Gods & Monsters ✧ Elijah Mikaelson

XX ✧ Siphoner

Chapter Twenty

Ajal was a frightening man. He was intimidating, even to Elijah.

But now, as Elijah watched him, he saw nothing but pain. Speaking of the death of his friends was, of course, difficult. It would be for anyone. Even so, Elijah was surprised to see the so-called King of Death so very downtrodden at only memories. Then again, he knew just how damaging such memories could be.

Elijah was silent, and Ajal continued.

"In the year 917 AD, the Nightmares attacked. The Seven were at Kaige's castle, and it took them by surprise. No one saw it coming, and no one really knows exactly what happened except for Kaige and Avarice. She has never spoken about it to me, but Kaige has," Ajal said, his eyes seeming to fade. He spoke, but seemed as if he was not fully paying attention as he did not meet Elijah's eyes. "I responded the same way as you, you know. When he went to speak with me about what had happened, I was very closed off and angry with him. I wanted nothing to do with him and I did not want an explanation, but in the years following the incident, I began to understand his reasoning."

Elijah still stayed quiet. He wondered if he, too, would understand Kaige's reasoning. He wondered if he would take Avarice's side in this situation, or if he would see things from Kaige's point of view as he often did with Klaus.

"When they were separated, the mares were too strong. As it turned out, when mares touch the reapers, they do not die like you or your family members would. They go insane. They lose their minds."

"Would the same happen to Avarice?" Elijah asked.

He had hoped that Ajal would not hear the concern that lingered in his tone, but from the way his eyebrow cocked ever so slightly, Elijah knew that Ajal was fully aware of how he felt.

Ajal nodded. "Yes, it would. After the Seven were attacked, the four who had been touched by the mares seemed perfectly fine. But then it got worse."

"How so?"

"The four were not fine. They were the opposite. When the Seven went their separate ways, going back home for the majority of the year, the four who had been touched slowly began to lose their minds. Then they began to talk to each other, communicate and speak of what their thoughts. They realized that they were of like mind and then began to speak of what they wished to do. They decided that the Seven were the only reapers that should exist. In doing so, they decided to kill all of the reapers they had created in the thousands of years they had existed."

"How did Avarice find out?"

"She noticed that they were acting odd. She intercepted a message being passed between Bila and Eric. She warned Kaige and Jagger, then went to the mortal world to find a way to save them."

"Did she? Did she find a way?" Elijah asked, becoming more immersed in the story. It was beginning to remind him of the way Avarice acted with his family.

Ajal nodded. "Yes. It had turned out that there was only one way to do it, and it involved absorbing the magic. She would take the dark magic that was hidden within their blood and morph it into her own, both strengthening herself and saving them. I don't know the details, but she had a ritual done that made her into a siphoner. That's most likely how she managed to take away Rebekah's curse and felt the affects afterwards. She absorbed it into her own body."

Elijah had heard of the siphoners. They were each of a similar bloodline, so it was surprising that Avarice was able to make their power her own.

Ajal suddenly looked uncomfortable, and looked down at his feet.