Elijah got out of the car with the doppelganger in tow, his face morose and impassive. He shut the door loudly and stopped when he heard a rustle behind him. With confusion and anticipation of a threat, he looked around to see young Adelia walking away, her navy-blue gown jostling the dry leaves behind her.
"Come," he said to Elena, choosing to ignore his wife's reappearance in a younger form, now sure of his mother's doing.
Elena cleared her throat and looked at the Original and asked, "Do you know this place too?"
"I do," he answered with a pursed mouth and continued, "Below us is a cavern I use to play in as a boy. Connects to a system of tunnels that stretch across the entire area. Perhaps it's nature's way of providing us with shelter against the savagery of the full moon. My mother said there must be a balance."
The Original described his surroundings as he noticed Adelia plucking out the petals from the red roses in the near vicinity.
"Elijah, I should probably go home," Elena said, acutely nervous of his intentions.
Elijah abruptly turned to look at her. "When I asked about your meeting with my mother the other night, you lied to my face," he told her, coming straight to the point.
"That's not true," she refused. "I told you that all your mother wanted was a new start."
"I can hear your heartbeat. It jumps when you're being dishonest with me. You lied to me at the ball; you are lying to me now," he stepped closer to her as she gulped. "Tell me the truth, Ms. Gilbert."
"I never wanted this to happen," Elena softly admitted.
"What, Elena?" Elijah narrowed his eyes.
"We were told that whatever was going to be in that coffin was going to kill Klaus. When we found out that it was your mother... we didn't know what to think," she explained.
"Since her return, she says she only wants this family whole again."
"When she asked to see me, I... I thought that maybe she could help. That she would find a way to kill Klaus," the doppelganger informed him as she contemplated her next words. "It's not just Klaus that she wants to kill."
"She wants to kill us all, doesn't she? She wants to undo the evil she created," the Original realized as he looked back to see younger Adelia staring back at him. His eyes fell to her slit wrists, the blood dripping over the leaves as his heart plummeted to his stomach. He took a step forward to walk towards her when Elena's voice stopped him.
"I'm so sorry, Elijah. I wish there was something I could do to help," Elena whispered fearfully as she watched him in confusion.
Elijah smiled to himself at her empty words. "You know, one thing I've learned on my time on this Earth," he walked towards the doppelganger and finished his words, "...be careful what you wish for."
Rafael locked the door to the apartment and grabbed his luggage to walk towards the elevator when his phone rang in his pocket. He sighed loudly, already knowing it might be one of the Mikaelsons. The bratty sister or the insolent brother. He pulled it out to see an unknown name displaying on the screen much to his surprise.
"Hello," he received the call.
"Rafael, are you still in town?" Elijah asked him.
He frowned and looked at the screen again. "Elijah?"
"It is me. Are you still in town?" The Original enquired.
"Yes, why?" Rafael answered, pressing the button for the elevator.
"I need you to take Adelia and leave, both of you," the voice on the other end said.
"Is it your mother?" He rolled his eyes and continued, "Lia not up to that level that satisfies her old fanatical prejudiced mind?"
"We do not have time to spare and kindly do not let Adelia know," he said, making the Desmond frown. He stared at the unknown number again as the elevator door dinged open.
"Should I get Asher as well?" Rafael asked and the metal door closed in front of him when he refused to take a step.
"Asher," Elijah muttered hesitantly.
The younger vampire deliberated the silence on both sides and waited for a response. "You know the dog that you brought for Adelia."
"I would appreciate that. Thank you," Elijah answered swiftly and continued, "Do not contact me. I will come to you."
"Alright, Elijah," the Desmond replied. "Point noted. Goodbye."
The blip filled his ear as he pressed the elevator button again, this time with urgency.
Rafael sat across from Marcellus as they both chugged down a drink with a grimace.
"Do you know where Elijah is?" The human asked the vampire after a moment.
Klaus' prodigy observed the fellow and huffed. "I got no idea. He disappeared after the fiasco at the ball. Klaus hasn't said a word for it."
"You are aware of Klaus' habits of hoarding his siblings…" Rafael insinuated.
"See man, he does whatever he wants. Hasn't undaggered Rebekah in decades. Not that difficult to dagger Elijah if it were up to him," the vampire replied, the topic of the Original sister still sensitive for him.
"So you do think he has daggered his brother?" The Desmond enquired.
"Why are you so suddenly invested in Elijah's well-being?" Marcel asked. "Your friend and he had a thing I assume?"
"I wish I could refute that statement," a defeated sigh came out of his mouth.
"Didn't the Laurentis leave Orleans? Their affections shouldn't be a matter of concern anymore. Elijah won't leave his brother to chase a girl."
Rafael shut his mouth to not divulge that the Laurentis were still there, unable to leave the city until the child was born to break their link to the ancestors.
He got up from his seat and looked around. "If you find any news on Elijah, do write to me."
"And why would I?" The vampire smirked.
"Don't expect me to fall on my knees. You do as you wish," the human finished before leaving the settlement.
Elijah exited the Salvatore house when his phone rang loudly. He went to receive the call as it immediately got disconnected, a missed call notification sliding onto the screen. The Original looked ahead when he saw the vampire leaning against his car.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion.
"Where did you get your dog? I kind of forgot," Rafael asked, slowly taking some steps towards him.
"Is this the time to talk about Asher?" The Original looked at him, utterly baffled.
The Desmond shrugged. "I wanted to get myself the pet you got. He is very entertaining."
"Unless you wish to follow Niklaus' trail of murder victims, you wouldn't get the honour of owning a Asher," Elijah answered and swiftly continued, "and I did not get that dog, your dearest friend found it appropriate to adopt that insufferable creature. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."
"Your beloved mother, she wants to kill your wife and maybe my handsome self as well," the younger vampire informed the Original.
"What do you mean?" Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes. Mother going after Adelia was news to him.
"Called me a while ago, impersonating you," Rafael rolled his eyes. "Told me to fetch Lia and leave the town together. Underestimated her son's clinginess that you wouldn't inform your wife about the plans yourself when you know how she is."
"And you are here talking to me, wasting my time when she is in danger," the Original harshly pointed out, already moving towards the car.
"Your mother wanted me to fetch Lia and leave without your knowledge. Esther wouldn't do that if she had immediate plans for us when you live under the same roof as her," the vampire theorised and immediately suggested.
Elijah turned to look at him and closed his eyes. "There is something you should know."
Adelia sat on the bed with a huff and caressed her stomach with a smile. She laid down and looked at the ceiling when she glanced at the collection of books on the table and turned sideways to glare at them. With no recollection of ever reading them, she had no use of hoarding it in the room.
She got up hurriedly and jumped down the bed in a stupor.
"You should be more careful now, Adelia," her father spoke from the doorway, his words clipped.
"I do not wish to talk to you," she said with a pout.
"It is fine with me," Arnold replied and turned around.
"Father…" the witch whined and continued, "Why are you angry at me? Is it because I have no memory? Now that Jasper is gone, am I a burden to you?"
"I am not angry," he stated, "but you have disappointed me and you will never be a burden to me and neither will my grandchild."
"I only wish for you to talk to me. You and grandmother do not let me out, I am not allowed to talk to the maids, regardless of whether it is about Jasper or even a pudding I prefer. Raffie comes home late and grandmother is suddenly holding these discussions with witches that I am not supposed to know anything about."
"What we are doing is for your good," Arnold stated. "To protect you and your child."
"It is just a child," she muttered softly.
"This is more ominous than you think it is."
"Then as a mother do I not have the right to enquire anything that that concerns my child?" The siphon-witch asked. "Why the secrecy?"
"You do have the right but in your present condition, it is better if we put aside that discussion for later," the patriarch answered and continued, "and this is my request for you as your father. You are my child and when your mother sacrificed her life to set you this far, I will uphold it as long as I am alive."
"What have I done to disappoint you to this extent?" She asked, heartbroken.
"Everything," the patriarch said, prolonging the silence as he left the room.
"Asher! I told you not to chew things," Adelia reprimanded the dog and pulled the dog from under the bed as a wet ball fell from his mouth. The four-legged creature immediately ran away from the small opening in the door as she stared at the crumbled wet paper in disgust. She levitated it in the air and stood up when her attention turned onto Klaus' name in it, written in Viking script.
She frowned and slowly unfolded the wet sheet when his siblings' name appeared in it as well, written the same way in red. As her eyes traced the lines connecting them, she found one branching out from Elijah, ending with Rafael's name on the paper.
The witch flinched when the door opened abruptly as both Elijah and Rafael strode in, their attention turning towards the levitating paper as well.
"This is your name, this is Elijah's," she pointed the lines to her friend who did not understand Viking script and concluded softly, "These are all of you."
The three shared a glance and immediately hurried out of the house.
"Nik is not picking up," Adelia said, dialling his number again.
"Have you tried dialling Kol? They left together," Elijah suggested, pressing the accelerator as the car picked up speed.
"Let me try," she replied as her thumb swiped across his name when the car swerved off the road. A shriek escaped her mouth at the turn when she felt Elijah's hand clutching hers. She looked sideways to see him turning grey clutching his chest and the witch's eyes widened before she jumped to pull the keys out of the ignition, the car violently stopping as his body slumped in the seat.
"Elijah!" Adelia shouted his name and broke free of the seatbelt to examine his state. She got out of the car and opened his door to pull him out of the vehicle. As he lay on the forest floor, she dialled Rafael and bit her wrist to put blood in his mouth.
"Lia," Rafael answered over the phone as the blood poured out from Elijah's mouth with no signs of waking up. How did he even desiccate?
"Elijah has desiccated. I don't know how, Raffie," she frantically told him. "Did you find Bonnie?"
"The Bennett has taken to hiding somewhere. We cannot find Esther unless we find her," the vampire informed the witch.
"They are all linked, Raffie. If Elijah is in this state then the others might be as well."
"Stay there. I'll go see Klaus' situation and get to you as soon as possible. Will you be fine?"
"I will be fine," she reassured him. "Please get them somewhere safe."
The vampire on the other side hummed before disconnecting the call.
She rushed back inside the car and shuffled through the dashboard to bring a map. The witch looked at it in hesitation and bit her wrist to pour blood over the paper and started chanting.
Jasper suddenly sat down next to her, startling the witch as she recoiled back. She took a deep breath to ignore him before she continued the spell as he looked on in fascination. The blood started moving and stopped as she grabbed her phone to take a quick picture of the map location before it burst into flames.
Adelia crawled to the Original when her head suddenly became dizzy, wiping her nose to find blood on her fingers when Elijah gasped awake.
"Turn your eyes away. I do not appreciate being stared at, Niklaus," Adelia reprimanded the vampire as he swiftly looked away.
"You haven't changed and I wonder whether that's a good or a bad thing, Maeve," Klaus replied.
"A little memory loss won't change me. Did you consider me that superficial to not realise it sooner?"
"A man can have suspicions, especially when their friend disappears for a month and suddenly turns up with a child in her womb, no father in sight and a jumbled memory," the vampire explained with a sigh.
"Were you not there at Jasper's funeral?" She asked curiously and continued, "I do not remember much of it."
Klaus frowned at the statement and at a distance saw Sharel staring at them from the window and cleared his throat. "I never really interacted with that human fellow of yours."
"Leave him! We still need them, Niklaus," Elijah appeared at the top of the stairs to stop his brother from hurting the elder Salvatore.
"What did mother do? What did she do, Elijah?" The Original hybrid enquired as the noble one walked down the stairs towards Damon, holding a phone.
"You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now," the second-eldest commanded as Rafael appeared along with Kol and Adelia.
"Kill Elena? What is happening?" Jenna asked, alarmed.
Damon looked at the clock tower to see it was 8.30; they still had 30 minutes left. "You told me we had until after nine," he said.
"Damon Salvatore! What is going on?" The Gilbert aunt narrowed her eyes at the Salvatore.
"I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early," Elijah conveyed impassively before leaving with his family.
"Rafael. Why are they talking about Elena?" Jenna approached him hurriedly.
"Elena hatched up a plan with Esther to kill the Originals," he informed the female vampire as she stilled in surprise. "Like I said last night. Accountability. Did she think she will go scot-free if she does it right under their noses? If the Mikaelsons come out alive, do plan a funeral for your niece. It is either her or them."
He made a move to leave when she stopped him again. "Rafael! Please stop them!" Jenna pleaded.
"I have no reason to stop any of them," he answered with a roll of his eyes as they entered an alley.
"Nobody deserves to die!" She shouted after him.
"Oh! And the Mikaelsons do?" The Desmond turned around with a mocking smile. "You and I are alive because a woman thought we deserved to have a chance at life. A woman related to the Mikaelsons." He punctuated his words and continued, "Klaus could have killed you even after his transition, even now but he hasn't because he respects Adelia's wish to see you alive. The man you people call a monster."
"Well, he is a monster. He ruined each one of us, he ruined our lives. My family is broken because of him and yes, that monster is now after my niece and I will never forgive him for that," she relayed with tears streaming down her face.
"Who are you to him that he needs forgiveness from you?" Rafael chuckled. "He cherishes the people who matter to him and you standing here is the proof that he cares about what they think of him. This sliver of emotion has driven Elijah for centuries who looks for his brother's redemption. The same emotion encourages Adelia, the woman who saved you to always see the good in him. He doesn't need forgiveness from you, Ms. Sommers. He has enough people who care about him, the ones that matter."
"A monster doesn't get a redemption," she said bitterly.
"If your pure otherworldly niece can find humanity in a ripper then my sister can look for the same in a monster," he whispered in her ear. "You cannot command how they feel, but sure can do command how they act and living amongst the humans, Miss Elena Gilbert is willing to send people to their death. Now tell me who is the real monster, Ms. Sommers?"
"How dare you?" Jenna glared at the man in front of her.
Rafael took a step back and replied, "I've had enough of this town and its residents."
They ventured outside when Lia started puking blood on the ground as everyone looked at her worriedly.
"What's wrong with her?" Klaus asked his brother who wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and held her up as she stared into space.
"You are never wrong are you, my sweet?" Jasper whispered next to her, caressing her numb fingers.
"I do not know," Elijah conveyed as he called out for her again. "Adelia."
"But you do, don't you?" Jasper smiled, replying to her. "You know what is happening."
"Adelia, look at me," the Original patted her wet cheek.
"You know what to do next," the Reynolds said to her when she put her phone in her husband's palm and continued to stare at Jasper.
"What is this?" Kol questioned, taking the phone from his brother and zoomed into the image of the map as a smile overtook his face. "Oh, you brilliant witch."
"You are sending them to their death," the dead man stated. "Is that what you want for Elijah? For him to die?"
"Stop! Please stop," Adelia shrieked in Elijah's arms and clenched her eyes shut.
"Adelia?" Elijah asked worriedly as he shared a glance with his brothers.
"Only you can stop me. I am here because of you," Jasper commented.
"I do not want you here!" She told him as the brothers looked confused at her talking to thin air.
"Then I wouldn't be here," he smirked and continued, "Adelia Laurentis is my manifestation. You are what you are because of me."
"Stop saying that," she pleaded, hiding her face.
"Maeve?" Klaus stepped forward, worried.
"Niklaus, Kol... hurry to mother," Elijah requested, trying to calm down his erratic wife. "We do not have time to spare."
The two brothers look at their elder brother who nodded at them before they disappeared in a flash.
"Do you not want to acknowledge it?" Jasper repeated.
"No!" Adelia shouted at him as her ears bled.
"You have done this to me," the man answered in a morose tone and continued, "Took away my rights, placed them at the feet of another man. You put me on a pedestal so you do not have to look down."
"Listen to me!" Elijah cupped her face and whispered.
"Elijah, did you hear what he just said?" She looked at him, afraid.
"Who?" The Original asked her.
"Jasper," Adelia answered and he stilled. "He is hurting me! Jasper would never hurt me."
Elijah looked around once again and softly told her, "There is no one here, Adelia."
"He is right beside you," she pointed it out and hid her face in his shirt and softly whispered, "Please help him. I do not want him to hate me."
"Listen to me. There is no-one," he tried to reassure her more as she sobbed heavily. "You are alright."
"What more should I do to ask for his forgiveness?" Adelia cried out, sliding down his arms to settle on the ground as Elijah crouched next to her.
"Jasper is not here," the vampire told her, taking her into his arms and continued, "But I know he would never hurt you. You are hurting yourself. Are you listening to me? All this is hurting you. You do not have to see him. You do not have to hear him. It is you. Jasper is not here."
"Alright, love, now look into the camera," Rebekah cooed at the doppelganger, recording her on phone.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked.
"Shooting a picture to inspire your boyfriends," she replied nonchalantly. "Why don't you tell them how delightful it is being stuck in a hole with your biggest fan?"
"I guess you think I had this coming, huh? After what I did to you?"
The Original rolled her eyes. "You know, I don't know what I want more, to find out we're saved or to find out it's alright to kill you."
"This isn't my fault," the doppelganger said. "I wanted to get rid of Klaus. At one point, so did you. I didn't know that your mom was planning on killing all of you."
"Do you think I want to spend what could be the last few hours of my life having idle chit-chat with a girl who literally stabbed me in the back?" Rebekah admonished and continued, "Of course not. But for some reason, everybody seems to want to bend over backwards to save your life, which is incredibly annoying but makes you the perfect hostage. So, why don't you sit down and shut up before I ruin everything by ripping your head off."
"If I do not return in half an hour, leave Mystic Falls with Rafael," Elijah instructed his wife as he sat her inside the car, her figure eerily silent and displaced. "Did you hear me, Adelia?"
"Yes," she replied monotonously.
"Remember I love you very much," he told her softly to get no reply.
The Original sighed to himself and kissed her forehead before leaving.
She sat in silence, staring into nothingness as the watch on her wrist continued ticking, the sound a mere buzz inside her head.
"Are you hurting?" His voice spoke gently from beside her.
"Yes," Adelia replied, refusing to look at him.
"Do you wish for it to hurt more?" Jasper enquired, the same serenity in his voice it always held.
"I am sorry," she closed her eyes at the answer, breaking down in the car.
"If you think you know me, then you must also be aware that I would never hold anything against you, sweetheart," the dead man said, looking out of the car window into the darkness. She turned her head to look at him as a soft smile played on his face. "If I managed to bring even a speck of comfort in the days you needed it most, then you never have to ask for forgiveness, least of all from me."
"Please," the witch cried, clutching the leather seat tightly.
Jasper huffed a breath and looked at her. "I am not the one that needs you," he finished kindly.
"Please stay with me," she asked in a soft voice, too afraid to blink back the tears, lest he disappears.
"I always am, my sweet," Jasper answered and suddenly leaned in, their faces inches apart as Adelia froze in her seat. A mischievous gleam took over his ocean eyes and he continued with a smirk, "I am in your head after all."
He looked behind her, the witch following his vision to find nothing much to her confusion.
She turned back to find him gone, the seat beside her empty as the clock ticking over her wrist became deafening to her ears in the wild moonlight silence.
"They're coming, Mother!" Finn exclaimed to his mother.
Esther became alert and froze. "No, it's too soon, the moon is not high enough. Go! Quickly!" She directed the Bennett witches who quickly retreated into the house as Kol, Elijah, and Klaus walked up to them.
"My sons, come forward," the Original witch implored her children.
"Stay beside me, mother," Finn said, guarding his mother who stepped into the drawn pentagram.
"It's okay. They can't enter," she reassured her eldest as Kol approached the pentagram only for the torches around it to flare up bright, stopping him midway.
"That's lovely," the youngest brother rolled his eyes at the situation and continued, "We're stuck out here, while the favourite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn."
"Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine," Esther reprimanded him.
"Oh mother, stop embarrassing yourself by talking of virtue," he retorted.
"Whatever you think of us, killing your children will be an atrocity," Elijah stated. "Your sins are unforgivable but I will resort to carrying out the justice myself if anything takes place here."
"It has been happening for a while and you have done nothing," she proclaimed. "You are not the only one plagued with their longing and fears, Elijah."
"So, it is indeed your work," he concluded, seeing the knowing gleam in his mother's eyes as the younger Adelia appeared behind her.
"It is for your good," Esther declared and continued, "My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago."
"Enough," Klaus bellowed. "All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell."
"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations," the mother told her children. "If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time."
They all stood in silence as the Original witch felt the withdrawal of power.
Simultaneously all Mikaelson siblings hissed in pain as they witnessed their palms adorning a long cut, the blood running down their fingers to soak the ground.
Elijah stared astonished as the wound healed and looked towards his mother to see a tired Adelia step in through her younger apparition, mumbling under her breath as Esther struggled to breathe. Finn pulled out the lodged knife from his palm and watched his mother in horror. He directed the thrown weapon at the younger witch who immediately stopped it in the air as the siblings regained their bearings to try and enter the pentagram.
The Original witch watched the events unfold and raised her hand as the fires flared up, stopping her children. "No! Sisters! Do not abandon me!" She shrieked as the power drained through her veins.
"Mother!" Finn cried out as he grabbed Esther to get her to stand and looked for a way out when he found his brother's wife blocking their way, lips still murmuring the spell as blood dripped down her ears to wet her white collar.
The eldest took a step forward and the younger witch turned her wrist to break his knee as all of the siblings fell to the ground, their link still intact.
Esther looked at her son's bride as the pendant remained vigilant around the young's witch neck. She smirked and started muttering on her own as the wind picked up slowly.
Rafael waiting down the lane to the forest stopped when he felt black veins crawling over his arms, Adelia's ring burning a hole in his pocket. He stood up alarmed and glanced up at the hill, worried before he rushed up the path.
Over the hill, the pendant started glowing as Adelia froze, black creeping in her vision.
The siblings tried crossing over but felt the fire obstruct their path as Elijah watched his wife close her eyes.
The heretic tried fighting the awaiting slumber as her limbs felt heavy before she felt weightless and gave into the darkness.
The brothers stood horrified as they watched Adelia float in the air, rising with the flames of the fire twice her height.
"Brother," Klaus spoke to Elijah, terrified when the flames pushed them out to fling their bodies to hit the trees as their dizziness clouded their head at the impact. They felt the fire diminish to nothing as the heat disappeared and opened their eyes to witness an absent mother and sibling and Adelia catapulting from the air to hit the ground, hard.
"Adelia," Elijah rushed to his wife, cradling her head as his palm got soaked in blood and he gulped, the flashes of a red door filling his head.
"Lia!" Rafael came running up the hill and sat down beside her and immediately picked her up in his arms.
"Where are you taking her?" The Original said, enraged and held onto his wife's hand.
"Do you wish to discuss your greatest epiphany under the moonlight while your wife lays dead on the ground?" He replied, equally enraged. "Let's get her home and wait for her to wake up, shall we? I am sure you siblings have some work to do," the Desmond finished and did not wait for a reply before he took off with his unconscious friend right in front of their eyes.
Kol cleared his throat. "I shall look around the perimeter for Finn and mother," he spoke and glanced at his hybrid brother, "Nik?"
Klaus looked at his elder brother instead who seemed to be lost in thoughts and nodded to Kol with a bit of hesitation. "Elijah, go home."
The noble brother felt his brother leave in seconds as he continued to stare down the path Rafael disappeared with Adelia. The vampire's words echoing in his head. Failure. That was synonymous with his being, wasn't it?
Elijah heard the crunch of leaves behind him and felt her presence before he could comprehend her identity. He smiled to himself in defeat as he realised that it did not matter which Adelia he loved and who loved him. They were the same and he was connected to every facet of her life just as much as she was connected to his being.
The stench of blood reached his nostrils and he feared taking a look back, adamant to ignore his failure staring right at his face. He was strong but not that much to forget his wife's innocent hopeful eyes, now dead and chaotic.
"Elijah," her voice reached his ears, very much like his wife's but still not the same. "Were you looking for me?"
The Original took a deep breath at her question and stared at his bloody palms in fear. He looked straight ahead and rushed out of the forest, leaving her behind.
Rebekah walked into the room and found Elijah staring out the window as her gaze went to an unconscious Adelia lying peacefully in the bed. Kol was right, she did look worse for wear.
"Is she alright?" She enquired from her brother.
"It's over, Rebekah," he replied as Rafael ignored the siblings to tend to his friend.
"Where's mother?" The Original female asked.
"We have no mother. Only Esther and she was right," Elijah said.
Rebekah furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"
"My talk of virtue. When it suits my needs, I kill, maim, and torment," he confessed.
"We had to do certain things to survive," the sister answered.
"Do not justify our actions. It doesn't change anything. Our hands are still stained with blood."
"So you do agree with the mother that we do not deserve to live!" She exclaimed and continued, "You are supporting these human notions and look what happened today. The human you thought innocent is responsible for all of this. Go on, justify Lia's condition with the doppelganger's deception."
"Keep your voice low," Elijah told her, narrowing his eyes.
"You are so wrapped up in your guilt that you refuse to see anything outside of it."
"Rebekah!" The Original raised his voice, advancing towards her when Rafael got in between the siblings to dissipate the tension.
"Elijah, you should retire for the night," the Desmond suggested as the brother continued to glare at his sister. "Leave the door open. Call us when she wakes up." He looked at the female who huffed and left before he followed her out of the room.
They found Klaus in the parlour as Kol took a sip of his drink. The sister noticed the hybrid burning sketches he drew of Caroline and rolled her eyes.
"I thought you'd have reacted by now. Elijah's busy. Kol's already drunk. Esther and Finn are gone," Klaus started with a sigh.
"I hated you when I learned you killed our mother," she said and continued, "But I realize now that after a thousand years together as a family, you're the only one who never left me."
"Well, aren't we a pair."
"Cheers to the third wheel," Kol raised his glass with a mocking smile.
"What is next?" Elijah asked, entering the room and swiftly avoided his sister.
"Fourth wheel?" The youngest brother provided as Rafael sitting beside him closed his eyes in annoyance.
"There's something I need you all to see," Rebekah stated suddenly and pulled out her phone to hold it up to show Klaus the video of Elena she took earlier that night as Kol joined in, both the brothers watching the video.
"Come to brag about your skills as a torturer?" Klaus smirked, watching the events unfold.
"I am almost impressed, sister," Kol winked at her.
Rebekah rolled her eyes and said, "Look at the images on the wall behind Elena. The Natives told the story of our family history, look at the images on the far wall."
Elijah curious about the subject came to watch the video as well.
"What is it?" The Original hybrid asked.
"A Native worshipping at the Great White Oak tree," she answered.
"And? We burned that tree to the ground," he said.
"Nature retaliates," murmured Elijah as he looked at the video closely.
"Look at the markings that precede it. That's the native calendar," she pointed out.
"This can't be right," Klaus said, finally realising the matter.
"You better be kidding, sister," Kol looked at Elijah who glanced at his siblings.
"A White Oak tree, three hundred years after we fled back to the Old World. There must have been a sapling, a new tree to replace the old, just like one that was used against us when we were in New Orleans. That tree could kill us. It's not over," the sister explained as silence descended upon the room.
"We must find it as soon as possible," Klaus stated.
"First we have to get unlinked," the youngest brother suggested. "We cannot go digging around for a white oak when one on us puts all of us in danger."
"Let's talk in the morning," Elijah suggested. "We have to find mother and Finn, get us unlinked and search for the oak. We need a plan."
"And you Mister?" Rebekah asked Rafael who had been silent throughout the ordeal. "What are your thoughts?"
"I am not participating," the Desmond straight-up answered. "I am leaving as soon as Adelia gets fine. Your business is unfortunately not my business."
"I wish I could be as unbothered as you," Klaus said.
"Cheers," the youngest vampire said before leaving the room.
"I always wondered if you'd grow more beautiful with age," he grinned and her grip on his hand faltered in surprise. She stared at him unceremoniously and looked around to find no one as he intertwined their fingers to place a chaste kiss on her wrist.
"Mr. Reynolds," she breathed out, startled at his sudden appearance.
"I do not remember any occasion where we danced," he frowned and gripped her hands to put it over his shoulders, "except our engagement of course. You made me the happiest man alive."
Adelia snapped her head towards him as a soft caress on her cheek brought her attention to him.
"Are you truly not happy to see me?" Jasper said with a forlorn expression.
"You are misunderstanding me, Mr. Reynolds!" She hastened out a reply and smiled at him, not wanting him to be sad. "I haven't seen you in so long. Father said it would take weeks for you to travel across from the North."
"And what has Ms. Laurentis done all these months?"
"It would take weeks to finish my tale," Adelia giggled. "I am so old."
"You are as radiant as the day I saw you first," he replied, twisting a lock of hair between his fingers.
"Oh you mean the day you tripped over the Persian rug?" She raised her brow in humour.
"And fell at your feet," Jasper twirled her around slowly and pulled her closer. "You were not amused with those creases lining your forehead," he touched the lines and smoothed them out.
"You were very charming," she hummed with a smile.
"I am sure these words are just to appease me," he retorted and held her close when the painting on the wall caught fire as people erupted into chaos.
Adelia gulped and glanced at Jasper who stared at the raging fire in fascination, her smiling face on the painting staring back at them.
They stood in front of it, watching it burn as the flames slowly engulfed it whole.
"Klaus painted it?" He enquired.
"He did," she replied with a smile, his fascination making her uncomfortable for the first time.
"You were glowing," Jasper pointed it out when she looked around to find the Fleareau manor deserted.
A wail of a baby reached her ears making her fidget as a tear slide down her eye without her permission. The cries grew, wrenching her heart when she turned around to seek out the voice when Sharel stood in front of her, making her take a step back.
"Grandmother," she mumbled in shock.
The matriarch cupped her delicate face and smiled at her. "Forget everything," she said.
"I cannot," Adelia begged, looking for the source of the cries.
Sharel looked at her with a serene expression that stopped her granddaughter's struggle. "You will forget everything," she repeated as they stared at each other with devastation in their eyes.
"I will forget everything," the heretic echoed, grabbing her grandmother's hand softly.
"Now sleep," the Beauchene witch instructed and soon Adelia's body fell on the floor and she jostled awake.
The young witch looked around to find herself in Mikaelson manor and saw Elijah sleeping beside her. As confusion riddled her mind, she looked at the clock to see it strike one and got up.
The blood droplets floated up in the air as Klaus looked around at the ruined pentagram, the scattered salt touching his shoes and dug his foot deep into the soil. He looked at Maeve who directed the blood into a vial slowly.
"If I had known you stabbed Finn for a bit of blood, I'd have stabbed myself to fetch it," he smirked and went still when she did not respond. "Any reason you brought me specifically when Elijah would've happily volunteered?"
"He wouldn't have let me come," she replied, closing the vial.
"And you found it convenient to rouse me from my sleep past midnight for a stroll to get my brother's blood," the Original rolled his eyes.
Adelia gripped his hand and forcefully slapped the vial into his palm. "You should be glad that I was able to extract anything from the ground at all. Next time tell your mother to conduct her villainous acts elsewhere, probably with a fine flooring."
Klaus smiled and put the vial inside his pocket. "I am not paying for her ritual rentals," he stated and guided her down the forest trail slowly, her tired form clutching his arm tightly.
"It's a full moon. Don't you have to be somewhere?" She raised her brow.
Klaus stopped in his tracks as the realisation hit him. "So that was your intention. I should've properly interrogated you before agreeing to accompany you here."
"You can chase sparrows. I won't tell anyone I promise," Adelia told him and continued to walk down the trail. "Don't tell Elijah though. He is still hesitant about this. Not that he doesn't love you but he naturally dislikes wolves. I cannot even get him to befriend the pack in Seattle and it has been more than a century." As the silence grew, she frowned and looked back to see a wolf in his place as a smile took over her face. "Well, there you are."
A howl broke through the dark as she heard rustles on the forest floor, probably the animals getting startled into action. The witch bent down and collected the Original's discarded clothes in her arms.
"Take your time. I shall wait in the car," Adelia stated, staring at the wolf hoping he understood whatever she said and waited as the wolf disappeared into the forest.
The full moon shone brightly, casting the forest floor with the shadows as she walked the path at a slow pace when slowly the stars lost their twinkle.
Blunt pencils smudged the edges of the sketch as the paper crumpled in the tight hold of a teenager. Zachary furrowed his brows as sleep-deprived eyes traced the image his mind conjured. He stopped and pulled his hair and took deep breaths.
He should tell his mother to get him a counsellor or a psychiatrist or even a ghost hunter. This was not helping. Constant dreams and imagining things were not helping. Even tonight, when he was supposed to be sleeping, something nagged his sleep and woke him up and now here he was, sketching what filled his head, pounding it constantly.
He threw the pencil and looked at the sketch for the first time as his eyes widened to see Miss Laurentis in a gown sitting inside a painting. The young boy gulped, noticing everything as the full picture mocked him for sketching her even in his sleep-riddled state.
The young boy crumpled the page in his palm hurriedly, throwing in inside the bin before climbing into the bed. He muffled his ears with the pillow and clenched his eyes shut as his senses tingled to envision her again, his sleep lost to another troubled night.
Klaus now fully dressed, opened the car door to find Maeve asleep inside and took his coat from the backseat to drape it over her carefully before checking her seatbelt. He saw the sun on the horizon and heaved a sigh at the time before fastening his seatbelt.
The Original revved the engine and smiled when she did not wake up. Maybe he shouldn't have taken on her full moon offer knowing she needed rest after whatever happened last night. But as usual, Adelia knew he felt comfortable in his wolf form only when he had company. It hurt less when he wasn't made to feel miserable about his origin and her non-judgmental eyes were his refuge for his wounded pride.
He had enough misery to last a lifetime, a bit of reprieve was all he needed.
As he turned a corner, her hand fell beside the gear which he noticed immediately and slowly put it over her lap as the red bracelet glinted on the floorboard, making his smile disappear. He glanced at her and averted his eyes, looking straight ahead.
Did he deserve her solace when he alone was the cause of Maeve's misery?
"Mr. Mikaelson. It seems my carriage man wasn't satisfactory enough for you," Jasper greeted the vampire who stumbled onto his path as he observed the body lying at his feet. "Your brother is looking for you."
Klaus grinned, showing the blood staining his teeth. "Ah, my brother. The man fighting for your beloved's attention."
"I noticed," the physician said after a moment and hauled his briefcase from the carriage to continue the journey on foot. "There is an uproar in the west. I suggest you steer clear of that area."
The vampire opened his arms and smirked, "The cause of the uproar. But ssshhh," he stepped closer to the human and continued, "Do not tell my brother that."
"I am sure he will be disappointed, along with Adelia," Jasper pointed out as the rain slowly started pouring in.
Klaus' face suddenly became dark, his mood resembling the looming cloudy sky. "Over the centuries, I have gotten used to people throwing Elijah to control me but this recent development with weaponizing Adelia for the same is hurting my pride. Have I become that vulnerable to a female's charms?"
The human contemplated before speaking, "I would say you have become vulnerable to human emotions, Mr. Mikaelson. The fear of disappointment is one. Your brother and Adelia, they both choose to see the good in you and there is nothing wrong with feeling human."
"You and your beloved, bloody optimistic people," he said in an annoyed tone.
Jasper cracked a smile and replied, "I do think you should return home."
"Beautiful plans for your future, I assume?" The vampire mocked the physician, his lack of reaction slowly getting on his nerves.
"There is nothing wrong with hope," Jasper answered.
"I once kissed your to-be wife and it felt euphoric," Klaus whispered in his ear, waiting for the human to break. "I wonder if Elijah did the same and felt it too."
"Being petty is not how you resent others being hopeful, Klaus," he replied, unmoved. "I do know what transpired between Adelia and you and I am aware that Elijah will not thwart anything as long as she is happy."
The vampire glanced at him in surprise. "She told you," he realised. "I thought what we shared was special."
"It meant nothing to her," Jasper concluded. "Adelia has always seen you as a friend and will continue to do so and you are aware of it."
"I suppose you are right," he said after a moment of silence and stared at the man in front of him unnervingly. Adelia told this man what they had, what they shared. The memory was supposed to remain untouched, out of the clutches of vile beings that made Maeve special to him. She was innocent and pure. But she turned out to be like one of them—betraying him, speaking ill of him behind his back.
"Happiness has always been out of reach for me but not for others," the Original relayed it to the human who was observing him closely, "and you do make Maeve happy, do you not?"
"It would be too unkind of me to answer for Adelia but I strive to make her as happy as I am with her."
"Then I see it as my utmost duty to make Maeve as miserable as I am," Klaus finished in a gentle tone with a smirk. "She is nothing special and neither are you."
Jasper looked at him impassively, coming to the sudden realisation and smiled, staring death right in his eyes.
The Original stretched his fingers as he looked at Adelia's beloved. "It is nothing personal," he said, feeling the rain drench him wet.
The car stopped in front of the manor and the Original turned to look at the witch beside him, still asleep. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the headrest and sat in silence, his memories suffocating him.
The hot water stung as it cascaded down his body. He closed his eyes and leaned against the shower wall as he heard Adelia's even breaths from the room, back from an outing with his brother. His mother's words remained seared into his brain as he contemplated the next course of actions.
Break the link, find their mother and keep his wife away from all this lest Esther finds a way to torment her again.
Through the fog inside the shower, he noticed fingers gliding past the glass as she hummed under her breath. Elijah gulped and used his palm to wipe off the condensation when he found her entering the stall, her gown soaking wet from the water underneath their feet.
Her red roses a striking contrast against the whites of the bathroom as she stepped closer with an innocent gleam in her eyes. The Original hurriedly took the towel and exited the bathroom, wrapping it around his waist. He hesitantly looked back as her palm came up to put a bloody handprint on the pristine glass and his fingers twitched.
Elijah took a deep breath as red flashes filled his head and he pulled out paper towels to walk inside the shower again, scrubbing away the absent blood thoroughly. As the red disappeared, he looked down at the work when a pair of soft hands covered his eyes from behind.
"No more running," she whispered and his world turned black.