Chapter Forty-Four
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the Originals, but I do own my OCs.
Summary: Blair has been on the run for 400 years, trying to escape her past. She never stays in once place long enough, but she finds herself drawn to New Orleans and it is there that she meets the Originals. She soon finds herself drawn into their drama and ends up connecting with the Noble Original, Elijah Mikaelson. Slowburn.
ORGINALS
Midnight approached and Dahlia's deadline was nearly there.
She had sent a bouquet of black dahlias with a note that dictated that she wanted a meeting at a certain location to discuss the issue at hand. It happened to be St Anne's Church, where Davina used to be housed at some point. The note had not revealed much else, but it put everyone on edge. Freya had advised that this was on point for Dahlia, as she was drawn to dark places, and many people had been killed in that Church, making it the perfect place. Two hours before the deadline, Blair alerted them that Dahlia had entered New Orleans, which set everyone on edge.
Gathered at the Church was the Mikaelson family, plus Blair. Davina, Caroline and Raphael remained in the Abattoir to guard Hope just in case Dahlia tricked them. The Abattoir was surrounded by magic, that would make it difficult for anyone to get past, especially Dahlia. The Werewolves had been notified that Dahlia had made their move and they were stationed near the Abattoir, acting as muscle against the ancient Witch. However, if anything did happen, Blair would be alerted of this and there was a backup plan in place – as well as a multitude of other plans.
Klaus paced up and down the Church, "Where is she?"
"She will come," Elijah reassured, though it didn't work, everyone was too much on edge. The threat of yet another family member trying to take something from them didn't escape him. Elijah mentally cursed his family, why did every family member have an issue with them?
"She's taking her time," Rebekah muttered lowly, but everyone heard her in the Church. They had also warned Father Kieran to get away from the location so he would not be anywhere near the confrontation. As much as Father Kieran resisted and fought back most times, he bowed down very quickly this time. It was obvious that something big was going to happen and he did not want to be caught in the crossfire, also keeping Camille away.
"She'll come at midnight, no sooner, no later," Blair answered them, leaning against a wall. She looked to be the picture of calm, but her eyes were tense and ready for a fight.
Freya nodded her head in agreement, "She will. She hates to be late, especially when she wants something," She watched the Fae out of the corner of her eye, curious. She had thought over the conversation she'd had with Raphael, analysing the whole situation meticulously. She had questions, things she wanted to discuss, but now was not the time.
"She'd have better, I am starting to get bored," Kol commented with a frown. He did not like being bored, because when he was, people died. He was itching for a fight that he knew was coming.
"There is no disturbance in our home?" Klaus asked as he looked at the Fae.
Blair shook her head, "Nothing, everything is in check,"
Klaus nodded his head, satisfied with the answer, but that did not stop him as he paced up and down the Church. Finally, his aunt would make her appearance and they could deal with her. The threat of her coming to take Hope could finally be dealt with and Klaus would focus his attention on his family, and ruling the city as he intended to.
The clock struck midnight.
Suddenly, there was another presence, and strong magic filled the Church. Everyone felt it, even the Vampires. Blair's eyes did a quick glance around the Church, and within the blink of an eye, a woman appeared at the doors of the Church. The woman had brunette hair that was styled in gentle waves, cold brown eyes, and there was something similar about her. She resembled Elijah and Kol too much to mistake her for anything other than their family. This woman was Dahlia. She wore a long flowing black coat, long-sleeved blouse, fitted pants, and high-heeled boots – dressed in all black.
Fitting, as it would be her funeral.
"I'm glad to see you're all on time." Dahlia said, her husky voice echoing through the old building, "I hate it when people are late." Her eyes landed on the female Fae before her, and her brown eyes turned cold, "I don't remember inviting you,"
"She's an honorary Mikaelson," Elijah answered as he moved so he was beside Blair. This was a silent challenge, daring his Aunt to say anything against the Fae.
Dahlia's expression was blank, giving no indication of what she thought of the matter. Soon, her gaze found Freya, deciding that the extra person was not a threat to her, "Ah, and there is the runaway. Finally, found your siblings then? Have they been everything they lived up to be?" The look on her face was almost cruel and her tone taunting, as if she was mocking the girl was wanting to find her family.
Freya said nothing, but her gaze narrowed in anger. Seeing the woman that kept her trapped for a thousand years made her restless. She wanted to make Dahlia pay for everything she had done but knew she would never stand a chance. Even before when they were bound together, Freya's magic was nothing against her Aunt's magic. It took a lot of effort, but she unclenched her whole body and forced herself to relax, as though she was not affected by Dahlia's presence at all. She reminded herself that they had a plan, that their aunt would be dealt with soon enough and she would be free.
"So, you're the mysterious aunt that is trying to snatch my child," Klaus said with an unimpressed look on his face.
Turning to look at the Hybrid, Dahlia smiled aloofly, "I am just here to take what is owed to me. It's rather unfortunate, but a deal is a deal. Esther promised the first-born child of every generation and I intend to hold her to it. Just hand the child over and you can all live," The way she spoke was as if they were speaking about a pair of shoes – not an actual baby. It was the detachment that raised Klaus' heckles.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Kol answered with a smug grin, "We're quite fond of our niece, funny little thing she is,"
Dahlia frowned as if she expected them to just hand over the child. Disappointed, Dahlia shook her head, "Then you'll just have to see what you're up against," With a wave of her hand, a hoard of Witches walked into the Church from behind Dahlia, all with blank expressions on their faces. They were being controlled by her.
Sharing a look with one another, Klaus, Elijah, Kol and Rebekah all grinned and got to work. They disappeared from view, and with their Vampire speed, worked their way through the group of Witches like they were nothing. Freya attempted to help but was stopped by Blair, who shook her head at the Witch and just gestured to her siblings, who all had grins on their faces, clearly enjoying this. The Witches would try and use spells on them, but they were too quick to be caught, and it didn't take long before all the Witches were on the floor, either unconscious, drained of blood or down with their necks snapped. Blair watched this happen with a smirk on her face, which only got wider when she saw annoyance flash in Dahlia's eyes. She had not expected them to be taken down as easily. Dahlia did not fully understand how powerful her niece and nephews were when they worked together – as a family.
With blood on his hands, Klaus sent a look to Dahlia when he killed the last Witch, "Well, that was entertaining. You said something about facing your wrath?"
Annoyed, Dahlia waved her hand and throw Klaus into the wall. But the Hybrid recovered quickly and charged at his aunt with an impressive amount of speed. However, he was thrown back again. This time, Elijah and Kol attempted to jump her as well, but it appeared as though Dahlia had expected this and vanished from sight, only to appear at the altar of the Church.
"Just give me the child, and you can go back to your lives," Dahlia sounded exasperated by their effort. Could they not see that she was owed this child? Esther made the bargain and now her children had to uphold their end of the deal.
"Never," Klaus growled, showing his Hybrid features.
Glaring, Dahlia waved her hand once more, and the Witches that were still alive stood back up and began attacking the Originals again. However, this time, Dahlia had brought more reinforcements. These people were Werewolves from outside of New Orleans, they were also stronger than the Witches. Despite this, the Mikaelson family made quick work of the minions. It was the same result as before. Even with the Werewolves' added muscle and strength, it did not compare to the Originals. The only difference was that they did not hold back as much and killed all the Werewolves so they could not come back unless Dahlia brought them back from the dead. Seeing that her minions were not winning, and when the last one fell, Dahlia made her move. She used her magic and brought Klaus to his knees and began to desiccate him. When Elijah and Rebekah came to his defence, she used her magic and sent them flying back into the wall. Kol throw items around the Church at her, hoping to distract her while she used magic so she'd lose connection to the spell she was using, but it did not work. Instead, she used her other hand and sent the items flying back to Kol, one of the wooden items stabbing him in the stomach which made him groan in pain.
"I liked this shirt as well," Kol muttered in disappointment.
Dahlia watched them all with a blank expression, "Just give up, and this can all stop," If she was given what she was due, there would be no need for violence.
In response, Elijah launched his own attack, and his Vampire features roared to life. There was no doubt that his aunt was powerful, she had managed to subdue them in record time. He had come across no Witch that could handle all four Originals and come out unscathed. However, he needed to get his brother away from Dahlia's hold, the sound of Klaus' screams as she started to desiccate him was something that did not sit right with Elijah.
Seeing the attack coming, Dahlia turned her attention to Elijah and held him to the ground as she started the desiccation process. The pain in Elijah's head was immense, he could not fight against her level of magic. Elijah's shouts of pain paired with Klaus', the sound unnerving both Kol and Rebekah.
Kol looked over to Blair and nodded his head, giving the signal.
Blair had waited for this signal and had become quite impatient. She had wanted to join in from the start, the Mikaelson family had made it look so fun, but she held back. When it was agreed that they would fight Dahlia, the Mikaelson family minus Freya wanted to test Dahlia's power out for themselves. They wanted to see if she was as powerful as Freya had made her out to her. They would fight her, make Klaus seem like he was the biggest threat so she'd focus on him. But, if things started to get out of hand, Blair would step in and use her magic.
Now, it was show time.
Pushing herself off the wall, Blair walked forward a few steps before her eyes glowed purple. Just as Dahlia was about to use her magic to attack Kol and Rebekah, she was stopped when she felt an even greater magical force hit her. Dahlia turned her head just in time to see Blair's purple eyes before she was sent flying into the nearby wall by a powerful wave of magic. With the connection with Dahlia gone, Klaus and Elijah stood up, their superior healing abilities coming into play as they healed all their injuries. They would need some blood after this, but for now, they could hold off.
Elijah, who healed first, helped Klaus to his feet and patted him on the shoulder, happy he was okay. Klaus huffed slowly as he felt his body repair itself. He could really go for some blood but pushed back his hunger until his Aunt was dealt with.
Quickly, Dahlia stood back up and looked directly at the female Fae, intrigue in her eyes, "My, aren't you an interesting one?" In her thousand years, she had never met anyone who could overpower her with magic. She soon realised that she was not dealing with a novice, but someone who lived and breathed magic just like her.
"Can't say the same for you," Blair answered with an arched brow. She did not miss the hunger in Dahlia's eyes, something Blair did not expect.
Elijah, Klaus, Kol and Rebekah came and stood by Blair and Freya, staying together. Elijah and Blair shared a look with one another, and then she looked at Klaus. They were all ready to start the next phase of their plan. From the ingredients that they had gathered, they had made weapons – one of each of them besides Freya. They were something Elijah had in his collection when he travelled to Peru. It was a set of five daggers, each one able to hinder Dahlia's immortality and serve as a distraction until one of them could deliver the killing blow.
Dahlia looked as though she was about to say something, but she stopped and her gaze focused solely on Rebekah, "Oh, this is an interesting development,"
Blair frowned and looked to the female Original, unsure of what Dahlia was saying.
Pure delight appeared on Dahlia's face, "It looks like I will be coming back for another," Dahlia's laugh was cruel and sent shivers down Rebekah's spine.
The words acted like a physical blow to the Mikaelson family.
Blair looked even closer at Rebekah and focused her magic on the woman. For the past few weeks, Blair had noticed a shift in Rebekah's presence, like the magic around her had changed. All creatures possessed magic, even Vampires as they were created from magic. For a moment, Blair couldn't pinpoint exactly what Dahlia was alluding to, until she felt it. She felt magic within Rebekah that did not belong to her, but did at the same time.
Rebekah was pregnant.
It seemed as though she wasn't the only one to come to this realisation. Klaus, Elijah and Kol had honed their advanced Vampire hearing and listened closely. They could hear the blood pumping the hearts of Dahlia, Blair and Freya. They could hear the humans in the distance, and they could also hear an additional heartbeat in Rebekah.
"That's impossible…" Klaus muttered.
"Holy shit," Kol's brown eyes were wide.
"Oh Gods…" Freya whispered lowly as she raised a hand to cover her mouth.
Elijah's Vampire features flickered to life as he stood in front of Rebekah, protectively. He glared darkly at Dahlia, he would not allow anything to happen to his baby sister.
Rebekah's face paled when she soon came to the realisation herself. She had not felt completely right for the past few weeks, something had changed in her but she hadn't been able to locate what it was. Neither had Raphael. Rebekah had just assumed that it was the stress of this whole situation and had brushed it off. Mentally, Rebekah began cursing herself for not noticing something sooner, she had been around Hayley when she was pregnant, but her mind had not jumped to being pregnant, as she thought as a Vampire, she would never have children.
"I will give you twenty-four hours to say goodbye to the child," Dahlia said, her voice bringing back everyone from their stupor, "If the child is not delivered to me then, I will take her by force by killing you all. Then I will take Rebekah with me," With a wave of her hand, Dahlia disappeared from view, her magic far away.
When she was gone, the only thing that remained was silence. No one knew what to say and no one realised that their plan to kill Dahlia had just gone sideways, they were all too occupied with this revelation.
Klaus looked at his baby sister, "You're pregnant?" The thought was almost absurd and he thought he would never utter those words.
"But I thought that was impossible," Elijah frowned, feeling very confused at this new revelation. It was a well-known fact that Vampires could not conceive any children.
"It could be a trick, Dahlia could be trying to mess with us," Kol suggested, he wouldn't put it past Dahlia to try and cause turmoil between them.
Blair shook her head, "No, she's definitely pregnant," She could feel the magic signature inside Rebekah that did not belong to her.
Rebekah looked down to her stomach. She was not showing at all, but she could also hear the extra heartbeat and it made her feel all sorts of things. Shocked, happy and scared were the main ones. She was shocked because she never thought that this would happen to her, happy for the opportunity and scared that Dahlia would take away her little joy. "I'm pregnant,"
"I'll kill Raphael!" Klaus shouted, suddenly filled with anger that his sister was in this situation. While he was happy for his sister, he did not like the thought of her being pregnant. He had tried his best to ignore her relationship with Raphael, and this would make it extremely hard to do so.
Blair sent him a gathering glare, "You will do no such thing, you promised,"
Klaus huffed but said nothing more.
Elijah turned around to face Rebekah and held her hand, "Congratulations, sister," He smiled at her gently, knowing how much she wanted this. He had not missed the longing stares she would send to families whenever they travelled. She'd always been vocal about wanting a family of her own, and now she could.
"Another baby, great," Kol muttered, not a fan of the little monsters. They screamed and did nothing but everyone cooed over them. He did not see the appeal of having a child, but he could see how happy his sister was.
Rebekah smacked his arm, "Prick," She then looked to the Fae, "Can you sense the baby?"
Blair nodded her head, gaining the attention of the family, "Yes, I can. I would estimate you to be around six weeks along,"
"But how is this likely?" Klaus demanded. "It should be impossible," The only reason he was able to procreate was because he was a Hybrid, and it was a nature's loophole.
Everyone fell silent for a moment as they all thought about it. However, Kol shrugged his shoulders, "Nature must have seen it as necessary." He knew from his experience of being a Witch, that nature worked in mysterious ways, allowing things to happen, like their existence. He had learned a long time ago to not question nature and just go with the flow with these kinds of things.
"All creatures represent an element. Fae represent light and Vampires represent darkness. They likely counteracted one another," Blair said with a thoughtful expression. Fae had a notoriously low birth rate, which was why it took them this long to repopulate in the Forest. The Fae were lucky if they had one child born in fifty to one hundred years. It was also very rare for the Fae to have multiple children, so there were hardly any siblings or twins.
"It's a miracle," Freya smiled, hiding the pain in her eyes. It reminded her of her own child she had lost. She made a silent vow to never let Dahlia hurt this child. If Dahlia got a hold of this child, as well as Hope, she would be unstoppable. Freya looked at Blair and remembered what happened just moments before. She could not believe what she had seen. Freya had never seen Dahlia overpowered before, and it was amazing to watch.
"I'm going to be a mother," Rebekah said slowly, her eyes wide at the thought.
"You will be an excellent mother," Elijah said as he smiled down at his sister. He looked over to Blair, a thoughtful expression on his face.
It was something that was not missed by Blair and it made her feel uneasy.
'Blair?'
At Davina's voice in her mind, Blair stood straight, 'Is everything okay?' She could hear a strain in Davina's voice in her head.
'Raphael's been injured and I'm occupied, I need you back here,' Davina called out in desperation.
'We'll be there soon, just hold on,' Blair did not ask any more questions, sensing that Davina needed to concentrate on the task at hand, whatever it may be. Blair silently praised her for calling out for her, and she felt Davina relax slightly.
ORIGINALS
The Mikaelson family and Freya all arrived back at the Abattoir moments later and they noticed that something was wrong – off. Something did not feel right. Everything was silent, yet all the lights were out. There were also no Werewolves guarding their home. When Blair informed them of Davina's message, they rushed back immediately. Blair reached out mentally to Raphael and Davina, but there was no reply from Raphael and Davina just grunted that she was busy. When they entered the Abattoir, Blair instantly knew that her barriers and wards were still in place. Dahlia had not broken them down, which meant the person causing trouble had been invited into the Abattoir at one point. When they walked into the living room, Blair understood why no one had answered her.
Davina stood protectively over Raphael, her hand outstretched as she used her magic. She was concentrating on keeping someone down – Jackson. He kneeled on the floor, pain in his eyes as he resisted Davina's magic. Raphael had an iron knife in his back, and he was not moving at all, something that unnerved the female Fae.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Kol demanded as he glared at Jackson. He wondered what the Werewolf had done to make his girlfriend react in such a way.
Rebekah appeared by Raphael's side and quickly removed the knife, she flung it across the room in a fury and fed Raphael her blood. The moment the knife was gone, Raphael gasped and his eyes opened. He gladly gulped down a few mouthfuls of blood, the ancient blood healing him quickly.
"Where's Caroline?" Klaus demanded before he disappeared in a blink of an eye. He went to search his for partner, worried for her safety. He could smell her scent, she was still in the Abattoir, but he worried why she wasn't with the others.
"What happened Davina?" Blair questioned, intrigued to know what had made her pupil attack Jackson.
Davina never took her eyes off Jackson, fury very clearly on her face, "Just a few minutes ago, Jackson and Hayley came in, demanding that we hand over Hope. They planned to take off with her, saying that they did not trust us to deal with Dahlia," The Werewolves attack was quick and ruthless, as though they hadn't cared who they were. They had snuck up on Raphael first, Jackson stabbed him in the back and Davina had been so scared that he was dead, she thought he had been stabbed in the heart. Davina had lashed out immediately using her magic to attack Jackson in retaliation. While she had been distracted with Jackson, Hayley had snuck upstairs and met Caroline.
Rebekah kissed the side of Raphael's head, "Are you okay?" She needed to know he was okay, she had nearly lost him.
Raphael smiled at her lovingly, "I'm okay now, thank you."
"Did Dahlia come as well?" Freya asked with a frown.
Raphael shook his head, and attempted to sit up, but winced as he still felt the aftereffects of the iron, "No, she didn't come at all."
Kol placed his hand on Davina, catching her attention, "You can stop now, you've done well," He kissed the side of her head, proud of his little Witch.
At his words, Davina lowered her hand and stopped her flow of magic. The moment she did, Jackson fell forward, but in an instant, he was pinned to the wall by Elijah and Kol, and Elijah's hand was embedded in Jackson's chest cavity. The sudden pain made the Wolf gasp in pain as he gained back his bearings.
Just then, Klaus came down with Caroline in his arms, her neck had been snapped. He had found her in Hope's room, with his child gone, "Hayley has taken Hope," He had heard the story from downstairs, and he was livid. Hayley's scent was all over the room, and the room was trashed as she had made a quick getaway.
"She can't have gone far, we can find her," Freya said to reassure him.
"And she will pay," Blair hissed out lowly as her purple eyes flared to life. She would get revenge for Raphael, but she did not take kindly to people hurting who she viewed as hers. She walked up beside Davina and rested her hand on the Witch's cheek, "Are you okay?"
Davina nodded her head and smiled at the affection, "I'm okay."
Elijah tightened his grip around Jackson's heart, watching in satisfaction as he saw him wince in pain, "Klaus, Kol and Rebekah, you three stay behind. I am Blair and will go and hunt down Jackson and Hayley," He could see that Rebekah and Kol would not part with their loved ones, not that he'd blame them. If Blair was in the same position, he would do the same.
Klaus did not look happy with this suggestion, but then looked down at Caroline and nodded his head. "Bring her back alive, I want revenge," He warned lowly as his eyes flashed gold. Not only had Caroline's neck been snapped, but she had also been bitten by Hayley. Luckily, Klaus' blood was the cure, but if it had been left any longer, he could have lost Caroline, and then the whole town would have been razed.
"Don't worry, we will," Blair vowed with an equally vengeful expression.
"What about me?" Freya asked, curious to know where she fell in this whole plan.
"Stay behind and help guard. I would not put it past Dahlia to come early," Elijah replied back swiftly as he stepped away from the Wolf, Kol taking over with glee.
Freya nodded her head.
Reaching into his breast pocket, Elijah used some cloth to wipe away the blood. Within the flash, Elijah wrapped his arm around Blair and disappeared from sight. They had some Werewolf hunting to do.
With the pair gone to go hunting, Kol grinned darkly, "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what happened?" He had plans for this Wolf and vowed to make him pay. While his girlfriend was not hurt, he took great offence to their actions. Kol knew he couldn't completely destroy Jackson, Rebekah, Blair and Klaus would want their turn as well. But, in the meantime, he planned to make the Wolf sing all about their plans.
Rebekah helped Raphael stand and they left the room, they had much to discuss and Raphael needed his rest. Even with Vampire blood in his system, Rebekah was still frantic and wanted him to rest before anything else. Also, she had a lot to tell him, and she wanted some privacy when she revealed the exciting news.
Klaus was not far behind, as he took Caroline to his room, where he could keep a close eye on her while she came back. It was obvious that Caroline had attempted to stop Hayley from taking Hope, but hadn't worked out. He realised how close he had been to losing her. He trusted Kol to show some restraint, but he planned to make the pair pay for daring to take his daughter away from him.