The landscape had grown increasingly surreal as they ventured deeper into Gadreel's domain. Trees twisted into impossible shapes, their branches weaving through different moments in time. Water droplets hung suspended in the air like frozen stars, each containing reflections of different realities.
Kol, who had been studying the patterns of distortion around them with growing fascination, suddenly reined his horse to a halt. "The water spirit's riddle - 'six shall enter through waters deep' - we passed the first test as one. But look ahead."
Through the time-warped forest, another clearing was visible. Unlike the first convergence point with its crystalline streams, these waters were black as ink, reflecting nothing.
"Something's wrong," Elijah stated, his usual composure wavering at the sight. "The air itself feels... heavier."
Finn's expression darkened as he studied the three black waterways that met in the clearing's center. "These waters feel different from the first. More... aware."
Mikael touched the tooth at his neck, which now pulsed with an inner light that seemed to respond to the darkness ahead. "Freya's presence is stronger here. We're getting closer."
As they entered the clearing, the black waters began to move. Not flowing like normal streams, but rising up like living shadows, forming shapes that seemed to watch them with hungry interest.
"Remember," Vali finally spoke, his black eyes fixed on the darkness ahead, "whatever you see, whatever happens, remember why we're here."
The mark pulsed on his arm as Ra'd stepped forward, the massive stallion's hooves striking water that seemed to swallow all light. The moment they touched the black surface, the shadows surged upward, enclosing each rider in a sphere of absolute darkness.
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The darkness enveloped Klaus like liquid night, then crystallized into a scene he knew well - Aurora's chambers in Castle de Martel. But something was wrong. The air felt heavy with centuries of regret, and when Aurora stepped from the shadows, she wasn't quite the woman he knew.
This Aurora's eyes held madness and wisdom in equal measure, her beauty made sharper by time's cruel edge. Behind her, reflections in invisible mirrors showed different versions of herself - the innocent noble girl, the devoted sister, the broken woman, the eternal survivor. Each reflection moved independently, watching him with knowing eyes.
"My love," shadow-Aurora's voice carried echoes of every conversation they'd ever had, each endearment they'd ever shared. "Tell me truly - do you love me, or do you love what I represent?"
"I don't understand," Klaus replied, but the waters around them swirled with memories, each one cutting deeper than any blade:
Aurora laughing at his paintings, her genuine delight making him feel like an artist instead of a monster. The way her eyes lit up at each new piece, how she saw beauty where he intended to show darkness.
The moment she first discovered his true nature, not recoiling but reaching out to touch his face with wonder rather than fear. Her acceptance of his hybrid nature when he himself still struggled to accept it.
Their quiet moments in the castle gardens, where her presence alone made him feel human, normal, worthy of love despite everything his mother had done to make him feel otherwise.
"You see?" shadow-Aurora moved closer, her touch cold as the waters themselves. Each point of contact sent ripples through reality, showing more memories, more truths. "You love me because I make you feel less monstrous. Because I accept the darkness you try so hard to deny. I am your mirror, Klaus - reflecting back the version of yourself you wish to see."
"That's not true," Klaus protested, but more memories rose from the dark waters, forcing him to confront each moment:
The times he'd used her acceptance to justify his violent tendencies, thinking 'Aurora understands' even as he tore enemies apart.
How he clung to her humanity like a drowning man to driftwood, using her love as proof that he wasn't the monster his mother had feared he'd become.
The way he'd placed her on a pedestal, making her acceptance more important than her own struggles, her own darkness.
"Isn't it?" shadow-Aurora's smile was gentle but merciless. Around them, the waters formed new scenes - possible futures that made his heart clench:
Centuries of obsessive love, both of them spiraling deeper into madness.
Their passion turning poisonous, acceptance becoming chains.
Love transforming into a cage that would destroy them both.
"You fear your own nature so much," shadow-Aurora continued, walking circles around him as the visions played out, "that you've made me your anchor to humanity. But love built on such fear can only lead to madness. Look-"
The waters shifted again, showing him Aurora's own struggles:
Her battles with her mind, which he sometimes overlooked because her chaos complemented his own.
The weight of her brother's expectations, which he used to understand his own family's demands.
Her desperate need for love, which mirrored his own so perfectly it was almost cruel.
Yet beneath these visions, something else stirred. A truth he hadn't fully acknowledged, something deeper than fear or need or desperation:
He did love her. Not perfectly, not purely, but genuinely. His need for her acceptance was real, yes, but so was his desire to protect her, to cherish her, to face eternity with her at his side. The way she saw beauty in his art wasn't just acceptance - it was understanding. Her love for him, complicated and dark as it might be, matched his own complexity.
"You're right," he finally said, meeting shadow-Aurora's gaze. The waters around them stilled, waiting. "I do use your love as a shield against my own darkness. I do cling to your acceptance as proof of my worth."
He stepped closer, the waters swirling around his feet. "But that doesn't make my love for you any less real. Perhaps it's because you understand darkness that you can truly love me. Perhaps it's because I understand your struggles that I can truly love you."
Shadow-Aurora's form flickered, the waters responding to his revelation. "And if that love leads to madness?"
"Then we'll be mad together," Klaus replied, finally understanding. "Better true love with all its darkness than false love pretending to be light."
The waters surged around them, but differently now - not trying to drown him in truth but acknowledging it. He had faced his love's imperfections and accepted them, faced his own motivations and embraced them.
The darkness began to recede, but before it fully dissipated, shadow-Aurora spoke one final time: "Remember this moment, when the waters showed you truth. Love with open eyes, or don't love at all."
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The darkness that consumed Elijah transformed into something more intimate - his own chambers, meticulously organized, every surface reflecting his carefully maintained control. But the mirrors that lined the walls showed a different Elijah in each reflection - versions of himself he'd tried to deny.
His reflection stepped forward, wearing his familiar noble expression, but there was something wrong about it. Blood dripped from perfectly manicured hands, staining his immaculate suit, yet his smile remained pristine.
"The noble brother," his reflection spoke, voice dripping with sardonic amusement. "Always so controlled, so moral, so... clean." The last word came out like a curse.
Around them, the waters began to show scenes - moments when his supposed nobility had been nothing but a mask for savagery:
The time he'd decimated an entire village of supposed threats, all while maintaining his composure, straightening his cuffs between kills.
How he'd justified each death with "family first," using honor as a shield for murder.
The satisfaction he took in violence while pretending it was mere necessity.
"Such pretty lies we tell ourselves," his reflection continued, adjusting bloody cufflinks with familiar precision. "Family first - our great excuse. But let's be honest, shall we? You enjoy it. The violence. The control. The power to decide who lives and dies."
"I do what's necessary," Elijah responded automatically, but the waters swirled with more memories:
The thrill he felt when unleashing his darker nature.
The pleasure in maintaining perfect control while dealing perfect death.
The way he used his code of honor to make atrocities palatable.
"Necessary?" His reflection laughed, the sound echoing off every surface. "Was it necessary to slaughter those scholars so efficiently? To take such satisfaction in their deaths? Tell me, brother, how many times have you hidden your bloodlust behind duty?"
The waters rose higher, showing more truths:
How he'd appointed himself the family's moral compass while harboring his own darkness.
The way he used his role as mediator to maintain control over his siblings.
His secret pride in being the "noble" brother, even as he committed acts that defied nobility.
"You're not wrong," his reflection noted, straightening an already perfect tie. "We are noble. But our nobility isn't in denying our darkness - it's in how precisely we direct it."
Elijah watched as the waters showed him a deeper truth: His control, his precision, his supposed nobility - they weren't masks for his darkness. They were tools to channel it effectively. His meticulous nature wasn't a denial of his savagery but a refinement of it.
"The perfect monster," his reflection mused, "is one who makes monstrosity look elegant."
"I maintain control," Elijah finally spoke, understanding dawning, "not to hide what I am, but to perfect it."
The waters shifted again, showing him the truth of his role in the family:
Not the noble brother restraining darkness, but the elegant predator directing it.
Not the moral compass denying violence, but the precise instrument focusing it.
Not the voice of reason fighting against savagery, but the cultured beast giving it purpose.
"Now you understand," his reflection smiled, blood still dripping from immaculate hands. "Your nobility isn't in fighting what you are. It's in elevating it to an art form."
The waters began to recede, but not before showing him one final truth: His family needed not just his control but his understanding of how to make darkness look dignified. His role wasn't to be the noble brother, but to be the one who made their monstrosity magnificent.
"Remember," his reflection said as the darkness began to fade, "true nobility isn't in denying the monster. It's in making the monster magnificent."
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The darkness that enveloped Finn solidified into a familiar scene - his mother's workshop, where he'd spent countless hours learning magic, seeking purpose. But this version was twisted, the herbs and crystals pulsing with accusatory light, each one representing a judgment he'd passed on his siblings.
Unlike the others' spheres, Finn faced not one reflection but an entire circle of his family members. Each one represented a different point in time, a different way he'd failed them through his rigid morality:
Young Vali, blood dripping from the mark, looking at him with betrayed eyes: "You saw what she did to me, brother. You knew her poisons weren't just accidents. But you stayed silent, clinging to your belief in her righteousness."
Teenage Kol, magical energy crackling around him: "You understood magic's call better than any of us, yet you judged me for answering it. Was your piety worth watching me struggle alone?"
Rebekah in tears: "Always watching, always judging, never understanding that sometimes love isn't pure or perfect."
Klaus, hybrid nature fully revealed: "In the shadows of your heart, you call Vali and me abominations, brother, while hypocritcally pretending your own nature was somehow more pure."
The waters swirled around them, showing scene after scene:
Every time he'd chosen silence over support
Every judgment passed from his self-appointed moral height
Every moment his fear of their darkness had blinded him to their pain
"You claim to love family," Esther's voice echoed through the chamber, and Finn flinched at how easily he still responded to it. "But you love your idea of what family should be more than what it is."
The waters shifted, showing him truths he'd tried to deny:
How his rigid morality was itself a form of violence
The way his silence had enabled their mother's cruelty
His own darkness, masked as righteousness
"I tried to be good," Finn whispered, but the waters showed him the cost of his 'goodness':
Siblings suffering alone because they feared his judgment
Bonds broken because he couldn't accept imperfection
Love withheld because it didn't meet his standards
"Did you?" young Elijah asked, blood on his noble face. "Or did you simply fear becoming what we are?"
The waters rose higher, forcing him to face his deepest truth: His judgment of them had never been about morality. It had been about fear - fear of his own darkness, fear of losing control, fear of becoming what they had embraced.
"You're not wrong to seek better," Mikael's voice rumbled through the chamber. "But you're wrong to think better means denial."
The waters showed him new truths:
How his siblings' acceptance of their nature made them stronger
The beauty in their imperfect love for each other
The strength that came from embracing rather than denying
"I don't know how," Finn admitted, finally facing his own reflection in the dark waters. "I've judged for so long, I don't know how to simply love."
"Then learn," all the versions of his siblings spoke at once. "Learn to love the darkness as well as the light. Learn to see strength in acceptance rather than denial. Learn to be brother rather than judge."
The waters began to shift, showing him possibilities:
A future where his understanding tempered their darkness rather than condemned it
Moments where acceptance could heal what judgment had broken
A path where his wisdom guided rather than restricted
"You can still be the conscience of this family," his own reflection finally spoke. "But conscience need not be cruel to be effective."
As the darkness began to recede, Finn understood at last: His role wasn't to judge their darkness but to help them navigate it. Not to condemn their nature but to help them master it. Not to stand apart in righteousness but to walk beside them in understanding.
"Remember," the waters whispered as they withdrew, "true wisdom lies not in denying darkness, but in learning to guide it."
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The darkness that surrounded Kol crystallized into a scene that made his heart ache - his mother's secret grimoire chamber, where he'd spent countless stolen hours learning magic he wasn't supposed to touch. But this version was different, the shelves stretching endlessly into shadow, each book pulsing with power he could no longer access.
"The lost witch," his reflection emerged from between the shelves, wearing his familiar mischievous grin but with eyes that burned with bitter knowledge. "Forever reaching for power that's now beyond our grasp."
The waters swirled, showing him memories that cut deeper than any blade:
His first spell, the pure joy of connecting with magic
Countless nights studying in secret, understanding flowing through him like a river
The moment it all vanished, when vampirism stole his connection to nature
"We pretend it doesn't matter," his reflection continued, trailing fingers along spellbooks that seemed to shy away from his touch. "Play the wild brother, the unpredictable one. But we know the truth, don't we?"
The waters rose, showing more:
How he masked his loss with mayhem
The way he buried grief beneath chaos
His desperate attempts to fill the void magic left behind
"Knowledge without power," his reflection mused, picking up a grimoire that crumbled to ash at his touch. "What good is understanding everything about magic when we can never again touch it?"
The waters shifted, revealing deeper truths:
His jealousy of Henrik's growing abilities
The pain of watching others channel power he once commanded
The emptiness where magic used to sing in his blood
"But that's not the whole truth, is it?" his reflection's grin turned sharp. "We found other ways to touch power, didn't we?"
New scenes formed in the dark waters:
The thrill of vampire abilities
The rush of supernatural strength
The intoxicating power of compelling others
"Different," Kol admitted, watching the scenes play out. "But never the same."
"No," his reflection agreed. "Never the same. But perhaps..." the waters swirled again, showing new possibilities, "that's not entirely a curse."
The chamber shifted, the endless shelves rearranging to show him something he'd been too bitter to see:
How his understanding of magic gave him insight others lacked
The way his knowledge could guide even if he couldn't practice
The power in knowing what others merely guessed at
"We lost the ability to cast," his reflection noted, "but not the ability to understand. To know. To see."
The waters rose higher, revealing a truth he'd been avoiding:
His magical knowledge wasn't useless - it was transformative
Understanding magic made him unique among his siblings
His loss had forced him to become something new, something unprecedented
"A vampire who knows magic's deepest secrets," his reflection mused. "A creature of darkness who understands nature's light. Not what we wanted to be..."
"But perhaps what we needed to become," Kol finished, finally understanding.
The waters showed him his true potential:
Not a witch-turned-vampire, but a bridge between worlds
Not a practitioner, but an unparalleled theorist
Not a wielder of magic, but its ultimate scholar
"We can never cast again," his reflection acknowledged, "but we can know things no witch would dare to learn. See truths no practitioner would survive discovering."
The grimoire chamber began to fade, but not before showing him one final truth: His loss of magic hadn't ended his journey with power - it had merely transformed it. His understanding could be a different kind of power, one that might prove more valuable than the ability to cast spells.
"Remember," the waters whispered as they receded, "true power isn't always in the ability to act, but in the wisdom to understand."
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The darkness that enveloped Vali was different. Instead of forming scenes or memories, it seemed to recoil from him, the waters uncertain how to proceed with something that defied their normal purpose. The mark pulsed steadily on his arm, its crimson light cutting through the shadows like a blade through flesh.
"Interesting," Vali mused, watching the waters try to find purchase on his psyche. "You seek to expose truth, to strip away masks..." his black eyes gleamed with dark amusement, "but what do you do with someone who wears their darkness like a crown?"
The waters' confusion was almost palpable as they encountered something beyond their experience. They tried to form shapes from his memories, but each attempt seemed to shatter against his nature:
They showed him Esther's face, twisted with fear as she looked upon him in his cradle. But instead of pain, they found acceptance. He may have his moments of weakness, but he has long since understood her fear was recognition of what he truly was.
They conjured the terror in his victims' eyes, expecting to find hidden guilt or buried remorse. Instead, they found calculated satisfaction - each death a purposeful note in a greater symphony of violence.
They attempted to show him moments of vulnerability:
The times his siblings recoiled from his methods
The weight of walking among beings so much more fragile than himself
The solitude of being truly understood only by Tatia
But each attempt seemed to amuse him more. The mark pulsed steadily, its crimson light cutting through the waters' power like a blade through silk.
"You still don't understand," Vali spoke, his black eyes reflecting something that made the ancient waters tremble. "Let me show you what true darkness looks like."
The mark flared, and suddenly the dynamic shifted. The waters, meant to expose and judge, found themselves being examined instead. Through their connection, Vali forced them to see what he truly was:
A vast consciousness that wore human form not out of necessity but choice
Each movement precisely calculated, every gesture a deliberate mimicry of humanity
The mark not just a brand of power, but a wound in reality itself - a connection to something that preceded creation
"You want to see masks?" he asked, letting them feel the full weight of his presence. "Watch carefully."
He showed them how he crafted his personality:
The calculated brutality that made others underestimate his intelligence
The apparent recklessness that hid meticulous planning
The seeming straightforwardness that concealed layers of manipulation
"But these aren't masks in the way you understand them," he explained as the waters tried to process what they were experiencing. "They're tools, consciously chosen and precisely employed."
The waters churned, attempting to understand a being that defied their purpose. They were meant to expose hidden truths, but here was something that had no hidden core to reveal - only layers of calculated truth, each one deliberately crafted.
He showed them more:
How he chose to love his family not from weakness or need, but from deliberate decision
The way he channeled power not through restraint but through precise application
His apparent brutality masking an intelligence that calculated every outcome
"You think you're exposing truth?" His laugh made the waters ripple with something almost like fear. "You're barely scratching the surface of what truth means."
Through their connection, he let them experience fragments of his true nature:
The vastness that existed beyond his human form
The perfect clarity with which he understood his own nature
The calculated choice to walk among lesser beings while knowing exactly what he was
The waters, designed to judge souls, found themselves being dissected instead. Their ancient power, meant to expose and reveal, encountered something that existed beyond their framework of understanding.
"Let me show you real truth," he said, and the mark blazed brighter.
Suddenly, the waters weren't just seeing - they were being seen. Their purpose, their power, their very essence laid bare under his examination. He showed them what they really were:
Not judges but tools
Not revealers but mirrors
Not wisdom but mechanism
"This is truth," he explained, his voice carrying echoes of something far older than their ancient power. "Not hidden darkness exposed, but darkness refined into perfect purpose. Not power restrained, but power precisely directed."
The waters tried to withdraw, but he held them, forcing them to acknowledge what they faced:
A being that chose its limitations
A consciousness that played at humanity while remaining something else entirely
A force that understood itself so completely that no revelation could shake it
"Your purpose is to expose what beings hide from themselves," he said, almost gently. "But I hide nothing. Every action, every word, every seeming impulse - all carefully chosen, all perfectly understood."
The waters trembled as he showed them one final truth - himself as he truly was:
Not a man struggling with darkness
Not a monster wearing human skin
But something vast and otherwordly that chose to walk in limited form
"Remember this," he said as he finally allowed them to retreat, "when you think to test others. Some beings don't need their truth exposed..."
The mark pulsed one final time as he finished: "Because they are truth itself."
The waters fled, not just withdrawing but recoiling, leaving Vali standing in the clearing. They had sought to judge and instead found themselves measured, sought to expose and found themselves exposed.
They had encountered something beyond their purpose - a being that didn't just accept its darkness but had refined it into perfect, conscious purpose.
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The black waters receded completely, leaving the six standing in the clearing. Each looked changed by their experience, their truths still settling into their beings. The air around them felt heavier, charged with the weight of revelation.
Klaus broke the silence first, his voice rough with emotion. "What... what did everyone see?"
"Truth," Elijah answered quietly, adjusting his cuffs with hands that had stopped pretending to be clean. "Our own personal truths."
Kol laughed, but the sound carried new understanding rather than his usual mockery. "The waters certainly knew where to strike, didn't they? Right at the heart of what we pretend not to be."
Finn remained silent, his usual judgment tempered by new wisdom. His gaze swept over his siblings, seeing them perhaps for the first time without the filter of his own righteousness.
But it was Vali who drew their attention. The mark on his arm still pulsed with unusual intensity, and the air around him seemed... different. As if reality itself had recognized something it preferred to ignore.
"Brother," Klaus started, noting how the remaining waters seemed to curve away from where Vali stood. "What did you-"
"The waters tried to judge what cannot be judged," Vali cut him off, his black eyes reflecting something that made even his siblings pause. "They sought to expose what was never hidden."
The mark flared briefly, and for a moment, his siblings caught a glimpse of what the waters had seen - something vast and otherworldly wearing their brother's shape. The vision lasted only a second, but it left them shaken.
"You're not even trying to hide it anymore, are you?" Kol asked, his scholar's mind trying to process what he'd glimpsed.
"Hide what?" Vali's smile was sharp. "That I am exactly what I appear to be? The waters thought to strip away masks, but found only calculated truth beneath."
"And what truth is that?" Elijah questioned carefully.
Before Vali could respond, the air shifted. The remaining black waters began to move with purpose, flowing together to form a shape - a messenger, different from the first water spirit they'd encountered.
This being seemed older, its form more defined. When it spoke, its voice carried the weight of ancient judgment:
"Six entered... six faced truth... but one..." its watery gaze fixed on Vali, "one showed truth we did not seek..."
"Because you didn't understand what you were testing," Vali replied calmly. "You thought to expose darkness, but found darkness already perfected."
The spirit's form rippled with something almost like uncertainty. "The final waters... await... but know this..." it turned to address all of them, "what was revealed... cannot be unknown..."
"Nor should it be," Vali stated. The mark pulsed, making the spirit's form waver. "Truth isn't meant to be hidden. It's meant to be wielded."
The spirit began to fade, but its final words hung in the air: "The angel waits... at waters' end... judge becomes judged... when truth transcends..."
As the spirit disappeared completely, the brothers stood in silence, processing not just their own revelations but what they'd witnessed in each other. The path ahead would lead them to Freya, but they would walk it changed by what the waters had shown them.
"We should move on," Mikael said finally, touching the tooth that still pulsed at his neck. "The final convergence point lies ahead."
They mounted their horses, but something had shifted in their dynamic. Each brother carried their revealed truths differently:
Klaus's love for Aurora now understood in all its complicated glory
Elijah's nobility recognized as refinement of darkness rather than denial of it
Finn's judgment tempered by new understanding
Kol's loss of magic transformed into unique power of knowledge
And Vali... Vali rode slightly ahead of them, the mark pulsing steadily, his presence somehow more solid yet more otherworldly than before.
The final test awaited, and with it, perhaps, their lost sister. But first, they would have to face Gadreel himself - and after what the waters had revealed, even an angel's judgment seemed to carry less weight.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
How did you find the confrontation of the Mikaelsons with what they hid?
Was it interesting?
Though before anything I wish to clarify, that even though they understand now more about themselves than before, their flaws will not instantly disappear. They just now understand they need to work on it, and accept themselves.
Well, do please comment and review and I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)