ofmoonlitmagic

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"Terrified, obviously," Briggs quipped back, "heavy is the head that wears the crown as they say. Yeah, we're definitely gonna tackle some of those laws. Laine's pushing her boundaries, and she's gonna hear about it. Your Uncle Dex did get himself that fancy OEA job, not that I think we'll be allowed to pick our reps, but maybe I try to get him assigned to the council members and their parties? His eyes are far less beady, I think."

Closed Starter - @ofmoonlitmagic

"Should I be scared or excited about you being the voice for the hybrids," Lucas questions, teasing tone to his words as he approached the male. "What's the first rule of business with this council? Personally, I think it should be the curfew or this whole no gatherings of more than 5 people without an OEA bitch in attendance. How we supposed to party and have a good time when their beady little eyes are on us."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

Briggs wasn't going to involve himself in her conversation, no one was feeling good about the world right now, but when she was dropping his name and saying something untrue, his temper was too short right now to allow it. He had always been respectful of when Riley was on stage, a slip here and there if he forgot timezones when he responded or checked in, but it had clearly been enough to be a pain in Roxy's ass. "Exaggerating a bit, aren't we, Rox?"

Open Starter - @exitiumstarters

"I knew they should've just extended the tour," Roxy sighs, gaze settling on the person beside her as she downed the liquor in her glass. "Dealing with Briggs facetime 10 times a night throughout the concerts sounds so much better than being here right now."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

The whole reason he had to stay: the promise kept. The announcement had arrived before they were truly ready for it, but his dad had honored his word. Briggs would be Klaus's counsel, represent the hybrids, and he would see the supernatural beings empowered again. The laws now enacted were a tough blow. A curfew again. But there was another thing said, one lost in the uproar: a cure. Klaus wouldn't let her say it if it wasn't true. The OEA would fall someday, but Briggs would be sure he got his hands on that first.

What followed after the speeches was dizzying, chaotic. People furious, tension thick in the air. So when the doors finally shut on the last guests, he released a breath he hadn't fully realized he was holding when the world fell silent once again.

Sitting on the edge of their bed as he watched his wife undo her hair, he shook his head, silent in his answer to the first part. It had been horrible timing. "Everything I do is for you," he murmured, his shoulders lifting as if again that was the easiest of things, "I don't always do it well, but it's always for you." Rising from his spot, he slid his hand into hers. "The family feels fractured. My moms don't live here fully anymore, and that was one thing to know it out there...but here? I feel it more. I guess when we were looking a year ago I knew we could come back here, visit, and my family would still be here. It's just different now, and everyone's left on bad terms, ya know? I dunno, it's stupid. We should probably go look at the place, right? We could hate it." Giving her hand a squeeze, he murmured as he pressed his lips to her forehead, "I know you want to go, and Uncle Klaus did say we would always have a place here still. We should have a place that's ours."

( billie mikaelson ✦ briggs mikaelson // @ofmoonlitmagic )

Their previous conversation had been interrupted by the announcements made by Klaus and Laine; their family forced into a united front, with both Briggs and Billie having to swallow their emotions. To be Mikaelsons.

The final guests had left the compound and the doors were once again closed to the prying public eye and for a moment, even if it was fleeting their home was their sanctuary again.

“It wasn’t a bad time— I never got the chance to tell you that” Billie assured, pulling the braid from her hair and combing her fingers through her curls, grateful to be out of her dress. "You were doing it for me and I love you all the more for that. But I know you're hurting too and I just—” A soft sigh eased from her lips, a crease forming against her brow as she held out her hand, her fingers flexing as she beckoned her husband closer. “This is your home. It’s our home— we leave on our terms. When we're both ready."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"We are different," Briggs corrected, refusing to accept similarity even as a flicker of the old Lysander returned, "I would never leave her. I never have." He knew how blinding the ache for vengeance could be, but it didn't excuse the actions taken to abandon Billie. Briggs had never said he was a good man, but he did know how to be good for his wife. "If you can't right now, you can't at all."

He knew what she wanted him to say, but he couldn't. His brows furrowed as she seemed to want to say something else, probably a lot of things, but they went unsaid. Or maybe not fully unsaid. "Ambition is probably a good word for it, I doubt she believes in anything but herself though."

That explanation made sense, a building up over time, so he nodded. A quiet "yeah" offered. "I just need my family safe, Nova. After that, Lysander can have all the time he wants." The damage to the relationship had been done already. He was going to salvage what he could for Billie's sake and her sake only.

"I didn't say try, I really don't want you near her at all if you can't," he clarified, "though that's not the point. It was always less about control and more about your own pride because you should have walked away well before control of your magic was a problem. That's the explanation. You need to figure out why you didn't leave her alone that night when she asked you to. Then you'll be in the right direction."

Watching as she performed whatever miko thing this was, he studied the motions, trying to learn something from it. As she asked him to stand back, he took a few steps to put distance between them. "Do whatever you need to do."

Lysander's eyes widened hearing the words. For a singular moment, the old Lysander was back. "Perhaps we aren't so different after all young Briggs." There was a nod. "I will. I can't promise right now but I will." There was a quietness before he turned away his eyes darkened.

Nova still felt small in that moment. Part of her wanted to reach out and say it was okay. But she couldn't bring herself to. She wasn't worthy of helping him, not anymore. "Understood." She said in a sadder tone then intended.

"I see." Nova said trying her hardest to bite her tongue. She could have asked why Taejin of all people. She could ask why Klaus sees her as just as bad. She could ask many things. "I guess it's ambition. To fight what you believe in. Even at the sacrifice of your own beliefs." She remarked.

Nova nodded. "They can play parts too. But it didn't happen over night. Maybe the grief started and then with more and more it got bigger and bigger. That's how these things happen." Nova said. "It might but keep in mind Lysander will need time." Nova admitted. "It will be a good start though."

Nova couldn't blame Briggs for the lack of trust. He couldn't even blame her for bringing Billie up. There was a look of guilt in her eyes. "I meant to try to fix it. Like you said that day to try not to contact her until you control it. Not an excuse an explanation." Nova did feel bad about it. Did it take over her mind like it use to-not in particular. But if it was bought up and she had to be vulnerable- she didn't trust her emotions not taking over. "I will do my best." Nova said taking a deep breath.

She let herself concentrate on th ground feeling the magic, it felt familiar yet awful. To be one with the ground is terrifying but she had to. For Lysander, for Briggs, and maybe the future. She took another breath and felt the block on the forehead. She gingerly pressed on the spot before inserting the needle. And it was gone.

Nova continued to do this several more times with the other spots. Only concentrating on the spots to dissolve them, where there were dots it seemed lighter. Press Jab. Press Jab. Press Jab. Her minstrations continued all around, brief pauses as she had to shift her postion or feel the ground. Finally there was the hardest one the heart. Not to fix it but to redirect it. She looked at the ground one more time before looking at Briggs. "This one won't fix the heart just redirect some of the energy to the stomach so it doesn't get worse." Nova explained putting her hair up. "You should stand back."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"Loving Billie has never required that kind of sacrifice," Briggs said, though he figured, once again, Lysander wasn't actually talking about Billie. Just himself. The grandiose statement was enough to prove that. "The night of the gala, I lost myself. Thinking Riley was dead, thinking the OEA had taken from me again, vengeance was all I wanted. I let Billie leave by herself when I shouldn't have, but I never accepted that it was okay to fail her. I made that right. That's all I'm asking of you, that's it. Make it right, Lysander. With her. That's worth more than vengeance will ever be."

Of course he wasn't allowed to still be mad about that, to be hurt by that. He simply shook his head, dismissive once again of his own pain. "I know that was logical explanation, I get the logic."

He nodded, "she is. About as shitty as they come, and I know that's a bit hypocritical coming from a Mikaelson. I won't say we're innocent, but I think she got as high as queen of Hell. Not anyone you want to be calling an angel." He could only hope since this wasn't compulsion that at least Lysander might not know everything.

For a split second, they felt like kids again, learning from one another. He could almost feel the sights and sounds of the Abe household around him for that brief moment. Only a moment. They weren't kids, not anymore. "Vengeance? Hatred for my family?" He threw out a few suggestions, though he didn't expect any solid answers. He didn't know why he offered, the reality quickly returning. "Maybe, if it gets the old Lysander back," he murmured. Because it was for Billie, he'd do anything.

She couldn't channel him, for one, it was too much power for a first go at that, and second, most importantly, he didn't trust her. However, again, he needed this to be successful. "You can channel the earth, Nature itself. As a witch, you have access, and I know you can because it's how you hurt my wife. You just have to control it this time." He had no intention of letting her forget that night, even if the blow had been a low one to take. His wife got hurt on one of the worst nights in their lives, and Nova needed to remember what she had done and what harm she could do. "A witch is a servant of nature, it's symbiotic. The earth will give back to you, and you to it. It's why we have rules, laws, a balance to be kept. Feel the earth around you, let yourself draw from it as you set his mind back into balance."

"Then I will make sure I'll do everything in my power to prove myself. Even if I die trying." Lysander said with a finality. The type of finality that would brings shudders down any stranger's spine.

Nova bowed her head in apology. "Sorry." She could only muster. What else could she say. She just was explaining.

There was a brief stunned look in Nova's eyes. If that was a pebble in his shoe, she didn't want to even know what a true adversary looks like.Though she had to bite her tongue hearing compulsion, considering recent events. "She sounds awful." Nova could only say.

Nova briefly thought she was a kid again, showing Briggs the cool things she learned. She sometimes felt her power was akin to bar tricks, but at least this one fared useful. "That can be part of it guilt. But to make a block that big it's probably more than that. The power can tell me it's big but it wouldn't tell the source. That varies from person to person." Nova said. She looked up with semi hopeful eyes. "Would you be able to do that?Because that would be awesome." While it wouldn't get her to master status, it would give her some growth.

"It's harder yes." Nova admitted. There was a look. "It would be great if I could." She confessed. Just for that extra layer of safety.

[ofmoonlitmagic]

'Cause you don't know the difference between violence and pain | briggs's playlist.

[ofmoonlitmagic]

Everything added up, every hurt and betrayal of trust reopened and expanded wounds. Looking into her eyes, Briggs could see his wife's tender, forgiving heart exposed behind the cracked, shattered walls that should have protected her from everybody else but hadn't actually managed to protect her.

His heart tightened in his chest as her gaze dropped, refusing to look at him. They were inches away, but it felt like miles. Helpless, as if in the middle of the ocean, his gaze didn't leave her as he silently pleaded with her to believe him. To hear him over the noise of everyone else. Numb, the word filled with at least half a dozen other emotions, was probably the most accurate description, but it didn't make it easier to swallow, to bear. They had tried to salvage this life, but they only returned to find things worse than before. He hadn't actually managed to do anything either. "We suffer because we care," he murmured, "and they don't." They could chase it forever, and it would never satisfy because you can't make people love you. The smile she attempted was weak, the ache in his chest growing as he asked, "what can I do?"

Lips pressed to the top of her head as he held her, listened to her, interrupting only once to assure her, "you're not stupid. Not to want this, not ever. It's the most natural thing in the world to want. I don't think that instinct every goes away: the one that wants your parent to love you. No matter how many other people love you." He had tried to fix this before it ever affected her, but there was nothing that could be done. He couldn't make someone try if he was more content to his own selfish ambition. "We'll make our own home, and it's gonna be so much better than the ones we've come from. I promise you that."

"Keep that in mind, and I'll keep up the flattery." His gaze followed her as she took in the room, the memory of the first time as vivid as if it were yesterday. It was as if all the emotions felt that day were still in the air, part of the walls, part of Mikaelson history. He knew they'd have to go eventually, need a place of their own. It had seemed exciting a year ago, but now...now he didn't know. He wanted to go back in time, when his family was whole. "You're gonna get your hopes up and then not like the actual surprise," he teased, the sound of her giggle as life-bringing as the first time he heard it. He knew her patience would run low if he dragged it out, so he was quick to allow her to look. "It is," he confirmed, waiting on a positive reaction...that didn't come.

"I told you if you got your hopes up..." He managed, the joke not fully landing as he studied her response, aware of every change and shift. It hadn't cheered her up at all. Of course it hadn't. "I thought you'd be excited," he mumbled, quickly finding himself somewhere between dismissing the whole idea and trying to save it, "he said he talked to people who knew us best so it's not gonna be one of those crazy options like before." Taking the deeds back from her to put them aside, he then shook his head to shut it all down. "We can talk about it later," he waved it off, "it was a bad time for this. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea right now." His brow furrowed and a half-laugh expelled in a breath as his head tilted slightly with his own internal monologue, he was racking up the dumb ideas today. "So why don't we just rewind, you close your eyes, and we'll go with your idea?"

“I’m—” Billie's urge to reassure had become caught in the back of her throat, her expression one of complete vulnerability as she found his gaze, holding onto her very own life force with both hands. As encouraged, she followed the gentle guidance of his voice; allowing for him to bring her home, as she held onto him tighter. “I’m right here with you, I promise.” Her assurance was made with as much strength as she could muster, as she repeated in a barely audible whisper, “I promise.” 

Billie needed to hear the truth, as brutal as it might be; or feel to repeat, she had to hear it; to feel the cruel sting of rejection, otherwise she would just keep letting people take from her. Without even realising it she would let them bleed her dry until she was nothing but ash. 

“You always have” she promised and the words were spoken upon an exhale, but her gaze had since dropped, finding herself unable to meet his eyes. She feared that if she did, every ounce of suppressed emotion would come flooding out. More than anything she wanted to believe him, she had never wanted anything more than to hear those words and to accept them, but she just couldn’t. Her hand lifted to rest against his cheek, her gaze eventually lifting to find his as her eyes carefully studied each feature. “I just feel—” exhausted, belittled, humiliated, manipulated, deceived, “numb.” She wasn’t enough for them– or maybe she was just too much. That was the part that she hadn’t ever figured out, might not ever figure out. “They’re gone. That’s it, I can’t change it” her voice trembled, recovering by drawing in a breath, “it doesn’t matter. They made their choices, why should we suffer because of that?” Placing both palms flat against his chest now, she ran then down his torso, before settling against his ribs “a long and really weird experience that you can tell me all about it in our room” she murmured softly, encouraging for a smile to ghost upon her lips. Swallowing the discomfort in the back of her throat, she nodded “I am. You don’t have to worry, I am okay.” 

Knowing that she needed his embrace, she relaxed into his touch as he pulled her closer, hugging herself against his chest, appreciative of the truth behind his every word. “I don’t want it to matter, because if I let it matter, I don’t think I can come back from that. Not again. I was stupid to want this. My entire life, i've been chasing ghosts, chasing after something that just doesn't exist. I have Zera and I have you and that is all I need. I don’t need anything else, I don't need their false promises, or incapability of loving anything other than themselves. I don't need it. I don't want it.” She would never tire of hearing how much he loved her and never tire of letting him know just how much she loved him in return. “Always and forever” she mused softly and perhaps those words held even more importance tonight.  

“I knew that’d be used against me eventually” she teased, pulling his arms tighter around her frame as he murmured into her ear. Her frame trembled against him as she leaned into his touch, “flattery will get you everywhere, babe.” 

Stepping over the threshold and into their bedroom, everything was exactly how they had left it— a reassurance of its own making. There was a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips, as her fingers reached to dance across the top of the dresser, the same way they had when she had walked into the room for the very first time. They were home— this was home and between these walls was an abundance of memories, just for them. “Close my eyes?” she repeated with a slightly suggestive grin, “alright, but if you’re naked when I open them—” her words trailed off into a giggle as she did in fact, closed her eyes; holding out her hands, palms upturned. Her brow creased as the deed was then placed into them and she asked, “a peace offering?” Billie never had been great with surprises, so she had opened her eyes almost immediately. “Wait– is this?” 

She didn’t even have to read the documents, already knowing what this particular peace offering was and there was a pull in her chest, one that dropped through into her stomach. “Do you—“ chewing on the inside of her lip, she shook her head before releasing a steady breath as she held the deeds between them, positioning her free hand against his waist. "Is this what you want, because the choice is ours, baby. Not mine, not Klaus'– its ours.'" The compound was their home, his home and she knew that the only reason to leave was because of her. Her primary focus, her only concern was her husband. "We don't have to do this."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"Hey," Briggs called softly through the haze of memory he knew his wife found herself embedded in, knowing as much where she was at as she knew where he was moments ago. The grip, the halting of her breath, his heart broke with hers. Why couldn't he just fix this? It felt so cruel he couldn't do anything about all the things other people had done. Watching her eyes go almost unseeing, playing back things already at home in her bones, he tried to pull her back out. "Bill." Come back to me.

He had said too much. Torn being sparing her with lies or breaking her heart with the truth, he wasn't sure the right answer had been chosen. Helpless, he stood there, hearing everything, feeling everything. The light was fading from her again. He should have kept his mouth shut, stayed with her. Someone else could have gone after Lysander, why was that his responsibility? Lysander had spoken of his own pride, and Briggs had to wonder if that was his problem too.

Events don’t repeat but they do rhyme. Her husband didn’t kill her. But her husband didn’t protect her either.

His eyes briefly lifted and scanned the room as the words echoed in his mind. It was easy to see where he was wrong about Billie, find all the ways his 'carelessness' had been cruelty. But as he looked around, he could see the truth about himself as he heard the accompanying idea: and that's where you fail in regards to Billie. The OEA in their home, a chasing after Lysander that ended in the same abandonment she'd received from her bio mom. He was good at starting fights, but he couldn't actually manage to finish them. He just made it worse. Was he the next curse on her life? We love you, but we can't handle that.

"I'll always fight for you," he promised, "it's pretty easy, actually, I really just have to state the facts because you're the best damn thing that's ever breathed." Looking into her eyes, he softened his tone all the more, "please don't bury this. I know it hurts, baby, I know." He didn't want her to feel pain, but he knew she needed to feel. The alternative was worse. As she tried to shift the focus onto him, he was quick to shake his head, "I'm fine--it was just a long and really weird experience. I just want you to be okay, that's all I want right now."

Holding tightly to her, he would have stood there all night if all she wanted was to be held. He'd have done anything at all to make this even the slightest bit better. "What are you talking about? Of course I do, I'm not gonna just leave you feeling like this," he murmured, arm pulling her in closer even though there really wasn't any space actually left between them. "It does matter, babe, it does. They took enough, they don't get to own your pain too. It's yours to feel. It's okay that it matters, it's okay that you wanted this. Wanting parents--or parental figures--to care, that's not asking too much. It's never been asking too much."

He could repeat a lot of this until they were old in their bed, but he couldn't make her believe it. However, it would never stop him from saying it, trying like hell to make her see what he could when he looked at her. She was everything. "I love you," he exhaled, "always have. Even before I knew you."

As light as he could make things, he'd fight for that too. He didn't want her to lose all joy in their homecoming. "Now, I didn't say it couldn't be multiple things. Actually it is multiple things, but we'll see where the night takes us." Her laugh let him breathe a little, chasing it as he always did, "I did learn a few things on the island about how to get your full attention. Good exercise." He didn't want her to avoid feeling, but if he could alleviate some of the pain, he wanted to try. If only to get them through the party. "You are so fucking hot," he murmured against her ear, pressing a kiss just behind her ear. Keeping one hand on her waist, he reached around to open their door before giving her a little nudge inside.

He'd only been in earlier to drop off what Klaus had given him, but this was his first time really seeing it again since they'd been home. Now wasn't the time to focus on that, though. "Okay, um, close your eyes," he suggested, as he quietly shut the door behind them, "and hold out your hands." Going to the dresser, he picked up the deed and came and stood in front of her, "so this is from Uncle Klaus, actually, a peace offering." Placing it in her hands, he murmured, "okay, you can open."

‘What did you do?’ The accusation played over and over in her mind, unrest pulsating through her as the taunting memories resurfaced. Given the amount of times she had been asked that very question in her life, how could she not believe that she was the problem? Lysander had just become another vessel with empty eyes and cruel accusations asking ‘what did you do.’ The words became caught in her throat and she hadn't realised that she had been holding onto her breath until her lungs were practically crying out for a breath. For a moment, it was as if she had forgotten how as her grip against her husband tightened and she was subconsciously willing herself to calm– to breathe. Just breathe.  

The sound of Briggs' voice was doing everything to soothe her as she grappled with an urgency to regain composure. To take a damn breath. “You always do” she finally managed, the sound breathless as she fought to focus, but her words were still completely sincere. “You always come back for me. You're always there for me. You always have been."  

The weight against her chest felt unrelenting, the idea that Lysander blamed them for his words, for his choices was sickening. The idea that this was their fault, as if she had put the words in his mouth— she felt ill. It was like her insides were shifting; her expression fell completely vacant and in her devastation she was silent. Billie was becoming increasingly aware of her discomfort as her cheeks became hot as the blood rushed to the surface and any sounds became distorted by the sound of her own heart beating violently against her ribcage. Don't cry. Don't fucking cry.

She had spent her entire life living behind walls for her own protection; but it didn't matter how high she built those defences, she had still been abused, manipulated and used by people who were supposed to love her— except now, she knew that they didn’t know the meaning of the word. The air was once again beaten from her lungs, but she knew that this was the part she had to hear— to stop her from ever making this mistake again. ‘He did say he didn't mean to hurt you, though, said he was careless with his words.’

Her silence remained, unable to find the words, to even begin to articulate the pain she felt, but she knew how hard Briggs was trying to take some of that pain and she appreciated him all the more for it. Still, her heart felt like a led weight and she was humiliated, betrayed and angry. For herself, for her husband. Nodding her head a little clumsily, she whispered “I know you did” knowing that he would defend her with ferocity and she was so very blessed for that. "Thank you. For always fighting for me." Swallowing her emotion, she wanted to strangle the sensation. Bury it so deep that it could never be found again. “The only family I need is the one I have right here” she retorted, but gauging his expression, she felt a knot in her chest as she asked “are you okay?”

As much as she wanted to assure him that this was alright— that it didn’t hurt, but she knew he could see straight through her. So, she sank back into him, her arms wrapping tightly around his frame, burying her features into the crook of his neck and she would stay wrapped within their embrace for a little while. “You don’t have to— it’s okay, baby. You don’t have to try and make me feel better. It doesn’t matter anymore” she willed again, her eyes shutting tightly as she placed a kiss against his neck. "It doesn't have to matter."

The love she had for him was immeasurable and she could feel every ounce of it in return. She wanted to believe that she was the easiest person in the world to love, to believe it might take some of the emotional weight that she felt right now, but she just couldn’t. Lifting her head from his shoulder, she found his gaze as her eyes reopened, her free hand cupping his cheek as she reminded him, “I love you.”

It didn't matter for the heaviness of the situation, his smile could still make her stomach flutter as her expression matched his. “I’m holding you to that” she hummed, finding strength to her voice as he placed a kiss against her forehead. There was a momentary pause followed by encouraged laughter “oh? Now you have my full attention.” They wouldn’t be broken by careless words, nor the actions of careless people. As much as her heart was breaking, she wouldn’t give in to it. Leading them back inside and up the staircase towards their room, she guided his hands to rest around her waist as as he stood behind her, glancing back over her shoulder to muse, “you might have mentioned it— once or twice. I won't say no to hearing it again though.”

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"Save it," Briggs said, "you had more than enough chances to explain." When he was pleading for explanation, a way to fix this, was a start. "Words mean very little when there's no action behind them. You have shown what you value more. Your vengeance is for yourself, no one else."

The hybrid gave a small nod to concede the point. It wasn't like he heard someone asking for a miko every day either. His body tensed as she made her explanations of the differences. "Didn't ask for an explanation. An attack is typically more damaging than healing, but what do I know?" He didn't need that answered either. They just needed to do this so he could get back inside to his wife and friends.

"Right," he murmured, acknowledging that name wouldn't ring any bells for Nova, "an enemy of my Uncle Klaus's. Though enemy might be generous, more like...a pebble in his shoe. She likes to terrorize teenagers and compel her lover-slash-partners. Hence why I thought he was compelled initially, turns out he's just pussy-whipped. She's about as far from an angel as ya get."

Focused on the magic, Briggs had to admit that was cool. From the moment he stepped into this home, he had soaked up all the knowledge he could, but there would also be something more to learn. Even his mom still needed to consult grimoires for certain things. "Guilt, maybe?" He suggested, "last couple times we spoke, he kept bringing up his sister. He blames himself for her death. Does that make sense for that kind of block?" His eyes not leaving the energy in front of him, trying to decipher all its pieces and parts. "Well, I know some very old people, so one of them might be able to translate Nana's books, Mom has grimoires in all sorts of languages," he mumbled out the offer, only half-paying attention as he studied what was in front of him. "Is this what you saw when--" No, he shook his head as if to say nevermind. He didn't want to know.

He started to take a step back, but then he paused. "I know what the 'offensive chi' did to you, and if healing's harder, do you--" Why was he offering this? "--do you need to channel to do this safely?"

"But I was not intentionally-please I just want to-" Lysander looked wearily in despair. "I wish one day to explain this better. But in my condition I can't anymore." Lysander explained. "I loved Billie Mikaelson more than Astolfo. My venegenace must be done for everyone..."

Nova blinked rapidly at the passed out man. Frankily very shocked out of her core.The witch was struggling to find her words. Conflicted and unsure what the hell she walked into.

"In my defense, he said they were all wiped out." Nova said pointing to the unconscious man she hoped to never meet again. "Offensive Chi is more different than healing chi. What I did that day is more temporary than what this guy is asking for." Nova said. "Doesn't make what I did okay. I am explaining it." Nova said.

"Katherine?" Nova asked slowly, the witch was not a Mikaelson there was no way she knew who she was. There was a look of reluctance before she nodded.Sometimes she wasn't sure the right thing is the right thing.What was she anyway- good guys didnt seem like the answer anymore.

"We should go with the placebo effect right now. Someone can attempt his mind right now. But they should also know, this do you see actually wait-." Nova raised her hand casting the spell showing the red and black dots on the unconscious fairy's body and the giant black circle encasing the center of his heart. Nova pointed to it. "I will need more time for that one.There's a bad energy block in that one, I'm not sure how else to explain it.Like something in his heart that wants to be free but can't ?" Nova said looking at Briggs. She doesn't know Lysander at all. "Then again I can be wrong.There is a spell in my grandmother's books but it's in ancient Oikniwan.It's a very old lanaguage and even modern translators can't parse it. The stuff I know now took months of research." There was a sigh. Nova really was a sucky miko. "We can try at Otsukimi . Gives me enough time to research and translate ." The fall holiday Nova use to get called out of school for. "Right I can do the smaller ones though.Those are probably why he passed out. And the ones on his head can explain his lunancy. And maybe redirect the this meridian to the lungs instead of the heart so it doesn't get bigger." Nova said taking out the thinner needles. "I'll need you to stand back though sometimes people can feel the sensation and I don't want to hurt you again." Nova said sincerly. "Sounds fair?"

[ofmoonlitmagic]

You think you own me, but I wouldn't be so sure You've won the battle, but you're gonna lose a war Go to hell, I'm not here to entertain you Just walk away or face the showdown I won't bow, I don't care about the bleeding 'Cause my freedom's undefeated My soul on fire, burning desire Make no mistake 'cause the stakes are getting higher Go to hell, I'm not here to entertain you I'm not here to entertain you Don't be mistaken, your bloody time's up This ain't no game, we're not here to entertain you

[ofmoonlitmagic]

Briggs was looking for any shred that this hadn't all been bullshit, as if pleading to be given something. Yet, for him, it was denied. "You see a million things you've made up in your own head, and you've missed what you have done. Careful with your words? Calling her daughter repeatedly, saying you're some kind of father. That's not carelessness. That's selfish, that's cruel. People aren't tools or toys, Lysander. She's not some fuckin' sword you can sheathe and un-sheathe whenever you feel like it, which ironically means a lot more to you since it's the only thing you actually came back for...other than vengeance."

Only half-listening to the explanation, he didn't really care. That was something he just needed Nova to understand, after all, the chi had been what she'd knocked out of him or rearranged or whatever the hell. So not exactly his favorite thing.

"I didn't do that," he noted as the fairy passed out. He'd been in his head a few seconds to check for the compulsion, but that was it.

Nova's concerns were not ideal. "You've never done this before? Awesome." Briggs's head was spinning to come up with a backup plan. All he had at the start was leave him here. "Chi was fine to mess with when it was mine," he was quick to remind as she added that fun fact to her argument, "but okay." Exhaling, he shrugged, "no, I'm not sure. He's the one who said it, but he also thinks Katherine's an angel. So we're straight up listening to a lunatic right now, Nov, but it might be all we got. I can heal him if it starts to go wrong." Then he did think of something. "Or I heal him, we hold him, and one of my family members goes through his head. He's just not gonna like that." Shrugging, the mind was spinning now. "Or I can try to wake him, you can miko enough to make him think you've done something, give him some of that fancy hand poking, and see if we can placebo effect him. What do you want to do?"

Lysander was at a point where everything was crashing down. Where nothing was incoherent. Who was good? Who was bad? Maybe he was the bad guy for enabling it. There was so much but he couldn't say anything else beyond. "If above anything else I'm sorry. I should have been more careful with my words. I see a million things that hurt Billie, I should never let one of them be." Lysander croaked.

Lysander turned faintly to Nova. "Miko's can restore the balance inside people with their chi. It is said they any balance good or bad can fixed. Makers of harmony and leaders of neutrality." Lysander weakily looked between Briggs and Nova.

"I know this is a might ask but if you can do anything I beg you-" Lysander coughed up some blood before passing out.

It was then Nova finally answered. "I am a Miko yes. But I haven't had to chance to practice on anyone. No one goes to the shrine for case. This seems like an extreme case of imbalance. I can sense the meridians that are blocked but-." Nova said quickly backing away. "That's way too risky." Nova said. "I can't fix him without risking his life. what if something happens- what if I heal him and he regains the imbalance. Chi isn't something you mess with Briggs." Nova said clearly panicked and horrified. This should not be her first case."Are you sure he needs me?"

[ofmoonlitmagic]

The sound of his name off her lips halted the trail of thoughts, drawing his full attention back to her. No one saw him the way she did and vice versa. The sense of being fully understood existed in the space where they stood together. "But I want to promise that, I'll always come back for you. I needed to be sure you were safe." Enough damage had been done to her, and if there was any chance he could have spared her any more, he had to try. He offered a slight nod, but verbally, he couldn't make that confirmation.

They didn't deserve her tears, but that would never mean it didn't hurt. A pain like the kind left behind by those who abandon could only fade, it could never be fully gone. He could never love enough, stay enough, do enough to make that damage go away. "He thinks we are," he replied, quick to shrug as her question is posed. "Not in those exact words, but you know he's kinda hard to understand. The vitriole has always been toward me. If I want to give you a better future, I've got to read the room. He wanted to be cared for, babe." He sucked in air, unable to say the worst of it. "He did say he didn't mean to hurt you, though, said he was careless with his words." It still made his blood boil, the dismissive nature toward the damage caused. As if calling himself a father figure and then deciding he didn't want the expectation wasn't more than careless. "Which is a load of bullshit if you ask me. He doesn't deserve you, none of them do, and I did tell him that."

His own faults faded into the rearview, as there was so much more to tell her. To be sure she knew tonight. "We're a family, you and me. And I mean every word of every promise I have ever given you. This isn't because of you either. Their inability to love you properly says everything about them and nothing about you. You are the easiest person in the world to love, Bill, the easiest. I only ever needed one look at you to love you, and every second since has been a reminder of why." It wouldn't break her, he wouldn't let it, they never deserved that kind of power.

His smile returned at her teasing, seeing what she was doing. "Something else," he bantered back, "however, when I show you what I've got to show you...it could lead to other things you might want." Meeting her kiss against his knuckles with one to her forehead, he promised, "all my dances are yours." It had felt like an eternity since they'd entered the house, bones exhausted, but she had the right idea: they shouldn't be allowed to take them. Guiding her back toward the stairs, positioning himself behind her, he murmured, "I did mention how hot you are tonight, right?"

“Briggs” his name was soft as it eased from her lips, but there was a hint of instruction to the sound— almost pleading with him to vacate his current thought process. She knew exactly where his mind was bound to be going, but she refused to let him wander down that path. “I’ll always find you, baby. You don’t have to promise that, it’s okay. You're safe, that's all that matters.” Her palm ran across his chest as his shoulders dropped; releasing some tension, her fingers opposing hand twisting into his hair and running her thumb against the back of his neck to sooth him. “No apologies” she insisted again and her words firmer this time. 

Billie wouldn’t break— not over this, no matter how heavy her heart felt, nor weak her limbs, she wouldn't waste tears over people who didn’t care for her. Especially not when she had so many others who did and a husband who would move mountains for her. There was however a saddened sigh as he began to explain and she could feel the emotion irritating the back of her throat but her expression remained unchanging. “That wasn’t our fault. We aren’t accountable for that.” The tension was clear from her tone and her jaw tensed, before forcing out a breath. “No. No. Did he say that— about you?” Her chest felt tight, each muscle tensing too as she enclosed her digits around the material of his shirt, tugging him closer. “That isn’t true. It just isn't.” 

Her tone remained soft, but the point that she was making was firm and her gaze refused to release his— knowing that so much more could be communicated through her eyes. “None of this is your fault. None of this was your responsibility. He made his choice. You didn’t influence that, it was his to make. Don’t let him do this to you, baby. Please.” Lifting her hand from his chest, she pushed a stray strand of hair back from his forehead, before rising up so that she could replace her touch with a kiss. “I love you with everything I am, but I don’t accept that apology. You aren’t the cause of this and I wont see you blaming yourself for somebody else's mistake. For someone else's selfish decision. You are my life, baby. You're all I need. I don't care about anything else.” 

Just because the atmosphere was heavy, didn’t mean that she couldn’t find them in it. Her hand dropped from his features, fingers entwining as he reached for her again and her free hand untangled from his hair, she teased “didn’t you already show me that in the kitchen?” Her smile was soft, encouraged to meet her eyes, before lifting their entwined hands to place a kiss against his knuckles as she hummed with a light-hearted edge, “only if you promise to save me a dance.” Even if they didn't feel like it, remarkably the night was still young; they didn't have to stay in this moment; the could find themselves again.

[ofmoonlitmagic]

"I'm a man of many skills," Briggs joked, before breaking into a full laugh. "No, I'm totally full of shit. We do like our parties, but we don't have one for every holiday. Not a bad idea though." Shrugging his shoulders, he added one more taunt for good measure, "once in a lifetime, bro." If they didn't joke about some of these things, they were frankly unbearable. "If you become poor again, you're still not getting the lambo back. So you better be careful with that savings, alright?"

Amusement was quick to form against his features, brows rising as his gaze settled on his best friend and a boisterous laugh escapes. “Yeah sure croissant baguette,” Lucas taunts with a shake of his head. “Nah for real- wait, are you being serious right now? You guys actually throw MLK parties?” Another rowdy laugh is given, giving his friend a shove as he shakes his head. “As great as that idea sounds I don’t think I’m up for marriage just yet,” he states. “At least 5 times, I swear. The bill for it might just break my savings.”

[ofmoonlitmagic]

A year ago, he'd been planning a future with his wife, despite an on-going war. They were gonna find a house, probably after a few more laughter-filled days of crazy stories about the houses and mansions and swimming in pools that weren't theirs. Now, the future was the next minute, the farthest he dared look was tomorrow. Everything felt so fragile, so temporary.

Being back with his mother, it helped. She always could put the pieces back together. "For leaving," he murmured, "for leaving you alone with all this. No one's here anymore. This was our home." Everywhere he looked, it was like he couldn't recognize anything. Shaking his head, he murmured, "you're my momma, I'm always gonna worry." He could tell in her tone earlier, the tension that had still been in her body when she rushed over, she was struggling as much as he was tonight. As if the last line of defense from those who wanted to steal the feeling of home from this place. A heavy weight on her shoulders she never should have had to bear on her own. "Let me help."

There was a moment where Keelin was certain that she would not be letting go of her son. Her arms tightened around him, enclosing him within the possession of a mothers embrace, welcoming her baby boy home, but she knew just how hard it was for him to be back. For that she would never forgive the Mikaelson name. 

Although unwilling, she did eventually lean back, keeping her arms around him as she leaned back enough to look at him. Her eyes carefully studied each feature, before her hands lifted to cup his cheeks; thumbs running across cheekbones. “Oh, sweetheart – sorry for what?” A crease formed against her brow and a soft sigh urged from her lips, concerned for the unwarranted guilt that she could sense upon him now. “I missed you and I’m okay you never have to worry about me.” Her assurance came softly, a nod accompanying the words, but her head ached for him, eager to settle his concerns. “Baby boy, it’s alright” she promised, “i’m happy that you’re home, I'll always be so grateful for that, but you have to do what is right for you and for your wife. You are what is most important."

[ofmoonlitmagic]

Briggs couldn't understand this, none of it. How people looked at her and everything she was and still left her behind. There was a lot he didn't understand, but this had always been the worst of it. Not a single unlovable thing could ever be found in her. Then again, maybe that was the explanation: a prime target for the selfish taker. She would give until she was empty, and they would take until they had their fill.

Even he was not immune to failing her, maybe among the takers himself, but he would be the one who'd apologize for it. "I'm not gonna leave your side for the rest of the night, I swear," he promised, "I just--I had to do something." He had begged, not for himself, but for her. They had to stop doing this to her. Returning his gaze to her as she asked for it, his shoulders drop slightly as he released some of the tension from a look into her eyes alone. To her words, though, he had nothing but a slight shrug. He'd be sorry for the rest of his life.

Studying her features, he watched her experience it all: the gentle reminder they'd be forever, the devastation of a long-awaited confirmation, the heartbreak of again. For those things alone, he was sorry when Lysander would not be. "It was all about that stupid lord shit," he explained, "not realizing the compulsion was really messing with his head. You were good with him still, like you always are. I...aggravated. Like I always do." It could be summed up simply: she was stuck with him, and he was difficult. "So it was kind of my fault, if I'd taken it seriously from the beginning, he'd never have left you. I really thought it was fine, he talked weird, but so does Zera sometimes. I just didn't see it." With a soft breath, he ran his thumb across her wrist, "so that's why, baby. For being the cause, for not being able to fix it, and for so much else, I'm sorry." Holding her gaze, his eyes conveying what words could not. He saw her. She did want it, but it was easier to say she didn't instead of face that someone else had labeled her not enough, worth less than something made of metal.

His hand took one of hers, intertwining their fingers, they didn't need to do this here. "Wanna sneak up to our room? We'll have a little privacy there, and I gotta show you something."

Billie felt winded; as if the air had been brutally knocked from her lungs and she was left gasping for breath. What was it about her that made her so easy to leave? She had her husband, her mother and a sister in Phoebe, who would never— never leave her, but that was only three people who wouldn’t. Three people, full of a lifetime of people who had. Who still would. Was she asking for too much?

“It’s okay, baby— it's okay” she stressed, the words laced with insistence. Each apology that was spoken with complete sincerity from his heart, made her stomach twist— it made her nauseous to know that one apologising was the one who had never caused her harm. “Look at me” she willed softly, thumb running against his cheek before returning to rest against his jaw “you, you have nothing to be sorry for. You aren’t responsible for their choices, or for protecting me from this. I know that you've tried so hard, you always have but it isn’t on you.”

She held onto him with equal intensity, anchoring each other, comforting each other. “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.” She wasn't sure whether knowing what happened would even help her, would offer closure or clarity, or just further prove her point that she wasn’t enough. Another apology and she shook her head, her features contorting, her anguish clear from the crease in her brow, but she managed a small smile and a nod “I promise.”

The confirmation that Lysander hadn’t been compelled hit harder than she wanted and a white heat surged through her chest, hindering another breath and she swallowed the despair and her defeat and she forced herself to speak. “Why baby — why are you sorry?” shaking her head, one hand dropped to rest against his chest, the other embedding back into his hair as his hand took hold of her wrist. “You never have anything to be sorry for. This was his choice and I don’t need it. Whatever excuse for parental love he’s handing out, I don’t need it. I don’t want it. We don't need it.”

[ofmoonlitmagic]

He wanted something different. Leaving town had only delayed the inevitable because everything waited for them. A mother who took the absence to abandon again, a fairy who came back for sword instead of daughter. Their lives kept following a pattern, and no matter what he did, it was never enough to stop it from happening.

The beat of her heart still faster than normal made him cling to her tighter, her panic evident as ever. The longer they held on to one another, the more she seemed to relax. "I hoped--" The word on his tongue tasted bitter. He was so tired of hoping. "I'm sorry," he murmured, letting those words speak volumes for themselves as he pressed his lips against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

His arm still looped around her, he kept her as steady as he could. Nodding, he exhaled, "I didn't mean to be gone that long." There were just things he couldn't leave to burn. He didn't know why. "I'm sorry. I would never leave you, never. Remember? We're gonna do The Notebook thing." Tilting his head to press his forehead against hers before her hands took his face in them and he found her gaze. He didn't want to tell her, the question she was really asking or the things he would say. "The one we knew is," he said, the ache in his chest in his unbearable, her pain and his mingling together in the place they called home, "I was wrong. He wasn't compelled, Bill." His hand coming to her wrist, he whispered one more time, "I'm sorry."

It felt like they were struggling to swim against an unrelenting current; the waves threatening to drag them under each time they came up for air. She knew how desperately Briggs wanted to find a better version of their world for her— but she was rapidly beginning to believe that such a thing didn’t exist. Their trust had been betrayed time and time again and their love taken for granted and the people who insisted that they loved them, didn’t know how to. 

As their bodies collided, she finally felt like she could take a breath as a full bodied sigh urged from her lungs. “I’ve got you” she murmured, her arms tightening around his frame; fingers embedding into his hair as she buried her features against the crook of his neck. “It’s okay– I know” the sound of her voice still had a slight tremor, but she was beginning to settle as her breaths returned to a steady rhythm. “It isn’t for us to fix, baby. It just isn’t.”

Holding on for as long as she could, they remained within their embrace until Billie lifted her head from his neck, nudging his cheek with her nose as she nodded against him, “yeah— yeah, i’m alright, I was just worried about you." Another shaky breath carried between them. "When you didn't come back I—” and she forced herself to dismiss the thought, shuddering against him. She wouldn't think like that. Her lips grazed his cheek; before leaning back so that her hands were cupping his jaw as she encouraged him to look at her, “is he—” gone? was what she wanted to ask, but her brow furrowed and she shook her head, knowing wouldn't change a thing.

[ofmoonlitmagic]

Briggs was losing the last bit of his patience. "You said it," he snapped back, "you were the one who said you felt like a father to her. No one put that on you but you. Why did you say it then? Why did you put yourself in that position? The fool, which I guess means the compulsion, isn't your fault, but the father thing, that is. You're not some kid who didn't wrap it up, you're over 200 years old for fucks' sake! You made a choice to call her a daughter, to say you felt like a father to her. To a girl who never had one. Those aren't words to throw around lightly. If you needed care for yourself, then bringing her into this delusional, fake father-daughter thing was wrong. It was cruel, and you don't deserve it. You don't deserve her. You don't love someone and treat them like you did. That's not how that works."

He didn't feel all that bad about the way that it hurt, though Lysander wasn't supposed to hit his head that hard from a kneeling position. However, he did expect it to have been worth it. Whatever he thought of Lysander, of what he'd done to Billie, he didn't want him compelled. For what was, he wanted to help.

He could barely process the words, everything making it worse. "I hope when you've lost--because you won't beat Uncle Klaus--you at least find the effort worth what you lost along the way." Briggs sighed at the mentioned of mikos, of course. This night was just getting better and better. As if on cue, there she was. He really just wanted to go back to his wife, but leaving Lysander like this wasn't an option.

"Fuck me," he cursed under his breath before turning to Nova. "You're still a miko, aren't you?" Ignoring the statement about bringing his moms into this, that was a last resort. "If you are, do you know what he needs? It's not compulsion, I already ruled that out." Glancing back at Lysander, he asked, "what's a miko need to do for you? Tell her." To Nova, he said, "just hear him out, and if you don't want to do it, that's up to you."

What could Lysander have seen in that moment. The good times were gone. The bad times just kept playing. Venegenace in his damnation. The prophecy fulfilled.

"That's not-"Lysander was at a loss for words at the fury. His own pride taking over. "If that was true then why was I put in that position. Time and time again as the fool. You say I'm the parent but I never was. I could barely take care of myself. All i can do was protect her. It was never going to be enough to be considered anything more. And when I did I was called cruel. So maybe I don't deserve it anymore." Lysander said.

Lysander winced in pain, getting an artifical cut on the side of his head, his eyes glaring at the other. He wished it was an iron rod, at least he wouldn't have to conscious. Lysander looked at him with dazed eyes.

"I'm not." Lysander said wearily. "To avenge what he did to my mind and soul. Is all I want." Lysander said. There was a cough as he started to feel exhausted. "There are said that a miko can heal ailments of the body.Focusing on the body's energy to fix the flow. Maybe that's what I need but alas they no longer exist. Wiped out by the very people who wiped my village." Lysander looked up at Briggs. "Why are there two of you?" Lysander asked wearily.

______________________________________________________________

But there wasn't two Briggs but there was Briggs and a Nova.She was outside and notice someone bleeding. She unfortunately heard the last sentence before that question. The words repeated in her head.Nova bit her lips nervously. Not sure what was going on with the stranger "You should call Freya or Keelin. He might have a concussion." Nova said, words of concern laced in pure shock.She looked at Briggs. "I'm not the person you need." Nova said raising her hands.