The morning dawned cold and clear over Mystic Falls, but something was wrong with the shadows. They moved differently, as if practicing for what was to come.
Every reflective surface - windows, puddles, even the chrome of passing cars - seemed to hold its breath, waiting.
At the boarding house, Elena found Stefan staring out the window, his expression troubled. "The birds are gone," he said without turning. "Every single one. They just... left."
Before she could respond, Katherine appeared, her usual smirk replaced by something closer to reverence. "They know what's coming," she whispered, her hand unconsciously touching the mark on her neck. "They can feel him approaching."
"How long?" Elena asked, though part of her dreaded the answer.
"Look at the shadows," Katherine replied softly. "Really look. See how they're moving? Like ripples spreading from a stone dropped in water. He's the stone, and Mystic Falls..." her smile was terrible in its beauty, "we're about to feel the waves."
Across town, Bonnie stood in her grandmother's workroom, watching as every grimoire suddenly opened, their pages turning by themselves. But instead of spells, they showed only one thing - the same scene repeated over and over:
A vast procession approaching through darkness, led by a figure that bent the world around itself. Behind him walked others - some they knew, some they didn't - all preserved in perfect, crystalline grace.
"The collection comes home," her ancestors whispered from the shadows. "The King returns to claim what's his."
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In the Lockwood cellar, Tyler and Caroline watched as every surface reflected the same vision -- a procession cutting through impossible spaces, growing closer with each heartbeat.
A howl pierced the air -- ancient, knowing. The pack felt something beyond comprehension.
At the Grill, Matt tried to ignore the bottles, but their reflections betrayed him. Instead of his own face, he saw something vast and unstoppable approaching from the void.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rose appeared beside him, her tone reverent "The return of the King."
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At the town's edge, where reality blurred, the procession moved through impossible corridors. Vali led them, the mark on his hand burning like a crimson star. Beside him, Tatia walked with deadly grace.
The town square fell silent as reality itself seemed to pause. The shadows stretched unnaturally, forming paths through spaces that shouldn't exist, and through these impossible corridors, they came.
Behind them came what is called the collection. Figures suspended in crystal cases that floated through the air - each one perfectly preserved in their moment of highest peace or most beautiful suffering.
"They're here," Katherine breathed, her scar pulsing in rhythm with the mark's light. She stood in the town square, the first to greet them, her eyes filled with something between terror and longing.
At the boarding house, Elena gripped Stefan's hand as they watched through the windows. The procession moved like a dream - or perhaps a nightmare - through Mystic Falls' streets, the world rippling around them like water.
"Look," Stefan whispered, pointing to the crystal cases. "Is that...?"
"Rebekah," Elena finished softly. "And Kol. And Klaus." Each one perfectly preserved, their faces serene in their eternal moment.
Through every window, every reflection, the town watched as the procession reached the square. Reality itself seemed to hold its breath as Vali stopped, his black eyes surveying what would soon be his.
"Welcome home, my King," Katherine breathed, dropping to her knees. Her scar blazed brighter, matching the crimson pulse of his mark.
From the shadows, Mikael and Elijah emerged, their faces hard with determination and grief. The sight of their family in those crystal cases - preserved in perfect, eternal moments - only strengthened their resolve.
"Release them," Mikael commanded, though his voice wavered at the sight of Rebekah's peaceful smile, Klaus's serene expression. "End this madness, son."
"Madness?" Vali's voice carried power that made the air itself shiver. "Is peace madness, Father? Is perfection such a terrible fate?"
"This isn't peace," Elijah stepped forward, his eyes fixed on his siblings' crystal prisons. "This is death. This is the end of everything we were meant to be."
Tatia moved closer to Vali, her smile sharp with secrets they didn't understand. The crystal cases floated in perfect formation, each one a testament to what awaited those who accepted his offer.
"You still don't understand," Vali's voice was almost gentle. "After all this time, you still think this is about control. About power." His eyes reflected the sun as he gazed at his father and brother. "This is about preservation. About making perfect what would otherwise decay."
"You've lost yourself," Mikael's voice carried centuries of regret. "The mark has consumed you completely."
"Lost?" Vali's laugh was soft, almost kind. "Look at them, Father. Really look. Have you ever seen Niklaus so at peace? Rebekah so free from heartbreak? Kol finally whole?"
The crystal cases drifted closer, allowing them to see every perfect detail. Klaus creating art with Aurora, their love frozen in its highest moment. Rebekah dancing through endless summer. Kol surrounded by the magic he'd always craved.
"They're not suffering," Tatia added gently. "They're preserved in their most beautiful moments. Protected from all pain, all loss."
"Protected?" Elijah's voice cracked slightly. "They're not even living."
"Aren't they?" Vali moved forward, "What is life but a series of moments? I've simply chosen their perfect ones to preserve."
The mark pulsed, and every shadow in Mystic Falls deepened. Katherine remained kneeling, her scar glowing brighter as she watched her King claim his domain.
"You can't stop this," Vali continued softly. "You never could. Everything - every plan, every resistance, every moment of defiance - it was all part of the design. Even your opposition served its purpose."
Vali moved past Mikael and Elijah as if they were merely shadows in his path, his attention fixing on Katherine's kneeling form. The mark pulsed with crimson light as he approached her.
"My Katerina," his voice was gentle, almost loving. "Five hundred years of running, of thinking you were clever. And all along, you were exactly where I needed you to be."
Katherine looked up, her scar blazing in rhythm with his mark. "I understand now," she whispered. "Every escape, every plan... they were all just steps in your dance."
"And you played your part beautifully," Vali reached down, his fingers brushing her scar. "The perfect combination of defiance and understanding. Even your madness served its purpose."
His eyes held something almost like tenderness as he continued, "But you know what comes next, don't you? What your blood must do?"
Katherine's breath caught, "The ritual," she whispered. "I'm one of the doppelgangers you need."
"Yes," Vali confirmed softly. "But death isn't the end, my Katerina. Not for you. Once the ritual is complete, I'll bring you back. And then..." his smile was terrible in its beauty, "then you'll take your true place in my collection."
"Promise?" Katherine's voice held centuries of longing. "Promise you won't leave me in the dark?"
"I promise," Vali's words carried power that made her shiver. "Your death will be brief, your resurrection certain. And then, my beautiful, broken Katerina, you'll be preserved at my side."
The shadows around them pulsed with approval as Katherine leaned into his touch. But their moment was interrupted by Elena's voice, sharp with horror from the boarding house steps.
"Stefan," she whispered, gripping his arm tighter. "Alexander..."
They all turned to see the youngest Salvatore frozen in place, staring at his reflection in every window, every surface - each one showing Vali's face with those terrible black eyes as all were pulled and appeared before the King, the vampires' blood calling to him.
"Ah, my little mirror," Vali's voice was almost gentle. "Come to witness your original's return?"
Alexander couldn't move, couldn't speak, as reality itself seemed to bend around Vali's presence. The mark pulsed with crimson light, casting everything in blood-red shadows.
"The doppelgangers gather," Tatia observed with satisfaction. "Elena, Katherine, Alexander, and Tom Avery. All the pieces, exactly where they need to be."
Elena's breath caught as she finally focused on Tatia, seeing her own face - their face - on the woman who stood beside Vali.
"Who..." Elena started, but Katherine cut her off, her voice carrying centuries of bitterness despite her reverent posture.
"That," Katherine said softly, "is Tatia Petrova. The first of our line. The Queen of Vampires." Her lips twisted in a bitter smile. "Vali's wife."
"Wife?" Elena whispered, watching as Tatia moved with predatory elegance beside the King of Vampires.
"The original doppelganger," Katherine continued, unable to hide her envy. "While we're just copies, shadows of her face... she's the one he chose. The one he made eternal without needing to preserve her in crystal."
Tatia's smile was sharp as she regarded her doppelgangers. "Nature has tried so hard to perfect us doppelgangers," she said gently.
"Creating echo after echo of this face. But in the end..." she moved closer to Vali, her movements like liquid darkness, "there can only be one Queen."
The mark pulsed with approval as Vali gazed at his wife with ancient affection.
"But enough about what was," Vali said simply, his voice now perfectly ordinary - and somehow that normalcy was more terrifying than any display of power.
"Let's discuss what comes next."
He revealed another crystal case with nothing more than a casual wave - as if showing someone a new piece of furniture. Inside, crimson light pulsed like a waiting heartbeat.
"The ritual requires sacrifice," he continued conversationally, as if discussing the weather. "But sacrifice isn't the end. It's merely... transformation."
Elena felt Stefan's grip tighten on her arm.
"You see," Tatia's voice carried the same comfortable certainty, "this was never about simply collecting souls or preserving moments. It's about something far grander."
Only then did the shadows deepen, showing glimpses of ever changing spaces beyond - but even that felt like an afterthought, as if Vali was merely adjusting the lighting to better make his point.
"The ritual," he began, "will break the final chains. And then..." he smile all teeth "then we'll show you what true perfection looks like."
"And what exactly does your version of perfection look like?" Bonnie's voice cut through the square, her power gathering around her like a storm. Her grandmother's grimoire pulsed in her hands, ancestral magic rising to her call.
Vali turned to her with simple curiosity, as casual as someone noticing an interesting bird.
"Now that, I still wish to keep in my heart," Vali stated with a gentle smile.
"But don't be too upset, you'll only have to wait until tonight," Vali continued, his tone shifting to something almost considerate. "The ritual requires the full moon, and until then..." he smiled, the expression disarmingly normal, "you should all go about your day."
Elena blinked, confusion replacing fear for a moment. "What?"
"Consider it a mercy," Tatia explained, her hand finding Vali's. "A chance to experience one last ordinary day before understanding what awaits you."
"You're just... letting us go?" Caroline asked from where she stood with Tyler, suspicion clear in her voice.
"Go?" Vali's laugh was gentle. "My dear, you were never trapped. This isn't a prison break or a dramatic escape. It's simply..." he gestured to the morning sun, "a pause before transformation."
"Until moonrise," Tatia added softly. "Until the moment when everything changes."
The crystal cases floated serenely behind them, their occupants forever preserved in their perfect moments. Klaus still creating his endless art, Rebekah dancing her eternal dance, Kol surrounded by his beloved magic.
"Spend these hours wisely," Vali suggested, his voice carrying no threat, just simple advice. "Say your goodbyes to imperfection. Make peace with what must change."
The shadows began to retreat, the impossible corridors folding away like paper boats on water. Even the mark's crimson light dimmed to a gentle pulse.
"Tonight," Vali promised, his smile all teeth despite his casual tone, "I'll show you what true perfection means. But until then..." he spread his hands in an almost generous gesture, "enjoy your last ordinary day."
And somehow, that simple permission was more terrifying than any threat could have been.
"Where will you be?" Katherine asked, still kneeling, her voice carrying something like loss at the thought of her King leaving, even temporarily.
"Around," Vali replied simply, as if discussing lunch plans. "Watching. Waiting." His eyes swept over the town. "After all, I have a thousand years of preparation to appreciate."
"And what's to stop us from running?" Damon's voice cut through the square, sharp with desperate bravado.
Vali's smile was almost kind. "The same thing that's stopped you every other time you've tried to escape fate, Mr. Salvatore - the simple fact that you're exactly where you're meant to be."
"Come, my love," Tatia said softly, linking her arm through Vali's. "Let them have their moment of normalcy. Let them pretend, just for a few more hours, that they have choices left to make."
As they turned to leave, Vali paused, his voice carrying easily across the square: "Oh, and Elena? Do try to enjoy your last day with Stefan. After all..." his smile showed too many teeth, "perfect preservation is so much sweeter when the moment being preserved is truly beautiful."
The shadows folded around them like curtains closing, and they were gone - though everyone knew they weren't really gone at all. Just... waiting. Watching.
The town square fell silent save for the sound of Katherine's quiet laughter - the sound of someone who finally understood the joke that existence had become.
The group moved through Mystic Falls' suddenly too-normal streets, the morning sun feeling like a countdown rather than comfort. The boarding house loomed ahead, its familiar facade now somehow threatening - as if it too was just waiting for nightfall.
They gathered in the living room, the silence heavy with unspoken fears. Elena sat close to Stefan, their hands intertwined, while Alexander stared at his reflection in every window, as if expecting to see those bottomless black eyes again.
"We need a plan," Bonnie started, her grimoire open but useless in her lap. "There has to be some way to-"
The movement was too fast to track. Suddenly Damon was there, his wrist torn open and pressed against Elena's mouth, his other hand holding her head in place.
"Damon!" Stefan lunged forward, but his brother's voice stopped him.
"Think about it, brother," Damon's words rushed out, desperate but determined. "If she has vampire blood in her system when he kills her for the ritual, she'll come back. We can save at least one of them-"
"No," Katherine's voice cut through the chaos, her tone carrying centuries of understanding. "You still don't get it, do you? He's already thought of that. He's thought of everything."
Elena struggled against Damon's grip, but it was too late - she could taste his blood on her tongue, feel it working its way into her system.
"You think you're being clever?" Katherine continued, almost gentle in her madness. "You think he hasn't planned for every desperate move, every last-minute attempt at salvation?"
Katherine laughed softly, the sound brittle with understanding. "Watch," she said, gesturing to Elena. "Just watch what happens."
As if on cue, Elena's body seized. She doubled over, retching, and to everyone's horror, the vampire blood came back up - not just what Damon had just forced into her, but somehow purified, separated from her system completely.
The blood pooled on the floor, then simply... evaporated, ceasing to be.
"He's called the King of all vampires for a reason. You think your blood is not subject to his command? That the vampiric essence does not recognize who its monarch refuses to turn into a part of his legion?" Katherine questioned. her hand touching her own scar.
"You need to accept it. The doppelgangers. Their blood, their very essence - it's already his. No vampire blood will take, no magic will interfere. They're..." she smiled that terrible smile again, "perfectly prepared for tonight."
Damon stared at his now-useless wrist, understanding finally dawning in his eyes. "There's really no way out of this, is there?"
"Out?" Katherine's laugh held an edge of hysteria. "Sweet, beautiful Damon. We were never meant to get out. We're exactly where he's always meant us to be."
The front door opened with deliberate force, revealing Elijah and Mikael. They entered like warriors preparing for their final battle - backs straight, eyes hard with purpose.
"So," Elijah said, taking in the scene - the evaporated blood, Elena still trembling, Katherine's knowing smile. "You've discovered how thoroughly he's prepared."
"You knew?" Damon demanded, his useless wrist already healed. "You knew we couldn't even save one of them?"
"We've tried everything over the centuries," Mikael's voice was heavy with old failure. "Every spell, every ritual, every desperate attempt to counter what he's become. But the mark..." he shook his head, "it adapts. Evolves. Learns."
"Then why are you here?" Stefan asked, his arm protectively around Elena. "If nothing can stop him-"
"Because we have one last option," Elijah interrupted, his perfect composure cracking slightly. "One final possibility that even he might not have considered."
Katherine's laugh cut through the room. "Still playing your parts," she said, almost fondly. "Still thinking you have agency in his grand design."
Elijah ignoring her, reached into his jacket, producing a vial filled with liquid that seemed to shift between colors - sometimes golden like sunlight through leaves, sometimes clear as time itself, sometimes burning with phoenix fire.
"The sap of Yggdrasil," he explained, his voice tight with carefully controlled hope. "Mixed with waters from Gadreel's domain and the blood of a phoenix. It took centuries to gather these components."
"A potion of pure rebirth," Mikael added, his eyes fixed on the shifting liquid. "Something even the mark cannot fully counter."
Katherine sat up straighter, her reverent madness giving way to genuine curiosity. "You think you can interfere with his claim on their souls? Even temporarily?"
"Not interfere," Elijah corrected. "Transform. When you die in the ritual, your souls won't be his to preserve - they'll already be bound to the cycle of rebirth itself.
The phoenix blood ensures resurrection, the world tree's sap grants protection from preservation, and Gadreel's waters..." he paused, choosing his words carefully, "they'll keep your souls beyond his reach until you return."
"And you really think he hasn't planned for this?" Katherine asked, though something like hope crept into her voice.
"He is not omniscient, Katerina," Elijah stated, though something in his voice wavered. "Powerful beyond measure, yes. Calculating beyond comprehension, certainly
"That isn't a yes, Elijah," Katherine's smile was sharp with understanding. "You're not certain at all, are you? You're just hoping - hoping that after a millennium of playing his game, you've finally found a move he hasn't anticipated."
"It's more than hope," Mikael interjected, his voice carrying the weight of centuries of failure. "It's desperation. But sometimes..." he looked at the shifting colors in the vial, "sometimes desperation is all we have left."
"The elements in this potion," Elijah continued, "they're rare, powerful. If there's even a chance-"
"A chance," Katherine laughed softly. "That's what you're betting everything on? A chance?" She stood, moving closer to examine the vial. "Though I suppose... he does so love to play with chance. To let us think we have options, choices..."
"Even if it doesn't work," Elena spoke up, her voice steadier than she felt, "it's better than doing nothing. Better than just... accepting what he has planned."
Katherine's laugh was gentle, almost pitying. "Oh, sweet Elena. Still thinking in terms of resistance and acceptance. As if those aren't just two more paths he's laid out for us."
"Enough, Katerina," Elijah's voice carried a sharp edge. "Your reverence for him is noted, but we need to act quickly. The potion needs time to work through your systems before moonrise."
He uncorked the vial, the liquid inside shifting between its impossible colors - golden sap, time-touched water, phoenix fire. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
"The doppelgangers first," Mikael instructed. "Elena, Katherine, Alexander..." he glanced around. "Where is Tom Avery?"
"Safe," Elijah replied. "Hidden where even Vali's shadows can't reach. For now."
Katherine stepped forward first, surprising everyone. At their questioning looks, she smiled - that terrible, knowing smile.
"What? You think I don't want to see how this plays out? To see if you've actually managed to surprise him?" She took the vial, studying the shifting colors. "Besides, after five hundred years of running... what's one more desperate attempt?"
She drank, then passed the vial to Elena. One by one, the doppelgangers consumed their share of the potion. The liquid seemed to burn then freeze, tasting of life and death.
As Alexander took the last sip, something strange happened. The shadows in the room didn't retreat or attack - they simply... paused. As if even they weren't quite sure what to make of this development.
"How will we know if it worked?" Elena asked, her hand unconsciously going to her throat where the potion had burned.
"We won't," Elijah admitted. "Not until the ritual. Not until..."
"Until we die," Katherine finished, her voice oddly calm. "Until we see if our souls slip through his fingers or become part of his perfect collection."
A clock somewhere in the boarding house struck noon. The sound echoed unnaturally, reminding them all that time was counting down to moonrise.
"So what now?" Stefan asked, his hand finding Elena's. "We just... wait?"
"We prepare," Mikael's voice was hard with purpose. "Whatever happens tonight - whether this works or not - we face it standing, not kneeling."
"Speak for yourself," Katherine smiled, touching her scar again. "Some of us have already chosen our positions."
The shadows shifted slightly, almost like silent laughter, and everyone was reminded that even this conversation - this desperate attempt at resistance - was happening because their King had allowed it.
"He's watching right now, isn't he?" Alexander asked suddenly, his eyes fixed on his reflection. "Through every mirror, every shadow..."
"Always," Katherine replied softly. "The question is... is he watching with amusement or interest?"
The room fell silent as they all considered that question, the potion burning through their veins like a promise - or perhaps a prayer.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
Vali is back in his birth town!
Though, the question is, will the potion work?
We'll have to see in the next chapter, so until then, do please comment and review, it makes me very happy, and motivated to release more chapters, reading your reviews and comments, so please do so.
So yeah, I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)