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Matt opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling for a while. He seemed having trouble breathing. He got over it quick. Then looked at where Klaus was without moving his head. No one was there. He had successfully put himself in Matt's body. A faint smile appeared on his face.

Suddenly Elena's door opened loudly and Misao ran in, followed by Tatia and Elena. He tried to raise his body quickly, but grit his teeth for the lack of speed with his body and grunted. Then with a quick move, he tried to grab Tatia's necklace. But seeing that he would attempt it, Misao used her magic to pull it and caught it in the air. Elena looked at Matt in confusion, still haven't understood what just happened.

Elena: "Matt?"

Misao: (breathing heavily with anger) "That's not Matt!"

As she gave the necklace back to Tatia, Tatia suddenly understood that he used her necklace to put himself in Matt with magic.

Tatia: (in shock) "Klaus!"

Matt: (smiled mischievously) "In flesh. Not his own, but.. better than nothing."

Elena: (in shock and horror) "Oh my god!"

''Misao used her magic to pull him this time. He flew towards the trio. Misao grabbed him from his neck and kept him in the air.''

Misao: "What have you done!"

Matt: (while struggling to breath) "I will not.. be left behind! Not again!"

Tatia: (with a voice indicating that she doesn't want Elena's friend harmed) "Misao."

''Upon this Misao left Matt to the ground. Klaus fell down and took deep breaths while holding his throat.''

Matt: "You said you'd send Elena home. And Elena wouldn't leave her friend behind." (stood up) "I just made sure I'd ride along."

''Misao punched him in the face with anger. He fell down, but was quick to rise again. Though due to the punch, his nose was bleeding.''

Elena: "Don't hurt him, please! I don't care about Klaus, but he's in my friend, and we don't have any vampire blood to heal him."

Matt: (smiled annoyingly) "You heard the boss. You can't hit me!"

Tatia: "Is this the kind of man you've become? A calculating, hideous monster who hides behind little children, terrorizes them? You think you're powerful? You're pathetic!"

Matt: "You pushed me to this, you made me do it!"

Tatia: (her eyes watered) "How is this my fault?"

Matt: "Because you were my reason to stay here!"

Tatia: (yelled in sadness with a hint of anger) "All I asked of you was to be a good man! A decent man!" (with a quieter voice) "I gave you everything."

Matt: "Not everything. You took me for a romantic. But you said. A thousand years is too much time to take back. You failed to accept the new me."

Tatia: "You are rotten. There's nothing about you that I can accept."

Elena: (to Tatia and Misao) "Is there a way you can take him back out?"

Misao: "I'm afraid not. The soul needed a body and the body needed a soul. They bonded. Extracting him now would make him seem dead, and that would mean.."

Elena: "All my friends would die."

Misao: "Yeah." (looked at him with contempt) "Looks like he just bought himself a one way ticket to Mystic Falls."

As they all looked at him with hatred, Matt was clearly too proud of himself.

Cut to.. Elena, Tatia and Misao were walking away from the room.

Tatia: "I can't believe him."

Elena: "I'm hardly surprised anymore by the things he do."

Tatia: "Was he pretending this whole time to be good?"

Elena: "I tried to warn you. But he got even me fooled."

Misao: "Not me. I knew from the get go that he was only with you because you had the power he wanted and he could manipulate you."

Tatia: "Then why didn't you say something?"

Misao: "Because you wouldn't have believed. It was hard enough to bring all of us together against Inari, and I wouldn't let something stupid as a love drama to destroy our only chance at unison."

Tatia: (realizing she's right, shook her head with desperation) "I never felt so used in my entire life. And for a thousand year old woman, that's saying something!"

Elena: "You can't be hard on yourself because of him."

Tatia: "It's our fault, really. We did drop our guard, and he used it so ..."

Misao: "I know. And I'm supposed to be the fox."

Elena: "By the way, Tatia, you should try and find a way to make that necklace work only for you."

Tatia: "Good thinking. Maybe some blood magic, or identity spell." (suddenly stopped) "Actually I'll get on it right now!"

Then turned around and took the first left to most likely go to her room.

Misao: "At least he's now in a body I can use my magic on."

Elena: (suddenly stopped) "Misao?" (Misao stopped too and turned to Elena) "I know you hid the truth for a good reason, but you can't do that anymore."

Misao: "You only got a faint hint of Inari's true power, Elena. We can't war against her if we're warring among ourselves!"

Elena: "I know. But this is do or die. If we don't know what everyone is up to, what their true motives are, how can we trust each other enough to fight together?"

''Misao stood for a while to actually think about it. Then realizing she does have a point, nodded slowly.''

Misao: "You're right." (quickly looked elsewhere and back to Elena) "I'm gonna push my luck with Bonnie. You might wanna stick around."

Elena nodded. They continued walking.

Bonnie, Damon, and June were walking on the street to somewhere.

Damon: "Why ruby?"

June: "I don't know, really. My mother used to wear a ruby necklace and used to say it makes her feel more powerful."

Damon: "Women and their jewelries."

Bonnie: "Day will come you're gonna wish it were something less expensive."

Damon: "Exactly. See we use lapis lazuli, and it's not rare or expensive."

June: "You guys acting like I wanted this to be a ruby."

Damon: (teasingly) "I don't know, there's only one mind reader among us."

Bonnie: "I guess only a specific stone can speak to certain species. Lapis lazuli for vampires, moonstone for werewolves, ruby for psychics."

Damon: "It doesn't explain why I had to tag along."

June: "Because you are my legal guardian and the only one who can approve my spending that much money."

Damon: "Then what is she here for?"

Bonnie: "I'm here to make sure you won't compel the poor jeweler to give it to you for free!"

June grinned naughtily, knowing he would totally do it. Even Damon's face showed a faint smile, indicating that was exactly what he was planning to do.

Cut to.. They entered Bonnie's room. Stefan was there.

Bonnie: "Did it arrive?"

Stefan: "Yeah."

''He stepped aside and revealed a cheval mirror, apparently bought new. Bonnie smiled when she saw it.''

Bonnie: "Yes! This is perfect!"

Damon: "I still think it's a waste of money. Your old mirror did the job just fine."

Bonnie: "This will be a permanent two way connection. So that anytime I want to speak to Misao, or when she to me, we won't need anything else. Or anyone."

June: (took the ruby out of her bag) "Which is why we paid a small fortune to this tiny rock."

Damon: "As I said and still keep saying, you didn't have to."

Stefan: "So how's it gonna work?"

Bonnie: (took the ruby from June) "I will need this and a drop of your blood, and.." (to Stefan and Damon) "..some space to work the magic."

''Upon this Stefan and Damon took a few steps back. June came near Bonnie as she took a small needle from her table.''

June: "You know that I'm a small percentage of kitsune too, right? And not just any kitsune, it's Misao!"

Bonnie: (smiled) "Which is why your blood is crucial to boost the connection."

June: "That's not what I meant."

She made a sudden noise and moved her hand sharply as the needle pricked her finger tip. But then she squeezed it to make a few drops of her blood fall on the ruby. In the meantime, Bonnie was casting a spell. Eventually a faint light appeared inside the ruby, but disappeared quickly, indicating the spell worked.

Bonnie suddenly looked around weirdly. They caught it.

Stefan: "What?"

Bonnie: "It's Misao. She's trying to get in touch with me."

June: "Neat timing!"

With a smile, she stood up and went to her table to grab the duct tape. She took a piece and went to the cheval mirror as the rest watched curiously. They were all wondering if it was actually going to work. Eventually Bonnie taped the ruby to the top frame, and as soon as she did it, they all looked surprised by what they saw in the mirror. Bonnie took a few steps back, and Stefan and Damon came closer. It was Elena and Misao, standing together. They were all happily surprised to see each other. Silence went on for a while until Stefan spoke.

Stefan: "Elena?"

Tears fell from Elena's eyes with happiness.

Elena: "Hey guys!"

Damon: "Is that really you?"

Elena: "It's me, guys! It's me!"

''June started crying with longing. Elena's heart broke seeing her like that.''

June: "I missed you, Elena. I miss you so damn much!"

Elena: "I miss you too. I miss all of you."

Bonnie: "Are you okay?"

Elena: "I'm fine. I'm with Tatia, and.." (she and Misao looked at each other) "Misao's been a great help."

Bonnie: "And Matt?"

Elena: "It's complicated." (looked into the room) "Where's Caroline?"

Bonnie and others looked at each other in confusion.

Damon: "Didn't Misao tell you?"

Elena: "She told me that you think she's under a spell, but she disagrees."

Stefan: "She's wrong." (something about Stefan's voice bugged Misao, maybe even more so than that it was Stefan who said it. At that moment he and Misao caught each other's eyes) "Caroline's seen some dark times, but she's never been a vicious and cruel person. Especially to those she loves."

Misao: "What happened?"

Bonnie: "We had to put her down."

Elena: "You what?"

June: "She's fine. But we had to desiccate her until we can find a way to fix her."

Elena closed her mouth with her hands in worry.

Misao: "I imagine that's why it took you so long to reach back."

Damon: "You could say that."

Misao: "I meant what I said earlier. I still do. I don't think this has anything to do with kitsune magic, but if you bring her to me I can still take a closer look. That way we can all know for sure."

Stefan: (to others in the room, after a brief silence) "What would it hurt?"

They all seemed to agree.

Cut to.. Damon left Caroline's desiccated lifeless body on Bonnie's bed. How she looks made everyone feel cold inside, and a tense silence took place as everyone was staring at her. Eventually Bonnie looked at Misao and spoke.

Bonnie: "Now what?"

Misao: "Now I need you to let me in."

Damon: "How do you mean?"

Misao: "This way my guess is as good as yours. To know for sure I have to take a closer look, and to take a closer look, I need to be there. And there's only one way I can do that."

Bonnie: (suddenly understood and her eyes opened wide) "No!"

Damon: (he too understood) "What, to give you access to her mind? Of course it's a no!"

Elena: "Guys, it's okay! And if it's the only way.."

Bonnie: (spoke through her teeth) "I'm not letting her possess me!"

Misao closed her eyes and sighed.

June: "For someone who's taken the ride, I can see where Bonnie's coming from."

Elena: "Guys, come on!"

Misao: "I'm not your enemy anymore. I'm done trying to explain myself. I don't fool myself to think we're friends. We're not friends. We're necessary allies. But you came to me to ask for a favor. That goes both ways. You need my help with your problem? I need you to drop your guards, and let me in!"

''Bonnie, half convinced, looked at others. Stefan seemed to be waiting to see how this would be resolved, while Damon was insisting on his 'no' as he was shaking his head. She slowly looked at June. Upon this June looked at Elena, clearly wanting to believe her. But eventually looked at Bonnie and she too shook her head, saying no. Bonnie looked at Elena. But before she could say anything, Elena spoke.''

Elena: "Bonnie, it's okay. You can trust her. I trust her."

''Clearly conflicted, Bonnie turned her back to them and faced Caroline. After looking at her for a while, she spoke to them without turning away.''

Bonnie: "Why does it feel like I always end up getting the short end of the stick?"

Misao: "If you think it'll help your friend, there is no short end."

Bonnie sighed and took a deep breath.

Bonnie: "Do it before I change my mind!"

''Misao and Elena looked at each other with surprise. But Misao had no intention to wait any longer. She closed her eyes and focused, and at the same time, Bonnie's pupils took a reddish color. Damon and Stefan were at an angle to witness the change, and both were surprised.''

Stefan: (to Bonnie) "Misao?"

Bonnie subtly looked at him, but without speaking, she went all the way near Caroline. June became immensely defensive, as if she was expecting her to do something bad and was preparing to stop her. As everyone in the room watched in silence, Bonnie's hands traveled all around Caroline's body without touching it.

As she reached just below the chest, seemed to notice something. With a sudden realization, she looked at Caroline's face in shock, and a couple seconds later Bonnie's eyes turned to normal, indicating Misao went out of her mind. Bonnie was surprised about where she found herself. She quickly stood up and looked at the mirror. Misao's face indicated she was genuinely surprised about what she found out.

June: "What just happened?"

Damon: (to Misao) "What is it?"

Misao, unable to put her words together, remained in silence.

Elena: "Misao, what is it?"

Stefan: "You found something."

Damon: "I knew it. She's under a spell and you can't bring yourself to admit you were wrong!"

Misao: (with a weak voice) "No" (took a shallow breath, then spoke with a more confident voice) "I wasn't wrong. But technically neither were you."

Bonnie: "What the hell does that mean?"

June: "Is she under a spell or not?"

Misao: "She isn't. But you were right to assume this is a kitsune's doing."

Elena: "I'm confused."

Damon: "Misao! Stop mumbling and tell us what's going on."

Misao: "What's making her act up is.. you might call a parazite."

Bonnie: "A parazite?"

Misao: "Just like guardians and ogres, it is Inari's creation. Here we call it the malach. It latches onto the host's nervous system and eats it away until there's no trace of the person left."

Damon: "That's good." (everyone weirdly looked at him) "We finally know what the problem is."

Misao: "We do, but that is no good news. In order to affect the host this way, the malach has to be fully grown, and a fully grown malach is the hardest to kill."

Elena: "Wait, fully grown? How long does it take for them to fully grow?"

Misao: "Two months. Sometimes three."

Bonnie: (in shock) "Two months? When could she have been infected?"

Stefan: (with realization) "The night we returned!"

Damon nervously looked at him.

Misao: "It was the same night Inari went to your world. Makes sense. That must have been when."

Everyone was shocked upon the news.

Bonnie: (sadly) "All this time.. all this time she was crying for help, and none of us heard her!"

June: "Bonnie, we couldn't have known."

Bonnie: "But we should have. I mean the signs were there, right? I mean we all noticed. How erratic she was, and distant and.."

Damon: "Mean."

Bonnie: "We should have noticed."

Stefan: "We did notice. We just didn't know what was going on."

Bonnie: "And who's fault is that? Who other than me by shutting the one person that could have helped us out!"

June: "No, don't say that, this is not your fault!"

Damon: "She's right, Bonnie, you can't put this on yourself. We're all at fault here."

Bonnie: "So not helping!"

Elena: "But he's right. Everything that's happened to her.. it's on us. All of us!"

Stefan: (to Misao) "Look I don't care about easy. Just please say that there's a way to save her!"

Misao: "I'm sorry, there's not. Even if you manage to destroy the malach, at her stage there will be no recovery."

Bonnie: "At her stage?"

Misao: "The malach is a special creature. Had we acted sooner, something could have been done; but at it's strongest, the damage inflicted becomes permanent. You may be able to save Caroline. But you'll never have your friend back."

Everyone burst into a desperate silence.

Matt opened Tatia's door and walked in. The room was empty. And even though it looked tidied up a bit, it was still a mess. When he saw no one was in the room, the turned around to leave. But much to his surprise, Tatia appeared right behind him, looking with detest.

Tatia: "What do you doing here?"

Matt: "Nothing."

Tatia: (walked past him) "Do nothing elsewhere."

Matt: "What are you so mad about?"

Tatia: (chuckled with anger and looked at him) "Are you serious?"

Matt: "I know you're not mad at me. You're mad at yourself."

Tatia: "Is that so?"

Matt: "I may not be a vampire anymore, but my hearing is still good. You said it yourself."

Tatia: "A thousand years, Klaus. In a thousand years, nobody made me feel so full of hate. I opened you my heart and my house. You saw only ways to use it. You manipulated me, you used me. I am mad at you. I'm just more mad at myself for letting you."

Matt: "That is not my fault."

Tatia: "Yes it is. You're just not man enough to accept it."

Matt: "I did not choose to stay with you because you had power. If that were the case I would have left you as soon as you defied Misao, knowing she's strip you off your power after your betrayal. No, I stayed, because you were the only one I could trust. Or did you forget what you said back at the Guardian's Gate?"

Tatia: "I remember every word." (then looked away with conflict) "But it doesn't change anything." (looked at him) "You're still a bully, who gets off on haunting helpless children. My children." (a brief but tense silence took over) "I get that we had different lives, that taught us different things. But there are some things I just can't forgive. I just can't look past. And until you can prove yourself to me, you'll have no place near me."

Matt: (smiled weakly) "I guess possessing Matt did not help that cause at all, did it?"

Tatia: (sighed subtly) "You chose your path. You'll have to walk it alone."

Then closed her door and left Matt out. Matt stayed there for a while, then walked away.

Misao was walking down the stairs. But on the halfway, Elena appeared at the top.

Elena: "Misao?" (Misao stopped and looked at her) "Is there really nothing we can do?"

Misao: "I don't know. Inari made the malach for the sole purpose of destroy, and as far as I know even she cannot stop it. But that doesn't mean we can't try. Everyone knows no creature is without weakness, and whatever is the malach's, I will find it."

Elena: (while walking downstairs towards Misao) "That's not what I mean. When you said the Caroline we know is gone." (Misao nodded after a brief hesitation) "But.. maybe you can do something to fix her nerves or something, I mean.. you did fix my head."

Misao: "I did nothing to your nerves. All I did was block out the effects of angel wings. That I can do. But malach is something else. The damage it does was never meant to be reversed, so Inari never bothered with it's way."

Elena: "I can't accept that. I can't accept that my best friend is just gone!"

Misao: "You might have to."

Elena: "Well I'm not going to. Because whatever was said to me that can't happen, I've seen it happen. This is not gonna be any different!"

Misao: "Elena, I don't wanna kill your.. gumption, but.." (sighed) "I need you to come to a place with me."

Elena: "Why?"

Misao: "Because no matter what I say, you're not gonna hear it. You need to see what I've seen, so that you know what I'm really talking about. That is, if you are up for it."

Elena: (after a quick thinking) "I'll let Tatia know I'm leaving."

Misao nodded.

Back in Bonnie's room, there was a disturbing silence. Bonnie and June were looking at Caroline's body, while Stefan was putting a decent effort not to.

Damon: "I say we put her out of her misery."

''June slowly looked at Damon. He noticed, and looked back. June looked away.''

Bonnie: "Misao said she'll try to find a way to save her."

Damon: "Yeah. Right after she said the Caroline we know is gone for good."

Stefan: "Damon's right. That's what Caroline would have wanted."

Bonnie: "No. No! You don't know her! We grew up together, she's like a sister to me. And if there's anyone in this room who knows what she would want, it's me! And she'd wanna live!"

June: "That's not living, Bonnie. In less than two days she tried to kill us, her mother. We let her be, it's only gonna get worse!"

Bonnie: "Not if we save her! Not if we help her! Guys, come on! That's not who we are, we don't give up on our friends!"

Damon: "And how that worked out so far? To save a friend, we sacrificed another, it's always been a damn trade."

Bonnie gulped, unable to think.

Stefan: "I have enough deaths on my conscience as it is."

''He and Damon shared a look. Then Damon slowly went ahead and broke a chair to use one of it's legs as a stake. But before he could stab her, Bonnie rushed and grabbed Damon's arm in air to stop him.''

Bonnie: (crying) "Please don't. I know I can't stop you unless you let me, so please!"

June looked at them.

Damon: "This has to be done, Bonnie. You gotta let go."

Bonnie: "You know I can't!"

Damon: "This is mercy to her."

Bonnie: "We're not vampires! We don't get to shut off our feelings and pretend it never happened! No, we fight for our friends!"

Damon: "We all heard the fox. We'll never have our friend back."

Bonnie: "I don't care what she said. If these past years have taught us anything, it's that there's always a way. And I will find that way. We will have our friend back. But not if you kill her! Not if you take her away from us! Please, Damon! Let me at least try!"

''Conflicted, Damon looked at Stefan. Clearly he didn't want his friend to die, even though he agreed with him. When he looked at June, he didn't see anything different. Even though she was trying to be reasonable, she too clearly didn't want to see Caroline die.''

Bonnie: "Look, she's not hurting anyone like this. All I'm asking is a little bit time. Please!"

''Hesitantly, Damon looked at Caroline. Then after looking at Bonnie one last time, he made up his mind. Following a brief hesitation, he raised his hand back and left the chair leg to the ground. Immediately June exhaled deeply with relief. Bonnie realized Damon was preparing to say something.''

Bonnie: "I know. Whatever happens, it's on me."

Damon nodded. Then left the room without saying anything.

Damon and Stefan had left the room and taken Caroline with them. It was just June and Bonnie in the room. Bonnie was making her bed, while June was watching in silence. After she finished making the bed, she looked at June.

Bonnie: "You think I did the right thing? When I stopped Damon?"

June: (looked at her without moving her head) "I know we couldn't have lived with ourselves if we'd let him."

Bonnie: "That's not an answer."

June: "I don't know the answer, Bonnie. Caroline's more than friend, she's family. But when Misao said she's gone, I realized part of me already knew that."

Bonnie: "Well, I don't accept that. I can't. Because I know that if roles were reversed, Caroline would never give up on me. So the least I owe her is to try. There has to be a way to bring our friend back."

June: "I wish I had your faith. But sometimes what's gone is gone. And all we can do is to let them rest.." (looked at the bed, where Caroline was) "..in peace."

Bonnie: "I'm not ready to do that."

June: (looked at her) "You can never be ready for that. You just gotta be ready enough."

Bonnie: (her voice cracked) "Are you?"

June couldn't answer. Silence took over. A while later June stood up and left, leaving Bonnie in deep and clearly conflicting thoughts.

Damon and Stefan were driving. Stefan got the sense that Damon wanted to say something, just couldn't bring himself to.

Stefan: "What?"

Damon: "I don't know. I don't know if I made a mistake."

Stefan: "How do you feel about it?"

Damon: "Like it's gonna come back and bite me in the ass."

Stefan: (chuckled softly) "Then why'd you do it?"

Damon: "I asked myself, what would Elena want me to do."

''They looked at each other. Then looked elsewhere.''

Stefan: "Strange. Usually care has nothing to do with what you do."

Damon: "True. But.. I don't know."

Stefan: (realized his struggle) "You thought about Liz."

Damon: "She's her daughter, Stefan. No matter what happens that's never changing."

Stefan: "So what're you gonna do?"

Damon: "Not gonna ask what she thinks, that's for sure."

Stefan: "Why not?"

Damon: "Hello, Liz. Misao told us Inari infected your daughter and there's no cure, so we decided to kill her and I wanna know what you think about it."

Stefan: (his sentence overlapped with the end of Damon's sentence) "You know you can do better than that."

Damon: "There's no good way to tell someone their daughter is gone forever. If you can find one, feel free to step in, because I'm not exactly eager to have that conversation."

Stefan: (realizing what Damon's struggle was really about, calmed his voice down) "She's your friend. It has to come from you." (paused thoughtfully) "And I thought we were giving Bonnie time to figure something out before we gave up on her."

Damon: "We gave her time. Her brilliant idea was consulting a kitsune."

Stefan: "That's unfair brother, we all agreed to do that."

Damon: (weirdly looked at Stefan) "You don't... You don't have feelings for her, do you?"

Stefan: (looked back the same way) "Yes, Damon, I'm madly in love with her."

Damon: (caught the sarcasm) "Well, it would explain why you would wanna believe her so bad."

Stefan: (took some time to gather his thoughts) "When I was caught, I had no hope of ever being free again. Even if I could somehow break out, I had no way home. I would never see you, Elena.. any of my friends. So I lost hope. I gave up on everything. All I had was memories fading away day by day."

Damon: "How poetic."

Stefan: "But Misao saw me. She saw through me. She gave me hope, strength. And then she lowered the cloak on my prison so you guys can find me. She's the reason I survived. She's the reason I'm home."

Damon: "Well, if I'm being completely honest, she did seem to be holding back the last time we fought."

Stefan: "The day Ulma died?"

Damon: "Hmm hm."

Stefan: "Yeah. She took down Klaus in seconds. Four of us and Bonnie could barely handle her, it took June's psychic barriers to finally stop her. In her home field, we shouldn't have been a match to her."

Damon: "Alright, fine. But even then, she's done a lot of stuff."

Stefan: "Like I did the summer I left town with Klaus?"

Damon: (remained thoughtfully quiet for a few seconds) "Point taken."

Stefan: "She's not a bad person, Damon."

Damon: "Well, you know me better than trying to convince me."

Stefan: "I do. I'm just telling you.. she will come through."

Damon: (looked at Stefan) "I guess we'll see, won't we?"

Elena and Misao were riding in one of Tatia's coaches. The coach rocked hard because of a bump in the road. Both Misao and Elena held on to whatever their hands caught at that moment.

Elena: "I'm starting to regret letting your magic ride this thing!"

Misao: "Sorry."

Elena: "I mean I never rode one of these and I'm still sure I can do better than this."

Misao: "You wanna ride?"

Elena: "I didn't say that."

Misao: "No, but you thought it."

''Elena smiled, knowing with Misao, that's as good as saying it out loud. We see the coachman's seat. The ropes that tie the coach to the horses were hanging in the air, as if someone invisible is holding them, confirming that Misao was indeed riding the coach with her magic.''

Elena: "I gotta admit. This ride would have been much shorter with one of your guardians."

Misao: "Except then I would have to kill that guardian and we wouldn't be able to go back."

Elena: "Well you could turn into a horse and I could ride you."

Misao: (smiled) "I'm not sure whether to feel insulted or flattered."

''They smiled at each other and chuckled and laughed softly. Eventually they arrived to an abandoned village type small settlement. But the horses stopped at some distance to the place and neighed with a hint of fear in their voices.''

Misao: (stood up and reached the door) "Come on."

She got off the coach.

Elena: "What happened?"

Misao: "Creatures with heightened senses can sense what's happened down there, it makes them uneasy. We gotta go the rest on foot."

Elena: (while getting off) "Is it safe?"

Misao: "It has been for three centuries."

''Soon they arrived to the village. Elena looked around. The place hasn't been visited for so long that the dust and dirt cover on things were almost preventing their true colors to be seen. All glasses on windows were broken, as well as most of the doors. Some roofs had blown up or caved in. The only thing that's heard was their footsteps and breaths.''

Elena: "What happened here?"

Misao didn't reply. And Elena didn't ask again. She randomly walked to a direction slowly, with a hint of horror in her eyes. Misao took a deep breath, then raised her hands to the shoulder height and closed her eyes. As she started sending waves of magic around the area, the village appeared to be going back in time. Ghostly people appeared all around Elena. She gasped and turned to Misao, but quickly understood Misao was doing this. She returned near her.

Elena: "What is this?"

Misao: "What'd you think I had in mind when I said you need to see for yourself?"

Elena: "Well, not this! I mean what am I even seeing?"

Misao: "Memories of this place." (Elena looked at her confused) "I don't just read the memories of the living. Everything speaks to those who know how to listen."

Elena: (did not fully understand, but seemed to get the idea) "Okay. So how'm I seeing it?"

Misao: "Spirit magic. I have some practice with it because of Tatia's necklace, but now that Bonnie dropped her guards, I'm able to use it with more power. Combining it with kitsune magic does the spells a world of wonders."

Elena watched with amazement and surprise as the ruined village turned into a lively and colorful place with living people in it.

Elena: "So this is how you knew Tatia helped us. The day I was saved from the prison with Bonnie and Klaus."

''Catching a hint of question in her voice, Misao nodded slowly. Eventually the rewinding stopped, and the village people, aside from their half-transparent appearances, seemed like they were right there in front of them.''

Misao: "This is Farens. Or rather was. People here lived away from bigger cities and civilization, mostly kept to themselves. They believed seclusion and isolation was the key to happiness. And indeed they lived happily for generations."

Elena: "What happened?"

Misao: "They.. They got discovered. And when Inari's servants arrived to collect men for the army, they refused and fought back. So Inari decided they were a threat. All these people ever wanted was to be left alone. But Inari took it as rebellion." (looked at Elena) "You might say they were the last people to stand up to Inari until Ulma." (looked back around) "Because Inari made a terrible example of them."

Elena understood.

Elena: "The malach."

Misao: (nodded barely) "The place was distant, difficult to reach. Inari wouldn't send a battalion here only to get vanquished because they were tired on the way. Instead she sent one man with the malach, and let the parazite do the work."

Elena: "One man with a parazite did all this?"

Misao: "One man with a parazite caused all this. He was the carrier. Instead, he infected the whole village. The people did this to themselves." (the living village around them fast forwarded in time to when the malach began it's work) "By the time they knew what was going on, it was too late. Men, women, children. The malach doesn't discriminate. It doesn't have a mind. It just acts."

''People around them were attacking, murdering each other with utmost violence and brutality. After a while, Elena couldn't handle it any more.''

Elena: "Stop! Please, stop!" (Misao realized Elena couldn't stand it, and immediately stopped her magic. The village instantaneously returned to the way it was. Seeing the village the way it was and the way it is now, Elena looked at Misao worriedly) "Did this really happen?" (Misao nodded) "What does this mean for Caroline?"

Misao: "You already know that, Elena. And from what your friends told us, we're beyond late to do anything about it."

Elena looked around in desperation.

June was walking slowly at the cemetery. She eventually arrived to the Gilberts. The family had the most dead members buried here as far as she could see. Next to Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, there was John Gilbert, followed by Jenna Sommers. After them there was Elena Gilbert and finally, Jeremy Gilbert. June felt depressed, seeing all those Gilberts.

She walked past Elena's grave and got behind the tombstone. Then sat on the ground, gave her back to the tombstone, and took an empty notebook out of her bag. As she was prepared to write some things down, she then paused, not quite knowing what to write, and started tapping the notebook with the tip of her pen as she burst into deep thoughts.

Without her noticing, the weather got slowly grayish, as if some dark cloud came over the place. She shook her head slowly.

June: (muttered, to herself) "This is stupid."

She got startled with an unexpected voice.

Katherine: "Couldn't agree more."

June looked at the person sitting near her and as soon as she saw her face, her surprise doubled.

June: "Elena!?"

Katherine: (surprised by June's reaction) "What?!"

June: (stood up quickly, happily) "When did you come back?"

Katherine: (she too quickly stood up and faced her) "You can see me?"

As soon as she said that, the happiness on June's face faded.

June: "You're not Elena!" (and just as quickly, the realization led to a sense of fear) "Wait, if you're not Elena, then you're Katherine and if you're Katherine... either I'm on a reeEeeEeally bad trip, or.."

''Without completing the sentence, she slowly started to turn to face where she was sitting. Katherine, since she was already facing at that direction, took a quick glance and raised her eyebrows in surprise of what she saw. Eventually June turned and looked there too and gasped at what she saw.''

''There she was, sitting, her head fallen to the front and arms laid on each side. Perfectly, and too still.''

June: (went near her body and bent down on her knees. Then spoke almost in a crying voice) "I'm dead! Why? How? I mean... why!?"

Katherine: (got close to June's body and crouched) "Shh." (as Katherine listened closely, June looked at her her eyes watered. Eventually, but not soon enough for June, she smiled) "You're not dead. You got heartbeat."

June started breathing happily with huge relief as the water on her eyes started to dry.

June: (stood back up) "Wait, if I'm not dead.." (looked around in confusion) "What is happening, am I dreaming?"

Katherine: "No sweetheart, you're not dreaming." (walked past her) "Your mind couldn't recreate my class on it's best day." (stood a few steps ahead and faced June, raised her ams in a matter to show her the place) "You're on the Other Side."

June: "But how?"

Katherine: "Beats me."

June: "No, I.. I can't be. I mean.. This doesn't make sense. I'm not a witch, I can't just go into the other side. And even if I could, I'm still not a witch. There's no reason I should be able to see or talk to you."

Katherine: "Look I don't care about the how or the why. I'm just happy to finally have someone to talk to, you know?"

June: "You're all alone here?"

Katherine: "Why else would they call this place a purgatory? We can see and hear everything and can't do a darn thing. It's like hell on Earth, makes you wonder what the actual hell will be like. Because, let's face it, it's where I'm headed once I'm done with this place. And I hate to admit, it.. it terrifies me."

June: "I'm really sorry."

Katherine: (shrugged, feeling June's sincerity) "No reason you should be. Besides, watching you guys deal with stuff is providing a good distraction."

June: "I hope we are entertaining enough."

Katherine: "You know, you're surprisingly good."

They both laughed.

ccc

--

Elena and Misao had walked back to the horses and the coach. Before getting in, Elena looked at the village curiously with a sudden thought. Misao looked at her, gave a faint smile and got into the coach. Elena looked at her.

Elena: "You know what I'm gonna say, aren't you?"

Misao: "Is it gonna stop you from saying it?"

Elena: (got into the coach) "Is it possible?"

Misao: "Are you asking me if Caroline is like the soldier that Inari sent here, and could she be spreading the parazite to others so Mystic Falls might be in danger of becoming like Farens?"

Elena: "I mean, I didn't exactly wanna hear it out loud, but.."

Misao: "Had to make sure. You have a lot of loud thoughts." (she paused briefly) "I have a feeling it was exactly the plan all along."

Elena: "You gotta find a way to destroy this thing, Misao."

Misao: "I know. And we are gonna. We can't lose Mystic Falls." (remained still for a while. Then looked farther away in deep thoughts) "There's too much at stake."

......... (Damon & Stefan (& Liz(?)))

Misao: "Look I get why you say that. When Stefan became a ripper, his love for you brought him back. Then originals invaded your home, you somehow prevailed. Damon was about to die from werewolf bite, you managed to find a cure. And then you died, and your friends brought you back. Whatever was thrown at your way, you always found a way to come out on top. But then Inari comes, and in less then a week you lose four people. Now I'm not saying this for you to lose hope. We need to hope if we wanna win. But you need to realize that we are not living in a fairy tale where everything works out at the end! This? This is not gonna work out! We're in a war, and both sides will suffer losses. You already started."

......... (Misao vs Klaus) }}

Main Characters

 * as Elena Gilbert/Tatia
 * as Stefan Salvatore
 * as Damon Salvatore
 * as Caroline Forbes
 * as Bonnie Bennett
 * as Klaus
 * as June Flemming
 * as Misao
 * as Inari

Trivia & Notes

 * Title was originally "Ready Enough".
 * Zach Roerig becomes the fourth actor to portray Klaus.
 * Another new species is introduced: Malach