Chapter Seven: So It Begins
New Orleans, Louisiana - Present Day
Davina felt her presence long before Hayley stepped through the doors into her shop. The werewolf was smudged with dirt and wearing old, warm clothes, as if she had come straight from the woods. Which, the witch knew, she had.
Hayley looked around. "No Monique today?"
"She's off with some friends today," Davina said. "Sophie will be back next week. She has a meeting with another coven."
Hayley nodded, running her fingers over a collection of healing stones, each etched with a rune. "I guess you know why I'm here."
Davina nodded as well.
"Can you actually read my thoughts?" Hayley asked, before looking annoyed with herself.
"In a manner of speaking," Davina said, laughing softly. "Your body language tells me more than that mind of yours does."
Hayley straightened. "I guess I need to work on my poker face."
Davina waved her over to the nearby table where she did tarot card readings for the tourists. Of course, the tourists did not know about the very real magic that was practiced here. Davina left it up to Monique to entertain them, only using the space when the shop was closed and warded from wandering eyes.
The wolf seemed to still be on edge, she saw as Hayley sat across from her. It came with the territory of being around a werewolf after a full moon- sometimes they took longer to settle back into themselves after the shift.
Hayley's eyes were ringed with gold as they met hers.
"Relax," Davina said. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do. But you do want answers, right?"
"I don't know- I just want… Yes, I want answers," Hayley conceded.
"How long have you been having these dreams?"
"I don't know," Hayley repeated. "It's weird- I know I'm having them, but I can't remember them clearly, and I forget the more I think about it. Even now…"
"Give me your hands," Davina said, reaching out.
Hayley took her hands, which were connected directly over the pentagram etched into the table.
"Breathe," Davina continued. "And let your mind wander."
The werewolf did as she was told, letting the scents of the shop overtake her senses- the smell of sage and lavender, the earthy smell she associated with witches, and the hazy smell of candles burning…
Davina closed her eyes, drawing her magic close before allowing it to enter Hayley's mind, releasing it like an arrow from a bow.
Into the darkness she went, where she went deep, passed the ordinary day to day thoughts, the emotions that were flashing around her like lightning.
Then she felt it- the tether within that hummed as her magic touched it. A golden string, tied to something far away, something so incredibly rare...
Davina's magic touched it gently, then the witch gasped when she saw the echoes.
A burning ship, an abandoned Abattoir, a wolf and another, tied together throughout eternity by an ancient magic.
Too much, Davina thought, her throat tightening. There were too many memories, too much to sort through to clearly see, but all blurred or erased. But that string, that tether, she knew what that was and exactly what it meant.
Oooo0ooO
Mystic Falls, Virginia - Present Day
The morning after the full moon found Klaus sprawled against an old pine tree. When he opened his eyes, he saw his brother frowning at him from several feet away.
"I brought you these," Henrik said, gesturing to the pants he held in his other hand. "I don't know why you didn't just go inside the Mansion."
"And be called a freak by Rebekah?" Klaus rasped, rising to his feet, catching the pants his brother tossed to him. "The last time she saw me in my other form, she had a fit."
Henrik frowned again. "You're not a freak, Nik."
Klaus buttoned the jeans before giving his brother a dubious look. "I have learned long ago, dear brother, not to care what Rebekah thinks." He moved around Henrik, making his way towards the house.
"I remember, you know," Henrik called out, making Klaus pause.
"I remember how you protected me from the wolf packs in the Old World. How you were nearly killed that night."
Klaus refused to turn, refused to look at his brother. Those scars had faded long ago, but the memory of teeth ripping into his flesh made his fists clench.
"And I remember the first night you shifted. I remember how much you screamed."
"All I remember," Klaus cut in, his voice like ice. "Is how my family left me alone in the woods and how our father-," he spat the word out, "wanted to kill me because of what I was."
The truth was the only scar time had never truly healed- the truth about Klaus's birth, about that night when he had killed wolf and man alike defending his brother, and what he had become thanks to the secrets that had been hidden from him.
"Please, Nik," Henrik said, stepping closer. "Can't we just forget it? It was a lifetime ago, and our parents are now dead."
"That man was never my father," Klaus corrected him. "And they are better off dead."
Henrik recoiled. He very well knew that if his parents had not been destroyed by the same wolf pack that had nearly killed Klaus, the hybrid would have torn out their throats himself.
Klaus then kept walking, disappearing into the trees, leaving Henrik alone.
The youngest Mikaelson sighed deeply, sliding his hands into his pockets. There was too much unresolved tension between them, and too much time had passed.
But still he remembered the bond he used to share with Klaus, even if time and circumstance had faded most of it away- and he held onto it and hoped.
Ooo0ooO
New Orleans, Louisiana - Present Day
Hayley walked out of the witch's shop shaking her head.
All of that and the only thing Davina had to say was, Go to Mystic Falls.
The witch offered no explanation, no directions, no clues as to what she should look for.
Go to Mystic Falls.
Hayley frowned. She had heard of the town in Virginia through word of mouth a couple of times, but nothing about it stuck out to her except there was a small population of vampires occupying the territory.
She walked and walked and walked, until she found herself on the docks. Staring out across the water, she sighed.
Go to Mystic Falls.
There was something pressing about those words, as if Davina had used her magic to give weight to them. They coiled around her thoughts, consuming them.
Nothing was holding her back from going. Mason could look after the pack if she left, since he was her unofficial second in command.
Go to Mystic Falls.
As Hayley made up her mind, turning her back on the ocean, the string within hummed, as it all began again.
Ooo0ooO
Mystic Falls, Virginia - Present Day
In the main parlor, the Mikaelson family gathered on the soft couches and chairs, all in absolute silence.
Rebekah was stretched out between Kol and Elijah on the couch, while Henrik sat stiffly across from Klaus, who was staring at his painting.
"Perhaps we should go to New Orleans," Rebekah suggested.
"I think not," Klaus muttered.
"You don't have to go," the blonde vampire hissed. "But I don't understand why- our old house is still there, unoccupied, and it might provide some insight to…" She gestured vaguely to Klaus and to the painting.
"I believe what Rebekah is trying to say is the answers do not lie here, Niklaus," Elijah said.
"I have no interest in returning to the Quarter," the hybrid stated, still not meeting their gazes.
Rebekah looked as though she was ready to lunge for Klaus, so Kol spoke up. "You go then, Bekah, and take Henrik and Elijah with you. I'll keep an eye on Klaus."
Klaus rolled his eyes, while Rebekah turned her gaze to Kol.
Kol just shook his head slightly at her. Drop it, he silently communicated to her.
"Very well," Rebekah said. "It's decided. Let's go, boys. I have not been to the French Quarter in a half a century."
Elijah followed her out of the room when she rose and walked away. Kol glanced at Henrik, who was staring at Klaus as though he wanted to say something.
"Go on, Henrik," Kol said firmly, but not unkindly. "You know how she gets."
Nodding, the youngest of them slipped away silently. Klaus did not so much as blink, his eyes unfocused.
Kol merely stretched out his long legs, leaning back to enjoy the warm afternoon sun and the utter quiet that suddenly had encompassed the room.
Klaus would talk when he was ready, Kol figured. It might take a couple of centuries, but then again, all they had was time.
Ooo0ooO
Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals or its characters.
2021 Update: Thank you all for being patient while I was hiatus. I gave up on the show but did not want to give up on this story's concept, so this story will remain an AU of the TVD/ Originals world- so if you're looking for an accurate representation of the show, the characters, etc., this work might not be for you.
Otherwise, welcome back!