MOONS.
016. | ❛ where i can protect you. ❜

"Wouldn't you say, my love?" Just then, a very unhappy Klaus walks into the room. Luna looks relieved by the sight of him, but when she tries to rush toward him, Aurora smirks and turns her back to Luna, covering her with her body and pushing Luna backward against the cage with one hand so she can't move any closer. Klaus spreads his arms wide in a gesture of defeat.

"Stop this game."

"This is not a game, Nik! This is an intervention. You're in danger of losing the love of your life... Me. We're finally together after so long apart, all the world before us, if can just dodge a few minor obstacles. Like this nuisance of a prophecy, my brother's internment, the insufferable influence of Elijah... But what I cannot overcome is your affections for someone else." Klaus, looking somewhat bemused, sighs dramatically.

"I've waited far too long to share you now." Klaus, knowing that Luna is in a lot of danger, tries to carefully navigate this situation so as to not get her hurt in the crossfire. Aurora shrugs, and her voice becomes softer.

"Call me jealous." Klaus walks toward Aurora and Luna and continues to make pleasant conversation.

"I remember full well the extent of your jealousies. But what surprises me is that they extend to the, uh..."
Klaus gestures toward Luna and smiles.

"The hybrid I turned. Aurora, you can't believe she means anything to me."

"But I do believe it, Nik! I see it, the fear in your eyes." Klaus' eyes widen in alarm, though he tries to cover it up b

"Do you actually love her?"

"You know I love you." Aurora looks at him in relief, and the tension leaves her body as she smiles at him.

"I'm so glad you admitted that. I wanted Luna to hear it..." Aurora suddenly grabs Luna in a choke-hold, and Luna gasps for breath as Aurora, still clutching her throat tightly, turns back to address Klaus with a maniacal smile.

"...Before I rip out her throat."
Luna's eyes widen in alarm, and Klaus, too, looks concerned.

Aurora has let go of Luna's throat, though she still has a tight hold on her to keep her from moving. Klaus is pacing around the room as he does his best to calm Aurora down.

"Honestly, Aurora... These petty displays are so far beneath you. Wild scavenger hunts, threats against innocent acquaintances... They cast you in a very unflattering light. Jealousy's more my game."

"Oh, would that I didn't have the need for it."

"Why should you? Luna is no rival to you."

Luna frowns sadly, not sure if Klaus is lying for her benefit or is actually being serious.

"Your fears are ridiculous."

"Nik, I have no doubt that you love me. I was just hurt to learn that you would lower yourself to this distraction..."
Aurora jerks Luna's body toward him in emphasis, and Luna groans in pain as she sways on her feet.

"And particularly when she constitutes a rather fiendish lie."
Klaus frowns in confusion, unsure of what she's talking about.

"You were drawn to her under the mistaken belief that she is pure, and she tells you that people want to be good, but she's not quite the ray of unwavering sunshine that you believe her to be." Luna looks at Klaus with a pleading expression as Aurora continues to hold her upright by the back of the neck.

"No. There is a darkness in her. Why else would she be drawn to the darkness? Why else would she be drawn to you? See, I might have my own imperfections, but at least I am not a fake. Whereas Luna here?" Aurora jerks Luna's body around again to emphasize her point, causing Luna to gasp in pain once again.

"Well, she's... she's just an illusion."

"Aurora..."

"She's right. Klaus, everything I ever said to you is a lie."

Luna pauses for a moment as though she's searching for the words to say, but instead, she headbutts Aurora in the face from behind.

Aurora becomes so furious that she hits Luna in the head hard enough to knock her out, and her body crumples to the floor as Klaus vamp-speeds toward Aurora and pins her to the wall of the cage. However, Aurora just laughs as she looks over at Luna's unconscious body on the floor.

"Oh, poor, frail little thing. How sad you involved her in this." Klaus glares at Aurora furiously, taking one moment to glance over at Luna's body before he vamp-speeds them both outside.

Luna awakens on the floor next to the fight cage and groans in pain as a result of the bleeding head wound Aurora gave her.

Luna weakly pulls herself to her feet, groaning all the while. However, she doesn't realize that the first man that Aurora turned and killed has awakened in transition and is staring at her ravenously from behind her. She winces as she touches the bloody wound on her head until she hears footsteps approaching her and spins on her heel to find the newly-turned vampire slowly walking toward her.

"Hey..."

"I'm so hungry..."

Suddenly, a gasp is heard, and Luna turns toward the source of the sound to find that yet another of the fledgling vampires has awakened in transition as well. The first newborn vampire continues to walk toward her, causing a terrified Luna to back away from him in fear

Inside the church, Luna is still backing away from the fledgling vampire who is stalking toward her and gently tries to talk him down.

"Listen to me, all right? You're in transition. You're gonna have to feed on blood."

"I know the rules." Several loud noises are heard behind them, and Luna fearfully looks around the room as more of the newborn vampires awaken in transition.

"Marcel told us. If I don't feed... I die."

Luna, knowing that she's in even more trouble now, rushes over to where a mop is laying on the ground nearby and grabs it. She then kicks it with her boot-clad foot until it snaps in half before brandishing the broken end of the handle in the newborn vampire's direction like a makeshift stake.

"Back off!"

The newborn vampire keeps walking toward her, and she aggressively jabs it at him.

"Right now!"

The newborn vampire frowns and tries to decide what to do as he's joined by another fellow fledgling.

Luna is still trying to fend off the starving newborn vampires who are swarming around her by brandishing her makeshift stake at them. It's clear by the tone of her voice that she is both angry and terrified.

"I said get back!"

When the vampire continues to walk toward him, Luna desperately backhands him across the face with the stake, but it does nothing but make him angry. Luna's eyes widen in fear as the vampire tackles her onto the floor, and the squishing sound that follows indicates that Luna was able to stake him by holding the stake between them and allowing him to fall on top of the pointed end.

"Get off of me!"

The newborn makes one last choking noise before he falls dead on top of her, revealing that Luna did indeed stake him through the heart. However, a second newborn looks at Luna hungrily and starts to walk toward them, causing Luna to desperately struggle underneath her first now-dead attacker. The weight of his body is too much for her weakened hybrid strength, and she's unable to move the man's body off of her.

Just as the second vampire is about to lunge for Luna, Klaus vamp-speeds into the room, grabs the man with one arm, and breaks his back before dropping his body onto the ground. Luna is finally able to crawl out from under the first vampire's body as she tries her best to catch her breath. Klaus quietly walks over to her and holds out his hand, which Luna takes to help her stand to her feet. As soon as she's upright, Klaus immediately wraps his arms around her in a hug, which Luna returns by wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly, finally able to relax after her hellish last few days.

****************

At the Mikaelson compound, Lina is sitting on the couch of the den with a towel full of ice pressed against her injured head when Klaus comes in and looks at her with concern.

"Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine."

Luna sets the ice pack down on the coffee table and scoots over to make room for him.

"I mean, my head is throbbing, but all things considered.."

Klaus smiles at her, and it's clear that he's nervous about what he wants to say.

"Well, for tonight, I'd like you to stay here... where I can protect you."

Luna hesitantly nods in agreement, and Klaus takes a deep breath before he sits down on the coffee table so he can look her in the eyes.

"Luna, I want you to know... what happened today..." Klaus struggles to find the words he wants to say, and Luna smiles weakly at him.

"Hey, forget about it. It's not your fault." Luna begins to look nervous herself as she musters up the courage to ask him a question.

"I have to ask... Right before you showed up, did you hear what Aurora and I were talking about?"
Klaus looks at her with sympathy before he replies.

"Your incident at the university... the man you assaulted?" Klaus pauses for a moment before he looks at her with a deadpanned expression.

"I've already compelled some people to go and kill him." Luna smiles awkwardly at him, not sure if he actually means it.

"That's a joke, right...?"

Klaus feigns embarrassment and smiles mischievously before he shrugs.

" ...It doesn't have to be."

"Don't kill anyone for me, please."

"Whatever you want." Klaus' lower lip quivers nervously as he tries to determine what Luna is currently feeling, but when she smiles at him with affection, he begins to relax and smiles back. After a moment, Luna's exhaustion starts to overwhelm her, and she curls up with her head resting on the arm of the couch.

"It's been a lousy couple of days... Do you mind if I just close my eyes for a second?" Luna is so tired that her eyes flutter and close before Klaus can even answer. Not wanting to disturb her, Klaus remains silent and stands up so he can pick up the throw blanket resting on the other arm of the couch and cover her up with it. He then turns to leave the room, but stops right at the doorway, sighing in relief that Luna is okay and smiling to himself as he turns to look back at her. Luna is now sleeping soundly, and Klaus watches her relaxed form on the couch for a moment before he leaves her to sleep.