Hello. This is my version of what could have happened if Bella had found the Hunters of Artemis after Edward Cullen left. This is my first try, and I wanted Bella and Thalia to be somewhat OOC compared to the books, because thirty years unaging has got to do something. The same to the shock factor. The Hunters are a bit different than how they are portrayed in PJO, but I felt that it would work better. Besides, I really wanted the vampires to be shocked. So there you have it.

"English"

"Whisper quiet, almost like a vampire"

"Ancient Greek, spoken in a whisper"

"Ancient Greek"

As well, I do understand that Ancient Greek isn't too different from Greek, but I felt that Edward probably wouldn't have chosen to learn it.

Thunk.

I laugh. Behind me, Thalia raises her bow and aims.

Thunk.

Another silver arrow sprouts out of the rough target etched on the tree, and we share a smile before darting off, Thalia taking the lead in a swift curve as she makes a way through the trees of the forest around Forks, Washington.

I follow her, flipping over of a fallen tree to get ahead, nocking an arrow to a bow as she glances at me, making a quick handsignal, barely a flicker of her hand.

Doe.

I strain my ears slightly, turning to hear before I perceive the sound of a doe, slowly clip-clopping across what was probably a clearing, parallel to us.

Thalia makes her way to beside me, and I nod at her as she puts an arrow to her string as well.

The Lieutenant of Artemis grins, a lively glint sparking in her very blue eyes, and I grin back savagely. I love the rush of being a Hunter of Artemis.

"Let's hunt" she says, and lopes off. I follow her as we make our way up a hill that shorts to a cliff. Thalia keeps running and takes a flying leap off the edge, bow flashing silver in the bright light of the moon. It's full today, a good omen for the Hunt.

I somersault off after her, and we land silently. The doe that I heard is barely forty feet from us.

Sssh-sssh.

It's the sound of clothes, actually, and Thalia stiffens as I whip my head around, suddenly realizing where we are.

This is Washington, I realize in that instant. Forks, Washington. The place where my father…lives or lived? I amn't sure as I calculate distances from the town. The Hunt was traveling through the forest surrounding, and Thalia and I had split off further away than most of the others had been running. We'd thought that we could probably find the animals closer to the mountains, while most of the others had gone to the forest on the other side of town, where there were fewer clearings and more sightings of deer. We were in the area of monsters and bears. Apparently mountain lions had even been spotted around the vicinity.

And also barely twenty feet from the clearing that vampires played baseball in.

Oh, fun. I grin, thoughts about a Hunt flickering through my head. Oh, wouldn't it be fun?

I beckon Thalia over, placing a finger to my lips before whispering in her ear, low enough that no-one, not even with vampire hearing, would be able to hear.

Unless, of course, they were far too close.

"Vampires" I breathe lightly in her ear.

She cocks her head, questioning, "Empousai?"

I shake my head minutely. "My past," I say, flicking my eyes back towards the clearing for a second. "This was my home before."

She scowls. We usually stayed away from most of our old homes, but I'd completely forgotten. "Volturi, or just a coven?"

"The only coven this big is in Denali, unless they've moved"

Thalia slips into Ancient Greek. Luckily, after being a Hunter of Artemis for thirty years, I'm more than fluent. Perks of being the handmaidens to an ancient Greek goddess, especially one of the Moon and Hunt that actually cares about you.

"Your old one?" she asks, glaring back at the clearing like it deserved to go to Tartarus.

I glance over carefully. "This used to be their hunting grounds. They could have returned."

"How many?"

I quickly count through my head. I haven't thought of the sparkly little things for over twenty years. "All together, seven. Esme and Carlisle, matriarch and patriarch, might not be there"

Thalia sucks in a breath. "Let's call the Hunt."

I look at her. "We can't deal with them?"

"They could have created another. Surprise wouldn't work then, and you do want to make an entrance, don't you?"

I sigh. "We take point, though."

She nods. "Lady Artemis is at Olympus. Call at the same time"

One of the things about being a Hunter is that nowadays, we always have a way to call our fellow Hunters at any time, no matter where, when, or why. Thalia and I pull out the small necklaces and touch the pendant. The moon, a bow, a wolf, and a doe crossed. I close my eyes and concentrate, letting Thalia do the talking.

"Bring everyone to our location. We're hunting," she says, excitement curling through her voice.

There is a chorus of assent, and I can imagine the grins making their way across my sisters' faces. I slowly lower myself to the ground and flatten my palm against it, closing my eyes to feel the vibrations. The largest group of Cullens was north to our location, but was making their way back to the clearing. It was probably their rendezvous. Good.

In seconds, about two dozen girls with the appearance of being between the ages of nine (little Maiah), to nineteen (myself), gather around, all clad in the same silver that Thalia and I wear. A girl with blonde hair and grey eyes – a daughter of Athena – wears a feral grin as she steps up to me, her bow in hand. "Who and what?"

I turn to look at the clearing, and the girl, Brianna, steps beside me. I can see the coven there already, and I grin at how they look, flashing and glinting in the moonlight.

How I used to think they were so beautiful. Any god and most demigods are more beautiful than even Rosalie. I smile to myself. How much my perspective had been blinkered back then. I had no clue of anything real.

"Volturi Vampires. They're pale, sparkle in the sun, and are fast…but not as fast as us. They're also strong, but not as strong as us." I smirk. "Weaklings, but they can gang up to win by numbers after they lose bloodlust. There's only a few who really learn how to fight."

"They'll not fight when we show our numbers," Thalia says scornfully. "Cowards."

The Hunt nods around us in agreement. We've all seen the weaklings, the monsters which hide behind each other or just sit there, acting like idiots. Here were some who would try to act human. Unfortunately for them, it was always an act. The things I had thought when I was what – eighteen?

"I take point," I say. The entirety of the Hunters nod as well. They know my story, and know that this, this is my revenge.

"We'll stand beside you, Izzy" Greta says.

I nod. These are my sisters, and I am no longer Bella, the weak little girl of thirty years ago. Now I am Izzy, Hunter of Artemis and third-in-command. I have a mother, a wonderful mother, and amazing sisters. A perfect family.

I step into the clearing.

A silver arrow slid through the air and pinned Edward Cullen's arm to the tree he was standing against, going straight through the diamond-hard skin and bone. Even as he struggled with his vampire strength, both the arrow and tree remained.

The wind suddenly changed, and an overwhelming scent wiped out everything else. Alice lifted her head to look over, and Jasper loped over to take a protective stance by her. Emmett and Rosalie looked over, while Esme ran to stand by Edward. Carlisle stood up, and Edward looked over towards what were obviously predators. But there was also something he hadn't smelled for over thirty years. But it was…changed.

The Cullen family looked over towards the scent, and Edward wondered if his mind was going, that he was now delusional. Because standing there, with a cold, self-satisfied smirk on her face, was…Bella.

And his Bella didn't smirk. She also didn't stand so tall, didn't have hair that long. But most of all, his Bella wouldn't look like this, exactly the same as over thirty-five years ago.

And as he looked, he could barely see Bella within this person. Oh, there she was, in the color of the chocolaty hair, but Bella didn't braid it in that old-fashioned, regal style. She was there in the lips, but Bella never pressed them together quite like that, didn't have that smile, that odd, knowing smirk that was present on this person's lips. She was there in the eyes, the brown eyes, but Bella's weren't so cold, weren't so hard, and didn't, well, glow almost like that. There was a silvery sheen across her, like an insubstantial veil wrapped about her body, a second skin that Bella never had.

And here she was, looking exactly the same age as she was thirty years ago, dressed in silvery clothes made of a cloth Edward had never seen, and holding a gleaming bow in her hand, a quiver of the same silver arrows on her back – the silver arrows exactly like the one that was pinning Edward's arm to the monolith of a tree behind him.

Bella didn't hunt.

And the Not-Bella-But-Maybe-Bella stepped forward further into the light, and Edward saw that yes, it really was her.

Bella. Bella Swan.

I watch dispassionately (and possibly a sly bit amusedly) as Edward Cullen's eyes widen as he takes me in. I take strength from my sisters behind me as I speak.

"Edward Cullen," I say, an odd happiness leaking into my voice.

"Bella?" he asks, voice a sad plea.

I nearly snort. "Sorry, but you're mistaken. Bella the loser and weakling is gone. She's been gone for a long time. My name is Izzy, and I'm here to get rid of some monsters."

Edward looks confused. "Bella? What's happened to you?"

"Ummm…let me think." I tap my finger against my chin mockingly. "Hey Thals, what happened to me?"

Thalia steps into the light, a wide smirk across her face. "I don't know, Izzy. You just got awesome, I guess. Crazy awesome."

I turn back to the Cullens. "Yeah, I just got awesome." I say, smirking still.

It was just like magic. There was just something about the Cullens that made me want to keep smirking.

"Is that you, Bella?" Alice asks.

"Mmmm…hey, Thals, am I Bella?"

Thalia raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm pretty sure you aren't Bella, darling. Try again"

I laugh. "Mmkay, let's try again," I say, tapping a finger to my lip as I mock-frown. "Okay, am I Izzy?"

"Yeah I think it's you, Izz," Thalia returns. "So what are we doing here?"

I shrug. "Cleaning up," I say, before standing and spinning in a moment, loosing an arrow at Rosalie. "I'll take out the trash first."

Rosalie only manages to glare for barely a second before she dissolves into golden dust. Emmett stares, before charging. Thalia puts him down, and I sigh. "Y' know, I kind of liked him, but hey. Next up, Thals, pick and choose."

"Bella, wha-" Edward starts.

"Bella, ar-" Carlisle begins to say something, but Thalia cuts him off.

She jerks a thumb at Carlisle. "Him. I know who you're saving, so I don't like the talk here. Just seems stupid to keep on listening, right?"

I sweep out a grand gesture, and Thalia shoots Carlisle Cullen through the heart. He looks startled for a second, hand going up to his chest before he shatters into dust as well.

Esme tries to run over, but someone from the hunters picks her off. Alice looks frozen, and Jasper almost in shock.

"Are monsters supposed to go into shock?" I ask Thalia.

She shakes her head. "Not that I know of. These must be defective."

I nod. "Volturi type vampires generally are, you know."

Thalia laughs. "Exactly why we leave them alone – usually. I guess these ones are special."

I hold a hand towards Alice and Jasper. "We'll do a favor for Apollo. Alice here's got some freaky precognitive powers."

Two arrows hit Alice and another catches Jasper.

"Jasper was also actually a veteran of the Vampire's Southern Wars, did you know?" I ask playfully. "Apparently he was a brilliant tactician. Like him any?"

Thalia shakes her head, and holds a hand out towards Edward. "He's all yours, sweetheart"

"Awww, thanks," I say, before walking towards him. He looks shocked and frightened, and I stop three feet away from him. Plenty of space for him to feel safe. "So, I guess that vampires can be killed pretty easily, huh?"

"What happened to you, Bella?" he asks quietly, almost desperately. Must still be in shock.

"I don't know Edward. Except for everything perfect after you left. Thank you, by the way" I say, absolutely sincere. "Because after you left, I was heartbroken…except then Lady Artemis found me."

I smile at the memory. The memory of feeling whole again. I still remember it so easily. Everything before it is becoming a blur, really.

"Who?" he asks.

I laugh and indulge him. "Lady Artemis, my patron and the amazing goddess of the Moon and Hunt. And a bunch of other stuff, of course. Daughter of Leto, twin of Apollo, all of that. Now haven't you figured it out yet?" I ask him. "Mind moving supposedly so fast, right? Well, I'll spell it out for you. I'm a Hunter of Artemis. Know what that means?"

He shakes his head.

"It means that there's a way better way to become immortal, not that that's the only thing I did it for." I lean in closer. "You wanna know why I really did it?"

He nods. "Y-Yes"

I smile finally, a full smile, not the smirks I'd been using for the past bit. "Family."

Edward frowns. "What?"

I throw my head back and laugh. "English, huh? Family. I did it for family, and I've got it."

Behind me, my sisters step forwards, bows gleaming in their hands. I can just tell that they're smiling. We usually are, if we get to kill those who threw one of our sisters away like they were nothing.

He looks frightened. "Bella, what have you done to yourself?"

"Become a Hunter of Artemis, and become someone so much better than anything that I could have gotten being your little human pet?" I ask. "I guess I did that."

I smile at him sunnily. "And now," I say. "I've got a family, and you just lost one. Did you know that Esme and Alice and Jasper and you and Carlisle and Emmett and even Rosalie, they were all my family?"

He shakes his head minutely, but I see it.

"You took them all away, but I've found a new one. A beautiful one."

And now I grin tightly. "Why don't I introduce myself. My name is Izzy, Hunter of Artemis, and I'm going to be the last face you see before Tartarus"

My hunting knife's name is oikogéneia vréthi̱ke, did you know?

Family Found

And I've found it.

Quite honestly, it's beautiful.

(even more beautiful than those vampires had thought themselves)