WARNINGS: DEATH, BLOOD AND MENTIONS OF TRAUMA

┌─────── •✦• ───────┐

Thursday, August 7th, 1919

MALACHAI shocked his family by mumbling a few almost words. Nearly seven months old and his hair was getting thicker by the day. His teeth were growing in and that meant more sleepless nights because herbal remedies never did the trick, it was up to rum and gin to soothe his gums. He also tended to grab whatever he could see with his strong grip, whether it was food someone else was eating, or latching his mouth anything.

And as of late, he's had an obsession with hair.

"Ouch," Rebekah kept forgetting how strong his grip was.

They were sitting down on the rug of the nursery, surrounded by countless blocks to entertain the Mikaelson heir.

"Malachai, you can't pull a pretty girl's hair," Marcel pulled him away much to his annoyance.

The baby fussed in his brother's arms, trying to reach for her blonde locks.

"Oh so it is only now you call me pretty, haven't I looked pretty all day, in fact, all week," Rebekah teased, feigning offence.

"All your life," he winked, all while trying to calm down Malachai.

Rebekah dramatically gasped, "And how would you know?"

"My dreams tell me," Marcel responded, adorning his winning smile.

"Oh you dreams, and what else do your dreams inform you about me and my beauty?"

"It's timeless," he grinned, and Malachai smiled in his hold,  "Looks like Malachai agrees with me."

"How could he not, I'm his favourite aunt," she plucked him from Marcel's arms and he placed his hands on her face, gurgling about something she couldn't understand.

She marvelled at his wide eyes, some days they screamed blue but others they darkened, which made her think that Hadeon was right and that they would turn black soon.  

"Don't let Valerie hear that," Marcel quipped, to which the original waved him off as he was brought into a deep thought, "Have you heard friend your dear friend?"

"Who?" Rebekah was far too distracted by her nephew attempting to crawl for the second time today.

"Genevieve," Marcel's answer made her straighten up.

"Not since our time in the cemetery," Rebekah spoke quietly. Malachai felt the change in atmosphere.

He stopped smiling and stared at his fingers in front of him.

"Rebekah," Marcel sighed.

"Spells like that take time," Rebekah hushed him.

"We did the right thing, didn't we?"

She looked up at him, "Not only are we giving ourselves a chance to be free of Klaus, but Adrienne also deserves the same. We've witnessed for shy of a year what only speculation could do his mind when all he was supposed to love and cherish her."

Adrienne's depression was simply a glimpse of Rebekah's life and how her devotion to her brother got her nowhere.

"Besides, Adrienne will understand, I know she will."

Marcel's eyes flashed with horror, "We can't tell her."

"Of course, we can't, I'm not simple," she spoke through clenched teeth.

Marcel recognised his mistake, "I know –"

When the door opened, the faint smell of crisp embers drifted into their nostrils.

"And why do you smell like a blazing inferno?" Rebekah asked her sister-in-law.

Adrienne rubbed her temples, "An idiotic vampire, I can't remember her name, but she wasn't the nicest when Val and I brought some things from the market."

"Addy, I can't believe you burned her at the stake without me... You know I like burning things," a pout made its way onto the original's face.

"Oh, Bekah, vampires are too boring to be burnt at the stake," Adrienne quipped, then beamed at the sight of her son who was now reaching out to her, she took him into her arms. "A simple spell will do the trick."

Rebekah feigned offence, "Ouch."

Marcel smiled.

"I know Mama stinks, she'll be back to feed you," Adrienne cooed, then snickered when he just stared at her, "Oh Clementine is right, he's got the Mikaelson stare down."

"Was only a matter of time," Marcel remarked.

"You've got it too," Adrienne teased, and Rebekah made a face.

"Yeah yeah."

─────── •✦• ───────

Friday, August 8th, 1919

Adrienne raised a brow when Klaus stepped into her room after putting their child down for his nap. The three of them spent most of the day together and she'd only realised when it was time to get ready for the weekly council meeting. It unnerved her how close she was getting to Klaus, how familiar it all felt. Her emotions were running wild and she couldn't help but like the idea of ending up in his arms.

But it was too soon, all too confusing.

"There is little sand in this hourglass," she said when his back rested against the door.

"Meaning what exactly?" he asked, watching as she sat by her vanity table, going through one of the many jewellery boxes he brought and she surprisingly kept.

Letting out a pronounced sigh, she faced him again, "Meaning our time is running out."

Klaus remained stoic, despite himself.

"That doesn't mean I'll stop trying," he argued. He wouldn't let their relationship just die when he could not.

"You should."

He scoffed, "For as much time we have left, never."

Adrienne sent him a meaningful look, "You have to, my heart is too broken for you to salvage it."

"Then every day, bit by bit I'll put it back together, whether it's with a smile," he neared her vanity table with a fierce look, "or a painting or just a silent moment because I can't, no I won't give up on us, not just for your sake or mine or of our child, but to show you how much you mean to me." Adrienne gulped when he rested his arms on either side of her. "How I can't breathe without you, each moment of the day, there isn't a time where you don't breach my mind," his eyes never left hers, he needed to show how much he meant what he said, "Where your fragrance doesn't kiss my senses, where you smile doesn't make my undead heart beat out of its chest. You are not just the love of my life, but the light of my life, so you might not forgive me today or tomorrow but I won't stop trying."

Adrienne was left speechless.

"I love you Adrienne and no love I've had compares to you, it's only you, not until hell freezes over, or when the bloody sun and the moon meet again, but I will be dedicated and devoted to you, always and forever."

─────── •✦• ───────

Elijah cut the council meeting short. The arguments over who the wolf representative should be got out of hand, Lana, Easton and one of the Guerrara wolves each attended, yet couldn't decide. Adrienne fought for Lana, however, because the Guerrara family trafficked alcohol into the city, she didn't have much say. Emerson didn't know what to and Klaus could see how annoyed his wife became and motioned to Elijah to end the whole ordeal.

Adrienne decided she didn't want to see her brother, she needed some sort of peace, some refuge and knowing he was done making his tasteful acquaintance with the werewolf Queen, he took his sister's arm and off they went.

"You crave chaos. It's what you thrive off of," he rebutted her previous statement when they settled on a park bench.

She made a face, "No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"I want peace," she stated definitively.

"If you did you wouldn't have allowed Klaus to court you," he argued, laughing at the outrage on her face.

She pouted like a child, "Hadeon."

"You did not have to go on a date with him."

"He would've pestered me if I didn't," she tried to explain.

He rolled his eyes, "And you could've hexed him."

"But –"

He held up his hands, "I'm not judging you."

"I did not pick Klaus for chaos," she reiterated with an eye roll and was met with a blank expression.

"Well don't say it's because of his art."

"Not that even though he's talented," she couldn't deny that fact.

"Then what?"

"At the time he made me feel special. Or at least made me feel happy, like wasn't worthless," she blurted.

He dared to ask, "Keyara made you feel worthless, didn't she?"

"Every day," she whispered.

It was his turn to pout, "Now I'm regretting not making her suffer, but at least she's not with the spirits," he added, confusing his sister.

She craned her neck to the side, "Then where?"

"Limbo according to Marie. Suffering."

She started to laugh, like really laugh, to the point her stomach cramped.

Hadeon smirked, finding her reaction to be priceless.

"Best news I've heard all day," she said through her laughs.

"I bet it is," he paused as she started to recover "but you should know you're not worthless, you never were."

"I know...now. Thank you."

He held out his hand for her to hold and she took it without hesitation.

Times like this were rare, where they could sit and do nothing. Breathe without the thought of being attacked in the city they lived. Of course, they knew something was coming, it was a gut feeling.

"Have you visited her grave recently?" Adrienne asked with a thoughtful look.

Mira's grave.

Hadeon smiled, "Last night."

"And?"

"I spoke to her and she spoke to me, asked about Malachai, even mentioned it was an evil name for a child," he said in a jovial tone making her groan.

"No, she didn't."

"I told you she would agree with me," he teased, but his smile faded the further he was pulled into his memories, "I saw Father there, visiting Keyara."

A sombre feeling washed over them.

Adrienne pinched the bridge of her nose, "Of course, he was, you know he rarely speaks to me when I visit the Saints."

"Lucky you, he just stares at me, like he's about to cry," he replied.

"Really?"

"But before he does he leaves the room and even sometimes mutters that he loves me. And he slept walked through the house yesterday, came into my room and said to me that what he's gonna do will bring us eternal happiness," Adrienne shivered at her brother's words. 

She quirked up a brow, "Excuse me?"

"My exact reaction."

Adrienne's mind was gearing up, "Do you still think he took some of the power from the Nexus Vorti?"

"I don't doubt it, but I can't prove it, the man has gone back to his drunk ways again, just like how he was when he was grieving."

"Do you think he will be okay?"

Bless my sister's heart, "No," he answered bluntly.

Adrienne didn't reply.

Moments passed and their attention was drawn to the billboard that was recently painted on the side of a building. Theda Bara; an infamous silent movie star. Adrienne dreamt of what was to be on the big screen, the closest she got to fame was performing throughout the city.  She was an average student when she attended school but didn't believe that college was an option. She often wondered what was to be known everywhere. Sure her title and countless deeds were spreading through many communities, but to be a movie star, was a way to be immortal without magic.

"Do you think I could've been a movie star?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Of course I do," he squeezed her hand as he answered.

Her face was almost hurt from all the smiling, "You think so?"

"I know so, not me though, I'm too busy with my side business at the moment," he spoke with a coy smile.

"Which is?" she wiggled her brows,

"A few witchy bombs here and a couple of bucks there."

"So business is booming for you then brother?"

"Ain't it always?" he asked and they laughed all over again.

─────── •✦• ───────

Elijah loosened his tie after he cleaned up a bottle of milk in his nephew's nursery. The bottle spilt and shattered onto the ground, luckily Malachai was playing away in his crib, though it didn't explain how it split.

Weird instances like that were happening throughout the day and it unsettled the nobleman and it didn't help that Klaus blamed him for ruining his son's feed.

Nevertheless, Elijah remained composed and walked passed the many rooms of the Abattoir, but the sound of sniffling brought his footsteps to a halt.

It can't be, he pushed open the door just as his youngest brother chugged down more whiskey.

Kol didn't care that Elijah whiteness him in this state, it was only a matter of time before someone caught him.

"Just go away – and shut off the lights," he held up his hand to prevent more from reaching his eyes.

Elijah noted the amount of bottles that surrounded Kol and the stench clinging to the walls.

Items of clothes were scattered throughout his room, some were his, and the rest were those belonging to the lovers that frequented their home.

"Kol, hand me the bottle," he shut the door behind him, the glimmering bottles were the only light he had.

"You all thought... you thought I would harm Malachai," Kol rasped.

"Kol, the bottle," Elijah stepped closer.

"How could you?" Kol didn't stop drinking. 

"Nikolai, our lapse in judgment was only brought on from past indiscretions, your indiscretions."

Kol sniffled, "I would never hurt him."

"That I now know," Elijah nodded slowly, not as if his brother could see.

"Not before, you didn't before, I just wanted to show him some tricks, harmful magic tricks."

"Nikolai, please, the bottle, hand it over before you cause any more harm to yourself," Elijah's heart hammered in his ears.

"Brother, please, I don't know what's wrong with me, my head, it's all sticks and stones," Kol's voice kept slurring. "All mush, ever since I fell for her – of course, Enny has more than one Mikaelson brother wrapped around her pretty little fingers, she had me, she understood me, she knew me... like Solana."

Elijah frowned, "Nikolai."

"It hurts," Kol said, shakily gripping the bottle. "I know it hurts you. You have Clementine, s-sweet Clementine, yet she's mortal, you'll suffer, just like me."

Elijah stiffened, "I know."

"To those we want but cannot have right?" he took a final swig before letting it shatter onto the ground and along with it came his tears.

Elijah pulled his brother into a tight embrace as he cried and confessed until his eyes fluttered shut.

─────── •✦• ───────

"You're so lucky Mally," Rebekah stared at her sleeping nephew with tears in her eyes, "you get to start a new, completely unaware of what's to come," she stroked his chubby belly, "No evil siblings to ruin your happiness, nothing but a loving and beautiful mother and a... father, who would do just about anything you'd asked for."

When she heard a creak from the other side of the door, she stopped and looked up, but furrowed her brows when no one was there. It was approaching midnight and she was drowning in guilt. Guilt that she wished she was rid of, just like she pleaded to be rid of Klaus, of his presence, tantrums and ire.

Her over-extended life had been dosed in heartbreak and bitterness and she soon hoped it would end and with Genevieve's summoning spell, it would. She was sure of it.

Or hell would break lose.

─────── •✦• ───────

Saturday, August 9th, 1919

"Look at these two pretending to be apart while so clearly a pair," Klaus gritted out, gesturing to Marcel and Rebekah who just walked into the jazz club and approached the bar.

"You can't control everyone Klaus," Adrienne murmured against her glass of water.

Seeing the irritation in his brother's eyes, Elijah placed a hand on Klaus' arm to prevent him from making a scene.

"Niklaus, not now. Why must you cause trouble?"

"Why bother Elijah?" Adrienne said, watching her husband shrug out of his brother's grip and grab two glasses off the table.

Adrienne cringed when he clinked them together to get everyone's attention, even raising his hand to gesture the band to stop playing.

Rebekah cast Adrienne a worried look to which she shrugged.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to draw attention to two people who have been sneaking around behind my back together. As we move into a new era, we require more progressive attitudes to match," he paused, shooting a wink at his wife, who made a face. "So, to my loving sister and my right-hand man and best friend Marcel, may they find joy in each other." Everyone drank, not caring if Marcel and Rebekah were startled by the speech, "Enough talk...Music!"

The band started playing again and everyone returned to their party as Klaus approached his sister.

"Wow," Adrienne couldn't believe him.

"Wow indeed," Elijah breathed out.

"Suppose I should get ready for my set," she shuffled out of her seat.

Elijah was shocked, "You're performing? I wasn't aware."

"The owner asked me to, even paid me for the entire night," she said nonchalantly as if she wasn't very nervous.

Elijah smiled, "Good luck sister."

"Thank you, brother."

He watched as she approached the stage, gesturing his brother to return to his seat, who stared at his wife in confusion.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, our city's very own, Mrs. Adrienne Mikaelson," the club owner announced, receiving applause.

Adrienne suddenly stood in front of the band as they started playing, all eyes were on her, yet hers were on one person.

"Played out by the band, love is a losing hand. 

More than I could stand, love is a losing hand."

Pregnancy made Adrienne's voice somehow more sultry, and raspier, fueling the salacious nature of the crowd.

"Self-professed, profound. 'Til the chips were down.

Know you're a gambling man, love is a losing hand."

Hadeon was extremely proud of his sister, it had been months since she mounted a stage and yet she seemed like she never left. But Marcel on the other hand appeared quite fidgety, anxious even.

"Though I battle blind, love is a fate resigned

Memories mar my mind, love is a fate resigned."

Rebekah silently cheered from where she stood, although she feared for her brother's reaction, the lyrics spoke to her, yet they were directed at him.

"Over futile odds And laughed at by the gods

And now, the final frame Love is a losing game."

And with that Klaus choked back his emotions and clapped for his wife, his threatening eyes compelled everyone else to applaud louder than they already were. He would never give up on his quest to win back Adrienne. Time might've been ticking but he just had to work faster.

─────── •✦• ───────

Sunday, August 10th, 1919

Souls never met by accident. The passion of one found the fire of another, but unfortunately, some were just too powerful to stay together, bound for all eternity, instead watching the other from afar, brooding and vengeful.

Marie Laveau thought the killing of Keyara Lumiére would quench her thirst for revenge but it didn't because the witch never broke her heart, it was another.

So when Erebus appeared on her doorstep, it wasn't by accident or luck, it was fate.

"I remember when we met all those years ago, you said, I'm your reckoning, and I was wrong to doubt you," he spoke fondly before her after they made their way to the kitchen.

She scoffed, "Men always are."

"And when you gave birth to Hadeon, I promised to marry you, I hoped to marry you before then," he didn't dare to look at her, knowing the rage flashing through her eyes. 

"And yet you married that —," her hands clenched just like her teeth, "you married another. Why remind me of this? You took my son from me, my heart and imprisoned my soul, forced me to stay away —"

"But you didn't. You couldn't," he interrupted, much to her chagrin.

"I couldn't. My son, my boy...I stayed away and watched you play happy families," a bitter laugh escaped her, sending shivers down his spine, "but it wasn't so happy was it? Your prized wife beat your own daughter," his sharp gaze softened, "the lovely daughter that now has a son, my grandchild."

He ran a hand over his thin layer of hair, "My grandchild."

She raised a brow and folded her arms, "That you don't see, held once, ha, what a grandfather you are."

He cast her a glare, "I continued my family's legacy."

"You're a coward that's what you are, and yes a name is what you have to show for it, but what else have you done, beat my child and force a marriage upon the other," she spat.

"What would you've done? Let Adrienne's name be scorched. She was an unmarried woman, whose womb was now bound to a beast," he snapped.

"Yet, it's what you did to me!" Her emotion-filled voice carried through the room.

"And I learnt from my mistake!" His mouth opened and shut shortly after the outbursts, he gulped and blinked rapidly. "I didn't mean... what I meant —"

"I know what you meant, damn you!" She flew her arms out, never glancing away from the man she once loved more than life itself.

"Damn me," Erebus nodded, all his anger began to subdue, "You ain't the only one who wants that."

"I'd be a fool if I didn't," Marie retorted, eying him.

"I just... I wanted to do right by you, you know that right?" That earned an eye roll, "No, Marie Catherine —"

She jabbed a finger in his face, "You lost the right to call me that! Don't you dare!"

"I wanted to do right by you," he tried.

"But you didn't, and now what? You want forgiveness, that it? You want forgiveness from me? The cheek of you, coming here, dragging your self-pity inside and telling me stories about how you wanted this and needed that. I don't feel sorry for you and I know damn well you won't make me."

"Marie —"

"No, you're gonna listen to what I have to say," his mouth shut and she continued unpacking her feelings, "You took my son from me, my poor child, forced to be raised by some foreigner when I was alive and well but you made me stay away, hidden when my body reached for him, yearned and spoke for him and now I have him, my Hadeon, by handsome Hadeon, the destroyer. But you destroyed him, just like you destroyed poor Adrienne."

Erebus turned away, fumbling with his wedding band which only caused her rage to grow.

"When they came knocking at my door I made sure they learnt from me, blossomed, grew and I didn't do that for you or no damn legacy, I did it because they deserve it," she said with conviction.

"I know," he murmured.

She blew out her cheeks, "Do you?"

He locked eyes with her again, "I do."

Marie gritted out, "Keyara might've dragged Adrienne through hell, but you kept her there."

"And that's why I need you to help her. Them," he took a step closer, drawing a raised brow from the priestess.

"Weren't you listening? I am," she argued angrily.

"No, you need to protect them from what's coming and you know the spirits, they're shouting their warnings and even I can't escape them."

All the efforts of drinking away the bellowing voices were fruitless, Erebus needed to be proactive, take charge in a different way, a way he knew had to be final.

"Then what is that you want?" Marie spoke, cautious of his intentions.

"You know I took a fraction of power from the Nexus Vorti, Hadeon and those witches did they could to protect it but I took it," Erebus loomed closer, letting his gaze trail over her scrunched-up face.

It had been months since they came this close and even then it was passing, fleeting moments fuelled with disdain, mainly from her, nevertheless, he always missed it.

"And what are you gonna do with it? Why are you confessing your sins to me?" Marie pressed, eyes attempting to drift from him but she couldn't.

Her heart pounded at the doting look on his face, Don't be naive Marie, her brain screamed so loud it hurt. The words he spoke were worrying her yet she found solace in the warmth emitting from him, it reminded her of the intimacies they shared over two decades ago, it taunted her soul and brought an ache to her chest.

"Because I draw it into this blade," she reeled back when it materialized in his hands. "You feel that don't you, it's strong, and I don't need it getting into the wrong hands, not because of me, I hurt our children enough," tears stung in her eyes, because of his fierce tone. "So you'll take this blade and draw my power."

Her lips parted, "Erebus..."

"All of it, you take it and make sure when the time it comes, it'll make our children eternally happy, so they're three steps ahead and out of reach when the forces of nature come knocking," he said, inching forward.

She kept trying to swallow the knot lodged in her throat but couldn't, all the emotions she'd been blocking out had breached and they wouldn't relent.

Marie choked back a sob,  "All of your power, you expect me to just —"

"You knew this day was coming and I wouldn't have it any other way. To die for them and in your presence," a smile graced his quivering lips.

"You bastard," her voice grew quieter as she was backed against a wall.

"I know," his smile never fell.

"You're worse than that, for asking me to... I can't believe... actually I can believe you," she whispered.

"All I've ever wanted was for my children to be safe, our children, I want to protect them even if they hate me for it, and I have and they do, this way they won't ever have to worry for impending death."

Erebus had been thinking about this ever since he proposed that Adrienne and Klaus wed. And when she gave birth he made sure the opportunity wouldn't go to waste despite many forces working against him.

He slowly pulled out a picture from his blazer jacket and when he presented it, tears finally fell, much to her annoyance.

It was of Hadeon and Adrienne.

The same picture he looked at nonstop when he disappeared two years prior. The heirs to the Lumiére dynasty.

As he smiled, "Don't cry."

She sniffled, "Mwen se ekonomi ou."

He huffed out a chuckle, "Ou se pouzon mwen."

"You won't be on the other side, our souls are too damned for that," she mumbled.

"Maybe I'll run into an old friend, your old friend: Baron Samedi, strike a deal," he watched as she stiffened up.

Baron Samedi, Iwa of the dead. Marie was very friendly with him.

"He's the devil's daddy and his deals ain't cheap," she warned, with a knowing look.

"You would know that better than anyone, my sweet Marie."

She shakily signed, "I hate you," they both knew it was a lie.

"And I should've picked you," his touch was sweet but she couldn't warm to it,  "I love —" he smiled when the blade sliced his heart, gripping the power running through his veins and taking the life from his eyes, "...you."

Marie shook, lip quivering as his body grew limp and the blade fell to the floor and along with it went her knees.

They wobbled as she caught Erebus' body, her house turned cold and trembled as she sobbed. The whites of his eyes spread and covered his iris', in turn, her hand pulled them shut.

Erebus Lumiére was gone and somewhere in the city, his children screamed, waking them from their slumber with images of what took place.

A wave of terror and then dread breached the city and along with it came a stem that grew quickly and vigorously.

It wasn't any old seed that claimed the patch of land surrounding it.

It was a Dalia.

└─────── •✦• ───────┘

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

a/n:

rip erebus, he wasn't the best father in the tvdu but i don't think he was the worst. he was abusive towards hadeon, at times neglectful and outright spiteful. he did what he could to protect his legacy, uniting his family with the mikaelsons for life... was kinda smart despite making his children miserable. fathers were a big theme throughout the chapter, klaus to both of his children, erebus and even a hint to mikael.

it needs to be said that the moment klaus started treating marcel like his bestie was when everything shifted in their relationship. of course there were many other factors for the shift (him treating marcel like a possession, and bekah's relationship with him) but that was one of the main ones in my eyes.

klaus still being proud of adrienne's singing regardless that the song she sang was about their twisted relationship was cute to me. and no, don't worry she is comfortable around him more because of their parenting not because he's winning her over, well not completely.

now, enemies are coming but is one of the callers coming from inside the house or what?