Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Anastasia or Vampire Diaries; all rights go to the rightful owners. I do not own any of the lines from Anastasia that I have in this fanfiction.

A/N: Hi! I'm so glad you're here reading this! I really love this movie and the idea for this just came to me one day out of the blue. Please read and comment your thoughts; I really appreciate it. This is a Vampire Diaries version of the movie Anastasia, but you don't have to watch that movie to understand this fic. Feel free, though.

Prologue-

Once upon a time… Okay, let's just cut that out right now. Because, after all, this is quite recent, and if you haven't already heard about this, one can only ask, where the hell have you been? Nonetheless, this story will be told to you whether you've known it beforehand or not.

So, the year is 1916, Bulgaria. A royal family lives in the one and only royal palace, and they include the King himself (Gray), his wife (Katerina), Gray's mother (Annette), and their two children, Jeremiah and Elena, the latter born as the eldest. Now even at only eight years old. With flowing mahogany hair and big brown doe eyes (plus intelligence to boot), she could have anything she wanted in an instant. She looked like a smaller, petite Katerina. Her twin brother had the same hair, shorter, and his eyes were very much like those of his father's. Annette was also beautiful, and her graying brown hair reached nearly to her waist, but was always fastened in a tight bun. She and Elena were, to put it simply, best friends, and they did everything together.

The family had a perfect life, and everyone in Bulgaria loved them dearly.

They were open and allowed many townsfolk into their palace as equals. But, as it turned out, letting so many strangers in may not have been the best idea… and not everyone loved the king.

One night, King Gray held a ball for his children's birthday. The evening started out quite fabulously, and all the guests were enjoying themselves tremendously. But as the clock began to tick towards the very hour Cinderella herself dreaded, a figure not unknown to the royal family sauntered into the ball room, exuding his usual blend of confidence and malice.

Gray hurried down the steps to confront the man. Niklaus Mikaelson. The most horrid of them all, no sympathy or any feeling in him. Life had done that to him, left him crippled, in a way–his heart was numb from losing all of his family to disease. He had come to work in the palace before all of that nearly three years ago to work as a consul to the King himself, as he was very sharp and bright.

But after losing the majority of his family, when it came to confrontations, Niklaus wanted to fight, to make confrontations bigger than they were as an excuse to hurt others as he had been hurt. And after all of his kin had passed, he really lost it, and Gray was forced to have him removed from the palace. Now, Nik was a very proud man and wasn't one to take rejection or betrayal, as he saw it, lightly. He swore he would have his vengeance on the family and, when he found a way, he would come back to reap it. Apparently, he had found his way.

"Niklaus! How dare you return to the palace? Leave at once!"the king demanded, icily.

Niklaus only chuckled, seeming amused. "Now, we both know I can't do that. You see, I made a promise to you three years ago, Gray, and I keep my promises. I swore I would make you pay for kicking me out into the cold, and I shall. Right now." He placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled, a terrible, shrill sound, and a herd of men and women alike surged into the room, silent and quick, moving in a pack. They looked around hungrily at the crowds around them, eyes darting dangerously.

"You forced my hand, Gray. And, if you have the time, you will find yourself regretting it. Mark my words: You and your family will die within the fortnight. I will not rest until I see the END OF THE PETROVA LINE FOREVER!" The King, his anger building, stared bewilderedly at the crowd Nik had called in. Just as he was about to call his own guards, Niklaus raised an arm, pointing steadily at the family. His group needed nothing else, and about ten of them rushed forward, the rest scattered, attacking–biting–the guests.

Screams could be heard for miles as the family and attendees panicked–the men coming at them–they were preternaturally fast. How was that even possible? One jumped Gray, taking him down fluidly.

"PAPA!" his daughter screamed desperately. Nonie gathered Elena in her arms, both pairs of eyes tear-filled, while Katerina picked up Jeremiah, rushing down the hall opposite of the one Nonie and Elena hurried down. Elena stopped in her tracks. "My music box!" She ran to her bedchamber and picked the box up carefully from her night-table. The music box played the lullaby her grandmother sang to her every night, and because she'd have been leaving the next day for Paris, she wanted Elena to have that, to listen to the music and remember her when she felt lonely. Elena couldn't leave without it.

The screaming continued just down the hall, and a boy of about 13 years of age with raven-black hair and grey-blue eyes layered with terror bolted into the room and whispered urgently, "No, no! In here! You'll get out safely this way!" and he opened the wall, quickly moving them inside.

Elena's hand lost its grip on her birthday present from her grandmother and she cried out, "Mama, my music box!" but her grandmother only hushed her quietly, prodding her along.

The boy shut the wall as quietly as he could behind the pair, pressing his back against the wall. When one of them entered, he puffed out his chest, feigning bravado, but the man only took the boy's arm in his cold hand and tightened it behind the boy's back. He snapped it like a twig before knocking him out and leaving him, crumpled on the floor.

Down the street, Elena and her grandmother were making their way, hurriedly, to the train-car platform when Niklaus appeared suddenly behind Elena. He'd jumped down from atop the bridge! He slipped on the ice but still managed to grab her leg, attempting to pull her down as well. Elena paled and shrieked, the ice breaking beneath both their pressing weights. Providentially, he slipped further beneath the ice and the harsh grip he had kept on Elena loosened; she managed to yank her leg away, in turn kicking him in the nose. The force of her blow caused him to fully submerge in the icy water and she and Annette bolted, running through the crowd to the nearest cart.

Annette jumped on, stretching her arms down to reach for Elena. "Mama!" Elena cried.

"Elena! Grab onto my hands!" But to no avail. The car continued on farther away, and Elena, in trying to run after it, tripped on the slippery ground, sending herself toppling. She smashed her head against the ice, rendering herself unconscious. Annette tried to jump off the train to get to her granddaughter, but was restrained for her own safety by the other passengers.

"ELENA!"