Chapter Text
Esther and Margaret make a deal when Daniel gets sick and no donors can be found. Esther tells Margaret that if she lets her use her body, she’ll give her another child who can heal Daniel.
"I wish for nine months, Margaret. By that time, you’ll be gifted with a child filled with magic. Your precious Daniel will never be sick again."
Margaret, in all her desperation, agrees. It mostly works — but Esther becomes furious when she can’t take Klaus down in Margaret’s body. She gives Margaret her magic healing baby, but curses Evan, her unborn son, so that as long as he lives, he’ll live a life of failure.
He fails to save Daniel. He fails to save Maddie. And he fails to keep his family together — something always goes wrong.
Margaret grows to despise Evan for failing, even though deep down she knows it’s Esther’s fault. The witch cursed them when she couldn’t complete her goal before the agreed time was up.
༺☆༻
Buck
Buck has always heard Esther in his mind. He doesn’t know who this woman is, but she’s been there his whole life, mocking him. He’s never felt a crumb of her sympathy.
Then one day, he’s in that grocery store, with Eddie’s anger cutting like a knife.
For the first time, he hears her sympathy in his ears. She’s giving him instructions. She tells him she’ll fix it, that she’s sorry. That she was filled with so much rage years ago that she didn’t think, and condemned her purest son — but now she’ll save him.
She tells him to go to Mackey and drop the lawsuit. She’ll be outside the building afterward. She’ll tell him how to break the curse she placed on him unfairly… but he’ll have to live with another one for eternity.
Buck is desperate. He’ll do anything if it means he can get his family back. If it means he can get Eddie and Chris back.
Mackey is a shitshow. He’s furious — this was supposed to be his biggest payout, and now Buck’s pulling out. It isn’t fair, but Buck doesn’t care.
He gets Mackey to drop the lawsuit and waits outside for the woman who promised to fix everything. Esther walks up to him and looks at him with adoration. He’s still confused.
"Oh, my beautiful son… I am so sorry," she says, caressing his cheek, her thumb brushing across his birthmark.
" Son?" he manages to ask.
"I think it’s time we talk, Evan," she says with a sad smile.
He nods and walks toward the Jeep, Esther following closely. His mind is a whirlwind of questions he can’t voice.
They drive to the loft in silence. Not even the radio breaks it. When they walk in, he asks if she wants something to drink. He’s polite, after all.
"Tea would be nice — the same way you make yours," she says with a smile.
Buck is confused about how she knows this, but given that he’s heard her in his head his whole life, he shouldn’t be. He nods and makes two cups instead of asking.
When he sits at the counter and sets the cups down, he doesn’t know how to start. Esther looks uncertain but takes a breath.
"What I’m about to tell you will sound impossible, but I ask that you keep an open mind and let me finish. Then you can decide if you want to kick me out… or if you want me to tell you how to get your solution."
He gives a curt nod, the words stuck in his throat.
"My name is Esther. I’m over a thousand years old, and I condemned my family out of selfishness. I had seven children: Freya, my oldest, whom my sister Dahlia took; Finn, my oldest son; my noble Elijah; Niklaus, my bastard, as my husband would say; Kol, my wildcard; Rebekah, my daughter, a lover at heart; and Henrik, the son who died brutally but, in return, never suffered from my selfishness.
I thought I would never have more children… until I made a deal with Margaret Buckley. A woman so blinded by grief and desperation that she condemned her family just as I did. I destroyed my family over a thousand years ago. In my desperation, I created monsters. And when I had the chance to do it right with you, I condemned you in a fit of rage because I couldn’t save the rest of my family.
I’ve started making peace with what I’ve done. What I once saw as a curse can now be the thing that saves you, Evan. That’s all I wish to do.
When Margaret and I made that deal twenty-eight years ago, I promised her a son with healing magic in his blood to save Daniel. In return, she’d let me possess her body to take down Niklaus. I couldn’t do what I wished, so I took away her only hope by cursing you. I regret it deeply. You don’t deserve this, Evan… but I can fix it. Or, well, one of my other children could."
Buck couldn’t breathe. "A thousand? Son? Possession? What the fuck — are you insane?!"
Esther smiles. She raises her hand and waves it over the teacup. The tea drifts slowly into the air.
"It seems impossible, but it’s true. I wish to help you as my last act before I die. If one of my sons could see me in a good light, I think I could finally find peace."
Buck doesn’t realize when he gets up. He’s pacing, Esther’s eyes fixed on him.
"I don’t know if I should—"
"I know. I wouldn’t trust me either, Evan. After all, the way your life has gone is my fault. But I wish to fix it. Please, allow me to." She steps forward and cradles his face in her hands, a melancholy smile on her lips.
He shouldn’t agree. But if she’s telling the truth, even if she dies now, it won’t fix anything. Eddie will still hate him. He’ll never see Chris again. He won’t be able to go back to the 118 or his family.
"How would you fix it?" he asks before he even finishes the thought. He’ll do anything to rejoin his family. And if she’s right… he has a whole family out there he never knew about.
She smiles. "You’ll be turned. Let me show you."
---
*Esther’s Memory*
"Everything could be heightened. Our family could live forever," Mikael hisses.
"At what cost? This magic you speak of breeds consequence. This is the making of a plague, Esther. The spirits will turn on you," Ayana pleads.
"Please, Ayana..."
"I will have no part in it."
As she leaves, Mikael turns to his wife. "If she will not protect our family… then it is in your hands alone, my love."
And Esther knew she would do anything for her children.
Esther called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak — one of nature’s eternal objects — for immortality. That night, Mikael offered his children wine laced with blood before driving his own sword through their hearts.
Rebekah was the first to wake. A large bloodstain spread across her shirt.
Klaus stirred beside her. "Rebekah?" Her eyes locked on the stain. "Blood… what happened?"
Klaus moved to his sister. "It’ll be all right. We’ll be all right."
The moment shattered as their father entered, dragging a girl behind him.
"What are you doing?" Klaus demanded.
"We must finish what we started. You have to drink if you want to live."
Mikael dragged the girl closer and sliced across her skin. Blood pooled from the wound.
"Drink!" Mikael hissed.
Klaus fought against him, but Mikael’s gaze settled on his daughter. "Drink!" he commanded again, forcing Rebekah’s head toward the wound as Klaus watched, helpless.
My daughter said it was euphoric. The feeling of power was indescribable.
But Ayana was right. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength, there was a weakness. The sun became our enemy, keeping us indoors for weeks. I found a solution.
Other problems followed. Neighbors who once welcomed us could now bar my children and husband from their homes. The flowers at the base of the white oak burned, breaking compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree which gave them life could also take it away. So my family burned it to the ground.
But the darkest consequence was one I never anticipated: the hunger. Blood had reborn them, and it was blood they craved above all else. They could not control it.
When Klaus made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my husband’s greatest shame.
I tried to make it right. I placed the hybrid curse on Klaus to suppress his werewolf side, and then I turned my back on him. But Mikael’s greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, it was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home… and killed me.
My family scattered after that.
༺☆༻
Esther’s voice drifts through Buck’s mind, interwoven with images: the rituals, the deaths, the pain. It’s brutal and horrifying. When she finally pulls her hands away, he’s gasping on his knees, staring up at her. She looks guilty and ashamed.
"I was desperate then, and I am now too — but it’s different now. You’ll have control. You won’t fumble blindly with Klaus’s teachings. You will be reborn, and the curse I placed on you will die when you die. You’ll be reborn without it, Evan. You’ll be the purest of us all, no matter how you choose to exist." Her eyes are sincere.
Buck shouldn’t agree. Not after what he’s seen. But he finds himself nodding. Esther wraps her arms around him and holds him close.
"The transformation will be rough, and it’ll take time to gain control. Your emotions will be at an all-time high. You’ll have to learn to master them."
Buck just nods, filing everything away.
"And take this ring. Once you turn, it’ll protect you from the sun." She slides the ring onto his finger. "If you have to, wear it on a chain. But never step into the sun without it… unless you wish to die."
"Anything else?"
She smiles. "When you get there, they won’t believe you’re part of this family. When they ask, say ‘Always and forever.’ It’s been our saying for over a thousand years. It started with me and my sister, and was passed down to my children. They’ll believe you then."
Before he realizes it, he has directions to the compound and a packed duffel bag, ready to go to New Orleans to meet his siblings. Esther smiles at him.
"Good luck, my son. I wish you well." She kisses his cheek, steps back once, then twice. Her eyes settle on him, peaceful. She whispers, "Always and forever," and turns to ash.
The gasp that leaves Buck’s throat is violent. He mourns the mother he’ll never truly know, and all he has now are a few hours of memories. Maybe the rest of his family can share more.
He starts the engine, glancing at his phone on the dash he stops thinks for half a second… then throws it out the window. It’ll be better this way. They'll get new and approved Buck 4.0 but he won't risk them seeing the journey it takes to get there.
-