Blood Moon [a Twilight Saga FanFiction]

The Volturi

WE WERE TRAINING FOR THE WHOLE TWO WEEKS. When Emmett and Rosalie returned with Randall, they joined, and when Nessie and Jacob returned, so did they.
     The day before the fight, we were all greeted with a surprise when five large wolves walked into the yard. Seth immediately barked happily and lunged for Edward and laughed with him and ducked out of the way. Leah rolled her eyes and sat on the edge of the arena. Quill and Embry approached Jacob and their youngest, someone I didn't recognise from any of the Cullen's past. Interesting to think that Igor, Lucy and I probably brought on the poor child's change.
     His name was Ivan, and he looked at his brother wolves before laying down next to Leah with a whimper.
     Lucy had told me to wait until the day before the fight to tell everyone else Aro's Secret, now I understood why. The truth that Aro killed his sister and liked to the Volturi to keep Marcus and to stay in power, was met with mixed reactions.
     "No... no, he wouldn't, not his sister," Eleazar muttered. "He wouldn't."
     "The past doesn't lie to me, and I don't lie about the past," I argued.
     "I always knew Aro was power-hungry, but to kill his own sister for it?" Randall muttered. "His own flesh and blood..."
     "That's why you didn't come to help us last time," Rosalie said. "Isn't it?"
     "Aro killed his sister for power," Igor explained. "Imagine if Aro had seen Carlisle with his by his side, working together, with the armada that your family put together."
     "He wouldn't have stopped," Edward muttered.
     "No, he wouldn't have," I added.
     "Aro..." Carlisle muttered and I looked over to him.
     His brows were tight together, he was looking away from the group.
     "I can't fathom the thought."
     "The Aro you know, brother, is but a very well put on mask. He's power-hungry, he's greedy, and right now he is afraid. If you cannot put that besides your image of Aro, at least believe me," I said.
     "Carlisle," Edward said, looking straight at me.
     Of course, how could I expect Carlisle to believe me so fully about a man he's known for centuries longer than me? All Carlisle knew about me was that my husband was protective of me, the nightlife of London looked after me when I was a babe, we're both in the medical field, and thanks to when Igor snapped at him, I stick my tongue out when I'm a little too focused on my art. But that's it, Carlisle and I have never really had the chance to sit and get to know one another as people.
     But he did trust Edward... and if Edward trusted me, or at least my gift...
     Edward looked over to my brother, hearing all that internal panic and worry.
     Edward gave his father, for all intents and purposes, a firm nod, which whatever that meant, made Carlisle look slightly pained, but he didn't argue with me, so I thought of it a good thing.
     I watched Eleazar, who was staring at Igor, but then as if sensing my gaze, switched his eyes to me.
     "You needn't worry about my believing you, Elizabeth," Eleazar stated. "If Aro comes to destroy this family, I do not care whether what you say of his past is true or not, I will fight him."
     "Well, I believe you," Carmen said firmly. "I never liked Aro."
     That night, we all moved to and got ready in the clearing. I made my place beside Esme behind everyone else, and she kept holding onto my hand tightly. Igor stood up by Carlisle and Lucy was between the two of us.
     As the sun started to rise on a surprisingly clear sky, Edward approached me.
     "I promise you, at some point after this, when it's safe, you and Carlisle will get to know each other as people," he assured me.
     The statement made both Carlisle and Esme look at me.
     "Has Mary Alice seen us ever sit down to just, talk?" I asked. He looked over to Mary Alice as she looked at him. Neither of them didn't need to answer it, I already knew the answer, their pasts told me so. "Than either, it's never safe, or we're just not supposed to know each other." Because both of those is a kinder thought than Carlisle just doesn't want to know me. "Get back into position, Edward, we don't have much longer."
     He looked at me with such apologetic eyes before he returned to his Bella's side. Once he did, the sun broke through over the trees, hitting all of us. The wolves were shading their eyes, but the rest of us, just stood there shining like diamonds.
     I watched Lucy as she admired herself, it was the first time for her out in the sunlight and I could tell that she was enjoying it. She turned around and faced me with the biggest grin on her face.
     "I'm a disco ball!" she cheered.
     Lucy laughed and waved her arms around, watching the rainbows reflect off her skin.
     "We're all literal disco balls! This is so cool!"
     She spun around, laughing, it was making the rest of us laugh with her. Interesting, I hardly ever thought of the first time I saw myself in the sun. I had stared at my hands in pure amazement until the sun went back behind the clouds, and my only thought back then had been, 'finally, I shine'. 
     I caught the eye of Igor just past Lucy, of course, he was staring straight at me with that smile of his. Not that I blamed him for staring, I wanted to once I was looking. If any angel ever existed, they would look like potatoes in comparison to Igor in the sun. Mere dust. And I could willingly bask in his stare for eternity if it meant I could stare back.
     But my temporary bliss of a moment was cut by Lucy's sudden gasp, stopped spinning, and gripped her stomach. I was watching her so was surprised when I heard a snarl from the front of our formation. Carlisle had snarled!
     When I looked up to him quickly, he was looking behind Esme and me, and when Lucy looked up, her eyes filled with anger and fear, she was looking behind us, too.
    I wasn't the only one who turned.
     "I can't hear anything," Edward announced.
     Seth and Leah made their way so they were slightly in front of us, both growling, ears low, teeth bared.
     I moved slightly so Esme was more behind me, but she held onto my arm so tightly I couldn't do more.
     Not even her past helped me understand why. Because I looked so much like Carlisle? I wasn't sure, but all I knew is that I was going to protect her.
     "Hold your positions," Igor growled, though he was still staring behind us as well. "Bella-"
     "Everyone's under," Bella said stiffly, looking around with everyone else. "If it's Alec he won't get through."
     "Then why is Lizzy in danger?" Lucy grumbled, still gripping onto her stomach.
     Wait... was that why Carlisle snarled? Because he felt that pulsating fear in him about my safety as I had about his a few times already?
     I was in danger.
     "Is Esme?" I asked, looking into the trees around me. I couldn't hear or see anything either.
     "No."
     "Esme, let go of me," I ordered and I had to shake her off before I stepped forward a little way so I was directly between the wolves.
     "They're here," Edward snarled.
     "Jane," Bella gasped.
     But I felt nothing. I was prepared to feel her paralysing, agonizing, pain, the moment Bella said her name. But I felt nothing.
     Edward laughed. "They hoped. Their faith in your gift is frustrating," Edward said and kissed Bella's head.
     "They had Jane attack me? Why?" I asked.
     And then the wind picked up. They only knew about Lucy because of the guards who were attacked, but that wasn't why Aro had chosen to fight back. Why Aro had chosen to come to kill us...
     Because Carlisle and I had met.
     And I had been the first target because of what I knew. And if I went down before anyone else, the secret died with me!
     "Then tell them," Edward said staring at me. "He tried to keep it a secret by killing you first so tell them."
     Igor growled, turning towards the suddenly approaching armada.
     "Think this through, Aro," I spoke loudly. "You just tried to keep your secret dead with me. Stop approaching, and I'll keep my mouth shut."
     They kept coming, the first fave visible was Aro's and his eyes were livid with anger and fear.
     "Your guard knows I don't lie about the past, Aro. Do you really want me to do this?"
     That seemed to make some of the guard slow, but not all of them, after all, they had been ordered.
     "So, you're finally ready to let them know who really killed Didyme?"
     Marcus halted surprise and shock on his face. The guard flew past him, following Aro their rightful leader. Caius' bloodlust caused him to not care about anything else other than the fight.
      "Very well," I stated and looked at Marcus as he was staring at me.
     "Be ready," Igor growled. He held a palm out, showing to Lucy to not attack just yet.
     "You got rid of your sister, for power," I started. "Aro killed Didyme because he wanted Marcus' gift more than hers! And with Chelsea, she was expendable," I informed them. The whole guard, even a surprised Caius, froze. That I wasn't expecting. Aro slowed just a few steps in front of them. I could already hear growls from Marcus. To him, it made sense. "And now, what? Do you plan on destroying another set of powerful siblings? It's awfully windy today, Aro, lucky for me, not so much for you. For I now know that you've lied to your guard to bring them here today. You want to see Carlisle and me dead, that's why you've brought them here. You don't care about Lucy, Bella, not even Alice is as important to you, as watching another set of siblings with even the slightest amount of popularity, power, and status, burn, just like your sister, because you're afraid. 
     "Tell me," I continued. "Do you plan on wiping out every set of brother and sister who even have the slightest chance of overpowering you? Even if they don't want to?"
     Those words had the effect I had wanted them, too. Jane and Alec had quickly turned to each other before looking at Aro.
     "Why don't you finish the story, Aro? Tell them how you looked your sister in the eye, told her you loved her and then burnt her to ash before even tearing her apart."
     "You..." Aro snarled.
    Marcus lunged.
     "Marcus!" Igor shouted quickly, stepping forward, his shout made Marcus stop, his hand already holding Aro's head. "Don't start this war in vengeance! You know she'd never forgive you for killing her brother." He said that last line softly. Right, Igor had met Didyme a very long time ago. He had felt her allure like every other and had the strength to turn away.
     To think, if Igor hadn't have been in a cloud of loneliness and depression, shadowed by his creators' fears of the Volturi, I could have had a very different story.
     Marcus tore off his cloak and pendant rather violently, breaking the chain before quickly walking to our side, he stood near the front before turning to growl at Aro.
     "Brother?" Aro gasped. "You believe them?"
     "It makes sense, I remember how you treated me after her demise. How you reacted... it makes sense," Marcus growled. "I will not stand with you, not knowing this. I will enjoy helping the Cullen's tear you apart."
   And then the one that surprised probably all of us, was Jane and Alec dropping their cloaks and pendants and running forward to Marcus.
     "Jane, my dear? Alec?" Aro gasped.
     Jane looked over her shoulder to me, it reminded me oddly of how she used to look at me during my brief stay with the Volturi, how I'd sometimes brush her hair, tell her and her brother stories... Trust... she looked at me with trust.
     "A powerful set of brother and sister, Aro?" Jane said as she turned back to him. "Alec and I can wipe you out and you know it. And Liz is right, we all know she'd never lie about the past. To protect ourselves, we stand against you."
     "I cannot stand with a man who would kill his sister for power," Alec growled, taking Jane's hand firmly.
     "Look at what you Cullen's have done to my family," Aro snarled. "You're tearing us apart."
     "Than you should not have threatened Carlisle," Tanya responded with just as a dark snarl.
     "Aro, please," Carlisle said softly. "Let us talk about this like old friends." He stepped forward slowly. "I do not control the actions of my sister, her family, nor our friends. I did not want your family torn apart. Please, Aro. Let us be civilised."
     "If that's even possible," Charlotte whispered, though, by this point, everyone would have heard that snide comment.
     Aro looked from Carlisle to Marcus, then he began walking forward singling a still loyal subject, Renata, to let him walk alone.
     Now I was the one grasping Esme's arm firmly. I looked at Lucy as that pulsating fear struck again.

     Carlisle's in trouble. Carlisle's in trouble.
     Lucy's breathing had escalated and she was gripping her stomach again. Yet Igor's hand was still flat towards her.
     Edward looked between the two of us before his eyes snapped up towards Mary Alice.
     Mary screamed, "no!" less than half a second before Aro grasped Carlisle's head. Aro had only been able to twist it enough to make a small crack before he was struggling to stand, coughing, gasping, shaking. I recognised the look.
     I joined Esme and Edward in running to his side, even Igor joined us.
     Igor and I helped my brother stand and let Esme and Edward take him back to the group.
     I began walking back but turned to see Igor kneeling over Aro.
     "Nah," he hissed. "It's too easy."
     Because no matter how much he says the battles of Stefan and Vladimir are not his any more, his training and how he was raised as a vampire would always be in the back of his mind. What they did to his makers, what they destroyed to gain their power, Didyme included.
      Igor joined me again, taking my hand and walking by my side back to the group. This time, Carlisle and Esme were in the centre, surrounded by all of our friends and family.
     Except when we turned, Demetri had dropped his cloak and pendant and was walking over.
     "So he was finally able to let go," Mary Alice whispered.
     Now we all knew who he was going to hold on to on this side. No surprise when he stood closest to Lucy, though that also made him close to Marcus, Jane, and Alec.
     Igor looked over to Lucy, and with that look, Aro was suddenly himself again, as if nothing happened.
     "Aro, don't let your actions be ruled by your jealousy, envy, or worse, pride," Igor spoke with confidence. "It will only get you killed."
     "Don't turn this into a fight, Aro," I added.
     His eyes shot straight to me. If looks could kill...
     "When the witch twins reunite, will peace finally reign," a small whisper of a voice sung out from behind the Volturi.
     A few turned to watch as a small, smaller than Jane and Alec, walked out in front of everyone faster than Edward, the speed blew off her hood.
     The little girl was young, it wouldn't surprise me if she was younger than Jane and Alec... which was probably bordering on the immortal children age. But her hair was stark white, her skin only a shade different.
     Her bright red eyes rested on Mary Alice and she smiled as if Mary was a long-time friend she was seeing for the first time in a long time, though I didn't recognise her from Mary's past.
     Then the strange child's eyes moved to rest on Carlisle and myself, and Jane and Alec.
     "When the witch twins reunite, will peace finally reign," she repeated.
     "Alice, what is she saying?" Carlisle asked.
     I turned to the twins, they both looked surprised.
     "I'm... not sure," Mary Alice muttered.
     "Her name is Lilly," Alec explained. "She's a seer."
     "She sees prophecies," Eleazar gasped. "Where Alice gets visions of the future, she gets them in prophecies."
     The young Lilly kept on her cloak but ran to about the centre of the field before turning to Aro.
     "I choose peace, Aro. Will you?" she asked. Her voice was such a whisper!
     "What do you think, young Lilly?" Aro asked her.
     "I see prophecies, not futures," she smiled, then dropped her cloak.
     Which would explain why she looked at Mary Alice like long friends, both of them were sort of eyes into the future. Lilly ran straight to Mary Alice's side.
     "Caius, brother?" Aro held out his hand to the only 'brother' he had left and Caius took Aro's hand willingly, his eyes narrowing on us.
     "Think before you make your move, Aro," Demetri stated. "For if you fight, you will be the ones who cannot see death as it comes for you."
     As if on queue, I caught sight of the near-invisible mist slowly creeping up on the Volturi. Alec was unblinking.
     They all seemed to see it, too, a few of the guard, namely Heidi and Felix, growled deeply at the mist and Alec. But as if it was all it took, and without another word, Aro and the remainder of his guard left.
     "Well that was easy," Rosalie muttered.