Tristan de Martel had told his sister, Clara, of the news; One of the guards had struck Lucien in the chest with a spear. He was dead. Her heart shattered in her chest with each thought of his body lying lifeless and bloody. Each little piece that broke off seemed to be even more painful than the next. Her hands curled into fists at the thought of Tristan. Oh! How her brother must be so joyful to have gotten rid of the wretched stable boy. He needn't worry for his dear little sisters anymore. She clenched her teeth, holding her knees closely to her chest, and lets her tears fall freely. They fell onto the dirt where she sat alone in the stables.
His stables.
This rickety wooden place, even as dirty as it was, was the only place she really found comfort; this was where Lucien had spent most of his days. Besides the snorts of her horses, it had an eerie silence that lessened the comfort. But still she'd rather sit here in the dirt than be with either of her siblings. Right now, with her heart as frail as it was, Clara needed to be comforted. Her brother-- even her sweet mad sister-- could not give her any ounce of it. Tristan de Martel was loving brother but monster all the same. Aurora de Martel was a loving sister but too mad to make decisions on her own.
Solitude was the key to Clara's own grieving process.
A few feet away came footsteps, then a voice. "Miss De Martel?"
It was Elijah Mikaelson.
"Do not come any closer!" Clara cried, her arms tightening around her knees. His footsteps did not retreat causing her to grow angrier. "I said-"
"I know what you said, Clara." Elijah responded, quickly. He held out his hand to her. "Niklaus told me what happened to Lucien- I am terribly sorry." He glanced behind him as if contemplating a thought, "Please, come with me. Niklaus made a small funeral for him. I'm sure he'd be happy if you were to come and show your respects."
More tears welled up in the youngest de Martel's brown eyes. "I don't think I could, Elijah... his body will be lying there. And I just..." Her voice broke.
"Trust me." His gently voice soothed, "Take my hand and come with me."
Unable to refuse the Mikaelson, Clara took his hand; he helped her up and led her into the dark woods. The wind chilled her deeply but there was something that made her comfortable and safe, in the warmth of Elijah's hands, as they were placed on her arms.
As if sensing something, she felt his eyes suddenly move to her. "Is something wrong, petite ami?"
"Such a strange question, at a time like this."
"I understand that. My apologies. I only meant-"
"I know, Elijah."
A brightness just ahead caught her attention. "Is that him?"
Elijah nodded.
Once they were close enough, the torch revealed Niklaus placing two coins over Lucien's eyes. The despair on his face matched what, was not only on Clara's face but, was in her heart. She placed a small hand on his shoulder. He turned, instantly realizing what he meant to her, and gave a sympathetic nod.
"Do you really think it was your blood that healed him?" Elijah questioned his brother, as if continuing a conversation from before she arrived.
"I saw it with my own eyes. When I found his body, I tried to feed him more, and... nothing."
Confusion shone on Elijah's face. "So then, we... We may only heal the living?" Klaus nodded, near tears. "That's... peculiar." He turned to his younger brother and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. "I know this can't be easy for you, brother. Or you, Clara. I am sorry." He turned to leave them to say their final goodbyes.
Clara stepped before the pyre that held the remains of her first love. "Lucien," She began, with a shaky voice. "I love you a-and I am sorry that I never had the chance to tell you."
"We must do it now, Miss de Martel." With a deep breath he stepped forward, next to her. "Would you prefer to..." Clara shook her head. He reluctantly turned back to set his funeral pyre ablaze. "Goodbye, friend."
Before the flames touch him, Lucien suddenly bolted upright with a gasp, coughing heavily.
Klaus and Clara looked at him, stunned into speechlessness.
Lucien's face filled with confusion, "What...?"
Hours later, Clara waited in her room; Lucien must have retrieved her note by now. She needed to see him. To see that he really was alright. There was joy in her heart, a slow bubble in her chest that filled her body with a drunkenness. Before his arrival, she had put on the dress she had made especially to impress him. Laced and a delectable cremé. That, with a perfume her father bought her, paired perfectly. It made Clara feel beautiful.
As expected, there came a single knock on her door. Riddled with nerves, she inhaled deeply, then opened up revealing Lucien. With a closer inspection, she saw faint traces of blood on his lips. Perhaps from his time in death. "Clara."
The sound of Clara's name on his lips took her breath away. She gazed at him and as if he could read her every want, and moved closer. All she'd ever wanted, his strong arms around her, it was going to happen and she wasn't sure how he would respond to that.
So, she does what she dreamt about doing for so long, her small arms squeezed Lucien as tightly around him as she could. His breath shook in her ear, she figured he felt as nervous as her. "Lucien, I've always felt such strong feelings towards you. I've wanted to tell you for so long and... I thought I was too late when I heard the news of your death..."
The stable boy pulled away, smirking. "I've been reborn, Clara. Oh, like you've never seen before. I am powerful now. Tristan can no longer control me." He paused, thinking. "He could no longer have control over you either. I can share this gift."
"Lucien, I don't understand." She said, "These words you speak... what gift can you share?"
"You can be reborn, like me."
⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜
"Do you truly believe going to see her is a good idea?" Niklaus questioned, shocked by his friend's sudden request to go and see Clara de Martel in her chambers. "Have you gone mad?"
"Nik," Lucien spoke with arrogance, "You've given me such a gift and I thank you, but I believe I can handle dear Clara."
"This hunger is like nothing you've ever experienced before," Klaus tried, again but his friend wasn't listening.
"Hunger..." The vampire dwelled on the words, then chuckled. "Worry not for me, friend."
Lucien walked away, chuckling at his friend's lack of confidence in him, but Niklaus grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him back. "If you kill her, friend, I will be forced to-"
"To do what?"
He didn't answer, letting Lucien slip away with a smirk on his face. He knew how to handle himself, even in this new reborn state. Nik had no reasons to doubt someone as strong willed as him.
Walking through the hallways of the castle, everything was enhanced. He felt it all. He heard it all. The soft breaths of the maids in other parts, the warmth of the candles on the walls, but it was the distinct smell of Clara's scent that caught his attention. He rounded the corner where her chamber door stood. If imminent death was the result of being caught in Aurora's hall, surly Tristan had something even more horrific planned for someone found inside his youngest sister's bedchamber. A small, but vain, smirk played in his lips. He needn't fear getting caught, anymore.
Behind the door, Clara's scent-- the hard thumping of her heart, pumping sweet blood through her veins-- distracted him from everything else. He softly knocked a single time, just as she requested. Her breaths became short, nervous. He marveled at his own sensitivity. Suddenly he didn't understand what drawbacks Nik was always raving about. All he felt was power.
The door opened, revealing Clara de Martel in all her glory. Nothing like her sister, but a beauty all the same. Her dark waves fell down her back, the maids having undone her braids for the night. She wore a dress, the color of soft creme. He never really saw her true beauty until this moment.
"Clara." He spoke the words softly, taking in her beauty-- and the smell of her sweet blood.
Clara pushed herself into him and embraced him tightly. Lucien looked down at her, taking in scent of her floral perfume, and the gentle throb of the pulse in her throat. Her voice brought him back. "Lucien, I've always felt such strong feelings towards you. I've wanted to tell you for so long and... I thought I was too late when I heard the news of your death..."
"I've been reborn, Clara." Lucien improvised, pulling away. He hid his sudden hunger with a smirk. "Oh, like you've never seen before. I am powerful now. Tristan can no longer control me." He considered bestowing the gift upon her, "He could no longer have control over you either. I can share this gift."
"Lucien, I don't understand." She began, clearly confused by his talk. "These words you speak... what gift can you share?"
"You can be reborn, like me." He explained.
Clara touched his cheek. "My dear Lucien, have you been off drinking again with the servants? You know that isn't good-"
"I am not drunk, you stupid girl!" He bellowed, losing his temper. But as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. "I am sorry, my dear. I only mean-"
"You're hurting me." She interrupted calmly.
Without him realizing it, Lucien had both her wrists gripped tightly in his hands. He wanted to apologize again but her heart beat only quickened its pace, allowing the blood to flow faster and harder. Lucien quickly freed one of her wrists, so he could brush the hair away from her throat. Clara froze. Hunger blazed through him as the gentle throb in her neck became more apparent. He felt his teeth extend and sharpen as he stared at her neck. His fangs reached for that taunting pulse, then tore into her throat, and locked it in place. Her hot blood flowed into his mouth with ease.
Clara did not fight, or try and scream for help. By the time he felt her lips part to cry out, he had already taken enough to weaken her. How could any vampire choose to stop such an intoxicating high? Lucien wanted to drink deeply until she was nothing but a lifeless body. No. He couldn't. He needed her. Once her pulse reaches an almost too weak and thready to hear, Lucien pulled away, bit into his wrist, and shoved it into her mouth. "Drink deeply, my dear." He cooed softly, "You shall feel the power that I feel."
Obediently, the young girl did so and drank until he pulled his wrist away. Lucien wondered if his blood tasted just like Niklaus' had to him. He considered asking her in the future. His attention moved back to her. Clara had stopped drinking and looked back up at him with curious eyes and bloodstained lips. His fangs extended again, Lucien cursed himself. He'd need to do this soon before he found himself latched to her throats again.
With a hand placed on either side of her face, he twisted harshly, causing a loud crunch to echo in his ears. She was dead.
"What have you done, Lucien?"
"Niklaus."
⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️
Clara woke up in her own bed, and no recollection of the night before. Tristan was by her side, holding her hand. He seemed truly worried for her. "Trist?"
"Oh, Clara! My darling sister." Tristan stroked her cheek with his hand, "Elijah has told me what that- that vile stable boy had done to you: my sweet little sister."
"Lucien... what?" She let out a nervous chuckle, "What has he done to me?"
"Before I say anything else, my sweet. Please wear this ring always." Tristan handed her a ring, but it only confused her more.
"This is my ring, Trist. Of course I'll wear it."
Tristan began speaking, but Clara wasn't sure what he was saying; everything grew muffled, leaving only the faint beat. She looked around and tried to find the source of the strange noise. When her eyes landed on her brother, a vein throbbed on her neck. She'd never seen it before. It was an odd feelings, she felt a strong pull inside her when she looked at the little vein on his neck. A sweet smell-- not floral sweet, or sugar sweet-- intoxicating in every way, pulled her closer to her brother. She needed to know that tantalizing scent was.
"Clara!"
A pair of strong arms gripped her tightly around her arms and pulled her away from the eldest de Martel. By the scent alone, she knew it to be Lucien. "What have you done, Lucien?" She cried weakly.
"Yes, Lucien. What have you done to her?"
Lucien spun her around and pulled her into his chest, letting her face bury in his chest. He suddenly felt the need to comfort her, whilst glaring at the wicked de Martel "I gave her power like she's never seen."
"You've tainted her purity!"
"What do you know about your little Clara's purity?" Lucien questioned, giving him a haughty laugh. "You barely know what innocent Aurora is capable of?"
"Bite your tongue, stable boy! Do not speak of things you know nothing of."Tristan bit back viciously.
"Oh! The stories I could tell, Lord Tristan-"
Clara pulled away, glaring at her brother. "Quit this foolishness, both of you-" A sharp pain flashed through her abdomen causing her to clench her teeth and look back at Lucien. "It hurts so much. Please make it stop,"
"Of course, darling." Lucien promised, making Tristan scoff, "Is there anything else you need to say?"
"Your attention has seemed to switch, after all this time of that disgusting obsession with Aurora, to my dearest Clara." Tristan's accusatory tone seemed to only make Lucien angrier.
"Shut your wicked little mouth, Tristan!" He pick Clara up and hand of her bridal style in his arms. "Come on, Clara. Let's get you one of Tristan's guards to devour."
Clara let Lucien carry her through the castle; the sun had long since set, leaving an eerie atmosphere all through the castle's dimly lit hallways. Everywhere, even though not a single person was around, she smelt the apparent blood of the maids and servants. The sound of their beating hearts and rushing blood filled her ears sending her hunger over the edge. Lucien had said she needed to drink blood to finish her transition. Now, she'd have the power of a hundred men, she'd be faster than father's fasted messenger horse, and she'd be able to see in the darkest darkness. It all sounded quite wonderful to her but the hunger she felt right then was almost unbearable.
Lucien adjusted his grip, probably feeling her squirm uncomfortably in his grip. "I know you're hungry, love. We are almost there."
Clara was silent for a moment, a questioned burned in the back of her mind. "What would happen if I decided not to drink blood?"
"Do not even consider such thoughts-"
"What. Would. Happen?" She repeated, growing increasingly impatient. "I will not ask again."
He sighed. "You would be dead by nightfall."
"Hm."
Eventually she was put down onto the floor where she stayed hunched over, the pain only intensified once a guard was brought out. Lucien explained what it was going to feel like, the drunken stupor, then used a knife to cut along the mans arm. It took her no time to latch her mouth onto his arm, drinking deeply. There was an immense pain as her fangs grew for the first time, pushing their way through her gums. Lucien promised it'd only hurt like that once.
Clara felt the intoxication he spoke up. All the blood entering her body gave her such a feeling like she'd truly never felt. With her mouth still on the dying man's arm, her eyes moved over to Lucien, whose eyes took over a hungry gaze. She removed her mouth, smirked, then changed her position so that he may take the other arm in his. "Join me, Lucien. There's plenty to go around."
Clara woke up and shuddered; she'd never dreamt of such a memory before. After saying her goodbye to Hayley, she'd compelled herself a car and made her way out of town. In a small town just outside of New Orleans sh managed to find an inn to stay at. Her destination was Mystic Falls, Virginia. A town that seemed to act as a supernatural beacon. A place where she could siphon enough magic to perform the spell she reengineered. Lucien didn't have much time-- 5 days tops. A nonwitch being in a ancestral plain could possibly be hell for him.
"Sleep, Clara. Tomorrow you will wake and you will be ready to save him." She breathed, before closing her eyes and letting the sleep overtake her.
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I DECIDED TO ADD THIS INTO HERE SORRY