[OPEN] We'll Take A Cup of Kindness Yet

[nascensibility]

Who: EVERYONE, but especially you!
Where: Wonderland Ballroom
When: New Year's Eve
Rating: PG - PG13 (will change if applicable)
Summary: New Year's Eve Party
The Story:

[The morning of December 31st, all residents will receive a handwritten invitation slipped under their door.]



You are cordially invited to attend a party
celebrating the New Year

Wonderland Ballroom
8 pm - 1 am

Semi-Formal Attire
Buffet & Bar
No RSVP Required

All Ages Welcome

For inquiries, contact E. O'Connell

[Punctuality in planning is important: the ballroom itself will only be ready for guests at exactly 8 o'clock, bedecked in glittering golds and the red-green of Christmas' vestiges, still clinging to the old year. Dining tables surround a central dance floor, bars and buffets dot the edges of the room and both holly and mistletoe are expressed liberally through the interior.

Mingle, dance, eat and be merry! The New Year will come in at midnight - the band will play and the drinks will flow for long after.]

Comments

[deathlessness]

[She hears the whoosh of her sister fleeing behind her and she holds her ground, needing to make sure the barrier stays in place, because she doesn't know how fast Lucifer is. That being said, when he does finally find her, her stance is not the casual relaxed shoulders of a barfly but that of a woman rooted in her own power, and is having no quarter with whatever obsession that seems to have been triggered in Lucifer.]

I will interfere where I see fit when it is my family at stake.

[walkingheroin]

[When he finally discovers the source of that which is in place to hold him back, he feels as if he's taken another violent blow to the chest.

The hits won't stop coming tonight, will they?]

You would protect him? A murderer of innocents?

[He tilts his head at her, eyes flaring at their second person of the day, his visage shifting and changing before her eyes, a mix between the Devil and the Lucifer she's come to know.]

I have to wonder what that makes you...

[deathlessness]

[Freya's own self loathing has never been hard to find. She's never bothered to hide the things that she's had to do in order to try and save herself, in order to fight for her own freedom, for that of her family. The blood on her hands is not as thick as that of her brother's, but it's there all the same, and it's far more meaningful than those that Klaus has killed simply to survive.

After all, some things must die, in order for others to survive.

Still, Lucifer's flickering visage draws to mind the face of Davina pleading with her, begging her to save her instead of condemning her. It's the freshest of Freya's crimes, the most recent, at least, but it doesn't stop her thoughts from drawing deeper, to the slick burn of poison, the gasps of her own last breath, and then a yielding darkness, the kind that she breaks through to find that she has survived, but where there was once life, once movement and love, now was emptiness and shame.

Freya's greatest flaw has always been her impatience, her impulse, and it has always cost her the things she loves most dearly. But after everything her actions have put Klaus through, she will not allow him to bear a second punishment when leaving Wonderland means that he will go back to endure one far worse. A tear slips down her cheek as a person who was once her friend forces her to relive one of the worst moments of her life, the moment when she went from vindicated captive to monster in her own right.]

He is my family. How can I judge him when I have my own sins to bear?

[walkingheroin]

You don't need to. I already have.

[He's been found guilty as charged, and Lucifer needs no courtroom or jury to administer his justice.]

I'm afraid I know all too well that family does not mean much when it comes to judgments. [His Dad taught him that one, both judgment and punishment, and his siblings easily fell in line.] Perhaps when I'm finished with him, I can judge your sins as well, find out all of your family's dirty little secrets.

[deathlessness]

[She laughs bitterly at that, because her family has far too many secrets and far too many sins. Sins they are already paying for of their own accord, in an event triggered by Freya's hand. Wonderland is their reprieve, their brief repose from their own punishments, particularly Klaus.]

Then judge me. Weigh my crimes and find me wanting. But Klaus is already bearing the weight of his sins in our world, condemned to endless torture at the hands of our judge and jury. Just because he is guilty does not mean he isn't already paying for his crimes - there is no need for you to punish him again.

[If Klaus is willing to sacrifice for them at home, the least she can do is sacrifice for him here.]

Once should be enough.

[walkingheroin]

[Klaus is already gone off to whatever hole he's hiding in and thus the source of his anger is removed, which when confronted with Freya and the power she apparently possesses and her capacity for selflessness, to take her another's punishment onto herself, makes him falter.

'Once should be enough.'

It's not an untrue statement. How long had he been punished for his crime, the one his Father cast him into Hell for? He'd been punished long enough too, had he not?

The terrifying visage that flickers over his features falls away suddenly, leaving behind the face of a man who may be one of the most tired creatures in existence.]

Is it? [His voice is scratchy as he asks the question.] And who gets to decide that?

[deathlessness]

[She watches him carefully, and suddenly he is her friend again, bearing the weariness of age the way she's seen many of the important people in her life do. She keeps the barrier in place for a moment, unsure if it is a ruse to gain her trust or if it's something truly genuine, but she does take a tentative step forward, the anger fading away to something slightly more understanding.

Punishing the guilty makes sense - after all, there was no question that Heaven was not meant for a family for the Mikaelsons.]

You are the one exacting the punishment.

[Even though she knows that it's possible they've ceased to talk about Klaus at all.]

I would say that the choice is in your hands.

[walkingheroin]

I suppose I will have to think about it then, won't I?

[This evening has given him plenty of things to think about, much of which he doesn't understand. There have been plenty of times he's gotten angry about the sins of others, of the destruction they cause because of petty whims and selfish desires.

But this wasn't just anger, though he's not sure he knows exactly what else he's feeling.

Even if he felt like tearing Klaus limb from limb in this moment, there's no way he would be able to get to him between Freya and the others protecting him.]

I've had enough for one night. [He takes a glance around at the party that he has...thoroughly decimated.] It appears everyone else has as well. I imagine that's probably also my fault.

[deathlessness]

[Her eyes wander to the rest of the room as a small smirk crosses her lips. This is a scene that's all too familiar. After all, Mikaelson parties aren't exactly known for their quiet refinement.]

Well. What's a party without a little property damage.

[Her tone is dry and could almost be a joke, but this isn't a joking moment. Instead, it's simply something to diffuse the tension, and take the edge off the anger that had been permeating the room earlier. She swallows, then takes a step back and drops the barrier just as suddenly as it had appeared.]

Please think about it.

[And don't just say that to placate her. But with that, she'll disappear from the room as suddenly as she appeared, retreating back to her own body and the safety of family for now.]