Bella POV

Life is hectic. It tends to be when you're sharing a house with about 17 random vampires. Everyone we had expected had come and we even got two extras. Our family had arrived with the last off the visitors. Everyone was together again. That is except for Alice and Jasper. But thankfully I hadn't had much time to think about that. Most of the vampires weren't vegetarian, so even though they had promised not to eat anywhere near Forks, I was still worried.

There had been a very wide range of reactions towards EJ. I thought back to all the initial meetings with the vampires. Some had been easy to convince, such as the Irish coven. They consisted of three people; Siobhan, Liam her mate, and Maggie. Maggie had the talent of knowing when someone is lying to her. All we had to do was tell them our story and she believed us right away. Others who were easily convinced were a half of the Egyptian coven; Benjamin who had the power to control the elements and his mate Tia, Garret an adventurous sort of person, and our two unexpected witnesses, Zafrina and Senna. To be frank these two kind of scared me. They seemed nice but looked totally wild. Zafrina had the talent of putting pictures into someone's mind.

Most were wary at first but once they agreed to let EJ tell his story they were just as committed to witnessing as we were. Among these were Peter, Charlotte, Mary, and Randall.

Only one however totally freaked out. It was the other half of the Egyptian coven, Amun and his mate Kebi. Amun and Benjamin were complete opposites. While Ben was easygoing and cheery, Amun had a temper and was constantly grouchy. He would not let EJ touch him and stayed only because Ben, his pride and joy, refused to leave.

But right now, Edward and I were sharing our only alone time in days and he was finally going to explain everything to me. We were in the cottage and EJ was asleep for the night. I curled up as close as possible to him on our huge bed and said, "Ok. Start talking. How was Eleazar involved with the Volturi?"

"Well. At one point he worked for them. Like he said, he has the talent of knowing what others talents are. This was very helpful to Aro. When they would attack a coven Eleazar would see if any of their talent could be useful to Aro. If they were then Aro would say that particular person's thoughts were extremely repentant and he would give them a second chance as part of the guard. No one refused, partly because that was a great honor and partly because of Chelsea. Chelsea can loosen or strengthen the bonds between people. She is the reason that the Volturi can peacefully exist with each other. So, she would bond the vampire to the Volturi," Edward explained.

"So how is Eleazar here now?"

"One trip he stumbled upon Carmen. They were both unusually compassionate for vampires and fell instantly in love. The Volturi let him go without too big of a fuss. Together they found Tanya and her sisters and decided to try their way of life. They obviously agreed with it and here they are today."

"Also I want to know one more thing."

"Ask away my love."

"What other sorts of powers do the Volturi have? Who are their main attackers?"

"Their main fighters are Jane and Alec. Jane as you know can make you feel the worst pain imaginable. But it works in the mind so you are immune to it. Alec can totally take away your senses. You can't do anything but sit where you are until they get around to killing you. The reason his is worse than Jane's is because Jane can only attack one person at a time. Alec can wipe out everybody at once. Fortunately for you Alec's power also works in the mind. I would guess that you are immune to his power as well."

This news excited me. I was upset that as a newborn I would not be much of a help. They would kill me in an instant. This could give me a purpose. If I could hold my own just long enough to kill Alec than our side would have a much bigger chance at winning.

Edward seemed to realize what I was thinking as soon as I thought it. "You will not sacrifice yourself for the rest of us."

I brushed that comment aside. "Is Alec a very good fighter?" I asked.

"Probably not. I mean they all have basic training but what need would Alec have for battle skills when he can just incapitate all his attackers with a simple thought," Edward told me reluctantly.

"Then if you give me a bit of training maybe I can overpower him. I do have newborn strength on my side. If I could just kill him then EJ might be able to make it."

"No," said Edward, "I refuse to teach you, essentially, how to kill yourself."

"I can always ask someone else," I threatened.

"They wouldn't dare," Edward growled. I decided to drop the topic. There would be more time to talk about it later.

"So are there any other talents they have?" I asked trying to distract him.

"The only one you don't know about is Renata. She is also a shield. She is a physical shield however. If anyone gets too close to her they immediately go in another direction with no memory as to why they wanted to go in their initial direction in the first place. Actually, come to think of it, her talent is mental too. I wonder if you went up against her who would win," he trailed off thoughtfully. "Anyhow," he continued, "she serves as a body guard to Aro."

This struck me as odd, the thought of a vampire needing a body guard. Perhaps the ancients were as fragile as their skin suggested.

"Thank you," I murmured. And then we went to our one and only happy place where we were totally free of worry.