Chapter One Hundred & Fifty-Two
"Quickly!" Freya commanded as she took long strides over to us. "Find me what represents you in here."
Klaus was about to reply when a cut appeared on the side of his neck, a cut that deepened to be a slice on his throat. He choked on his own blood as Elijah and I both said his name, and then dropped to his knees, and Elijah caught him to stop him from hitting the ground completely. Then the same happened to Elijah, and he pressed a hand to his neck to stop the bleeding. They both made gargled choking sounds as Freya looked to me.
"Oh god. It's starting," she said in a horrified tone.
I went down to be at eye line with them, and Freya did the same.
"You three need to focus. We need to find out what it is that represents you, and we need to find it now," I said.
Klaus said, "The Kings" while Elijah said "The Knights".
Elijah pointed behind them at the chessboard, and Freya rushed over to it while I tried my best to tend to the wounds on their throats.
I still had no idea what represented me.
"Which is it? The Kings of the Knights? We need to decide now!" Freya shouted.
Aurora knelt down beside me, and it took all of my self control not to try and tear out her heart right then and there.
"How perfect," she said, looking right into Klaus' eyes. "Even in this crucial hour, your ignorance blinds you. Even if you never learn from your sins, at least you will die because of them... And I get to watch."
Klaus had a look of realization on his face, and he called out weakly to Freya. "Take the Queens. The women we betrayed represent us."
Freya spun around and tossed the Kings and Knights to the side, then grabbed the Queens from the chessboard.
"Aurora... Aya," Klaus said, struggling with his words.
Freya began to chant, and clutched the black Queen tightly. She began to chant, and I could almost feel her magic. Suddenly, Elijah was no longer weak, and stood up. Then he vanished entirely. She did the exact same with the white Queen, and then Klaus vanished as well. Freya looked at me in concern before she disappeared, leaving me alone with the de Martels. She was not strong enough to take us all out, and she did not mean to leave. Unfortunately, she had no other choice. She was not strong enough.
As I looked Tristan in the eyes, I saw the fear in them. Then he looked behind me, the worst thing he could have possibly done.
The white rose was in the vase behind me, and I then knew that it was the item that represented me. A white rose was innocence. The innocence that Tristan and Aya both believed the Mikaelson's had stolen from me. Little had they known, I never had any innocence in the first place.
I went to the vase and took the flower into my hand, then turned back to the siblings.
They were both horrified when they saw what I held, while I just couldn't help but grin.
My family was out of this dream world, and were going to save themselves.
In other words, there was nothing more stopping me from tearing apart this Chambre de Chasse from the inside out.
I raised my hands to either side of me, my palms pointed towards the ceiling. The floor shook beneath us, and the two looked watched me in horror. They certainly were right to be. They clung to each other as the ceiling began to crack, the plaster and fresco artwork beginning to break apart in both large and small chunks. Aurora jumped closer to Tristan when one of the chunks almost landed on her head. The holes in the ceiling exposed nothing but darkness above us.
More and more pieces fell, and the floor began to crack. The tiles shattered and fell into the black void.
I looked at Tristan and Aurora with a smirk as the ceiling finally collapsed entirely, the rubble falling on and crushing all three of us.
*
I gasped, my eyes flying open. My body jolted, but I felt a palm on my shoulder that calmed me down almost immediately. I looked around to find myself lying near the wall of a room I had never seen before. It was dark, with candles lining the ledges and sides of the rather large pool that was in the centre of the room. The candles, however, had been blown out.
I heard him say my name, and, I looked up and saw that it was Elijah who had his hand upon my shoulder. He was looking down at me in concern.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
I nodded. "Y-Yes."
Elijah suddenly looked to the side, then back down at me. I was still recovering, my exhaustion getting the best of me. Not only had I escaped the room on my own, but I had destroyed it.
"I will be back soon, Roseia," he said, and I saw a fire in his eyes. He was... Angry. Who in particular he was angry with, I did not know.
He left the room, going out into the hallway outside of it. I heard him go into the room next to this one, and talk to someone. When I listened a little closer, I knew who it was. It was Aya.
I struggled to stand to my feet, then when I was stable, I left the room. I could see them from the hallway.
"If your life were chained to a man who left you despite your devotion... What choice would you have but to break free?"
Elijah didn't answer her.
"So... End this," she ordered, her head held high.
He was raised his hand, holding a gun at Aya's heart. It was the one that was full of white oak bullets. Her voice suddenly becomes more powerful.
"End it, Elijah! Or I'll take that gun and kill you just to finally be free!"
She gasped loudly when my hand went into her back, completely breaking through her rib cage to grip her heart. Her ribs were splintered and shattered, scraping at my skin while I clutched it.
She breathed heavily while I leaned forwards.
I almost felt tears forming in my eyes out of pity. This was a broken woman, wanting nothing more than to be free from the man I loved. How could I not give that to her? How could I ever deny a person freedom, when it was something I had fought for? Something that I had wanted for so long for my own family?
"You will be free, Aya," I told her in a calm and gentle voice. "I promise."
I tore her heart from her chest, and Elijah looked at me in astonishment.
Her body dropped limp to the floor, while I avoided Elijah's eyes. They darted from me and back to Aya, multiple times.
"I'm sorry," I said.
I didn't meet his eyes as I went past him, leaving the mansion and the home of the Strix behind.