Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Add the Quileutes to the equation, subtract Alice's sight; subtract the wolves and Alice saw nothing good. She'd never seen this far. I could practically feel finality hurling itself at us as we barreled through the air without a net.
None of our party defected at this first real opportunity. Not a single nomad took advantage of the initial drama to slink away. Surveying the impressive number of battle-ready immortals scattered across Allesworth's grounds, it seemed impossible that there could be one anywhere across the globe still unaware of the situation brewing here. The few not among us would find out quickly. This story, our story, would be handed down, saturating subsequent generations, readying them for eternity like the venom solidifying their tissue. That fact flavored the air, lowered the temperature, coursed through even my not-yet-galvanized veins.
Who, though, would do the telling? Losing would relegate us to infamy as a cautionary tale, war criminals unfit to write their own memoirs, much less history.
Throughout my bewilderment Alec writhed, an eternity of suffering and betrayal compared to his practically uncontested life before this. Not even the commonest decency made Jane stay her hand. She pinned him there like an animal in a trap until the last vestiges of mist had evaporated. I remained transfixed on him, terrified and frozen. My stupor allowed the realignments to dig in.
Between Chelsea's loose hold on them and their sense of duty, Marcus and Caius must have felt obliged to dance with the one that brought them. Nothing else made sense. I wondered if Marcus wished he'd arrived at his conclusions about Aro under circumstances that didn't soil their position of responsibility. Even so, how could he stay with Aro? Just watching them stand together in feigned solidarity made me ill. We all knew that Marcus disagreed with what Aro had set in motion. He was protecting the office, not the person.
Surely Marcus protected the office and not the person.
So many of the gallery joining our number scared me. Even more carnelian eyes, spurred on by the prospect of violence, made me a potential outlet for their bloodlust. While worrying more about my own skin was at this point utterly ridiculous, I didn't want anyone distracted from the real targets.
"One last time, fellows." Marcus made a final attempt at reconciliation. "Immortals cannot remain without rule. Attacking one of the Volturi flies in the face of what we know to keep us safe. Reconsider. Return to your lives as they were, as you are, and trust us to maintain order. Disorder and vigilante-ism are unsafe alternatives to what we know."
Glassy calm and awaiting the storm, Marcus' exterior bore no trace of his feelings about Aro's outburst. It led no one to accept his invitation.
Sarcastic murmurings of "trusssst us" and "order" came from the angered nomads. Their audible rumblings vibrated through the soil and shook loose snow from the lowest branches. Wicks smoldered and hissed, suffocated by the fallen flakes. The low-frequency grumbling became nearly oppressive.
A crack, just a fissure at first, advanced from the far end of the field. Even I could see minds making themselves as the gap neared, beds that could not be unmade.
Benjamin caused the upheaval, not the nomads, made it creep and dissect and divide the indecisive witnesses and wives from the Volturi. A few, under duress, chose sides before the chasm became too large to cross. Most were isolated on his tiny island, looking for a way to get back, deciding if it was worth the moments of vulnerability to join this fight. Tipping the scales for those still uncertain, Alec let a cloud of sleep settle into the void. Save one ambitious hanger-on, they resigned themselves to watching, waiting, letting someone else decide their fates rather than chance the fog.
Marcus continued through the hum of plotting, "Rest assured that any wrongdoing today will be addressed with the finality it merits."
"Finality" bellowed through the din like a foghorn, portentous and low. Alice screamed. "Marcus! No!"
He raised an ancient hand. "It is too late, daughter. I have chosen. We have all chosen our fates, even those unfortunate witnesses Aro dragged from the corners of Europe." Vampires began launching themselves at one another headlong. Like the first few draws of a bow across strings, a skirmish started up, and then a second. A symphony of lithe gymnastics built, heading for an epic crescendo.
My human saunter to the center of the field would not do to get out of harm's way. Edward wrapped me up and deposited me in the garden temple before I could even break into a run. Swaths of color shot past me, exploding into one another in an avalanche of immortal fury. The battle had begun in earnest.
"You've tipped the scales in our favor, brave girl. I can't stay here but I'll be protecting you the whole time. I promise. Give me your word you'll stay here until I come for you. Seth is staying with you to keep you informed and safe. You've done your part and I have to go do mine."
"We'll wait…I'll wait. Go."
"Promise that this isn't what you'll remember: the monster and not the man."
One more kiss and I promised. "Never."
My perch gave me as good a vantage point as could be had but human eyes couldn't keep up with the action. Granite and steel screeched and thundered as they fought. I could make out Alice and Rosalie on one end of the garden and the wolves on the other, keeping most of the nomads that had allied with Aro in check.
Two mangled bodies and a pair of disembodied heads decorated the ground behind Rose and Alice. No telling which came off which neck, or if they even fit together in any combination. They formed the start of a pile that grew quickly, the sickening, sweet smell of venom wafting on the cold wind. I buried my cold nose in warm fur beside me, anxious to be rid of the scorched-candy stench immortality left when bled away.
"Seth, how's it going?"
He gave me a wolfy grin and scratched a word into the dust of snow at our feet. Gallery. Quickly wiping it away, he wrote a second. Unsure. It disappeared in the same motion.
The gallery was still uncertain. It made sense. Marcus had sounded an indistinct call. He openly disagreed with Aro's reasoning but then proclaimed the right of the Volturi to reign over the immortal world. Making a good show of fighting and then disappearing after taking a few licks would keep someone safe from the Volturi's wrath should the Volturi win. The gallery was looking for an exit and Edward was trying to make sure we gave it to them. I watched them run at Rose and Alice and then disappear or become part of the garbage.
Alice and Edward would know what they wanted; they could deliver exactly that.
I shivered and leaned in to Seth.
The battle lines had formed with such haste after Aro's tirade. Chelsea defected to our side when Alec did. Without her keeping them together, Demetri followed quickly, bringing a mountain of anger with him. Isolating the wives had proved a brilliant tactic. The two of them had received such a blow to the heart; it was hard to imagine that either side could count on them. They watched, hand in hand, but only one posture was moved by the battle raging on. Aro's wife sagged in defeat and Caius' wife held her hand.
Edward fought side by side with Jacob, the two of them leading a strike for the center of the hive. Alec was not far behind, doing little to hide how personal this fight was for him.
Seth nodded a furry nose to indicate Benjamin. The misty fog hovering mere inches above the frosty ground began to reorganize, swirling into a mountainous slate-colored hourglass that circled overhead. The source of such a thing couldn't have been anyone on the ground but Benjamin, making him a target. The bull's eye marking him turned the attention of the crowd. Jane bristled, watching him use the wind to whip members of her army into Alec's numbing abyss. Every tiny tornado that slung a vampire into the hole angered her more and more. Dodging the cyclones kept her too busy to act on it.
Benjamin had disappeared when I looked for him again.
A few groups still stood between Edward and Aro. Thus far Jane had kept attacks on the four of them—Aro, Caius, Marcus and herself—at bay. Anyone she incapacitated was dragged back into the fight. The hem of her cloak remained unstained as they danced around assaults from the elements and vampires. Stranded at the center of the action, they seemed to be looking for an exit.
The individual skirmishes looked choreographed to me, dance-like and graceful as arms encircled and legs propelled. A caress of one manicured finger, a kiss from a lipsticked pout, and the recipient might lose their head entirely. Alice cartwheeled over a surprised young man in tweed, adjusting his tie on the way. His head landed neatly atop the pile, bowtie and shocked expression still in place.
Sophie fought with Alice and Rose by the entrance to the labyrinth, the edge of the garden closest to the house and me. I could make out their actions most clearly. I remained mesmerized, unable to look away. So many times did Sophie allow another vampire to get close to her before she attacked that it gave me a false sense of security. She was undefeatable. The dark cloak of a member of the guard swung around the two of them, a pas de deux. Alice turned to warn her too late, the scream still in her throat. When he stepped away, Sophie's arm jutted out of her dress awkwardly.
Distracted, the two wolves fighting with them took blows to the ribs. A whimper of shared pain and Seth took off like a shot to help his flailing brothers.
Closer to her than Alice, though obviously outmatched, Rose took on the large black cloak closing in on Sophie. Alice wasn't far behind to tip the scale in Rose's favor.
Frustrated anger burned under my sternum. I turned my face from the violence and concentrated on evening out my shallow, choppy breaths. The perfectly laid-out table glinted in the jumpy candlelight as winds from Benjamin's thunderhead jostled the lanterns and votives. Sophie cried out, the animal cry of pain I'd heard a few times already. I might not have noticed it if I hadn't been hoping so hard for its absence.
She rested on her side, hair curtained over her face. Her arm now laid against her side, normally aligned. The center of her gown was gashed, the white flesh beneath it open and seeping clear fluid. The soaked fabric flowered a darker hue.
Wounded Sophie tried to pick herself up but couldn't move.
Golden flames made the unused silver throb, glimmer with importance, suddenly more than cold utensils. I plundered the table and ran to Sophie.
"NO!"
"NO!"
I'm sure Alice must have objected first but my human ears wouldn't notice the split second of difference. She and Edward screamed in unison. I saw Edward jump on Marcus but lost him as I stumbled down hill. Marcus made eye contact with me before turning his attention back to Edward. Jane bared her teeth at me, obviously appreciating the scene I'd caused as she launched herself at Jasper and Edward.
I couldn't let it distract me.
I progressed in fits of jumps and tripping steps alongside the tiny lake, the one where Alistair hid keeping watch over Sophie. Though my progress must have appeared uncertain, I never thought twice about going to Sophie. I caught my stride as I approached and threw myself on the ground in front of her face. "Can you move anything?"
"I could roll back but that would expose me more; this is all I can do until I heal. They'll do the best they can to keep a perimeter around me. You're mad, coming down here. I don't need company."
"No, love. You need medicine." Before she could protest, I cut open my forearm and shoved it to her mouth. "If you bite me, I'm going to be in big trouble when I wake up. I am already, I guess."
Marcus must have slung Edward towards us in their fight. I watched him bowl over the two vampires stalking Seth. The scene shimmered in unreality, smudged and oil-slicked. My lids became heavier and heavier until I stopped fighting to keep them open.
Edward kissed my forehead. His blurred face was framed with stars when he leaned down next to me. "That's all you get, Sophie."
He carried the two of us back to the temple, Seth not far behind, and poured some concoction into a glass. "Drink every bit of this. I'll be back soon." The jaw clench was not a good omen. Seth whimpered apologetically.
Sophie held the glass for me, never turning her gaze from the battlefield. The purple cast around her eyes and lips had faded.
"Your eyes are already red."
"Your fault." She rolled her shoulders—first the right, then the left, then both. I heard her inhale deeply. "It worked though. You're absolutely out of your mind and I love you for it. Thank you."
"No need. You're welcome, of course." My lips tingled. I was having a hard time swallowing the sweet liquid in my mouth.
"'Of course'. Funny girl. You're one of the monsters now, huh?"
"Soon."
"Oh. How soon?" She was placating me but I was very serious. Serious business.
"I was going to talk to you about that tomorrow."
"We should plan on that." She rose gracefully, gave her limbs one last stretch and kissed me on the top of the head. She grinned as she turned to go.
I snuggled into Seth. "I'm so damn cold now. I'm glad you came back to keep me warm."
The chasm around the wives was now littered with senseless vampires. They climbed over one another and tumbled back down the walls. Unknowingly, they'd covered themselves and one another with gouges and scrapes, though the numbers outside the hole hardly fared better. Edward and Carlisle closed back in on Aro.
Members of the guard tried to make their way back to protect the brothers but Alice and Jasper were fending them off.
Aro knew defeat when he saw it. "Run, friends. Live to fight another day and we will do just that." He retreated and looked to Jane. It appeared that they had one last hand to play. Edward had to know that, didn't he? Looking at the way he was leaning, it seemed pretty obvious. He and Jane would make a break for it with Marcus and Caius bringing up the rear. Marcus had no baggage. Caius leaving his wife behind was the only question mark.
Edward was the fastest. Jane would have to take him out if she wanted to escape. I lunged as soon as the thought occurred to me. Seth was too fast. He curled around me and held me fast.
I screamed bloody murder, clawed and scratched, trying to get to Edward. "No, Seth! Let me go! Please. You know what she'll do to him."
He whimpered and I thought I'd won. Still he kept me back and I didn't have the energy to fight him off.
The thunderhead flicked down a whip of a tornado, finally succeeding in tossing Caius down the hole. Benjamin tried to nab Jane but she was too quick. Lightning struck at her feet once, twice, three times. She danced around it. Knowing it was her only chance to run, while Benjamin was regrouping, she hit Edward with everything she had and ran.
Edward dropped for only a few seconds. It would have been enough of a lead to get the two of them off safely, possibly even Marcus too. But Marcus didn't go. He wrapped his arms around Aro and lunged for the bonfire Benjamin's lightning left.
Jane delayed, a death sentence for her. Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Rose and Emmett went after her, too many bodies to torture at once. They each came back with a pile of kindling.
Edward and Alice must have seen what Marcus planned to do; they'd known from the beginning. They tore Aro from his grasp and pushed him away from the fire. Alice wrapped Marcus' flaming shoulder with her jacket.
Marcus sat on the ground with his head hung and smoke rising from his clutches. He had come away with the singed head of the man who murdered his wife. He looked to Aro's wife, Sepulcia, before he dropped it into the flames. She nodded her approval.
My family added Jane's limbs to the flames eating up Aro's remains, making the fire danced green and violet, sending red fireflies into the dangerous clouds circling overhead with each addition.
Seth took a knee to help me to his back. He carried me to Edward and the others.
Before my eyes, Alec's cloud dissipated and shrank, sank into the hole. As it retreated and Benjamin's thunderhead broke up, I began to see what a mess we had to clean up. Flames illuminated it further as Rose lit the pile she'd helped Alice and Sophie create.
Carlisle approached Marcus, who sat watching the bonfire silently. "This is not the end. It's a new start."
He answered Carlisle but looked at me. "I'm the kind of monster that doesn't deserve to live."
"What you do next determines that, not what's done. I felt the same way myself, once upon a time. Humor an old friend and let me tell you a story."
Author's Note: That's what it's all about really. It's never what you did but what you will do. Love to you all.