A/N: Skipped December oops! But I am trying to be better promise!
~Klaus POV~
"So Grace was telling the truth?" Hayley asked Klaus.
"Yes."
"You're Fiore?"
"Guilty!" Fiore replied with a shrug.
"Grace's mom who made us all forget who she was to take down a demon sister?"
"Great, so you've got it," said Fiore, but Hayley was still reeling.
"I am trying not to freak out right now, but this is the craziest thing to happen in this household and we've had a resurrected miracle baby," Hayley said with a shake of her head.
"Well look what you've done with the place! A definite upgrade from the one I'm used to."
They all turned to see yet another Fiore, walking in with Grace at her side. Before she could see the recently returned Fiore, Klaus grabbed his daughter and in seconds had her in her room.
"Uhhh, hello to you too, Dad."
"What are you doing here?" Klaus asked, even as his mind ran rampant with thoughts of the second Fiore.
"Well I went back to school, ready to wait for you to find Mom but then I found her—well a version of her from another timeline—and she convinced me to come back," she explained. "She thinks Mom will come back here too. And any other Fiores walking around."
"Hm."
"So judging by the fact you're trying to lock me in my room, you didn't find her."
"I found her."
"So she's here?" Klaus didn't answer. "Figures."
"I want to have answers for you," he said with a sigh. "But it's not that simple."
"When is it ever?" Asked his daughter as she crossed her arms in frustration.
"I promise, I will give you an explanation as soon as I can. In the meantime..." Klaus pulled out a few letters from Fiore's journal that he had deemed child appropriate. "I hope these can put some things into context."
"I don't get it. What is this?" She asked.
"My relationship with your mother has always been complicated to say the least, so I'm used to dealing with conflicting emotions with her. But it has always been quite simple for you two, I can only imagine how pained you feel," he said with sympathetic eyes. "Hopefully these can help you make some sense of them."
"Dad, I—" Grace didn't finish her sentence and instead embraced her father in an all-consuming hug. "Thank you."
"Anything for you," he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before pulling away with a manic smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have a couple pressing issues to attend to."
"So when can this princess leave her tower?"
"Once this king has a little more clarity on the queen."
And with that, Klaus returned to the courtyard where the two Fiores were carefully examining each other. Grace's Fiore seemed to be excited by the meeting whilst his seemed more annoyed than anything. The others remained completely bewildered by the turn of events.
"Now Fiore 2, I understand you chose motherhood but do you have to dress so...matronly?" Grace's Fiore asked.
"It's called evolution." His replied. "And for your information, I am no Fiore 2."
"Would you prefer Boring Fiore? Whipped Fiore? Because I think it's clear to everyone involved, I am Fiore 1."
"How about I show you just who—"
"No!" Klaus positioned himself in between the Fiores, certain that a battle between the two would be nothing short of catastrophic. "I am sure you are both strong, no need for any displays."
"Fine." His Fiore said. "I'll accept Fiore 2. Perhaps this will teach Fiore 1 some manners. Maybe she'll even turn away from her petulant ways."
"I'm not in the habit of taking lessons from my lessers." Fiore 1 replied with a smirk before turning her attention to him. "Speaking of, hello Klaus Mikaelson."
"Fiore 1, nice to meet you." Klaus managed to say even as her eyes raked over every inch of his body with undisguised lust.
"I bet..." She ran her hand across his cheek, travelling down his neck and taking care to relish the feel of his chest beneath her fingers. "I always wondered if you tasted as good as you look, apparently my timeline counterparts would confirm that."
Klaus knew he barely handled having one Fiore but the thought of two was—
"Hey!" Freya said, drawing the attention back to the many others present. "We're still here."
"You are more than welcome to join too pregnant Freya." Fiore 1 said before examining the others. "In fact, I wouldn't be opposed to any of you."
"Well as thrilling as an orgy with my brothers sound, I'm more interested in dealing with your demon sister."
"Pity." Fiore 1 said with a shrug. "Though I'm not sure how you plan to deal with Anastasia. She kept your Fiore under lock and key for two years."
"I suppose you would have fared better." Fiore 2 said with a roll of her eyes.
"With ease. Anastasia and I get along quite well." Fiore replied. "I'm quite curious about why she doesn't like you."
All eyes turned to Fiore 2 who looked at them with incredulity, "Because of you lot! Obviously."
"That is true, she didn't particularly enjoy the Mikaelsons in my timeline either." Fiore 1 added.
"You know Anastasia quite well, yes?" Elijah asked of Fiore 1.
"Well of course, we're sisters."
"So how do we kill her?"
"Oh, impossible." Fiore 1 told them. "Anastasia is the embodiment of time, practically a God. To kill Anastasia would be to end the universe. All of them."
"There is always a way," Klaus said, refusing to give up.
"Anastasia has access to every timeline in existence since the dawn of time." Fiore 1 added. "Even if there was, she has no doubt destroyed it. She has been working towards The Convergence for longer than you or I could comprehend. If she intends for it to take place, it will."
"But—"
"Klaus, you had planned the breaking of your curse for over a thousand years. You had thought of every possible scenario and knew how to overcome them. Could anything have stopped you?"
"...No."
"Now imagine if you had millions of eternities." Fiore 1 told them. "This is who you are up against. There is no defeating Anastasia, only dealing with the fallout."
"That isn't exactly true." Elijah interjected. "Klaus had other chances to break his curse, but didn't."
"And what stopped him?" Hayley asked.
Klaus turned to Fiore 2 with a wistful gaze as he thought of his past with Fiore, "Love."
"Boring." Fiore 1 said with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, I have never known Anastasia to be in love. Though I suppose there was—"
Fiore 1 suddenly began to choke, and Klaus noted the red blood that was pouring from her chest. She collapsed to the ground and behind her stood yet another Fiore with her heart in her hand.
"Where is my daughter?"
**********************************************************************************
Now with two Fiore's claiming to be his, the Mikaelsons were in panic mode. Both had been tied up and separated as the latest iteration had a murderous streak.
"What do we do?" Hayley asked. "One of them is Grace's mom and the other one wants to kill us."
"Freya, can you do a spell to tell them apart?" Klaus asked.
"It wouldn't work." Freya said with a shake of her head. "I only know a spell that could out someone pretending to be her. But since they're both Fiore..."
"The spell couldn't tell them apart." Elijah murmured with a sigh.
"So now what? We just guess?" Hayley huffed.
"If that's what we're doing then I'm gonna say I think Fiore 2 is ours." Freya said. "Fiore 3 immediately killed her counterpart. Not exactly the most trustworthy move."
"I'd argue the opposite," said Elijah. "Fiore 3 knows the other Fiores are a danger to us. Fiore 2 on the other hand didn't seem bothered by Fiore 1 whatsoever."
"Look, we cannot just guess which one of them is Fiore." Hayley told them. "Bad enough it's life and death but Grace would be losing the mother she only just got back. We need to be sure. Klaus, she's your wife and you're the only one who remembers her. So the decision has to be yours. Which one is she Klaus?"
Klaus couldn't help but think back to when Lara had placed Odessa in his home and how he immediately knew something was off. Yet here he was in the same position and Klaus had no idea who was the woman he had spent a thousand years loving and who was a spy here to assassinate his family.
"I...I...I need to see them again."
He headed to the doors when Freya blocked his way. "Wait."
"What is it?"
"You might be in love with one of those women, but both of them are dangerous," Freya began. "Do not let emotion cloud your judgment, especially when it could cost you your life."
"Fiore would never hurt me."
"She spent years in captivity," Freya refuted. "Take it from me, you have no idea who she is now, what she'll do—you don't even know what side she's on."
"She loves us." Klaus insisted.
"I loved you." Freya said with a shrug. "But I loved freedom more. Remember that."
And with the fear of Fiore instilled in him, Klaus walked into the study where Fiore 3 was tied up. They had put her in the magic cancelling manacles but she was still restless. Her head hung low, and she didn't bother to look at him once he entered. She knew he was there, her twitches were rampant in his presence, but she made no effort to engage. Still, he pulled out a chair and sat opposite her, glancing at her red hand.
"That was quite an entrance," he began. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised the only one powerful enough to kill you, is you."
Still nothing.
"Fiore, if you really are my Fiore, my Blossom, then I need something from you." He pleaded. "Show me you are who you say you are, and I will take these shackles off myself, I promise."
Slowly, Fiore 3 lifted her head up and Klaus could see the intense purple lights crackling in her eyes.
"Klaus, if you do not release me in the next five seconds, this courtyard will run red with the blood of anyone standing in my way."
He was filled with terror as Freya's warning ran through his mind. His worry only climbed as Fiore 3 began to scream and thrash in her chair and Klaus prayed the chains would be enough to restrain her.
It was clear Fiore 3 wasn't going to say anything else and so Klaus decided to turn his sights to Fiore 2. She had been set up in the study next door and unlike Fiore 3 was a lot more resigned to her situation. When Klaus entered, she breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a warm smile.
"Does this mean you've come to your senses and are finally going to release me?" Fiore 2 asked.
"Not exactly." Klaus said with a shake of his head. "I'm here to see if you are who you say you are."
"Klaus, you can't be serious."
"Fiore—"
"She murdered the other Fiore in cold blood! How can this still be up for debate?" She asked in disbelief.
"I think as Fiore yourself, you know you are capable of much worse." Klaus reminded her.
"So this is what I get for dedicating a thousand years to you." She said with a shake of her head. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given your track record."
"She says, after returning from forcibly erasing that eternity from my mind."
"Fine," she huffed. "What will it take to prove that I am your Fiore? Because frankly, I grow weary of these chains."
"Tell me something only you would know. Something only we would know."
Fiore 2 seemed to wrack her mind in search of a memory that might prove her innocence to him. It was only a few moments before her lips turned up into a warm smile.
"1858, when we first met Mr Johnston," Fiore 2 began, causing Klaus' stomach to churn with disgust. "For the first and only time. You killed him for me because I was scared. You said, 'anything that scares you, I must destroy.' And destroy him you did."
Klaus peered into Fiore 2's eyes for any sign of mislead or lies but Fiore 2's held his stare for as long as it lasted.
"I hope I've proved my innocence now." She said.
Klaus got to his feet, without a word only for Fiore 2 to leave him with a dire warning, "Klaus, that woman is going to kill me, your family, our daughter, if you make the wrong choice here. Don't let her."
Klaus returned to the foyer where his siblings were waiting his arrival with bated breath. He took a deep breath as his heart was heavy with the consequences of making the wrong choice.
"So?" Hayley asked. "Who is it?"
"I...I think it's..."
"Spit it out Klaus." Freya urged. "The longer evil Fiore is here, the longer we risk our life."
"It's Fiore—"
But Klaus would never finish his sentence as the sound of the wall crumbling drew their attention. The four of them raced to the study, only to find Fiore 3 had broken her chains and forced her way into Fiore 2's study. Before they would even have a chance to act, Fiore 3 had ripped Fiore 2's head clean from her body.
"Please tell me you were going to say Fiore 3," said Freya as Fiore 3 turned to glare at them.
"Before you suffer her same fate," Fiore 3 began, "get out of my way."
Even though Grace had fully intended to obey her father's rules, the sound of walls falling had been too much to ignore.
"Dad is everything okay?" She asked, turning all eyes to her.
"Grace."
The young Mikaelson stilled at the familiar voice she had longed to hear. She hesitantly turned to see an admittedly gruesome sight of her mother, covered in blood and gore. But Fiore's eyes shone with pride and in seconds, she had wrapped her daughter in a bone crushing embrace.
"Mom, is this...is this really you?"
"Yeah baby, it's me." Fiore replied as she ran her hand down her daughter's back. "It's really me."
A/N: Fiore 1 and 2 and 3 Oh My!
Except 2 out of 3 are supposedly dead and Fiore 3 doesn't seem to be in the best mood.
Hope you guys enjoyed this, sorry for the skipped month but i am back to writing fairly frequently and most importantly, I'm once again ahead of the release schedule, whoop whoop!
Until next time, love you as always! X