Oblivion | Alec Volturi |

Part 0: 04

Aro did not rejoin his anxious guard waiting on the north side of the clearing; instead, he waved them forward.

Edward started backing up immediately, pulling Bella's arm and Emmett's. Jacob retreated the slowest, baring his fangs at Aro.

Annalise fled.

She was at her brothers' sides in an instant, panicked and unsure of what to do. Her twin brother, who had obviously figured out what had happened, grabbed her and turned her towards him harshly, looking at her softly, "Anna, calm down," he said, quiet enough so that no one else could hear, "You found your mate, that's good, Anna, we feared we would never find our mates."

Annalise looked at him incredulously as the Kings continued arguing in the background, "Good?" Annalise whispered in disbelief, "Good?! He's-" she cut herself off as she realized her voice was raising and Zafrina and Senna, who were closest to them, were looking at her curiously, "This isn't good, Theo. He's Volturi. Alec, nonetheless. I'm the one that is supposed to kill him."

"No one will expect you to kill your mate, Anna," Theodore told her, "No matter who he is."

"I gave them my word," she hissed and Theodore grimaced before flattening his expression.

"You gave them your word that you'll handle him," he remembered, "Not that you'll kill him. Just keep him busy."

"How?" she whispered, "I-I can't use my gift negatively on him, Theo. I can't, just like I can't on you or Elliot."

"Look, Ann-" Theo began but was cut off by a horrible metallic screeching that tore through the clearing. The shocking sound exploded into a startling upward shower of sparks and tongues of flame. The soldiers leaped back from the sudden inferno, immediately retaking their places in the guard's perfectly straight line.

Annalise's eyes widened in horror as Caius lit Irina's remains on fire.

Fury roared through her ears, it felt as if her blood and body had been lit ablaze by a raging fire that wanted to consume every single vampire in this clearing. She noticed Tanya and Kate shrieking and charging wildly at the Volturi and the Cullens attempting to stop them.

Annalise focused all of her attention on Caius, her mind seeping into his as she learned all of his greatest fears: being replaced, werewolves, dethroned, her lips pulled up into a cruel smile.

"ANNALISE, DON'T!" Edward roared.

She ignored him.

Just as she prepared to unleash her gift in such a way that Caius would become nothing more than a shell of his former shell once she was done with him, something yanked her back.

She felt a hand touch her bare neck and her breath caught in her throat as she felt her entire self - mind and body - being drained. She could feel her body become weaker and her legs gave out as she fell to her knees in the snow.

Distantly, she heard Theodore let out a roar of fury, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?"

The person who was holding her let go and she crumpled to the ground, unsure of what had happened and trying to regain the energy that had been drained from her. She felt Theodore touch her side gently but made no reaction, too busy focusing on trying to feel her limbs again.

He eased her up, picking her up from under her armpits and going to lift her completely. "Let me walk," she hissed, quietly and slightly embarrassed. He sighed and moved her arm around his shoulders and let her lean on him as she walked back to where they had been previously standing. 

Though she was still half out of it, her eyes trained on the one that had done this to her - the nomad, she realized, what had Edward called him? Kyle, Cole? Chris, she remembered - he stared at her apologetically and her glare darkened, promising death once she regained her energy. He flinched and looked away, shifting slightly behind the female vampire, Talia, who gave her a glare before turning back to Chris, who Annalise assumed was Talia's mate. Annalise couldn't even find it within herself to feel guilty - she knew he was only trying to stop a war - because she still had no idea what he did to her. Would it permanently affect her? Her gift?