JEZEBEL † The Originals †

11. Tempus Fugit

MARCEL

"Oh! We're really gonna do this," I laugh at them, "The oldest, most sophisticated vampires in history and we settle our disputes like kids on a jungle gym!"
Elijah tears the boxing rink gates open with such a drastic tug, I thought it might go flying off the loose hinges. Aya follows him inside, one of her good friends eagerly shutting the entrance behind them and hinging it closed.
Her jacket flies over the side of the cage, her foot rapidly pivoting to face her opponent.
"I could order my brethren to fight for me, and such is their loyalty. That would only make this more of the childish sentiment you speak to. This is between me and Elijah. Leadership must be earned," Aya announces. "One way or another, that charter will land in my palm."
I hear the tacky clinking of Elijah's cufflinks hitting the seat of the metal cage borders.
"Come get it," he invites her jovially.
Aya did not leave room for anticipation. Her leg jetted straight out from her side and made it an inch close to his lower back before Elijah's right hand strikes it down, catches it, and permits him to launch her into the side of the cage.
My fingers curl through the holes in the chainlink with investment in the moment.
They move at the speed of light, their movements blurry to the naked eye. It starts looking like Aya is evading every single one of Elijah's shots, not doing much to fight back until a courageous fist looks to take a very low blow. Elijah moves out of the way and sends her traveling.
"Are you quite done?" he pants.
Quickly, she rebuttals, "You'd have me submit? Once again, I must remind you I have a mind of my own."
She punches, he catches, she punches with the other fist, he crosses them once over the other and locks her into his grip long enough for her arms to flicker with loss of sensation. Then, he grabs her neck swifter than any bear's paw.
"This does not have to be so difficult," he murmurs.
Aya disagrees, "Oh please, how could you think we would follow you in the first place."
She uses her feet to overpower him and bounce him away, roundhouse kicking and jabbing her iron foot out like a wrecking ball for Elijah to dodge every time. Free of his obligation to hold back, Elijah catches her last attempt to double him over and shoves it over her head until she's flat on her stomach on the floor.
"You all swore loyalty to the very least person who deserved it. He took advantage of what we had...he took advantage of the past...and he made us a tyranny," he pants furiously, jabbing his fingers where he imagined Tristan to be right now.
He should have watched his words.
"...You ran," she ached, getting to her feet, "You ran like dog on its last leg and you left us to be slaughtered. You're no founding father...you just paint it as an image on the wall between us."
"You know I had no choice!" Elijah claimed.
"Lies! I saw my brethren slaughtered by the dozens that day—all because you couldn't live up to the bravery you championed to have and face your mad father! And don't say anything. I already know what comes next... 'Always and Forever'. And yet, you told us we were a family! You should have seen the ruin, the wreckage—"
Interjected he, "And I did! You'll never know the devastation I felt when I believed you to be dead."
She smiled maniacally, shaking her head.
"Yet, I did not. Could not. Thanks to the effort of a true nobleman. It was Tristan who was our savior. And he earned our loyalty!" Aya exclaimed.
He recalls, "Tristan was the usurper who stole our dream. He is the antichrist of everything we had fought for."
"Say what you will. It does not change the fact that you...are as cursed as your family. Use your eyes, brothers and see! This is Elijah Mikaelson Traitor to our cause! And I will happily die if it means he will never have a chance of leading our people," Aya swore.

"So be it," remarks Elijah.
Propelled three feet off the ground, Aya's neck is about to snap in his grip. For god's sake, this will take another century to finish. Aya isn't dying today. Given Elijah will eventually cave and let her go, everyone in the room knows what each side is really fighting for: using my city as a homebase. My city.

I think fast. Working against their obliviousness to other motion in the room, I burst into the boxing cage and take the scroll, simultaneously knocking Aya out of Elijah's grip. They tumble to the floor like a tower of blocks, eyes zooming around for the culprit as I watch from the overhead balcony.