"Hello" - speaking

'Hello' - thinking

(I have edited and combined what was previously chapters one and two. I hope you guys like the change. It certainly makes the first chapter longer.)

Chapter I:

The Life and Times of Didyme

As a human Didyme had everything she could have ever wanted. She was the only child of a king, and he reigned over a relatively wealthy kingdom.* For a comparatively long time the royal family consisted of only herself and her father, her mother having died in childbirth and her father too heartbroken by his wife's death to have ever remarried. She was a spoiled child (as her father saw her as all that was left of her mother) and was second in power only to him. By the time she turned 15 she knew that her life was perfect. And she would do anything and everything in her power to make sure it stayed that way.

.-.

Her first stumbling block in this course of action was when her father fell in love for a second time. Her name was Europa** and she was beautiful. She was sweet. She was trusting. And ultimately she was stupid, because she trusted Didyme.

In Didyme's opinion the task was an easy one; all that had to be done was to lure the stupid girl out of her father's protection. A simple made up rendezvous using her father's name and the twit thought she was going to meet the King near the swamp to continue on to a nearby castle for some 'alone time'. What she met was the end of a dagger, and her last date was one with the creatures in said 'conveniently' nearby swamp.

Naturally her Father was very upset when he found his dear Europa's suicide letter stating that she was a simple woman that could not handle the demanding life of a queen. Of course Didyme wept for (and with) her beloved father, and consoled him in his time of need. Little did she know it would be said father that would pose her biggest problem.

.-.

"My dearest Didyme, I have something very important to talk to you about," the King said one evening at dinner. "Would you come to my study after the meal?" he asked.

"Of course, Father," she gave him one of her best smiles; the one that said 'you know, you're the most important person in my world', "I'll be there as soon as I'm finished eating."

.-.

Later that night in his study the King just observed his beautiful daughter for a time and couldn't believe how much she had come to resemble his first love. The golden strands of her hair shimmered in the firelight and her gray eyes looked almost black in the flickering light. Now that he thought on it even her body type resembled that of the only woman he would ever consider his true Queen. The only thing that she seemed to have inherited from him was his strong chin and charisma.

"So, Father what was it that you needed from me? You know all you need to do is ask and I'll do anything for you." She said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

'Although the almost worshipful adoration she seems to have for me worries me sometimes; it only adds to the almost painful resemblance she holds to…Her…and I really can't seem to protest too much.'

"My child, I am not getting any younger, and you know that I worry about you. It is about time that you settled into a good family, preferably royal, and I have found several suitors that I believe could be-"

She cut him off in an almost hysterical panic. "Father, did, did I do something wrong? Do you not love me anymore? Am I a nuisance?"

He could almost see her trying to find something she could have done to make him want to send her away. "No, Didyme I love you with all my heart, I'd do anything for you. That is why I am preparing for your future"

She began to sob. As he internally, and externally for that matter, began to panic a small part of him commented on yet another similarity between her and her mother. They both managed to look ridiculously attractive even when they cried.

"I", she gasped to regain the breath she had lost and managed a mostly coherent sentence, "I don't (tear) want to be separated from you. Not ever-"She broke down into incoherent sobbing at his feet; and his heart just about broke at the pain he seemed to be causing her.

"Oh, my sweetest angel the suitors can wait for a time, just don't cry." He reached down for her, pulled her half into his lap, and attempted to dry her tears the way he had when she was still a child. She leaned her head against his shoulder and began to calm down a bit. "Please don't cry, love."

"O-okay father, but, you still love me….right?"

He could tell that she seemed to need the reassurance. He held her close for a minute. "Of course I do darling." He briefly tightened the hug. "You're all I have," he finished lowly.

After a little while Didyme seemed to have regained her composure. After a more mundane conversation (and a complete subject change) Didyme finally said goodnight and began to leave. Right before she opened the door though, she turned to look back over her shoulder and said in a soft voice "I love you, Daddy" and he looked back at her and with uncharacteristically soft eyes said, "I love you too."***

.-.

As she strode down the hall to her wing of the castle Didyme began to think about what she should do about this newest, albeit not unexpected, twist. The way she saw it she had only two options if wanted to hold on to the power she had become accustomed to. First, she could marry one of the weaker willed suitors, manipulate him into killing her father, and then kill said husband herself…..but ultimately she decided that it would be easier in the long run to just inconspicuously off her father the first chance she gets.

With that decided she relaxed a bit and made her way a bit more leisurely to her rooms and a hot bath before bed, all the while absently pondering ways to kill her father. After all with him out of the way she wouldn't just be Princess Didyme anymore. Queen Didyme had an awfully nice ring to it in her opinion.****

.-.

After the ridiculous ease with which Didyme was able to slay Europa; she didn't think it would be all that much more difficult to murder the King. She was wrong.

She had eventually decided to go with poison.***** And her plan was both difficult and ridiculously simple, as is usually the case with such things. It was difficult in that acquiring an extremely deadly poison really is quite difficult when one is attempting to play the part of an angelic princess. But it was easy in that not only would just one drop suffice; but just like Europa, Didyme's father trusted her. Or at least that was how it was supposed to have been.

.-.

Now while the servants of any Royal Palace are trained to ignore certain things; like Nobles muttering to themselves or conspicuous stains on bed sheets, Princesses pouring poisonous liquids into their father's tea cup is one of the things they were to stop. So they did.

Naturally, once caught, even though she was found unaccountably guilty of many crimes including attempted murder and treason, Didyme managed to wiggle her way out of a permanent punishment (such as death) and into a less final one. In this case – Exile.******

As everything that she had worked to gain and to preserve came tumbling down around her ears, and Didyme mourned all that could have been as she and her few attendants made their way out of the country, she died.

.-.

When Didyme first began her journey from her father's lands she was quite depressed for a time. But after a few days she had decided that it could not be too hard to for her to blind another man with her beauty and false love, this time of the romantic kind though. By the time she finally passed the border she knew it would be easy enough to drape a veil over any man's eyes and entrap them in her deceptive web, it was her gift after all.

Alas though, that she hit another unseen bump in the road, and that bump was being attacked by a vampire…in the middle of the road. Ironic no?

At first she thought being turned into a vampire was a bad thing, the pain she went through and the death of what servants had decided to come with her only strengthened that misconception. But the power, the beauty,******* and the sheer strength of her new form soon washed away all such preconceptions. And when she came to know her true power she knew that with this ability nothing was out of her reach.

She knew that with such power came great possibilities. For unlike other normal vampires she gained a great gift. This talent allowed her to cause a false emotion in those around her. She could make another hate her beyond all reason, or love her until the world's end. She could make someone believe that she was the love of their life or their worst enemy. It seemed that what gifts for manipulation she had had in her human life had extended and amplified themselves to a ridiculous degree in her vampire one. The only limit that there seemed to be to her power was that she could only use it once on an individual person, eye contact was needed, and once nullified said emotion for her could never be rekindled

She used these powers to her own advantage, and tried to rise up in the vampire world. For a time she thought she had been making progress; she had become known for bringing happiness to all those that met her, for capturing the hearts of those who saw her. In reality though they were her pawns and blindly did everything that she wanted of them. They thought she loved them, and they were hers. They thought of her as a sister, a mother, a best friend, their one and only true love, and she thought of them as tools.

It was only when she learned of the Volturi, over one hundred years after her death, that she realized how ignorant she truly was of vampire society. Here she thought that she was a powerful figure with anyone she met at her whim, when she could have had a Volturi leader at her beck and call.

She had to plan carefully, find out where a weakness lied and she found it in him, Marcus Volturi. She had to know what kind of powers the Volturi had, and soon came to the conclusion that she would have to work fast at catching the idiot, and make sure that his elder brother would never lay a hand on her.

The day she set foot in Volterra for the first time was the day she started a new life. One in which she knew she would have to hide her true self. She could not use others, she could not be greedy, and she would even have to pretend to have remorse after a meal.

Of course it was also on this day, that she would met meet her new mar...err ahem…mate.

.-.

'Marcus, Marcus, Marcus…I've got to remember his name…' Didyme thought as she waited for her audience with the foremost leaders of the vampire world.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the large doors to her right. A male guard that she knew was already beneath her spell walked through the now open door and bowed.

"They will see you now, my lady." As he said this she stood, checked her appearance in a nearby mirror, and nodded regally to show that she was prepared to enter.

As she walked into the Great Hall of the Volturi lords she discretely took a glance around the room. The large hall was filled with quite a few vampires. Some were clearly guards and others were quite obviously high end nobles. The room was built out of stone and extravagant tapestries in dark colors were hung at regular intervals on one side of the room. The other side of the magnificent hall opened out onto a beautful garden with walkways lined with roses of many different colors. The floor was covered by a plush Persian rug made out of a blood red, silvery white and shadowy black pattern. At the other end of the hall on a raised dais sat three rather magnificent thrones. And in them, sat the Volturi.********

In the middle throne sat the most physically delicate seeming of the three lords. Long dark hair that reached his waist, chalky white skin, and unsettling milky red eyes characterized his appearance as he seemed to analyze hers. By his positioning she assumed that this was Aro, the main leader of the Volturi coven. The other two she couldn't positively identify, but their appearances were just as striking. On his left sat a tall, rather muscular man with shocking white hair and bright red eyes. He was just as handsome as his fellow leader and his frown as he looked at her was rather confusing. On his right sat the last of them with long jet black hair and hooded wine red eyes. He wasn't even looking at her, which she found rather off-putting and seemed bored with the whole situation.

As she approached the three men and gave a deep curtsy Aro rose and gave her a wide smile. "A guest!" he exclaimed, "It's wonderful that you should stop to visit our humble abode."

'Oh my, this is the leader of the Volturi? My informant mentioned that he was rather eccentric, but this is… Oh well, he really isn't my objective anyway. I should probably just ignore it.' She opened her mouth to reply, "It is an honor to meet you Master Aro, and the rest of the Volturi. I must admit I was a bit embarrassed to find that such a fraction has existed for so long, and I am just barely finding out about and visiting you." 'There,' she thought, 'that should be humble enough.'

"Oh, My dear there is no need for you to be embarrassed," he giggled a bit, "information on us is not spread unless there is need for a punishment…and either way there is no need to be so formal please call me just call me Aro."

He turned and with two negligent waves of his hand he introduced the ones behind him who were still seated. "These two are my brothers, Caius," He motioned to the man with white hair, "and Marcus," he gestured to the other.

She gave him a gentle smile and said, "And my name is Didyme." Her thoughts were on a different track though. 'I think something must have gone wrong when Aro was turned, I mean who has ever heard of a giggling male vampire. So, slouched, pale, and gloomy is my target…I think this will work out quite smoothly.'

Didyme moved forward a bit and gave a graceful curtsy to Caius. "Master Caius it is an honor to meet you" He simply narrowed his eyes and gave a deep growl. Expertly hiding how that unnerved her, she moved over to the right and turned to Marcus as if to get a good look at him. She once again began to curtsy but paused mid way, looking back up at him with awestruck eyes. She began to speak but stumbled into a stutter. "I...I…it is an h-honor for meeting and umm…no w-wait...what is…"

"Is something wrong Didyme?" asked Aro.

"No, Aro," she turned her head to glance at him then went right back to gazing at Marcus as if she couldn't take her eyes off him for more than a second. "It-it's just that I…I've never felt this type of pull to another before. It's like my heart; my very soul feels a tug towards him." When they heard what she was describing gasps spread throughout the room, and like lightning Marcus whipped his head around to look at her, meeting her own red eyes.

She was glad to have heard stories about the pull a vampire will feel towards his or her mate, because now that the fool has looked into her eyes all he will ever love, ever want is her, for all eternity should she desire it. He won't even use his power to see that the two have no connection at all as mates; he will never, ever question his love for her after this.

* - The name of said kingdom isn't really important. Just know existed around 2500 years ago.

** - Believe me, the name doesn't mean anything special. I just thought that Didyme sounded Greek and picked at random from a Greek myth.

*** - I apologize for this scene. I had planned to just explain what had happened but it wouldn't let me write it that way. I eventually just decided to use it as a way to show how manipulative she can be so you, my dear readers, don't think our dear Volturi leaders are being idiots when they don't see what a bitch she is right away.

**** - The mad laughter that ran through her head with that thought would have gotten her some strange looks had any of the servants been able to hear it

***** - The other options that she had a lot of fun pondering are much to gruesome to even mention

****** -If you want an example of what she does to get such leniency go back to the scene mentioned in the 3rd cliff note.

******* - We all know that the girl is at least partly insane, now you also know that she's ridiculously vain.

******** - I couldn't exactly remember what their little throne room looked like so I made up my own.

(I have decided to keep my orginal Author's Notes here for your veiwing pleasure... Please read them, and the additional one I shall put at the bottom of this chapter.)

Alright! My first fanfiction! Banzai! Banzai!

Well now that my mini celebration is over *smiles wryly* I have a few things to say to my readers (my first Author's Note too!):

First: the disclaimer I forgot at the beginning. Aljan Moonfire Does not own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does. Believe you me, if I owned it Jacob would not have become a pedophile.

Second: I got my inspiration for this fic from another one that I read awhile ago. As of now I can't even remember what it was called or who wrote it, so if I ended up copying any of the ideas from that story by accident I humbly apologize.

Third: I know that I marked this as a Bella/Marcus fic and that's what it is and will be. However just from how long this first chapter is when I didn't even mean to expand too much on Didyme's background I know that it will be awhile before I get around even writing their first meeting. (Even though I do have it all planned out) But please bear with me!

And Last: (but certainly not least) I would like to thank all of the people who encouraged me to finally post this including (but not limited to) my family (well mostly my little sister) and my cat, who always seems to jump on me, or at least distract me, when I get to frustrated about how a story isn't coming together.

- Aljan Moonfire

(The Author's Note for what was the second chapter. Enjoy.)

Alright! Another chapter!

Now for the author's note:

First: When I first started this story I hadn't read through all of the Twilight books for over half a year, so I had forgotten some of the more minor details; like the fact that in canon, Didyme is Aro's sister. I just needed Didyme to be a bad guy. T_T. So just a fair warning some of this story from this point on is going to be quite AU-ish so no flaming - I have now warned you.

Second: If any of you are wondering when Bella will be coming into the story, it should be in the next three chapters or so. I'll probably have one chapter illustrating that last scene from Aro, and the rest of the Volturi's, point of view, then another with Didyme's death, and then then what will be happening with Bella will start. When I started writing this I only ment for Didyme's life to be a prolouge!

Last: I'll be starting college next week soooo I'll try to get a few more chapters out before then but after that they might slow down a bit.

P. S. Please give me some reveiws I want to know what people think of this story and my writing style and if I should continue this for too long.

- Aljan Moonfire

Alright! and here is your final Author's Note...PLEASE READ! THIS IS IMPORTANT PEOPLES! *clears throat* well, hopefully that got your attention...

First: I had orginally decided to separate this into two chapters; one with her human life and one with her vampire life. It worked out well enough but I also think that I got less readers than I would've had I just left it alone. The result is this! (I really hope I get some reveiws out of this...)

Last: I apologize for how long it took me to do anything with this story. Over a month! Sadly enough, Real Life intervened. I have just managed to finish my mid-term asignments so hopefully I will be update a bit more regularly for a while. Hopefully.

Well that was kinda short... It was important though! and if I don't get some more reviews after I post the next chapter I may go on strike! *goes and sulks about only geting 19 reviews all told...*