𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊 was found by none other than Caius Volturi as a newborn after being kidnapped by members of the newly expanded Romanian coven. After looking into her brown eyes, Caius knew that this child was as good as his own and...
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ANDROMEDA WAS QUITE NEUTRAL ABOUT HER GIFT, DESPITE KNOWING THAT HER FATHER WOULD BE UNNERVED IF HE EVER KNEW.
In many depictions of vampirism, the vampires themselves could fly wherever they wanted. However, for her papa, being grounded by gravity was all that kept him going in certain periods of his life. At first he saw flight as her body trying to leave him.
After months of flight, however, Andromeda knew her gift was useful for her family.
Not for her human father. Andromeda watched as Charlie came into the Castle, how he marveled at the opulence that she'd grown up under. Her papa, ever the talented painter, had his works all across the walls, ready to be enjoyed by those who walked the hallways.
She knew by his face and his heartbeat that he was excited for this visit. Andromeda adored that about her father, how he could learn to love every bit of where she grew up instead of being horribly jealous of it. It reflected his character well.
Her papa had shaken his hand when he came, delighted in his own odd way to see the man who had given his daughter life. He knew that she was taken from somewhere by the Romanians, but Charlie did not know that part. Andromeda hoped that she could one day explain in full detail what her papa had years ago, how she became a part of the most influential coven in the world.
"Do you know who made these?" her father signed over to her papa, who nodded. "They're beautiful."
"I have painted for years," was all that her papa signed before pointing to the end of the hallway.
"My room?" Charlie asked.
Her papa nodded, allowing the man to find his own way to his room. He and Andromeda were left there in the hallway. Andromeda waited, then realized that her father would not be coming out for a while. The time difference between places was something Andromeda had never actually experienced in human life, never traveling anywhere of note due to her faulty heart.
She was glad that she could give her father that experience, even if it was a poor one by what she'd been told. Andromeda liked having a human father, if not just so she could see what the average human life was supposed to be.
Not that she hadn't had a good childhood. Despite the hangups around her physical ability, she was adored and doted on. Her sister would label this upbringing as a completely spoiled one.
Damn, she wanted that girl out of her head as fast as possible. There were no reasons why she needed that sister of hers in her mind. Andromeda sighed at the internal conflict, knowing that her uncle would be seeing these things when she spoke with him about Isabella in Forks later.
The princess was shaken from her thoughts by a gentle tap on the shoulder. Her best friend was right near her face when she turned around. Andromeda's heart sank as she realized how much she'd neglected Windy during this whole fiasco around Jacob and Isabella. She was a trooper, she'd always tell her, but she didn't deserve that from someone who'd known her their whole life.
"Now we can be normal?" She signed a bit too close to her friend's face.
"Yes, yes, and we must hunt together." Andromeda still loved the hunt as a newborn vampire. She still wondered how she'd stayed in this stage for so long. "Venice is good."
Windy adored Venice, a fact that Andromeda hated to admit that she exploited. Volterra was a small coastal city, despite the marketing, and Venice was a wonder to her rural heart. The only time that there were ever a plentiful amount of tourists in her sweet home was during the St. Marcus Festival. Once per year, and Andromeda did not have to set up this time around since Jacob offered to help the castle make the preparations.
She already adored that man.
"We can shop and do all of our things! We must buy the new pink parasols that I heard our sweet shop lady has selling right now!" Windy began signing so fast that Andromeda could barely make out what she was saying. "By ourselves?"
"Yes." Andromeda had been social enough the past few months, an outing with Windy alone wouldn't break the hearts of her family. "The hunt first, I will not be sloppy, then we hit the shops on the West, then the East. Papa wants me to buy a new ring."
"Are you marrying him already?" Windy's hands flew up as to playfully question Andromeda. "Is Caius being old fashioned with you two-"
"No- no-" Andromeda laughed and put her hands on her knees. Windy came up and put her hand over her mouth. She breathed in. The princess never knew when others could hear her or when she was being too loud.
Her giddiness would get the best of her someday.
---
THE SHERIFF WAS SO GLAD THAT JACOB WAS ALSO TAKING A TOUR OF THE CLOCKTOWER.
Charlie had felt terribly alone by the idea of a tour alone with a man named Aro Volturi. What an odd name, quite Roman but he did remind himself plenty of times that this was Italy and not America. Not everyone is named John, Charles, and Thomas. Heavy on the John (Charlie hated that name).
Caius- the adoptive father of his Andromeda- had explained quite thoroughly that his brother was odd and that he would be saying things that wouldn't make much sense to anyone but an old historian, but he hadn't realized the true extent of his weird nature.
"On your right you have Rome before it was Rome, painted by Caius Volturi. He has seen it all, my brother, and cares too much about the details. The paint is old fashioned and it needs a new glaze. But it has character!" Aro said as they walked past an older looking painting. "We should open a museum for all of his works."
Charlie shrugged most of these comments off, deciding that he'd rather believe Caius over a man who wore vintage pants from the... he had to guess the 20s but it may have been the 30s.
"And the art on the fountain outside was done by Demetri during his free time. Finally got it done after what had to have been a few decades, but it's done!"
All Charlie wanted was for this part of the tour to be over. He suspected that Jacob felt the same way by the look on the young man's face. For what it was worth, he knew that Jacob was doing a better job than him at hiding his major discomfort with the offhand comments sprinkled in.
Who even liked tours in the first place?
"Why does the city celebrate St. Marcus Day?" Jacob asked out of the blue. "Who was St. Marcus."
The perceived young man that led them paused in his tracks for a moment, giving Jacob a puzzled look before he began to look at Charlie. "Well," Aro started as if he were coming up with a manufactured response, "St. Marcus drove vampires from the city hundreds of years ago. The city of Volterra celebrates each year on the day he did it."
"In March."
"Yes," Aro confirmed, clearly uncomfortable as Charlie and Jacob were now. "The vampires have been extinguished, driven from the city. They used to reside in this very Clocktower before the Volturi family took over."
"So no more vampires?"
Charlie was going to have a long day with this duo.
