Born of Chaos ☽ E. Mikaelson¹

nineteen ☽ the trial of rebekah mikaelson

All his life, Elijah Mikaelson had known that his first duty, always and forever, was to his family. When they were threatened, it was he who eliminated the threat. When his siblings were fighting, it was Elijah's responsibility to play mediator and eventually, peacemaker. In the past, the job had not been easy, but Elijah hadn't felt the urgency and panic that he did in the Lafayette Cemetery.

In the past, his siblings (and himself) were often subjected to the uncontrolled temper of Niklaus, but the worst that could happen was the mystical dagger dipped in the ash of white oak. It, in essence, put any of the Originals in suspended state, rather comatose, but they could (and would) always come back. Finn had been the exception, trapped with the silver dagger in his chest for the better part of nine centuries. Still, their oldest brother hadn't been dead.

Now, Niklaus was a complete hybrid, heightened emotions of a vampire with the aggressive nature of a werewolf, with an indestructible white oak stake in his possession. The very stake that their mother had fashioned to end them in her brief stint back in the land of the living. If Niklaus were to submit to his temper now, today, he may very well be responsible for Rebekah's permanent end.

Their darling sister who had always come back to them, who had always loved them. Elijah didn't have to ask Rebekah to know her actions back in 1919 hadn't been to kill any of them. Niklaus would never see it from her perspective as he believed, and always had, that he was the outsider and that one day he would find himself alone.

"Niklaus, I understand your anger, but I implore you, be better than him. Do what he could not; demonstrate the grace of mercy, rather than this petty cruelty."

"You ask me to show mercy to one who has wronged me." For a flickering moment, Elijah thought that his younger brother might actually be listening to him. "You really don't know me at all, do you, brother?"

"Enough." Rebekah's voice cut through their tense moment. Elijah turned to see his sister and Cora standing there, which was decidedly against what he'd asked of the both of them. "Whatever I have done wrong, my guilt is nothing compared to yours. You want revenge? Fine. But, before you have it, I will look you in the eye and tell you why it was your cruelty and your spite that led us to this."

"Go on, then. Speak your piece, and when you are finished, I will grant you the punishment you deserve, even if I have to go through Elijah and his witch to do so," Klaus warned, his fiery gaze shifting from his siblings to Cora. Elijah looked at Cora as though silently trying to communicate to her that she should leave. Instead, the chaos witch shook her head slightly at him.

When it was only the two of them to worry about and not the terribly complicated mess of his family and the supernatural world as a whole, Elijah had recalled that she had not nearly been as stubborn. Then again, perhaps his memories of their times together were being looked upon with rose-coloured glasses. Mourning what had been a simpler time for them.

Elijah watched as Niklaus sat on top of a tomb as though he was a judge. The Original hybrid kept a firm grip on the white oak stake as he announced,

"Let it begin. The trial of Rebekah Mikaelson."

"What a relief. His ego is in check," Rebekah muttered to Elijah and Cora with a sigh.

"Just speak your truth. I'll make certain he behaves himself." Elijah's eyes flickered to Cora next to him and he kept his volume low as he spoke again, "Please go, Cora."

"The little witch stays, brother. She knows the pain of being betrayed by your own blood," Niklaus said pointedly which cause Elijah to raise an eyebrow. The eldest living Original looked down at Cora, silently searching for an answer.