Final chapter- The End of All Roads: Part 2
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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Last time...
Before Klaus and Co. reach Mystic Falls, the group makes a final pit stop at a bar where Klaus goes through a psychotic rampage due to his mourning of Caroline's death. As they complete the rest of their journey, Marcel reminisces about the last 20 years. When Elijah tries to bring Klaus back from his depths of despair by reassuring him he is not alone in his pain over Caroline, Claire shoots at them, making the car spin out of control...
A/N *Hides behind a random tree and finally pokes her head out.* Okay. Yeah. I know. I totally took forever to get this out. It was just SOOOO hard to write! It's a little complicated but if there is anything you don't get PLEASE ASK!
On the bright side, THIS STORY NOW HAS OVER 100 FAVORITES! I gotta say, it really amazes me that this story that I hesitated to publish at first has reached such a milestone. When I saw it, I was like I have to update, cause it just would be too unfair to all of you who support this fic to let my laziness win now (which is what took me so long to update. *hides behind a tree again*).
Thanks so much to Guest who made me aware that my multiple POVs in one chapter can be confusing. That is why I decided to keep this chapter to one person. I would eliminate them altogether and do third person, which I tried, but I found it's too hard for me to write.
Also, I am willing to do some one shots of Klaroline's past 20 years together if enough people request a particular scene they want to read.
Thanks to all those who helped me push through my laziness by:
Following - Matocro, SHAH101, SwanQueen4055, miamiohiogirl, Sarisol, rose4783, beverlie4055, ginian05, taeleighscandal,jenrs, maneesha mohan, Johalex3, dangerouslycrazy, and shafiza92.
Favoriting - Sarisol, ginian05, miamiohiogirl,taeleighscandal, Natalee1, TopazDragon (100th Favoritee!), jenrs, packerfan94, Johalex3, dangerouslycrazy, recklesssouls, pooptrova, and shafiza92.
And reviewing. Ilyreid (your question gets answered in the beginning of this chapter), KlarolineQueen, Sophia Chase, Sarisol, maryplak, KlarolineKolenaDaroline, shafiza92, and guest.
Bonnie POV
I watch in disdain as Silas walks away from Mikael, Claire and Esther after we leave the cave. The group of 20 newborn vampires part to let us pass.
"You know what to do," Silas says nonchalantly in a tone like he is discussing the weather. "Once you have them, return to the Lockwood Mansion. Qestiyah by that time should be done using her hocus pocus to bring the darling Caroline to our side. With her as my supernatural bioweapon, killing your children will be child's play. Then I will have Qestiyah put the veil back up and I will be untouchable...Wait!" he says with gasp, clasping his hands together in wicked glee. "Maybe I should use the Stake of Dessication on Klaus, making both husband and wife my puppets for ALL eternity..."
"Absolutely not," snaps Esther viciously. "All of my children must die. Including Niklaus."
"ESPECIALLY Niklaus," emphasizes Mikael.
Silas purses his lips together. For a millisecond, I see the rage there, making it obvious he's not letting that idea go that easily, but then he gives them a placating smile.
"Okay, Okay! It was just...a thought." A small pause falls between them. "Tell your children I said hello will you?" He says, walking off.
When Silas is out of earshot, Mikael says: "I don't trust him."
"Neither do I my love, but what does it matter? As long as they all die," replies Esther. She grabs Mikael's hand and extends her other to Claire.
"Come child."
Finally. This is it. The anticipation rippling through me as I get closer to them.
Robotically, Claire grabs her hand right when I grab Claire's shoulder.
Mikael glances at the newborn vampires. "I say we take 10 of them with us."
Esther nods in agreement. Immediately, 10 newborns take each other's hands, like some weird prayer circle, one of them grabbing Claire's to complete the link.
Esther mutters a few words in Latin. Instantly, I find us at Wickery Bridge. From a distance, I can make out faintly a black SUV.
I feel the real Claire come beside me.
"Ready?" I ask her.
She nods.
"I can only give you control of your body for three seconds," I tell her. "In that time, you got to shoot Klaus in the head to send him to limbo where Henry and Care are. This is our only chance. You can't miss..."
"I won't," she says, determined.
I sigh. Here it goes, I think, putting my hand on her shoulder and the shoulder of her body that was already pulling out her gun.
I do the spell and I know it's worked when the real Claire disappears and I see her smile, now in her body when she makes the shot.
In three seconds, she manages to shoot not only Klaus, but Elijah. Mikael and Esther smile gleefully as the car barrels out of control.
"Go," I hear Mikael command the vampires around him before Claire collapses suddenly and I black out as well.
{Desires of the Heart}
When I open my eyes, I quickly sit up and find myself in a now familiar, immaculately white room.
Limbo.
I hear a loud groan beside me, making me turn my attention to the man there that I never thought I would be so happy to see.
"Klaus…"
His eyes meet mine as I smile down at him. I barely have time to process the anger I see there before he grabs me by the throat.
"Qestiyah..." he growls.
"Klaus..." I choke out. "I'm Bonnie."
"Sure you are," he says, squeezing tighter.
It isn't until I start seeing stars that I realize I have magic here. I smirk when Klaus screams loudly, grabbing his head.
"Release me...WITCH!"
I roll my eyes at how he never fails to make the word "witch" sound like a swear.
"Not till you agree to listen. I am not Qestiyah. I'm the real Bonnie and I'm actually here to help you. Thanks to Claire here, who's AWESOME!" I shout out happily, suddenly realizing that the hardest part of our plan actually worked. That now, we were achingly close to getting back home, to our bodies, for good.
My shouting makes Klaus glare at me who is still struggling under my magic. "What the bloody hell are you going on about? Claire..." his voice breaks slightly, "Claire shot me!" he seethes.
His attitude doesn't faze me. "Will you listen so I can explain? I think you should. If you want to be reunited with family. The great desire of your heart."
What I see in his eyes, the vulnerability there, however brief, makes me stop before he erects a stoic look on his face.
"I swear, if this is some kind of trick..."
"We needed to get you here so I can channel you," I say, cutting him off and getting down to business. "A living link still connected to the Land of the Living that has blood relations to those trapped here. I was able to put Claire back in her body just long enough and in the right time to shoot you into unconsciousness. It was a long shot, but obviously it worked. You're here! When you wake up, I will use the pull to send you all back. With our spirits back to the Land of the Living, Henry and that Sophie chick can use their magic to push Qestiyah out of my body so I can put the veil back up and…"
"I think…I think it's too late for me Aunt Bon," says a Claire weakly, breaking my rant.
Both Klaus and I turn our attention to her, but then Klaus's eyes widen when he takes notice of Henry who is holding…
"Caroline!"
He flashes towards them, his eyes looking down at the woman he thought he had lost forever, that he obviously thought he would never see again. I stare in awe as I watch the affection that seeps out of the murderous hybrid's features. Even though I know all the bad things he's done, how unworthy he is of forgiveness, never mind love, I can't help but appreciate the bond between him and my best friend. He touches her face in sheer reverence, trailing his touch from her closed eyelids, down her cheek, to her lower lip. If possible, you could almost hear his heart breaking when Caroline doesn't stir.
"This is a dream..." he says distantly, gazing at her form. "She..." he swallows deeply, his eyes shining with emotion before he looks at Henry, his brow creasing with worry as he takes in Henry's unfocused eyes, his mumblings and beads of sweat falling from his forehead as he holds tightly on to Caroline.
Just as Klaus opens his mouth, Claire answers his unasked question.
"He can't hear you," rasps Claire. She is deathly pale, struggling to keep her eyes open. "He's blocking Qestiyah who wants to give Silas control over Care."
"What?" Klaus hisses.
I go up to Claire, concerned for her. When I touch her, I shake my head, feeling her fading. She was right. It is too late for her, I think sadly.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" Klaus sneers at me, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Surely Henry can't block a 2,000 year old witch forever."
"I AM doing something Klaus," I finally snap, having enough of his attitude. "Claire and I were too busy trying to get you here thank you very much and that wasn't easy."
"What is exactly 'here?' "
"This," I gesture to the room we are in, "is limbo," I say. "This is the thin layer between the Other Side and the Land of the Living. Supernatural beings come here when they die temporarily though they are not usually conscious enough during the event to know they are here. Our situations, however, are a bit unique. I ended up here when Qestiyah possessed my body. I'm not dead but I'm not alive either so here I am. Only difference is that unlike Claire and Caroline, my body is still active so I can leave whenever I please. They are here because the Stake of Dessication puts them in a similar neither dead or alive state once they've overcome the initial stage of the spell the Stake casts on them when used. Henry is here because the magic that sent him here linked him to Caroline, and dragged him here as well while…"
Klaus cuts me off. "What do you mean the initial stage of the spell the Stake casts?"
I sigh. "We really don't have time for me to explain all this…"
"Tell me!" Klaus growl impatiently.
I glare at me him. Looks like he hasn't changed THAT much, I think irritated, but I continue. "Basically, it seems that Qestiyah made the Stake to control Silas if he ever rose and the cure was unavailable. With Silas being immortal, controlling him would be the only failsafe so he wouldn't bring hell on earth. Silas found it first though and used it on Claire instead to test its abilities."
"First," chimes in Claire weakly. "Your body desiccates and your spirit wakes up in place that houses what I like to call the Mirrors of Happy Memories. Unlike Care, I didn't have Henry to intervene. You lose yourself. Thinking the memories are the reality instead of the life you leave behind." She gives a faint smile. "It's like replaying the favorite parts of a movie but you're the star and forget it isn't real…"
"And it is during this time," I say, "that the user of the Stake can use it to take control of the physical self of the person staked and deny the real you, in this case, Claire, access. Once the process is complete, the body is forever condemned to be under the control of the being that staked them."
Claire nods. "Exactly. One day, the movie just ended. I wake briefly at Care's bedside while she was dying of the werewolf bite. I probably ended up near her because she was the last person I was with before I 'died.' Who knows? We actually talked but I don't know if she remembered it. Then I found myself here until the day Silas woke up my body and used it to…to…"
"…stake Caroline," I end quietly.
Claire bites her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. "I couldn't stop it! I tried…I really tried! But…"
"Does that mean you control Caroline?" Klaus asks.
"No," I say. "In her case, she's being controlled herself, so the Stake gives control to the last being of free will that used it."
"Silas," Klaus says, understanding settling on his face.
"Right."
Klaus falls back, gasping for air.
I grab hold of him, trying to hold him up.
"What...What's happening to me?" He manages to choke out.
"It's the pull," I say in realization. "You're waking up. Quick, Claire! Grab Henry!"
She tries to move but she collapses on the floor.
"Oh God!" I shout, rushing to her. "Claire! Claire!"
I look back briefly to see Klaus faint, his head landing on Caroline's chest.
Well, at least they are touching each other and Henry is holding Care...
I grab Henry's shoulder and place Claire, who has lost consciousness, on my lap. I start chanting quickly, hoping, PRAYING we didn't miss our ride home.
{Desires of the Heart}
When I wake up, I find myself on the cave floor, my eyes narrowing in disgust when I see Qestiyah, using MY body to hack into Caroline's brain so she can give control to her beloved Silas. Ugh!I think, standing up, I can't stand those two! Silas is totally playing her but the dummy rather wants to believe he's changed because he's sexed her up a few times. In MY body no less.
I let out a shudder, the memory of watching them do it at that club that Klaus owned coming to mind.
I'm really going to need to bleach my whole body when I get it back.
"IF you get it back," says Qestiyah, smugly, eyes still closed.
Oh, I must have said that out loud.
"Oh I will. Trust me," I respond smartly. "Now that I'm here permanently."
I watch her wince, then jump away from Caroline's body, as if electrocuted.
"Damn it!" she huffs angrily.
I smile. "Don't tell me that Henry is still giving you problems. Aren't you supposed to be some almighty, 2,000 year old witch?"
She whirls around, looking about wildly. She still can't see me, only hear me. Guess I still have that perk from being a former resident of limbo instead of the Other Side.
"Shut…UP!" she yells.
"You're going to keep failing," I say, relentless with my verbal prodding, "and then the Originals are going to rip your heart out for messing with their family."
"You forget. It's your heart they'll be ripping out."
"Oh no, it won't," I say, walking up to her face. "Not when Henry gets back…"
"He can't come back you fool," she chuckles darkly. "Caroline, his anchor, is still staked, and the only person who can pull it out without her dying permanently is me, Silas or Claire. Me and Silas are out, and Claire is under Silas's control so…So you have NO chance!"
"Not unless I got a living blood relative of hers to come to where her spirit is and use them as a link to pull her spirit out of limbo and back into her body."
Qestiyah goes pale, just as Claire comes up behind me, smiling.
Qestiyah raises her hand to attack but her magic is blocked by Sophie Devereaux who walks up with Marcel, beads of sweat pouring from her face.
"Hurry...Up..." Sophie gasps. Marcel and Claire flash forward simultaneously. Claire going to Caroline's coffin while Marcel grabs Qestiyah into a headlock.
It breaks her focus, allowing Sophie's magic to gain the upper hand. She struggles under Marcel's grasp to no avail, and screams when Claire pulls the Stake out of Caroline.
"No..."
Instantly, Henry is beside the coffin, his eyes looking at Qestiyah coldly. I run up to him, grabbing his hand as he lifts his other. Being in limbo and being part of the spell that opened the doorway back to Plane of the Living links us, and should allow him to channel me...
I feel him squeeze my hand and the magic that ripples from him. Yes! Yes! It had worked!
In unison, Henry, Sophie and I start chanting powerfully, to Qestiyah's Horror. In one last desperate attempt to survive, she uses her magic to push Marcel off her. She releases all her energy, bringing Claire and Marcel to their knees in pain.
She resists, she fights, but the unified magic of a Bennett witch knowing expression, The descendent of the Original Witch, and a practitioner of Ancestral magic, overcomes her. When that happens, I open my eyes to look at awe at my own hands and feet.
I let our a chuckle of disbelief, bringing my hands up to feel my face in happiness.
"You...are...all...DEAD!"
I whirl around, facing the furious Qestiyah behind me, her brown hair whipping about her like a vengeful ghost, her brown eyes cold and menacing as she reaches for me.
Before she could do anything, her eyes bulge out of her sockets and she falls dead on the floor.
I see Qestiyah's heart in a bloody hand. My gaze follows that hand to the owner who is standing next to me in the same blue dress she got staked in, her blond curls covering her face before she turns to me and smiles.
"Care..." I mutter, my voice barely coming out because it's weighed down with emotion.
"Bon?" She asks with a laugh.
I jump her, hugging her tightly, when another voice interrupts us. A British one that is.
"Caroline?"
The whole room stands still for a moment, Klaus and Caroline's eyes locked on in each other before Marcel screams loudly.
I spin around, Marcel holding a limp Claire in his hands as Sophie looks at Caroline, her eyes filled with tears as she shakes her head.
Caroline gasps loudly, her hand covering her mouth as her whole body shudders with grief. She nearly collapses before Klaus flashes to her side, holding her.
"No..." says Henry, glancing at everyone quickly. "NO!"
He grabs his sister's head, chanting desperately. The candles in the cave flicker, the walls crumble a bit with his efforts, but she doesn't move, she doesn't speak, she doesn't smile...
"I think…I think it's too late for me Aunt Bon," she had said.
And she couldn't have been more right. When I see her appear behind her brother and look sadly at her unmoving corpse, my heart broke in two for her.
Claire was dead.
A/N Next chapter should be the last and will be from Kol's POV ;). Mission take down Silas will be executed. Any questions? Comments? You do?! Wow! There is this awesome button that says "review" on it! Please give it a click! Till next time...