When Caroline turned 10 something rather odd happened to her. It had been a completely average morning like any other before it, except for one little thing. Upon opening her eyes she had been greeted by a floating panel declaring in boldfaced type:

WELCOME TO THE GAME, CAROLINE FORBES!

There had been much confusion to say the least. The young Caroline had gone on to read the additional text explaining she was something known as "The Gamer," the title of a power granted to her by Gaia.

Frankly, this had only served to make her more confused. Perhaps the logistics of it all would have been more clear had she been the type to play tabletop games, but all she knew of those was the popular one people sometimes spoke of, a Caves & Critters?

Anyway, she was thankful it came with a tutorial and a help menu. Her power also seemed far less strange when it revealed to her some other secrets in the world around her. For instance, the first time she used the 'Observe' skill she learned the following:

Elizabeth Forbes || Lv 35 Species: Human Title: The Sheriff Description: Elizabeth Forbes is the Sheriff of Mystic Falls and a member of one of the Founding Families by marriage. She is aware of the Founder's Council secret purpose to protect the town from ?.

Needless to say Caroline hadn't let those question marks stay questions for long. Which was how she came to learn the Bennetts were witches, the Lockwoods werewolves, and the weird hermit Zach Salvatore was maybe not so crazy with his vampire relatives. Vampires that the Council apparently hunted.

…Seriously?!

But after some pointed questions and careful cover stories. Yeah, the Gilberts have some wild stories in their ancestor's journals, crazy right? Caroline went on with her life as normal - erm more or less - taking ruthless advantage of her actually quite useful power.

Needed blackmail? Easy, with some judicial use of 'Observe.' Head cheerleader? Work her butt off to get those two more points in Dexterity and one more in Strength and Constitution. Aiming for Valedictorian? Her Intelligence stat was 17 (out of 20, excuse you!).

It also did wonders for her teenaged self-esteem to learn the great Elena was a doppelgänger i.e. a copy. Ha! Take that, Caroline was an original, thank you very much!

Now, things became a bit more turbulent when those vampire Salvatores strolled back into town. They were Trouble, with a capital 'T,' and Caroline was staying out of that mess. She gave her mom a head's up and kept an eye on her, but minded her own goddamn business. She did not need that in her life.

Just watching Elena run around with them was exhausting. Adding in Bonnie's witch heritage revelation, secret tomb vampires, and the vampire doppelgänger to the mix really didn't help.

Then, of course her teacher had to end up possessed, and there went her smooth sailing…

Caroline fiddled with her pen, spinning it with her fingers as her mind raced, finalizing the setup for the Decade Dance. Each decoration had its place and she was running through the schematic she would be handing to each volunteer one last time. It had to be perfect, after all!

Detect Danger Activated Warning max level character in vicinity. Threat Level: High.

Her pen spun a little faster as she processed that information, thoughts immediately switching gears. What the hell? She lazily glanced around the classroom, feigning disinterest as everyone's names and levels came up normal.

And then Alaric walked in and she nearly dropped her pen.

Alaric Saltzman || Lv 43 Niklaus Mikaelson (Anselson) || Lv 100

Shit

Caroline spent the rest of the class uncharacteristically quiet as she pondered what to do. She had only overhead bits and pieces about someone named Klaus. Presumably Klaus being this guy, Niklaus.

She was a bit chagrined to realize she had gotten cocky, and that it was now biting her in the ass. She needed more information and she needed it yesterday.

Thanks to her powers, Caroline had a shockingly high number of resources available to her. And after spending a cringe worthy amount of hard earned money in the Abyss Auction to purchase Supernatural: The Origin of Species, she was cursing herself for not doing so sooner.

Obscenely powerful. Cunning. A predilection for violence.

Not things she wanted within the same state as her mom let alone the same town.

She bit her lip, contemplating a potentially very stupid decision.

Knock Knock Knock

Klaus straightened from where he had been looming over Katerina, having been taking sadistic delight in giving her "orders." It was all the sweeter that she willingly obeyed, believing he was unaware of the vervain in her blood, its scent still on her breath.

He cocked his head, listening to the very human heartbeat on the other side of the door, one he was fully prepared to ignore until a voice accompanied the next series of knocks.

"Klaus, I wish to speak with you."

Caroline took a bracing breath as the door swung open. A tiny piece of her mind goggled at his looks, but that voice was shoved down in favor of analysis and planning.

Instant Dungeon Create: Empty

Dimensional Phasing Activate

Her 'Observe' skill was already active, as she categorized and tried extremely hard to remain unfazed by his utterly obscene stat levels. Simultaneously, the world around them appeared to crack as she pulled them to an empty dimensional plane, her own body in yet another dimension.

And just in time as Klaus lunged for her throat only to phase through her.

In an incomprehensible blur, Klaus flashed back around to face her, his expression disturbingly calm considering his eyes seethed.

"Sweetheart, this is supremely unwise." His voice near hissed on the last word.

"I can break your curse!" She blurted out before he could become anymore agitated.

Thankfully, he calmed. Unfortunately, he looked condescendingly amused instead.

"You are a bit late if you wished to win my favor, love."

This time it was Caroline's turn to scowl.

"I don't want your favor, I want you to not massacre my town!"

"Apologies, love, but I'm afraid that's not on the agenda. I have my werewolf, my vampire, and at long last my doppelgänger and I am ready to break this curse."

"And if I told you I could do it without all the death?"

His lips quirked even as his eyes darkened. "That's quite impossible."

Caroline scoffed. "Yeah, just like vampire-werewolf hybrids are supposed to be impossible." She hurried her speech before he could react to her flippancy. "And just like your ability to make more hybrids if you kill, Elena."

Any trace of mockery vanished from his face, replaced once more by menace. "Now, whyever would you believe such a thing as that?"

"Because it's the truth! There's a failsafe that the witches added to your curse so even if you did break it eventually, you would be incapable of creating more of your kind."

He stalked closer, succeeding in slightly unnerving her even when he still couldn't touch her. "I suppose I should just take you at your word, hm?"

Caroline swallowed and daringly extended her now corporeal hand. "With your permission, I can break your curse here and now, as I said I could. Then, you can judge for yourself."

His eyes glanced from her face to her hand, narrowed and nearly black. And then he reached his own hand out to tuck a curl behind her ear, the heat of him startling as he lingered.

"I remember you now, Caroline Forbes. Let me assure you that should this be a trick of any kind the lovely sheriff will be my first stop."

With sheer will, Caroline prevented all but a twitch of her hand in reaction. Her face like stone as she said, "You've made yourself quite clear. Now, your permission?"

"So granted."

Alaric's apartment blurred in her vision. The Instant Dungeon shattering with the last of her energy

HP: 1
SP: 0
MP: 0 Status Condition: Extreme Exhaustion

The last thing Caroline saw as she collapsed was Klaus' golden eyes and dual fangs.

Power surged through Klaus' body and he could feel the difference in his fangs, in his eyes. Heard the howl of his Wolf in his blood for the first time in a millennium.

It took negligible effort for him to catch the blonde as she fell, cradling her body to his chest with one arm.

He peered down at her and reached for her with his other hand. But instead of a threat, shocking gentleness and a bit of awe infused his gesture as he once more brushed a loose lock from her cheek.

Silently, the renewed Hybrid turned on his heel, moving to set the blonde on his borrowed bed. Absently snapping Katerina's neck as he passed. As he settled into a chair, Klaus faced the bed and contemplated his newfound golden fascination.

"It seems we will a lot to discuss, sweetheart."