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The sound of glass shattering and wood splintering was heard from downstairs in the compound. Niklaus had went down there not a minute ago when he heard Davina make her arrival. Candice grabbed Anthony's and Marcel's bicep, stopping them from going out there. "No, let the girl do what she's here for and then, we intervene." Anthony turned to look at his sister incredulously. "Niklaus will kill her! We have to stop him! I know you may not care about her safety, but I do!" He argues.

Candice blinked, unfazed by this as she stood near the table. "No one is leaving this room unless I say so. You're letting your feelings get in the way of the truth. If Niklaus kills her, he ruins his entire bond with Marcel. Plus, the witch can protect herself. She's smart." Candice says whilst listening to the interaction downstairs. Marcel and Anthony were more impatient, and Kol wasn't at all worried as he slid his arms around Candice's waist from behind, letting her lean into him.

Candice squinted her eyes, hearing Davina drag Klaus's body into the center of the compound. "Now, shall we go greet our guest?" She smirked, walking out as Kol and Anthony followed close behind her. When they walked down the stairs, they took notice of the temporarily dead, Marcel. "That's quite impressive," Anthony spoke up, catching Davina's attention, she was quick to turn and face him. Candice and Kol standing a bit ways behind him. "What exactly did you do to him?" He questioned.

"Channeled dark objects, turned my blood to poison." Davina explained shortly. Candice chuckles, sharing a knowing look with Kol. "Ah, this brings me back to the old days. I see you found the journals I left in that tomb. Was wondering where those disappeared to." She clasped her hands together, this was the work of her own so it was odd seeing the young witch pull moves she would've. But hey, it made sense. In a way, Davina reminded her of herself, at least how she was a thousand years ago.

Davina pursed her lips, tossing the journal to the heretic, figuring she was going to want that back. Candice smiled, shaking her head, she tossed it back to the witch. "You need it more than I do. Consider it, a welcome gift to the Parkerson family. We're all a little messed up in the head, though I suppose it's better than being a Mikaelson." Candice grins, laying her head on Kol's shoulder. He smirks, pressing a kiss to her soft blonde locks.

Davina gestured to Anthony, taking notice that his throat was covered in blood, though the wound was clearly healed, and how he was rubbing his sore wrists that were previously chained up in the anti-magic cuffs. "How did you get free?" She questions, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, it's a long story. Better question is if he's not dead, then what are you gonna do when he recovers?" Anthony gestures to the currently unconscious- poisoned Niklaus.

"We have maybe an hour, maybe less, enough time to chain him, bleed him, dump him in the river, that's if Candice doesn't do anything to stop me." Davina answered. Kol raised a brow, wrapping his arm around Candy's shoulders. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Davina looks to him with a slight glare, wondering where the switch up came from. "Since when do you care what happens to Klaus?"

Marcel wakes up with a groan, popping his neck as he stood up. "Kol and Anthony are with us now, as is Candice. We're gonna be going up against Esther, assuming Klaus is upright." He explains. Davina looked at Anthony with a hint of betrayal behind her eyes, making Candice tilt her head. "Look, Davina. Nik- he's been a pain in the ass to me and my sister for centuries. But, well, she's a problem for us all."

"Klaus is the problem. I don't give a damn what happens to Esther." Davina argues. A new person arrives, Candice rolls her eyes at the human presence in Camille O'Connell. "Yeah? Well, I sure do." Cami takes a look at Nik and approaches Marcel, still wary of Candice. "Should I even ask?" Candice goes to speak but Davina beats her to it. "Cami, you should go. It's not safe." Candice scoffs under her breath, "not exactly what I was going to say but that works too."

"No kidding. I woke up with puncture wounds all up and down my spine and no idea how they got there. According to my uncle's files, they're apart of this ancient spell, and I don't know about you guys, but when I see "ancient" and "spell" in the same sentence, I think Esther." Candice tilts her head, now this was intriguing to hear. She shares a look with Kol, both curious as to what this spell could've been. Candice clears her throat, "you mind if I take a look, darling?"

Cami takes a sharp breath, looking to Marcel for a bit of reassurance as he knew Candice better than she did. "You can trust her. She won't hurt you," he reassures with a nod. Cami takes a seat and Davina sits behind her, Marcel standing nearby. Davina pulled down Cami's shirt just enough to see the marks. Candice's fingers grazed over Cami's back, causing the human to shiver. "Interesting. We must've pissed mummy dearest off big time for her to pick you."

Candice looks at Kol, both of them familiar with the marks. She backs up for him to take a closer look. "Yeah, that's mum's work all right. She must have wiped your memory." Kol says, taking a seat at the edge of the coffee table. Candice stood next to her brother, arms firmly crossed of their chests. "Not the first time that's been done by a member of this family," Cami states with sarcastic undertones.

Candy smirks, moving to sit on Kol's lap. "Awe, so sensitive. You'll get used to it. I did." Candice sends her brother a knowing look in which he avert his eyes to the floor.

Cami looks back at the heretic, expectantly. "What does it mean?" Candice looks up at Anthony, letting him explain as Davina and Cami would trust his word over hers and Kol's. "It's a byproduct of a preparation spell," Anthony said. Davina looks up at him with her brows slightly furrowed. "Preparation for what?" Anthony sighs, starting to feel bad that Cami was involved. "To make her a vessel."

Marcel lowers his head at the news, knowing what this meant. Davina and Cami clearly weren't getting it so Marcel clears up any confusion. "He means Esther prepared your body for someone to jump into." He explains to the two. "Likely herself. I mean, knowing mother." Kol adds. Candice pursed her lips, "well, knowing your mother, I doubt she would put herself into a human. So, she either plans to throw myself or Rebekah into your body." Kol nods, that was also a possibility.

"Where's Vincent?" Camille questions. Candice smirks and gestures to the two closed doors not too far away. "Have fun." They all watched as Cami storms through the doors, a loud smack was heard, echoing the compound. Kol rubs Candy's side, knowing she was very amused by this. Marcel moves to follow Cami, wanting to keep an eye on her. Kol sat on the chair, pulling Candice into his lap as Anthony took a seat on the coffee table where the two previously were. "Can't you siphon the spell?" Davina questions, pulling them back on topic.

Candice raised a brow, a small scoff escaping her lips. "Look, I've been doing this for a long time. There's always a catch to siphoning magic. If I were to siphon Camille, then I would take over her place as a vessel. And if that would happen, whoever is placed in my body, well I'm sure you can imagine the hell they can rise." Davina sighs, it was worth the ask. Anthony looks over to see Cami and Marcel return, looking slightly defeated. "Well, Candice was right. Esther wants to put Rebekah in my body."

Candice hums, "figures. Bekah always wanted to be human."

"How long do I have?" Cami asks. "Well, now that Esther knows where Rebekah is hiding. Not long. The only way to stop it is to stop her." Anthony answers, Kol and Candice both nodding in confirm. Cami nods to herself, putting on a confident front. "Then let's do this. Marcel's a vampire. You three are powerful witches. Candice is a magic vacuum? I don't exactly know what she is." Candice shrugs, that wasn't uncommon, not many people knew of heretics. "I'm a heretic, darling. But, that works too."

"Esther's stronger than anything I've ever seen. We go up against her, we're gonna need Klaus." Marcel says, directing this towards Davina. The witch stands up, shaking her head. "No. No. We can do this without him. We have Candice. We don't need Klaus." As much as this flattered the heretic, she knew for a fact that they couldn't do this without Klaus. Kol also seemed to know what Candice was thinking, and he hated to say it. "I'm never gonna say this again, but Marcel's right. We do need the bastard. I also don't enjoy the idea of my girlfriend risking her life."

Marcel rolls his eyes at the last part. "Now all of sudden you wanna play protective boyfriend. That's convenient." Kol went to stand up but Candice shoots him a look, telling him it's not worth the hassle.

Cami steps towards the young harvest girl. "Davina. I know this is asking a lot, but please." Davina looks at her, contemplating this before making her way over to Klaus. Candice stands to her feet curiously, watching the girl bend down and chant a small spell. Klaus wakes up with a sharp gasp for air, he looks to the heretic. "What did she do to me?" Klaus uses the doorframe to pull himself up. Davina answers before Candice could get in a word. "All you need to know is that I beat you, again."

"And yet you relented, you need me, don't you? Did I really lose?" Klaus retorts arrogantly.

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Candice flipped through her grimoire as Kol was eating the beignets on the coffee table. Anthony and Davina shortly joined them in the study. "This is absolutely pointless. It's only temporary. I rather just take up on your mother's offer." Candice mutters, shutting the grimoire and tossing it onto the table, Anthony taking a seat next to the couple. Kol grimaced, shaking his head in objection. "This is gonna come out wrong but I prefer you in this body." Candice turns to him with a scoff. "Oh, so that's what were doing now? Fine. I completely prefer your original body."

Kol smirks, wrapping an arm around her. "If it makes you feel better, I also prefer the original. So, now we're even." Candice chuckles, pressing a small peck to his lips before turning to Davina. "On the contrary, it was quite nice of you, coming to my brother's rescue like that. I sure wouldn't have." Anthony turns to shoot his sister a glare in which she simply smiles. "You know, it's a good thing you guys didn't actually steal the stake from me. Or I'd have been the one torturing you." Davina says, mostly towards Anthony.

Candice and Kol shared a look, equally as grossed out by this flirting. "This isn't how we act, right?" Candice whispers into his ear. Kol shakes his head with a grimace, "ugh, never."

Anthony smirks, looking up at her. "Does that mean you trust me now?" Davina smiles, going speechless. Klaus struts in and Candice couldn't have been more grateful for his interruption. "Provided you're not busy concocting a new paralytic to use against me, I'd like a word with my family." Klaus says towards Davina. "Well, to be honest, I can't stand being around you anyway. I'll go get the stuff for the spell, Candice," she says the last part towards the heretic before exiting the study.

"For the record, we didn't know a bloody thing about mother's plan for Cami, I swear." Kol says, breaking the silence. "Well, I think I can judge for myself which of her schemes she would entrust to you and which she would not." Klaus said as he sits on the chair across from the trio. "I believe this was Finn's task." Anthony leans back into the sofa, raising a brow at the hybrid. "And where, pray tell, is he now? Not that I care. Just curious. Never was fond of the lad."

"He's waiting uncomfortably for me to return and deliver his punishment. Pass the beignets, would you?" Klaus grabs a small plate as Kol passes him the large plate of the stacked pastry. "Now it's only a matter of time before mother gets bored of waiting for you to let us go. Well, Finn and Anthony at least. Don't expect she'd care if I ever came home." Candice frowns, rubbing his chest and pressing a kiss to his head. She always did hate how Kol was treated. He deserved far better than what he got, and continues to get. Luckily, Kol had Candice.

"A mother cares for her children, a monster does not. Once you accept she is the latter, you'll stop expecting the former. Same goes to the twins." Klaus states, the twins sharing a look before turning back to the hybrid. "And despite what you might think, Kol. I did mourn you after your death, and I did attempt to avenge you." Kol feels Candice grow tense, the subject still a sensitive topic for her. "I would do nothing less because we are brothers. Always and Forever."

Klaus then turns to the younger twin. "And, despite our falling outs over the years, Anthony, you are family. We all mourned for you. Don't you ever consider yourself anything less than our family." A smile grew on the man, it was barely there, but there nevertheless. It was a nice feeling to know that people cared about, despite their odd ways of showing it. All his life, he only ever knew his family to be Candice. So it was nice to have a family, even if it was the twisted family of the Mikaelsons. He understood why Candice stuck around them for so long.

Nik's phone rang, causing him to excuse himself, not before he sent Candice a knowing look. Kol noticed their silent exchange but chose to not acknowledge it. Candice used her vampire hearing to listen in on the call. It was Rebekah. She was explaining how something was wrong with Elijah, in which Klaus implied that he was going to go over there to see his brother and daughter. Candice cleared her throat, "brother, go downstairs, make sure Davina has everything and we'll be down there shortly."

Anthony nods, "Alright, just be quick. The sooner we get it done, the better."

Kol turns to Candice once Anthony was out of reach. "What's going through that lovely head of yours?" Candice sighs, she was questioning her entire plan. Was it really a good idea to dagger Niklaus now when he has a daughter to protect? "I'm just...unsure of all this. Do you really think it's a good idea to put him down right now when there's so much already going on? I don't know, I just feel like this isn't going to go our way." She said, looking down at her hands as she second-guessed herself yet again. One of her traits that became irritating after so long.

"I'm confused. This was your idea, and now you want to back out? Why? What's going on, love?" Kol questions, taking her hands in his when noticing that they were shaking out of anxiety. She knew she couldn't say a word to him about Hope. It sucked, because there was nothing they both hated more than secrets, especially from each other. He was going to be told, eventually, but it wasn't her choice. It was Klaus's and Hayley's choice, and she respected that. So, she couldn't tell him, no matter how much it was eating her alive.

Candice took a sharp breath, forcing a tight smile. "It's nothing. You know me, always second guessing myself." Candice pulled her legs from his lap and stood up. "Anyways. After the spell, we should start looking for the diamond. I'm sure Niklaus has got it around here somewhere." Kol nods, taking her hand and standing up to join her downstairs. He knew she was hiding something. She was never good at hiding anything from him. No matter how good she was at lying, he could always read her. But he wanted for her to tell him on her own terms.

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"Myself and Kol will do the spell. You may observe." Candice states, walking towards the table where Anthony and Davina had set everything up. "Why can't I do the spell with you or Alec?" Davina questions, obviously wanting to perform a spell that came from Candice's grimoire. It would help to strengthen and balance her magic. "No offense to you, but Camille is someone very important to Niklaus so I need to guarantee that this will work, and it will if I do it. Plus, Kol knows how my magic works better than anyone."

Davina sighs, crossing her arms and taking a step back to stand beside Anthony. "Is this how you felt being excluded from the magic room as a child?" She mumbled to the younger Parkerson. Anthony snickers, nodding as he leaned against the table. "Yeah, exactly like that." Candice raises a brow as she and Kol go over the spell again, still hearing Davina and Anthony's conversation. "Did he also tell you that it took him twenty years to learn how to siphon properly? And that I had to teach him?" She spoke, not taking her eyes off the grimoire.

Anthony rolled her eyes as Davina smiled to herself. "Was that really necessary to point out, sister?"

Candice inhales, looking up from the grimoire, Kol going over it once more just to be sure. "I'm your big sister, it's my job to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend." Davina looked down, using her hair to attempt to hide the blood rushing to her cheeks. Anthony sighs dramatically. "You're older by ten minutes, Candice! That doesn't count. And besides, when have I ever embarrassed you in front of your suitors? Kol does that for you when he's jealous."

Kol raised a brow, wondering how he got dragged into this. "Actually, mate, I just kill them. I don't embarrass my girl. But, I can name at least a dozen people you've embarrassed her in front of, if you're curious?" Candice smiles cheerfully, pressing a kiss to Kol's cheek as Anthony rolls his eyes. "Really starting to wish I stayed dead," he mutters under his breath. Candice tsks, leaning over to nudge his chin. "Don't frown, brother. This will all be over in known time and then you can take Davina here, on a proper date."

"I hate you," Anthony scoffs, swatting her hand away but a smile grew on his lips anyways. "You couldn't hate me if you tried, Tony." Candice retorts in amusement.

"Let's get started." Candice picked up the object with Kol and held his hand with her free one. They began to chant the spell as Anthony and Davina overlooked.  "Pwoteje sa. Scandalum subsisto venenatis. Impedit l'ecoulement." As they finished the spell, Candice knew it wasn't gonna be enough. "It's finished, but I'm worried it's not enough to protect Camille's body from Esther's magic." She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she searched her mind for answers.

"I might know a way to distract you from your troubled mind." Kol suggests with a small smirk. Candice raised a brow, knowing now was definitely not the time for this. But before she could respond, Marcel spoke up. "You can take this seriously, or I can lock you in a coffin like your brother Finn if you prefer." She rolled her eyes, and now her two boys were gonna start arguing like children.

"Oh, no. I'd prefer you to bugger off, because this spell needs time to cook in peace." Kol retorts.

"Cami doesn't have time. Esther can jump anybody into her body right now." Marcel had a right to be worried but it was clouding his logic. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but she's not gonna jump anybody, is she? She's gonna jump Rebekah, who just happens to be miles away. But fair dues, Marcel. Think I'd be a bit testy, too, if my old ex was about to jump into my new ex. I think that would be a bit, uh.." Kol trails off as he tries to find a word. Candice glanced over to Cami, who walked over, the woman offering her imput, "awkward?"

Kol pursed his lips, "I was gonna say kinky, but-" he's cut off when Marcel speeds towards him, holding him by his collar." Candice leaned against the table as Cami set a hand on Marcel's shoulder. "I appreciate the chivalry, Marcel, but he'll have an easier time protecting me if he's alive." Marcel still didn't let go as he glared up at the taller man. "No, no, Candice can protect you. I don't see why we need him still."

"You need him if you want me to keep my cool and help your little friend. So, I strongly suggest you release him or I'll have no choice but to make you. Is that understood?" Candice spoke, tilting her head. Marcel begrudgingly released Kol who held a cocky look on his face. Kol cleared his throat dramatically and Anthony rolled his eyes, withholding the urge to make a comment.

"Keep working." He says before making his exit.

"I swear if he tells me how to do my job one more time," Candice rolls her eyes and glances back down at her spell. "What is it with you two?" Davina decides to question, referring to Kol and Marcel.

"It gets a bit old, playing odd man out in me own family." Kol shrugs as he takes a sit, pulling Candice onto his lap in the process. "You know, Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah. They were always a party of three. No room for me at the table. There always seemed to be room for Marcel." Candice frowns, leaning down to press a kiss to his head.

Anthony cleared his throat, moving to sit at the table to Davina's left. "You know that diamond, the one that myself and Kol showed you?" Davina nods, humming in reply as she brushed off her hands, having added some herbs to the spell. "Well, that was the baby version." Kol nods with what the witch said. "The one that we need to do the dagger spell, well it has to be a lot bigger. 100 years ago. I had it in my hand. Then Marcel ratted us out to Klaus, and they took it. He probably bloody well kept it."

Davina looked in between the trio of witches, getting an idea of where they were getting at. "So, let's steal it back. It's a good chance to snoop." Davina says, moving to stand in front of Anthony. He smiles, looking up at her. "It's like you're in my mind, Davina Claire." She looks down at him with a bright smile.

Candice clasps her hands together and stands up. "Well, let's go search for a diamond, shall we?"

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a/n: CANDICE THE MAGIC VACUUM >>

kol randomly just pulling candice onto his lap throughout this chapter 🤭 got me blushing and kicking my feet ngl

candice calling cami by her full name is funny asf, she's so elijah coded

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