So I feel like I should warn you guys that this story is nearing its end
BUT
I came up with another way to kinda continue it on a few more chapters (I originally had it planned to end before chapter 43 but I might be able to keep it going now)
So I hope you guys enjoy the way I continue it :)
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Chapter Fourty-One
Marcel growled once more before Avarice's hand gripped his throat and pinned him against the wall. He hissed at her, but knew that he could not hurt her, so did not even try to fight back.
Marcel Gerard had been a threat to the Mikaelson's before, and now, it was Avarice's plan to make sure that he would never be a threat again.
"Magic gave you your powers now, Marcel," she growled out. "Did you think it couldn't take it away, too?"
His eyes began to widen as he realized what she meant, and they he struggled. He stopped, however, when she placed her other hand on his forehead. A black film seemed to encase her palm, and when she pressed it to his head, she closed her eyes.
Dark veins streaked up to where her palm had been placed, and then he was screaming.
She felt the darkness and power go through him and into her, moving through her veins and under her skin faster than her own blood.
It was gone fairly soon, and then she dropped him.
She leaned back for a moment with her eyes closed. She hadn't felt that much power for a long, long time. Dark energy was pulsing wildly throughout her entire body. It felt like fire had replaced her own skin cells, and yet, she did not shy away from the heat. She embraced it.
Avarice felt the fangs dig into the bottom of her lip, and she felt something new.
She had used so much of her power bringing the Mikaelson's home that this new energy was replacing what she had had before. She was still a reaper, but now, she was something else. She didn't have as much of a reaper's power anymore. It felt like she had a battery inside her soul that needed to recharged.
"Leave the Mikaelson's be," she said with a soft pant. "And I will have no reason to come back here and skin you alive."
She turned on her heel and left, only to be met with Aspin standing outside the elevator.
"Oh, thank god!" she said, then dove forwards and embraced Avarice. Avarice was confused, but hugged her friend back anyway. "We didn't know where you went!"
"I was... Taking care of a loose end."
Pin nodded, and then Avarice suggested they go to the roof.
"Why are we up here?" Pin asked when they got there.
Avarice stood a little further away from her, not looking her in the eyes. Instead, she looked out at the city. The sun was setting, and it caused the sky to turn a mixture of orange and purple. She adored the sunset. It was more dull in the mortal world than it was where she was from, but she liked it.
"I need you to answer me honestly, Pin," she said, then turned to her. "Do you love Freya Mikaelson?"
Pin was quiet. She didn't answer.
"I've seen the way you look at her. If you do not love her, then you at least admire her greatly."
"I do love her."
"Good. That makes this easier."
"Makes what easier?"
"It makes it easier to not think selfishly," she said with a saddened smile.
"What do you mean?"
"You're not going home, Pin. I am, but you are not."
Aspin's brow furrowed in confusion. "What? Why not?"
"Because even if you don't admit it, you love her far more than you say," Avarice said, going over to her friend. She placed her hands on her shoulders, then pulled Pin into an embrace. "Freya Mikaelson is your home."
She was quiet for a long time, but hugged her anyway. "A-Avarice?"
"You're going home," Avarice whispered. "It's time to go home."
With the blink of an eye, she gave Aspin the last of the remaining power she had. It was enough to last centuries, to allow her to stay with the Mikaelson's for as long as she wanted. To stay with Freya for as long as she wanted.
They were now in front of Hayley's home, and they could both hear the excitement. The Mikaelson's and Hayley had been reunited, and each of them were happy to see their niece and friend again.
"I need you to keep them safe, all right?" Avarice said with tears filling her eyes for the last time that night.
Pin was confused, but she nodded.
"Now, open the portal, okay?"
She did as was asked for her, and with a wave of her hand, a circle of blue light had appeared in front of Avarice. She gave Aspin one last smile. Then Pin hugged her again, and much harder this time.
Avarice didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave the Mikaelson's, or Aspin. She wanted to stay. But she had a job to do.
"I'll miss you," Pin whispered. "I'll miss you so much."
"I know," she replied. "I'll miss you too. Levi will come see you."
"What about you?" Pin asked as she pulled away.
"I can't... Not for a long time, Pin. This has... Weakened me. There is something wrong now," she said, looking down at her hands. She could still feel the darkness in her. "I'll be all right, but I need to rest now. At home."
"If you love Elijah, isn't he your home too? Like Freya is for me?" she asked.
Avarice hated how she was right so very often.
"I did. I do love him. But he can't be my home. Not anymore. My home is with the reapers, no matter how malicious they may be."
Pin was crying now. "Thank you, Avarice. Thank you so, so much."
"You're going to be happy here, Pin," she said, feeling the tears spill over as she saw Pin cry of both happiness and misery. "I know you will be."
*
The moment that Avarice had stepped foot back into the reaper world, she had lost herself once again to the rage. The anger she had, she took out on the reaper's that dare defy her.
Their blood caked on her hands, long since having been dried. It felt sticky, but she did not have any desire to wash it off quickly.
She watched as some of her servants began preparing the bodies to be sent home and buried. Their families would likely be ashamed of them, and would come asking for Avarice's forgiveness. She would grant it, of course. It was the only thing she could do, considering she had just killed someone that they loved.
She had lost count after she hit fifty. There had been so many.
A familiar face came through the crowd. Out of all of the reapers, including Ajal and Robert, Kaige and Avarice were the only ones that killed that night. She was just like him now.
She hated that.
Kaige came to stand by her. He knew that the Mikaelson's were gone, but even as he spoke, he did not seem even slightly upset about it.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cold as ice. "I know how much you cared about them."
She didn't answer him for a long time. "Go home, Kaige."
She turned on her heel, and went back into the castle. While it may have been her castle, she would never call it home again.