The next day was pure chaos.

Elijah had figured out Davina's cryptic drawings. Together, they formed a portrait of Celeste Dubois, apparently the great evil that was coming.

"The Italians called them strega," said Elijah, looking through a book of witches through the ages as he sat Klaus, Rebekah, Hayley, and Esmeray down to discuss his findings. "The Yoruba of West Africa call them aje, meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them häxa, and here we call them witch. Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them and burned them. Whether adversary or ally, they have been a force to be reckoned with. Their ancestral magic anchors this city. There's never been one all-powerful witch until Davina."

"Who is not tucked in safe and sound down the hall, under our protection," said Klaus, gesturing toward himself and Esmeray before looking back at the drawing that Elijah had laid out on the table. "Your Celeste was quite beautiful and a portent of evil, according to our volatile artist in residence."

"Yes," said Elijah. "Perhaps Davina's mistaken what she calls evil for power. Celeste was certainly very powerful in her day, but she's been dead for over two hundred years. I don't understand. Why all these sketches now?"

Klaus shrugged. "Why does any witch do anything?"

"I don't know," said Esmeray worriedly. "It's like I've told you both before, don't ignore a witch's premonition. This kind of stuff is different than visions. Visions can be interpreted multiple ways. This? This is all truth. If she's sensing chaos while drawing to the point where she had to make pieces of the portrait at separate times, you can bet that this means evil. I know it's not what you want to hear, Elijah, but something's not right. I need to go ask Davina about this and go talk to Sophie after. I think she might know something."

"Why would Sophie Deveraux know anything?" inquired Elijah.

"Because yesterday she was talking about becoming an elder by consecrating Celeste's bones and taking their magic. I told her hell no when she asked me to help her find her body. Maybe she's plotting something."

"I wouldn't doubt it," said Klaus. None of them noticed how uncomfortable Hayley suddenly looked. "That whelp is constantly sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

Esmeray patted his thigh. "Don't kill her yet, though, we might still need her. Let me go see Davina."

Marcel, apparently, had had the same idea. Thus, when Esmeray walked in, she was greeted with the sight of Davina throwing up dirt.

"Oh, shit," she said, rushing forward and clapping her on the back to help her get it out. "What the—?"

The entire French Quarter started to shake violently, and Esmeray had to struggle to not fall as she tried to help Davina get all the dirt out. As soon as the shaking stopped, Davina ceased coughing, but immediately slumped back, looking feverish. "Marcel," she said, looking at the vampire for help. "I don't feel... I don't feel good..."

"Something's wrong with her," Esmeray said to Klaus after Elijah had gone to get Sophie. "And unfortunately, I think I know what it is. The Harvest can't be delayed any longer."

Sophie confirmed this when, after her arrival, they felt a second earthquake. Hayley was not in the room. Apparently, she had confessed to Elijah what she'd done, and he had been very cross with her.

"Was that Davina?" asked Sophie in shock when the shaking subsided.

Klaus gave a cheeky smile. "Charming little habit she's developed."

"And the earthquake I felt today?"

"Also Davina," said Rebekah. "And, she's taken to vomiting dirt."

"Oh, we have a huge problem," said Sophie. "I thought that we had more time, but we need to complete the Harvest now."

Klaus snorted. "Said the desperate witch, conveniently."

"She's not wrong," said Esmeray, nudging him. "I think I know why, but I don't know how bad it might get. I was born in a body that allows me to perform high levels of magic without getting hurt. As a full hybrid, my power might not have limits. I have the power of more than four witches in my body, and while it doesn't hurt me, I just can't control it. Davina wasn't born to house this much power. She's carrying three other sources of power and it's destroying her. That power wasn't supposed to stay inside of her for nearly a year."

Sophie nodded in agreement. "That earthquake you just felt is a preview of the disaster movie that is about to hit us."

"Why should we believe you?" asked Elijah.

"You've met Davina, you know her story. It's like Esmeray said— for months now, she's been holding all the power of the three girls sacrificed in the Harvest ritual. A force that was meant to flow through her and back into the earth. One person was never meant to hold that much power. It's tearing her apart, and it will take us down with it."

Elijah pursed his lips. "Tell us, then, what disaster awaits us."

"There are four stages for the four elements bound together in the Harvest. The Earth stage, the Wind stage, the Water stage, and the Fire stage. Each is worse than the last, and judging by the earthquake... if it gets to fire, this entire city will burn itself to the ground. Not even Esmeray will be able to stop it from happening. She can't be fixed. She can't be saved. This will not stop at the earth sign, and if you wait it out, you immortals will be the only ones left to argue about it."

It was definitely proving to be a problem. Esmeray and Rebekah had gone to speak to Davina about it, which had only incited a panic that left a very powerful wind blowing through the Quarter, blasting shutters off of windows and knocking down paintings hung up inside, though thankfully not the one Klaus had made for Esmeray. The werewitch had had to put Davina in a sleeplike state to keep her emotions from getting out of control.

"I have to figure out how to complete the Harvest," said Esmeray frantically, grabbing several notebooks to start writing spells. "I just don't know how the hell we're going to make Sophie an elder for the ritual."

"Breathe, love," said Klaus, encouraging her to pause and realize that she was getting overwhelmed again. "Think of something else for a moment— something that will keep distract you."

"But I have to be occupied with this!"

"Well, is there anything you want me to do?"

Esmeray tried to slow herself down enough to think. "Yes, um, I think that we should prepare for the worst. The Bayou needs supplies. Not just canned food— blankets, sweaters, clean water, tents, tarps—"

"Done," he said, having made a list of it on his hand in a pen while she'd been speaking. "They will have what they need, I will ensure it."

Esmeray nodded. "Alright, then I need—"

"Love," said Klaus, stopping her again. "Focus on Davina. Elijah is going to allow Sophie to consecrate Celeste."

"I can't rely on that working. I need to be preparing other solutions in case it doesn't go well. I'm sure I can figure something out, I just need time."

Time seemed to be the one thing that they would never have enough of. Everyone was running around trying to get things done, and Esmeray couldn't afford to be getting sidetracked focusing on what everyone else was doing to make sure no extra problems arose. And yet, she was tracking Sophie's progress with the consecration, she was getting information from Klaus about how the supply drive at the church was going, and she was doing her best to comfort Hayley, who was sobbing and ranting about how much she despised herself for what she did to Elijah.

"To be fair, Sophie went to you because she knew you didn't know Elijah as well," Esmeray told her, still scribbling and making a spell that could help if the consecration didn't work. "She went to you before I had time to say anything about it. Besides, she was betting you'd be open to it because you know how I've taken people's memories all the time and you wouldn't see anything wrong with it."

"I b-betrayed his t-trust," Hayley sniffled, curling up into a ball and rubbing her palms over her growing belly. "He's gonna h-hate me forever."

"Forever is a long time. I don't think Elijah can dislike you for that long. This was a very small thing compared to all that Klaus has done to him. And that's not to mention all the problems there were in the past with Kol and Finn."

"I need to do something," said Hayley miserably. "I need... to make it right. B-But he won't talk to me."

"If you want to do something good, you can head over to St. Anne's Church and help organize the supplies going to the Bayou to support the wolves. Elijah will come around. Just make sure that when you see him, you apologize from the bottom of your heart. That will mean a lot to him."

Hayley had trudged away, head hanging and staring at the floor. Esmeray hadn't had the time to worry about her, because mere minutes later, she'd learned that the consecration hadn't worked. There was no magic in Celeste Dubois's bones.

"How the fuck is that possible?" Esmeray hissed, holding her phone against her ear with her shoulder as she rummaged through the books in the Compound's library. "No one found her before now! I thought the magic wouldn't want to come out but I didn't anticipate it would be gone entirely."

"I do not know," said Elijah, trying to remain calm, though his eye threatened to twitch out of frustration. "But I have another solution, Esmeray. My mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yes. She was never consecrated, and her power would be enough to make Sophie an elder. How is Davina?"

"She's fine," said Esmeray, looking to where the girl was still sleeping. "Marcel's been in and out a few times but he doesn't say anything, so I guess he's just as worried as we all are. The wind hasn't stopped this entire time. We need to hurry this along if you're going to do it, Elijah."

"Yes, of course. I will return to the Compound shortly."

She hadn't been expecting him to mention Hayley, but she was sort of disappointed that he didn't. She liked to think that Elijah knew by now that he could talk to her about anything that troubled him, but as always, he was too private of a person to be spilling his thoughts.

"It's taken one thousand years," Rebekah said to her brother once he told them his plan, "but you've finally gone mad. Our own mother?"

"Yes, our beloved mother, who Niklaus has affectionately placed in a coffin in his basement. Not daggered, but quite dead."

Klaus held up his hands as if to say, 'what else did you expect me to do?' "Have you forgotten, brother, that she tried to kill us all, including Esmeray?"

Elijah acknowledged this, but continued speaking. "Well, I say we put her to use and put her to rest once and for all. Now if we bury our mother on land owned by one of her descendants, she becomes a New Orleans witch, and we, as her family, share in that ancestral magic."

"We're vampires, Elijah," said Rebekah. "We can't practice magic. Or own property, for that matter."

"Yes. With regard to practicing magic, we won't need to be witches for it. With the burial, power will be released, and we will channel it on to Sophie whilst we participate in the Harvest ritual. And, as for owning property, not all of our mother's descendants are dead."

Klaus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "The baby."

Elijah nodded. "The baby. The parish Tax Assessor's office is just steps outside of the Quarter. Hayley now holds the title to the plantation. So, if we bury our mother there, and we consecrate those grounds, we can finish the Harvest ritual."

Klaus seemed to be pleased. "You're a bit of a mad genius, Elijah. Count me in."

Rebekah was staring at the two in disbelief. "Am I the only one thinking? Our mother was the most powerful witch in history. If we bury her, we hand that power to our enemies to use against us."

"Given our circumstances," said Elijah, "I hardly see that we have a choice, Rebekah."

The blonde sighed in frustration. "I don't know why I bother. You two will just do what you want anyway."

"No," her eldest brother replied. "Our decision must be unanimous."

Klaus scoffed. "This is not a democracy."

"You're quite right," said Elijah. "This is family." There was a clap of thunder, and rain started to pour down on the house. "Water. The next sign's begun. Rebekah?"

The youngest Original had to relent. "Kill a demon today, face the devil tomorrow. Count me in."

Klaus smirked. "Well, this is no family reunion without our mother. I'll fetch her."

Esmeray had been in charge of going to get Hayley and taking her and Father Kieran to the plantation house while the siblings retrieved Esther. With a wave of her hands, the werewitch prepared a suitable grave. Klaus pulled Esmeray close under the large umbrella he was holding up, shielding the two of them from the rain. Rebekah was doing the same with Hayley, while Elijah was with Sophie, who had come to witness the proceedings.

"Are you ready to do this?" asked Father Kieran, who had his own umbrella held up once the coffin had been lowered into the ground.

Klaus looked around at his siblings. "Always and forever. The dagger, love, if you please."

Esmeray reached into her pocket and brought out the dagger she'd kept handy in case they needed it for a spell. She offered it to Klaus first, who sliced into his palm and dripped the blood over Esther's grave. Then, it was given to Rebekah, Elijah, and Hayley in sequence. Father Kieran was the last to obtain the dagger, but he did not cut into himself, he simply tossed the dagger into the grave. "It's done."

The werewitch raised her hands once again, and the grave was left covered with fresh dirt.

They made a beeline for the Lafayette Cemetery, where Marcel had taken a now conscious Davina. Flames erupted near the entrance just as they arrived, hurrying toward the site where the Harvest had been left incomplete nearly a year ago. After heating the ceremonial athame over a torch that Esmeray was keeping lit for her, Sophie beckoned Davina forward.

"Do you believe in the Harvest?" she asked her.

The young girl nodded nervously. "I believe."

Sophie held her gently as she slit her throat. Hayley and Rebekah had to look away as the girl slumped back into Marcel's arms. The vampire lay her on the ground, and the rain and fire ceased. Davina's body glowed golden for a moment before the magic flowed into the Earth, as it should have done long before.

"After the Harvest comes the Reaping," said Sophie, looking excited. "Their sacrifices made and accepted. We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones."

Davina didn't wake. "We call upon our Elders to resurrect the chosen ones," Sophie repeated, beginning to tear up when she realized it wasn't working. "Resurrect your chosen ones... please? I beg..." she fell to her knees and started to sob. "No...."

Hayley and Rebekah started to cry. Marcel cradled Davina in his arms for a moment, looking at Klaus bitterly before speeding away. The hybrid followed after him.

"I don't understand," said Esmeray shakily, kneeling down and placing her palm on the ground. "This... this was supposed to work. They were supposed to come back."

Sophie shook her head, covering her face. "I-It took too long..."

"It should have worked!" said Esmeray, eyes darting all over the place, trying to understand why Davina wasn't waking up. "Esther's magic was passed onto you!"

"It didn't work!" Sophie yelled, standing up and stomping her foot on the ground. "It didn't work and they're not coming back." She stormed away, and Esmeray looked up to see Rebekah was already leading Hayley back home. Only Elijah remained, refusing to cry, but seemingly just as distraught as the rest of them.

"Something is wrong," he said quietly. "I find it hard to believe that all my mother's might couldn't fuel a simple ritual like this."

Esmeray moved to Davina's limp body and brushed her damp hair out of her face, her eyes welling up with tears. "I t-told her she didn't have to be terrified anymore," she whispered. "I said I'd find a way to fix it and I f-failed her."

Elijah put his hand on her shoulder. "We should get her somewhere dry." He moved forward and picked up the body. Esmeray tried to contain her sobs as they took her inside the Lycée, laying her down gently. They couldn't be the ones performing the consecration— the witches would need to do it in the morning.

Esmeray couldn't stop herself from bawling as soon as she got to her room. She covered her mouth to try and muffle the sound, going to her bed and burying her face in her pillow. This didn't make sense, and perhaps that was what left her most distressed. Why hadn't Celeste's consecration worked? Why hadn't Esther's magic been enough? Why was Davina still dead? The magic had to have gone somewhere, but it seemed that it had just vanished.

When the werewitch had been able to stop crying long enough to sit up, she reached for her phone, dialing the number of the first person she thought to speak to.

"D-Damon," she cried into the phone.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately. "What happened?"

"I-I just need to hear your voice," she managed. "Texting isn't enough. I c-can't do this. I can't be in charge of this c-city. I'm not s-strong enough. I couldn't do any of it right."

"Who are you kidding, Esme? They chose you for a reason. Whatever it is, it can be solved. Every leader has their moments where they have to acknowledge that they're not all-powerful. What fun would it be if you did everything right the first time?"

"F-Four girls are dead because of me!" she cried, bringing the blankets over herself to create a sort of tent. "I was supposed to figure out how to save them, and I didn't. I can't balance all these tasks at once. I want to help everyone but I can't. I hate the witches here, and I hate that I hate them because they're still my people. I wonder how my mother would feel if she knew how little I respected those who practice magic in this city. I always focus on the wolf side of myself but that's not enough if I can't unlock it often. If I had just done a better job of talking to them and trying to learn firsthand instead of having someone else do the work for me, I could have made this work. I never wanted to lead three supernatural factions, Damon. I only wanted to lead the wolves and now I can't help them. Sophie Deveraux won't help me unbreak the Crescent Curse because I didn't do enough to save her niece. And D-Davina..."

She muffled another sob and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. "I'm not h-happy, Damon, I hate it here. I hate this city because Anya died here and I can't forget that. I don't want to hate it, because Klaus loves it so much, but I don't like being somewhere that my power is useless. What's the point of me having all this magic if I can't do anything right with it? I can't do certain spells without the help of the witches here and I hate relying on other people. I miss you all so much and yet I don't feel like I can leave because I have to help Hayley. And I h-hate that even months later, I still resent her. I don't want to be bitter, but I am. I didn't want to be a mother this soon, so I pushed Klaus aside and it's my fault he felt he had to go be with someone else. And even if that baby isn't mine, I'm going to be expected to be a good stepparent and I want to be a good one, but what if I'm just going to cause a problem? That kid is going to grow up confused about why its parents aren't together. I'm going to be in the way of that. I feel hurt all the time and I just m-miss you and I need to know that everything is going to be okay even when it doesn't seem like it."

"Esme, do you need me to come and get you? I can book a flight right now and be there tomorrow and bring you back here. We can just spend a few days pigging out on junk food."

"D-Damon, I don't want to pull you away from the problems you're facing, I'm going to be useless when it comes to that..."

"You don't need to do anything other than be here for moral support. I don't want you getting involved in this Katherine and Traveler business. Come on. It's no trouble for me to go get you. And if Klaus wants to make a problem of it—"

"He does not want to make a problem of it."

Esmeray nearly jumped out of her skin as Klaus pulled the blanket up. With a mortified look on her face, she realized she hadn't placed a Silencing Spell on her room. She expected the hybrid would look hurt or angry, but instead, he looked sad, as if he was embarrassed that he'd never bothered to ask her about how she felt. He'd just assumed she did like New Orleans and hadn't tried to pry about how she was really adjusting to Hayley and the baby.

"Pack a bag, love," he told her, offering her his hand. "We're going to Mystic Falls."