ᵐᵒᵒⁿˢ ▸ 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍 ✓

eighteen.

MOONS.
018. | ❛ she'll grow toxic. ❜

Klaus has just returned to the compound with Luna, and he immediately yells at Rebekah when he sees what she's doing.

"Rebekah!" Klaus vamp-speeds toward the girls and clenches his hand around Rebekah's wrist to prevent her from ripping out Hayley's heart as Luna rushes into the compound and gasps in horror at what she's seeing.

"Not her." Klaus forces Rebekah to release Hayley's heart, and she gasps in relief as her body starts to heal. When Rebekah sees Luna trying to check on Hayley, she spins around and tries to lunge for her as well, forcing Klaus to hold onto her arm tightly and pull her away.

"Not her either!" Klaus vamp-speeds himself and Rebekah backward until he slams his sister onto the nearby dinner table, smashing all of the glass plates on top of it. Luna, who has a black briefcase in her hands that she and Klaus stole from Lucien, gives it to Hayley with a nod. Hayley, knowing that Klaus has Rebekah under control, rushes upstairs with it to take it to Jackson. Rebekah, who is still in Klaus' choke-hold, still manages to lash out at Klaus and LunA with her words.

"Aah! Dear, sweet Luna. You're so afraid that you'll ruin her--" Rebekah uses all of her strength to throw herself onto her feet, though Klaus still has his arms on her to hold her back.

" --You keep her behind glass like some breakable object." Klaus, horrified, looks back at Luna while he holds Rebekah back, and Luna looks hurt by Rebekah's words.

"She's not precious, Nik. Every woman that you and Elijah bring into our lives turns to poison."
Luna, equally horrified, turns and runs out of the courtyard, which makes Rebekah laugh bitterly.

"She'll grow toxic, too." She suddenly shoves Klaus away from her.

Klaus isn't thrown back very far, however, and he and Elijah, who has finally recovered, stand side-by-side and glare at Rebekah angrily.

When she lunges toward them, Klaus and Elijah each grab one of her arms and throw her back onto the dinner table, where she struggles against their hold as they pin her down.

"No! No! Aah!" Just then, a still-weak and bloodied Freya rushes toward them as fast as she can with the enchanted blade in her hand.

"Hold her!" Luna rushes to help hold her down. Klaus, Luna, and Elijah do what they were told and pin Rebekah down as hard as they can as Freya comes up and slices the patch of skin with the cursed skull weal on it off of Rebekah's wrist with the knife and chants the spell, though Rebekah screams so loudly her incantation is unintelligible. Finally, once it's done, Rebekah goes limp as her body starts to heal from the injury. Her eyes close for a moment, and they hesitantly let go of her and back away. After a moment, Rebekah begins to stir again, and she groans as she comes to and sits up. Klaus, Elijah, and Freya all look at her with concern, though they are relieved that her eyes are no longer black as they were. Finally, Rebekah speaks in a sarcastic voice.

"Well, that was annoying." Freya sighs in relief, and Klaus can't help but chuckle at her. After a moment, Rebekah smiles a cheeky smile, indicating that all is well for now.

******************

Elijah, Freya, Klaus, Rebekah, Luna, and Cami are all dressed in their best holiday clothes and standing around the lit Christmas tree. Elijah has just placed a large, beautiful wrapped gift for Hope under the tree and adjusts some of the ornaments on the tree nervously as Freya comes behind him and puts down a gift of her own. They then stand and walk toward Cami, who hands each of them a glass of red wine. Klaus comes out next with two more glasses of wine and smiles as Freya comes over and kisses him affectionately on the cheek. Just then, Jackson leads Hayley, who is holding Hope in her arms, to the top of the staircase, where Hayley immediately stops and stares in awe at the holiday gathering below them. When Klaus sees them, he walks toward the bottom of the steps, and Elijah, Freya, Luna, and Cami turn to look up at them with smiles on their faces. Hayley is positively beaming as she walks down the stairs, looking up at Jackson affectionately as she does so.

"You said you wanted a happy family Christmas. Well, the family's all here." Jackson assures Hayley. Hayley walks over to Elijah, who has eyes only for Hope at this moment.

"Merry Christmas, little one." Elijah bends over to kiss Hope on the head as Klaus walks over to Jackson with a smile and hands him a glass of wine.

"Thank you for helping Freya." Jackson looks absolutely surprised by Klaus' uncharacteristic kindness as he takes the glass, and Freya smiles at Jackson gratefully from behind him.

"Unfortunately, we're all out of mason-jar moonshine." Klaus can't help but chuckle at his own joke, and Jackson smiles in reluctant amusement as well before Rebekah, in a berry-red holiday cocktail dress, walks toward them to join the party.

"Well, Nik, you are positively merry tonight!" Rebekah stops and looks over at Luna with a bemused smile.

"Luna must certainly have an affect on us. " Suddenly, Klaus' face looks horrified as he notices a very large metal bowl full of burning wood has been set up by Rebekah on the other side of the room.

"Oh, no!" Rebekah looks even more pleased by how terrified Klaus looks at the prospect of their family's holiday bonfire.

"Yes, I know it's not exactly a bonfire, but I improvised." Klaus continues to look nervous about it, but Rebekah just groans in mock frustration b

"Come on. It's tradition!" Luna looks around them in confusion.

"..Tradition?"

"We write our wishes and then burn them for luck. Strangely, I don't recall wishing for an influx of enemies, and yet year after year..."
Elijah smirks as he sips his wine.

"How odd. Forever on Santa's naughty-list."