Coming back to New Orleans from Mystic Falls wasn't a peaceful affair. The second that Klaus, Rebekah, and Audrey stepped foot back into the city, they were met with what appeared to be a new problem in the Quarter. A witch was attacking vampires, replicating dark magic that the three Originals hadn't seen since they first lived in the city years ago. Due to this, the compound went into vampire lock down until whoever was doing it was caught, leaving Hayley and Audrey two of the people stuck there for their safety. However, when Elijah grew concerned that Rebekah was missing, the two left with him to help find her. After interrogating Thierry, who was out of the head garden thanks to Rebekah talking Klaus, they found her in a warehouse in the docs. She was laid in a salt circle, one they couldn't enter due to a boundary spell, being used as a source of power for the witch causing the problems. Sophie gave them a way to break the boundary and save her, which required the use of Hayley's blood, as a witches blood could be used to break it. While she wasn't a witch, the baby she carried was.  

   Papa Tunde, the witch that was behind the original attacks, was revealed to be the one  behind the new ones going on. No one could understand why he was back from the dead, until Sophie came up with a theory that seemed plausible. The Harvest worked, but the magic was hijacked and used to resurrect the wrong witches. Which left them trying to figure out what other witches other than Tunde had been resurrected for revenge, and who had stolen the magic to make this possible.

   That morning, Audrey stood beside Klaus with her arms crossed, as they both and Marcel watched Elijah. The group had came downstairs to find the body of Papa Tunde laid in the courtyard, the man's own symbol carved into his forehead like he did to all the vampires. 

   "Can I get you anything, brother?" Klaus mused, sarcasm in his voice. "A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?"

   Elijah merely rolled his eyes at his tone. "You have a theory you'd like to share with us, Niklaus?"

   "Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel told them.

   Audrey gave him a look. "What? Did they run out of chickens?"

   Klaus snickered at her side, as an amused smile twitched on Elijah's lips, the suited Original rising to his feet. "Yes, it's a rather large and ominous chicken, wouldn't you say?"

   "Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well." Klaus nodded to himself and Marcel. "If was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?"

   Rebekah walked in at that moment, glancing at the four, unfazed by the sight of the body on the ground. "Well, don't you look cheery." She hummed. "Listen to this-- A girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the city of the dead. It was Monique Deveraux."

   Klaus looked at her in disbelief. "What?"

   Rebekah nodded in confirmation. "The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle."

   "Maybe it is." Marcel let out with a thoughtful look, hope filling his eyes. " They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected. This is how we're gonna get Davina back-– kill the witch who took her place."

   "I have a theory about who one of them could be." Hayley appeared on the balcony, holding Davina's drawing up for them all to see. "Celeste. I mean, it's got to be. Davina was trying to tell us, she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming."

   "First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back." Klaus looked toward his brother, who looked displeased at the idea. "This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us."

   "My love." Elijah looked toward Audrey, noticing how silent she'd gone. "A word, please."

   With a small nod, she followed him away from the courtyard and up to their bedroom, closing the door behind them. "Elijah I'm fi--"

   "If this is Celeste, I will handle it." Elijah cut her off, a serious look in his eyes as he spoke. "But I do not want you to worry about any intentions she may have." Stepping closer, he took her hands into his, kissing her knuckles. "There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that could ever sway me from your side."

   "Elijah." The Gilbert girl said gently. "It's okay, I'm okay. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

   "I've done that once by letting you go." He rested his forehead against her, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I do not intend to make any other mistakes by you." He let out a sigh, pecking her lips. "I'm going to ask Rebekah to take Hayley to the plantation, until all of this has been dealt with. I'd feel better if you were with them."

   "No, I want to stay and help." She shook her head, ignoring his pleading look. "We'll deal with this together. I want to be with you through this, so let me."

   "I don't suppose there is I can anything I could say that would change your mind." He raised a brow, though his expression made it clear he already knew the answer. 

   "No." Audrey answered simply. "But you're welcome to try." Elijah looked at her for a long moment, and said nothing as he cupped her face in his hands, kissing her even more deeply than before.

   And Audrey melted into his touch. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Once Rebekah agreed to take Hayley to the plantation, the couple left Klaus and Marcel to their own devices, and made their way out into the Quarter. Elijah had a theory he wanted to test, and in order to do so, they needed to track down Sabine. 

   "Elijah. Audrey." Sabine paused in her steps, sensing them behind her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

   "Our family needs an ally among the witches." Elijah began, and Sabine turned to look at the couple. "You've helped us in the past. Perhaps together we can avoid an unnecessary conflict."

   "They may be willing to make a deal, if it were with the noble Elijah." Sabine admitted. "But there will never be any peace as long as it involves Klaus."

   "Really?" Audrey looked at her in disbelief. "All of this just to get Klaus out of town?"

   The witch simply shrugged. "I'm just telling you how they feel." She answered. "My people are scared, they're desperate, but they're not dumb. You have a niece on the way. It stands to reason you'd be willing to discuss how to run him out of the city."

   Elijah and Audrey exchanged a look, before they both looked back at Sabine with unreadable expressions. After a moment, Elijah laced his hand with Audrey's and began to lead her ahead, looking back over his shoulder at the witch. "Let's walk together. You can take us on one of your famous tours."

   And that is exactly what they did. Sabine spent the day giving them one of her tours of the Quarter, the two of them silent the entire time as she spoke. The day turned into night as they walked around, and the entire time, Audrey couldn't help but watch Sabine closely. If Elijah's theory was correct, she knew Sabine wasn't who she claimed she was, and she wasn't sure what to think. 

   She had a million questions running through her head that she wanted to ask. The main one being why?

   As it got dark, them found themselves on a quiet street, Sabine gesturing her hands to a building in front of them. "So, this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1700s when the city burned for the first time." She finally notices their silence, and tilts her head at the pair. "Am I putting you to sleep?"

   "As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother..." His eyes narrowed in on her closely. "Celeste."

   The innocent looked dropped from her face, looking impressed as she stared back at him. "How did you know?"

   Elijah gently let go of Audrey's hand, the Gilbert crossing her arms over her chest silently, watching as he moved around Celeste carefully. "As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near." He began to explain. "And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered-– could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then, I recalled the lovely Sabine." He recalled, remembering how she recognized them that very first day they arrived in New Orleans. "Your visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last Elder within your coven...Ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed-– unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game, indeed." He stopped in front of her, carefully searching her face for any sort of answer. "But to what end?"

   Remaining silent, Celeste stepped closer to Elijah and kissed him deeply, catching him off guard. Instantly, he pushed her off of him and Audrey was quick to place herself between the pair, glaring at Celeste. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

   Celeste looked amused by the anger in her eyes, and simply held a finger up toward her, like she was promising to deal with her in a moment. The witch then placed her focus on Elijah, who was beginning to look dazed. "Oh, Elijah, my lost love..." She trailed off with a sigh. "After all this time, don't you understand? I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow-- "always and forever.""

   Elijah starts to stumble on his feet, his face going pale as he grew weaker. "What have you done to me?" He demanded, his speech slurred as he fell to his knees.

   "Elijah?!" Audrey was by his side within a second, alarm clear in her eyes. "What have you done to him?"

   "Oh, it's a simple enchantment." Celeste brushed off. "You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah, I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. "Always and forever" was the greatest mistake of your life." Her focus then fell onto Audrey, using her magic to force the girl back onto her feet. "Audrey Gilbert. The Petrova doppelganger not meant to be, bonded with an Original vampire. What a joy it has been to learn all about you."

   "Leave her." Elijah snapped, collapsing to the ground but forcing himself to stay awake.

   "Sshh." Celeste hushed him, watching as his eyes finally close and placed her hands on Audrey's arms. "Ad Somnus." She chanted, taking a step back and watching as Audrey's eyes fluttered close, her body falling to the ground beside Elijah's. 

   She snapped her fingers, and two figures appeared from the darkness. "You know what to do." She said, and they nodded, lifting up the Gilbert girls body and carrying her away.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Elijah breathed heavily when he opened his eyes, still feeling as weak as he did before, trying and failing to push himself up from the ground. "You poisoned me with a kiss." He let out, noticing Celeste stood watching him. "At least you haven't lost your sense of irony."

   "We may have time for more." She said, ignoring the glare of distaste he gave her. "But first, I'm going to cure you of your greatest flaw-- this absurd devotion to your lunatic family."

   "Your anger is with me." He stated. "Now, if you have come here seeking revenge--"

   "Oh, I'll have my revenge." She cut him off. "Starting with Klaus. He is gonna know pain and torment like he's never known before. Unless you choose to save him, of course." She said, and rolled her eyes. "But then that leaves Rebekah, your tragic sister. She's about to find herself in quite the predicament. You could save her." She let out a fake sigh of worry. "But then that leaves Hayley in jeopardy. Poor girl." She tutted, and the corners of her lips twitched up into a smirk. "And, of course, saving any of them would leave Audrey helpless."

   Instantly, Elijah looked around him desperately, panic growing as Audrey was nowhere to be seen. "No. No, no...what have you done to her?"

   "I don't think she truly has any idea how dangerous it is to be loved by you." Celeste began, shaking her head. "Or if she does, she chooses to ignore it. I plan to set her mind straight. After all," She bent down in front of him. "you wouldn't want her to end up like I did, would you?" A taunting tone appeared in her voice. "You should have stuck to your word when you let her go, Elijah." Rising back to her feet, Celeste cleared her throat and shrugged once more. "Oh well. With your body weakened by my spell, you won't be able to save them all. You'll recover with just enough time to choose one. Who will it be? I can't wait to find out." 

   As Celeste turned and walked away, Elijah fell weakly on the ground again, fighting the urge to close his eyes the best that he could. "Audrey..." He called out hoarsely. "Audrey..." He mumbled again as his eyes fell shut, the fear the only thing he felt as the world around him once again went dark. 

Like I said before, I'm sorry...

Celeste is a bitch, to put it bluntly. I want to say it gets better, but things are only about to get worse. I'm going to try and have the next chapter posted today, but it really depends if I am able to get it finished or not. 

I hope you all enjoyed!