empathy

FIFTEEN

„Welcome back. You seem in a better mood," a young boy greets them, hugging the girl quickly. "Marginally," Edward grits out.

The boy looks Bella up and down, looking everything but impressed. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?" he asks him sceptically.

"Dibs," the tall one, Felix, states from behind, casually. "Absolutely not," Anastasia shakes her head. Edward turns to glare at her while Jasper only seems mildly amused by her. "What? You're gonna stand in my way?" Felix takes a step closer, trying to intimidate her as he towers over her.

"If I have to. If anyone is going to kill the stu... her," she stops herself from insulting the human. "It's gonna be me."

His lips curl into the slightest of smirk.

"You sure you're a Cullen? They're not usually as... likeable," he retorts. "I'm not a Cullen," she merely shrugs at him. "Who are you then?" Felix raises a brow, curiously. "A Hale."

Jasper's eyes fly to her in an instant, a smile spreading across his face. She said it so nonchalantly, like she didn't even have to think about it. As though it's second nature. His hand brings hers closer to his mouth and he kisses the back of it, her head turning ever so slightly to offer a small smile in return.

Although, she is gawking his reaction, wanting to make sure she didn't overstep a boundary or some.

"Aro will be pleased to meet you," the boy speaks up once more before turning to Edward. "and to see you again."

They head into a large, round room, held in the same style as the rest of the castle. Few people are in it. Three of them sitting on thrones and another few – probably guards – are spread around the room.

"Jane, dear one, you've returned," the king in the middle, Aro, gets up and heads down the few stairs to brush his hand against hers. "Yes, master. I brought him back alive, just as you wished."

Now that, that right there, was creepy.

"And Alice and Bella too," Aro exclaims happily. "And Jasper and Anastasia."

Ana can't help her lips from twitching at that. The way he pronounces her name is the way her mother used to do it, the way it's supposed to be spoken. 'A-nah-s-ta-see-y-ah'.

"You see, Edward? What did I tell you? Aren't you glad I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?" Aro turns to Edward again. "Yes, Aro, I am."

"I love a happy ending. They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did this happen?"

Aro kind of reminds her of a teenaged gossiping girl, who always need to know and spill the tea.

"Alice, your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake."

Infallible, my ass. More like a whole bunch of luck and a lot of people who hate spontaneity.

"Oh, I'm far from infallible. As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them." At least she admits it. "You are too modest," Aro disagrees, though. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit, I've never observed anything like you're talent. Wonderful!"

Alice exchanges a look with her brothers while Anastasia sighs boredly, her eyes taking in the architecture around them. It is truly remarkable and beautiful. Quite astonishing.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel I know you three already, and I tend to get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a particular way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not," Aro explains nothing at all, to be honest. But Anastasia really isn't all too excited about having another mind reader near her.

"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward deadpans. He doesn't seem too excited about that either. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head at the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had."

Anastasia frowns a bit, that must be exhausting.

"But to be able to hear from a distance," Aro daydreams a bit. "that would be so convenient."

"Now, let us have the story," his eyes sway to Jasper and Anastasia. He has seen her in Edward's thoughts as well and to say he's curious is an understatement.

According to Edward, she went from a cold human, who murdered her father, to an even colder vampire, whose thoughts he can no longer hear. Also, she does seem to have a soft spot. Antonina, her sister."

He looks over his shoulder toward Marcus and speeds back to get his view on them, before he is in front of them again.

"Your bond is strong, it's remarkable," he observes what he has seen. "May I?" he holds his hand out, expecting Anastasia to show him her mind.

She looks at him for a moment before doing what he is waiting for. The darkness within her has been wavering ever since she's been here, although she couldn't tell because she hasn't really been focusing on it. Plus, she has made it a habit to let her emotions shine through, for Jasper's sake.

And now, it allows Aro to get a glimpse of her, the tiniest of inside and even that is more emotions and pictures, memories, connected to them rather than actual thoughts. He sees moments of her life rather the whole span of it.

"Interesting," he lets his hand hover for another moment, looking thoughtful. "You remind me of one of ours," Aro speaks more to himself rather than to her. "Felix, would you mind getting her? I'm curious as to how they will react to each other," he hums thoughtful.

They wait for a moment in tense silence and Jasper frowns as he feels her grow tenser, despite her not seeming to realise it herself. His hold on her hand tightens as he sees the black mist making an appearance once more.

She looks over to him, smiling as much as she can right now.

Something is happening and she sure as hell isn't liking it.

"Master," Felix returns with a woman hot on his tail and every bit of logic and sanity slips through Anastasia's fingers as she looks at the woman, who is yet to notice her.

"μαμά"

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Μαμά means mamá in greek