Bad at Love

Chapter 1 - Where it All Began

So before I begin..
Let me just tell you, there's a reason I have to start from the beginning....
I'm dead. Well, I was already dead but I'm dead dead. I keep dying, waking up, dying, waking up..it's painful...absolutely painful...all i have are my memories to escape to
All I can think about is my forever and always family..
Niklaus...Elijah...Rebekah..one day...I'll get back to you...
(flashback)
The year was 990 A.D.
I was just a child, maybe 10 or 11 but nonetheless, I lived in a small village with my kin. We were vikings. My parents and I had just moved to this new land to get away from disease and find food and shelter.In this new land this is what we have found.
I had friends I played with, like Tatia, and Rebekah, but my best friend was Niklaus. Niklaus and I were friends since the first time I met him at the age of 5. His mother and my mother were witches. Unfortunately I could only use witch powers when I was syphoning a powerful object or person...witches like Ayana thought I was an abomination...
They made us play together a lot. I also played with Elijah, and eventually Rebekah, and then Kol. Finn was always the one to mother us when the parents weren't around. Niklaus and I though, would sneak off and explore this new land that we had so graciously discovered......
(my pov - 990 A.D)
"Mother, may I please go play with the Mikaelson family?"
I asked after eating my breakfast
"Alright dear but be back by lunchtime.I mean it. No sneaking off with Niklaus!"
Mother said and happily, I ran out the door. I ran over to the families hut and before I even knocked, Mrs. Mikaelson was at the door smiling
"Hello Jessika, here to see Niklaus?"
She asked smiling as she let me in
"Yes ma'am. I was hoping we can go play"
I said smiling
"If you can wake him then by all means, it's fine with me dear"
She said as she went back to her potions room where all her herbs and potions were.
I walked into where all the siblings slept, and saw Niklaus was the only one asleep. The others must be up and about already.
I squat down to start poking Niklaus
"Niklaus, wake up. It's time to wake up"
I whispered poking him. He groaned
"If it's time to wake up how come you're only waking me up?"
He asked rubbing his eyes
I huffed
"Because silly, you're the only one asleep still. You're the one who told me to wake you up so we could go searching in the woods for cool stuff" I whispered as he sat up
"Alright alright, I'm up"
He said as he stretched. After like 5 minutes he was up and ready to go
"Niklaus are you hungry?"
Esther asked her son.
"Any scones?"
Niklaus asked. I rolled my eyes. He always wanted scones in the morning.
"Here you go darling. Be back by lunch, and do not go in the woods Niklaus. I mean it. That goes for you as well Jessika"
Esther said sternly.
"Okay!"
We said and ran out.
We decided to walk down the path that was made and then when we were out of sight, darted into the woods.
"Want to paint ?"
I asked suddenly. He looked at me funny
"I thought we were going to look for things in the woods?" He asked making me giggle
"Niklaus we look for things in the woods every day. Besides, we both love painting" I said taking his hand and going into a certain direction
Niklaus and I grabbed our baskets from under a fallen tree with a hollow hole in it. Going in the woods was forbidden, but so was painting. They thought it was strange that Niklas and I were so much into painting and drawing. We both feared our fathers...that's one thing we had in common.... Disapproving fathers. My father wanted a son...he had me....
When I was born I almost killed my mother and now she can never have children again. So my father is always hard on me, always yelling at me, always staring at me, with disapproving eyes.
Anyways, Niklaus and I found red berries and blueberries and began to mash them. We also had tree bark, big solid tree barks that we could paint on the back of.
"Change the colors"
Niklaus said. I blushed
"I'm still learning all of what I can do, I mean, I just found out I had abilities only a year ago..and aside from that...you know I can not use them alone..." I said. He rolled his eyes and gently grabbed my hand. My eyes widened in surprise but.. I felt power coming from him to me...i couldn't understand it.. at the time..
"Go On then. Try.I bet you shall surprise yourself Jessika" He said smiling.
I sighed and held my hand over the red berries.
I closed my eyes and started chanting.....I pinched one of my eyes open, and saw the red turned pink. My face went beat red as Niklaus laughed
"That's it? You made the red lighter?" Niklaus asked laughing
"Oh be quiet Niklaus!"
I said punching him in the arm.We were laughing, enjoying ourselves when we starting to hear screams
"What was that?"I asked nervously
"Let's go find out"
He said as we stood up but I grabbed his arm.
"Niklaus no!What if they are enemies!It's time to go!"
I said yanking his arm
"Don't be a child come on"
He said dragging me with him. As we got closer, we passed body after body "What...happened here?"
I asked horrified looking all around me. Blood was everywhere, there was even a man pierced to a tree by a blade.
As we were staring at the man on the tree, he started to choke. I gasped and hid behind Niklaus.
"P-please...help..me"
He reached out to us, his mouth was spewing blood, he was covered in blood.
We didn't move an inch, we simply watched, afraid to go near him
"Please!"
he choked out but before we even reacted, we heard heavy footsteps. Niklaus and I turned and I gasped seeing Niklaus' father, Mikael.
"No!"
The man pleaded as his father kept walking towards him. He took out his sword
"NO!"
the man yelled but Mikael stabbed him through the throat with his sword and turned to us
"You would show mercy to an enemy?!"
He yelled at us and I cowered behind Niklaus
"A fiend who intended to raid our home?!" Mikael yelled. We didn't say a word or move an inch. Mikael was scary. My father was nothing compared to Mikael. He was the leader of our clan.He told my father what to do. He led the hunts with the men, he led the battles.
Mikael...was the King...
And we were quick to fall in line or God help us against his wrath...
"And to bring a girl to a place where a woman shouldn't be!"
He stalked to me. Niklaus instantly moved away from me..
I couldn't be angry about that...
Mikael scarred even the bravest of men..
"Your father will hear about this...no place for the likes of a woman"
He said bitterly, making me gulp
"I-I'm sorry we...we were painting"
I answered truthfully. Mikael looked from Niklaus to me
"Mercy...is for the weak...you will remain pathetic if you continue to paint instead of learning to fight like a man Niklaus...and you!" He yelled at me and I flinched
"You should be learning your powers!To help heal and protect our own!Not PAINT!"
He yelled and I flinched again, nodding over and over
"Yes sir, I'm sorry"
I said truly scarred. Nothing scared me more than Mikael...
"You..."
Mikael stalked toward Niklaus and he backed up against a tree, turning his head away from Mikael
"Look at you...boy...You are Pathetic...If you are determined to prove yourself a weakling...I shall cast you out!Better your brothers not be exposed to a coward!"
Mikael yelled. Niklaus flinched as Mikael backed up
"Back to the village. Both of you..before I discipline the both of you!"
He yelled and we ran off back to the village...it was lunch time any ways...
Niklaus and I were panting and when we finally stopped, we noticed Esther was watching us as the other Mikaelson siblings. Rebekah ran up to me
"Where did you go Jessika?We were supposed to play"
She said but before I could respond, Mikael had showed up behind us
"I'm sorry Rebekah, I don't think I shall be able to play for a while...I must go home and face punishment"
I said glancing back at Mikael before running home. I closed the door and my mother looked at me
"What's the matter daughter?"
She asked.
"Father will tell you...I'll just eat my lunch and go to bed without supper and I shall wait for Father's punishment"
I said sadly. My mother sighed in annoyance
"In trouble again with Niklaus?Honestly Jessika how many times must I tell you to stay out of the woods! Mikael is a force to be reckoned with and you know if your father does not punish you, Mikael punishes your father. Take your lunch to your room and do not come out for the rest of the night."
My mother said angrily. I took my bowl of soup and bread and went into my room. Hours later I received a rather nasty beating from my father.......
the only reason I was allowed to leave my room after that was because Esther wanted to teach me a couple of things in the witch area. My mother walked me over and knocked on the door. As we were waiting for it to be opened she looked down at me sternly.
"You will not breathe a word to Niklaus. You are only here to learn powers. Are we understood?"
Mother said bitterly.
"Yes Mother"
I said sadly.
I was in a dress with a hood over that. I kept my head down in shame.
The door swung open and Esther stood
"Hello Lilian, hello Jessika, please come in and we shall begin"
She said smiling. My mother kissed my forehead and walked off.
Esther, no matter how bad we were in trouble, she always still smiled at us, still loved us....or so I thought.
"Thank you Esther. I shall be back in a couple of hours"Mother said and walked off.
"Alright Lily, I shall take good care of her. Come Jessika"
Esther said as I walked in. All the siblings were eating dinner at the table. They looked to me. Niklaus and I met eyes but I saw Mikael and instantly put my head down.
"Now I know you can only use your magic when syphoning others, so you shall wear this necklace at all times and be able to syphon it for power. We are going to be practicing. So please, stay out"
Esther said taking me to the private room and closing the door. I saw things hanging everywhere, jars with weird powders and bird feet and herbs every where. Just so many strange things.
"Alright Jessika. I'm going to teach you three things tonight. A protection spell, a healing spell and a defence spell against any enemy" Esther said. I nodded as I sat down at the table where there were two chairs. Esther grabbed her Grimwar and sat down.
"I want you to close your eyes"
Esther said. I nodded and closed my eyes
"Forget all that has happened today. Forget everything, just focus on the calm of your mind and your body. Concentrate.Are you focused?" She asked.
I slowly nodded. Completely in zen.
"Good now repeat after me...Dolor"
She said then put a bird in front of me
"A bird?"
I asked confused
"Sometimes we must make sacrifices to better ourselves Jessika. Remember that. Now focus and say the incantation"
Esther said.
I nodded holding my hand up towards the bird in the cage
"Dolor"
I said and the bird started to flail and tweet uncontrollably until I pulled my hand away "What did I do?" I asked
"Jessika, never fear your powers. You must do what you have to do to protect our village. Your mother, you and myself are the only witches in this village. We must keep predators away. There may come a time where bandits will come while our men are away in battle. It will be up to us to defeat them. Even if that means we must inflict pain. You did very well though Jessika, you should be proud of yourself. You are a natural. You are going to be a very powerful witch.Now for the next spell, a healing spell. You must say the word Sana. Go on try"
Esther said. I held my hand out to the twitching bird
"Sana"
I spoke and the bird began to get up and started chirping happily. I smiled as I gave the bird some worms from a bowl sitting on the table.
"Excellent Jessika! You're going to be a beautiful asset to this village"
Esther said as she grabbed the bird cage
"Alright now stand up"
She said. I nodded and I did as told. She backed away from me a bit
"Alright now when I release the bird I want you to say this spell, ​praesidio"
She said. I nodded
"Ready, set, go!"She released the bird and I held up my hand quickly and repeated the word
"Presido!"I said but the bird just flew right above my head making me yelp. Esther giggled
"My dear it's Praesidio. Say it for practice"
Esther said smiling
"Praesidio"
I said and she smiled nodding
"There you have it, now let's try again"
She said holding her finger out for the bird to return. I watched in astonishment seeing the bird fly to her finger.
"Ready?"
She asked and I nodded.
"Now"
Esther said releasing the bird from her grip
"Praesidio!"
I said it right this time and it looked like the bird flew into an invisible wall in front of me.
It dropped to the floor and twitched. It's wing had been broken. I gasped and bent down. Esther watched me with interest.
"Oh no...Sana!"
I said holding my hand out to the bird and it got back up flying normally again around the room.
"Brilliant! Jessika I am so proud of you!You just did your first spell on your own out of instinct! You healed the bird after it was blocked off.Very good!Very very good!"
She said putting a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at her
"Thank you Esther. I'm so excited to learn more..can I ask...why my mother never wants to be here to help me learn?"I asked sadly
"Your mother unfortunately is afraid of her own powers. She doesn't like to use them unless she has to. Which is why she agreed that she felt better if I would teach you"
Esther said putting a hand on my shoulder. I smiled nodding
"It's silly for her to be afraid. Magic is so amazing"
I said shaking my head
"Magic is also unpredictable. Magic will always come with a price. Never abuse your powers Jessika"
Esther said,making me nod my head.
"Yes, of course"
I said smiling. She smiled back at me
"Well, it's only been an hour, your mother won't be back for another couple of hours. Let's learn more"
She said as we sat down. We spent the next few hours just practicing. I walked out of the room happily.
Finn, Niklaus and Elijah were still up just talking and they all looked at me. I looked up at Esther, to which she merely smiled
"It's alright go on, I shall let you know when your mother arrives. I shall tell her I gave you permission to talk to Niklaus"
Esther said. I smiled and ran over
"Hello"
I said shyly
"Well did you learn anything useful?"
Niklaus said. I giggled, rolling my eyes.
"Niklaus of course she learned useful things. I heard mother calling her a natural. That she was an asset to our village"
Elijah said smiling at me. I blushed at this... This blushing thing was so strange! Why am I blushing?! I'm 11!
"It sounds like somebody was eavesdropping" Finn said smirking at his little brother.
"I was not! I was only there for a moment" Elijah said embarrassed, looking down.
"Well what did you learn?"
Niklaus asked eagerly. I bit my lip.
"Your mother wants me to keep the spells to myself so I may make my own grim-war one day"
I said honestly.
"Typical"
Niklaus clicked his tongue rolling his eyes
"Are you going to come over tomorrow Jessika?"
Elijah asked smiling at me. I bit my lip again.
"Im sorry but no, I've already promised Tatia I'd go to her house tomorrow. Not to mention mother and father are sill upset with me for.. Niklaus and I getting in trouble"
I said scratching the back of my head.
"Tatia? Over me? That hurts"
Niklaus said putting a hand over his heart smiling. I hugged Niklaus giggling.
"Worry not, I shall be over the day after I promise"
"I hope so Jessika, I miss you" Rebekah said hugging me. I smiled hugging back
"Awe I miss you too dear Rebekah. I promise when I come over again we'll play al day"
I said but then Esther called for me
"Jessika your mother is here"
my mother walked through the door smiling at me.
"It's time for bed now darling. Let's go"
My mother said holding out her hand.
"Goodnight everyone!"
I said waving at the boys and Rebekah. They waved back and then went home.