Elijah was growing concerned. Elena had gone up to see his mother more than an hour ago, and neither had come down since. That was worrisome. Whatever his mother had to say to Elena surely could not take so long. His mother was up to something. He'd believed so even before now, but it was becoming more evident with Elena's disappearance.
Elijah looked around and spotted both Salvator brothers also looking around for Elena. It wasn't long before Damon zeroed in on him and he and his brother walked over.
"Hey. Where the hell is Elena?" Damon demanded to know.
Elijah raised an eyebrow at the young vampire. He was concerned for Elena too, but he wasn't going to let Damon see that. "How would I know that? Aren't you here date?"
"Elena went to see your mother a while ago. We haven't seen her since," Stefan said.
"Yeah, and that's your fault. She wouldn't have been up there if it weren't for you!" Damon snapped at his brother. His brother had broken his neck to keep him away from Elena. He'd put her at risk.
"As fascinating as this is, I do have guests to attend to," Elijah said before he began to walk away.
Damon grabbed his arm. "Hey, we're not done! Where the hell is Elena?"
Elijah glanced down at the hand now on his arm before looking up at Damon dangerously. "I suggest you remove your hand before I remove it from your person."
Damon took his hand off Elijah.
"Elijah, have you seen Elena?" Stefan asked.
"What's this I hear of you misplacing my doppelganger?" Klaus asked as he and Caroline joined them. "That's irresponsible of you, isn't it?"
"What's going on? Where's Elena?" Caroline asked.
"We don't know. She went up to talk to their mother over an hour ago, and no one has seen her since," Damon said.
"Why was mother speaking to the doppelganger?" Klaus asked Elijah suspiciously.
"Let's ask her ourselves. Here she comes," Stefan said as he watched Esther walk down the stairs with her oldest son and head towards them.
"Hello, everyone. I hope you're enjoying yourselves," Esther said with a smile.
"Where's Elena?" Damon asked irritable.
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Young Elena and I had a lovely conversation. She's a wonderful girl. Unfortunately, she began to feel ill. I believe she ate something that didn't agree with her. She decided to duck out for the night," Esther told them.
Elijah knew immediately that his mother was lying. Elena had assured him that she would speak with him after talking to his mother. She would not have left without doing so. Also, she was perfectly fine before going upstairs.
"You expect us to believe that? She wouldn't have left without telling us," Damon said.
"Well, the poor girl did go to great lengths to get away from you tonight. Perhaps she thought it served her best interests not to inform you," Esther said.
Caroline snorted. She could definitely see her friend wanting to get away from Damon for a while. "She's got a point. Look, this isn't really Elena's thing anyway. And it's not as if she has the best experience with the people who live here. She probably had enough and ducked out early."
"I'll try not to take offense to that, love," Klaus said.
"Why? It was meant to offend you," Caroline said with a smirk.
"In any event, Gentlemen, I believe you were Elena's guests. Now that she's gone home, I'm afraid I'll have to politely ask you to leave," Esther said.
"We're not leaving without Elena!" Damon snarled. He still wasn't buying that she left. She wouldn't do that. Plus, he'd tried to call her, and she wasn't answering.
"Finn, if you wouldn't mind," Esther said before walking away.
Elijah and Klaus both followed their mother through the crowd. "Mother, I know that Elena did not leave her on her own accord. She was meant to come speak with me after your talk."
"Yes, in order to appease your paranoia, no doubt?" Esther said to her son.
"Mother, what have you done with my doppelganger?" Klaus demanded to know. He watched from a distance as his older brother forced the Salvatore's out of the house. Caroline followed them out.
"Boys, relax. Elena is just fine. She's resting in her room," Esther told them.
"She's what?" Klaus asked in disbelief, as if what his mother had just said was the most absurd thing in the world, and it was.
"I will explain once our guests have left, but I assure you, she is perfectly fine," Esther said before walking away, leaving her two sons dumbfounded.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Once the ball was over, the Mikaelson's were all gathered in the living room. Esther poured herself a drink as her Childers stood around the room.
"Alright, Mother, the party is over. Tell us that you're planning and why do you need a doppelganger for it?" Klaus asked. He could only guess that his mother planned a spell that required a doppelganger. There was no other reason for her to keep Elena there.
"I have no need for a doppelganger, Niklaus. Now, Elena is another matter entirely. I told you I wanted us to be a family again. That means all of us. Well, all that is possible anyway," Esther explained.
"Mother, what are you talking about? What does the stupid doppelganger have to do with us being a family?" Rebekah asked.
Esther explained to her children everything she'd told Elena. She told them how Mikael had killed her and how she managed to send her soul to be reborn into another.
All the Mikaelson siblings, apart from Finn, looked around stunned. They all, of course, knew that they had a sister that died, but they didn't know how she died or that their mother had resorted to such tactics to preserve her life. And the fact that their sister was Elena Gilbert was the most shocking.
"You told us she died of infant sickness," Elijah said, being the first to recover from his shock. That was what they used to call Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. There was no such name for it back then. It was just called infant sickness.
"I decided it would only do you harm for you to be confronted with such a harsh truth," Esther told them.
"What harsh truth would that be, Mother? That Father was a brutal sadist capable of murdering a child? As though we didn't already know that," Klaus said. He was furious. He was more furious than he had ever been. A part of him wanted to resurrect his father just to murder him again. He remembered when his sister was born. He remembered holding her and promising her that he would never allow Mikael to hurt her. He'd broken that promise, and he hadn't even known it until now.
"Knowing the truth would only cause our family more pain," Esther said.
"Tell me something, Mother. We all already know she wasn't Father's. Was she his?" Klaus asked, referring to his own biological father. He'd always wondered, but he never saw the point of asking. His sister was dead. What did it matter who her father was?
Esther didn't respond.
"Was she his?!" Klaus asked again loudly.
"Yes. Elena was Ansel's," Esther finally answered.
"Wonderful. So, you failed yet another child by making the exact same mistake! And then you put her into the body of a doppelganger? Did you lose your mind? Or was it intentional? Was this a punishment?" Klaus asked angrily. He wasn't sure who he was more angry at, his mother or himself. Elena Gilbert, the doppelganger he killed, was his baby sister. He was the baby sister he swore to protect, and he'd killed her.
"I imagine it was, but not for you. I had no control over who she'd be reborn into. I imagine nature was punishing me for defying it, by placing her into the body of someone you would want to kill," Esther explained.
"This is bloody crazy! Elena is our sister?" Rebekah asked in disbelief.
Esther nodded to her daughter.
"And you told her all of this tonight? Before locking her away upstairs?" Elijah asked in horror.
"Give me the key to the room you put her in, Mother?" Klaus said before holding his hand out.
"No," Esther said firmly.
Klaus glared dangerously at his mother. "This is my house!"
"Perhaps, but Elena is my daughter," she said.
"And this is how you treat your daughter? You kidnap her and keep her locked like a prisoner?" Elijah asked.
"Elijah, there is no need for such dramatics. She is my daughter. It is hardly kidnapping. She became very agitated when I told her the truth," Esther told him.
"What were you expecting? For her to thank you and give you a hug?" Kol asked in a dumbfounded tone.
"Mind your tone, Kol," Esther warned.
"Mother, you should've told us before you put this on her. You should've at least told me. I could've helped. She knows me. She trusts me to a certain extent. I could've made this easier for her," Elijah said. There was no doubt that it still would've been shocking, but it would've at least been slightly less traumatic if someone Elena knew was there with her to help her deal with it.
"Well, what's done is done. Now, Elena is in her room digesting everything I've told her, and that is where she will stay tonight. Her room is spelled so that no one can open the door except for me. I will let her out in the morning, provided she can be calm," Esther told them.
"Then what? Are you going to let her go home?" Elijah asked. He got a bad feeling that she wouldn't. If his mother was willing to lock Elena up for understandably having a bad reaction to traumatizing news, she wasn't going to let her go tomorrow.
"Don't be ridiculous, Dear. This is her home now. It is where she will remain. Now, I bid you all goodnight," Esther said before leaving the room.
"What…? What do we do?" Rebekah asked. She didn't even know how to respond to all of this, as she was still in shock. She didn't imagine it was any better for Elena.
"We find Elena. We may not be able to free her, but we can at least reassure her," Elijah said before heading out of the room.
"Mother wants her left alone!" Finn called after his siblings as they all started out of the room.
"It's a good thing no one cares what either of you thinks then," Kol said as he followed his siblings.
Elijah led the way upstairs and started checking every room. It obviously took a while for them to search, as there were a lot of bedrooms in the mansion. Finally, he found one that was locked. He decided that had to be the right one. "Elena, it's Elijah. Can you hear me?
Elijah heard hurried footsteps, followed by Elena's voice. "Yes. Elijah, can you let me out? Please!"
Elijah sighed sadly. "I would if I could, Elena. The room is locked by a spell. Only my… Only Mother can open it."
Elena let out a sob on the other side of the door. "Elijah, tell me it's not true. It can't be true! Please tell me, Elijah. I know you won't lie to me."
Elijah closed his eyes sadly. He wanted nothing more than to go in there and pull his sister into his arms and comfort her. His mother had screwed this up so spectacularly that there was no one to even help Elena through this. "I'm so sorry, Dear. I doubt you'll believe me, but everything is going to be okay."
"I'm scared," she cried.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, Darling. We're not gonna let anyone hurt you again," Kol said. He doubted his words meant much to her, as she didn't know him, but he was her big brother. He had to offer some sort of reassurance.
"Kol's right. I know this is a frightening situation, but it will be okay. Try to sleep now, Elena. We're not leaving you. We're going to stay by your side until we know you're asleep," Elijah promised. He didn't know how reassuring his words would be, given Elena's history with them, but he had to try.
"Okay," Elena said in a shaky tone before going to lay down.
Elijah sat down on the floor and leaned against the door. He had no intention of going anywhere for a long time.
Klaus, Kol, and Rebekah followed their brother's lead. They sat down on the floor and looked at each other in silence. They were all determined to give their sister the support she needed, even if they couldn't physically comfort her.