A/N: Remember how I told you guys to prepare for the bumpy road ahead? This is where it all begins. Don't say you haven't been warned.

Big shout out to coveredinthecolors for her support, awesome beta services and for not hating Elijah so much, surprisingly! Hopefully you guys will agree with her after this chapter (I doubt it lol).

Any mistakes you might find are my own, and I apologize beforehand. As always, I'd like to thank you guys for your support and lovely messages and feedback. :) You're awesome! Please, keep them coming! Your reviews and messages really make my day, not to mention push me through hours of editing this goddamn monster story. So thank you very much!

Celeste entrances me. She is perfection.

She is dead. Even as the sun rises, I see only night.

But for the promise I made to her that in death I would bury her far from the mayhem of witches, vampires and men...

Elijah has been talking nonstop for a while, offering what Caroline truly believes are some interesting bits of information about the witches of New Orleans and their history. It's the kind of thing that is really worth paying attention to. Caroline didn't have anybody to teach her about these things growing up, to tell her about covens and different sources of magic and how witch communities from different places live, and she's always been especially curious about New Orleans because of the city's long lasting traditions and folklore. People have been coming here for centuries to bask in this place's supernatural energy. The Quarter covens are among the strongest in the country, if not the world. So when an Original vampire starts sharing first-hand insights, you stop and listen.

But Caroline has tuned him out ages ago.

As soon as he came into the room with Celeste's picture all taped up in his hand to share his findings and suspicions with her and Klaus, Caroline's mind immediately wandered back to the plantation house, reminiscing over the few words she allowed herself to read on his diaries as she stabbed him in the back and ripped off his heart. Because that's pretty much what she did there. She broke Elijah's trust and he'll never forgive her when he finds out what she did. If they live to get to that part, anyway.

If Davina's premonitions are anything to go by, then something really, really bad is about to happen, and it'll be all Caroline's fault.

She's such a hypocrite. Yelling at Elijah for not respecting her agency and not trusting her to make the right choices for herself; calling Klaus out on his screw-ups left and right and then lecturing him on the importance of right vs wrong while she had just gone behind their backs and possibly brought the apocalypse to their door. And all that because she decided to listen to Sophie Deveraux of all people. Why the hell would she believe a word that witch has to say when she's done nothing but make Caroline's life miserable since the day she kidnapped her from Mystic Falls?

She called Sophie a million times already, barely shut her eyes all night. But of course she's gone completely off-radar now. She was quick to answer her phone when she wanted something, but now that Caroline needs something in return, she just disappears. Convenient. Does she know about the drawings? Has Sabine been having visions about Celeste too? Do they have any idea what this is about? Is that why they're trying to consecrate Celeste? If Caroline doesn't get some answers fast, she'll lose it.

But the hard truth is... As mad as she is at Sophie — and that's very mad indeed — what's eating away at her is guilt. Sophie didn't put a gun to her head, didn't threaten her life, not this time. It was her choice. She could've just said no, but when she weighed her options… Celeste had been dead for 200 years. At this point, she was supposed to be just bones and unconsecrated magic. Caroline didn't think there would be much of a problem. Not in catastrophic proportions, anyway. How the hell was she supposed to know that Davina had been having visions about her for months?

What she did know, however, is that whatever her excuses, Elijah would be very mad at her. As soon as she got off the phone with Sophie, she told Klaus she wanted to go back to the plantation house to get some clothes and other stuff she'd left behind when they moved to the compound in a hurry. She thought it would be harder to convince him, but he was happy to let her go — with the condition that she took two of his stupid sentinels with her. Later she discovered the real reason why he was so accommodating, of course. He wanted her away from the Quarter while he plotted to kill Davina and her boyfriend.

It wasn't hard to distract her two shadows once they got to the plantation, and it took her no time to find what she needed. She knew exactly where it was. Her first couple of months in New Orleans were spent basically reading Elijah's old journals. When he pulled her into his memories in the Bayou, she instantly knew who Celeste was. Caroline hadn't paid much attention to the parts where she was mentioned, but she'd seen her name several times over, which was enough to tell her she was someone important. She was snooping through Elijah's personal things, but she tried to respect the most personal parts of his writings, if that's even possible. She wanted to read about their trip to America, about their lives 300 years in the past, about Klaus; not about Elijah's romantic endeavors.

Still. Nothing changes the fact that the only reason she knew where to find the information Sophie needed at all was because she'd gone through Elijah's things without strictly asking for permission, and she used that knowledge to make a deal with a backstabbing witch — again, without asking for permission. And as soon as she saw Celeste's beautiful face come together in Davina's sketches, the brief sentences she read while searching the location where he'd buried her came back to the forefront of Caroline's mind with brutal clarity.

Celeste entrances me. She is perfection.

She is dead. Even as the sun rises, I see only night.

But for the promise I made to her that in death I would bury her far from the mayhem of witches, vampires and men.

Elijah buried her between two oak saplings, an inconspicuous enough location that no one would ever suspect. Caroline doesn't know the details, doesn't know why, but Elijah promised something to Celeste, and if what she wanted was to stay away from supernatural shenanigans in her afterlife, then, well... Caroline just ruined it for her.

Elijah's gonna be so, so mad when he finds out...

She has been trying to tell him all morning, waiting for an appropriate moment, but there never seems to be one.

"Caroline."

Is there a right way to tell someone that you betrayed their trust and accidentally put in motion–

"Caroline?"

"Huh?" She snaps out of her trance to find Elijah staring at her. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking if you know anything about ancestral magic. It's what anchors the witches of this city, and I don't think there's ever been an all-powerful witch before, until Davina."

"Who is now tucked in, safe and sound down the hall, under my protection," Klaus says, walking back into the room. Caroline didn't even see him leave. "Your Celeste was quite beautiful," he says, taking a good look at the sketch. "And a portent of evil, according to our volatile artist in residence," he adds, grinning at his brother.

"Perhaps Davina has mistaken what she calls evil for power. Celeste was quite powerful in her day, but she has been dead for 200 years. I don't understand why all these sketches now."

Caroline swallows down hard.

"Why does any witch do anything? Care to enlighten us, love?" Klaus muses, smirking at Caroline. It is so very ironic that the one day Klaus decided to wake up in a good mood is precisely when Caroline feels so sullen.

"To annoy entitled vampires, of course," she sneers. Klaus chuckles, amused, and Caroline can't help but return the smile.

Their little moment of banter is interrupted by the sound of glass breaking somewhere down the hall.

"Well, Marcel's attempt at making peace with Davina is going superbly," Klaus says with a sigh.

"If you aimed to win the girl's trust, perhaps poisoning her one true love was not the most splendid idea," Elijah offers, sitting down on the chair opposite from Caroline.

"But I healed him."

"Not before nearly killing him."

"Oh. Well. Are there any more inopportune incidents you'd like to wave in my face? Now's a good time," Klaus says, motioning his hand vaguely in a be my guest sort of gesture.

"Give me a month," Elijah smirks. "I'll get you a list."

"I can offer a few items," Caroline adds.

Klaus narrows his eyes at her. She shrugs. And then more glass breaks, followed by something considerably heavier smashing against the wall. She's using magic to attack Marcel, Caroline can sense it.

Klaus groans in annoyance, probably starting to worry that some of his precious belongings might get destroyed by Davina's wrath. "Young, old, dead, alive or pregnant with my child — witches certainly enjoy causing me trouble."

Caroline shakes her head as he leaves them to go check on Marcel's progress. "Does he even realize how offensive he is with these comments?"

"He probably doesn't even remember you're a witch most of the time, to be honest."

"That's even worse. Will I have to start smashing things with my mind for him to show some respect?"

A lopsided grin twists the corner of Elijah's lips. "I wouldn't oppose to that."

Elijah becomes easily distracted with the picture again, his eyes distant and soft as he looks at Celeste's face. It brings a sour taste to Caroline's mouth.

It's just the two of them. There will never a good time. He deserves to know the full story.

"Elijah?"

"Hmm?"

She hasn't even said anything yet and already she can feel her throat start to close, her palms becoming slick and her tongue drying up. How could this possibly go wrong? "There's something you need to know."

He turns his full attention to her, and Caroline has to look away. When she finally opens her mouth to confess, however, the house starts shaking. Like really shaking.

It's a slow rumble at first, as though someone is drilling the floor close by, and then it grows into a full-on earthquake. The whole construction trembles as though the roof is about to fall over their heads.

"What the hell?!" Caroline yells, holding on to her chair like that's gonna help.

Elijah takes her hand. "Come on." He whooshes her away in vampire speed, taking her to the courtyard, where the rest of the vampires have all gathered. They seem to be better at keeping their balance with the floor shaking underneath them than Caroline. She has to keep a hold on Elijah's arm to keep from falling, her head getting all fuzzy.

"What is going on here?!" Rebekah asks, coming to join them.

Klaus appears on the second floor walkway, a concerned crease between his eyebrows. "It's Davina."

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"This is madness. How can a sixteen-year-old girl shake the entire French Quarter?" Klaus inquires.

His brother, who had been in such an uncharacteristic blithe mood just his morning, now seems taken with apprehension. He says Davina was coughing up dirt right before the earthquake started. It wasn't like the tantrums she'd been throwing earlier; it was something much bigger. Beyond her control.

This makes Elijah think it has to be somehow related to the picture of Celeste. Witches don't start spitting dirt and causing massive earthquakes out of nowhere.

"I've seen her rock the church, but I've never seen anything like this," Marcel says.

"How did you control her while she was in the attic?" Klaus asks.

"I never had to. But then I never tried to kill her and her boyfriend," Marcel retorts with a bite.

"Yes, we've been over this part already," Klaus grunts impatiently. "The point is, in her present state, she's useless as a tool against the witches."

"She's not a tool," Marcel snaps. "Something's wrong with her. She's not doing this on purpose."

"She has too much power that she cannot control. That much we already knew," Elijah muses. "The question is, why is it manifesting itself in such an aggressive manner?"

All three men stay quiet as they ponder over the situation, but Elijah knows this is useless. They'll never find the answers to this here, amongst themselves.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asks as he walks by his brother, towards the door.

"This is witch business. Let's ask a witch."

He finds one right outside the room, leaning against the railing, wringing her hands nervously. As soon as she sees him, she stands up straight.

"I don't know anything about this," Caroline says. "My magic doesn't work like theirs."

"I wasn't thinking about you."

"Oh. You're going to see Sophie."

"Caroline, you don't have to hide behind doors and eavesdrop. We're not keeping anything from you."

"I know."

She seems... Strange. Skittish. Awkwardly not meeting his eyes. "Is everything ok?" he asks, wondering if maybe the earthquake left her feeling unwell.

She hesitates. "I don't want to keep anything from you either. If you're going to see Sophie, there's something you have to know."

Caroline starts walking down the hall, wringing her hands again, and Elijah follows. "Sophie called me yesterday, asking for a favor," she starts, her back turned to him as she speaks. "She said her bloodline is the only one that can undo the curse Marcel placed on the werewolves and she promised to help them if I helped her get a little bit of information. I didn't think much of it at the time, I thought it was kind of random, actually. But then Davina's pictures and now that–"

"Caroline," Elijah says, waiting until she's looking at him to continue. "Whatever it is, just tell me."

"Sophie wanted to find Celeste's remains," she blurts out. "So I went through your journals and I found out where you buried her and I... told her."

It takes Elijah a second to process exactly what she just said. And then he feels something settling deep inside of him, like an anchor dropping.

Whatever he thought she was about to tell him, it never crossed his mind, not for a single second, that it might be... That.

"I know, it was a terrible thing to do, and it was snoopy and totally inappropriate and I should've asked you first," she speaks in a hurry, her voice sounding airy and on the edge of being choked by tears.

This, he reckons, is one of those typical moments where Niklaus would explode in anger. Yell. Rage. And perhaps that would be the appropriate reaction. The best reaction. To be consumed by a fury that burns out as fast as it comes. Instead, Elijah feels... Sad. Impossibly sad. And disappointed. A dull pang in his chest that cuts deeper than any violence ever could.

From all the people he thought would betray his trust like this, Caroline was definitely the last.

"Please, say something," Caroline says, her voice pitched low in a plea. "Please."

His eyes flicker away from her.

"She wanted to be left in peace," he says at last. Perhaps she already knows this, if she went through his journals. Elijah figured that was a possibility, since he left them quite unprotected at the house. They were so old, he hardly remembers half of what he wrote there. He could excuse her giving in to curiosity and reading through them, wouldn't even mind it so much. At this point, his writings from two centuries ago are less personal confessions than historical records. He just... Never thought her capable of using that knowledge in such a manner. "Celeste did not want her remains to be found because she didn't want to be consecrated. She made me promise to bury her where she would not be found."

Tears brim in Caroline's eyes, and Elijah can see how truly sorry she is. But he's too hurt to offer her any consolation.

"You not only violated my privacy, you have broken my promise to her."

"I... Didn't know. I wasn't thinking," she shakes her head, snapping her mouth back when she's unable to speak any more without crying.

"If that is indeed true, why didn't you just ask me where to find her?" Elijah's voice comes out brittle as sand, and before he can allow himself to become riled, he stalks off.

He can't be thinking of this, not right now. Not when the city is shaking.

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"I'm here," Rebekah says as she joins her brothers.

Elijah knocked on her door and said Study room. When she asked what it was about, he merely replied with an impatient Now. She gets it's probably about Davina, since the little witch seems to have woken up with an earth-shattering mood this morning, quite literally. But would it hurt Elijah to be less grumpy?

Sophie Deveraux is there, which she guesses is to be expected. Not even noon yet and Nik is already nursing a drink, but for once the darker clouds in the room do not seem to be hovering above his head. It's Elijah who's got a face like he ate something rotten. In comparison, Nik's almost in a jolly mood. Now, that is something you don't see every day in this house, she thinks.

"Where's Caroline?" she asks as she takes a seat on a chaise longue. "I thought this was a family meeting?"

"So Sophie," Elijah starts, completely ignoring Rebekah's question. Interesting, she thinks, while exchanging a cryptic glance with Klaus before turning her attention back to the pressing issue at hand. "You have stolen the remains of the very person Davina's been drawing for months. Would you care to explain the startling coincidence?"

"I can't," Sophie shrugs, staring at the picture of Celeste with a mildly surprised expression. "I didn't even know who Celeste Dubois was until I–" Her explanations are interrupted by the beginning of another violent shake. Davina screams a few rooms down the hall and then the entire house starts quaking.

Elijah sighs, Rebekah curses mildly under her breath and Klaus merely takes his glass off the bar before it could fall off, knocking back the rest of his drink with an air of infinite patience.

It takes less than thirty seconds, but Rebekah knows it's enough to have caused destruction around the house.

"Was that Davina?" Sophie asks once the earthquake stops.

"Charming little habit she's developed," Klaus replies.

"And the earthquake I felt today?"

"Also Davina," Rebekah says. "And she's taken to vomiting dirt, too."

Sophie's expression goes from horrified to somber as she seems to figure something out. "Oh, no. We have a huge problem. I thought we had more time, but we need to complete the Harvest now."

"Said the desperate witch, conveniently," Klaus quips.

"I'm serious. That earthquake you just felt? A preview of the disaster movie that's about to hit us."

"Why should we believe you?" Elijah asks.

"You know Davina's story. For months now, she's been holding all the power of the three girls sacrificed in the Harvest ritual, a force that was meant to flow through her and then back into the earth. One person was never meant to hold that much power. It's tearing her apart, and it'll take us down with it."

Rebekah exchanges another look with Nik, who's suddenly gone serious at the edge of despair on the witch's voice. They have no warm feelings for Sophie Deveraux, but for some reason it does not feel like this is something she would be lying about. Not when the entire city seems to be crumbling along with Davina's deteriorating condition. Perhaps the stress of a near-death experience, sponsored by her dear brother, served as a catalyst for what's happening now. Davina had never used so much of her powers as she did in the last few days. Either way, something is happening to her, and for once it does not look like the witches are the ones causing it.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," Elijah says.

"As Davina self-destructs, she'll cycle through four stages that represent the four elements that bound together the Harvest. The dirt and the earthquakes were stage one, earth. The lightest of the four."

"Lightest?" Rebekah scoffs. "I lost a 200 years old crystal mirror from Bavaria this morning. The house was shaking like a twig in a storm."

"Yes, and each stage will be more intense than the last."

"Isn't that splendid?" Klaus quips, pouring himself another drink. "What's next?"

"Next is wind," Sophie continues. "She'll blow the roof off this place. You might wanna prepare. And after the wind, comes water. Rain, flood..."

"How bad?"

"Really bad. But it gets worse. The last stage is fire, and since it's also the final stage, it'll be by far the worst."

"She's going to burst into spontaneous combustion?" Rebekah asks.

Sophie gives her a hard look. "She's gonna burn the city to the ground with her."

"And the only way to stop this..."

"Is to complete the Harvest and let the power inside of her flow its course."

"You mean kill her," Rebekah says, standing to her feet. "You want to slit that poor girl's throat."

"She'll be resurrected."

"As will the other three witches, I assume. One of which just happens to be your niece. So it's not like you have any personal interests involved or anything."

"Yes, Monique was one of the Harvest girls and yes, I want her back. But I'm not lying. Davina will die anyway if you let this go on. But if we complete the ritual and Monique returns, then so will she."

"Well, consider me intrigued," Klaus announces, putting his glass down with a thud and standing to his feet. "I have some precautions to take."

As one of her brother stalks off, the other closes in on Sophie, his arms carefully folded across his chest, his dark eyes pinning her under the full strength of his stare. The witch stands her ground, even though Rebekah can hear her heartbeat quickening. She's got balls, Sophie Deveraux, Rebekah will give her that.

"You have convinced Niklaus, but you're yet to convince me," Elijah speaks in a slow, clipped tone.

"We don't have time to waste, Elijah," Sophie answers. "The first sign has already come and gone."

"So fix her," Rebekah says.

"She can't be fixed," Sophie retorts, clearly starting to get impatient. "She can't be saved. This will not stop at the earth sign, and if you wait it out, you immortals will be the only ones left to argue about. Something tells me you might be concerned about the well-being of a certain witch and her unborn child," she says, fixing her stare back at Elijah. "There's no time to get Caroline far enough away from here. If we don't do this, she'll die along with the rest of us."

Rebekah could point out to Sophie that if anything happens to her niece, it'll be all her fault, seeing that she's the only reason Caroline's in New Orleans at all. If it wasn't for her little failed ploy, Caroline would've stayed in Mystic Falls, Klaus would've probably never left either and Rebekah would be in Europe with Matt rather than stuck here, reminiscing over things that happened a hundred years ago. Everyone would be much happier, including Elijah, whose mood seems to have soured completely.

Before she has a chance to do it, however, a violent wind sweeps in, banging all the windows, sending the curtains flying and taking down what the earthquake couldn't.

"What the bloody hell?!" she curses as she turns her face away.

As suddenly as it started, though, it stops.

"Convinced now?" Sophie practically spits out, giving both of them a hard look.

Rebekah wants nothing more than to have a perfectly good answer to give to the witch and shut her down, but... She's got nothing.

"I'll go check on Davina," she says, walking out of the room.

Elijah might need another minute to be persuaded, but she's very much convinced.

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Caroline comes out of hiding to inspect the damage of the winds in the courtyard just as Klaus is returning from whatever it is that he went out to do. She starts towards him, opening her mouth to talk about Davina, when she sees Elijah is right behind him and stops dead on her track.

"There you are," Klaus says, pulling up a heavy iron chair that probably landed some distance away from where it originally stood. "How is she?"

"Sedated," she replies, a little distracted, her eyes still on Elijah while she waits to make eye contact. But he refuses to look her way. "Heavily sedated."

"Well, if this is her sedated, I'd hate to see her otherwise. We all agreed that Davina must be sacrificed and I'd rather not let her blow the roof off our heads in the meantime."

"I didn't agree with that," Caroline counters.

"Well, unfortunately love, you've been outvoted. There is no other option."

"No way!" They hear Marcel before they see him jumping from the second floor straight into the courtyard. "You're not touching her!" he grunts, his fist flying into Klaus' face before he can move out of the way.

Caroline gasps as the hybrid drops to the floor, holding his jaw. Well, that's all we needed, she thinks, sensing the beginning of yet another bloody fight. Like the earthquake and the winds hadn't caused enough damage to the house already and they weren't in over the heads with problems. But instead of looking angry and out for Marcel's blood, Klaus laughs. Laughs.

Caroline blinks at him like she's looking at a stranger. How can he be in such a light mood when the whole city is about to blow up?

"Ok," he says, wiping a trace of blood off the corner of his mouth. "I'll let you have that one."

As Marcel charges for him again, Elijah gets in the way, pushing him back with one hand.

"Marcel, no one wishes to see Davina come to harm less than I, but there is no scenario in which we simply wait this out," he says. And then, after a pause, he adds, in a gentler tone, "She's going to die."

"Says Sophie, the witch who screwed over everybody here," Marcel shoots back.

"The Harvest was working before it was stopped. If a non-believer like Sophie Deveraux can come to have faith that these girls will be resurrected, then I, also, am a believer."

Marcel turns to her, then, his handsome face twisted with grief. "You're a witch," he says. "What do you have to say?"

Caroline falters. "I..."

"You don't have an opinion on your people murdering a teenage girl?"

"They're not... I mean... I..."

"Leave her alone, Marcel. They're not her people," Elijah says, rather calmly, but still not looking at her. His eyes firmly on the ground the whole time. She feels a pang in her heart.

"And what if it was her then?" Marcel asks, gesticulating while he turns from Elijah to Klaus. "What if they wanted to sacrifice her? What if they told you that she," he points at her, "had to die for some miracle to happen — would either of you let it happen? Would you, Klaus?"

"Caroline's not the one in question here, mate," Klaus says, suddenly a lot more solemn than he seemed a moment before.

Marcel huffs out a sardonic laugh. "Exactly. If it was, we wouldn't be having this conversation because you wouldn't let it happen. There would be no reasonable explanation to convince you — either of you — to trust those witches with the life of someone you love."

Klaus turns to her, a little sad, and then he looks away.

Caroline takes a step closer to Marcel. "Look," she starts. "I don't trust them either. I regret ever listening to anything Sophie had to say. Putting her or anyone else's needs ahead of someone you care for... It feels like betrayal. I get how you're feeling, Marcel. Believe me." She sends a quick glance toward Elijah, half-hoping that what she just said would register somewhere on his stance, but he remains blank and quiet, and pointedly ignoring her. "But Davina is suffering," she continues, focusing on the distraught man in front of her. "Me being a witch doesn't mean I have any understanding of the dealings of the New Orleans covens, but I know enough to understand magic when I see it. This is tearing her apart. Since the first day I heard of her, I couldn't figure out how it was possible for one single person to hold so much power, enough to control an entire city. No human was built for that. Sophie had ulterior motives behind everything she's done since I got here, and she's desperate and definitely dangerous, but I don't think she's inherently bad. You know her better than I do. I think it's smart not to trust her, but... I believe she's being honest. She wouldn't just send an innocent girl to her death if she didn't believe the ritual is real and that Davina, and the other girls, will be brought back to life.

"And as for it being me... It has been. And it has been friends of mine. People I care about. Where I come from, people were sacrificing themselves every other week, because we didn't know any other way. I would be terrified, just like Davina is. And he would certainly throw a tantrum," she motions towards Klaus. "Just like you are. And that's good. Because it means you care, and that girl needs that, Marcel. She needs someone to fight for her, and to stay by her side, and to be here when she comes back from the dead. She doesn't wanna die, and I wouldn't either. But to save an entire city, if that was the only way? I would do it. And I think Davina will too."

Marcel goes quiet for a long time, his eyes filled with pain and sparkling with tears. The way Klaus talks about him, you'd think he was the devil. But even though she hardly knows him, and even though he can certainly be insufferable at times, Caroline realizes Marcel is not a bad guy at all. Misguided, perhaps, a little too full of himself, with an ego the size of the world that leaves no doubt as to who he was raised by. But he's got his heart in the right place. He's trying to do the right thing for someone he's grown to love as though she were his own blood.

"I saved her from the Harvest," he speaks after a moment, his voice tearing on a sob. "I can't just hand her over like this. I'm supposed to protect her."

"Marcel, do you think I'm happy about this?" Klaus says. "If the witches complete the Harvest, not only do they regain their power, we lose our weapon against them." Caroline holds back a grunt, glaring at the father of her child and his complete lack of human empathy. Marcel is heartbroken over the prospect of letting the witches hurt Davina and he's talking about a weapon. "The earthquake I was willing to chalk up to hideous coincidence, but these winds? If Davina is not sacrificed, then every inch of earth that shook, everything blowing about now, will soon be drenched in water and consumed by fire."

"So now you're worried about the city," Marcel retorts dryly.

"We ought to. We built it," Elijah remarks.

"And we all saw it burnt to the ground. Twice. I will not let that happen again. Do I make myself clear?"

Marcel's eyes flicker with something hot and fierce, his upper lip curling. "Yeah." And then he stalks off.

As soon as he's gone, Caroline slaps Klaus' shoulder. "Really? I almost got through to him."

"Not a people's person, are you, Niklaus?"

"Nonsense. I love people." Elijah snorts. Caroline lets out a loud huh!. Klaus doesn't look offended in the least. "As a matter of fact, just on my way to warn a couple of prominent ones in case the weather gets out of hand."

"Soon Sophie Deveraux shall be consecrating Celeste's remains, and though her actions are reprehensible." Caroline winces inwardly, trying to keep the sting off her face. "I still should pay my respects."

"Hey, Elijah," she starts, moving toward him. "If you have a minute, before you go -"

"Just on my way out."

He doesn't even spare her a glance before he's out the door.

That's it, then. Elijah hates her and he'll never speak to her, ever again. She's broken the trust of the one person who's always had her back since she was brought to his place against her will. Not even Klaus has taken her side as fiercely and unconditionally as Elijah. She owed him the same kind of loyalty and respect he offered her and instead she chose to betray his trust to aid Sophie Deveraux in exchange of something completely uncertain.

Klaus narrows his eyes questioningly at her.

"Never mind," she mutters, turning around and walking away hurriedly.

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They should've known better than to leave Marcellus alone with the little witch. To expect rationality of him at this point was naive at best. It was quite obvious he was not thinking clearly and Klaus, more than anyone, should've realized that he was not to be trusted anywhere near Davina. A flood of biblical proportions about to hit New Orleans and all he cares about is that girl.

Not that Klaus had a lot to argue with when Marcel mentioned he'd do the exact same thing if it was Caroline instead of Davina. But that's beside the point. They need to complete the bloody Harvest ritual or it won't matter if it's Caroline or Davina, because both of them will be dead.

Now they're running out of time, the winds are becoming more violent and they have no idea where Marcel has run off to with the girl.

Elijah's at the cemetery with the witches while Celeste Dubois' body is being consecrated, Rebekah has gone to look in the Quarter and he's off to see the priest. He doubts Marcel would take Davina back to the attic, but in any case, Father Kieran has an efficient human network working for him. Someone might've seen something. It's doubtful Marcel would try to take the girl out of town, considering her situation. There's not enough time to seek help elsewhere, so his only hope would be to find refuge somewhere within the Crescent City.

Just as he's about to leave, however, the lights go off. Just what they needed. Night has fallen and now they have no power. Like the situation wasn't dire enough.

Good thing they have so many old chandeliers, then. Klaus instructs the vampires on where to find candles and matches and tells them to go about securing the windows and preparing for the rain. And then it hits him that, while everyone has been running up and down the house and around the city, someone has been unusually quiet.

The Caroline he knows would be right in the eye of the storm now, offering to help against all sorts of protests. Klaus let it go because he thought it was for the best that she stayed out of it for once, but now that he thinks about it... This isn't normal. It's ironic that he almost misses the nosy, in-his-face Caroline driving him insane with how proactive she is about everything, including running straight towards danger. She would've been the first to offer to perform a locator a spell to try and find Davina now. Instead, she hasn't showed her face.

If he had to guess, he'd say her atypical behavior is intrinsically related to Elijah's atypically testy mood.

Klaus noticed something off with his brother all day, but passed it off as being about Celeste and the unearthing of old memories of his lover's tragic death. But his rude dismiss of Caroline earlier told Klaus everything he needed to know about the real reason behind Elijah's pout. Something happened that they're not telling him.

It makes him wonder what Caroline could have possibly done to make Elijah so upset, considering his brother's forgiving disposition.

Perhaps it's the impending doom looming over their heads and the fact his list of priorities has grown considerably larger since this morning, but Klaus feels he's not as bothered about the situation as he probably should be. Right now, he'd say he's mostly curious and cautiously concerned. His moment with Caroline the night before put him in an oddly bright mood. He spent most of the night awake, painting. Painting is the perfect outlet for his aggression, allowing him a measure of control over his own convoluted emotions, and his muse had never been quite so inspired since his return to the city.

Given a bit more time, however, if things don't sort themselves out in due time, he's certain he'll get to the appropriate level of bitterness regarding this new development in his brother's relationship with the mother of his child.

For now, however, there are far more pressing issues at hand.

He finds Caroline all alone in the dark pantry, filling a cardboard box with food off their shelves.

"What are you doing?"

She startles when she hears his voice, taking a sobby breath and wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

She was crying.

"I was gonna take these to the–"

"If you say Bayou, I will find a nice, comfy dungeon and throw you in it," he says in as gentle a manner as he possibly could, approaching her. She avoids his gaze, but he can see her eyes are red and thick with misery even under the poor light. Suddenly, he wants very much to punch Elijah. "This is not the night to be out there."

"For anyone," she counters. "But some people don't have a choice."

He bites on his lower lip, already cursing himself mentally for what he's about to do. There's a storm on the way and the last thing he should do is take Caroline out of the house, where she'll be safe, warm and dry. But he should learn from his mistakes. Leaving Marcel unsupervised is what got them in this mess, and he knows she'll just take a car and drive herself to the swamp the second he turns his back on her.

"Right," he says, grabbing one of the boxes. "Grab that other box and come with me."

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She thought Klaus was giving her a lift to the Bayou, but it turns out he was taking her to the church.

"Why are we here?" she asks as he parks his car right outside the decrepit church. Even though it's on the old part of the French Quarter, it looks nothing like the well-kept historical buildings all over the neighborhood. Graffiti on the walls, shutters on the windows and everything. A bronze plate on the outside says St. Anne's Church. So this is the famous church where Davina was kept for months. Caroline can see why she was so bitter. She would be too if someone kept her locked up in a place like this for months.

"Just follow me," Klaus says, grabbing the box and rushing inside. Ominous looking dark clouds loom above as far as the eye can see. The storm will hit any second now, and it won't be pretty.

She had no idea what to expect of his trip to the church, but it was definitely not this.

Although it looks almost abandoned from the outside, the church is packed with people. Some in sleeping bags on the floor, some still up and awake spread across the several benches. Candles all over the place offer poor lighting, but it helps to keep the church warm.

"Klaus." She turns towards the voice and finds the priest approaching them. The man takes the box off his hands. "We still haven't gotten through all that you already provided."

"This newest bit isn't from me."

Klaus nods his head towards Caroline, standing a few feet behind, still slightly taken aback and trying to understand just exactly what she's seeing here. The priest, a man in his late forties or early fifties who looks mildly familiar, smiles warmly at her. "That's very kind of you..."

"Caroline," she offers.

The priest makes a silent oh. "The famous Caroline."

Caroline blinks, glancing at Klaus, who merely shrugs. "And... Who are all these people?" she asks.

"I asked Father Kieran to give them shelter. He suffers from an incessant desire to do good," Klaus explains. He must be the priest in charge of the human faction Klaus mentioned a while back. "But I need you to be useful in a different manner now, Father. Marcel and Davina are nowhere to be found. I assume by the stupefied look on your face they haven't sought refuge in your attic."

Kieran shakes his head. "Those days are gone."

"Then energize your resources. I don't need to remind you how important it is that they be found."

"Yeah. I'll see what I can do. Thank you for the donations," he says, taking Caroline's box as well before walking away.

She lets her eyes wander about the place. There's something strange about these people. She can't really place them, but she could swear there's something recognizable about them. Then it finally downs on her.

"These people," she starts, turning back to Klaus. "They're werewolves, aren't they? You're helping them?"

"They're not the same werewolves who rescued you. Those are trapped in their wolf forms and probably safer than all of us in the Bayou. These are the ones who couldn't find shelter. Another part of my clan, so to speak. They've fallen upon hard times and their plight has brought out the philanthropist in me." His lips tug up into an ironic little grin. "What can I say? Must be Elijah's influence."

Caroline is... stunned. Klaus went out to the Bayou and found a way to have the werewolf packs who did not have where to stay all brought into the city and safely taken in by Father Kieran. That's what he was talking about when he said there were some prominent people he had to warn regarding the weather. And nobody had to say anything or guilt him into doing it. He did it all on his own. She's... Honestly, shocked. That's the kind of altruistic behavior she'd expect from almost everyone else but him.

It's... Kind. Thoughtful. Incredibly considerate. Humane.

Caroline feels warmth spreading inside her chest, is taken by a fervent desire to hug him again.

But then another part of what he just said strikes her.

"Wait. Did you just say part of your clan?" she asks, eyebrows bunched in confusion. "I was right about them?"

"The blood that runs in their veins runs in mine," Klaus says, with an uncharacteristic softness in his voice. "And in our child's."

Now, that is certainly something.

All these people in this crowded church are somehow related to her baby. They are long distant descendants from Klaus' father's pack, from a thousand years ago. So, technically, they're her daughter's family too.

Her baby has a pack.

That is... overwhelming, to say the least.

"This is going to be the most complicated family tree assignment anyone's ever seen," she mutters.

Klaus smiles. She doesn't know nearly enough about the Mikaelson history as she would like to, but she knows Klaus' heritage is the source of some serious personal issues. Even though his siblings never looked down on him for it, the fact they did not share the same father, and that Mikael reserved an especially vicious kind of hatred for his bastard son, has left deep marks in him. Things he struggles to overcome to this day, a thousand years later. Whenever his siblings become enraged with him, even rightfully so, the first thing that comes out of his mouth is What has the bastard done this time. Klaus thinks everything that is wrong with him stems from him not having been raised by a loving father. Caroline would disagree, but she can only imagine the kind of horrors he must've endured at the hands of Mikael growing up. It doesn't justify the horrors he's subjected other people to since then, but still. The trauma is very much a part of him. And she can definitely relate to that.

To find out that he's connected to this whole pack of werewolves, all those years later... He must've been thrilled. If he went out of his way just to assure they'd be safe during the storm — he obviously cares about it, a lot more than he cares about almost everything. And yet Klaus never said a thing.

That's exactly the kind of thing Caroline wishes he would talk to her about. She wonders briefly if he ever spoke to Cami about his newfound family in one of their weird sessions and feels a dull twinge of bitterness, but it's gone almost as quick as it comes. The news are bigger than whatever jealousy she might feel. She can save her complaints for later.

When this is all over, if they make it out of this apocalypse alive, she's gonna ask about his family. They're having a baby together and she still knows so little about his past. Sure, there's a lot of past there, but still. She wants to know him. To know everything about him. Especially the things he clearly holds close to his heart.

If, after everything they've been through so far, Klaus still can't trust her with the important things... Well. What have they been doing here all this time?

Then again… The fact he brought her here tonight when he hasn't said a word to anyone else must mean something. In his own way, he's opening up about it. He just… Needs to work better on how he delivers his messages. Actual words might be good from time to time.

"Listen, Caroline," he says, pulling her out of thoughts and back to the church. "Both you and Elijah have been very upset all day. What happened?"

Well, fuck.

Just when she finally managed to get her mind off her quarrel with Elijah and think about more positive things, Klaus brings it all back.

She looks away from Klaus. "I did something. Something bad."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"I broke his trust and made him break a vow to someone he loved very much."

"Celeste?"

Caroline swallows, her jaw set, but she doesn't reply. It's not that she doesn't want to tell him, but she's revealed enough of Elijah's secrets to other people. It's not her story to tell. Too bad she's only fully realized that now.

She was half-expecting Klaus to act up, get mad and jealous as he normally does. Instead, he just says, "Word of advice on dealing with Elijah. Don't do as I do. Just apologize. He's accomplished in many things but he's a master at forgiveness. I'm sure he'll forgive you for anything."

Caroline stares after him, bewildered by his sudden reasonable and kind-hearted behavior for the second time in less than five minutes. Is it possible that Klaus actually listened to what she said to him last night? Heeded her advice?

"Come on," he continues, gesturing towards the door. "Let's get you back home before we get stranded here once the rain starts."

Just her luck to have this many breakthroughs right when the world is about to end.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Bad news never start piling up.

When Klaus returns to the compound with Caroline, both Elijah and Rebekah have already returned. His sister has no clue of Marcel's whereabouts, and Elijah has even worse news.

"The consecration didn't work," he starts once they all gather in the living room on the second floor. Winds are raging outside and every time a lightning strikes close, Caroline flinches, clutching her belly tightly. She's been putting a good front so far, but she's terrified. If he wasn't yet certain that he must do absolutely anything in his power to stop this madness, than he is now. "It appears someone had already gotten to Celeste's remains."

"How's that possible?" Rebekah asks.

"I'm not sure myself. The important thing right now is, we need another powerful witch whose bones have never been consecrated."

Elijah's face is a mask of resignation, but the look in his eyes is hard. It takes Klaus but a second to understand what he means.

He's thinking of Esther.

"It's taken 1000 years, but you've finally gone mad," their sister says, getting to the same conclusion.

"This is our only choice at the moment," Elijah argues.

"Our own mother, Elijah? Honestly?"

"Yes, our beloved mother," he speaks around a sigh. "Who Niklaus affectionately placed in a coffin in his basement, not daggered, but quite dead. Exactly as we need her to be."

"Wait. Esther's still inside that coffin?" Caroline asks, sending a mildly horrified look at Klaus.

He shrugs nonchalantly. "She did try to kill us all."

She scrunches up her nose. "Creep."

"I say we put it to use and put her to rest, once and for all," Elijah continues. "Now, if we bury our mother on land owned by one of her descendants, she becomes a New Orleans witch, and we, as her family, share in that ancestral magic."

"We can't practice magic, Elijah. Or own property for that matter," Rebekah remarks.

"Yes, with regards to practicing magic. After mother is buried, we can channel her power to another witch. In this case, Sophie Deveraux, who'll then become in charge of performing the Harvest ritual. The only problem is, as conduits of Esther's magic, we'll need to participate in the Harvest. As for owning property..." Elijah turns around and fetches a folder, pulling out an official looking paper. "Not all of our mother's descendants are dead."

Of course.

All Mikaelsons immediately turn to Caroline, who then lets out a disgruntled sound. "Crap."

"Caroline, you now hold the title to the plantation." Elijah passes the paper on to her. Something passes between them in the flitting moment their eyes meet, but she quickly looks down at the paper.

"Just the kind of bad karma I needed," she mutters, clearly unhappy about this turn of events. It takes no genius to know she has harbored no love for New Orleans, and not unreasonably. The city has been far from kind to her since her arrival. It has gotten Klaus thinking a lot. He's trying his best to make this place feel like home for her, for it to be safe, but so far all his attempts have fallen miserably short. He fears one day soon she'll announce her desire to leave them and go back to Virginia. For some reason, he feels giving her the deeds to the plantation might take her one step closer to it.

He has to say it, though. It's quite an ingenious solution his brother has orchestrated there. It's the sort of mildly unorthodox plotting he would do himself. And Elijah's dealt with all the minor details swiftly and effectively. The surlier his brother gets, the more efficient he is. Klaus is almost proud.

"This way, if we bury our mother and we consecrate those grounds, we grant Sophie the power she needs to finish the Harvest ritual."

"I'm impressed, brother," Klaus says, smiling. "You're a bit of a mad genius. Count me in."

"Am I the only one thinking?" Rebekah protests. "Our mother was the most powerful witch in history. If we bury her here, we hand that power to our enemies to use against us."

"Given the circumstances, Rebekah, I hardly see that we have a choice," Elijah counters.

"Well, what do you think?" his sister turns to Caroline.

"It's not my mother."

"But you're a witch."

"You know, I'm starting to get a little tired of everyone conveniently remembering I'm a witch only when you want my help in disagreeing with something. That's the only time you ever consider asking for my opinion. For the millionth time, my magic is not the same as theirs. I can't perform this crazy-ass ritual, thank God, because I don't wanna slit some poor girl's throat. None of this affects me. I don't care if they all lose their powers, because mine remains very much untouched — and before you say anything, no, my daughter is most definitely not going to be a New Orleans witch, I don't care where she's born. She's already taking after him in everything else; her witchy side is gonna come from me. Now what I do care about is my child dying before she's even born because the whole freaking city will be burning up in flames. So if the only way to prevent this from happening is to bury some dead all-powerful witch, then why the hell do I care? She's not my mother."

Klaus feels an amused smile spreading on his lips. That heated speech was clearly the end result of a lot of frustration building up throughout the day, but it's not every day you get the kind of stunned faces he sees in the room. Rebekah's face fell and Elijah's eyebrows went up to his hairline at the end of Caroline's rant.

"Excellent point, love," Klaus beams.

"Rebekah?" Elijah prods.

His sister clears her throat, turns away from Caroline. "I don't know why I even bother. You'll just do whatever you want anyway."

"No. Our decision has to be unanimous."

"This is not a democracy, Elijah, and we're running out of time."

"You're quite right, Niklaus. This is family."

As if to reinforce his point, the downpour begins outside, the sound of water cascading down with violence almost deafening. "The next sign's begun. Rebekah, we need your consent."

"Kill a demon today, face the devil tomorrow. Whatever. I'm in."

"Good. Let's go fetch our mother, shall we?"

Elijah leaves the room in a hurry, followed closely by Rebekah. Klaus is about to join them when he realizes Caroline hasn't moved. She looks paralyzed in her seat, her eyes fixed on the silver curtain outside, one hand resting on her baby bump.

"You have to come too, sweetheart. You heard Elijah. The baby is involved, we need you to consecrate the grounds."

She peers at him anxiously, a shadow passing across her face as she stands to her feet. Klaus stops right in front of her, placing both his hands on her shoulders and giving her a gentle, comforting squeeze.

"It's going to be ok. We'll complete the ritual. Our daughter will be quite safe."

She still seems rather shaken with concern, but somewhat more relaxed as she nods. "Let's hope this crazy plan of yours is right."

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The whole thing will be seared onto Caroline's mind for the rest of her life.

She's unfortunately witnessed quite a number of terrible deaths in her short life, some of which were violent and horrifying. But this... This was by far the worst.

First, she stood under the worst rain storm she's ever seen, sharing an umbrella with Klaus that was clearly not built to resist the end of the world while Father Kieran celebrated Esther Mikaelson's burial. Why they needed a priest there, she had no idea. In turn, they each had to cut their hands open and shed their bloods into the grave. Caroline's was particularly important because of the baby. It was the only way that whole thing would work.

In her mind, she knew that it was the only way to prevent the apocalypse, and she stood by her perhaps uncalled-for rant. But when she was finally there, committing her baby to that land and whatever kind of powerful magic would come from consecrating the Original witch in New Orleans, she got cold feet. Something told Caroline she would live to regret this. Maybe not tomorrow, or a month or even in a year. But one day. No good deed goes unpunished in this city.

Once they were done with the burial, they went to the cemetery to wait for Marcel. Rebekah managed to get a whiff of his whereabouts and found him hiding in a warehouse by the docks. As Caroline had predicted, it was Davina who made the choice to sacrifice herself, once it became clear that she was not getting better and that the whole city would suffer with her. With everything that's happened to that girl, she had to have some strong fiber in her. She's young — was young, Caroline reminded herself bitterly — but wise, and made stronger by all the tragedy that followed her around like a shadow. She wouldn't cower and hide in a time like that.

Rebekah gave her and Marcel a few more precious moments together and went back to meet them while they waited. Klaus became impatient, thinking that Marcel would take off with her again, that Rebekah had been too lenient, that she should've brought them with her, by force if needed be. But it was a mercy to give them more time together to properly say goodbye, especially considering everything that happened after.

By the time Marcel finally arrived, carrying Davina in his arms, fire was already following close behind them. It was as though the very air was burning, despite all the heavy and merciless rain still pounding. Caroline shut her eyes and did a quick spell, keeping the flames from reaching them, but if the ritual didn't work... She knew it was only a matter of time. The magic tearing through New Orleans then was much stronger than any one witch's power. She could only hold it back for so long.

The sound of Sophie's dagger slashing through Davina's neck was still ringing in Caroline's ears. The gurgling blood as she tried to speak, falling back in Marcel's arms... She had to look away, fighting hard to ignore the nausea and the acrid taste in her mouth.

But a second later, the fire stopped burning, the rain stopped falling, the winds stopped raging, and all was quiet. She saw a light shining as though from inside Davina, running through her body from head to toe, as her magnificent power flowed into the earth.

The ritual worked. And Davina was dead.

Sophie called upon her elders to accept the sacrifices and resurrect their chosen ones. She called, and called, and called. If her elders were there at all, they weren't listening. Or they simply didn't care. No matter how hard she begged, how fiercely she screamed into the night, all four Harvest girls remained lifeless.

When the witch broke down in violent sobs, feeling as betrayed as everyone else, Caroline couldn't stand it anymore.

She closed her eyes as tears started trickling down and whirled around to walk back to the car.

"Caroline."

When she heard Klaus' voice, she didn't think. Just turned around, wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in his neck as uncontrollable sobs wrecked through her. Caroline grabbed on to him for strength; if he weren't there, she's sure she'd have melted to the ground into a pool of tears. Klaus was effectively keeping her whole.

It's hard to tell what part of it got to her the most. The bone-deep fear that took over her when she saw the fire following Marcel and thought they were all gonna die a horrible, painful death. The look in his eyes as he let Davina out of his arms and into certain death. The way that girl tried to hold on to life even as it flowed out of her open neck, so scared of the darkness. The moment the light went off in her eyes. Sophie's screams as her ancestors refused to give her back the girls. All that hope... All that promise... And four dead girls, not that much younger than herself.

All Caroline could think was, what if it was her there? What if it was her daughter? She thought back of her mother, totally oblivious to the insanity her life had become, and to the fact she came so close to losing her only child today, in a city she had no idea Caroline went to, with a granddaughter in her womb she would never meet. Like Sophie lost her niece, again. Like Marcel lost Davina. And it just... broke her.

She was suddenly overwhelmed by how grateful she was to have Klaus. Despite all their bickering and disagreements, by how much they fought and how complicated their relationship was... Caroline saw the despair of two people who had lost absolutely everything tonight. How devastatingly lonely they felt in that moment. It reminded her of Elena, who lost... Everyone. Her parents. Her biological parents. Her legal guardians. Her brother. To the point it all became so much she had to let go of herself just to stay alive. And in that moment, Caroline felt privileged that she didn't have to be alone.

Klaus held her until she stopped quivering.

The ride home was bleak and silent. As soon as they arrived, Rebekah disappeared to one side, Elijah to the other and Caroline into her room, where she is now, failing miserably at trying to sleep. She never desired so much for a drink. Or ten.

She starts hearing screams and the sounds of things crashing and for a moment her heart goes up to her throat when she thinks it's the winds again. That the ritual didn't work, and the girls died for absolutely nothing. She pulls herself out of bed and goes out to the balcony overlooking the courtyard, where Marcel is smashing everything he puts his hands on.

"That won't bring her back, you know?" Klaus speaks solemnly, walking into the courtyard.

"This is your fault!" Marcel hisses at him. "I should've never let you anywhere near her!"

"Marcel..."

"The city was fine before you came! We were fine! Davina was safe! She was in control! If you hadn't gotten her worked up! If you hadn't tried to kill that boy!"

"My condolences the girl is gone, but don't lose perspective."

Oh, Klaus, Caroline thinks. The last thing someone grieving wants to hear is that they need perspective. Marcel is gonna break his face and Caroline wouldn't say he's wrong to do it.

"We still have our community," he continues. "The vampires of this town–"

"I don't care about the vampires!" Marcel roars, a sound filled with such pain and hatred that makes Caroline shiver. "She is dead! Do you hear me?! She is dead!"

Klaus flashes towards him, holding him by the shoulders, and for a second Caroline thinks that's it. They're gonna start throwing punches and she's gonna have to pull them apart before somebody else ends up dead. But then Klaus pulls Marcel close and wraps him into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," he speaks softly as Marcel cries not unlike how Caroline did at the cemetery. There's something very astonishing about seeing a man such as Marcel, so strong, old and larger than life, quaked by emotions and reduced to tears over the loss of a loved one. It makes Caroline feel that tightness in her chest all over again. "You may think I know nothing of your grief, but you're wrong." Klaus pulls away, lifting Marcel's face gently to look him in the eye. "In the days after I fled this city, I thought you were dead. It was years before I could speak your name so keenly did I feel that loss. I'm sorry, Marcel. I'm sorry."

When Marcel hugs Klaus once more, Caroline knows she has to step away and let them be. Tonight is a terrible night to be on her own without the aid of alcohol and she was seriously considering knocking on Klaus' door, but Marcel needs him more than she does right now.

As quietly as she can not to draw attention to herself, she goes back to the loneliness of her bedroom.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Elijah sees the moment Caroline slips quietly back into her room. Even from a distance he can see she has been crying. While he thinks perhaps Niklaus is the kind of support she needs right now, his brother has his hands full with Marcellus, who's understandably having a break down after the Harvest ritual failed to return the sacrificed girls to life, even though it apparently worked. It's a mystery Elijah plans on investigating further, but not tonight.

The events of this evening have affected all of them, and it's no different for Elijah. He feels deeply for the loss of Davina. However she may have felt about him, he never meant for her to get hurt in all of this. He genuinely believed she needed the ritual in order for her plight to end. It just goes to show that power isn't everything. Davina was the strongest witch in maybe the whole world for a year or so and it brought her nothing but misery. They shared very few moments together, but it was enough for Elijah to admire the girl's spirit. She was strong and very mature for someone so young. Maybe too much, even. No one should ever have to go through that much pain at such a young age. Just see what it did to Niklaus.

But Davina wasn't all he had to endure on this awful day. The failed consecration of Celeste's remains brought a flood of memories back. Elijah's nurtured infatuations more times than he can remember in his life, but he's only ever been in love, real love, twice. Celeste was one of those. Her loss cut deeply into him, took decades to heal. He once thought she was the love of his life. Seeing his last promise to her being broken like that felt like a violation. It was the least he could still do for someone who was removed from life far too early by hatred and prejudice. He still feels responsible for what happened to her, for not paying enough attention to the havoc his brother was causing all over town and allowing it to go so far. The least he owed Celeste was to uphold the promise he made to her in death.

The mystery of how her bones were consecrated when her grave looked absolutely untouched still nags at him, and it's also something he'll have to give a deeper thought. Her power has gone somewhere, and it was not back to the ancestors.

And then there's Caroline...

Her betrayal hurt him deeply. He thought he'd get over it soon, that he just needed a couple of hours to clear his head, but even just looking at her he felt a twinge. She seemed remorseful and genuinely sorry, but... It just wasn't enough.

When he saw her breaking down at the cemetery, Elijah felt something. A desire to comfort her, despite his own pain. It just felt so wrong. Caroline is the light of their house. She's strong and resilient, always smiling. To see her so devastated by grief like that...

But Niklaus had been there. And now he isn't. Elijah doesn't fault him; Marcellus really does need a friendly face right now and he doubts anyone would be able to offer him more support than Niklaus. He's the closest thing to a father, a family, that boy's ever had. But that leaves Caroline to brood on her own. And Elijah just can't see her like that.

She's left the door open, and is leaning against the wall, weeping quietly.

"Are you all right?" he asks, as gently as he can not to startle her.

Caroline takes a shuddery breath, drying out her tears with her hands. "It was a tough day."

"Yes. It was."

"I always thought I was less of a witch because I didn't have a coven. But what kind of community does this to their own people? My daughter will never be a French Quarter witch. I won't let it."

Elijah wants to say that she might not have a choice if her child is born in the city. New Orleans has a way of claiming power for itself, devouring it, and her daughter will likely be the most powerful of them all. The daughter of a witch and a hybrid. It just doesn't feel like this might be the best time to mention it or to discuss options, though. Instead, he just nods.

Caroline falls silent for a moment. "Are you ready to forgive me yet?"

Elijah sighs. "It's not that easy."

She takes a few tentative steps forward. She seems suddenly sober, her eyes red, but dry; her chin out. "I was wrong to go through your journals. I was wrong to tell Sophie about Celeste. I'm so sorry, Elijah. I never meant to betray you, but I really didn't think I had much of a choice."

"It was not your choice to make, Caroline. During my fever in the Bayou, you were inside my head. You know what Celeste meant to me. To violate her grave or not should've been my decision, no one else's. Do you have any idea how rare love is for creatures like me? In a thousand years I have found it but twice, and when I have, I have honored it."

"You're right. I make no excuses for that. I screwed up. It was supposed to be your choice, and I am so sorry that I robbed you of that. I know what a promise means to you. But that was 200 years ago, Elijah. If I thought I'd be hurting you this much, I would've gone to you first. I just thought... If it meant having a shot at helping those werewolves... You saw how they live, and those were the ones who had it good. I can't choose the dead over the living. And neither should you."

Elijah stares at her hard, her words ringing like thunder in his head.

I can't choose the dead over the living. And neither should you.

He doesn't know what it is about it, but some kind of force that is greater than reason, greater than the hurt in his chest, propels him forward, filling him with a courage he'd been fighting until now. It makes him cut the space between them. Makes him reach out and touch her face. She jumps just a little, but not enough to break contact.

Elijah tips his head forward, so close now he can see the shards of green in her blue eyes.

It feels suddenly inevitable. He's been wanting to do this for so long. Why fight it?

I can't choose the dead over the living. And neither should you.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I was wrong to go through your journals. I was wrong to tell Sophie about Celeste. I'm so sorry, Elijah. I never meant to betray you, but I really didn't think I had much of a choice."

Klaus stops when he hears Caroline's voice. He was going to check on her, see if she needs anything. He saw her from the courtyard, but thought it best to focus his attention on Marcellus. He was falling apart, about to tear down the compound. Klaus stood with him until he calmed down, was fully willing to crack open his best bourbon and devote him his undivided attention for the night, but then Marcel asked for a moment alone in Davina's room, and Klaus allowed him his privacy to mourn his friend. He is not a fan of grieving with company himself and, despite his concern, he can perfectly understand Marcel's need to retire into his loneliness. In that aspect, at least, they are very much alike. There are certain things that no one can help mend, some places no one else can reach, and trying to do so only generates frustration on both sides, so why bother?

He moved on to Caroline, then. She seemed so very lonely there on the balcony, and he had to fight the urge to go to her right then. Now that he's approaching her room, he can hear she's talking to Elijah. They're discussing the mysterious happening that had his brother troubled and Caroline weeping all through the day. He should probably let them be to settle their discord, but that would be the decent thing to do and Klaus has never been known to be a decent person. So instead, he stops and listens, trying to put the pieces together.

He suspected it had something to do with Celeste. Caroline's the one who gave Sophie the location of the old witch's remains. No wonder Elijah has been so uncharacteristically cold towards her. Klaus remembers very well the hellish days following his lover's death. Elijah wouldn't speak to him for over a month, moved out of their home and refused to even see him. After identifying the perpetrators of Celeste's murder and thoroughly putting them to justice, he worked tirelessly to dispel the rumors that the witches had been making sacrificial magic, and made it very clear to Klaus that if he continued to pile up the bodies across the French Quarter and blame it on others, he would leave the city and never return. The threat was effective. Life was very boring for agonizingly long months while Elijah mourned his beloved Celeste and Klaus was forced to dampen his moods and quit challenging everyone who thwarted him to duels he always invariably won. He never realized how much his brother cared for the woman until she was gone. Personally, he wasn't all that upset. His relationship with the Quarter covens was very honest and open since the start: he didn't like them, and they didn't like him. Something that remains unchanged to this day.

"It was not your choice to make, Caroline. During my fever in the Bayou, you were inside my head. You know what Celeste means to me. To violate her grave or not should've been my decision, no one else's. Do you have any idea how rare love is for creatures like me? In a thousand years I have found it but twice, and when I have, I have honored it."

"You're right. I make no excuses for that. I screwed up. It was supposed to be your choice, and I am so sorry that I robbed you of that. I know what a promise means to you. But that was 200 years ago, Elijah. If I thought I'd be hurting you this much, I would've gone to you first. I just thought... If it meant having a shot at helping those werewolves... You saw how they live, and those were the ones who had it good. I can't choose the dead over the living. And neither should you."

He waits to hear Elijah's retort, but it never comes. His brother goes quiet, and Klaus becomes strangely unsettled. Something about that misplaced silence sends alarm bells ringing all through his head.

He takes another two stealthy steps forward, enough to peek inside the room. And what he sees makes his whole world crumble.

He knew there was something going on between Elijah and Caroline. Of course he knew. He's known it since the very first day. His brother made no mystery of his fascination, and she seemed to naturally gravitate towards him. But then so do most people. Elijah's enigmatic and stoic exterior is but a façade. When he takes a liking to someone, he becomes warm and affectionate, always eager to please, and it's easy to understand why Caroline would be drawn to his softer and friendlier disposition, given the circumstances.

Their proximity always made him jealous, but Klaus convinced himself, when he invited Elijah and Rebekah to move in, that whatever his brother's sentiments, Caroline would never return it. Elijah was but a friend, a dear one, perhaps, but no more.

They were finally making some progress. After the night before, Klaus thought...

Wrong, apparently. He was wrong.

His brother holds her face so tenderly, tipping his head to the side ever so slightly... So reverently. Like he's been waiting forever to do this.

Pain falls thought Klaus like rain, sinking into his veins, consuming his entire being. And in its wake comes the anger. Mighty. Burning. His heart rips with anguish and he feels a roar clawing at his chest, trying to escape as his beast, which had been so tame all through the day, rumbles into wakefulness.

He clenches his hands into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms until it bleeds.

Before their lips touch and Klaus can no longer hold back, he flashes away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Caroline's heart is rumbling in her chest. Her throat is clogged, her palms are sweaty, she can't even blink.

He is going to kiss me. He is going to kiss me. He is going to kiss me.

She's frozen, paralyzed. He's so close now she can feel his breath on her lips. Elijah's going to kiss her. He is going to kiss her.

Do something, Caroline!

Panic leaves her cold, a chill running through her like despair, and then, at the last second, something hits her and she turns her face away, scrunching her eyes shut.

"I'm in love with your brother," she blurts out, words rolling off her tongue with urgency. She doesn't even realize what she's saying until it comes out. It comes as a surprise to her, the open admission. It's not a scream, but it's definitely too loud for how close they are. And as soon as she stops talking, she wants to snatch it all back out of thin air. Not because it's not true, or because she wanted Elijah to kiss her, but because that's probably the worst thing you can tell someone who wants to kiss you, has wanted to for a while, and is just about to do it.

Elijah stops, stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do or say, and then he takes a step back, his eyes sliding from her face as his normally stoic and confident expression becomes pinched.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry, Elijah. I panicked. I didn't mean — I shouldn't have — I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, Caroline. I overstepped. Please, forgive me."

"No. I mean — yes, but. That was an awful way to... communicate... that information. I didn't mean to string you along. I promise you, I never meant to -"

"I know." He smiles, a little sad. "You don't have to explain yourself. This incredibly awkward situation has been entirely my own doing."

"I should've said something sooner, though. I mean, it's probably a conversation we should've had. In the spirit of full disclosure and everything. I just... Didn't know how." She pauses. "And I didn't want to lose your friendship."

"You'd never lose my friendship," Elijah says, very earnest.

Caroline rolls her eyes, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. "I have a PhD in brotherly shenanigans, after so many years with Elena and the Salvatores. I know it can get... ugly, to say the least. Not that this is in any way like that. I mean, Elena was obviously stringing both of them along, and I wasn't... Well, I never openly turned you down, but I... What I'm trying to say is, I didn't want to get between you and Klaus. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that."

"Rest assured that there's plenty standing between me and my brother and none of it is your fault. If anything, you've brought us closer together than we've been in at least a century."

"Maybe. But then I could also be the thing that brought you apart again. I was afraid you would leave." She waits for him to say that No, I would never, and when he doesn't, she jumps up from the bed again. "Elijah, please."

"Perhaps it's for the best that I -"

"No," she cuts him off, not missing a beat. "Absolutely not. I'd end up killing Klaus without you here. And since he can't die, I'd just kill him over and over again. We're supposed to have a kid together, I can't be murdering her dad every other week."

"I think you and Niklaus are perfectly capable of understanding one another."

"For about twenty minutes at a time, sure. You know he needs you. You're his balance." She makes a pause. "And I realize this might be completely selfish of me, but... I need you here, too."

"My only purpose returning to New Orleans was to aid my brother in finding a path towards redemption. So far, I've been a monumental failure."

"Are you kidding? You have stood by his side, believing in him, even when he did unforgivable things."

"Yes, and what was it that you called me? An enabler. I'm not sure my influence over Niklaus has been a positive one."

"You care for him. And he listens to you. You're a good brother."

Elijah's lips tug into a smile that does not meet his eyes. "I just tried to kiss the woman carrying his child. How good of a brother am I?"

And, well. Caroline can't really argue that Klaus wouldn't be mad out of his mind if he knew about this. But there's no reason why he should. It was a one-off. A mistake. One that could've been easily prevented by an honest conversation that the two of them should've had a long time ago. Mistakes happen. Klaus of all people should understand that.

"Well, I said you were a good brother, not perfect."

"Far from it, actually," he agrees, grinning.

"You've forgiven him for far worse than this."

"I think he'd more easily forgive me for putting a dagger through his heart."

"Then just don't tell him. He doesn't have to know."

Elijah looks down and away, and Caroline can feel all the sharp edges of the silence that follows.

"Elijah -"

"I should probably go."

"We should talk -"

"I'm sorry again, Caroline."

"Stop apologizing!"

"Good night."

He doesn't even wait for another protest to rise, just whooshes away, making unfair use of his vampire speed.

Caroline feels her heart sinking in her chest. Like her night wasn't bad enough already.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Rebekah feels something crawling up her bed, she's pretty certain it's Marcel.

He was a wreck, understandably so, and she felt so very deeply for him. Seeing that poor girl die for nothing was a punch to the gut. Even with everything she's seen in her life, it still crushes her. Davina was so young, so full of life… She was put through such hardships and still the light in her survived, the hope for a better future. Now she's gone. The world is a cruel, dark place and it grinds the goodness out of anyone who dares to hope. Rebekah knows; she's been that person.

She considered going to Marcel, offering him a shoulder to cry on, but she saw that Nik beat her to it. Her brother is such a conundrum… A tactless arse in one minute, and a well of kindness the next. But there are only very few people he'd ever show that side of him to, ever care enough about to comfort, to feel empathy. Rebekah can probably count them on the fingers of one hand. Marcel was once his favorite. Glued to the hips, the two of them. They were gonna take over the world with their handsome smiles and wicked inclinations. And then Mikael happened… Every time Rebekah remembers that… Every time she thinks about what led them away from New Orleans, effectively putting an end to Klaus and Marcel's once unshakable friendship... It brings a sour taste to her mouth.

If Nik ever finds out what they did…

Not the time to be thinking about the past. The present is dire enough.

Even if Klaus is in a rare benevolent mood after the events of this evening, Marcel is insane if he thinks her brother won't rip both of their hearts for finding them in bed right under his roof. Not all has been forgiven. And truth be told, Rebekah is not in the mood for that either.

She's ready to tell him he's welcome to sleep on her couch when she shifts around and finds not Marcel's big and strong figure, but a small, weepy pregnant woman.

She frowns.

"What are you doing?" Caroline takes a sobby breath, but doesn't respond, staring intently at the ceiling. "Are you drunk?"

"No."

"Oh, no," Rebekah speaks around a sigh, shaking her head. "What did Nik do now? Honestly, what is wrong with him? On a night like this -"

"He didn't do anything."

"Then why the bloody hell are you crying?"

Caroline is quiet for a long moment, her silence punctuated by her low weeping. "Four girls were resurrected, four girls were supposed to return."

Rebekah arches her an eyebrow. "You're crying because the Harvest didn't work?"

"It did work," Caroline objects, her voice quivery. Weird is something Rebekah eats with coffee every morning, but this is for certain the strangest conversation she's had in a while. "The storm stopped, the fires went out. I saw when Davina's power flowed out of her body and into the earth, back to the ancestors. The ritual worked."

"Then what the hell happened?"

"I don't know. If the four of them died, and were not brought back… Then where did that power go?"

Huh, Rebekah thinks. She had not thought about that. Did Sophie hijack the ritual? That would make no sense; the whole reason she was doing it was to bring back her niece. But if it wasn't her… Then who absorbed the power of the Harvest?

The idea of having an ill-intentioned witch walking around with the kind of power Davina used to sport before makes her deeply unsettled. Especially considering they've consecrated their mother, made her part of this city's ancestors. She can only imagine the havoc Esther won't cause on the other side.

Something tells her this is not the last they'll be hearing of this… But then Caroline starts sobbing again and she loses her train of thought. It is so very distracting.

"What is wrong with you?" she asks, in a gentler tone, starting to get seriously concerned.

"Nothing."

"No one cries for nothing. If it wasn't Nik, then what was it? Are you sick?"

"I'm not sick, Rebekah."

"Then -"

"Oh my God! Have you never had a friend before?"

"Not really," she deadpans. "I had brothers, and none of them ever climbed onto my bed in tears."

Caroline shifts to her side and Rebekah gets a better look at her puffy red eyes. "I'm just sad, ok?" she says in a small voice. "When a friend is sad, you don't ask what's wrong, you just let them stay. Can I stay?"

The Original sighs, throwing her covers on top of Caroline. "Of course, silly. I never said you had to leave."

"Thank you," the girl replies, a tiny smile that does meet her eyes on her face.

As much as Rebekah would very much like to know what happened, and she's certain something did, Caroline's right. Clearly she doesn't want to be alone, and Rebekah can certainly understand the need for company tonight. Nik must still be with Marcel, if she's come to her for comfort, but no matter. She is actually glad. She's come to care quite a lot about Caroline, who she wouldn't even call a friend anymore; they're family now.

From school rivals to sharing a bed in a pitiful night. Who would've ever thought? Rebekah wonders what Matt would say if he could see them right now. She bets he'd be proud of her.

She settles back onto her pillow, laying on her side and looking straight at Caroline. "Do you need anything?"

The other girl just shakes her head. "Just this is fine."

"But do you promise you'll tell me if you do? Or if you want to talk about whatever caused this?"

Caroline nods. "I promise."

"And I promise that if my brothers are behind it, I will personally avenge you."

Caroline lets out a sad little laugh, and then she shuts her eyes. "Good night, Rebekah."

Rebekah's lips tip into a small grin. "Good night."

TBC

A/N: I got many comments last chapter asking if Caroline had spoken to Sophie about Celeste or not. Since I wanted to include the original scenes at the final part of chapter 10, I moved all that Sophie-Celeste thing (which technically happens on ep 10) to this chapter. I hope it was easy to understand and that everything made sense to you. TO can get very Bamboozle at times with a bunch of really complicated mythology being pulled out of God knows where. So let me know if anything doesn't make sense to you and I might be able to clarify it (or not!).

I'm SUPER eager to hear your thoughts after this chapter! Drop me a note and let me know! :) Thanks for reading!