

Her eyes scanned the deck quickly and her tongue darted out to lick her lips nervously. Her chance at escaping had gone through the window when she blacked out. The only way she had out was the necklace. It was her leverage and she wasn't about to just hand it over.

"Come on now," Klaus prodded. "If you don't give it to me I'll be forced to take it from you," the threat hung between them and Caroline nodded slowly. Her hand reached towards the small space in her dress she had stuffed the necklace into. Every eye on deck was glued to her.

Quicker than she had thought possible Caroline jumped into a standing position and threw herself towards the railing. She had the necklace out and dangling over the side of the boat in less than a second.

Fierce determination was etched across Caroline's features and she raised her chin defiantly. Her head was spinning along with her stomach from the sudden movements but she pushed those feelings away.

Caroline ignored Rebekah's surprised gasp, the look of warning flashing across Stefan's face or the way every jaw seemed to have fallen to the ground. She stared straight into Klaus' eyes and tried not to recoil at the sight of him.

His eyes were burning with a fury that looked like it belonged in hell. His face was twisted into an expression of pure madness. If looks could have killed she would have been dead the moment his eyes locked with hers.

"Don't doubt for a second that I won't kill you," Klaus' voice rang out dangerously but she was pleased to note that he hadn't moved a muscle.

Every single person on deck was watching her but no one had dared to make a move in her direction. Caroline daringly raised an eyebrow and let the delicate chain slide down a bit. She grabbed on right before it had a chance to fall into the ocean.

"Don't doubt for a second that I won't drop it," Caroline called back, using his own words against him.

Had the gravity of the situation not been the one thing on her mind Caroline would have felt proud of herself for what she was doing. She was taking control of her life and going up against a pirate. She wasn't sure whether she was being brave or foolish but it still felt good.

The silence stretched out while Caroline and Klaus stared daggers at each other. She could see his mind working to find a way to get the necklace from her without risking her dropping it into the crashing waves. Caroline's lips quirked upwards in a smirk worthy of Klaus himself and he growled in response.

"What do you want?" he finally demanded and he actually flinched as the words left him. Apparently he was more of a taker than a giver.

She had won. Caroline could feel it and the smirk turn into a pleased smile.

"I want to go home," she said simply.

Klaus snorted dismissively as if her request was the most foolish thing he had ever heard of.

"Not possible sweetheart," he drawled.

Caroline had to keep herself from stomping her foot again the floor. He was supposed to give her what she wanted now! She was supposed to finally wake up from this nightmare and return to her normal life.

"Then I'll drop it," she threatened.

He stared at her, daring her to make the move. Caroline caught her lower lip between her teeth and nervously surveyed the small crowd that had gathered around. The ship was already sailing away from port and everyone that wasn't on duty had gathered to look at the little show she was putting on.

They continued the staring match they had started earlier. Klaus' eyes bore into hers and he might as well have been standing close enough to kiss her – the stare was so piercing.

"You can't go home. Name another price," he finally glowered.

"I want to go home!" Caroline did not care that she sounded like a spoiled child. The snickers around her did not even make her blush. "Just let me go and I'll give you the necklace!"

"You stupid girl," Klaus barked. "You can't go home. You know too much. The moment you set foot in your precious home you'll be ripped away by someone far worse than me. You will be begging to be back in my cell when he's done with you."

The words were coated in something caught between fear and admiration. Caroline took a deep breath to steady herself. She didn't want to be afraid of this strange danger he was speaking of but she couldn't help herself. For the same reason she had believed him when he told her he was the one who saved her Caroline found herself unable to cast his words aside as lies. The dread in his voice was too real.

"Fine," she gave in. She wasn't sure whether she was being stupid for not pressing the matter or smart for listening to his warning. "I'll stay. But you have to teach me how to fight," her final demand made eyebrows rise but she held her head up high.

The only person that did not look the least bit surprised was Klaus. His lips had quirked into an amused grin and all the previous anger had been wiped away. Well, almost. His eyes still seemed to be reeking with it.

"Fighting isn't very lady like," he teased which earned a round of laughter.

"If I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of pirates and get attacked on a daily basis I need to know how to fight back," Caroline snapped. She did not enjoy being laughed at. There had been enough of that already. "Teach me how to wield a sword and I'll give you the necklace."

Klaus, who was more on ease now that she had offered him a deal he was willing to accept, took a few long strides forward. Caroline did her best to stand her ground as he stopped right in front of her but her hands shook slightly no matter how hard she tried.

"How will I be sure you won't wield the sword against me, eh?" he asked quietly but he still looked amused.

"You'll just have to trust me," was all Caroline offered.

"I don't trust," Klaus said honestly. "But you have a deal."

He extended his hand. Instead of placing her own hand in it Caroline pulled the necklace back and slapped it against his hand. She did not miss the breath of relief he took as she did so.

"So what's so important with my necklace?" she asked, curiosity getting the best of her. "It doesn't go very well with your clothes," she added just for the sake of it.

"It's not a necklace," he said, completely ignoring her dig. "It's a compass."

Caroline's eyes widened as he pulled out a knife from his belt and used it to crack open the medallion. Over the years Caroline had tried to crack open the medallion more than a few times. She had broken every nail on her fingers while trying but had never succeeded. Apparently she ought to have tried with a knife.

Where she had assumed there was nothing but a hole was a compass.

She was so surprised to find that the necklace she had worn almost religiously for so many years was something completely different than she had thought it was that she almost missed the tiny detail of a rather heavy compass already hanging from his belt.

But Caroline had always been good with details. Her father called her a control-freak, she just said she liked to be neat.

"You already have a compass," she said. "What do you need that one for?"

"Because, sweet Caroline… this is a very special compass," he was staring at the compass with a look of possession Caroline had only seen in the eyes of a man deeply in love with a woman. It was unnerving, to say the least. "According to legend there once was a pirate who was looking for an extraordinary treasure that had been hidden away from mankind for centuries. Desperate to find the treasure the pirate found a powerful witch that could put a spell on his compass to locate it. But the spell was very complicated and took a long time to perform. While the two of them worked side by side to complete the spell the witch fell in love with the pirate. When she revealed the nature of her true feelings for him he broke her heart by telling her he would never love a woman like he loved the sea. The witch, like all women, was very temperamental and did not take his rejection well. He broke her heart so she ripped his out of his chest. The spell was only partly finished when she threw away the compass. Since then it's been passed along as nothing but a necklace, unable to do what it was once meant to."

Klaus' words were loud enough for everyone to hear but for some reason Caroline felt as if he was speaking to her and her only. It took a moment before she was able to pull herself out of the trance his story had put her in.

Caroline looked down on the compass. It was spinning widely but never settled on one cardinal point. In all her days she had never come across anything magic. She had heard stories of it. Bonnie, especially, liked to speak of it. Her maid would often tell her about the great witches of the olden times. But Caroline had never once believed any of the stories were actually true.

But the fact was that in the course of a few days Caroline's life had changed drastically. Everything she had ever known had been ripped away from her and all the morals and knowledge she held had been questioned. She could not help but think that the existence of magic was not much of a stretch.

"So what you have is a piece of trash that can't do what you want it to?" Caroline finally asked her eyebrows quirking upwards and a daring smirk playing on her lips.

She had expected him to refuse to answer her question entirely or shoot some nasty remark her way. Instead, his whole face shining with glee he said:

"No, what I have is a treasure beyond anything any pirate could wish for that will do exactly what I want it to once I find a witch to finish the spell. Luckily, I know exactly where to get one of those."

Caroline licked her lips nervously but tried to keep her game face on. She had to at least attempt to look as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

"And what do you want this compass to show you?" she asked.

Klaus leaned forward. She could feel his breath against her skin and his lips just barely brushed across her skin before being brought up to her ear. His whisper sent shivers down her spine for all the wrong reasons.

"A weapon."

. . .

A/N Okay I have like a million things to say now.

First of all, WOW. I can't believe this story has more than 100 reviews! It makes me all giddy inside. You guys are amazing.

Second, I'm really really nervous about this chapter because it's a bit of a reveal. And I'm scared it's not what you guys expected it to be or wanted it to be. So I hope I didn't disappoint you.

Third, yes this does mean that magic exists in this verse. Vampires, werewolves and all other TVD creatures do not, however. This is mainly about humans.

Fourthly (yeah that's probably not even a word) yes the chapter has a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean feels to it. I wanted to point that out myself so you guys know I'm veyr much aware where my inspiration comes from. Not trying to steal ideas from anyone! The part about Caroline threatening to drop the necklace is from the first of the movies where Elizabeth threatens to drop the skull thingy. Obviously, yes okay.

I THINK THAT'S IT. If not I'll get back to you guys with more of my crazy ramblings in the next chapter.