Pre Edit Count –   2,854 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Undertow by Timbaland and feat the Fray & Esthero

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And with that the being flares and disappears, leaving Bella and Eric standing there staring at each other in amazement as each feels the other become a part of them.  They know that it is as the woman had foretold, that they will never walk the world alone again.  They will always have each other, as brothers and sisters should.

Eric clears his throat and instructs Alcide as he gently tugs Bella from the grass, “Take the Goblet and the grass outside.  Before replacing the sod, pour the contents of the Goblet on the dirt and then place the sod back on it.”  This is the final component of the ritual, the part that binds them to the very Earth.

Alcide nods, his mind in shock from realizing that an actual Goddess had appeared before them, and leaves with Sam.  As they make their way out of the house and stand where they got the grass, he looks down at the Goblet and exclaims, “Fuck!”

Sam stops from leaning down to be ready to replace the sod, looks back at the husky man, and lifts his eyebrow.

Alcide looks at him and then slowly empties the Goblet that had held Eric’s and Bella’s blood.  Water poured forth from the Goblet onto the Earth.

Now:

Godric moves forward to take his precious Mate back in his arms and searches their Bond to see if anything has changed in the brief time they were apart.  Instead of finding that her health has worsened, he finds that things are frozen in a strange state of stasis.  He quickly looks up into his son’s face to see if he knows what is going on.

Eric stares at Bella with a look of amazement on his face.  In all the ceremonies he has attended to in his long life, this is the first time Freya herself has actually come down to bless the ceremony.  He has seen the Valkyries and other signs of favor, but never has she herself come down.

Then Eric frowns as he realizes he can feel Bella, and something inside him tells him that this isn’t a bond that they will need to renew.  He hesitantly asks Bella, “Lillasyster, how do you feel?”

In Godric’s arms she feels secure, and she opens her eyes to meet Eric’s worried gaze.  The rest of the room gasps as they take in her now matching blue eyes.

Ludwig snorts and says, “Well, I can see that making sense.”

Eric turns to her and lifts an eyebrow.   He has never seen any change in those who have received the Blood Oath before, why is Bella different?

Ludwig sighs and tells him bluntly, “You are all blue-eyed up there.  But I can tell you, the blue is a more appropriate color for her eyes being your sister.  And I bet she will now have blonde highlights in her hair.  If you were still living, you would show some signs, too.  But since Bella is, she will reflect the changes.  She is more your sister than she’s the daughter of her parents.  I bet there will be additional changes, too, since I can feel the magic in her from here.  Your Goddess personally blessed this Oath.  She only does that very rarely, and those she favors in such a fashion are blessed in some ways that are obvious, and in some ways that aren’t.”

Godric kisses Bella’s neck and inhales her scent.   While the basic part that attracts him is still there, she has a light scent of Eric in her also.  No one will notice it without being told, but once they know, it is obvious. “She smells as though she could be Eric’s sister.”  He laughs.  “Well I guess I don’t need to wonder anymore how the two of you are going to get along.”

Laughing with him, Bella tells him, “But you know, brothers and sisters fight….”

Glancing up toward the ceiling, Godric comments, “Couldn’t you have made them more mature when blessing them?”

The group laughs, but then Bella staggers in Godric’s arms.  Godric could feel his heart drop as he frantically searches their Bond.  He can feel Eric doing the same from his side.  They both wince in unison at the pain she’s suffering.  Godric opens his wrist and puts it to her lips, begging her, “Please take it, a Thaisce.”

Wincing at the incredible pain, she barely whispers, “2^nd Bond.”

Eric’s eyes widen and he meets Godric’s look.

Godric does not hesitate and complies immediately with his shearc’s (love) request and sinks his fangs in carefully, making sure she never feels any pain.

Both sigh as their Bond grows stronger, and Godric’s blood rushes to the needed area, healing the fragile veins in her brain that cause the pain she is feeling.  The substance retreats as it is unable to fight the combined forces of Godric’s blood and the Goddess’s blessing.

Watching the two people who are his family, Eric uses the Bond he now has with his syrra (sister, informal) to monitor the process.  He and Godric both flinch from the burning in her arm.  His instincts cause him to strike and his fangs scrape against the bite mark and open it up.

Ludwig watches the odd-colored blood drip from her wrist and yanks Eric away from it.  She grabs a metal pan from her medical bag and catches the substance as it drips.  She hisses, “Get me something to try to collect it with to keep it from touching her skin!”

Eric scrambles and grabs a syringe from her bag and passes it to her, then hisses as he hears the substance sizzling in the pan.  “Knulla!” (Fuck!)

As Ludwig works, she tells Godric softly, “Milord, keep the wound open and let her drink as much as she can.  If it is ok with you, once this is drained, I will have Eric use his blood to close it up.”

Godric looks up into Eric’s eyes and sends his acceptance.  He is fighting his sexual need for his mate, using the pain he draws from her to help his control.  He realizes that when they finally do their third exchange, he’d better warn her about this facet of Bonding.  He never wants to hurt his Thaisce, and he is very aware that it will be her first time.

Eric quietly relays Godric’s acceptance as he watches with wide eyes the potency of the venom being displayed.  How the hell does it not tear through the veins of a human??? Unbeknownst to him, in his shock he actually states that aloud.

“It changes the veins as it goes.  That’s why her arm is colder in that place.  And in reality, I never thought of doing this since I didn’t think anything could break the skin to effectively ‘bleed’ her of the remaining venom.  Luckily one of your fangs punctured the skin and this makes it easier for us since neither one of us wants this stuff on her skin or any place else,” Ludwig explains as the three of them work on Bella.  Her attention is focused on the syringe that she methodically fills and empties it as she hurries to pull as much venom from her as she can before the venom eats through the syringe.

Eric nods as he concentrates on his Bond with Bella.  He and Godric look at each other as Godric stops drinking and seals the marks on his Mate.  Godric murmurs to Bella, “Drink, a thaisce, drink.  The good doctor and Eric are working on your arm.  You’re not hurting me, you can never hurt me…” He could feel her worry, and can feel it leaving as he addresses her concern.   He has no idea why or how he knew, but that is for another time. Right now he needs to concentrate on trying to heal her.

The next couple of minutes are spent doing the same thing over and over until Eric exclaims, “Thor!  How much of this damn stuff is there?” He can’t believe the amount of venom they are pulling from his syrra’s veins.  There is often blood mixed in the vial, but before their eyes it changes to venom.

Ludwig replies as she exchanges syringes once again, “It’s trying to replicate.  Exposing it to air and Godric’s blood are causing it to try to take over as it senses an attack to its host.  But something is still hampering it, though I think the Cold Ones being gone may have something to do with that.  But…one problem at a time.  Godric, how are you two doing?” She is concerned since she realizes that Bella is losing blood.  Others may think she is removing the venom, but she is aware that the blood is turning into venom and they are racing against time.  If Godric weren’t feeding her his blood, she would be seriously worried.  But Godric’s blood is helping her fight the venom to keep it from winning, and is the edge they have in this battle.  However, they are treading a very fine line.

Godric has been taking care of Bella, getting her to take breaks and breathe, and when the pain would return, he would give her his blood and absorb the pain into himself.  They are in a good rhythm, but he himself is starting to feel drained.  He didn’t want to take from his Mate as he saw the amount of blood they took in trying to extract the last of the venom.  He is very aware of what is going on as his blood tracks it all from the inside, but he doesn’t want to alarm any of them.

Watching his master, Eric grabs his cell and sends out a text.  This happens during one of Bella’s breaks so she is free to laugh weakly.  “Why do you text all the time?”  She has never seen him talk on the thing, but text on it, oh yes.

Looking up at her he smiles, “It’s faster, actually.  I just have to wait for the phone to catch up with my fingers then hit send.  Once this is over, I will send you one of these phones.  Godric, Pam and I have stocks in a company that is about to make a lot of money with these.  It will allow you to keep up with us.” The phones are made by Apple and are based on their iPhones, but are made for vampires. Their slightly cooler temperatures made it hard for the sensors to pick up their finger movements on the normal ones, plus these are much faster.  These new phones work for younger vampires, but for older vampires such as Eric and Godric, they are still slow.

During the conversation he had handed another syringe to the small doctor beside him, and threw the used one she handed back to him into the metal pan with the pile already there.  Ludwig had to take a few precious seconds to spell the pan so that the venom was contained.

Even so, she and Eric have been watching with a sick fascination as the venom dissolved everything.  Even the blood that had been pulled into the syringe with it was gone within seconds, often barely making it into the pan before it broke down the syringes.  She had spelled one syringe for her to study the venom in more detail later, but she is just sick as he is as they watch it bubbling away in the pan, only staying contained because of the magic.

Finally the doctor drew a full syringe that was mostly blood and tossed it to the side.  After making sure the next one was nothing but blood, she tosses it to Eric telling him, “Put that to the side.  I want to see if it is going to make a difference.   And heal her arm.” She quickly moves to the containers and spells each so that she can transport them with her.  She plans to test both, but she has a backup spell to cause the venom to burn if it escapes.  She hopes to grab a Cold One if needed for testing.  She has no doubt that Godric and Eric would help, in fact.

Godric chuckles at how fast his son moves to the brownie’s orders.  He has Bella take some more blood from him, and when she finishes, he kisses her brow where she is sweating from the all the pain.   “I’m sorry, a thaisce, but I feel no more pain around the area.  Do you?”  He is sure, and can even see the scar staring to heal from his blood.  Some scarring remains, however, and he is not happy about it.  Now, though, with his blood she should be able to do anything she needs to do before he has to drain and turn her.  It is the best outcome for this situation, and he will give her blood to make sure this is done.

Bella shakes her head, then asks quietly, “But I do have one question… Why do I have all these strange phrases in my head? Is it because of the Bond?”  Her mind is whirling with all the new stuff she can in there.

The three look at each other, but before they can say anything, Pam walks in with some bags of blood. “Matmodern pappa är vaken och är krävande om sin rätt att se sin dotter, säger att han kommer att sparka ut alla om han inte ser henne snart. Han är ett hål, Mästare, och jag kan inte vänta tills han möter dig.” (The Mistress’s father is awake and being demanding of his right to see his daughter, saying that he will kick everyone out if he doesn’t see her soon.  He is a bore, Master, and I cannot wait until he meets you.) With a little bow she hands the bags to Godric.

Surprising them all, Bella sighs.  “Godric, it looks like I may need to take you up on your offer.  If he is demanding to see me, this cannot end well.  And I don’t want to stay here…”

They all gape at her, then Eric carefully asks, “Lillasyster, förstår du vad jag säger?” (Little sister, do you understand what I am saying?)

Bella gives him an odd look.  “Yes…?”  Why is he asking her that?

Godric laughs in delight. “The Blessing was for more than the physical changes.  She is your little sister in every way.  I bet if you reach far back enough, you will find that she can even understand your local language, not just the merchant language.  I can’t wait to see what else you two have been blessed with.”  He grins, the mischief on his face obvious as he watches Eric stand there shell-shocked.  For once, Eric is not being fast on his feet.

Pam just exclaims, “Fuck a zombie!” She stares at the woman before her.  This is Godric’s mate?  What has happened?  There was nothing in their information that said she knew any languages besides English.

When he feels Bella’s confusion, Godric kisses her throat and tells her, “The Goddess blessed you two with far more than a simple DNA change.  She has made it so that Eric doesn’t need to teach you a thing because all that information is now already in your head. My love, you are truly Blessed and a thaisce to more than me.  But as I promised, I will treasure you above all.”  He looks at her with adoration clear in his face.  And he wonders…did the Goddess give her everything?  He hopes so, since it will help them all if she knows what she needs to know about the Supe world.

This woman is not only his Mate, already a rare happenstance, but she is now Blessed by Eric’s Goddess, who is now her patron Goddess.  She is also his Son’s sister in every way.  He smirks; Pam is in for a world of change.  She is not the center of her Maker’s eye anymore.  There is someone else, and he does not think she will take kindly to his attention not being focused solely on her or Godric anymore.  She barely tolerates him as it is.

Eric chuckles.  “Well this doesn’t change much, other than you won’t need to spend time learning our language, little one.  But for now, let’s deal with your father.  Are you sure you wish to take Godric up on his offer?”  He wants to make sure he is hearing this right.  If so, it will be much easier to deal with his Queen.  He will be only minutes away from his Area and can travel back and forth much quicker.  Although she is a selfish bitch, there really isn’t much she can do about Godric calling him to his side.

Her nod of agreement makes the two smile, but the sorrow and relief that come through their bonds saddens the joyful occasion.  With that in mind, Eric informs Pam, “Change of plans.  Pack up everything here, and have the plane ready for departure for tomorrow.  Godric will want to explore the Cold One’s place before we leave, and I suspect we will spending some time there.  Also, call Isabel and have her get everything ready.”  He will be staying there as long as possible, and sending Pam back to Shreveport.

Bella speaks up, “Pam, don’t worry about the clothes.  Most of them are not mine.  Or rather I should say that they’re not what I would buy.”  She shudders in distaste of anything that Alice bought her.  She likes her own style and while she will be buying clothes, she suspects it will be better than any time before.

Ludwig clears her throat and tells them, “I recommend that as little as possible comes.  This will be painful, but the farther she is removed from the scent, the better it will be with her.”

Looking around the room, Bella moves away and grabs a few books, along with some pictures.  She frowns as she opens her album and curses, “Knulla!”

Godric is by her side in a second and asks, “What is wrong?” He holds her to him and rests his head on her shoulder as he looks at what she’s holding.

She is still thumbing through the pages she had added just recently. “He removed all the pictures.  How asinine is he??  Like the goddamn scar on my arm would let me forget them!?” Her anger is building, and it makes Eric stop and watch her as he is amazed at her emotions.  Plus, this is his sister.  Godric can comfort her, but if she needs him, he is here for her.

Godric pulls her even closer to him.  “I am sorry, a ghra. I will endeavor to find them and get your things back.  Plus I need to talk to them anyway…”  There is no hint of his true intentions in his voice or demeanor.

Bella snorts, “Talk to them. Don’t lie to me, Godric.” She looks over at him.  She is smiling, but her eyebrow is arched in question.

“Oh, I am not lying, a ghra.  I will talk, as your brother tortures him.  I think this is fitting.  After all, I don’t want to take a chance and have any of their venom on me when I come back to you.”  The smirk on Godric’s face is enough to allow Bella to see he is fully intends to exact revenge for her.  And if Eric’s and Pam’s faces are any indication, they are looking forward to it also…though Pam is looking confused as she tries to understand the brother comment.

Eric’s smirk gets bigger. “Well, let’s head downstairs and see what the Chief has to say.  I am quite interested what this man has to say about how he treated my sister….”

He ignores Pam’s shocked face as they quickly come up with a plan.

Charlie paces back and forth in the living room, and repeatedly glares up at Bella’s room.  Alcide and Sam have been quietly placing bets on the outcome of this, and on Charlie’s reaction to Eric.

Sam himself had been surprised by the size of Godric’s Child.  He could not have anticipated such a polar opposite to Godric if he had tried.

Actually, there have been many surprises here lately.  The Ceremony he had been allowed to see…and when he had felt the Goddess who had come down to bless Bella’s and Eric’s Oath?  Tahki Aki!!  That was almost enough to him to start following Eric’s Goddess himself!  The power in that being!   And…what she said to him in his head, “All beliefs are real.  Follow your heart and you will never be wrong.”  The last straw had been when Eric’s and Bella’s blood, that he had smelled and witnessed with his own eyes being deposited into the cup, was turned to water.

With that in mind, he is going to use his power as Alpha to orchestrate a treaty with Godric.  He will bring it up as soon as he can, since he doesn’t think this fight will be come out well for Charlie.  But it is time for the man to learn some hard truths, and nothing in the way he has behaved since Bella has come here has helped her, really.  It has done nothing but leave her in a holding pattern.

He, for one, will be happy to learn more about the world, and he is already pleased to know that their tribe is not the “be all, end all” that the Elders try to force them to believe.  This way, if Godric can come up with a way to help them guard the tribe, then they can at least be with him and his Bloodline.  It may also create a way out for some of the more rebellious wolves who are mad about the reason that they now have to stay.  It is time for him to be Chief and start facing the Elders.

He looks up as he hears the light sound of steps, and then grins as he and Alcide trade looks.  Here it begins…

Eric heads out first as he wants to confront and intimidate the man downstairs.  He, Godric, and Bella have talked about how to handle her father, with Ludwig adding her input as well.  He and Godric will be moving at vampire speed with Godric holding and moving Bella with him.  When they reach the bottom, Godric and Eric will be in front, Pam will be beside Bella, and hopefully Alcide will take his place beside her.  Ludwig will watch from the balcony seats.

He smiles as he sees the Shifter and the Werewolf look up at them.  Then the Shifter almost jumps out of his skin as Eric and the rest make their way vamp speed down the stairs.  Eric notes the surprise and will talk later to the Shifter.

Eric’s attention is focused on the man standing before him staring up at him in shock. He can’t help his cocky grin as he speaks to this man who has helped make his sisters life miserable.

“So Chief Swan, I heard you wanted to meet me.”

Final count:  3,902 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy