Marcel was just as surprised as them.

"I had no idea that Aya was gonna take Klaus and Elijah down," he said to the group gathered, waiting to figure out what the hell they were going to do now that they knew the Mikaelsons had been put in a Chambre de Chasse so that they could be transported to the Davilla Estate. "And, regardless, why the hell are we trusting this guy all of a sudden, huh?"

Lucien, who was frantically slurping from a blood bag, said, "I may have arrived to this city with less-than-honorable intentions but considering The Strix had me captive and desiccated for a week, I'm more than happy to aid in their downfall."

"We only know one part of our plan right now," said Maddy urgently. "Jeremy, Jo and Vincent are staying here with the babies. The rest of us are agreeing to go and storm the Strix Coven house. We're getting them out of there."

"The de-siring spell might already be underway," said Freya gravely. "We won't make it in time."

"It's not just about the de-siring spell anymore," panted Lucien. "We've got to stop an execution."

All heads turned to him. "What does that mean?" asked Caroline worriedly.

Lucien took a moment to breathe before saying, "They aren't sure Dwayne's heart will be sufficient. I was coming to warn... because Tristan wanted Madeleine. The Strix, however, would have been fools to attempt to grab her, knowing full well they'd have a great deal many people defending her. Aya will allow The Strix Coven to perform the spell with Dwayne's heart, then will test the spell's success by firing a white oak bullet into Klaus's heart. I mean, it's a win-win for her— if you live, Marcel, well, she's won, and she will kill Elijah and Rebekah immediately afterward. If not, then at least she would have eliminated the rival sireline. Aya might kill Rebekah as well, even if it does not work."

Kol was shaking his head. "Alexis said she saw Nik die and his entire sireline burn. Literally every vampire here is part of his sireline. With Madeleine, it remains without confirmation but I'm fairly certain you were turned by Damon's blood, not Hope's. Still... practically everyone in this room will die if this goes astray."

Lucien nodded gravely. "She watched us fall, she watched us burn, every soul Klaus ever turned. When Aya tests this spell, Klaus will fall either way. And, if the heart is insufficient for the spell, all of us will die as well."

"Let me see what I can find out," said Marcel, setting down a blueprint of the Davilla Estate for them. "Don't go anywhere." He brought out his phone and went into a different room to make a call.

Everyone in the room huddled around the courtyard table, which wasn't exactly the easiest thing. Jo and Vincent decided they ought to take the girls upstairs, which meant two less people crowding around the tiny blueprint. Freya, Kol, and Davina then slipped away to see if they could find a way to break the Mikaelsons out of the Chambre de Chasse so that they wouldn't actually have to storm The Strix Coven house.

"Could use one of these access tunnels to slip into a back room," suggested Stefan.

Lucien just hummed, and Stefan asked, "What? Worried about getting a little dirt on your thousand-dollar shoes?"

Damon and Enzo snorted appreciatively, but Lucien was not impressed. "Actually, I'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, since the vampires we're facing are, what? Seven times your age? Is this really the best help we can get?"

They looked up as Marcel came back. "Doesn't matter. We're not getting their bodies back. Strix from all over the world are flying in to make sure this spell goes off. They're guarding every entrance and exit."

Lucien made a face. "Well, you're their leader. Call a meeting. Schedule a retreat. Order them to stop."

Marcel shook his head. "Nah, nah, nah, nah. I do that, Aya has no problem staging a coup."

"Marvelous," said Lucien. "I guess it's on me to come up with our grand plan, then."

Tyler snorted. "You've got two hybrids on your side. Even if all of us are younger than you, it doesn't make us useless. Young hybrid beats old vampire every time."

"Make that three hybrids," said Valerie pointedly. "I'm also the only siphoner in the whole group, I can suck up the Strix's own magic and use it against them." She glanced at Maddy. "It is short notice, but I could alert the other Heretics, and Lily. Their lives are on the line too."

Maddy shook her head quickly. "No, they wouldn't get here in time. I don't want them to get hurt." She could care less about Lily, but the other Heretics had always been kind to Hope.

"Well, you have a whole pack of wolves," said Hayley. "The Originals have helped us a lot in recent months, and Hope is family. We're not letting her lose anyone she loves. Just say the words, and we'll help."

Maddy looked at her appreciatively. "How about this? Wolves moving from the outside in, and us from the inside out. If we're able to sneak in somehow, like Stefan said, it'll draw the Strix to us, and the wolves can attack from behind when they're least expecting it. With all the witches in this room... I'm sure we can be cloaked."

At that moment, Freya, Kol, and Davina came back down. "I have an idea to get them out of the Chambre," said Freya. "All I need is a strong enough power source. I have my pendant back, but considering we are trying to resurrect Finn, the stress it could put on him would be concerning for the spell. Instead, I'll channel Lucien. The older the vampire, the better the battery. In the meantime, the rest of you could buy us time. Keep The Strix occupied."

Lucien scoffed and looked at Marcel. "Wait, so you want me here holding hands with the leftover sister while you take the toddlers and tackle The Strix? You must be jok—"

Freya flicked her hand, snapping Lucien's neck. "I work better with quiet," she said with a smile. She glanced up. "The rest of you... what is the plan?"

"We have seven vampires total," said Marcel, counting himself, the four Salvatores, Caroline, and Elena. "Not much, and we're nowhere near as old as these guys, but we still stand a chance. You're staying here, Freya, so that makes... four really powerful witches. Three hybrids, one of which is a heretic, we have Ansel, and then the entire Crescent Pack."

"Anyone who doesn't want to do this, now is the time to say so," said Maddy, even though they'd already agreed to help. "When we go in there... we may not come back out. Either because we fail to stop them from killing Klaus or because someone will lop off our heads."

"We're ready for this," said Elena, who wasn't going to just sit back now that Elijah was in danger. "They're our family, and we're not abandoning them."

There was a sound behind them, and they saw Jeremy coming downstairs. "Count me in," he said, holding a bag of the weapons Alaric had let them bring with them.

"Jer, no," said Elena immediately.

"If Davina's going, so am I," he said. "I'm a Hunter, okay? I'm stronger than the average human and... if Valerie were to siphon off the spell that keeps me nice and calm... I'd immediately revert to my default of being a vampire killing machine. If someone else were to make my tattoos visible, they wouldn't be willing to kill me, because then they'd get saddled with the Hunter's Curse. We need as many people as possible."

"I think we can manage that," said Valerie. "You can go in with the wolves through the back. It should limit the amount of vampires you encounter, and ensure you don't kill any of us on accident."

Elena didn't like the sound of this, but she knew Jeremy was an adult now, and making his own choices. "Only if you're sure, Jer," she said.

He nodded. "I am sure. Just make sure to knock me out and put the spell back on my mind if I get too excited."

"Let's get going, then," said Kol. "Witches... let's prepare a cloaking spell. Marcel, think you could drive us all in one car?"

He blew some air out of his mouth. "Let me see... okay... Ansel, Hayley, Jeremy, Tyler, go get the wolves, I'll have a vampire take some vans for you ASAP. The rest of you... get ready to be really fucking uncomfortable."

They took only one more moment to make sure they were dressed appropriately for battle. Maddy and Elena both neglected that, rushing upstairs to see their girls.

"Mama has to go and rescue your daddy," Maddy whispered in Hope's ear as she hugged her, rubbing her back and keeping her eyes closed. "I don't know if I'll make it back to you. I just want you to know how loved you are." She knew she couldn't afford a longer potential goodbye, and quickly drew back, kissing Hope's forehead. "If all goes well, I'll be back soon, little one. And if not..." she forced herself not to think of that, and handed Hope back to Jo before rushing out.

The suburban he acquired was only meant for eight people. The front two seats had to remain empty, and the witches couldn't have anyone sitting on top of them, because they needed to keep up the cloaking spell. Thus, Kol, Maddy, Enzo, and Stefan crammed in the front seat with Bonnie, Davina, Liv, and Valerie on their laps. That left the back seat to be filled by Damon, Caroline, and Elena, who were going to be in charge of popping open the trunk to let them all out, and also communicating with the wolves to make sure they didn't arrive until once the fight broke out inside The Strix Coven house.

Obviously, those in the middle row were the most uncomfortable, but no one voiced any complaints.

They were incredibly silent as Marcel pulled up to the main gate of the Davilla Estate. He rolled down the window to show the guards who he was, and they of course allowed him in, though a few peered into the windows. Given that there was nothing in sight, they didn't sense anything was wrong.

Marcel parked in the back of the house, where the vampires could no longer see them. Right as he opened his door, Caroline popped the door of the trunk, and they all scrambled out, no longer cloaked, just until they got inside.

Very silently, they snuck through the back entrance while Marcel walked through to the front to come across Aya properly. The wolves were in position, just waiting for Maddy's signal.

"Any problems?" they heard Marcel asking Aya in the room ahead of them.

"No," replied Aya. "We're nearly there. After today, one man's recklessness will no longer weigh on the shoulders of his sires. Thousands of vampires across the world will be freed from the tyranny of the Originals." Some footsteps. "I'm really glad you're here, Marcel. Stay close by when it happens."

Damon snorted, and thankfully only those in their group heard them. Obviously Aya wanted him close by— she wanted to see if he died once she shot Klaus.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," replied Marcel calmly.

A moment of silence before Aya spoke again, as if to one of the witches, "Are you nearly ready?"

"Yes," said one of the girls. "We will begin now. Once the pool is fully charged with the Mikaelson blood, we can break the sire link. The heart is ready."

They heard Tyler let out a shaky sigh. Unfortunately, Dwayne was truly dead. He had lost a friend, and Maddy could tell that it would be his main motivation for tearing through The Strix and leaving no survivors.

The witches began to chant, "Newo unus animabus carnem et sanguinem de ista duo. Sanguinatum venetus barkael meh. Nemo unus animabus carnem..."

Kol stopped the group. "Freya is ready. Let's message the wolves to wait a minute. We attack now."

Maddy nodded, letting Hayley know. Seconds later, the group burst into the room where the spell was being conducted.

And all hell broke loose.

Necks were being snapped left and right, hearts were flying out, and it was getting to the point where Maddy had no idea who was around her. She was just fighting for her life, alongside everyone else. She took a moment to look, after she managed to stake a vampire into the wall. Jeremy was off to the side with Alaric's weapons and with Davina beside him, her wrists continuously flicking to snap necks, leaving the vampires ready for him to kill. Good, fi Jeremy was in here, it meant most of the wolves were, too, which explained why the place was so packed.

Elena and Caroline were nearest the pool, mostly attempting to get inside to pull the Originals out of it, which meant they were suffering the most at the hands of The Strix witches, who were struggling to concentrate. At one point, a body sailed through the air, and Maddy saw Damon high-fiving Liv, who was teaming up with Enzo to toss vampires around the room.

She whirled back to face front once a figure crashed into her. She didn't recognize them, but based on the resistance she felt, this vampire wasn't too much older than her, which meant she didn't have as much of a disadvantage.

Slowly, the amount of people in the room became less. Maddy stumbled back against Stefan, and the two nodded at each other before barreling into the nearest vampires, knocking them down and ducking just as Jeremy jumped forward to shoot them with a stake gun.

"I think I should have brought a sword like Ansel did," Maddy panted, seeing Ansel was having a wonderful time slicing heads off. "Didn't think of that."

"Let's be real, Mads," said Stefan breathlessly, "you're not the best at sword fighting."

There was a gasp from the pool. Maddy could see that Elijah had finally woken up. She rushed at one of the witches, who'd been about to curse Elena. She snapped her neck, and Elena jumped in, yanking Elijah out of the pool, and biting into her wrist to feed him her blood.

Only two witches remained. And it seemed that they were about to give up before they both raised their arms, causing absolutely everyone in the room to fly backwards into the walls, even the members of the Strix who were still up and fighting.

Nearly everyone in the room let out an agonized scream as the spell moved into completion. Marcel was the first to drop, red veins rising up to his face. Then Stefan. Then Damon. Maddy. Valerie. Enzo. Caroline. Tyler. Elena. The remaining Strix tried to flee, but the wolves and the witches rounded on them before they could get too far, all while the other vampires were laying in agony on the ground.

The blinding pain threatened to knock them out. Maddy collapsed, crawling desperately toward the pool where she could hear Klaus roaring out in pain. Suddenly, geysers of water shot out of the pool. The two Strix witches went unconscious immediately. Maddy rolled into the pool, flailing around for a moment, nearly drowning like a complete idiot because the pain wasn't gone yet, and she still couldn't really feel her limbs. But with every bit of strength she could muster, she swam to Klaus, helping his head remain above the water as he woke up, having been momentarily desiccated.

"Nik," she said, panicking. "Are you alright?"

"I felt them leave," he said hoarsely. "My sireline... is broken."

Maddy turned to Rebekah, who had yet to wake up. "What did they do to her?" she whispered. "Why isn't she awake?" She started to help her sit up before she felt something against Rebekah's back. Angrily, she ripped out a stake that had been lodged in her back. It had skulls carved into it, and Maddy was worried it had managed to kill Rebekah, until the blonde suddenly gave a gasp and awoke.

"What the hell did you do to her?" snarled Maddy as she limped out of the pool, heading for Aya, who had nowhere to run. "What is this, huh?" She held up the stake.

Aya didn't answer. She was trembling, watching as Elijah approached her. "So, we remain connected, you and I, in spite of everything that you have done," he said coldly. " I can't let you hurt my family. And you can't hurt me more than you already have. Answer her question. What did you do to my sister?"

Aya still didn't answer that. "I stood by you, Elijah," she whispered. "All of us were willing to die for you, and how did you repay it? Betrayal. Abandonment."

"You were not forsaken," said Elijah. "Yes, I failed you. For this, I will never forgive myself. But I cannot forgive..." he gestured around them, "this."

A tear slid down Aya's face. "If your life were chained to a man who left you despite your devotion... what choice would you have but to break free?"

Elijah came forward, and ripped out her heart the instant she closed her eyes.

"Rebekah," said Bonnie, going to check on her. "What do you feel? Are you okay?"

"I feel exhausted," she said, now that she and Klaus had climbed out of the pool. "Oh... bloody hell... the Nexus Vorti better still work."

"It should," said Kol tiredly. "Only a few dead wolves... that combined with the blood that's in the pool should be enough to bring them and Finn back." He reached for a small bowl that had been left behind by the witches, gathering the blood. "Get the wolves and their hearts back together. We'll perform the spell at the Compound."

"Are you sure you feel alright?" said Maddy, putting one arm around Klaus and one arm around Rebekah as they started to walk to the cars waiting for them outside. When the blonde nodded, she glanced at a gun Damon had in his hand. "What is that?"

"Aya said this thing had white oak bullets in it," he said, toying with it. "That little bitch turned my niece's favorite toy into bullets. I'm pissed. How many bullets do you think would have come out of that thing, huh? Seven? 'Cause there are only five in here and I don't think anyone got shot with this."

"That's strange," said Enzo. "Reckon they hid one away for safekeeping?"

"We'll find it tomorrow," said Davina, who was walking alongside Tyler. He had Jeremy slung over his back, and the Hunter was knocked out just until they refreshed the spell that would suppress his urges to kill vampires. "Tonight... we all need to rest."

Kol, Bonnie, and Freya handled the Nexus Vorti once they returned to the Compound. Davina and Valerie took care of Jeremy. Everyone had sustained a great deal of injuries, but aside from the few wolves, no one from their group was dead.

Maddy had helped both Klaus and Rebekah to their rooms, getting them some blood and drawing them baths. Rebekah had told her she'd call her to let her know if she needed help again. Thus, Maddy had stayed with Klaus, holding Hope while he sunk into the bathtub, which she'd filled with bubbles.

"How do you feel?" she asked softly, seeing he kept wincing.

"I'm fine, love," he murmured. "Only worried."

"Why?"

"Today confirmed that you were turned by Damon's blood. You're from my sireline, not Hope's."

"I know," she said, caressing her daughter's head. "It means her blood was used to save me. She's the reason I'm still alive. She's so powerful, she fought off the Traveler magic that was preventing me from being healed."

"It could have ended catastrophically," said Klaus. "Had something happened to me, we both would have died at once. Our daughter would have lost both her parents in one day. Kol was right... I should have listened. We shouldn't have remained linked. Had I been more open-minded..."

"Nik." She came to kneel beside him, and Hope reached out, grabbing onto his hair and tugging lightly at it, which made him smile. "Don't blame yourself. You had a good reason to be worried. Now... anyone wanting to settle old scores will come after you and Rebekah."

"They could hurt you."

"They won't. We absolutely wrecked The Strix today. A lot of it was thanks to the witches we had at our sides. We did a good job."

"Bear in mind, all these people that helped us today... they did so because of you. Not because of me. You're what unites these two extremely powerful vampire families. If you were not my wife, your brothers would never have aided my family the way they did today."

"Shh..." she kissed him. "Don't pretend you aren't becoming friendly with them, too. Damon doesn't hate you anymore. Not the way he used to. You opened this home to them and they've been really happy here. You treat them with respect. Give yourself more credit, Nik. You've become their family and they are okay with that. They like you."

"I like you," he murmured, puckering his lips for her to kiss him again. She leaned further forward, and Hope started to giggle.

"Bath!" she said excitedly, reaching for the bubbles.

"Wait your turn, littlest wolf, you already had a bath," said Klaus, pretending to keep the bubbles to himself. "These are all mine."

Though, when she pouted, he gathered some of the bubbles to make her a crown.

Once Klaus was finished, he knocked out immediately. Maddy left him in bed with Hope, propping up the pillows on her side so that Hope wouldn't fall. She went downstairs to check on the others. Valerie was with Rebekah, having siphoned off a strange skull-shaped mark that had been growing on her wrist. It seemed they'd gotten lucky that she caught that before Rebekah went mad.

"Let me help with that," said Maddy, coming to aid Ansel in removing the sling he'd made for himself while his arm healed. "Thank you for today."

"Of course," he said. "It was an honor. How is Hope?"

"She's sleeping." She glanced at the balcony. "Did the wolves and Finn—?"

"The wolves came back. They're tired, so Hayley took them home. Tyler will stay with them for a few days just to make sure everyone's okay. As for Finn, he's showering now. He seems rather tired, so I'm guessing he'll be sleeping for a while." He lowered his voice, "the spell didn't work as well as they wanted it to."

Maddy's heart sank. "Oh no. Were they unable to bring back his witch body?"

Ansel nodded gravely. "I'm not too fluent in witch speak but from what it sounded like, too much of the power source was used to bring back the wolves. So... unfortunately for Finn, he didn't get as lucky as Kol."

"The entire Nexus Vorti was used for him when Hope was born," she recalled. "Damn... now he has to be immortal... and the love of his life has long since been dead. Jeez." She patted his shoulder gently. "Need help getting to your room?"

"No," he said, getting up. "I'm alright. I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled. "See you." She walked toward the entrance hall, where Damon was drinking a bottle of bourbon alone. Stefan and Enzo had already retired to their rooms with their respective girlfriends. "Hey. You all healed up?"

Damon flexed his hand. "Eh, I'm still bitter one of them tried to break off my fingers, but I killed the dude, so that was nice." He stared up at the ceiling. "Called Meredith. She wants me to come home already."

"If you want to go and see her, you should."

He shook his head. "Now, Little Lils, don't try and run me off after I nearly died."

"You know that's not what I meant," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I never thanked you properly for saving me. When Hope was born, you turned me. Even though you'd never wanted to before. Today confirmed that your blood is the one running through my veins. The one that helped me continue to live to see my daughter grow. Otherwise I would have aged and I would be... well, gone."

"I should have turned you since the very first time you asked me to," he muttered. "I thought I was protecting you by refusing. But look... even as a vampire you got the things I wanted you to experience, because I knew how badly you wished to have it. A family. And you're happy, even if I didn't like Klaus before. He's a good dad, he treats you right. And you two are raising a good kid. Even if she always goes right for the ring every time she's with me."

"We'll get her one of her own eventually," said Maddy with a light chuckle. She put her hand on his. "I think it's time you know something. Something Aurora threatened me about... that I never mentioned. Now that things have calmed down I think it's safer to say it to you."

Damon raised a brow as she brought him to sit down. "I want to tell you," she whispered, "a story about a beautiful young woman named Sarah Salvatore."