"𝓈𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒶 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓇 𝓆𝓊ℯℯ𝓃"

𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱
𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦

With her friends in Beacon Hills relatively safe for the time being, Ophelia grabs a duffle bag, gets in her Porsche, and drives. The road trip takes her twenty hours, give or take, but possibly shorter since she breaks almost all of the speed limits. When she finally steps out of the cherry red car, she stares at the warehouse on the other side of the road. She can hear voices inside, three of them, and two she knows by heart. The other is unfamiliar. Ophelia answers her phone on the first ring. "Stiles, for future reference, one singular voicemail is just as effective as fifteen."

"Uh huh, yeah sure. Fi, where the fuck are you?"

She winces and lifts her device away from her ear at his yell. "I'm in Austin," she replies casually.

"Austin?" he repeats in confusion. "Hold on, Austin as in Austin, Texas?"

"I believe that's the only Austin I know, so, yes."

"What the hell are you doing in Texas?"

She leans against the driver's door as she continues to stare at the building, watching the curtains on the window move as someone walks past. "Well, my family's here," she answers simply.

"You mean your dead family? Are they still dead?"

"I'm about to go find out if you don't mind."

Stiles clears his throat. "Yeah, yeah, sorry, of course. Uh, when will you be back?"

"When they're all no longer dead."

"That... that makes sense."

"It sure does."

He pauses for a long moment. "Be safe," he says quietly.

"Always." Ophelia smiles and hangs up, shoving the phone back into her pocket. She rolls her shoulders back and cracks her neck twice before striding across the road and toward the large metal door. She finally focuses on the voices she can hear, now only the two.

"I gave you people what you wanted." The unfamiliar voice.

"I barely had enough to make the anti-venom." Ophelia's eyes widen in shock. Freya. "If any of my family are ever bitten again, we'll need more. Which means we'll need you alive." The woman she's talking to must be the werewolf Hayley had come out here to find. "Count yourself fortunate."

"We had a deal."

"You had a deal with Hayley," Freya retorts. Ophelia smiles. "Not me. You see, when it comes to my family's safety, I don't negotiate."

The hybrid sighs as she walks around the corner, entering a dimly lit room filled with coffins. "Couldn't have said it better myself, sister," she calls out.

Both women whirl around at her sudden arrival, Freya's face falling in disbelief. After a few seconds of staring at each other, a wide grin breaks out on the witch's face, a quiet squeal escaping her lips as she rushes over to engulf Ophelia into a tight hug. The brunette smiles and wraps her arms around the older woman, both spending a minute just relishing each other's company.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Ophelia whispers in relief. "You have no idea how worried I was, Frey."

The witch feels a tear run down her cheek and she rubs the girl's back. "I'm glad you're okay, too," she says softly. She pulls back and cups her younger sister's cheek with a smile. "Missed you."

Ophelia feels her eyes water. "Missed you, too," she murmurs.

Freya frowns. "How did you know where we were?"

"Well, Hayley said she was coming to Texas, and... you're not the only witch I know."

A proud smile adorns Freya's face. "That's my girl." She glances to the curly-haired woman watching them curiously and seriousness overtakes her vulnerable and unguarded state. "This is Keelin. She's-"

"The werewolf," Ophelia finishes. "I know." She curtly nods. "Cheers."

Keelin nods slightly in return. "Not like I had much of a choice, but... you're welcome." She gestures between the pair and clears her throat. "I'll, uh, I'll let you have a moment." Her eyes flick over to Freya as she says, "I'll be in the other room..."

Ophelia arches a brow when the door closes. "She's a delight."

Freya rolls her eyes. "We've gotta keep her for a while, drain some venom out as a contingency plan," she says.

"You mean if Marcel bites one of them again."

She hesitantly nods, anxiety striking her just by the thought of what had just happened to Kol and Elijah occurring again. "Yeah," she confirms quietly.

Ophelia purses her lips. "So, where's Hayley...?" Then she notices that the coffins placed around them are all open, however, nothing lays inside them. Her eyes widen and her head snaps back over to Freya. "Are they...?"

The blonde-haired woman smiles. "Yeah. Elijah went to help Hayley, some of Marcel's guys followed us," she explains. "And Rebekah and Kol couldn't control the bloodlust, you know how it is."

The door bursts open once more and Elijah strides inside, closely followed by Hayley. He stops short at the sight of the teenager, eyes wide in shock. "Ophelia?" he calls out softly.

She grins. "Come here, old man." He shakes his head with a small smile adorning his face and pulls her in for a bear hug. "Good to see you up and at it," she teases, patting his back.

Elijah ruffles her hair playfully and receives a slap to his arm. "It's good to see you."

"Fi, how did you get here? I told you not to come," Hayley chides, but she can't hide just how happy she is to see the younger girl.

"Yeah, I know, but you know us Mikaelsons," Ophelia cracks another smile, "we don't like being told what to do." Elijah nods in agreement after a second of thought, and straightens out the collar of his suit. She clears her throat. "Well, there's one person left, isn't there?"

Elijah glances to everyone standing in the room. "Yes, let's go get him," he declares.

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The family only gets a few hours out of Austin before numerous members of the family begin complaining about their hunger. So, wisely, Elijah decides that their best option is to hijack the prison transport van driving ahead of them. And that's exactly what they do. Ophelia and Kol had always been close, they were always had more of best friends than sibling relationship with each other. However, being so far away from him meant that Ophelia missed the activities they used to do in their spare time. Thankfully, they get to participate in one of those activities right now.

Twirling a strand of dark, curled hair around her finger, she glances to her brother with a mischievous grin lighting up her face. "I'll admit it now, we do like a good chase," she calls out, her voice ringing out between the clusters of trees.

A smirk twists on Kol's lips as they walk side by side, listening to the erratic heartbeat of the prisoner they've been playfully chasing for the last five minutes. The man's breath hitches in terror as the two British vampires are before him in seconds. "However..." Kol looks to his sister. "I'm going to say on behalf of the both of us, I am quite famished, so..."

After sharing another smile, the siblings lunge forward and rip into either side of his neck, ignoring his screams as they suck the blood out of his body.

Back on the side of the road, Rebekah grimaces as she glances in the direction of the screams. "Good Lord, that one has some lungs on him," she comments. "He should've been an opera singer. Might've ended better for him, actually." She rubs her ear as the cries reach a new volume. "Should've known better than letting them go off together, always been trouble those two."

Freya approaches, an annoyed frown etched on her face. "Is this absolutely necessary?" she questions, gesturing to the numerous bodies decorated in orange jumpsuits littered around them.

Rebekah raises a brow at her. "That depends," she says. "Do you want us at our full strength, or do you plan on rescuing Nik on your own?"

"Well, death rattles are distracting, and I'm trying to break a cloaking spell."

"Ophelia!" Elijah yells. "Kol! Would you please?" The siblings share an irritated look with one another, and Ophelia rolls her eyes, reaching forward to quickly snap their victim's neck. Kol shrugs and they dive back in for their lunch. "Thank you!" Elijah takes out his handkerchief and delicately wipes the blood off his chin before gesturing for Freya to continue. "You were saying?"

"I can sense Klaus is still in New Orleans," Freya tells them. "Most likely somewhere underground." Ophelia licks her lips clean of crimson as she and Kol join the rest of their family. "I can't get a read on exactly where unless I'm in the city itself."

Hayley sighs and holds up her phone. "Yeah, that's going to be a problem... I have contacts in New Orleans. As you can imagine, the place is crawling with vampires, all of whom hate all of us."

Ophelia squints her eyes. "Uh, excuse me, I didn't do shit," she retorts. "Secondly, what did you do to piss this entire bloody city off?"

Elijah lifts his head to look at her thoughtfully. "Well, to begin, I may have killed Marcel." Ophelia's eyes widen to the size of golf balls. "Marcel may have been a little annoyed, become some super-vampire, and now strongly dislikes all of us."

"'Dislikes' is putting it lightly," Rebekah mutters.

Ophelia purses her lips. "That's... expected, actually."

"Look, whatever we do, we need to do it fast," Hayley says.

"Well, I wasn't planning on a pub crawl," Freya snarks, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't want to stay any longer than we have to. But we need to go."

Kol shakes his head in disbelief. "Woah. Wait-wait, we're not doing this today?" he asks incredulously.

Rebekah narrows her eyes at him. "Hasn't Nik suffered enough?"

"Yes. And I've died. Twice." Ophelia frowns as she looks at her older brother. "I'm not about to give Marcel a shot at a third. Now, I say, we draw that Muppet out of town. And when he's gone..."

Hayley turns to him with a clenched jaw. "My daughter is sitting at home waiting for me to bring her father back. If you're afraid..." She raises a brow.

"It's called being sensible," Kol argues. "Until Freya can make enough cures with her werewolf hostage, Marcel can basically chew through our bloody throats."

"I haven't seen that prick in ten years," Ophelia says. She sighs and meets Kol's eyes with a frown. "I'm not particularly keen on dying either, but this is Nik." The man huffs a sigh.

"Enough," Elijah calls out. "We're all in danger." He stands up and shakes out his handkerchief. "We free Niklaus today. Even I have to burn that city to the ground."

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Once they finally make it to New Orleans, the family splits up into groups. Elijah and Rebekah take Ophelia, explaining to her along the way exactly who they're going to visit: Josh, a vampire turned by Marcel Gerard a few years earlier. Her siblings tell her that whilst he's loyal to Marcel, he's easy to be threatened by the Originals. They find the young vampire in his loft, all of them deciding to wait outside as he gets rid of his date instead of bursting inside and killing the human like Ophelia had so eagerly suggested. After all, she's still hungry.

Josh closes the front door and sighs, turning around to face the back door he knows they're behind. "Well, thanks for waiting and not just, you know, killing him," he calls out.

Elijah opens the door for Ophelia who smiles as she and Rebekah enter the loft first. "We're only monsters by necessity, Joshua," the suited man reasons.

"Besides, we just ate," Rebekah adds calmly.

The girl with brown hair squints her eyes at her siblings' responses. She picks up a bottle of bourbon and unscrews the lid, taking a large gulp of the amber liquid before retorting, "That's just their opinions, though. I would've rather liked an afternoon snack." Josh's eyes widen slightly at the presence of the eighteen year old girl. He looks between Rebekah and Elijah, mouth agape as he tries to figure out who she is. "Ophelia Mikaelson, at your pleasure," she introduces herself, holding up the bottle of liquor.

Well, not really, but they're here to scare him, so why not drop the last name?

Rebekah rolls her eyes at her behaviour as Josh begins to process the shell shocking information he's just learnt. "Was that your boyfriend?" she questions him politely. "He seems sweet. And terribly vulnerable, as humans tend to be."

Josh tears his eyes off the girl beginning to drink through his stash of alcohol and takes a deep breath. "Okay. Look, just... tell me what you want and let's get this over with."

And so Rebekah fills them all in on her plan. She intends to be the distraction for Marcel to give her siblings the time to break Klaus out of his own personal hell. "I can distract him, Elijah. I'm the only one Marcel won't kill on sight." Ophelia clears her throat and raises a hand. Rebekah dismisses her almost immediately with, "No. I'm not risking you, Fi."

"Don't talk to me about some ludicrous diversion," Elijah snaps, scowling at the blonde-haired vampire. "You're walking into a lion's den!"

"I'll be fine," she tries to reassure them. "I just have to convince him that I've come alone and all I want to do is talk."

Ophelia shrugs. "Actually, I reckon you could do it. All you need to do is," she shuffles her bra around to reveal a bit of cleavage, "flash a bit of this and he'll be on his knees for you!"

Elijah redirects his scowl onto her. She holds her hands up and returns to drinking the bourbon. "You are placing yourself in tremendous danger," he continues, voice increasing in volume as they argue. "Wouldn't you agree... Joshua?"

All attention turns to the young vampire who has moved across the room, now holding his phone. The hybrid narrows her eyes at him. "Yeah," he says with a nod. "Uh-huh." Elijah shares a brief look with Ophelia, all of them sharing the same scepticism, and approaches him with a blank face. Josh quickly breaks into a nervous smile. "Oh. Hey, I was just gonna order a pizza."

Ophelia throws the bottle across the room, the shattering of the glass causing Josh to flinch. "My ass you were gonna order a pizza," she hisses.

He dryly swallows under her piercing gaze and allows his phone to be plucked out of his hand. "You know, if we're gonna be here for a while..."

Elijah nods. "Fabulous." He calmly places the device in the breast pocket of Josh's shirt. "Yes, I still do have..." He looks directly into his eyes. "... A murderous hunger. And so does my sister."

Josh's eyes flick over to Ophelia who playfully wiggles her fingers, letting her eyes glow whilst the veins trail down her face. However, when he notices how her nails are actually claws, his heart beats faster. "Ah, you've realised I'm not normal. See that means I'm far less impatient than these two," Ophelia points between the Original vampires. "Shorter temper, a shit ton more anger... you know, courtesy of the wolf."

Josh stares at her for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Okay, why do you guys even need me?" he asks in confusion. "Huh? I mean, I know I'm adorable." Ophelia shrugs in agreement. "But I'm extremely small potatoes."

"Well, you are Marcel's trusted friend," Rebekah answers. "We had planned on learning everything you know and then using you as collateral. But since you know so little..." She blinks. "I would like to try my plan."

Elijah whirls around to her. "Please don't do this."

Ophelia finally stands up from the couch and moves to be beside her sister. "I don't like it," she says. "Who's to say he won't manipulate you back?"

Elijah waves a hand to her in agreement. "I want you to consider the risk."

"I have," she replies quickly. "I won't allow my family to face that risk." Ophelia's features soften as she realises just how determined Rebekah is to not only do this her way, but to pull it off.

Before Elijah can continue arguing, he takes out his phone as it vibrates with a message. His eyes flick between the two women, but even though his expression betrays nothing, Rebekah and Ophelia share a small smile. "Freya found Nik?" the latter presumes.

"Yes."

Rebekah nods. "You get our brother, I will handle Marcel." Elijah stares at her for a few moments before glancing to Ophelia who reluctantly nods.

Finally, they manage to persuade Josh into letting them to use a local bar's, Rousseau's, underground entrance so that the Mikaelsons can search the tunnels for Klaus. Ten minutes later, everyone gathers to meet and share the plan with one another, save for Rebekah who has already gone to meet Marcel. From the back room, Ophelia listens to Josh lock the front doors, then call, "Everyone's out!"

She's the first to push through the glass doors and step into the open space. Her eyes widen at the large display of liquor on the shelves and immediately beelines over to it, Kol chuckling as she quickly downs half a bottle of tequila. "I see the drinking hasn't changed," he comments.

She swallows the last drop and nods. "Well, considering I was recently possessed by a thousand year old dark spirit, I'm a recovering Ripper. I think I get a pass." The entire family, including Josh, stares at her in a mixture of surprise, horror, and alarm. Ophelia purses her lips together. "Ah, yes, I might have forgotten to mention that part."

Elijah holds a finger up at her, eyes so wide that they're close to detaching from his head. "This topic is going to be revisited at a later time," he says dryly, reeling from shock.

Josh shakes his head quickly. "Well, the place is yours," he continues.

Kol hops up on the bar counter beside his younger sister and takes a swig from the bourbon she's now moved onto. "See? Wasn't that easier than us having to try and kill everyone?"

"So, what now?" Josh queries.

"Would you be so kind as to move that freezer unit, so that we might be able to access the tunnels?"

Josh remains silent as the group stares at him expectantly. "Time's ticking, Josh," Hayley says. She nods her head over to the doors. "Go on." With a sigh, the vampire follows the instructions and disappears.

Setting the bottle down, Ophelia clears her throat. "Okay, I'm just gonna ask the question I'm sure multiple people are thinking. Are you certain we're looking in the right place?"

Freya nods confidently. "We know this tunnel runs the length of the city," she confirms. "Marcel must've carved out a section to serve as his personal dungeon."

"Ingenious and sadistic," Elijah praises. "Well done, Marcel."

"Save the compliments for when he comes to kill us," Kol retorts quickly. "Your flattery might give him pause." Ophelia snorts. Kol grins, and Elijah tries to hide a smile.

"Okay, you're all set here," Josh returns. He shifts his weight uncomfortably, itching to get away from the deadliest family in history. "So, uh, good luck, break a leg, and I'll just be on my way."

He jumps when Ophelia is suddenly stood before him. "Yeah, not so fast, pretty boy," she says lowly.

"The second you leave, you'll go rat us all out to Marcel," Kol adds. "Not bloody likely."

"Oh, just snap his neck," Freya instructs tiredly. "We'll be up by the time he wakes."

Elijah poses an important question. "And if he wakes before that?"

Ophelia's eyes light up with excitement. "Oh, I'll kill him!" she suggests eagerly. Kol enthusiastically nods along.

Josh sighs once more. "I'm right here, guys," he points out.

"We're not killing him," Hayley interjects, being the voice of reason.

Elijah shrugs slightly. "Yeah, you're probably right." He turns his head to let his eyes drag along Josh's body. "For some reason, he's of value to Marcel. Kol, would you...?"

The Original folds his arms over a chair. "Happy to stay and have a drink and eviscerate anyone who tries to follow you," he confirms with a small smile.

Elijah's eyes move onto the youngest. Ophelia scoffs. "Okay, even though I don't know what evis- whatever that word means, I am not going to sit around and babysit!" She quickly glances to Kol. "No offence."

"None taken, little sister."

She and Elijah stare at each other for a long few moments, neither willing to back down. Freya rolls her eyes. "Please, she's more than capable of coming with us," she declares. As Elijah opens his mouth to protest, she quickly shuts him down. "I've seen her in Beacon Hills; she's coming."

Ophelia grins and pokes her tongue out at her brother. "Such a child," Elijah mutters.

"Let's go. We're wasting time."

"Splendid."

"Wait, wait!" Everyone halts at Ophelia's shout. She quickly grabs shot glasses from behind the bar and pours the remaining bourbon into them, gesturing for the group to come and take one. "Celebratory shots!"

"We have nothing to celebrate," Elijah points out exasperatedly.

"Oh, shut up and just drink it."

They clink the glasses and down the spirit before leaving Joshua in Kol's murderous hands and entering the tunnels to go and rescue the big, bad wolf.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

It must be a little more than five minutes of racing underground until they finally find Niklaus. Ophelia's eyes widen at the large, iron gate blocking them off from reaching their brother, and she feels anxiety start to build up. It reminds her of Eichen House. The Original hybrid is on the ground, barely conscious, as he is restrained by a spell that keeps him within a small circle. "Niklaus!" Elijah yells, running over to gate and clasping his hands around it as he stares down at his brother in horror.

As he begins to try and break through, Freya places a hand on the chain and stops him. "Let me," she says gently. With a few muttered words, the lock snaps in half.

The group of four push it open and hurry inside, all of them unable to take their eyes off Klaus. Ophelia's jaw tightens in rage as she stares at him, hot tears blurring her vision. Blood coats his skin and clothes, the source of the crimson liquid being the blade buried inside his chest spelled with dark magic, forcing him to experience a constant state of extreme agony. Over the last year, she has seen so many people close to die or come close to the hands of death. Seeing Klaus like this, someone who has so often appeared invincible, someone that had managed to convince her that nothing would ever happen to him, it hits Ophelia harder than she thought it might.

She falls to her knees in front of the barrier, feeling a tear fall down her cheek. "Nik," she calls out, cursing herself as her voice breaks. They watch him stir slightly and groan in pain. "We're here. We're here with you." Elijah joins her side and places a hand over hers, bringing them both comfort.

"This spell is strong," Freya informs them gravely. "It's been reinforced over time, which means it's going to take time to break."

"We don't have time," Elijah retorts immediately.

The witch studies the invisible barrier. "I could try brute force. Overwhelm it. But I'll need someone to channel."

"I'll do it," Ophelia says instantly.

Hayley takes the girl's hand and nods. "Me too. Maybe with both of us it'll help move things along faster." Her eyes move to the man on the ground. "Elijah, you keep watch."

Freya guides the two females onto their knees on the dusty floor on either side of her, taking one of their hands tightly. She takes a deep breath and begins the incantation. "Apne en vrata," she murmurs. "Apne en vrata." Each time she speaks becomes louder and firmer; her gaze locked onto Klaus' weak form. She repeats the words countless times, minutes passing as Elijah watches on, hoping, praying, that it would work.

Suddenly, the man in the suit spins around, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. "Freya..." She continues chanting but he knows she's listening. "Whatever happens, don't stop until Niklaus is free." When she nods, he speeds away to meet Marcel upstairs in the abandoned Mikaelson compound.

Because Freya is anchoring her magic to more durable bodies, hybrids, she is able to perform the spell without experiencing any side effects that would usually slow her down. Which means that they'd be able to free Klaus faster, hopefully before Marcel or any of his goons reach them.

Ophelia's body stills as she picks up on crashes above her. She hears Elijah, and someone she hasn't seen in years. The person whose fault all of this is. Marcel Gerard. If he wasn't now some sort of super-vampire hybrid, she would be ripping his head off just like the berserker from the other day. She's never wanted to kill someone more. Maybe almost as much as Jackson Whittemore. Lydia would say that's impossible, but Ophelia's not so sure anymore.

Hayley also hears the commotion inside the compound and locks eyes with the brunette on the other side of Freya. "We need to get up there."

"No, not yet," Freya says in between heavy breathes. "I'm almost through. Apne en vrata. Apne en vrata." As she listens to the witch chant, Ophelia's eyes widen as she watches the barrier of salt suddenly part. Freya quickly stops, looking to them both and nods. "Go."

Hayley and Ophelia stumble up and race away to help Elijah, the younger girl casting one final look over her shoulder as she watches Freya continue the spell. For Klaus.

When they finally reach the surface level, Ophelia presses her back against a column, allowing Hayley to jump in first. She would be the surprise. Surely Marcel wouldn't hurt her... right? Ten years ago, they had been good friends. He had been like an uncle to her. But if he no longer sees the Mikaelsons like family, maybe he hates her, too.

Hayley Marshall speeds in the middle of both vampires, holding an arm out to both of them. "Hayley, leave us," Elijah says lowly.

"He's right," Marcel agrees. "This is between me and him."

The woman nods. "And if I stay, you'll kill me, too, make my daughter an orphan?"

"It's not your fight-"

"Yes, it is," she interrupts Elijah. "Hope needs her father, Marcel."

He looks at her, and even from afar, Ophelia can see the anger masking the deep sadness in his eyes. "Yeah?" he retorts. "I had Klaus as a father. It didn't turn out so well, did it?"

"One person doesn't make an argument, Marcel. Two do. Klaus isn't the only one to blame here."

Marcel's eyes widen in shock as he lays eyes on Ophelia Stone for the first time in a decade. He shakes his head slightly, wondering if it's an illusion. "Lia?" he calls out softly.

Her features harden as she steps up beside Elijah. "Let us take him and we'll leave you the fuck alone."

"Wait, I- I'm sorry, okay? I should've-"

"What?" she snaps heatedly. "Reached out to me once or twice? Told me that you didn't forget about me? That you didn't abandon me?" She gestures to the pair beside her. "These people are the only ones in my life that haven't left me." She feels her eyes burn again and quickly blinks the tears away. "I thought you were one of those people, too. Turns out it's just another thing I've been wrong about."

Elijah places a hand on his younger sister's shoulder, understanding that she's finding this more than difficult. "Take Niklaus and go," he tells her.

Marcel rips his eyes off Ophelia's angry and devastated face. "Oh, he's not going anywhere, Elijah. And neither are you." As Marcel speeds around them to reach Elijah, Ophelia feels rage flood through her body once again. He's older than her, much older than her, which ultimately means he's also lot stronger than her. But anger powers a lot of things.

Hayley and Elijah watch in surprise as she kicks the vampire across the courtyard, sending him crashing against a pillar and crumpling to the ground.

Marcel grunts and looks up to the girl approaching him with dark tendrils of ivy trailing down her cheeks. He coughs and smiles. "That's a new look on you, Lia," he says. "Not sure I like it."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I do. I like it a lot." In her peripheral vision, she sees Hayley and Elijah flank her on either side. "We can't beat you, that's obvious enough." Ophelia walks forward and crouches in front of him despite Elijah's quiet protests. She meets Marcel's eyes. "Let us go. We'll leave you and this damn place alone."

"Why?" he yells, pushing himself to stand up. He glowers at the teenage girl, stepping closer to her so he's up in her face. She doesn't flinch. "Why? Because you think that would be justice for your family?" She hears a sob build up in his throat as he says, "They were my family, too. And Elijah tore my heart out and threw me off a bridge. And his brother just stood by and watched."

"You were my family, too," Ophelia says calmly. She watches Marcel falter before her. "And you left me to be king. What Klaus and Elijah did was beyond shitty. I'm not defending them. But Marcel, let us take Nik and go, and I swear to you, you won't ever see us again."

She thinks she sees regret flicker in his eyes.

"You won't hurt me. I know you won't." He stays silent. "So do me one last favour, not for them, not for Klaus, not for Elijah, for me." She watches tears spring to his eyes. "Let us go."

"I-"

And then Klaus Mikaelson stabs the Tunde blade into Marcel's chest.

"Klaus!" Ophelia shouts. "What the fuck did you do? He was going to let us go!"

As Marcel falls to his knees, yelling in pain, Elijah rushes over to his brother and wraps an arm around him to support him, Hayley quickly leading him out. As thrilled as she is to see her brother alive, Ophelia feels like she's lost someone else. This time, for good. She watches the blade bury itself into Marcel's chest and feels Freya gently grab her arm. "Come on," the witch says softly. "We need to go."

As the Mikaelsons leave the compound through the way they had come in from, they fail to see Marcel Gerard rip the blade out of his body.

Stumbling through the tunnels with Klaus takes twenty minutes longer than they had told Kol and Rebekah when they would meet them. Rebekah's eyes widen in relief as she watches her family exit the tunnels and splash through the water of the creek toward them. She hurries toward her brother and brings him into a gentle embrace. "Hey, you can hug him later," Freya interrupts. "We need to leave."

"Marcel's right behind us," Hayley stresses. "Go. Go!"

However, right before they can all pile into the SUV, the one hunting them appears behind them. "Actually, I'm right here."

The entire family stops, watching him carefully to see what his next move might be. Klaus takes Ophelia's hand and squeezes it three times, I love you. The next two tell her, I'm sorry. Because he knows that she wanted to leave without hurting Marcel, that she wanted to make peace with him for herself.

"You shouldn't have come back," Marcel begins. His eyes meet Ophelia's. "None of you."

"That's what family does," Hayley retorts. "We fight for each other."

"Yeah, so I've heard. Though it didn't really work out for me, did it?"

Feeling any kind of sympathy for Marcel is quickly fading away, being replaced by anger once again. Ophelia is pissed off. And she's losing patience. Klaus hears her heartbeat rise and squeezes her hand again.

Kol is the first one to snap. "Oh, for God's sake, you were never a Mikaelson, get over it. And don't you have a city to run? Vampires to boot out of town?"

Marcel's eyes narrow and he moves toward him but stops when Rebekah places herself in front of her family. "If you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all," she states boldly.

"Hey, don't push me, Rebekah."

"Then get on with it. Let's end this once and for all."

Klaus shakes his head, walking forward with Ophelia still by his side. "That's enough. That's enough, Marcel, you've won. New Orleans was our city once. Now it's yours." He nods. "For good."

Marcel quietly scoffs. "Is the great Klaus Mikaelson accepting defeat? Or is this all just another distraction?"

Ophelia growls. "Man, shut the fuck up," she snaps. "Take your fucking city and your shitty vampires and fuck off!"

Klaus quickly pulls her back when she lunges toward the man, letting her cool down before releasing her. Marcel watches her curiously for a moment. "Neither," Klaus replies. "In fact, despite your appalling behaviour as my sister just pointed out, I'm offering you a chance at peace." Marcel's eyebrows furrow. "Attempt to kill us all, and you will be making a mistake. Any who survived would no doubt return to seek revenge, bringing out enemies back to your city in our wake. And even if you did manage to eliminate us all, one day my daughter would come for you. And her daughter after that. On and on for all your days – an endless cycle of violence you will bring upon yourself. Or... Or we leave and never come back."

Marcel is silent for a few moments, watching the youngest glower at him. He scoffs once more, returning his gaze onto Klaus. "After all that time, buried in a hole, you still got some nerve."

Ophelia Stone grins. "He's a Mikaelson. We've all got some bloody nerve."

"You're trying to sell this like it's your choice! But here's the truth. I could kill all of you right now. And tonight, I would sleep like a baby."

Klaus watches Marcel's eyes flick over to the teenager as he speaks his last words. A lie.

"Hell, that's what you would do. You've destroyed more people, taken more lives, ended more families than anyone who's ever lived. All because you can. But here's the other truth. Despite being raised by you people..." He looks across the family. "I am nothing like any of you. In fact, I'm proud as hell I'm not a Mikaelson. I beat you all without turning into you. And now you can live the rest of your lives knowing that the only reason that you exist is because I am showing you mercy. So go. And don't ever come back."

Marcel tilts his head as he smiles slightly at the girl that was once one of his close friends. He feels a pang in his heart as he watches her glare back at him with the most fury he's ever seen in his life.

"And Fi? If you have half a brain, you'd put as much distance between yourself and these people as you can. Because they are rotten. And they will destroy you to your very core."

Ophelia is the first one to turn her back on Marcel Gerard. And the rest of her family follow her.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

When they finally arrive at the house Hayley has been staying in with Hope, a few hours outside of New Orleans, night has fallen. Ophelia lays on the grass, staring up at the blanket of stars that cover the inky, black sky. She is so wrapped up in her thoughts that she doesn't notice someone come and lie down beside her. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Ophelia turns her head and looks at Klaus. "How was Hope?" she asks.

He smiles. "She's perfect," he whispers. "How're you doing?"

She lets out a long sigh. "Tired," she answers honestly. "I'm really glad you're okay."

Niklaus pats her arm. "I'm really glad you're okay. I heard about the nogitsune." He laughs at how her eyes widen. "People in this family gossip." He falls silent, both of them staring at the stars for a minute. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there," he says quietly.

Ophelia pushes herself up to sit and watches Klaus do the same. "Hey, don't apologise," she replies, brows furrowed. "Now I know why I couldn't reach any of you."

"But that doesn't change how absent I've been," he counters with a frown. "I should've made more of an effort to come and see you, to be a part of your life. Maybe then- maybe I could have done something to help you." Ophelia feels tears form in her own eyes as she watches one fall down Klaus' cheek. "Lia, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she rushes out. "I've been so focused on my family in Beacon Hills that I sort of forgot about my real one."

He shakes his head almost immediately. "Do not apologise for having a life of your own, okay?" Her eyes fall onto the ground. "Lia, look at me." She does. "I am so, so proud of you. Of how you stood up to Marcel and what you said, for even coming here in the first place, for beating that bloody dark spirit..." He smiles softly at her. "There will never be enough words to tell you how proud I am."

Ophelia tries to smile. A tear finally drops. "I- I just... What he said. Marcel." Klaus stiffens. "He's not wrong, Nik. I mean, we are terrible people. We really are. I'm already rotten to the core."

His features soften in concern at how affected she appears to be by the vampire's cruel words. "Hey, you're not a terrible person," he tells her firmly. "You've done some terrible things, sure-"

"Lots of terrible things."

"Yeah, okay, lots of terrible things. But that does not make you a bad person. Sure, I'm a bad person, most of our family is, I won't lie, but you..." He sighs and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. He begins to plait her hair that is still matted with specks of blood. "Ophelia Stone, you're the best out of all of us." Another tear falls. "You're the best version of us. And I will be forever grateful that you decided to stick around for as long as you have."

She turns to look up at him and a quiet sob leaves her mouth. She doesn't say anything else. He doesn't let her. Because he knows that whatever she would say would be terribly incorrect. Klaus and Ophelia fall asleep on the grass outside listening to the people in the large white house behind them laughing and sharing memories with each other. She loves her family more than life itself. However, as safe as she feels, she isn't properly at home. She knows something is missing. Someone is missing.

And to feel fully at peace, she needs to return to Beacon Hills.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘖 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥!!! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘞 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵... 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘭

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘒𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘰 𝘖𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘒𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘰) 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬!