tw: fighting, blood, character death, mentioned/referenced/implied sexual abuse and physical abuse

( 10th century — kingdom of norway )

Athena was a little nervous.

She felt like something was wrong.

She knew something was wrong.

They had been getting ready for the last hour. Alix should be back at the house in about 9 hours. Then she would come here which would only take minutes because of the quick travel Athena set up.

But, that's not what was wrong. Athena felt something coming.

Freya had been sticking to Esther's side, the two talking and crying and hugging. It was warming to watch and it filled Athena with pride. Her family was slowly coming back together.

Maybe.

Athena looked up at the clouds. It was bright out, not a cloud in sight. So what was wrong?

Her eyes flicked up to Freya's who was already staring at her intensely. Athena tilted her head curiously, wondering if Freya felt the same feeling bubbling under their skin.

"Athena, run," Freya said, something close to panic in her voice.

"What?" Athena blinked, bewildered.

Esther looked up from the grimoire Athena had begun and Freya's own. Finn turned around from where he was sharpening his long sword.

"She's coming. Run!" Freya demanded and Athena was knocked off her feet.

"What?" Esther demanded, grabbing Freya's arm to stop her from throwing Athena around once again.

Freya looked into her mother's eyes. Esther felt like she was stuck in ice from the terror in Freya's eyes. "Dahlia. She's coming. She's almost here. We're not ready and if she figures out Athena has the same power as me—has more..." Something twisted onto her features.

Athena looked at her mother, her breathing quick. She didn't understand what was happening. Esther looked at Athena with panic. "Run," she said.

"Athena, go!" Finn yelled.

Athena scrambled up and sprinted into the woods. 

( 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖔 )

"What do we do?" Finn asked as he came up beside his sister who was strapping her dagger around her waist.

"She knows," Freya replied, looking between her mother and brother, "we're going to have to fight. I don't know how she knows but I can... I can feel that she does. Her magic is weighing on me."

"Like you did to Athena," Finn muttered and Freya nodded. Her senses were dulling and it was making her survival instinct go feral.

"So then we fight," Esther said, looking down at her cuff, "I won't let either of you or Athena or my kids be taken from me again." Freya hugged her mother tightly, swallowing roughly.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Esther murmured, kissing her forehead, "are we ready?"

"No," Finn admitted as he twirled his longsword between his fingers.

"Me neither," Freya said, letting fire flick from her fingertips. She had Lady Athena's luck in battle, but she didn't think she'd be able to win this one. Not when her aunt still had full control over her mother. She wouldn't be able to kill either of them if it came down to it.

"Make that three of us," Esther muttered, sliding her fingers through the loop of her dagger. It hung by her ankles as she walked.

Freya struggled to breathe as Dahlia grew closer until she was in front of them. The woman stood in front of the three, looking at each one closely. She gave Freya a disappointed and annoyed look to which the woman trembled in fear or exhaustion she didn't know.

"Hello, sister," Dahlia said, her eyes landing on her younger sister.

"I am not your sister," Esther said, eyes set.

Dahlia smirked slightly, "that makes two of us." She sighed heavily, "If you are going to try and kill me... perhaps don't speak of it out loud." Her smirk deepened, "I hear everything."

Freya's face dropped as her eyes went to the well. The water.

Dahlia laughed which sent shudders down each of their spines. "So it's even... I won't control you," she briefly looked at her sister, "yet."

Esther grits her teeth.

Freya dropped to her knees, Dahlia's magic slowly choking her. She could barely move.

"Freya—" Finn moved slightly to help her but flinched backward when an invisible force lashed out at him.

Freya coughed and shook her head. "I... am... fine. Fight," she snarled.

Finn threw his sword while Esther came in right behind with her dagger, slashing at her sister.

Dahlia easily batted the two weapons away. The sword appeared back in Finn's hand as he rushed the woman. He knew enough defensive magic to be able to get close to his aunt. Dahlia dodged as much as she could as he attacked. He was careful not to leave any of his sides open.

He sliced her cheek and her magic lashed out, throwing him backward. He rolled and shot back up, having not felt the fall at all. He frowned and looked toward his sister who was getting up.

She wasn't as pale as before and she was steady. No more trembling. She was taking in a couple of deep breaths before regulating her breathing.

"You alright?" He asked, wondering how she had fought against Dahlia's magic while saving him.

"Very," Freya replied, glancing out at the forest. Finn followed her gaze but saw nothing. "Let's kill this bitch," she said.

"Agreed," Finn said. They moved forward to help their mother, but suddenly, a group surrounded them. "Oh... reinforcements."

"Of course," Freya muttered, dodging a club and slicing the attacker's neck.

Finn launched into the fight, meeting their attackers' hits with his own.

Esther felt power course through her as she sliced through every spell Dahlia put up. Just like the first time. She cut her sister's arm as the woman lashed out with her own spells.

"I will kill you," Esther said, her eyes glowing slightly. Dahlia frowned as she was forced to back up. "Then I will kill Mikael. And I will get to live happily ever after."

Dahlia faltered slightly and then shoved her sister backward. Esther flipped but landed on her feet, dragging her knife through the ground. "You brought this on yourself, Esther," Dahlia snarled, throwing offensive spell after offensive spell at her younger sister.

"How?" Esther demanded, easily slicing through the spells as she slowly backed up.

"You fell in love with Mikael," she spits, her eyes dark and angry, "you were so fond of him. Swooned by his charm!"

"I was never in love with him!" Esther shouted back, glaring at his sister, "it was always Alix! It has always been Alix!" She caught her sister in the shoulder with her dagger. Dahlia cried out as Esther yanked her dagger back.

"And yet, you married him!" Dahlia snapped, "do you know what he did to me?" She demanded, "he abused me since the first time he appeared! He forced me to—to do marital acts even though he had no interest in marrying me!"

Esther stared at her in shock. Then her eyes darkened slightly. "I am sorry for everything that man has done to you, Dahlia. I had no idea he had been doing anything to you—"

"Liar! Mother knew! You had to know, you two always spoke! About everything!"

"Mother... knew?" Esther breathed. Her mother knew that Mikael had forced Dahlia into intimate acts and that he had abused her and she still shipped her off. Forced her to marry a man she loathed instead of the woman who she loved? Forced her to marry the man who destroyed her daughter's relationship with each other and destroyed both of them? "Dahlia, if I had known any of that was happening, I would have killed him myself!"

Dahlia scoffed. Esther sighed. Her sister was too blinded by her anger and what she believed to be the ultimate betrayal to see the truth.

"You knew what he was doing to me, didn't you?" Esther asked. She had to. Her sister had given him complete control over her. Had given him the ability to do everything he did to her but without the ability to fight back. "This... this was your form of payback. Taking my child, destroying my relationship with Alix... forcing me to be with a man who not only abused me, but my children... all because you believed me to be in love with him when I was ten and three?"

That would've been the only time Esther had ever been infatuated with him. He was handsome then, kind and generous. But it had always been Alix. She never wanted anyone else.

Dahlia stepped toward her, the two closer than they'd been in years. "You deserve everything I have given to you. And more." She raised the totem and Esther panicked. "Ki—"

A red blur tackled the woman, the two crashing through the house.

"Athena!" Esther shouted, her eyes wide. Her daughter flew out, landing on her back a few paces away from her mother. Esther rushed over, helping the girl up. "What are you doing?!"

"Destroying the totem," Athena replied before shifting and launching herself back into the house.

She heard Dahlia scream out in pain and stumbled backward from the outburst of magic.

She heard a thud and turned. Her eyes widened as she saw Finn's form slumped on the ground.

"The magic knocked him out!" Freya called as she fought off the last of her attackers.

Esther rushed to her son, protecting him from the two attackers he had been fighting. She made quick work of them.

A yelp rang out as fire exploded from the house Dahlia and Freya had made their home. Athena bounded out with the totem between her teeth. Her fur was a little singed, but nothing bad.

"Destroy it, Athena!" Freya yelled.

Athena turned to rush into the forest, but her whole body convulsed. The totem slipped from her mouth as a loud whine exploded from her throat. She slumped to the ground, her limbs twitching as they morphed back into her human form.

"No!" Esther yelled when she noticed Dahlia holding her hand up toward her daughter.

Athena slumped a bit, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Her hand reached up toward a knife that was protruding out of her chest. It had shifted from where it had been under her heart after she shifted back.

"NO!" Freya cried out as she watched the light drain from her little sister's eyes. They stared into hers with nothing. No warmth, no excitement, no anger. Nothing. "ATHENA!" Freya rushed to her, cradling the young girl to her chest and wrapping her fur around her.

Esther felt her knees give out. "No..." she whispered, staring at her daughter in despair. She stared as Freya tried to revive her, as Freya sobbed and whispered to come back.

Esther heard footsteps growing closer but couldn't bear to look up. Finn still lay beside her, fast asleep.

"This didn't have to happen," Dahlia said as she stopped slightly to the right of her sister, staring down at her with fake sympathy, "if you had heed my warning and didn't come for Freya... didn't try to go against me. Athena might still be alive."

Esther's expression hardened, hatred and rage pouring out of her. Freya shuddered but didn't turn away from Athena.

Dahlia choked as a knife was shoved into her stomach. She looked at her sister in shock then back down at the knife.

Esther grabbed her sister by the back of the neck, glaring into her eyes. "I," she squeezed hard and Dahlia winced, "hate," she shoved the dagger deeper, "you." She was about to twist the knife when Dahlia's hand flew up to her temple.

Esther's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell to the ground.

Dahlia gasped, quickly healing herself. The wound on her stomach was healing very slowly, but she wouldn't die. She frowned in annoyance that she had let Esther get so close.

Dahlia huffed and looked down at her sister and nephew.

Screams echoed from around the village as fire erupted slowly from each house.

Dahlia held her hand out, a flame dancing in her palm. She raised it so it was above her sister and nephew. Then—

"Wait!" Freya got in front of them, cheeks stained with tears and even more falling from her eyes. She looked like a mess. Blood covered her clothes, none her own and most of it Athena's. "Don't kill them. Please. Please, I am sorry I went against you," Freya pleaded, falling to her knees, "I won't. I will listen. I will do your bidding. Just let them live. Please."

"They'll come for us."

"No," Freya shook her head, choking on a sob as her eyes went to Athena's body, "no. I will make sure they can't. We will be safe and we won't ever see them again."

Dahlia cocked an eyebrow. She looked down at her sister. Oh, how she would love to kill her. But this way, she gets to suffer with the actual loss of a child. This time one that she knew couldn't come back.

She smirked a bit. "Fine... but one last thing..." she flicked her wrist.

Freya slumped to the ground, unconscious. 

( 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖔 )

Finn woke up first, blinking his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that the sky was dark and that there was a potent smell of smoke in the air.

He turns onto his back. He looked up and found his mother on the ground at his feet, unconscious as well. He crawled over to her and gently shook her. "Mother. Mother, wake up," he said.

Esther slowly opens her eyes, unfocused. She blinks a couple of times to gather her bearings before she shoots up. "No," she said as she spun around. Athena was still lying on the ground, her eyes staring out at nothing. She half-crawled, half-ran to her daughter. "Athena—" she cradled her daughter to her chest, brushing away the blood-matted hair.

Blood seeped into Esther's trousers from the pool of blood that had formed underneath her daughter's body. Blood seeped into Esther's shirt from the blood covering Athena's upper body.

"No, no, no," Esther cried softly, pressing her forehead to Athena's, "my little girl. I'm so sorry. Please, please—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—come back to me, please. I need you to come b-back." A sob tore at her throat as she looked up at the sky, "please, bring her back. She—she's too young. Please. I'm sorry."

"Mother..." Finn muttered and Esther turned. He was kneeling beside Freya who too was staring at nothing. Her eyes were blank and glassy. Though, she was able to look at the stars. Esther could see Finn's body trembling with sobs as he held Freya's hand in his. "She... they..."

Esther felt her heart shatter. Two of her children—they had died at the hands of her sister. By a woman with a vengeance for something, Esther hadn't even committed.

She had lost two of her daughters because of a one-sided feud.

"No," Esther sobbed, "no." She gently laid Athena back down. "My girls... my poor girls..."

Finn sunk onto his butt, pulling his knees to his chest. He had lost two of his sisters after just getting one back.

His sisters were dead.

Dead.

Athena's finger twitched.

Then she sat up with a gasp.

She coughed loudly, blood coming up from what had been stuck in her throat.

"Athena!" Esther cried, grabbing her daughter's face and looking her over. Athena continued to cough until she was able to breathe again. "Oh, my sweet girl. You're alive!" She hugged Athena to her chest tightly, afraid to let go again in fear that she'd see the lifeless blue eyes staring back at her.

"How... long?" Athena rasped, exhausted.

"Too long," Esther said, brushing her fingers over her cheek. "They brought you back to me."

Athena hummed, her eyes slowly closing from exhaustion. "I... created... a spell," she explained, her fingers wrapping around her mothers. Esther's eyes flicked down, finding a golden ring shining back at her in the moonlight, "I had... a... feeling. Wanted... to be... sure."

Esther's eyes widened. Her daughter had created a spell to cheat death. Oh, the ancestors were probably rolling and screaming in their graves. "So smart," Esther muttered, kissing her daughter's forehead.

Athena laughed softly, the sound scratchy. "Finn... Freya?"

Esther turned, but her excitement drained out of her as she found Finn crying over Freya. She was still dead. If the gods had not given Athena back to her... they would not give Freya.

"Freya?" Athena had followed her mother's gaze. She stumbled out of her mother's embrace and toward her sister.

"Athena, wait—"

She did not. She fell beside her eldest sibling. She placed a hand on Freya's cheek, but the girl did not react. Her skin was cold. Athena leaned down to place her ear over Freya's heart.

Nothing.

Athena's hands shook a little as she placed her hand over her sister's heart. Her hands glowed.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked, watching as his sister's skin got more pale than it already was and sweat beads on her brows.

"Bringing her back," Athena replied, closing her eyes. She reached out for her sister's soul, searching for it. Athena was snapped back into her body without even being able to reach out. She jerked backward, blinking rapidly as Esther came to her side, gently holding her up. "It... Why didn't it work?" She muttered, staring down at Freya's face, "it should've worked..."

"Athena..." Esther cupped the side of her daughter's head, "she's gone. I am so sorry."

"No," Athena said, shaking her head as she reached for her sister's body, "I'm going to try again. It works. I did it before!" She placed her hand over her sister's heart.

"No," Finn grabbed her hand gently, "Athena, you're killing yourself. She wouldn't want that. Let... Let her rest."

Athena looked up at him in shock. "No!" She exclaimed, startling her mother and brother. "We just got her back—I finally met someone who understands the feeling of fire running underneath my skin! I fi–finally got to–to have someone who gets it! She can't just—she can't be dead."

She can't not want to come back.

All Athena wanted was to make her family whole again.

Instead, she got herself and her sister killed.

And only one of them came back.

And it wasn't the right one.

"I want to go home," Athena said.

Esther rubbed her daughter's back but Athena moved away from the touch. She dressed herself in the fur that Freya gave to her along with some other clothes she magicked herself.

Finn looked up at her mother. "What do we do?" He asked softly.

"I..." Esther looked down at her daughter and gently closed her eyes, "we'll... we'll take her back... and—and we'll bury her." She nodded firmly even as tears leaked from her eyes. "She... she deserves to be with us."

Athena scooped Freya up even though it was a little awkward since Freya was taller than her. Then she set off without waiting for her mother or her brother.

She just walked. 

( 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖔 )

Alix walked out of the house, shoving her extra clothes into the leather bag she brought. She had only an hour to get to the village where Esther needed her then she would find out what was happening.

The note had been very cryptic.

Meet her, Athena, and Finn in a village. The note would show the way, blah, blah.

She pulled the note out and looked up.

She stopped in her tracks as Athena came out of the woods carrying a body. And for a long second, Alix thought it was Esther and felt her whole world crumble.

Then her love walked out of the woods a second later, restarting time and letting her breathe.

"Athena?" Alix asked worriedly when she noticed the vacant look in her daughter's eyes. They were red, but Alix smelled no tears on her skin. If her daughter had tears, she never let them fall.

Athena ignored her, walking passed and toward the river.

Finn rushed after her, unsure of how Athena would react once they got there. She had been on autopilot since they left.

Esther came up to Alix and gently stuffed the note back into the bag. "Esther, what has happened? Who was that Athena's was carrying?" Alix asked curiously, concerned at the devastated look plastered on her love's face.

Esther looked up at her and set her hand on the woman's cheek. "Freya," she said softly. Alix blinked once, then twice. Disbelief. "Freya has passed."

Alix felt the bag between her fingers slip and fall to the ground. "What?" She asked, unsure if she heard the last sentence correctly. They both knew she did, her hearing was spectacular... especially so close.

"She is g-gone," Esther repeated.

Alix blinked rapidly, swallowing roughly as she stepped back. She hadn't even gotten to meet her eldest daughter. She hadn't even gotten to see what she looked like and now she was gone?

Forever?

"T-The children, I need—"

Alix grabbed Esther gently, tugging her into a hug. The woman had turned frantic now. "Shh," Alix kissed her head, "go with Finn and Athena. I will gather the kids and bring them. We'll... We'll make a proper burial."

Esther choked out a sob and nodded against her lover's chest. "I am so sorry."

Alix shook her head. "Later." 

( 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖔 )

Athena stood away from everyone else, on the opposite side and to the left. Alix had tried to approach her but her daughter's magic and wolf had reacted, so she had stayed back. She needed time, and Alix would gladly give it to her.

Athena had dug the hole all by herself even though Finn had tried to help. She had placed Freya into the hole so softly.

Then she had stepped away as if she had no right to witness such a sight.

Little Henrik held onto Esther's hand, unsure of what was happening, but knowing that it was bad. Rebekah stood next to Niklaus, holding onto his hand.

Finn was standing next to Esther's other side. Elijah had his hand on Kol's shoulder, brushing his thumb over his cheek as he stared at the grave.

Niklaus was watching his sister, feeling her emotional turmoil. It was a little overwhelming, but Athena seemed to be shielding a lot of it.

Alix was filling the grave back in after Esther had laid a single white chrysanthemum onto her daughter's chest. Alix had dressed her in a white cloth, similar to the one they use when pack members pass away.

Alix placed a pear tree seed into the ground and covered it back up. Esther murmured a soft spell and a small sprout pricked out of the ground. It would grow.

Athena stared down at the sapling.

"Freya Castillo... I did not get to meet you," Alix said softly as she took Esther's hand between her own and then wrapped her other arm around Finn, "I did not know you, no matter how much I wish I had. But you were my first-born. My eldest." Tears slowly gathered in Alix's eyes, "I will forever miss you and mourn both you and the relationship we could've had if not for that evil woman." She turned her head slightly, hiding her face in Esther's hair.

Niklaus hugged a sniffling Rebekah close to him, his own eyes wet.

Henrik held onto Esther's dress tightly, hiding half of his face behind her leg as he pouted at the grave.

"You were the most beautiful and loving soul I had ever met, in the short time that I was able to know you," Esther continued, her voice strained, "I am thankful to the Gods for allowing me to see you one last time before... before you had to leave... and I am so sorry that I could not protect you from that woman."

Athena straightened at that, something shifting in her gaze. Alix shuddered a little as she felt her wolf whine. Her eyes flicked to Athena, feeling the pure power radiating from her—not just her magic.

"And I am sorry that you died thinking Athena had passed on," Esther's lips trembled as she remembered her middle daughter's blank stare as she took her last breath, "but she is here. And she is strong. Powerful. Kind. You would be very proud of the woman she is becoming."

Athena looked away, tears blurring her vision.

"I wish I knew what more to say," the witch murmured finally, leaning her head against Alix's shoulder as she rubbed Henrik's back, "but I did not know you. And that is one of my deepest regrets."

"Rest, now," Alix murmured, "you are finally free."

Athena's jaw ticked as she stared down at her sister's grave.

I'll make you proud.

Then she turned and shifted, dashing off into the woods.

"Athena!" Alix yelled, jogging forward a bit. Her daughter was gone, but her scent was still there. She looked back at Esther who shooed her. Alix nodded and gave her children one last look and pressed a quick kiss to the witch's lips before taking off after her daughter.

AN: well... alix got to meet freya somewhat...? :) poor athena, always blaming herself. poor esther, losing her child. BOOOO DAHLIA

wc: 4216