Holding On and Letting Go.

Kol hadn’t gotten the chance to say goodbye to Sophie almost a century ago. He hadn’t even known that Mikael had killed her until after he’d been undaggered in Mystic Falls - since he had been daggered when Mikael attacked New Orleans. And, now, being back in New Orleans, passing places he’d spent his time with Sophie at, he was beginning to hate New Orleans. Staring around the compound, he passed by his brothers and his sister, debating on what he should do. He could leave New Orleans now, if he wanted, he supposed. But, that wouldn’t take away the memories of Sophie - it wouldn’t change anything. He missed her. And, the fact that he hadn’t been there the day she’d died, that he hadn’t been able to try to save her, tore him apart. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t wish he could turn back time and change how everything had turned out. He just wanted Sophie back.

---

Marie stared out over the balcony, watching the crowds move past, her eyes going towards the compound for a long moment. She concentrated on listening to the noise within, making sure that nobody was heading out - otherwise, it would cause trouble to be spotted. But, she was tired of hiding in the shadows; she and Sophie had done that enough for almost a century, advising Marcel and pulling the right strings. Almost a century of pretending to be dead - almost a century of having no humanity. A small smirk pulled at her lips as she pushed away from the balcony and made her way inside to find Sophie. She was tired of hiding. “Sophie,” she called out easily as she headed downstairs, “I have an idea. I think we’ve hidden long enough. Moreover, if we announce ourselves now, there may be a chance of throwing the Mikaelsons off their game.” And then they’d have the upperhand, surprising Klaus and Kol specifically with their presence.

@ momentai.
Sophie had loved Kol more than anything. She would have done anything for him, and in a sense she did. She died for him, at the hands of his father. Kol had already been daggered by the time Mikael showed up to New Orleans and Sophie was already heartbroken enough. She wanted to be around when Kol was finally undaggered, so she made Marcel turn her, making her part of the sire line of the man that she swore she would never forgive; Klaus. Kol and Sophie had talked about leaving New Orleans together multiple times, but Kol was fixated on making a dagger that would work on Klaus, and it was ultimately what got him daggered. Sophie was there that night, at the party where Klaus daggered Kol, and she was so distraught she almost went after Klaus. If it hadn't been for Marie, she would have, and would have more than likely ended up dead, fully dead. The night that Mikael came to the city was the night that Sophie drank Marcel's blood and was about to die, but Mikael got to her first. Sophie was so angry she died at the hands of Mikael, she sought out a revenge plan to take everything out on Klaus. That revenge eventually led to her losing most of her humanity.

Sophie looked over as Marie walked down the stairs to where Sophie was sitting on the couch mindlessly fiddling with the necklace she was wearing; the last thing Kol had given her before Klaus daggered him and she never saw him again. Sure, she had little humanity left, but the necklace was a gift and one of the last things she had left from the 1900's, and ultimately one of the last things left from Kol. She smirked at her friend's words and nodded, "I like the way you think." She said with a grin. She was more than happy to throw the Mikaelson's off guard. She was almost scared to run into Kol, having no idea what he would say to her being a vampire, but she was too far gone to care.

---

Klaus was gathered with his siblings the sitting room of the compound. Marcel was up to something, Klaus knew it. He just had to figure out what it was and how they were going to stop him. It felt like ever since he came to New Orleans there was not a long enough moment that Klaus and Marcel weren't fighting over the rights to the city. Now his daughter was in play and Klaus wanted to keep her safe at all costs. He knew deep down that Marcel would never hurt his child, but it didn't stop Klaus from being any more paranoid than usual. New Orleans was a safe place once before Mikael came and ruined everything. He thought back to those times and his mind went to one person. Annmarie. It had been so long. He was truly devastated when he fled the city. He had never wanted to just leave her like that. She was dead now and that thought made Klaus uneasy. He thought about her often, but he never really could come to terms with the fact that she was no longer around and she wouldn't just show up one day in the city.

Kol could feel the silence weighing on himself and he was certain it was weighing on his siblings as well. His jaw clenched as he tried to distract himself, clenching and unclenching his fists in an attempt to focus on something other than his thoughts and the silence. Peering around at the others, he watched each of them. Why were they even remaining in New Orleans? Each day came with a new fight, a new danger, and it never seemed to end. Was New Orleans really that important to his siblings? No. He was sure that the importance of it was that it was important to Klaus - and Klaus was too proud to just flee the city. But, then, a part of Kol didn’t want to leave, either. New Orleans held the memories he’d had of Sophie, and, while they were painful, they were memories he wouldn’t ever want to lose. His memories meant that Sophie was real, that he’d had somebody who had cared about and loved him. But, she was gone, dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

---

Marie grinned slightly at the mention of it. “Well, then, how about we get a masquerade set up? Halfway into the night, we’ll have an unmasking and reveal ourselves,” she suggested in a hum, moving to sit next to her friend as she leaned back, tapping the arm of the couch as she thought. “We could have invitations sent out immediately. Marcel can help us to have the party set up by tonight. Short notice, but I think an anonymous invitation on short notice will attract attention.” She smirked, looking to her friend as she waited for her opinion, hoping that she would agree, although she would easily compromise if need be. “Maybe we can even set up specific decorations that should bring back memories.” They’d taken several things from the compound since they’d turned, after all - things that meant so much to them when they’d been human, things that represented their bonds to the men they loved. They were hidden away, to avoid reminding them of anything, but Marie felt like it might be a good idea to taunt the Mikaelsons a bit - or, at the very least, it’d be fun.

@ momentai.
Sophie smiled widely at Marie's suggestion, "I am so down for a masquerade. In fact, I know just the outfit to wear. I can call Marcel and you can send out the invitations. I'll have Josh come as well and he can help us bring out the old decorations." She stated as she stood up. Sophie was more than willing to throw Klaus and Kol off their game. Sophie knew that Marie had loved Klaus back before they had turned, but Marie also knew about Sophie's hatred of Klaus. She wanted to get back at Klaus and throwing him off just in time for Marcel to take back the city, and Sophie was more than willing to help Marcel get back on top because that meant that she and Marie also ended up back on top. That was a place that Sophie liked to be.

---

Klaus sighed and sat down on the couch as he looked at his siblings. The silence in the room was uncomfortable, but Klaus was dealing with it for the time being. His mind was running from the thoughts on how to stop Marcel from trying to take back the city. He needed to be stopped, but then again, when hadn't he needed to be stopped. Even when they were on okay terms, Marcel still plotted against Klaus and his siblings to get the Quarter back as his own, "What are we to do about Marcel?" Klaus asked, willingly breaking the silence once it had become unbearable. Klaus couldn't just come up with this on his own because he lacked common sense sometimes when it came to Marcel.

Kol arched a brow, turning his attention to his brother for a long moment. “We should do what we should have done a long time ago. Kill him,” he pointed out with a small frown. It was the only way to stop Marcel from constantly coming at them. Marcel was never going to give up - not that it was too surprising. He was raised by the Mikaelsons, after all, and, above all, he had been extremely close to Klaus in the past. And, Kol knew there were times where Klaus’s and Marcel’s bond still showed. It was why Marcel wasn’t dead yet - because Klaus cared too much about Marcel. But, that was just going to keep getting in the way and causing trouble. “You can’t trust him, Nik. He’s never going to give up.” He looked to his brother, hoping to get him to see reason, but he was sure he wouldn’t be able to get through to Klaus. It bothered him. Klaus had always cared for Marcel, had accepted Marcel in a way that Kol hadn’t ever been accepted by his own family. He’d only ever been truly accepted by Sophie and he missed that.

---

Marie’s grin broadened and she nodded slightly. “We’ll just send a personal invitation to the Mikaelsons,” she hummed out, “I think, the rest, we can just invite through Marcel. He can gather everybody necessary.” She winked teasingly at her friend before she moved to go up to her room, certain she had invitations left over from the last party they’d helped Marcel to throw. Except, this party would be different. This would be their party; she and Sophie wouldn’t have to hide in the shadows anymore. Finding what she was looking for, she quickly scrawled out an invitation. ”You are cordially invited to a masquerade, starting at 8 o’clock tonight. It’s sure to give you a shock.” She included the address, but didn’t include who the invitation was from. Making her way downstairs, she slipped the invitation into an envelope and stepped out, grabbing the first human she found. “Take this there,” she informed, compelling them, and pointed to the compound nearby, “And say that you have a special delivery for the Mikaelsons.” She watched the human walk away before she turned to head back inside.

@ momentai.
(I AM SO SORRY I AM JUST NOW GETTING TO THIS!!! My life has been a mess lately and I've had no will to want to write)

Sophie grinned at Marie's words. She was excited for the party. She knew that the human part of her, deep down begging to be let out, was screaming at her, begging her to be just a little excited to see Kol again. In another life, Sophie would have been beyond nervous to see Kol again. In this life, she was just ready to get out of the shadows and stop pulling strings when nobody could see her. She lost Kol long before she had lost her humanity. She had her time to grieve, to vent, and to rage. Once she shoved away her humanity, she turned her grief into strength, her venting turned to killing when needed, and her rage turned into plotting. She plotted her revenge more than she cared to admit. She plotted against Rebeckah for being the one to back stab Kol. She plotted against Elijah for being there to help when Kol was daggered once more. She plotted most of all against Klaus for being the one to drive the dagger into her beloved's heart and ripping away any chance they had at a future together. It was because of Klaus's paranoid mind that Kol laid in a box while Sophie lost her humanity. Sophie blamed Klaus for everything, and she planned on getting her revenge.

---

Klaus rolled his eyes at his brother's words. Kol was never fond of Marcel, always hated that Marcel was a part of the Mikaelson clan. He ran a hand through his curls and looked over at Kol, "Your biases against Marcel are not going unnoticed, brother. We must be logical about this." He stated. Deep down, Klaus knew that he was stalling. Klaus wasn't sure if he could ever bring himself to have Marcel killed, or have someone else do it for him. Marcel had always been like a son to Klaus. He hated that his hand was being forced. He was at an crossroads and had no idea where to go from there. Klaus was about to speak once more when he felt the presence of someone else in the compound that was a stranger, "We have a guest." He stated to his siblings before he used his vampire speed to leave the room. Once down to the entrance, he saw that it was a random human, "What business do you have here" He asked, compelling an answer out of the human, "I have a special delivery for the Mikaelsons." Was all he stated before he handed an envelop to Klaus. Klaus took it and looked behind the stranger for anyone to have followed him, "Leave." He said before opening the envelop, "We've been invited to a masquerade." He said to his siblings as he returned to the sitting room.

(Don’t worry about it! I completely understand how crazy life can get.)

Kol frowned deeply to himself, straightening his clothes as he toyed with the mask he had. “I can’t believe we’re actually going to this ridiculous party,” he muttered with frustration. For all they knew, it was some sort of trap. After all, there had been no name on the invitation; they weren’t even aware of whose party this was or who would be bold enough to invite the Mikaelsons to their party. Usually, if they were invited anywhere, it was for alliances. Or, it was just a trap - and those usually ended in bloodbaths. Of course, even the attempts at alliances often ended in bloodbaths as well. Sighing out, he looked to his siblings for a moment, making a face. “Nik, you can’t honestly think this is a good idea,” he mentioned. It didn’t matter, though - they were already stepping through the doors even as he spoke the words.

---

Marie busied herself with getting ready for the masquerade, though she intended on being late to their party. She knew how much the Mikaelsons loved to make an entrance and she wanted to steal that from them, if only once. Outside, she could hear people arriving, the music, the chattering. Most people seemed to be curious about whose party they were at, but she knew they would only get their answer if they asked the right people - herself, Sophie, or Marcel. Nobody else knew who she and Sophie were, nobody else knew how they pulled the strings and facilitated each move Marcel made. Hell, the Mikaelsons, who she’d once been close to - Rebekah being a close friend, Elijah being somewhat of an adviser on matters she felt were too silly to bring up to Klaus, and Klaus being the man she’d loved far too deeply - weren’t even aware they were alive. She hadn’t ever been close to Kol, but that was a different matter altogether.

@ momentai.
Sophie smoothed out the ripples in her dress as she looked over herself in the mirror of her bedroom. The outfit looked great, the only thing that didn't fully match was her necklace, but she wanted to make a point. She wanted Kol to know it was her. She wanted to throw him off. By wearing the necklace, that showed Kol exactly who she was. Sophie slid her mask up her forehead so she could see Marie's outfit, "You look stunning. I think that we are going to give them a great show." Sophie said to her best friend with a smirk. This was just the leg up that the girls needed to help Marcel defeat the Original family.

---

Klaus made sure his bow tie was straight before he walked down to meet his siblings, tying his mask behind his head as he spoke, "We were invited, brother, it would be rude to reject the invitation." He remarked as they stepped out as a family, heading to the party, only a couple yards down from where the compound was. As they walked through the door, Klaus took note of Kol's words but said nothing. His eyes instantly scanning the party attendees for a signal to who was throwing this party and how they knew his family.

Marie looked to her friend, a small smirk playing at her lips as she tilted her head. “At least we’ll give them something to remember us by,” she hummed out as she moved to stand from where she was finishing getting ready. “After all, I highly doubt they’d expect a turn of events quite as remarkable as the one we’re about to give them.” She winked teasingly before looking over her friend, her eyes landing on the necklace for a moment. She knew what the necklace meant, but Marie herself had no intention of giving up her identity so easily for the Mikaelsons; no, she wanted to play a bit first. “Speaking of remarkable, you should really see yourself,” she said with a grin, though she looked towards the door for a moment. “Are you ready to head down? Marcel will be waiting for us at the top of the staircase.”

---

Kol rolled his eyes slightly in response to his brother’s words. “Since when do we care about being rude?” he asked with a quiet snort. They usually stirred up as much trouble as they possibly could, after all. Shaking his head, he looked around, scanning the crowd. He focused on listening to the attendees as they spoke among themselves, but it seemed as though none of them were aware of who had invited them, or they were simply not talking about who had invited everybody. His brows furrowed slightly with the thought. How could this many people be in attendance and nobody be aware of who had invited them all? That didn’t make sense at all to him. “Nik, I have a very bad feeling about this,” he muttered quietly, looking to his brother.

@ momentai.
Sophie grinned at Marie's words, "Thank you." She replied before nodding at her follow up question and took a big breath, "Let's do this." She stated and held her arm out to her friend. Sophie was beyond excited to finally reveal themselves to everyone. When they reached the stairs, Sophie smiled when she saw Marcel, taking his outstretched arm, watching as her best friend did the same on the opposite side. Sophie's eyes scanned the crowd at a slow pace, trying to let her eyes fall to the person she was most looking forward to shocking. When she finally saw him, a smirk played on her face as they walked down the stairs. He hadn't changed much since she last saw him, his hair was shorter, but that was mostly it. Even with his mask on she recognized Kol.

---

Klaus ignored his brother's words as he scanned the crowd. He could hear the conversations being held, knowing that they had nothing to do with the hosts of the party. Klaus also had no idea where Marcel was on top of his growing suspicion. His brother spoke once more, and Klaus was about to reply before his eyes, along with most of the attendee's eyes, were drawn to the staircase where Marcel descended with two women on his arms. Klaus figured that the two women must be the hosts. There was something different about them, Klaus couldn't place his finger on it. They felt almost...familiar to him and he couldn't figure out why.

Kol’s attention went to the trio descending the stairs, his brows furrowing as he took them in. A part of him felt like the two mystery women weren’t really all that much of a mystery. He recognized something about them and, for a long time, he couldn’t quite figure out what that was. It wasn’t until he caught the glint off a necklace that his eyes widened with realization. How was that possible? Sophie was long since dead. His gaze settled on her for a long moment before he looked towards Marcel. Clearly, something was up if he was with her, but what exactly was it?

---

Amusement flashed across Marie’s eyes as they made their way down the stairs, taking in everybody that had arrived. Her eyes scanned over the faces, landing on the Mikaelsons for a moment and then on Klaus specifically for a moment longer than she probably should have let herself look at him. It’d been too long since she’d last seen him, she almost expected to have forgotten him in some manner, but she hadn’t. She remembered almost everything about him, even with her humanity off. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, she parted from Marcel to go find a drink.

@ momentai.
Sophie watched as Kol's eyes fell to her necklace and then to her face, causing her smirk to come back to her face. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sophie watched as Marie left to find a drink, and Sophie stayed with her arm looped in Marcel's as they walked around to great their guests. Kol knew who she was now, she just needed to wait to make her way to him. Make him think, "You're not doing a good job of keeping your eyes off him." Marcel said to her quietly as they walked around, grabbing Sophie a glass of champagne. Sophie rolled her eyes at him, "I like to see what my guests are doing, Marcel." She replied, "Guests or one guest." He stated causing her to roll her eyes once more.

---

Klaus watched as the two women parted ways at the bottom of the stairs, one going to get a drink, the other staying close with Marcel. Klaus excused himself without word and headed toward the one who left the group. She was still by herself when he approached her, "I assume you are one of tonight's gracious hosts that invited my family and I." Klaus said as he motioned to the bartender to get him a glass. He looked closely at the girl, wondering how on earth she was able to give off a familiarity about her. Klaus hated that he didn't know who she was, "Love, I don't think it's quite fair that I don't know who you are, but you surely know who I am."

Kol watched Sophie with shock, taking her in. Even with the mask on, he could tell it was her once the thought had crossed his mind that it could be her after seeing the necklace. His eyes never left her and he focused in on her conversation with Marcel, his brows furrowing slightly as he listened. He recognized her voice and, from their conversation, there was no way that it wasn’t her. But, then, why hadn’t he heard about her being in New Orleans until now? How was she here, with Marcel, and there had been no clue or hint of her existence within the city? Moreover, if she’d invited him and his family here, why was it that she hadn’t spoken to him before now or made any attempt to contact him over the years? Not that he’d had much time out of his casket, but still. The thought that she was there, right in front of him, was overwhelming and difficult to wrap his head around.

---

Marie paused when she heard Klaus’s voice. A part of her would have rejoiced in hearing his voice again if this encounter had happened with her humanity on. Tilting her head, she looked towards him while she raised her glass to her lips, a small smirk forming on her features once she took a sip and set her glass down. “I wouldn’t quite call us gracious, Niklaus,” she told him simply. In fact, this entire plan had been with malicious intent, to throw Klaus and his family off their game. Turning to face him fully, she leaned up to whisper against his ear, “And, lately, I’m not one to play fair, so you’ll have to excuse me.” Moving back, she held her glass up in a mock-toast before she stepped around him and went to the crowd to greet their guests. Of course, she was sure that Klaus would have realized who she was by now after hearing her voice, but, then, the voice was always the first thing to be forgotten.

@ momentai.
Sophie excused herself from Marcel, walking over to the man that had been on her mind all night. She grabbed two glasses of champagne as she arrived in front of him, handing him one of the glasses, “Having a good time?” She questioned him before taking a sip from her own glass as she looked around the party. She felt like she was on top of the world. She knew that they had succeeded in catching them off guard, and this exactly how she and Marie wanted the evening to go, “We don’t get to have these parties much, this actually being the first in a very long time that we’ve been able to have.” She said as she looked back at him, a smirk playing across her features.
--
Klaus felt something click when she spoke. He knew exactly who she was the moment she opened her mouth. He couldn’t believe it. After all this time, Klaus expected Marie to be dead. Had she been in New Orleans this entire time? Why hadn’t she ever made herself known? Why hadn’t Marcel ever told him? He didn’t have time to come up with a reply before she was whispering against his ear, and then she was off. Klaus watched with shock as she walked away. He looked over to his brother, seeing him talking to the other girl that walked with Marcel. Klaus recognized the necklace around her neck instantly, knowing this was Sophie. Klaus sighed and walked to Elijah to explain to them that he had found out who their hosts were.

Kol stared at her for a few long moments, taking her in, and trying to process how she was there, trying to understand how it was possible. More than that, why was she throwing this party and why did she seem so chummy with Marcel? It didn’t make sense. Didn’t she know what Marcel had been doing to his family lately? His brows furrowed slightly and he tilted his head slightly to the side as he eyed her, examining her for a while. “Why are you suddenly having a party, then?” he asked, figuring that he could continue the conversation, though he mostly just wanted to listen to her voice more after all the years he’d gone without even hearing it. It still came as a shock to him that she was alive, that she was there.

---

Marie felt fairly satisfied with herself and she found a spot away from the crowd, but hidden well enough, to watch Klaus, an amused smirk on her features. She hoped this was the turn they needed, the chance to have the upperhand back, the chance to get their city back. And, now that she and Sophie were stepping out of the shadows, she hoped that they wouldn’t have to go back to hiding and pulling strings. Seeing Klaus go to Elijah, she focused in on their conversation, listening quietly. It didn’t really surprise her that Elijah was the one Klaus would go to; those two had been as thick as thieves in the past, but Marie recalled Marcel mentioning there being tension between them now. Perhaps they could play with that, turn the siblings against each other.

@ momentai.
Sophie smiled lightly at Kol's words before she gave a small shrug, "We just decided that it was time. Why else would someone have a party?" Sophie replied vaguely. She knew that it was vague, and she didn't care. She just wanted to make him as paranoid as possible. That was the whole plan from the beginning. Sophie was more than willing to do it. Someone looking at her situation from the outside would wonder why Sophie would ever want to take anything out on Kol, and the answer was plain and simple. She resented him. Yes Klaus was the one she wanted revenge against, but the facts were easy; if Kol wasn't so hellbent on making a weapon to use against Klaus, he wouldn't have gotten caught by Rebeckah and he wouldn't have been daggered by Klaus. All Sophie ever wanted was to run away with Kol and have a happy life with him, but his anger toward his brother got in the way of that, and Sophie was the one to suffer from it. Sure, Kol was daggered for a hundred years, but Sophie lost everything the day that Klaus daggered Kol, and that drove her to turn off her switch. She just couldn't take it anymore. Her humanity had to go.

---

Klaus took a long drink from his glass before he spoke to Elijah, "Brother, we have a problem." Klaus stated. Elijah raised his eyebrows curiously in response, "Kol was right. There was a reason why this seemed so off to him. To all of us." Klaus explained before he looked for his other brother, shaking his head when he noticed the female at his side. Klaus pointed a finger over to the pair, "Sophie Reed." He said before continuing, "And wandering around here somewhere is Annmarie Belrose. They're the hosts, Elijah. They're the women that came down with Marcel. They're alive. I have no idea who turned them and why, but they're both here." Elijah sighed before his eyes wandered the room, clearly looking for Marie, "I spoke with Marie. She's different, brother. She's off. There's something more." Klaus explained, "Did she seem cold, brother?" Elijah asked. Klaus thought for a moment before it registered in his head the reason why she was different, "She's flipped her switch."

Kol found himself shocked by her words and unable to really figure out a proper way to reply. He wanted to ask why now was the time for a party, or why they would have a party in general, but it didn’t seem as though she was going to give him any actual answers. She was beating around the bush, being as vague as possible, and that put Kol on edge. That wasn’t normally how Sophie had ever been. “Sophie, talk to me,” he requested gently as he watched her, shifting closer a little, his brows furrowing slightly with concern. “What’s going on here? What’s this party for?” Because it didn’t make sense. Why was a party necessary to have now, of all times? Why hadn’t she let him know that she was alive? Why hadn’t he seen her around before now? There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but it didn’t seem as though he would be getting any answers.

---

The smirk on Marie’s features broadened into a wicked grin when she heard the pair talking. Finally, Klaus understood. Good. Maybe that would throw him for a loop just as well as her being alive clearly had. Maybe she should make a point of it; there was a reason there were more guests there than just the Mikaelsons and Marcel, after all. Moving from where she was, she compelled a few humans with a task before she went to find Sophie and she linked her arm through hers. “Sorry to interrupt, but Sophie and I have to return to our act of hosting,” she chimed out to Kol, looking to her friend before she began leading the way up the stairs. “I think it’s time for a toast to welcome our guests, Sophie.” Under normal circumstances, she’d usually be following the rules that Marcel had agreed to with the human faction, but now that Marcel wasn’t in control, she felt there was no reason to control the vampires.

@ momentai.
Sophie smirked when Kol tried to get answers out of her. She could tell he was genuinely concerned and confused. She shot him a wink when Marie linked her arm into Sophie's, "Sit tight." She stated to Kol before she walked with Marie up the stairs. She grinned widely at Marie's words, "I couldn't agree more, my friend." She replied before the two reached the top of the stairs. Sophie clinked her glass loudly so their guests would pay attention, "Welcome everyone!" Sophie said happily as she looked around the room, "Thank you all for being here to celebrate this memorable night with Marie and I." She stated as she looked over at her friend, "Too long we have been in the shadows of this town. We have decided that we shall hide in the shadows no longer." Sophie explained before handing the reigns over to her best friend.

---

Klaus's eyes went widely trying to search for Marie before there was clinking on glass. Klaus looked up at the top of the stairs to see Sophie and Marie standing side by side. Sophie was first to speak, but Klaus's eyes were fixated on Marie. It was clear both women had flipped their switches, but Klaus only cared about Marie. Let his little brother deal with Sophie. Klaus was nervous about what this toast was to entail, but he knew that it couldn't be good at all, and the thought alone put Klaus on edge. He knew that his siblings felt the same exact way.

Kol stared up at the girls with shock, watching them, listening to them. How could both of them be alive? He could tell now, listening to them both, that their humanity was gone. But, he found that difficult to believe. Why would Sophie, of all people, ever turn off her humanity? He focused in on her, staring at her, trying to debate on what to do. Was there a way to get through to her? Could he get through to her? What was she even up to? But, glancing around, he spotted something not quite right and he felt himself tense. What was going on? His jaw clenched slightly as he looked to his siblings with concern, then back to Sophie.

---

Marie tilted her head, peering over the balcony to stare out at the crowd, watching as somebody brought in a tray of knives and handed them to the humans Marie had compelled. Her gaze locked onto Klaus’s and she offered a small smirk. “The thing about shadows is that, if you hide in them long enough, you learn your enemies’ weaknesses. You learn how to catch them off guard. You learn how to shake them to their core,” she announced almost pleasantly, “But, let’s not forget that you learn a few party tricks.” She raised her glass, then. “So, let’s toast to those shadows. Without them, Sophie and I wouldn’t be where we are today. In the meantime, we would love for our guests to enjoy everything we have to offer.” At that point, the humans had each grabbed a knife and cut themselves, attracting the attention of the vampires in the room, who lunged at them to feed. “Cheers.” And, then, she took a sip of her drink as she watched the chaos unfold.