Dispersora | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 23

Marcel was not having a good day.

"You've got to be kidding me!" said Yara, extremely upset when she had rushed to Algiers and found him about to walk into his apartment after he informed her he was kidnapped by a woman in The Strix (a cult she'd always disliked). "Who the hell laid a hand on you? I'll pull them apart and sew their limbs back on upside down!"

"Some woman named Aya," said Marcel tiredly. He loved Yara but he was not in the mood to relive the embarrassment of the day. "It's fine, I'm fine."

"Well, what happened?!"

He rubbed the back of his head, heading into his loft. "She took me to their house, the Davilla Estate, basically talked about recruiting me until Elijah showed up." He hesitated to speak, but burst out, "I don't know what's more annoying– The Strix coming into my home, or Elijah dismissing me like some kid."

Yara lingered in the doorway, trying to figure out what to say. She snapped her fingers at Josh and Aiden, who were scrubbing at a blood-stained rug. "Hey, put two tablespoons of ammonia in a glass of water and spray it on the stain. Or just get a new rug. Marcel..." she moved closer as he began to serve himself a drink. "I know it won't mean anything right now but if Elijah stepped in and was rude, it may have been a result of his stress... doesn't make it right but I think he's trying to protect you. The Strix are not to be toyed with. Unless... you wanted to join?"

"I didn't," he said unconvincingly.

"My boy..." she put her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay to want things, it's okay to see where you are and wish for improvement, for a change. As long as you know what you risk with what you're aspiring to."

"Elijah made me feel small. But I'm not small if The Strix are trying to recruit me."

"No, my love, you certainly aren't. You have done amazing things, you have rebuilt vampire communities from the ashes twice. You have helped this city survive. Of course they'd take notice. I only wish to warn you... this comes at a time when there is a war being whispered about. Elijah's sireline trying to recruit you amidst a prophecy that foretells one of the three remaining Originals will fall by family or friend? You qualify as both. I can't help but worry they may be using you. Promise me you will think about it before you make any decisions?"

He relaxed. "You're not telling me I shouldn't?"

"If I tell you that you shouldn't, you will want to. If I tell you that you should, I'd be pushing you toward an unsafe situation. The only one who can decide is you. I trust your judgment. And I worry about you always. So does Elijah, so does Klaus. Don't do anything just because you feel you have something to prove. Do it because you stand to gain something from it and because anything you might lose is minimal or zero altogether."

He offered her a drink, which she took gladly, taking a sip before resting her head on his shoulder.

"He's not joining."

"I wasn't saying he was going to," she said, frustrated, as Elijah paced in Klaus's study while the hybrid angrily mixed paints and listened to their conversation. "But you have to wonder about their motives. If they are using this to try and gain intel on the family, you know as well as I that he'll want to use it to our advantage. What could it even be about? What did Tristan say to you?"

"He said that Lucien either knows where the weapon is, or he has it. We must keep him alive until we can find out what it is. I presume they intend to use Marcel to track our progress in this, to see our every move and find out what we do with the white oak we have and that which we aim to acquire, if that is at all true."