At the summit, after Elijah had made a meeting and had told them that they each represented their own factions and that any problems would come to him, everyone began arguing.
“This is our city, too! We should be able to go wherever the hell we want!” Diego yelled.
Genevieve yelled over Diego. “We would consider it an act of war!”
Kieran was agitated. “We’re getting nowhere. You vile creatures cannot agree.”
Elijah yelled at them to be quiet, before asking Kieran, “Father, calm yourself, please.” He then lowered his voice. “Thank you. Now returning to the issue of boundaries, you will all heed to the following--,” he began, but were interrupted when Katherine entered, having heard that Elijah was making the decision of who got what in the city.
“I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?” she greeted. Then she said to Elijah, “Are you serious? You’re dividing up the city and the werewolves don’t even get a say?”
“We are not dividing the city. We’re establishing boundaries--,” he began.
“No, Elijah! There is not gonna be peace if the werewolves are excluded. They want a seat at the table. And if they don’t get one, I can guarantee that you will all regret it,” she warned, knowing the wolves didn’t like being excluded or still banished to the Bayou.
“Do you have any idea what it took just to get those people in one room together?” he questioned, once he pulled her aside to talk to her privately.
“No, actually, I don’t! Because I didn’t even know what you were doing out here until someone else told me. Tell me something, Elijah. Why did you leave the werewolves out of it?”
“I excluded them because they no longer reside in the French Quarter. My immediate concern is to end the mourning conflict here. Now, I can assure you once this treaty is solidified, it will expand to include the wolves,” he replied.
“And until then, what do I ask them to do? Sit? Stay? Roll over?”
Elijah shouted a little, saying, “I would prefer that you remove yourself from the process all together.” She glared at him and he became softer. “Katerina, are you certain about this?”
“The wolves deserve a voice. Give them one. You know it’s the right thing to do,” she said, before leaving.
Klaus continued to paint in his room while Genevieve updated him on the events of the day, wearing only a robe and her underwear.
“You should have seen your brother’s face when Katherine walked in.”
“Is the Crescent curse broken then?” he asked.
“Do you believe this will actually work? That we can finally have some semblance of peace in this city?” she questioned.
Cami walked in unannounced.
“I saw the light from the courtyard and took a chance that... You weren't with a half-naked psycho-witch. Seems I gambled and lost.”
Genevieve smiled. “Ten minutes ago, I was fully naked.”
“Oh! Then you served your purpose. Don’t let me hold you up,” Cami replied sarcastically.
“You O'Connells sure do love to peeve off witches.”
She left the room so Cami and Klaus could talk privately. Cami waited until she left before she started arguing with him.
“Really? The woman tried to blackmail me into stabbing you with the mystical knife of excruciating pain!”
“Well, New Orleans breeds nothing if not strange bedfellows, but I assume you’re not here to question me on my leisure activities.”
“I'm here about my uncle. He's deteriorating. The pills, the meditation, they're not working. His lucidity's shrinking by the day. A witch did this, a witch can undo it. You seem super-tight with Genevieve... maybe you could persuade her to help,” she informed him.
“It won't do any good. These hexes, they start with magic, but as they take root, they alter the very chemistry of the brain. I'm sorry, Cami. The damage is done,” he informed her.
“I refuse to accept that, and you would, too, if you had any concept of family,” she replied.
That night, Klaus was on his balcony, looking out at the city, before returning to his room, grabbing a paintbrush, and returning to his artwork. He found Elijah standing in front of his painting.
“Not a fan of cerulean blue?” Klaus asked.
“Not a fan of your continued indifference.”
“Well, it's difficult trying to unite a community that has a history of mutual loathing,” Klaus reminded him.
“Spare me the platitudes, Niklaus.”
“A perspective, then? If you want peace, you must begin with the werewolves. A hundred years ago, they had a run at ruling this city. As of late, all they've had is time to watch their enemies tear down that legacy.”
“All the more reason why their enemies are reluctant to bring them to the table.”
“Take a page from Bienville, brother. If the table's the obstacle, remove it.” He poured them both drinks. “Do you recall in 1720, the Governor's desperation to secure our help to build the cities first levees? We sat with him, and refused his offer, and so, he plied us with wine, with corseted women, and with raucous camaraderie until he had his yes.”
“Are you suggesting that I throw a party?” Elijah questioned with a smile.
Elijah and Klaus toasted each other and drank.
Later that night, a party was going on at the Mikaelson compound, all factions there to celebrate together and mingle. Genevieve entered with Davina, Abigail, and Monique. Diego and the other vampires were drinking together when they saw Jackson, Oliver, and the other werewolves enter the party. Klaus and Elijah looked at Katherine from the balcony whom was eating a few things at a food table.
“I’m impressed, brother,” Elijah commented.
“Yes,” Klaus agreed.
“Now if I can just keep them from tearing one another to shreds.”
“Well, then for your sake, here's to a spectacularly boring evening.”
Diego and some other vampires passed Jackson and Oliver.
“What’s up, little man?” Diego greeted, and purposely bumped into Jackson, which enraged Oliver.
“He’s not even worth it,” Jackson said to Oliver.
Elijah went to follow after Jackson, sensing hostility brewing, but Francesca distracted him.
“Since you're preoccupied, I'll intuit your flattering compliment.” She smiled. “Thank you, I think I look stunning, too.”
Elijah followed after her. “I trust you’ve spent as much time fortifying alliances as you clearly have selecting that dress.”
“So you do notice me. And, yes, I've already settled the dispute over the docks. I pacified the witches with an increased share in cemetery tours, and I've given the Crescents a Welcome-Back-to-Humanity gift in the form of $100 chips to my casino. So, I think I deserve some champagne, don't you?”
Elijah grabbed a glass of champagne off a passing hostess, but when she grabbed for it, he pulled it away.
“Ahh. You know, in light of Kieran's deteriorating condition, the others have acquiesced to your proposal. You will represent the human Faction until he's ready to resume.”
She took the glass from him. “Then, I suggest we make the most of our limited time together.”
Elijah saw Katherine and just looked at her.
Davina saw Oliver from across the room and smiled at him. He smiled back at her. Diego watched that, and angrily chugged his drink. Elijah noticed his mood and intervened.
“Diego. You will be polite and welcoming.”
“Yeah, see, his people killed my whole family. My sister bled out on the floor right next to me. The only reason I'm standing here is because Marcel came along and turned me before I bled out, too. So, I'm telling you right now-- I cannot be polite and welcoming to that.”
“Diego, I understand your anger. However, there are certain overtures that need to be made, if we are to find a degree of peace.”
Elijah left him and approached Jackson.
“Welcome to my home.”
“I wouldn’t be here if Katherine hadn’t asked of it.”
“Yes. It’s rather unlikely that you’ll experience an outpouring of kind sentiment here. The vampires in particular view you as…well, barbaric,” Elijah replied.
“Katherine tells me that this peace treaty is important to you,” Jackson said.
“Yes, it certainly is. So much so, in fact, that if anyone threatened to dismantle what I’m building here, I’d destroy everything they hold dear.” He smiled. “Have a wonderful evening.”
Klaus was on the balcony overlooking the party when Genevieve found him.
“Looking for your shrink?”
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Cami, luv.”
“Just curious why you'd seek her company. She seems so... ordinary.”
“Well, sometimes, ordinary is a welcome respite.”
“I thought I was your respite.”
“Well, you are. You are. Promise me-- not another thought about Cami.” He noticed Jackson walking up the stairs and turned to leave. “Excuse me.”
Klaus followed Jackson into one of the upstairs studies, where he greeted him.
“I’m so glad you accepted my invitation.”
“So, is this where the great Klaus Mikaelson says something poignant, and snaps my neck?” Jackson questioned.
“I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to offer you a gift,” Klaus assured him.
“Out of the kindness of your vampire heart?”
“Our hearts are more similar than you might realize. You see, long before I evolved, mine beat as a werewolf. I know your power. I know your burden. I'm here to take the latter away.”
“You want to make me a hybrid? I put my pack first, and I'm not gonna let anything compromise my family line, especially becoming some bloodthirsty vampire parasite.”
“That pride, that sense of loyalty? Well, that's exactly why I haven't snapped your neck yet.”
“Well, if you're not gonna kill me, then what the hell do you want?”
“Only to give you back the city that was taken from you. How is that for poignant?”
“Why would I trust someone who's conspiring behind his own brother's back?”
“I'm not trying to undermine Elijah's venture. I'm supporting his vision. Vampires destroy life to survive, witches are only as powerful as their dead, but the werewolves have thrived because their strength comes from family unity. The safety of that unity is what I want for my unborn child. The painful truth is, vampires are the antithesis of unity,” he assured him.
“So, what, after a thousand years, you're finally ready to embrace the other half of your family tree? Maybe the other half doesn't want you,” Jackson replied.
“Oh, they will once they return to the Quarter.”
Klaus pushed past Jackson and grabbed a wooden box from his desk, which made Jackson curious.
“You got a plan to back that up?”
Klaus pulled out a ring from the box. “My mother was a very powerful witch. I watched her craft all manner of magical items, but her most prized possession was this ring. I hadn't seen it for 1,000 years, and then it turned up hanging around the neck of a werewolf-- a direct descendant of my biological father. I believe she gave him this ring as a way of freeing him.”
“How so?”
“Daylight rings shield vampires from the sun. So, why not a moonlight ring to protect werewolves from the curse? Think about it! No more breaking bones, no more losing control to the beast within.”
“What do I have to do?” Jackson questioned, now convinced.
Downstairs, Davina was leaning against the wall, looking board, when Oliver approached her.
“Hey. You look, um…” Oliver started.
“Nervous? Out of place? Short in this dress?” Davina finished.
She smiled and giggled nervously.
Oliver laughed. “I was gonna say pretty. I'm Oliver. So, what's the name of the girl I'm about to ask to dance?”
Monique appeared out of nowhere. “Monique. Her name is Monique.” Monique took his hand and walked to the dance floor with him. She turned to Davina and gave a cruel smile.
Davina was upset and stormed away.
Katherine was standing on the sidelines, watching everyone dance, when Elijah appeared beside her.
“Would you care to dance?”
Since he was being so nice about it, she decided to take his offer. So she took his offered hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.
“You outdid yourself. You even got Klaus to come out and play,” she praised him.
“Yes, it seems that only a sizable soirée is enough to tear my brother away from his efforts at the easel.”
“That’s never a good sign.”
“Well, truthfully, I’d be shocked if he didn’t have at least a dozen or so visions swarming around in that insidious skull of his. I do hope your daughter inherits her mother’s…” He gazed at her from head to toe. “Everything.” He spun her around dramatically and she smiled.
Oliver went to go to the bar for a drink, when Diego approached him.
“Hey, wolf boy. Should have had them put it in a bowl for you.”
“Well, yeah, if you want me to crush your skull with it.”
Francesca appeared to intervene. “Please, boys. At least fight over something interesting. Me, perhaps?”
“Nah, you don't want to get involved with his kind. See, they got this nasty little habit of going berserk and ripping innocent people to shreds,” Diego replied.
“No, no, no. Okay? Look. If my people wronged you in any way, you have my condolences, okay? Though I'd be surprised my kin could choke them down, being half as ugly as him,” Oliver said.
Furious, Diego threw him across the courtyard, where he fell onto a table that was covered in glasses of champagne which shattered upon impact. Diego vamp-sped over to him, but Oliver pinned him against a wall. Elijah appeared and pulled Oliver off of him before pushing him against a table.
“This ends now. I won't ask again.”
“Oh, we'll end it all right,” Jackson agreed with him.
Elijah looked over to find Jackson pinning Diego to the wall, a stake aimed right at his heart.
“Shouldn’t you intervene or something?” Francesca asked Klaus whom were standing next to each other.
“Why should I? This party just got interesting.”
Katherine appeared on the staircase.
“Stop!” she ordered.
Elijah let go of Oliver and Jackson let go of Diego.
After the party had ended, everyone went home and Klaus was in his room, staring at his painting. He grabbed a paintbrush and began to work on it some more. As he did so, the peace treaty was finally made.
Later, Jackson informed Oliver what he did.
“You made a deal with Klaus Mikaelson? I’d rather turn every full moon.”
“If Klaus is right, this magic could do more than just stop us from turning. We could finally control what we are! We could draw on all the strength, all the speed, the raw power of our werewolf form. Our bite would be lethal to vampires, 24/7. The humans who hunt us, the witches who curse us, the vampires who hate us-- we wouldn't just be their equals. We'd be their superiors.”
Elijah entered Klaus’ room with the peace treaty and inkwell.
“Sign it.”
“Why? You’ve already done so on our behalf.”
“Brother, I am not a fool. It's clear to me you're not as disinterested as you'd like me to believe. Sign, please. If there is no peace between us, then how can you expect others to follow suit?”
“Fine, if it will make you happy. But, I assure you, this city's inhabitants will not adhere to this agreement,” Klaus said, before signing the contract.
“Well, you are welcome to wager against me. You will lose.”
“We’ll see,” Klaus said.
ns 15.158.61.21da2
