Elijah gathered his siblings in the drawing room just after sunset. The air was thick with tension—Klaus pacing by the window, Kol lounging with forced indifference, Rebekah twisting the rose Sagar had left her between nervous fingers. Even Finn, usually aloof, watched Elijah with wary curiosity.
Elijah spoke with the calm authority that had always steadied his family in times of crisis. "I have spoken with the witches. Their magic is failing; their visions are clouded. They sense a shadow, but it has no name—no history. They believe something ancient, something erased from memory, has returned."
Klaus scoffed, but his eyes betrayed unease. "Another prophecy? Another nameless threat? We've faced them all before."
"This is different," Elijah replied, his voice low. "The witches described it as a storm given form. Not a man, not a monster—something that cannot be killed, only weathered. They called it a taboo, a force sealed away before even our time."
Rebekah looked up, her voice trembling. "He was… strange. I can't remember his face, but I remember how he made me feel—like nothing I've ever known. He left this." She placed the rose on the table. Its petals seemed to shimmer, mocking their confusion.
Kol leaned forward, curiosity piqued. "So, what do we do? Wait for the storm to break?"
Elijah shook his head. "We prepare. We strengthen our defenses, warn our allies, and stay together. Whatever this is, it wants us off balance. We cannot give it the satisfaction."
Finn frowned. "And if it cannot be fought?"
Elijah met his brother's gaze, resolve burning in his eyes. "Then we endure. Always and forever, we face it as a family."
The words settled over them, a reminder of their greatest strength and their greatest curse. The Mikaelsons had survived a thousand years of war, betrayal, and heartbreak. They would face this new threat as they always had—together.
.
As the night deepened, each sibling retreated to their own thoughts, the sense of unease lingering. Outside, a storm gathered on the horizon, and somewhere in the darkness, Sagar watched, amused and expectant. The game was far from over.