a/n: Remember to comment and vote,
Sorry for the wait and hope ya enjoy all the lil bits of info scattered through this chapter x
Bea <3
The knowledge that Levi was dead was only so comforting for the wolves.
The pack was practically kids, two hybrids, an alpha, then six or seven adults.
Standing around and lighting fires to try and mourn their dead.
Sam was there, leading the kids through the bodies, explaining the situation to the reminding twenty-seven Crescents who'd been wolves, but escaped the slaughter. Twenty-seven was a complicated number. In a way, it was a pretty big pack, but considering the size of the crescents when they'd fled, it was so tiny that MJ wanted to vomit.
She was there to make the funeral easier, Kol hid in the back, knowing his presence would be even more detested considering the Klaus hate being muttered in every corner.
MJ's arms lifted when the remaining adults pushed row after row of bodies into the water, fire sparking up.
Her usual trick.
They'd drift far enough away, then fold up into different forms. Mainly bugs, usually butterflies, and maybe the occasional baby bird, given the number. MJ didn't want to disrupt the ecosystem too much by just releasing an unknowable amount of butterflies into the swamp.
The spirits would be released and find peace, the bodies able to avoid the disgusting decomposing process to contribute something beautiful to the world around them.
MJ had also suggested that family members take a hair from their loved ones for her, setting up a mini garden in the centre of what used to be the tent. She took the hairs while people mourned, turning them into flowers, fruit, and vegetables. So their essence could return to the wild.
Sam didn't leave her side until she forced him to go home; too many yawns.
Hybrids weren't meant to look like they were going to pass out, and yet, there he stood.
Weak. Dehydrated.
Recently healed from a neck snap he didn't want to give her the context of.
And MJ wasn't going to ask.
Sam's features were filled with different layers of grief, and finding out how involved he was in the witch massacre wouldn't help. You didn't need to know the details to support someone. You just needed to be able to hug. To send them to bed.
Then, MJ and Kol.
He wasn't the shy type, loitering out of respect. Out of trying to make MJ's life easier as she messaged Serena about any empty apartments they could store people in for a few nights until the pack had time to rebuild.
By the time it was over, Mira Jung Floare-Ruiz was carried home from The Bayou, Kol Mikaelson making jokes while she was on his back, laughing along. He didn't waste much time, vampire speed available to both, picking to spend their last hour of rest that morning at her apartment.
Then, work.
A few morning meetings, updates to the next few weeks, a break for lunch, a marketing meeting in the afternoon going over recent submissions from their photographers. Returning to her apartment in the late afternoon, Pri and Kol on the couch, tossing the TV remote back and forth like a ball, snacks across every surface, the remains of blankets and pillows scrunched on the floor, Jeremy and Josh at the kitchen counter.
"God, it's so messy."
"You can't talk," Jeremy retorted, "Your old apartment was always a tip."
"It was only one room."
There wasn't enough space to live; therefore, messy.
"You packed enough to head off?"
Jeremy nodded, "Yup."
"You sure you wanna go?"
"Having couch-crashers for a few days wouldn't be that bad," Josh added, something MJ noted.
"I'll stay if you want an extra pair of hands?"
"I'll be fine," MJ promised him.
"If Lucien tries anything," Pri stretched back, "I'm gonna kick his ass."
"Love the confidence," Kol pointed the remote, "But he would destroy you."
"You don't know that."
"He's a thousand years older."
"I'll kick your ass right here right now."
He just hissed, fangs out.
"I'm so scared."
"You should be," Kol went back to human, "Mystic Falls has allowed the world to think my family is some easily bested group."
Jeremy clicked his teeth, "It's – "
"I'm not talking about me," He waved a hand, "Klaus. He should've torn through you for Elena's blood, and I'm still not sure why he didn't."
MJ coughed.
"Yeah, yeah," Kol pulled a face, "Ignoring you – "
"Stefan, but sure."
"He's gonna be such a little bitch to me," Pri groaned.
"Definitely," Kol nodded, "We spent centuries crafting a blood-coated legacy. People have forgotten because he and Elijah played nice with you lot."
"Point made," Pri's hand was up, "But can I explain my reasoning, not based on y'all beefing with High Schoolers?"
Josh laughed as Kol nodded.
"People think vampirism is the automatic win," She rephrased it, "Not how it works. I don't think I can kick ass because I have speed and strength. As I said in the woods – kickboxing since six, MMA since seven, wrestling since freshman. I'm trained."
MJ pulled a blood bag from the fridge, "Who cares how hard you hit if you don't know how to hit."
"Exactly," Pri grinned, "If someone comes at me, but they're not trained, who cares how old they are? They don't have the instincts."
She looked at the original.
"No disrespect to the legacy, but when was the last time you looked into techniques?"
Kol narrowed his eyes.
"When your Viking dad trained you in the Middle Ages?"
"My skills are perfectly up to scratch."
MJ made a noise, "You're creatively violent, but...?"
"Hey!"
"You could join Marcel and me and prove you've still got it."
"Elijah's – "
"Yeah, yeah," MJ teased, "Can't share hobbies with your sibling. Man-child."
He just grinned at her.
"Consider the point?" She suggested, "Keeping yourself safe? You know, for your highly paranoid and protective girlfriend – who has seen your dead body before. Highly traumatised and all."
"If we're playing that card, you've died more than me."
"Not more," MJ walked to the couch, "We're both three-for-three."
She kissed his forehead as he looked up at her.
"And two of mine were self-inflicted – undefeated. One of which I didn't even die from, meaning it doesn't count."
"I also didn't die in one of those three, so two-for-two."
Jeremy looked confused, "Two?"
"How does one become a vampire, Jeremy?"
"...Oh. Right."
"Indeed," Kol mimed getting stabbed in the heart, then back up to MJ, "I'll consider it."
"Thank you," MJ kissed him properly from overhead, feeling him moan into the gesture.
"PDA! Gross," Pri chucked a pillow at them, looking at Josh, "You live with this?"
"Her sound runes mean I can act like I don't."
"Hey!" MJ laughed, "I spent my early teens watching your PDA displays."
"That's queer. That's allowed."
"If PDA is gross, all PDA is gross."
Pri's face was smug, "Are you saying two girls making out is gross?"
"Yeah, MJ," Josh mimicked her tone, "You saying it's gross to be gay?"
She threw the pillow back at Pri, "I've literally had more girlfriends than you."
"That's a hate crime!" She hugged it to her stomach, "And we don't quantify queerness here. I just met my person young."
"Speaking of," MJ took the opening, "Where is Gina?"
"Keeping busy," She looked to Jer, "You sure you don't wanna stay."
"I'm sure," He repeated, "My flight's in, like, two hours."
His eyes went wide.
"Shit – I gotta get a taxi – "
"No, you don't," MJ smiled, "I'll drive ya."
"You sure?"
"Obviously," She gave Kol's hair once last ruffle, "Nothing in my calendar till tonight."
"Then," Pri shimmied, "We're going out?"
"Klaus has a thing."
Kol pouted, "Do we have to go?"
"Go where?" Pri frowned.
"Some art show."
"And yes," MJ moved her finger to him, "We're going."
"Booo," Pri's thumb was down, "Club! Club! Club!"
"Okay," MJ put her hands up, "We'll – "
Gesturing to Kol and she.
"Go to Klaus's show. Then go clubbing."
"I want a girl's night," Pri complained.
"And I spent yesterday being interviewed by the police because a psycho-enchanted hunter was carving my name into dead bodies – "
"Fine," She dropped the fake annoyance, "Boyfriend can come."
MJ looked at Josh, "You in?"
"Uh," He went to say no.
Then glanced at all the mess.
A half-smile.
"Yeah."
"And you can have a girl's night later in the week," MJ assured Pri, winking at Kol, "Your punishment for not texting when the first body showed up."
He went to groan.
"I won't have too much fun," She couldn't help but feel giddy, "Promise."
"Ha-Ha."
"See ya guys in like an hour."
Jeremy noticed the tension in MJ's features when they were alone.
Letting her not say anything until they were in the car.
Clocking the sound rune on the dashboard.
"What's wrong?"
MJ started the engine of her little blue bug, knowing the route to the airport by heart after her first year.
"MJ?"
"Just..."
"If you want me to stay?"
"No," She assured him, "Is there anything I should know about Pri?"
She hated even having to ask.
Jeremy raised an eyebrow, "You're worried about her?"
"I don't know," MJ admitted, "Just..."
Trust was complicated after everything she'd lived through.
"Did you meet Gina?"
"Like twice."
"Only twice?"
"She isn't living in New York anymore," He revealed, "Popped through to do our tracking spells."
"Pri's talking like they're still together."
"They seemed it."
"Okay," MJ sighed, "I'll just ask her about it when we're not around people."
"Careful," Jeremy glanced at the streets, "Mikaelson paranoia..."
"'Cos Gilbert's don't have any?"
"Gilbert's got paranoid because of Mikaelson's."
She snorted.
It was the 20th of October, 2013.
Four years of knowing each other.
"If Pri's helping Cami, I should be happy," She put it simply, "It's safer."
"And you did ask her to help with the investigation."
Meaning, MJ had basically given Pri an invite to stick around.
"She'll get it done."
MJ smiled at him in the mirror, "It was nice having you here."
"Not sure anyone else agrees."
"Marcel would love for you to stick around."
"Great, the guy who killed your mum's on my side!"
She laughed.
"If you need any backup?"
"I'll call," MJ assured him.
He curled his lips in.
"Jer?"
"If there is something up with Pri?"
MJ bit her cheek.
"Don't let Klaus kill her."
"I won't," She shivered, "I couldn't."
"That's what matters," Jeremy reminded her, "She's your friend."
"I know."
That's why MJ didn't want to just call her out for hiding something.
"If something's up, she'll have a good reason."
"But Ryos has fried your judgement," Jeremy clicked.
"It would've been weirder if he hadn't."
"MJ," He spoke firmly, "You can handle anything."
"I know."
"But you don't have to."
The coldness melted slightly.
"You can, but we've got your back."
The constant reaffirmation people had been giving her post-prison world.
She had more than just a shitty biological brother to rely on.
THE VAMPIRES
In Hell of New Orleans
By the time night came, Jeremy had gotten on a plane, and MJ had returned to her apartment, listening to Pri, Kol, and Josh chat while making every social media post she could schedule in advance.
Then, she let her brain enter 'night off' mode.
She'd spent almost twenty-four hours as the target of a makeshift assassin.
Partying was the reset she needed, but MJ couldn't miss Klaus's art show. Elijah wouldn't show. Freya? Unclear. So she had to. And if she could get Kol to poke his head in, they could put off a Klaus tantrum just a little.
Plus, MJ liked art shows.
She arrived at St James, Kol's hand on her back, coat wrapped around her body. It was his, and she was only wearing it because the dress code was meant to be smart, her clubbing get-up not fitting the bill.
"Josh and Pri are already three rounds in," MJ slipped her phone away.
He spotted the bar, "We can double that."
They kept their voices down, slipping through people, searching for Klaus. It was a decent turnout, chatter and mingling natural. Familiar faces from some of MJ's events sent her smiles. She'd gone to every 'Art Walk' street opening and owned a gallery, so it was one of her crowds.
"Straight to shots?"
"Do you?" He teased, "Mira!"
"You've slept. I haven't."
"Pick a liqueur."
"Jägerbombs."
"You youth," He mock-gagged.
She gripped his arm, grinning, "Give me all the energy boosts."
Her eyes caught the violinist over his shoulder, winking at her. By this point, beyond MJ's job sending her to events, she and Kol were incredibly well connected to the music scene. It was a well-known fact that her inbox was always open for new artists looking for tips on graphic design.
"No cider. Period's due."
Still having it was one thing; suffering worse side effects as a vampire was just rude.
"I'm not in the mood to vomit."
They were interrupted by the arrival of Klaus.
He scanned how she seemed somewhat eaten by her coat, "Trying to make yourself presentable?"
"Yup," MJ had told him they were going out afterwards.
"Not too late to join," Kol taunted, "Might not be your crowd, but – "
"Not interested," He pretended, "Perfectly happy here."
MJ rubbed her hands together, "Give me a few minutes to make judgement?"
"I'm going to the loo," Kol decided.
"I'll be waiting on your detailed commentary, brother," Klaus mused, "I'm sure your head is filled with valuable thoughts."
Kol made a hand gesture as he left, Klaus snickering even if MJ didn't recognise it, choosing to focus on the canvases as she wandered through them. The hybrid watched her expressions to guess her thoughts after years of conversations.
St James's lights had been set up differently, turning it from a place of music, dancing, and drunkenness into a gallery. A mix of easels and pieces on the walls, frames matching the room's aesthetic. New Orleans bars just hit differently. Even the more modern ones in the city just seemed so beautiful to her. The stained panelled windows reflected the ceiling lights, all set up to highlight the paintings. Red, yellow, blue and green transporting them to a museum safe from debauchery.
Which was an ironic atmosphere to have been created by Klaus.
There was music, but it was light.
Floating.
Dinner party energy.
It was unfortunate for MJ to see the painting of Genevieve first. She didn't like the painting because of what it represented, but it was also one of Klaus's worst pieces. The brush strokes were messy, the colours dull, and the shapes of everything...cliché?
If shapes could be cliché.
Instead of painting his actual pillows, two almost cartoonishly big blocks of shaded white. Taking up more space than Gen herself, giving up on the background.
MJ forced herself to move on.
Why stare at a painting she hated when she could look at some of his landscapes?
There was the one that mirrored her own, a beautiful blend of blue and red across the sky and water, blurring the line between sunset, blood, and wine, a full moon shining over it. The detail of the yellow and white moon proved that Klaus could have technique when he wanted to.
It also showed he was so much better at painting non-naturalistic pieces.
Sure, it was a New Orleans skyline, but it had so much more to it. Meaning the viewer could decide, shown through colour choice and building shape. Blue lines over black. Proper post-modern skyline, fog captured on a canvas, blurring everything but the sharp edges of drain pipes and rooves.
The water city.
The Crescent City.
Easy to get lost in, but sharp edges within.
Flicking through the rest, she met Klaus in the middle.
"I don't hate them."
"And I value your opinion so much," He retorted, "Any favourites?"
He was leaning on one of the wooden beams holding the roof up, the wall connected to it able to fold in and out.
"I still detest the one of Gen."
He laughed.
"But I quite like 'Crescent Sky'"
His smile faltered.
"Not meant as a jab," MJ quickly added, "I genuinely just like it."
Walking through the place together, they passed art critics and visitors. The way creative things could inspire others to think or talk was part of what made MJ love it so much. Whether it was for profit or fun, creative outlets that got people talking made her buzz.
Noticing a triptych of Hope and her that she'd never seen before.
Heart warm but surprised, considering she thought she'd seen everything Klaus had made.
She could feel him honing in on one of the critics.
"It's a derivative fiasco," He gestured to the picture of Gen, "Little atmosphere."
MJ noticed Klaus tense.
"Less technique – "
"Don't react," She gave him a pointed look, "Can't be an artist if you can't take criticism."
"It's nothing more than a self-congratulatory ego trip."
"And he's not wrong."
Klaus's irritation became targeted at her.
"Mad at the family, so sleeping with the enemy. Painting her in bed for the dramatics, not love or appreciation. It's so surface level."
"Does art always have to have a deeper meaning?"
"That's a whole other debate," She thought back to his snowflakes, "And with you? Yes. Your detailing's sloppy, and everything around? So much better."
The compliment to counter the critic.
"I can look at that painting and tell that you don't care about it. Because it's so much worse."
"Yet it's the one he's decided to comment on."
"And so I repeat," MJ nudged him, "Can't be an artist if you can't take criticism."
"Your lady friend is correct," A British accent joined them.
A man with neatly trimmed dark brown hair, piercing eyes, and a defined face shape. He'd snuck up right behind them like it was nothing, using the fact they'd be so focused on someone else.
"Then again," He smiled at Klaus, "I'm just surprised you hosted an art show without compelling the critics to speak your praise."
"And I wouldn't expect an uncultured savage to crash such a formal affair," Klaus responded with a familial smirk, "And here I thought you'd be dead by now."
That comment connected the dots in MJ's mind.
Lucien Castle.
Supposedly bitten by Jackson the previous evening.
"Dead?" His tone was welcoming, "Why would I be dead?"
"A better question is," Klaus loomed, "Why didn't you pop by before moving to my city?"
"Not your city," MJ lilted.
His hand came towards her, "Lucien Castle."
"The first sire," MJ shook the hand, "MJ."
"MiMi Pasare."
MJ didn't like that.
Or the way he was staring at her face.
She'd finally reached a point in her life where she was able to forget the two scars across her face until she caught someone staring at them. And Lucien was definitely staring at them. She could tell by the half scan down, half glance across.
"You've forgotten how to tidy up your leftovers," Klaus covered for how she'd tensed, "Bodies left on the street!"
Lucien frowned, "You'll have to elaborate, mate."
"Two bodies were found sporting rather memorable lacerations," He'd seen the pictures by now, "Are you exorcising your demons by carving up the innocents of New Orleans?"
Lucien laughed weakly, "Elijah already alerted me to Pria Yadav's preaching at you."
MJ didn't like that phrasing either.
"I expected you to be able to see through her," He waved a hand, "The accusations give this decade some entertainment, but they are built on nothing."
A pause to point.
"Nothing but the hysterics of someone biting off more than they can chew."
"Ah," MJ crossed her arms, "The madwoman accusation. How classy."
"Based on her behaviour!" He reasoned, "She just appears, claiming scandal without evidence."
"Just lists of coincidences involving you?"
"A list!" He cheered, "She has a list now, does she?"
"Careful, Lucien," Klaus inched closer, "You might find it funny, but the young ones band together."
"And making an enemy of this one wouldn't be smart," Lucien went back to smiling at MJ, "I'm well aware – sorry about the poachers."
The ease with which he apologised almost through her off, so used to having to fight for one.
"I did not realise wolves were important."
"Everyone should be viewed as important," MJ rebutted, "Apologise to the remains of the pack, not us."
Lucien let his head bow slightly.
Then, back up.
Glancing between them.
"Even if I was responsible for a few murders, why would you – "
Klaus.
"Care?" He called out, "We used to make fantastic messes together."
"There is a delicate balance in this city," Klaus glanced up, "There are rules."
"Are you playing redeemed man?" He teased, "I knew the witch-woman was involved with your family, but I didn't realise you were together."
"We're not," MJ responded, "Friend."
"Interesting," He started to scan her up and down, "And good to know – "
A rush of air, hand on her hip, "My date."
Kol, smiling falsely at him.
"Actually."
"Kol!"
"Lucien," His response was far less enthusiastic, "A step back is advised."
"Nik was implying this event was for lovers of cultures," The vampire did as instructed, "Not those who burn it down."
"I've developed a taste."
Lucien glanced at her, "I think your taste is clear."
"I think you should shut up," MJ mused.
Lucien waved, "You're accusing me of messy eating when the king of that is right here?"
"I'm not messy," Kol defended, "I'm an artist."
"Don't claim that," Klaus looked disgusted, "And my brother is on his best behaviour, which leaves you."
"That's not the reason," Lucien shut down, "You're not preserving any balance – your family have people you care about here."
From Hope, to Hayley, to MJ, to Cami.
"You can't afford to have weaknesses like that right now."
"Weaknesses?" Kol was inspecting him, "Like a wolf bite to a vampire?"
The point Lucien had dodged earlier.
"Elijah told quite the tale about how his momentary pet took a chunk out of your arm."
MJ's morning at work had given everyone a chance to catch up, her receiving texts.
Lucien just laughed, "It was nice to see Elijah again."
"You should be dead," Kol spoke bluntly, "Or dying."
"The family dog missed the mark," He turned to Klaus, "Barely a scratch."
Raising an arm covered by a suit jacket.
"No venom breached the skin."
"Listen here," Klaus's voice went lower, "My city has enjoyed months of relative peace."
"No thanks to you," MJ muttered
"I have been nothing but supportive of your side quests."
"Hm."
"May I continue you my threat, Mira?"
"Go ahead," She motioned, "Just give credit where it's due."
"Mira here," He continued, "Has worked for peace. If that peace is in any way disrupted?"
Eyes back to Lucien.
"The next gruesome murder will be yours."
"There's the Klaus I know!" Lucien was relaxed, "I did go looking for you when I arrived."
"Yet you managed to not find me."
"You were chasing a wolf hunter," He reminded them, "I went to your home, and your associates."
He looked apologetic again.
"I think I gave your human friend a bit of a scare."
Meaning he'd taken note of Cami's involvement.
"I wasn't trying to seem like such an enemy."
"Elijah was adamant you needed my blood."
"Elijah would also benefit from Pria's narrative," He officially rolled up his jacket sleeve, "Look for yourself!"
Completely clear skin.
"Not to imply he'd lie to you, but his mind was clearly occupied," He reasoned, "Assuming the worse because I became amenable. Ignoring that I didn't mean any harm with my clean-up project."
A wink to MJ.
"I've already cancelled all follow-up hires."
"Good," Klaus finally let himself smile, "This one would throw quite the fit if you didn't."
"Justifiably so," MJ reminded them, "I'm not sure if this conversation is better or worse for your anger issues than listening to the critic."
"The mouthy blood bag does have a point," Lucien took the subject change, "Your work is derivative."
Klaus just looked amused by him, "Of?"
"Degas," MJ decided, "You're trying to mimic his backgrounds."
"I'd agree," Lucien shifted towards her, "Although, I happen to know he compelled Degas to mentor him."
MJ stilled.
Lucien noticed the shift, Klaus waiting for her reaction.
"Degas mentored you?" She looked at him, bug-eyed, "What?"
He shrugged.
"And you didn't think to mention that?" Her reaction had her arms moving, accidentally whacking into Kol, "Sorry."
"Should I know who that is?"
"You were daggered during his life – my long exposure ballet photos were inspired by him."
He perked up, "I like those."
"I always thought," Lucien was watching Kol, confused, "His work improved after the vampire influence."
"Finally," Klaus declared, "People with an eye for art!"
"Well, live long enough, and, as you said, Kol, you develop a taste for it," Lucien shrugged, "Among other things."
He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Klaus.
"Speaking of which, can we please have a drink?"
The begging tone of voice had Klaus and Kol smiling.
"I am quite parched."
Klaus laughed, throwing an arm around his old friend's shoulder, leading them to the bar like he hadn't just hired people to wipe out his kind. Pri's voice in MJ's mind kept her on edge.
"Have they told you many stories about the glory days?" Lucien asked her.
"A few," MJ and Kol were talking through looks, "Only heard a condensed version of France."
"He was always the best to watch feed."
Klaus coughed in mock offence, signalling for the waiter.
"Come on, Nik," Lucien elbowed him, "No hard feelings. You've gotta admit he had a gift for tearing a body apart."
"My baby brother is too smitten to relive those days."
"I'm happy to relive them," Kol held a glass up, "I do have a gift."
MJ laughed.
"It's just not needed currently."
"You and Maci were always off having your little secret chats," Lucien pondered, pointed eyebrows, "She had you slowing down the killing frenzy too."
"We were talking about Maci recently," Klaus matched the expression, "All of you, actually."
The fact MJ had started to learn about Lucien, then he'd suddenly shown up?
Pri rocking up alongside him?
It rang alarm bells.
His eyes on her a little too long.
"Got something to say?"
"I don't know why," Lucien shook his head, "But I wasn't picturing someone so young."
The edge in Kol's eyes sharpened.
"Just how did you get entangled in the Mikaelson web," He was standing between the brothers, taking a drink from Klaus, "Which one turned you?"
"Neither," Kol answered, "Though he did kidnap her repeatedly."
"There is context," Klaus justified, "I didn't decide to just grab a mortal."
MJ scoffed, "You took me hostage after one conversation."
"You're a witch!" Klaus defended, "I didn't need more than one conversation to assume use."
"Ah," Lucien nodded, "Persuasion to the cause."
MJ looked at the wine Kol had ordered for them, giving him a look.
"What?" He feigned innocence.
"Kol."
He just grinned.
MJ rolled her eyes, turning the red wine into blood by simply lifting her hand. They never drank red wine, Kol turning their 'drinks experimenting' into date nights. He'd mix drinks while she'd cook, and then the other would have to replicate whatever they'd been made a week or two later. MJ using her recreation as a chance to remind Kol she had bartending experience.
She'd made cocktails for the Pictionary meal with Mason at the Gilbert House.
Skills that came from lying about her age to get waitress jobs from around thirteen.
He'd momentarily been embarrassed by the reveal, then taken aback in shock at how she could have the experience yet still not know half of the drinks he'd told her about. Proving that letting him get carried away with her pallet shaping hadn't been for nothing.
Red wine only came out when he wanted blood.
"Shots."
"After," He pecked her cheek.
"But you are a vampire," Lucien specified, staring at the glass.
MJ's eyes fluttered, feeling her cheek shift to show veins.
"...And your rumours continue to be real..."
She returned to normal, "All of it is incredibly real."
"And now I wish I'd flirted more!"
"If you did, your body would be in the street," Kol patted him on the shoulder, "While I fed her your heart."
"Jesting with you."
"I'm sure."
"You used to be more fun than this, Kol," He drank, "A bloody loon."
"I'm still plenty fun," He flashed red eyes, "Just reminding you of your place."
"Forever beneath the family."
MJ curled her lips in, finding the phrase a massive tell, even if he sounded unresentful.
"I guess that's a slightly less sexist way of saying you're marking your territory," She turned to lean her hips against Kol's, "If the coat wasn't enough."
Kol just smiled at her, "Better I make it clear than murder anyone who looks at you."
"I quite like it when you murder the creepy ones."
Clubbing was always interesting for them.
"It's sexy."
Lucien grinned, "And you like them properly dangerous!"
He lifted his drink up in a toast.
"We're going to get along wonderfully."
"I'm sure," MJ responded sarcastically, "If I'm not getting shots, can we leave?"
Kol nodded, "Terrible seeing you again, Lucien."
"You act as if we never had any fun, Kol," Lucien complained, "We were talking about Maci – have you seen her recently?"
Klaus smiled widely, turning to Kol, "Or spoken to her?"
"Not returning my calls," He answered smoothly, MJ masking her surprise.
She had a phone number for Selene, but Kol had never asked for it.
He'd also not mentioned reaching out to her.
"No one's seen her in years," Lucien spoke what they already knew, "Scared the life out of me with a random phone call a few months ago."
None of the group visibly reacted.
"Thought she might've been doing a Mikaelson period again."
"Nothing of the sort," Klaus watched Kol, "She hasn't dared to see me since the 1900s."
"I wasn't aware she was on the hunt list."
"She's not," He snorted, "Simply doesn't like me much."
"Do many people like you, Nik?" MJ retorted.
"Cruel."
"And entirely accurate," Kol continued, "She probably thinks I'm dead."
MJ thought over a point Kol had made several times about his passing.
"And if Elijah had heard from her, he would've told us."
"I heard about that," Lucien scanned him, "Should I assume the resurrection's courtesy of the witch girlfriend?"
"Something like that."
"You and Finn dropped."
MJ shifted.
"Oh, Finn – Finn was fine...as long as you didn't have to speak to him."
Both brothers laughed, though MJ felt the stillness of Kol's hand.
Then, Klaus's demeanour changed, "Have you spoken to her?"
"I just said I had – "
"Not Maci," Klaus raised his eyebrow suggestively.
"Oh, you mean her," Lucien lost his pep, a particular type of light in his eye, "As you well know, Aurora and I parted ways centuries ago."
Before anyone could make another point, Klaus was patting his friend away.
"Please, excuse me," His eyes pinned to the entrance foyer, "There's someone I need to speak to."
Cami was being offered champagne by a server, a pretty dark orange top with white flowers, and dark blue high-waisted jeans. She looked stressed, which had MJ wanting to jump into friend mode, but it was clear Klaus wanted to be the one to talk to her.
Lucien spotted her too, "The human!"
Playing recollection.
"Is she tasty?"
"Stay here," Klaus rolled his eyes, "Behave yourself."
"Always!" Lucien dismissed.
"Both of you."
Kol just sipped his drink.
Lucien returned his focus to MJ, "You signed that first notice as MR, but now go by MJ?"
"Mira Jung-Ruiz. MJ and MR – though one of those is clearly the better nickname."
"Indeed.
MJ was one of the hardest-to-kill things on the planet, and her skill with magic meant she should've been fine against most enemies, but Kol was still openly on edge around anyone that gave him even the slightest hint of ill-intent. At the end of the day, being hard to kill wasn't the same as being unkillable, and with the last two White Oak Stakes in her possession, he could go back to being incredibly headstrong when it came to keeping her safe.
Luckily, Lucien didn't make any other comments, glancing towards Cami.
"Be careful," MJ swished her drink, "She's on the protected species list."
"Nik doesn't have a protected list."
"Says the first sire who's made it this far," Kol bobbed his head, "Despite trying to court the same woman as him."
He grinned at him wickedly, "Touché."
Cami reminded Klaus that Lucien had hurt his kind the previous night in all of their ears.
Him ferrying her into another room like that would stop the vampire hearing.
"What actually brings you to town, then?" MJ opted to give Lucien something else to listen to.
"Can't I want to check in with an old friend?"
"You can," She considered, "But that feels like an evasive answer."
"Mira's quite the smart one," Kol's lips twitching up, "Clever wording isn't the out you think it to be."
"I simply want him to show me a personality beyond 'basic morally corrupt Englishman.'"
She had enough of them already.
He whistled lowly, "Harsh summarization based on little information."
"That you are failing to prove wrong."
"Challenge accepted," He put the glass down, "I like my sire. Those who don't are getting closer and closer to killing him. I want to keep him safe."
Kol had finished his drink, "Sire-Line preservation? That's what you're going with?"
"Your death confirmed that we died with your family," Lucien shrugged, "I'd quite like for Klaus not to end up like that."
He went back to MJ
"And, I'm not 'basic.' I worked my way up in life."
MJ wasn't sure transitioning could count as 'working' your way up.
"I have perseverance, and work ethic, and a magnitude of other incredibly attractive qualities," He leaned in, "If you're interested in finding them out."
Her eyes jumped over his face.
"Because I'd love the chance to learn more about you."
She tilted her head innocently.
"A witch-vampire," His voice lowered, "That's not something you just walk by."
"Very true," MJ smiled, "However..."
Eyes turning cruel.
"You are."
Kol grinned, "Nearly a thousand years has made you cocky, Lucien."
"Or maybe I'm just trying to get a rise out of the once infamous Kol Mikaelson."
"I still am infamous."
MJ didn't like whatever Lucien was trying to pull.
With Elijah pressuring Kol towards one side of the spectrum, Lucien seeming to want to push him the other way, MJ could see an explosion happening. Kol had been finding his middle ground since she'd turned, letting himself feed as he pleased, against Elijah's wishes, but having only left two or three bodies instead of a house full because of it.
"And I'm bored," MJ looked to Kol, "Pri and Josh are waiting."
"I don't see any reason to dawdle here."
"We're in the middle of a conversation," Lucien gestured.
"Maybe you are," MJ shrugged, "I have places to be, so...enjoy your evening."
Locked eyes.
"And tread carefully."
MJ and Kol walked out of the gallery, hand in hand, steps smooth, ready for an evening of fun.
She texted a goodbye to Klaus – and a reminder not to indulge in Lucien's games.
"If he makes any moves – " Kol almost laughed.
"I'll let you know," MJ couldn't help but smile at the tone, "You voted to kill, but over the centuries you've become?"
"His behaviour was right up my alley," Kol admitted, "Still not interested in him as a person."
Not that surprising.
"He spends too much time kissing Nik's ass."
MJ unbuttoned the coat a little now they were away from the fancy people, enjoying the October breeze.
"I will never cease to say this," He was shaking his head slightly, "Most gorgeous woman on the planet."
"I'd argue that 'Maci' is more so."
Kol's steps slowed, eyeing her up.
"Feels weird not calling her Selene, but she was always beautiful."
"Mira..."
"You said you flirted with her a lot," She tried to sound open, "But that it never went further?"
"She detested the idea we could ever be involved."
MJ bit her lip.
"Is something wrong?"
"You didn't tell me you'd reached out."
Kol bit his cheek, "I haven't."
MJ paused, turning in the street to look at him.
"Klaus thinks I'm hiding something about why Maci left us in the 1900s."
"...Are you?"
"Depends."
"Kol."
"Maci and Klaus have a difficult relationship," Kol summarised, "Sometimes they are oddly aligned; other times, she's hiding Katherine in Virginia just to spite him."
"Ah."
"Maci technically helped make the golden dagger."
MJ's lips parted.
"Not the magic, obviously. But she was a witch in her mortal life, and incredibly good at witch recruitment in her immortal one. It's all my work, but her hand was in the mix."
"And she vanished as you got daggered for making it?"
He bobbed his head.
"You said Elijah told her something that made her run."
"Which isn't exactly true."
"And Klaus knows that?"
"He thinks it odd that neither Elijah nor myself have seen her. Because it is."
"Maybe Elijah has."
Kol shook his head, "Maci always leaves a mark on him. We'd know if they'd been in contact."
Classic Mikaelson over invasiveness.
"Which leaves Klaus cautious about you and her," MJ followed.
"He thinks it's coincidental that when I was scheming to take him down, she vanished, with a collection of my belongings, never to be found again. Not even by Elijah."
MJ blinked slowly, "Because Maci would avoid him if it protected you?"
"Once upon a time, yes."
"So, Klaus thinks you sent her off with a weapon to kill him or something?"
"Probably," Kol admitted.
"Did you?"
"No."
MJ thought through all the phrasing, "Once upon a time?"
He didn't blink.
"You didn't include her in the list of people who would mourn you."
What she'd clicked while in St James.
"But when we were in New York, you were singing her praises."
He nodded.
"What happened?"
A half-smile, "Nothing you need to worry about."
"Kol."
"We didn't part on good terms," He pushed his shoulder back, "My doing, not hers."
MJ let her head nod.
She couldn't push Kol to talk, but it was always hard.
He was a lot slower to open up. Kol always did it; it just took longer, and maybe MJ had gotten a little too accustomed to him feeling like an open book. They'd covered a lot of deep material quite quickly, a big deal for him, that she'd somewhat forgotten there were probably more complex topics in there.
The 'I love you' situation the biggest reminder of that.
Kol was open with her, but centuries of habits and behaviour didn't vanish overnight.
"Give it another hundred or so years, and we'll run into each other and let bygones be bygones. But, until then, I think we should leave Maci to her hiding."
"The stuff that she took?"
"Not a weapon," He backtracked slightly, "But ideas for how one might defeat an Original Hybrid."
MJ felt a chill, "Would your fallout have motivated her to share them?"
"Maci would never do that to Elijah."
She relaxed a little.
"If anything," Kol had clearly been thinking about it, "She vanished around when Finn was killed."
MJ hadn't thought about it that way.
"For all we know, Maci panicked that someone had found my stash, then disappeared with it all to make sure no one did."
"Did you find a new way to kill Klaus?"
"No," He added quickly, "My goal wasn't to kill."
"It was to incapacitate," MJ curled her lip, "But incapacitating is a good starting point for someone developing a way to kill someone."
Her eyes closed, resting forward to feel his chest against hers. The street was busy, Halloween was a week away, and MJ wanted to just relax. She'd let her brain enter 'night off' mode! Like! Why couldn't she let it stay that way? Why did she have to push for information?
"Mira – "
"Another time," She offered him a smile, "My brain is too fried for this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Kol lifted a hand to her jaw, "Sorry?"
"For what?"
"Not mentioning it earlier?"
"Why would you have?"
"Because it feels like I've been hiding something since we started discussing France."
"That's okay," She wasn't upset about it, "We're dating. We're meant to learn stuff about each other the longer we're together."
He brushed his fingers from her jaw, into her hair, "You're sure you're not upset?"
"Entirely okay."
"Not even the tiniest bit jealous?"
She laughed, "That's the bit you care about?"
"I care about all of it."
"Incredibly jealous," She caved, "Can we go clubbing now?"
He let himself smile, kissing her once more.
~***~
That night turned to morning, which turned to another night, which turned to a week.
A week of peace. Of people figuring out what they were meant to do after everything. Hayley as a mother. Sam's birthday dinner cancelled as Mati took him out of town for the week, Pri balancing murder investigations with Cami and keeping her New York routine in New Orleans. Social life thriving despite being the new girl in town.
The promised girl's only night happening at the end of the week.
Meaning MJ had stumbled into The Compound at four a.m. Kol waiting to carry her giggling state up the stairs, incredibly salty he hadn't been allowed to come, but plotting how they could have their own fun over the weekend. Halloween approaching. Costumes were incredibly fun to think about, as she drunkenly agreed to a night of just them.
But in the morning, MJ was called to the police again...
Leaving Kol to go through his regular routine.
Feeding Basil, picking a book to read, a notebook to scribble in, only for his mind to be completely clouded. The Mikaelson Compound was fully functional, completing the cycle Kol knew too well. Staff milling about, kitchen equipped in a way that made it seem like anyone other than Freya and the now departed Hope needed regular food.
A full plater was decorating the main table, but none of them were sitting around it.
Kol lounged across a sofa in the courtyard, a plate on his stomach, a drink on the side table, a bowl of fruit, a notebook in one hand, a pen in the other, trying to remember everything in the book Maci had left with. Then, listing out bullet point summaries of things he probably needed to tell MJ.
Both to do with Maci and to do with a million other small things he'd let slip away.
They'd covered so much of his past, but a thousand years was a long time.
Even when he factored in the daggered periods.
And Kol also couldn't deny that he hadn't fully covered the more complicated events. His more emotional opinions on his parent's passing. Maci as a person in his life. Lara's death, beyond him learning about it. Listing the times his emotions had actually been in play, then seeing it so short almost reversed the progress.
It felt pathetic to think that Dinah, Lara, and Maci Roux were the only people he'd properly held positive relationships with previously. That his humanity had faded back in, yet so underutilised.
But if Kol couldn't tell MJ he loved her, he had to tell her something else.
He slammed the book shut, aggressively glaring at the plate on his stomach.
Klaus stood in the dining room entrance, staring into the courtyard, while Elijah read a paper quite pointedly. After Kol and MJ had left, Lucien had taken Klaus to see a witch who they'd fed on to see visions of some terrible future, giving them an excuse to have a family breakfast.
"Lucien is not a friend," Elijah spoke, "This witch would need to be assessed. And I would still like to know why he would lie about the bite."
He'd seen Jackson break skin.
"We know there are ways to heal it," Kol pointed out, "We also know Lucien has been in New York."
"The two statements are related because?"
"You think MJ didn't send some of her Klaus storage to her vampire best friend?"
"Are you implying Lucien may have gotten some of Niklaus's blood from Pria?"
"Not her," Kol rephrased, "If Pri had some, Maci had access to some. She probably passed it on to her mentor."
"Or," Klaus took the opening, "Pria Yadav cannot be trusted."
Kol rolled his eyes.
"I have some questions too," Elijah put the paper down, "Ones based in reason rather than petty – "
"Mine is based in reason," Klaus defended, "Caring about Mira's safety does not mean it is less. I know that part is a foreign concept to you – "
"Mira and I – "
"Pri and MJ met when she was eleven," Kol paused, "Or twelve? Technically when MJ was twelve, and Pri was thirteen."
An interruption to shut them both up.
"She'd been held back in some class, and they were paired up, and now – "
Shuffling overhead created a pause.
Freya's footsteps with some man she'd come stumbling through the door with that night, sighing at the sight of them all sitting in the main room rather than out or the kitchen.
"Freya!" Klaus greeted, "It's about time you brought a gentleman home to meet the family."
The guy shot Freya a look.
"Ignore him," She pushed him to walk down the stairs quickly, "Brothers."
Elijah picked his paper back up, waiting until the man had been practically shoved out of the foyer and into the street, Freya turning to face them. Boredom already on her face. Not even giving them a moment for opinions as she walked towards the kitchen, grabbing herself a plate.
"Do we not get a name?" Klaus called, walking towards the sofa, "No! Let me guess!"
"Just because – "
"Brad?" He ignored her, "Chad?"
"Brody?" Kol suggested.
"Let's go with Brody," Klaus nodded vigorously, "Should I start preparing my dowry list?"
Freya's lips twitched slightly as she re-joined them, one croissant for her while also topping up Kol's plate, "Shouldn't we be more focused on Kol's?"
"I don't think there's enough money in the world to get Mira to finally buy him off us."
"She'd buy me before she'd buy you," He bit into the offering.
"But you agree she wouldn't buy you unless it was between us?"
"That's not what I said!"
"It's what you implied."
"You're all just jealous," Kol decided, "I've had a successful relationship for two years, while the pair of you whine about heartbreak, and she's traipsing in with college men who can't shower and only talk in sports references."
"Successful is an interesting word," Freya mock thought, "How does one successful date while deceased? Is there a spell that allows you to consummate?"
"Right!" Klaus perked up, "Jeremy has departed! We're allowed to talk about it again."
"I hate all of you."
"I hate," Elijah folded the paper in half, "How easily we've drifted from the topic."
"I'm simply asking my sister about who she brings into my home," Klaus defended, "Checking up on her choices and taste."
"Only months ago, you utterly despised me," Freya swished her drink, "And now you're playing protective brother?"
"I'm sure you're quite capable of protecting yourself against the scourge of Fraternity Row," Klaus watched Elijah's expression, "But now you've dismissed them. The matter at hand."
"Lucien's living status," She assumed.
"Indeed."
"So he has a siphoner?"
A pause as they thought about that option.
"As that is the alternate cure?" Freya thought she'd said something wrong, "Correct?"
"That is a possibility," Kol nodded, "But where from?"
"Any Floare troupe in a major city," Klaus reasoned, "A second child isn't that hard to achieve."
"That better not be your way of announcing that you want another," Kol gagged, "One copy of your genetics is enough."
Klaus smiled, reaching forward and whacking him firmly on the back of the head.
"MJ's rare," Kol argued, "She's only met one other like her. I've only met one other in all of history."
"You spent a large portion of history unable to meet them," Elijah pointed out, "The fact you met one during your lifetime means they are findable."
"And, if Lucien was testing her with the hunter," Klaus's eyes narrowed, "It could be because he is assessing whether giving his own the upgrade would help or hinder him."
"A heretic could be considered the world's newest threat," Elijah nodded, "If we had met a siphoner in any other period, we would not have considered turning them."
Kol started to look pissed.
"Knowing Mira," Elijah continued, "Means we understand that she is more than her skills."
"But to another ancient vampire," Freya said it, so he didn't have to, "You would want to see what you were signing yourself up for. Especially if they are your source of magic."
Vampires viewing witches as property that performed for them.
Vampires that cared about the preservation of their species.
Vampires who murdered wolves in cold blood.
"Heightened power and emotions might make them turn on you."
"If you don't think it's that," Klaus looked at Kol, "Pria handing one of her cures over to her supposed enemy?"
Elijah and Freya were both looking at him too.
"Just because they had different Originals to protect does not have to mean they are at war."
"If Maci introduced them," Elijah tilted his head, "You would think they would play nice."
"Unless one of them knows MJ well enough to know she would not like Lucien's treatment of the pack she engages with."
"Pri wouldn't like it either," Kol pointed out.
"How well do you actually know this person?" Freya asked.
He shrugged.
"You've met before?"
"Once," He backtracked, "Once in person. She and Mira call frequently enough that I've interacted with her since. And – "
A look at Elijah.
"She was the first person to call MJ after I died. And possibly the only person to give her condolences. While you," His brother, "Hung up on her. And did nothing."
He hadn't been able to leave Mystic Falls to see MJ and Elijah's conversation.
"So you are also weak to her true intentions," Klaus pointed out, "Emotional weight based on very little."
"You really have got quite the obsession with her," Kol goaded, "Just a warning, she's very much into the ladies, so your usual plan of hate-sex into submission might not work."
"I'll keep that in mind," Klaus answered falsely.
"And I'm not saying I know her well," Kol looked at Freya's confused face, "I'm saying I know Maci. We know Maci."
Elijah leant back in his chair.
"You," He pointed at the man, "Of all people."
Freya chuckled at the way Kol spoke.
"Know what she looks for when finding people to entertain herself with."
"The only flaw in that argument," Klaus responded, "Is that we know her taste ranges from him."
Oddly aggressive head nod.
"To you."
Fingers into Kol's drink to flick the liquid at him.
"Neither of which is particularly appealing to me."
EARLY 1002
Elijah had picked a quiet spot in the internal garden of the De Martel Castle. Internal was a funny word for it. There was no roof, so when it rained, which wasn't uncommon, it was practically unused– though, he wouldn't act like he hadn't seen a number of the servant's children take advantage of those days. Ten-year-olds laughing and catching sniffles before their parents could pull them back to cover to avoid illness.
Illnesses Elijah was now immune from and relatively familiar with due to being an older sibling, yet feeling completely lost.
His mother had been a witch. The people in the castle weren't.
There didn't seem to be a magical solution for them, so he sat with a book on his lap, the stone bench warm against his cold skin, and a tree providing some cover from the sun. The leaves were slowly growing back following the end of winter, their arrival in the castle still relatively recent, casting odd shadows over the pages.
Illness was on everyone's mind, and while their elder sister had died of the plague, he knew nothing. What if someone asked them how they'd cured sneezes growing up?
What food they thought was best?
The book itself wasn't easy to decipher.
The Normans, the people who the books told him ruled over the land they were now in, seemed to have come from the same place as their father. Vikings. Except, they weren't anymore – Elijah didn't fully understand it. They'd been given an area of the North to rule, assimilating more into France than the other way around.
That meant the languages were connected.
Elijah recognised words; they hadn't had much of a problem communicating verbally, but there were things he didn't know. He could figure out some of the Latin, but others were flying over his head. Squinting to understand the tiny print, only brought back to reality when a female body slammed into the spot next to him, hand on his chin to pull it up.
Both parties froze at the contact.
The face of Princess Roux, eyes wide as she took him in.
Looking to where her hand was, then back to his face.
Momentary concern as she stared directly into him, leaving him entirely confused.
An approaching noise waking her up from whatever had caused her shock.
Clearing her throat as she began to speak.
"I'm going to laugh like you just told me the funniest story about your childhood."
He raised an eyebrow, her hand dropping.
"And you're then going to suggest we take a walk in the outside gardens."
"Of course."
There was a rule that no one in the castle was allowed to say 'no' to her.
"I'm – "
Before Elijah could actually say anything, she threw her head back with a perfected amount of grace, a song-like laugh playing through the courtyard, "Good lords, fantastique!"
The footsteps came to a stop, Tristan De Martel staring at them.
Elijah's eyes jumped to him, then back to the Princess.
No one was meant to say 'no' to her, but he didn't want to give Tristan any reason to dislike him.
"Marceline," Tristan bowed his head in greeting, "Elijah?"
Her lips twitched, definitely not having known his name before.
"I thought your afternoon was free today?"
"It was," She looked up at the man with adoring eyes, "Elijah and I hit it off over lunch."
Luckily, Elijah didn't react with anything other than a calm smile.
"And now he's going to accompany me on a walk through the outer gardens."
"Is he?"
"He was," Elijah answered carefully, "I assume there's nothing wrong with that?"
Tristan narrowed his eyes, "It is open to all of our guests."
"Perfect!" The Princess used the sweetest voice, tapping Elijah's arms excitedly, "They have the most beautiful peonies leading into the apple orchard."
She leaned in closer to him, a hand placed on his chest.
"You need to see them – but I don't think I can move until you finish telling me what happened to the bird you found – the one with the broken wing!"
"Ah yes," Elijah fought off a smile, "He'd crashed into the path through a nearby forest, wing bent in all the wrong directions."
"Tristan," She beamed at him, "Isn't it incredible that a man such as Elijah...so well clearly well trained..."
Her hand trailed down his chest, pressing through the clothes.
"...Yet so kind-hearted as to rescue a bird?"
Tristan poised himself carefully, "It is a pleasure such kind men exist."
"It really is," She shifted even closer to him, "Unneeded violence is the ugliest trait."
Silence.
"Are you going to stand there watching us?"
"I simply wished to make sure you were having a pleasant day – "
"I am."
"Then I will take my leave of you."
"You really should."
She waited until he was out of sight before finally releasing his shirt and returning to a normal distance away.
"Sorry," Her tone returned to normal, "You'd think a Count would have basic manners."
Elijah slowly closed his book, "Is he harassing you?"
"It is complicated," Marceline's hand waved, "Don't waste your thought on it."
Elijah opened his mouth.
Then it shut.
What was he meant to say to her?
Everyone seemed to know so much about who she was in every castle corridor, and his family played catch-up through Lucien. Who wasn't always available to answer questions and could only tell them so much...
He stood up and offered his arm, "The outer gardens?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"If you would rather be alone – "
"You want to escort me on a walk?"
"Why wouldn't I?" He tried for a smile, "A first-hand account of Persia is not an everyday occurrence."
She eyed him up suspiciously.
Elijah was careful with the pronunciation, "Maci Elia Ninee?"
"Maci Elia Ninee bint Khalaf," She lifted her chin high, standing up too, "What's it to you?"
He used his eyes to motion to the book, "I wish to be a scholar."
"How original," She half-mocked, "Something the people of this land need to realise? If they wish to truly learn, they need to travel. And I don't mean invade."
A word that brought a darker shade to her eyes.
"I mean observe and contribute, and appreciate."
"One day, I will try to do just that."
She really looked at him again, "How old are you?"
"Isn't there a rule against asking one's age?"
"You can't ask a woman's age," She corrected, "Unless you wish to take off your clothes and tell me something, you are not a woman."
"Do I not look like I could be one?"
She tilted her head, "Your sister is the blonde; new to the handmaidens?"
"Indeed."
She stepped back, tapping her chin, "You would be a wonderful woman. Already have the hair – "
Leaning closer to run her fingers through the ends of it.
"Though, it could do with a softening wash and a curling."
Finally, the Princess took his outstretched arm.
"However, the male gender losing such a beautiful face would be quite the tragedy."
"Would it?"
"I would be taken to my bed for days in mourning."
He let himself smile.
"That's my next excuse," She perked up, "For avoiding Tristan's offer of afternoon tea!"
"I am sure he would find it as amusing as you."
She hummed to herself in agreement.
"Should I call you Maci?" He felt how she tensed, "Sorry, princess – have I offended – "
"Call me anything," She played it off, "Everyone else does."
"I thought the rule was that everyone should give you what you wish?"
She smiled to herself.
"Should I assume you speak another language?"
"Many."
"And it means something in your native tongue?"
"Careful," She led them towards the castle exit, "Despite what this court may tell you, I am as much a French woman as I am a Persian."
"Which do you declare to be your home?"
"Depends on the weather," She nodded warmly to each servant they passed, "And what I'm feeling peckish for."
Her evasive answers weren't teaching him anything, "You did not seem all too impressed by my book."
"The science around these parts is incredibly out of date," She shrugged, "I've been paying visits to those still fighting through the winter diseases, but the nurses won't let me help."
"They cannot put a Princess at risk."
"Perhaps," She turned him down a corner that ended with massive arched doors, "The words you can't translate in that book are in my father's tongue."
He processed that.
"They know I could identify each disease if allowed to see it, then translate the relevant solutions. And yet?"
"Princess," Elijah couldn't help but enjoy how quickly two people rushed to open the exit for them when they saw who was approaching, "Your health is more important."
"Potential illness or the actual death of their people?" She turned her nose up, "I am one; they are many. Any ruler who picks the former over the latter is not fit to rule."
"We are only in the castle of a count," He reminded her, "Not a king."
She laughed, "If The Count heard you say that, he'd have your head."
"Anything to make the princess smile."
"Oh gods," Her eyes scrunched as they moved into the cold but sunny outside, "Enough with the formal title."
"You did not give me another name to use."
"Say whatever feels easiest."
"I do not wish to be easy," He stilled as she stepped away from him, her smile at the grass path leading to the apple orchard the only genuinely happy reaction he'd seen her have, "If easy could unintentionally offend."
"And if I off your head in irritation?"
"You think I am not genuinely interested in learning about your world?"
She turned to look back at him, "I'll strike you a deal."
He couldn't help but think she spoke the phrase a little too easily towards him after the constant fight she showed concerning everything else.
"I will tell you about my mother."
Not her homeland, but a start.
"If you tell me about yours."
"Mine?"
"You are a De Guise," She spoke their impersonated last name, "Defined by your father."
Yet Elijah couldn't help but feel like she knew she was talking to a Mikaelson.
"Tell me about the woman who shaped you into the person you are today."
"Why?"
"Because I believe a mother's influence has more power than anything else in this world."
He stepped closer to her at the top of the path, "You love your mother greatly?"
"I am protective of her," She offered her arm that time, "I wasn't joking when I complimented the peonies. And I intend to see them sometime today."
"Of course," He let his feet start moving again, "My thirst for information comes from quite a sheltered upbringing."
It wasn't so much sheltered but rather filled with education in topics irrelevant to assimilation.
"My father had certain priorities."
Viking ideals.
"My mother her own."
Raising them, loving them, magic practice focused on Kol.
"As embarrassed as I am to say, my lady," He knew his voice sounded sincere because, for the first time since they'd arrived, he wasn't lying, "I feel as though I am drowning."
In more than just bloodlust.
"...Seeing how detached they have left my siblings and I from the rest of the world. All of the architecture, and science, and...how we may never be able to enjoy it because of them."
A long breath out.
Elijah processed the words he hadn't let himself speak yet.
The panic that came from having followed the family vote and put their fate in the hands of Lucien.
"Maci," Her voice filled his sudden quiet, "Comes from Maccius."
Elijah left himself look at the softness of her features as she stared straight ahead, almost like she was trying not to acknowledge how his spiel had elicited an answer.
"As in the Roman name. Meaning 'gift from god,'" She spoke the phrase like it was ironic, "A French name my father picked because he wanted me to be aware of my roots."
Elijah blinked slowly.
"Maci Elia is my first name; Elia actually comes from Eliana, meaning 'god has answered me' – the same as yours."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Eliana and Elijah are mirrors of the same thing."
The universe had a sense of humour.
"Ninee...I don't know. Which is funny considering I quite like it."
"Is Marceline an equivalent?"
"My mother thought it was – failing to realise Maci was my father's way of giving me a name I wouldn't have to change each time I travelled."
He chuckled at the dry tone of voice, "Was she not there for the naming?"
"My mother's husband refused to let me be named."
Elijah stilled.
"I was born in France but returned to my father when I was five," She spoke the facts without any hint of emotion, "He then picked the name. When I finally returned to her kingdom, my mother used that as an excuse to give me one too."
He nodded slowly.
"They mean completely different things," Her posture was easing next to him, "But we can get to that some other time."
"Another time?"
"That was something about me," She laid it out, "Your turn."
Their unofficial deal.
"...And you should probably call me Marceline."
"Whatever you wish."
"It is what I'm meant to be known as when I'm here."
He could see the resentment in her eyes, but he was not sure what else to say, considering her alternate names seemed to cause a different but still unhappy type of fire in her eyes. At least, he wasn't sure what else to say yet.
"Now," Maci patted his arm, "Tell me about your mother."
"That was not about your mother."
"True," She restarted their walk, "Are siblings an easier topic?"
"Indeed."
2013
MJ had woken up, grateful that vampire healing removed what would've been a terrible hangover, only to see a pile of calls and texts. Pri and Cami had gotten taped proof a vampire was snatching people in some kind of triangle pattern, and Vincent had been called by Kinney, asking for her. Forcing her back to the police and to talk to the detective again.
"So," Kinney didn't pull her into a side room this time, greeting her at the ballpen, "Coffee?"
"Is it gonna be a long talk?"
"That depends."
MJ sighed, "Then coffee."
She was led through the mess of desks and file cabinets, Kinney pulling out mugs and reaching for the pot in the break room.
"We've found the person responsible for your death threats."
MJ didn't let herself react, "You have?"
"Yup," He didn't look happy as he poured, "Dead."
MJ let her eyes drop, swallowing to seem shocked.
"Levi Ajan."
Her head shot up in shock that they'd got the actual guy.
"DNA matching with some guy arrested in a few other states. Dead behind a shop in Elysian Field's Avenue."
MJ blinked slowly, "Um..."
"I take it you don't know him?"
Her heart picked up, trying to determine if it was a leading question.
"Miss Jung?"
"I met him once," She went for semi-honesty, "He came looking for herbal healing."
"Something a lot of people do with you," Kinney nodded in acceptance, "He needed more than what herbs could give him."
"He's dead?"
JEREMY HAD SET HIS BODY ON FIRE.
"You're safe," He offered her the coffee cup, "We found all sorts on him. Hotel room filled with nonsensical scribbling – "
MJ needed that scribbling.
"Clear obsession with you. And a few other people in your life."
"Okay..."
"We're still trying to fill in all the blanks. We might need to talk to you again if we find something that might explain his fixation on you beyond your site," He said the phrase teasingly, "But we have reason to believe he was having a psychotic episode."
Her conversation with Levi had honestly made him seem possessed.
"It could've been based on anyone depending on what he read to trigger it."
"I guess that's good?" She had to ask, "...His body?"
Kinney nodded.
"Um," Her eyes shut, performing, "Am I allowed to know...how...?"
"Don't think knowing will do you any good."
"He was trying to kill me – "
"If you wanna see it for peace of mind, we can do that," He looked conflicted, "We're not meant to, but – "
"Maybe," She couldn't seem too eager, "Uh, not...you know, now."
"Understood."
"So it's just over?"
"It was."
MJ hated *past tense.*
"Until a different body showed up," Kinney sipped his drink, "After we'd found his."
MJ curled her lips in.
"Leading me to believe Levi was using our murders to cover his tracks."
"That sounds reasonable," MJ knew stroking his ego would earn her points.
"We need you to sign some different documents now that case is technically not your case."
"Ah," MJ relaxed, "More non-disclosure stuff."
"Exactly," He motioned forward, triggering her to move, "All nice and simple."
"Should I be calling a lawyer?"
"If you feel the need," He lulled, "Someone leaked information to the press already."
MJ raised an eyebrow, "About?"
"Bodies being drained of blood. We didn't tell you that, so you're in clear."
"You must've hated that realisation."
Kinney handed the new document over, "I know I was harsh."
"You were cruel."
"I was doing my job."
"I thought the police's job was to protect us?"
Quiet.
"Yeah," MJ pulled a pen out of her bag, "Signing these? That doesn't mean I can't talk about my experience with the P.D. to any publication I want to."
Kinney straightened up.
"I mean," She was reading the document carefully, "You didn't break any laws with me, but I know you stole my friend's laptop."
Pri and Cami had caught her up on their run-in with Kinney.
"And non-illegal but still shitty actions help build a case for a pattern of behaviour."
Their eyes met, MJ signing while not breaking it.
She held the document back to him.
"Cami could report me at any time," Kinney took it slowly, "She's not. That says everything."
"It says she doesn't wanna be in a legal battle over a petty theft."
Beat.
"Especially when you're gonna wave the deaths of two people she loved in her face as justification for it. Forcing her to relive both events. Something a case would only elongate."
Kinney raised an eyebrow.
"We were both there when Kieran had his heart attack."
He looked slightly remorseful.
"Wasn't a good day."
"Why don't you focus on easing up on how you phrase your site," He suggested, speaking like the half-diss was a white flag, "And I'll focus on my job."
MJ forced a smile but nodded.
"If we find anything else on Levi that concerns you, we will let you know."
"I'd hope so," She put the half-drank coffee down, "Have a good day."
Walking out, MJ felt her first step trigger a slight flickering of the lights, breathing in slowly to calm down. It was just the vampirism. Making her quicker to fight. Quicker to snap. To ignore the good things around her – the smell of coffee comforting and refreshing, once again part of her regular life, rather than prison world dirt across her tongue.
Fresh air hit her skin.
Pri and Cami waiting for her outside the precinct?
MJ felt slightly lighter at the sight of them, "Hello?"
"They tell you about the recent kill?" Pri was grinning.
"Briefly," MJ kept walking to get them away from the precinct, "They called me in to tell me the Levi case was closed."
"The new body was found in Lafayette Park," Cami's look was pointed, "Killed outside of the tattoo shop we predicted."
"My laundry guy got footage of a blur jumping someone into the night," Pri waved her phone, "Footage right here."
"You can see Lucien?"
"We can see a blur," Cami clarified, "The identity of the human we can see features of match the info Vincent could get off Kinney."
"Which means this is still connected to me," MJ groaned, "Which means more dealing with police."
"Aren't multiple of your old friends in the police?" Cami pointed out.
"Beni quit. Tyler didn't make it through training. Which just leaves Matt," MJ pushed up on her feet as they walked, eyes jumping around, "I don't know the victims. Why kill people in places I frequent?"
"To scare you?" Cami reasoned.
"To run into you," Pri countered, "Right?"
MJ felt eyes on her again.
"If this is some witch thing," Pri continued, "And the murders are gonna be like stacked triangles across the city, we have our two next spots worked out."
"Vincent says the police are tracing phone locations, so Kinney will know we've been to the murder spot," Cami realised, "He's gonna think we know something."
"Which is why we create as many plans as possible pre-him tracing the phone and coming to find us again."
"I can make you a list," MJ was stilling, scanning faces, "If it is places I like?"
It just sucked.
"I can't believe this."
Her eyes met a pair of sharp ones staring right back.
For once, hairs standing up was not a sign of some ghostly observer.
Lucien, offering her a charming smile.
"I don't care if people come for me," She spoke out slightly, "But don't fuck with my places."
Her phone coming out.
"You two go start predicting spots."
Cami's expression softened, "You okay?"
"Yeah."
"MJ."
"No big sister mode needed," She assured her, "If I let crime scenes tell me where I can and can't feel safe, I'd be screwed."
She could never go back to New York.
Or The Mystic Grill.
Or Ric's old apartment.
"That's why it feels so petty," She explained, "It won't stop me from going places. It just means fingers will get pointed at me. Tribute spots started to make me think about death."
"We'll cover your bases," Pri assured her, "You make your list to give us some guide rather than running around to every potential triangle point."
"Update me later?"
"Will do," She smiled at Cami, "Away we go."
Cami half-laughed at the enthusiasm.
Leaving MJ in the street.
A road over from the police, back to staring at Lucien. He held up a shopping bag, motioning to the door he'd exited out of. Holding her gaze as she unlocked her phone, texting Kol about the police update and his presence.
"You coming to say hello?"
A rush of wind, and he was in front of her, "Hello."
"Fancy seeing you here."
"I do live here now," He offered her the bag, "It was meant to be a gift."
She raised an eyebrow taking it, "Okay?"
"Would hate to have made a bad first impression on MiMi Pasare."
"I prefer MJ."
"Fancy a walk?"
"With you?"
"I'm new to the area," He reasoned, "And don't you think it would be nice to get to know each other away from the Mikaelson noise?"
~***~
In the centre of a beautiful large stone room, a group of women were kneeling around a shallow pool. Glistening blue water, deep enough for someone to lie in. A slight build-up to outline it in the room. Like a fish pond, yet no life swimming inside it – just a man, lying in the centre, face towards the ceiling as the cloaked faces chanted around it.
"Nvasdi Nvgiddgia Hashi."
A woman stood, watching them.
Smooth dark skin, beautifully chiselled features, watchful eyes ready and waiting.
Pinned on how the man's irises turned to gold in the daylight.
"Lan Lalin Pou Sakrifis."
His mouth opened, body beginning to thrash, but unable to swim. Or move. Or stand – water hardly deep enough to drown.
But was drowning really about depth?
Or about the force holding you there.
"Nouvo Bagay Yon Li Fe."
His shoulders snapped back like he was nothing but a marionette being pulled together by an untrained and anger-controlled puppeteer. Not the witches. The women sitting – saying the spell. Not the words that seemed to bring coolness into the air and a soulful tune as that breeze bounced off each surface.
"Vuka Iskoristi, Marcam Anima."
Arms twisting.
Popping out of place.
Ripping from their sockets, but not just in the way one might get injured through labour, but skin pulling itself apart as the man could do nothing but scream in agony and beg for them to stop.
"Sakre Ki Sa Pran."
But there was no stopping.
There was just a quiet as the spell locked in, witches standing up to step back and watch in disappointment.
Gold only grew stronger as it fought to keep him alive. Sputtering mouth sinking lower and lower, water flooding over each craves of his face like a pothole it needed to fill in a floor taking out the city. The sharpened teeth of a wolf, almost like a vampire, roaring through the entire estate, only causing the woman in charge of them to sigh too.
"Nvasdi Nvgiddgia Hashi."
A sole witch daring to mutter another line.
"Lan Lalin Pou Sakrifis."
Seeing if that would make the difference.
"Nouvo Bagay Yon Li Fe."
It didn't.
"Vuka Iskoristi, Marcam Anima."
Glow snapping away.
Body losing its fight.
Sinking like a rock tossed by a child without the skill to skim.
"Sakre Ki Sa Pran."
"We'll find you another," The woman spoke, accent enticing, "He lasted longer than the last one, so we are making progress."
The cloaked coven simply nodded at her.
"Whoever figures this out for me will be free of their debt," She reminded them, "But we do have a time limit here..."
~***~
"That was just unnecessary," Kol huffed, pushing his glass away from him, "I was enjoying that!"
"I am still not hearing specific details about this stranger we are meant to be trusting," Elijah tried to keep them on topic, "How did she and Maci meet?"
"I assumed through MJ," Freya settled into her spot.
Kol turned his nose up, "Ask Pri yourself."
"Kol," Elijah scolded, "Is now the time to be difficult."
"When Klaus stops ruining my meals, I'll stop ruining your day."
Elijah's head dropped back in annoyance, longing for peace.
"I don't know the specifics," He caved, "Pri's brother was turned through a series of unfortunate events. Maci's blood was involved. He went a bit rogue."
Mock hissing.
"Bit of a ripper."
Klaus finally looked intrigued by something to do with Pri.
"MJ found Maci to ask for help. The brother turned his humanity off. Maci asked for Pri to be brought in to turn it back on. She became a staple in their lives following that."
A beep on his phone, pulling it out of his pocket – expression dropping.
"What?" Klaus could assume it was to do with MJ.
"Lucien was waiting for MJ outside the police station."
"Mira was at the police station this morning?" Elijah had assumed work.
"They were closing her case," He watched another text come in, "Lucien wants a walk with her 'without Mikaelson noise.'"
He pushed up, grabbing a jacket from a chair.
"Not happening."
Klaus appeared in his path, "Slow."
"No," Kol put it simply, "No votes this time. I'm killing him."
"Or," Klaus looked over Kol's shoulder to Elijah's watching face, "You wish to vet Lucien's witch?"
Elijah straightened up, "What better time than when we know he is occupied."
Kol grimaced.
"You claim to know Floare better than us," Elijah reminded him, "You accompany me to his apartment to see if she is still there. Access if she happens to be one too."
"If he has gone straight to Mira, he wants something."
"Most likely," Klaus agreed, "But unless you think she can be played for a fool, she will be fine."
"I don't think that," He scoffed, "I think I don't want her alone with him while we don't know what he truly wants."
"Information," Elijah guessed, "He seems enamoured by what she represents to the world outside of us."
Kol bit his cheek.
He trusted MJ to keep her wits up. Lucien didn't mean anything to her, so he had no reason to believe she'd slip up, but he didn't like Lucien. And he didn't like the idea of her alone with him.
"Unless you wish to trust Elijah to assess a potential prophet accurately," Klaus reminded him, "Since my dissection of her clearly isn't enough."
"Fine."
The coat was dumped back down.
"But if anything happens to her," He looked at Klaus, "If Lucien snatches her up out of some creepy collector habit he's developed – "
"I will track her location," Freya reasoned, "Her belongings are upstairs."
"And I will watch from afar," Klaus enjoyed how Kol didn't like that plan either.