Elijah arrived before the firetrucks did.
He'd already been on his way, it seemed, to ask Cami for help. He'd gone to speak with Freya, who suggested using Hope to lure Dahlia into a trap. He was hoping the young psychologist could give him access to her storage of dark objects, which would allow them to make a good trap without endangering Hope.
"Camille," he said in shock when he found her inside the ruined building. "What has happened?"
He saw Ingrid a second after he spoke, and he could tell by the way she was covering her face that this was her doing. He stared at Cami as if she was insane for allowing Ingrid anywhere near her. Ingrid couldn't see his face, but she had a feeling that Cami had been offering her help against the Mikaelsons' advice. They likely feared Ingrid would kill Cami instantly, and hadn't wanted her to risk her life.
"I will have someone fix this," he said, knowing that he couldn't allow Rousseau's to remain this damaged. "We must go." He whisked both women away. When they landed in the Compound, he set Ingrid on one of the couches, standing protectively in front of Cami, as if to interrogate the witch.
But the blonde shoved him aside. "Elijah, no," she said firmly. "She didn't hurt me. And she won't. She came to me for help, to break the control Dahlia has on her. She broke free of it, Elijah. She can help you now."
"Please," said Ingrid weakly, looking up at him. "Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry... I never wanted to hurt anyone. I couldn't stop myself from beating you all up or killing Aiden. I can't take back what I did. But I have information that can be useful. So please... please don't hurt me."
"I suggest you speak quickly," said Elijah, who seemed to relax when he realized perhaps Ingrid might have an idea that could stop Freya from trying to locate Hope to use her as bait.
"The ingredients are wrong. Dahlia told me herself. Esther's blood is needed, not Freya's. She's the one who broke her heart. If anything— their blood combined is the key. But Freya's alone is not the answer."
His eyes widened. "Esther is dead. Her true body has been dead for even longer. We have no way of acquiring her blood."
"Well, we're going to have to find a way," said Ingrid. "Dahlia is in Klaus's mind as we speak, trying to convince him to side with her."
Elijah scoffed. "That is absurd. Niklaus would never, no matter how betrayed he feels. How did she manage—?"
"He didn't drink the tea Freya made, to prevent him from being kenned. In his weakened state, jumping into his mind was easy." She drew a deep breath. "Which means we have a few options. We either wake Klaus up now to get Dahlia out of his head, then find a way to resurrect Esther, or have someone go to disrupt Dahlia's spell so that she can't manipulate him into helping her get Hope."
"But Klaus wouldn't do that," said Cami confidently.
"Unless she promises what I figure she will," said Ingrid. "Dahlia endured abuse at the hands of the Vikings to protect Esther and my mother, Frida. When Esther fell for Mikael, she abandoned magic, and her sisters. Frida was the only one who stood by her, the only one who seemed to understand the sacrifice Dahlia made. So she twisted that loyalty, twisted my mother, and when she bled out birthing me, she did nothing, because in the end, power was more important than family. Maybe she thought she was being merciful because my father was dead, and my mother would never see him again anyway.
"Once, I recall, Dahlia told me that she thinks Freya and I might have been more obedient from the start if we had a parental figure that could give us the love she couldn't provide, while she handled our instruction. She didn't know how to care for children, nor did our wellbeing matter to her beyond obtaining our power. She knows she was too harsh and emotionally incapable of being a good mentor. If she were to offer Klaus the chance to raise Hope while Dahlia acts as her teacher and gains her power, he might be willing to accept. Especially because he knows that Hayley took Hope from him. She will twist that. She will use what Hayley did wrong to—"
Elijah held up his hand, and Ingrid immediately said, "Let's not pretend that what Hayley did was a good idea," she said a bit scathingly, annoyed he interrupted her when she was saying something important. "My point is that Klaus can and willbe turned to her side if Dahlia plays that card, which I assume she will. She'll use him to track Hayley and get Hope. My Locator Spell already found her, and Klaus's senses will pinpoint her precise location."
This seemed to concern the Original more. "You found her? Dahlia knows where she is?"
"Unfortunately she forced me to find her before I went to see Cami," admitted Ingrid. "So yes, she knows."
"But how is that possible? Freya has been attempting to find her all morning and has not yet been successful."
Ingrid thought about it for a moment. "I imagine Dahlia corrupted the spell that allows us all to channel each other. Dahlia was the one who created the spell, so she can control who Freya and I can channel. Usually, it's all three of us at once. But if she were to block Freya from channeling us, while simultaneously letting herself and me channel Freya... then it makes sense. I had the power of two other insanely strong witches when I tried to find Hayley. Freya has the power of one. And while she is strong... Dahlia is stronger. And she's weakening her even slightly." She bit her lip. "So, make your choice. Either undagger Klaus right now or see if you can get someone to disrupt Dahlia's spell on him. If Klaus sides with her, I don't know how much of a chance she'll stand. She'd surely begin to wield Klaus like a weapon if he helps her abscond with Hope."
Elijah rubbed his chin, before facing Cami. "Davina and Rebekah are in the Claire Tomb determining a way to lure Dahlia into a trap without using Hope. If you would please take your dark objects to them, they could help." He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. "Freya managed to resurrect Finn. Ingrid, would you be able to resurrect Esther to ensure we have the right weapon to kill Dahlia once she is lured into a killing ground of Freya's creation?"
"Finn survived because Freya used her pendant to shield him. I don't have one of those, and Esther has been dead awhile. I don't know how fast I can manage it, but I can and will try. Still, that doesn't answer the question I have. Undagger Klaus, or disrupt Dahlia's spell?"
"Either way will disrupt her spell. The latter will result in a direct confrontation that could be lethal, however, it would ensure we can keep Niklaus out of the picture so that he will not harm Hayley for what she's done. The former would lead to Niklaus going after Hayley immediately." He was clearly not sure what to do.
Ingrid figured she needed to make the decisions. "Fine. We'll do it my way. I will be as considerate as possible. Cami—" she faced the blonde, "dark objects, and help the girls make a decoy. Elijah," she turned to her cousin, "we will likely need Hope's blood for the decoy anyway. Therefore, you will need to find Hayley anyway. Get the blood, get Hayley and Hope back here. I will make a tea to keep Klaus's mind safe, then I will undagger him and explain the situation and hope he doesn't kill me. I need him to show me where to get Esther's remains. If he isn't cooperative... then I will try my best to keep him at bay. Have Freya prepare the killing ground and get just enough Viking ash and Norwegian soil to begin forging the weapon."
"What about Dahlia?" said Cami. "Who will handle her?"
Ingrid went pale. "Shit. Shit..." she closed her eyes, her hands trembling. "Okay. Dahlia will be aware of what we're planning if we do anything with Klaus. Undaggering him or protecting him... we just have to hope that he doesn't fall for her words. So... someone should be here monitoring him while we handle everything else. I need to find where Esther is buried, so—"
"Marcel will take you," said Elijah, bringing out his phone. "I assume you know him."
"I do," said Ingrid. "Which leaves... who, exactly, to watch Klaus?"
Elijah seemed to curse internally. Apparently, there was a shortage of people willing to help them. "Nevermind," said Ingrid hastily. "We work fast and hope to whatever deities you all believe in that she doesn't manage to undagger him herself. Because we need someone strong to keep him down and if no one is available..."
"We work fast," repeated Elijah, assenting.
Marcel arrived within five minutes, and immediately grabbed Ingrid, speeding her to the backyard of a burned-down house.
"Last time we met, you weren't so nice," he said as he showed her the fresh earth where Esther's coffin was.
"Last time we met, I was under a spell that forced me to be an asshole to everyone," she murmured. She concentrated, waving her hands over the dirt and causing it to explode into the air, in a contained cloud that didn't spray either of them. She used her magic to levitate the coffin, bringing it out. "Bring me an urn, if you can."
"Be right back," he said, zooming away. She opened the coffin, seeing a body that was mostly bones and rotted flesh. Cringing, she lit it on fire, allowing it to begin burning.
When Marcel came back with the urn, she gathered the ashes. "That was the easy part," she said quietly. "The hard part is bringing her back to life. If I channel that much power... Dahlia will know I'm up to something. But it's the only way I stand a chance at resurrecting her. She's still an Ancestor of the French Quarter because of her consecration. Maybe... there is a witch who I can channel to minimize the magic Dahlia senses me using."
"I don't know any witches who will be willing to help," said Marcel. "Davina and Rebekah are busy, Vincent Griffith is only willing to help unlink Rebekah to the children Eva Sinclair kidnapped, and Josephine La Rue already did this family a huge favor. Your cousins don't exactly have the best history with the New Orleans Covens."
"Don't know why I expected anything different," she murmured. "Okay. Then I'm going to need dark objects. I need to get to the Lafayette Cemetery, can you—"
Marcel didn't even ask before whisking her away again. When they landed in front of the Claire tomb, Ingrid immediately walked in, startling the three women inside.
Thankfully, it seemed Cami had just finished explaining the situation. "Figured anything out yet?" she asked, setting the urn down on the table. "Time is running out."
"No," said Rebekah. "We have the idea to use a golem, however, Vincent insists Dahlia won't be fooled unless we give the baby a real heartbeat."
"So?" said Ingrid. "Grab a baby from a hospital, use that as the heartbeat, then just put the child back when you're done. Nothing will happen to it."
"Is that actually safe?" asked Cami.
"It is if you do the spell right," said Ingrid, as if it was obvious. She turned to Marcel. "Get one nearly the same age as Hope."
He left without protest.
Ingrid started to pace, thinking. "Freya might stand a better chance of resurrecting Esther without Dahlia finding out. However, she has no interest in bringing her mother back. Then again, she can channel the French Quarter Ancestors to a certain extent. The killing ground will not be completely perfect unless Esther's blood is used. Which means we need to call Freya here to help me bring her back." She rubbed her forehead. "Bloody fucking hell I've never had to think on the fly like this for anything, this aches."
"You're still weak from the magic you released earlier," said Cami worriedly. "Maybe you need to rest."
"I can't rest. This is the first time I've been free of Dahlia's control for more than five minutes in centuries. If I don't get on top of this... I'm going to get captured again and she..." she turned away. "She's going to punish me for it in a worse way this time."
Davina frowned. "In what way?" she asked. "Putting you to sleep?"
Ingrid shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's get to work. One of you needs to contact Freya, please. If I try to go into her mind to tell her to come here, Dahlia might sense it."
Rebekah went to call her sister. Cami seemed more concerned when Ingrid went to sit down, pinching her own arms.
"Hey," she said. "Listen, you don't have to admit it if you don't want to, but I can tell that whatever punishment you're thinking of... the idea of it really scares you."
Ingrid heaved a sigh. "Long ago I had Freya help me with a spell that would sterilize me. I did not wish to be a mother, and I did not wish to provide children for Dahlia to control. It infuriated her. And she tried her hardest to break the spell but couldn't. Even if she had, it wouldn't have done anything. I would never have gotten pregnant."
"Wait, why?" asked Cami, who wasn't sure if she had some magical way of sterilizing men temporarily.
"Because I don't sleep with people who have the ability to impregnate me," Ingrid said quietly.
"Oh." Cami blushed. "That makes sense. Continue. Sorry I interrupted."
"It's alright. The point is she was just losing it because I apparently denied her that which is 'rightfully' hers. And she basically threatened to put me to sleep... to find a way to remove the spell... and have someone..." she couldn't even finish the sentence. "She'd make me bear her a child whether I liked it or not, whether I was conscious or not. All because last time it went poorly since she just couldn't let Freya be happy. Oh my god..." she covered her mouth. "Freya. I've been awful to her."
"Not of your own volition," said Cami reasonably.
"Still. It does not change all the ways that I've hurt her. Biologically, she is my cousin. But in reality, she's my sister. I would not have survived Dahlia's torment if I didn't have her."
"Tell her that, when she arrives. I think Freya will just be happy to see you. Glad that you're free."
Ingrid was pacing in the back corner of the tomb while they waited for the eldest Mikaelson to arrive. When she did, the brunette looked up at her, gulping as Freya immediately made a beeline for her, then pulled her into a tight hug.
"I never should have left you," she whispered, caressing the back of her head. "I shouldn't have abandoned you with her, no matter how many times you begged for me to run."
"If you hadn't left when you did, she would have hurt us both more," said Ingrid, resting her head against her shoulder. "Freya... I am so sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for," she said, drawing back to hold her shoulders. "You are my sister, Ingrid. And I will forgive you for anything. Now, what must we do? You know Dahlia best."
"We have to bring back Esther and we need to do it fast," said Ingrid, rubbing her hands together. "She's going to twist Klaus's thoughts with every extra minute she spends in his mind." She checked the time. "Elijah should be back with Hayley. And with Hope's blood." She glanced at the golem in Davina's hands. "The decoy will work perfectly but we need a reason for her to show up at the killing ground. Do you believe you can get it done soon?"
"I can try," said Freya. "However, it will not be at its full potential until we obtain Esther's blood." She clearly didn't look pleased at the prospect of bringing her mother back. "I will perform the spell to resurrect Esther, and channel you to prevent Dahlia from sensing your overuse of magic. Instead, you can prepare a preliminary killing ground."
Ingrid assented. "I will return to the Compound, where I assume you're keeping the Viking ash?"
"Check the art room. Niklaus placed the ash in his paintings. I was thinking we could place the paintings around the courtyard as borders."
"Good. With any luck, Hope will be back, and I can cloak them when they head to a different safehouse. Near enough that Klaus won't murder Hayley if he wakes up prematurely."
She booked it back to the Compound, walking as fast as her high-heeled boots would allow her. Her heart was beating a million miles per hour, her neurons firing at ten times that speed. This was going well, so far, which was either a very good bit of luck bestowed upon them, or a horrible false sense of security that Dahlia was allowing them.
Klaus was still daggered when she took a peek at him. Leaving him that way, she went to his art room, gathering the paintings and pinning them up around the courtyard in the least obvious way possible. Given he'd made a lot of obvious orange splotches, it still clashed no matter what she tried, so she wove her hands, creating the illusion that they were different landscapes she'd seen in the room beside these paintings.
"All we need is Esther's blood," she said, having mixed the remaining Norwegian soil with salt to spread over the paintings. She couldn't afford to use the salt to make a physical boundary, because Dahlia would both see it and sense it and wouldn't cross into the killing grounds. "Damn it. Where is Elijah? How long does it take to—?"
She saw Elijah walk in right at that moment. But he was alone.
"Where is Hayley?" she demanded. "And Hope?"
He offered her a syringe full of blood. "Hayley did not deem it safe to return."
Ingrid glared at him, and didn't take it. "You weren't supposed to give her a choice, you were supposed to bring her here—"
He held up a hand. "I am aware that you wish to help us, but make no mistake, I will always respect her choices and I will not force her to come where she feels unsafe."
"Are you kidding me? She is a million times more unsafe in the Bayou with no magic to protect her. Anyone could find them there and what are the wolves going to do? Bark at Dahlia? We can snap their necks with ease, Elijah. If Dahlia lifts both her hands, every single wolf will drop either asleep or fully dead and she will channel that same power from their deaths to incapacitate Hayley and get to Hope. Go back and get them!"
Elijah was not liking the tone she took on. She noticed it. "Let me guess, now you're starting to doubt me because I'm getting overwhelmed," she muttered. "I am trying to help but I continue to grow more agitated when my plan is not followed. I am the one who knows what Dahlia may or may not do. I am the one who was most aware of her plans. Given she hasn't shown up to murder me, I am still in the clear, and she won't remove me from the playing field. You need me. And I am doing my best to formulate a plan that won't hurt anyone unnecessarily. You do not need to trust me but you need to accept and respect that my opinion holds a higher value now than anyone else's."
"I will not put my niece in danger," he said firmly. "Marcel informed me that you asked him to obtain a real child to execute this idea."
"And nothing will happen to that child as long as you all listen to me." She crossed her arms. "Are you going to continue questioning me or are you going to do what was asked of you?"
He pointed an accusatory finger at her. "You will not endanger any children, whatsoever. You find another way."
"There is no other way!" she said impatiently, realizing that her luck had started to burn out. Now, it was really beginning to get into the intense life-or-death situation she hadn't been looking forward to. "We need a heartbeat, a real person's heartbeat to link the blood to so that the golem—"
Next thing she knew, he was stabbing her with the needle at the end of the syringe, injecting the blood to her.
"What did you do?" she shrieked angrily.
"Hope's blood is now in you, therefore, Dahlia will now be hunting you," said Elijah. "If all you needed was a beating heart, then you have it. Though I question the purity of your heart's intent, I hear it beating just fine."
"You doubt me?" she fumed. "I am attempting to escape a woman who has mentally abused me and controlled me for centuries. A woman who wishes to use me as an incubator to grow her coven! If I am using a child it's not because I do not care for it, it's because Dahlia is a powerful witch who won't be fooled if the heartbeat she hears is that of an adult instead of a baby! Childrens' hearts beat faster! You've ruined my plan!"
He just stared at her, and she glared at him hatefully, recalling something she'd heard from before she arrived in New Orleans. "You really are just a monster deep down, aren't you? Wearing the face of a noble man and pretending you are better than everyone else when in reality, you're just as screwed up as the rest of us. I have also done awful things, without the mind control. But at the very least I accept that side of myself. You, you show your true colors after being an elitist dick and letting people feel safe around you... only to turn on them."
She walked back into the killing ground, sighing angrily as she went to cloak the paintings entirely, doing her best to make it very hard for anyone to sense that the courtyard was different, magically, than the rest of the house. She noticed Elijah was still there. "Why are you standing there?" she said harshly. "Go and ensure the golem is ready. See if Freya requires help resurrecting your mother."
He left without a second glance at her.
"Stupid, stupid men," she murmured.
In an hour, the others were back, and they met in one of the upstairs studies.
"I can perform the spell to keep the golem active," said Rebekah. "But first, Vincent will aid me in unlinking myself from the children Eva Sinclair was channeling, so as to not hurt them. I will use dark objects to accomplish that. Then, Davina will work to become Regent of the Nine Covens, which would allow her to round up the witches and bring them to our aid if need be. Freya is still attempting to resurrect Esther. She has not yet had any luck."
Elijah's phone chimed, and he frowned, seeing he had a voicemail, despite not getting a call. He put it on speaker and played it when he saw Hayley's name on the screen.
"Elijah," she said, "I'm calling to say goodbye. Hope and I... we can't be part of your family anymore. All Hope's life, her family has tried to destroy her. That can't be my little girl's story. Family is supposed to love you. Even if she is free of Dahlia's first-born curse, Hope will still be Klaus's daughter. She'd inherit a thousand years of enemies, all his anger and rage. I don't want Hope to be a Mikaelson. All the pain that comes with that name... she doesn't deserve that. Elijah, I... goodbye."
Ingrid just stared at him in shock. "Is she stupid?" she whispered.
"She's right," murmured Rebekah, though she didn't seem to fully mean it. It was as if she was just saying it because she wanted to respect Hayley's choice, but it was clear that she was hurt that Hayley seemed to think so poorly of the Mikaelsons in every situation where she didn't explicitly need a favor from them.
"Change of plans," said Ingrid. "Rebekah, you ought to get a headstart on unlinking those children. Call Freya here, we will attempt a different spell, to potentially isolate your shared blood and create a mimicry of Esther's blood, which should be enough to weaken Dahlia while we work to resurrect her, fully."
Elijah stopped her before she could walk out. "Where are you going?"
"To splash water on my face, because we are not going to sleep tonight."
She'd just stepped into the bathroom across the hall when she was yanked backwards, and pulled at full speed through the city.
"Let me go!" she shrieked as someone yanked her arms roughly behind her back when they landed in the Lafayette Cemetery. She could sense it was Klaus, causing her heart to hammer in her chest. He'd either kill her immediately, or deliver her to Dahlia. She had a horrible feeling that she'd managed to trick him into helping her.
"Struggle again, I will break your arms," Klaus said nonchalantly. "Our dear aunt asked me to bring you to her."
The freedom had been nice while it lasted.