I'm taking liberties with Finn. Just to reiterate: We're pretending TO Finn isn't a thing because I never watched the later seasons and we already threw canon out the window in FSO. I don't like how TVD made Finn seem weak. So that's not the journey he's on here. I am sticking with the whole 'pretentious' thing though. I think it's a good character flaw for him.

-16-

Finn

Damon Salvatore was fortunate that Isolde hadn't let Finn turn him into a Blood Eagle.

That young vampires and humans even dared to test him and his family said to Finn that his brother's and sister hadn't bothered to stay true to their cultural identity in the last nine hundred years. The more he learned about his siblings' conduct, the more shame he felt on their behalf.

The Mikaelson's weren't only Northmen, they were the children of a Viking.

Personal reputation and honour had always been important to their people. Elijah was the only Mikaelson that seemed inclined to uphold the family honour, yet still he'd allowed their names to be tarnished to the point that two young vampires and a few foolish humans dared to attempt harm on them; and in doing so their innocent (in this regard, at least) mate had suffered.

That his family seemed to disregard their foundation and half-follow many of the nine noble virtues was shameful, and Finn knew he'd only seen a glimpse of what they'd become.

Ruthlessness was a part of the Viking way; his siblings remained true to this.

But fearlessness was also a part of their ways. His siblings' unfortunately seemed to live their lives in constant fear of everything. Niklaus especially.

Of course, this was largely in part to Mikael's own perpetual fear-state he'd been in after losing Freya. Finn had always seen Mikael as the beginning of all problems his family had encountered.

A Viking so scared of loss he'd fled the homeland

A Viking so anxious he'd beaten survival instincts into his children.

A Viking so terrified of inevitable death he'd allowed himself to be convinced into turning his children into immortal beings that feasted on the living just to survive.

It wasn't until Isolde came a long a few days ago that Finn's world view had shattered and now Finn saw that Esther was the true beginning of the downfall of their family. Mikael had been and done all he was supposed to before Freya was taken, he'd only changed afterward.

A witch so desperate for children she'd sacrificed the happiness of her entire bloodline for the privilege.

A witch so afraid of the consequences of her actions that she deceived her spouse and fled to another continent to escape them.

A witch who'd had an affair with a werewolf when things got difficult with the way her husband reacted to the loss of her firstborn.

A witch so emotionally weak from the loss of one that the loss of another caused her a pain so great she couldn't bear it again and she found a way to prevent another of her family from dying ever again.

Weakness. That's what it boiled down too. Mikael was weak, so he tried to beat the weakness out of his children, thus instilling more with every blow. Esther was weak, so she tried to right her wrongs by creating more wrongs time and time again.

His family was weak.

For all of these reasons, and a thousand years of Mikaelson collective failures, their mate lost her head that morning. He had cradled it in his arms, sick at the feeling of her blood drenching his shirt. Finn knew Isolde was immortal, but seeing her beheaded brought a very primal surge of protective and vengeful instinct he'd almost forgotten he had.

To say Finn had reached the cap on his temper was an understatement. But Finn's temper was not like Niklaus', or Ellijah's, or Kol's, or Rebekah's. Finn's temper was quiet, like the man himself.

Finn was the Mikaelson you'd never see coming.

Because Finn was the only one of his siblings who'd actually been trained as a warrior. A Viking. He'd picked up his first wooden sword at three. After Freya, Mikael had stopped teaching Finn the old ways, but that didn't mean Finn stopped learning.

The clansmen, knowing how Mikael had reacted to the abrupt loss of his first born, did their best to supplement Finn's lessons. Even on the boat from the old world to the new, and in the new world, the men of the clan kept teaching Mikael's first born.

Elijah, Niklaus, and Kol had been raised fully in the new world. Hunters? Certainly. They had to feed the whole family somehow. Every young man and woman were taught to hunt for survival in those days.

Were they able to fight by sword or by any other means? Absolutely. A man was meant to protect his land and kin. A man who couldn't do that wasn't worth the life they lived.

But were they true Vikings? No.

Laughably, no.

So when Elijah threw Damon's unconscious body into Isolde's shed and strung him up, leaving to shower and change, Finn ripped open the mans' rib cage bare-handed and toyed with the idea of letting it heal so he could re-rip it from behind and pull his lungs out through the holes. Possibly string the foolish youngling up in Isolde's garden to scare away the vermin and the birds.

No one would threaten harm upon Finn's family, his soul bond, without retribution. Especially now that he had decided to reconcile.

Finn would call out to the wrath of the All-Father and bring this rage down upon anyone who tried.

Unfortunately, Isolde had arrived before Finn could get started and told him that such punishments like the blood eagle were outlawed in this softer era and she'd prefer that he let her do things her way. She'd given him a new shirt and soap with a basin of water to clean himself after he helped her remove bits of Damon Salvatore's brain for their enemies to feast upon.

Finn was glad he'd done things her way.

Isolde was unlike any woman Finn had ever met and as he sat there in the dark night, watching her smirk as her enemies tried to run from their deaths, Finn wondered how Isolde would look painted in blood, sweat, and dirt from battle with a shield at her breast and a sword in hand.

The sight would be glorious, he knew.

Ignoring Isolde's question about dessert, Elijah spoke up. "Those cloaked men, you called them Imperial Scouts?"

"They're six of my most formidable Hidden." Isolde nodded, addressing the table. "I'll introduce you when they return. They've only just arrived, I felt them entering the property right before I asked Theon if he was ready to begin the sentencing. I was going to handle the executions myself but once the Hidden heard what had happened I could feel their agitation. Marcus sent them ahead of himself; each has traveled from all over to come to me. I figured they could utilize this opportunity to shake their weariness."

"I can see the gears turning." Theon laughed, eyes on Niklaus who was leaned forward with arms braced on the table. The cat, Mura, had returned to her normal state and gone inside her two kittens after the other's had torn off into the woods. "The Hidden are the militant branch of the Shade. Those scouts? They're like... Shade Marines."

"So the Shade are what you call your people?" Rebekah asked, looking past Theon at Isolde. "What exactly are they, then? Surely not gods like you?"

"No. I created the Shade. They're… well I guess unlike Theon's people or vampires mine don't have a myth to ascribe to them. We've stayed pretty lowkey, which was the intention. Can't be good spies if everyone knows you exist, right?" Isolde shrugged. "They're umbrakinetics; darkness and shadow manipulators. They can do what I do, just to a lesser capacity because they can't mentally generate shadows or darkness from nothing like I can."

Finn watched with rapt fascination as Isolde returned light to the lamps around them and began growing a ball of formless roiling darkness in her hands right in front of them. "It's how we slip by undetected. We hide ourselves in the shadows." The ball of darkness extended and abruptly, Isolde disappeared.

Everyone glanced around as if waiting for her to jump out at them. She ended up reappearing a few moments later, relaxing in Matt's vacated seat beside Elijah.

"Even you couldn't see, smell, or hear me just then. Younger Shade are easier to detect." Isolde stated, reaching for Matt's untouched glass of wine, only to have it snatched away from her and replaced with a glass of water by Elijah. She playfully glared at him and took his glass of wine instead. Elijah's cheek twitched as Isolde continued undeterred. "The more disciplined and older we become, the more undetectable. In the shadow we see and hear all, when we wish to. It also helps that my people are often naturally discerning, making for the world's best and most intricate spy network. Still, things slip through now and then."

There were a thousand questions Finn realized he should be asking, at this point. Instead of letting his brothers take the lead, knowing they were likely to derail the conversation and focus only on Isolde, Finn looked to Theon.

"What are your kind, then?"

Theon's brow arched, Finn guessed the older immortal hadn't thought he'd be acknowledged. "Mine are the Incubi."

This caused every Mikaelson head to swivel in Theon's direction, vampire face coming to the forefront with alarming speed as Niklaus was out of his chair, looking to be ready for a fight. "A sex demon is bonded to Rebekah?"

"Hardly." Theon rolled his eyes as if daring Niklaus to attack him. "You behave irrationally quite often, don't you?" The elder immortal taunted, which made Niklaus growl; eyes flashing gold. "Oh come off it, mate. How much misinformation has been spread about Vampires in the last thousand years? We Incubi are known for being sexually free and while that's certainly true it's not our primary function."

Rebekah wound one arm around Theon's and threaded the fingers of her opposite hand with his, glaring at her brothers. "We talked about this the first night we met, after I left the mansion. If you recall, mother accused him of inciting certain behaviors in people after the children had gone to sleep. If I haven't taken issue with it you shouldn't either."

"He will hurt you, Rebekah, just like every other has." Niklaus hissed. Finn watched as Rebekah, Theon, and Isolde all tensed. Isolde especially narrowed her eyes from beside Elijah. "How long before one partner isn't enough?"

Theon's jaw clenched.

"He won't. As you are so keen on forgetting, allow me to remind you that it is you who is always hurting me, Nik. You are always hurting all of us. Every time any of us find a piece of happiness you destroy it. I won't let you this time."

Klaus threw his hands up and took a step back, incensed. "Oh, how could I forget? Klaus Mikaelson; The Great Evil. Always out to ruin everyone else's lives whilst our enemies clamor over themselves to find ways to murder us and-" he pointed an accusing finger at his sister, "-you just open the door for them to come right in!"

"Oh bloody hell, Nik." Kol was shaking his head with a dark glare. "Can't you ever just let something pan out the way it will without wrecking it? What enemies are you even talking about right now? Our most current are fleeing for their lives through the woods, Shade rushing after that with intent to kill.."

"Go back to worrying about yourself first, Kol. It's what you're best at." Niklaus seethed.

Kol ran a hand over his face and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table. "I have to worry about myself first, none of you ever worry about me!"

"I am always worried about you Kol, you have no self-control! How long before you slip up and massacre a hundred people to satisfy your blood lust?"

"Well you killed father, it's not like he'll be baring down upon us any time soon." Kol rolled his eyes.

"Do you think this family has ever had a civil discussion about their issues?" Isolde asked, interrupting whatever else was going to spill from Niklaus' mouth.

Theon looked back at his sister, tense expression easing slightly at the interruption. "Doubtful. They need therapy."

"Individually and together, it seems." Isolde agreed, downing the rest of Elijah's wine while all of the fire in Niklaus seemed to grow. The hybrid whirled around to glare at Isolde over Elijah's head.

Finn watched Isolde's almost imperceptible smile as Niklaus' attention and ire was directed solely at her and he realized, with clarity, that his soul bond had taken the heat off of everyone else intentionally.

By the way Theon's shoulders began to relax as he squeezed Rebekah's fingers in his, it seemed the younger Alexander knew this and appreciated it. Finn marveled at the subtle play.

"Don't even think of touching her, Nik." Kol growled, drawing Niklaus' attention back to him. Isolde's small smile dropped. "Hybrid or not, I'll find a way to hurt you."

Several things happened in a matter of seconds, just as Finn suspected was coming.

Niklaus lunged at Kol, who was prepared and crouched.

Elijah stood, but was rendered useless as a shadow fell over him and held him in place.

Niklaus was ripped backwards and slammed against the concrete beside the table, causing the slab to suffer massive cracks and a small crater around Niklaus' body. Isolde crouched over top of him and holding him down, lowered her face to his with his shirt collar bunched in her hands.

Finn stood so he could look over the table and get a better view and he wasn't disappointed.

"You want to lash out at someone?" She hissed down at Niklaus' stunned expression, shaking him lightly. "You have aggression to work out? Fight me. Hurt me. I can take whatever you have and I can give it back a hundredfold if that's what you wish." She took a deep breath and one hand came up to brush gently over Niklaus' curls. "But you need to learn that you can't keep attacking the people you care about every time they've upset you. That is the sign of a weak leader, and I know you're better than that. I know you can do better."

She stood and stepped back. Niklaus worked his jaw, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he stared at her with wide eyes. He ran off a moment later.

"I'm pretty sure you just hit him where it hurt, Sol." Theon said softly as Isolde took Niklaus' vacated seat between Kol and Elijah.

"I don't care. Someone has to tell him what he doesn't want to hear. People have pandered to him for far too long out of fear of his reaction." She waved a hand at her brother but her eyes were on Kol, reaching out to brush her fingers over his cheek. "I stopped him before he got to you, right? He's a lot faster than I thought he'd be."

Kol grabbed her hand and held it in his, lowering them both to the table. "Not that I am ungrateful but you shouldn't have to defend us from Nik, it's not your job. We could've fought him off."

"Who else's job would it be?" She gave him a small smile. "But it's not just about defending you all, which I want to do. Klaus, and the rest of you, have many lessons to learn and I aim to make you learn them."

"Well you'll have no fight from me on that front, angel, consider me your willing pupil." Kol winked with a devilish smirk and Isolde laughed as the remaining tension from around the table waned.

"So," Theon began, "before all that-" he gestured wildly to the broken concrete, "I meant to assure you all that the Incubi aren't crazy-evil sex demons. Some people are just a bit impatient to cut to the chase, it seems. You'll have to catch him up later."

Even Elijah couldn't hold back his wry smile as Theon continued. "My people are adept at the magic of the mind in all forms; or mentalists. Most of us are simple illusionists, telepathics, or telekenetics. As the originator, the first Incubi, and a god, I am… well, think Jean Grey from the X-Men. If you've been in a box for a while, we can have a movie night soon instead of having me demonstrate."

"Point is, Theon is almost limitless, much like Vera." Isolde shrugged, reaching for the wine bottle and stopping short when Elijah gave her a look and wrapped his hand around it. Instead she picked up Niklaus' water glass. "You'd think Emeric was the strongest being the eldest and all, but the twins are devastating."

"Which is stronger, you or Vera?" Elijah asked, still holding the wine bottle away from Isolde with a faint grin at her put-out look.

"Vera." Theon and Isolde said simultaneously. Theon elaborated. "She's got almost all of Isis' consciousness inside of her along with a large portion of Geb. She's pretty much a greater deity. We could argue that she is Isis."

"In the truest sense of Isis, anyway. She's still her own person, she just has Isis' essence."

"Anyway, while Isolde's people make up the world's biggest James Bond network-"

"-we're not flashy enough to be 007's, Theo-"

"-mine make up a hefty portion of the politicians and entrepreneurs of the world. Unlike the Shade, all of my people are utilized for maximum efficiency. I don't grant immortality to just anyone, they have to prove themselves useful before they're considered."

"Whereas I'll help anyone who has the moxy to come to me." Isolde shrugged at her brother's eye roll. "No one has to agree to become Hidden to be Shade."

Theon pointed at Isolde and glanced around the table for emphasis. "And that is why she has the most loyal community. Isolde doesn't use people the way the rest of us do. Well, to be fair Vera uses people with good reason."

"Vera's people are witches," Isolde explained when Kol's eyebrows shot up, "not the nature/ancestor witches you all know of, those are the weaker practitioners. We're talking about the ones who draw their power straight from the Consciousness. The ones who worship the deities. Vera utilizes her people for humanitarian activism world-wide. Especially in Asia and South America. And Emeric's people have infiltrated every military in the world. He's on top of all new scientific, technological, and strategic developments." Isolde told them.

"What exactly is Emeric, then?" Kol asked.

"Em has two modes." Theon started, readjusting in his seat. "The Changeling and the Berserker."

"Changelings aren't deformed fairies that are left in the place of stolen children, I imagine." Elijah questioned, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs, dangling the wine bottle over folded arms.

"No," Isolde smiled at him, "he's a shape-shifter. Some cultures call them skinwalkers, I suppose. Most of his people can only change form into one living thing. Most notably- the werewolves. Emeric, however, can change into any mammal."

"And his berserker mode isn't a joke. That's when he goes full bloodlust in mid battle and just annihilates everything in his path." Theon said with a little laugh. "We can stop him when he's like that, we just usually let him roll until he runs out of steam."

"It's best not to let him bottle it up." Isolde shared in Theon's laughter.

Elijah opened his mouth to ask more, but before he could five figures approached from the tree line and knelt several yards away.

Isolde raised her head and looked directly at the figures. She crooked one finger at them. Surprisingly, Isolde's next command came in English. "Nailah, report."

Instantly, one figure disappeared from the line up and reappeared mere feet from Isolde, still bent at the knee. "Stefan Salvatore made it across the creek. Samael is on his tail, awaiting your next order. The other offenders are burning in a pile three miles from here. One had an enchanted ring to prevent permanent death." Nailah placed the ring on the arm of the chair beside Isolde's arm.

"Fantastic," Isolde smiled, lifting the ring to look at it skeptically before tossing it back to the cloaked woman, "destroy it when you get a chance. Have you eaten?"

"We haven't, Domina Augusta."

Isolde gestured to the house. "There's plenty inside, come, let's get you something to eat and join us."

A softness settled in Finn's chest as he watched his soul bonds' people enter her home and return with plates of food. Isolde herself went inside to help them move plates and grab cleaning materials to clean the doppelganger's mess from her chair and then traded that chair for her own without a word.

Each of the five bowed slightly to Theon as they passed him, he nodded at them all with reverence but never stood, highlighting what he'd already said to them about how differently Isolde treats her people than the rest of the Alexanders do.

When all five figures had settled, they removed their hoods revealing people of differing sexes and nationalities. The one who surprised Finn was the red haired, blue eyed, large mass of a man that looked quite like someone whom he vaguely recognized.

"I see you noticing Dáinn, Finn." Isolde smiled at him as she settled back into her chair between Kol and Elijah. "He's your great grand uncle and the youngest of my imperial scouts. Meet Dáinn Halvarsson." She turned to the very real Viking at the table. "Dáinn, these are Mikael's children. Finn, Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah."

"Heill ok sæll, children of Mikael." The man greeted in the old language and Finn sat up straighter. "Your father was my brother's son, I have long wished to meet with you."

"Oh bloody hell, darling." Kol groaned in wide-eyed wonder. "A little warning, next time you pull part of our family we didn't know existed from nowhere?"

For a bunch of Northmen from the time of the Vikings, the Mikaelson's only vaguely act like it and it makes sense for them considering the Christianization of the world and how they'd been raised away from their clan/a thousand years of that. What bothers me is Finn, who would've recalled living amongst Mikael's clan and who is the first born son. The Mikaelson's likely came over to the new world with Leif Erikson and co. Things just don't make sense to me and I cant. lol

Also, protective Isolde. How's that Klaus? Can't hurt Kol if Isolde won't let you.