MOONS.
036. | ❛ they're called the originals for a reason. ❜

It is daytime now, and Lucien is leading Freya and Luna, whose wrists are still bound but who is no longer gagged, through the woods of Mystic Falls. Freya is clearly not impressed with this situation and simply glares at him while they walk, and Vincent follows from a couple paces behind them.

"After all that flirtation... this is your idea of a first date?"

Lucien laughs in amusement,"Think of it as a date with destiny, love. Though, I admit, four is a crowd. Vincent is a necessary evil, I'm afraid-- here to keep not only you in check but darling Luna, should you misbehave."

Luna's eyes turn to the pure golden pupils that symbolized her anger.

"I'm afraid Luna is a fierce little one, certainly with the little wolf cooking in her stomach."

"Yeah, you're leaving out the part where I ain't exactly here of my own volition, man. The Ancestors must have lost their damn minds!"

"Quite the opposite! I've never dealt with a saner bunch. See, when I arrived in New Orleans, I made them a deal. Upon my request, they would grant me access to the Regent--"

Lucien gestures to Vincent for emphasis as Freya rolls her eyes,
"-And, in exchange, I'd provide for them a world without the Originals."

Lucien sighs dramatically, and Vincent's eyes widen in alarm when he realizes the gravity of their current situation.

"Didn't take much convincing. They do despise your family."

They walk a few more yards until Lucien finally stops just feet away from a familiar-looking basin sitting upon a rock-- right by where Esther both created the Originals and made Alaric an Enhanced Original.

"Ah... We're here."

Vincent's tone is irritable as he looks around the clearing where they've stopped,"Yeah, but where the hell is "here," man?"

Lucien gasps in shock and disappointment,"What...?"

Lucien sighs and gives them both offended looks,"How disappointing! Two powerful witches who cannot sense when you're treading on hallowed ground?"

Vincent and Freya make eye contact and both sigh defeatedly when they realize what Lucien's talking about. Continuing his dramatic explanation, Lucien gestures around them with a satisfied smile.

"Welcome... to Mystic Falls. The place where it all began."

"Where Esther Mikaelson created the vampire species."

"Under the shade of the infamous white oak tree, she crafted the spell that turned each of her children..."

Lucien continues his explanation while Freya, Luna, and Vincent listen with horrified expressions.

" ...And I mean to replicate that spell. I have everything I need to become what I deserve to be."

Lucien walks toward Vincent and stares him in the eyes, and Vincent laughs in defeat as he considers the implications of this plan.

"You want to become an Original."

"Do I look like the sort who'd settle for some shoddy Original model? I intend to be an upgrade."

"Not to ruining your fantasy but they're called the Originals for a reason." Luna growled

"You're insane to think I'd ever help you craft any spell."

"Oh, no, no, no. You misunderstand. Vincent will handle the spell."

Vincent rolls his eyes in annoyance as Lucien grabs Freya by the arm and yanks her toward the basin.

"From you..."

Lucien looks at her with feigned sympathy and brushes a lock of hair away from her face,"...I need something a bit more intimate."

Lucien vamps out and bites into Freya's wrist as hard as he can, causing Freya to shriek in pain.

Lucien is squeezing Freya's bitten wrists so that the blood from his bite wounds drip into the stone basin. Freya whimpers in pain, and its clear she's getting weaker by the moment, a fact that doesn't escape the anxious Vincent's notice.

"Okay. Okay, man, that's enough!"

"Huh. Right you are. That should just about do it."

Freya is swaying on her feet as Lucien yanks her away from the basin, dropping her unceremoniously on the ground in front of where the white oak tree used to stand. Vincent rushes toward her to help her with her wounds.

"Now, it's your turn," Lucien yanks Luna along with her hesitation.

"Why the hell do you need me for?"

Lucien starts laughing at Luna, "Precious Luna, since Klaus and Hayley have abandoned the city of New Orleans, they've taken the child. But ever since I discovered of your pregnancy I thought it was the perfect opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?"

"To rid you of your terrible burden." Lucien says as he stabs Luna in the gut with a knife. He pushes her aside to the ground next to Freya.

"Here, let me see it--"
Luna whimpers as Freya and Vincent examine her but before he can help her, Lucien shouts at him.

"Enough!"

Lucien gestures to the basin as Vincent stands to his feet and glares at him

"There's a spell that needs doing, lest the Ancestors melt that precocious little brain of yours."

Lucien pulls out a vial of reddish-orange fluid from his jacket pocket and pours it in the basin with Freya's blood and Luna's as Vincent frowns in confusion.

"What's that?"

"That's not exactly need to know."

Once he's done mixing the basin, he reaches into his inner jacket pocket and pulls out a small moleskin notebook.

"This part's all you."

Vincent takes the notebook and opens it, flipping through the pages to find a spell written in magical language throughout the pages. Lucien sighs dramatically in anticipation as he watches Vincent skim the notes, and after a moment, Vincent's eyes widen in shock as he taps the page.

"This is it. This is the spell that created the Originals."

"Took an entire coven ages to reverse-engineer it. And then, I had to get my hands on this."

Lucien pulls out the sole remaining white oak bullet and puts it in the basin with the blood and reddish-orange fluid. Vincent, completely dumbfounded by Lucien's plan, laughs in exasperation and shakes his head.

"No. No way, man. I'm not doing this for you. Wh--"

Vincent is cut off by the Ancestors, who immediately begin to cast a pain infliction spell on him that causes him to double over in agony.

"Well, seems the Ancestors beg to differ..."

Vincent starts pounding his head with his hands as he shrieks in pain.

Finally, the Ancestors stop, and Vincent gasps in relief as he tries to catch his breath. Freya looks horrified by this entire situation as Lucien smugly glances at both of them.

"Now, get to work like a good chap."

Vincent sighs defeatedly and starts to look through the notebook for the incantation before plunging his hands into the bowl of blood and fluid before beginning the spell, though his chanting is so quiet that it is unintelligible.