Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Quest

Chapter 12

Angelica delved into Kol's mind first. She siphoned away his guilt over killing Davina Claire, then siphoned away his grief and despair over his role in her death. She pulled him back from the brink of death. The longer she spent in his mind the more stable he became as he sorted out fact from fiction and reminded himself that Davina was alive and in need of his help. He tapped into his memories of the day they were reunited, of their five years spent in San Francisco, and his current quest to find his missing fiancé. She told him about the witch's trap and Kol, of all his brothers, knew about witches and the tricks they play. The vision shattered and Kol opened his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief to be free from the nightmare. Angelica helped him to his feet. They had been caught in the trap for nearly 24 hours but Kol explained it felt like being trapped in eternal hell from which there was no escape.

Niklaus was next and his was a much harder task to tackle but Angelica was persistent as she pulled back layer after layer of a history that never happened. Niklaus had gone on a mental mass murderous rampage and as Angelica siphoned off his paranoia, his narcissism and his grief, he became more reasonable and rationale until he ultimately acknowledged that none of what had happened was real. Dahlia was long dead, defeated years ago thanks to Esther Mikaelson, Finn was dead but at the hands of Lucien Castle, but the rest of them were alive. He pieced reality back together with the final realization that his beloved daughter, Hope, was very much alive. His vision shattered and Niklaus opened his eyes, wiping away the tears as he shook off the nightmare that was all too real. He embraced Angelica and thanked her for pulling him back from the depths of insanity.

Kol reached out and helped Niklaus up but as Angelica rose she lost her balance and fell to the ground. Niklaus reached out for her but she told him she was fine, that the process takes a significant amount of energy. He told her to rest but she told him no, she needed to get Elijah out. Niklaus told her she needed to rest and he would do it but she said he could not, this was different than other times when he has entered the thoughts of Elijah or others, and he risked being pulled back into the trap. Niklaus nodded and Angelica reached out for Elijah, knowing his would be the hardest of all because she was a part of his nightmare, and he would have to differentiate the fictional version of her in his mind from the real version trying to save him.

Angelica found herself in the middle of her son's bedroom, her body and that of her son's still lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. The image of Henrik Finn dead was nearly too much for Angelica, but she compartmentalized the images, reminding herself that it was not real, Henrik Finn's own words to her, "it's not real," echoing in her head. Henrik Finn had seen what Elijah was seeing and even at his young age he was able to tell the difference and to be a reminder to her that it was not real either. Angelica stood up and turned, finding Elijah seated on the floor in the corner of the room. Elijah refused to interact with Angelica, his mind unable to grasp anything beyond the image of his dead wife and son, and the belief that this was the life he deserved. Angelica worked to siphon off the bad emotions but it was moving much slower than his brothers. She was weak but was determined to bring Elijah out. She understood him best yet she could not get him to interact with her. She touched the side of his face yet there was no reaction even to her touch. "I need help," she said, and opened her eyes.

Angelica leaned her head back against the wall as she caught her breath. Niklaus asked her what had happened and she told him, trying to maintain an emotional separation between what was happening and how it was ripping her apart to see Elijah suffering so. She was exhausted and Elijah was deeply entrenched. Niklaus told her to bring him in with her, the two of them would work together to bring Elijah back into reality.

"Freya," asked Angelica, "shouldn't' the witch's trap be less powerful because Niklaus and Kol are free of it? How is its hold still so strong?" Freya pondered that the strength of Elijah's vision was maintaining the spell. They discussed whether they should move Elijah out of the tunnel but found that his body could not leave while in the grips of the trap. They were out of options and Elijah needed to be freed, so Angelica agreed. She told Niklaus to enter his mind only after she connected with Elijah first so she could act as Niklaus' guide.

Angelica found herself in Henrik Finn's bedroom again, next to an unresponsive Elijah. She talked to Elijah again, trying to reach him, trying to help him separate what was real from what was fantasy, but he would not respond. He sat there, tears running down his face, eyes locked on the floor. Angelica began to cry as she siphoned off his emotions but there seemed to be no end, not even a middle point to tip the balance toward something more positive. Angelica embraced Elijah to shield his eyes from the floor and to redirect his attention but even that did not work.

"Elijah," Niklaus' voice came from behind her. Angelica turned and was relieved to see Niklaus, but Elijah did not respond. Niklaus spoke to his brother but was equally unsuccessful in reaching him. "Angelica, love, I need you to step outside of this ... room." Angelica looked at him oddly, but she was desperate, so she complied and moved to the doorway. Niklaus stood in front of Elijah and talked to him further. When that failed he escalated his tactics. Niklaus grabbed Elijah by the lapels and pulled him to his feet. He changed his tone and raised his voice to reach Elijah. Niklaus recognized that Elijah was defeated, and he needed him to fight. So Niklaus started one and threw Elijah across the room, his body crashing against the wall. Niklaus grabbed him again and threw him to the other side of the room. Niklaus laid into Elijah with a verbal tirade that went to the heart of Elijah's core, to his failings, to his monster, to his inability to control anything. Niklaus was looking for emotion, any emotion from Elijah that would get him to engage and from there, they could reach him. And he found it.

Elijah turned his rage toward Niklaus and the fight was on as the two brothers smashed everything in that imaginary room. But Niklaus' tactic worked. As the brotherly battle abated, Elijah leaned against the bedroom wall and finally spoke to Niklaus. Elijah told him he was unworthy of being a husband and father, he was a failure who was unable to protect them, and it was his fault they were dead. And to his final horror, he told Niklaus that he thought he may have lost control of his monster and killed them himself.

Niklaus put his hands on his brother's shoulders and peered into Elijah's tear-filled eyes. He explained to Elijah about the witch's trap, that it wasn't real, and said, "How can Angelica be dead when she is right there, waiting for you." Niklaus pointed to the doorway and Elijah raised his eyes and saw her for the first time, he looked back to the floor then looked back at her again. She spoke to him and told him that Henrik Finn had a message for his father that he was waiting for Elijah to come home. Elijah took a step toward Angelica and she rushed to him, embracing him. He stood there for a moment then wrapped his arms around her. The bodies on the floor disappeared as the last victim of the witch's trap was freed. The vision was shattered and Elijah opened his eyes and found himself in the tunnel. The nightmare was over and Elijah embraced both his brother and Angelica. Niklaus helped Elijah to his feet but Angelica was spent, and her knees buckled from underneath her. Kol caught her before she fell again and picked her up, carrying her out of the tunnel. Niklaus held onto Elijah while they and Freya followed behind them. The drone brought up the rear as they all headed toward Charlie Dragonetti.