Looking around the room, the dark wallpaper and high ceilings, the antique portraits depicting nature as a beautiful, yet terrifying scene full of mystery... Astrid thought about how this place was always meant to be what it is now. A sanctuary. Vivica had told her about how she lost her brother to a coven of vampires that once lived here.

Not in the "He became a vampire" lost or even "He died". They turned him into a blood doll. The venom in their fangs was addictive and damaging, more so than any other drug.

He's only a shell of what he once was. Still looks the same, but a slave. Hollow with no thoughts of his own.

If Vivica and Godric hadn't appeared in her life when they did, who knows what could have happened to her?

Pushing herself off the ground and the memories out of her head, Astrid looked down and the pelpos that still clung to her skin, the smell of salt water and panic, she could hear the screams around her still while also feeling the ground quake as her vision blurred.

Wrapping her arms around her torso, she waited for Godric to walk through the door. He should be here.

Did he not survive? Astrid's thoughts were racing as she thought out every scenario.  Maybe he got trapped under the rubble. Scrambling to her feet, Astrid rushed upstairs to his room. Everything looked the same. Untouched, like he could come back at any point in time.  

Time.... 

He had wanted to go back in time to investigate something. Where did she come from? 

Why was she like she was? 

Being a vampire made it impossible for him to die from drowning. The only way he could die is if his heart was somehow pierced or his head was torn from his body. 

The only way to find him right now would be to get one of his progenies to feel for him. The bond between them is virtually unbreakable. It was one of the perks of being a vampire. 

Astrid grabbed her phone off the coffee table and texted Vivica. 

It didn't take long for Vi to appear, her wild red hair and icy grey eyes made her look like a porcelain goddess. Her stance demanded respect despite her innocent face. 

" Whats going on? Are you ok?" She walked up to her, her marble cold hands gently gripping onto Astrid's arms in an effort to comfort her. 

Shaking her head, Astrid almost cried when she spoke. "Vi..." Shuddering her legs gave out and she collapsed onto her friend. "Godric is missing. And I thought he would be o-ok." She sobbed. "He told me to leave him behind. Can you please help me?" 

Vi looked at her and at first Astrid thought that anger was about to erupt. But she was surprised when Vi pulled her closer, and stroked her hair. "It's ok, my dear. We will find him." She pulled away. and looked over the pelpos she was wearing. "Where were the two of you again?"

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After she had recounted everything to her, Vivica sat back speechless. 

"Atlantis....?" 

Astrid nodded. 

"And you... You can travel through time?" 

Another nod. 

"If he's in this time period, I should be able to feel him, but if he perished somehow..." Vivica couldn't finish the sentence. 

Closing her eyes, Vi remained motionless. Her eyes closed and posture determined. 

Minutes felt like days. When she opened her eyes again, she looked dsitraught and lost. 

" I... I can't feel anything." 

They stared at one another and thought the unspeakable. 

                    ~~~~~~~~Godric~~~~~~~~

Darkness and crushing water thundering around him, thundering like a raging storm in his ears. 

Pressure and so much of it curshing and ripping through muscled and crushing bones. Skin rippling and tearing as the waters strength built up and he sunk further into the abyss. He opened his dull red eyes before they were bombarded by the burning of the darkness. He gasped, the saltwater setting fire to his lungs, acid filling every inch of him. 

He blacked out, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing back on the precipice of the end of the city that was once known as Atlantis. The land crumbling around him. 

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He tugged on Astrid's blood, calling out to her. A last resort. Searching through time and failing. 

"Time... I can buy some time." He ran to the cliff, the last thing to fall in this hell. He kept pulling at their bond, hoping that she would somehow feel him 

"You can do this, Astrid. You can feel me."

The earth fell around him until he was drowning again. 

Godric knew he was destined for hell, but this was far worse than anything he could have dreamt up. He had 'died' one-hundred and sixty-two times here, all in different forms. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to just drown. Other times he would be pinned between the rubble only to feel the weight of the ocean crush him slowly. 

But this time he swore he could hear Astrid calling out to him. 

No, it was impossible. He had somehow been cursed to relive this day forever. Without any reprieve. And this was no exception. 

But hope hadn't left him yet. He opened his eyes and swam, pushing the corpses he had grown used to aside. Searching for her. He pulled at the blood insde of him to just sense her. It was faint, but it really was hers. Using the ring on his middle finger, he sliced the palm of his hand. If there was any hope of her finding her or vice versa, he would need to use everything he had. 

Grabbing a fistful of pebbles, he thought for a moment. He would need to flash to her. He might not be able to push through all of the people fast enough, but this... This he could do in the blink of an eye. He threw one pebble and concentrated before flashing to the pebble. Another. And another. 

Nothing

He was about to give up when he heard her scream from above the water. She was falling deep into the earth. Quickly, he threw pebble after pebble to at least try and get to her faster. He was so close before the ground collapsed around her, seeming to bury her completely

He took in a deep breath to try and call her name, the water filling him before he blacked out and was once again standing in Atlantis before the fall. 

                  ~~~~~~~~Astrid~~~~~~~~

"Listen, I know you're worried. But we will find him." Vi had said, brushing a strand of hair out of Astrid's face before resting her hand on her cheek. 

They may have only known each other a few years, but she was the closest Astrid had ever had to a sister. 

"Take a bath, my dear. And tomorrow, we will start the search. I'll stay in one of the spare rooms, ok?" 

Nodding in agreement, she walked upstairs to Godric's room. She looked around and sighed. 

They would find him. Walking over to his bed numbly, Astrid fell into it like it was a cloud. 

Closing her eyes, Astrid found herself asleep in an instant.

Drifting down into the depths of the sea could almost be relaxing. All thoughts slowed to a stop for a few brief moments as a sense of euphoria filled her due to the lack of oxygen. "Astrid" 

It was a faint whisper. Sounding so familiar. Almost like home to her. She opened her eyes and realized she needed to climb to shore. She looked around and saw she wasn't far from the town square. 

She was so worried, even her dreams brought her back to torture her. 

The guilt was overwhelming, but at least in her dreams she could see him to give herself some peace until the next morning. 

She swam to the land and searched the crowd for him. It didn't take long for the ground to start shaking. 

Astrid ran, pushing past the screaming crowds of people.

It didn't take long for the land to give underneath her. She couldn't stop the scream that came out of her. 

The ocean surrounded her and so did the debris. 

She reached around her, running out of breath but determined to at least find him in her dreams. 

She must've touched twenty dead bodies before feeling something familiar. 

His ring!!

Before she could pull him to her, something flashed in her mind, almost like a memory. With a scream, she woke up. 

Drenched with salt water again.

Knowing Godric was alive and suffering.