Gods & Monsters ✧ Elijah Mikaelson

VIII ✧ Black Roses

He paused, and then tapped his fingers against the pole lightly. "I will not deny my interest."

She smiled a little. "She is not a Dream Reaper, but I assume that you already knew that."

Elijah didn't respond, but she could see him perk up slightly. Perhaps he had just been glad that he was right.

"She is what we call one of the 'Lost Souls'. The Reaper world, in a way, is their version of purgatory. We have a very good system running here, but as with everything, sometimes there are glitches. Mistakes made that no one really has an explanation for. Every white-eyed person in this world is a Lost Soul. They, unfortunately, will be left here forever. Something went wrong along the way, and resulted in them not being able to go to the Grim Reapers. So, we employ them here, and they are happy. They do not age, and so they are content. They can make friendships and love another without having the fear of watching them die slowly some day."

"Ah..." he said, glancing down at the floor for a moment, then back up at her. "So, anyone that does not have white eyes is a Dream Reaper?"

She nodded. "Yes. There are more of us than just myself, Aspin, and Levi. Kaige, Jagger, and the children of the other four. Then there are the young-ones, the Reapers that are grandchildren and great-grandchildren  and so on of the other Dream Reapers."

"And how many of you are there in total?"

"A couple hundred million Lost Souls, and about ninety million Dream Reapers."

"But you are the equivalent of us, are you not? One of the first Reapers of all time?"

She nodded. "Perhaps that is why I took such an interest in you, Mr. Mikaelson."

His own interest got the best of him, and he moved to come sit by her. She crossed her legs and leaned back a little, putting her palms against the edge of the backless bench. He watched her in interest; he was enamoured at this realm he was now in and the people he was surrounded by, and really, who could blame him?

"Really, the only difference between the two of us is that I am not at all related to the other Reapers. In fact, the other four paired together. They have all passed, though, unfortunately. Jagger is the only one of us that married a Lost Soul. She passed away as well."

"How exactly did they die?" Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. "Even we have a weakness. Two, now. Surely your kind does as well."

She was surprised that he actually was so straightforward, but she then realized that it was entirely to be expected. They had had a short conversation. That was definitely not reason enough for him to trust her. Of course he would want to find her weakness. Simply for future reference, of course.

"Now, now, Elijah. Surely you don't expect me to reveal all of my cards so soon?"

He seemed taken aback, but then smiled a little when he realized that she was smirking at him.

"My apologies, Avarice. I did not mean to ask so much."

Her smirk formed into a smile, and then she nodded. "Well, perhaps you will find your answer some day. But I will warn you, Noble Elijah, I do not have a weakness that is easily found."

Anyone else may not have noticed how his smile faltered for a split second at her mention of the name he was known by.

"I would have hoped that you had not been watching our family for long enough to know that I truly am not the Noble One, but... I do have a sinking feeling that you have."

Maybe he wasn't as good at hiding his emotions as he believed he was.

She was silent for a moment, observing the way that his hands seemed to grip the bench a little tighter, the way his jaw clenched, the way his brow furrowed and the way he stared down at the wooden planks of the gazebo like he wanted to burn the structure to the ground.

"I want to show you something, Elijah," she said, breaking through the pure silence easily. "But you must promise to never tell anyone."

He was quiet for a long time, then he finally let his grip on the stone bench go a little less tense and looked her in the eyes. Then he nodded.

She brought her left palm up in the same fashion that she had when he lit the gazebo. Above her palm, black dust suddenly seemed to exit out of her hand. The dust circled, forming a sphere about the size of her hand. When it was finished, an image appeared within the sphere, and Elijah's lips parted when he saw Hayley and his niece together.

Hayley was holding Hope close to her, humming a soft lullaby and holding her overtop a crib. Then she laid Hope down into the crib, and the child was fast asleep within moments. Hayley stayed by the crib for a few more seconds, then finally left, looking back at the crib as if it pained her to leave it behind.

"Hope is alive because of you, Elijah. You may believe that you monstrous, maybe even evil, but you are not. As someone who has seen your family at their best and worst times, I can tell you now that you are the Noble One," she said, and saw something spark in his eyes. "You always have been."

She knew that he had wanted to ask how she was able to let him see the two of them, but was distracted by her words to him.

He blinked a few times, seeming uncertain of what to say, and Avarice was rather proud of herself for rendering him speechless.

"You should rest," she told him, standing up from the bench. "We both should. It has been a trying few days, has it not?"

He replied with a simple "Yes", and when she turned back to look down at him, he was gone.