Chapter 20

(totally new, this part wasn't in the first version with Bella and Elijah, sorry for the delay but it wasn't easy to write it)

Bella had celebrated her 19th birthday just 3 weeks ago when she found out that she was pregnant with her first child. Of course everyone was happy for her and Klaus but the celebrations didn't last long. Indeed, the news of this coming baby, the first of this generation of Mickealson's, brought back a worry they had almost forgotten and hadn't taken the time to deal with yet: Dahlia and Freya.

"We don't even know if they're still alive." Rebekah protested.

"On the other side, Esther was pretty sure that Dahlia was alive." Ansel argued.

"But we've left her alone, why would she go after us?" Kol asked.

"If she's really as bad as Finn remembers and Ansel heard, I think she'd go after us simply because you all share her sister's blood. To her, your mother's pact is still holding and will be forever." Bella guessed, placing protective hands over her slowly growing stomach.

"Why are you so calm, aren't you worried at all?" Elijah asked her.

"No, I'm not. I'm pretty sure that I'm powerful enough to fight her off and free Freya if necessary. I know we'll be fine. It might not be an easy fight but we'll be fine, I know it. I mean, take a look at our allies." Bella replied calmly.

"She's right. Hybrids, shape-shifters, werewolves, vampires, witches, amazon warriors... And that's without counting the numerous other magical creature that are willing to help Bella and her family. I have to agree with Bella and believe that we'll be fine." Klaus added, an arm wrapped around Bella's waist.

"But we'll try to free Freya before we attack her, right?" Finn asked, worried.

"Of course. Since she's so close to you, I'm going to use you to try and locate her. Then you and Sage will be able to go and get her, or try to talk to her without Dahlia noticing. If you can bring her here without Dahlia knowing it, bring her." Bella told him, going up the stairs and in her magic room to get her set of locating maps along with the necessary candles.

Once everything was settled, Bella took a couple of hair from Finn and placed them on the map. Reciting the right spell, the hair circled around the southern east side of the United States. Klaus immediately replaced the world map by one of the right area and it circle around New Orleans. Once again, Klaus placed the right map on the table, looking up at Elijah and Rebekah, remembering their time in New Orleans.

"Well, looks like the past is coming back to haunt us, doesn't it?" Kol declared once they had the precise location of the house.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"This house is special... Klaus had his witches curse it so that witches locked inside wouldn't be able to get out." Kol replied before Klaus explained the story in more details.

"I should be able to cook something up. A protection spell placed on clothes should allow you two to go in and out without problems. Another spell to prevent their magic from affecting you and a set of protected clothes for Freya. It should work." Bella replied after thinking a few minutes.

"What if Dahlia is inside as well?" Sage asked, worried.

"Well, if she's inside her magic won't be able to affect you and you'll be able to just leave her inside. It would actually solve our problems." Bella shrugged her shoulder, looking for the right protection spells in the large Book.

"What if Freya is under Dahlia's control? What do we do?" Rebekah asked.

"I'll give you a bracelet that you'll place on her wrist. It will prevent her from using any magic until I take it off. If she's good, she should understand that it's for the best. If she's under someone else's control, we should be able to clean her mind, so to speak, once she's here. Don't worry, I have a good feeling about this." Bella replied.

While Bella looked some more in the Book, everyone moved to the side to discuss what the plan would be once in New Orleans and it was decided that Jasper and Kol would join them. Rebekah and Klaus couldn't go back there, not with the memories of Marcel and the way Mickeal had killed him. Ansel had wanted to go to help but it was decided that a werewolf in New Orleans wasn't a good idea.

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It took Bella a couple of days to prepare everything for her family to go to New Orleans. She even got a couple of her Amazons to go along, just in case they were needed in a fight. She added a few freezing potions, a couple of exploding ones and a couple of vials filled with protection potions, just in case they needed to protect someone else against magic. She also gave them two vials of potions that would be able to break a small spell or curse.

She would have liked to go herself, it would have made everything much simpler but she didn't want to risk her child's life and the fact that Freya was in New Orleans had opened up a wound in Klaus that she wanted to be able to help him heal, along with Ansel. She knew how much it had hurt Klaus to see his protege, his son, killed by Mickeal and not be able to save him. He needed her more than the others, he needed to know that she and the baby were safe, and so she did her best to stay safe, with him.

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From the moment Jasper, Kol, Finn and Sage left for New Orleans, time seemed to flow by extremely slowly. They were waiting on news, any news, from what was happening. Caroline went with them but, as soon as they had Freya, she would leave on her own to go visit her mother, Charlie and her new siblings. She wanted to spend a few days out of town and knew that Kol wanted to spend some time with his family. He'd join her once the problem with Dahlia was solved. Kol had been the one who suggested that she left for a while and she knew that it was because he didn't want her caught between two fires. He was afraid she'd get hurt and knew she missed her mother.

Bella and Klaus had to wait two days before Kol called them, informing them that, surprisingly, Marcel had survived and that he now ruled the French Quarters of New Orleans from his residence, the Abattoir.

"Did he see you?" Klaus asked, his voice tick with hidden emotions while Bella went to sit on his lap, knowing that it would calm him down.

"No, we didn't stick around long enough for that. We're about to go inside the witch house now." Kol replied.

"Good, don't let him see you. Just get Freya and come home. I'll deal with Marcellus later." Klaus replied.

"Maybe we should leave him a little message before we leave... Something to inform him that we know and that he has some explaining to do." Kol suggested.

"What do you have in mind?" Klaus asked him, curious.

"Maybe a couple of your hybrids walking through town, making sure to let people know that Klaus' hybrids are in town, see if he decides to reach out or not." Kol suggested.

"Good idea. Maybe let Sage be seen as well, let her be clear that she's here for a short vacation, that she's about to go back to Finn, that she's just looking for something. Make sure you mention a coming family reunion or something." Klaus added.

"Good idea. We'll get right on it then. I'll call you back once we have Freya." Kol said before he hung up.

"Are you okay Klaus?" Bella asked him.

She had heard the story of Marcellus and she knew how much Klaus had mourned him. She understood why he'd be angry right now and she wanted to do her best to help him go through this.

"I'm fine." he shook his head.

"No you're not, and it's okay not to be." Bella whispered in his ear as she stayed on his lap and hugged him.

"I just never expected him to betray me as well. Not only did he fake his death and let us think that he was dead but he took everything we had build and made it his own. He's ruling our city, the town that was our own little kingdom for so long..." Klaus replied honestly.

"If you want to go over there and confront him, I'll pack our bags and we can go right away." She offered.

"No, I want to give him a chance to come to me first. He'll see Kol or Sage, he'll see and hear my hybrids and he'll know that I'm alive and about to find out what he's done. Then he'll have the choice of telling me the truth himself or letting me discover it on my own. The second option won't be good for him." Klaus told Bella.

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For Kol, Caroline, Jasper, Finn and Sage, everything went according to plan.

Bella's protection spells worked very well and before they knew it, they were back out of the cursed house with the lost Mickealson by their side. Freya had woken up as soon as Finn had touched her glass coffin and she immediately recognized him, even though she hadn't seen him since she was taken away.

They hadn't wasted any time, Finn told her that if she put the bracelet on, she wouldn't be able to use magic but that she'd be protected until they arrived home, where they'd have time to talk and see if she was being controlled by their aunt Dahlia. Freya touched Finn's hands and looked in his eyes for a few seconds before she decided to trust him and let him place the bracelet on her. Then, she put on the protected clothes they gave her and followed them, happy to see all of her siblings working together with friends.

Before they left town, Sage did her part so that Marcel would know Klaus was alive and reuniting his family in peace while Kol and Caroline said goodbye, for over 2 hours, in a nearby hotel room.

The way back home was long and so they had time to explain everything to Freya, who in turn explained the life she had had with their aunt. She was eager to meet Bella, the one who had reunited her family and helped them all find love and was ready to do anything in order to help them get rid of Dahlia and protect the future baby Mickealson. Maybe she'd even find happiness.

On the way, Freya told them everything she had been through because of their aunt and how she had tried to stop her in the past and had failed. She could feel it though, her family, now, would be able to stop Dahlia. Especially with Bella. After everything they told her about Klaus' love, she was confident that the end of her troubles was here. She'd finally be happy and free.

Freya also felt guilty because if she hadn't killed her baby all these years ago, Dahlia wouldn't be going after Bella and Klaus' child now. She was worried that maybe the future parents will be mad at her for this but Finn reassured her that Bella was a very forgiving and loving person, that she'd understand and wouldn't even think of being angry. As for Klaus, they made sure she knew that he had calmed down and that Bella would be able to calm him down if necessary.

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When they finally arrived in the Mystic Fall's ancestral Swan house, everything was ready to welcome them.

Over the past few years, the house had been enlarged. The Mickealson had convinced Bella to let them pay for it and she had agreed, letting them add another floor so they'd all have their own bedroom and a few guest rooms. Freya's room was simple enough, mainly because they didn't know enough about her to decorate it but they had made sure she had everything she'd need and that she'd be able to change it later.

Even though Kol lived with Caroline in the Forbes' family house, he still had a room in Bella's house. Sometimes, he and Caroline used it, when they wanted to spend some time with the family and were tired of being alone in their house.

Rebekah and Jasper also had a bedroom in Bella's house and used it part time. They shared their time between the Salvatore Boarding house, where Jasper now had an official room, and Bella's house. They were happy this way and loved changing room every once in a while. Sometimes, they even went all the way to Forks to visit Carlisle and Esmee or to see Peter and Charlotte in Texas.

"It's very nice to finally meet you." Bella told Freya with a smile.

Bella was reassured to see that Freya was able to cross the threshold of her house. If she had had any intention of hurting them, she wouldn't have been able to come in. When they shook hands, Bella didn't get a bad feeling, which was another little reassurance. Apparently, her ancestors didn't see anything wrong about Freya's presence because the Candle she had placed with a warning spell was still unlit. It was all a good sign, but it wasn't enough yet.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot of good things about you on the way here. I think we'll get along well." Freya smiled.

"I hope so. Come, we'll go to the living room and check that Dahlia has no control over you, we'll talk and then we'll have some dinner." Bella told her.

"Of course. I understand your need to make sure my aunt isn't controlling me. She isn't, but in your position, I'd want to check too." Freya smiled, following Bella to the living room were everything she'd need had been brought.

Everyone stood around the room while Bella used a few spells to make sure Freya wasn't controlled by Dahlia and that they could trust her. It took half an hour.

Freya felt Bella's power, she saw that it was even greater than Dahlia's and after everything her siblings had told her about the young woman, she just had to respect her. The girl could make her disappear if she wanted to and she had armies of amazons to back her up, in addition of Klaus' hybrids who'd do anything for her too.

"I'm sorry Freya, I hoped I'd be able to easily break your link to Dahlia but it's going to be a little more complicated than I though. I mean, I could do it now but it would kill you, age you as you should have aged if you hadn't been linked to her... We'll look more into it together later, I think we'll need her to be present for me to do it. For now, you can take this bracelet off and be welcome in my family home. Your new home." Bella told the elder Mickealson, telling her clearly that she was allowed to use magic if she wanted to and reminding her that it was her house first.

"Thank you. And congratulation, for the baby."

"Thanks. Now come on, let's all go and eat. Klaus cooked and I can tell from the smell that the baby will love it."

The family ate and got to know Freya while she got to know them. Once they were done eating, they played Monopoly together and decided to look into the Dahlia problem in the morning.

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"Are you sure you're okay Klaus?" Bella asked him once they both laid in bed together.

Her bedroom hadn't changed much since she arrived in this house. The only differences were Klaus' things all around the room and a couple of his paintings on the walls.

"I am. You worry too much for me." he smiled before he kissed her.

"If you ever want to talk about Marcel, even if it's to say things you've said a hundred times before, you know I'm here, right?"

"I know, Love. Don't worry. I love you." he replied with a smile.

"I love you too." She nodded.

"Did you find the spell you were looking for to repress the baby's magic during your pregnancy?" he asked her.

"Not yet but I still have a couple of weeks before signs of magic are shown. I'll find it later, though I'm not sure I want to use it. If I don't find this one, I hope I'll at least find the recipe for the potion to lessen the symptoms of the magical pregnancy. I read a part when Bianca burped Butterflies, it wasn't as pretty as it sounds."

Indeed, as she read her ancestor's journals, one thing became very clear to Bella: her family's babies often showed signs of magic while in their mother's womb. The stories she had read had convinced her to look for the journal filled with pregnancy tips her ancestors had filled. If she ended up having to fight for her life during her pregnancy, she didn't want to suddenly make flowers appear when she meant to blow something up. This was another reason why she made so many offensive and defensive potions to keep all around the house. She wanted to be prepared for anything.

"It's probably somewhere in the attic." Klaus reassured her.

He had offered to help her look, they all had, but she insisted that it wasn't urgent yet and that she'd be fine looking for it on her own for now. Kissing his pregnant love goodnight, Klaus heard Elijah, in the living room, on the phone with Emmett after having talked with young Isabelle for a while.

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In the morning, after a good breakfast prepared by Sage, Bella and Freya went into the magic room to look into locating Dahlia and, if possible, getting rid of her without hurting Freya before she started being a problem for them.

"Usually, to solve a problem I don't understand I'd call upon my ancestors for help but they couldn't really help for this problem. They haven't crossed this kind of magic before. I think few people have done what your aunt did, the price for it is too high, not many people are willing to pay it and those who are are often stopped before they can do it." Bella shook her head.

"She never let me know the specifics of it, she never let me know anything about this spell that I could use to break it." Freya frowned.

"Don't worry, there are other ways. First we'll locate her. Then we'll do a spell to get the answer to a general question. It might not work but we'll see. There are a few possibilities in this book. Of course, there's always a last resort solution but we'll consider that only if we really don't find anything else." Bella replied.

"Last resort solution?" Freya asked her.

"Turning you into a vampire. It would take your magic away and if you're not a witch, you're not linked to her anymore." Bella replied.

"You're right... but I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Freya shook her head.

"I know, don't worry. We'll think of that later." Bella smiled.

She took several maps and, with Freya's blood, they tried to locate Dahlia.

"That's not good." Freya stated as they watched the small drop of blood slowly making its way in their direction.

"It's moving too slow to be searching for her location. It must mean that she's awake and coming for us." Bella frowned.

"She probably woke up when I did. She can sense my presence. Since I moved, she thinks I'm planning something against her again. She can't feel your baby yet, but she'll know once she gets close enough."

"You're right." Bella nodded before she took out everything she needed for her spell to get an answer.

"It's not working." Bella frowned once she tired asking how to break the link between Dahlia and Freya.

"Maybe we should ask another question." Freya suggested and so they tried to ask for an answer for over an hour before they gave up.

"I should try to write my own spell. We'd have to wait until she gets here to cast it and I'll have to be very careful in my wording but it should work. We'll use a few freezing potions to keep her in place, stick the bracelet on her wrist so she can't do magic and destroy her and unlink you in one go." Bella decided.

"You can do it?"

"I think so, yes. I mean, I've written or combined spells before. I can do it." She nodded.

"Can I help?" Freya asked her.

"Not really, not for this but maybe you can reinforce the protections around the house. There are simple things that can be done like using apples. Kol will show you everything downstairs. There's also a potion we can pour all around the house. We need to brew some more and I have everything needed in the basement." Bella suggested.

"I'll get right on it, Bella. Thank you." Freya smiled before she hugged Bella and rushed downstairs.

Freya understood why Bella wanted her kind of magic being the only one who protected her house, it was stronger there and the eldest Mickealson knew that if she performed a protection spell, Dahlia would be able to cancel it rather quickly.

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Since the weather was nice, Bella grabbed one of her notepads to work on the spell and she settled in the garden, under the sun and near the enchanting scents of herbs and flowers mixing together in the air. Klaus was carving a bed for their child and he had settle a little closer to the woods that bordered the property. After a while, she saw Freya and Kol walking out of the house and she smiled when she noticed that Kol was showing his older sister how to reinforce the magical protection of the house by placing suitably cut apples with bay leaves. Bella had already blessed all of them, which is how they were allowed to use them.

Kol loved that he could still do a bit of magic this way, even if he had to wait for Bella to bless it. He could mix potions, collect ingredients and place protections. He didn't know that, for his birthday, Bella was working on a way for him to do magic. So far she found a way for her to fill a piece of wood with some of her own magic, it had been popular a long time ago and was at the beginning of the legends about magic wands. It would make her tired for a couple of hours but Kol would be able to use the wand to practice magic. Of course it would only be small spells but at least he'd be happy and it's something she'll be able to do for him once in a while.

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"Bella, there's a package you need to sign for at the door." Elijah came to tell his sister in law who was relaxing in the garden.

"I'm coming." She smiled, following him.

Once she signed for the box, she realized that it was from one of her distant relatives. Over the time that had passed since her grandmother's death, a few of her distant relatives had contacted Bella one way or another to introduce themselves to the new and most powerful matriarch of their family. She had even visited a few of them a few months ago because she was needed in some ceremonies.

"What is it?" Klaus asked her.

"Some rare plants that don't grow in these parts of the country. They're used for rare and complicated but very powerful protection potions." Bella replied while examining the dried herbs and flowers.

"They want to stay on your good side." Elijah stated.

"True, but this will be useful to protect the house from Dahlia." Bella nodded.

"Bella, our aunt's dot is not far now. She should be here in no less than 2 days, maybe quicker, I'm not used to today's travel speed." Freya exclaimed when she rushed in the room.

"Good. The spell is ready, the potions are ready. We're all set, she'll be gone long before this baby joins us." Bella declared.

"I'd be surprised if she even had the time to fight back." Klaus chuckled.

"It's true, we are well prepared and I doubt she knows what to expect." Bella smiled.

"I didn't even know your kind of witches existed, I doubts she does either. She probably thinks I simply ran away to try and find my siblings." Freya nodded.

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It was a few days later when the alarms placed all around the house warned them that Dahlia had arrived. To say that their aunt was pissed was an understatement. The witch soon realized that she was trapped, that she couldn't move and her anger rose even higher when Freya placed the cursed bracelet on her wrist.

"How dare you! Do you even know who you're attacking little girl?" Dahlia spat at Bella.

"I think it's you who has no clue of who's property you've entered. You don't know who I am, how powerful I am. But don't worry, you'll find out soon enough and I'll even do you a favor: I'm going to reunite you with your dear old sister. The two of you can rot together for eternity." Bella replied with a confident smirk.

"You won't win, not against me." Dahlia assured her.

"Really? I think we already have." Freya declared, feeling completely confident that they'd win.

"Too bad you have to leave so soon." Klaus added as his siblings were lined up behind Bella, showing her support.

"Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the sky. Come to me who calls you near, for justice is needed here." Bella started her spell, throwing a first potion at the trapped woman.

"Oh, how nice, you're doing poetry." Dahlia smirked.

"In this time and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power: Break the link holding Freya prisoner and reunite Dahlia with Esther." Bella continued, ignoring completely her aunt in law's words as Kol threw the second potion, knowing it was the right moment for it.

"What the..." Dahlia exclaimed as she felt magic working around her.

She could feel how powerful it was and it scared her. Already flames that could only have come from hell were growing all around her.

"In the same hell they can rot, but haunting us they cannot. I call upon the higher power to free Freya from the bother." Bella chanted.

Freya smiled, she could feel the magic working and by the look of horror on Dahlia's face, she knew that she could too. Knowing that the future would be brighter for her, Freya drank her own dose of potion, knowing that this was the perfect moment for it and that it would help free her.

"Power of the witches rise here and give Freya her life with those she holds dear. In this time and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power. Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the sky. Come to me who calls you near, come to me and settle this here." Bella finished chanting, smiling as her magic did its job and destroyed the evil woman who would have hurt her child.

They all stood around the front yard for a while, watching the fires of hell and magic disposing of their old aunt.

"What now?" Rebekah asked.

"Now, everyone's free." Bella smiled.

"Sage and I will leave in a couple of days to travel, but we'll be back before the birth." Finn announced.

"I'll join Caroline in Forks and I think we'll travel a bit too before coming back here so she can take a few classes in College." Kol added.

"I have no idea what I want to do." Freya shook her head.

"You've been trapped under Dahlia's rules for so long, maybe you should take a few days here to adapt to this world, then enjoy your newfound freedom and travel. You could start with Kol or Finn, spend some time with our friends and family so you're not completely alone. Know that you're always free to come back here whenever you want. No matter what you choose to do, you'll always have a room here." Bella assured the eldest Mickealson.

"Thank you." Freya smiled.

The family knew that there would be other obstacles to fight in the future. They had all created many enemies over the centuries and they were sure to eventually come after them but they also knew that they'd be able to fight them all and stay united.

For the time being, Klaus, Bella and Ansel would enjoy being a family while the other traveled. Maybe Marcel would even decide to pay them a visit, or maybe Klaus who decide to visit him, or write him a letter. It wouldn't be easy but they'd manage to go through it.

Together, as a family.

So, this is a little extra for you. I'll try to write another one for next Christmas, one where Marcel contacts Klaus. I'm not sure which way it'll go yet but I have a year to think about it, right?

Don't forget to leave me a review!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Lorelei Candice Black