Elena was sitting in the living room the next morning. She'd barely gotten any sleep the night before. Finn's bombshell the night before had left her pretty rattled. Actually, rattled wasn't the right world. It had left her terrified. Mikael was out there, or at least he would be soon enough. She thought it couldn't get worse than Esther. She thought that the worst that could happen was that she'd get caught by Esther and be forced into that controlling, psychologically abusive environment. Mikael being in the picture changed everything. He was a threat to her life, to all of their lives. He'd already proven that.
Elena soon heard footsteps. She turned around to see Freya there.
"Hey. You're up early. I take it you didn't sleep very well," Freya said. She wasn't surprised. Elena was pretty shaken by the news about Mikael. They all were. That was why they agreed it was best to table the conversation and come back to it the next morning. They all needed a chance to think and come to terms with it.
"No. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. I already had the occasional nightmare about him before. Now, I'm terrified. This monster is going to be gunning for me again," Elena said with a shudder.
Freya nodded. She understood her sister's fear. How could she not be afraid? This man had murdered her in cold blood when she was an infant. He'd terrorized all their siblings. Of course, she was afraid of him.
"Sorry, I shouldn't be calling him a monster in front of you," Elena said. She knew how hurt Freya was about what she'd learned about Mikael. She loved him.
"Why not? It's a fact. A man who did the things he did certainly can't be considered a person. He is a monster, and it has nothing to do with vampirism," Freya said.
"He's your father. You loved him," Elena said.
Freya shook her head. "Not anymore, he isn't. I did love him, but I told you before, I won't love a baby killer. I won't love someone who brutalizes my siblings just because he can."
"I'm scared, Freya. I have nightmares about Mikael. I thought it was bad when it was just Esther chasing us, but Mikael being back makes it so much worse," Elena said with a shudder.
Freya sighed. "This is a new low even for her. To knowingly bring back the monster that murdered her child… I'm not even sure which one of them is the bigger monster."
"The moment I met Mikael, I felt something in the pit of my stomach. It was like a part of me knew that he was evil. I tried to shrug it off. I didn't let him see that I was afraid of him, but I knew working with him was wrong. I did it because Nik was hurting the people I cared about and I felt that I had to do something to stop him," Elena explained.
"You were desperate," Freya said.
Elena nodded. "I'll always regret using him to hurt Nik though. I know now how scared he must have been because I'm terrified right now."
Freya sat down with her and squeezed her hand. "He's never going to hurt you again. He's never going to hurt any of you again.
"You can't promise that," Elena said.
"I just did," Freya said in a firm tone. She didn't care what it took. She would never let either of her parents hurt her siblings again.
Just then, Elijah entered the room. He smiled at Elena. "Hey, little one. Are you alright?"
"I don't know. I didn't sleep much last night," Elena said.
"I don't think any of us did," Elijah said before turning to Freya. "We should all speak again, after breakfast. We need to figure out what our next move is."
"Agreed," Freya said. They definitely needed to talk again. They needed to be on the same page and then needed to get ready for what was to come.
"I'm going to go shower and get dressed," Elena said before getting up and heading out of the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
The Mikaelson's found themselves all sitting around the dining room once again after breakfast. They all appeared very tense and worried as they discussed what to do next.
"I'd say our next move is clear. We get the bloody hell out of this town now," Kol said. Even if their parents didn't know where they were, their father at least knew they'd lived in New Orleans before. It was too risky to stay.
"Hold on. First thing's first. Finn, are you certain that Mother has resurrected out father?" Elijah asked.
"No, I'm not. She hadn't done so when I left, but she was seriously contemplating it. It's why I left. It wasn't something I could rationalize," Finn said.
"You could rationalize everything else though," Kol said in a bitter tone.
"Kol, now's not the time," Elena said.
Finn went on as though his brother never spoke. "Mother was already growing impatient at the time. No doubt that that only got worse. If she hasn't resurrected him, there's little doubt in my mind that she soon will."
"Then we need to operate under the assumption that she has done so," Elijah said.
"Again, I say, we need to leave now," Kol said.
"We can be packed within the hour," Rebekah said.
"No, there's no need to leave. We're safer here," Freya said.
Kol stared at her as though she'd grown a second head. "How do you figure. Father knows we've lived here. He nearly destroyed the whole city the last time he tracked us here. There's nothing to suggest he couldn't find us here again.
"I loathe to agree with Kol, but he's right. Staying here isn't safe," Finn said.
"Oh, so now you're on our side, huh?" Klaus asked Finn with a sneer.
Finn glared at him. "No matter how I may feel about most of you, I would never wish that man on any of you."
"Let's get back on task, please," Elijah said.
"Leaving isn't going to solve anything. We need to take them on," Freya said.
"Oh, that's easy for you to say, isn't it, sister. You have no idea what it's like to be hunted by that man or actually murdered by him. He was nothing but kind to you. He relentlessly tortured us our entire lives. You don't get to tell us how we handle this," Klaus said.
"Nik, don't be a jerk. She may not know what it's like to be hunted by Mikael, but she certainly knows fear," Elena said.
"I do know how you feel, Klaus. I know what it's like to flee an abusive relative. Dahlia may not have done the things Mikael has done, but she was plenty cruel. I know what you're feeling. But you're right when you say that I don't know the Mikael that you do. So, if you all feel that you need to run, I will respect that and I will follow you, but I think that will be a mistake. There's a better way to stop them," Freya said.
"We're listening, Freya," Elijah said. The least they could do was hear her out before making a decision, however, he couldn't deny that every part of him was saying that they needed to leave now.
"The situation is different than it was a hundred years ago when you faced our father," Freya started.
"Yeah, it's worse. Now Mother is with him. They'll be nearly unstoppable," Rebekah said.
Freya shook her head. "No, they won't. Do you guys remember me telling you that taking control of the witches in the city was partially an insurance policy for me?"
"Yeah, you wanted them to help you if Dahlia found you. You wanted an army," Elena said.
"And I have one. I have an army that will fight for me, for us," Freya said.
"That's all well and good, but it's not going to help with our parents. We had an army too. It didn't help," Klaus said.
"Not exactly. We had no knowledge that Father had our location until it was too late. We weren't prepared. We also didn't have the witches. The witches in this town hated us. That's different now. They don't hate Freya or Elena. They respect them," Elijah asked. As much as he hated to admit it, Freya and Marcellus led the city better than he and Niklaus ever did. They didn't just have control over their respective factions. They had their respect.
"I did try to tell you once that having witches as allies was much better than having them as enemies," Kol said.
"You believe the witches will fight for us?" Klaus asked Freya skeptically. He had a hard time believing the New Orleans witches would fight for his family. They'd sooner help destroy them.
"Yes. For one, we protect our own, and you have two witches in this family. For another, they'll fight to protect the city. I don't think it will be very hard to convince Marcel to do the same with his own people," Freya said. She and Marcel had a lot of differences, but they banded together when it came to protecting the city. He wouldn't sit by and watch it get destroyed by Mikael and Esther. "My proposal is that we stay here and prepare for war. We end their reign of terror once and for all. But, again, if you all feel the need to leave, we'll leave."
Things were quiet for a while as they each thought over her words. Elijah had to admit that Freya's idea was more appealing than running, but it was riskier. However, this was not a decision he could make by himself. Normally, he did make the final decision, but not this time. This was a decision they had to make together. "I suggest that we vote on this. We decide together, all of us."
"Well, my vote is that we leave. The cost of losing a war is too great," Kol said.
"I agree with Kol. I'm sorry, Freya, but this just doesn't seem feasibly. I've seen what happens when Mother is taken on directly, and with Father in the mix also, it's doomed," Finn said.
"I'm tired of running," Elena said. She was so tired of it. She couldn't talk to her brother or her friends because she ran the risk of Esther tracking her. "I'm terrified of Mikael, but I don't want to be terrified for the rest of my life. I'd rather fight and let it end the way it's going to end."
Rebekah was next. She leaned forward. "Mikael has been beaten before, but that was when it was just him. I'm not certain we can beat him and Mother even with an army of witches and vampires. That's assuming we can even trust them. I think we need to leave."
"Niklaus," Elijah prompted. He would save his vote until the others had theirs. He wasn't even sure which way he was leaning, and it was a moot point if his brother wanted to run. It would mean the majority of them wanted to leave.
Klaus was quite for a minute. He looked at Elena. It was her he was most concerned with either way. She was the one most likely to suffer the most at the hands of Mikael and their mother. She was the entire reason they were running in the first place. However, he knew how much she hated it. He knew that while she loved all of them, she ached to see and speak with her loved ones in Mystic Falls. Running was always supposed to be a temporary solution. No matter what choice they made, it was going to be risky. "Well, I do love a good war, and I'd love nothing more than to end our parents once and for all."
Elijah sighed. It came down to him. Both arguments had their advantages and their risks, however, Elena and Niklaus were the ones with the most to lose, and they wanted to stay. "For now, I think we should stay. We do as Freya suggested and see if the supernatural factions will fight with us. We have advantages we didn't have before. It's worth the risk if we can all have a better way of life."
Freya nodded. "I'll call Marcel and get him to play ball with us. He won't be happy, but he should agree to help in order to protect the city. Then Elena and I can meet with the other witches."
"You have to teach me more. I don't want to be a sitting duck. I want to be able to protect myself," Elena said. Gone were the days were she sat back while everyone protected her. She wasn't going to be a victim anymore.
"Absolutely. You and I will be stepping up your training. We'll work for a while this afternoon. For now, I'm going to call Marcel. There's no time to waste," Freya said before getting up and heading out of the room. The others did the same, having finished their conversation.