"We arrive into this world as innocents. Wide-eyed. Vulnerable. It is the job of our parents to nurture and protect us. Unfortunately, our own parents failed miserably at even the most basic of parental tasks. But, we are not beholden to the past they created for us." Nik told his brothers as the four of them and I sat in the dining room, Finn and Kol still bound with the enchanted manacles that prevented them from doing magic, as compelled servants in suits placed platter of breakfast pastries on the table. "Today, a new future awaits. Forget your animosity toward Elijah and myself. Instead, join us against she who truly deserves your ire- our mother." I watched Kol roll his eyes and Finn looked at him bored. "Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms!"
"Well—" Kol said as he reached for a plate of pastries with his shackled hands, but Elijah pulled it out of his way. Kol sighed, rolling his eyes again.
"But, if you continue to oppose us, a denial of pastries will be the least of your concerns." Nik told them smiling making Kol sigh again.
"If all you wanted was my allegiance against Mother Dearest, you should have said so! Save me a night shackled to the wall." Kol told Nik.
"Yes, this was Niklaus. My recommendation was to remove your limbs, one by one, until you comply." Elijah told them making Nik laugh and rose from his seat.
"We've—we've no desire to torture you." Nik insisted to them standing behind them and squeezing their shoulders with his hands. "Provided you vow to stand beside us!" Finn shrugged out of Nik's grip and looked at him with skepticism.
"Brothers... Does that word even apply to us? After all these centuries of betrayal? And, has loyalty to you ever rewarded? If so, tell me, Niklaus- where is our sister, Rebekah?" Finn asked him. "She was blindly loyal to you for a thousand years, and now? Nowhere to be found. Where did our sister go? And, how did she escape your vile machinations?" Nik, who'd turned his back on us, laughed fakely to cover for something before he turned to face us once more.
"Heh! You think me vile? What, then, do you make of the one who cursed us?" Nik asked him.
"She was trying to make you mortal again!" Finn reminded us frustrated. I saw, from the corner of my eyes, Elijah take a knife off the table, clearly suspicious and annoyed by Finn's words. "And, you both refused her." Finn laughed darkly. "It only proves how far you've fallen. But, I expect Rebekah, and even Nikole, will have a different response to her proposal. See, unlike the two of you, she always did cling to her humanity."
"Rebekah is off-limits to you. You pursue her, and you will suffer." Elijah said angrily. Nik and I shared a concerned look over Finn and Kol's surprised faces at Elijah's uncharacteristic outburst.
"What makes you think I'll join you and your little, Esther's bitch squad?" I asked him.
"You were a mother." He reminded me and I sat up a little straighter and took a deep breath. "Esther is offering you a chance to not only have more children, but be rid of your werewolf curse once more. To live knowing that in 500 years your daughter will not carry the Petrova doppelganger curse."
"The Petrova curse has been fulfilled." I reminded him. "The doppelganger curse was broken when the spell on Nik was broken."
"Do not let him goad you, Elijah, Nikole. Neither he, nor Esther, will find Rebekah unless she wants to be found." Nik reminded his elder brother before turning to Finn. "And she does not."
"Esther is quite determined." Finn told us. "She's been searching for Rebekah since the day she returned. I imagine it's only a matter of time." At his words, Elijah completely lost his temper and grabbed Finn by the collar and slammed him onto the table before feeding on him. Nik and I both pulled Elijah away from Finn and shoved him against a wall in another room. Elijah put his hands up defensively, so Nik and I backed off before Nik tugged Elijah's handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him so he could clean himself up.
"I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone, but our brothers have power, as well as knowledge of Esther's plans." Nik reminded Elijah, who listened while cleaning himself up. "We need them alive."
"Imagine what they would do to Rebekah. To Katherine and Nikolas." Elijah whispered to us.
"Rebekah has been cloaked by powerful magic. Focus on the task at hand." Nik reminded Elijah before lowering his voice and looking to make sure this brothers aren't eavesdropping on us. "We need to persuade our brothers."
"I'm through with persuasion." Elijah said going to leave the room, but Nik and I grabbed him by the shoulders and stopped him before sharing a concerned look.
"Has the earth shifted on its axis? You needing restraint from me?" Nik asked him. Elijah looked taken aback, but he was distracted when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it when he saw the caller ID.
"It's me." I heard Rebekah say frantically. "I have the children, and we're on the run. Esther found us." My blood froze and I ran my hands through my hair. "We're safe, for now— I've lost her bloody starlings, but I have no idea where to go."
"Tell her to head west." Nik instructed.
"The only advantage that we have is that she thinks the baby died. Text me the plans." Bekah said before hanging up.
"Go. I'll take care of Kol and Finn." Elijah told us before starting towards his brothers.
"Splendid. And, in your hands, I assume they'll be dead by nightfall." Nik said.
"I will show restraint. Katherine and Nikolas need their parents." Elijah reminded us.
"What they need- what we need- are allies to help us defeat our mother." Nik told him. "Finn and Kol must be turned to our side. Without their help, there will be nowhere left for our children to run."
"Niklaus, your children—" Nik started, but Nik cut him off.
"We have waited months to see our children." Nik reminded Elijah, taking my hand in his. I looked up and Nik and sighed, unhappy with his plan, but I understood. Elijah was unstable and needed to be far away. "We can wait one more day." Elijah looked at us sympathetically before he got ready to leave.
"Elijah." I called to him and he turned to me. "Protect them until we can reach you. Please."
"I give you my word."
"Thank you." I said offering him a smile. He returned it before turning and leaving. "We're going to need help with your brothers." I told him.
"And I just so happen to have the perfect person in mind." He told me with a smirk.
Nik and I walked back into the dining room to rejoin Finn and Kol with our newest guest behind us.
"Gentleman!" Nik said to them with a smile on his face. "We apologize for keeping you waiting. Good news is, I've returned with an old friend. Someone who wants to say hello." Marcel walked in from behind us, looking pleased.
"Hello!" he said smiling widely making Finn roll his eyes and sigh. "How's it going, fellas?"
"Ah, you again. You ever get bored of getting bullied by my brother?" Kol asked him as Marcel stripped his jacket off while chuckling. He hung up the jacket before he began to roll up his sleeves to prepare for what was to come.
"Oh, I volunteered for this." Marcel told him.
"Did ya?" Kol asked.
"The way I see it, you have it coming." Marcel told him before shoving Kol roughly in the chest. "First, you messed with Davina. Now, I hear you wanna drag Rebekah into all this. Uh-uh. Not happening."
"Well, I'd prefer you both to join me against our mother. But, I'll happily settle for one or the other. Either way, if you continue to defy me, your lives will be reduced to an unending sequence of agonizing torture!" Nik told them smiling. Kol looked torn and turned to his older brother, who maintained his poker face. "So, which is it to be?" While Marcel took Kol I took Finn back to the ballroom and chained him back up.
"How low you must be feeling." He said to me.
"And why's that?" I asked him.
"You were a human girl who wanted to protect you family and you believe you fell in love with a parasitic mongrel who can't feel anything for anyone." He told me. I raised my eyebrow at him, but let him continue. "When you became pregnant, you didn't run from this news. You embraced it and loved that little boy. When you once again became pregnant you did everything to protect her, to bring her into this world. Whose fault is it that both your children are now dead?"
"That would be Esther's fault." I reminded him.
"If you hadn't been with Klaus your children would still be alive today." He told me and I stared at him. "You would be holding your little girl in your arms right now, if you hadn't chosen Klaus over your family."
"You forget something, Finn. Nik is my family." I reminded him. "I will always chose him over anyone else."
"Spoken like a true Mikaelson." Nik said walking into the ballroom with a roll of torture implements in his hand. He unrolled the bag on a nearby table and began looking through them. "Do you think our mother is even the least bit concerned for your well-being?" Nik pulled out a large knife and tested how sharp it was before looking back over at Finn.
"She knows I don't need rescuing." Finn told him. Nik held the knife so Finn could see it.
"Hmm?" Nik looked at me and I shook my head. He put the knife down in favor of a two pronged weapon. "Eh..."
"I like it." I told him.
"You can toy with me all you want, Niklaus, but you've had innumerable opportunities to kill me." Finn told him.
"But, I didn't, did I?" Nik asked pointing the knife at him. Finn smiled weakly and Nik out the tool down.
"Finn, I understand your devotion to her. She must have clung to you with desperate need after our sister Freya died, making you believe it was your responsibility to care for her. Always and forever, mmm? A burden which you accepted without question, because you were a good son. Small children lack the capacity to question their parents, but you're a man, now, Finn." Nik reminded him.
"Is that the extent of your argument? I'm a man, now, so I should join your wretched cause?" Finn asked him.
"Is it not better to join me, then spend the remainder of your mortal life aligned to a woman who always manipulated you? Brother, I offer you the opportunity to free yourself! Side with me, and I will give you the life she never once offered— a chance to choose your own path!" Nik told him. Finn remained silent and Nik sighed impatiently. "The choice is yours, brother!" Nik took my hand and we left the room for Finn to consider Nik's offer. We walked upstairs to Kol and Marcel to hear them talking.
"Heh, you think I'm gonna break her little heart? That's downright paternal of you, Marcel." Kol told him. We got to the door in time to see Marcel lose his temper and was about to attack Kol. I rushed to Marcel and grabbed his hand to stop him from killing Kol. "Little Sis to the rescue."
"Stand down, Marcel." I sighed taking the knife from him.
"Let's give Kol a little longer to decide before we lop off his head, hmm?" Nik offered with a smirk.
"Comments like that? He already thinks that you don't care." Marcel told us leaving the room.
"Is that so, brother?" Nik asked intrigued.
"You only daggered me a dozen times. You always cared more for Marcel than you did for me. And let's not forget your little wife got her brother to dagger me and kill off my entire sire line." Kol reminded me.
"Would you rather have been staked?" I asked him.
"Well, I didn't realize I had hurt your feelings." Nik told him.
"Yeah, well, that's the thing, innit, Nik? You don't know squat about me." Kol told him.
"Thanks to Marcel, I know all I need to." Nik told him and Kol rolled his eyes in frustration. "You're desperate to be part of this family, aren't you?" Kol looked down at the floor and remained silent and I sighed at the confirmation. "All of your mischief was just attempts for attention. You know, the truth is, Kol, you're right to feel slighted. I mean that. You're right. But, perhaps there's still time to make it up to you." Kol looked up at Nik in surprise and the three of us stared at each other. Nik smirked before leaving and I watched him go.
"You know, you say none of us care about you, but the only reason I gave Jeremy the dagger was because it was spelled so that your sire line would die. Elena wanted you dead to Damon wouldn't kill Jeremy, which you compelled him to do. It was you or your sire line. I made the right call." I told him and he stared at me before I joined Nik in the ballroom with Finn.
"You're aware our mother cares nothing for you?" Nik told Finn.
"Niklaus, I assure you, my mother loves me. She loves all of her children. You would not exist without her sacrifice." Finn told him. Nik headed towards me with a smirk.
"What sacrifice has she ever had to make for her children?" I asked Finn. "All she's ever done is curse you and try to kill you."
"Do you even know the truth?" he asked us. "That she was barren? And she grew so desperate for a family that she begged one of the most powerful witches in history for help- her sister, Dahlia. Of course, Dahlia's price was high. She agreed to make our mother fertile, but in exchange, she sought the first-born as sacrifice. Having no other choice, our mother gave away our beloved Freya." Nik scoffed and I rolled my eyes at him claim.
"Our sister died of plague." Nik reminded him.
"Esther gave her away. Think about that. The pain, the grief." Nik turned back to Finn so they stood nearly nose-to-nose.
"If what you say is true, then death is far too delicate a fate for her." Nik told him. Of course Nik and I knew what she must have felt if his story was true.
"She loves us more than you realize." Finn told him.
"And is love the reason she wanted our children dead?" Nik asked him angrily.
"She was trying to protect you from Dahlia's curse!" Finn shouted.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" I asked getting closer to them. "If your story is true then Esther payed her price!"
"We were all in danger from Dahlia with your daughter alive! Our mother did what she had to do to protect us." Finn insisted while ignoring my question. Wait, just our daughter? Just Katherine? Then why were they going to sacrifice Nikolas?
"WHAT CURSE?" Nik demanded.
"Dahlia demanded the first-born daughter of every generation. Had your daughter lived, she would have paid the price! And, if anyone had tried to protect her, Dahlia would come and destroy us all." Finn told us.
"Then why did she want Nikolas dead too?" I asked him. "Why did the witches come after both of our children under her orders?" Nik wrapped his arms around my waist so I wouldn't attack Finn at any words he might say.
"They were only supposed to go after your daughter only. They got greedy for power." He insisted. Nik glared at Finn, who looked almost scared of us. Nik pulled me away from Finn and I stared up at him, taking a deep breath.
"He's lying." He insisted and I gave him a look.
"How do we know that? What if he…"
"Nicole." He interrupted me cradling my face in his hands. "When have you ever known my family to do anything but lie?"
"You want a list?" I asked him smiling. "You haven't lied to me. Elijah. Rebekah." He smiled at me before giving me a quick kiss.
"I'm going to try called Elijah again. Check on Kol?" he asked me and I nodded. I went upstairs and smiled at Kol.
"Hey, you ready to be free again?" I asked him showing him the key Nik had given me.
"It's about bloody time." He told me with a smirk.
"After a thousand years one would think you'd learn some patience dear brother." I said smirking at him before unlocking the manacles.
"Well, little sister, patience has never been my forte." He reminded me and I laughed lightly.
"I figured that out a while ago." I told him. "So, you and Davina?"
"What you going to give me a pretty speech too? If I hurt her you'll hunt me down, and all that?" he asked me sarcastically as he stood up.
"Nah, If you hurt her she'll probably hurt you herself." I told him before we left the room and walked downstairs to see Davina looking down at Nik's unconscious body. "Nik!" I went to him and tried to wake him up.
"It's impressive. What exactly did you do to him?" Kol asked her.
"I channeled dark objects through my blood to poison him." She told him and I looked up at them to see her looking shocked at his unshackled state. "How did you get free?"
"Oh, it's a long story. Better question is, if he's not dead, then what are you gonna do when he recovers?" Kol asked her.
"We have an hour, maybe less. Enough time to chain him, bleed him, dump him in the river." Davina told him.
"Not on your life." I told her darkly.
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Kol asked surprised.
"Since when do you care what happens to Klaus?" Davina asked him confused.
"Since about five minutes ago." I told her. She turned her confused look to me until Marcel awoke from his death with a loud gasp. He pulled himself to his feet and rubbed his sore neck.
"Kol is with us now. We're going to be going up against Esther, assuming Klaus is... upright." Davina turned back to Kol.
"Look, Nik is a pain in the ass, but, well... she's a problem for us all." Kol told her.
"Klaus is the problem! I don't give a damn what happens to Esther." Davina told us angrily.
"Yeah, well, I sure do." Cami said coming into view. "Should I even ask?" Marcel just shrugged and rolled his eyes towards Davina.
"Cami, you should go. It's not safe." Davina told her.
"So far the only person who's tried killing anyone is you." I told her. "Besides Esther's already marked Cami."
"I woke up with puncture wounds all up and down my spine and no idea how they got there. According to my uncle's files, they're part of this ancient spell, and I don't know about you guys, but when I see "ancient" and "spell" in the same sentence, I think Esther." Cami explained. "How did you know?" she asked me.
"Hayley." I told her. Marcel went to get her water as she sat on a couch close by. She untied the top of her shirt on back and allowed both Kol and Davina to examine her back with Marcel close by.
"That's Mom's work, all right. She must have wiped your memory." Kol told Cami.
"Not the first time that's been done by a member of this family. What does it mean?" Cami asked.
"It's a byproduct of a..." Kol hesitated for a moment. "...preparation spell."
"Preparation for what?" Davina asked.
"To make her a vessel." He told her. Davina, Marcel and I looked horrified at the idea while Cami looked confused and scared.
"He means Esther prepared your body for someone to jump into." Marcel explained to her.
"Likely herself. I mean, knowing Mother." Kol told her.
"Or Bekah. Or me." I offered and they turned to look at me. "Finn said Esther was possibly close to finding Bekah and that he believed I would give myself over soon enough anyway."
"Where's Vincent?" Cami suddenly asked.
"I'll take you to him." I said finally getting off the floor and going to her. "Anyone touches my husband will get their face rearranged." Cami followed me into the ballroom where Nik and I had left Finn hanging by his manacles. She stormed towards him and immediately slapped him.
"Why me? Out of everyone in this city?" Cami asked him.
"Because you're perfect. Healthy, beautiful, smart... and alone. No one would question any personality changes. And, as I discovered from my sessions, Marcel would never allow you to be harmed." Finn told her.
"Fix this." She told him furiously. "Do something to stop it."
"I can't." he told her guiltily. "Only my mother can."
"I will step in front of a moving truck before I let your mother take over my body." Cami told him.
"She wasn't preparing you for herself, Cami. She was preparing you for Rebekah." He told her. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at me. We made our way back to the courtyard to discuss what to do next.
"How long do I have?" Cami asked Kol.
"Well, now that Esther knows where Rebekah hiding... not long. The only way to stop it is to stop her." Kol told her and she took a deep breath.
"Then, let's do this. Nikole's a Hybrid Marcel's a vampire, you both are powerful witches..." Cami listed off as Marcel paced next to her.
"Esther's stronger than anything I've ever seen. We go up against her..." Marcel looked directly at Davina. "...We're going to need Klaus." Davina scoffed.
"No. No, we can do this without him!" she insisted.
"Uh, I'm never gonna say this again, but Marcel's right— we do need the bastard." Kol told her.
"You don't do this and Esther gets her hands on Rebekah then Cami's dead." I told her. Davina sighed, clearly unhappy, so Cami approached her and grabbed her hands in her own.
"Davina, I know this is asking a lot, but please." Cami begged her. Davina walked over to Nik's body and knelt by his head. She placed her fingertips on his temple and murmured a spell under her breath. Nik suddenly gasped as he awakened and rolled on his side before he began to pull himself onto his feet. Once he was upright, he addressed us.
"What did she do to me?" Nik asked.
"All you need to know is that I beat you. Again." Davina told him smugly.
"And yet, you relented. You need me, don't you?" He asked her with a smirk. Davina rolled her eyes and sighed at him making his smirk grow. "Did I really lose?"
A short time later Kol and Davina were speaking briefly when Nik and I interrupted them.
"Provided you're not busy concocting a new paralytic to use against me, I'd like a word with my brother." Nik said. Davina got up and stood in front of him.
"Well, to be honest, I can't stand being around you anyway." She told him before leaving. Nik smiled slightly in amusement as she did and I gave him a look. His face became serious when he turned to face Kol, who looked worried.
"For the record, I didn't know a bloody thing about Mother's plan for Cami, I swear." Kol told us.
"Well, I think I can judge for myself which of her schemes she would entrust to you, and which she would not." Nik said sitting across from Kol in an armchair with me sitting next to Kol. "I believe this was Finn's task."
"Where, pray tell, is he now?" Kol asked him.
"He's waiting uncomfortably for me to return and deliver his punishment. Pass the beignets, will you?" Nik asked him.
"You know, it's only a matter of time before Mother gets bored of waiting for you to let us go." Kol told him passing Nik's requested pastries. Nik took the beignet muttering a thank you. "Well, Finn, at least. I don't expect she'd care if I never came home."
"A mother cares for her children." Nik sighed. "A monster does not. Once you accept she's the latter, you'll stop expecting the former. And, despite what you might think, Kol, I did attempt to avenge you. I would do nothing less, because we are brothers. Always and forever." Kol looked overwhelmed and simply nodded in understanding when Nik's phone rang. "Excuse me." He stepped away from us to answer his phone.
"Your original body is still here, you know." I told him.
"Nik actually kept it?" he asked me surprised.
"Of course he did. You're family." I told him. "You know, through the years daggered or undaggered, he's always tried keeping his family safe. That's all we're doing now."
"I know, little sister. I know, he's got a funny way of doing it though." He told me and I almost laughed at him.
"Yeah, he does." I agreed as Nik started back towards us. "But his heart will always beat for his family. Protecting all of us, even if he thinks he might be the danger."
"Nicole." I looked to him before getting up and joining him. We walked to Finn who immediately turned to us. "If you enjoyed last night's activities, then you're in for a treat!" Nik told him.
"Niklaus, listen to me, our mother may—" he started saying, but Nik cut him off.
"Not another word! No more fairy tales about witches and curses." Nik ordered.
"If you think it's a fairy tale, then why do I see fear in your eyes?" Finn asked him confused.
"Everyone fears something, Finn." I told him before smirking. "Even you."
"MARCEL! Bring it in." Nik ordered and Marcel came into the room, dragging Finn's old coffin behind him.
"No! No! No, Niklaus!" Finn pleaded desperately as Nik yanked his chains down and drug him towards it.
"Oh, don't worry, brother! I made some air holes! Small ones." Nik told him as I opened the coffin. Nik lifted Finn by the front of his shirt and threw him into the coffin. Finn screamed in fear as we closed the lid on him. He pounded on the inside of the door as the two men headed for the door. Before I left, I put a padlock on the lid to make sure it stayed closed before following them. When I came to them Nik was thanking Marcel for his help before going for the entrance.
"Nicole, Klaus, have you seen Elijah? There's something I need to tell you guys." Hayley told us as she walked in.
"You can tell us on the way." he told her.
"What?" she asked him confused. "Where are we going?" Nik looked at me and I turned my gaze to her smiling.
"To see our children." I told her. She stared at us for a moment before we turned and left with her following.
