Tears of Gold | Klaus Mikaelson (3)

Mint

The air in my lungs was the sweetest. The wind whistling through my ears was the best I'd ever heard. I couldn't help but love everything. Hayley had done it. She'd done the exact thing that I thought was impossible to achieve. A cure, for each of us. No Mikaelson casualties, no bloodshed. Well, actually a little bloodshed. After we'd awoken we had to kill one or two mercenaries, but then we were home free.

I forgot what real blood was like during my five years in Chambre. The moment I tasted it, though, warm from the source, it exceeded anything I had remembered. Sweet, calming, perfect. It was as if I was a smoker, and blood was a cigarette. That was the only way to describe it, but even that didn't feel like it did the blood any justice. The grass was greener, the cold wind colder.

The sky was different. Brighter, bluer, even at night it was more vibrant. Everything around me felt so perfect. I didn't realize how much I loved it all until it was lost. I loved the world so very much.

Despite my happiness, though, I knew something was missing.

And so I sat with Freya, Rebekah, Hayley, and Elijah as Freya desperately tried to lift a cloaking spell that was hiding him from us. Kol was off chasing some random man through the woods. He was unable to contain his hunger, but I understood the necessity.

I itched to find him. Klaus felt like a distant memory that I urgently wanted to reacquaint myself with. Every second of waiting felt like forever. All I could think of was him. Was he in pain? Was he safe? I wondered if he missed me as I missed him. After our parting words, I was sure he did, but the darkest corners of my mind had their doubts.

And those darkest corners were also confused about what happened. After being unmoored for so long, sequestered in some fabricated world, my mind had failed me. Since I had turned, I remembered every single conversation I've had. Important or otherwise, I remembered. Yet, the conversations with Klaus faded. How had the words I held so near to my heart disappeared? It just didn't make any sense to me.

"I can sense Klaus is still in New Orleans," Freya spoke, distracting me from my restless mind, "Most likely somewhere underground. I can't get a read on exactly where unless I'm in the city itself."

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem," Hayley muttered, standing from the ground, "I have contacts in New Orleans, as you can imagine, the place is crawling with vampires, all of whom hate all  of us." A collection of eye rolls followed her words. "Whatever we do, we have to do it fast."

"Well, I wasn't planning on a pub crawl," Freya replied, "I don't want to stay any longer than we have to, but we do have to go."

"Woah. Wait-wait, we're not doing this today..?" Kol's mouth was wide in disbelief.

"No, Kol, we're doing it next year," I replied sarcastically.

"I've died, twice," Kol replied hotly, "I'm not about to give Marcel a shot at third. Nik's been captive for five years, he can wait one more day. Now, I say we drive that muppet out of town, and when he's gone..."

I was in disbelief. Kol had bitched and moaned for days on end in Freya's world, saying he 'couldn't make it one more day.' How would he condemn Klaus to the same fate he so desperately wanted to avoid.

"We're all in danger," I asserted, "And every moment we're not with Klaus is a moment he could be dying. Or in pain. We've waited long enough. The second Freya finds him is the second we'll leave."

_______

The French Quarter was deafening, as per my old usual. Music blared all around me, the ground shook with that familiar, nostalgic hum of life. It was as if nothing had changed. Like an era had never ended. I couldn't bring myself to love it all as I used to. It just felt like a grim reminder of what I had lost.