Chapter 9: Ch. 10
1493 A.D.
I'd fucked up. Gotten too cocky, too complacent and once again failed when I needed to succeed. I could partially blame things on Sage, given how she'd proven to be such a distraction over the last few decades. To be fair to her though I'd never told her we were on a deadline, and as I stared at the diary I'd taken as a whim off of a beautiful young woman I'd fed on, I had to face the truth.
It was 1493 and I'd completely missed the window for finding my siblings and making sure the curse was broken five hundred years early. It was entirely my fault, no matter how much I wished I could blame Sage. I'd allowed myself to be distracted by her little games as we'd hunted for my siblings, who had clearly learned how to hide very well over the last 5 centuries of running from Mikael.
After her five years of service were up, she'd stuck around anyways because of course we had a common goal and I'd promised to help her free Finn. But she had this insatiable need to make bets and deals and wagers to keep life interesting, and I found myself investing far more time and energy into winning them, usually by cheating, than I should have.
If I'd told her from the start that we had a time limit, that we had only forty years to find the Originals, she would probably have been more focused on the task at hand. But at first I'd been unwilling to tell her more than she needed to know, and then I'd been too caught up in her games to notice how time had passed.
It didn't help that I'd focused all of my considerable resources on the Americas, and left Europe alone. I'd gone into this situation blind from the start, ended up blindsided by a human war for my trouble and then been unable to locate my family because I had no assets in Europe. I'd thought I could handle it by word of mouth, because how hard could it possibly be to find a family of blood sucking monsters?
What I'd failed to take into account properly was that my siblings weren't just lounging about Europe lording their immortality and power over the puny humans. They weren't somewhere visible where they held a throne. They'd been on the run from Mikael for the last several centuries and they'd gotten very good at covering their tracks from others.
As I considered all of this and the number of ways I'd screwed the pooch, Sage came to stand beside me, placing her hand on my shoulder and glancing down at the letter with a bit of interest, "You've been standing there staring at this thing for like fifteen minutes now. Bad news?"
I nodded mechanically, speaking softly, "I'm too late. The chance has passed me by now."
She frowned, brow furrowing in confusion as she shook her head, "Too late for what?"
Without even considering, I told her exactly what I was thinking about, "My family. I needed to find them before 1492. Now, it is 1493."
Beside me, Sage's eyes widen, "What do you mean by your family? You said you were hunting the Originals!"
It was the accusatory tone in her voice as well as the volume that finally drew my attention and made me realize just what I'd done. In a moment I was holding Sage in my arms, one hand on the back of her neck gripping tightly and the other resting on her waist.
To unsuspecting eyes, we seemed to be sharing an intimate moment, but Sage knew better. I could tell from the way that she immediately tensed up that she knew escape was not an option and how easy it would be for me to harm her in this position. Her body was frozen and I could see her quivering as I contemplated my own stupidity for ruining what had been a rather fun distraction.
Still, this was for the best. It was time for us to part ways and for Sage to move on from me, she had a life to live and things to do that would preserve the future so that I could then fuck it up more down the line. Even as I was thinking these things I realized her arm was ramrod straight, and shaking. Glancing down, I raised an eyebrow to find she had a knife poised to slip into my heart. Nothing but herself was stopping her from doing it either.
She was beginning to grow frantic now as a single tear fell from her eye, "W-why can't I stab you?"
"That would be the compulsion darling," I said, not being able to help the evil grin as she began to shake even more severely. Still, she deserved better than this. Locking gazes I began to compel her easily, "Shhh, relax sweetheart." A moment later the dagger in her hand clattered to the ground as she visibly calmed down.
I smiled and continued to speak in that low voice, her eyes dilated as she listened to everything I had to say and repeated it back word for word, "You will remember how we met differently. I was not a vampire yet, just a scared young man trying to escape a squad of soldiers. You took pity on me and bade them to leave me to you, before taking me and turning me. We've spent the last few decades searching for the Originals because of your love for Finn but we've found nothing. You taught me all I know about being a vampire, but now it's time for you to cut me loose. I've grown attached and you've just finished telling me that we're parting ways. You will not remember this compulsion, and when I'm finished speaking and release you, you will leave."
At that I fell silent and let her go, stepping back and watching as the compulsion took effect. A moment later she was gone. In the end, it was better this way. Still, now I was alone once more, and I wasn't in the right frame of mind to return to my people. I was more likely to act irrationally given the mood I was in. I'd spend a bit more time on this side of the planet, no more than a century more, and then head back.
In fact, Leonardo Da Vinci was supposed to be alive around this time right? Hopefully I'd have an easier time finding him than finding my wayward siblings, or I'd end up being too late again.
XxScenebreakxX
1522 A.D.
It figured that the moment I stopped hunting my siblings and started having fun, I would run into Klaus. I'd compelled my way into this party, looking for a potential female friend to enjoy for the evening. Immediately I lucked out and noticed a beautiful set of twins. Centuries and I had never had twins in my bed. I was ready to make a move on the pair when I noticed my brother talking with the host of the event. I immediately moved to where I wouldn't be visible before studying Klaus carefully.
So soon after Katerina's escape, Elijah was probably daggered in a coffin for the time being to pay for his failure. But Klaus never daggered everyone at once, meaning that at least one of the others was around here somewhere. A moment later I found Rebekah with a group of gentlemen suitors surrounding her, all attempting to do their best to woo and court her.
I kept looking but didn't find Kol and I felt fairly confident that Klaus wasn't dumb enough to try to handle both Rebekah and Kol at the same time without Elijah. Which meant it was just my older brother and my little sister. Deciding that said sister was distracted enough, I turned my attention back to Klaus, to find the twins I'd been eyeing earlier on each of his arms.
I had to stifle laughter at that, Klaus and I were more alike than I'd like to admit it seemed. Watching the three of them more closely now, I noticed the way the girls' eyes wandered. Specifically, I noted the way their eyes kept landing on the pulse of the humans around them. It seemed Niklaus had been naughty and turned the pair of them very recently.
Slowly, a plan began to form in my mind. I couldn't help myself and really, it was about time for a family reunion between two bastard brothers was it not? Eventually Klaus broke away from his beautiful pair of ladies once again to smooze with some important official, and that's when I moved in. Offering both girls drinks, I began smooth talking both of them, making my intention to seduce them together incredibly obvious.
It was obvious that the only reason they humored me was because they both saw a chance at a quick bite to eat once they let me get them alone. Still, whatever worked was fine by me. As we chatted and they let me slowly coax them out into the mostly empty garden, I labeled the two of them as Good Twin and Evil Twin in my mind. Better terms for it might have been Timid Twin and Outgoing Twin.
Eventually we were sat in a bench each of them allowed me to kiss them before going in for the kill, nuzzling my neck together. Subtly I leaned my head back, exposing my throat to both of them. They immediately vamped out, eyes going red and fangs coming down. They even reared back in unison as they moved to take bites out of the side of my neck. Unfortunately for both of them, I was more than ready for them, and each found my iron grip curling into their hair, holding them fast just out of reach of my skin.
I grinned, giving both of them a raised eyebrow before speaking, "Come now girls. Shouldn't we save the biting for the bedroom?"
Curious to see how they'd react now, I released my grip on their hair. Timid Twin immediately shifted as far away from me as the bench would allow her, fear etched across her face. Outgoing Twin though sidled up against me, intensely curious now as she stared at me before voicing what was on her mind, "Who are you? You should know we have a suitor, and he isn't the sharing type."
I laugh at that, smirking at her as I answered, "Yes, I know your suitor. Considering he's my brother, I'm quite sure he won't mind me stealing a small bit of your time."
Before Outgoing Twin could react to that reveal, Klaus finally came looking for his vamp babies. As he caught his first glimpse of us, my face was initially hidden from view. He sounded like a mix of exasperated and amused as he called out, "Loves, I know you both like playing with your food, but what have I told you about leading mortals along?"
It was at the end of this phrase that he got close enough to see my own amused face looking back at him, causing him to stumble as his eyes widened in shock. I filled the suddenly awkward silence after a few moments, drawing the twins close with an arm around each of their shoulders and smirking that smirk only he and I could pull off properly, "Hello brother. Long time no see."
I watched so many emotions flicker across Klaus' face in the span of a minute that I honestly thought he would break right then. But eventually he settled on humored, a grin stretching across his face as he wagged his finger at me, "Even after five centuries, you're still borrowing my playthings without asking brother."
I laughed in response and pushed both of the twins off the bench towards him. He caught them with a hand on each shoulder and I watched as he compelled them both back to whatever rooms he'd put them up in. Once the baby vamps were gone I stood and squared off with my brother, ready for him to attack me now that we were alone.
Instead, he stepped forward and hugged me before leaning back and looking me over, "Brother, you have been missed. When you just vanished one day we all feared the worst. I myself worried that our father had killed you first, before he killed our mother."
His act was almost shameful in its false sincerity, though I had to remind myself that I had a great deal of information he had no idea of knowing I knew. Nodding somberly, I responded, "Father found me only a few decades after I left, I know Mother is dead. He accused you of killing her though."
The smile falls from Klaus' face, and he looks into my eyes for a long moment before asking, "You don't believe that do you?"
I smile in reply and shake my head, "Of course not Brother. If I'd believed him, I would have agreed to help him hunt you and our siblings down. He did not take kindly to my denying him."
Klaus grinned in response, clasping a hand on my shoulder, "Good, that's good. Brother, you must come back to my temporary abode for the night. We have much to talk about… and those twins will be waiting for us. Rebekah probably won't show up again until morn, but you two will have plenty of time to catch up tomorrow. Given you're back, I assume you intend to stick around for a while?"
I grin back before nodding as I let him lead me back towards where ever he's currently staying, "I could be persuaded to stay for a while. I look forward to seeing Elijah, Kol, and Finn as well of course."
We stop talking for a moment as we blur across the city to get where we need to be. Once we arrive, Klaus gives me an indecipherable look that I know the true meaning of all too well and says, "Of course. Let me get us drinks, and then we can catch up."
I nod and glance around the room he'd left me in. A book shelf is what I choose to focus my attention on as I wait for him to return, reading the spines along the shelves. It only takes Klaus a minute to locate his extra silver daggers and his vial of white oak ash. I saw his plan coming a mile away of course. I'd been expecting this to be his reaction to my abandonment for centuries now, as soon as I resolved to break off from my family I knew how he'd perceive it.
So when he flashed up behind me and reached around to stab me with the dagger in the heart, I let it happen, choking out in pain and pretending to collapse, letting him catch me in his arms and slowly lower me to the ground.
He looked down on me with his true feelings finally showing, the rage and anguish warring across his features as he finally let himself speak freely, his voice tinged with betrayal and rage, "You betrayed and abandoned your family for five hundred years brother. You will sleep for at least half of that before I even consider removing this dagger."
He hissed these words out as I stared up at him with just the right mixture of betrayal and fear in my face. But I knew I wasn't turning grey as he expected, and I could see the way his anger was slowly turning to confusion. I knew I wouldn't be getting away just on my amazing acting skills for much longer, so reaching up in a blur of speed, I pulled the dagger from my breast and slammed it into the side of Klaus' throat.
He coughed up blood almost immediately as he fell back in surprise, and then I was on him, pushing him back onto the floor and pulling the dagger free from the side of his neck only to drive it through the front, driving the tip into the wood beneath him and pinning him to the floor for a few moments. I stood as he struggled with it, looking down on him for a long moment even as his hands grasped the handle of the dagger and began to pull.
Moving around him carefully I suddenly kicked him in the head hard enough to snap his neck almost instantly. Smiling grimly down at his unconscious form, I couldn't help one final comment, "I'm going to go find that drink now dear brother."
When Klaus did finally wake up, I was sitting across from him in a chair, drinking straight from a bottle of scotch. I'd placed his boneless body in a chair of his own, and now we were staring at each other from our respective seats. Eventually I sighed and put the bottle down, "I'm sure you're figuring it out as I speak, but to make it easy I'll spell it out for you. You were mother's first indiscretion and I was her second. Unlike the rest of our siblings we're full blood brothers, and also both hybrids."
I saw him take this in and saw his reluctant acceptance of it as the truth. After all, the dagger had done nothing to me had it not? My explanation fit perfectly with the evidence at hand. His tone was sullen when he spoke again, "And yet, even though you clearly knew the truth, you still ran away. You left your own blood behind."
His accusatory tone made me smile in a self-deprecating way, "Come now brother, even with our blood status I was always the odd one out. Even more so than Kol or Finn, I was the one separated from the family."
He fires back fast at that, "That was your doing and yours alone Vali! From my earliest memories I can recall trying to build bonds of brotherhood with you. You turned me away in favor of learning all you could at the feet of Mikael."
I nod in acceptance of the accusation before proceeding to lie my ass off, "You're right. I learned too early what our mother had done. One of my earliest memories is of our true father sneaking in to visit us. I was awake but you were not. Our mother interrupted before I could wake you, but not before the werewolf Alpha who'd truly parented us told me the truth. Based off of Mother's reaction I knew it was not a falsehood. She swore me to secrecy, told me that Mikael's wrath would ruin our family. I was only six brother. Of course I agreed."
Klaus took this in, though whether he believed it or not I couldn't tell. Eventually though he rejoined the conversation, "So you pulled away from your siblings and cozied up with the man you knew was not your father out of fear and cowardice."
I laughed at that, "Call it what you will brother. You sought his approval and affection as strongly as I did. The fact that I did so out of fear for a cruel man and you did so out of misplaced love for a man who wasn't even your father is neither here nor there. The fact remains, the weak will always seek shelter with the strong. Once we became strong, we no longer needed that shelter, and strength is all I've ever sought."
Klaus nodded slowly at that, but continues to frown, "Why did you return now Vali? What have you been doing for the last five hundred years?"
I sigh and lean back in my chair, "I came looking for you, because I heard from a particularly gifted witch that the new doppleganger had been born. I did not escape Mother's curse dear brother. She placed it on our bloodline, not just you. I have just as much interest in seeing the curse broken. As soon as I was told the window of time was open I came to the old world to try and find you and our siblings. But the window of time is gone isn't it? The girl is dead and given that the curse remains in place, it was not by your hand was it?"
Klaus grimaces at that, his jaw clenching as he broods for a moment before finally speaking up, "She's not just dead, she turned herself just to escape. And she took the Moonstone Mother used to bind the curse as well. She's been in the wind since 1492."
I return the grimace with one of my own, though it was false given I'd already known that, "As I expected. Then it is time for me to take my leave of the old world."
As I stand, Klaus does the same, looking angered now, "You would leave again then brother? After finally revealing that you are the only true family I have left?"
With a smile, I step in and clasp the back of Klaus' neck with my hand, looking into his eyes, "I cannot stay here Niklaus. I have work to do in the new world, preparations to make and plans to further. Mikael must die Klaus, and even if it takes me another four hundred years I will find a way to put him down. Until then, I must keep my distance so he does not know I am on your side."
Releasing him as he digested this particular confession, I stepped away before adding one last thing, "And Klaus, though they may be nothing more than our half-siblings, we will never truly be a family until you stop treating our brothers and sister like playthings that you can put in boxes when you don't want to deal with them. There will come a time when Mikael is dead and this curse is broken that I will come for the white oak daggers. When that time comes, we will throw them into the ocean together as a true family."
I didn't bother waiting for his response. He'd have four hundred plus years to consider my words and for now, it was time for me to move on once more. I couldn't help thinking rather sarcastically, that Rebekah was sure to be devastated she missed me.
-x-X-x-
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