Obsession One-Shot Contest
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2337304/Obsession_Contest

Title: Collection

Your pen name: klutz82

Characters: Aro

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or it's characters. No other disclaimers needed.

Lyrics that inspired you: Siouxsie and the Banshees – Obsession

it's all in my imagination
yes they even say that our mission ...is only
my obsession

*Aro started with Aro*

As a man, Aro was weak. He was the servant who did as he was told but secretly plotted the demise of his master. At night, when he was finally allowed to retire to his own world, he thought of nothing but power and what he would do with it. He meticulously planned everything, every turn, every false move, every diplomatic smile. During his days, he would watch each person he found himself surrounded by to see how loyal they would be. He knew watching could only get him far, but to actually know what they were thinking would be most valuable. But that involved getting a handle on powers only the gods had. And there was no way Aro would be allowed to. So he kept serving those more powerful than him, waiting for the day when his life was mercifully taken into a different world.

Wars were prominent, so it didn't peak his interest when he heard of a small army coming closer. It did, however, stop him when he heard there were no survivors. His heart beat faster. Sure, he wanted the gods to deliver him from the lifetime of servitude, but he was too much of a coward to face death. The escape plan started. If the army knocked down the barriers keeping the town safe, if they started their rampage through each building in search of human casualties, he would flee; protect himself and no one else. Maybe he would find his sister, still in the town he unhappily grew up in. Maybe.

His worst fear was realized when the army pushed through the defenses. They pushed through too easily. Aro had no time to escape. When he came in contact with one of the hard skinned creatures from the north, he did what he was best at: he groveled and begged.

"Save me. I can be of some help. I can keep you well fed. I know how to give you anything you want, just ask."

The pale man towering in front of Aro just smirked and opened his mouth to clamp onto Aro's neck.

When Aro awoke, he found himself very different but completely the same. His long black hair still fell over his shoulders, and he still had the same weak thoughts in his head. On the other side, his skin shown in the midday sun like jewels he only wished he had, and his throat burned at the metallic taste in the air. In the minutes after his reawakening, he came across a black haired child, and his new self reached out for it, sucking it dry while flashes of memories he didn't have moved across his mind.

The blood was the best thing in the world. The pictures of what he assumed were the child's memories – his father never picked him up for a hug – were interesting to say the least. As he settled his aching throat, he caught more pictures. He wasn't a stupid man and soon figured out each picture was the person's past, each thought they ever had.

It was the one resource Aro never could have had if the gods didn't decide to smile on him that day. If he could make it past the constant hunger, he realized, all the plans he had as a human would come to fruition. Only this time, he wouldn't rule the weak humans who could usurp him but the powerful demigods who had no chance in damaging him. And maybe, one day, he would become the god to rule them all.

*Aro moved on to Marcus*

In a few years, Aro became powerful and surrounded himself with the weak vampires who saw where he was going and wanted to ride safely with him to the top. Aro kept them near with his hands barely away from theirs. It only took one traitorous thought…

He learned about the ones who ruled the world of the nighttime demons from his followers. The knowledge he gained about them started his search for more helpful companions. He needed those with powers like his, those with powers useful in a fight. The generic vampire qualities weren't going to take down a coven that had been ruling before Aro's pathetic life started.

Marcus had already formed his niche in another group when Aro came along. The other vampire could sense relationships between people of any kind, Aro figured out. The way he did was ingenious, really. Just one small brush against Marcus that lasted longer than needed during a quick conversation was all it took for Aro to see what Marcus held. He also learned how easy it would be to steal the other dark hair creature away from the group. Marcus' distain for them had grown exponentially after being pushed aside for someone new with less talent.

A few choice words and Marcus was hooked. In five short years after his addition, Aro found himself appointing Marcus as his second in command. On each battlefield, Marcus found the weak links, and Aro ordered his men to attack through manipulation and force. Sometimes, when the people on the ends of the link were special enough, Aro stepped in and collected them, putting them to work in his still small but rapidly growing army.

*Aro's collection grew with Didyme*

With the memories of his former life vanishing in the violence of his new ones, Aro grabbed onto the one part of himself he hadn't tried to manipulate. A few of his followers, the ones he trusted most, traveled with him to see her. As she slept, Aro sunk his teeth into his sister's skin.

He kept close while she changed, and, when she came through, he was the first person she saw with her new eyes. Happiness spread through him as he explained why he was there and who she was now. The happiness didn't stop until he left her side.

It wasn't what Aro expected, but he put her to use. She was always around, lighting up the room, making the enemies fall in love with her and effectively taking down their guard for Aro to come in behind them. The three of them – Didyme, Marcus, and Aro – led their growing army for a few centuries before the tide turned not only for Aro but for the trio as a whole.

Didyme couldn't stop Marcus from falling for her. Aro couldn't stop it either. What he tried to stop was Didyme's feelings for Marcus. He planted seeds of uncertainty, told outright lies, and even sent Marcus away from their base of operations, a town he had taken over years before. He tried once to get Marcus to see his side, to see how horrible it would be for their exploits if two people were connected the way they were. But love continued to get in the way.

Aro brought in a couple of women. One of them, Sulpicia, was to be his; the other, Athenodora, was to be Marcus'. He found his mate in Sulpicia, a voluptuous woman with blond, almost white, hair. She gave him everything he needed and knew how to stand back in her place when he was done with her. Her abilities were inconsequential. She was just a trophy.

Athenodora failed to take Marcus away from Didyme. Aro kept her around only because she was good at murder.

"They're going to betray you," said Sulpicia one evening, wrapping herself back up in her clothes after another forgettable time together.

"I know," he growled, sitting on the side of the bed with his elbows on his naked knees holding up his increasingly heavy head.

*Aro found Chelsea next*

Her story was simple. After seeing his sentries bonds to him, she tried to destroy them. Aro watched as three of his guards changed sides because of her, but, eventually, he was able to convince her that his side was more profitable, more lucrative. He made her part of the new elite guard he was setting up so someone like Chelsea couldn't get close to him again.

A short decade later, his fears about Didyme and Marcus came to be. Hesitantly, Marcus came to Aro. Aro, however, greeted his old friend with a smile and blessed their union and their decision to leave. Ten days after that, after he sent Marcus on one more outing to "take care of loose ends," Aro walked into his sister's room with his head held high and a look of indifference on his face.

He waited for her to turn her back on him before he went for her neck, snapping it off in one quick, fluid motion. Before she hit the ground, her arms were pulled off and thrown on top of her head to stop her motionless eyes from watching him.

"You shouldn't have betrayed the one who gave you life," he said through a shaken body.

When he was finished, he had nameless vampires take Didyme's body out and burn it. He had Athenodora kill them.

"Make him never want to leave me," he said to Chelsea with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

When Marcus came back and saw his mate missing, Aro told him a story about how the nameless, lust boiling through them, went after her. He told him how he was too late. After they were finished, they burned her body. In his heartbreak, his old friend bought it. As they stood on the spot where the last of his family's ashes blew away, Chelsea strengthened Marcus' bond to him, to the cause his friend forgot.

*Aro brought in Caius*

Caius was a light haired vampire, angry and harsh. With the decline in Marcus's personality, Aro needed someone like that. He needed the outward fury to compliment his curious calm. What he didn't expect was Athenodora to capture the eyes of Caius. Aro's eyes stayed close, his hands always hovering over the two of them to make sure she wasn't going to get in the way as his sister did.

The three of them ruled as they brought more people into the elite guard to protect them from the nameless foes from the north. His collection grew with Felix, Afton, and Santiago, all of whom excitedly joined. Felix, with his brute strength, was the best fighter they had; Santiago was the next. Afton's affinity wasn't for fighting but for strategizing.

Eventually, they gave their Italian town a name: Volterra. Humans were permitted to visit, but using them for a snack was not. Their group was known as the Volturi, and they gave themselves a history for the humans to latch onto, changing it when needed. The three leaders of the Volturi made rules, made them look like humans as much as possible even though they never went out in the light or barely at all. They started employing humans to keep up the façade. Only those humans knew who they were, and they weren't kept long.

Caius' ideas shaped the Volturi into what Aro always knew they were going to be, but Aro made sure Caius knew it was all because of him. He didn't need the rough vampire to get any crazy ideas about his own power, and he didn't need to have his other equal bound to him in the same fashion as Marcus.

*Aro accepted Renata into his fold*

It was Santiago's fault. He took part of her life, not all as he was supposed to.

"She was too beautiful to die," he said, his eyes begging Aro to keep the servant girl.

"You need to get rid of her. We don't need filth like her in here," barked Caius. "Felix. Afton." The pair came up behind Santiago and forcefully pushed him to the ground, making it easier for Caius to tear the vampire's head off.

Aro smiled, "Caius, you are being too hasty. We should wait and see if she's special. If she is, Santiago was very useful. If not, he will be promptly demoted. You have my word."

Renata was special.

After a month into her vampire life, Caius got impatient. He called her to the three of them. It wasn't hard for Aro to figure out what the other Volturi member was going to do. He didn't want that, but he knew if the girl had an ability it would have shown itself. Nothing sprang forth from the girl who curiously never cared to kill.

Caius called for Felix, Afton, and Santiago as well. Felix and Afton held down the newborn while Caius ordered Santiago to end her life. Despite the five steps it took to get to her side, none of them made it. They all became confused as to why they wanted to walk toward her in the first place. Caius ordered them again. The confusion repeated itself.

Aro smiled at his newest member and walked toward her with a question: "Can you protect other people too?"

"Master?"

Aro's smile grew. He loved hearing his subjects call him that. "Felix. Come. Try and hit me."

"Master?"

"Hit me." He turned his attention to Renata. "Try and use your ability on me."

She nodded at him with wide eyes as Felix went after Aro with a weak punch. Seeing it was going to connect, Aro moved out of the way. His mind went back to the drawing board. Then he asked for her to touch him while Felix swung. The same thing happened. He pushed her to focus the shield he couldn't see to encompass him as well.

After a day of grueling trials, his surprising Renata protected him. "She will stay by my side from now on," he declared.

At this time, Aro set his sights on the Romanian coven of vampires, the coven who had been the ones to turn him into the god he was now becoming. They were too flashy. They didn't care who knew they were vampires. It went against all the rules the Volturi had set up. Aro, Cauis, and a slowly declining Marcus decided their ways, along with their people, had to go.

A half a century later, Aro, with Renata behind him, his brothers beside him, and his guard in front of him, went after the Romanians. It was a brutal war which lasted a couple of years. On each side, nameless vampires met their end. Many unimportant humans did as well. Without a scratch, Aro left the battlefield victorious. As Caius stayed behind to round up the last of them with a few of the guard, Aro and Marcus returned to Volterra.

*Along the way, Aro collected Demetri*

He was a human who tracked them from the battlefield. Aro knew he was there, but allowed the human to follow for his own amusement. By the time they reached the outer walls of Volterra, the old vampire knew his gift would be useful.

"You can show your face now." Demetri stepped out from the trees and looked Aro straight in the eyes without fear. "Why are you so interested in me and my friends?"

"I want to be one of you. I want to have the power of a god."

"Come, then," he said, his signature amused smile playing across his face.

Demetri figured out his ability in no time. As a test, he sent out Santiago, giving him a month's head start. In one month, Demetri found Santiago and brought him back. The newest vampire became his favorite toy. Aro sent him to find the rest of the Romanian supporters.

He was able to find Corin and Heidi, both special in their own way, but not as important to Aro as he, Renata, and Chelsea. All that mattered, though, was that his collection continued growing, fueling his obsession to find more.

*Aro saved the twins, Jane and Alec*

Times changed. The Volturi built Volterra into a city paved in stone. Castles touched the shining sky while they hid beneath the ground, away from the light that would expose them. Aro sent his soldiers to find worthy additions. He sent his guard to enforce the rules every vampire knew. Heidi brought the food. Aro barely had a reason to venture out. Until one member of the guard, Corin, found the twins.

Corin could pick up a spark from a human who might have a gift. It wasn't always fool proof, as he could not detect what the power was, but it was enough for Aro to keep his eyes on the children Corin picked out. They were still too young for his guard; he wanted them to mature, make sure whatever powers they held matured.

But the humans had a different plan. The two children, sadistic and prone to playing nasty tricks on the adults, which included animal entrails, were soon placed on stakes and burned as witches. Aro stepped in before the fire consumed them. As they spent their time burning without the use of fire, Aro wiped out the town in anger over the near loss.

When Jane woke up, her powers hit Aro full force, bringing him to his knees for the first time in his vampire life. "Don't do that, dear one. I am your protector," he said after he recovered from the excruciating pain.

Her brother's powers didn't present themselves until two weeks later when they were back at Volterra. While sitting in front and watching an unknown vampire complain incessantly about some injustice he believe occurred, Aro saw a thin mist fall around the guard standing around the curvature of the circular room. He looked toward his right where the mist was moving away from and spotted Alec staring intently at the vampire in the center over a covered drain. The vampire soon stopped talking and stared in front of him as if he didn't see anything. Aro glanced at each guard member to study their reaction individually. They all looked the same as the one in the center.

"Jane."

She shot a look right at the unknown vampire. His body shook with the pain he was experiencing, but Aro saw nothing coming from the vampire to make him believe the younger, red haired being registered this fact.

He clapped his hands together once in triumph. "It looks like we have another gifted vampire," he said. "Okay, that's enough,"

"Yes, master," the twins spoke as their powers turned off, sending the vampire to the floor. As the mist subsided, those on his guard immediately started coming out of their trance, their eyes all on the young Alec.

*Aro borrowed Carlisle and Eleazar for a time*

The blond vampire's ideas were foreign to him. He refused to take human lives, instead preferring to take down animals for their blood. He taught himself through the nights and lived with the savage vampires Aro kept watch on during the days. Aro let the curious Carlisle come to him. When he did, Aro took the boy under his wing and taught him vampires didn't have to be uncivilized. However, Carlisle soon found out that being civilized meant one had to have a heavy hand.

Still, the vampire with the alternative lifestyle brought in ideas to the stale Volturi, helped them see what needed to change for Aro and his brothers to stay on top. Carlisle's time with them was short, but Aro knew the burgeoning doctor needed to continue on his own way. Carlisle was the first to be allowed to willingly leave.

"Why did you let him go? He knows our secrets," yelled Caius as one hand swept toward the door of their private chamber.

"Cauis," Aro patiently sighed, "We're not so barbaric as to kill our friends."

"You never stopped before."

Aro's red eyes narrowed and he growled, "I suggest you leave." As Caius placed his hand on the golden doorknob, Aro called after him, his voice composed, "Don't you worry about Carlisle. I'll always have my eyes on him."

Eleazar, who arrived around the same time, was the useful one. Corin couldn't compare to Eleazar's ability to find vampires with useful talents. The older vampire was pushed aside to welcome the younger Eleazar. He did not disappoint, and rounded up those Corin would have never found.

Aro liked to fortify the bonds of his guard with Chelsea's ability, but, after Carlisle left, he told her to tone it down, to see who was the most loyal to him and to their cause. The Spanish vampire was the one to ask to leave. Eleazar found a woman who wanted to take him away. Aro spent a few days wondering if it would be best to force him to stay or to be the bigger man and let him go. He saw how Marcus became an apathetic fool, barely hanging on to life, barely caring what happened to the Volturi. Aro didn't want Eleazar to become that way. If times changed, Aro wanted the other vampire's power. And he wanted him to come willingly.

With a snarl from Cauis, Aro let Eleazar go with a warm smile on his face. Three days after that, he ordered Chelsea to strengthened the bonds once again.

*Aro's obsession continues Edward, Bella, and Alice*

There were more he had his eyes on, but they didn't come to the forefront as fast as Carlisle's vampire son, Edward, when he willingly walked into Volterra. He stepped into their underground chamber with the start of apathy he saw once before and asked to be killed. Aro didn't allow it, so Edward saw fit to make him do it.

On his return, he brought friends: Alice, a small, pixie vampire with the same golden eyes and the ability to see the future, and Bella, a human girl who already held the ability to block him and his dear Jane.

With each touch he gathered their information to save and pick around at a time when a mind reader wasn't close by. Edward, the boy who could read people's minds without touching them as Aro needed to do, would be useful for the battles when he didn't want to get too close. Aro knew, of course, Edward wouldn't be able to see past a lie as he could, but with proper training, Aro was sure the boy's performance would be exceptional. Bella's abilities would only amplify after her promised change. He couldn't wait to see the tricks waiting up her sleeve. But the best was saved for last.

Little Alice captivated him the most. The vision she was so confident in made his mouth water with want. She was the one he needed the most. She would be the one kept by his side, making sure she watched the repercussions of each decision he made or thought of. This would allow him to strategically stay on top and away from harm for many more centuries, millennia even. When the blond vampire named Jasper, a gifted vampire who knew how to fight, flashed into his head, he found the key to making her his.

Sitting in his chair, Aro waits patiently for the day when he can capture them.

They will have a choice, they always do, but he will make sure their choice is the right one.

Because he needs his collection. To protect the vampire community. To enforce the rules.

To keep his obsession alive.