[2] Darkest Hour • The Originals ✓

xxxiii.

chapter thirty-three.

Once Elijah hung up the phone and sat back down, their brunch continued.

"Your stories are fascinating, and Dahlia does indeed sound dreadful, but Elijah, Matthias, and I have killed our fair share of evil witches." He told her while feigning kindness.

"Not like her." Freya denied.

Elijah took a sip of his tea. "What are her weaknesses?"

"She's paranoid, obsessed with power. She hungers constantly for what's been denied her, be it love or revenge." Freya explained to him.

"Yes. I think I'm familiar with the type." Elijah said while glancing at the twins who just smirked at him with a roll of their eyes.

"When I was a child, she would tell me tales of her own youth, of being victimized by those stronger than her. Dahlia vowed never to be weak again. She bargained for the firstborn of Esther's bloodline, intending to raise us in her own image, forming a coven of her own from which she could draw endless power. That plan was foiled the day she learned that Esther had ended her bloodline by turning her children into vampires." Freya looked at Klaus, who looked as though he has something to say, but Freya kept talking. "And so, the burden fell to me. Dahlia demanded I bear the firstborn that would add to her power, but I would not allow a child of mine to live as I did, as a slave." Her eyes were watering, and Matthias felt uncomfortable. "So, I vowed never to love, never to have a child of my own. Of course, the more I resisted, the harder Dahlia fought to control me. Until the day when she took the last of what little freedom I had left."

Freya went into detail about the day that Dahlia bound them together, but Klaus and Matthias still didn't blink at her story. There was no emotion coming from either of them towards her because they all had a sob story and Klaus didn't want to know her story, he wanted her to get to the point.

"And so, we slept, our magic accruing over time until we woke, filled with immense power and allowed to live a single year of life. That has been the existence I have suffered for the last 10 centuries." Freya finished.

Klaus looked at Matthias before letting out a laugh, prompting Freya to glare at him. "Well... It's quite the ordeal, isn't it? But it does beg the question why not end it yourself?" He asked and Elijah shook his head at him, he opened his mouth to stop Klaus when Matthias shot him a look and he shut it. "A high enough bridge, a tight enough noose. You must have considered it."

"Long ago, I did consider it, but Dahlia would never give me even that freedom." Freya admitted to them, and Klaus looked mildly surprised and confused. "I would later learn the spell made me like her, immortal and impervious to harm." Freya let out a bitter laugh and wiped away the tears. "You see, I am like you, a creature of great power cursed for all time."

"It's a nice story." Matthias spoke up finally, and Freya didn't know why she was holding her breath as she waited for him to do so. "I still call bullshit though and while Elijah may believe you because you shed a few tears, doesn't mean that me or my twin are the stupid to think that for one moment, you can be trusted."

Matthias then excused himself and Klaus followed after him.

"Forgive my brothers." Elijah told Freya. "To earn their trust will take time but right now, they trust no one, not even me." Elijah checked his watch before sighing and standing to his feet. "Excuse me."

Klaus found Matthias in his study, the tribrid was sitting on the couch with a book in his hand. Klaus walked over to him and sat beside him, he didn't speak, he didn't dare move, he just waited.

"I don't trust her." Matthias told Klaus. "She went to the beginning, but she didn't answer the question on Dahlia's weaknesses or how she could be killed."