"Despite the spell we cast, the very integrity of the pendant is growing unstable," Freya said. "It won't be able to hold Elijah's soul much longer. We need to find a way to resurrect him tonight, or we could lose him forever."
"To do that, we'll need more power," Hayley reminded them.
"Let me guess," Klaus grumbled. "A grand sacrifice."
Morgana chewed her nail. Grendel wound around her legs.
"I say we kill our enemy and sacrifice her," Freya said. "Then we can channel the power from the Hollow's death, raise Elijah's body, and place him back where he belongs."
"We've tried everything," Hayley argued.
"And we've come close. Labonair blood is her Achilles heel. Hayley, your blood weakened her, but you've technically been dead for years, so it won't be strong enough to kill her. If we forge a blade using the blood of the last living Labonair..."
"We don't want Hope involved," Klaus argued.
"She's already involved," Freya insisted. She pulled out Hope's drawings. "Hope has been obsessed with the symbol that follows the Hollow: the serpent consuming itself. Now, I believe this is showing us the key, the only means to which she can be destroyed: her own blood. The Hollow's one end of the Labonair bloodline. Hope is the other. We need to close that loop. The best way to do that is for Hayley to wield a weapon forged with Hope's blood. When she stabs her, it's only then the Hollow can be obliterated completely."
After a moment, Hayley stood and headed for the exit. "Then we'll make it work. I'll talk to Hope."
Morgana stared at the drawing on the table and sighed through her nose.
--------------------------------
Hearing footsteps, she opened her eyes.
"That's a rather odd locator spell," Rebekah mused.
Indeed, the large wreath set on top of the map was strange.
"We're trying to trace the Hollow's magic," Morgana explained. "Almost have it."
A small black circle, oddly reminiscent of the Hollow's serpent, appeared on the map. "And there it is. She's in the Garden District."
"That's the LaForge house," Rebekah said. "At one time it was the center of high society, but that all changed when Dr. LaForge tortured and killed his friends and family. Claimed until his dying day that an evil spirit made him do it. That house has been derelict ever since."
"Rather convenient," Morgana muttered, eyebrow raised.
"The perfect lair for someone who relishes tragedy," Freya agreed.
Another, smaller serpent appeared on the map, a bit aways from the first one.
"What's that?" Rebekah asked.
"If the serpent at the LaForge house represents the Hollow herself, then this must be some sort of totem she's using to magnify her power and protect herself," Freya said. "Dahlia used to use these when she was up to something particularly awful."
"It's gonna make her unkillable," Morgana added. "We'll have to destroy it before we can face her."
"Lovely," Rebekah sighed, pulling out her phone. "I could do with some fresh air. And some fresh blood."
Freya folded up the map and handed it to her. "Take the map. It's been spelled to track the totem. Don't go alone."
Rebekah took the map. "One step ahead of you, sis."
Her next words were to the person on the other line. "Someone's floating around with a trinket that's fueling our enemy's power. What say you help me track down and exterminate this scoundrel?"
A pause. Rebekah smirked at Morgana and Freya. "Perfect."
------------------------------
The LaForge house obviously used to be pretty. A family home. Now, however, the plants creeping everywhere on and around it, the signs of the damage time had wrought, had left it empty and broken. Morgana supposed it was symbolic as she studied it from the sidewalk.
Freya handed her and Hayley each a knife, then pulled out one of her own when they took them. "I sealed these with Hope's blood. One for each of us. Once the totem is destroyed, we can sacrifice the Hollow."
Morgana and Hayley made to enter the house. Freya lingered. They shared a glance.
"Are you okay?" Hayley asked.
"Yeah," Freya replied. "I never thought twice about fighting or dying for family before. But now, with Keelin..."
"Now you have someone you're afraid you're not going to go home to," Morgana finished. "You'll be home tonight, Freya. We have your back."
Freya nodded. They went into the house. Inside was no better than outside. Worse, actually, considering the amount of dead bodies scattered everywhere. And this was only the first floor.
The door slammed shut behind them. Morgana heard scratching from the other side.
"Stay there, Grendel," Morgana whispered. "If something goes wrong, get help."
"I guess she knows we're here," Hayley muttered.
Freya suddenly flew across the room, landing head first and crashing into a table. Morgana ran over to her. She made it only halfway when a force threw her against the wall. Pain bloomed in her spine and ribs, and the same force slammed her head back against the wall. She never felt the pain.
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Morgana woke up slowly. Her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Sharp banging rang out from the other room. She got up quick as she could, grabbing her knife off the floor, and followed it. Freya was hammering away at a large metal padlock.
"Back up," Morgana ordered.
She held out her hand and called on Fire. The padlock turned red from the heat, but it didn't melt. She tried harder, and slowly--God, so slowly--it began to melt.
"Hit it again where it's melting," she said.
Freya obliged. Three hits later, the lock was off, and the rushed into the room. Hayley was sitting on the ground, coughing and gasping like she'd been suffocating.
"Are you all right?" Freya asked.
"Did Klaus break the totem?" Hayley asked.
"Sure as hell hope so," Morgana replied. "But we can't wait to see if he did. Too much time has passed. You need to stab the Hollow."
She held out the knife. "Are you strong enough?"
Hayley took it. "Let's do this."
She vamp sped upstairs. Morgana and Freya followed as fast as they could. When they made it to the room Hayley was in, they found her straddling the Hollow's body, repeatedly stabbing it.
They rushed over to her and pulled her away. Morgana stared at the Hollow's corpse. Somehow it almost seemed like too good of a dream to be reality.
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God, she was tired. But Morgana couldn't seem to fall asleep.
Grendel hadn't left her side since she got out of the LaForge house. He was sleeping fine, curled up at the foot of the bed. The spell had worked. Elijah was back, alive and well. The Hollow was gone.
She rubbed her eyes, sighing through her nose, and tried again.
She was halfway gone when the bed dipped behind her and Klaus draped an arm across her. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around his torso.
Maybe now, with the Hollow dead and gone, they could finally find some peace.
