(This chapter and so forth will continue from Phoenix perspective, but most of her thoughts will not be present.)

I gasp awake. Eyes wide open but I immediately shut them as the sun burns through. I hear movement beside me and I see Nik in the same predicament. I grab his hand his and we slowly start to get up off the ground.

I can hear seagulls out in the distance and I look around to see nothing but grass and trees for miles. Did we go back in time? I face forwards and I stop all thinking. Dahlia.

"And thus, Niklaus and Phoenix, find themselves here. With me." She said as she took one step closer our way.

"Dahlia." Nik said face full of hate then he looks over to me. Nik turned me around very quickly, lift my jacket up and rubs over a spot on my back. The dagger is not there but there is still a hole in my shirt and jacket. I turn back around and the same thing is for Nik shirt as well.

"What have you done to us?" I asked her and went to take a step to her but Klaus held me back by my arm. "Where is Hope and my kids?" I shake Klaus off me and sped to her but she quickly disappears. I turn around to see she is leaning against the wall me and Nik woke up against.

"Get out of our head." Nik demanded her.

"I'm not in your head. Your in mine." Dahlia said very calmly. "And seeing as you lie daggered by the person you both like to call brother you have no choice but to listen. I have a proposition for you. Come along." Dahlia got off the wall and start to walk the path that is made here.

I look back at Nik who was looking back at me. Both with doubt in our eyes but we ended up following after her.

We walked for a couple minutes before Nik broke the silence. "Spare me the agonizing boredom and explain what it is you want." He said.

"Quiet." Dahlia told him and we looked over a corner to see a group of villagers cooking and talking among themselves.

"I have no use for demented dreamscapes." Nik said as I watch a blonde and a black haired girl chasing after one another.

"Niklaus. Listen." Dahlia told him.

I push my hair behind my ear and listen to what I know is a woman screaming and a man crying out in pain. Another pair of girls are running but this time in fear. One blonde with a flower crown on her head and the other had dark brown hair. They run in between me and Nik and hid behind a wooden carriage filled with hay. Screaming is all that I hear as women and men are being slaughtered by swords.

"The Vikings came while you were in the garden. I'm sorry, Dahlia." The blonde apologized.

The young Dahlia holds the blondes cheek. "Don't be. I will protect us, Esther. But come what may, we must remain together. Always and Forever. Promise." She said.

"I promise." The young Esther said.

The two sisters start to hum together as they hide and wait out the attack but one viking had found them and grabbed the young Esther out of Dahlia's hands. "No! Let me go!" Esther yelled out as she reaches out for Dahlia.

The young Dahlia struggles to hold onto her sister before standing straight up. "Leave her be!" Dahlia yelled out and threw her palm out in his direction. The viking let go of Esther and yelled out as he flys far away from the sister and into a pile of hay.

This time a group of Vikings came up to them and one put a bag over both Dahlia and Esther as they get taken away kicking and screaming.

"Let me guess. The Vikings slaughtered the entire village?" Nik asked as once the two teenagers were taken out of our sight.

"Esther and I were the only ones who survived. We promised to stay together." The older Dahlia that was watching everything with us said.

"Always and Forever." I said lowly before I pull myself together. "A familiar promise, but then you knew that. I suppose you think that makes us kindreds."

"Not exactly. What I mean to show you is that we can be allies." Dahlia said.

~~~

"This place would look so much better with some decorations." I said as I look around the room. Me and Nik walked deeper inside since Dahlia guided us here.

"This dismal hovels is where I endured the terrors of Viking captivity... for years." Dahlia said then she points to the opposite side of the room.

I see a door being open and the young Dahlia being dragged and man handled by a Viking inside the room we were in. He throws her on the ground and then left.

Young Dahlia quickly got up and walked towards a table filled with lit candles and other items. "I performed the dark magic they demanded so that Esther would be free of their violent abuse." Older Dahlia explained. The young Dahlia took a knife and start to cut up a snake. "While she was out in the sun gathering herbs, I toiled in the gray of this room. But I never resented her. We made a promise." The young Dahlia squeezed the blood of the snake into a bowl.

"Is this your feeble attempt to garner our sympathy? To what end? No ancient plight will ever justify your intention to enslave my daughter." Klaus said.

"Oh, Niklaus, our plights are the same." Dahlia said.

The door opens again and in walks the young Esther with a very happy smile on her face. She was holding a couple of flowers as she walks toward the young Dahlia.

Young Dahlia looks over her shoulder to stare at her sister before turning back around with a face of displeasure. "You've been with Mikael."

"We were only talking." Esther said then she puts the flowers that I assume she got from Mikael in a bowl.

"No matter." Young Dahlia said as she looks down at her blood covered hands. She walks over to her sister. "I have something to show you." She held something in between them but I can clearly see what it was. "This is potent sage soaked in serpent's blood. It will give us strength. We can get out of this place." Dahlia said as looks around the room in disgust then looks back at her sister. "Esther, together, we can live forever." Dahlia had a big smile on her face as the idea of finally being free is only a ticket away.

"Dahlia, stop. I no longer wish to practice magic." Esther said.

Dahlia looks at her confused. "Magic has kept us alive."

"Mikael will protect me now, sister." Esther said a small smile on her face when she said her name. He did a good job doing that. I wonder what the outcome was like, oh wait. "We plan to marry, have a family." Esther said.

"Are you! I'm your family." Dahlia said with sadness in her voice. "I am your sister. We promised each—" Dahlia raised her voice at the end but Esther cut her off.

"You will always be my sister, Dahlia, but I wish for children of my own. And... I love him." Esther said determination on her face letting Dahlia know she means what she feels.

Esther step to leave the room but Dahlia quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Stay, Esther. Let's sing our song." Dahlia suggested hoping the song will remind her that Dahlia is her family and the only person she needs in her life.

"I don't remember that silly little tune anymore, Dahlia." Esther cried out as she shoves Dahlia's hand off her, blood staining her sleeve.

I feel my one of my eyes start to sting in pain as I watch young Esther leave the room. I look back towards the young Dahlia to see she is looking at the blood covered sage in her hand. She starts to hum her song. Her voice was cracking as she hums then she fell to her knees and silently cry to herself.

The older Dahlia walks over and squats down in front of her younger self with tears of her own in her eyes but none had fallen.

Me and Nik walked over to stand behind the young Dahlia. "So Esther was cruel. What a magical surprise. But it does run in the family." I said giving Nik a pointed look but he just pulls me closer.

"She left me for one of the very men who slaughtered our village and stole us away." Dahlia said as she plays with her younger self hair. "My own sister abandoned me. Just as your siblings have done." I looked away trying to act as she was wrong when I knew she was right. "And like you... I have been unjustly painted... as the villain of the story."

Young Dahlia got back on her feet with anger and rage in her eyes. She storms over to the table she once was at and pushed everything off with a yell.

Me and Nik turn back around to look at the older Dahlia. "If you have a deal to propose, then find our body's and undagger us." Nik demanded.

"Oh." Dahlia stood back up and walked over to her younger self. "I have the means to undagger you. I'm just not finished here."

I turn around only to face her back. "I don't give a damn about your feelings for Esther." I said and she turns around to face us.

"What I have to show you next is not about your mother, it's about your daughter. And if you have any chance to save her from what is to come I suggest you listen." Dahlia said as she up to our face.

~~~

We were outside now in the woods. It was completely deserted and I hear nothing but crows. "How very cliche. Did you inspire the witches of Grimm lore? Enslaving a young girl in a hut on the edge of a dark forest. I suppose you plan for this to be Hope's fate." I accuse Dahlia.

"I did not enslave Freya. I kept her from those who abused our craft, demonized us... and most importantly, I shielded her from herself." Dahlia said.

A young blonde girl who looks more like Freya walked in between me and Nik to stand on the other side of a fire pit. She throws yarrow flower into the fire while looking at it angrily. She lifts one arm out and the fire grew bigger.

"Freya? Freya, Freya." And older looking Dahlia came out the hut and stood by Freya's side. "Where did you get the yarrow flower? You cannot go past the stream. It is too dangerous." Dahlia scolded her.

"Then where shall I go? To the hovel? Or maybe your garden? Oh, no, I'm not allowed to venture that far. I might encounter another person and you would not stand for that." Freya said as she shakes with anger.

"People are frightened of that which they do not understand. They will only hate you." Dahlia said and tries to put her hand against Freya's cheek.

"I hate this place!" Freya yells out through clenched teethed forcing Dahlia to pull her hand away. "I want to see more than the same trees, the same hills, a face that isn't yours." Freya complained and I can feel her magic was getting out of control.

"Freya. Control it." Dahlia said softly as she tries to calm Freya down. Freya held both hands to the temple of her head as her magic gets out of control. "Control yourself! Freya, focus!" Dahlia yelled over the wind trying to reach out to Freya.

Blood starts to flow out of Freya's nose and she starts to cough up blood. All the crows in the forest with them start to fall to the ground dead.

Freya squats down as her magic take it's toll on her and Dahlia squats down with her. She puts both hands on Freya's head and force her to look at her. "Sing with me. Calm your heart." The two took a deep breath and they start to hum the song that Dahlia would sing with Esther.

"She was completely out of control." Nik said as he keeps his eyes on the two.

"Firstborn witches in this bloodline possess devastating power." The Dahlia that was standing by our side said.

"Your saying this is what's to come for Hope." I said as I walk closer to Freya and Dahlia hugging each other.

"Hope will suffer far more than Freya. Hope's magic will be tainted with your vampire blood as well as the aggressive wolf temperament. Without the proper tutelage that only I can provide Hope's power will grow unchecked. She will lash out at everyone, including you. She'll devastate the city what you love and then her terror will spread far beyond. I, too, am a firstborn, so I was the only one to help save Freya from herself. Just as I'm the only one who can save your daughter. You see, Niklaus, you need me." Dahlia said then looked over to me. "And I can save your daughter, Angel, as well."

~~~

Freya and Dahlia walked slowly back into the hut and the current Dahlia squat down to pick up a very dead and statue-like crow off the ground. "Your daughter's will need my guidance. Just as Freya did."

"I think I'll find someone less hostile to teach her. And she is happily standing right next to me." Nik said wrapping an arm around my waist.

"That could work if you weren't desiccated. How long do you think before Elijah and Rebekah release you both? How old will your children be?" Dahlia asked us.

We walked down the hill to move closer. "So, after twice failing to create a family of your own now you wish to commandeer mine? Not gonna happen sweetheart." Nik said.

"Family?" Dahlia repeated as she looks back at us. "Family only ever brought me pain." She looks back at the thing that is hanging from a tree. "I want power. I am owed Hope's and without it, I will slumber again within the year." She turns back to us again. "Freya turned on me because I denied her a basic need: The love of a parent. That is why I need you. Both of you. To remain as their mother and father." She turns back to look at the thing again and we walked even closer. "Try to imagine this. You would get to raise your children and I will only channel the magic of the firstborns and in so doing I would help them to hone their craft that you couldn't possibly comprehend. With us by your side, no one would ever test you ever again. Or... you could lie there and pray that Elijah releases you both before your children learns to call Jackson or Hayley 'Mommy' or 'Daddy.'"

~~~

"By all means, think it over. Though know this, I shall not ask twice." Dahlia said.

"In my experience, an offer from a malevolent witch always comes with a catch. What's yours?" Nik asked her as we walk to stand in front of her again.

"Hope is all Hayley will ever have. She will fight us. She will not relent. In order for us to succeed and live in peace... Hayley will have to be eliminated." Dahlia said.

"You would have me rob my daughter of her mother so she will grow to hate me instead?" Nik asked.

"When she grows, you can tell her whatever story you like. And besides, you will have a better caring mother that will replace Hayley. But in the end, the truth is... you would have made the right choice for her." Dahlia said.

She walks up to us face to face before putting her hand up and blowing dust in our face, forcing us to inhale whatever she made.

~~~

I gasp awake and look around with my eyes to see I am in a casket. I can feel myself regain my strength but I was still unable to move for a bit. They had laid me on my stomach and my head was facing an open door.

I see Nik slowly get out of his casket and drag himself over to me. He firmly grab my dagger and yank it out my back as I yell out in pain.

We walk out the room and drag ourselves weakly towards the exit but we stop when we came across Elijah and Rebekah with their back turned to us.

"Hope and I... we can't be apart of your family anymore. All Hope's life, her family has tried to destroy her. That can't be my little girl's story. Family is supposed to love you. Even if she is free of Dahlia's firstborn curse Hope would still be Klaus' daughter. She'd inherit a thousand years of enemies, all his anger and rage. I don't want Hope to be a Mikaelson. All the pain that comes with that name... she doesn't deserve that. None of the kids do. Elijah, goodbye." I hear Hayley say into a voice message.

"She's right, Elijah." Rebekah said.

I stare at them hatefully before me and Nik silently walk out the Compound.

~~~

Me and Nik walked into the tomb were we knew Dahlia was in. I almost fell over but Nik picked me back up and we continue to drag ourselves weakly inside.

We look to see Dahlia kneeling in front of a stand with her hands covered in blood. "I knew you were going to make a smart decision. No brute Viking blood in those veins. I'm so glad you both made the right decision." Dahlia said.

"We never cared for Hayley. Not any more. But you need to know the rest of the family will stand against us in defense of her." I said.

"We will have to go through them. Are you prepared for that?" Dahlia asked us.

Nik pulled us closer slowly. "They shall get what they have deserve." We finally sat down as we have been walking all night. "We have to hurry. Even now, Hayley is attempting to flee with our children." Nik said.

"Hmm. Don't worry. She won't get far tonight." Dahlia said as she stirs the blood. The blood transforms into what the sky looks like but a thunderstorm is starting. I can hear more than one baby cry out as they get scared.

(Holy shit, things are getting interesting you guys.)