16: Come back to me

[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:34 am]

“Hope,” Klaus greeted her with a big smile.

“Father,” she unceremoniously dropped the bag holding Bella’s bones to the floor and hugged him. “Glad you have returned to New Orleans. Excuse the clothes and smell. Word travels slowly when you’re wolfed out in the Bayou. I couldn’t believe mother when she conveyed that she had been chased by vampires.”

“Yes, how do you communicate?” Kol smirked as he relaxed in his chair. “Granted, it was fun to chase Hayley for sport.”

Hope huffed. She wasn’t amused. “I knew there was a reason I preferred the company of my pack,” she countered before letting go of Klaus. “So,” she said as she looked at Bella. “You’re already resurrected? Damn it, I wanted to be all badass and surprise everyone.”

“How did you know she was back?” Elijah looked Hope over. She looked like her mother, with her dark features, but it was still clear that she was a Mikaelson. It felt good to see her again. He wished that the girl didn’t look so bewildered and ill at ease among them, it would be great to catch up with her.

“That’s none of your business, uncle,” Hope snapped at him. “You and Aunt Rebekah have no right to know every single detail.”

“Watch your tongue.”

Hope growled and waved her hand, shutting Elijah up, earning smiles from Kol, Klaus and Bella. “Where’s Sam?”

“Out. She’ll be back shortly,” Klaus said pleasantly. “I would love to have a proper reunion with you, Hope, but we’re a little short on time. Bella was just about to tell us what she needed from us to help.”

“I’ll let the adults talk while I take a quick shower and grab some food. I’m starving.” Hope flashed a wolfish grin before running off.

“Well. I suppose you won’t have to dig me up…” Bella mused as she looked at the bag on the floor, a bone sticking out from it. “Gross.”

“Pretty bones,” Kol said as he picked up the bag and had a peek inside. “Brittle bones. Are you sure you can fix that?”

“I’ll have to. There is no way I’m going to walk around like a 95-year-old for the rest of my life.”

“Why not?” he mused. “Senior citizen discount forever!”

“Because it’s so wrong in so many ways,” Bella shuddered as she handed Klaus a note. “I need these things,” she said before holding up another note for Kol, with more magical specialised ingredients. “And you can get me that. Some of that is in a box in our playhouse, get me the entire box.” She conjured a bucket and a spade and handed it over to Elijah. “I need some hallowed ground from you. Not consecrated soil, but hallowed.”

‘Why?’ he mouthed, still not able to speak.

“Because that spell needs to be done with as little interference as possible and if you take consecrated ground, the chances are that the Ancestors will interfere,” Bella explained before looking at Rebekah. “You’re staying here to watch over Hope and me until Sam gets back.”

“I hope she has bitten off more than she can chew,” Rebekah muttered, not particularly liking Sameen. It was one thing that Kol and Bella had taken her and Elijah’s place next to Nik’s side, but with Sameen’s introduction? Sameen was even worse with holding a grudge and holding on to resentment than her brother was. “I hope she chokes on it.”

Klaus growled, but Bella was faster as she threw Rebekah against a wall. “Out of respect to you and Elijah for what you’ve done for me in the past, I won’t cast you out. But you two better start playing nice and accept that you’re on nearly everyone’s shitlist before I make sure that the both of you are going to be in physical agony for the rest of your lives.”

“It won’t stick when you die.”

Kol huffed. “Don’t challenge her, you know she’ll find a way.”

[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 4:01 am]

Bella knew that despite giving the notes to vampires, they’d need several hours to get what she needed to do the spell. In the time that they were gone, she had moved her books and her bones to an empty room in the compound and had warded it against Ancestral magic and perhaps also Ancestral peekage. Hope helped her with that while she talked about her adventures as a wolf. The only thing that Hope had missed was human food. The raw diet made her sick to her stomach.

Bella didn’t understand why Hope, and all the other Crescent wolves, hadn’t been ejected from New Orleans when the barrier went up, but Hope had a natural explanation; they had all been in their wolf form, therefore classifying as a werewolf and not a vampire.

“Ah, so here you are,” Sam’s voice sounded from behind them. When Bella turned around, she saw her standing casually against the doorpost. “I love what you’ve done with the place; it’s very…”

“Magical?” Hope snorted.

“No, I was going for Feng Shui, but I suppose that works, too,” she replied and then nodded at Hope. “Good to see you again, Hope.”

“And you,” Hope grinned. “Bella’s already promised to cook us a big reunion dinner when we’re done with this.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep!”

“I can’t wait. Where’s Klaus?”

“I think he’s still out hunting down some ingredients we’re going to need,” Bella said as she looked up from her books with a smile. “How would you feel if I say that I can make you indestructible like Klaus? Would you like that?”

Sam blinked at her and sucked in a breath. “Oh, I don’t know… Can I think about it?”

“Sure, that spell can wait.”

“Are you going to do it?”

Bella let out a breath and nodded. “Eventually, when I’m done, yes. I thought long and hard about it when I was collecting all these spells because I like to believe that dead is dead, but the whole supernatural business makes it a bit of a weird thought. I think that eventually, Kol will move on when I’m gone, but I’m also sure that he wouldn’t mind my company for the rest of his life.”

“Especially with Elijah and Rebekah’s antics?”

“Oh yeah. Seems like Always and Forever ends for them after 1000 years,” Bella muttered as she went over the books again to check if she was missing something. “But think about it, there’s plenty of time. You’re pretty indestructible already so… no rush.”

“The regent is very well protected, I doubt Klaus will want you to go by yourself to pay her a visit,” Sam eventually said.

“I’m not going alone. I never said I was going alone. I’m not stupid.”

“But you went alone to New Orleans to lower the barrier -”

“It wasn’t as if you lot could get in,” Bella countered, turning around to face Sameen.

“And you went up against Mandy by yourself -”

Bella smirked. “Not by choice. I wasn’t alone in that instance. Try again.”

“There was this fun trip to Italy where you went up against the Volturi all by yourself because you drugged me,” Kol’s voice sounded before he rounded the corner. “You could have been killed.”

“Could have, but didn’t. They shouldn’t have pissed me off,” Bella got to her feet and kissed him as a greeting. “Besides, haven’t I been a good girl since then?” She batted her lashes at him.

“The jury’s still out on that yet,” he said with a snort and returned her kiss before handing her the bag with items and herbs she wanted him to pick up. “Nik not back yet?”

“Soon, I think.” She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Are you really okay with all this?” She asked quietly as she looked up to him. “Me sticking around for a bit longer?”

Kol grinned. “Well, as long as we can continue what we used to do…”

“Uhuh…”

“Oh, Cuddles, you have no idea how much I want to kill you. The impatience is killing me, but alas, I shall have to wait for a little bit longer.”

“Oh, I’m going to barf,” Sam muttered.

[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 6:21 am]

“Ready?” Bella asked Hope after locking the door. She knew that Kol had wanted to be there when she would do her magic, but she was afraid that something would go wrong, and she’d end up hurting him.

It was just her and Hope as Bella could use all the magic she could get her hands on.

“Yeah,” Hope replied slightly hesitant. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Great.” She stretched herself and sighed. “So whatever happens, don’t stop?”

“Scared?” Bella laughed as she covered her bones with the soil. “You’re a 300-year-old tribrid, this won’t be the worst thing you’ve experienced.”

“No, but it is the most delicate spell I’ve ever done. One wrong word or too fast and I will screw things up,” Hope smiled. “Forgive me when I have some performance anxiety.”

“Hope, I trust you,” Bella said as she looked at the girl. “I trust you. Now, let’s kick ass.”

Right before Bella wanted to start on the spell, Hope’s phone-like device went off. Bella was surprised that she already had one after being a wolf for so long and basically only just returned. “Sorry,” Hope muttered as she picked up the phone. “Who is this?” Frowning at the phone, she put it on speaker.

I like the plan. It will work.”

Bella blinked when she heard the voice and had to dig deep for any recognition. “Peter?”

And congratulations on making New Orleans open to us vamps again. We’ll talk soon. I’d wish you good luck, but you don’t really need it.” And with that, the phone went dead.

“Friend of yours?” Hope said as she turned off the phone and put it back in her pocket.

“From a very long time ago,” Bella replied with a slight growl. He had disturbed the peace with his phone call, and she knew that he knew it. “Okay, let’s do this. No more interruptions.”

The first step was to bring her body back, rebuild it with magic, make it flesh and blood again. She had dipped into the Dark Magic pool often enough, but necromancy required a lot of power. Then there was this whole balance of nature thing that reared its ugly head when performing something like this, but Bella figured that since her current body only had about 13 hours to go, it would balance out evenly.

It was weird to see that slowly, but surely, her old, wrinkled body appeared around the bones that were sticking out from the soil. The bones and earth shifted, the hum of powerful magic was all around her and Hope, their entire being breathing it in as if it was a lovely summer’s day.

“I can hear the heart beating,” Hope muttered quietly. “Are you sure it’s just a shell?”

“Uhuh,” Bella said as she raised her old, naked, body from the soil and transferred it to the table with her magic. “Are you sure it’s fully functional?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

“Awesome,” Bella said with a grin before covering her body with a blanket. “That was the easy part.”

“Can we take a break? I’m a little woozy.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Bella said as she looked at Hope, who looked a little pale. “Eat something, I can do the rejuvenation spell by myself.”

Hope blinked at her. “Bella, we still have like 12 hours. It’s okay to take a break.”

“Yeah well, if this doesn’t work, we still need a couple hours for plan B so take a break. If you’re worried, send in Kol.” Bella said impatiently.

Hope smirked as she heard Bella’s heart beat even faster before leaving. Not soon after, Kol walked in. “Hope said you’re a little anxious,” he said before wrapping her into his arms. “Oh hey, you did it!” He said when his eyes fell upon Bella’s body. “Is it fully functional?”

“You tell me,” she muttered as she took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Hope heard the heartbeat.”

“It’s a bit on the weak side, but yeah.” He kissed the top of her head and smiled. “Did you ever think you were going to do this one day before you came to New Orleans for the first time?”

She huffed. “Of course not, I wasn’t even aware of my magic. In all honesty, this feels wrong. This goes against nature. I didn’t feel this conflicted when I did a similar spell on Jasper and Peter but -”

“All parties involved were already dead.”

“Yeah, and technically, I died too. But I’m alive and… Ugh.”

Kol ruffled Bella’s hair. “Get out of your head, Cuddles. If the ancestors want to take away your magic for doing this, then so be it. You’ll lose them anyway once you tell me I can feed you my blood and kill you. Nature is balanced. It’ll all balance out.”

“You just can’t wait to kill me,” she said with a slight chuckle before looking at herself. “Question; what if I am unable to reverse time on myself? Would you still want me if I was in that body?”

“Ew, no,” Kol said, scrunching his nose in disgust. “I’d still love you, but no. I mean… look at my face, all perfect and handsome. Then look at… that. When the other body grew older I didn’t mind much, but come on, either you reverse it or find yourself a new host body.”

She narrowed her eyes on him before turning around, leaning against him and muttering a spell. She then reached into her pocket to reveal a tiny herb bag and set it on fire before throwing it at her body. She and Kol watched in fascination as the fire consumed her old body, turning it to ash. Along with the blanket.

She allowed it to smoulder for a little under 80 seconds and then cast another spell to rebuild, crossing her fingers behind her back as she hoped it would work. The timing was going to be right. Bella wanted to look Kol’s age, maybe a little younger, but not by much as she didn’t want to be stuck in high school for the rest of her life. She wanted to be able to travel, to do fun things and not being confined.

She hated to be confined.

“Wow, would you look at that,” Kol said breathlessly, letting go of Bella and walked over to her old body. “Oh… yes,” his voice sounded slightly constrained. “Yes. Absolutely.”

She tilted her head with an amused smile on her lips. “Would you like some alone time?”

“Can I?” Kol looked up with an impish look on his face.

“Pervert.”

“Ah, but you love me for it,” he grinned as he grabbed another blanket and covered her up so that only her face was visible in case someone else would walk in and see her glorious body. It was all his, and he couldn’t wait for her to be back in it. While the blonde hair was adorable, he preferred the looks of her original body. “Now what?”

Bella shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Wait for Hope to have somewhat recharged so she can put me back in myself.”

[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:01 pm]

“Come on, Cuddles,” Kol muttered as he once again rubbed her chest with his knuckles. Everything sounded as it should, her heartbeat had begun to steadily beat once she was inside of herself and he was on the verge of feeding her his blood.

Her body simply didn’t want to warm up just yet. Maybe it was because of the spell Hope had used, a spell taught by Bella herself. It was an unusual one, why not go for the well-travelled path? If he hadn’t been mistaken, part of the spell had been to anchor herself inside her body, not that anyone could pull her out without her consent or whatever.

“Come back to me or I will feed you my blood and kill you, so you have no choice but to come back,” he growled. His impatience was getting the better of him. “Because I hate this. So you’d better come back or else.”

“Shut up,” Bella muttered as she rolled into him. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“Well, that’s because you allowed a tribrid to perform the spell. Hope’s terribly out of shape due to having spent the most time as a wolf,” he said after letting out a breath of relief. “She has the finesse of an elephant.”

“Play nice,” she put her arm around him, her eyes still closed. “I’m back now, relax. No more time restraint. We can take our time now, rebuilding. And I’m not going to see the Regent with a headache.”

“Don’t worry. We have all the time in the world now.”

“Exactly.”

“Go nap.”

Bella huffed as she opened her eyes to look up to him. “First you want me to wake up, and now you want me to nap?”

[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:14 pm]

“She’s awake, I heard them speak,” Sam said as she threw her bag in the corner. While waiting for Bella’s return, she had gone out again and did some target practice on the werewolves that were still roaming about and dared to show their faces in the French Quarter.

“Good. No more unrest in the family and we can move forward on a united front,” Klaus responded as he looked at his mate. “Did you have fun, my love?”

Sam merely smirked before pulling Klaus with her to the bathroom. Once there, she turned on the water and undressed herself in front of him while she kept her eyes firmly fixed on him. “Want to have some more fun?” She asked in a velvety voice as she started to undress him as well. “Get rid of some tension?”

Klaus greedily kissed her, pushing her against the nearest wall. She had the right idea. Now that Bella was going to be with them for a much longer time, it was time to enjoy himself. At least a little. In the three days that they’d been back in New Orleans, they had eliminated a lot of werewolves or caused them to flee out of the Quarter. Sure, they still had a lot to do to make sure that most of them left for better places while Bella and Kol would focus on the witches and their problems, but there was no pressure.

Reorganising the supernatural population took time. He had done this many times before, but this time it was going to be different. He was going to have Sam by his side. And Bella and Kol. Rebekah and Elijah were probably going to bugger off again, and he wasn’t sure if his daughter would stick around long enough to help them. She liked being a wolf too much, and she wanted to be with her mother.

Maybe, as a gesture of good faith, he could ask Bella to reverse the spell that Dahlia had cast for him, to reverse the curse on the Crescent wolves, or at least those who were still affected by it. Perhaps Elijah would take Hayley with him if he left again. Another worry less for Klaus.

“Hey,” Sam poked him in the chest. “Thoughts with me.”

“I’m all yours,” Klaus smiled at her, discovering he was completely naked himself and allowed Sam to pull him into the cubicle.

“Good, because I’m going to take full advantage of your body, Mr. Mikaelson,” she said with a wolfish grin. “And you’re going enjoy it and love it and then return the favor.”

“If you wish,” he said, putting his arms around her before kissing her again, but blinked when she pushed him away. “What?”

“No, you’re not allowed to touch me. Let’s see how long you can last.”

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