There are officially less than ten chapters left until this story closes. This is rather depressing. I plan to go back through and reedit the chapters, maybe get rid of some ANs after this is all done. THEN THE NEXT STORY WILL BE RELEASED xD
Fun fact: half of this was written on an hour-long car ride that I had to take to get from a class back home. In our high school, we're offered the chance to work with professionals in the biology field, and of course the hospital that I chose happens to be about forty minutes to an hour and a half away depending on traffic (yay LA traffic). And I had my laptop. So I took it out and wrote for a solid hour. Yep. Therefore: I no proofread. Please review and inform me of mistakes.
Um. Did you guys really think that Isabella would allow Bree to die? I guess I see where it comes from, but hopefully we've established that Isabella's a rule-breaker whenever and wherever she feels like it.
In other news, I read from one of those shady 'ten things you didn't know' website article things that Dakota Fanning is planning to stay celibate until 18 because she promised her mother and all I can imagine is Isabella giving Jane 'the talk' after Jane meets Demetri and Jane just going 'I'M 200 YEARS OLD GEEZ ISA.' Things from my mind are odd and wonderful. Added extra: my friend sent me a tumblr post of Kristen Stewart being really adorable and now I have to make Isabella more happy-go-lucky. In that vein of thought, my mind's eye sees Isabella, Jane, and Alec as the Twilight actors' portrayals, but with different heights. These heights will be disclosed later.
ALSO: I've been doing some new art for this story because why not. It's in my rather signature 'papercut' style. Should I change/update the title page? It's going to look quite different from what it currently is.
REPLIES:
I am in Loki's Army: You're as psychic as Alice (Guest) is o_O Stephenie Meyer's emphasis on the Cullens bothered me. Couldn't they have at least tried to keep in contact with some of the other vampires she brought out randomly in Breaking Dawn? I know that might seem hypocritical coming from me, but at least the guards and kings already kinda know the other covens because they're the government and they have to keep track of the population xD Also YAY GIRL CHARACTERS
Maiannaise: I always loved Bree. Also, my friend's nickname is Bree. It would feel awkward killing her off xD I also have maaany plans for our little newborn.
YunaNeko: :)
Goddess Cure Mystic: She's a little angel. Maybe.
lordmantis (Guest): Thanks, I try :P If you love this story that much, I'm going to expect you to stick around for the next one, which is already much more planned out than this one ever was.
Happy. Death. Executioner: Yep. Bree throws a wrench into things, like Jasper leaving the Cullens. Though he was surprisingly easy to write out.
Arabella Whitlock: Isabella's not that evil xD Nor would she allow her sister to torture a random person. COUGH STEPHENIE MEYER COUGH.
MoonPrincess623: I'm going to explain the entire mate thing later, but Jasper's mate bond thing would most likely slowly evolve into a sexual one. Though I'm not planning on spending too much time on that.
Guest: :)
pandorazul: I keep track of the chapters on my profile, but right now, I've planned out 56 for the actual story. Afterwards, there are 14 extras that will be released, so this story should end up with 70 chapters at the end.
XxHeavenlyBlueSkyxX: Random fact is random. And interesting. I approve. Also, I hope that you're willing to talk to me in the future D: I don't biteeeee and thank you for that lovely compliment :) I always loved the Volturi as an entity far more than the Cullens.
Bree didn't fit into Volterra as well as the other guards had. The majority of her newborn years had been in the army, untrained and untaught, and because of that, she found herself jumping at every barely audible noise, reacting by lashing out violently or at least crouching into a sloppy battle stance. The others tried to train it out of her, tried to convince her that it was okay for her to just relax while she was in the Castle, that no one was there to hurt her. The only one that understood her reaction was Jasper, who had trained newborns to act in such a manner. When Maisie mentioned it to him, Jasper became determined to help this newborn, the one who was raised by fear and submission, like so many others that he had seen before.
Jasper tailed Bree whenever possible, watching her walk around with the whitish-grey cloak she wore designating her as important to the kings but still a lesser guard. He would purposefully make noises behind her, from loud to soft, and watch her overall extremely jumpy reaction to measure how she was trained. He didn't like what he saw: she was skittish, hyperventilating when each noise seemed to resemble another vampire trying to sneak up on her. She had been raised for fear to be ingrained within her. She feared everything and everyone, no matter how much she knew that she was safe. He approached her (from the front, so that she could see him coming towards her and had a body to associate the noises to) and asked her point-blank if she wanted him to help her get accustomed to life in the Castle, with vampires around probably every corner and more walking through the doors for trials, not to mention the world leaders that the kings met with every week. She had frozen upon seeing his many scars from other newborns and hadn't spoken for a solid minute before realizing that he had asked her a question, one that he expected an answer for. For his part, Jasper waited impatiently, having anticipated her reaction upon seeing him. She timidly agreed, and they began to work together slowly. Slowly, as in, there were no visible changes even after a couple of months.
Marcus and Didyme were worried for their new daughter. She didn't really accept them as her parents as of yet, having had too rough a childhood to even think of having parents that didn't abandon her and throw her out. Maisie had needed parental figures to guide her after Liam and Siobhan's unfortunate demise. Bree didn't have those stable figures to begin with, so she had no idea what she was really missing out on. Isabella thought it a shame; she had grown up like that, without a parent to rely on, and now she wished beyond anything else that she could have had a mother and father in her life. Bree didn't see what Marcus and Didyme were offering. Isabella thought in the back of her mind that she would offer the same to another lost soul. She didn't know when or how that soul would come to her, but she just had the innate desire to protect those who couldn't defend themselves from their circumstances.
It was this conviction that drove Isabella to try and convince Bree to let her newly bonded parents through her walls, walls that Bree herself had no idea how to begin to take down. Jasper tried to help her with her subconscious protections as well as her high-strung reflexes, but there was no way for her to even comprehend changing. She had lived too long with those barriers, even from her human life, to take them down. Isabella couldn't even help her; it wasn't a true mental shield, but a subconsciously created wall. Only Bree could take it down.
It was with this heavy information that the parents and the mentors alike admitted defeat in trying to take the barrier down. They decided to give that option to Bree herself; she was the one who had built the wall up with mortar of blood and sweat and bricks of despair and self-mutilation. She didn't think she was good enough to be a guard. She didn't think she was good enough for anything.
But Isabella had seen the carefree girl that she was, that day on the ocean. She had seen Bree let go of everything that she built up in the hopes of protecting herself. Isabella was ready to see the young vampire blossom once she let her inhibitions go.
She hadn't yet allowed herself to die and be reborn.
Mr. Carlisle Cullen and Ms. Esme Platt Cullen request your presence to celebrate the union of their son, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, to his beloved fiancée, Kristen Marie Swan, daughter of Renee Swan Dwyer and Charlie Swan. The wedding is to be held on Saturday, the first of November, two thousand and eight, at six o'clock in the evening.
Underneath, scrawled in a deft yet messy hand:
Aro, I do not know if you plan to come to this glorious occasion that my family plans to celebrate. I do not know if I am even on good terms with you anymore. But please, take this as an opportunity to see that Kristen will become a part of our family, for better or for worse, as an immortal, the way you have entreated us to turn her into. She wishes this life upon herself. I will not force her to give up what she wants. Please, I beseech you, my old friend, let us know prior to coming. I do not wish an early death via heart attack on my new daughter-in-law.
Sincerely, Carlisle Cullen, leader of the Olympic coven
Aro snorted to himself, holding the thick letter. It was obviously meant to be a slap to the Volturi's face, saying that they ruled how the human was to live her life. How unfortunate that Aro knew exactly how to counter this slip of paper. At the words 'my old friend,' he crumpled the paper with one hand and threw it to the side. He snatched up another slip of paper, far better quality than the invitation itself, picked up a pen, and wrote with an elegant, almost ostentatious style his own message. Perusing the note, he put his pen down and looked around for the nearest guard. It happened to be the speed demon herself.
"Lilianna, fetch Renata for me, if you would."
The girl nodded before literally blurring away and reappearing, dragging the dark-haired guard behind her. Renata gave a slightly disgruntled noise as she yanked her arm out of Lilianna's grasp.
"Sir?" the older guard said, bowing her head slightly.
"The Cullens intend to make a mockery of us by hosting a wedding to bind the human to their single son. I believe there is only one way to respond." He handed Renata a little slip of paper. "Get the jewelry box out of my office, the one that Sulpicia dislikes most for its garishness, and put that inside, next to the gem. Then, take this to Forks and leave it outside of their doorstep. Do not be seen. Do you understand?"
Renata took the slip of paper and opened it briefly, curious as to what it said. It is with my greatest regret that I must correct you, Carlisle; you ceased to be my friend after you tried to oppose my dear guards, who are almost like my family, as your coven is to you. For this reason, I or any of my brothers cannot attend this occasion. Perhaps this gem will look better on your newest addition than my own queen thought it looked on her. I look forward to meeting the new Ms. Kristen soon.
It wasn't signed, but the elegant script and carefully worded message made it obvious who sent it.
"I will ensure that this gets to its right place, sir," Renata said with a slight bow. She had come a long way since Aro had trained her to use her shield, even though she hated the lessons. She now served Aro because she recognized the kings as the linchpins of vampiric society. Without them, their world would crumble.
Aro patted her head slightly. She slapped his hand away with a slight glare.
"Ah, Renata, you treat me so well," Aro said with a hint of sarcasm polluting his whistling tone.
Renata bowed once more, deeper, before leaving the room and making her way towards America.
Carlisle was thunderstruck when the doorbell rang at exactly noon on October sixteenth and he was met with a small, heavily jeweled box on the front step with no one to claim themselves as its giver. When he flipped the box open, his eyes grew wide.
Within the box was the largest diamond he'd ever seen, surrounded by colorful jewels that wove themselves into a complicated design that looked almost like a bird, almost like a flower. Gold and silver swirled around the jewels, creating intricate thin swirls almost impossible to follow, even with a vampire's superior eyesight. A rather heavy golden chain wove itself around the jewels and into a long rope for the bauble to hang around someone's neck. He was almost afraid to even touch it; he did not want to destroy such a priceless treasure with a careless flicker of strength.
He barely noticed the note the first time. When he finally noticed it, he took the paper out, setting the jewel aside as carefully as possible while he took the note out to read it.
It is with my greatest regret that I must correct you, Carlisle; you ceased to be my friend after you tried to oppose my dear guards, who are almost like my family, as your coven is to you. For this reason, I or any of my brothers cannot attend this occasion. Perhaps this gem will look better on your newest addition than my own queen thought it looked on her. I look forward to meeting the new Ms. Kristen soon.
Carlisle didn't know how to take the message, except that the kings would not attend the wedding and wouldn't send any guards as well. Which was fine by his standards. He didn't want any of the red-eyed vampires ruining his perfect family's gathering.
Was it even perfect anymore? The coven had started to slip downhill after Jasper left. It became clear that Jasper's empath skills were the real cement of the group, holding them all together. Without him, Rosalie and Emmett had begun to drift away, Edward became more cross, Alice more sullen, and Esme more strict and tight-fisted. Carlisle felt his own temper begin to slip out of his control; many times, when someone came into the hospital bleeding uncontrollably or hemorrhaging, he had to feign dizziness at the smell because it became so enticing, the only lovely thing he had at the moment, the only thing he craved. It was Jasper who softened the bloodlust in them all, and Carlisle regretted letting him go now. He was unable to fulfill his Hippocratic Oath, after all, if he couldn't stand the smell of pure human blood. Innocent humans' blood. Innocent blood.
He would give anything for his family to return to the way it was for the ten years that Jasper had lived with them. The former major had been unhappy, yes, but his own happiness should have been a sacrifice for the happiness of the coven. The way that Carlisle had sacrificed his own humanity to kill the mostly already dying people to shape his coven out of.
Kristen thought herself the princess of any ball, with her wedding gown and heels, when she looked into the mirror. She had long since mastered the art of wearing such shoes, seeing as she diligently worked on her balance ever since seeing how the vampires moved. She did not want to be the world's first clumsy vampire. That wouldn't be fun at all. She set down a canvas bag holding a ridiculously bejeweled box that Carlisle had given her, claiming that the Volturi had graciously given it to her as a wedding present. It was a beautiful work of art more than it was jewelry, and she had no clue what to do with such a precious gem. For now, it would live with her socks in her drawer of clothes.
The human sighed. She didn't really understand what this entire farce of a wedding was about anymore. She had just come back from rehearsal, and she still really hadn't come to terms with the fact that she was getting married. Originally, she thought it was a declaration of her own freedom from her overbearing mother and her underwhelming father. Yes, they loved her. No, they didn't protect her. She thought she could get that protection from the Cullen coven through marriage to their son. Now, she wasn't as sure.
Kristen yanked off her silver heels (sparkling the way Alice liked them) and threw them onto the bed, throwing herself down next to them with a groan. She closed her eyes before shoving the heels of her hands onto them as well.
This wedding was not going as planned. She extended her left arm and smacked her hand around her nightstand for a bit, searching for something. Hearing her hand thump around on the item she was looking for, she attempted to pick it up quickly and opened her eye (the left one; the other one was still being covered by her right hand). She sighed and forced herself to sit up on her bed.
In her hands was her copy of The Divine Comedy. The one from Italy.
She didn't know why she was so enthralled by this work. It was obviously well-written, both by the original author and by the translator. She understood why this classic had lasted for centuries, as thick and intense as it was.
She had finally reached it: the seventh circle. The circle of violence. Divided into three sections: those violent to other men, those violent to themselves, and those violent to God (of course it was a Christian allegory, everything was). Through reading the book, she had come to realize that she didn't truly love Edward. She loved what he symbolized: he was a martyr, one who was left with no family who became a veritable living angel. He still damned himself by staying with her, refusing to touch her blood until it was too late. She was in love with the idea of Edward, but not in love with Edward himself. If anything, she feared him; she feared his mood swings, his sudden angers, his gentleness, his sinister personality. He was the epitome of moodiness as well. He wasn't her ideal friend, even, much less her ideal husband. But she had stupidly said yes to his proposal, thinking that it would grant her happiness.
She realized that she no longer trusted the male vampire. If anything, she had grown closer to Alice as the year went on. After Volterra, Alice had been the one to reassure her that the Volturi would give them time, that they were reasonable. The future-seeing vampire had been the one to make her smile again after Edward became so much darker. Alice was her best friend, a snarky, snappy girl who dressed Kristen up in the fashionable clothes that she designed and sewed by hand. Kristen let her because it seemed to be the only time that Alice was really happy. The mortal was happy to give some joy to the otherwise sullen vampire.
It was the only reason why she was wearing such an extravagant dress to her wedding. A wedding that she no longer wanted to the man that she didn't really love.
Her life sucked.
The vows were said, the false "I do"s completed. They shared a quick kiss, more like a peck on the lips than the kisses they'd shared before, not the passionate one that anyone had expected, before turning and pasting on identical smiles that didn't reach their eyes. No one noticed their mutual reluctance. Edward was trying to think of everything but the thirst. Kristen was trying to think of everything but the wedding and the husband she now had.
"Kristen Cullen," the human tried out later, when sitting at a table to eat with her new family (watching, she added wryly in her mind). Alice was sitting next to her and giving her a funny look, one that conveyed reluctance and slight annoyance. It sounded cumbersome to her and Alice both; it wasn't quite right.
"Kristen Marie Swan Masen Cullen," Edward added with a slight smirk in her direction, thinking that she was just trying her name out. She grimaced to herself. If anything, it ruined her name even more. She had loved her maiden name, though she didn't love the man that gave it to her as much.
She thought, Kristen Marie Swan, to herself, thanking herself that Edward couldn't read her mind at all. She knew that he would take offense to this little thing, as he always did. She listened to the lilting syllables in her once-name, and mourned slightly that she couldn't claim it as her own again, at least with the vampires around. She had to keep the name that she supposedly adopted the heartbeat that she married. She knew that the second she was changed into an immortal (and she would be changed, Edward be damned), she would most likely try and abandon it, embracing her old name while saying it was to celebrate her humanity.
Kristen was determined to continue on. If there was one thing she learned, it was that she had to be patient and wait for the perfect moment before making decisions. Her future was hers to control, if she only reached out a hand and wrote it for herself. Even if such sudden decision making didn't do anything at all, at least it put Alice on her toes.
That was always fun to do.
Alec stretched an arm out to slap a card down face up, cutting his sister's own arm off with a deft hand.
"Alec!" Jane whined, withdrawing her hand, one that was holding a three of hearts. They were playing a newer game (or, at least, newer to them) called Speed, which focused on lightning reflexes to put down cards in increasing order onto two separate piles. Naturally, the vampires loved to compete with this game and see who could put the card down first, knowing that they would be much faster than any human, yet still excited for the outcome.
Alec gave Jane a fleeting smirk, shooting his hand out again to put down a jack before picking up another three cards in quick succession. In that time, Jane had snarled at him, put down a queen, king, ace, and two all at once, and refilled her hand in order to quickly add a three on top of them.
"This game is intense," Felix commented, raising an eyebrow as he walked in. He had expected to have a card flung at his face again, the way that Jane always did whenever someone walked in and she had her usual deck of cards with her. It was a little trick she picked up from somewhere that she enjoyed 'perfecting' (though it was practically perfect anyways).
"Shut it, meathead," Jane growled without looking at him. Rather, she stared intently at the cards in her hand. "I need to focus. Damn it, Alec!" He had just laid down a seven of hearts as she was about to put down a seven of spades.
Felix just chuckled and sat down next to the table to watch them play. Jane shot him a "don't-even-mention-it" glare out of the corner of her eye as she threw down an eight of spades and refilled her hand.
"It's not my fault that you aren't as good as I am at this game," Alec said laughing, putting down a king in the other pile of cards. Jane glared at him before neatly slapping down five cards again, this time from nine of hearts to king of diamonds. "Watch your back, brother," she said with an angry glance.
Isabella had finally walked in to see her siblings jeering at each other as their hands moved in rapid succession from deck to pile, trying to outmatch the other twin. She chuckled quietly before sitting next to Felix.
"How long?" she asked quietly.
"Two minutes, thirty-six-point-seven seconds," he whispered back.
"Their record is closer to-"
"I WIN, ALEC! HAH!" Jane's triumphant crow and the final sound of a slap down of cards interrupted Isabella's words. Alec just rolled his eyes, still smirking and holding onto his last three cards.
"Calm down, sister. It isn't that big of an accomplishment," he responded sounding as jokingly salty as possible. He knew that Jane didn't care as much as she seemed to.
"Jealous," she sang back, crossing her arms and smiling pettily at him.
"Let's play again, then," Alec challenged, raising an eyebrow. Jane smirked and reached for the cards to reshuffle them into some other randomized order.
By this time, there was a small crowd in the room. Demetri, Heidi, and Jasper had all come to watch the duel between the two twins, and Isabella had noticed the excitement slowly rise as the game came to such a dramatic end.
"Let's play a round of Egyptian War," Felix suggested. It was a game that involved quick reflexes, physical violence, and loud shouting, so of course the entire guard loved to play it, apart from Renata, who wasn't loud enough to be heard, and Reina, who found the entire game completely uncouth and washed her hands of it the moment the first game started.
Jane enthusiastically counted out seven stacks of cards and placed the first card on the table (two of spades). Within seconds, the first collective slap happened, the screaming began, and the camaraderie slowly built up all over again. Heidi got out of the game soon, not quick enough to match the other guards, and soon afterwards Felix purposefully lost so that he could be with her, not wanting to play unless she was in it. The other guards were fighting to retain their spots in the game, but they slowly dropped out as they lost all of their cards and decided against rejoining the game. Soon enough, the only two players in the game were Jasper and Isabella.
While Jasper was good at reading people and could therefore react quickly enough usually, he wasn't as prepared around the guard he was playing against. Isabella was the kind of person who knew exactly how to react to him, not showing a single flicker of emotion when he won some of her cards or when she won some of his, the emotion he needed to play his next move. She would use the tapping method, meaning that she quickly memorized the sequence of her cards and threw away useless cards by tapping the pile and sacrificing her cards until she had jacks and easily won the entire deck. Jasper knew that she would win the second he had to go against her, but he still put up a valiant effort.
Isabella slapped her hand down one last time and neatly put a five of clubs underneath the car to use her last jack of diamonds and claim Jasper's few remaining cards. Jasper theatrically threw his hands up in defeat as she shuffled the fifty-two cards now in her hand while blinking innocently.
"Sorry, friend," she said with a smirk. Jasper just looked at her murderously. "I'll get you next time, you stupid shield," he said, pointing an accusing finger towards her.
"That's what you say every time, you exasperating empath," she shot back, leaning back against the couch as she placed the newly prepared pack of cards on the table. Jasper sighed loudly and shoved his hands behind his head, leaning back.
"Another game," he practically ordered.
Isabella rolled her eyes, and the rest of the guard laughed at her posed annoyance. "Fine then, your majesty," she said in a snide voice, "we'll just have to play another round of this wretched game."
Jane dealt the cards out one more time, and soon, they were shouting and laughing again.
They didn't know that there was a little newborn peering around a doorway, watching them shriek with laughter at each collision or jokingly argue over the tiniest of details over a deck of flimsy, practically plastic cards. Jasper didn't feel her longing and timidity, being too overwhelmed by his own excitement and the addicting excitement of those surrounding him. But the newborn watched them and finally felt as though she didn't have to run from these people, that they were friends and were welcoming her into their little circle. She felt privileged and lonely. She wanted to join, but was too afraid of new ones (especially that scarred one, the one that seemed happiest, the one that offered his assistance to her) to join. She bitterly felt the Catch-22 of not wanting to be alone but not wanting to talk to others at the same time in that exact moment. She didn't know how to overcome it, but she knew that she would soon. She would force herself to.
It was a beautiful time for them all, a time of peace before the inevitable maelstrom of emotions and decisions that was soon to come.
If you have never played Egyptian War, you are simultaneously lucky and unlucky. Lucky because you didn't sprain your finger from it the way my friend has, unlucky because you've never felt the bond formed over spraining said fingers. It really is a violent game, but you have fun and feel triumphs momentarily as you claim an entire stack of cards. If you don't know what this game is, I know that it is called something else that I can't quite recall at the moment. You could also Google it, though I'm not sure how successful that would be.
This has been a bit of a filler chapter. Now what will happen? Well... time skip by about a month and you've got the idea ;)
Until next time! As usual, review if you are confused about anything, and I'll try to clear it all up next time without giving anything away.
~Shriayle
