|Chapter 04|Half Mortal, Half Immortal|
AllisonPOV
My Dad's loud growl brought us out of our own little world. "Dont you dare even go there Aro! You have no right! You're not go into get away with this!" Dad growled at him loudly, crouching down and I wasn't sure if he was about to attack or not.
This display caused the whole gaurd to erupt in growls, hisses and voices of protest, Felix and Demetri took a threatening step closer to Aro. But once again Aro quietented them down quickly.
"You know very well that I have every right, by law she belongs to me..." Aro hissed back as he glanced down at me again, my fathers hand squeezed mine as he gently pulled me half hidden behind him, protecting me with his own body.
I was confused, were they talking about me? It certainly seemed like it but I had no idea what they meant, why would I belong to him? What law? Sure I felt drawn to him but it didn't mean anything.
"Now let's get back to business shall we?" He said as he leaned his head to one side, fascinated. "I hear their strange hearts," he muttered, excited, letting out a weird creepy laugh "I smell their strange scent." Then his hazy eyes shifted to me again. "May I greet your daughter, lovely
Bella?" he asked sweetly, his eyes trained on me as I refused to meet his eyes again, it was too intense and it didn't seem like dad liked it so I decided to avoid Aro.
"But she's beautiful" he murmured. "So like you and Edward." I felt heat rise to my cheeks. "Hello, Allison." I looked at dad, he nodded.
"Hello, Aro," i answered coldly.
He didnt seem happy about my tone but ignored it, holding out his hand. I placed my hand in his knowing he wouldn't be able to read my thoughts, I shocked me how casually he offers people his hand knowing how intrusive his gift is. I smirked up at him a little although his touch sent an odd tingling feeling through my hand and down my arm.
"Hmmmm, a shield just like your mother but of course lets not forget about your second power...." he said fascinated.
Of course he now knew about me being able to manipulate one's mind he did after all read dad's thoughts, that's probably why he wants me, I have a power that he finds useful.
Aro than reached out to Renesmee and she reached out too and showed him what she was ment to with her gift.
Aro's eyes were bemused. "What is it?" Caius hissed from behind. He seemed infuriated by the need to ask, as he was being kept in the dark, lacking the mid reading capabilities Aro possessed.
"Half mortal, half immortal," Aro announced to him and the rest of the guard without stopping his staring at me. "Conceived so, and carried by this newborn while she was still human."
"Impossible," Caius scoffed.
"Do you think they've fooled me, then, brother?" Aro's expression was greatly amused, but Caius flinched. "Is the heartbeat you hear a trickery as well?"
Caius scowled, looking as chagrined as if Aro's gentle questions had been blows.
"Calmly and carefully, brother," Aro cautioned, still smiling at me. "I know well how you love your justice, but there is no justice in acting against these unique girls for their parentage. And so much to learn, so much to learn! I know you don't have my enthusiasm for collecting histories, but be tolerant with me, brother, as I add a chapter that stuns me with its improbability. We came expecting only justice and the sadness of false friends, but look what we have gained instead! A new, bright knowledge of ourselves, our possibilities."
Renesmee than showed him something else, "please?" She said to him.
"Of course I've no intent or hurting any of your dear ones, Renesmee."
Aro's voice was so comforting and affectionate, it took me in for a second to take it in, his eyes never leaving mine as he said those words directed at Renesmee. And then I heard dad's teeth grind together and, far behind us, Maggie's outraged hiss at the lie.
Of course he lied, like mom said he's a cold blooded killer, he cane with the intent of making those gifted join his guard and those not gifted dying.
"So much to discuss," Aro said, his tone suddenly that of an inundated businessman. "So much to decide. If you and your furry protector will excuse me, my dear Cullens, I must confer with my brothers."
Aro did not rejoin his anxious guard waiting on the north side of the clearing; instead, he waved them forward. Dad started backing up immediately, pulling my arm and uncle Emmett's. We hurried backward, keeping our eyes on the advancing threat.
Caius began arguing with Aro at once.
"How can you abide this infamy? Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, covered by such a ridiculous deception?" He held his arms rigidly at his sides, his hands curled into claws. I wondered why he did not just touch Aro to share his opinion. Were we seeing a division in their ranks already? Could we be that lucky?
"Because it's all true," Aro told him calmly. "Every word of it. See how many witnesses stand ready to give evidence that they have seen these miraculous children grow and mature in just the short time they've known them. That they have felt the warmth of the blood
that pulses in her veins." Aro's gesture swept from Amun on one side across to Siobhan on the other.
"The werewolfs" Caius hissed trying to find another excuse for a fight.
"Ah, brother...," Aro answered Caius's statement with a pained look.
"Will you defend that alliance, too, Aro?" Caius demanded. "The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time. We have hunted them to near extinction in Europe and Asia. Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation-no doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his
warped lifestyle."
"Caius, it's the middle of the day," dad pointed out. He gestured to Jacob. "These
are not Children of the Moon, clearly. They bear no relation to your enemies on the other side of the world."
"You breed mutants here," Caius spit back at him.
Dad's jaw clenched and unclenched, slightly offended at the insult directed at his mixed breed daughters, then he answered evenly, "They aren't even
werewolves. Aro can tell you all about it if you don't believe me."
"Dear Caius, I would have warned you not to press this point if you had told me your
thoughts," Aro murmured. "Though the creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. The more accurate name for them would be shape-shifters. The choice of a wolf form was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the
first change was made. These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers. It's genetic-they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do." Caius glared at Aro with irritation and something more-an accusation of betrayal, maybe.
"They know our secret," he said flatly, attempting to stir up some kind of fight.
Edward looked about to answer this accusation, but Aro spoke faster. "They are creatures of our supernatural world, brother. Perhaps even more dependent upon secrecy than we are, they can hardly expose us. Carefully, Caius. Specious allegations get us nowhere."
Caius took a deep breath and nodded. They exchanged a long, significant glance.
I thought I understood the instruction behind Aro's careful wording. False charges weren't helping convince the watching witnesses on either side, Aro was cautioning Caius to move on to the next strategy. I wondered if the reason behind the apparent strain between the two ancients-Caius's unwillingness to share his thoughts with a touch-was that Caius didn't care about the show as much as Aro did, he just wanted to kill and maim, this is what they came here for after all.
The coming slaughter was so much more essential to Caius than an untarnished reputation. "I want to talk to the informant," Caius announced abruptly, and turned his glare on Irina.
I zoned out for a while as Caius ended up killing Irina for false information, Kate and Tanya tried to attack the Volturi but were restrained. "Irina has been punished for bearing false witness against this child." So that was to be their excuse. He went on. "Perhaps we should
return to the matter at hand?"
Caius straightened, and his expression hardened into unreadability, he clearly hoped to cause the Denali's to attack so they could retaliate.
Aro then spoke with our witnesses he picked Amun as his target shortly after which Amun and his wife left.
He than asked Siobhán a few questions and went back to his own side.
"There is no broken law," Aro said in a placating voice, but every one of us could hear that a qualification was coming.
"No broken law," Aro repeated. "However, does it follow then that there is no danger? No." He shook his head gently. "That is a separate issue."
"They are unique... utterly, impossibly unique. Such a waste it would be, to destroy something so lovely. Especially when we could learn so much . . ." He sighed, as if unwilling to go on. "But there is danger, danger that cannot simply be ignored." It was dead silent as he continued in a monologue that sounded as if he spoke it for himself only.
"How ironic it is that as the humans advance, as their faith in science grows and controls their world, the more free we are from discovery. Yet, as we become ever more uninhibited by their disbelief in the supernatural, they become strong enough in their technologies that, if they wished, they could actually pose a threat to us, even destroy some of us. For thousands and thousands of years, our secrecy has been more a matter of
convenience, of ease, than of actual safety. This last raw, angry century has given birth to weapons of such power that they endanger even immortals. Now our status as mere myth in truth protects us from these weak creatures we hunt. "
"These amazing children, if we could but know their potential-know with absolute certainty that they could always remain shrouded within the obscurity that protects us. But we know nothing of what they will become! Their own parents are plagued by fears of their future. We cannot know what the will grow to be." He paused, looking first at our witnesses, and then, meaningfully, at his own.
Still looking at his own witnesses, he spoke again. "Only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. The unknown is... a vulnerability."
Caius's smile widened viciously.
"Let us not be hasty. Let us look at this from every side."
"May I offer a side to be considered?" Garrett petitioned in a level tone, taking another step forward.
"Nomad," Aro said, nodding in permission.
When Gerrett ended his heated speech by stepping back to Kate's side and then sliding forward in a half-crouch, prepared for the onslaught.
Aro smiled. "A very pretty speech, my revolutionary friend."
Garrett remained poised for attack. "Revolutionary?" he growled. "Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too, like your sycophantic guard?"
"Peace, Garrett," Aro said tolerantly. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see."
Garrett glared back furiously. "Let us ask our witnesses," Aro suggested. "Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell us, friends"-and he turned his back casually on us, moving a few yards toward his mass of nervous observers hovering even closer now to the edge of the forest-"what do you think of all this? I can assure you these childre are not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the children live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?"