Chapter Twenty
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.
ORIGINALS
A few days had passed since the Fae incident and Blair had not heard a word from any of her kind since. She and Raphael had agreed to keep the whole situation a secret so no one would know there had been another attempt to kidnap Hayley. This was the last thing Blair needed Klaus knowing because it would send him into a frenzy, swearing revenge and it would send his paranoia through the roof. Klaus didn't know of Raphael's presence in the city but this incident would might lead to him looking for more Fae and he would discover Raphael, something Blair would very much like to avoid.
It was nearing the afternoon mark when Blair decided to give herself a break. She had spent most of the morning training Davina in offensive magic that would be useful in battle. She planned to teach the young Witch how to set traps too, something the Fae had a knack for. Elijah had asked her to accompany him to the Bayou but Blair had declined. She needed to patrol the area to make sure the other Fae was truly gone. If he wasn't gone then Blair was going to kill him, where Raphael couldn't see nor make his opinion known.
It was just as she was coming to the end of her patrol that she came across the other Fae. He was hiding in a tree and he was also staring directly at her. Blair examined him with a critical eye. He looked a mess, hair still dishevelled and his uniform cut in places from the fight a few days prior. It was evident that the Fae hadn't been back to the Forest and this made her curious.
"Leave before I kill you," Blair commanded with narrowed eyes. There was no one to stop her killing this Fae, which she would do if he didn't heed her warnings.
The Fae stared at her blankly and that's when she truly saw the extent of Maeve's control. This Fae was a mere puppet and meant nothing. It was unnerving to glance into such dead eyes and it only made her hatred for the woman grow even more.
"The Queen has a message for you," The Fae said, his voice void of any emotion or inflexion.
Blair glared at him, "You can take that message and shove it down her throat for all I care. Go away, now," Her fingers twitched as the magic sparked lightly.
Suddenly, the Fae's eyes lit up until they were completely white. "I see you've grown a backbone in your time in exile," The Fae's face twisted into a smug smirk and the voice was no longer his own. It now sounded feminine, powerful and sent a shiver down her spine. Blair was no longer speaking to Fae warrior, but the Queen.
"Oh, I have grown in more ways than one," Blair sneered in hatred. She wanted nothing more than to blast the Queen to bits but she knew it would do nothing. She was merely speaking to Maeve through one of her puppets, a favourite trick of hers. However, she refused to show off too much of her power. The less the Queen knew of how strong her magic was the better.
Maeve hummed, "I had hoped your time away would have taught you some humility but it seems as though I was wrong,"
Blair inhaled deeply, trying to fight back the intense rush of hatred from surfacing. The last thing she needed was losing her cool and showing how much being in Maeve's presence bothered her. "Kind of hard to learn any sense of humility when I'm being chased around by a mad man," She scowled darkly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, stop being so dramatic," Maeve scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.
Gritting her teeth, Blair held back summoning a tsunami, "What do you want?"
"I want many things in life," Maeve sighed dramatically, "I want Niklaus Mikaelson dead. I want Hayley's, hybrid baby. I want you to use your power but evidently, I am continually denied what I desire most," Maeve glared through the male Fae, her tone accusing as if she blamed Blair for everything that had happened.
Blair snorted, "As if I would ever help you." Her visions were accurate and detailed to the point it used to hurt her to have the visions. But the Queen had never cared about her wellbeing, she just expected Blair to do as she was told. She would continually force Blair to have more visions to benefit her.
Maeve clicked her tongue, "Insolent child, I should kill you where you stand,"
"Come at me," Blair challenged darkly, "See what happens,"
"I think not," Maeve sniffed haughtily, "I am not a barbarian like you,"
"At least I am not a spoilt bitch," Blair shot back with a smirk. The glare that Maeve sent made Blair's smirk widen. She was getting under Maeve's skin with her defiance and she knew it. Due to her power, no one in the Forest could challenge her word, but Blair was not part of that world anymore. If she had remained in the Forest, it was very likely she would have become one of Maeve's puppets. While she wasn't thankful for the situation she had been thrust into, she was glad she wasn't a mindless doll.
Maeve grit her teeth, anger visible through the warrior's eyes. "I am giving you one last chance, Eloise. Stop interfering in my plans and I will leave you alone,"
"Oh, how generous of you," Blair sarcastically said as she rolled her eyes, "Let me fall down to the ground with how grateful I am,"
"Eloise!" Maeve shouted out in anger.
Blair stared at her sneered at the name. "I go by Blair now. That is not my name," She had shed her original name years ago, within her first ten years of being on the run. Not even when she changed her identity multiple times did, she ever revert back to that name. It was dead to her, much like her old life.
"It matters little," Maeve said flippantly, "What matters is that you stay out my way,"
Blair watched Maeve and her puppet for a moment, considering her words. There was no way she was going to listen to the Queen's words or warning. Just knowing that she was getting under Maeve's skin with her inference made her extremely happy. Happier than she had been in a long time. "My answer to your questions is no. I will not sit back and let you have your way. You've been getting your way for far too long and I think it is time for a change," Blair smirked as she watched the anger invade the Queen's face.
"You insolent worm!" Maeve screamed out in fury, "I will kill you for this!" The puppet took a step forward, as if to charge at her but seemed to stop himself.
Smirking, Blair responded. "Just try it and watch what happens,"
"I will kill everyone you care about. I'll even start with that little Witch of yours," A twisted smirk stretched across the face of the Fae that was being used by Maeve.
Blair narrowed her eyes, "If you do anything like that, I will issue a royal challenge and we can settle this back in the Forest."
The Fae visibly paled her at her words, "You wouldn't dare," Maeve whispered lowly in shock and dread.
"Try me," Blair hissed lowly.
Slowly, the white light faded from the Fae's eyes and that's when Blair knew that Maeve was gone. Once the Queen was gone, that's when Blair's hatred for the woman came back full force and it felt like it was going to consume her. The Fae attempted to back away but Blair didn't allow him that opportunity. She summoned water in her hand, fashioned it into a whip and shot it out. The water wrapped around the man's neck and snapped it like a twig. When the Fae fell to the ground, Blair walked up to him and plunged her hand into his chest cavity, ripping out his heart.
"Long live the Queen," Blair muttered softly as she stared down at the dead Fae. She threw the useless heart aside and used the water whip to clean her hand of the blood. Killing the Fae hadn't brought her any satisfaction but it had quelled some of the anger for now. However, she needed to get rid of the body as she didn't need useless Vampires becoming addicted to Fae blood. Snapping her fingers, the ground under the Fae opened up and swallowed his body whole. She also made sure to kick the heart into the hole as well. When he was gone, Blair snapped her fingers and the hole was gone.
Stepping back, Blair looked around. There was no one around for miles and the Queen wouldn't risk sending anyone for some time now. Her threat would stop anything more from happening but there would come a time when Maeve wouldn't take her threat seriously. Blair turned around to walk back to the compound, intending to drown herself in wine when she felt a pulse through the connection she shared with Raphael.
'Blair, we need you here, now!' Raphael ordered frantically.
She was already speed walking in the direction of the Bayou, which wasn't that far away. 'What happened?'
'An explosion,' Raphael explained quickly, 'Someone sent a person to the Bayou and blew themselves up. The blast had Wolfbane in it,'
Blair mentally cursed, this was the last thing that needed to happen. 'I am on my way. I will be there soon. Is anyone hurt?'
'A few Wolves. Some aren't healing well because of the Wolfbane.' Raphael answered back.
Blair cut off the connection and sped up her pace. While healing magic was not her forte, she knew a thing or two about healing Wolves. After living with a pack for a while, she picked up some useful information. She never thought she'd have to put that knowledge to the test again but it seemed as though today was the day. Hayley was pregnant so that made her a priority then Raphael came up close seconds.
It took ten minutes for her to arrive in the Bayou, her speed had increased even further as she felt a sense of urgency that Raphael sent down the connection. Something else had happened, that much Blair was certain. By the time she had arrived, she could smell the gunpowder that stifled the area and it nearly made her choke. All around her, there were people on the ground, all gasping and moaning in pain. Some of the injured Wolves had chunks of skin missing and blood was everywhere. It was complete and utter carnage.
Within seconds, Blair was instantly by a lone female Wolf's side. She was moaning and crying in pain. Blair kneeled down beside her, not caring that she was kneeling in a pool of blood. "Shush, it will be alright," Blair muttered softly as she took the female's hand. Using her magic, she pulled out the Wolfsbane that was blasted into the skin. Once the plant was out, Blair snapped the woman's little finger, a small pain that the woman didn't notice because she was already in so much pain as it was. She watched as the woman's breathing slowed down, the pain no doubt receding due to the pain-blocking spell Blair used. This spell would last long enough until the woman's supernatural healing abilities kicked it, especially now that the Wolfbane was out of her system.
Blair repeated this process too many times after that. There were so many injured members of the pack that she almost felt she was running around like a headless chicken. Blair was already angry from her meeting with Maeve earlier but this had made her even madder than before. There were children within the pack and they had been attacked so mercilessly.
"Blair! Over here!" Raphael called when he spotted her.
Without hesitation, Blair ran over to him and knelt down beside a young child, who was crying in pain. Raphael hovered over her, a panicked look on his face. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know the first thing about healing so he had been moving all the injured people to others who knew what they were doing.
"Please make it stop!" The child cried out desperately.
"I am going to make the pain all go away, I promise," Blair softly said as she used her magic to numb the child to the pain. Slowly, the child stopped shivering in pain and relaxed on the ground, an almost delirious smile on his face. Blair did the exact same thing as all the other times but didn't try to activate his healing ability. This child had not activated his Wolf gene and so needed to heal in other ways – more slowly. He needed to go to the hospital, where he could be cared for in a better manner but he would be okay for now.
"Thank you for coming," Raphael said as he placed a hand on Blair's shoulder.
After she finished healing the boy, she looked up to Raphael. "Who did this?"
Raphael shook his head, "I don't know. The person who arrived seemed human but we all think he was compelled by a Vampire,"
Blair grimaced. This was would not help the rising tensions between Vampires and Werewolves. The Wolves would want blood for this and would strike back. However, it needed to be made certain that it was a Vampire that had done this and not someone else. Blair looked around and found she couldn't see Hayley. "Where is she?"
"She went to confront Marcel," Raphael winced.
"Go, I've got things covered here," Blair instructed. She wouldn't fault him, he had wanted to help the Wolves but Hayley needed to be watched in case she did anything stupid.
Raphael nodded his head before he ran off after Hayley.
After he was gone, Blair attended to more Wolves. Some were unconscious from the pain – a small mercy really – but the wounds seemed to be even worse as she went along. People had been impaled by the shards of metal that went everywhere and the Wolfbane was slowing down their healing ability. Everything was chaotic and the air was filled with screams of pain. As she went along, Blair managed to block these noises out and set herself into a rhythm. Find an injured person, block the pain, remove the poison and then break their little finger.
It was after she had healed the tenth person that she came across Elijah. Luckily, he seemed to be perfectly intact, excluding his suit which was completely ruined. It was scorched in the majority of places and ripped to shreds.
"How bad is it?" Elijah asked, not questioning her appearance in the Bayou. He had been the one to instruct Raphael to bring her here as her magic would prove vital.
Blair shook her head, "Not good, the other explosions seemed to have taken down a lot of people," On the way to the Bayou, she had heard at least four more explosions from the distance and this had made her quicken her pace. The first blast may not have injured many people but the further ones certainly had.
Elijah's jaw clenched. He had tried to help but it seemed he had been too slow. When the man arrived on the bike, Elijah had rushed to throw him far away but he had been too late. Then he had been just moments too slow to notice the other blasts about to go off. Elijah hated to think what would have happened if he hadn't been here.
"How many are dead?" Blair asked quietly.
"At least six have died." Elijah informed her grimly, "They were the ones that were standing too close to the blast and were hit with too much Wolfbane to combat," Wolfbane was deadly to Werewolves on its own, concentrate it and then it becomes even more lethal than before.
"They're going to want blood for this," Blair looked around, watching as they grieved for their lost ones. Jackson had taken control, guiding others and offering his support where he could. Jackson was a good Alpha because even she could see how much he cared for his packmates. He reminded her of the Alpha she met in the New Zealand pack.
Elijah soundlessly nodded his head in agreement. "Hayley has assumed that it was Marcel that orchestrated this."
"Raphael is already with her. Hopefully, she won't do anything too reckless," Blair said with a frown. Hayley was heavily pregnant and was due to give birth very soon. She didn't need this added stress on top of this because it wasn't good for the baby.
At this news, Elijah relaxed a touch. "We will reconvene when we've sorted this out." He said before walking off to help more Wolves. While they had been hesitant of his presence in the beginning, they hadn't objected to him helping them.
Blair immediately set on helping the other injured Wolves. This kept her busy for a little while until most of the Wolves were on the mend. Some were injured more than others but it was all under control. Eventually, Blair stepped away to just breathe for a few moments, needing it after everything that had just happened. She passed the small shack and was about to sit down near a log when she heard a muffled scream. It sounded panicked and full of terror. It was coming from inside the shack but she didn't remember seeing anyone going in there. Standing up, Blair opened the door to the shack and she nearly gasped with what she saw.
Laying on a bed was Eve but Oliver was stood above her. He had a cushion over Eve's face and she was struggling as much as she could in her injured state. Anger filled Blair as she watched this and only made her hatred for Oliver increase tenfold. Eve was a good woman with who Blair had no issues.
"Stop!" Blair yelled out as she used her magic. She sent a blast of magic and hit Oliver with it, sending him flying into the nearby all, away from Eve. She sped over to Eve and checked up on her, only to find her unconscious, not dead. With a hiss, she turned to face Oliver, who was slowly getting up and glaring at her.
"What the hell were you doing?!" Blair demanded angrily. She always had a feeling that Oliver was a moron but this was ridiculous. Wolves were meant to have a code of honour and felt connected with all members of their pack. They never usually killed each other off.
"Mind your own business!" Oliver shouted back.
Blair's eyes glowed an ominous purple shade, "Answer me, now," She hissed lowly, magic tingling at her fingertips.
Oliver went to lunge at her but he never got the opportunity. Clenching her hand, Blair used her magic and encased it around his throat, cutting off his air supply. Oliver gasped and stopped where he was, a hand on his throat as if he was trying to pry off the invisible hand. Blair watched him struggle to breathe with no remorse and found that she enjoyed him in such a state. His face started to turn an interesting shade of red and his lips blue. Mentally, she counted in her head the seconds she kept him under her spell but she found she was starting to feel a little strain on her magic. Only slightly but it was enough to let her know she needed to stop playing around. If she snapped his neck now, he would die and would not come back. However, she would never get the information out of him to know why he took such action on Eve. Also, it would be fun to see him squirm as his pack realised, he betrayed them. With her mind made up, Blair released the grip she had on Oliver's throat and watched as he fell to his knees, gasping for air.
"Elijah," Blair called, knowing the Original would hear her. He needed to know of this latest development considering Eve was his inside person in the pack.
Within seconds, Elijah walked into the cabin and looked around. "What happened?"
"It seems Oliver tried to kill Eve. For what reason is left unknown," Blair told him, watching as Oliver slowly gained his breath back.
Elijah's eyes darkened in anger, "Is that so?" His voice was silky and calm – never a good sign for his victims. Wordlessly, he walked over to Oliver and grabbed him by the arm before dragging him outside. He intended to find out exactly what happened.
Now that he was gone, Blair walked over to Eve and began healing her. The main injury seemed to be on the leg, where there was lots of blood and Blair was pretty certain she could see bone. Sighing deeply, Blair began to heal Eve the best she could. However, because Eve was an untriggered Wolf, she would heal slower than everyone else. Blair could hear shouting from outside but she paid no attention, focused on her task.
After ten minutes of healing, Eve groaned as she came back to the world of the living. Groggily, she opened her eyes and spotted the female Fae next to her. "Where's Oliver?" She asked quietly.
"Elijah took him away," Blair answered as her magic receded. It was a good sign that Eve had woken up so quickly. Just to be thorough, she had checked Eve's head to see if there was any damage to the brain and luckily there hadn't been.
Eve grabbed Blair's arm and pulled her closer with a surprising amount of strength, "Olly didn't mean it. He was just being a stupid boy,"
"He tried to kill you," Blair replied back bluntly and Eve flinched at her words, "Why would he do that?" She was under the impression that Eve had a close relationship with everyone in the pack. Eve seemed to be the caretaker and mother figure for a lot of people.
Inhaling shakily, Eve bit her lip. "He said that it wasn't supposed to happen like this, that he wanted to shake up the pack so they had a common enemy. He never said who he was working with though,"
Blair's face was a picture of boredom but on the inside, she was seething. Oliver had assisted in the attack of his own pack. She was disgusted and wanted to gut the coward right there and then.
"Please, the pack will kill him when they find out what he had done," Eve pleaded with the Fae.
"So, that's why he tried to kill you so they didn't find out," Blair concluded.
Reluctantly, Eve nodded her head.
"He deserves what is coming to him," Blair stood up, intending to pass this information along to Elijah and everyone else in the pack, "They deserve to know what Oliver has done." They had lost nine people now as others had succumbed to their injuries. If Eve had died, then that would have made ten victims but luckily, she had been found in time.
Silently, Eve cried on the bed, knowing she couldn't argue with the Fae's words.
Walking out of the cabin, Blair immediately set out to find Elijah and Oliver. This task did not take long either, she just followed where the growls came from. There was another cabin not too far away and she entered through the front door. No one seemed to be paying attention to the shouting that was emanating from the cabin, everyone too focused on healing and fixing their homes. Walking further into the cabin, Blair entered the last toom and the scene that she walked in on made her arch a brow. Oliver was on the floor, looking as though he had been beaten to a pulp and Jackson stood over him with blood on his knuckles. Jackson was furious, so furious to the point his eyes glowed gold. Elijah was stood nearby, a cold iciness displayed on his face.
"Has Oliver said anything?" Blair asked as she looked at Elijah. She hadn't seen much of Jackson to know what his usual temperament was like but this seemed unusual for the typically calm Alpha.
Elijah sharply nodded his head, "He has admitted to trying to kill Eve, for what reason has yet to be revealed," He had dragged Oliver away to interrogate him privately but Jackson had seen this and demanded to know what was happening. In the end, Elijah informed Jackson of what Blair had told him and the Alpha had flipped. It had been a surprising turn of events as Elijah had not lifted a finger against Oliver yet.
Blair hummed, "I can shed some light on that. Eve woke up and told me what happened," As soon as she spoke those words, Jackson stood up straighter and Oliver froze. Knowing that she had an audience, Blair continued, not wanting to disappoint them. "Apparently, Oliver helped in this attack so you'd share a common enemy. He is working for someone who organised this attack,"
There was silence in the cabin. No one seemed to be breathing as the only sound was from outside. However, that silence was broken when Jackson lunged at Oliver and punched him in the face. Oliver flew back at the sheer force, blood pouring from his split lip.
"What the hell, Oliver?!" Jackson yelled out in anger, his whole-body tense in rage.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" Oliver sobbed back, tears in his eyes. "I wanted to make a little noise to get our people mad. I didn't agree to this! They stabbed me in the back!" He was huddled on the ground, whimpering like a child.
"Who?!" Jackson roared out, "Who helped with this?!"
However, Oliver didn't answer, just sobbed loudly. "I didn't mean for this to happen…" The blood from the pack was on his hands, something he would never be able to live with. He had thought he was helping the pack, directing their focus onto hating the Vampires so they could launch an attack against them and take back their city.
Jackson growled lowly and began pacing around the room, not happy with the answer.
Stepping forward, Elijah grabbed Oliver by the throat and held him up against the wall. "If you don't tell us who did this then I will scatter your entrails across the Bayou. Tell me and you'll live," Whether the pack killed him or not what another question altogether.
Sudden anger flared in Oliver's watery eyes. "It's your fault I did this in the first place! Vampires have always been the issue," He attempted to fight his way out of Elijah's hold but it was too strong and he couldn't get free.
Elijah yanked Oliver's head, very close to snapping his neck, "Talk. Now,"
"Oliver, if you ever cared about this pack, you'd tell them the truth," Blair warned him, ready to use magic to make him talk. If they extracted who had done this then revenge could be achieved. But, going around in a blind rage targeting people would achieve nothing but anarchy. If that could be achieved then Blair would help.
Oliver looked to Jackson for support but received nothing but a heated glare. Knowing that he had no choice, he slumped into Elijah's hold. "Her name was Francesca Correa. She said she would give us support if we tried to take back the city," He had been approached by Francesca when he'd been in town a few days ago and she had made him an offer he couldn't refuse. She was willing to get him a moonlight ring and he could have got one without the help of Klaus. It had seemed like a perfect solution to all their problems so he had agreed. He had asked for some noise to be made but he hadn't expected to this extent. It had all gone wrong.
Elijah's lips thinned. He knew that name and the woman it belonged to. The same woman had approached him during the party to unite the factions, wanting her to be named as the human representative over Father Kieran. He had refused her as Father Kieran was in perfect health and there was no reason for him to be passed over. After that, he had done some digging on the woman and found that she was the owner of the Palace Royale casino, a dedicated philanthropist and the matriarch of a sizable drug trafficking empire throughout New Orleans. He had thought he would never hear from Francesca again but it seemed as though he was wrong and had misjudged her ambition.
Jackson growled lowly at the name, instantly memorising it. This person would pay for what she had done to his pack.
"We have a name, a plan can now be made to get revenge," Blair said as she looked to Elijah and then Jackson.
"I'll call Hayley so she can come back. She will want to know." Elijah said as he stepped out to call Hayley. Luckily, his phone hadn't been completely destroyed in the blast.
No longer under Elijah's hold, Oliver rubbed his sore neck, knowing that it could have gone sideways in seconds. He looked to Jackson, but he refused to look at him and this filled him with shame. He had thought he was leading the pack into a new era because he had doubted Jackson's leading abilities and didn't consider Hayley as one of them.
Blair watched him go before looking to Jackson, "What do you plan on doing with him?" She asked, referring to Oliver.
"How we deal with all traitors." Jackson ominously said before he walked out. He couldn't be near Oliver without wanting to rip him to shreds. He needed some time away before he didn't something he would regret. However, before he did, he stopped and looked to the Fae, "Thank you for what you did here,"
"It was nothing. Now, go look after your own. My services won't always be free," Blair smirked haughtily.
Jackson grinned slightly before he turned serious. "The Crescent Wolves owe you a debt. If you need anything from us, don't be afraid to ask," With that said, he walked out, needing some time to cool down.
Blair mentally cursed. So much for not making any connections. She was forming bonds in the city, whether she wanted to or not. This wasn't going to be easy to leave when the time came.