"What do you want to bring me here for?" Klaus asked irritably as he entered the cemetery alongside Elijah.
"You wanted to know what the witches are plotting... I found out," Elijah replied calmly, still guiding Klaus. "This way."
Entering the place, they saw a witch walk into the mausoleum.
"The feared vampire Klaus... witches tell legends about you," the witch began her speech. "We know Marcel was just a street dog before you made him what he is today, and now he is out of control."
"Seriously, you brought me here for this?" Klaus grumbled. "I don't have time for this. I need to find out what Nik wants in the city and stop Marcel from killing himself."
Elijah looked at Klaus strangely and gasped.
"You didn't come here because the witches were plotting against you?" Elijah asked, surprised.
"Of course not... what could a bunch of insignificant witches do against me? I am the hybrid, I am invincible," Klaus declared proudly. "When I went to see Nik, I found out he left the city because something irritated him."
"So you found Marcel alive," Elijah asked, eyes wide. "And do you think whoever irritated—"
"What the hell are you two talking about?" the witch cut them off, irritated. "Whatever, bring her in."
The witches brought Hayley, and Klaus looked at her with confused eyes.
"I know this one..." Klaus recognized her and quickly dismissed it. "What does she have to do with me?"
"She is pregnant with your child," the witch declared.
"That's impossible," Klaus growled. "Once I could accept, now twice... go to hell, that's not possible."
He lost his temper and punched the wall.
"You will not manipulate me," he snarled. "That child is not mine."
"Damn... you're pretty fertile for your age, old man. Ever thought about using protection?" a sarcastic and playful voice drew attention. "If you keep this up, you're going to fill the world with mini Klauses."
The silhouette of a young man, very similar to a younger version of Klaus, stepped in.
"You again," the witch growled irritably, but was cut off.
"You little brat... why did you disappear?" Klaus growled, attacking Nik, who dodged the punch and kicked Klaus between the legs, making him drop to his knees. Then he struck Klaus's head, sending him flying into the wall with such force that the entire mausoleum shook.
Of course, neither of them was being serious, but it was so fast the witches didn't even see it. All they saw was Klaus shouting in anger and then hitting the wall, and they were completely stunned to see a vampire overpower Klaus.
Klaus took a moment to get up and looked at Nik with a confused and irritated expression.
"That's not how this is supposed to work, you brat," Klaus growled, getting up and adjusting his clothes.
"What, you thought you'd hit me and I wouldn't hit back?" Nik rolled his eyes with a carefree laugh. "And don't even try to punish me with daggers, they don't work on me. I've already tested that."
"I would never do that..." Klaus said in a mock-offended tone.
But Nik turned and looked at the witch.
"So you want to kill Marcel... sure, I'll help you," he said, staring directly into her eyes. "But make sure your sisters don't use the link you tied to the wolf to hurt the child... otherwise Marcel will just be another corpse in a ghost city."
Nik's face filled with veins and his skin turned pale, looking almost monstrous.
"How do you know that?" the witch took a step back, wary.
"No... I'll handle this," Klaus said, stepping forward. "No one is killing anyone. And what the hell is this link?"
Suddenly Klaus's eyes glowed yellow and veins spread across his face.
"You dare to threaten—" he didn't finish, but Elijah smiled.
"Who would have thought my brother Klaus would be the one handling negotiations," Elijah said with an amused tone. "See, nephew... no killing Marcel... nephew?"
Elijah realized he was speaking to empty space.
He's fast and silent, completely different from his father, Elijah thought. At least in something, he seems to take after me.
"Damn it," Klaus growled, seeing his son had disappeared and might be a threat to his other child, the first one whom, despite not sharing blood like Nik, he loved just the same.
Klaus's expression darkened the moment the witch's words made sense in his mind.
It wasn't just a spell.
It was a chain.
"If the witch gets hurt... the child gets hurt..." Klaus murmured slowly, as if putting together a puzzle.
And then—
Everything clicked.
Nik.
The threat.
Marcel.
"He isn't protecting," Klaus whispered, anger rising like fire. "He's eliminating risks."
Elijah frowned slightly.
"Or preventing one," he corrected calmly. "You're assuming too much, brother."
Klaus turned sharply.
"Marcel is impulsive. Proud. Territorial." Klaus began pacing. "If he touches one of those witches—"
"They get hurt... Hayley gets hurt... the child—" Elijah completed.
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Klaus stopped.
And then laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
"That's why he came to the city, that's what irritated him. He got the news before we did. He's going to kill Marcel," Klaus widened his eyes in fear. "Before Marcel even has the chance to make a mistake."
He wanted to take Marcel's kingdom, but... he never thought about hurting the end. But Nik wasn't like Klaus, he had no connection to Marcel.
Even though both were his sons, even if Marcel didn't have Mikaelson blood... he loved them both, and he knew that didn't extend to Nik.
Elijah observed his brother for a few seconds.
"Or," he said carefully, "he will make sure Marcel doesn't do anything that leads to that."
Klaus shook his head, already moving.
"Elijah, do you really think someone who came from this family would allow such a threat?"
Elijah said nothing, because he knew it was true.
Klaus was already in motion before the silence ended.
A blur.
Anger, fear... and something much rarer guiding every step.
Desperation.
"If he touches Marcel..." Klaus muttered, almost growling as he crossed the cemetery like a contained storm. "I swear—"
"Klaus..."
The firm voice made him stop for half a second.
Enough.
"If you arrive there attacking," Elijah continued, appearing beside him with his usual calm, "you'll turn a tense situation... and it could ruin your relationship with Nik."
Klaus didn't answer immediately.
His eyes were still glowing amber.
But he knew.
He knew Elijah was right.
And he hated it.
"Then tell me, brother," Klaus said coldly, walking again—more controlled now. "How exactly do you suggest I stop my son from killing the other?"
Elijah took a deep breath, thoughtful.
"By talking to him."
Klaus let out a short, humorless laugh.
"You just saw what happened when I tried that."
"No," Elijah corrected. "I saw you attacking... and him responding."
Silence.
"There's a difference... Besides, from what little I know of my nephew from what he did to Kol, I'm sure he'll play cat and mouse with Marcel for quite some time."
---++--
Marcel was having a terrible day. First, it was reported that someone used magic on the outskirts of the city, and he and his vampires went to punish the damn witch.
But what they found was a damn vampire, clearly much older than Marcel, who killed all the vampires he brought and knocked Marcel out. And after that, it turned into a cycle.
To make it worse, he started throwing Marcel into the forest and dropping a tree on top of him every time he killed him. And after more than five times, Marcel was furious, cursing at the unknown vampire he never even saw.
The sixth time… Marcel woke up before his body had fully regenerated.
The trunk was still through his abdomen when his eyes opened.
No surprise.
No confusion.
Just… silence.
He didn't try to get up immediately.
He stayed there.
Feeling.
The weight of the tree.
The pain fading little by little.
And that feeling…
That damn feeling of being watched.
Always.
"…" Marcel opened his mouth… but said nothing this time.
Because it was useless.
There was no answer.
There never was.
He slowly pushed the trunk away, getting out from under the tree with a heavy, almost mechanical movement.
He stood up.
Looked around.
Forest.
Again.
But it wasn't the same.
It was never exactly the same.
And that…
That was starting to bother him.
The seventh time was different.
He didn't remember dying.
He just… blacked out.
And woke up.
Again.
Under another tree.
"No..." Marcel murmured, running a hand over his face.
Now something was wrong.
Before, there was a pattern.
Now there wasn't.
Now it could happen at any moment.
Anywhere.
No warning.
No chance.
The eighth time…
He was talking to one of his vampires.
Mid-sentence—
Darkness.
And then…
Tree.
Again.
Marcel didn't get up this time.
He just stared at the trunk above him.
Breathing slowly.
Thinking.
Forcing his mind to work.
"Why are you doing this?" he murmured low. "Who are you?"
If it was war…
It would already be over.
If it was revenge…
He would already know the reason.
But this?
This was something else.
The ninth time…
He woke up laughing.
A low laugh.
Without humor.
Almost broken.
"Alright..." Marcel murmured, staring into nothing. "I get it."
Silence.
Nothing answered.
But he kept going anyway.
"You can kill me as many times as you want..." he said, his voice hoarse, "but I will never give in. I don't know what goes through your sick mind, but I won't be defeated."
A lie.
He knew.
It did.
Every death took a piece of his control.
Every time he didn't see... didn't react... didn't understand…
It eroded him.
Slowly.
Efficiently.
Cruelly.
The tenth time took longer.
And that was worse.
Because Marcel started waiting.
Every second.
Every step.
Every conversation.
It was an invisible countdown.
He looked at everyone.
Distrusted everything.
Even his own vampires.
"When...?" he sometimes murmured.
But there was never an answer.
Only—
Darkness.
And tree.
The eleventh time…
He didn't react when he woke up.
He just lay there.
Motionless.
Breathing slowly.
Empty eyes.
Because now he knew.
It didn't matter what he did.
It didn't matter where he was.
It didn't matter who he was with.
It could happen at any moment.
No warning.
No mistake.
No defense.
"You don't want to kill me..." Marcel murmured, staring at the sky through the leaves. "What the hell do you want?"
Silence.
But this time—
Something changed.
Not in the environment.
Not in the sound.
But in the feeling.
As if… someone had liked the answer.
Marcel closed his eyes for a second.
Tired.
Truly tired.
"Then keep going..." he said quietly. "Because when I find out who you are, I'm going to kill you..."
Then after several deaths, it simply stopped. But Marcel's paranoia didn't. He expected an attack at any moment. Even his own vampires noticed he wasn't sleeping and seemed exhausted.
--++--
Author here, well guys, I had exams in college and did really badly, so I need to study to recover, and therefore the posting pace will slow down.