"In a hole in the ground there lived a witch" mouthed Caroline. Klaus still picked it up with his vampire hearing. "What did you just say?" He grinned. Caroline blushed slightly. "In a hole in the ground there lived a witch. Have you never read The Hobbit?"
He shook his head. Caroline snickered. "Well, it is actually a children's book so therefore you might not be familiar with it. But it was also turned into a movie in the last couple years. Actually a couple of movies because thanks to this new trend they just cut the books into minuscule parts to make more money out of them. But it is cute anyway. The book at least…"
"And it is about a witch?"
"No, it's about a Hobbit. But there is a wizard, though I am not entirely sure what his magic is."
"It is not a very accurate description of magic, at least from our point of view." The witch who was leading them through the catacombs underneath the Gellért Hill had turned around to speak her mind as well. She smiled at Caroline and then turned back to the front. She and some other people from the coven had picked them up from the hotel. Their car had tinted windows so Caroline did not know where they stopped. But since she had only been one day in Budapest so far there was no way she would have been able to find her way back even without the specific precaution. The car had stopped inside a parking garage that had a direct entry to the catacombs under the hill. Caroline's memories of the place in Rome were mushy at best but it seemed to her that all catacombs looked the same. But the smell in Budapest was different. It was musty and smelled like the same air had been breathed in for many years by the same people. But at least it did not smell like death was right around the corner.
Caroline still shivered thinking back to the terrible vampire repellent spell underneath the streets of Rome. But she repressed the thought and focused back on where they were going. There was not much to see. The light was dim and the corridors all looked the same. There was an occasional torch mounting on the wall but none of them were burning. The only sources of light were the torches that the witches were carrying in front of them. Caroline's senses were good enough to not trip over the small stones and roots that were clustering the floor. Still she did not have the best feeling following a group of witches into a mountain from which she had no chance escaping. She took a glance at Klaus who was the epitome of calmness. His steps were wide and his gaze was forward. She did not detect the facial expression she had called "the battle" in her mind which calmed her down immensely. But on the other hand he was not the one who could be burned by flames. Or could he? She wasn't entirely sure but seemed to recall that back in Mystic Falls when Klaus was still trying to kill Elena they had discussed this. Or had they? She shook her head to chase away these thoughts. It didn't matter anymore. Things had changed and she was going to focus on the present. Klaus' head had turned to her but she just gave him a quick small smile. He squeezed her hand in an affectionate gesture.
They had been walking for a while when Caroline noticed that the light seemed to get brighter. After a few more steps she realized it was not the light that lit up but they were coming closer to what must be a greater source of light than their torches. Turning around the corner she saw what had emitted the shine. They were on the outskirts of a great hall. The walls of the hall were dome-shaped and ended in a ceiling more than 20 feet above them. The place was divided into three sections by columns that were shaped directly out of the stone. Everything had a rough unpolished look but it was still clean and tidy. As Klaus stepped into the hall he smirked and started humming a melody Caroline did not recognize.
"What are you humming?" She muttered. His smirk grew a bit wider: "In the hall of the Mountain King." Caroline had never heard of the piece but she immediately enjoyed the sneaky sound of the small melody. It fit very well with Klaus. Her guide did apparently not agree with her since she turned around and snared at the two of them. Caroline suppressed the giggle that tried to erupt from her throat. They should probably not be making fun of the head of the witch coven of Budapest. As they took their first steps into the hall Caroline noticed how many people were present. Since Bonnie had been her closest witch acquaintance and all the witches she and Klaus had met were mostly women she had somehow always thought of them as a homogenous female group. Although she also remembered that Klaus had employed male witches when first coming to Mystic Falls. What was the correct term here anyway? Wizards, warlocks, male witches or some obscure word she had never heard of? She considered asking their guide but now that they had crossed nearly half of the room there were too many eyes on them. She did not want to offend anybody tonight so she quickly dismissed the thought.
On the other side of the room a group of people were standing. Caroline wasn't sure what she had expected to find here maybe a throne or at least a table but everyone was simply standing and talking with hushed voice. Occasionally someone would steal a glance at them but none of them were openly staring like the others around them. Their guide gave them a sign to stop. She and the other two who had accompanied them on their way stepped to the group and were quickly engulfed in the conversation. Caroline was starting to feel rather unwelcome but Klaus was still very calm. Uncharacteristically calm. She knew him. He was not the type to just walk into a place calmly. He stormed in and made a lot of noise while doing so. But she had to admit he was also the sneakiest person she had ever encountered. So if he had decided that staying calm was the best strategy she was just going to follow him on it.
But right now he had settled into a comfortable stance that she tried to imitate. Within a few minutes two people from the group in front of them separated and left towards the right side of the room where, as Caroline only noticed now, more corridors where opening into the dark. She must have shifted one to many times since Klaus placed his hand calmingly on her back and whispered: "There is no need to worry Caroline. I've got you." She gave him a small smile and tried to reassure herself that he was right. There was no need to worry. He was capable of taking out every single person in this room within minutes. Unless they all gave him a collective headache. But there was always a risk in life.
From one second to the next all talk fell quiet. Flanked by the people that had brought them here a woman stepped into the hall. Her hair was long and had some silver streaks in the dark mass. Her face bore the struggle she had gone through in her life but she gave some of the people she passed a reassuring smile. The closer Caroline watched her the less she was able to say about her. She could neither pinpoint her age nor where she was from. The woman walked up towards them and greeted them with a low nod of her head. To Caroline's surprise Klaus bowed his head as well and she swiftly followed his example.
"Welcome," the woman said with a dark smoky voice. "I am Andoria, head of the witch coven of Budapest. I welcome you to our headquarters." She had a small accent that Caroline would classify as vaguely Eastern European. It went well with her voice.
"It is a pleasure to meet you again, Andoria. This is my companion Caroline Forbes. We are here to discuss urgent matters with you."
Andoria turned her head slightly to look at Caroline. Her gaze wandered down and up again over Caroline's body who was not the slightest bit comfortable in the situation. She wanted to look down or at least avoid the witches stare but she managed to let her eyes look straight ahead and meet the gaze. Andoria gave a wink with her hand to her people and without any further word everybody turned around to leave the room. The only people left were them, Andoria and the two people who had flanked her earlier.
"These" Andoria gestured to the other two "are my loyal counselors Gregora and Yamanha." The two had taken their places to Andoria's left and right side. "They will stay and listen to your questions as well." Caroline thought she saw a shadow of anger wash over Klaus' face but it was gone within a moment. Now he simply nodded in greetings towards Gregora and Yamanha.
Klaus was not sure what he had expected in this situation but he was not happy with the unfolding in front of him. He did not like being outnumbered. He was clearly able to take them out but they did not have witnesses. In case there was a problem they would probably just have to run as fast as they could. He already hated the option.
"Tell me, Klaus, why did you come here?" Andromeda asked without further ado.
Klaus quickly recapped their journey from Caroline's memory loss over the episodes in Berlin, Rome and New York to finally arriving in Budapest. Hearing the compressed version of the story from Klaus cleared Caroline's head substantially. Neither of the three witches and wizards asked questions though Yamanhas left eyebrow shot up for a second every time Klaus mentioned his dealings with witches. When he finally told them that a young witch in New York had pointe their way to Budapest she asked: "And what did you offer her for giving you this information?" Her voice had nothing of the calm and velvet tone that Andoria had used. On the contrary it came of as rather aggressive.
Klaus frowned. "Nothing. She gave it to us out of her free will." Yamanha looked at him with an unbelieving look in her eyes. Andoria turned to her: "You don't know the witch. She must have had her reasons. American witches are different." Yamanha muttered something that sounded a lot like as if to Caroline but she did not insist on deepening the subject any further.
"So what do you exactly expect from us hear, Klaus?" Andoria finally asked after Klaus finished talking.
"We were hoping for your help in finding Shane and the youngest Bennet witch."
Andoria weighed her head from side to side. Then unexpectedly she gestured behind her. Caroline's eyes followed her hand. She froze in shock. Out of the shadows stepped Bonnie. She locked eyes with Caroline: "You don't have to look anymore. I am here."
A/N: This was more of a build-up chapter. But the next one will have lots of action. I promise. Still, let me know what you thought of this one. Love, Santavica