Severed Heaven (Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Meet Me Under The Mistletoe

        When I walked into the compound, it burst on me that neither of the brothers seemed to be there, instead, my eyes fell on Freya and Hayley both seated on the sofa. It relieved me. "Freya, how're you doing?" I rushed to her side. I exchanged questioning and uncertain looks with Hayley, which proved to me that the blonde would definitely make it seem less worse than her ailment actually was.

Freya nodded, putting up a brave face when she looked up at me. A part of me knew she wasn't afraid to speak the truth in front of my presence, which relieved me, yet again. "Well, I've definitely felt better."

Hayley placed her hand on Freya's shoulder, frowning at the state she was in, and then looked back to me with utter concern. We were both devastated by her state. "Elijah's out looking for the antidote." She said, the words almost rushing out of her mouth all at once. "He said you'd bring the muskroot."

The phone call washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day in the sun. Like numbness, the thought of his concerned voice worked on my extremities first and then pierced to the rest of my body. It brought me back to his request, and Hayley's question, and so I fished the muskroot from my bag. "It's a tough one to find." I said, and held the small box in my hands with the herb inside of it. "But here it is."

Freya got up from the sofa, thanked me with the look in her brown eyes. "Good." I could here the newly developed comfort in her voice, and she took the box from my hands. "I'm strong enough to spell the dagger."

"Let me do it." I quickly volunteered, but she quickly shook her head.

All I could give her were all manners of arguments as to why she shouldn't, but she got to them first. "You should tend to Rebekah." There was something dark and obscure in her eyes. I could tell how worried she was for her sister, and I gave myself no other option but to follow her plea. "She's upstairs. Hayley and I will get started on this." As she held up the muskroot, she gave me a certain nod, and even though my worry for her only increased by the second, I knew she would be in good hands with Hayley by her side, so I nodded back.

On my way up the stairs, I felt revulsion towards this fear, if fear it really was. I made peace with the boldness that was pushing me forward, looking for the Original sister. No sooner had I knocked on the glass panel than I heard someone stir inside. I made out a weak light going on. Rebekah was pacing around the room, undoubtedly keeping her mind distracted from from whatever darkness ran through her veins at the present time. "Well, it's nice to see you again, you know, not in a box for once." I said flippantly when I stepped into the room.

Rebekah smiled away the distance between us, and approached me with relief. "Liz— Elijah said you'd come." We pulled each other in for a hug, and for a moment it appeared as though nothing was really wrong.

I sensed the barrier, though. She seemed nervous, on edge, and I knew why. When we released one another, I could see the anxiety in her eyes. "How are you feeling?" I asked. I detected her face for any visible signs of the hex, then took her wrist, and stared down at the red and infected skin. Yes, this was definitely a hex, and not a subtle one at that, and like Elijah had put it, this really was a souvenir from the Strix; one that we should've seen coming, perhaps.

Her smile never disappeared, not even when she spotted the concern haunting my features. "Oh, don't fret. It's being taken care of as we speak, and I haven't gone full hellion yet."

The smile on my face said it all. Her own personality still shone through, which was a good thing. "Well, no more than usual, at least." I said while taking off my coat and throwing it onto the bed.

It cheered us both up, calmed us down, the jokingly approach and the reunion. Her laugh quenched my dwelling on my what-ifs. This and the concern for her sister that I continued to face were the two things on top of my worry-list. On top of that, Vincent's words flooded back into my mind. Your ancestors must be turning in their graves watching you. I wasn't going to pretend that this didn't shatter me, and perhaps it wouldn't if it never came from his mouth, but it did.