Three As | Caius Volturi

Chapter One

Four months later

 Caius was no longer the same man he once was. It was obvious enough that everyone could see it, though he would never dare admit he wasn't fine. He was a leader, and a leader had to look strong.

 How would he look if he admitted that weakness? There are those who would say it is perfectly human to have flaws and weaknesses, but Caius would have thought such a thing insulting. He was not human; he was a leader among vampires, and had to show his leadership, not flaws and a weak mind frame.

 He thought everything was perfectly fine, but what he didn't know was that everyone knew he wasn't well. No one dared say so to him, but they knew. Aro expressed his disappointment to hear Ahtenodora was dead, and expressed concern for his brother's well-being, but Caius insisted multiple times that he was fine, and insisted so strongly that Aro never asked again.

 Surprisingly enough, one place where Caius did find real comfort was from Marcus, their quiet and solemn little brother who never had any interest in the Volturi rule. Caius and Marcus never spent much time together, and there were many times when the former ignored the latter altogether. But Caius once went into Marcus' quiet little room where he kept his books and a long desk, which was piled with more books. He had wandered in there to be alone, not knowing Marcus was in there.

 Caius had sat down in the chair at the desk, and was startled when he heard a few books topple over behind him. But it was only Marcus, with a few books in his arms. Marcus rarely ever showed surprise (or any other emotion, really), but he looked genuinely surprised to see Caius.

 "What are you doing in here?" he asked bluntly.

 "I only wandered in to be alone," Caius answered quickly. "I didn't know you were in here. I'll go."

 "You don't have to," said Marcus. "You can stay if you like. I only ask you to be quiet."

 Caius hesitated. He and Marcus hardly ever spent time together, and when they did, it was usually in an awkward silence.

 "I...suppose I could," he said uncertainly.

 Marcus gently placed the books he was carrying down on the desk, gently touched Caius on the shoulder, and simply said, "I know."

 With those two words, Caius suddenly felt a warm wave of comfort wash over him. He didn't understand it, though; he didn't think anyone would be able to give him any comfort, and certainly not Marcus.

 But then he thought about Marcus' own life. Hadn't he lost his own wife, Didyme, centuries ago? It was an incident still fresh in Caius' mind. Who could forget it? Didyme was murdered, and they had never found her killer. It was something Marcus had never recovered from, and the reason he was the way he was. So, perhaps Marcus understood. It wasn't the same thing, but it felt like Marcus understood how he felt.

 When Caius got up to leave, he asked, "Marcus...would it...be alright if I...came back here again another time?"

 Marcus glanced up at him and nodded. "Of course. You're welcome, if you like, so long as you're not too disruptive."

 He said in his usually uninterested tone, but Caius felt that perhaps Marcus would also like the company.

 Four months had gone by since Athenodora's demise. Caius thought he could get over the matter quickly and then move on, as he did with every other law-breaker he put to death. It was stupid of him, he realized, to think he could treat his own wife's execution, and Athenodora herself, the same as that of any other criminal. Only now did he realize that perhaps he had acted too quickly out of anger.

 Now Caius had to remind himself that he couldn't go to Athenodora's room to see her, because she wouldn't be there. He would never have another chance to see her face, see her smile, hear her voice, hold her in his arms. All of that ended when he tore off her head.

 No. No, it didn't. It ended when she fled from Volterra and made herself a fugitive. She ran off with that Amara, of all people. What had the woman told his wife? What could she possibly have said or done that would make her want to leave her husband and become a fugitive? Surely they must have known Caius would eventually find them. It took six months, but he found them. They should have known better.

 Caius had been keeping mostly to himself since then. He had grown more quiet, and his temper only worsened. No one except Aro and Marcus were truly brave enough to address him. Everyone hoped that this would eventually get better, that Caius would one day be able to move on and become his old self again.

 That hope looked so bleak that hardly anyone even tried holding onto it.