Of course I couldn't just take off into the blue without at least settling a few things first, including my schoolwork. There were papers that I needed to finish and hand in, so I breezed through them then secured a leave of absence due to family issues, which took a few days, but in the meantime I checked in on everyone to make sure nothing too disastrous happened before I could get there. I watched over them as an astral projection into New Orleans only to find that Nik had been taken captive by this new bad guy, Lucien the super hybrid, as well as another ancient vampire who was the first of Rebekah's sire line. It did not take me long to inconspicuously glean the memories of their past together, and discovered that she was one of Nik's very first loves. In fact, I would argue that she was perhaps his first true loves. Aurora. I hated her instantly. My jealousy spiked as I saw Lucien and Aurora hold up Nik in these Ancient Egyptian shackles which I did not have the power to break as a mere spiritual projection, but at the very least I could stay by Nik's side and comfort him.
I dulled his pain and after a while, he began to recognise my presence whilst Aurora prattled on in a rather insufferable and irritating way which made me want to just pull out her hair clump by clump. "Oh, poor, sweet Lucien. After all these years, he remains such a dedicated suitor. Such a shame I'll never see him as more than a means to an end. But, if he wants to save my brother in a bid to win his heart, why shouldn't I let him? Wouldn't be the first of his gifts I've accepted. After all, he gave me this…the means to remake myself, so that I might become a creature of such pure and unbridled power that I can kill even you." At this point Aurora held up a vial of blood which was thickly laden with magic and I found myself eyeing it closely, pulling away from Nik in order to take a closer look at it.
"Whatever has passed between us, whatever hatred you're holding onto, in me you see the kindred you have always longed for. To spend an eternity without me? It would be a curse your frail heart could not endure." Niklaus said with a smirk on his face as he continued to remain kneeling in shackles. Part of me wanted to smack him for being such an arrogant jerk, but then again, I also knew he was just spit balling by this point. Playing on past feelings to ensure that Aurora would not kill him though it didn't seem to work.
"You're wrong. You see, Nik, whatever terrors may await me in the endless time to come pale in comparison to the joy I will take in ending you." Aurora spoke with a sense of insane clarity, and I wondered if she truly was just nuts. In the moment that she opened up the vial of serum, I was able to touch it as a spiritual projection and analyse its components for myself, studying it closely as Aurora drained it in one gulp. I did not feel concerned for the fact that this crazy hoe had just drank the serum to make her a super vampire hybrid, I felt that things would come into their own with her, so instead I just returned to Nik and stood silently beside him, placing my hand on his shoulder where his head lifted in recognition and my name passed his lips before he could stop himself.
"Ophelia." Unfortunately, Aurora heard the name and pounced on it without hesitation.
"Who is this Ophelia I have heard so much about? First your precious Camille, and now I hear tales of this Ophelia whom everyone seems to praise to the skies. She sounds insufferable. Perhaps once I have been reborn, I shall hunt her down, dear Nik, and see how many ways I can make her suffer. Is she precious to you?" Aurora questioned, leaning in close and lifting Nik's face in order to stare into his eyes. "I always saw a glint whenever her name was mentioned. She does mean something to you…even now I can see it." Her smile widened with glee and I couldn't help but roll my eyes as Nik growled at her.
"Out of courtesy for our past, I will warn you only once, Aurora." Nik began, making Aurora crow in victory as she confirmed that I did in fact mean something to Nik before she taunted him, asking if he was warning her to stay away from me, but to this Nik only smirked. "Indeed not. I was only going to say that if you went after Ophelia, then you will very quickly meet your doom. Even with this upgrade of yours, she will tear you apart limb from limb with a mere flick of her wrist. She is powerful, and the only person in history to ever tame me. Even I would not stand against her. In some ways…she is more fearsome and terrible than even my father." Okay, I'm not sure if I should take all that as a compliment or not. I was in two minds about it, but at the very least, it had shut Aurora up for a moment. She blinked at Nik incredulously, floundering for a moment before she recovered herself with a frown.
"Tame you? Don't be ridiculous Nik, no woman has ever been able to tame you except me." Aurora protested, seemingly insulted and immediately jealous of the fact that someone threatened her position. I understand now, Nik was just saying those things to rile her up. I guess that makes sense, hopeful as I had been that perhaps there was a sliver of truth in them. "So, this Ophelia whom everyone sings with such high praises, who even Elijah and Kol speak with a certain degree of affection, who is she? What is she? Is she a vampire? A witch? Because once I am born anew, I will be far superior to her in every respect, I will…" Aurora paused for a moment, thinking deeply before slowly turning around to look at Nik, her eyes alight with realisation. "Do not tell me that she is the woman in your painting. The redhead." I saw the bright flame of envy and fury in her eyes, which told me that the painting she mentioned must mean something important as Nik just knelt in silence. Now I really wanted to ask him what the hell she was talking about. "I understand now. It makes perfect sense. That woman you painted with such precision, such detail and attention…she means a great deal to you. Even more than your therapist, for even after I had her kill herself, you still could not bring yourself to destroy me. But if I were to go after her…I think you would hunt me to the ends of the earth. Perhaps she is your true weakness."
I don't think so, princess. You're just getting your twisted head obsessed with something new in order to focus your attention and spread misery and death into someone else's life. Since I wasn't about to have that, I decided to mess with her a little. Pulling my magic forwards, I made the windows rattle and shake in order to freak her out before I then deactivated the magic in her daylight ring, causing her to scream as her arm began to burn from where she stood in partial sunlight. It forced her to stand with her back against the wall in the shadows, and Nik laughed in amusement at my interferences. "It appears you have angered my friend. You see, Ophelia is a power that you will never have crossed before. She is here right now, listening to your every word, and I do not think she likes you." Nik taunted as Aurora breathed heavily, clutching her arm as it healed from the burn. "Such is her power, she can transfer her consciousness across great distances and still cast magic. I suggest you be more polite from now on."
"If she is so powerful, then why does she not simply free you from your shackles and help you escape?" Aurora demanded, glaring around her with sharp glances as if to try and catch sight of me.
"Well…Ophelia has been angry with me for quite some time now through my own mistakes, so I expect she is rather enjoying seeing me receive a taste of my own medicine and wants me to entertain as much discomfort as possible before she decides to let me go." This was a good ploy on Nik's part, giving an excuse to Aurora to maintain the impression that I was all powerful, when in fact in truth I couldn't undo the shackles without being there in person. So in essence, Nik would have to wait until either someone else rescues him, or I land in New Orleans.
Aurora tried repeatedly to attack Nik or torture him, but every time I merely threw her back against a wall and I even considered tossing her out the window, which in the end I did. Nik laughed as I flicked my wrist and sent her body crashing through the thick panes of glass of the penthouse where she then screamed as she fell but before she could hit the sidewalk, I summoned her back up again like a yoyo, throwing her around until she was screaming and writhing in fury, swearing her vengeance upon me as I snorted to myself. This was just too fun. Tossing her aside like a rag doll, Nik grinned as he asked if Aurora was feeling alright, which prompted her to grasp hold of a stake in order to drive it into her own heart so that she could kill herself and enact the serum in her bloodstream.
She was stopped by the sound of the elevator reaching the lobby where Cami revealed herself, holding one of her dark artefacts and facing Aurora rather bravely. I couldn't help but groan, since this was a really stupid idea. Hayley came next up the elevator, tackling Aurora to the ground but before she could rip out the crazy vamp's heart, Nik stopped her, warning her that Aurora had already taken the serum which made her pause and look at him. Aurora reacted before anyone could follow her movements, snapping Hayley's neck and tossing her aside. Seeing that things had gone downhill, I stepped in.
With an aneurism spell on Aurora, she fell to the floor whilst literally screaming in pain before I sent her flying across the floor as Cami had pulled out a syringe from her pocket and I guessed it was something to knock her out. Delivering Aurora to her, Cami injected the needle straight into Aurora's neck with no small amount of force which made her fall into a deep unconsciousness, leaving Hayley and Cami perfectly safe, and Nik with his rescuers. I drew back then, returning to my seat at my desk where I was finalising my paper before it needed to be handed in so that I could then start thinking about getting to New Orleans as fast as possible, which meant taking a flight rather than driving there from the top of the coast.
I brought with me a few items I thought would be helpful, especially considering I had a nauseating feeling that someone was going to die very soon. I spent the entire flight on the edge of my seat, unable to settle until I finally reached Louisiana and got a cab from the airport. It took me all the way into New Orleans, whereby I got out onto the street with a single bag on my back, then entered the compound whereby I immediately felt the overpowering sense of death in the air. It made the hairs of my skin stand on end, a dull rock settling at the pit of my stomach as I stopped to let the feeling wash over me, a little afraid of who it might be until Elijah suddenly stood before me, staring with eyes full of shock yet undeniable gladness to see me. "Eli." I murmured his name as he then reached for me, drawing me into his arms with a secure embrace that I had not realised I had missed until then.
"I am so glad you are returned, Ophelia. We have come to our darkest hour, and know not what we should do." Hushing him softly, I put my arms around his neck and stroked the back of his head lightly, assuring him that I was here before asking who it was who had been killed, which made Elijah flinch. "Camille…and Davina. Both are gone." When I heard the names, I immediately felt a deep sorrow which pushed the breath from my lungs until I could not breathe. Camille was heart breaking, but Davina was a devastation I did not know how to deal with. For a moment I was overcome with the feeling of loss, entirely dependent on Elijah's arms holding me upright until I forced myself to get it together, reminding myself that I couldn't help or save anyone by crying uselessly.
This wasn't the end. People come back from the dead in numerous different ways, and I might be able to fix this yet. I just need some time, and to focus on what I could do right now. "Take me to Cami, please. I may be able to help." Nodding his head, Elijah put his hand upon my back and brought me to where Camille's body had been laid to rest with a cloth covering her body. I did not know what had happened, but after pulling back the sheet and seeing the bite wound on her arm, I looked to Elijah for an explanation.
"She was bitten by Lucien, and there was nothing we could do to save her. After she had been turned into a vampire by Aurora, the bite was lethal." He spoke in a slow, subdued manner which told me that there was more going on here than I knew, but I focused first on Camille just as others began to appear. First it was Hayley, then Freya, and then Nik carrying Hope in his arms, and my heart fluttered for that little girl. I drew away from Camille for just a moment, unable to believe just how big Hope had grown as I naturally reached out to hold her, murmuring soft affections and kissing her head as she came into my embrace and seemed to recognise me, for she did not fuss or cry but snuggled in close as I then looked at her father.
Nik looked devastated, and knowing that he had felt deeply for Camille, I understood how painful this had been for him. I leaned in gradually and kissed his cheek, wanting to comfort him as much as I could for the tears in his eyes were like knife wounds to my heart each time they fell. "I am sorry I left. I should not have distanced myself from you all. This is entirely upon my shoulders."
"No." Nik disagreed, his voice straining as he then looked to me and his hand naturally rose in order to begin brushing aside my hair as I felt the spark between us begin to crackle once more before it settled into a musical hum. "This is not your doing, but mine." Seeing how utterly defeated he was, I decided then that I was going to at least turn the tables on one thing for this family. I was going to bring Cami back. Her spirit still lingered, I could sense it even now so I passed Hope back to Nik, kissed her cheek once again, before I then turned to Camille. From within my pocket I withdrew a small capsule filled with a blood red liquid with a golden shimmer, making everyone look at it questioningly as I held it up before them. "The cure." It was all I needed to say before their comprehension recognised exactly what it meant.
I placed my hand upon Camille's shoulder and used my magic to restore her body from desiccation, removing the rigor mortis so that when I opened her mouth and placed the capsule inside, it melted instantly onto her tongue. Although having distanced myself from the family, I had not given up in manufacturing the cure to vampirism, and this was my only success to date. It was not enough to cure the Original vampire cure, but for regular vampires, it was more than enough. Once the cure had entered Camille's bloodstream, it removed the vampire curse from her so that she was once more human which allowed me to use healing magic on her. I cured the bite wound, purified the venom from her system since it no longer affected her as a mortal, and once her body had been completely reverted to the point of life, I began to seek out her soul which had somehow remained tethered to her body.
This part I did not understand, seeing as by all accounts the soul should have moved on since there was no Other Side for her to reside, but still she was there, and after locating Camille I was able to draw her back to her body. As the spell continued, I realised that the medium that was holding her was actually the necklace I had gifted to her last year. The silver cross which I had spelled to protect her had actually protected her soul without me realising, the magic creating a sort of spiritual sanctuary for her. To my understanding, Camille had been compelled by Aurora to kill herself with Aurora's blood in her system after she had confirmed how Nik felt for her, which then meant that she transitioned into a vampire.
I should have added vervain to the necklace so that Camille couldn't be compelled, then she wouldn't have died. Still, since the necklace had actually protected her in the end, I could give her a second chance at life, so once I had bound her soul back in her body, everyone watched as Camille's heart started to beat of its own accord and she drew in a deep breath, life flowing back into her before she then settled into a deep sleep. It was done, and I hoped that this time, her luck would be better. "You need to let her go." I spoke softly to them all, but my words were for Nik as he moved quickly to Camille's side in order to press his hand to her head and stare at her beyond belief. "She will always be in danger for as long as she is near to you all. I think…it would be best if one of you compels her to leave New Orleans, to forget about vampires and your family, about Hope, and let her live a normal, human life. She deserves a chance at peace. She deserves to be free." Although no one answered my words, I knew that Nik had heard them as he sat beside Camille as she breathed regularly and her pulse continued to throb throughout her body as she remained in a deep sleep to recover from being dead.
With one final look at Nik with Camille, I walked away with the others following me in order to leave Nik with Camille, offering them privacy as I then requested to be informed of everything that had happened since Finn was bitten, but in this instant, they all shared guilty looks with one another. "What? What happened?" I frowned deeply as I descended down the stairs in order to go looking for something to drink, however as I came upon a salt circle and a spell which had been left abandoned, I stopped in order to study it. The circle was broken, but I could see what the spell was meant for. It was to hold a spirit within the protection of this circle, but someone had broken it. "What. Happened." My voice grew dark as my fists trembled beside me, fearing the thoughts that began to rise from my mind as to what had occurred here.
"It was all my doing." Freya began to explain to me in a quiet voice, not hiding the fact that she felt a deep shame in her tone. "After our brother Kol killed Davina, we brought her spirit here in order to protect her from the wrath of the ancestors, but Lucien…he was too powerful to kill on our own, and he was going to destroy us all, including Rebekah. I broke the circle and used Davina to channel the power of the ancestors so that I could break the spell he had used to become a monster. It was all my doing, Ophelia, my brothers had no part in this." I listened to her words without reaction, but inside, I was a firestorm of fury.
For Davina to suffer death and have her spirit thrown back to the ancestors who would torture and destroy her…I could not bring myself to forgive this action. I descended the last of the steps in order to go to the circle where the salt had been scattered, trying to feel for any remnants of her spirit but it was entirely gone. There was nothing that remained. "Ophelia, I know that Davina was important to you, but you must understand…"
"Stop." I cut Elijah off before he could try and argue on his family's behalf, not wanting to hear any excuses. "Just stop." It hurt with such a pain that I could not even describe, the feeling that I had let Davina down, failed her when she needed me, but also felt ashamed that she had not reached out to me for help. It was my fault. I should never have told her that I wanted to live my life separately from the Mikaelsons for a while, I should have told her that she could call on me any time for my help rather than struggle alone. I felt angry that Freya had used her to save her family, but then guilty because I was also glad that they had survived. It was a confusion of emotions but, in the end, Davina was gone, and the only person I could allow myself to blame was me. "I…understand. I understand."
Hayley, who was carrying Hope now, gingerly approached me with her daughter and reached out her hand to touch mine. I did not pull away even though I wanted to be left alone because I knew she meant well, and when Hope also pressed her hand against my cheek with her beautiful little smile and gurgles of sounds, I could not help but feel my love for her overcome any desire to push everyone away. I held her to me, embracing her whilst using her to hide my tears until I could at least lift my face again, whereby I returned Hope to Hayley, asked to know where Kol was so I could talk to him, then left the compound. It was the last time I ever stepped foot in that place, and this time, I was determined that I would never see that place again.