Author's Notes: Hello everyone and welcome back to another update, well this is gonna be a long chapter…get popcorn or something because it's gonna be a bumpy ride. But I hope you enjoy!

I don't own anything from Harry Potter, TVD or the songs that all belongs to JK Rowling, LJ Smith and Julie Plec, and the artist(s). Cover art belongs to Brookie Twiling. I don't own anything expect my own imagination!

Enjoy!

Chapter 30 Pompeii (Wheel Inside the Wheel)

A young Esther is bundled up and walking through the cold and snow toward a cottage. Inside the cottage is a darker-haired witch named Dahlia, who is in the midst of performing a spell as she clutches a necklace in her hand. She is surrounded by human skulls, reindeer antlers, and dozens of lit candles.

Dahlia chanted quietly, "In unim edito, domino sae domina, cutlas sino liberos, sino liberos."

Esther finally arrives at the cottage and pushes the door open, closing it behind her. Dahlia is startled and doesn't look happy as Esther removes her mittens and walks toward her.

"Sister, I've come to beg for your help." Ester begged.

Dahlia skeptically looked at her sister. "What for?"

Ester smiled at her. "You know I've always wanted children of my own..."

Dahlia angrily interrupts her. "Then go. Have your Viking children." She implored.

Ester shook her head. "It's been almost a full year, and I am still not with child. I fear I am cursed." She looks at Dahlia, who sighs in annoyance. "Dahlia, please. With your magic, you could help me!" She begged.

Dahlia stands to her feet and stares at her angrily. "You come to me needing favors? If you hadn't abandoned your talents with witchcraft, you could help yourself."

"I was never as strong as you, I know that!" She exclaimed. Dahlia turns away from her. "Just as I know you will not turn me away. You are my sister, and whatever our quarrels, we are bound by blood."

Dahlia seems to be considering this, and after a moment, she turns back toward her sister, looking conflicted about her options.

"Please, help me." Ester begged.

Dahlia unhappily sighed. "What you ask of me, it requires heavy sacrifice."

Esther steps toward her, near tears and clearly relieved by this response. "I will do whatever you ask!" She said.

Dahlia notices her tears and sighs before pulling Esther into an embrace.

"Ah, here. I could never refuse you." She pulls away and takes Esther's face in her hands. She said, "My precious little Esther."

†

In the Layfette Cemetery, Oliver has been chained and bound to stalks and looks as though he's been severely beaten. He stands outside before Sister Araine, her Sisters and Dahlia, surrounded by fellow werewolves.

Oliver growled at the ugly hags. "Why don't y'all just kill me and get it over with?" He asked.

Sister Araine stung him with her magic, which made her smirk when she saw him flinch ad groan at the pain. "Speak to us again, I'll feed you your tongue."

Dahlia turns to address the rest of the wolves. "Spread the word from here to the Bayou- Midnight tonight, he is to be put to death for his part in aiding the escape of deserters. For now, chain him up in the lycée."

Two of the werewolves grab Oliver and shove him toward the lycée. Dahlia raises her voice to address the rest of the werewolves. "Tell the other wolves to come and have a look and see what happens to traitors!"

The rest of the wolves file out of the cemetery, leaving the witches alone. Dahlia smiles at her fellow witches. "Well done. Now, I believe you have a meeting?" Sister Araine smiled and nodded. The older witch said, "Good. I'll tend to our guest."

Dahlia leaves the Sisters and returns to the crypt where they have been holding Elijah. He's still asleep, kneeling on the floor with his wrists still bound to chains suspended from the ceiling. Freya not too far was watching as her brother in agony.

Dahlia begins to speak quietly to Elijah, "Still sleeping, lost in visions of horror and dreams of love." She takes Elijah's face in her hands. "Still so strong, so... full of life. Too willful to take my offer."

She drops his head in frustration and walks over to a nearby table to pick up an athame before turning back toward him.

"I could you as a little boy. Innocent, kind... If that boy had known the creature, he would one day grow up to be, he'd have leapt in my arms and begged me to save him." She said. She affectionately runs her fingers through Elijah's hair.

"Dahlia, don't!" Freya demanded. Dahlia stopped and looked over her shoulder to her niece. "Please, don't hurt my brother. He knows what sins he has created in the past, but please let him go, let me go and we will not rage war on you or the Sister. We will get the family and leave, please Dahlia."

Dahlia contemplated her niece's proposal. She thought that it would be a nice game of cat and mouse, to see her estrange family run like rats, making sure that future Mikaelson is never discovered or to show what Elijah's true colors were.

"No," She said. Dahlia suddenly yanks Elijah's head back by the hair and slits his throat with the athame. Elijah awakens and begins to gasp and choke while Dahlia mutters a spell into his ear. "Mal il de lui, ai malheur nuit cette san."

She then drops his head once again, and Elijah slumps forward, once again unconscious and still. Freya screamed and kicked to her aunt but was stopped by the chains that made her magic not useful.

Dahlia looked to her niece and said, "I will watch as you and your family suffer like rats to a fire, I will make sure your family is driven apart. And I will make sure that suffering starts with the two eldest Mikaelsons. Always and forever, as your family would say." She eyed her niece and walked away.

†

Hermione is looking out over the French Quarter from the balcony of the couple's room when she's suddenly startled by the sounds of tortured screaming. She frowns and returns inside, following the noise to Klaus' bedroom, where Klaus has blood splattered all over his hands and face and is washing up in his sink.

Hermione nodded. "Oh. So, I see your interrogation went well?"

Klaus looks at himself in the mirror while he washes up. "Eh, it turns out these witches are delicate creatures. No matter! I suspected my mother had Elijah captive."

"Great. Let's go find them!" She declared.

Klaus shakes his head no as he walks toward her to face her. Dahlia and her merry band of witches and werewolves are too powerful. They won't be easily found. I need to draw them out."

He's about to shut the sliding doors that separate his room from their room when Hermione stops him.

"Wait, where are you going?" She asked.

Klaus eyed his brother's lover and said, "I'm going to change my shirt, and then I'm going to find my brother." He smiles patronizingly and is about to shut the doors again when she once again stops him.

Hermione annoyed at hybrid, declared, "Klaus, let me come with you!"

Klaus sighs deeply and walks toward her again. "I know you want to help, Hermione, but you can't. These witches are wretched. One of them will target you in order to thwart me, and I can't very well save Elijah and Freya if I'm busy saving you, can I?"

"Niklaus, I can handle your aunt and those pesky Sisters." She said. "Those Sisters are no match for me and Luna, we can take them. Plus, they took something of mine and I want him back. So, I will hurt a faulty bitch if I see one." She patted his arm and walked away, leaving Klaus to finally shuts the doors and prepares his plans, leaving her to consider her options.

†

Gia has just returned to Marcel's apartment, where Marcel is waiting for her.

"I did like you said- I kept a low profile, went all over the city. There's no sign of Elijah nor Freya anywhere." She said.

Marcel sighed. "Yeah, the humans I know said the same thing. Maybe Klaus is having better luck?"

Hermione, Luna and Finn walk into the apartment and interrupts their conversation.

Hermione said, "No, he's not, which sucks, considering how low the bar is around here."

Finn smirked and asked, "Listen, you two up for a rescue mission?"

Gia asked excitedly, "Are we going after Elijah and Freya?"

Luna shook her head. "Nope. That's all Klaus. I'm talking about Oliver. Now, he and Elijah were fighting the werewolves together. I've heard that Oliver's been captured and is about to be executed. Now, look- if we can save Oliver, then we might be able to find out where Elijah and Freya are."

Marcel nodded. "'Kay, so what do you want from us?"

Hermione stood tall, as if she was back in the Hogwarts battle. "Just a little distraction. Sister Araine and her little friends, are the one that's controlling the werewolves. If you can keep him out of the way, I can go get Ollie myself."

Hermione turns to leave with her friends on her tail, but Marcel vamp-speeds around her and blocks their way.

"You can't take on all those wolves by yourself. You'll get killed, and then I'll get killed for letting it happen." He said.

Hermione sighed annoyingly, "I'm not going in alone. The werewolves may be answering to the witches, but they still have an Alpha. I just have to find him."

•

Klaus is in the middle of abandon street with empty houses, when he hears a familiar voice call out to him. "Niklaus!"

Klaus turns to see Elijah on the other end of the yard, walking toward the plantation house. Klaus, confused and a bit suspicious, follows him. Inside, Elijah starts to tap the keys of the burnt-up piano as Klaus slowly approaches him.

Elijah smiled. "You seem troubled. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were worried."

Klaus scowled at his older brother. "What have they done to you?"

Elijah muttered, "A thousand years of murder and mayhem, and they believe they can still save our souls." He runs his finger across the piano keys. "They want to talk. Perhaps we should listen?"

Klaus smiles for a moment before angrily picking up a piece of overturned furniture. "ENOUGH!" He exclaimed.

The furniture passes right through Elijah and he disappears, revealing that he was only an illusion.

Klaus yelled, "The petty illusions, Dahlia! Where is Elijah!?"

Suddenly, Dahlia appears behind him. "He's preoccupied at the moment. I'm helping him find his way. But, not to worry, I'll return him to you. All I ask is that you hear me out."

Klaus snarled at her. "You expect me to sit through a sermon of your lies?" He asked.

"I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm in the process of making Elijah into the man he was meant to be. And, I intend to do the same for you."

Dahlia looked around to the burnt house and said, "This plantation, ruined by fire. How sad, not to mention symbolic. After all, you never intended to build a true home here. Even as Rebekah and Elijah sought to defend you, your thoughts were focused on only your conquest of the Quarter. Tell me, how did that go?"

Klaus turned to his aunt and raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry. Is this some sort of motherly critique? Please feel free to choke on it."

"I mention your failures only to make a point. You've endured several lifetimes of misery, never mind the suffering you've caused others, even to your own blood. You yourself remain trapped in a perpetual state of despair. I have come to offer you a means to escape that cycle."

Klaus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "And that's about all the hypocrisy I can take. I suggest you give me my brother before I get angry." He said.

Dahlia shivered. "Such hatred. It breaks my heart to see you like this."

Klaus got in her face. "The truth is, you're not better than Ester, you seem to have crawled back from the grave simply to ruin everything. Surely those Sisters have revealed everything to you?" Dahlia's face remains blank. "Or, is Mother's loyal little boot-licker not quite so loyal, after all?" He laughed. "Am I to forego centuries of hatred for my evil mother in order to join her in besting the very demon she herself allowed to raise me?"

Dahlia sighed. "I am not evil, Niklaus. I am your salvation. I can save you and your siblings, make you human again. Even take away Finn's vampiric ways, make him anew again with Luna, so they can have that child be normal."

Klaus did a double take and furrowed his brows. "Pardon?" He asked.

Dahlia smirked. "That is not my story to tell, Niklaus." She said. Dahlia walked to him and stood in front of the hybrid. "If you join me now, I can grant you peace. And, should any of your enemies return with the intent to harm you, I will strike him down myself.

Klaus seems slightly tempted, but he remains firm. "That's quite an offer. But, you know, I've never needed any help when it comes to killing my enemies."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "You reject me out of hatred, but I have something stronger. I have the truth about your father." Klaus looks at her skeptically. "Not Mikael- your real father."

†

Hermione, Luna and Finn are wandering through a more remote part of the Bayou, looking around, when they come upon a beat-up trailer in the middle of a wooden area.

Suddenly, Finn hears a creaking sound and quickly turns, catching two arrows in midair that have been shot by an unidentified man behind him. Annoyed, he drops the arrows on the ground.

"Is that your best shot?" He shouted. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you're gonna kill a hybrid."

The man walks toward them, pulling a shorts word out of its sheath with his free hand. His bow is clutched in the other, and he has a quiver of arrows strapped on his back. He stops when he hears a gruff voice call out. "Stop!"

They immediately turn at the sound of his voice. Jackson walks out of the trailer and toward them. Hermione's demeanor immediately becomes kinder.

"Jackson?" She asked.

"Guys. I see you met my friend Ansel." The second in command introduced.

Ansel was very confused. "You know her?" He asked with his southern drawl.

"Yeah, actually. I do. She is Elijah's girlfriend, the witch I told you about." He said.

•

Dahlia has walked outside into the front yard, and Klaus is slowly following behind her.

"A thousand years ago, in a fit of rage, you wrapped your bare hands around my sister's neck and squeezed until she died. Do you even remember why?" She asked.

Klaus continues walking toward the grave until he's standing next to her. "Let's see...she turned us all into monsters. Ester cursed me, denied me of my hybrid nature. She lied to me about my father—"

Dahlia interrupts him. "It's that one above all. You killed Ester because she kept you from ever knowing your true father."

Klaus angrily turned to Dahlia and hissed at her. "My hatred for her runs so deep, it's difficult to pinpoint its origin. Maybe I hate that I'm the product of a whore's lechery?"

Dahlia becomes furious and slaps Klaus across the face. "Watch your mouth! You will do well to remember that you are still her son!" She exclaimed.

Klaus chuckled and licked his healed lips. "You judge me evil, yet it was her lust that made me what I am."

"And once have I ever regretted the love Ester had for your father. And, you have never known the truth of how that love came to be, or what happened in the months after I took your sister Freya." She said. "My sister knew the pain after I made sure Freya was in my arms, I made sure she knew pain beyond belief."

†

Jackson and Hermione are sitting in chairs around the fire pit, while Ansel sits on a log across from them and sharpens his knife, Luna is out in the woods finding extra lavender, vervain and any other herb for the witches, and Finn sat next to Ansel watching him make weapons.

Jackson said, "After Francesca Guerrera took over the wolves, she offered me a moonlight ring as long as I'd call her Alpha. I declined. So, a couple of her brothers dragged me out here and left me for dead. So, I knew it was over, and I just drifted. And that's when I met Ansel. See, he's been teaching me the old ways, the traditions. What it means to be a wolf."

Hermione smiled kindly at him, Ansel doesn't look stand offish. The witch looked away from the wolf, but Finn stood tall and behind her like a guard.

Jackson stood up and placed his hand on Finn's chest, making the second eldest Mikaelson back away. "Hey, easy. Your kind makes him ornery."

Finn frowned at that statement. "My kind? Jackson, whatever you and your friend think of me, my kind is different, I am something more than an Original now. All that means is they need an Alpha. Oliver needs one, too."

Jackson nodded and sat next to Hermione. "Yeah, I heard about that. The thing is, Ollie betrayed me. He plotted with the Guerreras. He spilled his own people's blood."

Hermione sighed. "He was trying to make up for that." She pointed out.

Ansel shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Witches have him- he's dead."

Hermione looked from Ansel to Jackson. "You don't want to be the Alpha? Fine. I'll save Ollie myself." She gets up to leave, just as Ansel starts packing up his bow and quiver and stands up to walk toward her. "Oi, you got a problem?" She asked.

Ansel fixed his bow. "I have no love of vampires," Eyeing the vampire behind her and the woman coming out of the woods with twigs in her hair. "But I will not allow a wolf to be killed by witches."

He brushes past Hermione to head for the Quarter. Hermione turns back toward Jackson and shoots him a look.

Fin muttered, "At least someone is interested."

†

"After I had taken Freya, Ester was inconsolable. I had watched from afar. Compelled by her grief, she had told Mikael a lie and with his grief they were forced to pack their things and set across the seas. Eventually, their despair would drive them apart, and that's when I saw my sister fall for him for the first time- your true father. She'd never seen a man like him. Powerful, yet wise, but loved by his people. And- because Mikael had chosen to leave her alone in his grief, shunning her from his life- she found myself drawn to another."

Klaus snarled at her. "Spare me the sordid details of my origin. Why did you let your sister allow me to be raised by a monster who hated me? Why not claim me for himself, raise me among the wolves? Or, was he as ashamed of his bastard as you were?"

"When Ester learned she was with child, she stupidly went back to Mikael. She told him she was having his baby. He neither did he suspect the truth, but he had no joy for you. You made them be a family again."

Klaus, clearly overwhelmed by this story, steps away from her. "A family built on secrets and lies." He muttered.

Dahlia laid her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Ester denied you a life with your father. But what if I could make up for all that? By curing you of this sickness that's infected your soul? Whereas I could put Rebekah, Elijah, Kol and Finn into the bodies of a witch, you I shall place into the body of a werewolf! So, you can live out your days as what you were always meant to be!"

Klaus turned away from her. "What could possibly make you think I would agree to such a thing?"

"With mortality, you could start over. You could have a family of your own. Happiness, peace, all the things you have long been denied?" She said.

Dahlia walks toward Klaus as she talks, but with every step she takes in his direction, he takes a step backwards to get away from her, clearly unhappy at the day's events.

Klaus stops backing up and stood tall. "ENOUGH! Tell me where Elijah is, or I will kill you!" He exclaimed.

He steps toward her, but Dahlia throws him away from him using telekinesis.

"I had hoped there was some part of you that yearned for an end to your vicious ways!" She continues holding Klaus back using magic as he stands to his feet and tries to push against it. "But if you are determined to perpetuate the cycles of the violence to which you have become accustomed? Well, then, I'll have to accommodate you."

She makes her outstretched hand into a fist and twists it in the air, snapping Klaus' neck with telekinesis. Klaus falls to the ground, unconscious.

Night has fallen, and Klaus still lies on the ground outside the plantation house. In his dreams, he's been transported to a flashback.

It's night time, and Klaus has stumbled out of the woods to find the bloodied bodies of several werewolves impaled on pikes. Horrified, Klaus rushes over to the nearest body and turns over his arm, revealing a tattoo of three crescent moons surrounded by a circle. He then brushes the long hair out of the man's face so he can see who it is. It's Ansel, who has been killed by Mikael. Klaus becomes distraught.

Klaus awakens with a gasp after his snapped neck has healed. He sits up to find that Dahlia has been waiting for him. "Apologies for the headache. Were you dreaming?" She asked.

Klaus said shockingly, "I was remembering the day I found out who my real father was. Only that was after Mikael slaughtered him."

Dahlia checks her pocket watch, which reads 8:35 pm. "You woke earlier than I expected. No matter. It is time."

Klaus concerned, looked up to Dahlia and asked, "Time for what?"

"You said you wanted Elijah. He's sleeping. Chained to the wall of a tomb in Lafayette Cemetery, with Freya. I've lifted the spell that hides them. You are free to take them home. Now, Elijah's own mind will work out his choice for him. When he wakes, he'll make his own decision. Every single thing I've said to you tonight is the truth, Niklaus. Whether you choose to believe it is up to you."

Klaus scowls at her before vamp-speeding away to get Elijah and Freya.

†

Hermione, Luna, Finn and Ansel have arrived in the cemetery, and they slowly make their way through the foggy paths as they try to find Oliver. They make it to the lycée and walk up the steps to enter. Inside, they find a bloodied Oliver suspended by his wrists in the greenhouse.

Hermione slaps his face lightly and whispered, "Oi! Ollie! Ollie, wake up!"

Oliver weakened by the torture, looked up the two witches and the others behind her. "The hell are you doing?" He looks at Ansel. "Who the hell is that?"

Finn started at Oliver and said, "We're here to save your arse. Please tell me you know where Elijah is?"

Oliver weakly shakes his head. Ansel goes to the window to look outside. "They know we're here." He said.

Finn focuses his hearing to hear the sounds of werewolves jumping down from the crypts as they make their way to the Lycée. Hermione looked at Oliver for a moment and studies the chains that bind him.

Hermione shrugged. "Sorry. No time to be gentle." With the help of Finn, he yanks on the chains, and when they break, Oliver falls to the floor. Luna and Hermione quickly picked him up. "Let's go." She said.

•

A few months back, Caroline had decided to take to Cami about Klaus and his strange mind that she loved dearly and strangely.

They were sitting at the bar in Russo's and Cami has just finished her whiskey while she and Caroline continue to talk.

"Whew!" She exclaimed. Caroline refills her drink and looked to the human. "So, how would you diagnose my boyfriend Klaus, if I may ask?"

"Well, he's clearly depressive. Low self-esteem, paranoia..." She laughed. "Impulse control. Wouldn't you agree?"

She shrugged. "A lot of it is beyond me. Too much history I don't know, like all the stuff with his siblings."

Outside, Marcel is continuing to listen to their conversation.

"But I just wish he would trust his family more and know that they are going to protect him and us." She said. "Lord knows when that is gonna be though."

Marcel the back door to go into the restaurant when a werewolf appears behind them.

The werewolf said, "You must be lost. Vampires caught in the Quarter are to be killed on sight."

Marcel steps in front of Gia protectively. Marcel said to Gia, "Go. Run. As fast as you can."

She rushes away as Marcel approaches the werewolf, both bracing for a fight.

†

Hermione and Luna were helping Oliver up in the greenhouse of the Lycée while Ansel and Finn prepare their quivers. Oliver, who is still weak and exhausted, looks at the good witches anxiously.

Oliver growled, "Just leave me here. Go!"

"To hell with that!" Hermione exclaimed. "They want a fight, we'll give them a fight." She got out her wand, as did Luna.

"No." Finn and Ansel said.

He approaches Hermione, who doesn't seem pleased to be ordered around by him. Ansel said, "I came with you to save one of my own, not watch as you kill scores of them." Hermione rolled her eyes but stopped when Luna hit her in the side. "Take your friends out the back, move as fast as you can. I'll hold them off here."

Hermione sighed and rushed toward Oliver so she can help him walk. "Come on. Quickly." She implored.

She helps lead Oliver, Finn and Luna out the back of the Lycée as more werewolves flood the cemetery, all headed for the building. Ansel make his way onto the steps and brandishes his sword at the incoming werewolves, cutting them all down.

•

Outside, Marcel is fighting the werewolf, both of whom are about of equal fighting skill.

Marcel has grabbed a large pipe off of the building and whacks the werewolf upside the head with it before slamming it into his stomach.

Marcel and the werewolf are still fighting, but the werewolf has gotten the upper-hand. He lifts Marcel up into the air by his shirt and groaned.

Marcel gouges out the eyes of the werewolf to try to get out of his grasp, but the werewolf bites Marcel on the arm. Just then, Gia vamp-speeds out of nowhere and shoves the werewolf into the nearby van, which forces his head through the passenger window, shattering the glass. Marcel falls to the ground as Gia shoves the man against the van, ready to rip out his heart just as Elijah taught her. However, he manages to grab her arm and twist her arm behind her back before biting her neck and throwing her on the ground. Before he can kill her, Marcel manages to get up and rip out his heart from behind. He drops the heart on the floor and smiles proudly at Gia as he helps her up to her feet.

•

Oliver, Luna and Hermione are hiding behind a crypt when suddenly, Aiden arrives, leading another group of werewolves.

"Come out! We know you're here." Aiden yelled.

Hermione looks over at Luna and Oliver, who is bracing himself against the wall, before walking out into the aisle to face them.

Hermione said, "Why don't you just let us go and we can call it a day?" Hermione gives Aiden a significant look, but he seems torn.

Aiden shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

Hermione annoyed by this, said, "Then we do this the hard way."

The werewolves brace for a fight, but Oliver staggers over to Hermione before anyone can move.

"You idiots!" Oliver yelled. "You're lining up to fight a couple of witches? For what? So, you can kill me? All because some witch gave an order? I know I ain't innocent, but I never lost sight of what I was fighting for! We were gonna be a pack! But now?" He steps toward them. "We're turning on each other! Killing your own people? We do that, we're nothing."

Oliver and the witches tense in case they start a fight, but Aiden waits a moment before clearing a path so they can leave without violence.

†

Elsewhere in the cemetery, Klaus has arrived to rescue Elijah. Suddenly, Klaus hears the sounds of fighting nearby and goes to investigate. Ansel is still mowing down werewolves with his sword in front of the Lycée when Klaus vamp-speeds behind one of the werewolves and snaps his neck. Ansel holds his sword up until he sees that it is Klaus. Klaus is shocked to see him.

"You." Klaus muttered.

Ansel was stunned. "Niklaus?"

Klaus shacks his head and panics. "No, no! You're not real!" He screamed.

Ansel yelled, "Niklaus!"

Klaus shook his head. "NO! You're a phantom, conjured by Dahlia and those Sisters, that's all that you are!" He brushes past Ansel and stomps toward the Lycée. "Dahlia! Stop this charade! I know that thing is not real!"

Ansel, confused yet pleased to see his son, approaches Klaus carefully. "Look at me, Niklaus." Ansel demanded. Klaus, frightened, slowly turns toward him. "I am flesh and blood. Your flesh and blood." He implored.

Klaus exclaimed, "You've been dead a thousand years!"

"And through that time, I lingered on the Other Side, watching you let the world fall apart, until I woke, four moons past, in the land of wolves like myself." Ansel said.

Klaus shook his head. "No. No! No, you're just in my head. You're an illusion, meant by my crazy aunt to sway me to accept her bargain!"

Ansel was confused by this. "I do not speak for Dahlia. I know nothing of her bargains." He walks toward Klaus. "But you are my son."

He reaches to caress Klaus' face, but Klaus grabs his arm before he can so he can see the crescent moon tattoo on his forearm. The sight of it causes Klaus to flash back once more to when he found Ansel's body after Mikael had killed him. In the present day, Ansel looks at Klaus curiously.

Klaus said, "And, if what you say is real, you are nothing to me. For all I care, you can crawl back to hell."

Ansel looks hurt as Klaus vamp-speeds away. How could I show Niklaus that I am his father, that I am here for the right reason? That was the million-dollar question.

•

Back at his loft, Marcel pulls a vial of blood out of a dresser door and walks over to where Gia is sitting on the couch, her bite still bleeding and not healing. He gives her a sip out of the vial, and Gia makes a face as she swallows it.

Gia hesitated. "Mmm. You sure this is gonna work?" She asked.

Marcel nodded. "Klaus' blood is the only cure for a werewolf bite. Thing is, I'm running low, so new rule- don't get bit."

Gia smiled. "I got bit saving your ass." She pointed out.

Marcel smiled back. "Yeah, yeah, you did good, too. I gotta admit, though, when you took off, I thought you were gone."

"All my life, when things got tough, that's what I would do. I would run, because I never fit in anyway. But this place, what you're building here... it fits. So, I'm in. No running, no matter what." She said.

Marcel grinned. "Well, thanks for sticking it out."

Gia whispered. "Yeah."

Marcel looked down to his phone to find Aya calling him. "One sec." He said and walked towards the window to give Gia some peace, to heal. "Hey, babe."

"Oh, thank the Gods!" She said. "My group and I came across some wolves and I heard one of them brag, saying that he had bitten you and your baby vampire?"

Marcel sighed. "Um, yeah. But Klaus gave us some blood before I moved out of the Abattoir, just to be careful."

Aya nodded. "Good, just please be careful." She implored. "Any news on Elijah?" She asked.

"Yeah, got word from one of the Strix that Klaus found him at the cemetery and is working on saving him now."

"Good." She said. For the last couple of days or so, Hermione has been in charge of the Strix while Elijah has been captured. Aya never knew Hermione could be one tough leader, so she would be happy to see Elijah happy and healthy, or so she hopes.

"Well, we will be seeing him pretty soon." Marcel said.

Aya agreed. "I can concur. I have to go, a wolf spotted us." She hung up and started to kill the rest of the wolves.

Marcel looked at his phone and to Gia who was asleep, healing her body from the attack.

†

Finn, the witches and Oliver have returned to Jackson's trailer, where Hermione and Luna are cleaning Oliver up.

Jackson said, "Well, you got him. Great. Where's Ansel?"

Hermione muttered, "He was busy being a man. He should be right behind us."

Oliver weakly said, "Jack, I have to tell you—"

Jackson interrupted him. "I already know, Ollie- you sold me out to Francesca."

Oliver said, "Look, I know that I can't make up for that. But you need to hear this. You're the one." Oliver struggles to get to his feet, and Jackson stands defensively, grabbing a nearby staff to use in a fight, if necessary. "You're the Alpha. Our people are not meant to be slaves! You can free them."

Suddenly, Oliver starts coughing up blood and falls to his knees.

"Ollie? Ollie?" Jackson looked to the witches. "What is wrong with him?" He asked.

Hermione growled and shook her head. "It's the witches." Luna said.

Jackson rushes over to Oliver and kneels next to him to check on him. "Ollie?" He asked.

Hermione stopped and looked horrified. "They said he only had until midnight..."

Jackson props Oliver up in his arms to try to resuscitate him. "Stay with me!" He exclaimed.

Oliver is overcome by a coughing fit and starts to sputter up blood as he stares at Jackson, who is panicking.

"Jack..." Oliver muttered.

Jackson looks horrified as Oliver suddenly starts bleeding from his eyes and nose as well, before dying in Jackson's arms. Jackson gently lays him on the ground, still gripping his hand, as they try not to cry.

†

Klaus has finally made it into the lycée, where he finds Elijah still bound in chains and unconscious. He spots the poppet that binds the spell that keeps the chains from being broken, and quickly rips down the chains. Elijah falls into his arms, so Klaus sets him down on the floor so he can try to wake him.

Klaus whispered, "Wake up, brother. Elijah." He looked over and found Freya in the corner, looking sickly and was shacking. "Oh sister." He said.

Suddenly, Dahlia appeared behind him. "He won't wake. Not yet. Which gives you and I one last chance to discuss my offer."

Klaus is furious, and gently lays Elijah onto the ground to break the cuffs off his wrists.

Klaus hissed at her. "You promised me Elijah's safe return. Or, was that a lie, just like that ghoulish atrocity outside claiming to be my father, back from the dead?"

"Your father's return is real. I pulled him from the Other Side before it collapsed, left him in the Bayou to join the wolves. And, I used the execution of one of his own to draw him here, where I knew he'd find you." She said.

Klaus growled enraged. "To what end? Besides my torment?" He asked.

"I brought him here to be the father you never had. To teach you to be the man you always longed to be. Once you are remade as a werewolf, you can join him." She said.

Klaus, furious, stands to his feet and walks toward her. Klaus scowled at her. "His return changes nothing."

Dahlia shook her head. "It changes everything. It is my gift to you, Niklaus. This offer is your last chance at salvation. Reject me now, and you will live out your endless days unloved and alone. Do not refuse me out of some ancient spite—"

Klaus interrupted her, "Not spite. Hatred. A pure and perfect hatred that's greater now than the day I first take your life!"

Dahlia frustrated throws her hands in her air and looked to her nephew. "Why, after all I've done to explain to you, why must you persist—"

Klaus completely loses his temper and grabs her in a choke-hold, slamming her head against the stone wall as he pins her down. "BECAUSE YOU CAME FOR MY Family! Your own blood!" He screamed in anger.

Dahlia struggled to breathe. "You... don't... understand!"

Klaus shouted, "MY. FAMILY!"

Dahlia gasped. "Niklaus! I had to!" She lifts up two fingers, causing Klaus to experience a nosebleed. Still, he grips her throat even harder, and she whimpers in pain.

Klaus snarled, "You declared war when you came after my family. And, for that, I will make you suffer as only I can." He smirks through the blood pouring from his nose. "After all, I am my mother's son."

He throws her down onto the floor, where she struggles to catch her breath. Klaus rushes over to Elijah, picking him up and carrying him out of the crypt, along with Freya. Dahlia backs up and leans against the wall before she's transported into a flashback.

Young Esther is standing in front of her sister Dahlia, who is gripping onto Freya's arm.

Esther is upset, and Finn clutches her side. "Please, do not do this!" She begged.

Dahlia growled at her sister. "You wanted a family! Fate said otherwise, and so you came to me. And, for a price, I granted your wish." She pulls on Freya's arm in emphasis. "Now, I must collect."

Ester shook her head, holding back the tears. "When Mikael returns from his journey, I swear—"

"You will tell him Freya grew ill and died!" She exclaimed.

Easter in tears. "No, Dahlia!"

Dahlia had a blank expression on her face. "You were forced to burn her body to stop the spread of plague."

"Sister, please, I cannot give up my child!" Ester begged.

"You've already offered me more than just this one child! Our bargain was for this first-born, and every first-born of each generation that is to come, for as long as your line shall last." Dahlia said.

Ester furious at Dahlia. "If you do this, if you take my daughter, I swear to you, I will return to the black arts. I will grow in power as a witch, and I will MAKE YOU PAY!" She exclaimed.

Dahlia cackled. "Your power is nothing against mine! Foolish girl. You knew the bargain you made! And, should you defy me, then I will take all your children. Including little Finn!"

Finn starts to cry, and Dahlia gestures to Esther's pregnant body.

Dahlia yelled, "Even unborn Elijah!"

Ester devastated shook her head. "No, Dahlia!"

Dahlia angrily picks up Freya and rushes away from them. Freya becomes frightened.

Ester screamed, "No!"

"Mommyyyyyy!" Freya screamed.

Ester screamed to her sister. "Dahlia! Freya, please!"

Freya screamed even louder, "MOMMYYYY!" Freya continues to scream, and Esther breaks down in tears as Dahlia leaves with her.

In the present day, Sister Araine finds Dahlia on the floor of the crypt, recovering from nearly being strangled and the memory of taking Freya away from Ester.

"Dahlia? What happened?" Sister Araine asked.

Dahlia shook her head. "Niklaus refused my offer." She muttered. "Still burdened with hatred for Ester."

Sister Araine said, "He's a fool. Your actions saved this family! He will come to his senses and take your offer."

Dahlia stood tall and shook her head. "It's not that simple, the sins of this family have gone for centuries and will continue. I will have to figure out what the next step is, to make this family know what they carry is a burden."

"And we shall start with the future unborn child that witch is carrying," Sister Araine said.

Dahlia nodded, walked to the alter and had the other Sisters gather around her, to figure out what to do with the child.

At the Mikaelson compound, Klaus and Hermione lay Elijah on his bed, still in his bloodstained suit. He and Hermione stare at Elijah in concern, watching as their loved one suffer silently.

Author's Notes: Ok, well that was something else, but there ya go. But, please leave a review, hope y'all enjoyed the update and I will see y'all a next time. Bye, bye!

Pompeii-Bastille