Hello loves!

I own nothing, A/N is at the end of the chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Freya knocked on the door to Aria's apartment, pulling her hand back and folding it into her other one a moment later. She prevented herself from fiddling with her talisman as she was prone to do when anxious, it was becoming a particularly dangerous habit. The last time she'd been playing with it, she'd been spooked from someone approaching from behind her and… well, she'd never had complete control over her magic.

The door opened and Freya perked up at the sight of a girl. Instantly, she knew who it was. Davina. Aria hadn't stopped talking about her family when they'd had time to actually talk rather than plot how to escape Dahlia.

"Who are you?" She asked, head tilted to the side more curious than suspicious.

Freya smiled, "You're Davina, yes? Lovely to meet you, I've heard fond stories of you. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know who I am. I doubt Aria told you anything of our time together."

Davina's eyes narrowed suddenly and Freya smiled awkwardly. She realised that she must have cut quite the image, a girl with messy hair and ragged clothes suddenly appearing at someone's doorstep claiming to know you and needing help. Perhaps she should have thought this through more. Shaking off the unhelpful worries, she continued, "Is she here? I had hoped to see her. I… don't really have anywhere else to go right now."

Davina sighed and gave Freya a suspicious once over before stepping back into the apartment slightly. Considering the worst that could happen was Aria not recognising her, she'd be fine, "Aria? Someone's here for you."

Aria bounded out of the bathroom, a curious smile on her face before stopping dead in her tracks about a metre away from the door, smile slipping as her eyes widened and she stared at Freya in shock. Freya simply watched her, a mischievous smile making its way onto her face,

"Hello Aria. I take it by your lack of reaction that you recognise me?" Her grin widened as Aria didn't react, "Now, Aria, don't break my heart and tell me I was wrong and you've forgotten me."

"Freya?" Aria whispered, her tone conveying the overwhelming confusion she felt. Freya smiled and gently nodded as she bit her lip nervously, "It's good to see you again, Aria."

Aria let out a soft laugh and lunged forward, latching onto Freya tightly as she wrapped her arms around Freya's neck in a tight hug. After a moment, she pulled back and looked Freya over before coming to a stop on her face, "What the hell happened?"

~*•°•*~

Rebekah practically pouted as she stared at a portrait of herself on the wall in front of her, "That is just not my chin, Nik. It was much more delicate." She complained.

"The only delicate thing about you, sister, is your ego." Klaus scoffed.

Rebekah turned to face him, a sarcastic smirk on her face, "Well, placed next to the behemoth size of yours, certainly!"

The duo laughed together before Elijah's voice over the phone broke them out of their conversation, "Could we dispense with this fascinating dispute for just a moment and return to the subject of our supposed long-lost sister?"

"There's not much to discuss, Elijah. She said she was Freya, and then she darted off into the night." Rebekah sighed.

"And you believed her?" Elijah asked.

"Well, I met the girl in a mystical loony-bin. She could be anyone telling any lie. But, she did seem... familiar, somehow. And besides, she talked about knowing Aria on some level. Told us to play nice with her." Her tone suddenly turned accusing, "What have you two done? I happen to like Aria and I know she likes you two well enough. Well, she likes Elijah. She's obviously not too fond of you, Nik."

Klaus sighed in frustration, "Aria simply needs to learn how to pick a side is all. But back to our 'long lost sister'." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, "How is she still alive?" He suddenly rolled his eyes and began to pace around the room anxiously, "A question, as ridiculous as its possible solutions, given this family's annoying predilection for cheating death."

Rebekah shrugged, "I don't know, Nik, I'm just telling you what she said!"

"Well, did you happen to ask, if by some similar miracle, our supposed aunt Dahlia lives as well?"

"I barely had a chance to process-"

Klaus cut her off, "Because on the list of obvious questions, it would be nice to know if the woman who placed a curse on the first-borns of this family is still breathing air, never mind the fact that she might not be real in the first place."

Rebekah glared at her brother, "Well, let me just turn back time and do it again to your liking, then!"

"Enough! Both of you." Elijah's voice lowered, "If she is who she says, we'll find out soon enough. For now, it remains imperative that no one learns of Hope's existence. This has been our salvation thus far." Elijah paused for a brief moment, "However, regardless of Esther never mentioning it, Dahlia may not be the myth we believe her to be. Whether or not they are one in the same, I could not say, yet it seems we do have a larger family than even we had initially anticipated."

"How do you know?" Klaus questioned rather rudely. Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Aria. When she was sacrificed in the Harvest Ritual, she claimed to have been… re-routed and rather than ending up in Limbo like the other girls, she ended up in a dreamscape of sorts with a woman overseeing each movement she made. A woman claimed to be called Dahlia. So it seems that it is just as likely this woman, this Freya, is who she says as well."

Klaus scowled, "Well then brother, is there anything else you'd like to share with us? Maybe that the witch is secretly an Aria look-alike from another dimension intending on murdering us all in our sleep? Or maybe Hayley's husband-to-be is going to start flapping his gums. Perhaps I should take preventative measures and separate him from his head for good measure?"

Elijah sighed in annoyance, trust Niklaus to take the conversation away from what he did not know of, "Jackson will do nothing to jeopardize that wedding."

Rebekah gasped in confusion, "Hayley's getting married?!" Klaus smiled at her and she sighed, pouting again, "Well, what in hell else did I miss?"

~*•°•*~

"Nik? Nik!"

Klaus appeared in front of Rebekah, expression grim as his hand flexed on the phone he was holding, "That was Aiden." He raised the phone, "Finn has Marcel."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. Nor do I know where they are, what they're doing, or what specifically to do about it." He sounded worried. Frantic. And quicker than Rebekah could see now that she no longer had the vampire traits she'd learned to live with for the past thousand years, her brother picked a statue off of the mantel and slammed it against the floor, "This family makes me want to murder people." He muttered.

"I see my timing is as impeccable as usual." Kol murmured nervously, entering the room and running his hand through his hair for what felt like the thousandth time that day. His hair was dishevelled, his clothes were wrinkled, and the purple bags under his eyes stood out against his unusually pale face.

Klaus paid it no attention, "Well, the traitor just thinks he can waltz in here like he's welcome!"

Rebekah growled, "As gracious as your apology better be, you're still getting one hell of a slap!"

She lunged toward her brother but he backed away, stumbling slightly before grabbing onto the edge of the wall, "Wait! Wait. I understand the irony of what I'm about to say, but I came here because I need your help."

"Figure out how to do your wicked little body-swap, and then we can talk about help!"

Kol was hysterical, and it was rapidly becoming clear to Rebekah that something was wrong, "Look, you don't understand, Nik. I have been locked in this body, there is no more jumping. I am cursed, Nik. And I am dying."

Klaus looked amused and Rebekah looked uninterested. Kol's eyes flickered between his two siblings, hurt reflecting in the blue orbs, "You don't believe me." He said flatly.

"Well, you're hardly the champion of truth-telling."

Kol's eyes darted down to the floor, "Of course. Because why would a brother expect his siblings to leap to his aid?"

Klaus scoffed, "Oh, spare me the pity party, Kol! Your recent actions merit a certain allowance for disbelief."

"Look, I know what I've done!" He turned to face his sister, "But, I won't apologize for trying to pull one over on you, Bex. You deserved it! But I don't deserve to die! Certainly not at the hands of my own family!"

Klaus grabbed Kol's arm and pulled him closer so they were face-to-face, eyes narrowed, "What kind of con are you playing?" Kol jerked out of his grip and reluctantly met his brother's gaze, "The kind I hate the most. The truth."

"He's not lying." Rebekah said quietly, "Even as a boy, Kol never lied once called out on the act. He may play dirty pool, but he's not lying."

Klaus scoffed and spun around, before Kol lowered his voice, "Nik, I was helping Marcel for Aria. Finn had him, and he was trying to get a secret out of him, something he thought Marcel knew about you. And he's right, isn't he?"

Klaus stared at him coldly, "Marcel doesn't know anything about anything."

"Well, if I were you, I'd hope that that's true, because believe me, Finn had the means to get it out of him. Thing is, he wasn't there when I was. And I have no clue where he is."

~*•°•*~

"I tried to find your body, I tried… every spell I could but it was like you weren't even there." Aria said in confusion, watching Freya from across from her on the sofa in the living room, "Half of the time I worried I'd dreamt it all." Her voice dropped, "But then I found the Grimoire she gave me and everything clicked again."

Freya sighed, "I've long suspected that Dahlia placed a cloaking spell on the coffins. Both hers and mine. I can only assume she didn't want to risk someone finding us despite the power she always claimed to have. You know that it started as a way for us to stay young and beautiful, she said if a witch can't be immortal, this was the next best thing. But, as we both know, all her stories are paired with lies."

Aria sighed and her eyes darted down to the floor, "The way you're speaking of her..." She looked up to Freya, "Is she awake?" Her tone was laced with urgency.

Freya pursed her lips before sighing herself, "I'm not sure. She woke the same time I did, yes, but I could only sense her for a small period before something happened. We're linked, but something must have happened to her, because as far as I can tell, she's asleep again. She must have performed a strong feat of magic as soon as she woke, there's no other reason she could have exhausted herself so easily. It must have been important, or else she wouldn't have taken the risk. She's paranoid like that, as you well know. We have a week if not less before she herself wakes once more and an additional day or two before she remembers what happened in… well in hell. Aria, we both know that she doesn't just live, she hunts. To Dahlia, any act of betrayal is punishable by death. And in her eyes… both of us have betrayed her in the worst way possible."

Aria nodded and sighed anxiously, pinching the bridge of her nose before Freya leant forward, "Dahlia is our cross to bear. She has no grudge against anyone but us."

"That may not be entirely true." Aria sighed, looking up to Freya through her eyelashes, "Do you know about the curse she placed on your family? The one that says she can take the first-born of every generation?"

Freya frowned in confusion, "Yes. But why should that concern us? My siblings are vampires, there are no first-borns for her to take."

They both heard the concern in her voice.

"Your half-brother Klaus. He's the Hybrid. And he has a daughter."

Freya's eyes widened and she sat back in her chair, clutching onto her talisman fearfully, "How old is she?" She asked quietly.

Aria sighed, "Probably about six months."

Freya's eyes darted down to the ground, filled with worry, "Dahlia will sense her, she will want to find her!" She looked back up to Aria as a sudden thought occurred to her, "As soon as she wakes, she will come after her. You are here, I am here. She'll put the pieces together and find all of us together. Aria, if she channels all of our power at once, she'll be unstoppable."

Aria sighed, "Hope is hidden. Even I haven't been able to find her. But your brother Finn," Here, Freya looked up to her in confusion, "He was trying to find her. So far, he hasn't been able to, he probably thinks it's impossible because he's just getting used to witchcraft and his new body." Catching Freya's curious glance, she sighed, "Another time. But anyway, your mother has filled his head with the terror of what would happen to your family if the child lived, so the Mikaelsons staged her death to keep her safe."

"Then how do you know she's alive?"

Aria rolled her eyes, "They were convincing, I'll give them that. But they didn't take into account that I saved Hope from the French Quarter witches. They planned to sacrifice her so I… kind of used a spell I found in Dahlia's Grimoire to slow them down. The side effect is that now I'm be able to sense Hope. If she's sad, I'm sad, if she's happy, I'm happy, etcetera etcetera. Bottom line, I can tell she's alive."

Freya gave her a disapproving look but Aria simply levelled it with one of her own. After a moment, Freya sighed and blinked before turning away from Aria, "Alright then. I suppose you're the one taking the brunt of the spell." She smirked teasingly at Aria, "Linking yourself to a baby."

Aria groaned, "Don't remind me." She paused suddenly, "Hang on, when did you wake up?"

"About a week ago." Freya replied, "And um, I was wondering, hoping really, that you might have an idea of a place for me to stay?"

Aria looked at her like she'd grown another head, "Are you kidding? Stay here!"

"Really?"

"Yeah of course. Davina will love you and we have a spare room anyways." She grinned.

"Thank you, Aria."

"No problem. So, first thing's first. How about we get you out of those rags?"

~*•°•*~

A knock at the guest room's door pulled Freya from her thoughts as she stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body after just having a shower as she combed through her hair.

"Coming!" Freya called out, trying to comb her wet hair with her fingers as she made her way over to the door.

Her fingers were fast, but it was definitely going to take a lot more to comb through the mess of usually gentle curls that had somehow managed to tangle themselves up into something fierce. With a small sigh, she just flipped her hair over her shoulders, hoping it wouldn't be too obvious, and opened the door.

She smiled, catching sight of Aria in the doorframe before her eyes strayed down to the bags her friend was holding curiously. Her eyes darted back up to Aria's face and narrowed slightly at the mischievous spark in her eyes. What was Aria planning?

"So…" Aria said, drawing out a sigh as she grinned at her friend, "I figured that after being asleep for a century, you wouldn't have any nice clothes to wear so I went ahead and went through my closet. I figured you'd fit in some of my clothes and if you don't like them, just say. But until we go shopping and you pick some clothes of your own, hopefully we'll be able to find something nice." She smiled, brandishing one of her many bags, "Maybe Davina could come, too. She's out right now, but when she comes back I'm sure she'd like to meet you properly this time. She's been a bit busy lately." Aria's eyes glazed over lightly, eyebrows furrowing in what looked like confusion before she smiled again.

Freya's eyes darted down to the bags before looking back up to her friend, "Alright." She murmured, opening the door wider, "Come on in."

Aria nodded brightly, passing through the doorframe and into the guest bedroom before setting the bags down onto the bed and pulling out their contents. Most of the clothes were rather casual, jackets, t-shirts and jeans and the like, but then there were also some more dressy styles. Some. It wasn't difficult to tell that Aria disliked dresses.

After a rough forty-five minutes of looking through Aria's clothes, the duo making small talk all the while, Freya picked out a sleeveless dark olive turtleneck, a black pair of jeans and plain black high heeled boots.

"Try them on and see if they fit. If not, we can keep digging through these until we find a good set."

Freya disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments before walking back out dressed in the new clothes along with the pendant she'd been wearing with her old clothes. She'd also brushed out her hair whilst in the bathroom and although it was still a little damp, it was mostly dry and strewn down her back in gentle waves.

Aria gave her a quick once over and smiled. The colour of the turtleneck complimented her green eyes and the jeans and boots matched nicely, "You look great."

The next moment, Freya was sat down in a chair on the small vanity in the room as Aria started to do her makeup, teaching her techniques and how to use it, "You're already pretty, but for the first time meeting your family you might want to go a little extra." She teased gently, helping apply eyeliner. After another moment, she swapped to helping with the other eye.

"What are they like?" Freya asked after another moment of silence, "My family. I've met Rebekah now, and of course I know Kol." At this point she paused, "Who I hear was brought back to life when the Other Side collapsed just like Finn?" Her words came out as more of a question than a statement.

Aria nodded gently, a small smile on her face as she bit her lip nervously, "Yeah. Yeah, he's back. And Finn, obviously."

Freya's eyes narrowed in thought as she looked over Aria's face. The small blush of embarrassment, the slight ducking of her head, the nervousness as she bit her lip, the hesitation before answering her unspoken question. Had Aria and Kol…? A smirk making its way onto her face, Freya laughed lightly. Finally. But as glad as she was that her brother had finally gotten over his ego, she'd reluctantly let them have their secret for now. Well, she'd let Aria have her secret. Kol would be getting an earful of both teasing and warning not to break Aria. Not after Dahlia.

Aria cleared her throat and picked up an eyeshadow pallet before turning to look at Freya's face while biting her lip in thought, figuring out what colours would fit her best. Looking back down to the palette, she chose bronze before looking back up and beginning to apply it again.

"So… how are you planning to do the whole, revealing yourself thing?" Aria asked absently.

"I'm not too sure. In all honesty, I was hoping you might be able to help me."

Aria gave her friend a dubious glance, "Me?" She scoffed slightly, "Freya, maybe try to pick someone the Mikaelsons don't hate so much to introduce you."

"They don't hate you." Freya frowned as Aria moved to the other eyelid.

"Okay, I suppose they don't hate me. Rebekah's kind of my friend, Kol's on the outs with them right now, I guess I do have an alliance with 'Lijah…" She trailed off, "But either way, Klaus won't be happy if it's me. I'm already walking on eggshells around him."

Freya smiled as Aria pulled away and closed the eyeshadow pallet, "I suppose it's because you're so similar." She explained cheerfully.

Aria paused in her movements and visibly shivered before sighing and beginning to put her things away, ignoring Freya's words all together.

"What if they don't want me?" Aria froze and looked back up to Freya, surprise written all over her expression as the witch continued, "Wondering for hundreds of years is very different to actually doing anything about it." She explained, her voice oddly void of emotion.

Aria sighed and took a deep breath, "Look, I'm a blunt person. So I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. Before you meet the Mikaelsons, you need to say goodbye to that happy little family idea. They're incredibly good at stabbing each other in the back, too good, honestly. And I mean that because I'm not speaking in metaphors. Freya, Kol is your friend, and I'm fairly sure he's already accepted you. You've also saved Rebekah's life, I know she doesn't take that lightly. I can't speak for Klaus and I don't think I can speak for Elijah either, but they are your family. They will respect that, even if it takes time because they don't leave family behind. They might not trust you, but it's the Mikaelsons." Her lip quirked upwards, "They don't trust anyone. You have faced Dahlia and returned unscathed. You can do this."

Freya smiled back in response after a moment.

"Well then, since you're done." Aria announced, standing up and holding out her hand for Freya, a teasing smile on her lips, "My fair lady, let's get to this."

~*•°•*~

"So, what is the secret, anyway?" Kol asked curiously, sparing a glance to his siblings.

Klaus rolled his eyes in boredom, "The term secret implies something only known by those who have earned the right to be aware of it." He stood suddenly to face them, "Start the spell."

"Well, it's easier said than done. Finn is channelling the power from our parents." He nodded his head toward Rebekah, "He's a lot stronger than something some week-old witch and I can do."

Rebekah huffed, "Now, hang on! I may not be trained, but I-" The candles and ingredients Kol had set up on the table all clattered to the ground as the witch sighed in annoyance, sending a look over to his guilty sister. Rebekah slouched in defeat, "Oh, blast."

"We need a stronger witch." Klaus murmured, glancing up to his brother, "Call Aria."

Kol stood to his feet, surprising his siblings with the strength of which he did so, "No! No. I-I don't want her to know that I'm sick. Besides, she's too out of it to do magic no matter what she says. It's dangerous for her. And if we call Davina, she'll just tell her. They couldn't keep a secret from the other if they tried."

"Then do a better bloody job!"

"I just need time."

Klaus rolled his eyes impatiently, "The spell cast to lock you in your body, do you remember it?"

"Well, I was a little distracted by the murder-y part..." Kol commented dryly.

"If we can use this spell against Finn, once he's locked in his body, I can end our collective woes with a brief snap of the neck!" Rebekah smiled knowingly, "All I need to do is pull it from your memory."

Kol's face lost all colour as he frantically backed away from Klaus.

"Oh, no, no, no! I am not allowing anybody into my mind, do you understand?"

"You came into my home, asking for my help. This is it." Kol continued to eye him warily, "It's not a request."

Klaus grabbed his brother's arm and tugged him forward, grabbing Kol's head and closing his eyes. Whether he'd admit it or not, delving into someone's memories was a less than pleasant experience. It would be painful to both him and Kol, but more importantly, you never really knew what you would see. It wasn't as though there was a corridor with labelled doors to walk down.

Klaus frowned as one memory jumped, or rather… skipped? He would liken searching through memories to watching a movie of sorts, one that went by far faster than he could comprehend until something stuck out. His grip on Kol's head tightened slightly and the memories slowed until they were almost intelligible. Despite that, only one thing stood out to him.

I've wanted one thing for years. To drive a dagger into his heart.

Klaus let go of Kol's head, and shoved the witch away from him. Kol took in a shuddering breath as he stared at his older brother anxiously, "See? I'm-I'm guessing, just by the look on your face, that it worked."

Klaus was quiet, almost calm, borderline peaceful. But his eyes were swirling with madness.

"You come simpering for brotherly love, and the whole time you were plotting against me with that damn dagger." He said quietly, "The whole time, you've been no better than Finn!"

"Oh, and you threatening me makes you better than Finn, does it?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes and scoffed, not even bothering to stand from the chair. Idiots, the both of them. Honestly, how am I related to them?

"Both of you, just stop it!"

"No, Nik, I came to you because you're my family! But, I see whilst you and Rebekah and Elijah are all hanging portraits and sharing secrets, I'm the odd one out!" With as little as few muttered words, Kol quickly had Rebekah unconscious and Klaus writhing on the floor.

"Stop!"

The weak order had no effect on Kol, "Oh, you're angry, are you? Well, join the party, I have been here a thousand years! I was building that dagger to protect myself against you, Nik. I'm not the bad guy in this chapter of our family's story! I'm the wronged! I'm the dead, but never mourned, and whilst you got everything that you wanted. I got a family who didn't care if I lived or if I died! I got a family that stood there as a white oak stake pierced my flesh!"

"Oh, shut up!" Klaus yelled furiously.

The next thing Kol knew, his head had hit the stone-cold wall behind him and there was a hand around his throat.

"WE'VE ALL SUFFERED! WE'VE ALL BEEN WRONGED!"

Kol took in a ragged breath, "Go on! Go on, finish it off! Go ahead, kill me!"

Klaus glared at his brother for a long moment, before finally dropping him to the floor, agony flashing across his face as he took in a shuddering breath, not unlike the one Kol had a moment ago, "I'm not going to kill you, you idiot!" He scoffed incredulously, "Despite your behaviour, you're still my brother!"

Kol sent a look of pure confusion up towards his older brother as he caught his breath before his eyes hardened, "Yeah, just the one you dagger repeatedly."

"I've daggered all of you! Each for your own good! If you don't agree with my motives, fine. I never claimed to be the bastion of temperance! But stop this drivel about being singled out and unloved." He walked purposefully towards Kol and knelt down in front of him, "You are a Mikaelson! You're my blood. And I need you. I need you by my side."

"What does it even mean, Nik? Hmm? You talk about family - family this, family that. I haven't even earned the right to share your secrets, have I?"

Klaus shook his head, "No. You haven't. But, by all means, brother, prove yourself. It's not too late."

Klaus held his hand out to Kol, almost hopeful for the witch to take it. He did.

"I have no clue where Finn is. He wasn't even at the little shop the witch Lenore used to run. Marcel was still there though, tied up and all. So whatever Finn was doing, was important enough to leave a hoard of vampires completely unsupervised." Kol said quietly.

"Do you know where he is now?"

"You've gotta tell me why you need to find him so bad."

Klaus looked at him before glancing away, unsure before Kol stopped him.

"Look, Nik, you've gotta trust me for once in your life, and I will stand by your side! I promise."

"You would risk your life to help me?"

Kol glanced down to the ground as his voice broke slightly in fear, "I know enough about dark magic to know that I'm hexed. There's no reversing what's been done to me. But Finn's found a way to put the fear of Mikael in you, and if I'm gonna die, I'll be damned if I die just as terrified as you clearly are."

Klaus swallowed anxiously, "Finn has been dead to me for a long time. Tonight, I intend to make that official. Help me, and then I will share my secret with you."

Kol considered Klaus' words for a long moment, "I can do a spell. Find where his signature's the strongest. Chances are, that's where he'll be." He smiled sadly, "Go inside my head. Find the spell. Let's finish this."

~*•°•*~

The bell tower was empty, and the hair on the back of Kol's neck prickled. It reeked of Finn's magic, but that didn't mean he'd be there. The only thing he could take comfort in, was that there was zero trace of his magic anywhere else in New Orleans. If he wasn't here, then he wasn't in New Orleans.

"Where is he? Is this a trick?"

Kol looked over to Klaus nervously, "This place reeks of Finn's magic, I swear."

The Hybrid looked slightly more placated than the previous moment. Kol's eyes drifted around the room, landing on the table in the centre of the small bell tower. He frowned and his hand traced the ashes on the table before he dusted off his fingers.

"This is the remnant of a spell. Ancient. It's impressive. And clearly futile. Whatever he was trying to do, he was failing miserably at it."

"Admire its artistry later. We came here for a reason."

"Well, Nik, I can't exactly make Finn materialise out of thin air, now can I?"

"Well maybe it would help if we knew precisely who it was that cursed you, or perhaps we should simply let Dahlia plough through all of us like we're not the strongest creatures on Earth!"

Kol had a feeling the last part was directed to Rebekah, but it still managed to get him a little more than intrigued. Or terrified. He couldn't quite tell the difference, "Dahlia?"

The attention turned to him instantly, "Our supposed aunt hell-bent on murdering all of us-" Klaus began. Kol rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know who Dahlia is. I knew her when you were still playing with your mutts, though I don't quite know why you're so worked up about it, Nik, Dahlia wants power but she doesn't care a lick about you lot. She wants the powerful witches in our bloodline and considering we're now either in new bodies or vampires and have been for the past millennia then-" He paused, and looked to Klaus as realisation struck him, "Apart from you."

He turned around to look at the table again, eyes scanning the ingredients hungrily, searching for any sign of a spell he'd be able to identify. There was a vague resemblance but it seemed like whatever spell it was, might've been native to New Orleans. And, knowledgeable as he was, he'd admit that he was more well versed in Dark or Traditional Magic, than the wild magic of the city they were in at that moment.

He paused. Dark Magic. Dahlia. Bloodlines. His eyes suddenly widened in realisation.

"That's it, isn't it? Nik you- your baby's still alive."

No wonder Aria's been so odd lately. She seemed to know everything about Nik's kid.

"That's why you're so bloody terrified of Dahlia coming. She's coming for your kid."

Rebekah turned to their brother, "If Finn has been trying to find Hope and he's not here, what if he's already found her?"

Klaus frowned, and turned to look at Kol darkly, almost threateningly, "You said that he failed miserably at the spell he was attempting. What spell was it?" Klaus finished.

Kol turned back to the table and frowned as he traced the patterns. It might've been native to New Orleans, but he could sure as hell identify the spell's purpose.

Strange choice of ingredient to use there… Honestly, why the hell has he lit all these candles, they're entirely useless? He used the wrong herb there, it's too weak for this spell… that should've been added after this piece. Did he… did he cut that up? Kol almost choked. You're supposed to dice it. I'm honestly offended to be related to this dolt.

He turned back around to face his siblings, "Apart from some horrendous miscalculations, it looks like Finn was trying a locator spell. Strange kind – it's definitely native to New Orleans. It seems like he was using a voodoo poppet to replace something, maybe as a replacement for blood?" At his sibling's rather blank expressions, he sighed, "A locator spell. Finn was attempting a locator spell."

"Finn is channelling both our parents. He's too strong. And because we have no clue where our traitorous brother is, we need to find a way to sever his link to them! How do we do that?"

"I can't sever the link." Kol's eyes widened, "But there is something we can try. It'll take power, and a lot of it. Far more than we have right now." He paused before a slow grin stretched across his face, "But I know who does."

He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. It rang for a moment, before, "Hello?"

Kol took pleasure in the dumbstruck looks of his siblings at his next words, "Aria, darling, I need a favour. I know my adorable sister is behind the bursts of magic that've been in New Orleans lately, I'm afraid that she isn't quite as inconspicuous as she'd like to think. So I need you and Freya to meet me at the Lafayette Cemetery. Now."

~*•°•*~

"We can't get into the tomb without Finn's blood." Freya heard a voice murmur as she and Aria rushed through the cemetery. Could that be Kol? The mild sense of relief that washed over her quickly vanished as Aria suddenly crumpled to the ground beside her.

"Aria!"

The witch looked like she was in pain, grabbing at her head and muttering something she couldn't quite make out, "Aria, what's wrong, what can I do?" She asked desperately.

Aria let out a small whimper before she turned and stared up at Freya with wide innocent eyes. Freya let a breath loose at the moisture gathering in the bright orbs – clearly from pain of some kind – before she frowned. Was anyone else in the cemetery? She concentrated and listened to the voices, steadily increasing in volume, all talking about her. Aria. They didn't seem to care that they were quite obviously causing Aria pain, all she could tell was that they were angry.

On instinct, Freya placed a protection spell over the teenage witch in front of her, and the voices immediately ceased as ragged breaths were torn from Aria's throat. The witch was no longer clenching her hands in pain, nor was she drawing blood from her palms where her nails had pierced the skin.

"Care to explain?"

Aria shook her head, "Not just yet. Kol needs us."

Freya smiled slightly, Aria's loyalty to her family was as strange as it was comforting despite knowing full well that they had done nothing to earn such loyalty. She'd quickly learned that Kol wasn't particularly ready to praise their family on command. She leant a hand to her friend, and pulled her up before they quickly began walking again.

"Well, how do we disrupt Finn from channelling our parents in there if we can't even get through the bloody binding circle?" Rebekah asked.

"We're not here to disrupt Finn's power, we're trying to overload it."

Rebekah stared wide-eyed at her brother, "Are you daft? You want to make him stronger?"

Freya chose that moment to voice her opinion, "Kol has a point." All heads turned to her, "A witch can only ever channel so much power, the amount depending on the potential they possess. After that, they'll literally start to disintegrate from the inside. He'd either have to release the power, or, well…" She trailed off and a slightly haunted look took place on her face at the thought of her brother's death.

Kol was the only one smiling at her, "Freya."

She smiled in return, "Brother." She cocked her head to the side and frowned, "You look strange."

His expression quickly darkened, "Don't remind me." He then turned to Aria, and concern flashed through the new eyes, "You alright?"

Aria snorted, colour quickly returning to her face, "Eloquent as always, Mikaelson."

Kol shrugged easily, "'Tis a gift, Little witch."

Rebekah sighed and brought the conversation back around, "But Finn won't be dead, if the power is overloaded, he'll just body-jump."

"Yes, and if he does jump, we'll know where the hell he is. Not to mention his spell will be all but useless if he's not in his first host body, meaning he'll have to start all over again if he's dead set on 'napping our niece." Kol said.

Aria's expression dropped slightly and her eyes strayed down to the floor, they're trying to find Finn? Shit.

No matter, she'd just have to… interfere a little. Nothing new. Rebekah wouldn't be able to tell considering she was apparently now a week-old witch – something she made a mental note to question later, and Kol might not tell either. He was a witch, but he was still in a new body, one that was apparently rather weak-willed when it came to magic. Freya was the only one she'd have to worry about. Finn… she still needed time with him. If he body-jumped, then he'd just do exactly what the Mikaelsons were trying to stop him from doing. Regardless, she didn't feel like outing herself quite yet. Klaus' temper was something she'd be all too willing to avoid for a little while.

She vaguely heard Kol promising to get Rebekah back into her original body, before tuning back into the conversation when she heard her name mentioned.

"-whilst Aria attempts to cloak Hope and Camille." Freya finished.

I'm doing what?

"Will she be able to do that from this far away?" Rebekah asked, sending a wide eyed look over to Aria.

Apparently so.

Aria shrugged, feigning ignorance before tuning back out. She was already linked to Hope, granted it was a weak link that was probably close to breaking considering the amount of time that had passed, but considering she was fairly sure that the Mikaelsons didn't have a vial of Hope's blood lying around, it would have to do. Besides, it wasn't like anyone else was trying to find the baby. Before Rebekah could reply, Klaus walked into the small room with a duffle bag in hand.

"Did you get me what I asked for?" Kol asked.

Klaus carelessly dropped the bag at Kol's feet, as the witch in question visibly winced at the treatment of the objects, "Mystical artefacts and dark objects galore, from my own personal collection garnered over a thousand years."

Kol practically jumped at the bag, rifling through it and pulling various objects out of it, Aria only recognising one or two of them as he went. He paused suddenly before scoffing, "I wondered where this had gone! Half this stuff is mine!"

Aria stifled a laugh at the completely violated expression on his face, well aware of Freya's own hand covering her mouth in an effort not to laugh at her brother's expression. She silently thanked the fact that Kol no longer had his supernatural hearing, she couldn't imagine that he'd take kindly to her laughing at his expense.

"There's more." Klaus interrupted.

Aria's smile dropped as the Hybrid pulled out the indestructible white oak stake and handed it over to his brother, a small voice whispering to her in the back of her head.

Take it. This can all be over. Just take it.

The voice had been getting louder recently. And it had started with her visit to Esther. If she didn't know any better, she'd have said that the witch had done something to her, just as she'd heard about Elijah. Something about unveiling memories that Suit and Tie had hidden in the dark corners of his mind. And though Esther hadn't revealed any memories she'd hidden – mostly because the Original witch wasn't, well, a witch anymore, and also because the singular set of memories Aria had hidden away were protected by the knowledge she knew she had hidden memories – she had certainly triggered Aria's old state of mind. A state of mind that was completely against the Originals being in New Orleans. The state of mind she'd had before actually meeting the Originals.

She shook the thoughts away and focused back on the moment, a small smile tugging at her mouth again when she looked to Kol.

"You're going to trust me with this?" He was asking quietly.

"You, I'd grant whatever you need." He placed the stake in Kol's hand, "Whatever it takes." He looked up to Freya, "Her? I'm afraid trust takes more time to earn, sweetheart."

Freya nodded, "Then I look forward to earning that trust."

"Alright. Let's get started."

~*•°•*~

Aria was beyond bored.

She'd managed to cloak Hope and Cami within a few moments of leaving the tomb the others were gathering in, feigning a need for quiet to concentrate on the spell. Only Kol had suspected something, knowing she could cast a cloaking spell perfectly fine. But it was pretty inconsequential, he would be focusing on overloading Finn's channelling over thinking about her. Besides, he trusted her. And it wasn't like she was working against them. She just wanted some time with Finn before telling anyone else – namely Klaus. That would only end with murder, mayhem, and a kidnapping. She could guess which category she'd fall into, and she'd quite like to stay alive.

It wouldn't be a lie to say that the Mikaelsons were wary of her, bar Kol and Freya, they all knew that whilst she may help them eventually, she almost always had her own agenda. But in all honesty, all she cared about was whether or not she and her family were safe. That had been the only thing she'd been caring about since the big bad Hybrid arrived back in the Quarter.

Gods, I've become so boring. I'm in need of a severe holiday.

All too quickly, her mood changed as a wave of magic clashed against the cloaking spells she'd placed over Finn. She bit her lip to supress a shriek at the sudden assault, before calming herself. Right, she had two options. One, lower the spell and have any chance of stopping Finn from killing a baby evaporate along with the magic she'd placed over him. Or two, stop Kol and Rebekah.

She frowned. She didn't want to do either.

So maybe do both.

She hummed, that wasn't a bad idea. If she lowered the cloaking spell, then Kol and Rebekah might just be able to strip Finn of any excess power he was clinging onto. But she'd also have to place another barrier spell around the hotel room just to be safe.

A smile curled her lips.

Easy enough.

~*•°•*~

Aria had parted with Freya a street or two away from the apartment, feigning a need to check up on one of her witch friends in the Quarter, it wasn't too far of a stretch to pretend she had other witchy friends than Davina. Though speaking of Davina, the witch had been acting slightly strange lately. Aria frowned and faltered in her steps before quickly picking up the pace yet again. No time for dawdling. She had to get back to the hotel she'd stashed Finn at.

When she pushed the door to the room open, she wasn't entirely surprised to see him unconscious. A small pinprick of guilt hit her and she frowned; the only good thing that had become of them stopping Finn's channelling of his parents was that now, he wouldn't have as much of a target on his back.

Though she still needed to decide if he was telling the truth or not.

She walked over to the unconscious body and carefully grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking lightly, "Finn. Wake up."

The bout of magic that hit her was instantaneous.

Esther had placed Finn in a pretty powerful witch's body, but as new as Finn was to magic, the power in this body was more than enough to sustain him for a while as he learned the ropes. With little else than a mutter of a phrase, Finn had sent her flying across the room and slamming into the door. She scowled. Perhaps this had required a more delicate approach. Because Finn did not look happy.

"Do you think you're funny?" He questioned darkly, hand still outstretched keeping her against the door, "What did you do to me?"

"Oh please." Aria broke free of whatever spell had been holding her against the door quickly enough, barely stopping herself from firing back with a spell of her own that could show him just how stupid attacking her had been, "I saved your sorry arse from pain you couldn't imagine!"

Kol was a powerful witch in his own right, she couldn't deny that. But Rebekah was entirely untrained and it took far more than raw power to execute a spell right. It was a coin toss between Finn either exploding or Rebekah killing herself outright. Aria didn't particularly want either to happen at the moment.

Finn's eye twitched.

He knew she was right.

Aria held her hands up in surrender, "Truce."

Finn eyed her hands warily before scowling at her and turning. She supposed it was the best she was going to get. The witch lowered her hands and sighed, glancing around the suite in boredom, "So, what've you been doing?"

Finn scoffed, "Whilst the decorations were a nice touch, I'm afraid that they did little to curb my dreariness."

Her eyebrow quirked, "I'm pretty sure you are the only person I know that would call those Grimoires decorations. I know more people than I can count who'd kill for a look at those."

Finn rolled his eyes before pausing, "Well, I'll admit that one particular page caught my eye." She resisted a smile at his next statement, "Tell me, Miss Gerard, is everything a manipulation with you?"

"Pretty much."

The Grimoires were ones that Marcel had been collecting from certain French Quarter witches for the past couple of centuries, and whilst most of them were relatively boring – though that might've just been because she'd read them over and over again – there were a couple that still piqued her interest. One of which she had given to Finn to keep him as placated as possible.

He eyed her curiously, "You have me here for a reason. My siblings have… prevented me from channelling my parents any longer so it can't be because of the power I no longer possess. Regardless, it seems you've managed to dose me up with a herb of some sorts that prevents me from doing magic."

"Clearly I haven't used enough." Aria muttered darkly, hand going up to her head and wincing in slight pain.

Amusement shone in Finn's eyes for a moment before it was gone, "I'll assume you want my thoughts?"

"They wouldn't be unwelcome."

Finn nodded and turned to one of the tables with various pages scattered on them. Aria frowned and quickly made note of the mix of ingredients and pages before snorting quietly. He'd been trying to break the barrier spell around the room. Good luck, you've barely been around New Orleans magic a year. It's more difficult than other magic.

As Finn was rifling through the pages, he sighed and motioned over to another table in the room, "Help yourself to a drink, Miss Gerard."

Well, he'd been busy.

She raised an eyebrow, "If that's alcohol then I'll give you a moment to realise I'm not eighteen."

He paused for a brief moment, as if he'd forgotten, before nodding, "It's not. I can't… handle the taste of most."

Aria smiled slightly and collapsed down onto a chair, "Likewise."

"I thought you said you weren't eighteen."

She grinned, "I'm not." A brief moment passed before Finn made a noise of triumph and took a seat opposite her, "I'll make you a deal, Miss Gerard, my thoughts in return for your help."

"I'm not letting you out of this room until I get what I want." Aria said instantly.

"That's not why I need your help."

"Alright. One, what do you need my help for; and two, how do I know you're not gonna try and get me killed again?"

Finn looked as sheepish as he probably could look, "What Mother said made sense at the time. Kill you, the threat of Dahlia decreases. I now realise it's rather the opposite."

"And I'm just supposed to accept that you've changed and no longer want to kill me or your family?"

"I don't want to kill you, however I can't quite say the same for my family."

Aria's eyes narrowed on instinct, "Fine. We're coming back to this, though."

"Perhaps."

Finn placed the Grimoire on the table between them and his hands traced over the spell, "This caught my attention. I'll assume you left the Grimoires for a reason besides merely being concerned about my tedium, and I'll assume that it's because whatever you need help with, no other witch has been able to succeed in identifying."

Aria shifted in her seat. That was entirely too close to the truth for her liking.

"Now, you are most certainly well versed in the magic of New Orleans but there are other types of magic you probably haven't considered when looking at this spell."

"What do you mean? The spell makes no sense no matter the way you look at it."

"Has it occurred to you that not all magic is spell-based?"

Her eyes lit up with child-like curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are several branches of magic. What's to say all magic is spell based?"

"It's not, obviously. But what's your point?"

"Maybe you have been looking at this spell all wrong. Maybe it's not a spell per se, but a… recipe you need to translate."

"A recipe? Like a potion?"

Finn chuckled, "Of sorts, I suppose."

Aria grabbed the Grimoire away from him and her eyes hungrily devoured the page in a new light. It was New Orleans magic – dark magic almost by default – and she had to admit, dark magic was by far some of the most interesting.

"So, is it the right spell?" Finn questioned, a small smile of amusement playing around his mouth.

A slow, identical smile stretched on Aria's lips, "Oh I think it is. It's quite an ingenious recipe for a tethering potion."

Finn scoffed, but there wasn't any bitterness. Potion. He didn't have to like the witch to find her amusing.

He frowned suddenly, "What would you need a tethering poti-spell for?"

Aria didn't supress her laugh as Finn scowled. Bloody witches.

The scowl quickly turned into a worried frown. There weren't many things you could accomplish with a tethering spell unless you had another spell you were prepared to combine it with. "Miss Gerard, what do you need this spell for?"

Aria smirked innocently and a brief shiver ran down Finn's spine. Had no one ever noticed just how similar Niklaus' smile was to hers?

"Well, Finn. If I were to tell you that I might've had an idea that would benefit not only myself, but you, and the rest of your family, what would you say?"

"I'd say you'd be lying. There are very few things in this world that would benefit that many people. Not to mention your intentions frequently conflict with those of my family."

Aria smiled. He was leaving out quite a few other people her intentions clashed with. Namely the French Quarter witches. Then again, there was a mutual loathing between most of them and herself that went back as long as she could remember. All it came down to, was that her trust in the French Quarter witches was literally non-existent.

"It's rather simple, Finn. There's one thing you, the Mikaelsons, and I can agree on." Her grin was sharp, "Dahlia needs to die. And I know just the way to do it."

Hey guys!

Quick note before I say anything else, from this point on, season 2 will be relatively AU.

Now, so I can keep this A/N as tame as possible, I'll try not to write an entire essay, but there are a couple things I'd like to say. The first thing being that I'd like to apologise for being so late in updating. Not only has this chapter been such a pain in the arse to write, but it is also the longest one I've published yet and it hasn't been cooperating. But on a more serious note, there is a genuine reason for my late updating. Initially, the only thing stopping me this long would've been my sister's birthday last week, but it turns out that she's tested positive for COVID. She's recovered decently so far which has been great but turns out I've now tested positive too. I'm fairly sure it's a mild case, but it hasn't been easy so far - especially during the first couple of days. I was so tired that I couldn't string a sentence together in real life let alone on a laptop purely because I couldn't either stay focused or stay on track with my thoughts.

And now that we've passed all the depressing stuff, I am getting better and I haven't been sick in the past couple of days. Hopefully I'll get back on track quickly enough with life and this story. Thoughts are always appreciated, and I'd love to know what you guys think about Aria and Finn's alliance so far. Finn really does get too much hate that he doesn't deserve and I'm trying to turn that around. Not to mention when I am writing, I've been having so much fun creating a small Aria, Finn and Klaus triangle. I'd love to see if anyone can guess what type of triangle it is.

Well, that's it from me. Stay safe out there everyone!

As Always, SecretMidnightRose