[ THE RISE: CHAPTER THREE ]
CADIZ, SPAIN, 1702
Rhea sighed as she looked around the cottage, blood and bodies were strewn everywhere, she knew she had to tidy the place up before Niklaus and Elijah saw any of it.
She knew what they would do to Kol if they saw this mess, and that's the last thing she wanted.
"KOL!" Klaus roared angrily, Rhea jumped at his tone of voice, turning to see him and Elijah enter the house, clearly disgusted by the state of the place.
Elijah sighs as he looks around, "All of my efforts to keep this family concealed. Yet, debauchery like this has led Father directly to us," Rhea's eyes widened, Mikael had found them?
"Please, don't do what I think you're about to do," Rhea pleaded, Elijah looked at her apologetically whereas Klaus didn't even look in her general direction, knowing what he was about to do would hurt the girl.
"Kol? Show yourself! This is no time for games!" Klaus shouted, after a moment, Kol stumbled into the cottage, still feeding on a woman as she whimpered in fear. Once the woman was dead, he carelessly dropped her body to the floor.
Kol smiled and gestured towards them, "Come, come brother, it is always time for games!" Kol then walks towards Rhea and gave her a loving kiss on the forehead, the only thing indicating that Kol had any humanity left within him.
He picked up a nearby mug of alcohol and lifted it towards the three of them in a toast.
"We must leave, Mikael is very nearly upon us." Elijah stated seriously, Kol sat down and propped his feet up on the table.
"If Mikael were upon us, I imagine Niklaus would be quite dead." Kol countered, and Rhea sighed, he was making matters worse.
"Kol.." She pleads, his eye softened at her voice but the moment was interrupted by Klaus.
"I barely escaped! Father left the head of my horse on a pike in the town square!" Klaus explained angrily.
"He killed poor Theo? What a beast! But, then, fathers always hated you most. Surely, he'll chase you if you flee, leaving me and Rhea here. Perhaps I'll make myself mayor? And marry Rhea." He mocked his brother, but his final five words were deadly serious as he looked towards the woman he loved with hopeful eyes.
Elijah looked unamused, "Rebekah, Ares and Finn have already boarded the ship. It is imperative that we remain together."
Kol rose to his feet in frustration, heading toward Niklaus, "Rebekah does what she's told because she fears Nik, and Finn is in to position to argue, given the dagger in his heart, as for Ares, well, one word from his sister would ensure he stays," he smirked, "I think the three of us will take our chances here!" He then turned to walk to Rhea but Elijah blocked his path, angering Kol.
He then turned back around, to find Klaus blocking the other way. Kol's eyes widened once he realised what they're intending to do.
"Rhea, get out of here, darling." He told her, she shook her head, stepping towards the three men.
"Elijah, Nik, you don't have to do this. Please don't do this." Tears threatened to spill at the thought of being without Kol. He may be impulsive, he may be reckless, but he wasn't that way with her. Nobody else saw the Kol that she did, and as much as that frustrated her, she understood him. The thought of being without him, almost made her gasp for air, for without him; she may as well be without breath in her lungs.
Both Klaus and Elijah tried their hardest to ignore Rhea's pleas, knowing that without Kol, she was a different person, incomplete, almost. On the other hand, they knew that Kol could not carry on with his inconspicuous behaviour.
"I find it amusing that you think you have a choice," he then looked over to Rhea, "I'm sorry, love, but it's for his own good." He pulled out the dagger, and held it up to Kol's chest while Elijah held the younger Mikaelson down.
The tears spilled, and Rhea found herself borderline hysterical, at seeing Rhea like that, Kol was furious, "You couldn't have done this without Rhea here? No, I swear to you, the day will come when I'm not so easily subdued and on that day I will make you suffer, not just for daggering your own brother, but for taking me away from Rhea!" He shouted, then turned to the woman he promised to avenge, "I love you," he mouthed and she nodded, not trusting her own voice.
"I love you too," she mouthed as Klaus plunged the dagger into Kol's heart, the shouts that flew from Kol's mouth as he desiccated were something that Rhea had heard many times, yet never failed to haunt her.
And then she fell to her knee's and cried, she cried until she couldn't cry no more— she didn't even notice she had been carried to the ship, until Ares snapped her out of her almost comatose state.
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Rhea and Davina were sat in the attic, yet again, working on the spell as Mikael relentlessly paced around the room.
"How frustrating, novices trying to understand a masters work." Mikael deadpanned, obviously bored.
"A master? Esther was a psychotic bitch, now shut up before I send you back to hell myself." Rhea bit back and Davina groaned, "It's a simple de-linking spell!"
"Simple?" Mikael questioned, "You're trying to erase the link between Klaus and every vampire he's sired!" Mikael explained.
Rhea slapped her hand down on the table before standing up and turning to the vampire that they currently had prisoner.
"No, we're trying to unlink Josh and Marcel, God, do you even listen? Or has the old age finally kicked in and your hearing significantly deteriorated?" Rhea questioned the man with a raised brow and a smug look on her face.
"Watch your tongue, Monroe." Mikael warned and Rhea practically dared him to try something, knowing he couldn't because of her bracelet.
"Enough, the both of you! You kill Klaus? They die too, we can fix that. We have Esther's grimoire, it's just a matter of time!" Davina snapped.
"Perhaps I can help you solve the riddle." Mikael offered but the girls almost burst out laughing at that.
"So you can trick us into releasing you from our control? No thanks." Rhea countered, Davina nodded in agreement and Mikael realised that there was no getting past these girls.
"You know, for two people who despise Klaus so much, you certainly share his paranoia. The sooner you perform the spell, the sooner I'll be free to kill the bast*rd," before Rhea could say anything back, her phone beeped, signalling a new message.
Opening up the new text, she saw it was from Kaleb.
'Coffee? Now-ish?'
Rhea smiled and showed Davina, "Good, we need an excuse to get out, I'll be on watch in case this guy isn't who he says he is."
Rhea smirked, "Maybe Mikael's right, you are paranoid." She teased, Davina rolled her eyes as they made their way out of the room, leaving Mikael to think of nothing more than the sweet victory of killing Niklaus.
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Kaleb had stood Rhea up, which she couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by but the girl had more pressing issues right now, considering she was about to go with Davina to meet Marcel.
She hadn't seen Marcel in a long time; she knew that letting him know she's in town was a huge risk and would raise suspicion, but at the same time— she also wanted word to get back to Klaus that she was in town. The hybrid should know she wasn't back to have tea and biscuits with him.
She stayed hidden for a while, until Elijah stepped out and all but cornered Davina, they were questioning her on the whereabouts of the white oak stake, Rhea knew she had to step in now; before Davina gave the game away.
"Although, you and I both have excellent reason to find that weapon. I want to protect my family, and you want to protect your friends. We'd do well to forget our grievances and join forces." Elijah proposed, he made everything sound so enticing but he was only doing this to ensure his families safety, Rhea knew that much.
"No!" Davina said furiously, looking around for Rhea, wondering when the witch was going to step in.
Marcel looked worried, "Davina, just-" but he was cut off by someone strutting in and stopping just a few feet away from them.
Rhea eyed both Elijah and Marcel, "Davina doesn't need you, Elijah. She's done listening to this bullshit, for a long time now, you and your family have had all the power. You manipulate and kill anyone who gets in your way, that time is over. From now on, your family can be the ones to be afraid."
"Rhea-" before Elijah could say a single word more to her, she looked to Davina and nodded to the girl, "Come on, let's go." The two girls started to walk away, Rhea heard the tail end of the conversation.
"She knows the stake will not be used," Elijah referred to Davina, "Because she knows precisely where it is, her and Rhea have had it all along."
Rhea smirked, knowing the Mikaelsons would certainly be afraid, knowing what they had in their possession.
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