A mother

A past

Amaris was alive for a thousand years and yet she was only able to live twenty-eight, and of those years she was only ever truly and completely happy for the first five.

Ester Mikaelson was technically a mother, I mean she had children, eight of them exactly. Freya, Finnrik, Elijah, Niklaus, Nikolai, Rebekah, Henrik, and Freya's younger twin Amaris. But the title of mom went to amaris, their eldest surviving sister. She was there for their first steps, their first words were Ama, everytime they needed her she was there.

For five years, it was just Mikael, Ester, Freya, Aramis, and Finn, the only difference from the rest of their lives was that they were happy. Mikael was kind, caring, dare I say loving, but why wouldn't he be? He had Freya, his kindness and sun, Amaris, his moon and strength, his lights. Finn, his warrior and unborn Elijah, his honor, his swords.

" papa do you have to go?" The twin girls asked in unison, causing their father to chuckle.

" you already know the answer to that."

"But what if we never see you again." Freya asked the question in both their minds, with a trembling lip, not even able to imagine a life without her father.

Mikael Knelt down to his daughters heights. " we will, and even if we don't, I'll never really leave you. How could I ever leave my lights? But if I don't come back, teach unborn Elijah to be as strong and smart as you two, my sun and moon." The twins were identical in everything except their hair. While Freya's was bright and pure, a perfect blond color that was radiat in the sun, Amaris' hair was black and fierce and in the light of the moon glowing a strong black.

" We promise." They say with a determined nod,

"I love you, my beautiful little girls."

" We love you too." They say before pulling him into a hug.

after a moment he pulls away and walks over to Finn saying goodbye and ruffling his hair, then finally walking over to Ester. He put one hand on her pregnant stomach and the other on the side of her head pulling her closer so he could kiss her forehead. No words had to be spoken as they rested their heads against each other. And he left not knowing it would be the last time he ever felt whole.

———

The next couple weeks were normal, Ester cooked and cleaned as much as she could without straining herself, seeing as she was weeks away from giving birth. Freya and Finn did chores and maintained and collected from the garden. While Amaris hunted, this was strange for multiple reasons, she wasn't even six summers yet, and she was a girl. She would have been shunned from the village, if she wasn't so skilled and easily taught. It took her mere weeks to learn what it took most hunters years.

They people suspected it was because she inherited her mother. Instead of healing she used her magic to hunt.

" dahlia, please." Hearing her distress she runs to her screaming mother to find a unknown person grabbing her twin, as she tried to run to and grab her, her mother holds her back.

" our bargain was for this firstborn and every firstborn of each generation that is to come."

She ignores the adults and focuses on her twin, knowing this could very well be the last time she every sees her. " The sun to my moon, shining light to help make me bright." She says their saying for what could be the last time. " the moon to my sun, shining and glistening in my night." Freya continues, " I love you, my twin, until the sun sets for the final time and the tide no longer rises." They, at the same time as Dahlia, carries Freya away, screaming her twins name.

———

As much as she needs it, Amaris couldn't mourn she needed to take care of her little brother and pregnant mother. " Finn, father is to arrive today."

He just nods, and continues to stare into nothing. She sighs and sits next to him wrapping an arm around him so he couldn't hide his sniffles. " Finn I know you were always closer to Freya then you are to me, and I know you miss her like crazy. And I get that you feel that if you let anyone else in they will leave you too, and that very well could be the case but that's not what matters. Goodbyes are always hard and messy, but they don't define what you had with the person, it's the hellos and every happy memory after that do. Freya wouldn't want you to shut out everything you could have, because you miss her, she'd want you to live life for her. So, right now you're going to cry as much as you possible need, and then tomorrow your going to tell me your favorite story about her, and then your going to go have fun with Kendra." He cried into her chest for three hours before making it back to their home to greet Mikael.

" Amaris, Finn, where are Freya and Ester." Finn looks down avoiding his fathers eyes, " father, while you were away... you should talk to mother." Amaris speaks up for her frozen little brother.

" where are is she."

" the lake." He lovingly pats Finns, and squeeverythingezes amaris' arm. Ester told Mikael that his sun died of plague, and amaris was unable to correct it, seeing as ester spell her to be unable to speak of freyas death. and in that moment papa die and in replaced was the great Viking Mikael, cold, heartless, ruthless, monster. Bet really he just wanted his children to be strong, he never wanted to feel the pain he felt in losing freya. And in hopes of escaping the plague they left for the new world.

After Henrik died, and Ester turned her children, the inability to speak about everything was broken. She was free to talk about all the lies Ester hid about, her twin, Niklaus, Mikael. And Ester, knowing that she knew could get her killed, so she cursed Amaris to sleep. And it wasn't fairytale slumber, a peaceful sleep where a princess dreams of her prince saving her, no this sleep was one of nightmares. Where she was stuck on the other side, unable to comfort her siblings when they needed it, but unable to find peace, because she wasn't really dead. She could feel her veins crying out for blood, her mind wanting death, because either way her pain would be over. Her magic, also bound by her mother, said," no monster should ever be both." She could feel it crying out to be used from the deepest part of her mind that's locked in a cage. It was excruciating, until one day...