"I can't believe you said our getting married was one of the worst mistakes you ever made," Helene told Adrian. "Why would you say something like that?"

Adrian scoffed. "Maybe because it's true? You used to be nice, but ever since we got married, it's like you've needed to control everything and you didn't care at all about my opinion."

"Well, that could be because a lot of the time your opinion was wrong," Helene told him. "Did you ever think of that?"

"Well, you could have at least talked to me about it," Adrian pointed out. "Told me your concerns and then we could have fixed them together, but I guess that's not good enough for you. We're not like our dads where my dad gave yours complete control over his life and was okay with it. I am just as capable as you are at handling things and you should acknowledge that. If you can't, then maybe we should just get away from each other and do other things with our lives."

"Maybe we should," Helene agreed. "I think I agree with that. I'll make arrangements to move my stuff out either today or tomorrow."

Adrian nodded and then Helene left the house. She got in her car and drove into the city, finding the street where all the witch shops were and then coming into the nearest one, where Chloe and Laurette were waiting on customers. When they saw her, Chloe ordered everyone to the floor.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to go," she said. "If you don't leave on your own, I'll force you and it will be painful."

Helene scoffed. "Relax," she said. "I didn't come to cause a fight and if you hurt me, your leader is gonna be very disappointed."

"How do you know about what we're doing?" Chloe asked.

"You're not as secret as you think," Helene replied. "My mother found out and let me know, but I never saw you as a threat so I did nothing with the information. But now, my husband and I have gone our separate ways and I want to help you. What do you think?"

Chloe looked at her with suspicion. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Well, I don't know," Helene shrugged. "You're a witch, aren't you? Make up a truth potion. I'll take it."

Chloe was still skeptical. "I've got a much easier way," she said. "I don't want to waste potion ingriedients on you." She turned her back and walked into another part of the shop. "Fine!" Helene called after her. "Do what you want. I don't care!"

A few seconds later, Chloe came out and Kol was following behind her. "Well, well, well," he said with a grin. "And who might you be, darling?"

"I'm sure you know who I am," Helene told him. "I don't think I really need to tell you."

"You're right, Helene," Kol nodded. "What is it that you want?"

"Just what I told her," Helene replied, gesturing at Chloe. "My husband and I are going our separate ways and I want to help you. Think of all I know. How could you pass up my offer?"

"I could easily," Kol told her. "How can I be sure that you won't just go and tell your husband whatever we tell you? You claim that you and your husband are separating, but that could be a lie. And I don't like being lied to."

He stared at her for a few seconds and then, to Helene's surprise, he came around the counter and lifted her up on it. "If you help us," he said, locking eyes with her. "You will not lie to me. Everything you tell me will be the truth. And if you try to lie, it will kill you."

"Yes," Helene nodded. "Of course."

"All right," Kol nodded. "Now that that's settled, what should I do with you?"

"Well," Helene grinned. "I'm currently without a place to stay at the moment. Can I stay with you?"

Kol smirked. "Ordinarily, I would laugh at such a proposal, but I suppose if you were to take up residence with me, it would be easier for me to keep an eye on you." He paused. "All right," he said. "You can stay with me."

"I saw Helene moving her stuff out," Felicity said to Stefan a few days later. "What do you think is going on?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Stefan told her. "They've probably just decided they're done screwing each other over and are ending things. No biggie. Why are you worried? They weren't even part of your life anyway."

"I know," Felicity nodded. "But I can't help but feel a little responsible. Things didn't get really bad between them until I came along."

"Now you look at me," Stefan told her. "What happened between them is not your fault and if you think it is, then you're an idiot. They made bad choices and you shouldn't feel guilty for the result, okay? Now stop whining. I know you're better than that."

Felicity sighed. "Fine," she said. "I won't bring it up anymore."

Just then, her phone rang. "Hello?" She said after picking it up.

"It's Lenora," Lenora told her. "I was talking to Chloe and Laurette and they said that Mom came by their shop and offered to help."

"You mean with the cause?" Felicity asked, her eyes wide. "Why?"

"I don't know," Lenora replied. "I thought you would, since you live with Mom and Dad and all. Anything weird going on?"

"Yeah," Felicity replied. "Helene's moving out. I think she and Adrian are getting a divorce or something."

"Damn," Lenora whispered. "And now Mom's probably gonna sell Dad out for all he's worth."

"So what should we do?" Felicity asked. "Do you have any idea?"

"No, not at at the moment I don't," Lenora told her. "But I'll think about it, I promise." She hung up then and Felicity did the same.

"Who was that?" Stefan asked.

"Just Lenora," Felicity replied. "She wanted to talk about the thing I'm not supposed to mention anymore."

"Ah," Stefan nodded. "I can't believe you didn't tell her about your escapades with the police officer and the girl in the river. Those are things you should be proud of. You can tell people about them, you know."

"I know," Felicity replied. "But-but it still feels kind of weird killing people, you know? Even if it was in self-defense. Well, the police officer was, but-" Then Stefan cut her off, kissing her deeply. "Stop talking," he said. "I don't want to hear you say things like that. You shouldn't feel bad for killing people. If they're stupid, and they usually are, they deserve it. We are predators. They are our prey. There's nothing wrong with killing prey."

"I know," Felicity sighed. "I know that. I just...why don't I feel happy? Or proud? Or any of the other stuff you say I should be feeling?"

"Because you're letting yourself get bogged down in morality," Stefan told her. "I was like that once and trust me, it just makes things much more difficult than they need to be."

"Do you think my coming here was a bad idea?" Felicity asked.

"Yes," Stefan nodded. "All it's doing is making you miserable. So why don't you leave all this witch bullshit to your parents and your sister and we'll go home and see what your father is up to."

True to her word, Lenora thought and thought about what to do with her mother, but try as she might, she couldn't think of anything, until she got a very surprising visitor the next day. The doorbell rang and Henry and Susanna both ran for it. Lenora followed them and stood behind. "Be careful," she said. "You never know who could be on the other side of the door. It could be a bad person."

"If it was a bad person, I would just stab them dead!" Henry proclaimed. "I'm not scared!"

Lenora rolled her eyes, picked up Susanna, and opened the door with her free hand, surprised to see Alistair, of all people, on the other side. "Grandpa?" She asked. "What brings you here? Come in!"

"Who are you?" Henry asked him as he came through the door. "Are you a bad person?"

"Do you think I would let him in the house if he was a bad person, Henry?" Lenora asked. "This is my grandfather, Alistair. Grandpa, this is my son, Henry, and my daughter Susanna. I don't know if you've met them. I know Grandma Selina has."

"I like her," Henry said with appreciation. "She makes yummy pie and cake!"

"Cake yummy!" Susanna agreed.

Alistair laughed. "I don't know if I can make cake as well as your grandma Selina, but I promise you I'm not a bad person."

Lenora urged him to sit and brought him some tea. "So what brings you to our neck of the universe?" She asked. "Just a visit?"

"Actually," Alistair confessed, "Astrid sent me here. She thinks I need to find ways to occupy my time now that I'm no longer working for Klaus, so..."

"Why aren't you working for him anymore?" Lenora asked. "Haven't you always done that?"

"Yes," Alistair sighed. "Originally, it was a punishment for me because I killed my clan leader and took over the leadership of our group, and you know turning against witch kind is one of the worst crimes you can commit, so when Klaus came to our village looking for help on something he was doing, I was given eternal life and ordered to serve him for the rest of time."

"Yeah, it's a real bitch when they do that to you, isn't it?" James asked, coming into the room. "They give you the gift of living forever and then they just ruin it by making you do something boring and horrible for the rest of time."

"Hey!" Lenora said. "Sometimes good things can come out of that. It's not all bad unless you make it that way."

"True," James agreed and took her in his arms for a moment before Susanna reached for him and began trying to wriggle out of Lenora's grip. James grinned and took her in his lap. "So you just came here to alleviate boredom?" He asked Alistair. "I think we can work with that pretty well."

"Good," Alistair replied. "Cause I really don't know what to do with myself now that I don't need to look after Klaus. He's taken up so much of my time over the years."

"Well, maybe you could help me," Lenora said. "I think I could use it."

"Why?" Alistair asked. "What's going on?"

"Well," Lenora cleared her throat. "I was just talking to Felicity and apparently, Mom and Dad are splitting up. I think it's for real this time."

Alistair sighed. "I hope you're not too offended by this, dear, but I can't say I'm surprised or upset that they're separating. I was always skeptical about them as a match. It seemed in the beginning that your father was going to prove me wrong, but now he's gone and proved me right."

Lenora shrugged. "I don't like Dad too much anymore either," she said. "Not that I think what Mom is planning on doing is necessarily the right thing either, but..."

"What is she doing?" Alistair asked. "Do I need to go have a talk with her? Maybe it was good I finally left Klaus after all."

"Now I'm not sure about this," Lenora told him. "But as I told you, Mom and Dad are getting divorced and I think Mom is gonna take the witches' side in the uprising against Dad that is happening in New Orleans. You know about that?"

"I've heard of it," Alistair nodded. "But your grandmother knows more about it than I do. Do you really think it's safe to have your sister involved?"

"No," Lenora shook her head. "She was initially being used as an undercover agent, but I made a deal with the witches' leader to replace her. It made Lissy upset, but I really think I did the right thing."

"Wait now!" James cried. "You're taking part in some witch uprising against your father and you didn't think to mention it to me? What if you get hurt or die? Then what am I gonna do?"

"Oh, relax!" Lenora told him. "I'm not gonna get hurt or die. Everything will be fine!"

"No," James shook his head. "Next time you go, I'm going with you, just to see what kind of situation you're putting yourself in and if I have to arrest anyone, I will."

"You mean you're going away?" Henry asked.

"Not right now," James told him. "But possibly sometime soon."

Henry brightened. "Does that mean I get to go stay with Margaret?"

"Yes," James sighed. "It means you get to stay with Margaret."

"No," Lenora shook her head. "You're staying with your father, because when I go, he's not coming with me!"

James looked at Alistair. "Don't you think I should go with her?"

"You don't have to answer that," Lenora told him and punched James on the arm. "Don't put him in the middle of our problems!"

"If you would just let me help you, there would be no problem," James told her. "And I'm not waiting for you to get hurt and then come home and tell me that's when you need help!"

"Fine!" Lenora told him. "Since it seems like you're not gonna let this go until I agree to let you come with me, you can come!" She plunked Susanna down in Alistair's lap. "Would you keep an eye on these two for a bit, Grandpa?" She asked. "It looks like James and I have some packing to do."

"You know," Mikael said to Elijah, "I met this really nice woman the other day. She's a vampire, she's several hundreds of years old, so she has life experience, and she's beautiful. I figure now that Selina is gone, you might want to give her a try. You can't be wallowing in pain and misery forever. Why don't you take her to the opera on Saturday?"

"I can't," Elijah told him. "Selina and I are going to the opera on Saturday."

"Like I said," Mikael told him. "It doesn't do to dwell on these things and at the rate you're going, you really need some sort of distraction. I'll tell her that you're all ready to come. She's really eager to meet you, son."

Elijah sighed and drove home. "We have a problem," he told Selina when she met him at the door.

"What sort of problem?" Selina asked.

"Well," Elijah cleared his throat. "You know how you and I were gonna go to the opera on Saturday?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "What about it?"

"Well, we're gonna have company," Elijah told her. "My father, who doesn't know or admit you and I are still a couple, set me up on a blind date. I'm supposed to meet her at the opera too."

"Well, that's all right," Selina assured him. "We'll both go and we'll meet her and tell her the truth about what happened. I'm sure it will be okay. And you really should tell your father we're still a couple."

Elijah sighed. "Even if I did, he'd probably just ignore me. Hell, it could be that he knows and is choosing to ignore it just to be irritating."

Selina nodded. "That's probably the case," she said. "Which is why you and I are gonna to the opera, meet her, explain what happened, and then see where it goes from there. Who knows? We might even make a new friend."

"I'm really looking forward to the opera tonight," Elijah told Selina. "Even if there are complications, thanks to my father. I'm really sorry about that."

"I told you," Selina reassured him. "It's not a problem. She could be our best friend. You have to stop thinking the worst of things and look on the bright side."

"I don't know if I can," Elijah told her. "That's what you're here for."

"Right," Selina nodded. "Exactly. That's what I'm here for."

Just then, Elijah's phone rang. "Elijah, it's Astrid," Astrid told him when he answered. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I just want to give you a warning. I've convinced Alistair to leave your brother's service and seek out his own life because their connection no longer serves the purpose it's supposed to, but don't worry, I've sent a charming replacement to work in Alistair's stead. Her name is Amy and she's one of the most well-regarded life coaches in our world. So he's in good hands. But at the same time, Amy can take some getting used to for some people, so if your brother comes running and complains about a woman named Amy, that's what it's about."

"Thank you for telling me, Astrid," Elijah told her. "I've never known my brother to complain about a woman, though."

But Astrid's warning proved useful later that night when Klaus came knocking and urged them to let him in. Before he could hide himself, however, they heard a woman's voice call Klaus' name from outside.

"This is ridiculous," Selina told him. "Why don't I just let her in and then you and she can talk things over while Elijah and I go about our business? Cause we really should leave now if we don't want to be late."

"Fine," Klaus sighed. "Let her in. If you don't, she'll probably force her way in."

"She seems awfully persistent," Elijah remarked as Selina opened the door and Amy sped in. "But Astrid told me she was a life coach, which means she helps people get their lives together. Perhaps in her line of work, persistence is a good thing."

"Are you going?" Amy asked.

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "We have opera tickets."

"What a shame," Amy replied. "I thought we would be able to get to know each other." She sighed. "Oh, well. I guess it will have to wait. Have a good time at the opera."

Elijah and Selina told Amy and Klaus goodbye, and, ignoring Klaus' pleas for them to stay, shut the door and drove off to the opera, where they waited in the entryway until a pretty woman with dark eyes and long hair, who was wearing a black dress approached them. "Elijah?" She asked.

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "That's me."

"Great," she stuck out her hand. "I'm Teresa, it's lovely to meet you. You really are as handsome as your father said."

"Well, I'm glad he thinks so highly of me," Elijah said, "at least when he's talking to other people. But what he neglected to mention was that I'm not exactly available for dating." He gestured at Selina. "This is my wife and we're very much together. I'm sorry if you feel misled."

"But your father told me your wife was dead," Teresa replied. "How odd."

"It's not, really," Selina told her, shaking her hand. "He doesn't like me and apparently spends every waking moment wishing I didn't exist."

"Oh," Teresa grinned. "Wow. I'm sorry. Do you both already know where you're going to sit?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded, taking their tickets out. "We've got seats in the balcony."

"So do I!" Teresa replied. "That's wonderful." The three of them went into the theater together and at intermission, they came out talking like old friends.

"I've always liked Mozart's operas a lot better than the French or Italian ones," Teresa confided to Selina. "Strange, I know, since I'm of Italian descent, but you like what you like, I guess."

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I really can't stand the over-dramatic French and Italian opera. It's all so ridiculous, but Elijah loves it. This opera is good though. Funny. I like it."

"It's one of your favorites," Elijah told her. "I got these tickets for you."

"Really?" Selina asked. "Thanks!" They got some champagne and sipped it and then went back for the rest of the opera. By the end, they had made a date for another outing with Teresa.

"I told you we'd make a new friend," Selina told Elijah. "We just can't tell your father we like her, or we'll probably never see her again."

Elijah scoffed. "No kidding. I'm just happy I'll have something good to report to Father tomorrow. If I wasn't giving him good news, I'd never hear the end of it."

"Well, lying through your teeth is always an option," Selina said. "You could have told him that you had a good time, even if things had gone wrong and you hadn't."

"You know I'm not comfortable with lying," Elijah told her. "Even if, on occasion, it makes things temporarily easier, it never turns out well in the end."

"The point is though, we had a good time and you don't have to lie," Selina said. "I'm just saying that it would have been an option if we hadn't. Now, on a completely different note, how do you think things are going with your brother and that Amy woman?"