𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔 𝙀𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏
ミ★ ( reign of wolves, act two ) ★彡

     It was safe to say that Rhea was pissed with her fiancé. Klaus had only wanted to protect his daughter, and although he went about it the wrong way, he only had the best intentions. Rhea was hurt for Klaus that his entire family believed ill of him when it came to Hope, and that someone who had only been a part of their family for only a few short years, was the only one that recognised his habits to realise it wasn't him that killed Aiden. And then on top of that, be betrayed by his entire family by letting Hayley escape with his daughter, and possibly put her and Hope in more danger than ever before from both Klaus and Dahlia; and then daggered by Elijah. It didn't mean Rhea was excusing everything Klaus had done leading up to that point, but she did feel bad for him.

She felt so bad that she refused to help Elijah with Freya when her plan started to become slightly nefarious with wanting to use Hope as bait for Dahlia. She even ignored him completely when Elijah came to her sorrowfully when he had realised that Klaus did not kill the werewolf, like she had known all along. Elijah had allowed Hayley and her resentment to Klaus get into his head and blind him of Klaus' intensions.

Rhea understood since she was like that once; thinking everything Klaus did was for the greater evil. But, she grew and learned that Klaus loved Hope more than anything. He would never want to do anything to put her in harms way. Hayley never learned that—she never wanted to learn that. She only ever saw him as the guy that killed her pack friends and got her pregnant. So, she was pissed. And she would stay that way until she received a remorseful 'you were right' and or an apology for it.

When she did come down from her old room in the compound for a snack, she saw that Freya was in the middle of the courtyard, using a sage smudge-stick and Klaus' three paintings made of Norweigan soil and Viking ash to create a battleground for their impending confrontation with Dahlia. While she moved around the room and waved the smoking smudge-stick, she murmured the incantation to the spell.

     She finished the spell just as Elijah arrived, with Rhea glaring at him from the other side of the room. Freya doesn't turn to face them right away, "Once the spell has set, Dahlia won't be able to enter without being rendered mortal." She says and she finally turned to face him, but is immediately upset to see he doesn't have Hope with him, "Where's the child, Elijah?"

He pointed at her, stern look on his face, "If we use her power to lure Dahlia, swear to me that Hope will come to no harm."

Freya walked toward Elijah, "Dahlia won't get close enough to hurt Hope. She will not be able to hurt any child ever again."

Upon confirmation, Elijah then quickly sped toward her and grabbed her by the hair, using a syringe to inject Freya in the neck, making her wince while Rhea only watched with curiosity, wondering what he was up to, "I do hope that is true. You are now the bait." He informs her and dropped her to her knees.

Freya looked up at him with terror in her eyes, "What did you do to me?"

"Hope's blood is now in you, therefore Dahlia will now be hunting you." Elijah explained and Rhea's eyebrows raised, "All we needed was a beating heart, and though I question the purity of your heart's intent, I hear it beating just fine."

Freya stood to her feet, clutching her neck, "No! No! If Dahlia senses a ruse—"

"Rebekah assures me this will work, and I trust her far more than I trust you." Elijah stated.

"I am not your enemy, Elijah!" Freya panicked.

"We shall see. Proceed with your preparations." He told her and Rhea turned around after having enough of the conversation and went to walk to her room so she could try and call Hayley again.

Elijah followed after her, leaving a shaken Freya behind to process what had just happened to her. He had followed her up to her room, where she didn't even turn around so she could comment, "Look who's starting to think like Klaus." She turned to look at him, "I mean, since you fucked him over and all."

"I apologise—"

"I am not the one you should be apologising to!" Rhea cut him off with a sneer, "When you wake him up, he's going to be pissed and he will never forgive you for this betrayal. He will make us all pay for it." Elijah only sighed and looked down at his feet in shame, making Rhea scoff and shake her head at him. She then looked at her phone to see that she had missed a call from Hayley and that she had left her a voicemail while she was in the courtyard.

She sighed as she prepared to listen to the audio, knowing she was about to hear something that will only make her day worse. She pressed play and listened, "Rhea... I'm calling to say goodbye. Hope and I... we can't be part of that family anymore. All Hope's life, her family has tried to destroy her. That can't be my little girl's story." She started, tearing up towards the end, and Rhea looked up at Elijah fearfully while Rebekah walked into the room, unbeknownst to them all that Klaus had woken up and was standing and listening to the message also, "Family is supposed to love you. Even if she is free of Dahlia's first-born curse, Hope would still be Klaus' daughter. She'd inherit a thousand years of enemies, all his anger and rage... I don't want Hope to be a Mikaelson, all the pain that comes with that name... she doesn't deserve that. Thank you for being my sister... goodbye."

Hayley let out a deep sigh before ending the call and Rhea looked as if she had been punched in the stomach. While she was aware she wanted to run, she wasn't aware that it was going to be an indefinite thing. It wasn't fair. Rebekah looked sad also while Elijah looked guilty, "She's right, you know?" Rebekah whispered.

"No... she isn't." Rhea exhaled in disappointment before leaving the room.

     Freya was waving a sage smudge stick in the air as she continued casting her spell. It had started storming the moment that Hayley had left her voicemail and it was getting worser by the minute. Elijah was leaning against the window, looking out at the now-raging storm while Rhea was sat down on the sofa, watching intently as if she knew what was happening. She never really understood witchcraft completely but she could see how different the way Freya practiced magic compared to Bonnie. Freya was still chanting her spell when Rebekah walked into the room to join them, followed by Marcel, "It's done! I'm de-linked from those children, the coven's almost grateful, and we even beat the rain!" She announced.

     Elijah peeled his eyes away from the rain to look at his baby sister, "I trust that Davina will play her part?" He asked.

     "Yeah, against my better judgment." Marcel answered for her.

     "Stop being so overprotective." Rebekah scolded Marcel, "If Davina's made regent to all nine covens, she'll be granted the power to resurrect Kol and the political clout to unite the witches to our cause." She argued and Rhea's eyebrows raised in intrigue at how they planned to bring Kol back.

     "Don't pop the champagne just yet." Marcel warned, "Dahlia said she'd come for the baby, and now a storm springs up out of nowhere? You really think that's just a coincidence?"

     "The timing is strange." Rhea agreed with a nod.

     "Well, regardless of her power, she needs to be dealt with." Elijah stated and he turned to look at Freya, who was still working on the spell, "Fortunately, we have a weapon."

Freya looked over at Elijah, still not pleased about her forced role in the plan and Marcel held up his hands, "Look, no offence, but, are we really going to put all our eggs in one still-kinda-mysterious basket?"

Freya turned to the Gerard vampire with an unamused expression, "I assure you, I am quite motivated to aid in Dahlia's defeat. Particularly now that Elijah has forced me to be the bait."

"Let's just hope that Davina and the witches will be able to distract Dahlia long enough for Hope and Hayley to disappear from the city." Rhea muttered. She didn't agree with what Elijah and Hayley had done, but if they were to fail at their plan; they deserved to be able to escape and hide from Dahlia.

Thunder and lighting suddenly crashes outside, and Rebekah walked across the room to close the windows to prevent more rain from coming in. However, when she pulled down the window pane, she found the top is covered in blood, looking like someone had opened it specifically for someone to escape—that someone being Klaus.

Rebekah panicked, "Guys!" She called out and they each followed her to the room where Klaus' coffin was being stored to find it empty. She looked at them all, "Where the hell is he?" She asked them, horrified while Marcel could only look at her speechlessly.

Rhea's blood ran cold again, only thinking about the punishment they were all about to receive as consequence by Klaus for betraying him. "I'm calling Cami." She decided. Cami and Klaus had a special bond and she knew that whenever Klaus was feeling troubled or betrayed, he would go to her... and this was a colossal betrayal.

She pulled out her phone and searched for Cami's contact information before pressing dial. She picked up after a few rings, "Hey, I'm at the bar—it's annoying they're still making me work like we'll have customers with this weather, but, whatever. What do you guys need?" She asked kindly.

"Have you seen Klaus?" Rhea asked, getting straight to the point.

"What do you mean?" Rhea could hear the confusion in her voice, "Klaus has that witch's dagger in him, doesn't he?"

"He's gone." Rhea shook her head as if she could see her and Rebekah began to pace.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Cami asked, stunned.

"Exactly that. The coffin's empty and he's nowhere to be found." Rhea explained, "If I had to guess, I'd say he's planning a long list of punishments for his siblings." She sighed and sent Elijah and Rebekah the side eye, "Given that we have an ancient witch to kill, I was hoping you might try and reason with him to hold off on that. Ideally, before he goes ballistic."

"I'm flattered, I guess." Cami responded almost sarcastically, "But, what exactly am I supposed to say to him?"

"Anything is better than nothing at this point, Cami, as long as it comes from you. You're the only person he'll listen to." Rhea responded.

"Klaus is an unstable, paranoid narcissist with chronic mood issues and zero impulse control!" Cami diagnosed, "Right now, he's furious because the people he loves most literally stabbed him in the heart. That is his worst fear come true. What makes you think he'll listen to anyone, least of all me?"

"Believe me, I know, Cami." Rhea stressed, "But, isn't it clear by now? He likes you. He'll listen to you."

Cami was stunned speechless once more by this revelation but only sighed in response, "Look, I'll try." She said and Rhea smiled before Cami hung up the phone just as another crash of thunder and lightning rumbled overhead.

It was the following morning, and Elijah was explaining the plan to Rebekah in the courtyard of the compound, "Until Niklaus is found, Marcel and I will scour the city."

"Assuming he doesn't slaughter you both on sight." Rhea snarked and both Mikaelson siblings send her a look, and she shrugged, "What?"

Rebekah sighed, "Rhea's right. We all know that he'll be on the warpath." The blonde Original agreed, "Which again raises the question—how in the hell is he even awake?"

"It was Dahlia." Freya realised, "This was all part of her plan. No doubt, she killed Aiden, hoping that the blame would fall on Klaus, the family would divide, and she could win Klaus to her cause."

"Which is exactly what happened." Rhea crossed her arms, "The way Aiden was killed was way to boring for his style."

"That is absurd! Nik would never align with Dahlia." Rebekah snapped.

"You continue to defend him." Freya stated patronisingly.

"While I agree that he would normally kill anyone who'd try and take his daughter, siding with Dahlia sounds way too extreme for him." Rhea thought out loud.

"Isn't it Hayley who's trying to take his daughter?" Freya then asked.

"Their daughter." Elijah pointed out gruffly, "Let's not forget that Dahlia is the true enemy here!"

Freya gave a fake smile, "How good then that I finished my spell." She said before she walked over to one of the paintings that Klaus did that were hung on an easel, "The paint of his artwork, combined with my blood, will render Dahlia vulnerable. The moment she passes between these paintings—" she gestures to the two other paintings, which are hung on the opposite walls, "—she will be mortal."

She pulled the small blade that Elijah gave her for Mikael's memorial out of her pocket and handed it to him, "You can kill her... using this."

Elijah seemed surprised, "Father's knife?"

Freya only shrugged, "I thought it appropriate." She answered and Rebekah gave Freya a small smile.

     Elijah, Rhea, Rebekah and Freya were in the ballroom where Freya was sprinkling herbs over the clay golem that Kol had created before he died, "Are you certain this will work?" Rhea asked as she gnawed on her bottom lip, the nerves starting to settle in along with the doubt.

     "Let's not toss around words like 'certain'." Rebekah sent her a look, not wanting to get her hopes up only for it to crash and burn in front of her face if it didn't.

     Freya only continued to sprinkle the herbs on the doll, "Nonsense! You grow more adept with magic each day, and this spell is flawless." Freya assured her sister, "Though, I might have preferred Elijah ask my permission before volunteering me as the bait."

     "Yes, I'm not in the habit of asking permission." Elijah muttered with amusement.

     "No shit." Rhea remarked back.

     Freya smiled at the couple, "No matter. We have all that we need. Rebekah will perform the spell, using my heartbeat and the golem to craft the illusion of Hope's presence." She turned to Elijah, "Once Dahlia is lured into the killing ground, you will do what is necessary."

     Rebekah tilted her head, "You're rather calm, which is odd, because there are a million ways this plan can fall to pieces."

     Freya sighed and began to pace around the room, examining each of the painted portraits of Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah that were hanging on the walls of the ballroom, "I admit... first, I was upset when Elijah ignored my plan in favour of his own. You are all so determined to protect Hope at all cost. Perhaps I'm envious—no one ever fought so hard to protect me." She then stopped looking at the portrait of Klaus and turned to Elijah, "Then, I recalled what I saw when I looked inside your mind. The day you all swore an oath to stand by one another—always and forever. There's strength in such vows."

     "I can assure you, it has not been free of consequence." Elijah reminded his older sister, shaking his head as he thought about all of the times it had bit him in the ass.

     "That is an understatement." Rebekah agreed with Elijah, "Ask me, that vow has been more trouble than it's worth."

     Freya then walked over to Rebekah, "And yet, here you are—proving my point. Family defines you, even if it demands sacrifice." She took Rebekah's hands and squeezed them encouragingly, "My entire life, I have longed for what you have. It is better to at least glimpse it, facing death, than run forever and know nothing of family."

     Rebekah smiled at her affectionately, and after a moment, Freya turns to look at Elijah and Rhea, who seemed touched and impressed by Freya's words; and in a moment of comfort, the hybrid reached for Elijah's hand.