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As soon as the news slipped past Davina's lips, I snapped my fingers, putting a little muting spell over the room so no one outside could hear us as we spoke. Something I should have done a lot earlier. But hey, better late than never, right?

"Who's Esther?" Davina asked, confused by all of the reactions in the room.

"Their mother..." I said quietly, deep in thought.

Everything just got a lot more complicated, not to mention a lot harder. We weren't just dealing with Marcel and his little army of assholes anymore — we were dealing with the almighty. The original witch. The woman that made the Mikaelson family into what they are today.

Any morale that I may have had was now gone. Vanquished. Nothing but a mere shadow or glimmer of what could have been.

Noticing this, Klaus stepped in.

Damn how well he knew me.

"Esther is nothing but another seemingly eternal thorn in my side who can't ever seem to just stay dead." He said angrily to Davina, stepping toward me and holding my hand supportively. "We've vanquished her time and time again and this will be no different, do you understand me?"

But we all knew that the last part wasn't directed at her. It was toward me, who probably looked as if I was going to faint at any moment. Which, in all honesty, I probably was.

"Ophelia, do you understand me?" Klaus asked, lifting my chin up with his finger and looking into my eyes. "She isn't going to harm you, nor any of us. The plan doesn't change, okay? We'll split up and handle it. Kol goes west, Elijah east, Davina south, myself north, and you in the middle. We'll cover enough ground that way, and we'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Looking into his eyes, I couldn't help but to place a soft kiss on his plump lips. What? If I'm going to die, might as well squeeze in as much sugar with Klaus as I could, right?

"I love you." He muttered.

"I love you, too. Now let's go to war."

There's an ancient saying where I come from. One that has gotten generations before me through some of the hardest times they have ever seen. One that I hold almost as close to my heart as I hold my man.

Fake it till you make it.

So, that I did. I held my head up high and forced myself to stop shaking, closing my eyes and focusing.

"They're coming, they're here, they're coming, oh dear..." I chanted to myself, tapping my foot as I heard them storming through the gates of the mansion.

Hearing this too, all of the vampires split up. Elijah sped off to the east side, Davina to the south, Kol to the west, myself in the centre of it all, and Klaus... well, he hadn't exactly left my side.

"Nik," I spoke, turning to look at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Staring at me, he held a solemn expression for a moment before finally speaking.

"I love you, Ophelia Armstrong. Always and forever."

Smiling a teary smile, I replied, "We both know that isn't long enough for us."

And with that, I took his hand and teleported him to the north side of the house. Did I want to? Absolutely not. I wanted my man by my side more than anything. I wanted to kick ass with the love of my lives and feel safe just by having him close. But we can't always get what we want, and sometimes what we want isn't the best option.

It's better in the long run just to send him to the damn north side of the house.

Sighing, I heard the sound of silence before the commotion started. Crashing was everywhere. The sounds of wood being snapped and glass broken filled my ears, along with the sound of chanting and screaming.

"Hey, Opey."

Sighing, I turned, seeing Marcel leaning in the doorway. He wore a simple, charming smile that suited him well. In fact, it was the same one he wore the first time I met him.

"How's it going?" I asked, playing it cool. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Wonder why that is."

As he spoke, he advanced toward me, hands behind his back. And if there's one thing I learned from my man and his family, it's that nothing good ever came from someone holding their hands behind their back.

"Is it maybe because someone went and waged a war against me?"

"I was thinking something along the lines of someone betraying me." Marcel laughed, a bitter edge slicing through the air. "After all, that's why I did all this, right?"

"No, you did this because you want control again, Marcel." I rolled my eyes. "You're just a power hungry little boy who doesn't know what to do with himself unless he's on the throne."

"You know me too well. Thankfully, I know a little something about you, too, girl! See, you're the opposite. You know exactly what to do until you get on that throne."

I was being called out — something that no one ever enjoyed, but something that was happening nonetheless.

"Maybe so!" I stated, trying my hardest to be smooth. "But I have been good to them. I have been fair. I laid down the law and offered safe passage to all those who followed it. They didn't listen, and that's on them."

"See, Opey, you made one fatal flaw in your very short reign." He chuckled. "You weren't present enough. You talked all this talk and you killed a kid or two, but at the end of the day, where were you? Gallivanting around with the Mikaelsons? Getting it on with a human? Selling fake magic items to tourists? All while your kingdom, your people, were plotting against you. That was your flaw, baby, and that's what made your empire crumble."

"Thanks for the feedback, I'll do better next time," I rolled my eyes. "But you know what your fatal flaw was?"

"What? Please, do tell me. What was it, Opey?"

"Underestimating me."

And with that last (totally amazing) one liner, I twisted my hand and curled it into a fist, pulling down, thus separating his head from his body.

"By the way," I grumbled. "I didn't betray you. You were just paranoid, and that's the tea on that!"

Stepping over his limp and headless body, I felt that same feeling of losing control take over, but this time, I refused. I wasn't going to let that bitch take over and po tentially ruin my "totally not a plan" plan.

"Not today, you bitch." I growled, closing my eyes and suppressing it. "Not today, not anymore, and never again, do you understand me?!"

The pressure, as one would expect, was building up and bubbling inside me like lava. But I wouldn't give up. I had too much riding on this war, and it's not like I even liked the bitch anyways. So, I fought back as hard as I could, biting down on my lip until I felt blood.

And with a deafening scream, all of the windows in the vicinity shattered, I fell to my knees, and finally, she left me alone. After that, everything was quiet for a moment. For a split second, it was like there wasn't even a war going on inside of my boyfriend's mansion. It was peaceful. Silent, for the first time in ages.

You win this round. She hissed inside my head.

But at that point, I didn't care. I just scrambled up and transported myself to the north side as everything started back up, where I saw Klaus and his mother.

"About time I meet the parents, don't you think?" I asked aloud, gaining both of their attentions.

"Ophelia," They both spoke, and it was easy to see the resemblance between Klaus and his mother.

"Nice to meet your acquaintance," I spoke, looking toward Esther. "Wish it we're under different circumstances, but what can you do?"

"So it is true what they say about you." Esther chuckled.

"What? About my stunningly good looks? Above average sense of humour? Charming personality? Dashing smile? I could go on, you know, so feel free to stop me any time."

"You talk a lot."

"You know what? Yeah. Yes, I fucking talk a lot. I cope with what's going on around me through jokes and rambling and, Esther, I'll have you know, that I have had a lot of practice." I scoffed. "But you want to know another thing about me? I cannot — and I mean absolutely cannot — stand people that out the blame on someone else for their mistakes."

Lifting my hand, I brought her down to her knees, using my other to seal off our area from other intruders.

"You're the reason that people hate me, did you know that?" I asked, looking down into her eyes. "With your creations, you've singlehandedly fucked up my life. I have been hunted since I was a kid. I never had parents to protect me. I never had any training, nor did I have people to turn to, or a coven, and I most certainly did not have a fair shot at making a good, honest, happy life for myself. Instead, I was running for my life from that day until I decided to settle here."

Taking a deep breath, I blinked back my tears, feeling a wind start to pick up in the confined area.

"I have been robbed of most happiness in my life, Esther, by all these witches here tonight. I can't seem to ever catch a break. I have a voice in my head that takes over my body sometimes, I am constantly being attacked, I have had one hell of a rough life, but I am good. I am a good woman who wants nothing more than to coexist and have a fair and honest reign. Hell, I don't even want a reign. I just want to live. I have made mistakes of the many, and so have you. But if there's one thing we can learn from them it's that they always lead us on the road back home. For me, it was when I killed a young witch. She disobeyed me, and I thought being merciless was the only way to handle the situation. I couldn't have been more wrong, and I will never forgive myself for that night. But... because of that mistake, I found that road. I fell in love. I fell in love with the very mistake you made all those years ago."

By then, I was crying, Klaus was crying, and I couldn't help but notice that Esther was getting a little misty herself.

"We have both made mistakes. We have both had images created in our name without people even knowing the slightest bit of information about us. We have both died for love, and we would both do it again. And finally, we are both fighting a war that is pointless."

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I released my grip, dropped the barrier, and then ceased the winds.

"I'm done." I whispered, looking over at my lover. "I'm done fighting. Marcel Gerard is dead. The witches of the quarter are free. I'm willing to end this now if you are. No more death, no more tyranny. Peace, Esther. Coexistence."

"Why?" She asked me, a million emotions rolling off of her in waves.

Smiling a little bit, I turned to look at her before looking back at my Niklaus.

"Because I want to go home."

Esther stared at us for a moment, and it was clear as day to see that her motherly side was overpowering her witch side.

"And if I don't?" She asked.

"Then we fight. More people die. Suffering and hostility continue. We go back to square one." I replied, giving her my full attention. "So, tell me Esther... Which one do you choose?"

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