Marcel was not having a good day.

"You've got to be kidding me!" said Yara, extremely upset when she had rushed to Algiers and found him about to walk into his apartment after he informed her he was kidnapped by a woman in The Strix (a cult she'd always disliked). "Who the hell laid a hand on you? I'll pull them apart and sew their limbs back on upside down!"

"Some woman named Aya," said Marcel tiredly. He loved Yara but he was not in the mood to relive the embarrassment of the day. "It's fine, I'm fine."

"Well, what happened?!"

He rubbed the back of his head, heading into his loft. "She took me to their house, the Davilla Estate, basically talked about recruiting me until Elijah showed up." He hesitated to speak, but burst out, "I don't know what's more annoying– The Strix coming into my home, or Elijah dismissing me like some kid."

Yara lingered in the doorway, trying to figure out what to say. She snapped her fingers at Josh and Aiden, who were scrubbing at a blood-stained rug. "Hey, put two tablespoons of ammonia in a glass of water and spray it on the stain. Or just get a new rug. Marcel..." she moved closer as he began to serve himself a drink. "I know it won't mean anything right now but if Elijah stepped in and was rude, it may have been a result of his stress... doesn't make it right but I think he's trying to protect you. The Strix are not to be toyed with. Unless... you wanted to join?"

"I didn't," he said unconvincingly.

"My boy..." she put her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay to want things, it's okay to see where you are and wish for improvement, for a change. As long as you know what you risk with what you're aspiring to."

"Elijah made me feel small. But I'm not small if The Strix are trying to recruit me."

"No, my love, you certainly aren't. You have done amazing things, you have rebuilt vampire communities from the ashes twice. You have helped this city survive. Of course they'd take notice. I only wish to warn you... this comes at a time when there is a war being whispered about. Elijah's sireline trying to recruit you amidst a prophecy that foretells one of the three remaining Originals will fall by family or friend? You qualify as both. I can't help but worry they may be using you. Promise me you will think about it before you make any decisions?"

He relaxed. "You're not telling me I shouldn't?"

"If I tell you that you shouldn't, you will want to. If I tell you that you should, I'd be pushing you toward an unsafe situation. The only one who can decide is you. I trust your judgment. And I worry about you always. So does Elijah, so does Klaus. Don't do anything just because you feel you have something to prove. Do it because you stand to gain something from it and because anything you might lose is minimal or zero altogether."

He offered her a drink, which she took gladly, taking a sip before resting her head on his shoulder.

"He's not joining."

"I wasn't saying he was going to," she said, frustrated, as Elijah paced in Klaus's study while the hybrid angrily mixed paints and listened to their conversation. "But you have to wonder about their motives. If they are using this to try and gain intel on the family, you know as well as I that he'll want to use it to our advantage. What could it even be about? What did Tristan say to you?"

"He said that Lucien either knows where the weapon is, or he has it. We must keep him alive until we can find out what it is. I presume they intend to use Marcel to track our progress in this, to see our every move and find out what we do with the white oak we have and that which we aim to acquire, if that is at all true."

"But the prophecy–"

"Freya's spells have yielded nothing and what I learned from Tristan did not point toward this particular weapon being a piece of white oak. In fact, it seems to be something else entirely, a device that may not be lethal. I intend to find out what it is. And namely, what The Strix's aim is here."

"The murders were not committed by Lucien," muttered Klaus. "He was questioned by the police, another murder happened while he was there. He insists Tristan is behind it."

"Well, maybe, Tristan is the one that actually carved the smile, though Cami's profile suggested the killer was the one who had the smile carved on him. Whichever way it is, they're seizing control of the population, controlling tourism, controlling the blood supply Marcel's vampires use. He encouraged them to stick to the blood banks for now but I don't like that The Strix are digging their claws into things. We need to find out why and wouldn't an inside man be a good idea? I don't want Marcel to do this so I was thinking... Elijah..."

Klaus let out a loud laugh. "Oh, that'll be the day. Elijah, becoming part of The Strix again."

Yara threw up her hands. "He created them, he can worm his way back in as if he's interested in seeing how they intend to protect him. If Marcel gets it in his head to join, to be the inside man... no, we need to get ahead." Neither of them seemed ready to indulge her, leaving her to scoff and exit the room altogether. "I hate the bloody Strix. They've never notcaused a problem."

Hope was energetic the entirety of the following morning. Freya offered for her to join in on yoga, which Yara agreed to, though she hadn't done yoga in quite awhile and instead let Freya do her routine while she did a series of different movements to entertain Hope, standing on her elbows and flopping her legs forward to tickle her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Same question I'm asking about The Strix," said Yara, staring up at Klaus, who made a face when he saw her folded like a bendy straw while Hope squealed in delight. "You do recall Freya does her yoga here... right?"

"I just hadn't realized she was back from wherever it is she goes when she leaves," said Klaus. "Perhaps I was thrown off by the lack of strange gentleman callers perusing the contents of my refrigerator this morning. At least Gia comes prepared."

Freya smirked, finding this amusing. "Your concern for my whereabouts is touching."

"I simply want to know who is here at any given moment! I hardly think that's too much to ask."

Yara let out a playful gasp, pointing at the doorway with her foot. "Look there, Hope, it's Uncle Elijah. Tell your papa, since he's taking attendance."

Elijah flicked up a card, offering it to Klaus. "Courtesy of Tristan de Martel. It is an invitation to a Gala tonight."

"And will you be attending?" asked Freya curiously.

He sighed. "I do not wish to but I've given some thought to Yara's words. In an effort to learn more, I will. That being said, it would be wise of you to remain here. I don't doubt there is a possibility this could be used as a distraction to cause harm. Either to one of you or with the intention of taking the existing white oak from us."

"I was planning to take Hope out trick-or-treating," said Yara sadly. "Freya was going to join us."

"Best to wait until she's old enough to enjoy the candy."

Yara sighed, knowing he was right. "Well, how about we make something yummy here? What do you think, Hope, should we make some caramel apples?"

She clapped in agreement.

Klaus was obviously sour that he hadn't been invited to The Strix Gala. When Elijah had gone, he made up his own excuse about monitoring Lucien, though Freya had seen him entering Rousseau's after sticking her head out the window to ask an ice cream man to come by the house.

"Hello there," said Yara, propping her phone up to her ear as she started to dip the apples into the caramel. "Want to come over for some treats? I texted Davina, but she didn't respond."

"Can't," said Marcel. "I'm going to The Strix Gala."

She tried to hide her worry. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am. I was just calling to see if I can come by and have you fix my tie."

She knew what that really meant.

"There we go," said Yara, fixing his tie and then sliding one hand up, performing the sign of the cross over his face while he pretended he found it silly and unnecessary. She held onto his collar, whispering a prayer then tiptoeing to kiss his forehead. "Tenha cuidado, meu filho." (T: Be careful, my boy.)

While she and Freya got a drinking game set up during Hope's nap, Yara anxiously checked her phone, refreshing her messages and wondering who was going to be the first to contact her and say that something had gone wrong, that somebody was dead. Klaus had broken through with completely unexpected news (and a demand).

Lucien's prophetic witch had been kidnapped, which meant that Freya needed to go and help them find her. Yara wasn't all that surprised; an abduction like that happening on the night The Strix were throwing a party? It could be a cover. And Freya soon confirmed that the woman, Alexis, was in fact being held at the Davilla Estate.

She watched Hope sleep while she waited for the party to end, or for them to bring the witch home. The party raged on, but all of them returned together, with the unconscious woman and Lucien in tow. Why Marcel was infected with wolf venom and why Freya was now wearing a pink corset and wig was beyond her understanding.

"How did this happen?" cried Yara, looking down at Marcel's arm and seeing the bulging veins from the infection. "Oh my god– oh my god!"

"Relax, love, you'll wake the whole bloody city," said Klaus, biting into his hand and draining his blood into a glass of wine.

"But– but what happened? How do you go to a party and come back with a wolf venom infection, Marcel Gerard?!"

He rubbed his forehead. "It was a test, an initiation, they took my daylight ring and I figured out who it was and who they wanted dead and how– apparently he only feeds on vampires he defeats– and I thought it could come in handy, so... I called Hayley and she saved me with some venom I drank to take the dude down. He was a thousand years old but," he puffed his chest out, "I took care of him."

Klaus didn't seem as relieved as Yara. In fact, he was upset. "I bet they were all so impressed, weren't they? Hmm, your new mates? Positively taken by your boldness, your cunning wit, and your steely resolve. We cannot tell friend from foe, and what are you doing? You're pledging a fraternity run by those conspiring against us!"

"If you were so against it, you would have said something," said Yara sharply, snatching the glass from him and offering it to Marcel.

He didn't drink just yet. "My interest in The Strix is because of you. I don't get to choose sides. Whoever comes for you, comes for me. That's all I need to know. Yara's right, we don't know what they want, if it's an in or something else, but if I can find out..."

Just what she feared he'd want to do.

"Yes, whoever comes for me may very well come for you, for your mother, for Hope. But they may also come throughyou, Marcellus. Remember that."

Freya cleared her throat in the doorway. "She's awake."

Marcel downed the glass of blood before heading into the courtyard with them.

Alexis was seated on the couch beside Lucien, appearing weak. She had a bruise under her eye, and seemed close to tears. "I'm sorry," whispered Alexis to Lucien. "I hoped I was wrong, I really did. But I saw it, I saw him die."

Lucien winced. "Did you see the weapon?" She nodded. "What is it?"

"To understand, it must be seen," said Alexis quietly, offering her wrists.

Klaus didn't hesitate to take one arm, beckoning for Yara to take the other; aside from Marcel, she was the only one who hadn't yet had a glimpse of these supposed flashes that made up the prophecy. Settling on either side of her, they bit into her wrists, starting to feed.

It was hard to make out what she was seeing. A grimoire with a spell she didn't recognize. A dining room filled with disarray: broken glass, bunched up tablecloths, plates and chairs overturned. Blood dripping from a portrait of Elijah that resided in the ballroom. A mouth with a double set of fangs. Flames. A searing heat. Then–

Yara spit out the blood, beginning to cough when Alexis slumped back. "Poison," she hissed as Klaus began to do the same.

"No, no!" cried Lucien, catching her as she sank down, nose and mouth bleeding profusely. "No, no, no, no, no! Alexis!"

He didn't cry, but he looked furious and ready to commit murder when she gave her last breath. Whatever his motives with the entire city, with this particular prophecy, this didn't strike Yara as the type of man who would have gotten rid of his prized possession before she was milked of all her worth. No, this had been done by someone else, someone perhaps wishing to hide the truth of what was to come. If she'd had even one more second with the visions, yara was sure she might have seen something more recognizable...

He stayed by her side for a long while. Klaus and Yara were the only ones who remained to keep him company. "You seem rather distraught," noticed Klaus, as if he was suspecting whether Lucien's grief was real or falsified.

"It took centuries to find her," murmured Lucien. "I made sure she had access to the finest teachers, the most powerful witches. No expense was spared when it came to helping her hone her gift. Under my employ she became something the world has never known and quite possibly never will again. Strange creature that she was... it seems I'd grown quite fond of her."

"And now we come to the part where you accuse Tristan of being behind all this," predicted Klaus. "Letting your anger build as you explain how he realized that her vision would expose his plot. Poisoning her in order to maintain the element of surprise."

Lucien seemed annoyed with his comment. "And this must be the part where you tell me a very similar line of argument could explain why I would have wanted her dead." He snorted.

"Do you find this amusing?"

"Quite, to be honest."

Klaus slammed him into the nearest pillar. Yara simply put her head in her hands, seeing no reason to intervene.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," sneered Klaus.

"There is nothing else I can say to make you trust me, Klaus. All I can do is wait while you decide whether I'm your greatest weakness or your greatest strength. Hopefully you'll decide before we're both dead."

Yara stood as Lucien walked out of Klaus's grip, heading for Alexis. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said politely, offering Lucien a weak smile. She didn't like him nor did she trust him, but his pain was real. All of it. Maybe he just wanted to live. It was possible to be alive without living, and maybe this was the existence Lucien had endured because of the Mikaelsons, because of the threat of his death looming over his head since he learned that if someone killed Klaus, he'd automatically die, too.

The following day, Elijah spoke to Tristan. He pointed a very long finger at Lucien, which Lucien pointed right back once Klaus admitted he believed that he hadn't played a part in Alexis's death.

Yara had gone out to fetch some groceries, intending to bake banana bread that she'd send to Davina, in the hopes she'd finally stop dodging her calls, texts, and even her persona whenever they encountered one another in the street. When she came back, she almost dropped her bags at the sight of Elijah and Klaus staring at a dead body over a bed of lavender springs.

"Do I even want to know?" she said weakly. "I am so tired of asking what the hell is going on."

"Aurora," said Klaus tightly, offering her a note.

She read aloud, "'Roses are red, lavender is blue. Come find me before I find you.'" She made a face. "Lavender is fucking lavender. And she... why is she...?" She took Klaus's hand. "You don't have to do this. I know how hard it's been for you to even talk about her. Let someone else handle it, Elijah and I could–"

"No," he said firmly. "I will go out to find her with Elijah."

The elder brother didn't seem too enthusiastic about this. " Are you so eager, Niklaus? Last time you even said her name was a thousand years ago, when you told me to never speak it again in your presence. The only reason Yara knows is because you wrote on a piece of parchment that it was alright for Rebekah to tell her. She is right, let us–"

"No, brother! I will not wait while she leaves her little calling cards all over my home. Freya was here, Hope was here. We are leaving and we are leaving now. Yara, take Hope to Marcel's loft in Algiers."

Elijah grabbed Klaus's arm before he could storm off. "There's something you should know." Both Yara and Klaus's stomachs dropped in fear. "When Mother seized control of my mind, unleashing those monstrosities that lurk behind the red door..." he hesitated, "I saw something. Aurora was there."

Yara had a feeling what was coming. Aurora must have cheated, Elijah must have been complicit...

Klaus didn't even want to hear it. "If you mean to confess a thousand-year-old secret that will divide us after our hard-won reconciliation, then te absolvo, brother– there is nothing you could have done involving her that would be worse than what she did to me."

"Please do not dismiss this, Niklaus–"

"Whatever it is, it can wait! We have a plate of here-and-now problems, and I mean to clear it. If it makes you feel any better, we can kill Aurora together! Then neither of us need play her little mind-games ever again, hmm?"

Freya chose to accompany her when she caught her struggling to fold a single onesie. "You're stressed," said Freya, patting her shoulder. "Let's go."

Marcel wasn't home, but they made themselves comfortable on his couches. Yara and Hope took a nap while Freya astral projected to check in on Rebekah and Kol, who were debating whether they should stay traveling or come home to help get rid of Lucien, Tristan, Aurora, and The Strix.

In the afternoon, Yara made them some sandwiches and made a few calls to make sure the poachers were leaving the Bayou alone. Hayley had good things to report and claimed no other wolves had gone missing since she and Klaus 'handled' the situation. As long as the wolves and vampires weren't being affected by the conflict, Yara remained hopeful that they'd remain available in case they were needed, which she didn't wish to be the case.

Marcel returned later with pizza once he found out they were camping out in his living room. Their day at the fight gym had been productive; all the vampires were apparently thrilled with the idea of Marcel being part of this 'cool' organization.

After filling their bellies, Yara and Freya walked Hope back to the Compound, which was a complete mess. Chairs and tables were broken, the chandelier had somehow been pulled down from the ceiling, blood stained all the tiles and the legs of each bit of furniture, and a few doors had been blown off their hinges.

Like perfectly innocent little boys, Klaus and Elijah sat in the dining hall, clothes in tatters while they shared a drink– the hybrid enjoying some bourbon and his brother downing a glass of his blood to cure a wolf bite.

"May I ask what happened?" asked Freya flatly while Yara covered Hope's face.

"We had a little chat about the past," said Klaus with a smirk.

Elijah piped up, "I informed Niklaus I am not his enemy. And, though they entered the city under the guise of peace, Tristan and Lucien, in truth, are allied against us. A fact that required a little bit of... gentle persuasion..."

"And so I reminded our brother, who angered them in the first place..."

Freya inquired, "And, after all of this civil discourse, what understanding did you come to?"

"That we expose and destroy our first sired."

"Couldn't agree more," said Klaus. "You see, gentlemen know when to call a truce and turn our fury in a more pertinent direction."

When he'd cleaned himself up, he came looking for Yara as she rocked Hope in her chair, humming and trying to soothe herself, too. She opened one eye as he approached, whispering, "Are you alright?"

"I am," he whispered back. "Elijah compelled Aurora to break my heart when he learned I'd killed my mother."

Yara heaved a sigh. "So the whole time, he knew?"

"Yes." He looked down. "Everything that came after France... it came in my mind because I felt worthless, broken, unwanted. To know it was all a lie... I was cross."

"It's okay to be cross for a while longer. Maybe writing a letter to your old self and explaining this will help you process it. Let it out... don't try and pretend you're okay when you're not. This is something huge, Klaus. Something awful."

"Perhaps. Though, I don't think I need to."

"It was a major event, it changed everything about you. Your entire perception of yourself, about love, about your place in the world."

"I know, love. And at first I did question what I missed out on. Everything Aurora and I might've had. Who I could've been. But it didn't matter. If I'd had even a moment more with her, I might not have had Marcel. Or you. Or Hope. She is in the past. I no longer love her and my feelings have not changed no matter what I've learned. I love Marcel and Hope, our children. And I... am remembering my love for you, Yara. My partner. My queen."

She started to smile when he knelt in front of her, resting his head on Hope's back, letting Yara start to run her fingers through his curls. "I don't need to process anything because I have everything I need right here."