Lightning Strikes Twice

Forty

Méalla woke to find everything strangely quiet. She picked up a sleepy Saoirse and spied Anna, wearing a Harley Quinn tank and denim shorts just entering the courtyard. She rushed, without vampire speed, to meet her before she left wherever she was going.
"Anna!"
"Oh Méalla, hi!" Anna smiled back at her. It was a bright smile.
"Why is everything so quiet?" Méalla asked, figuring early riser Anna would know.
"Hayley and Jack are taking the pack out to exercise our new abilities. Have to say, I'm actually really excited. I'm one of the last to leave. Was hoping to see you actually. I was wondering if you wanted to join me and Alex to watch something later." Anna's face looked so hopeful and honestly, Méalla liked the idea too.
"Sure. I can go pick up some options while you're with the pack?"
"Might I recommend Batman the Animated Series?"
Méalla chuckled. "Of course. Not many people know this but I actually worked on that. I helped with the writing and sketching of good ol'Harley." She gestured to Anna's top.
"No way!"
Méalla grinned. "I'll tell you all about it later. I'm sure your ride is waiting." Gesturing to a few of the pack boys in a truck outside.
"See you then!" Anna hurried out, waving over her shoulder. She climbed into the back of the pickup and they drove off as a blonde haired woman came walking slowly in. She looked around in wonder.

"Who are you?" Méalla said, shifting so Saoirse was guarded by her body.
"I was invited by Klaus. My name is Freya. And that is your daughter?"
"I was wondering when I would get to meet you. You've met all but one of us now. And yes, this is one of them."
"Méalla. I've heard a lot."
"Oh?"
"You're Klaus' right hand, you can be ruthless and harsh. and yet everywhere you go, people respect you."
"And Freya, the golden child. The favorite. Allegedly given away at the age of five to a maniacal woman who wants my daughter because she's a firstborn witch with great power. Tell me, does she want both children? They're born only minutes apart, you know?" Méalla felt a little uneasy around Freya but as every word she said rang in the woman's ears, she saw her stiffen and tense and look upset.
"I have been wondering that too." Elijah said as he walked right by them, into the dining room. Both followed, although Méalla walked behind to keep an eye on the blonde.
"Sister! Well, come in! Come in! Make yourself comfortable." Klaus called. Freya looked slightly nervous, but smiled warmly at them.

Anna hopped out of the truck just as Hayley walked out onto the porch of her old shack in the Bayou with a cup of coffee in hand and watched as the werewolves sparred in the nearby clearing. Anna followed her eyes to see Jackson was fighting against Aiden, both of whom are learning to fight with their new abilities. Jackson managed to block Aiden before he elbowed him in the face and laughed proudly.
"You're getting faster." Jackson nods. Anna had an impulsive thought. She started walking toward the shack as she heard Jackson and Aiden talking while fighting. She saw Hayley's face change although Anna couldn't read it.
"You guys done? This macho stuff is cute and all, but don't make me come out there and kick both your asses." Hayley shouted at the two wolves and started to walk into the shack when Anna called out to her.
"Hayley! Spar with me?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted it. Hayley, turning to look, saw her and her face changed into a grimace. She put down her coffee mug and came walking out to meet Anna.
Anna silently swallowed nervously but toughened her resolve. She was gonna do it. Hayley nodded and took the first swing, Anna barely dodging. Anna went low with a kick but Hayley grabbed her leg to block. Anna used that leverage to push off and clock Hayley in the face.
"You've been talking with her. How is she?" Hayley said after wiping some blood away from her lip. She aimed her foot at Anna's torso, who still not used to hybrid speed, couldn't block, "Not great. She puts on a happy face for Alex but anyone can see she's an emotional wreck." Anna said through groans. She caught Hayley's incoming arm as Hayley twisted her into a bear hold.
"Well she seems happy enough when she's with you. I can hear her laughter through the compound."
"She's just trying to figure stuff out after you married another man. Most of its fake." Anna jabbed her elbow into Hayley's stomach. Hayley released her as she grunted out.
"You don't understand the full extent of what's going on."
Anna didn't move to fight anymore as she talked. "Because Klaus wants a wolf army, you married Jackson so the pack can have all your special abilities to go off, fight and die." Hayley gritted her teeth.
"That's not why I married Jack."
"Is it because you're the lost Crescent Alpha and you wanted your pack back then? Tell me, do you even care about Jackson? About us? About her?"
Hayley had her pinned to a tree by her throat but Anna was mad now. "She's utterly destroyed, trying to find solace in anything that isn't you or related to you."
"And yet she's spending time with a member of my pack just days after I get married."
"I know it's new and it's not big. Or even comparable to what she feels for you. But I care about her and she didn't deserve that, Hayley."
Hayley slowly let go of Anna's throat. "She doesn't. She deserves so much better than what any of us can give her. But there are bigger things at stake here and if we lose those stakes, her heart would be even more broken than it is now and she understands that."
"Then I'll be the angry bitch she won't be." Anna walked off, leaving Hayley alone by the tree.

The siblings and maybe sibling were making small talk in the dining room of the compound. Freya had a carved wooden artifact in her hands and was examining it carefully. "This witch-hoop. It's Danish. Is this from when you lived all in Copenhagen in the 1500s?"
"Quite the eye!" Klaus gave sarcastic praise.
"Forgive me. Are we here to discuss family heirlooms, or do we have more pressing concerns?"
"Maybe like I don't know somebody trying to steal and enslave my baby."
"Please excuse my sister's lack of decorum, she's been in a foul mood of late. But, they are right. I did ask you here in the hopes that you would share some of Dahlia's secrets. So, without further ado, let's get to it!" Klaus spoke. The three of them took their seats at the table while Méalla vamp sped Saoirse to her crib and back to her seat at the table full of breakfast food.
Freya cleared her throat awkwardly. "The first thing you should know is that Dahlia is the most powerful witch I've ever seen. She craves more power still. Right now she is like me, limited to one year of life in a century. But, she wants to be free of that restriction. To gain true immortality. And that is why she will come here, drawn by your daughter to take the child's power for herself. And she would kill anyone who would defy her."
"And yet you would defy her?" Elijah asked.
"I don't have a choice. She will never let me be free. My one chance is to align with you and kill her." Elijah looked troubled by this revelation, but Klaus didn't seem fazed. "Well, now that we're all suitably motivated, let's talk specifics!"
Freya took a deep breath. "For you to understand, I need to start from the beginning." She moved her hands and Méalla saw scenes playing out in front of her. Freya narrated the flashback as five-year-old Freya stood outside the cottage and woman Méalla saw in the tomb, who is creating a magic circle out of what looks like black sand or ash and using it to draw Runic symbols that resemble the alphabet runes "algiz," "kaunaz," "gebu," "teiwaz," and "laguz." Around them, Dahlia has set up tall torches whose flames are quite large and are arranged in the form of a pentagram.
"After taking me from my family, Dahlia used me to forge a new brand of connective magic, one that augmented my power even as it allowed her to draw from me." Dahlia spoke to the little Freya. "Take my hand and begin your chants." As they chanted, the torches' flames flare brightly as they increased in size. Young Freya gasped in surprise and awe, while Dahlia's head rolls backward with the surge in power from drawing on her. Once it's passed, Dahlia looks down at Freya, who is still holding her hands tightly and looking at her curiously. Dahlia smiled, obviously pleased by the outcome of the spell. She looks around and began to hum for young Freya.

"Once we were bonded, Dahlia became unstoppable." In flashback, Dahlia smiled as she proudly stroked Freya's cheek with her hand. "She wasted no time proving her might." The scene cut to another part of the village, where Dahlia and young Freya are walking hand-in-hand through a snowy field. The bodies of at least a dozen people are scattered across the land.
"The chief of a nearby village threatened to run us off, accusing Dahlia of witchcraft. She decided to make an example out of the entire encampment... Men, women, children."
Méalla blinked and was back in their dining room.
"She killed them all with a wave of her hand. That was my first inkling of the power Dahlia had. Over the course of a thousand years, she's only grown stronger." She turned toward Klaus and Méalla. "And she will bring all her power to bear against you when she comes for your children. And the answer is yes. She will come for both girls." Klaus looked slightly terrified by this but gained his composure quickly.The story is interrupted when Elijah's phone rings.
"Rebekah?" Méalla asked and Elijah nodded. Méalla had been watching Freya through this entire conversation and she was starting to believe Freya meant her words, or she was a very good actor.