caroline and stefan followed lucius through the crowded roads of the city , the crimson red sun shining at the same position since their arrival making them wonder if the night will ever come . they stopped by a simple stone house at the edge of the middle class neighborhood . the house , which belonged to lucius , looked as far from luxirious as a house could possibly be , with a worn old door that appeared to be there for centuries , and grey stone of which the house was constructed making it so ominous and uninviting .lucius pushed the door and stepped inside , inviting them both . the house inside wasn't so diffrent from the outside in terms of luxury , the few furniture consisted of a small bed , a wooden table , two chairs sitting next to it , a closet and a library . several things were thrown on the wooden floor that drew stefan's attention , books , metal objects , glass jars and few bottles filled with very weird substances and animal's mumified limbs and of course some wine bottles . the place looked like it wasn't cleaned for at least a millenia and smelled like it , stefan could distinguish the smell of something rotten and hoped it's just the pizza from last week . lucius made himself comfortable on one of the chairs and gestered for them to sit on any place that made them comfortable . of course there wasn't much choice so caroline took the chair first , stefan preferred to stand .
"alright , let's get to business . I need to perform a locator spell to find your friends , anything that belonged to them would be enough , a ring ,a neckless , a piece of hair "said lucius looking back and forth between them
"we don't have anythi.."replied caroline , and then she interrupted herself , looking at her ring "this daylight ring , bonnie made it for me , with her magic , will it do ? " she looked at lucius expectantly ,who thought for few seconds , then replied
"I guess it will , give it to me "
caroline backed away from the narrow window that was casting faint red light into the gloomy place , fearing that she might turn into barbecue in matter of seconds if she was exposed to sun light . she removed the ring and gave it lucius who examined it carefully .
"what about the rest , how are we going to locate them " said stefan ,worried that this small detail might blow up their whole plan and feeling a surge of regret and pain washing over him for not having a single reminder of his brother .
"don't worry. we'll need to perform a diffrent spell , using your memories , but it's more risky and its results are less trusted " warned lucius . he stood up and walked towards the library and pulled a big rectangular piece of paper . he brought it to the table and spread it , puting a lit candle on each of its four corners . on the paper , several circles were drawn , a big one that took almost the entire space of the paper , and inside of it a smaller one was drawn, and a smaller circle was drawn inside of the latter , and so on ,it looked just like the target used in archery , stefan counted 7 circles . each circle was colored with a different color , and there was few words on the paper , but stefan couldn't read it as it was in a foreign language , it looked like greek though , and he swore that he'll learn it if he ever got home . after fixing the ring into a silver chain , lucius was dangling it on top of the paper , chanting some words in ancient greek , after few minutes the fire of the candles became stronger and suddenly it went off . the ring dropped of the very center of the paper , on the circle in the center and lucius's face fell , turning as grey as the stone of his house , as if he was in the presence of death itself . after all the adventures stefan lived and the experience he had with witches , he knew that nothing good was coming , he knew that they were doomed . still lucius said nothing , he waved his hand and the candles went on again . he asked stefan to give him his hands , and stefan obeyed . lucius placed their holding hands on top of the paper and asked stefan to close his eyes and think of his brother . it wasn't easy for stefan to think of his brother without feeling sharp pain in his chest , stabbing him like the edge of blade , but he endured , remembering that time long years ago when they were humans and alive and happy . he remembered the happiness they shared once upon a time , when they were young and naive and full of life . he concentrated on a particular scene when he was seventeen , he was playing football with his brother , throwing and catching the ball until they were out of breath , so free and careless . he longed for that time , and he wished katherine never put a foot inside their house , never manipulated them and turned them against each other .the candles finally went off again and stefan felt an invesible force moving his hand , gently yet powerfully , and his hands landed on the circle in the centre . lucius again didn't look happy about it . he kept muttering to himself and stefan didn't know what he was saying , but it sounded like mumbo jumbo , so he just decided that he was saying something in greek .
"alright , the last one " said lucius lighting the candles again "concentrate on the lady named katherine "
he held stefan's hands again in the same way he did earlier . and again stefan closed his eyes and concentrated . of course thinking of katherine didn't bring that surge of warm nostalgia and longing the way thinking of damon did . although stefan forgave her for everything she did , he couldn't help feeling dread and uneasiness thinking about her , about what she did to him ,to all of them . the more he thought of her , the more he felt anger and sadness piling inside of him . and after the longest three minutes in his life the chanting was finally over and his hands were placed on the paper by the invisible force , this time on one of the other circles , the third one and lucius shook his head
"this isn't good " he said with a grave look " I knew your plan was too easy to be true "
stefan's heart fell , he didn't understand what was wrong but after literally comitting suicide with his best friend to come here , he didn't afford failure , even if he had to kidnap lucius or tear the tissue of time and space with his teeth .
"what's wrong " it was caroline who spoke , she was back on the chair after wearing her ring again , looking anxious just like Stefan
" your friends are not in this city , infact they are not in this layer even " lucius said it as if it was the worst thing that could ever happen , but all stefan and caroline felt was puzzlement . and it was very evident on their faces as they looked at each other and shrugged
"did you even stop to take the guidebook of the dimention at the gate " asked lucius frustrated of their ignorance
"there's a guidebook of this place ?" asked stefan and caroline at the same time
"of course there is , last thing we want is freshly dead people panicking all over the place asking where the hell they are , people in this city have bad experience with those before the guidebooks " lucius said , frustrated and then he sighed , forcing himself to calm down
"alright , come here I'll explain " lucius said . he pointed at the paper when he was sure he had their full attention ans he started explaining
"see this , this is the map of the demension . this demension wasn't intended to make supernatural creature's afterlives easy , because of what they do during their lives and the way they manipulate human lives . we all know how most of creatures abuse people with their powers et cetera , but they couldn't send us all to hell as , some of us , actually try to help . so the guardians made a special type of hell for us , a multilayered hell called the dimension . the circles on this map represent each a layer , we are in the exterior one , the city where everybody goes when they die . if you try hard enough , make as good as possible , you may get a chance to get a blessing and go to the elysium or else , you'll start descending to inferior layers until you get to the bottom " and he pointed at the center of the map , the circle in which bonnie and damon were located , and stefan felt a lump piling in his throat
"the layers " lucius added " are different degrees of torture , the more you are deeper , the more the torture is bigger , and the challenges are more dangereous , and you can travel to the next layer by a portal at the edge of every layer . the only one in the city is in the center . it leads here " and he pointed at the second biggest circle on the map " the jungle layer " he said it with a menacing voice
"and what's in the centre " stefan dared to ask , although his voice was trembling . he was frightened of the answer , frightened to imagine what kind of suffering his brother was enduring .
"no one knows " said lucius with a shrug "no one went there and ever came back , it's usually where the most evil and villainous people go " he paused and then he added with a wicked look " makes you wonder what type of people are your friends "
at this comment , stefan felt the urge to rip the man's throat out , maybe with couple of other vital organs , but he forced himself to be calm and fight any maniacal , serialkilling thoughts out of his head . Caroline on the other hand , who was already on the edge after everything that happened to her today , fixed the old man on the wall in the speed of light , squeezing his neck . Stefan couldn't blame her , but they needed the guy and the last thing they needed was to get on his bad side , so , he pushed her away from the guy , taking her by surprise . seconds later , her raged expression softened , and her eyes became teary
"I ... I'm sorry " she stammered , totally embarrassed and mortified of what she did
"Vampires " said Lucius with an angry sigh , rubbing his neck with his hands " your spieces got strength and temper , but no brains , that's why you're by far the most dangerous spieces "
Caroline's eyes were full of tears ,and stefan knew what was coming , all the feelings of grief , anger , disappointment , guilt she tried to conceal since bonnie's death were going to come to surface . she sat on one of the chairs , holding her face hidden with her hands , and in a matter of seconds she was crying , letting strangulated , heart-wrenching sobs . without hesitation , stefan went to her , enveloped her with his arms and spoke to her with a soothing voice until she calmed down . she was always the one who's in controle , the one that comforted everyone . she needed to let it out
"I don't understand how's this possible " she said with a shaky voice " there must be some mistake , bonnie was a good person , she was too good that it killed her , she sacrifised everything for her friends , why would she be in the worst layer of the dimension "
"I don't know caroline " said stefan shaking his head " but whatever was the reason behind it , we now need to find them more than ever and bring them back to earth , and as fast as possible "
"I hope you're not relying on me to perform the spell , there's no way in hell that I'm stepping one step out of this layer " said lucius crossing his arms against his chest in defiance
stefan grew tired and irritated with all those obstacles in his way to see his brother , everytime he solves a problem another appears and it seems that lucius himself is a pile of problems . he summoned all his powers and forced himself to be composed and calm
"listen , um , sir . you've been here for nearly two thousand years , under that ugly red glowing sun , drinking the same drink at the same old bar , and living in this house . don't you miss the normal , small , yellow sun , the green grass and flowers , the crystal clear rivers and beautiful girls and the beautiful blue sky ? don't you want to taste something new , enjoy your life once more , get a chance for another lifetime ? or you'd rather stay in this city for the rest of eternity ." when stefan finished talking , he hoped that he was persuasive although he didn't feel that he was , if lucius was convinced , he didn't show any sign of it
"finished with the speech , boy ?yes the something new to drink and beautiful girls part was tempting and all , but do you think I'll risk my life to the centre of the inferno for that , no thanks . I'll enjoy a sunbath under the ,how did you call it ? ah the ugly red glowing sun "he replied with a cocky smile only damon could immitate , making stefan feel as if his hopes were crushed with a monster truck and thrown of the wickery bridge
"we'll protect you then" caroline stood on her feet , recovered from the emotional breakdown she had earlier . although her eyes and the edge of her nose were as red as the sun above them "we'll protect you with our lives , you have our word "
lucius let out a chuckle as if he heard a joke , stefan's clenched his jaw in fury and caroline's lips thinned until they were almost invisible
"I don't think I said anything funny " she hissed in a tone that gave stefan shills , she sometimes scared him when she was angry , even more than silas and marcus
"you didn't ? " lucius now was laughing " you'll protect me , you ? vampires ? against giants and ogres and gardians and demons . what are you going to do , make them laugh to death ? "
"we'll fight them " replied caroline , sounding determined "we might not look like much , but we survived through much , and we'll survive this time .we fought original vampires , we killed silas , we killed marcus and his travellers and I'm sure we can survive until we reach the center of the the dimension "
when she mentioned silas , something in lucius's eyes flickered , his expression changed into shock and disblieve "you killed silas ? "
stefan sensed the opportunity , he didn't know whether lucius liked or hated silas but he decided to take the chance
"I killed him " he said
"that piece of filth " spat lucius , more to himself than to stefan " if there something I regret during my lifetime , it's teaching him and quetsiah magic . but him , of all people , after everything I did for him , he stabbed me in the back , he killed me with cold blood to take over the group . it's good that quetsiah took care of him for me , I've been waiting for my revenge for two thousand year, but doppelgangers are all I can get " he smiled absently and turned to stefan " well then , I guess I owe you one , I'll go after all "
"you're going ?" said stefan in disbelief
"are you sure ? " asked caroline looking as if she got an early birthday present
lucius didn't reply though and both stefan and caroline didn't want to push their luck .
stefan couldn't describe the feeling he got after hearing those words , no it wasn't relieve or happiness ,it was much much more . he felt floating , flying yet his feet were on the ground . caroline's radiating smile said she felt the same . he felt like hugging her , but he felt embarrassed since lucius was watching them .
"alright , well , I guess I should pack some stuff for the journey , since we don't know what we will be facing and how far is the central layer . we'll buy you some blood on the road . there's no need for the delay " he said opening the closet
"is there a portal that leads to the central layer directly from here" asked caroline
"no " replied lucius spreading a white cloth on the table , starting to put things on it : a bottle of wine , candles , a bottle of water , a book " we will need to pass all of the layers until we reach there " he added picking a jar from the ground and puting it with the rest of things he will be carrying with him , which started to pile . eventually , he tied the cloth and put it on his shoulder , it sounded like and ancient handbag . stefan waited for caroline to comment since her sense of fashion was supernatural but she said nothing . they left the house and the red light burned stefan eyes after the house's darkness .
they walked through the city's roads , which seemed to improve the more they went closer to the center . old gloomy houses started to disappear and were replaced with big white villas constructed with marble . their golden doors and windows were shining so bright that stefan felt his eyes burning . they stopped along the way to buy some things useful for their journey , of course with lucius paying for them with strange golden coins . stefan guessed it's the money used in the demension . they finally reached the very centre of the city , they were standing infront of the huge colesieum that cought stefan's eyes from the moment he laid a foot inside the city . the colesieum was nothing like the one he visited once in rome , which looked very old . this one looked as if it was built yesterday , glowing white with golden traces . infront of the coloseum was a huge crowded yard in which they were standing .stefan could distinguish a monument of a square of marbre with a glowing circle inside of it . as he came closer he realized that the circle was made of light , glowing puple and pink one second , and blue and green the other . two guards were standing on each side , reflecting the circle's glow on their ancient shining armors and pointed spears .people were forming a line , infront of it . some were carrying bows and arrows , others were carrying swords and spears looking strong and menacing , stefan guessed they were hunters . some others were tied with chains and guarded by other guards -who had iron armors and swords - looking pale and dirty with matching grey uniforms , they were the criminals who will be sent to the much worse layer .
"this is the portal ? " asked stefan , looking at lucius who nodded
every time someone's turn finally arrives , he shows his wrist on which his identity was written to a guard standing next to the portal carrying a notebook , takes a deep breath and jumps into the light . the portal glows faintly as the person gets swallowed and he disappears completely
"this is it " said lucius inhaling "this will be carrying us to the next layer "
"we'd better get going " said caroline with a firm tone , carrying nervousness underderneath it only stefan could distinguish
they stepped forward , stood in the line and waited for their turn , half an hour later stefan's turn arrived , he showed his tattoo to the guard , looked at caroline who nodded in encouragement , took a deep breath and stepped forward .