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SKIN & BONES
xiv. CHAOS STRIKES
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THE BEST WAY SHE could describe the sensation she was experiencing was as if Rory Swan had stepped into a dream. In a way, it was like Rory had been lucid dreaming.
For a moment, everyone had been standing still, frozen in time. No one moved a muscle, not that they had the choice to. They waited like pawns. They were the puppets and Rory was pulling the strings.
If her heart was still beating, Rory's adrenaline would be coursing through her veins. Never had she felt so much pressure in one moment.
All she had to do was manipulate Alice Cullen's vision. They knew what the real outcome would be, that everything would be okay in the end. However, she knew that they needed to frighten Aro. She knew that if Alice had shown Aro a peaceful result, he wouldn't feel entirely convinced of leaving the human-vampire hybrid and her family alone.
All Rory had to do was come up with the worst-case scenario, and then they would go home free. All she had to do was manipulate Alice's vision—something she'd never done before. That was all she had to do. All she had to do was frighten Aro freaking Volturi himself.
No pressure.
Rory shut her eyes again, preparing her mind. She had to remember that none of this was real. She had to stay calm. She had to tell herself that no matter who died in this fever dream, she had to keep her cool. Edward, Alice, and Aro were watching—Rory couldn't mess this up.
Rory peeled her eyes open once more, returning back to the scene before her. She glanced around, studying the scene as if she was playing Chess. Then, she made her first move.
Her topaz eyes fell on the pixie-like vampire that had still been confronting the Volturi. "It doesn't matter what I show you. Even when you see, you still won't change your decision!" Alice exclaimed. She turned back to where Rory and the others stood, whispering, "Now!"
Rory looked back at Bella, Renesmee, and Jacob. "Take care of my daughter," she had Bella whisper to Jacob before he took off.
Rory focused her attention on the clairvoyant girl, watching as Alice spun around and kicked Aro harshly. Her foot collided with his jaw, the impact causing him to go flying through the sky. Eyes widened and jaws fell agape.
Rory glanced at Alec—one of the two devil twins on the Volturi Guard. She watched as he snapped his head in Alice's direction, furious. As a matter of fact, most, if not all, of the Volturi appeared to be filled with wrath.
As Aro landed swiftly and gracefully (as expected), Alice turned on her heel to make a run for it. Jasper had made an attempt to, as well, but he had been restrained by the two vampires still holding onto his arms. Low, threatening growls erupted from the Cullens as they watched Alice become restrained, as well. They inched forward, as did the Volturi.
"Take her away," Aro demanded viciously.
Stella instantly broke out into a sprint toward Alice, her mate. Carlisle went right after her, managing to pick up speed to the point where he was leading Stella.
Whatever was in place of Rory's human heart sunk down in her chest. She despised the next idea that had been sitting anxiously in her mind. She was going to regret what followed, but she had to do it.
"Let her go!" Carlisle shouted. His voice growled, pure hatred and fury oozing out of her body.
Rory spectated as two members of the Volturi ran at Carlisle, but he easily threw them out of the way. The man was on a mission and that was to save Alice, to protect one of the vampires in his coven he saw as a daughter.
Maybe in another universe, Carlisle would have succeeded. However, Rory, too, was on a woman on a mission. Unwillingly, she used her ability to cause Aro to run at Carlisle. The two leaped into the air. Almost immediately, a body fell onto the ground—a decapitated one, at that.
Aro stood up upon landing, Carlisle Cullen's head in his hand. He looked up at the Cullens and all of their witnesses, a sickening smile on his face.
An expression of horror matched each and every one of their faces. Their eyes were wide like a Full Moon. Their jaws were dropped to the pits of hell, but nothing was leaving their mouths. As Caius lit Carlisle's remains on fire, it was clear that one thing was for certain.
Carlisle Cullen was dead, and they were not going to allow the Volturi to get away with it.
Edward took the lead with a face of pure shock and hysteria, dashing forward. Then, followed his family. Soon enough, the vampire covens clashed, and so commenced the most horrifying vampire battle of all time.
Rory didn't have to glance back to know that Jacob and Renesmee were long gone, but not without her sending one of the Volturi after them. 'Worst case scenario.' Rory had to keep reminding herself of this as the scene played out in her mind. 'Worst case scenario.'
The scene was disastrous before it even began. It was designed for pure destruction before Rory could even make her first move.
The wolves didn't hesitate to sink their canines into their enemy. They ripped off limbs and heads as if they were toys being chewed apart. It looked so careless and swift, as if they had fought millions of battles like these before. Still, it was clear that on the inside, they were probably losing their shit.
Rory stood in the sea of madness. To her left, Rosalie had just taken down one of the Volturi with a grunt, not forgetting to tear off his head. To her right—oh, shit.
The brunette ducked down, her leg sticking out as a vampire whose name she didn't bother to learn jumped at her. He dug his hands into the snow, stopping himself from gliding any further from his prey. Immediately, the vampire stood up and ran at the Manipulator.
Rory took the first swing, kicking her leg to force him down onto the ground once more. The man grabbed her arm. He pulled her down with him, throwing her recklessly to the side of him. He rolled on top of her with the intention of ripping her limbs apart one by one. Rory narrowed her eyes at him, yelling some kind of battle cry as she manipulated the gravity around him so that his head would go flying away from the rest of his body.
With a loud grunt, Rory threw the remains of his body off of her. Of course, as soon as she stood up, she seemed to go right back down.
Her mind was elsewhere, clearly. She was too busy focusing on everything around her that she had to remind herself that she couldn't die. If she died, the whole vision could go out of control. No... it would go out of control.
Rory felt like a kid play-fighting with their sibling. She clamped her hands on the girl's shoulders as they rolled throughout the snow.
"Get your hands off of me, you freak!" snapped the girl, pushing Rory off of her. Rory rolled her eyes. 'Wasn't this bitch the one who attacked her first?'
"Nice insult, Hannah Montana," Rory snapped before ripping the girl's head off.
"Duck!"
Rory dropped down instantaneously, glancing up to see Bella throwing someone just a few feet above her sister. Rapidly, she stood back up to see Bella. The two sisters fought side-by-side. It was a peculiar scene—one that she knew would cause Charlie to have a heart attack for sure. Rory would have made some kind of joke or comment, had she not been so preoccupied with surviving.
Again, she had been a bit distracted with fighting, that she hadn't even realized that Alec had jumped at her. Rory went to attack him, but something just out of the corner of her eye caused her to freeze.
Jasper.
Rory released an ear-piercing scream as his head was cut clean off by two of the Volturi. He had been on his knees, no thanks to Jane using her ability on him.
It was almost like time had slowed. Rory ran forward, her eyes burning with the thirst for revenge for the love of her life. Though this was the result of her own ability, Rory was still feeling everything as if it were 100% real.
She screamed bloody murder, winding her fist back and punching the first vampire she came in contact. Then, she turned to the second one and chopped his head off—the same way he had done to her mate. Rory, then, turned her gaze to Jane. She had already been moving onto her next victim: Seth Clearwater.
She took one step forward before pausing. She looked around. Chaos had struck. The Volturi were far stronger than she had imagined, even for something that technically wasn't real. Rory could see that everyone on her side was growing fatigued.
The Volturi had chosen to attack in groups rather than individually. This was a smart move on their behalf, and Rory would've credited them for it had it not been her own idea. She spun around, her eyes absorbing every little thing occurring before her. In that moment, Seth had died, Bella was about to die, Irina was dead, Carlisle was dead, Jasper was dead—Everyone was dying. They were going to lose.
They needed some kind of plan, a distraction if you will. They needed something to turn the tables, something to shake things up. They needed...
Rory's eyes made contact with Benjamin, something she noticed that they did fairly often.
Bingo.
Rory balled her hands into a tight fist, as did he. Then, from opposing sides of the battlefield, they brought their fist to the ground. Rory and Benjamin had manipulated the element of Earth, ripping into the ground beneath them.
A large opening had been born. As it grew more and more, numerous members of the Volturi were thrown into it.
The more the scene developed and grew, the more Rory's head began to spin. All the deaths, despite being anything but real, were really getting to her. Jasper, Carlisle, Irina, Seth—they were all dead. If she had a fully functioning heart, she knew it would be hurting, especially knowing that in the back of her mind, she had just forced Leah to sacrifice herself for Esme, resulting in her falling into the pit Rory and Benjamin had created.
And still, somehow as if it were fate, an opening appeared to Rory leading straight to the horrid, insipid bitch that was Jane.
Rory marched forward, breaking out into a sprint. She could feel this wave of energy around her. It was warm and transparent, almost like an aura. She knew it was Bella, protecting her as Jane hopelessly attempted to use her pain illusion on her for the second time that day.
As Rory ran forward, she ducked down, sliding under a fist that went going toward her face. She threw numerous people out of her way. There was only one person she wanted, and that was Jane.
Her crimson eyes held pools of fear. That, alone, empowered Rory. She kicked her legs, causing her to leap into the air and land in front of Jane, a psychotic look in her eye.
Rory almost had to think about it for a moment—how she was going to kill Jane. She could do so many things with and without her insanely powerful abilities, things that were entirely unspeakable. But instead, Rory just laughed and clamped her hand around Jane's neck.
Rory flashed Jane a little smile, almost mocking the blonde. Then, Rory hissed, "Pain."
With that, Jane's screams echoed throughout the battlefield. A fire burned from within the blonde, and it continued to grow the louder Jane screamed in pain. Her insides were lit with the same kind of pain Jane used to inflict unto victims of her own, but there was a twist. The burning sensation continued until it spread from the inside-out. Jane's body was soon lit on fire, and in seconds, she disintegrated into ashes in Rory's hands.
One by one, more of the Volturi continued to die, as did members of Rory's coven and Uley's pack. But as she watched Tanya rip Caius's jaws apart while Vladimir and Stefan simultaneously severed Marcus into two pieces, she knew that her vision would soon come to an end. Finally, this nightmare would end and she could resurface back to the real world.
But how to end it once and for all?
She needed something big, something to really frighten Aro. In a sense, Rory really was perfect for this kind of job. She had spent so much of her life in the dark that she knew darkness like the back of her hand.
Rory's eyes fell on Bella. Then, she looked to Edward and soon, Aro. The young Manipulator had made up her mind.
Aro went running forward, finally diving into the action, as did Bella. The two headed toward one another. In all honesty, Rory didn't know how a fight between them would really go. Realistically, Bella would die in an instant due to a massive lack of experience. However, this wasn't real. This was a game. Everyone in that scene were all puppets with Rory Swan pulling the strings.
Aro pushed Bella upon making contact with her, resulting in her flying into the air. A single backflip turned into ripples of backflips as Bella soared directly into her husband. The two sat on the ground, making eye contact with one another. They had made the connection that they worked better as a team. If they were going to take down Aro, they had to do it as one.
And so, as Aro ran at the two, Edward lifted his wife and swung her around. Aro was kicked in the face with Bella's heel. He retaliated quickly, shoving Bella to the side once more and turning to Edward. He had nearly forgotten one tiny detail in that moment. Edward could read minds. He knew every move Aro was going to make before he could act.
Managing to get out of a chokehold by Edward, Aro placed his hands on his opponent. Just one more second and he could rip Edward's head off of his body. However, before that second could come, Bella sprung upward onto Aro's shoulders. She placed her hands on his head and pulled it off of his body.
Rory ran forward, a small ball of fire in her hand. Scowling, she chucked the fireball at Aro's head.
Aro Volturi's life had ended, and luckily for Rory, so had the vision.
Snapping her eyes open, Rory nearly stumbled forward out of pure exhaustion. Had she not been standing beside Bella, who had been holding her tightly out of pure fear, she would have let down her guard entirely.
Rory looked around breathlessly. Everyone had been exactly as they were before the battle had commenced. Her eyes locked on Jasper, who was still restrained as he had been before. His eyes were on his mate, searching for some kind of indication that she was okay. Rory merely nodded at him slightly, thankful that the nightmare was finally over. No one was dead, the earth hadn't been split in half, Jacob and Renesmee didn't have to go run off together and live in Brazil—everything was going to be okay.
Her eyes fell on Aro, who clearly looked as though he'd seen a ghost. The trepidation and shock written on his face was more than enough of an indicator that Rory had done her job. Hell, she had done her job beautifully.
He pulled his hands away from Alice, absorbing everything he had just seen. Caius leaned forward and stated, "We cannot alter our course. The child still poses a grave threat."
"What if we were able to make sure that she could remain concealed from the human world?" suggested Edward. "Could we live in peace?"
"Of course," Caius snapped, "but that cannot be known."
"Actually, it can."
As if on cue, a figure walked onto the scene. She was short and was of the Korean ethnicity. Round-framed glasses sat on her face as she quickly inched forward. Rory's eyes widened upon recognizing the girl. She snapped her gaze back in Jasper's direction, but he merely just nodded assuringly.
"I've been searching for witnesses of my own across the nation," explained Alice.
"We have enough witnesses—" Caius started, only to be interrupted by Aro hissing, "Let them speak, brother."
"My name is Irene Dae. I am half-human, half-vampire, like the child," Irene confidently stated. "A vampire by the name of Joham seduced my mother, who died giving birth to me." She looked back at Stella. "Stella can attest to this. She knew my mother and she promised to protect me. She had protected me for over a century."
"Holy shit," whispered Rory. Never did she think the day would come in which Irene would finally reveal herself to the world, especially the Volturi.
Bella took a step forward. "How old are you?" she desperately called.
Irene pressed her lips together, doing the math in her head. "92-years-old," revealed Irene.
Intrigued, Aro asked, "At what age did you reach maturity?"
Irene paused, unsure. This caused Stella to step forward, joining Irene's side. Stella took Irene's hand. "Irene became fully grown six years after her birth. I was her caretaker after her mother died during childbirth," Stella explained. She held out her free hand. "You can search my mind if you do not believe me."
Irene nodded. "I remained in hiding from the vampire world out of fear for the punishment of my existence," she continued, "but hearing Renesmee's story inspired me. I am proof that our kind is not dangerous. We're all the same, just with a heart that beats every second of every day."
Bella glanced over at Renesmee, knowing that this would be her daughter's fate. She was relieved.
"And your diet?" interrogated Aro.
"Blood, human food—I can survive on either," Irene answered. "Though, I'm stronger on a blood-diet."
Gasping, Marcus commented, "These children are much like us."
"Regardless, the Cullens have also been consulting with werewolves—our natural enemies!" Caius pointed out. Rory rolled her eyes. Was he ever going to give it a rest?
Aro fell silent. He turned around and placed a supportive hand on Caius's bicep. Then, he looked to the rest of his coven. "Dear ones, there is no danger here," Aro declared. "We will not fight today." He glanced back between Bella, Stella, Alice, Edward, and Rory, thinking of their peculiar abilities. He sighed, "Such prizes."
Then, he and the rest of the Volturi were gone with the blink of an eye.
"We have them on the run. Now is the time to attack!" Vladimir exclaimed, walking forward with his partner.
Carlisle shook his head. "Not today," he told them with a soft, yet stern voice.
Vladimir and Stefan exchanged similar looks of shock. "You're all fools!" added Stefan. "The Volturi might be gone, but they will never forgive what happened here."
Alice and Stella embraced, Stella immediately going in for a kiss. Had Rory not been so tired, she would have jumped up and cheered. Luckily, she had Irene to do this for her.
Ignoring the two, an insanely drained Rory stumbled forward until she reached Carlisle Cullen. She hugged the man she viewed as a father tightly, feeling him hug her in return.
Though Rory couldn't cry, it felt like she was. Her chest was tight and her eyes stung relentlessly. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled as Carlisle's hands went to comfort the girl. "I-I had to manipulate Alice's vision to scare Aro, and I killed you. It was so hard."
Carlisle rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's okay," he soothed. "You did good. I'm so proud of you, Rory."
Rory pulled away, looking around at everyone. "God," she mumbled, feeling as if she was experiencing a hangover. She looked at Bella. "Dude, we were so badass. You should've seen it."
Bella laughed, shaking her head at her sister. "That was something, Rory," admitted Edward. "I think you're gonna give me nightmares."
Rory shrugged innocently. Her eyes felt heavy. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, but she was dead, meaning that this was impossible. So, she did the next thing that she deemed as reasonable.
Turning to Jasper, who was now standing beside her, Rory said, "Marry me."
Jasper's eyebrows shot upward at the sound of this.
"I'm serious," she continued, not caring that everyone was watching her. "I just... I just watched you die. Not literally, but it felt pretty real to me. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to..." She trailed off, thinking about Jane. "Whatever, that's aside from the point. The point is, I don't think I'll ever love and care for someone as much as I do you. All I want to do is be hopelessly devoted to you for the rest of my existence. Jasper, I love you so much, so please stop me from my rambling and say you'll marry me."
Jasper laughed quietly, his arm snaking around her waist. "You know, it's tradition that the guy proposes to the girl," he mentioned.
"Is that a yes?" she hoped.
"It'd be an honor, ma'am."
Revised: January 8th, 2020