"What do you mean my daughter ran off with some man!?" Abigail's shouts echoed in the compound. "You're the only man she knows!"

Klaus met her anger with a bitter, sarcastic one. "Not anymore."

"She knew the guy and he knew her," Marcel said from his place in the lounge room. "They called each other by their first names."

"That's not possible. Maleny doesn't have any friends," Abigail continued to rack her head for any special person Maleny may have given attention to at the beach. It was impossible; they spent almost all their time together.

"Maybe that's why she ran off," Marcel's light joke was met with glares.

Freya opened the double doors and came in with Nicolas, looking more relaxed than the latter. "The cloaking spell on Mal has been lifted but it shouldn't stay like that for long."

"So where the hell is she?" asked Klaus, or demanded.

"In the Algiers," Nicolas bitterly answered. "Guy's probably with her too."

"Do we know who that is?"

"Not a chance. But he's just like Mum."

Abigail, Marcel and Klaus paused at Nicolas' remark. Klaus pointed at his son, opening his mouth to retort but soon shut it and walked over instead. "Are you telling me he's got magic as well?"

Freya and Nicolas exchanged uneasy glances between them. Freya sighed and answered first. "The magic in Maleny leaves a distinct trace, as we know, and this man apparently does too."

"We canvassed the plantation area and that guy has the same type of magic Mum does," Nicolas added.

"What does that mean?" Marcel inquired, knowing whatever it was couldn't be good.

"This guy was sired by my mother."

~0~

Seven years ago

"Here you go Miss," the bartender dropped off a bright orange mimosa in front of Maleny.

The blonde snapped her fingers to stop the bartender from leaving. "I didn't order this."

The bartender smiled. "I know. The young gentleman over there did," he nodded towards a brunette man sitting at the end of the counter.

"Of course he did," Maleny mumbled to herself. She was not surprised when said man walked over to the empty stool beside her. Without looking up from her cellphone on the counter, she said, "I don't have interest in entertaining whatever fraternity language you possess."

The man softly laughed. "Fraternity? Darling how young do you think I am?"

Maleny turned her head over, letting her curly blonde hair fall over her shoulder. Her eyes gazed over the young man who couldn't be older than twenty five. His curly brunette hair decently messy, and the scruff around his face wasn't all that bad. His chocolate brown eyes held a hint of mischief.

The man had been studying her too. "You've got beautiful eyes." He was glad that the view only got better up close.

Maleny's red lips twitched into a smile. "I suppose I owe you a 'thank you' for this?" She picked up the mimosa glass with perfectly manicured nails.

"You could, but that's not really what I'm looking for," the man flashed her a charming smile. She rolled her eyes at it but eventually smiled herself. "I'm Julius Palemor."

"Maleny Rowan."

"Is it too straightforwards to ask if there's a guy around?" Julius' show of searching for any man Maleny may have come into the bar with made the blonde roll her eyes again.

"I'm alone as a dog," she said dramatically. "One could say almost divorced."

"Almost?" Julius repeated in confusion.

Maleny now flashed him a smile. "It can't be divorce if I never made it down the aisle, right?"

Julius' eyes widened for a minute, taking in the implication with a better reaction than Maleny thought he would. "Cheers to you, I suppose." He raised his glass in the air. "Doesn't look like you're too upset over it."

She laughed softly and picked up her mimosa. "Nah. He was...too complicated. In the end, it was never going to work."

"How so?"

"We're too different."

"Am I on the same boat then? No chance at all?"

Maleny looked him over again then brought her glass to her lips. "Don't know yet. What do you got?"

Present Day

Maleny stepped inside a clean apartment where she immediately got the whiff of blood. There was a human pouring blood from her wrist into a glass. When she saw Julius, she held the glass to him.

"You sure made yourself comfortable," Maleny remarked whilst Julius took a big swig of his glass. "Compelling humans for a rent free apartment?"

"It's temporary," Julius flashed her a cheeky smile. "I have no intention of staying in this...place." By the way of his crinkled nose, Maleny realized he hated the Algiers, and probably the Quarter in all. Julius sent the human off to her bedroom then took a comfortable seat at the edge of the kitchen table. His eyes raked over Maleny, making the blonde self conscious enough to shift. Eventually, Julius laughed. "You really don't know me."

"What gave you that impression?" Her sarcasm remained the same in his eye.

"They really did a number on you," he took a last gulp of his glass then put it down on the table.

"You know what happened to me?" Maleny tried her luck there, but she didn't have much hope that this man would know anything about her.

"Not entirely but I'm pretty smart. I can fit the puzzle pieces just fine."

"Then start," she ordered, crossing her arms then adding, "And you can start by telling me how you have magic when you're a vampire."

Julius smirked. "Darling, that was all you. You showed me the better way to live."

~ 0 ~

Seven years ago

Maleny was fixing her hair in front of a crystal clear mirror when Julius emerged from the bathroom set at the side of the luxurious hotel suite. The two exchanged knowing smiles - or smirks - as Julius headed towards the room service cart. He picked at the bits of fruit with no real hunger but paused at the sight of a newspaper on the edge.

An unceremonious snort slipped through his lips as he picked up the newspaper. "You read the newspaper?"

Maleny was leaning on the vanity desk while she put on red lipstick. "I may be pretty and blonde but do I like to keep updated on news."

"Ever heard of Google?" Julius sarcastically recommended her but his attention was drawn in by the title page. "Two more bodies found in a dumpster…?" He trailed off as he read more of the details over the corpses discovered. His eyes snapped up to Maleny, who didn't seem the least concerned with what he'd read. "Have...have you been the one doing this?"

"Dear Julius, you know I'm not the only vampire in this city right? Baton Rouge is surprisingly full of them," and yet Julius couldn't believe her with that big smirk across her face. She stopped when she noticed his long stare. She put down her lipstick and turned around. "You didn't seem concerned about my vampirism last night…"

"I know about vampires and witches, alright? Don't chalk me up as a local idiot," Julius put down the newspaper. "Isn't there a rule that says vampires have to be careful about their...nature?" Maleny laughed. "I'm serious. People are going to catch on. You should—" but he stopped when Maleny zipped up to him.

Her finger grazed over the side of his face. "I should what?" Her tone was flat, her face emotionless yet patient.

Despite his initial fear, Julius managed to answer quite boldly. "You should learn to clean up after yourself."

Maleny's eyebrows raised together, impressed he hadn't run out on her already. "You think you could do better?"

"I would sure know how to keep myself on the down low," Julius muttered.

Maleny stared at the man, eyes squinting as she considered his words. "Prove it," she whispered. Her words didn't register completely in the man before she snapped his neck. She walked over his body and picked up some berries from the room service cart then took a seat on the edge of the bed. She popped in a couple berries and proceeded to patiently wait.

Present Day.

Maleny fell to the couch with a hand slowly coming to her mouth. Her horrified eyes met Julius' straight gaze. They were shining. "I...I turned you? Just like that...?"

"Uh, yeah," Julius crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Apparently you thought I said that I would be a better vampire. Course that was a lie, so…"

"I-I don't remember that…" Maleny dropped her hand to her lap and thought as hard as she could about the moment Julius was talking about. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself.

"No, you wouldn't," Julius said quite plainly that he garnered Maleny's attention again. He seemed much to sure of himself for someone who hadn't seen her in seven years. "And I bet you wouldn't remember what you did those following weeks…"

~ 0 ~

Seven years ago.

Magic snapped the necks of multiple humans in a dance club. Despite music blaring and the flashing lights, those in charge came running over to the blonde sitting on a table. She was busy draining blood out of on tasty human when a vampire yanked her off the table.

"Sweetheart you're breaking big rules here," a tough looking man growled in her ear. "You're out."

Her giggle was sadistic in all its way. She swayed her head to look up at the man. "You have no idea who I am. It would've boded well for you never to find out."

Before the man could realize, magic sprung in the air and snapped his neck. With one look at the crumpled body, she forced his heart out of his chest, catching it with one hand. She turned to the other employees who were staring at her with wide eyes.

"Do you want a turn?" Her straight, wicked face warned them to start taking off.

"Maleny?" Julius came rushing over from the bar counter. "What are you doing?"

Maleny dropped the heart to the floor and used one of the humans sleeves to wipe the blood off her hand. "I think I'm getting myself a dance club."

"What!? What are you talking-" Julian gasped when Maleny suddenly flicked her fingers to the side, causing a streak of aneurysms amongst the nearby vampires.

"Hey, bitch! What are you!?" A man growled through the pain. He attempted to lunge on her but Julius used the same magic Maleny had to snap his neck.

Maleny smirked. "Thanks, but I could take care of myself."

Julius matched her smirk with one of his own. "Darling, that's why we're here. I watch your back, you watch mine."

Maleny pointed at him, showing her agreement, then proceeded to get up on the table. "Your attention?" She clapped her hands loudly but then killed the music by snapping the DJs neck anyways. She briefly wondered if he'd been human or not. "I just wanted to inform you that this establishment is under new management. At least until I'm bored."

Present Day

"I would never do that!" Maleny jumped from the couch, ready to argue. "I wouldn't turn someone just for fun! I wouldn't kill people for fun! And I definitely wouldn't buy myself a dance club!"

Julius laughed all of a sudden. "Bought? You threatened the owners. Let's see, you snapped the human's neck, then you hung the second one and the third one got the memo so he backed off."

The more he spoke, the more horrified Maleny became. "Stop saying that! I wouldn't!"

Julius got serious again and did nothing but telekinetically shatter a picture frame against the wall. "If you didn't do anything then how come I can do that?" Maleny's eyes flickered from him to the broken frame, her entire body once again falling back on the couch.

~0~

"So Maleny's sireline can become just like her?" Klaus had to get over the fact Maleny could create her own sireline first in order to get to the more important, conflicting issues at hand.

"Apparently so judging by the magical traces left on Marcel and his guys," Nicolas bitterly said. He was irritated his mother had gone off with some man instead of her family, though he did understand the level of mistrust between them had escalated.

Behind them, Abigail slammed shut her grimoire. She plopped herself down on the couch and glared at nothing in particular. "How could we have missed that? She never told us she sired someone when we caught her in Florida."

"Isn't it obvious? It was her last card," Klaus said with an irritated sigh slipping through. In her state, it was the only logical thing to do in order to guarantee her eventual rescue. "Leave a sire that had the means and the motive to find her." Honestly, it was a plan he would've come up with too. If it was any other circumstance, he would have been proud.

"So Mum...sired this guy, and he just...gets her magic too?" Nicolas absolutely hated his family's luck. "What kind of load of bullshit is—"

"Let's not focus on the 'how'," Abigail quieted him with the interruption. "Let's see what we can do to take him down."

"Who says he's an enemy?" Marcel's voice pulled the group's attention. He was nursing a drink by the counter, more relaxed than the others since he was thinking more cooly about things. "Realistically speaking, that guy might just want to be with Maleny. He saved her."

"From us?" Klaus angrily retorted. "We're her family—"

"And when exactly was the last time you spoke to her?" Marcel's pointed glance made himself the target of matching glares from the others. "From Maleny's perspective, you're all traitors who erased her memories without her consent. That's the reason why she had the Holland witch try to undo the spell right?"

"Her name is Zara and…" Nicolas hated his next words, "...he's got a point. Mum doesn't remember what happened. She doesn't remember what she did...we're just traitors in her mind."

"Then we fix it," Klaus said like it was the simplest of missions. "Her memories are returned and she...she remembers what happened and why we must never see each other."

"It would break her heart," Abigail said quietly. "Maleny did a lot of things back then...and not to mention the separation of the family. I don't think she can take all that."

"With all due respect," Marcel raised one hand, garnering their weary glances, "You all have to stop thinking she's a fragile woman. She's got power, she's got smarts — she's a big girl who can understand what she did."

Klaus hated to give points to Marcel but it was the right words. He learned long ago that Maleny was not the innocent village girl he met a thousand years ago. She was strong, she was a fighter - and when she was angry she was scary as hell. "Let's find her. And when we do, we'll give her the option to regain her memories."

"In exchange for what?" Freya studied her brother with curiosity.

"Nothing," he surprised her with. "Maleny is free to do as she pleases. If she wants to go off with that guy then...by all means." His sourness towards the end was a well restrained one. He was thinking as distant as possible because the closer he got to the situation, the more it would hurt later on when it came time to separate again.

Nicolas would've called his father out on the blatant lie, but he was going to be understanding. Right now, they needed to find Maleny.

~0~

"I don't r-remember anything! I don't remember any of that!" Maleny kept shooting down all the stories Julius told her about their apparent adventures together across various eastern states.

The dance club she apparently bought then burned down with a couple people inside? She didn't remember.

An Atlanta diner that mysteriously lost half its employees to snapped necks and drained blood? She didn't remember that.

The shopping mall in Georgia that was robbed and destroyed? She didn't remember that either.

She didn't remember anything. Tears pooled in her eyes the more Julius revealed to her what she did. Eventually, she screamed for him to stop. "Please, don't say more! I can't-I can't remember! Why can't I remember!?" Guilt flashed across Julius' face when she dropped to her knees. "I wouldn't - I wouldn't do all that stuff!" Maleny repeated through her sobs. "I couldn't!"

"But you did," Julius quietly said.

"No I wouldn't! Why-why would I ever do something like that?"

Julius waited for her to figure it out, but it seemed like she was too engrossed in her own emotions to make the connection. He didn't account for her being so... fragile? It was nothing like that woman he met seven years ago. He hoped the real Maleny was someone stronger, more put together.

"Maleny, you turned your emotions off."

Maleny stopped her sobs, her eyes widening in shock. "I don't...I wouldn't...I-I wouldn't do that…"

"But you did," Julius walked up to the woman and bent down in front of her, meeting her in the eyes. "You explained to me what a vampire could do. We-we could switch our emotions off whenever we want. It would make us fearless, give us no conscience so that we could be what we really are: vampires." Julius pressed his hands against her arms, steadying her while they both stood up. "You said you switched them off because of your family, because...they couldn't be together anymore. You couldn't be with someone you loved and it broke your heart...so you decided not to have a heart anymore."

Maleny rubbed some tears off her cheeks and tried her hardest to remember, but nothing came up. "I...I would do that? I can't remember!" she squeezed her eyes shut as more tears threatened to spill from the corners. "I can't remember anything."

Julius turned sympathetic. "I know. It took me a while to understand but I've got it."

"Got what?"

"Your family got you to turn your emotions back on then erased your memories."

Maleny stared at him, slowly taking that in. More secrets from her family? Supposed family? She took a step away from him and dug her hand into her hair. "Why would I...I don't understand. I need my memories back."

Julius nodded his head. "I know."

Maleny turned sideways, realizing there was something he hadn't yet told her. "My family tracked me down across the states? Was I...was I on the run from them?"

"I don't think you were - or at least you didn't care," Julius shrugged. "You said after turning off your emotions you just left the Quarter. You wanted a fresh start and…"

"They didn't agree," Maleny could see her mother chasing after her across states to find her. "And when they caught me? Why didn't you help me?"

Julius sarcastically laughed. "Because you ditched me the moment we got to Miami. Gotta say, you were kind of a bitch without your emotions. But you did leave me with some instructions, though I didn't get them at the time that you gave them to me. You spelled me to go in search of you if you ever disappeared. Once you disappeared off the newspapers, the news in general, your spell kicked in. Maleny, I've been searching for you for six years."

"What the hell!?" Maleny screamed in frustration, causing several glass frames and kitchen cabinets to shatter.

Julius seemed rather impressed. "Hm, so that remains the same. Your emotions control your powers and the angrier you get, or frustrated, the more you break things."

"I want my memories back," Maleny spat. She didn't care what she left behind, nor how painful it was presumed to be. She needed those memories back now.

"Great, because for what's coming, you'll need every last bit of reinforcement you've got," Julius' straightforward helpfulness still came as a rather suspicious act for Maleny. He knew that too, and so he added on, "You sired me Maleny. I am faithful to you and only you, whether I like it or not. It's a good thing I do, though." Maleny's lingering gaze made him chuckle. "I've got a witch if you're interested."

"How do I know you won't just kill me or brainwash me?"

"First, if I kill you I die too," Julius thought that alone took care of that part of suspicion. "Second of all, if I wanted to brainwash you I would have done that a long time ago. Why waste my breath telling you the truth. It's more work. Third of all, you're my sire," he laughed again, wholeheartedly, "So I don't want to hurt you. We're under attack, Mal. I came back to find you and warn you. And help you."

Maleny knew for a fact she couldn't trust the Mikaelsons right now, but she wasn't so crazy about trusting the first guy she saw either. Then again, this guy was her sired follower. He was literally incapable of betraying her. Plus, what he talked about made sense. If he wanted to brainwash her again, he would have done it a while ago.

"Where's your witch?"

Julius smirked. "Witches."

~0~

A group of witches were gathered in the backyard of a dusty old house. Maleny crinkled her nose as she followed Julius towards the backyard. The street was pretty much abandoned with old houses that were left for foreclosure. It was the perfect place to hide out, apparently.

Maleny's boots crunched the fallen leaves on the ground and while she did feel uncomfortable seeing the sight of strangers, she did her best to hide it behind a straight face. It was even harder to do when the five witches started staring at her as soon as she arrived.

"Why are they staring?" she quietly asked Julius. She tugged her jacket closer as if that would protect her from whatever the witches would throw at her. She shot a look towards Julius when he began to laugh.

"They know you, Mal. You're a lot more famous now."

"But not for good reasons, I imagine," she muttered and felt like she needed to avoid the stares even more now. "Did I murder any of their relatives?" Julius gave her a long enough stare to confuse her. "What?" she frowned.

"You don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?"

Julius shook his head and walked towards the group of witches who had all risen to their feet. "Hybrid of Hell," he turned to look at Maleny with a straight face despite her growing uncomfortableness.

She shifted on her feet now that she had all of their gazes on her. "What?"

"Some people nicknamed you that," Julius said simply.

"What? That...that seems more fitting for Niklaus…"

"Imagine how much you must have rivaled him," Julius smirked. "Some people gave you that nickname because your access to power came from an ancient spirit literally locked away in hell."

Maleny swallowed hard and looked away from him. "Please stop. I don't remember that."

"Of course you wouldn't, because your memories were erased. But I remember, everyone remembers who you were."

"That I'm a murderer? Yeah, thanks," Maleny pursed her lips together and briefly looked at the group of witches behind them.

"But others see you as something completely different, Maleny. People knew you long before you became a hybrid. You were with the Mikaelsons, a family well known and feared. And even then, you chose to be with the one feared most, Niklaus."

Maleny's eyebrows knitted together, utterly lost. "Now I know you're joking. He hates me."

"I don't know what the hell happened but it wasn't the story back then. But people know your story from that point on, Mal. You're a witch cursed for a thousand years, pushed over and hurt. You fought and in the end you were still punished. But now you're stronger. You rose to the top of the food chain. That is what others see you as: a savior for witches and humans."

"Vampires are always the threat for us witches," one of the witches finally spoke up. She was a pretty brunette with deep brown eyes. "They always want to break peace just for the hell of it, because they think they can. The sad part is, they can. No one is fast enough to compete with them, even when some of us do have powers. Werewolves only have one night per month to fight evenly with vampires. Humans are always lost. But you, you are the first witch with natural power coursing through you, despite the Hollow giving you access to it. You are a pure hybrid, a witch-hybrid. And you can sire."

Maleny's eyes shifted from one witch to the next, her heart beginning to race under her chest. "Y-you... you want me to sire you? You want me to kill you…" she took a step back as fear began creeping through her skin. "You just want to use me…"

"We want to help you," the same brunette witch argued. "Yes, we want to be like you but we want to pay our dues too. All of us—" she gestured to the group, "—have been hurt by vampires. But now we can rise together, stronger than them, and even the playing field."

"Mal," Julius returned to the blonde's side, knowing they were probably overwhelming her. He took her hand and squeezed it tight. "You don't remember your life but we know it. And trust me when I say that I am so sorry for everything you've gone through." Maleny's eyes started glimmering with looming tears. "But that doesn't have to be it. You can create a whole new line of vampires that will always have your back." He moved his hands to rest over Maleny's shoulders and looked her in her teary eyes. "Your own mother lied to you, Mal. We won't."

Maleny looked at the group of witches who all seemed genuinely caring and...hopeful.

"We'll undo the memory wipe spell," the brunette witch said. "It's a long process since you've lived for so long so you'll be drained afterwards. But after that, you'll remember exactly who you are and what happened."

"I don't have anyone I can trust…" Maleny came to the depressing conclusion.

"You do now," Julius promised her. "It took me six years to find you, Mal. We started off on a rocky moment but you taught me how to live. Now it's my turn to help you remember how you used to live." He gently guided her towards the group of witches. "It'll be okay."

~0~

"Dammit Camille," Klaus muttered after checking the last text message Cami had sent him.

"No good news I assume?" Marcel caught him by the courtyard stairs.

"Camille is failing to do the one job she's been given, which is to bring Elijah back to the Quarter," Klaus put his phone away and started walking down the steps.

"Elijah doesn't want to come back?" Marcel asked, not that surprised the suited Original had made that choice. "He knows everything that's at stake, right?"

"Yes, and he doesn't quite have an interest in seeing the family again," Klaus said, "Of course I'll have to do it myself."

"Are we that desperate, then?" Marcel genuinely wondered to what extent Klaus felt lost. He didn't have the usual moral compass that was Elijah, nor did he have the endless support Maleny always gave him.

Klaus stopped walking and turned sideways, giving Marcel a silent, yet warning, glare. "Do not tread over that."

Marcel figured he was right. He intended on changing topics pertaining to Hayley but Nicolas came out of the living room with a cry that Freya had found a trace of Maleny. The two vampires rushed into the room to find Freya and Abigail focusing hard on their spell, eyes screwed shut.

"It's a lot of magic I'm feeling," Freya admitted. "Like...like…"

"A spell between multiple witches," Abigail opened her eyes first, meeting the concerned look of Nicolas.

"They're going to undo the memory spell," the younger Mikaelsons realized. "That means they know who Mum is."

"But does that mean she knows who she is?" Marcel wondered. "Because if not then it means—"

"Those bloody witches are using her," Klaus moved towards the table and gazed down at the map between Abigail and Freya. "Do we have the exact location?"

"In the Algiers," Freya replied. "Down Carnegie street."

"I know that street," Marcel said, "It's a whole street of foreclosed homes. Perfect place to do a spell that big, that loud."

"We gotta get her back before they do whatever they want with her," Abigail put her hand over her chest. "My daughter has to be scared."

Of course that was true, but not for the exact reasons Abigail thought.

~ 0 ~

Maleny's screams were heard by the silent wind of the street. The witches around her chanted stronger to get through the fake memories and reveal the real ones. Julius overlooked the entire procession since his magical abilities still needed some aid.

Maleny felt like her head was being ripped apart. It would calm at times when she saw flashes of memories she didn't know about. One had her as a village girl chasing Kol for something he did to her. Another had her in a different body, sharing a drink with Klaus by an elegant terrace. And as the moments kept going, a lot more of her memories were tied to the Mikaelsons as a whole, but Klaus continued to appear more and more...

"You have to stop! Stop!" Maleny cried with her hands on her head, her nails finding her skin through her hair. She honestly felt like her head would explode.

"You know we can't!" Julius' words rang true and Maleny knew it.

She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that she could get through it. Memories were still invading her mind, opening doors that had been locked for years now. Many of them, if not most, had her sharing moments with Klaus. Whether she was in different bodies, or in her original body, he was always there. They made no sense to her at the moment, without having all the context, but perhaps by the end things would change.

"I sense people coming," One witch - a finger - rose her head from the group. She got on her feet and turned to Julius, both expressing concern. "They'll be coming for her, no doubt."

"We can't let that happen," Julius balled his fists. "Valeria," the ginger in question raised her head, "You take the lead in defense. If it's who I think it is, they won't go down easy."

Valeria gave a nod of her head. While she walked towards the side gate of the house, Julius called upon another witch to aid Valeria. The second witch, a more petite, dark haired woman, headed to the other side gate.

"We need to hurry!" Julius had to raise his voice over Maleny's screams.

~0~

Despite being at the end of the street, Klaus, Marcel, and Nicolas could hear the agonizing screams of Maleny's.

"Guess we're in the right place," Marcel was met with simultaneous glares from Klaus and Nicolas. It didn't help that they looked exactly the same. "Alright, jeez, let's go." He started leading the way towards the designated house.

"What are they doing to Maleny?" Klaus picked up his pace, speeding in the end, only to come crashing into an invisible barrier.

"Dad!" Nicolas rushed forwards to help Klaus up.

"What the hell?" the hybrid growled and looked forwards. "Let me guess, the bloody witch from before?"

Nicolas pressed his palms to the barrier. "It's not the same magic as Mum's, but…it's laced."

"Laced?" Marcel repeated. "As in…?"

"As in, that guy is here," Klaus muttered. "Can you take it down?"

Nicolas was already working on it. "Even though aunt Freya and grandma stayed behind to prepare the spell for Mum and you, I'm channeling their power. In other words, they don't stand a chance."

"My language exactly," Klaus gave a brief smirk before Nicolas got back to work.

He mumbled a couple words for a minute then opened his eyes to see the invisible barrier become not so invisible. It shattered before their eyes, allowing them a clean entrance. The three men were able to approach the house and were unsurprised to see two women emerging from the sides.

"We're not letting you take her so that you can manipulate her again," Valeria turned her palms over.

"Excuse me?" Nicolas blinked. "Why would we ever manipulate my mother? We're her family—"

"And yet you erased her memories and hid her away in some corner of Mexico like she was a criminal," the second witch, Farah, interrupted. She was just as invested as Valeria.

"That was for her own good. And she chose it," Klaus snapped and stepped forwards. "Don't pretend to be looking out for her, because any time a witch is around her, she always ends up getting hurt."

"Hm," Valeria tilted her head at him, "Funny, that's what we think about her and the Mikaelsons. You always find a way to hurt her worse than the previous time."

A darkness settled on Klaus' face. He didn't think twice in going for her with the intention of killing her, but of course Valeria was prepared for it. She provoked an aneurysm and watched the hybrid fall to his knees in pain.

"We're Maleny's new family now. And she chose that too," Farah smirked and started up a second round of aneurysms. "Time to deal with it."

From behind, Marcel arrived and snapped the woman's neck. He was done with the dramatics and charged for the second witch. With tears in her eyes, Valeria went for a stronger blow. Marcel came to the same stop of pain; he tried pushing through but the pain was a lot stronger.

As Klaus went to aid him, Nicolas gave the shout that it was done. He'd lowered the barrier around the house.

Valeria immediately stopped and whirled around, eyes wide with alarm. "What!? No!"

Klaus took off without a second thought, as did Marcel.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you stay away from my mother," Nicolas spat then hurried for the house as well.

By the time Nicolas caught up with the others, he'd found the backyard a center of chaos. Maleny's scream had died only a second before Nicolas arrived and now her body was lying on the ground, outcold. Klaus and Marcel were busy taking on as many witches as they could without breaking down from aneurysms first.

It was an awful sight.

"ENOUGH!" Nicolas shouted and drew on his aunt's and grandmother's power to neutralize everyone on the spot. "Dad, let's take Mum home. These people are just strangers. My mother needs her rest and a lot of care for what she'll feel after she wakes up."

Klaus pushed himself off the ground and looked to Marcel. He couldn't very well touch Maleny at the moment, could he? What a punishment.

Marcel nodded and went to retrieve Maleny's body off the ground.

"Don't you dare move," Klaus warned Julius after catching the witch trying to get up. He sped up to Julius and put a foot over his back. "And I don't want to see you anywhere Maleny and the rest of my family or I will come back for you."

"Dad!" Nicolas practically begged for them to go. Who knows what they did to Maleny's head.

Klaus removed his foot from Julius' back and moved away.

~ 0 ~

Maleny was placed in what used to be hers and Klaus' old bedroom. She'd been unconscious for hours but Abigail and Freya assured the others that Maleny would be fine.

One thing they knew for sure, though, was that Maleny's memories were back. It was an unsettling thought but one that they would have to accept now.

"You're good to go in," Freya told Klaus as soon as he returned to the compound at dawn. Their spell had been successful for the time being.

Despite what Nicolas told him, Klaus felt like he needed to go back to the abandoned house to make sure there were no more witches. To his relief, they were all gone. Not even Farah's body remained as evidence of their presence.

Klaus made a slow walk into the courtyard and looked up to the second floor several times. "I don't quite believe it."

Freya understood that after 7 years of being apart by curse, Klaus wouldn't straight away believe that he and Maleny could once again be in the same room. They'd been successful in temporarily deflecting the Hollow's curse.

"Well you should," Freya patted Klaus' arm. "Have a little faith in your sister, son and mother-in-law, will you?" Klaus deadpanned her for the last bit, but Freya just smiled. "Maybe we should call Marlenie now," Freya said after a moment.

Klaus turned to the side, just thinking about speaking to Marlenie again made him nervous. They hadn't talked since they'd both left France. "She won't come. Not when she learns this is only temporary. There's just no point."

"Oh my goodness!" Klaus heard Abigail's cry from upstairs.

Klaus moved in fast, leaving Freya confused in the process. Inside the bedroom, Abigail and Nicolas were staring at the empty bed in horror.

"Where's Maleny?" Klaus' demand was met with silence.

No one had the faintest idea where Maleny was.

A/N:

Ever since TVDU officially ended, I've been stuck on this and I started rewatching TO & TVD. The nostalgia hit I guess. I'm a couple chapters away from finishing this story now and, like, I got another idea...

I may or may not have started an AU fic of Mal & Klaus, this time starting in TVD. It's an idea I always played with but since I'm on s2 of TVD I figured why the hell not. I'm already 10 chapters in and I'm hoping to publish it as soon as I post the last chapter of this story.

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"