Aro grasped her hand in both of his and held eye contact. Although he seemed to be looking in her eyes, Serafina noticed he wasn't actually focusing on her. So, she surveyed his appearance. He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties, not much taller than herself, if at all, long black hair, and an impish grin almost always plastered to his face. She supposed he was attractive, but not to herself. Aro began to chuckle and his eyes regained focus and looked into her eyes.
"My dear, your thoughts are mine to read while we hold this contact. Including any new thoughts you are having. Though, it's good you don't find me attractive- my wife may try to kill you if you did." He chuckled as he looked her face over.
"Sorry," she shrugged.
His smile began to fade as he grew serious and looked into her eyes again, "What happened wasn't your fault. Your sire failed you. You were taught nothing, and your abilities were enhanced tenfold upon your creation into a vampire. With no one to guide you and your emotions going haywire with your confusion at the change, what happened to the town wasn't your fault. If I were able to find your sire, we would punish them for their failure in educating you."
"If? If you were able to find my sire? I thought you would be able to find them?" Serafina questioned with a small glance to Alec.
"Normally I would by looking into your thoughts. Even if you only caught a glimpse, I would normally be able to tell. But if you never saw them, why would you think about them? The only thoughts of yours I saw about them was your confusion on who they may be after you learned of their existence a year ago or thoughts about why they changed you in the first place. I am sorry my dear, but you never saw them before or after, therefore had no thoughts about them for me to piece together and find the truth." He stated with sympathy as he let go of her hand and looked back to the others as he began walking away from her. "But that doesn't mean I'll stop trying." He added as he came to a stop.
"Why are you willing to help me with this?" Serafina innocently asked while keeping her distrust from her face.
"Well, my dear, because they broke the law." He stated looking back at her, "but the main reason, is because they caused you a lot of pain with their negligence. After seeing all you've been through, I simply cannot allow them to go without punishment. No. You suffered alone for too long. Stay. We will do our best to find them together."
She was incredibly suspicious of his concern but knew better than to show it on her face so decided to ignore the comment about staying and ask some questions, "what law did they break?"
"If your creator failed to educate you of our laws upon your awakening as a vampire, then your creator broke the law. A creator is responsible for their newborn's behavior and education for the first several months." Caius stated from his throne, "Allowing newborns to run amok may draw unwanted attention from the humans. We can't allow that."
"Exactly," Aro nodded, "Also, I like the word amok. I think I'll use that too," he mumbled more to himself while looking down for a moment, before looking up and addressing Serafina, "If a newborn runs amok without ever having been educated by their creator, then both newborn and creator will be subject to death as punishment. If after they were educated the newborn ignores what they've been taught, well, that would only result in the newborns' death. But the creator would be pardoned."
"There are also instances though, where an uneducated newborn will still be punished with death even if they didn't cause much trouble," Caius added with a smirk gracing his face. After only having viewed his glares and looks of disdain, the smirk appeared very sinister to Serafina. Others would normally take it as a threat and express their fear accordingly. Serafina merely rolled her eyes and ignored him. Turning Caius' smirk into a frown.
"This is also true, but! Serafina was always very good at ensuring there were no witnesses. Even the people who suspect that she is something unnatural, simply believe her to be a specter haunting their town." He hooked his hands into faux claws and teased them as though they were children, "ooooh, scary!" Aro giggled.
"Are you sure she never slipped?" Caius asked ignoring Aro's childishness.
"Looking for any excuse to kill me are you Caius?" Serafina asked with a small grin.
He ignored her and continued to question Aro, "No slip ups for a vampire who was never educated by their sire? After so many years? How is that possible?"
Aro turned back and gave them a disapproving look Serafina was unable to see from her position, "Serafina is very gifted in her abilities, yes. But also, her self-control. She hardly used her abilities but if she ever did in front of humans, all humans present would die one way or another. So, no witnesses. She never allowed any humans to see her skin in sunlight either. It seems she's a bit self-conscious about the sparkling. And anytime she used her normal increased vampiric speed or strength, she simply played her part as a ghost. So, she has not broken any laws in her vampiric existence." He explained to the other leaders with shrug of his shoulders and chuckle, "It's actually quite amusing. The people in the town she lives in believe her to be La Llorona, also known as The Weeping Woman. The vengeful ghost who haunts bodies of water mourning her dead children. Though in the normal story, she was the one who killed the children. But in the story her town tells, she mourns her children who were killed by her unfaithful husband. I agree with you my dear, your town's version is a lot better." Unable to control his chuckles, he brought his hand up to cover his mouth.
"You seem fairly impressed with her abilities. When will we be able to see for ourselves?" Caius asked Aro.
"Maybe if you ask nicely." Serafina answered Caius in Aro's stead.
Aro winced a bit knowing the type of reaction this would cause Caius. He quickly brought his own smile back and just before Caius was able to say whatever disdainful remark he was about to make, Aro interjected, "Please my dear, just show them. I want them to see how amazing your abilities can be."
Serafina and Caius locked eyes as though about to enter battle. Glare intense on both. Due to her anger, it didn't take long for her eyes to glow just around the irises which caused Caius' glare to falter, "sure, no problem. I'll show everyone here my abilities." Serafina finally uttered.
Aro let out a breath of relief, "thank you. And although I know you said you had nothing to hide, I know you were in fact attempting to hide how strong you are. I would like you to please show a bit of your abilities first, but then show your best! Do that fun one you did that time when you were in that cave with your treasure," he said with increasing elation as he raced back to his throne for a better view, large smile from his excitement.
Serafina was sure now that Aro had, in fact, seen all of her thoughts. It just seemed he was more interested in the thoughts she had after she turned into a vampire. Possibly because that was when her abilities manifested in the way they did. She simply nodded then lifted her hand, doing the same trick she had done for Red when she lit her fingers on fire. Then she summoned three larger flames and threw them at the three on the thrones, stopping them just before their faces. None flinched though Caius was very angry at the perceived threat. Although the leaders didn't flinch, the guards did in fact take a step forward, but Alec and Jane just shook their heads as they seemed to understand Serafina's character by now and knew she wouldn't attack for no reason. Serafina pulled the flames back and then she summoned all the fires from the braziers nearby to make an even larger blaze in the center of the room. Throwing the whole room into darkness. Although all vampires were still able to see clearly, it still set the mood. Aro could see Serafina's own dramatic flair. He thoroughly enjoyed it. She moved her hands around a bit as though shaping the flames. Once satisfied, she dropped her hands and stood back. Aro immediately began clapping as the flame began to move around in the shape and mannerisms of a jaguar. It even pawed the air as if threatening them all and when it opened it's mouth to growl and roar the sound of flames crackling actually intensified giving understanding to the phrase "roaring fire". But the fact that it no longer looked like Serafina was controlling the fire was what impressed Aro most. Because he recalled her thoughts- She wasn't sure if the flames had a mind of their own or not. He believed they may. He found it fascinating. She would be an amazing new addition to their army. The fear she would inspire in their enemies was something he was greatly looking forward to.
While all eyes were on the jaguar, Serafina was watching everyone important in the room. She saw the greed in Aro's eyes, boredom in Marcus', and slight fear and awe in Caius. When she glanced over to Jane and Alec, she saw jealousy in Jane's after Jane looked from the jaguar to Aro and she saw calculations in Alec's eyes. She knew she was brought here for a reason. It wasn't them wanting to help her like they claimed. Alec seemed a lot smarter than his pure innocent face conveyed. He planned it out to bring her to Aro. Aro seemed to be the unspoken leader of all the Volturi and although he was incredibly nice- Serafina knew greed when she saw it. He coveted her like everyone else. Though not for her body as she was used to. He seemed to want her power. She was grateful for her family's teachings, they taught her to read people, at their saloon it was to figure out who would be an easy mark. She was always in the shadows of the saloon keeping watch and she was pretty good at it. She could tell if someone would drop more money on alcohol, gambling, or women and all within the first three minutes of watching them. It took her a while to get a read on these Volturi, but she believed it was due to their age. They more than likely had many years of practice in hiding their true natures. She would do her best to protect herself.
She clicked her tongue as though recalling a pet. The jaguar stopped and slowly turned back and walked to herself. Stopping to sit just at her side. "Good girl," she whispered. The fire jaguar actually leaned against her side as though it had a physical form and was asking for attention. She complied. As she pet the flames, they slowly disappeared back into her body. But she was sure to put some of the flames back where they came from, reigniting the braziers of the throne room.
"Bravo! That was amazing! My dear, you should consider joining us as well. You can be near your friend; we can help you learn more about us and help you hone your abilities. I saw before in your mind that you, on occasion, lose control of your abilities if you lose control of your emotions. Is that right?" he asked standing and looking at her with sympathy and hands clasped together as he cocked his head to the side, "we can help you with that. We can help improve your abilities, emotional control, help you find your sire to punish him for the pain he caused you, and help your understanding of our kind all at once. It would be much easier if you join. Come Serafina. We can be your new family."
"You'll only help me if I join?" Serafina asked.
"Of course not my dear! But it would be a lot easier for you to learn if you simply join our guard, it would be much easier for you to learn from the other men and women who serve under us. Even if you didn't join, we would of course still help. That's the type of people we are. Always willing to help our kind, this I promise you." He stated with benevolence.
Serafina knew he was just sweet talking her. She was just about to politely decline his offer when she felt something different. A feeling in her heart began to sprout. Why not? She had been alone so long. Yes, she had some children to speak to, they weren't afraid of her yet. But that would end soon. They would grow up and come to fear or revere her like everyone else wouldn't they? But she could be herself here. Being with her kind was much better. They could speak and joke around. She wouldn't have to hold back even if she was just going to pat someone's shoulder. Plus, this was her kinds' royalty and they wanted her to join. That was impressive. She'd be more than comfortable here. She liked teasing Jane and Alec, she could bother them all the time from here. Aro wasn't too bad, a little strange, but who wasn't? Marcus seemed the easiest to get along with. She liked him very much. Yes, she'd probably have to deal with Caius on occasion, but it wasn't like she hadn't dealt with jerks before. This seemed like a great idea. Just as she was about to swear her loyalty to the Volturi her internal pain flared up again. She didn't even need to think about it this time, someone present was playing with her mind. She clenched her jaw and glared up to the throne. "No thank you, to the joining. But I would like to stay a bit to learn more about our kind and possibly find my sire. I appreciate your help. Also, please don't call me Serafina. I would prefer if you called me Ms. Hart, you've seen my thoughts. I'm sure you know I will feel more comfortable that way." Serafina stated after calming herself down. Putting a fake smile on her face.
The whole room was engulfed in silence. Unconcealed surprise on everyone's faces. The only one present who didn't have a surprised look on their face was Marcus who then began chuckling. It sounded strange and dry, as though he hadn't done it in a very long time and could hardly remember how. Marcus stood up and announced, "it seems we don't have a new member to our guard, but a guest who will be staying with us until she is satisfied with all we have to offer. We'll have the guest wing prepared in the main castle. We'll do our best to help you with all Aro promised." He chuckled, "now, if that will be all, I shall retire for the day." He then turned around and calmly walked out of the throne room with two guards following.
"Yes, yes of course. Complete all Marcus stated and escort Ms. Hart to her guest wing." Aro stated while still trying to collect himself, "Now we are very busy my dear so it may be a while before we are able to educate you. Please be patient with us." He smiled as he gestured with his hands to behind the thrones to the exit that Marcus had just taken where two guards were waiting to escort her to her wing.
"Thank you," she stated as she calmly walked over to the waiting guards and followed them out.
There were several more moments of silence while they walked away. No one dared to say a word. Aro slowly sat back down but his smile was gone, "Chelsea." He called.
One of the regular guards walked over from their inconspicuous spot in line behind the thrones and walked to the front where they kneeled and removed their red hood revealing a woman with light brown hair, "I did as usual, I don't know how she was able to resist." She stated after standing.
"Did you notice anything different when attempting to bind her to us?" Aro asked.
"I don't know how to describe it. It was like the tie I made was," she hesitated a moment looking down as though looking for the right words.
"Was what?" Caius snapped.
"Was burned away." Chelsea finished looking back up to them.
"She was able to resist Benito's ability now that I recall her thoughts." Aro muttered with his hand to his chin in thought, "remarkable, she will be an amazing addition to our guard." He finished with a grin.
"She can't be controlled, she's too dangerous to keep close. What if she turns on us?" Caius argued.
"She's not the type. What about you two, you spent the most time with her. What do you think about her?" Aro asked Jane and Alec.
"She's strong, now seeing more of what she can do, I think she would make our guard unstoppable. She can even resist Jane, but I do think she would succumb to my ability if needed," Alec answered.
"She doesn't listen! She won't do what we want." Jane added, trying to calm down her anger at the thought of Serafina joining.
"She could lead. If she believes what we're doing is right, she may listen and work with us. Plus, she appears to have a soft spot for children, Jane and I may be able to talk her into compliance?" Alec added.
"But she's annoying," Jane muttered under her breath.
"It seems we may have to have her join the old-fashioned way. We'll show her this is the best place for her." Aro decided.
"It can't be too obvious. She's already suspicious of us after Chelsea's attempt at the binding." Caius added.
"Agreed," Aro nodded, "Jane, you and Alec will be responsible for showing her around and trying to show her all the good joining has to offer. We'll take our time with the educating. The longer she's here, the better to show her the benefits of being part of the Volturi. Now as a reward for all you've done, you two are free to go out as often as you like this month to feed. Those who served under you will be allowed two ventures outside the walls to feed this month instead of their usual one. I'm sure you'll be discrete." He added.
"It seems this meeting is adjourned, farewell," Caius stated as he stood from his seat and retreated to his quarters with his personal guards following.
"Farewell," Aro responded before he walked over to the twins, "well done. Remarkable finds." He smiled as he ruffled their hair before leaving with his guards as well.
"You heard master. We want her to stay, so try to be nice." Alec told Jane as they watched Aro leave.
Jane rolled her eyes, "yes I heard, but I'll only be nice if she's nice." She mumbled with a small pout on her face she wasn't even aware of.
Alec smiled at his sister, "of course, that's all we ask."