Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Quest

Chapter 10

Elijah Mikaelson had always been a failure. He failed to protect Niklaus from their father Mikael's beatings, he failed to protect his youngest brother Henrik from being killed by the werewolves, and he failed to save Tatia from the monster that resides within him. Failure would plague him throughout his thousand-year-old life. He failed the Strix. He failed Celeste. He failed Angelica. He failed Finn. He failed Marcel. He failed Hope. He was a coward who spent his life failing and running away from Mikael. And he was a monster who was unworthy of love.

The more Elijah tried to control the world around him the less control he actually had over it. So he compensated for that lack of control with a personal precision of perfect hair, perfect suits, perfect speech, and perfect plans. This was the one aspect of life he could control, and it was this tidiness that kept the monster inside of him in check.

He was unworthy of Angelica and could not understand why she would take him back after everything that happened to her, a stark reminder of how he failed as a husband to protect his wife from harm. The knowledge of what she experienced as a result of his failure was devastating and it rotted him from the inside out. He was unworthy to be father to his beloved son, Henrik Finn. He would end up failing his son the same as he failed Hope and he failed Marcel; and anyone else who ever relied upon him.

But Elijah kept things neat and tidy to keep the monster at bay. He sat in his study reviewing AEM files to prepare for a meeting when it happened, and he was unprepared for the attack when it finally came. The danger that Remus had warned them of had arrived and it came for Henrik Finn. Being so young the boy was no match for the Ancient Power that had entered this realm and as Elijah heard the commotion from his son's room, he bolted upstairs, but he was too late. His son lay dead in the middle of his bedroom floor. Beside him was Angelica, dead as well, having tried to protect Henrik Finn from harm. He caught a glimpse of the Ancient Power's visage and he was shocked when he saw his own monstrous reflection. Elijah dropped to his knees at the catastrophic scene and screamed. His son was gone. His wife was gone. He was the murderous monster, or was he? Either way he had failed them, and it had cost him everything.

Elijah sat in the corner of that bedroom unable to move, paralyzed by the grief that overwhelmed him, unable to stop the tears that fell from his face, wishing he could plunge a white oak stake into his own heart. It was his destiny to fail those he loved most, it was karmic justice, to be loved by him was a curse, for how can a monster such as he be deserving of a beautiful, loving family.