Chapter Two

They waited in the specified clearing.

"I wish you would have allowed my pack to be here" Jacob muttered.

"Not every vampire is tolerant of wolves Jacob, you know this" Carlisle admonished him. Jacob grumbled quietly to himself. Suddenly they all stiffened,

"He's here" Alice spoke quietly. Silently, Hadrian entered the clearing on the opposite side to them. They waited until he came closer before Carlisle spoke,

"Welcome. My name is Carlisle Cullen, this is my family" he gestured to everyone with him. "Esme, my wife. Edward and Bella. Rosalie and Emmett. Alice and Jasper and finally, Jacob and Renesmee." Hadrian tilted his head slightly,

"I thank you for meeting me. I am Hadrian Black." He replied, staring straight at Carlisle.

"This territory has already been claimed, can I ask why you have settled here?"

"My apologies I was not aware that it was so" Hadrian bowed his head,

"Well now that you know, leave" Jacob growled, forever hot tempered. Hadrian glared at him.

"Jacob, enough!" Carlisle spoke harshly before turning back to their visitor,

"Forgive him. He just has a bad experience with others of our kind" he offered as an excuse.

"What are your plans here?" Carlisle asked.

"To live in peace" Hadrian replied simply. He surveyed the group and landed on Renesmee. His eyes widened when he saw here. As soon as the Cullen's realized who he was focused on, they exploded into action. Renesmee was pushed to the back, Edward and Bella surrounding her. Jacob shifted. Rosalie, Alice and Esme crouched down directly in front of them whilst Emmett and Jasper stepped forward, ready to attack. Carlisle simply stood where he was, watching the stranger carefully.

Hadrian's eyes widened briefly before narrowing as he took in the defensive positions they had taken up. To him, their actions confirmed what he feared: they had created an immortal child.

"You dare!?" he hissed at them furiously. He crouched down and prepared to attack. Hadrian allowed his aura to explode outwards. The Cullen's eyes widened in shock and alarm as they felt themselves almost suffocating by his presence. Carlisle realized that if the stranger attacked them, they would all die.

"WAIT" he shouted, putting his hands up. He desperately was trying to prevent a massacre. Hadrian paused. Carlisle seeing it, pushed forwards,

"She's not an immortal" he informed Hadrian. Hadrian hissed at him before he tried to look at the girl, trying to figure out if he was being told the truth. Cursing when he couldn't get a good sense he turned back to Carlisle,

"Tell your family to get out of the way, I wish to determine the truth" Carlisle studied him for a moment.

"I give you my word, I will not harm her if she is not one" Hadrian promised him. Carlisle nodded warily before turning to his family.

"Move aside" he told them. Immediately there was protests.

"Carlisle, we can't trust him" Edward hissed.

"He has given his word. Move" Carlisle told his eldest child. Reluctantly they all did so and Hadrian stepped closer. Jacob growled a warning. He spared a look at the wolf before turning his attention back to the girl.

"What's your name, childe?" He asked her softly.

"Renesmee" She answered.

"How old are you Renesmee?"

"Five months" His eyes widened in surprise before narrowing.

"A hybrid?" he asked sharply. Carlisle nodded in surprise,

"How did you-?" he began but was cut off,

"I have met them before" Hadrian replied curtly.

"When?" Alice asked excitedly, bouncing up to him. Hadrian stared at her with an eyebrow raised,

"A long time ago" he answered cryptically. She pouted,

"That's not an answer"

"It's the only one you are going to get" he replied.

Hadrian shifted his attention back onto Carlisle,

"Now that that is cleared up, can we get back on track?"

"Of course. You were saying that you had no knowledge of us in the area?"

"Indeed. I would have approached you first before moving to ask for permission. It is only polite." Carlisle looked surprised at that.

"As long as you have no intent to harm either us or anyone in the town, you may stay" Carlisle informed him. Hadrian smiled slightly,

"Of course"

"If I may, what diet do you follow?" He asked curiously, noticing that Hadrian's eyes were black.

"A bit of both" he answered with a slight smirk.

"I drink from blood bags, criminals and animals" he elaborated. The Cullen family shared a look.

"I see. As long as no one around here is bitten, I do not think that will be a problem"

"Excellent. Is that all? Or are there anymore questions that need to be answered now?"

"No questions. However I do feel the need to warn you that the Volturi is on their way" Carlisle told him calmly. Hadrian stared at him, glanced at Renesmee before turning back to him and nodded.

"That's good to know. Thank you for the warning" he said before bowing his head slightly in farewell and then vanishing back into the trees.

"Carlisle, how do we know if he will keep his word? You saw how dangerous he is!" Edward was the first one to object to his father's handling of the situation.

"He drinks blood! He's no better than the Volturi that is currently trying to kill us" Jacob growled.

"He's given us no reason to trust him Carlisle. He told us his name and blood preferences. That's not a lot" Jasper added his input.

"Everyone just calm down" Esme spoke up. They all turned to look at her. "Alice, what do you see?" She asked her daughter. Alice stared into space,

"I don't see him going back on his word anytime soon" she informed them all. "In fact, I don't see him interacting with us at all" that was a surprise.

"So what? We just ignore him?" Bella asked.

"No, we keep tabs on him but not approach him" Jasper said.

"But I want to fight him" Emmett whined, earning a punch from Rosalie,

"You are not fighting him!" she snarled at her husband.

"Rosalie's rights Emmett, stay away from him" Emmett rolled his eyes and muttered, "fine"

"Lets go back home. We have much to prepare and little time to do it in" Carlisle told his family. Together they sped off.

Hadrian sat in front of the fire, drinking a glass of dragon blood that he had saved. As far as he knew, he was the last of the magic users. They had bred themselves out by the time his second millennia started. Some magical creatures still existed in the furthest reaches of the world but they too were dying out. He thought back on the Cullen Coven. He instantly liked Carlisle. Hadrian believed that Carlisle was an honorable man; that's why he so readily gave his word. He found Alice to be interesting. 'She acted more like a child than adult.' He thought amused. Jacob, he sneered in disgust. The wolf was the worst of them, 'impatient, hotheaded, and prejudiced'.

The other Cullen's he was neutral on. He had no opinions on them one way or the other. 'As long as they stay out of my way, I won't have to hurt them' he thought, idly taking a sip of his blood. His mind turned to the Volturi. He could still remember meeting them for the first time approximately 1500 years ago.

FLASHBACK- 513AD

Hadrian knew he was being followed. He wasn't worried; he knew that by now nothing could hurt him. Hadrian suddenly stopped.

"I know you are there. Come out" he didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. A crunch of broken leaves was his response and he turned round. Five men stood behind him.

"Might I ask why you have being following me?" he asked. Three of them stepped forwards,

"Greetings. My name is Aro. These are my brothers, Caius and Marcus." Aro spoke.

"Greetings returned" Hadrian replied, "I am Hadrian. I ask again, why are you following me?" an edge in his voice.

"We simply wanted to talk and perhaps offer you a position amongst us" Aro spoke softly, his eyes gleaming at what he thought was the acquiring of a valuable prize.

"I have no wish to join the Volturi, Lord Aro" Hadrian informed him. Aro eyed him curiously,

"And why not? Of what we have seen of your gifts, you would be very welcome in our home" Hadrian smiled,

"I am not happy when others try to control me, Lord Aro" His smile took on a dangerous edge, "People tend to die when I'm not happy" it was a threat and they all knew it. Hadrian was letting them know that he knew what they were trying to do. Aro lost his smile and Caius surged forwards angrily,

"You dare refuse our most generous offer! And threaten us as well." Hadrian released a small part of his aura, allowing them to see a bit of his power.

"I have no quarrel with you Lord Caius," he stepped forward, "Yet if you persist, one might occur" Aro raised his hand and gestured his brother back.

"Apologies for my brother, he did not mean to insinuate that you meant us harm" Hadrian drew his aura back and Aro continued,

"Perhaps you would be open to simply staying with us a while, to see if you would like it?" he offered. Hadrian narrowed his eyes and used legilimency to ascertain his motives beyond the obvious.

"I will do as you suggest Lord Aro, I thank you for the hospitality" he agreed with a slight bow. Aro clapped his hand once in joy,

"Excellent" he said before turning to head home. Hadrian's voice stopped him however,

"In return Lord Aro, I would ask that you do not attempt to stop me when I leave" his voice was deceptively light, yet all five of them heard the implication. Aro bowed his head slightly in return before taking off. His brothers and guards following quickly behind. Hadrian smirked; he had a feeling that Aro would need a little bit of persuasion that he was not to be messed with. He too quickly followed and easily caught up with them.

FLASHBACK ENDED

He wondered if Aro was still as arrogant as ever. Caius, he knew would definitely be both as arrogant and sadistic as ever. Hadrian was disturbed however that they would actually venture outside Italy, especially with the entire guard. He had unobtrusively legilimeized the mind reader and the seer during their meet. 'It would not be just because of an accused immortal child that they would take the entire guard with them' he mused to himself. 'It's almost as if they are planning to take out a particularly powerful opponent' Hadrian quickly stood up at that thought. 'The Cullen's. Of course Aro would want them disposed off. They have too many 'gifted' vampires outside his control' He let out a bitter chuckle. Aro was still up to his same old tricks. He remembered when Aro had gone back on his word and tried to force him to join their guard. It had not ended well.

FLASHBACK- 518 AD

Hadrian surveyed the vampires surrounding him before looking up to the smug face of Aro and Caius. Marcus looking like he couldn't care what happened.

"Going back on your word Lord Aro?" He asked softly. Aro's smiled dimmed slightly at the implied suggestion that he was not honorable.

"I never agreed not to" he returned. Hadrian smiled briefly before his face went blank.

"You do not want to do this Aro." The left off title was noticed by all.

"Oh I think I do" Aro arrogantly believing that he would win. Hadrian bowed his head,

"Just remember, you asked for it Aro" he said quietly before he exploded into action. Four vampires were beheaded before anyone could blink. Suddenly the guard was all moving. Hadrian didn't hold back with either his strength or his magic. Cutting and blasting hexes flew continuously out of his hands, cutting down the guard's number dramatically. The Aro and Caius both lost their smug smiles and their faces turned into one of horror as they saw their elite warriors being taken down as though they were nothing.

"ENOUGH!" strangely enough it was Marcus who spoke. Everyone froze, including Hadrian.

"You have made your point Lord Hadrian; my brothers were foolish to challenge you" he spoke to Hadrian who was surrounded by many body parts.

Aro and Caius looked at their brother in shock. Marcus spoke to them,

"You knew he was powerful yet blinded by your greed, you ignored the threat he posed to you in the process" Aro and Caius turned to look at a furious Hadrian.

"I warned you Aro. I warned you what would happen if you made me unhappy" Hadrian snarled. Aro and Caius took a step backwards in fear.

"Pray you never see me again, because if I do and you are attempting something similar, I will end you." He promised. They nodded. He vampire sped to door and turned to face them one more time. Hadrian cast an overpowered incendio at the bodies littering the ground; they erupted into flames.

"A final warning" he snarled at them before speeding away.

FLASHBACK ENDED

Hadrian growled. He realized the similar situation that the Cullen's faced. Remembering his promise, he made his decision.

'I warned you Aro. This time, you will not be alive to heed it' Hadrian thought darkly.