A/N: Ok, so I couldn't just leave this story hanging on such a short, but cliffy chapter. IT'S FINALLY OFF HIATUS! I decided to take a short break from When Lines Divide Us to finish this story, since I actually know where it's going. It should be done by January, given there's only a couple chapters left, but I don't know when I'll update.

On a side note: if you want to request a oneshot or need a beta reader, check my profile and PM me :)

Having said that, enjoy this longer chapter!

POV: Percy

Disclaimer: If vampires still drink blood, I still don't own this.

Chapter 26: Surprise, B*tches

The plan was to set out at dawn. We ended up leaving a bit before that, actually.

It made me super uneasy that we were wandering from the forest into Volterra while it was still dark out. But I'd decided that we needed to leave super early if we wanted to catch our 'tour' group.

So we left the safety of the forest right before the sky began turning light. Nico trudged along, more awake than he had been in the last twelve hours, thankfully, but he stayed utterly silent, as if talking would drain his power stores.

Jason was alert as he walked beside me, eyes wide open. He kept toying with the golden coin in his hand, waiting to flip it into his Imperial gold sword at a moment's glance.

Volterra seemed like a really beautiful city, even under cover of darkness. I wished we could come here just to sightsee, on tour, instead of having to come to ruin the lives of many people and rescue Renesmee. It was definitely a place to visit, with its rich green grasses and towering ancient Roman buildings.

Oh, well. Maybe we could appreciate the beauty for a few hours before we had to dissolve the city into a muddle of chaos. Our tour didn't start until seven in the morning, anyway — two hours to kill until then. Assuming we weren't attacked by any other monsters.

Nico, Jason and I walked through the silent city, so quiet it might as well be haunted, as the sky grew from a deep velvet black to a lighter blue. We took shelter near the restaurants and shops that surrounded the palace.

I took out a drachma — my very last one — and flipped it into the spray coming from a broken hose in the side of a building. "O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." The coin vanished. "Show me Renesmee Cullen."

The mist showed a girl curled up into a ball, in a dark cell with sludge along the walls. Her clothes were ripped; her shoulders and hips were bruised. She must've tried running into the walls and breaking them.

"Nessie! Psst!"

She looked up. "Oh my god… Percy?"

"Yeah. We're coming to get you. We need to know where in the palace you are."

"But… Percy, who's that?" She was looking behind me.

"Oh. This is Nico, son of Hades. He's helping us. Long story."

"You can't come in here! You'll be eaten alive — literally."

Jason spoke up, arching an eyebrow. "We'll be eaten alive, literally, by your family if we don't bring you home safe and sound. Now tell us where in the palace you are."

"I-I don't know. I woke up in here." She looked down sullenly. "I had a plan to get myself out. They're starving me until I decide I'm hungry enough, and then they'll give me a human to drink. I was going to pretend I'd given in and try to escape that way, but it won't work. There are too many of them."

"We have a plan, Nessie. Is there a way you can alert us to where you are once we're in the palace?" I asked, growing increasingly desperate.

"How are you getting into the palace?"

"There's a tour group we're joining. If I'm right, all the Volturi will be in the throne room, feasting on human tourists. There won't be any guards. We'll slip away."

"I don't know, I can make some sounds to alert you."

"Okay, but please hurry, the connection's fading. With luck we'll see you in a few hours."

"We'll figure it out. Thanks so —"

The rainbow disappeared, along with Nessie's image and voice.

All we had left to do was wait.

Both Nico and Jason had fallen asleep by the time the sun had fully risen. I was nodding off too, but kept startling myself back to reality so that we wouldn't all three be caught unguarded. People began wandering the streets around six in the morning, after the sun was up. I shook the two of them awake quickly, and we went to find a breakfast place where we could replenish our energy. We were heading into battle as basically zombies.

Luckily, we found a pretty cheap place to stop. We grabbed some food — anything would do at this point, really — and sped out of there.

"D'you think any monsters have been alerted to our presence yet?" Jason mumbled, chewing on an egg and ham bagel.

"If they had," Nico said solemnly, picking at his own food, "we'd be dead by now. Or at least attacked."

Despite that we'd been here for the past two hours, waiting, the three of us were not the first to arrive to the tour starting place. There were a couple other people there, some sipping coffee, some taking pictures of the terracotta tile buildings that lined the streets. It was almost the same as my dream had been; the palace atop the hill, people starting to crowd the streets, with all the tile-roof buildings surrounding us. The similarity was a bit eerie.

It was at seven o'clock sharp that the 'tour guide' showed up. He was the same as he'd been in my dream; cloaked in black and red, black bangs covering eyes that now I was sure were red. When he spoke up, it was in a slight Italian accent. I was more than a bit relieved Nico was here; if anyone spoke in Italian, he could translate easily.

"Good morning. On our tour today we'll be visiting the Volterra palace," he said. "I don't believe we're missing anyone. Follow me, and keep close, please." But before he turned and walked off in the other direction, he turned to look directly at us. His eyes, which I could barely see under the tip of the hood, flashed dangerously. He knew we were not human. But instead of advancing towards us, he turned, keeping his cloak's hood over his head as he walked through the recently formed mob of other tourists. Jason, Nico and I looked at each other warily, then followed the tourist group up the hill towards the beige stone palace. If one of the Volturi guard already knew we were there, we were already screwed.

The tour group arrived at the palace in no time. The tour guide began detailing some random facts about the palace to the group. As in the dream, we were all led through a maze of gloomy torch-lit halls to an elevator. There were no windows — of course not. Windows would let sunlight in, and were also a form of escape for prisoners. Jason, Nico and I, following the plan, paid special attention to where we were going. I tried my best to memorize the turns, but it was easier to look at identifiable objects like a weird-faced gargoyle that I'd remember later.

Right before we entered what I knew to be the throne room, Jason spoke up. "Sir? Where are we going now?"

The Volturi turned around. "To the throne room, of course. It is the most magnificent part of the castle."

"Are we going to tour the rest of the castle?" he asked.

"Later," he responded in a smooth, accented voice. "Follow me, please."

"Wait, sir, could I ask a question about the palace?" Jason recited, just as we'd planned. Meanwhile, Nico and I had slowly edged to the other side of the large tourist group. The vampire shouldn't be able to see us, what with his attention on Jason and all the people in front of us. We just had to be careful about him hearing us — vampire hearing was absolutely excellent, to our misfortune.

"I will answer all your questions once we are in the throne room. Now, please." The 'please' sounded more like a snarl than anything else. Jason went white and nodded.

When the Volturi opened the door, Nico and I ran as fast and quietly as we could, hoping the loud door creaking open would cover the sound of our footsteps. Thankfully, it seemed to work, and we turned around the corner. Anytime now, Nessie. Make some sort of sound.

"Do you hear that, Percy?" Nico was whispering this.

"What?"

"That echoing…"

I strained my ears, and there it was — some sound echoing off the walls, very faint, but clearly coming from the left. "Come on."

We ran, following the voice, and at last made sense of what it was saying. "I give up! I want blood, please!" It was Nessie's voice.

One last turn and we were there. "Percy! And… Nico, is it! Than—"

"Shh! Anyone could hear us, remember the sensitive hearing of vampires?" I whispered at her. She got very quiet as we walked over and struggled with the lock.

"Where's Jason?" Nessie asked quietly.

"He had to distract the Volturi. He's down in the throne room. Festus should be showing up any moment now, though," I answered, fiddling with Riptide in pen form and the locks. Nessie gasped.

"How do we get this open?" Nico asked, ignoring her.

"That's a very good question," said a voice from behind us. "And I think you two should step away from the door if you want your friend to live."

A/N: You're welcome for the cliffhanger. Please review, and a Merry Christmas to all!