VII - 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰

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"LOVE, IT'S LIKE YOU'VE SEEN A GHOST," Klaus Mikaelson grinned.

Lilura lowered her newspaper and tilted her head quizzically. Last night, Klaus'minions had finally found his body, and now the fair haired man was standing in front of her in the flesh. His eyes twinkled in smug amusement, which Lilura found to be massively irritating.

"You've gotten uglier," She said at last, going back to the newspaper in her hand. "Got a few too many wrinkles, yeah?"

Lies. Lies. Lies.

He looked even better than Lilura remembered.

Klaus didn't falter, "I suppose that's your type."

"What, silver foxes? Hate to break it to you but you're no George Clooney, Klaus."

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" He reclined on the bench, ignoring her remark. "Look at us, just like old times."

Lilura raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Watching the world spin and crumble from somewhere high above."

Lilura folded the paper and faced Klaus.

What he said was true, literally, as the couple were situated on a lone bench in the Mystic Fall's park, elevated by a hill. From their seats, they could see almost everything. The public park was full of life. The trees extended their lovely shade for people that rested underneath them, and the birds sung merrily. A group of three children squealed in delight as they ran after another, engaging in an intense game of freeze tag. Lilura shifted in her seat as her eyes met Klaus'.

Lilura shifted in her seat as her eyes met Klaus'. "What are you doing? You don't make small talk."

"On the contrary, my starlight, I do small talk quite a lot. I've done it for hours on end, like your birthday party in 1475. Can you believe it's been centuries since that night?" He was gazing at the sky, squinting at the sun.

"It's been a long long time," Lilura replied.

"Yes, precisely." His blue eyes suddenly bored into Lilura's, "And time changes people."

He stood up and dusted his pants, "So it is in your best interests to do as I say. I'm afraid I won't be so forgiving of your next betrayal."

Lilura seethed, "Betrayal? I —"

That familiar feeling of a lump in the back of her throat halted the siren. Her mind flew back to the promise she made with the Original Witch, and Lilura sighed instead of carrying on.

Even six feet under Esther Mikaelson was still torturing her.

"I'm listening," Klaus crowed.

She tried again, but no words could physically come out.

"If you don't trust me," Lilura stated, "then trust my rage."

"Ah!" He walked forward, slowly descending the hill. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Lilura hid her smile, recognizing the famous Shakespeare quote. "The devils are here and hell is empty, " She replied coyly.

"Let's go pay the little angels a visit then, love."

———— Δ ————

The air in the Mystic Grill plummeted by a million. The static soared and time seemed to slow down.

"Hello boys."

Collectively, as if enchanted, Alaric Slatzman and Damon Salvatore turned around to the alluring voice.

The Siren really was a sight to behold.  It wasn't that the two men had been blind before, it just seemed magnified in that split moment. When she stared at them at those piercing blue-green eyes, Damon and Alaric felt their brains succumb to her siren power and charm.

"Neat little trick, isn't it?" Lilura smiled from ear to ear, leaning on the bar table. "Can't hold it for long but I really do like the effect it has."

"What?" Alaric managed.

"I like to call it the rose dimension, where beautify is emphatically whimsical and you feel like you need to comply with whatever I say."

"Shhhhh, Saltz," Damon smiled dreamily.

Spotting something over Damon's shoulder Lilura whistled, "You have a visitor."

In a dream like trance, a man strolled his way to the group, smile eerily wide.

"Gentlemen?" He lamented. "Why so glum?"

"Ugh. Klaus, I presume," Damon Salvatore rolled his bright blue eyes.

The Original chuckled, "In the flesh." His gaze swung to the other man promptly, "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?"

Lilura beamed and responded, "We all know you and Stefan are head over heals for Elena, so we wanted to remind you not to do anything you'll regret."

"I'm regretting a lot of things right now, including our friendship," Damon smirked sharply.

"And I'm regretting your birth, but carry on," The siren retorted.

"Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?" He asked Klaus, crossing an arm over the other.

"You are kidding?" Klaus barks a laugh, a twinkle of genuine amusement in his blue eyes.

When Alaric awkwardly took another sip of his beer, Klaus' laughter died down.

"He is kidding, right?"

The history teacher groaned under his breath, "No, not really."

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"

Klaus pursed his lips and leaned down close to the two, speaking slowly so that Damon's pea sized brain could retain the information. "Let me be clear...I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't mess it up."

Lilura sighed happily, "Oh, how screwed you are!"

And with that, both immortal enigmas disappeared out the door. With the snap of Lilura's long fingers, the Mystic Grill returned to its normal hustle and bustle. Damon shook his head, trying in vain to get rid of the enchantress' lingering effects out of his system.

The illusions of serenity and beauty melted away, like rose tinted glasses slipping and breaking.

Outside, Klaus and Lilura were walking silently.

It was uterrly unbearable, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.  The Siren was baffled, one moment the Original had been playful and then the next, he had reverted into the cold killer that was talked about so widely.

"I meant what I said," Lilura spoke, rubbing her left arm.

Klaus barely looked at her, "I know."

This troubled and annoyed the young woman. "If you trusted me, this would be different." She gestured between the awkward air between the two.

"Are you actually bloody saying that?" Klaus finally met her gaze, stopping his walk all together. His eyes burned, "You have no right to talk to me about trust."

As if she had opened the floodgates, Klaus Mikaelson began laughing loudly. "Which one of us left the other? Which one of us killed herself during the prime years of our marriage? Which one of us promised that she'd be here no matter what, no matter how long, no matter how bad the other had become?"

Lilura stood speechless.

"That's right," The Mikaleson seethed. "Go on and tell me nothing, just like the time you decided to die."

Lilura sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Were you unhappy?" Klaus mumbled. "Did I make you unhappy?"

Lilura shook her head, "You made me the happiest girl in the world."

His eyes sparkled, "The lies you sing are symphonies stabbing my heart."

Lilura could not reply to that.

"Ah, here we are," Klaus grinned fakely, changing the subject. "Time to see what Katherine has been up to."

———— Δ ————

"Make it black and empty the vodka, Kitty. I need a major pick me up," Lilura spoke the moment she glimpsed Katherine nonchalantly brewing coffee. She brushed past Klaus and plopped down on the couch, reclining in her seat.

"Everything okay?" Katherine inquired, immediately staring on Lilura's coffee and alcohol mixture.

The siren looked up from the floor, "Do I look like I'm absolutely ecstatic?"

"What have you been doing?" Klaus asked.

"Making coffee. Do you want some?"

Lilura's eye twitched as she remembered Katherine had a phial of vervain stashed somewhere. A slow and amused smile from the Siren confirmed Klaus' growing suspicions that Katherine was, once again, going to run.

He rushed over to her with strange vigor and a chaotic smirk, as if he almost wanted Katherine to run. "Tell me what you've been doing," He ordered, compelling her.

One simple glance to Lilura from Klaus almost made the enchantress cackle.

Oh Kitty, we're on to you.

"Making coffee."

Or layering on that vervain.

Klaus released her. The doppelganger gasped and clawed at her throat, though her doe eyes blinked in relief.

"Wait," Lilura drawled, "Take off your bracelet, Kitty Kat."

Klaus watched in mild interest as his starlight smiled brightly while concocting a plan. He made a grab for the discarded mixture of black coffee and vodka, humming in interest as he took a sip.

Not too shabby.

"Now, why don't you walk over to the window and stand in the sunlight?" Lilura smirked, gesturing to the curtains lazily.

Kathrine blanched, "But I'll burn."

Klaus shrugged, apparent delight in his eyes, "You don't have a choice." He raised his mug of coffee to Katherine, as if to wish her good luck.

Katherine inhaled deeply and closed her eyes before stepping into the sliver of floor that had sunlight. Lilura watched in fascination when Katherin's skin peeled.

"Interesting," She murmured absentmindedly.

Klaus took a long sip. "That's enough," He finally said.

In a millisecond, Katherine was leaning against the wall. Her brown eyes glinted gold with the reflection of the sun.

"Guess I was wrong," Klaus shrugged indifferently, but the subtle flash of howling anger that only Lilura could see indicated otherwise. "All right, then. I need you to do something for me."

———— Δ ————

"How fast your loyalties have changed," Katherine mused quietly next to Lilura.

"I thought we've been over this!"

"We have," Katherine replied. "We're quite alike you and I, save for one thing."

Lilura cocked her head to the side, smiling slyly. "You're a selfish bïtch, but I'm a loyal one."

Katherine nodded, "Exactly."

Lilura found herself mirroring the doppelganger's train of thought. It was true, Lilura wouldn't deny it. She had been loyal to those she called family from the start, and nothing would really change that.

"Where's Maddox? He should be back by now," Klaus huffed, sashaying through the doors.

"I don't know," Katherine monotoned.

"Did the girl cry wolf?" Lilura sung in inquiry, big blue-green eyes blinking rapidly at Klaus.

He chuckled, "See for your self." Klaus threw her his phone in which contained surveillance footage of Jules the werewolf.

"What are you doing?" Katherine asked. "Where's Elena?"

'I sent her off with Greta," Klaus hummed, quickly whipping out his cellphone and his computer. "It's almost time."

And really, truly, the war had begun.

The door opened and Lilura let her eyes roll and hard as they could.  It was the backstabbing raven-haired vampire who harbored more than platonic feelings for a certain doppelgänger.

"Come to grovel, boy?" Lilura smirked.

"I wasn't aware you'd been invited in," Klaus supplied.

Damon looked at the Miakelsons, "I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual."

Lilura's eyebrows shot sky high as the declaration.

Exasperated, as if Klaus were dealing with a child, he said, "Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch."

"Excuse me?" Klaus rose slowly, the carnal ferocity scaring even Katherine Pierce.

"And you can kill me for it. I don't care. It was all...me."

Lilura picked her nails, "Destroy the baby, Nik."

"Katerina, give us a moment," The Original replied.

Katherine slowly disappeared from the room, taking her burning curiosity with her.

"I've heard about you," Klaus grinned, "The crazy, impulsive vampire in love with his brother's girl. I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was a just a 50/50 guess on who, and I guessed correctly."

A miffed Lilura pouted, "Rubbish, Nik. Stefan will come to sacrifice himself, you'll see!"

"She's a tad angry," Klaus turned back to Damon. "I bet her two thousand barrels of wine, and she's just lost."

"Why did you come first?" The siren childishly whined in her seat.

The amusment wiped itself clear of Klaus' face, "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs. Need a closer look?"

Lilura reached over to the desk and tossed Damon Klaus' phone, which showcased a transitioning Jules.

"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse...You learn a thing or two. First rule...always have a backup. Backup werewolf. Backup witch — "

"— Backup vampire," Damon added, eyebrows knitted together as if finally understanding.

Lilura silently crept out of sigh and searched for a weapon in the kitchen. She had a feeling Klaus would need it.

Aha!

"Honey, we've got that covered, too."

With great vigor, the Siren dropped the microwave onto Damon Salvatore's head.

When he fell down, she dusted her hands. "Guess we'll be needing a new one."

"I suppose so."