The next day, Bella woke up tired but determined to finish the job she had started so long ago.
She was exhausted, she needed to be in Klaus' arms, to feel like she didn't carry the weigh of the world alone anymore, to be able to close her eyes and know that everything was going to be alright. She wanted a break from the pain she constantly felt from their bond not being complete. 6600 thousand years was a long time to go in pain and after everything she had done, she was exhausted, she wanted a well deserved break.
Before going to sleep the previous night, Bella had gone to Klaus's house on her own and placed very strong protections all around it to make sure that while she fought Mickeal and Dahlia, her beloved and his family would be safe. Just out of safety, she had snick into Klaus' bedroom and placed a spell on him so that if anyone tried to kill him, they'd be the ones dying. This way, if another white oak stake existed without her knowing it and she was busy elsewhere, he'd still be safe.
"Are you okay Bella? You look a little pale." Henrik told her when he joined her for breakfast, followed by Freya.
"I'm fine, don't worry. Just a little tired." She replied.
"You went out a long while last night... If you needed help, you could have asked, I would have happily helped. I am strong, you know." Freya intervened with an hint of superiority in her voice.
"Don't worry, I was fine. I just wanted to place a few extra protections on Klaus and his house, just in case." Bella replied, brushing it off.
"A few?" Henrik asked, doubtful.
"I just want to be prepared in case Mickeal or Dahlia are expecting our attack and are planning on going after them." Bella blushed.
"Henrik told me how you were constantly in pain because your bond with Klaus isn't complete... I'm sorry." Freya told Bella while she helped her clean up after their breakfast.
Bella couldn't decide if she actually liked Freya or not because the elder Mickealson gave out a weird vibe. She wanted people to think of her as being superior to them and at the same time, she could, sometimes, show understanding and compassion. Bella didn't know if the girl's compassion was real or not and, at the time, she didn't really care. If she survived her fights of the day, she'd look more into it, after having spent time with her love. Freya was far from being her priority.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault." Bella told her with a smile.
"But after everything you did for my family... I'm the eldest, I should have done something but I didn't..."
"Dahlia was watching you, I doubt you had much freedom. My life wasn't easy but it was my choice, yours wasn't."
"True. I wish I had known about you sooner, maybe I'd still have my baby..." Freya confessed.
"If I had known about this sooner, I probably would have done something. Now it's too late. Maybe you'll find love again."
"I hope so." Freya smiled.
"I've seen a lot of things, learned a lot and seen a lot too. In life, as long as you have faith in something, you can make it happen." Bella told Freya before they got ready and headed to the forest where Bella had located Mickeal.
"Are you sure you can watch? I don't need you, you know. You can always stay behind if it's going to be too hard for you." Bella told Freya before they came too close.
"No, I want to do it. Henrik told me more about what our father did and he needs to know that everything could have been different had Esther acted the right way." Freya nodded and Bella looked back forward, a determined look on her face.
They walked for about 20 more minutes in relative silence before they arrived in front of Mickeal. Henrik and Freya were invisible, Bella was the only one that he could see.
"Hello Mickeal. I hope you weren't hoping to survive for long after your resurrection. I believe your children gave you my message, did they not?" Bella spoke, making the vampire turn around to face her.
"I killed you." he snarled.
"I came back." She replied.
"So I can kill you again?"
"Now come on, even you must be able to feel my power. But don't worry, I won't kill you right away. Someone wants to talk to you first, after all, if I'm going to kill you, you should know the truth about the fate that was imposed on your first born." Bella smirked.
"Don't you dare speak about Freya, witch!" Mickeal snapped angrily before he tried to jump on Bella, only to be sent flying on a tree before Freya and Henrik made themselves visible.
"What trickery is this?" Mickeal asked, his voice still angry.
"No tricks Mickeal. I saved your last son's life, as for Freya, I think she should tell you herself. Freya, I'll leave you two and Henrik alone for a bit but remember, if you try anything to let him escape, you'll join Esther in her prison world and suffer the pain of a thousand death." Bella reminded Freya before going to step a few feet away, leaving Freya and Henrik with their father.
From her spot, Bella kept a close eye on Mickeal while trying not to listen to their private discussion. She knew that it was wrong, but she rejoiced in his pain, she enjoyed knowing that he would die right after learning that he could have gotten it all, that he could still have gotten the life he wanted with the child he loved above all other but that it would be ripped from him. She could tell that Henrik was angry at his father and that he wasn't being very nice with him while Freya was all for the sweet and tender goodbye.
"Are you ready?" Bella asked when Henrik returned to her.
"Yes, we are." he nodded.
Bella walked to Mickeal and Freya stood by her father's side.
"Please, you don't have to kill me, I'll stop going after Klaus, I'll stay away." Mickeal pleaded.
"Unfortunately Mickeal, you do need to die. But you'll die knowing that your ashes were used to kill Dahlia, isn't that comforting?" Bella smiled cruelly.
"This is revenge, isn't it?" Mickeal sighted.
"Yes, it is. You tortured the man I loved, my soul mate. You killed my godfather, massacred my village, my family... Men, woman, children... Babies! They were all innocent. You deserve to die and you know it." Bella replied harshly.
"Freya..."
"I'm sorry father but she showed me what you did and... I could forgive you but I want Dahlia dead, I want my freedom and this is the only way I can get it." Freya replied tearfully, devastated by what she was living.
"She'll die? Dahlia will die?" Mickeal asked Freya and Bella.
"Yes, and she'll suffer if this is of any consolation to you." Bella replied while Freya nodded.
"Very well then. Do what you need to do." Mickeal nodded, opening his arms widely in a sign of surrender and looking Freya in the eyes before Bella stabbed him with the last White Oak Stake.
As soon as the stake and the body took fire, Bella started muttering the words she needed to say so that the destruction of this stake never triggered the rebirth of the White Oak tree in Mystic Fall's or anywhere else. Then, before gathering the ashes of the fallen Viking vampire, she turned to Henrik and a crying Freya:
"You two should go to Klaus and the others to warn them that Mickeal is dead. Stay there until I call, Dahlia will be dead before midnight. Tell them it will be over soon but stay ready to fight in case anything happens. We never know who is working with her. No witch's magic will be used in his house, I've protected it from it until the new moon." Bella told them and though Henrik wanted to complain and stay by her side to help her, he knew it was pointless.
She'd force him into Klaus's house if she had to, so he grabbed his sister's hand and lead her all the way to the house while comforting her. Even if his words of comfort weren't sincere because he now had grown to hate Mickeal, he felt for his sister, she probably felt what he would feel if Bella was to die and he could definitely sympathize with her for that.
.
Once she was alone, Bella gathered the ashes in an urn she had gotten for the occasion and took them back to the house where she placed them with the blood Freya had given her the previous evening and the earth she had gathered long ago.
Before getting working on the weapons though, Bella did a few more spells to ensure that Mickeal's fate would be what she had decided and planned all along, that he would suffer a thousand times more than he made people suffer, for a thousand times longer than he had caused. Such place existed in Hell, she had learned of them a long time ago and ever since, she had been planning on sending Mickeal there before freeing herself and joining Klaus for their future.
Then, Bella did the spell she needed to kill Dahlia, linking it to a series of weapons she had gathered for the occasion: Arrows, knives and a sword.
When she was done, she grabbed them all and made her way to the place where Dahlia would meet her. She made sure nobody was around and placed a repelling spell all over the place so that people that came near the place and weren't Dahlia would leave immediately. Then, she hide the weapons all around and performed the spell to let Dahlia think that Hope would be waiting for her there, that her mother had abandoned the baby girl there.
.
Henrik and Freya arrived in Klaus' house pretty quickly and he showed her the way to the living room where he called everyone.
"Who's this, brother?" Elijah asked him.
"This is Freya, she's on our side for this, she even helped Bella kill Mickeal." Henrik replied and did his best to hide his doubt from his big brother.
He probably shouldn't be wary of Freya but he couldn't help but feel like even though she was on their side and wanted Dahlia dead, she'd try to go after Bella or to hurt her one way or another later, as a revenge for forcing Mickeal's death. He also felt like she had a superiority complex and that she would try to knock Bella down so she could be on top. His sister had been raised by Dahlia after all and there was a risk that she'd turn into their aunt some day but he promised himself never to let his guard down, for Bella's sake.
"And the tears are because...?" Rebekah asked.
"Because she still remembers him as a kind man." Henrik shrugged his shoulders while Freya looked at Elijah, who introduced them all to her.
"I remember feeling you move when you were inside mother's womb, I sung to you..." Freya told Elijah who blushed and looked down.
"I've grown a bit since then." Elijah replied, making them all chuckle.
"I'm the replacement child who could never live up to the original one." Klaus said when it was his turn to introduce himself.
"Where's she, Henrik?" Ansel asked, looking around, trying to feel if Bella was around.
"Not here." Henrik replied, looking down.
"She's creating weapons and facing Dahlia." Freya replied and Henrik kicked her in the ribs.
"What?" She asked him.
"She doesn't want them to know!" Henrik whispered.
"But we do now. Why shouldn't we know? Is she in any danger?" Klaus asked, looking serious while Kol, Elijah and Rebekah looked at their sister closely, discovering her.
"She'll be fine." Henrik replied.
"She did look tired this morning." Freya added.
"Will you just shut it already?" Henrik exclaimed.
"I'm just saying the truth, they have a right to know, especially Niklaus." Freya replied.
"She has her reason for not telling him." Ansel snapped, moving to stand by Henrik's side, knowing he'd take Bella's defense and that he might need help.
"He should know why she did all of this!" Freya argued.
"And then what? What if she's not strong enough, what if Dahlia is ready for her and kills her? Bella doesn't want Klaus to feel that kind of pain and it's her right to protect him from it." Henrik snapped angrily, no more respect in his eyes for his big sister.
"Locking eyes with him could give her that extra strength she might need to kill Dahlia! She told me how when she first locked eyes with him their bond almost shattered Esther's barrier and it would have if she had let him see her eyes for a few more seconds. Locking eyes and letting Klaus fall in love with her, feel their soul mate bond could save her life!" Freya argued.
"Do you really care about Bella's health or do you only care about the fact that, at the end of the day, Dahlia will be dead and you'll be free?" Ansel asked Freya harshly, making her feel like she was being scolded by a parental figure.
"What?" Kol and Rebekah exclaimed while Klaus stood up, coming to stand on Henrik's other side.
"And if she dies, he'll feel like a hole has been punched in his heart and in his soul forever. He'll never be able to sooth that pain. Bella knows how painful it is, she's been living with this kind of pain for about 6600 years, I was there for the last 1000 years, I know how hard it is to just watch and be unable to sooth the pain. She doesn't want to put Klaus and everyone else through that and it's her right. Who do you think you are to make such decisions and speak for her?" Henrik yelled, ignoring everyone else in his anger.
"I'm your big sister, I'm the elder here! You should respect me more!" Freya snapped.
"No you're not. Blood might make you my oldest sister but Bella is the one who's been there for me for the past thousand years, she's the one who risked everything for Klaus, Hope, Ansel and everyone else. You have no idea what she's been through. You think you got it bad with Dahlia? Bella was completely alone for 5600 years! You're angry because you found love and lost him and your baby? Bella had to watch the man she loved from afar, watching him living his life and being intimate with other women, being sad, angry, in pain and she was unable to do anything to help him because it risked putting everything in jeopardy. Every centuries of sleep she had to endure to live forever, back when she still needed it, was plagued with dreams of the worst moments of Klaus's life." Henrik yelled.
He didn't care if he was revealing things he shouldn't anymore, all he wanted was to shut Freya up, to have her understand that she didn't suffer comparing to Bella, that his loyalty went to Bella.
"Aren't you the least bit worried for her?" Freya asked Henrik and he could see that she had more to say, that she was leading somewhere else with this but he interrupted her, he knew that her only worry was that Dahlia really died, not Bella's well being.
"Of course I'm worried for her, she was like a mother to me all these years but I know how powerful she is, she can channel any energy on this planet and more, she's been preparing for this moment for 6000 years and if she was able to survive and keep her sanity for 6600 years with the feeling of someone punching a hole through her heart and soul, she can kill a wicked witch with a superiority complex. She has enough power and knowledge to do anything she wants and yes, she's tired because she spent all night placing protections on this house and on Klaus, she probably even did some magic to protect the places surrounding the abandoned bar where she'll fight Dahlia because that's who she is. She's also tired of the constant pain she feels from being away from Klaus. I know all of this because I've watched her suffer, I've been there every time she lost hope and when she gained it again. You're just angry and jealous of her because she's stronger than you and because you had to let her kill Mickeal. Your only worry isn't Bella's well being, it's whether or not Dahlia ends up dead today. Well you know what? Grow up!" Henrik yelled, ignoring baby Hope's cries in the background.
"I'll get her." Rebekah offered and Klaus nodded.
"Henrik, are you confident that she'll be fine?" Klaus asked his brother.
"Yes, I am." He nodded while Freya was being calmed down by Elijah.
"And she's a true immortal witch now, right?" Ansel asked.
"Yes, she is." Henrik nodded again.
"So she can't be killed by Dahlia?" Klaus asked.
"No, she can't."
"But she'll be in pain during the fight and my presence could sooth that pain?" Klaus asked again and Henrik reluctantly nodded.
"Won't it distract her though?" Ansel wondered, knowing what Klaus was thinking.
"I honestly don't know. If it were up to me I'd ask Klaus to rush there but she wants him to be safe and here is where he'll be the safest." Henrik replied.
"You said she placed protections on me, what did you mean by that?" Klaus asked his younger brother.
"I wasn't sure if she did it or not before I came here but I can feel it now. It's a spell we've worked on together for a long time, for you and our other siblings. Anyone who tries to kill you, even with a weapon that shouldn't kill you, will have that weapon appear in his own body. Like if Kol was to thrust a silver dagger in your heart, it would appear in his own and you'd be completely fine while he would be, well, daggered." Henrik replied before he added "She placed the same spell on Hope."
"Then I'm going, and you're taking me. Dad and Freya, you're coming with us. Elijah, Kol and Rebekah, you're staying here with Hope. I'll call Marcel on the way and ask him to join you, just in case the witches are working with our deadly aunt." Klaus decided.
"They won't be able to do magic in this property, they'll be normal humans, at least until the new moon." Henrik informed his siblings who nodded.
"You trust me to come with you?" Freya asked her hybrid brother.
"That, or I don't trust you to stay with my child without me present." Klaus replied, already on the move.
Only one more chapter people, I hope you enjoy it.
I'm patiently waiting to read your reviews and find out what you think of this.
Only one more chapter. Thank you for all the love and support you're showing this story.
Lorelei Candice Black