It was a feeling of despair like no other that Eric experienced upon finding Edith's room empty and, not for the first time, he found himself genuinely stuck for what to do next. The ship was enormous, notoriously so, and there must be thousands of places for a young boy to hide; if it was Cory's desire to do just that then they'd never find him. If it was his desire to run, there was a fraction of a chance that either he or Ariel would bump into him eventually. Was is better to stay in one place and hope he returned, or to search and risk missing him?

Eric raised his right hand to his head and stepped out of the small room. Never in his life had he felt as useless as he had on this voyage.

There were still people rushing about the corridors, trying to find a way out, but the crowds had been halted by the crew, and were now blocking every exit to the promenade. Nobody could get through, not even someone as small as Cory. So—Eric struggled to gather his thoughts over the panicked shouts of the crowd—either he was amongst the crowd, in which case even a man of Warren's strength wouldn't be able to reach him, or he was on one of the lower decks.

Eric wracked his brain. The extent of the damage remained unclear to him, though he prepared himself for the worst. If Warren found Cory there was a chance he wouldn't harm him, but if the ship was sinking, and Cory found himself trapped, then he didn't stand a chance.

Making up his mind, Eric found a small stairwell and made his way downward, passing people as he went. Most probably though him to be insane, some even tried to redirected him, but he persisted, growing ever more exhausted with each step.

Ariel, unbeknown to Eric, had come up with a similar plan, to start from the lower decks and work her way up. She flew down several flights of stairs, tripping on numerous occasions but never stopping.

Titanic creaked and groaned around her, and, the further down she ventured, the fewer people she saw, until it felt as though she were the only one on board, the ship an empty ghost of the one she had spent her evening on. Her own desperate sobs and frantic footsteps echoed off the walls of F-deck, where she forced herself to stop, realising only then that, being just three, Cory was unlikely to have made it this far in such a short space of time

Ariel glanced to her left, the corridor in which she stood seeming to stretch on for an eternity, and she imagined that if Cory had been stood at the other end she still wouldn't be able to reach him. To her right were more stairs, narrower here.

There was a sudden noise, like and explosion, like thick metal being twisted and snapped in two. An alarm sounded somewhere below her, and, leaning to look down the next flight if stairs, she realised why.

Water!

Ariel's breath caught in her throat and she staggered backwards, her back coming into contact with the cold wall of the sinking ship. She raised a hand to her mouth. Despite what she had told herself, despite the unlikelihood of Cory having made it further than this, she couldn't shake the image of him being caught up in that tumultuous water; water which now made its way relentlessly upwards, spreading from the stairwell having swallowed it completely.

"Cory!" Ariel choked, blinded by tears.

She had failed him, her only child, her very reason for living.

He could be dead... or worse.

The though that Warren had already found Cory stripped Ariel of her remaining strength, and she fell to her knees. It was suffocating, this feeling of helplessness.

What if Warren had found him?

What if Eric had?

Hope, only a glimmer of it, but it was there, and as long as it was Ariel would cling to it for dear life.

Shaking, she pushed herself to her feet, gasping in wisps of air when she could. She would find them both, Cory and Eric, whether they were together or not; and, in her mind, until she was proven otherwise, they were.

At the other end of the ship, Eric too had descended to F-deck, using the stair rail to support himself and despairing at the inch of freezing water that covered the floor. It was clear to him now what would happen, what was happening, and it terrified him.

"Mummy!"

Eric halted, hardly daring to breathe.

It had been a child's voice, but he hadn't been around Cory often enough to immediately identify it as his. Still, somebody was in trouble, and so, Eric continued towards the source of the cry, fearful sobs growing louder as he hurried the corridors, checking around very corner, every open door. The further he went, the deeper the water became, until he was up to his ankles in the freezing liquid, and then...

"Cory!"

The three year old startled at the sound of Eric's voice, backing away as he turned to face him. He was stood in a short addition to the main corridor, his cheeks shining with tears, his eyes red, and his hair and clothes damp, as though he'd tripped and fallen in the shallow water.

Eric felt lightheaded with relief at having found Ariel's son seemingly unharmed, and was by the boy's side in an instant. He knelt down and cupped his cheek.

"Oh God, Cory you had us worried sick! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Cory shook his head, and, out of sheer desire to be held, threw his arms around Eric's neck.

The young man grimaced, fighting with every ounce of his resolve not to react to the sudden contact against his shoulder, but made no attempt to push the toddler away. There wasn't a chance that he was going to deny Cory the comfort he so obviously needed, and so wrapped his right arm around the boy's shaking frame, holding him close for a moment.

"It's alright Cory, you're okay" he said soothingly, struggling to keep his voice from wavering. He couldn't show weakness, not now, he needed to find Ariel and get her and Cory to safety.

Ariel shivered, stumbling as she ran. Her legs were numb, the initial stinging pain of being immersed in freezing water having subsided somewhat, leaving her rather unsteady on her feet. She had felt the cold before, her home being poorly insulated, but never to such an extent as this.

However, wary that Cory may well be experiencing the same thing, she continued her search, wanting to be absolutely certain that he wasn't on the deck before making her way up to E-deck.

She prayed that Eric was having better luck, and that if Warren were to find any of them, it would be her.

A sudden, familiar, terrified scream was all the confirmation she needed to know that that was not the case.