"Davina!" Cami called out as she raced through Lafayette Cemetery. It didn't take long for the crypt to come into view. She had to try to convince Davina to leave with her. Now that they had Vincent on their side, she hoped that it wouldn't be too difficult.
She jogged inside the far too familiar structure. "Davina?" She froze in her tracks almost as soon as the words left her mouth.
Inadu stood before her. "You are really pushing me right now," Inadu spat out. "Do you actually want me to hurt you?"
It took a minute for Cami to think of her response. "No, of course not." She started to twiddle her fingers together nervously. "I just wanted some fresh air."
"And you couldn't get fresh air just outside the crypt? You had to leave the cemetery completely?" Inadu raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Cami glanced past her and spotted Davina standing at the back of the crypt. Her face was puffy as if she'd been crying and her arms were wrapped around herself.
Aware that however she acted would decide for Inadu whether to put her through another awful punishment, Cami lowered her gaze in a false act of submission. "I just wanted to see New Orleans again. I always planned to come back. I never would've just ran away and left Davina here." She made sure to add some truth in to make her story sound convincing.
Inadu stayed silent for a minute, her dark eyes focused on Cami in an unnerving stare. "I suppose you're here now," she said slowly, "and I don't really have the time to punish you for leaving." She gestured over to where Davina stood. "Go over there and stay still."
Cami did as she was told. She kept her gaze averted, but her back straight as she went past Inadu and over to Davina.
Once she was close enough, Cami squeezed Davina's arm to offer some reassurance.
Davina leaned towards her and whispered, "The Mikaelsons are going to be here soon."
Cami shot a confused look at her. She wanted to ask questions, but she didn't think that would be a wise decision with Inadu standing right there. If any of the Mikaelsons were on their way, things were probably about to get very bad.
She glanced over at Inadu, who was mumbling something under her breath.
"What's happening?" Cami asked Inadu. She received no reply.
After a moment, Inadu opened her eyes. "And now we wait."
"What did you just do?" Cami asked through gritted teeth. She didn't appreciate being kept in the dark.
Inadu tilted her head to the side as she studied Cami. It didn't seem like she was going to answer the question. She strolled forward, her eyes never leaving Cami, and stopped a short distance from them.
Inadu raised her hand and knocked in the air. Her fist rapped against an invisible barrier. "What do you think I did?" she taunted.
Realisation hit Cami. She stepped forward and unsurprisingly, she was pushed back by a boundary spell. She could do nothing else except scowl at Inadu's pleased face.
"Not again," Davina mumbled behind her. She walked back and forth, mapping out the size of the boundary spell that surrounded her and Cami. It was only large enough to contain Davina and Cami in a little bubble.
"I have to make sure that none of the Originals try to whisk either of you away," Inadu said.
"So they're on their way here?" asked Cami, her voice wobbling a little at the beginning of the question. While she looked forward to seeing them again, if any of the Mikaelsons were on their way, it meant that Inadu's plan was in motion and she didn't know how that would pan out for her and Davina in the long run.
"They will be with us any minute now I imagine. Both of you better stay quiet. Don't interrupt me or you'll be sorry."
"Or you'll do what exactly?" Cami wasn't quite sure where this sudden bravery was coming from. Probably the safety of the linking spell combined with the boundary spell that now laid between them. Either way, as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.
Inadu glared. "I can do plenty without physically hurting you. Remember that."
Cami didn't respond to that, but she noticed that Inadu didn't get into specifics about what exactly she'd do to them, which made her think that there wasn't really that much she could do with the link between them in place.
All of them waited in silence, the only sound being Inadu's boots clicking against the floor as she occasionally paced from one side of the crypt to the other.
Just as Cami's legs started to ache from standing in one place for so long, Inadu straightened up, her attention focused on the main entrance to the crypt. "Well it's about time," Inadu said to herself. She positioned herself between Cami and Davina and the entrance.
Two figures strolled through the entrance. The poorly lit crypt made it difficult to see their faces at first until they came a little closer. Cami's breath caught in her chest.
Klaus and Kol stopped in front of Inadu, both of them the picture of indifference. No doubt they were unamused to be summoned by Inadu to this meeting.
She watched as they noticed her and Davina behind Inadu and both froze, their apathetic masks slipping away.
As soon as the shock settled, Kol hurried towards Davina, taking no notice of Inadu at all as he went past her. "Davina?" he said, as if needing confirmation that she was indeed real and alive again in front of him.
He collided with the boundary spell before he could get any closer to Davina. While it did push him back for a moment, he quickly recovered and stayed standing as close to the boundary as he could without slamming into it again.
Standing there, Kol only stared at her, like he was committing every part of her face to memory. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing quickened.
Cami glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Davina's reaction. Much like Kol, Davina stood as close to the boundary that separated them as possible, her eyes glassy as she stared back at him.
In contrast, Klaus remained where he was, his eyes never drifting from Cami, his jaw slightly dropped as if he'd seen a ghost.
Cami met his gaze, swallowed and offered a slight smile, although the smile seemed sadder than how she actually felt. Happiness flooded her chest, making her feel warm inside and almost jittery. She wanted to go to him, but she knew that she couldn't in the unfortunate situation that they were in.
Unlike Kol, she knew that Klaus wouldn't allow his emotions to take over, especially with Inadu—his enemy—standing right there between them. Still, she saw the shock on his face; the way his eyes flickered with an emotion that she felt like only she could see.
He took a deep breath, his lips pursing, and she spotted the way his eyes gleamed with moisture. Predicting his next move, Cami gave him a small understanding nod.
Seeing that, Klaus took another breath, this time clenching his jaw. His nostrils flared as he turned his stormy expression to Inadu. "What is the meaning of this?" And just like that, the side that Cami saw of him retreated, to be replaced with the Hybrid that he showed most others.
"I thought that your family needed some incentive to give me what I want," Inadu answered.
Hands tucked together behind his back, Klaus smiled, the tilt of his lips mocking. "A bold move, but I fail to see how this is going to help you. I can tear your head from your shoulders right now and get everything I want."
"My life is linked to Davina and Camille," replied Inadu. "If you kill me, both of them die too."
"What do you want?" Kol asked quietly, his eyes drifting to Inadu briefly before going back to Davina. Klaus looked at him, a tad disapproving at how fast Kol had given in.
"To start, I want Marcel Gerard," she stated. "Once he's given to me, I will allow you to take Davina and Camille. After that, if you follow my other orders, I will remove the linking spell between all of us."
"You want to sacrifice Marcel." Klaus didn't phrase it as a question. Apparently, he already knew what Inadu wanted to do. "You tried to kill my daughter and you think that I will just help you. I know you'll come for her again in the future. As long as you live, neither my child, nor anyone in my family is safe."
Inadu hummed thoughtfully. "Tell me, how is Elijah Mikaelson? Is he still stuck in that little pendant?" Klaus' face betrayed how surprised he was to hear that she was aware of that. "Oh yes, I know all about that. His death, while apparently only temporary, gave me enough power to bring my body back. Make sure to thank him for me, won't you?"
A deep growl came out of Klaus as his eyes flashed yellow. He lunged forward at Inadu, but Inadu raised her hand before he could get close enough to attack her and he went flying back, smacking into one of the walls of the crypt.
Seeing his brother down, Kol vamp speeded to Inadu. He wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed.
Instantly, Davina's hands flew to her own neck as she coughed and choked. Kol heard and looked over at her, the fury on his face diminishing as he seemingly remembered that there was a linking spell between them.
That second was all Inadu needed. She lifted both hands up and Kol was thrown across the crypt, landing beside Klaus who had got to his feet again.
"Fools," she snarled. "I've already proven that I'm stronger than any of you and you still try to attack me. I suppose I'll have to take this out on your loves as a fitting punishment for this disrespect."
Apparently, Inadu was not going to tell them that the linking spell went both ways and that she couldn't hold Cami and Davina over Klaus and Kol's heads. She wanted them to think that she could hurt them.
There was no way that Cami was going to keep her mouth shut about that, even if it meant that Inadu would put her through another painful illusion. They needed to know that Cami and Davina were physically safe and that Inadu's threats held no weight.
She was about to yell out this fact when she spotted another figure entering the crypt, surprising her so much that she paused. This person was completely unfamiliar, but he or she—Cami couldn't tell—didn't appear to be phased by the sight before them.
"You need to leave," Inadu said sharply to them. "This is private business."
"Do not order me around, mortal," the Stranger replied. Their voice rumbled through the crypt, making Cami wince. Something felt very wrong about all of this.
She looked over at Klaus and saw that he too stared at the Stranger. He didn't appear to know or recognise the person either.
Inadu gritted her teeth and held her hand out towards the stranger, presumably to throw them with her magic the way she had with Klaus and Kol.
The Stranger stumbled backwards, but apart from that, nothing else happened. They merely righted their balance again and looked at Inadu with an unimpressed expression.
Inadu blinked. "What?"
"Your magic is an acorn to my oak, mortal." The Stranger offered only that as an explanation. "Now move aside and allow me to take those two souls back to the afterlife, where they belong."
Ice flooded Cami's veins. This intimidating person wanted to kill her and Davina again.
"I brought them back to life for a reason. They haven't fulfilled their uses yet," said Inadu.
Her words only seemed to bore the Stranger further. "You resurrected them for your own selfish uses. They aren't supposed to be here. Them being here throws nature out of balance. The afterlife was promised two souls and I'm here to take them back and restore order. Your reasons for keeping them alive have no meaning here."
Davina slid her hand into Cami's and squeezed tightly.
Inadu stepped closer to them. "Now you listen—"
The Stranger flicked their hand and Inadu shot sideways, colliding with the wall. She slid down to the floor.
Without even looking at them, the Stranger gestured at Klaus and Kol. Both of them were lifted off of their feet by an invisible force and held there in mid-air.
Kol tried to twist and turn to free himself, but he couldn't move very much.
Perhaps seeing how little it was doing for Kol, Klaus stayed still and snarled at the unknown person.
Another person vamp speeded into the crypt. It was only when they slowed down and grabbed the Stranger by the neck that Cami recognised the figure as Rebekah. Apparently, Klaus and Kol had come with backup after all.
Rebekah hurled the Stranger across the crypt as Hayley ran in behind her.
While the Stranger did hit the floor, they quickly recovered. They held their hands up and immediately, Rebekah and Hayley froze in place before they could do anything else.
There was nothing that Cami could do while she was stuck in the bubble of the boundary spell. Her and Davina were sitting ducks, and from the looks of it, whoever this person was could easily incapacitate everyone. Seeing all of the Mikaelsons held in place by the Stranger's magic, death seemed imminent.
"Drop the boundary," Davina yelled at Inadu, making Cami jump at the unexpected sound.
"What?" Cami blurted out. "The boundary spell is the only thing between us and them." She pointed at the Stranger, who was pushing themselves back up onto their feet.
"You saw what they just did. Do you seriously think they can't get past this boundary spell?" Davina said to her, before turning back to Inadu, who laid on the floor still, her attention switching between Davina and the Stranger. "You have to drop it. If they kill us, you'll die too, remember?"
That caught Inadu's full attention. She glared at Davina, but raised her hand nevertheless. Her lips moved as she muttered some words.
As soon as Inadu's hand dropped, Cami stepped forward, through where the boundary spell had previously been.
Glancing at the Stranger, Davina yanked her by the hand, towards the other side entrance to the crypt.
Cami wasted no time in racing out of the crypt alongside Davina, leaving the Stranger that seemed determined to kill them again, Inadu and the Mikaelsons behind.
Author's Note: The Mikaelsons finally make an appearance! Just to clarify, the Stranger is Death, but Cami doesn't know that yet, so their name is simply the Stranger right now. I hope everyone enjoyed and I hope to update as soon as I can.
P.S. Chail Thank you for your review! This story is set in season 4 of The Originals, not season 3, so both Cami and Davina have been dead for a few years at this point.