https://i.gifer.com/E3ih.gif.
I threw up after Marcel revealed our deadline, blaming the reaction on my recent pregnancy nausea that had followed me through the last couple of weeks. My brain refuses to admit my nerves on meeting with the witches and failing in charming or convincing them to follow along with my plans. I think Klaus saw through my fear, though I was grateful when he didn't say anything about it. He just held onto me, soothing me through the cramps in my stomach and playing the part of my lifeline.
"I'm not leaving your side," he argued when Marcel tried to usher me into his car and take me to my 'appointment'.
My refusal almost hurt to say. The need to have him close by after such a wonderful night, after admitting our feelings for one another, was strong. I didn't want to be separated from him, yet I knew the witches couldn't be trusted and if they wanted privacy then I'd be an idiot to refuse them. I cared about too many people to risk playing with fire right now.
"They might let you wait outside the cemetery," I tried to placate him, Marcel's rigid nod confirming they only specified me being alone inside the sacred grounds. "But I need to face them alone, Nik. I need their trust."
He took in my pleading expression, grip on my waist tightening before his spare hand stroked my cheek. "Promise me you'll call out to me if you need help."
"Klaus—"
"Promise me."
My nod was shaky at best, the lie tasting sour on my tongue, "I promise..."
The atmosphere of the looming cemetery was suffocating, fog clinging to the approaching path as my grip tightened on Klaus' hand. Our car slowed to a crawl, a familiar witch standing at the entrance gate to my meeting and setting off a new bundle of concern to flutter around my stomach.
"This is as far as we can go," Marcel glanced back at us, worry marring his face.
"Thanks," I reached forward to squeeze his shoulder, halted in leaving when Nik's touch refused to pull away. I cupped his hold, "I'll be fine, Klaus."
"You can't be certain of that."
"No, I can't," I admitted on an exhale. "But I can be certain of how much I have to lose if I allow them to push me around. So, I'm gonna negotiate the best deal I possibly can in there, and if for one second I think mine or our babies life is at risk then I will show no mercy." His eyes widened with wonder at seeing a glimpse of the beast beneath my skin again, "And I don't expect you to show them any either."
His lips twitched upward with the threat of a smirk, a millennium of bloodlust flooding his bones. "This city will rain blood if they dare cross you," a sick and twisted calm filled me with his vow.
In the past, bloodshed and guilt had been a constant in the back of my thoughts.
Whether I was hyper focused on the lives I'd failed to save, or deceptions I'd have to carry out to kill who I deemed to be the 'right' people to fulfill the plot. Killing for the sake of it was never something I advocated, and besides the vampire that turned Elena, I never took a sick thrill in any of my victims. Even the man that triggered my werewolf curse didn't offer me any satisfaction, his death causing more inconvenience than elation.
But this, the thought of slaughtering a whole town of supernaturals for simply crossing me...it worried me how okay I was with that...
Sophie nodded at my lone approach, silently leading me through the maze that was the Lafayette cemetery before we finally approached a lantern lit group of men and women. The main focus of my attention is assessing me with narrowed eyes. "So this is the world jumper that thinks she can change everything(?)"
I had to project confidence. Any weaknesses would give them the opportunity to overwhelm me and I couldn't risk them seeing me as anything but strong and sure. I needed to be reliable, at least until I proved myself. So, I took a step forward and pulled back my shoulders, "With the right allies, I hope to."
Josephine LaRue raised an amused brow, "Interesting. Sophie informed me you requested a private talk with me regarding some factions you're hoping to set up in town?"
"Yes," I offered her a sharp nod. "I've convinced Davina to come out of hiding and allow you to complete the Harvest so you don't lose your power and home. In return, she wants you to hear me out about my plan for a more equal and peace-filled New Orleans. She hopes you'll help me create a better space to practice magic safely, rather than feeding into the warzone it breaks down into with every new power play."
"Then please," she motioned to the crypt behind her, "There's no time to waste."
Eyes burned into me, my legs pushing me to take the lead in entering. I ignored the chill that raced down my spine when the door sealed us in, a lit bowl in the room's center encouraging me to raise my own questioning brow. "A silencing spell?"
"The Ancestors love their privacy," her shrug was almost bored. "They also want to know why you wanted to communicate with them through me, and not Agnes."
"I understand the respect she holds as an Elder of your community, but I don't trust her." My hand found my stomach automatically, "In my world, I saw how your ancestors fueled her drive to kill Klaus Mikaelsons baby for self preservation. They saw it as a threat to all witches and I don't know if that's already started while I've been busy trying to fix the smaller things in my control."
"You believe me to be an unbiased party?"
"I believe that as acting Reagent, you want what's best for the witch community as a whole rather than the concerns of the minority. I have knowledge that could keep this city safe and magical and thriving for centuries if I can gain any amount of your ancestors' trust, which I understand won't be easy. But I promise; my main goal for this alliance is to create a space where your community can practice magic without the fear of dying at the hands of Marcel's barbaric humiliation." I tugged on my earlobe before I could stop myself, "And I know the only way I can encourage their trust is if I show them through you the danger of refusing me."
A smile teased her lips, "You wish to negotiate with them."
"I want us to help each other," I shrugged. "I've been having dreams for a little over a month, dreams of a future plot for your world that I wasn't able to see when I was in my world. If you can confirm they're real, then you can confirm the actual roadblocks to your peace that aren't my daughter or my family."
"Daughter?"
"Uh," my throat tightened with the word. "Klaus had a daughter on the show. I d-don't know if I will too but--uh."
"If you don't then that'll be another change, and if there's too many differences from your memory then you don't know if you'll be able to fix everything."
My shoulders sagged, "Yeah..."
"Yes, the ancestors said you were quite obsessed with perfecting things. A lot of witches on the other side are concerned about that."
"Concerned? What do you mean, why would the ancestors be concerned?"
"Not the ancestors. From what I hear from them they're rather doubtful, though a lot of the older ones are willing to consider you seeing as they have access to quite a lot of knowledge on the other side; It seems you have quite the campaigner over there fighting your corner."
My heart thumped harder with the thought of Gloria trying to help me from beyond the grave, hope warming me, "So, you'll hear me out?"
"Thankfully, for you, those older witches are very respected on the other side, and have placated the remaining ancestors enough for you to offer evidence of your vision. So..." She extended her hands to me, my gulp of hesitance pushed down, I gripped onto her before I could doubt myself--
My mind burned. Vague memories of dreams that had plagued me for weeks highlighted and dissected in a flash of orange behind my eyes, my actual memories of the episodes I managed to stick around for crashing through my subconscious and drowning my brain. My lungs were stuttering, skin sweating, and my throat itching. It was only when I felt Josephine's hands move did I realize I'd been screaming, gaze focused and grip shifting to hold the aging witch by the throat.
I snarled at her intrigued expression. "You certainly are ambitious," choked past her lips.
I sucked in stinging breaths, using all of my remaining strength to pull away and stumble back, the wall catching me before I could fall. "Warn a girl next time, I could've killed you."
She massaged her throat, but besides that small action she didn't look too bothered by my attack. "I needed to take you by surprise to lessen the risk of your 'persona' sealing up or tampering with any of your thoughts, we still aren't fully clear on its capabilities."
Her words only added evidence to Gloria being my support with the New Orleans witch ancestors, "You knew about that?"
"Don't fret," she waved the matter off. "The ancestors clarified that they wanted to keep that information between myself and them until they decided what to do with you, no-one else in the community has been informed"
The wording didn't fill me with any confidence, "And?" I was finally able to blink away my warrior, sighing in relief when the world returned to its normal haze. "What's their verdict?"
She closed her eyes, considering the information I just blasted into her skull... "It seems these visions are being projected from your world." My brows met my hairline with the confirmation, "Your baby will grow up to be an immensely powerful creature, and it seems this power is trickling into your veins as you incubate them--it's somehow strengthening your connection with your old world and allowing you to see flashes of things relating to your current universe. Ergo; they've turned you into a temporary seer." This feels like a weird full circle moment considering that was one of the first lies I used to cement my place in this world... She opened her eyes with a smile, "Now, because of your child's potential and the purity in your willingness to aid us, the ancestors agree on you being a good ally to keep. However, they wish for more compensation if you're only willing to offer them a quarter of the city they fill the cracks of."
"I have two..." I frowned while trying to think of the right descriptor, "Offers?"
The old witch chuckled, "Are these 'offers' also requests?"
"Kind of," I cleared my throat of its residual burn. "First, I have some information on a witch in the Quarter." She made a motion for me to continue, "Considering you were rooting around my skull, you saw Sabine isn't who she says she is; that she's being possessed by 'Celeste Dubois', and you've also seen her plan to hijack the Harvest Ritual and the chaos that follows."
"I have."
"Stop her." The firmness of my words pushed her eyebrow up, "I don't want her to hurt my family or risk my child." I found the energy to step forward, "I'm trying so hard to play nice and ensure peace to give this city a chance, but if she makes a move against me, then I won't be responsible for my actions. I promise you: I'll lock her in her original bones, and torture her to death for thinking she has the right to ruin my happily ever after."
Her head tilted in consideration, "Is this bloodlust new?"
The random subject change threw me slightly off-kilter, "It's been up and down," my bravado deflated. "I've become a lot more territorial recently, a lot more worried, desperate. All I know is that it's dangerous here, and I need to make it safe."
"Ah, well that'll be the pregnancy fueling your pre-existing protective nature." There was a beat of silence while her words sunk in, "They say wolves typically have it the hardest hormonally when it comes to carrying a child. The inability to turn with the moon won't be helping."
"Great(!)" That made me feel a little better at least. Although, it confused the hell out of me how helpful she was considering I just threatened to kill one of her own.
As though she could read my thoughts, she carelessly waved again. "I have no bad blood with you, Angela Jones. Besides, now that the ancestors have knowledge of Celeste's refusal to give back her own magic to the very source she desires to manipulate to fuel a selfish revenge, you needn't request their intervention. They're considering her punishment as we speak."
"Oh?"
She chuckled again, "I'm afraid further information on that is a private witch matter."
"Oh..." I struggled not to roll my eyes in annoyance.
"Your second offer?"
"Right," I straightened back up. "I know of your ability to be an ancestral conduit once in your reign, and I want to use that to extinguish a chunk of the vampire population from existence."
Shock morphed her features, "I'm sorry?"
"The Mikaelson name has a lot of very old, very powerful enemies tied to their own bloodlines. I want them gone, and I think if I use the power of this city and the Mikaelsons blood memories then I can pinpoint the worst aspects of their bloodlines and wipe them out. My daughter will be safe, hell won't be brought to New Orleans doorstep, and the witches are appeased of their power concerns considering a large portion of their greatest enemy will be eradicated. Everybody wins."
Her eyes narrowed, attempting to burn straight through me in their new assessment... "You really think this is possible," it wasn't a question.
"I think with enough research we can perfect it. I even know Bennett witches, one of the oldest witch bloodlines in existence, I know she'd help us--amplify our power and reach."
"And if the ancestors fail to pinpoint specific vampires through their sires blood? Where would you stand should they kill someone you don't wish to be harmed?"
"I think you won't screw me over if you want to stay on mine and my future Tribrid's good side."
She stood straighter, more witches whispering directly into her ear, "The ancestors are impressed." Confidence filled me, all my nerves fading away with the confirmation I seemed to have the witches onside."
"Well, I am very impressive."
"That you are, world jumper," another small laugh escaped her. "Now, I believe you wished to discuss the new supernatural territories being put in place?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRiErm1GVw... (Ready Set Let's Go by Sam Tinnesz)
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Thanks for reading x