"It was the most gut-wrenching feeling I had experienced in my life." – Arwin, Miss Not-So Sidekick
~Recap from Chapter 10~
"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.
~TGITW~
Chapter 12: Lies & Secrets
MYSTIC FALLS. 1001 A.D.
He cried and cried until he could cry no more. Then he started to tear the ropes that bound up Faith. The ropes revealed burns on her wrist, signs that she had struggled against them. Niklaus could feel his heart ache again at the thought of Faith being held and tortured against her will. He touched her hand gently, wishing the wounds would disappear. Then he lifted her body into his arms and headed out into the woods.
Niklaus moved slowly. The reality was simply too overwhelming for him. His heart felt numb. His steps felt heavy. All the while, the warmth from Faith's body fading away leaving him with Faith's cold corpse in his arms.
He wandered aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do. Unconsciously, he must have thought about burying Faith as he found himself at the entrance of their cave. The cave of writings.
Niklaus went into the cave and entered a tunnel that led to a small opening. It was a secret place that only Niklaus knew. There, he laid her down to rest and knelt beside her. He cupped her face in his hand for a final goodbye.
Even in death she was beautiful. Pale white skin, raven black hair, and red blood lips. He studied her face, trying to carve out ever detail in his mind so that he would not forget. Again, he felt the tears well up in eyes. The thought of losing a person he loved was painful.
With his other hand, he wiped his own tears away. If he knew this was going to happen, he wouldn't have bothered with leaving her to Elijah. He would have fought and claimed her as his!
Instead, he had foolishly given her up. He remembered dancing the night away to forget Faith. He danced with Tatia in an attempt to rid his mind of Faith, of his growing attraction to her. He had tried so hard to convinced himself that he and Faith were just friends. But it did not work.
That was the night he lost her.
Niklaus began to pile up stones around Faith's body and began covering her with loose branches. Once he was done burying Faith, Niklaus stepped out of the cave and stood at the entrance.
He was in shock. He still could not believe that she was dead. He stood there for who knows how long. Finally, his shock turned to denial. No, she couldn't be dead. She couldn't have left them in such a way. Niklaus found himself in a swirl of emotions.
Denial soon gave way to anger. His grief turning to fury. He was mad. He was mad at her for dying and leaving him behind. He wanted her to hurt. He wanted everyone to hurt.
Faith may be gone but he could still hurt the memory of her.
He would tell the others that Faith had abandoned them. That she was merely using them to get to Esther. He would tell them that Faith had killed Esther.
He will not tell them the truth. He knew he was being spiteful but he couldn't care less. Faith had hurt him first!
Part of him was scared of being found out. If his sibling knew he killed their mother, they may come to despise him and leave him. He needed them by his side, and they all need to escape Mikael.
He will keep them by his side. Even if it meant lying to them. Even if it meant hurting them. He could not afford to be alone anymore.
No more. He will not tolerate losing any more.
~TGITW~
"Where is she?" Elijah asked his brother.
"She's gone."
The blood drained from his face.
"What do you mean gone?!" Elijah couldn't stop the fear creeping into his voice.
"She's gone brother," Niklaus answered him dejectedly. "She used us and abandoned us."
Elijah grabbed Niklaus by the shirt angrily.
"You're lying." He burst out in disbelief.
Elijah couldn't believe it, just days ago he remembered Faith standing up for Niklaus.
After Henrik's death, their father's temper had worsened. Mikael started taking it out on his kids, and Niklaus got the brunt of it.
One day, an infuriated Mikael blamed Niklaus for negatively influencing Kol and Henrik. He had chained Niklaus up calling him an abomination and the cause of Henrik's death. His father could not be reasoned with and in fear, Elijah had unwillingly gone along with his commands.
Faith had heard about what Mikael did and had rushed to the scene.
She stood between Mikael and Niklaus. Her hands spread out in a defensive stance against Mikael.
"This is not right."
For a moment, it looked like it worked, then Mikael took hold of her and forced her into Finn's arms. He ordered Finn to restrain her as he moved towards Niklaus and started beating him up.
The rest of the family watched helplessly. Faith struggled against Finn's grip, begging and crying heartbreakingly for Mikael to stop.
It was then that Faith caught Elijah's eyes.
"Elijah," She had begged him. "Do something! Save him!"
Elijah looked away in shame. He knew he had to do something, but he had never felt more powerless than now.
Eventually, Mikael's anger subsided, and he stopped, leaving a bruised and battered Niklaus.
By then, Finn had released Faith who rushed to Niklaus side.
"This is all wrong." She kept muttering with watery eyes. "This was not supposed to happen."
Faith and Rebekah tended to Niklaus wounds with Elijah watched silently. In his heart, he resolved never again to let anyone hurt his family, even if that was his father.
Now here was Niklaus telling them that Faith had betrayed them. That Faith had manipulated them all. Niklaus was telling them this story of how Faith had wanted to test out her powers and ended up persuading Esther and turning them all into vampires. Faith was the reason that Esther turned on them. Then, when Faith realized it worked, she had abandoned them without hesitation.
Elijah could not believe it. He would understand if it were their father whose temper causes him to act violently. But Faith? She couldn't even stand up to Mikael without being subdued. How could someone who was so kind and gentle betray them? Was it all an act?
He was torn. He did not know what to feel. Part of him refused to believe that Faith could do this. Part of him felt betrayed.
"Faith would never do that." Elijah responded with silent anger.
He wondered who he was really angry at. His brother for saying such things about Faith. Or his beloved who supposedly abandoned them. Maybe he was even angry at himself, for falling for the lies and being unable to see through Faith.
"I saw her do it. She killed mother and left." Niklaus spat out scornfully.
Without warning, Elijah punched his brother.
Caught unawares, Niklaus fell to the ground.
Elijah immediately regretted it.
As much as it was hard to believe what Niklaus said about Faith, he was still his brother. Niklaus was his flesh and blood, the boy he had grown up with and watched out for.
He had already let his brother down once. He couldn't do it again.
Whatever he may be feeling about Faith, his brother needed him now.
~TGITW~
Adam watched as the soon-to-be hybrid carried the girl away.
Unknown to the boy, the girl was not dead. She was merely in a state of temporal stasis.
Contrary to his predictions, the girl did not die when Esther plunged the knife into her. It seems she could not die in this world.
This was why he hated anomalies. Something always goes wrong when they're involved, and it messes everything up.
Adam continued to watch as the hybrid buried the girl in the cave and exited. Adam then entered the cave where Faith's body was.
On second thought, maybe it was better it worked out this way. The Mikaelsons have been turned. Of course, Faith's blood instead of Tatia's was used in the process. A minor setback, but the important thing was that she was gone from the Mikaelson's lives.
Now he would have to spell the caves so that no vampire could enter and find her body.
It would be catastrophic if it were discovered that Faith's blood can reverse the process. That was the cost of using the blood of an anomaly like Faith. It created an opening that could be exploited: Faith's blood could now turn vampires back to humans.
Although there was no chance of it happening now in her comatose state, Adam was not taking any chances. As an extra measure, Adam casted a spell to tie her consciousness to the other side. This way, even if she were discovered, they would be unable to awaken her.
But what Adam did not know was that he had just underestimated the scope and pull of Faith's presence in this world. With his actions, he had inadvertently changed the fate of many.