O thieving eyes, you're punished for the theft
Of her beauty - now she's turned and left!
- Rumi, Thieving Eyes
March 1860
Cloverville, Louisiana
A crack echoed outside the house and the vampires present in the room fell silent as the Laurentis household continued laughing, unaware of the change. The brothers exchanged a look across the table and looked towards the doorway as another sharp crack ensued.
Adelia glided along the staircase while tugging Gregory along. As she walked towards the parlour to inform her father of her departure, the witch saw a flash of torch outside. Curious about the proceeding at this late at night, she gestured for the child to go to the parlour and went to open the door to notify the guards.
Klaus saw the little witch opening the doors and frowned when he did not catch a glimpse of anybody outside, the confusion mirrored by the Laurentis heir who found no traces of intruders as well as the guards.
Elijah suddenly shot out of the chair and rushed towards the witch to pull her from the doorway as she crashed into him, both falling on the floor when the chandelier in the entryway shattered to the ground. He covered her with his body as the glass pierced his skin making him hiss and felt the girl beneath him burrowing into his arms at the noise.
Adelia blinked up at the Original, noticing the proximity as their noses grazed each other. She took a deep breath and tried to push him away.
Breaking out of the reverie, Elijah cleared his throat before getting up and held out his palm to her which she ignored in favour of getting up herself.
"Adelia!" Arnold exclaimed as he along with the rest of the occupants immediately left their seats to move towards the fallen pair when a guard rushed inside the premises.
"Sir!" He took a deep breath, "the witches! they are outside breaking the boundary spell."
"Oh you Mikaelsons, bringing trouble already?" The patriarch hissed and gestured for Rafael to go retrieve the weapons.
Sharel exited the entryway to see more than a dozen of witch chanting. "Adelia! Please hurry."
The young siphon witch ran to her grandmother and linked hands with her to strengthen the barrier.
The Originals rushed outside and started killing the witches and to their horror, they clicked their necks to reposition it and continued as if nothing happened. The witches joined their hands and started giving aneurysm as the vampires groaned, clutching their heads.
All of a sudden a witch fell dead to the ground, the back of her head blown away. Rafael stood behind her with a grin on his face. "I assumed you vampires liked decapitating?" He asked, looking at the dead witch, as it showed no signs of getting up. The Originals getting the idea, started tearing out hearts one by one.
Arnold shot a witch standing in front of his mother and daughter as they proceeded to re-enact the spell.
"Why is not working, grandmother?" Adelia asked.
"Concentrate, darling," answered Sharel when her granddaughter unlinked their hands to stop an arrow mid-air with magic. Sharing glances with her father who looked horrified, Adelia took a deep breath and lit all the lamps outside the gate with a flick of her wrist.
"Grandmother. I request you continue without me," the young witch said, her expression turning impassive as she strode into the front lawn and picked up a discarded revolver. Aiming the weapon straight, she shot a bullet when it straightaway hit right the witch's forehead. Gulping at the sight of a dead witch, she shrugged the guilt and recoil off her shoulders and shot another witch without any remorse clouding her features this time-their audacity to hurt her grandmother.
Elijah hovered around the young witch, decapitating anyone trying to get near them when she turned her revolver on him with a hard look in her eyes and his forehead crinkled in confusion. She blinked and he understood. With a nod from him, he ducked as she fired her last bullet killing a witch behind him who fell onto the others, giving the Original enough time to rip their hearts out.
The vampire's neck snapped to the side as he fell onto the ground with a thud.
Sharel standing nearby waved her hand seeing the witches approach him and the unconscious Original got pushed towards Klaus who immediately repositioned Elijah's neck.
Adelia moved across the lawn to help Rafael when Klaus held her hand and forced them down just as witches started giving them an aneurysm. The siphon witch clutched her head, feeling excruciating pain as her ears began to bleed.
Arnold fired a shot at the witch who dropped dead and once again fired at the same witch's head, the darkness altogether making it difficult for anybody to see. The shots rang around the house as he loaded the bullets and without hesitation continued firing anyone who ventured their foot around his daughter.
Looking towards Klaus, the siphon-witch clutched his hand and began to siphon off magic while simultaneously chanting a spell. It knocked out every witch around them as they dropped onto the ground with a thud. She touched Elijah who woke up with a gasp, looking around.
The younger Original helped the disoriented witch, supporting her waist as they glanced around at the destruction when Elijah joined them, sharing the same thought.
As the last witches rounded up, the Laurentis heir looked around tiredly before grabbing both the Originals' wrists feeling the rush of power entering her veins as she closed her eyes, enjoying the thrum.
The witches rose up in the air, dust flying around when the vampires fell onto their knees and began to desiccate, repeatedly losing and regaining their colour.
Klaus held Adelia's hand to get her to loosen its grip, hoping to decrease the pain as he moved away from her, breathing heavily,
Elijah staggered and gained his footing before he got up, ignoring his bleeding ears. He grabbed her other hand while Adelia continued chanting and closed her eyes as blood flowed down her nose in rivets, feeling the witches' magic around them.
Klaus started decapitating the flying witches and in the meantime stared at his brother all the while, recognizing the look on Elijah's face all too well-his brother had fallen for his little witch. The creases aligning Elijah's forehead and the grip that circled her delicate wrists told the story he was altogether very familiar with.
Beheading a witch out of anger, he moved towards Adelia when she opened her eyes, all gentleness and vulnerability gone. She detached her arms from Elijah and pushed out her arms, blasting the witches out of the way. They hit the trees roughly, rendering them dead.
The tired witch lost all composure as her body suddenly felt heavy. The elder Original caught her just when she stumbled on her feet before falling unconscious. He breathed in relief, clutching her closer to himself as he lifted her in his arms, her head automatically falling in the crook of his neck. Hearing her steady heartbeat, he looked down at her vulnerable figure in his arms.
Sharing a look with the girl's grandmother, Elijah moved past her and Arnold to immediately rush upstairs to a room to place Adelia on a bed. As he bit into his wrist and moved to give her blood, the father gripped his hand.
"You will not give her your blood without her consent," the patriarch said and Sharel entered the room to occupy the seat beside her granddaughter.
"She is not awake to give her consent," the Original punctuated with a hard look, his fingers gripping her delicate palm, "she needs it."
"Mother and myself are shall decide for her. I forbid you from giving her your blood."
"Adelia will heal faster if you'd allow me," Elijah reasoned.
"We do not require your assistance, you have done enough, Elijah," Arnold sat down beside Adelia and started wiping the blood off her face. "I have never seen my little girl with a speck of blood on her and now she seems so silent and unrecognisable because of you Mikaelsons. I have protected her with everything in me, my family sacrificed their lives so she could see another day. I moved away from that chaos and you brought chaos to my doorstep."
"We are leaving before dawn," Klaus announced, entering the room.
"Please do. If anything happens to Adelia then I will rain hell upon your city. You dare tamper with my daughter's happiness and I shall bring an end to yours. You have seen my hospitality, but never my wrath and the destroyer shall be my first retaliation," Arnold gritted his teeth and the Originals froze.
"Son! It's enough," Sharel rebuked Arnold, continuing with the spell before looking towards the vampires, "He will do no such thing."
"I do not let a threat go past me, Arnold," glared Klaus. "But for the sake of your lovely daughter, I will let this go."
Arnold got up with a smirk. "You think me fool for not already taking any possible circumstances into consideration? Why do you think it took so long for me to return home? Anything happens to my family and some or maybe many of my loyal fellows will send a message to your beloved father, Niklaus. I dare you to touch one of us." All occupants looked shocked at the confession. "You have seen your father's hatred driving his morals, if he ever had any. My love for my little girl drives mine. If you prefer your immortality, you will leave."
Klaus left the room with a raging anger, unable to do anything, the door breaking off its hinges as he slammed it shut behind him.
Elijah opened his mouth to form words, but nothing came to his mind. He looked at Adelia for the last time and closed his eyes, before stepping back and leaving the room.
Bonnie returned home to see a beautifully wrapped package in her doorstep. Curious, she bent down to retrieve it and walked inside, closing the door behind her.
Unwrapping the paper hastily, she opened the wooden box to find a pendant inside. She could feel the power emanating from it and Bonnie internally gulped.
Examining the piece in her hand, she found a note at the bottom folded carefully. Written in delicate cursive, it was addressed to her.
This is your legacy. The power of a hundred dead witches resides within it and I have no use of it under any possible circumstance.
Use it wisely.
Adelia Laurentis.
A smile broke out on the witch's face while reading it and she turned over the page to see a set of instructions on how to de-spell the pendant to access the power. Bonnie refolded the paper, keeping everything inside before her hands automatically dialled Caroline's number.
Jenna sat hunched in a corner of a dark room, contemplating everything. She did not even know such creatures like vampires existed a week before and now she was one of them.
A knock rang at the door and the newly-turned vampire immediately flinched at the loud noise-heightened senses, of course. "Go away," she called out, defeated. The Sommers woman was not happy with how her supposed boyfriend hid everything from her, how her own family chose to let her remain unaware of things happening around them.
The door opened and Adelia came inside, wearing a shirt dress and looking so immaculate that Jenna suddenly had the notion to see her own ragged appearance in the mirror.
"Jenna. How are you feeling?"
"I want to go home, but I know they will welcome me with a wariness that I will suddenly lose my mind. So no, I am not well," Jenna almost sobbed at her confession.
"I know you do not need to listen to any more apologies but I truly am sorry for what Klaus did to you," the witch told her.
"I am a vampire now. An apology doesn't change anything," the vampire sighed.
"I do not make excuses for his actions and I won't," Adelia explained.
"You are a Mikaelson," Jenna pointed out.
"I consider myself a Laurentis first," she replied with a smile. "A certain someone would have been very disappointed if I didn't help someone who deserved it. I promised to do right by him. Being Elijah's wife will not make me any less kind."
"I am so clueless about everything," the vampire admitted.
"I am aware," Adelia placed a rectangular box in front of her, sitting across from Jenna on the floor. When the newbie vampire did not take the initiative to open it, the witch hybrid took it upon herself to pull the lid up. It was a chain with a small blue stone pendant hanging from it. "It is Lapis Lazuli. A daylight amulet to let vampires walk in sunlight."
"I will be able to walk outside?" The vampire huffed out.
"Absolutely," the witch made her wear the amulet and with a nod from the vampire, Adelia waved her fingers and the curtains fluttered open.
Jenna hesitantly brought her hand under the light and was amazed to see nothing happening to her. She crawled towards the sunlight and looked at Adelia, "I don't think I have ever appreciated sun this much."
"I extracted that lapis lazuli from Elijah's trunk... with his permission of course. We found this stone in 1890s somewhere in Mongolia," she informed and Jenna's eye grew wide staring at the stone.
"This must be special to you then. You shouldn't have given it to me," the vampire said.
"We have no use of the stone. Elijah has his own ring and I don't require any," Adelia smiled.
"You do not need lapis lazuli?" Jenna asked with a frown.
"Hybrids do not. I am a witch-vampire hybrid," she unfurled her wrist to show another ring with lapis lazuli, "and now Klaus doesn't as well."
"You look all dressed up," the Sommers woman noted.
"Elijah and I are leaving," the witch answered.
"Already? Aren't you staying?" Jenna questioned, disappointment lacing her voice.
"We have to get back to Seattle."
"Oh."
"To control your bloodlust I would suggest living in the Boarding House for a while and asking Miss Forbes to help you."
"Why? Stefan and Damon are more experienced," the newbie vampire asked, confused.
"Damon cannot cultivate a healthy lifestyle and Stefan still struggles with his bloodlust and unless you want to be hooked up with rabbits and squirrels, I would suggest Caroline for the 101s," Adelia said, almost laughing at the implication as Jenna grimaced at the thought of drinking from little adorable squirrels.
"You would've trained me even better," she urged to convince the witch once more.
"Elijah does it best and he would've gladly helped you," she said, getting a look of disbelief from the redhead and then immediately added, "on my request."
"I guess I wouldn't be seeing you again," Jenna shrugged her shoulders.
"My home is always open for all. Keep the keys for your much-needed solitude and if you ever pass by Seattle, do stop by," Adelia informed her and got up when Jenna engulfed the witch in a hug.
"Thank you," the vampire said.
"Take care," the witch patted the newbie vampire before leaving the room.
Adelia walked towards her car slowly, checking her phone to see a message from Elijah stating Klaus had woken up. She smiled and pulled the handle to unlock the door when her neck was snapped to the side.
A man caught her in his arms, looking around to see no witnesses or one of Elijah's men. He quickly injected her with a liquid and put her in the back-seat carefully before driving away from the neighbourhood.
The same man entered Alaric's apartment carrying an unconscious Adelia in his arms as Katherine looked on curiously. He took out a syringe from his pocket and went to inject again before the female vampire interrupted him.
"The noble Original will rip you apart just for touching her," she said, looking at the beautiful woman on the couch.
"Klaus' orders," he explained, ignoring the vampire and injected the liquid in the heretic's forearms before leaving the apartment swiftly.
After some time Stefan entered the apartment to see Katherine sitting on the bed. "Hello, Katherine," he greeted.
The doppelganger got up with a frown, "Two days, I've been waiting. Just kill me before he does."
"Doesn't really matter. I just need to find Klaus. Do you have any idea where he might be?" He asked when she pushed him against the wall, gesturing for him to be quiet.
Klaus and Elijah walked through the door as the elder brother sighed when he reached Adelia's voicemail again. Rafael's number popped on his screen suddenly and with apparent worry for his wife, he rejected it to redial Adelia.
"Klaus, you're back. Look who decided to come for a visit," Katherine said as Klaus' attention turned to Stefan.
"You just keep popping up, don't you?" The hybrid commented.
"I need your help... for my brother," Stefan hesitated.
"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention," Klaus smiled as the noble Original looked at the Salvatore.
"My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own," Elijah said with a smile at the thought of seeing his siblings again when he caught sight of Adelia on the couch and immediately rushed towards her. "Lia?" He called out, touching her to get no response. Gently patting her cheek to find no movements from her, fear gripped his heart and he immediately bit his wrist and put it in her mouth. The blood went to dribble down the corner of her lips when panic slowly set in.
His phone began to incessantly ring but he continued to get his wife to open her eyes. The doppelganger skirted off to a corner hoping to avoid what was brewing between the Mikaelsons.
"Niklaus! Where did you find her?" The Original asked, not removing his sights from Adelia. He bit into his wrist again and looked over to find Klaus staring down at them impassively and the realisation slowly hit him. "What did you do?" He gritted his teeth and got up to charge at his brother when the hybrid smiled and put a dagger through his heart without remorse.
Elijah looked at him in shock, staring at the weapon as he gripped it to try removing it but Klaus pushed it in further. He slowly began to desiccate feeling the stiffness slowly getting his body and a tear slipped past his eye at his brother's betrayal. Turning his head to look at Adelia, his eyes never left his wife's vulnerable form before the darkness engulfed his senses.
Seeing his brother lying on the floor, grey veins all over his figure, Klaus suddenly pushed Stefan against a wall. "Now, what am I gonna do with you?" The hybrid put a stake through the younger vampire making him groan as he added, "Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."
"He's just trying to help his brother," Katherine tried to help the Salvatore.
"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal. Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want," Stefan requested and Klaus finally took out the stake after a moment, letting him fall onto the floor.
The Original hybrid poured himself a glass of blood while assessing the vampire. "Trouble is I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless," he said and crouched down, "I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village... a true ripper. Sound familiar?"
"I haven't been that way in a very long time," the Salvatore answered.
"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with. That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town," Klaus smiled as Stefan got up, "Katerina, come here."
Katherine hesitantly closed the distance between them as Klaus took her arm before he bit into it.
"Aah! Aah! No, no... no... no. No," the Petrova vampire exclaimed, horrified that she would finally die when to her surprise, the hybrid bit his own wrist and made her drink his blood and slowly the wound healed itself, startling her.
The hybrid turned to look at Stefan and said, "The funny thing is that the so coveted cure resides within the Original family. Lovely Adelia over there," he gestured to the heretic's unconscious figure, "and myself standing over here. You want your cure? There it is."
"What?" The female vampire murmured in surprise.
"Intriguing I know," he continued with a smile. "Unfortunate that she isn't awake right now and... won't be for some time. I just want her asleep until my brother leaves her vicinity."
"But, your blood is the cure," the Salvatore brother desperately tried.
"Gotta love Mother Nature," Klaus smirked, putting his hand on the Salvatore's shoulder. "Now... let's talk, you and I."
"I suppose, brother, you've been reunited with our family. How naive of you for thinking I will let you go away," Klaus looked at Elijah lying inside a coffin. "Put him with the others. We're leaving town tonight," he ordered his men, "and get my brother cloaked. Wouldn't want Adelia finding him." Klaus then looked at Stefan, "So... did Katerina make it in time?"
"You won't be seeing her again, you know," the Salvatore informed the Original.
"Because she's on vervain?" The hybrid smiled. "I've been around a long time, Stefan. I rarely get played for a fool. Besides, she won't get far. You'll help me see to that."
Stefan walked up to him, "What is it you really want from me?"
"All will be explained in time. Once we leave this tragic little town."
"Then are we done here? Can we go?"
"Not quite. You see, I have a gift for you. Come here, sweetheart. Don't be afraid," Klaus beckoned when a girl walked over from behind a crate as the hybrid looked at the vampire, "See, I wanna make sure you honour our deal... that you'll be of use to me." He bit the girl's neck, drinking her blood.
"I could have compelled her to behave, but a real ripper enjoys the hunt." Klaus let the girl go and she ran away screaming. Stefan unable to help himself, stopped her and sank his fangs into her skin to drink her blood until he felt the girl in his arms go limp. The hybrid looked on the spectacle, satisfied. "Now we can go."
Klaus approached a car and took out an unconscious Adelia who had a fluid drip attached to the back of her hand. He carried her over to place her in the back-seat of another car carefully, swiftly taking the seat beside the the Salvatore who sat behind the wheel and started the engine.
It didn't go undetected by Stefan who noticed Klaus repeatedly glancing at the dashboard mirror to check on the witch.
"The way you look at her... Maeve is not just your friend, is she?" The Salvatore started.
"Maeve is many things to me, dear friend," Klaus looked out the window as the rest of the journey continued in silence.
In the Gilbert Residence, Jeremy sat reading a page on the Originals with interest. His ancestors were very interested in supernatural it seemed.
A prophecy was made known to the people regarding one of the Originals and a siphon-witch of powerful witch ancestry.
In 1864, a well-known seer by the name of Angelique Lorraine announced the prophecy in an event thrown by the human faction in the supernatural territory of New Orleans, Louisiana. The seer was found dead the following summer.
The word of the prophecy did not reach the ears until a mass witch slaughter was executed by a member of the Original family in the autumn of same year; identity still remains unknown.
Curious to know more, Jeremy turned the page. To the extent of what he was aware, there was only a single living witch in the Original family and that was Adelia. A prophecy concerning her with an Original. He traced the worn out pages carefully.
He was continuing when a shadow crossed his face, followed by noise. He shrugged it off before looking down at the journal when he saw a shadow move accompanied by a creaking sound.
"Elena?" The Gilbert boy got up and walked out of his room, "Alaric?" He knew Jenna was staying at the Original's residence until she learned how to deal with her bloodlust. He turned around feeling a presence behind him, but found no one and continued down the stairs.
A familiar figure walked behind him and called out to him, "Jer."
He turned around again to find no evidence of an intruder. The teenager trekked to the kitchen and got a glass of water before returning to his room sitting down.
"Jeremy," a voice startled him as he spun around wide-eyed seeing his dead girlfriend.
"Anna?" He called out for confirmation and turned around to find another one of his ex in the same room as well, "Vicki?"
24 hours later
The car screeched to a halt as Klaus saw another car parked in the middle of the road. He and Stefan shared a glance before a smirking man walked towards them and the hybrid's eyes widened in recognition. "Rafael," he muttered.
"Klaus. Now the Original hybrid-extraordinaire. Good to see you after... 90 years?"
"I certainly did not miss you," Klaus said and got out of the car.
"I have never been luckier to not see your face. The mirror must form cracks when you look into it," Rafael humoured.
"What do you want?" The hybrid asked, rolling his eyes.
"I have informants you see? They told me a coffin was shipped somewhere. Since you wouldn't put your Maeve in a coffin, I assume it was Elijah. Now I couldn't care less about what happens to him if not for his relation to my sister, so coming to the point, I want Adelia," the man explained, all humour disappearing from his face.
"Why should I oblige you with your request?"
"Because she is my family," he answered impassively, "I apologise, the concept must appear out of reach to you. I did tell them to not trust you. Now Adelia comes with me."
"She will stay with me," Klaus said with a laugh.
"What do you want?"
"What are you willing to give me?"
"If you truly cared for her, this conversation wouldn't even have continued because you do know she's not a bargaining chip," Rafael replied, narrowing his eyes and Klaus stiffened. "But I am willing to trade since you only understand that language. I have information concerning a werewolf pack. Adelia for your beloved hybrids?"
"How do you know?"
"Elijah knows, Adelia does and I just do," the Desmond man smirked. "Oh hybrid, you have so much failure written in your special creation."
Klaus enraged walked towards him, but Rafael stopped him with a palm. "Anything happens to me and Maeve will never forgive you. She will choose me over you Mikaelsons any day and you know it. So I suggest you take a step back. The dog odour is suffocating me."
The Original pursed his mouth and looked back at Stefan, who nodded before opening the door to the back seat. Taking the unconscious woman in his arms, the Salvatore approached them before Rafael took her from him, her head lolling over his shoulder.
Pulling out the channels from the back of her hand, Rafael crushed the bag of clear liquid under his shoes while glaring at the hybrid. "And my displeasure with you Mikaelsons continues to increase," he told the hybrid before taking out a piece of paper from his coat.
Klaus took the note hesitantly, his gaze never leaving Adelia.
Rafael put her in the front, buckling her seatbelt before closing the door. The man turned around with a sardonic smile gracing his lips. "The hybrids are more complicated than you think, Klaus. Good luck with your world domination endeavours."
"What do you mean?" Klaus stepped forward with a frown, stopping the man from getting in the car.
"Oh, poor fellow. Elijah didn't tell you?" Rafael mocked, now leaning against the car. "Not for this to reach prying ears and all," he raised his hand to wave at Stefan, "but your progenitors might have a huge contribution to your upcoming failure."
"And what is that?" The hybrid froze at the implication.
"I just don't know," the other vampire said with a sly smile. "Elijah knew, of course. But I have a wonderful idea! Your highness, if only you'd allow me to give you a small demonstration of the level of crazy your bitch of a mother was."
"Why would you do this?" Klaus narrowed his eyes when Rafael whistled and a truck pulled up shortly.
"For handing me Adelia. You do know I prefer her to not stay with second-generation crazy," Rafael smirked and spread his arms, "Lo and behold, I present to you this crazy hybrid show, absolutely free of cost."
Suddenly the shutters of the truck pulled beside Rafael's car opened and a musical troop came out with violins. The multicoloured globe hanging inside the truck gave off the club effect, making Klaus clench his jaw.
"Your flair for dramatics hasn't disappeared," the hybrid closed his eyes to reign in his temper when the violinists started playing a soothing tune, coming to stand right behind him.
"Excuse my lack of preparation. I could only hire a violin troop at such short notice, though they came very expensive."
"Mimosa?" A girl appeared beside the hybrid, carrying a tray of the offered drink and the hybrid turned around with a sigh of exasperation.
"Take it without hesitation. I actually ran out of poison to put into it," Rafael mused. "Oh, ripper! Do not sink your teeth into her or I will have to rip them out from your gums," he hollered when the girl approached Stefan with the tray.
Klaus strode towards him. "Is there a point to all of this or are you wasting my precious time?"
Rafael smirked and a man came forward with another bound man in his arms who was struggling furiously.
"This my unwanted friend," he gestured towards the bound man, "is a werewolf. Clean without a drop of wolfsbane in his veins. Recently acquired, newly curse minted." The violinists picked up their pace on accord. "And he is here for the honour of being your first-ever hybrid."
Klaus appeared shocked looking down at the werewolf. As he crouched down to get a better look, the music turned soft and he shot an annoyed glare towards the Desmond.
"I am tired from a very long journey. I'd prefer if you not delay the inevitable. Tap the Original vein, please," Rafael said, exasperated.
"And this drama doesn't exasperate you," the hybrid pointed at the troop and the disco lights.
"Oh forgive me if I have a creative streak. I just had an hour to prepare and I don't expect you to understand with your dramatic release in the form of daggering and tantrums."
The Original clenched his jaw before he bit into his wrist and shoved it inside the werewolf's mouth who continued to struggle. The music picked up around them when Klaus snapped the wolf's neck, the tune suddenly coming to a stop. It started to slow again as he got up and looked at the dead wolf at his feet.
"That's my cue to leave," Rafael humoured before turning around to look at the troop, "Pack up guys, thank you for your wonderful contribution."
"You want to prove a point," Klaus said in realisation.
"I want to?" He furrowed his brows. "I was just helping you since you do not want Elijah's."
"Why would I even want his help?"
"I'd like you to answer it yourself when the wolf fellow wakes up, if he even wakes up," Rafael grinned. "As for Elijah, he has the answer to every obstacle you will encounter. You are going to have to make one hell of a decision."
"You seem so sure of my failure," Klaus' voice boomed the empty road as the truck left with a roar.
"When you know the person who has the answers, I admit, it makes you a little too overconfident," the vampire admitted. "So your hybrids or your over-inflated ego? Consider the little brainstorming to be my parting gift. I wish Adelia gets a divorce so I wouldn't have to see your face for another century. Goodbye Klaus Mikaelson." He sent a small salute with a grin, taking the driver's seat and revved up the engine before driving away.
As the car turned the corner and disappeared out of the way, indecision filled Klaus' veins as Rafael's last words continuously played inside his head.
Some hours later as he stared at the dead hybrid at his feet with a heart discarded nearby, he realised that it wasn't as simple as he made it out to be.
He wanted a hybrid and not a deranged zombie.
The Original did not know what to do as he once again had no way out of the grave he had for himself. Closing his eyes, he huffed before pulling out his phone and dialling a number. As the dial tone ended and a voice spoke on the other side, he said the words he never thought he would say.
"Bring the coffin back. I need him."
Some hours later
Elijah sat glaring at his brother who had the audacity to avert his gaze from him, the room destroyed again. "You dare ask for my help after you dagger me?"
"It was purely a misunderstanding on my part," Klaus reasoned and held up his hand in defence.
"It was a mistaken shot that the dagger pierced my heart and not my chest?"
"Yes?"
"I trusted you! Against all odds, I trusted you to return me our siblings!" Elijah shouted, getting up on his feet.
"You talk about trust, Elijah. You were going to flee! It was quite foolish of you to even consider that option."
"You astound me, Niklaus, with your repeated crimes and your blasphemous reasons," the elder Original said.
"Now I request you forgive my misgivings and assist me in creating a superior species," Klaus smirked when a pitter-patter of footsteps reached their ears.
"You!" Adelia's angry voice called out to Klaus as Rafael opened the door for her and she marched in, her appearance tired. "How dare you?!" She waved her hand and the hybrid got pinned to the wall across her as the dagger came swishing in her palms before she stabbed his heart with it, making him wince. She pulled it out before stabbing him again. As he tried moving his body, she took the dagger and pierced his neck.
"How dare you put me to sleep? You daggered Elijah! What is wrong with you?" She shouted in aggravation when Klaus glared at her. He remained silent and the witch took the dagger roughly and positioned it over his groin. "I will dismember you if you even glare at me!"
Rafael internally winced when she gave a warning stab to his hipbone.
"Elijah! Control your wife!" Klaus fumed, regardless of the blatant threat.
"You are insane Niklaus!" Adelia replied and dug her fingers in her hair, roughing it up. Extracting the gold hair pin given by him, she punctured it into his chest. "I do not want this anymore!"
Elijah glanced at his struggling brother pinned to the wall and placed a hand over his forehead to enter his mind.
"The coffins, where are they?" Adelia asked Klaus as they walked along the town square of Mystic Falls and he grinned at her.
"Put him with the others," Klaus said and Elijah peered down at himself in a coffin.
Elijah saw glimpses of wooden boxes in a huge room as he tried to dive in further, inherently noticing the struggle his brother was putting in. Suddenly the scene changed to one of the abattoirs they inhabited in New Orleans and distinctly noticed the thundering weather and the heavy downpour.
"Promise me what you have promised him," Klaus said and Elijah found Adelia pointing a sword at the hybrid. The hybrid took a step towards her.
"Step back!" She followed his actions, the sword almost digging into his chest as tears dribbled down her chin, her one hand trying to compose her body as she ignored the discomfort gripping her bones.
"Promise me!" Klaus' roared as his angry voice boomed the empty corridors, a tear slipping past his eye and the witch withheld her flinch to glare at him. The lightning struck the sky and a minute later the sword clattered to the floor.
The noble Original was wrenched away from his brother's mind to find himself staring at Klaus' smirking face. He clenched his jaw as anger consumed his veins. His brother never was far behind him, reminding continuously that Adelia would never forgive him if something were to happen to Klaus. In every retaliation she was the wall, saving one from the other.
"I will find them, Niklaus," the Original said and grabbed Adelia's wrist and began walking away.
Out of hold of her magic, Klaus rushed towards them when Rafael pushed him off from his path.
"Woah dude, not this again," the Desmond replied, annoyance lacing his tone.
The couple turned around and Elijah immediately grabbed Klaus, pinning him to the floor when the hybrid made an attempt to attack again.
"Enough!" Elijah bellowed and Klaus stilled, suddenly feeling the loneliness pave its way into his heart. "We are leaving and you won't bother us unless you want to relinquish your hold over our siblings. I never abandoned our search and I won't even now."
"Elijah..." the witch tried to interrupt, her instinct to shelter Klaus making its way.
"Your hybrids? I don't care. You matter to me, our family matters to me," the Original continued tightening his grip, "I wouldn't blink an eye if your hybrids turn up dead. I thought breaking this curse will make you sane but with every passing moment, you are turning even more irredeemable."
Adelia placed a hand over his shoulder, silently requesting him to stop.
"No Adelia, let me speak. I have made mistakes and I know I will continue repeating them when it comes to you, brother. She says I should see you as a person and not a broken man but how am I go past it, if you cross every limit there is to make yourself seem so beyond redemption. Nothing will ever grant you happiness and I know these hybrids are nothing but a passing fancy to make up for our absence. We cannot be replaced; family is power, Niklaus."
Seeing Klaus so getting vulnerable by Elijah's words, Adelia gently pulled her husband off of him as the hybrid stood up, avoiding their stare.
"I have been lenient with you. I agreed to whatever you asked of me and I just wanted our family to be returned and you couldn't keep your word," Elijah said in a soft voice. "Now I request you don't follow us. You are welcome to join us, of course, if our siblings come along with you. Until then, only approach me if you truly require my assistance. You are my brother and you always will be. Goodbye, Niklaus."
Giving a last glance at his brother, Elijah held Adelia's waist and guided themselves out of the house, immediately followed by Rafael.
Elijah went inside the parlour and saw Sharel giving Klaus a disapproving glare as he feasted on fresh blood from the server. "Niklaus, what is the meaning of this?" He said with a sigh.
"Brother, the server had delivered the message and I saw no reason as to why I must go hungry," Klaus smirked. "I am famished after last night's events. When is the carriage arriving?"
"Such a disappointment you are immortal then, Klaus," Rafael glared at him, coming down from Adelia's room.
"Such a perfect little family. Elijah, do take note," he told his brother.
"May I prod your infallible memory that you were the one to dagger our siblings," Elijah replied.
"Should you resolve this somewhere else we might then be able to concentrate on the eradication catastrophe that we evaded," Sharel rolled her eyes, getting to her feet.
"What I need is a good sleep and some liquor but your son has refused us any with threats," Klaus suggested.
"Arnold will do no such thing, I assure you," the matriarch said.
"And Adelia hasn't regained consciousness or has that conveniently evaded your immortal senses, Klaus," the friend told the younger Original who got up and stared furiously at him.
"Niklaus..." Elijah started, but was interrupted by Sharel.
"Not in your lifetime, Klaus. Rafael is family. My granddaughter will be fine," Sharel warned. "Come, we shall ready for your departure. Arnold has refused to let you two stay around Adelia longer than necessary. I will inform you of her health once she recovers. You must leave."
The elder Original sighed, unhappy at the prospect of not seeing the young witch ever again. "I thank you for your generosity, Sharel. You helped us a lot."
"You have been our ally and will remain so. But maybe the next favour should come after a decade. I am afraid Arnold might resist granting it so soon," the Beauchêne witch said with a hesitant smile.
"Make it never. I almost died because of them," Rafael informed with a grimace.
"Good thing you are of no help to us," Klaus smirked, making the human roll his eyes.
"As if you did a single bloody thing. I was the one doing all the work."
"Your head would have been lying around for flies to feast on if it weren't for me," the younger Original gave a tight lipped smile.
Elijah pinched his forehead and held out his elbow for Sharel to take when the carriage arrived for their departure.
She smiled, taking his hand when she let out a gasp, startling the Originals and Rafael who turned to look at her. Sharel's gaze became unfocused as she continued gripping Elijah's hand tightly and spoke the words that seared into their brains permanently.
Born to fulfil fate and need
Half of it to live has to feed
Klaus got up wide-eyed and stared at his brother whose jaw had slackened.
Their beginnings were death and tragic
In their veins runs blood and magic
The more they love, the better they thrive
One dead, the other alive
His gaze did not leave his brother who was suddenly addled with confusion and a deep thought etched into his features.
An event, a power bound to pass
A sacrifice crucial done by the mass
Impossible concoct-
"Mother!" Arnold immediately separated her hand from Elijah's and pulled her behind him.
As the witch slowly came to her senses, she stared at the Original in shock. "Oh good Lord, what is this!" She exclaimed. "This is the prophecy doing the rounds?"
"You said the dastardly thing, you tell us Sharel," Klaus retorted.
"One living, one dead. Of course Elijah is the dead," Rafael hummed in contemplation.
"It must be a lie. We all know this is not possible. Klaus, the elements of the prophecy are impossible to achieve," she glared at the younger brother.
"Well then glad to know this is a prophecy coming from a line of seers," Klaus glared back. "Elijah, we are leaving. I don't have much patience for the prophecy after the debacle."
Elijah looked at the witch, contemplating if he really wanted to know anything further and gulped. "Do write to us when Miss Laurentis recovers," he told the remaining occupants before following after his brother.
This time when he boarded the carriage, his gaze moved towards Adelia's room, seeing the balcony doors closed. He turned his head away as his hand caressed the pocket, feeling the sapphire hairpin tucked in safely. As he once again tried to look towards the room, Klaus blocked his view.
"Scoot over, brother. It's time we return home," the younger Original said and sat down next to Elijah.
The elder brother didn't bother correcting him that he had found a semblance of home in Adelia.
"You must rest," the Original whispered and opened the door to the back-seat. She nodded and got inside when Elijah took the seat beside Rafael. The Desmond started the car as it slowly rolled down the path towards the highway.
"Thank you," Elijah said to him.
"It's very easy to throw the bone. He chomps on it like a dog he is," Rafael answered with a laugh.
"He is a wolf and not a dog!" Adelia poked his neck from behind and he let out a shout.
"Same thing, Lia."
"How did you know?" She asked curiously.
"Some lady named Jenna Sommers ringed me up. She witnessed someone abducting Adelia outside your house. She didn't have Elijah's number but she found mine from Lia's diary and I was on my next flight here to retrieve you two," Rafael informed them.
"Remind me to thank Miss Sommers once we arrive home," Elijah said.
Her phone beeped with a message and she pulled it up to see a surprising message.
From: Rose-Marie
I will keep my promise. Thank you.
Adelia smiled as her phone blinked before the screen turned black due to low battery. She leaned her head against the cool glass and watched the trees passing by.
An hour into the journey, Rafael pressed the brakes of the car as the vehicle screeched to a stop suddenly, the inertia waking the witch up almost instantly. She peered from behind Elijah's seat to look ahead, her eyes widening at the sight.
Elijah clenched his jaw and got out, Rafael following his lead. Adelia came to stand beside her husband as the trio noticed an array of cars blocking their path.
A man walked out from behind a car with a sly smile on his face and looked at Elijah. "Greetings, sire."
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: This is the end of book one. Book two Accession will be published in April. [update- accession published, in-progress]
So there was a prophecy, Elijah remains undaggered, something fishy between Elijah and Rafael and many, many hints for a deeper, even more fishier plot.
Parallel plot: Next book will start from the year 1862. Adelia will be around 22. Elijah is back in Orleans and Adelia in Cloverville, Alexandria.
Feel free to ask anything.