Silence enveloped the once-chaotic town of Mystic Falls. The wind whispered softly throughout the air as the sky stretched out in a flawless span of blue, while the woods whispered secrets of an unwelcome guest hidden among the trees.
The sound of footsteps rustling through the overgrown grass, snapping the broken, lifeless branches. Every step they took was heavy and lacked their usual elegance and posture. Their shoulders sagged forward, burdened by the weight of their emotions.
Finally reaching their destination, they come to a halt stopping their movements. As they take a moment to absorb the scene in front of them. In disappointment, the man shakes his head, carelessly throwing pieces of clothing towards the ground. Not bothering to see whether it landed in the mud or not before crossing his arms over his once sharp and refined suit. Which was now hung loosely on his frame, with wrinkles and creases staining the fabric.
Leaning against the rough-textured oak tree, he draws in a deep breath, attempting to gain control over his wandering thoughts, overwhelmed with doubts about whether he had made the right decision or not.
Realizing that his brother is awake, as he glances up to the sky, the man speaks "You've been busy." He states evenly, trying to conceal his true feelings.
The brother pauses his movement at the voice of his brother. Elijah. "That was amazing," he breathes out in awe and astonishment. Grabbing the clothes from next to him, "How long has it been?" he asks as he dresses himself.
Biting the inside of his cheek to restrain himself from lashing out at his brother, "Almost two days," he says through gritted teeth. "Full moon came and went. You remained a wolf."
The Original vampire didn't see the point in engaging in this conversation. To him this was pointless, every moment spent on anything as useless as talking to his deranged brother was time we'll wasted. Time that he could have spent doing something more helpful.
The blonde-haired brother glances at his brother "I can change at will then." He smirks "That's good to know." He states putting on his black V-neck top.
"I remember...every single kill." He continues as a smile spreads across his face as he reminisces about the memories of his actions.
"You left quite a mess," Elijah comments, nodding his head towards the trail of blood and bodies left behind him. The sight was unsettling but what did he really expect? After all, this was what his brother had always wanted. His wolf side. Now that it was activated it became evident that this was what truly mattered to him.
Power.
Klaus turned his attention toward the direction of the bodies, a frown forming on his face at the realization that his brother didn't clean up his mess. Despite their fights and disagreements, no matter what happened in the end Elijah would always have his back. Yet now it seems like his unspoken promise to stand by his side was questionable.
"Having a break before getting rid of the rest huh?" Klaus questions playfully, trying to lighten the mood between them. But honesty deep down, the hybrid was curious as to why his brother hadn't taken care of the mess yet, and also a small part of him was wondering what had caused him to become so conflicted.
"You would think that, wouldn't you." Elijah dryly chuckles finding nothing about the situation amusing "I let you get away with a lot of things, I excused your behaviour for far too long."
"Ah, I know what this is." Klaus nods his head in understanding "The annual speech, right? Where I go too far and cross the line, you tell me to stop because of the guilt you feel, and after a fight, we come to an agreement where I back off for a while." He smirks and raises an eyebrow at his brother.
Elijah purses his lips "You're right, this is the annual speech" he confesses "And yes if this was just like the other times where you go too far I would have most likely believed you when you said you were back off."
"And you think this time is different," Klaus questions, narrowing his eyes at his brother.
The man wouldn't dare admit it, but he was uncomfortable and felt uneasy as his brother had the upper hand. For once he didn't know where the conversation was heading, leaving him at a disadvantage, and that feeling of not knowing was something he despised.
Elijah let out a scoff, growing exhausted from the conversation. "Destroying any chance of me and our siblings having a second chance with our niece is entirely different from your past actions. Especially when she's your own daughter." He stresses, his voice emphasizing the word 'daughter' hoping he would take the hint.
Klaus's body tenses as he processes his brother's words, a mixture of emotions swirling within him. After a moment he shakes his head as a laugh escapes him carrying hints of absurdity.
"I don't find any of this funny. Niklaus." Elijah replies almost offensively that his brother would laugh about something so sensitive.
"I can't...." Klaus laughs, clutching his stomach. "Hold on...you though..." He interprets himself with laughter once again. The thought of his once wise brother being so stupid and idiotic caused his laughter to bubble up uncontrollably.
"Wow...and I thought Rebecca was the foolish one" Klaus shakes his head with a grin.
Elijah's gaze sharpens "You still don't believe it. Do you? Even though she was right in front of you." He accuses in frustration.
He couldn't comprehend how he could still deny the blatant truth, even after being in the same room with her, knowing Aria's nature, she definitely wouldn't have kept quiet. It only took her to say a few words for him to have some suspicion about who her father was, even though his first assumption was the eldest Salvatore from watching a few of their interactions.
"Believe what?" Klaus tilts his head to the side "I think you've become weak in your old age dear brother."
"No, I don't think so" Elijah shakes his head "Arianna was your weakness, she would always be your weakness and that's why you didn't want to believe she had been alive all this time."
"Want to know how I came to that conclusion" The original vampire questions rhetorically. "Because since her and Evie's death you haven't had to worry about your enemies taking what's most important to you. Because they were already gone."
"Stop" Klaus shouts out in annoyance, his frustration evident in his tone. He hated how easy it was for his brother to expose how he truly felt, but it didn't mean he would ever say it out loud or contemplate the reality of having his daughter in his life.
"Arianna being alive would mean that you have a weakness, somebody to target, and if she was harmed, or anything happened to her. It would be because of you and what you had done to others." Elijah calmly says hints of understanding and disappointment leaking through his voice.
Seeing the flickers of remorse in his brother's eyes made sense, the reason behind Klaus's denial was because of his own guilt at what would happen if word came out that his daughter was alive. It was simply, she would be the easiest way to take down the once king of the supernatural who was now the monster of most stories.
But it didn't change the fact that, in his conflicted mindset he chose to let a witch drain Aria for her magic thinking she was just a random girl with his daughter's magic, knowing that she could have died.
"LIAR"
Klaus screams out, his voice filled with anger, hurt, and most of all sadness. Anger due to the frustration of his own overwhelming thoughts hurt due to the realization that they were talking about his dead mate and daughter. The pain he felt the day of their deaths resurfacing, his heart being torn to pieces like reopening a wound that had never fully healed.
Then sadness from the heavy weight of guilt and grief he's carried since the night of their deaths, from blaming himself for not being able to protect his two girls.
"There was once a time, I would do anything for you," Elijah whispers looking down at the ground. "The vow we made, 'always and forever' was broken the second I heard my niece's screams." His voice wavering as he struggled to find what words to say.
The hybrid swallows the lump in his throat "What screams?" he questions confused.
"Typical," Elijah bitterly states. "Too focused on your own damn ritual to even hear your own daughter's screams of pain." The words escaped his lips filled with anger.
"Shut up!" Klaus growls out.
"I think I've had enough." Elijah deeply sighs "Rebekah? Kol? Anything you guys have to say?" He calls out needing the support of his siblings at this moment, his focus was on the wrong person, it should have been Aria this whole time. He just needed to try, just one last time to see if there was a chance the brother he once knew was still hidden somewhere.
Klaus's face drops at the mention of his sibling's names The actual thought that Rebekah and Kol were here and had heard him and Elijah struck him hard. There was no way his brother would have been able to find where they were hidden.
"Funny one," Klaus comments not taking his brother seriously.
Within a blink, using their vampire speed to appear out from the trees, Kol's hand finding itself around his older brother's neck, his grip tightening as his own anger grows. As Rebekah drives a wooden stake through the hybrid chest, already knowing it wouldn't kill him, but hoping it would give him some pain at least.
"How?" Klaus's eyes widen in shock as he looks between his siblings.
"Those screams that you were too ignorant to hear, it was her fighting the witches' magic," Elijah mumbles. "You cannot take from the royals, especially not their magic."
"Something, you should have known." Rebekah snarls out digging the stake further into him.
"What?"
"You underestimated your own daughter" Elijah mutters.
"And her abilities." Kol grits out.
"What..." Klaus says slightly stunned that in siblings were right in front of him
"Blood magic," Elijah explains simply "I do admit, at first I was a little sceptical since she was still learning how to use her magic."
Klaus's body went rigid as he processed what type of magic was used to locate his two siblings, a wave of dread washed over him as the realization of what it would mean if Aria did use this type of magic.
"To do that type of magic, she would have to the Mikaelson's blood running through her veins," Rebekah says as she pulls the stake out of her brother's body.
"In which she does." Elijah concludes clasping his hands together, "Aria has both the royal and Mikaelson's blood coursing through her veins because whether you like it or not, Niklaus she is your daughter."
"And even after getting a second chance at being in her life, you still ruin it and not just for you, for all of us," Rebekah states, his voice filled with anger and sadness.
Klaus couldn't bear to meet his sibling's gaze, but Rebekah's words caught his attention. "What do you mean?" The confusion and curiosity in his eyes were evident as he tried to understand what she meant by ruining things for them.
"She's gone," Kol mutters, the cracking of his knuckles echoing the tense silence his words caused.
He had only met her once, initially, he had only thought of her as a new witch who had done a spell wrong. Until she said her name before she disappeared leaving him to darkness once again.
In those hours they talked, he felt a sense of contentment that he hadn't felt since the night of the fire. The night when his family became broken, when his own brother became a stranger to him.
"Gone?" Klaus snaps his head over to his younger brother, hints of panic in his voice. "What do you mean she's gone?" the words hung in the air, the realization hitting Klaus like a ton of bricks. His heart rate began to spike at the thought of him being the reason why she was gone.
A second chance, Rebekah said to him. Even after everything he had done with no care in the world. He was still given the chance to have a future with .....with his daughter.
But he ruined that too.
"Bloody Hell, what happened? What do you think happened Klaus?" Rebekah shouts throwing her hands up in the air. "She's sixteen, still a kid who was probably going out of her mind. You remember how hard it was for Evie to handle her magic, it must have exhausted for Aria to keep control."
"WHAT HAPPENED." Klaus exclaims in desperation.
"She killed someone," Kol whispers, his voice barely audible "She broke her curse and she ran."
"No.....she can't have." Klaus shakes his head in denial, allowing a single tear to roll his down cheek.
"I little late now." Kol scoffs as he glances at his brother's now vulnerable broken expression. "You know, she understood why you staked me and Rebekah. She actually found a valid reason for your crazy actions."
"She said that in some twisted way, you thought you were protecting us by keeping us safe, that having us daggered and close by was a better option than not being able to protect us and watch us die like you did with Evie and little Rosie," Kol admits.
Klaus wanted to feel proud of Aria, that even though no one else did. Somehow, she understood his actions and why he did what he did. But he couldn't, his guilt and regret was too much for him to feel anything else.
"You've finally got what you've always wanted Niklaus..." Elijah says pushing himself off the tree he had been leaning against.
"...Was is worth it?"
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Hey, hope you enjoyed this chapter <3