As Klaus and Mikael now both covered head to toe in their enemies' blood finally finish off the last of Dahlia's little minions, the powerful witch begins clapping her hands together slowly as she draws their attention.
Smirking brightly she gestures to the array of bodies surrounding the church "Quite the operatic performance. Though that is the thing with these grand tragedies. In the end...all the heroes...die."
With that Dahlia raises her hand and forms a fist aimed at the two immortals, causing sudden waves of pure agony to run through them both.
As Klaus and Mikael howl in agony Mikael drops the knife unable to keep a grasp on it as both he and the hybrid drop to their knees, Dahlia magic spreading through them like poison.
As the two powerful men continue to struggle both trying to rise back to their feet but failing miserably, Dahlia watches on amused by their efforts.
"You struggle with such passion." She admires "All in defense of the ones you love."
At this point, both men were now laid out on the floor on their stomachs trying to drag their weak suffering bodies to the weapon they hoped would end Dahlia and her threats once and for all.
Dahlia merely ignores their struggles as she continues "An honorable quality. One which I had not anticipated given the reputation which proceeds you." She says as she walks towards Klaus as his hand finally reaches out, almost touching the hilt of the blade.
"The mother of your child, however...I've seen her honor, it actually surprises me she's not here. But even if she was..." At the mention of Buffy Klaus growls loudly and finally grabs the blade forcing himself up back to his feet, ignoring the blood dripping from his eyes as the black magic continues to flow through his veins making every movement unbearable.
Raising his hand to strike Dahlia the witch does a simple flick of the wrist sending the hybrid flying across the church "A bit little...too late."
Pausing Dahlia's eyes finally land on Mikael who was still struggling to his feet, scoffing in disgust at the sight of him; she walks towards him "And you...husband of my sister...you...I would like to make suffer."
"Enough!" A new voice yells exclaims causing Dahlia to turn only to spot Freya now approaching.
"My Freya."
As Mikael quickly leaps to protect Freya shoving a broken shard of wood into Dahlia's heart Elijah finally makes his appearance quickly moving over to Klaus. Without hesitation, he bites into his wrist feeding his brother his blood to strengthen him.
Once Klaus was conscious and starting to heal from the damage caused by Dahlia Elijah leaps to run at Dahlia who merely pulls the wood from her chest throwing it away before raising her hand sending Elijah flying back.
Grabbing the knife beside him Klaus leaps through the air however before he could end Dahlia she waves her hand disappearing from the church altogether.
As Hayley and Jackson from their balcony watch Buffy climb into Marcel's car with Joy, pretty much having had Elijah shove her in there with a whole this is for your own safety speech before he ran off, Hayley couldn't help but worry for her friend and the baby.
Turning to her husband she sighs "If she won't let us save her...then maybe we don't let her stop us from saving her."
At her words Jackson turns to her with wide eyes, he could see how protective Hayley had become over Buffy and Joy, Buffy was maybe only a year or two young than her, and he could tell his wife was starting to bond with her. Like the younger sister she always wanted.
"Klaus and Elijah are the oldest, most powerful vampires in the world." She continues "And Dahlia's got them scared. She's got Buffy scared and Buffy's faced a God. If Dahlia takes Klaus and Elijah down I don't want to watch her take down Joy and Buffy. She's not just gonna run willingly."
Jackson sighs, their Queen was cunning and ruthless when it came to the people she loved, but clearly Buffy had long forgotten to remember that she herself may need saving. And now that was their jobs "We'll find a way to save them."
WHITMORE
A worried Bonnie Bennet was pacing in her apartment as she left yet another message on Jeremy's voicemail "Hey, Jer...I haven't heard back...and I have a million questions. And so...I miss you and I'm confused. Call me." Hanging up she sighs running a hand through her short straight hair in a panic. All she wanted was to know that he was okay. She didn't like not knowing what the hell was going on. It was times like this that she missed being a witch, but here she was The Anchor, which pretty much made her powerless.
Suddenly the brunette turns around only to spot herself surrounded by newly dead Travelers who were chanting as they moved towards her. As one grabs her she screams in agony and tries to move away only for them all to begin moving in on her.
One by one they grab her sending the Bennet girl into waves of agony as they pass through to the Other Side. All of their deaths taking too much of a tool on her human body that her eyes finally fluttered closed and she collapses.
As she lays there she doesn't notice the black shadow peel off her body nor does she spot her front door open, where standing in the doorway with an amused smirk on her face was Alina Petrova.
Alina watches the unconscious anchor for a long moment before turning to the shadow as it finally takes form, smirking up at him she couldn't help the glee in her eyes "It's about damn time."
NEW ORLEANS
As Marcel drives her towards the Jazz bar she and Joy would be settling up camp at the blonde sighs running her fingers through her hair in frustration as her other hand taps against the cool metal of the scythe nervously.
Marcel arches a brow at her as he looks over before quickly noticing the worried look on her face "You hate just sitting about don't you."
Buffy lets out an amused breath as she leans back against her seat glancing over at the vampire "Big time. More of a punch first kind of gal. Damsel and distress not really my field. Not for a long time." She breaths honestly nowadays she couldn't even remember what it was like to be a normal human girl. She had just turned 15 when she had been called and since that day her life had never been the same.
Honestly, the memories of that life, the pre-slayer hood didn't even feel like her own anymore.
"I get it." He tells her with a charming smile "I'm same, like you I'd rather be out there with my guys. But you've got the precious cargo so..." He says gesturing to the backseat where Joy was happily sleeping.
Buffy smiles as she glances back at her little girl before turning to face the vampire that had helped them all so much "Thank you." She tells him "For helping, for everything."
Marcel lets out an amused breath, honestly, the Mikealsons weren't one for thanks or apologies but it was nice to hear that someone they had brought into their lives could suck up pride and do it for them.
Nodding at her he smiles at the young woman before gesturing back to the little girl "She's a pretty great kid."
"The greatest." Buffy mumbles "You know, unless she screaming, crying, throwing up on me. Or causing flashbulbs to explode. But sleeping that is great Summers trait." When he snorts in amusement at her words Buffy smirks slightly "You know...technically she's sort of your baby sister."
"Oh god." Marcel laughs shaking his head at her teasing words, he had to admit he could understand why this was the girl Klaus had been so obsessed with finding for 800 years. She lived up to the hype.
"She lucked out." Buffy continues with a playful grin "I have two siblings who constantly play how should we get kidnapped today. Color me jealous."
As the Mikealsons all stand in the church healing up from their encounter with Dahlia, the hybrid moves to his brothers' side intent on finding out if Buffy and Joy were safe. However, before he could even utter a single word Dahlia's voice echoes through the room "We all have weaknesses."
The group all spin around only to spot Dahlia now stood back at the alter which she had disappeared from not moments ago, that same smug smile covering her lips as she watched them all. "You came here, united, hoping to exploit mine." She says before disappearing from sight yet again only to reappear on the opposite side of the church "And in doing so, you lost the one thing that you could have used against me."
Pausing Dahlia then raises the blade forged from her three weakness "The weapon you created. Now rendered useless." She says before dropping it into a bowl of flames.
"No!" Freya screams as she tries to step forward only to have Mikael yank her back protectively while Dahlia watched on in amusement. Slowly the witch's focus falls on the hybrid, the hybrid who held the two things she deserved most "Now that we've dispensed with that little trinket, perhaps we can focus on the issue at hand. After all, I seek only that which is owed to me."
Pausing her eyes darken as she takes a step closer her dark essence filling the room as she speaks "Give me the child...and The Slayer, and you may all live." Slowly Dahlia lets out a small laugh as she thinks about the mother of the child "The Slayer." Noticing the way Klaus' jaw clenched at the mere mention of her she merely smiles as she continues, "It's strange, isn't it. You see she's the key to everything I ever wanted. And given your mother only left me with one first born for 1000 years I think it's fair trade. That girl...all that power wrapped up in a tiny blonde bottle. I can't even begin to imagine how powerful all the children she will give me will be."
At her words Klaus lets out a small growl causing Elijah to have to hold him back by the arm knowing that when it came to protecting Buffy and Joy his brother would get himself killed if he wasn't careful. And the only way those two girls would live was if they all worked together and didn't make stupid moves due to Dahlia's words hitting a personal nerve.
Dahlia merely smiles knowing that she had hit that nerve "Bring me what I desire. Deny me, and, well...you've had a taste of my power. I can't imagine your hunger for more."
MYSTIC FALLS
After he and Caroline had managed to escape the travelers when they had strangely decided to set themselves all on fire, the vampire walks into his garage pulling the sheet off of the blue jeep. Running his hands over the cool metal of the newly repaired jeep he couldn't help but smile, after months of taking the thing apart and then rebuilding it from scratch, it was done.
As he looks at the car he couldn't help but think about Buffy, after almost dying and having his memories wiped again she was the only person he wanted to see. Grabbing the keys off the table he jumps into the car ready to escape for a while.
However, before he could even put the keys in the ignition his mind goes blank as images of him walking down a street in Mystic Falls during the day filled his brain. Slowly the image changes and all he could see was... Elena.
As Stefan is forced into a vision of himself and Elena meeting as humans what the vampire wasn't aware of was the fact that at this exact moment, Elena Gilbert was having the exact same dream.
NEW ORLEANS
"And he was just so willing to kill Liv, Buffy!" Buffy hears Elena say as the blonde sits at the bar of the jazz club with a mixture of werewolves and vampires all standing guard at every door and every window. Honestly, she kind of felt like she was in prison right now...or the mental institution again. Either of which seemed more appealing than having all these guard dogs.
Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes at Elena's words, what did Elena expect? This was Damon they were talking about "So? It's Damon."
"I just thought he was different now. But then again he did kill Aaron and took Jessie to kill Wes. God when Xander told me I so angry, Aaron didn't deserve that."
Buffy sighs as she twirls her drink in her hands staring down at the amber liquid as she listens to her sister complain that not everyone had the same moral code as she did. Honestly, when she had answered the call she had expected to be talking about anything else other than Damon's killing habits "Okay one, Aaron left you in a cell and two...still annoyed about Wes. Damon promised I'd get to gut him. I had this whole plan involving a tiny little nail file—"
"That doesn't mean they deserved to die, Buffy! And you shouldn't be planning any death things with Damon considering what he had you do over the summer!"
Buffy inhales tightly at that, she was getting really sick of people throwing that in both her and Damon's faces and right now she was not in the mood for her sister's judgy attitude. She used to be a bit more, mellow but ever since she started Med-School and decided that she was going to follow in her father's footsteps despite his twisted methods it was like she was judging everyone.
"Elena... I don't care that they're dead." She admits finally, she was done pretending to be a happy Slayer that cared about all of the same things "I didn't know Aaron or Wes and my dad basically planned to use my baby as a lab experiment, so good riddance."
"What?" Elena exhales clearly in shock with Buffy's blunt response and disregard for their lives, she could practically feel Elena's disappointment through the phone. And honestly, it broke Buffy's heart a little.
"What is happening right now? How can you say these things? First Jeremy moves out, now you're acting like—"
"Like what Elena?" Buffy asks as she sits up straighter her fists clenching tightly at her sister's words "Like a demon? I'm half demon Elena. I'm a Slayer whose DNA is now half-demon and I have vampire qualities."
"That doesn't mean you have to act like this! Killing people, not caring, running off to New Orleans, this isn't you!"
"How would you know!?" Buffy screams into her phone ignoring the worried glance Marcel threw her, offering him a reassuring nod letting him know she was okay she downs her drink before groaning. She couldn't do this anymore. Pretending that she was still who she was before she died. Everyone else knew that she had changed but Elena wouldn't acknowledge it, wouldn't recognize that Buffy had changed.
Running a hand through her hair the blonde thinks of how to explain this "Elena, I've killed people. Lots of people some to protect you and Jeremy, most to protect my child. I do care...I just don't care about the same things you do. I care about my friends, my family, my daughter. I don't have time for the vendetta you have against Damon's killing habits. I have a witch to fight, a family to keep together. This is who I am now Elena...God, Finn was right. I'm tired of pretending to be someone I'm not for you. Why do you think I'm in New Orleans? Because I wasn't happy. It's the same reason that Jeremy moved out. He's not happy. You can't pretend that what you want is what we want. You try and control situations like your word is the right choice. You always have, but the world is not that simple. Not our world. There's no all-knowing power, no mystical guidebook, the world is not so black and white. Let Jeremy do what he needs to, stop treating him a baby, he's an adult. And me...I have a beautiful daughter, a home here. A family. We're not kids anymore Elena."
"I..." Elena stutters before going back to silence clearly not expecting Buffy to snap, the only time Buffy ever snapped at her was back when she had been trying to kill Klaus.
The blonde sighs in exhaustion her hand tightening around her glass so much that it shattered under her hold as water filled her eyes, she could feel it. Elena's disappointment in her as she realizes that neither her brother nor her sister were the same people she thought they were. And while yes for Buffy it felt good to finally admit all of this...at the same time, she couldn't stop the tears because she knew that this may be their breaking point.
"I-I have to go."
With that Elena hangs up abruptly and Buffy lets out a frustrated huff launching her phone at the wall before dropping her head into her hands as small sobs escaped her.
Taking a shaky breath she wipes the water from her eyes before letting out a small chuckle as a shot of tequila appears in front of her.
Looking up Buffy couldn't help but smile as hot tears continue to stream, down her face, there was Marcel with a bottle of tequila in his hands pushing a shot towards her "I know all about family disappointment and pretending to be something you're not." He tells her offering her a small smile "Trust me if she can't accept it...then she doesn't deserve to be apart of your life. Cause I think you're pretty badass."
As Buffy lets out a small breath he holds up his own shot glass making her raise her own before he clinks them together and offers her a friendly smile "Welcome to New Orleans, Buffy. It's your home now."
Back in the compound, the Mikealson family reunion was hardly positive, since the minute they had all returned they had all been at each other's throats.
"You rushed it and made but a single weapon!" Freya yells in anger as she stands beside her father both of them glaring at Klaus who was casually sat at the bar with a drink in his hands "Of course she took it from you. And now we've lost what advantage we had...and used up the very materials we needed to kill her."
Klaus couldn't help but roll his eyes at his sister's dramatics, honestly, he didn't much care right now, his main focus was going to check and make sure that Buffy and Joy were safely tucked away, far from Dahlia's reach.
"That's a bit histrionic. Your materials are easily found. Let's take stock, shall we?" He asks as a huge grin covers his face "There's an ample supply of your blood. Norwegian soil is hardly scarce. What else?" He pauses smirking playfully at Freya's furious expression "Yes, the ashes of Dahlia's Viking oppressors."
Mikael tilts his head at his bastard son glaring right through Klaus' smug face "Only priceless relics gotten with great difficulty at a museum. Lost due to your worthless strategies." Mikael screams at him only to be taken off guard as he suddenly finds himself pinned to the wall the white oak stake digging towards his heart as Klaus holds him by the throat.
Glaring back at his sister Klaus presses the stake closer to Mikael's heart as he cries in pain "If I feel even the faintest touch of your magic...Freya, I will end him with a flick of my wrist." He warns as she cries and struggles against Elijah's hold.
Klaus ignores her begging cries as he turns to the monstrous man that had raised him "You don't seem surprised."
"Betrayal is in your nature, boy."
At the use of the term his father had always thrown at him viciously Klaus flinches ever so slightly as he continues to glare at his father hatefully "No. I wasn't born like this. Her, you fight for." He says in reference to the elder Mikealson "Lovely Freya, the daughter you barely know. Do you forget how easily you replaced her with Marianna?" He taunts making Mikael's cold expression wither ever so slightly at his son's words "Yet there was a time when you knew me..." Klaus continues "...as your son. A time before all the disappointments, the revelations of betrayal. There were moments when all you to do was be my father. And even then, you despised me, didn't you?" He asks his voice cracking as rare human emotion passed through him causing his eyes to fill with tears, as he looked at Mikael almost desperately "I want to know why."
There was a long silence as Mikael clearly tried to search for an answer in his own mind before merely shaking his head "I don't know. I just did."
Inhaling tightly Klaus looks down at his feet as tears drip down his face, the water dropping down to the floor as he tries to control his breathing. After a long moment, he looks back up a cold look crossing his face "Are those your final words?"
Mikael glances back at Freya a look of guilt covering his normal stone-cold appearance "Freya...I'm so sorry. I love—"
With that, the hybrid had had enough and shoves the White Oak stake into Mikeal's heart quickly baking away as Mikael falls to the ground with a scream before his body combusts into flames in front of a sobbing Freya.
Turning back to his siblings he wipes all emotion from his face once again "Viking ash is indeed rare. But all you really need is a burning Viking corpse."
Entering St. James Infirmary, the hybrid walks past the wolves guarding the doors before looking around for the two blondes he was in search of. While his daughter was asleep on a small mattress in the back of the room peacefully clutching onto her stuffed pig in her sleep, his child's mother was a completely different story.
She was sat on the floor a half-empty bottle of tequila in her hands as she spoke to Marcel who was sat opposite her, however, he had a glass instead of a whole bottle.
The hybrid couldn't help but frown at the sight, from what he knew about Buffy, she only drank from the bottle when she was in emotional distress because when she was upset she broke a glass too easily.
As Buffy takes another gulp while Marcel chuckles at something she had said the vampire's eyes quickly fall on Klaus. Marcel stands placing a hand on Buffy's shoulder in a supportive older brother manner before moving over to the hybrid.
"What happened?" He asks not taking his eyes off the blonde who had her chin resting on her knees as she stared off in the distance. Frowning that's when he spots her phone next to her broken to pieces.
"I've got a new one coming for her. Sent one of my guys out for it." Marcel tells him before sighing as he too looks over at the girl. For someone who had so much power inside of her...it was strange seeing her like this. "I only heard a bit of her conversation..." Marcel explains "...but there was a big argument. She's just...she's had a bad night. She's feeling...a little broken." With that Marcel taps, Klaus' shoulder silently wishing him luck before he heads outside to give the pair some privacy.
Klaus remains frozen in his spot for a good minute before silently he moves over to her crouching down in front of her, without a word he places a hand on her chin tilting her head to look up at him. That's when he saw it, the red eyes, the smudged make up...the broken look on her face.
"What is it?" He whispers pushing her messy hair out of her face.
Buffy sighs and shakes her head before taking another gulp of the tequila in her hands, she wasn't ready to talk about it and honestly, she didn't have time to be upset. She would drink her sorrows then just deal with it.
She didn't really have a choice in the matter at the moment "How did it go with Mikael?" She asks as she holds out the bottle towards him clearly deflecting the attention off her own misery.
Klaus exhales slightly before taking a seat beside the blonde so their knees were brushing together, taking a long drink from the bottle. Pulling the bottle back he hands it to Buffy before shrugging "Dahlia is still on the loose. And...I killed Mikael."
Buffy watches him for a long moment she could see those same red eyes that she currently had on her own face, which meant the confrontation hadn't exactly been easy.
"I'm sorry." That was all she could say.
The hybrid shakes his head offering her a small smile as he takes the bottle back for another drink "Don't be...after 1000 years. I finally got the truth."
Buffy nods at his words before sighing as she takes the bottle back taking a big gulp before letting out an amused chuckle, which came out partially as a small sob "Our dads really sucked. Yours hated you for no reason. Mine wanted to use me as a science experiment."
Klaus couldn't help but laugh at that, they were the abominations that their fathers hated for no reason, that people feared and judged.
Alone in the world with others never truly being able to understand them.
"What a pair we are." Pausing he takes the bottle from her hands and places it on the floor out of reach before focusing back on her tear-stained face. He had never really seen her cry, not like this, and it wasn't something he liked seeing. Honestly, if this was due to her sister he was more than ready to end the Petrova line once and for all.
"What happened, Luv?"
Buffy takes a shaky breath shaking her head refusing to meet his gaze as tears began streaming uncontrollably down her face once again "I..."
Clenching her eyes shut she tries to push it all down but the minute he cupped her face in his hand forcing her to look at him she felt herself finally break "I...ruin things Nik...I...ruined my family, the people who had cared for me...I ruin them...I..." Unable to even form a sentence the blonde lets out a quiet sob her head falling to his chest leaving the hybrid momentarily stunned as she sobs quietly.
"Shh." He whispers as he slowly wraps his arms around her "It's alright Luv. It'll be fine. I give you my word."