"Elijah, Elena, Esmeralda? What are you doing here? What happened?" Carol Lockwood asks as she opens the door to see her unexpected guests.
"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help." Elijah states politely
"Well, I'm on my way to a meeting, so I-"
Elijah looks into her eyes as he compels her. "It won't take but a minute of your time."
"Of course. Anything you need." Carol says like a good hostess as she steps aside to let them in.
"Thank you." Elijah says, as he enters behind the two girls. "Well, first things first. I'm going to need a change of clothing." Elijah's suit was burnt and worn out due to Damon's multiple attempts in killing him.
"Well, we can try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet." She suggests sadly at the mention of her dead husband.
"Wonderful." Carol leaves to go fetch some of her husband's old clothes.
"How did you know she's not on vervain?"
"Cause I'm the one who got her off it. Right before you and your friends killed me. Twice." Elijah shades Elena. "If you'll excuse me. I'll be down in a moment." He goes upstairs to change.
"Well, I'm going to go get something to eat." Esmeralda says out of the blue as she heads off to the kitchen.
"Wait!-" She could hear the annoying sound of Elena's voice following. "Esmeralda, why do you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate people. It creates wrinkles and headaches. I simply detest or dislike certain individuals." She answered as she opened the Lockwood's fridge.
"Okay...why do you detest or dislike me? Is it because you're jealous of Damon and I's relationship? Trust me, it's strictly friendly even if I have to remind him of that every d-" Esmeralda let's out a loud groan as she closes the fridge and faces Elena.
"That's why I don't like you! You doppelgängers, all of you, are so full of yourself. Plus, you're all incredibly annoying and pesky, and you always find a way to mess things up."
"Stop grouping me with Katherine. Just because we're both doppelgängers doesn't mean we're the same!"
"No, no, you're right. Katherine was far more likable."
England 1492
Inside a mansion, a party is underway. The room is filled with guests talking to each other as music softly plays in the background.
In the far corner of the room, a group of men were huddled around a woman with eyes of a siren, hoping they might be able to get in a word or two with the enchantress. But only one man was able to...
"Lady Esmeralda, may I have a word? In private..." Esmeralda turned around to face the familiar boy. She raises her hand and waves the group of men off so that she can speak privately with the boy.
"Good evening, Trevor. I am pleased you could join us." She walked closer to him so she'd be able to whisper something in his ear. "I wasn't sure you'd be able to walk after our last encounter..."
Trevor lets out a nervous laugh as he looks down at the temptress. "I could not miss the birthday celebration."
"Hmm, have you brought a gift?"
"I have... it is such an amazing present that it'll even impress your Klaus. So much so that he'll maybe even let us be together..." Trevor's eyes lit up with hopeful love.
Esmeralda hid her displeaser with ease as she smiled at the lovesick fool. She had no intentions of ever tying herself down to one man. And even if she did, Trevor would not be that man. She considered him weak, and she did not like weak men.
"Really? Tell me, Trev, what is this amazing present?"
"She's right this way." Trevor motions for her to follow. Esmeralda follows him but is largely confused at what he meant by she? Did he buy her brother a prostitute?
They walk all the way over to a brunette girl who was already talking with Elijah.
"My dear." Trevor touches her shoulder, and she turns around. My eyes widen as I see her. Tatia?
"Hello."
"Katerina, this is my dear sister, Esmeralda. Esmeralda...Katerina." Elijah introduced as he smirked at the shocked look on his sister's face. He had reacted the same way.
"A pleasure to meet you, Katerina."
"That was the first time you met Katherine?"
"Yes."
"We were both in quite a shock when we saw her, no?" Elijah's voice rang out as he entered the kitchen with his now clean suit. "Let's take this conversation to the living room, shall we."
"So I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us." Elijah asks as he sits down.
"No. I'm sorry."
"And Katerina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."
"Klaus took her. We think that she may be dead."
"I doubt that. Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did." Esmeralda chimes in.
"I don't understand. You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still make Katherine pay for betraying him."
"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time... Esmeralda and I'd have done anything for Klaus."
England 1492
"So where is this mysterious host I've heard so much about?"
"Fashionably late. " Elijah says with an eye roll.
"He likes to make an entrance." Esmeralda explains to Katerina.
"Here he is." Elijah points out in the crowd, finally spotting Klaus. "Katerina, may I introduce to you the lord Niklaus."
She curtsies to Klaus. Klaus takes and kisses her hand, with a devilish smirk on his face.
"Niklaus is the name my father gave me. Please. Call me Klaus." He smiles at her. "From where have you come, Katerina?"
"I'm new to town, my lord." Esmeralda looks at Klaus smiling.
"Katerina is from Bulgaria." Esme informs.
"Zdravei, Katerina." Klaus speaks in Bulgarian. Katerina laughs in delight at the unexpected use of her mother tongue.
"Very good."
Klaus looks over at Elijah and Esmeralda. "Do you mind, brother? I would like to have a moment alone with her." Klaus asks.
"No, not at all." Elijah says as he hooked his arm with his sisters. Esmeralda kisses his cheek before leaving him alone with Katerina as they passed by. "Happy Birthday, brother."
"Yes. Klaus is our brother."
"I heard that. I'm still processing."
"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is "O.M.G." Esmeralda laughs at her brothers antics. And seeing Elena's shocked face was also a bonus.
"Look at you, grandpa, up with the times." Esmeralda mocks Elijah.
"There's a whole family of Originals?" Elena asks, surprised.
"My father was a-" Elijah started to explain but was interrupted by Esmeralda coughing out a word.
"Dick."
"- a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe." Elijah continued ignoring Esmeralda's snide comment. "Our mother bore seven children."
"So your parents were human?"
"Our whole family was. Our origin as vampires is a very long story, Elena. Just know that we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us, all vampires were created."
"I like how you phrased that...it sounds so biblical."
"Right, but Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead?"
"I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad... dead. Come." Elijah stands up, giving his hand to help his sister up as they walk out the room with Elena following behind.
They now strolled through the grounds of the Lockwood Mansion. Esmeralda slightly leaned into her brother as she lay her head on his shoulder, taking in the sun as they walked. The normal moments like these were what Esmeralda decided to keep locked in her mind. The moment where they actually acted like a family.
"So, as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."
"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from."
"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance.
"So the Sun can't kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?" Esmeralda can't help but laugh at the somewhat of an inside joke.
"And why do you always laugh when we mention it? Is the answer obvious or something?"
"The curse of the sun and the moon. It's all so...biblical-sounding, don't you think?" Elijah smiles as he holds in a laugh, watching his sister.
"What's so funny?"
"We made them. Every single Aztec or whatever sketch about the curse. The curse you're so interested in was written by these fine hands."
"I don't understand. So Klaus or you guys drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?"
"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting in it."
"But why?"
"The easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long, lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout."
"So it's not Aztec at all?" Esmeralda laughs at her idiocy.
"That's all you could gather from what we just said? Really?" She mocked Elena as she walked over to her, patting her head like a dog. "Good job Elena, do you want a treat?-"
"-The curse of the Sun and the Moon... is fake. It doesn't exist." Elijah informs, cutting Esmeralda off.
"What?!"
"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years."
"But if there's no curse -"
"There's a curse. Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus."
"What are you talking about?"
"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. And you are his only hope." Elena's phone starts vibrating in her pocket.
"What is this curse?" Elena ignored her phones as it kept on buzzing.
"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing. Answer it, please." Elijah commands irritated.
Elena nods and grabs her phone, answering it.
"Stefan...what's wrong? No. No, no, no, no. Okay, I'll be right there." She hangs up and looks at Elijah.
"Klaus went after Jenna. I have to go to her."
"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement."
"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word."
"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it."
"Thank you." She runs to her car as Elijah stares at her nostalgicly.
"I don't understand why you bother with her. She's useless."
"I believe her to be a kind soul. I would like to make all this unpleasantness as easy as possible for her. "