3/29/13

A/N: Hello! If you're reading this, I'm glad to see you're interested enough to read to the next chapter (or maybe you're just bored? haha ...)! Anyways, I'm not really sure what to say on this ... it's been a bit tougher getting a handle on Finn and Mikael's personalities, since out of all the Originals, they kind of shined the dullest for me. Does that even make sense?

Anyways, as always, please leave me a review with critique or comments, if you have any. If there's a detail or something that I forgot, missed, or completely messed up (which, of course, I try not to do, but knowing me I definitely did, anyway), please tell me!

I hope you enjoy ~

Klaus took a deep breath and ground his teeth together. He felt feverish, cold sweat soaked his back, and underneath him he could feel fur. He was lying down—inside, he could tell. In his own home, with any luck. He tried to open his heavy eyelids, but what little he could see was blurred and unclear. Even with his new and improved vampire senses, things felt blurry and muffled. He felt like he was submerged miles and miles underwater. His entire body felt like it was being crushed.

In some other room, Klaus recognized his mother's voice and his father's unmistakable shouts. They were the same shouts that he used whenever Niklaus did something to upset him—which was most of the time. Niklaus felt a small flash of frustration and anger at that, but it quickly faded as the voices became farther and farther away. His parents must've been going outside of the house. Or rather, judging by the fact that they were faint in the first place, they must've already been outside and going farther. Wearily and blearily, Niklaus finally opened his eyes completely and shook himself, trying to control his shudders despite the fire that was roaring at his back. He slowly inhaled and exhaled through the nose before taking in his surroundings at last.

Sitting in a chair, expression unreadable, sat Elijah. He had changed out of his black shirt into a more comfortable gray one. Their other siblings were nowhere to be seen, but somewhere Klaus could hear them breathing. He couldn't tell if they were asleep or not.

"How are you feeling?" Elijah asked him. As an answer, Klaus painfully moaned.

"What happened?" Klaus asked Elijah hoarsely after a moment, regaining his breath. When his older brother did not immediately answer, Klaus looked up to focus on his face. Elijah was as stoic as ever, which only meant that he was trying very hard to keep quiet about something.

"Elijah," said Niklaus, feeling his panic beginning to rise, "what's wrong? What happened?"

"Niklaus," Elijah started, shifting a bit nervously in his chair, "I want you to approach this calmly."

"Elijah," Niklaus repeated, his tone considerably more threatening. He worked himself into a half-sitting, half-lying position and reached out to grip the front of Elijah's shirt, "what happened?"

Still, Elijah did not answer immediately, Instead, he sighed and swallowed hard, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. The fact that Klaus was practically strangling him didn't faze him, especially now that he couldn't die. Elijah was a bit concerned about how easily and casually he'd remember that.

"You lost consciousness," Elijah finally told Niklaus, who looked almost murderous at this point. "Mother nursed you back to health. Finn and I carried you inside and put you on the bed."

Klaus stirred and sat up completely. He ran a hand through all his hair and shook it all out.

"Why did I faint?" Niklaus asked, knowing that Elijah was pointedly avoiding this question.

"Niklaus…"

"Elijah," Niklaus impatiently and mockingly mimicked his tone, "don't test me."

Elijah took another deep breath before relenting, "You were turning."

That made Niklaus pause. He blinked and felt his brow furrow. He swung his legs off the side of the bed so he was looking at Elijah face to face.

"I was turning?" he repeated, wanting to make sure his bionic hearing hadn't lapsed all of a sudden.

"Yes," Elijah sighed, shutting his eyes as if preparing for the oncoming storm. "Into a werewolf." To both Elijah and Klaus' surprise, however, he did not begin shouting or exploding. Instead, he sat back a little and frowned a bit, as if this was a small, curious annoyance to him.

"How can I be both a werewolf and a vampire?" Niklaus questioned aloud. Elijah only shook his head. Niklaus grappled with the concept that he was both a vampire and a werewolf—that would make him a sort of…hybrid, wouldn't it?—and that he, potentially, could be more powerful than even his own siblings. A vampire was strong, but a vampire and a werewolf together were certainly stronger.

"Niklaus," Elijah pulled him from his musings, "you couldn't have become a werewolf after you became a vampire."

Niklaus looked up and met Elijah's serious gaze. "What are you trying to say?"

"Niklaus, is there any way that you were bitten by a werewolf before we were turned?" Elijah asked—or rather, begged. It sounded as if he was pleading with Klaus to say that yes, Niklaus was bitten (even if he truly hadn't). Niklaus was silent as he considered his brother, slowly putting the pieces together, and suddenly understood why Elijah was so concerned and wary of telling Niklaus the truth. Suddenly, Klaus shot up from his seated position and paced around the room.

"Niklaus?"

"No," Klaus answered him. "No, I wasn't bitten."

"Are you sure?" Elijah said, also rising to watch Niklaus stalk the bedroom. "Niklaus, please, think hard."

"I wasn't!" Klaus roared at Elijah, who only blinked in response. Somewhere, they both heard the steady breaths of their supposedly sleeping siblings give pause.

"I was never bitten, Elijah!" Klaus shouted. "I was never bitten, never ingested werewolf spit. Any werewolf that came close enough, I killed."

"I know that," Elijah quietly reminded him, not twitching as Niklaus advanced on him.

"Then what are you trying to say, Elijah?" Niklaus demanded his older brother, his voice deadly and low.

"If you were not bitten, then that means…" Elijah trailed off toying with the family ring that was forever on his hand. It was meant to go to the first born son, but of course, he died of the plague so many years ago, and the ring fell to Elijah. Ever since he inherited it, Niklaus and all his other siblings noted Elijah fidgeted with it or his daylight ring on his opposite hand when he was considering something very carefully.

"That means you were born a werewolf," a new voice finally cut into the conversation. Both of the brothers looked to see Rebekah standing in the doorway, having silently approached the room without either of them noticing. Niklaus felt his jaw jump, and Elijah gave a heavy sigh behind him. Clearly, this was not exactly the way he was planning on breaking the news to his younger brother. Of course, Niklaus was not overly surprised at Rebekah's revelation. He had figured it out himself already, although he wasn't exactly happy to hear it aloud. He knew what this meant. His mother had been unfaithful, and his father—no, their father—now knew that Niklaus, the son that he hated, was not his own flesh and blood, after all. Without realizing when he started to, Niklaus began to feel terror, wondering what his father might do to him. He was moving out of the house before he was consciously thinking about it. He seized the belt and the scabbard with his sword attached to it and put it on before grabbing a sack and swinging it over his shoulder. He went around the room at high speed, filling the sack with clothes, weapons, and other small trinkets and oddities that he held most dear to him.

"Niklaus," Elijah called after him, "where are you going?"

"Outside," Klaus supplied. Rebekah moved out of the way as Niklaus barreled through the doorway. Before he had made it two feet outdoors, however, Finn and Kol appeared, blocking his way.

"Move," Niklaus ordered them.

"Niklaus," Finn said, "running won't solve anything."
"No, but it certainly keeps the problem at bay for a while, doesn't it, Finn?" Niklaus scowled a little.

"Don't be such a fairy, big brother," Kol crowed, stepping in front of Finn, who rolled his eyes. Here we go.

Instantly, Niklaus gripped Kol's throat and backed him into a tree. It crunched under the force that Niklaus slammed him, but Kol wasn't very concerned. In fact, he was practically smiling, which only made Niklaus squeeze tighter around his neck.

"Don't test my patience, Kol," Niklaus warned him.

"Or what?" Kol prodded. Niklaus inhaled through the nose and ground his teeth. Kol was always the most unruly out of all the siblings. He was going to get them all killed one day.

"Niklaus!"

The entire clearing outside the home froze as the siblings turned to see Esther standing at the forests' entrance, Mikael not far behind. Immediately, Niklaus released his grip on Kol, who only rolled his shoulders and rubbed his neck a little with vague amusement and quite a bit of triumph in his smirk.

"Mother," Klaus greeted her stiffly. She only watched him carefully.

"Niklaus, listen to me," she commanded him, coming over to him and standing before him. He could feel the power rolling off of her. Nature itself giving her strength.

"I'm glad you've awakened," Esther said. She didn't wait or skirt around the next part of the conversation.

"I have disabled your werewolf abilities," she told Klaus bluntly, who only swallowed and blinked.

"What?"

"I used a spell to block them," Esther said. Her expression was stony. "You won't be able to use them."

"Why would you do that?" Klaus asked her. He reached for her, just wanting to touch her shoulders and know his mother was there, but she shrugged him off, which chilled him. His hand hung in the air as she told him, "A werewolf-vampire hybrid is unnatural. It's completely against all laws of nature. As a witch, I couldn't allow such a thing to exist."

Thing. Klaus froze. Thing. Was that all he was to his mother?

"Niklaus," Esther said coldly, "the only way that you could have activated the werewolf gene was by taking human life." She paused, as if waiting for him to say anything.

"Did you hunt human?" she pressed him.

"It was both of us, mother," Elijah finally cut in to stand beside Niklaus. "We're sorry. It was a mistake. It should never have been done."

"No, it shouldn't have," Esther narrowed her eyes. She was trying to tell if Elijah was telling the truth or trying to deaden the blow on Niklaus by dividing the blame.

"Apologies won't fix anything," Esther finally said. "You've begun hunting humans. You're taking human life. Do you know what you've started? How dangerous and immoral you've become?"

Every word she said was like a dagger in Klaus' heart. He felt himself falter a little and glanced at Elijah standing next to him. Elijah had lied. Only Klaus had killed and drank the human's blood. Elijah came just a bit too late to stop him. Niklaus had the distinct feeling Esther knew Elijah was lying, as well. Behind him, he could feel the gazes of Finn, Kol, and Rebekah. The looks ranged from contempt to horror. He could feel them boring into his back. He'd never felt more isolated and alone in his life.

"Enough of this," Mikael finally joined the family meeting, striding forward. Niklaus involuntarily stumbled a few steps back. As a human, Mikael was intimidating. As a vampire, he was terrifying.

"Father," Niklaus entreated him, his eyes flickering to the sword at Mikael's hip. It wouldn't kill him, but it would certainly be painful.

"I'm not your father," Mikael said coldly. "You're no son of mine, boy."

Somehow, the way he said "boy" was worse than how Esther called him a "thing". Klaus backed away and Mikael's hand drifted towards his sword…then behind him, to something he had looped onto his belt, no doubt. Klaus watched as Mikael brought it into view, revealing it to be a wooden stake sharpened to a very effective looking point.

"Wood can't kill me," Niklaus reminded Mikael, although he didn't really think he had forgotten.

"No," Mikael agreed, "it can't, but it certainly hurts. And this is a special type of wood, regardless." He waved it in the air and glanced it over appreciatively. "White oak. Your mother was kind enough to let me know that it is literally the only substance on this earth that can kill you." He paused. "Fascinating, isn't it? Having only one thing that you can die from?"

"Mother?" Niklaus called to her, but she did not reply. She only watched. Niklaus swallowed and felt something snap.

"You are my mother!" he shouted at her. "You are my blood. You made me! You created me. The reason I'm standing here is because you willed it, and now you have the gall to stand there and watch me be killed? Why do you stand there as if I have done some crime?"

Still, Esther did not stir, and Mikael continued to advance in that easy pace of his. Klaus felt a tree dig into his back. He quickly weighed his options. Running was really his best chance, although the chances were not good. Running from a man as ruthless and methodical as Mikael was not easy.

Mikael was nose to nose with Niklaus at last, looking him over as if having second thoughts about killing him. But Niklaus knew better. The man that stood before him hated everything about him. Perhaps he knew. Perhaps he could tell from the moment Niklaus was born that he was not his.

"Mikael," Niklaus said, not sure of what he was going to say but needing to say something, regardless.

In response, Mikael raised the stake and brought it down.

Niklaus felt the tip pierce his skin, and that one small fraction of time was the most agonizing one of his life, but the wood did nothing more than break his skin. To everyone's shock, Kol was holding Mikael to the ground, gripping the wrist of the hand that held the stake.

"I never really did like you very much," Kol confided, "but trying to kill my brother really is pushing things, father."

With a snort of impatience, Mikael threw the boy off. Kol flew through the air before landing yards away. Niklaus could hear the crack his bones made as he made impact with the ground, and the groan that escaped him as he got his breath back.

"Father," Elijah stepped forward, as did Finn and Rebekah, roused into action by Kol's brashness, "please, don't do this."

"Get out of my way, Elijah," Mikael ordered, coming forward to hold the tip of his stake on Elijah's neck. "This can kill you, too, you know. All of you."

Elijah warily glanced down at the weapon. Unfortunately for Mikael, he forgot that there were four other Mikaelsons he had to deal with. Niklaus was still too cautious to come near Mikael, but Kol was reckless and prideful. He seized Mikael's arm, appearing out of thin air to snatch the dagger right from his hand. Elijah flinched as the tip nicked his skin. He glared at Kol reproachfully, but didn't say anything as he rubbed the blood away, the wound already healing. Kol only had his impish smile on his face.

"Kol—" Mikael began, but was cut off as Finn advanced, gripped his father's shirt front, and literally threw him at the forest lining. The sound of Mikael's head hitting the tree felt painful for all of them, and he lied still for a moment as he healed.

"Right," Elijah sighed, turning away from his father to address his siblings, "while he's—"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as a blade erupted from his chest. Elijah stared at it uncomprehendingly, as if wondering how that appeared there, before it was withdrawn and he fell to his knees, clutching his chest. Rebekah finally moved to action, pushing Mikael out of the way and kneeling to make sure Elijah was recovering. He was far from it. Instead, he looked to be having some sort of seizure.

"Something on the blade," he chocked, falling onto his side. "Burns."

Niklaus was immediately reminded of the flowers that Rebekah had tried to pick only days before, at the base of a tree, that had burned her fingers when she touched them.

"Vervain," Mikael supplied a name while twirling the now bloodied sword. "Another weakness, although it can't kill you, so don't worry, Elijah."

"Wonderful," Elijah managed before coughing heavily, again. Mikael must've pierced a lung.

"Mikael," Klaus finally spoke up again, going to stand between Finn and Kol, who brandished the stake, "you can't think that the odds are in your favor."

Mikael hesitated, for while he was prideful, he was not stupid. He cast his gaze at the three that stood before him and the quickly recovering Elijah behind them. Rebekah had stood up, now, as well. It was unlikely, Klaus thought, that she would be violent and ruthless against Mikael, but the fact that she was prepared to fight was reassuring and gratifying.

Mikael ran his thumb over the hilt of his sword, weighing his chances, before Kol finally took a single step forward, stake in hand. Like a shadow, Mikael disappeared, sword and all, far enough away that none of the siblings could hear him moving through the forest.

"Where's mother?" Rebekah asked finally, for none of the siblings had spared a thought for her as they fought their father. All five of them turned simultaneously, trying to find signs of where their mother might have gone, but they found none.

"Good riddance, really," Kol shrugged, although it was obvious he was flustered by her sudden disappearance as they all were. He twirled the stake around, trying to be casual, as he said, "She obviously didn't care for this family anymore, did she?"

"Give me that before you hurt yourself," Klaus snatched the stake from Kol. It was considerably heavier than he had expected, but it was whittled to meticulous perfection. As expected from Mikael.

"Search for her," Klaus ordered his siblings. "Split up."

"Why do—"

"Kol, for once just do what I say," Klaus entreated him. "I need her to tell me how to break the curse."

The others glanced at each other before Elijah pointed out, "Niklaus, the last thing mother or father wants is for you to become a hybrid. Don't you think, in light of tonight's…events, that you should be a bit more prudent?"

"Prudent? Mikael tried to kill me."

"He did," Elijah acknowledged, "and we fought him. For you. But if we're going to fix the family, there are certain sacrifices on your part that—"

"A family?" Klaus interrupted him. "With the man that tried to kill me? And yet you defend him and act as if this was nothing more than some small misunderstanding between father and son?"

"Perhaps we just don't want to actively seek out and murder our father," Finn said blandly. Klaus glared at him, but Finn only seemed somewhat amused that Klaus would even try to intimidate him.

"He's not our father," Niklaus spat.

"You're right; he's not your father," Kol frowned.

"Look what he's done to us!"

"Niklaus, we just want to—"

"Just find mother," Klaus ignored Elijah. He turned his back on his siblings and glared at the dirt. Eventually, he heard them run in opposite directions through the forest, fanning out to find Esther. As soon as he was alone, Niklaus roared at the night sky and at the ground and at the forest without really knowing what he was shouting about. No doubt the entire village nearby, the one they had to leave soon after turning into vampires because of the war with werewolves—Klaus' kin—heard him, as well as his siblings. Rebekah had paused. Niklaus could hear it. The others only ignored him.

Aimlessly, Niklaus sped into the forest, blindly and randomly tearing at branches and trunks and leaves, trying to expend the anger that had overtaken him.

"Niklaus."

Klaus whirled at the sound of Esther's voice, the Original Witch standing only a few feet from him, considering him with an unfathomable expression. He held up the white oak stake, as if to use it against her. She did not seem concerned.

"You're looking for me." It wasn't a question.

"You sold me out," he accused her. "You were going to let Mikael kill me and everyone else."

"No, Niklaus. Why would I want that? I love you. I love this family. I love—"

"Stop lying to me!" he shouted at her, then lowered his voice. He did not want his family showing up.

"How do you break the spell you put on me?" he asked, not wanting to hear any more of her excuses.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Because if you are telling the truth, and if you really do love me," Klaus said, stepping closer towards her, "then you will give me this, because it's something that I sorely want."

Esther only stared at him. For a moment, he thought that she would not tell him.

"You need a werewolf, a vampire, a witch, the moonstone, and the Petrova Doppelganger," she said as he began to turn away. He cast a glance back at her.

"Moonstone?" he repeated. He inched a little closer, narrowing his eyes. "The Petrova Doppelganger? What does Tatia's family have to do with this?"

"The moonstone is needed to access the power of the moon during the ritual to undo the curse," Esther explained willingly enough. "As for the doppelganger…"

"Doppelganger, doppelganger," Klaus repeated, shaking his head uncomprehendingly. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that, in some generations—maybe one, maybe one hundred—a woman of the Petrova bloodline will be born and will look exactly as Tatia did. That is a doppelganger—one that looks exactly like the original."

"But," Klaus frowned, "why Tatia?"

"I expect it has much to do with the fact that it was her blood you drank to complete the transition from human to vampire," Esther said flatly. Niklaus opened his mouth and closed it again.

"That was Tatia's blood?" he asked. "You killed her?"

"More accurately, your father did."

"He's no father of mine."

"In any case," Esther said almost impatiently, "after you gather these things, the witch must first channel of the full moon to break the moonstone, to which the spell is bound. Then, you must kill the werewolf, then the vampire, and then must kill the doppelganger by completely draining her of blood. It is very important that you do everything in that order and it is very important that you kill the doppelganger as well as the other two sacrifices."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "Why should I trust you?"

"Well," Esther shrugged a little, "do you have another choice?"

There was truth in that. Klaus sighed helplessly and ran a hand through his hair. Finally, he said, "Thank you for your help, mother. Now, about father hunting us down…"

"He only wants you, Niklaus," she told him. "He won't kill the others, and they'll never turn against him. He is, after all, their father."

"Oh, I'll convince them to go against him somehow."

"And how do you propose you do something like that?"

Before she could blink, Niklaus swooped in and pierced her chest with his hand, gripping her heart and squeezing. He knew that he would have to do this quickly and without hesitation, for the Original Witch would not be forgiving. She shuddered and spluttered, blood spilling out of her mouth as she tried to focus, but she was too slow. Niklaus pulled out her heart. It was warm and sinewy and was still beating a little as a muscular reaction as he held it. It might've been his imagination, but at that moment, Klaus swore he saw vengeance in Esther's eyes. But then she was dead, and there was no light in her eyes anymore.

Klaus dropped the heart, breathing hard, then glanced at his bloodied hand.

"Niklaus?" he heard Elijah's voice coming closer. Klaus shot a look at the white oak stake he was holding in his clean hand, splintering and breaking, he had been gripping it so hard, before going to the nearest tree and piercing his own hand with the white oak stake, pinning him to the tree. He shouted and cried out at the pain. It was as if his entire hand was on fire.

"Niklaus!" Elijah exclaimed as he saw him, taking in the sight of his clearly dead mother and his apparently incapacitated brother.

"It was Mikael!" Niklaus moaned, gripping the white oak stake with his free hand as if to pull it out. His weakness was not feigned. He had not anticipated that he would be feeling so much pain. He could barely focus enough through it to close his hand around the stake.

"Father?" Elijah echoed with disbelief.

"Yes, yes, he ran as he heard you approach," Niklaus said. Elijah only stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Elijah!" Niklaus gasped. "The stake!"

Elijah shook himself a little before speeding forward. With a decisive motion, he pulled the thing from Niklaus' bloody hand. Niklaus cried out again and fell to the ground, cradling his hand as the yawning gap in it began to close up.

At the sound of his calls, Finn, Kol, and Rebekah appeared before Elijah. As Klaus recovered, Elijah spoke to them in low, fast tones, holding up the bloodied stake for them to see. Each one of them glanced at Klaus on the forest floor before going to the body of their mother to pay their respects. Rebekah was the most devastated, throwing her arms over her mother's chest and sobbing into it. Finn bent down and put an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm. Out of all of them, the two of them were perhaps the closest to Esther.

"So what now?" Elijah asked Niklaus quietly as they stood some distance away, watching their siblings mourn.

"Now we find a rock and where the Petrovas have gone."

Elijah turned to look at Niklaus curiously. "Tatia's family? What does she have to do with this?"

"It was her blood we drank, Elijah," Klaus told him heavily. "It's her doppelganger's blood that I need to turn into a hybrid, again."

"We drank…?" Elijah trailed off, only hearing the first part of Klaus' reply. He put a hand to his mouth as if he was going to be physically ill.

"And what about father?" Elijah finally murmured.

"What about him?"

"Well, he'll be coming after you. Us, by the looks of it," Elijah muttered, looking back at the body of his mother, again.

"Yes, he will," Klaus kept his face carefully composed, "so we need to stick together. Be a family. And if he ever tracks us down…" Klaus nodded towards the stake still in Elijah's hand. "We'll kill him."