AUTHORS NOTE:
Good news to all, this fic has reached top rank 25 today in power ranking and popularity for that reason I ahve merged two chapters and gave you a bonus super long chapter enjoy .
PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND POWER STONES.
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The dawn was thin and cold at the edge of the village. Ayana's door stood open to the woods, the morning air carrying the scent of crushed herbs and wet leaves. Inside, three faces bent over the same worktable—Ayana, calm and unreadable; Esther, controlled and clipped; Mikael, tense like a drawn bow.
"Tell us the other way Ayana." Esther requested.
Ayana's eyes gleamed, her tone lowering to something weightier. "The second path is… more complex. It is older magic ritual."
Mikael's brows furrowed.Ayana continued
"But I think it will be easier if you two should know more about primordials so listen carefully."
"Every Primordial," Ayana said, pacing slowly, "carries a trait. A mark of their essence, a quality that echoes through every descendant that follows. It doesn't define their raw strength — rather, it is just a remnant of what their Progenitor was."
She turned toward me. "You know this already, Esther. You've seen it in your own line. The firstborn witch of each generation in your bloodline is always unmatched in power. That is your mark — the inheritance of your progenitor. Who was most likely the First born of her generation. This is what your bloodlien trait."
"Yes, every first born of every generation of our line holds devastating power never to be surpassed those who come later like My sister and also Freya."
Ayana smiled faintly. "Exactly. Your family's trait is Primacy — the gift of the Firstborn. Also happens to be the reason your sister demanded every first born."
She leaned on the table, eyes gleaming with the heat of forbidden knowledge.
"Do you know the about the Gemini coven and their trait." Ayana asked Esther.
"Yes I do know about them. Their trait if my guess is right is siphoning."Esther nodded and gave her opinion.
Mikael was witnessing both of them talking about covens and traits while he himself is oblivious to all this and sounds like a foreign language to him.
"Right, but that's not all. The Gemini coven posses two traits, Siphoners and twins Their own Primordials were twins — two people born together, bound as one destined to merge together. That twin bond became their legacy." She showed them her diary with the detailed descriptions.
"But the Gemini were not content with their trait as it had a glaring problem the twins born were weak ahving lower power than a normal witch only when they merged into one that their power reached peak."
"They desired more. When they encountered another Primordial — one born with the power to absorb magic, what we now call a siphoner — they saw opportunity to merge the Primordials power into their bloodline but they chose the tame first path through decendants."
Esther's expression hardened. "And that worked?"
"Oh, it worked," Ayana said softly. "From that day forward, their coven carried two traits — Twins and Siphoning. Two gifts, one bloodline."
Esther was now in deep thought "But we don't have time to take the first path."
"Yes, the things I explained was only to prepare you for what to come.The second path is an extension of the first path but much more strict."
"The ritual is same based on marriage but this involves souls required both of their consent and you will merge two bloodlines primordial and yours but only with the person who awakened your lines trait."
"So in our case…" Esther muttered "…the one awakened by the bloodline's trait is Freya."
"Wait a damn minute, did it cross both your witchy minds that not everyone understands your talking in riddles and poems, doesn't any of you know the tongue of men, talk in a way I can understand for Odin's sake." Mikael finally couldn't keep up and exclaimed.
Ayana hearing this was surprised and sighed 'this brute of a man' she turned to Mikael and explained it to him "Basically it's the same as the first path marriage because witches of that time discovered that only natural processes such as childbirth or related marriage doesn't trigger curses when dealing with a primordial so this method is to properly modify this natural method so it's also marriage but it's magically in a ritualistic way based on werewolf marriage ceremonies where two packs gain each others powers by linking the soul of the primordial to a person of your bloodline who has awakened their bloodline trait and some vows and consent which after completion under the witness of a third party then the bloodline of the person and the Primordials essense merges that benefits everyone blood related to the married pair."
"Do you understand now it's the simplest I can go it's more complex in actually performing it."
Mikael processed this info and looked at Esther "So I have to give my Freya's hand in marriage to that boy in some ritual involving souls." Anger under his questions apparent
Mikael let the words land like a blow. He tasted the shape of them before understanding: give my daughter to a boy in ritual. The memory of Freya's small hand in his — the last time he'd seen her — pushed like a knife.
"And how do you think it will work?" he added after a pause, softer, broken. "Even if I agree — Freya isn't here. If she were with me, I wouldn't be here having to consider this."
Ayana nodded gravely. "Yes. She is the bearer of your family's Firstborn Gift. The ritual must be performed between her and the Primordial boy. That bond will merge your bloodlines instantly. Once the ritual is sealed and the union consummated, every witch sharing your blood will feel the surge — stronger, vast and magic more potent than ever before."
Esther looked at Mikael's face filled with frustration and desperation yet she didn't know what to say her relation with Mikael will likely deteriorate.
The only way to go back to previous relationship with Mikael she has to get back Freya her hands clenched she processes what Ayana told and discovered something "And what of Dahlia?" She Questioned.
Ayana looked at her then, her calm expression darkening. "She shares your bloodline, does she not?"
The silence was answer enough.
Ayana's lips curved in a faint, bitter smile. "Then she too will rise in strength. That is the balance. Nature does not play favorites unless you are a primordial ofcourse."
Mikael cursed under his breath. I felt my pulse race, torn between horror and awe.
"So you understand now," Ayana said finally, straightening. "Two paths. One simple, one perilous. One grants power to your children's children. The other grants power to you — but empowers your enemy just as much."
"I still suggest you go with this one as even if dahlia is strengthened you will have multiple witches to face her You , me , now Finn and also the Primordial boy too we will still have advantage in numbers." Ayana put forward her opinion.
She looked between us both, her voice soft but edged with certainty.
"But Mikael's woory is valid, Freya is not with us here she is with Dahlia how do we complete this ritual without her presence?" Esther questioned like she has come to a decision.
Ayana didn't elaborate but answered with a smile "There are ways!!"
After a few moments Mikael still silent and contemplating thinking of marriage of his long list daughter to a boy he barely knows stakes are high.
Mikael stood silent a long beat after that. He pictured his little girl — five when he last saw her — and the strange, impossible bargain that might bring her back. Pride and fury warred with a gnawing, blank fear. How do you offer a child up, even if it meant she lived? The thought felt wrong in the marrow, but the alternative — losing her forever — felt worse.
He looked at Esther, looking back at him but not at him — and in that look he saw so many unsaid things. Regret. Bargains. Calculations. The woman who had once made the choice that lost him his daughter. The woman who now stood ready to repair it, if he demanded it.
Ayana broke the stalled air. "Go. Take the morning. Think. Return before your children wake — don't let them find you gone. Decide quickly; these chances do not linger."
Mikael's jaw tightened. He nodded once, the movement small. Esther said nothing, only tightened her cloak and followed him to the door. They stepped out into the thin morning, the forest breathing behind Ayana's house, and walked back toward home in heavy silence — thoughts already forming, each of them weighing what they would bear to get Freya back.
The door shut softly behind Esther and Mikael. Ayana waited, listening until their footsteps faded completely. Then she exhaled, slow and quiet.
"Take all the time you need to think," she murmured toward the empty air, her voice void of any warmth now. "You'll come back with the answer I want."
The wind outside picked up suddenly. A sharp gust slipped through the half-open window and swept across the room. Candles flickered, their flames bending toward her open grimoire. The diary — the same one she had laid open before Esther and Mikael — rustled violently as if alive.
Its pages turned on their own, stopping several sheets beyond the last one Esther had seen. Across the top of the open page, written in heavy ink, was a single heading:
'Three'
The writing was dense — layered with sigils, rune circles, bloodline charts, and annotations in several dead dialects. Ayana froze for a moment, staring at it. Then she walked over, closed the window with deliberate slowness, and returned to the table.
She stood there silently for several seconds, eyes tracing the title again. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she tore the page cleanly out of the book. The parchment crinkled in her hand.
Without hesitation, she whispered a word under her breath — and the page ignited. Blue fire consumed it in seconds, leaving nothing but ash drifting down onto her worktable.
She watched until the last ember faded before she spoke again — this time not aloud, but inwardly, to herself.
---
'The third path…'
Forgive me, Esther. I didn't want to deceive you. But I have no choice — the survival and prosperity of the Bennet line comes before everything. Even you.
She sat down at her desk and began clearing the ashes with the edge of her hand. Her thoughts continued, sharp and analytical.
'The third path is simple — dangerously simple. It's almost identical to what Esther herself imagined: channeling a Primordial's power directly.'
She frowned slightly, turning over an empty parchment as if explaining it to herself.
'In this path, the Primordial grants permission — willingly. Through a ritual, the witch establishes a link centered around the Primordial himself. That connection is then anchored to an artifact — a focus, a vessel. The witch can draw power from the Primordial through that focus as long as the Primordial allows it.'
Her eyes narrowed.
'But that is the flaw. It's entirely dependent on the Primordial's will. If he ever revokes the permission, the connection ends instantly. No legacy. No permanence. No inheritance.'
She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples.
'For Esther's current problem — rescuing her daughter — this would be perfect. Immediate access to immense power, with no long preparation. But for me? It serves no purpose. The link would die with the Primordial's mood or death.
Ayana's gaze shifted toward the still-open grimoire, where diagrams of the second path were visible — bloodlines intertwining through sacred geometry.
'The first and second paths… those create heritage. They bind essence to blood, ensuring continuity through generations. But I can't use either as they are. The first requires a daughter to wed the Primordial — and I have none. The second, the ritual union between the Primordial and the one who awakened their bloodline's trait, is more useful… but it benefits Esther, not me.'
Her hand clenched slightly on the table.
'Still… this situation is too perfect to waste.'
Her thoughts sharpened with purpose.
'In the same village, at the same time — a Primordial a legendary phenomenon, a living doppelgänger, and a witch bloodline soon to hold the power of two Primordials. Such coincidences don't happen naturally. This is opportunity laid bare by fate.'
She looked toward the window, as though trying to see beyond the trees — to the Mikaelson house in the distance.
'So, if I can't gain directly through the first or third paths… I'll make the second mine.'
Ayana pulled a fresh page from the drawer and began to draw — rune circles, glyph arrays, and transfer seals.
'I'll let Esther perform the second path ritual exactly as described — the union between her daughter and the Primordial. But if I modify it slightly and use the third method to draw from Esther's bloodline bypassing the Primordial entirely triggering no reaction linking Esther's bloodline to the item.'
Her expression darkened with concentration.
'When the ritual completes, the artifact will attune itself to Esther's strengthened bloodline — a bloodline that will, from that moment onward, carry not one but two Primordial essences. The first from her own ancestors. The second from this boy, Adrian.'
She dipped her quill in ink and began to write symbols along the circle's perimeter, murmuring mentally as she worked.
'That artifact will act as a conduit — not tied to the Bennet bloodline directly unfortunately, that would risk detection. Instead, it will sit in between, as an intermediary link. Whoever among my descendants — the witches of my line — possesses this artifact will be able to draw power indirectly from Esther's descendants. They won't even realize their bloodline is being drawn.'
Her eyes glinted with cold satisfaction.
Ayana set the quill down and stared at the half-finished diagram.
'It's betrayal, Not quite. But it's necessary. Esther seeks to save her daughter — I seek to secure power for my lineage. The scales are not equal, and I won't apologize for choosing my blood.'
Her gaze softened for just a moment — guilt flickering, brief as a candle about to die.
Then her face hardened again.
'Forgive me, Esther. You will have your ritual, your power, your daughter. And I will have my legacy.'
She folded the diagram carefully and sealed it within the pages of a smaller notebook, separate from the diary she'd shown earlier. Then, without looking back, she blew the ashes of the burned page into the cold wind.
The gray dust scattered into the air, vanishing from sight — as if erasing the existence of the third path altogether.