The Great War || Elijah Mikaelson

xxvii.ii Ludum Regale

"Are we really going to do this?" Marcel laughed at the absurdity of it all. "Oldest and most sophisticated society of vampires in the world and we settle our disputes like kids on the playground at recess."

"My sentiments precisely," Elijah held up his hand offering to help Aya into the ring. A hand she decidedly did not accept. "Tristan seems to disagree."

Aya threw Elijah an annoyed look and tossed her jacket at him. Elijah, for his part, caught it with ease, throwing it to the side.

"We both know this is between you and me." Aya rebuked, not liking Elijah's condescension. She was in that ring because she wanted to be, not because Tristan had ordered it. They had a century of unresolved issues to settle. Elijah forced himself to stay in character. He could not let his guilt show, after all, he had to prove that he had no humanity to feel that guilt. Shrugging off his suit jacket, he met her eyes with an intense stare of his own. "Leadership must be earned. And one way or another I will have that charter."

Allowing a smug smirk to take over his face, Elijah rolled up his sleeves, "Come get it."

****

With Elijah out of the house, no one would care if Astra snuck out. She wasn't important to them. They wouldn't miss her. Yet, she still glanced around the courtyard as she made her way to the front door as if someone might actually be looking for her.

She was nearly there when she heard footsteps behind her. Apparently, someone had been paying attention.

"Why are you following me?" Astra turned around to see her friend's concerned eyes. "You're not supposed to leave the compound."

"Klaus doesn't get to tell me what to do," Cami had a determined set to her jaw that Astra knew she wouldn't talk Cami out of following her. "You're my friend and I'm concerned about you. You shouldn't be alone."

"I'm used to it," Astra mumbled, her hand tracing the bracelet on her wrist. Elijah would often say she was never alone because he would come running if something was wrong. He was always there when her life was in jeopardy. But what about everything else?

"Well that's too bad," Cami looped her arm with the witches and turned her back around to the front door. "You're stuck with me."

****

While Aya was a fierce fighter, so was Elijah. He had skill and strength on his side. Aya made another move against him and he easily tossed Aya into the chain link cage. The smirk hadn't left his face since they began. It had been a while since someone was truly a challenge to him in a fight, and maybe if he hadn't spent the week fighting his siblings, Aya would have posed a challenge. But compared to Kol's skill and Niklaus' brute strength, Aya was nothing more than an annoying pest he had to continue to swat away.

"Are you quite done?" Elijah raised his hands in a challenge much to Aya's ire and Tristan's annoyance. Tristan had been pacing the outside of the cage silently, not wanting to distract his fighter. He knew Aya was his best chance of beating Elijah, but even she was proving unable. Tristan would not allow Aya to back down and Aya would never surrender.

"You'd have me submit?" Aya spit blood onto the cage floor, making sure it splattered on Elijah's shoes. "Once again, I prove I have a mind of my own."

They would give him no choice. Tristan had said it was a fight to the death. They would not release him from it until he ended it.

Elijah sped forward, grabbing Aya by the neck and gripping tightly, hoping to prove just how prepared he was to finish the fight once and for all.

"Let's not make this more unpleasant than it needs to be," he would give her one more chance. He could not show mercy, he could not let them know his humanity was back. Tristan would use it against him.