𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑶𝑿𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑫 - 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ fᴏʀᴛʏ fᴏᴜʀ

                                             ➳

"Why are we here?" Lunar stops, their on the Main Street. Marcel and Rebekah aren't in site.

"You know your city's history." Klaus says to her. "That night in 1919, when the opera house burned down on this very spot? That was my father at his worst."

Lunar listens with baited breath as Klaus continues the story of how his father tried to kill him.

Opera House, New Orleans, 1919

The Opera house is full, bustling with people. Klaus and Rebekah share a private box, and Klaus skims through the programme.

"Well, this is off to a bad start. Your first big date together in public after I gave you my blessing, and he stood you up." Klaus remarks.

"Something must have delayed him." Rebekah defends Marcel's absence.

"Or, now that your elicit affair is out in the open, he finds the whole relationship a tad lacklustre and has ran off to Havana with a showgirl." Klaus grins.

"Don't be such a toerag. I'm going to check the lobby." Rebekah stands.

"See if you can find our brother while you're there. The curtain is about to go up." Klaus says to his sister as she ups and leaves their box.

There are footsteps behind Klaus as someone else enters the private box. Mikael sits down behind him, producing the white oak stake in his hands and resting it against Klaus' back.

"I would advise against trying to flee, boy. I can drive this into your heart before you can even think of getting to your feet, and I don't want you to die yet." Mikael hisses.

Klaus feels the breathe catch in his chest. "Father-" he breathes out the words, they almost get stuck in his throat, paralysed with the shock of his father's return.

"Father?" Mikael repeats, a venomous laugh escapes his lips as he taunts Klaus. "Still clinging to that word after all these years, a bastard desperate for a daddy? I wonder if your real father would be as embarrassed as I was of you before I discovered you were not mine. Most likely." He sneers.

Klaus angrily tries to shove off Mikael, to turn around, but his father stops him. "Oh, uh-uh. Easy now, boy. Don't worry. Death will come, but we need to have a little chat before you shuffle off your immortal coil."

"Any words we have for each other have been spoken long ago, but know this - I am no longer the animal begging for scraps of your affection. I will die knowing my hatred for you was just. I will fall proud of all I have achieved here. So, Mikael, if you're going to kill me, then get on with it." Klaus shoots back.

"Au contraire, Niklaus. Some things remain unsaid. For instance, you were right to be proud of your achievement here. As I walked the streets, your name was spoken of in reverent tones by the city's finest. So, after I kill you, I will remain here in New Orleans until every last person who remembers you is dead." Mikael hisses, sinister undertones in his voice.

"The deeds of the mighty Klaus will be remembered by no one. And you, boy, will simply never have existed." Mikael looks at the stage now at the sounds of the orchestra tuning. "Ah, the grand show." He relaxes, pulling the stake away from Klaus as the lights go down.

"Oh," Mikael leans forwards, touching Klaus' shoulder. "I made some alterations in your honour. You'll love it."

"And what a show it was." Klaus tells Lunar, his voice is dark and distance, and she fears what happened next. Mikael truly was the monster that monsters feared.