Hello loves!

Right, before I say anything else, I'd like to address a review I got a few hours ago from hiareportsyou.

First off, I freaking love you.

You've literally made me realise probably one of the most important things a fanfiction writer should know. We can do whatever the hell we want in our stories. And I will admit, I've been slightly scared to change things too much. Although, I do promise a few changes are coming especially in the next couple of chapters. I had chosen Esther for a particular reason (one being that I can't stand her and will take the opportunity to bash her whenever it's presented to me) but now I've had a better idea thanks to your review.

Another point you made about Freya, I think I should say that when it comes to her, I'm sort of on the fence. Her character had major opportunity and whilst she did show a hell of a lot of promise, her entire character arch was kind of based around one singular thought – protecting her family no matter what. After a while, I found it a little annoying because she constantly stated that fact.

Now, coming to Dahlia, I always thought that she had major potential. Stealing her sister's child, drawing from her for centuries, practically making herself immortal. She was just… a little disappointing in the big picture. She cackled a lot, made threats, killed a few characters that didn't add a bunch to the plot (apart from Aiden, I cried at that death) and failed repeatedly to steal a baby. Though, with your review, you have made a point that I'd initially overlooked. Dahlia would have loved to kidnap a being that was literally made from magic such as Aria.

So, closing this author's note up, I have updated the previous chapter and changed this one from what I'd initially written. I freaking love you, because I was being a little blind to the changes I could've made already. There will be a few changes in the next few chapters though, I just wanted to get this fic off to a bit of a similar start to the original plot.

But back to the disclaimers, I own nothing but my OCs and my changes to the plot, now let's get on with it!

~*•°•*~

Aria Gerard had thought, leading up to her death, that perhaps she'd see a bright light or something similar. Instead, when she opened her eyes and saw the Abattoir courtyard, she had to admit that she found herself slightly confused.

And then Aria felt a chill.

A chill she'd gotten used to over the past few months.

But this time… it wasn't Kol. It wasn't someone else. It was her.

All she knew in that moment was that wherever she was, hell or any other place, this was not earth. Not the one she'd come to know. It was the Other Side, or perhaps, somewhere else. Aria could sense it.

So… was this the famed Limbo?

Or was she just dead?

She suddenly jolted, remembering Marcel and Davina.

Aria had watched as the power had flown from Davina and back into the earth but it had still not been completed. The power, all the raw and untamed power had been inches above the surface. Until, she assumed, her own death.

Let's just say if Aria died for nothing after all these years of surviving, the Other Side or wherever the hell she was would have a severely pissed off witch on its' hands.

But what about Marcel? How was he dealing? After all, his daughter and his ward for the better half of the past year had both just died right in front of his eyes so she had to assume that he wouldn't be doing well.

Then there was Davina. God, Aria hoped she was in limbo but the Ancestors didn't exactly have anything to thank her for now did they?

Kol…

Aria felt her heart clench at the thought of him. Even though she'd wrongly yelled at him, he had still come to the Cemetery. To stop her.

Stop her from dying.

The look of pure shock and torment on his face was enough to make the witch feel sick, and yet, for some reason, she knew that it hadn't just been because he was lonely. Over the past few months, she was sure of it, he'd grown to care for her.

Or at least enough to not want her to die.

And she'd just blown his concerns off, disregarded them completely.

Aria felt a sudden chill run through the air and she bit back a gasp at how purely cold it felt. It wasn't cool, it wasn't just cold, it was freezing. As if it wanted her to hurt.

And it did.

"Are you going to sit there? Or get up." A cold voice asked.

Aria frowned. She heard the voice but couldn't see where it had come from. It was as if the very walls… emptiness around her was speaking.

She moved so that she was sat up, and continued to look around until she saw a pair of feet. Her eyes travelled upwards. The feet had legs. The legs had a body. The body had arms and a neck and the neck had-

"Who the hell are you?" Aria demanded.

The woman, whoever in hell she was, gave Aria a dark smile. A smile that she felt would be the death of her, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Dahlia. And It's time we had a long overdue chat."

~*•°•*~

"Are you comfortable?"

"Would you like anything?"

"Are you going to talk?"

Aria ignored her questions, obviously. Her mind was working overtime. Dahlia… where had she heard that name before? It was a sort of echo in her mind, that name, but she couldn't place it for the life of her.

Her attention was drawn back to the woman when she found her head being forcefully moved to look at the woman, her eyes widened, "How did you do that?" Aria whispered.

Dahlia ignored her words, "You're thinking about how you know me, correct?"

Aria's eyes widened further, "How did you know that?"

"It matters not how I know, rather the meaning behind your thoughts. I resemble my sister barely, though my nephews certainly share some of my physical traits."

Aria's eyebrows creased together in confusion as her eyes searched Dahlia's face. Cold dark eyes almost black as coal, hair darker than any she'd ever seen yet still not black… She slowly shook her head, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Perhaps if you compare me to your… friend Kol Mikaelson."

At those words, Aria's fear spiked for two different reasons. One, this Dahlia, whoever she was had been able to watch her, possibly walk alongside her for longer than Aria could possibly know. The second reason, was that she had a point. Her and Kol… they looked alike. Similar, even. But that would mean…

"You've figured it out, haven't you?"

"No. No I haven't." Aria denied.

Dahlia smirked cruelly, "Yes. You have. I can see it in your eyes. You're confused as to how I share resemblance with the Mikaelsons, confused as to how I referred to them as my nephews, especially considering I share no physical similarities to my sister. You're a bright girl, Aria. Surely you can figure it out."

Mikaelsons… Nephews… Sister.

This wasn't happening. No. No. No. It wasn't. She was not spending eternity with this bitch… witch. Either one was fine for her.

Could she kill her here? That would feel pretty good. Aria would have to test whether it was possible. Dahlia kept on talking, making small talk about this, that and the other and Aria was simply ignoring her. It was pissing the older witch off and she enjoyed that, but mostly, the young witch had nothing to say. She was horrified. This couldn't be eternity. Put her in hell, not here. Put her anywhere else.

Not with her.

Aria had heard stories about her sister, Esther. Heck, everyone had heard stories about her although, most of hers were from Kol himself and he didn't have many if any nice things to say about her. Esther was powerful in her own right, but this woman… She was clearly far more powerful in ways Aria couldn't begin to understand. Her magic rolled off of her in waves, it felt like she was drowning in a way. Quite frankly, the stories she'd heard about Esther did nothing but terrify her. Far more than Klaus ever had. With him, he had emotions. Aria knew that because he had taken Marcel in. With Esther though… she had tried to murder her own children to atone for making them into vampires. What mother did that?

But this woman. This Dahlia… Aria had a feeling that she was infinitely more powerful and infinitely more dangerous than anyone had any right to be.

"You've figured it out."

Dahlia's words brought Aria back to the present and suddenly, the duo were surrounded by lit candles.

Yes, definitely more powerful than anyone had any right to be.

"Elijah and Rebekah seem to have taken something of a shine to you." She spoke.

Aria furrowed her eyebrows. Was she merely making more small talk, or did this change of topic have some sort of ulterior motive? Either way, it caught her attention, and Dahlia knew that she had Aria with that statement.

"I suppose you could say that." She murmured.

"Of course, so has Kol. It appears that even when dead, my sister's Viking children can't help but meddle in things they do not belong in."

Knowingly or not, Dahlia had just given away information that Aria would soon use against her. The disgust with which she said the word Viking was more than enough to tell the teenager that Dahlia hated them.

To Aria, that knowledge seemed like a victory, albeit a small one.

"If you're trying to turn me against the Mikaelsons, it's not going to happen. I may not like Klaus at all but I wouldn't wish him dead. Not with his child on the way."

Dahlia's previously stoic expression suddenly turned into a dark smirk at the thought of the child and Aria felt a sudden surge of protectiveness at her next words, "Niklaus… he will destroy that child just as he does everything else he touches. She possesses devastating power, power that he cannot even begin to understand much less control. Much like yourself. Much like Davina."

Aria leapt from her seat and moved towards Dahlia dangerously, much to the older woman's amusement, "You will go nowhere near her."

"Calm down, child. The Ancestors already have her. But unlike her, you are different. You are not The Ancestors' business. They were certainly happy to just let you die but I intervened. You see my dear, you are powerful. Powerful in a way that they fear. You were born from magic, in the purest sense possible. Not to mention, your so-called friends will forget about you soon enough. Leaving you with me."

"You seem so sure about that." Aria mused.

"I am. And you should listen to me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were an expert on my life and how I should live it. Please, continue whilst I take notes."

Dahlia glared at her and Aria smirked, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"You're so confident. Yet so foolish. I have managed to single-handedly save you from death, cheat death myself and preserve myself for the past one thousand years."

Now that caught Aria's attention.

However, Dahlia didn't continue,

"Despite that, you are dead, well in a matter of speaking. And I find it very hard to believe that you're content with watching your father's life crumble because of his loss of his beloved daughter?"

"Don't you dare speak a word about my father."

"Or what about Thierry? To my knowledge, Niklaus plans to release him in order to gain favour with the other vampires."

"Stop talking." Aria said, her tone low.

"Or Davina? When she comes back and her best friend – sister almost, remains dead."

"Stop talking or I swear, I don't care who you are, I'll make you."

Dahlia tutted, "Such a temper. I wonder, what would dear Camille say about this?"

"ENOUGH!" Aria all but screamed as every candle in the room was extinguished, only to be re-lit a moment later by Dahlia's magic. When the light was returned to the room, Dahlia was directly in front of her. A lone tear trickled down Aria's face.

The witch was quiet, as she lifted Aria's chin upwards. When she spoke, her voice was far gentler, much like what Aria had always thought a mother's would sound like, "You see, child, what happens when you keep everything in? When was the last time you let out all of your power, all of your magic free of the bounds you set around yourself? How many times must a vampire hurt you before you release your true potential?"

She didn't move away and Aria felt her energy swirl inside of her. It was becoming harder to keep it in, as though she was caging some kind of animal inside of her.

Then it hit her. This could be so easy for Dahlia. After all, she was right. Aria's life had been horrible since the Originals came back to town. Everything had begun to crumble around her. Her life was a horror show.

But it wasn't all bad.

Right?

"Poor child." She murmured, "So broken, so used. You have no idea the potential that the New Orleans witches, and even your family have kept from you. With me, you can unlock that potential, I can teach you, and nurture it. If you let me."

Aha. That… singular sentence stopped Aria in her tracks.

Aria blinked. And then blinked again before she let out a laugh and sighed in mock disappointment, "Oh Dahlia. You almost had me. You prayed on my weaknesses and tried to twist me against my family. Honestly, it almost worked. But you shouldn't have just said what you did. Because now, no matter what you do or what you say, I will never side with you."

She leant back and smiled pleasantly before moving back to the sofa and collapsing down onto it, one leg draped over the other as she made a tower with her fingers and rested them on her knee, "So, where were you? I believe you wanted to sway me to your side? I stopped listening a while ago."

Dahlia glared at Aria and she felt a proud smile spread across her face, "I'm not hearing any words right now."

Dahlia took a deep breath before looking at Aria stoically, masking the rage in her eyes particularly well, "You should sleep. You look exhausted."

Aria rolled her eyes, "Well, in case you haven't noticed I am dead. I can't imagine I'm glowing."

Dahlia sighed. She didn't look angry anymore, she just looked bored. Aria felt her ego deflate a little and stood up, "Your room is where it usually is."

Without another word, Aria walked through the compound and reached the room she shared with Davina. She reached for the doorknob to the room but hesitated before turning it. This'd be hard. She sighed and opened the door before moving over to the bed, her eyes flickered over to the window and she noticed that whilst it had been the middle of the day a mere moment ago, it was now the middle of the night.

Must be Dahlia.

She climbed into the bed and stared up at the ceiling, the last thought echoing in her mind as sleep took her.

I wish you were here, Kol.

~*•°•*~

Aria startled awake the next morning as light filled the room. She shot up in her bed and looked around the room frantically, sighing in disappointment as she realised Dahlia was in her room.

"You should get up, Aria."

"I'm dead, Dahlia."

"Well if you want to go back to sleep with blood everywhere, it's fine by me." She said as Aria's eyes once again opened. She looked down at herself and then noticed that she was covered in blood. From the Harvest.

"Oh." She murmured as she stood up and stretched, "So, are you like holding me hostage until I join you?" She wondered out loud.

"More like until you make the correct choice but yes."

"Alright… Anyways, I have another question. I'm dead. I know I'm dead." She stated as Dahlia nodded, "Yet I'm still tired. How does that work?"

"I'm keeping you partially alive for now. However if the other Harvest girls are resurrected, only one of them will need to channel power into you to bring you back to life."

"They aren't resurrected yet?" Aria said, alarm in her tone, "Why the hell not? I mean, didn't my death mean it was more likely to work?"

"A witch highjacked the sacrifice. The Harvest did work but she brought back three other witches from the past and directed the remaining power into herself."

"What witch?" Aria practically growled.

"That isn't important for now. What I need you to do, is wash the blood off, change clothes and meet me downstairs. We have much to discuss." She said shortly before she left the room and closed the door. Aria took a look around the room and scoffed when she noticed the curtains were opened, clean clothes were placed on her bed and the rest of the room was clearly cleaned considering that last night the room had been a mess.

"It's as if she's trying to be my mother." Aria murmured to herself before flinching violently at the thought. Never the less, she did as Dahlia asked, she still had no clue the extent of the witch's powers, and washed the blood off before changing her clothes and walking downstairs, tracing the scar from the Harvest gently.

She was dead, but it hurt like a bitch.

Once she finally reached the courtyard, she took a seat on the sofa she'd been seated at the previous day… or however long it had been. Dahlia was the one controlling this world after all, "Sorry I'm late. I just got caught up enjoying my last few minutes of not being here. Let's rectify that situation, yes? How are you?" Aria asked with a smirk as Dahlia's eye twitched.

"Don't forget I was the one to pull you back from death, child." She snapped.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Only… I can't dream here. I figured that out last night." She mused.

"Child, I am trying to help you. Save you from the clutches of the vampires who have manipulated and lied to you your whole life. Understand that."

"Why?"

Dahlia seemed mildly startled at the sudden question, "What?"

"Why do you want to help me? You just said so yourself so why?"

She seemed to struggle for words and Aria sighed, "You don't want to help me, nor do you want to unlock my true potential. You want to turn me into a weapon. Now, Dahlia, it's obvious you hold no love for you family. However, in case you've forgotten, those that raised me are a part of Klaus' sireline. I'm not an idiot. When your nephews-" Dahlia flinched slightly at the word, "Died, everyone found out the truth. The life of a vampire is linked directly to the one who sired them and, considering my father was directly sired by Klaus, that means most of the other people who raised me are as well. You'd have to be crazy to think I'd want to hurt them in any way."

Dahlia didn't even flinch at the outburst, "My sister Esther was the one who created her children into the abominations they have become, what if I told you that I was able to un-sire your family from Niklaus?"

Those words froze Aria in place, "What?"

Dahlia smirked, "Esther could never hope to be as powerful as I. Don't you think I'd be able to un-sire others from her children's lines?"

"You're lying." Aria murmured.

"Am I?"

"I-I can un-sire my family from Klaus' line?" Aria whispered in confusion.

"Yes, child. You can. I'm sure you know that there is certainly more White Oak in the world, I'm sure that if someone were to get their hands on it, their first goal would be Niklaus. With me, I can help you. I can save your family. Your friends."

"For what price? I'm no fool, Dahlia. You wouldn't just offer to help me."

"It's rather simple really. You allow me to channel you for purposes that will remain my own, I grow in power and your family is saved."

"You're a thousand-year-old immortal witch." Aria said slowly as if talking to a child, "Why would you need the help of a seventeen-year-old?"

"My dear, you are a lot more powerful than you realise. You were created from magic itself and… well, beings such as yourself surviving are almost unheard of."

"You want to channel me."

Dahlia nodded.

"And for that, you need me alive. Not dead."

Dahlia nodded once more.

"Klaus is no fan of me."

"You're a powerful witch, Aria, as I've said many times. I'm sure you'll figure something out."

The offer was tempting.

Dahlia channelling Aria in return for Aria's life and family being saved in the case of anything happening to Klaus.

But then Aria remembered.

"You hate your nephews, but when I mentioned Klaus' unborn child, you looked interested. Why?"

"That is for me to know, and me only."

"…I won't be able to resurrect myself. And I doubt you will either."

"I know. Which is why we need to bide our time. If you grow stronger, we will then be able to work together to resurrect you."

Aria took a shaky breath and narrowed her eyes at Dahlia, "How do you expect me to grow in power from here?"

"I will mentor you, teach you all you need to know and when it is time, together, we will be able to return you to your body."

Aria took a breath before she nodded.

Dahlia's lip twitched upwards into a satisfied smirk and Aria barely stopped herself from grinning.

Dahlia did want to channel Aria, she did want to resurrect her and she did want to grow in power by feeding off of Aria's.

The question was why she needed so much power.

And Aria was about to find out.

~*•°•*~

Well loves, I hope you liked the chapter.

Again, thank you to hiareportsyou for the inspiration, whether direct or indirect, it helped a ton and I hope you like my changes.

As Always, SecretMidnightRose.