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

Stefan braced himself against the weight of Rebekah's stare, the storm in her eyes as relentless as the memories that had been torn from their graves.

He could feel it -- her anger, her sorrow, the ghost of something long buried between them, clawing its way back to the surface.

Vali, ever the maestro of destruction, leaned against a pillar with an amused smirk. "Ah, the lovers reunite. How tragic. How… poetic."

Rebekah's breath hitched as she shifted her gaze to him, venom lacing her tone. "You don't get to speak."

Vali chuckled, unfazed. "Oh, but I do. After all, I'm the reason you're even awake to feel this exquisite heartbreak." He tilted his head, mockingly. "Did you miss me, sister?"

"Not even for a second."

Stefan swallowed, stepping forward cautiously. "Rebekah… I don't-"

"Don't," she cut him off, her voice tight. "Don't say anything. Any words that can come out of your mouth right now will be things that I don't need to hear right now."

He hesitated, but nodded. The truth burned in his throat, but what good would saying it do? He had loved her once, hadn't he?

And yet, Vali had ensured that part of him had been wiped away, leaving only echoes and devastation in its wake.

Rebekah turned to Elena, sizing her up in a way that made Stefan's muscles coil with tension. "So, you're the girl he chose to love in this century?" She exhaled sharply, something like bitterness laced in the breath.

"Tell me, Elena… does he look at you the way he used to look at me?"

Elena's heart clenched, but her voice didn't waver. "I don't know how he looked at you," she admitted. "But I know how he looks at me now. And I know who he wants to be."

Rebekah's lips curled into something between a smile and a sneer. "You think love alone can save him? You think he can outrun the monster he was?" Her eyes flickered back to Stefan, the pain evident. "You were never just a Ripper to me, Stefan. But you were one."

He inhaled sharply, jaw clenching. "I know."

Vali sighed, pushing himself off the pillar. "As entertaining as this reunion is, I didn't bring you back for nostalgia, Rebekah. We have business to attend to."

She turned her glare to him. "The only business I have with you is revenge."

Vali grinned. "Adorable. But I think we both know you're going to hear me out." He stepped closer, voice dropping to something silkier, deadlier.

"Or do you really want to spend the next century mourning a love story that was never meant to last?"

Rebekah flinched, and Stefan saw it -- that tiny flicker of vulnerability she tried to bury. The same flicker that Vali thrived on.

Elena, unwilling to stand by in silence, squared her shoulders. "What do you want, Vali?"

He turned to her, "Now that, dear Elena, is the right question." He gestured toward the coffin. "Rebekah's return is just the beginning. I have plans, and I need all my pieces on the board."

Stefan's fingers curled into fists. "I'm not your piece."

Vali laughed softly, shaking his head. "Oh, Stefan. You've always been mine. Whether you like it or not."

Stefan's breath was steady, but his fury was rising. He wouldn't let the King control him again. Not now. Not ever.

Vali's gaze flicked to him, amusement playing at the edges of his expression. "Relax, Stefan. That temper of yours is exhausting."

Stefan scoffed. "You would know, wouldn't you? Considering how often you provoke it."

"Ah, but I only provoke what's already there," Vali mused, stepping past him. "You're far too predictable."

Elena crossed her arms, her voice dripping with defiance. "If you hate love so much, why do you keep chasing it down? You act like it's beneath you, but I think it's because you know you'll never have it."

Vali turned to her, a slow smirk curving his lips. "Is that what you think, Elena?"

"It's what I know," she shot back. "You push Rebekah away, you mock Stefan for caring about me, and you claim you don't need love -- but deep down, it terrifies you, doesn't it?"

Rebekah tensed beside him, but Vali simply chuckled, a low, knowing sound. "How delightfully naive," he murmured before walking ahead. "Come along, children. We have places to be."

The four of them stepped out into the cool night air, the city humming in the distance, and approached Vali's car -- a sleek, jet-black 1967 Chevy Impala parked beneath the flickering glow of a streetlamp.

The chrome gleamed under the artificial light, predatory in its beauty, and the interior smelled of leather and something darker, something ancient, like the very essence of history trapped within its seats.

Vali slid into the driver's seat with effortless grace, the engine roaring to life with a deep, guttural growl that vibrated through the frame. Rebekah took the seat beside him, her arms crossed, while Stefan and Elena settled into the back, their movements stiff with lingering defiance.

The ride was cloaked in silence at first, save for the rumble of the engine and the occasional hiss of tires against asphalt. But Elena, ever unwilling to let the quiet smother her thoughts, finally spoke.

"You know," she began, her voice edged with something between amusement and derision, "for someone who's lived for over a thousand years, you don't seem to have learned much about love. Or maybe you just never cared to."

Vali's fingers tightened subtly around the wheel, though his expression remained unreadable. He didn't acknowledge the comment, but the air inside the car seemed to grow heavier.

Elena continued, emboldened by his silence. "You use it as a weapon, as a leash, as something to manipulate. But I don't think you've ever really felt it, have you? Not the way people should. Not the way she-" her eyes flicked to Rebekah, "-deserved."

Rebekah's nails dug into the armrest, but she said nothing. Not out loud, at least.

Instead, she reached out telepathically, her voice brushing against Vali's mind like silk laced with thorns.

'Why do you tolerate this?' she questioned, her tone more curious than enraged now. 'The way they speak to you, the venom in their voices -- I can feel it, clear as day.

You never allowed this before. Not from anyone. You daggered Niklaus, Elijah, even me for less. And yet here they are, spitting their defiance in your face, and you let them.'

Vali exhaled, slow and measured. His mind did not answer hers, but his silence carried meaning.

There was something beneath his restraint, something calculated. And Rebekah, as much as she loathed it, knew better than to push when he chose to play his games.

The car continued down the darkened road, cutting through the city like a phantom. The silence defeaning. Until, finally Vali in his mind spoke up, 'You really don't see it?' he questioned.

She stiffened. His earlier silence caused her to be caught off guard when he spoke.

'See what?' she returned, keeping her expression neutral.

Vali didn't answer right away. Instead, his fingers drummed against the wheel, his gaze unreadable in the glow of the dashboard lights.

Then, as if the question itself had unlocked something, Rebekah's eyes flicked to the side, subtly -- first to Elena, then to Stefan.

And she looked.

Deeply. Beyond flesh, beyond heartbeat. Beyond everything, her eyes normally told her.

Her stomach turned.

Black tendrils curled within Elena, shifting restlessly, like something waiting to unfurl. But Stefan-

Rebekah nearly inhaled too sharply.

Inside Stefan, the darkness wasn't just present. It was alive. Countless tendrils, thousands upon thousands, wove through his very soul, stretching and twisting from one end to another.

They pulsed, like something breathing, something feeding. Not just corruption. Not just darkness. This was something created.

Her gaze snapped forward again, rigid.

Vali hummed under his breath, amused, tapping the wheel lightly. 'Oh, Rebekah,' he murmured mentally, his voice smooth and unreadable. 'Don't pretend you don't see it now.'

She didn't answer. Couldn't.

Because she did see it.

And that was the problem.

Her voice slipped into his mind, sharp and demanding. 'Project Smoke... That's why you need them defiant. You're messing with that experiment again? Last time you nearly caused a genocide!'

'Nearly?' he echoed in her mind, his voice a slow, serpentine coil of amusement. 'Give me some credit, Bekah. It was a genocide. Just not the one you were expecting.'

Rebekah swallowed down the nausea curling in her stomach. Her hands, cool and steady, clenched against her lap as she kept her gaze locked forward, refusing to let even a flicker of her horror show.

Elena and Stefan -- especially Stefan -- were infected with something unnatural, something stitched into their very souls. Something Vali had done.

She took another breath. Slow. Controlled.

'You couldn't make it work before,' she continued in his mind, each word razor-sharp.

'Because you didn't have the means to keep them together. The bodies died. The souls fractured. You had to start over again and again. But now…'

Vali didn't confirm anything. He didn't have to.

The amused hum in the back of her mind said it all.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed. 'You created something, didn't you? Somewhere.'

Vali's smirk deepened, the soft glow of the passing streetlights sharpening the angles of his face. 'You really are my favorite little sister, Bekah. Always so quick.'

Her stomach turned.

'Where is it?' she demanded. 

A pause. A breath of silence stretched between them, long and deliberate.

Then, his voice -- smooth as ever, but laced with something heavier now, something laced with victory.

'Where do you think, dear sister?'

The air inside the Impala seemed colder.

Elena shifted in the backseat, oblivious to the conversation happening between them, but her fingers brushed against Stefan's in silent reassurance.

Rebekah could still see the darkness slithering beneath their skin, felt the wrongness of it like static in the air.

This was beyond anything Vali had ever done before. This wasn't just an experiment.

This was a creation.

A sharp breath left her nose. 'You built your own Hell.'

Vali let out a slow exhale, lips quirking. 'Not Hell, Bekah. Something better.'

Rebekah turned her gaze out the window, her jaw clenched tight enough to hurt.

Because she knew, deep down -- whatever he had done, whatever he had built -- this time, it worked.

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

So, how did you find the chapter? 

What do you think is happening to Stefan and Elena? What is 'project smoke?'

Please do tell me your theories, engagement with you guys makes me like writing all the more.

So yeah, please do comment and review, and I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)