Entering the church with bags of food, Marcel greets the priest, "Father Kieran."
"Marcel," Father Kieran greeted back.
"How is she?" asked Marcel.
"As you can imagine, she's growing more frustrated by the day. She's been trapped up there for months now. Don't you think it's time to move her?" asked Father Kieran.
Marcel sighed, rubbing his head. "You know I can't do that. It's more dangerous than ever out there."
"Then perhaps you should think about getting her out of New Orleans," said Father Kieran.
But Marcel already had an excuse ready for this: "It's too risky. We don't even know what that spell did to her; leaving the city could kill her."
"Then I suggest you find a way to keep her entertained, or she will leave," said Father Kieran.
"I'll think of something," said Marcel, heading up.
Knocking, he enters the attic room, spotting Davina at her desk drawing, "Hey Davina, I brought food from that place you like."
She ignores him.
He sets it down and walks over to see what she's doing, gently rubbing her back, "Look, I know it can't be easy staying here, but the city isn't exactly safe right now, less so than when you first arrived. However…"
She glares up at him with the lights flickering, and the candle fire's growing.
"However, I will find a way to get you out of here to stretch your legs. Can you hold on until then?" asked Marcel, ignoring the display.
"I'll try," she grumbled, as the lights and candle flames returned to normal.
Marcel grinned, "Thanks, that's all I ask. What, with the Originals taking over, outside vampires entering, and the witches looking for any chance to get you, times are tough and they aren't getting any easier anytime soon."
"This sucks," said Davina, dropping her pencil feeling utterly depressed.
"I know it does, sweetheart," Marcel sighed, rubbing her back. "I know it does."
...
Sophie Deveraux, witnessing Marcel's interaction with Finn, rushes back to her coven, the French Quarter Coven, which resides in Lafayette Cemetery, to report. There, they practice their Ancestral Magic, drawing power from their ritually consecrated dead ancestors buried there, infusing the entire place with magical energy they can access.
That is, until she made the foolish mistake of talking to Marcel about the harvest ritual, which he violently interrupted with his group. Stealing away Davina, the last harvest girl, and dooming them all should it not be completed. Leaving them with a magical black hole that is slowly draining the land of all its magic.
The first person she comes across is her sister walking with Katie, and called out to her, "Jane, Jane."
"Sophie? Shouldn't you be at work?" asked Jane, with Katie quietly observing their interaction from the side.
"I was, but then I saw something interesting. I saw Marcel talking to someone, and he was scared. He didn't show it, but I know him. I could see how nervous he was," said Sophie.
"And you thought this important enough to run all the way here to tell me?" asked Jane, not getting it.
"You don't understand, this is Marcel we're talking about. The cocky son of a bitch who's not afraid of anyone. I've never seen him act like that, not even around the Originals. Hell, Kol was there earlier and the overconfident ass actually tried to scare him off of talking to Cami. I'm telling you this is big, this could be something, somebody we can work with to help us," said Sophie desperately, the guilt driving her.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Do you even know who this guy was?" asked Jane.
"Uh, no. I was too afraid to get close enough to hear, but I know what he looks like, and more importantly, his girlfriend with the red hair shouldn't be hard to find, plus Cami should know," said Sophie.
"As interesting as that is, the Regent called a nine-Coven meeting, so it'll have to wait. Elder Agnes also wants us to gather beforehand to go over everything. You can bring it up there and see what she thinks," said Jane.
Neither noticed Katie's absence.
.
In a darkened alleyway, Katie called out to the vampire with the cap, "Psst, Thierry, over here."
Thierry Vanchure, Marcel's closest friend and right-hand man, went to her, entering the alley to talk more discreetly.
"What is it? Why did you call?" asked Thierry.
"I thought you should know Sophie saw Marcel and Finn talking, and they're thinking of allying with him," said Katie.
"I'll let him know, but you need to be more cautious. We can't be meeting this often now, not until things die down a little," said Thierry, clasping her hands.
"Who knows when that'll happen? I miss you, I miss spending time with you," Katie complained.
He kissed her. "I miss you too, but this is the way it has to be. Better this than dead."
…
Come evening, Finn was sitting in the house flipping channels when his phone rang.
"This is Finn."
"Kol just left the house, and I counted at least half a dozen unique faces through the windows and open door frame; other than that, they never left."
"Wait for me, I'll be there shortly," said Finn, hanging up.
He called Sage, "Hey, our informant called. I'll be out for the evening… No, keep doing what you're doing… It'll be fine, I'm not going to fight them all now, just Kol if he's alone… uh-huh, yes, okay, bye."
He vamp speeds to the location, not worried about being seen.
A few people noticing his sudden speedy appearance pointed and commented, but otherwise, it was mostly overlooked as he approached the compelled man.
"Which way did he go?" asked Finn.
"That way, if you hurry you may still find him," said the man.
"Good job. Now go back to your regular life and forget this ever happened," Finn compelled.
The man walked away in a daze at first before taking out his phone, cursing his luck at being late again after he swore he would stop drinking, though he didn't remember drinking.
Following the lead, Finn went down the street searching for his prey.
He spent half the night searching, and all he could find were a couple of random vamps harassing a woman.
"Come on baby, we don't bite," said one of the vamps.
"Much," said the other, cackling like mad animals.
"Leave me alone! Help! Somebody Help Me!" Shouted the woman.
Finn sighed and ran over, grabbing the first one by the back of the hair and biting into his neck from behind.
"Argh fuck, get off me!" yelled his victim, awkwardly trying to push him off.
The woman screamed and ran for it.
"What the fuck are you doing man! Let him go!" shouted his buddy, hitting Finn's back and sides, which he ignored as he gorged himself. He was hungrier than he thought.
"You're breaking the rules! You're not supposed to attack other vamps, do you want to die?!" yelled his friend while searching for something to hit him with since his punches weren't doing anything.
Dropping the body, Finn turns to catch the makeshift club, crushing it in his hands as he grabs the vamp by the throat and lifts him.
The vamp wheezed, "What are you?"
"You should have run for it," said Finn, and bit him.
.
The Originals and Marcel found the bodies the next day as they took control of the police presence.
"This looks strangely familiar," said Klaus.
"This isn't good," said Marcel, standing over the vampire corpses.
Kol scoffed. "Tell us something we don't already know."
"Do you know them?" asked Elijah.
"No, they're not one of mine," answered Marcel, not smelling any vervain on them.
"Great, Finn's decided to take up Father's mantle. Just what we need; another psycho chasing us," said Kol.
"I hope you have a plan. We need to stop him before he starts killing ours," said Marcel.
"We need to find him first," said Elijah.
"I'll have my men search around and track him if they find him, but no promises," said Marcel.
"Sage, we need to get our hands on Sage," said Klaus darkly.