I had a few family emergencies in the last couple weeks and I'm in the process of buying my very first house so I'm a bit overwhelmed but I really wanted to keep going with FSO so here's 21! Arabic is used instead of Ancient Egyptian because I can't write in hieroglyphs, lmao.

-21-

Egypt

A smartly dressed man stood in a well adorned office looking outside large windows, observing the same view of the Pyramids he'd known since he'd ordered their construction for himself and his siblings' five hundredth year as immortals.

He released a puff of air and turned away, rubbing his hands down his face with a frustrated growl. He glanced over toward the man prostrated before him, head pressed to the ground in deference to his King.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You will be rewarded for your efforts." His voice was a crisp baritone. Power emanated from each word with a force that would not - could not - be denied. The bowing man trembled in awe as he lay there at the foot of the throne, soaking in the King's presence, his magnetism, his radiance.

"I spared no effort that was not my duty to you, your majesty," The man's voice shook as he spoke, tears in his eyes and a grin he couldn't quite shake stretched the length of his face.

"Look at me." The man raised his head and met the clear blue eyes of the King where his majesty had - not to the knowledge of the man - sunk down to one knee before him while his head was bowed. The man's eye widened as the King's sparkled, his hand came to rest on the man's shoulder. "You have done well. Your duty it may be, but a reward for the quality of information, and your discretion, is due. Please, take it. Use it well."

Unable to argue, choked as he was in the presence of his King, the man nodded and lowered his head once more. The King pulled his hand away and stood with a sharp nod to someone else in the room.

A sentry came to stand beside the man and escorted him out as the King climbed to his throne and sank gracefully back down into the ornate wingback chair.

As the spy scurried off, and the doors closed, the King's eyes opened to glow an intimidating red. From the shadowed corners of the room, a new figure emerged. This one was menacing, all curly dark hair, chiseled features, and an eye patch that showed a hint of a scar running top to bottom in the middle of his eye and a presence like wading through rough, polluted waters.

The King waved the newcomer over with two fingers.

"It seems, Gaius, my siblings have gotten themselves… entangled… with the Vampire progenitors." He rubbed his fingers into his temples, wishing he could stab himself through in order to avoid the coming confrontation with his family.

The menacing man chuckled, eying the King with mirth and crossed arms. "Well we were meaning to do something about those pesky Mikaelson's anyway." He threw out easily, eyeing the King. "But you and I both know their involvement with the Vampires isn't what's really bothering you, Emeric."

Emeric growled lightly and glared at his long time soul bond.

Gaius laughed outright, dropping to sit on the floor. "You're just upset you didn't hear it from them first."

Emeric threw the pen he had in his suit pocket at his bond and rolled his eyes when the man caught it before it embedded into the side of his head.

"Shall I ready the jet?" Gaius asked, twirling the pen around his fingers with feigned disinterest, noting that the King was growing more irritable by the minute.

Emeric nodded. "Yes. And do make sure-" He stopped mid sentence, pressing one hand to his chest with a deep frown.

"Emeric?" Gaius asked, concern pinching his already severe features as he rose to stand once more and shortened the distance between them to place a hand on his bonds shoulder. "Em?"

"One of them is hurt." Emeric growled, red eyes flashing like molten lava. His protective instincts were telling him to move to go because one of his family was hurt and they needed him and he wasn't there and, and, and… it was becoming hard to think as the rage began to burn through his veins. He reached into his pocket to produce his phone and began to dial. "Ready the jet, quickly."

And when he called them all and they didn't answer, the mighty king felt fear.

Mystic Falls

Isolde

Freya stepped forward with a trembling hand outstretched, reaching toward Finn with red and watery eyes. With a shaky voice, Freya whispered Finn's name.

That's all it took for the eldest brother to be by his sister's side, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her as if trying to shield her from the rest of the world. Isolde smiled, one hand pressed to her heart even as Finn's shoulders began to shake and she knew he was doing his best to reign in his own emotions.

Isolde was so happy for them both and she hoped they would be able to reconnect and establish the same sibling bond they'd had before Freya had been ripped away from Finn.

Isolde watched Elijah inch around her, his hand leaving the back of her head as he took a few strides forward. He looked hesitant to intrude, so Isolde pressed the palm of her hand to his shoulder and gave a small push. He looked back at her, uncertainty in his eyes and she smiled at him, waving him forward and nodding towards his elder siblings.

"Go." She mouthed.

Rebekah also took a tentative step forward and Elijah, noting the movement, held out his hand to his youngest sister. Together, they crossed the few feet that separated them from their older sister and Isolde continued smiling as she turned to make eye contact with Theon, who had come to take Elijah's vacated spot. Her little brother smiled back, eyes managing to convey everything they didn't need words to express.

The Alexander's knew the feeling of reunion when one had been thought lost, after all.

Without warning, Kol surged forward to fall into step beside Rebekah's side as Finn and Freya parted to speak with their other siblings.

Klaus remained immoble, and he refused to meet Isolde's eye when she looked at him. Judging that he was paying attention to what his siblings were talking about, but remaining on the outside (she'd resolved to talk to him about his inclination for setting himself apart from them at a later time), she ran a comforting hand down the back of his arm in silent support. Her reward was feeling his rigid posture relax a fraction.

Theon came forward to place himself on her right - parallel to Klaus. As if she needed reminding, while the Mikaelson's were in the midst of their happy reunion, he quietly whispered; "Vera."

"I know," she responded with thin lips and narrowed eyes, removing her hand from Klaus, "let them have their moment. This is huge for them." She caught Bonnie's eye, who was standing off to the side fidgeting and looking like she didn't know what to do, and waved her forward.

The young witch gave the vampires a wide berth as Rebekah embraced Freya, looking nervous as she approached Isolde, Theon, and Klaus.

"Bonnie Bennett." Isolde spoke clearly, if a little quietly to be mindful of the emotional reunion happening just feet away, as she strode forward - hand outstretched for Bonnie to grasp. "I'm Isolde Alexander, Vera's elder sister and an acquaintance of your grandmother. This is my younger brother Theon, elder twin to Vera. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

(Overwhelmed by the sheer power that radiated from Isolde, a trembling Bonnie stuttered her own greeting.)

"Like-" she coughed to clear her throat, "-likewise."

Isolde smiled sweetly, releasing Bonnie's hand. "Forgive me for being short, but I believe you have something to say to us regarding our absent sister?"

Bonnie straightened her spine and took a deep breath, nodding once as if to herself. "We worked for a few days to find Freya's location and did a lot of recon around New Orleans that wasn't actually crucial to finding Freya but… well, there was a bad vibe in the city and Vera wanted to investigate."

Bonnie paused to gather her thoughts. Isolde and Theon looked at each other, both of their faces going completely devoid of anything that would give a hint to how they felt. But they had an idea where this was heading. They'd all read reports on what had been happening in New Orleans over the past few decades and none of them liked it.

"The vampires have taken over the city." Bonnie said with a sharp glance toward Klaus, who was staring at her with barely concealed intrigue. "Led by some guy named Marcel."

"Marcel Gerard?" Klaus broke his silence with a raised brow, tone betraying his intrigue, shifting just so and his arm pressed against Isolde's, fingers brushing hers. She fought the jittery feeling in her chest, letting a couple her fingers loosely thread with his. The way they were situated, someone would have to be looking directly at them to see it, but to Isolde this small public display felt a bit like a barrier between them had been broken and it was a step forward to understanding what Klaus' intentions were.

Bonnie, oblivious to any of this, nodded at Klaus. "Yeah. He's kind of a real piece of work. He and his minions ran the packs out of town and made the witches too scared to even use their magic or he'd kill them. Vera had ideas how he was doing it but we got a lead on where we could find Freya so we were going to investigate more afterwards but…"

"But you used magic to retrieve Freya and however Marcel is tracking down witches alerted him to that." Theon filled in the blank with pursed lips and a furrowed brow, crossing his arms as he spoke.

"Brilliant bastard," Klaus muttered and Isolde rolled her eyes.

"You would." She said good naturedly and smiled when he glared at her.

"Yes," Bonnie nodded, eyeing Isolde and Klaus' interaction a bit more closely when the hybrid's glare turned into an arrogant smirk and Isolde was still smiling at him. "Once we used magic to get Freya out of the house she was locked in, Vampires swarmed us. We ran a few blocks and then Vera bought us some time to use whatever that-" she waved her hand around haphazardly "-was to get us to you. She said to tell you "level four code green" and you'd know what to do."

Finn

Meeting Freya again was a gift he hadn't allowed himself to believe he would receive. He trusted that Isolde's sister would do her best to track down Dahlia. He believed it when they told him Dahlia had found a way to live a semblance of an immortal life.

Yet when it came to believing that his elder sister, his closest sibling, could also be counted among the living a thousand years after they'd been separated - it was too much. Because if he'd allowed himself that hope… and he found out she was gone forever.

It would've been too much.

But now, standing here in the middle of the woods where he spent his late childhood and early adulthood, his elder sister wrapped tightly in his arms and squeezing him back with equal fervor, Finn felt his heart crack open and a pressure he never realized had been a constant oppressing weight broke away, evaporated into dust and he breathed the air around him like he'd been drowning his whole life until this moment.

They exchanged quiet reassurances. They missed each other. They loved each other. And Finn felt his tears fall and did nothing to stop them even though they were beginning to saturate Freya's golden hair.

(And how much like father she looked now - Finn was scarcely able to believe it.)

He felt their other siblings approach and reluctantly released Freya so she could meet them all.

Kol was, of course, the first to speak. Interrupting Elijah, who'd opened his mouth and taken a step forward. "Well that's quite awkward. I'm now very glad you insisted you weren't interested."

Freya gave a sad little half-smile. "I couldn't tell you, I'm sorry. It is good to officially meet you."

"I think I may recognize you, too." Rebekah interjected, coming forward to stand in front of their sister, beside Finn. "I warned you off Kol, said you were too good for him."

Kol scoffed and rolled his eyes. Freya smiled. "You did."

Rebekah came forward and pulled Freya into a hug. "You looked out for me, and I felt what it was like to have a sister." Freya pulled back, holding Rebekah by the arms to get a good look at her. "Will you let me step into that roll? Can I look out for you?"

Tears sprang to Rebekahs eyes and Finn didn't think Rebekah knew what to say.

Elijah again opened his mouth to speak and was again interrupted.

Something shifted from behind them and they all looked over to where they'd left Isolde and Theon. Both Alexander's had matching looks of cool indifference for a moment.

And then, like a cord had reached the end of its ability to hold tension, the very air snapped. Trees blew round and round, one direction than another as if the wind couldn't make up its mind which direction it should blow. Lightning struck just meters away and they all jumped as the sky darkened farther than it had been before.

Elijah and Kol moved to stand beside Isolde, looking around as though the threat could be found somewhere inside the forest. Klaus had his hand wrapped around Isoldes arm.

Isolde ignored his brothers.

One long, menacing sound reverberated through the winds and the sound of thunder that cracked above them sending shivers down Finn's spine. His brother's all had hands on Isolde, looking ready to rip her away from whatever would show itself at a moment's notice.

Rebekah surged forward to get to Theon, who was disturbingly still beside his sister.

Isolde held a hand out to stop Rebekah, the latter of which began arguing and trying to get around the shadows that suddenly held her in place and Finn decided that now might be a good time to get closer, because he was having a hard time hearing what was going on right in front of him with the wind whipping around so furiously. With a hand on Freya's back, they joined the rest of their family.

Upon closer inspection, Finn was ready to grab Freya and Isolde and bolt.

He'd not expected Theon to look so terrifying, but Finn's eyes widened at the sight before him.

Theon's face was contorted with rage. His eyes, usually a deep brown, were now an impossibly bright blue and his fingers produced little sparks of lightning that coincided with the strikes that were getting closer and closer to them all. He vibrated with power that was nearly suffocating and Finn fought his natural instinct to flee as Isolde shook his brothers off and reached and hand out to place it atop her brothers head.

"Alhudu' ya 'akhi. 'ant tukhif habibka." Isolde said softly in a language he didn't understand, her eyes not leaving her brother as though, like Finn just minutes ago with Freya, Theon was the center of her world. "Laqad taraknaha tastamiru lifatrat tawilatin. Laqad han alwaqt litaghyir."

Theon hissed a breath through his teeth, a few drops of saliva launching out as he tried to unclench his jaw. The electric feeling in the air began to subside, even with the storm still raging. The immediate danger seemed to pass as Theon's stance started to uncoil and relax. The younger Alexander took several deep breaths and released them with closed eyes.

When he was ready, he lifted his own hand to cover Isolde's atop his head and gave it a small squeeze as he removed it, opening his eyes. Once again back to their typical color.

"You're right. We've known about New Orleans for a while, we've let it go too long. It's time to put an end to it." Theon's face hardened with resolve, stepping around his sister so they were again side by side, but he turned to face Rebekah who stood frozen in place, despite Isolde having dropped the restraints. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

Rebekah closed the distance between them, murmuring assurances as she hugged him around the middle. He pressed a kiss into her hair before releasing her and stepping back to be beside his sister once more.

Finn wondered if he was the only one that noticed Isolde and Theon were reluctant to be apart. Isolde had done it before she spoke that language he didn't understand and now Theon, too, had stepped away from his soul bond to remain beside Isolde. Finn's brow furrowed in consideration of this.

Isolde looked at him and Freya, meeting his eyes with a tight smile. She nodded to Freya. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Freya Mikaelson. I'm Isolde Alexander, this is my brother Theon. I hope you can accept my sincerest apologies or what you've endured at the hands of Dahlia this past millennia. I extend my personal aid however you see fit once Dahlia shows herself, as I believe she will soon enough."

"I-," Freya began, taking a deep steadying breath and reaching for Finn's hand, anything for a bit of reassurance, he guessed as he grasped hers tightly in his, more than willing to give that to her, "-thank you. Your sister…"

"Is taken." Theon's voice snapped out, his earlier rage clearly not settled, despite his deceptively calm demeanor. "According to Miss Bennett's testimony."

Isolde's stare became icy, though it didn't seem as though she was accusing anyone with it. "Level four code green, as I understand it." The ice in Isolde's gaze melted ever so slightly as she tilted her head, looking at Freya. "Do you have any additional information to share with us?"

Freya shook her head. "I don't, I've been awake less than three hours-"

"And you met Vera long enough to form a soul connection." Theon said, his voice now the same picture of false serenity that his face portrayed.

Freya's shoulder's went back and her head raised, her back straightened and she met Theon's gaze with defiance befitting of a Mikaleson and Finn smiled.

"Yes."

Some of Theon's facade chipped away and he cracked a very small smirk at the eldest Mikaelson. "Well then, that's all there is to it."

Confusion fell around them, the Mikaleson's glancing at each other while the Alexander's turned their backs to them.

"Shade." Isolde's command broke the spell that had fallen over them all and every Mikaelson straightened their spines at the feeling of power that tousled the foliage around them. They each turned, wide eyed to watch Isolde as shadows dipped from the sky and manifested into several Hidden, fanning out in front of Isolde in a 'V' format. A flash of lightning revealed hundreds of kneeling figures covered in black cloaks surrounding them as far as they could see, all facing Isolde.

The elder Alexander glanced back at every Mikaelson before wisps of darkness shot out from various parts of her body and she lifted to hover above them all, wrapping around Theon's legs to take him up beside her and the man didn't even flinch as he went, a picture of regal poise.

Isolde's eyes weren't gold when she'd looked back at them, and that eased some of Finn's worries about where this was going but he remained weary, stepping just slightly closer to Freya, and eyeing the distance between him and Rebekah, just in case he needed to grab them both and leave quickly.

Isolde turned away from them to look at her bowing people and they all watched in awe, and a little fear.

"My friends." There was a ripple - a pleased purr that sounded from the surrounding people. 'The Shade,' Finn reminded himself. These were a mere fraction of Isolde's people.

"I am glad for your presence." Isolde continued with a fond smile that Finn was certain was genuine. "But these are not glad times, and you have been called for a reason." Isolde paused, with her back to them it was hard to discern what her face was expressing to her people. "The High Priestess has been taken."

The reaction was immediate. Purrs became a cacophony of hisses and a darker, more malevolent sort of energy surged through the woods that had the hairs on the back of Finn's neck raising and, looking at his brothers, they were also feeling it.

Calm. Deadly. One hand raised and the noise silenced. Isolde's voice was clear, and soft, but everyone heard her clearly.

"Who among you will lend your aid to us?"

And the uproar drowned out the sound of the thunder that cracked overhead.

Isolde

She put herself and Theo down among the raucous uproar of her people, excited for the opportunity to fight. Vengeful for the insult of their Priestess being taken from them.

Quietly, Theon turned to Isolde; "Did we call Emeric back?"

Her eyes went wide. "Shit."