Maddy made a mental note to not be anything like Esther.
"This is absurd," said Klaus angrily as he tossed the food trays to the floor the instant Marcel took his leave. "The war for our home is to be fought against my own family at such an inopportune time!"
"I will consult the witch I found," said Elijah calmly. "With any luck, we can determine who is to be Esther's next host, and mark them. We must decipher her intentions before she escapes."
"Well," said Klaus coldly, "her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. You were only spared because the doppelgänger fancies you. The rest of us were on the chopping block. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."
Elijah shrugged. "Well, then. We have—" he checked his watch, "this afternoon to prepare for the worst." He exited the room.
"Perhaps you ought to go to Jo's apartment," suggested Klaus. "Or, if you would like to meet Camille, I can have Marcel take you—"
"No," said Maddy firmly. "I want to be here. I want to listen and see what she wants. If she's going to pose a threat to me or to this baby, I want her to say it to my face. I want to confront her about that witch that you saw following me. She wouldn't be foolish enough to cast a spell when I'm with you and Elijah."
"You would be surprised."
"I've never actually spoken to her before. I want to talk to her. I want to be there. I'm not asking for your permission."
Klaus heaved a sigh. "Very well. But you do not touch her. You do not leave my sight when she is here. She could very easily take your hand and cast a spell that drives you mad without us being aware of it."
"Fine, I abide by those terms. What can I do to help? Elijah's working with the witch. I can clean the dining room and set up the menu so the cooks can get started."
Klaus's phone began to ring, causing him to hold up a finger to indicate a pause. "Elijah," he said, putting it on speaker so that Maddy could hear. "What is it?"
"The witch requires an item that has been spelled by Esther, as well as a python. I will fetch the snake. Do you have something that—?"
"I have an idea what I can retrieve for the spell. I will fetch it." He hung up, and looked at Maddy, who assented.
"Cleaning and menu it is," she said. "Let me—"
"Tell the servants to clean," said Klaus, catching her arm before she could go. "I'd rather not have you exposed to harmful chemicals now that you are mortal and unable to heal yourself. I will return soon." He kissed her cheek before dashing off.
Though she felt bad about asking the servants to clean, she went ahead and did it, and then sat on the counter in the kitchen while she thought aloud about what they should serve. Something simple. No salad course. Straight to the meal and that was it.
She chose a bottle of wine, and set for the main dish to be baked potatoes, sauteed vegetables, grilled chicken, and an option for bigoli with a roasted tomato pasta sauce.
She put on one of her nicer dresses, which wasn't too extravagant for the evening. By the time Klaus and Elijah came back, all that was left was to get through with the finishing touches and wait, with the hopes that the witch Elijah selected would do her job properly.
"Are these outfits really necessary?" said Klaus irritably after Elijah had forced him to put on a suit.
"Appearance is a way of showing respect, Niklaus," said Elijah. "Mother will be more likely to surrender her true intentions."
"Well, I doubt her guard will drop just 'cause I'm dressed like a bloody lawyer."
Elijah lit the candles, ignoring the grimace on his younger brother's face as he pulled out a chair for Maddy at his immediate right. "We need every advantage we can get, Niklaus."
"You always did excel in diplomacy," said Klaus, brushing his fingers over Maddy's shoulders before pushing her chair in for her and smiling as he passed her a cup of water, since she couldn't drink the wine she'd selected. "Just know, if she tries anything, I'll tear her new body to pieces."
There was a dramatic laugh from the entrance of the room. "You two haven't changed a bit!" said an unfamiliar man who was also wearing a suit. He looked directly at Elijah, "Linens and silk to disguise your pathetic self-loathing." He then faced the hybrid. "And you— despite the arrogant façade, you're still the same paranoid little boy, full of hate and fear. I should have known it was too good to be true when you offered for me to be free."
Elijah stared at the man, who expected amusement from the two brothers, and not the offended glares they were sending his way. "Forgive me, I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"Oh, you mean you don't recognize me?" said the man. "So much for the unbreakable bonds of family, huh? Always and forever, indeed."
Klaus's jaw twitched. "It's been a long time, Finn."
Finn smirked, and spread his arms. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's eat!" He acknowledged Maddy. "I remember you. You were worthy of respect and trust, that I have not forgotten." He plucked a glass off of the table, offering it to Elijah, who poured him some wine. Finn wafted it under his nose. "What an aromatic bordot."
"Wel, it was a challenge to find a good pairing," said Klaus in a snarky tone. "What wine goes well with treachery?"
"Don't pout, brother," said Finn. "Tonight is meant to be a happy occasion!"
"What exactly are we celebrating?" asked Elijah suspiciously as Finn whispered something in the ear of one of the servants.
"Why, my return, of course," said Finn. "remember, I spent nine hundred years—" he turned to Klaus for confirmation, "right? Lying daggered in a box. I'm rather enjoying this new body. Strolling about your lovely city that, uh, you've made your home. But, do tell me— what did I miss? Regale me with your contributions to society! Medicine? Philosophy? Art? Or, have you two merely cut a path of destruction across time?"
Klaus narrowed his eyes, surprised Finn hadn't mentioned anything else about Maddy. "The last time we met," said Klaus, "you were helping our mother try to annihilate the lot of us. Let's not throw stones in glass houses. I did offer you freedom. It is not my fault you did not live to experience it. I attempted to free you of this family you clearly despise so much and yet here you are again, berating us as if you do not perpetuate your own situation by consistently showing your face and criticizing every move."
Finn's lips curled upward, as if he was just trying to get a rise out of them. Elijah gestured at the plates that were now being set up, on the opposite side of Klaus, and in the seat beside Maddy. "Are we expecting another guest?"
"Mother will sit at the head," said Finn. "And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan. Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?"
Klaus scoffed. "Well, there's no way Kol would listen to anything other than his ego or that Bennett witch he fancied so much."
"And yet," said Finn, "our mother has made such a compelling argument that even he, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways and accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear brothers, is inevitable."
Klaus sneered. "You would dare face us as a mortal? The only thing inevitable is your death." He flung a knife toward Finn, but the man flicked his wrist, sending it lodging into the chair at the head of the table.
"Oh!" said Finn, plucking the knife out of the wood. "I suppose the honor of carving should go to the oldest we have much to discuss." He turned to Maddy. "I wanted to mention, it's truly saddening to see that you are still tied to this family. One that is growing, in fact..."
So he did know. Maddy straightened up slightly. "Are you here to threaten me, Finn?"
"Not at all. In fact, it's another reason why this evening is meant to be a celebratory one." He looked up as the servants brought out their food. Maddy started to eat, as did Finn, but both vampires only stared at their plates.
"Are you hinting that you're happy for us?" asked Maddy curiously. "Because it doesn't seem that way. My brothers hate Nik and even they were ecstatic."
Finn's lip twitched, and it became clear to her that although he claimed this was something to celebrate, he didn't feel very happy about it. "It only worries me that you are tying yourself to Niklaus more permanently. And bringing a child into it. It feels... almost selfish. Perhaps it's fine for you being with him, he does seem to treat you with a greater degree of respect. A child, however?"
Maddy cast him a cheeky smile. "Well, I think the kid will be perfectly safe provided you and your mother don't try and hurt it. This clump of cells may be only that right now, but I won't allow anyone to threaten its safety. I'd rather like to see it turn into a real life someday."
Finn seemed almost offended that she would insinuate that he or Esther might try to harm the baby. But being mortal didn't make Maddy oblivious to the sinister expression on Finn's face as his eyes flickered down to the smallest bit of her stomach that was visible from the edge of the table. There was a hatred in those eyes, which didn't even belong to him. He didn't want that child there at all.
"Well," he said casually as he continued to eat, "I'm rather enjoying my evening."
"I'd rather enjoy you getting to the point," said Klaus, frustrated.
"I had nine hundred years to learn to be patient. It's a virtue you ought to try and learn now that you're to be a father. Although, I am curious why you kept me daggered in a box for so long."
"You were daggered for being an ever-simpering sychophant," said Klaus. "Did Mother bring you back from the dead so you could wash her knickers?"
"Nik," said Maddy sharply, which caused Klaus to look surprised. "That was rude."
"We all could have perished tonight," said Klaus when Finn and Esther had fled after trying to kill them. "If I had just been more observant..."
"Esther hid it well," replied Maddy, trying to put him at ease. "Finn did, too."
"When I find Finn—"
She placed her finger over his lips. "Shh. I want you, just for a bit, to see it through his eyes."
Klaus stared at her incredulously. "He was willing to die, solely to see all of us put in shallow graves! His own siblings!"
"He told me that he was conscious, to some extent, while he was daggered. Can you imagine how awful it was for him, to realize that you all had left him in there? How awful it was for him to sense time passing by, without him being able to participate? And according to what I've heard, he wasn't undaggered because he was too 'boring' and 'judgmental.' That's no reason to dagger someone. Maybe he just wanted to be free of what he deems a miserable existence, because he feels so unloved by his own family. If he had something to live for, I doubt he ever would have offered himself to Esther that way."
Klaus hummed, as if her words sunk in, but he was ashamed to acknowledge the part he played in making Finn believe that death was the only way to free him. "He never liked being a vampire," he murmured. "Well... there was a moment when he enjoyed it. He was with a woman named Sage. He turned her. I never liked her, but Finn looked at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him."
"I knew a Sage once," said Maddy thoughtfully. "She was great in bed."
The hybrid smirked. "But not as good as me?"
"No one is as good as you."
"Madeleine," said Klaus impatiently. "His mere presence is threatening your safety and the safety of the child."
"I don't like the fact that he's being creepy about it," said Maddy bluntly, looking at Finn out of the corner of her eye. "But it'll only make things worse. What you all did to him wasn't fair. Maybe instead of pointing fingers and making nonverbal threats and glaring at me—" she made a face at Finn, who turned away when he realized she was talking about him, "as if you intend to shove a knife in my gut, then maybe we should try to fix things. I don't want to be your enemy, Finn. I don't want everyone to hate each other. You struck me as a good person. But I see you now and you seem to be full of anger and bitterness. What they did to you was wrong. But why turn around and criticize them instead of teaching them to be better? Why not show them that you are worthy of respect and being considered their brother? They can't just forget that you tried to kill them. Own that."
"I was cheated of all but the smallest portion of my life," said Finn sharply. "My siblings left me daggered, and why? Out of fear for that man you defend so vehemently. For nine centuries my siblings became monsters while I lay conscious, unable to break out of my slumber."
Elijah held up his hand, having lost his patience. "You might reside— somewhat parasitically, I might add— in another body, but I assure you, in nine hundred years, your tedious sentiments remain quite the same. You see, Finn, like Father, you've always despised our supernatural existence. Father, of course, slaughtered and consumed his own, whereas you became pretentious and dull... much like this meal."
"Elijah," said Maddy, able to see that these words had actually hurt Finn. "Jesus— is this what my siblings and I are like? Is this what we seem like to other people? Because if that's the case then I'm really embarrassed. You two—" she looked at the two vampires, "were unfair to your other siblings. Plain and simple. Nik, I've scolded you enough for all the daggering but Elijah, I haven't scolded you for helping him. And Finn, I'm sorry, okay, but you're free now! I don't see why you're hanging onto Esther when you could be perfectly content away from this family. Which makes me think that you and her have some plan. I want to know what you're here to say because clearly there's something you want us to be aware of. Go on, spit it out. Why would you force yourself to face your family given the fact you resent them so much? And rightfully so, I might add. I'd be pissed too if I went through what you did. I probably would have done the same thing as you."
They turned when a new figure made herself apparent in the doorway. A young girl, but Maddy knew that this was not truly Cassie, the Harvest girl. Esther had arrived.
Klaus stared at her murderously as she looked over Maddy without saying anything. Finn pulled out the chair at the head for her, and Esther sat down.
"Why don't you say what you came here to say, so this wretched night can end?" snapped Klaus.
"It pains me that you and Elijah look at me with such disdain," said Esther sadly. "I wish you could see that my every action has been to protect you!"
Klaus stared at her incredulously. "You actually believe that, don't you? I knew you were a liar, but now I see you're utterly delusional."
"Esther," Maddy cut in. "Please, just tell us what it is you came here to say."
Esther acknowledged her, tilting her head slightly as she observed her. "You needn't fear me, Madeleine. I have no intention of harming you."
"So are you or are you not the one that sent a witch to follow me?"
She sighed. "I only wished for someone loyal to me to monitor you. Long ago word reached my ears of your becoming human. I could help you be human permanently, if it is something you would like."
"Why would I want to be human permanently?"
"It would be an opportunity for you to age normally alongside your child. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"Um, no. Almost everyone I care about is immortal. Why would I want to remain mortal?"
"I could help your brothers become mortal again. All three of them. I could do a spell on you tonight and you wouldn't have to worry about the Traveler spell diminishing before you finish your pregnancy."
"Hold on," said Klaus sharply. "I am sufficiently knowledgeable in magic to know that if you were to perform any major spell on her at this moment, it could cause her to miscarry."
Esther said nothing, and Maddy scoffed. "Um, hell no," she said sharply. "I'm not succumbing to any spell."
"I hoped your response to be different," said Esther, appearing disappointed. She noticed the way Klaus was glaring at her, as if trying to kill her with just his looks. "If you can forget the hatred that you cling to and remember all the times I've mended and healed you, you might realize that I am doing this to help you." She turned to her other son. "Elijah, do you recall the day Niklaus challenged your father to a duel? Did I leave your brother to die alone? What did I say, when you came to me and asked me to help him?"
Elijah sighed. "That you would rather die than to see any of your children suffer."
It seemed they all went back to the memory in their own heads, which left Maddy sipping water awkwardly since she had no idea what had happened.
"The necklace," said Klaus suddenly. His fists balled up. "It wasn't spelled to protect me. It made me weak."
Obviously, Esther had been caught in some sort of lie. "I sought to protect you from yourself!" she argued. "If you had killed your father in that duel, or anyone else in the course of your life, you would have activated your cuse!"
Klaus slammed his hands down on the table. "You ruined me! You left me to suffer at the hands of a father who valued only strength!"
"I kept you from becoming a beast for as long as I possibly could!"
Klaus got to his feet, hitting the table again. "Oh, you lied to me! To hide your own transgressions because of your own fear! My whole life, I sought the approval I was denied by the man I thought was my father! You turned me into the weakling he hated! LOOK AT ME! You rant and you rave about the monster I have become, but you, Mother— you are the author of everything I am."
Esther suddenly started to gasp for breath. She then slumped back in her chair, and Elijah barely caught her before she could hit her head on the table. Knowing what had happened, he whispered, "She's gone."
He made to attack Finn, but he swept his hands up, sending Elijah onto the table. With a squeak, Maddy ducked, which shielded her from the broken glass that flew everywhere. Moments later, when she emerged, Finn was gone, Cassie was still unconscious, and both brothers had torn suits.
"Madeleine," said Klaus urgently, helping her up. "Are you alright, love?"
"I'm fine," she said nervously. "What the hell was that? Offering to make me permanently human, putting the baby at risk, disappearing... what is their endgame? What was the point of all of this?"
"I haven't the faintest idea," said Elijah, who rushed toward Cassie as she awoke with a gasp.
"Where's our mother?" snarled Klaus when she opened her eyes.
"Where am I?" she asked fearfully. "What's happening?"
Losing his temper, Klaus put her in a chokehold, but both Maddy and Elijah immediately stopped him.
"Let her go, Nik!" shrieked Maddy. "She's just a kid!"
"She's a puppet," continued Elijah. "Look at her, Niklaus! She has absolutely no idea."
"What are you talking about?" asked Cassie, starting to cry. "Who are you?"
"It's gonna be okay," said Maddy, taking her hand. "Where is your home? Allow me to take you—"
"I will take her," offered Elijah. "I will need to speak to the witch I consulted, to ensure the spell was done. If it was, we can track Esther magically."
"Our mother orchestrated this entire evening just to torture us, adn then simply vanished," said Klaus sourly. "Why?"
"She wanted something," deduced Maddy. "And based on how we reacted, she didn't get close to meeting her goal. Why else would Finn be here? They want something from all of us, not just you two. And I think a part of it might have to do with her offering to make me permanently human. She even offered to include my brothers. Why would she want me to be mortal? The only explanation is that she's trying to get rid of all vampires again."
"She's insane," said Klaus. "What makes Esther think she could cure all vampires in pieces? To destroy all in one fell swoop she would need to kill an Original."
Elijah went pale. "She placed Finn in a different body. Herself as well. Kol... most likely. Perhaps that is her intention. Placing us in different bodies to destroy the ones linked to our sirelings."
"That would make sense," said Maddy reasonably. "We'd all be mortal and vampires would be gone."
Elijah cleared his throat. "I will take Cassie home and locate our mother. Niklaus—"
"I will go and speak to the wolves," said Klaus. "If this is truly Esther's intention, we must determine a way to bring the wolves that answer to Esther back into the Crescent ranks. I will have Marcel come and keep you company, love."
Maddy didn't even feel like she could celebrate the fact that Klaus trusted Marcel enough to have him keep an eye on her while he was gone. She was too worried. If this was Esther's plan, did it truly involve her potentially having a miscarriage? Why would she be so opposed to having a grandchild?
Elena had called her after Marcel had stated that he'd just guard the courtyard, to give Maddy privacy while she was in her room. The doppelgänger hadn't had any good news to report.
"Kai got out?" Maddy said nervously. "Shit... did someone tell Jo?"
"Bonnie called her. Kai stayed in Mystic Falls, and we can't get in there, so... we're just going to have to wait to see where he tries to go. Jeremy and Matt are going to try and monitor him from afar."
"How did you hear that Kai got out?"
"Enzo was with Liv at the bar and Kai just showed up, tried to hurt her. Enzo almost managed to snap his neck, but... he was more busy protecting Liv. We're gonna figure this out, okay? Don't let this get you too nervous. You have enough to worry about. Esther sounds psychotic. Elijah already told me about the dinner. How are you feeling?"
"I'm really paranoid that someone is gonna come in here and try to make me lose the baby. Finn and Esther are definitely not happy about it. I just want to know why."
A/N: I start in-person classes tomorrow... after a year and a half of online college plus almost half a year of remote learning when everything first got shut down, I finally get to be in a classroom again. I'm excited but nervous. Hope you guys liked the chapter! Comment for more :)