Family is power, Elijah had once told him. He had spent a millennia trying to convince him that he was not alone in his struggle, that he was surrounded by those who would love him unconditionally in spite of his own actions towards them.
He found it rather ironic, that it was now, when he had finally begun to believe his elder brother, when he had wanted to believe him, when he did nothing but cooperate with their demands that his family turned against him.
That it was when he had finally begun to have hope of putting down his demons for good, it was then that those demons would overcome him, that it was now after all that had happened, even though they were dead and gone, it was his demons that emerged victorious from the fight even as their bodies lay broken on the floor in a pool of blood.
How ironic, that all that he did, he did for family and yet, in spite of his actions to protect those whom he called his, he lost them anyway. Precious, beautiful, brave Cami lost to him forever, safe in the dark embrace of death. Marcel and Kol, bitter and angry in the clutches of hatred and darkness after his siblings' actions. And Davina.
Despite what they believed, she was a part of this family as much as Marcel was, as much as little Hope was. Not by blood, no, but by choice. She was important to Kol, to Cami, to Marcel, thus, she was important to him. They had their differences, of course. How could they not? But in their game of who kills who first, he had not intended for her to die. Certainly not as she did.
It was for his family, for his precious Camille, that he had asked Elijah and Freya to stay their hands, to find another way, because he refused to allow the young teenager whom his brother had loved to suffer. He would not wish such a loss upon anyone, least of all his younger brother.
He had chosen family over revenge and had done so without a second thought. Because how could he condemn one beloved by those he cared for in his need to avenge the woman who had loved him and had been destroyed because he had dared to return that love? How could he allow Freya and Elijah to put Davina in danger when she meant so much to Cami? When he was as much to blame as Lucien for Cami's death?
In this never-ending war they had waged against their demons, he was not such an idealistic fool as to believe that there would be no casualties. That there would be no pain. But as it was, he would rather lose a battle today and win the war tomorrow knowing that his family was still whole. That Lucien and the ancestors hadn't left it fractured, ripped to shreds in a grudge match that may very well level this whole city by the end of it and leave the ones he loved lying dead around him, leave this city stained with their blood. His hands stained with that blood, because to hurt him they would destroy those he cared for.
He was a monster, had been engulfed almost entirely by the dark for most of his life save a few, fleeting yet beautiful moments. It was a truth he knew and accepted, embracing the darkness inside him because it allowed him to protect the ones he cared most about and because he knew he didn't deserve even those fleeting moments of happiness. Because there was no place for him in the light, perhaps there never had been. But he had failed in his one task, failed in keeping intact what had mattered the most. Today he had lost to his demons, a fact he knew even as he ripped Lucien's heart from his chest.
They were Mikaelsons, they had endured a thousand years, they would endure a few more, but at what cost? He would not, could not see his family torn apart, splintered into the tiny fragments that it had become. This was their home as much as it was Marcel's, as much as it had been Davina's and no matter their refusal to believe it, and his to accept it, he had claimed them as family a long time ago and some human part of him, buried deep within, the part that only a brave bartender had been able to not only see, but bring into the light on occasion, had rejoiced in that truth. Revelled in the knowledge that he did have a few who would stand by him, even when not bound by the ties of blood.
This was New Orleans. He would find a way to bring her back, drag her out of Hell itself and piece her very soul back together if he had to for his brother and for Marcel. He would not allow Kol to lose himself in pain and rage and hate. He would not leave him to such a fate that Cami had managed to somehow save him from. Once you traveled such dark paths, you never quite returned the same.
For the sake of this family, he had killed, cursed and betrayed whomever he had to, whoever had stood in his way without a second thought as to the consequences of his actions. He would do it all again in a heartbeat if he had to. Because this was his city, his family, his home and Klaus would be damned before he let a few dead witches take it away from him.
Because when demons rose and darkness fell, at the day's end, the only thing left worth fighting for was family.