i'm leaving you my last curse

[bravebartender]

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[dollywood]

( She probably should've gotten a more accurate picture of the situation. )

Witches are about to be hunted, on like a mass scale. Something about this coven trying to find their next heirs. It's called the Gauntlet and it's nothing like the MTV show because elimination is permanent. Babygirl, she needs to be careful and so do you. And so does Rebekah. ...And I think Hope if I'm not mistaken. We know a lot of witches now, don't we.

[eredite]

Yeah, we kinda do.

[She takes a deep breath as she looks around the entire French Quarter ... that is also full of witches.]

I'll let Lizzie know. And I'm with Hope now, so I'll start spreading the word that way. Other than the bloodbath part of it is there anything else they need to know?

[dollywood]

Just that there was a big attack in Scotland, and more could be coming. And, if anybody needs extra help, with relocation or they feel unsafe, call me. Dolls and I will be there.

( To help another arm of the Underground. )

Also stay safe, but that's a given.

[eredite]

Okay. Okay, I will. I'll go find Rebekah.

[Because she is the trusted witch adult that Alice is closest to, and she'll know who to actually talk to. And because she knew that this isn't going to be the end of Wynonna's involvement:]

Be careful, Mom.

[dollywood]

You too, kid.

( She hangs up, taking a moment before rejoining the others.

In New Orleans, Doc and Rebekah and baby Henry are now in the parlor with hope. Hope has never been a kid girl. Lizzie always had a soft spot for Pedro, but this is her cousin. And he is pretty adorable. His old school cowboy sensibility meets his wise old age from his mother -- he's tolerable! )

[eredite]

[Henry is delightfully walking Hope through all of his favorite action figures, their ranking on the team, their secret powers, and their full backstories. It only makes marginal amounts of sense because he's three going on four, but at least he's reached the point where the stories are starting to get consistent.

Rebekah and Doc are talking about the tentative holiday plans she's making with her brother - ones that imply that maybe they'll be staying in New Orleans over the next month or so, when Alice bursts through the door, immediately closes it, and glances over the contents of the room with wide eyes.

"Alice, love?" Rebekah asks curiously. "Everything alright?"]

Not really. My mom called.

[A beat as she realizes how that statement sounds.]

She wanted to warn us. She said there was a big attack in Scotland and that a lot of witches are going to be in trouble, and I don't know who to talk to here, or who can make those kinds of calls and -

[Rebekah gets up slowly to her feet, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders gently. "Alice, deep breath. No one's dying yet, so you can take your time."]

[cowman]

Wynonna?

( Doc was surveying his very, very lucky life. The only thing that could make it better would be his daughter joining them. He was told she was taking a call. He did not know it was her mother, nor does he like the abruptness of everything.

Doc leaves Henry with Hope, who's now training her attention in two places. One, keeping the danger away from her cousin, but at the same time listening very keenly on the conversation. )

What kind of attack in Scotland? Let's start there.

[eredite]

Mom didn't have a lot of details about that. She just said there was a big attack, and that it may be the start of some kind of witch blood bath? She called it the Gauntlet.

[Rebekah, being the oldest person in the room, groans. "Not that bloody mess again. You would think the Inquisition was enough for those people."]

[bereavements]

( The Gauntlet. Hope hands Henry his cowboy back and stands up. )

The Gauntlet? ( She steps up to the conversation, crossing her arms. ) That's not just an old wives tale?

( Ivan had mentioned his Tia's and Abuela mentioning the Gauntlet. In passing. Like something that happened to their ancestors in Mexico. But, they'd been drinking and Ivan wasn't taking it very seriously. He's still coming into his brujeria. But, he'd mentioned it to Hope and to Josie. )

[likeaweapon]

Oh, no. It's very real and very messy. This coven called the Colony uses it as an excuse to purge their ranks of the undesirable.

["I have a feeling that they don't do this by voting them off the island like on Survivor?" Alice offers hopefully and Rebekah shakes her head.]

Not unless voting them off the island involves brutal murder or actual witch trials.

[bereavements]

Like Salem.

( She does not like the sound of that. )

So, not only did this happen, but, it's happening again.

( So many thing she just doesn't like!

Doc takes this in, looking down at his little boy and then to Alice. And to Hope.

"While I would hate to rain on everyone's Thanksgiving Day parade, should we be informing the others of this new development?" )

Can't we have just one holiday? One.

[likeaweapon]

Sometimes, but unfortunately it's not this one.

[She gives Hope's shoulders a gentle squeeze as she moves to reach for her phone.]

Why don't you track down your aunt? I will go find Kol because Kieran is likely not far behind and we can start the witch phone tree. I doubt anyone will attack us here and now but won't hurt to be on our guard, just in case.

[bereavements]

Witch phone tree?

( That sounds like an old thing.

But, she gives Alice the option to follow her as she first checks the kitchen, then heads upstairs to the very top to her witch annex, where she does most of her spells. If she's not there, then she'll check her bedroom. )

[deathlessness]

["Everyone phones a friend until everyone who needs to know, knows." Much easier to do in the modern age of cell phones.

Freya in fact will be found in the tower, finish up some last minute projects before dinner and also hiding from her brother who is on the warpath in terms of decorating and planning. If she's handling witch business, he can't conscript her into heavy lifting.

She glances up when she hears Hope and Alice come in, and raises an eyebrow.]

Time for dinner already? I didn't think I was working for that long.

[bereavements]

More like, time for The Gauntlet, according to Alice's mom. Rebekah is firing up the phone tree.

( it's flippant, but she'd love to know if her aunt knows about it! )

Scotland was attacked, for whatever reason, but Wynonna thinks that witches everywhere are going to be targeted. So, it's Tuesday.

[deathlessness]

Mmmm.

[Because yes, that doesn't sound like a Tuesday, but she can't think of a prominent coven in Scotland that would set off something like the Gauntlet.]

Did she say who was attacked in Scotland?

[Alice shakes her head. "Just that there was a big attack. She was more worried about the witch stuff because I've been hanging around a lot of witches lately."]

Fair enough.

[She considers for a moment before pushing up to head back down the stairs.]

Did you see your uncle or Bela when you were looking for me? They're the ones who would know the European landscape best.

[bereavements]

I didn't seek them out.

( Things are still rough and tough. This is better than outright ignoring them. But, they might have been on one of the balconies having coffee together. She overheard something or other. Glimpsed. They're here.

Still, she leads her aunt and Alice, as they keep gaining people, to the aforementioned balcony. Elijah turns from leaning.

"Hope, Freya. Alice. We're taking in the Quarter before Klaus recruits us. I made a fresh pot downstairs. Ethiopian."

Maybe trying too hard is still trying. )

Maybe later. We're here on witch business. And - Alice. Do you know why Scotland would've been attacked and how that might lead back to some big witch war which needs a better name? Or, at least a Wiki page?

[enjoythe_ride]

[Bela pauses, her brow furrowing, before glancing over to Alice or Freya.

"The Gauntlet," Freya supplies, and that has her straightening because yes, she is indeed familiar with that particular problem.

She also doesn't know what could be targeted in Scotland, exactly, but she will glance over to Elijah and ask.]

When Stefan Salvatore came to London after the Knightsbridge attack, didn't he come from Scotland?

[bereavements]

( "He did, but Stefan Salvatore doesn't usually keep the company of witches." Elijah confirms, but remembers more. "He'd fallen in with an outfit." A beat. "Of slayers." And exactly what witches might attack.

Hope looks between all of them because a girl with a (10) in the arcane (even with a +3) is drawing a blank. )

I don't think I've ever disliked a word more if it involved my school's namesake. What is Stefan doing involving himself in a group that advertises -- ( She turns back to all of them. ) Tell me he didn't turn off his humanity.

[enjoythe_ride]

No, no. Vampire Slayers. I believe he was spending his time with Buffy ... Summers.

[Eventually the dots connect before she glances between the two Mikaelsons with growing concern rising at the idea that someone might have done something stupid.]

You don't think someone went after the Slayer castle, do you? That is in Scotland.

[uniquelyvulnerable]

If Stefan were involved... That's the only explanation in Scotland. Thinning the heard as the Gauntlet begins proper?

( Less threats on the playing field?

"What kind of name is Buffy and what is Stefan doing with a vampire slayer, anyway? Did someone give him the cure when we weren't looking?" )

[deathlessness]

Given his dating tendencies, from what I understand, Stefan Salvatore has always enjoyed playing with fire.

[Katherine, Rebekah, he definitely flirted with Freya once or twice, and now Buffy. Seems like that all tracks.]

So someone's targeted the Slayers, and this is feeding into the Gauntlet. Lovely.

[Bela reaches for her phone, and scrolls through her messages. "David hasn't been returning my calls lately. I can't say for sure how far into the Gauntlet they are at this point, but the Inner Circle informed the heirs of their intent several months ago. They must have finally contacted the last one."]

[uniquelyvulnerable]

Which means they are all in one place.

( He frowns. )

Odd to target the slayers, and on a holiday. Do you know if Daniel Brighton was there? Or Bonnie Bennett?

( "Aunt Bonnie," Hope asks, looking to Freya and back to her dad, then to Bela. "I don't know, is Bonnie in Scotland?" What is she going to tell Lizzie? )

[enjoythe_ride]

Last I spoke to her, Bonnie was in London with Danny, helping him acclimate as leader of his coven. I also know that she and Danny went to Scotland after the attack on the coven at the spring solstice, so they could have been invited there.

[Alice glances between everyone as information volleys around, and she frowns. "Should I call Lizzie?" See if she can get ahold of her boyfriend?]

[uniquelyvulnerable]

They were in Scotland before Prague. I could see Buffy Summers inviting them back, especially with her connection to Stefan.

( Mystic Falls has always been an insular group with a small town mentality.

"Call Lizzie," Hope decides, stepping away to call her girlfriend. )