Author's Note:

I do not own any of the Twilight characters that may appear in this world.

I also don't own a bible. I've got nothing against the book, I've read the thing cover to cover three times. I just find its contents about as believable as vampires. Nothing against anyone who does, this story is not meant as a venting of my personal views, so please don't take it that way. The things that Alexa says on the subject are simply what I believe someone with her experiences would say, nothing more.

Chapter 7: Protector of Mankind

With a sip from the glass Esme has put in front of me, I prepare the rest of my story. "My entire village was destroyed. There were burning, broken bodies everywhere. And the blood… so much blood. Not a soul was spared… not even the children. I don't remember much of the rest of that day. I do remember being all alone, and not knowing what to do. I managed to burn the bodies, most of them didn't need to be moved or set alight, they just burned where they fell without my help, but some… well, I took care of it. As I stared at the ashes of my mother and father, I felt the most consuming rage come over me. I screamed at the sky, blaming the gods for what had happened to my village. Then, behind me, there came a blazing light. A voice beyond anything I had ever heard before spoke as if it were coming from inside my head. The voice asked if I wanted vengeance. This troubled me. No, vengeance was wrong. I didn't want to get even. I wanted Justice!

And so, Dike, the Goddess of Justice herself, made me one of her children."

"And…", I looked up at this interruption. This memory has always been one of my most precious, and I didn't realize that I'd paused to give the memory the reverence that I felt it deserves. Emmett was waving his hand at me in a circular motion, trying to get me to continue.

I smiled then, continuing to relive the moment in my head. "And she bestowed upon me the power to exact Justice on those who would harm others. She gave me the ability to end any life that harms mine. And she gave me the opportunity to live and love again. She named me 'Alexa'. It means 'Protector of Mankind' in my native language."

"Preposterous!" Edward scoffed. "Carlisle, you can't possibly believe this. She's obviously deranged!" Squinting at me, Edward continues, "This flies in the face of everything we believe. Everyone in this house is Christian. We believe in the Bible, not some Pagan nonsense…"

"That Pagan nonsense is the basis for every parable and miracle that your so-called Christ performed, asshole." I seeth. "How dare you insult my faith when you've never even met your own God! Not once have I said that your religion is false, and yet you presume to denounce mine?" By now everyone at the table is standing as Edward and I face off. "You know what, I'm out of here. I don't know why I thought you vampires would be any different."

"Hey…" says someone softly from behind me. I've been eating lunch in the library, trying to avoid the petty drama of small town teenagers. Or maybe I should be honest with myself. I've been avoiding Bella and the Cullens. "I just wanted to apologize for Edward."

Turning, I give Bella my best glare. "Why? Do you not share his views?"

"Lets just say that I'm not willing to discount anything in this world anymore" Bella replies. "I mean, vampires, werewolves, powers, and now Greek gods and goddesses. What's next? Fairies?"

"Lets leave Alice out of this" I joke with a smirk.

"I heard that," comes a reply from a few rows over. Alice appears a moment later, a few books under her arm. "I've just been reading up on my ancient mythology. Fascinating stuff. Tell me, what is Hades like?"

"Handsome, sophisticated, a little full of himself." Comes my easy reply. Hades and I have seldom shared words, let alone company.

"And what do you think of the work he does?"

This question catches me off guard. I glare at Alice, wondering what her angle is. "What work? He keeps the place running, but mostly he just keeps to himself for all I can tell. I've never actually been inside the gates you see, so if he does more than preen to Persephone, I've never seen it."

"How does that work? I thought you said you escorted souls to Hell." I can't tell if Alice thinks she has caught something here, or if she is genuinely curious.

"The souls of those that kill me, yes. It isn't, like, a permanent job or anything. Normally, Charon has that duty… however Dike determined that escorting the souls that I claim to the underworld should fall to me. It was her version of a reward I think, or a lesson… or maybe it was just killing two birds with one stone, since I need to go to the Gates as well to be reborn.

Alice lights up at this, as if I've just cleared the way for more of her curiosity. Before she can spout another question though, Bella pipes in, "When you say reborn… is that like reincarnation?"

"Noooo…" I draw out the syllable, trying to figure out how to explain this. "It is like repossession, sort of." I can see their confusion at this. "Dike places me in a recently vacated body, usually a young girl." I can see the confusion on their faces as I say this. 'Yeah, just wait for the rest of it...' "The way she explained it to me, the body in question is no longer inhabited by a soul. In other words, that person just died. I take over from there."

At this, the doors to the library fly open with a crash, and Edward storms in, barely containing the rage on his face. "I will not listen to any more of this trash!" he proclaims softly, eying the librarian and putting his fists on the table in front of me. "You claim that you are an instrument of justice, and yet you steal the bodies of young women? No! You are either a witch, demon, or a seriously ill little girl. Come one Bella, lets go."

"Edward." I look at Bella, who has taken the seat beside me. "Edward, we weren't talking to you. This isn't a conversation you were invited into, and it isn't one that I am interested in leaving." I smile at Bella, thankful for the support in front of her boyfriend. "Please Edward, I understand your feelings, but this isn't the right way to show them. Please, go cool off."

With a hurt look, turns to Alice. "Don't tell me you agree with this nonsense?"

Alice, who has taken the next seat over from me, has a thoughtful look on her face. "I don't know what to believe Edward, but according to your own view on religion, we shouldn't exist either. Maybe now is the time for open-mindedness rather than anger?"

Edward stands up straight with a huff, and glares at me again. Then, he starts to back up, giving the librarian an apologetic look on the way back out the door.

"So…" I turn to Alice, seeing she's got another curious question on her mind. "What does Persephone wear?"

"I can't believe some all powerful being drives a Honda Civic POS"

"Holy shit!" the curse escapes my lips before I can stop it. "Don't sneak up on me like that Rose!" I yell, trying to get my bearings. I had just been getting out of my car and nearly dropped the groceries my parents texted me for after school. Gathering the bags and securing my backpack, I turned to the blonde in question. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I told you not to call me that?" she intones with a severe look. "I still haven't decided if you need to be removed or not."

"Well, while you make up your mind, do you want to come inside and meet my mom and dad?" I ask. I figure if she's going to be here, it would look odd for us to just be standing in the driveway.

"You would invite a vampire in to meet your family?" The disbelief on her face is almost comical.

I turn to face her directly, and look her square in the eye. "No, I would invite you in to meet my family." Softening my voice, I add, "You ARE family Rose. We've both been touched by the same Goddess." Seeing her sudden surprise, I quickly turn on my heel and march into my house. Turning at the door, I add, "Oh, and that POS is named Valkyrie".

"This sandwich is amazing Esme!" I say as I chow into the plate before me. Bella, sitting at the bar to my right, nods her head in agreement. This is the fourth time now that I've visited the Cullen home. Each time, they grill me on my history, and I share what I can. Slowly, we are becoming more and more comfortable with each other. I still have trouble believing that they all feed from nothing but animals, but the civility that I observe in the house speaks for itself. This is a special family.

I've shared these thoughts with Esme and Carlisle, and had private conversations with both concerning their pasts. I can hardly believe that Carlisle has not only never tasted human blood, but also lived through his experiences with the Volturi. One of the stories that I was practically forced to share was of my own time in their clutches.

"You said you learned about vampires in Italy. Would you care to expand on that?"

"I'd really rather not." I say, as I turn from the large painting on the wall. He has a lot of them spread around the place, but this one in particular brings back some rather unpleasant memories, and as I had studied the faces of the Volturi kings, I had unknowingly peaked Carlisle's interest.

"Please. I understand your reluctance, my own memories of them are not all fond, but if you will, I'd like to hear."

"It isn't a happy story." I say, relenting and taking the big stuffed leather chair next to Carlisle's desk. "I'm not sure what year it was. I had been to Italy many times before, but never that particular area. My father was a trader, and he travelled from place to place, buying and selling furs, pottery, dyes, pretty much anything he thought he could make a profit on. Business was good and I was riding along with him. I think he was trying to find me a suitable husband, to be honest." I twist my mouth at the sour memory. "I remember my father was invited to visit a local dignitary of some sort, and he insisted that I come along. We entered a large building, but instead of climbing stairs, we were led down into the catacombs. The air became dank and musty, and we struggled to keep our torches alight. Eventually, we emerged into a small chamber, where several other people were gathered to see the same lord. I think you know what happened next."

"I can imagine, but please, in your own words." Carlisle had his hands folded on his desk, and was giving me his complete attention.

"Ok. We were all led into a larger chamber, where three men sat on high backed chairs. They almost looked like thrones. My eyes immediately noticed that these men had red eyes, as did every other person in the room. That's when I knew. We were here to die. The auras that those three put off… I've never seen so much evil Carlisle. Never. Lifetimes, centuries, eons of death. I knew there was no escape. Not for me, not for anyone. I became so angry...if I couldn't save anyone, the least I could do was take one of these monsters with me.

So, I rushed the leader. I figured, if I could get someone important to bite me, or at least snap my neck, it would be the best Justice I could deal out in that situation.

Unfortunately for me the leader, Aro I heard someone call him, was intrigued by my 'brazen attempt at suicide'. That's when I learned that he could read minds, but not mine. His brother, Marcus, couldn't see any emotional connections to me either. One by one, as my father and his peers died behind me, Aro had other vampires test their gifts on me. None of them worked."

"Why do you suppose that is?" Carlisle asked, clearly intrigued by this line of thought.

"I asked Dike, after I died. She said that her boon protects me from supernatural interference. It was the only thing she could give me that would allow me to do the job she gave me."

"I see" said Carlisle. I could see that my answer did not satisfy him. After seeing the large wooden cross outside his doorway, I could understand his apprehension.

"Anyway, Aro eventually brought in someone who was supposed to be able to see special gifts, and he could see nothing. He said it was like I didn't exist."

"Eleazar" Carlisle stated, steepling his hands in front of his mouth. Seeing my confusion, he clarified, "I know him. He is a cousin of ours, living in Alaska at the moment. Our cousins are also vegetarians."

"Oh. Cool. He will probably remember me then." I say with a bit of a cheeky half smile.

"How so? You've said that you inhabit different bodies, how would he recognize you?" Carlisle asks.

"Oh, I'm sure he remembers the day Marcus's mate died."

Dun dun dun! I hope this nice little revelation sits well with everyone. This was the only Volturi death that made sense to me without having to invent new characters to kill, and although I know that the canon has Aro killing Didme, I think this could still fit. After all, if Alexa threatened Aro, or tried to egg him into biting her, he could have "given" her to Didme to play with, effectively killing the vampire wife in a more second-hand way.

I'm not sure if this will effect the future or not. Perhaps if you, the readers, want a continuation of this story into Breaking Dawn or beyond, I can see some potential for a story where this little tid bit could be recalled.

OMG I got a review! Big shout out to Luminere for being the first, and hopefully not the last!