Marlenie's red heels clicked against the mansion's living room as she walked across, observing the crime scene as if it were just another day shopping. Her father had done quite a number with the victims, but nothing that would traumatize her - as if.
Klaus, on the other hand, could only watch her. It'd been four years since he last saw or talked to his eldest daughter. Eventually, he found his voice to ask her, "What are you doing here, Marlenie?"
Marlenie's long, straight black hair flipped over shoulders when she turned around. "Cami called. And you know how annoyingly convincing she is when she makes her case."
"I've had...experiences," Klaus smirked when he saw that bit of himself in her.
"You're out of control, Dad. And that's coming from me," Marlenie pointed towards the corpses on the floor. "We've all heard the rumors Klaus Mikaelson finally went crazy. You know Hope does too, right? And my mother?" Mentions like those erased Klaus' smirk. It wasn't easy for Marlenie either.
"How would you know? As Nicolas said in one of his letters: you have not spoken to anyone in the family," Klaus' face was an indicator that she was no one to talk to him about this, not when they both did the same thing.
Marlenie raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, and I bet you wrote back?" her mocking voice got her a step closer to being snapped. Klaus' silence was all the answer she needed. Like her, he had dropped the family like a coffin in the ocean. "We are too much alike, Dad."
"Perhaps spending time with your mother might help combat that unfortunate trait," Klaus' suggestion was followed by a quiet remark, "Since it was apparently too difficult to spend time with me."
Marlenie frowned. "I couldn't. I thought that was clear when-"
"-you shouted it at me?" Klaus finished for her with the straightest face. One could never tell how much that incident had hurt.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Marlenie passed a hand down her raven hair. "I thought I was stronger but not when it comes to our family. I couldn't stand the situation then and I certainly can't stand it now. I spent my whole life looking for you, for my family, and some evil spirit just tore it away from me. I can't stand knowing that you can never see my brother, my sister, my mother...and that they can never see you. Mum can't even remember who we are and do you know how hard it was to be around Mum without being able to be her daughter?"
Marlenie tried. She did. She tried spending time with Maleny after getting her memories erased but...Marlenie struggled. A Maleny without her memories was a fragile Maleny and Marlenie had no idea how to be with her. Her mother was a strong, level-headed woman but the memory wipe left Maleny completely...unaware. And being with her father proved to be less hurtful but just as difficult. From a mile away, Marlenie saw that her father was growing unhappier with each day.
With things that broken, Marlenie decided it was better to take herself out of the situation altogether. She was just sorry she accidentally hurt her father more than she thought it would.
"The world couldn't handle the two of us getting angry," she said quietly. Her eyes lowered slowly to the blood-stained floor.
Klaus had always known that it wasn't her intention. He opened his arms and not a minute later did Marlenie rush into them. He relished in familial contact, his daughter was with him again. "I love you Marlenie, but if we cause you this much pain then you should stay away." He couldn't put that kind of pain on her by keeping her with him. He was used to being alone now.
"This is a visit, Dad," Marlenie did clarify her length of stay in France. "Because what I said was true. You're out of control and…" she stepped away from him, arms open to her sides, "...it needs to stop."
Now Klaus expressed genuine amusement. "Oh, really? And just who do you think you are to tell me what to do? Last time I checked, I was the father in this relationship."
Marlenie rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm the only one in our family who can actually see you so...I'm doing this for that reason."
"You wound me," Klaus feigned pain, even putting a hand on his heart.
"Dad, c'mon," Marlenie's serious voice eradicated his playfulness. "I've heard rumors and...they're kinda scary, even for me."
"And you came to ask me why I've suddenly gone...crazy?"
Marlenie knew better than that. She hoped he knew that. "I'm your daughter, Dad. Half my mind - if not a good 80% of it -" Klaus smirked, "-thinks likes yours. Make yourself look and sound crazy enough so that Hope, Nicolas and my mother would never even consider talking to you ever again." Klaus pointed at her, silently warning her to watch what she said. "Dad, it's just us," Marlenie's voice was quiet now, retaining all that seriousness. She'd thought about his actions all the way to France and this was the only logical reason from Klaus' perspective.
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" his smirk elicited hers.
"A smart alec, last time I heard."
Klaus began to walk around, careful not to step on the corpses on the floor. "Well, since you're keen on an answer, I might as well indulge you. It's my experience that those who are wronged seek revenge. And since many have long memories, I am determined to systematically annihilate each and every one of our enemies. And the heirs of our enemies. I will not make the same mistake I did with the Dawsons." Everytime he thought about the wicked witches who hunted Maleny for a thousand years, his blood boiled with a new sense of rage despite them all being good and dead.
"In France," Marlenie crossed his arms and gave her father a knowing look. "You know Cami is going to kick your ass for not believing she could protect uncle Elijah in his state."
"Camille is far too invested in her new quaint town lifestyle," Klaus waved her off. "I am merely getting rid of nuisances."
"And in the process making sure none of those who cannot see you don't actually want to see you," Marlenie shook her head.
Klaus' face said it all. Of course it was something more than a simple pastime. It was a strategic move, a constant move, that guaranteed the safety of his children and Maleny.
Marlenie deeply sighed and, despite knowing it would just make things harder when she left again, she asked, "Can you buy me a coffee, Dad?"
For a moment, Klaus wondered if he'd heard right. The last time she and him had coffee was four years ago. He wouldn't even think about wasting this opportunity. Being alone was a punishment even he couldn't fathom despite the time.
~ 0 ~
Hope had been sitting down on the courtyard couch watching her mother and brother converse across her. It seemed like it'd been hours since they'd gotten to the Quarter and in all that time Hayley hadn't directed a word to Hope. Hope knew she was in trouble - huge trouble - so the anxiety she felt towards the looming lecture was just too much for her.
"Can you just yell at me already?" she got up from the couch and watched as Hayley turned to her. "Nicolas already pried all the information he could get and that was-"
"-careful with your words, little sister," Nicolas playfully warned her.
Hayley was not in a place to be playful nor amusing. She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled so as to not actually scream. "The whole point of sending you to that school and calling you Hope Marshall was so that you wouldn't draw attention to yourself, to keep you safe."
"Yeah, and pretending not to be your brother was trouble enough," Nicolas added.
"That didn't seem to bother you when you went snooping around whenever someone spoke to me," Hope had a response for that, not that it helped her case.
"You really wanna go down that road right now?"
Hope looked away. "No…"
"Why'd you do it, Hope?" Hayley honestly couldn't figure it out, and talking with Nicolas didn't help. "What could you have possibly needed the money for?"
Hope seemed ready to speak but she pushed it back. Only a mutter came out instead. "That's my business."
"And selling your blood is mine. You had no right-"
"-you're being a hypocrite. You're the one that taught me "my body, my choice. Well, my blood, my choice."
"You are not just anybody, Hope. Do you even understand what you have done?" Hayley thought it the worst that her daughter didn't even recognize what she'd done to that poor boy. "Henry was already a kid who was struggling to fit in, and now... he's gonna be only one of three werewolf hybrids in the world, and seen as a threat to everyone in the city. You have no idea what you've done." Hope bit her lower lip after the implications began to dawn on her. "You cannot create something without taking responsibility for it. Nicolas, watch her."
"What are you going to do?" Nicolas asked, concerned, when Hayley started heading out of the compound.
"I'm gonna have to clean up the mess Hope made before it gets worse," Hayley sent a scolding, disappointed, glance Hope's way before walking out.
Hope's gaze slowly fell to the floor as her mother disappeared from sight. The rush of guilt began to settle over her shoulders, only making her feel worse. It really hadn't been her intention to create such a mess. She'd only wanted to see her father...her sister even…
But this couldn't end like this. She messed up once, maybe she could fix it with a bigger idea. One that was safer.
~0~
Maleny sat on her bed with the grimoire Kol and Davina gifted her for her birthday. She was skimming it for potential spells to practice with, and on the side she had that berry pie already half eaten. Her birthday dinner with her mother had been lovely as every year, and after a night out in the city, she returned with a desire to learn some new spells.
The hotel phone rang on her bed stand. She wondered who could be calling now since most of the family called her directly on her cellphone. Hello?"
"Maleny?" it was a man's voice on the other line, unsure of who he was getting by the sound of it.
"Yes, this is her, who's calling?"
"Your one and only, Julius Palemor," the flirty tone didn't sit well with Maleny.
"I don't...I don't know who this is but it's not funny," Maleny frowned.
"You don't get to play with me like that, Maleny. I've finally found you again and I wanna talk."
"And just who the hell do you think you are?" Maleny really wished she knew the answer to that.
The man laughed. "Seriously? We're going to play that game?"
"I don't know who you are-"
"Yeah, but I've found you and I'm not letting you go. Meet me down at the beach in an hour or I will come and get you myself," and Julius gave no time for Maleny to refuse. He hung up on her like that.
Maleny was dumbfounded. She had no recollection of this man and no idea what he could possibly want from her. But she supposed she didn't really have a choice at the moment. The last thing she wanted was for some strange man to go hunting down the hotel for her and cause havoc.
~0~
Marlenie watched after the waiter who'd just left her coffee on the table. Klaus could only contain himself for so long.
"I suppose he's on my list now," he declared with a smirk starting at the corner of his lips.
Marlenie's eyes fell on her father with a matching smirk. "Dad, I'm a little old for you to not let me date."
"Not in my book."
Marlenie playfully rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the coffee." She picked it up and took a small sip from it since it was still pretty warm.
Klaus gaze turned soft as he watched her. "It'd been a pretty long time since we had a moment like this."
Marlenie knew what he meant by that. Four years ago they always had coffee in the afternoon despite her being the only one interested in it. He just tried to appease his only daughter with him. "With the letters Nick keeps sending me, I know you haven't called him nor Hope. What happened?"
Klaus toyed with the napkin dispenser in silence. Of course something happened. He could never just abandon his children without a reason. But he knew if he told Marlenie the specific reason he stopped all contact with Hope, she would blame herself. And if he told Nicolas about it, he would feel the same.
Marlenie's sudden departure from him hit him harder than expected. Being on his own, completely, turned him into his worst nightmare. And it only got worse. Someone had the bright idea to teach Hope astral projection, which, in reality, was a useful gift when used correctly...and when the timing was right. But Hope had used it during the worst possible moment and caught him in one of his murder sprees. He would never be able to get rid of little Hope's face when she first saw him.
"Letters and phone calls were not enough for your sister," he went with the simplest truth, which in all fairness was a truth. "I had to distant myself before she attempted something she shouldn't."
"Yeah, when she was eleven. Now she's fourteen and understands the situation."
"At fourteen, what did you most want?" Marlenie remained quiet for a minute. She didn't need to answer for Klaus to know. "You wanted your family," he said for her. "You wanted your father."
"Different times, though. Hope has the magic I didn't have and the technology I didn't have. One video chat would not kill you," Marlenie's snap didn't sit well with Klaus. "And Nicolas? I think he understands just fine what the do's and don'ts are of this."
"I don't talk to them for the same reason you don't talk with the family," Klaus' one line silenced her. "The limitations are difficult to deal with. To have them close and yet so far away is something I never imagined would hurt. You, however, have the luxury of seeing them in person. Each and every one of them. You are bound by fear of reality and I am bound by rules."
"Maybe aunt Rebekah was right. This family is cursed," Marlenie picked up her espresso for another drink. "I find it easier to stay away and forget the horrible circumstances we're in. It's my escape. Yours, I suppose, is murdering."
"It's a guarantee," Klaus clarified.
"And it works perfectly, right? You haven't spoken to my mother in how long?"
Klaus' eyes narrowed on that question. Marlenie could not help her smirk despite being on the same boat. "We are not discussing Maleny. Off limits."
"It's her birthday, in Mexico. I paired up with aunt Rebekah and sent her a beautiful beach dress. And you?" Marlenie continued to speak about the forgotten blonde.
"We are not-"
"Dad," Marlenie's face was pleading. She hardly spoke about her mother and Klaus happened to be the only person who could understand the effects of not seeing Maleny for years. "Did you buy her something?"
Klaus swayed his head, exhaling with regret. His mouth was about to begin talking when he knew damn well it wouldn't end good. It hardly did whenever he got to thinking about Maleny. Usually the drive to forget her pushed him into a new spree of victims. And yet…
"Your dear grandmother has already lectured me about the dangers of my anonymous gifts," he meant that in the most casual way possible but Marlenie knew better than to believe it.
"Yes, I've learned my grandmother can be a bit difficult," Marlenie crinkled her nose, though smiled at the idea of her grandmother. Abigail Rowan was a generous, kind woman nonetheless.
"I'm glad you never had to meet your grandfather," Klaus muttered then, after a moment's thought, added, "Grandfathers."
"What did you get her, though?" Marlenie continued to insist, leading Klaus to thinking this wasn't just an opportunity to speak about Maleny. Marlenie probably had been suppressing any and all thoughts about their family; they were in the same boat, after all.
He indulged his daughter.
"A hair comb I saw a couple weeks ago. Thought it might look nice on her," and despite not seeing her in person, Klaus was sure Maleny did. In his thoughts about her, he didn't right away notice Marlenie's smile fading the more she thought about Maleny. "Marls-" his quiet call for her startled her out of her thoughts, "Go see your mother. Go see your brother and your sister."
Marlenie pursed her lips and slowly leaned back on her chair. "I can't do that."
"Actually, you can. You are like me - we cannot be on our own for so long without some repercussions. You can lock yourself in your business, surround yourself with your co-workers and everything you want but your family is what makes you feel solitary. Go, Marlenie. You can be in Mexico by tomorrow." Klaus took a moment for himself, to remind himself that this would never be a possibility for himself. "Go and see your mother, have breakfast together, walk on the beach...take her to the streets for an afternoon...treat her to evenings at the beach for a picnic or…"
Marlenie was sure he was no longer talking about her and her mother. This sounded something he and Maleny would probably do if they were together. Quit being so selfish, Marls. Maybe she could make up the extra pain she'd caused her father in a way.
"Dad, I need you to come with me."
~ 0 ~
The beach at night could be a scary place, but for Maleny it tended to be moments of peace and bliss...more so than at dawn. She could watch the waves crash over one another under the moonlight for hours. It was also when there was less heat so that was a bonus.
"Maleny, you came," the same voice from the phone turned her away from the ocean.
She saw a man with shaggy brown curls and matching brown eyes walking towards her. Her left hand gripped her sandals she was holding. She had no idea who he was, but apparently he knew her.
The man, Julius, came to a stop in front of her. His curls fell over his forehead when he looked down at her. "I thought I'd never find you again. But I guess it wasn't that hard searching for the only true vampire-witch hybrid in the world."
Maleny eyed him with an obvious degree of suspicion. "What's that got to do with anything?" she asked despite knowing that her unique being was a special topic.
Julius laughed, throwing his head back for a moment. "Oh, I'm not doing that bit."
Maleny frowned with further confusion. "What do you want?"
"Is that how you're going to treat an old friend?" his attempt of touching her bare arm was met with a glare. She had pulled her arm away from his and took a full step back for good measure. "Alright, so maybe we didn't end on good terms but is that really how you're going to greet me?"
"I don't know you, and I'm frankly not against the idea of just snapping your neck and returning to my room."
Julius raised an eyebrow at her, his playfulness gone. He snatched her arm again and gripped it to at least have her full attention for a moment. "Hey I'm here to warn you about some delirious cult-"
"-let go of me!" Maleny exclaimed, not quite listening to what he had to say. She twisted his arm holding onto hers and attempted to rush off but he sped around her to block her way. "Oh…" she stumbled back a step and frowned.
"Now you're going to listen to me because I went through a hell of a trouble searching for you and you were the one who put me up to this!" Julius practically snarled at her. At the same time, Maleny felt a sheer force push down over her head, making her cry out loud. Her hand dropped her sandals to grab her head. "Best we do it the easy way!"
~ 0 ~
"So you didn't come alone," Klaus looked at Marlenie's best friend, Evie, and their warlock friend, Xavier, with mild interest. He only had a genuine respect for Evie since she was the reason Marlenie survived Lucien Castle's venomous bite.
Marlenie closed the door to her apartment and popped the 'p' when she answered "Nope!". She walked past her father and took her two friends into the living room where Klaus came to the surprise of finding a sight prepared for a spell. "I don't travel alone, Dad."
"And we were very happy to accompany her," Evie side-hugged Marlenie.
"And I don't really have much of a choice," Xavier sarcastically added while he went up to a grimoire on a table.
"Shush and get that spell ready," Marlenie motioned with a hand.
"What exactly are we doing, Marlenie?" demanded Klaus, patience beginning to dwindle.
"It's Mum's birthday where she is," Marlenie walked back to him and took one of his hands. "I do this when I feel even more lonely than usual."
"Do what?" Klaus raised an eyebrow at her. Unfortunately, because Marlenie was mostly like him, he needed to be weary of her.
Marlenie's smile was a soft one. She just told her father to be a little patient with her and to close his eyes. Against his better judgement, Klaus followed the instructions. Xavier cast a spell that made both father and daughter feel like they were surrounded by a whirlwind. When it stopped, the sound of ocean waves came to Klaus' ears.
He opened his eyes and immediately saw the dark ocean with tumultous waves. The moonlight shined above, and…
"I swear to God you better not to do that again," someone was in the middle of threatening.
Klaus gripped Marlenie's hand still in his. He had to be dreaming. This was a mirage, an illusion…
"Over there," Marlenie instructed him to look up ahead.
Klaus followed her gaze to see a familiar, petite blonde currently arguing it out with a man. In seven years, Maleny had remained the same except for a few hairstyle changes but...she remained beautiful.
"Xavier usually does an advanced astral projection spell for me once a month," Marlenie explained quietly. "Mum can't see us nor hear us. It's a one-way street, basically."
"Because if she can't hear nor see us…"
"It's easier to leave," Marlenie finished with an almost hushed tone. This was how she survived without seeing her family for years. A couple minutes of silent visits was enough to remind her that her mother was alive and well.
"She's beautiful," the words tumbled out before Klaus even realized what he said. Images of Maleny in his head weren't enough of her true form. He missed her, God he missed her so much. His temptation with her was far too much to even think about phone calls or video chats. He loved her; it was his strength to keep as far away from her as possible for her safety...but it was also his weakness of temptation.
"And...she's pissed," Marlenie noticed the way Maleny was glaring at the man with her.
"You are a stranger and I am not going to listen to anything else you have to say to me! Good night!" Maleny shouted.
"How could you not trust me?" Julius' voice stopped her from walking off. She turned sideways, her face expressing nothing but confusion. "I know you weren't yourself when we met but I wouldn't try to hurt you. You told me to find you if you ever disappeared."
These obscure yet implying words made both Marlenie and Klaus glare at the man's back. Who the hell did he think he was anyways? And why would he know her that much?
"For the last time, I don't know you!" Maleny returned for her sandals on the sand but still kept a cold look on Julius. "Leave me alone!"
As she got up, he snatched her arm again and yanked her up to him. "You're an idiot if you don't believe me-"
Maleny whacked him on the head with her free hand, which just so happened to be the one holding her sandals. She watched him growl and stumble away from her. "Don't call me again," she said with a straight voice just before waving her right hand index finger and third finger to the side, snapping Julius' neck. A tiny smirk quirked at the corner of her lips.
"Alright, Mum!" Marlenie cheered as her mother turned away and headed back for her hotel.
Even Klaus found wide, proud smirk for Maleny. He loved Maleny's moments of feistiness (though honestly he would be proud of anything she did). But the connection suddenly vanished when Klaus' phone began to ring.
He and Marlenie were back in the apartment living room. Klaus pulled out his phone to see Hayley's ID on his screen. "Hello?"
"...Dad…?" Hope's voice was enough to make Klaus and Marlenie freeze in their spots. "M-Mom and Nicolas are missing. We can't find them - please...please help me!"
Klaus locked eyes with Marlenie. There was a drive to help Hope, and to find their missing family, but as much as Marlenie willed herself to silently agree...she just couldn't. It was a temptation she could not fall into.
"I'm on my way," Klaus ended up saying on his own, though he himself didn't know what this would lead to.
Author's Note:
Ah dang it Hope! P.S I really love writing scenes between Klaus and Marlenie because, honestly, out of the three kids she's the one who's most like Klaus. And the fact they're aware of it is both funny and sad to me xD.
P. S: I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I thought anyone might want to comment about a story or even just talk! I'll probably drop some aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, drop a comment maybe; my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.
For the review: I knooooooow, each time I remember it's the last story of the series...I want to cry. Mal is my Originals baby forevermore. But I'm always open to doing AU's (I might have one in mind, i don't know shhh). Yeah the ending for the series wasn't exactly my favorite soooo it'll be different here. Hope you like the new chapter and thanks!
