𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄, Stefan and Damon

Chapter 1

Failure was the one thing that I could never escape. My son, the same son that I had failed so many years ago, was now standing right in front of me. It hurt. It hurt more that he was alive, not burned to ashes or staked in the heart with our natural weakness.

"Failed?" His voice was the same as it had always been, young and with a level of compassion that I had come to understand. I had made sure to instill him with kindness when he was in my care, to show him that love was possible even when it looked like all hope was lost. "Mom, you could never fail me. You..."

My son looked down at my large figure, taking a step back. "You're pregnant."

"Two more months to go," I mused, smiling down at the floor. Marcellus always wanted a sibling to look after. "I'm still half witch, so I guess that screwed with the vampire thing."

There was a sinking hole in my chest that filled where the old memories of being here were. My son, that boy that I had raised as my own when he had nobody else, had taken over where Nik left off. Not only that, my brothers had been told that this MG was some sort of tyrannical dictator. Did I really raise someone who would do things like he has? Why? For power?

"They hate you, Marcellus, the people here hate you," my son lowered his head in shame as I realized just how serious this was. "Nik has nothing to do with what happened, with what led to my daggering. That was on my terms and I forced him to dagger me. It wasn't like he wanted to hurt me, Marcellus, my brother and I love each other. We're Mikaelsons, you know what that means to us."

"Mikaelson means family," I reminded him. How he could forget something like that was beyond me. We were his family and had been for so long. "Nik will want to see you again. We all thought you were dead."

"I have nothing to say to Klaus," I hissed at the malice in his voice. This was not the son I had come to love. He was changed by burning hatred. "He hurt you and he hurt everyone in this town when he abandoned us. How can you defend him after that? He daggered you after he made an oath not to."

"As I said, I forced him to do it, Marcellus. Don't use that tone with me," I knew it was the hormones getting to me, but nobody would slander my brother with what I had made him do, even if they were also my family. "Your father loves you a hell of a lot more than you give him credit for. He mourned you all of this time and can barely even speak your name. You are family and you are a Mikaelson, which means that you don't act like a child."

During his time with us, I always had to be the one to give the harsh reprimands. Nik never had the heart to go against Marcel whenever he did something wrong, so it became my job to make sure that he didn't turn into a spoiled brat.

Clearly I had failed somewhere.

"What you're going to do is apologize to your father for all of the crap you've been saying about him that isn't true and know your place in this family. We aren't over one another. Everyone has a voice and we all work together," my son laughed and shook his head.

"I've spent over a hundred years building this place up from where it laid in the rubble and now that Klaus is back you expect me to hand it all over?" I nodded before walking right over to him, staring him dead in the eye. He knew I wasn't joking and he knew I wasn't going to back down from this. If Marcel wanted to act like Nik wasn't family he wasn't going to get the Mikaelson family treatment from me. "Mom, you're acting like he's done anything for you. He constantly hurts Rebekah and daggers her when she becomes an issue for him. He's had your older brother Finn locked in a coffin for the past 900 years. I thought you would know when enough is enough."

"Everyone is awake and Nik has changed," he still chuckled and sat down on the bar. "This was never your city, it was our city. Nik can beat you in a fight if you want to act all alpha male with him. The curse is gone, his bite is lethal, and as much as I love you I can't watch my family get torn apart. You will either join us as family or denounce us, all of us. That includes Rebekah and I as well. You will lose everyone."

"Mom I did all of this for you-"

"No! You don't go around causing chaos for me, someone who has tried to fit in and cause the least amount of damage her whole life. Don't disguise this as loving me, because the way you love me is by loving what I stand for. I have wanted nothing more than to have peace for the past 1000 years," I couldn't take what my son was trying to sell me. To kill the way he supposedly has in my name is disgusting. I may be his mother, but I have morals.

"I won't just give up my throne, not after everything I've done to secure it," he was playing games with me.

"You will, Marcellus," Kol interfered, stepping between the two of us. "You will give up what you have or we will take it. Nik and Astrid may want you alive, but you're still on the rocks with me. There are two choices here and no others, no ways to wiggle yourself out. Nik will not be patient with you when he finds out that you've caused these people so much harm."

"Harm? You kill people for fun," Marcel combatted, taking an aggressive stance. "You haven't threatened me with eternal punishment, how strange."

"We've all changed, Marcellus, including your mother. She's pregnant with twins and has found her mates. If you think you have some high ground over her you're wrong. You've got some new siblings and they'll be the new babies in her life," I rolled my eyes as Kol antagonized Marcel. Yes, I was having biological children, but that didn't mean that I loved Marcel any less. Sons are sons, whether you give birth to them yourselves or not.

"Mates..." I could hear the jealousy in his voice. "I have weapons that could easily stop you from threatening my reign. Plus, the vampires here will always side with me considering that they have so much power here in the French Quarter. The witches, well, they aren't allowed to practice magic without my direct permission."

"You've become everything I feared, Marcellus. All I wanted was for you to be happy and live a good life, helping people like you always wanted. You turned into someone that I can't even recognize. You say I haven't failed you but do you even hear yourself? I clearly failed somewhere along the many years we spent together," I turned away from my son. I couldn't face him, not after this. "If you want to start being a good son and good person again, just call or ask some of the Hybrids that will be exploring the city."

"Leaving so soon? I don't think so," I took in a deep breath, looking for the door we had come through. I watched as Laurel and Caroline came back, looking at the scene in front of them. "More pregnant vampires. How lovely."

"Get away from her, Marcel," Laurel snapped, "Figured out who the hell you were in the bathroom and I'm not drunk enough to deal with your bullshit. Leave my sister alone and make sure that the door hits you on your way out."

"Laurel," he hissed. "What is someone like you doing with the Mikaelsons?"

"Mates and sisterly duties," she rolled her eyes before pushing him into a wall. "Leave them alone or I'm going to give you a beating just like I did in 1915. Shit, Finn said I should be home by three. It's almost three. Again, go away, Marcel, I don't like you right now."

"Come on, Care, Nik will be worried sick if you don't get home," I mumbled, taking my friend's hand.

"Stefan and Damon as well," Caroline reminded me.

I gave my son the best mother glare I could before we tried to leave the building. We were stopped by two tall vampires. "Get out of my way before I end you."

Their smirks were all I saw before my vision went black.