Waves • The Originals [2]

FORTY

|40.| FAMILY FIRST?

CORA AWAKENS WITH A LOUD GASP, lying on the ground in a village near a forest while leaning against a stone wall that wraps around a small cottage. She breathes deeply as she takes in her surroundings, and eventually notices that Dahlia is standing in front of her with a small smirk on her face.

"And thus, Emilia, you find yourself here with me." Cora clenches her jaw at the name she was given when she was born and huffs.

"Dahlia."

Cora softly rubs her neck as it is sore from getting snapped by Elijah. The thought of him doing so makes her blood boil and she thinks; did Hayley betray her as well as her father?

"What have you done to me?" She stands to her feet and approaches her. "Where are my daughters?"

She lunges for Dahlia, but she vanishes into thin air, only to reappear behind her. Cora grows frustrated with the old witch and she turns around to face her.

"Get out of my head!"

"I'm not in your head. You're in mine along with another."

Appearing from a different part of their location, Klaus appears with a bloody wound on his chest and Cora lets out a sigh. Before they can greet each other, Dahlia speaks up.

"I have a proposition for you!" The parents look at the old witch warily and she begins walking away.
"Come along."

Dahl is starts to walk away from the cottage, farther into the village. Klaus looks to Cora who seems unhappy and suspicious. The hybrid slightly nods his head and Cora reluctantly follows behind her with Klaus by her side. As they do so, the sound of Dahlia's song played on a violin is heard around them. They continue walking behind Dahlia as she leads him into a village

"Spare us the agonizing boredom and explain what it is you want," Klaus frustratingly says but Dahlia hushes him.

The three stop when they make it to the end of the village square. It immediately becomes clear that they are not solely in Dahlia's mind, but are also in her memories. There are young children running around while adult women clean and cut fruits and vegetables and men tend to their livestock.

"Why do we care about your demented dreamscapes?" Cora questions.

"Listen."

Cora huffs and focuses her hearing, eventually realizing that the village is being attacked by Viking warriors, who are violently and mercilessly attacking the locals. Klaus and Cora watch as young Esther, wearing a yellow dress and a flower crown, and young Dahlia, in a rose-pink dress, scream as they run away from the fighting and hind behind a large barrel of hay.

"The Vikings came while you were in the garden!" Young Esther says with fear in her tone.

As she speaks, dead men, women, and children lay motionless on the ground while the Viking warriors rush to take down anyone they can find.