-3-

Niklaus

It took effort to ignore the surge of hurt he felt at Caroline's quick dismissal of the pain he'd suffered at his father's hand. Her suggestion… 'Sit down and talk it out' showed how much of a woman of the twenty-first century she was. As though sitting at a table and discussing with Mikael how Klaus felt every time he'd been beaten and made to feel like a worthless parasite, (not to mention how Mikael had terrorized him the world over, and tried to kill him dozens of times) would have solved all their differences.

He could picture it. 'Hello, father. Have a drink, sit with me for a moment. I have plans of world domination and I'd like you to stop following me around the globe and trying to kill me and the rest of our family long enough to see those plans to fruition.' Visions of Mikael stabbing him through with the white oak stake.

No, sitting down for a chat wouldn't have done anything but get him killed. Mikael hated him.

He stared after Caroline as she walked away from him, looking quite fetching while she did so in the dress he'd bought for her. Wearing the bracelet he'd given her. At a party he'd invited her too. She was interested, Tyler be damned, she just needed more convincing to see Klaus wasn't the monster she thought he was.

If she would only talk to him; get to know him, she'd see differently.

Klaus told himself this as he followed the blonde back into the manor. He hardly thought about it before he was beside the young vampire once again, barring her reentry to the ball and subtly corralling her into his studio. Thankfully he'd thought to clean the mess beforehand, in case anyone drifted from the party.

She fell for none of it, not the one liners, not the compliments, certainly not the promises of grand adventure. He didn't understand what he was doing wrong; didn't women like these things? They'd not failed him before.

There had been a moment. Caroline was smiling and laughing with him. Klaus thought he was making headway. He was beginning to show her a bit of who he truly was, only to have his heart metaphorically stabbed through by her unrelenting hatred of him.

"..must be really nice to get whatever you want." She'd said, turning those gorgeous, judgmental eyes that missed nothing upon him and seeing only the monster, not him . Never him . "Is that why you collect hybrids? A little servant army to take you places and bring you things?"

He stilled. "You're making assumptions."

"Then why do you need Tyler? Stop controlling him. Give him his life back."

Disappointment and rage warred within him and he looked away from her accusing glare. "You know, this has been a fun evening but I think it's time for you to leave."

"I get it." Her eyes narrowed at him and her next words may as well have daggered him in his heart the way he'd done to his siblings. "Your father didn't love you so you assume that no one else will either. And that's why you compel people, or you sire them, or you try to buy them off but that's not how it works. You don't connect with people because you don't even try to understand them." She dropped those careless but cutting words and turned on her heel, stalking away from him.

How dare she? He turned and braced himself against his drawing table. Rage and bitterness warred within him and he fought the impulse to go after her and break her beautiful neck for the insult. He turned his eyes back to his artwork, seething.

Klaus Mikaelson; he was forever destined to be the world's most lamentable persona non grata, wasn't he?

What chaffed was that Caroline had been undeniably right, damn her.

Mikael had never loved him, and it turned out his biological father hadn't wanted anything to do with him either. At least all his birth father had done was simply never bothered with Klaus at all. He much preferred that method to Mikael's.

His mother, the only being that was supposed to love him unconditionally, was so ashamed of him that she'd violently caged a part of who he was. And he'd returned the favor by killing her.

Finn hated every part of who Klaus was- even before vampirism. His eldest brother had gone out of his way to avoid him even then and when he was around it was like a non stop play by play of all Finn thought Klaus was doing wrong. All of the time.

Elijah had abandoned him the moment he thought Klaus had done the unspeakable. That Elijah, his closest brother, had actually thought him capable of dropping his family into the ocean proved how his elder brother truly felt about him.

And Kol… Kol never shied away from his digs about Klaus' paternity, nor did he listen when Klaus tried to help the reckless moron from ruining his life with his own self destructive tendencies.

Even precious Rebekah would throw Klaus over as soon as any male gave her a glimmer of his affections.

'In the end ,' he thought whilst glancing around the empty room, 'I'm left alone with only myself and my paintings. Symbolic. I am the paranoid, bastard half-breed. Always and Forever.'

Except, he wasn't alone. Standing to the far left nearly encased by the shadows of the room, observing one of his paintings, stood a young woman. Klaus narrowed his eyes dangerously, his hands tightening on the drawing table. Just how long had this intruder been there? How had he not noticed her?

"I don't believe you were invited into this room, love." He began, walking towards her. She didn't even spare him a glance.

The stranger just hummed quietly in acknowledgement, still staring at one of his older landscapes. The light of a full moon and thousands of stars casting their glow upon the rolling hills of Tuscany. He'd observed it centuries ago and had kept the painting with him as a reminder of how much he'd loved Italy. Until Mikael had come, that was.

"People talk about warmth and light as if they are precious gifts; and they speak of the cold, and darkness as though they are evil." The woman spoke, her voice lightly accented, eyes still firmly on the painting. He was beside her now, staring at her profile. She was dressed for the ball, but he'd not seen her among the crowd.

Though, he had spent most of the night seeking Caroline's attention and seeing to his hybrids.

"Well," he began, turning to observe his work so they stood shoulder to shoulder, "I would imagine that ideal is baked into the fabric of humanity. What after thousands of years of mankind getting lost in the dark and being eaten by the wildlife."

She laughed, he glanced over to see she wore a full smile, eyes dancing across the canvas. "Or dying of hypothermia. Yes, I see your point."

Now he smiled, too.

"I think this might be my new all time favorite painting," the stranger said quietly, ghosting a hand across the canvas and his heart leapt, eyes stinging just slightly and throat going curiously sore. She kept going. "Most artists seem to prefer Tuscany in the morning, as the fog begins to roll out; the sun glints across the sprawling fields and vineyards. But I've always preferred my homeland best at night... there's just something about the dark. It beckons the lost, I think."

Klaus listened intently, holding onto every word as she lowered her hand back down to her side and Klaus' breath caught as she turned, meeting eyes of a most startling shade of forest green for the first time.

She kept smiling, until it gave way to surprise as her eyes widened to mirror his own. So she felt it too. Supernatural, then. A witch, perhaps?

Pieces within Klaus snapped into places he'd never known were missing. Gaps, gaping holes began to fill inside him and he took a step forward and seized the woman by the arms. Not tightly, but firmly. Ensuring she couldn't escape him. Love may be a weakness, but a soul bond… that would be a strength, not a liability.

She would be a strength .

"Well now what's this?" He pulled her in, ignoring her sharp intake of breath, and lowered his nose to the pulse in her neck. He used one hand to rest on her lower back, the other to pull silky black waves away as he pressed his nose to her throat and inhaled as much as he could in one go. Commiting the scent of his soul bond, his mate , to memory. Like vanilla and roses, mixed with the chemicals of the perfume she wore.

"Who, not what." She said, placing a hand between them and giving him a small push. Not enough to actually move him but enough to let him know she wanted him to move. He stepped back, only slightly. At her raised eyebrow and pointed look, he let go of her. She smirked approvingly when he raised his hands in mock defeat.

"And who is it I have the pleasure of being soul bonded to, then?" Klaus asked, folding his hands behind his back and circling her.

She turned to face him when he was right behind her, expression grim. "I'd like to chat, really, I would love nothing more than to get to know you. I didn't expect this-" she gestured wildly between them "-to happen. I sought you out intentionally, Klaus Mikaelson, to warn you. This ball is a distraction."

Just like that, Klaus dropped all his pretenses. Soul bond be damned, she would die tonight if she had anything to do with whatever this ball was meant to distract him from. Or was she a distraction? His wolf began to pace within him, growling and snapping.

Darkly, making the threat in his voice very clear, he spoke. "Well then I'd suggest you'd best explain, love. Now."

Isolde

"How bad of an over reactor are you?" Isolde asked the hybrid as he began to circle her again, hoping she made the right choice. "I only ask because I have a plan but it'll fall apart if you lose your shit."

"I am capable of restraint. Tell me why you're here or you'll see what happens when I'm not." His expression darkened with every word

Isolde held up her hands. "Relax. Okay? I was on your side before the soul bond, and I'm on it now." He stopped in front of her, inhaling deeply, clearly getting ready to lose it. "Esther held a private audience with the doppelganger named Elena just a few minutes ago. I was able to sneak in and listen to it," he went to interrupt her and she held up a finger, "I'll explain that another time. Again, on your side here." He settled. "She got blood from the doppelganger with the plan to put it in the champagne for the toast tonight and link your siblings as one so that if one dies, you all do."

Hurt and rage warred across his features and he reeled back as if burned by this news. He looked like he was ready to bolt so Isolde caught the sleeve of his tuxedo. He tried to pull away and opened his mouth to yell but the words caught in his throat, a single tear sliding down his cheek. It broke her heart a little to see it. Parents should never emotionally scar their kids like this. Never.

Isolde stepped closer, using Klaus' own shadow to cement his feet in place and stop him from leaving.

"Release me." Klaus growled and fought, eyes flashing gold as the veins of his vampire face spread.

"Stop- stop . It's okay, you're okay. I've got your back. You have an ace," she soothed, running the hand that wasn't holding him in place up and down his opposite arm. His muscles were tight, ready to flee. Or lash out, she wasn't sure which. "If one of you doesn't drink, the spell will fail. The ace is that I was invited to this ball and two of my siblings are with me. You don't know who we are, but we can help you handle this situation. All I'm asking is for you to make sure you do not drink anything. My family will see the guests preoccupied and make way for your family to speak. We'll also make sure Esther can't do any spells to harm you or your siblings. I know, historically, people have said you don't trust anyone. I understand that. But I need you to try and trust me. If you can't, I will lock you in here until the toast is over and Esther's spell fails anyways."

Wrenching his arm out of her hold, he sneered down at her, though it seemed half forced. "How could I trust you? I've only just met you. You're claiming my mother wants to kill my family and that you can stop her, which by and large should be impossible. She's a thousand year old witch. You want me to entrust my family's safety to you; a nameless newcomer?"

"Of course not," she shook her head, taking a step back from him in case he got volatile. He was still stuck to the ground but she was less than an arms length away. "Your family is safe so long as you don't drink the champagne. I'm just saying you can trust me to get the humans out of the way and keep Esther from casting anything so she can't escape whatever confrontation you'll want to have with her."

He ran a hand down his face and let out a low, frustrated growl before turning back to her. "Fine. But if I think for even a second that you're working with Esther to betray me, soul bond or not I will murder everyone you love and make you watch."

Isolde tossed him an unimpressed look. "Well, I'm not going to betray you. But if you wanted to kill everyone I love then I'd just wish you luck with that, buddy. The amount of people I love can be counted on one hand and every last one of them is at least five times stronger than the Original Family."

Klaus' eyes sparked at the challenge just as he heard his Mother's voice ring out, calling out for everyone to gather for a toast. He glanced over the woman again, noting that her hand was extended.

"So as not to be a nameless newcomer; It's nice to meet you, Klaus Mikaelson. I'm Isolde Alexander."

He ignored her hand, and she released the shadow that was holding him down just in time for him to turn and stalk off toward the foyer. He didn't bother to turn back around and look at her which worked out in Isolde's favor as she shrouded and jumped past him, making it to the foyer and near her siblings before Klaus.

And on the stairs was Esther, being a shady conniving, horrible mother.

"It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one." Isolde rolled her eyes. "I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers."

As soon as everyone (save Klaus- she was watching him to make sure) was lowering their champagne flutes, Isolde unshrouded right beside Vera. "Cut off Esther's magic. Theon, make the humans think the party's moving back to the ballroom."

All supernatural eyes whirled to her but she was already shrouded again, moving so she could be close to Esther should the witch try anything. Less than a half second later, the humans all laughed, as if something funny was said. The vampires all startled, wide-eyed as the guests began to murmur among themselves and pair up, heading right back into the ballroom where someone had already kicked the music back on.

"Master Vera… Lord Theon..." Esther's eyes were wide as she looked down upon the twins, and she stumbled up a step, trying to get away. Finn came to his mother's aid straight away, gently holding her arm to keep her steady.

The hybrid wore a sharp, sinister smile as he stared out at his gathered family, the doppelgangers, and the other couple vampires that were loitering.

"Now now, mother. I think you have a bit of explaining to do," Klaus looked at Mr. Nice Voice who was standing besides Elena, "seize the doppelganger, Elijah. She's conspired with our dear Mother to kill us all tonight."

The doppelganger took a sharp breath and tried to plead. "Elijah, I'm so sorry I-"

'Elijah,' Isolde thought, observing the man as he grabbed Elena's arms. She figured she'd likely be soul bonded to him too, it seemed like she was taking all the Mikaelson men. 'It suits him.'

"When I asked you about my Mother's intentions you lied to my face." Elijah said, just as Stefan and Damon made a move to attack.

"Keep fake Silas and his brother from attacking, and silence Amara's knockoff, her voice is a little grating." Isolde commanded from the other side of the room. She'd settled herself on the top of the stairs, perching atop the banister and no longer shrouded. She always liked an aerial view; it was like watching a chessboard.

Just as Stefan and Damon made a move to lunge at Elijah they were frozen in place. Completely unmoving. Vaguely, Isolde registered the blond vampire in the blue dress retreating from the house altogether.

Klaus tilted his head, a gleeful smile gracing his face as he looked up at where Isolde was perched. "Quite handy. I might enjoy having you on my side after all, sweetheart."

Isolde hummed indifferently. "That's my sister Vera, actually." She nodded to the younger woman. "Thank her."

"Lady Iseult," Esther gasped, and now Isolde could see the fear rising in Esther's features as the woman began to pull on her magic. Panic, as she realized she couldn't. She whirled to face Vera. "Master Vera, please. They're abominations, help me kill them. Help me right the atrocity I commited."

"Really, child?" Vera laughed but the sound was dry as she folded her arms over her chest. "What's so atrocious about them? From what I just heard the atrocity would've been succeeding in your plan. You realize wiping out the originators of a species brought to life through magical means would also wipe out the species itself, right? Or did you know that? Sounds like you wanted to add genoicde to your list of lifetime accomplishments."

Isolde felt the air shift near her and turned for a moment to see Kol leaning forward, arms crossed on the banister next to her. Instead of looking at the scene below them, he was staring up at her with a gleeful smile. It was unfair that even leaning over he could almost be level with her while she sat.

"You're quite the interesting little thing, aren't you darling?" He flirted, drifting close enough that his shoulder nestled against her waist, one arm flush with her thigh. "I've been looking for you, it seems you've been busy."

Esther began pleading with Vera, Klaus loudly interrupting here and there, Isolde was only half listening to it.

Isolde smirked down at him. "No rest for the wicked, or so they say."

This seemed to excite Kol more and he stood, moving behind her and bringing his chest flush with her back, one arm braced beside her, the other snaking around her waist and dragging her impossibly closer. By the gods did it feel good to have him pressing against her like that. She'd almost give anything to make sure he didn't stop. His face lowered, and she felt his lips ghost her ear. "And are you wicked, Isolde Alexander?"

She grinned, eyes meeting Elijah's below her for the first time, confirming her suspicions of Mr. Nice Voice also being her soul bonded. She gave him a little half wave with a small chuckle. "All the best people are, Kol Mikaelson."

Vera stopped arguing with Esther (Klaus was still yelling though), who was showing no remorse for her scheme at all, and looked up at her older sister squinting a little when she noticed the change in Isolde's aura. "Wow, Sol, we leave you alone at a party for a mere hour and you manage to obtain not one but four soul bonds?"

"Listen," Isolde shrugged as Kol pulled away, she stopped herself from grabbing the arm that was sliding away from her waist, "things happened. I dunno. I'm still processing. You know nothing usually happens to me."

It was then Isolde noticed Theon wasn't talking. He was looking to the far right, past all the tense Mikaelson's to a lone, stunning, blonde woman who was staring back at him quite intently. Isolde looked back to Vera and motioned between Theon and the blonde. "Can you confirm that?"

Vera looked, then laughed. Full bodied, almost falling over, laughed. All chatter among the immortals stopped and everyone looked at Vera. She pointed at Theon. "You-" laughter "remember that time I said you'd regret being such a…-" Vera waved her hands over her head erratically, trying to catch her breath and make her point in one, "and then you were like 'ImPoSsIbLe,'" she said mockingly, laughing still, "well how does that feel now?"

"If you don't shut up right now I'm going to send you an illusion so strong you'll be stuck in it for a month." Theon threatened, moving around his twin and toward the blond woman.

"And who might he be, exactly?" Kol asked, watching as the dark skinned man made way towards the blonde.

"My younger brother, Theon. Vera's twin. Who's the blonde?"

"My younger sister, Rebekah."

Isolde nodded, that tracks.

"Someone needs to tell me what the bloody hell is happening. Now." Klaus growled, glaring between his little brother, who was far too hands-on with Isolde.

Esther, realizing what was going on and that she wouldn't win this day, changed tactics; "Kol, get away from her. She's a monster worse than any of you could ever imagine."

Everyone, even Theo and Rebekah who'd been locked in their own quiet conversation, stopped and looked at Esther then. Klaus and Elijah narrowed their eyes at their mother, then they both (as if they'd rehearsed this) looked up at Isolde. Kol moved closer to her again, not that he'd gone far in the first place.

Isolde just rolled her eyes. "You're right about that. At least I don't sugar coat it." She looked back at Vera. "For the record," she pointed at Esther, "that judgy stare is half the reason I've always liked Dahlia more."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Finn and Esther narrowed her eyes at her son, as if daring him to speak, which piqued Isolde's curiosity, and Elijah's.

"Is there something you wish to say, brother?" Elijah asked, Elena had long since stopped squirming but her eyes were blown wide and staring at her beau's in true fear, body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Finn cut his eyes up to Isolde, looking as though she'd somehow betrayed him. "How could you like that horrid…" he took a deep breath and a step back.

"What did dear Dahlia do to you?" Isolde asked, shrouding in shadow once again and appearing from the corner near Finn, concerned. She may not know him at all but he was still one of her bonds. All the Mikaelson's were startled a bit when she'd appeared but in the next instant Kol was right beside her once more. He seemed to be refusing to let her out of his sight again.

"Finn, don't. Remember your promise" Esther commanded from where she was cornered by Klaus, the latter of which was watching the spectacle play out before him.

Isolde knew the look on Klaus' face; detached, calculating. He was trying to piece small bits of information together to gain the bigger picture. Their eyes met and she could practically feel his wheels turning. He was going to figure it all out, and he'd likely be the one to do it first. She respected that, she respected that a lot .

"Go on then, Finn, tell us what Mother hopes to keep secret." Kol prompted, stepping up beside Isolde and wrapping an arm around her waist, dragging her to him. "Don't keep us all in suspense, mate.

Finn looked at Esther, then back at Isolde. Loyalties seemed to war within him for a few moments. Then he cracked. "Dahlia stole Freya."

Esther sobbed. This night had not gone well for her.

"Freya?" Elijah asked. "Our elder sister was supposed to have died from illness."

"She didn't." Finn admitted, staring apologetically at Esther. "Mother…. She couldn't have children. She made a deal with her sister, Dahlia. Her firstborn for the ability to have children. Dahlia demanded her payment before Elijah was born; escaping her was the reason we fled to the new world. We had to, because Dahlia's curse upon this family was that she was owed the first born child of each of Mother's children, and every subsequent first born child for as long as the bloodline lasts."

"Mother, how could you make such a deal?" Rebekah spoke for the first time, tears in her eyes.

Klaus scoffed, looking incredulously at his sister. "She's just tried to link us so she could murder us and you're concerned about first born children? Get your priorities in order, little sister. You can't even have children."

With a gentle hand on Rebekah's shoulder, Theon spoke. "No, but I'm willing to bet you could, being half wolf."

This seemed to stun Klaus into silence for a moment.

Isolde ignored it and turned to Vera. "Ignoring that, do you think Freya…"

Vera was already nodding. "Possibly. I'll leave tomorrow, it'll cut family time short-"

"No worries," Isolde waved a dismissive hand, "their bullshit is now our bullshit. This is family business."

"What's happening?" Klaus had found his voice again, suddenly behind Kol and ripping his younger brother away from Isolde with a growl. "Back off my bonded, Kol, or I'll tear out your spleen and roast it over a fire."

Kol huffed and snapped back to where Isolde stood, now on her other side, glaring at Klaus. "If you'd been paying attention you'd have realized Isolde is bonded to all four of us, bastard ."

Klaus made a move to attack and Isolde wrapped his feet in shadows. He glared at her. "Not this again, sweetheart, you're getting repetitive."

"Still worked though, didn't it?" She snarked at him and turned to address the room. "Okay!" She clapped her hands together. "Listen up because I'm going to lay it out. I am Isolde Alexander, these are my younger siblings; Theon and Vera. We have an older brother, but he's not on this continent. Your mother knows us from when she was young and we were still reeling from allowing Rome to fall. It was a calculated loss, of course, but a sad one nonetheless. We'd ruled for over a thousand years at that point so I suppose we were just feeling a bit… listless. With nothing to do, we traveled for some time. We're likely the reason your mother knew immortality was obtainable in the first place."

The twins smiled and waved, Theon bowed dramatically which made Rebekah try to conceal a half-smile. Isolde continued. "Vera noticed Esther's sister was a talented witch and took her on as an apprentice for a few years. Eventually, we left to traverse other areas, I'm pretty sure. Something else might have been going on, I don't know. Anyway, that's the last we heard of your family for a couple decades. Then we heard of Esther's foray into necromancy and collectively decided not to intervene."

Isolde to a breath. "Fast forward to today. My siblings were visiting me because I happen to live here. We received an invitation to this ball. Flipped a coin, decided to come. We had no idea Esther was alive, but I overheard a conversation between tweedle dee and tweedle dumbasses over there and put it together. I met Kol first, and felt a soul bond snap into place." She smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Then, knowing Esther is rather powerful and having thought her to be dead, I stopped to talk to my siblings about it and happened to catch Finn's gaze. Boom, soul bond number two. I then followed Esther and Finn," she looked over at Esther, "because let's face it kiddo, you were acting super shady. Elena showed up, they plotted to link all Esther's kids together with the express intent to murder you. She's got the backing of a powerful witch bloodline on the other side to help her, too. I got worried because, you know, I'm not a fan of genocide unless I'm the one commiting it."

"And the imbalance it would create since nature has adjusted too and accepted vampires would wreak havoc on the planet." Vera interjected.

"And that." Isolde agreed, pointing a finger at her sister. "So I then went looking for Klaus," she glanced at him to see him eyeing her intently, "because you've got a reputation and I knew about you. I figured letting you know beforehand would help make this go more smoothly with less collateral damage. Soul bond number three."

She shrugged. "Now we're here," she looked over at Elijah and waved. "Hello soul bond number four." Before he could respond, she continued. "So now hearing of all this drama, and having both me and Theon bound to you, your bullshit has just become our- " she waved her finger between her and the twins, "-bullshit. And what Alexander's don't do is leave loose ends. Our older brother would somehow know we did and show up to throttle us all. So Vera is going to go looking for Dahlia and see if she can't find Freya. Because I'm guessing you don't know that Dahlia has found a different way to be immortal in a sense and still remain a witch." She looked at Finn with an encouraging smile. "There's a good chance Freya is still alive- just bound to Dahlia. If anyone can find and rescue her from that, it's Vera."

"Now," Isolde said, taking a deep, steadying breath and waving a dismissive hand toward the doppelgangers and Damon, "what do you want done with them? I'm tired. I'm kind of done for the day, if I'm being honest, and it's about time for us to head home. I'm sure Vera wants to make plans tonight since she's setting out tomorrow."

The Mikaelson's just stared at her in stunned silence.

Unsurprisingly it was Kol who broke the silence with a devilish grin. "Oh you are just an absolute treat, darling."