Heavy Head (Book 4: Battle Series, The Originals)

Ch. 10: Phantomesque

 The morning after Elijah had been killed by the Hollow but rescued by Freya putting his soul in the pendant and having to fix his mind, and after Marcel and I had forced the Hollow out of Sofya's body, Marcel and I were talking in his apartment about how an infection from the Hollow's magic was slowly killing Sofya, refusing to let her wake up.

"Good news and bad news," I told him. "Vincent thinks he can cure Sofya. All you need to do is bring him the Hollow's blood."

"1500 year old newly resurrected super powerful witch, and I just need to get her blood," Marcel told me sarcastically. "There's got to be another option. Is that all he said?"

"Pretty much," I answered. "Just something about extracting the magic from the Hollow's blood, and then reverse engineering what she did to Sofya. Uh, the point is, I think it's a safe bet that Sofya's not his top priority."

"Sofya risked her life for me, all right?" Marcel asked. "I'm not just gonna sit around while she's dying."

"Fine," I told him. "I get that." Marcel grabbed his jacket, pulling it on. "But given that the Hollow is, like, pure evil incarnate, maybe you should consider reaching out to people who are just a little more powerful than me. Like... Mikaelson people."

"I work better alone," Marcel told me, turning away.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically. "Then what am I doing here?"

"You're the only one I trust, all right?" Marcel asked. "Just look after her. Meanwhile, I'm gonna track down the Hollow."

Marcel walked out of the apartment. I sighed deeply.

     **** 

When Marcel had gotten back, he told me everything that happened. When Marcel had fed off the Hollow, her blood weakened him and burned him, and she let out a scream of magic that threw him across the bar and knocked him out. When he woke up, Klaus and Rebekah had gone to him about finding the rest of the cursed thorns that could kill an Original. Marcel realized that we could use those thorns to save Sofya, and had argued with Klaus and Rebekah about letting him take the stake that was wrapped in the thorns, but they eventually gave him the weapon so that he could save Sofya.

Meanwhile, Freya, Hope and Hayley had saved Elijah's mind in the pendant, but they couldn't bring him back until Freya channeled the death of the Hollow to resurrect her brother's body. Kol was also back, and he was trying to find a way to see Davina again now that he knew the Ancestors were back.

Marcel was sitting down, drinking.

I walked closer, finishing my drink. "A top notch day, huh? At least you got that thorn stake, right? I mean, that's a win."

"If we're lucky, Vincent can siphon off the power, help Sofya, then it's a win," Marcel told me.

I nodded, walking closer. "Well, you don't sound all that optimistic." I sat down next to Marcel. "Is this about Sofya or Rebekah?"

I grabbed the bottle to pour myself a new drink.

"Klaus used to tell me that having power made you a target, having allies made you vulnerable, so choose," Marcel explained. "You can have one or the other. Power or friends."

"You know that's psychotic, right?" I asked.

Marcel smiled a small smile. "Yeah, but then, maybe there's some truth to it, too."

"Well, for what it's worth, pretty glad you're my friend," I told him. "And whatever is coming, whatever this city is going to face... the Hollow, the Mikaelsons... I know that you will do the right thing."

"The Hollow is unlike anything we've ever faced before," Marcel told me. "There's a darkness to it, a coldness. And I'll tell you, Noah, as strong as I am, she took me down like I was nothing. I can't do this on my own. We're going to need all the allies we can get. Vincent, Sophya, Klaus. Even Rebekah. Or else this fight's over before it starts."

I sighed deeply, not really fond of any of what was going on.

We had to find a way to defeat the Hollow soon, and put all of this behind us.

Otherwise, we were all gonna die.

We were all monsters, but obviously none of us wanted to die.