Elena swiftly snuck back into her house with a smile on her lips. Now that she had been spending more time with Marcus during the day, she dedicated her nights to Lilith. As expected, Lilith told Noah that the baby was his, and not long after that, they had gotten married. Elena did not have the heart to betray Lilith and inform Noah that the baby wasn't his.
And she definitely wasn't going to tell him that Lilith was planning to fake her child's death.
Tonight, Elena had performed a spell to see the gender of the baby. Every single thing Lilith had done was completely forgotten. At that moment, it was just about the baby. The baby boy, they had soon discovered. When the gender was revealed Lilith was happier than she had ever seen her.
It was genuine happiness, which was rare to see from Lilith.
In truth, Elena couldn't blame Lilith for acting the way she does. There has always been some sort of sadness under the mask Lilith has kept on. Elena had only seen it off twice, and each time she knew that there was more to the story that Lilith refused to share.
'I do it to survive, I hope you will learn to do so as well.'
Lilith had told her that more times than she could count. For Lilith, surviving was her top priority.
Elena paused at the sight of Rebekah, sitting on her bed reading something she couldn't quite see.
"What are you doing, Sister?"
Rebekah quickly jumps out of her bed, startled.
"Nothing," Rebekah says as she moves towards her own bed.
Elena sighs at Rebekah's lie before combing her fingers through her hair.
"Sister,"
"Yes, Rebekah?"
"Can you show me your magic again?"
"Perhaps tomorrow, Sister. I am tired,"
"You said that the last time,"
Elena looks back at Rebekah with a frown on her face.
"You know Ayana does not like me using my magic outside of her house,"
"I know,"
Elena grimaces at the disappointment in Rebekah's voice.
"Just this one time wouldn't hurt,"
A smile grows on Rebekah's face as she quickly sits up. Elena knew the trouble that was awaiting her was worth it; anything was worth seeing her siblings happy. Rebekah watched in awe as their surroundings began to change. A cold dark room turned into a beautiful forest. The most beautiful combination of colors filled the night sky as the moon shined its breathtaking light blue light down on them. The grass felt like a cloud underneath them.
Elena wasn't sure how long the spell had lasted when the opening of the door broke her concentration.
Esther stood at the door with a frown etched on her face. Elena's eyes slid to Rebekah, who was now sleeping.
"Mother, I know I wasn't supposed to use my magic, but I wanted to make Rebekah happy,"
Esther released a sigh.
"You can't make everyone happy, Elena,"
"I will take any punishment that is given to me,"
Esther remains silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"Where is your bracelet?"
"Ayana said I did not need it anymore, Mother,"
"I see,"
Esther quickly walks out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Elena let out a small breath of relief, before instinctively reaching out for her grimoire.
Panic quickly filled her body as she quickly searched her bed, which was just animal fur on the floor, but a bed nonetheless.
Nothing.
Her airways began to feel blocked causing her to gasp for air as she continued to search. It's like she couldn't function without knowing where it was at all times. That grimoire was a piece of her and losing it felt like losing herself.
Just as soon as she felt like she was going to faint, she found it. The grimoire was on the floor near Rebekah's bed. Had it dropped when Rebekah moved towards her bed? It must have.
It was the only answer because Elena couldn't bear the thought that Rebekah was reading her grimoire.
This grimoire was special, it was not one of spells, it was one of Elena's thoughts and feelings. Most importantly, there are things inside that Elena can't remember writing. Symbols that she can't make sense of, and a word that is written on each page that holds these symbols. A word that makes her feel weird, and yet she yearns for it.
'Kismet.'
***
"What were you thinking!" Esther exclaims as Ayana opens the door.
"Esther, what are you doing here so late?"
"You gave Elena permission to keep her bracelet off without telling me?"
"Yes,"
"Why would you do that? You're putting her in danger!"
"She can control her magic now. Wearing the bracelet is meaningless now,"
"That is not what I'm worried about, Ayana! Someone is after her, and that bracelet was the only thing preventing them from truly finding her!"
"We've already dealt with that, Esther. Elena hasn't had another dream since she was Ten, besides she's strong enough to protect herself,"
"She is only a child, Ayana,"
"And yet she's more powerful than both of us combined,"
"Is she?"
Esther knew that Elena was powerful from the beginning, but for Ayana to say she held that much power...
"Yes,"
"She can control it? Completely?"
"I believe so,"
"You believe? Ayana, we must be sure about this,"
"Esther-"
"This is my daughter we are talking about! Her safety!"
Ayana freezes at the look on Esther's face. If Esther had never told Ayana they had found Elena, she would've believed that Elena was Esther's biological child.
"Esther, I know that!"
Ayana continues before Esther can speak.
"She will be okay, I swear it,"
Esther stood in shock before nodding her head. Ayana never swore to anything, it was one thing Ayana hated to do. Ayana would always say the future was ever-changing, and yet she just swore that Elena would be okay.
***
Esther, Elena, Rebekah, and Henrik sat quietly at the table as they ate breakfast.
"Mother, when will they be back?"
Henrik, Rebekah, and Esther's eyes went to Elena.
Every man that was of age would leave the village once every three months to go hunting. However, this time it felt different. Her brothers left in heavy unexplained silence, even Kol, who was the wildest of them all. There was worry all around the village, worry that wouldn't make sense if the men had only gone hunting.
"Hunting takes time, Elena. They should be back any day now,"
Even her Mother's words came out forced, and her eyes held fear.
"They should have been back days ago, Mother,"
Esther's eyes met Elena's eyes for a moment before Elena abruptly stood up and left the room.
"Should I go get her, Mother?"
A smile formed on Esther's face as she shook her head.
"No, Henrik. Continue eating she will be fine,"
After a moment, Rebekah stands up and quickly leaves the room.
She doesn't need to look for Elena, because she already knows where Elena is.
Silently, she opens the door to Niklaus, Elijah, and Kol's room. Elena doesn't seem to notice Rebekah as she continues to efficiently swing a sword in the air.
"What is the matter, Sister?"
Elena's movements falter before she puts the sword down.
"They're not hunting, they're at war,"
"Is that what has everyone looking gloomy?"
Elena only nods her head.
"Do you think they will be okay?"
Elena takes a deep breath before responding.
"I hope they will be,"
"They are not the only ones you are worried about, are they?"
A blush appears on Elena's face.
"You know?"
"I saw you two together in the forest, who is he?"
"His name is Marcus,"
"Does he plan on courting you? Do you love him? How long have you known him?"
Elena only laughs in response.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Bekah,"
***
Later that week, the men of the village finally returned. Their clothes were bloodied, some of them wounded, and most of their eyes held pride. Elena found herself in Marcus's arms as soon as they spotted each other, quickly forgetting about the presence of the whole village.
Esther didn't say much about it, but Elena could tell that the age gap bothered Esther. Kol began to tease Elena about it. Niklaus, Finn, and Elijah seemed rather neutral about it, but they did ask her questions at times. Mikael was surprisingly okay with it, or at least that's how it seemed.
That night, Mikael sought Marcus out and roughed him up a bit. It was Mikael's way of seeing if Marcus was worthy enough to be in a relationship with his daughter, Marcus understood this. When Elena asked Marcus about his wounds he would brush it off saying he got into an altercation with one of his pack mates.
Not long after, Marcus began to visit Elena's home. The Mikaelson's welcomed him with open arms. He would often tell Henrik and Niklaus stories about werewolves, which Esther quickly put a stop to. However, Niklaus and Henrik couldn't get it out of their minds. Elena noticed that during the nights of the full moon, once they thought everyone was asleep in the cave, Henrik and Niklaus would sneak out to watch the wolves.
She didn't say anything about it, but she didn't like it at all.