Super short chapter but Happy New Year's Eve! (it's still December where I am so technically I got this chapter out in the same month as promised)
Chapter 94
Freya managed to get the wards back up around the city by sunrise but by then, the family was sure that dozens of monsters could have crept across the border undetected. For the protection of their children, the Mikaelsons decided to pack up and move the children to the cabin until the school year started.
"Tell me again why I must bring them along?" Klaus asked with a snarl as he stared down at the two teenage boys sitting quietly in the Courtyard, waiting patiently, albeit nervously, for further instruction from any of the dozen Mikaelsons scurrying about the Compound.
Klaus and Elijah stood on the third-floor balcony, their packed suitcases stacked on the floor beside them as they waited for the rest of their family to get their things together. They needed to abscond from the Compound as quickly and as seamlessly as possible so they had to wait until everyone was packed before they could fill the cars and disappear into the normal New Orleans traffic.
"Because," said Elijah, "They have no one and nowhere else to go."
"Since when did we become the local orphanage? Taking in whatever hopeless fatherless child that crosses our path." Klaus scoffed.
"Am I mistaken or was it your lover on the phone this morning begging us to ensure the werewolf boy's safety?"
"He would be safer at the school."
"As you have objected half-a-dozen times already but the answer still remains, he refuses to go anywhere without his brother."
"He is a teenage boy. He doesn't get to 'refuse' anything. We will make him."
"That's your answer for everything," said Marcel coming within earshot of his father's conversation. He leaned against the banister, catching Rafael's eyes as the boy stared back up at them. "Why try to reason when you can simply force people to do what you want?"
"It's worked so far," Klaus answered curtly, ignoring his son's irritable attitude. He knew Marcel was still peeved about being embarrassed in front of the wolves the night before but Klaus refused to let Marcel's surly attitude to goad him.
"And what do you expect us to do with his brother after we force him to attend a school he doesn't want to be in? And how do we possibly keep him in a school that he doesn't want to be in?"
"Freya and Vincent are working together to create new wards that the Gemini witches can't break. That's all we'll need to keep him in school. As for his brother, I neglect to see where his life became my problem."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Rafael barked, his jaw tight with growing annoyance as he jumped to his feet. Landon couldn't hear anything from so far down in the courtyard but he followed his brother's lead and jumped to his feet too. "I ain't going nowhere without Landon."
Rafael and Landon suddenly stiffened at the sight of Klaus suddenly disappearing from the balcony and re-appearing in the Courtyard in front of them.
Klaus stared at Rafael with dead eyes. "Caroline wants you at her school, so whether you like it or not, you will be there. So you've got three weeks to realize it's the safest place for you to be. You're an orphan and a wolf without a pack. The chances of your continued survival alone are slim."
"I'm not alone," Rafael bit back, unfazed by Klaus's intense glare. "I've got Landon."
Stepping closer to his brother, Landon said, "I'm his family and his pack."
Cutting his eyes at the curly-haired boy, Klaus said, "You are wolf-bait at best."
"Niklaus," Elijah called. "That's enough."
Rolling his eyes at his brother, Klaus decided to leave Rafael alone for now. He had three weeks to convince the boy to do the right thing.
"It'll only be for one week," said Hayley as she carried Hope's suitcase to the stairway as the girl stomped beside her. "I just need to stay long enough to guide the pack through running the city without us."
"Why can't I stay here with you?" The girl continued to whine.
"You'll have a lot of fun with your dad and Marcel at the cabin."
Hope continued to pout as she saw Marcel and Elijah waiting by the balcony.
"C'mon, Hope," Marcel said kindly, walking over and draping his arm over Hope's shoulders. "You and I can keep each other distracted. D's decided she's going to stay with Josh instead of coming to the cabin so we can sulk together for the next few days."
"You're sure about that?" asked Klaus. "Letting Davina stay in the city with everything going on?"
"She hasn't really been in the mood for rational discussion lately," Marcel sighed.
When he tried to convince Davina to go to the cabin with them, her exact words were 'If you put me in a secluded cabin with Klaus Mikaelson for three weeks, one of us won't make it back alive.'
"Josh promised to keep an eye on her and call me if anything goes down."
"I suppose that means Kol is also going to stay behind." Klause leaned against the stairway banister and tallied up the number of Mikaelsons over the age of 19 that will be at the cabin for the first week: Elijah and himself.
"Wrong again, dear brother!"
All eyes fell down to the Courtyard entrance where Kol stood with a bright smile on his face. He'd been packed and ready to leave since his siblings brought up the idea of moving to the cabin.
"What sort of brother would I be if I left you lot all alone with four teenagers and a toddler to take care of?"
Klaus's eyes narrowed. "Since when do you like children?"
Walking over to Rafael and Landon, Kol pulled the boys into a hug and said, "I adore children. I'm great with them, actually. You'll see."
Klaus looked up to Elijah, both of them a bit confused by this unexpected change in their brother but unsure of what to think about it.
Their attention was soon drawn to Freya as she added another suitcase to the stack.
"Five," she huffed.
Confused, Kol repeated, "Five?"
"Teenagers," she continued. "There will be five teenagers with you."
Kol's eyebrows knotted in the middle of his forehead as Finn inched down the hall towards Freya, his head down in shame. He'd lost the argument with his sister about staying at the Compound with her as she continued building new barriers for the city and the school.
"Technically seven," Elijah added. "If we count Marcellus and Rebekah."
"We're not," Marcel irritably corrected.
"It doesn't matter," Kol sang from the courtyard. "You can throw a thousand teenagers at me and I'll be ready for them all because I am amazing with children. You'll see."
Marcel eyed Kol knowingly as his friend gave a wily smile. He knew that Kol was going to use this trip as a way to prove to his brothers that he could be a responsible caretaker. He wasn't sure if Kol could be mature but he was interested in seeing the truth for himself.
"Oh great!" Marcel's eyes drew to the compound entrance where Sebastian stood with three large suitcases of his own. "You haven't left yet."
Hope's eyes lit up at the sight of her friend.
Klaus's lip curled at the sight. "Not another one."
"Be nice, Klaus," said Hayley. "I invited him. I thought Hope would feel better about my absence if she had a friend."
Cutting his eyes at the mother of his child, Klaus said, "Don't you think I'll have my hands full enough as it is?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Dupeaux assured me that Sebastian won't be any trouble. Isn't that right Sebastian?"
Sebastian's face burned at the question. He caught himself before he could unconsciously reach back to cover his behind, still sore from the spanking he received before leaving home as a reminder to be on his best behavior while under the Mikaelsons care.
"Y-yes ma'am."
-M-
"C'mon," Izzy mumbled to herself as she opened another of Freya's Grimoires in search of the spell that would release the magic from her bracelet. "You gotta be in one of these damn things."
"Can I help you find something?"
Izzy nearly dropped the book in her hands as she spun around to see Vincent standing in the doorway.
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
Coming further into the room, eyeing the book in the girl's hand, he answered, "Freya said she could use some help securing the new barriers so she called me. What are you doing here?"
"Um," She slammed the book closed and slid it back on the shelf. "Just...catching up on some studies."
"I don't recall assigning any of these Grimoires to you. Have you and Freya been doing extra studies without me?"
"Um, yeah," she lied. "Just a little."
"Interesting." Vincent picked up the grimoire she'd put away and flipped through it. It was from the 12th century and contained magic beyond the girl's grasp. "I'd like to see what you've been learning from her at our next lesson."
"Um, yeah, sure...I mean," she started easing slowly towards the door."We...we'll see. I haven't really...picked up on it yet but.. I...I gotta go...to the cabin now so, I'll show you...later."
"Izzy," Vincent's stern voice paused the girl as she reached for the doorknob. "That bracelet is for your own safety as well as the safety of those around you. I know it seems unfair but you are a very powerful witch with the potential to do a lot of damage. We need to be absolutely certain that you have your magic under control before we allow you unfettered access to it."
"I know," she rolled her eyes. "I told you, I was just studying one of Freya's Grimoires. I wasn't looking for the bracelet spell."
"See that it remains that way."
Izzy huffed and slammed the door behind her as she left the room.
"Doing okay?" Davina asked, seeing Izzy pressed against Freya's workshop door with an irritated look on her face.
Sighing, Izzy said, "Just ready to have my magic back."
Davina gave a chuckle at the girl.
"Don't worry. I've got some contacts in the Tremé. I'll see if one of them has any idea on how to release that spell for you while you're at the cabin."
Izzy groaned as she started down the hall, dreading the idea of spending the next three weeks without her magic.
"Why don't you come to the cabin with us?"
"Spend three weeks trapped in the middle of the woods with Klaus Mikaelson. No thank you."
"But I'll be there stuck there with a bunch of kids."
Davina chuckled. "You're just a kid too."
"I'm way more mature than Hope and her friends."
"A little more mature," Davina laughed, pulling the girl into a hug. "Not very."
So, I will be doing the Malvore storyline in this series but I'll do it a bit differently than it was done in the show for obvious reasons.
Also, Landon and Rafael will not become Mikaelsons, I will find them suitable guardians later in the school year, but for now, I wanted to add a little more chaos to the cabin trip.
