Work Text:
THE OFFER
Esther's fingers thread through Elijah's hair and she pulls his head back, the knife slicing through his throat, smooth, clean, quick. Her eyes watch the blood and she whispers quickly and quietly, fracturing a spell made long ago, so long she's forgotten her intentions. She knows she meant to help, but her help has soured, turned dark in the way that panic and pain can sour anything, and she herself is not the same woman she was when she cast it. The Other Side has changed her, and this side, and what she's made him, has changed him.
Her heart weeps that it is necessary, but he must see what he has become to understand her offer. To take her offer.
"Hello, Nidhogg," she whispers to him as she finishes the spell.
Nuntius's head snapped up and his eyes opened. He gasped for breath and looked wildly about the room. He jerked and the chains that bound him now rattled. He looked confused, disoriented till his eyes met Lenore.
"Who are you?" He asked. He had no idea what happened. All he knew was that something had shifted in his void and things were breaking apart. The door had rattled something fierce and then cracked like it had been under some kind of pressure.
Esther watched him struggle and stepped back, crossing her arms, and she makes sure she stands out of reach of his his triple set of fangs. His eyes glow blue, and his clothes flicker into something less, destroyed. Her eyes watch him carefully as his hair grows, loose and long. He almost looks like she remembers Elijah for a moment, but then his clothes settle into a full pitch black suit and claws grow from his hands, black with blue veins flowing through it. They pulse with power, glowing like his eyes, and her expression changes minutely less fond as she watches. Of course.
"I'll give you a moment to register your current state. You'll understand better if you know where you are," she says calmly, keeping her posture relaxed, calm, in control, though her eyes flick to the restraints for a moment, making sure her spell is keeping them from being strained by his strength.
Nuntius winced straining against the chains. He flexed his fingers trying to take stock. He wasn't in the void, he wasn't in the hallway. The tomb they were in was lit differently and he felt, strange more, solid, less like a phantom or ghost. He looked down at himself and realized he was in his own clothes. He looked to his hands and there were his claws. He inhaled sharp in surprise. He ran his tongue over his fangs. They were intact.
He looked wildly about the room and then at Lenore. Something was familiar about her, the way she stood, the way she looked at him. He got a flash of his Mother in his mind and he jerked.
"Mother?" He asked in a soft gentle manner.
"Nidhogg," she replied softly, smiling at him, returning her focus to him once she was sure the chains would hold him.
Nuntius swallowed hard trying to stay calm. Why was he here? What happened to Elijah? He looked up with his eyes scanning his head, he saw everything differently, the hallway, the red door, and he found a door with Elijah' name in it. Elijah must be in there. He was, in Elijah's body, but, he was as he was supposed to be, how did this happen?
"How did you do this? Why am I here? Are you here to free me?" He asked.
"I am," she replied, stepping closer and putting her fingertips to his cheek, keeping her touch gentle, knowing he hasn't felt the warmth of living skin in so long, taking the movement slow to let him experience it. "I am here to help you, and Elijah, to make you an offer, and ask for your aid." She said, answering his last question only, keeping her responses short and simple for now.
Nuntius closed his eyes when she touched him. It felt like it had when he last saw her despite her being in a new body. He opened his eyes feeling tears starting to form.
"I've been waiting for so long, I'm, sorry, for what I did, it was an accident, I didn't mean to kill her, I couldn't control it, and then the visions, the pain, and, then, Klaus and Elijah, you scolded me, yelled at me-" he stopped, starting to shake. He tried to breath to focus.
"What do you need me to do?" He asked finally.
"I need you to agree. I need to convince Elijah and Klaus that my plan to help all of you is for the best, that you being free, no longer cursed with this immortality will help you truly live." She said, cupping his face more fully. "I never intended to create this suffering, for you to hurt like this."
Nuntius's heart beat full in his chest. It wasn't as loud as he was used to and it was unsettling but Esther holding him gave him comfort he hadn't known in a long time. Tears fell as he listened to her explanation.
"I, I cant, they cant hear me, and the door-" he paused and then realized, "the door is broken," he said looking horrified now.
"I did that, to let you out, to reach you, my son. If you will work with me, I can get you your own body, a witch body, and I can get one for your brother as well… or I can help you both merge again with Elijah and Klaus."
Her thumb caressed his cheek bone, gentle, loving touches as her fingers moved into his hair and gently ran through it, soothing and calm.
Nuntius sighed heavily as Esther spoke and pet him. The feeling of her love washed over him and he lost his train of thought, or it, changed. "I want to help Elijah, if the door is broken, he wont understand, he needs me"
"And you can help him. You can guide him, or you can keep everything and teach him of what he's done," she told him gently, smoothing his hair back, stroking his forehead with her other hand, holding his attention and focus solely on her.
Nuntius nodded slowly,
"give them to me, give me my own body I will help him, I just, my powers, I'm a Monster-"
Logi, his body twitched and he looked scared.
"Will I lose everything?" He asked his eyes fixated on Esthers.
"The powers you have are entwined with your soul. I can give you a witch body, but your necromancy will not leave you, my son, I'm sorry," her voice was wistful and gentle, and she took his face in both hands. "If you wish it gone, I can try, to give it to Elijah, or I can make sure you keep it all, if you wish. I know well the pain of that power, though not as well as you. You inherited it from my side of the family. My father… did not handle, the power well."
Answers, a name, an explanation, he'd longed for these things and now he had it. He took a deep breath and exhaled relaxing. He had forgotten he was chained up, he had forgotten he was still trapped. He tried to move to hug Esther but the chains pulled and he winced.
"I want to keep it, give it all to me, I will carry it. I, know these powers, I can handle it."
Esther nodded and lifted her hand to the chains, then paused, and looked at him. "I will do this for you, for you both. Return to me when you've convinced Klaus, and I will help you all take care of each other, live, truly," She keeps her eyes on his, soft but determined. "When I let you go, the magic that gives Elijah the ability to hold your form may waver, it may not stay…" she warned him.
Nuntius thought about this. That meant, he'd have to convince Klaus that he wasn't Elijah, he'd have to take care of Elijah's body as it was, he nodded and retracted his claws. He flexed his fingers trying to get used to the feeling.
"I will manage," he finally said.
"Good boy," she praised, pressing a light kiss to his forehead and wrapping one arm around his waist to support him as she released the first chain.
"Good, boy" hit him harder then anything he'd felt before, and he could have cried if he didn't need to stay focused. He dropped against Esther and rested putting a hand to her shoulder carefully to stay up right.
She kept him there a moment, letting him get his feet under himself and gather his strength for the next chain, her hand stroking down his side, soothing and warm. Once he was steady, she slowly moved to his other side, supporting him and released the second chain.
Nuntius tried not to sink onto Esther as the last chain fell. He felt himself change, and the bloody torn clothes felt uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and exhaled then cracked his neck trying to get used to Elijah's body, he hadn't much time with his own so he was more disoriented now. He nuzzled into Esther making a small noise.
"I need a bath" he said softly.
She smiled softly and pet his shorter hair, kissing his forehead and sinking slowly to the floor with him. "We'll wait until Finn gets here, and get you cleaned up, ready to go home," She held him close in her arms, and smiled at him proudly.
Home, he'd have a home, he'd have Elijah and Klaus, he'd have Joy, he'd keep the memories for Elijah and help him through them, and make sure he understood and was safe, he curled into Esther and started crying.
Esther cradled and soothed him, petting him gently, keeping him in her arms.
"It's alright now, my love, my sweet child, it will all be over soon, and you'll be safe. I love you," she soothes, holding him close to her and letting him cry.
Nuntius shook and cried more as Esther spoke he couldn't help it, he tried to calm down and it hurt to fight the tears but he had to, he had to try and get through this. He took deep breaths, his heart beat softly. He slowly calmed down and swallowed hard. It was at this moment he realized he was incredibly weaker, thirsty and hungry. He slowly moved out of Esther's arms and onto the floor in front of her mostly out of habit from sitting on the floor of the void when he was upset.
"I have a new name now, I changed it when Elijah and I learned Latin. My name is Nuntius," He said with a bit of confidence.
She smiled brighter, her eyes shining softly.
"Nuntius. I like it," she said kindly. "It suits you."