K.

“You act like Klaus was innocent. He was the one killing my best friend, Kendra. I didn’t act out of spite. I acted because that man you claim to love was threatening and killing me and my people.” He shrugged. “You’d be wise to just get over it and go on with your life. Klaus isn’t the kind of person who deserves your pity.” He cocked his head, knowing he probably would fail in letting Kendra see the reason behind his actions. “I’m not a tyrant. I protected you, let you go, because of the links you have to Davina. If I would have been Klaus, you’d be dead by now. Ever thought about that?” And no, Kendra alone didn’t worry him. The sheer amount of people questioning him lately did, combined with the influx of new supernaturals who didn’t always seem to mean well with him. “I’ve been checking on people as long as I’m in charge.”, he smiled. “I don’t think there’s anything new or particularly worrisome about that.”

“ And what motive would he have to kill Thierry? You forget that Klaus is desiccated, not dead. Death can’t be undone, but desiccation... ” she allowed him to linger on that thought, without giving him any hint that in truth she was no closer to forming a plan to get him back. Marcel had been thorough, and with his magic rules back again, he had made it difficult for Kendra to do anything but work with her coven. “ Ye- well...- ” the blonde stuttered, knowing that she had no defence when it came to Klaus and how easy he found it to kill someone who had even just mildly annoyed him. Marcel was right about that, if it had been the other way round... “ Checking up on me? ” Kendra repeated, an eyebrow raising slightly. “ That sounds as if you care, and I know that isn’t the case. So how many guys to you have following me on a daily basis? One? Two? ”

“Who else would teach me to believe that but our coven?” Charles raised a brow at Kendra then shook his head a little. “It’s a dark magic, Kendra, I don’t know whether you remember or not, but it’s still not a good thing no matter which way you try to look at it. I try to use it for good, hence my shady store, but the more I use it, the more disconnected I become.”

“ We all know that the coven used to be like when we were kids. I mean, they tried to kill my sister. No, ‘sacrifice’. ” despite how many years it had been since the Harvest, Kendra was still incredibly bitter about it. It was in her nature to help people, especially those of her kind. She could still remember the day his family were kicked out of the coven, and how she hadn’t said anything to stand up for them. Instead she let it happen and maybe this... This could be her salvation, if she could help him. “ Either way you start to lose who you are. If you stop using it, then you’re ignoring who you were born to be. If you continue to use it, the more you become less... You. Maybe there’s something I could do to help, y’know? ”

Matt shrugged his shoulders. “I guess that somehow I still hope that one day there won’t be another storm or something.” But Kendra was right. Four years must be some kinda record and he should be kinda happy already that it had lasted so long. The human community had been doing great the last four years though and he kinda hated it to see that change again, even though it was only slowly. “Well, I’ve not even started the training and such, so I might take a while before I’ll get there…” He wasn’t even sure if he was allowed to start the training at all. “And hey, you’re not doing anything that harms humans, right?” Matt playfully asked while he brushed her shoulders. 

“ Marcel’s reign won’t last forever. ” she commented confidently, she knew there were still a number of people left who considered themselves allies of Klaus and his family. “ In all honesty I’m kind of surprised you’re still here. I mean, after everything this place has been through, after everything you’ve seen, you still have that choice whereas some of us don’t. ” Kendra commended him for staying, that’s for sure. “Hey - have you ever seen me hurt someone? ” she questioned in over dramatised shock, “ I mean... Not unless they deserved it. ” she teased lightly.

“All I know is that I couldn’t do,” she crossed her arms and let out a little huff, “Telling people what they want for a living? Why let people live in a world of ignorance? Maybe they should be woken up to the big and awful truths of the world. Wait… what?”

“ I never did, I can’t find the morals in exploiting others for their money. I used to read the cards properly, it’s quite the skill to have. ” Kendra had known a lot of people doing the same thing as her but literally making it up as they go along. “ Oh, my mom lives quite the nomadic lifestyle. She can’t stick around in one place for too long. ”

“Yeah, well, you know Alex. She might as well be a fucking Disney princess.” At the mention of Davina, Ivan tensed a little and brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, “Was.” He hadn’t meant to correct her the way he did. Things between them had ended on a amicable note. Now, however, being engaged, he wasn’t thrilled for his fiancé to be around constant reminders of his past lovers. “Your link to Alex does as does our alliance with Klaus,” Ivan didn’t like aligning himself with Klaus, he actually hated it, but duty was duty, “We don’t abandon our allies. But we need to talk.”

“ Maybe that’s why New Orleans just wasn’t for her, too much chaos and not enough nice. ” Kendra knew you had to have a strong stomach to withstand all the things that happened in this city, and it was hardly a suitable environment to raise a little boy. “ Was? ” she raised an eyebrow at her question, more so in a curious way and less so I’m going to kill you if you hurt her way. Kendra couldn’t imagine how many in their coven disagreed with aligning with Klaus, but she hoped that she could show them that it wasn’t such a bad decision. “ So when are you going back to Russia? ” she nodded in response to his statement before leading him to her small apartment. “ It isn’t much, ” Kendra explained as she moved to unlock the door, she’d chosen to temporarily move out of the house she shared with Klaus and his siblings. Without them there it was just too... Eerie, and constant reminders of her loss were around every corner. “ But it’ll do for now. ” the blonde stated with a gentle sigh as she opened the door.

❝ It will be more admirable when I make it happen, hey if you need money tell me. This is not Marcel money, this is money I earned on my own while away. You know how resourceful I can be ❞ Davina reached for her sister’s hand, everything Davina had Kendra has claim over as far as Davina was concerned   ❝ When the harvest happened you came to me, left everything and just made sure I was okay, let me return that favor.. It’s the only way I could ever begin to pay you back with all you’ve done for me ❞

“ To be honest D... I just wanted you here. ” she knew her sister could remember what it felt like to lose everything. After the Harvest, Davina had lost so much, even her freedom for a while there. And over these past four years, Kendra had lost the man she loved, her best friend, her sister... Everyone she held close to her had left and she was fighting to pick up the pieces on her own. If there was one thing Kendra now hated, it was appearing weak. If Marcel or one of his followers saw, then he would see that he’d truly won. “ But it’s selfish of me to pull you away from everything you worked for and everything you deserve. ”

“You always did…” Like that time she told on what he and Finn had been planning, therefore preventing half of the plan to be executed. Luckily the most important part was done by then. “You seemed to have given up, Kendra. YOu can’t blame me for thinking you’d stop causing trouble for me, finally. But here you are… looking for something specific here?”

“ You took away the man that I love, and you took my home from me. What kind of fool would walk away and give up fighting to have those things back? ” even though Kendra was far from cracking the code to getting Klaus back, she rather enjoyed making Marcel think she knew something he didn’t. “ Why? Are you worried? ” the blonde turned all of her attention on him as she stepped towards him. “ It almost seems as if you’re here to check up on me to make sure I’m not doing something you and your rules don’t agree with. I think there’s a small part of you that’s scared of me, Marcel. ”

Matt grinned. “Yeah, I understand…” He licked his lips and he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just glad to see that you’re still alive and such. I mean, I thought those last four years were kinda calm, but I’m kinda sure there are some things happening here that I don’t know, so…” He had always been the last to know and the last to figure it out. He was sure that had not changed all of a sudden or something. “I’m doing fine. I’m a police officer now and maybe I’m gonna try to be a detective or something…”

“ You’ve lived here long enough to know there’s always something... It’s always calm before the storm, right? Only it’s been calm for way too long. I think it’s a new record. ” Kendra knew deep down that it was because Marcel had crushed the Mikaelson family and any support they had behind them, but somedays she couldn’t bear to hold onto that thought. “ You know what, we could do with a detective on the inside. But maybe then I wouldn’t be able to get away with half of the things I do... ” being a witch was probably against the law somehow.

He pursed his lips at her words. He had never gotten particularly close to Kendra, despite dating her half-sister. “I’m going to pretend I’m Alex here and tell you,” licking his lips, he turned to face her, crossing his arms, “No one can take away who you are. And if it’s any consolation, my coven doesn’t recognize Marcel’s rule here. The queen of the quarter called and here I am.”

“ That truly was a Lion King moment... “ the blonde smiled warmly, allowing a comfortable yet brief silence fall upon them before she spoke again. “ I can see why my sister is so enamoured by you. ” suddenly Kendra felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards him... Not that she hadn’t felt it before, but this time she was able to pay attention to her emotions. “ My power reaches all the way to Russia? That needs some kind of recognition. ” she teased lightly, eyeing him playfully.

“You were a fortune teller,” the brunette stopped to watch the witches at their little stalls, “That just sounds like an all around shitty job.”

“ You know what, it wasn’t too bad... I mean, you get to meet so many different people and you get to be outside all day in this atmosphere. It’s kind of like another world, like you’ve stepped into a world of magic and anything being possible. But it might just be the gypsy-like blood I have that makes me think that.  ”

“Yeah well, my own affinity doesn’t really allow much space for ‘good’” he did air quotes then dropped his hands back to his sides. Besides, it often left him exhausted and feeling like yet another part of himself had dropped off. 

“ Is this just something you were taught to believe? ” Kendra had grown up alongside him, she had seen the ways his father would speak to him, see the ways the coven would look down upon them. “ I think if you really wanted to, you could find a way to use it for a good cause. ”

“O, I remember…” He might have given the witch some kind of safety because of her sister, but that didnt mean he didn’t remember what side she was on. He didn’t blame her for getting Hope to safety -she wasn just a kid, after all-, but he knew she hated him because of what he had done to Klaus. “I didn’t know you were back in town, Kendra. I thought you’d rather evade this place?”

“ I prefer the element of surprise. ” she spoke with a gentle smirk upon her lips because she rather enjoyed knowing Marcel was on the outside and utterly clueless to any of her moves. “ After everything you and I have been through together, do you really think I would give up that easily? ”

Matt raised his eyebrows. He had his hands in the pockets of his jeans and with a smile on his face he shook his head. “I guess I don’t really wanna believe that.” He stared at Kendra for a moment. “Damn, It feels like I haven’t really seen you in years!” He wasn’t sure if it was because she had been outta town or because their paths had simply not crossed. He had been kinda busy after all.

“ I’ve had to keep my head down a bit.” the blonde admitted sheepishly, “ not everyone appreciates me still having an influence on the quarter and I quite enjoy having my head on my shoulders. ” Kendra commented in light amusement as if it were a common thing to have to declare they rather enjoy being alive. “ But that smile of yours still does wonders for mine. ” as she spoke, her lips began to curve upwards. “ How’ve you been doing? Good, I hope? ”

As he approached the blonde witch from behind, he could instantly tell something was different about her. But at least he found her. She had been the one to alert them to trouble in the Quarter. “It’s a big upgrade,” he spoke quietly as he moved to stand next to her, “From palm reader to queen.”

“ Queen of what? ” Kendra almost scoffed, by some she was still considered queen, to others she was considered a washed up wannabe. “ Marcel took all of that away from me. ”

❝ You’re a good person, you just wanted reassurance the things were going to turned out alright ❞ Davina answered her sister with a smile  ❝ I know you want nothing more than to know that for sure and I’ll have you know that you won’t have to pay me any money for the reassurance. I will make it alright ❞

“ Your ambition to make it alright is admirable. Well first of all I’d actually need to have money. ” Kendra commented weakly, she had been spending every spare cent she could buying supplies for her spells - to say she was dedicated would be an understatement. 

“It’s a good way to make money from the tourists, they will believe anything if you make it seem real enough.” Or actually real but Charles didn’t say that, just cast a glance towards the tarot card readers. “Some of us make a living from this sort of you know Kendra like…” He casually indicated to himself.

“ So what you’re saying is, you pull on their emotional heart strings to get more money? ” the blonde amused teasingly, “ there are some of us who like to use our affinity for good. ” Kendra has never used her affinity for her own personal gain, mostly because she had no control where or when she would experience a vision - it was a skill she hadn’t quite harnessed yet.