The Boy King's Journey in TVD/TO As A Mikaelson

Henrik's eyes fluttered open slowly, consciousness returning as the remnants of his mother's sleeping spell finally faded. The cave's familiar stone walls came into focus, illuminated by flickering torchlight that cast dancing shadows across the rough surfaces.

His first awareness was of Rebekah's face hovering above him, concern etched in features that somehow seemed both familiar and subtly changed.

"Sister?" he mumbled, pushing himself up. The movement felt strange, as if his body had forgotten the weight of itself during his enchanted sleep. "What's happened? The last thing I remember was..." His hand went to his arm where the wolf had scratched him, but the wound was gone, leaving only smooth skin behind.

Then his gaze fell on the still form lying in the corner of the cave. Even in the shadows, he recognized the dress, the golden hair spread across the stone floor like a funeral shroud.

"Mother?" His voice cracked as he stumbled to his feet. "Mother!"

As if summoned by his cry, the cave entrance darkened with approaching figures. Vali entered first, his clothes torn and soaked with blood, his eyes gleaming in the torchlight. Behind him came the others - Mikael, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, and Finn - all looking battle-worn but unharmed. But it was the woman supported between Vali and Klaus that drew Henrik's attention - Tatia, pale and disoriented, blood staining her dress.

"I did," Vali answered his brother's unspoken question, his voice steady despite his bloodied appearance. "I killed our mother."

Henrik stared at his second eldest brother, his small frame trembling. "Why?" The question hung in the air, met only with silence. Vali stood still, his eyes fixed on his youngest brother, saying nothing.

The silence seemed to break something in Henrik. "Why aren't you answering me?" he demanded, his voice rising. "She was right about you, wasn't she? Everything she told me..."

The other siblings shifted uncomfortably, but remained quiet. They didn't know how to bridge this gap, how to explain the complexity of what had happened. Vali, however, remained motionless, waiting.

"She told me you were born wrong," Henrik continued, tears streaming down his face. "That you had darkness in you from the start. That the mark wasn't just a birthmark - it was a warning. A sign that you were something evil!"

His voice grew louder with each accusation, months of their mother's poisonous whispers pouring out. "She said you enjoyed hurting people. That you weren't really my brother at all, but something wearing his skin. That one day you'd turn on us all!"

Rebekah tried to reach for him, but Henrik pulled away. "She said you were death itself! That you'd destroy everything you touched! And now you've killed her! You've proved her right!"

The accusations echoed through the cave, each one a testament to how deeply Esther had planted her seeds of doubt and fear. Vali remained silent through it all, his eyes never leaving Henrik's face, letting his brother release every bit of poison their mother had fed him.

"You're right," he said finally, his voice quiet but carrying clearly through the silence. "Mother did tell you those things. And looking at me now," he gestured to his blood-stained form, his otherworldly eyes, "you might think she was right about everything."

He knelt down, bringing himself to Henrik's level, though maintaining enough distance not to frighten him further. "But ask yourself this, little brother - if I truly was what she claimed, why did I save you from the wolves? Why have I protected this family time and time again?"

His voice remained cold, matter-of-fact, but there was an underlying gentleness meant for Henrik's young ears. "Mother saw what she wanted to see. She feared what she couldn't control. And yes, I killed her - not because I'm a monster, but because she would have destroyed us all to satisfy her fear."

He glanced at their tired siblings, at Tatia's bloodied form. "Even tonight, her closest friend tried to finish what she started. She would have killed us all, in the future possibly even you because of what she herself made for you, Henrik. That's the truth Mother never told you."

"You don't have to forgive me," Vali added softly. "You don't even have to believe me. But know this - everything I've done, every life I've taken, has been to protect this family. Including you." Which in essence it was, for even though he gained extreme pleasure from it, his killings were focused primarly on those who would threaten him and his family in any capacity.

Henrik stared at his brother, conflict clear on his young face. The cave fell silent save for Tatia's soft gasps as her body still needed to recover, only having drunk enough from Ayana to transition.

The truth hung heavy in the air - not just about their mother's death, but about everything that had led to this moment.

"Did she..." Henrik's voice wavered, "did she really try to kill you?"

"Many times," Vali confirmed, still kneeling at Henrik's level. "Do you remember the illnesses you, the accidents - they weren't natural. They were her attempts to be rid of what she feared."

And Henrik did remember them. He was only ten winters old, having been born after most of Vali's "accidents" had already occurred. But even in his short life, he'd witnessed enough to plant seeds of doubt, that could now bear fruit.

He remembered the winter two years ago when Vali had fallen deathly ill after drinking from a cup their mother had personally prepared. Vali then, ever the optimist, still then yearning for his mother's love drinking it, just to make her happy, no matter how much deep down he knew it was futile.

The mark had pulsed crimson through the night, and by morning, Vali had recovered, though others would have surely died.

Then there was the incident with the hunting trap that had inexplicably appeared in Vali's path, or the time his horse had gone mysteriously wild during a ride, kicking him in the chest into a rock.

It broke nearly all his ribs, for the Black Steed is a horse that unknown to all, was more of a familiar than anything else to Vali, having become stronger with every kill he aided his master in.

They were, in essence small things that could be explained away, but now carried darker meaning.

Vali watched these memories play across his youngest brother's face. Henrik stared at his second eldest brother, conflict clear in his young features.

The cave fell silent save for Tatia's soft tired gasps. The truth hung heavy in the air - not just about their mother's death, but about everything that had led to this moment.

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" Henrik asked, his anger giving way to confusion.

"Who would have believed me?" Vali's eyes flickered briefly to Mikael. "A child claiming his mother wanted him dead? Even Father only learned the truth today."

Kol stepped forward, his usual mischievous demeanor subdued. "I saw it, you know," he admitted, drawing everyone's attention.

"The magic in those potions she gave you. I was studying her grimoires, learning what I could, and I recognized some of the ingredients. But I was too much of a coward to speak up."

"We all saw pieces of it," Elijah added quietly, guilt heavy in his voice. "The way she would tense when you entered a room, how her eyes would track your movements. We chose not to see the truth."

"Because it was easier to believe nothing was wrong," Finn continued, his voice thick with emotion. "To trust that a mother could never..." he trailed off, unable to finish. Even he in his resentment for his brothers cruelty could never bring himself to wish death upon him.

Niklaus moved closer to Henrik, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I understood something was wrong, but even I didn't grasp the full extent of it. Mother was... skilled at hiding her true nature."

"She made us complicit in our silence," Rebekah whispered, tears streaming down her face. "All those times Vali was ill, and she would insist on being the only one to tend to him..."

Mikael's voice cut through the confessions, heavy with regret. "I was blind. Willfully blind. A father's duty is to protect his children, and I failed in that most sacred task."

Tatia, still adjusting to her transformation, spoke up from where she sat supported by the cave wall. "I knew her not for long, but since I joined with Vali, whenever I saw her, I saw fear of what she couldn't control, what she couldn't understand. I saw it in her eyes whenever she looked at him, even before..." she gestured to her new state, "all of this."

Henrik looked around at his siblings, seeing the truth written on their faces. The weight of their collective guilt, their shared blindness, filled the cave like a physical presence.

The weight of revelations seemed to physically exhaust Henrik, his small frame swaying as emotional and physical fatigue took their toll. Rebekah noticed immediately, her maternal instincts kicking in.

"That's enough for tonight," she said softly, guiding Henrik back to his sleeping furs. "Rest now, little brother. There will be time for more truths tomorrow." She began humming an old Norse lullaby, one their mother used to sing - though that thought now carried a bitter edge.

As Henrik's eyes grew heavy, the rest of his siblings starting to scatter, Vali turned to Tatia. Without a word, he lifted her into his arms, her newly transformed body still adjusting to immortality. His eyes met Mikael's briefly - a silent communication passing between them.

"We need to talk," he said to Tatia, his voice low enough that only she could hear. Then, to the others, addressing them before they fully left: "We'll return before dawn." Without waiting for anyone's reply, they left.

They vanished into the night, moving with supernatural speed until they reached a secluded clearing far from the cave, far from prying eyes and enhanced hearing. Here, surrounded by ancient pines and beneath the winter stars, they could finally be alone with their new reality.

In the clearing, moonlight filtering through the pine branches, Vali gently set Tatia down. His black eyes met hers with intensity. He, the moment they became vampires, already thought about the dangers of compulsions and sirebonds towards Tatia.

He did not wish to have the same fate Niklaus had with Aurora de Martel in the original time line, nor to have a relationship formed upon lies, by a sirebond. So, he simply decided he wouldn't let it happen to her.

"There's something I need to do first, before we can speak, though I need to ask you, to trust me." he said softly, his pupils dilating as he accessed his newfound power. 

His voice took on an otherworldly resonance as he spoke, the mark on his arm pulsing faintly: "You will never be compelled by anyone but me. You will remember every compulsion ever used on you. You will never form a sirebond - not with me, not with anyone. Your mind and will remain your own, save when compelled by me."

The compulsion settled into place, a fundamental alteration to her vampiric nature before it could fully take root. Tatia blinked, processing the strange sensation of the command binding itself to her very being.

"What was that?" she asked, touching her temple as if she could physically feel the changes.

"Protection," Vali replied simply. "Now we can talk freely."

"What protection?" Tatia's voice carried a familiar edge of exasperation as she crossed her arms, fixing him with a look that had cowed lesser men. "You can't just do... whatever that was and expect me to accept it without explanation, Vali."

Her newly heightened senses made her even more aware of his tendency to act unilaterally, to make decisions that affected others without consulting them. It was so quintessentially him - to do whatever he deemed necessary and expect everyone to fall in line, to trust in his judgment without question.

"After everything that's happened tonight," she continued, her voice softening slightly but maintaining its steel, "after what your mother and Ayana tried to do... don't you think I deserve to understand what you just did to me?"

The moonlight caught the dried blood on her dress, a stark reminder of how others' decisions had already affected her fate tonight. Her transformation had been her choice, yes, but this... this was different.

She wanted to know. To know him even better since now they had eternity, and she did not wish to even miss a piece of what makes him, him.

He was her everything. Her village people have abandoned her when she fell in love with him, her aunt as well, though to no true surprise since she never was good to her mother in the first place since she always envied her sister, with that envy, after Tatia's mother's death having transferred to her.

Vali, despite his cruel and sadistic nature, truly loved her, and because of that love, she loved him in her own words, a thousand times more.

Vali studied her for a moment, appreciating how even as a vampire, even covered in dried blood and having just escaped death, she maintained that fierce spirit that had first drawn him to her. Her demand for explanations was so quintessentially Tatia - never cowering, never simply accepting his decisions without understanding them.

"What I just did," he began, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from her face, "was ensure your mind remains your own. Our new nature... it comes with abilities. We can compel others - bend their will to ours, make them forget things, control them. And there's something called a sirebond that can form between the one who turns someone and the one turned."

He paused, letting her process this information. "I made sure no one but me could ever compel you, and that you'll always remember if I do. I also prevented any sirebond from forming - even with me. Your feelings, your choices, will always be purely your own."

"And why only you?" she asked, her voice carrying that familiar mix of challenge and affection. "Why leave yourself that power over me?"

"Because there may come times when I need to protect you from things you don't yet understand," he replied honestly. "But I swear to you, Tatia, I will never use it to change who you are or what your feelings are towards me, without your own permission."

The moonlight filtered through the pine branches above them, casting dappled shadows across her face as she considered his words.

This was the man she had chosen - the one who could kill without mercy yet show such care in protecting her autonomy, who could be both monster and protector in the same breath.

"My people abandoned me when I chose you," she said softly, reaching up to touch his face. "My aunt, my village - they all turned their backs on me. But you... you've given me eternity."

Tatia's fingers traced the lines of his face with an almost reverent intensity, her newly heightened senses making her even more aware of every detail that made him uniquely him.

The dried blood on his clothes, rather than repulsing her, only made her heart race with a dark sort of pleasure. This was her Vali - powerful enough to make even spirits flee.

"Eternity," she whispered, her eyes gleaming with something that went beyond mere affection. "An endless time where no one can take you from me." Her grip on his face tightened slightly, possessively. "Where those who try will learn why that's a mistake."

Vali noticed the shift in her demeanor - how her natural darkness, the very thing that had first drawn him to her, was being amplified by her transformation. The way her eyes tracked his every movement, how she positioned herself to always maintain physical contact, spoke of an obsession that matched his own darkness perfectly.

At her demeanor, he remembered something that was peculiar and was what actually drove him to create his compulsion. A compulsion unbreakable by anyone lesser than him when it comes to the might of the soul. Tatia's mind reached out to him and saw his memories, well, his most forefront memory really, his current favorite one, that he had constantly on loop, even now.

"You enjoyed watching me kill her, didn't you?" he asked softly, referring to Esther. "Even before your transformation, I saw it in your soul."

A smile played across Tatia's lips, beautiful and terrible all at once. "She tried to take you from me," she replied simply, as if that explained and justified everything. "Just like Ayana tried. Just like anyone who threatens our bond deserves."

Their eyes met in the moonlight, centuries of potential stretching before them. Tatia's heightened senses made every touch electric, every breath significant. The dried blood on their clothes, the lingering scent of death - it should have repulsed her, but it only drew her closer to him.

"Mine," she whispered against his skin, her possessive nature fully awakened by her transformation. Her fingers traced the mark on his arm, feeling its power pulse beneath her touch.

Tatia watched, entranced, as Vali's eyes transformed in desire and lust - the darkness spreading until they were bottomless pools of black, while dark veins spider-webbed across his face. Where others might have seen a monster, she saw only beauty.

"Perfect, you are absolutely perfect" she breathed, her own vampire features emerging in response. With supernatural strength, she pressed forward, claiming his lips in a fierce kiss that sent them both crashing against an ancient pine. The tree groaned under the impact, bark splintering around them.

The ancient pine cracked under their supernatural strength as they lost themselves in each other. Tatia's nails raked across his back, drawing blood that healed instantly. Her vampire features were fully emerged now, matching his demonic appearance - a perfect union of darkness.

"They feared this," she gasped between fierce kisses. "They feared what we could become together." Her possessive nature fully awakened, she marked him as hers in every way she could, their immortal bodies healing each touch, each bite, each claim.

The mark pulsed softly with crimson energy, casting their shadows in a gentle blood-red light across the forest floor. Their heightened senses continuing to make every touch electric, every moment eternal. Vali's own possessive nature emerging as his hands gripped her with bruising force that healed instantly.

He growled against her throat, his black eyes gleaming with great intensity. The mark flared brighter as his own darkness rose to match hers. "Anyone who tries to separate us will learn why you don't seperate the devil and his queen."

Their passion consumed them through the night, two immortal beings claiming each other completely.

When dawn finally was close, the sun soon approaching, they layed together on the forest floor, surrounded by splintered trees and scattered leaves, deciding to soon after a bit leave before the rays of the sun graced the earth once more.

Tatia traced the mark on his arm once more, her eyes filled with dark satisfaction. "Let them fear us," she whispered. "Let them run. We have eternity to show them why they should."

Vali smiled, pulling her closer. "And our eternity," he replied, "is just the beginning."

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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Do tell how you found the family interaction?

How do you find Henrik since, he'll have a more original personality since we don't really have much to base his on.

How did you find Vali and Tatia's relationship?

Do please tell me, the more you engage and give feedback, the more I write, today being a testament since there were so many comments I've written four in a row.

Well, I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)