It was just a favor!

by Hmz0975

It was just a favor; Nothing more than that. I was to go over there, look over the damsel in distress left behind by my- so called- brother's family, watch out for some psycho redhead who had the possibility of showing up, and then hightail out of there. Feelings and shit were never really a part of the plan.

23. The varied visitors that walk into my

A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 23- The varied visitors that walk into my home

Aro's POV-

I sighed audibly, reading and memorizing the thesaurus for the ample-th time in my existence, because such was life- wearisome and utterly, depressingly, monotonous. Living for more than three millennia was not an easy feat to achieve, even if I was the sort of king of my community. After a point it just became ridiculously depressing, with no new fascination to ponder over. My guard was well trained, having lived and learnt from me, most of them having spent more than five centuries in this castle, No- seriously, Heidi was our youngest guard member and she celebrated her five hundredth birthday three years back. So, anyway, the guard members- lower or higher, were all experienced, in complete control of their gift and bloodlust. They did not lose control any longer- their gift causing undesired side effects, or ravage an innocent in the process of losing control over themselves, giving way for an unfortunate accident…not that, that would have been a very serious problem, but it would have at least been a bit more entertaining, but, alas, I was destined to have no entertainment in life, and the always enthusiastic child in me lay disappointed at this realization.

All the offenses of our world- serious or not as serious- were solved by my two- youngest in biological age- children- Jane and Alec. The wonder twins, as I called them to be. Their powers were unlike any others, extremely beneficial and a guaranteed victory for whomsoever they supported, and luckily for me, I was their sire, having assured their complete loyalty. They had never known a father figure before, having been conceived out of wedlock, and I was aware that they had come to see me as the only older male figure that they had ever known of, or respected in life.

I had no reason to ever question the loyalty of those two, but anyway, coming back to the point, most of the minor offenses that needed to taken care of were handled by these both, with Demetri and Felix giving them a hand whenever required- mainly for their tracking ability and fighting skills, respectively. Of course apart from those two, I had Chelsea as a last resort- who could easily convince my nemesis to surrender and offer me their supreme loyalty…

Chelsea was one such powerful person I never wanted to cross, not like she could go against me, but anyway. If she wanted that Porsche that had just come out on the market, she got it, no questions asked. If she desired for a penthouse- fully furnished- in Florence, once again, she got it. If she wanted her mate to be promoted to the higher guard, despite him not having any such ability that would have him promoted- you get it- she could have it. Money was not an issue for me, but loyalty was not something I could compromise on. If materialistic goods was the price to pay for her help, let's be honest- her ability of forming and breaking bonds was rather helpful to me, I would readily pay the price. I needed to keep her happy, in order to keep myself on this throne. It was because of her that Marcus and Caius- amongst several others- were still standing beside me, without causing a mutiny. I was terribly aware that if it had not been for Chelsea, I would have been ashes long ago, with not even Renata capable of saving my arse.

Anyway, apart from these all pioneers to guarantee my success, I had one last trump card- the most important of them all, Marilyn, but more about her later…..

For now, though, I was utterly and completely bored, bored out of my damn mind. I had tried my hand at painting- I was horrible at it, what did the younger generation term it- sucked….yes, I truly sucked at it. I had tried painting a horse, only to realize that it looked more like a donkey instead. That was a bit of a downer. I had then tried my hand at playing the trumpet, only for Sulpicia, my dear wife, to come down running from her room to tell me that she was getting a migraine from all the noise pollution that I was causing, vampires couldn't even get migraines, I had protested, but still she insisted, pointing out that they were running out of cotton to push into the ears of the guard members.

Sigh!

Anyway, I had then tried to write something, to hone my intelligence in another manner. I was exceptionally well read, having read every book ever written, of course excluding the ones that had more sex than plot and were written more for the satisfaction of a particular cohort that preferred to read erotica. I did not need those. Sulpicia was… uhm… a very giving lover.

Anyway, writing was something I had never focused on before, but I loved challenges in life. I had managed to successfully write a novel of seven hundred and twenty two pages, consisting of a marvelous story of an alien falling in love with a human- who had the ability to change into a frog when upset, but, for some reason, nobody was willing to read my work. I had first offered the once in a lifetime opportunity to my wife- who ended up making a hundred excuses and hightailed out of the room, faster than I could even speak her name. Sulpicia was not a very long name; it did not take much time to be called out.

I had then gone to my brother, Caius, grinning at him with the book in my outstretched hand. I had expected pleasure and the feeling of being honored to radiate from him, but he had sighed at me, telling me of how he was too angry a person to read anything minutely romantic.

I called bullshit at that! My work could hardly be mistaken as falling under the genre of romance; it had more angst in it, for God's sake. It hardly had one romantic scene in it….and even that was not in detail.

Anyway, after his refusal I had tried offering the privilege to several others, but for some reason or the other, they all had to decline, telling me of how they all had not even a minute of free time to indulge in hobbies.

I was tempted to point out that I could read it in their thoughts of all the hobbies they pursued when they were back in their rooms, but being the gentle soul that I was, I let them go.

Finally, I had managed to convince Afton to read my book, threatening him with dismemberment if he tried to get out of this by going invisible- his somewhat useful yet equally useless power. He had read my book- all seven hundred and twenty two pages- giving me the gesture of thumbs up before quickly running out of the room. I still don't know what that meant. Was my novel good or bad?

Wait. Of course it had to be one of a kind. I had written it after all.

Anyway, so I was out of hobbies to pursue these days. Maybe…I could try my hand at sculpting wax statues. I had been to that museum- Madame Tussauds or something similar, when I had visited London last.

Hmm…..Interesting!

I could try to make my own wax statue, one that could be placed in the centre of the throne room. I would like that. I would like that very much. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

I should get started at it….what had Renata called it the other day….ASAP, yes exactly.

I had just gotten up from my armchair to instruct Felix on what all materials would be required for my latest task when Jane came running into my study, banging the door in its aftermath.

"Sorry for that, master," she winced, "But I have news that you would be very happy to hear."

"Pray tell me, Jane," I grinned at her. I loved to receive good news. I was an innocent child at heart.

She grinned back at me, the maniacal laugh of hers that was equally terrifying as satisfying.

"Alec and Demetri have come back from their visit to Seattle."

I pouted at that. Not that I wasn't happy to see them, because I was, but what was good in that. They were bound to come back. Their return could hardly be termed a surprise. They had only gone for a visit, to threaten one mated pair who had been feeding carelessly these past few months.

I was expecting something more fascinating than that, to be honest.

"Master," Jane shook her head, her eyes wide with joy. "They have brought back two humans with them, humans who had knowledge of our kind."

My eyebrow rose in surprise. I had not expected this, but it was a happy surprise, nonetheless.

"Which vampire is responsible for this?" I asked her. I was craving to punish someone. It had been a while since a proceeding had been conducted in the throne room. These days we used it more for the purpose of sharing fiction stories, it seemed.

Though, I had to admit, Renata was an exceptional story teller. She could simply pull you in.

Jane's smile widened as she told me the name of the coven responsible for this, adding of how Alec and Demetri had found out this news.

"Interesting…very interesting," I laughed.

I had not expected this. Theirs would have been the last name on my list.

"Jane, dear, be a darling and tell everyone to assemble in the throne room right this very minute, and don't forget to inform Caius that no, casuals will not do. He needs to wear his robe. This is serious business. I will not tolerate any foolhardiness, not ever again."

I rolled my eyes, remembering the time when Caius had walked into the throne room wearing a pair of Bermuda shorts, a grey colored vest and his favored Hawaiian slippers- in his defense; he was going through a phase. The laughter in the room had been uncontrollable on that day; even the accused had been unable to control his laughter.

We were the leaders of our kind and had a reputation to uphold. I guess I was the only one to see it as such, taking care to keep it so.

Jane nodded her head, quickly exiting the room, no doubt to follow my orders.

Such a good girl she was, always impatient to please me.

I rubbed my hands together in anticipation, putting my plans to create a wax statue to the back of my mind, and left my study, a huge grin on my face.

I could not wait for this.

Everyone had already assembled in the throne room by the time I arrived- vampire speed was good for something at least, and I took my seat, sitting on my one side- Caius and on the other- Marcus.

For once, Caius looked truly menacing.

Thank the Gods for small mercies!

Impressions needed to be kept up with, and for once it seemed that luck was on my side.

"Master," Alec offered me his hand, like a pet always ready to please his master.

I nodded my head at him, taking his outstretched hand in mine, shutting my eyes and letting the memories flow with no disruption.

The visit to the mated pair had gone as well as expected, which meant that they had to be killed. Alas! You do what you have to do, and two vampires will hardly be mourned.

The conversation with the redhead female was interesting, to be put in a few words. She was an immature fool, nothing more than that, but she had been helpful to us so her life could be spared.

Lucky her, I would say. The Volturi rarely ever gave such mercies; our reputation did not permit us to.

I kept searching through Alec's memories- seeing of how they had kidnapped the girls, getting them to Volterra, and how currently they were being woken from Alec's power…..

"The girl is a shield," I grinned widely, a sparkle of amusement visible in my eyes.

I loved shields- be it mental or physical. They were simply such rare to find, that I could not help but show interest in them. The Malta Coven- Renata's former coven- was filled with shields- of the both kind, but they weren't very friendly towards us, Luca their leader, was especially wary of me.

I was aware of it. I could read it in his thoughts.

Anyway, I had managed to attain one physical shield- Renata and one mental shield- Gregory- over the centuries. They were sure difficult to find, but not impossible.

Gregory was one such very interesting vampire, and by interesting I mean that his power was rather interesting and beneficial to me. He could mentally shield up to two hundred miles- a feat unimaginable to even concur before I had known of him. It was due to him that no mind reader or seer, well excluding one, could see or hear anything- in their mind in the case of mind readers- once they were inside the town of Volterra. He simply blocked their abilities. It was also him who had informed us that while Jane, Alec and Chelsea's powers did not work on vampire shields, they did, in fact, work on the human ones. A little bit training was required to achieve it, but it could be done, and my children had had centuries to train for this very day.

"You did not tell me about this!" I gasped, glaring at the one guilty looking being in this room, Marilyn.

Marilyn Brandon was a seer, had been so for over eight centuries now. She had walked into our castle one sunny day, informing us of how she saw her future with the rest of us. She was an asset, I could not decline that, and so I had simply been glad to have her join us. She was also my trump card, one I placed even higher than the rest of my children.

"Master," she shook her head at me, smiling. "I could not ruin the surprise for you. You would not have wanted that."

I nodded my head briefly. She was correct. Ruining a surprise for me was equal to sentencing oneself to death, and Marilyn was indeed a smart woman.

The smile on her face widened- an all knowing look accompanying it, and she winked at Gregory in sheer amusement. I still don't know how they managed to coordinate their powers so as to make Marilyn the one exception to Gregory's shield, but I could hardly complain.

"Heidi, dear," I called out to her. "It is time for us to meet the humans. Go and collect them from their room."

She nodded her head, bowing down a bit, before leaving the throne room, walking towards one of the guest rooms on the lower level, which was the room currently occupied by the humans.

I looked towards my brothers in the meanwhile. Caius looked….scary, for the lack of a milder word. He was close to growling, and in my opinion needed to tone it down a bit. No wonder Athenadora refused to let him enter her room when he was in one of his 'moods'. Marcus, on the other hand, looked bored, simply bored out of his mind.

Sigh! What was new in this?

He had been disinterested ever since Didyme had been killed, close to two millennia back.

I had suggested him to take a new mate, even offering to find one for him, but the stubborn man in him just refused to let Didyme go.

Well, his loss, I would say.

I counted the seconds till Heidi reappeared- give me a break, I am always enthusiastic for new knowledge, and grinned widely at the two newcomers.

"Welcome to my home," I smiled- threateningly- at them, the girls taking a step back in fear.

I smiled wider. I liked the scent of fear in the air. It was rather pleasing.

"I am Aro, and these are my brothers- Marcus and Caius," I stood up to give the introductions, a rehearsed script we enacted each and every time. "May I?"

I put my hand ahead, waiting for them to put their hand in mine, giving me the opportunity to read their mind.

The shorter girl was the bolder one, I realized- taking a step ahead in my direction, to be honest, though, the one with the glasses was literally shivering at her place, and I quickly shut my eyes, waiting for the memories to flow, which, though, did not.

She was the mental shield, I concluded, pouting embarrassingly.

I hated the fact that my abilities were still useless in front of shields- no matter the human- vampire distinction. I wish there was some training that I could undergo to read their minds, but no, apparently, Marilyn and Gregory insisted that it was simply not possible.

"You may go back." I sighed at the girl; Bella was her name, from what I had read in Alec's memories.

She gave me a half nod, nearly running back to her earlier spot.

"May I?" I pointed through my eyes at the other human in the room. She stared at Bella for a few seconds, nodding her head hesitantly.

Her steps were weak, as can be expected, as she walked towards where I stood, placing her hand in my outstretched one.

I shut my eyes, letting the memories of her eighteen year old life flow through me.

Interesting!

She was a pastor's daughter.

How very interesting!

Her subpar human life- with nothing exceptional about it- was rather fascinating to me, and I reveled in the simplistic memories that I could read in her mind.

"You may go back." I said, opening my eyes again, a few minutes later. "She had not known of our kind." I spoke, looking at Alec and Demetri- who simply winced in response. I shook my head at them. They had been too quick to judge, and they knew this. "But, considering that Bella, here, told her the truth of our kind, it can be considered to be a moot point."

The human girls looked towards one another- Bella mouthing a 'sorry' at Angela, who shook her head in response. It seemed that Angela was a very forgiving soul.

Of course I did not think it necessary to point out that Angela would not have been allowed to leave the castle as a human even if she had not known the truth. That would remain as my little secret.

"Isabella Marie Swan," I took a tone of seniority and authority, starting the proceedings. "Was Edward Cullen the one to divulge in our secret to you?"

Her eyes widened for a brief second before her features settled back to normal.

"No," she whispered, "Um…I put it together with a little help from the Quileute legends."

Okay, I had not expected that. I so wish I could have read her mind.

"Did he deny or confirm your claim?"

"He confirmed it." she said in a low whisper, looking at the ground instead.

I smiled to myself. This was getting better by the minute.

"Did you meet the coven leader, Carlisle, at any point during your acquaintance with Edward Cullen?"

She nodded her head.

"Did he mention of how you would have to be changed as soon as possible?"

She shook her head. "Edward did not want me to be changed. He wanted to keep me human."

"Was that why they left?"

She nodded her head in response. "Partly,"

"Did the entire coven know of you being in the knowing, or did they not?"

"They knew." She whispered.

That proved it. All of them were guilty of leaving a human behind- a human who had knowledge of our kind.

"Demetri," I looked at him. "Please call Gianna inside the throne room."

He nodded his head, quickly running out and reappearing with our receptionist by his side.

"Yes, Master Aro," she meekly questioned me.

Meek little thing that she was!

"Gianna, be a dear and place a call to one of my old friends, Carlisle Cullen, inviting him and his entire coven for a visit. I insist on all of them arriving, even if one of them is missing, half of the guard will go after the remaining one, bringing him or her back in boxes. We have important business to settle."

She nodded her head at me, walking out of the room as fast as a human possibly could.

I rolled my eyes. From which museum of unusual humans- ought to be researched over- did Demetri hire our receptionist?

Though, in Gianna's defense, our previous receptionist was far worse than her. That girl would stutter or faint every time she came in one of our presence.

Poor useless thing!

I sighed. The necessary things that my job required me to do….not that I had much to complain about.

"Isabella and Angela, I need to discuss this matter with my brothers. A joined decision will later be arrived upon, but for now, you will be taken back to the room that you are currently residing in. You need not worry. This is simply a necessary measure."

The humans did not object, not like they had anything to object about. The ball was in my court, and the court was in my backyard.

Chelsea was the one chosen to take them back to their room, and with one last smile- from my side, needless to say, the girls was ushered out of the throne room.

"Phew, that was something." I announced, sitting back on my throne.

"I always knew that Carlisle should have been killed while he was still living with us." Caius declared, making me roll my eyes.

Caius hated Carlisle, truly, desperately, hated the man.

"I believe we should give him a fair chance to put forward his point before we come to any conclusion." Marcus spoke, successfully starting an argument between him and Caius.

Why? Oh why did they insist on doing this every time?

Did they always have to take opposing sides- in every damn matter that came in front of us?

I was about to mediate- being the kind brother that I was, when Gianna stormed into the room, followed by a sight I had not imagined to see, never in my wildest dream.

Three vampires- I had seen two of them in Angela's memories and heard about them plenty before- were walking ahead with a human in his forties right behind them.

"Welcome Major Whitlock and Captain Whitlock," I grinned at them, honestly surprised to see them here.

They were quite a celebrity in the vampire community, to be frank.

The human, though, was a happy surprise, and so was the third vampire- a newborn from the likes of it.

"Cut the crap, Aro," The one I recognized as Captain Whitlock spoke up. "Where are the girls?"

"Which girls," I questioned in mock confusion. Of course I knew which girls were being referred to in the sentence, but it was fun to pretend to be clueless.

He growled at me, making Caius growl back at him, rising from his seat. It was only my hand that stopped him from pouncing on our visitors.

That would have been considered rude, and I can't tolerate rudeness in my home, now can I?

"You know which girls." Major Whitlock was the one to growl this time around. The human completely shocked by all this display of sheer growling.

Well, welcome to our world!

It was then- that very minute- that Chelsea walked back into the throne room, pouncing on the unsuspecting human very unexpectedly, starting to drain him almost instantly.

I sighed. The human was her singer. How innovative a surprise!

I watched with half amusement and half boredom of how those two- Major and Captain- managed to throw her aside, Afton growling at them in response, pushing their venom into the dying human, only stopping when they were sure that the human would not die.

"Wonderful," I sighed out loud. "A newborn, what are we supposed to do with one?"

No, seriously. It had been centuries since I had seen a newborn, far less made place for one in the castle. I hardly had any patience remaining for their childish antics.

"Master," Marilyn took a step forward, "If permitted by you, I would like to take the changing human to my chambers. It would be easier for me to keep an eye out on him, with the likes of my gift."

I nodded my head. Her words did make sense, and the fact that her chambers were on the opposite side of mine did quite help the situation.

She smiled at me, picking up the unconscious human in her arms- Major and Captain looking a bit wary, but not opposing- and walked out of the throne room, leaving these three, slightly disturbed vampires behind.

"Now, may I?" I put my hand forward for Captain Whitlock to place his hand in.

He sighed, sharing a glance with the Major, agreeing to let me read his thoughts.

I repeated the process with all three of them- Peter Whitlock- more commonly known as The Captain of the Southern vampire wars, Jasper Whitlock- who the entire vampire world knew as The Major, and Riley- who was recently introduced into our world, his beginning one of the unfortunate ones.

I was sure of a few things, though, by the end of it. Peter Whitlock was not to be blamed. He had only rectified over the mistakes made by the Cullen's, warning the girl and her father- who wished to be in knowing- that they would have to join our world, and soon at that. He had killed Victoria, again cleaning the mess created by Carlisle and his 'family'. He had not known of the girl, not until Edward had left her without protection, so it was clear, he was innocent. He would not be considered responsible for any of this mess that had been caused.

Jasper Whitlock, on the other hand, would have to be punished, not very severely, but to be an example of a fair ruling. What did not work for him was that he had known that the human had been told of our secret, and yet he had not done a thing about it, but, at the same time, his thoughts did prove that he had opposed to the entire thing, pointing it out time and again to his coven leader of how this was the wrong decision to take. He was not directly to blame, having not divulged in the secret, only protecting the human when it came in the form of a responsibility to his coven.

Moving on, the third, Riley Biers, would need to learn the ways of our life. He was young and innocent- truly, completely innocent. Leaving him alone at this point of time could prove catastrophic, almost as if inviting a massacre for us to deal with. So, naturally, that was what I chose to deal with first.

"Riley Biers," I stood straighter to announce my decision. "I would ask you to stay a while with us, learn the ways of our world and if you prefer, train with Felix- who is one of the best fighters of our world. It is not a compulsion, you can choose to leave, but if you do, you will be subjected to a once in six months visit from two of the Volturi guard, to make sure that you are on the right track, and of course, the Whitlock's- who have brought you here- will have to take full responsibility over your actions. If they agree, you are free to leave."

Firstly, let's be honest. I had no place for a useless vampire in my guard, and from the looks of it, he had no fascinating gift to speak of….also, by making this a responsibility of the Whitlock's, it was a double- edged sword- one completely in my favor. By giving him his freedom, the Major and Captain would put their lives at a risk….which did not affect me in any way whatsoever. For them, though, it was a difficult decision to make. Give another his freedom and put your life at risk, or let what happen to him happen and keep yourself safe from reaching the point of execution.

God! How I loved these debates of morality!

"I…need some time to decide." Riley spoke hesitantly.

I nodded my head enthusiastically, grinning at him. "Of course, take all the time you need."

"Santiago," I looked at the person in question. "Riley is our guest for now. Please show him his room."

Santiago and a hesitant Riley, both, nodded their heads and walked out of the throne room, leaving the other two 'guests' of mine behind.

Peter- the Captain- did not look any pleased by whatever was happening over here, but he was mature enough to realize that speaking without turn would only lead to his own death. He was no novice to the ways of our world, and especially to how the Volturi worked.

"Peter and Jasper," I spoke aloud. "In order to take a fair decision in the matter of a human knowing the secret of our world, it is important for all the concerned people to be in audience. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. Jasper, your coven has been invited for a visit, and my brothers and I would like to wait till they arrive. In the meanwhile, consider yourself to be a guest of the Volturi, and be rest assured that no harm will come to you."

Living for as long as I had, I had learnt the art of being dual faced well. Creating an enemy in who the vampire world feared would do me no good. They were fighters, both of them, their scars giving their introduction, and not to forget, The Major had been known for his gift of controlling emotions. They were like a lion that could not be tamed, though Carlisle had managed to do the almost impossible, but coming back to the point, trying to tame them was senseless, but proving you to be a threat against them was even more senseless.

Why fight when matters can be solved with words, and a little diplomacy?

"Can we see the girls?" Peter asked, looking me into the eyes.

I gulped from the intensity and anger I saw in there.

"Of course," I assured him. "Neither of you are a prisoner in the castle, at least not till the verdict is out."

He nodded his head at me, firmness tightly settled over his face.

"Afton, please show them their rooms."

He nodded his head, bowing down, leaving the throne room with the two by his side.

I sighed, sitting down on my throne.

What a day was this turning out to be!

"Master," Gianna came running in once again, a look of fear over her face.

"What now?" I glared at her, her steps faltering as she came to a halt in front of me.

"Master, Edward Cullen wishes to come in your presence."

I gave her a confused look. Hadn't she just placed the call inviting the Cullen's?

How had he arrived this soon?

Did he acquire the power of teleportation overnight?

She looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer.

I sighed. "Bring him in."

I guess we were not done for the day.

She nodded her head, leaving the room.

I sighed, once again, shaking my head. Who said monotony was tedious?

I would gladly go back to that, choosing the boredom of sitting in my study over the headache of declaring punishments, deciding who was guilty and who was not…..but, I could hardly complain. After all, this was a part of the fun that my life provided me with.