Darkness had fell over Mystic Falls; the original family, Elena and Bonnie where lying in wait on the outskirts of the woods; Elena was terrified, this was it, the final ritual before the end of the world could potentially come about.
She felt responsible; if she hadn't of killed Esther, this wouldn't be happening and everyone she loved wouldn't be in danger.
The plan was simple; kill everything.
Klaus had the blade, ready to use on the demon king and Bonnie had the talisman, ready to bind him to the afterlife; it wasn't going to be easy, he would have an army of warlocks ready to defend him and stop our attack.
Elijah and Rebekah where going to be the main defence against the warlocks whilst the others would support them; though they hadn't arrived yet, Klaus had figured them cowards but Elena had faith.
And Elena's job? Hide, obviously, something she hated.
Once they began to hear the noise of spell chanting being heard in the distance, they moved closer to the ritual site; the demon king was once again fortified behind a mystical barrier whilst his army of warlocks surrounded him and allowed him to channel them; this plus the mystical energy from the area itself, his power was immense.
Next minute, Elena felt a tap on her shoulder, her body froze for a quick second before she shot around; she breathed a sigh of relief when saw Damon standing in front of her, his cocky smirk plastered on his face, "Miss me?"
"Not anymore, you scared me half to do death," She whispered a quiet chuckle escaping her lips as she wrapped her arms around him; Stefan, Caroline, Tyler and Alaric all approached behind him.
"Sorry we're late," Stefan mused, he too embracing Elena.
"I missed you all so much," Elena couldn't be happier, especially given the situation.
"Well, it's about bloody time," Klaus interjected rudely, he was met with a bunch of scoffs and eye rolls.
"Guys," Rebekah spoke up, her eyes widening slightly, "I think they know we're here."
As they all turned to follow her gaze, they saw the warlocks staring at them and walking slowly towards them, beginning a chant.
"Go!" Klaus yelled and all the vampires sped off like a blur and attacked them from each side; Elena remained with Alaric and Tyler, she had been given a crossbow and they would all stand behind trees and bushes, aiming and hitting whatever they could.
Bonnie was performing a spell to increase the power of the original family, Caroline and the Salvatores; they where 5x more powerful than usual and it showed; Klaus was insanely fast and his strength was enough to rip through 4 warlocks with one burst, Elijah's cunning and strength unmatched and Rebekah had such precision that the warlocks could barely touch her.
More would appear with every one that was killed; Caroline, Damon and Stefan had been giving a power boost, there strength enough to keep them at bay whilst Elena, Alaric and Tyler all hit the odd few.
Bonnie was incredible, her magic flawless; she made the roots of the trees erupt from the ground and capture the walking standing above them, holding them until one of the others could kill him, these where the ones that the humans tended to get.
The demon king was unaffected by all this, he did not care for the lives of his warlocks as long as the ritual was completed; fire was burning in 3 brass bowls that where placed around Esther's body and she was lain on top of a bunch of relics used to channel dark magic; there was talismans, ornaments, animal bones and a black vase that looked older than everyone there put together, there was an ancient language on it, Bonnie presumed this would be to store her soul until it was transferred back into her body.
His chanting became louder; the trees where swaying violently and foliage flying everywhere at the weather disruptions he was causing, the fire was burning higher and a dark shroud of smoke surrounded him, flashes of Esther's true appearance appearing in it.
The ground began to quake as it was attempting to open.
"Elena, your blood, break the barrier." Klaus yelled from across the field and a sudden sense of dread washed over Elena as she nodded her head.
She took one of the crossbows and emerged from behind the bushes; as she ran towards the demon king, warlocks tried to intercept but everyone there had her back and no-one could touch her, they would be ripped apart at the thought of it.
Whilst running still, she used the tip of the arrow and carved a wound into both of her palms, throwing it to the ground when she was done. She neared the barrier, she lifted her arms in front of her and pushed against it, she was sent back slightly as it caused a white-light explosion; the demon king turned abruptly and growled, followed by the loudest screech she had ever heard, it pierced her ears so much she hand to press her blood soaked palms to her ears.
Ten more warlocks appeared between the demon king and Elena, he continued to perform the ritual as they went to attack her; Elijah had appeared in front of her within seconds, killing all 10 of the warlocks in the process; he took Elena by the waist and went to remove her from the field but they where met with a spell forcing them to fly backwards.
Elena hit the ground with a thud; her back taking most of the painful contact, she lay there for a few seconds before forcing herself back onto her feet.
The warlocks knew that Elena was the important enemy there; her blood was the strongest weapon against him and they where willing to die to stop her from nearing him.
Claps of thunder started erupting from the sky and hitting the ground beside them all; the crack in the ground becoming wider and wider and the smoke thicker, it was almost upon them.
Elijah had been held back magically from her; unable to reach her, he was screaming as they began chanting near her, she didn't know what to do.
She looked around and saw that where too many of them, each vampire had at 8 warlocks to deal with and Bonnie was becoming weaker as she tried to slow down the demon king; Alaric and Tyler where doing what they could but they would eventually be captured too. What Elena had feared the most was coming to pass, her loved ones in serious danger.
The warlocks where approaching her, becoming nearer and nearer as there spell was becoming stronger, she began to shake with fear.
Two warlocks had grabbed either of her arm, she tried to fight them and break free but she couldn't move them, all she could do was pull at her arms and hope she could slip away. A third warlock had approached and placed his hand on her forehead, she felt a tightness in her brain and she began to scream as the pain overwhelmed her.
All of a sudden, as she screamed No, a bright white light had emerged from her entire body and they had all been eviscerated.
All the struggling vampires had watched in astonishment at the magic that came from her; No-one was more shocked than Elena.
In that moment, she had too assume Bonnie had performed the spell as there was no time to ponder it; the ground was opening, fire erupting from it and the black smoke had been sucked into the vase.
She ran as fast as she could towards Klaus and took the blade that was tucked into his belt; she held it tightly in her hand as she kept running towards the demon king, she fell to her knees in front of him and plunged the blade into his heart as hard as she could, an almighty screech had emitted from his lips once more; he had looked down at the blade and back up to Elena before he fell to the ground, his skeleton like hands wrapped around the blade.
All his magic had been reversed; the vampires where released from there magical bonds and Bonnie could regain as much strength as she could before having to perform the spell on the talisman.
Elena had remained on her knees as she watched the demon king take his last breath, his corpse still and his eyes still wide open; Elijah had appeared behind, his hands pressed on her waist as he helped lift her from the ground; they all stood around the scene before Bonnie came and knelt beside him.
She lay the talisman on his body; her hands extended and hovering over him, Elena's blood was already on the blade from the wounds on her hands and she began to chant. The spell wasn't too complicated, most of the magic was in the talisman, it just needed activating. As she continued to do it, they all gathered around her, there arms all wrapped around each other in one big group embrace.
The weather had returned to normal, the ground had sealed itself up and Esther had remained dead, the world was right once more.
As Bonnie was coming to the end of her spell, the talisman had ignited and burned to an ash, the demon kings body doing the same and there was nothing left of him but dust.
The spell was complete, Bonnie smiled widely at the end of this all, "It's done."
"We did it." Klaus spoke, even he had a grin on his face that no-one had seen before.
Bonnie had joined them in there hug, everyone happy and finally able to forget all about the demon king and his attempt to raise hell.
"Shall we celebrate?" An overly eager and happy Caroline suggested, most of them shrugged there shoulders and nodded, matching her excitement, "The Grill? Drinks on Klaus."
"Well, maybe one," Klaus smirked at her, his eyes rolled playfully at her words. He'd forgotten how much he missed Caroline, "Anything for you, love."
"Shut up," She smirked at him, Elena smiled as she watched them hug each other just a little bit tighter.
"Maybe there's hope for him yet," Elijah spoke as he removed his arm from around his sister, breaking the group hug to fully embrace Elena, his heart warming at the thought of all this being over and he spoke the only words that he felt in that moment, "I love you."
"I love you." She smiled on his lips before kissing him softly and passionately, her arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him in as close as she could, her heart racing at his touch.
"Come on, guys, let's go," Caroline called out to them as they where all ready to leave, "We're all gonna head back, get cleaned up and meet for drinks in an hour."
"We're coming," Elena spoke back.
"Wait," Bonnie quickly spoke as she separated from them all and went back to the ritual site; she picked up the black vase and approached Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah appearing beside him, "Your mums soul is still in this, although the ritual was stopped, the spell to raise her soul wasn't; if this breaks, her soul will be released and she'll be free to take the body of any other living being. As long as she's in there, her soul is trapped and she can't be released, no magic can break through that."
"Thank you, Bonnie," Elijah spoke before taking it from her hands and inspecting it slightly, "We will keep this safe."
"Also, one last thing," She paused for a second, contemplating whether she should actually release this information to them, "This is strong and dark magic but you should know, it can also be used to raise another soul, it's a tricky spell and you'll need a particular type of witch to perform it right so Esther isn't released but it could bring back someone you've lost... You deserve to have your family whole."
"You mean... Kol?" Rebekah's lips parted at the thought of seeing her brother again; all she could do was hug Bonnie.
"But please don't bring him back and continue to kill your way through the next thousands years of your lives, deal?"
"Deal," Spoke Elijah and Klaus simultaneously.
"We couldn't have done this without you, witch," Klaus smirked teasingly as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "Thank you for everything, including the opportunity to bring our brother back."
"I will be forever indebted to you, Bonnie," Elijah spoke, "I give you my word my family won't stray too far into darkness and if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to call."
"I may take you up on that one day," Spoke Bonnie, her heart slightly warmed at the compassion shown by the originals.
"One last thing," Klaus moved away from his siblings and towards his mothers body; he removed a zippo lighter from his pocket and lit it, they all took one last look at Esther before he dropped it onto her body causing it too burn; they where all letting her go and this was the final obstacle in the way of that, removing her completely from there lives.
They all began to leave the forest, they had gotten out of the deepest part of the woods and they where approaching the outskirts; they where all laughing and joking as they relished in the demon kings death.
Elena had pulled Bonnie to one side and let the others carry on, "We'll catch up in a sec."
They all nodded there heads and waved them off as they continued to travel back into town.
"Before I forget, Bon, I wanted to thank you for killing those warlocks, I was as good as dead," Elena spoke; confusion overcame her as what she had suspected had been verified, Bonnie's facial expressions had changed and she shook her head.
"I wasn't going to say anything, I didn't want to worry you but that wasn't me, Elena." They both stared at each other for a long moment, "I don't know what that was."
"It's impossible, I have no magic." Elena argued.
"That's what I thought but something happened, no-one performed a spell, Elena, that magic came from you and your emotions." Bonnie explained as nicely as she could as to not alarm her best friend further but she was freaked out too.
"Maybe it was just because of the demon king and all the magic that was there," She shrugged her shoulders, trying to end the conversation as quickly as she could.
"Yeah, maybe," Bonnie just smiled kindly at her before placing her arm around Elena's shoulder, both of them exiting the woods.
-w-
An hour later, they had all met at The Grill after going home, cleaning themselves up and changing out of there blood soaked and torn clothes; they where all sat at one of the larger booths, pitchers of beer and bottles of whiskey placed on the table.
Elena had sat with Damon, Stefan and Caroline for a good portion of the night; they had caught up on everything, from Pennsylvania to her recent engagement to Elijah, they where shocked hearing it from her and not from Jeremy but they where happy for her as long as she was happy. She'd missed Damon's sarcastic and witty personality, Stefan's warmness and just Caroline in general, they where all best friends and she hated being apart from them.
One thing they couldn't deny was how quiet Mystic Falls had been since the departure of the originals and Elena; she knew this was the case as this was why she left in the first place but it was still a sad reality for her; to keep her loved ones safe, she had to be away from them most of the time, the occasional visit sure but to live there again would be a risk.
They rejoined the others, they where all drinking, messing about and laughing the night away, celebrating the fact that there was no more darkness surrounding them for now; they had won a great victory and saved the world from the demon king, it was with one drunken night amongst friends and family.
As happy as Elena was about the death of the demon king and being surrounded by her entire family, something was still causing her to be quite sad, she didn't show it, she tried to be as involved in the festivities as she could but Elijah saw her, he knew her in and out and saw that something was troubling her.
"Do you want to go home, my love?" He asked, his voice low and close to her.
"No, of course not, I want you to stay here and enjoy this, it's not that often we get to celebrate a win like this," She smiled kindly at him.
"I'm more than happy to leave," He returned her smile but he couldn't help but watch her twirl her glass in her hand and stare into it, "I want to know you're okay, I won't be able to enjoy myself until I do."
"I'm okay, I promise, just distracted," She tried to be as vague as possible without alarming anyone, "It's best I stay here, if we go home then I'll just be stuck thinking about all this, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
"Only if you're sure?" He spoke, hints of concern in his tone of voice.
"I'm positive," She held her glass up and he responded by clinking his against it, "I'll lighten up, I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, you can't help how you feel, you shouldn't have to lighten up if you feel like you can't, I'm here to help with that." He was even more concerned now.
"And you will," She smiled, her heart warmed at his concern for her, "Tomorrow, I promise."
He placed a soft kiss on her lips and caressed her face, "Whatever you need, my love."
"I need this," She nodded her head once and continued to sip at her drink; this was only her second drink for the night, she would only have one more the remainder of the night, she just couldn't enjoy herself but she wasn't ruining everyone else's fun so she acted as silly and as hyped as the rest of them.
Until tomorrow, at least.