Chapter Three

Converging

Mystic Falls, Virginia

May 2010

Pacari drummed a staccato rhythm on the Formica table, looking anywhere but at Rebekah as she spoke. Beside him, Elijah was nursing a tumbler of Scotch and attentively listening to his sister while ignoring the dark glares his brother kept shooting across the table. Caroline was rubbing her thumb against her husband's wedding band to keep him from tackling Elijah to the floor.

It was late. After Caroline had calmed down the gang at the Boarding House, they'd gone to Liz's. Rebekah was currently summarizing her trip to Africa with Klaus, mostly for Elijah's benefit.

Everyone's final partings with the elder Original had been fraught with strife. The betrayals felt by all were complex and deep-seated, but for the moment, Rebekah had put her hostility aside to focus on more important matters. Klaus was not quite as diplomatic, judging from the anger rolling off him in waves as he glared at his brother.

"The rumors that someone has been attempting to find and awaken an ancient immortal witch were what compelled us to go to lower Africa in the first place," she was explaining. "Obviously, hearing about a creature who is older and more powerful than us was concerning. For the majority of our time there, most of what we heard were variations of the same bloody story over and over – he sought eternity with his soul mate, created a magical elixir, and was punished for his arrogance. Some versions claimed it was another witch who created the elixir, and he stole it from her. But it wasn't until a few weeks ago that everything finally started to clarify. An old witch gave us his name – Silas – and said he was the key to finding the Cure."

Elijah blanched. "The Cure? But I thought with the Brotherhood gone…"

"That's not everything," Rebekah continued. "This witch mentioned her past dealings with Kol. Nik thought maybe Kol had shared some of his knowledge of Silas with his closest friends, and a quick phone call to Des Cendres proved his theory. Pacari?"

Pacari jumped slightly in his seat. "Right. Silas literally carries the Cure to all immortality in his hands, but the only way to get the Cure is to wake him up. Long has it been prophesied his second coming would bring the end of the world."

Rebekah folded her hands on the table. "The Brotherhood of the Five are the key to finding him. Their mission is to kill enough vampires to complete their marks, which create a map to Silas' tomb, then wake him up, and force the Cure down his throat."

"But the Brotherhood was destroyed," Elijah said in alarm, glancing at his brother.

Klaus grimaced. "Apparently, their magic follows the same logic as Buffy the Vampire Slayer – upon their deaths, their powers are awoken in Potentials."

Caroline nudged her husband with a grin. "I knew you had a soft spot for Sarah Michelle Gellar."

"She has a way with a crossbow that speaks to me," he quipped back before addressing Elijah. "Alexander told us the Five could find the Cure if they became strong enough. That's why I killed them all, which, of course, nearly killed me."

"If the Five are still around, then they must be the ones who are trying to find and awaken Silas," Elijah reckoned.

"It's possible it's the Five," Rebekah conceded. "Though there isn't any evidence the Five are currently mobilized. Just before we left Namibia, we saw pictures of a nearly completed mark, but they were from the 1960s."

"What happened to the Hunter?" asked Elijah.

"He died just a few weeks after the pictures were taken. He was shot in South Africa by a human. Apartheid," said Klaus. "And people say I'm a villain."

"Then how do we find them, or whoever is trying to awaken Silas?" Elijah insisted.

"I have an idea. I think we should try to contact someone on the Other Side who may be of assistance," said Rebekah. Pacari noticed she flushed slightly as she said it.

"Who?" Klaus asked as he wrapped an arm around Caroline.

"Alexander," Rebekah said quickly, narrowing her eyes at her siblings.

Klaus did not take the hint. "Really, Bekah? Are you sure you're not just looking for an excuse to see an old lover?" he teased with a shit-eating grin.

"I think his daggering you was his way of ending the love affair, dear sister," Elijah added.

Rebekah glowered at them.

"Alexander is the only member of the Five whom we know on the Other Side. He is the key to Silas," she defended hotly.

"I beg to differ. How can we influence a ghost to help us? A ghost who hates us, no less. He cannot be compelled, he cannot be tortured, we cannot threaten to kill him or his loved ones. He wants nothing more than to see our ruin," Klaus argued.

"But we can use that to our advantage! Maybe he will think that leading us to Silas will spell our doom. I could tell him I want it," Rebekah shot back.

Elijah scoffed. "He saw through you when he was alive. Do you really think you can trick him after he's been on the Other Side for nearly a thousand years?"

Rebekah glared at her brother in betrayal; he shrugged unapologetically.

"You've never been a very good liar, Bekah," Klaus condescended, earning a sharp look of rebuke from his wife.

"What makes you so sure I'd be lying? How do you know I don't still want the Cure?" Rebekah snarled.

Caroline decided it was time to intervene. "I could use my magic to make him talk; I've done it to ghosts before."

The siblings ignored her.

"Because you don't," Elijah said, with a hint of trepidation.

Rebekah banged her hands on the Formica so forcefully it cracked. Caroline winced; Liz was going to kill her.

"You've been ignoring us for over six bloody decades, Elijah. You don't get to waltz in, mess around with the doppelgänger, then gang up on me with Nik! You don't have a say in anything! And you!" She turned to Klaus. "Don't even get me started on you. We've made our peace, but I'll never forget what you did to me! I don't know which is worse, abandonment or daggering, but either way, the two of you are terrible brothers! At least Kol had my best interests in mind."

"Kol's last actions were purely selfish, sister," Elijah warned.

Pacari cleared his throat. "Can you make contact with this Alexander tomorrow night?"

Caroline nodded. "Yes; though, 'contact' is saying it lightly. I'll be dragging him out of the Other Side for a few minutes."

"Serves him right," Rebekah said shortly, looking away from her brothers as she stood. "I'm going to bed. Where am I sleeping?"

"Upstairs, last door on the right," Caroline replied.

Rebekah nodded. "Speaking of immortal witches, you should call Riko. She must know something about Silas and the Cure."

She flashed upstairs without another word. The rest of the family blinked at each other in shock.

"You don't think she actually intends to become a human?" Elijah murmured hesitantly.

Caroline shrugged. "Though I know her nearly as well as myself, I cannot always tell what she is thinking." She paused. "Would…would any of you take it?"

There was a long silence. Elijah was the first to respond.

"I would have taken it for Grace. When I was with her, I would have done anything to father children with her, to truly age with her, and be her equal. Without her, I cannot say I desire mortality," he admitted.

Pacari was next. "I am proud to keep a small fraction of my people's history, heritage, and culture alive. For that reason alone, I would remain immortal. There are other reasons, though," he stated, his eyes flickering to where Rebekah had disappeared.

Caroline frowned. "Mankind's beauty is found in their strive to overcome their weaknesses. Their transience humbles them yet compels them to do as much as possible before they perish. And with that said…I didn't become the person I was meant to be until Bekah turned me. I liked being a vampire, but I love being a hybrid. I have done a lot with my eternal life – I think we all have."

Klaus nodded absentmindedly. His wife nudged him.

"And you?"

He smirked at her. "Is that even a question? Don't you know me at all?" he teased, but she could tell he was evading.

"Enough of this morbid conversation. It's been a long day," Elijah said, rising.

Klaus also rose. "Is that all you have to say?"

Elijah paused. "Niklaus, I know we were not on the best of terms when we parted last, but it has been a long time since then."

"It has. Maybe I'd have forgiven you in the past few decades if I had seen you," Klaus snarled.

Elijah grimaced. "I am sorry, Nik. I really am. But I was grieving; I needed to be alone. This century really wore me down."

"That is a rubbish excuse and you know it. No matter how many years passed, how could you believe I desiccated my wife, Elijah?" Klaus asked in a betrayed voice, tightening his hold on Caroline's hand.

Elijah sighed. "I was not in the right state of mind, brother. There is no excuse."

Klaus stared at him stonily.

"Who told you Nik hadn't taken the dagger out of Bekah? That he'd desiccated me?" Caroline asked.

He adjusted his cuff links to avoid her gaze. "Katerina came to visit me a couple years ago. When her information about the doppelgänger was proven correct, I assumed the things she told me about you and Bekah were also accurate."

Pacari shared an awkward glance with Caroline. Klaus chuckled darkly.

"Ah, Katerina," he muttered.

"She's here," Elijah said. "She was attempting to get to the doppelgänger before me. I compelled her to remain in the cursed crypt on the outskirts of town."

Klaus shook his head, still laughing. "Let her stay there. Poor wretch…always trying to one-up somebody."

"You believed something that came out of her mouth?" Caroline asked in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Don't harangue him, sweetheart. He's already mortified," Klaus teased.

She slapped his arm. "I do not harangue," she grumbled, the turned to Elijah. "There's an office in the attic with a bed in it. You'll be comfortable there."

He nodded and flashed out of the room.

"And what about you, mate? Is there anything you need to get off your chest?" Klaus asked Pacari as they walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

He sighed. "She barely looked at me all night."

"Just give her a few days," his sire assured him.

"Yeah?" he said dubiously. "Perhaps. On that note, goodnight. I'll be using a silencing spell to keep your reunion from disturbing my sleep and sanity. You should use one as well as a courtesy to Rebekah and Elijah," he added with a stricken look.

Caroline smirked at him. He rolled his eyes before closing his door.

Klaus pulled his wife into her bedroom, which she had taken pleasure in decorating like a 17-year-old cheerleader's. "Living vicariously, love?' he murmured as he pressed her against the closed door and peppered kisses down her shoulder.

"It's important to fit in. And besides, isn't it just a little bit fun to pretend we're naughty teenagers sneaking around?" she muttered back, ripping his shirt off to stroke his tattoos. The birds on her forearm matched the ones on his chest.

"Everything with you is fun, my love," he declared, lifting her into his arms. He carried her to the bed and set her down with care. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as he peeled off her clothes, one article at a time. Once her chest was bare, he splayed his palm across her stomach and sucked on her earlobe, his other hand sliding down her arm sensually.

"Even after all these centuries?" she gasped out.

"No. Because of them," he whispered into her ear. His hands moved to her jeans. He popped open the button and slid a finger beneath the denim, teasing her. Her silvery-black veins spread across her porcelain skin. He pressed a kiss into the veins, unzipping her jeans as he did, then slowly shimmied them off her long legs. She started to hook her calves around his hips, but he pulled back.

His artist's eyes roved over her naked form in the moonlight.

"Niklaus," Caroline panted. "It's been close to two years. If you even think about grabbing your sketchbook, I'll – oh!"

With one swift movement, he'd hoisted her thighs over his shoulders and moved his face very close to her nub. When he looked up at her, his eyes were black with desire.

"Sweetheart, believe me when I say – there is nowhere in the entire universe I'd rather be than right here, between your legs."

Then he closed the minute distance between her sex and his tongue. Her witty comeback was lost in her moans. But she didn't mind – especially when he did that.

"N-N-NIK!"

The shrill ringing interrupted a very lovely dream. They were in the French Riviera, laying in the sun on the deck of a yacht. She frowned in confusion when she opened her eyes and saw her husband's sleeping form.

Reality seeped back in.

It was Sunday morning in Mystic Falls. The sun illuminated the pale-yellow walls and glinted off the pom-poms sitting on the chair opposite the bed.

She buried her head under a pillow.

"For fuck's sake, what could those awful teenagers want with you this early in the morning?" Klaus grumbled, twisting towards her and throwing his leg over her hip.

The ringing stopped, then started again.

Caroline hissed and blindly groped at her nightstand until she clasped the offending technology.

"What!" she snapped without looking at the screen.

"Hi, Mariko. I've been meaning to call you. I've missed you and would love to hear about your travels," a musical voice laced with sarcasm said through the iPhone.

It was Mariko Kurosawa, the witch who had created the Carolinian Strain. She was one of Caroline's best friends, and an expert on immortality spells. She had made herself immortal before turning Caroline into a witch-vampire hybrid.

The blond pulled the pillow off her face. "I'm sorry, Iki. Nik got in last night," she explained.

The witch laughed. "I'm glad you've had a fruitful reunion. Rebekah texted me a few minutes ago about Silas. She gave me a brief update but told me to call you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Bekah!" she yelled into the house.

"Thanks for the silencing spell last night! It was so considerate!" came the annoyed response from a floor below.

She winced at Klaus, who smirked.

"No problem, sister!" he yelled back.

"Alright, enough," Caroline said, turning her attention back to Mariko.

"I did intend to call you today. Just not for a few more hours."

"Well, you've got me now. I know a bit about Silas, but honestly, Qetsiyah was always far more relevant to me, since she was the one who actually created the immortality elixir."

"Qetsiyah? That's a name we haven't heard yet," Caroline murmured. Klaus shifted their bodies until he was spooning her. He rested his head on her shoulder and listened.

"Not many know it. Qetsiyah and Silas were lovers in ancient Greece; they were members of a powerful coven called the Travelers. They intended to take Qetsiyah's elixir on their wedding day, but he betrayed her, stole the elixir, and drank it with his human lover. In Qetsiyah's wrath, she killed the girl before offering him the Cure to immortality: he could take it and be with Qetsiyah as a mortal or refuse to take it and be desiccated and exiled. Either way, he'd never see his human lover again, as she had died human and would not go to the Other Side. He chose desiccation. I never knew she gave him back the Cure, though it sounds like something a spurned witch would do. She hid the body and her coven kept the body protected for hundreds of years, but it seems they have died out, leaving it vulnerable. I haven't crossed paths with a Traveler in decades."

"I've never heard of them. Did Bekah tell you she wants to contact one of the Five on the Other Side?"

"I don't see how it could hurt; though, I doubt he'll be much use to you. It goes against everything Hunters are to aid vampires. I think the Five were created by a Traveler witch. She would have known where Silas was hidden. But the map only presents itself to those who have earned it – earned it by killing vampires."

"Nik and Bekah came across covens in Africa who have had contact with various Hunters over the years," Caroline said. "We thought they had been destroyed."

Mariko hesitated and Caroline glanced at her husband worriedly. His expression was closed.

"I know – but it's like Potential Slayers. Once they die, their powers are awoken in someone new."

"God, is everyone around me obsessed with Buffy?" Caroline laughed.

"You caught me," Mariko drawled. "I wish I could say there was a way around the Hunter's Curse, but that's not reversible magic."

Klaus slid out of the bed.

"I know," Caroline responded softly. "Alright, Iki. We'll contact the hunter and see what happens. I also have to check on my Virginian friends – they met three Originals last night."

The witch scoffed. "Vampires – you just can't help making an entrance. I'm in the Philippines, but I'm about to head to the airport."

"Are you coming here?"

"Not yet. I'm going to stop in Greece. I'm pretty sure I know where the Travelers' original territory is located. I'll take a look around, search for clues."

"Alright."

"I'll let you know when I've arrived."

"Thanks. Be careful, Iki. I don't like all these rumors that someone is trying to awaken him – you might not be the only one sniffing around," the hybrid warned.

"I'm always careful," the witch replied before hanging up.

Caroline placed the phone on her nightstand and turned to her husband. He was sitting in the reading chair, staring at the floor. She rose out of the bed and walked over to him. He didn't look up. She sat on his lap and stroked his cheek, but he still did not respond. Finally, she placed her forehead against his to force him to look at her.

"Nik?"

He closed his eyes and slowly brought his lips to her forehead, kissing her softly.

"The curse was the worst period of my life. I wanted nothing more than to end it all, and the fact that I could not worsened my torture. I cannot imagine going through that again. Falling in love with you was the only reason I would get out of bed in the morning, and that didn't happen until it was nearly over. If the hunters are back…"

"If they return, we'll find a way to deal with them. Together," she promised, placing his hand over her heart. "As we always have."

At two o'clock, they headed over to the Gilbert house to ensure Elena she was safe from Klaus. He regarded the small town in disinterest on the walk over. Before he'd left for Namibia with Rebekah, they'd lived in London. He'd been looking forward to returning to the twisting cobblestone alleyways one could get lost in for hours, the excitement and pace of a global city, and his and Caroline's Notting Hill townhouse, where she tended the garden and he painted in his studio on the third floor.

"How much longer do you intend to stay here, love?" he asked as they passed a group of children playing kickball in the street.

Caroline leaned into her husband's side. "Until we graduate, probably. Why?"

"I suppose it's more charming than some other small towns, but it's so provincial."

"I started building a house on the edge of town; maybe you could oversee construction," she suggested.

"Giving me busy work?" The ball flew at them. He caught it deftly, then tossed it back to the waiting arms of a gap-toothed 9-year-old. She waved at him in thanks before returning to the game.

"You can't exactly go to school with me."

Klaus considered that. "Why are you building a house here?"

"I think it would be nice to have roots in Mystic Falls. It's your place of birth – your hometown."

"Our family built New Orleans; I have always felt more at home there than anywhere else."

"Nik," she reasoned. "You haven't been back to New Orleans since Mikael ran you out."

"And he's the reason we left this place, too," he said darkly.

"Not all my memories of Auxor are happy, but I don't avoid it. It's where I was born and grew up. It's where I was human."

"This is where my baby brother died," he said in a haunted voice.

She tugged on his hand until he faced her, his eyes full of turmoil and guilt.

"Think of all the moments you had with Henrik before his death," she murmured.

They had arrived at the Gilbert house. Caroline gave her husband a small smile before ringing the bell.

Pacari and Bonnie were in the middle of the Boarding House library, an old tome between them, and various notes, papers, and diagrams scattered about. Damon was sitting at a desk poring over a leather-bound book. Stefan was out rabbit hunting, to Pacari's disgust. So far, the only new development about Silas was a vague mention of a tombstone, which had only served to annoy them since they had no clue how that could be significant.

Though the previous evening had been as surprising as it was enlightening, Bonnie, Elena, and the brothers were all getting quite used to rolling with the punches. Once they got over their initial shock that Caroline-the-indestructible-hybrid was married to Klaus, who apparently had little-to-no interest in Elena, they focused on the bigger picture: Silas.

Damon closed the book with a snap. "God, witches write boring prose."

"It wasn't composed for your amusement, Salvatore," Pacari said drily. "Did it mention the Traveler coven at all?"

"No, Hybrid. I'm bored, not blind," Damon drawled. He leaned back in his seat, staring at the Incan.

After a beat, Pacari looked up with a sigh. "Yes?"

"If I ran a stake through your heart, would it kill you?"

"I'd like to see you try," said Pacari, his eyes flashing black.

Bonnie rubbed her temples. "Damon, why do you feel compelled to gain the upper-hand on everyone you meet?"

"Call it friendly competition. Oh, come on, Bon-Bon. I know you're bursting to ask how he's a witch and a vampire. It's not supposed to be possible."

He was right. She was yearning to discover all she could about what had to have been an incredibly complex spell.

"Alright, how did she do it? How did that witch create a new strain?" she asked eagerly, giving in.

"Riko d'Ebanne is the most powerful and inventive witch to ever live," Pacari said. "In order to explain how she did it, you need to have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of witchcraft."

Bonnie was confused. "I'm not a novice anymore."

"Good. How do you perform magic?"

"My magic is inside me."

"And where else?"

"Nature."

"And?"

"And...the spirits."

"Exactly. And what are 'the spirts', Bonnie?"

Damon made a noise of impatience. "Spirits are dead witches. And a damn pain in the ass."

"Shut up, Damon," hissed Bonnie. "This is important."

"He's crass, but he's not wrong. Witches draw from five sources: nature, ourselves, the spirits, other witches, and blood sacrifice. At times, the spirits can be the most powerful source of them all. Now, how do you think dead witches reacted when Esther cast the immortality spell?"

"They were pissed. They saw it as a betrayal to magic."

"Quite. Caroline told me what happened to your grandmother. I think that gave you an idea of how powerful the spirits can be?"

Bonnie suppressed a shudder. "Yeah."

"Well, what if not every dead witch was opposed to vampirism? Not every single spirit has to share the same opinion as the ones who condemned Esther. Not every witch ever has hated the Mikaelsons - many have allied themselves with them over the centuries. What of those who were related to someone who became a vampire...and wanted to help her reclaim her magic?"

"Then they'd be willing to help Mariko with her spell," Bonnie realized. "Caroline's ancestors!"

"Among others," Pacari continued, but his phone vibrated, distracting him. He glanced down to see who had texted him.

I'm glad you're here.

It was from Rebekah. He blinked in shock.

He looked up at the unlikely duo. Bonnie was reeling from his revelation, though Damon was still eyeing him warily. If the family was going to be in Mystic Falls for an indefinite amount of time, one thing was blatantly obvious – they needed to trust one another.

"Carolinian vampires are averse to the sun only in the crucial moments after we awaken and before we feed for the first time to complete our transition. After consuming blood, we are immune."

"Are you all witch-vampire hybrids?" Bonnie asked.

He shook his head. "No, there are some who were not supernatural before they turned, and even rarer are werewolf-vampire hybrids. Silver is the weakness of our strain. It is silver to the heart or neck that kills us."

"And Caroline?" Damon prompted. "Is she really as hard to kill as the Originals?"

"Harder. There is only weapon on Earth that can kill Caroline d'Ebanne."

"Interesting. Does this weapon have a name?"

Pacari grinned. "Ah, Damon. You're not very subtle. Now, tell me about this cursed crypt everyone keeps mentioning. Where is Katherine Pierce?"

Elena and Caroline were sitting on the porch swing. The warm air smelt of flowering honeysuckle and tasted of burnt charcoal. Klaus was leaning against the railing with crossed arms. They were in the middle of discussing the Hybrid Curse.

"But you do want to break it," Elena said.

Klaus hesitated.

"Just be honest with me."

He looked at the girl; she was such a slip of thing. But she had an inner strength he never would have noticed if not for Caroline.

"I want to be free of my curse, but I will not kill you to do it. I made a promise to my wife many years ago that I would no longer hunt for the doppelgänger."

"Why do you want to break the curse so badly?"

He hesitated once more, turning his gaze to the middle-class neighborhood that had replaced the quaint village he'd grown up in over a millennium ago. He knelt before the girl.

"Is there anything about yourself you would never give up? Something that makes you you, that drives you, that you cannot imagine being without?" he asked quietly.

She inhaled sharply. "My writing – I write. It's helped me deal with my parents' deaths," she admitted.

"Imagine someone stole that ability away from you. Not your pen or your paper or even your ideas, but your ability and drive to write. You simply couldn't do it anymore. But you remembered how to do it. You remembered the joy it brought you, the cathartic release it allowed. Can you imagine that, Elena Gilbert? That is how I have felt for a thousand years. I had less than one day to be my true self, cursed for eternity to remember what that felt like. Now tell me, do you always love to write?"

"No. It can be painful."

"Yes. But it's still a part of you. A compulsion, an instinct, a need. Turning into a wolf is not easy. But it is who I am. It is an essential part of my genetic fabric and my own mother suppressed it. And it was because of her sins that I was a werewolf in the first place," he concluded with a scowl.

Elena looked confused at that. Caroline stepped in. "His mother cheated on her husband. Technically, Nik is half-sibling to Rebekah and Elijah. He only found out after he turned."

"Just as you only recently discovered your true parentage," Klaus added.

A fierce look took over Elena's face. "Jeremy is my brother."

He smiled. "As Rebekah, Elijah, Kol, and I are true siblings."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "Why does everyone around me keep telling me you want to kill me to break your curse?"

He sat back on his heels with a sheepish look. "Well, it's true I spent the majority of the past thousand years tracking down the doppelgänger. I got so close with Katerina. I may have butchered her family in retaliation when she turned herself into a vampire."

Elena glanced at Caroline. The blond patted her arm.

"He's come a long way since then. We were both a little wild in the 1500s."

"So, what now?"

"I've been doing some light research to figure out a way to break his curse without the sacrifices," Caroline admitted. "But other than that, nothing. We go about our lives, focusing on school and graduation. There will be others like Katherine who will seek to use you as leverage against us. That's why I stayed here when I realized you were the doppelgänger. I was protecting you. Consider yourself under our protection for the rest of your life."

"And Silas?" Elena worried.

"He has nothing to do with you, 'Lena; don't worry about him."

"Aren't you going to come inside?"

Standing a few paces away from the tomb's entrance, Pacari smiled at the disembodied but familiar voice.

"Come now, Katerina" he retorted. "What do you take me for – a Salvatore?"

A moment later, Katherine Pierce appeared in the dark archway, looking more than a little disheveled. Her hair had seen better days, she was covered in dirt, and her clothes were starting to fall apart. Somehow, she still managed to carry an air of haughtiness with confidence.

"Well, I had to give it a try," she grumbled. "Hello, Pacari."

"It's good to see you, old friend."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of the tomb.

"Good enough to bust me out?"

"You know I can't break Elijah's compulsion."

"Can't? Or won't?"

His guilty expression told her the answer.

"Wouldn't want to upset a certain blond Original," she drawled.

"I don't deny it. I heard you were the one who encouraged Elijah to come here."

She sighed dramatically. "I think I may have gone a little too far this time with Elijah."

"What could possibly possess you to lie to him? Why take the risk, Katerina?"

She shrugged. "You know me – leverage-"

"Blackmail, misdirection," Pacari finished for her, raising his eyebrows.

"Sorry, not sorry," she rasped out. "Elijah's presence here guaranteed Klaus', but I needed him distracted, thinking Caroline and Rebekah were desiccated."

"You thought Klaus would pardon you if you handed him Elena."

"Guilty."

"I've met your doppelgänger. She's…"

"About as interesting as watching paint dry," she quipped, sliding down the wall to sit on the dirt floor.

He winced. "Well, I wouldn't have said it quite like that."

Her eyes flicked over him in suspicion. "Why are you in Mystic Falls, Pacari?"

"Caroline's been here for a couple years," he began.

"I know. I wasted a lot of energy hiding from her, and in the end, it was Elijah who got me. So, what, you're here for progeny duties?"

"Ah, in a roundabout way. Niklaus asked me to come."

Her neck snapped up.

"He's here. He and Rebekah arrived last night."

She tensed on the ground.

"Are they with you now?" she demanded.

"No. Klaus has known about Elena since Caroline's arrival two years ago. He's known you've been here. He doesn't care. All your machinations with the doppelgänger and the moonstone have been in vain."

She did not relax. "We go way back, Pacari, but that doesn't mean I trust you."

"He has no interest in you," he told her. "He swore off revenge decades ago."

She scoffed. "This is Klaus."

"When was the last time he tracked you?" he challenged.

"He likes to play games," she pointed out. "He could have been waiting until I felt safe before striking."

"He's sworn off revenge," he insisted again. "I promise."

She deflated against the wall. "It would have been nice to know that - my scheme was centuries in the making."

"If I had your number, I'd have given you a ring."

Katherine stared at the ground. "What could have possibly motivated him to revoke his vendetta?" she whispered in stunned bafflement.

"Ah, the better question is who?"

She hugged her knee to her chest. "Caroline d'Ebanne."

"Who else?"

"She's one to talk about revenge," she huffed before glancing up at him coyly. "Speaking of wives…how's Rebekah?"

He shifted in discomfort.

She smirked. "You mean you still haven't made up with your beloved wife?"

The hybrid glared up at the darkening sky. "What wife?"

"The wife you've been chasing for nearly as long as Klaus has been chasing me. Oh – sorry – chased me."

"My ex-wife," Pacari started pointedly, "sent me a text earlier saying she was glad I'm here. But otherwise, she has been ignoring me."

"What a bitch."

A small smile graced the Incan's mouth. "You always were a good friend to me."

"A rare compliment," she said.

"Something happened between Bekah and I that-" he broke off, scowling. "I made a mistake."

"Haven't we all," she drawled, twirling a lock of hair around a finger.

Pacari stared at his old friend in pity. "I'll visit again soon, bring you some blood."

"Only the good stuff."

He laughed aloud at that. "I can do better than bunny blood. These brothers are delightful messes; I can see why you and Elena both suffered the fateful misfortune of falling in love with them."

"Har, har," she muttered. He watched as cautious hope entered her expression. "And…Kol?"

"No," he said soberly, shaking his head.

She whistled. "I count my lucky stars every day I pissed off the husband, not the wife."

That evening, Caroline stood before the salt circle deep in the woods. The Mikaelson siblings were a few steps behind her, waiting. She began to chant. She could feel the power in the soil, in the bones of the nearby graveyard, in the roots of the trees. Mystic Falls was bursting with magic. It was no wonder it attracted so many supernatural creatures. She could feel the pull of the Other Side and struggled to track Alexander amidst the chaos of the deceased. After several long minutes, she found him. He was wearing his armor and an expression twisted with loathing, but despite that, he was still beautiful. She understood why Bekah had fallen for him.

"What do you want with me?" he demanded.

Her response was to wrench him out of the Other Side and into the living world. Niklaus and Elijah both growled at the sight of the Hunter when he appeared in the circle, but Rebekah remained silent.

"How dare you, witch!" Alexander yelled. Then he spotted the vampires behind her. His eyes widened in shock. "You!"

"How very observant," Klaus drawled.

"Be nice, brother, he's only a simple-minded savage," Elijah intoned coolly.

Alexander's face reddened. "A savage that nearly killed the likes of you!" he snarled, trying to break through the circle to no avail. He was thrown back against an invisible force.

"You don't belong here anymore, Hunter. You're just making a short visit," Caroline taunted, her silvery-black veins spreading across her face.

"What are you?" Alexander gaped at her. "Only a powerful witch can summon someone from the Other Side, but you are Vampyre."

"We'll be asking the questions here," Klaus snapped.

"Good luck to you. I have no obligation to answer."

Caroline raised her hand slightly; the Hunter began gasping for breath.

"What – What are you doing to me?" he choked out.

"I'm giving you a taste of life. Just enough to suspend you somewhere between here and there," she told him coldly before lowering her hand.

He stopped choking and sent her another vicious scowl, pacing the tight circle.

"We've recently discovered Silas is the one who holds the Cure," she prompted.

His eyes narrowed.

"What does Silas want?" she asked. "Why does he wait?"

"He wants to be reunited with his one true love - in death," Alexander mocked. "An impossible endeavor, as she was a human and he a witch and the Other Side separates them. He waits to take the Cure until he destroys the Anchor."

"The Anchor?" she repeated, frowning. "I didn't know the Anchor could be destroyed; I've always heard it referred to as an idea, a symbol."

"It is a tangible object," he refuted.

"Caroline?" Klaus asked.

She turned to him. "The Anchor is the reason we are sent to the Other Side when we die. It is a bridge between the supernatural living and dead - and what keeps us from joining humans in the afterlife." She faced Alexander again. "So, what is it?"

He shook his head. "History has forgotten. The Five was never concerned with it; that was the Travelers' responsibility."

Caroline watched him as he paced. She studied his magical markings and amplified muscles. "They made you."

He paused to cross his arms and stare her down. "One of them."

"The Travelers?" Elijah questioned.

A muscle in Alexander's jaw twitched as he glanced at Caroline, whose magic pulsated from her. "They were all Traveler witches: Silas, Qetsiyah, the whole coven and their descendants. They were extremely powerful and ambitious shape-shifters whose souls can travel into other bodies. Silas only grows more powerful as he slumbers."

"Does the sword only decipher your Mark or could it work on all Hunters' Marks?" Rebekah asked, speaking up for the first time.

His grin faded as he gazed at his past lover. He did not answer right away. Rebekah's eyes reddened and black veins crawled across her lovely face. She smiled, showcasing her fangs. He looked away.

"What? Afraid of my true face, lover?" she murmured.

Caroline looked to Klaus and mouthed, What sword? But he just shook his head at her distractedly.

"My sword… You took my sword," Alexander replied, staring at the ground. "Long has it remained hidden from the Brotherhood."

"You used me! You betrayed me and tried to kill me! Yes, I took your bloody sword. I was never going to be so vulnerable again. We took the daggers, too," Rebekah cried angrily.

"The sword will decipher any Hunter's Mark. Our tattoos are all the same, as the map is the same."

"We know the Hunters still exist, but has the Brotherhood reunited?" Caroline demanded. "Are they trying to awaken Silas right now?"

Elijah glanced warily at Klaus, who remained silent.

"Where are they? Where is Silas' body?" Caroline continued.

Alexander looked Klaus dead in the eye. "We will continue to exist until our mission is complete. We will rid the world of bloodsucking abominations, and restore the natural order. That is our sacred duty."

Klaus' fists clenched at his sides.

"If you found the Cure, what would you have done to us?" Rebekah demanded.

Alexander didn't answer at first, his eyes flicking over Rebekah in the soft moonlight. When he did respond, his voice was low.

"After making you mortal, I would have married you as a human," he swore.

Rebekah gasped.

"Who is trying to awaken Silas? Will they be successful?" Caroline tried once more.

Alexander ignored her.

With a glance at her stricken maker, Caroline broke the spell, ejecting the Hunter out of the living world and back into the Other Side.

The group was silent. After several tense seconds, they flashed out of the woods, one by one, until Rebekah was left alone. She stared at the circle for a long time. She could still see Alexander's silhouette in the darkness; an echo of his presence burned into her mind.

A reminder of her naïveté and past mistakes. And how far she'd come.

Zakynthos, Greece

May 2010

The immortal witch called Riko d'Ebanne leant over the boat's railing to study the isle jutting out of the turquoise sea. It was coming into sharper focus as the old sailor at the helm sped further east. Perhaps thousands of years ago it had been attached to the mainland, but now it was an isolated, jagged spit of limestone and clay that rose hundreds of feet above sea level. Even from a distance she could feel the magic pulsating from the sacred place.

Less than 24 hours before, she had been recruiting for Des Cendres when Rebekah Mikaelson had texted her about Silas and the Travelers. Riko knew that Nik and Bekah had been in Africa for the past couple of years investigating ancient lore, but she had been too busy to keep track of their discoveries. Reunited once again in Virginia, the family had many questions about the ambiguous threat. Riko was intrigued and somewhat concerned – though no one had desired or been able to raise Silas in the 2000 years he had been desiccated, she knew nothing was out of the realm of possibilities when it came to the supernatural world. The Cure was a definitive threat to the Mikaelson-d'Ebanne family – her family.

Riko had been born into aristocracy in Feudal Japan as Mariko Kurosawa. She'd left her parents' castle as a teenager to follow Caroline. Their bond was so strong that Mariko later took up her friend's surname, creating the epithet "Riko d'Ebanne," though legend called her "The Undying Witch."

In her peripheral vision, the witch could feel the sailor's eyes on her.

"There's no way up there," he told her in Greek. "Local legends about it have been passed down through the generations.

"What kind of legends?" Riko asked without turning.

The sailor chuckled. "Maenads, sirens, satyrs, Zeus himself – anything to keep the young ones interested, honestly. The most enduring myth says a satanic cult lived there in antiquity."

"Fascinating," she drawled.

"Where are you from?" he prodded. "You don't act like a tourist, and you speak Greek, but you don't look Greek."

She smirked. "Nationalities have become dangerous burdens to bear," she murmured. "Far too troublesome."

"Ah, yes. There's many ex-pats scattered across the isles," he assumed.

"I'm a child of the world," she corrected.

The old man frowned at that, opening his mouth to question her further, but she had pushed her Ray-Bans atop her jet-black hair and turned to face him. He gaped at her amethyst eyes in shock.

Gets them every time, she thought drily.

"You'll be heading home now," she directed, her pupils dilating with compulsion. "And do forget you ever saw me."

He tipped his hat to her and began speeding back to shore. Mariko rose into the air and glided towards the mysterious isle, flying straight up to the top of the sheer cliff. It was a small but perilous environ consisting mostly of boulders, windblown shrubbery, and gnarled evergreens.

She explored the wooded isle cautiously and thoroughly until she found a primordial altar. Upon careful inspection, she determined she'd come to the right place. It was a Traveler altar.

As she examined the surrounding area, an eerie sensation cast over her, as if she were being watched. She frowned and wandered through a copse of trees, following her instincts to the mouth of a cave. The entrance seemed to suck in all the light around it, making the blackness within all the more foreboding. She could hear a strange sighing noise emanating from it – ancestors, she realized with a start.

Blue flames erupted from her fingertips and coiled around her hands defensively as she prepared herself for whatever she would find inside.

Then the Undying Witch disappeared into the cave.