The following days at the Mikaelson mansion was chaos. While Freya worked tirelessly to undo the disaster brought on by an "unknown" enemy, Elijah was determined to rehabilitate Tatia and give her spirit peace before she'd be ripped out of Elena's body and sent to God knows where.
Klaus had spent most of his evenings isolated away from his family, deliberately keeping away from Tatia. It was too difficult for him to witness her psychological trauma, and even more painful to have lost Elena on the eve of her return to him.
A snake had trespassed into their garden, right under their noses. Davina relished in her feat, secretly gloating while scheming her next plan to get closer to Klaus and make him forget that he ever fell in love with Elena Gilbert.
She'd already been working her charms by spending time with him and offering him comfort. She had lied and made him believe that she was researching Esther's grimoires, when in reality she had no intention of finding a spell that could bring Elena back. She wanted Elena gone—permanently.
On the fifth night of Tatia's unexpected return, Freya stood across a round table in one of their lavish gathering rooms. Ancient scrolls, a Tibetan singing bowl, and an onyx crystal were laid out before her. Elijah had been pacing the window restlessly, as a sleeping Tatia lay peacefully on a sofa nearby. Despite his calm composure, he was truly in agony. Faced with the sins of what he had done to that poor soul… there was no escape, nor could he deny what he put her through. She'd learned to love the monster in him, and he'd destroyed the only woman who embraced him fully for what he was.
But that's not who I am anymore, Elijah thought, contemplating his torment in silence.
A loud thrash of thunder shredded the sky and vibrated the earth. The lightning flashed outside the windows and illuminated the darkness outside. The city was hit with a storm as rain began to pelt down on the roof.
"How much longer?" Elijah asked, turning to face his sister.
She broke her concentration for a moment and said, "I think I'm ready. Summon the others. I'll need to channel Davina in case it doesn't work the first time."
~oOo~
Silence had befallen everyone in the gathering room. Freya had begun her incantation while three other witnesses watched: anxious, waiting. Elena's sleeping body remained peacefully still, as if she had escaped to a place of sweet slumber. Klaus prayed she was not forced into some Hellish dimension while Tatia dominated her mind.
Davina was confident that Freya's spell would not work. She'd made a deal with a dark entity; that was how she'd come into possession of such dark magic. But what she failed to realize was that dark magic always came with a price, and making deals with demons meant that they were compulsive liars. There was always a loophole somewhere, and Freya had found that loophole.
She'd laid out a map of the city in front of her and informed her family that she would not only cast out Tatia's spirit, but would direct it straight into the body of whomever had summoned her spirit to crossover.
When the great grandfather clock struck midnight, the storm became more violent as the wind pushed open the windows. Klaus quickly shut them and locked the latch. A roaring fire burned and crackled on glowing red logs in the fireplace while everyone remained quiet; Freya needed to concentrate.
Half an hour had seemed to have passed and Klaus's patience was wearing thin. He was losing hope. But before he could protest and vent his frustrations, the lights in the room began to flicker. Freya's chanting became louder and louder as she spoke with powerful authority.
For the first time, Davina was worried. She wanted to sabotage Freya's efforts when suddenly the electricity cut off and the roaring fire was suddenly snuffed out.
A body collapsed and thudded against the floor.
~oOo~
Freya opened her eyes and wiped the blood that trickled down her nose. "What happened to Davina?" she asked Klaus, the first person to have crouched beside her unconscious body.
"She's breathing," he replied, withdrawing his fingers from her jugular vein. "Were you channeling her?"
"No, not at all. I didn't need to." Freya glanced down at the map, expecting the little valley of black sand to divide and lead them to their next destination.
But nothing moved.
"Did it work?" Elijah asked, hovering over Elena. "She hasn't woken."
"I don't understand." Freya frowned. "I did the spell correctly. Try and—"
Elena's eyes suddenly snapped wide open as she gasped for air. She clutched her throat and coughed, sitting up. A familiar pair of eyes found hers, and she instantly felt a rush of relief course through her nervous system. It was no longer fight or flight. She wanted to run directly into his arms, to feel safe again.
"Klaus…"
He breathed her name and closed the distance between them. All he could think about in that moment was abducting her from the world to protect her from every threat. He couldn't risk losing her again. It seemed a miracle that she returned to him much sooner than he expected. Where had she gone? Did she remember anything? He had so many questions, but the last thing Klaus wanted was to overwhelm her with an interrogation. He needed to breathe her in. He needed to keep her safe. They had been through far too much together to lose each other again. He couldn't risk it. Elena was his kryptonite.
"I thought I'd never see you again." Elena wept, allowing her tears free reign to fall.
"Nothing and no one can ever keep me away from you, love." Klaus wiped her tears and kissed her softly.
Freya was pleased to see that she had succeeded in casting Tatia's soul out of Elena's body, but she still couldn't understand why Davina had collapsed.
Elijah scooped the Harvest witch up in his arms and laid her down on a loveseat. But as soon as her body kissed the cushion beneath her, Davina opened her eyes. Terror rushed into her consciousness and shattered her mind.
"No! Please, don't! Not the dungeon! Please, Master! No!" She cradled herself into a ball and cried, begging for her life, afraid that Elijah would harm her.
Freya was in disbelief. She could hardly wrap her mind around the fact that the person who had summoned Tatia was none other than Davina Claire. When she looked down at her map, she noticed that a trail of sand was pointing directly at the Mikaelson manor. As confusion cut through the room, she looked at her brothers and said, "Davina did it."
There was a short pause before Klaus erupted.
"I'll make her pay dearly for this!" He stood up, eyes glowing and ready for retribution. But Elijah rushed in front of him at vampire speed.
"No, Brother." His eyes seemed to plead for mercy. "We can't be sure that Davina did this all on her own accord. She may be an innocent victim in this circumstance. Do not act impulsively and do something you may later regret."
Klaus balled his fists. "Someone must suffer the consequences!"
Elena stood up and gently reached for his arm. "Elijah's right."
Tatia's madness was quickly driving everyone mad. Freya did them all a favor and used magic to knock her out like she'd done before, so that they may come to a peaceful resolution.
"Elena," she said. "What was your last memory?"
"I remember… everything. It's like I was there—and not there. Tatia controlled my body… my mind. I took the backseat. I desperately wanted to break through, but I couldn't. Her memories became my memories." She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they found Elijah's anguished gaze. "You hurt her. You made her suffer. The things you did to her… How… how could you?"
"I was a tortured man, Elena," Elijah replied. "Battling a disease that had infected me since our mother turned us into what we are. I don't deserve to live for what I did to her."
"No." Elena shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "You're right. You don't. Whatever respect I had for you… it's gone. I can never erase the trauma I witnessed while Tatia possessed me. The way you abused her… She loved you, and you exploited that. You made her suffer. You killed her in the end. Her love for you was a death sentence."
The weight of her words crushed down on the Original like a ton of bricks. For centuries, his guilt had eaten him alive. If there was the slightest chance to restore Tatia's spirit to rest, he needed to try. Even if Davina had been the one to conjure her spirit with malicious intent, he didn't care. All he knew was that the spirit of the woman he loved was now inhabiting Davina Claire's body. He had to make certain that no one in his family would harm her.
Freya took the opportunity to cut in and say her piece before any more tempers flared. "I think it would be best if we kept her confined for a while, until we figure out what to do next. I was dishonest with you both when I said that this spell wasn't dangerous. It nearly killed me tonight. I won't have enough strength to do it again—not anytime soon. I think we'd all like to know why Davina summoned Tatia, or if someone had coerced her into doing it. Either way, Tatia cannot use her as a human host forever. I'll speak with Vincent tomorrow about what happened tonight. I'm sure he can offer a way to help. In the meantime, I don't think we have to worry about anymore 'body snatching.' "