The twenty fourth of March, two-thousand and thirteen, was a day the world would never forget.

To the average person it was remembered as the day the planet experienced the worst solar storms ever to have been recorded. Electricity was lost on a global scale. Car batteries were fried and vehicles skidded to a halt in their tracks. Planes fell out of the sky and hospitals ceased to function as even their emergency generators failed to start. Hundreds of thousands were killed in the chaos, and rioting ensued. It looked to be the end of the world.

But when the panicking people of earth woke up on the seventh morning since the start of the madness, they awoke to a world functioning once again. Lights would turn on and cars could suddenly be started, and slowly life began to return to normal for many. Trouble makers were rounded up and prosecuted, and memorials were held for the deceased. One by one the religious fanatics calling for the rapture and the end of days packed up their placards and cleared from the streets. Shops replaced their front windows and began stacking their shelves again. As far as the people were aware, the horror of the seven days was over, and the population began to move on.

But for the world of the supernatural the insanity had only just begun.

As the days went past reports of the strange behaviours of young adults all over the world began to emerge. Kids were seen to be lifting cars with superhuman strength, and a photograph of a young girl achieving the impossible and flying above the heads of her panicking parents was plastered over the front page of a British Tabloid. The world began to worry once again as the reports appeared faster and faster in the news, and the idea of the norm was shaken to its core. In certain parts of the world these children were considered demons, and put to the death by the fanatics in charge. In others, they were a gift and a scientific phenomenon, and the widespread celebration of their existence began. Unfortunately, the need for governments to understand this new 'species' of human lead to the rounding up and capturing of many – particularly those without families to miss them – and their illegal confinement in labs across various countries as testing on their biology began. It was a human rights crisis and it wasn't long before Amnesty International and the United Nations got involved. Some argued that these children were a threat to mankind and needed to be contained. Others claimed that they did not fall under Human Rights as their species was yet to be determined.

The children themselves became increasingly disenchanted with their new abilities, and begun to hide from the society they were increasingly prosecuted by. Some formed groups and disappeared into the wild together, and others were enrolled in special schools. But many stayed where they were and waited for the second social chaos to blow over before they could live their lives as before.

But as the human world hurtled through a crisis of morality and a scientific re-understanding, another group sat and stewed in the shadows, developing their own plans.

The Volturi considered the children a threat.

It was after Aro had received a report of a young teenage girl setting fire to and subsequently killing a vampire where he stood during a hunt when the concern really took hold. She had called the authorities and the vampiric remains had been carted away and examined as yet another anomaly. In the end it was determined that the ashes must have belonged to another unusual individual like the girl herself, but Aro thought it were too close of a call, and action had to be taken before more such incidents began to occur. There was also a sense of greed in his motives, as per usual, as Aro saw potential in the powerful children should they be turned and indoctrinated into his coven. Aro always had an eye for special gifts, and now there was a richer picking than ever before.

A plan was made. The most powerful would be approached and offered eternal life and a place in the guard. If they refused they would be killed, along with the weaker individuals the Volturi had no need for. The necessity of putting the less able children to death was argued hotly, but Caius made the valid point that those children the Volturi left could be taken in by their enemies, and turned to build up a talented army to rival their own.

It was a wise assumption as many such plans were slowly being cultivated in the heads of ambitious coven leaders worldwide. To most it was a dream of an idea they would not dare to attempt, but to one coven in particular – the Romanian coven – it was a chance at winning back an empire lost.

As the great culling of the children began Carlisle Cullen found himself in difficult position of his own. Ever the humanist he struggled with the reports of piles of children as young as twelve being found dead in back allies or as charred remains in old waste sites. Several youngsters in Forks had been known to have been affected by the gifts, and he knew it wouldn't be long until the Volturi reached them also. The idea of a stronger Volturi also scared him, as he knew that the near confrontation over Renesmee would not be forgotten, and that the dark-coats would be back to tear his family apart as soon as they knew they were strong enough to guarantee success.

And so Carlisle conversed with his family and a decision was made that the Volturi had to be stopped – for good this time.

And as the separate groups made their plans a network of alliances was forged, and all across the globe a path was paved for what looked to be the biggest supernatural war the shadowy world of Vampire and lore had ever experienced.

It would be the greatest war the mortal world would never hear of.