I don't see Esther and Finn's relationship as healthy, nor do I see Finn/Sage as healthy and the writing will reflect that. Apologies in advance for anyone who likes them.

TW: Abuse. (Slap/Emotional)

-11-

Isolde

She'd stayed too long talking to Finn, but it was worth it. She now knew more about him than she had before and she'd gotten a pretty good idea of the kinds of things that went on in the Mikaelson family.

Isolde had known that not all of the Mikaleson's had been awake at the same time for a very long time, but she'd thought that their slumber had been consensual.

Once in a while, when her family got tired of the constant day to day, they'd ask not to be disturbed and fall off for a while. That's what she had done these past five centuries, it was just easier to remain in contact nowadays. She thought it had been something like that with the Miakelson's.

There were so many things she learned lately that she now regretted having been so lenient with the vampire race. Had her family come to meet them right away… no.

Wishing for a different past would be diminishing the struggle that the Mikaelson's had gone through to come out as strong as they are now. Isolde certainly didn't wish that all the things that had happened to her in the past hadn't happened.

The Mikaelsons, like the Alexanders, were born survivors. There was no other way they could've turned out.

Well, perhaps with less trauma… and better coping mechanisms.

Isolde parked her car a few streets over from the Salvatore Boarding House. It was early evening, now. She'd stayed with Finn at The Grill for another half hour after they'd finished the heavy topics, talking about some lighter things to finish the day. When they got past all the angst, he was actually a very kind and genuine soul. Isolde loved people like that, and she couldn't wait to spend more time with him and learn more about what made Finn, Finn.

Once she'd made it close enough to the Salvatore house, Isolde shrouded into the shadows of the foliage out front and made her way into the large house.

The door wasn't locked.

She jumped through the shadows rapidly, confirming that no one was home. They left their house unlocked and no one was home. Good for her, but honestly. Did a human even own this place? Elijah could've just walked in himself and hunted through their records. Were these people that stupid?

At the top of the stairs was a wall of books, she glanced over each shelf until she found the ledgers. If she remembered correctly, the Wickery Bridge had been commissioned three or so decades before she'd moved into town. But she wasn't certain and there were far too many to go through one by one.

With a sigh, Isolde pulled out her phone and texted Elijah.

I'm hoping you've done some research. Please tell me you know what year the bridge was commissioned/built, this is going to be tedious otherwise.

While Isolde had it out, she checked to be sure her phone was silent. She'd kept it that way during her afternoon with Finn, but she was paranoid enough to check it again just in case.

Not one to waste time, Isolde started pulling books off the shelf starting in the 1890's, just to be safe. She was about halfway through the first book when the front door slammed open and Isolde shrouded herself back in shadow immediately.

"... waiting nine hundred years for him to get out of the box his rageaholic brother put him in and he's with some woman he just met holding hands in a scraggy bar in the middle of Mystic Falls?"

"Your precious Finn found his soul bond, along with the rest of that family, Sage. He's not worried about you." Damon said on the edge of a growl. "You waited nine hundred years for disappointment."

Oh, did Finn have a lover? Isolde wondered why this Sage woman hadn't been mentioned. Then she realized their topic of conversation that afternoon hadn't really left room for that.

Besides it was likely Finn thought this woman was dead or had moved on. After nine hundred years Isolde would assume the same. Unless they were bonded, which was possible. Like she'd told Finn, polygamist bonds are rare but not unheard of.

But if that were the case, wouldn't he have tried to go to her the moment he was back up?

Oh, wait. He was going to let Esther kill him.

Still. That wasn't making much sense. Isolde stopped speculating when Sage started talking again.

"No," the red head was shaking her head, eyes wide and lips set in a deep frown making her forehead wrinkle deeply, "no. She's an imposter. Finn loves me as I love him. And if this woman gets in the way then I'm not afraid of going all twelve rounds with her. Whoever she is, she's no match for me."

Damon smirked and slid in behind the redhead, resting his hands on her hips and dipping his face into the crook of her neck. Isolde caught a flash of tongue before they turned enough that she couldn't see. "Good. Keep that anger, help us kill her."

'If Sage is so in love with Finn why is she letting Damon touch her like that when she knows he's out of the box?' Isolde wondered, ignoring for a second that they were plotting her death. They'd fail spectacularly, at any rate.

Stepping away from Damon, Sage turned and pushed him down to the couch, dropping into his lap. Isolde so didn't want to watch this, but the information was necessary.

"What will that do for you?" Sage questioned with narrowed eyes, gripping the back of his head and yanking it back to make eye contact.

Damon shrugged. "If you're certain that Finn is yours, then you have nothing to worry about. But I knew a guy once, he had a soul bond. When that person died he fell apart; couldn't do anything. Watched the sunrise the next morning. I'm hoping that by killing her, it'll tear the Originals apart and the problem will resolve itself."

Are these guys really that stupid?

Sage was shaking her head. Seemed like she had a little bit of sense. "That family is extremely volatile, Damon. If you kill their mate they'll come for you and they won't stop until everyone you've ever cared about is dead at your feet."

The front door swung open. "We've got a way to put them down. The same daggers that kept Finn in a box for nine hundred years. There are only three, so we can put down Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah. Leave Finn for you two to have your happily ever after." Stefan informed, storming through the foyer and stopping to briefly scowl at Damon and Sage on the couch.

Sage wasn't so easily convinced. "Right, even if I believed that you had those daggers they do nothing to keep Klaus at bay."

'At least Finn's girlfriend isn't that stupid?' Isolde thought, eyes narrowing dangerously at the way the woman was still planted in Damon's lap. 'Seriously, what is she doing? Go find Finn and talk to him for fuck's sake. He's awake! Stop wasting your time plotting against his whole family. That's going to get you killed.'

Stefan had a plan for Klaus, though. "We're thinking we all have enough friends who hate Klaus enough they'll be willing to fight him off. With no allies and his siblings in our custody it'll force his hand."

Sage raised a brow and finally got off Damon's lap, moving to stand beside Stefan. "And this Isolde woman? What is she?"

"She moved fast, like an old vampire, but I don't think she was. She's got a couple powerful witches on her side, evidently they're her siblings." Damon informed, spreading his legs wide and throwing his arms over the back of the couch.

'Ew.' Isolde thought.

"That's how she seduced Finn, then." Sage stated, throwing herself on the couch. "Some kind of spell. Is she a witch?"

"We think she's some kind of witch. They're all old, Sage. Older than the originals."

Sage turned away from them for a moment, seeming to think it over. Isolde couldn't help but hope the vampire wasn't going to go through with it. The Salvatore's seemed to be forgetting a lot of the conversation they'd been privy to the night of the ball. Not telling Sage everything was a transparent manipulation tactic and Isolde hoped like hell the woman saw through it.

"How are we going to handle her allies?"

'Well, damn.' Isolde thought.

"Well the powerful one isn't here, took off the day after the ball. The other is constantly hanging around Rebekah so as long as the two of them aren't near by we'll just have to worry about whichever Original is with her when we kill her. Get her when it's not Klaus and it'll give us some time. We'll have to move fast, though."

"Prove to me that you have the daggers and tomorrow I'll call my allies to help neutralize Klaus. We have to plan extensively to take them all down at the same time. If even one slips by and is able to ally themselves with Klaus we're done for."

Isolde followed Stefan through the shadows as he zoomed through the house and collected the daggers, leaving a small vial of ashes where he'd been holding them. While Stefan left to prove himself to Sage, Isolde remained upstairs dipping into the connecting bathroom, taking the opportunity to check her phone for Elijah's return text.

'1912. Is everything alright, do you have need of me?'

Isolde smiled, heart fluttering a little as she texted back. 'You are just wonderful. Thank you, dear. You've saved me a lot of time. Are you home? The Salvatore's are plotting and I'd like everyone notified of what I've just heard. They like playing games, I don't. Seems they want to learn that the hard way.'

These people were fools if they thought they would hurt her family. She would never allow it.

Isolde fired off a quick text to Theon.

Elijah's return text came in seconds later. 'I'll have everyone home within the hour.'

Elijah

He was, of course, the first to arrive at the manor. Elijah had already been on his way home from speaking with Theon about the contract they'd devised for Elena and Niklaus when he'd received Isolde's first text. It had taken her some time to respond and in a fit of anxiety Elijah had found himself driving towards the Salvatore Boarding House. He'd nearly been there when she'd finally gotten back to him.

Elijah was about to pour himself a drink when he heard a door upstairs open and shut. Finn was likely home since Isolde had gone to search the Salvatore house. The two of them had spent the afternoon together. Curious, Elijah ascended the stairs and knocked lightly on Esther's door, entering without an invitation.

The tension was noticeable as soon as Elijah stepped in the room. Finn adopted a wide stance, frowning at the floor, both hands in his jacket pockets. Esther was seated delicately on the sofa, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Don't stop on my account." Elijah said, entering the room fully.

Esther's face shifted and she stood to walk over to the window. "How long must I stay holed up in this room, then? I have been dead for a thousand years. I have no magic. I am no threat."

"You're changing the subject, mother." Finn sighed, sparing a glance at Elijah while folding his arms. "To reiterate; why did you not seek an alternate route to fertility? Why go to Dahlia, knowing you would be sacrificing so much when Vera Alexander was an option."

Elijah moved to sit, now invested in this conversation and glad he'd decided to investigate.

Esther's scathing look would have burned her eldest son had she still had any power to do it, Elijah was certain.

"You've known Iseult mere hours in comparison to the decade I knew her and yet you would already trust everything she tells you to be true?" Esther retorted.

For the first time in his life, Elijah watched Finn roll his eyes at their mother. "You left out quite a lot in your explanation the other night, mother. Forgive me if I'm not too keen on the reliability of your information."

Stricken by the idea that Finn was siding against Esther, Elijah's eyebrows rose and he threw one leg over the other, settling in.

"But Iseult's information is?"

"You told us every conceivable way that the Alexander's weren't to be trusted, and yet you conveniently forgot to mention they'd brought your people knowledge, infrastructure, peace, and prosperity in the decade they'd been among you. Vera has gone to look for Freya of her own accord. Theon has given me hours of his time to teach me things of this modern era I had no way of understanding without the instruction. And Isolde has not had a reason to lie. Elijah, has Isolde seemed to be hiding anything from us?"

"No," Elijah began, he hadn't expected Finn to bring him into the conversation, "she's been incredibly forthcoming. The only subject she'd left untouched is the origins of her family and how they became immortal. She wants us all together for that."

"She told me the same." Finn agreed with a nod to Elijah before turning his sharp gaze back on Esther. "You are continuously attempting to shift blame. I will not have any more of it."

Striding forward with alarming speed for a mortal, Esther struck Finn across the face hard enough to make him stumble with wide eyed shock. "Mind your tongue, child." Ester hissed, finger in her son's face. "Powerless though I may be, I am your mother and you will show me the respect I deserve. Without me, you wouldn't have ever been."

"Without you we would have died as mortals a thousand years ago and saved us this endless torment." Finn growled back, vampire veins on his face fluctuating with a brief lapse in control.

Elijah came forward to step between them and caught Esther's arm just as it rose once more. He glared down at his mother with malice dripping from his voice. "You will not harm him again, Esther."

It had been a thousand years and Elijah would be damned if he were going to allow his parents' abuse of his siblings to begin anew.

Never. Again.

"She's already changing you." Esther huffed, face pinched with rage and scorn as she wrenched her arm out of Elijah's hold. "The Finn I knew would never even think to speak to me this way."

"The Finn you knew died that night a thousand years ago." Finn growled, turning to Elijah. "Come, brother. We are wasting our time hoping for answers our mother doesn't see fit to give."

The door shut behind them as soon as they exited and they both heard the lock slide into place. They could get in at any moment, but Esther's message was clear.

Finn was visibly upset, that much Elijah could see from the way his elder brother held himself and the way his face was carefully devoid of emotion.

At the top of the stairs, Elijah stopped Finn with a hand on his shoulder. "Though it may not mean much, and it may be too little too late, I am deeply sorry for what we've done to you. You were right, all those centuries ago. We should have worked harder to control our impulses and we should have shown restraint when killing or turning humans."

Finn's jaw dropped in shock. The elder brother looked like he was about to respond when the front door swung open.

"Alright, Elijah, we've made it. What could possibly require our immediate attention at half past eight in the evening?" Niklaus called out, striding into the foyer with Kol just a step behind.

"Just when the alcohol was beginning to do its job." Kol sighed, kicking the door shut behind him so hard it rattled the chandelier above them.

"We're still waiting on Rebekah, Theon, and Isolde." Elijah stated as he and Finn exchanged an exasperated look before they descended the stairs.

"And the nature of this impromptu meeting?" Niklaus asked, following his older brother's as they made their way toward the kitchen.

"Salvatore's, evidently. I didn't call the meeting, Isolde did." Informed Elijah, grabbing whiskey glasses from the cupboard and nodding to Kol. "Grab the decanter of Old Forrester from the study, would you?"

With a huff and an eye roll, Kol turned back around.

Niklaus seated himself at the head of the dining room table, watching his brothers enter and sit on either side of him. "I see. So our lovely soul bond thinks she runs the show now, does she? And how much power does she think she has over the lot of us?"

From the dining room they heard the front door open again.

"I'd say whether she believes she does or not, she indeed holds more power over us than anyone has in our history. I'm sure it is not her aim to abuse it, Niklaus. " Finn admonished, looking to Theon as he entered the room with Kol. "Welcome."

Theon swung into the open seat beside Elijah while Kol set the decanter between them, heading around to the other side to seat himself beside Finn. The scent of burnt wood rolling off Theon was strong enough to make all of the vampire's noses twitch.

"Evening, boys. Rebekah's here, she just ran upstairs to change."

"Judging by scent alone I'd imagine that was a necessity. Have a good bonfire, mate?" Klaus remarked with a slight scowl.

Theon's grin stretched wide across his face, his dark eyes lit with glee. "Oh absolutely."

Elijah wondered if that meant what he thought it meant.

Niklaus' eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when Rebekah walked into the room, pushing the back of his head lightly with a finger.

"Don't start, Nik. Theon won't tell you anything until Isolde is here." The blonde smiled warmly at her bond and Theon stood, pulling her chair out for her. She leaned forward to make eye contact with Elijah "I just got off the phone with her, she'll be here soon."

"Fantastic." Niklaus rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair so it was balanced on two legs. He pointed at Rebekah offhandedly. "Rebekah has gone off and gotten chummy with Isolde. Thick as thieves already, are you?"

Rebekah flashed her brother a sardonic smile. "Don't be jealous that she likes me better than you already, Nik. It's unbecoming."

Niklaus' face turned from teasing to angry in an instant and he opened his mouth to retort something that Elijah was certain Theon wouldn't appreciate, let alone Rebekah, but stopped short when the front door opened again. Several light steps were made, heading straight for the dining room.

Looking as ravishing as she had when he'd left her that morning, all eyes were upon Isolde when she entered the room, box in hand.

"My, that box looks familiar." Niklaus dropped the chair back on all fours while he changed course, staring at Isolde as she walked past them all, seating herself at the other end of the table and folding her hands overtop of the box that held those accursed daggers. "Wherever did you pick that up, love?"

Without a word, Isolde leaned over and snagged Kol's glass of bourbon, taking a small sip and winking at him. She set it down, opened the box away from them all, ghosting her hand over what Elijah knew to be three silver daggers.

"This?" She finally acknowledged, glancing up at them and fiddling with the lid of the box. "Picked it up from a couple of plotting Salvatore's just an hour ago. They had a foolhardy grand scheme on how they planned on using them, too."

"And what was this plan, darling?" Kol asked, leaning over the table with extended arms, tilting his head.

She shrugged, pulling one of the daggers out of the box. The low lighting of the room glinted over the silver and Elijah's eyes narrowed. He didn't know what Isolde planned, but persisting in taunting them with those daggers would have consequences.

"Divide and conquer; dagger Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah." Isolde informed, twirling the dagger expertly between her fingers.

"That does nothing for Nik and Finn," Rebekah added with a raised brow, her eyes hadn't left that dagger. Elijah noticed that his whole family was on edge, waiting for the opportunity to swoop in and take those from Isolde.

Isolde looked to Finn, who raised his brow at the attention. "Do you know a vampire named Sage?"

Finn's eyes widened a fraction. "I turned Sage, over nine hundred years ago."

"I gathered that much," Isolde said with a kind smile, "she's in town. I would suggest speaking with her, soon. She's decided I am an imposter and she wants me dead." She turned to look at each of them while Finn sat back in shock. "I hope none of you will give her trouble, she's very loyal to Finn, as I've seen this evening, and she's actually not a total idiot. A bit blinded by her affections, but nevertheless." Isolde shrugged. "The Salvatore's plan was to gather allies, dagger the three of you, kill me, turn Finn to their side, and use this show of force to corral Klaus into submission."

She took a deep breath and glanced over to Elijah. "The Wickery Bridge was indeed made of White Oak. Theon?"

"Rebekah has reduced every wooden part of that bridge to ash and sent the lot of it down the river. I stole into Alaric Saltzman's home and took the sign he was working to restore; good call on that, Elijah." Theon nodded to him and Elijah allowed a small smile in return. "I threw it on the fire at the bridge. It's gone."

"Wait a moment, you're saying you found more white oak?" Kol asked, glaring at Elijah. "And you didn't bother to notify any of us about it?"

Elijah sighed and took a sip of his bourbon, drumming his fingers on the table. "There was evidence that suggested another White Oak had grown in place of the one we'd burned, three hundred years after we'd returned to Europe. Knowing Isolde had been in this area for decades, I brought my inquiries to her this morning." He tipped his glass to his mate in acknowledgement. "Clearly I made the right call, as we are here not twelve hours later and the only white oak left in the world is the ash in that box."

Without warning, Isolde slammed the box shut and whipped it across the table to Theon, who caught it. "Melt them."

With only one of his hands on the box, smoke rose out from under the lid.

Elijah watched as his family sat in stunned silence while Theon opened the box. The daggers were completely melted, filling the bottom with rapidly cooling silver.

Kol took a deep breath, not looking away from the daggers. "That's all well and good, angel, but the true power of the daggers is in the-"

"White oak ash?" Isolde asked sweetly, holding the small vial at eye level, uncorked.

"Give that to me, now." Niklaus growled, eyes turning gold and fangs bared, from the other end of the table.

"This?" Isolde asked, looking at the jar and then back at Niklaus. "Absolutely not." Maintaining eye contact, she turned the small vial overtop of the bourbon she'd stolen from Kol and dumped it all.

Niklaus was at her side in a moment but Isolde was faster; the ash was now saturated in bourbon and she pushed the glass toward Kol. A mere fraction of a second later, Niklaus was slammed against the dining room wall by two long black tendrils that protruded directly out of Isoldes shoulders and Isolde was out of her seat. Niklaus struggled against the hold fiercely but he couldn't get out.

"Isolde…" Theon started, but his sister merely raised a single finger and he quieted.

Isolde strode up to Niklaus until her face was a mere inch from his and shocked them all.

Her hands settled lightly on either side of his face. "You may not believe me, but I understand. I get it. The fear, the need to protect, it becomes so strong that you'll do anything, even if it means disposing of them for decades at a time. I know. But you can't take their choices from them, Klaus. You have to let them live their lives and help them deal with the fallout of their decisions. So today it ends, Klaus." She lowered one of her hands to his shoulder and shook him gently. "Never. Again."

Isolde released Niklaus to the floor and he landed gracefully, anger still evident on his face but his eyes were back to blue.

"My house, six pm tomorrow. We can have that discussion about who and what we are, if nobody objects?" Isolde glanced around with a single raised eyebrow.

Everyone nodded.

We've got Klaus/Sol bonding up next, for those of you who've been waiting for him. I believe that Klaus liked Caroline because she had the mettle to tell him hard truths he didn't want to tell himself while everyone else was too busy being afraid of him to dare. I'm having Sol smack him with straight facts for his own character development.

I feel like I should mention that I'm aware that the Originals have kind of just been letting things roll (for the most part) with the Alexanders and that's pretty out of character for them. They're confused, adjusting, and will be for most of the first half of the story (I'm sectioning into Part I and II as of now) but rest assured psycho Original shenanigans will be coming.