These characters are not mine.

Chapter 13: Curioser and Curioser

EPOV

"I would appreciate it if you would clarify what I'm seeing." The images and ideas snaking through their consciousness didn't make sense in relation to what I'd just witnessed.

"Edward, how much do you know about the Volturi and the guard?" Felix asked. The plane was a comfortable size for three people, and we were able to space ourselves so we could see each other without feeling too close.

"I suppose I know as much as anyone else, which isn't much. Carlisle didn't talk much about his time there, and the guard was very different then anyway." Carlisle had always been tight lipped on the subject, and it was one of the few sources of conflict between us. We never understood how a lack of information about our so called government could be a good thing, but he claimed he simply preferred not to think about that time. I'd always had a hunch that he came very close to caving and joining them.

"But you are aware of how the guard has been formed?" he continued.

"By invitation?" I proposed, and Felix raised an eyebrow.

"Try again," Demetri added with a huff.

"Persuasion?" I suggested, thinking of how Carlisle said they used many methods to convince him to stay.

"Perhaps coercion is a better word choice," Demetri snorted. "There are only a select few of us who choose to remain inVolturi. You met two of them tonight. They are a powerful lot those two, but thanks to you, for the first time, we see a way for many of us to get out from it."

"You mean members of the guard don't want to be there?" I was floored. This was news. In all our travels, everyone had assumed the Volturi guard carried their membership cards proudly.

"You could say that," Demetri responded cryptically.

We didn't know a lot about the guard, so we didn't really have any feelings one way or another about them. We had always figured if you followed the rules, you didn't have to think about them. We knew their job was sometimes ugly, something akin to trash collectors I suppose. It had been easier to accept the idea when I believed that they chose the life. I wasn't ready to let go of the sentiment.

"But why? Aren't there certain luxuries to being a member of the guard?" I had to admit when I was hunting humans, a part of me always wondered if it might not be a worthy aspiration. My family was different. We had each other, I suppose. But for most vampires, what was there to aspire to than a so called elite guard?

"Yes and no. As members of the guard, we live a comfortable life. We want for no material items. We are never thirsty. Unless we are being punished for an infraction, that is. But there are other limitations. We rarely, if ever, hunt, and it makes us lethargic in a way. What is it to be a vampire if you are unable to hunt? We are like caged birds I suppose," Felix explained.

"I think many would argue you do a different kind of hunting now," I murmured.

"Doing the bidding of three old idiots is not the same as the thrill of the chase or the joy of the attraction," Demetri pointed out.

I contemplated the idea. While our hunting methods were certainly not the same, I could definitely understand the argument. It wasn't a difficult concept to grasp. Wasn't there a greater sense of satisfaction in an outcome when you'd put effort in to the process? Why did Rosalie and I choose to rework our own cars rather than send them out to shop? Why did Esme maintain meticulous gardens when she could have the world's best landscaper? I didn't have to look too far into the human world to how modern conveniences had led to a sense of entitlement and apathy. I didn't embrace many aspects of vampirism, but seeking elusive prey, knowing that I was equipped to take on a beast with my bare hands, was the purest satisfaction I'd known. That was until I'd felt what it was to be inside Bella.

"Can the mind reader really not see what we are? We are trophies, Edward. Possessions." Demetri's tone was something between resolve and disappointment. The statement distracted them both, and it was as if they were no longer on the plane with me. I recalled my assessment of Aro, the collector, and I knew that was an accurate statement. My silence was affirmation and an opportunity. A chance for them to reflect.

Demetri drifted first. He remembered his years prior to joining the guard. He was a tracker, probably the best around. He'd always operated alone. His recruitment into the guard was not unwelcome, though he'd never planned for his enlistment to be eternal. Joining the Volturi had appealed to him in large part because of the opportunity to be a part of something. It was the one element of his humanity that he missed. But now he tracked because he was told to. He sought nothing because it was his own desire.

Felix's story came more slowly, probably because it was more personal. His mind wandered back to a woman, his mate. She was tall and dark, as he was, but from a Slovakian background. She'd been the one to turn him. He remembered the look in her eyes when she forced herself away from his neck; she'd instantly run far away and didn't return until he lay writing in pain, burning from the inside out. She assumed he'd died, not understanding that the bite itself would cause the transformation. She tried to drop him off at a hospital, and they put him in a tub full of ice assuming he had some sort of fever. She kept an eye on him, floating in at night undetected. By happenstance, she was there when his heart stopped. She was about to run screaming for help when his eyes flew open, and she knew exactly what happened. He drained a nurse before she was able to get him out of the hospital.

Communication may have been slower back in that time, but news of the Volturi's one rule always seemed to find its way into the nooks and crannies of the dark vampire world. With its relatively small area, Europe had more vampires per square mile than anywhere else. Still, they all managed to steer as clear of each other as they could.

Felix and his matehad been together fifty years when he was called to service by the Volturi. He'd never understood exactly why they wanted him. With Aro's predilection for special gifts, he didn't seem to fit, except that he was a good fighter and intimidating as hell. He hadn't wanted to be separated from his mate, but they held her over his head. Threatening to kill her if he didn't join them. So, he had to leave. They kept him too busy to visit. There were no cell phones, and all mail was monitored. Messengers were rarely trustworthy. The last time he talked to her was the day he left for Volterra.

Five years later, she walked into broad daylight in the Piazzo dei Priori in the center of the city. They sentenced her to destruction instantly. They toyed with making him be the one to do it. He begged, but they showed no mercy. If he had resented his time before, each day after he choked on his loathing toward the three masters.

Fear held them all captive. They'd seen innocent covens destroyed for no less than talking negatively about a Volturi decision. They'd witnessed attempted uprisings that always failed.

Over time, Felix's emotions shifted between anger with is former mate for giving up hope to a deep desire for some kind of revenge. Today, he seemed to be somewhere in between. He wanted his freedom; he wanted order; and he wanted justice. The form of those things changed constantly.

"You see, I may agree with the need for peace among vampires, but I will never agree with their methods of maintaining it," he said quietly, responding to an unspoken conversation between us.

I remained confused. While I understood why they wanted out, I wasn't sure how I fit in with their plans.

"Why me? Why now?" I questioned.

"You brought us the one thing we hadn't had in a long time, Edward," Demetri stated.

"What's that?"

"Possibility. Hope. Things can change even in our world."

And it was laid out in front of me. It wasn't me, exactly, but my connections and my timing. The Volturri really believed there was something brewing out there; someone was feeding Bella information, and they weren't happy about it. When the members of the guard went out beyond the walls, part of their duty was to open their eyes and ears to any news regarding potential uprisings.

Everyone knew of the Cullens but hadn't learned the specific nature of our gifts. They were also aware of our relationship to the Denali coven. Felix and Demetri believed that with my help, they build enough support to find freedom.

"Wait a minute. I just want to find Bella. I have no intention of fighting against them," I announced.

"Do you have a choice?" Felix's tone was hard to read, but I could almost sense a bit empathy. He was used to having no choices himself.

"Unless you plan to join the guard . . . do you really think Aro intends to let that gift of yours go? Did he not covet you?" Demetri questioned.

"No I don't suppose he will. But I'm still confused. I thought they offered invitations. I know that Eleazar was able to leave, and he has a very valuable gift." Carlisle had left as well, though he was never really a member of the guard, and they'd assumed he would likely die of starvation eventually. Eleazar, though could sense others' gifts. If what Felix and Demetri said was true, I couldn't imagine Aro just letting a gift like that walk out of the city.

"That's a mystery we've been unable to crack, Edward," Felix admitted. "His example is not typical. And 'invitation' is really a euphemism."

I tried to think about what I knew of Eleazar, and I realized that he, too, had shared little of his experiences in the Volturi guard. When he'd explained it, all he'd said was that he knew he couldn't live without Carmen, and he had been willing to do whatever was necessary to be with her.

"So, is it just the two of you then who are working together?"

"Yes . . . and no," Demetri answered. "We haven't openly discussed this in the guard, but we have a pretty good idea given our long history about who is truly loyal. As Aro said, though, we are well aware of certain factions forming across both continents in the last year or so."

"The past year?" I repeated.

"Give or take," Demetri answered.

I raised an eyebrow. The timing seemed too coincidental.

Felix nodded.

"We're pretty sure there's more than one group involved, but we think someone is working to coordinate them. It seems pretty likely your human got mixed up with one of them."

"Who are these groups?"

They looked at each other, clearly assessing how much information they wanted to give me. They must have known that I'd inevitably get the information. They weren't skilled enough at blocking their minds.

Ultimately, I decided it didn't matter. Only one question did.

"Do you think there's a chance she's still alive?" I'd been so sure it was the Volturi who had her; I'd been convinced myself she was likely dead. Now, the options were endless.

Demetri thought about his experience tracking her again. He'd been incredibly frustrated, never having an experience where he could not find someone before. He'd gone to her apartment hoping to pick up something that would lead him toward her, but it never came. He'd relied on his gift so long he wasn't used to using his actual senses to track others. He tried using her scent though. He followed her for a while outside of Seattle, but it was as if her trail just went dead.

He looked at me with furrowed brow. "Is it true that you can't read her mind?"

"Yes," I hesitated. Aro had given away that piece of information, but I wasn't ready to trust them entirely yet, so I left out how Alice could see her future at times, though that wasn't without difficulty either. She'd gone years without a single vision of her, and then only a couple, but both long after she'd left Forks.

It was fortuitous timing. I was momentarily fixated on everything Bella had been doing in the years between my leaving Forks and her disappearance when Demetri's memory flashed a familiar tree lined highway heading out of Seattle. It was the trail he'd followed.

Suddenly, the light bulb went off. The bell dinged. The crystal became clear.

"So you had her scent but then out of the blue it went cold?" I asked tentatively.

Demetri nodded. "Sort of; it was like she was there, nice scent by the way, and then it was gone. I think it was probably covered up by some awful animal smell I came across in the woods. I have no idea how you tolerate drinking from those creatures."

"You didn't follow it?"

"No," he answered incredulously. "Why would I follow an animal?"

I smiled. My first genuine smile in months, maybe years.

I wasn't being fair. I didn't tell them right then that I had a good feeling Bella was alive, and I was pretty certain I knew where she was.

There were still so many things that didn't add up, and I wanted more information first. "How have you hidden your talks from Aro?"

"You know, Aro is a calculating man, but he is also trusting unless you give him a reason not to. We never have. Though he likes to populate his guard with members who have gifts, he doesn't over use his own. His has always respected a degree of privacy. It's been years since he's asked to touch me," Felix stated.

"But if things get complicated . . ."

Felix took a deep breath. "I've been complacent far too long, Edward. I don't know what I was afraid of, but I'm not anymore. I won't go back. If things get 'complicated' as you say, then they can destroy me."

I looked to Demetri, who was completely unfazed by the admission. "And you?"

"No one can track me. I'm not worried."

The ease with which they spoke sparked something. My emotions had been in a constant state of flux since the moment I saw Bella again. It should have been a welcome change from the frozen tundra of self despair I'd lived so long. But the confusion was unnerving. It came roiling to a head. I looked at them and could feel nothing but anger.

"Well . . . fuck you both. You could have left at any time. Felix, you could have done something for which punishment would mean being destroyed. But you waited until now? Until it involved me? My Family? Bella? And you think I'm just going to willingly go along with your plan? Not that you actually have a plan, which is shit by the way. Did you really drag me into this with no idea what to do? With no more information than what you've already given me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

I stood to pace the cabin. It wasn't a large plane, but there was just enough room for me to stretch my legs.

They let me move, rant, rage; they said nothing. They knew I was stuck, and it wasn't really their fault to begin to with. It had been my own stupidity that led me to Volturi. Who was I kidding? The ignorance of my decision making went back much farther than that.

If I'd only had the balls to stay with Bella in the first place, to risk what I thought was everything. Funny how what seemed so complicated then now looked liked the simplest thing I could have done. Stayed. Loved her. Let the things progress naturally.

I finally sat back down, and let my head fall into my hands.

"This has been a lot to take in, hasn't it?" Felix asked tentatively.

I took a breath and let it out. It was loud, and it carried as much of my frustration as I could blow into it. I nearly laughed from the release of pressure. I tried to think of something snarky to say, but I had nothing. "You could say that."

"I hope, in time, you'll see that it wasn't just an out for us, but for you too. There's not much hope for you or for the ones you love while those three still have power," he added.

I kept taking cleansing breaths, trying to maintain some sense of calm. Biologically, they had no effect, but there was something psychologically soothing about the act. "Fine, so what happens when we land? What exactly are we dealing with, and what do we plan to do about it?"

Demetri smiled.

"I think you just. . . what's that expression. . .hit the nail on the head. We needed to know that there is a 'we.' If not, then well, there's no saying what could happen."

I had a few guesses about what might happen if I didn't go with their plan. If they were serious about not going back, about taking the risk, it would mean I was on my own against the Volturi with limited information and contacts. If they weren't, then I imagined we would find Bella; they would destroy me; and deliver her to Aro, claiming I had put up some kind of fight which forced them to act.

It didn't matter which way their intentions leaned. It was all bad news for me.

"And if I'm in?"

"Then we have work to do. Some people to visit. We know who some of the players are, but the puppet masters have been more elusive. We also don't know exactly how widespread their support is. Whoever is coordinating things must be powerful. I can't imagine the different groups of vampires working together for very long, so the window of opportunity has to be shrinking."

"What's the end goal exactly? Once you know who all these players are, then what?"

"It depends on how many and how skilled they are," Demetri answered. He leaned in. Strategy was something he was comfortable discussing. "We're hoping to have enough that the guard will simply stand down; we think there are plenty who would. The only real threat they've faced was that group in Mexico. Aro mentioned Maria back there, and it seemed like you already know about her. But theirs was more of a physical threat. We need to match them on strategy and powers as well."

"What if you're wrong? What if they don't back off?"

"You know the answer, Edward."

"War?" I asked, though it wasn't really a question.

Neither of them answered in words, but their thoughts showed they'd considered every option. No path was easy, no solution without sacrifice. For years, I'd faced sets of horrible choices with no good outcomes, and here I was again. And now even more people were going to be impacted by whatever decision I made, for good or for bad.

It really was too much for one day. There were moments where the sanest option seemed to be to jump out the plane and swim as far away as possible.

In spite of everything though, I had moments of calm. There was so much I didn't know; the future was entirely uncertain, but I had one thing. I had hope.

I would see her again.

E/N: So, we know what Felix and Demetri are up to. We know where Edward thinks Bella is again. There are still plenty of questions, but the path is unfolding.

Do you trust Felix and Demetri? Do you think Edward is right? And who could this ring leader be?

I haven't offered one in a while, but I'll serve up a teaser for you on this one in exchange for hitting the little button and telling me what you think. I have to know what you think of these two and the possibility that Bella is in La Push.

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