Chapter Fifty-One

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

Raphael groaned as he woke up, his head hurt like never before. Slowly, he blinked and forced his eyes to open. Something wasn't right. He forced himself to move and wake up, and then he took in his bearings. He was in the middle of the clearing, where he and Blair had waited for Maeve to officially start the Royal Challenge. Raphael tried to remember what happened, he remembered that the Queen and Marie had appeared, words were exchanged and then the fighting began. But after that, everything was a blur. The more he focused on this, the more his head burned.

Despite the pain, he fought through it so he could remember.

Then everything hit him at once.

Blair had fallen victim to the Queen's powers.

Blair was now a slave to the Queen of the Fae.

Panic filled his very being as he realised this implication. Raphael forced his body to move as he stumbled his way back into the city, determination lit a fire under his arse as he needed to make sure everything was okay. He could feel as his body slowly repaired itself from the damage suffered from the fight – but he did not know how much time had passed. He assumed as the sun was still in the sky, that it was the same day.

But he needed to make sure Rebekah was okay.

He did not even care when people in the street gave him weird looks, some concerned about the blood on his clothing, and others were shocked. It was the Vampires that seemed concerned as they knew he was in the inner circle and offered the Fae support, but Raphael ignored them all.

Raphael waltzed back into the French Quarter and threw open the doors to the Compound, and that's when he heard shouting. He found the Mikaelson family awake, with Davina crying on the side with Kol by her side. Kol's shirt was ripped and there was a bloody piece of broken wood a few feet away from him. Klaus and Elijah appeared to be at each other's throats, anger poured from them in waves, and there was so much hostility in the air. Caroline appeared to be trying to play mediator but nothing calmed Klaus' rage, and Elijah's own rage added fuel to the fire.

It was Caroline who spotted the Fae, "Raphael! Are you okay?" They had all wondered where he was and seeing the blood on his shirt made her worry.

Everyone turned to look at him, but he did not care about that. His eyes scanned their home and he could not find her.

"Where's Rebekah?" Raphael asked, his heart going ten to a dozen.

No one answered him.

"Where is she?!" Raphael screamed out. The fact that no one answered him made this situation worse. He could not sense her in their home – in fact, he could not sense her in New Orleans at all and this made him panic.

"Gone," Came the short reply from Kol.

Raphael crumpled to the floor.

However, his knees never touched the floor, as the Hybrid was on him in seconds. Klaus grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the wall, "Do not act like the victim! Where has she taken them?!" Klaus screamed at the Fae, his eyes dangerously flickered between his usual blue colour to Hybrid gold.

"Niklaus!" Elijah shouted in reprimand.

Klaus glared at his older brother, "Do not act like you did not know! I bet it was all part of the plan. Trick me into thinking you were on my side, that we were a family. Then when my guard was down, Blair's true intentions came forth and she took not only my sister but my child!"

"Blair did not betray us!" Elijah roared out. This had been the argument since they'd all woken up from their necks being snapped. Davina had been the first victim that Klaus had tried to threaten, but that had resulted in Kol and Klaus snapping at one another and a few fatal wounds exchanged, and that is when Elijah stepped in. This resulted in an argument between them and it had not stopped. Klaus, being his paranoid self, had assumed this was an elaborate plan all along, that Blair was never on their side and she'd just played the long game to trick them all, and Elijah was the naïve fool who fell for a temptress. Elijah was adamant that this was not the case, that Blair was not in her right mind and something went horribly wrong, but Klaus would not hear it.

"Lies!" Klaus yelled back.

Raphael struggled to breathe as he clawed at Klaus' strong grip on his neck, "B-Blair didn't betray us!" He wheezed out.

"One more sound and I will kill you," Klaus hissed lowly in anger.

Ignoring his warning, Raphael quickly spat out, "Blair is under the Queen's control, just like I was,"

Klaus yelled out and was about to kill the Fae, but Elijah sped to his side and snapped Klaus' arm off Raphael's neck before throwing him across the compound. Klaus hit the wall with a loud thud and caused some destruction to the wall, but he bounced back up and was about to pounce once more but he realised that he could not move. His furious gaze soon turned to Davina, who had now stood up and was helping Raphael to stand. The Witch glared at the Hybrid as if daring him to attack her friend, and Kol was by her side.

"You need to calm down, Klaus," Caroline said as she tried to reason with her partner.

"How can I be expected to be calm when my child and our sister are gone?!" Klaus exclaimed back, but he did not raise his voice against his mate.

"Because we will get Hope and Rebekah back," Elijah announced strongly.

Klaus rolled his eyes, "And how do you expect to do that? We have no idea where they are,"

"I do," Raphael said as he rubbed his neck, which he knew would be bruised very heavily, "They will be back in the Forest. I know how to get there," He remembered how to get back to the Forest as he'd spent a long time there and had been on a few missions for the Queen and Tumas. He could guide them there.

This answer made Klaus relax for a moment before he bristled once more, "And how do you propose we handle Blair?" He questioned with condescension in his voice. Blair was the one person who possessed the very weapons that could destroy them. She had hidden the items away from them, claiming to be the only person to be able to access the weapons. If she was truly under the command and control of the Queen of the Fae, what would stop her from accessing these weapons and killing them?

"We snap her out of the Queen's control," Kol answered, and then he looked to the lone Fae, "She did it for you, right?"

Raphael nodded his head, "Yes, the Queen's control can be broken, we just need to do that," It had been hard for Blair to do but that was because Raphael had been under the Queen's control for a long time, whereas Blair's time would be relatively shorter and hopefully much easier. They just needed to find a trigger, an anchor.

"Or, we can kill her," Klaus declared.

Elijah's dark eyes flashed in anger, and he took a threatening step towards his younger brother, "You will not touch her, you will need to go through me first," Elijah's body was coiled to attack at a moment's notice. The thought of Klaus going anywhere near the woman he loved made him nearly feral. Klaus had killed too many of his past lovers for him to discount that Klaus would actually kill Blair.

Surprise and hurt reflected in Klaus' eyes, "You would pick her over your family?"

"Yes," Elijah said impassively, "Just as you'd pick Caroline,"

Klaus opened his mouth to protest, but then his eyes landed on the woman who had captured his heart. His instant response was to rebuke that claim, but he found that he could not. While he loved his family, his love for Caroline won out. If Caroline was in the same situation, he would have threatened Elijah in a heartbeat and probably would have bitten him for good measure.

"Well played, brother," Klaus muttered lowly, as he watched Caroline smile at him. Now that he was calmer, he found that he could actually move, as Davina had released him from her hold. He walked over to her, and held her close, needing the comfort after the emotional rollercoaster he'd gone through when he realised his daughter was missing. He had ripped her room apart and sped through New Orleans attempting to find her to no avail.

Elijah sighed in relief when he saw his brother step down. He did not want to have to fight him especially when they should be focused on getting Hope, Rebekah and Blair back, but he would and he would not back down.

Kol walked over to Raphael and checked up on him. "What happened out there?"

Raphael frowned as he thought back.

The fight had been going in their favour the entire time. Raphael remembered it well, he had fought against Marie, who was not really fighting back but made it look as though she was. This was all to appease the Queen so she did not suspect that the control over Marie had been broken. He and Marie would exchange attacks, each one dodging and attacking once more, like a very dangerous dance where no one landed an attack on the other. Marie was older and more experienced, but she was not a true fighter. There were a few times when Raphael had become distracted and would get nicked by her blade, but nothing serious, so he did not mind as he knew he would heal.

As he could not feel that killer intent from Marie, he kept an eye on the battle between the Queen and Blair. Blair had Maeve on the backfoot the entire time, with the Queen not able to retaliate against Blair's brutal attack. His friend was fast, angered and powerful, there was no way that Maeve was anywhere near powerful enough to beat her.

Raphael had thought the battle was won when he saw Maeve on the ground, visibly injured, and Blair stood over her, her hand glowing with her magic. He could see Maeve's lips moving, and her eyes pleading but then her expression turned smug. Blair's whole body tensed and the light in her hand disappeared and fell to her side limply. He tried to rush to Blair's side but was stopped when Marie stood in his way and sadly shook her head. Before he could do anything else, Blair turned around to look at him, her eyes dead and expressionless.

Something hit him in the back of the head and he crumpled to the ground, and his vision went dark.

"That's all I remember," Raphael explained to everyone.

Elijah inwardly cursed at the tale, he knew he should have been there. He could have stopped this from getting this far.

While they were distracted, and brainstormed different ideas to bring Blair back, the Witch was anxious. This whole discussion made her uneasy and she just wanted to shut off these feelings. Guilt was something that seemed to feed off her. She should have known that something was wrong. That had been an air that surrounded Blair that felt wrong. She should have done something, she was Blair's apprentice after all and she should have known better and done something useful. Maybe she could have stopped Blair...

As if sensing her thoughts, Elijah turned to face Davina and saw how she barely held back her tears. He silently made his way over to the young Witch and placed a hand on her shoulder, "There is nothing you could have done." He understood where Davina was coming from as he held the same guilt. Blair was his, he should have noticed and acted quicker, and he had failed her.

His words soothed her slightly, "Elijah, please bring her back home," She looked to the Vampire, her tone pleading.

The Noble Original kneeled down to the Witch and took her hands in his, "I promise you, Davina, I will bring back Blair, alive and well,"

Davina shakily nodded her head and moved to hug Elijah, she needed that comfort that only he as her father figure could provide. Elijah held her close and closed his eyes. He made a mental vow to make the Queen pay for what she'd done to his family.

Kol watched this interaction sadly and sent Elijah a grateful expression.

ORIGINALS

With Rebekah

Rebekah groaned as she woke from her slumber. Her head hurt, as though she had a pounding headache that would not go away. It was unusual because pain faded away quickly due to her Vampire healing abilities, but this seemed to linger and roused her from her sleep. Rebekah opened her eyes and instantly noticed that she was not in her home – she was not in New Orleans. This made her sit upright and look around, as she gained back her bearings. It only took a few moments to realise what had happened.

Blair had attacked them all and had taken her and Hope.

In a panic, she glanced down at her own stomach to make sure that the baby was okay and was relieved when she felt the baby kick at that moment. It was like her baby knew she needed some reassurance and that strong kick made Rebekah relax massively. She could not see Hope in the same room as her and this made her frown.

The room she was in was finely decorated. It looked as though she was inside a massive tree house, the walls were all wood and it appeared as though one of the walls was just bark from wood. It was quaint, and filled with pastel colours. The bed was soft and there was a sweet scent in the air. Things seemed a little too perfect and this made the Vampire suspicious. Rebekah did not know where she was and did not recognise anything about it. Deciding that she couldn't just sit around, Rebekah attempted to get up from the bed but was stopped when she felt resistance from her ankles. She looked down and saw her ankles were bound in chains. In a huff, Rebekah attempted to rip them off but hissed when her skin started to burn.

Vervain chains.

Rebekah looked around the room to see if she could find anything to destroy the chains but found nothing. Most items were laid away from the bed. Whoever had placed her here wanted Rebekah to stay exactly where she was.

But Rebekah had no intentions of being a silent prisoner.

"Hello? I would very much like to be released now!" Rebekah shouted loudly, as she hoped to get someone's attention and find out what the hell had gone on.

There was no movement.

"I demand to know what is going on right now?!" Rebekah yelled out angrily. If someone did not answer her this time, she would throw a fit that would be befitting of a pissed-off Mikaelson.

This got a response.

There was movement at the door and three people walked in. They were all Fae, one had a crown on her head and walked in front of everyone. The second person was a smaller woman – again, a Fae. The last one, Rebekah recognised.

"Oi, Blair, stop this charade and get me out of these," Rebekah demanded when she saw her friend. She noticed that Blair had changed into different clothing – very different to what she was used to. Blair was dressed in a blue silk gown, and her hair twisted upwards in a fancy updo. She looked regal, befitting of a princess, she too had a tiny tiara on her head.

The Fae with the crown laughed, "She won't be doing that, you're my prisoner," This Fae looked similar to Blair but more mature and less friendly. There was a sharpness to the woman and an iciness around her that made her appear cold.

Blair's facial expressions did not change.

Rebekah stared at the woman, unimpressed, "And who are you?"

The Fae's eye twitched, "I am the Queen of Fae, and you will talk to me with respect," Maeve demanded as her jaw clenched.

Rebekah's eyebrow arched as she looked the Queen up and down. This was Blair's mother, and also the woman who had enslaved Raphael for hundreds of years. Now meeting her in person, she was not impressed in the slightest. "I have met many Kings and Queens in my time and they never last long. I do not care who you are, but I wish to be released and returned back home this instant,"

Maeve's arm moved to strike, but was stopped when Marie placed a hand on the Queen's shoulder and whispered lowly, "We can't risk any harm to the baby,"

For a moment, Maeve appeared as though she would not listen to her right hand but soon lowered her arm and relaxed, "You seem to have forgotten your place, but I am more than happy to remind you. You are my prisoner until it is time for the baby to arrive. Once the baby is here, you will be disposed of. Until then, you will remain here, out of the goodness of my heart," The smile on Maeve's face was filled with false promises.

Rebekah looked around the room, not moved by her words at all, "Whoever is your interior designer needs to be fired. This room is like a child's playroom. I have a brilliant interior designer I could get you in contact with. But I don't like you, so I won't," Rebekah dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

Annoyance flashed in Maeve's eyes, "I had been hoping you would be more gracious for the mercy I was showing you. Your attitude is barbaric."

"From you, that's a compliment," Rebekah flashed her a smile.

Maeve glared at her.

Looking down at her nails, Rebekah continued, "You do realise that my family will be coming for me? Nik is very protective of me," She stared at the Queen when she mentioned her brother's name as she was aware that Maeve was scared of her brother.

Maeve's whole body seized up at the name.

"Also, is putting a Vampire in the heart of the Fae sanctuary really a smart idea?" Rebekah questioned further, "My kind nearly killed yours to extinction after all,"

"You will be confined to this room." Maeve interrupted her, "Blood will be delivered to you twice a day for the baby. Magic protects us from you leaving this room,"

Rebekah said nothing about this. She was not sensitive to magic like Kol, but at that moment, she wished she was. She had noticed there was magic in this room and wondered if Blair had been the one to place the barrier around the room, or if someone else had.

"As for your family," Maeve sneered, "They will not be able to enter the Forest. The gates are always locked and are impenetrable," After they had returned back to the Forest, she ordered additional guards at the gate, and for extra protection spells to be cast. Vervain coated every inch of that door – and that was only if they actually managed to find them. The Forest was a well-guarded secret except to the Fae kind, and Raphael was more than likely dead and she doubted that he remembered his way back even if he was alive.

Rebekah snorted, "We know that's not always the case. You left it unlocked so Blair would be Hunter bait,"

With a clenched jaw, Maeve turned around and slapped Blair in the face, which made Rebekah jump at the loud sound, "You're a stupid girl! How dare you share information that is not theirs to know!"

Blair did not react, her cheek slightly red from the force, "I apologise, mother,"

Maeve huffed and righted herself.

Rebekah stared at Blair closely and silently hoped that the slap would have been enough to snap her out of Maeve's control. However, she was disappointed to see the same emotionless expression on her face. "If Elijah sees one mark on her, he will not be very forgiving,"

"Then it's a good job he will never see her again," Maeve said with a smirk.

Again, Blair did not react. Rebekah was almost saddened that she did not react to her brother's name. She thought there would have been something, but there was nothing. She had remembered what Blair had told her about Maeve's control over Raphael, that she had focused on the things and people they were attached to bring them back, but this did not seem to work with Blair.

"What have you done with my niece?" Rebekah demanded.

Maeve smiled, as if this was to comfort the Vampire, "Don't you worry, the child will be well taken care of. She will want for nothing. She is currently being cared for, and the maids are fusing over her. When she is older, she will be trained to do what she was born to – to bring an end to the Witches," There was a hungry gleam in her eyes, satisfied that she now had the weapon she had wanted since she'd heard the rumour. Hope would grow to serve her, and Maeve would teach her to obey, but only when she was older. Hope would remember nothing of her parents and come to think of Maeve as her mother and only have loyalty to her.

This made Rebekah relax ever so slightly. She knew that the Fae valued children, and cherished and cared for them. Hope would be safe for the time being, until her family came and rescued them. She just had to wait for this to happen and bide her time until she could get free of these chains.

"I also wouldn't think of escaping either," Maeve said.

"Oh?" Rebekah arched a brow.

The grin on Maeve's face unsettled the Vampire. Maeve snapped her fingers and Blair raised a blade to her own neck. An iron blade. Seeing this made Rebekah tense as she stared at the blade intently, it nearly touched her skin – and Rebekah knew how vulnerable Fae were to this metal.

"If you do somehow manage to escape, or do something that displeases me, it will not be you that suffers, it will be her," Maeve said as she motioned to Blair. She knew that she could not control the Vampire, but threatening her with Blair was always an option.

"You would hurt your own daughter?" Rebekah demanded harshly as she glared down at the Fae Queen, "I thought Fae were meant to value children?"

Maeve shook her head, "My daughter died the day she ran from her duty. Dying by the Hunter would have been a sacrifice I could have been proud of," Instead, Blair had chosen her life over the lives of her kind – a cowardly move.

"There is nothing wrong in choosing her own life!" Rebekah argued back.

"This conversation bores me," Maeve dismissed as she turned around, but stopped and turned her head, "Let us hope you're not with us much longer. Once you've given birth, that baby is mine and you are no longer required," With that, Maeve left the room with Blair and Marie following behind.

"Blair!" Rebekah called out, as she hoped the Fae would snap back into reality.

Blair continued to walk away.

"Blair! Snap out of it!" Rebekah yelled out, "Elijah will come save us, I promise!" She watched helplessly as Blair walked out of the room without any reaction or misstep and the door shut behind them. She heard the door lock several times and that is when she knew she was on her own. Taking in a deep breath, Rebekah rubbed her protruding stomach, her nerves wired up.

"We'll be okay, little one," Rebekah spoke lovingly to her stomach, "Our family will come for us. Uncle Nik, Elijah and Kol will come and they will bring Auntie Blair back to us," If she hadn't hated the Fae Queen before this, she would have now despised her. She could only imagine the anguish that Elijah must be going through and the pain Raphael must be suffering not having her close by with the baby's arrival unknown.

ORIGINALS

Elijah stood outside as he stared up at the sky, a contemplative expression on his face. His thoughts were with Blair as he wondered how she was and silently wished she was okay. After Blair had revealed her parenthood to them all, they'd had a more detailed conversation about her upbringing and what Maeve's version of motherhood looked like. It was this information that made him worried as now Blair was back in her mother's claws, under her control. It angered him to know that she was being influenced by that heinous woman because he knew how much it would break Blair once that control was gone.

Elijah was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kol approach him, his footsteps light in the grass.

"How much longer?" Kol asked, referring to the plans they made to travel to the Forest. Raphael had laid out exactly how to get back and they were finishing the last-minute touches. Through Elijah and Klaus' extensive contacts, they booked a plane for Ireland within minutes and were now just finalising everything afterwards.

"We will set off within the next hour," Elijah answered him back. He had received word back from one of their private jets that they would be making their way over as soon as possible.

Kol nodded his head.

"How is Davina?" Elijah asked.

"Not good," Kol admitted with a sigh as he shook his head, "She still feels guilty," No matter what he said, or what anyone said, Davina would not let go that she could have done more. She was under the impression that she could have stopped Blair before everything went south. Kol had tried to explain it wasn't her fault, but she would not listen, and usually he loved her stubbornness, but even this was too much for him.

Elijah hummed in response, "She is a stubborn girl. No one other than Blair will be able to convince her any differently," He could see that not even his words had an effect on the girl he would call a daughter, and he understood. He would only be soothed once Blair was back in his arms and Maeve was dead for her crimes.

"How are you holding up?" Kol asked curiously. Since Blair had been gone, he had noticed how quiet his brother had become. He would snap back at Klaus, and would not mediate the situation anymore. The atmosphere in the Compound had become nearly unbearable without a peacemaker. Klaus, not able to deal with or handle his brother's grief as well as his own, responded with rage and yelling that could only be soothed by Caroline – but not fully. Blair was always able to defuse Klaus' anger or direct it at her, which she would hurl back at the Hybrid effortlessly. It had made Klaus more bearable as he had someone to bounce off, but without Blair there, there was no buffer and it made living with Klaus almost intolerable.

Elijah pondered his answer for a moment, "I feel as if a part of me is missing," He placed a hand over his heart as he felt the familiar ache.

"We'll get her back, and kill the Fae as well," Kol grinned wickedly. While he did not like the situation, he would not deny he was excited to kill some Fae. While he could not drink their blood – thanks to Blair's magic – he would relish in paying them back for causing all this chaos.

"Maeve is mine," Elijah warned his younger brother, as he turned his head. He vowed he would make Maeve pay for what she'd done, and he would fight anyone for this right.

Kol winced, "You may need to tell Klaus that," He had to listen to Klaus' rant as he demanded Maeve's head for having his daughter and sister stolen. No one had said anything to him because they could not be bothered to deal with him and his temper tantrums. He had even threatened to bring out the daggers if anyone went against him, but quickly remembered that he did not have them anymore – making him even worse than before.

Elijah made a dismissive noise. He would deal with his brother easily – nothing would stand in his way.

"He is getting out of control," Kol added, annoyed. Klaus had started to revert back to how he was before New Orleans and it made Kol twitchy. He was very close to going back on his word to the Fae in not enacting any revenge because his brother was suffocating at this point. What made it worse was that Rebekah would not even be there to shout at him either, something Kol never thought he'd admit to missing.

"Niklaus is lashing out," Elijah agreed with his younger brother, "I fear he may try and act out before the time is right,"

Kol hummed, in agreement. Usually, the family worried about him not playing along, and it was kind of nice that the focus wasn't on him for once. "How are we going to deal with Blair?" He questioned after a moment of silence.

Elijah fell silent for a moment, as he pondered the question. "Leave it to me," There was a chime from his phone. He looked down at the device and noticed a message from the private jet, "Gather everyone, it is time to leave," He said as he pocketed the device once more.

Kol nodded his head and disappeared from sight.

The Noble Original looked up at the sky once more before he walked away, and followed after his brother.