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Embracing One's Self
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A ROADTRIP, NOW this? Athena was deciding whether she should just leave or not. However, Stefan had invited the Mikaelson sisters to join them on their journey for the cure. Klaus was stuck in the Gilbert house which meant the two could do whatever they wanted. So Rebekah and Athena joined the others for a trip to an island off the coast of the Nova Scotia mainland.
Elena Gilbert was the first person Athena was hoping would die on the island. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she would be getting what she wanted anytime soon. Stefan was tying a rope to a log to keep the boats in place while Athena glared at Elena who was passing by.
"You know, you're not really helping," Stefan told her.
The girl didn't turn to him as she continued to stare. "You telling me you can't tie a knot?"
"You giving Elena the evil eye, it's not really helping."
She scoffed. "She killed my brother, tried to get you to put a dagger in my sister's back. Let's just say that me giving her the evil eye is much more than giving her mercy."
Elena stopped walking but didn't turn to her. "You know I can hear you, right?"
Athena faked a smile. "You know listening to your voice makes anyone lose brain cells, right?"
The doppelganger flashed to her but the hybrid was faster and grabbed her arm, bending it to the side. Athena smirked, showing her violet eyes and vampire face. "Try to kill me, I dare you. You'll have every last werewolf in existence coming after you. And you'll have my family coming after you too." She let go of her arm and left, going over to Rebekah.
Shane had directed them to start hiking. Athena stayed next to her sister who insisted she'd keep an eye on her little sister. The girl didn't appreciate that, fighting the argument that she could take care of herself. Rebekah wouldn't budge.
"Satellite phone lost its signal," Shane announced.
Damon replied, "Well, that's a good sign."
"Is anyone else a little creeped out?" Elena questioned.
Athena rolled her eyes. "Yes, do leave. Your presence makes me want to jump off a cliff."
Stefan sighed. "Please don't start."
The girl smirked at him. "I only speak the truth."
One thing was for sure, their little field trip wasn't going to be very fun. Considering that Athena would be forced to sleep in the same area as Elena and Damon. She had already stated that she couldn't promise to not throw both of them off a cliff and leave them for dead. Rebekah simply smiled.
After their bonding, Stefan seemed to be warming up to the youngest Mikaelson and vice versa. Perhaps it was because he had been removed from her pack and deep down Athena wanted to accept him back in. Klaus wouldn't be too happy but it wasn't his choice.
Their journey continued and night had appeared. Shane showed them a trap by throwing a rock, triggering it. After the event, they continued onto a clearing in the woods. What looked like a barn settled in the clearing in addition to several logs lying around.
"What is this place?" Stefan questioned.
Shane turned to them. "According to island lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break. A few weeks later, they were all found dead, completely drained of blood."
No one was affected by the story and Rebekah inputted a sarcastic comment. "Well, tragic for them, brilliant for us." She looked at the others. "Who sleeps where?"
Everyone began to spread out into groups and the Mikaelson sisters dropped their bags. While the rest of them continued, apparently Jeremy and Elena were attacked by a mystery person but were saved by an unknown entity.
Tents were set up along with a fire. Rebekah was getting their beds ready when Athena exited to go and sit by the fire. Stefan was already there when she arrived, the tombstone in his hands. She knew he was still having a hard time, so she tried to lighten the mood. "You know I've never had s'mores before, wish someone would've brought some." He only acknowledged her joke with a slight smile. "You do know you don't have to keep that with you right?"
"We're a day away from finding the cure. I'm not letting it out of my sight."
He set it down in front of his feet. Animals screamed in the distance, making her jump. She calmed down and then shook her head. "Gosh, this place gives me the creeps."
Stefan laughed with a smile. "Yeah, gotta admit, this place is pretty creepy."
Athena smiled back, laughing as well. Once they calmed down, they grew serious. She looked over at him. "What are you going to do with the cure? I mean, Elena will be running into your arms. The two of you could have children and grow old together."
He didn't answer her question and dodged it. "Why don't you take the cure?"
She looked away from him and rubbed her hands down her thighs and to her knees. "I can't. The only way I can protect my people is if I'm strong. But being human again wouldn't be so bad, just... it wouldn't work out."
The Salvatore nodded. "If I take the cure...it wouldn't be for her. It'd be for me."
Athena looked back at him, nodded, and smiled. "Good. You deserve better."
———
The next morning had already posed some problems. Jeremy had been kidnapped and no one knew his whereabouts. Everyone was frantic, not that Rebekah or Athena actually cared that much, but that Jeremy was the hunter and was leading them to the cure. The only reason Athena was there was that she wanted Rebekah to take the cure. And once Rebekah did, no doubt Elena would kill her on the spot.
Team Athena had checked the quarry but there were no signs of him. Everyone had split into groups after that to search more. Elena had followed Team Athena much to their disappointment. She yelled for Jeremy the entire time. "Jeremy! Jeremy!"
Rebekah rolled her eyes, getting fed up. "Why don't you yell louder? Maybe we haven't drawn enough attention to ourselves already."
"I'm sorry, and how are you helping?"
Athena glared and scoffed. "How are you helping? All you do is whine and complain. You're the damsel in distress that can't get it through her thick skull that people are done with saving her ass."
The doppelganger didn't appreciate her comment but it made Athena and Rebekah smug. Stefan intervened before it got too serious and stopped. "All right, we get it. Neither of you like Elena. Can we just keep going, please?"
"I tried to be her friend, but somehow, I ended up with a dagger in my back because I'm the evil one," Rebekah pointed out, the rest of them stopping as well.
Elena began to walk again. "Technically, you didn't achieve evil status until you killed me."
Both Athena and Rebekah saw the trip-wire, but neither stopped Elena from getting impaled in the stomach. Elena gasped in pain and Stefan flashed to help her. Athena snickered. "Watch where you are going... Elena."
Rebekah smirked beside her sister. "My dear sweet sister was right. You really are the damsel in distress."
Once Stefan got it out of Elena's stomach, he nodded towards the way they came. "Go get a blood bag so you can heal, we'll keep going."
Elena rubbed her stomach. "You know what? I'm just going to go check on Bonnie, see if she found anything."
She left them and they continued on, swinging the trap out of the way. Hours had passed and night had fallen once more. They continued on even though they all knew they wouldn't find anything at this point. Athena looked around confused. "Didn't we just pass this tree."
"It all looks the same to me," Rebekah shrugged.
Athena saw a trigger and put her arms out, stopping them. She picked up a rock and threw it, triggering a spear that went flying past them. They all exhaled in relief. Stefan nodded. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Rebekah noticed her switch in behavior and stopped her sister from traveling further. "Are you okay, Ena?"
Athena nodded, lying straight through her teeth. "Of course."
Stefan noticed it as well and cleared his throat. "I'm going to head back."
He walked away and the two were left alone. Athena didn't know if she could keep it from Rebekah any longer. She should've known better. But the girl wanted her sister to be happy. Denying her of that happiness was selfish. But Athena didn't know what her life would be like without her sister in it.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Rebekah gave her a look. "You can tell me. I promise not to be mad."
Athena looked at the ground for a moment and then looked back up. "When you take the cure, all I can think about is how I'm going to lose you. And I know it's wrong because it's your choice and not mine. But... you're the only sister I have and I don't know I'm going to live without you."
Tears pricked her eyes and she wiped them away. Rebekah frowned and then hugged her. She rubbed Athena's back. "Hey, no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side. You won't be alone."
When they pulled away, they smiled at each other and then made the trip back to camp. Athena and Rebekah arrived to see Elena and Stefan walking out of the shed with frantic expressions. Elena threw her hands up. "Where is everyone?"
"What do you mean?" Athena questioned, a bad feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.
"Well, Bonnie's not here and Shane's stuff is all gone," Elena told them.
Athena gasped and then flashed to her bag, opening them up to realize that something was missing. "The tombstone's gone." They all exchanged worried looks. She shook her head and flashed into Elena's tent, searching the bags. Panic filled her eyes.
Elena entered. "What are you doing in my tent?"
The hybrid spent no time in speeding over to her and grabbed her throat. Her violet eyes and vampire face bright with anger. "What did you do with the tombstone? Where is it?!"
"What are you talking about?"
Her grip tightened. "Are you serious? All you've done is ruining my families' life. This is no different!"
Rebekah and Stefan ran into the tent, Stefan held out his hand in a stop motion for her to calm down. "Let her go. She didn't take it."
"Ena..." her sister spoke softly.
Athena let go and pushed Elena. She stumbled back then caught her balance. "This is ridiculous! Were you guys in on this all along?"
Rebekah took her sister's side and crossed over to her, holding her to her chest in comfort. But Athena wasn't going to have it. Her sister was going to get what she wanted. Rebekah deserved it after everything she'd gone through.
Stefan argued, "You think I would do that? You think I would let some psychopath run off with the cure? Every single moment of my last 146 years has been ruled by the pain of being a vampire. And this cure ends that. It ends the guilt and it ends the suffering. And you really think I would jeopardize that?"
"Fine. You didn't take it," Rebekah said. "But that doesn't mean we trust her."
Athena glared at Elena with her violet eyes. The doppelganger bent down suddenly and lifted up a material that held the white oak stake. Her eyes filled with tears because Kol had the stake prior to his death. And before he stood the person who helped with his death.
"I didn't take it, but here," Elena offered. She held out the stake for either girl to take. "Consider this a peace offering."
The youngest Mikaelson didn't take it and neither did Rebekah. "Peace offering? Even if you didn't take it, we're screwed because that means Shane did! None of us are getting the cure now."
"Exactly, Athena. We're screwed. Bonnie's gone. Shane's got the tombstone. Jeremy's missing. Who knows if Damon's coming back. So, us four, right here, this is all we've got. So we're either in this together...or it's over. For all of us."
She held out the stake to them and Athena still didn't take it, but Rebekah did. It didn't matter if Elena swore on everything she had left because Athena would never do anything for her again. Athena had lost enough because of the doppelganger. Enough was enough.
———
You're starting to see the change in Athena as she gets more comfortable in her new skin. So she'll be becoming more independent in terms of being able to fight for herself and her family. I'm really happy with her character development, just like I'm happy about Melody's character development.
Do you think Athena will let Stefan back into her pack?
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