twenty-three

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Gone Through Enough

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A SMILE IS what she woke up the next morning with. She practically danced around the room as she got ready. Esther was dead, Mikael was dead, and now her family could be together again. Though Elijah and Kol left, Athena was hoping that they'd come back. They were leaving Mystic Falls after all. And while it pained her to leave some members of her pack behind, she knew they'd never accept her. She was a Mikaelson, which was a monster in their books.

It did hurt her that they thought of her that way. But that was just life. Not everyone would love you and she just had to accept that. In time, she would find the boy who was meant to rule beside her for all eternity, and that was enough for her. All she needed was her family, him, and the pack they would make together.

Only could she hope that it wouldn't all go into flames. Her family was the Original family. They were the family of vampires and hybrids. People feared them, hated them, tried to kill them, and hoping that they could be happy seemed like a longshot.

However, Athena did not argue when Klaus announced that now that Esther was dead, they were leaving. She and Klaus were both going around the house packing when all of a sudden, Rebekah stormed in with a frantic look on her face. "Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me."

Both of her siblings stopped what they were doing and looked over at her. Athena raised an eyebrow. "Rebekah, I'm pretty sure that Alaric is dead."

"Well, he's not and he's a vampire thanks to mother's spell with a white oak stake that can't kill him. He's strong, Nik. Too strong."

Athena let out a frustrated groan. Klaus covered one of the furniture pieces with a piece of cloth. He sighed. "Where is he now?"

Rebekah looked scared out of her wits. Athena didn't blame her. And just to think that it was all over, at least for a little while. Her hopes were definitely just a dream at this point. Rebekah replied, "He's stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls he'll come after us. We need to leave now."

Klaus looked up at glared at her fiercely. He was angry that even after his sister killed their mother, the mess Esther made never wavered. Athena cast a glance at Rebekah and shook her head, signaling that he wasn't going to leave now without a catch. "Fine. I'll collect Elena, we'll be on our way."

There it was. Rebekah scoffed and Athena knew she couldn't argue on Klaus's side with this one. Her older sister yelled, "Forget Elena! You don't need any more stupid hybrids!"

Athena kept her brother from going over to her sister by putting herself in the middle of them "She has a point, Nik. We don't need Elena. If I find the male Nyx, we will have the entire werewolf population to protect us. You're turning my family into monsters just like us. The wolves are my pack and you're hurting them." She was taken aback by her own outburst and so were her siblings. But Klaus looked even angrier. Athena took a deep breath before saying, "We don't need Elena."

Klaus took a step toward her as if he was trying to intimidate her. This only made her slightly annoyed because Athena did not take orders from anyone. Not anymore. "What I need is protection from Esther's continued assaults against us. Not some pathetic and weak wolves who will never follow me."

In response, Athena gaped with disbelief. Rebekah - who was behind her - took her hand comfortingly and glared at Klaus. "Fine then. Athena and I are leaving. You can either walk out that door with us or you are on your own." He said nothing and they both fought tears. Rebekah saw and shook her head. "Trust your hybrids over your family. Let your spite be the death of you, see if I care."

Rebekah pulled her sister out of the room and Athena followed without question. Klaus watched them leave and instantly regretted what he said. But he did not follow them in his fear of only making things worse.

The two went up the stairs and packed their things into one suitcase. Rebekah told her sister that they would just get new clothes and such later on. What hurt Athena wasn't Klaus's words, it was the fact that when she and Rebekah got into the car and drove off, he didn't come after them.

Once they were far enough, Rebekah stopped the car and got out, flashing to the other side of the car just as her sister got out of the car and broke down into tears. Rebekah pulled Athena to her chest and rubbed her back. "I know. I know. I'm sorry."

"He didn't care. He didn't even care!"

———

Hours had passed before the two of them had cried until they couldn't anymore. They had flashed to a cliff in the woods near Mystic Falls. Both had sat at the edge, sitting next to one another. It was silent between them before Rebekah picked up a rock and then chucked it off the edge from where they sat.

"Why don't we go and find your Nyx friend." Athena looked over at her confusedly. "I'm sure Nik can handle the Alaric Saltzman problem on his own, so while he's taking care of that, we can go and look for your soulmate."

Athena smiled at her and pushed her should playfully. "He's not my soulmate."

Her sister's look begged otherwise. Sometimes it was nice being the only two girls in the family. It was a weird thing to think but it was true. Though they would've had another sister, it didn't change how close they were. Athena wouldn't trade anyone for Rebekah, not even Caroline who was like a sister to her.

Rebekah pushed her back with an equal smile. "Keep telling yourself that. But if you really want to, we can go and look for him. I'm sure we could find a witch that would be more than welcome to help."

Athena contemplated and looked out into the horizon. Couldn't she just do this one thing for herself? She could find him and then what? Rebekah would be alone and Athena couldn't do that to her sister.

In the end, Rebekah was her family and she didn't abandon family. The wind blew in the opposite direction they were looking in so it blew their hair behind them. The sun slowly setting was a peaceful sight and it almost made them both think that they were human. But they weren't and would never be.

Their human moments seemed so long ago. While Rebekah traveled the world, her sister traveled the Other Side with a boy that she didn't remember. And since she didn't remember him, she didn't know that he was the male Nyx that they were talking about.

But their human moments were ones they would never forget. The days they spent in the field near their village for hours, the days they went to the stream and played around in it. And it didn't matter if their father never approved. Because they were happy and free.

And now? Looking around at all they had was like looking at a shattered mirror. The pieces were so jagged and sharp that if anyone got close enough, they'd get cut. Both of their parents had tried to kill them and were now dead. They had lost another sibling and the remaining ones were broken apart. It was so hard to think about what they had become; what their parents had made them.

"You would really do that for me?" Athena questioned, looking back over at Rebekah.

Her sister turned to her and smiled, nodding. "Yes. After all we've been through, we deserve to be happy. And I know he will make you happy. Maybe we could get Elijah and Kol to help too."

She hugged her sister tightly and smiled like an idiot. "Thank you so much, Bex. I love you."

Rebekah hugged back with a smile. She sighed in content. "No, thank you. I love you too."

They pulled back and turned back to the horizon. The sun was still bright so it cast a light down on them. Rebekah didn't realize how much she truly missed her only sister until that moment. Athena was her world, as was the rest of their siblings. And she knew that her little sister was the world to her other siblings. But, Kol had taken her disappearance the hardest.

Athena was the most understanding, calm, and kind out of all of them. However, all that had happened these last few months changed that drastically. When they were away from it all, Rebekah saw the real Athena: the girl who loved her siblings, calmed them down, and made sure they didn't fall apart completely. The truth was hard to deny though.

Their family had fallen apart

———

The sun had set a bit more and then all of a sudden, Athena gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. Rebekah instantly became worried and grabbed her. "Athena! What's wrong!"

Her sister began to gasp and then tears made their way down her face. It was the same feeling she got when Finn died. Everyone that was apart of her pack was a wire that connected themselves to her. And when one of the wires snapped, she fell more and more to the ground. The feeling she was getting was like something was taking their time in making the wire snap.

"Nik! It's Nik, they're killing him! Rebekah!"

Rebekah picked her sister up and they were at the car in a flash. She hurriedly put her sister in the passenger seat and then got into the driver's seat, driving off in a matter of three seconds or less.

With the speed she was driving and the distance they were away, they arrived at the mansion in under a minute. Athena and Rebekah flashed out of the car and into the house to see Damon, Elena, Stefan, and Tyler. They all went wide-eyed when they saw the hybrid girl.

Athena flashed to Elena and was about to snap her neck when Rebekah pulled her back. The girl kicked and screamed while she sobbed. "I'm going kill you all! You're all going pay for what you've done!"

Rebekah glared at them with tears flowing down her cheeks. "Leave, before I let her tear you apart."

They were all out in a rush, taking Klaus's body with them. Athena fell to the floor sobbing. "No, no. Rebekah let me go! Please!"

"Shh, Ena." Rebekah smoothed down her sister's hair comfortingly. "Listen to me, okay? Nik is ok, we'll get him back."

Athena screamed and cried, shaking her head furiously. "No! Let me go!" She couldn't fight anymore, she didn't have the strength. She fell into Rebekah's arms, sobbing. "Please." She gasped from all the crying. "Please."

———

He hated it. He could feel it in his chest. He could feel it in his entire body. Thomas fell to the floor, holding his chest in pain, fighting the tears that his mate was shedding. The small apartment he lived in made it hard for him to control his anger. Its small walls made him feel claustrophobic as if they were closing in on him.

Thomas felt her pain, he felt her pain as she sobbed for the loss of her brother. He could feel it and he knew for a fact she didn't know he could. Athena was far away which made it hard to bear, then this happened.

If only he knew where she was. But he didn't and there was nothing he could do about it. Athena would be left to deal with this on her own and he hated that. Thomas despised it. He was supposed to be her protector.

Marcel's offer came back to mind and Thomas punched the wall in his anger. He didn't care if the people next door heard him. The offer was so tempting as he sat there, wallowing in the pain. It slowly began to die down and he let out a sigh of relief.

None of this would've happened if he had just found her and protected her. Marcel's offer seemed like the best option now. Thomas wasn't interested in the wolves in the bayou, not unless Athena was. Which - in his opinion - would probably wouldn't blink twice to help them.

He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and then pressed Marcel's contact. The vampire answered almost immediately as if he was just waiting for him to call. Thomas ran a hand down his face. "Don't make me regret this, Marcel. If you or any of your guys hurt her I'll kill you all."

Marcel was practically smirking on the other line. "Understood. Thank you, Thomas. I'll send my guys out to look for her."

Thomas hung up and then chucked his phone at the wall, cursing loudly. Athena was now calm but he could still feel her sadness. It was his fault he wasn't there for her. He laid his head against the wall behind him and exhaled.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could last without her.

———

Another update! This is probably the last one until next week :)

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