Their steps echoed against the damp floor only for their ears to hear; leaves crunched under their feet, branches snapped, only announcing their moves to those of their own kind. But they didn't much care for announcements; they had one task, and that was to find Lorenzo Frigida once and for all. To find him and drag him home if needed be; unbeknownst to Corin who patiently awaited his return back in Volterra, of course. Their time in Ireland had not been long; surely they enjoyed peace until Caius called them home, but one simple decision had made the two part. A decision that could have easily been taken with both on path, but was deemed better made with her returning to Volterra to not seem conspicuous; all while he ran away where everyone else seemed to think the only other safe place seemed to be: Romania.
Of course, Ottavio and Giovanni were not surprised to follow his trail there; granted, the two weren't great trackers, but it had also not been as if the man had attempted to hide his path. Nor were they trying to be quiet, it seemed, for their arrival to the Romanian grounds seemed to all vampires to be as loud as a gunshot to any human ear. Within the grounds Lorenzo had found a friend, or merely an acquaintance, really, in the form of another Volturi guard: Ana. A young looking blonde with a cheeky smile and a give-em-hell attitude; and it was she who Lorenzo was speaking to when the echoes of crunching steps made their way toward their ears.
Their chatter stopped, and whatever relaxation the two Volturi had found shattered along with it; their smiles disappeared, their stances changed, and by the time Ottavio and Giovanni walked through the forest to halt right before them, Ana and Lorenzo were ready to fight. Not that such a thing was what the other two looked with the hopes of doing, with their taunting smiles and superior poses as they shared a short look. "Ana." Giovanni said once such a glance broke; his brows had risen with as much amusement as it seemed curiosity. "We didn't know you'd officially changed sides." He taunted, tilting his head to the side and glancing in Lorenzo's direction with as challenging a wiggle of his brows as his words had been.
"I bet Aro will be interested to know." Ottavio continued, running his eyes over the blonde's body with a smirk aligning his lips.
Though Ana's eyes rolled, her stance did not dare shift; especially as she forced herself to let out a mindless reply. "I'm not, you dumbass, he—"
"Oh, save it, Anastasia, we're not here for you." Giovanni stated, lifting a hand dismissingly, as if the words she had started to speak had grown wings and had begun fluttering around him within annoyance that made him want to shut her up, and ignoring the huffed angry demeanour that befell the woman upon the sound of her full name; something, of course, that the man had done on purpose.
Annoyance that Lorenzo very strongly shared as he looked at them with that frown deeply edged in the middle of his forehead. "Yeah, why are you here?" He wondered, though something deep within his gut told him that he already knew the answer. "Come to join the dark side?" He mocked, hands balling into fists as his eyes remained on the two in front of them. "Perhaps I should be the one coming to Aro with the news." Though lord knew that would be that last thing he'd do.
"Don't be an idiot." Ottavio stated, almost as if his words had rang without the sarcasm Lorenzo intended. "Something in that pose of yours tells me you already know why we're here."
Beside him, Giovanni nodded. "We're here for you." He announced seconds after the other had spoken, confirming Lorenzo's fears and making his jaw lock with enough haste to make the two other men smile. "Aro requests your presence back at the castle."
"And he requests that you do it on your own will," Ottavio paused, nearly making Ana roll her eyes with the annoyance of the dramatics the other seemed to like to bring. "Or he has given us the freedom to use force to make you come back."
At this, Enzo's suddenly humourless smiling lips released a scoffed breath. "Yeah?" He paused. "Bring it, asshole."
The two males seemed to find joy upon the words spoken, for their smiles mirrored each other within a moment of pause. "I was hoping you would say that." Giovanni admitted before finally daring to launch forward and attack the man. Of course Ottavio moved as well, and they both seemed to plan to move for Lorenzo, for he was the one their gazes locked in. But while their attention focused only on the subject of their orders, Ana, the very annoyed blonde, threw herself in Giovanni's direction; perhaps it wasn't entirely solely to help the other, but to release her own fire on the subject of her rage. A shock-like thunder echoed around them as their bodies crashed and rolled until they hit the nearest tree; nothing but a blur of the yellow of her hair and the black of his clothes.
Lorenzo held onto Ottavio, attempting to push him away with merely his hands, but the other was lighter, petite, the sort of frame that within a human might be considered fragile and weak only shifted onto the side of victory for someone of their kind, for he was able to move faster, swiftly, like a feather within a harsh breeze on a winter night. He moved and twisted Enzo's arm, shifting to climb onto his back, but even with the disadvantage of his build, Enzo was one of the best fighters in the Volturi guard, and he was able to break free, hitting the other with a thunder sound that begged for rain within a human ear. Had Lorenzo a heart it might be beating an attempt to escape his chest, perhaps his anger and his strain might even make the veins along his neck pop out, but he barely looked like he was tired, barely looked like he was trying.
Only a few feet away, Giovanni and Ana were within a dance of their own; flipping, punching, allowing their abilities to be shown alike the training they had had within the castle; where he reached for her waist in hopes to move her, she held onto him until her strength allowed her to flip him entirely, crashing onto the ground with a break that allowed for a perfectly body-shaped hole to take place within the floor. A moment Ana had been about to use to her advantage that only served to propel the other along within a push away from the foot that had been about to strike against his neck. The blonde fell back, crashing against a tree that cracked against her contact as much as the ground had against Giovanni's own. "Come on, Anastasia." The other taunted, blurring away from his spot on the floor to challenge her with a motion of his hand and a stand feet away from her. "I know you can do better than that."
And that proved to be true, for the woman jetted away from the broken tree to crash against Giovanni's frame; where he hugged her frame to stop her and she punched against his stomach once and time again, making a crack that allowed for enough advantage to move away from him. Though he didn't take long to reply to her attack, punching across her face and leaving a crack to be seen like an empty vein across her cheek. She moved, though, much quicker than him for the very same advantage Ottavio had on Lorenzo, moving with the wind on her side until suddenly a kick to the chest had sent the man flying against the floor once again; only, this time, Ana learnt to not take even one second to doubt her attack, for she moved to strike once again against his chest with a kick of a foot that almost instantly made the satisfied expression disappear from Giovanni's lips. "I've told you to not call me Anastasia, you shit sucking asshole." She spat, moving to press her foot upon his neck, enjoying the cracking noise that had echoed from his chest as it made an encore upon its flesh and the panicked look upon his eyes as his neck cracked further, and further... until his looked mattered no more, for his head separated from his body entirely and that battle was won.
On the other side of the clearing, though, things weren't going so well; Ottavio had used his every advantage, his frailty, his daintiness as he moved, and where Lorenzo punched, he nearly floated in the air to evade it and punch even harder against his back; where Lorenzo moved to catch him and crash against his stomach, Ottavio moved to use such an attack to his advantage and jump up until he had fallen on the other's back, standing on him, blurring only when his balance began to disappear for his harsh movements to counterattack the other's. Though such a victory for Lorenzo did not last long; while Ana fought Giovanni, he lost to Ottavio, because no sooner had he moved to push the other from his back that the little squirrel had clung onto it once again as he stood, like a cat or an insect that did not dare to move away. "Give up." Ottavio said; his arms around Lorenzo's neck as they pressed and pressed harder and deeper until cracks appeared against his flesh. "Give up or I will kill you."
It truly did feel like that was the only choice Lorenzo had; but he wanted to fight, he wanted to continue on regardless of the hold that started making him feel the loss of his own life. He thought about Corin, he thought about their wedding, about her smile when she said 'I do', he thought about his mother, about the moment that he lost her, he thought about his life, as they always said a man in the verge of dying did, and he—a crack came, loud and terminating as he thought it would, but it came from the wrong direction. He felt nothing; he had imagined death to be absolute and silent, to be painful. But the expectancy never came; instead, he felt the weight fall from his shoulders with enough swiftness to make him turn around and see Ottavio's useless body fall onto the once wet ground. "Nu în casa mea, dobitocule." (Not in my home, asshole.) Lorenzo heard as his hand lifted to rest on his healing neck, and what he saw surprised him enough to consider the fact that he had perhaps chosen the right place to come for safety. He had been saved by Sergi Agafitei; Stefan's second in command.
"Thanks." Lorenzo said, bending at the waist and leaning on one knee with his free hand; as if he were human and had ran entirely too long and too fast.
Sergi's head bobbed in a nod, his curls accompanying the motion as he threw Ottavio's head to the other side of the field, where Ana caught it and let it drop to the side of Giovanni's broken body. Perhaps she had not done much in attempts to help Lorenzo, but, to her defence (a very poor one, at that), she had only finished with her kill by the time Lorenzo had fallen on the other's chokehold. At least the Romanian boy had come to the rescue. "I heard the fighting." He announced in English with a somewhat heavy accent, spitting venom in the direction of the deceased Ottavio. "Here." Sergi said, offering Lorenzo a lighter that he had taken from his pocket before looking over. "Let's pile 'em up."
Something that Ana had already started doing, by keeping the thrown head and grabbing the other by the hair whilst pulling on the arm of the dead body along with her in her way to move closer to the other two. "Wait." Lorenzo said seconds before Ana dared throw the body against the one who was already on fire thanks to him. An idea had formed; one that he was sure would work if his suspicions of Aro's confidence were right. "Gimme a hand." He requested, handing the lighter back at Sergi, whose brows rose with curiosity.
"What? You can't lift a body by yourself?" Ana wondered, mirroring Sergi's expression as she threw one of the heads into the fire.
The look Lorenzo gave her was enough to burn a hole in the deepest rock. "I mean literally, Ana. Give me a hand, one of his hands." Sure, perhaps he shouldn't be irritated for the misunderstanding from her part; after all, how often did one mean the saying literally? But the situation did not dare allow him be light hearted.
A fact that became evident when Ana's brow furrowed with as much curiosity as question. "What for?" She wondered, but even as she spoke and looked merely in Enzo's direction, the vampire moved to crack a limb from the dead Giovanni's body. Perhaps she and Lorenzo weren't exactly friends, but if he asked something, she knew he must have a good reason.
When she threw him the broken limb, he didn't hesitate to catch it and hold it under his arm whilst one of his hands moved to remove the precious band that stated his union to his wife. "I think I have a way to make Aro leave Corin alone for a while." He stated, focusing on his actions as he took the detached arm from under his own and moved to place said ring in one of the dead fingers. "I'm going to make Aro think I'm dead." After all, Giovanni's hands did look a lot like his own.
"Won't Aro know, though?" Sergi wondered; frowning as he looked from Ana to Lorenzo and toward the rest of the body Ana threw into the fire at last. "Can't he read minds or something?"
Ana and Enzo both nodded shortly, but it was the latter who spoke. "He doesn't trust his gift lately." He confessed, holding onto the dead limb once he finished. "If my plan doesn't fool him entirely, then perhaps it can buy me a little time." He paused. "I mean, last time I was there I realised he doesn't touch anyone anymore. Something must have happened for him to doubt his gift, but—I mean, there are rumours that it was Sulpicia, but we don't know for sure."
"She has magic, yes?" Sergi wondered; nodding and taking a step back from the slowly diminishing fire. "Perhaps your rumours are right." He stated, and before even daring to stop any longer to hear a confirmation, he looked in Ana's direction with a small frown; whether it was specifically directed at her or at what they spoke of, Lorenzo didn't know. "I need to tell Stefan what happened here." He simply stated, looking at Lorenzo once again. "I think it might be in your best interest to remain inside the compound, friend." Sergi's look truly did look friendly; perhaps in different circumstances, Lorenzo and he might be close. "At least until you figure out if your plan worked." Yet, without another word, the man turned around and blurred away in the direction he had come.
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
"We might need to widen our parole perimeter, then." Stefan announced moments later, after Sergi explained what had happened on the close grounds. "We thought it was enough." His head shook. When Sergi had walked in, the older Romanian had been spending time with the well known blonde neophyte, training her himself as the task had befallen; and it was upon that moment that he motioned in her direction, waving her forward somewhat. "Sergi, why don't you take Lauren back to her room?" Stefan requested, not truly paying attention to the other two, for his mind so quickly seemed to be gearing up with the news that had fallen upon him. "I'm afraid the training is over for today. I must speak with Vladimir." And without much more of a word, he disappeared within a human blink.
Of course, Sergi could tell that the blonde before him wasn't too happy to be left behind to someone's hands; and it was no surprise to him, for, ever since she had been turned into a vampire, it had been made known that she could very well take care of herself (or so Vladimir's room stated with all the broken furniture and walls). It had only become easy thereafter to prove her wrong upon a small fight between Stefan and her, when she had come out within a disadvantage and thus ended up having to be trained by him in the art of combat, but her pride remained, and well so given, too. It was only for such a fact that Sergi gulped once and soon thereafter forced a smile onto his lips before he dared speak a word. "Not as a task, but as a friend," He assured, motioning towards the door behind him. "Will you walk with me to your room?" He wondered out loud, his brows raising and his eyes studying her from head to toe; he was not one to say the right thing at the right time with anyone but Amilia, as his words to anyone but her had been known to throw him into the most unnecessary problems, but even all those failures couldn't stop the vampire from trying.
But it seemed luck was on his side, when, after a few moments, the glare from Lauren's orbs disappeared onto a roll of her eyes that dared accompany the most dramatic of sighs. "Fine." She agreed, lifting a shoulder in a shrug and turning away from the training field to follow his path outside the small room they had occupied whilst she hid her hands within her dress' pockets. "As a friend."
With a nod and a smile to accompany it, Sergi led the girl out from the training room. Of course, like everyone else in the compound that wasn't new, he knew exactly Lauren's story; how she had ended up in Romania after leaving America due to the fact that she had lived in a town as boring as one never heard of by Sergi himself: Forks, Washington; how she had studied photography and ended up somehow falling in love with one of the heads of the Romanian coven, Vladimir himself; how she had fallen to his charm and soon thereafter learnt of his state and not much cared about or for it, only for her love for the man; about the cancer that had stolen her life and had left Vladimir with the panicked choice to go against the girl's wishes and give her the eternal life she had not desired, only to leave her bitter toward him and thereafter training with Stefan against Vladimir's ideals that she shouldn't fight. But that didn't mean that the boy wasn't curious for all else, that he didn't care to know her or figure out if things were better with Vladimir nowadays; and it was exactly such that he thought as they walked along in silence. He wanted to ask, to have a conversation with her, but within his charm and his self-confidence, Sergi Agafitei couldn't for the life of him think of what to ask without sounding awkward, or even intruding enough to want the girl to slap him. She might not survive in a real fight, but she could hit very well regardless; or so she had heard from a couple of other vampires in the compound. "So..." He started even through his thoughts, smiling within a look in her direction. "How are things with Vladimir?" Yeah, just as awkward and pointless as he thought it would be.
Enough to at least make the girl laugh. "Am I actually that scary?" Lauren wondered; looking in Sergi's direction with an amused note as her arms lifted to rest on her hips. "I'm not going to hit you, you know?" Even so, Sergi's brows rose and an expression that meant no more than a simple don't mind me for being cautious, were enough to make her nod and wave a hand in the air. "Fine, fine. I know I'm known for being somewhat violent when I get angry."
"One of the reasons why I think you and Vladimir are the perfect couple." Sergi admitted, smiling and resting his hands behind him within their walk. "Just don't tell him I said that."
Something to which Lauren could only reply with a nod of her head. "I won't, but I'll give you that." She smiled, dropping her arms and rolling her eyes. "He's an idiot for still wanting to keep me away from training, but I think he's not attempting to stop it because he knows it won't work with me." She admitted. "We're better, obviously." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I think even I knew I couldn't stay mad at him forever." She paused. "Especially not now that it's meant literally."
"It's hard to stay mad when you love someone." Sergi agreed, smiling in her direction and lifting his arms to rest against his chest. And he was about to say more, hell, even Lauren might have, but before any of them could, within a simple slash of which echo they only thought they heard, every single thing around them disappeared into an endless darkness that left everything turning black.
To Be Continued.
