•|•
Hayley and Isabel stood down stairs in the courtyard munching on an array of fruit and other breakfast food when Klaus walked down the stairs to join them.
"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" Isabel asked after throwing a grape in her mouth.
Klaus looked confused as he eyed the table. "It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this..." Klaus gestured to the food on the table for emphasis.
"Hmm." Isabel looked between him and the table, pinching her eyebrows together in confusion.
"Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?" Hayley asked just as Elijah returned to the compound and joined them in the courtyard, and looked confused when he heard their conversation and noticed the breakfast spread in front of them.
"This wasn't my doing..."
"Then, where the hell did this all come from?" The female hybrid asked crossing her arms.
The silver lid on the platter suddenly began to rattle, which startled Hayley and Elijah so much that they jump in fright for a moment. Isabel and Klaus looked uneasy as the latter lifted the platter, which released two starlings that fly up toward the ceiling, causing the four to reflexively duck to avoid being hit.
Once they all got up they shared a puzzled and nervous look.
"What the hell was that?" Hayley asked, looking up at the starlings.
Klaus reached for the invitation and opened it. "Dinner, Your Home, 8PM," he said before looking up at Elijah with a dangerous look in his eyes. "An invitation from our mother."
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Klaus stared at the invitation while he stood on the balcony overlooking the French Quarter. He eventually turned to head back into his bedroom, where he saw Isabel laying flat on his bed staring up at the ceiling with her arms crossed over her stomach and her legs straight in the air perched on the wall.
"It is times like this where I wonder how mothers can become so...ruthless in their ways."
"We have enough enemies here. And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family." Klaus stressed which Isbael noticed and brought her legs down while rolling on her stomach and placing her face in between her hands. She looked up at him with an innocent yet worried look on her face.
"Your wretched mother and her minions tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart. I will happily add to the body count." Klaus smiled at Isabel as Elijah entered the room.
"You will do no such thing." Elijah scolded the girl. "Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."
"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."
Elijah shrugged. "Well, then. We have..." He checked his watch for the time. "This afternoon to prepare for the worst," Elijah said before leaving without sparing Isabel a glance. Isabel rolled her blue eyes, which made Klaus smile in amusement.
"The bloom is off the rose, I see."
"He can shove his suits up his tight ass for all I care. He can't change me so he's gonna have to accept me." She told him as she crawled onto her knees and wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling him closer. She laid her head on his chest and felt him wrap his arms over her. "You like me this way don't you?" She asked in a fragile manor.
"Of course, love. I'd never hate you."
She smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his jawline.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
"Would you look at that? It's my damesl in distress." The familiar voice mused.
"Oh look at that It's my adorably annoying prince charming." She smiled jokingly as she looked to her right to see the witch.
"Oh I'm anything but, darling." He mused. "So, what are you dress shopping for?" Kaleb asked, stuffing his hands in his front pockets as he glanced at the ground before looking up at the hybrid.
"I guess you could call it a family reuinon." She told him. She looked up at him to notice a frown set on his face. She quirked her head to the side studying his face but she couldn't tell what was wrong with him. "Are you alright? You look nervous."
Kaleb cleared his throat and forced the right side of his lips to move up slightly. "I'm fine. I'm good. So, a family reunion?"
"Well not everyone. Just a mother, two or three brothers and me, I guess."
"Isabel, I need you to listen to me." He spoke softly, darting his eyes around the shop before meeting her concerned blue eyes. "Don't go."
Isabel furrowed her brows, confused with his behavior. "What?"
"Just please don't go." He pleaded.
"Why?"
"Bella. Please. Just listen to me. I know you are a stubborn girl who doesn't do as told but I need you to listen to me. Don't go."
Isabel's eyes widen at Kaleb's sudden outburst before realizing what he said. "You called me Bella..."
Kaleb sighed as he backed away from her knowing she most likely wouldn't listen to him. Not in this body anyway. "Just... remember that whatever happens, I am on your side." He started to walk away but stopped for a quick second and turned back. "Pick the black dress. It would go well with your skin tone and eyes. You'd make even the wildest of men fall for you."
With that Kaleb turned and walked away briskly leaving a confused Isabel.
Isabel looked at the short silk dress Kaleb wanted her to wear with pursed lips. "Hm." Isabel stopped reaching for the dress when her phone started to ring and she sighed before grabbing it.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Klaus stood in the dining room, where he was busy with the arrangements for the evening's dinner with a group of compelled caterers. One of the caterers gave him a choice of two different bottles of wine.
"Skip the salad course. Let's not make this dreadful evening any longer than it needs to be." Klaus then chose a wine and dismissed the caterer just as Isabel entered the dining room.
"So, I guess letting Oliver live paid off. He just informed me your mother has a partner-in-crime, another witch." She informed him while waggling her phone in front of her to show Klaus Oliver called her to tell her.
"Building alliances in her quest to destroy us, I imagine."
"Why does she hate you so much, Nik? I've never understood it. I mean she had six kids, it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene."
"Seven, actually. And, I think at one time, she loved us very much." Klaus, overwhelmed by the topic of conversation, turned away and anxiously began folding napkins on the table before speaking again. "One died before I was born."
"Oh, I didn't know that." Isabel puffed her cheeks out feeling bad about bringing that up.
"Years later, my brother Henrik was killed by the werewolves in our village. The loss of another child pushed my mother over the edge. So, she used her magic to turn us into immortals. I think that's when she loved us the most. But, it was her undoing. It triggered a sequence of events that led to the reveal of her long-held secret. My birth father was the werewolf whose pack killed my little brother. Of course, when Mikael found out, he murdered my real father, and so, my mother lost her lover, too."
"Wow," Isabel said, stunned. "No wonder she's crazy. I'm out of my mind having to give Hope and Rose away... I can't imagine if they'd actually died."
Klaus started to get teary-eyed. "You know, my siblings used to tell each other she didn't hate us- she hated herself for what we've become. I think they believed that even after she tried to kill us all."
"And what did you believe?" The female hybrid asked softly.
"I don't know. I just knew I wanted her dead." The two stare at each other for a long moment in a comfortable silence.
"Well, every good story needs a Wicked Witch of The West, right?" She asked giving him small smile to cheer him up. "It'll be all the more satisfying when we melt her." Klaus seemed to feel reassured by her words and grinned at her appreciatively. She smiled back at him affectionately, happy to have helped him.
There moment is interrupted though when Isabel's phone vibrated and she looked at her phone to see it's Oliver.
"What is it?" Klaus asked.
"Marcel's witch is being held captive in the Quarter."
Klaus sighed in annoyance. "Oh, perfect. Mother's a step ahead, as usual." He muttered.
"Apparently Oliver's with her. I'll go, and I'll get her to do the spell."
"You can't go out there alone. And if you leave now you'll miss the dinner." He told her.
Hayley walked in with a smug look on her face. "She won't be alone. I'll be with her." Klaus still looked unsure and Hayley rolled her eyes. "She's safe, Klaus."
"Besides, I'm not ready to face Esther. She'll just remind me of my babies."
Klaus sighed, giving into the blonde hybrid. "In that case I think it's best if you steer clear of dinner." He turned to Hayley with a stern look on his face. "And you better not get yourselves killed."
Hayley just turned her head away when she noticed Elijah walk up next to her. She smiled at him slightly when she noticed his uneasy face.
"Well all that's left is for Nik to hand over the starling necklace so we can track who's body Esther will jump into next."
Klaus immediately took the necklace out of his pocket and handed it to Isabel who clutched fit tightly. "Thank you."
"I don't like this whatso-"
"No." Isabel cut him off, staring daggers at the Original. "You don't just get to ignore me for days and then suddenly act like you're concerned, Lijah. Just-" she sighed. "Will you trust that I can do this and it will get done?"
Elijah looked as though he was about to speak, but shut his mouth at the last moment. Hayley looked between the two feeling Isabel was not happy with the man and got ready to leave with Isabel only to have Elijah stop them.
"Wait."
"What now?" The blonde asked.
"Uh, there's something else. A disciple of Marcel's was instructed to fetch another ingredient. Ask for Gia." He told her.
"Okay." She nodded. "Yeah. Whatever." With that her and Hayley left the two boys alone.
Once the two were far enough away Klaus walked toward Elijah with furrowed brows.
"She's being really hostile with you. What's going on with you two?"
"Nothing." He mumbled unhappily.
Klaus gave him a look, and he sighed unhappily. "She's changing Elijah. I don't know how many times I have to say it. And you can't stop her."
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Isabel and Hayley arrived to the crypt where Oliver was waiting with Lenore, who was chained up. Isabel noticed the python Gia stole wrapped itself around the hourglass, which is still three-fourths of the way full as Hayley broke the chains binding Lenore.
"They worked her over pretty good." Oliver told the Paxon girls.
"We need to get her out of here." Isabel said as Lenore was finally freed.
Oliver stared at the blonde gaping and in panic. "Huh? Then what? They'll know that I let her go! Look, you asked me to infiltrate Cassie's coven, I'm not gonna blow my cover for some has-been hippie-witch!" He complained. Lenore groaned and gave him side-eyes, which made Oliver look slightly guilty. "No offense!"
Hayley looked around the mausoleum while she tried to come up with a plan before setting her eyes on a mischievous looking Isabel. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hayley asked.
"You know. Oliver." Isabel looked at him with a syrupy sweet smile and his face dropped. "We could always make it look like you got jumped?"
Hayley nodded, pleased with the suggestion. "And then tell Cassie that Lenore got rescued by her people."
Oliver sighed. "Let me guess, you, uh, wanna beat the hell out of me?" He asked sarcastically. "Make it look convincing?"
Isabel smiled. "Well, I can't say I wouldn't enjoy it after all the trouble you've put me through."
Oliver laughed weakly and sighed in defeat before bracing himself for impact.
"Okay, just... just not the face, okay?" He shielded his face giving way to his nether region.
Isabel smirked at the revelation. "Oh that's not where I'm aiming. No need to mess up an already messed up face." Then she kicked him right in his family jewels causing him to double over in pain.
"I think I'm gonna like this." Hayley smiled, kicking him in the stomach.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Oliver laid unconscious on the floor of the crypt, where Lenore kneeled beside him and checking him over.
The hourglass was now almost half-empty.
"I was right. I did like that." Hayley smiled while wiping her hands in a sort of clap as if she was getting the dirt off her hands.
"He'll be okay," Isabel told Lenore.
"What's your dog in this fight?" Lenore asked looking up at the blonde then the brunette. "Neither of you are Mikaelsons."
Isabel placed her hands on her hips and slouched to one side. "I sort of am... in spirit."
"You're the werewolf mother? The Mikaelson parabatai?" Lenore asked, shocked.
"In the flesh." Isabel nodded.
"I'm just her sister." Hayley added.
"So, listen, can we do this spell now, or not?" Isabel asked.
"After what that bitch and her lackey did to me? I'll do any spell that you want!" Lenore told the two before walking out of the crypt, to which Isabel and Hayley hurriedly followed behind her.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
"Mother will sit at the head. And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan. Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?" Finn asked with a smug head tilt. He knew he would get a rise from his younger brothers the deeper in he got to this conversation.
"Well, there's no way Kol would listen to anything other than his ego." Klaus muttered.
"And yet, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways due to a special little blonde wolf. The girl who's tried to help him and has accepted him. The girl who actually cared. The girl his after life revolved around. And, well, the girl he tied himself to through the blood blond." Finn smirked at Klaus' facial change. "You know, he has his own agenda for being back. And I can see you two are catching on," he said noticing the jealous and shocked faces they wore. "With the help of mothers compelling argument and the negotiation of Isabella being back in his life he accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear brothers, is inevitable."
"You would dare face us as a mortal?" Klaus asked, angered. "The only thing inevitable is your death." He sneered.
Reeling from the revelation that Kol may have fallen for Isabel, Klaus grabbed his knife and flung it at Finn who easily deflected it with his magic, causing it to embed itself into the chair at the head of the table.
"Looks like I've hit a nerve. Scared he'll steal dear Isabella, Niklaus?" He asked, mockingly. Klaus fumed and pursed his lips causing Finn to chuckle. "Of course you are. Kol is known to be quite the charmer."
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Hayley and Isabel watched Lenore prepare the spell in the back room of her shop which included the witch setting up a small cauldron before handing Isabel the bag with the python who then past it to Hayley.
Hayley quirked an eyebrow at her older sister. "I hate snakes. No way I'm holding it."
Isabel shook her head with a small smile before asking Lenore, "so, will this take long?"
The witch scoffed. "You want me to soul-brand the resurrected spirit of a thousand-year-old witch, right?" She asked. "It's best I take my time and do it correctly." Lenore looked up at Isabel, and her face softened into a sympathetic expression as she remembered that Esther was involved with her children's death. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. No one should ever have to lose their children."
Isabel felt her heart ache. "No." She gulped down the lump in her throat. "No one should."
Hayley side hugged her sister noticing her sadness as Lenore lit a bundle of sage and wafted the smoke around the room.
"You have the talisman?" The witch asked the blonde wolf.
"Yeah." Isabel dug the necklace out of her pocket and handed it to Lenore. "Here you go."
"So, how does this work?" Hayley asked. "You brand Esther with the spell, and then what?"
Lenore didn't answer at first and instead sat the necklace on top of the cauldron so that it laid across the diameter of it while the ends hang over the rim. "The next time she jumps into a body, she'll be marked with a distinctive symbol on the back of her hand." The hippie-witch explained, pulling the python out of the sack. "This way, you'll always know who she is."
Isabel sighed, a frown marring her face. "We still don't know why she's here. When Esther held you captive, did she, by any chance, give you an idea to why she's doing all this?"
Lenore placed the python around her neck for a moment and looked at Isabel with a serious expression as she said the one thing Isabel was not expecting,
"Love."
Isabel looked incredulous at this response while Hayley snorted. "Oh you poor thing. How hard did they hit you?" Hayley asked.
Lenore took the python from around her neck and held it in front of her with one hand. "What besides love can inspire such pain and cruelty? And Esther?" The witch asked, taking a knife with her free hand and slicing it down the length of the snake with it before disemboweling it and squeezing the entrails in her hands, dripping the blood in the cauldron.
Lenore looked at Isabel directly in her eyes, trying to get her point across. "Just like your love for your children her love is very, very strong."
Isabel and Hayley watched Lenore, looking both stressed and worried, as she continued the soul-branding spell.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
At the cemetery the hour glass Finn turned over has nearly ran out.
Isabel and Hayley watched Lenore racing the clock to finish the soul-branding spell.
"Aux sa ah ça le vous l'inspir non do set."
The hourglass dropped the last grain of sand.
Lenore finished her spell and fell forward, leaning against the cauldron to keep herself from falling onto the table. Isabel and Hayley glance at each other with worried looks before looking at the witch in concern. Lenore soon comes to and looked around the room in confusion.
"Are you okay?" Isabel asked, concerned.
Lenore looked at the two girls and they took note that something was off about her. "Yes," she said dazedly.
Hayley stands to her feet and walked toward her while making sure Isabel stood back.
"You sure-?" Hayley asked.
Lenore, slept her stance against the cauldron and summoned her strength and just managed to stand up straight as she looked around the room.
"Just getting my bearings..." She spoke quietly.
When Lenore lifted her hand from the rim of the cauldron, Isabel noticed a brand on the back of Lenore's right hand in the shape of a triskelion. Her eyes widen and she yanks Hayley back causing Esther to look at them in confusion.
"The mark..." Isabel breathed out as Esther looked down and took in her new body. "Esther. You're here."
"It's you." Hayley mumbled, terrified.
Esther smirked in amusement at Isabel's quick thinking.
"Run Hayley! Go." She shoved Hayley to leave but Esther just flicked her hand towards Hayley, making her fall to the floor.
"This is between Isabella and I." She told Hayley's unconscious body before turning to Isabel. "We have much to discuss."
"Hayley!" Isabel dropped down to her sisters side and checked her pulse.
"She'll be fine." Esther waved off. "She's just unconscious."
The Originals parabatai dropped Hayley's wrist and stood up, glaring at the Original Witch when her phone rang in her pocket. Warily, Isabel pulled it out to check it as Esther washed the snake's blood from her hands.
Isabel saw Elijah's name before anxiously looking over at Esther, who nodded in encouragement. "Go ahead. You can answer it."
The hybrid quickly answered the phone and instantly begin to speed talk. "Elijah! I'm at Lenore's shop. She's now Est-"
Esther thrusted her arm forward and used her magic to drain Isabel's phone battery.
"That'll be enough!"
Isabel glared at Esther. "They're gonna come for me. And they know it's you."
Esther smiled. "My darling, that's been the idea all along."
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
"It's so lovely to finally meet you. Pity that you couldn't make it to dinner. Finn was looking forward to seeing you again. Tell me, do my sons ever acknowledge the good you bring into their lives? After all, it was you who gave them hope." Isabel didn't know if she meant 'hope' or 'Hope,' her daughter and just looked at her suspiciously. Esther smiled softly. "The promise of a child shows us all the possibilities of a future that could be. Children are meant to save us from the worst parts of who we are. A truth that makes my own circumstances all the more tragic, wouldn't you say?"
"There's no way you can get me to pity you, Esther."
Esther looked as though she was offended for a brief moment before shrugging it off. "It's a terrible thing, for a mother to fail her child." She told the girl before she noticed the starling necklace still laying over the cauldron and picked it up so she can look at it closely. "As you well know."
Isabel looked down feeling sadness overcome her. "Only because you wished death on my child."
"But now, I offer you freedom. The gift of a new body. Freedom from being a hybrid." Isabel looked back up at the witch in interest, but tried to hide it.
"I'm this way because of you. I'm a hybrid because you killed my baby. And now Elijah hates me and I have all these stupid heightened emotions!"
"Elijah could never hate you, Isabella. He loves you and he just wanted what's best for you." Esther assured the girl. "You care about what they think, don't you? You have a heart of gold to be able to love my children."
"Your children... Wait. If you're back that must mean Finn is back, yes?" Isabel asked.
Esther nodded. "Yes. He's in his new body as Vincent Griffith."
"Is-" She stopped herself not knowing if she wanted her question answered. "How is Kol?" She asked instead, her heart aching as she did so.
"He's been better then normal. And true to his heart, he's been keeping an eye on you." She revealed. "He misses you dearly. I can see it in his eyes."
Isabel smiled to herself. "I'm glad he's okay."
"Just as much as you have been missing him." Esther slipped in, knowingly. "I can tell."
"What?" Isabel shook her head. "No. Stop." She looked away from Esther's eyes.
"Don't try and lie to me, my dear. I can tell you miss him just as much as he misses you." Esthers lips quirked up a little. "But you shouldn't have to much longer."
"What are you talking about you crazy witch?" Isabel asked, a frown set on her face.
"You want to have a whole family, yes? I have the ability to return to you all that you have lost, Isabella. Including Kol coming back to you." Isabels eyes widen and her heartbeat beat a little faster. "We both know I can do it. To make it so that you could be a family with my children and have a family to call your own with one of my sons." She smiled encouragingly. "More children of your own. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Before she could gather the courage to ask if Kol is in a new body a new voice spoke.
"I assume you've had the misfortune of speaking to my mother?" A voice said, sounding displeased.
Isabel turned around to see Klaus entering the room and walking towards Esther with a dangerous look in his blue eyes.
Esther picked up a handful of an unidentified powdery substance and threw it towards Klaus, creating a magical barrier to keep him from coming any closer to her.
"You hide behind your spells like a coward!" Klaus exclaimed, annoyed.
"I did not come here to wage war!" Esther argued as Hayley groaned. Isabel knelt down beside her younger sister while Esther grabbed another handful of the substance and threw it sideways toward Elijah, who had just tried to run toward her from behind to catch her off-guard, preventing him from coming any closer as well.
"I hate witches." Hayley muttered. Isabel wrapped an arm around Hayley's waist and helped her up.
"Everything you do is an act of war." Elijah countered, glancing at Isabel and Hayley, worriedly. "If you touch them, so help me-"
"Isabella is free to go. I've spoken my piece, she knows why I'm here. I have come to heal our family, Elijah."
"Well, that's a grand sentiment, coming from you," Klaus said, sarcastically before turning back to Isabel. "Go. Now."
As Isabel turned and left with Hayley but that didn't stop Esther from threateningly exploding a light bulb with her magic.
"My intent was never to harm! Only to heal, as I have already healed your brothers Finn and Kol. For you, I will undo everything that has been done, thereby giving you a new life!" Another light bulb exploded overhead, and Esther stared intensely at her two sons. "One without the vampire curse I inflicted upon you." Esther started waving her hand above a cauldron, and the earth began to shake, rattling all of the inventory on the shelves of the store. "Ask Isabella to share with you my loving proposition."
"You're a fool if you think we'll accept anything that you offer!" Klaus yelled, angrily.
"Oh, you are wrong, Niklaus!" Esther contradicted and spread her arms out as the earth continued to rumble below them causing more light bulbs explode. "There will come a time, my darlings, that you will beg for it!"
The glass in the windows shatter inward, and Klaus and Elijah raise their arms over their faces to shield them from the broken glass. Esther lifted her arms over her head when hundreds of starlings burst their way through the windows and descended upon the store.
≪≫•≪≫•≪≫
Elijah, Klaus, and Isabel are in the courtyard, processing all that they've learned this evening from Esther while Hayley slept soundlessly upstairs.
"Of course she used those damn birds to make her offer!" Klaus gritted put angrily.
"Besides the offer of rebirth, what else did she say?" He asked Isabel.
"She, uh, she rambled a lot. She blamed the two of you for what happened to Hope, to me..." She trailed off, looking down. "She said that she could bring Kol back to me too."
Klaus instantly appalled by her response, stopped his pacing so he can look Isabel in the eyes.
"Well, I hope you're not thinking of taking her offer?" She kept quiet. "You are, aren't you?"
Isabel, looking guilty, can't bring herself to look either of the brothers in the eyes.
"Isabel! I'm talking to you!"
Finally, overwhelmed and feeling defensive, Isabel stood to her feet and looked Klaus straight in the eyes.
"What do you want me to say, Nik? I lost my daughters. So, yeah, when your mother offers to wipe the slate clean, excuse me if I'm tempted." She turned to Elijah. "Oh and thanks for your help tonight, 'Lijah. You know it really hurts when it takes me being in danger for you to even talk to me." With that Isabel stormed off.
Kella=Kol and Bella
Klabel=Klaus and Bel
Isabeljah=Isabella and Elijah 🤷♀️
Jasabel=Jackson and Isabel
I look at future Kella scenes and I can't help but smile and giggle.
Also I just saw this...
The irony