AN: Warning: this chapter contains fairly graphic descriptions of violence, so if you are in any way offended by blood, gore, decapitation, etc. then please tread carefully.
Previously on ATCL: 'It seems she had not taken a century, as he had predicted, after all.'
"What on earth are these?" Kol held up the earpiece he had been given before putting it in place. Katherine rolled her eyes.
"It's a communicator. We'll use them to contact each other once we're out there." She continued passing them out to the other leaders of various regiments of soldiers. "Just be glad I managed to find wireless ones." Even when going to war, Katherine Pierce managed to look deadly sexy. She was sporting a catsuit, after all, a variety of tools and weapons in the belt around her hips. "Now shoo. I have more people to outfit since no one else is technologically capable enough to assist me, and you have a girlfriend to say goodbye to."
"I was going to do just that, Kitty." The Original retorted, not even protesting the label of 'girlfriend', as he normally had been, calling it childish. "You are warning me of this because?"
"It's war, Kol. No one is safe; not even immortal beings." Katherine pursed her lips before walking off.
He raised an eyebrow, but went out of the makeshift camp tent, where Bonnie was standing with Caroline. The latter left when he gave her the 'give us a moment' look, and Kol approached his girl. Bonnie went to speak, but he cut her off with a short and hard kiss.
"Not that I protest," Bonnie started, regaining her breath, "but what was that for?"
"That, darling, is so you know what you have to come back to." He did the thing with his eyebrows which drove her crazy, and Bonnie laughed.
"I'm not forgetting, trust me." She leaned back in, though Kol stopped her with a finger across her lips.
"I do, you know. I do trust you. And I trust you in regards to us." He said seriously. Bonnie took in Kol's words for a moment, before breaking into a wide grin.
"Your trust means very much to me. And I trust you as well." Bonnie shoved some of the tousled hair back from him forehead. "Now, we have a war to go fight, so kiss me again."
He did just that, planting a surprisingly soft kiss on her lips, though it was no less passionate, and left them both wanting more. It appeared Bonnie's smiles were contagious, for Kol cracked a real smile as they walked towards where each of their regiments were standing. "God, I love making war."
"No, you just love wreaking havoc. There's a distinct difference." Bonnie nudged him with her hip, moving their joined hands out of the way. After spending a really long time physically connected in some way at all times, the loss of contact between the two was always…known. They were able to be apart, of course, but Bonnie and Kol found something comforting in the touch of the other. It was simply one of their quirks.
"Mmm, I do enjoy it. It's an adrenaline rush beyond any other." Kol shrugged. "I may or may not have started the Hundred Year's War, simply because of boredom. Joan of Arc was a lovely lady, by the way, though extremely ahead of her time."
"And how on earth did you manage that?" Bonnie asked, still slightly taking in the fact that Kol was around during the 14th century. It was one thing to know it, and another thing to hear about his friendship with Joan of Arc.
"It was quite easy, actually. Royalty can be so weak-minded. I simply placed the suggestion into Edward the III's mind that maybe he should not pay homage to Phillip VI of France, and it escalated from there. Of course, I had no idea it would go on for so long, but, well, that was an added bonus." He smirked, completely nonchalant. "War is fun to watch, and considering I spent the majority of my time flitting through various royal courts, I would start up a little conflict between the kingdoms every so often. Honestly, there was really nothing else to do."
She just shook her head. "You, Kol, are just something else."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Katherine tapped away at the array of computers she had running, all of the Mikaelsons watching on as she did so. She had managed to hack into the security cameras of various businesses around the city, basically giving their side eyes everywhere. It may not seem like much, but with the comm links and the cameras, it might just be enough to tip the scales in their favor. And, well, they needed all the assistance they could get.
Marcel had a slightly larger army, and his fighters knew their way around the city. All of the drawn battle plans allotted for Marcel to have stationed his forces within the buildings, leaving their army to patrol the streets. They would be disadvantaged in quite a few ways, even with the large number of allies which had poured into New Orleans over the past three days. It was not so much of a disadvantage that the city would be difficult to take, just simply that they would have to fight smarter than their opposition to win this war. Good thing they had a closet tech genius on their hands.
"Katherine?" A voice rang through the communicator, and into the brunette's ear. "Katherine, are you there?"
"Hello, Bon-Bon." She answered. Caroline and Bonnie had taken their designated task forces out as part of the first phase of operations. Bonnie was tasked with a group of witches, and they were supposed to be 'sniping' Marcel's forces with spells. Caroline had been charged with taking out Marcel's strategic camp, much like the one Katherine and everyone else was gathered at presently, and one of their spies had given her the location of said camp three days prior. Both women were relying upon the element of surprise to complete their missions, and they would be instrumental in the rest of the army seizing the city later on. "I assume you've reached your position?"
"We're stationed on rooftops all across the city in groups of three. My soldiers are more than prepared for what is to come. Don't worry about us." Her voice crackled through the link, the wind causing some static. "Oh hold on a sec…" Bonne trailed off. "There might be some activity below. Check the cameras around my location, will you?" Katherine began to do as the Anchor asked, but was cut off when a muffled curse came over the line. "One of my witches didn't hold their fire. We're engaging a group of about twenty. I repeat, we're engaging."
Kol leaned over and snatched the earpiece from Katherine. "Darling, are you alright? How is our little protégé holding up?"
An audible sigh could be heard. "I'm about as fine as I can get, considering I'm virtually defenseless, except for this effing pistol which I've shot about twice in my life. But hey, I'm immortal, so I can't really die. I've got us a place set up in case we need to hide out, and it's pretty well protected." Bonnie said, exasperated. "Davina's doing fine. A bit shaky, but okay. She's prepared to defend us, in case I'm incapacitated with Anchor duties and all. Though, I had to help her reload the rifle earlier. She accidentally knocked something out of place, and we had ammunition going everywhere." She faded out for a few seconds. "Shit. That really hurt."
"Bonnie?"
"First kill of the day. Not sure which side they were from, but that hurt like a bitch. Anyways, Kol, aren't you supposed to be leading the front lines into the Quarter by now?" She retorted, the noise of witches chanting in the background.
"I probably should get on that, doll. Here's Kitty." Kol laughed, shooting a wink at his pseudo-sister-in-law, and nodding at his brothers before walking out to his assembled forces. He had a sword around his waist, his two good hands, and a wicked thirst for blood. Let chaos reign.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Caroline focused her binoculars upon the location below, and gulped. This was definitely Marcel's strategic camp, but something was wrong. There were too many fighters in the place... Then, it dawned on her. They had been double-crossed, and she had been stupid enough to lead her group into a trap. Great. What did that say about her abilities? It was not like she could just abandon the mission… The camp had to go down. She had helped build the plans herself, and Caroline was more than aware that this camp had to be taken. Shit. There was only one option.
She had to take the camp, even if it meant at the price of her regiment's lives, not to mention her own; going in that lion's den meant almost certain death. Caroline was able to calculate the odds. It looked as if there were at least twice as many down in the camp as she had with her, maybe even more than that. No, the results of this imminent battle were not going to be very pretty. Caroline stepped away from her squadron, telling them she needed five minutes to decide, when in fact, her mind was made up. They were going to go down there, and they were going to fight their hardest and attempt to take the camp. Now, it was just time to take care of a few things.
Pulling out her phone, the nineteen-year old dialed her mother's number, and waited. When it went to voicemail, the lady was not surprised whatsoever, and started to speak. "Hi Mom, it's Caroline!" She smiled, attempting to inject happiness in her voice, though she could feel tears welling up. God, she was leaving her mom a goodbye voicemail. Who did this kind of shit? "Anyways, I know we haven't talked in a few days, but, well, I'm currently standing in the middle of a supernatural battleground. And I've got a mission to complete." Caroline sighed, attempting to calm down. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but, well, you're a cop, Mom. I think you know where this is going. I have a duty to lead and protect my regiment, but I have to complete this mission. The problem is," Her voice broke slightly, "going forward with the current plan means I probably won't make it out. I'm not going to be stupidly sacrificial or anything, but if it comes down to it, I am the leader of this mission, and I will leave last." The young lady gulped, hating that she had to say all of this, but it needed to be done. "So, if I die tonight, I just want you to know that I really love you, Mommy. And even though we spent a lot of time fighting with each other, just… I'm glad we managed to get to a good place." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'll make sure that someone calls you within the next twenty-four hours, and hopefully that person will be me. But if it isn't… Tell Elena I love her. And tell Stefan he was like a brother to me. And you can even tell Damon that he wasn't as much of a jerk as he could have been." Caroline laughed, through the tears which were falling down her face. "Anyways, I love you, Mom. Bye." With that, Caroline Forbes ended what could very possibly be the final words she ever said to her mother.
There was one more call she needed to make. Pressing the button on her comm link, she waited. "Katherine?" Caroline asked, when she could hear noise through the earpiece.
"No, love. The insolent doppelganger just left with Elijah and my sister to check over the remaining forces." The familiar accent rang through, giving Caroline a bit of peace. "Do you need her?"
"No." She shook her head, forgetting he could not see her for a moment. "I was just going to have her patch me through to you anyways." The blonde let out a whoosh of breath, and she could practically hear the concern from Klaus over the line.
"Caroline…"
"We don't have any backup forces, and I know that. We were double-crossed, and they're waiting for me at the camp, and they've got way more men, but I need to complete this mission, so I just wanted t-to s-say," Caroline blurted in waves of never-ending words, until she could not take it anymore.
"You wanted to say goodbye." Klaus finished for her. "Sweetheart, I will be there in a few minutes, and we will handle this." He stood, pushing the rolling chair backwards.
"No!" She shouted over the communicator. "No, you aren't going to come save me. I know how many we have to work with, and we specifically calculated yours and Rebekah's team with the both of you in mind. As is, we already had to leave your team with less force than I would like. If she's short that much manpower, she won't be able to take the Abattoir, and that means certain defeat. You cannot save me this time."
"Caroline, I refuse to let you make this decis—" Klaus yelled into the communicator.
"Tell Rebekah she's been a fabulous shopping partner, and a good friend. And I think she'll make a great auntie." Caroline cut him off. "And please tell Katherine and Elijah to keep their shit together, because I don't know a couple more suited for each other. It's been my pleasure to be the friend of the bitch named Katherine Pierce, and you can tell her that too." She laughed, her face falling as she looked down at the camp she was about to attack. "Warn Kol that if he doesn't treat my best friend right, I'll kick his ass. And please tell Bonnie I love her." Caroline's voice broke for the second time that night.
"Caroline," Klaus began, gritting his teeth.
"No, Klaus. You need to let me do this, even though I know it's killing you inside. And I'm probably being really presumptuous with this whole thing, but I needed to tell you goodbye."
"In my opinion, you've told everyone else goodbye, but not me." He countered, eliciting a half-hearted and static-filled giggle out of her.
"That's because you were coming up." Caroline shot back. God, she wished she had been able to do this in person. "I'm not going to say what you might think I might say, because I know if I do, there would not be a force upon this planet to stop you from coming to me. Besides, I wouldn't say it over the phone anyways, because that's kind of lame." She let out a breath, brushing away tears. "But I want you to know that I don't think you are a monster, Klaus. And I need you to know that, because I have treated you terribly in the past, and I have done horrible things to you, even though I knew you had feelings for me. I really regret hurting you like that, because even if you were like an uber-massive dick to everybody in Mystic Falls, you didn't deserve that from me. The only good thing about my flirting and distracting was that it showed me who you really are, and that I will not regret. I don't regret seeing the man behind the monster you show everyone else, and if I die tonight, I need to know you are sure in this fact." When she received no answer, Caroline knew she had shocked him speechless, but she continued along. "Hold onto your humanity, Niklaus. Love is not a weakness; instead it makes you stronger. And that is what I am now, because of you, and your belief in who I was and could become. I'm stronger."
Before he could reply, she ended the call, and took out her earpiece, shoving it in her pocket. Caroline then walked over to where her troops had assembled, scanning the faces she was in charge of. This was like a cheer competition, just on a way larger scale, and with deadly weapons. She could do this. Caroline knew no words needed to be said; they could all see she was scared out of her mind, and she could tell they were. But this was what needed to be done, and so they would complete it.
Caroline Forbes, the eternal seventeen year old, turned and charged with her regiment of troops into the strategic camp of Marcellus Gerard and Tyler Lockwood, where a small army awaited her. It was time to put an end to this.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Katherine ducked as the vampire charged at her, the dull thud of their body hitting the pavement an indication Elijah had pulled his signature move, and ripped the heart straight out of their chest. Standing back up and decapitating a creature to her left in own swoop, twin silver blades flashing in the streetlights, the angel of death shared a grin with the demon in a suit beside her. God, she loved it when he was covered in blood. "Behind you, lover!" She nodded, before flipping what smelled like a werewolf over her shoulder—and quite possibly was, for Marcel had recruited some of the local werewolves for his army, probably with false promises—breaking their spine against her knee.
The streets of New Orleans were already drenched in the blood of their enemies, Kol's preliminary wave having taken out more than their fair share of Marcel's army. Though, the cleanup was going to be miserable, Katherine noted, as she continued destroying any who dared to attack her fabulous body. The smell was already horrendous, and there were various body parts and corpses littering the battlefield. Thankfully, they had minions to do the dirty work, because after they finished up this war, she was going to go have crazy bloodlust sex with Elijah. Frankly, adrenaline-fueled, bloodlust-driven, sex was always the best sex, and no one was going to stop her from having a fuck ton of earth-shattering orgasms after this. She deserved it. And then maybe, after lots of bloodsharing and furniture breaking, would Katherine get a relaxing bubble bath. Yes, that sounded like the perfect way to finish up a battle.
She and Elijah ended up back-to-back, with what felt like the world against them. Apparently not much was different in life and the battlefield. Katherine stabbed a passing vampire in the stomach, before ripping out their heart, blood drenching her hands. It had been a very long time since she had been involved in a combat situation such as this, the previous time being over a century before. It was certainly messier than she had remembered, and the rush of anger and adrenaline she was receiving from all around her only served to fuel Katherine's fire.
"Vampire, three o'clock." Elijah barked, and Katherine instantly turned and hacked the incoming opponent into pieces, her long curls flying around her face, streaked with blood in places. She had fallen in love with these twin blades about a week ago, and they were her newest favorite weapon. And, well, she was certainly putting them to good use.
Katherine turned back to face her lover, and she met his gaze, eyes darkening with lust at the sight of his normally pristine form mussed in such a deadly sexy way. The look he was giving her was not helping much either. Elijah had always liked her after a hunt, and this was like that, but with everything on a larger scale. Not needing words, she took the remaining steps towards the demon she loved, armed hands going around his neck, hips roughly meeting, as she and Elijah engaged in the bloodiest kiss of their existence. His drenched hands entwined themselves in her hair and around her waist, and Katherine arched into his body, getting as close as she could possibly be to him without ripping clothes off.
They were blackened souls, the pair of them, and kisses like these were what they were made of. It was their true nature, to indulge in the blood and gore. Vampire she may not be, but he was, and she had spent the majority of her existence as one. The call to rip, and tear, and shred, had never left her system, and hidden as it might be from those who were not she, he was a ruthless being. They were the king and queen of chaos; the darkness who had striven for the light, and only ever fallen short. Elijah feared no other than she, and Katherine could now say the same. Just as Hades and Persephone had found love amidst the shades of the Underworld, so did the man of blood, and the girl of the earth. For, when darkness touched upon the girl, she was utterly consumed, and became more terrible than ever before; fight as he may, the man was drawn more than ever to both her now-twisted form, as well as the girl she once was. They were darkness, she and Elijah; darkness which created light together.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Pull your shit together, Nik…" Rebekah hissed out of the corner of her mouth. They and their forces were currently in position to take the Abattoir, and were waiting for the perfectly timed moment.
"There is nothing I need to pull together, Bekah." He spat back.
"The three chairs and one of Katherine's keyboards you smashed tell a different tale." His sister sniped. "Caroline's not dead, I'm sure Susan and the hybrids we managed to spare got there in time, and you two can go off and have lots of loud sex in a hotel room somewhere after this."
"Careful sister, it is starting to seem as if though you actually care." Klaus rolled his eyes, firmly ignoring her gaze.
"Caroline's my friend, and you are the eternal pain in my arse. Of course I care." She smiled glibly.
"I believe the title of arse belongs to Kol, Rebekah." He arched an eyebrow, attempting to change the subject.
"Touché." The lady Original nodded in agreement. She looked down at the timer which had been running on her phone, and stashed it away. "It is time." Rebekah said. Thus far she had managed to stay out of the majority of the combat, only needing to defend their camp once. She and Nik were the final phase of their battle plans, and arguably the most important. They were to take the Abattoir, kill Marcel and possibly the hybrid pup, and secure the city of New Orleans.
While war itself was not something Rebekah wished to indulge in on a daily, or even an annual, basis, she was familiar with it. She and her brothers had fought in many wars over the years, so getting her hands dirty was not a problem. And, after all, New Orleans needed to be taken back into her family's hands. If they let one city slip, another one would fall to its vassal, and then another, and soon enough their basis of power around the planet would be non-existent. To run an empire such as the supernatural world meant having to protect it, and that was exactly what was taking place in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Rebekah and her family were protecting what was theirs.
"To the Abattoir!" Klaus raised his sword, one which Rebekah recognized as a gift from Elijah, Kol, and herself back in the 1500's, and led the charge to the building Marcel had been waiting inside.
The rush to the compound was loud and involved quite a bit of corpse avoidance, which was more than a bit nasty. When they finally reached the doors, the assembled legion crashed through them, the united force of over a hundred supernatural buildings and two Originals easily breaking them down. Once inside, they were met with Marcel's inner circle and then some, the false king of the city overlooking his amassed forces.
"Marcellus." Klaus strode in. Gone was the worried man (who was not worried whatsoever, and if you dared to contradict him, your head would be on the floor) of mere minutes before, and left in his place was the asshole brother Rebekah had known and hated for a thousand years. "I will be merciful and offer you an option. You will either surrender all of the area which is currently under your rule to me, effective immediately, or you will die a miserable death."
"Go to hell, Klaus." Marcel spat. "This city is mine and mine alone."
"Very well." Klaus shrugged. "You have made your decision." And with that, chaos erupted within the courtyard of the place Rebekah had once called home. Blood flew and spattered the walls, corpses from both sides falling to the ground the warring supernatural ripped each other to shreds. Rebekah was soon messy, her blonde hair like a gory Jackson Polluck piece, as she dismembered and destroyed all who attempted to attack her. Needless to say, there would be no mockery of her today; she was not a force to be reckoned with.
Some distance away, on the other side of the room, Nik fought as a man possessed; he was a demon, slaughtering those who stood in his path towards Marcel. Rebekah made her way to her brother, the two fighting side-by-side: the king of the deathless, and his eternal constant. Though they fought like dogs and had somewhat hated each other for the majority of their years, they were family, and family was forever. One does not fuck with the Mikaelson Family, and that was that.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rebekah noticed an influx of familiar people coming through the doors. When she placed them as the combined forces of Kol and Bonnie's regiments, though neither of the commanders of said regiments were in sight, she turned to Klaus. "Nik, go take care of Marcel! We can take care of the rest."
A wicked smile curved across her brother's face. "No, Bekah." He turned and decapitated a charging vampire, who she recognized as Diego, Marcel's right-hand man. "After his army is decimated, and he looks upon the destruction which he could have prevented by surrender, only then will I grant him death." Rebekah just nodded, and went back to fighting. She and Marcel may have had a fling, but, well, she had been there, done that, and had gotten the t-shirt.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Meanwhile, as Niklaus and Rebekah Mikaelson stormed the Abattoir in an attempt to crush Marcel Gerard and his kingdom, the city of New Orleans was raining blood.
On the south side of the city, Susan Bishop-Montgomery and the five hybrids which had been sent with her as backup to their Alpha, by their other Alpha, rushed into the building where the battle camp was located. Once in, they ran into the fray, glimpsing for the woman they called Leader while fighting, yet never catching one. It was shortly afterwards, when all had settled down and the sides began to collect their dead that they found who they were looking for. And, instantly, all six dropped to their knees.
Across town, Kol Mikaelson looked up towards the rooftop of the building before him, crouched, and jumped. Landing lightly, the battle-worn man shook himself off, and walked towards the corner where he knew Bonnie and Davina had been waiting the battle out. Unfortunately, he forgot to forewarn them of his presence, and was soon ducking wooden bullets. "What the fuck?" He swore.
The familiar form of Davina popped out, dressed in dark jeans and a dark blouse, blending in well with the shadows. "Sorry!" She whimpered. "I didn't know it was you."
"Just make sure you know who you're shooting at next time. And we're going to need to improve your aim." Kol walked closer. "Where's Bonnie?"
The former witch shifted from one foot to another, holding her gun awkwardly. "Umm… Come see for yourself." Davina led Kol to where the stairwell up to the roof would have let up, inside a concrete structure of sorts. She walked down to the first landing, where a miniature base camp of sorts had been set up. There was a computer or two, a bag of snacks and stuff, and a pile of blankets and a large air mattress. On said air mattress was Bonnie, and it looked as if she was sleeping. "She passed out a couple hours ago." Davina looked to the floor. "And really, I'm glad she did. It was really bad when she was awake… Ghosts were passing through one after another."
Kol winced when he remembered every supernatural being he had killed that day. There had been at least thirty by his hand alone, and his squadron had not been kind either. Every single one of them had contributed to her pain, and he had not even thought of her in the moment. "Yes, I am glad she was not awake for the majority of the battle."
Elijah and Katherine stood among the destruction of the French Quarter, stillness reigning. Marcel's remaining forces, and there had been quite a few of them, had surrendered merely moments ago, and were currently being taken to a holding area by a designated few.
"We did it." Katherine turned to Elijah, a blood-streaked smirk gracing her face.
"That we have, Katerina." He arched an eyebrow, grabbing her by the waist, and yanking her to him. "That we have."
"After this, we're going on vacation for a very long time." Katherine poked him on the shoulder. "It's going to take ages to get the scent of blood out of my hair, and I need to be able to relax."
"I can certainly work with those terms." Elijah laughed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Back at the Abattoir, the battle had reached its end.
"Marcellus Gerard." Klaus stood over the man who was once his son, voice booming. The Abattoir was silent, those who remained after the battle watching their new king. "As punishment for your inability to surrender to the proper owners of the city of New Orleans, as punishment for not handing control over to those who built this grand city from the ground up, and let you remain here as vassal, I sentence you to death." With that, Klaus reached into Marcel's chest, grasped his heart, and ripped it out. He threw the bloody organ to the ground, the corpse of Marcel falling to the floor with a thud.
The city of New Orleans had a new king.
AN: So... Thoughts? Reactions? Anyone wishing they could like come to my house and scream at me because I left the fate of a certain blonde baby vampire until next week?
Yeah, I know, I'm terrible. However, everything I wrote was for a reason, and as next chapter is the official last chapter before the epilogue, I could not help but give you all a heavy dose of angst.
I know the Kalijah was like...dark...but I see them as a pretty dark ship. Like, Elijah came onto the show as this really effing scary dude who went around ripping hearts out and shattering windows with quarters because he felt like it. And we all know Katherine. So, I see them as an exceedingly morally dubious pair, and they like to makeout in the middle of battlefields after they've ripped people apart! Yay! *cue applause*
And, yes, Bonnie passed out. The poor girl had a shit ton of people passing through her for hours upon end... I would have passed out too. Being the Anchor like really sucks okay? Damn you, TVD writers. Sometimes I really hate sticking to canon plots.
Anyways, if anyone wants to discuss what went on this chapter, or any of the previous ones, with me, please feel free to either drop something in my inbox here, or my tumblr one, (find me at lionheartedqueencaroline) and I will be more than happy to talk. I answer questions from readers all the time, so seriously, feel free to do so.
I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading and reviewing!
-Abi