Pre Edit Count –   4,554 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Everything Changes by Staind.

Previously:

When he gets downstairs, Godric pauses as he sees Sookie crying on Eric’s shoulder, the Viking holds her closer as he senses his presence, as though he is protecting Sookie from Godric.

Leigh flows past his legs and jumps to land in front of the two and curls up around them, her purring loud enough to be heard by a human upstairs. 

Godric just stares at them, his mind running with ideas while his body aches to hold her.  But, he tells himself, he cannot handle another rejection from her, and sighs.  Turning away from them, he heads to the computer to catch up on some work.

Eric on the other hand stares at his maker with rage in his eyes.  How can he dismiss their Mate this way?  How can he not understand he is hurting her?  He can feel the same things as Eric does in their Bond but he is ignoring her!

Something lights in Eric’s eyes as he comes to realization that if Godric will not protect their Mate, not love her in the way he should, in how their memories actually show it, then that will be it.  It will pain him to do it, and they will never be separated completely, but Eric will do what it takes to protect her.

Even if that means protecting her from their own Mate.

Now:

The following day showed no sign of Godric relenting, nor the following days.

Sookie became despondent, barely talking, just doing what Godric told her to do.

Eric was pissed, and he showed it.  He did everything but openly defy his Maker.  He was mad at Sookie for allowing Godric to walk over her like this.

That Friday, the opening of the new Club, Skärseld, was the climatic event.  Sookie had gotten ready and waited, looking no more than a doll.  She wore what they gave her to wear without a single complaint.  Eric even tried to get one out of her by gifting her a necklace with his initials.  It draped gracefully around her swan neck and settled above her delicious breasts.

But… nothing.  Sookie murmurs a “Thank you, Eric” and that was it.

Eric throws a look at his Maker and pushes her feelings through the Bond.

Godric ignores him as he has the entire week and dresses in a dark suit.  He goes to the door and holds out his arm.  Like a robot, Sookie gets up and goes to his side.  Silently, the two leave the room with Leigh at their side.

It is too much for Eric, he throws the pen that is in his hand from signing a few documents at the door where his Maker had been just seconds ago, cursing, “Knulla!” The pen is stuck in the door, in the exact same place that Godric’s head had just been.

‘Calm down Eric.  This isn’t helping anyone right now.’ Leigh’s voice consoles him.

Growling, his irises contracting as he tells her, ‘It helps me not attack either of them!  How can she just give up like this?  She had been fiery, defying him, not allowing this, and now… This??’ His fists are clenching, he is vibrating in his rage.  He cannot understand why they are both overreacting. Eric didn’t want to be inbetween them as they fight, but with Sookie hurting so much, he knows he is going to be drawn in agaist his wishes.

Sighing in his head, Leigh informs him, ‘She hurts.  Though she herself may not actively remember the separation from Godric, her soul does.  It feels torn from him acting this way, and it is influencing her.  She no more wants to be apart from him than he does her.  His fear is feeding through the Bond and it is triggering this.  Her anger was her, Pure Sookie.  But this?  This is that past version of herself, Galiena.  That version of Sookie is the one who was locked away with Mab, the one that Niall battled for.  Sookie is her, just without the memories that defined Galiena.  But Galiena cannot ever forget the pain of being torn from Godric, nor of his transformation after, which she felt.  They are Soul Mates.  They felt everything that the other did.  That is what drove Godric mad was the pain of Galiena’s body being taken from her, the pain and isolation she felt as her soul, her spark, was kept prisoner.  She feels the same with you, you help soothe that memory, you are the healing force for both of them. A force that they both need.  But while Sookie accepts and loves you, Godric is feeling resentful.  All he can see is that Sookie needed you more than him and he feels the pain of that failure.  He is scared that if he fails her yet again, she will never be his.’

Eric is shocked at the information.  Godric is resentful of him in Sookie’s life?

‘Nothing will change his view until he acknowledges it.  And he needs to acknowledge what you have brought to him.  That you were the first to choose this monster that he thinks of himself. He needs to forgive himself and her.  It was not her fault she was taken, nor was it his.   She has had all that time to acknowledge it and she has. Now it is time for Godric to understand –and he will, Eric– but you are correct in that you need to love Sookie.  She is feeling your anger and hate.  She needs your love, to know that you haven’t given up on her.’

Sighing, he rubs his face.  “Ok.’

He moves to join them, grabbing the pen from the door and putting in his suit pocket as he pulls out his phone, asking if someone in the nest could fix the door.

Eric crawls into the Limo and raises his arm to Sookie.  She looks in his eyes, down at his arm, and then quickly moves under it.  He pulls her close and murmurs to her, all the while sending her his love, his devotion, to her. He is determined to show her his support.  He will do anything to make her to feel better.

Godric is reminded of their drive a couple of days ago.  He has not admitted it out loud or even in his thoughts, but he is not liking this change to Sookie.  Her not fighting, just giving into him, is not the response he had expected from his fiery Mate.

Eric has been a surprise, too.  Neither of his Mates are acting like he expected  –something he readily admits that he is not liking it one bit– but he hasn’t changed his stance on this.  Sookie needs to be protected.  Even from them, if need be.

When they arrive at the club, Eric gets out and reaches in for Sookie.  She grasps his hand and is drawn out on to the red carpet that leads to the entrance of the new club.  Flashes are going on all around them as cameras catch the couple of the day.

Eric’s page in the newspaper announcing his mating to Sookie had not just been the talk of the town, nor even the state.  No, this had become national news.  The infamous playboy of vampires has settled?

But looking at him with his Mate on his arm, there is no denying that he is cleaning up his act.  He is cool and collected as usual, but his eyes, when they fall on his Mate, soften.  He is aloof to all, but treats her like gold.  Vampires are nodding and telling each other, “Bonded and his Mate.”

Godric trails behind them, glad to be in the shadow of his Mates, his mind whirling.  He is thinking over plans and what needs to be done.  No more will he allow self-doubts bother him.  He has said what is to happen and that is it.

Once inside the club, he moves past Eric and Sookie and heads to his chair.  These aren’t the gaudy ones Eric had at Fangtasia, no, these are more like chairs to have a meeting in, while around a table with drinks.  Although it is plain to see that Eric, Sookie’s and Godric’s are more than simple chairs; the sleek look compliments the club.

Godric sits and leans on the arm, resting his head on his hand as he watches his Mates.  He becomes as still as only a vampire can be, but inside, his mind  is whirling.

Spies have come to see what Eric has done, what is going on, and to help their masters with the plans to invade if they got the gumption to storm the Vikings new stronghold.  They mark Godric’s reaction and wonder, as they stare back at Sookie and Eric, ‘Is there a chink in the armor?’

Eric escorts his Mate around, weaving between the guests, all the while murmuring to her his love, as well as sending it to her.  He is taking Leigh’s advice and making sure his tiny Mate knows she is adored, loved, worshipped.  He does not care for the plan, not when his actions do nothing to her to raise up her ire for them to play off of.  No fiery retort that he would enjoy tossing back at her, nothing.  This makes him realize that the damage to Sookie is deep.

So he tosses out the plan –the plan they had always been fastidious about– and shows her the club he built for her.  He no longer wants to see his Mate having to read the minds of the filth in that place and their Bonding is allowing him to change the place he will hold business.

Godric is watching them, slowly growing angry as he grasps that Eric is not playing by the rules.  He is not following the plan that the three of them had worked on for so many years!  And for what?  To give Sookie some attention!  Surely she is not that bad!!

He sends a short command to Eric and observes his back straighten as he receives the command.  But he somehow ignores it.  Godric’s eyes darken as he sends a stronger command and again Eric ignores it.  How?

Leigh’s voice comes inside his head. ‘Hmmm.  A side effect of the Mating process or the Bonding.  Interesting that Eric can ignore you…”

On the outside there is no sign of his anger besides the darkening of his eyes, but inside Godric is snarling, “Is this any of your doing?’

With a lazy look to him from her place at Sookie’s side, Leigh dismisses his claim. ‘No.  But you might want to think of a way that Eric can deny your call.  Why would he even resist yours?  Has he ever done so in the past?  Or is it because you are hurting his Mate, the woman he loves more than everything in this World, with the exception of you.’

Godric is staring holes into the Guardian as he spits out at her, ‘Eric has never been able to deny my calls until now!’

Blinking at him, Leigh retorts, ‘Or maybe he loves you enough to just obey you.  You have never asked him to do anything that he wouldn’t do for his love of you.  But now you are hurting his Mate.’

‘My Mate!’

‘His Mate.  You’re not acting as her Mate, nor his.  You are the one driving her to this state, you are the one hurting the two of them, you are the one denying them because you decided that you won’t accept that they can control themselves, that they need the physical love, that they need you to be strong, their alpha.’

Godric’s fangs drop as his rage hits new highs. ‘My Mate! She is mine!!! Eric is an afterthought.  Something added because the fates want to become between us.’

Moving with Eric and Sookie as they head to another area, still within view of the seating area, Leigh pauses in her replies to admire the thought that the Viking had put into this place.  It really been created to allow his Mate a better place than Fangtasia.  The viewing area is in the center of the club, but it has a solid wall to their back.  It also funnels everyone to them through the use of stone walls.  From their seats, every part of the club can be seen, allowing no one to be able to sneak up to them.  Eric had put a lot of thought into the club.

At this moment, however, he is regretting the arrangement as he feels Godric’s rage and eyes constantly on them.  He cannot remove Sookie from feeling it; he can only send her his positive feelings and show her he is dedicated to her and only her.  He regretted the rage that had washed over him as he denied Godric’s call, something he has always suspected he could do and never cared to challenge until now.

Leigh sends her thoughts to Godric as she sits placidly at her Sookie’s feet, ‘Eric was always meant to be part of you.  He is here for the two of you, and has done what was needed with you, and now is here for Sookie.  He has always supported you, given you his love and devotion, and now you are throwing it back in his face.  All because you are scared.  And, because of that, you will lose both of them.  She will be your Childe, you will become the fated three, but Eric’s and Sookie’s trust and love will be forever denied if you keep traveling down this path, child of Hades.  Just because you three are to become mated does not guarantee that they will love you, will allow you into their lives.  All it means is that they have to suffer your presence with them.  Think hard on the route you are going, Godric, and choose wisely.’

With that she shuts the connection down and Godric feels it.  Deeply.  All of a sudden he notices how quiet it is in his head.  He had never realized that he could always hear a murmur in the back of his head that was somehow Sookie and Eric; now there is nothing.

Leigh didn’t just cut the connection between her and him, but his connection with all of them.  She had been the last connection to them –she had been the one letting the murmur from them exist– because the other two had already shut down their connections to him.

Godric sits on his empty throne, getting his first real taste of what he is driving them to do for their own sanity, and he is not liking it.  He frantically searches for their Bond, and almost sighs in relief as he finds it.

The only issue is that their emotions, that had been so bright inside of him, are now muted, as though they are coming through some of the strongest insulation in the world.  There is basically the knowledge of they are alive, a shadow of their emotions if he works at finding it, and where they are.

Godric sits there, totally alone for the first time since Eric became his companion.

The spies notice there is something not exactly kosher with the three.  A faint smell of blood in the water, if you will.

The rest of the night continues, with Godric watching the two of them, arguing with himself in his head.  He grows angry as he watches Sookie slowly open to Eric.  Little things, like lean into him, her eyes softening, becoming alive under Eric’s attention.

Then they came to their seats.  And that is the most telling.  Sookie is seated between the two of them, but her body language is closed off to him, open towards Eric.  There is not a hint of her former adoring attention on her future Maker.

To the outside world, it is looking as though Sookie is coming to terms with their mating.  That she is accepting of Eric.

But there is a rumor starting… one that the three of them, who had been close all this time, are falling apart.  That the Bonding was less a way to make Sookie admit that Eric is her Mate and more a way for Godric to force the two to not be away from him.  That he is losing them both and is grabbing at anything to keep his two progeny from leaving.

The agents for other Vampires watch, and when the club closes that night are all quick to inform their masters the same thing:

Godric is weakening.  He is upset about the mating of the two.  His anger at Fangtasia was not of his Potential Child overstepping, it was of her starting to pull away from him.

Sookie and Godric had been very affectionate of each other from the beginning.  The few times there had been the two of them in public, Godric very obviously doted on her.  The mating of Eric and Sookie shocked the nation because, if anything, they had believed Eric to be an older brother to her, and if Godric would take a permanent companion, it would be Sookie.

There is nothing new about that, many did like Eric, and with Sookie being his Potential Child, there is no great risk that she will leave him.  No one wanted to mess with Sookie and risk the rage of the Gaul, knowing that Eric would back him up.

But now, with how he is acting, there is the knowledge that even though they are all Bonded, if it became a choice between Sookie or Godric, Eric would choose his Mate and she him.  And, the vampires know, Godric is not happy about it; his displeasure is visibly starting to show in public.

There is a chance to drive that wedge even further apart.  To weaken them.

The sharks were starting to circle, scenting the blood in the water.

Godric is oblivious to everything.  He is too busy being angry at his Mates.  How dare Eric deny him, and how dare Sookie back him up.  This is not what he had prepared for and it was throwing his stride off in his ability to plan.  The two of them are his foundations and they are not holding up his plans well!

Days pass but things continue to crumble. Instead of it being Sookie fighting him and Eric supporting him, he finds Eric being the one who is cool to him, denying him every way he could, with Sookie standing behind him.  Quietly.

Then there is the night he has to leave to deal with Andy being an ass and trying to arrest Jason, again.  He’s irritated, unable to find the culprit of the murders, finding that he is always one step behind them as they murder their way through the area.  More fangbangers are murdered, and always, there is always a connection, somehow, to Jason.

That night he returns home angry at himself for not finding the murderer, not understanding why they are acting the way they are, to find Eric cuddling behind a spent and sated Sookie.  The first reaction for both of them finding him there is for Eric to pull Sookie closer to him, obviously protecting her from him.

The fact that they went against his demand for nothing sexual to happen between them until the mating, and that the two of them are so much closer now, is enough to make Godric snarl.

His face full of fury, he rushes at Eric, and finds himself alone in the room.

Both Eric and Sookie are gone.

Vanished.

The room is empty and so is he. The only thing present is his fury.

He spends a week in a rage, destroying their room, unable to find a trace of them except that they are in Shreveport, but when he would close in on them, they would be suddenly gone.  Pam had no knowledge of where they are, unable to find Eric even in their Child/Master bond.  Eric had shut down their Bond, and, to Godric’s shock, released Pam.  When he forces her to answer him, he is even more shocked to find that Eric did it per her request, so that she will not betray them if Godric tries to force the information out of her, as he is currently doing.

With that information, Godric stumbles back and says so softly that Pam barely hears it, “What have I done?”

And then he is gone.

After a few weeks, Godric surfaces in Dallas.  He is cold, withdrawn.  Everyone soon learns to follow his orders and to not ever mention Eric and Sookie within his hearing.

They were beginning to fall apart, the cracks wide enough to drive cars through.

Their enemies circled closer, smelling the blood getting thicker in the water.

Bill Compton disappears; pulled since the plan of making Sookie fall for him does not have a chance of succeeding if Eric and Sookie are truly mated and she accepts it.  Because of that, the murderer had been glamoured to make life miserable for Jason, but to never threaten anyone else of the group.

Then comes the day that Godric feels a tearing through him and falls to his knees in shock.  As quickly as he can, he speeds towards his Mates.  It is a wakeup call, and there is a clear fear in him that they are hurt, that his decisions have caused physical pain to them.

Adele is gone. Hit by a car when she was going to get the mail.  Something that she had not had to do for years, because the nest had someone around at all times.

The house had been full of love and joy, no matter what the outside world had thought, but with the division between Godric and his Mates, that love had turned cold.  No one could find Eric or Sookie for a while, their phones had been left behind when they disappeared.  Godric’s anger and rage had made them not want to be in the home they all loved.

The pain of the three’s separation had divided the nest and Adele was left alone without anyone realizing.

Adele had been hit by a drunk driver, a teen who had his life torn apart when he hit the beloved Stackhouse.  The guilt over what he had done is too much for him and he kills himself later that night, locked in a jail cell, when he was accidently left alone.

Eric and Sookie are devastated.  They come back, Godric showing up soon after them, but neither of them pay any attention to him. Their pain at his treatment towards them has slowly but surely erased the love that they carried for him.

Jason is angry with them all and the world.  Eric has left him, taking Sookie with.  He doesn’t care about the why’s, and, in retaliation, starts to take V.  He shows up to the house high and tries to break into their room to kill Eric. The drug-fueled rage is so strong that he manages to get through. But it is over before it really begins and Eric is healing from a wound inflicted by silver, caused by him not wanting to harm the elder Stackhouse sibling.

Godric just stares that night at the mess that had become of their lives.

Neither of his Mates acknowledge him, even when he tries to apologize.  The nest is divided and Jason is under lock and key for his attack on Eric and the use of V.

Staring at the cold room, as they met to discuss what to do, Godric catches his reflection in a mirror, and stares at himself.

‘You caused this.’

Godric’s head moves to meet Leigh’s eyes but finds the room frozen. He tenses, ready to guard against an attack on his Mates or himself.

A woman appears in front of him, and his eyes widen in shock as he senses her power.

“You did this.  Your reaction caused all of this.  And when you were given chances to repent, you ignored them.  You drove your Mates away.  The sharks are circling and there is nothing you nor your Mates can do.  Do you want to know what happens as this road is traveled to its completion?”

Godric swallows and asks, “How is this all my fault?  Those two are as responsible.”

The woman shakes her head. “I suppose you need to see what happens, to see how much you have driven them and your nest away.”

She reaches out and lays her hand on Godric’s forehead and a montage of visions hit him.

He sees them at Adele’s funeral. Jason goes crazy and attacks Eric again, trying to reach his sister in his rage.  Godric restrains him, but Jason’s heart gives out under the pressure of the strong dose of V and his feelings.  Humans can not handle the effects of V and the enhanced emotions it gives them, which often causes heart failure because of the effects.

Eric takes Sookie after the funeral and they both disappear.

Godric tries to find them again, but never finds even a whisper of their whereabouts.  After a couple of months, he gives up.  And in that moment, Godric sees a bleak world.  One drained of life.  Animals dying, the world itself dying, as he hears a maniacal laugh.  He watches, unable to help as Eric and Sookie fight against a being in black, unable to see a face.  Both of them scarred all over, their eyes dead and lost even as they fight to their deaths.

When he watches the two of them die because of the shadows surrounding them, slicing them, as they fought the Dark One. He sees himself standing on top of a building, walking into the dawn.

He blinks and stares up at the woman in front of him, blood tears falling from his eyes.

She stares back at him. “This is the road you have started down.  You are the reason that the world dies.  Your Mates die.  The future becomes nothing.  You need the two of them as they need you.  But you choose to ignore them.  It may have seemed so little, but you drove the wedge.  Behind the scenes, those enemies you had though to pull out with your plan, they sliced and hacked at your Bonds.  And for what, Godric?  Your pride?”

He looks up at her and falls to his knees. “Is there no way I can stop this?”

Shaking her head, “It’s up to you.  You have to admit to yourself the truth.  Once you do, you will be given one chance to heal this.  It’s more than you deserve, to be truthful.”

She places her hand on Godric and he falls into an empty plane.   Her voice echoes around him, “This is your chance.  If you admit the truth to yourself, you will be given your chance.  If not, well, this is the fate you would have brought with your path.  Your choice.”

And he is left alone.

No Bonds inside of him, no, they are dead now.  Godric is left to himself, everything stripped away from him, everything that he cares for, loves, gone. And he is left to face the consequences, with only a sliver of hope.

Godric stands there, and he thinks.  He thinks of the past; everything is open to him.  He finds that he can travel down the paths to that golden past, the time that Godric and Galiena had been together.  He lives that life again, but finds that the two of them are missing something.  Neither knows what it is, but there is something.  It is what drives Galiena to wanting children, thinking that that is what is missing in their lives.

Then Godric feels when Galiena has been taken, but this time, he watches outside himself.  He flinches with the pain, since the wounds have never healed.  But he also acknowledges that there had been nothing he could have done before.  It is not his fault.

He watches as Hades takes him away.  And as Niall wars against his own kind to rescue Galiena.  He feels it when Mab strips her body away from her, leaving her soul and spark when she realized that Niall would win.  Not for awhile, but, eventually, he will win.

And he realizes, there is nothing Galiena could have done either.  It is not her fault.

He watches as Niall rescues Galiena, the pure horror on his face as he realizes what Mab had done.

He watches as Hades comes up with their plan.

He watches as Hades reluctantly allows Godric to leave, knowing that his son will never heal and takes the memory of why Godric is in such pain.

He watches as Niall and Hades weep as they watch him take out his pain and frustration out on the world around him.

He watches as everything feels lost….

He watches as the first light of hope enters his eyes as he finds Eric.  As he offers Eric that chance to be his Child.

He watches as Eric accepts him.  Loves him.

He watches as his Mate heals him.

It is not his fault.

It is not Galiena’s fault.

They had not had what they needed, what their young souls needed.  They never had heard of a triad to even suspect it might be what they were missing, and their missing piece was not even thought of, so far in the future.

Eric had been what they needed, and he acknowledged that they both needed him.  It wasn’t that Galiena and he had been whole, and then needed Eric, as they had all thought; it was Eric that had been missing from the beginning.

With a flash of heat sinking through his body, his world goes dark, but Godric hears the woman’s voice telling him, “Now you understand.  You have one chance.”

Opening his eyes, Godric finds himself waking with Eric and Sookie across from him in the Limo, the Bonds open like he has missed for the last couple of years.

The world is holding its breath, all but two not knowing the future that had played out.  Those two are left with the information of that time, never to be forgotten.

But there was another in the shadows who was not meant to know of that future, the path that all of existence was holding their breath to not come true.  And that person slowly smirks as he fades away with his knowledge.

Final count, 5,129 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy