Athena (L. Clearwater)

Prologue

2,000 years before Twilight.
(This is a long prologue!)

The Volturi head into a village of children of the moon in Greece. They will be moving their kingdom to Italy soon, but Caius wish to make this village extinct. The bleach-blond vampire despises the children of the moon because they are the reason he was turned into this type of beast a thousand years prior.

"Σας παρακαλούμε! Σας παρακαλούμε! Πρέπει να σώσεις την κόρη μου!" a woman cries as she rushes up to the vampires, her tears and fear for her daughter helping cloud her fear of the vampires here to kill her 'pack'.

"What is the matter with her?" Aro asks.

"Birth, she will not survive because..." She looks up, "the moon is full. Woman werewolves die in childbirth if on full moon. Σε παρακαλώ, απλώς στρέψε την. Σκότωσε τους υπόλοιπους αν χρειαστεί, αλλά σώσε την Αθηνά μου!"

"If we turn her," Caius says, his voice laced with venom because of how close this child of the moon stands to them, "she won't be one of you anymore. Our venom kills out the werewolf."

This woman is on the verge of turning. She's taller than most women her age in Greece. Her arms are becoming furry. Caius would rather kill her than be standing this close.

"I know," the woman, Aphrodite, says. "Please..."

"Take care of her," Aro says to Caius.

"Amaltheia, οδήγησε τους βρικόλακες στην Αθηνά. Θα τη σώσουν," Aphrodite says.

A woman nods and she leads them to the room. There is a dead baby in another woman's hand and a dying young woman, age nineteen summers, lying on stone.

"The child was stillborn." The midwife is not of these origins, the Kings note. "It is the full moon. He didn't stand a chance." She glances at Athena. "She did not want this pregnancy. It was not what she wanted with Cesar. He..." She cuts herself. "I'm sorry, Sirs. I must go prep the burial for the young wolf before the slaughter begins."

Aro steps forward and he takes Athena's arm. "I hear-by free you of the full moon changes, Athena," he says and she turns her head weakly, "if that is what you wish. I can kill you now."

That's when Caius enters. He pauses by Marcus.

"Please," Athena says weakly. The midwife has taught her to speak English while she was with child. "The curse..." she exhales weakly, "it is horrid. Please..." she whimpers, "bite me. Kill my curse, kill my wolf. Please..."

"Let me," Caius says to Aro. He's offering because currently, Athena's blood is calling to him, and Marcus sees that." 

"Marcus, let us start the slaughter," Aro says before he and Marcus leave.

"Hello, Athena," Caius greets and he hears her heart slowing. "I thought you children of the moon are indestructible on the full moon."

Athena smiles weakly. "It..." she coughs, blood seeping coming from her lips and it makes Caius wince mentally, "it is when..." she exhales with a rattle, "it is when we are at our most vulnerable. Between the morning sun of first light to the time we are shifted. A pregnancy child of the moon is the most because we cannot turn. The moon does not let us. The childbirth kills us during this time only because it happens... in our most vulnerable state: as the full moon rises." She watches as Caius takes her arm. "I never wanted this life," she says. "I wanted to be a human, but I cannot change that, but you can save me from this curse."

"And I will," Caius says. He tries to ignore the allure of her blood. He is to turn her and not drain her of her blood. He gets pulled back to focus as the children of the moon outside scream as Marcus and Aro slaughter them all. "Do yourself a favor, Athena. When you wake, do not look at the bodies of the dead."

Caius then bites her wrist and the pain is immediate. It's worse for Athena than it is for humans who are turned. The venom will kill out her curse (her werewolf) first and then it'll take care of her.

As Caius watches her whither as her wolf dies, Aro and Marcus arrive.

"She was your cantante sanguigno?" Marcus asks.

"She was," Caius replies as the jerking around stops. "The wolf inside her is dead. We may leave now. The last child of the moon of this village has died."

"Yes, Brother," Aro replies. "We may leave now."

The screaming picks up again as the now human Athena feels the venom and the Kings leave.
********

It is many, many years before Athena comes across another of her kind. It was about 1715 and Athena was in Italy, exploring the world, watching as it changed her before her very crimson eyes. She came across a familiar face in a town known as Volterra, it is a small town that stands right outside of Florence. The man, she remembers, because he is her creator.

Caius brings her to the castles because he and his mate, Athenadora — whom of which he met right as they were about to leave Greece —, were out for a nightly stroll when they came across Athena. He introduces the duo to one another as they enter the building.

"Aro!" Caius says as they enter the throne room. "Look who I found wandering about."

"Athena." The dark haired - and shorter - King rushes down. "You look lovely."

"Hello again," Athena greets. "Have you seen how much the world has changed since we last spoke?"

"I have, indeed," Aro replies. "Carlisle! Eleazar, my dears! This is Athena. She is Caius's sire from a little over two-thousand years ago."

"Remarkable," one of the guards, Eleazar, mutters as he stares at Athena. "Do you know of your gift?"

Athena shakes her head in denial. She is well-aware that vampires have gifts. She's come across several of her kind since she was turned by Caius and some were gifted.

"What is her gift, Eleazar?" Aro asks. The reason he wanted him here is because of his gift; Eleazar can see other's gifts.

"Humanity," Eleazar replies. He starts asking Athena questions about signs of her gift.

"I do get tired some nights, but I do not sleep because, well, I assume it is because I have lived for over two-thousand years," Athena replies honestly. "I often find myself wanting human food if I walk by eating humans. But the sun, my skin still glitters."

"Humanity is a remarkable gift, and you, Athena, are remarkable for having such a gift," Eleazar says. "Absolutely remarkable."

Aro smiles, pleased by Athena's gift, and he sees Athena sharing his smile.
******

Eleazar has left the Volturi with his mate, Carmen, before Athena does but he bids her farewell with a hug. When Carlisle leaves in 1720, Athena decided that she wanted to go with him and learn a new way of life and the Volturi were sad to see her leave, but Caius knows that he'll see her again, and he's comfortable with her leaving because her gift — she is in perfect control over it.

Post-change a few centuries later, Edward Antony Masen left on his own and when he came back and become a Cullen, he and Athena began dating, and they do until a certain brunette comes into their lives and every single thing changes.