Elijah Mikaelson
MY first thought after I woke up from being daggered, was that reuniting with Morrigan was the best dream or hallucination I had ever had, but it also brought me great sorrow. Opening a centuries-old wound did not do wonders for your mind.
Even if I couldn't be with her, I would always have her in my memories, and though the grieving process had never really finished, I could pretend.
Pretend it didn't bother me. Pretend I didn't have a love for her.
Morrigan Brooks
I woke up in a very cramped space. I had to blink a few times for my eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did, I realised I was under a desk.
I sat up, bumping my head and realised I was in a classroom. I opened one of the drawers on the desk and saw a file.
SALTZMAN, Alaric: Grade 11 grades
Why was I in Alaric's classroom? I remember last night, or at least, god I hope it was last night, and the last thing to happen was I held Klaus up against a wall with my magic before somehow, he managed to knock me out.
"Fuck," I mutter, cracking my neck since I was manhandled into the worst position ever. I walk out of the classroom, and then the school, and I saw that it was empty, so it was last night. Thank god.
Shit. Was anyone dead? I check my clothes to see if I still had my phone on me, and thankfully, I did have it tucked away.
I check my messages and I'm pretty sure it's going to explode soon.
From Eliza<3: Bitch where are you?
From Eliza<3: Istg if you got kidnapped by that grandpa of a vampire
From Eliza<3: I'll beat him up
From Damon: Where r u
From Damon: Elizas asking me where you are like I know
From Damon: Call me asap
From Elena: Hey are you ok?
From Elena: Bonnie channelled you but none of us could find you after
From Stefan: Where did you disappear to
I make my way over to the Salvatore house and call Eliza.
"Oh thank god, I don't have to save your ass again." She says and I chuckle.
"Yeah, he literally stuffed me under Alaric's desk," I say, stretching still. "Where are you now?"
"Home. Where are you?"
"Damon's. He said to call him asap, so I'm just going to talk to him."
I walk to the front door, muttering to myself about murder and such when I almost bump into a large body.
"Shit, sorry- Elijah?" I say, seeing the newly awake original.
"Hello, Mor." He says in a soft tone, his expression matching that tone.
"Nice to see you back in the land of the living," I say and walk past him. "Hey, Elena," I say. she gives me a meek wave and I see she's holding the dagger, but then she reluctantly hands it over to Elijah. "After you're done, we still need to talk," I say, looking at Elijah and he reluctantly nods.
"You could come if you want?" Elena says and I nod. I look between the two and Elena beckons me to follow her and Elijah, so without another word, I do.
"We can take my car," she says and I nod, getting in the back so Elijah could have shotgun. He deserved at least that after being dead for like a week.
"So what is... this?" I ask the two and Elena explains.
"I undaggered Elijah because I need answers." Same, girl, I think.
"Well if we stop by my house I have some blood bags. Plus I can change from this outfit." I say and Elena nods.
"Why are you still in that?" She asks and I huff.
"The lovely Klaus thought it would be a good idea to knock me out and stuff me under Alaric's desk." Elijah chuckles.
"I can only assume Klaus knew that if he had both you and Miss Bennett against him, he would have no chance," he says and I smile to myself.
"Oh, turn here," I say to Elena. We get to my house and I shout for Eliza, but she wasn't home. I run over to the fridge and pass Elijah a blood bag, before speeding up to my room.
I didn't have much time, since I didn't want to keep them waiting, so I went against my very nature and kept on yesterday's makeup and I just threw on a black tank top and a black mesh top on top of that. On the bottom, I put on a black mini-skirt and grab my heels that already littered the floor.
"Ready," I say, literally jumping (and falling not very gracefully) in the car.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"The Lockwoods," Elena says. I had no idea why I didn't question it. I was in the middle seat of the back, and I couldn't help but stare at Elijah. He was more handsome than I remember, and god, do I love the stubble on his chin.
And the jawline.
Just everything about this man.
Elena pulls over and staring at the original passed the time too quickly because I realise we had already arrived.
"You look better," Elena says to Elijah and I totally agree with that.
But he does look better when he's not a grey corpse.
"Where did you get the dagger," Elijah says as his answer.
"I'll tell you everything, but we have to work together Elijah. I need your word." Elena says and I was fully prepared to run interference.
"Your ability to make demands has long passed," Elijah says, in an even tone.
"No demands," Elena agrees. "I'm offering you my help, and in return, I want yours."
"And why should I even consider this?" He asks.
"The same reason you haven't killed me. You need my help to kill Klaus." She says, bringing out the big guns. "And I need you."
Her phone starts to ring and three guesses who it is.
"Where are you? Are you ok?" Stefan immediately asks over the phone.
"Yes, I'm fine," Elena says tightly.
"Where's Elijah?"
"He's right here."
"Where? I'm on my way." Stefan says but Elena puts her foot down.
"No, Stefan. Elijah and I need to talk."
"Listen to me, Elijah can't be trusted, he'll use you to get to Klaus," Stefan says and Elijah was watching this whole encounter with a vaguely amused expression.
"Elena," I in a hushed tone, reaching into the front. "Give me the phone."
She happily obliges and I put the phone to my ear.
"Hey, Stef," I say.
"Rory? Where are you? You know this is a dumb ide-" I cut him off.
"If it makes you feel better, I'll be... supervising. Yeah, totally supervising."
"Bull, you'll be looking at-" I cut him off again since I was pretty sure Elijah was still listening.
"Shut up, Stef. Put your brother on the phone, please?" I hear him sigh, but nevertheless, he passed the phone over.
"Ror? Are you out of your witchy mind?"
"Hey D, don't do anything stupid. Bye now." I say and hang up. I pass the phone back to Elena, who passes it to Elijah, probably as a sign of faith.
"So. What were you saying about my brother, Rory?" Elijah says, turning to me.
"No offence or anything, but he's an asshole. That's what I was saying."
"He's here," Elena elaborates.
"Klaus is here?" He says.
"He's taken over Alaric's body."
"Of course he has. It's one of his favourite tricks." Elijah says, scoffing.
"Probably not anymore, though," I say and Elijah nods to us both, wanting more explanation.
"What are his other tricks?" Elena asks. "What is he gonna do next? You're the only one who knows him."
"Yes I do," is all Elijah says.
We all get out of the car and walk up to the door, though Elijah seems a million miles away. Mrs Lockwood greets us at the door, albeit unexpectedly, but Elijah compels her to let him borrow one of her husband's (dead, as I've been told) suits.
I was sort of ignoring the conversation because my mind was on why I needed to talk to Elijah alone.
1759. What the fuck was that about?
"So I assume the Martain witches are no longer with us?" Elijah asks, already knowing the answer.
"No," Elena says, looking into her lap and then back up at him. "I'm sorry."
"And Katerina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."
"Klaus took her. We think that she may be dead." Elena says, obviously treading lightly.
"I doubt that. Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did."
"I don't understand," she starts. "You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still make Kathrine pay for betraying him." My face hardens.
"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time I'd have done anything for Klaus. Klaus is my brother."
"I heard that, I-I'm still processing," Elena says.
"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is 'OMG'."
That's the fucking end of me when I almost spit out the mouthful of water I had and despite great attempts, my laughter only died down after quite a few seconds.
"Sorry," I say, ruining the vibe.
"Wait, so there's a whole family of originals?"
"My father was a wealthy landowner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children." Elijah explains all this while fixing his new suit in a mirror that was sadly too high for me to see in.
"So, your parents were human?'
"Our whole family was. Our original as vampires is a very long story, Elena. Just know, we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the original family and from us, all vampires were created."
"Right, but Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead?"
"I need some air. Still feeling a tad... dead." Commendably enough, I didn't laugh this time, but shit, I wanted to. "Come." He says. Elena and I exchange looks but follow him nevertheless. "So as you've seen, nothing can kill an original, not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."
"White oak..." I say, not knowing where I got that from.
"Yes... how did you-" Elijah starts and I knit my eyebrows, but I couldn't produce an answer for him.
"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from," Elena says, and I nod. I must have subconsciously overheard Damon saying something about it.
"Yes, the witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs a weakness in order to maintain balance."
"So if the sun can't kill an original, why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the sun and moon curse?"
"Right," Elijah says with an amused expression. "The curse of the sun and the moon. It's all so biblical sounding, don't you think?"
"What's so funny?" Elena asks, voicing my thoughts.
"My brother made the sketches for the curse of the sun and the moon."
"I don't understand, so Klaus drew the Aztec sketches for the curse?"
"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting it in."
"But why?"
"The easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelganger or to get your hands on some long-lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout for it."
"So it's not Aztec at all?"
"The curse of the sun and the moon is fake," Elijah says. Elena looks shocked, but I couldn't figure out why I wasn't surprised. "It doesn't exist," he finishes before he keeps walking across the Lockwood property.
"What?" Elena asks. She looks at me but I just shrug, going to follow the original and Elena does the same.
"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years." Elijah starts. Sometimes I forget how old he is.
"But if there's no curse-" Elena starts but Elijah cuts her off.
"Oh, there's a curse. Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus." Elijah's blazer starts to buzz and everyone ignores it.
"What are you talking about?"
"Klaus has been trying to break it the last thousand years and you are his only hope."
"Well, what is this curse?" Elena asks but instead of answering, Elijah pulls out her phone and hands it to her.
"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing, answer it, please."
Elena sighs but takes the phone. "Stefan-" she sighs but then her expression changes. "What's wrong?" Another pause. "No. No no no no, I'll be right there." She hangs up and turns back to Elijah. "Klaus went after Jenna. I have to go to her."
"I'm afraid that's not a part of today's arrangement." He says with a stony expression.
"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word." Elena says, pulling out all the stops.
"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it." She nods, understanding that he is giving her a chance.
"Thank you." She breathes before running away. I walk over to the side of the bridge and lean over it, looking out across the land.
"How are you, Mor?" He starts and I smile, looking down to the river before returning my gaze to the horizon.
"I'm well, Elijah. And yourself?"
"Well, thank you. Considering I've been dead for about a week."
"I do want to know about it though. 1759? Forgive me for being so straightforward but I do really need to know."
"What about it?" I chuckle mirthlessly.
"Preferably everything. I don't remember most of it. In fact, I'll let you in on a secret, I have at most, twenty full memories from about 1437 to 1759, but I think you know exactly what I want to know about 1759." He sighs.
"Walk with me, Miss Brooks." He starts to walk back to the house and I follow him, eager to know if he knew anything about me.
Elijah Mikaelson
"I told you about my fiancee, correct?" I ask, the lie falling off my tongue too easily, and she nods. "I proposed to her in August 1758, and our wedding was to be in January of 1759. My brother, sister, Maddigan and I all lived in New Orleans at the time, and my brother had an engagement party for us. There was a big explosion at that party. Sabotage. Many people died."
"I was in New Orleans when I woke up, though I left soon after." She says, looking slightly confused.
"Is there a chance you were there?" I ask, praying I can eventually find a way to make her remember.
"That's probably it." She says. We walked back into the Lockwood house and she sits down on one of the couches, letting out a long exhale. "It's a pain in my ass, honestly. This whole amnesia thing, you know? I just woke up one day and pretty much all my memories from the last three hundred years were gone. Just like that."
"I can't act as if I understand, but if you ever need any help, please feel free to ask," I say. A pathetic attempt. That wasn't what I wanted to say though. I wanted to pour my heart out to her. One look from her and I would. One word. I wanted to hold her like I used to, I wanted to kiss her, and tell her it was all going to be alright. I wanted to make it alright.
'I love you,' is what I wanted to say.
But those were just some of the words I can't say.
Flashback to 1492
Katerina Petrova was running from me, and I chasing her. She laughed lightly and I make a purposefully bad attempt at grabbing her before she eludes me.
"I won't-" I say, making her laugh more.
"Well, you have to chase me!" She exclaims. "You're meant to catch me," she explains and I chuckle.
"Well if I catch you, the game will be over," I say and she just smiles.
"Thank you for entertaining me," she says, giving up on running from me.
"Oh, you looked lonely inside so I decided to take pity on you," I say, smiling at her.
"Klaus promised to spend the day with me but... he never returned home from the night." She says.
"Because Klaus does not live by any rules but his own," I say, not looking at her, but at the commotion by the stables, vaguely wondering who had arrived.
"He is a very charming man. Hard for any woman to resist, I suppose." She says, slightly sadly.
"And yet?" I ask, wanting to know her reservations.
"I know not why he courts me. He seems to not care about me at all." For my brother, I would keep this ruse up.
"Many a union has been built on much less." I offer.
"Is it wrong to want more?"
"Do you have more with Trevor?" I ask, recalling how the man looks at and talks about Katerina.
"Trevor believes he loves me but... true love is not real unless it is returned." She says, and my mind immediately goes to Morrigan. I don't love her. I don't, but I care for her immensely in a different way from others. "Do you agree?" She finishes and I have to carefully think about how to word my answer since it was such a philosophical question.
Before I would say that I didn't believe in love because that is what I did believe. Though, I newly did believe in love.
Speak of the devil, one particular witch saved me from answering.
"Elijah, darling! How are you?" I look up and see Morrigan, clad in a dress similar to Katerina's except that it was blue, striding towards me, opening her arms.
"Lovely Morrigan, why are you here?" I say, using the same kind of joking nickname she uses for me. I indulge her hug and she grips me tightly for a few seconds before releasing me.
"Am I not welcome? Oh... I see what you want to be alone for. Hello." She says, eyeing Katerina.
"Katerina, this is my good friend Morrigan Brooks. Morrigan, this is Katerina Petrova... sósia." I add the word doppelganger in Portuguese at the end in a low tone, low enough that only Morrigan could hear with her vampire hearing. This makes her eyebrows raise.
"Lovely to meet you, Katerina," She says, gently shaking her hand.
"Lovely to meet you, as well, Morrigan," Katerina says with a knowing smile.
"I'll talk with you later, Elijah, and hopefully you as well Katerina, but if you'll excuse me I have to go find Niklaus." She gives a little wave before walking off towards the edge of the property.
"Is she why you don't agree with my sentiment?" Katerina asks, though she then hastily adds, "please forgive me if I'm overstepping."
"Oh, no. I'm not in love with Morrigan." I say, but as soon as I did, it felt wrong, as if subconsciously I disagreed with it. Did I?
Pulling me from my mental spiral, I see Niklaus come towards us, covered in blood, and Morrigan trailing closely behind him.
"What do I interrupt?" He asks.
"He's returned," I say, standing up. "Long night?" He only gives a smirk in response.
"What had happened?" Katerina asks, concerned.
"The wrong villager picked a fight at the tavern," he says, easily lying. Niklaus leads Katerina away with little touches to the small of her back and Morrigan walks over to where Katerina was.
"It's good to see you, Brooky," I say, hugging her earnestly again.
"You as well, E." She says, sitting down on the stone bench.
"How long are you here?" I ask, following suit. She smiles, seeming to soak in some sun before answering.
"Well, Nik has asked me to perform the spell for the sacrifice, and then after that, I'll return to Scotland with the hope that the two of you will join me." I smile.
"Hmm, I'll think about it," I say and she beams.
"Oh, that will be wonderful. Since you asked, your brother is, as usual, wreaking havoc, though less than usual, since he's badly hiding his new girlfriend. Your sister is having the time of her life, she loves Scotland."
"Rebekah loves anywhere where Niklaus isn't there to dictate everything she does." I deadpan and she gives me a little shove.
"You're so mean," she says.
"And correct."
"... And correct," she says after a few seconds. "I think you'll love it there, though... Katerina seems nice."
"She is. And you weren't wrong, I was stunned when I saw her. She is... scarily similar to Tatia."
"Yes, you told me about her," Morrigan says, a slight bit of bitterness in her voice, but then she turns to me and she smiles. She smiles and suddenly she's the only thing in the world. "Why don't you give me a tour of this lovely estate?"
Shit.
I was in love with Morrigan Brooks.
End of Flashback
Morrigan Brooks
After our little heart-to-heart, Elijah and I actually did end up talking and laughing even.
"Where is your favourite place in the world?" He asks, leaning against the shelf that was above the fireplace. I was sitting on the couch and I leant back to think for a second before answering, mentally going through all the many cities and towns I've been to in my long life.
"Sicily. I impulsively bought a villa there back in '89, and I make an effort to go at least every other year."
"That sounds beautiful." He says.
"What about you?" I ask and he doesn't answer at first, though I guess after a thousand years, you would have been to quite a few places, probably a few too many to pick from.
"I honestly couldn't tell you. I always associate places with people. A habit I've picked up, but if I had to pick, I love Western Europe. Sicily is lovely, I can see why you love it."
I hear the door open, then footsteps, and then Elena walks into the room with an earnest look toward Elijah.
"Welcome back," the original says, but Elena's all business today.
"Tell me. What is Klaus' curse?" She says.
"Please," Elijah says, extending his hand in my general direction, and inviting Elena to sit. "You know my family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before, this was her darkest secret. Klaus was from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realising, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages to this day."
"A war between species?" Elena asks, confused.
"The vampires and the werewolves."
"So Klaus' real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?" Elena asks.
"He's both." Elijah simply says. "A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power, therefore the witches, servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."
"That's the curse Klaus wants to break?"
"He wants to trigger the part of him that's werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline, he would build his own race, endangering not just vampires, but everyone."
"But you helped him."
"I helped him because I loved him. That's changed now, he must die."
"We have the dagger, we can stop him," Elena says hopefully.
"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger, so you see the conundrum? The dagger doesn't work."
"What are you saying? Klaus can't be killed?"
"There's one way to kill any supernatural species. At the hands of the servants o nature themselves."
"Witches," I say in a sing-song voice. "If they're powerful enough, of course."
Elena just sighs, tipping her head back. "But it would kill them."
"The curse must be broken during the full moon when Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."
"What if I told you I knew a witch with that much power?"
"Then I would tell you there is one thing you must know. There is a way that could possibly save your life. I found a potion, an... elixir that would bring you back. I had it for Katerina."
"You found a way to save the life of the doppelganger?"
"Yes, Elena. I did. Unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first," he says, walking over to where I haven't moved. He offers a hand and I graciously take it and stand up. He then grabs Elena's jacket and dusts it off before handing it to her. "I believe you already know how that played out."
"You cared about her didn't you?" Elena says and for some reason, I felt jealousy flooding my body. There was literally no reason for it.
"It's a common mistake, I'm told." Is all he says. "It's one I won't make again." And then he walks off, out the door and to wherever he's going.
"I'll see you later, Elena," I say after a few seconds. "Please, call if you need anything." She nods, giving me a wave before I speed out the door and back home, processing all the new information.