AN: Praise the gods, my lovely Doccoopper is back so I can stop stressing about my shoddy formatting abilities :)
So, erm, Mommy and Daddy are home and Aro is still on self destruct...
UNRAVELLING
Atia and Basileus arrived back in Volterra in the dead of night. They slipped into the castle unnoticed and after days of travel through early spring rain they decided to lock the doors to their chambers and hide away from Volturi life for a few more hours. They had missed Eleazar and Carlisle returning to the tower shortly after they did, and they missed Aro not returning home at all.
When they emerged the next day, Basileus sought out Marcus to deliver the rare manuscripts he had collected on the educator's behalf and, though he had promised Atia that he would only drop in the manuscripts, he ended up staying and talking over the rare finds until mid-afternoon … as Atia knew he would.
In that time, the twins had paid a visit to Atia and complained about their parents arguing, both concerned for their mother who was becoming detached and Aro whose temper lived on a knife's edge.
Atia spoke briefly to Sulpicia about the young ones' worries, receiving only a terse reply from her daughter-in-law as Sulpicia dismissed the twin's complaint.
Atia wasn't stupid, she could see something was going on - it was a very different atmosphere they had returned to and she was going to get to the bottom of it … even if Basileus was still off duty.
…
Aro staggered up the tower stairwell, scraping his shoulder all the way up the wall of the winding stairs until he arrived outside his own door and realised he had worn a hole in his coat with the pressure he'd exerted on the stonework. He looked a state, but he made no attempt to cover his bedraggled clothes - he hadn't for any other night that month either.
Sulpicia rolled her eyes at the state of her mate as he fell through their door and crawled to the sofa on his hands and knees. She was glad their children were out, though they had seen him that way far too frequently already.
"Your parents are home. Basileus will want to see you, so you should wash and change," she stated without emotion.
"Why?" Aro asked with a shrug. He wasn't ready to face his father.
"He will want to see you because he's your dad, Aro. He hasn't seen you for a month. And you should change because you look like you have just walked off a battle field."
Aro scoffed to himself, it was easier than replying properly.
"I had an interesting conversation with your mother," Sulpicia continued.
"About?" Aro grunted.
"She thinks we are arguing too much in front of the twins."
That got Aro's back up. "And, where would she get that idea?" he sneered.
"One would imagine, the twins!" Obviously, she thought.
Aro sighed. "Do you want me to talk to them?"
"Yes! Obviously," Sulpicia said flatly. "Though I have no idea where they are now."
"You should know where your own children are," Aro said patronisingly. "Aren't they supposed to guard you?"
Sulpicia chuckled to herself - it had been a good few years since the twins guarded her. They have much freer lives now, and long may that continue, she thought. "We both know they do no such thing."
"I can stop paying them then," Aro clapped his hands together. The exhaustion from the dungeon blood was wearing off and he could feel his bodily control coming back.
"You give them pocket money, Aro, you can't pretend to me that you pay them - I run the finances, remember."
Aro burst out laughing, and went to his bedchamber, collecting some clothes. "You run the finances?" he scoffed, passing through the living chamber on his way to the bathroom. "You hand out the pay packets, sweetheart," he called over his shoulder before closing the door.
"Oh, is that all?" Sulpicia said to herself, feeling most put out.
Aro returned only moments later looking much fresher and dumped his outfit from the night before in a pile by the door. A guard would dispose of them when they collected the household laundry the next morning.
"You have hardly been around whilst your parents were away, I have been running everything!"
Aro turned his eyes to the heavens. "I was here yesterday evening!" he snapped.
"For an hour - you yelled at us all and left!" Sulpicia returned her mate's frosty tone.
"Didn't this conversation start with you wanting me to yell at the twins?"
"I don't want you to yell at them, we need to talk with them," Sulpicia explained, adding, "you could talk to your sons whilst you are at it."
Aro stalked around his chambers like a caged tiger. "What is your complaint with them?" he asked, coming to a halt in front of his mate.
"My complaint," Sulpicia replied in a tone most reminiscent of Aro's mother, "is that they are staying out later and later and their attitude towards me is deplorable … not that you would know as you have hardly been here."
"Maybe they are trying to avoid the nagging," Aro half shouted in reply.
Sulpicia got to her feet and matched Aro's aggressive stance. It was then that she noticed how fucked he looked. "What's wrong with you?" she questioned. Your eyes are black and bloodshot."
There was a hint of caring in her voice that Aro hadn't heard for a year, at least. They had become so distant. Rather, Sulpicia had distanced herself from her mate because she knew, deep down hidden inside her, that her mate was up to his old tricks.
"Don't be ridiculous," Aro dismissed her worries, pushing her away and creating some space between them.
"Aro what's going on?" she pushed, ready for a row.
Before Aro had to answer, Felix and Demetri trudged through the door.
"You two, get over here!" Aro demanded, pointing to the spot on the floor in front of him. "Where have you been?" he asked forcefully.
Felix simply stared his father out, refusing to answer.
"Nowhere. Just around the castle," Demetri replied, looking to his mother for help.
"Well you're staying here for the rest of the day," Ark told them harshly.
"Why?!" Felix questioned. He hadn't done anything wrong.
"I don't have to give you a reason," Aro said, talking down to his headstrong son.
Sulpicia attempted to help her boys. "Aro, you are being unreasonable," she told him, her concern for her mate's state of mind growing by the minute.
Aro looked back to her over his shoulder. "You wanted me to give them a talking to, I'm doing it!" he said moodily.
Whilst their parents conducted another argument over who was right and who was wrong, Demetri turned to his brother. "What's his problem?" he asked.
"He's on dungeon blood," Felix whispered, pushing Demetri behind him slightly.
Aro spun around on his heel "What did you just say?" he asked, daring his boy to say it to his face.
"Nothing," Felix grunted in reply.
Aro started poking his boy in his forehead, goading him. "Come on, Felix," he pushed, giving him a couple of sharp slaps to his cheek.
"For god sake!" Felix exclaimed, pushing his father away.
"You think the gods can protect you from me?" Aro continued to goad the boy. He could hear Sulpicia calling for him to stop but he couldn't have cared less for her opinion right then.
"You wanna know where I've been? With Ashanti," Felix said with a sly smile.
Aro paled for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. "What are you doing with Ashanti, boy?" he asked with heavy emphasis on the 'boy'.
"Nothing, she didn't want to do anything with me," Felix replied. "Any guesses why, Dad?" he asked with his hand extended so Aro could read his memories.
Aro zoned in on the altercation between his bedfellow and his son: 'I can't have sex with you, Felix. I've gone up in the world.' Aro heard Ashanti say. 'I'm a prince of Volterra, Ashanti', Felix replied to the vixen, believing that could be as up in the world as Ashanti could get. 'Yes,' Ashanti agreed, 'but your dad is the king.' It was clear from his boy's thoughts that Felix knew Aro was fucking Ashanti.
FUCK! Aro roared inside his mind. Keeping a tight hold on his son's hand, he dragged the boy along behind him until they were safely inside Felix and Demetri's bedchamber where he could discuss the matter more privately.
"You were about to tell Sulpicia about Ashanti, weren't you!" he accused in a hateful whisper as soon as the door was closed.
"What if I was?" Felix shrugged. Truthfully, he would never have wanted to hurt Sully with such information, but he was so pissed off that his mother was standing by and watching as Aro became increasingly more explosive in their home. She hadn't even tried to moderate Aro's behaviour in Felix's view, so she was letting him and his siblings down just like their father was.
"I told you to keep your mouth shut," Aro growled.
Felix returned said growl.
"Are you trying to stand up to me, boy?" Aro asked with his tinkling laughter filling the room, the very idea laughable to him. "You never win, have you learned nothing in all your years here?"
Aro slapped his boy again.
Felix wasn't going to stand for much more before he planted his fist into his father's face. "Fuck you, Aro," he said. It wasn't bravery, it was serious anger, betrayal, and exhaustion over the sordid mess that was his father.
Aro stood back and cupped his chin, pretending to consider Felix as a real contender. "Oh, so you are going for a battle of wills, huh? Ready to play with the big boys again, son? I'm sure I can round up the masters to give you another hiding if that's what you want?" Aro reminded Felix of his humiliation after the covens had left from the treaty arrangement. He failed to have the desired effect on his son, however, as Felix thought it a great idea.
"Yeah, take me to Basileus, I have plenty to tell him."
Aro saw red and launched for his son. Forcing the boy down onto his bed, he wrapped both hands around Felix's throat. "You will tell him nothing, do you hear me? Nothing!" Aro roared into his son's ear.
For all his partying, drink and drugs, Aro was weak and Felix simply removed his father's hands and managed to push them both back up to standing positon. Once he was on his feet, he shoved Aro away.
"You reek of dungeon blood."
Aro looked down to Felix's hand on his chest. "You know what you reek of? Stupidity!" he shot back.
Felix didn't remove his hand. He needed to keep his father at a safe distance.
"Feeling brave, are we?" Aro asked slyly. "You think you will get away with going against me?"
Felix puffed up his chest. He wasn't backing down, he knew he was in the right this time.
"What are you going to do about it, Aro?" he asked. "Look at you, you're wrecked!"
Aro flashed around his son's block and cuffed the back of his head.
"Stop it," Felix ground out, but he remained steadfast.
Aro slapped his head again, much harder that time.
"Dad, stop," he warned dangerously. "If you hit me again I'll hit you back."
Aro smirked. "You wouldn't dare!" he said, running his teeth over his fangs.
Aro felt agitated, and so angry. He wasn't sure if it was Felix he was angry at and he didn't give the premise enough head space to consider if he was being unfair on his son - he pushed on berating his boy and took to pacing around the bedroom.
"You live under my roof, you brat. You will do as I tell you," he told him sternly. "Go against me if you want, Basileus will beat me, sure he will. But what will happen to you after that, do you think?"
Felix looked confused. He wasn't worried about what would happen to him, he assumed the rest of his family would support him. But would Basileus support me over Aro? He wondered.
"Where will you live?" Aro asked, continuing to goad the boy.
It wasn't working too well, Felix had had enough of Aro's games. "Throw me out - I'd leave if I thought I could trust you around my mom."
Aro laughed again. "I'll throw you in the gutter, boy!" he said threateningly.
Felix folded his arms across his chest. "Do you really think mom would let you do that?" he asked.
"I don't see her protecting you now, do you?" Aro said spitefully.
Felix felt his stomach knot into a ball. No, his mother wasn't there defending him and she hadn't been for the months and months now when Aro had aggressively punished him.
"What makes you think I give a fuck what she would say?" Aro asked, arms extending wide and doing a good impression of a dangerous lunatic … which wasn't far from the truth.
"You are scum," Felix roared. He felt powerless and tears pricked at his eyes - they were born of utter frustration.
"Come on, then," Aro called out, ready for a fight.
Felix hesitated, and stalled.
"I knew you didn't have it in you," Aro sneered, seemingly disappointed in not being able to take out his own child. "You will stay in this room and you will keep your mouth shut until I give you permission to do otherwise," Aro said, hanging in the doorway.
Felix looked Aro square in the eye and called him a cunt to his face.
Aro didn't react, he didn't care enough to react. Realising that hurt Felix the most of all.
Aro stalked through his chamber and was halfway out the door as he called to his mate that he had work to do. Sulpicia tried to stop him leaving, but he shook her off so hard that his wife ended up in a heap on the floor.
Aro looked down to Sulpicia, crying on the floor. "Atia's right, we are arguing too much."
…
Aro pounded on Caius' chamber door.
"No," Caius said, sounding tired.
Aro hadn't made any request but they booth knew why he was there … more dungeon blood.
"Caius … " Aro started.
"No, Aro. You are on your own, brother." Caius tried to push his co-master clear of the door but Aro wouldn't budge.
"Aro?" Atia's voice floated through from behind Caius and soon enough, there she was in the flesh.
"You're here!" Aro exclaimed, clearly in shock.
Atia wrapped her boy in her arms but Aro only held the embrace for a second or two, which was most unlike him.
"Are you okay?" Atia asked, having failed to retrieve any information through their brief contact. "You don't look yourself."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Aro insisted before excusing himself and leaving Caius' door.
Atia watched her boy fleeing her presence. Hmm, she thought, you really are on a path of self-destruction.
"Caius, could you go with him, please."
Caius sighed, but he knew his nightmare was nearly over. "Of course, my lady."