AN: Hey guys! Here's the second chapter I promised. I know it's ends a little weird, but I wanted to have some extra for the next chapter, just in case since I don't know what the next episode will give me. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Eleven
Elijah had a plan and one the others fully supported. It was beautiful in its elegance and simplicity, really. It solved all their problems in one fell swoop.
K was reticent, but slowly beginning to see things from Klaus's point of view. The convincing was easily, actually, the moment she saw the toxic veins on Hope's arms. At that point, K simply wanted her to expel the toxins as quickly as possible, and who better to use as cannon fodder than the ones intimately tied to Hayley's death?
Hope led the way, shoving the doors to Saint Anne's open with little more than a flick of her wrist. A swarm of radicalists stood within its belly, shocked and terrified to see her, Klaus, and K storm into the chapel together.
"The hell are they doing here?"
"The path to redemption is winding," Elijah said with a gentle smile, "But worthy."
"You betrayed us!"
"You can leave them to us, now." Klaus said with a wicked smirk. An instant later, Marcel joined them as well.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."
"Go ahead, sweetheart." Klaus told his daughter. "Let it all out."
Strong and unwavering in her stance, Hope stepped forward. The vampire purists shifted uncomfortably where they stood, eying the girl barely old enough to drive with the purest fear.
And suddenly, with a banshee's scream, magic flowed from Hope's body. The blue wave of destruction leveled the mass before her. The vampires tried to stand, tried to hold on, but she was far too strong. Within seconds, they were rendered truly lifeless.
When it was all over, Hope stood in terror of what she could do. The gravity of the power coursing through her was finally made manifest, and she wasn't certain how to comprehend it. Klaus and Marcel spoke softly to one another, but K's attention was solely on Hope. She wanted to know how comfortable –if at all- she was with what she'd done. It'd tell K whether they opened an unclosable door within her, or not.
A noise from above diverted their attention quickly, however. Klaus charged upstairs with Hope and K close behind and found something that instantly brought a startling reality to what happened seconds prior. Declan, a man K hadn't met before, was lying against some bookcases, bleeding from the head.
"Oh my god, Declan…" Hope gasped. "Is he gonna live?"
Klaus slowly approached the young man. He knew the same thing K did. No, Declan probably wasn't going to survive as he was, which would mean Hope had inadvertently triggered her werewolf gene.
"Kali, get her out of here." He said over his shoulder.
"Dad,"
"Hope, go." He told her sternly.
"Come on," K took her hand and whether she wanted to or not, Hope followed her guidance.
When they were gone, Klaus bit into his wrist and fed Declan his blood. He didn't want Hope to have his death on her conscious. The vampires were something else, but not a human she knew and cared for –despite what Klaus might feel for him.
It didn't matter, though. It never seems to, no matter how hard they try. The worst possible outcome is always waiting for them right around the corner.
K took Hope to the cemetery. She wanted to pay her respects to the man she'd inadvertently killed in the church, and K was more than willing to help her as best she could.
The sound of footsteps drew their eye over their shoulder. Klaus had decided to join them after the fact.
"You didn't have to come, too." Hope said as she looked back at the altar.
"I wanted to make sure you're alright." He told her.
Hope didn't seem to want to talk about it and instead chose to change the subject. "I don't know why we leave flowers. It's not like they care."
"It's never for them." K told her softly. "Funerals, altars, flowers… they're for us. It's how we handle the loss and honor the dead."
"Yeah, well, it's not much of an apology for killing someone."
They saw her shift uncomfortably from behind and heard the guilt in her voice. It broke their hearts.
"Unintentionally." Klaus corrected. "It was an unfortunate side effect of ridding the city of vermin. You have nothing to apologize for."
K scoffed and shook her head. "Nik, enough." She said softly.
"Don't make it sound so noble." Hope said sternly, turning to face her father. "I killed someone, dad, and there's no coming back from that. But it looks like he'll get his revenge next week for the full moon."
Klaus sighed and shook his head, slowly approaching her. "Hope, you may be treading it, but once it happens, you're going to feel better."
"I don't know if I'm dreading it. I mean, part of me hopes I'll turn, and never turn back." She said haughtily. "Mom said that after the pain, it's one of the best feelings in the world." They all still felt a small twinge at the mention of Hayley. "I just can't believe I have to do this without her…"
Klaus shifted his weight, moving from one foot to the other as he tried to find the words to console his daughter, but was admittedly lacking in the ability.
"I know that no one can replace your mother," he told her, "but you won't be doing this alone."
"I know." She said. "But uh… I just want to be alone, for now."
Klaus and K glanced to one another and came to an agreement. Leaning forward, he kissed her tenderly on the forehead and walked a few steps away and K did the same.
Together, the two adults left Hope to her own devices, left her to mourn the life she'd taken, but the atmosphere surrounding them had grown tense.
"Her neck…" Klaus said as he and K made their way out of the cemetery.
"I know." She replied.
They'd both seen it while they were talking to her. Hope's marks were spreading. Now, the infection touched the back of her neck. The Hollow was taking over.
Weddings were meant to be happy, but Mikaelson weddings… well, those were meant to be filled with more heartache than joy –just like their lives.
Between quarreling brides, broken hearts, and devastating news, poor Freya must have been on the brink of destruction.
K was doing her best getting things ready, gathering the supplies needed to help both Keelin and Freya get dressed for the wedding that –as of now- had been called off. K didn't believe it, though. More accurately, she didn't want to believe it was over. Freya deserved to be happy and given how everything had transpired over the last couple months, a party celebrating love was exactly what they needed.
A light tapping brought her out of her thoughts. K turned to see Klaus standing in the doorframe with what was perhaps one of the saddest expressions she'd probably ever seen.
"What's wrong?" she asked, already fearing the answer.
He looked at her with tear-filled eyes. K slowly rose to her feet. Klaus looked lost, afraid, and that in turn frightened her.
"She's dying." He choked on the words.
K felt a pit grow in her stomach. "Who?" She didn't want to know the answer.
She continued to approach the nearly broken man and finally stopped within arm's reach of him. He could barely bring himself to look her in the eye.
"Hope," The name left his lips on a breath, a breath that was strong enough to break her completely.
K immediately reached for Klaus. She wrapped her arms around him and held tight. Klaus hesitated to return the action. His arms felt as though they weighed tons, but he eventually managed to lift them. When he did hug her, however, he couldn't let go.
Klaus buried his face in the nape of her neck. His breath burned against her skin and he trembled. She understood completely.
Everything around them disappeared as they clung to one another. How could this be happening? How could so many horrible things happen to such a sweet girl? Was this the universe's cruel joke, its way of punishing her for sharing the blood of a Mikaelson? It wasn't fair.
She didn't know how long they held one another, but eventually they parted. They'd found their way to the bed they shared, sitting side by side.
"When do the boys arrive?" Klaus finally asked. His voice was broken and soft, a perfect representation of the moment.
"In an hour." K replied as she continued to tenderly run her fingers along the inside of his arm, absently hoping it'd distract her from the moment. "Caroline sent them with Alaric."
She felt him nod. "That's good. It'll be nice to have everyone together. They've never met their aunts and uncles."
"No, they haven't."
And they fell silent again. There was nothing else to say for the moment. K had arranged for the boys to come for Freya's wedding and whether it came to fruition or not, Matthew and Alexander needed to meet the rest of their family, and this may be the last time they're all together.
When Klaus saw his sons, he felt a rush of joy and warmth wash over him. It helped wash away the cold bitterness of everything that'd happened lately.
K brought the boys to their room and unpacked their things while they played and stretched. The flight wasn't long compared to some they'd taken in their lives, but they were little and being pent up for even a couple hours was probably enough to make them crazy.
"Knock, knock," Rebekah said from the door. K turned and saw her smiling happily. "I heard my nephews had finally arrived and I wanted to come say hello."
Rebekah's eyes fell to the little boys with matching faces and she swooned. She couldn't help it, the action simply came forward.
"Aren't you handsome." She smiled. Rebekah knelt down so she could be eyelevel with the two. "I'm Rebekah."
K brought them closer. For some reason, the pair were acting more shy than usual, which she thought was simply adorable.
"This is Matthew," she said, introducing the dark-haired boy with the brilliant eyes and the small beauty mark beneath his left eye. "And this is Alexander." She said, introducing the second identical boy, minus the beauty mark. "Boys, this is Rebekah, daddy's little sister."
"I've heard so much about the both of you." Rebekah smiled. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She offered a hand and to her surprise, each shook it.
"Hi," they mumbled softly.
Rebekah giggled at the two as she rose to her feet. "Are you nearly ready?"
"Almost." K replied. "I just need to get them cleaned up, dressed, and get dressed myself."
"Alright. We need to leave within the hour."
"No problem."
With another smile, Rebekah left. She was driving K and the boys to the venue while Klaus took Freya. Keelin was already there, and Marcel was arriving with Hope, Kol, and Davina. It amazed K how many would be in attendance, but it made her so happy, too.
As she said they would be, she and the boys were ready before they had to leave. Freya made them both ring bearers, so they had to be there a little early.
When they arrived, the boys stuck close to K. She wasn't surprised. With everything being as new as it was, she knew she had a few hours before they decided to race around the grounds like the wild men they could be.
"I'm going to go see Freya." Rebekah said when they made it to the barn.
K nodded and watched as the blond broke away to find her sister.
"Kali?"
K turned and saw Davina and Kol approaching her. Kol was smiling warmly while Davins seemed a little surprised.
"Kol, Davina, hi." She greeted.
"Hi," Davina couldn't hide her shock. "Who are these little guys?"
"My nephews." Kol said with a hint of pride that warmed K's heart. Davin's shock doubled. "Hello, lads." He greeted the boys, offering his hand like Rebekah had. "I'm your uncle Kol, but I doubt your mummy's told you too much about me." He gave K a small wink. It was clear he was teasing her, for which she was grateful. Of all the siblings, her past with Kol had been by far the lightest.
"The trickster." Matthew mumbled in his soft, young voice.
Kol's face lit up with a smile. He'd since heard the stories K had told Hope about their family since he woke, so he knew the nickname well, and he was glad to hear it.
"That's right." He chuckled. "And this is Davina, my wife. Another aunt."
"Davina's a witch," K told her boys. "Just like Aunt Freya, Hope, and you."
Davina smiled sweetly to the two and knelt before them. She could sense their power, their strength, and assumed they could sense the same from her.
"Hi," she said kindly.
Eventually it came time for the ceremony to begin. K led the way holding her sons' hands while each of them held a small slice of wood, rawly cut from a tree, with a ring tied to it with ribbon.
Kol stood at the head of the procession beaming proudly. Keelin was to the left holding a bouquet and smiling so wide it had to hurt. On her side stood Davina and Marcel, while Rebekah and Hope lingered to the right. The air was finally light, finally joyous and the tension filling it was for something wonderful about to happen, not dreadful.
When they reached the end of the procession, K and the Alexander stepped to the left with Keelin, while Hope took Matthew's hand and guided him to the right. The music shifted and attention fell to the end of the aisle. Freya emerged, flanked on either side by her brothers. She could barely contain her excitement as she approached her soon-to-be wife.
As they finally joined Kol and Keelin, Klaus and Elijah broke away allowing Freya to stand beside her wife. The others soon stepped behind them, forming a semi-circle around the pair. Unlike most weddings, there was no division between sides. There was no bride's side, groom's side (or in this case bride and bride) because they were all together, all a family, so they stood as one.
"Dearly beloved," Kol declared, "Now, not to make this all about me, but we know how families work. Sometimes it's dinner, and sometimes it's daggers." Klaus flinched. "Now, I don't know why it takes something as special as this to wake us up, to show us the beauty in the moment, or to show us to be grateful for what we have when we have it, but I for one am grateful for today, and for all of you.
"Keelin, now, when I first met you, I never would have predicted you'd become my sister. But you are strong, and beautiful, and deserve nothing but the best in life."
Kol's voice slowly began to fade away. K didn't mean to lose herself in thought, but it happened regardless. With a glance around, she could tell most of them had the same issue.
Kol asking her for the rings brought her back into the moment, however. Hope brought Alex forward. He held the piece of wood and let Freya untie her ring. With a smile, she gives it to Keelin. K did the same with Matt, and Keelin repeated the process for the ring she slid onto Freya's finger.
"And with the power vested in my by a Franciscan monk in the thirteenth century, and the internet a few hours ago just to be safe," Kol grinned. "I now pronounce you married. You may both kiss the bride."
As Freya and Keelin kissed, sealing their bond for the rest of their lives, the group of family and friends clapped.
A bit of levity in a troubled life was unbelievably welcome.
