The weather inside the Forest was identical to the one of the open world. As cold and as humid, as grey and as depressing.

Heidi was sitting on the passenger seat of Alex' black Mercedes, her partner at her side, his hands on the wheel, an original vampire behind him and an ultimate behind her. The witch's eyes fell on the mirror outside her window and she caught a glimpse of her goddaughter. The elemental was half asleep, her head resting on the vampire's shoulder. The silence and the steady road had allowed her to fall asleep as her unexpected fear of flying had kept her wide awake on the plane. No one would dare wake her now.

As they drove past the black iron gates, the red brick wall appeared in the mirror and Heidi knew she was home. The city had an old aura, she recognized it easily. She watched the old houses and the old buildings as Alex drove past them slowly. The street was narrow and there was just enough space for the car to drive through it.

Elijah watched the houses too, with a sad nostalgia, thinking back to the time of black houses and buildings made of wood, back when he was still by Niklaus' side. He recognized the different architecture styles, the oldest one from five centuries ago. The city was a mixed of old and new, but even the old didn't seem affected by time. The wood and the bricks seemed new, as if it had just been built. The vampire caught a glimpse of what was inside the businesses: a coffee shop, a restaurant, a library… What he saw inside surprised him. It wasn't what one would expect when they saw the buildings from outside. It wasn't any different from any coffee shops in cities like Berlin, Paris or even New-York. It was the same with the people walking the streets. Dressed in different fashions, like Heidi and Alexander, some obviously had preferred to keep the clothes from their century, but their corsets didn't stop the women to use smartphones, nor did their top hats stop the men from doing the same. It was a sight to behold, and Elijah knew he still had a lot to discover.

Heidi knew the Forest perfectly well. She knew every secret it held, every person it hosted, everything and anything, just like Margo did, just like Alex would if he paid attention to this sort of things. She knew that Margo would make them wait before she received the four of them in the throne room. She knew she would judge their clothes, the way they stood on their feet, their every word. She knew the questions she was going to ask. And Heidi was arrogant enough to think she already knew the answers.

She had spent the last four hundred years there, with Margo. The last two with Alexander. She had made herself one of the most powerful witches on Earth. Not more powerful than Margo, certainly not stronger than Pandora or Ambrosia, though she doubted anyone was more powerful than the two sisters. They were older than the Mikaelsons. Probably the eldest people alive. Former slaves in Athens, back when democracy was the norm but slavery, ironically, was too, they had been rescued by witches and had been empowered by their rage and their want for revenge. But now, over two thousand years later, maybe they were tired of people, maybe they were simply tired of life, as they always retreated in a secret place, disappeared for years, even centuries, only to be summoned by people they trusted, people powerful enough to summon them, when they had no other solution to their problems. Heidi was one of those people. As was Margo.

Heidi had gotten strong the same way. Empowered by rage and the want for revenge, after her village burnt her mother alive for being a witch. Marguerite, her mother, accused of using witchcraft to seduce Jean, the lawyer's son, Heidi's father, didn't even get any chance to defend herself as the villagers got the rope and the pitchforks and the torches and through her in the pyre, way too happy to kill a witch, to kill the woman that had been a sister to them, a midwife to their wives, a doctor to their children. So Heidi did the same thing to them. She burnt them all alive as well, one night, exactly a month after her mother's death. She burnt their houses while they were sleeping, burnt her "friends", their parents and their children. The lawyer's son and his entire family. Every single one of them. Even the church and the school and the house where they kept the sick and injured. She ignited the flames with a smile and witnessed them die with a laugh.

She didn't flee France like Margo fled Spain. She left it behind, left everything behind, knowing if she crossed the path of other superstitious little bastards she would do the same thing to them. She got to Germany, found the Forest, found Margo, and she had stayed there, where no one would even think about burning a witch, where she wouldn't cross the path of superstitious little bastards.

Two centuries in the Forest, a life of her own, settled comfortably in the castle, with more power than she needed, she met Alexander, who too had left everything behind and found the Forest. He was a little bastard but at least he wasn't superstitious. And he made her smile. And he made her laugh. And she was in love with him, so in love in fact that after only a year later, she asked herself how, how did she ever live without him?

The car stopped in front of the castle, two guards posted on each side of the huge opened front door, a page ready to open the car doors and another ready to take their luggage from the trunk. The page bowed to her as she exited the vehicle and he was almost hit by Mackenzie's door as she opened it. Elijah was by her side in a flash, helping her out of the car. She looked awful, obviously exhausted, and maybe a little hungry. If not starving.

"Lady Beauregard," the page greeted. "Welcome back. Her Majesty will see you in an hour."

Heidi didn't bother with a reply and it's Alexander who thanked the servant and dismissed him. She looked up to the sky, her eyes slowly travelling on the castle's façade. The white stones looked like marble and she knew it would be cold inside. She shivered already at the thought of entering her home. She followed Alexander inside, walked between two columns with Mackenzie and Elijah by her side before stepping in the hall.

Nothing had changed. The carpet was still red, covering the white marble floor that they had renovated a century earlier. The guards were still wearing the same uniform, posted at the same place, holding the same weapons. The servants walked around silently, stopped to bow to them before resuming their task.

"I'm going to change," she informed them, without looking at any of her travelling companions before walking away.

Mackenzie and Elijah watched her leave, and their attention was called away from the witch's back as their heard Alexander chuckle.

"I think she hates this place, but she'll never admit it. Probably because she doesn't know it."

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," he nodded. "She's impatient, she hasn't talked to Margo in months."

"Are they close?" Elijah asked.

"They're best friends."

"You are nobility here?"

"If you can call us that," he shrugged. "Sure, I guess. So are you, by the way," he winked at Mackenzie.

The elemental, who just wanted to find a bed and slid under the covers, didn't realize he was being serious and chuckled at his joke.

"Don't laugh, Lady Alemaund," he mocked. "You might just be the most powerful creature here."

"Don't remind me," she sighed, which made Elijah smile.

"I don't think anyone is going to let you forget it."

"Sir Davidson," a page interrupted them. "The rooms are ready. A package is waiting for Lady Alemaund in her chambers."

"Is it as we asked?"

"Yes, sir, they are in neighboring rooms. In the main wing."

"Then I'll show them myself, thank you."

The page bowed again before walking away without saying another word.

"We were afraid they'd send you off to the guest wing," the heretic told the original vampire, "we made sure you weren't too far away from each other."

"I appreciate that," Elijah nodded.

"We just got here. Who sent me a package?"

Alexander chuckled. "The queen, silly. It's probably a dress, or a crown… or both," he grinned mischievously.

"I… Am I… expected to wear a crown?" she stuttered.

"I'm kidding," he laughed. "A crown is given in a coronation. You haven't had one of those… yet."

"Stop it!" she told him as she slapped his arm, making him step back with a laugh.

"Alright, alright," he said. "Let's go then. We can't be late."

"What should we expect from…" Elijah paused, looking for the right word, "Her Majesty?"

"Margo's not a tyrant. You can expect her to be as friendly as Heidi," he shrugged. "She'll be asking you questions, and she'll be expecting answers. Don't lie to her, she'll know. Be respectful, of course, she's a queen, she expects to be treated like one. But why don't you just see for yourself, uh?"

"I've met less reasonable queens," Elijah told him. "But none as powerful as her, I expect."

"You're right about that, friend," Alex said as he put his hand on Elijah's shoulder.

The original vampire let the heretic tap his shoulder in silence, then watched him walk away from them, following Heidi's footsteps. He looked down at the elemental who was repressing an amused smile. He raised an eyebrow at her, which made her laugh.

"Look at you," she said. "You made a new friend."

"Did I?"

"You two are going to get plenty of time alone later," Alex called from the hallway, "come on!"

"Come on," she repeated with a grin.

He smiled back at her as he stepped forward, took her hand in his and let her drag him to her godfather.