When I awoke the next day, I was momentarily puzzled as to why I had fallen asleep sprawled lengthways across my bed with only a blanket tucked around me until I remembered the long conversation I had had with Klaus last night. God, who knew we'd actually find so many things to talk about? Even more than I had ever talked about with Elijah. For a while I just lay there, wondering what the hell had gotten into me, being all soppy and heartfelt, before I pushed it out of my head and rolled over to pick up my phone.
I had several missed calls from Rebekah and numerous texts telling me to come to her place as soon as I got her message, telling me that it was an emergency. Ugh. Please tell me Klaus didn't dagger someone again. Barely functioning from the grogginess, I crawled off my bed and dragged myself along the floor until I was able to stagger to my feet and opted to at least take a shower to rid myself of the smell of yesterday's clothes. After letting Bekah know I was on my way, I navigated my way to her house where I pulled up a driveway grander even than the Lockwood's and found myself facing a manor house which was a few turrets short of a palace. "Holy crap." I gaped as I slid out of my car, staring openly at the massive structure that I'm pretty sure didn't exist a few months ago, only to find someone moving towards me in order to take my keys and drive my car away to park it, leaving me standing there like a moron.
These guys literally had freaking valets. Was that even still a thing, or had they brought the old fashioned high society along with them. Another attendant opened the door for me in order to let me in, where I found people bustling about going something, seemingly preparing for a grand party. They were weaving lights all around the stairs that wove around and up to the second floor where there was an open fronted balcony, arranging flowers and cleaning the crystal chandelier until it sparkled.
Totally blown away by the clear grandeur of wealth and splendour, I almost missed the fact that one of the attendants was showing me the way to where Rebekah was waiting for me. She was lounging on a sofa getting her nails down, but looked up and smiled the moment she saw me. "Okay, so what's this huge emergency you were talking about? It sounded like your house was on fire but clearly, that's not the case so…" Talking casually like I usually did, blunt and sarcastic, I walked in and only then noticed the other people in the room. Kol and Finn, in the flesh. "Oh. Hi."
"Little sister, you brought lunch directly to us. How thoughtful of you." The younger one and a particularly shifty looking jerk had to be Kol, his eyes boring into me hungry and before I knew it, he'd rushed over to me with his vampire speed with his fangs bared at my throat, making my eyes widen and an instinctive rush of fear overtook me as I recalled the night Stefan attacked me and how much pain I'd been in as he nearly drank me dry.
Thankfully before I could respond by simply setting the little asshole on fire, Rebekah had crossed the room and thrown Kol away, forcing him to stagger and regain his balance as she hissed at him. "Ophelia is my friend and too good for the likes of you to even have a single drop of her." Still alarmed, I struggled to ascertain whether or not that was a compliment or the insinuation that I was just some snack. I'm going to take it as one. Rebekah was still learning how to say nice things instead of just insult people so I'll give her a pass.
"What is all the ruckus about?" Hearing a familiar voice behind me, I stiffened without meaning to, my hand anxiously rubbing at the scars on my neck as Klaus strode into view. "Kol, did you try to sink your teeth into our lovely guest here?" The charming swoon of his voice did little to settle me, in fact it only made me more nervous as Klaus set a hand on my shoulder and I threw him a glare, wanting him to just back off but he only smirked further. "Easy love, I know better than to tempt your wrath."
"Who is this girl?" The other brother, Finn, interjected then, looking far smarter and trim with his hair cut from the shaggy mess that I had seen in my visions of him and his siblings.
"I'm Ophelia and I am not a midday snack, so next time I see those fangs directed at me I'm going to pluck them out. Painfully." I glowered over at Kol who was momentarily surprised at my spunk before he grinned, taking it as a challenge. He growled at me, blackened veins unsettling as I took an unsteady breath and continued to rub and scratch at the scars. Rebekah blocked his way, baring her own fangs at her brother in my defence as Klaus began to notice my incessant rubbing and scratching.
"Hey, enough of that." Plucking my hand away from my neck Klaus then pulled my hair away in order to take a look, finally seeing the rigid and paling scars very clearly evident of a vampire's attempt to rip my head from my neck. Although saying nothing, I could practically feel the shift in Klaus as he stiffened only for the briefest moments, recognising the old wound before he then settled himself and pushed his response away, hiding it behind a carefully constructed mask. I didn't care, just why was he still holding onto me? Let go already! Failing to shake him off, Rebekah then turned her head around to scowl at Klaus.
"Remove your hands brother, or I shall remove them myself. From your wrists."
"Come now Bekah, did mother not always teach us to share our toys?" Indignant over the fact that I had been labelled a possession, I elbowed Klaus in the gut sharply, knocking the breath out of his lungs and forcing him to let me go.
"Enough, both of you. All of you. That includes you Mr Happy-Fangs." I pointed warningly at Kol who merely grinned at me wildly. I would definitely have to watch out for him, I have a feeling I should never turn my back on him. Ever. "What's going on? I thought there was some kind of emergency Bekah, what's the deal?"
"The deal is this." Elijah's smooth voice entered the scene then and I finally allowed myself to relax, knowing that finally there was someone with some sense around here other than myself. Blinking as a formal card was presented to me right before my face, I saw the delicately sculpted sweeps of calligraphic writing with my name written on the address line to invite me to the Mikaelson family ball. "We would be honoured if you would grace us with your presence, Ophelia, and I would be further honoured if you would agree to being my companion for the evening." Elijah invited with all the charm and velvet tones of a courtly prince.
At first I was stunned, taking the invitation to glance it over, inspecting both front and back before then looking up and around at all five faces who were now watching me expectantly. "This was the emergency, Bekah?"
"Technically the emergency is deciding what to wear. Of course you will be choosing a gown for yourself, so there really is very little time." Needing a second to process, I frowned heavily before then stealing a look at Klaus, irate at how he seemed to be enjoying my clear unease and confusion at this whole charade. They were throwing a ball. The Original family of vampires and their mother were throwing a ball, and judging from what I had seen downstairs, it was going to be no small affair and anything less than magnificent would be deemed a sore disappointment on their part. I have a feeling they don't do anything by half measures. "Please say you'll come, Lia. It'll make it all the more tolerable if you do." Rebekah begged, and after considering it for a few moments, I accepted.
"If you are willing to suffer my severe ineptitude for dancing, then I'd be glad to be your partner, Elijah." I decided, earning a quick smile and a light squeeze to my shoulder as I held the invitation in my hands, not knowing what else to do with it. Seemingly only then remembering that I was yet to officially meet his brothers, Elijah turned to introduce them as Rebekah pointedly shouldered herself at my side, shooting Kol a final scowl as Klaus leaned back to observe with that smirking obnoxiousness that steadily irritated me the longer I knew it lingered on my back.
"Ah, Ophelia, allow me to introduce to you my brothers Finn and Kol Mikaelson. Brothers, this is Ophelia Martin-Jones, a close friend of Rebekah's, and mine." He introduced rather formally, and although I expected him to disclose the fact that I was Rebekah's friend, I was both touched and pleased that he also announced that he considered me a friend also. "So if any harm were to befall her at your hands, you should be ready to accept dire consequences." Kol scoffed, stalking forwards in his neat dress shirt and tie, hair neatly combed and arranged with his youthful features compressing into a sinister glare which I found more unnerving than Klaus's.
"This little thing? How is it that a mortal has you both wrapped around her finger? I expected as much from Rebekah, she has always been fickle minded, but from you, brother? I thought you not to be so easily swayed." Before either of them could answer, Rebekah's temper naturally flaring so I touched my hand to hers, silently assuring her that I got this before I narrowed my eyes at Kol. For a moment he merely continued to smirk, almost sneer at me, but then he began to feel a tickle at the back of his neck, making that expression waver slightly. Then he felt it down his back, creeping across his spine and around his torso as well as up to his scalp, making him begin to itch and scratch until greenery began to sprout from underneath his clothes. "What is this? What are you doing?!" Alarmed at the rapid rate in which I was growing poison ivy all over his body, it began to tangle into his hair and wrap around him, greatly accelerating as he began to writhe and panic.
I have no shame in admitting that I thoroughly enjoyed watching Kol lose his composure and fight against the ivy as it grew around him, cocooning him in a resplendent green restraint until he couldn't move, the vines tightening around his neck as I then tilted my head, regarding my handiwork with a quirk of my lips. "Who's wrapped up now?" Bursting with laughter, Rebekah goaded her brother for being trapped by a mere mortal with just a few weeds, earning a sinister glare in reply.
"Ophelia, if you wouldn't mind…?" Leaving the question lingering in the air, I snapped my fingers and the plants instantly withered away, turning back into nothing as they shrank and allowed Kol to breathe and move freely once more, dusting himself off only to find stains of green upon his previously spotless white shirt, further earning his disdain, but I hardly cared.
"My lady." Suddenly finding the eldest of the Mikaelson siblings in front of me, I blinked as Finn bowed over my hand which was suddenly wrapped in the slender fingers of his own, firm lips pressing against the back of my hand in a gesture that I had oddly become accustomed to ever since becoming acquainted with the Originals. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My brother Elijah only speaks the highest praise of you." So mannerly and medieval, I couldn't help but love it. After only a momentarily pause to adjust to the greeting, I humoured him with a smile.
"My lord." After he had released my hand I tucked one foot behind the other and curtseyed, sinking downward with a light bob as elegantly as I could. "The pleasure is all mine." There was a lightness between us that seemed pleasantly warm, and the kindness of Finn Mikaelson clearly shone through the gentle gaze of his bright eyes. "I think I like you far more than your brother there." Gesturing with a tilt of my chin over at Kol, he scowled at me firmly and refused to retaliate, turning away with a pout like a scolded child.
"Often seems the case." Finn responded naturally and I gave a laugh until we were all interrupted by another arrival, one who I suddenly felt present with a powerful force of magic which felt ancient, momentarily stunning me.
"What goes on here?" With an accented voice similar to that of all her children, I first saw Esther Mikaelson in the flesh as real and alive as any other person on this planet, and the fact that I knew she had been dead in a casket for the last thousand years made me wonder at the depths and hidden abilities of magic itself. She was unchanged, exactly as I had seen her in my dreams though she had cut her hair, styling herself as a modern day woman and looking the part exceedingly well.
"Mother, this is Ophelia my friend, the girl I was telling you about." Rebekah promptly supplied so Finn stepped back so that their mother could view me for herself, brow quirking with interest and stepping forwards in order to cross over to me as I stood rooted to the spot. Her magic began to circulate, and then it reached for me, almost like the extension of a handshake so I responded in kind. For a long while the two of us just looked at one another, exchanging a silent conversation as we mapped the other out, ascertaining who we were and what our magic was like as I carefully circulated my own around the both of us too.
The magic began to affect our surroundings, causing a dip in the lights or a brush of stirred wind to rise, neither of us ever once blinking as two powerful entities came into close contact with one another. She was masterful, and for a moment I was slightly afraid of her. She had a wealth of experience that I did not yet have, the knowledge of my ancestors having been passed down to me but not yet lived in its entirety, so still felt unreal. Esther Mikaelson was as true and real as the earth, her deep stores of magic and her ability to channel it with exceptional control and discipline making her a strong opponent for me, until I was able to recover from my momentary episode of uncertainty and surge forwards.
Pushing a portion of my power into play, the magical field around us intensified as I brought a flare of living, breathing magic into our conversation, giving her a hint of what I was and how her magic would be useless against me, no matter how powerful she was, and when her eyes widened I felt her concentration snap, leaving me the victor. Immediately with both drew back our magic, returning everything around us to normal as the siblings all looked on with worry and concern. Esther took a deep breath, recovering herself as I then smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, Ms Mikaelson."
"Please, call me Esther, child." She invited once she had regained her breath, as that last show of mine having almost knocked the wind out of her. "Welcome to our home. I trust that my children will all see to your comfort and provide only the best hospitality." Although this was directed mainly at the others as an instruction to do as she ordered, I thanked her all the same until I felt Rebekah pulling on my arm in order for us to go to her room and pick out dresses, though I risked a glance back over my shoulder. The brothers were all watching me, each with different expressions, but the one I focused on was Esther. There was something…off about her, and I couldn't yet put my finger on it.
Turning away, I decided to just put it aside for now, as if I didn't give Rebekah my full and undivided attention now she was going to rip off my arm in her enthusiasm. "What was that just now? With all the magic?"
"A witch's greeting, though an old fashioned one." I supplied as Rebekah brought me through her house, barely allowing me time to admire the décor as I spoke. Klaus had done an awesome job renovating the place, he really had put a great deal of thought and effort into everything. "Expressing magic at one another was a means to discover if the other meant you any harm, to find out their true intentions. Your mom seems nice. Different, but nice."
"Different?"
"Well, she has been dead in a box for the last thousand years, I didn't really expect her to be the model of a modern woman just yet. Anyways, what was it you were saying about…dresses?" Trailing off and barely managing to finish my sentence as Rebekah pushed open the double doors of her room, I found myself facing a grand suite with a huge four poster bed with thick light purple curtains with gold accents, everything arranged to match, but what really threw me off my rhythm was the fact that there were literally dozens of dresses tossed all over the place. On the bed, over the back of chairs, draped over the changing screen, just everywhere. "What the heck did you do? Raid a princess's closet?"
"These are just a few samples, I cannot decide which one to wear tonight. Lia, help me please." Bekah begged of me, so with a heavy sigh I quickly stepped inside and pushed the doors closed in order to get the work, diving into the flurry of satin, silk, velvet and skirts full of intent and focus.