XXXIV - 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯

graphics by the lovely iixbella

STEFAN WAS CALLING HIM.

"Bonnie just left. Rebekah should be here soon to pick up the body," Damon answered the phone without any pleasantries.

"Well, I've got Caroline and Elijah in place. Jeremy is gonna lead Alaric to us," Stefan declared over their call.

Damon bit his lip before asking his brother a question that had been bouncing around in the back of his mind. "You just had to let her make the choice, didn't you?"

"What would you have done, Damon?"

"Grabbed her, gagged her, threw her in a well, I don't know, anything other than let her trust Elijah."

"You know she'd just hate you for it, right?"

"Yeah, but she'd be alive and she'd hate me. Thus, the eternal difference between you and me, brother."

Damon could picture Stefan's contemplative frown perfectly.

"As soon as we get the stake," Stefan thought aloud, "hand over the coffin and get out. Alaric's got half the police looking for Klaus' car."

"What about Lily?"

A few beats of silence, and then: "What about her?"

"Where is she? With Judas?"

"Locked up in the Mikaelson cellar, out of harm's way."

"Good. She better stay there. We have no idea whether Alaric's going to grab her."

"Don't worry, brother. She'll be fine."

"I wasn't worrying."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Damon," Stefan said in warning.

"Stefan," Damon answered in the same tone, a small smile on his face.

"If you miss her that much, put your pride aside and go apologize. You guys were good friends before Klaus and Elena got in the way."

"What is this? Therapy?"

"Pay me and it could be."

"First of all, I'm not drunk enough for this. Secondly, we have a major vampire-killing hunter problem on our hands. Lastly, I don't think she wants to see me."

"Right," Stefan sighed, knowing Damon's stubborn side well. "Just think about it. You guys are doing the same thing but on different sides. She's not evil."

"Says the guy who was hell-bent on destroying her several weeks before. Talk about vertigo from your mood swings."

"Just think about it, and don't forget to be careful."

"Will do." The elevator bell dinged. "Gotta go, the Original sister is here."

Damon fluffed his jacket, looking left and right for the aforementioned vampire.

"It's about time, sexy Be-"

- and then his nose smacked against the floor. A heavy weight on his body. Acrid scent of sweat and desperation.

Damon knew immediately the attacker was Alaric because he was the only human who managed to suffocate friends from a well-meaning hug. Now, with his vamp-ish state, he could crack Damon's neck like a bar of rice krispy treats easily.

"Yeswelaikcapiss."

"What?" replied Alaric gruffly.

Damon popped his head up from the floor, eyes crinkling in a false smile.

"You smell like cat piss."

Alaric didn't miss a beat. "Where is Klaus?"

"How did you find me?"

"Oh, you'd be amazed at how competent law enforcement is when it's not corrupted by vampires. Now, where is Klaus?"

"In a storage locker," A shit-eating grin graced Damon's features. "There's only about a thousand of them, have at it."

Alaric began by snapping Damon's neck.

---- Δ ----

"So I was thinking we could buy this to go with that," Lilura held up a set of Correl plates. She and her dog were inside a local supermarket, critically contemplating the color schemes of a few cutlery. "They match nicely, don't they?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes and sniffed each.

Woof!

"You're right," Lilura muttered. "The reds totally don't match."

When Lilura put down the plate set dejectedly, Sirius nudged her arm.

Woof! Woof!

He seemed to say not all hope is lost, friend!

And as Lilura spotted the thing Sirius was sniffing, she knew her dog was an oracle in disguise.

---- Δ ----

"Hi. My name is Judas Mikaleson but you can call me later tonight."

Caroline Forbes held in her laugh as the young hunter greeted her with his signature wolfish smile.

"A+ for effort," The blonde giggled, swinging open her door. "But I'm very taken."

Something in his scary green eyes made Caroline realize that Judas Mikaelson wasn't one to back down too easily, but as the circumstances were, he seemed to be willing to slip the conversation under the rug.

For now at least.

"So.... what do you have for me?"

"Follow me," She said over her shoulder, descending the stairs by two.

Judas shrugged and followed the vampire down the basement. He had never been inside the Lockwood Mansion, but the estate gave him terrible goosebumps. There was just something so subtly sinister about it. Perhaps it was because the inhabitants were werewolves. Perhaps it had to with the deformed clay baby (a rubbish excuse of a fountain centerpiece) hanging around in the backyard, spluttering water spastically. Or perhaps it was just cold.

Judas brought his arm around himself as he walked after Caroline.

The young vampire, who seemed utterly unperturbed by the cold weather, turned on the lights and bat away the cobwebs with perfectly manicured hands. She marched over to a corner and pulled on an ancient brown rug, revealing a mossy glass case underneath.

For some odd reason, Judas was reminded of Easter Sunday. Donny and Claire were Easter-egg fanatics, well, at least the latter was. Donny merely enjoyed the happiness Easter eggs gave to his wife. That is why the policeman was willing to buy a truckload of eggs and stay up late boiling them when he had work the next day. Judas and Roger, his foster brother, decorated the eggs until their fingers were stained red, purple, and green. Roger always had the prettier batch because he was an artist. Sometimes, when Roger wasn't looking, Judas would steal a couple from his foster brother's basket. As a result, Roger would break Judas' eggs and stomp to another corner.

Roger had been twenty. Judas had been "sixteen" as he told Donny and Claire. They were admittedly too old for such pettiness, but in the presence of their parents, it seemed a just excuse for some childish shenanigans.

A little smile flitted across his features as he realized that the glass case was the same ugly moss green shade he used to paint his eggs.

"You're telling me that that," Judas said, "is the dagger?"

"Okay, when you say it like that, it seems weird," Caroline bit her lip. "But I'm positive. When I touched the case earlier, it burned bright gold. If that doesn't have magic-golden-dagger written across its surface, then I don't know what does."

"Right," said the hunter. He inched closer to it. "I guess I'll just take it and -"

A warm embrace enclosed his back before he could properly lift it up.

"Um...Caroline?"

It was a hug. He realized. A hug.

She let go.

"Sorry," Caroline said, beaming at Judas. "You looked like you needed a little bear hug from - not to like brag or anything - the best hugger in Mystic Falls."

"But you aren't Bonnie?"

Caroline's smile slipped from her face. "Rude."

Normally, Judas despised being touched, but these weren't normal times and the young vampire's compassion warmed his heart.

"Maybe you should hug me one more time so I can decide once and for all who's better."

"Alright then," Caroline smirked, throwing her wide arms open. "Bring it in, Romeo."

---- Δ ----

At this rate, Rebekah could rip Damon's head off and then use his precious, windswept hair as a mop if he didn't answer her calls. She wasn't necessarily certain if her new head-broom would be practical, as the blood would only stain her bathroom tiles and the smell of decaying flesh wasn't ideal, but the blonde bombshell didn't give a damn.

"Hi. You have reached Mr. Sexy Salvatore's voicemail, press one if you love me and want to sleep with me and two if you hate me...and want to sleep with me. Beeeeeep!"

Rebekah growled at the prerecorded message.

She stomped out of the elevator. "Damon! Damon, where are you?"

Silence.

"Damon, this isn't funny."

The Original walked down an aisle, scrunching her nose in distaste when she saw rows upon rows of storage units and no Damon Salvatore.

She inhaled, "Da-"

A hand was suddenly on Rebekah's mouth.

Despite the strange situation, Rebekah Mikaelson recognized the cologne immediately. After all, she had smelled a full whiff of it when they were "rolling around" in bed, as Kol put it.

"Rebekah, shhhh," Damon whispered, spinning her around.

Rebekah understood immediately. She followed Damon's retreating form.

---- Δ ----

Judas had one hand on the wheel and the other holding the golden dagger. The weapon gave him the creeps, partly because it glowed brightly when you touched it and partly because it was very important.

"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."

Judas waited.

"Elijah, you're worrying me."

And he was. Judas watched Elijah's carefully crafted poise crumble under the weight of the book.

And then: "Lilura will die."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Lilura will die."

Judas raised his brows incredulously.

"Here: Gold woven in Bubinga and flowed birth. Bubinga as in a tree commonly used for sword handles and flowed birth as in the birthplace of the siren. It can only mean a weapon with a hilt .... either some sort of sword or dagger."

"Stains red in core blitheness,

One for the monstrous masked man,

the other for a scion."

"There are two," said the young hunter, the message dawning on him. "Two golden weapons."

Elijah nodded. "One for the monstrous masked man...my brother, for who else could warrant such a title? One for the scion....scion meaning a young shoot or twig of a plant - you!"

Judas furrowed his eyebrow. "Me?"

"A descendant of the Mikaelson family tree."

Judas read on. "Ruination in smited midsts and light capers on."

"Only when she perishes will dark magic leave Alaric Saltzman's body," said Elijah. "It is the only way."

A branch snapped.

"Elena?"

The doppelganger sheepishly showed herself. "Sorry," She squeaked as the Mikaelsons glared at her.

"What is it?" Elijah pressed.

"I uh- I came to tell you that, when you were knocked out," Her brown eyes cut to Judas. "I found out that Alaric's life is connected to Lilura's."

"Well...shit."

"Shit indeed," Elijah mumbled.

"Shoot!" cried Judas when the dagger's tip grazed his skin. He was violently brought back to the present.

His car slowed to a stop a few yards away from the warehouse. Hastily rubbing his cut on his jeans and cursing under his breath, the young man quickly entered the building in search of his mother and his father.

---- Δ ----

"This is it, buddy," said the siren.

Sirius placed the dagger on the ground. He stared at her with a knowing look on his face.

Lilura adjusted her grip on a large box. "You should stay outside."

He whined.

"Hey! Don't give me those eyes. You'll stay out here and run at the first sight of trouble, yeah?"

Sirius licked his nose and settled down into a sleeping position. He barked once and pointed his nose to the box.

Despite the dire situation, Lilura chuckled childishly. "Alaric has no idea what's coming for him."

--- Δ ---

In another part of the warehouse, Rebekah and Damon were wheeling Klaus' casket to a car. The two had thrown prejudices aside and were cooperating scarily in sync. It was an unspoken truce to the reality, to the vilifying circumstances, and to the critical signs all at once.

At last, the car was in sight. They were almost there. Rebekah breathed a sigh of relief as she surveyed the area.

Car, coffin, suitcases, and Alaric.

Her eyes widened. Alaric!

In a blur, Rebekah was slammed against her car. The Original blonde clutched her head and groaned.

Before Damon could rush at Alaric, a loud cry pierced the clearing.

The Salvatore's breath hitched as a tornado of black hair, blue-green eyes and a sharp smile entered the fight.

Lilura!

The siren's glow had returned. Her once pale skin was tanned and the sparkle in her mischievous eyes had never been brighter. Her lips curled into her signature smirk, "What's up, dïckface?"

Suddenly a bright red microwave was sailing through the air at full velocity, hitting Alaric full on his face.

Damon laughed in disbelief as he remembered how the siren had knocked him out with Alaric's microwave ages ago. Now, here she was with another one. If not for consistency, the Salvatore supposed he should award her for her creativity. There truly wasn't a dull moment around Lilura Anthemoessa.

Alaric ran to her but was stopped by another black-haired snarky immortal with a knife.

"Hey!" Judas sang, flailing his arms around like a chicken. "Come and get me, wormfood."

"Pests," snarled the vampire-hunter. "I'll kill you both."

"You'll have to get through me first," said Damon, giving Lilura and Judas a nod.

"That won't be a problem."

A moment of tense silence.

"I guess I'll start," said Lilura.

"Obviously," quipped Judas, "Ladies first."

She ran at Alaric, sliding under him and unsettling the original hunter's balance. She jumped back up and met him blow for blow, even though it was clear that she was no match for his black magic-induced state.

Judas tossed Damon a golden dagger.

"What's this?" The Salvatore asked.

"Follow my lead," commanded the young hunter and ran into the fray.

Damon jogged behind him, weighing the weapon in his hands. It felt strange because it was almost...perfect. It fit in his hands like it was made for him.

"Argh!" Judas fell to the ground, cradling his arm which was twisted at an odd angle.

Damon quickly helped him up.

"You don't give up, do you?" Alaric yelled. His fist slammed against the Siren's beautiful cheekbones.

Lilura spit out blood. "Not if I can help it."

Alaric chuckled darkly. "Fortunately for you, I won't kill you."

He glided back to Klaus' decimated form. Rebekah pulled herself up and felt her heart explode.

"Step away from the casket," Lilura sneered.

"Why should I?"

"Because you'll die if you don't."

Alaric chuckled. "You can't kill me."

"No, I can't." Lilura's smile hardened. "But I can cut off your life support."

"Wha-"

"Judas! Damon!" She roared.

They jumped to action, gripping the golden daggers which shined in the moonlight.

"Follow me!" yelled Judas to Damon as he ran to Alaric.

Damon followed without hesitation, a loud cry building in his throat. However, to his utter bewilderment, Judas ran straight past Alaric and sped to Lilura.

What was he doing??

"Damon!" Lilura cried. Her blue-green orbs had tears in them.

She didn't have to say anything. He understood. His feet were already moving her way.

Alaric's grabbed the white oak stake and opened Klaus' casket.

Rebekah's body propelled her forward. A foreign scream was drawn from her lips. "No! No, don't!"

"Now!" screamed Judas. Together, they plunged the daggers deep into Lilura's chest.

Klaus Mikaelson's eyes flew open as the white oak stake was pushed through his chest.

For one moment suspended in time, Lilura met Klaus' gaze.

And then the immortal lovers burst into flames.

The fire licked her skin and singed her hair. The fumes made her nose clog and her eyes water.

However, the Siren barely noticed. She looked up and saw numerous little twinkling dots splattered across the wide sky. They reminded her of the night she and Klaus met in the woods under the watchful gazes of millions of stars.

Oh, how lovely that night was...

Lilura had always been fascinated by constellations and celestial planets. They made her feel small and inexplicably human. She like how the sky, the stars, the moon, and the sun moved. They never stayed in the same place whether it be how the sun rose in the east and set in the west or how the stars grew farther apart from each other every night, or how new constellations were constantly being formed.

Perhaps that would be their life after death, Lilura mused.

Perhaps she and Klaus would become one of the celestial beings above, floating infinitely and divinely. Perhaps they wouldn't. All Lilura knew was that she would follow Niklaus Mikaelson to the ends of the earth the same way she would love him to the end of eternity.

She looked down. The flames no longer burned. The melting skin felt numb. And through the crackling fire she saw him - the handsome devil, the gentle vampire - with his hand outstretched and a good-natured but carnivorous smile on his pink lips.

A dance?

Now?

Why not? The night's ablaze, our feet are itching to move.

But ... everything hurts.

Not my love for you, it doesn't.

Well then,

dance we shall.