Eliza was sitting comfortably on a leather armchair in the study room, enjoying a glass of well-aged whisky. He was looking at the liquor in his hands, reflecting on the events that unfolded the previous day. Aya's attempt to take them down, with the aid of Strix's coven of witches, was unsuccessful. However, Davina was able to shatter Klaus' sire line, leaving him vulnerable.
Whatever happened between the brothers in the previous year, Elijah was deeply affected as he watched the witch torment his brother. No matter what Klaus has done, he has always been his brother, and Elijah's love for him is profound. At the end of the day, family is everything. He was thinking back on the prophecy:
three yet remain, two already crossed
Yet in one year's time, you'll all be lost
As your family is undone
You will seed the beast that is to come."
According to Freya, they will all fall. One by friend, one by foe, and one by family.
One has already fallen by family. Elijah daggered Rebbeca to keep her safe from Strix's ripper curse, which left a friend and a foe. The Mikaelson siblings have been treating each other terribly throughout the centuries. However, he firmly believed that there was no chance of any family member betraying another. This family's saviour was his little niece Hope, and they would stop at nothing to keep her safe and provide her with the one thing that he and his siblings lacked: a family.
At that moment, Klaus walked inside the room and went right to the wall, removing Alfred Turner's exquisite study of a woman's head and breaking open the safe hidden behind the painting. Taking out a wooden box. He was acting as if he had just seen a ghost. Freya, who followed her younger brother into the room, sought out to learn what happened.
Elijah knew what the box contained and said in a calm tone, "Our dear brother jumps into crippling paranoia again. Klaus, doing his best to ignore his siblings. He opens the wooden box and starts to go through the letters. Freya's intuition kicks in: "Are those trophies from your victims?" she asks Klaus in disbelief. But Klaus refuses to join the conversation, giving space for Elijah to comment in his usual tone: "Letters to their loved ones, to be specific."
Klaus abstracted sighs "It was a phase."
"This was a phase where we were compelled to learn a different kind of stealth," Elijah explains, leaning forward in his brown leather chair to continue the story for Freya. "You see, my dear sister, over time, Niklaus' enemies became so numerous that we had no choice but to carefully withdraw from the world." As Elijah continues telling the story in his usual stoic tone, Klaus can't conceal his annoyance and gives his older brother a look of disapproval. However, unaffected by Klaus' reaction, Elijah continues, "And then... Well, I wouldn't exactly describe our presence in this city as discreet. Would you, Niklaus?"
Klaus, who was clearly annoyed and worried, finally decided to join the conversation. "But they had no choice but to protect us with the prophecy predicting our fall, brother. We died; they died, that plain. We were safe. However, now that my sire link has been undone," he trailed off.
Freya was finally able to figure out what was going on. Klaus' default setting of total paranoia was on. "It's only been a few days since the link was broken," she calmly replied. "Perhaps you're jumping to conclusions too quickly. Even if those foes, as you say, come for you, you're indestructible. Only white oak can kill an original. You have nothing to fear, Klaus.
Klaus sighed, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he absorbed his sister's words. He had spent centuries surviving against all odds, always managing to come out on top. But the fear of losing the newfound home and safety they had fought so hard to achieve was still lingering in the back of his mind.
Elijah stands up to face his brother commenting: "Well, Niklaus, if it offers you any solace whatsoever, you've ransacked Aya's belongings, torched Aurora's hunting grounds, and obliterated every last splinter of the white oak.
Making Klaus furious; his brother was treating the whole thing, as a childish tantrum.
"I would be mad to believe that." Klaus lowered his voice menacingly and stared at Elijah.
"But here's a little nugget of information: Gaspar Cortez, one of those foes, is already in New Orleans. I saw him earlier today. Do I need to remind you both of that bloody prophecy?"
"Who the hell is Gaspar Cortez?" Freya asked.
He was the youngest son of a particularly vile family of warlords I dealt with in the 17th century. Klaus said, only to receive another one of Elijah's snarky remarks in response.
"Didn't they burn that philistine pigsty into the ground?" his brother said. Klaus scoffs, visibly appalled by Elijah's distaste. " Pigsty? Belaga was my favourite artist retreat! Someone had to pay for that, so I murdered Gaspar's brute of a father. Klaus pauses for a moment. "And one or two, or maybe five, of his bloodthirsty brothers. The point is that Cortez was no one; until he became a vampire, hell-bent on hunting me."
"Are you sure that you saw Cortez?" Elijah asks.
"Yes, Elijah, I'm bloody sure!" As Klaus stands there, a sudden sound catches his attention—the footsteps of Davina drawing closer to the abattoir's courtyard. In a split second, he moves, racing towards her to confront the young witch. Filled with rage, he seizes her by the neck, forcefully pressing her against the wall. His voice drips with anger as he demands answers, his grip tightening with each passing moment. "Rather foolish of you to come here alone."
Davina stares Klaus in the eyes with a mix of defiance and fear. Suddenly someone vamp-speeds towards Klaus and tosses him backwards across the courtyard. The impact leaves Klaus stunned, and as he pulls himself up, he sees Kol. His youngest brother is alive and restored to his original vampire body.
"She didn't come alone, brother," says Kol.
In the meantime, Elijah and Freya come downstairs to see what all the commotion is about.
Klaus is standing there, stunned and speechless. He can't believe what is before his eyes.
Kol, who used to find himself on the wrong end of Klaus's wrath more than often, cautiously approaches his brother, unsure of how the situation will unfold.
"Now, Nik, I mean, you did go after my girl," he says as he tries to reason with Klaus, hoping to diffuse the tension.
Klaus, still in shock, sighs, "It can't be."
It is Kol. Davina says. When I broke your sire line, it created a surge of power.
"You stole the nexus vorti," Freya tells.
Davina rolls her eyes at the other witch, evidently disappointed that she isn't more appreciative of all she's done for them. "And brought your brother back from the dead!" tells her angrily.
Klaus, who was uncharacteristically silent during the exchange, finally breaks his glare, surprising all of them, takes a step forward, and hugs Kol tightly. The gesture speaks volumes about Klaus' true feelings. Leaving Kol both pleased and shocked. As the tension in the room begins to dissipate, Klaus whispers to Kol, "Welcome back, brother." Kol's eyes well up with tears, realizing the depth of Klaus's love. It is a moment of healing and reconciliation for the estranged siblings.
Then Kol turns to his other siblings. Elijah smiles at him as he opens his arms for a hug, welcoming Kol back into the family. "You haven't aged a day," Elijah says, his smile widening.
Kol glances at Freya, frowning as though he doesn't recognize her. "And you...?
The blond witch smiles as she introduces herself by simply stating her name "Freya".
Kols's good mood was visible as he humoured the situation, "Right. Long-lost older sister. Speaking of twists and turns in our family tree, where might Rebekah be?"
And that was the queue for things to take a more Mikaelson turn.
Placing his arm around Kol's shoulder, Klaus remarks, "That's a long story, brother. One reserved for family. Davina is capable of seeing herself out."
On those words, Kol frowns and looks at Klaus with confusion and annoyance.
"Surely Davina is not excluded," Kol tries to say. But Klaus cut him off, stating firmly that it's for the best and she needs to leave immediately.
Davina's recent actions against him—even if they resulted in Kol's resurrection—made one thing clear to Klaus: he would never trust the little witch again.
Elijah takes control. "As per usual, Kol, our family faces a multitude of threats. The sooner you become acquainted with them, the better".
Davina had enough of the family drama, so she chose to leave without protest. There was something unexpected: seeing Kol in his original body and interacting with the original family. Make her realise that he was one of them. He fitted perfectly with the family she despised.
Elijah updated Kol on all the significant events: the prophecy, Lucien's return, Rebbeca's daggered condition, Aurora's transformation of Cami into a vampire, Klaus' disposal of Tristan, and Stirx's murder of Jaksons to use his heart in a ritual that Davina fractured Klaus's sire line to utilise the energy and revive Kol.
Klaus was left exposed without the strength and protection that his sire line bond provided against his enemies, and in that light, Gasbar Cortez was spotted in the city, undoubtedly posing a threat to Klaus.
"Wow! So the family didn't have time for a vacation, eh?" Kol chuckled. "Don't be concerned, big brother. As long as our new sister doesn't resent me for teaching her a short spell, I know just how to discover your adversaries. "Mind if I burn these?" Kol asks, raising the letters he holds in his hand.
Curiosity shining in his eyes, Klaus nods yes. Kol starts to burn the letters as Elijah and Klaus watch solemnly from across the room. Then he crushes the ashes up with a mortar and pestle, and Freya hands him a gold goblet with Klaus' blood. Kol sprinkles the ashes into the goblet before handing it back to Freya. She pours the ash-blood mixture onto a map of the world, which is pinned down by white candles, as he pulls a spell written on parchment out of his jacket pocket and hands it to his sister. Freya begins chanting the incantation, her voice growing louder and more powerful with each word.
As the Original family stands over the map, Klaus can't shake a thought out of his head: Even with the last trace of the white oak destroyed, his enemies could find some loophole to exploit and exact vengeance.
On the map, blood spots were scattered all over the world, with one exception: one spot was in the city.
The next moment, Klaus' cell phone rang. Klaus bolts out as a text from Camille appears on the screen, containing just the two words: "Problem Rousseaus."
At Rousseau's, Cortez is over Vincent's neck with a menacing look. The New Orleans regent is still unable to make the locator spell for the white oak. The ancestors are blocking the spell from being successful. Vincent's eyes are pouring blood as he chants as strongly as he can.
Cami, who was struck by Cortez and was lying unconscious on the ground, begins to wake up. She sees Vincent's struggle and gathers all her strength to stand up and help her friend. Vincent is trying his best to fight the pain, but he is struggling.
"You're not going to get what you want if he's dead," Cami tells Cortez.
Vincent begins to shake uncontrollably and tumbles out of his seat, hitting the ground hard. Cami rushes over to help him up, realizing he fainted from exhaustion. Out of nowhere, Klaus' voice echoes from behind them.
"Cortez!" Klaus shouts like a wild animal, and the fury in his voice sends chills down Camis' spine.
The vampire glances over at the original hybrid, spotting the wooden stake in his grip, poised for attack. Klaus approaches with measured steps, exuding a predatory aura. Despite his mocking tone, Cami senses the palpable tension between the two.
"Welcome to New Orleans. Long time, no see. You've come all this way. You must be tired. Please allow me the courtesy of putting you to rest." Klaus smirks and continues to advance towards Cortez, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
And then he tunes in to her voice calling for his attention, "Klaus..."
The original hybrid finally looks over and sees the three men holding knives to the necks of three patrons. His blood, boiling with rage.
"Make a move, Niklaus, and everyone here will die. Or... everyone lives... once you let me leave." Cortez says, with a sinister smile on his face.
Cami utters Klaus' name again, informing him that the vampire is in search of the white oak.
Cortez looks with surprise at the female vampire, and suspicion begins to form in his eyes as he contemplates the stares exchanged between Klaus and the woman.
Klaus notices Cortez's growing suspicion and reassesses the situation.
With his usual mocking theatrical tone, Klaus addresses his enemy: "So you expect me to let you live, knowing you seek white oak? It's a shame how some vampires grow so dim with age." Klaus smirks at Cortez smugly. "Killing you will be a mercy".
Cortez lifts his shoulders in a dismissive shrug. "Kill me, and this quaint eatery turns into a slaughterhouse, shining a light on your town's more repulsive activities."
The hybrid had already formulated his strategy. He was assessing his opponent and the situation and knew that he could not save everyone. There was only one option: he had to engage Cortez in conversation and lull him into a false sense of security before delivering the fatal blow.
"You know... I really liked Belaga," the hybrid says, and in the blink of an eye, he throws the stake at Cortez so hard that it hits him square in the chest and forces him back against the doorway.
Camille screams, "Klaus, no!" but it is too late. Before the knife-wielding men had a chance to react, Klaus snapped all three of their necks. Saving the rest of the patrons, who were still compelled to do nothing but stand perfectly still.
Cami rushes over to the men, screaming, "No, no, no." She bites into her wrist until she bleeds and tries to feed the blood to one of the men. She cuddles him, and she begs, "Please, please drink." Klaus can see the pain and desperation in her eyes, which breaks his heart.
"Camille", urges, "it won't help. They are dead."
Once more, Cami realizes that innocent people—humans—are always collateral losses when the supernatural acts out. She gets to her feet, her eyes blazing with rage, and glares at Klaus for a moment before shoving past him and exiting the restaurant.
Klaus shifts all his attention to Cortez, who is still alive, ready to finish the job.
The vampire tries to gather up the strength to save himself and pulls the stake out. But it's too late, as Klaus lunges forward furiously, grabs Cortez by the lapels, and throws him across the bar. Cortez crashes into the wall, hitting it with a loud thud, but he quickly recovers and turns around to face Klaus. "There's no shortage of vampires that loathe you." Cortez says, "Over the years, we've found ways of staying connected. The world evolved, and those connections became simpler, stronger, and instantaneous. Cortez points at his mobile phone, "It started as a rumour on a private message board. Now, I've confirmed the truth for everyone. So, go ahead. Kill me. But I will die filled with joy. Your sired are coming, Niklaus! They will destroy everything you love. And then they will use the white oak to kill you. And at last, you will get the retribution you deserve!"
Klaus, with eyes full of rage, rips the heart out of Cortez's chest and, with a second smooth move, separates his head from his neck.