Everything was finally complete, all of us having worked together to accomplish the tasks that I had meticulously given out in order to prepare for the final showdown between us and the Devil incarnate as well as his siren missionaries. There was no way I could allow such people to exist in this world any longer, they were rotten to the core and I knew that letting them go would only leave a trail of bodies in their wake, which I could not afford on my conscience, so it had to be done. Bonnie and I were going to work together in order to trap all three of them together, and everyone else had their own jobs that needed to be done.
Peter put the pieces of the bell back together and returned it to the clock tower where he and Matt were going to ring it when the time came. Damon and Stefan were armed with the weapon forged from the ashes and bone of Cade's body, the only weapon that could kill him which had been left in the tunnel chamber in the vault room, and it was their job to make sure that knife ended up in Cade's chest, whilst Caroline and Alaric made sure that the town square was completely evacuated. Enzo had decided to remain with Bonnie for moral support, and to be there to protect her should anything go wrong, but considering I was the one laying the trap, I was fully confident that my boundary spell would hold all three of them to the mortal plain. We would destroy the Devil, and then Hell itself.
There was no chance I was going to let it still exist even after ending Cade, because I knew damn well that the moment he was gone, Katherine Pierce would elect herself Queen of Hell and take over. It all had to be timed perfectly, otherwise the souls of the underworld would escape and not only Katherine, but numerous other terrible people would also end up walking on earth once again after the veil between our worlds dropped upon the eleventh ring, including Kai Parker. Everything had to go exactly as planned, and we had all gone over it a hundred times to make sure that we each knew our role. For the most part, however, everything relied on me and Bonnie containing the Devil and the Hellfire, which I knew she could do.
The magic runes to block psychic ability covered the tunnel underneath the Armoury where we had laid our trap to hold Cade and the sirens, intending to send them all to Oblivion together where they would finally find peace. My ancestors backed my decision, and with their blessings, I began to form the boundary circle which would draw Cade and any wayward spirits that tried to escape directly to us ready to be disintegrated by the flames of hell.
Part of me felt sympathetic towards Cade. He had been brutally murdered after all and his psychic powers were the very reason that hell was created in the first place as the traumatic experience had released a chiasmic tear in reality where he then festered his hatred for those who had turned on him, making him into the man he was today. After four thousand years, it was about time he found peace, and as I continued with my preparations I made sure to add spells that would make sure that the death would be painless, sending them into a dreamlike state where they would be able to finally close their eyes and drift away into the afterlife.
With everything ready, our plan was then put into motion at the stroke of midnight. Matt rang the bell, beginning the unravelling of the veil between our worlds as I started to chant, drawing the spirit of Arcadius into the magic circle I had drawn where Sybil and Seline, both asleep and sharing a dream together where they were living a happy life together as young girls where they never went hungry or cold, but grew old together in peace and fulfilment as their end neared. When I came face to face with the Devil, he looked me in the eye and for a moment, I saw a glimpse of his immortal soul showing shock and fear as I continued to hold him down, tethering him to that same spot where the hellfire was soon to come. "So you are the druid Ophelia Martin-Jones. The absolver of the guilty, the salve that heals all wounds…I have watched you closely for some time now." Arcadius spoke to me, and I found his mellow voice pleasing to the ear as I continued to focus my magic upon him.
"Are you not angry I'm putting an end to your hell world?" To this he merely smiled.
"I have great respect for your people, and acknowledge that your purpose in this life is to be the protector of peace and goodness in this world. If your ancestors call for my schemes to be put to an end, then that is their business, but you should know that I do not intend to go quietly." Now it was my turn to smile, relaxing my stance as the twelfth bell rang out and released hellfire into our world as Bonnie Bennett began to draw it from the clock tower down into the tunnels where it raced towards us, an ever increasing glow of gold and white flames. Arcadius attempted to reach out with his mind, attempting to break the hold I had over him and even my runes felt the effects of the sheer force his mind wielded, a power equal and perhaps even superior to that which I possessed, but I only needed to hold him long enough for Stefan to make his move.
As the fire continued to roar upon its approach, the souls of the damned attempted to make their escape from Cade's Hell, only to also be drawn here. Katherine was one of the first, soon followed by Kai Parker and several other villains from history who screamed and begged to be saved. This time, however, I had no intention of showing mercy. After all…you can't kill someone who's already dead. "NOW!" Bellowing as I thrust out my hands with a release of magic power I had been storing up, it was enough to create a backlash that whipped Cade's head back and disrupt his focus for a mere moment, but when you have the speed of a vampire, a moment was all one needed.
Stefan drove the knife deep into Cade's heart, the bone and glass making direct contact and creating a noticeable rip in Cade's psyche that I could almost feel myself as the hellfire bore down upon us. "Carrots!" Damon pulled me into the side chamber out of the devastating path of flames as Cade's body disintegrated into ash and the remaining souls, still bound to the realm of hell thanks to my magic circle, all perished within its ruin as the Salvatore brothers both hid me within them, forming a barrier in order to protect me as their true selves and most basic of instincts drove them to protect their friends, and by this point, they considered me to be one of them. They held me as the flames continued to burn as Bonnie fought them back in the Armoury above ground, where I could feel the presence of her own ancestors joining her as the veil between words continued to remain merged and together, they forced the hellfire back from whence it came with a power and might that was nothing short of miraculous.
It was over as simply as that, and as I drew the residual power of the nexus vorti into me, I stored it in preparation to finish what I had begun as finally, everything began to fall into place. After taking a few days to recover, Bonnie and I used the power of the nexus vorti not only to break Elena free of her sleeping curse but to also revive Josie, bringing her soul back from the dead and giving her physical form so that when she awoke for the first time in three years, her eyes immediately strayed to Alaric's where she whispered his name and instinctively reached out for him. I was overcome with emotion as I stood by Bonnie's side, the both of us watching the reunion before slipping away together, whereby I left one final gift for everyone in town. The Cure.
Although Elena already had one Cure in her body, the one I had made was potent enough to cure an Original vampire of their curse, and so with one of the two vials I had managed to procure, I poured the red liquid into the river at Steven's Quarry and bound its properties to the water there so that it would remain forever within the boundary. From now on, any vampire who wished to be cured of vampirism merely had to drink from these waters in order to return to being human. Everyone took a gulp the moment it was finished, meaning that once everyone had given up their immortality in order to be with the people that they loved, there was no longer a vampire amongst them. I was happy for them all, and celebrated with plenty of bourbon and laughter the night we finally accomplished everything that we set out to do, and I even brought Lucan back down in order to spend Christmas at Mystic Falls with my parents and everyone else there.
But that was the final chapter of this part of our legacy, and soon I would have to begin the next to return to those whom I called family rather than mere friends. The Mikaelsons would need me soon, and considering the ominous feeling that followed me whenever I thought about New Orleans and what awaited us there, I knew that whatever was coming for us next would be unlike anything we'd ever faced before. But, so long as we faced it together, I was confident we could overcome it, and this time there would be no holding back. I was adamant to fix everything so that we could all have our happily ever after, and so with Lucan by my side, I went back to Hayley and Hope, whereby I resumed the task of helping her to find the cures for everyone still sleeping under Freya's spell with the aim to wake them soon.