Hey guys, didja miss FSO?
-52-
Niklaus
Klaus was going mad waiting for Isolde and Jack to reach them. He hadn't realized when he consummated the bond and laid his claim it would set off his somewhat previously reserved protective instincts like a match to a gas spill.
A match to a gas spill that led to an underground tankard that was full to the brim with, it seemed.
He was trying to control it, but the incessant need to be near and to ensure Isolde remained without injury was so strong that it hit him with physical force. Like now, when she was taking her sweet time waltzing through the desert as lava cooled behind her. Klaus was doing his level best to give her this time. This privacy with her brother so soon after their reunion. But it was not without difficulty.
Though it might also be due to their current state. The rising tension and suspense, the waiting for things to reach a head, had begun before they'd left Virginia.
They were in crisis mode.
To be fair, Klaus was always operating in some state of crisis control. But this was different. Most recently he only had himself to care for. Elijah had been off, cross with him, and the rest of the family had been stored safely away.
Now everyone he'd ever loved was walking about and getting into trouble, surrounded by beings much stronger than they were.
His newest connection was easily the most trouble attracting woman he'd met in his long life.
It was keeping him on alert because, as ever, it was his duty to keep his family safe and protected against those who would strike against them.
'Family' now included Gods, and with that came the enemies of Gods, which was what he'd been concerned about since that night Isolde and her brother had first informed them of what they were. The night she terrorized Klaus' enemies into submission and disbanded that paltry group's heaviest combatants with ease.
Things couldn't ever be simple, could they?
'It's just as well.' Klaus thought, fondness spreading through him as Isolde crested the dune and smiled at them all. A true, genuine thing that he appreciated more now that he knew it had been quite rare before. 'Simple has never suited me.'
"Everyone alright?" Isolde asked, finally reaching them, and seemed unsurprised when Klaus was by her side the moment she stepped up close enough to justify how absurdly clingy he was behaving.
It would eventually pass, but for now she'd have to endure it.
"Are you?" Kol asked pointedly, raising his brows sardonically gesturing to the ruin behind them. "Did the merge go well?"
"Well enough," she smiled at him, reaching out to squeeze his bicep as she passed, heading straight for the traitor and coward Aris.
"Well, love, best brace for it because you won't be for long," Klaus told her, making eye contact with Elijah, even as Isolde's head turned so she could blink at him questioning furrowed brows.
They weren't sure what her reaction to Aris' news would be, but they could guess and it wasn't something they were looking forward too. Especially Kol, who seemed to be making himself sick with his fretting.
"Tell me," Isolde waved a hand as if to say 'bring it on' as she came to a stop, standing in front of the unconscious Legatus, toing his face and sparing no glance at any of them.
He and his brothers all looked between each other, as if trying to decide which one of them should face the brunt of her anger when they delivered the news of—
"Jesus, are you all really going to beat around the bush because you're afraid of what her reaction will be?" Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stepped up beside Jack with a positively salacious smile, eyeing the God slowly at them. They watched Isolde turn her head to stare at them with a blank expression. "The Aris dude says a Marcus guy has been holding your Shade people hostage and doing like… creepy experiments on them. He said, which is seriously not the flex he seemed to think it was, 'the underground city is a new aged, supernatural Auschwitz.'"
Isolde did not react, and Klaus hadn't thought that a lack of reaction would be worse than if she had.
"I see," she said, voice flat, expression unreadable. For a moment, Klaus wished he were Jack and could read her mind and plan how to support her next actions accordingly. "And he's not on any vervain? As far as you can tell this is true?"
All they could do was nod. She nodded back and looked at Jack. "What say you?"
"It's true, if Aris hadn't told you now I would've told you before the day was lost," Jack told her, face more grim than they'd seen him before. "With the loyalist Hidden scattered or captured Marcus has subjugated the city. It's the opposite of a utopia - the people are being utilized to make profits for Marcus. To what end, you might ask? Well, war. Obviously. He and Gaius had intended to stick you both with the serum and seize power for themselves and Marcus is still on that course. I'm sure that he knows Aris was coming for you. Which means he knows you'll be coming for him, now."
"Okay," Isolde's lips pursed into a thin line and she took a deep breath. Klaus was surprised she wasn't already raging, he certainly would be. "As much as I want to go confront the family about everything, I think this takes precedence. Luckily, I'm merged now. Marcus has no idea how quickly this will end."
"Not to get off topic or come across as insensitive about your people and their plight, but what of your family since you mentioned it?" Elijah interjected, leaving Aris in Finn's hands to step up to Isolde. One hand circled her upper arm, the other slid to cradle her cheek. "What shall we prepare for?"
"It wasn't Theo," Isolde stated, stare hard as reiterating this with clear vehemence.
"It had to have been, Mune, I saw it–"
"Are you and Tartarus immune to manipulations from the Creators, Anubis?" Isolde's head whipped around to glare at her twin and Elijah's hand dropped away from her face with the force of it. She didn't look at him, but Klaus saw the hand of the arm Elijah clutched reach forward to brush her fingers over his side in apology. She took a breath with Jack's jaw snapped shut and elaborated. "I knew when you showed me the memory that it couldn't have been Theo–not only were he and Vera in Madagascar as emissaries for trade negotiations at the time, but also he had a very faint scar on the bottom left of his chin from an injury he'd hidden from everyone but me, who'd caught him fleeing the scene of the incident and cleaned it up for him when we were mortals. He would've still had it in that era."
"Okay, so it was a changeling? That implicates Emeric…" Jack insisted, but Isolde was already shaking her head.
Then her outward appearance melted and shifted like the sand beneath their feet until before them stood an exact replica of Jack…
"The Creators can do anything they want," Isolde spoke in Jack's voice and they were all stunned silent. "The one who manipulated my son's death showed you only what they wanted you to see. It was all to separate me from Ra's influence so Ra wouldn't rise to power. This information comes from Ra himself. They didn't want him here. They fear him. I couldn't tell you why they've decided to allow it no–" Klaus watched as Isolde became herself again, but she had gone very quiet, squinting at the horizon, but her eyes were far away.
"Evidently, unlike with our partnership, Isolde and Ra have an open line of communication between them," Jack told them, and Klaus was intrigued.
"Oh, that's why," Isolde said, mostly to herself – or to Ra, Klaus corrected.
"Please don't leave us in suspense, darling," Kol asked, rising to stand beside Klaus and dusting sand off of him. "What's the trouble?"
"Well," Isolde reached up to scratch at her scalp. Her hair was covered in battle grime and dirt, and she pulled her hand away, examining her nails with disgust, "I guess Dahlia is in South America, leading a horde of demons towards my former prison and, lo, Apophis is coming. Which I'd already expected. But it's nice to have confirmation I guess. The Creators have decided it's past time for Ra to 'handle the problem.' Because they're lazy and don't want to expend any effort to do it themselves."
What direction had his life taken, suddenly? Klaus was beginning to develop whiplash.
"Ah, fuck," Jack groaned, rubbing his temples, "at least I'm better prepared for a fight this time."
Isolde laughed without humor and Klaus tried not to recoil at the sharpness of it. "Alright boys, you're with me, then?"
"Of course," Finn spoke from afar, calling Isolde's attention to him, "we'll not turn back now."
Isolde softened and nodded, then in a move so swift they all struggled to keep up with it, Isolde had spun and slammed a hand to the top of Aris' head. The ancient philosopher seized violently and Klaus wondered what she was doing to him. Hopefully she was ending his pitiless existence.
But no, she wasn't.
Isolde's hand dropped away and Aris collapsed back into the sand but Klaus could still make out the faint heartbeat. When Isolde turned back to them, she grinned wickedly and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
"I've healed his injuries, but he's now powerless and mortal."
"What do you intend to do with him?" Finn asked, critically eyeing the two thousand year old immortal-turned-mortal again.
Isolde smirked and Klaus had a feeling whatever she said next would be glorious. "Nothing," she said with a shrug and Klaus waited, because there was no way she'd leave it at that, "I'm giving him to you guys to do as you wish. Call it a 'Happy Bonding' present or something…"
Dozens of ideas for what to do with Aris came to mind in an instant and Klaus' lips tugged upward. He made eye contact with Elijah, who seemed to be of similar mind.
"Okay, so here's the plan…" Isolde called their attention back to her. "First we're going to smash Marcus and free Empathia, then we go confront the family, because while they didn't conspire to kill Harim, I do still have a bone to pick. Several bones to pick, really. Afterwards, I want to confront your aunt and her little horde, which should draw Apophis out."
"That's not the whole plan, is it?" Kai looked around between them all, worry on his face, "Because that's too simple. Shouldn't we have like… step by step stuff? A blueprint of your city, maybe? More than 'get in, fuck shit up, and move on to the next task?'"
"Of course not Parker, that's the simplified version," Klaus scoffed at the naivety, smirking like the devil and twice as sexy as he stepped into Isolde's personal space and pressed his body against hers from the side, needing the contact. He trailed his fingers up her neck and threaded them into her hair so he could whisper in her ear while ignoring Parker's sarcastic shriek of 'ew PDA!' "Finn and I saved the serum. I felt it would prove useful for our goals. Little did I know how quickly the opportunity would knock."
"Hm," Isolde smiled when he slid his lips down the arch of her cheekbone, and pulled back lest he be tempted further. "You're brilliant."
"I've been described as such from time to time," Klaus grinned, pressing his face into her filthy hair for just another moment of affection before he stepped away. "Now, let's find somewhere more suitable to rest for the night and bring the others up to speed, before we travel to Empathia to free your people, shall we?"
Elijah
Phase one was in effect.
Elijah stood inside a stunning cathedral to the east of Milan, Italy. Just miles outside of the hidden, underground city of Empathia. His mind still reeled from the night they'd spent at a stunning hotel in Sicily, enjoying none of the amenities save for hot showers whilst Kai and Jack went shopping with Elijah's black card for themselves and everyone else, too. Everything they all wore was beyond filthy.
He'd like to schedule a trip back to that town, that hotel, for himself and Isolde so they might actually enjoy their stay. This one had been fraught with revelations and war planning while cuddled together in an expansive living area until they'd all fallen asleep without moving to the bedrooms. None of them wanted a wall between themselves and Isolde. Not after everything.
Some of those plans and revelations were still spinning around in his mind as he thought of alternatives that may work better but each new idea fell flat. What they'd planned was likely the best they could do, until something inevitably went wrong and they had to improvise.
"You okay?" He'd known Isolde was approaching long before he heard her voice. Now her arms slid around his middle and he felt her press her face in between his shoulder blades. He placed a hand on her joined ones that settled in his center.
"Are you certain they will not see you coming to their aid only to leave again as an abandonment?" Elijah asked, instead of answering.
That had been a point of contention at the meeting the night before. Elijah was concerned about the political ramifications to Isolde's status should she liberate her people, only to rush off to converse with her family and fight off Apophis. There wasn't any other action to take, because this was what had to be done. However, Elijah would like a heads up so he could begin planning how to rebuild her reputation once Apophis was taken care of.
Just like the night before, Isolde was adamant when she spoke. "I will explain, and they will understand. The Shade know that Apophis is the priority. The only reason I can afford to fight this battle right now instead of regrouping with my siblings to talk 'defeat the destroyer god' shop is because of the merge. Things can be handled more quickly now. But thank you for being concerned about it."
Elijah's lip twitched and he turned to wrap his arms around her shoulders so they were embracing. He could hear Kol and Niklaus approaching quickly.
It was time.
"Drugs are stashed, Aris is chained up and in transition so we can prevent him escaping punishment via suicide. Everyone is in position, and we are set to go. Are you ready?" Kol asked, stepping up beside them after appearing from a hidden side door near the enormous organ.
Isolde nodded and withdrew from him, determined frown tightening her face. "You guys be safe, I'll keep Marcus and his traitor legion focused on me."
"We've besieged and infiltrated a city a time or two, love, there's no need to fret for us," Niklaus quipped, arms behind his back as stepped past them to observe the massive stained glass windows. "You've often mentioned that the Shade are spies, which means they're generally not combatants. I don't think, even if we encounter some enemies, we will have much trouble."
"We're wasting time," Finn's tense voice reminded them from where he'd just appeared in the hidden doorway, "each moment we spend dallying is another moment the Shade are being cruelly mistreated."
"He's right," Isolde nodded, her frown deepening and Elijah wanted to punch the eldest in the face for that unnecessary reminder, "let's go."
They each hugged her, only releasing her for the next brother with reluctance.
Isolde turned to leave them, her own part in the plan separate from them, and just as they'd all entered the doorway that led to a secret entrance directly into the bowels of Empathia's dungeons, she turned and called out.
"I love you guys, stay safe."
To Elijah's utter embarrassment, Finn had to catch him when he lost his footing in shock as Isolde disappeared into the shadows.
"Did she really just blurt that admission and then promptly vanish just before we all headed into battle?" Kol asked, his amusement clear.
Niklaus was far more grumbly about it when he said; "She's going to pay for that when we next meet."
"Niklaus," Elijah admonished, but secretly agreed as they began to take the dark descending staircase into the underbelly of the cathedral.
Isolde
Getting into Empathia was a simple task. Even with all the added security that Marcus had created in her absence, it was easy enough to take Kai and Jack through each checkpoint without being noticed by the guards that patrolled the long tunnel. No need to alert Marcus that she was there before she was ready.
"Alright," Isolde said quietly as soon as the gates of the city were in view. Flickering torchlight illuminated the city, For some reason Marcus still hadn't updated the city to bring electricity into Empathia. That was something she'd requested to be done after World War II, and Yasu had said she'd make it happen.
So either Yasu lied, or Marcus locked her away with the others.
She'd forgotten to ask Jack about her bond to Yasu, but there was time for that later. Right now, she had a distraction to make.
"Once I have their focus, you guys are going over the side wall and into the city," Isolde reminded them, watching the guard patrol to gain insight into their movements. The boys were likely inside the dungeons at this point so she needed to get a move on.
"How do we get the people to trust us? You said there was a phrase that would inspire them," Kai reminded her.
"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc. Or in English for you, Kai; We gladly feast on those who would subdue us," she told them, smirking, "that will be enough for them to know I'm back, I sent you, and Marcus is a dead man living on borrowed time."
"Okay, love that. Super badass. I'm actually familiar with the Latin phrasing because of the witchy business but thanks for considering my modern limitations," Kai was nodding appreciatively.
"Great. Alright," Isolde took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and stood tall calling upon Ra's power, creating a gathering of dark clouds of smoke for the perfect ominous atmosphere, distracting the enemy, and covering Jack and Kai's advance into the city… all while giving herself a grand entrance. Per Klaus' insistence. He had such a flair for dramatics. "Let's go."
'You ought to make it brighter, too. Create a miniature sun above the town square, but keep the smoke so that visibility is still low. It'll minimize shadows for the legions to hide in when you truly get started, but create more cover in the outskirts for your brother and Kai to aid the civilian's escape.' Ra's voice eased through her mind, offering this new suggestion as Kai and Jack darted left and out of site around a corner.
'Right, good thinking,' Isolde agreed, doing exactly that.
The burst of hot, blindingly bright gas above them shocked the guards that she could see on the wall. They all flinched, some hit the ground. She watched one launch himself off the side of the wall and scramble to cover his head as if they were under fire.
Well, technically, they were under fire.
'You're a natural,' Ra praised as Isolde steadily rose into the air behind the soldiers who were none the wiser.
'To be fair, I was trained for this,' she told him as she shot a ball of fire at the soldiers from where she hid in the thick smoke to gain their attention.
It worked, because shouts of 'we're under attack!' reached her from where she waited.
'Ready for this, Ra?'
'Beyond ready. Let us destroy them.'
Finn
There were several dozen heartbeats ahead of them, signaling the end of the tunnel and their entrance into the Empathian dungeons. Their part of the plan was simple; free the imprisoned loyalists, and catch a man name 'Mustafa' up to speed while escorting them back to the cathedral.
It was Jack and Kai who had the harder task of gathering and protecting the citizens who were 'free' (relatively speaking) and keeping them out of the way of the battle that would rage when Isolde bore down upon their enemies. Isolde had thought that Jack would be better suited for this, as an actual deity. None of his brothers had disagreed.
"I'm going to open the door, and when I do we kill whatever guards there are using our vampire speed to clear out the dungeons before they realize what's happening," Elijah spoke in a low enough tone that only a vampire would hear him. "Otherwise, they'll melt into the shadows and get away."
After a quick nod from each of them, Elijah carefully twisted the door knob and quite as could be he slowly cracked the door. A sliver of orange torchlight illuminated the small tunnel they were in and one by one they each zipped out of the tunnel and into the vast, expansive room. None of them lingered, each taking off in a different direction in search of guards to kill so they didn't become a hindrance later.
He was surprised by how little the dungeon was guarded, as he snapped the neck of one man holding a large rifle as he stepped lightly along the corridor, patrolling. The next Finn came across was sleeping with her legs crossed and resting atop a desk. Utterly unaware of the danger as he broke her neck where she slept. A clean, easy, instant death. No chance to panic and her life was over. He stepped around the desk, glancing down to see if there was anything noteworthy and found nothing of interest but a set of iron keys. Pocketing them, he moved on down the hall, taking note of the dozen or so prisoners as he ensured he'd taken out each of the enemies within his section of the dungeon.
He was circling back at a human pace when a hand shot out from behind the bars of one of the cells, just managing to snag his pant leg. He stopped, turning to look down at the thin, pale, skeletal-like fingers that were attached to an equally thin arm and followed it into the darkness of the cell. He was unable to see anything else about this person, but he didn't wrench away from them, because they could be a loyalist and as one of Isolde's people he had no desire to harm them.
"Who are you?" The voice was light, feminine, and thickly accented but strained and quiet with a slight rasp like speaking hurt her.
Instead of moving away, Finn lowered into a crouch to look into the unsettling, unnatural looking darkness of the cell, presenting the eye of Ra to show his loyalty. "I am called Finn."
"The Empress?" The voice asked, her tone was cautious. Like she thought it was foolish to ask such a question of him but had done so regardless.
"She is outside, confronting Marcus and his followers," Finn told her with a nod, certain that she could see him well enough, despite him not having the same luxury.
There was an audible relieved sigh from inside the room and the sound of shifting fabric was all he heard before this woman's face came into view and Finn met eyes with a young-looking Asian woman and the world snapped and bent, shifted in ways he'd felt only once before but this was different... this wasn't like with Isolde. This was, it was familial. And judging by her face, she was equally as surprised as he was.
"I am Yasu Iwasaki-Alexander, Finn." The woman introduced quietly, saying nothing about their newly established familial bond, and her eyes took on a steely resolve as she dropped her hand from his pants and started pushing herself to her feet on wobbly legs no larger than his forearm, leaning against the bars of her cage for support, "if you are a newly minted Hidden loyalist as the Eye suggests, then release me and the others. I need to get to my mother."
Yasu looked ready to fall over, despite her words and Finn frowned, eying her carefully before speaking. "My brothers and I will release you and the others, but- would you be adverse to me healing you?"
"Are you some kind of witch?" Yasu asked with raised brows and he shook his head.
"I am a vampire."
"My mother spends time with vampires, now?" Yasu smirked, eyeing him up and down as if she could see down to his bones and define his character with a single glance. "I find that interesting. So you want to give me vampire's blood?"
"I do. You'll need your strength if you intend on seeking Isolde."
"Isolde?!" Yasu shoved herself off the wall eyes narrowing, looking both outraged and disgusted. "You have some nerve calling the Empress with such familiarity, sir."
Finn was not offended by her outburst, since it was out of respect for Isolde and deference to her as the Empress. Instead he tried to cover his amusement at her ignorance. It wasn't her fault she didn't know. "She's my bonded, I think that's given me some level of familiarity over the last couple of months."
"O-oh," Yasu gaped, looking him over once more with those critical eyes. Like she wasn't sure she liked what she saw. Odd, for someone who was asking him to release her. "W-well okay then, I suppose that's fair enough. Mr. Finn. I suppose that makes sense why I'd have another parent bond with someone who was bonded to my mother..." she trailed off, her lips pursing.
She wasn't very happy about all this, it seemed.
"Don't mean to rush you, brother, but we're on a bit of a schedule if you recall..." Kol turned the corner and stopped short seeing Finn and Yasu. He looked to the elder brother with a question in his eyes. "Enemy?"
"Far from it," Finn shook his head, wrapping a single hand around the center bar of the cell door and pulled it off its hinges, setting it to the side. He leaned over just in time to catch Yasu when she collapsed. Too much stress on her weakened body to keep her upright. "This is Yasu."
"Isolde's child-bond?" Kol asked, stepping forward to examine the girl who looked at him with skeptical, incensed eyes.
"Him, too," Finn said before she could berate the youngest brother, and her head snapped around to look up at him, "and our other two brothers as well."
To his surprise, laughter bubbled up from Yasu's chest and she smiled an unhinged looking smile that reminded him too much of Niklaus for comfort.
Isolde
She'd waited until Marcus had entered the scene before revealing herself through the thick smoke, unfurling through the array of dark clouds looking like a goddess of vengeance, straight out of some macabre folklore story.
Ra laughed at the irony.
"Hello Marcus," Isolde called sweetly, watching her former right hand's face go tomato red, nose twitching and eyes lit with a rage that would scare a lesser being. "I hear you've been naughty in my absence."
I have a week off work and I intend on dedicating most of my free time to completing this story. That said, any and all words of encouragement from you all will really help me stay motivated and on track so I can finally get you the ending you've been waiting on! Help a girl out, I don't wanna disappear and leave FSO for another three months, I have got to finish this story but I'm easily distracted by ALL THE IDEAS.