Gods & Monsters ✧ Elijah Mikaelson

I ✧ Poisoned

Chapter One

People are most afraid of what they cannot explain, and when they are afraid, they deny the existence of what is right in front of them. That is why it is rare to find a human who truly believes in the monsters that lurk in the shadows.

Avarice knew all too well just which creatures were real and which were not, and she could easily say that every story, myth, or legend, was true. The boogeyman, the mermaids, the demons, the werewolves, the witches, and above all, the vampires. In the past, Avarice had been known for looking after the Dream Reaping of all of the Supernatural, but over time, vampires vastly outnumbered any other species. Now, she focused on vampires, which was why it was so surprising on the days that she found out two of the Originals had died.

Finn and Kol Mikaelson's deaths the first time around were both rather gruesome. Finn was murdered by a human by the name of Matt Donovan. He was killed with a white oak stake to the heart, and when that happened, his entire sire line turned to ash as well. That involved many sleepless nights for Avarice, who was taken up the task of looking after them. Kol was killed by Jeremy Gilbert, one of the hunters and the brother of one of the dopplegangers. That was worse, not only because Kol's death was a little more painful for him and for Avarice to watch, but because Kol had turned many, many humans into vampires.

The second time was different. Kol died in a witch's body from a hex placed on him by his brother. Finn, however, died through a bite from Lucien Castle.

And that was a problem.

The fates, beings that turned their knowledge into books, had not written about Lucien's immortal form. It had never been planned for him to become stronger than the Originals, for no one was supposed to be a stronger creature than The Mikaelson's. At least, not in the human world. When he was killed and his serum was transferred from Aurora to Marcel, making him stronger than the Mikaelson's as well, Avarice needed to intervene.

Levi and Pin followed after her, having to almost run while she walked quickly around the room. Both were confused as to what she was doing with the fates books, but knew that it wasn't good. Avarice was usually a very calm person, but she looked like she was about to burn every book in the castle at that point.

"Avarice, what exactly are you planning to do?" Levi asked, deciding it was pointless to waste his energy following after her.

"If I knew, I would have done it already," she growled.

"But we need to fix this. We need to-" Pin started, then quickly stopped herself from speaking any further when Avarice threw the fates book she had been holding down onto the table before beginning to shout in frustration.

"This was not supposed to happen! Finn Mikaelson, Camille O'Connell, the Strix members, none of them were supposed to die! Freya Mikaelson is not strong enough to save both herself and her siblings, it's too late for that! She is poisoned far too much to even be able to save one of them, let alone put them all to sleep! It is not written in the fates, and neither are the deaths of all of the Mikaelson's! And yet, here we are! It is happening, and the fates say that it is not supposed to!"

Levi then walked toward Avarice with a look of realization. "So we have to stop it, we need to. It is our job to keep the balance. Now how do we do that?"

Avarice ground her teeth together, wishing that Kaige's neck was between her jaws. He should be dealing with this, seeing as he was supposed to handle these situations. Not her.

"We need to find a way to cure them. We can't just bring them back to life, that's not how our world or power works. We need to stop them from dying."

"They have hours, maybe minutes," Avarice argued. "How are we supposed to save them in so little an amount of time?"

"What if we don't save them?" Pin asked.

Avarice blinked in confusion.

"Think about it. We just have to keep them from dying, we don't need to cure them. Not yet. So how do we preserve their souls without allowing their bodies to die?"

Avarice almost smiled. "I know exactly how."

*

Avarice and her two closest friends went to the other side of the castle, to the Reaping room. There, they saw images of the Mikaelson's, and knew full well that Avarice was the only one who could save them.

"Are you sure she can't do it?" Levi asked, not being able to take his eyes from the image. "Freya Mikaelson is a force to be reckoned with."

Pin jabbed him in the side with her elbow, telling him that Avarice was trying to concentrate.

They watched with interest as black dust began to move swiftly around her palms. The dust flicked around her fingers, licking at her skin before moving away from her and towards the image. Then it moved away from her hands entirely, and acted as a border around the image of the Mikaelson's.

Freya was sitting at a table, while Kol and Elijah were sitting on either side of her. She was working at the spell while the two brothers held hands, and the three reapers knew that the two other Mikaelson's were also connected. Freya had written their names upon a parchment, putting their blood onto the paper. The blood was all trying to move towards Klaus' name, and Freya started to shout the spell louder, then her voice suddenly faded, and she almost fell against the table. The two brothers continued to writhe in pain. The spell had not been completed.

With that, Avarice pushed her hands forward with a quick and rough movement, and the dust completely covered the image. Levi and Pin looked at her with worried eyes, then at each other. They jumped a little when the dust suddenly faded, and Avarice gripped the edge of the table they were standing in front of.

The image had changed. Freya, Kol, and Elijah were asleep, which meant that Rebekah and Klaus were as well.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the three shuddered. It was the softest of feelings, and if they were human, they probably wouldn't have been able to feel it. Their senses were different than that of any other creature, much stronger. So they heard that sound, and knew exactly where it was coming from. It was coming from the other side of the forest, the forest which was right outside Avarice's home.

"They're here."