Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).

I have replaced all of the chapters up until chapter 10 with modified versions to align them more towards TVD mythology. I have changed the nettle juice to vervain and mystifying to compulsion. The story was not initially meant to be a fanfic, which is why the mythology is different. I will also keep the method of turning the same for this story. Extended mythology is remaining and how compulsion and vervain work will differ slightly because of my story rules. My feelings are that the story is too far away from TVD mythology to really qualify as a TVD fanfic. If you have been reading the story and suddenly notice the changes, I have amended the first 10 chapters. This message will be posted on the first 11 chapters only. I hope this makes the story more enjoyable.

Antwerp is one of the few places in Belgium I have not visited, so for anyone who is significantly more familiar with the city, I am sorry if my geography and history of the buildings is slightly off. I did try my best to be as accurate as possible, but the lesser known building do not have dates on them, therefore I made an educated guess.

Finally it is time for Damon to go back in time. I hope you enjoy his journey.

The time had come for Damon to travel back to 1530. At 7am on 3rd September 2019, he, along with Esther, Bonnie, Rick and Vincent boarded an SJ30 private jet from Bournemouth Airport and flew direct to Antwerp International Airport, a short flight which took just 47 minutes. It was upon arrival where matters were complicated with the visual changes in the city over the past 500 years. Although they had a map, it wasn't detailed enough and Damon was going to have to work out where he was supposed to be using what was available to him from the modern day visuals or the remnants of the old buildings left in Antwerp. Luckily for Damon, the inn where Edmund had his fight was still standing and close to 2 very large, old and imposing structures.

The oldest part of Antwerp centred around the main square known as Grote Markt which stands adjacent to the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal, or Cathedral of Our Lady. The majestic building had taken 170 years to build and was eventually consecrated in 1521, therefore is would have been relatively new back in 1530, comparatively speaking. On the other side of the cathedral was another large square known as Groenplaats, which was built more recently and therefore complicated matters as this was the area closest to the inn. All of the old buildings were fairly close to the part of the docks where Edmund would sail from, where there also featured another landmark which would prove helpful for Damon, a building known as Het Steen. An old medieval fortress which once served as a prison, situated on the banks of the Scheldt river.

The inn was on what was now known as Pelgrimstraat, a tiny old street close to the Cathedral and near enough to the docks for Damon to find his way. As long as he could see the Hen Steen prison, he would be able to follow it north to the port where a ship called The Temptress would be due to set sail to Hull the following day. They stopped outside what was the location of a rundown looking building which was apparently the old inn, which from the outside, looked like a boarded up building. Fortunately Esther had the keys to get in.

"When did you get those?" Damon asked, as he, Bonnie, Rick and Vincent followed her inside what turned out to be very modern looking room, which was oddly decorated in a very similar style to the offices back in Dorset. All four of them were laden with various pieces of luggage containing the items which were required not only for the initial part of Damon's trip, but also the ingredients needed to cast the spell itself.

"The painting of you was found in this building." Esther told him. "The paintings were found after World War II, we believe they were being kept hidden from the Nazi's. When the picture was discovered, it was immediately bought by the department, as well as the building itself. We realised there was some significance to this building." Esther looked around lovingly. "When we found out it used to be an inn, we traced when Edmund Spicer was known to have been here, and we found out he spent time in Antwerp in 1530 before returning back to England after the death of his father. This has allowed us to piece together some of what was going to happen. In the meantime we've been preparing for this moment for a very long time."

"What will happen to it once it has served its purpose?" Bonnie asked.

"Nothing for the moment. We shall see what happens after we've sent Damon back to 1530." Esther replied, before turning to Bonnie. "Can you feel the vibrations?" Esther asked as Bonnie closed her eyes.

"I thought that was the trams." Damon piped up as Esther threw him an angry stare.

Bonnie opened her eyes. "I feel something, like electricity." she said as Damon, Rick and Vincent looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm a witch and I don't feel it." Vincent frowned.

"You're not a time witch." Esther corrected him. "Only time witches can feel the power of a time portal." she explained. "There are 2 types of time portals. One which has been created in the past by a witch who would be expecting the traveller. On the other hand there are true time portals, which are extremely rare, they allow us to use them over and over again, whereas one created by a witch is a one time journey only. The problem is we don't know if this is a true portal, or whether it was created for this purpose." she turned to Bonnie. "That is the true answer to your question."

"So, when are we doing this?" Damon asked. "I'm going to need to work my way around 1530 Antwerp."

"We'll need to prepare the spell." Esther told him. "You can't just appear in the middle of the inn. We have to place you somewhere almost invisible." she explained as she beckoned them all to follow her.

Esther lit the torches with magical fire handed everyone one before leading them down a flight of stairs which were solid rock and led to what was an old cellar, where they placed their torches in what looked like ancient holders, lighting the room to allow everyone to see more clearly, although Damon didn't require too much help, vampires could see in the dark. For Damon, Rick and Vincent, it was a little uncomfortable as their heads almost touched the ceiling. Despite being born in 1493, at 5 foot 11 inches, Damon was tall for a man of his time. Likely due to having a privileged upbringing and a good diet. Henry VIII himself was also well over 6 foot, therefore Damon wouldn't feel too out of place. Being tall for the time had cause many issues regarding banging his head on door frames, but hopefully his new life would afford him living accommodation where tall people didn't have to worry about such matters. The cellar had a brick vaulted ceiling with another door at the opposite end of the room.

"See that door?" Esther asked as Damon nodded. "It goes underneath the street above and comes out into a tiny alley. You can walk out of there almost unnoticed if you are careful."

"I know how to be careful." Damon rolled his eyes. "I've been in the spying game for a long time."

"I know, you will need to use your powers at first. We won't be giving you any vervain until tomorrow." Esther told him. "We need your full powers today, but go careful on the men you are to fight, don't kill them. Just knock them out. But remember, you must kill Edmund. We need you to throw him in the river and weigh him down. Let the fish take care of him. But make sure it is far from the port and ensure nobody would recognise him." she added coldly, although Damon knew her icy demeanour was an act. Esther hated issuing death warrants, but when it came to saving the lives of children versus a man who was already dead, she had less scruples in the matter, however it didn't mean she like what she was doing.

Damon on the other hand was quite excited with this part of his mission. It was rare he allowed himself to be what he really was, and being sent back in time would allow him a degree of flexibility to be a vampire. He would choose his victims carefully, the ones who were already close to death and would never recover. This was a sense which a vampire was created with, however modern medicine had made life far more difficult to determine whether the person could be cured. This was one of the reasons pretty much every vampire studied medicine as it allowed them to understand the scent of the disease and know whether there was any cure. Of course some vampires chose a more murderous path, but they usually ended up killed by witches or other vampires as it could blow the cover on supernatural creatures, which was not an ideal situation. Most supernatural creatures were unsure how most humans would react to the notion of witches and vampires, especially those who were more religious. If the results turned sour, not only could both species be wiped out, but many innocent humans along with them could be accused of witchcraft and would also be persecuted. It was a situation nobody wanted to be in, which was why great care was taken to keep their cover, even if it meant they had to appear to age through magical means.

"What do we need to do now?" Damon asked.

"The spell is quite lengthy." Esther explained. "Bringing you home is much easier, but to send you back in time requires a complicated spell." she looked at Damon up and down. "It also requires you to change your clothes. We can't send you back in a leather jacket and a pair of jeans." she raised an eyebrow as Rick opened one of the cases up and brought out the many layers of clothing Damon would have to wear before handing them to him. "There's a changing room upstairs, which has a wonderful wet room like your own. I thought you might want a last shower before you go."

Damon looked at Esther lovingly, she had this ability to know what was really important to him, and having a shower was going to be the thing he missed the most about going back, although he had already been considering creating a makeshift version of one when he arrived back in England. He had already worked out the design in his head and what materials he would be able to use based on what would be available to him at the time.

Half an hour later, Damon returned to the cellar, dressed in typical Tudor clothing, although in fairly muted tones of burgundy velvet with a sable lined overgown. Bonnie took one look at Damon and burst into hysterical laughter, which was cut short by a sideways glance from Esther, although it was clear Bonnie was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Very dashing." Esther smiled. "It appears Michael did an excellent job. Turn around." she requested as Damon did as he was told just like a child would when instructed by a parent. Esther tugged on the garments to check they fit perfectly. "The mannequin is clearly very precise. We need it to be so that all of Edmund's clothes can be altered to fit you. When you get on board the ship, I need you to go through all of his garments and send them back to us so that Michael can alter them to fit you. We can't have you walking around in ill-fitted clothing, no member of the nobility would stand for that." she added as Rick passed Damon his matching hat, which Damon crumpled up in his hands and a brown leather bag, which Damon placed over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Vincent was busy unloading the rest of the luggage they'd brought with them. Damon noticed the chest was now the size of a small jewellery box, and weighed very little, despite the fact that Damon knew it was full of everything he would need to last him for the next 2 years. Vincent handed the chest over to Damon who placed it in his bag. All the while, the thought of being alone for the first time in 80 years, made him unusually emotional. He would have some modern technology and would be able to communicate with the people he cared about, but he wouldn't be able to see them or hear their voices. He suddenly felt all alone.

"Here." Esther took what looked like a gold pocket watch from her jacket. "This is a compass to help you around the city and to direct you in times of need. If you get lost, open it up and you will find your destination." she smiled mysteriously. "Also, the MP3 player is in the back. Press the dial on the side to turn on the Bluetooth which is already installed in your earpiece. No external headphones required. If you turn the dial, it will adjust the volume. We put 12 million songs on there, just to make sure you would be covered for all musical requirements." she added as Damon opened the back part of the compass to reveal a gold MP3 player which looked more like ornamental etchings, only someone familiar with the appearance of an MP3 player would recognise, which fortunately wouldn't apply to anyone in 1530.

"Increasing the capacity to cope with 12 million songs in such a small item was not an easy thing to do. Under normal circumstances we'd be looking at around 40TB of storage, which wouldn't fit into something so small." Rick told him. "Vincent managed to work his magic and increase the capacity" he added as Vincent smiled.

"I didn't just do this for you, this is going to be the staff Christmas present for next year." he grinned. "Although I'm going to lower the storage to 1TB, nobody on our salary can afford that much music." he laughed.

Swallowing his brief moment of sadness, Damon smiled and nodded, before placing the small item in the bag along with the magic chest. "Thank you, it means a lot to me." he said. Once done, he turned to more pressing matters. "What do you need to do for the spell?" he asked as he paid attention to the strange tubs of earth which Vincent was removing from the luggage.

"All elements must be used in the spell." Esther explained. "The spell itself takes around an hour to cast. Once the ingredients are all in place, we will start." she added as Vincent took out twelve copper pots.

"What are they for?" Rick asked, clearly as in the dark as Damon regarding all of the witchcraft part.

"There are twelve pots to represent each hour of the day." Bonnie told them. Each pot will contain a small amount of earth, a candle and a vial of water. As the air is all around us, we do not need to add anything extra for that." she smiled. "We also need some iron for you to stand on as it is magnetic, which is part of the time process in the magical sense."

Damon frowned. "What do I need to do?"

"Wait and see." Esther told him firmly as Vincent pulled out of one of the cases what looked like a human sized drawing compass with a huge piece of blue chalk on one end and a fancy point on the other, which he handed over to Esther. "I need you all to stand over there." she pointed towards Vincent who was near the entrance of the cellar. Everyone walked over towards Vincent to see what Esther had planned.

Esther held the point of the compass just above her feet and closed her eyes, she took minute steps as if feeling for something which could not be seen by the human or vampire eye. Damon suspected she was tracing the source of the electrical power Bonnie had mentioned earlier. Suddenly Esther slammed the point down into the ground, which created a cracking noise almost as if there were an earthquake. Esther's eyes were still closed as she opened the compass up slightly and pushed the chalk to the floor before turning what looked like a screw on the side of the compass to lock the size of the diameter. Slowly, Esther turned the compass 360 degrees to create a small circle. Once finished, she turned the screw and opened it up further before locking it once again. This time Esther drew a much larger outer circle. When the circle was complete, she stopped and closed the compass back up before handing it back to Vincent.

"Pass me the iron plate." she told Vincent, who passed over what looked to be a very old, flat plate, which judging by how heavy it looked in the hands of a weak human, must have been incredibly heavy.

In the middle of the disc was a hole of about an inch in diameter. When Esther placed it on the floor, the hole matched up with the exact centre of the inner circle where a blue mark had appeared on the floor in place of where the point of the compass had been. The inner circle turned out to be the exact size of the plate itself. Esther stepped back and lifted her arms in the air; her eyes were closed, but it was clear she was doing something as the blue colour underneath began to creep up through the hole in the centre of the plate and gradually spread across the surface until the plate was bright blue. Despite being covered in blue, Esther continued with the spell, this time she raised her head to the vaulted roof of the cellar. Damon looked back to the iron plate which was not only blue in colour, but was now starting to glow so brightly that the entire room was lighting up in blue. He continued to stare at the plate as he noticed he initially thought that it looked as if it was melting, what looked at first like silver arms protruded from the side. Damon counted twelve arms in total. The arms continued to lengthen and broke into small balls and rolled away from the plate towards the outer circle; once there there began to form various shapes which Damon soon recognised to be the letters I, V and X and an O. each broke into different configurations of the first three letters until it became clear that this was a magical clock with Roman numerals. Above the letters were small round silver circles, which Damon had no idea what they were for. At this point Damon noticed the plate had more to give as two more hands grew, the long one was pointing to XII and the short one was pointing to X, indicating it being ten o'clock. Damon checked his watch, and indeed it was exactly 10am. As soon as the hands stopped, Esther dropped her arms and head, taking in deep breaths as if she'd been running on a treadmill for twenty minutes.

Esther looked to Damon and smiled before turning to Bonnie. "Can I have the pots?" she asked.

Damon hadn't been paying attention to Bonnie, his focus had been on Esther, but it was clear that she had also been busy. Upon closer inspection, each pot now contained a candle surrounded by earth. Every time Bonnie passed one of the small pots to Esther, she poured water from a silver water pitcher into the earth, turning it into mud. When Esther took hold of the copper pot, the candle lit up brightly, adding to the ambience in the room, which was growing increasingly creepy.

"The room will be sealed and guarded once you have gone back." Esther told him. "Theses are times candles, and they will burn for exactly eight hundred days, which is how long you will be back in time. You can only be back in time while they burn. Once they burn out, you will be pulled back through time until you arrive in November 2021. That is how the spell works, my magic fuels it every day." she smiled. "This is why Bonnie needs to deal with the inanimate objects that will be sent back daily. All the while you are there, I will be weaker. I wouldn't have the strength to send these items daily. For those eight hundred days, I will not be able to slow my ageing, I will age by eight hundred days. I will be more human."

"What happens if something happens to you?" Damon asked, suddenly concerned about not only Esther herself, but of what would happen to him.

"I won't be that weak." Esther assured him. "But should I die, then you will either be stuck there or you will be brought straight back. But do not worry, I will be heavily guarded, nothing will happen to me more than a mere common cold." she smiled. "But, to assure you, should I get seriously ill, we will notify you and ask you to make sure you are in a safe place as the candles may be temporarily extinguished to help me regain my strength. Who knows what the world will bring in the next 2 years." she shrugged.

"That reminds me." Damon raised his finger. "Will I be kept up to date with what is happening in the world while I am gone?" he asked.

"Like what?" Esther asked.

"If Elizabeth dies..." Damon started.

"If she dies, we won't tell you until you return." Esther told him. "We will create another time spell to allow you to go back and see her. She has requested she sees you should she take ill."

"Thank you." Damon smiled. "But you know, anything else, Trump stops using fake tan, that type of stuff."

"We'll keep you up to date with all significant election results and with any really juicy gossip and important sports results." Esther shook her head.

"I'm not watching football!" Bonnie declared. "But I will do the tennis." she offered.

"Don't worry, I'll cover the rest of the sports news." Rick laughed.

"Can I take charge of the cricket?" Vincent asked. "No offence Rick, but you really have no clue when it comes cricket."

Esther rolled her eyes. "This is not important. We need to start the spell, otherwise we'll be here all day and will miss the carrack." she laughed as Bonnie and Vincent looked at her in confusion. "It is a type of merchant ship. The Temptress, which is the ship Damon will be sailing on is a carrack."

"How long will I be on the boat?" Damon asked.

"Carracks aren't exactly fast and the weather wasn't fantastic at the time, meaning the crossing was even slower. It should have taken four days, but ended up taking seven." Esther told him. "So Damon, would you please step on the blue plate?" she asked.

Damon did as he was told and Rick handed him the chest, while Bonnie scattered salt around the outside of the chalk circle. Once done, Bonnie stood behind the number 6, while Esther stood behind the number twelve.

"Damon, look at me!" Esther demanded, as Damon turned to face her. "Bonnie is helping as she is sending the chest with you. We will now begin." she added.

"Sisters and spirits of time raise your arms to me." Bonnie and Esther chanted simultaneously in flat voices, which echoed throughout the cellar. Damon noticed the looks on Rick and Vincent's faces. Vincent looked on in awe, while Rick looked increasingly fascinated but Damon could sense he was also uncomfortable. Despite his job and being married to a witch, he rarely saw powerful magic itself.

The salt granules which had been placed around the chalk clock flew up into the air and began to form the shape of arms and hands, linking until the met with Esther and Bonnie, who interlocked their hands with the salt ones as if they were joined together. Once done they closed their eyes and once again began to chant in unison.

"Spiritus temporis tum levis flammae." they chanted as the candles in the pots turned blue while the flames from the torches blew out. "aperiam in porta." they called out flatly as Damon realised this must have been the feeling of electricity Bonnie had been referring to earlier. He glanced over towards Vincent and Rick who were looking on in amazement at what they were witnessing.

Bonnie and Esther continued;

"Spiritus sanctus in tempore,

Terra aeternam, aquae vitae.

Take this man back to the time,

Before a King became divine.

To this place he may tread,

But not in the years ahead.

Flamma Temoris.

In the year fifteen thirty he must roam,

Eight hundred days until he comes home.

Spiritus sanctus in tempore,

Potestatem

Aere, aqua, terra, ignis

In manibus tollent animos tempore"

A wind seemed to blow around Damon, the cage of electricity circled him, while the figures of Bonnie, Esther, Rick and Vincent seemed to freeze in motion. The chants stopped and Damon noticed the hand on the clock begin to move backwards; slowly at first, but gathering speed, as it did, he noticed everyone around him disappear. It was just him and the clock, trapped in the cage until he was where he was supposed to be. As the clock turned backwards, the candles grew taller and taller. He suddenly heard loud bangs, as if there were bombs outside, which he realised meant he must have already travelled back as far as World War 2. The noises stopped as soon as they started, all the while the clock spun backwards so quickly even Damon's vision wasn't powerful enough to spot the hands of time. All that remained was the blur of blue and the every growing candles, although even they were beginning to turn almost invisible.

Something else damon noticed was the air, there was something missing, a certain familiarity which he couldnt put his finger on, despite it being something normal, its disappearance was a pleasant respite, he felt he could breathe easier. A few moments later, that feeling began to change with a strange tickling sensation over his body, while at the same time he began to feel sick, which was always an odd feeling for a vampire. This was when he noticed the cage of electricity around him as beginning to tighten and as he looked down, the small hole in the plater underneath his feet began to widen a little. Whilst staring at his feet, Damon was also convinced that they looked a little less solid

Suddenly, for the first time in almost a hundred years, Damon was truly frightened, he knew he should trust Esther, but what if she'd gotten the spell wrong, or what if the spirits had chosen not to help? As Damon continued to begin to panic, he felt, for the second time in two weeks, the sensation of shackles tightening around his wrists and ankles. At the same time, Damon's insides felt like they were contorting, as if he was being squeezed from the outside, which may have been a fair description as the electric cage was closing in ever tighter and tighter.

Damon's feet were now almost entirely invisible, he could just about make out a faint outline of them, however he noticed the disappearance was no longer just restricted to his feet, the invisibility was creeping up his legs. Damon wiggled his toes, to check they were still attached to his body; feeling the resistance of the leather reassured him that this was a temporary situation and he would become visible once he was in 1530. The thought of potential invisibility made him smile, may Esther could work on an invisibility cloak like in Harry Potter, something which would allow for untold amounts of mischief for Damon to get up to; which was probably why Esther hadn't developed one.

These silly thoughts were distracting Damon from what was happening around him; however when he noticed his torso starting to disappear, he wondered how much longer the spell would take. From his estimation, he had been in the electric cage for almost an hour, which was how long the spell was supposed to take, according to Esther. It was at this point he noticed the clock, which seemed to be slowing down a little. He checked again, it was still whizzing by very quickly, but it had definitely slowed down, to which Damon suspected he was almost back in 1530; he prepared himself for the sights and unpleasant smells of what was to come.

No matter what Damon predicted, nothing could have prepared him for the shock of what happened next. The clock topped and the cage disappeared. What surrounded him was the surprise, as he saw Esther. Damon turned his head and saw Rick, then Vincent and finally Bonnie.

"What's going on?" Damon asked. However none of them acknowledged him, as if he wasn't there.

This was the point where Damon noticed they were all fading away, as if they were shadows of the past, or future; ghosts of a different life. Suddenly Damon felt a strange tugging sensation at his feet. He looked down, expecting a rat, but there was nothing there. However the tugging was becoming more and more forceful and it appeared to be coming from underneath his feet, as if it were trying to pull him down through the blue circle he was stood on. Damon tried to move his feet to escape the tugging, but his body was rigid, he couldn't move. Fear took over and he tried to cry out, but his mouth wouldn't open. Yet all the while the tugging sensation became increasingly urgent, almost violent. For a moment it stopped, then with one final pull, Damon felt himself being pulled down through the blue hole and into darkness.

Thank you all for your kind reviews. They are always appreciated.

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