Finn stared at Freya in disbelief. This was a day he never thought would come. He never thought he'd see her again. He didn't even think she was still alive. It had been over a thousand years. Although, his mother did tell him that Dahlia was obsessed with immortality. She seemed to believe that Dahlia was still alive. It stood to reason that Freya might be too.
Finn did consider the possibility that he was being taken for a fool, that this woman was nothing more than a fake orchestrated by his siblings, but he didn't see how that was even possible. They didn't even know what happened to her. They believed their sister had died of the plague. Only Finn and his mother knew the truth, and Finn knew his mother would never tell them. Besides, they had no idea he was even coming. Elena was surprised to see him. It had to be true.
Without thinking, Finn tried to force himself inside, momentarily forgetting that he didn't have an invitation. The invisible force that kept him from entering reminded him. "Let me in!"
"Let him in, Elena. I'm not going to let him hurt you," Freya promised while giving her brother a stoney expression.
Finn glared at Elena. His siblings had obviously turned his sister against him. It shouldn't surprise him. Elena had attempted the same thing with his mother.
Elena sighed. "You know what? Fine. It's your funeral, Finn. Come in."
Finn wasted no time in making his way inside. He immediately walked towards his older sister. "Freya…
Freya barely waited until the door was shut before raising her hand and sending her brother crashing into a wall. She couldn't take him in a physical fight, but she could definitely kick his ass with magic.
Finn groaned before pulling himself up again. He barely made it to his feet before he went flying again, this time into a table, which broke instantly. "Freya, I don't know what they've told you, but they're manipulating you. They did the same thing to Mother."
Freya threw him against a wall and held him there with magic. She lifted him slightly off the ground. "Wrong thing to say, brother. You're not going to defend that woman to me. Our mother sold me for her own purposes before I was even born! Do not even try to talk to me about her!"
Elena could only smile as she watched her sister kick their brother's ass. She wasn't sure about letting Finn in, but now she was glad she did. She wouldn't miss this for anything.
"She was devastated by what happened," Finn said. He tried to pull himself off the wall, but there was an invisible force keeping him stuck there.
"No, Finn, not by what happened. By what she did, and I don't give a damn. That woman is a monster, something she has proved over and over again, and you're not much better," Freya said before letting him go.
Finn fell to the ground. He groaned a little before getting into a sitting position and leaning against the wall he'd previously been stuck to.
Freya approached him. "Get up."
"Why? So, you can throw me down again?" Finn asked.
"Get up, Finn," Freya ordered.
Finn sighed before pulling himself to his feet and brushing himself off. "I'm sure our siblings have told you horrible things about me. It's what they do. They're manipulators."
Elena scoffed in disbelief. Of course, Finn would say that. She had to admit she was mildly surprised by the way Finn was acting with Freya. Unlike with the rest of them, he seemed to care what Freya thought about him. He cared for her in a way he'd never cared about the rest of them.
Freya raised an eyebrow at her brother. "Really? So, you didn't force our sister into a room and lock her up moments after she found out the truth about herself? You didn't report every word she said to our mother for it to be used against her? You didn't try to lie about her so that she'd be unfairly punished?"
Finn looked at Elena loathingly. "It wasn't a lie though, was it, sister? You were manipulating our mother. You and our siblings were planning on running away."
Elena huffed angrily. "Yeah, what choice did we have? Our mother was a controlling, abusive bitch! She left us no choice.
Finn scoffed dismissively. "You know nothing of abuse! You never had a strap taken to your back or been beaten bloody by a madman!"
Elena's eyes darkened and she had a dangerous glint in her eyes after hearing her brother's words. She advanced on him and shoved him hard. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything to him. It didn't even move him an inch. Still, it made her feel slightly better. "Seriously? You're going to bring Mikael up to me? Me?! How dare you?! I am literally in this body because the man murdered me in infancy! Where the hell do you get off talking to me about his abuse as though I don't already know?!"
"You know nothing! You don't even remember it," Finn said.
"Hey! Don't you discount what she went through. The fact that she doesn't remember it doesn't mean she wasn't traumatized by it," Freya said.
"You think I don't think about that night all the time? You think that just because I don't remember it, it means I don't imagine it. I still have nightmares about what it must have been like. I see his face all the time when I close my eyes, and it terrifies me!" Elena yelled.
"It should," Finn whispered. His father was terrifying. That was why he was there right now. As much as he disliked his siblings, he didn't want to see them left at their father's mercy, especially Elena.
"But believe me, I have enough actual memories that were traumatic, like being told I was murdered in the first place, or being forced out of that room by my older brother and locked up!" Elena snapped.
"What did you want me to do? Refuse to do as Mother asked? Are you truly naïve enough to believe that that would've made a difference?" Finn asked. Even if he'd wanted to do that, it wouldn't have changed a thing. His mother would've gotten her way. She wanted Elena in that house. Nothing would've stopped her.
"It would've made a difference to me! It would've meant that in that moment, at least someone had my back. You were supposed to be my brother! You were supposed to look out for me, like the others did! No, it wouldn't have changed what happened, but it would've at least mattered that you tried," Elena said.
"Why didn't you help her, Finn? Why couldn't you at least let her know that you were there for her?" Freya asked.
"It wasn't for me to stop it! It was Mother's decision. She was her mother. Elena was ungrateful, they all were!" Finn snapped.
"What should I have been grateful for? For being treated like a prisoner? For having my every move controlled by that horrible woman? For having my own brother spy on my every conversation. I couldn't utter a single word without you there to parrot it back to her," Elena said.
"For saving your life! She brought you back. She's the only reason you're still alive, and you never once showed an ounce of gratitude," Finn sneered.
"It's not a child's job to show her mother gratitude for being alive, especially when it was her mother's fault," Freya said.
"It wasn't her fault!" Finn exclaimed.
"Yes, it was! She brought two children into that house that she knew Father hated. She watched him abuse Klaus for years, and then she did the same thing again! She failed her children, and it cost one of them her life," Freya said.
"It wasn't her fault, Freya," Finn insisted.
"How can you say that?" Freya asked.
"Because it was mine!" Finn blurted out.
There was a silence between all of them for several moments before Elena spoke in utter shock. "What?"
Finn sighed and looked at her. He hadn't planned to tell anyone this, but he'd lost control of himself. It was too late to go back now. Besides, it was time his mother stopped being blamed for that night. "Everyone was out feeding. Mother was asleep. The birth had exhausted her. I was the only one there with you, but I was starving. I was starting to become worried that I wouldn't be able to control my blood lust around you. Father came home and said he'd look after you while I fed. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but I was so hungry. I couldn't control it much longer," he said. He hated being this vulnerable, but as soon as he started talking, the guilt seeped out of him.
"Oh my God," Freya said. The depth of their mother's damage didn't seem to have an end. Finn was just as screwed up as the rest of them. She had Finn thinking this was his fault.
"When I got back, you were dead. Mother told the others that you'd died in your sleep from infant sickness, but she told me the truth. Not that she needed to. I'd already figured it out myself," Finn explained.
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn't even know how to respond to this. Was this why he couldn't get close to her? Was it why he could never really look at her for long? She thought he hated her, but maybe he was just projecting his hatred of himself. "Of course, she told you the truth. I'm guessing she told you it was your fault."
"It was my fault, Elena," Finn said as he looked away.
"No, it was their fault. They created this whole situation! Esther gaslit you, Finn. She made you her scapegoat. And that's why you're so devoted to her, isn't it? She made you feel like you owed her your loyalty," Elena realized.
"I do owe her! She forgave me for the unforgivable. You'll never stop trying to make her the bad guy though, will you?" Finn asked irritably.
"She is the bad guy, Finn. She destroyed all of us in different ways. And trust me, she didn't forgive you. I imagine that she brings it up whenever the opportunity presents itself, whenever it looked like you might get a mind of your own. She's been controlling you the whole time," Elena said. This was the first time she actually felt sorry for Finn. He had been just as screwed up as the rest of them. She just couldn't see it because he was so much of a dick to her.
Finn looked away. He couldn't exactly deny that. His mother did bring it up often. She'd brought it up just before he'd left her. But he deserved it. His sister had died because of his negligence.
Freya went up to Finn and held out her hand. "Come with me. We're going to take a walk."
Finn wordlessly took his older sister's hand and let her lead him from the house.
Elena, meanwhile, took out her phone to call her other siblings. This changed everything, and they all had to deal with it as a family.
