The Volturi

Second Chance Pt. 2

Requested by lulubun03

"Marcus came to visit you...again." Athenodora stated.

"And?" Ingrid didn't bother looking over to the threshold of her bedroom.

"Sulpicia sent him away," Athenodora crossed the space between Ingrid's bedroom and sat at the foot of the mattress. "A lie about you napping."

"Good." Ingrid threw a glare as Athenodora made herself at home on Ingrid's bed. "At least someone in this Godforsaken place has my back."

Athenodora picked off some lint from the skirt of her dress. "Would it be smart of me to assume that is a jab at my expense?"

"I don't know is it?" Ingrid turned her angry stare at the queen, "Last I checked Sulpicia isn't the one always trying to force me and Marcus together!"

Athenodora was unfazed as Ingrid threw her little temper tantrum, in fact she had grown used to the woman's outbursts. The queen took a sigh of resign, clearly Ingrid was more of a stubborn stock and needed to be handled as such. 

"Has Marcus ever explained his behavior to you?"

"The blood thirsty monster? The kidnapping? Or him having me locked away like Rapunzel?"

Athenodora scrunched her brows together. "Why did someone lock away lettuce?"

Ingrid turned her attention to the immortal. Now it was Ingrid's turn to be confused. "The Disney Princess...never mind...no Marcus never explained himself to me. Only that I'm his mate and future queen of this place."

Athenodora took a look around Ingrid's room. It was terribly...lifeless. Ingrid had refused to decorate it, leaving the walls the disgusted color of white, the displeasing brown rug the bedframe rested on top of, and the sturdy wooden bedframe as is. The only splash of color the room held was Ingrid's overfilled bookcase and clothes in her open closet. Athenodora and Sulpicia had both tried to encourage Ingrid to make her room more...bright for herself yet they were always met with a wall of anger and hostility. 

Athenodora stood and moved to the nearby window overlooking the garden. It was a day of overcast, leaving the queen with nothing to fear if people looked in her direction. "Long ago," she began, "before we became the rulers of our world, we were merely nomads, roaming from place to place."

Ingrid watched on in silence as Athenodora continued her story. "There was six of us. My Darling Caius and I, Aro and Sulpicia, and Marcus and....and," Athenodora took a breath, "Didyme. We were happy but no one was more happy than Marcus and Didyme. They adored each other and Marcus worshipped the very ground Didyme walked on."

Athenodora toyed with the pendant on her necklace as she remembered fonder days. "Marcus was not the Marcus you now know. He was bright, always smiling, always joking, he was....lively. If only he knew what the future held for him..."

"What happened?" Ingrid asked softly.

Athenodora turned from the window, her lips twisted into a sad smile. "Aro always hungered for more. More food, more land, but there was nothing he hungered for more than power. Aro didn't like how our world was run by the Egyptians and Romanians, people viewing us as Gods and vampires free to kill whenever they wanted.

"He wanted change and talked both Marcus and Caius into his grand scheme, telling them how we can set our world right. Before you know it we're off to battle, easily defeating the Egyptians and seizing their lands and thrones for ourselves but it was the Romanians who were our true challenge.

"They had armies and allies, we were sadly outnumbered but we had that devious mind of Aro's. The Romanians, as clever as they were, were quite foolish. Their armies and guards consisted of only impossibly strong vampires, they didn't think to focus on gathering the gifted as Aro did. Every vampire that joined our side was given a rank based on the usefulness of their powers and strengths.