Chapter Text
Kol Mikaelson stared out at the streets of the city he both cherished and despised. Watching the funeral proceedings down below, currently being led by more friends and family than he had ever remembered having before. Little Nicki, well past his first century, was leading the march next to Marcel and his niece. The Were-Witch hybrid was linking arms with his daughter, his son somewhere in the crowd. Lovely little Ellie, now a grown woman herself, was shedding tears for her late mother, Rebekah, as her son held her in his arms.
The Original continued to gaze sadly, but content, at the coffin. Rebecca had gotten her wish, had taken the cure, and she had lived a full human life. Had gotten her human family, and Kol could honestly say that it didn’t sting as much as it used to. Desperately aching for attention and love from his siblings had left him broken and rageful, hurt beyond measure. It had gone on for far too long before he had found someone who chose him first. Who made those old hurts heal. She had tended to the scars of his soul and taught him how to live for himself .
Turning his attention back to the proceedings below, it didn’t hurt as much as it used to. He had been through this, time and time again. Niklaus and Elijah’s funerals were so long ago, Freya’s a more recent memory, even his estranged brother Finn’s tiny funeral from before. His own wife’s passing had been almost 30 years ago, taken by age just like Rebekah. Kol smiled sadly as his thoughts strayed back to Davina.
Burning hot and bright, their love consumed them both, lost in their own little world for so long. Davina had brought out a side to him he had thought long forgotten, that carefree and joyful nature he thought lost to vampirism. His best friend and confidant, Davina had given him magic back, even if not in the literal sense. He would cherish those memories of Davina until he died, but he could honestly say that he was satisfied by that chapter in his life.
Sighing as he felt a presence beside him, Kol turned his gaze to his favorite niece. A girl born into a war, who fought for others just as fiercely as she fought for family. She was the embodiment of everything they had hoped she would be, even more so. A powerful witch, teaching students at the Salvatore school and kicking ass. A strong ‘Elder’ to the packs, handing out advice and wisdom to her successors. A fierce vampire, who taught the new age creatures a new way to live, a better way to live. Hope Mikaelson, the Tribrid.
“Thought I’d find you up here.” Hope smiled tiredly at him, seeming just as wrung out as he felt. They were the last ones left of their old family, bar Marcel of course, and seeing all their loved ones go had taken a toll on the normally formidable girl.
“Shouldn’t you be down there, little one?” Kol asked his darling niece, smiling at the eye roll that nickname gained him, "I'm sure your cousins are wondering where you are.”
Hope stepped up beside him, by instinct he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer to him. Hope sighed, “I just needed a minute. I’m not exactly…”
“As sad as everyone else?” Kol guessed, his niece was often so much like him it hurt. Hope just let out another sigh, snuggling into his side.
“Yes…and no. I miss Aunt Rebekah, but it kind of feels like I lost her when she took the cure.” His niece's face showed slight shame at the admission, but Kol just mocked her sigh, causing Hope to chuckle softly.
“Rebekah…honestly darling, I felt like I lost Rebekah a long time ago.” At Hope’s curious, but understanding gaze, he continued. “I’m not quite sure if I ever really had her. At Least, not in the way Niklaus and Elijah did.”
Hope seemed to tense at the mention of her Father, that wound never quite closing all the way. “What do you mean? Not in the same way.”
Kol took a moment to gather his thoughts, they were the only ones left now, no use in watching his words anymore. “Those three were always closest to each other, they eventually tried with me, and later Finn. But some hurts don’t just go away with pretty words, love.” Kol smiled tiredly down at her, rubbing her shoulder. “We never really attempted to try and fix all our mistakes, all those hurtful words, all the betrayals. It felt more like we acknowledged it, and then moved on.”
“And Aunt Freya?”
Kol took a deep breath in at the thought of his eldest sister. Freya and his relationship had always been complicated, and even the memory of her brought conflicting feelings to the surface.
“Freya and I were complicated, right until the end. Don’t ever doubt the love we had for one another, but we did not always see eye-to-eye.” Kol ruffled her hair at the snort she let out, rolling his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know. I wasn’t exactly subtle with my feelings about her, we were always getting into spats. Some I remember even you pulling us out of.”
“I don’t think you ever told me why though.” The Tribrid's gaze wasn’t judging, just watching him as he came up with the words.
“Freya…had done something, long ago. To Davina,” Kol gazed out into the city, remembering that awful time. “Davina had worked it out with Freya, years after, but I could never quite let that betrayal go. That and…”
Hope nudged him when his eyes glazed over, almost lost in his memories. The Original snapped out of it, snapping back into the present. “We had been searching for ways to bring my magic back. Not body jumping into a young witch, or turning me into a heretic like your old friend Lizzie, but my magic. My old magic.”
“She couldn’t do it?” Hope asked, curious and confused. She was proof enough that you could be both vampire and witch.
“I wouldn’t know.” Kol admitted, hiding his hurt. ”It kept getting put on the back burner, she was always busy with her own family, or some new threat that needed to be dealt with. It just wasn’t a priority at the time.”
That time of his life had honestly hurt a lot more than he was letting on, the trust he had placed in Freya, thinking she of all people would understand the pain of losing that part of himself. The thoughts and hopes of getting to practice magic again, of feeling his connection to Nature restored. Even the tiniest hope that maybe it would bring Freya and him closer. His sister had understood, but she also didn’t, and how could she? She had never experienced that loss herself. She never had to endure that feeling. That empty, hollow void it left inside you. The pain of having such an intrinsic part of you torn from your soul. Niklaus was probably the only one of his siblings to ever come close to that feeling, but his wolf was simply locked away. Not rotting dead inside of him. Kol honestly should’ve learned a long time ago not to trust his siblings like that, but he had hoped he would be a priority to one of them. Just once.
“I’m sorry.” Hope said, leaning back into his side. He merely nodded, kissing the top of her head as they watched the funeral.
“What would you do? If you could do it all over again? Not all of it, but…” Hope trailed off, gazing into the city with a thoughtful expression. Kol understood what she was trying to say, even if it brought a rueful grin to his face.
“I’d tell them I love them, maybe try and make it work. Not sure how well that would go, if I’m honest. They never really took the time to understand me, merely thinking I was being dramatic or acting out. Trying to change myself never really worked out all that well for me either.” Kol huffed a self deprecating laugh, grinning wryly at his sister's coffin. “I never could truly fit into this mold, this person they wanted me to be.”
They were silent for a long time, Kol could tell that Hope was waiting to bring something up to him. His niece had always been far too easy to read.
“I was waiting to tell you last, but mostly everyone knows.” Hope took a deep breath, before turning to face him, face serious and eyes full of unshed tears. “I’m going to die. Tonight.”
Kol felt the breath leave his lungs, his arm tightening like a steel band as his eyes roamed over his niece. Searching for whatever was causing his niece to perish. He would kill it, eradicate it from this very earth. His breaths were getting a little panicky as he patted down his niece, not seeing anything that could be the problem. Strong hands, belonging to his niece, calmed his hands on her shoulder before taking his face.
“I’m not sick, or being hurt. I’m just ready, Uncle Kol.” Tired eyes, so like his own, yet so different met his. “I’m ready to find peace, to be with my Mom and Dad. I’m ready to see Landon again.”
The twelve-hundred year old boy, (and he was a boy, forever on the cusp of manhood but never quite reaching it), could barely move. His face froze as he stared into the face of someone just as broken, just as lonely as he was. Kol could only stare as the last of his family told him she was leaving. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to rage and scream, but he could only smile sadly as that sickening feeling of abandonment welled back up inside him. “Okay. W-what-um-have you figured out all the details?”
Hope nodded her head, still cradling his face in her hands. He had never felt as small as he did now, Hope wasn’t that much shorter than him, but with no towering brothers around to look up at, he had been the tallest next to Freya for a long time. Now he felt every bit the eternal 17 he was, his heart breaking just as it did over a 1000 years ago. Biologically, even his Niece was older than him when she turned, but she was still so young.
“Uncle Kol…there’s this spell, but it’s a complicated spell.” Hope caressed his face, making sure he was paying attention. “We were never 100% sure what it would do, but...”
Kol’s eyebrows furrowed, a grin appearing on his face despite his confused look, he was not entirely sure why she was bringing this up now. “Hope…are you asking for my help? I’m sure we could go over it together and figure it out.”
“Not exactly. I made some adjustments, and I know it will go in the direction I want it too. I’m just not sure about some of the technicalities.” She said, letting go of his face. She smiled at him, heading towards the door.
“Will you be there, when it’s time?” Hope asked, looking at him with trust and care.
“Always.”
Kol wanted to say he spent the day trying to talk his niece out of this, but he would be lying to himself if he did. The truth was, he understood where Hope was coming from, wanting to see her family again. He had thought about it himself a couple of times himself, but decided against it. The people that would be waiting for him weren’t the family he had lost to time. They were different towards the end, they had all grown and matured in their own ways.
Klaus, a better man when he had died than the thousand years he spent roaming this earth, since before he was turned. His big brother, someone he looked up to as a child, always wanting his cool brother to play with him, but Kol never managed to hold his interest for long. That had transferred to the years they spent as vampires, when he wasn’t kept locked in a coffin. It had grown to be expected, Klaus treating him like a dog on a leash, only to be let go when he wanted to cause chaos and destruction. They had been closer in the end, but it still felt like playing a thousand years of catch-up with a stranger wearing his brother’s face.
Their rock, Elijah, broken by so many mistakes and yet trying desperately to keep their family glued together. Only to go out with Klaus and leave Kol to pick up the pieces. Elijah’s disinterest of Kol, his judgement of his actions, and overall dismissals of his youngest brother would always be an open wound on his heart. His older brother had always chosen Niklaus, or even Rebekah, over him, writing him off as wild and uncontrollable. He never could see the way vampirism affected Kol. The void left behind by his magic, the way he was just aching for him to pay attention to him, begging him to see his pain, his loss. Kol had just wished to be held by his older brother, as childish as that sounded. He wanted Elijah to whisper nonsensical reassurances as Kol let himself break in his big brother’s arms.
His ‘baby’ sister Rebekah, a little less than a year younger than him, forever the same age as Kol. Sometimes Kol thought his brother’s forgot that he was still a teenager, the same as Rebekah. A teenager for a thousand years, but forever seventeen all the same. They treated Rebekah like her age, but they expected Kol to be more mature, more responsible. As if he hadn’t gone through the same things their sister did and then some. Rebekah had taken the cure in the end and gotten everything she wanted, only to find out it wasn’t the fairytale life she had dreamed of.
Rebekah was the sibling who he had thought would have his back, would be there for him, only to find he came up short to the trio once more. His feelings towards his younger sister were more towards indifference in the end, she had turned her back on him too many times for him to be hurt by it. Chasing after their brothers or her newest suitor of the week.
Freya, his lost older sister, returned to the family over a century later. Only to lose them so shortly after and be stuck with the family reject. At least she had Rebekah to keep her company until she died. Kol and Freya had their good moments, but it was largely overshadowed by the hurt feelings on Kol’s side.
Poor little Henrik, his baby brother, taken far too soon. Henrik was a wound they all bared. Forever and always mourning the loss of their brother. Kol used to play with Henrik when he was little, trying so hard to be a good big brother to him. For a time at least, he was someone’s favorite, being the one that Henrik went to when he cried or needed something. Alas, Henrik got sucked into the trend of forgetting about Kol, and would rather follow after Nik like a lost puppy or watch him and Elijah spar with swords.
And probably the one that had changed the most, Finn. His eldest brother. Finn had practically raised them once upon a time. Finn and Elijah. His siblings seem to forget that it was also Finn who supported them, Finn that worried for them, even if it came across as ‘boring’. Finn had been the one to soothe hurts, to mend torn clothes and toys, to hold his siblings after a nightmare. Finn had been the one to play with Kol, to feed and bathe him, to joke and laugh and play. Finn had loved him.
His estranged brother had been the one to show Kol magic , his first teacher. Kol’s mother never had the time, or the interest, to teach him. Too busy fretting over Klaus, doting on Rebekah, praising Elijah, focusing on the rest of his siblings, but never him. Esther wouldn’t let Finn teach him anything too advanced, but Finn took the time to sit him down and show him the wonders of magic. Laughing at the sheer joy on his baby brother’s face as he perfected such basic spells. Only to lose interest in Kol as he got older. Finn spent more and more time being the perfect son, until it got him locked in a box for nine hundred years. Kol had tried to free him after a time, but he was put in a coffin beside him more times than he could count. Finn had gotten his vengeance in the end, even if it was against Kol of all people. Cursing Kol to a slow and painful death with the same magic that used to cause Kol so much joy and wonder. Forever destroying any hope that his big brother still loved him.
Kol had wondered for a time that if it wasn’t for Ayana taking over his teachings from Finn, would Kol have been consumed by his wild magic. Slowly dying like Finn had cursed him to do, or being burnt to a crisp by Kol’s own power that far exceeded his mother’s. Dead in the forest somewhere, overlooked and forgotten. His power had always come more naturally to him, stronger than his mother’s, than Finn’s, but not quite reaching Freya’s or Hope’s level of mass destruction.
Kol sighed, rounding a tree as he trekked through the woods of Mystic Falls. Why his niece decided she wished to die in this podunk town would escape him forever. Perhaps she simply liked the poetry of it? Dying where the vampire species was born, where her father died for the first time.
Kol braced himself as he came into the clearing, seeing the spot where his family was slaughtered by their father all those years ago. The place where he had lost the one thing in this world he thought would never leave him. Hope was kneeling on the ground, carving symbols into the earth as she glanced at a Grimoire.
“It’s almost time. Thank you for coming, Uncle Kol.” Hope said as she stood up, dusting the dirt off her pants.
“For my favorite niece? Always, darling.” Kol smiled, walking forward and inspecting her work. A swell of pride warmed his heart as he gazed at symbols even he couldn’t fully understand. “What’s all this?”
“There’s no more Red Oak, so I had to get creative.” Hope said softly, glancing at him with a hint of unsurety. “It’s essentially a sacrifice. My magic meant to power my death, as weird as that sounds.”
Kol took a moment to study her work, he was a little unsure himself. Some of these symbols he couldn’t read, but the ones he could decipher told him that it would work. There was one thing bothering him.
“You're giving your power back to the earth?” Kol asked her, more because he wasn’t sure rather than for confirmation. He supposed one of the symbols he couldn’t read would symbolize relinquishment or nature.
“Something like that.” Hope said, still staring at the symbols before turning to Kol. “It will work.” There was a surety in his niece’s voice that prickled some part of his subconscious, but he just brushed it aside.
Hope ended up doing most of the work, finishing up the symbols and positions of the elements. Kol wanted to help, his vast knowledge of magic and years of craving that feeling urged him to step forward. The symbols and spell she was using eluded him however, some new age spell or forgotten archaic magic. The last original merely stood there in support, watching his niece prepare her own death.
Kol looked up at the sky in somber silence, watching the full moon grow closer to its peak. Using a celestial event like the full moon would give Hope an extra boost of power, not that he thought she needed it. Hope was one of the most powerful witches Kol had ever seen, passing Freya and Davina years ago, she could do this without the moon. It was probably more so for comfort than anything else.
As the moon creeped into position, Kol knew in his heart that it was time. Time to say goodbye. So he began to walk closer to Hope, ready to hug his niece for a final time and send her off into the afterlife. Feelings of abandonment and love warred within him, he battled back his insecurities. Now was not the time for Kol to be selfish, this was about Hope, this is what Hope wanted, what she needed.
Kol wrapped Hope in his arms, fighting back tears as he kissed the top of her head and just held her. He pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders, smiling sadly at her tears. “I am so proud of you, darling. You have become everything we hoped you would be, and more. I know your mother and father feel just as proud of you as I do, and they’re waiting for you.”
Hope nodded her head, she pressed something into his hand before stepping back and wiping her tears, taking a deep breath. Kol studied the necklace in his hands, it was the one Rebekah had given her, now with a tiny red vial hanging from the chain next to the M glaring up at him, as if in judgement as his niece began this spell “ Pouvwa domini nostri.”
Hope’s chanting picked up, Kol could detect a mix of different languages as the symbols in the ground began to burn with blue fire. His niece was in full tribrid mode as the earth began to shake, wind picking up, lightning flashed through the sky. Kol could only look around in awe at the power of his niece, before he realized with a start where he was standing.
He was in the middle of the circle.
Glancing up at Hope in a panic, a sinking feeling filled his gut as he saw Hope staring at him. It wasn’t the sight of dark veins and grey skin starting to form around her hands that stabbed a sword through his heart, it was the tears in Hope’s eyes, the tears of someone who knew what they were doing. She tricked him. “It will be okay.”
“Hope-” Kol couldn’t even get a word out as the Tribrid started chanting again, the world seemed to be caving in at the full power of his niece.
“Hope!” He cried as he dropped to his knees, a feeling all too familiar was beginning to set in as he keeled over. Kol’s body was starting to burn, starting to smoke as he writhed in pain. His veins began to blacken as his skin became grey, he felt like he was on fire. As if he was in the Gilbert kitchen getting stabbed with a white oak stake all over again.
Kol writhed on the ground as his niece killed them both, both of them were screaming in pain by this point. He wanted to muster up any feeling of betrayal, rage, even love at this point, but it was as if the fire was burning through his soul. Erasing him from existence as his body began to flake off into the air.
“Drink the potion, Uncle Kol. You deserve a happy ending too.” Hope sobbed as she finally succumbed to the spell. Her body disintegrating before his very eyes.
Hope’s death seemed to right everything for a moment, the world standing still as Kol continued to burn. Then it picked up even faster than before, the wind tearing at Kol’s form and speeding up his own disintegration.
Kol wondered what would happen after this, if he would follow his niece into the afterlife or be dragged into whatever hell remained. He tried to reach for the vial on the necklace, Hope’s words ringing in his ears, but his arm was already gone.
Kol only hoped that wherever he ended up would be better than this miserable existence.
The first thing Kol experienced as he sucked in a sharp breath was the sound of singing of all things. He blinked his eyes, studying his surroundings in confusion, he recognized the streets of New Orleans, having lived there for long enough to know, but he had no clue of how he got there. He was just with Hope, back in Virginia when…he died? Is that what happened? Was this to be his afterlife?
Kol glanced around, his breathing picking up as he began to panic, before setting his sights on a decapitated doll’s head on a fence. He gasped before whipping around, gazing up at the building in front of him. Dowager Fauline's mansion stood just as it had 300 years ago, it certainly looked a lot more kept than the last time he saw it.
The sights and sounds of his home, so familiar and yet not, was sending him spiraling. Sharp gasps of breath tried to fill his lungs, but it was like he couldn’t get enough. He turned back around, already speeding away from the memories behind him, when two arms linked into each of his. Stopping him as they controlled the pace. Two men walking on either side of him.
“You're looking very dapper this evening, Kol!” Niklaus, his brother, his dead brother said to him. Looking entirely too smug as he walked with Kol, Klaus’ arm like a steel band through his
“Though, gloves without a tail-coat? Unusual, wouldn't you say, Klaus?” Marcel, his Marcel? The one he knew or the one of this hellscape, he couldn’t say, but he had his arm through Kol’s other arm. Kol could only glance back and forth between them, his face pale as he stared in confusion, hope, horror. Kol didn’t know how to feel, how should he feel? Was this heaven? Hell? What was going on?
“I would! Unless, of course, the gloves are utilitarian in nature…” Klaus and Marcel laughed as if sharing a joke, not seeing or not caring of Kol’s current panicked state. They seemed to want to continue, before seeing Kol’s how Kol was acting.
Klaus seemed to relish in this, probably thinking Kol was like this because he was caught. “Something the matter, brother? He almost doesn’t seem happy to see me.” Klaus smirked at Marcel, the two goading each other into messing with Kol.
“Nik? What are you? How…what is going on?” Kol asked softly, glancing around himself in confusion. As if he didn’t recognize anything. Klaus seemed to falter for a moment, before his grin was back in full force.
“Mayor Burman came to me very concerned about the rash of thefts in the city. So, I put Marcel on it-” Klaus motioned to Marcel, and Marcel was all too eager to pick up where Klaus left off.
“-And, after a little digging, I formed a theory as to our culprit. So, we followed our suspect-”
“-And he led us here , to the mansion of the recently-deceased Dowager Fauline. You know, she's famous for her collection of rare and priceless jewels. Most notably, of course, the perfect paragon diamond.”
Kol could only stand there as they rounded on him, two glares searing into his soul. Kol was honestly lost, he remembered this of course, but he wasn’t sure what the hell was happening. Only what little control Kol still had had kept him upright and not crumbling to the ground in stress. Klaus opened his mouth, probably gearing up to tear into his little brother, but Kol beat him to it, already taking out the diamond from his pocket. He fumbled with it, shoving it into Klaus' chest and backing up.
“Take it.” Kol said, he looked a right state at that moment. Pale and scared, looking lost as he stood before the two men. Marcel and Klaus looked a bit more confused now, staring at the diamond and Kol as if they were expecting more of a fight.
“What? No bargaining, no snide remarks? What game are you playing-” Klaus began with a snarl, stepping forward. He stopped at the flinch his little brother gave. Looking at Kol with surprise and a little bit of hurt.
“Keep it. Trash it. I don’t care. Do whatever you want with it.” Kol turned around, speed walking away as his hands began to shake. He couldn’t be here, whatever hell this was, he couldn’t be around his brother staring at him with those hateful eyes.
Kol barely made it down the street before there was a whooshing sound and Klaus was back in front of him, staring down at him with a mocking smirk. His eyes however, they showed concern and confusion. “Don’t you want to know what happened to your little friends? My witch-”
“Don’t care. Kill them. Burn them. They are no friends of mine.” Kol rattled off, stepping back from the ghost in front of him. “Excuse me, Nik.” Kol muttered, lowering his head and walking around the mountain in front of him. Was Nik always that tall?
Klaus could only stare after his brother in confusion as Kol walked down the street, staring at everything like it might jump out at him. Marcellus appeared next to him, gazing after Kol like it might hold the answers to their questions.
“What was up with that?” Marcel asked, he had never seen Kol act that way, it was both suspicious and concerning. Kol and Marcel had never gotten along, but they were family of a sort. Kol was always up to something though, and they shouldn’t let their guards down.
“I don’t know.” Klaus’ glare deepened as he glared where his little brother once stood, plots and plans Kol could be up to already running through his head. Kol had almost looked scared of him, and while Klaus could inspire fear in his younger siblings, he never relished in it. It was a necessity for keeping them in line, that’s all. But he had never seen that look on his brother before, as if in a constant state of hypervigilance. Klaus still needed to punish Kol for conspiring against him, but he would get to the bottom of this and end whatever put his baby brother in such a state.
“But I’m going to find out.”
Kol vamped down the street, shutting out the sounds and sights of people around him. The city lights were burning into his retinas, every sound was magnified a thousandfold as he tried to escape this hell. His breathing had not slowed down, still drawing in sharp gasps as he made his way back to the compound.
The youngest Mikaelson brother paused at the door, noticing people milling about in the courtyard. Oh right, it was Christmas. Was it Christmas? Was this even real? Kol thought to himself hysterically, the party was beginning to start, people conversing with each other as they arrived. Kol had no need or want to be anywhere near the festivities, real or not. With his head held down, not making a sound, Kol vamped up to his old bedroom.
Kol took a glance around, studying the room in this mindscape. It was perfect, exactly how he remembered it. Every nook and cranny, every article of clothing strewn haphazardly on the floor. All his spell books and regular books lining his book shelf and desk. His bed was still rumpled, his dresser still exactly as he had left it that day. Every inch of his old room that he had lived in for so long, before they had ended up turning it into Hope’s room.
Hope.
With a staggering breath, Kol started ripping through his pockets, tearing his clothes apart in his haste as he tried to find the pendant. His shirt was beginning to shred in his desperation as he clawed at everything on him, pants quick to go next. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe! Panic heightened, Kol started tearing through his room. There was no reason to believe that the necklace was here, but Kol needed to do something . Staggering back,Kol’s hand almost smashed through the wall as he leaned on it. Gasping for breath, his other hand went to his neck, grasping his throat as if trying to force more air inside. That’s when he felt it. Hope’s necklace.
Kol lifted the chain up, sighing in relief at the sight of the vial next to the stylised M. He sagged against the wall, sliding down it while clutching the last remnant of his family to his naked chest. It wasn't hell. It was real. This whole thing was real.
Glancing around at the carnage in his room made Kol wince, his dresser was torn apart, clothes thrown everywhere in his fit to find it. His bedding was torn from his bed, the bed frame itself barely still standing. Luckily his books escaped the destruction , Kol thought as he fiddled with the necklace.
Sitting on the ground in his underwear, surrounded by his destroyed room, Kol probably looked insane. Kol felt insane if he was being honest. It was official, Kol was back in 1914. Somehow, someway, his darling niece had done the impossible and sent him back in time. The thought of his niece made Kol detach the vial from the necklace, remembering his niece's words about drinking the potion.
You deserve a happy ending too.
The potion didn’t look like much, if anything it looked more like blood than a potion. His niece was an experienced witch, however, and despite the pang of betrayal at what Hope had done, he still trusted her. Uncapping the vial, he tossed the liquid back, gagging at the wretched taste of it.
Kol waited for a moment, then he waited a moment longer. He expected something to happen, what that something was? He wouldn’t know. But he certainly expected more than this. Kol sighed, leaning back against the wall in exhaustion and disappointment.
He startled out of his pity party at the sound of someone entering his room, glancing over to find his dead sister staring around the destroyed room in confusion and impatience. Kol just studied Rebekah from where he was sitting on the ground, taking in the sight of her, not bothering to try and make excuses.
“Kol! You’re not dressed! Your date is waiting for you and you’re up here doing god knows what. And look at this room, have you lost your bloody mind? It looks like a tornado swept through here!” Rebekah ranted, waving her arms around before glancing at her brother on the floor. “Well? You can’t stay here. You have to come out eventually or Elijah will have a fit. Chop Chop.”
You can’t stay here.
Those words seemed to rattle in Kol’s head, caught on a loop as he stared up at his sister’s expectant look. Rebekah was absolutely right, he couldn’t stay there. He wouldn’t stay there and pretend to be a happy family all over again. Kol knew that’s not what she meant exactly, but he couldn’t really find it in him to care anymore.
Jumping up, Kol started speeding around his room, grabbing a suitcase and tossing it on the bed. He couldn’t pack the whole room, but he was grabbing as much as he could. Clothes, books, money, all of it was quickly stuffed in the bag as Kol once again tore his room apart.
“Kol! What the hell are you doing?” Rebekah screeched, finally fed up with whatever weird fit her brother was having.
“You were right sister, I can’t stay here.” Kol rasped, he looked dreadful. Still half naked and packing a suitcase in front of his lavishly dressed sister. Clothes, he thought. Putting on a pair of pants and throwing on a shirt and jacket.
He grabbed his suitcase and walked right past his gaping sister, ignoring her increasingly desperate calls following him down the hall, he was rushing at human speeds as he hurried away from his bedroom. “Kol!” Rebekah apparently could still run in heels however, as she was quickly gaining on him, as well as attracting the attention of a few of their guests.
“ What is the meaning of this?” Elijah asked, stepping into the path of Kol in front of the stairs and causing him to stumble to a stop.
“He’s leaving!” Rebekah shouted, the little tattletale, sounding close to panic as she caught up with them. Kol shot a tired glare at his sister, Rebekah was always willing to throw him under the bus.
“Kol. Explain yourself.” Elijah said, crossing his arms and staring down at him with those big brown eyes, full of judgement and concern. Kol wanted to hide, to hug Elijah, to sob and scream and cry. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t do this again.
“I can’t do it anymore, Elijah. I won't.” His body shook, eyes wide with a wild fear and panic, he knew they were drawing a scene. That Freya might be in the crowd, watching them from down below. He didn’t care if she saw. They had died, they had left him. They had abandoned him and he wasn’t going to give them another chance to do so.
“We made a vow brother, Always and Forever. Cease this childish behavior at once. You’re not going anywhere.” Elijah stated, drawing himself up to his full height. Elijah wasn’t as tall as Klaus, but he seemed to tower over Kol just the same. Always perfect, impeccable Elijah, expecting Kol to just roll over. Well, not this time.
Kol didn’t bother with a display of strength, or anger. He merely looked Elijah in the eye, tired and beaten down. “I was never a part of that vow, brother. You made that without me, and you certainly did not honor it towards me.” Kol stated, not rising to the bait, just stared at Elijah with dead, broken eyes. “Always and Forever was a pack made by you three, that you tacked on to me and Finn when you remembered you had more siblings.”
Elijah flinched back, hurt filling his eyes along with guilt. Did Kol really believe that? Elijah had tried to do his best by his siblings, but seeing how rundown and ragged his youngest brother looked in that moment made him question if Kol was right. Had he forgotten about Kol? He hadn’t meant to, Kol was just wild on a good day, downright destructive on a bad day. Niklaus and Rebekah had always just seemed to need him more.
“At least stay for the festivities, brother. It’s Christmas.” Rebekah pleaded, tears filling her eyes as she stepped up beside them.
“No, sister. Not this time. I need to go.” Kol said softly, kissing Rebekah on the head. That motion seemed to stun both of Kol’s siblings, Kol not usually being affectionate. But was that his doing, or ours? Rebekah thought ruefully.
“You could at least say goodbye to Nik before you go.” Rebekah tried again, trying to find one thing to make her brother stay just a little longer.
“No…Nik will be mad at me.” Kol whispered, looking at them both as he stepped away from them and turned to the stairs. Elijah and Rebekah could only soften at how young Kol seemed, how scared and tired he looked. Elijah felt panic tighten in his chest as he looked around for a reason to get his brother to stay.
“Leaving so soon, brother.” Klaus said, his face impassive as he walked up the stairs, blocking the exit from Kol. “You haven’t even tried the punch.”
“No. No, Nik, please. ” Kol choked, eyes tearing up as his brother walked toward him. He bumped into Elijah, and without even having a chance to move, his arms were quickly grabbed and pinned behind his back.
“You look like you need a nap, brother. Everything will be okay when you wake up.” Klaus said softly, voice a mockery of comfort, but his eyes were blazing in barely controlled anger and betrayal. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out the source of so many threats and nightmares.
Kol shook his head, tears streaming down his face as he struggled against Elijah’s hold. “Please, Elijah. Don’t let him do this. Please.” Kol sobbed, thrashing around and trying to break free. Not again, not again, please.
Elijah just closed his eyes, pulling Kol tighter against him as if to hug him closer. “Shhh, it’ll be okay brother. Everything is going to be okay.” Elijah soothed, trying to calm his brother down as Klaus approached with the dagger.
Kol could only scream and sob as Klaus positioned the dagger, slowly pushing it into his chest. “No! No, no, no…” Kol gasped out as the dagger started to take effect.
Grey skin began to spread, veins blackening as Kol grew limp in Elijah’s hold. Each sibling seemed to stare at Kol’s form as Elijah slowly laid him down. Klaus looked betrayed and sad, Rebekah had tears streaming down her face and a hand clasped over her mouth, and Elijah just looked torn down and shameful. His hand reached out to cradle their brother’s face, caressing the grey skin and giving Kol’s forehead a kiss. Elijah sighed, before standing up and turning to his sister.
“Party’s over.” Klaus growled, body facing the crowd below.
“Nik?” Rebekah questioned, looking on in horror as Kol’s body started to smoke around the dagger.
Klaus turned around in exasperation, only for fear to tunnel through his system at the sight of his baby brother’s body smoking. He moved forward only to be pushed back as Kol’s body caught fire, Elijah and Rebekah forced to shield their faces. “Elijah! Pull it out!” Rebekah cried, speeding forward and reaching down to pull it out herself when Elijah only watched in horror.
But nothing happened, Kol’s body continues to burn on the ground. “What’s happening?! Nik! Elijah! What’s happening?!” Rebekah cried, trying to pat out the flames. “I took it out! Kol! Kol, wake up!” Rebekah screamed, shaking Kol’s burning form.
Elijah could only stare at the body being burnt to a crisp, his face slack in shock and grief at what just happened. They did that. He didn’t understand, they had all been daggered before. Nothing like this had happened. It has to be a trick, Kol’s just playing an awful trick on them, Elijah thought desperately.
“Elijah.” The voice of his brother brought Elijah out of his spiral, Niklaus looked wrecked, face pale and crying as he stared at the body of Kol. Flames were illuminating his face. “Did I…?”
The sound of screams sounded from down below, causing all of them to glance over the banister. Down below, they watched as a vampire began to die before their very eyes. They watched in confusion as the chaos engulfed their guests, a few moments later, another vampire started to grey out of nowhere. They watched as multiple started dying from causes unknown. Not all of them, it only seemed to be affecting a few, but those few were dead or dying for no reason.
As one, the siblings turned back to find Kol’s body flaking off in the wind. They could only stare in undisguised horror as their brother's body crumbled apart like sand in front of them. This was their doing, Kol’s daggering obviously started a chain reaction of sorts, vampires dropping like flies, likely belonging to Kol’s sireline. It only confirmed what was already obvious.
Kol was dead.
“I killed him.”
Mere moments after this, far away, in the forests of Virginia, near a small town known as Mystic Falls, the earth trembled and groaned as something stirred beneath the surface. Slowly, agonizingly, a pale hand emerged from the soil, fingers clawing at the dirt. Another hand followed, then arms, shoulder…until a figure began to haul itself out of the damp earth, clawing its way out with desperate urgency.
It was a boy, no older than seventeen, naked as the day he was born, his skin caked with dark earth. Collapsing on the ground, the male gasps and coughs, gazing up at the stars.
With great effort, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, running trembling hands over his face and through his disheveled hair. Exhaustion and frustration radiated from every pore as he surveyed his surroundings with bleary eyes.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered, voice hoarse from disuse. “Again? I swear, if I have to die and come back one more time…”
His eyes snapped wide open in realization, his mouth falling open in indignation.
“Those bloody idiots killed me!”