Hello loves!

I'm so sorry that this chapter is a day late but I hope it makes up for the fact that it's a little longer than the others so far. The thing is, my class is doing this Secret Santa thing and I got a girl that I barely even know much less talk to so I've spent half of my day texting my friends that know her better and the other half out in town trying to buy a present for her.

Bloody hell, it was difficult!

Plus, I couldn't even sleep last night, my house is boiling. I was half-convinced I was about to throw up half the night. Thankfully I'm a lot better now though.

But enough about me, let's get on with it! I own nothing.

~*•°•*~

Aria narrowed her eyes at Klaus who sat at the head of a table he'd set up in the courtyard to celebrate his return to leadership over New Orleans and his repossession of the Abattoir compound from her father. Some of the vampires, including Marcel and Diego sat around the table. The werewolf girl, Hayley, sat at the opposite end to Klaus and she sat beside Marcel. Her eyes narrowed even further when Klaus tapped his glass with a fork as if he could command them all like dogs.

"Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: immortality." He began as Aria repressed a snort. She wasn't a vampire was she? Never the less, Klaus didn't seem to care, he hadn't exactly been happy since she'd used her powers against him but, smartly, knew that she was too powerful of an asset to lose, "After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires and in some cases witches." He gestured to Aria, "We feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine."

He gestured to a group of people – waiters and had them each join the table and stand beside a person each, apart from her for obvious reasons.

"Insatiable need, exquisite pain."

The waiters each slit their wrists with knives and the blood trickled down into cups as they were filled,

"Our victories, and our defeats." He raised his glass in a toast, "To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow."

Marcel lifted his own glass, "And the party never end!"

Diego raised a glass, "To New Orleans."

"To New Orleans!" Klaus nodded.

"New Orleans!" Everyone chimed as they drank and Aria turned away. She'd been surrounded by vampires for her whole life but she'd never quite gotten used to the smell of blood.

Klaus continued, "I understand that some of you may have questions regarding the recent change in leadership, and I invited you here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated. No, my intentions moving forward are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel, in fact, took and built for this true community of vampires."

"What about her?" Diego asked as he pointed to Hayley at the other end of the table who currently looked like she would rather be anywhere else, "The wolf."

"Had you'd let me finish, Diego, you would know that there is, of course, one further matter I would like to address. As many of you know, the girl is carrying my child. Consequently, I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect. However, I understand that some of you are concerned by this vicious rumour that I intend to use the blood of our child to create hybrids. I assure you I do not."

"Father of the year." Hayley murmured sarcastically.

Klaus sighed, "It appears I will have to earn your trust. Very well. We'll eliminate the root of your anxiety. You see, how I can I sire any hybrids if there are no more werewolves alive in the Bayou to turn?"

That caught Aria's attention as her head snapped over to Klaus.

"What? Klaus, no!" Hayley objected, her tone horrified.

Klaus ignored her, "So, eat, drink, and be merry. And, tomorrow, I suggest you have yourselves a little wolf hunt. Go ahead, have fun. Kill them all!"

~*•°•*~

In Klaus' study, Cami sat at the typewriter with Aria across from her, observing the Hybrid pacing in the room anxiously, "And, so then I bit Elijah, and left him in the Bayou with my hybrid venom in his veins. Serves him right, for making such vile accusations against me. And then-" He turned to see that Cami had stopped typing, "Are you taking this down?"

"To be clear, if the Quarter is yours now, you still need to use my friend why?" Aria questioned.

"My memoirs. A thousand years of history isn't going to write itself." Klaus shrugged before the door opened and walked inside. When his eyes landed on Cami and Aria, he looked confused.

"Cami? Aria? What are you doing here?"

Cami turned to Klaus, "Our question exactly."

Klaus turned to Marcel, "Oh, it's quite alright. She knows." He dismissed.

"She does?"

"That you're vampires? Don't worry, he's compelled me to forget everything as soon as I leave. That way, I'm too busy agonizing over whether or not I'm losing my damn mind to realize I'm playing spy for an immortal egomaniac." Cami sassed as Aria frowned thoughtfully.

Marcel sighed as he turned to the Hybrid, "You compelled her to go out with me, didn't you?" He turned to Cami, "And I thought you really liked me."

"So did I."

"I mean, to be clear, I only compelled you to give him a chance. Anything you felt for him was quite real." He took a beat, "And, for the record, the level of awkwardness we're all currently experiencing is entirely genuine."

Aria scoffed, "You think you're so clever, don't you? Compelling the poor naive bartender. Look what she found: real Cami, not your compelled therapist." Aria held up a newspaper article Cami had found of him and Marcel in 1919 as Cami began talking, "You think this is funny, messing with my mind? My sanity is not a joke!"

Klaus turned serious, "No, love. I don't believe it is." He walked closer to her and looked her in the eye, "You never found this. You will remember nothing of our life as vampires when you leave here, do you understand?" He asked as Cami nodded, as if in a trance, "I think that just about does it for the day. Aria why don't you take her home? As always, you know not to tell her anything."

Aria rolled her eyes but never the less, grabbed a few of her friend's things as the duo left the room.

As the two left, Marcel took a seat as he began to speak, "The humans have called a meeting. They're not exactly thrilled with the new status quo."

"How unfortunate for them." Klaus murmured.

"Look, it's your show now. But, you wanna know how I built what I built? Politics. A little diplomacy goes a long way, especially with the human faction."

"Duly noted." He said as he looked down to the newspaper photo, "I haven't thought about this night in ages. 1919, the opera house, just before it burned. This was the end of an era. Now, in the interest of new beginnings, I feel that there are some things I should probably confess to you. But... Where to begin?" He took a breath before he began speaking, "Thierry was never disloyal to you. I set him up in an attempt to locate my brother. He's your friend, and consequently, he can return to the compound at your discretion. Cami's part, you just learned. And then, there's young Joshua. I've been compelling him from the beginning, although I suspect you already knew that, as he was the one who led me into your trap."

Marcel shrugged, "I may have fed the kid some misinformation."

"And then there's Davina. She's a powerful weapon. At this point, I'd like to keep her close at hand. I think we should have her move in to the compound here with us."

"No she can't leave the attic. I already tried to move her once."

"Yes, about that... Turns out, your little witch is quite the actress. She made a deal with Elijah while he was in captivity, tricked you into letting her stay put in exchange for some spells from our mother's grimoire."

Marcel sighed bitterly, "Good to know. Is that all? Is my daughter also plotting against me?"

Klaus chuckled slightly, "Ah yes, your lovely daughter Aria the witch. No, no she isn't plotting against you, I will admit that she has worked with Davina one or two times and did know Elijah was awake but to my knowledge she is like a sister to Davina so all isn't lost in that department. I suspect she was merely curious as to why you were being lied to. You know witches. Always so damn curious about spells and Grimoires. She probably couldn't resist. Face it, witches are a pain in the arse. But apart from that no. She's probably the most loyal person towards you in this city."

Marcel released a breath he didn't realise he was holding, "I appreciate the honesty." He said as he rose to his feet, "Meeting's in an hour." He murmured before he left.

~*•°•*~

Marcel watched Davina as she painted and sighed, "You're gonna love it at the compound. I already got the best room in the place picked out. It has two beds. One for you and one for Aria."

"I can't leave! Remember what happened last time?"

"I know about your deal with Elijah." Marcel announced as Davina froze, "We can't be lying to each other. I'm trying to protect you. With the witches still looking to kill you and Aria for the Harvest, believe me, you two are safest with us. Especially since Aria doesn't know why they want her."

"Because you said it's too dangerous. I just don't understand! Surely if she knew she'd be better able to protect herself?"

"D, we've been over this. It's too dangerous. But back to what I was just saying-"

"There's also excellent light in the afternoon." Klaus announced as he walked into the room and over to her paintings, "I see you're an artist. Wonderful! I look forward to witnessing your many talents."

"Was this his idea?" Davina demanded.

"Davina, please. I've already been through this with your friend Aria. I understand you're devoted to Marcel, but Marcel is devoted to me. I assume you'll want what's best for all of us." He walked over to Marcel, "We have a meeting to attend downstairs." He murmured before taking one last look at Davina and then leaving.

"I'll get someone to pick up your things. We'll get you and Aria settled in right. Trust me." Marcel promised as he left the room and a sad Davina.

~*•°•*~

"I think I was far more gracious than they deserved." Klaus announced as he took a seat opposite Marcel and poured his drink. He noticed Marcel's subtle glare and back tracked, "You're disappointed by my lack of diplomacy. You out of all people should need no reminder of the human capacity for cruelty."

"So why exactly did you decide to question the Faction?" Aria asked as Kol watched his brother with interest.

"They're a group of petty thieves, young Aria. The sooner they know who is really in control here, the easier it will be to avoid bloodshed." Klaus spoke with a small smirk as Aria rolled her eyes. Klaus looked down at his phone when it buzzed and rose from his chair as he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Mikaelson. I just wanted to let you know that the Faction's considered your terms. We've reached a decision." Aria heard the sheriff say from the other end.

"Have you?" Klaus asked, slightly amused.

The confident smirk dropped from his face when there was a sudden, loud explosion from outside and large amounts of automatic gunfire pierced through the walls and windows, scattering broken glass all over the room. Marcel pushed her out of the line of fire and she stumbled backwards.

"ARIA! GET OUT!" She heard someone yell before she let out a scream as one of the bullets pierced her stomach. The witch looked down to see her previously white sleeveless halter top was quickly turning crimson as the blood soaked through. She dropped to the floor as more gunfire continued to echo around the room.

She heard scuffling around her and tilted her head to the side slightly once she felt a coldness wash over her. Her eyes found dark brown as Kol dropped to his knees beside her, expression terrified.

"No, no, no, no." He murmured.

"Kol-" Aria began before she winced once more at the pain.

"Shh, shh. Don't speak, Darling." He whispered.

"Kol it hurts." Aria murmured as Kol clenched his jaw, his eyes continuing to flicker between her stomach and her face worriedly. Aria's eyes began to drop and his worry grew, "Aria, you can't go to sleep. Stay awake." He whispered.

"But I feel so tired." She murmured.

"I know. I know. But please, you can't fall asleep. Please, Darling. Stay awake." He begged. Aria, with some difficulty, pushed her eyes open and looked upwards to Kol.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"No." He responded immediately.

"All the other vampires in here are either dead or unconscious and your brother is too intent on protecting my father. I'm human. And I'm going to die."

"NO!" Kol repeated, his expression flickering between worry and pure, undeniable rage, "You're not going to die, I won't let you."

Aria managed a small sad smile before her eyelids drooped once more, "Aria? ARIA?"

He was helpless. He was a ghost. He couldn't do anything to help her. With nothing else to do, he let out a howl of pure anger, hoping, begging that someone – anyone would be able to hear him.

As if by magic, Klaus' head snapped up from the other side of the room when he heard a distant yell and his eyes zeroed in on Aria's prone form. His expression turned into one of rare worry as he momentarily left his adopted son's side to go over to the very human body of Marcel's daughter. He bit into his wrist and gently pulled Aria up as he tried to get her to drink the blood.

"Please, little witch." Kol murmured as Klaus breathed a sigh of relief. The colour began returning to Aria's face and Klaus smoothed her hair back as he pulled his wrist away from her mouth.

"There we are. All better." Klaus murmured as Aria blinked, eyes focusing in on her surroundings.

"Klaus? What happened?"

"You were caught in the crossfire." The Hybrid spoke, his expression looking slightly regretful.

"Crossfire… Where's dad?" She asked suddenly, eyes wide. Klaus pointed over to the other side of the room where Marcel was slowly waking up and Aria moved to get up and go towards him before Klaus stopped her, "Hey, hey. My blood doesn't work that quickly. You can't go getting up just yet." He said as Marcel's attention was drawn towards them. In a flash, the vampire was in front of Aria who wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug as he ran his hand through her hair in a calming, protective motion.

"What the hell happened?"

"She got nicked by a rather nasty bullet. I got over here just in time."

Marcel swore under his breath and held the witch closer, unknowing that Kol was hovering beside him, attention also on the witch who had, in a matter of months, already managed to get him to care about her. A rather incredible feat when he thought about it.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He looked over to Klaus as he gestured around the room and then towards Aria, "This is on you! Now that you're in charge, these are your guys lying dead. Your guys." He gestured to Aria, "This is your fault. You're gonna run this city, that better mean something to you, otherwise no one worth a damn is gonna follow you. No one!"

Klaus paused for a moment before he spoke, "I was beginning to worry about you. I don't think I could've taken any more of this differential nonsense. I mean, clearly, I underestimated the faction. That won't happen again. But, tell me, now that we've arrived to this point, now that they have come into our home, visited this upon our people and your daughter… How would you counsel me to respond?"

Marcel narrowed his eyes and for once, Kol found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with the vampire's words, "Let's go kill them all."

~*•°•*~

Father Kieran walked into Rousseau's and up to the table that the human faction was seated at, "Why wasn't I consulted on this?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth, referring to the attack on Klaus and Marcel.

"You've been gone for over eight months, Kieran. We got used to doing things on our own." One of the men, the mayor, said.

"This Klaus Mikaelson, I don't care who he is or what the rumours say. He needed to be taught a lesson." The Sheriff continued.

"You are gonna start a war!"

The Sheriff scoffed patronisingly, "I'd like to see them try. Oh, and Kieran, this is the last time you call a meeting. Next time you wanna criticize our leadership, send a damn email."

"I thought you called this meeting." Kieran stated.

"The hell we did."

"Actually, I called it." Klaus spoke as he walked up to the table, "It appears I made a grave error during our earlier conference. My friend Marcel offered me wise counsel, and I failed to heed it."

The Sheriff smirked, "I'm glad to hear you've learned your lesson."

"Oh, I won't be making that mistake again." He raised his voice slightly, "Marcel!"

Before anyone could react, the Sheriff had a knife in his neck and collapsed down into his chair as the other people in the restaurant began to scream.

"Shall we...?" Klaus offered.

"After you."

The next few moments, for lack of a better term, were a blood bath. The entirety of the Faction minus Father Kieran was dead as were a few other people who were unable to leave the restaurant in time.

Klaus sighed as he looked over to Kieran, "There he is. Our lone survivor. Such a sad day for our city." He patted the man on the shoulder, "Some of its best and brightest killed in a tragic boating accident on the Mississippi. Rather nasty explosion, I heard. So what am I going to do with you?"

Marcel joined the duo, "Okay, hold up. I've known Kieran for a long time. He's smart and he's fair. I think he can do us more good alive than dead. Not to mention he's Cami's uncle." He added as Klaus looked over to him questioningly, "Don't see you care about things much. It's kinda hard not to notice when you do."

Klaus sighed, "Very well. Use this… reprieve to remake your human faction."

"And how do you expect me to remake the Mayor?"

"Well, surely there's a deputy Mayor? Choose new leaders. Then we'll re-open negotiations." Klaus replied, his tone entirely too cheerful for Kieran's liking before he took his leave, Marcel following not long after.

~*•°•*~

Kol watched Aria across the room from him, relishing in what would only be a short while before her friend, another witch, would move into the room and take the other bed. There were no words for the worry he had felt earlier as she'd literally been bleeding out in front of him. He'd only felt fear, something he hadn't truly felt in a long time let alone for anyone other than himself.

She stirred slightly and her eyes opened, dark eyelashes brushing up against her face softly as she came to. She sat up in bed and looked over to him, no longer finding his sudden presence in her room at all surprising.

"How are you feeling?" Kol asked, head cocked to the side slightly.

"Sore." She winced before noticing she was in different clothes than she'd been in previously, "Who changed me?"

"A witch girl. Davina, I think her name was. She seemed quite distressed at the sight you were in. To be fair, we all were."

"You were scared for me." Aria commented offhandedly after a moment.

"Can't very well have my one connection to the living dying on me, now can I?" He asked, amusement laced in his tone. She knew he was lying but didn't care to comment on it. Not now.

She heard footsteps outside the room and smiled when the door opened and Davina walked in, she dropped the small bags she was holding and ran over to Aria, hugging her close, "I was so worried!"

"I'm okay now, D. I promise you." Aria smiled as Davina pulled back and checked her over.

"Good." Her tone turned scolding, "Because the next time you decide to hang out in the same room as Klaus, I'm finding you and dragging you out myself."

Aria laughed and took a glance behind the girl to see that Kol had left them alone. Her smile faded slightly but widened when she turned back to Davina as the girls began to unpack their things. After a few moments, Davina frowned and began looking back through her boxes with a new found sense of urgency.

"Davina?"

"The violin. I can't find it."

The door opened and Aria turned around to see Hayley standing in the doorframe, looking over to Davina curiously, "What are you looking for?"

"My violin. It must be left in the attic."

"So, just go get it." Hayley shrugged as Aria sighed.

"She can't. And neither can I. It's not safe for us out there."

"Funny, I was under the impression everyone was afraid of you two."

"The witches are after us."

"You mean that crazy witch, Agnes? Yeah, she tried to kill me, too. The thing is, she's dead. Elijah killed her." Hayley replied as the two girls froze.

"No… No she can't be." Aria murmured.

Davina shook her head in disbelief, "But… Agnes was the last living Elder. If she's dead, then we're safe. Marcel would've told me. Or even Aria."

"Maybe he didn't wanna lose his secret weapon against the witches?"

Aria frowned, "You're lying."

Hayley sighed, "Why would I lie to you?"

"Because you want something from us. Everyone does."

"Do I want something from you two? Yeah, girls, actually, I do. Thanks to your friend Marcel, most of my family is cursed. They're stuck in their wolf form, except on a full moon. Now, I'm smart enough to know that every curse has a loophole. And, well, you're the strongest witches I've ever heard of. But I wouldn't lie to you two just to get what I want. I'd ask you. I guess that's the difference between Marcel and me." She said as she turned and left the room.

"Aria…"

"I swear Davina, if I'd have known Agnes was dead I would've told you. But… No. The wolf girl must be lying. Dad would've told me." She fretted before she heard more footsteps. She smiled slightly when she saw Josh as he held up Tim's violin.

"Looking for something? I figured with you two vacating, the attic would be a safe zone. Found this there."

"It was dangerous for you to come back, Josh." Aria scolded, even though the smile didn't slip from her face.

"Yeah, well... What are friends for? Or whatever." He shrugged as Davina giggled and took the violin from him.

"Hey, what did Hayley want?"

Aria and Davina shared a look, "Do you trust her?" Davina asked.

"I don't know. Why?"

Aria took over, "She told us about a witch being killed. An Elder, but I don't know if she-"

Josh interrupted them, "Yeah, crazy Agnes? I heard about that, that Elijah went all berserker on her crew. I guess it was super gross, just like heads and guts... blegh!" Davina's smile slipped and Aria took a shaky breath. Josh just looked confused, "What? You hate the witches."

"Hayley was right. Marcel is just using me." Davina whispered.

"Josh, we can't stay here. Davina can't be a puppet. You have to get her out of here!"

"No! Aria you have to come with me."

Aria looked confused, "Why?"

Davina hesitated and her fearful expression turned guilty, "There's something I haven't told you. Something you should've found out years ago."

~*•°•*~

Aria walked up to Cami's apartment door and knocked loudly, her jaw was clenched as she waited for her friend to answer as Davina stood by her side silently, her expression guilty after spending the past half hour telling Aria why the witches wanted her.

Aria knocked again and sighed in relief when Cami answered, "Aria? What're you doing here?" She looked to Davina, "Who's this?"

"Cami there's no time for explanations. I need your help. Everyone's been lying to me and Davina can't trust anyone anymore." Aria said simply as Davina flinched remorsefully.

"I'm sorry. What?"

Aria sighed and let herself in, Davina following behind her, "Oh, you've been compelled."

"Okay, what are you doing?" Cami asked.

"It's okay, I can fix you. I'm really sorry, Cami, but this is gonna hurt."

Aria held her hands out towards her friend and began chanting to rid the girl of the compulsion. Cami's expression turned from confused to pained as she let out a scream.

~*•°•*~

So this chapter showed a little of Kol's humanity where Aria was concerned and honestly I got goose bumps writing it, no clue why though. Aria will probably stay mad at Davina for a while more considering she now knows everything. And I mean everything about the Harvest Ritual and why the witches wanted her.

Next week, I'll post my favourite chapter so far and my absolute favourite episode The Casket Girls.

As Always, SecretMidnightRose