chapter nine ─ homecoming

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WHEN MORRIGAN GOT THE TEXT FROM KLAUS saying that he was coming back to Mystic Falls in celebration of his father's death, she was a little thrown. It was quite the outright statement to make and he hadn't elaborated on anything that needed elaborating when she'd asked so she just settled on being happy that she'd be able to see her friend again.

It was also, apparently, Homecoming for the high school and Morrigan had gone dress shopping with Rebekah where she'd picked out several dresses and bought them all. Rebekah had asked her to come to the dance with her even though Matt was her date but Morrigan had said that she would think about it, never having been to a high school dance or particularly wanted to attend one, either.

Originally, the dance was supposed to be held at the school, but given that it was happening the same night that Klaus was returning to Mystic Falls to collect his father's body, he wanted to be as dramatic as possible. The way he decided to do that was flood the gym so that they'd be forced to move the dance and one of his sired hybrids -- whatever that meant -- would host the dance at his house.

That sired hybrid was, conveniently enough, Tyler Lockwood, so the party had quite the expansive area to use. Morrigan dressed up so she would mostly blend in without having to go above and beyond, and then popped into Lin's office before she left as she usually did. When she went in, he didn't even look up, eyes transfixed on something on his tablet.

"Lin?" she said.

"Huh?" he said, looking up a little startled. "Oh, Morrigan, what brings you by?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I was heading out to see Klaus."

"What for?" he asked.

"He's throwing some party for his dad dying or something, I wish I knew. But he wanted me to come by and it's been a while since I saw him, so I'm going."

"His dad?" Lin asked, expression falling.

"Yeah, honestly, I was confused, too. But he's a weird guy so I'm just going with it."

"Be careful," he told her.

"I always am, Lin."

"I'm serious," he said. "And before you go... I love you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do, I love you, too. Don't go getting all sappy on me now, Dad," she mocked, making him smile since she never called him that even though that's what she'd always thought of him as.

"Have fun," he told her.

She gave him a smile and left his office, heading downstairs and out the front door. Once she passed the front gate, she found herself on the street just outside the Lockwood property. Even though there were people who were presumably hybrids standing outside the steps, barring entrance to just anyone, Morrigan was allowed to just walk right on past into the house.

Inside, she snagged a drink and then continued further through the house until she came to the backyard. There was a stage set up there with a band performing already and Morrigan's eyes widened.

"Morrigan!"

Looking towards the sound of her name, she found Klaus heading towards her. He looked to be in a great mood as there was already a large smile on his face.

"Great party so far," she said.

"Not a party," he corrected. "A wake for my father."

"Right," she said, looking away from him and out over the crowd. "Why, exactly? Was your family originally from a culture that celebrated the end of life or...?"

"No, my father was a cruel and evil man who hunted me and my siblings across the world for a century."

"I see. Just a piece of shit, then."

"That sounds about right."

Morrigan laughed and looked back towards the stage and the band.

"Are live bands a normal thing for high school dances?" she asked.

"Don't think so."

"Didn't think that would attract any suspicion?"

"Didn't care."

That made her laugh again. Klaus motioned for her to follow him down further into the crowd and she went with him. He pointed out a few people as they went, telling her that he'd spend his time away from Mystic Falls creating more hybrids. He even explained the sire bond to her when she'd asked since apparently all the other hybrids were sired to him as well.

Klaus lead her through the crowd until they were near the stage. He told her to wait for a moment before he actually got up on the stage and took the microphone from the lead singer.

"Good evening everyone!" he called out, earning himself a round of cheers. "I wanna thank you for being here with me to celebrate! It's been a long time coming!"

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THERE WASN'T MUCH THAT MINA MERCER was afraid of anymore. She'd known the most dangerous family of vampires for years now, fallen in love with the oldest sibling walking and made best friends with the rest of them. She knew that, should any kind of harm ever come anywhere near her, hell would rain down on it before it got the chance to land even a single blow. Perhaps it was arrogance that lead her to believe that she could walk the streets as night began to fall with ease, but people around had begun to recognize the crest that she wore, identifying her as a part of the family they feared or admired.

Besides, she knew enough of self defense that unless someone came up on her completely in stealth and struck an immediate killing blow, she could take them down. Or escape at the very least. Her family had trained her as a hunter before they'd disowned her for falling in love and questioning their beliefs. When her family had still cared about her.

Her hand went to the necklace around her neck, the pendant that bore the Mikaelson crest. It was the best possible birthday present that she could have ever gotten from her favourite people in the entire world.

"Excuse me," called out a voice. Mina turned towards it to see a man older than herself with sandy hair. "I seem to be lost."

"Oh, well where are you trying to go?" Mina asked.

"I'm looking for someone, perhaps you could tell me if they're in the area?"

"What's the name of the person you're looking for?"

"Niklaus Mikaelson."

"Oh, you're a friend of Nik's?"

"You know him?" the man asked.

"Yes, very well. He's one of my closest friends. I was just heading home, I'll show you the way," Mina said, gesturing for him to follow. They started walking together. "You know, Nik's soon to be my brother and I know that he couldn't be happier about it. His elder brother, Elijah, has just proposed to me. Soon, I'll be part of the family officially."

"How wonderful," the man said. Mina, distracted in her happiness, didn't notice the man's tone didn't match his words. "How much further is it?"

"Oh, just ahead. Just up on the hill, that large house there," she said, pointing it out.

"Thank you, my dear."

"Oh, no need to thank me yet, we aren't quite there-"

A gasp was pulled from her lips as pain blossomed from the center of her chest. Her eyes came into focus and she looked up to see the stranger standing in front of her now, his hand in her chest and around her heart. A tear slid down her cheek as she suddenly understood what was happening, that this man was not a friend but an enemy and she had allowed herself to be blindsided, too lost in the happiness of her recent engagement.

"I'm sorry, but Niklaus cannot be allowed to be happy and I cannot have you getting in the way when I kill him."

Mina tried to scream, tried to beg him not to do it, tried to do anything at all, but the pain was all she could think about it and with a hand around her heart, she couldn't make her body move. The man pulled his hand out of her chest and as she fell, the last thing that Mina saw was her heart still clutched in his bloody hand.

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AFTER KLAUS GOT DOWN OFF THE STAGE to an amused Morrigan, he simply rolled his eyes at her snickering and they moved into the crowd once more. It wasn't long before they came across Stefan all dressed up in a suit for the dance.

"Quite the Homecoming," Stefan said.

"I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years. Granted, in no version of it were any of these people invited, but you get the idea," Klaus answered.

"A lot of details you had to iron out in that time?" Morrigan teased.

"More like adding things to make it better and better."

"So, what now? Stop running?" Stefan asked.

"Now I reunite my family," Klaus said.

"Your family. You mean the people you cart around in caskets?" Stefan questioned.

"That is kind of morbid, Nik."

"None of that matters anymore. Mikael is gone. Bygones will be bygones," Klaus said.

A group walked past them, complimenting Klaus on the party. One of the girls was wearing a crown of some kind, which clearly meant something to everyone but Morrigan.

"Seems the Homecoming Queen still walks among the living, which leads me to believe Rebekah isn't here..." Klaus said, looking around. "Where is she?"

"Oh, she brought me dress shopping with her," Morrigan told Klaus. "She looks stunning, I can't wait for you to see her."

"I have no idea where she is. I thought she was coming with Matt," Stefan answered.

"Oh, be honest now, Stefan. Where's my sister?" Klaus asked.

"I said I have no idea," Stefan replied irritably. "How would you like me to take you to your father?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it? Bring him to me."

"All right. Perhaps there's something in it for me...? My freedom from your compulsion?"

"Oh, you want your freedom. Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed, you'll have your freedom. It'll be my pleasure to give it back to you."

Stefan walked away from them then and Klaus and Morrigan watched him go for a moment. When he was gone not only from sight but also from earshot, the two friends looked at each.

"He needs to get some manners," Morrigan said.

"His humanity is off."

"And who do we have to blame for that?" she teased. "You know, I was told that he was actually the nice brother and you've ruined that now."

"Nice is for humans."

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "You're so full of shit."

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INSIDE THE HOUSE AND ONE OF THE MANY ROOMS they had, there was some kind of drinking game set up on a table. Klaus seemed to have a good understanding of the game he called beer pong and was more than happy to explain it to Morrigan so they could play. Judging by the expression on his face, he thought that he was going to beat her, but she wasn't going to let that happen.

Morrigan got pretty good at the game as they continued playing. And it was fun, too. But, after a while, one of Klaus' hybrids came up to him, stopping him from throwing the ball.

"You have a visitor."

"Well, tell my visitor I'm on the brink of victory here," Klaus said.

"On the brink of my victory," Morrigan said.

"He said his name is Mikael," the hybrid said.

That same feeling washed over her, the one that felt like she'd fallen into ice water, like death. She looked up at Klaus to see that his face had fallen as well. He dropped the ball into one of the cups on the table.

"Then I mustn't keep him waiting," Klaus said. "Move everyone out back. I'm gonna have a little chat with my dad. Tony, you know what to do."

When Klaus began walking to the front door, Morrigan instantly followed after him, more than curious about Mikael and especially her reaction to his name. When they reached the foyer, the door was wide open and there was a man standing on the other side of the threshold, clearly unable to enter the home.

Upon seeing him, Morrigan felt a hand squeeze her heart and she stopped short. Her hands started shaking and she couldn't understand why. She'd never felt this scared of anyone or anything she'd ever faced. Who was this man?

"Hello, Niklaus."

"Hello, Mikael."

Mikael's eyes moved off of Klaus and towards Morrigan and instantly his expression changed when he caught sight of her.

"You," he growled. "How are you alive?"

"I- I-" Morrigan stuttered out.

"Won't you come in?" Klaus asked his father, bringing his attention away from Morrigan. "Oh, that's right. I forgot you can't."

"Or you can come outside if you want."

"No one's going anywhere."

At the sound of another voice, everyone turned to look outside the house and beyond where Mikael was standing. There, at the bottom of the steps was none other than Lin, holding his scythe, his eyes fixed on the figure of Mikael.

"You," Mikael growled. "I should have known the girl was your doing."

"You need to leave this place in peace," Lin requested. "I won't ask twice."

The lights all around them started to flicker and spark, an obvious show of power on Lin's end. Seeing him here filled Morrigan with the confidence that had abandoned her upon seeing Mikael and she moved forward until she was standing next to Klaus.

"Lin, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Don't worry, Morrigan. Just stay in there where you're safe," Lin said.

"Safe," Mikael scoffed. "She won't be safe forever. And neither will you. I should kill you where you stand."

"This is your last chance to leave in peace before I make you."

"I'm not going anywhere until I do what I came here to do."

"So be it, don't say you didn't force my hand."

With a growl, Mikael launched himself off the porch at Lin and he dodged out of the way. Morrigan made to run forward, to help Lin in his fight against the man that scared her so, but Klaus grabbed her before she could cross the threshold and held her tightly.

She struggled, but Klaus was stronger than her so all she could do was watch on in terror as the man she thought of as her father fought the only man who truly scared her. For a while, they seemed to be evenly matched despite using such different weapons, both of them dodging as many strikes as they made or took.

But then something happened that Morrigan never could have seen coming.

Lin managed to knock Mikael back a few steps and when he did, the vampire reached into his jacket and pulled out a black dagger. Lin seemed to recognize it and looked surprised to see it in the hands of Mikael.

The fight continued from there, but Lin was being noticeably more careful to avoid the dagger than Mikael was wielding. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good and Morrigan didn't like the way it seemed to glint in the moonlight.

Morrigan began to struggle again when Mikael actually managed to knock Lin's scythe out of his hands and to the ground. Lin reached out to summon it back to his hand, but Mikael took advantage of his brief moment of distraction to plunge the dagger right into his heart.

The lights burst in a shower of sparks as Lin's scythe clattered to the ground instead of going back to his hand. Morrigan's heart dropped into her stomach as she watched Mikael pull the blood soaked dagger out of him and Lin stumbled back, falling to the ground.

"Lin!" she screamed.

His dark eyes met hers for a minute before he collapsed fully to his back. Immediately she could feel him dying as if she was being called to collect a soul. But there wasn't a soul to collect.

No. No, no, no, this wasn't happening. This wasn't possible. Reapers couldn't be killed, they were already dead. Lin couldn't by dying, he just couldn't be.

A scream tore it's way out of Morrigan as her legs gave out under her, eyes still fixed on Lin's body where it lay. Klaus kept his arm around her, holding her up. The lights inside the house burst in another shower of sparks, sending them all into darkness as Morrigan cried out in anguish at watching her father die.

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WHEN MINA FOUND HERSELF STANDING AGAIN in the same spot that she remembered having her heart pulled out of her chest, she was a little confused. She looked down, expecting to see a giant hole in her chest, but aside from the bloodstain on her dress in the spot it had happened, she was unharmed.

Looking around, Mina finally noted that everything around her seemed hazy and like the colours were all muted. And, it was as she was looking around that she saw the man that had killed her carrying her body away. Without even thinking about it, she followed after him, even more confused.

"Hey!" she cried. "What are you doing? What is going on here? Why won't you answer me!"

The man studiously ignored all her cries that she aimed at him as she followed him all the way to the town square. It was once they had reached the square that the man set her body down on the stone and started breaking up a cart that was left on the side of the road next to a market stand. He assembled something out of all the pieces and once he was done, he gathered up Mina's body again and placed her on a spike that was sticking out the rest.

Seemingly satisfied with his work, the man simply walked away and Mina watched in confusion, looking between him and her body that was on display. Then it clicked.

She was dead.

He had killed her.

Mina's knees gave out under her and she collapsed to the ground, staring up at her body in shock. That man had killed her and put her body on display for what? Hadn't he said that he was going to kill Klaus? Nothing was making any sense.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there when she heard the cry. Looking around, she saw Elijah and Klaus entering into the square from the direction that her body was pointed in. Elijah ran forward towards her, but before he could reach her, Klaus intercepted him and grabbed his brother, stopping him before he could reach her.

"Elijah," Mina cried.

"Let me go, Niklaus!"

"Elijah, you can't. It was Mikael, you know it was, we have to leave."

"I'm not leaving her there."

"We don't have time. We have to find our siblings and get out of town before Mikael finds us, you know this. Do you even know where Kol is right now?"

"Let go of me, Niklaus."

Mina watched with tears in her eyes as Klaus finally let go of Elijah and allowed him to approach her body. He stopped just short of her and reached out with a hesitant, shaking hand to touch her, but stopped just short of doing so.

"Elijah, I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't know who he was, I didn't know what he was going to do."

"Mina..."

She reached out for him, but instead of touching him, her hand went right through him. The tears slipped down her cheeks as she realized that she couldn't even comfort him.

Instead, she watched as he gently touched her cheek and then carefully unclasped the necklace from around her neck. He slipped the piece of jewelry into his pocket as Klaus stepped up next to him.

"Come on, we have to go now. They'll give her a proper burial, you know they will."

Elijah nodded, but didn't say anything more, following after his brother as he was lead away. Mina reached out for him again and made a step to follow, but found that everything was suddenly fading away and she was losing sight of him.

"No. No, no, no!"

Everything abruptly faded to complete darkness before Mina felt the distinct sensation of falling as the ground beneath her seemed to disappear. She felt like she was falling for only about a moment before everything brightened suddenly, blinding her for a moment as ground solidified beneath her feet.

Mina looked up and saw a man standing in front of her that she didn't recognize. He was older than her, clearly asian, with dark hair and eyes. He was dressed in the clothes of the time, but there was something about him that made her feel like he didn't fit with the clothes.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"You are on your way to the afterlife and I am the Grim Reaper. I would like to ask you a question and then I can escort you to the Other Side, if that is what you wish."

"I don't understand," she said.

"Well, you know that you're dead."

"Yes."

"My job is to make sure that you get to your afterlife safely," he explained. "But I find myself in a position that I am looking for an apprentice. I have been the Grim Reaper for a while now, so I believe that it's time for me to take on an apprentice to teach them to take over for me."

"I'm still confused."

The man smiled. "I understand it's a confusing situation. I would like to make you a Reaper and teach you to take over for me when it comes time."

"Why?"

"I feel you would be a good fit and a good reaper."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then I will take you to your afterlife, no harm done."

"And if I accept? What happens to me then?"

"You will be reborn, as all reapers are, and begin your new life with a new name, learning how to become a reaper along with all the other things that a person needs to know."

"Will I remember this life?"

"No. But, once you take over for me you will be allowed to see the history of your first life again."

Mina looked down and thought about the offer in front of her. She wouldn't remember anyone and she would be completely reborn but... if she took the offer and then eventually became the Grim Reaper, seeing this life again... well, she'd be able to find Elijah again.

He was immortal, he was one of the Original vampires. Sure, it might take a while to do but she'd be able to be with him again, to see him and apologize and hold him and comfort him. It would take time, but he had more than enough time left in his life that they could both wait and have their second chance.

Mina looked up at the Grim Reaper.

"I accept."

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MORRIGAN DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME HAD PASSED when a mug of something hot and steaming was set in front of her and a gentle hand was placed on her arm, trying to draw her attention. She barely noticed them but when a gentle hand on her cheek moved her head towards them, she saw that it was Alan with a soft and sad expression.

Her lip trembled and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry into his shoulder as he comforted her. For several moments she simply sobbed until it felt like she had run out of breath and had to stop. Alan brushed her hair away from her eyes and used a handkerchief to wipe her eyes even though she knew that it was pointless since she was going to cry again.

"I'm not- I'm not ready," she stuttered out. "He-he's gone and I'm not ready."

"Hey, hey, you're going to do amazing, okay? I know it."

She shook her head, not believing him. Before she could start crying again, he gave her a glass of water and helped her to drink most of it, then set it aside. It was then she noticed that she was still in the Lockwood mansion and there was a person that she presumed was a hybrid lingering in the doorway.

"I didn't get to say goodbye," Morrigan realized, the tears coming back fresh. "I didn't even get to hold him as he died. He was all- he was all alone."

Alan caught her as she broke down again and started sobbing. He rubbed a hand up and down her back soothingly, holding her tightly so that she knew that he was there for her. When she finally calmed down enough, he got her to drink more water and wiped away her tears.

"What was it that- that did it?" she asked. "Lin never mentioned any weapon that could... do that to a reaper, let alone the Grim Reaper."

"He mentioned it to me once, centuries ago now. The Obsidian Dagger." Alan reached down and brought something up. In his lap was now the very dagger on a white cloth. "After you... fell, your friend Klaus managed to kill Mikael. This was left in the ashes and he wanted you to have it."

"Mikael's dead?" she asked. Alan nodded. "That's... that's good. That's good."

"You know you can't stay here," he told her. "I know this is really soon but you need to take over. You'll have lots of time to mourn with the rest of us after you're the Grim Reaper."

Morrigan shook her head. "No, I'm not ready. I-I can't do it yet."

"Yes, you can. Lin chose you to be his apprentice for a reason, Morrigan. All the people in the world that he could have chosen and he chose you. If he didn't believe in you, you wouldn't be here."

"Here sucks," she said. "Here is where I lost the man that was practically my father."

"I know," Alan assured her. "Trust me, I know. But he believed in you, always. And so do I. So do all of us. It's time."

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an.