'𝟔 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

..,..

KLAUS PASSED a plate of apple turnover to his daughter, "Now, you can't call yourself a connoisseur if you have not sampled each and every one of these. Hmm? Here."

"Mmm, it's so good!" Hope said.

"Did I ever tell you the story of my first beignet? No? You are in for a treat. Long ago, three French nuns came to New Orleans looking for a fresh start. And they came here. They marched right into our courtyard, and they presented your Uncle Elijah and me with these rather lumpy-looking, sugar-coated pastries. Well, needless to say, we were entranced. We set them up quite well." Klaus told the young girl.

"Why did they come to you?" Hope questioned her father.

"Because there was a time when we were regarded as royalty. You might even go so far as to say I was king, which would make you a princess." Klaus smiled.

Hayley then walked in, "Good morning. I guess apple turnover is fruit." she said looking at Hope's plate.

"Well, I saw no harm in indulging our daughter's sweet tooth. All things in moderation, of course." Klaus replied.

"Okay. Don't eat too many. You'll get a stomachache. Can we talk? Have you seen Elijah?" Hayley asked the hybrid.

"I haven't seen him since he left for Marcel's last night."

..,..

"You're not listening to me. All right, check again, and when you do find her, you keep your distance and call me. You can come on in, Klaus." Marcel said as he hung up the phone.

The hybrid then walked in, "To what do I owe the displeasure?" Marcel asked.

"I thought we had a truce."

"We do. If we didn't, I might've responded differently when Davina asked me to sacrifice you." said Marcel.

"And does our truce extend to my brother, despite your extensive grievances?" Klaus questioned the vampire.

"Well, yeah, I want to get Sofya back and stop the Hollow. As long as you guys want the same thing, I don't see why we can't play nice. Why? What's wrong?" Marcel asked.

"Well, far be it from me to jump to conclusions, but the last time anyone saw my brother, he was on his way here to talk to you." Klaus explained.

"And you think I have him? Seriously?"

"No, I don't. But I'd like to know who does."

..,..

"He's not at Marcel's." Hayley told Freya.

"I'll find him." Freya started chanting "Jalgida minu blóo mitt. Jalgida minu blóo mitt. He's cloaked by magic. I can feel it."

"That's her. That's the Hollow. She has Elijah, and now she wants that bone." Vincent told them.

"In exchange for Elijah?" Hayley asked.

"No, you don't understand. There won't be an exchange. She needs Elijah to die in order to channel the energy from his sacrifice. She's already poisoned him with the rose thorns. She wants this bone by sundown. If she doesn't get it, then she's gonna come here and she's gonna take it. And when she does, she's gonna burn this entire city to the ground."

..,..

"Freya informs me your mate Vincent has a plan. Just one tiny problem. I don't trust him." Klaus said to Marcel.

"All right, Vincent helped me keep the peace for five years. He knows the Hollow's power, and he is our best shot at coming up with a plan." Marcel defended the witch.

"I have a plan of my own. We find this thing and its acolytes, we slaughter the lot of them. And then stack their bodies into a monument dedicated to those who would threaten my family." Klaus grinned.

"Right, right. There's just one problem with that. One of those bodies would be Sofya, and I want her alive."

"Please, Marcel. It's not a time to be sentimental. This is New Orleans, toss a few beads. You'll find another girl." Klaus told the vampire.

"That is the problem with you and your family, all right? You'll do anything to save your brother, but to hell with anyone else, right? It all seems a little familiar. The Hollow is evil, yes. Do we want to defeat it? Yes. But I'm not willing to stand by and watch someone that I care about become more Mikaelson collateral damage." Marcel stated.

"Oh, spare me your sanctimony. It was your refusal to make peace that led Elijah here last night. If you two had settled your differences..." Klaus started but Marcel cut him off,

"Enough! The only reason why you are still in this city is because I allow it. Now, do you want to fight me, or do you want to find a way to end this?"

..,..

"Now, do you want to fight me, or do you want to find a way to end this? You want a plan of attack, it comes down to this. Use the element of surprise. Now, Marcel will hand over the bone, and then stab the Hollow with Hayley's blood, and then I'm gonna cast the spell that buries her." Vincent explained.

"The Ancestors' spell requires a sacrifice. An Original has to die." Hayley said.

"Yeah, and right now, the Hollow is gonna use Elijah's death to come back, but there's a window where I can use the sacrifice to shove her back into her grave." Vincent told her.

"You'll forgive me for stating the obvious, but your plan does nothing to save my brother. In fact, it relies entirely upon his death." Klaus said as he walked in with Marcel.

"Easy. He's just trying to help." Marcel said.

"Klaus, Elijah's already dead. Now, the only thing that we can do right now is figure out whether or not that death is gonna count for something." Vincent told the hybrid.

"That's not a call any of us get to make. Especially not you. There has to be a way to save him." Hayley hoped.

"Freya, you still have the antidote we used to cure Marcel's bite?" Klaus asked his sister.

"I have it, yes. But I don't know if it'll work against the poison of the rosebush." Freya answered.

"You guys aren't listening, okay? Even if we do cure Elijah, we still have a big problem, that's called the Hollow. And it's just gonna keep coming at us until it resurrects. And when that happens, we're talking about an ancient, primal power that's made flesh and blood. It will wipe out this entire city in an afternoon, and ain't a damn thing that you or anybody else here can do about it. Now, my way? We take her out while she's still a spirit. Elijah dies, but at least his death counts for something." Vincent told the Mikaelson's.

"No. No, I'm not willing to discuss this any further." Klaus shook his head.

"What about your little girl? This thing wiped out the entire Labonair bloodline. It already got to Hope once, right? Now, this is a chance, Klaus. This is probably the one chance that you got. Now you want to blow that opportunity to maybe save your brother, or do you want to do you job and save your little girl?" Vincent asked the hybrid.

"Don't use my daughter to justify your absurd plan." Klaus snapped.

"Hey, his 'absurd' plan is the only plan that we've got. So maybe we should do a little less fighting, and a little more thinking." Marcel cut in.

"There's always a loophole. I have my mother's grimoires. I welcome you to study them with me." Freya told Vincent.

"Okay"

..,..

At an abandoned shack the Hollow speaks to Elijah, "Shh. It won't be long."

"Even if you finish this, my family will bury you." Elijah grunted.

"They will no doubt try, though I believe the odds are in my favor. I suppose you would have a chance of winning if you had your little Maximoff witch." The Hollow smiled.

Elijah furrowed his brows, "How do you know her."

"Someone above me who has told me about the girl, such a tragedy her death-" the Hollow turned to look at Elijah, "If she even is dead."

"You wish to poison my mind with lies." Elijah spat.

"No lies, just a warning. You're bigger problems will be if that girl ever returns, but enough about that. Once the ritual is completed, my spirit will return to New Orleans' soil. From it, I will be reborn far stronger than I have ever been." The Hollow grinned.

"You are just another body for my brother to slay." Elijah groaned.

"You expect your brother to avenge you? Inspired, perhaps, by duty to the familial bond. I've been inside Klaus' mind. You care for one another so deeply. It's quite ludicrous, this dedication to one's own blood. After all, look where it got you. Perhaps now you understand, family is a curse. We inherit the sins of those who come before us, and those sins are passed to the ones who come next. Like... your little niece."

"No! No! You will never..." Elijah started but the Hollow cut him off.

"Hurt her? Why? Because your family will protect her? You poor soul. The only person capable of protecting her is in a different world. You're family can't even save each other. But your niece? She who's born of my bloodline? She has the power to destroy me, and that... I cannot allow."

..,..

At the Lafayette Cemetery, Klaus speaks to Vincent, "Well, go on, your silence is deafening. Say it."

"Say what exactly?"

"That my impending execution pleases you. There's no shame in taking pleasure in finally felling a long-standing foe. 'The man who killed Klaus Mikaelson.' That'll make a lovely epitaph on your tombstone. May be engraved sooner than you think, if things don't go our way." Klaus told the witch.

"The truth is, Klaus, I never thought I'd live to see this day. See, growing up in New Orleans as kids, we hear stories about the evil Klaus Mikaelson."

"Yes, yes, and now I'll finally reap my just desserts." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"No. I was gonna say, here you are, finally living up to the potential that Cami saw in you. She would've been proud."

..,..

"How much longer?" Klaus asked.

"All that's left is your death. Once I scratch you with the thorns, I'll stake you in the heart to end things quick and painless. The Ancestors are gonna help me with everything else." Vincent explained.

"Might reconsider, Vincent. Or else your friend dies." Nathaniel said, appearing.

"Oh, you've got to be joking. Don't hesitate. Kill me now!" Klaus yelled.

"If you're so eager to die, be patient. Once the Hollow rises, she'll kill you herself." Nathaniel told the hybrid.

"Man, you don't have to do this. I mean, we're all New Orleans witches here, right?" Vincent asked the witch.

"You talk of witches as you make deals with vampires. It's 'cause of them that we need the Hollow."

"Please, man, she is never going to save you. She's just gonna damn you to hell."

"Okay. Enough talk." Klaus cut in.

"Vincent the thorns!" Maxine shouted.

"No! They're gone. I can't complete the sacrifice without them."

..,..

Freya has completed the pendent spell, "This isn't happening. Tell me Elijah's in there." Hayley told the witch.

"I can't tell yet. I've been reaching out, but..." Freya started.

"You're exhausted. Just take some time to gather yourself." Hayley cut off Freya.

"We've wasted enough time! My brother's soul is in that pendant, we need to find him and bring him back." Klaus shouted.

"Klaus, give her a moment to breathe." Hayley said to him.

"We failed him once already!" the hybrid yelled.

"Klaus, enough!"

"There's just... nothing. There's, there's nothing there. I think... I think he's gone." Freya said.

"Try again" Klaus told her.

"I am asking you to try again. I know he's in there." Klaus said starting to shake a bit.

"Klaus..." Hayley started.

"Try again!" the hybrid screamed.

"This is not happening. For a thousand years, my brother and I have walked this Earth. Countless times, death has come for us and countless times, we've denied her. He's not gone! He can't be." Klaus said sounding lost.

"What is that?" Hope asked as she appeared.

"Hope, oh. Go back to bed, sweetie, I'll be there in a second." Hayley told her daughter.

Hope gasped, "Did you see that? Did you feel it?" Freya asked her.

"Uncle Elijah. He sounds so far away." Hope answered.

"He's in there. You heard him, right?" Hayley asked Freya.

"Yes, I heard him. He's somewhere inside, but..."

"But what?" Klaus questioned.

"His voice sounds distorted, broken, like radio static and I just heard... his screaming."

..,..

The Hollow was reborn and rises from a tree. A figure is standing in front of her, "You know what to do now." the voice spoke to her.

"I do, but is it wise bringing someone strong enough to destroy us?" The Hollow questioned the person.

"She's still learning about herself, the poor girl doesn't even know the amount of power she holds. But if everything goes to plan, I will find out. You get what you want, this city, make use of her as you wish but you are not allowed to kill her."

"And if I don't comply?" The Hollow questioned.

Purple eyes suddenly glowed in the cold dark night.

"Don't press your luck sweetheart."

..,..