"In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

-Eleanor Roosevelt-

"Setti," gasped Fe' as his cousin's body went limp and her eyes rolled to the back of her head, sure signs of unconsciousness. Still hand in hand with the now cold and tattooless Sadie's, her quickly falling form careened towards the floor bringing the former Voodoo Queen's body with her. Shock rang around the room as the spectators took in the scene before them. Quick to act, Fe' tried to grab both women. However, a flash before him and a slight tug, told him of one thing and that filled him with relief. Aura had made it to the trio in a blur of black and brown. The soucouyant's eyes fell to Fe's and understanding passed between the two wordlessly. He grabbed Sadie while she dove for the newly appointed Queen.

Even if she had wanted to go for Sadie, she couldn't. The black blood that was now staining her otherwise pristine mahogany skin was lethal to anything not of her bloodline. The LeRoux blood was a double-edged sword of sorts. Where it gave them long life it brought others a swift death. Tightly, she pulled her friend's body close to her and stood to her full height, awaiting Fe''s instructions.

"Well, that was an interesting display of power," quipped Merrick, to no one in particular, from across the room. Seeing the situation as the opportunity that it was, he smirked victoriously. He knew that no one would ever allow him to get close enough to the new queen to be able to pry anything useful from her. so, there was only one way he could play this.

A quick glance to his left and his calculating emeralds met with concerned damp grays of his daughter's. Nodding his head towards the focal point of her attention, he laced his voice with what he thought would be perceived as concern. "Why don't you go see if your cousins need any help," he suggested.

Doe eyes blinked owlishly as comprehension dawned on the petite young woman. Unaware of her father's ulterior motives, she wiped away her tears, nodded and scurried to help her family.

Reaching them in no time, and seeing they had both women in their arms, Bianca turned to face the gawking faction leaders as whispers ran plentiful around the room.

Clearing her throat, she politely began, "On behalf of the LeRouxs we'd like to thank each of you for coming out and witnessing the ceremony. As we take a moment to grieve the loss of our matriarch, please enjoy some refreshments in the dining hall. Someone will inform you when it's time for the procession to begin."

Slowly, she raised her arm out in the direction of the hall watching as one by one the crowd began to head in that direction. Some mumbling their thanks and others offering a kind word that seemed more hollow than heartfelt. Bianca watched them all until the last person had left before turning her attention back to Fe'. Placing a delicate hand onto his broad shoulder, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Sensing his grief as it weighed heavily upon his slim figure, she offered, "I could clean MeMaw up and get her ready if you want to go with Aura to see about Setti."

"No," he declined politely as he returned her gentle smile with one of his own. Giving her hand a quick pat of appreciation, he elaborated, "I need to be the one to clean and dress MeMaw. I already know the outfit she wants to wear, how she wants her makeup—everything. You can go upstairs with Aura and help her with Setti. I'll be up there in a little while."

With a small smile that conveyed her empathic nature, she glanced one more time at her cousin before following Aurelien upstairs as Fe' headed in a different direction with Sadie's body cradled in his arms.

"And if she chooses not to have a ceremonial parade to announce her reign to New Orleans than we should respect that also." Argued the Regent, to the faction leaders. His neatly manicured brows arched at the audacity of some of the faction leaders.

Though he had missed the transference of power, he arrived shortly after Bianca made the announcement to have everyone wait in the hall until the new Queen regained consciousness and Sadie's procession.

"Vincent, she is our Queen. Is it wrong to want to celebrate that? For us to honor her as her station demands and give her offerings in the French quarter," countered the leader of the French Quarter witches.

Sighing, Vincent ran an agitated hand across his forehead and tried to reason with her. "No, it's not wrong. That's not what I'm saying. All I'm trying to say is—that girl just had to participate in a ritual that involved watching her cousin slit her grandmother's throat and collect the blood into a cup for her to drink. She may be our Queen but she still has feelings. All I'm saying is we should respect whatever she decides."

Taking a deep breath, he suggested compassionately. "I think the least we can do is allow her the time she needs to come to grips with all this before we suggest throwing a party in the center of the French Quarter to celebrate."

Each leader took in his words and slowly began to nod in agreement. Relieved, he relaxed his stance a bit. New Orleans had bigger problems brewing than a bunch of witches arguing about a party that was really only a way to show the other supernaturals a useless display of political power.

With a reigning active young Queen, it gave them back their confidence. That, they were more than just pawns in the game of chess constantly being played amongst the werewolf and vampire clans for dominion over New Orleans.

Former Voodoo Queen Sadie had not actively participated in the New Orleans power disputes since the tragic death of her daughter. Although they all understood her grief, it didn't stop the desire to fight for what was theirs, nonetheless.

"Vincent," called a short witch, with dark red hair and large brown eyes, that led the Algiers faction.

Turning around to face her, he placed his hands behind his back and waited for her to speak. "As regent to the Queen it is your job to help her transition into the political aspects of her position. Can we trust that you would do so and encourage her to maintain neutrality?" Asked the witch skeptically.

Nodding his head, he graced her with a captivating smile. "I have every intention of doing just that, Nadia. I want her transition to go as smoothly as possible, just like the rest of you. And I understand the need for her to remain neutral within the factions," he agreed, wholeheartedly.

"I'm only asking due in part to the recent rumors of your involvement with Marcel Gerad. It be ashamed if someone actively tried to corrupt our new and impressionable young Queen. We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened with her mother, nor that other promising young witch Davina," she worded carefully. "Surely you can understand my concerns for the new Queen?" Asked Nadia, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head slightly to the side, as she looked up at the taller regent.

Vincent tried not to frown as she had purposely tried to pick a fight with her insinuation. However, he knew why she had brought it up. She thought she could goad him easily with it, but it wouldn't work. He wouldn't fall for the crafty witch's tricks, so with a smile, he excused himself.

He needed to find Arsetti and talk to her about a few things, mainly her uncle.

Tingling.

Like millions of tiny ants were using her body as their new home. Creating intricate tunnels and channels throughout her entire frame as they claimed her body as property of the imaginary ants. At least that's what it felt like. She also had the strange sensation that she was floating. Not really her but her consciousness. It swayed and drifted across her body like waves in the sea, before settling itself once again within her. Slowly, her eyes began to flutter as the first stirrings of alertness. A sigh escaped from the seam of her full lips as a slight pout began to take form.

"I passed out didn't I," she huffed quietly to the other two occupants in the room. The soft silky pillow felt almost cloud-like as it embraced her head within its fluffy cushioning. She lightly stretched her limbs still wrapped in the comfort of her magenta duvet, to test their quickly returning strength.

"Your body was overwhelmed. It's understandable," comforted Aurelien. Though clearly worried, her natural voice always held a sultriness to it that Arsetti found soothing. Though, everything about Aura oozed sultry.

Her smooth dark walnut skin was so flawless it nearly glowed and though her height was average her curves were to be envied. With rich chocolate eyes and a flowing near waist twist out, it was easy to see why men fell prey to the ebony beauty. Literally, only the male identified and cis-men were her targets when she felt the need for a quick meal. She never dined from feminine energy, always claiming she had enough of her own to want someone else's. Aura's beauty and personality reminded Arsetti of the supermodels of the 80's and 90's. When Naomi owned the catwalk and Linda Evangelista wouldn't get out of bed for less than ten thousand dollars a day. Those women were walking Goddesses in the modern day and combined, that was Aurelien "Aura" Pierre-Baptiste Le'Moune—in a nutshell.

"Yeah, maybe," sighed Arsetti setting up. "I just hate the fact that their all probably down there talking about me in my own home."

Interrupting her rant, Bianca came in with a small tray. "I brought you a little something to drink and eat. It should help you," she smiled softly as she sat the tray in front of the new queen. "It's basil and lemon balm tea and a few tea cakes. We'll wait here with you until you feel ready to head back down, okay? After we lay MeMaw to her rest, I have to catch a flight to Mystic Falls. Apparently, there's a living Bennet witch there in need of a very complicated spell. But I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Taking a seat at a small desk near Arsetti's bedside, Bianca made herself comfortable. Dipping her hand into her small tote she pulled out a purple bag made of silk and much smaller than the tote it had been in. She effortlessly emptied the bags contents out into her hand as both Arsetti and Aura watched curiously. Frayed on the edges they looked to be made of a material that was not quite paper but not cloth either. Maybe they were a mix of both. With detailed designs of Loa deities on the front and the family crest on the back, it wasn't hard to tell what they were nor what Bianca had planned.

With a reassuring smile, she beamed, "in the meantime, let's see what the cards have to say about what's ahead for you."

With a small chuckle, Arsetti nodded. It was just like Bianca to take someone's mind off what was bothering them by giving them other shit to worry about.

When Bianca was only a child, Setti's mother Lucinda had given those tarot cards to her and ever since that day she kept them on her or near, her always. Lucinda believed that Bianca had the gift of sight and had wanted to help her hone that skill. It began with the cards. Yet, before they could go any further Lucinda had been ripped away from them all. Those cards were dear to her, not only because they were the last thing her aunt had given her but because Bianca believed her aunt's spirit protected her through those cards—guided her as she guided others with them. Though Sadie had eventually taught them all to read runes, bones and cowrie shells, Bianca always felt more connected to tarot.

With practiced ease she shuffled them, feeling as their energy flared to life in a soft yellow glow. Her grey eyes practically sparkled as she whispered, "spirit show us what is coming towards Arsetti. Let the unseen be seen." Her eyes shone in a preternatural light grey as the cards lifted from her hands to drift above the desk. Delicately, they hovered just in front of Bianca, shifting and shuffling before nine cards left the deck. Aura gasped as Arsetti sighed in annoyance and Bianca smiled brightly.

"Setti, you know what this means," giggled Bianca almost schoolgirl-like. Once again, the young Queen's eyes drifted to the cards focusing on a trio. Oshun sat beautifully by a river in one. Draped in gold with her pot of honey strapped to her waist as she smiled almost knowingly. Paired with that card was Chango leaning his strong body against a sturdy tree as he stared down from a hilltop at the river below. The dark grey clouds with scattered strikes of lightning above him, reflective of his contemplative mood. Frowning softly, she perused the last card of the trio, the one over the other two.

"Do it again," she huffed irked that she couldn't hide the slight twitch that threatened to become a smirk from her lips.

"Aww. Does the pretty princess not like what the cards have to say?" teased Bianca lightly.

"Queen, Bianca. She's a Queen now. Teasing or not, it's disrespectful to mislabel Setti," chastised Aurelien softly. Her eyes held a playful gleam as they drifted to meet the miffed hazels of her friend. "But she's right," she jested, almost in song. "Setti, we both know that even if Bia redid them, the cards would remain the same. What's so bad about it anyway? I mean divine uni—"

However, before she could finish Arsetti cut her off. "I know and I don't care," she supplied on the edge of agitation. "I don't have time for any of that. I have enough on my plate as is. MeMaw always said we are the masters of our own destiny and right now my focus is on not fucking up as the new Queen. And that's my only focus. Look, I'm feeling better now so I'm gonna go back downstairs and help Fe' with MeMaw because that's the most important right now."

With that said, she finished her tea, set the tray aside and began to leave the comforts of her bed.

Quickly, Bianca put away her cards and stood to join her and Aura did the same.

Without another word they followed their new Queen downstairs.

Thick grey clouds rolled across the sky. Like ocean waves at high tide, they toppled over and crashed into one another, with each clap of roaring thunder. Disconsolately casting their dim shadows over the drenched streets of Creole' City.

The smell of steadily dampening earth mixed with the sweet scents of New Orleans, as the light breezes of the nearby golf carried the aroma throughout the land and the rain gutters began to swell.

Wafting slowly into the houses of those who had left open a window or screen door, to enjoy the sounds of the rainfall as a calming, satisfying and natural aromatherapy, on this gloomy day.

The Le' Magnolia De Fleur was now lined with rows and rows of faction leaders standing at the ready behind the horse drawn carriage, dressed in black, with their umbrellas high in the air to ward off the falling rain.

A full jazz band off to the left, but still behind, the sleek black carriage began to play a familiar New Orleans tune. As the dark oak coffin, with its massive bouquet of wildflowers draped over its top, gleamed despite the dreary atmosphere.

Slowly, they began the procession down the rain-soaked backyard.

Carefully, those in the second line began to twirl their umbrellas, so as not to splash water on the grieving family in the front of them as they ambled behind the carted remains of the former Voodoo Queen Sadie LeRoux.

Today they were sending off one of their own, in true New Orleans fashion.

Heads held high, they marched, as they celebrated the life of Sadie LeRoux. Today they remembered not her death but the way she impacted each of their lives. The way she fought to keep them safe for over two-hundred years. That despite the tragic loss of her daughter, she always had a soft smile and kind word for them all.

It had been decided to bury her under her favorite tree in the backyard, right next to where Arsetti's mother was buried.

It was a family tradition, to be buried among the magnolias at the back of the manor. It was the family's source of strength. The LeRoux's drew their power from nature and when they died consecrated themselves back among the source of said power.

Arsetti blew the steady stream of smoke from the rolled up burning herbs over Sadie's body, as Fe mumbled words of prayer. The rest remained quiet as they watched the cousins work soundlessly. Once done, one by one each person took a hand full of grave dirt and sprinkled it over the coffin as the body was lowered into the ground. Offering prayers of peaceful rest before returning to their place in line. Hired workers with large shovels began covering the coffin with the remaining earth.

Since waking Arsetti had been oddly quiet, aside from her interactions with Aura and Bianca, she made no other moves to converse with anyone but Fe understood, so he didn't push.

Out of the corners of his eyes he kept a watchful eye on her, unaware of Aura's watchful gaze on them both, just in case she broke down but Arsetti hadn't even shed a tear and that alarmed him.

Once the last bit of dirt covered the former Queen and the procession began to head back to the manor, Fe' could no longer keep his concern to himself. "Setti. Baby, are you okay?" He asked quietly as he quickly waved off both Bianca and Aurelien, signaling for them to take over the procession. He trusted that they would rid the manor of the nosy faction leaders before they too, had to reluctantly take their leave. The ceremony was now complete and all the so-called leaders could get the hell out and leave them to their grief. When Setti was ready she'd deal with them and whatever petty agendas they may have.

"I'm fine," came her hallow response as she stared at the freshly covered grave.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Okay, that only works on people who don't know you. So, let's try this again," he began more determined. Grabbing her by the arms he looked down at her and forced her to look at him.

"Now. Setti, be honest. Are you okay?" he asked again more forcefully but still laced with great concern.

Eyes watering a bit, she looked away from his prying gaze. Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her voice, "It just hit me that I should have spent more time here Fe'. I'm trying to be strong like she raised me to be but I just feel a whole lotta regret for leaving her—and now she's gone."

"Look at me," Fe commanded gently, as he cupped her chin. "No one blames you for wanting to get the hell out of here for a while. Not me and definitely not MeMaw. You needed that time to explore the world—to be free from responsibility. That was why she fought so hard to give it to you. We are strong and you as Queen are the strongest of us all, Setti. None of this is gonna be easy baby but MeMaw believed you can do it and so do I and so does Bianca—and you know Aura's been your cheerleader since forever," he smiled with a slight wave of his hand.

Nodding her head, she sighed as her cousin pulled her into his warm arms for a comforting side hug. The rain continued to fall around them in gentle pitter pats as the warm air teased their hair. Chestnut curls mingled effortlessly with bright magenta and royal purple waves in a beautiful dance—two souls grieving the woman that raised them in silence. Embracing as they both took and gave strength to the other, with their tears hidden by the falling rain and for a while the cousins just stayed like that.

A masculine throat clearing caught their attention and the cousins turned around to see Vincent's approaching form.

Inclining his head, he greeted. "Morning. I just came by to introduce myself. My name is Vincent Griffen, I was the regent for Sadie. I know that this probably ain't a good time but I really need to talk to you about a few things that's been going on in the city the past few weeks."

Nodding, Arsetti pulled away from her cousin and walked closer to the short stocky regent. "No, it's fine." She assuaged. "It must be important seeing how your fidgeting," she observed astutely. "So, tell me, what's been going on here."

"Well," he began slowly. "Aside from the situation with the 9th ward fighting it out to see who will be the next faction leader and wrecking the hell out of a couple buildings, I think we should, at least briefly, discuss is the Originals. What do you know about them?" he asked curiously.

"Just the horror stories about them massacring whole villages and things like that," she replied thoughtfully. "I know that there was about 5 of them but I can't remember all of their names. To be honest, I always thought they were just a myth."

"No. I can assure you they are very real," Vincent countered vehemently. "Very real and very dangerous. That family destroys anything it touches, and it would be a good idea if you stayed away from them." He warned ominously. "Especially Klaus. You're just gonna have to trust me on this one. I've lost a lot of friends who got caught up in that family's madness."

Taking a deep breath, Vincent steadied himself to deliver the real reason he wanted to talk to her. It was true what he said about the Mikaelson family. However, Arsetti needed to focus more on her own then them at the moment.

"Also, there's been rumors that your Uncle Merrick has been pitching a campaign to replace Sadie and now that your Queen I've no doubt that man will be up to much worse. I caught him one day trying to pry for information about using his blood as some sort of weapon. I'm not sure what he's up to but I know it can't be anything good," he finished somberly.

"I'm not surprised in the least," sighed Fe'. "His bitch ass is always scheming on how he can get the throne, like we dumb. I mean, he even trying to use poor Bianca to see if he can get some information out of her about Setti that he might be able to use. Like we didn't know he told her to stick close. That girl refuses to see him for the monster he is." Rolling his eyes at the thought of Merrick's underhanded tactics, Fe' smiled softly back at Vincent, "thanks for the tea, sweetpea. Just keep your head down and ears open and if you hear anything else sus let us know."

"Honestly, that's one of the reasons I don't want a parade," Arsetti admitted softly. "I knew that there would be a host of bullshit when I took the throne. So, I thought I could keep a low profile and see for myself how bad things are."

At both Vincent's and Fe''s nods of approval, Arsetti tried to put more cheer in her voice than she felt at the moment. If her grandmother had faith that she could do this, then she would give it her all and there was no time like the present to get started. She was the Voodoo Queen now and her city needed her.

Clapping her hands together, she smirked. "I think I know exactly where I want to start. Bourbon Street is as good a place as any and I'm sure I'm bound to see some problem that needs to be fixed," shrugging her shoulders, she added. "Besides, now that I'm back it's only right that I stop by Rousseau's and say hi to Sofie. I missed her jambalaya."

At Fe's look of utter horror, Arsetti raised a brow. "What?" she asked confused.

"Baby, I hate to be the one to tell you this," began her cousin remorsefully. "But both Sofie and her sister Jane Ann is dead."

Shocked, she turned to look at Vincent for confirmation and when he nodded, she sighed out. "Well, who runs the bar now?"

Licking his lips nervously, Vincent answered. "Well up until a couple days ago it was Cami O'Connell but now that she has died too, I'm not to sure who the next owner is gonna be."

Placing her hands underneath her chin, Arsetti decided carefully on her next words. Biting her lip, she came to her decision.

"Vincent, I think you better start from the beginning. It seems like there's a lot more going on then you mentioned. So, how about we start with why I should steer clear of Klaus Mikaelson and work our way up from there."

Looking at the deep set frown on his face and sadness in his eyes, gave her the strongest sensation that what she was about to hear would probably give her nightmares and more than likely had something to do with the family he had warned her about.