Eden awoke with a start, jumping to her feet instantly as she saw that dusk had fallen across the city. With a grimace, she rubbed the back of her neck; she was going to rip the heart out of the next person that snapped her neck. Running a hand through her hair, she looked around the room, searching for a sign of Klaus or Esther, but when she came up empty, she went into alert mode. She listened to the noises around her, drowning out the sound of the cicadas and the traffic to focus on the sound of the heartbeat that was inevitably beating from about ten feet in front of her.
"Nik?" Eden called out, stepping out of the music room and into the main hall. She looked back towards the kitchen and when she saw that no one was there, she stepped out onto the porch. Walking down the stairs, she came across a body laid out on the ground and after taking a closer look at it, she realized the body was that of her fiancee. Using her vampire speed, Eden rushed down to his side, checking for a heartbeat and trying to make sure that there were no grey veins.
"Nik." Eden whispered, shaking his shoulders and watching his head roll around in a slightly unnatural movement before realizing that he had a broken neck.
"Shit." Eden breathed out. "Shit shit shit." She was probably going to have to carry Klaus' body back to the compound, and she was sure that the hybrid would pitch a fit when he found out that-
"Be calm Eden, he'll be fine, he just needed to calm himself. You of all people know how riled up Niklaus can get." Eden wheeled around, using her body to shield Klaus' body away from Esther. She stood before Eden, a small smile on her face as she took in the sight of the young woman guarding her son.
"Back the hell away from us. Your sociopathic husband has already tried to kill us less than twenty-four hours ago and I'll be damned if I let you do it." Esther held her hands up in mock surrender.
"Eden I am not here to hurt you. Despite what my children may have told you, I want nothing more than to see them live long and happy lives." Eden raised an eyebrow.
"Well that's odd, because my first time seeing you, you were linking all your children together so that you could use Finn to kill them all." Esther let out a soft chuckle.
"You're a smart girl Eden, you must know that even with your new supernatural abilities that if I wanted to harm you, then you would already be dead." Eden paused, faltering in argument as she glanced from Esther to Klaus and then back to Esther again.
"Alright, I'll give you that. But nothing you say to me could make me change my mind about staying in the body that I'm in." Eden countered. The Original Witch smiled, strolling past the hybrids easily to take a seat on the small stone bench. Blankly, Eden recalled finding Jupiter sitting out on that same bench a few times during their stay here. After a beat of silence, Esther looked up at Eden again, although this time, she looked about a thousand years older.
"I've been hoping that I would get the chance to speak with you alone for some time now, but I had not planned for you or your cousin to be locked away so tightly." Eden scoffed, crossing her arms together.
"We haven't been locked in towers, but your sons seem to know that we would be better off the further we are away from you." Esther nodded, as though considering that as an answer before she spoke again.
"As I'm sure that Jana has told you, my offer doesn't include anything less of a long and happy life, though that life would be lived as a mortal. You would be able to start a new life. You could reconnect with your family without the fear of hurting them; get married and start a new family with more children." Eden's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her having more children.
"I don't need more children." Eden said thickly, though she knew in her heart of hearts it was lies. Regardless of the fact that she had Haven, she still always wanted a big family and regrettably, she knew that Jana felt the same way. At this, Esther sent Eden a wistful look, as though she could tell that the girl was lying just by a look.
"As I'm sure you know, I lost my oldest child, Freya, to the plague. By that point Finn had been born and I was pregnant with Elijah. After he was born, Niklaus followed, and then Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik." Eden shrugged.
"Yes, I know. But what is your point?" Eden snapped, now growing tired of Esther dancing around the subject. Esther regarded her carefully, as though observing all her emotions.
"My point, my dear girl, is that no matter how many children Mikael and I bore, none of them could ever replace the hole in our heart from where Freya had gone. Though that didn't stop us from wanting more." Eden swallowed hard, trying not to let it show that she agreed with Esther. She would be a fool to say that she didn't want more children.
"But let's move on from such matters, and talk about that little rock that sits snugly on your finger." Eden furrowed an eyebrow at the thought of Esther considering Eden's ring anything along the lines of small. The damn thing was a constant weight on her finger and while she loved it, the ring was gigantic.
"You make my son happy Eden, and as a mother there is nothing that pleases me more than that. But I wonder, if after centuries on this earth together, will you still feel the same way you feel about him then as you do now? Will the commitment that you swear to on the day you say your vows mean anything in one hundred, five hundred, or another thousand years?" Eden frowned, feeling heat in her chest as she tried to control her anger at what Esther was insinuating.
"Niklaus and I have been, and always will be connected. No matter what adversaries I face during my time as a hybrid, my love for your son will never fade." Esther watched Eden for a moment, and when she had stared at her for a good amount of time, a small smile appeared on her face.
"I don't think that I could have ever imagined that you would have affected Klaus this way when the two of you crossed paths, but I can say that I am happy that this was the outcome." Eden tilted her head to the side, curious about the last comment.
"What do you mean by that? 'The way I affected Klaus.'" She questioned. Esther wavered slightly, as though she said something that she wasn't supposed to yet reveal to her. Though apparently, she must have decided against it.
"You and Niklaus have been wondering from the very beginning who it was that linked your minds together. You wanted to know how it was that you were able to see inside of his mind, and to see his memories. My son may have been able to enter your mind more easily than the average vampire even." Vaguely, Eden could recall the night that she had given birth to Haven. She had wondered how it was that Klaus had been able to push his thoughts into her mind without even touching her. Realizing that Esther was still watching her, she tried not to look surprised.
"You had something to do with that?" Eden asked quietly. Esther nodded her head.
"Why?" Eden's voice was now softer than it had been previously. She had been wanting to know who connected their minds from the very beginning and though Klaus had always assumed it was Esther, Eden was now going to find out about it from the witch herself.
"Get away from her!" Eden's head whipped around at the sound of the voice. Standing about three feet behind her was Klaus and Eden could see how pissed off he was just by a look. Eden looked back at Esther, realizing that she had ventured a lot closer to the Original Witch in her curiosity. Stepping back, Eden sent Esther a pleading look. If Esther would just tell Eden about her connection to Klaus before Klaus raged out then she would finally be able to quail all her wondering.
"Eden, go home. Wait for me there." Klaus instructed. The brunette hesitated; not only did she not want to leave Klaus by himself but she still wanted to know what Esther was going to say.
"Eden the two of us can continue our conversation at a later date, maybe when it's just us." Esther said encouragingly. Klaus scowled, turning to his mother.
"What did you say to her?" Esther stood from the bench calmly, shrugging slightly.
"Nothing that I haven't told you, and nothing that I'm not willing to tell you. If you'll only listen." She answered honestly, though the encryption in her statement only angered the hybrid even more.
"Eden, go home." Klaus repeated, his eyes still on Esther and though Eden wanted to do anything but, she listened to him. With one last rueful look at her future mother-in-law, Eden was gone.
* * *
Eden had no idea how long she paced back and forth waiting for Klaus to come back to the compound, she only knew that it was taking way too long for her to be at ease. She wanted to go back out to the plantation to hunt for him, but as soon as she'd made up her mind to do so, Klaus had come busting into the room.
"Nik, Nik what happened? I heard commotion-" The eldest hybrid gave Eden no time to speak. In a flurry, he was on Eden, covering her in kisses and pulling at her clothes. Eden tried to pull away, pushing herself off of Klaus and taking his face into her small hands.
"Nik, what happened?" She repeated, her voice a lot quieter despite the breaths that she was taking. Klaus didn't answer her though, and although Eden could see that Klaus wanted to do anything other than talk she needed to at least know Elijah was safe.
"Is he okay?" Eden whispered. Klaus hesitated, licking his lips before answering.
"He's alive." Klaus answered, and though Eden knew that was not the answer to the question she'd originally asked, she saw that Klaus wasn't going to answer anymore questions. So instead of talking about what happened with Esther, Eden pulled Klaus closer and let him rip her clothes off before laying her out on the bed.