an eye for an eye
"CAN I ASK A STUPID QUESTION?"
Athena looked up from her phone, eyes narrowing in Kol's direction. "Without a doubt, I'm sure."
The Original gives her an unamused look and she smirks before silently gesturing him on. "Why are we not just killing the witch and her brother, and then finding the cure for ourselves?"
"You're right, that is a stupid question," She looks at him incredulously, shaking her head. "Who do we know that would even want to take the cure in the first place? There's no point in us going through the trouble to find it for no reason."
"Yes, but if it's in our possession, no one else can have it."
Athena nodded slowly, giving him an odd look. "So, you didn't want us to get it or have it at all until someone else wanted it, and now you want to kill the people that need it, just so you can keep it and just... not do anything with it."
Kol points at her, smiling. "Yes, exactly."
"So, like a toddler, then,"
His smile disappears.
Athena tilts her head, giving him an expectant look. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"No–"
"Right," She cuts in, stepping past him as she gets up from the couch, heading for the stairs. "You want the cure for no reason, and that's great– we're going to get it. But something I've come to learn, and something that I feel you already should know, is that you can't just kill first and ask questions later."
Kol followed after her, bypassing her on the steps and turning around to block her path. "But there are no questions we could possibly have for them– they're random strangers who were just unlucky and one of them happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Athena fakes a wince. "I wish that free will was actually that free. Really, I do. But I know better, and I also know you, Kol, which means I know that you know there are absolutely questions we could ask them,"
Athena pointedly pushed past him, continuing up the stairs to head down the hallway toward the room that Luke had temporarily claimed with Jo.
She taps her knuckles against the closed door a few times, barely waiting before she swings the door open, somewhat startling the siblings sitting in the room. "What happens if the cure doesn't work out? Or, let's say it does, what happens then? What's your after-plan?"
Luke looks at his sister warily and Jo tucks her hair behind her ears, swallowing roughly. "We haven't... really thought that far."
"So, you've put all of your faith in this absolute pipe dream of an idea, and you're just hoping for the best?"
Jo blinks in shock at the blunt, somewhat offensive rephrasing. "Uh–"
Ignoring the witch, Athena turns to look at Kol with a reassuring smile. "See? Nothing to worry about, they're obviously delusional."
"Um, what?"
Athena waves her off, turning back her way. "I was just telling him not to kill you guys," She smiles sweetly, the sight completely contrasting with her words. "After all, there's no reason we shouldn't trust you, right?"
Jo and Luke share a slow look before nodding in agreement, and Athena laughs breathily, the sound sweet and entirely threatening.
"Great! Night, guys," Athena pulls the door shut as she leaves, her smile falling as soon as it's just her and Kol once more. Twisting the fabric of his shirt in her hand she yanks him down the hallway, ignoring his confused yelp as she pushes him into an empty room and slams the door shut behind them.
"Not that I'm not flattered, but you are a taken woman, Athena, and I–"
"Oh, don't even start," She huffs at his words, earning a smirk from him. "We both know if I ever tried to sleep with you, you'd do it in a heartbeat."
Kol tilts his head, nodding in surrender. "So, what else could you possibly be closing us in a room together for?"
"I need you to stop being so suspicious of Jo and Luke because you'll get us all caught if you keep asking questions, alright? There's a lot of things that I'm learning about them, and I'm handling it, but just– stop trying to kill them for a minute, alright?" She huffs, brushing her hair off her face. "I promise, if it comes down to that, I'll let you kill them both, okay?"
Kol narrows his eyes at her, his curiosity piqued. "Fine, but I'm holding you to that. I hardly get to kill anything these days, it's horrid."
"Yes, you have such a horrible life, Kol, I know," She rolls her eyes, reaching for the door. "I'm going to bed– try to contain yourself until I say so, or I'll let Klaus stick you back in a coffin."
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"We just have to finish the balloon arches and then I think we're ready for tonight,"
Athena let out a breath of relief, tying off another balloon before attaching it to the halfway-completed arch. "I think if anything goes wrong tonight, I'm just going to skip graduation. We have yet to have a school dance that goes well."
"Athena, can you come with me for a minute? I need to talk to you,"
The girl stiffens, eyes widening. "Jesus, I just jinxed myself,"
Caroline smiles, shooting an amused look at Alaric as he stands in obvious earshot. "Go, I can handle this for a minute."
Athena hands off her pile of balloons and turns to look at the history teacher, gesturing for him to lead the way. The hallways are empty, and most kids in the gym help set up for the dance, or in class. Alaric's last class of the day is all seniors, so they've all escaped to the gym under the guise of helping, though most of them ended up just ditching the last hour of school. Athena doesn't blame them– some 36 hours from now, she'll never have to step foot in this building again, and she can't wait.
"So," Athena breaks the silence as they step into Alaric's classroom, watching him immediately go for his laptop. "What did you need to talk to me about?"
"I asked around some hunter circles like you said," He clears his throat, pulling the computer open and tapping a few keys. "About the cure, about the Gemini Coven and the kid, Luke."
Athena raises a brow, leaning her hands onto his desk as he turns the laptop towards her. "And?"
"And there's good news and bad news,"
"Yeah, that sounds about right," She sighs, rolling her eyes somewhat. "What's the good news?"
Alaric shrugs, nodding slightly. "Good news is, I found out where their dad lives. His name is Josh Parker, he still lives in Oregon near the coven. I sent Damon his address– I didn't get a response, but I'm sure you can pass the rest of the information on."
She nods slowly, eyes roaming along the emails traded between hunters. "And the bad news?"
"The bad news is about the cure,"
She grunts, slapping her palm on the desk roughly before looking at him. "There has been nothing but bad news about the cure since I first heard of it,"
The teacher agrees silently, tapping a pencil against his palm. "Yeah, it's... not much good can come from a cure for vampirism, right?"
"I guess not," She pushes off the desk, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, what is it?"
"Well, uh, long story short, it's in a cave on some island in the middle of nowhere. And, uh– there's only one dose of it in existence. Those who have heard of it have never been able to find it, so nobody's ever been able to make more of it."
"And? Is there more?"
He nods again. "Yeah, so, if you take the cure as a vampire and become human again, you won't... you can't turn back. Someone decides they want a taste of human life so they take the cure, regret it, and try to turn back... they die. No do-overs."
Athena's face twists into a deep frown, something uneasy settling in her chest. "One and done. One dose, one chance. No takebacks."
"No takebacks."
Athena heaves a sigh, eyes falling to the floor. "That's... I mean, if Luke takes it, that means he won't get his powers back."
"I would assume that, yeah,"
"Did you learn anything else about the Gemini Coven?"
Alaric clears his throat, reaching for the laptop again, and sorting through a few messages before he spins it back around for her to see. "That ritual I told you about? Where each set of twins fights for power, and then one of them dies in the end?"
She nods silently, looking at the gruesome photos pulled up on the laptop.
"The hunter up there, she was around when it was Josette and Malachai's turn to take part. Only something went wrong– something happened, and Malachai snapped and killed them. As punishment, he was banished by the Gemini Coven, but instead of just being shunned by his family, they imprisoned him."
"They... put him in prison?"
"I don't know exactly, and neither does the hunter up there. She just said that one day, the cops were looking for Malachai and the next he disappeared off the face of the Earth, never to be seen again. No aliases, no identity change, nothing. After a few years, they just presumed him dead and closed the case, but there's something there, Athena. It's suspicious."
She looks away from the crime scene photos, eyes narrowed in thought. "You're right, it's weird. There's another piece to the puzzle that we're missing, and I think it's all connected with Jo and Luke, and this stupid fucking cure."
She curses lowly, turning away with a tired sigh. "Can you keep looking into the cure? I know that there's not that much knowledge on it, but we need everything we can get before we just go traipsing around on some desert island with two strangers."
"Yeah," He shuts his laptop, taking his seat at his desk as she steps towards the door. "Yeah, it's no problem."
"Uh– thanks, I guess. For the help. I know I didn't give you an option, really, but it's saving us a lot of time and probably a lot of backstabbing, so,"
He waves her off, warily watching as she steps out of the doorway. "Hey, Athena?"
She spins on her heel, clasping her hands behind her back. "Yes, Mr. Saltzman?"
"What are you gonna do if this goes wrong?"
Athena purses her lips, a slow smile pulling them upwards. "It will only go wrong if someone tries to stab me in the back. And if that's the case, then I'll kill everyone who tried."
"That's your solution? Kill your enemies? Isn't that a little... you know, 'eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind'?"
"You know, I never really liked that phrase. It implies that my enemy and I are of the same strength and capabilities, which is just not true. No one is as powerful as I am. So, I'll take as many eyes as I want. Especially from people who try to take mine first."
She turns on her heel and walks away before he can formulate a response, shoes clicking down the empty hallway as she makes her way back to the gym.
Her words linger with Alaric, and he surrenders himself to the fact that she's right.
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author's note; this is a short chapter but the next chapter is gonna be long cause it's the dance so 🤭
originally published; 2.18.23.
edited: 12.11.23.
- liz