Note: Did I just double-post?

Um, yes, I totally did. XO

"We come and we cry and that is life, we cry and we go and that is death"

– Proverb

It was simple really. The Superior was the pinnacle of Black Magic. A soul that had survived the poisoning of Expression to transform into this other being. This Higher Being. Beneath him were the Seekers, witches who were committed to the lines between supernaturals, to the hierarchy of power – where witches and magic ruled. Beneath them were the Summoned; the forces called upon by the Seekers when they were readying for war. And they had called for war. The note in Imran's hand was easy enough to comprehend:

You who are slaves to the essence of magic have spat in the face of our ancestry;

We know there are two among you that defy the laws of the supernatural world.

We have been waiting to make our presence known beyond these shores and we will be using you to assert our dominance on the rest of the world. You cannot possibly think that you could have created such creatures, such impossible beings, brought them into the territory of the Superior and lived to speak of it? No more shall His power be questioned.

By nightfall a portal will open atop your home, which will lead you to us; there the choice will be yours – give us the abominations and live, or all of you die.

If you do not enter the portal rest assured, more than your own lives will be at stake.

Choose wisely.

Bonnie couldn't sit still. If she could have had it her way she would be the only one going through the portal. But she knew Damon would come after her, Lucy and Caroline too. Stefan would come for his brother, Enzo for Damon and Caroline, and Jeremy for her. Fahada for them all, Imran because it was the right thing to do and Amelia because she wanted to make sure they all stood a chance, her family especially. Everyone wanted to be the only one who had to go through the portal and they all had their own reasons. Everyone also knew that there was no way everyone else would let them go alone – so they would all go. And Bonnie was so scared that they were going to die. Creatures like the Superior weren't the result of some little child's nightmares, or even her own; because not once had she ever thought of what would happen if you used too much Expression and lived to talk about it? What were the odds of a Superior? Hell, what were the odds of what she and Damon were. It was next to impossible that's what. The Superior saw them as a threat, his minions saw them as sacrilege and she doubted very much whatever the witches had summoned thought anything beyond 'kill'. She watched as everyone grouped together on the balcony, Jeremy frowning and scratching at his chest. Each of them had had spelled crystals pressed into their skin there; it was odd to look at. Jewels embedded just above the sternum. Stones for agility, strength, resilience, deftness, among others. Purples, greens, golds and blacks, all precious stones sticking out at odd angles. Bonnie's one hand, holding her naginata, ran over them gently as they stood raised under the thin fabric of her tank top. Her other hand was in Damon's and every now and then he'd squeeze it really tight and then relax it, for every time he became too anxious she knew. Bonnie, like everyone else had been dressed in form-fitting fighting gear – all black. They all had thick soled boots, snug pants that seemed to be made out of a combination of leathery, stretchy material, loose vests and tanks and something akin to leather jackets. Every item was flawless and unscuffed; a testimony to the strength of the fabric. Caroline and Damon both had katanas, Jeremy had two short swords, Stefan had a machete-looking thing with smaller daggers strapped to him if he needed them, Bonnie had a naginata that reached above her and Damon's heads with its blade, Lucy had a two TEC-9's strapped to her shoulders and her hands splayed at her sides. Enzo had something called a cinquedea, it looked like an oversized arrow point, but this blade had serrated edges with golden inscriptions emblazoning the front. He also had throwing blades on him, a kasuyu axe and a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. Alaric had a thin lightweight metal pole in his hand, each end sharpening to a double edged sword with a gun strapped to his back.

Fahada had the morning star, a spelled bow and arrow set with her, Imran had a crossbow, a katana strapped to his back and two handguns attached to his person. Amelia had small chakrams clipped to her gear that she could throw out to defend herself, not that she intended to use anything outside of her magic. They were all ready and yet not at all.

"To think," Damon said, startling them all as they stood under the blanket of darkness, "This all started with a bad dream." Bonnie snorted.

"These witches would have tried to take over the world with or without us even being alive," Bonnie reminded him, "I'd like to think that there's a reason we are."

"You would." Enzo muttered and she turned up to look at him as he stood on the other side of her, much to Jeremy's dismay, "I haven't known you very long but you have an awful hero complex."

"But she looks so good trying to save the world," Damon interjected with a smirk, "Doesn't she?" Enzo frowned about to reply when Lucy spoke up.

"What would he know, he couldn't see past Caroline if he tried," the Bennett witch snickered as she straightened her shoulders, eyes scanning the area for the portal to appear, "Mister I'm-so-tough-with-my-indistinct-accent." Enzo chuckled then and conceded her point with a nod of his head.

"Somehow I still like you," the vampire with dark eyes said to Lucy before turning to shrug at Caroline, "And for the record I'm from Bristol."

Caroline eyed him out as she stood beside him, with Lucy beside her, then Alaric and Jeremy. To Damon's other end stood Stefan, Fahada, Amelia and Imran. Eleven supernaturals, waiting to see how it would all end.

"You know," Alaric spoke up, "…I know that you and Bonnie brought me back and everything and that everything changed after you guys died but this is next level."

"Preach." Caroline said with a sigh, "But it feels inevitable somehow."

"In a way it is," Stefan said sombrely, "I feel like we'll always be fighting to stay alive but there's something good in there too," he inhaled slowly before blowing the air out through his cheeks, "It means we all know that there's something to fight for." Damon and Enzo groaned while everyone else smiled and nodded. "Though, I still feel bad for involving you and your family Imran."

"This would have become my fight eventually, seeing as they're trying to convert every witch, and I'd never let them take my Amelia."

"And I would have fought beside you even then." Stefan said with a sincere smile, "I owe you as much."

"You always were a good friend," Imran complimented and then a grin broke across his face, "And Damon is honestly nowhere near as terrible as you said." They laughed while Damon quirked a brow.

"You're all so cavalier in the face of death," Jeremy said suddenly and Bonnie looked down at the sound of his voice, it making her uncomfortable somehow, "It's weird."

"Stranger than your own death wish?" Alaric quipped.

"Or the fact that you used the word cavalier?" Damon snarked.

"You also seem to forget that the majority of us are all already dead." Caroline pointed out.

"And that none of us are going to die." Fahada added, "Not if I can help it."

"Is it too late to suggest that Stefan consider Fahada as wife material?" Damon piped up, "She's amazing plus she's super independent which means Stefan's hero hair will be a thing of the past so I might actually get some peace and quiet." Bonnie laughed at that.

"Oh Damon…" Bonnie said with a smile as she stood her the balls of her feet to kiss his cheek, being Damon he turned his head and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

"I love you." He whispered, watching as her green-blue eyes still managed to sparkle happily at his words even with the night surrounding them.

"I love you." Bonnie said, ignoring Enzo and Jeremy's gagging noises, "All of you in fact…deal with it you two," she added narrowing her eyes at Enzo and Jeremy, "…And I'm sorry it's come to this." She added to everyone else.

"I've always wanted to go out with a bang," Enzo mused, "Just figured it would involve a beautiful naked woman –" just then a bright orb of blue light swirled into view; growing larger and larger by the second. "But I suppose this will do." he ended off as they all watched the thing move and stretch and become impossibly brighter. Bonnie felt Enzo's hand at the small of her back, while Damon gripped her hand in his. She blinked through the alien light and took a few steadying breaths.

"Come on," Damon said, his voice right in her ear as he leaned into her, "We've done this before remember, bright lights and hand-holding – we made it out then so we'll make it out now." Bonnie turned her neck to look up at him and smiled.

"We made it through a whole different dimension; we know a thing or two about survival." Damon beamed down at her.

"That's my girl." Without another thought to it the two hybrids ran forward, jumping headfirst into the unknown.

Bonnie rolled over from the position she landed in, first into a crouch and then upright as her eyes searched for Damon. He was beside her a moment later. With quick buzzing sounds, their friends appeared behind and beside them; all taking account to make sure everyone had made it. They had. Now to figure out where they were…Bonnie's senses slid into place and her nose scrunched up. They were outside, but the smell of the saltwater was stronger, the waves rushing around them louder –

"We're on a boat." She heard Alaric whisper to someone, Lucy maybe. Bonnie's eyes scanned the area and sure enough, she could make out the choppy black water in the distance as they all stood in the centre of an oddly deserted cargo ship.

"Yes but where on a boat?" Lucy hissed back.

"Arniston." A new voice provided and a woman stepped into view, "Or Cape Point, whichever you prefer, it's all the same." She smiled when she locked eyes with Imran, he was somehow even more handsome illuminated by the moonlight, he reminded her of someone and the feeling left her with a flimsy fondness. "Fun fact for those of you who didn't know, the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet here; at this exact point where we are now. Beautiful isn't it?" She grinned, "And excellent for witches who've managed to channel the element of water." Bright floodlights lit everything up then and Jeremy and Amelia shielded their eyes as their vision adjusted, Lucy kept her eyes trained on the witch chattering away. Kiera's smile faltered however, when her gaze passed over Fahada and she didn't think to right it. Fahada had been standing on the other end of the group, with Stefan as they flanked the others, making sure Bonnie and Damon were at the heart of their assembly. Stefan's jaw tightened as he watched emotions flit across Kiera's features; everyone knew who she was the minute the lights had flashed on but she obviously hadn't been expecting her immortal ex-girlfriend. Fahada remained motionless and emotionless on the outside; now was not the time to revisit past mistakes. Without giving it much thought Stefan inched towards Fahada, his hand brushing past hers; a sign of solidarity, a quiet quick gesture. Fahada gripped his hand in hers, squeezing it with such force that she immediately broke three of his fingers, but Stefan didn't mind. It would heal; he wasn't so sure about Fahada though – this couldn't be easy for her. "What are you doing here?" Kiera hissed.

"I stopped looking for you," Fahada snapped, "How I was supposed to know that that was the only way that I'd ever find you? I'm not even here for you Kiera," even the way Fahada said her name held so much meaning to it. Kee-air-ah. With a rolling on the 'r', almost Spanish sounding in its pronunciation in that instance. "I'm here to kill you." Kiera took a step back, swallowing and blinking rapidly, clearly trying to make sense of everything when her eyes settled on Fahada's hand in Stefan's. Fahada smirked when she followed her line of vision. "I'm sure we have more important things to discuss than that…" sticking her chin out Fahada's voice grew impossibly cold, "Shall we begin?" Two more witches appeared beside Kiera. One had bright blue hair cut in choppy layers with her fringe dangling into her eyes, her pale skin offset with her dark brown eyes. She scanned the group of them as they stood there, sizing them up. She honed in on Amelia and Lucy – she would target them first. Witches were shite at hand to hand combat usually but if they remained safe and protected they could wreak havoc from a distance. That and one was a Bennett and the other hailed from two powerful bloodlines; her supernatural aura practically on vibrate as she stood next to the leading vampire that Kiera had tagged. Tessa, the blue haired one had been 'Cleansed' to the point of no return after the Superior had sensed her hesitation – she had one goal and one goal only tonight: kill or be killed. Those were the orders. The brunette, Bridgette, was the same; brain-dead under the oath to Black Magic. Kiera was hanging on by a thread herself, not having undergone the Dark Cleanse what with the Superior trusting her as much as he did. She was after all, next to Ascend. The only thing holding her back now was Fahada; just looking at Fahada brought it all back and she hadn't known until then that any of it had even been missing.

"…Something isn't right." Damon muttered tensely, edging impossibly closer to Bonnie, who nodded. There was a pulsing underneath them, underneath the metal flooring of the groaning ship.

"There's a barrier around the ship," Bonnie replied softly, her voice passing through the breeze, so low that only other vampires heard. "But that's not it, I feel –"

A shrill squawk sounded through the night, like the piercing cry of an eagle and Enzo and Alaric dared to avert their eyes to look up. Above them, thick cumulonimbus clouds swirled, the deep smoky colour of the clouds obscuring the heavens. Squinting even more Enzo's undead heart contracted. His onyx eyes bulged as he managed to distinguish creatures; things, flying between the folds of mist. Claws, beaks, teeth, serrated, blood red eyes.

"Fuck. Me." Enzo gasped and Bonnie looked up too. She saw the same thing he did and her head snapped back down and locked with Kiera's. The redhead who had seemed so uncertain before now had an expression of serenity upon her features. Damon frowned as he watched a swirling something appear behind the three witches. Little by little the creature formed. Talons, eyes, a heavy cloak of black velvet hanging on him with burning runes sewn into the hem. The fire moved as he did but never spread beyond the inscriptions as he moved forward. He was a mountain of rock, shimmering black veins winking in the nightfall and bright bloodshot eyes.

"Have you decided who dies tonight?" It's voice boomed. Deep, male, guttural.

"Have you?" Bonnie barked in return and she wasn't quite sure if that oozing hole in its face was its mouth but she could have sworn it just curved into a smile.

"You of course," he replied easily, "Either way you die. It's up to you who you and your accomplice take with you as you line up to atone for your sins."

"Who do you declare?" Kiera called out. Her voice loud, like a howl in the wind.

"No one." The group yelled in return in impressive synchronicity.

"Then that is exactly who shall be spared." The Superior promised and he lifted an arm to the clouds above them and a shaped his hand into a claw before twisting it into a fist. A wall of magic pulsed off of him and the creatures above screamed; twirling down in their frenzied flying, down to attack the people Damon and Bonnie loved the most. As they tensed for the impact from above the boards underneath them creaked and several more of the Summoned broke through the metal flooring to attack them from below.

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