Chapter 26

Beatrix woke up to silence.

It was an odd thing, considering the conflict that'd been happening not long before. She felt sore as she tried to move her limbs. She had to blink a few times to adjust to the light. Groaning, she sat up, her vision still hazy.

Gia's dead, charred body lay just where it had been before. Not far from where she lay, were the unconscious Elijah and Cami.

"Oh, shit," said Beatrix, speeding toward the blonde first. Her neck had blood seeping out of it, and she was pale and limp. The Heretic bit into her wrist quickly and coaxed the blood into Cami's mouth. "Come on... come on... dammit, what the hell happened to you?"

She leaned down to observe the wound, ignoring the hungry feeling it created in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't going to succumb to it. There was no way she'd ever let herself hurt Cami.

It was a bite. Someone had definitely fed on her, and Beatrix feared it had been Klaus's doing. She continued to urge her blood into her, taking her sleeve and cleaning her up as she started to heal. "Cami... Cami please wake up..."

There was a gasp, and her eyes shot open. Beatrix moved back as she looked around wildly, still registering the situation. "Beatrix," Cami breathed in surprise. "Beatrix— Elijah— he's got that blade in him."

"What blade?" she said, following Cami as she rushed to Elijah's side.

"Papa Tunde's blade— I don't know if you know who that is," said Cami quickly. "But it— it's inside him—"

Beatrix knew exactly what she was talking about. She placed her hand over where Elijah's shirt had been torn, and drew a deep breath before plunging her hand into his chest. He gave a loud, hoarse gasp, his eyes remaining closed, as she closed her hand around the blade and yanked it out. He wheezed and sat up, now alert, struggling to catch his breath.

"Elijah!" said Cami, holding him upright. "Elijah— listen to my voice— I'm right here."

Beatrix put her hand on his chest and began to siphon, sucking out the residue of the magic that surrounded the blade. Elijah grunted in pain, but soon was able to draw a deep breath, blinking wildly as he was alleviated.

"You both have to listen to me," said Cami urgently. "He got in my head, he spoke to me. This— all of this— it's a trick!"

"Are— are you talking about Klaus?" Beatrix cried.

"You've lost your mind," Elijah told the blonde without hesitation. "He's lost his mind..."

"No— no— he needed her to trust him, so he can do what he needs to do!" Cami insisted, her eyes wide. "He had to make it look convincing!"

Elijah was clearly not having it. "What? To— to what possible end?

Cami drew a deep breath. "He told me her secret. I know how we can kill Dahlia."

Beatrix and Elijah went silent, and shared a look.

How could this be? How was this only an act? Klaus had compelled Marcel to restrain Rebekah somehow. He'd compelled him to rip Beatrix's heart out if she fought. He had Gia kill herself right before Elijah's eyes. He'd fed on Cami, who was innocent.

Neither of them spoke. Elijah got up, and brushed himself off, and seemed to be deep in thought. He looked devastated as his glimpse carried toward where Gia's body was. He went into another room and returned with a sheet, laying it gently over her. He stared at the floor for an instant, before glancing up at Cami, and seeing she had healed completely after Beatrix gave her some blood.

"What do you mean Niklaus had a plan?" he said sharply, with an air of harshness. He began to shout, looking livid. "We had a plan! A plan he has mercilessly destroyed—"

"Your plan wouldn't have worked, Elijah!" said Cami loudly. "When Klaus got into my head, he said your plan would fail, so he had to enact one of his own."

"But— but what do you mean by that?" Beatrix asked. "How— how the hell did he get into your head?"

"When he grabbed me— when he was feeding on me! I don't know how to explain it, but it happened!"

"And what, pray tell, is he planning?" snapped Elijah.

"He has to get her to link to him," said Cami calmly.

Beatrix's mouth went dry, and Elijah let out a loud grunt of frustration. "My brother wishes to bind himself to our enemy?" he cried incredulously. "She'll be virtually indestructible! She had already beaten us with ease when she wasn't bound to him!"

"He said I had to convince you that everything he had to do, he had to do alone," continued Cami, remaining patient as always. "You had the wrong ingredients to kill Dahlia."

"What?" cried Beatrix. "But it was bloody Freya and Mikael who found out— where the hell could they have gone wrong?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure that he knows exactly which are the correct ingredients now— he just has to buy time before he finds them!"

"How?" snarled Elijah. "How does he intend to buy time? Why— why did he prance off on his own without so much as a warning? Why did he have to..."

He trailed off and sat down at the edge of the center fountain, staring down at Gia's body. He put his face in his hands, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry about your friend," said Cami gently.

He glared up at her in disbelief. "Are you?"

"I don't condone Klaus's actions," she replied. "I'm trying to help you. All I know is Klaus will do whatever he has to do—"

"KLAUS WILL DO WHATEVER HE HAS TO DO FOR KLAUS!" Elijah bellowed, standing back up. He tore out his phone and dialed a number, holding it up and breathing heavily. The other two were deadly silent. For about five minutes neither woman spoke as Elijah dialed the number over and over. "Hayley isn't answering her phone," he said, his voice shaking. "WHAT HAS HE DONE?!"

The three turned when, from the other room, Marcel and Rebekah, in her Original body, came in. "Don't blame the messenger," said Rebekah, looking worried.

"Rebekah?" Beatrix breathed. "Marcel—?"

Rebekah shrugged. "Looks like Niklaus had a lot on his to-do list last night... and, as for Hayley..."

"What is it?" Elijah said immediately.

Marcel let out a sigh. "When Klaus attacked me, he stole the spell that I used on the Crescent wolves."

Beatrix clapped her hands over her mouth. "What? He— he didn't—"

"So, he would condemn her to the body of a beast?" Elijah said lowly.

"She'll be human once a month," Rebekah said quickly, rushing forward and grasping her brother's shoulders. "We will find her and we will help her."

Elijah tried to push Rebekah back. "No—"

"We need to focus on who needs saving today," the blonde continued. "Freya called— Dahlia is incapacitated. They are two hours north at an orchard near Pale River. She has Hope and—"

Elijah sped off before she could finish.

The Heretic sank down onto the floor. "Why the hell didn't he tell us anything?" she hissed. "Why— why did he choose to be destructive instead of telling us how to help?"

"When has Klaus ever communicated the way he should?" Marcel scoffed, coming to kneel beside her. "Beatrix, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just— in shock. This is so much information... I don't even know how to process it."

"It's going to be okay," said Marcel, though he didn't sound sure. "We... we'll go through with it, as needed."

"But the point isn't to just go through with it! We should have known from the start! And this— this thing with having the wrong ingredients— what the hell was that about? Klaus could have left us a message about that— told me, or anyone!"

Rebekah shrank down onto the fountain, crossing her arms and letting out a shaky sigh. "I'll never understand Nik. I really do hope he has some bloody idea what he's planning..."

"He had no right to do that to Hayley," said Marcel, helping Beatrix stand and sit down comfortably on one of the outdoor chairs.

"I can probably undo that spell, but it will take time, and a lot of power," said the Heretic quietly. "Dahlia's magic is going to be hard to overcome. And with the Crescents stuck as wolves, it puts them in much more danger of being killed. Klaus really didn't hesitate to enact his revenge... regardless of how it fits into this idiotic plan of his."

While she didn't really enjoy Hayley's company lately, Beatrix would have never wished such a thing upon her or the other werewolves. She knew what it was like to be trapped, and it absolutely sucked.

It wasn't until hours later that Elijah returned, with Freya and Hope in tow, along with the daggered body of Klaus, and an unconscious Dahlia. By then, Cami was gone, and the air around the compound felt thin with tension.

"What the hell is the move from here?" said Beatrix, kneeling to observe both bodies alongside Marcel. "He didn't leave instructions, did he?"

"The ingredient that was wrong was my blood," said Freya, looking ashamed. "I wasn't the witch Dahlia loved most. Esther was. Meaning we need her blood."

"How the hell do we get her blood?" said Marcel. "Is there a spell that maybe all your siblings can do to isolate Esther's specifically or...?"

"That would take far too long," said Freya. "I think I have an idea. Klaus gave Davina Kol's ashes so that she could raise him, now that she has the power to do so as Regent. If we were to get Esther's body, gather its ashes, and have Davina raise our mother instead, we could get her blood."

"What?" cried Rebekah. "Nik is demented! Are we really to dig up our mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol's, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol... if Davina doesn't turn us inside out!"

"Or, we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it," scoffed Elijah.

"We could always choose the more permanent option," said Freya, glancing bitterly at Dahlia. "Find the white oak stake, kill Klaus, and Dahlia dies with him."

Beatrix growled. "Both of those plans are bullshit! If we kill Klaus, then Marcel and I die— along with every other vampire in Klaus's bloody sireline! And I'm not okay with ruining Davina's one chance to bring back someone she really cares about! That's not fair— we can't just take advantage of her like that! Haven't you all forced her to help you with enough?"

But none of them responded. Rebekah had shrieked, and dropped down beside Klaus. "The dagger! It's bloody melting!"

Unfortunately, this was true. The handle was beginning to become shorter and shorter, no doubt Dahlia's magical fight against their link.

Beatrix quickly waved her hands over them, murmuring several words in an attempt to halt the spell. "This won't hold for long," she said gravely.

Elijah sighed loudly. "Then, we have no choice but to finish the task that Niklaus has set."

"Yes," said Freya. "Now, we need someone to go speak with Davina, if you do not wish to follow the other option—"

"No!" snapped Beatrix. "I just said I don't like that option! Neither of them! We need to find another way to bring Esther back!"

"There is no other way!" said Freya hotly. "I respect your opinion, Beatrix, but this is an urgent matter. Davina can wait."

"Oh, so you'll force her to suffer when she's worked so hard to bring back your brother? Kol is my best friend, Freya, and I've come to care for Davina, just like Marcel does. If you consider us family, you should value how much she's helped you in the past, and you should listen when I say that we need another way to go about this!"

"I agree with Beatrix," said Marcel, standing up. "I don't want to disrupt Davina's plan. She's hardly been eating and sleeping because she's been doing so much research. Now, she has a burden to carry as Regent, but it's given her one blessing— the power to bring back Kol, who I may not like, but I respect, because he treated her the way I would want my daughter to be treated. We can't tear that blessing away from her. It's wrong."

Freya pursed her lips, and seemed to share some sort of agreement with her siblings. "If you will not help, you cannot be a part of this at all."

"I won't be locked up again!" Beatrix snarled, leaping away from the group. "You'll have to kill me before you try that!"

"Beatrix, we don't want to do that to you," said Elijah impatiently. "But Davina will have to wait. If Dahlia becomes free of Niklaus, she will reign destruction on New Orleans, and it won't matter whether Kol is back or not."

The Heretic gritted her teeth. "He's your BROTHER! YOUR BROTHER! He cares so bloody much about her, Elijah, you can't just shove her aside like that!"

"I am not casting her aside—"

"NO! Shut up!" she screamed furiously. "You— listen to me! None of you ever treated Kol with respect. He's told me quite a bit about your history, and you know what the common theme was? He was left out! You three— Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah— always the in group! I've never met Finn formally, but fine, let's say he really is an insufferable prick. Doesn't mean you ever had the right to leave Kol out of everything! You chastised him for his blood lust instead of trying to help— instead of realizing that he was almost worse than a Ripper! You're all hypocrites— you were there when he died and now, you're pushing him back on your priorities list just because you've never been as close to him! There has to be another bloody way— there always is one! One that doesn't involve ruining Davina's hopes and shoving your brother away from his chance at a good life!"

She was shaking, and she could see them drawing nearer, already prepared to restrain her. "You can lock me up, you can muzzle me— it won't change the fact that I'm right! You're selfish bastards— the lot of you! Anyone who isn't a Mikaelson by birth immediately gets shoved aside while you uphold your stupid 'always and forever.' Not to mention that you mistreat even your own flesh and blood! There is another way and you're all just too driven by selfishness to think of looking for it!"

She didn't get to hear their response, because Elijah snapped her neck.

_

She awoke on the floor inside one of the tombs of the Lafayette Cemetery.

She shot up, seeing an unconscious Davina beside her. Next to them, Marcel was waiting anxiously.

"Good, you're awake," he sighed.

She looked around wildly. "How long has it been?"

"Not that long. After you got put down, Rebekah and Elijah left to get Esther's body. I stayed with Freya at first, because she was trying to buy time and slow Dahlia's spell down as much as she could. But after a while, it wasn't working. Somehow, Freya got ahold of the white oak stake— probably when I was searching for the materials she needed. She almost killed Klaus, but he and Dahlia woke up. She left with Freya and some of Hope's blood. We need a locator spell, but when I got here, Davina was passed out. I'm guessing they already got Esther back, and are with her, waiting for the location from me, somewhere."

Beatrix gritted her teeth and rolled over quickly, putting her hands on Davina's forehead. The girl shot up, gasping for air, and right as she looked up at Beatrix, Vincent Griffith ran into the tomb.

"Davina!" he cried, helping her up. "Are you okay? I sensed something was wrong."

"Elijah hijacked my spell," she said angrily, looking at Beatrix like she might cry.

"But you're alright?" asked Vincent, looking around. "All of you?"

Davina shook her head. "I'm not okay! I'm furious, and I can do something about it. I am Regent of all nine covens. I will turn every single witch against that family until they are broken."

"Fair enough," said Marcel, patting her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry, D. We tried to stop it. All I ask of you is that the war wait one day. Just one day."

"What are you two even doing here?" asked Davina.

Marcel didn't answer her immediately. "You're right, D. You're learning what Beatrix and I've known for over two hundred years— that if you're not a Mikaelson, you're cannon fodder. But, right now, their problem is my problem." He hesitated to continue. "I need you and Beatrix to find Dahlia."

Davina scoffed. "You want me to help them?"

"Unfortunately, that's what he means," said Beatrix, pulling her in for a hug. "Dahlia is a major problem. She wants to kill all of them. If Klaus dies, Marcel and I die. So does Josh. And everyone that the three of us have turned."

When the two pulled away from each other, Marcel took Davina's hand. "Please, help me, right now, and we all live to fight another day. We can't locate Dahlia without the two of you. And I know it's a ridiculous thing to ask after what they've done, but we need to do it."

Davina didn't want to agree, of course, but she and Beatrix shared a look, and for the moment, they both decided to just get it over with.

Together, it didn't take much work. The instant the spell was done, Marcel texted Elijah and Klaus, and they were left in the tomb with nothing to do other than feel indescribable anger.

"I'm so sorry, Davina," said Vincent when the younger female sat down on the floor, head in her hands. "I know that was your one chance..."

Beatrix knelt with her, taking her hands. "We will figure something out. I hate thinking like this, but Kol will have to wait until we find a solution. I swear, I will do anything I can to help. Even if it means integrating myself into the French Quarter Coven. I want him back, and I'm not going to help the Mikaelsons with anything unless it benefits our goal, alright?"

Davina began to cry, and she moved forward into Beatrix's arms. The Heretic held her gently, looking up sadly at Vincent and Marcel, who both looked distraught.

Time ticked by, and they anxiously awaited any sort of news. So far, none of the Mikaelsons had texted Marcel back. Beatrix hadn't even brought her phone. Davina had fallen asleep in Beatrix's arms, tired and frustrated, and likely dreaming up a plan to tear down the Originals, after such a betrayal.

"I don't understand it," said Vincent, looking down at them. Beatrix and Marcel had just been explaining what'd gone down in the compound just hours ago. "I was under the impression that you, especially, Beatrix, were highly respected by them."

"They respect Marcel and I, in the vaguest terms of respect," she murmured. "But at the end of the day, their blood matters more. They've shoved me aside plenty of times. They care, most times. Klaus, at least, doesn't try to hide that he mostly cares when he needs me. They are our family, in a sense, because Marcel and I haven't got anyone else. But he and I, we're each other's actual family. The Mikaelsons have done us dirty time and time again."

Vincent pursed his lips. "Let us stray away from that topic, then. What's this you mentioned about them locking you up? Apologies if it is a sensitive subject, I just don't know the story behind that."

She let out a soft breath through her mouth. "I don't know the correct term for it. Some sort of bipolar or mania, dissociation, anger— whatever it may be. It just happens. I get overwhelmed with emotion. It's been happening to me since around... 1823, after I came back to New Orleans and started living with the Mikaelsons to raise Marcel. I was more and more temperamental for no reason. Most days, I could control it. But in 1914, Elijah forced me to put away my magic, and I just blew up. In 1917 I was a monster— terrible, cruel, violent. I couldn't control myself. It hurt. It took a lot of sleeping spells to calm me down. I was better for awhile after that, but then I got put in the prison world, and I suppose my anger has been building up again ever since. Elijah insists that I'm heading into another episode. I don't think so, but... whatever. I don't care, anymore."

"Would you mind if I... took some of your blood?" asked Vincent, stepping forward. "I've studied a lot of ways that magic and the lack thereof can affect a witch, and I can try and do some research and figure out what may be causing it."

Beatrix offered him her arm. He moved to reach for one of the sacrificial blades laid out, and nicked a bit into her wrist, before going to put the blade into the empty jar Davina had left on one of the counters.

At the very least, an explanation might be somewhat nice.

She returned to the Mikaelson compound late in the night. She sensed Elijah was not there. She could hear Klaus speaking with Hope in her room, presumably a bedtime story. She could hear the shower running— probably Rebekah.

She went to her room and sat on her bed, feeling drained and yet, simultaneously overwhelmed. She picked up her phone and saw she had four missed calls from Kai. Furrowing her eyebrows, she dialed back immediately.

"Trixter!" he answered soon after. "Damn, I've been trying to reach you. I thought maybe you were dead."

"I left my phone at the house. A lot of shit went down. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Come to the front."

"Huh?" she sped out of her room and to the entrance of the compound.

Kai smirked over at her, and hung up, tucking his phone into his pocket. "Miss me?"