on the way to Mercy's treehouse, but she didn't exactly mind, finding peace in the silence of the forest as they trudged deeper into the trees. The little girl led with confidence, walking around the trails with a surety that clearly showed that she had wandered the trees for possibly years before, memorizing it and remembering it like the back of her hand. Her hazel eyes flickered over every bush, finding solace in the same things being where she had seen them the day prior.

The day before, she had gone with her grandmotherly figure, Mary, who had been watching the twin girls while Hayley had retrieved their family. Mary had always encouraged Mercy and Hope to explore the woods whenever they felt trapped in their own skin, but it seemed that her words had truly stuck with Mercy whilst Hope continued living her indoor life in a happy bliss. Mercy was drawn to the trees and the plants in a way that seduced her to no end. She wanted to know more; she wanted to melt into the ground and feel the roots of the plants around her, noticing the life spread through the soil like a plague as the world raged on above ground. Nature was a siren to the little girl; it always had been and always would be.

And so, as she walked through the trails with Elijah following closely behind her, she grew more comfortable with herself, walking with an ease that she had not possessed only ten minutes ago when she was with everybody else. Elijah noticed this, but decided to file it away for a later conversation, hoping to get off on the right foot with his youngest niece.

"You know your way around these woods rather well," Elijah commented, following dutifully after his young niece with a small smile settled onto his face. Mercy didn't even turn around at his words, her hair bouncing with every step she took.

She shrugged, repeating her earlier thoughts. "Grandma Mary usually takes me out here," she told him, a grin of her own appearing at the memories of the older lady. "She's nice."

Elijah nodded at the girl's soft statement, holding back a branch from swatting him as he passed. It was quiet between the two for a moment, the only sound being the crunch of leaves under their feet. Elijah glanced at his niece for a moment before replying. "So what is the reason for this afternoon adventure?" He asked her, genuinely curious as to why she would rather be out here than with her family. She had already described her feelings about Hope having more time with their father figure, but Elijah was wondering if there was perhaps more to the story than that.

But by her simple shrug and nonchalant tone when she responded, he assumed there wasn't. "I like it out here is all," she told him, and he could see the truth of her words with every look of her big eyes at the forest around her. She smiled suddenly, looking up at him. "I feel like it's the only place I can be who I want and do whatever I want without anyone telling me no."

Elijah smirked, thinking that the little girl was much too alike her father than she knew. "Understandable," Elijah commented, nodding his head. "But I thought it was very sweet how you gave up your time with your father so Hope could properly meet him."

Mercy frowned, looking back down at the forest floor. "Well yea," she told him simply, as if it were self-explanatory. "Hope's always dreamed of our dad, and I have too, but I have other things to distract me from it."

"Like the forest," Elijah finished for her, gazing once more at the luscious green in the trees and the beautiful brown of the bark around him.

Mercy nodded excitedly. "See! Now you're getting it," she said, but the opposite was the truth in Elijah's mind, as he only grew more intrigued by Mercy.

But before he could ask her what her meaning was behind the words, the little girl suddenly squealed enthusiastically and began running past him. He kept his eyes on her, seeing as she approached a small clearing with a large tree, possibly the biggest they had seen in their hike so far. It had branches so big that Mercy could barely cover half of it if she tried hugging it, and these big branches broke off into many different directions. It perfectly held the treehouse in its grasp like a child held a favorite toy, and Elijah marveled at the beautiful simplicity of it. He and his siblings had never had such a thing, seeing as it was against everything Mikael favored, but the sight of it made Elijah regret not building one of their own when they were human.

It had stairs leading to the entrance, but there was also a balcony-type structure that surrounded the outlining of the treehouse so that anyone could stand and look out at the forest without having to be inside the wooden house. There was a tire swing connected to one of the branches, and through a window cut into the wood of the structure, Elijah could see a lot of colorful trinkets settled inside like a treasure chest.

"Race ya to the top!" Mercy suddenly challenged, and rushed to beat her uncle at the race. Elijah thought it was quite funny until he saw the next occurrence take place.

Mercy moved fast, much faster than children her age, and her agility matched the skillfulness of the speed. She jumped at least ten feet into the air before grabbing onto one of the ladders, shooting up to the top in less than five seconds.

Elijah watched it in surprise, not realizing that perhaps the two twin girls his family adored so much had begun to show signs of their supernatural origins. Although, instead of the magic that Freya and Kol has both assumed that they would experience, it seemed that Mercy had more of an inclination to her werewolf side than anything else. The way she moved, instinctive and focusing on what spoke to her in her gut, was enough to tell Elijah that Mercy would favor her wolf side more so than perhaps her witch or vampire side. Her other skills might even strengthen this dominant side of her, providing and explanation for her premature abilities.

When the little girl reached the top, she turned around toward her uncle on the ground, smirking so much like Klaus that it was almost unnerving to Elijah. "I beat you!" She shouted as if he didn't know, and he chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

"Indeed you did," he replied, perfectly okay with staying on the ground and watching his niece from below. However, the little girl wouldn't be having that at all, and gestured for him to follow her.

"Come on!" She yelled, her smirk having grown into a wide smile. Her brown hair was tangled into a mess that, paired with her flannel, reminded the suited Original of Hayley in the beginning of her pregnancy.

Elijah, having no reason to defy the little girl's orders, skipped the stairs and flashed to the top of the treehouse. Mercy had already gone inside the door, having missed her uncle's show of supernatural abilities, but he didn't mind her obliviousness. He followed the tiny child into the room, and was once again surprised by what he found there.

The room was filled with color against the dark wood of the treehouse, but it wasn't artificial color though. In every direction that he looked, Elijah found things that showed much more of Mercy's personality than any short conversation could. There were windchimes and dreamcatchers aligning the top of the windowsills, all looking like they were made by the child herself. They were made of different rocks, feathers, and flowers that emphasized the bright colors of nature exceptionally. There was a desk in the corner that showcased a dream catcher in progress, the scissors and beads sprawled on the surface waiting for its maker to finish the creation before it joined its brothers. There were crayons and colored pencils crammed into a blue mason jar, and the entire ceiling of the treehouse was covered with glow-in-the-dark stars.

There was a pretty blue and green circle rug that helped hinder the possibility of splinters should Mercy have her shoes off inside, and a few chairs were scattered to the sides, all differing in color. The blue one was low and sunk down, the green one seemed to be tied together like a butterfly net of sorts, and the yellow one was a rocking chair. Pictures hung on the walls, colored by Mercy or Hope or both, but by the boots in the corner and the flannels tossed here and there, Elijah assumed correctly that Mercy was the main owner of the treehouse, and most likely the reason for its existence.

Mercy turned toward him, pointing up at the four or five dreamcatchers hanging by the window. "I made these!" She told him proudly, smiling. "I'm working on another one right now but I still need to find the rest of the string at the house before I can finish it. Oh, and here's Tommy!"

Mercy held up a light blue sock monkey to his face, the toy obviously loved by the way his fur was a tad too dirty. Elijah smiled at her, taking the little monkey from her hands.

"Mom got it for me just recently," Mercy explained, shrugging her shoulders shyly, yet her voice was still excited to explain it to her uncle. "I keep him out here so he ends up smelling like the forest when I bring him home."

"Clever girl," Elijah praised, and Mercy quirked up for a second before she looked like she remembered something.

"Oh!" She said, her finger shooting up as she realized what she had come to the treehouse for in the first place.

She turned away from Elijah as quickly as she had shown him everything, seeming to move more sporadically than when she had back at the house. Elijah studied her behavior curiously, wondering if Mercy was this rambunctious, than was Hope the same way? He doubted it; he couldn't imagine there being any mischief left over when Mercy had obviously taken most of it between the two.

She fell to her knees near the desk, reaching into the darkness underneath. Elijah noticed the sun was setting just as Mercy pulled out a black bag from under the desk However, unlike everything else, Mercy did not introduce the mysterious object to her uncle at all.

"What's that?" He asked her when it became obvious that she would be keeping the knowledge of the contents to herself. She opened the bag up just a smidge before quickly closing it from the light of day.

"Nothing," she answered. "Just a few books to take back to the house."

Elijah frowned, knowing that she was lying about what was exactly inside the bag, even if she hid her fib well. However, the Original could tell that it wasn't anything too important by the tone of her voice, and if it was, their perspectives of importance varied largely. He discarded this, and when she turned around with the bag slung on her shoulder, she held out her hand for the monkey.

"Okay, I'm ready to go back now," she declared, and Elijah knew that this journey was specifically to obtain the black bag currently in her possession, but given his absence in her life, he held himself back from pushing her for her reasoning. He didn't want to make a bad first impression this early.

"After you," he stated politely, gesturing to the doorway they had entered from, where the sun was setting now, casting the forest in darkness.

However, Mercy only smirked, the same one that Elijah was beginning to recognize as the start of mischief. It looked much like Kol and Klaus, and Elijah briefly wondered how this mischief would grow as she aged. "Race ya," is all she said before sprinting toward the entrance.

Elijah's eyes followed her, but they widened when she didn't slow down at the edge of the balcony. He reached out instinctively, calling her name. "Mercy!" he yelled, but she had already leaped over the railing of the balcony, and he raced to the edge.

However, instead of believing he had to rush to the bottom to catch his niece, she was already on the ground settled into a comfortable crouch, one hand on the forest floor as the other clutched onto her monkey. She looked back up at him, winking once before taking off back toward the house, faster than a human but much slower than Elijah.

He shook his head exasperatedly, wondering what other tricks the girl had up her sleeve before following. She was surprisingly much faster than he had originally thought, even as he caught up to her with his vampire speed. This only made him further think that Mercy was much more aligned with her werewolf side than she or any of them knew.

By the time he was running side by side with her, they were reaching the clearing of the house, and she turned around at him, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Slow poke!" She called out, and he genuinely smiled for the first time in quite a while.

"Oh really?" He called back before rushing to her with his vampire speed and swooping her into his arms. She laughed loudly, giggling like a maniac as he held her up in his arms, tickling her armpits and sides until she couldn't breathe and laughingly begged him between pants to let her go. Once they reached the front porch of the house, he released her, setting her back on her own two feet and watching as she straightened her flannel.

She gave him a single wide smile, silently conveying her thanks for the fun time before she turned around and rushed inside, giggling still. When he entered, he saw Hayley waiting for them, her arms crossed lazily and a happy smile on her face.

He gave her a look, shaking his head. "She's quite something, isn't she?" He commented, coming to stand beside her.

She laughed, a sweet sound to the suited Original's ears. "Considering it's Mercy, that's the understatement of the century."

As Elijah chuckled with his love, Mercy had run to her and Hope's room, seeing the other twin already there and changed into her pajamas. Hope turned around curiously at Mercy's rushed entrance, tilting her head as her turquoise eyes roamed over the bag she dumped in the middle of the room.

"What's that?" Hope asked, standing up from the bunk bed and walking toward Mercy.

"Close the door first," Mercy told her, and Hope, knowing they were alone for now, waved her hand; the door closed softly as a result. Mercy, happy with their privacy, finally opened up the black bag and let the contents slowly slip out as she held it upside down.

What met the twins was three books, older than both of them and maybe even older than their father, which was saying something. They were brown with age, but the pages on the inside were previously preserved, only barely turning yellow at the edges. On front of each of the books were different symbols, but there was a specific, reoccurring picture of a wolf on all of them. One was a wolf howling with a full moon behind it; the second was a forest horizon shaped into the outline of a wolf; the third one held the face of a wolf, but half of it was a human's eyes and nose and lips. All of them were given to Mercy by Mary after she had told her grandmother how interested she was in her lineage.

"Woah," Hope said, her eyes going wide. "I can feel the magic coming off of them in waves."

"Same here," Mercy agreed as Hope came to sit criss-crossed next to her twin sister. Both of the girls felt the magic in the books, and Mercy could feel Hope being drawn to them for this reason, but it wasn't as strong as Mercy's pull. It was as if her stomach wanted her to protect the books at all costs, no matter what, because the knowledge that they held was too great for anybody else.

"What's inside of them?" Hope asked curiously, reaching out for one of the books, but Mercy grabbed them before she could. The older twin stared in confusion. "What?"

"Grandma Mary said I should read through them before you," she said not unkindly, but Hope made a face at her. "Hey, you get your spellbooks, I get the wolf books. Deal?"

Hope narrowed her eyes at Mercy for a long moment before finally shaking her head. "Fine, deal."

"Glad we're on the same page," Mercy told her with a smirk, collecting the books up in her arms. "Now I'm going to try to find a place to read them."

Hope returned to the bunkbed, leaning against the ladder and looking confused as her sister swooped the books into her arm. "Why can't you just read them here?"

Mercy shrugged, not entirely sure herself. "Grandma Mary says I have to read it in the moonlight for the first time or it won't work."

Hope sighed, climbing into her lower bunk of the two. "Well I'm going to sleep," she said, and although Mercy knew that her bedtime was fast approaching, she did not change out of her clothes just yet. Her older twin sister looked at her with a teasing warning. "Watch out for bed patrol."

"I'll keep a look out," Mercy replied with a smirk, slipping out of the bedroom once more. She had taken off her shoes to be quieter, but nobody realized how quiet she could truly be; it was as if she wasn't there.

That is, until she tripped.

She regained her balance before the weight of the heavy books could bring her down to the floor, but her foot ached where she ran into the couch of the living room.

"What are you still doing up, little one?" A voice came from her left and Mercy moved the books just slightly so she could see her father and her Aunt Rebekah standing together in the dining room, looking as if they had just pulled apart from a hug.

Mercy, knowing her mother would not appreciate a night of staying up past bedtime, gave them both a shaky smile, but the mischief flowed quickly into her eyes. "Nothing," she said, continuing on her journey out of sight from the two adults.

"Ah, ah, ah," her father teased lightheartedly from behind her. "The least you can do is offer some quality time between the two of us."

Mercy sighed, knowing he was right and also wanting to get to know the father that has been missing in her life for so long. She decided then that the books could wait, as they had before, and she turned back toward them.

"I'll leave you two alone," Rebekah said softly, sending Mercy a gentle smile before exiting the room as quiet as ever.

Klaus looked to his daughter and smiled, wondering how different Mercy was from Hope. Hayley had informed him that she was much more wild than her auburn haired twin, but he wanted to see it for himself just who she was.

She was small, maybe even smaller than Hope, but there was confidence and pride in her stance, something Klaus didn't think the little girl even noticed in herself. She stood, powerful and yet full of good intentions, like a little princess. Klaus couldn't help but feel his heart swell up with joy.

He gestured to the very same couch she had run into, and Mercy understood, walking over and taking a seat, plopping the three books in her arms onto the coffee table in front of her. They landed with a soft thud, and once Mercy was comfortable, Klaus came to a seat beside her.

"Hi," Mercy started off awkwardly, not sure what to say to her father after all this time.