Angel of Death

by Radioactive88

Aria Mikaelson was broken in every way imaginable by the death of her twin, Henrik. Turned into an Original along with the rest of her siblings, her shattered mind swings her between the mindset of an eternal, whimsical child and a merciless murderer. After dealing with the Mystic Falls Gang, how will she help her siblings take back New Orleans, as well as find her long lost love?

4. A New Dawn, a New Day

A/N: Hellooooo my wonderful readers! My AP tests are over, and I no longer feel like throwing myself off a bridge! :D Your response to this story has been nothing short of spectacular, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

This chapter begins the introduction of the Lucien/Tristian/Aurora storyline, with my own OC, the youngest de Martel sibling. *Hint*Hint* Aria will meet her true love in this chapter . . . gee, I wonder who that is? Also, you'll get the first taste of how she truly is after Henrik's death without the immediate loss looming over her, and it isn't pretty.

Also, I've decided to include all siblings in the "Always and Forever" vow, since it only makes sense with Aria's closeness to Kol. This will be strained over the years, of course, but it's always bothered me that it only applied to Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah. In this story, all sibling relationships will be explored.

Warnings: Suicidal thoughts and major depression.

Without much further ado, please read, review, and enjoy! Thanks so much! :)

Chapter 4: A New Dawn, a New Day

Mother was dead. Once Niklaus killed for the first time, the truth was unveiled, where the secret of Mother's affair came alive. Niklaus was a hybrid; a werewolf, like those disgusting creatures that murdered my brother, and whatever we were now. At least until Mother bound him with a spell, using the blood of the slip of a girl Elijah and Niklaus both fancied, Tatia Petrova.

In my opinion, Tatia was a conniving, manipulative little whore who formed a rift between my brothers, and I despised her for it, but the two of them seemed to care enough about her, so I didn't voice my negative opinions. Well, to them. Kol and Bekah were fair game.

None of it mattered now, because Father killed Mother, and murdered Nik's real father. He didn't know we were here, not yet. Hopefully, we would be gone by the time he arrived. The gods knew I wouldn't spend more than a second of time with him, past what was necessary.

Mother was dead. One moment she was alive, and Kol and I were having our own version of fun with our neighbors, and then abruptly, she was dead. I couldn't take any more loss. No more.

My siblings and I stood over a shallow grave that we had dug for her, next to Henrik. Rebekah sobbed into Nik's shoulder, who was misty-eyed himself. Rebekah always had the cherished mother-daughter bond with her that Mother and I also had (to an extent, I was never as close with her as Bekah was), at least before she damned me to an eternity without Henrik and without magic.

So, I looked down at the grave with a mixture of love, grief, and hatred. After everything she cursed me to, she was still my mother, and I could not help but cry along with Bekah.

Finn was most distraught, forever the golden son in his dead mother's eyes. Elijah was stoic as ever, masking his true feelings, and Kol acted as if he were unbothered by the entire debacle, although I saw through his disguise. He missed his mother as much as we all did.

"Let's make a vow. After everything we've lost, we must stay together, always and forever," Bekah announced once she wiped her tears away. Kol and I exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Little did she know that we had already made a similar vow not a fortnight before.

But I also fiercely loved the lot of them, even Finn, sometimes. "I agree," Elijah declared, which was hardly a surprise. "We must stay together as a family, always and forever. Family above all."

Rebekah took a hand from Nik and Elijah, and Nik held out his hand to me, inviting me into the vow. As much as I adored Kol, I also shared a unique connection with Nik that spawned from our experiences of abuse from our father. Or, my father, rather.

Kol willingly grasped onto my hand, but made a bit of a face when he had to reach for Finn's. I stomped on his foot, and he kicked me in the shin in return. Finn, no matter how annoying, dull, and self-righteous, was still our eldest brother. Elijah grabbed Finn's other hand, and the circle was complete. "Always and forever," we murmured in unison.

Now, that was a vow all of us bent and stretched to our liking over the centuries. Kol and I by running off on our own constantly, Nik by daggering all of us (most notably Finn for nine hundred years), Elijah by attempting to murder Nik a thousand years later, and Bekah . . . There was the New Orleans incident, but other than that, she was the most loyal of all of us.

Even with Mother and Henrik gone, I knew we could prevail. Little did I know we would thrive.

Southern France, 1002 A.D.

The young woman I was guzzling blood from grew limp in my arms after a disappointingly short amount of time, and I shoved her off of me, immediately distracted by something bright and beautiful. The necklace of the girl Bekah had drained. I snatched it when nobody was looking, and stowed it away in one of my dress pockets.

I giggled at Elijah's aghast expression at Kol's gluttony. My dear brothers had never quite seen eye to eye. "Kol, are you quite done?"

"Ah," Kol moaned as his victim collapsed to the ground. "Oh, bother, Elijah! Is all of this truly necessary?" Kol had made it no secret he wanted to take me and leave. I wanted to stay, for the time being, so he respected my wishes.

As they continued to have a boring conversation I could not physically care less about, I skipped over to a patch of wildflowers growing on the side of the dirt road, and plopped down onto my bottom next to them. Trailing my fingers over the petals of every color imaginable, I smiled and cooed over them. "Pretty, pretty, pretty . . ."

I plucked myself a lovely bouquet, and clutched them close to my chest, as if to shelter them. I hummed to myself as I stuck two yellow flowers behind each of my ears, and snuck over to the rest of my family. Bekah, breaking her attention free of the argument occurring before us, smiled indulgently as I brushed her hair aside and put in a bright purple flower. "Thank you, sweet sister. It's beautiful."

"You're very welcome, Bekah! But not as beautiful as you, I daresay," I chirped and she beamed wider. Then, I waited for Niklaus to shout something about a vow to Kol (I didn't care enough to listen) before placing the prettiest orange one into his luscious locks. Any normal person would have stared at me as if I'd grown a second head, but by now, he was used to my antics and only punished me with a mild eyeroll. But he kept the flower in his hair, for my sake. "Here you go. It looks very handsome on you."

His hard expression faded and he suppressed an obvious grin. "Thank you, baby sister. What say you on our future together?"

I blinked at him, fluttering my eyelashes innocently. "I was not paying a single second of attention, Nikky." He frowned at me, his brow creasing. "Flowers are much more important than petty family quarrels. You need to sort out your priorities."

"You look very pretty, Nik," Kol chortled.

He smirked. "I know I do."

Kol then backed up once I approached him with a blue flower. "Oh no, Ri, I appreciate the gesture, but -"

I stuck my bottom lip out into a glorious pout that only youngest siblings could master. He grumbled incessantly as I wove the flower between his shoulder-length brown hair, before dancing over to Finn.

"Before Ri here side-tracked me," I flashed him a cheeky grin at the sound of my name, "I was telling you, Nik, that your vows haunt me more than Father himself! At least he can't take us all."

Finn was the next to weigh in. "Perhaps Kol is right - Aria, what on earth are you doing?" He looked back at me incredulously as, since I could not reach the top of his head because he was not bending for me like Kol, I began to climb up his back like a tree.

"I'm braiding it into your hair, silly bear. Hold still, you'll ruin all my hard work!" He stood still as a stone, only to avoid the childish tantrum of a lifetime.

"Ri, you're greatly improving his appearance, I commend you, as it's a difficult feat." I chuckled under my breath at Kol's remark. "And thank you, Finn, I've always said eldest is most intelligent -"

"Stop talking!" Finn's sudden reproach startled me enough that I nearly tipped right off his back. "I take no joy in our assent, but I do wish to sleep in a bed, to bathe in a bath, to feed of proper food - Aria, pull at my hair one more time and I will throw you to the real bears!"

I smacked him on the back of his head before sliding off him. "That was unkind, and I resent that." A hint of trepidation peaked through Elijah's nearly impeccable mask as I hunted him down next.

Elijah stated, as he attempted to ignore me, "No, brother, Niklaus is right. We made a vow. Family above all. Always . . . forever."

I nodded solemnly in response. "You could not be more right if you tried, brother." He gazed down at me warily. "Family above all, always and forever. Now I demand you bend down so I can put this flower in your hair, and be quick about it. I will not wait here all day."

Once I finished dolling up a reluctant Elijah up, who looked rather marvelous with the red flower contrasting against his black hair, Kol asked us all, "Who's ready for a second course?"

"Me!" I shouted at the same time as Finn spat, "You're all filthy gluttons." Not paying any mind to Finn, I went onto an extensive search to see if there was any living person and warm blood left.

"Ri has the right idea, Finn," Kol sneered right back. "You remain ever the dullard."

After gathering more flowers, I decided to place them into our victims' hair as well. Elijah looked at me as if announced I was pregnant and planning to marry the next man I saw on the road only to have more love children with him. "What? Just because we killed them doesn't mean they can't look pretty. Honestly, Elijah, it's as if Mother dropped you on your head as a baby."

Then, when nobody was looking, I painted a bloody Valknut on the side of the wagon. "Rest in peace," I whispered.

As Elijah and Rebekah began to bicker over clothes and nobility and the like, a faint heartbeat caught my curious attention. More food for me! I peeked into the wagon, and saw a rather terrified brown-haired young man under a blanket. Baring my teeth into what I perceived as a friendly smile, I pressed my finger to my lips. Quiet, stranger, you'll ruin my fun!

He cowered away from me as I reached down to pet his hair like he was a cute little bunny rabbit, and I sulked. "Fine, I'll let Kol have you," I mumbled, crossing my arms petulantly. "I would've been more gentle." And to think I was going to give him a flower. The nerve!

"Aria, what in the world are you doing?" Elijah called over to me, and his eyes widened a fraction once he heard what I had. "Someone's in there?"

The man leaped straight out of the wagon, only for Bekah, Kol, and I to block his way with identical smirks. "Well, aren't you a handsome one?" I thought so too, but I was not desperate enough to say it aloud. He was our food, not a friend.

"Looks like dessert to me," Kol chimed in, and I chuckled as my siblings slowly closed in on our prey.

"Perhaps an appetizer," I agreed, then added as an afterthought, "I do like his hair, though. It would make a nice centerpiece. If we had a table. And plates. And human food. And anything but the centerpiece . . ."

The man cried, "No! Wait, wait, wait! I can help you!" The fervor behind his defense made me roll my eyes, and Bekah nudged me in the side, glaring down at me. Oh please, she wanted the walking sack of blood to live so she could toy with him. I scoffed and elbowed her back. We were halfway into a full-blown sisterly catfight before Elijah sent us such a powerfully authoritative look that we quieted down and stilled. Bored, I wandered back over to my flower bed.

Yes, I was a brave enough girl, but one did not simply cross Elijah and come out unscathed from his lectures. Not to mention the occasional hidings he inflicted on us in our human years when we'd committed some misdemeanor he was not willing to forgive but we wanted to avoid Father. I could never decide was what more painful. The embarrassment and sharp sting of the childish punishment, or the disappointment that would seep through him and into me.

Rebekah and I were considerably younger than Elijah, eight years then ten and three years respectively, so he still exerted some sort of paternal control over us. He no longer held much of a physical threat to Nik or Kol, but Bekah and I just had to be the youngest and weakest.

I needed him in my life, and to some extent, I'd always viewed him as more of a father than Mikael himself, and that would never quite change. Elijah once told me, many years later, that he viewed me as a mixture between a little sister and a daughter. Always and forever. That was obvious to everyone in our family, and went unspoken, but it was still a nice confirmation.

It was better than Nik, who preferred to parent us by stabbing us in the chest and instead of sending us to our rooms, stowed us away in coffins.

Oh, bother, the man was talking and I had no clue of what he spoke of since I was so lost in my thoughts and my home of flowers. If you'd seen those wildflowers, then you'd understand.

Elijah was ranting about something how we couldn't leave him alive, and he had a serious point, but Rebekah still opposed him. Nik suggested we put it to a vote, and only then did I start paying attention again. "All those in favor of letting him live?"

Much to nobody's surprise, Bekah raised her hand, along with Finn. Finn? Probably about some aching moral compass, I assumed. Nik glanced over at me, and when I only shrugged, he released a slight snort.

Kol then countered, "Those inclined to gut him?" Kol obviously raised his hand, along with Elijah, who looked at everyone else as if we'd all gone horrifically insane. Both brothers stared at me as if expecting me to join them, but both rolled their eyes once I shrugged again. Kol, thankfully, brushed it off, but Elijah did not seem too inclined to.

"I don't know what you expect me to say, 'Lijah!" I whined, going over to lean against Kol's tall figure, and he might as well have been a pillar of stone, since he didn't budge in the slightest. "I wasn't listening, I don't care, that man means less than nothing to me, and I cannot expend the energy and thought to choose whether he lives or dies."

The strange man's shoulders slumped. Kol loosed a roar of abrupt laughter, and shoved me away from him, where Elijah glowered at me so acutely I was surprised I did not spontaneously combust. "Aria, I've about had it with you lately -"

I crossed my arms. "'Lijaaaaah, you're being mean."

His eyebrows knit together angrily, since I was so intent on making a scene. "No, I'm not being me-"

"Yes, you are!"

He sighed; a long, deep, and mournful sound. "I do not intend to act unkindly toward you, sister, but I'm losing my patience with you -"

"Mean!" I interrupted him sharply, only for the sake of garnering a negative reaction. And oh, did I get one. I zoomed behind Finn to use him as an invulnerable shield, but he stepped away because he apparently was fed up with me as well, so Elijah grabbed me by the bicep and did not release his iron-clad grip.

"Do not continue to act disrespectful toward me, or I will ensure you do not," he growled into my ear, kneeling down to my height, and a light blush crept to my cheeks; he did not treat our other siblings so strictly. He was embarrassing me in front of our food. I was one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, and still had to answer to my big brother. Bekah flashed me a sympathetic smile, and I scowled at her in response. Elijah's hold on me tightened and I hissed at the building pain.

"You two figure that out," Kol cut in, smirking wider as I stuck my tongue out at him. "Well, Nik, since Ri won't vote, what shall it be . . . ?"

Long story short, Niklaus found sympathy in his lovely red heart, and spared our food's life. After explaining to me that we were to commit subterfuge, we stole our victims' clothes, which seemed especially malevolent, but I supposed I didn't have a leg to stand on.

My girl's dress was a deep emerald that flared slightly at the waist and had a healthy, revealing bodice that all four of my brothers managed to complain about in separate occasions. Thankfully, it covered my brand well enough. A coiled, golden waistband served as a belt around my slim waist, and Bekah braided back my long hair, weaving in yellow and white flowers upon my non-negotiable request. I gave her the necklace I'd stolen from her victim earlier, because it would look prettier on her, since it matched her jeweled eyes.

Now, Elijah decided to be a son of a bitch because he refused to "trust me to behave" among the nobles, so I had to stay by his side "at all times." So, on the entire journey in our stolen wagon to the castle (or whatever the hell it was), we bickered furiously. He claimed I was still an impulsive child, which was true, considering I was only ten and four, and that I couldn't control my fanciful whims and desires. I had no official rebuttal, since he was right, but I spoke out of my arse anyway.

"You underestimate me!" I all but yelled at my elder brother, the castle approaching in the foggy distance. "I am more than capable of mingling among the rich and conceited, and I have enough maturity - oooooooooh, dandelions!"

Perhaps I may have strengthened his argument, because by leaping from the wagon and frolicking over to the clump of delightful plants, I spooked the horses. The horses neighed, clearly terrified, and reared up, damn near throwing the wagon aside. Rebekah screamed, Nik shouted, Kol complained, Elijah bellowed my name - all as I held the wad of dandelions to my chest, cringing ferociously.

The man, whom I learned was named Lucien, calmed the horses and I completed the walk of shame back to the wagon, avoiding the collective dirty looks from my siblings. Elijah's countenance was as hard as stone. Tentatively, I offered him a dandelion. "Would you like to make a wish, big brother?"

Finn ripped the dandelions from my hands and threw them out the wooden window. "You're a damned menace!" he bellowed in my face, saliva raining all over my face. I recoiled in shock; I'd almost forgotten he was there. He was the only one willing to scold me as harshly as he desired; even Elijah knew where to draw boundaries, keeping my so-called sensitivity in mind. "Elijah is right, sister. You cannot be trusted around a horde of nobility when you haven't a smidge of self-control! You're nothing but a disrespectful, selfish, uncontrollable little brat. I thought you a little beast before Henrik's death, but now I must say, I miss your former self, where you at the very least had a sliver of sanity, compared to you now, with none. You are unhinged, disturbed, and deranged, baby sister. Do us all a favor, and keep your flowers and attitude to yourself."

Silence. Only an icy, tense, charged silence followed after Finn's brutal chastisement. A lump formed in my throat. I felt every pair of eyes stuck on me as I stared hard down at my folded hands, blinking back a sheen of hot moisture. Much to my utter dismay and chagrin, a few tears escaped my defenses and rolled down my cheeks. Finn sighed sharply in something akin to regret.

I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, and hated myself further as my body racked with silent sobs. Salty tears dripped down onto my hands, and my vision blurred, everything swirling around me. Elijah, who'd been so frustrated with me not minutes before, lay his much larger hand upon mine in a gesture of comfort. "That is quite enough, Finn," he said coldly. As if he could read my mind, he snaked an arm around my trembling shoulders, and drew me into him, allowing me to bury my face into the crook under his neck. His slow heartbeat soothed me. Lub-lub . . . lub-lub . . . lub-lub. "You know she hasn't been the same since Henrik's death," he hissed, as if I couldn't hear him perfectly.

That was almost worse.

"Burn in hell, brother," Kol spat at Finn. "Boo hoo, she likes to pick flowers and dandelions, and likes to follow butterflies and birds all over the damn place. She's fine the way she is, so get over yourself. She's far more endearing than you'll ever be."

"Don't pretend we haven't all been thinking it," Finn snapped in response, but he sounded considerably more subdued than before, as if he'd seen the error of his ways - at least a little bit.

"I have not," Nik spoke up for the first time, something of a smile in his voice. "I, for one, find it charming. Well, for the most part. She's our baby sister, she's meant to be annoying and infuriating. That's her job, is it not? Bekah, wouldn't you agree? It's a shared occupation."

"Oh hush, brother," she replied, but I could hear her smile, too. "I agree with Nik - for the most part. I happen to be fond of her love for flowers and butterflies and other bright and beautiful things. Unlike you overly masculine lot, I'm still wearing the flower she gave me. Isn't that right, sweet sister?"

Hesitantly, I removed my head from the safety of Elijah's embrace, and gave her a watery smile once I noticed the purple flower still residing comfortably in her soft blonde hair. ". . . Thank you, Bekah."

Elijah pulled a handkerchief from his pocket that was not his, and although there were a few drops of blood on it, he used it to scrub my face clean as if I were incapable of doing it myself. Like he was my own personal mother hen. Finn snorted, and there was a flurry of movement, where Kol somehow managed to land a punch on him from the other side of the wagon.

It took all too long for us to arrive at the gala, and I blurred out of the wagon in the blink of an eye, feeling suffocated by the lot of them. My heart sank as Elijah made long and purposeful steps toward me, clearly intent on keeping an eye on me all night, but Rebekah beat him to it. She locked arms with me, and brushed a soft hand against my cheek, smiling down at me. I smiled back gratefully.

"Us girls must stick together," she told Elijah as an explanation, and he must've trusted her a good deal more than he did me, because he accepted it without too much of a fuss. "You're welcome, Ari," she whispered mischievously once he walked off to Nik's side.

"I am bloody thankful," I murmured back, and we giggled together, igniting confusion in all of our brothers. Sisterhood was a magical thing. "You're a diamond among mountains of dirt and shit."

"Compliment me like that, and I will consider protecting you from our brothers' overprotective wraths more often," she said with a coy wink.

I tugged on a strand of her yellow hair, and she slapped my hand away, all in good humor. "You have yourself a deal."

The two of us trailed far behind our brothers and Lucien as we approached the gala with considerable trepidation. "Finn is hardly overprotective of me," I mumbled, referring to her previous comment. "He hates me."

She pursed her lips and sighed. "I do not believe that to be true. He loves you in his own way, but he simply does not understand you. He is ten and six years older than you; he was on the cusp of manhood when you were but a babe. You do not have much in common, but he cares about you far more than he will ever admit, despite his disapproval of your childish and murderous tendencies." I smirked at the last bit and she chuckled, nudging me in the side.

"Well, you are Finn's favorite sibling," I pointed out, and even Rebekah had to acquiesce to that. "Perhaps it is not saying much, considering he dislikes us all to an extent, but it is the truth. You are the favorite of Finn, Elijah, and Niklaus - you walking ray of insufferable sunshine."

Bekah rolled her wide, ocean-blue eyes. "Oh, please. You are Kol's favorite by far," there was no arguing that, as he was my favorite as well, "and perhaps I am closer to Nik, but he has a very special place in his heart for you, as you've shared similar experiences with Father. And it may be that I am Elijah's favorite sibling, perhaps, but that is only because he sees you as equal parts his child. That's why he is stricter with you than with any of us."

"How positively spectacular."

"You have to listen to me," she lifted her chin up all haughty-like and poised, "because I'm your big sister, and we must stick together. We ought to spend more time together, we're an outstanding duo."

I arched an eyebrow in her direction. "I've seen you every day for fourteen years."

"Oh hush, you arse." I snorted; we made quite a ladylike pair, didn't we? "Actually spend time together. Now that we have a temporary home again, especially."

I nodded in agreement, half to appease her but mostly because I missed the fun times we shared together. "I would like that, Lady Rebekah."

"Splendid, Lady Aria. Now, let us join the others before they leave us in the dust."

"Damn. I was hoping for that."

Still, we hurried to our brothers, who all snuck the two of us strange looks. Obviously, they'd all been eavesdropping at some point in the conversation or another. For the sole purpose of making her uncomfortable, I said loudly enough for the human to hear, "So, Bekah, do you plan on seducing Lucien now or after we mingle among nobles? You can finally fall in love and disappear into the sunset, just like you've always wanted to."

As her mouth dropped open in outrage, I swallowed my laughter with much difficulty. Kol and Niklaus did not have the same self-restraint; the former guffawed openly and without reservation, and the latter quieted only after receiving a look promising painful death from both Elijah and Rebekah. Blood rushed to Lucien's poor, innocent face.

"You are such a liar," Rebekah accused me, the most hilarious petulant expression dancing across her delicate features. "And a pessimist!"

"Ah, but if I'm a liar, then I have the excuse of being deranged, as Finn so aptly put it. You are simply an opportunist," I retorted without missing a single beat. "You only wanted to keep Kol's dessert and my centerpiece over there because he has a pretty face, and we allllll know how much you like pretty faces. . . ."

Now, I was not necessarily implying that Bekah was something of a whore. She wasn't - well, at least not at the time. It would take a good few years for her to embrace her rampant and ceaseless lust for men. "Stop it!" she all but yelled at me, her cheeks turning as red as Lucien's. "I have not been with any man!"

I shrugged, even though I knew that to be the unaltered truth. "Oh, I don't know, Beks. You've always had a dalliance of sorts with Alexei. A fleeting, summer love, if you will."

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "First of all, that's a bald-faced lie, since I've always hated him, and secondly, you killed him!"

It was so easy to needle her. Kol and I had always been the best at it, since Elijah was too noble and loving, and Nik too indulgent. "I only killed him because of how he looked at you like a piece of bloody meat! He was uncouth with you, Bekah, and I will not allow such a vile creature to court my sister and live to tell the tale! Also, it was Kol who stomped on his skull and crushed it, not me."

As Lucien turned positively green and sickly, Kol chuckled, "After you sucked him dry, you little brat!" Elijah, at this point, was pinching the bridge of his nose and Finn was glaring down at us with disgust from his lofty throne.

I accepted that one, since he was already dead when Kol mutilated his corpse, and Rebekah shook her head at me disapprovingly. "You have no shame, sister."

I deliberately flashed her my brightest, most winning smile. "Shame is for the weak and the insecure, of which I am neither."

Niklaus, Kol, and I exchanged a proud look that foretold the violence and fear we would inflict upon the world, the infamous "Terror Triad." It would be the three of us who would bring true infamy to the Mikaelson name.

…

The gala itself was beyond impressive. I'd never seen such fancy silks or fineries or arrogant snobs in one enclosed area. Kol and I were doubtlessly planning to eat one or two or fifty later on.

I tuned out Lucien's advice and bickering of my siblings as a familiar hurt shot through my heart. Here we were, donned in the grandest clothes we'd ever worn, playing our hand at being nobles. While we lied and deceived our way into aristocracy, Henrik rotted under the ground. If I could take his place, I would. He deserved glory and love and life more than I ever did. . . .

I loosed a bitter laugh. Mikael and Finn were right. The wrong twin survived. My hands began to tremble. Why was I here? Why wasn't I dead too? My siblings would have been happier if it were Henrik walking and talking in my stead. Perhaps they secretly wished that was the case. Perhaps Niklaus brought the wrong twin with him to see the wolves that night.

My stomach churned and my heart raced, and I realized with no small amount of fear that one of my "episodes" was well on its way, as my siblings learned to call them. I bit my bottom lip so hard the salty tang of blood drizzled into my mouth.

I jumped when Count de Martel began to speak. "Lucien, you were sent to fetch the Count de Guise."

I glared hard at the ground. We killed him, Your Grace. But we so dearly hope you will accept his murderers into your court in his stead. What's the difference?

Shivers coursed through my entire body, and I desperately raked my eyes over my siblings for help, but all of them were looking upon the Count de Martel.

Lucien lied on the spot. "Indisposed, Your Grace. Gout. May I present his children? The Lords Finn, Niklaus, Elijah, and Kol. Also, the lovely Ladies Rebekah and Aria."

"And Henrik," a voice echoed through the court, and my breath caught in my throat as my twin strolled up with an easy, wolfish grin. Invisible hands gripped my heart and nearly squeezed the life out of it. "Do not leave me out." He draped an arm around Bekah's shoulder, but she did not budge an inch nor even glance in his direction. When he realized I was staring at him with dangling jaw, he winked. "Enjoying the view, sweet sister?"

My mouth went suddenly dry and my mind swirled with delirium. "Henrik, you're here . . ."

Now my siblings remembered my existence, and their expressions ranged from confusion to concern and to a building horror that I would ruin this for everyone. But I had no eyes for them. Henrik crossed the short distance between us, his dark eyes twinkling with mirth. "I've missed you so much, Ri. It's lonely where I am."

Tears welled up in my eyes and, hesitantly, I reached out a hand to cup his cheek. It did not occur to me that I was groping thin air. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I murmured, watching his expression shift into something vengeful.

He slapped my hand away and tears rolled down my cheeks in response. "You should be, sister," he said icily. "While you and our siblings are off killing people and starting a grand new life, my body is decomposing. Maggots have eaten out my eyes, worms wiggle inside my ears, my skin is full of holes and my lungs full of dirt. Mother rots beside me. I hope you're happy, Ri. I never have the chance to be happy again."

I released a muted, strangled shriek of horror and grief, and Henrik disappeared right before my very eyes. Rebekah had just finished introducing herself, and all eyes were glued upon to me. Elijah's mouth opened and closed as he undoubtedly searched for an explanation for my bizarre behavior. A sob strained my chest against my tight bodice, and I fled like hell.

"Ri, wait!" Kol shouted after me, but as tears streamed down my face, I only ran and ran and ran. I was only thankful my subconscious managed to maintain my human speed.

"Kol, stay here. I'm so sorry, Your Grace," my ears picked up Elijah's faint apology, "our youngest sister is not well. We try to take care of her the best we can, but she still has her . . . episodes."

"She is insane, Your Grace," Finn added calmly, the first time he said anything to the count. "The poor child must be under constant supervision, I'm afraid, for she cannot take care of herself. Do forgive us, if it please you."

Be so good as to fuck off, brother, I thought angrily. I could take care of myself. Yet as I stumbled over a particularly springy patch of grass, I collapsed to my hands and knees and coughed out a mixture of bile and saliva in the midst of my sobs. No, I can't take care of myself, can I?

"I'm sorry, Henrik," I wailed, pounding my fists upon the earth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" A twisted, disillusioned idea hit me upside the head. I could not bring Henrik back to life, but I could very well join him in death.

I wasted no time into digging my fingers into the moist, fertile dirt and digging through shrubs as if my life depended on it. An apparition of his corpse glowed faintly beneath my hands - rotten, pale, lonely. "You will not be alone anymore, brother," I wept, mud caking my arms up to my elbows. "I will not leave you alone for the rest of eternity!"

"My lady?" I froze in my rapid movements, the voice snapping me out of my desperate trance. Henrik's corpse faded into thin air. "My lady, I'm afraid the harvest season is over, although I do appreciate your enthusiasm."

In a rage, I turned about on my knees to look upon who dared interrupt my doomed suicide attempt. It was a young boy, not much older than myself. Shoulder-length locks of red-gold curled down his neck, gleaming silver faintly in the moonlight. Something of a confused yet sardonic smile toyed at his lips. He was handsome, I realized, perhaps very much so. Round yet sharp features, along with a straight nose and symmetric cheekbones - quite handsome indeed, he must've been a holder of many a lady's affections.

But it was his eyes that drew me in. Eyes as blue and intense as a storming ocean, alight with emotions of every variety. A steely, mocking humor, a fierce curiosity, and potent sympathy was what I could see on the surface. It was an odd sort of mixture. "I implore you to leave me alone," I spat at him, lowering myself onto my haunches.

One admittedly delicate eyebrow tweaked up. "And leave you in such a state?" He brandished a lazy hand at my filthy form. "Why, my lady, that would be downright scandalous!"

I clenched my fists. "I don't care about a some bloody scandal. Do you want a scandal? If you don't leave me alone, I'll shred you into ribbons, and then you'll have your fucking scandal."

A tenor, bell-like laugh arose deep in his chest and the lack of real light seemed to whiten his glistening teeth. "I must say, you are the first person to threaten me with death before even five minutes have passed."

I smiled coldly, without a sliver of humor. "I do not threaten, my lord. I promise."

Much to my utter outrage, he meandered on over, lowering himself into a sitting position not much more than an arm's length in front of me. "How extraordinarily refreshing. Imagine living in such a place," he waved a hand behind him at the gala, "surrounded by fake smiles, greedy hands, and empty threats. It's tiresome, let me tell you."

I allowed myself a tiny smirk as I tried to keep from falling into a thousand pieces. "My heart aches for you. I believe a de Martel sits before me, no?"

His answering grin was smug. "The honor is mine, Lady . . . ?"

I scoffed, "Wouldn't you like to know? You have to earn it, my lord." I was surprised at myself. Not five minutes before I teetered on the edge of yet another mental breakdown, and now, I returned his coy remarks with gusto. Something about his presence calmed me, no matter how horrendously sentimental it sounded.

If it were possible, he beamed even wider. "Very well, my lady. Since it appears I'm the only one of us who has any sense of common courtesy or manners, allow me to introduce myself. Lord James de Martel." He made a sweeping gesture for my hand, and pressed his lips upon the back of it, despite the dirt smeared over it.

For some strange reason, I found that inexplicably amusing, and he tilted his head to the side like a bewildered puppy as I burst out laughing. "Oh, color me impressed, Lord James de Martel! What a stately name. It's a shame it does not befit your lackluster personality."

His pale pink lips parted in poorly feigned shock. "Why, I never!" He slumped over onto his back and propped his head up onto folded arms, appearing far less lordly now. "How dare you, Lady Whatever-Your-Name-Is! I am offended." He enunciated each syllable very carefully. "Oh, well. You can call me Jamie, I suppose."

Despite my best efforts, I cracked another smile - a real one, this time. "Oh, I can? How magnanimous of you. I feel blessed."

He regarded me with unmasked fascination and intuition, such though that it made me squirm uncomfortably. "You're beautiful when you smile," he murmured, his eyes clouding over with thought. I swallowed hard. Everyone always said Rebekah was the beautiful sister. He probably didn't meet her yet. "When I arrived upon this scene," he vaguely gestured to the loose mounds of dirt, "you were most certainly not smiling. Why is that?"

I pursed my lips and collapsed beside him. The stars twinkled merrily above me. "Subtle," I sighed.

Jamie reached over and wound his fingers between mine, in which I rolled my head to the side and looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. A lopsided grin was my only answer. "I'm merely offering my unconditional support."

Ever so meticulously, I unraveled my hand from his. "You can take that support, and shove it up your lordly arse." As his face once again loosened in surprise, I tapped him playfully on the nose to lessen the force behind my words. "My twin brother, my other half, was shredded by wolves and I've been mentally and emotionally unstable ever since. Arguably psychotic. Actually, no one's argued with that. I am definitely psychotic. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Jamie stared at me, open-mouthed, for a good minute or two as he mulled over all of the heavy information I dumped all over him. His red-gold hair mingled pleasantly with the deep green of the grass, and - oh, hell no, I wasn't the bloody Mikaelson to notice such random and frivolous things! That was Nik. Nik was the hopeless and occasionally pathetic romantic, not I. Ugh, it was disgusting. I wondered how he lived with himself. Or how Tatia ever put up with him. No wonder she chose Elijah . . . Too bad Mother killed her . . . not, that whore.

"You are very honest," he finally croaked, licking his lips as if they'd suddenly gone dry. Then, he regained his composure, and smiled again, albeit much more weakly. "I like that. Everybody lies because they want something from me. You threatened to kill me a few times, but at least you're honest about it."

My hands began to tremble again, and with a sense of oncoming dread, I realized that my mind was not quite done with me yet. "It was nice to meet you, Lord James de Martel," I said hoarsely, and he raised an eyebrow. ". . . Jamie."

I rose to my feet with a supernatural grace, and began the trek back to the gala. Kol . . . I needed Kol. Kol, Kol, Kol . . . He was the only one who could help me when I was like this. Kol, Kol, please, find me . . .

"Wait!" I paused. "I think I deserve to your name after our oh so meaningful heart-to-heart."

Despite my best efforts, I smiled again, tilting my head around ever so slightly. "Aria. My name is Aria." And with that, I abandoned him in the cold, searching for the one entity on this planet who managed to ground me to to reality. Once I slipped into the silence of shadows, I blurred away.

As if he could read my mind, Kol appeared out of nowhere, his face creased with uncharacteristic worry. His eyes widened then softened with relief once I glided into his line of sight. "Ri . . ."

Any bind I had over my emotions snapped into two, and I burst into tears, rushing over to him like a little child to her mother. I all but leaped into his arms, winding my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck like my life depended on it. "Ollie," I sobbed into the foreign, expensive fabric covering his shoulder. "Ollie, I-I want to die. I want to die! I c-c-can't live without h-him, I c-can't, I can't, I-I can't -"

He clutched me to him so tightly that if I were still a breakable human, he would have shattered my skeleton and split my spine. "Never say that," he growled into the crown of my hair. "You are alive, and you will remain so." His tone softened again. "I cannot do this without you, baby sister. Who else do I have? Bekah, who's loyal to only Nik? Elijah and Finn, who hold me in contempt? Nik, who cares more about his bloody paintings than me?! If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me, please . . ."

"Make it stop," I moaned, banging a fist furiously against my skull as if to banish my insanity. My knuckles cracked open, blood trickling down my hand. "Make it stop . . . Henrik, Henrik, I want Henrik, he was here, here, he's rotting, he's lonely - Ollie, he's alone, he's lonely, we abandoned him, he's all alone -"

I didn't notice him sneaking me back into the gala as I continued my frantic mantra. "Ollie, he was here, he was angry with me, he made me cry, Henrik wouldn't do that - Henrik, no, Henrik. It should've been me, it should've been me, it should've been me . . ."

"Hush, baby sister," he whispered into my ear, his voice sounding considerably more strained. ". . . You're breaking my heart."

Not even his slow, steady heartbeat could calm me now. "I-I tried digging for him, Ollie, his corpse - oh, his corpse, it's terrible, Ollie, there are maggots in his eyes and worms in his ears and dirt in his lungs and he's all alone, alone, alone -"

A droplet of water rained down onto my head as I desperately grabbed at Kol's shirt for comfort. A tear, I realized, but he must've wiped it away as quickly as it was formed. "Ollie, make it stop, make it stop, kill me - Ollie, if you love me as you claim, kill me!"

Kol carried me into some quiet, secluded sitting room that must've been arranged only for my family, since all of my siblings were inside. "Kol, you found her!" a shrill, high voice cried out. "Did you allow her to bury herself in mud?"

"Shut it, Bekah," he snarled, the rebuke creating a deep rumbling vibration in his chest as he squeezed me even tighter. "I cannot settle her down. She thinks she saw Henrik again."

A black, feral wave of fury washed over me and I shoved Kol away as hard as I could. He flew across the room and would've smashed straight through the far wall if Nik and Elijah hadn't caught him first. "Fuck you!" I shouted, and the entire room collectively winced. "I did see Henrik! He was here!" My siblings' expressions all carried a certain degree of pity, and my chest tightened. "Don't look at me like that, as if I'm lying. I'm not lying." I sped over to Nik and grasped him by the shoulders because he needed to believe me, but he only stared back with wide blue eyes. "Nikky, you have to believe me," I begged, shaking from head to toe. "He was here this time, I swear he was . . . You believe me, don't you?"

Nik's eyes swept the room helplessly as if he were searching for something, but whatever it was, he did not receive it. Gently, he pried my hands off his shoulders, and I realized I had accidentally fractured his collar bones. "Of course I believe you, baby sister," he muttered, slowly but surely restraining my hands with one of his own.

Thrilled and overtaken by an abrupt bout of elation, I broke free of his restricting hold, and darted over to a very worried Elijah. "'Lijah, we have to go back home!" His brow creased deeply, and I moved over to Rebekah, who flinched away from me. I didn't pay her any mind. "Henrik is alone, Bekah, we must bring him with us, so he won't be lonely!" As she forced a smile that I interpreted as agreement, I last flashed over to Finn, of all people. He made no efforts to disguise his horror and bewilderment. "You miss Mother, don't you, brother? We will find them both, and we will be a family again -"

"Sister," he sighed, placing two firm hands on my bony shoulders, his brown eyes for once showing something other than distaste for me. "I know I have been harsh with you, and I am sorry for that, but we cannot go home. We have only just arrived, Aria, and we cannot return to the New World."

Tears blurred my vision and I stumbled away from him. "We have to go back!" I pinned a pleading gaze on each of my siblings, but none could meet my eyes. "W-We have to go back. . . ." I balled up my fists when I realized the truth. "Fine, if you won't, then I will!"

I sprinted toward the door, and five sets of hands yanked me back, rendering me temporarily immobile. "Let me go!" They did not, and I struggled as if they had made an attempt on my life. I punched, kicked, elbowed, clawed . . . But one Original, the youngest to boot, was no match against five.

It was a shit-storm, to put it mildly. I broke almost every foreign valuable object in the room, shattering it against the wall or crushing it beneath my bare fingers. Kol made a leap of faith for me, so I threw a magnificent wooden table at his head, and he went down hard, blood from his temple spilling out onto the cold marble floor. His neck was twisted in an unnatural direction.

Kol, I killed Kol. I immediately hated myself for that, loathed myself to my very core. I killed him - if only temporarily, but I killed him. Reaching for a jagged shard of a vase I'd stomped on, I stabbed it deep into my chest. Sinking to my knees, I gasped at the sudden spike of agony, but it was no less than what I deserved.

What happened next was a blur. Nik pinned my wrists to the bloody tiles, removing the makeshift weapon from my shredded chest. Bekah straddled my torso, her cheeks glistening with tears. Elijah cupped my face firmly between two large hands, while Finn acted as the look-out, in case anyone decided to wander too far down the wrong hall. "Aria, enough," Elijah grunted as I sunk my teeth into his palm, and he smacked me on cheek - not hard enough to fully constitute as a slap, but enough to sting and snap me out of my rabid state.

It was as if every muscle in my body gave up, and I slumped against the cold floor, completely and utterly exhausted. "I'm sorry," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut, wishing it all away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry . . ."

Rebekah climbed off my waist and ducked away from me, refusing to look at me. Elijah released his iron-clad grip on my face, and two strong arms hooked beneath my slender form, carrying me off - away, away, away . . . "Nikky," I mumbled, recognizing his distinct canine-esque scent.

Nik placed me onto a warm, feather-soft bed under a tall, overarching canopy with magenta curtains and egg-white sheets. Oh dear gods, I hadn't even touched a bed in over a year. He tucked the thick blankets over me and sat on the edge of the mattress. "I killed Kol," I whispered.

He gave me a sad smile. "He'll be awake in a matter of minutes, little one. Perhaps there will be an ache in his neck, but he will be no worse for wear. You know this."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused." His plump, feminine lips pursed together. "You view me as a burden, do you not?" I asked him, straightforward, and he looked away. That was my answer, I supposed. "I do not blame you. Your lives would be easier without me." Sighing, he opened his mouth to speak, but I reached forward and grasped his hand, urging him to silence. "I am not attempting to wallow in self-pity, Nikky. I am telling the truth."

With a much larger, rougher thumb, he stroked the back of my hand. "Yes, you make our lives harder. I cannot deny that." I swallowed hard and nodded, but my eyes were as dry as sand. It was the truth, and I preferred honesty over patronization. "But it is worth it. None of us want to nor could live without you - well, perhaps Finn, but he hardly counts. You might very well be the most unstable and damaged person I have ever met, but you have a permanent and irreplaceable place in my heart. You make our lives harder, yes, but you also make our lives better."

It was remarkable how much his series of backhanded compliments and full-blown insults brought me solace. I felt incredibly vulnerable and raw before him, and since I hadn't a drop of dignity left, I pushed aside my shame and asked quietly, "Nikky, will you stay with me? I-I don't want to see Henrik again. I can't. If I do, I fear . . ." I could not find it in me to finish.

Smiling sadly once more, he nodded without a beat of hesitation, and slid under the blankets beside me. His familiar vampire coolness and abnormally slow heartbeat was a potent comfort. "I love you, Nikky," I hummed. "For whatever it's worth, no matter what lies ahead of us, I will always stand by you. I promise you that, big brother."

His eyes fluttered close, and for a moment, I feared he wouldn't answer, but I finally slipped into a deep, peaceful slumber when he replied, "And that is why you are more than worth the trouble you bring, baby sister."

A/N: At the end there lies a hint in what will unravel over a thousand years, what with Klaus' penchant to dagger his siblings and stuff them into coffins. What did you guys think about this chappy? I warned you it would be angst-y, but I hope you appreciated the lighter moments as well. I loooooove feedback!