It was on an ordinary night, after the usual Wednesday service, that Lucas felt as if something had shifted inside him.
He was sitting in the same pew as always, his Bible open on his lap, when the pastor spoke in a firm yet gentle voice:
— "The heart of man is deceitful and desperately corrupt. If it weren't for the mercy of God, none of us would be saved."
That sentence echoed in Lucas's mind for days.
At first, it seemed harsh. Even unfair. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
He looked at himself and saw pride, anger, a desire for control, fear.
He looked at the world and saw wars, betrayals, selfishness.
And then something clicked: it wasn't just society. It wasn't just circumstances. It was human nature itself.
All of us, he thought, carry something broken inside.
And then The Originals came back to his mind.
He had always wondered why that family — who spoke so much about love, loyalty, and eternity — kept hurting each other. Why brothers betrayed one another, parents destroyed their children, and promises turned into threats.
Now he understood.
It wasn't a lack of love. It was an excess of pride, fear, a thirst for control.
It was the old nature.
They were like any other human being — immortal, yes, but still human at their core.
And without redemption, without repentance, without mercy, they were trapped in an endless cycle of pain and repetition.
Lucas realized then that the beauty of the Christian faith wasn't pretending everyone was good — it was recognizing that no one was, and yet God still offered grace.
A grace that transforms, that regenerates, that gives a new heart.
For the first time, he didn't feel superior to the Mikaelsons, or to anyone else.
He felt the same. A sinner.
But a sinner reached by mercy.
And that changed everything.