Rantipole | THE VAMPIRE DIARIES [COMPLETED] (1)

forty three | farewell to storyville

With a shake of his head, Klaus said, "I'm not him. Rebekah's betrayal justifies my anger. His was that of a madman. You were never the recipient of his cruelty! None of you were— Not Kol, not Finn, none of you! I think you've forgotten what he was truly like."

Elijah replied, "No. I have not forgotten. And neither has Annabelle." After a couple seconds of silence, Elijah asked him, "Or have you forgotten about how Father had practically tortured her, starting at the age of six until she had moved out of our home to live with Atticus when she was sixteen? He even saw to it that we were all forbidden to heal of her wounds he had given her. And out of all of us, the only one that saw to it that she was healed of her wounds was Kol, the very brother whose death has haunted her ever since she watched him be killed by Elena and Jeremy Gilbert."

After staring ahead of himself for several seconds and saying nothing to Elijah, Klaus quickly sped away from him, which resulted in Elijah following him not long afterwards.

It wasn't until he stopped in front of Klaus that Elijah said to him, "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."

Klaus replied, "You ask me to show mercy to one who has wronged me. You really don't know me at all, do you, brother?"

It was then that Rebekah said from far enough away from her two brothers, "Enough." While Elijah turned around to see Annabelle standing beside Rebekah once more, Rebekah told Klaus, "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."

With a wave of his hand, Klaus said, "Well, 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 Annabelle to do so."

* * *

While his three siblings stared up at him, Klaus said, "Let it begin— The trial of Rebekah Mikaelson."

Rebekah replied, "What a relief. His ego is in check."

In turn, Elijah said to her, "Just speak your truth. I'll make certain he behaves himself."

It was then that Klaus told Rebekah, "You stand accused of betraying your own blood. How do you plead?"

Rebekah replied, "I plead you to shut up and listen."

With a wave of his hand, Klaus said to her, "You summoned our father. You brought him to our home. What possible defense could you have?"

Rebekah told him, "I knew he was the only thing that you feared, and I wanted you to run."

Klaus replied, "Because you hated me."

Rebekah retorted, "Because you were hateful. You denied me the freedom to love."

Klaus asked her, "Oh, so that's your defense? You called Mikael— the Destroyer, the Hunter of Vampires— because I detained you from pursuing your dull suitors."

Rebekah told her, "You were cruel and controlling and manipulative."

Klaus yelled to her, "I was trying to protect you from imbeciles and leeches, not to mention your own poor judgment!"

Rebekah asked him, "And what of Annabelle?" When Klaus didn't respond, Rebekah told him, "You never stopped her from pursuing William, centuries after she had her own husband and children killed. So why not keep her from falling in love again, just like you had done to me?"