"I don't like them very much." Florence mutters as she walks away from the bar with big strides, hoping to put as much distance between herself and the witches.
"They're normally very- No, you're right. They can be a bit much sometimes, but they do have a lot of knowledge regarding witch business." Kaleb offers with an apologetic smile. He scratches the back of his head, unsure if Florence was upset with him for bringing her to the witches.
"Isn't there like a witch-Wikipedia we can consult instead?" Florence rubs her head. She was still a little freaked out that a witch had healed her, but then again, the women in her dreams had been healed by vampires often enough.
"Unlike Marie Laveau's claims to be all-knowing, we witches aren't. There's a lot more guesswork involved than I'd like to admit."
"Pity." Florence mumbles before her mood brightens. "At least we have a lead now."
"Do you think a past self of yours could have a soul connection to the Mikaelsons?" Kaleb asks carefully. Florence hadn't had much chance to voice her thoughts on the matter seeing as the Deveraux witches and Sabine kept shouting over one another, leaving little room for interjections.
Florence halts for a second, eyes glazing over at Kaleb's words. She hadn't admitted it to herself before, but he was right. The dreams she experienced had to be of her past lives. That was the only plausible reason she could think of. When the dreams first started she had believed them to be random, seeing no connection between the five females, and it made sense, no two females were alive at the same time.
"Are you alright? Are you having a vision?" Kaleb asks concernedly, hand waving in front of Florence her face.
Florence shakes her head and pretends she hadn't just had a revelation. "It's nothing. And to answer your question, I don't know what to believe, to be honest, but as far as we've heard from Jane-Anne there isn't a wide variety of sources when it comes to soulmates."
Kaleb nods.
"Unless..." Florence grins in triumph. If anyone would know about a concept such as soulmates, it must be Marcel. He did grow up surrounded by the knowledge and wealth of the Mikaelsons. Surely he could have picked something up, especially if Charlotte had a soul connection to Kol.
"Where are you hurrying off to?" Kaleb asks, slight alarm audible in his voice. He was known to be erratic from time to time, but this could also be said for the troublesome human he was now running behind.
"We're meeting Marcel, he can help us." Florence grabs Kaleb's hand, urging him to come along.
Kaleb digs his heels in, making Florence halt. "Perhaps I should-"
"Oh no, you're coming with me! It's my turn to make you feel uncomfortable." Florence gives a tug and Kaleb reluctantly lets himself get dragged towards the lion's den.
• ••
"Florence." Marcel greets, hands clasping together to show his delight at the girl's return.
"Marcel." Florence smiles.
Marcel's grin falters momentarily when his eyes land on Kaleb. "Why did you bring him?"
"He's... my friend. He's been helping with trying to solve this whole flashback thing." Florence shrugs, trying to downplay the tension. Her eyes flit to the gate as another person enters the premise, Thierry.
"Yes. I'm her friend. A very close friend." Kaleb grins as he slings his arm around Florence's shoulder, doing little to hide his contempt for the vampire before him. Marcel has caused his coven quite some trouble lately, so Kaleb felt no need for feigned friendliness.
Marcel narrows his eyes briefly at Kaleb before turning back to Florence, a concerned expression plastered on his face. "Florence, you can't let yourself in with the witches."
"Says the vampire." Florence deadpans.
"Where did you run off to?" Marcel questions, ignoring Florence's jab.
"What? Couldn't your little spy keep up?" Florence asks in a light tone, shooting Thierry, who was still hovering near the entrance a grin, the vampire, in turn, rolls his eyes.
Marcel shoots her an unamused look.
"We went to see some of Kaleb's... friends." Florence concedes.
Marcel pinches the bridge of his nose. He wasn't going to bother trying to get the identities of the witches. If he was correct about Florence's sense of loyalty she wouldn't let anything slip.
"What did you discover?" Marcel asks, settling himself on one of the couches. With a wave of his hand, he invites both Florence and Kaleb to do the same.
Florence exchanges a look with Kaleb.
Kaleb shrugs, showing his indifference as he plops himself on a couch. If Florence wanted to spill the beans to Marcel, she had every right to, even if Kaleb didn't fully approve.
"Do you think Kol loved Charlotte?" Florence asks instead.
"What?" Marcel's eyes widen a little and his gaze flits over to Kaleb for a second, who had busied himself with petting one of the decorative pillows.
"Did he love her? Or was it a fleeting infatuation?" Florence clarifies with little to no emotion on her face. She needed to know if the love Charlotte felt for Kol was reciprocal or simply a fabrication created in the mind of a lonely girl.
Marcel swallows. "I think he cared deeply for her."
"He cared for her... so not love?" Florence asks carefully after a second of consideration. She couldn't help but feel a little deflated at Marcel's testimonial.
"I can't tell you that, Florence. I don't remember the interactions between Kol and Charlotte well enough to form a solid opinion on it." Marcel sighs upon seeing Florence's disappointment. "What I do know is that expressing affectionate emotions doesn't come easy to any of the Mikaelsons, but Kol was kind to Charlotte and sincere. If he loved her, that would have been one indication of it."
Marcel lets out a humorless laugh. "Another indication is the rampage Kol went on when she passed away. He would have burned the city down if it weren't for Klaus and Elijah's interference."
"How did she die?" Kaleb asks, interest peaked.
Marcel scowls and suppresses the urge to punch the warlock for his insensitivity. Upon seeing Florence's questioning look he replies. "Yellow fever."
Florence swallows as a chill runs through her, accompanied by a brief sense of nausea. Yellow fever had been discussed in one of her history classes and the symptoms had sounded cruel to her.
Until now all her dreams or visions had been sunshine and rainbows, but of course, tragedy had struck at some point, after all, all these women had died. Florence shudders at the idea that some of them might have died at the hands of the Mikaelsons.
"Kol ordered a bunch of witches to heal you-her. Nothing worked. Not even vampire blood." Marcel continues, jaw clenched at the painful memory of losing one of his main caretakers.
Florence nods, unable to offer Marcel any words of consolation. She couldn't imagine that he would want those from her anyway.
"The current theory of Florence's 'condition' is a soul connection." Kaleb speaks up, breaking the tension and ignoring the intimidating looks he was receiving from multiple vampires.
"Have you heard of something like that?" Florence asks when Marcel remains silent.
"It's uncommon." Marcel admits, eyes locking on the young girl in front of him.
"Do you know of people who had a soul connection?"
"I used to believe I had one with someone." Marcel admits before shaking the memory of Rebekah off. "To answer your question, I do not currently know anyone with a soul connection."
"You've proven to be of great usefulness then." Kaleb snaps. Being surrounded by vampires made him irritable, especially seeing as they kept eyeing him as if he were their next meal.
"Watch your mouth, boy." Marcel replies, rising from the couch.
"Kaleb, Marcel." Florence interjects.
Marcel swallows his anger, nods, and retakes his seat. He looks thoughtfully at Florence, ignoring Kaleb's annoyed huffing. "What do you wish to do now with this newly acquired information?"
Florence hesitates for a second, gaze shifting between the two men. She was certain they weren't going to like her reply. "I want to meet Klaus."
"That's a terrible idea!" Kaleb shouts at once.
Marcel raises his hand, warning Kaleb to lower his voice.
"No, it's not. If there's a so-called soul connection he must recognize me? Or at least be curious enough to investigate... this." Florence taps on her temple with her index finger.
"Or he will kill you before you get the chance to tell your story." Kaleb snaps, deflating a little when Marcel sends him another warning look.
"He's paranoid, Florence. He will think it's a trick, that you've only come to lure him into a false sense of security." Marcel states.
Florence shakes her head, her mind already made up.
"Listen to me, I understand you wanted answers. Now you have a possible answer. Take that, see it as a win and go home." Marcel says. "You don't want to get involved in any Mikaelson drama."
"I already am."
"Not truly. Believe me, you don't want to get involved." Marcel grinds out.
"How can you say that? They're your family."
"No. Family is only those who carry the Mikaelson name." Marcel replies bitterly.
Florence frowns at the poorly concealed grief that crossed Marcel's face. "That can't be true." Florence shakes her head, memories of little Marcel running around, playing with Rebekah, and spending time with Elijah and Niklaus. She had seen the real Mikaelsons and they definitely loved Marcel.
"It is." Marcel sighs. He actively avoids Florence's gaze. Marcel couldn't bear seeing Charlotte looking back at him right now. "They left me for dead, never bothered to look back."
"Do you really believe so? Klaus told Delphine about a son he had lost. He believed you had died at the hands of his father. He was heartbroken." Florence admits, swallowing away the lump of emotion.
She wonders how much heartbreak could have been prevented if either of them had reached out, or in Niklaus's case; had returned to New Orleans.
Marcel shakes his head, indicating that this topic was off the table for now. So instead he indulged the girl in her absurd idea. "Where will you go?"
"I'm going to Chicago." Florence decides. Earlier on she had already resolved to visit Chicago next, besides that, on the maps she and Marcel had looked at regarding Niklaus' quest for werewolf packs, he was closer to Chicago than Mystic Falls at this point.
