I dabble with religion/mythology. It's not really a main point or anything, but ideas expressed run contrary to some established beliefs.
Life was a wheel that was always turning, one cycle into the next and the next. Sometimes a spoke would catch and clash with another, sometimes one broke and fell out. But the wheel would keep turning. This was a lesson Caroline had always known.
See, once 'Caroline' had been Sekhmet. Oya. Amaterasu. Yal-un Eke. Lalahon. Nantosuelta. Shapash. Chantico. Pele.
All different incarnations of fire and earth and ferocity.
In the way humans might change outfits, going through life from one fashion phase to another, deities changed identities. Myth, legend, and belief their constant companions, they shed one form for the next.
So, it was not odd at all that she had gone to sleep as Pele and woken as Caroline.
October 5, 2084 was a Thursday and a perfectly ordinary day. On the warmer side perhaps at 76°F, but it was to be expected with the increasingly undeniable climate change.
Anyway, it was a normal, average day just like any other. People were born. People died. The rich got richer and the less powerful suffered for it. And through it all the Earth kept spinning and revolving, uncaring about any of it.
Then, quite without warning - despite teams of scientists and specialists and expensive equipment - a volcano erupted.
At 3:12 PM MDT, the world ended. Poetically with both a bang and whimper.
And, contrary to many people's secret betting boards, neither Klaus nor Kol had anything to do with it.
Caroline (as she now knew her name to be) could feel the thick, liquid heat of magma surrounding her form. Energy flowed through and around her as she floated in the primordial power of churning earth. But even without opening her eyes she knew this was not Kilauea, the volcano where her sister had slain her.
It was far larger, for one. For two, she could feel how it had lain quiet (though not dormant) for millennia. And now she could feel it stirring beneath her.
The deity opened her eyes, noting the shimmering paleness of her new form. Skin like pearlescent steam, hair like yellow tongues of fire. Eyes the blazing blue heat of the soul at her core.
As stone trembled and magma boiled, rising higher and higher, Caroline flew up with it. Returned to the world in an explosion of molten rock and billowing smoke.
Klaus contemplated the ashen landscape, wondering what his next move would be. Even for him, a thousand year old immortal, this particular change in circumstance threw him a bit. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago things had been going remarkably well.
His curse had been broken (though admittedly the hybrids were a bit of a sore point). All his family had been awake (debatably a good thing, if he was honest). Mikael had finally died by his hand (most certainly the highlight of the century). And Kol had recently been resurrected (and rightfully mocked for letting the likes of the infant Gilberts get one over on him).
Yet here he now stood in the largely barren United States, once a world superpower, and now a mass graveyard. With those that remained struggling for survival.
It certainly hadn't helped when the ashes dimmed the power of the sun, letting even those without daylight rings thrive at all hours. Of course their short-sighted recklessness had culled a large portion of the humans. Humans that had already rapidly dwindled. It left the vampires with no easy access to other pools of them and a still shrinking human population as the new atmosphere proved inhospitable to crops and livestock.
Considering he predated the era of modern conveniences and had the power of an Original Hybrid to his name, he was better off than most. But he couldn't exactly conjure resources from nothing, and his attempts to source a boat - see if distance had lessened the fallout - had been met with little success.
His mind categorized his options and he settled on a plan, about to act on it when his thoughts were abruptly derailed. He blinked. Wondered if Original Hybrids could have hallucinations without the presence of 2,000 year old immortal warlocks or Hunter's Curses. Perhaps, some chemical compound in the atmosphere could affect him?
He continued to stare.
For walking through the ash fields, with seemingly not a care in the world, was a young blonde woman. A woman alone and unwary would have been enough of an oddity in and of it self. However, the image was made all the more strange by her clothes.
They were impossibly clean, not even his keen eyes could spot a speck of soot or dirt, no tears in the fabric, no stains of blood or sweat. And that was before he considered how terribly impractical they were. A short dress and loose chain jewelry, high heels and no bag of any kind to carry supplies. The only reasonable article of clothing was the leather jacket, but even that seemed to be a more fashionable cut than anything useful.
He was baffled, to say the least.
Caroline felt at home among the ashes and smoke and fire. The burn of sparks and chemicals swirling into her with each breath. Maneuvering in the odd clothing of the era was a bit annoying, but she thought it rather flattered her new figure. And it had been the first outfit she liked as she perused a venue, the humans having already fled from the destruction.
Frankly, it had been a long time since she had been awake in such a turbulent time. But they were always her favorites. Strife meant either unparalleled freedom with few worshipers or unparalleled power fueled by mortal desperation. At the moment, it seemed to be the former. And having awakened within the source of a cataclysm, she wasn't exactly lacking in strength at the moment either.
She hummed to herself, feeling the gaze of a predator on her back. There had been several mortals she had felt obligated to educate since her awakening. Mainly opportunistic men who thought her vulnerable. Typical. Although others had simply been trying to survive, those she had sent on their way with a warning, and occasionally even a little bit of mystical aid if they managed to impress her.
This one wasn't mortal though. That didn't necessarily mean anything, but it did increase the chances they wouldn't bore her.
Alas, Klaus couldn't conjure answers out of thin air either and he wasn't one for self-denial, so, after a few moments thought, he decided to indulge his curiosity. She was almost certainly supernatural though so he would be employing some tact when he approached.
Elijah would be shocked. (Offensive, really. He had tact!)
Blurring across the distance between the two of them, Klaus carefully halted several feet away, enough space to not be invading, but close enough to talk politely.
"Good evening. I must admit I find myself rather curious as to who you are, love."
Caroline turned, head cocked as she took in the image of the man before her. She supposed he was handsome and the golden curls of his hair reminded her of the sun. He also got points for manners, regardless of whether it was an act or not. Though now that he was closer his intrigue was rather obvious to her.
She propped a hand on her hip, a little smirk curling across her lips as she raised an eyebrow.
"I can't help but feel you mean what I am."
A smirk of his own was reflected back at her. "Well, that would just be impertinent, wouldn't it?"
An amused huff escaped her. She would be lying if she claimed she wasn't also a bit interested. Mortals could be so tedious sometimes and she actually had no idea what he was either.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"
Title means "Rebirth/A New Birth" in Hawaiian, as Pele the Hawaiian volcano goddess came to mind first.
3/15/2020 Mini-sequel additional content below.
Klaus eyed his current traveling companion, hand itching for some paper and pencils to attempt to capture the otherworldly air that hung about her. The way her skin faintly shimmered. How her hair glowed and shifted, seeming almost like flame when looked at from the corner of his eye.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"
Later Klaus would admonish himself for thinking like a bumbling lad that caught his first glimpse of a woman's breast, mind immediately accepting the apparent proposition as his cock gave a twitch of interest.
And then he caught sight of the smirk crawling across her face. It hardly dimmed his desire though it was superseded by caution and intrigue. Uncharacteristic surprise widened his eyes as his enhanced senses alerted him to the subtle changes about the woman in front of him. Bore witness as she shifted from beautiful to ethereal until her figure literally shone and pulsed with power.
There was a flash of veins across her skin, a glowing web of fire coursing within her as she took a breath. His hair prickled and Klaus resented the flash of humanity he felt as the air seemed to still and crackle with energy. Long had the years passed when he felt like the prey before a predator.
Then, she exhaled.
And he silently forgave himself for his fear, secretly admitted that his instincts had been correct.
A wave of force rippled out from her body, shaking the earth beneath their feet, cracking some of the more brittle stone. In the distance, a shadow grew on the horizon, another wave of smoke and ash choking the skies in the wake of an eruption.
She watched him through blazing eyes and cocked her head slightly. A gesture that should have been innocuous, innocent even, but instead felt utterly alien and inhuman. In a way that not even a millennium of monstrosities could imbue in him.
"My name is Caroline," she said simply, the air before her lips warping like a mirage off tarmac. "Incarnation of Fire and Earth."
Klaus blinked once, the aftershocks of her demonstration still sparking as static on his skin. He allowed his own smirk to blossom on his face, fascinated despite his better judgement.
"Apologies, Caroline," the name sizzled on his tongue, "I'm afraid my own demonstration won't be quite so impressive."
To his surprise the goddess was as delighted by him as he was by her. Tentative plans fell to the wayside as her mere presence subconsciously called plenty of humans to her, the easiest snacks he'd ever partaken.
He licked his lips, hearing the jackrabbit heart of a new enthralled human.