Everyone was in position, the werewolves where knelt down in front of the salt circle, seven of the nine witches sat beside them with their legs crisscrossed beneath them, a few of the inner circle vampires and hybrids where knelt down beside the witches and most of the Mikaelson siblings followed suit; in the centre of the salt circle was the altar, spearheaded by Elena, Davina and Kimberly, Klaus, Marcel, A hybrid and one of the werewolves, each faction with a representative at the centre.
The three witches would lead the ritual, they would all join hands with each faction and channel the power and peace from them; Kimberly would lead with the unification blessing and start with the prayer, Elena eventually taking over as unification leader to complete the spell.
"This ritual will unite us all as one, a divided community brought together in peace and harmony, we shall not live or die alone and alone we will never be, we call forth the power of the earth and the ancestors to bless this unification and guide us through the darkness and bloodshed, so may the light shine through on centuries of conflict, putting it to rest and invoking true unity between us and leading us into a time of peace," Kimberly spoke the blessing, picking up a dagger from the table and placing it to her palm, slicing it slightly and holding it over the chalice, "we each must bleed into the relic, symbolising our shared bond to the unification and the chalice shall become the symbol of our unity."
They each passed the dagger around, making a cut in their palms and allowing it to fill the chalice, they joined hands again and it was time to start the spell; Elena looked around the room for a quick moment, taking in the faces of each member of the faction and silently praying this would work for the better and change the future of the French Quarter, forever.
The factions outside the salt circle had all joined hands and Elena began to chant, her voice low as she channelled every source of power she had, her lineage, her magical roots, the doppelgänger curse, the others in the circle, the covens, the ancestors and Celeste's necklace; so much power surged through her that it made her head dip back slightly as her chanting began to intensify.
Davina and Kimberly began to join in and the power between them made the room turn upside down, all the candles lit and soared, the breeze in the room encompassed the entire circle and blasts of energy swept through the room.
Just as the spell was progressing, they heard the screech of a Soul Eater outside and a blast of dark energy hurled at the gates, followed by flaming spears and balls of fire, the protective charms reflected them but everyone was suddenly on edge; Elena, Davina and Kimberly continued to do the ritual, their concentration remained fixed on completing it and they channelled more power.
The chant grew louder and more forceful and the attack on the compound got worse, the barriers and charms where holding but the vampires and hybrids were struggling to prevent their use of magic, even snapping their necks wouldn't stop them, all they could do was deter but they were starting to lose men.
The heads of the three witches all snapped back and the chanting persisted as they spoke up to the ancestors, their communities becoming one and the unification ritual taking hold; a bright white light covered Elena's eyes and as leader, she bestowed the light upon the entire circle, it radiating bright white beams from her body and encompassing them.
Everything went still, the room calmed, the light dissipated and the ritual was complete, the only threat to the calm was the Soul Eaters still engaged in the attack on the compound; Elena kept a hold of the hands of each faction representative and glanced amongst them as if she was talking with her eyes.
Each of them nodded their heads, giving signal to carry on channelling them and do what necessary to stop the attack; the unification held a greater power she could use to perform a spell to send them away.
She began chanting, her head dipped lowly as she conjured as much emotion as she could, amplifying herself was tricky but there where so many people in the room, she had a lot of emotion to work with; her chanting grew louder and they could feel a ripple of energy beneath their feet.
Impressed by her magic, the coven leaders joined along with the witches and began amplifying her magic; the ripples grew stronger and a wave of emotional energy blasted from Elena, her Empath gift unleashed in part as she sent the Soul Eaters hurling away from the compound, shrieking and fleeing at each feeling she sent through to them.
The room was still once again, a silence in the air that indicated they had succeeded; the blood in the chalice had been boiling the entire time and it suddenly stopped, Kimberly picked up the chalice and held it high in the centre of the faction representatives, bestowing one more blessing upon it.
"We did it," Elena muttered astonishingly, her eyes flickering from the chalice to her loved ones, a small smile gracing her lips at the realisation.
"We're unified," Kimberly spoke as she placed the chalice back in the centre of the table and looked upon the factions, "Witch, vampire, hybrid and werewolf alike, each joined in a peaceful and harmonious unity."
A loud cheer started to erupt from within everyone in the room and they all stood up, each of them hugging the person closest to them; Elena and Davina instantly hugged, their magic bonded and their sisterly love for each other radiating through it, she quickly felt herself swept off her feet when she released Davina and she turned around to see Elijah, Klaus, Kol and Rebekah all holding onto her, a small gasp, followed by a laugh escaped her lips at the sudden lift and they slowly brought her to her feet.
"Always and forever," Klaus spoke, as they all held each other in a group embrace.
They all repeated the words once again, their bond unbroken and peace solidified amongst them all, they had fewer enemies and an army behind them, everything the family had ever wanted and they had Elena to thank for it all, the most important member of their family being the one to save it. The most unlikely of people to bring them together, the doppelgänger Klaus once took, now inseparable from them.
A loud blast of music erupted and they all turned to see Marcel and his vampires at the music system, his arms open wide and a wide grin on his lips, "time to celebrate."
A lot of laughter started to rumble across the compound and the party took to the streets, a parade of supernatural creatures walking through Bourbon street, St. Ann's and Jackson square; there was dancing, witches performing small fireworks spells and lighting the area up, the vampires were hopping around the place and the liquor was not far behind.
Even though it was chaos, it was beautiful.
Elena stood outside the compound with the original siblings and Davina and watched as the party unfolded, Kol gave each of the girls a quick peck on the cheek before joining in with the festivities.
"He is ruthless," Rebekah said, watching as he danced and drank the street away; her sight caught Marcel waving his hand at her and encouraging her to join and of course, she obliged, "don't wait up, guys."
"Shall we join?" Klaus smirked slightly before disappearing from their side, re-appearing on top of a car with a bottle in his hand and holding it out towards the crowd in a massive toast, "to The French Quarter."
Everyone cheered at his words and they all knocked back shots of liquor, Elena couldn't help but laugh at the anarchy and savagery of the crowds of people and she began walking with Elijah to join with them; he managed to swipe them both a beer and he handed her one, they clinked the bottles together and took a large sip, smiling lovingly at one another.
Normally, they would take advantage of their family being indisposed and spend the evening together alone but the festivities were too important, they were all united and everyone expected them to be there.
The usual party in the French Quarter had merged with theirs, the locals and tourists had joined and the place was filled with art, culture, light shows and a lot of alcohol. There was nothing discreet or subtle about the celebration and the vampires even agreed to be on their best behaviour and not feed whilst the witches were around, everyone was shocked, to say the least.
The werewolves had approached Elena and shook her hand, explaining they had to return to their families for protection during the full moon; she had offered her assistance and they declined, before they all returned to their cars and took off.
Some of the older witches had departed too and gave them all there best wishes, including the witches that had decided to stay and celebrate; Elena was so proud of how far everyone had come and she still couldn't believe the life and power that now pumped through the factions and the city.
Elijah took her hand and spun her into him, his hand landing on the small of her back and her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck, they laughed lightly and began dancing slightly.
"You have to allow me to take you home soon," he whispered into her ear, avoiding all the vampiric hearing in the area, "I'm thoroughly consumed by the thought of being alone with you."
His whispers started the rise in heat within her body and his touch sent sparks throughout her entire system, she entangled her fingers in the ends of his hair slightly and kept up the dance facade, "My, my, Mr. Mikaelson, how will I ever contain myself?"
Before he had the chance to respond, a small and amused gasp escaped her lips as she felt someone come up behind her and grab her, she turned to see Kol laugh and Rebekah appeared beside Elijah, "you must share her, brother."
They all laughed as they forced her to join in the festivities, each of them dancing, drinking and laughing in the centre of the parade; Elijah could see she needed this, the happiness and love etched into her facial features at the family surrounding her, brought him to a feeling of content.
Marcel and Davina had joined Elena and The Originals and using her magic quickly between dancing and laughing, she sent out a small blast of fireworks into the sky, everyone cheering and continuing their dancing.
Everything she ever wanted in a family was here and she was completely enamoured.