Amnesia

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Final Vote

"Chelsea is trying to break our bindings," Edward whispered. "But she can't find them. She can't feel us here. . . ." His eyes cut to Bella. "Are you doing that?" She smiled grimly at him. "I am all over this."
Edward lurched away from her suddenly, his hand reaching out toward Carlisle. Jane looked at him and used her gift. At the same time, Bella felt a much sharper jab against the shield where it wrapped protectively around Carlisle's light. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasant, either. "Carlisle? Are you all right?" Edward gasped frantically.
"Yes. Wh-?" Carlisle said, but before he could finish his phrase, he was on the ground, screaming. Maeryn was using her gift too, working together with Jane to make sure she was able to hit her target. The foes looked alarmed, and Bella's face was one of pure agony. However, Maeryn couldn't stop Bella's shield for long as soon her hands where forced open again, letting Bella protect Carlisle again. "Incredible," Edward said. "But be careful, Bella. Jane and Maeryn are working together. Once Jane has a target, Maeryn will crack your shield on that spot." He whispered in Bella's ear. Bella nodded. Maeryn felt very powerful, to know the foes where sweating a little was a good thing. The battle cannot go so easily.
"Why aren't they waiting for the decision?" Tanya hissed. "Normal procedure," Edward answered brusquely. "They usually incapacitate those on trial so they can't escape." Bella looked across at Jane, who was staring at the group of foes with furious disbelief. She grinned a huge, smug smile right at Jane. Jane's eyes narrowed, and she send another wave of pain towards Bella. Maeryn tried breaking through Bella's second shield once she had broken through her first, but to no avail. Bella's second shield protected her too much, as if it was her own skin. A skin Maeryn simply couldn't rip open.
Bella noticed this and pulled her lips wider, showing her teeth.
Jane let out a high-pitched scream of a snarl. Everyone jumped, even the disciplined guard. Everyone but the ancients, who didn't so much as look up from their conference. Her twin caught her arm as she crouched to spring. The Romanians started chuckling with dark anticipation. "I told you this was our time," Vladimir said to Stefan. "Just look at the witch's face," Stefan chortled.
Alec patted his sister's shoulder soothingly, then tucked her under his arm. He turned his face to the foes, perfectly smooth, completely angelic. "Just tell me who you'd like to hit, Jane. Perhaps Alec's gift can pour through that small crack too. Once he is in, it will be easy to take them down. Except for Bella. She has a second shield I cannot seem to break. But I am sure Felix or Demetri will get her. She may be protected from mental attacks, but her shield is useless against physical attacks." Maeryn whispered to both Alec and Jane.
Jane calmed down slightly and nodded her head. "Give me a sign when your mist has reached them, I cannot keep her shield open for long at a time, but enough to at least floor some of them." Maeryn said towards Alec, whom nodded his head also, his eyes never leaving the foes.
Bella seemed to wait for some pressure, some sign of Alec's attack, but felt nothing. He continued to stare in their direction, his pretty face composed. Bella's face on the other hand, seemed worried as she clutched at Edward's hand. "Are you okay?" She choked out. "Yes," he whispered. "Is Alec trying?" Edward nodded.
"His gift is slower than Jane's. It creeps. It will touch us in a few seconds." Maeryn watched her mate's mist creep towards the foes. It was a strange clear haze that was oozing across the snow, nearly invisible against the white. It reminded Maeryn of a mirage - a slight warping of the view, a hint of a shimmer.
Bella pushed her shield out from Carlisle and the rest of the front line, afraid to have the slinking mist too close when it hit. A low rumbling murmured through the ground under their feet, and a gust of wind blew the snow into sudden flurries between the foe's position and the Volturi's. Benjamin had seen the creeping threat, too, and now he tried to blow the mist away from them. The snow made it easy to see where he threw the wind, but the mist didn't react in any way. It was like air blowing harmlessly through a shadow; the shadow was immune.
The triangular formation of the ancients finally broke apart when, with a racking groan, a deep, narrow fissure opened in a long zigzag across the middle of the clearing. The earth rocked under Maeryn's feet for a moment. The drifts of snow plummeted into the hole, but the mist skipped right across it, as untouched by gravity as it had been by wind. Aro and Caius watched the opening earth with wide eyes. Marcus looked in the same direction without emotion. They didn't speak; they waited, too, as the mist approached the foes.
The wind shrieked louder but didn't change the course of the mist. Jane was smiling now. And then the mist hit a wall. The mist curled upward, seeking a breach, a weakness. It found none. The fingers of searching haze twisted upward and around, trying to find a way in, and in the process illustrating the astonishing size of the protective screen. There were gasps on both sides of Benjamin's gorge. "Well done, Bella!" Benjamin cheered in a low voice. Bella's smile returned. I could see Alec's narrowed eyes, doubt on his face for the first time as his mist swirled harmlessly around the edges of her shield.
"Now." Alec said, giving Maeryn the sign she had been waiting for. "Take your pick, Jane." Maeryn whispered, ready to crack Bella's shield once more. "With pleasure, sister." Jane said in her childlike voice. Jane took her time, letting her ruby eyes glide over the foes. But Maeryn already knew whom Jane would pick. Jane smiled friendly at Maeryn. Maeryn nodded her head and focused on the one vampire who could destroy our plans, simply by knowing them before it had even been executed. Maeryn concentrated on Edward while Jane did the same. She used her gift on Edward, waiting for Maeryn to crack the shield. Maeryn made a small crack in Bella's shield, right in front of Edward.
Edward, whom had seen it coming, prepared himself for the pain and fell down once it hit him. Alec's mist slowly crept inside, aiming for the chocolate colored wolf, with the little girl on top. Jacob fell to his knees, no longer being able to sense anything anymore. The three vampires smiled in triumph. But this triumph was for a short time only, as Bella used all her energy of her gift to close her shield, cutting Alec's mist and blocking out Jane's pain. But it didn't matter. The foes knew they were no longer untouchable. It would be a difficult fight, but at least it would be a fair one, seeing as everyone could use their power.
And Bella knew this too. "I'm going to have to concentrate," Bella whispered to Edward once he stood back up followed by Jacob, Renesmee still on his back. "When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to be harder to keep the shield around the right people. Especially when Maeryn keeps cracking it." "I'll keep them off you." Edward replied. "No. You have to get to Demetri. Zafrina will keep them away from me." Bella said as Zafrina nodded solemnly. "No one will touch this young one," she promised Edward. "I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here." "Jane's mine," Kate hissed. "She needs a taste of her own medicine." "And Alec owes me many lives, but I will settle for his," Vladimir growled from the other side. "He's mine."
"And I will take the newborn. She seems way to confident, and as soon as she is down, Bella's shield will no longer be vulnerable." Peter said. "Besides, I know the most about killing newborns so that should not be a problem." He said, cracking his knuckles. "Be careful though, she is a Volturi newborn, which differs from a regular newborn." Carlisle said, knowing very well how the newborns are trained in the Volturi coven. "Don't worry. Besides, if she is down, Alec will be vulnerable too, seeing as he lost his mate." Peter continued, smiling at Vladimir, whom, in return, smiled back.
"I just want Caius," Tanya said evenly. The others started divvying up opponents, too, but they were quickly interrupted.
Aro, staring calmly at Alec's ineffective mist, finally spoke. "Before we vote," he began. Bella shook her head angrily. "Let me remind you," Aro continued, "whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here." Edward snarled out a dark laugh.
Aro stared at him sadly. "It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you. But you especially, young Edward, and your newborn mate. The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our ranks. Bella, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate. There are many choices before you. Consider them." Chelsea's attempt to sway the foes fluttered impotently against Bella's shield, but Maeryn wasn't powerful enough yet to break through long enough for Chelsea's gift to get through.
Aro's gaze swept across their hard eyes, looking for any indication of hesitation. From his expression, he found none.
"Let us vote, then," he said with apparent reluctance. Caius spoke with eager haste. "The child is an unknown quantity. There is no reason to allow such a risk to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it." He smiled in expectation. Maeryn smiled, knowing very well that if this was going to keep on going, the battle was only mere minutes away, and she couldn't wait.
Marcus lifted his uncaring eyes, seeming to look through the foes' eyes as he voted. "I see no immediate danger. The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us leave in peace." His voice was even fainter than his brothers' feathery sighs. None of the guard relaxed their ready positions at his disagreeing words. Caius's anticipatory grin did not falter. It was as if Marcus hadn't spoken at all. "I must make the deciding vote, it seems," Aro mused.
Suddenly, Edward stiffened at Bella's side. "Yes!" he hissed. Bella risked a glance at him. His face glowed with an expression of triumph that almost no one seemed to understand - it was the expression an angel of destruction might wear while the world burned. Beautiful and terrifying. There was a low reaction from the guard, an uneasy murmur. Including Maeryn's, as she could smell two familiar and three unfamiliar scents. Four vampires, and one like the child on the chocolate brown wolf's back.
"Aro?" Edward called, nearly shouted, undisguised victory in his voice. Aro hesitated for a second, assessing this new mood warily before he answered. "Yes, Edward? You have something further... ?" "Perhaps," Edward said pleasantly, controlling his unexplained excitement. "First, if I could clarify one point?" "Certainly," Aro said, raising his eyebrows, nothing now but polite interest in his tone.
"The danger you foresee from my daughter - this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop? That is the crux of the matter?" "Yes, friend Edward," Aro agreed. "If we could but be positive... be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world - not endanger the safety of our obscurity . . ." He trailed off, shrugging. "So, if we could only know for sure," Edward suggested, "exactly what she will become... then there would be no need for a council at all?" "If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro agreed, his feathery voice slightly more shrill. He couldn't see where Edward was leading him. Neither could Maeryn, nor Jane nor Alec.
"Then, yes, there would be no question to debate." "And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" Edward asked with a hint of irony. Even more shrill. "Of course, my young friend. Nothing would please me more."
Edward chuckled exultantly. "Then I do have something more to offer." Aro's eyes narrowed. "She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at." "Not absolutely unique," Edward disagreed. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind." Maeryn fought the shock, where there more creatures like Renesmee? The sickly-looking mist still swirled around the edges of Bella's shield. And, as she struggled to focus, she felt again the sharp, stabbing pressure against her protective hold. But Maeryn wasn't helping this time. She had grown curious to their soon joining guests, her curiosity winning it over her bloodlust.
"Aro, would you ask Jane to stop attacking my wife?" Edward asked courteously. "We are still discussing evidence." Aro raised one hand. "Peace, dear ones. Let us hear him out." Jane bared her teeth at Bella; and she couldn't help but to grin back at her. "Why don't you join us, Alice?" Edward called loudly. "Alice," Esme whispered in shock. "Alice!" "Alice!" other voices murmured around the meadow. "Alice," Aro breathed. Alec's mist still tested, seeking a weakness - Jane would see if Bella would left any holes. And then Maeryn heard them running through the forest, flying, closing the distance as quickly as they could with no slowing effort at silence. Both sides were motionless in expectation. The Volturi witnesses scowled in fresh confusion.
Then Alice danced into the clearing from the southwest, Jasper was only inches behind her, his sharp eyes fierce. Close after them ran three strangers; the first was a tall, muscular female with wild dark hair - obviously Kachiri. She had the same elongated limbs and features as the other Amazons, even more pronounced in her case. The next was a small olive-toned female vampire with a long braid of black hair bobbing against her back. Her deep burgundy eyes flitted nervously around the confrontation before her.
And the last was a young man... not quite as fast nor quite as fluid in his run. His skin was an impossible rich, dark brown. His wary eyes flashed across the gathering, and they were the color of warm teak. His hair was black and braided, too, like the woman's, though not as long. He was beautiful. As he neared the vampires in the meadow, a new sound sent shock waves through the watching crowd - the sound of another heartbeat, accelerated with exertion.
Alice leaped lightly over the edges of the dissipating mist that lapped at Bella's shield and came to a sinuous stop at Edward's side. Bella reached out to touch her arm, and so did Edward, Esme, Carlisle. There wasn't time for any other welcome. Jasper and the others followed her through the shield.
All the guard watched, speculation in their eyes, as the latecomers crossed the invisible border without difficulty.
The brawny ones, Felix and the others like him, focused their suddenly hopeful eyes on Bella. They had not been sure of what her shield repelled, but it was clear now that it would not stop a physical attack. As soon as Aro gave the order, the blitz would ensue her. Edward, despite his absorption in the coup he was directing, stiffened furiously in response to their thoughts. He controlled himself and spoke to Aro again.
"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks," he said to the ancient. "And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?" Caius snarled. "The time for witnesses is past! Cast your vote, Aro!" Aro raised one finger to silence his brother, his eyes glued to Alice's face. Alice stepped forward lightly and introduced the strangers. "This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel." Caius's eyes tightened as Alice named the relationship between the newcomers. The Volturi witnesses hissed amongst themselves, including Jane and Alec, but Maeryn did not join them once again. She felt intrigued by the newcomers. So there were more male vampires impregnating female humans. The vampire world was changing, and everyone could feel it.
"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear." The slight woman looked to Alice nervously. Alice nodded in encouragement, and Kachiri put her long hand on the little vampire's shoulder. "I am Huilen," the woman announced in clear but strangely accented English. As she continued, it was apparent she had prepared herself to tell this story, that she had practiced. It flowed like a well-known nursery rhyme. "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful - too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shook her head mournfully.
"As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched. "She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away - I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster. But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones - and loved him still. I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish - and I agreed. He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far - the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping. I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here." Huilen bowed her head when she was finished and moved back so she was partially hidden behind Kachiri.
Aro's lips were pursed. He stared at the dark-skinned youth. "Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" he questioned. "Give or take a decade," he answered in a clear, beautifully warm voice. His accent was barely noticeable. "We don't keep track." "And you reached maturity at what age?" "About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown." "You have not changed since then?" Nahuel shrugged. "Not that I've noticed."
"And your diet?" Aro pressed, seeming interested in spite of himself. "Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either." "You were able to create an immortal?" As Aro gestured to Huilen, his voice was abruptly intense. Bella refocused on my shield, but Maeryn no longer paid attention. This was something new to her kind, something interesting. And she wanted to know every last bit of it.
"Yes, but none of the rest can." A shocked murmur ran through all three groups. Aro's eyebrows shot up. "The rest?" "My sisters." Nahuel shrugged again. Aro stared wildly for a moment before composing his face. "Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more."
Nahuel frowned.
"My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death." His handsome face distorted slightly. "He was pleased to find me." Nahuel's tone suggested the feeling was not mutual. "He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had. He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance... who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested" - he twisted the word - "in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back." "Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth.
"Joham," Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race." He made no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone. Maeryn shared this feeling. It indeed was disgusting.
Caius looked at Bella. "Your daughter, is she venomous?" he demanded harshly. "No," Bella responded. Nahuel's head snapped up at Aro's question, and his teak eyes turned to bore into Bella's face. Caius looked to Aro for confirmation, but Aro was absorbed in his own thoughts. He pursed his lips and stared at Carlisle, and then Edward, and at last his eyes rested on Bella. Caius growled.
"We take care of the aberration here, and then follow it south," he urged Aro. Aro stared into Bella's eyes for a long, tense moment. Maeryn had no idea what he was searching for in Bella's eyes, or what he found, but after he had measured her for that moment, something in his face changed, a faint shift in the set of his mouth and eyes, and Maeryn knew that Aro had made his decision. "Brother," he said softly to Caius. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."
"Is that your vote?" Caius demanded. "It is." Caius scowled. "And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?" "Perhaps we should speak with him," Aro agreed. "Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said flatly. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent." Aro nodded, his expression solemn. And then he turned back to his guard with a warm smile. "Dear ones," he called. "We do not fight today." The guard nodded in unison and straightened out of their ready positions. The mist dissipated swiftly, but Bella held my shield in place. She analyzed their expressions as Aro turned back to them. His face was as benign as ever, but unlike before, there could be a strange blankness sensed behind the facade. As if his scheming was over.
Caius was clearly incensed, but his rage was turned inward now; he was resigned. Marcus looked... bored; there really was no other word for it. The guard was impassive and disciplined again; there were no individuals among them, just the whole. They were in formation, ready to depart.
Once Alec's mist had returned to himself, Maeryn took off the glove of her right hand, showing her porcelain skin to the sun. Alec did the same to the glove on his left hand and grabbed Maeryn's hand tightly. It felt good to feel each other's skin touch one another. Now they could feel their connection much better than before.
The Volturi witnesses were still wary; one after another, they departed, scattering into the woods. As their numbers dwindled, the remaining sped up. Soon they were all gone. Aro held his hands out to the foes, almost apologetic. Behind him, the larger part of the guard, along with Caius, Marcus, and the silent, mysterious wives, were already drifting quickly away, their formation precise once again. Only the three that seemed to be his personal guardians lingered with him. "I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," he said sweetly. "My friend, Carlisle - how pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."
"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle said stiffly. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region." "Of course, Carlisle," Aro assured him. "I am sorry to earn your disapproval, my dear friend. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me." "Perhaps, in time, if you prove a friend to us again." Aro bowed his head, the picture of remorse, and drifted backward for a moment before he turned around. The foes watched in silence as the last four Volturi disappeared into the trees.
Once back in the castle, Jane, Alec and Maeryn made their way towards Jane's room. Jane was boiling with anger and she threw some expensive vases against the wall on their way to her room. Maeryn and Alec skillfully avoided the porcelain shatters and followed their sister to her room. Once inside, Jane grabbed her pillow and ripped it in half. Alec let go of Maeryn's hand and pulled his sister in a tight embrace. Jane used her gift on him, but Alec kept on holding her, not once making a sound of agony. Soon enough Jane calmed down, and as soon as Alec released her, she fell onto her bed that was now covered in feathers. She picked one up and studied its form with her magnified sight, seeing every little detail.
"Don't fret sister, there will be a day we can defeat them." Alec said. "At a moment when they least expect it." Jane said, slowly grinning again. "We got all eternity to plan it ." Maeryn said to Alec and Jane. Both the twins grinned.
Maeryn grinned along, though she could not shake off the feeling that something bad was about to happen.