Peace>>>tvdxpjo(wts)

Prologue

The air in the theater was thick with the scent of old parchment and ozone. One moment, they were scattered across Mystic Falls and New Orleans; the next, they were standing on a floor of polished obsidian, surrounded by plush velvet seats that seemed to swallow the light.

"Niklaus, if this is one of your dramatic temper tantrums—" Elijah began, his hand moving to straighten a tie that wasn't there. He was dressed in a suit that looked a decade out of date compared to the modern theater setting.

"It wasn't me, brother," Klaus snapped, his eyes flashing hybrid-gold as he scanned the room. "I was in the middle of a very important conversation with a bottle of bourbon."

Across the aisle, the Mystic Falls contingent was already in a defensive huddle. Stefan stood in front of Elena, while Damon looked around with a bored sort of curiosity. Bonnie, her eyes narrowed, held her hands out, sensing the air.

"There's no magic here," Bonnie whispered, her voice tight with alarm. "I mean... there's everything here, but I can't touch it. It's like being underwater."

"Where's Hope?" Hayley Marshall's voice cracked through the tension. She looked around frantically, her hand over her stomach. "I was... I was at the Bayou. Where is she?"

"Who the hell is Hope?" Caroline Forbes asked, her brow furrowed. "And why are we stuck in a cinema with the Original family reunion from hell?"

A tall woman with blonde hair and a piercing gaze stepped forward from the shadows near the back. "I am Freya," she said, her voice calm but wary. "And I suspect we are all here for the same reason, though I recognize few of you."

"Another sister?" Kol Mikaelson smirked, leaning against the back of a leather chair. "Splendid. The more the merrier in this little kidnapping plot. Can we get to the part where we kill whoever did this?"

Rebekah ignored him, her eyes fixed on the massive, silver-tinted screen at the front of the room. "Look."

Golden script began to bleed across the screen like liquid sunlight.

YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE TO WITNESS THE TRUTH. YOU ARE FROM A TIME BEFORE THE DOVE TOOK FLIGHT. BEFORE THE HYBRID MET THE GODDESS.

Klaus stiffened. "Goddess? What nonsense is this?"

SIT. THE STORY YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE HAS NOT YET HAPPENED FOR YOU. IT IS THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER BORN OF BLOOD AND DIVINITY.

"A daughter?" Klaus laughed, a cold, dry sound. "I am a vampire, love. I don't have daughters."

"Actually, Nik," Rebekah whispered, looking at Hayley's protective stance over her own stomach, "maybe you do."

The screen flickered, shifting from text to a blurred image of a young girl. She was breathtaking—radiating a sort of ethereal light that even a grainy screen couldn't hide. She had the Mikaelson jawline, but her eyes held a warmth that suggested something far older and more powerful than a vampire.

AZALEA KIT MIKAELSON.

DAUGHTER OF NIKLAUS MIKAELSON AND APHRODITE.

The room went deathly silent.

"Aphrodite?" Elena Gilbert whispered, her eyes wide. "As in... the Greek Goddess?"

Damon let out a low whistle. "Well, Klaus. I knew you had an ego, but I didn't think you'd literally try to bed the heavens. Explains the hair, though."

"I don't know her," Klaus roared, stepping toward the screen. "I have never met a woman named Aphrodite!"

NOT YET, NIKLAUS. BUT YOU WILL. AND SHE WILL GIVE YOU THE GREATEST GIFT YOU NEVER KNEW YOU WANTED.

The lights in the theater dimmed, leaving only the glow of the screen.

CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING.

"Sit down, Niklaus," Elijah said softly, pulling out a chair for his brother. "If this is the future, then perhaps we should see what we've managed to break this time."

Reluctantly, one by one, the group took their seats. The vampires, the witches, and the girl caught in the middle, all staring at the screen as the story of the Dove began to play.