Hello loves!
Now, I don't have much to say here, except for the fact that I am slightly expecting some form of backlash for this chapter. I'll go into more detail at the end of this chapter so that I won't spoil anything too much, but that's just a warning ahead of time. Another thing, I will be including the Gilbert Compass some time soon, I get that I haven't exactly elaborated on the reason why Aria was so interested in it, but I swear, it will come into play around the time I write Freya in. Now, let's get on with it! I own nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
If you were to say that Aria was surprised at Elijah's words would be an understatement. And in all honesty, she didn't know what to feel. Anger? Surprise? Pure, undiluted terror? After all, she'd played Dahlia at her own game. She had told her that she'd played her at her own game. Granted she hadn't thought that Dahlia would wake up any time soon – and she still hadn't to her knowledge – but if her sister had found a way to come back to life whilst still being vastly inferior… Playing Dahlia had been a horrible move, inspired by her own petty ego and hatred of the woman in general.
Outwardly, she looked calm. Her expression serene. Her face was relaxed, her jaw wasn't clenched, her lips weren't pursed together in annoyance, her eyebrows weren't drawn together in irritation, her nose wasn't scrunched up either. But her eyes were another matter entirely.
They'd darkened. It was as if a veil had crossed over them and even though he had no sort of inkling just how powerful Aria now was, Elijah had to admit that even himself, one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, felt slightly threatened. They were darker, the usually so bright sapphire orbs now looking like the colour of a wild and threatening ocean at night. But most importantly, if you looked closely enough, you'd be able to see the small, barely noticeable tint of red that sat around the edge of her irises.
Elijah looked closely enough. And a shiver ran through him.
My mother is back. Esther has returned. And if Esther is back, then Dahlia might soon follow.
His words were echoing through her mind and, despite the terror she was currently experiencing, she laughed.
She was fully aware of Elijah's now worried gaze on her, laughing clearly wasn't the response he was expecting. Anger? Yes. Terror? Definitely. Laughter? No. Absolutely not. But it wasn't until he saw the tears that were also leaking from her eyes, that he realised why she was crying.
She wasn't crazy.
She wasn't overwhelmed.
She was scared.
She was so, dreadfully scared.
And it was as if the reality of what Aria and Davina had done finally hit him. He was still angry with them both, Davina more but only just realised why they'd done what they'd done. They were seventeen and had both been put through death. He had no clue what had happened to Davina during limbo but he knew parts of what had happened to Aria and had put together the rest of it. The city and way they'd lived for almost two decades of life was completely different now that his family had taken over from Marcel. He didn't know why Davina had resurrected Mikael; he could only guess that it had something to do with Klaus. But he knew why Aria had helped. She loved Davina. And she was scared. Having an Original with a White Oak stake at her disposal, an Original that the other Originals were scared of gave you power.
And if there was one thing Elijah Mikaelson had learnt in the past thousand years, it was that having power meant you didn't have to be scared.
Before he even knew what he was doing, he pulled her closer and embraced her, the hug slightly awkward at first but getting calmer as her cries died down. As Elijah heard her heartbeat slow slightly and her previously ragged breaths calm, he took a glance around before picking Aria up gently and walking the short distance to the Abattoir, not particularly wanting to wake her again.
He walked into the building and up the stairs in the direction he vaguely remembered Aria's room being. When he came to the door, he risked a glance inside and walked in before placing the teenager down on her bed, none of them ever actually having the heart to clean out the room.
For a moment, Elijah stayed where he was, watching Aria. It was odd seeing her look so peaceful considering most of her waking hours consisted of her glaring at one member of his family or another. He didn't know why but he felt an odd sense of responsibility for the young witch. Whether it was because of the hell his apparent aunt had put her through or the fact that she'd refused to hand them up to kill on a literal silver platter. Or perhaps it was because of the fact they'd taken her home away from her, whether he admitted it to himself or not. Maybe it was that he had betrayed her, blindly looking out for himself and his family when he should have listened to her and stayed loyal just as she had to him.
Either way, he felt responsible for the girl. And he'd do his best to live up to that responsibility.
~*•°•*~
Flashback – The Abattoir – June 2nd, 1998
Marcel's eyes shot open when he heard a small sniffle to his left and, apart from being confused as to why he was only hearing something now, he looked around the room, eyes landing on a small four-year-old Aria standing next to the bed, the moonlight from the window illuminating the tear tracks that were running down her face.
"D-don't be angry." She murmured, her breath hitching in her throat.
"What? no of course I won't be angry. What is it, sweetheart?" He asked groggily, pushing himself up from the bed and helping her climb onto it until she sat in front of him.
"Th- there was a monster outside my room." She stuttered.
"Monsters? There are no monsters here, don't worry." That was a lie, there were monsters here including him but none of them would even dare hurt her.
"Th-there was! She-she had pointy teeth and was g-growling and told me to stay in my room." She said desperately, and he paused. So, it was one of his guys? Shit. He should've known they wouldn't all be able to resist scaring the daylights out of her.
"What she look like, kid?"
"She-she was tall and had brownish goldish eyes with blond hair." Chelsea. Newbie. Authority issues. He wasn't surprised at all, "Wh-what if she comes back?" Aria suddenly asked, horrified.
"She won't, I promise."
"She might if you're not there! P-please don't leave me!" Her cries practically broke his un-beating heart.
He sighed, "Alright, you can sleep in my room okay?" He offered as she nodded, an odd tear or two still slipping from her eyes every now and then, "No more tears." He whispered gently, brushing the tears away. He shuffled around in the bed slightly, letting her climb up and get comfortable, laughing when she accidentally elbowed him before snuggling closer to him, her hands cold because of being out of her own bed. He held her close and listened to her steadying breaths as she slowly drifted to sleep.
"Thank you, papa." She murmured, stress leaving her body.
"It's alright sweetheart. Just get some sleep for me now, alright?"
~*•°•*~
For one of the first times in months, Aria woke up with a bright smile on her face. She hadn't had nightmares of Dahlia rather she'd dreamt of, well, herself and her father when she'd been little. Truth be told, it was a memory she'd almost forgotten she even had. There had been a noisy vampire outside her room and she'd ran to Marcel for comfort despite her knowing he was also a vampire at the time. The afterthought alone widened her smile.
But it was only then that the ceiling she was staring up at wasn't her own. That she wasn't in her apartment. She was in the Abattoir. She was home. But... how? The last thing she remembered was… having a date with Kaleb, the werewolves ambushing them… Mikael, the thought of him brought a grimace to her face, she'd deal with him later. Then she'd taken a walk around the Quarter and ran into Elijah. He'd thanked her for saving him and then… Oh no.
Oh God.
His mother was back.
And that meant his aunt might soon follow.
And if that wasn't horrible enough, then she'd had a bloody mental breakdown in front of him. She pulled the covers high above her head and winced, she must have looked like such an idiot!
As if on cue, there was a small knock at the door.
"Come in?" Her words came out as more of a question than statement. The door opened and Aria smiled slightly seeing Elijah standing at the door.
"I hope you rested well. You were dead to the world before I could set you down on the bed."
Aria blushed slightly and gave him a bit of an awkward smile, "Yeah. Thank you for that by the way. I uh, I'm also sorry for going all-" She gestured to the dry tear tracks on her face, "You know, crazy on you."
Elijah smiled comfortingly at her, "It's quite alright. You were overwhelmed, as I expected you would be. I confess, I would've been worried if you hadn't had a breakdown. I can't imagine it's the best news you've ever received."
"It wasn't." Aria frowned.
Elijah sighed, "Aria, I'd like to request something from you."
Aria eyed him curiously, "Shoot."
"I understand you have no reason and probably no desire to help my family in any form, especially after how our alliance went last time, but I'd like to ask if you if you'd consider helping us with the problem of our mother."
Aria's eyes narrowed slightly and she searched his face for any trace of deceit. There was none, "It depends."
"She won't get close enough to harm you." Elijah assured, already knowing what she was thinking.
"I'm not scared of Esther." She scoffed.
"All the same, it'll help if she knows less about you."
Aria bit her lip in thought before sighing, "I'll help. On two conditions."
"Being?"
"One, you don't go after Davina. Two, Esther doesn't find out I'm helping. Dahlia is her sister, she'll probably know that she and I have a history if I start using her tricks. I don't want anyone to get hurt if she realises."
Elijah was silent for a moment, "I agree to the second condition. As for the first… so long as neither of you release Mikael, I will attempt to control Niklaus' anger."
"Trust me, Elijah, once Davina finds out Mikael tried to kill me, she'll send him back to hell herself. Truth be told, I've been looking for a way to get rid of him since the second Davina resurrected him."
Elijah nodded, "It seems as though we have a deal, Aria."
"It seems so." Aria responded, gaze just as calculating as Elijah's currently was. His lip quirked upwards, "Well then, shall we begin?" He asked, gesturing to the door.
"Why the hell not?"
~*•°•*~
"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" Aria heard Hayley ask as she and Elijah walked down a staircase to the courtyard of the Abattoir.
"It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this…" Klaus murmured, gesturing around the table as he walked closer to the Hybrid.
Hayley hummed under her breath, "Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?"
Aria glanced towards Elijah, finding his expression just as confused as his brother's.
"This wasn't my doing..." Elijah announced, walking down the stairs as Aria followed behind him, barely reacting quickly enough when she found herself suddenly slammed against a pillar by Klaus.
"One reason I shouldn't kill you right here now, witch." He growled, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Niklaus, enough!" Elijah yelled, his words having the opposite affect when Klaus' grip tightened around Aria's throat to the point she could barely breathe.
Aria's eyes widened as the reality of the situation hit her. She could die in an instant. With a growl, Elijah pulled Klaus off of her before kneeling down in front of her as she fell down to the floor in a heap, gulping in breath as her own hand went up to her throat, massaging it as she tried to get air in quicker.
"Are you alright?"
Aria bit back a sarcastic retort and nodded weakly, hand still on her throat as Elijah stood up.
"Niklaus, Aria is able to help our issue with Mother."
"And she brought back our father." Klaus retorted.
"Neither she nor Davina will release him unless you give them a reason to. She is able to help. Must I remind you that our aunt-"
"Alleged aunt." Klaus imputed.
Elijah ignored him, "Put her through hell? If Mother is back, then Aria will want more than anything to see Esther dead considering the fact that if she stays alive, the chance for Dahlia to find her grows tenfold. And right now, that is what we need. We need an ally. And we'd be foolish to turn down her help knowing just how powerful she has become in such little time."
Klaus, jaw clenched, glared at Elijah and Elijah glared back as Aria's eyes darted between the two in slight confusion. How long would this go on for? After another moment, Klaus let out an aggravated sigh and, with another glare over to both his brother and Aria, turned back to the table, confusion once again planted on his face.
"Well, now that that's over, where did this all come from?" Hayley asked as Aria's eyes widened a fraction. Seriously? Klaus had almost just squeezed the life out of her.
Shaking off the insensitive comment from Hayley, Aria stood up and walked closer to the table in curiosity, mindful to pause at the other side of the table to Klaus. Before she could actually say something however, the silver lid on one of the platters suddenly began to rattle, causing Aria, Elijah and Hayley to visibly jump in surprise.
Klaus, with an uneasy glance to the table, up to Elijah, and then back down to the table, lifted the lid, jumping back as two birds – starlings – were released and flew up towards the open roof.
"What the hell was that?" Aria demanded, tone both puzzled and slightly nervous, as Klaus reached for the invitation on the platter and opened it.
"An invitation from our mother." He said quietly as Aria gulped.
What had she gotten herself into?
~*•°•*~
"It's times like this I'm really glad I never had a mother growing up." Aria commented randomly as Elijah's lip twitched up.
"There are already enough enemies in this city, Aria. Our family wishes to rid ourselves of some. Even if it means going against our flesh and blood." He said simply as they walked towards a bedroom, just in time to catch the end of what Hayley was saying.
"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart. I will happily add to the body count."
"You will do no such thing." Elijah scoffed as both his brother and Hayley turned to look at him, "Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."
"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children." Klaus began as Aria looked up in interest, "I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."
Elijah shrugged and checked his watch, "Well, then. We have… this afternoon to prepare for the worst. Aria, may I speak to you in the corridor?"
Aria nodded and walked out with Elijah, the duo spending a moment in silence as they walked down the long halls of her former home. As if knowing the subject would be delicate, Aria wiggled her fingers and a coolness fell over them, "Say what you will. Klaus can't hear."
In Elijah's eyes was curiosity but he didn't comment on it, "I believe that finding Davina would be the best course of action for you right now. Perhaps convincing her not to let Mikael out. She will surely be worried and I have a feeling that if we leave her much longer, she might consider letting Mikael out to find you."
Aria nodded, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she decided whether or not to say what she was thinking, "I know that Esther has bad intentions…" She began, "But if it's any consolation, a need to be so cruel and full of hatred can only stem from something like love. I know it isn't my place and I wouldn't understand it anyways, considering I've only ever had Marcel and Thierry, and considering I don't know her… but when I was trapped with Dahlia, even though it was twisted, I could see she still loved Esther. I think it's the same with your mother and you all. I think perhaps she loves you too much."
Elijah was silent but before he could answer, she cleared her throat, "Well then, I should go. Uh, I'm sure you'll be able to contact me if you need anything." She said shortly, turning. Only when she was at the end of the corridor, did Elijah call out to her.
She turned around, "Thank you, Aria."
Aria smiled weakly, "You're welcome."
~*•°•*~
As Aria walked out of the Abattoir, she picked her phone up out of her pocket and her eyes widened at the number of missed calls from Davina. Twenty-seven missed calls was written across her screen and even as she scrolled down, she noticed that only four were from other people. She instantly typed in Davina's number and held the phone up to her ear as she ran towards their apartment.
"Aria?" Davina's worried voice asked from the other end of the phone.
"Davina. I am so sorry I've only just seen my phone."
"Where are you? What happened? Are you okay? I've been so worried." She babbled.
"I… I'll explain it all later, D. Where are you?"
"My family's cabin."
Aria spun on her heel, instantly knowing where Davina was, "Alright, I'll be right there."
"No! Didn't you have something scheduled with Evanna today?"
Despite herself, a small smile crept up onto Aria's face as she realised Davina was right, "Yeah. I do."
"You don't have to get here today. Don't worry. Spend some time with her."
"Davina-"
"That's an order, Aria!" Davina said. Aria could practically hear her smile.
"Alright. But the minute it's over, I'll be over there."
"Great. Now have fun and I don't expect to be hearing from you until nine tonight. At least."
Aria nodded, "Sure. Bye, D."
"Bye 'Ari. Have fun." Davina said before hanging up. Aria pocketed the phone and wrung her hands together nervously, dread creeping into her as the time went on.
What would happen? Would something go wrong? Would Evanna decide not to show after all? She immediately dismissed the thought, Evanna had seemed excited. She wouldn't just miss this.
Right?
Before she could worry anymore, she spun around when she heard footsteps, smiling widely as she saw Evanna approaching her. She seemed rather fidgety and her eyes kept darting down to the ring on her hand and any area of shade on the street.
"Don't worry. It doesn't have a limited amount of time." Aria said lightly as dark brown eyes darted up to her. Evanna smiled slightly and Aria almost laughed as she realised that the witch turned vampire in front of her was just as nervous as her.
"That's good to know." Evanna murmured.
After a moment of silence passed, Evanna spoke again, "So, would you mind taking me on a tour? This place has definitely changed in the last two decades."
Aria nodded, smile still plastered on her face, "Sure."
So, for the next three hours, the duo walked around the French Quarter, only almost running into French Quarter witches once or twice. Evanna had, not unsurprisingly enough, loved the couple of parks Aria had taken her to. After all, even if you were turned into a vampire, a witch never lost their love and connection to nature. They'd stopped by an open patio restaurant for about a half hour and then walked the streets a bit more after that, occasionally stopping at a shop or two.
Aria had found out that Evanna's favourite colour was green, her favourite food was spaghetti, she couldn't stand drinking water with anything with even the smallest amount of flavour, she'd had an older sister who had died in a car accident when Evanna had been nine and, much like Aria, her favourite spell had been any form of glamour spells.
Currently, they were walking down a back road in the Quarter when Evanna spoke up randomly, "I'd like to meet your father and uncle."
Aria paused in her steps and turned around, eyes wide with surprise, "W-What?" She stuttered out.
"I'd like to meet them."
"Why?" Aria asked quietly.
Evanna shrugged and continued walking, Aria quickly catching up with her, "I'd like to thank them. They did a wonderful job raising you."
Aria nodded, crossing her arms across her chest as a cool breeze passed by them, "Yeah. They did, didn't they?"
"So… do you think you could introduce me?" Evanna asked.
Aria nodded slowly, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, "I, uh, the other day, I had a bit of a fight with dad so I'm not too sure how that'll go. But I'd be glad to introduce you to Thierry."
Evanna smiled, "Good enough."
~*•°•*~
Aria walked up the stairs that led to Marcel's loft nervously. There was obviously a chance that he might not be there and just the same with Thierry. Bit she did hope they were there, or Thierry, at least. She wanted to introduce them to Evanna.
Pushing the door open, she walked inside and looked around for a sign that anyone was there, "Dad?" She called out, "Thierry? You there?"
There was a clatter in one of the back rooms and Aria smiled widely. As much as she loved Thierry, she always found it adorable that he was terrified of sudden noises, despite being a vampire himself. A soft string of curse words drifted down from one of the rooms up another set of stairs and Aria smothered a laugh into her arm, fully aware of Evanna's eyes on her.
After another moment, Thierry appeared at the top of the staircase and his initially annoyed expression brightened when he saw her, "Hey Kid." He said, jogging down the stairs and over to her, pulling her into a tight hug that she returned with a small sigh of pleasant familiarity. She pulled away and Thierry's eyes darted to Evanna curiously, the vampire watching them with a sad look on her face.
"Who's this?" Thierry asked.
Evanna smiled nervously and Aria spoke up, "Sheismymother." Aria blurted, her words so close together but Thierry obviously catching them by the way his eyes widened to a comical amount.
"I-What?" Thierry asked, his voice scratchy and confused all of a sudden.
"She's my mother." Aria repeated, words now slowed as Thierry's expression turned blank.
"Oh." He said simply.
"T…" Aria warned, eyes narrowing as Thierry's own narrowed towards Evanna, "Watch yourself."
"No, Aria. It's fine." Evanna objected, a soft look towards her.
Thierry's eyes narrowed further and he moved to the left slightly, as if shielding Aria from Evanna's view. Aria rolled her eyes at her pseudo uncle's pettiness and pushed past him, "Say what you will. Both of you. Please, this silence is killing me."
Both Evanna and Thierry smiled in amusement at that but the smiles quickly dropped when they realised they were both mirroring the others actions.
"You left her." Thierry said blatantly. Evanna flinched as if she'd been slapped and her head dropped. Before Aria could come to Evanna's defence, she took a deep breath and looked up at Thierry.
"My Coven punished me by turning me into a vampire because I protected Aria. I had no daylight ring. I couldn't have raised her. I realise that's no excuse but…" She turned to look at Aria, "This has honestly been the best day I've had in over two decades. And I don't want to lose you again."
Aria froze and let out a low breath as her eyes misted over and she turned around, blinking away the moisture rapidly. She vaguely heard Thierry sighing and undoubtably soften but she wasn't concentrating on that.
While Evanna's words meant the absolute world to her, they couldn't help but remind her of the day her father and Rebekah had challenged Klaus. They'd been losing and Aria had tried to help them, overtaxing herself in the process until Kol had stopped her.
"You would've killed yourself." Kol repeated, his voice now gentler.
"I-I didn't-" Aria stuttered.
"You didn't know what you were doing but you did it anyway. You have to stop."
"You only care because you don't want to be alone again!"
"I care because I don't want to lose you!" He hissed back as she froze. She vaguely heard the fighting stop beneath her as her father picked up the coin and surrendered but she wasn't focusing on that. She couldn't focus on that.
She wouldn't.
Not with what Kol had just said.
Kol. Kol Mikaelson. The wild card of the Originals. Quite possibly the most dangerous out of them all next to Klaus.
And he'd just said he didn't want to lose her.
She was brought back to the present when she felt herself being shook and blinked, only to find both Thierry and Evanna in front of her, identical looks of worry on their faces. She was silent for a moment, completely silent, not even a breath leaving her body.
Before she collapsed into their arms and cried.
~*•°•*~
Now, I know that some of you will probably be questioning by decision to have Aria and Elijah team up again especially after what happened last time they did, but I promise I do have a reason for it.
As Always, SecretMidnightRose