Present Day

Somehow Elijah had always known that if he was going to end up with just one sibling it was going to be Niklaus.

It was very unlikely that they'd manage to stop their deaths now. Why would they? It hadn't worked for anyone else. Part of him hoped that he was going to die first. Then Niklaus would feel even more pain.

The second the thought occurred to him, he regretted it. He didn't hate his brother. He didn't want him to suffer. But his brother made him so furious sometimes. And Elijah's life would be much less complicated without him. Another thought he immediately regretted.

Somehow he ended up at the West Riverside. He had no idea why he had walked here of all places. Too preoccupied with anything else, he simply walked, putting one foot in front of the other without a goal in mind. He must have walked around the whole night. In these early morning hours everything was quiet at the pier before the usual traffic of the day began moving.

The witch bar was very close-by. Undecidedly, Elijah walked over to it. It was still closed, the broken windows now barricaded with wood panels. It looked abolished and empty. How long ago and almost laughable their quarrels with the witches now seemed.

Leaving and running as far away as possible occurred his mind. But where to go? There was no Finn he could run to, something he used to do every time he was at the end of his wits because of something Niklaus had done. Elijah couldn't think of anyone else he wanted to run to.

In case they get through this he should look for more friends.

Before he knew it, he stood in front of the mansion again. He had a suspicion he'd end back here anyway, too tired to go somewhere else.

There were voices and movement in the house. He figured the others had returned to the mansion at one point and he was not mistaken.

He wasn't completely sure why he did it, but instead of going to the front door, he moved around the house. The hole where used to be the kitchen wall was still there. Something told him that they'll never fix that again. From the kitchen he heard noises. Someone was working in the kitchen. He stepped over the pieces of rubble until he reached a hole like entrance into the kitchen.

Freya was standing at the sink.

When she saw him she jerked.

"Elijah," she said surprised.

"Sorry," he replied, climbing over the rest of the rubble until he was inside.

"Were you doing the dishes?" he asked, when he saw the pile of cleaned plates.

"Someone had to. I cooked," she said, and nodded to the pans that were still standing on the stove.

"You cooked," he repeated in surprise, not expecting to find her doing something so mundane.

She gave a hesitant nod. "I hope I'm not crossing a line here. But while were here and some of us had to eat…"

"Where are the others?"

"Upstairs," she said.

He reminisced. Nothing in him spoke for a desire to go upstairs and face anyone else, especially not Niklaus. Maybe he should stay down here.

"Go up," Freya said. "He'll be happy to see you."

Elijah figured that someone had told her about their fight. He had no interest in talking to Niklaus, nor forgiving him for anything. But if he'd stay down here he had to talk to Freya about the fight and that sounded just as bad.

With great reluctance he made his way upstairs. He heard voices. Oddly enough, they came from his room.

He pushed the door open.

Never would he have expected to see the picture before him. There was Niklaus, Briony and Davina, all sitting on his bed, watching TV.

"You came back," Nik said and sat up, when he saw his brother.

He thought he saw a glimpse of a hopeful smile in Nik's face, but he Elijah didn't respond to it. Elijah didn't feel like replying at all. Instead he watched them how they all sat on his bed.

"Why are you in my room? And are you watching TV?"

It was such a bizarre picture. At their feet there were some empty plates.

"Freya made food for us," Briony said.

Niklaus sat up straight to face him.

"Briony had a good plan. Tell him," he told her, and gave her a nudge.

He made an effort to look optimistic, but Elijah could tell it was a farce.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm testing the bodies to figure out which body parts failed so maybe we can fix them. But takes about a day, so we decided to wait here. Rest our minds so to say."

"Huh," Elijah said.

The information did nothing for him. None of them seemed particularly excited about it either.

"I'll show you," Briony said when he gave no other reply, and climbed out of the bed.

While the others stayed back, he followed Briony down the stairs again and into the living room. His legs were about to give in when he saw the two bodies. He held on to the drawer next to him, while the picture of his dead sister was burying into his brain again. It was weird. He had seen his siblings' bodies many times before, but now this picture had got a completely new meaning. He heard Briony speaking, explaining something, but he barely listened.

"You are humouring him," Elijah said, interrupting her. "You can't possibly think that this does anything."

Briony shrugged. "Most likely it doesn't. But at least we all got a day of rest. God knows we all need it, and most of all, he needs it."

A strange annoyance rose in him. Not just with Briony but everyone in the house. How come Niklaus ended up with three witches in the house who all cared for him? They saw that what had happened was his fault, didn't they? Niklaus didn't deserve this at all.

"Why are you on his side?" Elijah asked her, suppressing his anger.

"I'm not," Briony said. "I blamed him for Kol's death, too. But have you seen his face when you said those things to him? He's already torturing himself enough. You can't tell me you care that little about him that it doesn't hurt you to see him like that."

The she added: "And it doesn't matter who's to blame. What's done is done."

A second later the door opened again and Niklaus and Davina appeared. Niklaus had trouble looking in Elijah's eyes, but seemingly decided to block out what had happened the last time they had seen each other. Instead he focused on Briony.

"You were right, all we needed was a day to clear our heads. Now we can think again," Niklaus said.

Davina nodded in agreement. Both Briony and Elijah exchanged a confused look. Freya appeared at the door who must have heard them gathering in the living room.

Niklaus continued. "Davina and I were talking. And we were going about the problem all wrong. We don't need to search for an immortality spell. We'll figure it out as we go along. After we get them back resurrected…"

"You're saying this like a resurrection is easy," Briony interrupted him.

"Come on, you got resurrected by some mediocre coven, who didn't even do it on purpose. Can't be that hard! Anyway, after we've figured that out, we can make something up. If there's no spell to our goal, we just create a new one."

Briony stared at him blankly. "You want me to wing it? That is your plan?"

"Yes, I believe you can do that," Nik nodded.

Elijah wondered where this new blind trust into Briony came from. It might have been desperation. But it was hard not to be taken over by Nik's enthusiasm.

"Even if…" Briony seemed to struggle with the idea. "I don't have access to that kind of power. Nobody has."

"I can help!" Davina said, and kneeled down beside her. "I have lots of powers!"

Briony was about to reply, but Nik interrupted her: "Yes, she does! Marcel spoke about it!"

"If power wasn't the problem, Briony," he tried to argue.

"What do we have to do?" Niklaus pressed. "In theory?"

"To think about the immortality spell would be useless now. I can't prolong anyone's life who doesn't have one."

"Then we bring them back first. Obviously," Davina pressed desperately, clinging on that idea.

"Yes!" Nik nodded. "Good."

Elijah didn't know on whose side he should be. He was still terribly angry with Niklaus. His gut told him to be against anything that his brother suggested, especially if it will most likely only bring them more sorrow. But it sounded so tempting.

"You can't actually consider that," Freya intervened.

"Freya, no," Nik broke her off.

Briony looked pleadingly to Elijah. He didn't reply. The hope inside him had already taken over.

She spoke very slowly: "If we had access to an unlimited source of power, if we somehow managed to control it enough that it wouldn't kill us, if we basically decided to show nature the middle finger, because we're playing with things that might annihilate the whole continent, then yes, the first thing we'd have to do is bringing them back."

Elijah could tell from both Niklaus' and Davina's eyes that this was good enough to be excited for.

"And after that, we'd need a bloody miracle to keep you alive long enough to find a solution for that immortality problem," Briony added, gazing forlorn into the distance.

"So are you going to do it, or what?" Nik asked.

1895, Savannah, Georgia

They listened to the hatch above them rattling. Someone was opening it, turning a lock. Niklaus, Rebekah and Finn stood up, getting ready for what was coming through the door. The hatch began to lift itself, and a small line of light came bursting in.

A second later the hatch snapped shut again with a loud crack. The loud bang made them jump back. An eery silence followed. Niklaus listened intently. For a second he thought he had heard Elijah. It sounded like he was in pain. Was he up there fighting Mikael? The walls were too thick to hear any voices, but he believed to hear some sign of a struggle.

Niklaus, Rebekah and Finn looked at each other. There was nothing they could do. Niklaus felt like a piece of meat ready to be eaten by whoever was opening that hatch.

Then the hatch opened again. There was no time to get ready this time when his least favourite person sailed down to them with one fast jump. Before Niklaus even realised that this could be the moment for an escape the hatch had locked again. Mikael had locked himself inside with them. Getting ready for an attack, the three siblings moved together.

There was a deep gaping wound in Mikael's chest. It smelled like burnt meat. He must have been on fire. But to Niklaus' contempt, Mikael was already healing.

As he got up to a standing position, Mikael spoke with a painful and angry voice. "There has been a change of plans. We won't wait for the rest of you. It is time to die. Right now."

Only now Niklaus noticed what he was holding in his left hand. The stake of the white oak tree.

"What have you done to Elijah?" Niklaus asked.

"Someone had to go first," Mikael said drily. Then he added with a sneer: "Now, who wants to go next?"

From his short and heavy breaths, Niklaus could tell he was not up this full speed yet. They might have a chance. If they attacked him right now, all at the same time, they might get away. Finn and Rebekah must have thought the same. Within a split second they had exchanged a look and charged at Mikael. Dumbstruck for a moment, Niklaus realised what was happening. Why was everyone suddenly braver than him?

Finn had thrown himself onto him while Rebekah was tearing at his arm, trying to get white oak stake out of his hand. With a swift movement Mikael threw Finn away from him, and Finn crashed onto the wall at the other side of the room with a loud bang that echoed through the vault. Now Niklaus too had charged at Mikael and it wasn't a moment too soon. Freed from the extra weight, Mikael had pushed Rebekah away and onto the ground who was now fatally close to the stake. With all the strength he could muster, Niklaus pushed him away, while pulling Rebekah towards him. They both fell onto the ground next to Mikael, and Niklaus immediately twisted around, expecting a new attack within the second. There was none.

It took Niklaus a moment to locate Mikael again. To his absolute terror, he was standing over Finn. Niklaus jumped up and hurried towards him, but it was too late. He wasn't even halfway through the room when Finn's body went up in flames.

"No," he said with a weak desolate voice as he had reached them, and could only see how Finn's body slowly turned into ashes. Niklaus' legs suddenly felt like dough.

He felt Rebekah pulling at his arm. For a second he had almost forgotten that he was still in imminent danger. He let her pull him away to the other side of the vault.

Mikael followed with slow calculated steps. "You can't run away from me, Rebekah. Not in here."

Niklaus didn't dare to look away. Mikael was waiting for them to make a mistake. Rebekah was clambering to her brother's arm, as they retrieved as much as they could, until they stood at the wall with their backs.

The wound in Mikael's chest from before had healed now. Not that this made much difference. What were they going to do?

They could attack again, Niklaus thought. He couldn't kill them both at the same time. But the thoughts of dying and losing Rebekah were equally terrifying.

An arrow pierced through Mikael again and the cut on his body where it hit him went up in flames. Niklaus looked for the source of the arrow, and saw that the hatch was open. He could tell the arrow was hurting Mikael, burning him. Angrily, he turned around while pulling out the arrow of his chest with a painful groan.

Then a second later, Elijah jumped out of the hatch, holding a crossbow.

"Get out!" he shouted, while reloading another the crossbow with another arrow.

It took Niklaus a moment to realise that he meant him and Rebekah. Rebekah was still focused on Finn.

"Go, Rebekah," Nik shouted.

He practically threw her across the room to get her closer to the hatch. From the corner of his eye, he saw her disappear into the hatch a second later.

He turned around to look for Elijah. He shouldn't have done that.

In the same second, a hard burning pain seared through his shoulder that threw him on the ground again. He tried to pull out the stake himself, but a second later Mikael had his hands around him.

Niklaus was sure he would not miss a second time. Before he could try to stake him again, an arrow flew right between Mikael's eyes. With one slow pendulum-like swing, Mikael fell to the side. Niklaus watched him fall over, still terrified.

"Go! Outside, Nik! Now!" Elijah said, pulling him up.

Niklaus didn't need to be told twice. He jumped up to the hatch, where Kol had already been waiting for him. Kol pulled him out at his shoulders. A second later Elijah appeared right after him.

"Close it! The hatch!" Elijah shouted frantically.

Kol snapped the door shut and got up. Only now Nik saw the big square shaped marble stone that lay next to him. Kol began pushing it onto the hatch. A moment later Elijah joined him. Niklaus watched them, kneeling next to them. The pain in his shoulder was numbing his senses. But he could feel it healing.

When they were done, Nik let himself fall on the ground and stared at the ceiling.

After a few seconds of rest, he looked around. Rebekah was sitting on the other side of the hatch, resting her head against the wall with closed eyes.

"Where's Briony? And Flora? Are they okay?"

Nik's heart gave a terrible pinch. He shouldn't be the one asking about Flora. That wasn't right. Poor Flora. She had no idea.

"They're fine. They're in safety," Kol said.

Part of him was relieved, but then there was that other thing…

His shoulder was almost healed, but Niklaus didn't feel any better. What had just happened? Kol was still looking down on the marble stone in the middle of them, considering what was beneath. Elijah descended to the floor next to him, panting.

"Where have you been?" Nik asked.

"Hiding," Elijah said. "When I came back to look for you, you were all gone. I found Flora instead. And then afterwards Kol and Briony. We assumed he had you by then."

Nik processed the information. He didn't need to ask what they had done afterwards. Kol had held his promise and they had come back with a bullet proof plan. Or at least almost bullet proof. It would have been if all of them had made it out alive. Nik couldn't believe it. Had they really just witnessed the end of their brother? Everything from the last few days felt so much like a nightmare.

"We can't stay here," Elijah said and got up again, pulling everyone from their thoughts. "We're not safe yet. Who knows how long this door will hold. We need to get as far away as possible."

For a moment nobody replied. Niklaus looked at his three siblings, each of them looking battered, slowly wrapping their heads around what happened. The three of them. He had only three siblings now. The realisation kicked in. No, it couldn't, he tried to tell himself. There was no time for grief right now. There was still danger. The grief had to wait until later.

"You're right," Niklaus eventually said and pulled himself up.

Then he pulled up Kol next to him who still had his hands on the marble stone.

Something that day had broken in him, in all of them. Finn was gone. Their life as five siblings was over. Until now, they had always succeeded. Niklaus had always thought that their will power and strength made them eternal. That somehow they will always be invincible. But the truth was, he knew that now, they never were.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments!

I mentioned it a few chapters ago but now it's official: I'm going to focus on the past for the next few chapters, because I was always planning to write the 1925-part in one bit (i.e. several bits over a few chapters). I hope you'll like it! :-)