[Hayley is sitting cross-legged on the floor in Elijah's bedroom as she reads one of Elijah's thick, leather-bound journals. As she reads, Elijah narrates his journal entries in voiceover]
Elijah: [voiceover] August 1359. I have noticed a difference in my siblings. Our bond strains beneath the pressure of our life as vampires. Each day removes them further from the humanity we once possessed. My sweet sister, Rebekah, has grown quite indifferent to brutality.
[In a flashback, Rebekah is seen viciously killing the vampires who tried to attack Hayley in the French Quarter]
"Hard to believe she was ever sweet" Rafael said with a frown.
"Turning changes you" MG said wisely.
Elijah: [voiceover] However, the true problem remains my brother, Niklaus.
[In a flashback, Klaus can be seen pouring gasoline over the bodies of the nightwalkers Rebekah killed to protect Hayley, which are piled up in the front yard of the Mikaelson Mansion]
Elijah: [voiceover] He continues to hide his loneliness with cruelty. Still, I cling to the hope that I, as their eldest brother, can lead them down the correct path, a path charged with the power of a family united. For if I fail, our family's legacy will end in darkness.
Alaric thought on the words for minute then looked to Hope. He wouldn't let that happen. With all that the Originals did, Klaus did sacrifice himself to protect Hope, give her a chance at the kind of life he didn't get the chance of. He'd make sure the Mikaelson name doesn't go to darkness with Hope.
[Hayley stops reading and walks downstairs with the journal in her hands to find Rebekah and Klaus talking in the foyer]
REBEKAH: [pouts] I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me. You know how I love to set things on fire!
"Your aunt has weird hobbies" Lizzie deadpanned.
"We have our hobbies" Hope shrugged.
Klaus: [smirks] Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot? Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked the helpless pregnant girl who's carrying my child!
"I can't tell if he's actually showing concern or is he being sarcastic" Josie frowned.
"Probably both" Hope answered. It was a bit of a both for her father anyways.
REBEKAH: [rolls her eyes] Oh, I am so moved by your new-found sense of fatherly duties towards the werewolf carrying your hybrid bun in her oven.
[Hayley joins them in the foyer]
HAYLEY: The werewolf would like to know what the plan is.
Klaus: Well, that depends what plan you mean, love- my plan for global domination, or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?
[Rebekah takes a pencil from the desk beside her and throws it in Klaus' direction. Klaus catches it easily before it can embed itself in his face]
"That is some weird sibling bond there. One minute they look like they care and the next they just hate each other's guts" Landon snorted.
"That's the Mikaelson family for you" Hope chuckled lightly.
"I'm so glad we aren't like that" Lizzie muttered and hugged her twin close to herself. Said twin looked very uncomfortable.
HAYLEY: [sighs] The plan to rescue Elijah. You know, the good brother? The one who is now in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed him in the back?
Klaus: [smirks] In the front, if we're being specific.
HAYEY: You two said that you would get him back. So is there a plan, or what?
Klaus: Okay. Well, firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy- he's my friend. Albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless.
"Friend of the year" Rafael said dryly.
And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenage witch, I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly- [He turns to Rebekah and gestures for her to speak]- Sister, please.
REBEKAH: [pipes up] And thirdly, the plan, as you have demanded, is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back.
"That can't be the whole plan" MG said, jaws dropping in disbelief.
HAYLEY: [incredulous] That's... that's not the whole plan, is it?
REBEKAH: [scoffs] Please! Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical.
Hope snorted in agreement. The kid loved her dad to bits but eve she knew the kind of man he was or used to be.
Klaus: And that's only the Plan A, love! There's always a Plan B.
HAYLEY: And what's Plan B?
Klaus: [smiles]War.
"Plan B sounds nice" MG piped up.
"As nice vampire burning in sunlight" Lizzie snorted.
Their plan to infiltrate Marcel's inner circle was simple. Set up a vampire! Plant a spell! Kill a witch! The plan was mostly Klaus', since he was the diabolical one, but Rebekah included Cami. To act as a distraction.
REBEKAH: And so then, I moved back here to be closer to my brothers because, let's face it, family's important. Right, Camille?
CAMI: Cami. I have to change this name tag- drunk guys keep hitting on me in French. [She pauses for a moment and looks at Rebekah curiously] You sure you haven't been in here before? Your face looks so familiar.
[Rebekah hesitates for a moment before flashing back to when she crashed Cami and Marcel's date and angrily put Cami in a choke-hold before Marcel compelled her to forget it happened.
"No! We just met! You might have seen my twin. Same face, hair, body but more homicidal" Lizzie said mimicking Rebekah's voice.
Hope looked at the blonde witch for a moment before smiling with snort and shaking her head. That was a good impression.
In the present day, Rebekah shrugs it off and shakes her head]
REBEKAH: You must have seen me out and about. Aren't you dating Marcel Gerard? He's a pal of mine... sort of. I heard he had a crush on the blonde bartender at Rousseau's.
CAMI: I would hardly call it dating. He's wooing me... sort of. I don't know. I mean, he's very charming, which probably means I should run for the hills.
REBEKAH: I'm kind of in an on-again/off-again thing myself at the moment.
CAMI: Those are the worst, aren't they? The ones you can't shake, even though you know better, and you always know better?
REBEKAH: I like you, Cami. Most girls have the unfortunate tendency of being whiny little twits.
CAMI: [smiles] Thanks... I think.
REBEKAH: Hey, I'm supposed to go to this posh charity thing thrown by this philanthropist tonight. He's a bit of a Gatsby, throws a mean party. Any interest?
[Cami smiles noncommittally, shrugging]
"Nicely getting her involved without really compelling her. She's good" MG said clearly impressed.
"Well MG she just knows how to use her charm" Lizzie said with a friendly huff.
In order to defeat Marcel, he has to become Marcel's right hand man. That's step one in his plan for taking over New Orleans.
[Flashback from earlier in the day: Klaus is in the cellar with the nightwalker Max, who has finally had the vervain drained from his body]
Klaus: You understand what you're to do? [Max nods in agreement] Good.
[Back at the Cauldron, vampires continue to upturn tables and destroy things while witches scream in terror. Thierry sneaks off through a back door into the Jardin Gris. Katie sees him and runs to greet him with a hug and kiss]
KATIE: Hey! What's happening out there?
THIERRY: Oh, it's Klaus. He's convinced Marcel that the witches are planning to make a move against him. Marcel wants us to send a message...
[Thierry gives Katie an apologetic look as he gently knocks over a shelf full of potion and spell ingredients]
THIERRY: ...And if he thought I was playing favorites because I'm in love with a witch—-
KATIE: [smiles and interrupts him] Say that again.
THIERRY: I love you, Katie. And all this is gonna be okay, I promise.
"Oh he's good" Lizzie said in a conspiratory voice, munching down on some popcorns.
"Where did you get that?" Landon asked the blonde.
"Snack corner" she piped up and pointed to the table of food to the side where Hope was picking out some buttered popcorn and licorice for herself.
Klaus: [in voiceover] Marcel may not be concerned with Thierry's romantic entanglements...
[Thierry walks out of the Jardin Gris and bumps into Max, the vampire Klaus compelled earlier, who is about to enter the shop]
THIERRY: I already got that one.
[Thierry walks away. The vampire goes into the shop anyway, and the camera cuts to Klaus as he sits at his desk at the mansion]
Klaus: But there are other crimes which he'll be less inclined to so easily forgive...
[The camera cuts to the Cauldron. Thierry hears screaming from inside the Jardin Gris. He turns to see Max dragging Katie outside, where he slams her against the restaurant and bites into her neck. Thierry becomes enraged and lunges toward him]
THIERRY: Leave her alone! Get off!
[He throws Max across the courtyard, where he smashes onto a table. Thierry runs over to him, grabs a broken table leg, and uses it to stake the vampire, killing him. The courtyard goes silent, and the other vampires circle around the scene of the crime]
Klaus: [voiceover] Killing a vampire, for example. That would be unforgivable. If Katie hopes to save her one true love from Marcel's punishment? Well, a rescue mission like that will require something positively magical. But then... what's worth dying for, if not love?
"He planned the whole thing" Rafael said in a whisper.
"And it all went to plan accordingly" MG stated in awe.
"Say what you want but Klaus Mikaelson is one brilliant son of a bitch" Lizzie said then winced from the smack behind her head from her dad.
Hope watched the scene with a smile. She knew her father was smart but this was a whole other level of predicting and acting accordingly.
[At the Cauldron, Katie is staring at Thierry in horror as he stands over Max's dead body. Diego and the other vampires look at him as though they can't believe what he's just done, and even Thierry is in shock]
One way or another, Klaus intended to get into Marcel's inner circle. And while Marcel will never trust Klaus, not fully, because he knows Klaus, Marcel likes being alive.
[Josh walks up to Klaus, standing slightly behind him as Klaus reaches into his coat's inner pocket, withdraws a folded piece of paper and hands it to him. Josh quickly pockets the paper and walks away. Klaus watches the balcony as Josh then appears next to Marcel and hands him the document]
JOSH: We found this at his girl's place.
[Marcel opens the folded paper, revealing that it is actually fancy parchment with the components of a complicated spell written out. Marcel looks even more angry when he recognizes the spell]
MARCEL: Still my friend, huh? That's funny, because it looks to me like that little witch of yours got her hands on a spell that I keep locked away.
THIERRY: [frantic] Marcel, I have never seen that.
MARCEL: Shut up. I see on your hand, you still have the daylight ring I gave you. So, what would you need with the recipe for making new ones? Unless maybe you and Katie were gonna go off and start a little kingdom of your own?
"Oh things are getting spicy u here" Lizzie muttered munching on her popcorn.
"Only you would enjoy seeing someone suffer" Josie shoved her sister playfully with a roll of her eyes.
THIERRY: [confused] Marcel, no!
MARCEL: Here's a lesson in friendship- friends don't lie to me, they don't break my rules, and they do notsteal what is mine.
[Marcel, realizing he's losing his temper, turns his back to Thierry to take a deep calming breath before turning back to him, his eyes filled with rage]
MARCEL: [shakes his head in disbelief] Ohh... For the crime of murdering one of his own, I sentence Thierry Vanchure to one hundred years in the Garden.
[Below, on the dance floor, Klaus smirks proudly]
Klaus: And it begins...
LAFAYETTE CEMETERY
[Sophie is outside the mausoleum, where she has set up a map, a bottle of black sand, and a pocket watch to cast her locator spell. Rebekah enters the cemetery a moment later, and when Sophie hears her coming, she glances up at her, looking anxious]
REBEKAH: You're doing the right thing. It's the only way to find Elijah.
SOPHIE: I'm doing what I have to do.
[Sophie begins chanting the incantation for the spell]
THE ABATTOIR — MASQUERADE GALA / LAFAYETTE CEMETERY / ST. ANNE'S CHURCH
[Klaus watches as more of Marcel's men lead Thierry out of the party and out onto the street, where a small crowd of more vampires watch Katie approach as she chants loudly. Klaus watches the events unfold from a window above. The sequence is intercut with shots of Davina madly scribbling away at her easel as she continues to get flashes of Katie performing her spell]
KATIE: [chantnig] Donn moi se la vroh kondu feh aila ra donn toi moi. Donn moi. Salacku tusdeh do. Vala.
THIERRY: [desperately] Katie, no!
Klaus: Like clockwork.
[Katie waves her arm and a lamp's light explodes; all the vampires grab at their heads, falling down in pain. Davina's drawing appears to be Katie's face. Marcel alone rises back up to face Katie, but she smashes another light with magic and Marcel goes down again. Sophie continues to chant for her spell]
REBEKAH: [anxious] Hurry.
[Marcel rises again, but Katie uses magic to break his bones, and he falls again shouting in pain]
"That's a very strong spell" Josie said with a hum.
"We could research and try it out" Hope suggested and all three witches turn to MG.
The poor vampire began to sweat profusely, playing with the collar on his shirt.
"Enough girls" Alaric said with a roll of his eyes and all three looked away with playful smiles.
DAVINA: NO!
[In her room, Davina lifts her hands slowly, which seems to cause Marcel to rise yet again. Katie looks astonished]
MARCEL: You're here to save your man. Well, come on, little girl!
[He growls as he runs to attack Katie, but she halts him with magic, and he groans as he falls to his knees. In her room, Davina falls to her knees at the same time. In the street, Katie lifts a wooden stake above Marcel's head]
KATIE: Die, you son of a bitch.
THIERRY: [horrified] No! Katie! Don't!
[Before Katie can kill Marcel, Klaus swoops in and snaps Katie's neck. She dies as Klaus drops her body carelessly to the ground.]
"And now Marcel owes Klaus one. I swear" Landon said. His head was beginning to hurt with all the planning he just witnessed.
Sending Cami to Marcel with only the memory of a perfect party instead of the confrontation she witnessed probably didn't hurt Klaus' cause either.
[Cami drinks a pint at a bar, still wearing her gala finery. Klaus enters the place and sits next to her]
Klaus: Cami—
CAMI: Don't even try it. I get the bro code. You're here to smooth things over for your friend. It's very nice of you, but—
Klaus: But you've been hurt before, and you aren't taking any more chances.
CAMI: Something like that. The guy I saw tonight? Not the guy I thought he was. And if he can turn on a dime like that-
Klaus: Sounds like more than just a broken heart. Someone broke your trust. Camille, the brave bartender.
[Cami and Klaus stare at each other. Cami swallows, looking like she might lean in, but Klaus blinks and breaks the moment]
Klaus: I'm sorry... But I need you to give Marcel another chance.
"He likes her" Lizzie said with a smile.
"Apparently" Hope mumbled. She knew they were close but to think her father actually liked someone in that sense.
[Cami clears her throat, looking both embarrassed and disappointed]
CAMI: Wow. I totally misread that.
Klaus: No. You read it quite well, but we all have our roles to play. [He stares her in the eyes and compels her] You went to Marcel's. You danced. You feel badly that he had a row with his friend, but otherwise, all you remember is that it was perfect.
"Guess his love for power trumped over his other desires" Alaric mused.
Hope frowned slightly. Her father knew the value of love yet he did not care for it. At least not at that moment.
[Rebekah sits at the piano, lazily playing a scattering of notes. Klaus enters and she sits up]
REBEKAH: Well, tonight was an epic failure.
Klaus: On the contrary, sister. Tonight was a masterpiece.
REBEKAH: Are you mad? Katie died before Sophie could complete the spell.
Klaus: Oh, I'm well aware. I killed Katie.
REBEKAH: [appalled] You what?
Klaus: There's no way our little suicide witch wasn't gonna try and take out Marcel with her. I saved his life, and in doing so, I now have him exactly where I want him.
REBEKAH: Sophie trusted you. I trusted you! Against all my better instincts.
Klaus: [offended] Wake up, Rebekah- the witches are on no one's side but their own. This girl, Davina? That's all they want, and when they have her, what do you think happens then, a truce? Of course not. They will use Davina's power against all of us.
"He isn't wrong. They were willing to use Klaus for their benefit. What's to say they wouldn't turn on them once Marcel was dealt with" Rafael pointed out.
"Oh they'd definitely see to their end. The New Orleans witches were like that. Self-preservation and all" Hope explained.
REBEKAH: Even if you're right, the plan was to find Elijah, and you've failed us.
Klaus: You always did lack faith. By protecting Marcel, I've cemented his trust, so much so that he's agreed to return Elijah to us. And when the time is right, when he has told me everything I need to know about Davina, I will have her for myself.
REBEKAH: I have all the faith in the world that you'll get what you want, Nik. You always do, no matter what is costs the rest of us. You disgust me.
[Rebekah takes a sip of bourbon, then sets her glass on the piano and leaves]
"So far what he wants would benefit them all no?" Landon asked.
"Well there is the part where Klaus would dagger her if she did things against his wish. He doesn't seem like the person who loves insubordination" Rafael countered.
ST. ANNE'S CHURCH
[Davina kneels at Elijah's open casket. She hears a door open and looks up to see Marcel enter. She runs to hug him]
DAVINA: You're okay! I was so worried.
MARCEL: Thank you. Whatever you did, I felt it. You helped me.
DAVINA: It was the old ones, wasn't it?
MARCEL: Actually, Klaus is the one that saved me tonight. I'm gonna make things right, starting off by giving him his brother back.
DAVINA: [confused and upset] No!
MARCEL: [gives her a look] What? Davina-
DAVINA: [shakes her head] No! You said the old ones were dangerous. I won't give him back until I know how to kill them.
"Well shit" Lizzie mumbled and winced from another smack to the back of her head.
MIKAELSON MANSION
[Hayley is sitting at a desk in one of the studies, where she's typing on a laptop surrounded by old texts. Klaus pauses at the doorway before walking in to talk to her]
Klaus: I thought you might like to know, Elijah is returning to us.
HAYLEY: Congratulations. I guess being diabolical has its perks.
Klaus: You hardly know him, and yet you miss him. What is it about my brother that always inspires such instant admiration?
HAYLEY: [hesitates] He was kind to me.
[Klaus takes this in. Elijah speaks in voiceover as he begins to continue narrating his journal]
Elijah: [voiceover] There are moments when I doubt my family is capable of redemption...
[Klaus turns to leave, but stops when Hayley calls out to him, though he doesn't turn around]
HAYLEY: Hey, I learned something today. I think it's a girl.
[Hayley smiles, and after a moment, Klaus smiles as well. He then leaves Hayley to her research]
Hope smiled as well. Her father did care about her. Even wen she was still a growing little thing inside her mother.
Elijah: [voiceover] Yet each time that I am tempted to surrender, I see it, the glimmer of goodness that allows me to believe.
"I think we saw it too" MG muttered. None of them could counter his statement.
THE FRENCH QUARTER
[Rebekah is walking in the Quarter, still wearing her gown but her hair slightly disheveled. She sees Marcel, and turns the other way but runs into him when he vamp-speeds to block her]
REBEKAH: You're following me.
[He walks toward her, backing her up against a store front as he leans toward her and speaks to her aggressively]
MARCEL: Maybe you're just in my way.
[Marcel walks away without another word. Rebekah sighs and closes her eyes, clearly overwhelmed]
"And she still cares for him too" Lizzie almost cooed at it all.
"Too bad he is the enemy" Josie said making her sister pout.
LAFAYETTE CEMETERY
[Katie's body, dressed in a white gown and covered with a shroud, lays on a tomb in preparation for her consecration. Sophie waves a smoking sage smudge-stick over her body while the other witches, including Agnes and Sabine, stand around her sadly]
AGNES: [unhappy] I told you no good would come from this unholy alliance of yours.
SOPHIE: At least I'm doing something. What about you?
[Sophie leaves in a huff]
AGNES: Sabine, tell them what you saw.
SABINE: It's the girl, the wolf.
FLASHBACK- EARLIER AT THE MIKAELSON MANSION
[Hayley is laying on the kitchen counter as Sabine holds a crystal hanging on a chain over Hayley's pregnant belly]
SABINE: [smiles] I think it's a girl. [The crystal starts to swing in the other direction, and she frowns] No... wait.
HAYLEY: Wait what? Please tell me I'm not having a mini-Klaus.
"You already did" Lizzie snorted earning herself a glare from Mini Klaus.
[The crystal suddenly glows with a bright light, which causes Sabine to drop it. All of a sudden, her eyes roll back in her head, and she begins to chant in a low voice]
SABINE: Hoc est infantima malom. Nos omnia perditu el eam.
"What?" MG asked dumbly.
Josie looked to her friend and just shrugged.
[Cut to the Mikaelson Mansion, where Hayley is still in the study on the laptop. She is typing the words Sabine said during her vision into an online language translator, but none of the languages she chooses get any results]
"It didn't sound like anything we've heard either" Rafael muttered.
"It's probably old Latin" Lizzie shrugged.