#elijah mikaelson x daughter!reader

[athenamikaelson]

Klaus Mikaelson x Soulmate!Reader x Elijah Mikaelson Pt. 17

Word Count- 4.3k

Warnings-swearing, pain

a/n- idk if i like this one 

“Say something please, Theo,” I beg my little brother as he stares emotionlessly at his hands. 

When I began telling my brother about how his father wasn’t my father I expected my loud and obnoxious little brother to make snarky comments or even yell at me. But I didn’t realize just how much worse him not saying anything would be.

“What do you want me to say, Y/n? What could I possibly say in this situation,” Theo looks about to me with tears building in his dark eyes and I have to swallow the sob that is building in my throat.

Theo stands up and I mimic his actions. I watch wordlessly as my brother runs a hand roughly through his hair and over his face in exasperation. 

“Three months! Really Y/n? You knew this for three months and you didn’t tell me. Why,” Theo whips around to me and he shakes his head, “I know I’m kind of a dick but I thought you trusted me.”

I quickly shake my hands and try to step closer to him but he instantly backs away. Memories of the night my mother told me this news flash in my mind as I realize Theo is reacting practically the same way I did.

I stop walking, “Theo of course I trust you.”

Theo shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe me, “Then why keep this from me!? Did you think I couldn’t handle it or,” His voice cracks and tears fall down my cheeks, “Did you think I wouldn’t love you the same? Do you really think that low of me?”

I stare at my brother wordlessly and sit back down at the kitchen table. I press my head into my hands and let out a sigh.

“Is that what it is? Did you really think that, what? I’d hate you or something?”

“I don’t know, Theo. Okay. I don’t…I just…I don’t know.”

My answer doesn’t seem to be enough for my brother because he lets out a sound of annoyance.

“Fine. If you don’t have an answer for me then I’ll just leave you alone,” I hear his retreating footsteps and I quickly pick up my head.

“I was scared you’d throw me away just like he did,” My voice comes out shaky and I see Theo stop and his back straighten, “I thought that…if the man that raised me couldn’t love me why should anyone else? I love you, Theo. I just didn’t want to lose you too.”

My blurry vision focuses slightly as I see Theo's figure turn around and make his way over to me. Within a second my brother is grabbing me and pulling me into him.

“You could never lose me, you idiot. I mean, you’re the one who has called me a roach on multiple occasions,” Theo pulls back and his teary eyes meet mine, “I could never hate you either. When Dad left… it wasn’t Mom who stepped up and took his place, it was you. When Mom was always away at work, who was the one who would make sure I got to practice on time, did my homework, and made sure I was always fed? You, Y/n. It was you. When Mom and Dad didn’t want to raise me, you did. I’m who I am because you raised me this way. I owe everything to you.”

I finally let out my sob as I pulled my brother back into me.

“And besides,” My brother pats my head like a dog as he hugs me, “Every Batman needs their Robin,” Theo pulls back and then raises an eyebrow at me, “Just so we’re on the same page, I’m Batman. You Robin.”

I let out a shaky laugh as I nod, “I can live with that.”

—-

3rd Person POV

“Okay, so we all know the plan now,” Damon looks to Elena, Stefan, and Rebekah as they all nod.

“We dagger Mikael to get Klaus into town, and then Mikael kills Klaus,” Elena reminds everyone.

Rebekah frowns deeply at the plan but nods nevertheless.

“Wait, where’s the other half of you,” Damon points to Elena who rolls her eyes. 

“Y/n’s with her brother doing some sibling bonding time. And besides I don’t want her involved in this.”

Damon frowns, “Why the hell not?”

“Because whenever Y/N gets involved in supernatural business it gets her hurt. And with Klaus already terrorizing her I don’t want him using her as leverage. Thankfully enough Y/n already said she’s not going to the dance.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Damon huffs as he downs his drink.

“Fine by me,” Stefan says, “Fewer people to screw this up.”

—

“Ho! Why haven’t you been answering my calls and texts.”

I sigh into my phone as Caroline Forbes bites my head off over the phone, “Hello to you too, Care. How can I help you on this splendid Saturday?”

I hear Caroline yell at some people around her and I laugh to myself.

“Elena’s getting ready with Bonnie’s help, so I thought I’d let you know you and I are getting ready together at your place.”

I freeze up at Caroline’s words and my brother who is glaring at me for pausing the video game we are currently playing raises an eyebrow in question, “Getting ready for what?”

I hear the line go silent for a moment and wonder if the blonde vampire is having a stroke, “The homecoming dance! Y/n Y/m/n Y/l/n don’t you dare tell me you’re not going tonight.”

“I’m not going tonight.”

“I’m not accepting that as an answer!”

“Well, I’m sorry Caroline but I’m putting my foot down. I’m not going, Theo and I are sibling bonding.”

“Forget Theo! What about Caroline and Y/n bonding time?!”

I laugh at her dramatics, “We can bond tomorrow.”

“Y/n I can’t-’’

“I think you’re cutting out,” I gesture to Theo and he makes static noises with his mouth, “Oh would you look at that! Well bye! Have a fun time!”

I quickly hang up the phone before my blonde friend can harass me more and I look over to my brother who is laughing his ass off.

“Thanks for the help,” I put my fist up and he bumps it with his own.

“Happy to help. Now can we please play so I can kick your ass,” Theo says as he gestures to his Xbox.

I roll my eyes at him and grab my remote, “The only one getting their ass kicked here is you, dumbass.”

“Ya, whatever you say nerd.”

—

“You’re going to hate me,” I turn around at my brother’s comment and see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen with a sheepish look.

I put the piece of pizza I’m currently eating down on my plate and let out a deep sigh, “What did you do?”

“Well you know how I’ve been getting Tyler to warm up to me so that he’ll put me on Varisty,” Theo says in a hopeful but also weary tone.

“I recall…”

“Well, Tyler just called me and said he’d talk to the coach and get me that varsity jacket on one condition.”

I look at my brother and narrow my eyes, “What did you do?”

“He kinda told me to make sure you come to the homecoming dance tonight to appease Caroline and I told him you’d go,” Theo quickly spits out his sentence and we stare blankly at each other for a moment. 

I grab my pizza again and take a slow bite as Theo stares at me with wide eyes wondering what I’m going to do. 

“Looks like you aren’t making varsity,” I simply say as I grab my plate and walk around my brother and towards the living room. 

I hear my brother’s footsteps behind me, “Come on Y/n! Please do this for your favorite brother.”

“You’re my only brother,” I respond back blankly. 

“I mean technically we don’t really know that,” He says out loud and I turn around and glare at him.

` He raises his hands quickly and mumbles a sorry. 

“Please Y/n! You know how hard I’ve been working for this. Just show up and then we can leave after Caroline sees you!’’

“You know most people get their varsity spots because they show good athleticism. Not because they like to sweet talk the captain,” I stop as Theo runs in front of me.

“You know a pretty face like mine can’t work too hard!”

I roll my eyes at his comment and move around him. He doesn’t say anything and for a second I think he’s dropped it.

“I just,” My brother’s shaky voice makes me turn around. And I roll my eyes as I see him wiping a fake tear off his face, “I just really wanted this you know,” His fake sad voice is making a migraine start to form, “After finding out my sister isn’t my father’s child I just needed some good news.”

Well played, Theodore.

“I hate you,” I growl at my brother and his “sad” face instantly brightens.

“So you’ll go?!”

I close my eyes and sigh, “We go in, find Caroline, say hi, and then leave,” I point at him, “Got it?”

Theo practically starts hopping in excitement, “Got it!”

My brother quickly walks past me and I try to fight back a laugh as he starts talking to himself about what color tie he’s going to match to his eyes. 

I hear Theo’s door shut and slowly make my way to my room. I throw myself on my bed and then finish my slice of pizza. Eyeing my closet the entire time. What the actual hell am I going to wear?

I stand up and quickly eye the bags upon bags of designer clothing that Alastair had gotten me for my birthday. Ever since I found out about his betrayal I haven’t touched anything he had got for me. I’ve tried to give them back to him on the many occasions in which he just “accidentally” bumps into me. But he always refuses and says they’re mine to keep. Asshole. Scratch that, Rich asshole. 

I rummage through the clothes I have in my closet and frown when all I come across are, in Theo’s words, “clothes that not even a dead nerd would be seen in.” I pick up the dress I wore to the tea party in which Elijah threatened Damon but quickly put it back when I realize Theo’s words were right. I do dress like a nerd.

I’m about to throw in the towel and tell Theo to suck it up when something on my top shelf catches my eye. I reach up and grab the clothing box and instantly blush when I remember what’s inside. The dress Caroline bought for me. The very tiny dress Caroline bought for me. I hold the box in my hands and eye it for a moment. 

“Am I really going to do this?”

I close my eyes and rip off the ribbon and open the box, “Fuck it.”

—

“Shit,” Theo swears from his position in the passenger seat of my car.

“What? What happened,” I look over at him worried, as the traffic light in front of us flashes red.

“The gym flooded,” Theo says and I instantly smile.

“So no dance? How sad,” I fake a pout.

I watch Theo’s frown turn into a smirk as he reads another text on his phone, “Nope, My Captain came in clutch.”

—

“What the hell,” I say out loud as my ears are assaulted by the rock music being played by a live band in Tyler Lockwood’s backyard. A backyard that is somehow beautifully decorated with streaming lights, a dance floor, and filled with hundreds of people. Some who I don’t even look like teenagers.

“This is awesome!”

My brother stands next to me with a beaming smile on his face as he looks at everything like a child on Christmas morning.

“Something feels off,” I tell him and he doesn’t seem to hear me.

Some people pass me and I grow self-conscious of the dress I’m wearing. It’s a beautiful dress but with the hem that ends mid-thigh and the extremely low v-neck that seems to put my chest on full display for anyone who wants to oggle it, it makes me feel highly uncomfortable. 

“Let’s just find Caroline and then leave,” I yell to my brother over the loud music and he nods to me. 

We start walking through the crowds but a wave of people comes past us and I lose sight of my brother.

“Theo! Theo!”

I try to call out but all I receive is a few looks from people walking past me. I groan when I realize I’m going to have to go find my dumbass brother in this hoard of dumbass people. 

I push through the hoards of drunk teenagers and wonder just how the hell no cops have been called and also where the hell is the Mayor? I personally feel like having a bunch of underage teenagers drinking on my property would interfere with any future campaigns.

 I move around a couple as they dance to the end of the song and sigh as everyone around me blocks me in as they clap for the band. I decide to just push past them to get to the front but the sound of a British voice halts me in my tracks.

“Good evening, everyone!”

Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

I look away from the people around me and up to the stage where the devil himself stands smiling down at everyone. 

“I want to thank you all for being here with me to celebrate. It’s been a long time coming,” Klaus addresses the cheering crowd and I feel my heart drop to my ass as his eyes scan the crowd. My shaky breathing is covered by the claps of the crowd.

I watch as Klaus seems to lock eyes with someone in the crowd and it gives me time to really look at the hybrid. 

Klaus is the devil. No doubt about it. But I would have to be blind to not think he’s beautiful. The dark suit and the polished hair he’s sporting tonight only seem to make him more heart-wrenchingly stunning. 

Fucking Mikaelsons and their God-like gene pool. 

I watch wearily as Klaus descends the stage and I hear the band start up again. The people around me start shoving me with their dancing and I let out a painful hiss as one of them jabs my left shoulder with their elbow. 

I quickly push through the crowd to the side where a table of cups is set up. I clench my eyes together to try to block out the searing pain in my shoulder.

“Y/n?! What happened?”

I open my eyes when I feel a soft hand grabbing my right shoulder. 

“Not you too,” I groan out as my eyes meet Alastair’s. 

“Is it your shoulder? Tell me how to help,” I lean away as Alastair comes closer to me trying to help me.

“You can help me by leaving me the fuck alone,” I bite out and watch Alastair watch me for a moment, and then his attention shifts to the table of drinks. I watch cautiously as he leans down to the cooler on the ground and grabs a handful of ice. He then takes out the handkerchief in his suit pocket and wraps the ice in it. 

“Here,” He reaches out the ice to me, “Take this it’ll help.”

I shake my head defiantly, “I don’t want anything from you.”

Alastair lets out a low huff and then pushes the ice into my right hand, “Just for once, let someone help you.”

I look at the ice in my hand and then practically growl in annoyance as I softly place it on my scar. A scar that is sadly on clear display, thanks to the tiny straps of my dress.

“See, was that so hard,” Alastair tries to joke but I just glare at him.

“Are you glad your boss is back in town?”

Alastair’s smile instantly drops and he glances over his shoulder momentarily. I follow his eye-line and see Klaus walking with Stefan. As if he heard us talking about him, which he probably did, Klaus turns his head and looks over to Alastair. He stares at him for only a moment before his eyes lock with mine. I inhale deeply as Klaus’ blue eyes devour my own. I feel like I can’t breathe as his eyes move from my face to my shoulder. I watch curiously though as his eyebrows slightly furrow. 

He looks cute when he’s confused. 

I know I did NOT just think that.

Klaus’ confused look drops when his eyes move from my shoulder to the rest of my body, more exactly, my dress. His eyes narrow for a moment before they seem to lose their brightness and then darken. It’s my turn to be confused as I watch his features turn into ones of anger as his jaw clenches and he practically glares at me. I can’t stand to look at him so I quickly turn back to Alastair who is now drinking a beer.

“Your boss really hates me doesn’t he?”

I quickly step back as Alastair chokes and spits out his beer. 

“Dude what the hell?!”

“Sorry,” Alastair coughs out loudly and he quickly wipes his face with his sleeve. 

“Your first time drinking or what,” I ask him and he looks up at me and sighs deeply.

“You two stress me out so fucking much.”

I fight back the urge to hit this bitch, “Really! You’re the one stalking me, and yet I stress you out?!”

Alastair stands to his full height and then pinches the bridge of his nose, “You’re blind and he’s stubborn!”

“I’m not blind!”

“Yes, you are!”

“Alright, asshat! Blind about what?!”

Alastair begins to open his mouth.

“Alastair,” A short dark-skinned woman in a black dress yells to him as she approaches us. She glances at me wearily for a moment before looking back to the vampire, “Klaus wants you inside…now.”

I turn and look back over to where Klaus and Stefan were once standing but they’re gone. I look back to Alastair and he gives a bitch face to the girl and then turns back to me.

“I’ll see you later,” Alastair turns around to follow the girl but then stops and looks over his shoulder at me, “You look beautiful by the way.”

—

“Y/n?”

I whip around and let out a sigh of relief when I see Bonnie standing by a keg holding a red solo cup. My relief is instantly gone though when I see the scared look on her face.

“Bonnie, what’s wrong,” I walk up to her and she quickly grabs my hand. She eyes the icepack that I’m holding to my shoulder for a moment but shakes her head.

“What are you doing here?! You’re supposed to be at home!”

I frown at my friend’s anxious tone, “Theo made me come. Tyler texted him saying Caroline needed me to come so badly.”

Bonnie’s frown somehow deepens even more, “What are you talking about? When did this happen?”

I shake my head, “Uhh, I’m not sure maybe like 2 hours ago.”

Bonnie stares at me for a moment, “Caroline didn’t ask you to come, Y/n.”

“What the hell are you talking about Bonnie? Tyler said she did.”

Bonnie’s worried expression makes my hands start to shake.

“What’s going on Bonnie? You’re starting to freak me out.”

Bonnie walks closer to me and leans in, “Caroline wouldn’t have told Tyler to have you come. I told her 3 hours ago that you needed to stay as far away from here tonight as you possibly could.”

My eyes narrow at Bonnie’s quiet words, “Why Bonnie? What’s going on? Klaus is here I know that. Does it have something to do with him?”

“There’s no time to explain. You said Theo is here as well?”

I nod. 

“Where?”

I shake my head, “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Bonnie sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. I’m really just stressing everyone out tonight, aren’t I?

“You need to find him and leave, now!”

Before I have a chance to ask any more questions Bonnie quickly leaves and I groan in annoyance.

—

I’ve been searching for my brother all over this stupid mansion and have come up with nothing. I passed some of his friends who told me Theo was trying to find me so somehow we just keep missing each other. 

A cold liquid drips down my chest and I shiver. The culprit is the makeshift ice pack that is now completely melted and dripping down my chest. Fantastic. 

I make my way through the living room of the Lockwoods and walk through the hall trying to find the kitchen. As I turn the corner, I let out a huff as I’m knocked into someone.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t-”

Blue eyes narrow into mine.

“Of course, it’s you,” I growl out at the Hybrid.

“Pleasure to see you again as well, Princess,” Klaus’ snarky words make me bite back a growl as we glare at each other.  

With a roll of my eyes, I go to move around him but a hand on my arm sends shocks through me. I look down and see Klaus’ hand grabbing my upper arm, Klaus’ who seems to have realized what he just did brings his hand back down to his side quickly.

“What,” I snarl at the man who stands only a few inches away from me. Making it hard not to breathe in his woodsy scent.

Klaus stares at me for a moment as if he’s trying to think of what to say and for a moment I think he’s just going to walk away. Or kill me. He could kill me as well.

“Your shoulder…what happened?”

I’m taken aback, not just by his question, but by his tone. Where I’m usually met with his usual snark, this time he sounds almost, not mean???

“Why? Want to push a finger into my scar to make me hurt some more,” I jab back and the man rolls his eyes.

“You may not believe this but I don’t take pleasure in seeing you in any pain.”

Klaus looks down at me and then at my scar and for a moment I think he might actually mean it.

“I got shot,” I say and look away from him and to my nails, “Not that it’s any of your business.”

I can see Klaus narrow his eyes from my peripheral, “You got shot?”

I turn and deadpan him, “Is that not what I said? Anyway, I’m fine now. Doc says I’m the fastest healer he’s ever seen.”

I don’t know why I told him that last part. But as I stare at the man I feel a bit of confusion when something unreadable flashes in his eyes.

“Is that so?”

I nod to his odd tone. Klaus just eyes me and I try to ignore the weird feeling that builds in my stomach as we stand there watching one another. 

“Mister Klaus?”

A low growl leaving Klaus’ mouth startles me. He turns and glares at the short woman who interrupted Alastair and I before. 

 “What,” Klaus practically snarls at the woman and I feel bad for her as she starts to shake.

“Someone named Mikael is here to see you,” The girl pretty much whimpers and I let in a deep breath at the mention of the asshole Original. 

My eyes go wide in fear as I look at Klaus waiting for his reaction. I expect to see fear on his face, but instead, he almost seems excited.

“Great. Wouldn’t want to leave him waiting then. Would we?”

The woman walks away and Klaus buttons up his suit jacket.

“Mikael’s here?”

My question quickly gains Klaus’ attention as he looks at me oddly.

“Isn’t this what you and your little friends planned?”

At his accusation, I glare at him, “You don’t know this about me Klaus, or actually anything about me, but let me make one thing clear. I will never and have never taken part in helping some abusive asshole. So I don’t know what you think my friends are planning, but I had no part in any of it.”

Klaus’ gaze softens for a moment and changes into an unreadable expression. Certainly, one I’ve never seen on him before. I find myself freezing when he reaches his hand up. I hold in a breath waiting for him to rip off my head for bitching at him but frown when all he does is grab a stray hair of mine and place it behind my ear. His touch lingers on my hair for a moment before he practically jumps away from me. 

“I believe you,” He says to me and I raise an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t care if you believe me or not.”

Klaus just lets out a sigh and turns away down the hall. He doesn’t get far because he turns around and his eyes go back to my dress.

“Did I tell you how you look tonight?”

I raise an eyebrow and place a hand on my hip, “I’m excited to hear whatever insult you have for me.”

Klaus just smirks, “Damning. You look damning Y/n Y/l/n.”

I stand there speechless as Klaus gives me one last look before he exits the hallway. 

“Nerd! There you are,” Theo jumps into my view, shocking me. He narrows his eyes at me.

“Are you having an allergic reaction?”

I frown and shake my head, “No? Why would you ask that?”

Theo raises his hand and then puts it in my face, “Cause your entire face is like REALLY fucking red.”

My eyes widen and I clear my throat, “I’m fine.’’

Theo thankfully just shrugs his shoulders and smiles, “Great! Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

[chloe-skywalker]

Hate You? - Klaus Mikaelson

Klaus x Fem!reader daughter

Warnings: none

Word count: 600

Summary: Being Klaus’ daughter and he accidentally hurts you. So he’s worried that you might hate him now.

Masterlist

TVD Masterlist

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“Niklaus.” Elijah enters Niklaus’ art room to see him painting rather harshly. “Why are you in here brooding?”

“I can’t.” Klaus grumbles out.

“Can’t what Klaus.” Elijah asks not understanding what his brother meant.

“I can’t go out there and face her. Not after what I did.” Klaus refuses to face his daughter after what the winter witches made him do.

“She doesn’t blame you.” Elijah tells his younger brother.

“She should. You all should.” Klaus shakes his head, never turning to even glance at his brother.

“I won’t blame my brother for accidentally hurting his daughter, my niece while under a spell done to him by some particularly bitchy witches.” Elijah shakes his head, he would never blame him for what happened.

“I almost killed her.” Klaus’ voice sounded strained. He was not coping well with the events that happened.

“Y/n is fine. Alive and healthy.” He wanted to assure him that his daughter was okay. That what the witches had him do didn’t really hurt her. “She misses you, and would like to see you.”

When Elijah received no answer from Klaus he let out a tired sigh and left him alone for now. Knowing his brother Elijah knew Klaus needed time to himself.

^     ^     ^

(2 weeks later)

“Dad?” Y/n called out entering her dad’s bedroom and seeing him sitting at the foot of his bed she asks. “Can I come in?”

“You shouldn’t be this close.” He tells her after she entered his room anyway when he didn’t answer.

“The spell's been broken for weeks. You’re fine now.” Y/n tells him moving to sit down next to him.

“You shouldn’t get to close.” Klaus scooted over on the bed afraid to be to close and hurt her again.

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” She shakes her head fully 100% positive that he’d never hurt her in his right mind.

“I did.” He says in a wobbly tone, trying not to break down.

“Not out of your own control. I know that. So should you.” Y/n told him with a reassuring smile.

“After the things I did, you should hate me.” Klaus shook his head not believing that she could want to be near him.

“Hate you?” Y/n raised an eyebrow at his words. She shakes her head. “I could never hate you.”

Once Y/n realized that they weren’t gonna get anywhere right now, that she was gonna have to let her words sink in first. So she got up and left.

Later that night Y/n was in her room under the covers on her phone when her bedroom door opened and she saw her father Klaus enter. Y/n put down her phone and adjusted herself sitting up in bed.

“So, you don’t hate me?” Klaus asks as he sits down on the side edge of her bed. He didn’t look at her right away afraid that she’d take it back.

“No daddy. I don’t.” Y/n shook her head with a warm smile on her face as he looked up at her.

“You should.” A tear slipped down his cheek as he looked at her with so much remorse in his eyes.

“I shouldn’t.” Y/n tilted her head smiling at him warmly and grabbed his hand in hers. “It wasn’t your will to hurt me.”

“I’m sorry.” Klaus apologized with more tears welling up in his eyes.

“You're forgiven.” Y/n told him squeezing his hand tightly.

Klaus pulled her into a hug, it had been 2 weeks since he last touched her and it made him feel alot better.

taglist: @gruffle1 @padawancat97 @starkleila

[fandoms--fluff]

Hellooooo sorry to bother you but do you think can right one of Katherine Pirces were she has a baby girl y/n and she’s like 4 months old and the salvatores brothers finds out about her they use her to take Katherine dawn but they don’t now that she ask the originals but specifically Elijah help to save ther daughter

Mama's Girl

Baby daughter reader x mom Katherine Pierce

Warnings: kidnapping,

A/n: I made a few tweaks in it, by making Elijah the father, but I hope you like it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine picks you up from your playpen which has two fluffy blankets and some stuffed animals. "You hungry baby girl?" Katherine smiles as you babble while nuzzling your head into her chest. "I'll take that as a yes" She kisses the top of your head before sitting down on the black leather couch beside the playpen.

She holds you with one arm and as the her other hand pulls a part of her black shirt down, releasing one of her breasts. She coaxes your head toward her full breast until you easily latch on. As you drink your mama's milk, she holds you protectively in her arms.

She doesn't know how the hell she had gotten pregnant, considering she's been dead a very long time. And it wasn't just her child, you, actually was growing inside her, but her body also changed for how it would when any other woman would be pregnant. ex. she produces breast milk. She's still confused but doesn't ask why anymore, just grateful that you're her baby.

The only two people who know about you are; Elijah and Kol Mikaelson. Kol saw Katherine walking around a park a couple towns over, obviously pregnant. He then later that day asked his big brother how he had managed to knock up Katherine, assuming that Elijah and she had hooked up. And he wasn't entirely wrong, Kol just doesn't need to know that. Elijah went over to her house and confronted her, they had a long conversation, deciding it was best to keep you a secret.

Or so she thought, not taking into account the two Salvatore brothers are staked out, across the road.

"How did Katherine get a baby? and she's caring? what the hell" Stefan says, turning over to his older brother.

"Well, baby bro, when two adults think it's time, they decide to start having se-" Stefan cut him off, "I didn't mean like that!" Stefan groaned.

"Whatever, this is our chance to have something to finally take the vampire bitch slut, down," Damon says, getting out of the car. Stefan sighs before following Damon down the road.

Damon explains the plan he made to Stefan, which they put into action.

Katherine looks up, something seems off. Before she can get a second thought, the front door is knocked off it's hinges and vervain grenades are thrown in. Getting into a coughing fit from the toxic herb, she sees a figure of someone coming over to her with a mask.

As soon as he gets close to her, Damon snatches you out of Katherine's arms and speeds out of the house. Katherine quickly stands up, adjusting her top back, but before she can go after him in a weakened state, someone grabs her from behind. The second person, Stefan, wraps his left arm around her neck until she can no longer breathe in air, passing out quickly from the vervain still in the air.

Stefan lets her drop back onto the couch and walks back outside, peeling the mask off his face. "Now what?" He asks Damon, watching as he tries to make you stop crying. His attempts are proven useless, making you cry louder about being taken away from your mama.

"Oh come on, can't you be quiet, you're going to make a scene with how loud you are" Damon whisper yells at you.

Being a baby and not understanding anything he's obviously saying, you just scream louder.

The brothers quickly get into Damon's car with you, Stefan having to hold you, insisting to Damon it's not a good idea to just throw you in the backseat and hope for the best. He drives off before Katherine has a chance to reawaken.

Coughing, Katherine slowly opens her eyes. The light shining through the windows tells her it's still daytime. Recollecting her memories of what had happened while she stands up makes her freeze. She quickly vamped around the entire house, not finding her baby, you, anywhere.

Damon and Stefan, the two names that come to her mind. They took you. All she can do is pace back and forth, a look of murder in her eyes. But she has to play this smart, if she just goes crashing in there alone, she's more than sure that there'll be everyone there. They'll obviously be expecting that.

She goes to the coffee table where her phone still lays from earlier and dials a number.

"Katerina, how are you doing?" Elijah's smooth voice emits from the phone as he picks up.

"Not well, considering the Salvatores found out about y/n, came crashing in, took her, and now are probably thinking of ways to take advantage of our daughter against me" Katherine exclaims, having no time for small talk.

Elijah's eyes widen and he reassures her everything is going to be okay and to meet her in the woods by the boarding house. Katherine follows his instructions clearly and immediately leaves the house.

Katherine gets to the woods in record time, she looks around before feeling a hand on her shoulder. She quickly turns around, ready for a fight. Though it's just Elijah.

"My apologies," Elijah says.

He starts explaining his plan of what they're to do. Katherine follows every bit and nods before heading to the back of the house, out of sight from anyone inside.

While she hides out back, Elijah goes to the front door. He knocks a few times before Damon opens the door. He gives a suspicious look towards the original.

"I believe this is the part where you invite me in," Elijah says.

He pauses for a second before stepping to the side, letting the older vampire inside.

As Elijah walks down the stairs into the library, he lays his eyes on you. You're currently being held by Caroline. She's been trying to cheer you up and to stop your crying but nothing has worked. You're not wailing anymore but there are still tears running down your tiny cheeks every now and then.

He puts on a facade, acting surprised at the sight of the baby. Caroline and everyone else notice this. Caroline walks over to the other side of the room and places you into an old wooden crib they had found in the attic.

"What's the occasion of your visit?" Damon all but growls, not happy about an original vampire being in his home.

"Just the fact that you have apparently acquired a baby in a short amount of time. I'm only curious" he says, trying to ignore your looks for him. You see the man in the suit is recognizable as your dada. He comes over a lot and holds you and cares for you, and makes your mama smile.

You hold your arms up in a grabby motion. Everyone hasn't noticed. They're all focused on Elijah as there was no way that he just happened to know two hours after they had taken you. Someone must have been watching them.

Damon and Stefan are standing in front of Elijah, whose back is facing you, the rest of the gang all stood behind the brothers.

Katherine watches from behind the door, knowing what to do next. She opens the door and makes her way inside, causing the gang's attention to go to her.

"That was stupid of you" She sneers, her vampire face on display.

As your mama distracts everyone else, your dada quickly goes over to you. He picks you up and vamps out of the room through the same door Katherine left wide open.

"What-" Elena started saying and turned around, seeing that you and Elijah are gone.

Everyone else followed her action and before they knew it, it was only them. You, Katherine, and Elijah, are long gone.

Katherine follows Elijah to a clearing in the woods. He's cradling you against his chest, slightly swaying you as you calm.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen, I never wanted anything to happen to her," Katherine tells him, feeling an emotion she hasn't felt in a long time, guilt.

"There's nothing to apologize for. There was no way for you to know what was going to happen" Elijah says, softness in his eyes. "Come, I have the perfect place for us. It's out of town and secluded" he smiles.

As they make their way there in his car, they talk the whole time as you're sound asleep in your car seat.

[mrs-kmikaelson]

07| The Tribrid

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x daughter!reader, Marcel Gerard x mostly platonic!reader Summary: Trying to figure out a way to get Klaus to trust you, you reminisce over the past and how trust was earned in a similar situation. Warnings: none Words: 3.7K

Masterlist

a/n: does anyone know how i can fix the gifs from like not centring? it looks fine on my laptop but horrible on mobile😭

NEW ORLEANS, 1970

Strobe lights went all across the room, music blaring, but I could barely tell what song was playing, too distracted by what I was doing—or, rather, who I was about to do. I ran my fingers through his hair while his hand crept up my skirt, our kiss getting more passionate by the second.

His name didn't matter. All I cared about was the fun we were about to have. 

"Why don't we take this somewhere more private," he mumbled in between kisses. 

I nodded against him, giving him one last kiss before whispering in his ear. "Back alley." The fact that I was drunk didn't stop me from leading us across the dance floor to the back where I'd been many times before. I knew the owner—who was also a really good kisser—and so I knew where to go.

I felt the cold air hit us as soon as we got outside, despite feeling so hot. As soon as the door closed, I turned around, intending on pulling him back in for a kiss, but I almost staggered back when I saw the same man I was kissing just moments ago with veins crawling underneath his eyes, fangs protruding in his mouth.

What the fuck?

I quickly sobered up, baring my own fangs at him. The atmosphere went from hot and sexy to dark in an instant. 

His eyes widened. While his voice was surprised, there was still an undertone of hostility. "You're a vampire?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You didn't know?" God, how drunk was he? I smelt that he was a night crawler immediately. Clearly, he thought I was a human and wanted to leave so he could suck me dry.

That wasn't happening. For obvious reasons.

He cursed under his breath. For a second, I thought we'd get back to what we were doing; I mean, I just cleared this up. I was gonna be generous and continue to make out with him in spite of the fact that he just tried to kill me, but this dude just had to kill my fun, too.

He tried charging at me, but my magic worked faster than even vamp speed. Quickly, I rushed, "Motus!" and he was sent flying into the wall. My eyes widened. Fuckkkkkk, man.

I just wanted to get laid.

I wasn't supposed to do that. I was supposed to punch him, maybe snap his neck—I was supposed to do something that a vampire would do. A vampire doesn't just move things with their mind.

I thought I was soberer than that, but it seemed that the alcohol was still affecting me because I just sent a fucking vampire flying. Shock was all over the guy's face, his pretty, pretty face that I just wanted to have a good time with.

Fuck. Now I'd have to kill him.

He remained against the wall, but he didn't wait much longer before firing questions at me. "What the hell was that-"

I cut him off, "Look, man, I wasn't planning on doing a lot of talking with you tonight." Annoyance laced my voice. He didn't respond as quickly, just looking at me with an extremely analyzing gaze. I didn't doubt that he was confused. People don't just come across people like me. 

He was silent until it looked like a light bulb went off in his head. "Tribrid," he muttered under his breath, almost like I wasn't meant to hear it, but I did.

My blood went cold. "What did you just say?" I asked, but he ignored me, continuing to mutter under his breath.

"I knew a guy once—he was half wolf, half vampire." If he didn't have my attention before, he sure as hell did now. Because I only knew one person that matched that description, and that was Klaus Mikaelson.

My body went rigid while the guy took little notice, seeming to put together a bunch of puzzle pieces in his head. "Yeah-" he paused, looking up at me, "I've heard chatter. Witches saying something about a... triangle: werewolf, vampire... and witch."

Chatter? He's heard chatter? A thousand things went through my mind at once. That was impossible. Nobody knew about me. I just got to this city; there was no way witches have managed to decipher a secret I've spent centuries keeping.

Against my will, my tone was now less calm. "I don't know what you're-"

"I think you do know what I'm talking about." The guy's eyes were hard as he stared right back at me. I thought he was just some baby vamp, but it appeared that he was proving me wrong. He took a step closer to me. "You're the tribrid, aren't you?"

I almost laughed, even though I was full of nerves while, just seconds ago, I was fine. "You must have a death wish," I remarked. Maybe I could've left him alone, convinced him to forget about my display of magic and just left town. But now he not only saw that, but he also knew exactly who I was and he'd go running to tell everyone else.

He had to go. It's a shame, though, I thought, he was such a good kisser.

I stepped closer to him and he immediately got the message, eyes widening again once he realized that I had the upper hand. "No, no," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "I promise you; you do not want to kill me."

I scoffed, "And why is that?"

"Listen, I hold a lot of influence around here-"

I scoffed again. "I really don't care." Throwing power around was a politician's move, and politicians only lied to you. I wasn't gonna take my chances.

I was walking towards him, taking one step forward for every step he took back until he blurted, "My name is Marcel Gerard." At this, I stopped. Marcel Gerard... I knew that name. I stood still, racking my brain until I realized why his name sounded so familiar.

Marcel Gerard literally ruled this city. I'd been in New Orleans for not even a few days yet you could hear vampires and witches alike mentioning him often.

Damnit. Of course, I not only meet the guy who the vampires in this city worship, but I also end up locking lips with him and have him find out what I am.

I just wanted to have fun.

He saw recognition on my face, causing his own to light up. "So, you know who I am." I nodded in response, exasperatedly rolling my eyes. All of this had completely caused my buzz to dissipate into thin air. "Look..." he trailed off, making a gesture with his hands.

I rolled my again. "Y/N."

"Look, Y/N, I know what you are. I figured it out in seconds. There's already speculation of a tribrid going around with the witches-"

"Get to the fucking point, Marcel, before I just decide to kill you. Believe me, I am not in the mood to deal with this right now."

He didn't waste any more time. "I can get the witches to back off and find something else to fixate on. I can bury just the thought of a tribrid being out there, Y/N," he emphasized. 

I wonder just how dumb he thought I was. I shook my head. "So you want me not to kill you, just so you can go blab to whoever you see as soon as I leave you alone?" He shook his head right back at me.

"I won't say a thing, trust me." He paused. "We can help each other."

"Oh, c'mon-"

"No, I'm being serious," he asserted, no longer looking like he was backed into a corner but much more assured than before. "Killing me wouldn't do you any good. My people would search relentlessly for my killer, and the witches would only keep digging, possibly striking gold at some point. You keep me alive, and I can get rid of that for you." 

I only stared at him with narrow eyes. He looked confident in the bar, that's what drew me to him, but I wasn't expecting anything like this. He had a point, but that didn't mean it was enough to stop me from killing him. And if I didn't like this city, then I'd kill him without any qualms and leave. But I do like this city. I want to stay here, and I knew I couldn't stay here with him dead and with the witches suspicious.

I couldn't afford to make enemies. Right now, what I needed were friends.

I'd already made up my mind, but Marcel didn't know that, still trying to get me to see a vision that I already understood. "We can make a good team, Y/N."

I didn't say anything for a few more seconds, thinking everything over in my mind. I could possibly be making the biggest mistake of my life right now, I thought. But I was already set. I kept my voice cold and devoid of emotion. "I'm giving you twenty-four hours to make this witch thing go away, Marcel."

A weight was lifted off his shoulders. "And I'll do just that." I wasn't gonna stick around much longer. This was already much more conversation than I was anticipating to have tonight, and we clearly weren't gonna have sex, so without another thought, I sped out of the alley.

Little did I know, that night marked the start of one of the rest of my life in New Orleans.

THE PRESENT

I was pulled out of my reverie when I saw Marcel came into my vision, sitting down on the chair opposite to me. We started out trying to kill each other, and now look: we were meeting for coffee. 

I didn't trust him when I first met him, even after he made my problems with the witches disappear. That wasn't enough. And it also wasn't enough for him to insist I work with him. Those were things he was doing for his own benefit, so, of course, that didn't inspire my trust in him.

I only started trusting Marcel after he opened up to me about his past. Doing that, getting vulnerable with someone—that showed that you trusted them. And what better way to get someone to trust you than to show that you trust them?

I wasn't just reminiscing for the sake of it. The way Marcel got me to trust him was what I'd been forgetting throughout all my interactions with Klaus. I couldn't just ask him to trust blindly, the same way Marcel couldn't ask me to, or the same way I couldn't get the witches to.

I needed a show of good faith. The trick was just figuring out what.

"Hey, Y/N/N." 

I nodded back to Cellie's greeting, pushing a tumbler over to his side of the table. While I actually liked coffee, Marcel wasn't a fan. "Got you your drink."

He grinned. "Ah, have I told you how much I love you recently?"

"Definitely not enough," I quipped back. "Now drink." His smile only got wider as he brought the tumbler up to his lips, sipping from his blood while I worked at finishing my Americano.

It's been about a week since I gave the contract to Klaus and went out with Marcel and Cami, who were now accepting the title of "dating" (after lots of resistance from Cami's side). Things have otherwise been quiet. I've been over to the Abattoir a few times to speak with Elijah, sometimes speaking to Hayley, and rarely talking to Klaus, but everything was fine if you didn't count the fact that he was still staring at me every time I came over.

You'd think that I'd be the one behaving that way after constantly seeing my father, his baby mama, and his brother, but nope. I've been calm; the whole Mikaelson thing has been getting to me less, but Klaus would look at me like he was trying to pick apart everything I said or did.

Sooner or later, it wouldn't matter how well I kept my secret. He was just gonna keep digging, so I needed to stop him before he struck gold.

"How's D been doing?" He asked, and the Mikaelsons were instantly pushed to the back of my mind. Davina had that effect.

"She's been good. Doing her school work, getting better with her magic by the day. You should come by for dinner soon, actually."

"Yeah, I-" he cut himself off when a "ping" sounded. He glanced down at his phone on the table, muttering a curse under his breath. When he looked back up at me, his expression was a mix of annoyance at the disturbance and apology. "Sorry, Y/N/N, I've gotta-"

"No, no, it's fine," I told him. "Go on and deal with it." He gave me a silent thank you before getting up, kissing my cheek in parting.

"I'll make it up to you. Dinner at mine," he said, walking away backwards. I smiled, telling him I'd see him later, and then he was out the door. Although we'd been sitting for all of one minute before he had to go, I wasn't irritated. He was getting back into the groove with the Quarter's happenings, so I'd be fully supportive.

I got up, throwing my empty coffee cup into the trash and walking out of the little café, mentally running over my schedule: housekeeping, then dinner with Marcel and Davina later. Right now, I'd go game plan my pitch to the vampires.

Or not.

Just as I was about to cross the street, a black car abruptly skirted in front of me, making me jump back. Before I could make anything of it, two men stepped out of it. Their expressions were practically lifeless, not a trace of emotion in sight.

"Get into the car," one of them ordered, causing me to furrow my brows. What the fuck?

I voiced my concerns not a moment later. "Excuse me?"

The other one stepped forward as if he was threatening me. I looked him up and down. Who the fuck was he stepping to like that? "Ma'am, you're gonna need to get into the car willingly before we force you to." 

Force me to? I only stared at him, debating on whether or not I was gonna bash his head into the car he was threatening me to get into in front of any passers-by. I was then reminded of the exact thing I was on my way to work on: the peace pacts. If I exacted any violence, that wouldn't be setting the right example.

Still, though, I was tempted.

After a few seconds of eying them both, I realized I not only knew them, but I also understood what was happening here.

These were some of Marcel's old vampires.

And they were compelled.

Damnit. I glanced to the car behind them. I was willing to bet money that, inside that very car, sat Klaus. I rolled my eyes. A week ago, I would've been more put off by this, and I was, but I was more annoyed than anything.

I'd find some way to get him to trust me later, but if I didn't get into this car right now, then he'd only become even more suspicious of me, and I didn't need that.

I shook my head in disbelief that I was even gonna do this, gesturing for them to move so I could get into the car. One of them opened the back door for me and I got in.

I turned to my left, fully expecting Klaus to be sitting next to me, but instead I was met with the sight of a blonde with big, voluminous curls and bright blue eyes. Despite fitting into the dumb blonde mold exactly, I knew she was anything but.

This was Rebekah Mikaelson.

I (hopefully) hid my shock quickly, but my eyes still narrowed. My mind raced, wondering what the hell she could possibly want from me. I first jumped to conclusions, but I shut them down immediately, knowing that there was no way anyone knew I was related to the Mikaelsons, including the Mikaelsons themselves.

While I'd been visiting the Abattoir often, Rebekah was basically nowhere to be found. I never would've guessed that this was how I'd be meeting her, being pushed into a car by vampires acting like they were secret service. But, with the Mikaelsons, so far nothing has gone as I expected it.

When she turned to me, she didn't stop and observe me first like her brother did. I'd learned from my research that Rebekah Mikaelson was impulsive, possibly even more so than Klaus. So it didn't surprise me when she cut right to the chase. 

"You must be Y/N," she said. Her voice sounded like honey and a smile was on her lips, but it didn't take rocket science to know that it was all an act. "I'm Rebekah Mikaelson, but I'm sure you're already aware of that." 

I was. And so I said that. "I am." 

She hummed at my response, indirectly reminding me so much of Klaus. She pressed a button to her side, causing the partition to roll up, never looking away from me once. Her smile then quickly dropped. "What are you doing with Marcel?"

Now, I couldn't hide the surprise on my face. "What?"

"You heard me," she asserted, unwilling to elaborate any further and just continuing to look at me, waiting for a reply.

Out of all the reasons she could've pulled me into this car, that one had never even crossed my mind. I paused for a few seconds, thinking over how I'd respond. I knew Rebekah and Marcel had history, and Rebekah had created a reputation for herself as not only being a lover, but a rather possessive one.

Saying the wrong thing here could get me into a tight situation I did not want to be in, so I had to be sure that my words wouldn't piss her off. "He's my friend," I told her, but she didn't look very convinced.

"Really?" She questioned, sarcasm noticeable in her voice. "Are you so cozy with all of your friends? Because you both looked rather close in that café." So she was watching us.

I backtracked, remembering how he kissed me on the cheek on his way out. I see how that could look bad to some people, especially his ex-girlfriend who seemed much more attached to him than he let on. From the way Marcel told the story, him and Rebekah were over, but the way she was acting didn't suggest that at all.

Suddenly, Camille was brought to the forefront of my mind. "We are close," I defended. "I've known him a long time, and we're just friends." I could've left it there—should've left it there, but with Cami on my mind I couldn't help but add, "Besides, he has a girlfriend."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at me; although, something told me she was already conscious of that little fact. Her jaw tensed, making me more alert. While Elijah and even Klaus wouldn't immediately deal with their problems physically, I knew Rebekah was a different story.

She was smart, don't get me wrong, but if there was something to know about her it was that her emotions overpowered her mind more often than not. She was impulsive, and so this could go real bad, real quick.

I had to get out of this.

I decided to just say something instead of letting her make the first move. If I said something first, then I could take control of the situation and spin it before she could.

"Look," I started. "Marcel and I have a completely platonic relationship." Well, not completely, but I wasn't gonna tell her that. "After we met, I was just helping him keep things running smoothly in the Quarter, the same thing I'm doing with your family now."

While her expression remained blank, I could tell I was swaying her in the right direction. She just needed one last push. "We talk so often because of Davina. She's important to both of us, and we just want to make sure she gets the childhood she deserves." Her eyes immediately softened, and I knew I got her.

Davina was just a child. As ruthless as Rebekah could be, she still had humanity inside her—Marcel had told me this time and time again when he was under the influence. There was something in her that he fell for, and it was her ability to care when she really wanted to.

She finally looked away from me. "I understand," she said. If I knew anything about her, then I knew she was probably embarrassed right now. It turned out that Rebekah's emotional nature had actually helped, not harmed. "Sorry for the inconvenience," she apologized, but her eyes never met mine.

She rolled the partition back down, telling the driver to stop the car and unlock the doors. "You're free to go, Y/N." I stared at her for a few seconds, wondering if there was anything else I was supposed to say, but I came up empty. So I just got out of the car and watched as they drove away right after.

Once I could no longer see the car, I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

I just met Rebekah Mikaelson.

And I just barely dodged a bullet. I directed my thoughts away from freaking out because I just met yet another member of my family to how I was gonna fix the problem I had.

I couldn't keep tiptoeing on this tight-rope around the Mikaelsons. Sooner or later, I'd fall. I needed to do something to get them, all of them, to trust me. If they caught me at the right time, then everything could be exposed.

I had all of these thoughts running through my mind until a light bulb went off, and all of the puzzle pieces suddenly assembled themselves into a clear picture.

I knew what to do.

I had my show of good faith.

Taglist: @scrynexxtins @thisnameistaken1234 @honestlycasualarcade @xlittlestarling @thatgirljas13 @rosecentury

[el121a]

How do you think Elijah would treat his daughter's relationships?

Here are some bullet points!

Being Elijah's daughter, you didn't talk about dating quite often. Elijah had 3 rules. The first one being "permission granted at 17. " in order to date you must've been of-age. You're kind of known for it.

Seeing Elijah and your mother only heightened your desire to be in a relationship.

If his daughter tried to keep it a secret, Elijah would be heartbroken at first and probably wouldn't ask too many questions. It didn't matter. This wasn't his girl, she had been influenced by another. As noble as everyone thinks Elijah is, deep down, he would be frightened that your lover turned out to be anything like him, especially with her type being vamps (especially a member of the strix- now that would've been rejected.)

If his daughter told him, Elijah would probably drop everything and listen to her many rants- just like her father. And if you told him he was going to meet them soon, his eyes would light up in accompany to his excitement.

Under both circumstances, he would open a bottle of bourbon and finish it. That same night.

"Dad, it's just a date" or anything that suggested it's unimportance was never muttered. Elijah listened carefully to your words, yet again, he generally payed detailed attention to all words. If it were "just a date" you would be admitting to Elijah you knew his judgements were right.

Elijah was strict. He doesn't prioritize much of your friendships, he loves when you interact with others, but you understand he doesn't care. He does prioritize family, and so you knew adding to the Mikaelson family would've been accepted by him.

If his daughter was interested in boys, his 2nd rule was more of question. Who asked first. Successful if the guy asked his daughter first. If not, he'd reject.

There's also the fact everyone in the supernatural community was scared of your family. You always guessed it was for the better anyways.

He gave them a terrifying speech. Only to give the compliment - he admired their bravery. if they were nervous he'd nicely and automatically reject them. No one has ever been brazen. You know this because, any guy you were interested in, he'd already met when picking you up from any event.

As daddy's girl, you were with your father at any time left of his busy schedule. He would take time off ,but he's an original and actually fighting creatures of the night. When you started drifting away from him he would try to fill the new hole in his heart with more drinks.

And when you admitted your interest in marriage, Elijah Mikaelson revealed his third and final rule "You last name stays."

[klausysworld]

you can do a one-shot for yandere klaus mikaelson, where Hope is already a teenager and all her life she adored her parents and family and always wished that someone would love her like her father loves her mother *y/n*, but one day he was reading cases of people who had been missing for years and a case in particular of a girl who seems quite familiar to him, and he discovers that this girl is his mother years ago and he starts to investigate and discovers his father's obsession with his mother and that he kidnapped her and kept her with him until she fell in love with him, he also discovered the secret rooms of the mansion that have her mother's stolen belongings and her portraits. Obviously Hope feels cheated and disillusioned and wants to confront her father.

Confusion, Fear, Horror.

Hope knew she was cherished by her family.

Her aunts and uncles fawned over her and brought her the best possible gifts at special occasions.

Her father always called her ‘his hope’ and made sure she knew she could always have whatever she desired.

And her mother…her mother looked at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. She calmed her father whenever he got mad that she was going out with friends. When Hope got home late, her mother would sort everything out. She was like a guardian angel.

So finding an image of her on a ‘missing person’s’ website was a shock. At first she thought maybe it wasn’t her, maybe a doppelgänger of sorts?

So she began to dig.

She certainly wasn’t expecting to find a secret passage way.

To find hundreds of portraits of her mother, stacks of pictures of her doing things as simple as walking down the street to standing in a towel in the window.

Clothes in boxes labelled by the year and dozens of love notes written to y/n from Klaus.

And then a note book…

Mondays ~ 2:30pm she has afternoon tea with male co-worker. Needs to stop.

Tuesdays ~ works until 5pm. Walks home alone. Possible opening.

Wednesdays ~ gets a lift home from work,, varies between three coworkers. Kill all?

Thursdays ~ tight schedule at work-forgets her lunch. Will come in handy when courting.

Fridays ~ half day. Possible date night?

Saturdays ~ often sees friends and/or family. Need to tear her away from this.

Sundays ~ lazy days. Great days to watch her.

She blinked in confusion and slight fear before turning over the page

Favourite colour=y/f/c

Favourite food=y/f/f

Favourite song=y/f/s

Dream job=y/d/j

Favourite things to do=f/s/t

Aspirations=y/a

And so on.

There were pages and pages of information on her.

Hope wanted to believe that he was just an amazing boyfriend. He just loved her so much he made sure write down everything she told him. But then she found the notes

At 2:36pm I watched her go into a mans house.

4:08 I eliminated the problem.

6:29 she had a shower. Left her curtains open.

7:45 she had her dinner. Alone this time-good.

9:13 she put her favourite show on

01:53 she fell asleep on her couch-it’s okay, I moved her to her bed.

She didn’t know what to think. With the amount of times he had written in these books, it’s safe to assume he watched her daily, nightly for months, years on end.

Even after he seemed to ‘get her’, court her, he still watched her. He suspected she would cheat on him, leave him. He was more paranoid than she had ever known him to be.

And the entry he made about ‘taking’ her mother completely through her off course.

She looked through security footage of the dungeons only to watch her own mother scream and fight against her father. They were both hysterical and Hope watched in horror as her father threatened and raged at her mother.

Over the weeks she watched her mother slowly become more obedient and affectionate towards Klaus.

She watched as her mother clung to him in fear that he would leave her alone for days upon end, she noticed her fathers manipulative behaviour from the “how do I know this isn’t some ploy to make me let you go?” To “I just don’t think you truly mean it” Watching her mother beg for him to stay, pleading for him to show her some sort of affection.

She saw how her mother became reliant on him, how she began to love him because he was all she had.

She saw the photos of her mother pregnant, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol and Freya all in the background as Klaus tended to her mothers needs.

Pictures of her as a baby and how her mother sobbed as she held her, the look she had in her eyes when Klaus took Hope from her arms, the fear they held.

Hope didn’t understand.

She saw her parents in whole other light.

Every time Klaus would take something from y/n’s hands and give her a look, the way she would lower her head and apologise and he would remind her to ask before she does.

The certain looks he would give her, almost warning like when she ‘stepped out of line’

It frightened Hope.

She tried to say something to her mother but as soon as Y/n realised she knew, the utter horror on her face was enough to stop Hope.

“Hope- please, you need to be quiet, please my heart, please I promise I’ll keep you safe”

The way y/n would hold her and cry until it was Hope holding her mother and convincing her it was okay

“We can run away”

“I know it’s difficult to understand but…I do…I do love him Hope…I just…do”

Y/n feared for both of them what would happen if Hope spoke out of term. Y/n would never let anything happen to her baby but her baby was strong enough now go protect her mother too.

[fitzs-trained-monkey]

Err on The Side of Awesome

(Not my gif)

Kol Mikaelson's Daughter Headcanons

Requested by: @katherinereilly19

Here lies my Masterlist

You were adopted by Kol and Davina Claire-Mikaelson at age six from a Catholic orphanage run by nuns who all thought you were some sort of demon child.

See, like your adopted father, you were a witch and had come into your power rather early. Davina had been sensing some odd power flares in the area and, when she and Kol had gone to investigate, there you were - a sweet, little bundle of mischief with more power than you knew what to do with.

To say that you had Kol wrapped around your little finger from the first second he saw you would be no exaggeration. Seriously. 

Kol had never thought himself fit to be a husband, let alone a parent. It still baffles him some days that Davina agreed to marry him - most days in fact - it just seemed too good to be true. They traveled the world for a while and then… Well, Davina, she…

She said she wanted kids.

She didn't say that she used to want kids or that she would have wanted them had she married someone else. Davina said she wanted to be a mom. With him. She said she wanted to have a kid with him and she wanted Kol to be that kid's dad.

At first, he almost thought it was a joke. Who in their right mind would trust him with a child? But no, Davina was serious. 

And it terrified him.

Kol is well aware of just how miserably his parents screwed up their job and he's pretty sure he couldn't do any worse but that doesn't mean he'd do well.

But the guy took just one look at you and he knew without a doubt that there was no alternative realm, no obscure future, and no minuscule probability in which he could cause you any harm.

For the first little while, you were convinced (thanks to the nuns) that you would have to be an absolute angel of a child in order to be wanted by your new parents. You helped clean things, refrain from using your magic, made your bed, brushed your teeth, and never asked for anything.

Three months in, you dropped a plate and broke down crying, begging Mr. and Mrs. Claire-Mikaelson (because you wouldn't dare call them mom and dad) not to send you back.

What began as your average Tuesday afternoon turned into a deeply formative experience when Kol sat you on his knee, looked you in the eyes, and said:

"Y/N, darling, I want you to listen to me very closely, alright? There is absolutely nothing on this earth you can do or say that will make your mother and I love you any less. There is no such thing as good enough - there is no bar you have to meet - only what you are. Now, a plate is infinitely replaceable, but you are our daughter and I will love you until the end of time. That makes you infinitely more valuable than a plate. Okay?"

"O-okay… dad?"

That was a day you never forgot as you grew older. 

Speaking of growing, no matter how old you get, Kol can and will pick you up by the ankle and hold you upside down. It never gets old.

Also, piggy-back rides.

You did go through a phase where you were convinced there was a monster in your closet.

"Dad! There's a monster in my closet and it wants to eat my toes!"

"Really? Well, I must applaud the audacity."

There were quite a few nights you spent cuddled up between them as Davina braided your hair and Kol told you a story until you fell asleep. 

Kol always refers to you and Davina as "his girls".

He's always willing to play with you, whether it be a game of tag or a complex drama plot with your dolls. (His personal favorite was when you decided to reenact the French Revolution in Barbie form.)

Daddy-Daughter Days are 100% a thing. The two of you are huge movie and arcade goers. Not to mention huge fantasy nerds. From Deltora Quest to Harry Potter to the freaking Wheel of Time - your fascination with the fantastical never fades as you grow. You never thought yourself too old to be read to at night, so Kol never stopped the tradition.

You're a little (a lot) spoiled. But not in a bad way. You're not ungrateful but let's just say you have quite a few pets.

Auntie Bex is always more than willing to babysit when your parents want some time to themselves. You remind her of Kol when he was a kid and she adores that.

Play-Dates with your cousin Hope mean quite a few headaches for your uncles Klaus and Elijah. Aunt Hayley thinks you're absolutely hilarious while Aunt Cami is convinced you're like 4 different varieties of insane. She might have a point there.

When you're old enough to be in school, you can always count on your parents to help you with your homework. You never would have made it through middle or high school without your dad, Kol is insanely good at math and chemistry. However, when it comes to anything to do with history or government, he passes the torch to Davina because even though he lived through it, he literally never paid enough attention to remember anything.

Parent-Teacher conferences are always interesting. 

"Y/N is so intelligent. Truly a joy to have in class."

"Is she now?"

Neither of them buys it for a second. You have a mischievous streak a mile long, the teacher just doesn't know that you're the one putting tacks on her chair. Kol is honestly proud and Davina may try to be the voice of reason but she can't help laughing at just how alike father and daughter turned out to be.

Now, if Hope is "miraculously well adjusted" then you're probably something like a thirty-year-old in an eight-year-old body. You're like the most chill child perhaps ever. However, just like your father, your maturity level varies with the situation.

For example, Klaus once decided it would be a good idea to whip out the "You're not even a real Mikaelson" card at a family reunion. It wasn't long before Davina had thrown Klaus into a wall and Kol and Marcel were at each other's throats. 

You honestly weren't even bothered. You knew your parents loved you and that was enough so you simply said:

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

And went back to eating your dinosaur chicken nuggets.

Marcel - apparently still a little touchy on that subject - was the last to sit down again. Little did he know just how proficient you had become with teleporting objects. Naturally, you were smirking when the whoopie cushion did its noble work.

Kol is terrified that he'll lose touch with you as you grow older.

This fear never comes to fruition.

The trust between you and your parents is something every other child ever would envy. They trust your judgment and, in turn, you trust the very few restrictions they put in place for you. It's crazy because they honestly never get mad. Like ever.

However, their disappointment is the worst thing you'll ever endure. 

 They told you not to go out one night because an old enemy of Klaus' was wandering around town. You went out anyway and you were attacked. Now, you were powerful enough to fight off your assailant and kill him, but you didn't come out of that fight unscathed. You had to limp home and tell your dad what had happened. 

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. I've done much worse in my life, for much dumber reasons. To be mad at you would make me a hypocrite. I just know you're better than this - Y/N, you've shown me that you're better than this. I'm not angry with you. I'm just extraordinarily disappointed."

It happens only once and never again.

Growing up with those two for parents ensured that you quickly mastered your magic and became one of the most powerful and skilled witches of all time. But don't think for a second that you would ever be used. They would never allow that to happen.

As you reach middle and high school, a rumor begins going around that your dad is a vampire. You just snort really loud and make no further comment. It leaves everyone wondering.

First boyfriend?

Heaven help the poor sod. 

"If you ever lay your hands on my daughter against her will, you will find that you no longer have hands. I will use the bones of them to fashion myself a new pen, with which I shall write your death certificate. Do I make myself clear?"

Once you're old enough, the basement becomes something of a witchy lab space.

Explosions are… frequent.

*Coughing* "Thank goodness your mother wasn't home for that one."

"Think again, Mikaelson."

"Oh shi-"

"Uh… Hi mom!"

You're probably the healthiest Mikaelson.

When the time comes for you to graduate, it's a hard dose of reality for Kol. He understands he has to let you live your life and he would never dream of taking that away as it was taken from him, but it's just hard.

You'll never stop being his little girl.

Special thanks to: @her-violent-delights

[desiresiwant]

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦-𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫

word count: 4.5k~

warnings: strong language, eventual violence, classic Niklaus resorting to violence and drinking away his problems

a/n: this is the 3rd chapter of my au longfic based off the The Originals (what if the child was a teenager/YA throughout the show duration and not at season 5?). This chapter features Klaus’s pov, an insider to his struggles accepting his role as a father. Rebekah and Elijah makes their return. Davina as well. If there’s a warning I skipped let me know.

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𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 | 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲

       𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃. From her thick curly roots, to the smeared blood currently being wiped clean from her delicate features, to the soft beatings of her heart indicating she was calmly resting. In his hand, he held an old photo of him sitting next to Vanessa. Who was clearly the girl's mother given the identical features they shared, alongside a letter explaining the situation of his existence with clear instructions to NOT come to New Orleans.

        Yet the girl—Deena, as stated in the letter—came anyway. Hard-headed.

        Klaus remembered Vanessa almost as if it was yesterday. He met the young aspiring witch at a local art exhibit held in The French Quarter where she first struck his interest, besides being the only who wore silly socks with a tight-fitting dress. She was not only well-spoken in art, but she had a way with words in which Klaus wouldn't notice the smile he wore until she told him, and she was her own person with a peculiar taste in fashion. And he liked it. In fact, he loved it. They hit it off quickly and spent every chance they had with each other, until one day she disappeared without a word. Klaus assumed it was because of him and didn't blame her since she was too good for his world and she deserved more than what he could provide for her.

        "Impossible," Were the first words Klaus said. He tossed the photo to the floor and faced his back to Deena to slip her from his memory, to Elijah who spoke not one word until Klaus spoke first.

        Elijah picked the photo from the floor and placed it on the table beside the written letter before Klaus seized a chance to rip it. "Whether it's true or not, the child needed our help and we gave that to her. Nik—"

       "You expect me to believe this child is mine from a silly photo with a woman I dallied with years ago and some loveless letter of lies?" Growled Klaus. His mouth suddenly felt dry and though he did his best to put up a front, the fear in his eyes was evident and by the end of his words, panic had entered. "I am a vampire. I cannot procreate!"

        Rebekah rinsed the cloth of blood in the warm water of dark red ready to be refilled and continued to clean the child's face and arms the best she could. The scent of her blood was alluring, preying them to feed into their cravings with just a taste, a single drop of her blood until there was no restraint to stop. But they have lived long enough to control their thirst, and the blood lust wasn't as appealing when the victim's a child and presumed to be a Mikaelson.

        "Magic made you a vampire as us all, Nik." Rebekah pointed out. "But you were born a werewolf; it courses in your blood given by your father, so it is possible. Ludicrous but possible. And we can confirm it with your blood and hers. And a witch."

        That shut Klaus up.

        "The child has already been through enough, and we can't be sure of which witch we can trust until we figure out the origin of this madness. Let's not bother her anymore and hope she wakes soon." As Elijah spoke, he watched Deena intensively under his black lashes and compared her physical similarities to his little brother. Her lips. Her ears. Even her nose with a slight readjustment, accurately portrayed Klaus but there was no way to be sure without that spell Rebekah mentioned.

        Rebekah rolled her eyes. "She will be fine. With my blood in her system, she's healing a lot faster than before. And I know a witch we can use; she was just here not too long ago banging on our doors to hear her out. And by the looks of it, she cares enough to do anything for her," Rinsing the last of Deena's blood into the bowl, Rebekah placed the rag on the dresser and carried the bowl into her arms to be refilled. She caught sight of Klaus's quietness, his eyes never leaving the child and added, "And if we hold this off any longer, we might as well shave our heads bald and pay ourselves a visit to the loony bin, and I don't rock a bald look. I would rather stab myself with the white oak before I plug in a bloody razor."

        Rebekah left for the bathroom.

        They knew exactly who Rebekah spoke of—Davina Claire, the teenage witch who wanted but nothing to do with the Mikaelsons. More specifically Klaus. After Elijah thought about the decision, he began to view Rebekah's point and agreed. However, the decision wasn't up to him.

         Klaus could feel his brother's heated stare as he looked to him for answers he didn't have nor wished to answer. He stood quietly acquainted with fear more than anyone has witnessed since Mikael's invasion back in 1919. He does want the answer, but he's too prideful to ask for help and he was too afraid of the outcome.

        Elijah then understood he would have to make the decision for them both and found Rebekah's gaze as she exited the bathroom with a clean bowl of warm water. "Let's do the spell."

━━━━━━ ━━━━━━

        𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒. Her eyes never left Klaus as she made her way down the hallway and into the spacious room, waiting for a reason to use her magic against him, until she found Deena lying unconscious on the freshly made bed in the room she had once lived in back when Marcel was around and things were a bit hectic because of her. Or at least similar. She rushed to Deena's side with a gasp.

        "She will be alright," Elijah answered her panicked thoughts as she pulled back at the blood staining her hands when she reached out for her. She sent him a soft glare and carefully took Deena's hand into hers. "Will you be able to perform the spell?"

        Klaus, remain quiet. The quietest he's ever been.

        Davina noticed her friend appeared a lot brighter in her complexion despite her blood-stained clothes. Even noticing her cuts vividly healing before her eyes which meant she was given vampire blood, and she felt guilty. Like it was her fault for not protecting her or keeping her away from Klaus as she intended to do. And by keeping the supernatural world a secret to protect her, she felt she had done more harm than good.

        "I can try but since her blood is tainted, I'll have to—"

        "The blood on her clothes is pure. Can you use that instead?" Asked Rebekah.

        Davina narrowed her gaze from Deena's stained clothes. It was easy magic she's done before and responded, "I'm only doing this for Deena and no one else, so don't call me here again. I don't wanna be mixed up in your family drama." Her gaze found Deena's. "And she shouldn't have to either."

        "You have my word," Elijah promised.

        If Klaus was in his right mind, he would've had something to say about this but for the first time in a while, he had no energy to feed into petty drama.

        Because Davina knew she could trust Elijah out of all the original siblings, she began the spell. She emptied the bowl of marbles she found on the dresser and began to remove Deena's blood into the bowl leaving her shirt spotless as if it had been recently washed. She then faced Klaus. "I need your blood." She demanded.

        One by one, they looked to Klaus who was currently in his own world. He didn't hear Davina but he soon felt their stares and allowed Elijah's voice to be heard as he called his name softly. Of course, he was worried for his brother. He's never failed to hide his worrisome in times like this. Klaus followed his gesture towards Davina waiting for something he had. What was it she asked for? My blood? Without wasting another second, he bit into his wrist and held it over the bowl as his blood began to mix in with Deena's. He pulled back his arm as he began to heal and waited in the far corner.

        Rebekah practically hovered over Davina as she continued on with the spell and Elijah stood in the center of everyone, his eyes never leaving Klaus. About five minutes later, Davina stood from her seat indicating she was finished with the spell.

        Rebekah peeled herself from the wall. "Well, is it true? Has my brother officially knocked some poor woman up against her will?"

        Klaus saw the way Davina looked at Deena, the look was enough to give him the answers they longed for, but he needed to hear it from her lips. He was desperate as they all were for the answer. She sighed finally meeting Klaus's anxious gaze. "She's a hundred percent Klaus's child." Davina announced.

        Klaus was shocked into silence.

        Not one word has been spoken as they struggled to process nature's loophole. A child, a true Mikaelson, here in flesh by the blood and DNA of Klaus, the Original Hybrid unable to create any lifeform of the living. It was difficult to create a logical answer in their heads how any of this was possible. Klaus has slept with countless women throughout the centuries, so why is it now that it's possible for his seed to create a mortal being? What made Vanessa so special out of all?

        Rebekah felt bitterness towards the situation. Though she was happy her brother has a child he could watch grow old and she has become an aunty, she knew that kind of possibility wasn't possible for her. And she desired what Klaus had—a family. From her own DNA, conceived naturally from her body, children of her own. But she was a vampire. Unlike Klaus, she could not procreate. There was no loophole for her.

        However, Elijah failed to hide his glee. After years of cleaning up after his brother's retaliation, years of watching his demons mold his anger to fear that has built a wall between his misery and his own happiness; wanting nothing but the best for him and for him to let go of his grudges against the world and start letting people in, he believed this could be a chance for Klaus to start over fresh. For not only Klaus, but for himself and for Rebekah. Maybe with the child's presence, could diminish their negative ways and bring back empathy. Something they haven't felt in a while.

        Klaus shuffled into the desk behind him, his tear-filled eyes never left the unconscious girl. He didn't look at her with hate or displeasure; it was a softer look that couldn't be explained in words. There was too much roaming around in his head and in his heart and in his actions, it was too much for him to process.

        Davina suddenly lifted the blood-filled bowl from off the bed and placed it on the smaller dresser near the bed in case Deena moved in her slumber. She clapped her hands together, gathering their destruct attention. The awkward silence was too much for her to stand in. "If that's all, I'm leaving." She sent Deena an apologetic stare before she was already out the door.

        In a flash, Davina's backside was pressed against the opened door with a hard thud. Klaus held her by the neck, seizing to scare her by his threatening presence. "What kind of trick are you playing, Davina? Do you think I can be easily fooled? Do you not fear your worthless life?" He tightened his hand as she fought out his hold. She even sank her fingers between so that she could breathe.

       "I did the spell like you asked!" Davina cried out.

        Elijah sped towards the abrupt commotion while Rebekah took a hesitant step forward, in an attempt to pull Klaus from off Davina before he did anything he'd regret, but his grip loosened from her neck as an enormous amount of pain surged his brain. He fell to his knees while gripping his head like a maniac. His groans of pain and her lifted hand allowed them to put together the pieces.

        Davina stumbled back as she caught her breath, rubbing her now red neck, eyes frantic on the other siblings in case they were going to try her. They held their ground. "Look, Deena's my friend. And as much as I wish I had sabotaged the spell and made your lives miserable, it wouldn't be fair to her and I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. She is your daughter whether you like it or not. And if you don't believe me, fine! Find another witch who's willing to do the spell. Not that you have many to call. I'm outta here."

  ��     The pain stopped as soon as Davina left the room. Klaus fell to the floor relieved of his torment. He will have his chance to murder that witch with his own bare hands someday. For now, he was focused on regaining his consciousness.

         Elijah was already at his side to help him up. "Niklaus—"

        "I don't need your help!" He pushed away his brother's helping hand and stood on his own. Everyone stood in silence. Klaus took one last look at Deena and fled the room within seconds.

        Elijah sighed.

        "How is this possible, Elijah?" Rebekah asked, staring at the child trying to find the similarities. There were a few, the same Elijah pointed out earlier, but it was hard to believe the child was real. "Despite him being a hybrid...is—is this natural? Is she truly his offspring? And If so, can he produce more?"

        "This is all new to me as it is for you, but spells cannot lie. And I trust Davina. She is a hundred percent Klaus's offspring. Now for the lather, I will have to look into that."

        She stopped at his side. "But—"

        "I said I will look into it," Rebekah recognized that tone and held off from asking any more questions that couldn't be easily answered. "Why don't you find the child something she can wear when she awakens? I will go find our brother and talk some sense into him."

        Without a word, Rebekah sped over to where Deena's luggage sat to look for come clean clothes.

        "And Rebekah?"

        She glanced up with a hum.

        He motioned his finger around the room. "Make sure the house is empty before she awakens. We don't need an incident to occur or a hungry vampire's blood on our hands."

        She rolled her eyes. "I'm always stuck with babysitting when I can do more than that," She whined. "The child I can do, but a house of pre-war vampires? They are already a pain in the ass."

        "Just get it done."

        She rolled her eyes and continued to search through Deena's clothes.

━━━━━━ ━━━━━━

       𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 entering the bar he sat at to drain his sorrows in. It was only a matter of time before Elijah tracked him down. He never ventured out of his usual locations and his secretive spots were a work in process. Bringing up his empire took up the majority of his time having to fight through an army of vampires loyal to his dear Marcel. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to kill the boy he raised to make an example out of him, so he let him flee.

        But none of that seemed to matter now that he found out he's a father.

        Father.

        A strange title he couldn't force himself to withhold. And instead of believing his forced reality, he decided to drink forth to a past he lived before the child was a thing. His glorious days he might call it.

        "You learn of the existence of your child and yet you sit here to drink it away?" Elijah swiftly made his way toward Klaus.

        Klaus placed down his 5th empty glass of whiskey and released a stressful sigh upon Elijah's disturbing question. "I do not wish to hear your nagging, brother unless you have come to join me?" With his head dangled over the glass-stained counters, he signal the waiter to pour him another glass.

        Elijah then unbuttoned his jacket and ordered the waiter to serve him another round of whiskey as he took his seat next to him. They sat in silence. But knowing Elijah, he couldn't hold off the conversation any longer.

        "What are you thinking, Niklaus?"

        "I think of nothing. But I do think I need a stronger drink, don't you agree?" Klaus was clearly bothered by the question and ordered stronger liquor he could drown in, which meant there was something on his mind. Elijah knew what it was, but understood his tough-hearted brother needed a little push.

        "Your expression tells me otherwise." He thanked the waiter who placed down his drink, and took a small sip before he continued. "Are you afraid you will become a bad father?"

        "And so she has gotten to you with her puny lies? Oh, the Noble Elijah." Klaus mocked his title with a scoff. "The Elijah I knew would not be easily swayed by an amenable spell performed by the very witch who has tried to kill me more than twice and more to come in the future. A spell so that she can forge a weakness to catch me off guard when I have no weaknesses to be used!"

        "And the brother I know would never be troubled with such matter if you truly believe her spell was purged." Klaus's heart thudded faster than its usual speedy pace, which Elijah heard or else he wouldn't have continued his boring speech. "No matter how you feel or what Davina's true intentions are, I do trust her and I trust she would not lie about something as great as this. Think about it, Niklaus, the girl's mother disappeared without a trace and when you asked of her to be located, the witch could not find her on any map which meant she was either cloaked or dead. A cloaking spell is only used when you want to hide from someone or you have something to hide."

        "Yes, thank you, Elijah, for explaining to me the usage of a cloaking spell. Care to explain how to have a quiet drink without your brother pestering him with bogus ideas next?"

        Elijah sighed. "I wish you would not joke for once."

        Elijah wasn't phased when Klaus slammed his glass against the counter and faced his brother with an irritated look on his face. "Well, how else should I process this kind of information, brother? Shall we light a candle in a dark room, stare each other in the eyes, drink from goats' blood, then share our darkest fears and insecurities with one another?" He offered, humor on his tongue.

        Elijah wore no smile on his face at his brother's silly offer. "I wish you would be honest with me for once and not hold up such a wall as if I am here to shame you of the very thing I want you to have—a family."

        He faced the counter with the glass already at his lips. It was beginning to taste like water. "I already have a family." He boasted.

        "And now you have a daughter, who is family."

        The glass pressed heavily on his bottom lip when he suddenly froze. His eyes grew big hearing the D-word and family placed into the same sentence, no longer able to hold up his glass or Elijah would see his hand was shaking. Turning his head to control himself or Elijah would catch the glossy glint filling his vision. Forcing his heartbeat to slow or Elijah would detect his anxiety. A new weakness. One he kept struggling to deny.

        Elijah made a good point about Vanessa because anyone who knew her knew she would never run from anything not even Klaus himself, but of course because of his nature, the thought never crossed his mind. He only assumed it was because of him, not the result of an action they both consented to.

        Klaus could still feel his brother's stare. He knew that if he didn't say something now—the absolute truth behind the wall he kept gluing up—Elijah would get it out of him one way or another. And frankly, he just needed an ear to hear him out. And since Cami was not in viewpoint, he had no choice but to open up to his brother.

        "Fine, you win. You want to know how I feel about becoming a father? I am petrified."

       He finally faced Elijah who had been waiting all day for this exact moment to unfold, only to feel guilty for pressing the matter. But it was what he wanted, and Klaus would give him just that.

        "Given the lack of fatherliness I received, I don't believe the subject is far-fetched. I mean, the girl is practically a young adult, what do I have in common with her? I have lived a self-ruled life of volition and a deep crave for violence as I rain hell upon my enemies, to suddenly become a father of a teenager in less than an hour?" He scoffed. His eyes suddenly black with anger while gulping down his drink in one sip and slammed the glass (almost breaking it) against the counter which caught a little attention. "Her mother knew of this knowledge yet she decided to keep it from me. Just wait until I track her down, she will never hear the last of me."

        Elijah was finally able to understand a piece of Klaus's mind. There is potential and he was already showing it despite his crave for harming the child's mother. "You have missed her childhood; her first word, her first steps, her early years of growth and you feel guilty for that. But now you have a chance to miss no more of her development. This can be a new beginning for us all, for you, Niklaus. Maybe this isn't a bad thing."

        "What if..." He swallowed hard. "What if I'm not ready? What if I'm not...good at this? Good enough? I have no experience of this sort and I don't always have the best interest of whomever I come across."

        Elijah is taken back at his vulnerability and placed his hand on his shoulder as a form of comfort. "No one is ever ready for fatherhood, it just happens. But you are not alone in this, you have me and Rebekah at your side. Together we shall find a way. Always and forever." He smiled warmly.

         For a moment, both brothers shared the weight of Klaus's fears. Hope sparked in his eyes and with comfort he knew his brother would always be at his side no matter the gravity of the situation and it made him feel a little less lonely. Almost happy even, until he remembered Zoeè and the silly prophecy she spoke of conjured out of ignorance, and the witches who seek to fulfill it by sacrificing Deena.

        He stood to his feet with a mission written on his face. "Enough milking my sorrows, brother, I have Camille for that. Because we," While placing down his bill, "have a long list of witches to kill."

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆

If you like what you read and wish to read more of this fic, you can read HERE

[thequeenofneverland1]

Before The Hope Of The Mikaelsons Family Part Two

Summary: In the Mikaelson mansion, tension brews as Klaus struggles with his emotions regarding Hayley’s pregnancy. While Elijah and Rebekah support Hayley, Klaus initially distances himself, grappling with resentment and fear of fatherhood. However, a painful moment prompts Klaus to embrace his role, igniting a bond with his unborn child. As preparations for the baby’s arrival unfold, the family is still unaware of a coven of witches plotting to take the child for their own nefarious purposes. Rebekah and Elijah hope for the family's unity, but with Kol and Freya absent, they face uncertainty. As confrontations unfold and emotions run high, the Mikaelsons prepare for challenges that will test their strength and loyalty, ultimately seeking a brighter future marked by hope and redemption.

Warnings: Emotional distress, Pregnancy-related discomfort and anxiety experienced, themes of personal struggle, including fear of parenthood and familial obligations. Potential violence and from external threats (witches) aimed at the unborn child. Past trauma and hurtful relationships among family members.

The Mikaelson mansion, with its grandeur and timeless elegance, is now overshadowed by the palpable tension that envelops it. Days have passed since the heated confrontation between Klaus and his siblings, and while Elijah and Rebekah are steadfast in their support for Hayley, Klaus remains a brooding, distant figure. His anger and resentment have created a chasm in the family, leaving Hayley isolated in a house that was once a symbol of power and unity.

Hayley, visibly pregnant and increasingly weary, spends most of her days in the sitting room, a quiet sanctuary where she can escape the constant strain of her new reality. The room, with its high ceilings and large windows, offers a serene view of the lush garden, but the tranquility is deceptive. The house, despite its opulence, feels cold and unwelcoming, and the weight of Klaus’s absence is ever-present.

Rebekah, with her characteristic determination, has taken on the role of Hayley’s primary caregiver. She meticulously checks on Hayley’s comfort, ensuring that she has everything she needs. From bringing meals to rearranging cushions and fetching tea, Rebekah’s efforts are sincere, though she can’t hide her frustration with Klaus’s behavior.

Elijah, equally concerned, divides his time between managing the family’s affairs and attending to Hayley’s needs. His presence is a steadying force, and he tries to maintain a semblance of normalcy despite the chaos surrounding them. His calm demeanor is a stark contrast to the storm brewing within Klaus, and Elijah often finds himself in the middle, trying to mediate between his brother’s stubbornness and the needs of their family.

Kol, ever the wildcard, flits in and out of the mansion with his usual air of irreverence. His visits are marked by a casual attitude and a lack of concern for the family’s turmoil. True to form, Kol arrives one afternoon with a nonchalant swagger, his casual attire a stark contrast to the somber atmosphere. He flops into a nearby chair with a dramatic sigh, his eyes glinting with mischief.

“Still here, are we?” Kol’s tone is light, though there’s a hint of mockery in his voice. “How’s the little one? Kicking up a storm yet?”

Rebekah, who is adjusting Hayley’s cushions, shoots Kol a sharp look. Her patience is wearing thin, and she can barely contain her frustration. “Kol, now is not the time for your games. We’re trying to keep things as calm and normal as possible for Hayley.”

Kol raises an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by her reprimand. “Oh, I’m just checking in. You know, making sure the little drama hasn’t gotten too dull. Besides, I wouldn’t want to miss the spectacle of Nik’s inevitable meltdown.”

Elijah, who has been reviewing some documents at the far end of the room, looks up with a sigh. The stress of managing the family’s affairs combined with the weight of their personal issues is beginning to take its toll. “Kol, this is serious. Klaus’s behavior is making things harder for everyone, especially Hayley. We need to focus on supporting her, not fueling the chaos.”

Kol’s gaze shifts to Elijah, and for a moment, there’s a flicker of understanding in his eyes. “Fine, fine. I’ll play nice. But you have to admit, it’s rather amusing watching Klaus squirm.”

Rebekah’s frustration boils over. She stands with her hands on her hips, her voice rising. “You think this is a game? Klaus is being selfish, and his behavior is affecting everyone. Especially Hayley. She’s terrified and isolated, and your little jabs aren’t helping.”

Kol shrugs, leaning back in his chair with an air of casual indifference. “All right, all right. I’ll try to keep my amusement to myself. But you must admit, this family is never short on drama.”

Elijah steps closer, his voice calm but firm. “Kol, we’re asking for your cooperation. This is a difficult time for all of us, and we need to act as a family. Klaus’s behavior might be a challenge, but we have to rise above it for Hayley’s sake.”

Kol’s eyes soften slightly, and he nods, though he still seems a bit detached from the gravity of the situation. “Understood. I’ll make an effort. But don’t expect me to be a saint about it.”

Rebekah returns her attention to Hayley, her expression softening. “How are you feeling today, Hayley? Is there anything you need? Anything we can do to make this easier?”

Hayley looks up, her eyes reflecting a mixture of gratitude and sadness. “I’m doing all right, Rebekah. Just trying to stay positive. It’s hard with everything that’s happening.”

Elijah moves to sit beside Hayley, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re all here for you. No matter what Klaus does or doesn’t do, you have us. We’ll make sure you’re safe and cared for.”

As the day continues, Kol’s presence fades as quickly as it arrived. He excuses himself with a half-hearted apology, leaving Elijah and Rebekah to carry on with their efforts. The mansion feels quieter, though the tension remains.

Hayley leans back against the cushions, feeling a mix of relief and melancholy. The support from Elijah and Rebekah is a comfort, but it’s overshadowed by Klaus’s continued absence. She knows that the road ahead will be fraught with challenges, but for now, she finds solace in the small moments of kindness and the hope that things might eventually improve.

The future remains uncertain, and Klaus’s cold demeanor is a constant reminder of the fractures within their family. But with Elijah and Rebekah’s unwavering support, Hayley finds the strength to face each day, hoping that, somehow, they can find a way to bridge the gaps and restore some semblance of unity.

As the days blend into weeks, the mansion’s atmosphere shifts subtly, though the tension remains a constant undercurrent. Klaus continues to distance himself from Hayley, his anger and resentment keeping him isolated. Meanwhile, Elijah and Rebekah work tirelessly to ensure Hayley’s comfort and well-being, their dedication unwavering despite the strain.

Elijah’s presence becomes a source of stability for Hayley. His visits are frequent, and he makes a concerted effort to be there for her in ways that go beyond mere duty. They share quiet conversations, exchange stories, and in those moments, a bond begins to form, a bond that neither of them fully understands but both find increasingly important.

One evening, as the sun dips below the horizon and the room is bathed in the soft glow of twilight, Hayley sits by the window, reading a book. Elijah enters, carrying a tray with a pot of tea and a few light snacks. He sets it down on the table beside her and takes a seat, his eyes scanning her face with a tender expression.

“You seem lost in thought,” he observes gently, his voice soft.

Hayley looks up, her eyes meeting his. “Just trying to distract myself. It’s hard not to think about everything that's happening.”

Elijah nods, understanding. He pours two cups of tea, handing one to Hayley. “It’s been a challenging time for all of us. But you’re not alone, Hayley. We’re here to support you, no matter what.”

As they sip their tea, the conversation flows naturally, shifting from light-hearted topics to deeper, more personal reflections. Elijah finds himself increasingly drawn to Hayley, not just by her strength and resilience but by the way she handles herself with grace despite the difficult circumstances.

Days turn into weeks, and Elijah’s feelings for Hayley deepen. He finds himself looking forward to their conversations, seeking out moments to spend with her. He’s careful not to let his emotions show too overtly, but there’s a warmth in his gaze and a softness in his voice that betray his growing affection.

One afternoon, Rebekah has taken a rare moment for herself, leaving Elijah and Hayley alone. They’re seated in the garden, enjoying the mild weather and the scent of blooming flowers. Hayley rests her hand on her swollen abdomen, her expression reflective.

“You know, Elijah,” she begins, her voice contemplative, “I never thought I’d be here, in this position, so far from where I thought my life was headed.”

Elijah’s gaze is steady, his expression thoughtful. “None of us expected things to turn out this way. But sometimes, life takes us on unexpected paths. It’s how we navigate those paths that defines us.”

Hayley looks at him, her eyes searching his face. “You’ve been so kind to me, Elijah. I don’t know how I would have managed without your support.”

Elijah’s heart swells at her words. He’s been trying to maintain a professional distance, but the sincerity in Hayley’s voice breaks through his resolve. “It’s my pleasure, Hayley. You deserve all the kindness in the world, especially during such a trying time.”

Their conversation continues, and Elijah finds himself opening up more than he ever intended. He shares his thoughts, his fears, and his hopes, and in return, Hayley shares hers. The connection between them deepens, evolving from simple camaraderie into something more profound.

One evening, as they sit together in the dimly lit library, the atmosphere is intimate. Hayley is curled up in a chair, while Elijah sits across from her, reading by the soft light of a lamp. The silence between them is comfortable, and Elijah can’t help but feel a sense of contentment in her presence.

He sets aside his book and looks at Hayley, his voice gentle but tinged with emotion. “Hayley, there’s something I need to tell you. These past weeks have been… transformative for me. I’ve come to realize that my feelings for you have grown beyond mere friendship.”

Hayley’s eyes meet his, and she can see the sincerity in his gaze. “Elijah, I—”

Before she can respond, the sound of footsteps echoes in the hallway, and Rebekah appears, a slight frown on her face. “I hope I’m not interrupting. I was looking for you, Elijah.”

Elijah’s expression changes to one of disappointment, but he quickly regains his composure. “Not at all, Rebekah. We were just finishing up here.”

Rebekah’s eyes flicker between them, sensing the tension in the air but choosing to ignore it for the moment. “I wanted to check on Hayley and see if she needs anything before dinner.”

Hayley smiles, her expression mixed with gratitude and a hint of disappointment. “I’m fine, Rebekah. Thank you.”

Rebekah nods and gives Elijah a meaningful look before leaving the room. Elijah turns back to Hayley, his expression softer than before.

“I guess it’s not the right time,” he says quietly, his voice filled with regret.

Hayley reaches out and places a hand on his. “It’s not that. It’s just… there’s so much going on right now. I need to focus on the baby and everything that’s happening.”

Elijah nods, his heart heavy but understanding. “Of course. We’ll take things one step at a time. I’m here for you, Hayley, no matter what.”

As the evening settles in, the connection between Elijah and Hayley remains unspoken but palpable. The bond they share is a source of solace and strength amidst the chaos, and though their feelings are complicated by the circumstances, they both find comfort in knowing they have each other.

As the days continue to pass, the Mikaelson mansion settles into a semblance of routine, despite the underlying tension. Hayley’s pregnancy progresses, and with it, the atmosphere in the house becomes a delicate balance between the fragile peace maintained by Elijah and Rebekah and the storm brewing with Klaus’s continued resentment.

Unbeknownst to the Mikaelsons, the witches in the French Quarter have been closely monitoring the situation. Their interest in Hayley’s pregnancy is more than mere curiosity. it’s part of a carefully orchestrated plan.

One evening, Sophie Deveraux and her fellow witches gather in a hidden meeting place, away from prying eyes. The room is dimly lit, filled with the scent of burning sage and the soft glow of candlelight. The air is charged with an undercurrent of dark magic, and the witches’ murmurs are laced with anticipation and intrigue.

“We’ve been watching the situation closely,” Sophie begins, her voice low but commanding. “The child Hayley carries is of significant interest to us. It has the potential to tip the balance of power in our favor.”

A witch named Leah, younger and more impulsive, speaks up. “But the Mikaelsons are powerful. If they find out what we’re planning…”

Sophie raises a hand to silence her. “They won’t find out if we do this right. We need to be strategic. The child is not just a pawn; it’s an opportunity. By taking the baby once it’s born, we can leverage it to gain favor and possibly control over the Mikaelsons.”

Another witch, Maria, a more experienced and cautious member of the coven, adds, “And what about Hayley? She’s an ally of the Mikaelsons. If we take the child, she’ll be a liability. We need to consider how to deal with her as well.”

Sophie’s gaze sharpens. “We’ll need to ensure that Hayley is rendered powerless to interfere. It’s crucial that we act quickly and discreetly. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that the Mikaelsons will discover our plans.”

The witches nod in agreement, their expressions a mixture of determination and eagerness. Sophie’s plan is bold and risky, but she’s confident in their ability to execute it. The power and influence they could gain from such a move are too enticing to ignore.

Meanwhile, in the mansion, Hayley is enjoying a rare moment of tranquility. She sits in the garden, a place that has become her sanctuary. The warm sun on her face and the gentle breeze offer a brief respite from the constant strain. Elijah joins her, carrying a tray with a light meal and fresh lemonade.

“You seem more at ease today,” Elijah observes, setting the tray down and taking a seat beside her.

Hayley smiles faintly, her hand resting on her belly. “It’s the little things that help. The garden is peaceful, and it’s moments like these that make everything feel a bit more normal.”

Elijah watches her with a tender gaze, his feelings for her growing stronger with each passing day. “I’m glad you find some comfort here. We’re doing everything we can to make sure you and the baby are safe.”

Hayley nods, her expression thoughtful. “I know. I appreciate everything you and Rebekah have done for me. It means a lot, especially when things feel so uncertain.”

Their conversation is interrupted by the distant sound of footsteps. Rebekah approaches, her face showing a mix of concern and resolve. “Elijah, Hayley, I need to speak with you both for a moment.”

Elijah stands, offering Hayley a supportive smile before following Rebekah to a quieter corner of the garden. Hayley remains seated, her thoughts drifting to the conversation she’d had with Elijah and the growing bond between them.

As Rebekah and Elijah converse in hushed tones, their discussion is focused on the latest developments and their concerns about Klaus’s continued detachment. They’ve been working tirelessly to ensure Hayley’s safety, but with the witches’ plans unknown to them, there’s an added layer of danger that they are not yet aware of.

Sophie and her coven, where they are finalizing their plan. The witches prepare for the next phase of their scheme, confident that their calculated approach will allow them to seize the opportunity when the time comes.

Their conversation concludes, and the witches begin to disperse, each focused on their assigned tasks. Sophie remains behind, her eyes reflecting a cold determination. The plan to take Hayley’s baby is set in motion, and she is resolved to see it through, no matter the cost.

Back in the mansion, the sense of normalcy is only a facade. The impending threat from the witches looms on the horizon, an unseen danger that threatens to disrupt the fragile equilibrium that Elijah and Rebekah have worked so hard to maintain. As Hayley and the Mikaelsons continue their lives, they remain blissfully unaware of the dark forces conspiring against them, waiting for the moment to strike.

The stage is set for a confrontation that will test the limits of their strength, loyalty, and resolve. For now, the mansion continues its uneasy peace, but the shadows are growing longer, and the threat of the witches’ plan casts a dark cloud over the future.

The tension in the mansion is nearly unbearable as days stretch on, and the looming threat from the witches remains unseen by the Mikaelsons. Elijah, growing increasingly frustrated with Klaus’s obstinacy, decides to confront his brother directly. The hope is that by appealing to Klaus’s sense of family and responsibility, he might finally break through the stubborn wall of resentment.

One evening, Elijah finds Klaus in his study, a room filled with artifacts and relics that reflect Klaus’s long history. Klaus is brooding over a glass of wine, the dim light casting shadows across his face. Elijah enters, his expression a mix of determination and weariness.

“Niklaus, we need to talk,” Elijah begins, his voice firm but calm.

Klaus looks up, his eyes narrowing. “What is it now, Elijah? Haven’t you made enough attempts to ‘talk’ with me?”

Elijah takes a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. “This isn’t just about our family feud or your personal grievances. This is about Hayley and the baby. Your continued hostility is doing nothing but causing more harm.”

Klaus’s face hardens, his eyes flashing with defiance. “You don’t understand, Elijah. I never wanted any of this. I didn’t ask for this child to come into our lives, and I certainly didn’t ask for the complications that have followed.”

Elijah’s frustration is evident, but he keeps his voice steady. “It’s not about what you wanted or didn’t want. It’s about the reality we’re facing now. Hayley is carrying your child. Regardless of how you feel about her, you have a responsibility. Running away from it won’t change anything.”

Klaus stands, his posture rigid and defensive. “Responsibility? You think I’m avoiding my responsibilities? I’m trying to protect what’s left of my family from becoming entangled in this mess. The more we involve ourselves, the more danger we invite.”

Elijah’s patience wears thin, but he tries to stay calm. “And what about Hayley? What about the child? You’re ignoring the fact that your actions. or lack thereof are affecting them deeply. You’re pushing them away, and that’s not helping anyone.”

Klaus’s gaze hardens further, a mixture of anger and resentment surfacing. “You don’t understand what it’s like, Elijah. I’ve been betrayed, hunted, and tormented for centuries. Why should I suddenly care about this child? Why should I pretend that everything’s fine?”

Elijah steps closer, his voice rising with frustration. “Because it’s the right thing to do! We’ve always been a family, despite our flaws. And now, more than ever, we need to come together. If you can’t see that, then you’re losing sight of what truly matters.”

Klaus’s expression falters momentarily, a flicker of vulnerability showing through his anger. But he quickly masks it with a scowl. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to you lecture me about what matters. I’ve made my decisions, and I’m not changing them.”

Elijah’s shoulders sag in resignation. He takes a step back, his disappointment evident. “Very well. But don’t expect us to stand by quietly while you refuse to see reason. We will protect Hayley and the baby, with or without your help.”

With that, Elijah turns and leaves the study, the door closing behind him with a definitive click. Klaus remains standing, the weight of Elijah’s words lingering in the air. He stares at the wine in his glass, the reflection of his own frustration and isolation staring back at him.

As Elijah walks away, he feels a deep sense of concern. Klaus’s refusal to acknowledge the importance of their situation is disheartening, but Elijah knows that he cannot give up. The stakes are too high, and the consequences of inaction are too great.

In the quiet of the mansion, the distance between Klaus and the rest of the family feels more pronounced than ever. Elijah and Rebekah are left to navigate the turbulent waters on their own, their efforts to support Hayley and prepare for the challenges ahead made even more difficult by Klaus’s obstinacy.

The threat from the witches remains a looming shadow, and the Mikaelsons must face the reality of their situation. With Klaus unwilling to listen, the burden falls on Elijah and Rebekah to protect Hayley and the unborn child from the dangers that lie ahead, while also trying to mend the rift within their family.

The compound, once a symbol of unity and power, now stands as a battleground of unresolved conflicts and impending threats. And as the days move forward, the challenges facing the Mikaelsons become ever more apparent, with the stakes growing higher and the need for unity more urgent than ever.

The tension within the mansion reaches a new height as the days stretch on, and the challenges of Hayley’s pregnancy continue to weigh heavily on everyone. Klaus’s continued distance and refusal to acknowledge his role in the situation have become a source of increasing frustration for his siblings.

In the midst of this turmoil, Rebekah reaches a breaking point. After Elijah’s failed attempt to reason with Klaus, Rebekah decides to confront her brother herself, hoping that a more personal approach might break through his stubbornness.

One evening, as the house settles into a quiet she finds Klaus in the study, the same room where Elijah had earlier confronted him. Klaus is once again brooding over a glass of wine, his thoughts clearly troubled. Rebekah enters, her expression resolute and her posture firm.

“Klaus, we need to talk,” Rebekah begins, her voice steady but laced with frustration.

Klaus looks up, a trace of irritation crossing his features. “What more is there to discuss, Rebekah? I’ve already made my position clear.”

Rebekah steps closer, her eyes filled with a mixture of anger and desperation. “It’s not about what you’ve made clear. It’s about the reality of the situation. That child. your child will be born soon, and you’re acting like it doesn’t matter.”

Klaus’s face hardens, his defenses rising. “I’ve told you, I never wanted this. I never asked for this complication in my life.”

Rebekah’s frustration boils over. “How can you be so callous? That child is yours. You made it. And despite everything, it’s a part of you. How do you think that child will feel knowing that their father doesn’t care about them? That he actively chooses to ignore their existence?”

Klaus’s expression flickers with something guilt, regret, or perhaps a mix of both. But he quickly masks it with a scowl. “I’m protecting the family. I’m protecting everyone from the consequences of this situation.”

Rebekah shakes her head, her voice rising with emotion. “Protecting them? Or are you just afraid to face your own feelings? That child will grow up knowing that their father never loved them, never cared for them. Do you think that’s what’s best for them? To be a reminder of something unwanted and unacknowledged?”

Klaus’s gaze drops to his glass, his knuckles white as he grips it tightly. “You don’t understand, Rebekah. I’ve always had to guard myself, to protect my heart from being hurt. I didn’t want this child to be another source of pain.”

Rebekah’s voice softens, but her determination remains. “Klaus, you can’t protect yourself from everything. Sometimes, you have to face your fears, your emotions. That child deserves to know that they’re loved, even if it’s difficult for you. They deserve to know that their father was willing to make an effort, to show that he cared.”

Klaus’s defenses begin to crumble under Rebekah’s impassioned words. He looks up, his eyes haunted by a mix of fear and regret. “And what if I can’t? What if I’m too afraid to give them what they need?”

Rebekah steps closer, her voice a mixture of compassion and resolve. “Then you need to find a way to overcome that fear. For the sake of the child, for Hayley, and for the sake of the family. We’re all in this together. You can’t just shut yourself off and expect everything to turn out fine.”

Klaus remains silent, his gaze distant as he processes her words. The weight of his responsibilities and fears seems to press down on him, leaving him at a crossroads. Rebekah’s words resonate with him, but the path forward remains unclear.

Rebekah takes a deep breath, her expression softening. “I’m not asking you to change overnight, Klaus. Just… think about what’s truly important. The family, the child, and what kind of person you want to be for them. We all make mistakes, but we also have the chance to make things right.”

With that, Rebekah turns and leaves the study, her heart heavy but hopeful. Klaus remains behind, the silence of the room a stark contrast to the heated conversation that had just taken place. He’s left alone with his thoughts, the echoes of Rebekah’s words reverberating through his mind.

As the night deepens, Klaus contemplates his next steps. The walls he’s built around himself seem to be eroding, and the reality of his situation becomes more pressing. Rebekah’s plea for him to embrace his role as a father and to show love for his child challenges him to confront his own fears and insecurities.

In the quiet of the mansion, the delicate balance of emotions and responsibilities continues to shift. With Rebekah’s heartfelt plea and Elijah’s unwavering support, the hope remains that Klaus will eventually find a way to reconcile his fears and take his place as a father, embracing the challenges and responsibilities that come with it.

The atmosphere in the mansion remains tense and strained as the days continue to pass. Elijah, having already confronted Klaus to little effect, decides to make one last, earnest attempt to reach his brother. He understands that Klaus is stubborn and reluctant, but he believes that there is still a chance to make him see the significance of the situation.

One evening, Elijah finds Klaus alone in the study once more, the room dimly lit by the soft glow of a single lamp. Klaus is seated at his desk, papers scattered before him, but his mind seems distant. Elijah approaches, his demeanor resolute yet calm.

“Klaus,” Elijah begins, his voice steady, “I know that you don’t want to talk and that you’re not inclined to listen. But just hear me out.”

Klaus looks up from his desk, a mixture of irritation and curiosity in his eyes. “What more is there to say, Elijah? I’ve made my position clear.”

Elijah steps closer, his expression earnest. “I understand that you’re struggling with this situation. I do. But you need to see the bigger picture. This baby… it’s not just a complication. It’s something more.”

Klaus’s gaze narrows, his skepticism apparent. “And what exactly is it supposed to be? Just another burden to bear?”

Elijah shakes his head, his voice filled with conviction. “No, Klaus. The baby is going to be our hope. Our hope for the future of the Mikaelson family. Despite everything that’s happened, this child represents a new beginning a chance for redemption and unity.”

Klaus’s expression remains guarded, but Elijah can see the flicker of curiosity in his eyes. “Hope? Redemption? You can’t be serious.”

Elijah’s tone softens, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and desperation. “I am serious. The Mikaelson family has endured countless trials and betrayals. We’ve faced darkness and hardship. But this child… this child could be a symbol of something better. It’s a chance for us to heal, to come together, and to build something new.”

Klaus’s gaze drifts to the window, his expression contemplative. “And you really believe that this child can change everything? That it will somehow fix what’s been broken?”

Elijah nods, his voice filled with quiet conviction. “I do believe it. I believe that this child represents more than just a continuation of our family line. It’s a chance for us to start fresh, to move beyond our past mistakes and create a future where we can find peace and unity.”

Klaus remains silent for a moment, the weight of Elijah’s words settling over him. He’s always been a man driven by his fears and insecurities, but Elijah’s plea resonates with a part of him that’s yearning for something more a chance to mend the broken pieces of his life and his family.

Elijah takes a deep breath, his expression hopeful. “Klaus, I know this is difficult. I know it’s not what you wanted or expected. But sometimes, the greatest challenges bring the greatest opportunities. This child could be our chance to finally find what we’ve all been searching for hope, redemption, and a chance to rebuild.”

Klaus’s expression softens slightly, a hint of the conflict within him visible. “And what if I can’t be what you need me to be? What if I’m too afraid to embrace this?”

Elijah places a hand on Klaus’s shoulder, his voice filled with empathy. “Then you take it one step at a time. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to try. For the sake of the child, for Hayley, and for the future of our family.”

Klaus’s gaze meets Elijah’s, and for the first time, there’s a glimmer of vulnerability in his eyes. The walls he’s built around himself seem to be cracking, and the possibility of change, though daunting, begins to take shape.

Elijah offers a reassuring smile, hoping that Klaus will take the first step towards accepting his role and embracing the hope that the child represents. With that, Elijah turns and leaves the study, giving Klaus the space to process the weight of their conversation.

As the night settles over the mansion, Klaus is left alone with his thoughts, the echoes of Elijah’s words resonating in his mind. The idea of the child as a symbol of hope and redemption challenges his long held beliefs and fears, presenting him with a choice that could define the future of the Mikaelson family.

The mansion, once a place of discord and struggle, now holds the potential for change. The journey ahead is uncertain, but with Elijah’s heartfelt plea and the promise of a new beginning, there’s a glimmer of hope that the family may find a way to heal and unite, starting with the new life that’s about to enter their world.

As the night deepens, Elijah finds Hayley in the garden, her sanctuary amidst the chaos of the mansion. She’s seated on a bench, her hands resting gently on her growing belly. The garden’s tranquility provides a temporary escape from the tumultuous atmosphere inside the house. Elijah approaches, his expression thoughtful.

“Hayley,” Elijah begins softly, “I wanted to talk to you about something important.”

Hayley looks up, her expression curious and a bit weary. “What is it, Elijah?”

Elijah takes a seat beside her, his tone earnest. “I’ve been speaking with Klaus, trying to make him see the significance of the situation. I believe that this baby, your child… it’s more than just a new life. It’s a symbol of hope for the Mikaelson family.”

Hayley furrows her brow, clearly puzzled. “Hope? I don’t understand. How can a baby be a symbol of hope for your family? It seems like such a heavy burden to place on a child.”

Elijah nods, understanding her confusion. “It’s not just about the child carrying a burden. It’s about what this child represents. For us, the Mikaelsons, this baby is a chance for a new beginning. a chance to mend old wounds and find a path towards redemption.”

Hayley’s eyes search Elijah’s face, trying to grasp the full meaning of his words. “But what if Klaus doesn’t see it that way? What if he never comes around?”

Elijah’s expression is a mix of determination and concern. “I’m hopeful that he will. We’ve faced so much darkness and strife. This child could be the catalyst for change, a way for us to come together as a family and start anew. It’s a chance for us to rebuild and find a way forward.”

Hayley remains silent for a moment, processing Elijah’s words. The idea of the baby being a beacon of hope is both daunting and comforting. “I want to believe that. I really do. But right now, it feels like everything is falling apart.”

Elijah places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It may seem that way now, but sometimes the greatest changes come from the most difficult circumstances. We have to hold on to hope, even when it’s hard to see.”

As their conversation continues, the scene shifts to the French Quarter, where the witches are gathered once again in their hidden meeting place. The air is thick with the scent of burning herbs and the murmur of incantations. Sophie Deveraux and her coven are deep in discussion, their focus on the impending birth of Hayley’s child.

“We’ve observed that the Mikaelsons are placing great importance on this child,” Sophie says, her tone contemplative. “They see it as their hope for redemption and a new beginning.”

Leah, one of the younger witches, looks up with curiosity. “Does this change our plans?”

Sophie shakes her head, her expression determined. “No. If anything, it makes our actions even more crucial. The more they invest in this child, the more devastating it will be for them when we take it from them.”

Maria, an experienced witch, adds, “And what about Hayley? She’s already vulnerable. If we remove the child, we’ll need to be prepared for her reaction.”

Sophie’s gaze sharpens with resolve. “We’ll handle Hayley as needed. Our primary goal is to ensure that the Mikaelsons are thrown into chaos. By taking the child, we’ll not only gain leverage but also demonstrate our power. The Mikaelsons have always underestimated us. This is our chance to show them what we’re capable of.”

The witches nod in agreement, their faces set with determination. The plan to take the child remains firmly in place, with the goal of exploiting the family’s emotional investment in the baby.

As the meeting concludes, the witches disperse, each focused on their part of the scheme. Sophie remains behind, her thoughts centered on the impending birth and the potential impact of their actions.

Back in the mansion, Elijah and Hayley’s conversation comes to a close, leaving Hayley with a mixture of hope and apprehension. The promise of a new beginning is tempered by the reality of the challenges they face. As she prepares to return inside, her thoughts are heavy with the uncertainty of the future.

The stage is set for a dramatic clash between the Mikaelsons and the witches. With the baby representing both hope and vulnerability, the coming days will test the strength and resilience of the family, as they confront the dark forces conspiring against them and navigate the path to redemption and unity.

In the dimly lit room, Hayley sat with a laptop open on her lap, her attention focused on the screen. She typed with a sense of purpose, the glow from the monitor casting a soft light on her face. The atmosphere was calm, punctuated only by the gentle tapping of the keyboard.

Klaus stood a short distance away, his back facing Hayley. He glanced over his shoulder, a subtle smile forming on his lips as he observed her from afar. There was a quiet, almost detached curiosity in his expression, his emotions masked behind a calm exterior.

Hayley paused her typing and looked up, catching Klaus’s reflection in the laptop screen. “I think it’s going to be a girl,” she said, her tone revealing a mix of certainty and hope.

Klaus’s smile remained, but he said nothing in response. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the window, allowing the moment to

Klaus was pacing the grand halls of the compound, his thoughts heavy with the weight of his responsibilities. The usual calm of the estate was disrupted by a sudden sense of urgency that had taken hold of him. As he walked past the lounge, he caught sight of Hayley, who was sitting on a sofa, her face contorted in pain.

“Klaus...” she said weakly as he approached, her hand resting on her abdomen.

Klaus’s heart tightened. He knelt beside her, his usual composure replaced by genuine worry. “What’s happening? Are you in pain?”

Hayley nodded, her face pale. “It’s been getting worse. I didn’t want to worry you, but I can’t seem to make it stop.”

Without hesitation, Klaus stood and called for one of the trusted witches who frequented the compound. “I need you here now,” he instructed, his voice urgent. “Hayley’s in pain, and we need your help.”

The witch arrived promptly, her expression serious as she assessed Hayley’s condition. She began muttering incantations and performing a series of tests, her concentration intense. Klaus stood nearby, his anxiety palpable as he watched her work.

As the minutes ticked by, Klaus’s mind raced. He glanced at Hayley, her pained expression a stark reminder of the life she carried. The weight of his feelings for their unborn child began to settle on him, revealing a depth of emotion he had previously ignored.

When the witch finally looked up, her expression a mix of relief and reassurance, Klaus felt a wave of tension lift. “The child is fine,” she said. “It’s just a bit of stress. Hayley needs to rest.”

Klaus exhaled deeply, the realization hitting him with full force. The fear and relief he felt were more than just concern for Hayley; they were tied to the child she was carrying. He understood now how deeply he cared for this unborn life, a realization that left him both unsettled and enlightened.

As the witch left and Klaus helped Hayley settle more comfortably, he remained by her side. His gaze lingered on her with newfound understanding, the realization of his love for their child settling within him like a revelation. The compound’s grandeur seemed to fade in comparison to the personal, emotional journey he was undergoing.

Ever since that day at the compound, Klaus’s demeanor had subtly changed. The revelation of his deep-seated feelings for his unborn child had transformed his interactions with Hayley. Where he once kept a cautious distance, he now sought moments to connect with her and the baby growing within her.

Each day, Klaus found himself gravitating towards Hayley. He would spend hours in her company, sitting beside her as she rested. His presence, once reserved and distant, became a constant, supportive anchor.

Klaus took to gently placing his hand on Hayley’s belly, feeling the subtle movements of the baby beneath his palm. He would talk softly to the unborn child, his voice carrying a tender warmth. “Hello, little one,” he would say with a rare softness in his tone. “I’m your father. I promise to do everything I can to protect you.”

Hayley watched these moments with a quiet smile, touched by Klaus’s newfound commitment. She could see the change in him. his actions spoke of a love that had blossomed, a bond forming despite the complexities of their past.

Klaus’s care extended beyond words. He would often bring small gifts for the baby, things he thought would be useful or meaningful. He attended to Hayley’s needs with a dedicated attentiveness, ensuring she was comfortable and supported.

In the quiet moments of the evening, Klaus would sit by Hayley’s side, reading to her and the baby from his favorite books. His voice, once cold and commanding, now carried a soothing cadence, creating a comforting environment for both mother and child.

As the days turned into weeks, Klaus’s commitment to his unborn child became more apparent. His once distant, guarded demeanor was replaced with a genuine, nurturing presence. The bond he shared with Hayley and their baby was now a defining part of his life. a new chapter he embraced with an unexpected, heartfelt devotion.

The changes in Klaus did not go unnoticed by his siblings. Elijah and Rebekah had observed Klaus's newfound devotion and were quietly pleased by the transformation. His once aloof demeanor had softened, and the way he interacted with Hayley and the unborn child revealed a depth of feeling they hadn’t seen before.

One evening, as they gathered in the family lounge, Rebekah turned to Elijah, her eyes reflecting both relief and happiness. “Have you noticed that he’s been so different? so much more engaged and caring.”

Elijah nodded, a rare smile touching his lips. “I have noticed. It seems that he’s finally found something that truly matters to him. It’s as if the impending arrival of his child has given him a new purpose.”

Rebekah’s eyes sparkled with warmth. “It’s good to see him like this. The baby will bring a new dynamic to our family. one that we’ve needed.”

Elijah agreed, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I think it’s time for Kol and Freya to come back. This child. our niece or nephew. is going to be a beacon of hope for the family. We should let them know.”

Elijah picked up the phone and dialed Kol’s number. After a few rings, Kol’s familiar voice answered. “Elijah, what’s going on?”

“Elijah here. I hope you’re well. I’m calling because there’s news that I believe you need to hear. Klaus has changed remarkably. He’s been deeply involved with Hayley and the baby. It’s clear now that this child will be more than just a new member of our family. This baby is to be the hope for us all.”

Kol’s curiosity piqued. “The hope? Explain.”

“Our family has faced countless challenges,” Elijah continued. “But with this child, Klaus is finding a new sense of purpose. This baby represents a chance for a new beginning. a chance for healing and unity. It’s important that you come back. We need to come together as a family for this new chapter.”

Kol paused, taking in the weight of Elijah’s words. “I see. I’ll make arrangements to return. This is significant. Thank you for letting me know.”

As the call ended, Elijah turned to Rebekah, his expression resolute. “Kol will be back soon. It’s important that we support Klaus and this child, and ensure that our family remains united through this new beginning.”

Rebekah nodded, her smile broadening. “It’s a hopeful sign, Elijah. We’re on the brink of something new, and it’s about time.”

As Elijah and Rebekah prepared for Kol’s return, the atmosphere within the compound was filled with a renewed sense of hope and anticipation. Klaus’s transformation was a sign of positive change, and the arrival of the baby was seen as a beacon of renewal for the family.

However, hidden from their joyous preparations, a dark plot was brewing. A faction of witches, discontent with the balance of power and fearful of the child’s potential influence, had set their sights on the unborn baby. They believed that the child’s unique heritage and potential for immense power could tip the scales in their favor, and they were determined to seize this opportunity.

The witches, led by a cunning and ambitious figure, gathered in a dimly lit, secretive lair. Their leader spoke with a voice dripping with malevolence. “The child Klaus and Hayley are expecting is not just a new member of their family; it’s a potential key to great power. We must act swiftly and decisively.”

One of the witches, a young woman with a sharp gaze, nodded. “We need to approach this carefully. The child’s protection is formidable, but we have ways of bypassing their defenses.”

As the witches made their plans, Klaus remained unaware of the impending danger. He continued to bond with Hayley and their unborn child, his efforts to prepare for the baby’s arrival growing stronger each day. His attention was solely focused on ensuring that the child would have a safe and loving environment.

Klaus and Elijah were walking through the courtyard of the compound, discussing the final preparations for the baby’s arrival and Kol’s impending return. The air was thick with anticipation, but a lingering tension undercut their conversation. Klaus, despite his newfound dedication, couldn’t shake the feeling that something ominous was on the horizon.

As they rounded a corner, they were met by a figure stepping out of the shadows. a man with a smug smile and a malicious glint in his eyes. He was someone they both recognized, an enemy from their past who had no love for the Mikaelsons.

“Ah, Klaus,” the man drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “The great Original Hybrid, about to become a father. I never thought I’d see the day.”

Klaus stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing as he sized up the intruder. Elijah, ever composed, took a step closer to his brother, ready to support him if needed.

The man continued, his smile widening. “I can’t help but feel sorry for the child. Imagine having a father like you, Klaus. A man who has caused nothing but trouble and pain wherever he goes.”

Klaus’s jaw tightened, the man’s words striking a nerve. But before he could respond, the man took a step closer, his tone growing more venomous. “Your child doesn’t stand a chance, not with you as a father. You’ve left a trail of bodies and broken hearts across centuries. what kind of life will your child have, being raised by a monster?”

Elijah’s eyes darkened, but he remained silent, letting Klaus take the lead. He knew his brother well enough to understand that this confrontation would cut deep, yet he trusted Klaus to handle it in his own way.

Klaus stepped forward, his expression cold and dangerous. “You’d do well to watch your tongue,” he hissed, his voice low and menacing. “You know nothing of what I’ve endured, or what I’ll do to protect my child.”

The man sneered. “Protect? You’ve brought nothing but destruction to everyone around you. What makes you think you’re capable of being a father? Your child is doomed to suffer because of you.”

Klaus felt a surge of anger, but beneath it, there was a sliver of doubt. an echo of his deepest fears. Yet, as he looked at the man before him, Klaus’s resolve hardened. He refused to let this man, or anyone else, dictate his future or undermine his commitment to his child.

With a calmness that belied the storm raging inside him, Klaus replied, “My past may be bloody, but I won’t let it define my future, or my child’s. You can say what you like, but this child will know love and protection. Things I’ve learned to value in ways you’ll never understand.”

The man’s smirk faltered slightly, sensing the steely determination in Klaus’s words. Elijah stepped forward then, his presence a silent but powerful reminder of the family’s unity. “I suggest you leave, before my brother decides to show you just how much he’s changed,” Elijah warned, his voice steady and controlled.

The man hesitated, then took a step back, recognizing the danger he was in. “We’ll see, Klaus. We’ll see if you can really change.” With that, he turned and melted back into the shadows, leaving Klaus and Elijah alone once more.

As the figure disappeared, Elijah looked at Klaus, his expression a mix of concern and support. “You handled that well, brother,” he said softly.

Klaus nodded, though his eyes remained fixed on the spot where the man had stood. “I won’t let anyone threaten my family,” he murmured, more to himself than to Elijah. “Not now, not ever.”

Elijah placed a reassuring hand on Klaus’s shoulder. “And you won’t have to. We’re all in this together, Klaus. We’ll protect this child, no matter what.”

Klaus turned to his brother, his expression softening slightly. “Thank you, Elijah,” he said quietly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that.”

With that, the brothers continued their walk, but the encounter lingered in their minds. a reminder that while Klaus had made strides toward change, the world still held those who doubted his capacity for it. And as the days ahead would prove, the challenges to his resolve were far from over.

Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes sat in her office, the quiet of the evening settling around her as she went through the last of the day’s paperwork. Her mind, however, wasn’t on the reports in front of her. Instead, it drifted to thoughts of her daughter, Caroline. Though Caroline was now an adult and carving out her own path, Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel a longing in her heart—a desire for the days when she had a child to raise and care for.

As the door to her office creaked open, Sheriff Rodriguez, a fellow officer and longtime acquaintance, strolled in with his usual swagger. He leaned against the doorframe, a smirk playing on his lips as he observed Elizabeth’s pensive expression.

“Lost in thought, Liz?” Rodriguez asked, his tone casual yet inquisitive.

Elizabeth looked up, her thoughts momentarily interrupted. “Just thinking about Caroline. She’s all grown up now. I can’t help but miss having a child to raise, someone who still needs me.”

Rodriguez raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “You’re not the type to get all sentimental, Liz. But I get it. Kids grow up fast, don’t they?”

Elizabeth sighed, leaning back in her chair. “They do. And as proud as I am of Caroline, I miss the days when she was younger. I guess I’m just... feeling a bit nostalgic.”

Rodriguez’s smirk deepened, a glint of something mischievous in his eyes. “Well, if it’s another kid you’re looking to raise, I might have a lead for you.”

Elizabeth looked at him curiously. “What are you talking about?”

Rodriguez stepped further into the room, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “I’ve heard some interesting gossip around town. Word is, the Original Hybrid Klaus Mikaelson. and a werewolf are expecting a baby.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened slightly, her interest piqued. “Klaus Mikaelson? The same Klaus who’s been wreaking havoc in New Orleans and Mystic Falls? And he’s having a child?”

Rodriguez nodded, his smirk never fading. “That’s right. And you know, with all the trouble he’s caused over the years, some folks are wondering if that baby might end up needing a more... stable environment. Someone with experience raising a child in a complicated world.”

Elizabeth frowned, her thoughts racing. The idea of Klaus Mikaelson being a father was hard to reconcile with the image of the ruthless, dangerous hybrid she knew. But the idea of a vulnerable child being brought into such a turbulent situation stirred something protective within her.

“I don’t know, Rodriguez,” Elizabeth said cautiously. “That’s a dangerous situation. But... if that child ever needed help, I’d want to be there for them.”

Rodriguez shrugged, his smirk turning into a more serious expression. “Just something to think about, Liz. That baby could end up being more important than any of us realize. And if anyone’s got the experience to step in, it’s you.”

Elizabeth nodded slowly, her mind now fully engaged with the implications of what Rodriguez had suggested. As he left her office, she sat quietly, contemplating the possibility of becoming involved in the life of the unborn child of the most feared supernatural being in Mystic Falls.

The thought was daunting, but also strangely appealing. And though she didn’t yet know how things would unfold, Elizabeth Forbes felt a new sense of purpose stirring within her.

Rebekah and Elijah sat in one of the quieter rooms of the compound, discussing the future with a mix of hope and trepidation. The upcoming arrival of Klaus and Hayley’s baby had brought a new dynamic to their family, and they both felt the weight of the responsibility that lay ahead.

“I’ve been thinking about the baby,” Rebekah said, her voice soft yet thoughtful. “It’s incredible to see Klaus so involved, so caring. I never thought I’d see this side of him.”

Elijah nodded, a fond smile touching his lips. “It’s true. The child has already changed him in ways I didn’t think possible. There’s a vulnerability in him now, a sense of purpose that’s quite remarkable.”

Rebekah leaned back, her expression dreamy. “Do you think it’s going to be a girl? I’ve always imagined Klaus having a daughter. Someone who can bring out the best in him, someone he’d be fiercely protective of.”

Elijah considered her words. “Hayley seems to believe it will be a girl. She has a mother’s intuition, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s right. Regardless, boy or girl, this child will be loved and protected by all of us.”

As they continued their conversation, Hayley was sitting in her room, a laptop on her lap as she browsed through various baby items. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was carrying a daughter, and the thought filled her with a sense of joy and anticipation.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Klaus entering the room. He approached her with his usual grace, a tender smile playing on his lips as he saw the glow in her eyes.

“Klaus,” Hayley said, her voice soft but excited. “I’ve been thinking... I really believe we’re having a girl.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. “A girl, you say? And what makes you so certain?”

Hayley placed a hand on her belly, a warm smile spreading across her face. “I just have this feeling. Call it a mother’s intuition, but I’m convinced. Our daughter is going to be strong and beautiful, just like her father.”

Klaus’s expression softened as he sat beside Hayley, placing a hand gently on her belly. “A daughter,” he mused, his voice filled with a mix of wonder and pride. “I suppose I could imagine that. She’d be fierce, undoubtedly. And I’d do everything in my power to protect her.”

Hayley nodded, her eyes shining with affection. “I know you will, Klaus. And she’ll be lucky to have you as her father.”

Klaus looked at her, his smile widening. “And she’ll be lucky to have you as her mother, Hayley. We’ll make sure she has everything she needs, and more.”

As they sat together, imagining the future with their daughter, the bond between them grew stronger. Despite the challenges they had faced, and those yet to come, they felt united in their commitment to the life they were bringing into the world.

Unbeknownst to them, the conversation between Rebekah and Elijah continued nearby, filled with similar hopes and dreams for the baby’s arrival. The Mikaelson family, despite its many trials, was coming together in anticipation of a new beginning. One that promised both challenges and profound joy.

Elijah was in his study, reviewing some old texts as he pondered the future of their family. The atmosphere in the compound had shifted significantly with the impending arrival of Klaus and Hayley’s child, and Elijah was determined to ensure that everything was in place for the new addition. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was Kol.

A small smile formed on Elijah’s lips as he answered, “Kol, I’ve been expecting your call. Are you on your way?”

On the other end of the line, Kol’s voice was sharp and laced with bitterness. “Elijah, I’ve changed my mind. I won’t be coming back. Why should I? What’s the point when Klaus still has those daggers and the same penchant for using them on us?”

Elijah’s smile faded, replaced by concern. “Kol, you know that things have changed. Klaus is different now. He’s preparing for the birth of his child, our niece or nephew. This baby is going to be the hope our family needs. the hope you need.”

Kol let out a dry, humorless laugh. “Hope? You’re telling me that this child, Klaus’s child, is going to be our salvation? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe. I’ve spent centuries watching Klaus tear our family apart, and now you expect me to believe that he’s suddenly a changed man because he’s going to be a father?”

“Kol,” Elijah began, trying to keep his voice calm, “I understand your doubts, but this child is different. Klaus is different. We have a chance to start anew, to be the family we’ve always wanted to be. This child represents a future we’ve never had. a future worth fighting for.”

But Kol wasn’t swayed. “You talk about hope, Elijah, but all I see is the same cycle repeating itself. Klaus may be playing the doting father now, but how long before he reverts to his old ways? How long before one of us ends up with a dagger in our chest again?”

Elijah took a deep breath, knowing that convincing Kol wouldn’t be easy. “Kol, I can’t force you to return, but I ask you to consider this: we’ve all suffered at Klaus’s hands, but we’ve also seen the potential for change in him. This child is a chance for all of us to heal, to rebuild. I believe in that hope, and I believe that you could, too.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and for a moment, Elijah thought Kol might be reconsidering. But then Kol spoke, his tone colder than before. “You’re a fool, Elijah. You’re blinded by your need to see the good in Klaus. I’ve lived through too many of his betrayals to believe that anything will change now. If you want to place your faith in this child, go ahead. But I refuse to be dragged into another one of Klaus’s schemes. I don’t believe in hope, and I certainly don’t believe in him.”

With that, the line went dead. Elijah stared at the phone in his hand, a deep sense of disappointment washing over him. Kol’s words had cut deep, not because Elijah doubted Klaus or the future they were building, but because he knew how much his brother’s cynicism stemmed from the pain they had all endured.

Rebekah entered the room, noticing the troubled expression on Elijah’s face. “What’s wrong, Elijah? Who was that?”

Elijah sighed, setting the phone down. “It was Kol. He’s decided not to return. He doesn’t believe in the hope this child represents. He’s still holding on to the past, to the pain Klaus has caused us.”

Rebekah frowned, her heart sinking. “Kol’s always been the most stubborn of us. But maybe in time, he’ll come around. Maybe once the baby is born, he’ll see that things can be different.”

Elijah nodded, though the weight of Kol’s words lingered. “Perhaps. But for now, we must continue to prepare without him. This child will be our hope, even if Kol doesn’t believe it yet.”

As Rebekah reached out to place a comforting hand on Elijah’s shoulder, they both knew that the road ahead would be fraught with challenges. But no matter the obstacles, they were determined to protect their family and the future that rested on the tiny heartbeat growing within Hayley.

Rebekah wandered through the halls of the Mikaelson compound, lost in her thoughts about the recent conversation with Elijah. The anticipation of the baby’s arrival was palpable, and despite the lingering tension with Kol, she felt a sense of hope that had been absent for far too long.

As she passed by one of the rooms, she paused, noticing the door slightly ajar. Curious, she peeked inside and was met with a sight she never expected to see.

Klaus was in the middle of the room, focused intently on his task. The walls were freshly painted a soft, delicate pink, with whimsical princess designs decorating the space. A beautifully crafted crib stood against one wall, and Klaus was carefully assembling what appeared to be a princess castle, its intricate details already taking shape. Nearby, a changing table had been meticulously put together, ready for the arrival of the baby.

For a moment, Rebekah simply watched, a soft smile spreading across her face. It was a rare sight to see Klaus like this. so focused, so invested in something other than power or revenge. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen in centuries, a side she’d almost forgotten existed.

She stepped into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb him, but Klaus sensed her presence and looked up, meeting her gaze.

Rebekah smiled warmly. “So, it’s official then? You and Hayley think it’s going to be a girl.”

Klaus returned her smile, though there was a hint of pride in his eyes. “It would seem so. Hayley is quite convinced, and I find myself hoping she’s right. A daughter... it feels right.”

Rebekah walked over to the crib, running her hand along the smooth wood. “A princess for the Original Hybrid. Who would have thought?” She glanced at Klaus, her smile growing. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. You’ve really outdone yourself here, Nik.”

Klaus chuckled softly, his tone light. “If my daughter is to grow up in this world, she deserves nothing but the best. I intend to give her everything I never had, and more.”

Rebekah nodded, her heart swelling with affection for her brother. “She’ll be lucky to have you as her father. And we’ll all be here to help you, to help her.”

Klaus’s expression softened, and for a moment, he looked almost vulnerable. “This child is a chance for us, Rebekah. A chance to be the family we’ve always wanted to be. I won’t let anything happen to her, or to Hayley.”

Rebekah placed a hand on his arm, offering him a reassuring squeeze. “I know, Nik. And neither will I. We’ll protect her together.”

They stood in the nursery for a moment longer, surrounded by the soft pink walls and the promise of a new beginning. For the first time in centuries, there was a sense of peace in the compound. a sense of hope that things could be different, that the future could hold something more than the pain and conflict that had defined their lives for so long.

As Rebekah left the room, she glanced back at Klaus, who had returned to his work on the princess castle. The sight filled her with a rare sense of optimism. Despite everything they had been through, despite all the challenges that still lay ahead, they were preparing for something beautiful, something worth fighting for.

This scene highlights the deepening bond between Klaus and his unborn child, as well as Rebekah’s support and hope for their family’s future. It paints a picture of Klaus in a more tender, nurturing role, contrasting with his usual demeanor.

Later that evening, after her heartwarming encounter with Klaus, Rebekah found herself pacing in her room. The nursery had stirred feelings of family unity and hope, but she knew that two of her siblings were still missing from this crucial time. Kol and Freya. Kol’s refusal to return had already weighed heavily on her, but Freya’s absence felt even more significant. She had always been their protector, their eldest sister who had sacrificed so much for the family. Rebekah knew they needed her now more than ever.

With a determined sigh, Rebekah picked up her phone and dialed Freya’s number. It rang a few times before Freya’s voice came through, calm but guarded.

“Sister,” Freya greeted, her tone neutral. “It’s been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Rebekah smiled at the sound of her sister’s voice, though there was an underlying tension in her response. “Freya, it’s good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you. We all have.”

Freya was silent for a moment, and Rebekah could almost hear her hesitation. “I’ve missed you too, Rebekah. But I’m not sure this is the right time for me to return. You know how things are with Klaus… I’m not ready to face him again.”

Rebekah sighed, understanding Freya’s reluctance. “I know Klaus has hurt us in the past, and I won’t pretend that everything is suddenly perfect. But things are different now. He’s changing, Freya. He’s going to be a father, and it’s bringing out a side of him I haven’t seen in centuries.”

Freya’s voice softened, but there was still a note of caution. “I’ve heard about the baby. And I want to believe that it’s making him better, that it’s giving him a reason to be more than just the monster he’s been. But Rebekah, I’ve seen him destroy too much to trust that change will last. I can’t come back just to watch him fall apart again… or worse, take us all down with him.”

Rebekah felt a pang of frustration, but she kept her tone gentle. “Freya, I understand your fears. But this baby is a chance for all of us to heal, to come together as a family. We need you here, not just for the child, but for all of us. You’ve always been the one to hold us together. We can’t do this without you.”

There was another long pause, and Rebekah could sense the internal battle Freya was fighting. “Rebekah… I want to believe you. I want to believe that Klaus can be the father this child needs, the brother we need. But I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what he might do if things go wrong. I’ve lost too much already.”

Rebekah closed her eyes, wishing she could reach through the phone and hug her sister. “Freya, you’re not alone in this. We’re all afraid in our own ways. But that’s why we need to be together. This child could be the hope we’ve been searching for. Please, come back. We need you.”

Freya’s sigh was heavy with emotion. “I need some time to think, Rebekah. I’m not saying no, but I can’t say yes right now. I just… I need to be sure.”

Rebekah nodded, even though Freya couldn’t see her. “Take the time you need, Freya. But remember, we’re your family. We’ll stand by you, no matter what.”

“Thank you, Rebekah,” Freya said softly. “I’ll be in touch.”

As the call ended, Rebekah felt a mixture of hope and uncertainty. She had planted the seed, but only time would tell if Freya and Kol would find the courage to return. In the meantime, she knew she had to continue supporting Klaus and the others as they prepared for the arrival of the newest member of the Mikaelson family.

[saltyluminaryvoid]

His Saving Grace

Chapter Two

1114 Klaus x future daughter reader

I recommend re-reading chapter one as I made some major changes. I know I promised this update two years ago, but university got in my way and when I came back to these old stories a lot of re-vamping took place.

Masterlist

The year is 2030, Y/N the daughter of Niklaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall. A powerful young witch which threatens the survival of Malivore. In retaliation Malivore unleashes a time fay to return to the past and kill Klaus to ensure his survival.Y/N is Hope’s younger twin, now that no one remembers who she is the job is left to y/n to stop Malivore.

                   “You still live in the silences between my thoughts.”

Y/N resisted the urge to sign impatiently as the crowds around her soared and rejoiced as the pastor preached. The loud voices screaming into her sensitive ears, highly agitating her short temperament. Y/N hated church, she was by no means an atheist but she was a witch and a woman living in a time where she could be hanged for simply defying authority. So with that in mind Y/N had begrudgingly entertained Alaric, to keep up the role as godly saints whom attended church every Sunday. 

For the past weeks tempers were high within the household, Alaric and Davina could only watch as she battled silently with her demons.  Putting up a saintly farce everyday in the village as boys swarmed for her hand in marriage and village girls scowled jealousy. As someone who was influenced by the strong women in her life, to always be true to ones self and to never shape shift into society's ideal, the pretense (and the besotted men) were killing her. Alaric was getting far too accustomed in his daily ritual of turning away marriage proposals from haughty mothers and corpse like men. 

Pulling her away from her thoughts was the strain of her far too tightly, bonded corset. Thank the old gods she was from a thousand years into the future. Now Y/N realized why her Aunt Rebekah mostly if not always bit the heads off every man she met. If I had to suffer almost seven hundred years in such a tightly wounded corset which restricted most movements I would have done the same Y/N thought impatiently. As the preacher vivaciously expelled the devil with the crowd, Y/N reaching a breaking point silently casting a notice me not charm and made her way to the exit, silently huffing as she straightened her ankle length, grey dress which carried a turtleneck-like neckline. She wore a pristine, white shirt underneath whose sleeves puffed loosely around her arms but knotted tightly below her elbows. On top of her grey dress carried a loose brown corset of sorts held together by a length of ribbon criss-crossed. This corset did not converge in the middle, rather it showcased about five inches of the grey vertical striped pattern upon the bust and midriff as to emphasise her figure. Stitched upon her grey skirt was a length of brown which stopped at least six inches above her grey ankle length skirt, but it was gauged elegantly upon her right thigh allowing an elegant stylish slide flow. After all she was her Aunt’s niece and secretly she hoped it pissed off the conservatives in the crowd. Oh yeah! that speech about playing the part was not translating so well into her everyday life. 

Finally reaching a safe distance, out of sight from zealous fanatics just upon the edge of the forest, she dropped the spell. Huffing a sigh of relief all Y/N now needed was a pack of cigarettes or some weed to make 1114 much more bearable. 

“That’s quite the trick you pulled back there, little strega.” Now that snapped Y/N from her inner thoughts. Spinning around in a quite unlady like fashion, for this period at least, more than ready to confront the intruder. Only to be left dumbfounded to the stranger standing before her. But with a practiced ease which came from years of sneaking out and around  the Salvatore Boarding School, Y/N layered on her oh so innocent Mikaelson charm. “I’m sorry, what did you just call me?, I have to say I’m not aware of that particular term!” Lies, her mind rang out. Play cool, Y/N thought, talk him up just to get close enough and wipe his memory. Now that particular trick was her favourite. The stranger smirked coyly at her, “I think you know exactly what I mean, liten heks.” Y/N paced herself now, he knew old norse. Whomever this stranger was, he was clearly quite wealthy at that judging by his smooth velvet and silks in comparison to her simple cotton dress. Now she had to thread carefully, wealth clearly meant high influence and political sway in a community as small as this one. And that meant possible exposure, this man was a threat, Y/N deemed carefully.

“Now, now liten heks, the stranger went on, I mean yours truly none harm.” My heart is void of ill contempt and malevolence for one with such great power and beauty. As he spoke he drew closer towards her, his face now completely unobstructed from the mist of the early morning. Y/N exhaled softly, the stranger a man’s whose face see had seen everyday in her New Orleans home, a demon who hunted her from birth, Finn Mikaelson. But if he was standing before her, that meant the brotherhood had not yet daggered the Mikaelsons. This younger and less vengeful ghost was still a threat to her but quite possibly an accomplice. The fae had yet to reveal itself it was either supplementing its diet with animals or news of children going missing had been covered up. 

The fae according to the texts preferred a warm tropical climate, for if their wings were exposed to cold they would simply fall apart. A fae’s lifeline was linked to her wings, losing them could kill the fae but iron to the heart worked just as well. All in all, the upcoming winter was now days away and left no time for procrastination which meant Y/N directly disobeying Alaric to seek the creature out herself. A venture she had no luck in, the fae who boasted of powerful magics was able to cleverly keep herself hidden. 

“Not one for much words I see.” Finn Mikaelson was now standing toe to toe with her. That’s quite alright, he continue as he played with a stray curl. Y/n flinched away slightly as he stared into her eyes, carefully examining the details of her face. “If I didn’t know better, I could have mistaken you for my Freya.” Finn whispered as he continued to tug upon her curl. It was low and if not for her keen hearing it would have been swept to the winds.  Y/N kept her head high and passive, thinking to herself how much of a leering creep her elder uncle was becoming. Quite unlike all accounts of the uptight, wet blanket her uncle Kol always described. As his hand came up to caress her face, Y/N instinctively jumped back, conjuring fire within her palm which she kept safely tucked behind her. Finn only smiled sheepishly, “I seemed to have forgotten my manners, in the presence of a young lady.” I deeply apologise, I do not know what came over me, my lady.

Y/n relaxed slightly and utterly confused as the man introduced himself. As he began to speak on what not, Y/N could only stare at his face in a daze. It would take her some time to sort herself out, only to realize he had disappeared only to leave behind a simple envelope in her hand. Y/N thought back to the genuinely baffled daze Finn fell into as she made her way into town. To onlookers her face was almost dreamy, as if paying much more attention to the envelope she twirled in her hands rather than her path. But rather Y/N was silently contemplating the latent abilities of the fae and just how she could manipulate Finn into helping her.The fae a creature in the future known for its deceitful ways but that though made her wonder just how much accurate Alaric’s information truly was. It was done before, the supernatural popularized lies like silver bullets and garlic to throw suspicion off of them so what if the same was done with the fae? As Y/N ventured into the town’s market lost in her thoughts many eyes followed her, women and young girls gossiped of her weird behaviours and wayward thinking.

________________________________________________________________

Bloody hell, Y/N thought to herself. Now while the young witch prided herself on being a fashionista, dresses were her absolute nightmare, well behind her murderous grandparents and malivore of course. I do have my priorities in order, thank you very much.

Somehow Davina had managed to convince the stubbornest Mikaelson into another deathtrap these humans called corsets. Y/N huffed, begrudgingly following her “parents” out of their temporary home. While she was ecstatic to receive the dinner invite to the Mikaelson home hours prior from Finn which came in the form of the mysterious envelope he left behind, she still heavily detested that damn corset suffocating her. There was just no space to hide her knives!, What’s a girl in multiple skirts and a stuffy attire supposed to do to defend herself when all her knives were confiscated on this occasion. 

But nevertheless Y/N compiled it only to see her family again while also plotting to defy Alaric once again on his no knives at the dinner table rule. I mean, its not really a family reunion if someone didn’t have a devious plan in the works. 

________________________________________________________________

Servants scattered frantically to the sides, keeping their heads bowed as the feared Mikaelson hybrid descended the grand staircase stepping onto the foyer. Holding an impassive mask, Niklaus surveyed the immediate area ensuring the preparations to his liking. Stepping to the right of the grand foyer Niklaus strolled into the grand sitting room which doubled as a music room, the soft notes of the harp eased his twirling mind. 

Taking a seat on a velvet cushioned armchair, with hands clasped elbows resting on his knees and eyes closed Niklaus thought back to the hauntingly familiar pup no he corrected himself, child. Days had passed since their first encounter and thoughts of the child haunted him. In the strangest of ways he craved her presence, but not in a way a lover does. But this vastly unfamiliar pull deep inside him yearning and pushing his self control. But if Niklaus didn’t know any better he would have called it fatherly love and as unbelievably usurp that idea sounded in his head, he couldn’t help but let his mind linger on the possibility. Barr the facial similarities and attitudes that crossed with his, perhaps it was her life that resonated with him he knew all too well the struggles of an abused orphan. 

Just maybe when he meet her today, try not to give away how he always crept away at night to watch over her. By the old gods, what would Elijah think of his stalker like behaviour. If his enemies only knew of this attachment, if he only knew. Niklaus sat and wondered of the possibilities, so lost in his thoughts he nearly missed his guests arrival. 

__________________________________________________________________

Dinner surprisingly went smoothly, Klaus was utterly entertained by the ideas and thoughts of the young woman before him. Her guardian agitated him deeply with his distrustful glances and cold demeanor. 

Y/N on the other hand was on edge for an entirely different reason. As much as she wished to truly enjoy the rare company of her family, she could not help but be worried about the whereabouts of Finn. Given the  strange behaviour she witnessed earlier from him and his sudden disappearance she could not help but ponder the worst, especially given the current circumstances. It could be entirely possible Finn had aligned himself with the fae in order to rid himself of Klaus and the others. As far as she recalled, Finn had never been too particularly fond of the vampiric lifestyle and it is certainly within his motives to fix the balance of nature and forever end the vampire lines.

The rest of the night in the company of the Mikaelsons continued smoothly, with the exception of Kol getting a little too drunk and flirting with Davina. Y/N was able to enjoy the company of her lively Aunt. Soon came the peak of the full moon and the makeshift family slipped away to trap the fae. As Davina gathered the necessary ingredients for a binding ritual and Alaric his iron weapons, Y/N shared her suspicions of Finn and him possibly knowing her true identity. Both had agreed that Finn would be a potential suspect in aiding and plotting with the fae to get rid of the Vampire Sire line, him included. With caution in mind, the trio made their way towards the woods where Y/N last spoke to Finn. Since, Finn was most likely aligned with fae, the two would track him using Y/N’s blood, a plan which quickly came to a stop when the magic revealed the family together in their manor. 

Relief didn’t last as the winds picked up around the trio and both Y/N and Davina picked up the excited whispers of dead witches. The brotherhood so it seemed had finally succeeded in crafting the daggers it was only a matter of time before they used it. Huh, maybe it was her paranoia seeping in earlier and Finn was just too ashamed of his earlier behaviour to make an appearance at dinner.

@physically-a-cheesecake​ 

@goldencassy​ 

@sujusfs14499​ 

@alyssatjuhhh​

[anyca786]

Family

Dad!Klaus Mikealson x Mom/Stepmother!reader x boyfriend!Elijah Mikealson + (Hope Mikealson & Selene Mikealson)

Summary: After finding out, Hayley was pregnant with Klaus's child, the witches found another werewolf named (y/n) who was pregnant with his child as well. Fast forward, Elijah Mikealson falls in love with y/n and eventually starts dating his brother's baby mama. Selene Mikealson, was born nine months after Hope Mikealson. One day when Hope gets a nightmare, she finds comfort in (y/n)'s arms.

A low whimper echoed through the grand foyer of the Mikaelson mansion. (Y/n) was curled up on the plush couch with a book in her hand, instantly perked up. The sound was unmistakably Hope's, laced with fear and a hint of loneliness. Hayley, was away on a werewolf pack errand, leaving Elijah and her to manage the two little Mikaelsons for the night.

(Y/n) rose, her heart clenching at the thought of a scared Hope. Padding down the hallway, she found Hope standing by her bedroom door, tears glistening in her bright beautiful eyes. "Hey, what's wrong, Hope?" she asked gently, kneeling before the little girl.

Hope sniffled, clutching a stuffed toy to her chest. "I had a bad dream," she mumbled, burying her face in the bear's fur.

(Y/n)'s heart ached for the little one. She ushered Hope towards her own room, a haven of soft pink and stuffed animals. "Come on, let's get you back to bed. Maybe some cuddles will chase the bad dream away."

Sniffling softly, Hope followed (y/n), her small hand slipping into the (y/n)'s larger one. The warmth of Hope's hand filled her with a strange sense of protectiveness. Even though she wasn't Hope's biological mother, the little girl held a special place in her heart. Maybe it was the shared Mikaelson blood that flowed through both their veins, a strange connection forged by circumstance.

In her room, Selene, Hope's half-sister, was fast asleep, a tangle of blonde curls nestled amidst the plush blankets. She carefully tucked Hope in beside Selene, the two girls forming a picture of peaceful innocence.

"There you go," she murmured, tucking the covers around them. "See? No more bad dreams here."

Hope looked up at her, a flicker of hope replacing the fear in her eyes. "Will you stay with us?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

(Y/n) smiled, her heart overflowing with affection. "Of course, I will. We'll chase away any bad dreams that dare to come near."

Settling onto the edge of the bed, the she began humming a soft lullaby, a melody she'd picked up from listening to Elijah sing to Selene and Hope.

Hope snuggled closer, her eyelids drooping. Soon, her breaths became even and deep, the fear replaced by the gentle rhythm of the lullaby.

Just as (y/n) was about to rise, a soft creak at the doorway made her turn. There stood Klaus, his face etched with concern that quickly melted into something softer when he saw the sight before him. Hope and Selene were nestled together, Hope clinging to (y/n) with a peaceful expression on her face.

A strange warmth bloomed in Klaus's chest, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time. Seeing Hope find comfort in (y/n), someone who wasn't him or Hayley, was oddly reassuring. Maybe it was the way the she held Hope, a sense of genuine care radiating from her. Or maybe it was the sight of his two daughters, so different yet connected, slumbering peacefully together.

A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He hadn't realized how much he craved a family, a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos of their lives. (Y/n), with her gentle touch and unwavering affection, seemed to bring a sense of balance he hadn't known he needed.

A low chuckle escaped his lips, catching (y/n)'s attention. She looked up, her cheeks flushing a light pink. "Hope had a nightmare," she explained softly.

Klaus nodded, his gaze lingering on the sleeping girls. "She seems to have found a good cure."

(Y/n)'s lips curved into a smile. "She always does when she has cuddles."

Their eyes met, and for a moment, the air crackled with unspoken emotions. Elijah, who had just entered the room, witnessed the exchange, a silent understanding passing between them. He watched as (y/n) tucks a stray strand of hair behind Hope's ear, a small gesture that spoke volumes of her care.

A bittersweet pang shot through Elijah's heart. He had always longed for a family, for children of his own. But his curse, a cruel twist of fate, had denied him that dream. But seeing the love of his life with Hope and Selene, a warmth bloomed in his chest nonetheless. He loved (y/n), and seeing her love for the children filled a void he hadn't even realized existed.

"You're good with them," Elijah finally said, his voice gruff but gentle.

(Y/n) looked at him, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "They're good kids," she replied softly. "Hope just needed a little comfort."

[athenamikaelson]

Klaus Mikaelson x Soulmate!Reader x Elijah Mikaelson Ch. 14

Word Count- 5.3k

Warnings- Sexual innuendos (if you’re dirty-minded), swearing, violence, death, blood, Klaus is a dick🙃

“Wait so the students get together and just trash the school,” Alastair questions as he pulls his Porsche into the school parking lot. 

I roll my eyes and sigh at yet another question from him about tonight as we both step out of the car. 

“Like the one-hundred other times you’ve asked, no we are not trashing the school, we’re setting up pranks,” I frown at the thought, “Ok. Maybe it is slightly trashing the school.”

“Ok, that’s great. I guess,” He mutters as he puts his arm around my shoulders as we walk towards the front door. 

“What I don’t get though, is why I have to come?”

I brush his hand off my shoulder and move to open the door before he can do it. He rolls his eyes at my antics and I smile as I motion for him to enter first.

“Age before beauty,” I smirk, “And you have to go because Elena and Caroline are making me go. And you said you’ve never been to a public school and this’ll be your first and last year of it. So we’re putting out all the stops. Besides you’re my side piece, I have to bring you.”

Alastair begins to say something but the sound of his phone dinging stops him. I watch in silence as he picks it up to read what text he just got. But I frown when his usually happy face shifts. His jaw clenches and his right eye twitches as he reads the message. 

“Is everything ok?”

Alastair eyes shift to me for a moment as if forgetting I was here. He quickly writes off a message, puts the phone back into his pocket, and then nods at me.

“Ya,” His tone cold, “I’m fine. Let’s just get this night over with.”

At his harsh and cold tone, I frown.

“If something is wrong you can tell me, y’know. That’s what friends do,” I quietly tell him as I try to keep up with his long strides. 

“I’m fine,” He says back without sparing me a glance.

“Really, if somethings the-”

“I said I’m fine,” I flinch back slightly as Alastair bites back at me and I feel my hands start to shake.

“I’m sorry. I um..,” I bite down hard on my lower lip, “I’m sorry.”

I can see Alastair finally face me out of my peripheral but I just focus on the door ahead as I open it.

“Y/N. I didn’t-”

A high-pitched squealing cuts out Alastair's voice. 

“You guys are finally here,” Caroline’s high-pitched voice assaults my ears as I’m being grabbed by two strong arms and wrapped into a hug.

“I haven’t seen you in forever!”

I laugh slightly at Caroline’s comment, “Caroline, it’s only been like a week?”

Caroline leans back to give me a roll of her eyes, “Well you’ve missed a lot,” She shoots a glance at Alastair who has made his way over to Tyler, “I’ll tell you about it later. But right now we have a lot of work to do!”

Caroline practically skips away as she gestures to what I now see are mouse traps that litter the left side of the classroom.

“We need to get all these,” She gestures to the traps on the desks, “Everywhere!”

I look around at the classroom and then at Bonnie and Elena who are both laughing at Caroline's enthusiasm. As soon as I see Bonnie I begin to walk over to her since I haven’t seen her all summer but a flash of blonde fills my vision.

“You guys can catch up later. We are on a tight schedule right now. So get moving!”

Caroline thrusts a bag of mouse traps into my arms and then walks over to Alastair and does the same. I watch my friend look at the traps and then take a deep breath.

“She’s been like this all night,” Elena whispers as she makes her way over to me.

I kneel to the floor and start placing the traps as I talk with her, “She’s always like this.”

Elena mutters out a “true” as she starts placing traps down as well. I glance up and make eye contact with my witch friend who gives me a smile and a friendly wave. I replicated that as I glanced at Caroline to ensure she didn’t notice. Thankfully she’s complaining to Tyler about not going fast enough. 

—-

I’m just about to place my last trap when I hear the door to the classroom open. I go to yell at the person to stop, but sadly it’s too late. I watch in defeat as all the mouse traps ignite and snaps are heard across the room. 

“Oh, come on,” Caroline exclaims, “Seriously? Do you know how long it took for us to set all this up?”

I glare at Matt Donovan as he stands there looking at all of us sheepishly.

“Forgot about senior prank night, huh,” Tyler questions his friend.

“Clearly.”

Caroline is repulsed by this answer, “How could you forget? We’ve only been waiting for this since like freshman year.”

“Yeah, Matt. If I’m doing this, you’re doing this,” Elena chimes in and I nod along with her because I would much rather be home. Especially since I had another one of my little heart attacks today. Luckily this one lasted only a few minutes unlike others this summer that lasted much longer. 

Damon caught me a month ago having one and made me make a doctor’s appointment to get it checked out. To which I accused him of actually liking me and having a heart. He denied that of course and said it was because he didn’t want me dying in his house and getting my dead person stench everywhere. 

Two weeks later he drove me to some fancy heart doctor in the city and of course, with my luck, the doctor was stumped. Saying he doesn’t see anything wrong on any of the tests he’s done. When I left he said he’d ask around to some of his doctor friends and let me know if they know anything. But, that was over a month ago and I haven’t heard back from him. 

“I’m kind of surprised any of you are doing this,” Matt says.

“Caroline’s making us,” Bonnie says.

“Y/n’s making me,” Alastair smirks at me but I turn away from him.

“We’re about to be seniors. These are the memories that’ll stay with us forever, and if…”

“And if we don’t create these memories now,” Elena interjects, “Then what’s the point of it all?”

“Go ahead and make fun, I don’t care,” I laugh as Caroline shrugs everyone’s teasing off.

“You’re all lame,” Tyler walks by us with bags in his hands, “I’ve got ten more classrooms to prank.”

I frown as I feel I tugging on my hand and I realize I’m being pulled up by Elena. 

“Excuse me?”

“Hey! Where are you going,” Bonnie asks and I have the same question as Elena leads me to the door. I see Alastair start to follow us but Caroline stops him by shoving a bag into his hands. 

“We’re going to go superglue Alaric’s desk shut. We’re making memories,” Elena smiles at them and then squeezes my hand as she leads me out into the hall. I hear Caroline yell out to us and Elena giggles back. 

“I feel like this could’ve been a one-woman job,” I raise my eyebrow at Elena who shrugs.

“I haven’t seen you all week, I missed you,” She sheepishly says the last part and I smile at my friend.

“Well our manager has been making Alastair and I take practically all the shifts,” I explain and then squeeze her hand, “But I missed you too.”

Elena smiles at me as she pushes a door open for me. As we turn the corner she stops to an abrupt halt though and grips my hand so hard I think she might break it. I go to question what's wrong but as soon as I look up I realize what’s scared her. Actually, not a what. A who, Klaus. 

“There’s my girl,” Klaus’ accent fills my ears for the first time in months and a wave of nausea and something else washes over me. 

“Klaus,” Elena exhales quickly and then begins to pull me back with her but as we turn around Klaus speeds in front of us. I feel my hands start to shake and Elena must feel this too because she uses our connected hands to push me behind her protectively. 

“You’re supposed to be dead. What are we going to do about that,” Klaus asks and within a moment he’s grabbing her roughly making our hands fall away from each other. I go to help her but Klaus glares at me.

“Don’t,” The way he bites out the word makes me halt and I have no idea what to do.

As I’m looking at Klaus I don’t think he has any idea what to do with me either as he seems to be thinking over something in his mind. I hear him growl something under his breath and then whip around.

“Follow,” Klaus’ bark instantly has me slightly jogging to catch up with my friend and him as he leads us down the hall.

“You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that you’re still breathing.”

My breathing comes out shallow as I’m literally jogging now to keep up with them through all the halls and doors he’s leading us through. I want nothing more than to get my friend away from him but pissing Klaus off would only result in someone’s death.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it!”

“Not until I know I’m right. But I do have ways of making you suffer.”

—

Klaus thrusts open one last door and we’re entering the currently packed gym where students are placing cups and other pranks around. 

“Attention, seniors. You have officially been busted. Prank night is over,” Klaus yells to the students in what I think is some kind of American accent. One that makes me want to put thumbtacks into my ears, “Head on home.”

“You two,” He stops Dana and Chad, “I remember you.”

Dana looks at him confused, “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t in my right mind last time we met. Lift your foot up, please, Dana,” Klaus compels the girl and I frown as she does.

“If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death. Understood?”

My eyes widen and a shocked gasp escapes my mouth as I watch in fear as Chad nods.

“Don’t, Klaus. You don’t have to hurt anybody.”

“Oh, come on, love. Of course, I do.”

“Why? To show everyone just how scary you are by killing teenagers? Why not pick on someone your own size, or age, for once,” I angrily say to the man whose spine seems to straighten out as he hears my voice. 

Klaus turns to me and his playful smirk morphs into a dark look as he makes eye contact with me, “When did I say you could speak?”

I try not to let his dark tone and look sway my confidence but this guy really freaks me the fuck out, “I didn’t know I needed your permission,” My voice shakes and I’m hoping he doesn't notice, but by the way his mouth turns into a snarl I think he heard it.

Klaus drops Elena’s arm and slowly stalks towards me like a predator stalking its prey. I think I hear Elena try to get him to stop but all I can focus on is Klaus’ blue eyes that seem to darken as he stalks closer to me. I wait for the worst to happen as he gets a foot away from me but he halts when something diverts his eye. I follow his line of vision to see him staring at my neck. I take a deep breath and wait for him to sink his teeth into me and probably kill me as he reaches his hand up, but I frown when his fingers graze my necklace. The wolf one I had gotten for my birthday. The one Alastair swears didn’t come from him. 

Klaus’ snarl turns into a slight frown as he rubs the wolf one last time and then looks me in the eyes. 

“Go sit down,” He doesn’t give me time to argue with him as he goes back over to Elena who gestures for me to go and sit down on the bleachers. I only do because of the pleading look on my best friend’s face.

—

I watch silently in fear as Dana struggles to keep her foot raised. Elena questions Klaus about Stefan’s whereabouts but Klaus shrugs her off. The sound of a door opening turns all of our attention. Fear washes over me as Bonnie and Matt enter. 

“No!”

“Bonnie get out of here,” Elena and I both yell to them but it’s too late.

Klaus speeds over to Bonnie, “Ah, I was wondering when you’d show up. Now we can get started. Ah, Dana, why don’t you relax? You and Chad sit tight,” He yells to the two innocent teens and I feel tears fall down my cheeks as Dana falls into her boyfriend's arms in pain.

I stand up to go help them.

“SIT,” Klaus’ booming voice makes me shake as I helplessly sit back down on the bleachers. 

“I assume you’re the reason Elena is still walking around alive? That’s right. If you want to blame someone, blame me,” Bonnie tells the man.

“Oh, there’s no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem I’m going to have you find the fix.”

Right when Klaus is done explaining to Bonnie his plan the door is pushed open and a pretty blond walks in with Tyler in her grasp. 

“Get off me!”

“Hush now,” The blonde shushes him in an accent like Klaus’.

“I’d like you all to meet my sister…Rebekah,” At the mention of yet another Original I grab my already shaking hands in comfort, “Word of warning, she can be quite mean.”

“Don’t be an arse,” Rebekah says as she pushes Tyler into Klaus’ arms. 

“Leave him alone!”

“I’m going to make this very simple,” Klaus drags an injured Tyler, “Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid they die during the transition. It’s quite horrible, actually,” We all freeze as Klaus bites into his wrist and shoves it into Tyler’s mouth.

“I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler’s sake…you better hurry.”

Gasps are heard around the room as we watch Klaus snap Tyler’s neck and throw his body onto the floor next to him.

I watch petrified with tears streaming down my face as Klaus smiles happily at Elena, Bonnie, and Matt. 

“He killed him,” Matt says as he sits next to his friend’s dead body.

“He’s not dead. Klaus’ blood will turn him into a vampire.”

“And if Bonnie’s successful he’ll live through his transition,” He turns to Bonnie, “Go on then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and whatnot. I’ll hold onto Elena for safekeeping.”

Bonnie gives Elena one last glance and then runs out of the room with Matt. 

“So this is the latest doppelganger,” Girl-Klaus taunts Elena, “The original one was much prettier.”

“They look the same,” I say out loud, “That’s like the whole point of doppelgangers. I’m sure the library has dictionaries if you need to look it up.”

My voice draws the woman’s attention and she growls at me. I realize being bitchy to an original vampire wasn’t the smartest thing to do. I try to look tough as she comes over to me but with the dried tears on my face, I guess I look pretty pathetic. 

“And who the hell are you,” Rebekah starts stalking towards me and I stand up from my seat. 

“Y/N, Elena’s friend,” I lift my chin and try to sound confident.

Rebekah smiles at me but it is the farthest thing from friendly, within a second she reaches her hand up and I close my eyes fearing for the worst but nothing happens.

“Don’t,” Klaus’ voice fills my ears and I open my eyes to see his back in front of me blocking me from his sister’s view. 

“She’s nothing! Come on brother let me have a little fun! She insulted me,” Rebekah's annoyed voice sounds as she tries to reason with her brother.

“And you insulted her friend,” Klaus says and then leans down slightly to be face to face with his sister, “Now back up,” The last sentence comes out so low I can barely hear it. But the anger in Klaus’ voice is evident enough to have his sister taking several steps back. 

Klaus turns around for a moment and if I’m not mistaken it would appear that he’s looking me over. His blue eyes make their way over my tear-covered face and the movement of his hand catches my eye. I watch as he clenches and unclenches his right hand before it’s shoved into the pocket of his jeans. 

A growl escapes Klaus’ mouth catching my attention. He doesn’t spare me another glance as he marches back over to Elena. 

Rebekah who stands maybe 5 feet away from me looks at me with a deep frown on her face. One mixed with what I think to be confusion. 

“What did you say your name was,” She questions. This time less hostile and more inquisitive.

“Y/n…”

Rebekah keeps staring at me as if she can’t figure out something.

“Sister, take the wolf-boy elsewhere,” Klaus beckons his sister and Rebekah shoots me one last look before grabbing Tyler’s arm and dragging him out of the room.

—-

I sit silently on the bleachers as Elena comforts Dana and Chad. Klaus sits comfortably on the ground as if this is an everyday experience for him. Which it probably is. My ass starts to hurt from the hard bleachers and let out a low groan. 

“Excuse me,” I try to get Klaus’ attention but realize he’s already looking at me. 

Klaus’ eyes narrow as he looks at me, “What?”

“Can I get up,” I gesture to the bleachers, “My ass hurts.”

For a split second, I could swear Klaus’ upper lip twitches but in a moment his cold look is back. He seems to think for a moment then smirks, “Either keep sitting on those bleachers and bruise your ass, or…,” He narrows his eyes at me and glances at a crying Dana, “You can switch spots with Little Dana here.”

Klaus seems to be proud of himself or something believing that I’m going to shut up and stay seated but without a second thought, I stand up from my spot on the bleachers and walk towards Dana.

“Y/N, no,” I hear Elena whisper to me as I grab Dana’s arm and push her to go sit on the bleachers. She sends me a teary-eyed smile and I turn to look at Klaus, who once again is already looking at me, and balance myself as I lift my left foot. 

Klaus glares at me and I hold eye contact with him for so long that my foot starts to shake. He looks down at my wobbly leg and a shit-eating grin makes its way onto his face. I watch as he stands from his seated position and makes his way over to me. He stops in front of me and turns his head mockingly to the side. 

“How long do you think it’ll take before you fall onto your knees before me,” Klaus says and my knees shake involuntarily.

“I’ve got great calves so I could do this all night wolf-boy,” I say and Klaus raises his eyebrows in slight surprise before slowly dragging his eyes down my body towards my calves.

“You’re not wrong,” He says under his breath before looking back up to me. 

The sound of a door opening alerts us all and a relieved sigh leaves me as I see Stefan enter the gym. 

“Stefan,” Elena exhales. 

“Klaus,” Stefan calls out to the man in front of me who rolls his eyes.

“Come to save your damsel, mate?”

“I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty.”

Stefan’s words have me frowning, “Excuse me? Pledge your loyalty to this dictator,” I throw up a finger to Klaus who rolls his eyes at me. 

“Well, you broke that pledge once already,” Klaus says like a hurt little boy.

“Elena means nothing to me anymore,” Ya ok, “And whatever you ask of me… I will do.”

Klaus thinks for a moment before turning around, “Fair enough. Let’s drink on it. Kill them.”

I gasp as Klaus points to Dana and Chad who are sitting together on the bleachers. 

“What are you waiting for? Kill them.”

“No! Stefan, don’t. He’s not going to hurt me. He already said,” Elena tries to reason with her boyfriend but is stopped as Klaus hits her across the face. 

I loud gasp escapes me and I drop my foot not even caring if it gets me killed as I rush towards my best friend. 

I grab Elena and check her over for any wounds as she watches Stefan and Klaus fight behind us. 

“She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up,” Klaus says as he holds Stefan by the throat.

“Let her and Y/n go! I’ll do whatever you want, you have my word!”

“Your word doesn’t mean much. I lived by your word all summer during which time I never had to resort to this. Stop fighting.”

“Don’t do this, don’t do this.”

“I didn’t want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I’m going to have to take it. You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide you will simply just obey.”

I watch in horror as I realize that Klaus is compelling away Stefan’s free will. Elena and I both watch horrified as Stefan stands there like a zombie. 

“Now kill them…Ripper.”

Before I can see anything Elena grabs me into her arms and pushes my head into her neck. I squeeze my eyes shut as I hear Dana and Chad’s terrified screams and then the drop of their bodies. Tears fall from my cheeks and from the dampness on my shoulder I can tell Elena is crying as well. 

Klaus leans down towards Elena and me and shoves Elena away from me. My butt falls onto the ground and I watch as Klaus starts taunting my friend.

“It’s always nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot.”

“No. You did this to him,” Elena growls out. I look over to Stefan as he shamefully wipes Dana and Chad’s blood off his chin and I have to swallow the bile rising up my throat. 

“I invited him to the party, love. He’s the one dancing on the table.”

“You’re a monster,” I bite out at the man.

Klaus stands up and walks over to me. He looks down at me and smirks, “I’m the monster, princess,” Klaus leans down slightly and his smirk deepens. He raises a finger and mockingly wipes a stray tear off my face, “And you, are on your knees in front of this monster.”

I look down at my kneeled position and can’t seem to care what me not keeping one fucking foot up means. All I know is that I hate this man in front of me.

“Go fuck yourself,” I bite out at him and his smirk deepens.

He leans down further so our faces are almost touching and whispers out, “Such nasty words from such a pretty mouth.”

“Where is it? Where’s my necklace?”

Rebekah running into the room and towards Elena diverts Klaus’ attention from me. 

“What are you talking about?”

“She has my necklace. Look,” Rebekah accuses Elena as she hands her brother a phone.

Klaus inspects something on the device before looking over to Elena, “Well, well. More lies.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t have it anymore,” Elena responds.

“You’re lying,” Rebekah yells and flashes towards Elena and rips into her neck. 

I jump up in surprise and run to help my friend but Klaus has already pushed his sister away. 

“Knock it off!”

“Make her tell me, Nik!”

Klaus places his hands to his lips and kneels down next to Elena as I hold her shoulders, “Where’s the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest.”

I quickly grab the sweater I’m wearing and drag it over my head, leaving me only in my white tank top, and quickly press it to Elena’s neck. I look to Klaus who keeps eye contact with me until Elena speaks up.

“I’m telling the truth. Katherine stole it.”

Klaus sighs, “Katerina. Of course. Well, that’s unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we’re doing this the hard way,” Klaus stands up and walks over to the control pad for the scoreboard, “Let’s put a clock on it. Shall we?”

A loud buzzer sounds, “Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn’t found a solution by then I want you to feed again, only this time,” He walks over to face Stefan, “I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to.”

“No, Klaus. Don’t do this to him,” Elena begs.

“No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine,” Klaus walks by me grabbing my upper arm and pulling me, “You’re with me.”

—

As soon as we’re out of the gym Klaus drops my arm and rubs his hand on his jeans. 

“If anyone here has cooties it’s you,” I whisper out but he must’ve heard it as he rolls his eyes. 

“You sit,” Klaus motions towards the wall and I sigh.

I sit and watch silently as Rebekah and Klaus converse with one another a few feet away from me. 

“You’re not going to let him kill her,” I say out loud from my spot. Klaus and Rebekah both look my way and Klaus narrows his eyes at me.

“Is that so?”

“I mean I would think so. Unless you’re an idiot.”

This comment seems to ruffle some of Klaus’ feathers as he narrows his eyes at me and stalks toward me. Rebekah watches silently from her spot.

“I am not an idiot,” Klaus says and I raise an eyebrow staring up at him.

“I never said you were. I said you would be an idiot. That’s two different things.”

Klaus stares at me and once again it looks like he’s fighting an internal battle, “Do you always talk this much?”

“No. At least not usually. Alastair says…” 

I stop my sentence when I remember my friend is still somewhere in this school. At least I think he is. I hope to god he left when all the other students did. 

“Alastair?”

Klaus turns his head to the side questionably.

“You look like a puppy when you do that, y’know,” I snarkily chime out and am almost as surprised with my confidence as Klaus seems to be. 

A snort is heard from behind him and I look to see Rebekah covering her laugh with a cough. Her brother sends her a deadly glare and she instantly sobers up.

Klaus turns back towards me and leans down to face me again, “Just because I didn’t kill you back there. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it now. Watch your tongue, princess. Before I rip it out.”

I hold my breath as Klaus stands back up and he seems to hear something as he turns his head. Without a second glance at me or his sister Klaus speeds away. 

—

“Are you suicidal,” Rebekah’s voice catches my attention. I look over at her and see her watching me with an almost amazed look.

“Not currently,” I bite out.

“How long have you known my brother,” She questions.

I shake my head in annoyance, “Why?”

Just like her brother, she narrows her eyes at me, “Answer the question.”

I close my eyes and lean my head against the lockers I’m seated against, “I’ve had like two conversations with the guy.”

“That’s impossible,” She responds and I groan as I open my eyes.

“Well, it’s the truth.”

We both sit in silence for a moment staring at each other. After a moment Rebekah takes a step forward and I tense up against the lockers.

“Calm down. I’m not going to touch you. I just want to get a closer look at you,” She says.

“Why?”

Rebekah kneels in front of me and I watch wide-eyed and silently unnerved as she marks every spot of my face with her eyes. 

“Is there-”

“Shhh.”

Okay.

Rebekah leans in a little closer and for a second I’m wondering if this girl is going to kiss me or bite into my neck but a gasp escapes her lips and she leans back on his hands.

“It’s you,” She whispers in awe.

“Excuse me?”

“Your eyes…”

“What about my eyes?”

“REBEKAH,” Klaus’ loud voice is heard through the halls and Rebekah quickly moves away from me. 

Klaus storms down the hall and glares at his sister. I watch in confusion as they have a silent conversation with their eyes before Klaus begins walking down the hall.

“Follow.”

—

I follow Klaus and Rebekah into a classroom. The latter keeps making me feel uneasy with her staring. 

“Well, the verdicts in. The original witch says the doppelganger should be dead.” Klaus says to who I can now see is Caroline and Tyler.

“Does that mean we can kill her,” Rebekah asks excitedly and I shoot her a nasty look. 

“No, I’m fairly certain it means the opposite,” Within a second Rebekah is grabbing onto Caroline holding her back as Klaus gives Tyler a vial of Elena’s blood. The latter drinks it. And in a split second, he’s convulsing on the floor and groaning in pain. I flinch back when Tyler screams in pain as he grabs his head. But when he stops and opens his eyes I gasp as I see his once brown eyes have illuminated to gold and dark veins make their way up his face. 

“Well, that’s a good sign.”

—

“Where are you taking me,” I ask Klaus as he leads me out of the school doors and into the parking lot. 

“Stop talking,” He bites out.

I roll my eyes and continue walking but freeze in horror as I see Alastair leaning against his car. He notices me and Klaus and stands to his full height.

“Alastair go!”

I run and try to warn him but as I get to him he doesn’t even look me in the eye. He’s staring behind me. At Klaus. 

“I’ll be leaving to find more wolves, mate,” I frown as Klaus speaks to my friend. 

“Shall I come,” My vision goes blurry as I watch in shock as Alastair responds to Klaus.

“Alastair…”

“No,” Klaus looks over to me with a smirk, “You’re still needed here.”

“What… Alastair what is he talking about, how do you-”

“Get in the car, Y/N,” Alastair’s cold voice says to me as he moves past me and opens the passenger door to his car. He doesn’t move his gaze away from Klaus who watches the interaction with a delighted smirk. 

“No! No! Not until you tell me what’s happening. You know him,” I yell and point in confusion and anger to Klaus. 

Alastair doesn’t look at me but he clenches his jaw.

“Get her home safe,” Klaus smirks at me, “Old friend.”

[magicalqueennightmare]

Better at Baking

Klaus Mikaelson x "Little Witch" Reader

Just Fluff

Klaus watched from the doorway as you worked the comb through Hope's hair then began to braid it as she colored the page in front of her. Either you, Hayley or Rebekah always made sure that her hair was done beautifully.  

He loved seeing your relationship with her. There were times he swore she preferred your presence to his and he couldn't find it in him to be jealous. He was overjoyed to know just how many people his daughter had who was willing to fight for her and he'd seen first hand the fire that would ignite in you when Hope was threatened. 

He'd seen witches first hand for most of his life and when Hayley first told him she'd called you for help he'd been hesitant. Witches always had their own agenda but the moment you stepped foot in New Orleans he'd seen a weight lift off Hayley's shoulders the moment she hugged you in the bar all of you met in. From the first day you'd let every witch in the Quarter know you were there and why. 

—------------

He should've known he'd end up falling for you. He remembered vividly the day he realized you were unlike any other witch. Hayley had been taken, some coven intent on ripping Hope from her womb. You'd found her long before anyone else. When he and Elijah had gotten there you were between Hayley and four witches, a shield of your magic around her as you took the effect of the spell. 

The set of your jaw and the blue of your magic turning the usual hue of your eyes. You'd been in pain but refused to admit it until hours later. 

—---------

He'd found you in the kitchen of the compound and you were attempting to make tea but a light whimper fell from you when you tried to lift your arms to retrieve a mug. He'd ended up retrieving the tea for you and offering his own blood to assist in your healing. You hadn't taken it stating the tea you were making would help but thanked him still. 

He watched you as you ground herbs and put them in a steeper. You were so focused on your task that he'd gotten the chance to study you in a way he'd yet to. There was a silent strength to you, the way you maintained yourself even when anger rippled through you. How you could pull a smile from nearly every member of his family and how you were one of the few people who barely blinked an eye at him. You were a remarkable woman, witch or not.

-------------

Soon he stopped thinking of you as just some witch. You became a friend of sorts then as the two of you grew closer Rebekah became a thorn in his side "You've fallen for her brother" "Where's your little witch brother" "careful if you keep waiting someone may make her their little witch instead"

Long before he admitted it to you he admitted to her how he felt for you. She'd nearly buckled under her laughter but encouraged him to pursue it with a simple shrug "She may feel the same"

“Klaus” you spoke his name softly and it was only then he'd realized you noticed his presence. Hope turned towards him with a mirror of his own smile “Hey daddy”

You patted the floor next to you “Want to color with us? I'm not as talented as you and Hope but I can manage to stay within the lines” 

Hope laughed leaning her head over on your arm “It's not that bad! I think your picture is pretty” Klaus walked over to sit on the other side of the table you and Hope were sitting around and you cut your eyes at him barely containing your laughter at how his eyes tracked over the page you'd been coloring “Hush you!” You warned but he held his hands up “I wasn't going to say anything love”

Hope tilted her head at your drawing, her eyebrows furrowed before pointing to something on the page “Is that a cat?” You shook your head “It's a car!” Her eyes widened and he saw the moment your resolve broke right before you started laughing “I think I'm better at baking than coloring” 

Hope who'd started laughing as soon as  you did nodded “The cake you made was really good” Klaus looked between the two of you “What cake?” you glanced towards Hope, both of you grinning before you shrugged “Oops? Not our fault, Kol took the rest!” 

“Betrayed by my love and my daughter!” He teased and you nudged Hope “Should we bake daddy something?” She tapped her chin for a moment then nodded and stood, grabbing your hand then reached for one of his “But he has to help”

@hyperactivewhore

[fandoms--fluff]

hi! if your still doing requests could you please do rebekah and her daughter reader? literally anything haha just rebekah and her daughter❣️

Rebekah Mikaelson as your Mom

You guys would be very close, like best friends close

You could tell her everything without feeling judged, she'd always be there for you

Watching cheesy rom-coms together all snuggled up on the couch with blankets and popcorn

^kicking all your uncles out so they don't disturb you guys

You'd have a special bond with your mom

She'd spoil you rotten and no one could stop her

Would be just as lost as you if you ever needed help with homework

^that's an uncle Elijah question

"Mom! Uncle Kol won't leave me alone" You groan. You walk into the library, arms crossed. Kol is following right behind you. "I am not, I'm just asking a couple questions" He also crosses his arms.

"Last I checked, I had only one child" Rebekah puts her magazine down. "Kol, if you keep bothering my daughter, you're getting a time-out."

"What?! H-how is that- What? You-you can't do that!" Kol sputtered at being talked to like he was a child and his sister's acting as his mom.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow and gave her signature glare to her younger brother. "Fine" Kol huffs before trudging out of the room.

"Thanks, Mom" You sit next to her on the couch. You cuddle up to her and she wraps her arm around you. "Anytime, Sweetie" she kisses the top of your head.

"Are you sure Uncle Kol isn't adopted?" You look up at her from where your head rests on her chest.

"I wouldn't be shocked if he was" Rebekah smirks, making you chuckle.

"What are you two laughing about?" Klaus comes into the room and heads over to the alcohol cart. "Nothing," You both say at the same time.

[mrs-kmikaelson]

04| The Tribrid

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x daughter!reader, Elijah Mikaelson x niece!reader Summary: A while after the party, you're approached by Elijah at Rousseau's who has a request that you would've never expected. Warnings: none Words: 3.1K

Masterlist | Part 5

I shook a cocktail shaker vigorously before pouring whatever pink liquid it was into a glass and sliding it over to the customer on the other side of the counter, running a hand through my hair right afterward as I glanced around at the full bar.

Full fucking bar and I'm the only person here.

Camille had a date with Marcel tonight, but there was no one else who could possibly take her shift tonight because there was no one else working tonight. I told her I could cover for her because I had experience bartending in the eighties, but I didn't know it was gonna be like this.

I guess there was some sort of festival going on tonight, but in New Orleans, when isn't there?

It's been a week since the Mikaelsons through their party, a week since I had my 'family reunion', and I haven't seen any of them since. Don't know if I'm happy about that or not.

I sighed, tossing back a shot of my own before moving onto the next customer. I'll overthink later.

"Drinking on the job?" Or not.

Speak of the fucking devil, because I looked up and, sitting in the stool in front of me, was Elijah Mikaelson. He had a small, playful smirk on his lips, leaned back in his chair nonchalantly, but not in a way that made him look like he wasn't alert, but in a way that showed the world he wouldn't even dream of someone stepping to him.

I forced a laugh, wiping down a glass while I responded, "Yeah, well it's a little hard to be surrounded by all this and not get any." He smiled, nodding while I threw the rag over my shoulder. Inside, I was shaking, but I tried my hardest to treat him like he was any other person so he wouldn't take notice. 

I raised my brows. "Let me guess, whiskey? No- bourbon?" I didn't wait for a reply and grabbed the bottle while Elijah chuckled.

"Bourbon would be nice, thank you, Y/N," he said. I wonder if he had an inkling how freaked out I was that he remembered my name.

Half of me was hoping they'd forget all about me. The other half, well... I tried not to give that one a microphone.

I handed him the glass in a hurry, hoping to get away from him as fast as possible, but of course, the universe wasn't so kind because he stopped me, calling my name when I turned around. 

Fuckkkk. I screwed my eyes shut before spinning back around with that perfect customer service smile on my face. 

"Good luck," he said, and my brows furrowed. He saw the confusion on my face and nodded to the rest of the bar, elaborating, "With the customers." I held in a sigh of relief and smiled to him in thanks, moving on.

I'd normally ask customers how they were doing, what brought them to Rousseau's, but not only did I not have enough time what with all the customers, but I also did not feel like making conversation with Elijah Mikaelson after I've been drinking.

So, to resolve my frazzled state that was typically caused by drinking, I drank some more. And I continued to work, per usual, trying to bring my mind back to positive memories of me in the past instead of the dramas of my present.

I was in auto-pilot, serving customers while drifting off into a world of my own, thinking about a time when I wasn't so obsessed with finding my family. The reason why was that I already had one.

My mother and I were very close when I was young, and she did everything she could to protect me before the world took her from me, taking me in the process. Niklaus, obviously, was never in the picture.

He and his entire family did not even know I existed. For all I knew, Klaus just had a one-night stand with my mother and never saw her again. So there was no way he could ever find out who I was, not on his own. But Elijah... Elijah was as smart as Klaus was strong. I didn't want to talk to him too often and have him put together any puzzle pieces.

The night went on without any interruptions. I periodically checked the clock. Rousseau's closed a bit later than usual bars since it was in the middle of the Quarter, but I only had about an hour left before both my shift was over and the bar closed. Thank the heavens. 

Things were going as smoothly as far as I could tell what with me half listening to everything going on, but suddenly, I was brought back to my sense by someone yelling. 

My head shot up and, on the other side of the bar, I saw two people I recognized almost immediately, a man and a woman. The man was a member of Marcel's crew, and the girl was a witch I was familiar with since Marcel left the witch dealings to me back when practicing magic wasn't punishable by fucking death. 

The vampire, Dimitri, was yelling obscenities at Talia, the witch, as she yelled over him. He went to shove her and, without thinking, I rushed over in a blur and blocked him with my arm, separating them both. 

"Break it up right. now," I ordered, glaring at them both but mostly Dimitri. He always bugged me. The bar was less full now and I could tell that people had stopped to watch the encounter.

Talia crossed her arms and Dimitri glared back at me. "She's being a fucking bitch, Y/N-"

She scoffed, "Oh, would you just-"

I raised my voice. "Both of you, enough!" They both stopped and stared at me. "As far as I'm concerned, neither of you should even be talking to each other right now, much less arguing or physically fighting. That's violating so many different agreements at once." This time Dimitri scoffed and so I turned to him, raising a brow, feeling the annoyance in me bubble. "What, do you have something to say?"

He looked at me and smirked in a way that made me want to bite into his neck or turn his blood to acid, and responded, "Yeah- those were your rules when Marcel ran the city and let his bitch boss us around-"

I cut him off, an incredulous look on my face. "His what?"

He ignored me. "But the Mikaelsons are in charge now, and he is not," he boasted. "Which means- neither are you." His smirk widened like he'd just made some huge declaration, like he was in the one in control here.

But he couldn't be more wrong. You see, Marcel left negotiations to me, knowing I could talk to people a little better than he could. And since I kept the peace for him, he let me make a few rules. I was in charge, and I'd be damned if I let some newbie vampire think he bested me. 

I took a step closer to him, ready to fucking tell him how it is, but before I could even get a word out, someone had sped right next to me and cut me off.

I looked up, startled, and was even more surprised when I saw that the man that had sped over was Elijah. Fan-fuckin-tastic.

Talia took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself while Dimitri swallowed. Elijah smiled a tight-lipped smile, staring at Dimitri in a way that would be perceived to be friendly if it were anyone else, but with him, it just looked condescending. With one gaze, he was saying he was better than you without ever really having to say it.

"Forgive me for interrupting, but I would rather not stand and watch this altercation from the sidelines," he expressed. "See, in my time, you'd treat a woman with respect, and it looks to me that you are treating both of these young women with anything but." I held back a snort at the 'young' bit. I'm older than Dimitri by a long shot, but I get the memo.

Dimitri stuttered back, but couldn't form a response. "I-"

"You what? You think that because the Mikaelsons are in charge now that you can run amuck and act as you please?" Elijah paused as if he was waiting for an answer and scoffed when he didn't get one. "Well, I am a Mikaelson," he announced, "and right now I am granting you the privilege of walking away from this because, from what I can see, Y/N holds more relevance than you do or ever have." Not once did he glare at Dimitri, simply holding his stare strongly, and Dimitri most definitely tried to hold that stare in challenge, but after a few seconds, he gave up, swallowing, and walking away quickly.

Elijah's lips curved slightly before they were forced down as he held back a smirk, turning to me and Talia. She nodded at Elijah--in thanks, I'd assume--and he reciprocated the action before she, too, walked away, leaving just me and him standing there.

I looked around at the rest of the bar and realized that everyone left was supernatural in one way or another, or at least knew about it because everyone had returned to their own conversations, not even batting an eye at the inhuman speed displayed.

Elijah glanced around too before looking back to me and nodding towards the door. I quickly understand the motion and nodded back. He wanted to get away from the prying ears, but I could do him one better.

I raised my voice and exclaimed to the crowd, "Sorry guys, party's over!" I heard a few groans and Elijah raised a brow at me, but I ignored it. It was closing time, anyway. "You can go home now! Like right now." I saw some people about to protest, but one look from Elijah and they were silenced. They did not want to fuck with that. 

The clear-out was one of the fastest ones I'd ever seen, especially on a night like this, but in minutes, the bar was empty. When I was sure no one else was around, I finally looked at Elijah and felt my previous nervousness return, but still chastised, "I had that handled."

Instead of being offended, he gave me that same smile he's been smiling all night and told me, "I know. But I couldn't help myself." Although that was meant to be somewhat of an apology, there was a smugness in it that I couldn't stand.

I hummed in a way I hope 'bullshit' was conveyed, turning around the clean up the bar. He chuckled. Good, message received then.

Even I was a little surprised with how bold I was being, but I guess that, even after 500 years, alcohol still gave me a little courage.

I picked up the glasses people had left scattered, putting them into the sink and tidying everything up so that, tomorrow, Camille wouldn't have to deal with any of it.

"So you handled business for Marcel?" I glanced at him to see his hand casually tucked into a pocket of his slack. Again, it was such a small, insignificant stance, but there was just something about it that made you want to fold into yourself.

I looked back to the glasses I was scrubbing, affirming, "Yeah, I'd negotiate with all sides to come to agreements we could all, well, agree on, I guess."

His lip quirked up as he sat down on a barstool right in front of me. I wordlessly handed him a glass and a bottle of bourbon, and the small quirk of his lips became a grin.

While he poured himself a glass, I kept working on the dishes and decided to make small talk so I didn't look like an alien creature that didn't know how to communicate with others.

"You've been here a while, and it's just after closing now. What's the occasion- or is it more of a you just needed a drink kind of occasion?"

Even though my back was turned, it was still like I could sense him smirking. "It's the latter," he revealed. "In fact, I'm drinking because of the disagreements within the factions."

"Oh?" I kept scrubbing.

He continued, "Yes. It's the same story every time: everyone wants power and no one is satisfied with what they have."

I snorted, "Yeah, Tears For Fears wasn't kidding. Everybody really does want to rule the world." And that was a joke, but it was completely true, especially in a city like New Orleans. 

"Precisely that, Y/N. And Niklaus-" I refrained from taking in a breath. "Oh, my brother is not handling it well." I'd imagine he wasn't. From what I've heard about Klaus, he didn't take kindly to people trying take what he thought was rightfully his. That's why he tried banishing Marcel, even though he was meant to be like a son to him.

I scoffed at that in my head. Klaus was a father to Marcel, raised Marcel, and was gonna raise another child in the near future, and yet he'd never even met me.

My brain was bombarded with the thoughts I tried to keep in at that moment. I wondered if he knew about me at all, if he knew and just didn't care, or if he had no idea of my existence. I wonder what he'd do if he knew. Would he care?

I pushed back those thoughts and shook my head, bringing myself back to the conversation and replying, "That's pretty expected. I mean, it took Marcel years to create what he had, and he also had me to keep the peace, too, so it's different." 

Elijah hummed, briefly reminding me of Klaus. For a few seconds, all that could be heard was the scrub-a-dub-dubbing I was doing and the steady response I was getting from him stopped. Until he resumed with enough fervour to knock me out.

"And what if we had you to keep the peace for us?""

I dropped the glass I was scrubbing in shock, quickly using my speed to stop it from hitting the sink and breaking. I put the glass down and turned the faucet off, turning to face him fully. I was half expecting to see a smile on his face, for him to tell me he was joking, but he had a completely serious look on his face.

If I didn't know any better, I'd see he even looked hopeful.

I looked at him, analyzing his face for a few seconds before lowering my guard slightly for the first time around a Mikaelson and whispering, "Oh my God, you're not kidding."

He smiled a little. "No, Y/N, I'm afraid I'm not." I blew out a breath through my lips, feeling the gears in my head turn 70 miles an hour.

What the fuck?

He's asking me to work for them.

My family.

Me.

Klaus' daughter.

But they don't know that.

No, they don't know about my relation to them. But Elijah does know that Marcel's my friend. I made this known, just in case he forgot in the few seconds it'd been since it'd been brought up. "You do know Marcel's my friend, right? Maybe even my best friend, if you want to get technical."

He took a sip of his bourbon before responding, "Yes, I'm aware."

I nodded. "Right, so then you know why I cant accept that offer." I wasn't thinking about the opportunity or power or really anything important at that moment. I was thinking about Marcel. And I was thinking about how coincidental it was that, a week after I got back to the city, Elijah takes interest in me of all people.

Maybe it's not a coincidence, my subconscious reasoned.

Oh, but hell, I really hoped it was.

Elijah took another sip of his drink. "You know these people, they trust you." I gave him a look, but hid my skepticism at the way he phrased his sentence. He said it like he already knew about my history with the factions. Honestly, knowing him, he probably did.

He used my silence and went on, "Arrangements could be made about Marcellus." My brows raised at that. "I'm fine with negotiating, Y/N." 

I narrowed my eyes. He was to trying to broker a deal with me. Smart. But a Mikaelson choosing to negotiate for someone with as little 'relevance' as me is odd, to say the least.

I stared at him for a few seconds before stating the obvious. "I have a feeling your brother wouldn't like what exactly you're offering me."

Elijah chuckled, shaking his head. "Believe me, Y/N, I don't have much care for what my brother does or doesn't like at the moment."

I pursed my lips, running it all over in my head in disbelief that I was even considering it. The offer alone was suspicious, but the situation was riskier than many situations I'd put myself into in my lifetime, and that was saying something.

I'd been chasing after the Mikaelsons for ages, watching the family I never got from a distance, the always and forever I wasn't apart of. Right now, Elijah Mikaelson was offering up the opportunity to see them up close on a silver platter, and I was hesitant?

I held Elijah's stare, contemplating. And perhaps it was the alcohol that made the decision for me, but soon enough I found my mouth opening, words spilling out of it. "Marcel is allowed back into the Quarter, and him and Klaus call a truce." He didn't flinch. "You agree to that, and you have yourself a deal."

Elijah continued to stare at me in silence for a few seconds after that, and as time passed, I began to think I royally fucked up, trying to order him around, but he proved me a wrong by holding a hand out. I looked at it in bewilderment.

"You have yourself a deal, Miss Y/L/N." I held back any surprise at the fact that he knew my surname when I never gave it to him, but really, there was nothing to be surprised about. 

I reluctantly reached out and clasped my hand in his, ignoring the rush of power I felt when my skin made contact with his and tried not to show it on my face. 

What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

[theeoriginals]

I’d love to see your take on an arranged marriage with klaus (like medieval times or some period like that). maybe he’s marrying her to get something from her/her family but there’s something a little off about the reader (hint: she does what giulia tofana did - google her if you’re not familiar!! her story is so fascinating) and when he pieces it together he’s smitten with her 💗💗

aqua tofana | klaus mikaelson

author's note; this has been in my inbox for over a month because i was so inspired by it that I decided a 14k oneshot was necessary I hope I did it justice

klaus mikaelson x reader (no y/n) use of nickname in place of y/n

warnings; arranged marriage, strangers to lovers, klaus is a little shit but so is reader so it's okay, no Y/N, mentions of domestic abuse but not in regards to reader, mentions of poison, fluff, shy!klaus (he is real to me), these two mfers are in LOVE, mikael (a warning in itself), minor violence and bloodshed but nothing too bad. if I missed anything let me know!! this is heavily inspired by ACOTAR bc I just binged the entire series in less than a week so thank you sarah j. maas for your service

The Mikaelsons were said to be a noble family. One with loyalty and strength. 

They were coming to stay in their small kingdom, in their castle. Three of them. Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus. Looking for a safe haven, to avoid growing conflicts in surrounding areas. Looking for someplace to call home for a little while longer– at least, until they could no longer pass as mortals.

Riverend was perfect for them. 

The way the people of Riverend saw it, their problems were their own, and the larger, outlying kingdoms could fight their nonsensical battles without any help from a small, useless kingdom built downstream from them, carved right out of the flowing water that traveled through their town square by the calloused hands of the families that still lived there today.

As far as anyone was concerned, Riverend had no monetary value, no natural resources to capitalize off of, no armies worth rallying, and no animals to trade. The only thing it had was its people, and to most, that meant nothing. It meant they went overlooked, and were never considered in territory battles and similar crises. But to the right person–a dangerous person– such a thing could mean everything. 

That is why she was so wary to accept this supposedly noble family into their walls. She had to be wary, to think of the danger they could bring along with them should they stay. How much danger it could put her kingdom in. 

It’s why she had further qualms about marrying the man the king had been corresponding with all these months. Said qualms, of course, outside of the fact that she had no real desire to marry, let alone to a stranger. All familiarity aside, she had a duty to her people to maintain their livelihoods and not leave them stranded for her own selfish desires. Even if it meant marrying some man. 

With her mother’s voice in her head telling her to keep her chin up and her shoulders back, she was determined to keep her wits about her. She didn’t complain when she was asked to wear one of her nicer gowns to greet the family when they arrived that brisk, cloudy afternoon. She let her ladies dress her in a midnight blue gown that swept along the ground, with sleeves that draped over her hands, leaving no skin visible, spare for her neck and face. 

She was escorted by the king to the throne room, where she stood at his shoulder, resting a hand on the embroidered fabric along the muscle hidden beneath the layers. A silent, supportive daughter. A perfect royal family, to anyone who might linger too long while looking in their direction. 

Two of their sentries escorted their new houseguests into the throne room, and she did nothing but raise a brow at their humble appearance. The girl, Rebekah, was young. She’d seen better days, and she silently wondered where they had traveled from that had them end up before her and her father with dirt scuffs on their cheeks, and scruffy, unkempt facial hair marring their jaws. 

“Welcome, Lords and Lady, to our home,” Her father spoke genially, a content smile on his face as if he was unaware of the judgmental look his daughter was fixing them with. “We’re honored to have you here, honored to build a bridge between our families for years to come.” 

One of the long-haired men spoke, his hands clasped neatly behind his back, making him look like he was some proper gentleman and not a random man who had shown up on her doorstep. 

“The honor is all ours, Your Majesty. The opportunities that your generosity has given my family have not gone unnoticed. We thank you and the Princess for your kindness.” 

The King shifted slightly like he’d forgotten his daughter was there. He turned to look at her over his shoulder, and she met his gaze, peering down at him over the bridge of her nose. “Yes, my daughter. Nyxia. She’s a woman of few words, I must warn you all. And when she chooses to speak, it’d do you well to listen closely.” 

All of their eyes shifted to her, but the set of icy blue ones had never left. Not to meet the king’s eyes, or look around at his new home for the foreseeable future of their impending marriage. 

“Your Highness,” Blue eyes, suddenly alight with fire. Flame that burns her from the tips of her toes to the base of her scalp that her very hair grows out of. Flame that ravages civilizations, and wipes out bloodlines. She can feel the darkness in him from two simple words. It’d take a fool to not see it. “I look forward to getting to know you before our prospective arrangement takes place.”

He wasn’t lying, she could tell. But his words seemed to hold as much weight as hers did. A hidden meaning tucked behind every spoken syllable. Dangerous. So dangerous. The King was a fool to not see it, but that was neither here nor there. 

Licking her lips, she chose her first words carefully. It was always important to make a lasting first impression, but with this man– with her future husband, she wanted to be honest from the start. She wanted, for once, to reveal her hand before the game started. Just to see what he’d do. Just to see what he had planned. 

But she didn’t. She knew it would just be chaos. And even though such things were in her blood, she couldn’t risk anything this far into everything.

“Lord Niklaus,” She didn’t move a muscle besides the ones it took to make words form on her tongue. “My kingdom rejoices with your arrival. They will be overjoyed with the announcement of our nuptials.” 

And the man, encased in his flames that felt as if they could burn the whole world down should he please, tilted his head and smirked at her. Like he’d heard every thought she’d had in the moments between words. 

Nothing else was said between them, not verbally, at least, and the king interrupted the rising tension that was so obvious between the Princess and the Mikaelson siblings, oblivious to the people he’d surrounded himself with. 

“Lady Rebekah, my daughter can show you to your rooms in the east wing. You’ll have ladies of your own to help you bathe and dress,” He gestures to the blonde, who looks childishly excited at the thought. “The both of you will be in the west wing, my men can take you to your rooms. We can reconvene tonight at dinner, yes?” 

The three siblings bowed at their waist, easily deferring the power back to the King. 

“In the meantime, feel free to explore. Our home is yours, now. Make yourselves comfortable.” 

She stayed in the throne room long after even her father had left, watching the doors the siblings had been escorted through. She lingered at her place beside the throne, nearly behind it, where her mother once stood behind a man who looked like he belonged on a throne more than any woman would. She laid a hand around the back of the embossed silver and thought to herself that it would look better in gold. 

────── 

Klaus watched his wife-to-be dig into the dinner presented before them moments ago, her fork the first one to move, even before her father’s. She didn’t sit at the head of the table, but just to the right of her father, and Klaus had taken the seat across from her. He did not doubt that she could feel his eyes on her, but she was pointedly ignoring it in favor of talking to his sister at her side. 

Rebekah, ever the people pleaser. Even in their centuries on this earth, Rebekah could never resist the desire to cling to the nearest female in their proximity. He hadn’t said anything to her about it, yet. He figured there was no harm in letting her delude herself into thinking that Princess Nyxia wanted anything to do with any of them. 

Elijah wasn’t even pretending to be friendly like he tended to be in this position. He’d been silent for a majority of the day, perhaps tired from their travels, though Klaus doubted it was anything so simple. If Klaus were to look at himself as a King, it would be Elijah as his second, watching everything and everyone, dutifully reporting back to him about usurpers and battles to come. It would be Elijah ripping hearts out, and Klaus taking responsibility for the blood on his brother’s hands. 

There was a reason it was only the three of them. His other siblings just didn’t understand that you did everything for family. 

He supposes that’s why he’s so curious about the two royals before him. They were the only family they had left, and yet there was something unspoken there, something withheld between them that left a tenuous truce. There was such anger behind Nyxia’s eyes, and Klaus had the urge to push and push at it until it finally shattered. Elijah often compared him to a child for this inane urge, and Klaus couldn’t deny it. 

“This food is lovely, Your Majesty,” 

Rebekah looked at Nyxia’s father with a sweet little smile, and Klaus wondered how she managed to maintain such a degree of humanity inside of her after everything.

“Oh, it’s all my sweet Nyx,” He turns his pleasant, kingly smile to his daughter. Looks like he owes her the world. She doesn’t return an ounce of the fondness, but she still smiles, like she knows it’s expected of her. “She has specific tastes, so I prefer her to pick the menu. Our cooks in the kitchen work to make it all come to life and it never disappoints.” 

It works in the way that it makes Rebekah turn adoring eyes onto Nyxia once again, but it doesn’t do as such for the two brothers. There’s something about this place that drew them to it in the first place and they wanted to figure it out, neither of them did very well when it came to venturing into the unknown, so they devised the plan. It’s set in motion, it’s happening as they sit at this table and eat this food, and yet he still feels wrongfooted. He’s missing something, he’s missing the thing that brought him to this small kingdom in the first place. 

He doesn’t like living in the dark. 

Elijah cuts a thin bite of the lamb chop on the plate in front of him. “Do you cook, then, Princess?”

“If I am feeling particularly inspired, yes,” She grabs her silver chalice, swirling the dark red wine in it before she takes a drink. “I prefer vinification.” 

The King’s face lights up like he’d been waiting for another opportunity to brag on his daughter. “Yes, Nyxia made the wine we’re drinking tonight. She tries to make a personal barrel at least once a year, and it’s always the most unique flavor. She goes out and picks fruits from our trees up near the bluffs, where–”

“I’m sure they aren’t interested to know what fruits our land produces, Father.”

“On the contrary,” Her eyes shot to Elijah at his words. “I think it’d be quite ignorant of us to turn down any knowledge of the land we’re to call… home. It seems to be a very special place.” 

She watches him for a moment, eyes narrowing at his unsuspecting tone. “Yes,” She muses quietly, looking away from Elijah to meet Klaus’s gaze like she can tell Elijah’s speaking on his behalf. “Perhaps I’ll show you what makes it so special.”

None of them acknowledged the fact that it wasn’t so much of an offering of camaraderie, but rather a threat. 

────── 

Months go by. Time passes peacefully, but Klaus is growing restless. 

With the announcement of their joining sent out to the few people they intended to invite outside of their kingdom, they had begun preparing the castle for the celebration and the princess found herself preoccupied with menial tasks, like picking out what flower arrangements to line the aisle with and what color banners should hang from the ceilings above them. 

Throughout it, she’d done her best to avoid the Mikaelsons but maintained a close enough distance so they couldn’t claim she was giving them the cold shoulder. She’d grown quite good at falsifying closeness throughout her years. She was designed to have a connection with her people that displayed generosity but not bias. A relatability, but not a weakness. 

She was sure that Rebekah would call them best friends by now, but she also knew the girl could not even tell a person what the princess’s favorite color was if someone ever bothered to ask her. 

She has always been able to exist in a way that makes her entirely extraordinary, but forgettable the moment she’s out of sight. 

She’s been able to use the wedding as an excuse to avoid isolated interactions with Klaus, but she knew he’d catch her without an excuse one of these days. She would’ve preferred to avoid it for a bit longer, but she wasn’t unprepared when it finally happened.

Standing in the aisle of the throne room where the banners of white and gold were hanging above the place they were to stand in front of her people and all of the guests they’d sent invitations out to and declare an undying bond that didn’t exist, she felt a rage bubble inside of her that she was quick to smother into nothing but cinders and ash when she heard the doors creak open behind her and footsteps slow as he stopped beside her. 

“You’re a hard woman to track down, Princess,” 

“You could have sent for me at any time. It is my duty to serve my subjects,” 

She glances at Klaus out of the corner of her eye and sees an amused look grow on his face. “Is that what I am? One of your subjects?” 

“Until we are bound by law, yes, Lord Mikaelson. You are one of my subjects and I your Princess. Soon enough you’ll be Prince, and you will also owe loyalty to my subjects because this place does not exist without them.” 

“You take such pride in this kingdom, in these lands, yet you did not win it in a battle, have not even fought in one, as far as I’m aware. You have no value to other kingdoms, and yet your father brags of orchards and vineyards with bountiful fruits. He tells tales of heroic civilians, always offering a helping hand to those in need. Sparing what they can, to maintain their peace here. It’s an odd thing, considering I’d never seen or heard of Riverend before that time all those months ago when I first met your father.” 

“And yet, here you stand, within the walls of my kingdom, amongst my people. In my home.” 

There’s no humor in her voice. There isn’t any hatred in it, either, and he can tell she’s got that impenetrable mask on again. Even her momentary anger or irritation was different from this nothingness. 

He can hear her father’s words from that very first day, telling them all that her words are important. He remembers thinking it was such an odd thing to point out at that time. It almost rings like a warning, now, and not a twisted compliment for the woman. 

“It’s curious, is all. I wonder if I’ll understand what inspires such devotion once I am Prince, or if it is a feeling only you experience.” 

She turns, finally, to look at him. “You are interested in learning what makes me love my people and my home?” 

He ducks his head in a nod. “Guilty, I suppose.”

“Then I will show you,” She nods once, firmly. Like she’s just decided it then and there because of his earnest words, and he thinks it’s a ridiculous, rash thing, but when he looks into her eyes there is no hesitation or wariness. “Tonight, we will have dinner and I will answer all of your questions. I will show you why I would spill endless blood for this kingdom, and never ask any of my people to do the same for me in return.” 

He raises his brows, letting a sliver of his suspiciousness show in his icy, blue-gray eyes. “You’re offering such honesty to my family after weeks of pretending like we don’t exist? Forgive me if I’m skeptical of your generosity.” 

“Not your family. You. You and I will have dinner alone, and I will tell you everything you want to know,” She corrects him, earning a more genuine look of shock from him. “You are to be my husband. One day you will be my King, and I your Queen. Is honesty not the place to start?” 

Klaus falls silent, watching her, waiting for a slip-up. For any sign of hesitation or scheming behind her endless eyes. Finding nothing, he bites out a wry laugh and nods in agreement, finally tearing his eyes away from her to look around at the decorated throne room. 

The betrotheds stand silent together for a few minutes, and she offers no insight into whatever it is she’s thinking as she stares at the throne front and center in the room. 

“Is my help needed for our wedding?” Klaus says suddenly as if there isn’t a mounting tension building in the room like a shadow of the night. 

“Not unless you are offering,” She says simply. “I’ve told them white and gold, for our colors. My dress is to be fashioned similarly, as are your garments. I’m sure you’ll be summoned for fittings, but our seamstresses have plenty of work to do before then.” 

The man hummed agreeingly. “Then I shall leave you to it. And I’ll see you at dinner tonight.” 

“Before you go, Lord Mikaelson,” 

“I am certain you can call me Niklaus. Just Klaus if you’re feeling particularly agreeable that day, Princess,” 

She raised a brow like one might raise their lips in humor. “Niklaus.” 

He looks at her indulgently. 

“Even after we are married, outside of our duties to this kingdom, I will never ask you for anything,” She says, her words striking something like a warning bell inside him. “But right now, I have a question for you.” 

“Ask me anything, Princess,” 

“Do you know who you are?” 

Klaus’s eyebrows flexed on his forehead. “Pardon?” 

She turns to face him head-on, standing before him like she did that first day they arrived, only this time there was barely a foot of distance between them. He could almost see her pulse move in the long lines of her throat. “I ask you, as your future wife, do you know who you are? Do you feel the shadow that shields your soul? Do you feel the fire that consumes you?” 

She tilts her head at his suspended silence. “You hide from the light that is still inside of you. You hide from someone. But you won’t hide from me. You can’t. It is because of that unfair advantage that I am offering you honesty. Know that I do this for you as an act of trust. Do not underestimate the weight of such a thing, or you will see just what I am willing to do for this place.” 

She side-steps him and walks past him, leaving him in a stunned silence that quickly turns into rage that they both know he can’t take out on anything within the walls of this castle, and the borders of this kingdom. 

She’s established the high ground. And she has made it clear that it is not Klaus standing up there, looking down at her, but rather the other way around. 

She’s offered to even the playing field, though. He’s curious to see just how much honesty she’ll be parting with tonight. He’s curious to see how it will end. 

────── 

The table is set for two. 

It’s different from the dining table they’ve been occupying for the past three weeks. This is a table made for two, and only for two. 

Candlelight casts shadows around the room, and Klaus does a slight double take as he walks towards the table, escorted quietly by one of the sentries from his quarters to this room. He’s loath to admit he was distracted by thinking about all of the possibilities of this dinner to pay attention to the fact that he was being led to the east wing and not the usual central hall where meals were had. 

But it’s too late for him to question it, as the sentry is walking out and a door across the room opens, revealing the princess. 

She’s changed again– always in different gowns throughout the day. This one is similar to the one she was wearing when they first met. A blue so dark it looks black, that holds color like the night sky. Sleeves that drape over her shoulders and cinch down to her wrist, leaving only her hands bare. With the dim lighting of this private dining room, shadows dance around her face, and he thinks to himself that the shadows cling to her. 

She gestures for him to take a seat, already doing so, and she immediately grabs a corked bottle from the side of the table, popping it open and pouring their golden chalices halfway full before she sets it back down. 

Klaus takes the first drink and has to bite back the pleased noise he starts to make, if only out of spite. 

“I’ve been fermenting this wine for three years,” She informs him, seemingly hearing the noise anyway, if the gleam in her eye is anything to go by. “It’s from my private reserves.” 

“Aren’t they all from your private reserves?” 

“No, I give barrels to the tavern in town,” She swirls it around in her cup, quirking a brow at him. 

“Give, or sell?” 

“Aren’t you the one who said I have undying generosity for this kingdom for no good reason?” She takes a small sip of the wine, holding it in her mouth for a moment before she sets it down. “It’s too bitter for my liking.” 

Klaus hums, taking another drink. “Perhaps you’re just your own biggest critic,” 

“Mm, perhaps,” She concedes, fluttering her eyes in a slight roll. It’s as casual as he’s ever seen her, and she’s still sitting stock-straight in her chair, shoulders back and chin high. As royal as ever. “Are you going to start asking your questions?” 

He smirks, tilting his head in a slight nod. “Maybe I was waiting for your permission. I wouldn’t want to be a rude dinner guest, after all. Not after you’ve brought this lovely meal into this secluded space,” 

“It’s mine. I don’t always prefer to eat in the company of others,” She says. “My bedroom is through that door.” 

She points to the door she’d come through upon his arrival, and his eyes follow the curve of her arm through the fabric shifting along it. 

“How lucky I am, then, hm?” 

“Oh, most people would not call it luck, Niklaus. In fact, I think I heard your brother say to your sister once that it feels like you’re all just sheep in a wolf’s den.”

Klaus makes a dry noise of acknowledgment, mentally cursing his brother for saying such things within earshot of anyone, let alone his soon-to-be wife. “My brother’s desire to protect this family often leads him to paranoia, I’m afraid.” 

“I never said he was wrong.” 

Klaus’s hands flex in his lap, out of view of the princess. “Oh, is that so? Then maybe I am ready to start asking questions,”

She beckons him on with a wave of her hand. Neither of them has touched their meals. He doesn’t think they’ve broken eye contact, either. Locked in this stalemate, tension rising and rising and rising. 

“I have traveled far and wide in my days on this planet, and I have come across some very strange places, I must say. But never have I come across a place that simply… doesn’t exist,”

If Klaus knew any better, he’d think she looked excited at the words coming out of his mouth.

“That is not a question, my Lord,” 

He smirks at her correction. “What is it? What is it that hides this place from the map? How do you keep travelers passing through, yet no one has ever had so much as a–a tall tale, or some monster story to tell about this place? You fight in no wars but you have sentries stationed throughout this castle, on guard every night and day. You trade no goods, but these lands are bountiful in fruits and vegetables, crops as big as this castle grow in people’s yards. So, tell me, Princess Nyxia, how do you do it?” 

She shifts in her chair, leaning her arm onto the armrest, and for the first time since he met her all those months ago, she smiles. 

She smiles widely, and it’s not something wicked or cold, but instead, it’s amusement, through and through. Every bit of that coldness stays in her eyes, though. Darkness still clinging to her like a child and its mother.

“There are stories about things– creatures so dangerous that you cannot even utter their name, for fear of inviting them into your home, your mind,” She starts, undoubtedly aware of the anticipation thrumming in his veins. He’s had to be so careful about feeding since they came here, compelling people, and never taking too much, because he can’t risk her catching on. He thinks he feels more human than ever within these walls, and it’s such an odd thing. 

“My real name has not been spoken in decades. Most people in this kingdom, in this castle, do not know me as anything other than Nyxia. It is the name that my mother held when people started to refuse to say her name as well, and in honor of her great life, I now bear it as my own.”

Klaus lets out a slow breath, a feeling like adrenaline coursing through him. “What are you, Nyxia?” 

“I am the shadows that follow you along the walls, I am the very stars in the sky. I am the end to every day, and I will be the end to it all when I am finally called back home. I am the thing you see every time you blink your eyes, Klaus Mikaelson. I am darkness.” 

He shuffles, leaning his elbows onto the table to examine her closely, in a way that he hasn’t had the chance to do since their arrival. “You keep this place hidden so that people don’t find you and hunt you.” 

“Why do you think you and your siblings found this place? Why do you think you could see and remember what so many others could not?” She raised a brow, pulling her cloth napkin from her lap and dropping it atop her untouched plate. “I know what you are, Niklaus Mikaelson. The Original Hybrid. The divide in you is shadowed in darkness. I am, and have been a part of your very being from the day you took your first breath and were declared a bastard.” 

He flinches minutely, but she sees it anyway. “Why me? Why lure me and my family here? To kill us? I have no doubt you have every means to kill creatures such as ourselves if your claims of power are to be taken as truth.” 

“I have no intention to kill you, Klaus,” She pushes her chair back from the table, standing up. Silently, she gestures for him to do the same. “I have not yet told you why I do what I do here.” 

“You haven’t even told me what you do here, let alone why,” 

She chuckles freely and he ignores the chill that travels down his spine at the sound. It’s like she’s been waiting on him to break this dam between them, and now that her secret is out, she’s alive. 

She’d told him earlier to realize the weight that is behind her trust, her honesty. He will admit to himself that he had underestimated it, even in the wake of her precautions.

“Your family is not expecting you tonight, right?” 

He raises his brows but shakes his head. “I told them I’d be having dinner with you and that I’d be out for the night. Why do you ask?” 

“We’ll be taking a trip. I have things to do,”

It’s all she says before she leads him into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind them. 

────── 

Draped in cloaks that covered their faces in shadows she had promised him would keep them hidden while they made their way through muddy alleys and thick groves of trees, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder just what he’d gotten himself into. 

He didn’t often admit that he was in over his head– was rarely in such a position at all– but this. This was something he was utterly in the dark about. The irony wasn’t lost on him, either. 

“Where are we going, Princess?” 

“You may call me Nyxia, you know. You did earlier,” 

“I am nothing if not a gentleman, Princess Nyxia,” 

She rolls her eyes, but there’s an unfamiliar degree of humor in the action. He’s still discombobulated at her complete flip of a switch, but he’s trying to familiarize himself with it. He selfishly hopes that she doesn’t slide that cold mask back on when they return to the castle. 

“They’ll be just through here,” Nyxia led them through another tightly packed thicket of trees, and just as Klaus was about to complain, they broke through into a clearing that nearly took his breath away. 

Though they were undoubtedly still surrounded by the forest she’d traipsed them through for the past hour, at least, this ovaloid clearing was shrouded in a different kind of darkness than the night that encased the rest of the area. 

Light up by the stars glimmering just out of reach above their heads, women mingled about, stopping to talk to one another. A few children ran by, laughing as they chased one another barefoot through the trees, disappearing out of sight and earshot as soon as they left the area, only to reappear before him like a bursting bubble. 

Klaus turned slightly to look at Nyxia, watching her pull her cloak down off her head and smile kindly, genuinely, to the people who had stopped and gathered around them. Klaus took the cue and pulled his own hood off, and his presence immediately earned wary looks. 

Glancing at Nyxia, he fought the urge to jump when her hand landed on his arm, her face contorting into an understanding but reassuring look. “No, no, look,” 

She pulled Klaus closer to her, keeping her hand wrapped around his arm as he looked warily at the sea of faces watching him. Feeling entirely caught off guard, he stayed silent, happily letting Nyxia take the reins.

“This is my betrothed,” Her words immediately earn a variety of reactions. From the children, their hesitance turns into immediate adoration. From the older women, teasing laughs are shared between them, and Nyxia bats a hand out to silence them, though it’s not done out of real offense. 

Friends, he realizes. These are her friends. She’s brought him to meet her friends that she has hidden in this patch of woods, further secluding a place that already doesn’t exist outside of its own bubble. 

An unavoidable arrow of fondness shoots down his spine, and he bats it away as quickly as he can. 

“So our lovely princess has finally brought a prince to meet us,” One of the older women grins tauntingly, and Klaus eyes the wrinkles around her mouth that only come from smiling too much, and the strands of gray hair falling out of the braids she’s got piled atop her head. 

“Klaus,” He says, somewhat shocked by the emotion in his voice. “You may call me Klaus.” 

“Klaus, then,” The woman nods, conveying something to Nyxia that is seemingly translated between the two of them, though Klaus couldn’t even begin to guess what went unsaid. 

Nyxia finally removes her hand from his arm to reach into her cloak, pulling three small bottles out and passing them off to the older woman, whose face turns somewhat solemn. 

“I know that one is for Merida,” The woman starts, meeting Nyxia’s gaze from beneath her lashes. “But who are the other two?” 

“Reya and Liesl,” 

The woman curses beneath her breath and apologizes when the children nearby gasp. 

“When am I to bring this to them?”

“Within the week. It has only been getting worse lately,” 

As if she were a soldier being told her life was being offered up on the chopping block, the woman nodded and tucked the vials into the deep pockets of the dress she wore. “I will send word once they are here.” 

“Thank you, Theresé,” She grabs Klaus’s arm gently once more, beginning to steer him towards the path they’d taken, but she stops short, looking over her shoulder with a slight smirk. “You are all invited to the wedding, of course. Next month. I will send someone to escort you to the castle.” 

A bout of excited tittering follows them out, and they walk in silence, heading a bit of the way back towards the castle before she leads them off to the left, walking them across one of the runoff creeks that flow with the river through town.

He remains silent until she leaves his side to push open a gate ahead of them, the metal creaking and groaning beneath her force, but giving way eventually. 

This time, when Klaus steps forward, he instantly knows where he is. “The orchard,” 

“Yes,” Nyxia takes a deep breath in, releasing it quietly. “Come, let’s sit.” 

She leads him to a wooden bench down the main aisle in between the trees full of ripe fruit, all looking ready to be harvested and used. 

“That place,” He starts once they’ve been seated for a moment, Klaus watching Nyxia’s profile as she basks beneath shadows and night of her own making. “What is it?” 

“It has no name,” She informs him, her voice unexpectedly soft.

She’s been so different this entire night, he wonders how long she’s been waiting for someone to just ask her these questions. Every person who’s been close enough to do it has been too scared of what wrath they may face if they did ask her about the oddities of her home, but Klaus did it because he can’t help but push people. 

“It has no name, and no one knows of it besides the ones who live there, and myself. Now, you do, too,” 

“What is the purpose of it? Why is it only women and children?” 

She takes a long moment to think about her words, and he can see the way she struggles to verbalize her thoughts because no one had ever thought to ask her before. “Just because I am darkness does not mean that I can control all that exists in this world. I can’t take away what already exists, no matter how much I wish to. That place is what I call a loophole. I have them hidden all around the world. Because I cannot erase what already exists, I must find a way to work around it. To remove the darkness I wish to see gone without violating the laws of my making.” 

“And what exactly have you been working around?” 

“Humanity,” She says simply. “With every passing decade, they tear themselves apart more and more. My loopholes exist to take people out of that chaos, of the darkness. Sometimes it’s a hungry child or a bastard,” 

Klaus glances away for a moment before forcing his gaze back to hers. 

“Sometimes it is a woman that gets sold to the highest bidder. The woman I spoke to, Theresé, was one of the first women I saved from a nearby village. Her husband was an utter brute and had killed his first wife when she had barely seen sixteen name days. Theresé was strong, but there was only so much she could do before the inevitable. So I stepped in and I proposed a hypothetical situation to her, where all she would have to do is make him dinner and serve him wine, and meet me outside of her home later that night.

“I did not think she would do it, but when the moon was high in the sky, I waited outside of her house and barely breathed until she was standing before me in one piece, with tears in her eyes and bruises on her cheek. So I told her who I was and what I wanted to do, and she said she would help me if I continued to save women who had been in her position. So I have. The girls I mentioned, Reya and Liesl. Young girls, friends since childhood. They were married off to the same man, a prince of some second-rate kingdom a few days north that had already gone through 3 wives. They have just found out they’re both pregnant, and fear raising children in the environment they live in.” 

Realization dawns on him. “You give them poison. The wine you make,” 

She hums in assent and silence falls between them once more, the princess dutifully letting Klaus turn the events of the night over and over in his head, finally slotting pieces together where they’d been misaligned for months. 

“Why?” He breathes out, his tone of disbelief earning her attention once more. “Why did you bring me there when you’ve barely spoken to me all these months? When you have known what I am and who my family is, and you knew I was suspicious from the very start, why have you just now shown me the truth?” 

Sighing, Nyxia looks down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “I fear that my honesty is about to get me in trouble for the first time tonight.” 

“Just tell me,” He shakes his head pleadingly. “Please.” 

“Death consumes your very soul, Klaus,” Her voice takes on a distant tone, one he recognizes more than any fondness or humor she’s shown throughout the night. It’s the way she’d spoken to him since he first arrived, down to that very morning in the throne room, overlooking preparations for their wedding. “It is a fire that burns you from the inside out. And because of that fire, there is a shadow on you. And in that shadow, I exist. I see parts of you that you likely would not share with me, and for good reason.” 

Klaus can’t help the way he flinches, shifting away from her on the bench. She looks unsurprised at this particular reaction, but her fingers twitch like she’s going to reach out for him again. 

She doesn’t. 

“I have known you much longer than you have known me, and for that, I apologize. When you first arrived, I was still hesitant to believe what I had felt, and I– I am much different in the daylight. I am at my weakest when the sun is out, and that has never changed. But– other things have.” 

“Your father–”

“He is not my father,” She cuts him off, voice reverting to that cold indifference for a split second. “Once upon a time, he was a man. A king. But he was not a kind man, let alone a kind king. So I took the darkness in his mind, and I collapsed it from within. I made him hollow with it, and now he is but a puppet. A face to put on our currency, so that I may do as I please without so much attention. My people remember the cruel man, and they remember what I did for them. That is why I have their respect. Their loyalty. Trust breeds trust.” 

Klaus’s jaw clenches. “And when you decide you’re ready to become Queen one day, and I become a King, will you also make me into a puppet? Will I be nothing but a conduit of political jargon made to distract people from your loopholes?” 

Nyxia’s eyes burn, but they are dark. Almost black. 

“I did not bring you here to make you a puppet, Niklaus,” 

“Then why did you bring me here? Tell me, Nyxia. Tell me the truth.” 

“I brought you here because I want to protect you,” 

Klaus’s lip curls in a snarl and he stands up, cloak billowing around him. He turns at the feeling of a slight breeze and finds himself looking at the castle from a high distance, and he wonders if he’d been in such shock that he hadn’t noticed their uphill hike, or if this was another one of her tricks. 

Clenching his jaw, he turns to look down at her. “I do not need protecting, Princess. I have done nothing but protect myself and my family for hundreds of years.” 

“I know that, Klaus,” She spits out, looking as angry as he feels. Both of them are stubborn to a fatal degree. “But I want you to let me do it anyway!” 

Klaus lets out a harsh breath through his nose, turning to look away from her as his chest heaves with frustrated breaths. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion practically slaps him in the face as it settles over him and he finds his racing thoughts finally slowing down, seeming to process in his mind after the eventful night. 

“I understand that this has all been unexpected,” She starts, voice carefully neutral in the wake of both of their tempers. “And I will not blame you for being upset. But trust me when I say that I have your best interests in heart, for you and your family.” 

“I’m to trust you after you’ve shown me only a fraction of the truth?” 

Her soft look has shuttered away when he looks at her again. “I told you,” She whispers, voice quiet but certainly not weak with how thick it was around the emotion clenching around her windpipe. “That I was putting all of my trust into you the moment I told you what I am. The danger that I have thrust upon you and myself just by sharing all of this with you is endless. I have bared my soul to you in a single night, Klaus Mikaelson, and then you spit in my face by asking me if I am trustworthy.” 

“Nyxia,” 

She stands from the bench abruptly, pulling the hood of her cloak back up over her head. “We should go. I don’t want to run into the guards at the shift change.” 

“Nyxia, just–”

“We’re leaving,” She cuts him off, not looking back to see if he’s following after her as she stalks off towards the gates she’d opened for him, just for him, moments ago. “Either join me, or find your own way back.” 

Klaus pulls his own hood up and is quick to fall into step a few paces behind her because he isn’t nearly stupid enough to think that their easygoing atmosphere from earlier is still lingering. All because he couldn’t stop the traitorous beating of his heart and the way his skin crawled at the thought of entrusting the safety of his family to anyone else. 

She is going to be family soon enough, though. If she’ll still have him, that is. 

────── 

The tension in the castle is thick for a few days before it’s suddenly dampened with something painful. 

Rain begins to pour and does not stop for three days straight. Most foot traffic that is in and out of the castle for wedding planning is put on pause at the King’s order. Not worth risking the safety and integrity of any person or thing for one wedding. 

Klaus doesn’t see or hear from Nyxia for those three days, and on the fourth day of heavy downpours, of him being stuck in the library with his brother or listening to his sister drone on about a particularly handsome guard, he breaks. He walks the path the sentry had taken him down into the East Wing of the castle and knocks on the thick wooden door, tilting his head just to hear the heart beating faintly on the other side of it. It’s the only reason he even knows she’s alive, and he can’t stop the relief that soothes his nerves. 

It doesn’t manage to get rid of the cloud of guilt that’s been hanging above his head since that night in the orchard, nor does it make him want to turn around and leave. 

“Princess?” His voice is low, but he knows she’ll hear it if she’s listening. “I was just…” 

He trails off, unsure of what excuse to offer up for his impromptu visit. A lie, a half-truth. The whole truth. 

It’s the least he could do in return, offer her honesty. Since he threw hers right back in her face four nights ago. 

“May I come in, please?” 

Silence follows his question, but when he pushes on the door slightly, it creaks open, and he steps through as quickly as possible, not willing to take the chance that it was a fluke. He’s greeted with darkness broken up by dim firelight, and his eyes take a moment to adjust, that concern inside of him chipping away at his pride. 

“Princess?” He asks again, voice low in the dim room. His brows twitch on his forehead, pulling together. “Nyxia?” 

There’s a shift of fabric from the four-poster bed a few feet in front of him, and he can see the orange glow in the room the moment she turns to face him. 

Even in the poor lighting, he can see the sunken shadows of her face and the way the stars in her eyes have gone dull. 

“Nyxia?” He nearly gasps her name as he rushes to her bedside, dropping to his knees beside it as he takes in her sickly features. “What’s happened to you?” 

She lets out a shaky breath that sounds like it hurts. “Sometimes… sometimes I let them take too much,” 

Confusion passes over him momentarily before a realization hits him. “The loopholes… this place… it drains you, doesn’t it?” 

She nods where her head is pressed into the pillow. 

He lifts a trembling hand to her cheek, brushing invisible dirt off of her cheek. He can feel the clammy sweat tainting her skin, the fever roaring in her veins. How odd it must be to be an immortal creature taken down by something comparable to a cold. 

“Why?” He shakes his head, genuine disbelief coating the word as he watches his betrothed wheeze out a few more breaths. “Why do you let them do this? Why do you do this?” 

She smiles and there's a tired pull to it, and she leans into his touch, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “People are so scared of me,” Her voice is impossibly soft, so unfamiliar, and yet he feels that ache in his chest, the desire to hear it more. To hear her more. “They are scared of everything. The least I can do is make my darkness feel safer.” 

He thinks it shatters something in him, to hear her grand reasoning behind everything. To hear that underneath that cold exterior, and the soft one, too, the woman before him just wants people to feel safe in her shadows. She wants them to leave behind lives of unhappiness, to not feel fear when the moon rises in the sky and stars hang over their heads. She doesn’t want them to fear the thought of a monster under their bed but rather feel protected by it. By her. 

She wants to do that for him. For his family. And he’d practically laughed in her face. 

A shame buries itself deep in him, and he finds himself lurching forward slightly, face hovering above hers to keep her attention while she loses her lucidity before his eyes. “What can I do? What can I do to make this better?” 

She reaches a hand up from beneath her blankets and rests it atop his. “Stay. Just stay with me, please,” 

He nods and holds back more words he’s simply not ready to say yet. Reluctantly leaves her side for a moment to bring a chair to her bedside, and once again intertwine their hands together. 

He watches her fall asleep and continues watching her well into the night. It doesn’t feel like a chore, or anything of the sort. He thinks he’d be content to spend a few years of his eternity just sitting here with her. 

────── 

It takes another four days for Nyxia to be able to get out of bed without feeling weak. In those days she regains a bit of that life back into her eyes, and Klaus is there to see every speck of it grow. He sees the shadows get darker again, not as faded and murky as they seemed to be when she was in the worst of it. It makes him happy in a way that he wouldn’t have ever expected it to. 

They spend those four days together in a bubble of their own, with small touches shared between each other. Lingering glances and longing looks are shared from across the dining table while they share meals with his family and the king. 

He doesn’t know if all of it means he’s forgiven for his harsh words in the orchard. He doesn’t let himself hope for anything, because he’s not sure if he deserves it after everything. 

It’s a particular train of thought he hasn’t let come to fruition for his own sanity. Instead, he’s relished in the freshly budding relationship between him and his wife-to-be. The partnership that’s being created. The friendship.

He finds himself in the library that remains hidden behind one, nondescript door that opens up to high ceilings, and endless bookshelves. The first time she’d taken him to see it, he’d spent the entire evening looking through the books, getting lost in the history books she had in her collection. 

As the days go by, he finds himself there more and more, and it seems that Nyxia’s in the same boat. 

Hands skimming against the worn spines of the books, Klaus’s mind travels near and far, and he lets his imagination run wild. It’s a rare occurrence, this vulnerability that he’s found within these walls, beneath Nyxia’s care, so he can’t be faulted for being caught off guard when a book slides out from the shelf on the other side and he snaps his gaze up to meet her amused one. 

There’s no doubt she misses the slight intake of breath he does at her sudden presence, but she gives him the grace of not saying anything about it out loud. Her face is framed between the two shelves and she grins widely, unabashedly, in the shadows of the books. “Hiding in the art history books again, Niklaus?” 

He ducks his head, glancing at the lone book he is holding in his hands, a finger shoved between pages to hold his place while he searches through other titles. Lifting his eyes back up to meet hers once more, he shrugs a shoulder, poorly feigning obliviousness. 

“It’s alright, at least I always know where I can find you,” She quickly dismisses his uncharacteristic shyness, and he’s once again grateful for it, even if he’s not sure if she does it for her own sake or his. “I wanted to ask you a question, actually, about the wedding.” 

He raises a brow, not hiding his surprise. She rarely brings the wedding up to him these days, and with the celebration in just five days, the castle staff was bustling about more than ever. Klaus only ever looked at the gold and white decor lining the throne room in passing, usually hurrying through to track Nyxia down somewhere in the castle, or dodging his brother’s increasingly personal questions about the state of his relationship with the Princess.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about the wedding, despite Nyxia rarely saying anything to him about it. He found himself wondering just how the day would transpire as it drew closer, wondered how all of the fittings he did for his garments a while back would look like in the end, and wondered endlessly about just what Nyxia would be walking down the aisle in. 

“It’s about the guest list,”

Her voice pulls him from the frequent thought and he bites the tip of his tongue in silent reprimand. Clearing his throat quietly, he looked at her. “What of it? I thought invitations were sent out months ago,” 

“They were,” She confirms, nodding once. Her voice takes on a hint of that diplomatic lilt she likes to pull out of thin air with him when she feels she’s approaching a difficult subject. It instantly puts his nerves on edge, but he tries not to get defensive. If there’s anything he’s learned with her, it’s that he’ll do nothing but regret his knee-jerk reaction to bare his teeth and snarl at the first feeling of danger coming his way. He knows just as well that Nyxia would never put him in danger on purpose. 

“I was just wondering if there was anyone you wanted to invite,” She continued, glancing away from him. “I know Rebekah and Elijah will be there, of course, but is there anyone else you want to come?” 

He’s quick to respond, barely even thinking about it. “I’ve become familiar enough with your subjects that they’re plenty for me, I think. Especially the women coming from the loophole. I’m looking forward to seeing them,” 

Her face softens with an endless fondness he’s not quite sure what to do with. Any time she offers it up to him, he does his best to just hold it gently in between them, like it was a cloud threatening to seep through his fingers and dissipate into nothingness. 

“I am as well,” She smiles briefly before her face falls back into a placating look. “But you’re sure you don’t have any friends you might not have thought of? Or any more family? I’m sure you’ve… outlived… most of your ancestors, but perhaps there’s a distant cousin that was never turned? Or your… your parents, perhaps?” 

Klaus instantly realizes the true nature of her question, and once again has to fight off the urge to snap at her and make her go away. It’s an easier path to take than explaining just why his parents won’t be in attendance at their wedding or part of their futures at all, and why he wouldn’t want them to in the first place, but he finds himself wanting to try. It’s the least he could do for her.

“No, my– my parents are no longer– an option,” He says carefully, brows furrowing as he revisits centuries-old aches and stabs of pain laced with a childish hurt. “I wouldn’t want them here even if they were.” 

Her face twists with concern before she disappears from the side of the shelf, and Klaus’s eyes widen momentarily before he hears the click of her shoes growing closer. She rounds the corner of the bookshelf swiftly, coming to stand before him with a practiced look of understanding on her face meant to convey her state of heeding. 

“You know by now that I’m a bastard,” She nods. “Even though my father was already unhappy with how I came about, it worsened when he learned my father was the leader of the werewolf pack in our village. I wasn’t just a bastard, but a monster, then, too. I faced abuse from my father my entire life, and my mother always let it happen, or encouraged it, if only to save herself from facing his wrath for her own mistakes.” 

Silently, she reaches out and grabs the book from his hand, setting it flat on the shelf in favor of grabbing his hands in hers. 

“When my youngest brother Henrik was killed by the pack my true father was a part of, my mother was overcome with the grief of losing a child and that’s when she turned us. When she made the spell to make us into these undying creatures who survive off of blood. She and Mikael killed us all and we were forced to transition when we woke.” 

Squeezing his hands, Nyxia shakes her head. “You don’t have to go on, Klaus.” 

He shakes his head, waving off her apology. “It’s alright. I want you to know the truth,” Her already soft face opens more and she takes another minute step towards him, closing the distance between them a bit more. “With everything heightened after my transition, I was so overcome with my anger that I lost control and I– I killed her. I killed my mother.”

“Nik,” 

“I regretted it as soon as I did it. And I buried her body where no one would find it, and I told my family that she was killed by our father. Because in my head, she was. She let him abuse me, she let him turn even a fraction of that hatred onto Rebekah and Elijah, and the rest of them, and I– I truly hated her for it. What good of a mother was she if she could just watch that happen to her children?” 

He clenches his jaw and tilts his head slightly, biting down the bitterness that still swims in his veins all these years later. “Mikael knew what I did, though. I don’t know how, but he always knew. And I– I don’t know what’s happened to him, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive, like us or something else, but I– I do not want him here. I wouldn’t want him here, no matter the situation. I never want someone like Mikael to find this place, because a single touch from him would destroy it all.” 

Nyxia shakes her head immediately, eyes wide and full of something that transcends simple fondness. “He wouldn’t, Niklaus. I wouldn’t let him ruin it. This is my home– this is our home. I won’t let him ruin it for you.” 

Klaus wished he could believe her. And he knows she knows that. And he knows they both know it’s truly got nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the fact that his father has ruined his life at every turn since the day he was born. It’s just what he does. He could so easily take this beautiful thing Klaus has been given and tarnish it with a single touch. 

“I had to inherit these shadows, you know?” She says suddenly, taking him off guard. “I wasn’t born with them, not really. I was born with power, I was made of this power. But in order to have them at the capacity at which they exist now, I had to wait for my mother to die. She was my best friend. But I think that made it all the worse when I had to watch her wither away through each century, until one day, she became nothing more than the night sky we came from. Afterward, I was so overcome with grief that I didn’t even acknowledge the shadows. I wanted no part of it, not without her,” 

She huffs out a small, wry laugh and shakes her head. “But they are very stubborn. They persisted, and one day, they brought me into the shadows and showed me the light that exists within them. And after that day, I started doing things differently. It’s been a long time since then, but I still remember all of those feelings like it was yesterday. And I know that because you have been given the gift and the curse of eternity just as I have, that you understand it like no one else does. So you must believe me when I say this, husband, but it will not be like this forever. And I am making you a promise now that your– that Mikael will not ever make his mark in my kingdom. You and I will live in peace for the rest of our days, with our people and no one can take that from us. Do you hear me? Do you hear me, Niklaus?” 

He nods, clenching his teeth together as he swallows around the concrete lump in his throat. “Of course. Of course I do,” 

“Good,” She nods once. “You can trust me. I swear it on my life.” 

He nods again and she offers him a small smile, like she’s wary to shift the graveness that had settled over them into something else. He jostles their conjoined hands, and her eyebrows tick together, silently coaxing his words out. 

“How did you do it?” He asks quietly. “How did you find the light when you were surrounded by the darkness?” 

Her eyes suddenly burned with ferocity, an ancient thing that had roots buried deep inside of her. A small fraction of her power. “I carved it out of the shadows with my bare hands and I did not stop until my fingers bled. Until my nails were cracked and my body screamed for me to stop. And I would do it again if it meant I kept you and your family safe. Understand that, Klaus. If nothing else, understand that I’ll bleed for you.” 

Klaus isn’t sure what to do in the face of her devotion. He feels as if it should be the other way around– him worshiping her, instead of this blood-promise she’s made to him. He isn’t sure what to do or say, but he is sure of one thing; he loves her. And he would bleed for her just as well. 

────── 

The morning of their wedding, a low hum of activity overtakes the calm of the castle and does not falter, well into the early hours of afternoon. Klaus was summoned from his rooms just minutes after the sun was up and brought to the seamstresses that he’d seen increasingly over the months and put into the intricate suit made specifically for him. 

His trousers were plain, simple, and tucked carefully into shoes that almost felt like armor. His surcoat was donned with intricate, weaving lines of gold that gleamed in the sunlight, woven into the fabric like they were the very veins in his body. Like it was a showcase of the life that flowed through him, scorching like the sun for all eternity. When he was draped with a mantle of white fur and more golden details along the draped fabric, he looked in the lone mirror before him and felt, for the first time, that he was truly a king. And just after that thought, he couldn’t help but wonder what his queen looked like. 

When he is escorted to the throne room, he can hear the dozens of heartbeats waiting on the other side of the doors before him and he only has a moment to breathe before the doors are swung open and the guests are standing, turning to face him. 

His blue eyes immediately shoot to the front of the room, where the king awaits his presence at the end of the aisle, where his brother and sister stand on either side of the large arbor, looking at him with an odd pride gleaming in their eyes. 

Bracing himself, he lifts his chin slightly and walks forward, his hands clasped in front of him as he meets the eyes of strangers, all watching him like they’re waiting for him to show his true colors. When he nears the end of the aisle, he looks over to his left and sees Theresé standing there, with a row of familiar faces lined up beside her, and he can’t stop the small twitch of his lips when she meets his gaze head-on with a smile that radiates pure excitement. 

He tears his gaze away from the women and children of the loophole and meets the king’s eyes, exchanging a nod with the man as he takes his place at the center of the room. He turns his head towards the doors he’d come through moments ago, and finds himself holding his breath as he waits for them to open once more, and reveal his bride. 

He prepares himself for the sight of her, but when the doors swing open, guards standing on either side of her, he thinks himself a fool for ever thinking he’d be prepared for the sight of her dressed in a white gown that trails behind her in a sea of golden embroidery that gleams just as his does. Like the life that burns in him also burns in her, despite the way her shadows carve out the angles of her face, the bridge of her nose. 

He knew her dress would compliment him, of course, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much it would take his breath away, to see himself standing before a kingdom, waiting for her slow, graceful steps to come to a stop as she neared him. 

Her own fur-lined mantle was just as carefully draped over her, and it went down the length of her train, the fabric moving along with her as if it were just water rippling along rocks. Slow, elegant, natural. Like she was born to be this. 

For the first time, her arms are bare before him, and the skin below her jaw is as well. Her unexpected bareness exposes things he hadn’t known were hiding beneath her long sleeves and high collars. The shadows that run in her blood wrap around her arms, weaving like vines up across her chest and down into unknown territory, still hidden from his sight and touch. He swallows roughly at the sight of the image she creates before him, her head tilted back ever so slightly just to maintain his gaze as she steps up before him, her hands immediately reaching to lay in his proffered palms. 

He can’t find his voice in time to tell her that she looks beautiful. To make vows to her before they’ve even started. 

The king clears his throat quietly, raising his hand in a silent gesture that has the guests taking their seats once more. 

“People of Riverend, we gather here to witness the joining of two souls. To celebrate a love that withstands life, death, and everything in between. A love forged in shadows and cradled by the moon, that blossoms beneath the sun. It is my honor to stand before you all and mark the start of our future here in these cherished lands beneath their incoming rule.” 

The king shifts, turning slightly to look at Klaus directly. “Lord Mikaelson, repeat after me: I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours, and vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars,” 

Klaus swallows and wets his lips, meeting Nyxia’s gleaming eyes. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” His voice trembles slightly, and her fingers press into his wrist, squeezing reassuringly. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

Nyxia mirrors his swallow, seemingly biting back her own emotion. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” Her pulse stutters beneath his fingertips, and his blood burns with it. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

“As witnessed by your people, do you both promise to serve them to the best of your abilities? To bleed with them, or for them, shall it one day be necessary? To feed and clothe them, and wash the dirt off of their feet, should they ever ask you to?” 

They both nod once. “We do,” 

The King mirrors their nod and continues. “May this marriage be protected by the powers that be. May it never bend or break, or waver in even the strongest of storms. May you both know one another’s love like no other. May the darkness protect you as it has protected others since the dawn of time,” 

The king takes in a short breath and shifts, holding his hands up for his palms to face the sunlight gleaming in through the stained glass windows. “By the power entrusted unto me, I bless this marriage for the years to come. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss–” 

“Stop this nonsense!” 

Gasps echo throughout the throne room and Klaus’s blood freezes as his head snaps over, his gaze locking onto his father’s immediately. 

The man at the end of the aisle takes a step forward, a mean smirk on his face. “Is it not utter blasphemy to make a king out of a bastard?” 

Klaus breathes out a breath that shudders in his lungs painfully, and he looks past Nyxia to find Rebekah standing frozen in her place, tears bubbling in her eyes at the sight of Mikael. He doesn’t need to look at Elijah to know that the man is likely boiling with barely stifled rage. 

Mikael takes another step forward and Klaus flinches back instinctively, despite the distance that stretches between them. 

The man laughs at the sight, and Klaus finally looks at Nyxia, only to find her glaring at his father like her very gaze could burn him into ash. 

“You have no business being here, Mikael,” Elijah’s voice bites out the words from behind him and he hears his brother take a step down, quick to be a buffer between him and Klaus. “Leave now, and you will not face any consequences.” 

Mikael laughs again. “And from whom would these consequences be dealt? You? Or perhaps Rebekah?” The girl flinches, tears skittering down her flushed cheeks at his ridicule. “Certainly not Klaus. He’s not capable of it.” 

“It will be me,” Nyxia’s voice rings out, firm and cold in a way that Klaus hasn’t heard it before, not even in their worst moments. “You will not speak of my husband in that manner. I’ll have your head for treason if you’re not careful.” 

“You’d take my head for him?” Mikael’s brows raise like he’s actually surprised at the prospect. “I hate to break it to you, girl, but he is nothing. He comes from no high standing, he has no riches and nothing to give you in exchange for all that you give him. Whatever he has told you in those regards is a filthy lie. That’s all he is– a liar.” 

Hot tears burn at the back of Klaus’s eyes and he struggles to find his voice again. 

Nyxia drops his hands and Klaus fronts at the loss of her touch, only to reach for her as she turns and steps towards Mikael, unwavering beneath his hateful glare. “Don’t,” He gets out, pulling her back by her arm. “Do not go near him.” 

She wrenches her arm from his hold, looking at him apologetically before she hardens her gaze once more and faces his father. “You come to my kingdom and interrupt my wedding to spew nonsense. You have the looks of a crazed man, Mikael. I should have my sentries imprison you until I find it worth my time to sentence you.” 

He grins like her words are a challenge. “I’d like to see you try, Princess,” He spits her title out and before anyone can blink, he holds the tip of a dagger beneath her chin. 

Gasps of fear ring out through the room and Klaus stumbles forward, stopped only by Elijah holding him just out of their father’s reach. “Do not touch her!” He growls out the words, black veins crawling beneath his eyes, earning a mocking chuckle from the man. 

“Don’t tell me you actually love her, Niklaus,” 

Klaus says nothing, which is answer enough, and it earns another round of derisive laughter from the man. 

“What a ridiculous thing, love,” He tsks his tongue, shaking his head as if scolding his bastard son. “Nothing but a weakness to someone like you who is already softened by his childish emotions. It’s nice to know that you’re still such a disappointment, Niklaus.” 

Klaus lunges for the man but is once again stopped by his brother. 

“Klaus,” It’s Nyxia who says his name, which calms the racing of his heart in his ears, and he looks at her desperately. “Do you trust me?” 

His brows furrow deeply, lines twisting onto his pale skin. “What?” 

She gives him another look that conveys an apology he doesn’t need, and he feels his stomach swoop with fear. 

“Nyx,” He breathes out, eyes wide as he starts to shake his head. 

She rolls her eyes away from him like it pains her to do so, and looks to his father, uncaring of the tip of the dagger digging into her chin. “I told you I would bleed for you, Klaus. And I shall.” 

She takes one long step forward and latches her hand around the handle of the dagger and digs her nails into Mikael’s skin, earning a grunt of annoyance from the man. In the blink of an eye, a cloud of black consumes them, and the last thing Nyxia hears is Klaus’s yell for her to stop. 

Her hold on Mikael falters and they fall away from each other, thrown into shadows and thrown apart in the same breath. 

It’s been centuries since she’s been here. Encased in nothingness, something that cannot even be considered night because it is so dark it does nothing but swallow the life that enters it. 

She hears Mikael’s breathing through the darkness and hears him struggle to find footing as she does the same. 

“You,” She speaks out, voice echoing into the void. Swarming around them like a crow’s call. “You have tarnished his soul. You are the darkness that exists inside of him, and I am going to rip every inch of life out of you even if it kills me.” 

“Such meaningful threats,” The man speaks back, voice tinged in that smugness that sets her nerves alight with rage. “To think that you have fallen in love with a man like Niklaus. You could have such potential if you weren’t clinging to frivolous emotions.” 

“You underestimate me, Mikael. You mock me, even now, when you are surrounded by something that does not exist without me and my power. It is your arrogance that will kill you, and I will offer your heart on a platter to my husband as a wedding gift.” 

She lunges for the sound of him in the void, grunting as they blindly swing for each other, slamming fists and swinging daggers over and over with no sign of stopping. 

She doesn’t know how long she was in this place the last time. Doesn’t know how long they’ve been here now. It could be mere seconds, it could be years. Nothing exists in this place, especially not time. 

Blood from a cut that is already healed trails down her cheek, she can feel the wetness as she brushes her fingers along her skin. She can hear Mikael’s ragged breaths, her endless onslaught of pain catching up to him. 

“He’s an abomination,” Mikael spits out. “Not just in name, but as a creature. It is not enough that he has no soul as this undead thing, but he has that mutt inside of him, waiting to be unleashed. He doesn’t deserve to live.” 

“You don’t get to decide that,” She bites back, lips curling in a snarl. “But I do. And he will live with me until the Earth takes its last breath. And you will never take anything from him again, so long as I am at his side. You will never hurt your children again. I am taking back the darkness that is inside of you. I am taking the very air from your lungs,”

She tackles him blindly, knees pinning him down as she presses her hands roughly down onto his chest, her fingertips itching with heat as she does exactly that. “You will know pain like you’ve never known before where you are going. And with everything in me, I swear that I will not let there be a day that goes by that you do not suffer.” 

The shadows that warm her skin crawl as she takes his life little by little, and she can feel his breaths begin to shallow with every word she speaks. 

“Let your last thought on this Earth be the knowledge that I love your son, Mikael. And not even you can take that from him.” 

A scream tears from her throat as she lifts her hands off of his chest and slams them back down, his body disappearing beneath her as if it had never existed. A burst of energy explodes from her and she nearly falls onto her face, catching herself on her hands and knees as it blows around her like a gust of wind. 

She grits her teeth, trying to catch her breath as the void grows smaller around her, trying to swallow her whole as it had Mikael. But she had let it have Mikael. She would not let it have her. Not when she had something to go back to. Someone. 

“No,” She bites out, jaw clenched tight enough that her bones creak. “You will let me go back.” 

She digs her nails into the nothingness beneath her hands, skin scraping off at the fight it puts back. She lifts her hands from the void and brings them back down, clawing at it like a rabid animal. 

“Let me out,” She says. Demands. “Let me out!” 

Her voice echoes on a yell and she feels a scream build deep in her chest as she clenches her hands into fists and brings them down onto the ground, and she can feel it begin to crack beneath her force. 

The ache in her hands grows with each hit but she doesn’t stop, doesn’t let up, not even as the first cracks of light bleed through. 

With just that sliver of light, she can see the broken skin of her hands and it’s such a guttural reminder of her past that she raises her hands once more and brings them down onto the shattering void with a strength she did not know she possessed. 

All at once she is thrown out of the darkness and she flinches at the burst of brightness that encases her so suddenly. The sound of startled gasps and fearful noises makes her stumble and she tries and subsequently fails to get to her feet, her bloodied hands smearing along the pristine white aisle she had walked down. 

Arms encase her and she turns her head to meet Klaus’s gaze as he pulls her into his chest, eyes wide in fear at the sight of her blood, no doubt mixed with some of Mikael’s that likely splattered onto her at some point in their tussle. 

“Where did you go? What did you do?” He breathes out, eyes brimming with tears. “Where is Mikael?” 

She lets out a shuddering noise as she clings to him, staining his surcoat with blood. “I took it back,” She grits her teeth, fire burning in her eyes for a split second before her exhaustion wipes it out. “I took my darkness back from him, and I turned him into nothing.” 

Klaus makes a noise of grief that she knows is not for his father, but for the thought of her doing something he knows weakens her. 

“I’m alright,” She assures him, finally looking past him at her kingdom that watches on warily. “I’m alright, I promise.” 

Klaus holds onto her tighter like he’s scared she’ll disappear again, and she lets him as exhaustion weighs her down. 

She smiles suddenly, breathless and hopeful. “We aren’t finished here,” Her eyes shift to the king, who hurries towards them, kneeling slightly. “We were interrupted.” 

Klaus mirrors her smile, much more reserved even as his fear dissolves. “We were, weren’t we?”

“Finish it,” She looks up at the king from her place in Klaus’s lap in the aisle. “Please, finish it.” 

The king barely takes a moment before he lets his voice carry like he had before, unwavering as if nothing had happened at all. “Without further ado, Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss your bride.” 

Klaus barely lets him finish speaking before he kisses her, stealing the breath from her lungs as she gasps into it. Starlight burns in her and she raises her hand to gently cup his cheek, pulling him into her for one hard press of their lips before she pulls away, letting her hand fall from his cheek to rest against his heart. 

She turns her face into his neck and whispers into his skin, her breath making goosebumps grow in its wake. “My name,” She says. “I want you to have it.” 

He echoes it back to her softly, like he’s cradling it in his hands, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes. 

The king speaks from above them, an excitement laced in his voice as he lifts his hands above his hand. “It is my honor to introduce to you for the first time, the Prince and Princess of Riverend!” 

Cheers burst around them, and Klaus dips his head down to hide his smile in her hair, and she clings to him just a bit tighter, her eyes fluttering. 

“Let us celebrate!” The king exclaims, another round of cheers echoing after his words. 

She pulls back slightly to look at Klaus, smiling. “I love you, Klaus,” 

He lets out a breath like she’s knocked it out of him. “I love you,” He hesitates before saying her name like he’s worried she’ll take it back from him. “I'll love you until the end of time. Never doubt that." 

"I won't."