ITALIC, CENTERED TEXT: Memory (Alters between Marcus POV and 3POV)
REGULAR, BOLD TEXT: Present Time (3POV)
It was as though she radiated pure joy – a sunbeam tied to the ground where she stood. Before me, her light permeated each opened pore of my frigid skin and, in that moment, I felt warmth for the first time since immortal birth.
The echoes of light footsteps on cobblestone sang through the corridor outside Marcus' room. Briefly, he wondered who would dare disturb him where he lurked in the solace of his memories. This large room had been his only escape for hundreds of years. A prisoner to its four walls, he remained there with the door firmly shut behind him.
Despite the foolish notion, he kept the door shut so as to trap what little remained of his black beauty's hallowed aura.
Closing his eyes, he painted her form behind his lids masterfully – an imaginary tribute to his long-lost love: Didyme.
"Marcus," Aro addressed in the calm, cool voice I'd grown almost as accustomed to hearing as my own, "this is my youngest sister, Didyme."
Her dark red eyes met my own, and at once I sensed the familiar tug of a bond between the two of us begin to form.
It was strong – forceful even. I had never felt anything quite like it.
Unlike the bonds between most strangers of which I'd come to know within my last decade of immortality, this one felt woven strongly like the intricately braided strands of a rope. This was no ordinary string of strangers I had encountered prior; it was stronger, more powerful.
I remained in wonder at my confusion and intrigue by the dark-haired woman that stood before me. Had he said her name was Didyme? This was the sister Aro had been waiting a decade to turn?
"Ahh, Didyme," I finally repeated with a slight dip of my head in her direction. "What a wonder it is to meet you at last. Aro has been anticipating your arrival for quite some time."
Cherry-red lips curled up into a smile that brightened the entirety of the room along with her face. Her beauty befell upon me as gently as the morning mist and I awed at her perfectly chiseled marble features. When she opened her mouth to speak, the soft notes of her voice danced through the air as effortlessly as birds soared through the sky.
"My brother has far too much faith in me, I am afraid." She turned to glance at him before returning her brilliant gaze in my direction. "I fear that I will not be the newborn he sought to create."
"Nonsense!" Aro chimed out with a singular clap of his hands. "I am certain that we will find adequate use of your... unique abilities soon enough."
Instinctively, I raised my brows at his statement. "And what might those abilities be, dear Aro?" I inquired, though my question seemed to prick at the nerves beneath his usually poised expression.
"It appears that my gift reaps little benefit for my brother's ambitious nature," Didyme explained with caution. "Unlike Aro, I possess the ability to induce happiness."
"Sweet sister," Aro cooed, setting a hand delicately on her shoulder. "I am sure that your gift of altering moods can be trained to include other emotions. Perhaps Marcus can assist you in developing your talents. He too has a gift of emotional sensitivity."
"I can see bonds," I blurted out, much to mine and Aro's dismay. It was unlike me to willingly gift information, but there was something about Didyme that dispelled any countenance I'd developed.
Clearing my throat to regain my composure, I continued my thought in a controlled manner. "Or rather, the emotional ties between two beings. Aro believes this will prove useful as we continue to build our guard."
"A useful gift indeed," Didyme agreed, a smile still etched on her face. "I wonder, do all bonds feel the same, or would the tie between family feel different than one between mates?"
Neither Aro nor myself had anticipated such a question and I pondered this for a moment before responding.
"There is a distinct difference with bonds based on love," I answered, our eyes locked on one another in an intense almost otherworldly connection. "For example, a knot of a rope may hold just as tightly as another, but the way they are woven together varies on the person tying such a knot. The purpose of its strength greatly determines how tightly it is bound and how it must be created."
"How interesting," she mused, although her brother was far less amused by my metaphors.
"Yes, yes. Quite interesting indeed," he said quickly as though attempting to rush along the interaction. "Now then, sister. I have much to show you. Come along, dear one."
Leading the way down the corridor, Didyme followed in his wake, her head twisting back to look at me once more before she too was swallowed by the castle's thick shadows. "I look forward to knowing you, Marcus!" She called out, her words swirling around me where I stood still as a statue.
"How I look forward to that as well, sweet Didyme," I whispered just loud enough that her newborn ears might catch the words before she at last disappeared from my line of sight.
Marcus' eyelids fluttered open, revealing two orbs of dark maroon glimmering like marbles under the light of a thousand flickering candle flames. They drifted up the grey stoned wall before reaching their destination – an old oil painted portrait of the dark beauty from his dreams.
On the wall she sat, forever frozen behind a centuries-old frame. It had been commissioned long ago by the man, a gift for his beloved mere months after she was turned. The gesture was one she cherished throughout her immortal lifetime. The portrait itself a constant reminder to Marcus of the instant existence changed from one of necessity to one of promise.
"Oh, Marcus," Didyme breathed, her hand reaching out to lightly trace the intricacies of the golden frame surrounding her image. "It's extraordinary."
I fought back a smile and settled for a simple nod of my head. "I had it made by a talented artist I once met during my travels. His craftmanship is truly astounding, is it not?"
"Magnificent," she cooed, her eyes dancing over the details hidden in the frame. "This must have cost a fortune..."
A small chuckle slipped through my lips. "A relatively small price to pay for the gift of life eternal."
Her eyes darted towards me, and I sensed a strain on the imaginary rope betwixt us. "For what purpose did you turn this great artist?" She asked, her accusatory tone catching me off guard.
"No purpose," I answered quietly. "He wished to make art for ages and... and I wished for a frame worthy of our newest member. A portrait like this should not be without a suitable frame."
Slowly, the tension in our tie waned and what little humanness within me breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was awfully kind of you, although..." she hesitated as if searching for the proper words to say next. "Aro may not approve of such a deal. My brother has... strong opinions about turning humans into one of our kind."
"I am aware of Aro's concerns," I replied blankly. "However, I doubt he will disapprove of such a fine ornament adorning his prized sister."
Indeed, Aro was fond of the gift befitting what Marcus assumed at the time was his proudest immortal creation. However, as the years dragged on and the Volturi continued in their pursuit of power, her talents ceased to excite Aro or provide much assistance for their ever-growing guard.
Despite her seemingly lackluster powers, Aro continued to dote on Didyme. Nobody could doubt his love and adoration for her. Even before she was turned, the pair had always been close; often seeking advice and consolation in one another.
But even the strongest sibling bond had its weak points, and the weakest point in their relationship proved to be the strongest in another's: the growing affections between Marcus and Didyme.
"Aro is getting bored with me," Didyme declared one evening after another unsuccessful attempt to train her immortal powers. "I may be able to make him happy, but I have yet to make him proud."
"I don't believe that to be true," I comforted.
"There is no value in making others happy!" She exclaimed, shooting up at impressive speed to stand at the large windowsill ahead. Her vacant gaze stared out to the sky now alight with a thousand shimmering stars – none of which could outshine her own everlasting beauty.
Pale moonlight bathed her ivory skin in its glow as it cascaded through the window. A fly on the wall, I marveled at the sparkles emanating from cool flesh as they decorated the dreary castle walls in a galaxy of stars.
"I should have remained with our mother," she murmured. "Chosen a suitor and lived a quiet life."
Slowly, I stood from my chair and took a single step in her direction. "This life you speak of," I began hesitantly, "what might it have been like?"
Staring out at the world beyond the window, Didyme smiled to herself at the thought. "Ordinary. But I suppose I would have been content. Even before this life I excelled at making others happy."
I tried to imagine the woman she may have been. Her long, dark hair would have remained, but beneath it lightly colored skin would peek out to see each day. Breath would fill her lungs and blood sweeter than nectar would course through her veins, painting her alabaster skin with pink hues and soft undertones.
Even in this life, she would have been beautiful.
Taking another step towards her, I managed to say, "This happiness you brought to others, did it ever make you happy?"
Stunned by the question, Didyme turned from the window to face me. "No one has ever asked me that before."
"I can imagine it's a lonely gift, the gift of happiness," I went on, still taking steps in her direction where she watched with widened eyes. "If you give the world joy, who gives joy to you?"
The human woman I envisioned would have blushed just then, but Didyme merely turned her gaze away in what appeared to be embarrassment. "I am capable of making myself happy, Marcus. It is not an extraordinary power to make oneself happy."
"Alas, it is not your sole purpose in this life or immortal life to provide happiness," I stated, now mere inches from where she stood staring at the ground. Gently, I reached out to tilt her chin upward, her eyes following suit to meet my gaze. "A gift is but a gift until it becomes an obligation."
Her precious eyes of rubies bore into me. "What do you care of my happiness?" She wondered, her figure finding its way to fill the empty spaces between us. "How is it you know that my disposition is not authentic?"
"Emotional ties go both ways, my dear." Releasing her chin from my grasp, I brushed away a single strand of hair that grazed her porcelain cheek. "The bonds you forge are uneven, unmatched. You do not yearn for others the way they do for you."
"That is not true," she countered, the rope pulling our own ties together growing taught.
"It is, Didyme" I answered forthright. "I have powers of my own."
"And how do you know that my powers are not interfering with yours?" her eyes searched mine, desperate for the answer to a question she had yet to ask.
"Pardon?"
"I bring you happiness, Marcus" she admitted almost sheepishly. "Since we met, yours is a joy that even I have no responsibility for. Not intentionally, at least."
"Perhaps that is because I have tied myself to you," I murmured, the bond between us strengthening tenfold.
"Then tell me, Marcus," Didyme replied, her brows pulling upward in a look of wonderment. "What does your gift say of me? Have I tied myself to you as well?"
Gauging the pull between us, I knew that she needn't my talents to confirm the bond between us. "You tell me," I answered before closing the gap between our lips in a frenzy; the two of us tying our love into a passionate knot that even Chelsea could not touch.
Caius and Aro were not surprised when the pair announced their intent to mate. Over time, training with Marcus had transformed into endless hours of sharing their minds in a way neither had been acquainted with before.
It became clear that the relationship between Marcus and Didyme had heightened to one that surpassed the Volturi guard and its fight for power.
A concern that was becoming worrisome to Caius whose thirst for control nearly outweighed his primal thirst for human blood.
"This affair may prove the downfall of our dynasty, Aro," Caius expressed one day in the library of their castle. "A dynasty we have built, might I remind you, for nearly two centuries."
"Nonsense," Aro replied blankly. "Didyme and Marcus are among the most loyal of our guard. Their relationship proves no threat to our goals."
"The position we are in is precarious" Caius explained carefully, though his tone remained strict as a parent scolding one's child. "If even one of us should falter, everything we've worked towards will surely fall."
"Didyme would not betray me like that," he spit with a glare that matched the malice in his words. "My sister is nothing but loyal."
"But is she loyal to us?" Caius asked, Aro falling silent at the question. "To our cause? Her powers are not nearly as important as Marcus' and I fear that – "
"Enough, Caius…"
But he merely continued without pause. " – should she leave, Marcus may follow suit." The blonde man leaned in to whisper under narrowed eyes, "That is a risk we simply cannot take."
"ENOUGH!" Aro shouted while holding a hand up to silence him. "Didyme would not dare leave my side and neither will Marcus. Your fears are based on speculation alone. Where is your proof of this supposed betrayal?"
Leaning back into his chair, Caius' expression softened. "I am merely looking ahead, brother. Perhaps it is time you use your own gifts to see their intentions. There are whispers of her dismay here."
Aro glanced his way and sighed before pursing his lips into a hard line. "Very well. But her loyalty, their loyalty is not something that cannot be altered. Chelsea – "
"Is powerful indeed," Caius finished for him. "But not without fault. She is still new, her powers untested. It may be too much for even her."
"Nonsense. There are ways to ensure the Volturi's survival. However…" Aro's face drooped as he considered his brother's previous suggestion. "It may not be unwise to look into their motivations. If there is a weak point in their loyalties, we must crush it immediately."
"No matter the cost? Is her existence a sacrifice you are willing to make for our cause?"
Thoughts swarmed Aro's head and he sat quietly while considering the question. "It shall not come to that " he decided, but Ciaus pressed onward.
"But if it does," he pushed, "could you destroy your own sister? My presence here is of no use to me if you are not committed to your own Volturi – your own success."
Pinpricks dotted the nerves under Aro's hardened skin but the singular nod he gave answered the question Caius posed. "It will not come to that," he repeated, but with a startling new addition. "However if it does, I am prepared to do whatever it takes."
"Good," Caius sneered. "Then it has been decided."
"Not without proof," Aro insisted. "Preparation and proof so as not to disturb our plans."
"Of course."
Reaching up to stroke his chin in thought, Aro declared confidently, "There is still time."
"Indeed."
But each decade that passed, whispers started to spread through the castle halls of the couple's wish to depart. The promise of unyielding power had begun to lose its allure in favor of existence with one another.
Mutual adoration had surpassed desire for absolute control.
Didyme and Marcus soon ceased to spend prolonged periods of time without each other's company and it was becoming clear that the time to ensure the Volturi's survival was near.
With much encouragement from Ciaus, Aro approached Marcus one evening in Didyme's absence. It seemed to him that this eve of her hunt for humans may be his only opportunity to uncover a truth clouded by wild rumors.
"She is a wonder," Aro mused, although his tone did not paint hues of pride in favor of his youngest sibling. "Her gifts subdue our prey quite nicely."
"You do not sound convinced of her abilities," I noted, a tremor of concern coloring my words. "Didyme keeps us well-fed, well-supplied with what we require for this life, does she not?"
"Certainly," he agreed, yet again, his tone remained void confidence. "An expert fisher she may be, but to attain the control we desire..." Aro shook his head, his mind lost to the thoughts swirling around his power-hungry brain. "I worry she is not fit for our cause."
"Whatever do you mean?"
Aro's blood-red eyes met mine with haste. "Tell me, Marcus. My sister's loyalties... do they still remain in my favor? Have our ties altered at all since her birth?"
I dared not tell him of our recent conversations. I did not need to use my powers to know that her feelings had since changed.
"Didyme is still bound to you quite strongly," I explained. It was not a lie, merely the half of a truth. "She adores you, Aro. You are her brother born by blood."
"Yes, yes," he waved my words off as though swatting at a bothersome fly. "But it has been almost two centuries, Marcus. Even with your extensive training, she has not yet mastered the ability to induce anything other than joy. Has there been no improvement?"
"Her skills remain relatively the same," I admitted. "But her gift is of value to our cause. Bringing happiness to others has the potential to draw in additional members of worthy positions, even tempt talented vampires to leave their current covens for ours."
"I suppose..."
"And together with Chelsea's gifts," I continued, although Aro seemed distracted from the conversation, "It is my belief that we can continue to grow the strongest immortal guard this or any other world has seen. There is significant value in happiness induction."
"That is not my worry, Marcus" Aro at last said, his eyes worlds away from where we sat in the library. "Although happiness induction is not the skillset I had hoped for when turning Didyme, I am not blind to its worth or value."
This caught me by surprise. "Then what is it?"
At long last, Aro turned his head to face me yet again. In an instant, he spoke one word – a word that needed no explanation to be understood. "Ambition."
Marcus' gaze sank from the portrait, instead choosing to focus on the liquified wax of a nearby candle. He watched carefully as gravity inched the heavy liquid down where it delicately draped a golden candelabra under a thick curtain of wax. As though bleeding onto the fixture's outstretched arms, the flickering flame of the candle remained strong despite its dwindling size as a result of prolonged use.
The immortal man found It odd he felt sympathy for the inanimate object before him. Like the candle, he too felt as though he were nearing the end of a life lived for the sole purpose of keeping another content. Although the flame burned brightly; the weight of melted wax grew heavy on the candle below just as the weight of Aro's expectations had become almost too much to bear on Marcus' marble shoulders.
Almost.
In the wake of his beloved's passing, Marcus struggled to find reason in staying with the coven he had helped create. Each moment proved impossible to enjoy without the love of his mate at the center of his forever frozen heart.
What had that felt like? He often wondered when secluded in his chambers. It had been centuries since Didyme had graced him with her presence, but somehow it felt as though time had ceased to move. No matter where he went or what he did, Marcus could not fight his inner turmoil at the senselessness of time.
What reason did he have without Didyme to exist?
"What reason is there to stay?" Didyme asked, her sigh heavy in dismay. "Aro does not need me here. Were it not for you, I would have left ages ago."
"You do not share your brother's thirst for power," I stated. It was a fact we had discussed many times before. Aro's desires for ultimate control over immortal beings was but a hobby Didyme indulged for the sheer pleasure of her brother's happiness. In all their years together, both human and otherwise, his quest for power dominated any selfish interests or dreams she may have held and after centuries feeding his needs, Didyme was ready to satisfy her own.
Anticipating her to simply agree with me, she turned the question around entirely. "Do you?"
It had been years since I'd asked this of myself or inquired about my wishes to continue the coven's course. I knew that Aro felt the Volturi could not find success without my skills, but with Caius at his side as well as the other talented immortals he'd collected over the years, there was no question in my mind that he could reach the top without my help.
Without my or Didyme's help, that is.
"Perhaps there was a time when power seemed a worthy cause," I admitted after a moment of thought. "But those feelings, that tie I once felt has since become weak. It began to unravel the instant I met you..."
"Then we must depart," Didyme pressed, her eyes searching mine for a hint of my acquiesce. "We do not belong here anymore. Together, away from this place, we can find our own happiness."
"And what of your brother?" I countered. "You know as well as I that he will not let us leave."
"I should think it is better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission," she returned, a mischievous sparkle behind her eyes. "Imagine the life we could live free from this mission of control? No underlings, no newborns to train, nothing more than to exist with one another for the rest of eternity."
Didyme's romantic view of this imaginary life was indeed appealing. For an instant I pictured the two of us seated at the edge of the tallest mountain's peak. Hand in hand, we looked out at the world below – the Earth's supreme beauty, her majesty and wonder failing to surpass that of the woman at my side.
Blinking back the image, my smile dipped into a frown, and I reached up to brush my fingers against her supple cheek. "A wonderful life, yes. But one forever plagued by fear of capture at your brother's hands. Our demise because of this beautiful and unlikely dream."
"It is not an unlikely dream, Marcus!" Didyme snapped, her tone so harsh that it cut through the air. "Do you not yearn for happiness like I do? True happiness? It is true that I can ply us both with artificial joy, but that alone is not sustainable for an eternity of this life. Surely you know that my powers are not strong enough to satisfy you, my brother, the entire guard... myself."
Dodging my eyes, she looked away from me though my hand stayed firmly on her cheek. Quietly, she whispered to herself, "This is not the life I envisioned after my immortal birth. Endless existence no longer feels like a gift... it has become a burden; a curse I wish I had never been bestowed."
Slowly, I stroked her porcelain skin with my thumb. "My love, you can no longer feed yourself with this false happiness."
She shook her head, a weak smile appearing on her lips. "I do have real happiness with you, Marcus," she managed before gently placing her hand atop mine where it rested on her face. "I only wish it were enough."
The ache in my chest told me that our bond remained strong but held uneven weight at the other side. I could sense her pain – feel it as though it were my own and yet I did not know how to fix the overwhelming pressure on our unbeating hearts. "What can I do, Didyme? What will bring that effervescent smile back to your face?"
Meeting my gaze with her own, a sadness glimmered beneath her red irises as they looked up at me. "Freedom. I wish to be free from this place, from my brother, from the Volturi itself. But I will not leave you here in my wake. There is no life for me elsewhere unless it is with you."
Marcus had replayed this, their last conversation, on an endless loop for millennia. Although he was desperate to forget it, he could not help but cling to every word she had spoken. Each time the memory drifted into his mind he searched it tirelessly for the single clue that might have hinted at the tragedy to come.
But there was nothing that could have been done to prevent Didyme's untimely demise.
Unbeknownst to Marcus, her fate had been sealed the moment Aro brushed passed him in the corridor on the very evening of her final hunt.
"Where are you off to, dear brother?" Aro asked, but it was not a sincere answer he sought. In fact, this question had already been answered at the brief instance his skin had touched Marcus'.
Unaware of what Aro had seen in his mind's eye, Marcus turned to look where he stood frozen behind him. "To my quarters," he answered without the smallest crack of his composure. "Once Didyme returns, we intend to share our meal with one another."
"For what purpose?" Caius questioned with heightened hostility. "We share our meals together, you know that."
"Yes, I am aware, but..." he turned his entire body around to face his two brothers directly. "Tonight, is a special occasion. It is the anniversary of the first night we shared together as mates in this life."
Caius and Aro exchanged a look of understanding, and the former nodded his head once before leaving his brothers in the empty hall. Tucking his hands behind his back, Aro took tentative steps towards Marcus; a softened expression now masking his face.
"I'm afraid you must forgive us," he began after a slight pause. "Afterall, you are the only couple within our guard to celebrate such... human affairs."
"It may seem strange to you," Marcus proclaimed, the pair now walking together down the corridor. "But Didyme and I enjoy indulging our humanity now and then."
A slight chuckle escaped Aro, though he shook his head in response. "I am not surprised at my sister's desire to romanticize something as ordinary as an anniversary. It does however surprise me that you would wish to do so. You were never one to commemorate such a frivolous occasion."
"Frivolous?" He repeated in an almost offended tone. "Nobody was as excited as you were at our decision to mate."
As quickly as he had left them, Caius returned at their sides with a small Mahogony chest in his grip. "Indeed, Aro's excitement has not waned on this, your 200th year with Didyme." A wicked grin flashed across his face as he outstretched his arms to present the box to Aro.
Taking the box from his hands, Aro stopped mid-stride to turn and face Marcus with a soft smile resting on his lips. "Surely, you did not think me forgetful of my sister's eternal happiness?" He asked, though Marcus remained perplexed at the scenario he found himself in with his immortal brothers.
"I see your views of our frivolous celebrations have altered..." he noted, his gaze drifting to settle on the smooth chest before him. "What is this?"
"A gift," Aro answered, soon following his words with a slight chuckle. "Consider it a token of appreciation. Although our familial ties have been bound by blood, may these amulets serve as a constant reminder of your loyalties to our coven. It is my sincerest wish that the Volturi remain as strong as your love for my dear sister."
The wooden box felt heavy in Marcus' hands, and he carefully raised the lid to reveal two identical golden necklaces with large pendants that had been formed in the shape of the letter 'V.' At the center, surrounded by ornate decoration, was a large, shimmering red jewel. The ruby twinkled under the light of the castle's candles, but the gift did not strike Marcus as a thoughtful gesture.
As his eyes locked on the two rubies that mimicked his own gaze, he sensed something sinister behind the objects looking up at him where they lay on the bed of soft velvet lining the box.
Marcus stood and looked up at the portrait once more, his pale hand reaching out to allow his fingertips to hover over the pendant depicted in the painting. Hanging around her neck, the gold of the painted necklace stood out among the other hues – a painful reminder of its addition years after Didyme's death.
Aro had arranged it despite Marcus' protest. She never could wear it, Aro had explained. I thought it fitting to give her the opportunity.
Yanking his hand from the portrait, it soon found its way to rest atop his own pendant that felt heavy as iron chains around his neck.
Marcus' fingers danced across the pair of pendants before closing the box to hide them from his sight. "A truly thoughtful gift, Aro. Caius." He gestured to each of them in a halfhearted bow of his head, soon adding, "Didyme will be pleased."
"She most certainly will," Aro agreed, his mouth curling downward into a deep frown. "Speaking of Didyme, should she not be back with dinner by now?"
Caius mirrored Aro's expression only to turn to Marcus with a raised brow. "Perhaps she is out retrieving a special surprise for you as well?"
Shaking his head, Marcus began to look around himself as though his partner may appear at any moment. "I doubt that. We had discussed our evening plans before she left."
"I'm sure she has simply been held up," Aro mused. "Didyme is not one for breaking plans."
Commotion stirred from behind the three and it wasn't long before a wall of black bodies sped passed them at lightning speed. "Where do you suppose they're going?" Caius asked, but the answer had become clear to Marcus at the intense, shooting pain that was emanating from beneath his ribs.
"Didyme!" He shouted, her name a mere echo in his wake as he disappeared within a blink of an eye.
Breathing a heavy sigh, Marcus turned on his heel to make way towards the locked door of his chambers. With a flick of his wrist, he reached out to remove the stop holding his door in place, though it was merely a formality. Such an ordinary device held no protection from anyone seeking entry to the room.
Marcus turned to look at the long oil lamp which stood beside him in the entryway. Leaning over, he pushed out a steady stream of air that returned darkness to the room, now void of any light.
The trees did little to mask the wild flames that illuminated an otherwise peaceful night. Dancing towards the sky, I watched the orange hues bleed until they evaporated in a blurry mist of smoke above. My hand still held on tightly to the wooden chest my brother's had given me, my legs moving faster with each step in a hurry to reach the fire's source.
The harder I pushed myself, the throbbing in my chest refused to ease up. If I were indeed approaching Didyme, the pain I felt would be relinquished.
Yet, it did not falter.
One by one, my feet slowed to human's jogging pace. Heat from the enormous fire should have deterred me from moving closer, but the glimmer of a red stone atop a golden band swallowed by the flames sucked me in.
As though my legs had been ripped from their joints, I collapsed to the ground. My eyes searched the fire for her form, any trace left of my beloved's supreme beauty, but alas – all that remained was the wedding band she had worn for two centuries to the day.
To the day.
Our anniversary day.
A day now cloaked in flames; our love forever reduced to a pile of luminescent silver ashes.
A single pair of footsteps sang through the empty corridor as Marcus made his way to the dining hall. Screams muffled by the thick stone walls told him that he was late and would have slim pickings of what guests Heidi had brought from her most recent hunting trip.
But the blood that pulsed in their veins meant nothing to Marcus.
Their blood was simply another meal that, no matter how much he consumed, would bring no comfort to the everlasting ache in his chest.
Watching her burn, I wanted nothing more than to be by her side in the flames. Like the wick of a candle, the tie between us unraveled to dust and I struggled to find the will to rise from my knees. "Didyme..." I called out, a shaking hand outstretching toward the fire, "My sweet, Didyme... what have they done to you?"
The members of the guard who had led me here turned my way, but I did not care to see the faces that stared back at me.
"There is no life for me elsewhere," I mumbled, her words leaving my lips as they had her own mere hours ago, "...unless it is with you." In an instant, I rose to my feet prepared to lunge forward into the sea of flames – but I was quickly pulled back by the grip of two forceful guards.
"NO!" I shouted in a frenzy, my body pushing against whoever was keeping me from our fiery reunion. "I wish to die! Let me burn by her side or I will see you all PERISH from a fate worse than Hell itself!"
"Master!" a voice I recognized as Felix shouted louder than my protests. "Master, we cannot allow you such a mercy. Aro would not stand for it."
"But he will stand for the murder of his only sister?!" I exclaimed, shaking his grip from my arm. Upon his release, I faced him directly and shot him a glare that burned brighter than a thousand suns. "He ordered this, didn't?"
No one dared respond to my accusation. Filled with a rage I had never known; I addressed their silence as loudly as I could manage. "DIDN'T HE?!"
"Please, Master Marcus," Another voice, our lead tracker Archer I presumed, begged to me. "We arrived only moments before you. The deed had already been done."
"Lies..." I managed, my tone turning into a fierce growl. "LIES!" Huffing air my lungs no longer needed, I continued to shout at the cloaked figures of our Volturi guard. "We were to LEAVE! Didyme and I were to break ourselves from you all, but now I am TRAPPED! You have destroyed her and taken me as Aro's hostage!"
"Brother," Aro's voice cooed from the shadow of the trees where he emerged with Caius and Chelsea nearby. "What has happened here?" His eyes darted around at the swarm of immortals surrounding Didyme's fiery grave. "Where is Didyme?"
"Do not act as if you don't know," I spat back in response though his expression remained unchanged. "How could you do this? To your own sister! Your sister by birth of your mother's loins?!"
"I know not of what you speak, Marcus," He replied blankly. "What has happened?"
"It's Didyme, my lord," Archer explained, dipping his head in a prolonged bow. "It appears she was ambushed by an unknown attacker. Perhaps a nearby coven."
"The Romanians?" Felix offered, though his suggestion was met with a limp shrug by the rest of the guard.
Carefully, I walked to meet Aro at the center of the field, Chelsea and Caius remaining behind to allow the two of us a moment of perceived privacy.
"Aro," I asked, my eyes searching his for the answer he dared not speak. "Tell me... Please, brother. Are you behind this? Was it your command that has been carried out on this night?"
Like a bandage blanketing a deep and gushing wound, the pain in my chest weakened ever so slightly. As Aro replied, I could feel my loyalties knot twice around the man I suspected to be Didyme's murderer. Despite this deep seeded belief within me, I was unable to follow through with the impulsive decision I was desperate to make.
I wanted to tear this man, this man I once called 'brother,' limb from limb. I wanted to throw each piece of his body into a fire twice as large as the one my beloved had perished in. Every bone within my body urged me to fight, to claw my way through every member of the guard I'd helped carefully assemble.
But that feeling... that tightness in my gut held me firmly in place. A silent prisoner to a bond that I could not break. As Aro spoke, my eyes shifted to Chelsea who's deep red eyes held my gaze firmly from the shadows.
"I am as stunned by this tragedy as you are, Marcus." Wrapping a cold arm firmly around my shoulders, I allowed my body to give way and be pulled towards the castle by a man I now knew was truly a monster. "Come now. Our dinner awaits."
"Ahh, Marcus!" Aro greeted as a sullen figure entered the room consumed by shrieks of terror. "What a joy it is you've chosen to join us."
"You were not expected," Caius continued. "We know that this day is particularly difficult for you."
Aro nodded with mock sympathy and reached out to place a hand on Marcus' shoulders. Quickly, he used the opportunity to peek inside his mind to ensure that Chelsea still had a tight grip on the broken man's loyalties. Noting their usual strength from her expert relationship manipulation skills, Aro resumed false sadness for the death he had orchestrated for his sister so many lifetimes ago.
"Alas, the loss of Didyme continues to plague my mind, even to this day," he declared; his arm dropping to rest in its proper position at his side. "I often wonder if her tragic murder could not have been prevented somehow. Had it not been for the Romanians - "
"Let us not think on it, Aro." Marcus' words sent a shockwave through the Volturi leader's body. "It is clear that she was but an inevitable loss."
Glancing to Aro for approval, Caius spoke up. "Devastating as it were, her death has strengthened us to become the most powerful coven in the immortal world. Didyme was a true martyr for our cause."
Caius' declaration ignited flames of fury to shoot through Marcus' system but as quickly as they flared up, the tension was subdued by a familiar cool sensation radiating from his gut.
Knowingly, his eyes shifted over to Chelsea who stood watchful with a limp body draping her arms. Even centuries later, Marcus was still a prisoner under her constant supervision.
Despite her master's orders to keep Marcus' loyalties bound to the Volturi, Chelsea's efforts had only ever been able to subdue his desires to leave. With practice, she had learned how to cloud his mind with ambivalence, an effective trap that promised to keep him under Aro's control safe at the castle for eons to come.
Sighing at his sudden loss of emotion, one he knew who was responsible for inducing, Marcus glanced down at the ruby red gold ring that donned his pinky finger.
"Master Marcus," Archer called from the doorway of his chambers. "Sorry to disturb you, but - "
Without looking over my shoulder to see him, I shook my head. "I am in no mood for visitors tonight.
Ignoring instruction, he proceeded inside the room and gently shut the door behind him. "Yes, but I have something for you."
"What could possibly be left to desire, Archer?" I argued, my tone vile and filled with hatred. "My mate has been murdered. Everything that was once hers has been reduced to a pile of ash now blowing in the wind."
"Perhaps..." he murmured before walking into my line of vision, "perhaps not quite everything, my lord."
With that, he outstretched his arm to reveal the very ring I had seen deep within the flames. Reaching out, I took it from his grip and held the band between my two fingers.
"I acquired this ring from a man on the outskirts of Volterra." My mouth spoke the words without hesitation, the story clear in my mind as the day in which it happened. "Didyme had seen him bartering his wife's things after she had died from a devastating sickness which devoured his family."
Archer watched me intently though my eyes remained fixed on the ring that once graced Didyme's nimble finger. "Ever the empath, she could not help but feel for the man who had been left with nothing but objects to remind him of the life he once had - the happiness he once had but could never feel again. 'Marcus,' she told me after we walked away, 'we have no need for our fine jewels or other trinkets. Perhaps we could give them to that man to sell.'"
"Didyme was always concerned with the peasants we encountered," Archer commented, and I nodded my head with a sad smile.
"She felt for them because, unlike Aro, she remembered a time when she was one of them. When her family struggled to live after the death of their father." Letting out a sigh, I continued with my story. "Later that night, I went out to find the man where we'd found him. I'd brought with me some finery that would not be missed and a large bag of food I had stolen from a nearby village market. The man was so thrilled, desperate to thank me for my kindness."
"And he gave you the ring as payment?"
"Yes," I replied, the memory fading from my mind. "It had been his mother's which his wife had worn until her death. He instructed me to give it to the woman I was with as a token of appreciation. 'Use it,' he told me, 'as a reminder of eternal love. A ruby that will outshine even death itself.'"
Archer remained quiet for a beat before speaking again. "I am truly sorry for your loss, Marcus. We never intended... I mean..."
"I know what it is you mean to say, Archer. I am aware of how our kind operate and the duress of which this coven is under." In one swift motion, I slid the ring onto my pinky the way I had done so for Didyme lifetimes ago. "I do not pretend to understand, however, how the loss of a woman like Didyme is worth all the power in the world."
"A martyr, a saint, an unforeseen tragedy," Marcus said as Caius and Aro exchanged a look of confusion. "All words that, to me, mean the same thing in this case."
Turning back to face him, Caius carefully asked, "And what, pray tell, is that?"
Looking up from the ring, Marcus locked eyes with Aro as he answered Caius' question. "A sacrifice."
Leaving the two immortal men behind, Marcus walked forward to join the remainder of the guard as they finished their lively feast. Unmoved by his brother's passive accusation, Aro looked to Chelsea who merely shrugged and returned to her meal.
After millennia since her death, Aro knew that even Chelsea's powers were not strong enough to manipulate the dangling string of desire which remained tying Marcus and Didyme together. Her absence and Aro's supposed 'sacrifice' had cursed him to an existence forever unbound. Their relationship one that could never be replicated in this or any other immortal life.
Theirs was a perfect knot never to be untangled by even the most gifted of vampires.
Afterall, the love between Marcus and Didyme had been a tie forged by the truest of loves.
I have always wanted to write a oneshot regarding the tragic backstory of Marcus and Didyme. SMeyer is such a dupe to give awesome backstories to characters and then never do anything with them, rather focusing her attention on Mr. and Mrs. Vanilla-flavored Cullen.
Probably a good thing though, right? Us fans do a much better job writing her characters anyway. Read, enjoy, and don't forget to leave me a comment of what you thought!