"You're Not Going To Let It Go, Are You?" (10)
A vampire's physical and mental abilities far exceed those of a human being. These traits vary between different vampires depending on what they were more capable of as humans.
Odessa stomped to the throne room by herself after exploring the castle. It was huge and was divided into at least six sections. The first section she deduced was for their tours and human eyes. It consisted of the front of the castle, the area near the main entrance where the tours were conducted. This area was well polished and lit up so that the humans could spend their last minutes alive marveling at the architecture and decor of the ancient building. This section also included the human staff's living arrangements and dining area and the throne room. The second section was used for the unimportant members of the Volturi, the no names who most people forgot and only served the purpose of being errand runners or guards for inside the castle.
The third section included the main Volturi guard's living space, the area Alec and Jane showed her a little while ago, and their training areas. Only the important Volturi members used this area. The fourth section was for Aro, Caius, and Marcus - their own rooms and entertainment areas. She wasn't allowed to explore much of that section because the 'Do Not Enter' signs on the doors warded her off from entering. Evidently, the rooms were labelled, and it was easy to sort out which leader used each room. The library most likely was used by Marcus the most, although all the leaders probably found some use for it. The art room had to be Caius's. She didn't know the blond that much, but Marcus seemed too depressed to be productive, and Aro didn't seem like the artsy type. The last room surprised Odessa, but at the same time felt fitting for the mind reading vampire. A media room. Who really knew why Aro had it installed, but Odessa chalked it up to the leader trying to stay up to date with current events.
The fifth section was the wives' tower. The stairwell up to the tower was heavily guarded by four vampires and she was not given permission to visit the wives. Athenodora and Sulpicia were basically unknown to the vampire world because they never left Volterra. She'd seen a glimpse of them during the confrontation with the Cullens, but that was the only time she'd seen them. She hadn't gotten a good look either because she was so focused on Alec.
As she contemplated where she wanted to go next, she'd run into Corin. Corin was one of the vampires within the coven Odessa never wanted to meet. The other being Chelsea. Corin had the gift of contentment, meaning she could make you feel happy and content with your life. That meant she could make Odessa content with her situation with the Volturi. Any gift that made Odessa feel like she was imprisoned or enslaved, like she couldn't control her own life, was avoided at all costs. Any gift or power that could do that held a negative light in Odessa's eyes. She had to come to terms with her own gift many years ago just to be comfortable enough to use it, and even then, the only time she really used it was to defend herself or another person, or when she was feeding. She loved her gift, but its origins and immense power was something to be cautious of.
The sixth and last section of the castle was the dungeon. It was cold, dark, and smelled mephitic. There were a few guards in front of the entrance to the room, but they didn't disrupt her curious endeavors. There were few prisoners in the dungeon, but the ones that were looked horrible. The imprisoned vampires were paler than Odessa had ever seen and their eyes were blacker than a clear night sky. They lunged at the bars of their cells when they heard her beating heart and snarled hungrily in her direction. She winced and made a mental note to stay as far as possible away from them.
There was one human prisoner, which baffled her to no end. She was a blonde woman with green eyes. Her appearance was greasy and messy, and her stomach gurgled every few minutes. The skirt, shirt, and blazer combo she wore hung off her frame, indicating she was starving, and her heels were discarded to the side. When the woman saw Odessa approach, she winced and turned away either in shame or fear. Odessa frowned at the state the woman was in and grew angry at the way the Volturi was handling it. Whatever the woman had done, there was a better way of dishing out punishment.
So, there she was, stomping her way into the throne room to meet with Aro, Caius, and Marcus and give them a piece of her mind. She threw open the double doors, making her anger known. She stopped in front of the three leaders and crossed her arms over her chest. Caius raised an eyebrow at her while Aro looked at her uneasily. She noticed Renata mirror Aro's unease and fidget slightly and saw the warning look Alec was throwing at her.
"I hope you have settled in," Aro said pleasantly as he stood from his chair.
"Well, I cannot seem to settle in when I do not have any of my possessions, nor when there are prisoners being held a few floors beneath me being starved to death," she said haughtily.
"Prisoners are prisoners," Caius said obviously. "They have no need for niceties."
"My concern is not with the supernatural prisoners. There is little that can be done to punish vampires for lengthy periods of time, so I can understand, to some degree, why you chose the method you did. My concerns lie with the human woman starving to death!"
"You are rather bold to shout at us when you are in the presence of those who can end you as quickly as you can blink," Caius sneered.
"And you are rather bold to assume I will not use my gift to make you kill each other," she sneered back. "I want an explanation."
"My dear," Aro said placatingly, "I understand your concerns and will gladly explain her dire situation. Emilia Auclair, an unknown, up and coming French reporter. She was caught snooping around Volterra looking for information on the disappearance of her sister. She found some evidence that could have led to the exposure of our kind and had plans to publish a news article in her home country. As you know, the secrecy of our kind is of utmost importance. I couldn't let her leave with incriminating evidence, so I had her tried and imprisoned, forced to waste her days away, well, wasting away."
"You could have just as easily killed her," Odessa argued.
"But then, how would she be made an example of?" he implored.
"Made an example of? Her suffering is not public knowledge. No one knows she is withering away in a castle run by vampires. She cannot be made an example of if there is no one to see," Odessa reasoned. "You are doing it for your own twisted pleasure!"
"That is enough out of you!" Caius roared. "We have no need to explain ourselves, Aro. She thinks she can step on our toes. I say we terminate her grace period and end this annoyance."
"Now, now, Caius. You must understand where our dear Odessa is coming from. The product of the rape of a slave woman by her master. Truly, I am sorry you had to see something reminiscent of your time on your father's plantation," Aro apologized. Odessa tensed as she felt Alec's piercing gaze on her. No doubt, he'd ask about her past. She wondered if Aro was truly sorry but dismissed it.
"You say you are sorry, but what do you plan on doing with the woman?" she asked stoically.
"We'll end her suffering, if that is what you wish," Marcus spoke up. Odessa nodded and watched as Aro ordered one of the guards to deal with the woman. She was glad they were taking her feelings into consideration, but she worried it was only because Aro coveted her gift.
"Now that that is taken care of, we can move onto more pressing matters," Aro said, lilting the end of his sentence as if to question if Odessa will step out of turn again. She didn't speak, to which Aro understood as a sign she would not interrupt. "If you pass the grace period, which I am sure you will, you will be assigned as part of the elite guard. Your gift is something I do not wish to fritter away. There are certain expectations that every elite guard member must meet, the main one being they are able to hold their own in a fight. I have seen your combat skills, and to be frank, they are lacking."
Caius smirked at Aro's words and threw a smug expression Odessa's way. She narrowed her eyes at the childish act and ignored it to the best of her abilities. Aro waved Felix and Santiago forward and said, "Felix and Santiago are our best fighters within the clan. They will be overseeing your physical training. Once your fighting abilities have improved, I will introduce you to your next task. You are dismissed."
She glanced warily at Felix and Santiago before finding Alec. Seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, he walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a small smile, one that stretched his pouty lips and reached his crimson eyes. He pulled her towards him and hugged her with one arm before he pulled away and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Heat rushed up to her cheeks and a red hue emerged through her brown skin. Alec placed his hand on her cheek and caressed it.
"Meet me in my room tonight," he said. He walked back over to Jane and took his place beside her. Odessa sighed and looked at Felix and Santiago again. Santiago held out an arm as Felix began walking away. She followed Felix as Santiago took up the rear.
The sparring room was big and spacious. There was no padding anywhere and the room had slight cracks in the walls, probably from previous fights. There wasn't much in the room except for some markings on the floor. A huge circle was outlined on the floor in the middle of the room and seemed to be the only decoration. Felix beckoned her over to the circle and patiently waited for her to step in it.
"This is one of our training rooms. We will be using this one to train you during your stay here," Santiago informed her.
"As we have no knowledge of your fighting experience, you will be sparring with me so that Santiago can gauge the level of your current skills. There are three main components of fighting: the intellectual component, the moral component, and the physical component. The intellectual and moral component will strengthen naturally as you practice," Felix said.
"There are five main aspects of the physical component: speed, stamina, strength, power, agility, and flexibility. As vampires we cannot truly improve upon any of these as we are naturally frozen creatures," Santiago said, "but there are ways in which you can use your known strengths to strengthen weaknesses. As Felix explained, you will spar with him so that I can gauge where your strengths lie and where your weaknesses lie."
"I do not understand," Odessa said, confused. "If this training is not used to strengthen my abilities, then why am I undergoing it?"
"It may be true that you cannot improve upon your abilities; however, that is not the point of the training. Your intellectual component, your knowledge of how to fight, is weak, especially if Aro has brought it to our attention. That is what Felix and I will be strengthening. Your moral component, your will to fight, already seems to be strong, so the only component you need practice with is your intellectual component. This is the case with most vampires," Santiago told her.
"That makes sense," Odessa said.
"Tell me, do you know of any differences between half-breeds and vampires?" Santiago asked.
"Our abilities are slightly less than fully fledged vampires. At least, that's what I have observed from my own experiences and the few interactions I have had with others," she answered.
He nodded and said, "I will take those into consideration."
"Before we begin, I must ask if there are any limitations to your half-breeding. The point of these spars is not to kill you or harm you to the point of death, and I'd rather avoid Alec's wrath," Felix joked.
"I am almost as indestructible as any full vampire. The only difference is that I can bruise if hit too hard. Instead of diamond, my skin is more malleable, like a metallic ore rather than a gemstone," she answered.
"Perfect," Felix said.
Odessa fell against the hard floor in a heap and breathed harder than she's ever breathed in her life. Her body ached as bruises running in color littered her body. She knew she'd be healed within a few hours, but the pain she was experiencing was horrid. Felix's fighting skills were immaculate, she'd had a tough time connecting any of her punches. It was a one-sided fight and spoke of the lack of fighting skills she had.
Felix stood towering over her with a smug grin on his face. He held out a hand and she waved it off. She was not ready to move yet. He shrugged and looked at Santiago for feedback. Santiago pushed off the wall and stopped so he was standing next to Felix.
"She is fairly fast, even for a half-breed," Santiago observed.
"Can we not use that term to define my nature?" Odessa asked.
"Is there a specific reason why?" he asked.
"It holds a lot of negative connotations," she said defensively.
"We will try not to use the term from now on," Santiago assured her. "In regards, to your skills, your speed is above average, your strength is average at best, your stamina is good, your power is okay, your agility is proficient, and your flexibility is average. Due to your prominent levels in speed, your power and agility are higher than they should be."
"You're as good of a fighter as Alec and Jane were when they first entered the Volturi," Felix said. "I'm guessing it's because you rely so heavily on your gift."
"It is pretty useful," she muttered from her position on the floor. She let out a puff of breath before she sat up, wincing at the stinging sensation it caused.
"You went overboard, Felix," Santiago warned.
"I didn't expect to," Felix offered. "You know how I get when I get into the fighting mindset."
"Explain that to Alec," Santiago snorted.
"If he is that upset I received bruises from training, then I do not want to know how upset he gets when someone crosses him," Odessa commented.
"It is because you are mates," Santiago said. "Afton gets the same way when Chelsea is harmed."
"Well, I can take care of myself," Odessa said as she stood up and brushed herself off. She could feel the bruises healing, though they still had some time before they would fully heal. "So, what's the plan for my training?"
"We'll focus on using your speed to your advantage. We'll focus on using your speed to improve your power and moves that you can utilize in battle. It is to my understanding that you need more breaks than vampires do, so for now, why don't you take a break? We'll start your official training tomorrow at 1."
"Sure. If anyone comes looking for me, I'll be in the human section of the castle getting a bite to eat."