Personal comments, update status, etc at bottom. Read away!
Disclaimer: this is a fan fiction story based on the Twilight series created by and wholly belonging to Stephenie Meyer. This is purely a writing exercise for the enjoyment of this fanfic's author, and said author will not use it for any commercial and/or profit-making purposes whatsoever.
Prologue – If We Want Things to Stay the Same…
A tense silence settled like the mist around our small travelling troupe.
To the eyes of any unfortunate onlooker, "small" would not have been such an accurate descriptor, perhaps. I suppose anything short of a platoon is usually a bit small when you think like a bodyguard. There weren't that many unfortunate onlookers in this cobblestoned part of the city, at this time of night, however.
Pity. I was a bit thirsty.
At the head of the convoy, Aro walked slower than usual. His comfortable mask of good cheer and optimism was well-known among our kind. He had perfected this mask for longer than anyone here had been alive, with the exception of the two figures immediately flanking him as we walked. Even when not discussing serious matters, Aro was usually capable of maintaining airy talk between the Three without any assistance or provocation. It was an integral part of the mask.
That mask was absent tonight, however. His pale features were schooled into excruciating neutrality. The meeting we had just left had given the Three a lot to think about.
"What kind of imbeciles does he take us for?" Caius, to the right of Aro, was the first to break the silence. His voice was that of a pickaxe digging into ice. It was not neutral. "It's revolting – and don't think for a minute that I believe he and his disgusting bottom-feeders aren't interested in spreading their practices, like some kind of cult."
"Calm, brother," Aro spoke in measured tones in response to Caius' rising voice, "we should consider carefully before jumping to conclusions."
"I much disagree, brother. There may be as of yet only few of our world who have adopted this unnatural feeding practice, but you especially are aware of how widespread its consideration has become," Caius' red irises bored into Aro's head.
Aro had no response to that. Caius' eyes turned calculating.
"It goes against nature. Worse still, it could prove… dangerous to our work."
At this, the corner of Aro's mouth quirked almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing.
"I don't much see what personal diet choices have in common with law enforcement," Marcus' tone wasn't as doubtful as it was bored. In contrast with Aro's precise neutrality, Marcus' face was a picture of disinterest.
"Oh, don't be obtuse. It's the way they are beginning to look to him, Marcus. It's bad enough that he and his family are the largest coven outside our own," that fact was one that the Three had grown considerably conscious of, "and that they all feed… that way. But their influence has spread to their Denali cousins, and it shows no sign of abating. Or isn't that so, Aro?" he directed the mostly rhetorical question to the only one among them capable of coming by this knowledge directly.
"It is true," Aro replied carefully, "that the thoughts of some of the coven leaders show that they have considered this practice."
"And that more of them are seeking his counsel on the issue. Personally." Caius pressed.
"Yes," Aro's precise neutrality was tinged with slight discomfort.
"Our authority is being undermined by a diet counselor?" a note of amusement colored Marcus' flat monotone.
"Dear brother," Caius replied with a trace irritation, "if you'll remember Aro's reading of some of the other coven leaders, some of the nomads even, you'll recall, I trust, that their discussions bridged topics well removed from mere dietary discipline. Their concerns about the proper place of our kind, our role in the larger scheme of things, especially with regards to the humans – concerns they took, not to the keepers of the Law for the last millenia, but to the leader of a family of upstarts. This truly does not concern you?"
"It seems the sort of topic that would arise naturally in view of the particular nature of their abstention," Marcus was, as always, unmoved.
"It seems," Caius followed quickly, "like the sort of topic that should be brought before us – not least because it involves considerable risk of exposure to the humans," Caius' voice rose even further, along with his agitation.
"We are the authority on such things. But that understanding seems to be slipping. Unless we ourselves take a hand now, brothers, this will slowly chip away at the proper order of things. If this peculiar experiment on his part is not controlled, it threatens the way of living we have worked so hard to defend for the past millennia."
"The Law concerns our visibility – it does not address managing the minutia of our kind's everyday life, thus_" Marcus' bored tone hinted at some discomfort, but Aro interrupted before he could continue.
"No Marcus, he does make a valid point," Aro spoke with more surety now, his eyes ablaze with the fire of creation of the mind behind them.
"This little 'cultural revolution' has the potential to undermine our authority, and though our power is unmatched, it is that authority that we depend on to maintain order among our kind, particularly in our absence," he spoke more quickly now, the fire of opportunity catching in his thoughts, "We can't be everywhere at once, and this development thus poses a grave risk to our current equilibrium – so an example must be made of him and his family," here Marcus looked quite ready to interrupt, but Aro continued soothingly, "…if not by the letter of the Law, than in its spirit."
Marcus looked like he would say something more, but held his tongue reluctantly. Aro halted the procession momentarily and turned to him. Aro's neutrality had quietly evaporated. He looked gravely at his brother, reached out and held his shoulders.
"Brother, for millennia, Volturi have championed the Law of our kind to avoid exposure. We have gained the trust or fear of our fellows in the pursuit of this noble duty. Never before has this honorable task been more necessary – the humans have at their disposal weapons so powerful that they are able to kill our kind, if they possessed the knowledge of our existence. Now another has become a symbol capable of usurping the trust our family has worked so long to build, that same trust which holds our kind to the Law even in our absence, the trust that we depend on to keep our existence a secret. Defending that trust at all costs is no more than our duty to uphold the Law."
Self-satisfaction crossed Aro's face, but it passed quickly. His eyes glinted and he cast his most winning smile, and gently let go of the other's shoulders.
I chuckled silently. I didn't know how they did it, but their skill at manipulation, even of each other, never ceased to dazzle me, even after hundreds of years of servitude. Manufacturing justification was a compulsion of theirs, like feeding, and no one was better at it than they. I would know.
Sure, sure, the so-called 'vegetarians' likely posed some slightly elevated risk of exposure to the humans, technically speaking, but it was not the greatest threat they had ever encountered – not even close to the kind of threat they would routinely send me to neutralize. But the Cullens were the second-largest coven… and they were growing in influence. Allowing that fact to be known to the Volturi was a mistake. It was not their first, however, merely their latest. Their gravest mistake was simply having talented members – members who the Three had, on multiple occasions, propositioned to join their prestigious Guard. The Three always got what they wanted… eventually.
The 'trust' they had crafted over millennia, which Aro spoke so highly of now, was a candle compared to the roaring fire of the burning lust for power of the Volturi. They had dictated and interpreted the Law – and enforced it, I thought with a wide grin – unquestioned for thousands of years, the very same Three. So far as I could tell, we were no less susceptible to corruption than humans. Humans just didn't live long enough to grow as thirsty. Even if we didn't get to them first.
"Destroying them at a whim would seem… rather tactless," after a moment, Marcus' voice had returned to boredom. He was back on-board.
"That is most certainly so," replied Aro, still smiling brightly as he turned around and continued our procession. "Even we are not above the Law, after all," I was very, very careful not to allow a smirk to cross my face, "so we must prepare to… observe them closely."
"We'll need more information on their territory to do that," Caius was all too eager to jump back into the conversation. Aro nodded.
"Demetri."
My reply was ready – I couldn't help but grin.
"Yes Master?"
This was going to be fun.
*
Hey guys! Special thanks to Waldinando, Dawnlxix, Twilight_Children and nicfanz for the comments/reviews, they mean a lot to me. And further thanks to everyone who's already "favorited" my story, I hope to keep it coming, quality included.
I'd love to see more reviews though guys! Even if it's not a 'review' strictly speaking - any ideas of where the story might go? Speculation? Gossip? Ideas? Constructive criticism? I'm open and I wanna hear your thoughts!
I felt like the short description of the story that I wrote promised more than I could set up in the first chapter (establishing characters = more compelling, and all that), so I went back a bit to make a prologue, and here it is. If you're reading this for the first time, I wrote "Falling Into Light" first and the semi-obligatory intro text is at the bottom there (but starting with the prologue is not a problem - have no fear!)
It might be a while till I can next update, what with holidays and all. Consider these first two chapters presents (hope you like 'em ;-) and I hope everybody has wonderful holidays!
hugs!
/bdyffrent