Shadow Self

Alexander jolted awake in an unfamiliar room, his vampire senses immediately registering the thick layers of magic saturating the air.

Before he could orient himself, a laugh caught his attention - warm, slightly manic, and coming from a middle-aged man whose entire being radiated magical energy.

"Well, well! The shadow self finally wakes," the man grinned, his gestures animated despite his ordinary appearance. "I must say, you wear my brother's face magnificently. Though perhaps with a touch more brooding than he usually manages."

"Who-" Alexander started, then paused as understanding hit. "Kol. You're in a Traveler's body."

"Give the boy a prize!" Kol clapped his borrowed hands together. "And here I thought I'd have to explain the whole body-jumping thing. Though I suppose you've had quite the crash course in impossible things lately, haven't you?"

Alexander's jaw tightened. "If Vali sent me here to-"

"Oh, do shut up about my brother for a moment," Kol interrupted, rolling his temporary eyes. "Yes, he sent you here. No, I don't care about your existential crisis about being his echo. What I do care about," his grin turned sharp, "is why you're wasting such a magnificent opportunity by wallowing in self-pity."

"Opportunity?" Alexander's laugh was harsh. "To be nothing but his shadow?"

"Nothing but?" Kol's borrowed face lit up with genuine amusement. "My dear boy, do you have any idea what you are? What it means to be nature's attempt at replicating the Honoured One himself?"

"Don't call him-"

"I'll call him whatever I damn well please, he's my brother," Kol cut him off cheerfully. "And you're missing the point entirely. Haven't you noticed how strong you are? How your powers far exceed what a vampire your age should possess?"

Alexander paused, thrown by Kol's manic energy and unexpected perspective. "That's just because I'm a doppelganger."

"Just? JUST?" Kol leapt from his chair, magical energy crackling around his borrowed form. "You're nature's attempt at echoing something it couldn't fully comprehend! Do you know how many beings would literally kill to have that kind of connection to power itself?"

Alexander watched warily as Kol paced, magical energy practically sparking off his borrowed form with each excited gesture.

"Look," Kol spun suddenly, pointing at a nearby mirror. "Go on, look at yourself properly. Tell me what you see."

"I see his face," Alexander replied bitterly. "Everyone sees his face."

"Oh, for- GET UP!" Kol's magic literally yanked Alexander to his feet. "Look closer, you magnificently stupid child. Yes, you wear his face, but look at how you wear it!"

Despite himself, Alexander looked. The face that stared back was familiar - the one he'd seen in reflections all his life. But now, after everything he'd witnessed...

"Your eyes," Kol observed, practically bouncing with enthusiasm, "they're not black holes of existential terror, are they? Your presence doesn't make reality itself shudder.

You're not some cheap copy, you absolute idiot. You're like... like..." he snapped his borrowed fingers rapidly, searching for the right comparison.

"Like what?" Alexander couldn't help asking, caught up in Kol's infectious energy.

"Like an echo in a perfect acoustic chamber! Yes!" Kol's face lit up. "The original sound is vast, overwhelming, reality-breaking. But the echo? The echo is pure, refined, carrying just enough of that power to be magnificent without unmaking everything it touches!"

He grabbed Alexander's shoulders, completely ignoring personal space. "Do you know what I would give to be able to practice magic in my own body?

To not have to jump between witch vessels just to touch power? But you! You get to carry echoes of his strength while still being entirely yourself!"

Alexander tried to step back but Kol's grip was surprisingly strong. "I don't-"

"Oh shut up, I'm not finished!" Kol's eyes practically gleamed. "Try something. Right now. Something vampire-y. Go on!"

Startled by the demand, Alexander instinctively reached for his vampire speed. The world blurred, but not like normal vampire movement. Reality seemed to sing around him as he moved, shadows dancing in his wake.

"YES!" Kol shouted triumphantly. "See? SEE? That's not normal vampire speed! That's your power, enhanced by what you are! Nature tried to copy him and couldn't, but in failing, it made something new! Something unique!"

"But I still don't understand why," Alexander said, staring at his hands as shadows continued to dance around them. "Why would being his failed echo make me stronger rather than weaker?"

"Because nature is terrible at copying things directly!" Kol threw his borrowed hands up in excitement.

"It's like- here, watch this-" He grabbed a nearby glass of water and with a quick spell, tried to duplicate it. The resulting copy shimmered with unexpected rainbow patterns in the light.

"See? Tried to copy simple water and got something more interesting instead! Nature does this all the time! Trying to copy my brother?" Kol's grin turned manic.

"Oh, that was NEVER going to work perfectly. So instead, it created something new. Something that carries echoes of his power but manifests it differently!"

"That's why you can do things other vampires can't," he continued, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. "Why shadows respond to you, why your strength exceeds your age. You're not just wearing his face - you're nature's attempt at channeling something it couldn't fully comprehend!"

Alexander moved again, testing his speed. This time he noticed how the shadows seemed to embrace him, how reality rippled ever so slightly in his wake. "But Vali, he can-"

"Vali can unmake reality itself!" Kol interrupted with a laugh. "Of course you can't do that! But what you can do?" His eyes gleamed. "Now that's something worth exploring, don't you think?"

"Here, let me show you something," Kol practically bounced to a bookshelf, pulling out an ancient tome with his borrowed hands. "Been studying doppelganger lore in this lovely witch's body. Fascinating stuff, really. Did you know Stefan's abilities are enhanced too? But differently!"

"What do you mean?" Alexander asked, genuinely curious despite himself.

"Well, he's Silas's shadow, right? So his mental abilities are heightened - that whole psychic vampire thing he does. But you?" Kol's grin turned wild. "You're the shadow of someone who bends reality itself! Watch-"

Without warning, Kol hurled a fireball directly at Alexander's face. Pure instinct made Alexander raise his hand, and the shadows around him solidified, actually catching the magical flame.

"HA! YES!" Kol clapped in delight. "See? Normal vampires can't do that! That's your power - not breaking reality like my brother, but... persuading it a bit. Making it more agreeable to what you want!"

Alexander stared at the shadows still swirling around his hand, the captured fireball dancing within them. "This is..."

"Magnificent? Incredible? Absolutely bloody fantastic?" Kol supplied helpfully. "And you've been wasting time moping about being his echo when you could have been exploring what that actually means!"

"But why now?" Alexander let the shadows dissipate, watching the fireball extinguish. "I've been a vampire for years. I never felt... this before."

"HAH!" Kol flopped back into his chair with such enthusiasm his borrowed body nearly tipped over. "Think about it! What's the one thing that's different now? What changed?"

When Alexander just stared at him, Kol sighed dramatically. "You finally came into direct contact with him, you magnificent idiot! Like an echo getting stronger the closer it gets to its source!"

Understanding began to dawn on Alexander's face. "You mean when he returned..."

"When you were finally in his presence, something changed in you," Kol's eyes gleamed with academic fascination. "Permanently, I'd wager. Like a tuning fork finally finding its perfect resonance. Your power was always there, but it needed..." he waved his borrowed hands expressively, "activation! Awakening! A good solid metaphysical kick in the pants from being near its source!"

"So now that he's awakened it..."

"Now you get to be properly interesting!" Kol's grin turned sharp.

"Why did Vali send me to you?" Alexander asked suddenly, watching the shadows still curling around his fingers. "He doesn't need my help with anything. He's more than powerful enough on his own."

"Oh, darling, not everything is about need," Kol laughed, magic crackling around his borrowed form. "My brother sent you to me because who better to appreciate the joy of being something unexpected than the Original who dances through borrowed bodies to practice magic?"

He gestured dramatically at himself. "Look at me! Could have spent eternity bemoaning my lost magic. Instead?" His grin turned manic. "Found a way to be something entirely new. Something unique." 

"And that's why I'm here? To learn how to... appreciate being different?"

"Different, unexpected, magnificently impossible!" Kol's eyes gleamed with genuine excitement. "Now, shall we see what else those shadows of yours can do? I have some simply fascinating theories about how your powers might work!"

"Theories?" Alexander asked warily, watching Kol practically bounce with barely contained excitement.

"Oh yes! For instance-" Without warning, Kol hurled another spell, this time a bolt of pure light. Again, the shadows moved instinctively to protect Alexander, but differently - absorbing the light rather than blocking it.

"Fascinating!" Kol clapped his borrowed hands in delight. "The shadows respond differently to different types of energy! They're not just copying my brother's power, they're adapting it! Making it their own!"

Despite himself, Alexander felt curiosity stirring. "How are you so... excited about this?"

"How am I not supposed to be excited?" Kol spun around, magic crackling in his wake. "Do you have any idea how rare it is to see power manifest in new ways? To watch nature try something it's never done before?" 

He gestured at the shadows still dancing around Alexander. 

"Those aren't just copies of my brother's abilities - they're your interpretation of them. Your way of..." Kol paused, watching as Alexander unconsciously absorbed another spell he'd thrown. "Oh. OH! Now that's interesting!"

"What is?" Alexander asked, feeling the absorbed magic pulse through him, different from normal vampire energy.

"Try something," Kol suggested, suddenly intent. "Don't force the magic to do anything. Just... feel it. Talk to it."

Alexander didn't understand what he exactly meant, but decided to go along with it, and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy flowing through him. Unlike witches who could shape magic to their will, he felt something different - a presence, vast and ancient. But when he reached for it...

"Ow!" He stumbled back as the world itself seemed to recoil from him. "It's... angry?"

"Of course it is!" Kol's laugh held genuine delight. "You're wearing the face of the one who constantly bends it to his will! Nature itself probably took one look at you and thought 'oh no, not another one!'"

"But I'm not-"

"Exactly!" Kol interrupted excitedly. "You're not him. You don't have to force reality to submit. You can..." he waved his borrowed hands expressively, "make friends with it! Court it! Show it you're different from my brother!"

Alexander reached out again, this time more gently. The world's presence was still wary, but he could feel it - like touching a nervous animal. Not forcing, not demanding, just... offering connection.

"There you go," Kol whispered, watching in fascination as the shadows began to move more naturally around Alexander. "You're not the King who demands reality's obedience. You're the echo who asks for its cooperation."

The world's presence brushed against Alexander's consciousness - ancient, vast, and deeply suspicious. He could feel its wariness, its memory of Vali's constant demands.

"It's like..." Alexander struggled to find the words, "like it's expecting me to try to dominate it."

"Well of course it is!" Kol was practically vibrating with excitement. "It sees his face and thinks 'here comes another tyrant!' But you're proving you're something else entirely, aren't you?"

Alexander reached out again, letting the world feel his intentions. Not demanding, not forcing, just... offering possibility. Slowly, hesitantly, he felt reality's curiosity begin to override its suspicion.

"Oh, this is magnificent!" Kol clapped as shadows began to dance more freely around Alexander, no longer just responding to his will but offering their own patterns. 

The magic Alexander had absorbed earlier pulsed through him, and this time when he reached for it, the world responded - not with submission, but with tentative cooperation.

"Show me," he whispered to the shadows, to reality itself. "Show me what we could do together."

The air crackled with sudden tension - not from Alexander's gentle communion with reality, but from something far more demanding.

The world's presence actually squeaked (if such a vast thing could squeak) and, to Alexander's utter bewilderment, practically dove behind him, using his essence as a shield.

"Well, well," Vali's voice dripped with amusement as he materialized, making Kol nearly fall out of his borrowed body in surprise. "Isn't this delightfully unexpected? Reality itself hiding behind its would-be friend from its king."

"Brother!" Kol recovered with his usual manic energy. "Come to check on your little social experiment? He's just learning to make friends with the cosmos you love to bully!"

"Why am I really here?" Alexander demanded, still trying to process how the vast presence of reality was quite literally cowering behind him like a scared child. "Why send me to... to him?" He gestured at Kol, who looked offended.

"Excuse you, I am a magnificent teacher!" Kol protested. "Just look how well you're doing with your new cosmic bestie!"

"Because," Vali's crimson eyes gleamed with something that might have been pride, "who better to teach you about your true nature than the brother who turned being unexpected into an art form?"

"My true nature?" Alexander's laugh was bitter. "You mean being your echo? Your shadow?"

"Oh no," Vali's smile was terrible in its sudden warmth as reality continued to peek out from behind Alexander like a nervous animal. "Being my son."

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

So, Alexander is Vali's son? Like what?!

How?! He most definitely did not cheat on Tatia, so, how is this possible?

Any theories?

Also, how did you find Kol? I had a lot of fun writing his over the topness. I find it fitting for a happy Kol, who isn't depressed because of feeling left out of the bond of family or not having magic.

So yeah, hope you all enjoyed, do please comment and review and I'll hopefully see you all later,

Bye!)