Battle (The Originals Fan Fic)

ch. 6: Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

I sat alone in the bar, drinking from the bottle.

Josh walked past, turning to face me. "Hey. Is everything okay? Can I get you something?"

"Look, I know you want a daylight ring, kid," I told him. "We've been through this before. A little heads-up, we got guys 80 years ahead of you."

"Noted," Josh told me. "Sorry."

"Wait," I told him. Josh turned to face me. "Did you ever hear the phrase, 'Uneasy is the head that wears the crown'?"

"Uh, Lord of the Rings?" Josh asked.

"No," I answered. "Shakespeare. When I was a kid, my parents taught me how to read with those plays, always about some king who gained the world but lost his soul, but now I get it. See, when it's all said and done, and you look around at the empire you helped build, the only thing that matters is who you can trust."

"You don't trust Marcel?" Josh asked.

"Marcel's busy with his girls or with the Originals, and right now, I don't really give a crap," I told him.

"But there's got to be somebody somewhere that you can trust, someone 'to stick to you through thick and thin, to the bitter end'," Josh told me. "Sam to Frodo, Fellowship of the Ring."

I looked at him weirdly.

Josh shook his head.

I nodded. "There is someone. We used to be best friends."

I walked past him, leaving.

The only person I could think of was Thierry.

*

I walked into the garden with a lamp, stopping in front of Thierry trapped in the bricks. "Thierry."

"Noah," Thierry replied. "Come to punish me again?"

"Someone asked if there's anyone I ever trusted," I told him. "I only came up with one name." I placed the lamp down. "You. So, Thierry, you and I are gonna have a little talk..." I turned away, grabbing a sledge hammer and walking back toward him. "About Klaus Mikaelson."

I swung the sledge hammer into the bricks, starting to break him free.

*

"You might want to stop," Thierry told me. "Just because you're like a brother to Marcel doesn't mean he won't kill you if you release me without asking permission." I sighed, dropping the sledge hammer, turning away, giving him a blood bag. Thierry took a long sip. "I warned you guys about Klaus."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We should've listened. This guy has been in our town for months but hiding where he lays his head at night. What else is he hiding is what I want to know. I didn't listen to you before, but I sure as hell am now." I leaned against the wall. "Tell me about the night that got you put in here, and I can maybe convince Marcel to let you out of here by Mardi Gras."

"The night of the masquerade party, he sent us rousting in the Cauldron to mess with the witches," Thierry told me. "So when Max came in rousting, he went right for Katie's throat. Now, he said to roust. He didn't say to kill. Now, he's a nightwalker. I'm a daywalker. I told him to stop, and he wouldn't. So I stopped him. That night is on an endless loop in my head. I think Max was compelled."

"No," I told him. "All our guys are on vervain."

"Not if Klaus drained them," Thierry told me. "Max went missing for a couple of days before the rousting, right?"

"T., they found stuff you and your girl stole in her shop," I told him.

"Have you ever been to the Jardin Gris?" Thierry asked. "You can't find your own hand in front of your face in there, and yet somehow, someone went in there, and after a couple of minutes, they found some stolen goods? Go there, see for yourself. But I'm telling you, besides Max, somebody else in the crew had to be compelled. Watch your back."

I nodded thoughtfully.