ELIJAH was in the upstairs study, where Freya was in the middle of setting up a magical binding circle made of salt and herbs to trap Tristan, who had been chained to a chair. Inside the circle was Elder Futhark runes, including ingwaz and algiz.

Once the circle was complete, Freya looked up at Elijah and sighed. "The spell is complete. Tristan cannot cross the boundary of his own will, but we can enter and leave as we please."

Ingrid strolled into the room with an emotionless expression on her face and glanced at the scene. "Good. We can get started then."

Elijah crouched down to look at Tristan more closely as Freya set her materials down on one of the nearby tables. "I took the liberty of injecting him with hibiscus and mugwort to counteract any vervain in his system. All you have to do is compel him to give you the longitude of Rebekah's location."

"He says he's immune." Elijah pointed out in aggravation.

Freya shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, then I'll find some other way to make him talk." She then walked over to an end table and picked up an old-fashioned looking dagger with a thick, wavy-cut blade.

"Will you?" Elijah questioned, walking over to her and holding out his hand.

She sighed again before reluctantly giving him the dagger. "You're still upset I tortured Aurora without your permission."

Ingrid shook her head while laughing and glanced down at her feet. "Oh that... that is..." she trailed off, flattening her lips to stifle another laugh. "Hmmm."

"Something funny, Ingrid?" Elijah questioned with a patronizing smile.

"Oh, I..." she laughed again and shook her head. "I'm just amused by your hubris."

Elijah rolled his eyes and turned to his sister, trying to contain his frustration. "Freya. I'm obscenely fond of torture. But yes, when I'm entertaining, I like to be the one to choose precisely when and how we violate the guests."

"Except, Niklaus and I were the ones hosting and you took it upon yourself to control the situation." Ingrid snapped at him in anger. "Had you let me do this my way, we would be on a different path. So from this point further, I'm in control. Don't like it? There's the door." She sneered, gesturing toward the exit with her hand, and challenged him to argue. When no one said anything further or moved to leave the room, she clapped her hands together. "No? Okay, good! Glad we're all on the same page."

Ingrid then walked toward Tristan and grabbed a fist full of his hair, forcefully pulling his head back before baring her dual paired fangs and golden eyes. She growled lowly and bit him viciously on the neck, causing Tristan to awaken with a loud pained scream.

Not too long after, Tristan had at least a half dozen hybrid bites over his neck and arms and Elijah, looking amused, studied the sight in astonishment. "My goodness, I could watch this forever..." Elijah walked over to Tristan and placed his hand on his progeny's forehead, yanking his head backward painfully. "...If only my sister wasn't trapped in the bottom of the ocean." He snarled furiously with narrowed eyes.

Ingrid stood behind the de Martel and placed her hands on his shoulders, trailing her fingers along his bites causing him to hiss and jerk away. Leaning down to place her lips next to his hear, she whispered softly in a menacing tone. "Give us the coordinates."

Tristan shivered as her voice vibrated across his eardrums then groaned in pain. "Mmm. If I tell you, you'll just kill me."

"True." Ingrid mused, pursing her lips. "But--"

Elijah smirked at her and looked at the bites riddling Tristan's body. "The alternative is significantly less pleasant."

"I think I'll hold off on any confessions. At least until The Strix arrive to free me and burn your home to the ground..." Tristan weakly threatened with an exhausted smirk.

"Oooh..." Elijah responded in amusement then gestured to his sister-in-law. "I think he could use a bit more persuasion."

"Hmm." She hummed dully and walked around to face her prisoner. "You think so?"

"Oh, yes." Elijah replied with a husky laugh and turned on his heels, walking out of the room.

The wail of a child's cry echoed from the hallway and Ingrid was about to respond to it but Freya shook her head and smiled warmly. "I've got her." The witch reassured then left Ingrid alone with Tristan.

Ingrid smirked mischeviously and walked away from Tristan. He watched her curiously as she grabbed a chair and threw it down in front of him before sitting down.

The two stared each other down and the only sound filling the room was that of Tristan's labored breathing. After a moment, his pained expression twisted into one of betrayal. "You used me." He whispered, hurt seeping into his voice. "You used me and like a lovesick fool, I fell for it."

Ingrid's face softened for a brief moment and she prayed he didn't notice. She covered up her small sliver of guilt and tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to continue.

He wheezed while staring at her, heartbroken. "All I've wanted for thousand years was for you to notice me. To love me in the same capacity you do Niklaus. But you don't..." He snarled furiously. "And you never will. You exploited my feelings for personal gain."

Ingrid sat back in her seat and gulped quietly. She noticed his blue eyes glistening against the lights with tears and kept her face blank. He stared at her, hoping for any sign of regret or sympathy but the longer he looked at her, the less emotion he found. Red hot fury began to boil deep down in his soul and he sneered at her in disgust. "You truly are a Mikaelson through and through."

This sparked something in Ingrid herself and she leaned forward in her seat with a dark glare. "Look at what your arrogance hid from you. I am pleased to see that we're finally on the same page." She stood to her feet and walked toward him. "I am a Mikaelson." She remarked proudly before grabbing him aggressively by the face, crushing his jaw. "Which means I'm not above torture."

She let go of him, shoving him backward as she did so, and walked over to the table, staring at the tools lying before her. "I'm also not above killing you. Since you didn't appreciate my lies, shall I spare you some honesty?" She rhetorically questioned and held a heretic's fork up in the light. Making an unconvinced expression, she set it back down and glanced at him through the top of her thick eyelashes. "I'm going to kill you and your sister. It may not be today but it's soon." She informed him calmly and picked up a speculum. Noticing another tool and humming to herself, Ingrid picked up a small power drill and tested the trigger. The drill bit whirled around, making a loud noise and causing Tristan to shudder in his seat.

Ingrid then stood directly in front of him and smirked sinisterly. She held the tools up with a suggestive look. Before he could argue or plea, she grabbed him by the throat and forced the speculum underneath his eyelids, aggressively holding his eye wide open.

He was breathing heavily while shaking in fear. He had never seen Ingrid so sinister. Even when she massacred hundreds of thousands. Ingrid massacred those people for fun and she was torturing him to make a point.

Pointing the drill, she aimed it at his eye and held it there threateningly. "So at this point, you have two options. You give me the coordinates or... I give you an at home transorbital lobotomy."

"You wouldn't." He breathed out weakly, almost calling her bluff.

Laughing in amusement, Ingrid held the bit to his eye and he felt the apex of it graze across his sclera. Fear and panic washed over him in a tidal wave as he realized she was dangerously close to driving the drill bit into his brain through his eye. "One last chance." She warned sternly.

Regardless of his fear, Tristan never relented. "No."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Ingrid smirked widely. "Your choice." She reminded him before holding down the trigger. The drill bit spun around rapidly as she drove it forward. Blood splattered across her face while Tristan screamed out at the top of his lungs in agony.

Before the drill could reach his brain, Tristan fell unconscious and Ingrid stopped it from making its way through the soft tissue that controlled literally every fiber of his being. She reversed the motion and removed it from his orbit. Blood dripped down from the bit onto the floor as it also ran down her face.

Hearing footsteps entering behind her, she turned around to face them with the drill in hand. Elijah paused in his place and examined the scene for a moment. Pulling out his handkerchief with a loud sigh, he walked toward her with a disapproving expression. "I see you're enjoying yourself."

Taking the handkerchief from him, Ingrid walked toward the table and set the drill down. She began wiping her face with an eyeroll. "He's resisting. The venom is going to kill him faster than we can get results." She snapped impatiently and walked toward the bar, pouring herself a drink. "Physical pain isn't enough. We need to step it up. Get me Freya, please."

"Freya is a bit busy watching your daughter and since you refuse to allow me to see her--" Elijah began to argue bitterly but she slammed the glass down and cut him off.

"Is this really the topic you have chosen to focus on at the moment?" She asked incredulously and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Tell Freya to put her down for a nap and that I need her. Call Niklaus since you're so concerned and if that doesn't work for you, call Marcellus."

When Elijah didn't make a motion to leave, she raised an eyebrow and held her hands up in frustration. "Why are you still here?"

"You're starting down a very dangerous road." He commented in concern. "I fear it may be one you can't come back from."

"A road I foolishly allowed you to lead me on... Elijah, I don't have time for this." She replied, brushing his worry away, and waved a hand in dismissal. "We need to get this moving. So for the third time, please get me Freya." She demanded sternly again. "I will not ask again."

Realizing that she wasn't going to participate in his one-on-one, he sighed heavily and finally left to room to fulfill her request.

Freya walked into the room and gasped at what she saw. Tristan was hunched over in his chair, unconscious, with several bites riddling his body and blood pouring from his eye, down his cheek. "Is he...?"

Ingrid held a finger up as she tossed back a glass of whiskey, straight. "No." She replied in a deep groan and set the glass down. "Not yet at least. He's not responding to physical torture so I need your help."

"Of course." Freya offered up immediately.

After Ingrid explained her plan, Freya held onto Tristan's head with both hands as she cast a spell on him. Ingrid sat down in the chair front of them with her arms folded across her chest. Tristan began to grow pale and feverish. Sweat was beading on his forehead as he whimpered in pain. The blood dried to his cheek and the operation to his eye had healed completely. Freya finished her spell and looked at Ingrid with a flat-lipped expression. "He's as weak as I can make him. If I push further, I might kill him."

"Okay, thank you." Ingrid expressed genuinely and leaned forward in her seat. "Time to wake him up." She mused dully, standing from her seat, and grabbing a bottle from the table. She then poured rubbing alcohol into his wounds and he woke with a pained groan. Bending down to meet his eyes, she smiled widely and clapped him on the back. "Good morning, sunshine!" She greeted in a cheery voice, pouring more alcohol over his body.

Tristan glared up at her, the vision of his left eye blurry and unfocused. "Weak as I am, you still won't take from me what you seek."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ingrid replied in a bored tone, walking toward the table with the torture tools, and rolled her eyes. "See, I beg to differ." She mused smoothly, approaching him again with an object in her hand. "You're going to die if I don't heal you. And it's with sincerity that I doubt Niklaus will heal you. So how about a bargain?" She offered up with a smirk. "You give me your half of the coordinates and I heal you, allowing you to live for another miserable day."

"No." He drew out sternly, exhaustion and agony clouding in his eyes.

Ingrid shared a look with Freya before shrugging and laughing to herself. "Suit yourself." She sped at him and pulled his head back by his hair. He yelled out on pain from the hyperextension of his neck. She then wrapped the leather collar of the heretic fork around his neck, placing the top prongs under his chin and the other above his stereoclavicular joints. The fork forced his neck to stay extended and if he were to attempt to flex forward, the dual sided prongs would stab through.

Elijah joined them and stared at his progeny in annoyance. "It's an unpleasant thing, delving into such a depraved and repellent mind."

Tristan's head started to fall forward as he began to doze off from the werewolf venom. However once his chin made contact with the prongs, he jerked his head back, hissing in pain.

Elijah, clearly growing impatient with him, stood in front of him and kicked his foot. Due to the impact, Tristan's head fell into the fork and four small puncture wounds bled from his chin and chest.

"Tristan, unless you'd like me to fetch the chainsaw--" Elijah threatened, kneeling down in front of him. "-- I recommend you give me what I seek." He then quickly grabbed Tristan by the side of his head and used vampire telepathy to sift through his memories.

Elijah closed his eyes and the two Mikaelson women shared odd looks. It was awkwardly quiet for a moment until he gasped loudly in surprise and let go of Tristan.

"What did you see?" Freya asked in worry.

Elijah was panting for breath, exerted from combing through Tristan's mind, as he stood to his feet and glanced at them. "Just flashes. He's resisting, but still, Th... There's something else. It was a word." He looked down at Tristan, who was growing weaker by the moment, and grabbed him by the face. "What was it, Tristan? Hmm? What is "Cepheus"?"

Suddenly, Marcel walked into the room, looking annoyed by Elijah's methods until he noticed all the blood. Turning toward the hybrid, he nodded his head slowly. "Admire the creativity."

She smiled widely at him and dramatically threw her hair over her shoulder. "Why, thank you, Marcellus."

Elijah appeared annoyed by Marcel's unannounced visit as he turned to the witch. "Freya, would you mind dealing with this situation, please?"

"Excuse me?" Ingrid snapped in offense. "Don't talk about Marcellus like that. Especially when he's standing right behind you. Stop being disrespectful."

Marcel licked his lips, hiding his appreciative smile, and cut off Freya before she could do anything. "Oh, no offense to your lovely sister, but you and I need to talk."

Elijah turned away from Tristan to face Marcel with an appalled expression. Marcel ignored this and continued on. "I'm here on behalf of The Strix, and I'm not leaving without Tristan."

Ingrid sighed in disappointment and Elijah stared at Marcel coldly while Tristan laughed weakly in relief, trying not to let his head fall forward.

Marcel and Elijah walked downstairs to the courtyard and Freya and Ingrid stayed behind to watch over Tristan.

After a moment, Tristan, who had been watching Freya curiously, spoke up in a weak voice. "There really is no need for this. You and I have much in common. For one, we both adore our sisters."

Freya turned to face him and shot him a cold smile. "Whatever we have in common, trust me-- it's outweighed by the fact that I want you dead." She sneered, turning away from him again and returning to staring out the doorway.

Ingrid stood in the corner of the room, watching Tristan fighting every urge to fall unconscious, and chuckled darkly at her sister-in-law.

Unfortunately for them, Tristan wasn't finished talking and tried to reason with Freya. "I must have spent centuries looking for your family, only to find animals. Treacherous savages who betray even each other. Were you disappointed?" He questioned curiously causing Ingrid's face to fall as she anticipated Freya's answer.

Freya shrugged her shoulders and gave him a stern look. "They're my family. My blood."

"Such devotion." Tristan whispered dramatically. "It is admirable. I wonder... why does it not extend to your poor brother Finn?"

Freya quickly turned on her heel and walked toward Tristan, visibly unhappy with this question. "What do you know about Finn?"

"We were acquaintances a thousand years ago. He was the most noble of your siblings, and he knew me as a man of my word." Tristan explained, hoping to break through to her.

Ingrid scoffed harshly and rolled her eyes. "Yes, honorable..." She trailed off in amusement before nodding her head slowly with a bitter look. "So honorable he attempted to kill us all."

Freya glanced at her, clearly torn and unable to deceiver what to believe. Tristan noticed he was losing her attention and called out to Freya again. "Why not ask him yourself? Assuming that he will speak to you after what you've put him through..."

Freya remains silent as she turned her back to him, grabbing the pendant on her talisman in her hand as she thought about what Tristan has just said. Tristan glanced at Ingrid from the corner of his eye and smiled weakly in satisfaction.

Rolling her eyes and scoffing, Ingrid walked out of the room to see Elijah battling it out with the Strix. She walked down the hall and stopped when she came face to face with Marcel. He frowned and shot her a guilty look. "I'm really sorry, Ingrid. I betrayed you."

"No, you didn't." Ingrid replied instantly with a shake of her head earning a confused and surprised expression from the younger vampire. "The Strix?" She rhetorically asked then waved it off nonchalantly. "I expected this. I knew they would come for Tristan and you would be here with them."

"So, this is a trap?" He walked toward her with furrowed eyebrows and didn't seem to understand where she was going with her statements.

"No." She replied in offense and gaped at him so. "I would never do that to you." She assured him in a stern manner before smirked smugly. "I'm not at all surprised that you're here. The Strix have always been loyal to Tristan. With that being said... Marcellus, I won't ask you to betray your loyalty to the Strix." Ingrid remarked sternly and met him halfway. "I'm not going to ask you to stand aside and I'm not going to fight you."

"So, what are you asking from me?" He inquired, still confused and intrigued.

"Nothing." Ingrid said honestly. "Do what you came here to do."

"Okay, I officially hate the Mikaelson vaguery." He groaned with a light laugh.

Ingrid laughed as well and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not being vague. I'm not asking anything from you. My plans took this into account and expected this. That's why I'm not angry. However, I expected you to be here a few hours earlier." She teased with an amused smirk. "Took you long enough. What? Off day?"

Marcel rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. "Oh, ha ha." He mused sarcastically causing her to laugh. "So, what exactly are you doing?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Trying to get information. Aurora made the unfortunate mistake of throwing Rebekah's body in the ocean." Ingrid explained with a heavy sigh. "Both she and Tristan have half of the coordinates to where Rebekah is. We're, well actually... I'm trying to get him to hand them over but he's too stubborn and he's refusing."

"Aurora took Cami because you have Tristan." Marcel informed her unhappily.

"I know." She answered with a curt nod and licked her bottom lip. "Niklaus and Lucien were handing it."

"Did you get what you needed?" Marcel asked, worried for Rebekah and Cami. "Anything worth using?"

Shaking her head in disappointment, Ingrid answered his question with a nonverbal response. He was about to speak again when they both watched Hayley speed into the courtyard and join the fight. Ingrid walked toward the balcony and raised an eyebrow at the scene below her.

Marcel gestured to the fight and glanced at his adoptive mother in curiosity. "You're not going to help out?"

"No." She answered in a dull manner, her dark eyes not moving away from the fight. "I think it'll do Elijah some good. Maybe straighten him out and restore some humility. Humble him." She felt his gaze on her and turned toward him with a smile. "I won't stop you either. However, if he comes close to killing you then I have no choice but to step in. So... try not to die, please."

Marcel jokingly rolled his eyes and waved his hands in the air. "Yeah, yeah." He mused in playful annoyance before jumping over the balcony, joining the fight.

Elijah punched one of the vampires in the face before twisting his arm so hard that it snapped. He was distracted long enough for another Strix member to grab him in a headlock from behind. Fortunately for him, Hayley instantly sped toward the man and snapped his neck, allowing Elijah to do the same to the other vampire. The two looked at each other for a long moment, and they were about to relax until Marcel came up from behind Elijah and stabbed him through the heart from behind with what looked like the stake.

Ingrid raised an eyebrow and jumped down to join them. "Wasn't expecting that if I'm being honest." She commented with narrowed eyes.

Marcel dropped Elijah to the ground, and his skin started to turn gray and desiccated. Ingrid raised an eyebrow and walked toward them. Marcel read her expression and shook his head, answering her unspoken question. Letting out a small breath of relief, she nodded in response but otherwise didn't say anything.

Hayley glared at him in confusion and betrayal. Just then, two other members of The Strix started to surround her, cornering her while Marcel watched from behind them. He frowned as one of the vampires grabbed Hayley in a choke-hold and pinned her against one of the stone columns. Ingrid glanced down at her nails and picked at her cuticles, uninterested in the events before her.

Hayley struggled against his hold for a moment before reaching out with her right hand and snapping his neck. When the other vampire attacked her, she kicked him in the gut, only for yet another vampire to speed toward her. Each vampire took one of Hayley's arms and pinned them to the column so she couldn't fight back.

The older-looking vampire started to choke Hayley, but before they could kill her, they both collapsed onto the floor, revealing that Marcel had ripped out their hearts through their backs.

Hayley coughed and tried to catch her breath while Marcel gave her a significant look and held up the hearts before dropping them onto the ground. Hayley was clearly confused as to what game Marcel was playing.

Ingrid walked over to Elijah and rolled over his unconscious body with an eyeroll. "Brilliant."

Before Hayley could recover and decide what to do with him, Marcel sped away. Hayley continued to cough and massage her throat while looking down at Elijah's incapacitated body on the floor.

Hours later, Freya, Elijah, and Hayley gathered together to discuss the events of this evening. Ingrid walked into the room, wiping her hands with a wet rag, and glanced at the Cresent wolf. "Hayley, you're dismissed."

"But---" Hayley began to argue, standing to her feet, but was ultimately cut off.

"You are treading in dangerous waters at the moment. You either leave or I send you home in pieces. Your choice but either way... Goodbye!" Ingrid loudly bid her farewell, glaring harshly in her direction.

Hayley looked at Elijah for help only for him to remain silent and make no notion to step in. Growling in frustration, she stormed out of the compound.

Freya held the enchanted stake that Marcel left behind in her hands, examining it. "This stake was imbued with dark magic." She explained and looked up at her family with concern. "It's strong enough to take down even you." She said, staring directly at Ingrid.

"Lovely." Ingrid commented sarcastically and tossed the blood soaked rag on the table before throwing herself down in one of the chairs.

Elijah paced around the destruction and looked down at the dead Strix members. "So apparently The Strix has no shortage of weapons."

"Well, at least they don't have Marcel..." Freya attempted to reason.

Elijah scoffed and smiled bitterly. "I'm not so sure about that."

"He had every right to come in here the way he did." Ingrid replied, standing up for Marcel, then gestured toward the stake in Freya's hands. "However, he could have used that against us and he didn't. He is playing both sides so you need to be a tad bit more lenient." She snarled harshly while Elijah glared at her, both furious and unconvinced. "He could have made a series of different choices and he didn't."

"And healed me." Freya added quietly, feeling an argument ensuing. "A few minutes more and I would have been dead."

Elijah, still unimpressed, shook his head in disagreement as he returned to pacing around the room. "Do I need to remind you that because of your beloved hero, Tristan is free, Rebekah is lost..."

"Tristan was always going to be free." Ingrid commented knowingly causing them to gape at her in surprise. "I knew the Strix would come barging in here to save their beloved leader. Tristan was never going to give us what we wanted. He would rather die than tell us which meant we lose our leverage against Aurora. Then there's the matter of Aurora kidnapping Camille. The last thing we need at the moment is Niklaus going ballistic because Aurora murdered that woman."

"I simply seized the opportunity to help save Marcellus' life as well. Tristan was eventually going to grow suspicious of where his loyalties lie. So, Marcellus leads a rescue mission for Tristan and procures the very thing he needs to heal him, my blood, making him a loyal hero to the Strix." The hybrid explained smoothly, resting her feet on the table in front of her. "Now, Tristan won't suspect him."

"What side are you on?" Elijah asked, suspicious and angry.

"Whatever side that doesn't result in our family dying." She snarled in response then sighed heavily to recollect herself. "Eventually, we'll find Rebekah." Ingrid added dully and tapped her finger against her cheek. "At this moment, she's the safest one of us all so I suggest leaving it be for the time being. We'll get what we want from the de Martels or kill them. Either way. Then we can make the move to find Rebekah."

Elijah was suddenly distracted by the sight of the blood splatter over his portrait on the far wall and looked concerned as he stared distantly his portrait. "This prophecy threatens to devour us still."

Ingrid was going to respond when her phone buzzed. She read the messages before smirking smugly at her family and waving her phone in the air. Elijah raised an eyebrow and snatched it from her, reading the messages for himself.

Wanna know what Cepheus is? Got some insider info. -M

Folding her hands together, she licked her lips and pursed her lips in satisfaction. "What were you saying about Marcellus?" She questioned mockily then stood to her feet and took her phone back from him. "Don't ever doubt him again." She jeered sternly in a warning manner.

Her phone chimed again and Ingrid glanced at it to see Marcel had sent her a lengthy email. Quickly scrolling through, her face curled up into a pleased smile.

Klaus walked into the courtyard, looking angry and exhausted, and sat down where Ingrid was sitting prior. Ingrid frowned in concern while approaching him. "Hello, my love." She greeted softly and rubbed his back. Thinking to herself, she handed her phone to him with a wide smile. "It seems our beloved Strix have numerous corporate assets, including several private airlines. One of which specializes in cargo jets. Marcellus said they have a vessel they favor the most, codename "Cepheus."" She explained happily and Elijah's eyes widened in surprise. "Records show this flight here left Marrakesh to Miami the exact same night Rebekah was taken. Now, all we have to do is calculate the path..."

Klaus seemed to cheered up by this news and finished his wife's sentence for her, taking the cellular device from her. "With the latitude I plucked from Aurora."

""X" marks the spot." Elijah whispered, coming to his own conclusion. "The very moment we have our sister once again, Tristan and Aurora no longer have any leverage whatsoever, and we are free to deal with them however we choose." He turned to the hybrids with a bright smile on his face. "I recommend something delightfully gruesome."

Klaus smiled weakly and stood to his feet, his face stern and vengeful. "Just make sure you leave Aurora to me."

---
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