Authors Note: i was feeling a bit bored of the concept from my other novel. In truth I've been looking for a way to do something different that wasn't in any of the series but also still makes sense. Hence why I've decided to try this idea, The original heretic. Enjoy.
Jasper, 15th century
——
During my time in Tennessee with my coven, I'd always felt alone. Different. Little did I know just how different I'd become.
I grew up like any kid in a witch family did. Learning about the ones who came before us and what they learned so we wouldn't have to. I learned about the risks and rewards of being a witch, but it all seemed for naught, for on my 15th birthday I was shown the truth.
I had never been able to do the spells my older brothers and sisters could do with ease at an early age. My father comforted me that I was a late bloomer, while my mother scoffed. It was expected though, she came from an incredibly old family of witches.
She had always been hard on us, but that was what pushed my siblings to great heights within the coven. Though with me her ways found no purchase.
On my thirteenth birthday it happened. My father gifted me with a ring magically imbued by his own ancestors. The second I touched it my world came crashing down, and this disappointing youngest child became a taboo, a hushed whisper nobody dared say too loud, a siphoner.
That day changed it all. My own family refused to interact with me, let alone touch me. They all feared and reviled me. One night a couple of moons after my ability was discovered the council of the coven which included 10 heads of different families voted to lock me away in chains. There were none opposed, not even my own mother.
That started a year and a half of torment and loneliness. Stuck in a fuge state between conscious and not. I hadn't even learned to control my ability so siphoning the magic out of the chains in the little time I was conscious didn't happen.
In truth I'd been just waiting to die. To leave this pitiful existence aside. My prayers were answered one cold winter night. During one of my few conscious moments I heard a sound outside the cell I'd been locked in.
I didn't see the person in front of me, but when they spoke I recognized their voice instantly, my father. The only one who'd ever seen me, the only one who still wanted me even after learning of my ability to siphon magic.
"Jasper, I'm so sorry." He said quickly before beginning to chant a spell I wasn't familiar with.
Soon the chains that'd felt like oil tankers connected to my wrists fell off like water flowing off a leaf onto the ground. With them off I began to kneel down in order to catch my breath when my father put his hand on my shoulder. "There's no time," he said shoving a vial of liquid into my hand and continuing to speak.
"Drink it," he said urgently.
I trusted my father. I did. But I also felt the raw magical presence within the liquid. I knew whatever he was asking me to drink would flip my world upside down again.
I went to ask him what it was, why he came for me after so long, and most importantly how did he get through the barriers and guards. But as soon as my mouth opened to speak my father decided for himself. He grabbed my hands and poured the liquid into me. It tasted like blood and something floral.
Before I can understand what's happening my world goes dark after I feel my fathers hands move from my hands to my head.
——
Leo Fontain
I scoop Jasper up without any hesitation. I have to get him far enough away from the coven to dissapear when they find out what's happened.
I run out of the cell and into the hallway towards the mountain side. I know my spell was correct. I even cast it on our own hallowed ground where the first council was decided and buried after death.
I had all the pieces the voice in my dream spoke to me. That's why it took so long to save Jasper. If not for the voice itself I would've never gotten the blood needed. It was almost as if by design. I was able to cross through the 'other side' to a place I'd never been. Where a small 5 year old girl slept within a castle.
A quick spell to numb the pain and I got what I needed. This blood mixed with the immortal tree and the power of the sun, my boy will be okay. I've always been so protective of him because I know where he gets his abilities from. There have been a few in my own family. A secret none without my blood has any knowledge of. This includes my wife.
I decided to wait for him to awaken. I will be the sacrifice to wipe away my sins committed in getting him out. I'd killed fellow witches without hesitation, for my urgency after completing the spell was so great. The entire coven was also preoccupied with the ascension ceremony. One Jasper should've been in were it not for his circumstances. It was a right of passage into witch adulthood and my boy had been locked up during it.
While tragic, it provided an opportunity. I grabbed every dark weapon my family had in their possession and went toward his cell and the guards in front of it. All four of them went down easily and without struggle.
Soon the coven would know something's wrong. Hopefully my boy can be gone by the time. The voice warned me of the monster I was creating but I didn't care. It was only a matter of time before they decided to kill Jasper or turn him into a weapon and I'd rather he make his own decision, even if I'm currently taking one away forever.
I hear the beginning of movement and see Jasper slowly coming to under the moonlit sky. His eyes blink open and he looks at me confused, "father? What's happened?"
I look to him sadly needing to say so much but knowing we don't have a lot of time. "Listen to me Jasper, you're about to be different. Stronger. Able to protect yourself. Please, when this is over you must run. Run and never look back. Promise me."
He looks confused but I know he can understand my seriousness. After a few moments he replies. "I promise father. Now tell me what we're supposed to do?"
I look away from him. He looks too much like my father right now. I haven't seen him in nearly two years, and when I last saw him he still had baby fat.
Deciding I can't speak anymore, I make my peace with what's about to happen and cut my hand and wrist deeply with the blade I always carry.
As expected, my kind son rushes over in panic. "Father, you're hurt. Why would you do…" he trails off and I see him lose focus.
"It's okay son." I say bringing my hand up to him. Almost instantly he latched on and I feel the life force going away, as well as my magic slowly draining. "It's okay. I love you son." And those were my last words as the darkness slowly crept in…..
———
Jasper
I remember pulling away from my fathers lifeless corpse in tears. I finally understood what he'd done to me. He'd made me even more of an outcast. The worst kind of outcast. An abomination of nature. A vampire.
I look down at my fathers peaceful face and wonder what exactly he thought in his last moment as I killed him. Grief and anger surged within me. Grief at the fact I'd committed an unforgivable sin, and anger at the fact my father was the one who made me a vampire.
I decided he deserved dignity at least. So with strength I didn't know I had I hefted him up and walked down the mountain towards a nice quiet spot where he can rest comfortably at least.
It didn't take long as it wasn't too far down, when I got there I began digging and it was actually really easy. The strength I'd marveled at when carrying my dad like a blanket became even more apparent when I raked into the ground to make a hole deep enough to preserve my fathers body from animals.
In only 10 minutes I had a 6 foot hole. I carefully lowered my father inside and wrote into the tree with his knife.
Here lies Leo Fonatine 1430-1484: Husband, Father, son.
After a moment of silence and a few tears I filled the hole back up and went on my way to clear my head. Deciding I'd listen to my father and not go back to the coven, but go find my own path. Because while I was so caught up in my fathers death a new set of memories hit me, seeming to be sealed or buried until the time was right.
What I saw made so much sense. It actually lessened my guilt at my fathers death. I used these memories to try something. I tried running as fast as I could and saw the world blur around me like I was moving in a car on the interstate.
I stopped when I barely dogged a tree and laughed. I took it a bit slower and just kept moving south and going over my memories.
The ones that stuck out the most were Mikaelsons. Mystic falls. New Orleans. Originals. Werewolves. Granted it wasn't like I saw a full vision of these things. It was like a flash. Certain people in situations. Information about certain things like vervain, wolfsbane and its effects. I also saw vampires burn in the sun without some blue stoned ring.
I'll have to test and see if I myself am immune to it or not. One thing I know, I'm getting the hell off this continent. My only problem is it's the 1400's and things that I remember in the visions are a ways away from being invented.
I decided if I couldn't get to Europe I'd try to get as far south as possible, maybe meet the guy who will claim he 'discovered' America.
Quite a funny tale as there are already many native tribes, most of which are wolves I can guess, that have been here for a long time. My own family was apart of the first Viking journey to the americas to escape a plague and we settled in Tennessee.
I look back toward the miles and miles separating me and the only life I've known until the new memories hit me and feel nothing. They'd always treated me differently even if they didn't know why.
I took a deep breath and tried doing something I'd tried a hundred times as a kid, "incendia" with a wave of my hand. Unlike other times though this time I see it works. The bush I'd wanted to light on fire burst into white hot flame.
"Woah!" I said out loud in my excitement. I'd never been able to cast a spell and now I can. I wonder how that works, but for now I'm just gonna enjoy it.
I speed off into the early morning sun and can't help but feel a world of possibility in front of me. The magic of a witch and the strength and speed of a vampire runs through me and I can't help but feel like the possibilities are endless.
———
Authors note
There will be a small time skip next chapter. I just wanted to get the base of who the character is and where he comes from out of the way. Now we move into his learning about exactly what he is and how he can leverage it to help him in this life.