The crunch of gravel ceased as Elijah parked his car alongside the densely wooded path. Both he and Elena exited, stepping into the cool embrace of the forest. Convincing her hadn't been as arduous as he had anticipated, and a flicker of hope stirred within him that this journey would not end as a fruitless endeavour.

"I forgot how much I missed this land," Elijah remarked, his eyes scanning the familiar terrain bathed in the fading golden light of dusk.

"I can't even imagine what it must have been like a thousand years ago," Elena responded, her voice filled with wonder as she took in the vast, untouched wilderness around them.

Elijah's voice carried a nostalgic weight as he shared a piece of hidden history.

"You know, your school was built over a Native American village? Where I saw my first werewolf. The town square was where the natives would gather to worship. Matter of fact, near that, there was a field where wild horses used to graze."

"That's incredible," Elena whispered, her imagination ignited by the tales of the past.

"Come," Elijah urged gently, leading her deeper into the thick woods. The crunch of leaves and the occasional snap of a twig punctuated their silent trek until they reached a clearing.

"Do you know this place too?" Elena asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

"I do. Below us is a cavern I used to play in as a boy," Elijah revealed, his gaze drifting towards the ground that held secrets of his youth. "It connects to a system of tunnels that stretch across the entire area. Perhaps it's nature's way of providing us with shelter against the savagery of the full moon. My mother said there must be a balance." His mention of Esther stirred a noticeable discomfort in Elena, her body tensing slightly.

"Elijah, I should probably go home," she murmured, her eyes darting away nervously.

"When I asked you about your meeting with my mother last night," Elijah continued, his tone firm as if he hadn't heard her plea, "You lied to my face."

He turned sharply to face her, his piercing gaze locking onto hers as she shook her head in faint denial.

"That's not true. I told you all your mother wanted was a fresh start."

"I can hear your heartbeat. It jumps when you're being dishonest with me. You lied to me at the ball; you are lying to me now. Tell me the truth," Elijah demanded, his voice low but intense.

"I never wanted this to happen," Elena confessed, a tremor in her voice betraying her fear and a skip of her heartbeat betraying her lies.

"What, Elena?" Elijah probed, his expression hardening.

"I was told that someone was coming who would kill Klaus. When I found out it was your mother… I didn't know what to think."

"Since her return, she says she only wants this family whole again," Elijah echoed.

"When she asked to see me, I…I thought that maybe she could help. That she would find a way to kill Klaus. It's not just Klaus that she wants to kill."

"She wants to kill us all, doesn't she? She wants to undo the evil she created."

"I'm so sorry, Elijah. I wish there was something I could do to help," Elena's eyes glistened with unshed tears, her voice choked with regret. He was sure it was for herself, rather than for them though.

"You know, one thing I've learned in my time on this Earth…be careful what you wish for," Elijah murmured cryptically. With a sudden, decisive movement, he broke a hole into the earth beneath them. Grabbing Elena firmly by the arm, he jumped down into the abyss with her, disappearing into the darkness below.

"Mother used the doppelgangers blood to link us all together as one." Elijah's voice crackled through the phone, clear and urgent, cutting through the tense atmosphere in the Salvatore's spacious living room. The assembled group—Klaus, Stefan, Damon, and a few others—huddled closer, their expressions tight with concern. Elijah was still on the road, but his news couldn't wait. He had left Rebekah back to guard Elena and to pry any further details from her.

"Who counts as all?" Klaus demanded sharply, his voice a low growl that vibrated with barely contained impatience. He leaned forward from his perch on the arm of a worn leather sofa, his eyes piercing and intent.

Elijah replied quickly, understanding the undercurrents of Klaus's concern.

"Elena didn't ask, but the blood essence was in the champagne for the toast. Maya didn't drink any so she's not part of the link. However, with all of us linked, if one dies, we all die, and Finn is missing."

"What do you mean missing?" Stefan interjected, his brow furrowing as he paced a small circle on the polished wooden floor, the light from the overhead chandelier casting sharp shadows around him.

"I mean Finn is not with Pearl as I assumed him to be when I couldn't find him after last night's ball, and he is not answering his phone." Elijah's tone was laced with frustration and a hint of dread. "Willingly or unwillingly, he must be with mother. If we don't find them both soon, we will all be dead."

Kol, leaning against the dark mahogany mantelpiece, chimed in cautiously,

"Mother would still require a white oak stake to kill him," his voice was steady, analytical. "And the only one in existence burnt up when Rebekah killed father."

"We can't assume she doesn't have access to another one," Damon remarked cynically.

Klaus, now standing, shot back,

"I think we can, if she did, we'd all be dead already. That doesn't mean mother doesn't have some other plan to kill him, and the rest of us."

Elijah's resolve was palpable even through the phone.

"We need to find them then," he stated decisively. "Would a locator spell work? Like when Maya found me."

Kol shook his head, his expression grim.

"Mother will have shielded their location," he speculated, his voice a whisper of doubt. "Maya may not be able to get past that on her own. She'll need help, I'll call Aradia."

"No need," announced a voice, firm yet serene. All heads turned as Aradia stepped into the room, her presence like a calm amid the storm. She was followed closely by Himiko, both women exuding an aura of quiet power. "I'm already here. We will both help."

Damon, perched casually against the mantle, raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Not that we're not all glad to see you," he said with a hint of his usual smirk, "but why are you here? You couldn't possibly have known what Esther has done."

Aradia, pausing in the centre of the room, surveyed the gathered group with a steady gaze.

"I didn't know the specifics, that's not why I'm here," she began, her voice clear and composed. "But more than a few of my colleagues and students, accomplished seers all of them, have had visions since last night of a dire calamity. Added to some other things that have come to my attention over the past few weeks, I realized that whatever calamity was coming would be centred here in Mystic Falls."

Her revelation sent a ripple through the room, stirring a mix of curiosity and concern. Klaus stepped forward, his stance rigid with tension.

"What other things?" he demanded, his voice low and demanding.

"And what is the dire calamity?" Kol added, his tone echoing his brother's urgency.

Aradia and Himiko exchanged a glance, a silent communication passing between them.

"We don't know for certain what will happen," Himiko answered, her voice tinged with solemnity. "But if Esther and her co-conspirators aren't stopped then her plan will drive the world completely out of balance."

The room fell silent, each person processing the grave implications. The stakes had been raised, not just for the Originals, but for the entire supernatural community. As the implications sank in, a collective resolve hardened among them. They needed to act, and fast, with Aradia and Himiko now crucial allies in their unfolding battle against a looming catastrophe.

"Going somewhere?" In the dimly lit cavern, the air was thick with tension and fear. Rebekah blocked Elena's escape with a predator's grace, her smile twisting cruelly as Elena stumbled backward, her face a mask of shock and fear.

"What are you doing here?" Elena's voice trembled, her eyes darting around, searching for an exit that wasn't there.

"I'm here to make sure you've told us everything we need to know." Rebekah's smirk was sharp as a blade. "And if you try to run, I have full permission from my big brother to make your end as painful as I please."

With a swift movement, Rebekah's hand shot out, gripping Elena by the neck. She pushed her forcefully against the rough, cold stone wall of the cavern, squeezing tightly enough to cut off her breath. Elena's eyes widened in panic, her hands clawing futilely at Rebekah's iron grip. After a tense few seconds, Rebekah released her, letting Elena slump to the ground, gasping for air.

"So, let's start with everything daddy dearest has told you about his plans and who he's working with," Rebekah demanded, looming over Elena with a menacing glare.

"My father's dead," Elena choked out, still struggling to recover her breath.

"Your biological one isn't. And I know for a fact he's been conspiring against us. Make things easier for yourself, Elena, and tell me what I want to know."

Elena's denial was instant, her face a blend of confusion and defiance.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Rebekah's expression darkened, her patience wearing thin. It would be easy, she thought, to tear the vervain-laden necklace from Elena's neck and compel her to speak the truth—assuming she wasn't also ingesting vervain. But first, Rebekah wanted to savour the moment, considering Elena's past actions; she felt the girl owed her at least that much pain.

With a cruel grin, Rebekah pulled Elena to her feet and seized her hand, beginning to tug viciously at a fingernail. Elena's whimpers of pain filled the cavern, echoing off the stone walls.

"You have five seconds to give me an honest answer before I start ripping out fingernails," Rebekah hissed.

"I don't—"

"Four."

"Please I—"

"Three."

"Rebekah—"

"Two."

Elena's voice cracked as she screamed, desperation searing through her words,

"Gloria! He's working with a witch named Gloria and someone else."

Rebekah paused, her actions ceasing momentarily as she processed the information, her gaze piercing into Elena. The cavern fell silent for a moment, save for the echo of Elena's laboured breathing. This not only confirmed Katerina's words, but was the breakthrough Rebekah had been pushing for, and the game was suddenly changed.

Maya's hand trembled slightly as she drew the blade across her palm, the dark crimson of her blood stark against the faded ink of Mystic Falls on the map. As the droplets fell, they seemed to pulse with a life of their own, pooling above the paper's weave, rather than sinking in as they should have done. Beside her, Professor Aradia clasped hands with Himiko, their circle tightening with shared resolve.

The air thickened as Maya channelled the magic flowing through them, her voice rising in a chant that filled the room:

"Me to aíma pou mas dénei, se kaló,

Me to aíma pou mas odigeí, se anazitó,

Me to aíma pou mas apokalýptei, se vrísko."

At first, the spell seemed to falter, the magic recoiling as if blocked by an unseen barrier. Frustration flickered across Maya's features, but it was quickly quelled by Professor Aradia's sharp command, her voice cutting through the tension.

"Keep going with the spell," she instructed firmly. "The three of us will handle the shielding."

Resolute, Maya continued her incantation, her words now underscored by the others' counter chants:

"Seemani bhidyataam, maayaam mumukshataam, etaiah vaakyaih, tathastu bhavatu."

As the minutes stretched, something shifted. The blood began to creep slowly across the map, each chant propelling it forward like the heartbeat of the earth itself. Maya's thoughts turned to her Uncle Finn. She knew her dad and her other uncles had their suspicions that he was a willing participant in Esther's schemes, but she didn't believe that was true. She poured this conviction into the spell, her desire to find him lending strength to her voice.

The resistance was palpable, like pushing through dense, unseen mud, but Maya's determination did not wane. With each repetition of the spell, the magic grew stronger, more insistent. The blood moving across the map and stopping at a location that lay outside of Mystic Falls, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

They had done it. They had broken through the mystical barriers, and Finn's location was revealed. Maya let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, the weight of their task momentarily lifted. With Finn's location found, they could rescue him and stop Esther and whomever she was allied with from unleashing the calamity, Professor Aradia and Himiko were afraid of.

"Let's go get Uncle Finn back," she said, as she released the magic she'd been channelling and let go of Himiko and Professor Aradia's hands.

"No!"

"Absolutely not!"

Babbo and her dad spoke at the exact same time.

"You're not going." Uncle Elijah stated a second later.

"I can help."

"No." Professor Aradia's tone was uncompromising. "A locator spell was one thing, but you are a minor and I will not take you into a situation like this, not unless there was no other choice."

"Sorry witchling," Uncle Kol, shrugged when she turned a pleading gaze on him, "if this is as bad as Dia suspects then you can't be anywhere near it."

As Kol, Klaus, and Elijah boldly strode toward the location Maya had pinpointed, their presence was calculated and overt, designed to draw attention. Meanwhile, their allies fanned out, taking a stealthier approach. Their mission was critical: to distract Esther and her mysterious accomplices, thereby giving Aradia, Himiko, and their newly enlisted aid the crucial window they needed to dismantle the protective enchantments shielding Esther's dark agenda.

In a clearing, Esther stood inside a large pentagram etched into the earth. Flanking her were four formidable women, each exuding an aura of raw, mystical power. Two of them, appearing in their sixties, had striking features—one with sharply cut platinum hair, the other with deep brown locks and a face that bore a faint echo of Sheila Bennett. As did the third woman, though she was younger, maybe thirty at most. Completing the quartet was the youngest looking of the women, her skin so pale her veins shimmered like a network of fine blue rivers beneath. Her inky black hair, restrained by elaborate braids, framed her ethereal face.

At the pentagram's heart knelt Finn, his body ensnared by heavy chains. His expression, a fierce mix of rage and defiance, left no doubt about his unwillingness to partake in whatever sinister ritual was at hand.

Esther's voice cut through the chilly air, her tone unnervingly calm as she called out,

"My sons, come forward."

There was a chilling cadence to her words, an odd inflection that Kol couldn't quite place, but the urgency of the moment left no room for pondering. The women accompanying Esther were clearly gearing up for some sinister ritual, likely designed to weaken Finn to the brink of death—a fate that would spread to all of them if they were successful.

As Kol, Klaus, and Elijah advanced, the two women who bore a resemblance to Sheila Bennett shuffled uneasily, their eyes flickering with a mix of fear and resolve. Esther's commanding voice halted their movements,

"It's okay, they can't enter."

Kol, unable to contain his scorn, retorted sharply,

"That's lovely. We're stuck out here whilst you once again murder your children. Does it make you feel good, mother? Saintly, perhaps?"

"Be quiet, Kol. Death has taught me virtue you cannot even imagine," Esther replied, her voice cold devoid of maternal warmth, devoid of all emotion in fact.

Elijah, with a sombre expression deepening the lines of his face, added gravely,

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children would be an atrocity."

"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago," Esther replied.

Klaus, his patience fraying, began to pace with predatory grace in front of the pentagram's boundary.

"Enough," he growled. "All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell."

Esther stood unwavering, her eyes reflecting the firelight.

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time."

The tension was palpable, each word hanging heavy in the air, laced with centuries of betrayal and supernatural dread. The brothers stood firm, their faces set in grim lines, as the frigid wind rustled through the trees, accentuating the eerie silence that followed Esther's damning words.

As the youngest witch's body jerked with a sudden premonition, her cry,

"No!" sliced through the night, sending a chill skittering across Kol's skin like a blast of arctic wind. Her alarm was palpable, a dread-laden warning that echoed ominously around them.

"Lillith!" The name burst from the lips of the platinum-haired witch in a panic.

In response, the torches encircling the pentagram roared to life, flames leaping skyward as if provoked by some unseen force. The magic unleashed by Aradia and her allies clashed violently with the bindings of the pentagram, creating an inferno of such intensity that it forced Kol, Klaus, and Elijah to stagger backward, arms raised defensively against the blistering heat. The light was blinding, a fierce, white-hot blaze that obscured their view, turning the scene inside the pentagram into a silhouette against a curtain of fire.

The ordeal lasted only seconds, but it felt like an eternity held in a snapshot of chaos. Just as abruptly as they had ignited, the torches snuffed out, plunging the area into a deep, unsettling darkness. As their eyes adjusted, the three brothers peered into the pentagram's smoky aftermath.

Finn was still there, his expression a mix of fury and exhaustion, surrounded by the slumped forms of three witches, all rendered unconscious by the magical backlash. However, Esther and the young witch, Lillith, whose voice had heralded the disruption, were nowhere to be seen.

Kol's heart raced as he scanned the shadowy grove for any sign of them. The sudden disappearance of their mother and the powerful young witch left a vacuum that felt as ominous as it was urgent. Where had they gone? And what had prompted Lillith's desperate outcry?

The air was thick with the scent of burnt earth and magic, a tangible reminder of the powerful forces at play. The stakes were higher now, with Esther and Lillith's absence hinting at a darker turn in the night's already grave events. The brothers knew they needed to regroup and reassess quickly; their enemies were on the move, and time was slipping away with each passing moment.

"Damn that interfering bitch!" Lillith exclaimed.

Lillith's fury crackled through the dimly lit chamber like a storm about to break. Her usually impassive demeanour, so chillingly devoid of emotion, had given way to seething anger. The necromancer who had enslaved her spirit and resurrected her was a figure of terrifying power, and now she paced back and forth like a caged predator in front of Esther and John Gilbert.

With each step Lillith took, her rage seemed to manifest physically, sending waves of energy pulsing through the room. The air around her shimmered with a cold fire, an intense power that burned like ice against Esther's skin. Despite her own immense power, Esther found herself helplessly immobilized, a statue unable to speak or move without Lillith's express command, as the chains that bound her spirit tightened with every step the necromancer took. The room seemed to contract with the pressure of her anger, the walls themselves echoing her fury.

"She'll be the next to die, after your children!" Lillith hissed, her voice dripping with venom. The threat hung heavy in the air, a dire promise from a being unaccustomed to being thwarted. Her eyes burned with a shadowy light, promising retribution, and pain.

"Your plan failed." John replied, "What exactly do you propose next?"

"She will ensure they are unlinked." Lillith straightened up and turned her cold gaze upon John, "We will have to kill them one at a time. We will need the white oak, so I suggest you hurry up and find it!"