I don't own True Blood.
A/N: A different take on the story of Godric and Sarah. Sorry if my history of events is a little off.
Please ignore any typos, and let me know what you think.
SARAH
The witch had always thought her pain tolerance was at a high and she didn't fear much of anything...except clowns. It really wasn't a phobia. Not really, more of a situation fear. Like if a clown was at a birthday party or at a restaurant, she wouldn't think too much of it. But if the damned clown was standing on the side of a dark road, waving at her while not in his/her natural habit, that's when the fear would come out.
Sarah might have been a little off about her fear, She was scared now...terrified as torturing agony raced up her body, her heart feeling like it would tear out of her chest. The woman twisted against the hard kitchen floor as waves of pain wracked her. Blood pooled in her mouth as her blunt teeth dug into her own tongue. The crystals and ingredients were knocked and kicked over by her flailing limbs as a piercing scream forcefully exited her throat. The soulspell failed! It was the only explanation the witch could think of. She sobbed, tears blurring her vision as the floor vanished from underneath her.
A black void expanding around her as she fell into the soundless pit, silent screams forced their way from her throat as a gust of wind from the black void slammed into her, twisting her flailing body around as she fell into the never-ending pit.
Icy liquid surrounded her, soaking through her thick sweater and shorts, her mouth filled with the taste of water, the woman choked before moving her numbed limbs weakly, her lungs screaming as she swam for what she assumed was up. Breaking the surface of the freezing water, she coughed harshly, forcing the water from her aching lungs as bright sunlight blinded her in the process.
"By the gods!"
The smooth, accented voice of a male spoke from the right side of her coughing form. Sarah blinked furiously before turning her slanted eyes to the stranger while floating weakly in the river. An older man with short pepper gray hair stood before her on the shore of the river, next to a canvas? He was painting before...and now he stood before her with a surprised expression, white and pale blue robes wrapped around his figure. Robes? He was wearing robes... greek-styled robes? He spoke in Latin, she was sure of it. Sarah studied the dead language for her witchcraft along with Cajun French for her heritage. Her Nemae ( Grandmother.) expected much from Sarah while she raised her, never allowing Sarah to venture far from her studies.
"Swim this way, girl." The older man ordered while setting his paintbrush along the edge of the easel. She followed his commands, swimming to the edge of the river slowly, reaching for his waiting hand. The witch allowed him to help her up, flinching when he let out a scandalized gasp as she was pulled from the water.
"What are you wearing?" He sounded positively embarrassed, the woman glanced at his face to watch a faint pink extend across his cheeks and down his neck. She looked down at herself confused. Jean shorts, boots, and her black and white striped sweater. The witch turned back to the man, eyebrows raised as he made a point to not glance at her legs. Sarah watched with confused fascination as he unwrapped his pale blue outer robe from his shoulder and waist to bundle her up in it while trying to desperately cover her bare legs.
Sarah huffed with exaggeration as he fussed over her before his gentle dark eyes met hers. "Now, are you a nymph?"
Choked laughter sprung from her aching throat, causing her to cough before replying in Latin, hoarsely, "No, definitely not."
"It was very strange for you to just appear from below the water." He gazed at her suspiciously.
Sarah sighed before nodding her agreement, "I'm sorry if I frightened you. Where...am I?"
"Florence...of course."
"Florence, Italy!" Sarah clenched her jaw with building fear.
"Italia, child."
Ok...alright. So she was on the other side of the world. This was fine. It would be fine. She breathed deeply, calming herself, so she wouldn't have a damned panic attack. The older man watched her with wise, calculating eyes. Her brown eyes turned to eye his clothes as she pulled his outer robe tighter around her harshly breathing body.
"Please tell me it is still 2019."
Confusion set on his features, her heart twisted in response, " What is the year?" She shrieked, feeling slightly bad when he flinched back for a moment, understanding crossed his face. "Ah. It is 401, Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus."
Anxiety slammed into her, gripping her, squeezing her, her breathing picked up. "Is that BC or CE?"
Confusion again moved across the older man's features.
"Ab urbe condita?" She asked frantically. The recognition appeared on his face causing her to tear up, So it was 401 CE. She was a long way from home. Sarah choked back a sob, the older man looked downright uncomfortable for a moment, shuffling on his feet in front of her before awkwardly wrapping his arms around her, "There now, child. I will help you."
She sobbed against him, taking comfort in the arms of the kind stranger. Sarah could tell he was a gentleman, she never once received a horrible feeling from him and his aura was warm and kind. The witch had known instantly that she could trust him...well perhaps only to an extent.
He patted her back awkwardly, causing a laugh to burst forth from her throat. Men. No matter the era, they didn't change. He pulled away and gave her a kind, white smile. The man had extremely good teeth for this day and age.
"My name is Cassius Artorius. What may I call you child?"
"Sarah Leblanc...It's nice to meet you, sir."
He chuckled, nodding. "Your name is Hebrew."
"I come from another land far away, across the sea."
Cassius raised his eyebrows in response, "Where?"
"The United States."
"And now you are here, how?"
"Magic." The witch answered simply since there was no other answer she could give the older man. Cassius eyed her for a moment before humming in thought. " It is a glorious world is it not?"
"You believe in magic?"
"I believe in many things." He grinned before twisting his body back toward his painting. Sarah turned to study the perfect replica of the river she just swam out of. "You're very talented." She complimented the gentleman as he bent down to place the jars of paint in his bag. Her brown eyes watched him walk around her to wash his brushes in the water of the river, "Would you like to come home with me? My daughters would be excited to meet their distant cousin from across the sea."
Sarah's jaw dropped as she watched him clean the brushes off. "...I don't think I have much of a choice," She studied his aura again, looking for any deception. It remained clear and kind. "Yes, I would love to meet them."
He turned, flashing her a mischievous grin, the witch grinned back. Oh, she definitely liked Cassius. They would get along famously, she was sure of it.
She stood in front of the Roman-style mansion. Oh, it looked like Cassius had money, his home was only one-story, with an almost flat, brown tiled roof. But it was still big, in the middle, leading to the main entrance, was a garden with tables, chairs, and fountains, marble statues stared at her from their standing places from beside the garden. The walkway extending to the main, open doors. The home was made out of white stone with strong columns holding it up.
"Alba, can you see that my niece is cleaned and placed in proper attire before my children return from their day in the city."
Cassius must have been talking about Florence, Sarah turned her gaze west to study the city in the distance. The second wall would not be built for another century if her history lessons were on point. Another scandalized gasp had her turning her attention to the small woman standing next to Cassius. Her pale hazel eyes budgeting out of her head as she studied Sarah's clothes and bare legs. The witch frowned, her features darkening at the older woman's blatant disrespect as Alba turned her nose up at Sarah.
"My lord," The woman started, "She looks like a wildling."
Cassius raised an eyebrow, holding his bag and small painting casually, he turned to scan Sarah again before nodding in agreement.
"After you're clean, Sarah, meet me outside for lunch." Then he was strolling away, humming a tune under his breath. Cassius was a sprightly man for his age. Sarah hissed as the annoying woman, Alba pulled at her arm, yanking her inside the home before snapping orders toward others that moved around them. They were dressed in white but plain robes. Servants? Please don't be slaves. Sarah mentally pleaded, knowing this was the time and age humans did own other humans.
Entering a small, dim room location down a narrow hallway, there was a tub? being filled with steaming water, hands pulled at her wet clothes, confused features of women surrounding her as they took in her appearance. She was stripped down to her bra and panties, Alba studied her black underwear and red bra with disgusted curiosity. When hands reached to remove the remaining clothes, Sarah slapped them away before grabbing her sweater and shorts out of an unknown woman's hands. "I can wash myself."
The witch aggressively toed her boots off, her features turning into a scowl when she had to bend down and pull off her wet socks. Alba pulled at the clothes in her arms.
"Hands off!" Sarah snapped, causing the older woman to glare with irritation. "We need to wash them at least. I have no idea why you wish to keep them but you may once they are cleaned."
Sarah sneered at the woman's condescending tone. "You could never understand." It was an insult that Alba took with more grace than Sarah ever would. The witch stripped the rest of her wet clothes off of her body before handing them to an unknown woman. Sarah ignored the others, reaching out to touch the water instead, checking the temperature. Finding it to be bearable, She wasted no time stepping in the tub and sinking down in the warm water.
Hands tangled in her hair, Sarah flinched as women surrounded her, scented oils poured into her, still wet hair, hands with oil scented, cloths scrubbed at her body, while Alba's rough hands scrubbed her scalp and unmanageable mane. Sarah hissed as the woman yanked at her roots too hard. This woman was a bitch! The witch turned her head to shoot the woman a threatening glare. It seemed to have worked, the hands became slightly more gentle as angry brown held pale hazel.
By the time the women surrounding her were done, Sarah was a frustrated and embarrassed mess, then they were pulling her from the cooling water, the witch grunted as she was dried quickly with soft fabric. Alba tsking as she attempted to pull water from the stubborn strands on Sarah's head.
She was turned around, dressed in pale white and pink robes. Tunica? Whatever. She didn't understand the maddening fashion of this era. Perhaps she could get Cassius to explain all of these layers when she spoke with him again. When an unknown woman tried to slip uncomfortable sandals on her feet, Sarah kicked them off, Alba tsked again before attempting to pull her damp hair into some type of style. Sarah pulled away, turning to face the frustrated woman before turning brown eyes down on herself. She was dressed, covered, and cleaned. That was enough. The witch turned and fled the small room, ignoring the panicking chatter of the women, Alba screeching for her to return, the witch ignoring them as she fled down the narrow hall and around the corner that led outside.
She ran out of the front entrance to see none other than Cassius sitting in one of the golden chairs at the decent-sized table beside the gardens to the left. The gentleman was surrounded by two girls, they looked close to her own age, maybe slightly younger in the years, their clothes consisted of different shades of pink, orange, yellow, and white. The two had long hair bundled on their head in extravagant hairstyles. The one in front of Cassius had light brown hair and she was definitely the fairer of the two, with pouty-shaped lips and dark sparkling eyes, her cheekbones were high and her nose was Roman straight. The other girl was still pretty, not as striking as the first but still attractive. Her eyes were set narrow and were a tunnel black, her hair was set at a lighter tone, almost blond and her face seemed to be resting in a permanent scowl.
The gentle eyes of Cassius turned as Sarah moved closer, two sets of dark eyes lifting up to stare at her as well. "...Where are your sandals?" He was probably wondering why her hair was damp and a mess too but he didn't comment on it. "They were uncomfortable so I kicked them off." The witch answered breezily, eyeing the young women that were eyeing her.
Cassius let out an amused chuckle, "I hope you didn't give Alba a hard time,"
I did.
"My children," Cassius turned to look at his daughters. "I would like you to meet your cousin, Sarah will be staying with us for a time. Sarah these are my daughters, Caelia," He gestured to the first young woman that Sarah noticed, the one with sparkling eyes and a radiant smile. "And this is Valeria." The other girl sneered toward Sarah, rudely. The witch frowned in response, she wouldn't get along with Valeria it seemed. The opposite could be said for Caelia, who was already moving to embrace the witch.
"How wonderful to meet you, cousin!"
"Likewise," Sarah replied awkwardly as the other girl pulled her into a tight embrace. "Come, sit with us!" Caelia spoke excitedly, pulling away and grasping Sarah's hand to lead her to the table. Food, and wine already placed on it. Sarah just about drooled when she noticed the bread, olives, cheese, grapes, and crackers in her view. The witch allowed Caelia to push her into a chair with excitement, opposite from Cassius. Valeria took her seat next to Sarah, eyeing the witch with distaste. Sarah stared at her with a blank expression before turning when a hand was placed on her arm.
"So cousin, where are you from?"
Sarah reached with her free hand to grab a few olives as Cassius nodded curtly toward her.
"...I'm from across the sea."
The witch answered before popping an olive into her mouth, surprised that it didn't have a pit.
"What land?" The snobbish voice of Valeria commanded from next to her.
"The United States of America," Sarah answered back smoothly. Not even interested enough to catch the rude girl's eyes. "I've never heard of it. It must not be that advanced in civilization."
It was an insult. One that Sarah had to count numbers down in her head to remain calm, she smiled instead, now meeting the rude gaze of Valeria, "Oh, it's not. It's pretty wild right about now."
It was true. America at this moment was wild and untamed and it should have remained that way. The natives had owned it before they suffered when the greed of man descended down upon them like demons out of the gates of Hades.
Caelia pulled the witch's attention back to herself, "Do you have a husband? What age are you?"
"Oh, I'm twenty-two and no, I'm not married."
The snobby voice of Valeria started up again, "It must be hard for you to be that age and not married."
"Valeria!" Cassius started but was interrupted by Sarah busting out with laughter. "Marriage isn't at the forefront of my mind at this moment."
A scandalized gasp was brought out of Valeria's mouth but it was ignored when Caelia started up again. A young man with white robes stepped up next to the seated Cassius, "I'm eighteen, and Valeria is seventeen, we'll be able to wed soon if father allows it."
Brown eyes watched the young, dark-haired male bend slightly forward to whisper into Cassius' ear, Sarah watched with curiosity as emotions far too quick for her to read swept across his wise features then he was standing up.
"I have business to attend, girls. Try to get along." The gentleman stared pointedly toward Valeria before turning on his heel and walking toward the front entrance of his home, the male servant? trailing slightly behind.
Caelia waited until her father was out of earshot before turning to excitedly grin at Sarah, "I will help you find a bachelor worth your time, cousin. May he be a good husband and a satyr beneath the sheets."
Sarah's mouth dropped open at the comment that exited Caelia's mouth before delighted laughter took the witch's own breath away as she waved her hands in front of her back and forth.
"No, no. I don't need help."
That's right. Sarah didn't need help, she was searching for her soulmate anyway, the soulspell failed but it still led her here? Why? The witch was yanked out of her thoughts as Valeria stood up and stormed away. Caelia and she sat in silence for a moment, "Ignore her, she is a brat."
Sarah nodded subconsciously as her brown eyes glanced up at the blue sky, why was she here?
Sarah jerked awake, breathing heavily, the memory of her dream shaking her down to her core. Mercury-blue colored eyes, a square jaw, full lips, dark brown brows to match dark brown hair, a nose that was just a little too wide for his face but still fit perfectly with his other features.
Was that him? Her soulmate...or was it just a fantasy that her mind conjured up to make her feel just a little less lonely? Early moonlight was shining through the closed window, only just becoming night, she had become exhausted swiftly earlier in the day from the overuse of her magick on the soulspell. Her gentle host, Cassius asked...no demanded her to rest and promised that they would talk more when the next day came.
Sarah turned on her side to gaze out of the clear glass. The witch couldn't stay in this era, she needed to figure out to get back to 2019, to her home, her projects, and back to her best friend, Rowen. How to do that, she had no idea. She closed her eyes, her eyelids hiding the moon from her view as she relaxed back against the comfortable bed.
Falling into a deep meditation, Sarah let out a contented sigh before something tugged at her mentally, the witch's eyes snapped open as the presence of another caressed her. She furrowed her brow with confusion and paranoia as she searched her mind. There. A small something that was not there before, flickered to life. She closed her eyes, mentally picturing her inner thoughts only to find a thread, a golden string leading past herself and connecting to something else across the distance. Whatever it was connected to, on the other side was far away from her.
Sarah mentally yanked at it and gasped, startled as it yanked back in retaliation. Disbelief, confusion, and anger came forward to greet her, not her emotions. Aggravation built up in her as it poked and prodded at the thread connecting them, driving her insane in the process.
Stop that!
She demanded with irritation, happy to feel the dark presence flinch and pull away. It wasn't gone long though, coming back for round two with a playful nature now. The frisky presence danced around the thread before a dark caress climbed up the golden string, causing a gasp to escape her parted lips, her pupils dilated in response. What the hell was that? It felt like...desire.
Sarah pushed at the presence mentally, fighting to get whatever it was out of her head, annoyance rose in waves from her as it fought back aggressively. It was too strong, she groaned, frustrated and huffing, rolling onto her back in the process as the presence turned smug from her defeat at their mental tug of war.
Shut up!
She sent her reply forward, feeling it glide down the string, toward the other presence, amusement came back in response, it was laughing at her. Sarah rolled her eyes before turning over, to bury her face into the bed while attempting to ignore the dark presence nudging at her mentally. Whatever it was, it was fucking annoying.