✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  CHAPTER ONE ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
" 1922 lover & family reunions. "

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HAPPIER THAN EVER BY BILLIE EILISH
" i dont relate to you no, cause i'd never treat me this shitty. you made me hate this city. and i never talked shit about you on the internet, never told anyone anything bad. "

"WHY DO OUR FAMILY REMAIN IN THESE COFFINS" cordelia mikaelson had heard what appeared to be her older brother elijah, speaking.

currently, she was laying in a coffin, dagger no longer in her chest. curiously wondering how she was actually alive, and not with a dagger in her heart. she could barley even remember the last time she was un daggered due to her brothers. she was scared.

she quietly looked over to elijah, expecting to only be him, hopefully. but was frightened to see the sight of her other brother niklaus standing beside him. dagger in his hand, presumably hers.

despite her weakness and being a blood thirsty lunatic, she decided to listen in on what her two brothers were saying.

"because of stefan salvatore" the hybrid responded. cora's blood went cold at the sound of her past lovers name.

her mind went wild about her only true love, but still pushed it aside to gather more information.

"there are things you do not know about our past elijah. our mother's death. things i never wanted you to know but i'm ready to tell you now. i only ask that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me." klaus explained, she could hear his foot steps near where she laid inside of her coffin.

klaus began to un screw a top to a container, dips the dagger inside of it and walks over to coras coffin. cora's eyes widen in fear of being daggers again.

"what are you doing?" elijah questions him, neither him or niklaus capturing their little sisters eyes opened.

in the spear of the moment, cora couldn't help but shout out and grab her brothers arm, just as the dagger was nearing her heart. "please nik, don't do it!" she gasped out. leaving her brothers in shock to hear the sound of her voice.

"cordelia." elijah said, eyes widening and looking over to her, stepping closer. "please lijah, don't let him! i can't go through it again, i can't bare it!"

" there there little sister, it's not your time yet." the hybrid took her hand and removed it from his wrist, making her cry out as he began to inch the dagger through her heart.

"niklaus, enough." the oldest of the three said, holding out his hand for him to hand the dagger over.

klaus hesitated for a moment, before handing the dagger over to his older brother. elijah put the dagger on the table and walked over to his now awoken sister.

" sister." elijah greeted, helping her out the of coffin, biting his wrist and putting it up to her mouth. klaus glares at the two, irritated by their interruptions.

" thank you, at least someone cares that i'm standing " cora said, giving the same glare back to her brother.

all he did was roll his eyes at the girl, " you know, most siblings would appreciate one another for granting them their freedom." he mentioned.

" hmm, really? would most siblings appreciate their siblings for shoving a mystical dagger into their vampire heart like they've repeatedly done since the year they became vampires? " the shorter girl asked, giving a sarcastic smile.

" cordelia, niklaus. figure your issues out else where, please. there's other priorities unlike the two of you bickering." elijah interrupted, causing the two other ones in the room to glare at each other before one decided to speak.

" i need you both to stand by my side. be my brother and sister. help me destroy stefan and i promise you our family will be whole again" klaus looked at them for any reassurance.

" your pathetic" cora said scoffing, exiting the room, off to finding a blood source to feed on and stop her terrible cravings and hunger.

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unfortunately, coras fun was ruined when her brother elijah interrupted and picked her up to bring her back to klaus's for dinner. she didn't know much about what was going to occur that night, but she did know that damon and stefan salvatore were invited.

" little sister, glad to see you made it. ready to face your fear of your past lover?" klaus smirked, walking with his hands behind his back as elijah and cora walked into the room.

cora of course dressed herself suitable to the dinner. she had on a black dress, a slit coming down the middle of it and stopping by her ribs, black knee high boots and her famously red lipstick. out of all her siblings, she was always told she had the best style out of them all, she just hoped she was still living up to it.

cora rolled her dark brown eyes, " no need to be a dick about it, nik. " she replied sharply, going over and biting her wrist into the compelled girl and pouring dark red blood into her glass.

elijah turns to the door upon hearing a knock. he opened it only to see both the salvatore's. " niklaus, cordelia, our guests have arrived." he announced.

despite her refusal to walk and greet them, klaus glared at his sister and dragged her over to the door. he grunted slightly, although he overpowered and managed to drag her over by the forearm to stand next to elijah.

" damon, stefan. elijah tells me, you seek an audience. very bold. let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?" he offered.

the five walked their way over to the dinning room, damon looking at stefan who was avoiding his confused looks and looked ahead of him.

damon looks over to see the sight of a girl there. just as he was about to turn over to ask who she was, elijah beat her to it.

"damon, stefan, this is our baby sister cordelia. although, seems like one of you already is aware of her existence. " elijah smiled slightly, making cora glare at his attempt to embarrass her.

stefan looked over at her, surprised to see his ex girlfriend who he thought she was dead, standing before him.

" i don't care who's here, i also didn't come here to eat, klaus. in fact, i didn't want to come here at all. but i was told i had to cause you would hear us out."

"well, we can sit and eat or i can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. the choice is yours." klaus responded with a smile, sitting down.

cora sits between klaus and elijah—elijah knew cora well enough to know she wouldn't want to sit next to the youngest salvatore until they have came and spoken to each other directly and sorted whatever judgments they had with each other out.

cora decided not to eat her meal, picking at her food with her fork rather harshly. it drew attention to her as elijah and klaus side eyed her antics. she refused to do anything, she was even suprised she agreed to dinner. she denied to do anything until her brother apologized for harming her for every year he or her other shameful brothers decided to dagger for unknown reasons.

klaus sighed, dropping his fork onto the plate, " seems like you two lost your appetite" klaus pointed out, noticing stefan wasn't touching his food either.

" cordelia, eat. i thought you agreed to hold your grudges until after this is over. " elijah looked over at her, her arms crossed over her chest and staring at the portraits on the walls.

" im not eating until he apologizes. " she simply stated, all niklaus did was roll his eyes. it didn't take much to figure who ' he ' was.

elijah rolled his tounge over his teeth, sighing.

"how long are you gonna sit there and act as if anything i did to you wasn't your doing, cora?" klaus retorted.

" you held a white oak stake to my heart and im at fault? " she asked. damon and stefan looked at each other with confusion lacing their features before turning back to their argument.

klaus rolled his eyes, " because you retaliated against me and the rest of our siblings. "

with narrowed eyes, she shot back, " because you debarred me from doing anything that went against ' always and forever '. also murdering any man i chose to fall in love with, might i add. "

klaus pointed in her direction, " that's what a big brother is supposed to do, sweetheart! "

her face twisted at his reply but before she could get another word out, elijah who was sitting next to cora in annoyance interrupted them, " enough, both of you. " elijah interjected with their argument, cursing under his breath about how immature his two siblings were acting.

stefan stared at his former in empathy, he out of all people knew how defeated and hopeless she felt over the years he had known her. when they were together, he saw how her brothers treated her, he saw her cries for help and he was the one to pull her out of them. but now, it was different. things have changed. he had just got his recollection back of his past with the mikaelsons, he had just found out his ex girlfriend was still alive, it was their first time seeing each other again. and worst of all, he wasn't in love with her anymore, because that love was replaced by elena gilbert.

"eat, i thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy stefan at home." damon said to his brother which snapped him out of his thoughts and he agreed hesitantly, taking a bite of his food.

klaus smiled, "that's the spirit. isn't it nice? five of us dining together? such a treat. is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?"

"well, i know how he felt about you, so i figured the more, the merrier." damon said, winking at elijah.

"well, elijah and i have had our share of quarrels over the century. but we always make it through. " klaus turned to look next to him, his gaze drawn to his sister who rolled her eyes once more and took a sip from her glass.

" and, you know, as much as i would love to include my dear sister cora in that category, she isn't exactly on the best terms with my brother and i. " klaus commented, she raised her eyebrows at his comment. she chose to ignore it though, not in the mood for another lecture.

klaus leaned over slightly, " she'll get over it though, she's just more stubborn than the rest of us. "

cora looked up from her dark red nails, staring blankly at her brother. before she could say anything once more, elijah looked at her sensing she was going to retort back, "mind your tounge." elijah whispered.

"kind of like you, rebekah and cora, right? where is rebekah, by the way? last i checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her. and even though coras undaggered, you would love nothing more than to put her back in the position the rest of your siblings are currently in right now, is that right? but you know elijah here would never let you." stefan responded.

" lies, " klaus pointed, " our family is to be whole again, elijah knows that. i love my sister, she knows that. "

cora pursed her lips, " then why do you do the things you do? " she asked, though she never got a reply.

ignoring her, " and if you're referring to the fact that rebekah knows i killed our mother, i've already come clean to elijah and cordelia. " the hybrid explained.

"hey, stef, remember when you killed dad? might want to dial down the judgment until dessert." damon said to his brother, his brother looked back at him,

"we're here to make a deal, damon. doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses." he reasoned.

"i'm just saying we have a long evening ahead of us. pace yourself."

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"stefan. where is the lovely elena tonight?" elijah asked, looking at stefan for a answer. cora looked down in thought. 

the two brothers informed her on the relations with elena gilbert, as well as her friends, tyler lockwood, caroline forbes, bonnie bennet, & matt donovan who both elijah and niklaus said they hated and were just about to plot their demise against him. their was no need for explanations on the salvatore brothers because cora knew well about them, the only thing she didn't know is stefan fell in love with elena gilbert.

and she didn't take that too well considering after they broke the news she went out on a rampage and chewed through everyone's throats in a bar downtown, leaving her mess for her brother to clean up.

"i don't know. ask damon." he replied, looking at his older brother. cora and elijah share a confused glance, expexting a completely different answer than what was told.

klaus laughed at their reactions and stefan's response, he only said, "i'm sorry, you've missed so much. ah, trouble in paradise."

stefan held a glare at the three siblings, "one more word about elena and this dinner's over." he threatened, not bothering to spare a glance at cora's facial expressions.

the hybrid smiles and holds a finger against his lips, agreeing to keep quite about elena's absence. "you know what, probably best just to keep elena in the do-not-discuss pile."damon said to the table.

" your probably right. i mean why would we talk about a girl who clearly you both are in love with. the repeat of history is quite amusing. though, it does sound familiar doesn't it brothers?" cora decided to speak up, shoving away any ounce of hurt and begrayal in her voice.

elijah and klaus hum in thought, " perhaps your correct—the allure of the petrova doppelgänger, still so strong. what do you say, brother, sister? should we tell them about tatia?"

elijah looks down at his food, " now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?" he asked.

"well brother, given their shared affection for both elena and katerina, i think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the petrova line. and you know, how it tore you two apart. " cora explained.

"well, we're not going anywhere elijah. please, do tell." damon spoke, interested in the story.

elijah began to explain the story of katerina and her relationship with the two brothers, "when our family first settled here, there was a girl named tatia. she was an exquisite beauty. every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she'd had a child by another man. and none loved her more than niklaus."

"i'd say there was one who loved her at least as much." klaus added, stefan made a confused gesture,

"wait a minute. so you both loved the same girl?" stefan asked, cora smiled sarcastically,

" doesn't it sound familiar? now, our mother was a very powerful witch. she sought to end our feud over tatia after realizing it was driving my brothers apart, creating holes in our family—so she took her. klaus and elijah, as well as my other brothers and sister, would later learn that it was tatia's blood that we all consumed in the wine on the night where our mother performed the spell which turned us into vampires." cora answered, looking at elijah to continue the story.

"tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time niklaus and i... " he tried to find the right word, " grew estranged. harsh words were traded, we even came to blows, didn't we, brother?" elijah turned to his brother.

"but in the end we realized the sacred bond of family." klaus pointed out, raising his glass, "family above all." elijah also said, raising his glass.

the two brothers turned to look at their youngest sister, who simply just rolled her eyes and scoffed, proceeding to get up and walk away, grabbing the last of her drink and taking it with her.

elijah disappointedly sighs, klaus rolls his eyes at her behavior and the pair clink their glasses before taking a drink.

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after cora's temper tantrum was over, she managed to be the bigger person and retreat back inside to continue and finish the dinner.

elijah had asked niklaus to remain quite and not torment their sister anymore, both knowing how much she was capable of from personal experiences.

"so, why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" elijah spoke to the salvatore's and his brother, cora haven't gathered much information on what exactly the agreement was about. but, she decided to listen in on what they were going to discuss.

"that's very simple. klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the original extended family leave mystic falls forever. me, stefan, and elena live happily ever after. no grudges." the black haired man proprosed.

elijah turns to his brother, "the deal sounds fair, brother."

klaus made eye contact with the two brothers, " i don't think you understand. elena's doppelgänger blood insures that i will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. i will never leave her behind." he gets up and starts to walk around the room, coras eyes follows his every moments, making sure his temper also stays in check.

"let's say i do leave her here, under your protection, what then? how long before one of you turns her into a vampire? or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? you see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. gentlemen, the worst thing for elena gilbert is..the two of you." he added on.

damon coughs slightly, turning to his brother and giving him a small but weak smile, "i'm gonna get some air." he says as he walks out.

" let me deal with this" elijah reassures stefan, getting up and also walking out of the room, leaving just klaus, cora and stefan alone.

cora gives a disappointed look to her brother, "did you have to say that nik, couldn't you just keep your comments to yourself?"

just as cora says this, klaus proceeds to pick up a knife and throw it at her quickly, but she manages to catch it given her reflexes. "i have heard enough from you cora."

rolling her eyes, she put the knife back down onto the dinner table, eyeing her brother as he walks over to the compelled women standing in the corner, "what do you say stefan? can i interest you in a little after-dinner drink?" he said, biting into her neck.

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cora and stefan stand side by side to their surprise, watching the oldest in the room drain the blonde of her blood, letting her drop to the woden floor.

"delicious. aged to perfection." klaus said, whipping the blood off his lips,

stefan stepped closer to him, "well, i guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, klaus, is to drive a wedge between me and my brother."

klaus shook his head, denying what stefan had said, "oh no, you're doing that well enough on your own. because of elena, you're gonna lose your brother and you'll only have yourself to blame."

at this point, elijah and damon had walked back into the room, the oldest salvatore taking the lead of speaking first,

"what do you say, klaus? it's time for you to put something on the table. we've made our offer, now you counter."

klaus shook his head, "okay. i offer elena's future happiness. you see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot. and to fall in love with a human, maybe that nice football player, you know the blond one?" he asked.

cora had heard of the certain blonde he was referring to, he sounded quite annoying judging by all of the stories she had heard from elijah about him. "matt donovan? really?" damon asked.

"yeah, why not? they'll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family." klaus answered, looking at the two brothers standing in front of him.

"and continue the petrova bloodline. every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelgänger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right klaus?" stefan asked, growing more and more angry at what coras brother had in mind.

all the hybrid did was smile, "consider it a small return on my investment in her well-being. see, after you hand me back the coffin, i'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life. you know it's what's best for her." he walked up to stefan, and began to take out his hand.

"so, what do you say stefan, hmm? do we have a deal?" he asked with a smirk growing at his lips, stefan walked over to him, taking out his hand as well. grabbing his hand, he said, "nice try, klaus. but no deal."

it seemed to be the last straw for niklaus as he forcibly broke stefan's arm, kicking his leg and placing his arm in the fire.

used to her brothers dramatics, cora rolled her eyes,—taking a sip of the whiskey in her glass, " wonderful. "

noticing damon was about to intervene with the situation, she vamped over to him and held him up against the wall. he tried to struggle to get out of it, but it was no use because she was obviously stronger.

"stop!" damon yelled, trying to get out of coras grip, klaus looked over at him, "now, bring me my coffin before i burn him alive."

cora sends a apologetic look at stefan, noticing how bad his arm was burned and trying to heal.

damon agreed to retrieving the coffin, "go with him, brother. you keep him honest. and when you return, i will make good on my promise to you and cora and i will hand over our family." klaus sparied one last glance at the pair before they left.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

as much as it pained her to see stefan getting hurt by her brothers doing, she knew it would be just as dangerous to enter the situation.

she was too afraid to handle the wrath of niklaus knowing her brother wouldn't be there to do anything about it. so instead, she just let whatever happened, happen.

stefan let out a grunt, his arm burning from the fire, "go ahead and kill me. i know you'll do it when he brings the coffin." klaus pulled stefan out from the fireplace,

"you really have given up, haven't you? where's the fight? where's the ripper?" he shoved the salvatore, only making him shove him back.

elijah and damon re entered the room, cora looking over in confusion noticing elijah was carrying a tray that was covered by a piece of cloth, also noticing why he hadn't left yet.

klaus and cora share a glance, "elijah...why haven't you left?" klaus spoke for the two of them.

"where are you manners, brother? we forgot dessert." elijah simply responded, taking a hand and removing the cloth from the tray, only to reveal 3 daggers underneath.

cora widened her eyes in shock, looking over at her brother, " what have you done?" he said.

"what have you done? you see, i've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, klaus. we're doing this on my terms now." elijah said, kol appearing behind him and walking over to the two other siblings in the room.

the last time she saw any of her siblings, it wasn't necessarily on a civil count. they daggered her for ' betraying ' them,
which she never did.

"kol." the two said in unison.

"long time brother, sister." kol said, looking at the two of them, holding a glare with his brother and sister.

as cora turned, klaus began to back away but stopped when finn sped towards them with a dagger, "finn dont!" he put his hands up, making finn stab his hand in the center, glaring at not only him but his younger sister.

niklaus began to turn away, only revealing yet another sibling, his other sister, "rebekah!" he said, making her stab him with a dagger as well.

"this is for our mother." she whispered in her ear, pushing him into kol who restrained him.

cora, who was in the same proximity as klaus, " little sister, "rebekah neared her with another dagger and stabbed it into her side. cora hunched over in pain and grabbed the dagger, groaning.

stefan widened his eyes as he shared a look with damon. the raven hair shook his head, telling him not to intervene.

elijah began to walk over to his family who was staring at cora in pain and klaus who was being held by kol. he came to a stop next to cora, grabbing the dagger and pulled it out of her.

"you're free to go. this is family business." elijah said to the two salvatore's, who quietly exited the house, preparing to descuss was the hell just happened that night.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

after the family settled down, they gathered in the living area,
" i liked what you've done with the new place nik." rebekah said, grabbing a vase and smashing it against a wall.

"i wanted it to be for all of us. a place we could all call home. a place we could all be a family. none of us would ever have to be alone again." he said disappointedly.

"your right. none of us will be." cora said, walking up next to her brother kol.

elijah had managed to tell his siblings about cora and that she had no part in klaus' behavior as she was daggered just like the rest of them and to remain under control until she had a moment to explain herself.

"we're leaving you behind." finn added, all of the siblings standing in a line, facing their brother.

"we're leaving you, nik. right after i kill that doppelgänger wench, then you will be alone. always and forever." rebekah finished, glaring at him.

"if you run, i will hunt all of you down." klaus said sharply, staring at each of his siblings.

"i don't doubt that." cora said, making finn and kol smirk.

ignoring her comment, elijah said, "then you'll become everything you hate. our father."

the brother standing before them shouted in anger, " i'm the hybrid! i can't be killed! i have nothing to fear from any of you!" he pointed at his siblings. cora rolled his eyes at his dramatics, knowing that she could easily scare him, she had done it millions of times, she could do it again.

"you will when we have that coffin." elijah rolled his chin out, confidently.

the door was heard to creek open, all of the mikaelsons looking at the door behind them. only to find their mother, esther mikaelson, walking over to to them alive.

tears start to gather in their eyes as they made a opening for her to walk through, shamefully, niklaus put his head down as she was walking up to stand in front of him directly.

"look at me." she demanded, making niklaus look at her frighteningly, scared to see what she has to say or do after all these years.

"do you know why i'm here?" she asked, looking at her son.

klaus began to convert tears in his eyes,  "you here to kill me."

" niklaus you are my my son. and i am here to forgive you." he widened his eyes in shock at her words, not believing that the women he killed, his mother, would be saying all of that 'nonsense'

she turned to look at the rest of her children, smiling slightly," i want us to be a family again."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

BAILEY SPEAKS!!
hi guys!!
i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter and im so happy to be updating this book again & re-editing it.
i love u guys so much xoxo