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saiilorstars · 4 years

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The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 13: My Dear Friends

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: The Originals

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

No real warnings for now!

Requested tag: @queenmj10

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Maleny struggles to keep her decision to leave the compound which, as days pass by, just make it harder not to clash with Klaus.

A/N: A reminder that Maleny is back in her original body so her new face claim is the actress Angelique Boyer!

While things may have not been as perfect as everyone wished for, there had been a visible change in moods - all save Hayley of course. In the lounge room upstairs were Elijah and Cami, having a rousing game of chess. They had the small table between them, and while Cami was looking as if she were ready to flip the table over in frustration, she was managing to win.

"Another one," remarked Elijah as Cami took out another of his chess piece.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you're letting me win," Cami announced with a mocking smile.

"Why would you believe that?" Elijah asked, matching her smile with an innocent one.

Cami raised an eyebrow, "Because I've never played before," she smirked and placed his chess piece beside them, "and I just so happened to mention this right before we began playing."

"Coincidences," Elijah gave a shrug and pretended to focus on his move.

Cami shook her head, unable to contain a laugh, "You are full of crap!"

"Camille, I would have thought you'd have better language," Elijah looked up from the table with a less than serious face, "There are far more beautiful things to say don't you think?"

Cami rolled her eyes and motioned him to get on with his chess move. While he did so, Klaus strode into the room with an air of aggravation as he went straight for the drinks across.

"Isn't it a bit early to drink?" Cami gave a call, "It's not even noon yet."

"Well, that goes to show you how bad it's already going," Klaus waved his glass before taking a long gulp down.

"Did you retrieve the stake, brother?" Elijah finally looked up from the table after making a move. Cami gaped at how quickly she was now losing - he most certainly was playing for real now.

"I attempted to," Klaus muttered, "Hayley and I found some witches whom we tried persuading to locate the white oak stake for us."

Both chess players alarmed, shouted simultaneously, "You took Hayley on a witch hunt!?"

Klaus wasn't very surprised by the stunned question and so turned to the table to pour himself another drink, "She heard and I couldn't very well say no, could I?"

"I'm sorry isn't that what you always do?" Cami shook her head, "You realize Hayley is like inches from falling apart, right?" she began looking through her remaining chess pieces for another move.

"Perhaps the problem is your high standards? Hayley is a vampire now. Being it only exaggerates what you truly are, and wolves are wild things. Your judgment only hurts her more."

Elijah angrily looked up at his brother, "We are not judging her, we are concerned for her. Someone needs to talk to her before she does something she truly will regret."

"What about Maleny?" Cami suddenly asked, having just thought of the idea, "Think about it, Hayley lost a daughter and Maleny was a daughter who lost a mother," both brothers glanced at each other with consideration, "Not to mention they're both basically orphans. I'm sure they can connect on some level."

"I will talk to her, see if she's okay with it," Klaus volunteered after a moment. He set his glass down and turned to the two again, "Of course that would be after I find somewhere for her to live at."

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked, both he and Cami sharing confused expressions.

"You haven't heard?" Klaus bitterly huffed, "She says she must live somewhere else until we find her previous corpse and burn it. That is the only way her curse can officially be broken. And since no one knows where it is she has to 'play it safe'." He was still highly upset Maleny had persisted in that direction even after sleeping well and thinking more on it. He had been so sure she would change her mind...but he was wrong. And now he had to actually look for a place she could stay, other than the compound.

Cami leaned back on her spot, "Well, it does sound logical. I'm sure we can find a place for her nearby," but after a minute of studying Klaus she began smirking, "Oh, but that's not what you expected is it? Cos you did expect something, right?" Klaus shot her a glare warning her to stop but Cami just laughed at the attempt, "Oh c'mon, Klaus, you spend months brooding over her and you expect us not to form ideas about it?"

"If it bothers you, perhaps have a talk with her," suggested Elijah.

"You two are no bloody help at all," was all Klaus said before leaving with a glass in hand.

Cami raised her eyebrows though she wasn't surprised with the response, "Does he ever stop acting like he doesn't care?"

"It's difficult for him. Think about it, every time there is a woman - who we assumed has been Maleny - she disappears. It's not easy to openly care about someone after a while."

Cami had to agree with Elijah on that, "Alright fine. But that doesn't mean we can't help."

And judging by the smirk on her face, Elijah figured there was already a plan forging in her mind, "Anything in mind?"

"Perhaps," Cami knocked down another of his chess pieces, "but we can discuss that after I beat you."

Elijah looked at his knocked down piece with genuine surprise, "Well," he picked it up and placed it down by his other lost ones, "you're turning out to be a challenge."

Cami giggled and motioned him to make his next move. He had no idea.

~ 0 ~

In Maleny's room, that had finally been opened up last night, stood the blonde in front of a finished painting. She'd seen it last night but had been too tired to study its details. Now wide awake and changed, she took her time. It only took minutes to conclude she loved it. She recognized the painting as the one Klaus had been working on months ago, after Elijah's faction party had gone rogue. At the time there had been only scenery - the forest - but now there was a prominent figure...herself. There she sat on her knees, with her long, blonde hair cascading over her chest. One of her favorite blue dresses was the choice of clothing with her prized golden chain necklace around her neck. She was genuinely surprised that Klaus had remembered her so...perfectly. Anyone else may have forgotten her likes and dislikes in a couple years, but not him despite it being a thousand years.

Now Maleny would've continued to admire her new painting - as Klaus had told her last night it was hers to do as she pleased - but she heard the trotting of boots coming closer to her room. She looked back at the open door in time to see Hayley walking by. Though Hayley didn't acknowledge her Maleny quietly walked to the doorway and peered out. Hayley was leaving a trail of blood after her, and she herself was drenched in mud, blood, and tree twigs. Once Hayley entered a room, Maleny walked out and looked below into the courtyard, startled at seeing so many corpses, assumed to be witches. After a couple of minutes of thinking, Maleny decided to go find Hayley.

This couldn't keep going on.

Eventually, she found Hayley in a bathroom, taking a bubble bath. However the tub was oozing with running blood, even the water tainted.

"Are you kidding me?" Maleny stepped into the room, eyeing all that was wrong, "This is what your mornings consist of now?"

Hayley couldn't help roll her eyes, "Mal, you've been gone so to answer your question, yes this is kinda what I do now. I was having a crappy day, so Klaus took me out to the Cauldron. Wouldn't you know, we ran into some witches!"

"Hayley, I'm a witch, this makes me feel uncomfortable."

Hayley tilted her head back to see the blonde, seeing the genuine nervous shift in Maleny's expression, "Yeah, but you're not evil nor part of the group that nearly killed my baby. You're good."

"Gee, that makes me feel all better," Maleny crossed her arms and stared at the brunette who returned to 'relaxing'. After a minute she shook her head, "Absolutely not, nope. This can't and won't keep going," she headed for a table with towels and snatched one off, "Take it and get dressed," she ordered, "We're going to talk."

"Excuse me?" Hayley raised an eyebrow.

"No, I will not excuse you. You heard me, get dressed and meet me in my room. Ten minutes," Maleny warned with her two hands before walking out, giving Hayley no chance to put in a word of refusal.

~ 0 ~

Maleny sat on a couch just beside her window, her hands clutching a cushion as she stared out the window. She had taken the custom back in the French house during the early days when she couldn't walk for very long. She would watch everything work, whether it was the trees swaying to the wind or Isabelle's family in their daily chores. She often wished she was able to go downstairs but her body needed a lot of physical therapy before she could even think about stepping outside.

The sounds of shoes coming closer made her break her thoughts. Hayley strode into the room wearing a not so pleased face - not that Maleny cared. Hayley plopped down on the couch beside Maleny, "Well? What is it?"

"That's your greeting?" Maleny raised an eyebrow.

"Maleny, I'm not the same anymore-"

"Clearly," Maleny cut her off with a wide smile, "You're a new hybrid, you're a new mother, and you've taken up the sport of hunting? That's definitely not the Hayley I knew. But I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like the way you're behaving now."

"There is no other way to behave," snapped Hayley, "I lost my daughter to people I didn't even know. You tell me how I'm supposed to keep going with a bright smile on my face?"

"I can't, because I'm not a mother," Maleny conceded her fault, "but I am a daughter who also lost her parents. My mother died, and my father never loved me. I was like an orphan after my mother died."

"So was I," Hayley reminded, unsure of where the conversation was heading to, "except in my case both my parents died in some war."

"Hayley, I'm not going to tell you that everything is 'going to be okay' or 'things will get better' because that would only be an insult to you," Maleny leaned forwards and took her friend's hand, "but what I can tell you is that you're not alone in this. We know what it was like losing our parents and we would never want that for our children. But you know what your daughter has that neither of us did?"

"What?"

"Her mother and father are both alive and willing to do anything it takes to get her back," Maleny smiled, "She will live with hope."

Hayley lightly smiled and looked down, "Have you had some sort of therapist training or something?"

"Not exactly," Maleny chuckled, "I had a lot of time in my hands when I was in France and couldn't move about. I took to reading - any genre. And, in one of those books, it mentioned something about getting in touch with your origins as a means to help you rehabilitate."

"I'm not a drug addict, Mal," Hayley shook her head, slightly amused.

"No, but the book still stands. Have you gone back to the bayou since you gave birth? To see your people?"

"No, and after ambushing them I'm pretty sure they're in no mood to see me."

"Don't you see Hayley? Those wolves are key to getting back your daughter. Why make an enemy when you can make best friends," Maleny smirked, a pointed finger at Hayley, "There's no need for them to be your enemies."

"Now you're sounding a lot like Klaus," Hayley blinked, surprised to hear such similarities.

Maleny sheepishly pushed some of her hair back, "Well, my mind's been a lot more clearer now so...there's bound to be some similarities."

"The thing that would really drive it home is if you were to say-"

"You need to be their alpha," Maleny finished for her, meaning every word spoken.

"Maleny!"

"You waged a just war on those who would harm your child! Not only will they respect you, they will answer to you! They have to."

But Hayley still refused to believe it, shaking her head, "Why would they do that now?"

"Because you're their queen - or so I've heard from Klaus."

"Stop hanging around with that guy," Hayley mockingly ordered, "I don't want to have to deal with two arrogant vampires."

"Hey," Maleny laughed, "First of all, I'm not arrogant. Second of all, I'm a witch," she gestured to herself, "I may not have all my power but I am still one, alright? And you know what, this witch is going to accompany you to the bayou so you can see your family."

"You're going to what?" Hayley's eyebrows shot up, the idea already giving her a bad ache in her stomach.

"You heard me," Maleny leaned back on her spot, giving a light shrug, "I've got to play it safe around this city and it would look less suspicious if they see me with you instead of Klaus or even Elijah. They would probably think of me some wolf friend of yours."

"Mal, I don't know…"

"I'll go with you for a while then I'll come back home so you can do all your little wolf things on your own. I want to stop by and see Davina anyways. She doesn't know I'm back yet. I don't know how she's doing."

"Word on the street is she told her coven to 'shove it' and she's now back at school," Hayley decided to share as a preview of what she would later hear.

"Really?" Maleny chuckled, "That's Davina. I'm happy for her. So, bayou?"

"...bayou," Hayley eventually agreed and watched Maleny laugh again, easily noticing there was something else that Maleny was so giddy about, "You seem in an awfully cheerful mood for someone who, I hear, is still cursed."

Maleny sobered up but still ended up smiling, "Well," she tucked some hair behind her ear and turned her head to the right, pretending to study her room, "there's just a lot more gained now for me."

"Like?"

"Nothing," Maleny shrugged. At that moment, Klaus appeared at her doorway, lightly knocking on her door to alert of his presence. Maleny looked at him with a cheery smile, "Morning," she greeted.

"Actually it's noon, but good morning," Klaus corrected as he came further into the room, "I came to tell you that Cami and Elijah will be looking into that apartment of yours."

"You're moving out?" Hayley immediately frowned at Maleny, "But you just got here."

"Like I said, I need to play it safe," Maleny repeated with a sigh, "How would it look that the Mikaelsons' just accepted a brand new woman in the city into their home? If someone has my corpse and the knowledge about me, it won't be long until they figured it out. I can't be here."

Hayley could see the necessity for Maleny to live somewhere else and so decided to leave the subject at that. Besides, she could already tell the idea wasn't sitting well with Klaus anyways and saw no need to keep talking about it.

"Cami and Elijah will come up with something for you," Klaus reiterated to Maleny, "Meanwhile I will go to the witches at the graveyard to meet this 'Cassie' - the last of the Harvest girls - who is now, I hear, leading both the witches and the wolves."

"What?" Hayley hissed, nearly jumping out of her spot on the couch, "Why!?"

"Because of Oliver of course," Klaus shrugged as if it were obvious, "You should see into that, little wolf. It won't bode well for us if the wolves and witches unite against us."

"She absolutely will," Maleny flashed Hayley a knowing smile, "She's going to the bayou today."

"Excellent," Klaus was severely satisfied to hear it, "and in the meantime you will stay here," he told the blonde.

"Alright," Maleny accepted though both she and Hayley knew that wasn't happening.

"I mean it Maleny," it seemed like Klaus was also doubting her easy acceptance, "You said it yourself, you need to play it safe around."

"I got it," Maleny raised both hands in her defense.

Klaus stared at Maleny longer before adding, "Cami and Elijah won't be long, so you won't have time to make an escape," and with that he left the room.

Maleny made a face as she stood up, chucking her cushion back on the couch, "So, bayou?" she looked at Hayley as if nothing had happened.

Hayley looked between Maleny and the open doorway, "Didn't you hear?"

"Oh I heard," Maleny went over to her night stand and picked up her cellphone. She entered the messaging tab and began writing to Cami.

"And you're still going to leave? Cami and Elijah are going to be back early."

"Done," Maleny cheered and stuffed her phone into her jean's pocket. She turned to Hayley and walked over, "Cami's gonna cover for me."

Hayley stared at the blonde with slight amusement, one she hadn't had in many months, "I'm glad you're back," she said after a moment.

"Me too," Maleny clapped her hands, "Let's go!"

~ 0 ~

The bright green bayou was difficult to walk through when one visits, as was the case for Maleny. Knowing she had to leave earlier, she and Hayley left the car they back where it would no longer be able to go through. Maleny was trudging along slightly behind Hayley who was having no trouble getting through. In fact, she didn't even notice Maleny struggling to keep up. Maleny had the good idea to have Hayley keep talking about the occurrences that happened after she'd 'died' at the cemetery and while Hayley was over explaining some things while briefly touching others, Maleny was putting in pieces of the big picture fairly easy.

"So you've like...distanced yourself from everyone," Maleny concluded after Hayley finished one story.

"I had to, Mal," Hayley crossed her arms, looking down as they walked, "I cried all day, I fed all night. I was no good to anyone. That's probably why I lost things."

"What kind of things?" Maleny curiously asked, though by the tone of Hayley's voice she was already forming ideas.

"My pack, for starters," Hayley huffed, "I lost connection with them when I turned. I used to be close with people and now...things have changed. Take Elijah, for starters. When I got to this city he was overbearing with all these concerns and now...I'm lucky if we have one conversation a day. He likes to spend time with Cami now…"

Maleny awkwardly cleared her throat once she sensed the smidge of jealousy covering Hayley's last words, "Cami's a new vampire, he's probably just mentoring her or something. Believe me, he does that with many people - even Marcel," she recalled lastly.

"You haven't seen them, Mal. While you've been in France, I've stayed here, remember?" she glanced back at Maleny, "I know what I see."

Maleny sadly looked at her friend, assuming Hayley had felt like she was (and had) lost everything, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Hayley continued walking, now facing straight ahead, even though Maleny was still behind she kept the calm facade on her face, "It's not Cami's fault either, nor Elijah's - it's mine. I turned into a monster and who could love that?"

"You're not a monster," Maleny scolded, wishing she could speed walk to comfort her, "You're just sad, and with great motives to be. Besides, if this didn't happen then it's probably cos someone else is waiting for you somewhere."

Hayley received that comment with a scoff, "Okay."

"I mean it Hayley," warned Maleny.

Hayley would've continued to refuse the statement if it hadn't been for the fact they'd finally found the remnants of her pack. Minutes later, Maleny finally caught up and looked out to a small clearing where several Crescents were gathering up their belongings.

"So, Jackson is MIA and Oliver seems to think he's the Alpha," Hayley gestured the obvious, "They're not going to listen to me."

"Hey," Maleny turned to the brunette, tugging on Hayley's black jacket to reveal her birthmark, "that birthmark on your shoulder did not disappear when you became a hybrid so as far as anyone's concerned you're still one of them - just with a few upgrades."

"Upgrades?" Hayley gave her a long look.

Maleny shrugged, "Or perks, whatever you want to call them. Just go," she pointed to the clearing, "Go on, talk to them."

With a deep sigh, Hayley emerged from their spot by the trees and walked for the clearing. Maleny followed behind and immediately noticed the tension that had settled in the air. The group had formed a circle around them as if they were waiting to attack.

"The hell you want?" Oliver demanded from Hayley, taking no notice of the blonde.

However, that didn't stop Maleny from making a snarkish response, "Hey, shut the hell up before you end up down in a lake," and to prove she could very well practice enough magic she snapped her fingers causing a branch from a tree behind the group to plummet to the ground.

Hayley shot her a look, both surprised of the magic and irritated for the imprudence, "Hey, I thought we were coming to talk, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna have disrespect for either of us," Maleny crossed her arms.

"You with Cassie?" Oliver decided to ask her, suddenly realizing he had never seen her near the covens. For all he knew she could be under Cassie's order.

"Don't know who she is, don't really think I want to know," Maleny shrugged, uninterested.

"We didn't come here to fight, Oliver," Hayley clarified, "Our pack has been divided by people who want us to be their slaves. What we need right now is a leader. Someone who will reunite us and make us strong again. Someone who will fight for our pack. If you let me, I can be that person."

Oliver scoffed at the idea, "You think we can trust you? You're not one of us! Hell, you're not even a wolf, you're a blood-sucking vampire parasite!"

"And yet you're working for Cassie," Maleny spoke up again, leaving him quiet for a minute. Her eyes looked at the other wolves intently listening to them, "I mean, do you guys really trust a man who I hear, caters to a teenage witch?"

"That witch can help us all," Oliver snapped, growing more irritated with the stranger, "She can give us moonlight rings-"

"Which would then make you all her slaves for the rest of your lives," Hayley replied then.

"Yeah, they would rather follow a witch than you," Oliver stepped towards the two women, "Me? Hell, I'd rather die than follow you."

"That's it," Maleny shut her eyes and waited to feel the channeling of powers between her and Isabelle's coven. With a thrust of her hand she blew Oliver to the ground, "Follow witches and you'll so end up on your back, dead," she told the group, "That's what you want? To be dead?"

"Mal," Hayley hissed, not at all pleased with the stunt she'd pulled.

"It's time to learn politics, Hayley," Maleny stepped forwards, wearing an uncommon sinister smile on her face, "You gain support by killing your detractors!"

"What ever, look, they may not like me very much, but these people, including Oliver, are my family," Hayley softly explained, feeling slightly awkward with the burning stares everyone had on her.

Maleny smirked as she looked around, "See that?" she jerked a thumb at Hayley, "That's the kind of leader you want and need - not some fool," she then pointed at Oliver, "that only talks loud to be heard. Choose to follow this 'Cassie' witch and you'll eventually be killed, whether by her or her enemies - who knows."

She retreated back to Hayley's side, "I have to go see Davina. You can take it from here, I think. See you back at the compound."

"Thanks," Hayley whispered before the blonde left, grateful she had been forced to come and do this. Yes, she was definitely glad to have Maleny back.

~ 0 ~

It didn't take long for Maleny to locate Davina in the Quarter. It seemed like the girl had taken refuge in the church attic again. Maleny gave a light knock on the open door, already peering inside to see the teenager reading over a grimoire, "Knock, knock."

At the unfamiliar voice, Davina looked up in alarm and ready to battle, "Who ever you are," she stood up from the couch with a hand raised towards Maleny, "you need to leave."

However, her invisible companion, Mikael, was stunned to see the blonde at the doorway, "By all the Gods…" he sucked in a breath. Davina quickly looked at the man for further explanation.

Maleny laughed, clueless of the third member in the room, "Davina, it's me, Maleny. I know I look a little different," she grabbed a handful of her loose hair, "but it's good ole Mal, I promise."

Davina's head snapped back to the blonde, her eyes wide, "Maleny!?"

"I'm finally back."

"Oh my God!" Davina scurried across the room to encase Maleny in a tight hug, "I can't believe you're back!"

"Of course I was coming back," Maleny pulled back, "Did you give up hope on me or something?"

"Never," Davina declared instantly.

"So," Maleny looked around the wooden room, unable to stop thinking of the gruesome activities that took place long ago, "word on the street is you told your coven to shove it?"

Davina chuckled and moved back, "That may or may not have happened."

"You're a badass," Maleny moved around the room, missing the stiffness in Davina as she watched the blonde walk pass Mikael.

If Maleny was back then it surely meant she was also back with the Mikaelsons. She didn't doubt for a second Maleny was already living there. The most horrendous thing would be if Maleny was now actually with Klaus. That would definitely put a damper on their friendship. Her plans still consisted in letting Mikael kill Klaus after she de-linked Klaus' sireline. Could Maleny forgive her for that if she was still in love with Klaus?

"Any particular reason why you're reading a de-linking spell?" Maleny had found Esther's grimoire on the couch and become interested in the current page.

"Um…" Davina quickly racked her mind for an excuse.

"If you tell her your plans she will never forgive you," Mikael warned in all seriousness, "She was the fool who loved that bastard."

Davina stared at him for a long time, truly taking in his words. Maleny followed her gaze to the empty spot in which Mikael stood, "Davina?" she called again, making the teenager flinch and look back.

"Uh, I was just...studying," Davina settled for a weak answer, "Telling your coven to shove it kind of means you have to learn on your own."

Maleny accepted the answer with ease, "I'm sorry for that. But you know, even though I don't have all my power back doesn't mean I can't teach you what I've learned."

"You've learned?" Davina walked to the couch, stopping just behind it.

"Mhm. My original body was in a French coven's care and when I woke up Isabelle, the leader, gave me some lessons. I even have a channeling spell between her coven and myself to help me with magic."

"That's incredible," Davina was happy to hear her friend had garnered at least a little magic of what had been taken.

"Plus, I still have my mother's grimoire. You can take it any time you want."

The kindness Maleny showed towards her made Davina feel worse of her secret plans. Since Maleny arrived to the Quarter she'd done nothing but help Davina and now Davina would repay her by killing her (hopefully past) love?

That was cruel on every standard.

"Davina, you'll have to forgive me, but this time I do come with a favor to ask," admitted a sheepish Maleny.

Davina however found no offense and quickly motioned she wanted to hear, "What is it?"

"It's about my previous body's corpse. I need to have it burned so that any link between it and the curse can officially die. This way the curse would be broken and I would be, well, free. Klaus says he doesn't know what happened to it because apparently someone took it."

Davina's gaze dropped to the floor, alerting Maleny she was already in the know of the situation. "I tried to find it," Davina began quietly, the guilt visible in her stance, "but it was cloaked. There's a powerful spell covering its location."

"So someone is intentionally hiding it," Maleny turned away, running her hands through her hair in frustration, "And they're probably waiting for me to come back so that they can..." she swallowed hard, "...capture me again..."

Davina watched her friend with sympathy. Although Maleny played out to be the tough, sarcastic woman Davina knew very well Maleny was just scared beyond belief of her cursers, and now the person who held her previous corpse. The fact she could, at any time, be once again thrown back into the cycle of jumping bodies and forgetting everything had to be something traumatizing for one person to live under for centuries.

While Davina was lost in thought, Maleny heard a cellphone vibrating, and figuring it wasn't hers she turned back. She saw Davina's phone and picked it up, reading the contact name as 'Kaleb'. With a smirk, she passed it to Davina then promptly asked, "Who's that?"

Davina blushed as she took the cellphone from Maleny, "Just...someone I met," she answered quietly and read the text sent to her.

'Can I make it up to you over dinner?'

Maleny watched a bright smile spread across the teen's face after reading the message. She chuckled when Davina remembered she wasn't alone and quickly looked back with an embarrassed look.

"So, you want to tell me more about this guy?" Maleny raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to laugh.

"Yes, definitely yes," Davina pointed, making a face, "just maybe another time?"

"Ooh, I know that, that's a nice way of telling me to leave," Maleny backed away, now fully laughing, "Rebekah used that one on me back then so she could have some fun."

"Not like that," Davina looked mortified and blushed again.

"I expect full coverage on this tomorrow," Maleny warned, turning to leave as Davina grabbed her own things to follow.

"Definitely," Davina shut the door of the attic then hurried on out, leaving a chuckling Maleny to leave afterwards.

~ 0 ~

As the day grew darker Maleny found it was time to return home before someone grew confused. She'd spent some hours on her own getting to know the Quarter again, while also discreetly looking out for any potential enemies that could be holding her previous corpse. She also had gone to a shop for certain ingredients that would help keep a strong, constant connection of power between her and Isabelle's coven. As she was coming out of the shop, she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" the blonde quickly went.

A dark-skinned man was the receiver of the push and appeared stunned by her presence, "You…" was all that came out of his lips.

Maleny lifted an eyebrow, "I'm sorry? What was that?"

The man, named Vincent, (or so everyone thought) quickly recollected himself and shook his head, "No, no, it's my bad. I wasn't looking where I was going…" he paused to stare at her one more time before forcing himself to go, "Excuse me."

Confused, Maleny watched after the man, wondering what was wrong with him. A vibration of her phone reminded her it was time to go. She dashed for the car and made way to the compound.

~ 0 ~

Upon entering the compound Maleny walked in the midst of people she didn't know. It wasn't until she came into the courtyard and saw Hayley giving instructions to the group.

"Take any of the rooms on the first floor," she was motioning the group to head into the downstairs corridors.

"Hayley, what's going on here?" Maleny went up to the woman.

At the same time she asked the question, Klaus and Elijah emerged from the downstairs living room, "Are we running a kennel now?" Klaus called.

"I'll handle them," Hayley told the group before dragging Maleny up to the brothers.

"And where the hell have you been?" Klaus demanded once he caught sight of Maleny.

But before Maleny opened her mouth, Hayley answered, "She was with me at the bayou helping me reconnect with my pack."

Klaus looked at Maleny, studying her face for any thing that would give reason to doubt, "You agreed to stay in here."

"I was with Hayley, someone very capable of keeping me safe," Maleny swung an arm around Hayley's shoulders, "That's not bad is it?"

"No," Elijah answered before Klaus could say something, "I think it's good you two went out," he could already tell a difference it made in Hayley and he would not have anything ruining it.

"Well, these are the ones that are not with the witches," Hayley explained as more of the pack entered.

"I don't see Oliver amongst them," Klaus observed the incoming Crescents, "Am I to assume you finished him off?"

"We made a deal," Hayley said, "He'll pledge his loyalty to Cassie, report back, and tell me everything that he learns."

Maleny blinked with surprise, "Wow, you managed to do that in the span of a day?"

Hayley smugly smiled, "Yeah."

"You're good!"

"Hey," Cami entered the compound holding a rolled up paper in hand, "I got the apartment," she declared with a smile.

"I thought you two were looking into that together," Maleny looked in between Cami and Elijah.

"We were," agreed Cami, throwing Elijah a mock glare, "then I was ditched for Davina."

"Davina? What does Davina have to do with this?" Maleny frowned, seeing the change in Elijah and even Klaus.

Elijah motioned for them to follow and while Hayley took care of the remaining Crescents.

"What's going on?" Maleny asked again once they were in the living room. The air had suddenly turned dense, like something was incredibly wrong.

"It appears our troubles with the witches are far from being over," Elijah began, "more than we thought anyways."

"How so?" Cami questioned, glancing at Maleny.

"They have the white oak stake don't they?" Maleny assumed by their behavior. Hayley had told her of the predicament the two Originals found themselves in with the loss of the stake.

"Yes and no," Klaus pointed at her, appearing irritated for some reason, "Your little witch friend, Davina, has it...along with my deceased father."

"Come again?"

"Davina somehow brought our father back from the dead and has him under her control," Elijah explained thoroughly, "and with him and the stake she has the perfect weapon to finish us once and for all."

Maleny shook her head, "That can't be. I just spoke to Davina earlier today-"

Klaus immediately stopped her after she'd basically given up her lie, "So you weren't with Hayley all day."

Maleny stiffened but quickly came up with, "I left just for a bit. I only saw Davina for like five minutes. She didn't mention anything of the stake-"

"I doubt she would have even if you asked," that response had come from neither Mikaelson brother.

Stunned, Maleny turned to face Cami, "Cami! How can you say that?"

"Well, it's just what I've seen," Cami gave a shrug and went to take a seat at the couch, "Davina's changed while you've been gone. She doesn't address me the same anymore because I keep seeing those two," she nodded towards Klaus and Elijah, "I'm not doubting her love for you because she's proven it's real, but despite all that Davina has never and probably will never desist on her attempts of killing the Mikaelsons'."

Maleny ran her hands through her hair, still reluctant to believe that one of her friends was going to kill the people that were practically her family, "I have to go talk to her," but before she even turned to leave Klaus gave her a call.

"You will not go anywhere!"

Maleny glanced back, startled of his snark, "What?"

"You're not leaving this place unless one of us," Klaus gestured to his brother and Cami, "is with you."

"I don't need a babysitter," Maleny turned back with her arms crossed, "I told you that long ago and I stand by that statement."

"Maleny, in this case, I think he's right," Elijah spoke up, getting an agreeing nod from Cami.

"Yeah, if their deranged father -" Cami began but then winced at her rudeness and apologized, "Sorry -," she told the brothers before continuing with Maleny, "is back then he'll definitely use whatever he can to his advantage."

"It's not just our father we have to deal with," Klaus announced, wanting Maleny to see just how grave the situation was, "Our mother has taken the last Harvest's girl's body, Cassie, and I doubt she's here for a simple visit."

"So both your parents are back," Maleny scowled at the idea, "Well I'd love to have a chat with Esther. Let me at her."

"This isn't funny, Maleny," Klaus snapped, "Now do you see why you need to be here?"

"No, honestly, no," Maleny shook her head, "Because as bad as things are I can't remain here. I need to have my own place and you're not going to stop me," she moved to Cami and snatched the apartment's contract from her hand before leaving the room.

"MALENY!" but Maleny ignored the shout of the hybrid as she speed walked towards her room.

Down below in the courtyard, Hayley was watching the blonde hurriedly going towards her room. She then saw Klaus coming out of the upstairs living room wearing that common angry face that usually led to some violence in the end.

"Klaus?" she called and stopped the man midway towards Maleny's room, the latter now shut and loudly.

"Not now, Hayley," Klaus warned with a finger and made to move when Hayley called again.

"Yes now," Hayley mimicked his tone. After sending the last of her pack to the needed rooms, she directed herself entirely to Klaus, "I heard everything from down here and believe me when I say shouting will not get you anywhere."

"Are you really going to give me lessons on how to speak with Maleny?" Klaus scoffed at the idea, "You are forgetting I've known her since we were children."

"Then you should have learned by now that your shouting does no good to her - nor anyone," Hayley crossed her arms, "Isn't that how you lost her the first time around?" at the question she received glaring daggers from upstairs, "You shouted and told her you'd never turn her. So then she ran away and that was the horrible ending of your relationship."

"None of this is your business, why not go and attend to those of your pack you so easily let into this house?"

"I will and currently am," Hayley remained calm, "but I'm also going to take care of my friends. Look," she took a step towards the rails, "I'm on your side, I think it's a lot safer for Maleny to stay here if Esther's back, not to mention Mikael."

"Then you talk to her," Klaus angrily motioned for her to get moving, "Because she doesn't want to listen to me!"

"Maybe because you're not understanding the problem here," Hayley gave him a narrowed look, "You don't get it, do you? She's scared, Klaus, and she doesn't know how to deal with it. She wants to leave because she's scared. Show her she's protected here, and try not to shout. Good luck," she gave a pretend salute before leaving to tend to her pack.

Klaus rolled his eyes and turned for Maleny's room, taking a moment for himself to push down any shouts that could possibly come out. He needed to be in control of himself if Maleny was to agree to stay.

~ 0 ~

Inside her room, Maleny was busily pacing back and forth thinking of how exactly she would be leaving the compound without causing unnecessary commotion. She was also thinking of where her corpse was in and who had it, not to mention what the person was doing at the moment. Had they already figured out she was back? Were they going to act on their plan now? Or would it be like the Dawsons, straight to the point?

The knock on her door made her stop momentarily and out of politeness she called, "Who?"

"Klaus," came the answer.

Maleny looked around for a minute before deciding to go and open the door, "If you're here to keep ordering me what I can and can't do you might as well get going. I would have guessed that by this time you have learned that I'm a grown woman."

Klaus took a deep breath, making it clear he was doing an effort to stay at ease, "I just...want to talk…"

Maleny opened the door wider and motioned him to come in, "What about, exactly? I think we've said everything by now."

"Mal," Klaus turned to face her, "I need you to stay here," he pointed to the room, "where I can make sure that you are, in fact, safe."

"But it doesn't matter where I go, I'll be unsafe until I can find the corpse. But living somewhere else makes me just a little safer."

"Not with Mikael and Esther walking the Earth," Klaus shook his head, "No one is safe and you being out there is specifically the thing we need to avoid. Do you have any idea what my mother would do if she found out you were here in the Quarter?"

"No, I don't know, but I'm going to find out whether or not I live here. Esther has things to pay for and in that are my powers she stole. I'm seeing her no matter what."

"Then if you're going to do that, at least be with us until things are safer," Klaus nearly pleaded but maintained an aura of calmness, "Hayley lives here, Cami lives here now, Elijah is here and so am I. We can take care of you, we can protect you."

Maleny stared at him for a long while before breaking down with a long sigh and hands in her hair, "I don't...I don't know what to do..."

As much as it pained her, and perhaps Klaus if he knew, she was utterly confused on what to do with her life. On the one hand, she wanted to stay in another place (in the Quarter) and start a new life with her newfound (albeit little) freedom. She hadn't had much time to get to know the modern world after waking up in France, and now that she was back in the Quarter perhaps she could start to. There were so many things she wanted to do...but she was completely afraid. The other part of her wanted to stay in the compound, with everyone she knew, where it felt safe and secure. Her mind was going crazy trying to come up with the decision.

Klaus walked up to her and removed her hands from her hair, "Mal, it's not difficult-"

"Yes it is," Maleny meekly insisted, embarrassed he was seeing her unable to make such an apparent decision, "I don't know what to do. I was already nervous coming back but now that your parents are here I can literally feel my heart," she gulped, "I...I..."

"You're scared," Klaus thought back to Hayley's words, his gaze on her turning soft with sorrow. Maleny sniffed as the tears welled in her eyes and without a word took her hands out of his to hug him. With a light sigh, Klaus wrapped his arms around her, "How about a compromise?" he asked quietly, one hand stroking her soft hair.

"What kind?" she whispered, keeping her head resting over his shoulder.

"You can stay here until Mikael and Esther are gone," he proposed, and he was shamefully hoping that took a long while so that he would have enough time to convince her to stay permanently with him.

"I guess...that sounds okay," she said slowly, still thinking, "but you can't tell me to stay here all the time."

"Well, you can't go escaping all the time," he countered with a hint of amusement.

"I want to stay out of trouble," she admitted sheepishly, knowing that was just about the opposite of her entire person, "But it gets a little complicated sometimes. Still," she raised her head and looked at him, now wearing a small smile across her lips, "I think we can make a compromise. But you know I want to focus entirely on this curse," she shook her head, missing the brief flash of pain in Klaus' eyes, "I wouldn't want to break my promise to you and have to forcibly leave because someone stole me."

He scowled, "I've always lived with danger at my side..."

"And for that very detail I would like to change it so that I don't cause you unnecessary pain," she insisted, deeply sighing, "It's difficult, I understand, but this is merely my attempt to help. So please, just abide by this rule."

"I don't have much of a choice," he grumbled. But when she took his hands again and he saw her smiling at him, he couldn't keep up his disappointment. She would at least be staying with him where it was safer, where he could make sure it was safe for her.

But he was still going to make his attempts and persuade her to permanently stay with him. After all, soon Hope would be returning and he wanted nothing more than to introduce one to another. One day, he would have both of his girls together, and with him.

~ 0 ~

The same man Maleny had bumped into earlier hastily walked into the witches' lycee where Cassie - or Esther - was busy handling herbs.

"Mother," he called in urgency, making Esther glance back, "She's here, she's back in the Quarter. Maleny's returned."

"Has she?" Esther raised her eyebrows, clearly content with the news.

"I bumped into her by the witches' voodoo shop. It was her," her eldest son, Finn, assured.

A smirk started spreading across Esther's lips, "Then it's most definitely the appropriate time to make contact with your brothers in their home. There is much to do now."

#klaus mikaelson #the originals #ocappreciation #ocapp #klaus mikaelson imagines #tvd imagines #the originals imagines #klaus mikaelson fics #the originals fics #the originals fanfics #elijah mikaelson #Camille O'Connell #hayley marshall

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aprindea · 6 years

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Romania vs Cardassia Prime

It is actually surprisingly difficult to organize all the different aspects of this into one coherent essay so this will probably be in 2 parts. I think quite a number of you have heard me draw similarities between Cardassian culture and political climate and Romanian culture and political climate (specifically during the tail “end” of the Cold War era). It comes to no surprise because dictatorships have similar features even in sci fi literature/movies/tv shows, but, let’s start with the basics. In Romania during the communist period: there are actually several periods but two are official because the country changed its name from Romania to:

-People’s Socialist Republic of Romania (1947-1965) -Socialist Republic of Romania (1965-1989)

The two periods are actually fairly distinct, but the period I will be talking most from is the Socialist Republic of Romania. Effectively, I did not grow up “during the Communist period”, but I was taught by teachers who were and the influence was far reaching. My parents, however, did grow up during the Communist period. My mother was born in the same year as Madonna. My father was born two years prior. At that time, Communism had been in effect since 1947. This is just to give people an idea of how relatively quickly things became “normal”.

“Nothing comes before the Party and the State”. These are the first two priorities for any citizen. For reference, the Communist Party is the ONLY acceptable political party at this point. There is only ONE candidate at the polls but people are required to actually go out and vote so that the numbers, for a while, showed a 98% or 99% “vote” for a specific candidate. (First was Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej and then Ceauseascu).

The third priority is the Family. The Party did award large families with certain benefits, including money, so that they lived above the poverty level. Large families were considered as 10+ children and came with a commendation from the government (a medal) for the “work serving the State”. There are, at this point, several awards and commendations issued.

My grandfather received several for his work in his industry (he literally built part of the industry in my city of birth and had 5,000 people under him), which he sincerely considered worthless garbage. I have a different perspective than he did and we argued many times about it.

My parents’ schooling, jobs and places to live were decided by their family situation to an extent but to a greater extent by the State. My parents were admitted into university (Polytechnique is the equivalent) based on the number of placements which the State predicted to be required for very specific projects. As a result, the marks of the newly admitted students mattered greatly, as the project one would be assigned to could be in a better city or worse city. My parents were in their early 20s when they married and as a result were assigned together in the same city, but based on my mother’s marks and my grandfather’s work position, which guaranteed them both jobs. One could not be without a job; there were three shifts where my mother worked, for instance: 8 AM to 4 PM, 4 PM to 12 AM and 12 AM to 8 AM. Monday-Friday. Weekends were for volunteering (you guessed it, each citizen was assigned a volunteer position until they had children). The State located people who were unemployed and assigned them into jobs constantly, but there was some logic to this because one was assigned a job based on their education. My parents were both engineers, which was a reputable field; both worked in automotive. At that time, Romania produced its own cars, trucks, etc but we still did import some models and my grandfather would later win a French car from the lottery. This was unusual because by then (70s) the country was beset with isolationist policies as a result of Russian interests and isolationist policies. (if you want to know more just look up Brezhnev… a lot of things will then start making more sense). Post communism, as students, we were all constantly evaluated with tests and compared against each other from a very young age. Standardized tests were and are still a matter of course in Romania. Each year, we had exams and in my school, the “passing grades” were far above 51% as we were competing with each other for a very limited amount of spots. For example, I was in a class of 30 students, and my marks had to be above 80% at the end of each year, but I competed for a spot at the end of 4th grade and was to compete again for a different spot for high school (same school) at the end of 8th grade. These were standardized tests for several subjects, so a lot of us spent long hours in tutoring to ensure that our grades were up to par. We also had behaviour marks: if we skipped school (unacceptable) or talked back (we could be hit for this as punishment: that’s the only thing that has been a visible change since I was in 4th grade vs 8th grade for me because the Ministry of Education passed laws against it. But I was hit in 4th grade. Hard and more than once. Once I distinctly remember it happened because I stood up for a classmate. I got in trouble for doing this more than once in my school career, but … I never quite learned that lesson lol! Class punishments for one student’s transgression remained common, but no hitting.) In Canada I explained the above to my therapist and she was kind of shocked, lol, but she had asked me how long I had been struggling with anxiety and I did not have an accurate answer. Mental illness in Romania is not and was definitely not acceptable during the Communist period. People were put into forced care, which often lasted for months or years, if they weren’t outright killed. LGBTQ+ people were never permitted out of the closet, and they were subjected to conversion therapy. (I argue that the latter would not happen on Cardassia Prime, but that’s another essay for another day)

Everything was rationed, especially starting mid 1970s. That means food was rationed (people had cards with lists that were checked off by government workers, if I find a copy of ours I’ll post it) gas was rationed (no more than 2 large flat metal cans per vehicle and gas stations were extremely far apart) and the government set up a system for clothing: if one had had a baby, a family member could collect a baby box which could contain anything from pacifiers to formula bottles, to formula and baby food and possibly blankets. No regular citizen was ever to be informed on what exactly they were going to receive. I asked my mother what my box contained and she told me my grandfather lined up for it and the workers recognized him and she believes they may have given him a better one/extras. We’re not entirely sure, but mine was useful. It had a pacifier I never used, a formula bottle (we still have that) and a few other things.

There is no church and no religion which can come before Party or State. The Orthodox Church is the official state religion, but it is in and out of favour depending on how much they can “serve”. Every citizen MUST serve The Party and the State fully. This meant everyone over the age of 18, voting age, is a member of the Communist Party. (my parents and their parents were members; I am certain my grandmother burned her party ID card after December 1989 :) ) Socially it was more acceptable to be Atheist. So you are probably wondering: how did the State effectively control people for that long? -propaganda; this was present everywhere from the more subtle (posters in the workplace) to more obvious (party meetings, union meetings, schooling) -The Securitate (this is that Obsidian Order). I often joke about the Obsidian Order. A lot of people probably would get upset with me, but the truth is that most of us bore the weight of the Securitate by making dark jokes about them because there was little choice. Many people disappeared without a trace and this happened pretty frequently. My grandfather told me of many arrests which would happen in the middle of the night. The next day, everyone (co-workers, family members, etc) were to pretend that the person who had been arrested never existed. That’s not an exaggeration. Most homes were miked/bugged so one’s phone conversations were recorded. Additionally (or perhaps even more importantly), family members were enlisted to report each other. So, mother reported son/daughter and children were expected to do the same. Another way in which people were recorded was in the workplace and restaurants. Specifically, a clear, good quality microphone was placed in or under flower vases in restaurants, and restaurant owners were directed to place a flower vase on each and every table. That’s a small example :) .

The members of Securitate did not have uniforms normally because they were practically undercover at all times; they also received information via travelling and talking with regular people as if they were having a friendly conversation, or playing with children in parks. (surprisingly effective) However, the Securitate did have military/army designations, such as “Lieutenant”, “Major”, “General”. My grandfather, one time, in an act of open defiance, actually raised his voice at two agents who were talking on the same line he was using. He knew he was being recorded, but he was trying to conduct business for the day… and the two agents had been making weekend plans… he never heard them again. After the 1989 Revolution (or Coup d’etat), my grandfather continued to openly greet former Securitate members in public by their former designation. Many of them were old men by the late 90s. He always told me, after we’d part with such people, that I must continue to be careful, lest I be followed, watched and reported on. He frequently insulted them with information he’d obtain through unofficial channels… but although he was offered better pay, positions in the Party and a job, he’d turned it down saying he was “an engineer” and “I am better serving as an engineer for the State”.

I can and will answer questions about any of this. (Part two will be at some other point in time... if anyone is interested in reading another 1500 words...)

#cardassia #obsidianorder #romania #star trek ds9 #amwriting #aprindea

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