The Apprentice (The Originals/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Twenty-Five

 Annette had sent a quick letter back to Freya and Elijah, telling them no, she knew nothing about a prophecy, but they certainly needed to be careful around Lucien Castle and the de Martels.

 Mikael didn't like travelling by airplane, but Annette pointed out that it was the fastest way to get there. 

 "I'll take the window seat if you're afraid of heights," she said.

 "I am not afraid of heights," he protested. "It just doesn't seem very safe, does it? Flying around in big metal contraptions?"

 As they flew, Annette found herself thinking back to her conversations with Lucien. Had he ever said anything having to do with a prophecy?

 "Once the prophecy comes, all will be well."

 "Mikael." Annette grabbed him by the shoulder. "Lucien mentioned a prophecy once. There was one day, at the castle, when he told me how he met the Mikaelsons and became a vampire. He told me, 'Once the prophecy comes, all will be well'. What if it is real?"

 Mikael sighed. "Annette, this is the man who pretended to be your friend, and then killed you. We can't trust what he says. He was probably lying through his rotten teeth."

 "I didn't think you still held a grudge against him."

 "Annette, if I can hold a grudge against Niklaus for a thousand years, I can hold a grudge against Lucien Castle for about a century. Do you hold a grudge against him?"

 "Honestly, I've tried to forget him as much as possible," Annette replied. "I hadn't thought about him for a while. Are you sure you want to go back to New Orleans?"

 "Certainly not. I absolutely despise that city. But my children seem to be in trouble, as usual, and it is almost Christmas. One visit won't kill me." He paused. "Hopefully not."

~~~~~~ 

 "Are you sure we can just walk right in?" Annette asked as they approached the Mikaelson Compound.

 "People seem to do it all the time, so I don't see why we can't." 

 "And if an attempt on our lives is made the moment we step in the door?"

 "I think we could handle ourselves."

 When they did enter the compound, however, what they saw can only be described as absolute chaos. The place was decorated for Christmas-a nice change from the dreariness of the last time Annette had been there-but this scene was certainly not what Christmas was supposed to look like, everyone screaming and fighting with each other.

 "Do you suppose we should come back at a better time?" Annette asked Mikael.

 Mikael never got a chance to reply before Freya came down the stairs and dug a knife into Rebekah's arm, seeming to be carving something out, and Rebekah fell back onto the table. She soon sat up again, however, and said, "Well, that was annoying."

 "I've never paid much attention to Christmas," said Mikael, "But I know it isn't supposed to look like this."

 Everyone turned to stare at the newcomers.

 "Father. Annette. When did you get here?" Elijah asked. 

 "Just now," Annette replied. "Um, Freya, we got the letter you sent us. I sent you a quick message back."

 "Did you?" Freya asked. She sighed. "With everything, that's been going on, I must not have seen it. Well, I'm glad you're here." She gave Mikael a quick hug and Annette a smile. "So, do you know anything about any of this?"

 "Matter of fact, we do," Mikael said solemnly.

 "And do you really expect anyone to believe you?" Klaus asked dryly. "I didn't think you would even bother to show your face here, in my home."

 "I hadn't planned to come back so soon," said Mikael, "Considering you nearly killed me the last time I was in the area. But it has come to my attention that Lucien Castle and the de Martel siblings are in your city."

 "I don't see what that has to do with you," Klaus said.

 Mikael sighed and crossed his arms. "Well, let's see. Where shall I begin? Once upon a time, about a century ago, Tristan de Martel sent his lunatic sister Aurora to bring us to see him, which she did. Now, the name 'Strix' sounded vaguely familiar, but I didn't know what it was. Turns out, it was some sort of philosophy club started by Elijah, but turned into a cult of lunatics. You see, Tristan wanted to partner up with me to get rid of you. I told him no, of course, since having him around would only have slowed us down. Then we had the extremely unfortunate luck of meeting Lucien Castle. He had a grudge against me, probably still does. If he has pretended to be your friend in any way, then he's lying. He befriended Annette, and then he murdered her, after slipping her vampire blood. I would have killed him, but I never quite got the opportunity. Annette can vouch for all that; she was there when Tristan made me the offer. Now, is that good enough for you, Niklaus, or would you perhaps like me to go into even more detail?"

 "Oh, for goodness sake, shut up," Rebekah snapped. "It sounds real enough."

 "I agree," said Elijah. "It sounds very much like them. When did this happen?"

 "It was 1918," Annette answered, "Not long before we discovered you were here in New Orleans. It was in Sweden. The Strix were occupying a castle there."

 Klaus sighed. "I never liked Sweden must. Well, I must agree with the others on the fact that you seem to be telling the truth."

 "Did anyone ever say anything a prophecy?" Freya asked.

 "Lucien mentioned it once," said Annette. "He had been telling me a bit about himself, how he became a vampire. His exact words were, 'Once the prophecy comes, all will be well'. I don't think it's just rubbish; I think a prophecy could actually exist."

 Elijah sighed. "Well, this is quite the Christmas, isn't it?"

~~~~~~

 Everything eventually settled down. Klaus not very happy with the fact that Annette and Mikael were there, but Mikael promised him they would leave as soon as the festivities were over.

 In the meantime, Elijah introduced Annette to Hayley and Jackson Kenner, Hope's mother and stepfather. Hope herself was a sweet little thing. Hayley and Jackson were understandably wary of Annette, but Elijah said she was a friend.

 "I would like to thank you for coming to warn us," he said to her. "You didn't have to come all this way."

 "Well, Mikael thought it would be nice if we visited for Christmas. I think he really wanted to see Freya. So, I see that curse on the wolves must be gone. That must have been a relief for you."

 He nodded. "It certainly was. Now Hope has her mother again, and we are working towards peace." 

 "That's good. And is she aware that you are in love with her? Oh, come on, it was so easy to decipher from your letters. If you didn't want me to figure that out, you should have been more subtle when writing about her."

 "I was subtle," Elijah said. "I never spoke of any love for her or anything like it."

 "Ah, but you're forgetting all the years I've spent with Mikael. He taught me how to tell things about people. I saw the way you ad Hayley looked at each other. Whatever that is, play it carefully, all right?"

 Elijah disappeared not long after-something with Rebekah-so she sat down on the stairs and looked around. When was the last time she had paid any real attention to the holidays? Years, probably. It felt nice to just sit there and watch everyone together.

 When Mikael finished talking with Freya, he said to Annette, "I think we should go. Where's Elijah?"

 "He ran off. Something to do with Rebekah. But I'm sure they're fine. Let's go."

 "Let's have a walk around the city," Annette said as they emerged from the compound. "I want to see why you despise it so much, besides the fact that Klaus lives here."

 "It might be dangerous to walk around here if Lucien's in town."

 "Oh, we can handle him. He's not as great as he thinks he is." 

 They silently walked down the street. The city was quiet, though it seemed to Annette that it was too quiet.

 After they had walked a few blocks, Mikael came to an abrupt stop.

 "Do you hear that?" he whispered

 "No. I don't hear anything."

 "Exactly. No noise, no people. It's so dark. Something's not right here. Come on, we have to get out of here."

 They didn't get very far before Annette felt hands snap her neck, and she collapsed to the ground.

~~~~~~

 Tristan de Martel looked down at the unconscious figures on the sidewalk.

 "Well done," he said to his men. "Grab them and follow me. I believe our old friends here could be very useful to us."