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Guest and Zoe (Guest): Thanks for your support :)

LVB (Guest): I've been planning a lot of filler chapters, mostly because plot elements probably won't be too major until about halfway through this arc. The problem is that, even planning like this, the story's progressed extremely quickly. I tried to show how time doesn't matter at all, but for your (and anyone else's) curiosity, it's already around 1050-ish at the beginning of this chapter. I didn't want to show a noticeable difference in time, but Santiago and Corin joined around 950 and Demetri joined around 1050. Really, time doesn't matter too much. I am currently in my third (and final) year of high school history/social sciences; I took Government/Economics in ninth grade, US History in tenth, and European/World History this year. And to round out this incredibly long reply, I chose to give Demetri the gold because he was Greek xD According to the Wiki, at least, he was born in Greece, so I just imagined that Amun was less anal than Aro is going to be in this chapter about his culture.

It was hard for Demetri to adapt to the Volturi lifestyle. His white tunic and other clothing were exchanged for black clothing, and Aro demanded from him his jewelry. This latter demand annoyed Demetri, and Jane protested as well. Isabella ended up having to keep the peace by forcing Demetri to compromise; he had to give up his clothing to keep some of the gold.

All three vampires accepted, although they were all a bit upset. Aro wanted to have his way and Demetri wasn't used to having to listen to a "master." Despite Isabella's attempts to calm her down, Jane practically exploded.

That was the day that Aro understood what Jane's power was.

"Demetri, please, just give them up," Aro said exasperatedly. He had already sent Chelsea to bring back black clothing and a dark grey cloak for his new recruit, but the vampire was refusing to take off his Egyptian outfit.

"I have used these clothes for centuries, sir," Demetri responded stiffly, "and I'd like to wear them for a few centuries more."

Alec looked towards Isabella helplessly. Isabella just shrugged and watched what happened.

Jane had run forward at the beginning of the argument. "Please, master, just let him keep his clothing," she begged.

"Run along, Jane, this doesn't concern you," Aro replied coldly. Jane's eyes widened.

"How doesn't it affect me?" she sputtered. "Proper grammar, Jane," Isabella called out. The younger girl gave her a death glare. Alec giggled next to Isabella, and Caius gave her a smirk.

Aro just rolled his eyes at their childishness. "Demetri, I insist. Remove your clothing," he snarled, shoving the dark clothing towards the other vampire.

Demetri's eyes flashed in anger. "You may be my master," he growled, "but you do not control my choices."

Jane looked back and forth between her master and her mate. "Demetri, don't extend this too far," she finally said dejectedly. Aro looked at Demetri triumphantly.

Demetri gazed at her again and sighed. "Fine," he grumbled, snatching the black clothing away.

The vampire disappeared for a few moments and returned dressed in the clothing Chelsea brought. He draped the charcoal grey cloak across his shoulders, scowling. The gold bangles he was still wearing glinted in the light. Aro raised an eyebrow. "Your jewelry, too, Demetri," he said softly, holding out a hand.

Demetri glared again before removing all of the thick gold bracelets. Aro frowned slightly. "Those three trinkets are jewelry, Demetri," he said.

Demetri's eyes widened. His hand flew towards the thin string that held three small charms. "No!" he sputtered. "These are actually meaningful, far more important than these things." He waved the tunic he had changed out of around.

Isabella felt Aro's temper slowly rise. She sat up a bit straighter, ready to intervene in any given situation.

"Explain," Aro said tersely.

Demetri gestured to the three charms around his neck. "This is the ankh," he said, showing the older vampire a symbol that looked like a loop on top of a T. "It stands for eternal life." He flicked it away and took out another symbol that looked almost like some sort of a tree. "This is the djed, symbolic of stability." He took out the last one, which resembled some sort of decorated hoop. "This is the sa; this is the one that Kebi just gave me." He stroked it thoughtlessly. "It represents her feelings of protection." He hid the golden charms under his cloak again. "These are more symbolic than these stinking cape-things, as well," Demetri grumbled.

Aro closed his eyes, looking more and more impatient. "Regardless," he hissed, "I want you to remove them and give them to me. Now."

Jane's eye color rippled from black to crimson to black again. She gave off an aura of pure hatred. "Isabella!" Alec said frantically. Isabella jerked forward just as Jane unleashed an arrow of pure pain towards Aro. In a flash, the ancient vampire was writhing on the ground, screeching. Demetri stared in fascinated horror at his mate's power, and Caius just began to laugh. He was amused by his brother's pain. Disgusting, Isabella thought.

Jane's anger began to fade, and she looked on with mortification. Did I do that? she thought to herself. She slowly took the pain away from Aro; the vampire was left retching as he crouched on the ground.

Isabella walked up and put her hand on Jane's shoulder. "Jane, why?" she asked with a sigh. Jane looked at her guiltily, but with an air of haughtiness. "He deserved it," she muttered. Isabella sighed again before pushing her towards Demetri gently. "Off with you two," she murmured. Demetri nodded slightly, still staring at Aro, and directed Jane towards the group of guards standing further away.

Isabella coldly watched as Aro regained his composure and stumbled onto his feet. "Just let him keep the amulets," she suggested before walking away. Alec quickly followed her, and Caius smirked at his brother as he walked over.

"That was a failure on your part," he said, snickering. Aro glared at him. Marcus walked up and just shook his head slightly. "You should have thought that through," he droned. The ancient vampires all just looked at each other.

"So, Jane's gift?" Marcus said, musing. Aro's eyes lit up. "Yes, that was very exciting," he said, thinking of the intense pain that had coursed through his dead veins. It felt as though every part of his being had been set on fire while being broken; not even that description was enough. The only thing more potent was transformation.

"It must be from the burning," Caius said offhandedly. "In that case, Isabella and Alec might develop gifts based on their own experiences being burned," Aro thought out loud.

Caius raised an eyebrow. "Alec has developed the power of numbing. You are sent to a world of no feeling. If he cast you into this world and you were torn apart and set on fire, you would feel nothing but a slight pinch on your body. He is very powerful."

"Isabella has a mental shield," Marcus said quietly, thinking of his disciple. "She constantly protects her siblings. Nothing can penetrate her will. It stems from her protective instinct. She ran into a fire to save her siblings, and this willpower manifested itself into a powerful barrier that can't be overcome."

It was Aro's turn to raise an eyebrow. "How did you two know that?" he asked.

"They showed us, of course," Caius said sardonically. "If you don't get Jane's trust, you'll be missing out on a lot."

Marcus and Caius walked away, leaving a thunderstruck Aro in their wakes.

Jane refused to apologize for her behavior. Whenever Aro approached her, she sent out a spike of pain that Isabella had to block. This continued for a few years before Isabella finally told Jane to "stop doing that, unless I need to direct it towards you next time." Demetri had glared at Isabella, but Jane had just laughed and agreed to stop.

Alec watched Jane and Demetri interact with one another. Suddenly, his sister wasn't dependent on him; she was mutually dependent on this new vampire. They seemed to complete one another. No one could make a mark in their relationship, just like the siblings'. Isabella had easily welcomed Demetri into their odd "inner" family apart from the rest of the coven, but Alec didn't accept him as readily.

"Alec, can't you just try to get along with Demetri?" Isabella asked after a particularly bad episode in which Alec refused to speak to Demetri, despite the latter's attempts.

Alec just gave the vampire in question a murderous glance. "I don't know, Isa," he replied after a time. "I just can't accept that Jane doesn't need me anymore, I guess." His eyes widened once he realized what he admitted.

"So, you're jealous?" Isabella asked. Alec merely crossed his arms and refused to respond. Isabella chuckled at his immature behavior.

"You'll get over it," she prophesized. He shrugged and stared at the two wistfully. Jane had climbed a tree and Demetri was pacing around its roots, staring up at her worriedly. "I don't know, Isabella," Alec said quietly before walking away slowly.

Isabella sighed, wishing that she could just help Alec with his envy. She watched as Jane dropped a branch onto Demetri's head and laughed at his semi-outraged response. Isabella was still smiling when she walked away to find the rest of the Volturi coven.

She found Santiago and Corin dueling, keeping their skills sharp. The two wove around one another as if in a mesmerizing dance to death or, in their case, destruction. Corin dove onto Santiago, wrenching his arm behind his back before kicking him away from her. He lurched forward but caught his balance and whipped back around, eyes aflame. Corin gave him a deranged smile before launching herself at him again, this time grabbing a leg. She flicked him onto his back before throwing herself on top of him and pummeling him until he howled out a surrender.

Isabella grinned at Corin's prowess. Corin looked up and nodded to Isabella. The brunette nodded back and kept walking.

No matter how much my siblings mess up, she thought wryly, they can't have a more dysfunctional relationship than that.

Sorry about the short chapter this time, but there's a larger plot element for next time, and including it would make this chapter at least 5,000 words. I think. I'm not sure how long it will be yet, to be honest.

Please review with either grammar errors or criticisms! And praise. Any trolling will be deleted.

~Shriayle