The Original Lovers

Chapter 10

Ingrid raced through the woods on her way to stop Esther from killing her children. Terror gripped her heart as she worried that she was too late. That she had taken too long to break herself from Esther's spell. She didn't even have enough time to process the new yet familiar feeling of magic coursing through her veins, her first priority was making sure her friends, her family, were safe. It wasn't long before she reached the edge of the woods where Esther and Finn were standing inside a circle while Nik, Elijah, and Kol surrounded them. Rebekah was nowhere to be seen and Ingrid wasn't sure wether that was a relief or horror.

"Starting the party without me?" Ingrid called out, making all heads turn to her in shock.

"Ingrid? What happened to you? Where were you?" Nik asked, stepping towards her with a look of relief evident on his face.

"Why don't you ask your mother?" she replied, not taking her eyes off of the Original Witch and at her words three pairs of questioning and angry eyes turned to look at their mother.

"You aren't supposed to be awake, you aren't even supposed to be alive," Esther stated, shocked at how Ingrid was standing in front of her.

"Yeah, well it looks like I'm a bit more powerful than you imagined. I'm also not supposed to be able to do magic," the hybrid said, and at her words a strong wind blew threw the clearing. "I'm not supposed to remember everything you did. To me. To Freya."

Esther flinched back at the name.

"Do not say her na-"

"Or what? Why can't I say her name? You are the one that gave her away. You didn't even try to get her back! And instead of explaining why you wiped my memory of her! Instead of confessing what you'd done, you lied to your husband and told him she was dead! You never mentioned her again, never told them anything else about her!" Ingrid yelled, motioning to the three brothers beside her. "She deserved better! She deserved to be with her family! Freya Mikaelson deserved to have a family!"

The other Mikaelson's stood in shock at Ingrid's words and the shock only deepened once they saw through the look on their mother's face that it was true.

"You told us she died of a plague," Kol stated angrily, still partially in shock.

"You didn't need to know, what's done is done," that was all Esther could manage to say, staring blankly in front of her as if preparing to be screamed at again.

Even Finn stared at her in shock, having believed her when she told him his beloved sister had died of the plague. The betrayal on his face would have made Ingrid feel sad for him, if only he hadn't betrayed her just hours before.

"Why didn't you tell us about what actually happened her? Was she another one of your disappointments? Is that why you gave her up?" Nik yelled, getting angrier by the second with his brothers following close behind him.

"Never. She was a powerful witch and a wonderful child-" Esther was once again cut off by Ingrid.

"But you gave up on her. You just gave up, but then again that seems to be your go to, right? You gave up on me, you gave up on my mother, you gave up on your own bloody family!" Ingrid yelled, now standing beside Elijah, Nik, and Kol. "And that's why your plan isn't going to succeed, because Mikaelsons don't give up."

"You may be right, but don't you think for a second to include yourself in that statement. You have never been, and will never be, a Mikaelson!" Esther yelled back at her, the circle of fire around her burning brighter with her anger.

"She is. More than any of us," Elijah stated, placing his hand on Ingrid's shoulder.

She could do it. Right then and there, she could feel it. Ingrid felt the power she had surging through her, felt that she could destroy Esther's little barrier spell. She could kill the Original Witch, once and for all. As if sensing her intentions and deciding to make it just that much easier for her, the fire around Esther and Finn went out and with it the barrier spell fell.

"No! Sisters do not abandon me!" Esther frantically yelled into the air, her eyes widening as she saw Ingrid start to move in her direction. "No!"

Ingrid may be fast, but Finn was faster and he quickly grabbed his mother and ran off.

"I'm going to call Rebekah," Elijah stated before turning toward Ingrid. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Ingrid just nodded, suddenly feeling very tired now that the adrenaline had faded. The four of them headed back to their home, together once again.

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"Tell us about her," Rebekah said from her chair next to Ingrid, having yet to let the other woman out of her sight since she came back.

Everyone else leaned a bit closer as the woman began to speak.

"Freya was a very powerful witch, she was only five and she knew more spells than I knew at ten. We were both so young and we did absolutely everything together. We played, we danced, we sung, we did everything we could. She and I were practically attached at the hip. It's weird looking back on those memories and seeing a kind and gentle version of the man that hunted us for years." Ingrid explained, getting a wistful smile on her face as she thought back to those memories.

"Our father actually loved her?" Kol asked.

"It was hard not to. Freya was very kind, and also very stubborn. A lot like all of you, except she was a bit more likable."

That quip garnered a playful uproar, the tension that normally circled a Mikaelson gathering was nowhere to be found. Everyone was laughing and smiling, imagining what life would have been like if Freya was with them. Ingrid suggested that she would kick Nik's ass and that earned her a light hearted glare as well as a couple of cheers.

"Not to dim the conversation, but... why did she leave?" Elijah asked curiously, causing Ingrid to take a deep breath.

"I don't know. We were playing and then some dark haired woman showed up, told Esther something, I can't quite remember what, and then took Freya. I remember we were both kicking and screaming, Esther had to carry me away to stop me from chasing after them. It was heartbreaking and then it wasn't because Esther completely wiped my memory of her," she finished, wiping a stray tear from her face, the once happy faces of the Mikaelsons now solemn.

"I wish we could have met Freya, she sounds amazing. I would have loved having a sister," Rebekah said, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on top of Ingrid's. "It seems like she was very important to you."

"She was, she still is, but now I also have all of you."