"What?" Arabelle shouted, her eyes wide open as she stared at her ancestors. They could not be serious, could they? This was not possible at all. No way at all.

Quetsiyah stepped forward and pulled Arabelle into a motherly hug. "I know it is lot to take in. And I also know that it is lot to ask. But we have very limited choices, little one"

Arabelle closed her eyes and let the tears flow, her hands circled around Quetsiyah's waist tightly as she allowed the tears to pour out of her eyes. The only thing that was keeping her anchored was her ancestor's hand that was rubbing her back in soothing circles. She hiccupped and tightened her hands. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Pulling out she saw it was Ayanna.

Ayanna smiled at her Goddaughter and said, "Go, my angel."

Pulling out of Quetsiyah's hug, she hugged Ayanna briefly, before she returned back to the living room where she saw that her body was laid on a sofa with Rebekah stroking her hair. Arabelle smiled despite the tears that were flowing continuously from her eyes. It was almost thousand years since Rebekah did that to her.

Heaving a heavy breathe she muttered, "Let's get it over with"

Arabelle woke up with a gasp. She sat up immediately and looked around her with wide eyes that were filled with tears. She took deep breathes and commanded herself to calm down as she met the concerned eyes of her siblings. She looked directly at Kol and said, "Get me something strong"

Kol nodded and flashed to the liquor cabinet and returned with a bottle of Scotch and a glass. He was about to pour some in the glass when she snatched the bottle and started drinking it at one go. She could feel all the eyes on her, but she didn't care. All she could think about was the conversation she had on the other side with her ancestors.

The bottle was half empty when she stopped drinking. Meeting the very concerned eyes of Niklaus and said in a voice that left no place for argument and said, "Call Marcellus. Tell him he must be here in two hours"

Niklaus nodded and pulled out his mobile phone.

Rebekah sat beside her and took her hand in hers in silent support. Her family was in the living room and showing their support even if they didn't know what was happening in the first place. That was how her family was. They might fight like dogs, always at each other's throats, constantly threatening each other with threats, but at the end of the day, they were family and they would die for each other.

She could hear that Niklaus was calling Marcellus. The constant ringing denoted that the person on the other side of the line was yet to answer. She knew it was only a ring, but to her, every ring felt like it took an hour. But luckily they didn't have to wait longer. She could also see that every vampire in the room was listening on the conversation that was to start between Niklaus and Marcellus.

The minute the call was answered, Niklaus said, "Marcellus" which almost sounded like a growl.

"Father" Marcellus said cautiously. She could practically hear the fear in her nephew's voice. Naturally, Marcellus was not afraid of his father, but when he was angry it was so hard to do so.

"Your Aunt wants to talk to you, Marcellus" Niklaus said.

Arabelle rolled her eyes and extended her hand without a word. Niklaus handed her the mobile phone with a scowl. She knew he was not happy that she was doing witchcraft. He was always afraid that she would get hurt. And to add to that fear she passed out for minutes. She huffed and put the phone to her ear. "Hello, Marcellus" she said.

"Aunt Belle" Marcellus' voice sounded chirpier than it did when he answered the call. "What took you so long to call? But first tell me what's with Dad?"

Arabelle chuckled, "Only you can fire someone with questions without even letting them to answer, Marcellus. You know your father. As per usual he is not happy that he is not in control of things" she looked at her said brother who rolled his eyes at her, "Anyway, I want you here in Mystic Falls in two hours. Can you manage it, Nephew?"

"For others? Nah. But for family? Yes. Meet you in a couple of hours, Aunt" Marcellus said.

Arabelle smiled and said, "See you soon, Marcellus" and ended the call. She smirked when she saw the wide eyes of the three vampires of Mystic Falls.

She could hear Damon muttering beside Stefan, "Another Mikaelson?! How big is this family?"

She smirked and looked at Niklaus who was being interrogated by none other than Finn. She really felt bad for her older brother. Since he was daggered for nine centuries, he missed most of what happened in their lives. She listened to their conversation, and was satisfied that Niklaus was filling him on who Marcellus was. She patted Niklaus mentally on the back as she realised that he was conversing with their brother in Nordic.

"Arabelle" Abby said, "What is going on?"

Arabelle looked at the woman and said, "I shall tell you all. But you must wait till Marcellus gets here. I do not want to repeat this more than once"

The next two hours passed agonisingly slow. The anxiousness radiating from the others made it very impossible for her to do anything except wait. She took that time to process and prepare herself to drop the figurative bomb. She then asked her brother to give her another bottle, since to her frustration, she sobered up quickly. She didn't how that happened, but after an hour every occupant of the Mikaelson mansion living room was busy with their drink.

After an hour and a half, she found herself pacing the foyer, waiting for her nephew. Lucky for her, said nephew arrived soon enough and pulled her into what could considered to be a bear hug. She took her time in walking him to the living room. He looked the same, the same muscular build, with that sweet grin that was so bloody innocent. But she knew very well that he was not. Marcellus took after his Father. Despite being an adoptive son, Marcellus was like an exact replica of his father.

Once inside, Marcellus was attacked hugs and pats, from his uncles and aunts. And a firm hand squeeze from his father. Niklaus, after all, was not someone who showed his emotions in front of others. A second later Nadia hugged him and said, "Good to see you, Coz"

Marcellus grinned at her and said, "You too, Coz"

"Wait" Katerina said, "You two know each other, when others didn't? How?"

"Well" Nadia said, after smirking that Mikaelson smirk, "1850 to 1859, they were all daggered, except for Aunt Belle" Nadia rolled her eyes, "Obviously. And I took the opportunity to visit Uncle Nik and Aunt Belle" Nadia shrugged.

And somewhere behind them all, she could hear a feminine growl, which indicated that her dear sister was annoyed beyond words. Arabelle rolled her eyes and said, "As lovely as seeing the entire clan in a room, don't you think we have much to discuss?"

Some nodded and some sighed, as she asked them to sit. Every chair, sofa and loveseat in the living room were occupied as she took the scotch bottle again and stood near the fire place.

"Alright" she said, which was followed by a silence that if a pin was dropped that would have sounded like thunder. "I know you are all confused by what happened a week ago at Mother's ritual."

"Yeah" the little Bennett said, "What the hell was that? Why were they protecting you, the abominations?"

"Bonnie!" Abigail, Lucy and Stefan said simultaneously in a warning tone, while Damon's eyes trailed on her as if to determine what she would do to the witch.

Arabelle sighed and met Bonnie's glare. Her eyes and voice were hard, "I suggest you shut up, little Bennett. Grow up!" she nearly shouted the last part making the witch startle. She then addressed everyone in the room, "I want you all to stay calm and listen to what I am going to say. This is bigger than anything we ever came across. Some of the children here need to remember one thing while I say this. The world in not black and white as you so love to believe. So, for the next two hours, please keep your Elena-centred thoughts out of your minds and listen carefully. Because whether you all like it or not, you are all involved in it. And please don't interrupt before I tell you everything."

When they all nodded, some understanding and some reluctant, she continued, "I believe that Sheila wanted you all to talk to me?"

Abigail and Lucy nodded.

"The Bennett bloodline is the most powerful bloodline ever born in the world. This involves every Bennett ever lived and living in this world. Two thousand years ago, there was a powerful Warlock born in the Greece. For those who don't know, Greece was the place where the first Witches and Warlocks came into existence. So, the Warlock's name was Markos. He was so powerful that he defied the nature that gave him magic. He was very corrupted by his power. He was the first person to use black magic. Better yet, he was the one who introduced it to the world. He wanted to become the ruler of the world. No one could stand against him." Arabelle closed her eyes.

Steeling herself she continued, "His lust for power grew. The other Warlocks and the humans came up with a plan to stop him. They knew that they can't kill him. So they decided to turn him into a stone. It was decided that the humans would distract him, while the warlocks performed the spell. They did, but before he turned into stone, he cursed the humans who helped the warlocks to turn into beasts every full moon. The warlocks tried for a counter spell to save the humans from the curse, but couldn't. And that was how the first werewolves came into existence."

Arabelle took a gulp from the bottle and continued, "The werewolves had no other choice than to accept it. They started living in packs and the man who led the humans to defeat Markos, Eryalus, became the first Alpha. Markos was shipped to an island in the South Atlantic, which is cloaked by a powerful cloaking spell. Even Markos' wife agreed that Markos was a dangerous man who could never be allowed to roam the earth. Everything was fine. For a while. The great grandson of Markos, bore a daughter, Quetsiyah. But he also had an illegitimate son with his wife's handmaiden. When he refused to accept the boy as his son, the boy turned to black magic. In his twisted way, he thought that he could raise Markos, and make him punish his father and his descendents."

Arabelle took another swing of the drink and started pacing. "But he couldn't. Oh, the boy's name was Amacus. Amacus and Quetsiyah were both powerful. After all, they were both descendents of Markos himself. Years passed, but Amacus couldn't find the island. He was so determined to raise Markos, that he fed his son the reason that he modified to corrupt the boy's mind. Quetsiyah when learnt that her brother was trying to raise Markos, killed him. In order to keep her bloodline from aiding the world, Quetsiyah created the Other Side, where the dead supernatural creatures move over. In order for the spell to work, Quetsiyah had to die. Before her death, however, she passed over her grimoire to her only daughter, Alkmene. In that she explained all about Markos and the importance of protecting the world. That was how the Bennett bloodline became the protectors of the secret. That was how the safety of the world fell on the shoulders of the Bennetts"

"Okay" Bonnie said, blinking as if she was processing what was said, "How do you fit in this?"

Arabelle growled and said, "I am getting there, girl. Perhaps if you keep your mouth shut like I asked, I can explain"

Bonnie for her part glared at Arabelle and averted her gaze.

Arabelle sighed and continued, "Alkmene had a son and a daughter. We, the Mikaelsons and the Bennetts are the direct descendents of Quetsiyah. The Bennetts through her granddaughter, while we are the descendents from her grandson." Arabelle looked around to see the wide eyes of the occupants. The only person, whose facial expression wasn't comical, was of her eldest brother. Elijah who was known for schooling his emotions perfectly was the only person who was remaining normal, though his eyes say otherwise. "Quetsiyah made sure that the Bennett family secret was passed down to generations. But Ester was not aware of the secret. Only when she moved to the New world did she meet Ayanna, but even then Ayanna was very reluctant to tell her the secret."

Arabelle took a last swing from her bottle and placed it on the table nearby. "The descendents of the Amacus were the Rocques. The bloodline known for involvement in Black magic. Only some know of their existence. For centuries they were laying low, which only intensified our doubts about them waking Markos grew. Centuries after Quetsiyah's death, the werewolves and witches had disagreements, making their disputes big. They grew to resent each other. The Spirits in the Other Side were restless. They wanted unity and prosperity between the races. That was when Niklaus was born. The son of two direct and powerful descendents"

Arabelle looked at her brother, who was frowning and looking at her questioningly. "Yes, Niklaus. Your father, Erik, was the direct descendent of Eryalus, the first Alpha. You are the Chief. That means every pack in the world answer to you. On to the story then, when Niklaus was born the nature struggled to maintain the balance. But eventually it did. I think you are all familiar with the saying, 'The only permanent thing in the world is Change'. It applies to the balance of the nature. When the unlikely scenarios like the making of werewolves, birth of Niklaus, creating of vampires, the balance of the nature is restored as it sees fit. The Witches and Warlocks of the living plane believe that the vampires unbalance the nature. But they fail to acknowledge that the nature can balance itself without their interference."

The witches in the living room were looking at her with wide eyes. Lucy looked at Arabelle and asked, "So what we were taught about the vampires being the abominations...?"

"Are all false. We are part of the ecosystem just as you are all" Arabelle answered Lucy's incomplete question. "We can't blame them. They believe what they want to believe. So, Quetsiyah foresaw that Markos would be awaken by the Rocques. So, they had to create the 'Guardians of the Supernatural World'. The birth of Niklaus gave them hope. But they knew we are all a part of Niklaus' life. So they decided to make seven immortals. Including Henrik and excluding Mikael. They made the werewolves attack a member of our family. They made it so, so father was one to get hurt. But that night Henrik went into the woods"

Kol looked at her in comprehension, "If Henrik had stayed?"

Arabelle nodded, "If Henrik had stayed in the cave that night it would have been father who would have died. Then he wouldn't have known that Niklaus was not his son. Mother wouldn't have placed that curse on Niklaus. Mother wouldn't have been dead. Niklaus wouldn't have become obsessed with breaking the curse, Katerina wouldn't have lived in running, no daggers, no threats, no running. We would have been one big happy family. And Niklaus wouldn't have relied on the doppelganger to create a new race in the world." Arabelle sighed, "Henrik would have been here with us. As a Hybrid like me"

The tears were threatening to show its face. It's been thousand years, but the pain of losing her twin was still afresh in her heart. "When we were all turned into Vampires, we lost our magic. Niklaus became a perfect balance between vampires and werewolves. Ayanna in her death bed passed her magic to me and told me the Bennett secret. When I mastered my magic and started visiting our ancestors on the other side, I was told of the complete story."

Arabelle took a deep breath and looked at the Bennetts. "We truly believed that there were no more Bennetts until I met you, when Niklaus broke his curse. Even Ayanna failed to tell me. Now, they informed that the Rocques have made their presence to the world. We, the Mikaelsons, are the guardians of the Supernatural world and it is our duty to keep it safe as do the Bennetts."

She gave them ten minutes to process what she said. Some were accepting, some were terrified, some were confused but none seemed to be against it. Ten minutes extended to twenty, then extended to an hour, but none said anything. Arabelle sighed and said, "It seems you all need time to process what I said. We shall meet again here in this living room, in two days."

Everyone sighed, as if they were all relieved of escaping this unknown. Arabelle rolled her eyes at them and went to stand beside the window. The Mystic Falls gang took their leave. Arabelle asked the others in the living room. She waited until he was sure that they left the property and turned to her family.

"There's more, isn't it?" Elijah asked her, with a knowing expression.

Arabelle bit her lower lip and nodded, "There is a three stage ritual we must undergo to put an end to markos, once and for all. The first stage is, for us to marry our mates. One at a full moon. A Bennett witch from the other side would perform the ritual. The first to get married is you, Elijah."

Rebekah looked at her with wide eyes and said, "We all must get married?"

Arabelle nodded hesitantly, "In next six moons"

Finn looked at her with kind eyes and asked, "What about you and Kol?"

Arabelle looked at Finn, and then at Kol who was so intent on avoiding anyone's gaze, "About that", Arabelle said, "Kol found his mate today. I found mine when we first moved to the town"

Niklaus' eyebrows were touching his hairline, "And they are?"

Kol cleared his throat and said, "The Bennett Witch"

Nadia, who was drinking water, sprayed it right over the carpet and cast a apologetic look toward Niklaus, asked, "What?"

Arabelle was temporarily relieved that Kol took over the attention, like he so loved to do. Only this time he didn't. But it didn't last longer. She could feel Niklaus' glare on her and sighed. "Damon Salvatore" she muttered.

Hope you liked it... Please leave your comments...

Until Next Time...