descent | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 [HIATUS]

𝟏𝟐

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓
﹙ 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐, 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆﹚
࿐ ࿔ ✧˖*°
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There's something very tranquil about waiting for your oncoming death. Rory knows full well that the Strix are coming after her—it's just a matter of when and how. If she's being honest, at this point, she's pretty open to whatever the world wants to throw at her. It's pretty clear that she's been through it all: kidnappings, sacrifices, hexes, murder.

She sits in the chair across from Marcel—who, apparently, is the newly appointed leader of the Strix—and beside Klaus. She rests her chin on her knuckles, a cup of coffee resting in her free hand. She's pretty much accepted her fate, but her boyfriend seems adamant on making sure that everything is the exact opposite of how it should be.

"Where is Kai?" Klaus inquires. "We need to get him to track down Aurora—"

"—He's taking a mental health day," Rory responds, taking a sip of coffee.

"What?" Klaus gives her an incredulous look. "At this given time? In this current moment? A mental health day? Whilst you're in the middle of a war, and the white oak has been stolen by my lunatic ex-girlfriend—"

"The reasons that you just gave is precisely why Kai should have a mental health day," Rory responds. "Just because you're a thousand years old and always on the go doesn't mean he has to be too. And besides, you have Freya. I don't see why you need Kai as well."

"And I've got the Strix working on finding Aurora," Marcel adds.

"The Strix want to kill Rory," Klaus deadpans.

"Listen, the guilty parties haven't revealed themselves. How sure are you that they're coming for her? It's just a conspiracy theory at this point, isn't it?" Marcel crosses his arms over his chest. "Besides, I don't see why you're the one that's angry—it's your fault that Cami was running around with the white oak in the first place. If you didn't steal those dark objects from her—"

"—All of those dark objects belonged to Kol," Klaus interjects irritably.

"Well, her family collected them. It doesn't matter. The point is, the white oak is gone and you getting angry at literally everyone isn't going to help anything," Marcel shrugs.

"My anger has saved my family plenty of times,"

"It's also gotten your family into these exact situations,"

"Let's just calm down," Rory intervenes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Oh, how she hated being in a room full of testosterone. "Listen, Marcel. Did the ring that Aurora take have any significance whatsoever to the Strix?"

Marcel exchanges a gaze with Rory, releasing a soft sigh. "Yes," he responds. "It's the first ring made under the Strix's name. It's passed down from leader to leader. It's also known as a signal. If Tristan gave that ring to you, it means that he wanted you watched. If Tristan is no longer in power and somebody else were to hand it to the Strix instead of you, then something must've happened at your hand. And the Strix don't take lightly to traitors."