"So the Lockwoods really have no idea these tunnels are under their property?" Elena asked curiously as she, Ric, Buffy, and Giles made their way through the maze of underground caves Buffy had stumbled upon the other night.
Ric nodded before gesturing to Elena's flashlight "Yeah. Be careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light."
Buffy glanced over at her sister watching as the hunter's words sunk in. The look on Elena's face made her chuckle slightly.
"Wait, what?" Elena stuttered, completely horrified only causing Buffy to roll her eyes "Don't worry pretty sure Dracula is off haunting another town right now."
The snappy response was not amusing for the doppelganger "You're not funny. Plus, you told me Dracula is real."
Giles sighed before turning to the two arguing sisters "Elena, I can assure you Dracula is far from here."
Elena groaned before continuing to walk beside the Watcher, despite what he said, Bats creeped the hell out of her.
"Elena."
At the haunting whisper echoing through the cave, instinctively, Elena grabbed the blade from her waist and twirled it in her grasp. Just as she heard footsteps behind her she spun around and raised the blade only to groan in annoyance as she spotted Damon now standing behind her.
"Boo?" He questioned, rather annoyed that she wasn't gasping in shock.
Elena merely rolled her eyes and tucked her blade back into its holder before moving over to Giles.
Damon shrugged in confusion before glancing over at Buffy who had her arms crossed as she stared at him unamused. "What?" He moaned, his mood slightly depleted by Elena's lack of response to his jokes "You're the one that made her all tough and not so squeamish. I blame you."
Ignoring his annoyed tone, Buffy just arched a brow at him "You're an idiot." She snapped before the sound of footsteps approaching from behind made her pause. Instantly, she was gone in a flash, pinning the figure to the wall by the throat only to groan as she met a pair of familiar green eyes.
Stefan.
"Sorry." Buffy mumbled as she dropped him causing him to cough loudly rubbing his now healing neck.
Her grip had been enough the break his windpipe for sure.
As Damon's laughter howled through the caves, practically yelling for her to attack Stefan again, Buffy rolled her eyes before ignoring both brothers and walking over to her sister.
While his brother continued to snort and stifle his laughter, Stefan narrowed his gaze "Shut up, Damon."
"What?" Damon mumbled innocently as Stefan stormed past him.
He just couldn't understand what everyone's problem was today. It was like none of them could take a joke lately and today clearly seemed to be turning into pick-on Damon day.
Ignoring the pouting vampire, Buffy just continued through the tunnels, leading the group to the area she had crashed into "Just ignore him. That's what I do."
"I take it your still pissed—"
"So you can't get in huh?" She asked loudly cutting Damon off, she really didn't want to discuss what had happened the other night, not now not ever.
At her utter refusal to answer his first question, Damon clenched his jaw before nodding "No. Seems even the Ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire."
Elena frowned in confusion "What do you mean, ancient?"
Buffy sighed before leading them all toward the cave, the sooner she showed them what she had found, the sooner she could get out of these creepy tunnels. One crash landing visit had been enough for a lifetime "As we have ticked off another benefit of my new powers: I don't need an invitation, I found these. And God they're weird."
"I've been here before." Damon piped up as they reached the entrance "Two years ago Mason..."
The name made Buffy pause, Damon had killed Mason she was sure of it "I thought he was dead."
"He is."
"Then how...?"
Damon merely arched a brow at the confused blonde before gesturing to her very un-corpse-like body "You really gonna comment on the dead walking and talking?"
Despite her automatic need to out-snark him, Buffy paused.
He did actually have a point.
She was the last person who could comment on the dead walking and talking "Fair point." With that, she stepped over the barrier into the tomb, throwing a small smirk back at Stefan and Damon as they found themselves unable to follow "This is as far as the two of you go."
"Show off." Damon muttered under his breath while Stefan merely rolled his eyes at his brother before glancing at Buffy who had still yet to speak a full sentence to him "How did you find this anyway? What is it?"
"I fell through the ceiling." Buffy replied nonchalantly as she led Giles and Ric, as well as Elena over to the carvings she had found embedded into the stone walls.
"Remarkable." Giles breathed as he made his way over to the wall, his hand coming up to trace the outline of some of the carvings, one, in particular, drawing his attention.
"What is all this?" Elena asked in fascination as she stared at the carvings. She had never seen anything like this before and that was saying a lot given the supernatural chaos that was their everyday lives.
Spotting Elena directing the question at her, Buffy quickly held up her hands in surrender, that was not her job "I broke the ceiling my work here is done."
Elena smiled slightly at her sister's playful attitude before turning to Giles who was still moving along the length of the wall "Giles?"
"Viking script." He whispered softly, his voice dripping with wonderment as he examined the images closely "It has to be at least a thousand years old. It's a story."
Alaric nodded in agreement "In simple archaeological terms, it's a really old story."
"I think we got that from Viking." Buffy mumbled, her eyes still focused specifically on one of the carvings.
Alaric glared at Buffy who merely smiled back innocently. Unable to hold back his smile at her innocent facade, he shook his head in amusement before gesturing to one of the images on the wall "That right there is a moon cycle." He raised his flashlight, focusing it on the image of the wolf, just above the moon "A man. A wolf."
Elena's eyes widened "A werewolf."
Damon smirked at her shocked expression "Yeah. It's the Lockwood Dairies, Pictionary edition."
Stefan sighed before turning to Alaric and Giles "The Lockwoods came with our family in 1862—"
"Well, werewolves have been chilling here a hell of a lot longer than that." Buffy told them all "I mean look at this thing, it looks like the Master's face. It's that old and crinkly."
Grabbing Elena's hand she dragged the brunette closer to the wall "It gets creepier."
"Don't tell me that."
"I speak the truth."
Alaric sighed before raising the light toward the wall again, illuminating the several names that were carved into the stone "Names, and they're not native."
"It's runic." Giles informed them "Viking script. The language is almost dead."
"And that's your favorite type then." Buffy teased as she turned to her Watcher "You do love your dead languages."
A chuckle escaped his lips as her very-true comment "This name here when myself and Alaric translated it...Buffy it read to, Niklaus."
It was ironic, to say the least.
The image her eyes had continued to drift to was Klaus's freaking name!
The universe really loved screwing with her "He called himself Nik at the gallery. You know before he tried to kill us all again."
Alaric smiled softly trying to hide the hurt over hearing about what the four of them had all been through while in Sunnydale, so he merely continued translating the names.
"Elijah...Rebekah, Kol, Finn, Henrik and...Marianna."
THE NEW WORLD: A THOUSAND YEARS AGO
"Rebekah, let me have at it." Niklaus continued to badger as Rebekah merely ignored his comments while she carved her name into the wall of the cave alongside her other siblings.
Marianna merely rolled her eyes as her fingers twisted around the pendant hanging from her neck, Niklaus's constant comments causing her head to pound painfully "Let her be Niklaus."
Niklaus turned to the raven-haired witch before sighing as she merely smirked at him, shaking his head he ignored her smirk choosing to focus back on his youngest sister "Rebekah."
"Quiet Niklaus. I need concentration if I'm not to slice off a finger." Rebekah glanced back over at Marianna "Could you give him paralysis?"
Giggling softly at the request, Marianna merely shook her head before throwing an arm over Niklaus's shoulder, tapping his cheek almost condescendingly "Mother doesn't like it when I threaten the boys. She's worried about their pride."
Pushing her arm off him, Niklaus glared down at his adopted sister before turning to glance between the two stubborn women in his life "Father will not like the two of you handling a blade."
"If I want to wield a blade, I shall wield a blade. Father need not now." Rebekah argued while Marianna merely sighed.
They had been having this same argument for years.
Niklaus's fear of their father constantly caused him to baby the two girls.
"He will find out. He always does." Niklaus argued only causing Marianna to slap his chest and point a finger into his face as her eyes narrowed up at him "Maybe if you did not always run to him and inform him of what is being done then he wouldn't find out."
"I cannot help it." He argued as terror filled his innocent blue eyes "He frightens me."
"And I do not?" She teased with a smirk but at his serious expression she faltered, her expression softening ever so slightly "He frightens us all."
"And here I thought nothing frightened The Great Marianna Von Swartzschild."
While Marianna merely rolled her eyes, Rebekah walked back over to the two of them entangling her fingers with Marianna's "He frightens us all. That is why we stick together as one, always and forever. Right, traitor?" She teased, smirking slightly as she glanced in Nik's direction.
"Right."
Spotting the small smile fill her brother's lips, Rebekah smiled before squeezing her sister's hand and handing the blade out toward Niklaus "Here you and Mari finish. I'm to help Mother with the meal."
Marianna rolled her eyes at that "I think Niklaus should help cook, he has more delicate fingers."
Throwing a small glare at the young witch, Niklaus only chuckled in amusement as she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Ignoring her childish display he quickly turned back to the blonde beauty trying not to focus on Marianna's comments "Yes, go tend to dinner. Leave the blades to the men, little sister."
"And what men do you speak of?" Marianna teased as she grabbed the blade from Rebekah's grasp, twirling it in her grasp "For I only see a scrawny boy."
"Marianna." Niklaus hissed in annoyance while Rebekah chuckled as she watched Marianna hand Niklaus the blade, stabbing the sharp end right into his palm as she does.
Hissing in pain as the blade sliced through his skin, both Rebekah and Marianna giggled loudly together.
The two girls always did team up on their brothers but given they were very much outnumbered by the men they didn't have much choice.
The girls of the family would stick together, always and forever.
"It's just a little blood." Rebekah taunted "Be a man about it."
**
MYSTIC FALLS: PRESENT DAY
"These are the names of the Original family?" Elena breathed, her voice vibrating in shock as she stared at the names in front of her.
It had to be a coincidence, there was no way that this was real.
"Carved into a cave that's...that's been here since way before the Founding of Mystic Falls." Alaric confirmed before turning to Giles and giving him a brief nod, the pair had clearly fallen into a comfortable pairing of explaining the complicated supernatural occurrences.
"At least 1000 years." Giles continued the explanation as he made his way over to one specific carving on the wall, the exact carving Buffy found her eyes glued too.
For some reason, it looked so familiar.
"Before the New World."
"This has got to be one of Klaus' fakes."
Unlike her sister, Buffy didn't believe in coincidences plus she didn't know why but she could feel a connection to the carvings. Moving toward the wall her hand slowly moved up to Klaus's carving of his own name, her fingers skimming it softly "I don't think it is."
She wasn't sure why but she knew this was real.
"Buffy?" Stefan called, watching her curiously as he spotted her falling into some sort of trance.
Her entire focus was glued to Klaus's carving, completely entranced by it.
"They were here." She whispered softly, she couldn't explain it but she could feel it in her bones. At one point a long time ago Klaus had been here. It was almost like she could feel his presence.
Her fingers grazing his carving just sent strange shivers down her spine...she could feel him.
"He was here."
Stefan clenched his jaw sharing a quick glance with his brother, who was wearing the same expression as him. This tether between Buffy and Klaus needed to be dealt with, and soon before it transformed into something more.
God knows what that was but both of them had the feeling it wouldn't be good.
"I think Buffy is right." As Buffy grinned at the sign of faith, Giles moved over to her side, his focus on the name carved at the very bottom of the list "The last name."
"What is it?" Elena asked curiously.
"Mikael."
Buffy's eyes widened at that, this had to be some sort of sick joke.
They couldn't be serious.
"You have gotta be kidding me. The one guy that knows how to kill Klaus—"
"Is Papa Original?" Damon finished drawing Buffy's attention "Yep."
**
"Good." Buffy told Elena as she ducked under the brunette's arm before they continued to spar in Alaric's living room. The apartment had practically become a research and training area lately instead of an actual living space.
Elena smirked before sending a spinning kick to Buffy's chest but the blonde caught her ankle and twisted it causing Elena to spin through the air before landing with a 'thud' on the ground.
"What happened to little Miss Badass?" Damon taunted as he and Stefan watched the girls spar.
Damon certainly enjoyed the sight a lot more than Stefan but mainly because he enjoyed watching Elena getting her ass kicked repeatedly.
Climbing back up to her feet Elena glared over at Damon "I'll break your jaw again."
At Elena's smug tone, Stefan smirked at his friend's words before turning to his brother, watching as Damon's amusement faltered.
His smug smile quickly dropped at the mention of her shattering his jaw the one time she caught him off guard.
Clenching his fist, Damon narrowed his gaze at the brunette before he turned to Ric and Giles hoping to get the attention off him.
He would rather that piece of information not be used against him for eternity.
"So what we got?"
"Wimp." Buffy giggled as she caught Elena's fist in her hand before it could make contact, holding it tightly as Elena continued to struggle to get free.
"These images tell a story." Alaric explained with a small sigh as he glanced at the photos he and Giles had taken, which were now covering his kitchen counter.
Giles hummed softly, removing his glasses and cleaning them with his shirt as he allowed his mind to fall into research mode as Buffy called it "Precisely if we can decipher these images we can reveal the story." As he placed his glasses back on he turned to check on the girls, only to find Buffy still taunting the struggling Elena "Elena shoulder up!"
Elena rolled her eyes before pulling her arm out of Buffy's grasp and raising her shoulder slightly the way Giles had told her.
"Elena, come on, you're better than this." Buffy teased as she circled her sister, bouncing on the balls of her feet with ease, not the least bit out of breath thanks to her recent power upgrade.
Groaning Elena huffed in annoyance before leaping up and sending her foot toward Buffy's chest.
Without any effort, Buffy blocked the blow and pushed Elena's leg to the ground, before grabbing the brunette's arm and yanking her forward.
As she attempted to throw Elena over her shoulder, Buffy found herself both shocked and impressed as Elena, using quick thinking allowed herself to roll over her sister's back keeping her legs straight so that she landed back on her feet behind her.
Instantly, an impressed smile grazed Buffy's lips "Better." She grinned before dropping to her knees and sweeping Elena's feet out from under her causing the doppelgänger to drop painfully.
Again.
While Stefan and Damon both winced at the sight, Giles sighed at the giggles Buffy was clearly trying to hide "Buffy stop toying with the girl!"
Buffy raised her hands in defense before turning to Damon "What did not so dead yet dead hot Mason say about the place?"
Damon shrugged "It was over two years ago and I was hungover."
"Damon." She warned sharply as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him threateningly causing the bad boy brother to groan in annoyance "We couldn't get into the cave so the journey stopped but he did mention that it might lead us to a weapon that could kill Klaus."
Listening to the new piece of information, Stefan arched a brow at his brother "And you never mentioned this because?"
"Yeah, I second that because." Buffy commented causing Stefan to glance at her but she was still avoiding his gaze causing him to sigh.
Inhaling tightly, he tried not to let the hurt fill his eyes and merely focused on his brother, awaiting some form of explanation.
If Damon had known about this for so long why had he never said a damn thing?
Under the ex-couples intense glares, Damon groaned in annoyance "2 Reasons: 1. Mason hates me I thought he was playing me, and 2. We were a bit focused on finding you miss pops back from the dead." He pointed out as he focused back on Buffy who rolled her eyes as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Doesn't Mikael have a weapon?" Elena asked curiously as she stood back up and grabbed two of the bo-staffs off the wall, tossing one over to Buffy who easily caught the weapon.
"Yes." Damon answered, "Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we've already found and lost."
"That's if Mary even woke him up." At the Slayer's comment, all eyes quickly focused on her, but she merely continued to twirl the bo-staff in her hands "He's her father as well, and if Klaus was jumpy about him, she probably is too. My guess is she'll leave him to rot and go into his head to try and find the weapon herself. Then kill us all. Yippee."
Her dry tone did give the group some pause, but Buffy was in no mood to talk about her feelings so before anyone could question her theory she swung the bo-staff straight at Elena.
Drawing the brunette right back into training while the men went back to translating and complaining.
Hearing the clash of weapons slamming into each other, Giles sighed at the girls who continued to spar in the center of the room. Though he couldn't fight off the small smile as he watched.
Elena had certainly improved in her skill during her time training in Sunnydale.
With a fond smile now plastered on his face, the Watcher turned his attention back to the images on the tables "Given the resources I have from the Council we should be able to decipher the images soon and with that maybe we should be able to figure out what exactly this weapon is."
"As long as I get to run it through Klaus's heart I don't care what it is." Buffy snapped, her voice filled with venom. Not that anyone had a second to question it as she was currently spinning away from Elena. Coming up behind the brunette, Buffy tapped her bo-staff against Elena's backside causing a growl to escape the brunette.
"Stop doing that!"
"Get faster!"
"Girls will you desist!" Giles snapped in annoyance causing the sisters to giggle slightly before returning to their training.
Driving Giles insane was quite the bonding experience for the two of them.
Just the sight of the two girls trying not to burst into laughter as they spared made the Watcher groan "The earth is doomed."
At the exhausted tone of Giles's voice, Stefan smiled slightly. He did like the Watcher, he was a kind man who hadn't immediately judged him because he was a vampire. Plus, it was nice seeing a father figure in Buffy and Elena's lives "Then all we have to do is find out what they mean."
Damon scoffed "Well, fine, fine if I'm being irritatingly optimistic like you all...how do you suppose we do that?"
Lowering her weapon, Elena turned to Damon, her eyes jumping as a plan started to form "I have an idea. If the story's about the Original family living here, then we go straight to the source."
Everyone froze at her words, staring at her with wide eyes, clearly waiting for the rest of the joke.
Elena just sighed "Rebekah is our best bet."
She did have a point.
Giles hated the idea but it made sense. In theory, Rebekah had all the information already, all they had to do was find a way for her to open up "Perhaps..."
"NO!" Stefan, Damon, and Buffy exclaimed.
Not willing to take no for an answer, Elena crossed her arms over her chest, focusing her gaze on Buffy. As she narrowed her eyes trying to make Buffy click what the plan was without words, Buffy frowned clearly taking a moment to try and understand where exactly Elena's mind was going.
As Elena arched a teasing brow at her, everything clicked.
Hell no!
This had to be a joke!
"What?! No, not fair. Are we forgetting I went all Rambo and tried to rip her head off the other week?"
"Buffy, you're the best way to get her to talk."
Standing there flabbergasted, Buffy started shaking her head like a small child getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
How on any earth was this fair?
She so did not want to get with the girl bonding with Rebekah of all people. It would probably just encourage more of Klaus's flirting and comments about her getting to know her future in-laws.
No, thank you.
"What but...why can't Stefan do it?" She quickly turned to him, a puppy dog look covering her features as she pouted "She is obsessed with you."
Stefan chuckled, trying not to focus too much on the adorable look on her face "I've been ignoring her, and I'm not exactly begging at her feet like she wants."
"Can't you just a little bit?"
At the 'Are you kidding me' look he threw at her, Buffy groaned "Okay yeah bad idea. But still, I'm not doing it."
As much as she hated her own idea, Elena kept pushing, she had to make Buffy see that for the moment it would be better in the long run.
If they wanted to get rid of Klaus, Buffy would have to play the Original Family bonding game.
"Buffy, she practically thinks you're going to be her sister-in-law."
Buffy shuddered slightly at the thought as does everyone else in the room. Just the thought of Buffy and Klaus being Mrs. and Mr. Hybrid was straight out of a freaking nightmare.
"This is a bad idea." Damon argued.
Buffy rolled her eyes, obviously, her marrying Klaus was insane, they could all agree on that "I'm not gonna marry Klaus."
"No, you talking to Rebekah."
Despite Damon's strong protest, Buffy turned back to Elena who unlike Damon was adamant that this could work. Clenching her jaw as she processed her options, Buffy reluctantly settled on Team Elena this time around.
As of right now, no one else had suggested anything better.
"Okay...I'm the only one in this room she doesn't hate. Plus, it helps I can kill her if need be."
Clenching his jaw, Damon glared over at Elena, this had been her idea so if anything went wrong it was on her, but he couldn't exactly argue. He couldn't offer up any other ideas so for now, he would deal.
Turning back to Buffy, he reluctantly nodded in agreement before smirking playfully at her "Just rip the skank's head off."
"You're not helping."
**
Buffy groaned in annoyance as she watched Rebekah do backflips across the quad while the other cheerleaders clapped for her.
She was clearly loving the attention and praise.
Just as Rebekah came to a stop in front of her Buffy rolled her eyes, she was gonna kill Elena for this.
Ignoring the very obvious annoyed look on the Slayer's face, Rebekah merely grinned happily at the sight of her "Hello sister."
Buffy fought back the urge to gag "I'm not your sister."
"Not yet." Rebekah teased with a small laugh before looking at the other blonde seriously, all signs of that sweet smile long gone as she narrowed her gaze in an almost threatening manner.
Not that it fazed Buffy in the slightest.
"Now what do you want? You're not gonna try and rip my head off again are you?"
"That's starting to sound more tempting." Her response was flat, and as much as she wanted to leave right now, she could hear Elena yelling in her ear. She was in no mood for a Gilbert lecture "Actually, I need to talk to you."
"About what?" Rebekah asked curiously.
She actually had no problem spending time with Buffy, there was something about the Slayer she liked. In the Original's opinion, Buffy was far more tolerable than the doppelgänger.
"Stefan?" When Buffy stared at her blankly, unblinkingly refusing to give her the response she craved, Rebekah chuckled "Ooh, or is it about my brother?"
"A million times no." Buffy mumbled, shivering in slight disgust. She could already tell this was going to be a long-ass day if she had to put up with constant comments about her apparent destiny with Klaus.
"Oh come on Buffy...I know you are dying to know more about my brother. And since we're gonna be family soon, I'll lay off Stefan, girl code and all."
Swallowing the lump that had quickly formed in her throat at the mention of Stefan, Buffy tried to bury the small sense of jealousy she could feel bubbling at the surface. Burying down her confusing feelings for her ex, Buffy quickly focused on the whole reason she was stuck gossiping with the talkative Mikaelson.
Stefan was the furthest thing from her mind right now, and it needed to stay that way until Klaus had been dealt with.
"Actually why don't we talk about my future family history?" She suggested as she revealed the photo of Rebekah's name that she had found in the cave.
As her eyes landed on the Viking script, Rebekah's face fell, her eyes filling with horror at the sight of the image.
She hadn't seen that carving in over 1000 years and the sight of it had clearly taken her off guard which just made Buffy smirk.
Having no idea that her smirk just reminded Rebekah of all the reasons she believed that the Hybrid and the Slayer were made for each other.
"Why don't you tell me why you've spent what? A thousand years running from your father?"
The question seemed to shake Rebekah enough to make her no longer eager to spend time with the eldest Summers girl "I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner."
Buffy shrugged slightly as she watched Rebekah walk away "Okay, guess I'll just have to ask dear old future father-in-law when we wake him."
At her words, Rebekah halted in her steps and glanced back at the blonde Slayer waiting for her to break. To admit she was bluffing, but Buffy merely grinned.
Rebekah scoffed "You're lying. You don't know where he is. No one does."
"Well, I guess Mary was kidding when she said she had spent the past few days in Charlotte with dear old Dad."
The idea of her father being woken up terrified Rebekah to her very core, more than anything else. The fact that Marianna of all people would resort to waking Mikael just made the situation more horrifying.
Clenching her jaw she quickly approached the younger blonde, narrowing her gaze threateningly "If you wake Mikael, we are all doomed. Including you. Do you really think he won't come after you, considering what you mean to Nik?"
Despite the threat to her own life, Buffy didn't care right now.
If she died taking down Klaus then so be it.
What annoyed her more, was the way Rebekah seemed to think Klaus cared for her, Buffy didn't want to let that idea enter her own mind. She had been trying to put all thoughts of Klaus out of her mind lately, her feelings were confusing enough so she refused to let him enter her thoughts unless those thoughts involved her throwing something very heavy at him and tossing him out a window.
"You want me to be a part of your family right? To be your friend? Well then tell me about the danger that I am a part of it."
While yes, technically Buffy's words made sense Rebekah was still hesitant.
Talking about her father was a difficult subject but still of all people Buffy deserved to know. She was tied to the Mikaelson family because of a Prophecy she hadn't even known about.
She had been born into their drama.
A Mikaelson without the name.
She had never chosen to be a part of it.
"Buffy..." Rebekah whispered softly, almost sounding concerned which made Bufy falter slightly at the shift "You are tied to my family because of fate...but, trust me when I say you do not want Mikael running around."
"Why not?" Buffy questioned.
The more vague Rebekah got the more she wanted to know.
If Mikael would really come after her as well just because of her intertwined destiny with Klaus then she needed to know more. She needed to know what she was up against so she could keep Elena and Jeremy out of harm's way.
"I have to get back to the girls right now... I'll call you when I believe you are ready to know the truth, sister."
**
THE NEW WORLD: A THOUSAND YEARS AGO
Scanning their small village in search of her raven-haired sister, Rebekah's eyes filled with mischievous glee as she spotted Marianna attempting to sneak out of the hut at the end of the village.
Her cheeks were bright red as she blushed.
Love practically dripped from her eyes.
"Now where have we been sneaking off to dear sister?" Rebekah teased causing Marianna to gasp in shock, her hand automatically jumping to her chest as her heart beat erratically against her chest.
Spinning around the witch panicked, momentarily glancing around to make sure no one else had spotted her sneaking around before throwing a small glare at her younger sister. Even if she was only two months older, she would hold it over Rebekah for eternity.
"Bekah! I told you not to do that anymore."
"And Father told you to stop flocking around with that swordsman."
As Marianna blushed slightly, Rebekah giggled and wrapped an arm around her waist "You cannot keep secrets from me, Marianna."
Marianna sighed happily before leaning her head against the door, thinking back to her meeting with Erik. The man Mikael had made it very clear she was supposed to stay far away from "You cannot tell Father."
Ever the firm believer in the girls of the Mikaelson family sticking together, Rebekah grabbed her sister's hand and linked their arms together as they began walking side by side through the village "I shall never speak to a soul."
Marianna sighed before a small grin filled her lips, she truly couldn't keep secrets from Rebekah...at least not yet.
"He wants us to marry."
At the prospect of a wedding, Rebekah's eyes widened in excitement and joy for her best sister. She couldn't help the sequel that escaped her before she threw her arms around Marianna, more excited that she would get to help plan a fabulous joining ceremony than anything "Marianna, that's amazing news!"
"Shh." Marianna breathed out in a panic before looking around to make sure no one had seen them.
She was paranoid, to say the least, constantly looking over her shoulder.
"I didn't say yes."
"And why not?"
Her reasons against marriage were very simple. Despite her love for Erik, she had a greater love for the coven, for the witches.
"I am the source of light magic Rebekah, my duty is to teach the next generation, to make sure the spirits and their ancestors don't give in to the darkness. When the spirits chose me I was told I couldn't let love get in the way of my duty."
Rebekah pouted, while Marianna possessed great power and was a truly talented witch much like their brother Kol, her power came with a cost. She couldn't help but feel horrible for her sister, to find love only to be told she couldn't have it sounded so crushing.
Rebekah could only imagine what heartbreak Marianna was feeling "I believe you could still do your duty and be with Erik."
"I don't know." Marianna breathed "I love him but I will never age and the idea of watching him grow old and die breaks my heart. Mother has always said that my power is a gift but that there are consequences."
Refusing to believe that Marianna had to give up everything just because some higher power told her she was special, Rebekah squeezed her hands tightly, wanting nothing more than to make sure her sister got to be happy.
Did being the Chosen One really mean that she had to suffer?
That did not seem fair.
"I shall not give up." She said strongly with a smile and she wrapped an arm around Marianna hugging her to her side "You will marry Erik and still be able to do your duty."
"You have more faith than I."
Rebekah giggled slightly before her eyes fell on their brothers, Elijah and Niklaus, playing with swords while their youngest brother Henrik watched.
"Come our brothers are fighting again." She laughed gleefully as she grabbed Marianna's hand and dragged her toward the two.
As they watched the two spar, Rebekah smiled as she spotted Marianna no longer watching, instead her focus was on Erik who was standing on the other side of the village his gaze fixed on Marianna's.
Rebekah could practically feel the love between them, it didn't make her jealous but rather hopeful.
Maybe one day she could find love like Marianna and Erik.
Despite the loud clang of swords clashing together, Marianna found herself lost in her own little world with Erik, the words of her adoptive siblings falling to the back of her mind as she smiled at the man she loved.
'I love you.' He mouthed
'I love you.' She mouthed back before Rebekah nudging her side drew her attention.
Marianna tore her gaze away from Erik only for her eyes to widen as she spotted Mikael and Esther watching Niklaus and Elijah. Her eyes instantly filled with panic when she spotted the look on Mikael's face, he was furious which made her quiver in fear.
Rebekah's hand clenched tightly around hers as Mikael began approaching Niklaus with murder in his eyes before taking the sword from Elijah "So...why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?"
"Father!" Marianna tried only for Mikael to glare over at her "Quiet woman!" He hissed before swinging the sword at Niklaus.
"Father, we were just having fun." Niklaus tried, his voice quivering in fear as he spoke.
So much terror held against his own father.
It was sickening, one should love their father but Mikael only summoned fear out of all of his children.
"We fight for our survival. And you find time for fun?!" Mikael yelled causing everyone in the village including Erik to watch the display in horror.
Marianna caught Erik's gaze, she could see the worry in his eyes but she shook her head, she didn't want to risk anything happening to him. Despite Mikael's rage, he wouldn't kill Niklaus, she wouldn't let him.
"I want to have fun!" Mikael screamed at his son, taunting him "Teach me. Come on!"
"Father it was nothing." Niklaus persisted but Mikael just growled, swinging his sword violently at his son who desperately tried to block his blows.
When Mikael knocked down Niklaus, Marianna gasped as she watched Mikael raise his blade, before she could stop herself she raised her hand covering Mikael's sword in a bright purple glow making him freeze, no longer able to move his sword.
"Marianna!" Esther exclaimed before making her way around to her prodigy who was staring fearlessly at the man who had raised her. Ignoring her adoptive mother, Marianna twisted her hand causing the purple glow around Mikael's wrist to violently yank the sword from his grasp "Enough!" She yelled at her father "You've made your point, father."
"Release me, girl! NOW!"
With one more display of her power, Marianna summoned Mikael's sword to her own hand, keeping it away from the violent Viking before she finally allowed the purple glow holding him back to dissipate.
Slowly the rage faded from Mikael's eyes as he watched the young powerful witch holding his blade tightly in her hands, a strong-willed stubborn look on her face.
Why she chose to defend his weakling son of all people while she possessed such power he would never understand.
Chuckling softly, he glanced down at his terrified son who was moving behind Marianna, allowing the witch to defend him "That is power! Courage, she has it yet you... don't even know the meaning of the word...some days, it's a miracle you're still alive...boy."