Gods & Monsters ✧ Elijah Mikaelson

XXII ✧ Diamond

Chapter Twenty-Two

Avarice was quick to leave after that. She went to her room, and was preparing to get ready when Vanessa and Pin came in.

Pin was wearing a beautiful dark pink dress. It cinched at her waist and then flowed in layers down to her feet. Avarice didn't normally like the colour pink, but the dress looked beautiful on her. Avarice was about to tell her so when she saw what Pin was holding.

It was a black box with a blood-red ribbon wrapped around it to hold it shut.

"What's this?" Avarice asked, an eyebrow raised.

"A gift," Vanessa hummed with a smile, handing her the box.

"We figured that if you were going to be forced to make the other reapers happy for a night, you should at least do it in something new," Pin grinned.

Avarice couldn't help but smile widely as she untied the ribbon and removed the lid. The dress inside was a dark red, and long-sleeved. She immediately adored it, and even more so when she pulled it from the box and let the hem fall to the floor. It had small jewels - they seemed like diamonds - along the bodice and the neckline, which dipped rather low. Low enough to show some cleavage, at least. Avarice had no issue with that. The sleeves would go down to her wrists in lace, which just made her like it even more.

"What on earth would I do without you two?" she asked, pulling the two girls into a group embrace.

When they each pulled away, Pin and Vanessa looked a little sad.

"We're sorry that you have to do this," Pin frowned.

"It should not be required of you," Vanessa muttered, her jaw clenched. Her sadness had turned to anger.

"But it is," Avarice told them. "I hate it as much as the two of you, but Ajal is right. Kaige isn't the only one who wants to see the Mikaelson's for themselves, and if we are to be left alone here, we must introduce them into our world in order to have peace in the castle."

They both nodded, voiced their displeasure about the ball once more, and left. But before they did, Vanessa called over her shoulder, "Make sure you put on the diamond earrings!"

"Why?" she asked.

"You'll figure it out soon," she said with a wave of her hand, then rushed down the hallway after Pin.

Pin would be going, as would Levi, and there was no telling how it would end up. Pin hated Kaige and wasn't willing to forgive him, but she knew it was best not to say anything at the ball because no one else knew. None of the other white-eyes or the reapers knew about what had happened except for her, Avarice, Levi, Vanessa, Ajal, Jagger, and now Elijah. At least, Avarice was sure that Elijah knew. Pin at least had some self-control and would not even go near Kaige the entire night, but Levi had a tendency to favour confrontation.

She slipped on the dress, and absolutely adored it. Avarice had never been an especially confident person, but Pin and Vanessa could not have chosen a better dress for her.

She heard a knock at the door as she was putting in the second diamond earring, and told the person to come in.

Elijah opened the door and stood there in silence for a few moments, his lips parted. His eyes shot down to the bottom of the dress, then back up again. He wore a tuxedo now, and Avarice was pleased to see him in something other than a business suit. He looked marvellous in both, but the fact that he wore this for a special occasion made him look all the more better in it. She then saw that he had the smallest of smiles on his face, a hand on the door handle while he held a large velvet box in his right.