It turned out anger and violence was the only way to quiet the voices in the girls head. Mira's outburst had no only calmed the voices in her head, but Hope's too, even it only last for a few hours. Klaus decided then that if violence was the answer to their problem, then he'd happily be the target of their rage to keep this relief coming. Elijah wasn't too pleased about the plan, but until they had another option, it was the only one they had. So while he went to find Vincent and find another way, Klaus got the girls focused on venting. 

   He groaned as his body crashed through the table in courtyard, shattering it on impact. "Do it again." He pushed to his feet as Hope held onto the banister of the stairs, breathing heavily. Mira sat on the steps, her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to ignore the growing whispers inside her mind. "Harder this time. All of that pain, that simmering darkness. You need to purge it before it eats you alive."

   "Dad!" Hope let out.

   Klaus didn't give in. "Give me your anger, Hope!"

   Hope let out a scream as she spun on her heal and flicked her wrist, sending her father fling across the courtyard and into the wall. She shook her head as she paced forward. "It's not working." She groaned, still hearing the whispers just as Mira was.

   Klaus sat up and leaned back against the wall behind him, taking a moment to compose himself. "You're holding back."

   "You really think I want to feel this way?" She snapped at him. "No matter how hard I try to get it out, I don't feel any better. You're not the one we want to hurt." She finally admitted with a sigh, and Mira looked over at her knowingly.

   Klaus's eyes flickered between the two teenagers, before he pulled himself up and walked over toward them. "Give me a name." He ordered sternly.

   "Roman." Mira said before Hope could, Hope nodding in agreement. "Roman Sienna."

   He didn't need to question why, he knew the reasons already. Giving a simple nod, Klaus turned and left the compound to get them what they wanted. If this was how they'd be able to purge themselves of the darkness, then he would make it so.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Klaus threw a cold bucket of water over Roman's head, causing the Sienna vampire to gasp awake with a splutter. His eyes glanced around rapidly to make sense of his surroundings, fear in his eyes as he tugged at the chains holding him up from where Klaus had imprisoned him the in underground dungeon, squirming under the cold, emotionless gaze of the original hybrid. "Have you decided how you're going to kill him?"

   "Slowly." Hope answered, no emotion to her voice either.

   Roman looked over his shoulder the best he could at the sound of her voice, spotting to familiar figures watching from the shadowy area of the room. "Hope? Mira? Hey."

   "We want to do this alone." Mira informed her uncle, her tone cold as she refused to meet Roman's frantic gaze.

   "What?" Roman asked in confusion.

   "This is supposed to help us feel better, right?" Hope questioned her father, noting the look her gave at the request for him to leave.

   Panic filled Roman's eyes.  "What's wrong with them?"

   "They have an affliction." Klaus replied in a blank tone. "For which your pain is a momentary comfort."

   "My pain?" The Sienna vampire repeated, looking over at the two Mikaelson girls in fear.

   "Mm-hmm." Hope hummed with a small nod. "But we don't want an audience." She instructed her father firmly.

   "Hope." Klaus hesitated, looking at them both in an attempt to reason with them as he circled slowly around Roman. "Mira."

   "If you want to help us, go." Hope said bluntly, in no mood to debate the matter further.

   "Well, I was rather hoping to be part of the show." He told them, finally giving into the request. "Well, consider starting small, then. Fingernails, or-or perhaps the tongue. Build the suspense." He suggested before he made his way toward the exit.

   Roman's panic and fear grew at that. "Hey hey, wait. You're not actually gonna leave me with them, are you?" He pleaded desperately, as the original hybrid left and closed the iron gate behind him. "Hey!" He yelled, as the girls walked into the light and toward him, Hope setting down a dagger she'd taken from upstairs.

   Mira didn't wait, raising her hand and clenching her fist as she narrowed her eyes on his nose. "Ossox." She muttered beneath her breath, a smirk twitching as Roman yelled out in pain, her spell slowly crushing the bones in his nose until he began to bleed. "I should have done that a while ago."

   "I know you won't believe this, but I've been trying to see you, okay?" Roman informed the girls desperately.

   Hope didn't even look at him, looking out of the iron gate as Mira just watched him coldly. "You're right. We don't believe it." Hope replied, lifting her hand and casting a pain infliction spell, making his body seize up in pain until she eventually dropped it.

   "I-I swear." He stuttered out, sweat forming on his forehead. "My sister, she wanted me to leave the country, but I wouldn't go until I got to talk to you."

   "I really wouldn't mention your sister in front of me right now." Mira warned in a dangerous tone.

   Roman's head whipped to face her. "I didn't know about her and your dad!"

   "Is this the kind of talk you had in mind?" Hope scoffed.

   "Look, I-I know." He nodded, as Hope pushed away from the gate and moved to stand close behind him. "Taking part in both your moms captures and tricking you, that was wrong and I know that."

   "And yet you did it anyway!" She sneered, hitting him with the pain infliction spell once again.

   His body hung forward weakly when she finally dropped the spell, breathing heavily. "No, you you have to understand." He shook his head, as she walked around to stand beside Mira in front of him. "For years I've been told to fear you, every day, every night, stories of what your father did to mine, what you and your kind have done to us."

   "My kind?" hope repeated dangerously.

   "No, no, no, I like you, Hope, okay? I like you, I really do. Mira, I like you too, you're a good friend." He tried to reason. "I just didn't know whether to listen to the voice in my head that said you were good or my mother's voice that said over and over y-you and your family--"

   "Our family's what?" Mira cut him off, as the whispers began to become louder in her ears.

   "Evil." He answered honestly. "And I wasn't strong enough to fight her. And I don't want you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I know what I did was wrong. Okay? So, if you need to, just kill me." He gave into what he assumed was his fate, his head hanging down in shame.

   Upstairs, Klaus sat on the stairs in the living room, a bottle of whiskey and a glass in hand. He poured himself a drink, using it as a distraction as he waited for the girls to get what they needed to do done downstairs. He downed his glass as Elijah walked in the room, giving him an unreadable look. "So this is the new parenting style?" He raised a brow. "Allowing your daughter and mine to mercilessly torture that boy."

   "That boy held them, Audrey and Hayley hostage, almost killed Hope and Mira and succeeded with their mothers." Klaus reminded him, Elijah not meeting his eye at the mention of Audrey. "So, if our daughters decide to end his life, then that would make them someone who vanquishes their enemies, following in the footsteps of their fathers." He remarked, pointing between them both.

   "They was supposed to be better than us, Niklaus." Elijah told him as he walked closer.

   "They're ill." Klaus stated, worry appearing on his face. "If this brings them some relief, then nothing else matters."

   "And then what?" Elijah pressed further. "When they're done with him and the darkness returns?"

   The hybrid rolled his eyes as he poured himself another glass. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask, as much as I enjoy your withering judgment, do you really have Hope's best interest at heart?" He rose to his feet, looking at him. "Do you have Mira's?"

   "What are you accusing me of?" Elijah gave him a defensive look.

   "I'm not blind, Elijah." Klaus told him bluntly, not mincing his words. "If you love that woman so much, go be with her. I have my own family to worry about and that boy is collateral damage. I'll continue to look after your children as I have been as you pick Antoinette over them once more." He snipped bitterly.

   "Niklaus." Elijah warned with a dangerous look at his words. "I made my children a promise I intend to keep. I have made mistakes but do not," He took a step closer, his voice low and firm. "Confuse my concern for your methods as me breaking that promise. Mira's well being is my top priority." He took a deep breathe.  "You are leading them down a path that will erase their humanity. And if they lose that, Niklaus, the consequences will be devastating for everyone. I will not let Mira lose that good in her. A good that certainly didn't come from me." 

   "Just don't." The youngest of the two turned to walk away.

   "Don't what?" He challenged him. "Counsel you against your worst instincts? A thousand years, I have desperately tried to sway you toward some kind of reason."

   Klaus nodded, though his look was blank. "And for a thousand years, I've trusted you."

   "So now what?" Elijah asked him.

   "Our lives may be forever, but our allegiance is not." Klaus said and didn't wait for a reply, before he turned and walked away upstairs.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   "You have no idea what you took from us." Hope shook her head vigorously, as she paced back and forth in front of Roman. "Our mothers. Our children's grandmothers, someone to hold us when we're scared and to call us when we're lonely, the-the first eyes we ever looked into, I mean, our best friends!"

   "I do. Okay, I really do." Roman argued.

   "No, you don't!" She snapped. "You can't."

   "Hope, I lost my mother, too." He spoke in reminder, causing both girls to freeze at his words.

   Mira took a dangerous step forward. "What did you just say?" She demanded. "You don't seriously think that compares, do you? Greta wasn't a damn mother, Roman!" She spat. "She was nothing!"

   Hope, however, didn't hold back and grabbed Roman by the throat, tilting his head up so their eyes met, nothing but pure anger in hers. "Your mother was nothing like ours."

   "That's-that's not what I meant." Roman stuttered, as Hope dropped her hold on him and pushed him back.

   "That's exactly what you meant!" She yelled, walking behind him and summoning the knife into her hand, holding up to his back to stab it into his heart. 

   However, she couldn't do it, Mira could see it on her face. The whispers didn't matter, it didn't change the facts. This wasn't them. Throwing the knife on the ground, Hope let out a scream of frustration, and began to take it out on anything in sight. The more she did, the louder the voices got, causing Mira to groan as she gripped at her head once again. Even if this was a way to silence them, neither of them truly had it in them to kill Roman Sienna, no matter how much blame they might pin on him for what happened.

   "Hope." His eyes widened in alarm as he watched them. "Mira."

   Hope glared at him. "What?!"

   "Your arms." He breathed out, causing both girls to look down to see what he had.

   Both of them had long, deep black veins protruding on their arms, seemingly crawling further and further up them. Neither of the girls said anything, exchanging a look before they fled the dungeon, making their way back upstairs. As Hope headed to find Klaus, Mira went to find her own father, spotting him on the upstairs balcony.

   "Dad." She let out in a panic, causing Elijah to turn to her instantly. She held out her arm for him to see, and his face fell. "Something's wrong..."

   He moved closer and took a hold of her arm to examine, Vincent's words from when they spoke earlier that morning coming to mind. He was right, Mira and Hope had barely survived this when they were younger. Now they were older, but it was only a matter of time before this darkness consumed them both, and these veins were clearly only the start of it.

   "How long have they been there?" He questioned.

   "We don't know." Mira shook her head. "Roman noticed them." She admitted, and noticed his frown at that. "We didn't kill him." She told him, knowing what he was thinking. "Hope came close but she couldn't. I wouldn't be able to either..." She let out a sigh. "I guess you can take him back to Antoinette. I'm sure she'll be grateful."

   "Mira." He led her to sit down, looking at her honestly. "I'm not trying to help Antoinette for the reasons you may think." 

   "Then why?" Mira couldn't help but ask. "If you're not staying with her, why is she still around?"

   "Because I feel guilty." He answered. "Things changed between us the moment that my memories returned, my feelings for her...they don't compare to how I felt, how I will always feel for you mother, even if she isn't here anymore. She and Roman are both victims to Greta as many others." Mira looked down at that, knowing he had a point. 

   "I guess not." She mumbled with a small nod. "Dad, if you want to be with her--"

   "No." Elijah shook his head, cutting her off before she could finish. "No, I don't. My focus is you, Grace, and Elliot. That is all my focus is from now on." He rose to his feet. "But, with her help, I think I might have a solution to relieve you and Hope from this darkness, even if temporarily. I need to speak with your uncle. Come." Mira looked at him in confusion, but followed him down to where Klaus was sat with Hope, going to sit with her cousin as Elijah pulled his brother aside to talk. "Niklaus, I think I have a solution."

   Klaus gave him an incredulous look. "You really think you can act as counsel when you're sleeping with the enemy?"

   "I'm not speaking for Antoinette, nor am I speaking for Roman." Elijah said firmly. "This is about Mira and Hope."

   "Oh, so this is about them, now." He nodded, sarcasm thick in his tone. "How touching you remembered their plight."

   "She's faltering, isn't she, Niklaus?" Elijah ignored his dig, making his brother pause. "That rage, consuming her from within."

   "And yet, you've taken me from her side again." He scoffed. "And you've done it rather than be at your own daughters side."

   "You might not trust me right at this moment, Niklaus do you really have any other choice?"

   And as as much as Klaus hated to admit it at this moment, he didn't. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   At Antoinette's request, all those that followed Greta and still believed in her cause had gathered in St. Anne's church to meet, willing to hear whatever it was she had to say to them. "I asked you here because you've all been loyal to my mother's cause." She announced, walking through a parting in the crowd, stepping up in front of the small podium. "Her son, my brother, has been taken prisoner by the half-breed Klaus Mikaelson, and together, we are going to liberate him."

   "Yeah!" Different members of the crowds cheered.

   Emmett walked forward with a large duffel bag in hand. "We're gonna do more than that. We are going to end the Mikaelson rule, once and for all." He told her, unzipping it to reveal the many vials of beast venom they'd extracted from Marcel Gerard.

   "Like my mother, we must, tonight, embrace a vision of our species that we're willing die for." Antoinette continued, keeping the crowd glued to her.

   "I must confess that I myself have recently had a change of heart." Elijah spoke up from behind, causing the crowd to turn and watch as he walked inside, walking up to stand by Antoinette's side. "Tonight, we go to war. But those of you who are not resolute in the belief that we are the one and the only true species the time for you to leave is now."

   "We're with you." Emmett told the 'couple', as others nodded in agreement.

   "Now, Greta died in the name of purity, and thanks to the unwavering conviction of her followers, particularly those of you who chose to lead when she was gone, her message lives on. So now, for those who stood by her, you will share her fate." Elijah said with his eyes narrowed on the vampires hanging their every word.

   At that moment, the doors burst open, allowed Klaus and Marcel to walk in, following behind Hope and Mira who led the way.  "What are they doing here?" Emmett sneered in disgust, looking to Elijah for answers.

   "The road to redemption is long and winding, but worthy." The suited Original quoted.

   Realization formed on Emmett's face and he glared at him and Antoinette angrily. "You betrayed us." He yelled, as Mira used her magic to throw the duffel into the wall, destroying the vials of venom inside.

   Antoinette shook her head in disagreement. "We told you what my mother thought."

   "And we never said we agreed." Elijah added pointedly.

   Klaus smirked. "You can leave them to us now." He said, and Antoinette didn't wait and sped off, but Elijah didn't. He simply moved and went to stand with his brother and Marcel, not wanting to leave his daughter.

   "I'm going to enjoy this." Marcel remarked, blocking the path to stop the vampires trying to leave.

   "Go on, sweethearts." Klaus encouraged his daughter and niece, a dark look in his eyes as he looked at the crowd of vampires. "Let it all out."

   The two Mikaelson girls stepped forward, causing all the vampires to take frightened steps back away from them. But that wasn't going to help them. They joined a hand together, and took deep breaths, their eyes turning blue as the blue light of the Hollow began to radiate from both of them. And together, they let a loud, powerful scream that sent the light emitting forward, taking the vampires down with a powerful pain infliction spell that caused their eyes to bleed as they dropped to the ground dead. 

   Once all the vampires were down, they slowly stopped, leaving them looking at the bodies. Hope began to slowly walk closer and inspect them all, as Mira took a shaky step back, Elijah quickly moving and pulling her close to him.  "Are they all dead?" The oldest of the two teenagers asked.

   "Immortality isn't for everyone." Klaus attempted to ease the clear guilt on their faces. "You should consider what you did an act of public service."

   "Hey, kiddos, you okay?" Marcel looked between Mira and Hope in concern.

   "I--I'm, um, numb." Hope answered quietly.

   "Me too." Mira whispered, feeling a lump in her throat.

   Klaus moved closer to Marcel. "Marcel, why don't you and Josh gather up some vampires, get them to clean up this mess before anyone gets wise." He suggested, until he noticed the way Marcel's face fell in grief. "What is it?"

   "I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?" Marcel shook his head, before he left the church.

   Klaus watched him go in concern. "Yeah."

  Unable to look any longer, Mira pulled from her father's hold and quickly made her way outside, closing her eyes and holding onto the wall the second the cool night air hit her. The whispers had completely silenced, no longer plaguing her mind as they had been, and the black veins had vanished as if they had never appeared in the first place. But no matter how bad those people int here might have been, she couldn't come to terms with what they'd just done.

   She and Hope had just killed them all.

   "Mira." Elijah made his way outside to find her, and he didn't get to say more as she buried herself in his arms, crying softly. His heart sank as he held her, having been worried about exactly this happening. "This doesn't make you a bad person." He said softly.

   "It feels like it." She whispered out, shaking her head. 

   "Because you are a good person." Elijah gently cupped her face, lifting her chin so their eyes met. "You feel guilty because you are a good person, who under any other circumstances, never would have hurt a soul. Because you, sweetheart, are you mothers daughter." He said wholeheartedly. "She only ever hurt another in the name of protecting the people that she loved, and she raised you in a way she hoped would stop you ever having to take on a burden like this. All we ever wanted to do was protect you from this." He gently stroked away the tears that fell from her eyes. "And I know if she were here, she'd agree with what I am saying."

   "I wish she were here." Mira whispered sadly, his words helping slightly.

   Elijah sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he pulled Mira back into his arms.  "So do I."

   Both of them stood out there in silence after that, Elijah allowing Mira to take all the time that she needed. Both completely unaware of just how much worse things were becoming inside.

We're getting very close to the end of season five. Only three episodes left I need to write. The next chapter is going to take some time, all of these final chapters will, as I don't have a good transcript to follow to write them out. But I'm going to try and make them worth the wait. 

Also, side note, how perfect is the gif of Hope and Mira? I found it when looking for what I needed for this chapter, and it felt right to include something of the two cousins together. And for those wondering, I didn't neglect Grace and Elliot, we're going to say they were being watched by Freya and Keelin while all of this was happening. I didn't think the two seven year olds needed to be apart of their older sister and cousin killing a group of purist vampires.

Next chapter will hopefully be especially worth it, as for those missing her, there will be Audrey content! I've been very excited to write this next episode for that specific reason. It will be Elijah and Audrey content, which I haven't been able to write in a while because of how this season works. 

I hope you all enjoyed!