I hope everyone likes the chapter and sorry for the seriousness, I'll try not to do it again :)
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Esther just smiled, gazing at her beautiful girl with a knowing glint in her eye before she repeated the same thing she told her before. "All in due time, my darling..." Then she turned so she could see all of her children and looked each of them in the eyes one by one. "I want us to be a family again."
Maddie swore it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. None of the Originals dared to speak out against Esther, they might be a thousand years old but they were still kids and they all knew to listen to their mother. The silence hung in the air like a fog for a minute before Rebekah cautiously began to voice the largest (but clearly not the only) flaw in Esther's plan. "Mum..." She started, waiting for Esther's gaze to meet her own before continuing. "She doesn't remember us." It was clear to most of her siblings who she was talking about, even without using her name.
Kol's gaze flew to the youngest member of the room and for what must be the fifth time that he took in the startlingly familiar features. As soon as he had seen the girl walk in he had been amazed at the similarity between her and his baby sister. He had thought that maybe life had shined in Madelyn's favor after all and this had been some descendant of hers, proof that she had had a life and gotten married, at least that's what Kol convinced himself. He was irked at the thought of Madelyn being with a man that had pledged to protect her and care for her until death, so he didn't even think about the possibility of her becoming like Tatia, entertaining multiple relationships at once. Now though, as Rebekah spoke of not remembering he began to think of another possibility, one where somehow this girl was his sister. The eyes are the same... He thought, inspecting the various shades of blue that danced together in a beautiful web inside her crystal orbs. Still has Bekah's hair... He went through a few more of these observations before deciding to for once trust Rebekah and muttered. "So this is Madelyn..." Under his breath. He then caught sight of the small blue pendant hanging under the dark bruises around her neck and his eyes widened, in all honestly he had practically forgotten what that necklace looked like. He could never forget getting it for her with his brothers or how many stalls he had to muck to earn his share of the needed money to get it, but as for what it looked like, well a thousand years can put a strain on even the best of memories. "Is that the necklace?" He asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't making a mistake. The man vamp-sped over to stand in front of the girl and reached out to grab the pendant. To his surprise, a sharp fiery pan ran though his fingertips when it brushed the metal causing him to pull back. Maddie took a step back and frowned at Kol while he looked at the angry looking burn marks that were healing on his hand. The Original could practically feel his siblings smirking behind him at his misfortune, so he kept his eyes on Madelyn instead. "What was that?" he asked sounding both surprised and frustrated. At the same time though, he made sure to remind himself that both his mother and apparently his baby sister were in the room and kept his language in check.
Maddie's response made most everyone smile despite themselves, she had taken to saying it often after starting her lessons with Ayanna. It was actually a bit refreshing to hear it again, even if it was a little more modern. "That wasn't yours to touch." The girl had taken a step back, incidentally landing her in the doorway out the room. She put a hand on the doorway and glanced towards the door that was just around the corner that lead outside. Suddenly making a run for it didn't seem like such a bad idea, even though the rational part of her mind knew it wouldn't solve anything.
While Maddie sorted through her options, Esther kept her eyes trained on the younger witch and addressed Rebekah's concern. With a knowing smile on her lips and a gleam in her eyes she muttered. "Are you sure, Rebekah?" The blonde vampire's face morphed into a look of confusion as she turned to her mother. She opened her mouth to answer but Esther had already moved on to Madelyn once more. "Maddie." She called, her voice commanding attention that the other witch gave when she turned and looked back at Esther.
At first the woman said nothing, just looking down at the space in front of her and then back up at her daughter, silently telling her to come over. Maddie bit her lip as she considered the request before slowly walking back across the room, resisting the urge to squirm under the interested gazes of the five Original vampires around the room. The question Esther asked when she was finally there surprised her, to say the least.
"What is your name?"
Of all the things she had expected this wasn't one of them. Maddie crinkled her brow and tilted her head ever so slightly, she opened her mouth to object or question the reasoning behind this strange demand, but one 'look' from the Original Witch made the words slip away from her. After another moment of unnerving silence the girl figured it would just be best to answer, it was after all a rather simple question "Maddie Donovan."
Esther didn't correct her or agree with her, she just asked the question again. "What is your name?" Her eyes never left Maddie's face, watching confusion appear in her features. Just as the girl was about to reply, Esther interrupted, shaking her head 'no', knowing her stubborn daughter would just end up saying the same thing as she had the first time. "Just think for a moment." She instructed, her tone firm but not at all angry.
Maddie frowned again when she was cut off. She been about to repeat herself, but it seemed that Maddie Donovan might not be the answer Esther was looking for. What else am I supposed to say? I only have one bloody name! She thought to herself before realizing that wasn't entirely true. Legally she was Maddie Donovan but biologically she was Maddie Mikaelson. Is that what she wants to hear? The witch couldn't help but think it wasn't, it just didn't feel... Whole somehow, not wrong really, but not quite right. As she combed through her mind in search of anything that might help make the answer known, something occurred to her. Mikael had asked her this same question before homecoming, and despite her fear towards the man she had managed to give him an answer he approved of, one that she decided to use now. "Madelyn Mikaelson."
To her relief Esther smiled, nodding softly with approval. "That's right," She agreed, something akin to relief in her voice. In the back of her mind she noticed how Madelyn had changed accents to match her own again as she spoke, finding it funny that she couldn't say it with the fake voice she had created for herself. She paused to consider what question she wanted to ask next, realizing that unless she phrased it right, her daughter would find some way of turning it back towards her 21st century life instead of the one she was born into. The spell she had cast weeks ago would have slowly been giving her daughter back her memories one by one from the moment she had left their time, but Esther had no idea in what order they would arrive or even how much her six-year old would have remembered with the limited about of memories that came with the age. The Original witch had been keeping an eye on her youngest from the otherside and she had realized that though the memories were coming back, Madelyn thought they were just dreams, or visions of some sort. She suspected that on some level the girl must have at least suspected that they were more than that, but she was sporting an airtight case of denial. The pieces of the puzzle were all layed out for her but she didn't put them together in fear of what she might see. It is a mother's job to do what is best for her child, not always what they want. Esther thought to herself as she took a step forward and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her daughter's ear. "And when was Madelyn Mikaelson born?" She asked, using the gentlest tone she could conjure up. She knew this revelation would bring this fabricated life Maddie Donovan lived down in a single strike, but it had to happen so her family could be whole again.
Sure enough Maddie's face was at first a mask of confusion, confirming the denial that Esther had theorized. I don't know when I was born... What does it matter anyway, Esther wouldn't know when I was born, she wasn't even alive! Slowly though, understanding started to flood the blue seas in Maddie's eyes. She had no idea when she was born, but she wasn't the only one who had been called Madelyn, the little girl in her dreams shared her name. She was younger than seven years old in every scene she had seen, just like the days before I came here. Everything made sense, Rebekah's protectiveness, Klaus' strange need to annoy her, the questions he always asked, the way the girl looked so familiar to Maddie, and her reaction to Mikael, even Elijah's stunt with Damon by the door earlier that night! Even with things suddenly falling into place she shook her head fiercely and muttered. "I don't know." Esther tilted her head ever so slightly and frowned sending Maddie a disappointed look that made the younger witch squirm. She wasn't used to such looks, having grown up for the past ten years with no dad and an invisible mother in the form of Kelly Donovan. Never the less, she immediately changed her tune, saying, "Those were just dreams, visions." Though even she could hear the resolve in her voice breaking into tiny pieces. A lone tear made it's way down her cheek as she tried to fight what she knew to be true. Esther watched sadly, moving her hand to Maddie's cheek and brushing away the tear with her thumb.
"No," the older witch whispered, "They were memories." Maddie looked up at her with wide eyes, not understanding how this was possible, or how she felt about all of this, but knowing that it was true. She looked away from Esther's- no- her mother's face and felt a few more tears trickle down her face before her sadness made way to frustration.
She wiped angrily at the few drops that escaped her eyes and then started towards the door. She hadn't taken more than a few steps before Rebekah appeared in front of her. Maddie frowned as her route was blocked but then as she looked up at Rebekah's face she realized something, and her short lived moment of anger dissolved. Each of the Originals watched as her features softened into a look akin to awe. They didn't quite understand what had gone on between their mother and Maddie, they knew that somehow she had touched upon the life they had all lived together back in the 900s, but without knowing about Esther's spell they couldn't help but be a little confused. "You protected me." Maddie whispered, thinking back to the first time she had seen Rebekah in this life when she had saved her from Klaus' suffocating grip, and then remembered how she had held her as she cried, tried to comfort her so many times. She saw Rebekah nod in agreement and open her mouth to say something, but Maddie spoke first. "My sister protected me?" The words were soft and unsure, sounding slightly strange in Maddie's head as she tested them out for the first time.
Rebekah seemed to ignore the weary and questioning tone and just focused on the fact that Maddie had called her 'sister'. A beaming grin broke out on her face and immediately she was wrapping the younger woman in her arms. Maddie didn't hug her back at first, trying to process as she assumed by Rebekah's reaction that her 'sister' guess was in fact correct. As her mind processed all that was going on Rebekah seemed to realize that her sister wasn't returning the hug and had slowly started to back away. As soon as she felt Rebekah's grip start to loosen Maddie felt a bit of guilt stab at her but she forced herself to push it aside. In the past, both from this life and the last one, she would have returned the hug, but things were different now...
Sensing her daughter's need for some distance Esther once again stepped in. "Elijah," She prompted, "I think Madelyn's been through enough for one night, is there somewhere she could get some rest?" Her eldest son nodded and started towards the door, pausing to wait for his sister.
Maddie turned back to Esther and shook her head at the suggestion that she spend the night there. "I can't stay here, my b-" She paused and rephrased the question sending a glance towards Kol, before quickly changing her wording. She had a feeling he wouldn't fare well thinking he had somehow been replaced. "Matt will worry about me."
Elijah soothed her worries and foiled her escape by saying, "The Salvatores have already taken care of that." When Maddie turned her questioning look towards him, he continued by saying. "When I... suggested they had overstayed their welcome I told them to inform your friends that you would be staying at the boarding house." Mddie frowned at that tidbit of information, Elijah was more cunning than she had expected, it seems he had been planning on her staying the night here even before Esther made her appearance. With something similar to a sigh she made her way out the door at her older brother's side. This was more than enough drama to make her want to call a quits.
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The Originals all sat in semi-comfortable silence as they prepared for the ball that evening. Rebekah was pouting ever so slightly as she thought about her ruined attempt at revenge. She was lounging on the sofa as she watched someone paint her nails with the final clear coat over a light pink color. Across from her was Kol who was staring at his reflection in a large full-length mirror with a smirk as he got fitted in his first suit. Finn was doing the same on the other side of the room while Elijah, who already had his own suit ready for that evening, was shining his shoes and basking in the feeling of having everyone together in the same room peacefully- except Klaus of course, but he could easily overlook that.
They had each made small-talk throughout the morning, but the main focus had been their sister. Kol and Finn had wanted to know exactly how this was possible and Rebekah had been eager to know how the girl had been since she was daggered. So Rebekah had shared the stories of what had actually happened to Maddie when she disappeared and how she and Nik had happened upon her and then Elijah explained what he knew on the subject, including the fact that Maddie had been told Rebekah had supposedly left town when Mikael came. The blonde Original easily put the pieces together and realized that Elena was the one who put the dagger in her back and had made up the story to avoid her sister's anger. She had been furious to say the least, it had actually been the thing to prompt her attack on the doppelganger in the first place. The group had decided, much to Kol and Rebekah's dislike, that they would leave Maddie to come talk to them in her own time.
Rebekah for one, was wearing thin on patience and had decided that as soon as she was finished with her nails she was going to go up and see her sister. It wasn't like she was still sleeping, she was just walking around the floor of her room pacing from what they could hear with their vampire hearing. It was with that thought that she realized that the soft footfalls that she had been hearing had stopped. What? Where did she go? Rebekah thought before she noticed all of her brothers had stopped moving and were looking at the door. Following their lead, Rebekah turned to look and saw to both her relief and surprise, none other then Madelyn standing in the doorway.
There was silence as Maddie looked around the room, taking in what was going on. After a moment she but her lip nervously, trying to wrack her brain for some sort of conversation starter. Last night she had gone straight to sleep, not bothering to think over what had happened, knowing with the situation being what it was it was better for her to wait until the full moon was long gone and the sun shone to go over everything with a more rational mind. She wasn't at all ok with what had happened but at the same time she didn't want to ignore it. She had been looking all her life for her family, how could she just throw it away once she found it- no matter how strange it was? Eventually the thing that helped her decide was when she realized Klaus had gone out of the house and it was a rare opportunity for her to talk to the rest of them without him there. Even so she hadn't exactly thought through what she was going to say once she got there. "Um... I-" She sighed in frustration at her stuttering. Then deciding that she should have gotten her thoughts together before coming in here, she ran a hand through her hair to try and calm her nerves.
Elijah seemed to take pity on his sister and sent her an encouraging half smile accompanied with a nod while Rebekah shooed away the man who had by now finished her nails so she could focus on her. Finn also had turned to look at her, but it was Kol who finally spoke up. "Just say it, darling," he suggested with a mix of amusement and curiosity at her obvious frustration towards what she wanted to say. All of the Originals had expected some sort of defining statement from their sister, and they all feared it would be something along the lines of 'leave me alone.' After all, Maddie was a witch. She had to have heard the stories about the terrifying Original vampires and they wouldn't blame her for wanting nothing to do with them anymore.
Maddie looked towards Kol and slowly she nodded, figuring it was now or never. So, steeling her nerves, she blurted out what had been troubling her. "I don't know you." It was a simple statement and yet she saw all of them practically wince at the words, and for some reason she felt a pull at her heart because of it. "I mean, I can't just jump into this." She backpedaled, hoping to take away some of the sting that she caused. "I don't know how to do this." Maddie gestured to the people around her and they could only assume she meant something along the lines of her siblings or family. A few of them, namely Kol and Rebekah thought she was being foolish, but still stayed silent so she could finish saying whatever it is she needed to say. Maddie, unknowing of her siblings' thoughts cocked her head a bit and continued. "I can't just suddenly be your Madelyn Mikaelson again, I've changed and so have you I guess. But I can try to mend bridges if you can promise to let me go slowly." The offer was more than some of them had expected and less than they all wanted but even the impatient Kol Mikaelson could agree to her terms if it meant that at least eventually they might get things back to normal with the youngest member of the family.
After the stoic moment passed they lapsed into silence. It was one of the most awkward things Maddie could remember experiencing in her life, everyone was just staring at her and no one was talking or moving. So she hesitantly shifted on her feet before starting towards the door she had entered through. No sooner had she turned around than Rebekah quickly exclaimed. "No, wait!" This had been a breakthrough, she couldn't just let Maddie go so quickly! She wanted her sister as close as possible, especially now that Maddie knew the truth. So with that the vampire moved over on the couch and tapped the seat next to her. "You can sit right here, love." She encouraged with a smile, that after a moment, Maddie returned shyly.
Ten minutes later Maddie was getting her own nails painted per Rebekah's request and listening to everyone carry out chit chat trying to teach Finn and Kol about the 21st century. It was tense at first, but soon they settled into a nice sort of casual mood. "So... Why are you all getting dressed up anyway?" She questioned, realizing that she had never gotten a reason to why they were wearing suits.
Elijah was the one to answer. "Rebekah and mother will be throwing a ball later this week." He explained before Rebekah quickly added her own two cents into the conversation.
"Yes, and I'm finally going to get to help you pick out a dress." The amount of happiness and excitement in the older girl's voice made Maddie confused, and that confusion grew when she heard both Kol and Elijah chuckle.
Maddie opened her mouth once to start to question Rebekah on her strange but pleasant tone as she watched her nails being painted but she stopped when she realized something else in Rebekah's sentence. "You say that like I'm actually going to be there." She pointed out casually, noting to herself that somewhere during the course of her stay in the room she had switched to using her natural accent. When she got no response she looked over at the vampire sitting next to her and found Rebekah was looking at her with her eyebrows raised in a look that clearly said, 'you better be joking'. To which Maddie just shrugged, not seeing the big deal. "I don't want to go to a party, Rebekah."
That seemed to frustrate the other blonde. "It's not just a party, Madelyn!" She exclaimed in a voice that showed she was mildly offended at the thought. "Your seventeen years old now, don't you understand what this is?"
Instead of picking up what Rebekah wanted her too, Maddie again found something interesting in the details of her sentence. "I'm not going to be seventeen for a few days." She corrected before hearing more chuckles come from her brothers. "What?" She asked, turning to look at each of them curiously. All three of them seemed to have found something amusing about her correction and she was getting a sneaking suspicion that she was forgetting something. The girl retreated into her thoughts for a minute or two before realizing what is was. "Oh my god!" She muttered, whipping her head over to look at Elijah. "You know when my birthday is, don't you?" She sounded a mixture of excited and surprised, though she didn't quite know why, after all she knew now that he was her brother meaning he would have been nearby when she was born.
Elijah found himself chuckling once more at his sister before giving her a court nod. "Yes." He agreed before admitting. "And it passed several months ago. Seeing as when you arrived in this time you were seven, that would make you seventeen years old now."
Maddie nodded slowly and let out a breath, resisting the urge to run her hands through her hair again as she let out a soft. "Huh..." Under her breath, seems she should have been going to school with her friends after all. Since that part of the conversation was done with, Rebekah decided to move on with the topic she deemed important.
"Yes and I have been thinking about this ball for over four hundred years now, so you are going and you are enjoying it." She said firmly, as if just stating it would make it so. Maddie looked at Rebekah for a moment more as if waiting for some sort of explanation but when she got none she turned to Elijah for help. She didn't need to ask the question, because Elijah had been expecting it since the conversation began.
He glanced at Madelyn with a small smile before saying. "Rebekah has insisted on throwing you a debutant ball, Madelyn." At that the girl looked surprised and mildly upset at the thought of all the money that went into a ball being spent on her, but Elijah noticed she still confused so he continued. "She was invited to one in the late 16 hundreds, and since then has insisted on having one every so often for herself to keep up appearances." Once again Kol chuckled, knowing that Rebekah had just used it as an excuse to be the center of attention, seeing as she loved it and was physically 18 years old so within the acceptable age for the party. It was true though that she had often been caught muttering about a second this or another that before she came to her senses and remembered that she would be doing this alone again, not with her sister. In any other circumstances Kol, and certainly Klaus, would have teased her about it but it had been an unspoken rule that Madelyn was not to be mentioned around Rebekah in those times. After Kol had been quieted by a glare from Rebekah, Elijah continued with his explanation. "A debutant ball, is a traditional ceremony to represent a woman coming of age. In the past it has been for eighteen year-old girls to introduce them to men of equal social class, but in recent centuries that has been moved to anywhere between sixteen and eighteen and is done more for traditions sake than preparation for marriage."
Maddie cocked her head and asked. "Like a really fancy, really old version of a sweet sixteen?" She asked before getting a light whack on the back of the head from Rebekah. "Hey!" She exclaimed, taking her hand, the man painting her nails had disappeared once he finished his work, and rubbing the back of her head.
Rebekah hadn't hit her hard, just enough to show her irritation. "I won't have my evening turned into a bloody sweet sixteen party, it's tradition and you will love it." At that Maddie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms but said nothing more about the ball, knowing full well that Rebekah would do it anyway. From there they were lulled into a comfortable-ish silence, leaving Maddie to her thoughts.
The witch glanced around the room and was once again hit with the strangeness of the situation. There she was, a servant of nature, sitting on a couch with the original sister after helping a different Original wake up his remaining siblings, who just happened to be her brothers. Then underneath that initial headache she had one of them who had repeatedly tried to kill her, and the fact that their- her- mother had risen from the dead and not in the normal way. Did I just call becoming a vampire 'normal'? Maddie shook her head to try and clear it of that thought and continued to flick through her problems. Where was I? Oh that's right. How did she feel about having the Originals as her siblings? Well she didn't really know. As she had explained earlier, she wanted to at least try to be part of their family, as strange and messed up as it seemed to be, but she couldn't help but feel a bit... Self-conscious. It was like the feeling she had yesterday when she first talked to Elijah, as strange as it seemed, she wanted to be good enough for them. Every time she said something, she felt herself wondering if she should have said something else, or what they thought, even what she would have done before she had traveled through time... Which really made no sense if you thought about it, because she was comparing herself to herself and her six year old self at that! Never the less it was what she felt, even around Rebekah, who she had once had such an easy friendship with. Maybe that's it... She suddenly thought, Before I knew, being friends with Rebekah seemed easy- and she never seemed to have any problems with me then... I just need to do what I was doing then. Be their friend and maybe the rest will follow.
"Rebekah, tell me how handsome I am." Kol more or less demanded, breaking the silence. Both of the Mikaelson sisters glanced up to see their brother looking at them with a smirk through the mirror he was standing in front of. Kol straightened his suit jacket and held his head higher, seemingly pleased with his appearance.
Whatever Rebekah's thoughts on the matter were, she obviously didn't want to respond to his obvious attempt to fish for a compliment in the way he had hoped. She held up her hand to examine her nails and instead started to inspect them. "Oh, Kol, you know I can't be compelled." She muttered flippantly, earning a frown from Kol and smirks from the other brothers.
Maddie was hiding a smile and holding back a laugh, but after a moment she took pity on him. "Well I think the 21st century suits you, Kol." She said as she stood up and walked towards the fireplace. She was starting to think that winter was coming early this year, because a chill was sneaking it's way into the air. The girl bent down on her knees and noted that there were some logs already piled in the fireplace, which only made her task easier. Despite the problems being completely different, the chill and her own nerves both held the same solution. She needed warmth and comfort, and she could do that with fire and magic. Without thinking much of it, she rubbed her hands together a few times until she felt the familiar warm tingling sensation that she knew represented her magic and then a bright flame sparked to life at her now parted palms. She could fee the surprised glances of the other Originals on her back as they watched her unusual display of magic, she hadn't recited a spell nor was she being burned by the fire she was nursing in her cupped hand. Maddie ignored them for the moment and instead kept her focus on the spell and the calm it brought her from using her gift, after a moment though she leaned forward and held her hand under one of the logs, letting the flames slowly engulf the wood.
Maddie was just straightening up when the door to the living room opened with a slam. "You went after Elena." A furious looking Klaus stated as he barged into the room, gathering everyone's attention. He walked until he was standing in front of Rebekah's suddenly pleased looking form. "What is wrong with you?"
Maddie started to walk towards them but was stopped by Elijah. The eldest Original stepped slightly in front of her to block her path, but still allow her to see what was going on, and put an arm out to stop her from going any further. Normally Maddie might have had some sort of reaction to that, but her interests were already peaked elsewhere as she heard Rebekah chirp out confirmation that she had gone after one of Maddie's best- although estranged- friends. "Here we go." Rebekah almost sounded happy that this was coming up, but Maddie figured it was just because Klaus was angry.
Klaus' voice dropped into a low growl as he continued on as if Rebekah had said nothing. "Do you want another dagger in your heart?" The threat in his words would have immediately sent Rebekah into submission in another time, but she wasn't afraid of him getting the drop on her anymore, not with Esther around. He wouldn't dare cross her again.
While Rebekah seemed unfazed by her brother, Kol was growing frustrated. He had had enough of those damn daggers! "Again with the dagger threats?" He asked in an irritated tone. "Don't you have any other tricks?"
Klaus whipped around to look at the younger man and snidely remarked. "Oh, go back to staring at yourself." Before turning to face his latest problem once more. He didn't have time to get a word in before Kol stared up again though.
"And who are you, my father?" Both Elijah and Finn noticed how their youngest sister tensioned at the mention of the man who had been so cruel to them as children. Both of them knew better than to act upon it though, if she wasn't doing anything about her discomfort neither they assumed their own help would be frowned upon. Madelyn found herself thinking back to a scene she had experienced several weeks ago, when she had seen Mikael going after Klaus with his sword after catching Elijah and the latter fighting for fun, she could suddenly recall the fear she felt that day and the way Rebekah's dress had felt against her skin as she hid her face in the fabric. Most of all she remembered the tear that had slid down her cheeks in her fright.
All the time Klaus stalked closer to Kol as he said. "No, Kol. But this is my house."
The other brother rose from his seat to meet the challenge with one of his own. "Well then perhaps we should go outside." He declared, glaring back at his brother with hatred in his eyes.
That was when Maddie had enough. "Bloody hell..." She muttered under her breath, turning her previous fear from the mention of Mikael into anger at the situation. She wasn't about to let another fight break out, especially after the scene she had just recalled. Pushing aside Elijah's arm she walked over to the two of them and put a hand on each of their chests as if it would do any good if they did start fighting. "Alright, enough." She declared, looking each one in the eyes before turning to Kol, "Kol, you already beat the crap out of your brother once in the last 24 hours if you wanted another shot at him you should have taken it then," She turned to look at the hybrid, "Klaus, if you rip Kol's suit before the ball there are plenty of wooden objects for Rebekah to stab you with, and I'm sure Kol would have no problem helping her." She paused an looked back and forth between the two of them again waiting a moment to make sure they weren't going to do anything drastic before giving each a shove and taking a step back. "Leave each other alone, I don't like playing mediator." When they still held their positions she added, "I've already knock you on your ass once, Klaus, you're not tosh enough to think I won't do it again!"
The two stared at each other for a moment more before Klaus broke away to look at Madelyn. "Alright then, baby sister." he said, his tone only holding a fraction less of the anger it had held a moment ago. "Lets talk about you then." Maddie tilted her head, a suspicious look on her face.
"What about me?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest. She may be worried about how to act around the others, but she knew how she felt about Klaus. Brother or not he had still tried to strangle her twice and been a constant pain in her side ever since he came back to Mystic Falls. The only good thing Klaus had ever done for her was... Well... She'll get back to you on that one.
Klaus didn't seem to be bothered by the look he was receiving from the girl, nor the warning glares from the rest of his siblings. "Well, now that you asked I have a few questions for you." The hybrid grew a smirk on his lips and continued before anyone had a chance to interrupt. "I'll start off with an easy one, then. Why exactly did you wake up my family?" He noticed the other Originals all had some sort of reaction to the blunt question, but his eyes were focused on Maddie. "After all, I can't imagine the witches would be too happy with you for that particular spell, in fact I'm surprised they allowed you to go through with it."
He fell into expectant silence as he waited for the answer, and as their curiosity got the better of them, the other Originals did not make a move to deter the girl from answering. "I'm not concerned with the spirits, we haven't been on good terms lately anyway, this changed nothing for them. They wouldn't have been able to stop me either way." She muttered vaguely before going on. "And to answer your question, honestly I knew Elijah was going to undagger them whether I helped or not and I preferred that he didn't end up back in a box while doing it, he would be able to help us in the future if you started acting out." It wasn't the complete truth, but it wasn't a lie, she had just left out that the main reason where she wanted to impress Elijah.
Klaus chuckled dryly at that, it seemed Madelyn had inherited his talent for scheming. Deciding not to dwell on the fact that she had been scheming against him, Klaus asked his next question. "On to more pressing matters than. Have you ever killed anyone?"
The question took Maddie by surprise, but she wasn't the first to say something about it. Before she could open her mouth a slightly frustrated voice came from the side of the room. "Enough!" Everyone turned to look at the source. Esther stood in the large open doorway to the next room with a frown on her face an a disapproving look in her eyes. There was a moment of silence before she gave her instructions. "Niklaus. Come." Klaus glared at the wall behind Maddie before turning and slowly walking towards his mother. As soon as he took his first step, Maddie was on the move as well. She quickly started towards the other door that lead towards the bedroom where she had rested the night before with the intention of grabbing her things and leaving. Esther was one step ahead of her. "Not so fast, Madelyn." She announced, making a small smirk grow on Kol's face as he realized that this was one of the rare instances that the baby of the family was going to be at fault instead of him. Sure enough the next thing Esther said was known to the boys as a cruel and unusual punishment. "Go clean yourself up and then Rebekah will be waiting for you in your room to help you get ready for tonight."
Sure enough, Maddie's eyes got a bit bigger with disbelief. "Esther with all due respect, I-" Her well mannered protest was cut off as Esther raised a hand in a 'stop' motion.
"Madelyn, I am your mother." The older witch reminded her daughter as she walked across the room to stand in front of her. "You know that, and you will treat me as such, understood?" Though her woods were firm, her tone was soft, and she was absolutely right. Maddie knew who Esther was, and honestly it felt extremely odd calling her by her first name. Maddie wasn't used to having parenting in this life, and while Esther understood that, she was still going to treat Maddie as she would any of her other children.
"You might be my mother, but you aren't my mom. I took care of myself, you weren't there." Maddie muttered. She knew that the words would hurt Esther, but at that moment she was so frustrated by her that she didn't care! Maddie needed to get home, see Matt and go to school, not be stuck in Klaus' mansion! She wanted to leave and her temper was getting the better of her.
Esther did not falter at the cruel words of her daughter, but instead held firm. She felt a sting at her heart, but ignored it for the sake of the family I need to stay strong, Madelyn will come to her senses soon. She told herself. "If you will not listen to me as your parent, perhaps you will listen to me as the origin of your line." Sure enough Maddie's look switched from one of defiance to one of irritated acceptance as she realized the full extent of Esther's words. The older witch waited patiently until her youngest daughter slowly nodded, Esther took no notice of the interested looks her other children sported or of the amused one on Kol's face, and instead smiled and gently cupped her daughter's cheek in a motherly fashion. "Good girl," She praised lovingly. "Now, all I ask is that you get cleaned up and spend an hour with your sister to talk about the ball and then you can do as you please."
Maddie frowned, "Fine." She muttered under her breath, not sounding remotely happy about it, unlike Rebekah who had perked up when she realized she would get to start working on preparation for the ball with her sister sooner than she had thought. With that the girl turned and walked away to go do as she was told, Rebekah hot on her tail sporting a grin.
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When Maddie finished her shower and got dressed she went into the room she had been using last night and found Rebekah sitting on the bed waiting for her. Maddie hadn't been sure what to do from there, I mean before last night she probably would have sat down on the bed and started chatting, but she felt like everything was different now. It was a little easier with the boys because she already had a brother. She knew how the brother-sister relationship normally went- not that that made this whole identity crisis any easier on her, it was still freaking her out and she didn't think her relationship with Klaus was going to change because of it. He was an ass, and she was ashamed to have any sort or relation to him. She didn't have anything at all to use as an example for this new 'sister' thing with Rebekah though and she had no excuse to openly void it like she did with Klaus. None of her friends had a sister, Caroline and Bonnie were only children and Elena had a brother, a few of her friends from her own grade had sisters, but she didn't hang out with them very often at their own house so she didn't see them interact with their siblings. All in all, it was like flying blind, plus she would admit to being a little frustrated that Rebekah hadn't told her anything about their relationship seeing as they had been such close friends.
Luckily she was saved from having to make a decision when Rebekah noticed she had walked in. The older girl quickly sat up from her previous position laying back on her elbow and scooted over to make room before tapping the spot next to her. Maddie hesitated before slowly walking over and sitting down next to Rebekah. At first neither of them spoke, both waiting for the other to say something. As the silence dragged on Rebekah decided she needed to brake it.
"Well, the ball is going to be held at the end of the week, on Saturday-"
"I don't want to talk about the ball." Maddie interrupted, her voice soft.
Rebekah frowned in confusion, she had assumed that after that 'chat' Maddie had with Esther she would be willing to do what their mother had instructed but then again she didn't want to push her. "Okay." She agreed, pausing for a moment to think of a topic. "Could I look at your bruises?" She asked, suddenly remembering what Klaus had done. "Just to be sure you're alright." Maddie frowned but soon an amused look grew on her face. The newfound sparkle in her eyes made Rebekah grin, she hadn't seen that look since Maddie arrived in the house. "What?"
Maddie tilted her head to the side and revealed her joke, "An Original vampire just asked to see my neck." At that Rebekah scoffed at her sister's foolishness, but still smiled to show she too was slightly amused.
"Cheeky little thing..." she muttered under her breath before leaning towards her and reaching out to push Maddie's hair away from her neck. "Now let me have a look." She then noticed that her sister seemed to have zoned out. She started to grow worried and even went as far as to shake Maddie's shoulder before she recognized the faraway look in her blue eyes and the tenseness of her muscles. "She's having vision."
Maddie sat on the dirt floor of the cottage playing with her doll while her sister prepared dinner for that night. Rebekah's blonde hair was fashioned back into a braid that wrapped around her head and then cascaded down her back while Maddie's was left down to dry after her bath. Esther was working with Ayanna on preparations for an upcoming festival and the men were all out hunting which left Rebekah to look after the youngest member of the family along with her normal chores. Of course she didn't really mind having Madelyn around, the girl loved her sister to death and Maddie wasn't much trouble unless she was with Henrik or Kol thinking up some convoluted scheme.
So both girls sat in comfortable silence with Madelyn playing and Rebekah working. Every once and a while Rebekah would ask her sister to go get something from the garden or stir the soup for her while she did some other monotonous kitchen work and Maddie might start making some noise or another as part of her play but for the most part it was quiet... That is until about an hour into the process.
"What's a strumpet?"
Rebekah almost dropped the potato she was peeling when she heard her sister's question. She stared at the girl for a few seconds as she wondered if she had misheard her. "I beg your pardon?" She asked slowly once the initial shock wore off.
Madelyn just tilted her head in innocent curiosity and repeated herself "What is a strumpet?"
Rebekah set down the stirring stick she had been using on the table and gave her sister her full attention. "It is a word you shouldn't be using." She answered, knowing neither her father nor her mother would be pleased if they heard the child speaking in such a way. In fact, she was actually rather relieved Madelyn had been able to keep the question to herself while the adults were around.
"Kol uses it!" Maddie objected, pinching her eyebrows together in a look of frustration. If her brother could say it than she could to!
Rebekah let out a sigh of irritation and muttered something about how Kol always seemed to cause the problems in this family before focusing on Madelyn once more. "IS that where you heard the word then?" Her sister nodded to confirm Rebekah's suspicion before again asking what it meant. "Why would you need to know what it means if you aren't going to use it?" She asked, trying to get away from the topic.
It seemed that Maddie would have none of it though. "No Bekah! I wana know what it means!" she practically whined, making her sister sigh once again. Rebekah knew that she wouldn't give up until she got an answer.
"Alright... But you have to promise you won't say it anymore, alright?" She finally agreed, pointing a finger at her sister in an almost scolding manner as to get her point across. Maddie was quick to accept the terms, nodding her head with a smile. Rebekah to a minute to think about some acceptable way to explain 'strumpet' to her little sister. "A strumpet is... A lady who fancies many at once." She finally explained, figuring that definition would suffice. She watched as Madelyn bobbed her little head in understanding, sending her golden mane of hair dancing around her face.
"Like Tatia Petrova?" She asked, and Rebekah could hardly contained her laughter, faking a cough to hide a giggle that escaped her lips. Rebekah was actually friends with Tatia, but even she had to admit that the girl was rather carefree about her many courtships.
Once she calmed down the older girl nodded in agreement with Madelyn's statement "Yes, but lets make that our little secret, sweetheart." Maddie smiled and nodded, feeling a surge of both pride and happiness at her apparent success that the guess had earned her. Rebekah took in the sight of the smiling girl, relieved that the conversation hadn't taken a turn for the worst as it could have.
She had just turned back to the soup when Madelyn spoke up again, this time with a cheerful tone. "Henrik says that he thinks Niklaus is going to court Tatia... He has been doting on her lately..."
At that she openly laughed before saying. "How about you go get mother from Ayanna's, it's almost supper time." Maddie nodded and got up, bringing her doll with her as she ran out the door to get Esther. As she passed Rebekah picked her up and pressed a kiss to her cheek as a temporary goodbye before setting her down again. "Now go on, you cheeky little thing." She teased, sending her on her way again.
Maddie blinked as she came out of her vision. She felt a soft tugging at her hair and started to turn so she could see what was causing it, but a voice stopped her. "Don't move," It was Rebekah. "I'm almost finished this braid." Maddie stopped moving and felt the gentle tugging start up again in her hair. The two sat in silence once more before Rebekah asked. "What did you see?"
The witch paused, considering her options before deciding on the truth. "I saw my life." She admitted. Behind her, Rebekah made a noise of confusion and Maddie continued her explanation. "I, um, I called Tatia Petrova a strumpet?" She heard Rebekah let out a laugh as she remembered the moment from a thousand years ago. "I see them sometimes, the visions."
For a long moment Rebekah said nothing, and Maddie started to worry that she was angry this had been kept from her. That was until she felt a final pull at her hair to secure the braid in an elastic and the blonde Original moved to sit in front of her sister. "You've had these visions before?" She asked.
Maddie nodded and muttered. "I get them mostly in dreams but now I'm starting to think they can be triggered when I awake, Klaus did it once now that I think about it... That's what Esther was talking about last night."
To her surprise, Rebekah didn't seem at all shocked or angry, she just smiled a small smile and reached out, taking her baby sister's hands in her own and then said, "Tell me more."
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What do you think? I hope everyone liked the chapter!
Please review with questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or anything else you want to ask :)
Things to talk about... What did you think of the flashback? What's Esther planning? What will Maddie do now that she knows who she is? What do you want to see more of?
Thanks,
AnissaCartagena