Rory yelled in frustration as she hit the magical barrier holding her prisoner.
Davina walked into the room and the hybrid turned to glare at the witch. "Davina, I liked you, but if you don't let me out of here right now, I swear I will kill you," Rory warned.
"You could try. Or we could have a polite conversation," Davina said. She tossed some clothes into the circle, before holding up a blood bag.
That only added to Rory's anger. Bad enough she was trapped, did the witch have to wave blood in her face right now? It wasn't like she had much to eat in the bayou. "You magically kidnapped me on the one night that I can see my daughters. Do not talk to me about polite," Rory snapped.
"I drew you here to help you," Davina said.
"Elijah asked you months ago to break the curse and you said no," she reminded.
"The Regent of witches can't be seen doing favors for the Mikaelsons. But maybe we can help each other," the witch said and tossed the blood bag into the circle.
Rory quickly picked it up and started downing it. Elijah had told her about this. After Josephine's death, the witches had needed a new regent. Rory didn't know who had been stupid enough to think Davina could handle that responsibility without getting herself killed, but someone had.
"Look, I have access to the witch ancestors. I can channel the power of the one who created the spell used to curse you. You can be free, Rory," Davina explained.
"Under your terms, I'm guessing," Rory said, her mouth ringed in blood. Davina nodded. The hybrid rolled her eyes as she licked some of the blood off her fingers. "Spill."
"There's a witch in the Ninth Ward who hates that I'm Regent. She tried to kill me. If I retaliate, I'm starting a civil war, and I don't want to do that," Davina said.
Rory smirked, rolling her eyes. She may not know a lot about witch politics, but she knew how vampires and werewolves worked. It wasn't hard to figure out what Davina needed her for. While Rory didn't exactly like the idea, she was willing to do whatever it took to see her daughters. "Of course. Fine, just tell me who you want dead," she said.
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Klaus was standing out on his balcony, a drink in his hands when he heard people coming towards him.
"I thought I smelt swamp," he said and turned to face Jackson and Hayley.
"What'd you do with my sister?" Hayley asked. As angry as she was with Rory, she was still family.
"Tell me what you know," Elijah said, appearing behind the two wolves.
"Has Hayley and Jackson misplaced the little wolf? Come to think about it, I did read that global warming has disrupted migration patterns. Try Georgia," Klaus joked.
"I just left the bodies of people I care about to rot in the woods, because you left them defenseless against poachers, sent by Kingmaker Land Development. That ring a bell?" Jackson told him. Klaus glanced up at him, but tried to keep his face placid. Even if he was worried about Rory, he wasn't going to admit it to these three.
"Yeah, the CEO is Lucien Castle. Elijah tells me that you two go way back," Hayley said.
"So I will ask you once again. What do you know?" Elijah wondered.
"As it happens, I just came back from a romp with our good friend Lucien. You can find him in the penthouse of the gaudy new construction on Canal. And while you two are catching up, be sure to ask him about the prophetic vision he showed me of our family's spectacular downfall. You could use a good laugh," Klaus said.
"Stay here, Niklaus and I will deal with this," Elijah told the Crescents.
"Actually, as long as Rory and these two are prowling around about on two legs, I am staying with my daughters. And should I discover that this is yet another cockeyed scheme for Rory and you two to abscond with them, the paltry remains of your beloved wolf pack will be sniffing at your entrails come morning," Klaus told the two werewolves.
He turned to walk back out to the balcony, but Elijah ran in front of him. "This doesn't frighten you, brother? That one day, your daughters will know exactly the kind of man that their father is? If anything should happen to Rory, you won't just lose the one woman I have seen truly love you in the last millennium, but mark my words, no one will have to take Hope or Lilly from you. They will, without question, leave you of their own accord," Elijah told him and left with the werewolves.
Klaus stared off into space for a minute, worrying about the love of his life.
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Rory cut off some of her hair and handed it to Davina for a spell.
"You're completely cloaked. No magic will be able to track you. The witch's name is Kara Nguyen. She runs Cafe Chim Lac in the lower Ninth Ward. She'll be there before dawn. As long as the candle burns, your curse won't be active," Davina told her, doing magic on a bloody candle.
"And when a strong wind comes along?" Rory asked.
The blood on the candle moved into the shape of a Crescent moon on the side of it. "My magic will protect the flame. Of course, you'll have to work with me," Davina told her.
The witch moved her hand forward and the circle of salt around Rory broke. She looked at the witch for a minute, before running at her. She grabbed a knife from one of the tables and held it against Davina's throat.
"Let's make a few things clear. I'm doing this for my daughters and my pack. If I turn into a wolf tonight before I get to see my girls, I will come for you, Davina. And I will tear you apart. I may have been your friend, but don't ever doubt my ability to do that," Rory warned.
Davina looked at her with fear written all over her face, but she quickly tried to hide it. "When the sun comes up tomorrow and you're still you, you'll owe me an apology," she said.
Rory let her go, waving the knife in the witch's face as she spoke. "You have two hours. Get it done," she said. With that, Rory left.
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"I need you to preform a locator spell, Rory's missing," Klaus told Freya.
He had just scared off his sister's date. It had brought him much less joy than he had expected.
"You're worried about her," Freya realized.
"I prefer to know the whereabouts of my enemies. Besides, Rory has a history of taking what's mine," Klaus said and started to walk past her.
"No. You're afraid she's truly lost," Freya said. Klaus turned to face her, but wouldn't admit anything. "Elijah may be too angry to notice, but I know you went to talk to Davina about breaking the curse. And I noticed your absence on the first full moon."
Klaus frowned at his sister. She wasn't wrong. He had went and begged Davina of all people to break the curse. And on the full moon he had started to go see Rory, but Elijah had already been there. "It doesn't matter. Can you find her or not?" he asked.
Freya nodded. "I'll need the best connection to Rory. You'll have to wake one of the girls."
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Klaus held Hope, as Freya did the spell. Hope had been awake, so he had left Lilly to sleep. He didn't really want her down here anyway. He had a bad feeling that this wasn't going to go well, and unlike her big sister, Hope wasn't old enough to understand what was going on.
Freya was sprinkling sand across a map, but suddenly she gasped. "I can't find her," she said.
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Rory walked through the Ninth Ward, headed for Kara. She was waiting for a good time to get the witch alone.
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"There's nothing. It- it's like she doesn't exist. Or-"
"Or she's dead," Klaus realized.
"No, no! No, you have to find her," Hayley said, running in with Jackson.
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Rory was just about to attack when she felt her eyes turn gold. Her bones began to crack. "No, no," she mumbled.
She needed more time. This couldn't happen. She had to have more time.
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When Rory's bones began breaking, so did Jackson and Hayley's. Only difference was that Rory was in the Ninth Ward and they were back at the compound with Klaus and Freya.
"Klaus, the chains," the witch yelled.
Klaus chained the two Crescents up. "Freya, please. Do the spell again. I can't go a month without-"
Hayley broke off as she groaned in pain. Suddenly, her and Jackson's bones stopped breaking. It stopped.
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Rory looked around, confused. She didn't waste a second though. She ran at Kara, drinking her blood before snapping the witch's neck. She wiped the blood from her mouth, before heading to leave. She needed to get to her daughters and see them before she turned back.
Pain went through her head as a witch magically gave her an aneurysm. She yelled in pain as witches circled her, all using magic on her.
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Once she returned to the compound, Rory saw Freya standing next to a chained up Jackson and Hayley and ran at her. She threw the witch into a wall, before looking at her family. "Where the hell is he?" she asked.
Both of them stared at her, probably because she was now covered in blood.
"Rory, what happened?" Hayley asked.
"Rory, come to apologize for all your transgressions?" Klaus asked, appearing behind her.
"Do you have any idea what you've taken from me?" she asked, running towards him. She tried to move to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. She kicked him in the leg, making him fall to his knees. Then did a roundhouse kick, hitting him in the head.
"The very thing you sought to take from me, the chance to raise our daughters. Your punishment fits your crime," he told her.
"I didn't try to take them! I just wanted to get them away from here. They were going to get hurt if I left everything up to you," she yelled.
Klaus ran at her, pushing her against a table. "I saved them, while you were off playing hide and seek in the forest!" he said.
She head butted him, knocking him back.
Klaus looked at her and she glared back. "There is a very short list of people who've tried to take those girls away from me. And you're the only one still breathing," he told her.
"Are you that delusional, Klaus? I got scared and ran. I wasn't going to take them away from you, you idiot. But you cursed us all anyway. Every wolf that I fought for, everyone that stood up for our daughters, you took all of them away from their families!" she screamed.
"Yes, yes, your precious pack! That family you chose over us, and in doing so, you chose over our daughters!" he yelled back.
"Is that what you were planning on telling them when they got older and asked about me? That I abandoned them?" she asked.
Rory broke off a chair leg and ran at him. He dodged. Rory stumbled a few steps, before dropping the wood and jumping up a few floors. She wanted to get to her daughters. Klaus followed. She tried to punch him, but he dodged.
"My birth parents left me, my adoptive family fell apart, yours turned their backs on you!" Rory yelled, hitting him in the chest. "Look at us now, Klaus!" She shoved him.
"Niklaus," Elijah yelled from the courtyard.
"They deserve something better than what we had," Rory said and punched him in the face.
"That's all I ever wanted since the minute I found out they existed! Something better!" she cried.
She continued to hit him, tears in her eyes. He didn't bother trying to stop her as she hit him, he just let her. "Fight back!" Rory yelled. "Fight back! Fight back!" She slapped him.
Klaus looked stunned for a moment, before his eyes locked on something behind her and then she heard the small, almost scared, voice. "Mommy?"
Rory turned around. She covered her mouth as more tears filled her eyes. Lilly and Hope had came out of their rooms and were watching her. Them seeing her like this was bad enough, but what really got to her was that Hope was wobbling slightly as she took a few steps in her direction.
"Hi, baby," Rory said. She went and hugged her oldest daughter, before holding her arms out to Hope. The little girl slowly waddled over to her. "She's walking. When did she start walking?" A few tears ran down her cheek as she picked Hope up. "I missed it. I missed everything."
She kissed Hope on the head, hugging her close. Then she bent down so she could kiss Lilly on the head.
She made her way downstairs a few moments later. Hayley and Jackson ran towards her. "What happened? Is the curse broken?" they asked.
They both hugged her and Lilly. "I'll explain later. We're safe for now," she said.
"Good for you. I'll have your bedrooms made up," Klaus told them, now calm.
"The only way that I will stay under your roof is if I'm in a coffin," Hayley said.
"If you think I will allow Hope and Lilly out of my protection for a second-"
"What you'll allow doesn't matter, Klaus," Rory spoke up. Her voice was deadly calm, which was somehow so much scarier than her yelling at him. "Welcome to a 21st century custody battle. Moms win them now, and given that Lilly isn't even yours I think I will definitely win this one."
She saw the hurt cross his face, but she didn't care.
"If I may," Elijah said, stepping forward. "The apartments across the street have recently been renovated. I might pay a visit to the management. The fact that the girls will never be out of earshot should assuage your incessant paranoia."
"So we are to listen as my daughters are raised by savages," Klaus said.
"'Cause everyone here is so civilized?" Hayley asked him.
"Brother, you created the problem. This might well be the solution," Elijah told him.
"Put the places in Jackson's name. Klaus won't be invited in," Hayley said.
Rory nodded. "Yeah," she said. She didn't look at the hybrid. She knew that the pain of their words would be written all over his face and despite everything, she didn't want to see it. She just nodded and walked off.
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Rory was packing her clothes now that she had cleaned the blood off. She couldn't help but think about how she had gotten covered in it.
|Earlier That Day|
The witches had surrounded her. She had ripped the arms off one of them, before killing another. Then she tore one's head completely off.
|Present|
She snapped back to the present when there was a knock at the door.
"Are you okay?" Elijah asked.
"I'm fine," she said, no emotion to her voice. "Come on in." She turned back to her packing as Elijah entered the room. "Jackson's gathering the pack to tell them to go back to their families. What's left of them."
"You should be quite comfortable," Elijah said.
She turned to face him and saw that he was holding out the key to her apartment. Rory took it. "Thank you for this. You know, there was a moment at the bonfire last year when I thought we would be okay. That my girls would finally have the perfect little family. For the first time in a while, I was happy," she said.
Elijah gave her a small smile, but it faded when he heard her next words. "I hate Klaus for ruining that. For turning on me," Rory said.
"Everyday I fought for your return, searching for something. Caroline came to town for a while to help. You were not forgotten," he told her.
She gave him a small smile. Things felt different now. She had been able to ignore the fact that Elijah had feelings for her for so long, but now she knew. The thing was that all she saw was her best friend when she looked at him. She kissed him on the cheek. "I love you too, Elijah," she said.
He smiled. "I do love you, Rory. We all do," he said.
Rory nodded, even though she didn't really believe him. "Uh, I retrieved these for you." He held out a small velvet jewelry box. She took it and he left the room.
Rory sat down on her bed and opened the box. Inside was the crescent moon necklace Klaus had given her what seemed like forever ago. It had been an apology gift the first time he really made her mad. She had almost always worn it since.
There was also the charm bracelet he had bought her for her twentieth birthday. It had a crown, a wolf, and the letters R, H, and L on it.
Next to it was her engagement ring. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at it, her heart breaking again.
She looked up when she heard another knock at her door. "I just wanted to talk to you," Klaus explained.
Rory wiped at her eyes, snapping the box closed. "We have nothing to talk about," she said.
"Little wolf," he began.
"Don't," she warned. "Just don't call me that right now. I can't do this, Klaus. Not anymore. Not after everything that has happened."
"So you are still leaving?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am," she said, standing up. "I can't live here. Not anymore. Don't try to talk me into staying because it won't do you any good."
"What are you saying?" Klaus asked.
Rory opened the box again. It hurt so much to do this. She took her ring out and held it out to him. "I'm saying you can keep that, because I'm done. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the fighting, of the drama, of everything. I need to live my life like I'm supposed to. I'm supposed to be able to raise my daughters without being terrified that a witch will blow out a candle and I will hurt them," she said. Klaus still hadn't taken the ring so she grabbed his hand and put the ring in it.
"You can live it here," he told her.
"No, I can't. Can't you see it, Klaus? All your paranoia, anger and distrust of everyone is pushing everyone away. I thought you were smart enough to know that if you kept this up you would end up alone, but you aren't. You can't even see that you are so terrified of letting someone, anyone, in that you pushed everyone out. I'm done fighting you about this. You want to push me out? Great, you have. So keep the ring, because we're over," she said, a tear running down her cheek.
Rory tried to walk out of the room, but he grabbed her arm. "Please, my love," he said.
Rory looked at him. She could tell he felt guilty, but it didn't matter. "You left me alone and took the only two things I loved more than you away from me, after I sided with you over my entire pack. I chose you over my sister, and you left me alone, Klaus. And you didn't even try to fix it. So, yeah, it's over," she said, and left the room.
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Rory took Hope and Lilly back to her new apartment. She didn't bother unpacking. They had a couch and tv already, so she just grabbed some blankets and curled up on the couch with Lilly and Hope. She ordered in food and used paper plates that she had to go steal from Hayley's apartment.
Then she put on Hotel Transylvania and enjoyed time with her girls. "I missed you, Mommy," Lilly told her.
Rory smiled. "I missed you too, baby," she said, kissing Lilly on the head. She had missed them more than anything.
I hated this chapter.
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