They stopped kissing when the screams came to an abrupt halt.
"I'm assuming Nik killed the witch," said Eisa as she and Hayley made their way to one of the drawing rooms, which had had a sink installed in it. "Well, brother," she watched him wash his hands and face to get the blood off, "that's a wonderful way to start the day."
"The torture, yes. Learning that our mother has Elijah captive, no."
"That bitch," said Eisa lowly. "She could have him anywhere. I could have one of my witches do a Locator Spell..."
"No," said Klaus, pulling his shirt up to wipe his face down. "Esther is too powerful. She won't easily be found. I need to draw her out."
He started to shut the sliding doors that would separate them, but Hayley stopped him. "Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm going to change my shirt," said the hybrid, "and then I'm going to find my brother." He started to shut the doors again, but Hayley thrust her arm between them.
"Klaus!" she hissed. "Let me come with you!"
The hybrid rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not. Eisa's just returned after being stabbed by Mikael with Papa Tunde's blade. She needs her rest, and you must keep her company."
"That's absurd!" said Eisa. "I won't remain here while Elijah's out being tortured by our mother. I want to go with you to draw her out."
"Out of the question. Our father got his hands on you and by some miracle, he let you live even though he had the white oak stake that would have ended you permanently. I will not give our mother the opportunity to harm you. Stay here, Eisa. I know you both wish to help, but you can't. Esther is wretched, we all know that. She will target Hayley in order to thwart the both of us, and we can't very well save Elijah if we're busy saving her, and each other, can we, Sister?"
"How about you run errands with me?" said Hayley. "The wolves need more things. We could go to the store together then come straight back."
Eisa knew she was really saying, 'Let's go do our own bit, against your brother's wishes.'
"Sure," said the Original. "I've apparently nothing better to do."
They waited until Klaus was gone to chat about it.
"Oliver's being held captive by Finn," said Hayley. "I need to save him. But you and I can't do that alone. I think we need to go find Jackson. So... I need you to lead me wherever it is that you saw that mystery wolf."
Eisa's mouth felt dry, but she forced a smile. "Sure. Do you have a plan, to get Finn out of the way? If I'm to be with you—"
"I do have a plan, actually. Come on, let's go see Marcel."
They used their vampire speed to carry them to Algiers. In his loft, they heard him speaking with Gia.
"There's no sign of Elijah anywhere," Gia reported.
"Yeah, the humans I know said the same thing," confirmed Marcel. "Maybe Klaus is having better luck?"
"No, he's not," announced Hayley as they walked in, "which sucks, considering how low the bar is around here. Listen, you two up for a rescue mission?"
Gia looked excited as she asked, "Are we going after Elijah?"
"Unfortunately no," said Eisa. "Nik is adamant about doing that bit alone, and I'm allowing it, because I just had an idea that will allow me to beat Esther to a pulp without worrying she'll body jump."
"We're talking about Oliver," said Hayley. "Now, he and Elijah were fighting the werewolves together. I've heard that Oliver's been captured and is about to be executed. Now, look—- if we can save Oliver, then we might be able to find out where Elijah is."
"Kay," said Marcel. "So, what do you want from us?"
"Just a little distraction," said the hybrid. "Finn is the one that's controlling the wolves. If you can keep him out of the way, Eisa and I can go get Ollie ourselves."
"And," piped up Eisa, "we might even be able to acquire Elijah's location from him."
Marcel held up his hand. "One thing. You can't take on all those wolves by yourselves. I know you're strong, Eisa, I don't doubt you, but I saw you show up to the Compound and collapse in Hayley's arms just hours ago. You're not at full strength and you know it. If you two get yourselves killed, I'll get killed for letting it happen."
"We're going to have more backup," said Hayley. "The werewolves may be answering to the witches, but they still have an Alpha. We just have to find him."
The two women left the loft after receiving nods from both Gia and Marcel. They moved into the Bayou, with Eisa leading the way.
"Why did you ask me to come?" asked Eisa curiously. "It couldn't just be because I had an idea where he might be. He could have moved by now, we both know that."
"How sneaky and disrespectful would it have been if I told you, 'hey, Eisa, I'm going to get Jackson, but I don't want you there, because you two tend to send each other the stink-eye every time you're close to one another'? You're the one I like. Not him. You couldn't be left alone, and I didn't want to be alone for this, either. I trust you. You make me feel safe. If there's anyone I want as backup for this, it's you. I want it all out in the open so you don't think I'm going behind your back and being dishonest."
"Well, good. If there's one thing I hate, it's cheaters. I know we're not together yet, but I require honesty from you, even now, because we both intend to be. I appreciate you telling me this upfront."
The two women, after walking around for nearly an hour, finally came across a beat-up trailer. They were about to approach it, but Hayley and Eisa both whirled around, catching four arrows that had been about to pierce their bodies.
"Is that your best shot?" yelled Hayley at a hidden figure, a bit aways from them. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you're gonna kill a hybrid and an Original."
The man that Eisa had seen before, stepped out with a new sword. "Look at you, old chap, you got your sword fixed!" said Eisa, cracking her knuckles. "Now, do you wish for a repeat of what happened before, or are you going to tell us where Jackson is now?"
"Stop!"
Jackson stepped out behind them, looking a bit more untidy than the last time they'd seen him.
"Jackson?" said Hayley, smiling at him.
"Hayley," he greeted. "Eisa. I see you met my friend Ansel."
"You know them?" asked Ansel, pointing at them with his sword.
"Yeah, I actually do," said Jackson. "Hayley was supposed to be my wife. Eisa's her... well... family."
Eisa and Jackson shared a tense look before the wolf turned around and led them to a seating area by a makeshift fire pit. Hayley and Eisa each took a chair by Jackson, while Ansel went to sit on a log to sharpen his knife.
"After Francesca Guerrera took over the wolves," Jackson explained, "she offered me a moonlight ring as long as I'd call her Alpha. I declined. So, a couple of her brothers dragged me out here and left me for dead. By the time I healed up, word had spread about what happened to you, and to your baby."
Hayley looked down at her feet as he continued, "So, I knew it was over, and I just drifted. And that's when I met Ansel. See, he's been teaching me the old ways, the traditions. What it means to be a wolf."
Hayley scoffed a bit. "You mean by living out in the ass-end of nowhere?"
"Hey, easy," said Jackson, laughing only slightly. "Your kind makes him ornery."
"My kind?" said Hayley, appearing to be offended. "Jack, whatever you and your friend think of me, my kind is the wolves. Even if they did pledge allegiance to a witch. All that means is they need an Alpha. Ollie needs one, too."
"Yeah, I heard about that," muttered Jackson. "The thing is, Ollie betrayed me. He plotted with the Guerreras. He spilled his own people's blood."
Hayley sighed. "He was trying to make up for that."
"It doesn't matter. Witches have him— he's dead. Not that I care."
Eisa slapped her own thighs as she got up. "I can see this trip was absolutely useless. You know, Jackson, I admired some part of you in the past because of your loyalty— the kind of loyalty wolves display, the kind of loyalty I never really got from my siblings. How dare you make Hayley out to be an outsider to the wolves, just because she's a hybrid, then turn your back on someone who was once your friend? I don't care what he did to you, to be frank. But he is your family. And I led Hayley here under the impression that the Crescent Alpha would help us rescue him. Clearly, we were mistaken."
Hayley pursed her lips, before also getting up. "I'll save Ollie myself, Jack," she said in a bit of a hard voice. She noticed Ansel was on his feet as well, and she frowned, "Hey, you got a problem, old man?"
"I have no love of vampires," Ansel responded, "but I will not allow a wolf to be killed by witches."
He brushed past Hayley and Eisa, which caused the hybrid to murmur, "At least someone is interested," before she and Eisa followed along.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Hayley called Marcel.
"Tell me you have your Alpha," answered the vampire.
"He's out of commission, but I got the next best thing," she said. "I'm assuming you have a plan to keep Finn occupied?"
A brief pause. "Yeah... yeah, I think I might have an idea."
"One more thing," said Eisa, taking the phone from Hayley before Marcel could hang up. "Don't hurt him. Please. He's still my brother."
"As long as he doesn't lay a hand on Cami, there won't be a reason for me to return the favor."
"Fair."
The trio continued to make their way to the Lafayette Cemetery. While she walked, Eisa was messaging Isela, asking her to be on standby for a spell she had in mind. She'd let Hayley briefly see the screen, to catch a glimpse of a picture of Hope before shutting her phone off so Ansel wouldn't see it.
Inside the Lycée, they found Oliver chained up, and half unconscious.
"Ollie!" hissed Hayley once they snuck in. "Ollie, wake up!"
"The hell are you doing?" he asked groggily, lifting his head, and fixing his eyes on Ansel. "Who the hell is that?"
"We're here to save your ass," said Hayley. "Please tell me you know where Elijah is?"
Oliver shook his head. A noise outside led Ansel to go to the window. "They know we're here," he announced.
Both Hayley and Eisa were able to hear the thumps that indicated that wolves were jumping from crypts and heading their way.
"Sorry," said Hayley, "no time to be gentle." She yanked the chains down, keeping Oliver from hitting the floor too harshly. "Let's go."
"Just leave me here," Oliver pleaded as Ansel prepared his quiver. "Go!"
"To hell with that!" said the hybrid. "They want a fight, I'll give them a fight."
"No," said Ansel sharply. "I came with you to save one of my own, not watch as you kill scores of them. Take your friend out the back, move as fast as you can. I'll hold them off here." He then looked at Eisa. "Go and look for your brother. Elijah might be here somewhere."
Hayley started to lead Oliver away, but Eisa stopped, staring at the man. "I never said anything about my brother," she said slowly. "I never even said the name 'Elijah,' in either of our meetings."
"I don't wish for you to kill any wolves," he said, ignoring what she'd said. "Go."
Albeit skeptical, she sped off, starting to look through tombs as fast as she could, hoping she'd find Elijah in one of them.
At last, she located him. Bound in chains, with a puppet doll hung in a similar way beside his head. Eisa ripped the doll off, then broke the chains holding Elijah in place. Immediately, she bit into her wrist and pressed it against his mouth, making him drink. Outside, she could hear the grunts and cries of pain that let her know Ansel was indeed holding the wolves off.
"What do we have here?" she said, her eyes catching sight of a familiar hairpin, one she'd given to her mother just before the Mikaelson Ball. "Oh, how wonderful..."
She set up a call with Isela immediately, scrambling around to get her materials.
"What is it you wish me to do?" asked Isela on the other line.
"I need you to trap her in the body she's in. Here, I'm sending you a hairpin of hers and some of my blood—" she finished her salt circle and put the items in. Isela chanted, and both items disappeared.
She cradled Elijah in her arms, willing him to wake up as she listened to Isela performing the spell. She tapped her foot anxiously against the ground, hoping it would be enough. Even if the spell was temporary, Eisa needed it, because otherwise, her plan could not work.
"It's done," said Isela, and the sound of a baby crying arose in the background. "Sorry, I have to go."
"Thank you," said Eisa, hanging up and sweeping the salt away, pocketing the hairpin and the blood as it returned to her.
A scuffling sound outside made her sit up nervously, but it was only Klaus, looking as though he'd seen a ghost.
"We must go," he said urgently, picking Elijah up, and not bothering to question why Eisa was there in the first place. "Is he—?"
"He won't wake."
Eisa stepped protectively in front of both her brothers, looking at Esther, who was still in Lenore's body.
"Not yet," continued the Original witch. "Which gives us all one last chance to discuss my offer."
"You promised me Elijah's safe return," snapped Klaus. "Or, was that a lie, just like that ghoulish atrocity outside claiming to be my father, back from the dead?"
Eisa was confused, until Esther said, "Your father's return is real. I pulled Ansel from the Other Side before it collapsed, left him in the Bayou to join the wolves. And, I used the execution of one of his own to draw him here, where I knew he'd find you."
"To what end?" spat Klaus. "Besides my torment?"
"I brought him here to be the father you never had," Esther said, as if her intentions ought to be celebrated. "To teach you to be the man you always longed to be. Once you are remade as a werewolf, you can join him."
The hybrid stormed toward her. "His return changes nothing!"
"It changes everything," countered Esther. "It is my gift to you, Niklaus. This offer is your last chance at salvation. Reject me now, and you will live out your endless days unloved and alone. Do not refuse me out of some ancient spite—"
"Not spite," Klaus interrupted. "Hatred. A pure and perfect hatred that's greater now than the day I first took your life!"
"Why, after all I've done to explain to you, why must you persist—"
Eisa was shocked when Klaus put Esther in a chokehold, slamming her head into the wall. "BECAUSE YOU CAME FOR MY CHILD!" he roared. "MY DAUGHTER! Your own blood!"
"You... don't... understand!" Esther gasped.
"MY CHILD!" Klaus reiterated.
"Niklaus!" she croaked. "I had to!" She lifted her fingers, making Klaus's nose start to bleed.
He only gripped her throat harder. "You declared war when you came after my family. And, for that, I will make you suffer as only I can. After all, I am my mother's son."
He tossed her to the floor, and it was Eisa's turn to walk toward her.
"How dare you make yourself out to be the mother of everyone's dreams?" she sneered, pulling her up by her hair. "All you've done is make things worse for yourself. It's over, Mother. I won't be letting you harm our family anymore."
She bit into her own wrist, shoving it against Esther's mouth and forcing her to drink. The witch struggled, flailing her arm, but Eisa pried her lips open, and the blood spilled in. She snapped the woman's neck, before dropping her carelessly to the floor.
"I'll send a servant to bring her a blood bag," said Eisa, ignoring the shocked look on her brother's face. "Take Elijah home."
"You were with Ansel," he said slowly.
"I didn't know who he was, Nik. If I had known, I'd have called you immediately."
"He said nothing of me?"
"No. But I did wonder how he knew Elijah was my brother when I'd never mentioned him. He knows all of us. I'd seen him in the Bayou before, the last time I went to look for Jackson. He'd heard me calling you."
Klaus looked down at Esther. "How can you be sure she won't have jumped into another body by now?"
"She can't. I had Isela trap her in it just moments before you arrived. She'll be a vampire now, and she can't do magic. Finn will inevitably find out what I did, and he might not be so kind. Which is why, the next order of business is to get our brothers on our side, as soon as Elijah is better. We need to be united against Mikael, because he could kill us all easily. If Kol and Finn hear us out, we can work to make amends. We'd be rid of Mikael, and then, Hope could return. I can't imagine Finn would be cruel to his niece. He's always liked children."
Klaus nodded, scooping Elijah up and speeding away.
He hadn't yet woken, even hours later, when he lay on his bed, sweating and shivering. Eisa had helped to clean him up, trying a few herbal mixtures to help him. At the very least, it allowed them to find a mark that clued them into what was happening with Elijah. Klaus made it his mission to go and fetch the antidote, instructing Eisa to remain by Elijah's side.
"Word on the street is, Finn's pissed," said Hayley, returning from the Bayou after Oliver's funeral. Apparently, their rescue had been for nothing. He'd been cursed to die long before they even knew he was to be executed. "Marcel and I have an idea to get him here, if that's still what you want."
"Yes, please," said Eisa, caressing Elijah's hand.
"Cami is gonna help keep Finn distracted again. He has a thing for her. Could I count on you to meet us at St. Anne's Church later, to give us a little extra muscle in case he puts up a good fight?"
"Of course. Let me know when you'll be there, and I'll go. One of my witches is trying to locate the white oak stake as we speak. With it, we'll find Davina and Kol, and we can fetch my baby brother next. Be careful, will you, Hayley? Finn is likely furious with me, and he knows that he can hurt you to get his revenge."
"You think he'd do that? I thought you were his favorite sister."
"I don't know if I still am, after I turned our mother into a vampire. He adores Esther. I might as well have stabbed him in the back."
"But he knows you hate her. He acknowledged that. He didn't kidnap you when she asked it of him."
"The point is that I don't know for certain, Hayley. He could lash out at you, and if he harms you because of something I did, I won't be able to forgive myself. Please. All I ask is that you be cautious."
"I will be."
Hayley called her as evening neared, asking if she could get to the church. Compelling one of the servants to keep an extra cautious eye on Elijah, Eisa sped off, taking her position in the back hallway, waiting for Finn to come in.
He knew how to make an entrance. Aiden's body was tossed right through the door, landing against a pew and making him slam his head so hard, he passed out. Though Josh was supposed to be waiting on the opposite hallway as Eisa, he sped forward to see if he was alright, and when Finn saw him, he flicked his wrist, snapping Josh's neck.
"Camille!" he yelled. "CAMILLE!"
Hayley burst out from behind him, tackling him to the ground. "First, I'm going to kick your ass," she said as they both got up. "Then, I'm going to take my pack back."
"Your pack?" Finn laughed. "Last I checked, your pack was blindly following me."
"You wanna talk about following? How do your mother's boots taste?"
She kicked Finn right in the face, and his mouth began to bleed. Eisa sped forward, coming between them. "That's enough," she told Hayley, not having been aware that actually attacking him was part of the plan. She seized Finn's hands. "Brother, we need to talk."
"Talk?" he spat. "So, you'd help them attack me?"
"Not attack you. Subdue you, because I can't trust you won't hurt our brothers after what I did to Esther."
"To our mother, Eisa!" he snapped, ripping himself out of her hold. "The woman who birthed you!"
"The woman who let us be beat black and blue!" Eisa snarled back. "The woman who took away my magic! The woman who tried to kill us all and has manipulated you into doing her every bidding!"
Finn held his hand up, and both Hayley and Eisa flew back, with Eisa slamming into the altar. "You're blinded," he yelled. "Blinded! All of you! This is the only way you'll be able to see—"
He lifted his other hand, making Eisa hold her head, screaming in pain as he kept her from coming closer as he walked toward Hayley. "Hybrids die by losing their head or their heart. And, given the choice, I'm going to take the organ that got you into this mess in the first place."
"FINN!" Eisa screeched, trying to claw her way forward as he started to chant, making Hayley spit out blood, hands desperately trying to keep her heart from flying out. "FINN! DON'T! DON'T KILL HER!"
An arrow zoomed out from above, and the spell came to a stop. Finn staggered forward, and looked back just as Jackson jumped down from the balcony with a bow and quiver of arrows in hand. Another arrow flew into Finn's thigh, and when he tried to get away, Cami bolted toward him, slapping on a pair of manacles that rendered Finn unable to do any magic.
"You would have done the same thing to me, Finn," said Cami in a hard voice.
Jackson was already at Hayley's side when Eisa had barely recovered from her own pain. "Are you okay?" he asked, brushing some hair out of her face. "I'm so sorry I made you wait."
"Your timing was pretty awesome, actually," said Hayley, putting a hand on his shoulder to hold herself up.
"Hayley," said Eisa, refraining from even looking at Jackson. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," she assured her. "You should go check on Elijah."
Eisa almost committed a murder when Jackson said, "Hayley, is it okay if we could go somewhere private to talk?"
She was fuming when she got back to the Compound, but her anger dissipated when she found Klaus beside an awake Elijah.
"I'm so sorry," she said, rushing to her brother's side. "Hayley needed help with something and—"
"It's alright, Sister," said Elijah, rubbing his head. "I must bathe. Could you both please step out?"
They did as told, and it was clear to Eisa that Klaus was holding back an angry retort.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I was only gone a minute—"
"I spent the day with my father," he said, choosing to change the subject. "My real father."
She faltered. "Oh. You did?"
Klaus gave a bitter laugh. "Esther brought him back from the dead, believing he could convince me to renounce vampirism. The thought of what I could be, had I been raised by him. Had I been nurtured. This was his." He pulled a notebook out from behind his back, revealing Ansel had sketched Klaus, when he was just a teenager.
"He knew about Hope," Klaus whispered as Eisa ran her fingertips over the picture.
She stopped, and Klaus continued, "I wanted to trust him more than anything in the world. I-I wanted to, but..." he shook his head, starting to tear up. "I couldn't be sure. And, I would never forgive myself if something happened to her because of my selfish desire for a father. So, I killed him. Without hesitation. I killed him."
"You protected your daughter," Eisa told him, slowly putting her arms around him. "You did what any father would have done. What Ansel would have done. If you fear resentment... don't. A good parent always forgives. He knows what it's like, having a child, and being unable to keep it safe."
Klaus let out a quiet sob, letting his head fall onto her shoulder. "Do you forgive me?"
"Yes. Always and forever."
A/N: Soooo I'll definitely be publishing my Finn story after I finish this one. I'm excited for it!! Comment for more :)