Hey there, guys! Hope you're all enjoying the story thus far.
Don't hold back; drop a comment or two. Constructive criticism is like music to my ears!
Now, I have to apologize for the delay in updates. I've been grinding away on the next three chapters, but editing is a real pain in the you-know-what.
As I've said before, English isn't my first language, so editing is a bit of a struggle. Bear with me, though, 'cause I'm giving it my all!
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Freya and Elijah had been waiting in the living room for some time now. They both got a cryptic text from Niklaus—something about a big discovery and that he was in urgent need of help.
The cryptic message concerned both of them, as they were aware that Niklaus wouldn't reach out unless it was truly urgent. Freya and Elijah exchanged nervous glances when Freya's phone rang.
She quickly answered, "Niklaus, what's going on?"
"Is Elijah with you?" Klaus said instead of replying.
Elijah's presence was confirmed with a simple "Please go on."
Klaus continued, his voice rising with enragement. "Do you remember Kingmaker Land Development Inc.? We followed a trail with Hayley and stumbled upon Lucien's secret lab in Tennessee. It was filled with werewolves and one dead vampire. As it turned out, the company is a façade for Lucien's covert experimentation with supernatural species. His research focused on developing a different treatment for werewolf venom and an even more dangerous form of venom that is resistant even to my blood. Klaus roars with rage in his voice. The venom is potent enough to kill any vampire, including an original, making it a formidable weapon against our family. It is a threat we cannot underestimate.
That vile duplicitous knackered... Klaus snapped. Don't you see, he manipulated us from the beginning. The prophecy, the sire line war, Tristan...
He arrived in New Orleans purporting to be my friend, with flattery, blandishment, and phoney promises to protect his sire. Everything he did was calculated and deceitful." At that point, Klaus's voice was full of anger.
"But to what end?" Elijah was puzzled, trying to make sense of Klaus's words.
"It has something to do with that bloody prophecy," Klaus said with a sceptical tone. "Alexis was his oracle. He either fabricated the whole thing or he's using it for his self-serving agenda."
Meanwhile, Elijah was staring at the wall, his fingers caressing the fine cotton of his shirt unconsciously, playing with one of his gold cufflinks as his mind was trying to connect the dots. The more he thought about it, the more Klaus's words made sense to him. "Either way, Niklaus, we need to figure out the truth before it's too late. Our lives may depend on it." Elijah spoke up, his words as heavy as lead.
Freya's face darkened as her mind drifted back to her vision of the prophecy. "All these vague cues and cryptic messages... all these fragmentary images—so many assumptions of what could be going on..." Freya whispered more to herself, crossing her hands over an old grimoire that was open on the wooden secretary, and then turned to her brothers with a raised tone. "There has to be a way to find out what is happening."
The hybrid's frustration crested, realizing that they had been kept in the dark for far too long. It was time for him to take matters into his own hands and uncover the truth. So the next words that came out of his mouth left his siblings puzzled.
"A way exists!" Klaus announced with a resolute tone, "The time for speculation and assumptions is over. We need concrete answers to unravel the truth behind the prophecy, Klaus declared. I have no choice but to go to Greece, and I will be going there by myself. If I'm going to be able to complete my journey without being spotted, sister, I'll need your help casting one more cloaking spell."
"Protecting your daughter while staying by her side is the most important thing. So, tell me, what makes Greece more significant than that?" Freya asked assertively.
"It's time to meet up with an old friend of mine," Klaus replied in a pompous tone. "Now, if you excuse me, my attention is needed elsewhere," he said and hung up the phone.
Freya arched an eyebrow at Elijah and crossed her arms against her chest. "Can you please explain what's going on?" she inquired, her voice laced with curiosity.
Elijah took a step closer to the balcony, looking out on the street, and said, "We can't trust Lucien, and we can't trust the Strix, as far as we know; they can work from the beginning together."
"I get that, Freya quietly commented, but what does it have to do with Klaus's trip? Who is this old friend of his?"
Elijah was silent for a moment. Then he exclaimed, "Phemonoe! The first Pythia, at the Oracle of Delphi."
His explanation left Freya still perplexed.
"What does Phemonoe have to do with Klaus' trip?" she questioned, raising her brow.
Elijah let out a weary sigh as he realized that Freya had missed the connection. "My dear, Phemonoe has to be the key to unlocking the prophecy," he patiently explained. But as Freya continued to stare at him with a baffled gaze, Elijah, with a disapproving tone, couldn't help but remark, "Sister, history seems to have eluded you completely."
Freya's anger flared up for a brief moment. "Oh, how right you are!" she retorts with a touch of sarcasm. "Because clearly, I didn't waste half a millennium in slumber and the other half being a slave to a wicked witch. No! Elijah, I do apologize for not having the luxury of gallivanting around, stealing from the innocent, feasting on their blood, and indulging in some light reading like the rest of our family."
Elijah raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Touché, my dear sister!" he replied with a laugh on his face. Shall I continue the story?
Freya settled herself onto the plush leather sofa, her anticipation palpable. With a deep breath, she looked at Elijah, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Let's have it then", she said eagerly.
Elijah gracefully poured his favourite red wine into two crystal glasses, and as he joined Freya on the sofa, he extended one of the glasses towards her. Taking a sip from his wine, he began to weave his story. "It was during the 1600s when our brother embarked on a perilous journey to Greece, driven by the desperate desire to break mother's binding spell. The legend of an immortal seer, the daughter of the ancient god Apollo, was enough to convince Niklaus to seek her out.
That seer was Phemonoe, a female descendant of the deity. Our brother used his charm and wit to convince her to aid him, and when he saw that it was not working, he resorted to his familiar ways of threats and violence. Niklaus's attempt to intimidate an immortal being who has been around for 2500 years was a vain effort. Elijah continued with a smirk on his face. Oddly enough, his manipulative behaviour did not seem to deter Phemonoe from enjoying Nik's company. And her refusal to offer him help didn't result in him running away, sowing destruction in his path. Surprisingly, the two of them seemed to have fun together, so Niklaus stayed in Greece for several months. It was an unexpected luxury for Rebecca and me to spend time without him breathing down our necks. And then, in one of his rare letters to our sister, Niklaus shared that he was coming back.
He never told us specifically what happened, but surely enough, it was his fault.
As we all know, Niklaus can only behave civilly for a brief time before his self-destructive side takes over, ruining everything." Elijah exclaimed as he took the last delicious sip of his wine.
Freya nodded in response to the comment with a chuckle. "Well, Niklaus never fails to disappoint," she said as she took another sip of her wine, savouring the taste.
"So this ancient seer, Elijah, how strong is her foresighted ability? "Can she help us?" The blond witch asked her brother, hoping for a positive response.
The brother paused for a moment, pondering his answer. "Phemonoes' powers are comparable to those of the twelve Olympian gods. She could see into the future, unlike any ordinary seer. To answer your question, sister, if anyone can put the pieces of this puzzle together, it's her." Elijah reassured his sister, his voice filled with confidence.
The blond witch felt a glimmer of hope as she arose from her seat, ready to start working on that additional clocking spell.
She had to make sure that not only Klaus's tracks were undetectable, but Hope and Hayley were also kept hidden from any potential threats.