[II] Family {Klaus Mikaelson}

NINE

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"Good for you to join us, Soph," Faith smiled, sarcastically at the witch once she was seated in the living room of the mansion the next morning.

"We had a deal," Klaus upbraided with anger. "You protect my unborn child, I dismantle Marcel's army, and whilst I've been busy fulfilling my part of the bargain, you allowed Faith to be attacked and almost killed by a gaggle of lunatic witches."

"I had nothing to do with it, I swear," Sophie claimed. "Faith and I are linked, remember? She dies, I die."

"Then who were they?" Rebekah demanded.

"They're a faction of extremists," the witch explained. "Sabine stupidly told them about some vision she had about the baby."

"Ah," Faith said, causing all attention to go on her, "was it the one where my children will bring death to all you witches?"

"You knew?" Sophie accused.

Faith shrugged. "Of course, I knew. I know Latin for I am part of the Everly coven. Sadly."

"Well, I grow fonder of these children by the second," Klaus grinned.

"Sophie, look," Rebekah said, sitting down next to Faith, causing the pregnant siphoner to be seated between Klaus and her. "I promised Elijah that I would protect the Mikaelson miracle babies whilst he tries to win your witch Davina's loyalty. Why don't you tell me just how extreme this faction is?"

"Elijah is talking to Davina?" Sophie questioned.

"The faction, witch," Faith ordered.

"If Elijah's talking to Davina, I'm sure she'll have plenty to say about that crowd."

"Do tell," Klaus said, leaning back against the couch with one arm over Faith's shoulders, bringing her closer to him.

Sophie hesitated. "I wasn't always an advocate for the witches. My sister was devoted like our parents and our upbringing was very strict, which drove me nuts. The minute I turned twenty-one, I left the Quarter to travel and play, but I wanted to be a chef, so I came back to Rousseau's."

"Out of all the careers, and she wanted to be a chef," Faith muttered under her breath, and with the Mikaelson siblings having vampire-hearing, they smiled, faintly at her comment that went unnoticed by the witch in front of them.

"But then Jane-Anne told me that the elders called a vote and they were going to move forth with the harvest."

"What the bloody hell is the harvest?" Rebekah remarked.

"It's a ritual our coven does every three centuries so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors, they keep our ancestral power flowing."

"And why haven't I heard of this?" Klaus asked.

"Because the harvest always seemed like a myth, a story passed down through generations like Noah's Ark or the Buddha walking on water. The kind some people take literally and some don't."

"If I remember correctly," Faith spoke up, "my mother was supposed to help with the ritual a few years ago, but your coven pissed her off."

"And you killed a family of witches," Sophie accused, eyes narrowed. "Everyone in the coven knows about you, Faith."

The siphoner only smirked. "It's good to be known. The old witch was a disrespectful hag just because I'm a siphoner."

The witch's posture tensed with anger but knew she couldn't do anything. The siphoner had two Mikealsons on each side and she was linked with her. So she let out a breath before continuing with her story, holding back her annoyance at the cruel smirk on the siphoner's expression, especially the way her blue eyes gleamed with amusement. "They had the girls of our community preparing for months. Four would be chosen for the harvest. They said that it was an honor, that they were special. I thought it was a myth."

"Was it?" Rebekah asked, but before Sophie could answer, Klaus' phone rang and he stood up from the couch.

"Marcel," Klaus greeted into the phone, "a bit early in the day for you, isn't it?"

"Dead witches in the bayou," Klaus smiled after a while, causing Sophie to look up at him. "Sounds less of a problem and more like a cause for celebration. Why not? I haven't been to the bayou in ages. I'm on my way."

Sophie began to say with panic in her voice, "you can't go out there now. I need to gather the witches' remains and consecrate them. If I don't get to them before sundown, we lose the link to their magic."

"Sounds like a you problem," Faith said, boredly.

"Those witches tried to kill Faith. I prefer for Marcel's informant not to find anything that would lead him back to us, to her, or to, you know, that," Klaus pointed at Faith's stomach.

The siphoner gave the hybrid a look as he smirked back at her. "That is our children you are pointing so disrespectfully at."

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Everyone except Faith and Dani had left the mansion the whole day. Dani was still pouting about her mother leaving her the other night with a compelled babysitter, though she wasn't getting much of a reaction from her. Faith let her have her pouting moment, but she made sure Dani didn't cross the line with her. The little girl just kept quiet and was being passive-aggressive to which Faith found hilarious, but didn't say anything to embarrass her daughter. She simply watched. She was willing for her daughter to let her anger out for another day.

It was late at night when Hayley and Rebekah arrived home from their adventure into the bayou. Faith had managed to get Dani into bed when she walked into a room where the female Mikaelson was serving herself and Hayley a drink of alcohol. "I don't care if we have to put you on a leash," Rebekah told the werewolf. "That's your last trip to the bayou. What is it with you and those wolves, anyway?"

"The wolf rescued Hayley again?" Faith questioned as she entered the room.

Hayley greeted her with a sad smile. "I feel like we're connected somehow. I don't know...maybe it's just some pipe dream that I have of finding any real family out there, but sometimes when I feel like it's me against the world, it keeps me going."

Rebekah handed her a glass, which the werewolf took gratefully. "Well, if you ask me, family is a pain in the behind and as for being in it alone, how dare you? I don't ruin a perfectly fabulous pair of boots traipsing through the bayou for just anyone."

"You're lucky, Hayley," Faith smiled, "Rebekah hasn't even ruined a nail for me and I have known her longer and she's right. I mean, unless it was all in my mind, I say we bonded when we were kidnapped, don't you think?"

Hayley chuckled, softly at the two girls. She offered Faith her glass of alcohol to which the siphoner groaned. "I wish but I'm pregnant."

"Right," the werewolf nodded and took a swing of her drink.

All girls poked their heads out of the room they were in at the sound of the door creaking open to see Klaus walking in. Faith smiled at him before her eyes widened at the sight of Elijah walking inside of the house. Rebekah rushed to her brother and pulled him into a hug.

"You're safe," the blonde said once they pulled away. Elijah smiled at his sister before taking notice of the two women standing back. Faith smiled, softly at him and nodded when she saw the question in his eyes. Then the Original looked at Hayley, who bit back a smile before walking away with Elijah's eyes following her. "Now that you're home, is your first plan to kill Niklaus?"

"Excuse me for just a moment," he said, softly before walking in the direction of the werewolf.

"Where's he going?" Rebekah asked his brother.

Faith merely gave a knowing smile when both siblings looked at her for answers.