KLAUS sat on his bed and sighed heavily to himself. He was relieved that Marcel had found Ingrid and they were closer to bringing her home. He hadnt given himself the proper time to grieve over the death of his wife, he immediately moved to free her from the pendant on top of parenting their children by himself. He sat on their bed, quiet for a moment and processing everything that had happened over the course of the past few days. The hybrid began to sob to himself and buried his head in his hands.

The sound of the door opening causing Klaus to look up through teary eyes and furrow his eyebrows. Small echoes followed his visitor's steps as they approached him. Klaus wiped his tears to see Eirik standing in front of him in his pajamas, holding onto a stuffed dinosaur. "Daddy?"

"Hey, buddy." Klaus greeted him with a fake smile and picked him up. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep. I miss mommy." Eirik answered in a groggy voice as Klaus set him down on the bed beside him.

Klaus pulled him close and kissed the top of his head. "I miss her too. She'll be home soon, okay?"

"Okay." Eirik agreed with a nod of his head then yawned loudly. "Can I sleep here?"

The Original smiled warmly and stroked his son's curls. "Of course."

Eirik snuggled close to Ingrid's pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep. Klaus pulled the blanket over him and kissed his temple before lying down next to him and staring up at the ceiling.

Morning rolled around and Hope was standing on the balcony, staring down at the alley with a far off expression on her face. She heard Klaus walking into the room from behind her but didn't turn to face him. "The Hollow, she's getting stronger."

"You can sense her?" Klaus asked grimly and stopped a few feet away.

"When we first got here, there was always music outside, people dancing, laughing. Mom said that's one of the things she started to love about it here..." Hope trailed off with a sad smile. "But since she came back, it's so quiet. Like she's draining everything out of the city." She remarked then looked at her father in fear. "She already took mom. And soon she will come for the rest of us."

Klaus frowned and knelt down in front of her, grabbing into her shoulders with a stern look. "Listen, Hope, I know you're scared. But over the years, a lot of bad people have stood against our family, and all of them have fallen. The Hollow is no different." He tried to assure her with a small smile.

Hope wasn't convince and shook her head in rejection. "No, she is different."

Down in the sun room, Elijah was staring down at Ingrid with a meaningful expression. He opened his mouth to speak until he heard a cracking noise beside him. He furrowed his eyebrows and approached the pendant handing from the candelabra to see that the blue gem had started to crack slowly. He grabbed it tightly in his hands before he rushed out of the room to find Freya.

Freya studied the pendant closely in her hands and sighed heavily. "Despite the spell I cast, the very integrity of the pendant is growing unstable. It won't be able to hold Ingrid's soul much longer. We need to find a way to resurrect her tonight, or we could lose her forever."

"To do that, we'll need more power." Elijah reminded his sister with a dark expression.

Klaus stood in front of them, staring down at the necklace that contained Ingrid's very being with his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced between them and smirked sarcastically. "Let me guess, a grand sacrifice."

"I say we kill our enemy and sacrifice her, then I can channel the power from the Hollow's death, raise Ingrid's body, and place her back where she belongs." Freya explained quickly, determined to save her sister-in-law and her family.

"We've tried everything." Elijah pointed out in exhaustion.

"And we've come close. Alfsung blood is her Achilles' heel. Ingrid's blood weakened her, but she's technically been dead for centuries. So it won't be strong enough to kill her. If we forge a blade using the blood of the last living Alfsungs..." Freya trailed off, hinting where she was going.

"I don't want the kids involved." Klaus said in a small whisper and shook his head. "I know Ingrid doesn't either."

"They're already involved." Freya argued sternly then pulled out a series of Hope's drawings. "Hope has been obsessed with the symbol that follows the Hollow: the serpent consuming itself. Now, I believe this is showing us the key, the only means to which she can be destroyed, her own blood. The Hollow's one end of the Alfsung bloodline. Hope and Eirik are the other. And we need to close that loop. The best way to do that is for Klaus to wield a weapon forged with their blood. When he stabs her, it's only then the Hollow can be obliterated completely."

"Then we make it work." Klaus mused slowly, still looking uneasy about this plan. "I'll talk to them." He said while walking out of the room.

Klaus was standing in the playroom with the children, going over the plan with them while setting up the bowl for the spell.

"I don't want to." Hope admitted in a quiet voice. "Eirik's too young to understand and I don't want to."

"Are you scared it's gonna hurt?" Klaus asked in concern and knelt down next to them.

"I'm scared if I do this, you're gonna pick a fight. And the Hollow, she can hurt you." Hope explained in worry, staring at him meaningfully. "She already took mom."

"Is there where mommy is? The mean Hollow lady has her?" Eirik asked with wide, terrified eyes. "Did she hurt mommy?" He asked with tears pooling in his light blue eyes.

Hope reached over and grabbed her little brother's hand, squeezing it gently. "It's okay."

Klaus sighed to himself and sat down in the ground in front of them. "I know you're scared. Truth is... I'm scared too. I... wish we didn't have to have this conversation but we do. This is to save mom and bring her home. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do to save the people we love."

Hope smiled slightly and nodded in understanding. "Like you."

"Like me. Like mom." Klaus agreed in a watery voice and grabbed both of their hands.

"Okay." Hope agreed softly and looked at her brother. "Just me though. Not Eirik."

"Okay. Not Eirik." Klaus agreed and kissed both of their hands. Hope sighed then held out her pointed finger toward him. He grabbed her hand and pricked her fingertip with a small needle, catching the blood in the small bowl.

After he collected what he assumed was enough, he wrapped a bandaid around her finger and kissed it softly. Klaus then walked down stairs to join Freya in the foyer for the spell.

The Mikaelson witch walked into the room while on the phone before hanging up with a frustrated sigh. "Rebekah's not answering. Neither is Kol."

"The sooner we end this the better." Klaus mused impatiently while glancing at the dagger.

"No." Freya denied sternly and snapped her head up toward him. "We have to assume that Inadu's totem is still intact. We cannot attack her until we destroy it. Go after Rebekah, find the totem." She ordered Elijah, who had just walked into the room.

He was caught off guard but shook his head in rejection. "Niklaus can't do this alone "

"We're out of time. The cracks are getting worse." Freya explained, holding out the pendant for them to see. "I need you to destroy the totem. I'll go with Klaus."

"And what about the kids?" Klaus asked in confusion. "Can't very well leave them alone."

"Compel then a nanny. We don't have another choice." Freya responded then turned to Elijah. "You're the best advantage we got. Be fast, be brutal, destroy the totem, or we're dead."

Elijah spared a glance at Klaus before nodding his head curtly and leaving the compound to do his task.

The two did the spell then set off to the LaForge House in the Garden District and walked the path toward a house.

"I sealed these with Hope's blood. One for each of us." Freya explained, holding out a dagger to Klaus. "Once the totem is destroyed, we can sacrifice the Hollow." She explained then stopped abruptly at the bottom of the porch steps.

Klaus noticed her hesitation and turned to her in confusion. "What?"

"I never thought twice about fighting or dying for family before. But now, with Keelin..." she trailed off, looking down at her high heeled boots.

"Now you have someone you're afraid you're not gonna make it home to." Klaus concluded for her and nodded his head with an understanding expression. "You will make it home, Freya. I will see to it." He promised his sister with stern look and turned to walk away again.

"Klaus. I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but... well, I suppose our family rarely does." She remarked with a warm smile and he smiled back. Reaching out, Freya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's save Ingrid."

He nodded his head and the two Mikaelsons drew their daggers while walking toward the front door of the abandoned house. The door creaked open and they slowly walked in. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind them and they spared a look at one another.

"I guess she knows we're here." Freya commented and looked around to see several dead bodies lying around with blood pouring from their eyes.

Klaus led them toward another room and opened the door. However before Freya could walk through, she was sent flying backwards and grabbed into an old chair. Klaus rushed toward her but the Hollow walked down the stairs and intercepted his path. She flicked her wrist and snapped his neck in one swift movement. Klaus fell to floor in an unconscious heap, dropping the dagger.

Klaus opened his eyes to find himself lying in the ground, surrounded by nothing but trees. He groaned and squinted his eyes while pulling himself up.

"There you are." A familiar female voice said from behind him.

Klaus spun around to see Ingrid standing a few feet away with a blank face. "Ingrid?"

"I've been waiting for you." She replied simply and walked toward him. "Took you long enough."

Klaus glared at the figure of his wife, enraged and disgusted. "How dare you plague my mind with fantasies. You're not Ingrid."

"You're going through a psychological break at the moment. You've been through hell. Your wife just died after all." The Hollow manifesting herself as Ingrid remarked with a small shrug. "So your mind took you somewhere peaceful. Hence me."

"I need to wake up." Klaus snarled and turned his back to the imposter.

"Stay a moment? Then I'll help you wake up before the Hollow finishes this." The Hollow tried to persuade him, holding her hand out to him.

"I need to snap out of this." Klaus snarled to himself, refusing to grab her hand. "I need to save Ingrid."

"I'm right here." The Hollow remarked in feigned confusion. "There's no need to rush off. What's the hurry? I'll still be dead in that coffin at the end of the day so just... stay."

"You're not helping, you're stalling." Klaus snarled then sped toward her and punched his hand into her chest.

"Why?" She cried out in feigned betrayal.

"You're not Ingrid. You're the Hollow." He then ripped her heart out and the illusion of his wife fell to the floor.

Klaus woke with a groan to find himself strapped to a chair. He ripped the restraints off and stood up. Glancing around in confusion, he noticed the door and sped toward it. However, he couldn't pass through the doorway due to a boundary spell. He slammed his hands against it while growling in rage.

"You're wasting your energy." The Hollow remarked from behind him, still wearing Ingrid's likeness.

"You're just a vision." Klaus squeezed his eyes shut and backed away from her. "You can't possible hurt me."

The Hollow chuckled and stalked toward him, grabbing a knife off the table as she past it. "You still don't get it, do you? The Hollow is more powerful than you can possibly imagine." She taunted then stabbed him in the abdomen with the knife.

He yanked the knife out and glared furiously at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"All I wanted was to protect you and now you're going to die here!" The Hollow replied with a laugh and drew her fist out in front of her. Klaus cried out in pain and gripped his head.

"Klaus!" Freya's voice echoed from the other side of the door.

"Maybe if you had protected me, or been a few seconds earlier then..." the Hollow taunted, trying to make Klaus feel guilty for Ingrid's death.

"You're not here." Klaus rejected with a shake of his head, refusing to listen to her. "This isn't real."

"I'm always here." The Hollow replied while holding her hands out at her side. "Always inside your head. Your guilt is what keeps you up at night because you know I'm right. You couldn't save her and now, you can't save the rest of your family. You can't save them all." The Hollow then transformed herself into the vision of the Mikaelson children. "You couldn't save mom. You couldn't save us." They cried out as blood poured from their eyes. "You failed."

Suddenly, the Hollow disappeared and Klaus let out a deep breath of relief and blinked back tears. Freya brust into the room with blood on the left side of her face and glanced at him on concern. "Klaus. Hey. Are you alright?"

"Did Elijah break the totem?" He asked frantically.

"I hope so. But we can't wait. You need to stab the Hollow." Freya reminded him while holding out one of the daggers.

He grabbed it from her with a cold expression. "Let's finish this."

"Cencahua ezhuia. Cencahua ezhuia. Cencahua ezhuia. Cencahua ezhuia. Cuauhtzicoa calpanpilli. Cuauhtzicoa calpanpilli." The Hollow changed her spell, mixing a bowl with a blood soaked knife. Klaus walked through the door but she held her hand up and he fell to the floor, dropping the dagger. "First, I will break your body. Then I will break your spirit. Your spirit is nearly broken already, isn't it?"

Klaus crawled across the floor toward the dagger as Freya walked into the room and launched the other dagger at her, knicking her in the throat. Klaus grabbed ahold of the knife and pinned the ancient witch to the ground, holding the dagger above her chest in a threatening manner.

"Do it." The Hollow encouraged. "Do it!"

Klaus drove the dagger down, stabbing her through the chest. The Hollow fell dead underneath of him and Freya held her hand out to him. "She's gone. You did it."

The two returned home and immediately got to work on the spell to revive Ingrid. Freya hung the pendant on the candelabra while holding a smudge stick on hand. She lit it with one of the candles and waved the smoke over Ingrid's body.

"Where is Keelin?" Klaus asked curiously and handed her the knife.

"I told her that we needed some family time tonight. We'll see her tomorrow." Freya answered and held the dagger over a flame from a red candle.

Klaus studied her for a moment and shifted on his feet. "Freya, are you all right?"

"Yeah. I just need to focus." Freya lied then quickly moved to cover it up. "The Hollow killed Ingrid for her own ends. It's only fitting that we use hers to bring her home. Give me your hands." She requested, holding her hands out to him. Klaus sighed and grabbed ahold of her. "Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen. Verha hel igjen."

The pendant started to glow bright blue as Freya chanted on. The flames of the candles flickered rapidly as a wind formed around them. The color began to return to Ingrid's face and slowly traveled down from her neck to her hands. She opened her dark brown eyes and gasped out for air.

Klaus let go of Freya and immediately rushed toward her. Wrapping his arms around her as tight as possible, he helped her out of the coffin. She placed her hand on the back of his head and gripped tightly into the fabric of his shirt. The two hybrids began to cry happily while holding onto the other for dear life.

Freya smiled warmly at them, pleased that her family was now whole, and walked out of the room to give them space.

Klaus grabbed Ingrid's face in his hands and kissed her repeatedly around her cheeks, forehead, and nose. She grinned widely and wrinkled her nose at him. When he pulled away, Ingrid opened her eyes and beamed up at him. "Hi." She whispered softly and kissed the palm of his hands.

"Hi." He breathed out in relief and crashed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately.

Ingrid was taking a shower while Klaus noticed light peaking out from Hope's room. He opened the door and walked in with a concerned expression. "I saw the light under your door. I thought I tucked you in."

"I don't like to sleep when things are happening." Hope replied in a dull tone of voice, brushing her hair slowly. "You woke mom."

Klaus grinned, overjoyed, and nodded his head. "Yes. And she's very excited to see you. But in the morning." He gave her a playfully scolding look and smiled reassuringly. "There's nothing to worry about anymore, okay?"

"You didn't punish Kol." Hope remarked in surprise.

"Well..." Klaus trailed off as he recalled Elijah and Kol's fight. He realized that had he been in Kol's position, he would have done the exact same thing. "He's family."

"And we protect family. Like you and mom are my protectors, right?" Hope asked for clarification.

"Always and forever." Klaus promised and kissed her forehead. "Tomorrow, I'm going to show you everything I love about New Orleans. The music, the dancing, the art. After all, every princess ought to know her kingdom." He said while putting her back to bed. He smiled at her again and turned off the lamp beside her. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night." Hope called out to him as he closed her bedroom door. Once the door was shut, Hope's eyes glowed bright blue.

---
Comment
Vote
Share
Xoxo
-the1andonlytifftiff