"It was the most gut-wrenching feeling I had experienced in my life." – Arwin, Miss Not-So Sidekick
~Recap from Chapter 8~
"Faith Mikaelson, I offer this ring to you. As a symbol of my promise. To be faithful and true. It is a symbol that I choose you. That I dedicate my life to you forever. Will you marry me?"
She gasped in surprised then slowly her lips spread into a smile. She gazed into my eyes and I could see the affection in them. As she was about to give a response, a commotion in the woods interrupted us.
We could hear shouting and cries in the distance. Faith and I glanced at each other before heading towards the screams.
We rushed into the woods and reappeared in the cluster of huts which was our homes. Kol had arrived wailing in despair. In his hands was the bloodied body of Henrik.
~TGITW~
Chapter 10: The Death of a Loved One
MYSTIC FALLS. ONE WEEK BEFORE.
It was harvest season. Everyone had been out in the fields all day working hard to bring in the crops. By day's end, everyone just wanted to fill their hungry stomachs and go to bed.
On this particular night, everyone was in deep slumber. Everyone that is, except two lonesome figures. A girl with dark black hair and brown eyes sat quietly while gazing at the star-lit sky. Beside her was a slightly older boy with blonde hair and blue-green eyes. He too was enjoying the comfortable silence and the presence of his companion.
"Niklaus." The girl whispered.
"Yes, Faith." The boy answered.
"I need a favor from you."
Niklaus paused before replying, "Anything you need."
Faith turned to face him and spoke seriously, "I need you to promise me something."
"What is it?" Niklaus asked gently.
"Promise me you will never go see the wolves shift on the full moon."
Niklaus burrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Ignoring him, Faith continued, "You must never go. You must never take Henrik out to see the wolves either."
"What do you mean?" Niklaus asked, puzzlement all over his face.
Faith sighed deeply before responding, "Trust me. It's for your own safety."
Niklaus raised his eyebrow questioningly.
"You know how your mother sees me right?"
Niklaus nodded and stated, "She sees magic in you."
"So take it as that. Take it as the magic in me saying it. Something bad will happen if you take Henrik to go see the wolves."
Niklaus considered her warning. Esther recognized that there was something magical and powerful at work with Faith. And Niklaus believed in his mother's ability to identify the supernatural.
"Alright. I promise you."
Faith's serious expression turned into a smile and they settled back into gazing at the stars.
Unknown to them, a figure lurking behind them had heard every word. It was none other than the witch matriarch, Esther. She kept every word in her heart. Her suspicion of the girl grew but she was not going to ignore such a warning. Quietly, she left the two and disappeared into the shadows.
~TGITW~
MYSTIC FALLS. 1001 A.D.
"AAH!"
Esther's cry pierced through the air. She cried in pain and desperation. It hurt more than any weapon could. She had lost another child.
"Aah! Aah!" She clutched her chest and sobbed uncontrollably.
She wept until her tears ran out.
In her state of desolation, a memory came back to her. She remembered the conversation between Faith and Niklaus.
The girl knew. She knew and tried to stop it.
Esther needed answers. She grabbed her cloak and pulled the hood over her head. Where she was going no one could know. She was going to seek counsel from nature herself.
Hours later and in the deepest part of the woods, Esther emerged in a little clearing.
She set down the items she had brought with her and started to draw a magic circle. Once done, she began chanting the ritual spell.
A gush of wind blew past her causing the leaves to rise up into a spiral. Clouds gathered as thundered roared.
Lightning hit the circle as Esther finished.
The clouds dispersed and the sun's rays fell on the body of a boy. He was lying naked on the ground, curled up in a fetus position.
Slowly, the boy stirred from his slumber. The boy got up and with a snap of his fingers, clothes magically appeared on his being.
Turning to Esther, he grinned in recognition.
"My dear Esther. Tell me. What is it you need?"
~TGITW~
The boy watched as Esther walked determinedly back into the woods. She had been given the Immortality Spell and was told that she needed Faith's blood to complete it.
The boy knew that Esther would accomplish her goal. The woman was adamant, she was not going to lose another child.
When she had described the situation to him, he saw an opportunity. An opportunity to give Esther the Immortality Spell and breed the first generation of vampires. As well, it was an opportunity to be rid of the anomaly called Faith Mikaelson.
Ever since the girl had arrived in this world. Things had started to change. It went against nature's balance. As such, nature had created one of its avatars to deal with the problem.
The boy Esther had encountered was one of nature's incarnations. He was aptly given the name Adam which translated to ground or earth.
Now all he had to do was wait as nature corrects itself.
Esther will go home and persuade her husband Mikael to enact the Immortality Spell on their children.
Mikael would be reluctant at first but his desire to protect the rest of his children would be stronger than his affections for Faith. Moreover, Mikael would only be told they needed some of Faith's blood. He would not know of Esther's plans to kill the girl after.
Then the girl would be no more. The future would right itself.
Adam had calculated everything. His carefully laid plans would soon come to fruition. All he had to do now was sit back and watch the events enfold.
~TGITW~
This was it.
When Henrik died, Faith knew that she had to stop Esther from enacting the Immortality Spell.
She had approached Tatia, trying to explain and persuade the girl not to help Esther. But it was all in vain. Tatia refused to listen to her. The girl was still holding a grudge against Elijah for rejecting her and against Faith for coming in between them. Faith still remembered Tatia's spiteful words.
"What makes you think I would have anything to do with you after you took Elijah from me?!"
There was no persuading the girl after.
When that didn't work, she had tried to steal the spell from Esther only to end up getting caught by the witch.
On her way to Esther's hut, she felt something hard hit her head. As her vision darkened, the last thing she saw was Tatia and Esther hovering over her. She realized only too late that they were in cahoots with one another.
Esther had originally wanted to use Tatia's blood for the spell but changed her mind after hearing from Adam. Esther knew there was power in Tatia's doppelganger blood but was told that the blood in Faith was even more powerful and potent.
On the other hand, Tatia was acting on pure jealously. She desired the affections of Elijah once more. Tatia had this notion that with Faith gone, Elijah would come to love her once more. Of course, this notion was being fueled by Esther's encouragements.
The unlikely pair carried the unconscious girl back to a secluded hut. Each of them motivated by their own agenda. Each foolishly believed that doing this to Faith was the only way. Little did they know, they were being manipulated by forces more powerful than they can imagine.
They reached the hut and began tying Faith to a chair. As they did, she began to stir awake.
She tugged at the rope half-heartedly.
"Why?" She asked without expecting an answer in return.
To her surprise, Esther replied, "To protect my children."
"The Immortality Spell." Faith stated.
Esther paused in surprised then nodded.
"You know." Esther commented. "It seems you know a lot of things."
By then, Tatia had slipped out the back not wanting to have anything to do with the next part.
Esther grabbed a knife and a cup. She slit Faith's wrist and let the blood drip into the cup.
Faith whimpered at the pain. She always did had a low pain threshold.
"Esther." She begged. "Don't do this. Changing your children will not protect them, it would only become a curse unto them."
Esther ignored her and continued in making the spell.
"Dahlia…"
Esther stopped in her tracks and snapped her head towards Faith.
"What do you know about Dahlia?!" Her eyes full of fear.
"It's not going to stop her." Faith pleaded.
Esther grimaced and said, "I don't believe you. This spell comes from a reliable source."
Esther thought back to Adam. Nature would not lead her astray, would it?
~TGITW~
She was missing.
They had been looking for days now and still no sign of Faith.
Niklaus thought it was painful when Faith and Elijah got together.
But nothing, absolutely nothing could match the gut-wrenching feeling he was experiencing now.
All sorts of scenarios ran through his head. Faith being attacked by the wolves. Faith falling into a ditch somewhere. And the worst was the thought of Faith being dead.
He could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose her.
His lips quivered at the thought. Fear crept into his bones and his legs trembled.
He could not lose her.
Little by little, his world had started to revolve around her. Whenever she was around, his eyes would naturally just follow her. Her words had made him feel relieved and his heart just kept moving towards her. Then he realized what the feeling was and tried to run away. In the end, he couldn't deny it. He was madly in love with her.
As he searched for the missing Faith, he noticed Tatia acting suspiciously. Going with his instincts, he followed her. Tatia headed towards a hut in the forest, glancing every now and then to make sure no one was following her.
She went into the house and after several minutes came out arguing with another woman. Because of the way Niklaus was positioned, he could not get a good look at the woman. However, even from a distance, he could see the woman covered in blood. She was trying to calm down the agitated Tatia.
Niklaus inched closer to them so he could hear their conversation better. Despite the woman's attempts, Tatia would not be calmed and ran back into the woods, just past where Niklaus was hiding. The woman was left standing out in the open where Niklaus could finally see her face.
His eyes widened in recognition. It was his mother.
~TGITW~
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The blood dripped slowly from the cut on her wrist. She felt sluggish. Her lips felt dry. And she was bound by rope and spell. The little movement her restraints offered her could not help her break free. She glanced up at the blonde woman in front of her. Even in the dimly lit hut, she recognized her captor.
Esther Mikaelson. The Original Witch.
Esther had finally done it. She had finally completed the Immortality Spell. Only this time she had used Faith's blood to do it.
Faith. For that was the girl's name. The girl who was held captive by Esther. The girl who was tied up to the chair and whose life was slowly being drained out of her.
Faith thought back to the circumstances that led up to this moment.
The Mikaelsons finding her in the woods.
Her awakening in a completely different world.
The family she had found here.
As she recalled everything that had happened, their faces flashed in her mind. Elijah. Niklaus. Henrik. Rebekah. Kol. Finn. Mikael. Esther.
So your life does flash before your eyes when you're about to die. She thought to herself. She chuckled softly and made Esther turn in her direction.
The blonde witch clutched the knife in her hand and walked towards her.
Tears stream down her face as she thought of all the suffering that will fall on Elijah and his family. In her dying moments, Faith had only one thought in her mind: Elijah, my love, I'm sorry.
Then everything went black as Esther plunged the knife into her heart.
~TGITW~
A scream pierced through the air. Without hesitation, Niklaus scrambled to his feet and barged into the hut where his mother was. He knew whose voice it was.
Inside, he found his mother standing over the limp body tied to a chair. By the looks of the bloody dagger in his mother's hand, Esther had stabbed the girl.
"NOOOOOO!" He roared at them. In his anger, Niklaus charged towards Esther and tackled her to the floor.
A struggle ensued. Esther wrestling to get him off her. Niklaus pinning her to the ground. The rage blinding him to everything else.
She had hurt Faith. She deserved to die.
Esther struggled to breathe as Niklaus wrapped his hands tightly around her neck. She clawed at her son, digging her nails into his skin in an attempt to break free. But it was to no avail. Her life ebbed away until she laid still.
For a moment, Niklaus felt relief at Esther's death. Then the knowledge of what he had done began to overwhelm him. He staggered to his feet and backed away from his mother's corpse.
He had killed his mother.
The weight of his sin and the joy of being able to enact revenge twisted his heart.
What finally drew him out of his shock was the sight of Faith's still body. At once, all the feelings he had been supressing washed over him like a flood.
"Noooooo!" Niklaus rushed to her side.
He knelt before her and caressed her face longingly. He was too late. She was dead.
The young viking howled in anguish. His heart shattered to pieces.
"No….no…wake up…wake up." Niklaus mumbled in between heartbreaking sobs. He pleaded desperately with her as though she could still hear him. But it was too late.
Faith Mikaelson was gone.