Rise of the Shields…
Hello! This is my third fanfiction! I am SO excited to be sharing this. I started writing this story a little after I completed The Missing Shield (go check that out if you havent already!) so I've been hanging on to this for a while.
The characters of this chapter are all from Stephenie Meyer's brain! I did a little research on them (I went to the Twilight saga wiki) to make this story possible and to ensure I had the right information. I hope you all enjoy!
Reviews and feedback are welcomed!
Enjoy! ;)
*Set 7 years after Breaking Dawn* Two powerful vampires with shielding abilities enlist the aid of Bella – the last shield – to help defeat the Volturi, and take their place as rulers of the vampire world.
Chapter 1: Orchestrating Plans
*Afton's POV*
My charcoal cloak swayed around me softly as I walked silently down the hallway of the castle I knew to be home for the past few centuries. Though it was the castle I lived in, Chelsea was truly my home. She was everything to me. It was because of her that I was still here, that Aro allowed me to be here. Chelsea would not have stayed if I weren't here. Because we have each other, this life we are living is bearable.
Bearable but not the life we would rather live.
We had no interest in spending the rest of our lives with the Volturi. We have grown tired of Aro's greed and lust for power. We have grown tired of being perceived as evil and unjust throughout the vampire world. We have grown tired of being members of the Volturi and everything it represents.
Chelsea and I just wanted, needed some peace. We were ready, after many long centuries of servitude, to leave. But we both knew that that was easier said than done.
I sighed heavily as I opened the door that led to mine and Chelsea's suite.
"What's troubling you, my Afton?" Chelsea asked me as soon as I walked through the door, having heard my sharp outtake of breath. She placed the book she was reading on the desk before her and turned to face me, her blond bangs falling in her face, and covering her crimson eyes. I went to stand in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders, kneading them.
"Nothing very important for you to fret over." I answered, lifting a hand to sweep Chelsea's hair out and away from her eyes to better see them. And it was true. She didn't need the added stress of something I could surely figure out on my own.
"Anything that concerns you involves me. Worries included." She argued, slapping my hand away.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her instead.
"I'm…regrouping." Chelsea answered honestly. "Not totally…replenished, but getting there."
That's how it usually was when Chelsea wasn't affected by Corin's power. Corin's ability to make others feel content in any situation has an everlasting effect. The drug-like side effect of Corin's gift often leaves Chelsea too discombobulated and hazy to do much after her daily tasks are complete.
Because of Chelsea being Corin's main object of focus, she is most often left feeling unwell. All of which was going according to plan for Aro. Chelsea was the highest ranking guard. It was Chelsea that kept the Volturi together – her ability to strengthen or weaken bonds was a treasured power to Aro. She made the guards not want to leave. Corin made Chelsea not want to leave. Because of Chelsea being content and happy, that makes the rest of us feel the same way. Chelsea was the glue that held all of us together.
"Ah, but you are very good at changing the subject, Afton." Chelsea interrupted my thoughts. "What. Is. Troubling. You?"
I breathed a deep sigh. "I was just thinking of…our current situation."
"Our current situation?" Chelsea repeated, confused.
I lowered my voice to a whisper, not wanting to chance anyone hearing. "When are we leaving here, Chelsea?"
"But Afton, you know such a thing is impossible for us now. It would never work, the timing is not right yet." She whispered back to me urgently.
"And when will the time be right, huh?" I asked belligerently. "Another decade? Another century? Chelsea, I refuse to stay in these castle walls any longer!"
"I know, I know." She sighed, closing her eyes. "But we can't yet. I want to leave as much as you do, trust me, but we can't be too hasty. You see what's happened to Marcus."
Master Marcus was in love once. His mate Didyme –who was also Aro's sister – was the center of his immortal life. Like us, Marcus and Didyme grew tired of the Volturi's lifestyle, and planned to leave together. Aro, having heard of their plans and wanting to keep Marcus with him, killed Didyme. He killed his own sister because he was still the same power-hungry, selfish person he is today. To this day, Marcus doesn't know the truth. To this day, Marcus is a lonely, depressed shell of the man he once was.
"Yes, I remember." I said, disgusted. I could never understand how Aro could do such a thing. What he did was truly low, even for him. How could he kill his sister in cold blood without so much as batting an eye? Appalling. "But I would never let that happen."
"Afton –"
"What we need is to orchestrate." I interrupted, calculating. "We need a solid, full-proof plan – one that has to work."
"Afton, I don't know how we could make this work." Chelsea sighed. "I want to, I just…I just don't want anything to happen to you. This could be very dangerous. This is very dangerous."
"But I am ready to take this risk, Chelsea. For you - for us- sothat we can finally live." I said, staring into her eyes.
Chelsea looked into my eyes for a long moment, deliberating. After a few moments of silence, Chelsea gave me a small smile, a gleam in her eye.
"I have an idea." She said, still smiling.
"Tell me." I said, open for anything.
"Well, I was just thinking of how life would be different without the Volturi. I know that we enforce the laws that are crucial for our own existence, but think of how it would be without the other intents."
"Go on." I said, confused and wanting to find out what she was getting at.
"What if there were other rulers of the vampire world? We could be the rulers. We already know everything there is to know about executing the laws, and we wouldn't have any other malicious intents. It's a chance for us to be free, truly free. Even if we do manage to escape, we really wouldn't be living, Afton. We would always have to look behind our shoulders for Aro."
"That's….that is." I couldn't find the right word to describe how Chelsea's plan sounded. It was ludicrous! Impossible – how would such a plan ever work? I voiced my thoughts out loud.
"Of course we could never pull this off on our own." Chelsea said, rolling her eyes at me. "I was thinking that we could have some assistance."
"Assistance? Who do you have in mind?" I asked, curious about my mate's reasoning.
"The Cullens." Chelsea answered simply like it was the most logical thing in the world.
"The Cullens?" I repeated, incredulous. "Like they would ever help us after all the Volturi has done to them. What we have done to them."
"I was actually thinking of one Cullen in particular. The shield – Bella's her name."
"Yes, I remember her - their latest addition."
"Think of what she can do alone, Afton." Chelsea whispered. "Bella can render all our powers useless. With her on our side, we can accomplish this."
I thought for a moment. Bella was powerful. I remembered how she was able to stop us that time seven years ago. I could only think of what she could do now, now that she has had time to finally learn her ability. That fact was that Bella Cullen was our best hope.
"How do we know that the Cullens are still in Washington?"
Chelsea's eyes lit up, she knew that I was now considering her idea. "We don't." she said. "But you're a good enough tracker to find them."
"I wouldn't know where to start." I admitted.
But Chelsea had already thought all this through. "You would start in Washington, of course. Go on your next mission – which is in two weeks, right? - do whatever you need to get rid of your partner. When neither of you come back, Aro would just think you both failed. I doubt he would care enough to set up a search. About time Aro realizes you two should be back, you will be half way to the Cullen's location."
I took all that in for a moment. Chelsea made it sound so easy. Her plan may just work.
I kissed her softly on the lips. "You, my dear, are astonishing."
*Rise of the Shields*
My next mission sent me to the streets of Detroit. A vampire was becoming careless in his killings, leaving the bodies in easily found places and increasing the murder cases in the city. Aro wanted the vampire to be dealt with quickly; he didn't have time to deal with this "imbecile" as he had called the vampire.
I walked silently behind Stefan – one of the lowest in ranks, telekinesis was his ability- over the piles of trash that littered the ground.
"Disgusting." Stefan huffed as he stepped over rotting food. "Couldn't this vampire pick a more sanitary place to hunt for food?"
I didn't respond. I was thinking of my real mission, and how I was supposed to play it out.
Do whatever you need to get rid of your partner. Chelsea's words echoed in my head. Whatever it took to escape and find the Cullens. Whatever it took to finally get some peace from the Volturi.
I knew what I had to do.
I quickly surveyed the area – scanning the area with my eyes, ears, and sense of smell. There were no humans around. It was, after all, the dead of night. Humans were typically sleeping at this hour.
I acted quickly. Before Stefan had time to react, I pounced on him sending us both to the ground. It wasn't much of a fight; I was a more experienced fighter than Stefan. It took me no time at all to tear his head from his body and set his body ablaze. I didn't allow myself to feel guilty as I watched Stefan's body burn. It was all part of the plan, and I would do anything to ensure that Chelsea had the life she deserved.
Even if it meant I had to kill my comrades to do so. I would do anything for Chelsea.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, I left the scene without so much as a glance at the blazing fire. I had another, more important job to do. I had to find the Cullens. I broke out into a run, pushing my legs to reach my top speed. My cloak flew out behind me as I ran into the night, the moon shining high in the sky.
I didn't stop running until I made it to the mouth of Michigan a while later. I felt the strange sensation that I was being followed. I turned around, scanning the area and finding nothing, I faced forward.
SNAP!
I turned around again. Someone was definitely following me. I didn't understand how I didn't realize this earlier; I was so focused on finding the Cullens…
I walked towards the spot where I heard the sound. As I got closer, I was suddenly hit with a feeling of nausea. A feeling of revulsion so strong it made me want to gag. I had to get away from this place. Before I became the first vampire ever to vomit. Taking a deep breath, hoping to calm the nausea down with the crisp air, I turned around and fled. As I got farther away, the nausea dissipated - much to my relief.
What was that? I thought as I continued running. Suddenly, I was hit from behind and was sent flying through the air. I crashed into a tree, falling to the ground with it. Before I had time to react, my attacker was on top of me, pining my arms and legs down. I struggled to get free.
"Who are you?" my attacker demanded. His voice was smooth, deep, and clear, holding a hint of a threat if I didn't cooperate.
"I am Afton." I answered calmly. Antagonizing this vampire would not help.
"I saw the way you killed that other vampire back there, what are your plans?" the vampire asked, tightening his hold on my arms.
"I mean no harm towards you. I only killed the other vampire to get away from him. He had to die." I answered, my voice still calm and collected.
"Why?"
"If you let me up, I will tell you everything you want to know." I bargained.
The vampire hesitated. After a few minutes of contemplating, he jumped up and away from me. I got quickly to my feet, facing the strange vampire.
He was tall, about a foot or so taller than I was. His hair was blond, curly, and framed his face. The vampire looked to be in his early twenties. He was muscular, but not too exceedingly buff. His eyes were a bright crimson.
"Hmm." I said softly. "How long were you following me?"
"Just right after I saw you kill that vampire." He said. "I just wanted to see if you were a threat to me."
"Was that you who made me feel…" I trailed off.
The vampire smiled. "Yes, that was me. I can make people feel – or at least make them think they do – repulsed by me. It comes in handy, I can tell you."
"A shield." I whispered to myself. Shields were very rare, Aro must not know about this vampire. If he did, he would have done everything he could to make him part of the guard.
"Excuse me?" the smile slipped off his face.
"You have a defensive talent. It's meant to keep others away from you – powers like that are called shields. I'm one myself."
"Wow. I've never thought of that. I've never heard of such a thing as a vampire shield…interesting." The vampire whispered, amazed. "What can you do?"
"I can make myself invisible." I smiled. "Want to see?"
"Sure."
I closed my eyes in concentration. I felt the familiar tingling sensation over my body as I made myself disappear. The vampire's awed gasp made me smile. I reappeared.
"Wow." The vampire said again. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Fred."
"Fred." I said, nodding.
"So." Fred hesitated. "Why did you kill that other vampire? Why did you need to get away from him?
"That's a long story." I murmured.
"I have no place else to be." Fred encouraged.
"Certainly you've heard of the Volturi?" I asked. He must have, every vampire knew of the Volturi. They had to.
Fred's eyes narrowed slightly. "I have."
"Well, I work for them –"
Fred's growl interrupted me. He took on a defensive stance, waiting to attack.
"Let me finish!" I demanded. "I told you I mean you no harm and I don't"
After a moment of hesitation, Fred straightened from his crouch. "Go on." He said.
"I guess you could say that I worked for the Volturi since I never plan to go back there to stay. I plan to return to my mate, Chelsea, who is also a part of the guard. But first, I am in search of someone."
Fred was interested now. "In search of who? Why?"
"Chelsea and I have grown tired of being a part of the Volturi. We plan to overthrow them so we can live in peace, as well as rule the vampire world. We wish to keep peace, and only that, not at all like the rulers now. To do that, we need the help of the Cullen clan."
"Why do you need their help – I mean, what can they do?" Fred asked.
"Not really the Cullen clan as a whole." I corrected. "Only one member in particular – Bella is who we want – she is also a shield.
"Another shield?" Fred asked his eyebrows rose. "What does this Bella do that's so important?"
"She has the ability to shield all mental abilities she encounters. I've only met her once, but she was able to render all of our abilities – the Volturi's that is – useless. Bella truly is powerful – so powerful that Aro is afraid of her."
Fred was stunned into silence, shocked. "She's that powerful?" He asked after he got over his shock.
I nodded. "She is, and she was only a newborn then. I expect she can do much more with her shield now. She can even keep you out, if she wished."
"She sounds like quite a woman." Fred said, his tone wistful. "I would like to meet her."
"Bella has a mate." I warned him. "Any plans you have won't work for two reasons; Bella wouldn't look twice at you, and her husband's a mind reader."
Fred's eyes widened for a moment. "Well, I still want to meet her – mated or not. And I think…maybe… I could help you."
"Really?" I asked shocked by his offer.
"Yes, the three of us – you, Bella, and I – could use our shielding powers against the Volturi. From what you said Bella could do, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult. And I've heard secondhand on what the Volturi can do, a world without them would be for the better."
I pondered this for a moment. Three shields against the Volturi. I liked the odds. Fred's ability could work in our favor, too. Hmm…anything for Chelsea.
"Alright." I said. "If you're sure."
"I'm sure."
"We're headed towards Washington – where the Cullens last lived – from there we can track them to their current location." I explained.
"I'm pretty good at tracking." Fred told me.
"Good." We broke out into a run, leaving Michigan behind.
"So." Fred said as we ran. "Tell me more about Bella and the Cullens."