"I can't."
Lucien's voice cut through the silence, drawing every eye to him. His words, though quiet, landed with the weight of a dropped stone.
Kol was the first to recover, leaning forward with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean, you can't?" His fingers drummed against the table, betraying his agitation. "Nik being a Hybrid again is proof that you can."
Lucien folded his hands in front of his face, unconsciously mirroring Klaus's posture from moments before. He stared at the untouched food on his plate, gathering his thoughts. After a measured pause, he lowered his hands to the table.
"To be specific, I can't right now," he clarified, meeting Kol's increasingly desperate gaze. "You all need to understand something. What you're asking of me is... fundamental."
Rebekah set down her wine glass with deliberate care, her expression guarded but attentive. Finn's rigid posture shifted slightly as he leaned forward, the first genuine interest he'd shown since awakening.
"The binding spell was magic on top of Klaus's body," Lucien continued, gesturing vaguely with one hand. "A second layer, you could say. One that affected the layers beneath and suppressed the wolf side."
He paused, gathering his thoughts while the Originals watched him with varying degrees of hunger and skepticism.
"What you're asking me to do is to be so specific and so powerful that I can target the very attributes making up your vampiric nature, and destroy just what I want, on a whim." He shook his head. "There are levels to this."
Klaus's expression remained carefully neutral, though a hint of satisfaction flickered in his eyes as Lucien explained the limitations of his power.
"The giving back magic is probably the easiest," Lucien admitted, glancing briefly at Kol, whose eyes had narrowed in calculation. "But it's still impossible for the current me because I don't have enough power and control."
His fingers traced invisible patterns on the table as he spoke. "The erasing of bloodlust and your weaknesses, though... both would be overpowering nature itself and its laws, crushing them to dust, so that your weaknesses are gone, and you'd be truly immortal."
Kol's expression fell, disappointment evident in the slump of his shoulders.
"You as vampires need blood since you need a source for life force," Lucien explained. "To erase the attribute of your nature that requires it is to grant you true immortality."
He looked up, meeting each Original's gaze in turn. "The power that would take... I can't deny that I can most likely do it in the future, but not right now. Not with me being like this." He gestured to his body with a sweep of his hand - referring to his age.
Silence descended once more as the Originals processed his words.
Finn's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
Kol's eyes had taken on a calculating gleam despite his disappointment.
Elijah remained perfectly still, his expression unreadable.
After several long moments, Rebekah spoke, her voice carrying a carefully controlled tremor.
"What about me?" Her fingers curled around her wine glass stem. "You haven't said anything about what I want."
Lucien fell silent, his gaze dropping to the table. The quiet stretched until it became uncomfortable. Finally, he looked up, meeting her eyes directly.
"I can do it when it comes to you."
His simple statement sent a ripple of surprise through the room. Rebekah's breath caught audibly.
"The reason being," Lucien continued, glancing at Klaus before returning his attention to Rebekah, "I've already done it."
Understanding dawned on the Originals' faces as they processed the implication.
"Are you saying," Kol began, leaning forward with renewed interest, "that when you broke Nik's curse, you also-"
"Your mother apparently didn't make it a complete inherent part of vampiric nature to be infertile," Lucien interrupted, his tone matter-of-fact. "She added a secondary spell."
Kol held up a hand, his brow furrowed. "Back up a little. Are you saying that our mother could have not made it so that we couldn't have had kids, but just... chose to?"
Lucien nodded. "Pretty much. She, for some reason, did it this way, making it possible for me to just erase that second layer of magic that's causing the infertility."
He swept his gaze over all of them, genuine curiosity in his expression. "How did none of you actually know this? Did none of you check?"
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Elijah cleared his throat, adjusting his cuffs.
"None of us... trusted anyone to look so deep into our nature," he explained, his tone measured.
"What about those you sired?" Lucien pressed, gesturing with his fork. "They're still vampires. You could've had someone look into them."
The silence deepened. Elijah opened his mouth to respond, but Klaus interrupted with a low chuckle.
"Just stop, Elijah." Klaus turned to Lucien, a sardonic smile playing at his lips. "We didn't think to. We took our mother's words at face value, that it was simply impossible."
Rebekah's mind raced as she processed all this.
Relief flooded through her at first - the possibility of children, of family, was real - but reality quickly reasserted itself.
With Klaus forbidding it, and Lucien having revealed his inability to help the rest of the family...
She couldn't bargain with Lucien to give him freedom from Klaus, since she alone couldn't stand against her hybrid brother.
Her gaze drifted to Kol, who had fallen silent, arms crossed over his chest.
She knew him well enough to recognize that his mind was already racing, creating plans to help Lucien's development go faster, make him stronger faster, and gain enough goodwill through manipulative tactics so that Lucien would grant him what he wanted in the future.
Finn remained silent as well - she never knew what went on in his head.
As for Elijah... Elijah wanted to keep the peace. He wouldn't want to divide the family again now that it was whole for the first time in centuries.
She was... on her own.
"When do you want it to happen?"
Lucien's question cut through her thoughts, startling her back to the present.
"What?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.
"The thing - the breaking of the infertility curse," Lucien clarified, his expression open. "When do you want it to happen?"
For a moment, Rebekah was speechless, words failing to form in her mouth. She stared at Lucien, trying to understand his angle.
"I can't give you what you want," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I can't go against Nik alone."
Lucien furrowed his brows, confusion evident in his expression. "I'm not asking you to."
Everyone at the table leaned forward slightly, interest piqued by this unexpected turn.
"What are you asking of me, then?" Rebekah questioned, wariness creeping into her tone.
"Nothing," Lucien replied simply.
"Nothing?" Finn echoed, breaking his silence for only the second time that evening.
Lucien's gaze shifted to the eldest Original brother, and he nodded slowly. Then, with his thumb, he pointed to Klaus beside him.
"Breaking that fertility curse wasn't part of our deal," he explained. "I did it for him for free." He turned back to Rebekah. "I'm willing to-"
"No."
Klaus's voice cut through the room like a blade, drawing everyone's attention. His gaze, hard and unyielding, focused on Lucien.
"No," he repeated firmly. "You will not do it for her without gaining something from her in return."
Lucien's expression hardened as he turned to face Klaus. "That isn't for you to decide."
"But it is," Klaus countered, his voice deceptively soft. "I will not let you be taken advantage of."
"Helping someone in need without anything in return isn't getting taken advantage of," Lucien shot back, frustration evident in his tone.
Klaus's lips curled into a dismissive smile. "You're naive." His expression shifted, bordering on disgust. "This... 'compassion' of yours is not going to stand. It will ruin you."
Lucien was silent for a long moment, just processing. His face looking like he was hearing the most ridiculous thing in the world.
Lucien then turned fully in his chair, extending both hands in an exasperated gesture. "She is your fucking sister!"
"And you are my son," Klaus countered firmly, his voice rising slightly.
"You've known me less than a bloody week!" Lucien exclaimed, incredulity coloring his words. "You've been with her for over a thousand years!"
"Watch your tone," Klaus warned, straightening in his chair. "Do not raise your voice against me."
Lucien pushed back his chair and stood abruptly, slamming his hands down on the table. The impact sent vibrations through the crystal glasses, causing wine to ripple in perfect concentric circles.
"I will not let you make me go against my morals!" His voice echoed through the dining room.
"Helping Kol or Finn or Elijah get their weaknesses gone or gain power, and putting a price on that is one thing, because they can hurt a lot of people with that. But helping your sister just have the capability to start a family of her own isn't something that's gonna necessarily do that!"
His chest heaved with emotion. "For something like this, putting a price on it is monstrous!"
Klaus was silent for a moment.
"And you aren't a monster, are you?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
"Yes! I'm not!" Lucien shouted, his face flushed with anger. "And I don't ever want to be!"
Klaus fell dangerously silent, his expression unreadable. Then, with supernatural speed, he grabbed Lucien's right wrist and pulled him forward, looming over the boy.
Lucien's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden movement.
"What has that gotten you?" Klaus hissed, turning Lucien's palm upward to reveal the jaguar mark. "This very compassion has stolen your very peace!"
His grip tightened, causing Lucien to wince slightly. "Do you think I don't see what is happening to you? The nightmares, the pain, the despair, the bone-deep ache, the tiredness inside your very being?"
His voice grew more intense with each word. "All because of trying to help a stupid little girl who couldn't protect herself."
With a sudden motion, Klaus pushed Lucien away, causing him to fall onto the ground on his back. Lucien hastily scrambled to his feet, glaring at Klaus, his teeth gritted in defiance.
Klaus stood as well, once more towering over Lucien. "This world isn't kind to kind fools," he said, his voice now controlled but no less intense.
"You don't even blame them, do you? Those two little girls are the very causes of your suffering. If that day you hadn't chosen to try and save them, right now you wouldn't be in this very situation."
He took a step closer to Lucien, who held his ground. "Every bad thing that has happened to you has been and only been because you have tried to help people - selflessly. Not weighing in the risks, the harm that will befall you, and choosing to back off."
His voice rose again. "You are a self-sacrificial fool!"
"I would rather be considered a fool than be heartless!" Lucien shouted back, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
The dining room fell into absolute silence. Even the subtle sounds of breathing seemed to have ceased.
Klaus stared at Lucien, his expression shifting through a kaleidoscope of emotions too quick to identify.
Finally, he turned toward Rebekah, his voice cold and controlled once more.
"You have a day to make a compelling offer to the boy in front of you," he stated. "Otherwise, I will not allow him to help you."
"You can't-" Lucien began, but Klaus interrupted smoothly.
"Oh, but I can." He crouched down to Lucien's eye level, "Don't you see? Our contract isn't causing me pain. It isn't stopping me from this course of action."
A cruel smile played at his lips. "This is proof that the universe itself considers my actions less harm than letting you continue your path."
He rose to his full height, straightening his jacket with practiced elegance. "Katherine, take Lucien to your room," he ordered, not even glancing in her direction.
Katherine moved immediately to Lucien's side, her hand gently touching his shoulder. Her eyes met his briefly, communicating silent support.
"Dinner," Klaus announced to the room at large, "is over."
Without another word, he turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing against the hardwood floor.
The remaining Originals sat in stunned silence as Katherine guided a still-processing Lucien from the room.
The sound of Klaus's footsteps faded down the hall, leaving only the soft ticking of an antique clock to mark the passage of time.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter.
Do tell me how you found it.
So... Who do you agree with? Be it completely or more?
Klaus or Lucien?
What do you think Rebekah will offer that Klaus will find acceptable?
I'm interested in your thoughts.
Well, I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)