XXXIII - 𝔬𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔰

"CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF," LILIRA GASPED UPON BREACHING THE SURFACE, "I'M NOT THAT GOOD OF A SWIMMER."

She trod water for a few moments, flashing Sirius a lax smile. They had been on the search for it for two hours, yet to no avail. Sirius was stuck on land and his owner was limited to her depreciating lung capacity. She blamed the particular instance on her lengthy departure from the water. It always took her a few (well, more than a few) moments to regain her momentum.

Just a little more time.

But alas, the full moon which peeped from the clouds was an ardent reminder that they didn't have time. Sirius stuck his tongue out and pawed the ground.

"I know! I'm trying, yeah? Just...hold on for a second," Lilura rolled onto her back, suddenly silent.

The stars looked pretty tonight, she admired silently. She didn't have much time to look at the stars or the sky anymore, which was a complete shame really. The night sky was a wonder on its own without the sentimental value she had attached to it.

Klaus and Lilura met under the same magical sky.  She remembered it like it was yesterday. Most prominently, Lilura recalled the cool breeze and charming Niklaus Mikaelson who would forfeit a star-gazing opportunity if it meant he could stare at Lilura to the end of time.

Woof!

Lilura grounded herself before looking at her dog, "I'm on it!"

She dove back into the water and this time Lilura didn't let the sinking feeling in her stomach stop her from searching the murky waters of the waterfall.

The water can't hurt you. A little voice in her subconsciousness assured. The water never has.

She stretched her fingers out under the moonlight. They were stark white and webby, two things seldom associated with Lilura Anthemoessa. She cocked her head to the side as she examined her body.

Already, the effects of the water on her skin were prevalent. Her pasty white complexion had slowly returned to its tan pigmentation. She felt the fangs at the corner of her mouth almost shorten. With partially contained excitement, Lilura pulled a string of her hair and rejoiced at its healthy shine. She was returning! Her mind felt more clear than it had in the past four days. At the sound of heavy beating in the water, Lilura examined her toes which became webbed just like her fingers.

Lilura swam a little further and felt her way around the rocks underneath the waterfall, using the new energy that coursed through her to full advantage.

There might be an alcove or a crevice in which the dagger is hidden. All I have to do is find it.

Her web-like fingers ghosted the rough surfaces without a scratch, a minuscule advantage she had in the water.

C'mon. C'mon.

Lilura almost laughed at how stupid her predicament was. Only thousand-year-old witches could rain on your parade. Only Esther Mikaelson could screw with you even after death.

She sank to the bottom, keeping a keen eye out for something yellowish - gold, as the poem said. The words materialized in her mind.

Gold woven in Bubinga and flowed birth,

stains red in core blitheness,

One for the monstrous masked man,

the other for a scion,

ruination in smited midsts

and light capers on

Lilura hoped Judas was as smart as he led others to believe because it would take a considerable amount of time to find the other one. She was banking on the fact that they would help each other - Klaus and Judas - and that in the end, they would put aside their bickering to cooperate.

The next hour depended on it.

Her life depended on it.

As the moon rose higher, a slash of amber caught her peripheral vision.

Bingo!

She wiggled herself to it, dodging two fish amid a slapping fest over seaweed. The Siren gripped the massive rock at the base of the waterfall, exerting an infallible amount of power even she was unaware she had.

It moved the slightest bit, and suddenly she could see it.

The dagger was covered in algae and seemed water-trodden. Although it looked hopeless, Lilura knew not to judge the dagger. Besides, the blade was blindingly gold.

Centuries and it was still here.

Lilura yanked the dagger out of its place and swam to the bank.

"Here," She croaked, sliding the dagger over to a wide-eyed Sirius. "High five, buddy."

Sirius followed protocol, even adding a lick to her face in encouragement.

---- Δ ----

Awkward didn't even begin to cover the rigid atmosphere in the Gilbert house.

Judas coughed in the silence, flinching when three sets of eyes flashed to him. He avoided the big brown ones, the ones that stared straight into your soul in the most tentative way possible without uttering a single 'sorry' when they saw something they weren't supposed to.

But she did it so well, Judas half-smiled to himself. Elena Gilbert ruined you angelically.

Elijah placed a warm hand on his shoulder, sensing discomfort. "All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth, and Alaric will follow us."

Stefan stared at the Mikaelsons. "And you'll just run?"

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half-century while Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life?"

The doppelganger spoke for the first time. "We've finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back."

"I give you my word, Elena," Elijah caught Judas' gaze and held it for more than a millisecond before returning to the girl. "I will not revive Klaus within yours nor even within your children's lifetimes. Perhaps that will finally teach him some manners."

"Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over." Matt Donovan pipped up.

Judas scoffed, "Can you blame him?" His scary green eyes burned Matt's face. "I don't know about you and your skewered morals, but between family and a random girl with a suicide complex, I'd chose family. Every single time. Elijah made a choice to save his brother on the night of the sacrifice and suddenly he's the bad guy. Hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Now you refuse him again, knowing that he -" Judas stopped and brought his knuckles to his mouth. "Knowing that I need my father because my mother is sick and Bonnie isn't

answering my calls because you guys don't want Lilura to get any better."

Silence.

"Judas," Elena stood up. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Like you, Elena?" He fired. "You don't know what you're doing either. All you know is your loved ones are always in danger, no matter what you do. All you know for sure is that everything and everyone would be better off without you!"

A tear escaped Elena's doe eyes. Judas could feel Elijah's firm grip was on his shoulder again but he shook it off, instead choosing to glare at the doppelganger.

"I know you like to think your hands are clean. I know you like to convince yourself that every wrong thing that has happened to innocent people - Jenna, Alaric, and so many others -isn't entirely due to you or your lovers-turned-henchmen. But you're a smart girl Elena. And I think we both know who's responsible."

She shook her head feebly.

"If you have any ounce of humanity left in you, give me back my father."

Elena sobbed harder at the pain behind Judas' eyes.

"Please."

Elena understood. She understood so well. The young girl reached out for Judas but he took a step back.

"Sit down," Elijah said gently before walking Judas over to an armchair and pushing him down on it. The Original hadn't expected the outburst. No one did and the house rang with silence.

"Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust us or not," Elijah stated. "Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms. If you return Klaus' body to us, you will come to no harm. Do we have a deal?"

She stood up and offered both of her hands to the Mikaelsons, taking special care to hold Judas' gaze. "We...we have a deal."

"I couldn't tell you," She confessed to Judas, referring to the fact that Damon and Stefan had hidden Klaus' body in an undisclosed location. Judas eyed their conjoined hands. "I'm so sorry. I told Damon. He's texting you the address right now in case you wanted to see him."

In spite, the young hunter thought of spitting in her face or hurting her in some way. However, as Judas observed Elena's earnest brown eyes and furrowed eyebrows, all he could do was forgive her. He had already said what he wanted to. There was no reason to injure her further.

He nodded stiffly. "Have a happy life, Lenny."

Elijah and Judas departed in the most solemn of fashion. The younger man had a hand in pocket, silently shaking his head. When they were sure they were out of earshot, Elijah spoke. "Nice performance."

As if a switch had been flipped, Judas' easy smile returned. The only remainder of his agonized speech was the wetness on his cheeks. "Thank you."

"Was it all fake?"

Judas turned around one last time to look at the quaint little house surrounded by green grass and faded lights. He had erased the morose expression in his eyes with alarming alacrity. It was if he had turned off a switch in his mind and heart before promptly turning it back on once they were in the privacy of the emerald trees. His smile never looked bigger or more sinister.

"I'll tell a few white lies if it means we get what we want."

"As one does, even I was persuaded. " Elijah said candidly. "Now, what did you need help on?"

Judas pulled out the book. Elijah read the elegant handwriting and rubbed his brow bone, contemplating deeply what Lilura could possibly mean.

Before Judas could recount to his uncle what he had managed to piece together, a cellphone's ringing interrupted him. At Elijah's raised brow, Judas realized it was his own phone.

"Will you be answering that?"

The young hunter raised his hand as if to assure the Original. "Hello?"

"Hi. This is Caroline. I know we don't talk much, um, or at all but I have it."

"Pardon me?"

"The glowy gold dagger thing. Klaus told me to look for it in the Lockwood cellar, and I figured since he's not answering my calls, you would."

Elijah flipped the book open and pointed to the first verse of the poem. Clear as day the text read : Gold woven in Bubinga and flowed birth

Judas was one step ahead.

"Where are you?"

"Lockwood Mansion, but I can meet you somewhere else."

"No. We can stop by. Thanks, Caroline."

"It's the least I could do after Klaus and Lilura saved my life... on two different occasions. This is me trying to say thanks."

Judas muttered a goodbye before flashing Elijah a look.

His phone buzzed one more time, and the young man could picture perfectly Damon Salvatore's contempt pressing the send button. However, it didn't matter. Not now. Not when Klaus' location was only a few miles out of his reach.

"I need to go."

Elijah raised a hand, The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson still in his other. His face had seeped of any color.

"Do you trust me?"

"The real question is: do I trust anyone?"

When Elijah continued to stare at him, the young man sighed, "Yes, I do.

"This is of the utmost importance," said the noble Original, never breaking eye contact with an increasingly agitated Judas. "I advise you to listen to what I'm about to say carefully. Only when I am done speaking will you speak. Only when you have finished listening to me will you contradict me."

With a quickening pulse, Judas nodded in confirmation.

Three words and his entire world burned.

---- Δ ----

"Did you do it?"

Damon pocketed his phone with an unpleasant frown. Bonnie was at the other side of the elevator, shrinking ever so slightly whenever he moved. To the untrained eye, it was conceivable that the young woman was intimidated. However, at second glance one would recognize the contempt barely hidden in her gaze.

No, Bonnie Bennet wasn't scared. She was simply disgusted by Damon's constant fidgeting and close proximity. The revelation was punctuated by a slight upturn of her lip and incoherent but clearly disgruntled mumbling.

"Don't look at me like that," said the vampire.

"Sorry," She answered, not actually sorry.

Damon rolled his eyes and tossed her his phone. "I sent it, ok? Go ahead and look."

Bonnie nodded stiffly when she saw Damon had kept his word.

Message sent to Satan's Spawn

Bonnie had forgotten that Damon liked to give people nicknames. Although she wasn't certain that Satan's Spawn correctly exemplified Judas' generous and charming character, she supposed it was one of the nicer ones the vampire had crafted.

"Don't worry about him, Bonbon. We already have a lot on our plates as it is," Damon said as he observed her sympathetic gaze.

In truth, Bonnie pitied Judas Mikaelson. It was bad enough to be separated from your parents at a young age, let alone lose them once again to trivial matters. It was just a shame that his estranged father was the Original Hybrid himself, a man who enjoyed tormenting the people Bonnie loved the most.

"You know, I'm not halfway out of Virginia, and Elena sells our souls to the Originals?"

A jolting stop from the old elevator brought Bonnie back from her thoughts. "It was her call," She shrugged indifferently.

Damon chuckled, "You know what else is her call? Everything bad ever."

They were now walking side by side, Bonnie still trying to put as much distance as possible and Damon too dense to notice her apparent discomfort.

She looked around. "Where's the body? As long as it's unspelled, Alaric is one witch away from finding it."

"Hidden," grinned Damon, a fleeting intimation of pride present in his smile. "I was gonna use Unit 666, but figured that would be a little obvious. So..."

They stopped in front of Unit 1020.

"Mini-fridge, a couple birdcages, a box of old Playboys," He pulled open the door. "One beef jerkified Original."

Without breathing, Bonnie opened the casket in one sweeping motion, grimacing at the sight of a chained and desiccated Klaus Mikaelson.

"I took a picture, by the way, to savor the moment." Damon grabbed a camera off a rotting bookshelf. "Did you want one?"

Then, before Bonnie could give Damon an answer, the Original's eyes sprung open.

"Oh, creepy," Damon muttered to himself, glancing at the young women to see her in deep thought.

"I need a minute."

"Just jam the witch locator, bat signal, or whatever and get on with it, Bonnie."

"Elena and Jeremy lost Jenna and Alaric because of him. Tyler's a hybrid, my mother's a vampire. Could you give me a minute to just appreciate the sight of him like this?"

Damon returned the camera to its place. "That's kinda why I suggested a picture, but whatever, have your moment." He left the storage unit without much more commentary.

Bonnie leaned over the casket and stared at Klaus coldly.

"You should burn in hell. But if you die, so do my friends. So does my mother. And Judas loses his family. What am I supposed to do about that?"

And despite Klaus' frozen predicament, Bonnie swore she could see a smug smile forming on his lips.