Enigmatic Distances: A Klaus Mikaelson Story {6}

Chapter 45: Tough Parts Included

~Marcel POV~

"Top-notch day, huh?" Josh said as the two drank together in Marcel's loft. But Marcel wasn't exactly feeling the power of the so-called top-notch day. "At least you got the thorns. That's a win, right?"

"If we're lucky, Vincent can siphon off the power." Marcel replied. "And help Sofya. Then it's a win."

"Well, you don't sound all that optimistic." Josh told him. "Is this about Sofya...or Rebekah?"

"Klaus used to tell me that having power made you a target. Having allies made you vulnerable." Marcel told him. "So choose, you can have one or the other. Power or friends."

"You know that's psychotic, right?"

"Yeah." Marcel said with a small smile. "But then, maybe there's some truth to it too."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm pretty glad you're my friend." Josh told him. "Whatever's coming, whatever this city's gonna face—The Hollow, The Mikaelsons—I know that you will do the right thing. I have never doubted that."

"The Hollow is unlike anything we've ever faced." Marcel told him. "There's a darkness to her...a coldness. I tell you Josh, as strong as I am, she took me down like I was nothing. I've seen her go up against Fiore and win. I can't do this on my own. We're gonna need all the allies we can get. Vincent, Sofya, Klaus, Odessa. Even Rebekah. Or else this fight's over before it starts."

~Hayley POV~

Hayley sat on the sofa, examining the pendant in which Elijah's consciousness lived. The place where the red door lived. The place where the darkest parts of Elijah's being lived.

"From what I heard, you saved the day." Fiore said as she sauntered towards Hayley.

"I wouldn't say that." Hayley told her darkly.

"Let me guess, you ventured into Elijah's shattered mind and he was wearing a suit that hadn't been ironed. Gasp!" Fiore said with a chuckle. "And now like his mind, your illusion of an immaculate Elijah is shattered."

"Yeah. The illusion is definitely shattered." Hayley told her sadly. "Fiore, I went through the red door."

The smile on Fiore's face turned into a look of shock and her eyes only bore the abject look of horror. The same horror that Hayley had felt, but now that she had felt Fiore's horror, she knew that her illusion of Elijah was rightfully shattered.

"Why?" Fiore asked her.

"I tried to save him." Hayley replied. "But the things I saw, the innocent people, the slaughter—I really thought that I would find him in a good place. But he chose the darkest part of himself."

"You knew what he was going into this Hayley. What we all are." Fiore said quietly, trying to think of the right thing to say. "All of us have committed countless atrocities over the years. But whilst Elijah's methods may be askew, his motivation is not. Because as much as I hate to admit, Elijah truly only does things for his family. And perhaps he isn't as upfront about it as the rest of us are, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Whilst we all lose sight of that every once in a while, Elijah has never strayed from his goal—the desire for us to be more than monsters. I suppose in that sense, he's better than all of us."

Fiore went to leave and Hayley mustered the courage to tell her the other horror she had seen behind the red door.

"We were there." Hayley told her. "The two of us, we were there. He had killed us."

"The red door isn't just a space for memories." Fiore explained. "It keeps your darkest desires and your most baleful betrayals. Elijah must feel like he betrayed us in some way. It's nothing to worry about, we're still here."