Ethan and Hope walked down the stairs. The air in the Mikaelson mansion still carried that centuries-old weight, but for both of them, the tension was completely neutralized by the firm warmth of their locked hands. Neither dared let go; it was the only anchor keeping the Hollow chained and silence reigning in the girl's mind.
Upon reaching the landing of the inner courtyard, they saw Klaus and Freya standing near the stone fountain, conversing in low, concentrated tones.
— Dad... — Hope called out, her voice echoing softly through the wooden archways.
Klaus and Freya turned around instantly. The Hybrid's gaze, initially worried about his daughter's well-being, quickly traveled down along their arms and locked precisely onto the junction of their intertwined palms.
Klaus's expression changed on the spot. His eyebrows arched and his forehead furrowed into an almost comical mix of indignation and protective shock. He raised a finger, pointing directly at Ethan and Hope's hands:
— What is this? — Klaus asked, his voice low and measured, laden with that characteristic danger. — Would someone mind explaining the reason for this... affectionate enthusiasm right after what we've been through?
Hope felt a warm flush rise immediately up her cheeks, turning her face red. She tried to hide her embarrassment with a throat-clearing cough, but she didn't let go of Ethan's hand.
— Dad... there's a very good reason for this, I swear — she said, stuttering slightly before composing herself.
Freya, who had been watching the scene from the side, let out a mocking chuckle and crossed her arms:
— Calm down, Niklaus. If you keep glaring at the boy like that, you're going to vaporize the poor guy before he even gets a chance to explain. Let the two of them breathe.
Klaus didn't even blink, ignoring Freya's comment. He took a slow step forward, transferring his sharp gaze from Ethan to Hope, lowering his tone to something much more serious and direct:
— I'm waiting, Hope. What exactly is going on here?
Hope swallowed hard and stepped forward, squeezing Ethan's hand slightly before taking a breath to speak.
— The bracelet... it burned my wrist and didn't work — Hope began, keeping her voice as steady as possible. — The Hollow's voices came rushing back into my head. I was freaking out in my room, unable to breathe... until Ethan came in and hugged me.
Klaus frowned, his gaze alternating rapidly between his daughter's face and Ethan's.
— When he touched me, Dad... everything stopped — Hope continued, her eyes shining with intensity. — The voices vanished. The pain, the burn from the bracelet... everything simply faded away. Ethan told me about his Imprint... and for some reason we still don't understand, his presence and his touch make the Hollow retreat and quiet down inside of me.
A heavy silence fell over the courtyard. Klaus and Freya stared at the two of them, completely dumbfounded. The revelation struck the hall like lightning. The Hollow, the darkest and most destructive ancestral force that had ever tormented the Mikaelson family, was being neutralized by the mere proximity of a young wolf.
— You mean Ethan can stop the Hollow's magic... just by touching you? — Klaus asked, snapping his face toward Freya, his voice oscillating between absolute shock and disbelief. — How is that possible, Freya?!
Freya shook her head slowly, her eyes wide as she assimilated every detail.
— I... I don't know, Niklaus — Freya admitted, stunned. — This goes beyond any ancient sorcery I've ever studied. But of one thing I am certain: Ethan is definitely someone special and unlike anything we've ever seen.
Freya took a few steps toward them, her analytical gaze fixed on the junction of Hope and Ethan's hands.
— Hope... let go of his hand for a second — Freya requested, her voice solemn. — I need to see how your aura reacts without his direct presence.
Hope hesitated for a millisecond, looking at Ethan. He gave a slight nod, conveying confidence, and slowly they undid their grip, separating their hands.
The reaction was almost instantaneous.
As soon as Ethan's skin stopped touching hers, Hope's expression changed. The air around them seemed to grow heavy. Gradually, the muffled whispers and voices of the Hollow began to murmur again in the back of her mind. But this time, it wasn't just the mental noise returning: a sudden, overwhelming wave of pure rage began to emerge from her chest, burning her veins and making her eyes flash with a dangerous spark.
Hope's irises shifted in a fraction of a second, taking on an electrifying, supernatural blue. The darkness of the Hollow didn't just bring the pain back; it inflated a violent, raw, and uncontrollable impulse. The veins in her neck bulged slightly, and the air around the courtyard began to vibrate with the pressure of her magic. She wanted to crush something. She wanted to hurt, tear apart, to kill whoever was standing in front of her.
Klaus stepped forward in readiness, sensing the imminent danger.
— Alright... you can take Ethan's hands again, Hope — Freya ordered quickly, raising a hand in a calming gesture.
Hope didn't hesitate. She stepped forward and grabbed Ethan's hand with desperate force, intertwining her fingers with his as if her very life depended on it.
The effect was immediate and overwhelming.
The second their skin touched, the blue light in her eyes faded, returning to their natural shade. The crushing wave of rage, the murderous impulse, and the unbearable chorus of voices in her head simply evaporated like smoke blown away by the wind. Hope's breath fell all at once in a deep sigh, and the tension in her shoulders relaxed.
She turned her face to the side, looking at Ethan with a mix of relief and pure perplexity.
As calm returned to the courtyard, Freya observed the scene with her hand on her chin, her expression extremely dense and thoughtful. Klaus kept his arms crossed, staring at his daughter and the boy with narrowed eyes.
— This... isn't just the Hollow backing off out of fear — Freya murmured, pacing around them. — The rage that came rushing in wasn't just dark magic at work.
— What do you mean by that, Freya? — Klaus asked, his voice low and dangerous.
— The bond between the two of them... — Freya explained, looking directly at Ethan. — when they touch, the tie brings a sense of belonging and peace so absolute that not even the Hollow can find an opening to incite chaos. It's a symbiosis. The bond protects her mind, but its absence makes the Hollow's influence ten times more aggressive.
Hope kept looking sideways at Ethan, but a doubt also formed in her mind...
— This is not good... — Klaus began, breaking the silence and taking a heavy step across the courtyard. — Hope cannot stay with Ethan 24/7. We need to find a way to end this once and for all. And there's something else... I've noticed that the more Hope maintains contact with Ethan, the stronger the Hollow becomes after she lets go of his hand.
Hope nodded slowly, feeling the weight of her father's observation. She looked down at her own hand united with Ethan's, and then stared at the three people around her, voicing a doubt that was starting to hammer in her mind:
— Listen... could this have nothing to do with the bond, but rather with what you guys said about my dad? Like his lineage or something?
Freya let out a sigh, crossing her arms and frowning, reflective:
— I don't know, Ethan... what I said before about your father's lineage and everything is speculation, I have no idea. It could be your biological heritage, it could be the Imprint bond, or a reaction between the two. We are still in completely uncharted territory.
Klaus took another step forward, looking fixedly into Hope's eyes. The Hybrid's tone was serious, but steeped in genuine concern:
— Hope, you need to be strong. I will fix this, I promise... But, for now, you need to let go of Ethan's hand. You cannot become dependent on this contact like this. Otherwise, every time you let go of his hand, things are going to derail way too fast. You saw it yourself, you feel it yourself... Don't you, daughter?
Hope lowered her gaze for a second, swallowed hard, and nodded again.
— It's true... — Hope admitted, her voice low. — When I let go of Ethan's hand just now, I felt the Hollow much stronger and more aggressive than before he had even touched me.
Ethan looked at Hope's hand in his, perfectly understanding the danger of what was happening, and tried to frame the situation:
— It's like a faucet... — Ethan explained, looking at Klaus and Freya. — When you block escaping water with your fingers, the pressure builds up behind them. Then when you finally take your finger away, all that accumulated pressure shoots out all at once, much stronger than it was before.
Freya raised her eyes to Ethan, pointing a finger at him with the expression of someone who had just received exact confirmation:
— Exactly that. Ethan's touch isn't destroying or curing the dark magic; it's merely damming up the Hollow. And the longer the dam holds back the water, the bigger the impact wave when it opens.
Hope looked at their joined hands one last time, took a deep breath, and made a decision. She faced Ethan with a determined look and slowly undid her grip, letting go of his hand.
In the exact same second, the "dam wave" hit full force. A violent blow of whispers and a suffocating discharge of rage struck her mind. Hope's chest rose and fell out of control, and her knuckles turned white from the force with which she clenched her fists. She closed her eyes, planted her feet firmly on the stone courtyard floor, and clenched her jaw, fighting with every inch of her willpower not to let the magic take control.
Several agonizing seconds passed, until her breathing finally began to slow down. She opened her eyes, still slightly breathless, but with the supernatural blue tone under control.
— I... I can hold it — Hope said, her voice steady, though her forehead was still lightly sweating. She looked at the boy with a tired, but sincerely grateful smile. — Thank you for being here, Ethan... truly. But my aunt and my dad are right. I can't spend all the time holding your hand like it's a crutch.
Ethan let out a low chuckle, shaking his head and crossing his arms behind his neck to lighten the heavy mood:
— Well... to be honest, that is definitely great — Ethan joked, giving a wink. — That way your dad stops trying to kill me just with a look... and I am absolutely sure that, in his mind, he has already quartered me about ten times since we walked down that stairs. Lol.
Klaus merely let out an annoyed clicking sound of his tongue, but one corner of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly, while Freya let out a muffled laugh beside him.
Hope took a step back, adjusting her jacket, and looked at everyone in the courtyard with a serious expression.
— I need to go out and do something — she warned, leaving no room for questions.
Before Klaus or Freya could intervene, Hope turned her back and hurried toward the complex's gateway.
Ethan frowned, his eyes following the girl until she disappeared from view down the street. A pang of worry hammered in his chest, but he knew he couldn't force Hope to do anything. As much as his instincts screamed to go after her, staying by her side holding her hand the whole time wasn't a real solution; it was merely delaying the inevitable and making the Hollow's storm even worse afterward.
He let out a heavy sigh, turning to the Hybrid and the witch:
— You guys need to fix this... for real — Ethan said, staring at Klaus and Freya with a firm look. — I don't have a good feeling about what could happen if this keeps up.
Without waiting for a detailed response from the Mikaelsons, Ethan turned his back:
— I'm going to my room.
He climbed the stone steps slowly, feeling the weight of the day accumulate on his shoulders. Upon entering the vacant room they had given him, he realized he had completely lost his appetite. The idea of dinner in the hall lost all meaning. He began pacing back and forth across the wooden floor, his head spinning with thoughts about the Hollow, Clark, the Original Wolf lineage, and the suffocated look in Hope's eyes.
After dozens of pacing circles, physical and mental exhaustion finally overtook him. Ethan collapsed onto the bed, closing his eyes as the darkness of sleep pulled him under.
Little did he know that upon waking up, he would face a major problem.
The soft, invasive morning light was streaming through the cracks in the window when Ethan opened his eyes. The shock of being in a new day made him jump out of bed quickly. He barely bothered to straighten his clothes; he washed his face at the bathroom sink, ran his hands through his hair, and hurried out of the room, heading down the courtyard stairs in search of Hope.
Upon reaching the main hall, he didn't find the girl. Instead, he saw the breakfast/lunch table set. Freya was sitting there, accompanied by a Black woman Ethan had never seen in his life—Keelin. The two were conversing in low tones while eating.
Ethan slowed his pace, looking around the entire courtyard before fixing his gaze on Freya:
— Where is Hope? — he asked, direct and without beating around the bush.
— They're probably on their way home already, Ethan... She's with Klaus — Freya said, falling quiet for a moment.
— I really have a bad feeling. I should have followed her yesterday! That's what I came to this place for, to help her! — Ethan said, anguished.
Freya let out a heavy sigh, exchanging a tense look with Keelin:
— Last night some things happened, and what I can tell you is that they weren't very good... Hope wasn't doing well at all after going out into the street. She went after Elijah and ended up triggering a bunch of unpleasant events.
— What events, Freya? What happened to her? — Ethan asked.
— Because of the Hollow, Hope was full of rage, and to get rid of that rage, she took it out on the vampires who were Greta's followers...
Before Freya could finish telling the story, the compound gate opened, and Hope and Klaus walked in.
The girl looked destroyed inside, walking with unsteady steps and eyes swollen from crying. Seeing Ethan standing near the table, her gaze overflowed with despair.
Ethan remained standing in the courtyard hall, next to the breakfast table where Freya and Keelin were still processing the situation. He took two steps forward, his chest tightening upon seeing the despair stamped on her face:
— Hope... what happened? Where were you guys?
Hope stopped in the middle of the courtyard, lifting her red-rimmed eyes to face Ethan. The pain she carried in her gaze was so intense that the bond between them seemed to vibrate in the boy's chest.
— I went to the church with my dad... — Hope began, her voice faltering and choked with tears. — Greta's vampires were there. I thought... I thought if I unloaded the Hollow's rage on them, it would all pass. I wanted to hurt them, Ethan... I wanted to wipe out all of them.
She swallowed hard, covering her mouth for a second as a painful sob escaped her throat.
— But there was a human inside... Bill — she continued, tears streaming endlessly down her face. — He had nothing to do with this. My magic... the Hollow's power got so out of control that I brought the ceiling down on top of him, and he died, Ethan! He died because of me!
Ethan widened his eyes, feeling the brutal impact of that revelation. The gravity of it dropped like a stone upon the hall.
— The curse... — Ethan murmured, his voice nearly vanishing as he assimilated what that meant.
— I triggered my wolf side — Hope blurted out desperately, staring at her own trembling hands. — The first full moon is coming, and I took an innocent life. My mom died to save me from this darkness, and the very first thing I do is turn into a monster!
Klaus, who was right behind, stood beside his daughter with an expression of pure helplessness and paternal anguish.
Ethan took two quick steps forward and firmly grabbed Hope's arm. As he gently pulled up the sleeve of her jacket, his eyes widened. The veins on the girl's arm were completely black and bulging, pulsing with the dark, corrupted energy of the Hollow.
— Hope... what is that?! — Ethan asked, his voice laden with astonishment, pointing directly at the dark marks on her skin.
The second Ethan's touch settled on her arm, the darkness accumulated beneath her skin retreated, and the black veins vanished in the blink of an eye, returning to their normal tone. However, instead of the usual relief, the panic in Hope's eyes reached its peak.
With a sharp and desperate movement, Hope took a long step back and pushed Ethan's chest with both hands, shoving him away hard.
— Don't touch me! — she screamed, her voice choked and breathing heavily. — Stay away from me, Ethan!
Ethan took a false step back, completely shocked and wide-eyed at her sudden reaction.
— Hope... what is it? What's gotten into you? — he asked, raising his hands with stiff, worried knuckles.
— Don't you understand?! — Hope vented, covering her face with her hands and shaking her head in denial, tears streaming endlessly. — Every time you touch me, this thing hides! It gets dammed up, increasing the pressure at the back of my mind! And when you let go... the rage and guilt come back ten times worse! If you touch me right now, it'll be like throwing gasoline on a fire! You're only making everything worse!
The impact of her words hit Ethan in the chest like a physical punch. He froze in place, feeling the full weight of it, yet knowing the Hollow's perverse logic was using his touch precisely to make the magical explosion more destructive.
Klaus, who watched the scene with a locked jaw and a look of controlled despair, stepped to the side, adjusting his jacket.
— Enough — Klaus declared, his grave voice echoing across the courtyard. — We are not going to solve this based on hypotheses or waiting for the worst to happen on the first full moon.
He glanced briefly at Freya and then cast a quick look at Ethan, without revealing the true plan he had just hatched in his mind—to go immediately after Davina Claire to find a definitive ritualistic solution.
— I need to call someone who understands ancestral spells better than anyone in this house — Klaus said firmly, turning toward the exit without mentioning Davina's name so as not to raise false hopes. — Freya, take care of her. Ethan... give her the space she asked for.
Without waiting for an answer, the Hybrid turned his back and crossed the compound gate at high speed, leaving the courtyard immersed in a tense, suffocating silence.
Ethan looked at his own hands, helpless. He had no idea what to do to help Hope at that moment.
Hope looked at Ethan, felt terrible, and said, "I'm sorry, Ethan, I need to be alone right now."
Ethan didn't say anything; he genuinely didn't know what was going through her mind at that moment.
Hope turned her back without another word and walked up the stairs with heavy steps, locking herself in her room. The sound of the door closing echoed through the courtyard like a final blow.
Ethan stood still for a few seconds. As much as he tried to understand Hope's despair and pain, he couldn't help a pang of anger and frustration growing in his chest. He only wanted to help, only wanted to be the shelter she needed, but he had just been pushed away and rejected as if he were the problem.
Without saying a word to Freya or Keelin, Ethan spun on his heels and left the compound. He needed to get out of that suffocating mansion, breathe fresh air, and clear his mind before he ended up losing control.
Walking aimlessly through the cobblestone streets of the French Quarter, Ethan observed the distant movement of the city. Morning fog still hung over the streets. As he turned a corner near a quieter square, he spotted Marcel Gerard. The vampire was leaning against a stone wall, with a lost gaze into the void and a devastated expression.
Ethan slowed his pace and approached slowly. Marcel raised his head and noticed the boy.
— Marcel... — Ethan called out, sensing the weight on the other's shoulders.
— Ethan — Marcel replied, his voice hoarse and lacking its usual energy. He let out a bitter sigh before continuing: — If you came looking for news... Josh is dead. He didn't survive the purists' venom at the church.
Ethan froze in place, feeling the impact of the news. He had no idea that had happened to him. Although he didn't hang out with Josh much, he knew how important he was to these people.
— I'm so sorry, Marcel... truly — Ethan said, with a sincere tone of condolence. — My condolences. Josh was a good guy.
Marcel nodded slightly in appreciation, but soon frowned, observing the boy alone in the street.
— What are you doing out here alone, anyway? I thought Klaus and Freya had you under strict surveillance at the compound.
— I needed to get out to clear my mind a bit — Ethan admitted, letting out a dry, humorless laugh. — There's so much happening at once that my head is about to explode. Hope... she's a werewolf now, Marcel. She ended up killing a man in the church during the massacre.
Marcel didn't look surprised. He shifted his gaze to the street, his jaw locked.
— I know. I was there when it happened — Marcel said, his tone dark.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, looking at the overcast New Orleans sky.
— It's insane... — Ethan murmured, shaking his head. — Destiny really has strange, cruel ways of ruining people's lives. One minute everything's under control, and the next... everything goes sideways so fast you can't even tell where the hit came from.
Marcel faced the young boy, recognizing in those words the same bitterness he himself had felt so many times over centuries of living with the Mikaelsons.
Marcel adjusted his jacket, letting out a heavy sigh as he passed a hand over his rigid jaw. The vampire's gaze remained distant, focused on nothing along the French Quarter streets.
— I need to go, Ethan — Marcel said, his voice low but firm. — I have things to take care of and a funeral to organize. I can't just stand around lamenting here.
Ethan just nodded slowly, understanding the weight of the moment.
— Go ahead, Marcel. And... if you need anything, let me know.
Marcel gave Ethan's shoulder a light pat and walked away with long strides, disappearing among the alleyways and cobblestones of the city.
Alone again, Ethan walked for a few more minutes until he left the busier streets behind. He followed a quieter, more secluded path where the noise of cars and commerce gradually gave way to the rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of birds. A short distance ahead, the vegetation opened up into a small clearing around a calm lake, whose waters mirrored New Orleans' gray sky.
The humid, stuffy morning air seemed to weigh on his skin. Feeling a wave of heat coming from both the weather and the whirlwind of emotions inside his chest, Ethan pulled his shirt by the collar and took it off, throwing it carelessly over the back of an old wooden bench by the water's edge.
He sat down on the weathered wood, letting the cold shore breeze touch his chest and back.
To tell the truth, Ethan had been feeling, for a few days now, an overwhelming urge to transform into a wolf again. His blood seemed to pulse harder beneath his skin, calling out for liberation. He wanted to feel the grass under his paws, the smell of damp earth, the wind cutting through his fur, and the sheer speed of running aimlessly, free from any burden, accusation, or ancestral magic. He just wanted a few minutes of real peace.
However, reason spoke louder. He knew perfectly well that this wasn't the best time. Transforming right there, in the middle of the chaos that had settled over the city, with Greta's purist vampires lurking, Hope on the verge of a breakdown, and Klaus plotting goodness-knows-what, would only bring more confusion.
Ethan rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, intertwining his fingers and staring at the small ripples forming on the lake's surface. The water reflected his image and the gentle rustle of the surrounding trees.
His mind wouldn't stop. He thought about the Hollow, the enigmatic figure of Clark, the unrevealed mysteries of his heritage as some kind of descendant of the Original wolf, and the pain stamped in Hope's eyes when she pushed him away and rejected him in the courtyard. He came to New Orleans to protect her, to be her shield against the storm, but he had just discovered that his very presence and touch acted like a dangerous dam, accumulating pressure that made the monster inside her even more destructive when released.
What should he do from here on out? Stay and fight alongside a family that barely trusted him, running the risk of worsening Hope's suffering? Or walk away and let the Mikaelsons solve their own centuries-old problems, even knowing his Imprint instincts would never let him rest if anything happened to her?
Ethan closed his eyes for a split second, breathing in the fresh lake air, trying to organize the chaos in his thoughts while the serene landscape continued to flow before him.