Love me Like I am

6: New Friends, Old Enemies

Agana ran alongside the two Romanians, wondering where they were heading.

"We're halfway there. A few more hours at this pace and we'll reach it." Vladimir ran beside her.

"Where are we heading?"

"Greenland. Almost no vampires stay there, so we are left in peace. A self imposed exile, if you will."

"I love those." Agana gave a burst of speed. "Let's go!"

Vladimir and Stefan chuckled, hurrying to catch up with the energetic newborn.

"This place is awesome!" Agana ran around the house, reappearing with her hair blown over her face. "Bleugh. Hair does not taste amazing." She bounced in place. "So what do you guys do here?"

Stefan shrugged. "We still have plenty of money from when we were a coven. We won't need to work for a few centuries."

"Fun." Agana flashed into the woods, then reappeared in front of them. "Sorry, can I go explore?"

"You may." Vladimir motioned her away, gesturing for Stefan to follow him into the house.

"What are you hoping with inviting her here? Revenge on the Volturi?" Stefan watched his soul brother.

"I want to create a sire bond. She trusts us more than the Cullens at the moment and this is an opportunity to teach her the fighter side of our culture. If she is to have any chance of surviving the Volturi coven and not getting locked in the tower, she must defend herself."

"Agreed. What are we going to do about the mate bond?" Stefan placed his jacket on the back of the couch, then sank into the cushions.

Vladimir sat across from his brother. "I no longer thirst for the Volturi's blood. If I could inconvenience them some, that would be lovely. But they were simply acting in their coven's best interests. Can we blame them? We were hardly doing anything different."

"You're right. I say she stays here until she can defend herself and use her gift well. And then she goes back, before the bond kills one or both of them."

"We will be the family she deserves, not the family she got."

"I agree." Stefan nodded.

They looked over when Agana appeared in the doorway.

"Your neighbour has reindeer? As in a herd of them! And the young ones were so adorable!"

Vladimir smiled. "Are you thirsty?"

She thought for a moment. "Nope! So what are we gonna do?"

"Sit down." Vladimir waited until she was seated to continue. "I want to welcome you to this coven and be your sire if you wish it. Either way, we welcome you here."

"You want to be the sire of the mate of your enemy? What's in it for you?"

"Good job. Thinking ahead will save your life, more often than not." Stefan leaned back. "We will train you in everything you need to survive in this new world. And we no longer have a vendetta against the Volturi. We wish for you to survive and go to your mate, and help fix the coven. As the only mate of a Volturi king, you will go a long way to calming them."

"Wait, I'm the only mate?"

"Yes. Sulpicia and Athenodora were placebos, a way to calm the naysayers. They have long since left, as both of them have found their mates."

"So the kings haven't found their mates? That explains so much." Agana tilted her head. "But why didn't Marcus and Aro attempt to have Caius treat me better?"

"They were born and turned in a different culture. They don't fully realize that the rules they think you should follow longer exist at this time. You have to give them time to catch up, as they have had little consistent contact with humans, unlike the Cullens."

She nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you for the explanation."

"We need to get your training started. The sooner you get back to Caius, the sooner you can help."

"Let's get started."

Jasper carefully watched the house as they walked up. He heard the sound of a vampire getting punched to the ground and he winced.

Aro frowned. "Stefan, Vladimir, I do hope that's not the queen you're slamming around."

"Actually, it's the other way around." Agana's head appeared in front of them, body still invisible. "Apparently you can't sense me at all when I go invisible."

"As I've said multiple times, Agana, you enter another realm. There's no way to sense that!" Stefan appeared around the corner of the house. "Aro Volturi."

Jane took a defensive position in front of Aro, the other guards following her lead.

"We no longer have a feud with you." Vladimir stepped forward. "Our coven would like to be at peace with yours." He stretched his hand towards Aro.

Aro took his hand, running through his memories. He dropped Vladimir's hand in shock. "You adopted her into your coven?"

"Yes. This way she can learn what she needs to be a queen."

Aro nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. You both did have queens once upon a time." He looked between Stefan and Vladimir for a moment. "I accept your peace."

Agana appeared beside Jasper, legs still faded into the subconscious realm. "You came!" She flung her arms around him. "Yay! Want to train?"

Jasper looked over at Aro, confusion on his face. Wrapping one arm around her, he stretched out the other towards the king. Aro took it and nodded.

"The mate bond is effecting her emotions. That's why she's so expressive right now." Aro looked over at the Romanians. "Can you handle this?"

"As long as she doesn't disappear on us again, we can handle it. She's a great fighter already." Vladimir smiled as his brother sighed. "She snuck up on Stefan during a session and managed to take his arm."

"She's a newborn! I wasn't expecting her to be so proficient in her gift already." Stefan raised his hands in exasperation.

"Has she fed yet?"

Vladimir lowered his voice. "She hasn't been hungry. And I've been watching her eyes closely. She didn't even change a shade when I dumped a bleeding body in front of her."

"Strange. Could be the mate bond messing with her. Caius is not hungry either, but he is grieving. It seems that they are experiencing similar symptoms." Aro placed his hand on Vladimir's arm. "She needs to go to Voltura as soon as possible. I worry for my brother."

"Understandable. We will do our best to progress her quickly."

"Thank you." Aro watched as Agana disappeared, then popped her head out and startled one of the guards. "She enters the subconscious realm?"

"As far as we can tell. We are trying to help her practice to take someone with her. But it hasn't quite worked yet."

"Perhaps I could send Afton and Chelsea? Or the newest additions to the guard, Valarie and Zane?"

"Whatever you think is best." Vladimir sighed. "She is going to be an interesting immortal."

"Glad you think so." Agana appeared in front of them. She blinked, going into a daze, and her pupils constricted.

"Agana?" Vladimir reached forward.

"Her emotions just swapped, way too fast to be healthy." Jasper reached her side. "She's scared."

If you see anything that needs to be fixed (ie: spelling, punctuation, formatting) please let me know! I would appreciate it! 

And please let me know what you think! I want to hear what you are feeling as you journey alongside these characters.