Elijah looked at Aya with a pained expression and said, "I'm truly sorry, Aya… I have to do this so my family can survive."
Aya looked at him in shock and shouted, her tone full of betrayal, "Tristan was right! You don't care about anyone but your family!"
"No! I care about you, Aya!" Elijah said with a trembling voice, stepping forward and cupping her face between his hands. "I love you more than anyone in this world. I would never sacrifice you!".
He paused when he saw her tear-filled eyes, then continued softly, "I want you to come with us, Aya. Be with me—and let's start over."
Aya trembled and shook her head violently. "No… no! I don't want to run away with you, Elijah!, and abandon the Strix! So many of us died today! We were over 350 this morning—and now there are barely twenty left! The Strix fought for you, Elijah! They stood and fought werewolves twice their size!—even knowing one bite would kill them! They stood their ground!, they didn't flee!, and none of them abandoned you!.
They believed in you!—even after Tristan tried so many times to convince us otherwise, they refused to listen to him!.
They said you made their lives better! And you will never betray them! Or abandoned them!
They believed in you!, they trusted you!—and you betray that trust by… by… sacrificing them!!"
Aya's voice broke, trembling with rage and heartbreak. She felt as if her whole world had collapsed—the man she had believed in, trusted, and loved with all her heart was nothing more than a coward and a traitor.
Elijah's face broke with grief. "Aya… I only…" He tried to reach out and touch her, but she recoiled violently.
"Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me!"
Aya screamed in anger.
Elijah froze, speechless.
**BOOM!**
Suddenly, a figure crashed through the ceiling and fell hard onto the floor between Klaus, Tristan, and Shin Min.
Klaus stopped trying to kill Tristan and turned toward the fallen figure—it was Hela.
But Hela was covered in blood from head to toe; her face soaked in red, her skull shattered, completely unconscious.
"Hela!!" Rebekah screamed in fear and rushed to her sister's side.
"NIKLAUSSS!!!"
"I AM COMING TO TAKE YOUR LIFE, YOU WRETCHED BASTARD!!!"
The mansion trembled as Michael's furious roar echoed through it, making everyone inside shake with terror.
"Elijah!!" Klaus turned and shouted to his brother.
Elijah looked toward Aya. "Aya, please! We don't have time, we must—"
He tried to grab her shoulder, but Aya seized his hand and screamed.
"I told you not to touch me!!".
**CRACK!**
The sound of breaking bones echoed as Aya shattered Elijah's arm and then kicked him hard in the face. Elijah flew across the room, crashing through the wall.
Aya turned instantly and vanished in a blur of speed.
"Aya!! Wait!!" Elijah yelled in panic, rising to his feet, ready to chase after her—but Klaus appeared in front of him, shouting, "We don't have time, Elijah! Execute the plan now!!"
Elijah clenched his teeth hard, then turned to Rebekah, who was holding the unconscious Hela.
"Rebekah, go to the harbor ahead of us! Make sure Hela's safe, and wait for my signal to do what I told you!"
"Got it!!" Rebekah shouted, nodding before speeding off in a blur.
Elijah turned to Klaus.
"Niklaus! Take Sol, Finn, and Kol to the harbor! Wait for me there!"
"I'll take Kol, Sol, and the other coffin, Elijah! You get Finn!" Klaus shouted angrily and vanished in a flash.
"Niklaus!!" Elijah yelled in frustration but could do nothing but watch him disappear.
**BOOM!**
The mansion doors exploded off their hinges, and Michael stormed in, filled with rage.
His furious eyes locked onto Elijah.
"Where is your wretched bastard brother, Elijah!!?"
Michael growled.
Elijah looked at him coldly. "You'll never find him."
Michael's expression darkened even more. "Then I'll make you talk after I break every bone in your body!!"
He lunged forward.
Elijah dodged the first strike, leaped onto the staircase, and shouted, "Strix! Hold him off!!"
The remaining twenty members of the Strix rose to fight—thirteen of them charged Michael without hesitation.
"Only thirteen? What's happening?!" Elijah thought in shock, then looked at Tristan—who smirked mockingly.
Tristan de Martel was a very clever man—he had anticipated this day, the day the Originals might try to use compulsion on his followers. So he had ordered them to drink vervain to become immune.
Tristan turned to his men and shouted, "Go! My followers, we're leaving this cursed place!"
"Yes, sir!!" they replied.
Tristan looked to Shin Min. "Come, Shin Min—we're done here!"
"Yes, my lord!"
In an instant, Tristan, Shin Min, and seven vampires who had pretended to be under compulsion vanished in a blur of speed, fleeing the mansion.
"That damned bastard Tristan!" Elijah thought angrily, then sprinted toward the chamber containing Finn's coffin.
Michael tried to follow, but the thirteen vampires pounced on him all at once.
**BOOM!**
The floor shook under the impact as the Strix attacked.
"AAARGHH!!"
Michael roared, black veins swelling beneath his eyes as his irises flared red with black sclera. His fangs descended, and he sank them into a vampire's neck, draining every drop of blood.
Ahhhhhh!!
The poor vampire screamed in pain.
When Michael was done, he ripped the vampire's head clean off and tore into the rest—creating a massacre on the mansion's ground floor.
Elijah reached the coffin room, grabbed Finn's coffin as if it weighed nothing, and turned to escape—only to find Michael blocking his path.
Michael was drenched in blood from head to toe, having slaughtered thirteen vampires in seconds.
"AAARGHH!!"
Michael roared and punched Elijah in the face.
**BOOM!**
The air itself exploded from the force. Elijah flew backward, dropping Finn's coffin mid-flight, crashing through several rooms before slamming into a wall.
Elijah fell to the ground, coughing in agony.
"AAARGHH!!"
Michael's roar echoed again as he lunged at his son. Elijah rolled aside just in time, bolting upstairs.
Michael grabbed a steel sword hanging as decoration on the wall and followed at lightning speed.
Elijah reached the upper floor and found exactly what he was looking for—**fireworks**.
Fireworks were a recent invention, seen only that year, and imported from China. They were made of long bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder, sealed with a dry paper cap on each end.
Elijah snatched a bundle of fireworks just as Michael swung his sword, narrowly dodging.
"AAARGHH!!"
Michael slashed wildly, chopping through tables and beams in rage. Then he kicked Elijah hard in the chest.
**CRACK!**
The sound of breaking bones filled the room—Elijah's ribcage shattered from the impact.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Elijah screamed, blood spilling from his mouth as he hit the ground hard.
"I'm avenging your mother! And you stand here defending her killer?!" Michael roared furiously.
Elijah glared at him through the pain. "Niklaus doesn't deserve to die!"
Michael raised his sword high—but froze when he realized Elijah wasn't surprised by the mention of Klaus killing his mother.
Michael stared in disbelief. "You… you knew."
Elijah slowly rose to his feet.
"Yes. I know Niklaus killed our mother. But I won't turn against him. Let's face the truth, Father—if it weren't for you killing his real father, if it weren't for Mother's curse that sealed away his werewolf side, tormenting his very soul every night—Niklaus would never have done it!.
You and Mother are the cause of our family's destruction! You turned us into vampires in the first place! Not Niklaus!" Elijah shouted, voice shaking with rage.
He looked Michael dead in the eyes. "You reap what you sow. If you'd treated Niklaus with kindness as a child, if you hadn't murdered his real father and cursed him to eternal torment—none of this would've happened."
Michael froze, stunned, staring at his son in disbelief. Then a deep sense of betrayal filled his chest, quickly consumed by uncontrollable fury.
"You… traitor!!"
Michael roared.
"We raised you! We suffered and toiled for you! And this is how you repay us—by siding with your mother's killer?! He killed her, you wretch!! That bastard, that coward!! And you tell me I shouldn't have killed his father?! What was I supposed to do to a man who bedded my wife—in my house?! Who caused the death of my youngest son?! Your Own brother!!
Henrick was only fifteen!! He was slaughtered by Niklaus's true father and his cursed pack!.
Niklaus took him to the woods that night out of his obsession with wolves! If not for him, Henrick would still be alive! We turned you into vampires because we lost our son! Because we never wanted to lose another one again! We did it to protect all of you!!—to protect you!!"
Michael trembled violently, rage surging through him until his veins bulged red across his skin. His eyes glowed a blinding crimson as he screamed,
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Michael roared with rage then lunged at Elijah. Elijah immediately fled, using his **Khemri** ability, moving faster than Michael but too afraid to stop.
Michael hurled his sword without any hesitation.
**THUD!**
Michael's sword pierced Elijah's thigh from behind. Elijah screamed in agony but leapt down a stairwell, diving into another room and slamming the door shut.
Michael roared again, blood flooding his eyes, and charged.
**KABOOM!!**
The door exploded off its hinges as he stormed inside like a raging bull.
He looked around—nothing. Then his gaze shifted to a shattered window… and a strange light flashing in the sky.
A moment later, a massive **fireball the size of a car** flew straight toward him.
"What—?!" Michael's eyes widened in shock as the fireball hit, igniting barrels of gunpowder all around the room.
The inevitable followed.
**BOOOOOOOOM!!!!**
A colossal explosion tore the mansion apart.
Six miles away, at the harbor of the city of Batley, Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah stood watching their home consumed by fire.
Elijah's plan had been to lure Michael into a chamber full of gunpowder barrels, then escape with the fireworks, giving Rebekah the signal to launch a massive fireball into the room—to amplify the explosion.
The plan worked… but they had gravely underestimated the Destroyer.
"AAARRGHHHHH!!!"
Michael's furious roar echoed across the sky as he burst from the rubble, glowing veins crawling across his body, his eyes blazing red.
He punched the air toward the harbor—toward Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah.
BOOOOMMMM!!!
The air exploded violently, and a massive wave of compressed air and sonic shockwaves blasted toward the port.
It was Michael's strongest attack yet — the same one he had once used to wipe out the entire Paxson pack and the Strix vampires, but now it was three times stronger.
The wave obliterated everything in its path — forests, hills, and trees — and kept charging toward the port.
Michael didn't even know if Elijah and his children were still there, but he unleashed his fury in the same direction from which the fireball had come.
Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah's eyes widened in shock.
"Move!!"
Elijah shouted.
Klaus and Rebekah reacted instantly — Rebekah carrying the unconscious **Hela**, and Klaus holding **Kol's** lifeless body, heartless, since he hadn't had time to seal him inside a coffin.
**BOOOOMMMM!!!**
The sonic wave reached the port, destroying everything in its path before surging out into the sea — splitting it in two.
**BOOOOMMMM!!!**
The ocean itself tore apart, and a particular ship that stood in the wave's path was completely erased from existence — their ship, the one Klaus and the others had planned to escape on.
Not even a fragment of debris remained.
But the worst part — Sol's coffin had been aboard that ship.
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
Klaus screamed in rage and agony.
"Sol!!! No!! No!! No!!! This can't be happening!!!".
Rebekah cried in despair, falling to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
"We don't have time — we need to move!!"
Elijah yelled, tears streaming down his face like rivers. He lifted Rebekah and Hela and rushed toward a nearby horse carriage at the port.
The horse was neighing wildly, panicked and struggling to break free from its ropes, but Elijah used **Compulsion** to calm it down.
Klaus trembled violently, lifted Kol's body and his other coffin, and moved toward the carriage as well.
"No… no, no, no! This can't be happening! No!! We were supposed to be immortal!!!".
Rebekah screamed, shaking her head violently as tears poured from her eyes.
Elijah shut his tear-filled eyes tightly, then took the reins and urged the horse forward at full speed, escaping from the port and heading deep into the forest.
Klaus, trembling, looked back toward where their ship had been — then shut his eyes in anguish.
Meanwhile, Michael tried to pursue his children, but suddenly stumbled and fell. His body began to tremble violently.
"No! No! Not now!!" Michael thought furiously as he looked at his hand — now turning gray, with large gray veins bulging along his arm.
A deep pain erupted in his chest — the same spot where Marcus had impaled him long ago with the Nemeton tree branch.
Michael looked down to see a strange **green glow** spreading from his chest. Trembling, he clawed at his chest in agony before vomiting blood violently.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Michael screamed into the night sky, his body convulsing as his entire right arm turned gray and veined with dark lines.
Meanwhile, the three surviving siblings had traveled far from the city.
Rebekah gasped and trembled from grief — and suddenly vomited blood violently.
"Rebekah!!!" Klaus cried out in panic, then turned to Elijah, who was driving the carriage.
"Elijah, Rebekah's reacting badly to using the **Khēmri** again! We need to stop—"
"Aaahhhh!!!"
Before Klaus could finish, he too screamed in pain, vomiting blood as he collapsed.
"Niklaus!!!" Elijah shouted, terrified, stopping the carriage abruptly and rushing to his brother's side.
He tore open Klaus's shirt — and saw **white oak shards** piercing his flesh again, burrowing toward his heart.
"Aaahhh!! Help me, brother!! I feel like I'm dying!!" Klaus cried in agony before vomiting more blood and falling unconscious.
"Niklaus!!"
Elijah screamed again, desperately trying to remove the shards from Klaus's back — but he couldn't.
After several attempts, Elijah gave up, slumping inside the carriage, staring at his siblings in disbelief.
He looked at **Kol's** corpse — heartless, gray-veined.
At **Hela**, whose every bone was shattered and skull crushed like jelly.
At **Rebekah**, trembling and vomiting blood even in unconsciousness.
And at **Klaus**, whose back was hollowed out and covered with strange red veins, his body twitching in pain even while unconscious.
Elijah then looked up at the stormy, rain-soaked night sky — at the burning city of Batley, their destroyed mansion, and the ruined port.
He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them slowly — only to realize this was no nightmare.
It was
**reality**.
He gazed at the heavens as tears streamed down his face.
His voice broke as he whispered,
"**What… what happened?**"
It was the only question that haunted him — because in one night, he had lost everything:
his organization, his love, his home, his family — and most painfully, **two of his brothers**.
Then Elijah's eyes widened in horror.
"Finn!"
"Oh no… what have I done?" he muttered, trembling. Tears streamed again as he realized — in his desperate escape from Michael, he had forgotten Finn. He had left him behind.
And now, Finn's fate was unknown.
Elijah trembled, then felt warmth touch his skin.
He opened his eyes slowly to see the **sun rising**.
The nightmare night had finally ended — a new day had dawned.
He looked at the sunrise, and for a single fleeting moment, he forgot all the pain.
Then he stood, moved to the front of the carriage, gripped the reins, and shouted:
"**Hyaah!!**"
The horse sprinted forward, pulling a carriage filled with a wounded, broken family.
Elijah stared ahead at the road, new determination burning in his eyes.
"I may have lost much today... but there is still more worth fighting for.
I will not surrender to despair or weakness as long as I draw breath.
I will keep fighting — until my last breath — because now,
I am the eldest brother of this family.
And no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice...
I will protect my family.
Always and Forever.
**The End.**
--------
*The flashback of the Mikaelson and Corvinus families is now almost complete — just one short final filler chapter remains. It won't contain major events, but it's still important for the story's future progression.*
*Sigh...*
Writing a fantasy story truly is hard work.
With all the stress of life and study, continuing to write this tale is a real challenge — but don't worry. I'll never abandon it. I truly enjoy it, because writing is how I release my thoughts, my pressure, my emotions.
So yes — we are **still going strong.**
The next chapter will be a calm, filler one — but still meaningful for what's to come.