𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑶𝑿𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑫 - 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛʏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

➳

Lunar screams, tossing the contents of her dressing table onto the floor. She clears her chest of drawers in one swift sweep, bottles of perfume and other trinkets clashing to the ground.

Klaus abandons his painting, hearing her shouts. He races down the hallway, into Lunar's room.

"Lunar, hey." He grabs for her arm, but she just pushes him off in blind rage. Klaus stares at her, not sure if he's ever seen her so angry.

She finally stops, taking a moment to breathe, as she looks back at Klaus. "I killed her." She tells him.

"Well, good riddance, I say." Klaus smiles, going to wrap his arms around Lunar but she pushes him away.

"No, you don't get it! Francesca looked me in the eye and begged me for her life as I tore her apart. But I don't feel better! I don't feel peace! I don't feel anything!" Lunar shouts back.

Murdering someone wasn't her problem. But, for the girl who called herself the werewolf with no humanity, Klaus was starting to understand she'd never fully felt numb. Not numb like this, not numb like he'd felt before. The only feeling being that of anger and blind rage, the kind that consumes you. Eats away at you, destroying everything good inside of you and around you.

"It's natural that you're struggling to adapt-" Klaus starts, trying to speak softly, but she cuts him off.

"Nothing about what I am is natural, Klaus!" She yells, before seeing the hurt register on his eyes. An abomination, that's all he'd ever be, and now Lunar was condemned to the same fate as him.

"Lunar, breathe." He tries to calm her, grabbing ahold of her shoulders now.

"I can't. I'm suffocating, Nik. I don't want to live like this, I hate it." Silent tears escape her eyes now. "Before, I was in control. I could turn it on and off whenever I felt like it. Now? Now I can't feel anything other than mind numbing rage."

"Lunar, listen to me, your a hybrid now. Your feelings and emotions are heightened-" He tries, but it's no use.

"Oh, I know! It's all Elijah's been telling me." Lunar snaps. "Just go. Don't pretend you care now. You've spent the last four months ignoring me, another day won't hurt." Lunar turns her back on him, slumping down onto the bed. It seems to take forever, until she finally hears the sounds of Klaus' retreating footsteps.

Downstairs, Klaus sits at the table in the courtyard where Elijah is preparing to destroy the moonlight rings.

"Could you not just take a sledgehammer to them?" Klaus grumbles, still sour from his argument with Lunar. He'd thought they were on the mend, but how wrong he'd been.

"These were forged by a witch, brother. And, as such, only the elements of fire and water can destroy them." Elijah replies, rolling up his shirt sleeves as he grabs a pitcher of water and a stone bowl filled with burning charcoal. "I'd have thought this would have brought you greater pleasure."

"As would I. This was my fault. All of it." Klaus replies, sadly. "If I had just accepted Lunar's pregnancy instead of.." his voice cracks against the emotion, "playing king... I should have listened to you. Instead, my greed and envy not only robbed me of my daughter, but the woman I love. My actions led to the release of the weapon that can kill not just me, but you." He sighs.

"In a thousand years, I've survived your attempts to destroy me, brother." Elijah replies, whilst gathering up the stones and dropping them into the bowl. "I imagine I can survive this."

"You chase my redemption, like a man rolling a stone up an endless mountain." Klaus responds.

Elijah pours the water over the stones now, destroying them. "Well, no mountain is endless, brother. Some are just steeper than others."