This chapter is a bit shorter than the ones I've been writing recently. That's because the arc has finally ended and all the pieces have been set. Next is the arc you all have been waiting for. It's the last arc and by far going to be the longest. It feels weird saying that the story will be ending because, from the looks of things, this story won't end for a couple more months. Thank you all for reading thus far. Last I checked, there were over 50,000 views, 168 favorites, 256 follows, and 212 reviews. I never imagined that this story could garner so much attention, and I'm pretty sure there are many lurkers who don't favorite/follow/review either. And I'm fine with that. It's what I do, after all! So again, thanks for reading The Life of a Phoenix. I promise you I have more twists and turns to throw at all of your lovely faces.

Onto the story. I think I have finalized Isabella's mate. Who will it be? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! Though IAILA might know xD As I have stated, the HUNT arc has ended with this chapter. Every coven has been started/created, and all of the characters that will be mentioned have been accounted for by the end of this chapter. I do still need OCs for my lower guard (the number is currently at around eight, including many of my OCs as well as other actual guards, and I want about fifteen) as well as song choices. My music tastes are surprisingly bad, so ha.

Also. Something I've been meaning to address. Isabella is not Bella. She will never be called Bella, nor would she appreciate being associated with Bella. They only look the same. They are different people all together. If you want to refer to Isabella, please call her Isabella (or Isa if you want to die by Jane's hands). Thank you.

REPLIES:

buttcheecks16: I've already responded to this, but no. Cooper will not be important at ALL. He was just there to show what Maria's 'type' was and how cruel she can be. And I am not going to comment about Jasper being Isabella's mate anymore.

Winterlover6 (Guest): Thanks!

Alice (Guest): I WANTED TO ANSWER THIS REVIEW THE SECOND I SAW IT BUT I WAS ONLY LIKE 500 WORDS INTO THIS CHAPTER AHH. GET AN ACCOUNT SO I MAY PM YOU :/ Anyhow, yes, Maria is a creepy little rapist darling. I hate her with a burning passion. Also you are as psychic as the character whose name you have borrowed, for Carmen and Eleazar do indeed get together in this chapter. It's not too much of a spoiler is it? ;) I am not going to say if Jasper is confirmed Isabella's mate or not, but he will have as large a part of the story as, say, Alice did in the original series. But he's not going to act like Alice at all. I have a faint idea about who Jasper will end up with as well, but we'll have to see. Isabella might have a very unconventional mate, to the point where no one has guessed who yet, but it is still not for anyone to know quite yet :3 I won't ever put it in the actual story description either, for the suspense of future readers. John was supposed to be a foil for the 'serious business Volturi' idea because pranks are cool, no matter how evil they can get. To answer your question, the id is the part of the subconscious that controls primal desires. It's Freud, I think. But basically it is everything you want but don't want to be, i.e. lust, greed. That's my interpretation, and that's the interpretation for this story. I don't have a beta, actually. I just started writing this story because why not, then just kept at it. I do edit it by rereading and adding additional details/changing typos, but that's about it. I still do slip through a lot of cracks, though, so it's not all that successful of an editing job, but eh. And replying is second nature for me :)

Guest: Well, I'm not going to say anything about Jasper/Isabella until it is or isn't confirmed in the story. He will be important, as I've stated above.

Arabella Whitlock: ;)

I am in Loki's Army: Sir Whitlock is a fine gentleman indeed.

YunaNeko: THANK YOU! HERE YOU GO~

death2luv (Guest): Ugh no. I hate Jacob, Paul, and the rest of the wolves. They don't seem planned out at all. They're just guys on constant hormones. Though Leah and Seth, I can deal with. They're cool.

.Executioner: Jane would approve of your username. I'm still tight-lipped about the mate, though.

JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW: I HAVE CHOSEN A MATE (finally). THEREFORE, DON'T COMMENT ABOUT 'Will Jasper be Isabella's mate?" BECAUSE FROM HERE ON OUT, I AM NOT GOING TO RESPOND TO THOSE. You have been warned.

The new woman seemed more curious of the Castle than Lenna herself had been. Lenna sensed a kindred spirit of sorts; the woman, Carmen she called herself, had been following an urge for years, one that led her through Spain and through into the heart of Italy.

Coincidence? Perhaps.

The woman wandered around the Castle, staring at the paintings and tapestries with awe. Upon finding the memory room, she sat and painted all that she remembered. When Isabella walked in on her, she was finishing the last touches on a portrait of three blonde girls smiling and laughing in a snowy landscape.

Isabella was at her side in a second, staring over her shoulder. "Excuse me, who are those women?" she asked, praying under her breath that her eyes were deceiving her.

Carmen looked up at her, blinked, and promptly responded (Good girl, playing along for the Guard), "Why, they're part of the coven I left before coming here. There are three girls. Tanya" (she gestured at one girl with hair that glistened golden red in the light) "Irina," (platinum blonde, eyes that must have been blue or silver or some equally piercing shade that now danced light red as she grinned out of the painting) "and Kate" (the final girl, with golden locks and a mouth wide open in frozen laughter). Carmen looked at the older guard timidly. "Do you know them?"

"Yes," Isabella said distractedly. She tugged on Carmen's sleeve slightly, prompting the sitting vampire to stand up, before grabbing the pencil sketch and pulling Carmen into the throne room.

Caius was the only one in the room. Unlucky, unlucky, that the most violent of the bunch is there to mete out your punishments. Isabella stormed up to him and shoved the picture in his face. "Look at this, sir," she muttered, watching Carmen carefully (the toned vampire was confused and not more than a little uncomfortable at her reaction).

The king merely took the picture out of his guard's hand and studied it carefully. His eyes shot open and he stared at the picture more intensely before glaring at the new vampire. "Where did you meet these three?" he snarled, his eyes glowing from rage.

Carmen began to think she made a horrid mistake in drawing them. She stared at the offending paper, not understanding why they hated it so much. "I-in America. Alaska. The state next to Canada. They were in Denali," she managed to say, her fear overtaking her.

Caius and Isabella both sighed and relaxed. "That's a relief. Isabella, thank you for this, but we don't need it, as you can see."

Isabella nodded and directed Carmen out of the throne room. "I'm sorry about that outburst," she said with an apologetic glance. Carmen's nod indicated her acceptance, and the quirk of her head indicated her continual confusion. "What is so wrong about those three? They seemed so accepting, and they never even think about breaking the laws."

"It's a long story, but they promised that they would never return to the snow-covered lands that their sire perished in. I saw them in snow and, how shall I put it, lost all of my sense."

Carmen gave a sad smile. "They would never even think of coming to Europe. It's why I came alone. I planned to come with them, let them relax while I searched, but to no avail. They are content staying in Alaska."

Isabella chuckled darkly. "Hopefully, it will remain that way. Aro is nowhere near as understanding as Caius."

"Master Caius, understanding?"

"My point exactly." Isabella glided away, leaving a nervous Carmen behind.

Carmen's pull ended up leading her to Eleazar, who accepted her as his mate and asked for permission from Aro to leave and go with Carmen to rejoin the three sisters. Aro saw no reason to prevent his departure and Eleazar left with a warmer goodbye than Carlisle ever did.

Isabella watched them walk away, arms intertwined. She had watched Eleazar fall for Carmen immediately and Carmen fall for Eleazar. She watched them awkwardly work their way about each other, not knowing that the other felt the same way, not daring to be the one to start the courtship. Finally, Jane had had enough and practically threatened Eleazar to talk to Carmen or so help me God, I will make you feel the physical discomfort of learning you aren't pregnant every month. How Jane knew of these things Isabella had no idea, as the twins had only just entered puberty when they had been changed, but it was a very effective threat as Eleazar immediately approached Carmen like a gentleman and pretty much wooed her with a single conversation. Carmen had already been head over heels for Eleazar, and that single conversation had triggered a willingness to talk to him and allow herself to be wooed.

Isabella was happy for her friends. She didn't know when Carmen became such a presence in her life, but the visitor had greeted everyone warmly to the point where the guard finally gave up trying to deter her. Instead, they welcomed her, showing the more familial side of the Volturi that Carmen suspected was there but that they never showed to outsiders. While Jane, Alec, and Isabella still remained aloof, Chelsea, Corin, and Heidi had welcomed Carmen as an honorary sister. Felix continuously teased and congratulated a very embarrassed Eleazar almost constantly after finding out that the two had mated for the first time.

But now, that time with Eleazar and Carmen was drawing to a close as the mated pair decided to travel back to America and rejoin the three sisters in Denali. Aro had given the two his blessing and a warning: whatever you do, if you meet Carlisle Cullen, listen to whatever he tells you with a grain of salt. The two had heard the stories about how the Cullen wanted to tear the Volturi apart with his more 'humane' lifestyle, letting the rich, fat criminals live while the poor starved for want of meat. They understood the reason behind his warning, thanked him for all that he did for them, and left, hand in hand.

And now the walls of the Castle became a bit more rambunctious, without Carmen's warm but warning aura and Eleazar's quiet presence. John's escapades became more daring and infinitely more annoying. Jane and Alec threw themselves into their music more intensely, perfecting their duets whenever Isabella wasn't around and forcing her to join their little ensemble when she was. Felix had even dared to get closer to John and now occasionally joined in the terrorizing. Heidi had found herself on the back end of many pranks ever since they had begun working together, but she didn't really do much besides roll her eyes.

All in all, life went on in Volturi Castle, all without more than the tiniest blip that Eleazar and Carmen's presences were in the story of the eldest vampires.

"Look out!"

A young man in army khakis threw himself at his much older comrade, forcing him to the ground as bullets rained overhead. The older man's eyes widened as he saw how many flew at him. Almost all of the fighters must have seen them and aimed directly at him.

The young man glanced at him again. His hair was straggly and honey blond, most of it held back by a small leather in a ponytail but the rest falling all over his face and directly in front of his light grey, almost white colored eyes. "Are you okay?" the man hissed, looking at his soldier worriedly. He had heard the gunfire, but didn't see any wounds. Good. He needed his men as intact as possible for his next maneuver. He had heard tales of how the Union planned to attack the waterways of Sabine Pass, and he hoped to God that he could somehow defeat them when (and he had a feeling it was when) the Yankees would come onto shore.

"Yessir, Major," the man responded with a low whisper. "I thank ye for savin' me just now, sir. I'm obliged to help yer ventures into anythin' now, sir, and I will do so until my final breaths."

The young man's lips quirked up into a crazed smirk. His eyes darted between the older man's and the battlefield. "Well then, soldier, you're going to help me destroy these Yankees, aren't you?" His smooth words sent a shiver down the soldier's back and a wave of gleeful anticipation straight to his heart.

"That sounds 'bout right, Major," he responded with a dark chuckle.

The Major gave him the same smirk from earlier before grabbing his gun, quietly checking for ammunition, and promptly putting it on his shoulder and shooting it in the direction of the fire. Bullets flew over their heads again.

"Well then, the plan is to anger the hell out of them and then beat it out of them. Leave any bodies for others to find. Make sure the others know; I'm going to go forward a bit more." The Major watched his man sneak back to the friendly side before he silently streaked into the crossfire and drew the opposing side's fire. Shouting suddenly, he danced from foot to foot as he sprinted to the other side of the field, watching his men get up and shoot every last enemy to death. His heart swelled with pride. He loved his small subset of the army. Yes, it was dangerous to love a man's cohort like brothers, but they had been going through the hell for two, nearly three years now. He was nineteen now, and he would still lay down his life for his country. Freedom was worth it.

But was it worth getting thrown down by a woman with slightly shimmering skin, a woman with blond hair as light colored as snow that framed her angelic face, which was painted with a demonic smile. With devil's eyes, for how could a human be born with red irises? What a paradox, life is.

Her eyes raked his body up and down. The Major knew better than to get up or to alert her of anything. He just lay and stared straight up at her.

"Come with me, boy," the lady suddenly said. Hearing the command and implied threat, the Major dutifully got up and followed.

She led him to a group of people. But were they really? Everyone seemed to glow in the light of day, and most looked lost, fragmented, forgotten. They wore nothing more than rags for the most part, but a few were dressed in scandalously little; one, a dirty-blond boy, had a strap of leather tied around his waist, a choker with an ostantatiously styled 'M' carved into obsidian, a cowboy's hat, and a pair of black leather boots. His eyes were red as well, and he walked up to the woman with the Major with a simultaneously meek and confident air.

"Mistress Nettie, you have returned," he whispered out, his eyes darting from her eyes to his feet. His head was slightly bowed, which was odd as he was a good nine inches taller than she. The woman, Nettie it seemed, merely gave a feral grin and took an additional step towards the boy. She trailed a finger up his abdomen and played with the choker. She gave a little pout. "It's too bad that Maria's gone and made you hers for the week. I can think of so many games I want to play with you for now."

The boy looked resigned, dull now. He glanced at the newcomer and scrutinized him. "Is this another one of your recruits? Or is it another one of us toys?" he spat out, suddenly growing resolve, glaring at her.

She took her hand and carefully, tenderly, pinched his lips together and dug her nails in to keep them shut. She then leaned up and seemed to bite them closed amid howls of pain from the boy. She then tore her teeth out, leaving a jagged cut that bled clear fluids. The boy whimpered now, putting his lip back together in a deformed fashion.

"Careful now, Cooper," she sneered, watching him struggle. "We call the shots around here. You're just a toy that Maria dragged in off the streets. You'll never be one of us."

Cooper mumbled an apology before looking at the Major desperately. Run now, he wanted to scream. Run before you're kept for all eternity!

The Major didn't register his silent pleas and just followed Nettie on. They passed others; women with pasties and strings on next to women with camouflage clothing that covered up anything and everything sensual. Finally, Nettie led him into a canvas tent that held two other women, one blonde much taller than the brunette, who lounged on the ground. The shorter woman appraised the Major's body as if it were a commodity. In fact, seeing the horrible conditions outside, he was sure that he was a commodity. Damn his Southern hospitality and inability to tell a woman 'no' for getting him into this. He could have laughed, walked away in confidence, even run if he were too unlucky.

Too bad that he didn't know any attempt to escape would have been futile, no?

The shorter one seemed to purr in appreciation and got up, gesturing for the blonde to stay seated and for the white blonde, Nettie, to join her. She approached him slowly, brown hair dancing about her shoulders as her red eyes pierced his soul.

"What's your name?"

"Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am." The formality had slipped out.

She nodded again.

"If you want him, you'll have to do it," the white blonde called out from where she seemed to be grooming the other woman. "We can't control ourselves after the initial."

The shorter woman nodded and fixated her gaze on the part in Jasper's neck where the vein pumped its vital fluids enthusiastically.

"This should only hurt a little," she said, her eyes laughing as though she had just told the funniest joke ever. She then leaned forward suddenly and pierced his neck with her teeth. He screeched in agony. She didn't care. She let his body flop about like a fish, watching the transformation coldly and disinterestedly.

The battle that Major Jasper T. Whitlock was reported missing in was known in history books thereafter as the First Battle of Sabine Pass. As his plan had been hidden from his regiment in hopes of minimizing any potential spying amongst them, the entire regiment had no idea what the plan would be. True to their major's final orders, they fought like hell, but it proved to be too little. The First Battle of Sabine Pass ended with casualties on both sides, the wiping out of an entire team of soldiers, and a major that was then lost in the sands of time.

Isabella was back in her homeland. It was weird.

She hadn't expected England to change so much, though in her heart she knew it would. The changes in Italy couldn't compare to the roaring differences in the British lands; factories churned out products and thick black smoke in equal quantities, and people's qualities of life were going up while their quality of food and water were going down. She had wandered into the verdant hills of Ireland with Lenna and Renata at her side. It was the first time in a while that Demetri's sister had been forced with her, and Isabella wasn't really sure what to expect.

It turned out that Lenna had calmed herself quite a bit. She was much more down-to-earth and sarcastic than she had initially seemed because she was excited to see her brother again. Isabella could relate. Renata really couldn't, though she supposed if she were searching for her uncle Luca again than she would be just as thrilled to find him.

With Lenna much calmer, it was easier to have a normal conversation with her. It turned out that her mind, much like Demetri's, was deep in the gutter, and anything that sounded like it had the slightest of double-entendres stood out to her like a vampire amongst humans. Isabella watched the two banter back and forth, Renata attempting to say things and Lenna teasingly cringing at their alternate meaning.

"What I'm saying is that the tree was just sticking up all by itself!"

"That's exactly what you said about the 'long object racing into a tunnel', Renata."

"I know what it's called now, thank you very much! It's just a cargo ship-thing going under a bridge!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Oh my God, you make things so hard sometimes, Lenna!"

"I'll give you a moment to think about what you just said."

"Will you two quiet down?"

The younger vampires immediately hushed at Isabella's soft barb. She didn't embrace their conversation as willingly as they did, and when she said to stop talking, the Lord knew that you stopped talking.

Isabella cocked her head in one direction before relaxing and crossing her arms. "Siobhan!" she called.

An intense whispering, a chorus of hushed talking, seemed to explode around the three. Cautiously, a woman stepped out, raven-black hair whipping in the wind, her red eyes glittering intelligently. Her arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a fiery-haired girl who appeared no older than Jane or Renata.

The woman relaxed upon seeing Isabella standing with her limbs loose. "Isabella!" she called back, her expression sliding into a smile as she saw the mahogany-haired vampire. Renata recognized the older woman but not the girl. Obviously, Lenna didn't know them at all.

"Siobhan, while I would love to take a few days to catch up with you with what has happened during the last two hundred years or so, I'm afraid my fellow guards and I are here on actual business," Isabella said with a shrug, her arms still wrapped around her. She watched her once-friend-now-more-of-a-friendly-acquaintance glance down at the girl in her arms. The girl stared at the three guards before nodding to Siobhan. "She speaks the truth, Siobhan."

Isabella was rather impressed with the gift. "Who is this, Siobhan?" she asked, amusement gracing her tone. "A newborn you have taken in again?"

Siobhan seemed to tense up ever so slightly. "This is Margaret," she said quietly. The girl shrugged the woman's protective arm off to stand to the side, so confident she was that she was safe. "I changed her after she showed talent a couple of decades ago. She is no threat, I swear. Her only gift is detecting lies. Please, Isabella, don't take her away."

Isabella looked at the beseeching woman, looked into her eyes, and relented. "I will have to tell Aro to put in our records, Siobhan," she said, "but I will ask him to not come and see for himself. You and Liam deserve your secrets."

"Speaking of which, where is Liam? I never saw him without you ever," Renata piped up. Margaret whipped her head to stare at Renata for a couple of seconds before nodding to herself in satisfaction.

"There are no ulterior motives in her, as well," the redhead declared happily. Siobhan smiled at her charge's happy-go-lucky attitude.

"My mate is off hunting. He knows that too many scare off the prey," Siobhan said quietly. "He should be back soon."

"I am back," a voice with a slight brogue broke in. The vampires all looked to see a dark-haired man with a sturdy body approach Siobhan to hold her from the back and place a lingering kiss on her cheek. Margaret imitated gagging off to the side and pretended to stick her finger down her throat.

"Aye, Maggie," Liam bellowed, "don't be an arse now."

The newly-nicknamed Maggie just rolled her eyes at him and gave him a scathing look. "I already know of your nighttime pursuits, must I know about your daytime ones as well?"

"Not around Lenna," Renata grumbled while Lenna chortled to herself.

"And with that, I will take my perverted guards away from here," Isabella said, shaking her head. Siobhan chuckled at their antics.

"Fairfarren, guards," she called as the three females bowed and left.

In a farther country, a girl's eyes grew glassy as she ran from that which she didn't know. All she knew what that she instinctively sensed danger, danger that she would soon have to outrun with another's help. Another male studied his art of medicine fervently, hoping for the day that he could control himself and finally give back to the community the way he promised to so long ago. Soon their paths would intertwine, but not yet. Time watched her little figures, the ones that remained or would remain constant, with a shrewd gaze, and she made sure that they all had the tools they needed to succeed. But she knew that some would succeed at things they didn't want to. She knew that some had motives that clashed with others. And she would watch gleefully, not stopping anything. Nothing can stop time, after all, not even herself.

Isabella could smell the air as she raced through Europe back to her home in the Castle.

The winds smelled... different. More sweet, but strident. It was mixed with the scent of something dirty.

Something was coming to the world. She wasn't sure if she was looking forward to it

VOTE ON THE POLL! YOU'VE GOT A MONTH.

I hope you guys had a nice Samhain/All Hallow's Even/Halloween/Free Candy Day! Here's my treat for you, hopefully John won't give you the trick. ~Shriayle