Esther's comeback honestly turned pathetic quickly, despite the slight complication about her taking over Hanna's body. Esther had tried to rile up her children from different angles, so far, failing each time.

First, Esther tried to persuade the werewolves to up rise against the Mikaelson's. However, none joined her.  They clearly remembered the last time they had gone up against the Mikaelson's, more than half of them were slain during the night. While most stayed loyal to Mikaelson's out of fear for their lives, there is a handful that is truly loyal. Those are the ones that recognize how much better their lives have become since Hayley passed and their curse was lifted, all thanks to the family Esther wishes for them to turn on. Loyalty is something very precious to the werewolves and they will not give it up for the undesirable promises Esther makes.

Esther, however, didn't stop with the werewolves. She simply moved on to the witches. Although, the witches that remained were few in number, they were even more fearful of the Mikaelson's than the werewolves. Once the brothers, and Claire, had taken control of New Orleans they unleashed a wrath upon the witches that will haunt them for centuries. They've seen how powerful they are, they've seen what they do to enemies and traitors, none of them wish for that fate. At the same time, like the werewolves, there are some that are truly loyal seeing as now that the Mikaelson's are in charge, they're free to practice their magic, within reason, without being killed in the streets.

Despite being frustrated, Esther continued to move forward and tried the vampires. Out of the three groups, the vampires prospered the most under the Mikaelson's. They all lived fairly and flourished while openly befriending the werewolves and witches. They not only refused to join Esther but laughed at her proposals of false promises.

After her third failure, Esther realized how rooted her son's are in the city. They have the fear, loyalty and love of those under their careful watch. All of the would rather die than go against them whether it be from their love or fear for them.

Desperate for some type of leverage, Esther tried the Hybrids. She had severely underestimated their love and loyalty to the Mikaelson's, specifically Claire. Some of the newer hybrids still felt the sire bond towards Klaus while the older ones remembered how Claire had fought for their safety and happiness. Her attempt had been such a disaster that she had nearly been kidnapped.

The Mikaelson's weren't stupid, they knew what Esther had been trying to do. As annoyed as they were at her for even trying, they did find each failure more enjoyable and laughable than the last. Never in the Mikaelson history has the siblings been more united, never have they ever had such loyal followers, and Esther has yet to truly grasp that concept. It was only a matter of time before she would be defeated. The only delay is their determination to separate Esther from Hanna before delivering the fatal blow.

Her failures had transpired over the course of three and a half weeks. While Esther had been attempting to turn the witches, Kai and Penelope returned to New Orleans. It had been months since they were last in the city and they were both missed dearly. When Esther was figuring out how to turn the vampires, Asher and Rebekah returned. Since their return, Asher and Archie have hardly left each other's side. The twins had missed each other more than anything, both hating the distance but understanding that it had to happen.

As the fourth week after Esther's 'epic' return started to pass, something happened that brought a genuine happiness between the three girls from Mystic Falls. Bonnie, who had been staying out of the drama as much as possible in order to have a safe pregnancy, finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Tiana Bennett.

"She's going to cause all kinds of trouble with Kaylin," Claire jokes sitting beside Bonnie's hospital bed holding her goddaughter, little Tiana. There's only a 7 month difference between the two girls.

"I can just see it now, the both of them running around New Orleans giving us heart attacks," Bonnie smiles thinking back to when they were in Mystic Falls.

"I swear if either of my girls gets pregnant in high school I'm going to personally castrate every boy they touch," Claire threatens causing Bonnie to laugh quietly. "You did a good job with this kid, Bonbon," Claire whispers. "She's so precious," Claire grins cuddling the baby closer.

"She has Jamie's nose," Bonnie whispers fondly.

"She's gonna be a little heartbreaker," Claire predicts. Bonnie simply hums not wanting to think about her little baby being old enough to go out with boys.

"Are you any closer to getting Hanna back?" Bonnie whispers.

"I don't want you to worry about it, Bonnie," Claire says gently. "We're going to get Hanna back, don't worry," She reassures.

"Claire, Hanna took me in just like she took you in. I care about her just like you do. She's taught me so much, she's basically always been there for me ever since I joined the coven,"

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Claire smiles thinking back to when she had first met her. She had been so hesitant to trust Hanna but now she couldn't imagine Hanna not being in the family. "We're close, we have a spell that we think will work. We just don't want to risk losing Hanna or hurting her." Claire explained.

"You'll figure it out, you always do," Bonnie says.

"No pressure or anything," Claire laughs a bit. Bonnie grins shaking her head slightly. A moment later, Tiana begins to wiggle in Claire's arms. Getting the message, Claire places her in Bonnie's arm. "Take it easy, Bonnie. Let us worry about Esther and Hanna,"

"I'm here if you need me," Bonnie says preparing to breastfeed her daughter.

"You'll be the first witch we come too," Claire winks. Bonnie smiles watching Claire walk out of the hospital room. "You have a very beautiful daughter," Claire compliments Jamie.

"Thanks," He smiles proudly. "I never thought this life was possible before meeting Bonnie," Jamie admitted.

"Trust me, I know exactly how you feel," Claire smiles patting his back. Jamie grins at her before slipping into Bonnie's room.

"Ready, Angel?" Kol asks appearing in front of her. Claire instantly smiles. Her hand raises and she gently wipes some blood from the corner of his lip. He smirks gently grabbing her hand. He looks into her eyes and gently suckles on her thumb, cleaning it of the blood smudge. "Delicious," he whispers.

"Flirt," Claire smiles. Her grin deepens when his arm snakes around her waist and pulls her against his chest.

"Just for you," He purrs bumping his nose with hers. She smiles giving him a light kiss. A throat clearing behind Claire is what pulls them apart. Koll looks up and growls at his brother. "Oh, fuck off, you'll get your turn" Kol grumbles refusing to release Claire. Klaus rolls his eyes.

"You can do that at home, we need to get going," Klaus tells them not even hiding the jealousy in his eyes. While it was natural for him to see Claire interacting with her other mates his own selfishness causes him to want to hog her to himself. After seeing how beautiful she looked swollen with his child, he wanted to make another with her. Sometimes it felt like a curse having to share Claire, although, he was never one to share. Life has a sense of humor.

"What's the rush?" Claire asks wiggling out of Kol's hug but quickly picks up his hand. Kol instantly intertwines their fingers and kisses the side of her head. Klaus rolls his eyes at his brother but smiles when he sees how happy his mate it.

"Elijah said he has something important to tell us," Klaus says leading them out to the car.

"Did he say what it was?" Kol asks. Klaus shakes his head driving the three of them to the plantation.

When they arrived at the plantation Klaus leads them into the meeting room, or the war room as Kol likes to call it. The meeting room is a recent addition to the plantation. Miraculously, it only took two weeks to build. It's the one room where everyone can gather in to discuss politics regarding the supernatural community in New Orleans.

The room is, without a doubt, the largest on the property. Claire had taken an idea from an old legend, King Arthur, and insisted they had a round table. Although the table ended up looking more like an oval compared to the circle she had envisioned. This way, no one sits at the head and they're all viewed as equals. Although her intentions were in the right place, it was obvious that some had more power than others.

Claire and her mate sat at one end of the oval. They over saw everything for every faction. Caroline and Enzo oversaw the vampires with Marcel being an assistant to them, of sorts, until they decide he's trust worthy for more responsibility. Archie and his mate, Kaleb, over saw the witch faction. Kieran continued working for the human faction with the help of his niece, Cami. Davina assisted Kieran and Cami with the humans while also assisting Archie and Caleb with the witches. Seeing as there aren't many witches, there's no need for three people to look over them. However, being a harvest witch, her opinion is greatly valued amongst the witch community so she divides her time between the two factions. Finally, two hybrids, Alison and Brandon, who were apart of the original group from when Klaus first broke his curse, were appointed to be advisors for the hybrids. They had yet to decide on werewolf advisors but there were some in mind, particularly the two that stood outside of the table.

Rebekah, Asher, Kai and Penelope also sit at the table. While they didn't work with a specific faction, seeing as they don't permanently reside in New Orleans, they still had everyone's trust to sit at the table and say their piece.

"What're your names?" Claire asks recognizing their faces but not being able to figure out what they're called.

"I'm Aiden, this is Oliver... Ma'am" Aiden says not completely sure how to address Claire. She smiles kindly hoping to ease they're anxiety. 

"Tell them what you told me," Elijah casually demands the two werewolves standing at the opposite side of the room from Claire and her mates.

"Esther has a group of children, untriggered werewolves" Aiden begins. "I overheard her talking about how she wants them to trigger their curse tonight during the blood moon,"

"What?" Claire whispers her jaw dropping. Instantly murmurs begins to breakout between everyone. 

"Children?" Rebekah asks through the noise. "How old?" She asks reluctantly.

"Teenagers, no older than 17" Aiden admits. "Most are closer to 15... I think there's one that just turned 13" The anger in the room is obvious as the talking becomes louder and more harsh.

"Where are the children?" Claire asks above the voices. Instantly, everyone silences and looks back to the werewolves.

"City of the dead," Aiden tells her. Claire sighs knowing that no vampire nor hybrid could enter without an invitation. Esther would have thought of this and casted a spell to prevent any other New Orleans witch for inviting them in. Claire could also assume that Esther has figured out how to keep her mates out of the cemetery despite the fact that they had been invited in.

"Do you know what humans she plans on using for them to trigger their curse?" Finn asks.

"No," Aiden shakes his head. "I think it would be public, probably during the All Hallows Eve party. A place where a small portion of the humans would be exposed to the supernatural,"

"Enough to gain our attention and force us to react," Henrik realizes. 

"That would complicate things," Father Kieran says not wanting humans to be killed in the first place but especially not wanting a bunch of kids exposing the werewolf faction.

"Is it just Esther?" Claire asks. "Or are there triggered werewolves helping her?"

"I don't think there's any werewolves helping," Aiden shakes his head.

"A lot of these kids grew up in human families," Oliver speaks up. "They don't know what's happening, they don't understand. Esther coerced their parents with magic and deals, I'm not really sure but they handed over the children without completely understanding the consequences,"

"How many?" Henrik asks.

"21 kids," Oliver tells them. "Kids that won't be able to control themselves, kids that Esther will most likely give the ability to change at will"

"Well, is she succeeds I can just see everyone trying to drain me dry," Klaus jokes knowing his blood is the only cure to a werewolf bite. Claire shoots him a small smile hoping it wouldn't get to that point. She didn't want Esther to turn a bunch of children into killers. Claire didn't know it was possible but her hate for Esther Mikaelson grew.

"Will you two be able to recognize and point out all the children?" Claire asks them. They both nod.

"We looked after the kids for years, even when we were cursed. A lot of the werewolves would be able to pick them out. Even if they haven't triggered they're curse, they're family," Aiden tells them. Claire smiles not sensing a hint of lying coming from either of them. They truly believed the kids were apart of their family.

"If we're going to get the kids out of this and keep the human unharmed, we're going to have to work together," Claire sighs.

"The hybrids understand what werewolves go through, they understand the loyalty," Klaus brings up before looking at Alison and Brandon. "You two will be working with them," Klaus says knowing that he didn't need to specify that all the hybrids they could spare would be helping.

"We'll find the kids," Brandon nods.

"I want the witches finding Esther," Kol says looking at Archie, Kaleb and Davina. "We know she's at the cemetery or somewhere close, find her" He says sternly.

"We'll lend a hand," Penelope volunteered herself and Kai. Her fiancé grins happy to finally have something to do.

"And the vampires?" Caroline asks.

"Act normal, don't raise suspicion," Elijah tells her. "But look out for suspicious activity." Caroline nods slightly happy that she could continue her party yet disappointed that she couldn't help more with the children.

"Is there anything we can do?" Cami speaks up.

"Hope and pray your people don't get killed," Kol smirks slightly.

"We know there's going to be an attack against the humans and we're just supposed to hope and pray?" Cami raises an eyebrow not intimidated by Kol.

"We can have the vampires look after the humans," Enzo brings up. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind, we don't exactly like sharing out food" Enzo teases. Cami rolls her eyes but nods knowing it was better than nothing.

"Anything else?" Claire asks. Silence follows. "Alright then," Claire says standing up silently dismissing everyone.

*I named Bonnie's baby after Princess Tiana from The Princess and The Frog. I thought it was fitting since that movie took place in New Orleans. I don't know if anyone caught that or not.

Also, I hope you guys are still enjoy the book! I know things may seem a little slow, maybe boring, but I promise it'll start to pick up soon. Shit's about to get serious*