Elijah walked through the familiar woods around Richmond. A figure speeding around him.

"Try and catch me, Mr Mikaelson." She teased him. After a little more of running Elijah pinned her to a tree.

Elijah let out a laugh. "Caught you." He leaned and kissed her.

"I love you, Elijah." Her smile was bright as day making him smile as well.

"I love you too, my darling."

Her expressions changed to those of fear and betrayal. "You're lying!" Blood spurted out from her mouth making Elijah gasp in pain and fear.

"No. I love you, Mae. I do."

"Then why did you let him do it?" She asked and looked at his hand. When he glanced the way he saw he held her heart in his hands.

"No, Mae. I didn't do this. I swear, please."

"I loved you and you let him kill me. I hate you!"

Three words is all it took for Elijah to burst into tears.

A figure appeared through the forest shadows with a evil grin."Hello son."

Elijah stared in anger, pain and regret. "Mikael."

"Elijah? Hey, wake up. Wake up." Maeve shook him. He was thrashing in his bed grimacing because of a nightmare.

"Elijah. Wake up." She tried again. He sat up snapping his eyes open and breathing heavily. The first few seconds he equalized his breathing convincing himself that what he saw, what he heard was no real. It could never be real. Maeve rubbed his back and held his hand.

"Maeve..." His voice was soft and slurred.

"It's okay. It was just a nightmare. You're okay."

He glanced sideways at Maeve and hugged her and kissed her head.

"I'm glad it was a nightmare." He breathed looking back at her.

"You want to talk about it?" Maeve looked at him worried of what he might have seen.

"Not right now."

"Then let's sleep. We can talk whenever you want to."

Elijah laid back with Maeve by his side. She turned to face him as he held her close. His hands around her waist held her close to him. Maeve stayed awake until she knew Elijah was asleep. His frantic breathing and him holding her close made her scared and be worried for him. She snuggled herself close to him to give him the sense of comfort, closeness and warmth he needed.

Father Kieran died the night before. Every human, vampire, werewolf and witch in the quarter had arrived to pay their tribute to father Kieran. He received an Irish wake. Music was being played in the background and people danced with a sad smile on their face.

Elijah and Maeve made their way through the bustling bourbon street toward Rousseau's, both dressed in black. Maeve kept glancing at Elijah attempting to see if he was still alright.

"You want to talk now?" Maeve asked Elijah hesitantly.

"The dream. It was so real. We were in the woods near Richmond. I caught you after a while of chasing. I said I love you but then..." He paused. He looked down at his fingers and breathed a sigh.

"It's okay. You don't have to talk right away."

"I was holding your heart. In my hands." Maeve was stunned hearing it. She intertwined her fingers with his. She kissed the back of his hand and then rubbed circles.

"Mikael stood there too. You told me that he killed you and I couldn't do anything."

"Hey" she stopped and made him turn to look at her. "I am right here. Mikael is dead and no one in their right mind will kill me."

"Thank you"

"I'm all ears if you want to talk." Maeve pecked his lips and the two entered the bar.

Klaus sat at the table pouring himself a drink.

"Seems rather uncivilized to laugh and dance around the body of a loved one." Klaus said as the two settled next to him.

"Yes. Far better to practice your process of grief, isn't it, Niklaus? Denial, rage and hoarding coffins in basements." Elijah poured himself a drink. He steered clear of asking Maeve.

Hayley waltzed in and sat right in front of Klaus. "I'll warn you, Hayley, Niklaus is in a spectacularly foul mood today." Elijah bemused.

"Sod off." Klaus snapped glaring at his brother.

"What the deal with these moonlight rings?" Hayley asked looking over Maeve's shoulder every few seconds. "Oliver is trying to start a revolution every five seconds. People are scared, angry and frankly I am tired of stalling."

"It's a day of peace, Hayley. Try and enjoy it. In the meantime with all manner of unknown enemies conspiring against our family, you'll move back in with us." Klaus responded before he downed yet another glass of Scotch.

"Awesome!" Hayley replied sarcastically. "Then we can do that thing where you lock me in the tower, I escape, there's drama, and then you two realise that I'm very capable of looking after myself."

"The rings are in progress. I will live up to my word." Klaus assured. "We will punish whoever launched the attack on the bayou. And you will return to the compound for your own safety. But right now, I'm gonna finish this bottle and the next in hopes of drowning the demon that has chosen today to haunt me. Cheers Mikael. Impeccable Freudian timing." Klaus looked up at the ceiling and waved the bottle.

"Oh, fucking motherfucking frackers." Maeve mumbled looking at Elijah.

"Elaborate. Have you dreamt of our father?" Elijah gazed at his brother, an unsettling feeling of fear boiling in his undead heart.

"Go ahead. Have a good laugh."

"I can assure you there isn't a piece of this that I find even remotely amusing, Niklaus, especially, considering I have been dreaming of him, too." Elijah looked ahead at Maeve who shot him an assuring smile.

"If you are also seeing him, perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating further attack." Elijah deduced. Maeve turned to follow his line of vision and scoffed.

"I told you she's a Poltergeist. One word and I'll end her in ways she didn't even see in her worst nightmares."

"Do you ever think of anything other than violence?" Hayley looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"When it comes to anyone like her, no. It's my go to response."

"Well, then what better way to punctuate a day of peace than by killing someone." He waved his fingers at her as she shot him a smirk.

Kol walked into the bar and went to their table immediately. "So, who was this Father?"

"Former representative for human faction and a good friend for everyone in the quarter." Maeve told him.

"Spooky. Died of a deadth jinx, didn't he?"

"Kol! Honor the dead, will you?" Maeve snapped and pinched his hand.

"Ouch!" He yelped. "So, onto a more pressing question." He slid into the booth and sat next to Maeve. "Mochatini, do you have an answer to why I was visited by my father last night? It wasn't a dream that I like. Basically I like my dreams to be of women and nice alcohol, not a terrorising nightmare of Mikael."

"Oh you know Genevieve? The poltergeist I warned everyone about since like the fucking start? The bitch who ruined everything? She is behind all this."

Kol glanced at his brothers. "And why is she still smiling and giggling like a school girl? Shouldn't she be...dead?"

"We're working on that." said Klaus with a deadly iced tone.

"So the other side, where every deceased supernatural lives is becoming like Atlantis? Wiping itself off the face of the supernatural world?" asked Maeve. She stood in front of the long floor length mirror checking herself in it. Her eyes found Elijah's through the mirror.

He stood by the bed fixing his suit. "Basically. Niklaus gave a call to Bonnie Bennett last night." Maeve hummed being in a daze, lost in her thoughts.

Elijah crossed the gap between them. He placed his hands on her arms just above the elbow and leaned forward. He breathed in her Lavender scent, the loose strands of her hair tickling his jaw when he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"What's bothering you?" maeve caught his eyes through the mirror.

"It's just...if the other side is breaking, why haven't mum, dad and pops visited me? If Mikael could, why wouldn't they?"

"Maybe they didn't want to make it their goodbye. You already said your last goodbyes. They didn't want to do it again. For your sake and theirs."

"You're right. Probably that's the case." Maeve leaned back into his hold, a sense of warmth engulfing her as she did.

"Can we skip the funeral?"

"You know we can't. We have to pay our respects."

Maeve let out a tantrumy grunt making Elijah giggle. She walked away from his touch and turned around to face Elijah.

"I'm sorry, are you laughing at me?" inquired Maeve holding a stern gaze on him.

"You did just almost throw a tantrum." Elijah defended himself. Maeve narrowed her eyes on him before she gave a shove to his chest.

"How dare you!" she shoved him again. She repeated the action with a wide playful grin. Elijah let her shove him backward, he was too smiling with her. Ultimately his feet hit the bed making him sit down at the edge.

Maeve placed both her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "You are not acting like yourself. Where's the diplomat level headed man?"

"I hate to say it, my dear, but you have been a bad influence on me?"

Maeve gawked at his words. "Really? Is that why at the time of the Gala in Georgia you said that you would show me dominance? Am I the reason Elijah Mikaelson became a dominant?"

Elijah licked his bottom lip, his eyes travelling from her eyes to her lips. "Are you going to dominate me, Elijah?" she asked him in a sultry voice.

Elijah hummed as his hands ventured to her waist and forcefully brought her down so she now straddled him.

Maeve let her lips near his, barely touching before she pulled away. "Too bad. You have a funeral to attend and I business." she got up from his lap and exited the room. Elijah blinked his eyes trying to make sense of what just happened.

Maeve sat at her desk inside the lavishly furnished office at the top of a glass building situated to the North of the city. She was almost invisible with her head ducked low and perfectly hidden behind the stacks of files and papers.

"How the fuck do we have so much work with Marcel?" she groaned loudly before she banged her forehead on the desk top.

"Well, when you trust a vampire, you get extra work." said Florence satirically. Maeve lifted her head up ── but only slightly and peered over at her Beta.

"How are you feeling about this?"

"Well I am glad for Marcel that you decided to leave me out of the situation of dealing with him first hand. He would have been balls less if I had come with you." she stated simply, while flipping pages of one of the many files left to be reviewed.

Maeve chuckled with a soft blow of air and resumed work. "I am glad for that too. But I am asking you personally. How are you feeling about this?"

"Whether he really liked me like he said or was it just a way to grab more from us." her voice went from strict to soft and low. Maeve sympathised with her. Florence did like Marcel as more than just friends.

"I'm sorry Flore." Florence smiled at Maeve attempting her best to hide her disappointment.

"It's alright. It was a crush. I'll get over it."

The two resumed work falling into a comfortable silence. Standing by the desk both placed every file in the order of importance.

"One hour and done. Huh? We really do make a good team." said Maeve.

"We do! Yay for us." Both have each other high-fives, proud of themselves.

"Drink?" asked Maeve, already making her way to the cabinet.

Maeve brought out a bottle and two glasses. She paused and cleared her throat as she felt a scratch in the back of her throat. Maeve coughed a few times and tried to clear her throat even more but nothing worked.

"Maeve?" Florence called her name. Maeve looked up toward Florence. Her vision blurred first, black spots covering it entirely then. A low tinnitus ringing sounded in her ear making her feel disoriented.

Maeve felt her body grow lethargic and her losing any control over it. Slowly the darkness that only came in spots over her eyes consumed more and took over her.

*****************

Maeve gasped loudly and coughed. Her eyes slowly started to get accustomed to the unnatural brightness around her. Her eyes vibrated under the bright light that fell on her seemingly from every possible direction.

As her eyes got used to the light, Maeve became aware of where she was. She recognised the Victorian style construct before her. She stood on the bourbon street outside of the Abbatoir.

She noticed panicked people running around her. Maeve was utterly confused. She was in her office and now she was here in front of her home.

The bright environment and the slight fog around almost convinced her she was somewhere she shouldn't be.

She stepped inside, oddly suspicious of everything around. A loud crash and voices echoed from inside the infrastructure catching her attention.

Maeve ran inside immediately following the voices. She froze in place seeing the two people in the compound locked in a confrontation.

The tall man with a demanding and angered presence turned his head to Maeve. Maeve suddenly felt anger surge within her. She curled her fingers into a fist, but focused on the woman instead of giving the man the pleasure and satisfaction of having her entire attention.

"Hayley!" she yelled in shock and strode over to her immediately. "What's happening?"

"We're on the other side." said Hayley. "How──why are we here?"

"I don't know but we need to go back."

"Nobody is leaving." the man announced. Maeve turned to him, placing herself in front of Hayley and faced the man who only caused anger.

"Mikael. I see you're still fucking everything. Didn't the infiltration of your son's heads in dreams get creepy enough that you're here fucking trying to attack a pregnant woman?"

"The deathless vermin, fancying himself a daddy? Like your bloodline isn't filth enough you poison it by merging it with his. There is no saving that atrocity festering in her womb. Klaus will destroy it, one way or another. Better it dies now, and she along with it!"

"You're dead." said Hayley. She stepped around Maeve and stood next to her. "Your son beat you!"

Mikael stalked forward like a predator. Hayley took one second to look at Maeve and the Lycan knew what to do next.

Maeve placed herself in front of Mikael. The piece of wood in his hand pierced through her left shoulder making her yell out in pain. Hayley backed away scared seeing the pointed end of the wood dripping with her blood that had penetrated through.

Mikael stepped away immediately leaving the piece of wood stuck in Maeve's shoulder. Maeve used her right hand and screamed at the top of her voice as she tried to pull the piece of wood from her shoulder.

Mikael turned towards Hayley. He picked up another chair and threw it on the floor breaking it into pieces. He picked up the leg and prowled to attack her.

Hayley ran up the stairs but Mikael was right behind her.

"Let me tell you something you piece of shit!" shouted Hayley and picked up a discarded coat rack. "My daughter has an advantage Klaus never had──she will never, ever know you." She stabbed him with it and ran down the stairs again.

"Hayley!" she ran over to Maeve. "Think about the compound. Think about being there with Nik and everyone."

"Okay. Okay." Hayley thought strongly. "Wait, what about you?"

"Me? I've got a score to settle. You need to go back. Staying here too long isn't good for your daughter." Maeve gave her a push and Hayley was gone.

______________

Hayley gasped as her body jerked and spasmed. She sat up looking around her. Klaus grabbed her hand and placed a comforting hand on her back.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're okay love."

"I saw him. I fought him, he tried to kill me. I fought Mikael." Hayley revealed to him and Elijah. "She helped me."

The pronoun 'she' was enough for both the brothers to know immediately who it might be. "He hurt her. She's hurt. We need to help her."

"I'll be on my way." Elijah announced and left the Abbatoir.

________________

Maeve punched and kicked Mikael sending him on the ground. "Are you serious? This is the great motherfucking Viking who terrorized his fucking son! Look at it! The pathetic hypermasculine dick sprawled on the floor bested by a woman a percent of his age and half his height. How does it feel?"

Mikael grunted attempting to stand back up on his feet. "You are a vermin. Vermin who thinks that bastard is worth love. Any of them are."

"I'm not the Vermin who loves the ones you terrorised. I am the Abomination who will always protect them." she kicked him one more time in the gut sending him to the ground. 

"Leave her alone!" came a booming voice from behind them. Both turned to the entrance to the compound. Maeve stumbled a step back gawking at the woman standing in front of them. She had long black hair that reached her waist and deep brown eyes, almost black. Her features however, a curved jawline, narrow nose and a pointy chin. Everything about her facial features, her stance, her walk and her eyes resembled uncannily those of Maeve herself.

Mikael gasped, rising to his feet, "Iona." he said in a rasp. 

"Hello Mikael. I see you are still as obstinate as ever." her voice was calm and unyielding. 

"I cannot believe it. You..."

"That is my descendant you are berating, Mikael." Iona said, stepping closer to Maeve. "I hope you are doing so with much thought." Mikael did not respond. 

"Leave. This is not your place." another voice joined the conversation. It was Kade Kalon standing in front of Jared and Gemma Kalon, all fiercely holding their gaze on Mikael. Mikael gave one last evil look to Maeve and left the compound. 

"Pops! Mum! Dad!" Maeve ran to them and leapt into a hug. Everyone circled around in a family hug. 

"Oh! This feels so good." mumbled Gemma into the hug.

"I thought you didn't want to see me?" Maeve whispered tightening her hold on them.

"Don't be silly! We just didn't want you to see us like this." they all pulled away immediately.

"Are you really leaving?"

Gemma ran a hand over the side of her daughter's face. "Darling, we'll never leave you. We are always with you. Every decision, every single moment, we are always there with you."

"Mom, I'm so sorry I gave up my magic. I──"

"No. You did nothing wrong. You were the perfect Serene then and you are the perfect Serene now. You did what a Serene does best, protect she loves more than she loves herself."

"Oh and by the way..." began Jared. He quickly glanced at his father, Kade and turned to his daughter again. "Excuse my language but I can't hold it. You are one badass woman. I loved what you did to those misogynistic bastards."

All four of them giggled at Jared's words. "Luther sends his love too. He went to Georgia to speak with his wife. He met Ezekiel yesterday so..."

"I hate to break this moment, but kind of an important matter here." Iona spoke up.

Maeve turned to the older Serene. "Wow. Uh, how do you know Mikael?"

"I was alive when they all were humans." Iona revealed. "I was the village healer. We resided in Mystic Falls. All three covens as well."

"You knew the Mikaelsons?"

"Yes. I knew them all as humans. We were quite close." Maeve gawked at the information.

"But they don't..."

"Esther. She erased me from their memories." said Iona grievingly. "But she didn't focus the spell so strongly with them all. Some residual feelings remained on the surface while the memories were locked within their minds."

"I don't understand." Maeve confessed still uncertain and curious.

"The new world was just born. Civilisation had evolved from the olden days. I was the healer in the Viking village. They all knew I was a Serene. I healed their battle wounds or any other illnesses as best as I could. Mikael and his family were the curious talks of the village. Mostly because of the two brothers seeking to court one woman."

"Familiar with the story."

Iona chuckled. "Yes the doppelganger seems to have quite the reputation. I was quite close with the oldest. Finn. He and I would talk for hours by the falls nearby. Through him I got to know the siblings more. I loved them like my own siblings. Elijah was always detached and I didn't force him to bond. He always liked watching his siblings happy more than anything else. But Niklaus had a knack for beauty. He loved to paint. He would sneak into my chambers when Mikael was doing his own work to paint. Rebekah called me his sister."

"I don't believe it."

"But then Henrik died and the family never became the same."

"The spell." Maeve gasped. She pressed her hands to her lips unsure of what would follow.

"I warned Esther of the consequences but she feared Mikael. When I threatened to reveal the truth about the dark magic she intended to perform she killed me."

"No wonder she tried to kill you." said Kade.

"Yes. Her anger remains as livid as the day I warned her of what would become of her children for Serene witches. I died the night Esther performed the spell." Iona took Maeve's hands in hers.

"I fated you to find them, Maeve. It was your fate that I wrote to find them." Maeve's brows furrowed questioningly.

"That night I prayed as I was dying. A Serene witch will come to the Mikaelson siblings aid when they would require it the most."

"My plans for Mystic falls."

"It came to you in a dream, didn't it? To leave for a town that had a suspicious reputation." Maeve nodded her head.

"Now for the important part before I continue the story." Iona clapped her hands. In a split second the compound was crowded with several women.

"They all are your ancestors Maeve." said Gemma calmly. She walked closer to her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "There is a storm coming. This one is going to unearth the worst nightmares. This storm is coming for Niklaus's child."

"Maeve, what I ask of you is a huge responsibility but that is the only way I can ensure yours and hers safety."

Maeve nodded her head determinedly. "They have done a lot for me. It's the least I could do."

"I want you to protect her from Esther."

"What?"

"Esther is channeling through the ancestors and asking them to kill the child. You have to protect her." Iona dictated.

"I will. But I don't have my powers."

"That's why we are here." All the witches in the room joined their hands, forming a large chain. Iona and Gemma held one hand of Maeve's.

"We are all going to give you our powers."

"Wait what?" Gemma smiled as Maeve looked at her in a bewildered state.

"It's alright my dear. We'll be fine. We are going to peace and we want you to fight a battle that started centuries ago. Protect yourself and your pack." without waiting for another word from Maeve, all the Serene witches closed their eyes and began to chant.

Maeve felt an electrifying surge of energy reach for her fingertips before it felt crawling up her skin. Maeve looked down at her skin as it began to glow red and vibrate. Maeve felt the effects of the spell within her. She screamed suddenly as she felt her heart clench and pound against her ribcage pumping blood at a hyper speed.

The spell stopped after a few moments and Maeve fell to her knees. "What the hell?" she cursed gasping for air. Everyone disappeared except Maeve's family and Iona.

"Now, would you like the rest of the story?"

************************************
Surprise surprise! How do you like this plot twist?

Okay so I didn't purposefully explain a lot (but I still gave a lot.)

Hope you like it.

Also, thank you  bookish_cosmo    for the idea you gave it's absolutely brilliant and going to do wonders to the story.

Let me know what you think of this amazing storyline. Please don't forget to comment!

Take care everyone!

Raven :)