The decision to finally join Elijah in his never ending quest to save Nik's soul was not made lightly by the female Original. But as the tears fell down her face when she bid her farewell to Hayley, the realization hit her that she was leaving behind all she ever really wanted: her family. Not freedom, like she thought for so long. She wanted all of them to be together and happy. They were the Original vampires, damn it. They were completely screwed up and dysfunctional, but she vowed in that moment that she would do everything within her power to ensure her niece had the happiest life any child could ask for. What she had so desperately wanted for so long.

Obviously her decision to remain in New Orleans would not be taken well by Niklaus. His wounds were still fresh and the betrayal she had committed was lingering in the air between them. If she were to simply walk back into their home she would be met with hostility and, quite possibly, either a stake or dagger in her heart.

No, she had to come with a peace offering. Something so incredible that he would have no choice but to forgive her and allow her to return to their home. As she drove through the bayou with no destination in mind, she pondered her options. There were very few material possessions that would appeal to her brother. Sure, he loved to paint and write poetry, but anything he desired that related to those hobbies he already owned. She debated calling Elijah, but she wasn't entirely in the mood for a lecture. Besides, she could only imagine that he would tell her to keep driving and to put as much distance between herself and their volatile brother as possible.

Rebekah slowed her car as a shrill scream reached her sensitive ears. It seemed to come from deep in the swamp that stretched for miles in every direction. She pulled to the side of the road and listened, hearing the sounds of struggling from multiple people, as if a large fight was taking place. She considered continuing on her way, but the yell from a woman urged her out of the car and into the murkiness of the bayou.

With her vampire speed she was upon the scene in an instant, just in time to see the last werewolf on the bank of the swamp fall into the mud, the life fading from his eyes. There were bodies everywhere: at least a dozen of them on the shore and more in the water, half submerged. The fact that they were all dead wasn't the shocking part. What had Rebekah's mouth agape was the fact that half of the bodies had the tails of fish.

"Mermaids," she breathed, astonished at what she was seeing. Mermaids were incredibly rare and in her one thousand years on this planet she had only ever heard rumors of them. There was a time when she and her brothers were obsessed with trying to find one in the flesh. It seemed like they had always shown up a day late, however, and after a time they gave up in their endeavor. And now here she was, practically in their backyard, looking at a mermaid massacre.

Quiet sobbing brought her out of her stupor and she gazed about, looking for the source. Beneath the dangling branches of a willow tree she could just make out the silhouette of a person and she picked her way across the crime scene to reach them. Pulling back the tendrils of the tree, she found a young woman, stark naked, lying on the ground and crying uncontrollably. The image pulled at Rebekah's heartstrings and she slowly eased her way towards the girl.

"Here now, darling," she whispered soothingly, hoping not to frighten the girl anymore than she clearly was already. Unsurprisingly, the girl shot up and scrambled away from her, pressing her back into the tree sharply enough for the bark to dig into her fair skin.

"Do not come any closer!" the young woman spat out, somewhere between terrified and royally pissed off. Her long, white-blonde hair was a tangled mess with leaves and sticks worked into its strands. Rebekah found herself almost entranced by her stunning beauty, particularly her blue eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the swamp. She appeared to only be in her early twenties, but, like vampires, mermaids were immortal and looks were deceiving.

"You're a mermaid, aren't you?" Rebekah asked, her eyes sweeping over the other woman's body quickly. She had legs at the moment, but something told Rebekah that they were temporary. And, just as she had that thought, the girl let out a deep sigh and slowly her legs fused together to become the most gorgeous tail Rebekah could ever imagine. It was pure white with long, almost feathery fins. This, like her eyes, seemed to glow in the faint moonlight.

"Are you going to try to kill me, too?" the mermaid asked, tears welling up in her eyes again. Rebekah cursed herself for being so selfish. She had been so caught up in the amazement of finally meeting a mermaid that she almost forgot about what this young female had just been through.

"Of course not!" Rebekah answered, angry that anyone had harmed these creatures. The girl seemed to slightly relax, though the tears remained unshed in her eyes. "What happened here?"

After a shaky breath, the mermaid spoke in a quiet voice. "We were on land, gathering some food for dinner, when the werewolves seemed to come out of nowhere. There have been so many around lately, ever since the curse on the Crescent wolves was lifted. We've never had a problem with them before..."

"You mean the Crescent wolves knew that you were here?" Rebekah interrupted, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

The mermaid nodded. "They often played with us while they were trapped in their wolf form. Racing us through the swamp and trying to catch fish faster than we could. But these weren't the Crescents that attacked us. They've never been here before."

"What did they want?"

"Power," she answered, her lip curling in disgust. "That's what it always is, isn't it?"

Rebekah sighed and nodded, immediately thinking of her brother. She remembered hearing that mermaids were incredibly powerful beings and were therefore hunted down by those who would use them against their enemies. Until now she didn't know whether to believe it or not, but clearly the wolves had believed it and struck.

"If mermaids are so powerful, how did your family get overwhelmed by the wolves?" It wasn't asked accusingly, but merely out of curiosity.

"When we're in our human form, we're at our most vulnerable. It takes most of our magic to maintain that form, therefore leaving little left with which to fight. Being on land makes us weak, that's why we rarely leave the bayou." She paused and looked out towards the water, the shadows of a few bodies barely visible through the branches of the tree. "They were lucky I was the only one who made it back to the water."

Rebekah quirked her eyebrow, remembering the bodies of the werewolves she had stepped over to get to where she now crouched. "They didn't seem lucky."

"Four of them ran away when they realized I was going to kill them all." She glanced up at Rebekah, looking so much younger than she probably was. "It's the first time I've ever killed a person."

"Oh, darling," Rebekah whispered, instinctively moving closer to the mermaid to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Are there others here, like you?" Are you alone now? is what her mind was really asking.

"None that I know of. I'm too young to have migrated at all. I was born and raised right here in this bayou." The mermaid allowed her tail to return to legs and brought them up to her chest, hugging them for dear life. "My mother, father, aunt, uncle and cousins are all dead." A new wave of sobs wracked her body.

Rebekah sat with her for almost an hour, rubbing her back and slowly working the knots out of her hair, which seemed to somewhat soothe her. As the moon began its descent back towards the horizon, Rebekah knew what she had to do.

"Come, darling," Rebekah stood and held her hand out to the young woman.

The girl accepted Rebekah's hand and rose onto shaky legs, still slightly in shock from the events of the night. "What are we doing?" She asked tentatively as she followed Rebekah out from under the willow tree.

"First, we need to take care of your fallen family. How do mermaids bid farewell to their dead?"

Without saying a word, the young mermaid walked over to the body of an older man, who, after dying, had returned to his natural merman form. With a slight struggle, she was able to pull his body into the water, placed a hand over his chest and mumbled words that were foreign to Rebekah's ears. The merman then began to glow, before dissolving into a cluster of sparkles and sinking into the murky water.

Rebekah stacked the bodies of the werewolves into a pile; she didn't doubt that their kin would return for them. When she and the mermaid had both finished their tasks, she led the young woman away from the gruesome scene and to her car. When they reached the flashy sports car, Rebekah fetched a blanket from the trunk and draped it around the other woman's shoulders.

After securing the younger woman into her seat (apparently she had never been in a car before), Rebekah began their drive back to the Quarter. It was only when the bright lights came into view did the vampire realize how utterly stupid she had been. "I'm sorry, love," she said, breaking the mermaid out of the enchantment the view of the city seemed to cast on her. "I completely forgot to ask your name."

"Artemis," the woman in the passenger seat answered. Her voice was quiet and laced with exhaustion.

Rebekah smiled knowingly. "The goddess of the moon. Most appropriate, I think."

A faint smile crossed Artemis's face. "My father loved Greek mythology."

"Well, my name isn't as interesting as yours. It's simply Rebekah," she replied, trying to keep the tone of their conversation light.

"And you're a vampire?" Artemis asked, only curiosity in her voice.

Rebekah nodded. Dare she divulge the fact that she's one of the Originals? The truth will come out soon enough, anyway. She's driving the poor dear back to a house full of Originals; it won't be difficult to figure out. "I'm an Original, actually," she said casually, as if she were commenting on the weather.

A slight widening of her eyes is the only surprise the mermaid showed on her face. "And your brothers?" she asked, her gaze shifting back to the city they were now entering. It was late but that didn't stop people from crowding the sidewalks, either on their way to or from some form of entertainment. Artemis was gazing all around with interest, though she remained still in her seat. Whether it was from exhaustion or an attempt at remaining composed, Rebekah didn't know. What she did know, however, was this mermaid was going to be like a lamb in a slaughterhouse in this city. Clearly she had never left that swamp or met anyone other than her kin. She would need constant protection until she learned the ins and outs of the Quarter.

"My brothers will be at our home. They don't yet know that we're coming." Rebekah tried to leave it at that, but her nervous voice must have tipped Artemis off, because she looked at her expectantly. "Niklaus and I aren't on good terms right now. I'm hoping your presence will placate him and keep him from sticking a dagger in my heart."

"Am I to be an offering?" Artemis questioned, though the anger Rebekah had expected wasn't present. She merely asked the question as if the answer made little difference to her. Perhaps she was so shell-shocked from losing her entire family that she cared little about what happened to her at this point.

"No!" Rebekah exclaimed. "Of course not, darling. And if you don't want to stay at our home you don't have to. I will put you up in a lovely hotel. Though, I do think it would be safer for you to stay with us."

The car was quiet for a few minutes as Artemis weighed Rebekah's words. They pulled up outside the Mikaelson residence and Rebekah shifted the car into 'park'. "Here we are," she said, and even though her nerves were frayed she still smiled up at the large stone building. "Home sweet home." She turned her attention back to the mermaid in the passenger seat.

Artemis scanned the house, then Rebekah, before nodding. "I'll stay here," she whispered, and her voice wavered only the slightest. She was scared but she was doing a fine job of covering it up. Rebekah admired her strength and hoped in that moment that they could become good friends.

The two women entered the mostly-dark house through the courtyard and before they were even in the center, Rebekah heard the distinctive voice of her brother.

"Back so soon, sister?" Klaus asked from his place on the balcony above them, a sneer in his voice.

Rebekah made certain her voice was even before she began to speak. She didn't want to appear frightened in front of Artemis, even though the possibility of Nik having a dagger behind his back was all too real. "Nik, I want to talk with you. About our family; about improving our relationship."

His dark chuckle was all that was heard, and in an instant Rebekah was pinned to the stone wall, Klaus's hand around her throat. She gasped and clawed at his hand, but he had been blessed with brute strength that surpassed her own.

"I gave you a chance to leave, Rebekah. You should have taken it," he growled, hatred and pain swirling in his glare.

Artemis watched her savior and new friend fly through the air as her brother tossed her across the courtyard. She felt rage bubble inside her, an emotion she had never felt before that night, and the air around her practically crackled with energy. One thing that she hadn't told Rebekah was that, with the funeral ceremony for mermaids, each fallen mermaid or merman's power is transferred to their remaining relatives. Since she was the last of her clan, she had absorbed the power of seven merpeople that evening. The magic that was swirling through her veins was almost overwhelming. It would take time and patience to learn to harness it.

Patience was one thing Artemis was far too tired to attempt at the moment. Her blue eyes glowed brightly as she forced her magic towards the male vampire.

"Enough!" she shouted, her hands outstretched to put strength into her command. The blanket that she was clinging to when they entered the house fell to the floor, though she paid it no mind. Modesty was never something practiced among merpeople; they spent their entire lives naked.

Klaus was hit with the burst of magic and slammed into the wall opposite them, then fell into a heap on the floor. He shook his head in confusion as he stood. He locked his eyes on Artemis and she shivered under his glare. Even if she had just thrown him around like a doll, she could feel the power he held. This was a man you didn't want hunting you down.

Rebekah had recovered and stood beside Artemis. "Nik, listen to me," she demanded.

"You brought a witch to try and kill me?!" Klaus accused, pointing at Artemis.

"I am not a witch!" Artemis yelled back at him.

"You most definitely are not," a new voice joined the fray, this one belonging to a pretty redhead up on the balcony Nik had descended from. She smiled slyly down at Artemis. The mermaid sent a glare in her direction, knowing that look all too well. It was the same one the wolves had when they came looking for power.

"Didn't take you long to fill your bed, did it?" Rebekah asked Klaus, her nose curled up in disgust. Clearly the female vampire held no love for the woman.

"If she isn't a witch, then what is she?" Klaus asked, ignoring his sister's question.

Artemis scoffed at him, her arms crossing over her chest. "'She' is right here, thank you very much."

"She's a mermaid," the woman answered, smirking when Artemis's glare returned back to her. "And a very powerful one, too. I can feel the energy in the air moving around her like waves."

Klaus's eyes widened and he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Cautiously, like he was afraid to spook her, he walked across the courtyard until he stood right in front of her. "Where did you come from?" he locked his curious eyes on her, finally asking her a question directly.

"The bayou," Artemis answered simply. She was keeping her eye on the witch on the balcony, not liking the vibes the redhead was sending her way. There was something about her that Artemis didn't care for.

"The bayou?" Klaus asked, shock evident in his tone. He looked to Rebekah to confirm the mermaid's claim.

Rebekah nodded and, after retrieving the blanket from the floor, placed it back on Artemis's shoulders. "I found her there earlier this evening. Werewolves slaughtered her family."

"The Crescents?" Klaus guessed, his eyes becoming dark with anger. The changes he took on so quickly interested Artemis. She'd never seen someone who felt emotions as passionately as Klaus seemed to. Then again, her experience with people other than her own family left something to be desired.

"No, I know what the Crescents look like. These were strangers; new to the swamp." Her words died off with a yawn, exhaustion finally catching up with her. Rebekah looped her arm through hers, gently pulling her towards the stairs.

"Come, love. Let's find somewhere for you to sleep."

Klaus, amazingly, stayed silent as the pair ascended the steps to the upper part of their home. The witch appeared at his side, no doubt to discuss Artemis. So many things would need to be worked out, including the revenge Artemis desperately wanted on the four werewolves who had escaped her wrath. But for now, she was content with allowing Rebekah to take care of her.

A/N: So, what do you think? Is this idea completely ridiculous? I was unsure whether I should post it or not. Let me know! :)