Ladies and gentlemen! I present the final chapter of "A Father's Pride, A Mother's Joy." Please stay tuned for news of the next installment of whatever I'll end up naming this verse.

I expect Marcel to release me. I expect him to explain the exchange that was just had. But he does neither. He doesn't release his hold on me until we are back in the compound we call home. He walks with purpose across the study and pours himself a drink, an action I had grown used to seeing from Klaus and not his son.

"Marcellus...what did you do?" I find myself asking.

His face becomes agitated. "What did I do?! I went after what I wanted. I wasn't going to sit back and do nothing while Klaus kept Rebekah and I apart."

My heart breaks a little in that moment as I begin to comprehend that tonight's events were brought about by the man I had raised from ten years old. "So you decided to summon Mikael? Of all people you called for that monster?! I asked you to be patient Marcellus. I asked you to trust in me and you couldn't give me so much as a few weeks?!"

"How was I to know that he would listen?! The last time we tried to convince him of something in regards to Rebekah and I, he left her daggered in a coffin for fifty-two years! I call you mother! Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

I can't help the anger rising in me. "Of course I am on your side! I fought for you and her. I reasoned with him for days and in the end I succeeded! He gave you his blessing Marcel. How could you betray us by calling for the Destroyer?!" I pause as something occurs to me. "How did you even think to call him in the first place?" The guilt in his eyes, the pain of regret that flashes there, and the set of his mouth lead me to a conclusion. "Rebekah."

He looks at me sharply. "Don't."

The world seems to spin out of control. "You both called him here."

"Don't," he repeats.

"The both of you. Together. Betrayed us all."

His voice becomes low and dangerous. "We betrayed Klaus for the sake of our happiness. It has nothing to do with anything or anyone else."

"It has everything to do with all of us," I say, aghast. "You acted impulsively. How many people died tonight because of your selfishness?!"

He throws his glass against the wall and it shatters like my heart is shattering. "My selfishness?! What of his selfishness?! Why must we all make concessions for him?! When do we put ourselves first for once?!"

"He raised you like a son," I remind him and myself.

"Yet I have never called him father. All he cares about is himself and his power. And now his precious city is mine and his sister will come back for me and we will finally be together."

I shake my head in disbelief at the man before me. "Tell me. Where did I fail you, Marcellus? Where did I go wrong that you would value power over family?"

"You chose to be the Queen. Who chose power?"

"I chose to support my family. Taking on the responsibilities I did was how I was best able to do that." He is blinded by his own perceptions. "I can tell by looking at you that nothing I say is going to make you understand that. Perhaps you are still too young in your hubris." I turn to leave but he blocks my path.

"I am not a child. I haven't been for a long time." His eyes narrow at me. "What do you plan to do now, Mother?" I have never heard him call me that with animosity before and it makes me feel as though I've been staked.

"The only thing I can do, my son. Give you the space and time to realize your mistakes." I move to go past him again but his hand reaches out and grabs my arm.

"You plan to follow after Klaus?"

My eyes narrow at him. "I plan to follow after our family. When you are finished being foolish then you can send me a letter."

My back slams into the wall. "I can't let you do that Julia. One thing I've learned over the decades is that you refuse to lie to Klaus. And I am sorry, but I can't have you endangering Rebekah or me by telling him the truth of Mikael's appearance." He leans down closer to me. "So you will stay here with me, and he can believe us both to be dead and lost."

Any fight has been sucked out of me by the time Marcel locks my bedroom door behind me. I sink to the floor and cry. My sobs are ugly and messy. My throat becomes sore. My whole body shakes and aches until it gives out completely and I succumb to sleep.

Over the coming days I mourn for my son, I mourn for Lana's death, and I mourn for the loss of the family I have grown to love in the last century. I ache for the shortsightedness of Marcel and Rebekah. The happy glow that was beginning to shine from them is now lost and I don't know if it will ever be regained. Elijah's soothing voice and presence had become something of a brotherly comfort over the years. Lana's friendship was still new but her zest for adventure and her cleverness made her an interesting conversationalist.

And Klaus. My throat constricts whenever I think of him. I can't help but dwell on all of the moments I remember him teaching Marcellus to paint, to ride, to live. I remember the worried look on his face as we both sat by Marcellus's side when he was 14 years old and battered by the river. I remember how tenderly he held my hand when Marcellus wrote letters from the war front. That last moment of happiness when he promised there was something he wanted to talk to me about. All of the quiet and soft moments that I saw from him over the years that make my chest tighten and that nameless feeling that shoots through me as I hold my tears at bay.

Somehow I went from fearing Niklaus Mikaelson, to being his friend, to being his lover and somewhere along the way he got under my skin. Somehow, in our shared love for our son, I grew to love him too.

I sit in my window and watch the world below. Without being involved, I know that Marcel is rebuilding the city in his own image, and I don't know how to feel about it. I am disappointed with the means he used to get here and proud that he is such a capable leader.

I hear my bedroom door open and I know that a maid servant is entering with my daily evening meal. I expect her to leave in silence as she has done for the last week, but her voice breaks the silence. "Do you regret it yet?"

The sneer in her voice causes my spine to stiffen. I turn slowly and the woman takes a few steps toward me. I swallow. "Celeste."

The smile that pulls at her lips makes me feel sick. "Good. You remember."

I stand and try to inconspicuously move toward anything I can use to defend myself. Her presence has me unnerved. "Long time no see Celeste. What's it been? A hundred some odd years or so?"

"Thereabouts. But you didn't answer my question yet. Do you regret it yet?"

I raise my chin in defiance. "Never. I could never regret choosing my family."

Her face contorts in anger and a wave of magic reaches out from her and knocks me to my knees. She walks toward me with purpose. "Never say never, Julia. You will regret it. And I couldn't have asked for things to turn out better. Falling into Klaus's bed? Really?"

She laughs. "You're going to make it so much easier to destroy all of you. Now…" she presses the palm of her hand to my forehead and grips my head in her hand as her magic keeps me immobilized on my knees. "You're going to use that third eye of yours to show me when the Mikaelson's will return to the quarter, because they will. And when they do, I will be ready."

She attempts a spell to force a vision from me, but it is not a vision that I have had and it falters before she can begin. Her eyes widen. "Oh!" She smirks. "You can't control it can you?"

I grit my teeth and try with all my might to yank myself from her grasp.

"Now now Julia. It's no use struggling. You may not be able to control your abilities, but I can still drag it out of you."

Her grip becomes tighter and my mind begins to burn like vervain on vampire skin. My mouth opens in a silent scream. Her eyes glaze over as she uses my third eye to see for herself a future that is unknown to me. It feels as though we are trapped that way for an eternity before she releases me with a gasp.

I crumble to the floor as laughter bubbles out of her. "Oh well this is even better than I could have hoped for." She yanks me up from the floor. "Now I can't have you learning to control your little gift and seeing what's in store for the future." Her palm goes back to my forehead and she begins to chant her spell. The pain is so much worse than it was when she was simply using my third eye. Now she is blinding me, gouging it out as blood drips from my nose.

When she's done, she lets me fall to the ground and I am too weak to do anything but groan in pain as I lay there.

"I am going to rip your little family apart, piece by piece. First I am going to destroy Marcel's love for you. Then I will rip Klaus and Rebekah asunder. I will rip out Elijah's hope bit by bit. And then, just when you think there's a shred of hope for you and your lover, I am going to torture you both using the other, until all that is left is pain."

She leaves me writhing on the floor before I can recover enough to respond. By the time I manage to feel human again, night as fallen. I stumble back to my perch at the window. My eyes drift to the sky and the nearly full moon reflecting light down onto the city streets. Of its own accord, my hand reaches up and I finger the crescent charm that Lana had once gifted me.

"If you find yourself lost or trapped or in need of assistance under dire circumstances, turn the moon full, and my people will come for you."

I look down at the charm in my hand. I do not know what Celeste has planned. All I know is that I am trapped here, and I can't stay here. I can't stay here and let Celeste destroy my family. But I can't go after Klaus either. I promised him I would always tell him the truth. But telling him of his sister and son's betrayal would do exactly what Celeste wants. It will destroy us all. I have nothing, and no one, and an eternity ahead of me.

Unless...unless I can find a way to beat Celeste at her own game. Unless I can turn it back on her. But to do that means that again, I can't stay here. Marcellus will have a part to play, but he will not know it.

I close my eyes and sigh deeply. I look back at the charm in my hand, and I turn the moon full.

Hours later, chaos erupts at the compound. A handful of members of the Crescent pack enter in a frenzy. My door is knocked off its hinges and one of them enters. His kind eyes find me and reaches a hand out to me. "You called M'lady?"

"It's Julia," I say as he helps me to stand.

"I am Jacque," he responds. "It's good to meet you, although I regret the circumstances." I am escorted down the stairs and we find Marcel is in battle with one of theirs.

"Stop!" I say. Everyone freezes in surprise and looks to me. I raise my head and walk as calmly and smoothly down the stairs and into the courtyard as I can. "No one is to spill any blood tonight."

Marcel's fangs are extended and his eyes shine red. "Mother…" he hisses.

"Son," I say firmly. "You cannot hold me as a prisoner in my own home. You wanted to be king? So be it. You are king. Jacque?"

"M'lady?"

"After you," I say, and we make our way out the door. "Do not follow me Marcellus. You are my son and always will be. I give you my word that I will never allow harm to come to you at my hand. From this day forward, I will be silent in regards to you."

With that, I turn and run with the wolves.

At the edge of the bayou I halt. My eyes turn back to the city I helped to build. "M'lady. We must go!"

I nod and glance back briefly once more. Only then do I think that perhaps this is what Celeste wanted all along, for us to be separated. But I have made my choice and I must live with it. A plan is still forming in my mind, but I will save my family. Until the day comes that the Mikaelson's return, and Marcel begs for forgiveness, I am no longer his mother, and although he will always be my son, he is no longer my joy.