Victorya glared at her cousin, who continued to devour his food as if Eliza had not just full on bolted out of the room. "You know, my mom always said not to make Eliza anxious. Those were her exact words, 'Tory, don't make your sister anxious,' as if breathing did that. What fault of it is mine that she's as skittish as a cat in a bathtub?" She crosses her arms and sighs dramatically, noting that Jake is unmoved, scraping the crumbs into a mountain on his plate in order to scoop them into his mouth. He was used to sibling rivalry, having two elder sisters himself. "I mean, one time, she was freaking out because I was being too loud by drawing. Like, how noisy is a pen scratching a piece of paper?"
"It's called sensory overload, you've never heard of it?" Tory looks about ready to stab Edward with her fork when he waltzed into the room, Bella and Renesmee following. The younger woman, though technically a few years old, had the same teenage look to her, an eternal youthful aura. "It happens to newborns all the time, trying to adjust to their heightened senses."
Jake quickly stood from his seat and half prodded Nessie to take his spot as he moved to grab her a small plate of food, Tory thought it was the strangest thing that the girl ate human food and drank animal blood. Nessie ate her steak so rare, Tory thought it might moo at her; hybrids were weird. The girl smiled at Jake, lighting up the room as he placed a plate before her.
Bella sat down on the other end of the table, watching those around her. Tory kept her hands spooning a mug of coffee as Jake looked after his imprint. She sighed into the ceramic, "So do you think Sam is going to lose his shit more than my mom will about all this?"
Jake looked up in surprise, "They don't know?" As if on cue, Tory's phone chirped as a call came in. 'Mama Mia! Here I go again, my, my how could I resist you?' The phone sang, confirming who the caller was, Tory shook her head.
"Speak of the Devil and the Devil will appear." Tory muttered, pulling the device to her ear. "Hi mom!" Her voice was dripping with fake cheer as she answered.
Everyone stilled, straining their ears to pick up the barking voice of Bayak Black, "Victorya Jane! So you're alive, but can't call your mother to tell her that?" Edward grinned at Tory, she glared at him in return.
"I'm sorry, mom, things have been crazy lately. Europe is super pretty…?" Her voice trails off as she grasps at straws, looking for an excuse. "And jetlag is a bitch."
"So jet lag is the reason for the radio silence?" Bayak does not seemed convinced, Tory imagines her standing in the livingroom, hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. "Even Seth has been asking after you! Your own imprint!" Tory bows her head slightly in shame, her face reddening.
"Mom, look I-" Tory is interrupted by the dramatic huff on the other end of the phone, she grits her teeth.
"Victorya." Her name is a warning, laced with dread. "Is your sister alright?" There's worry etched into Bayak's tone, but all Tory feels is anger, a hint of jealousy.
"She's fine, do you want to talk to her? Is that why you called me, because she didn't answer?" Tory accuses, pacing the length of the kitchen with the phone pressed snugly against her ear. She can picture the vein on her mother's forehead pulsating with anger. "Because I would be happy to hunt her down for you and let you scream at her instead!"
"Hunt her down?" The inclination that Tory was the one to lose her sister sent the girl reeling, she bit her tongue, allowing her mom to seethe for a moment. "You don't know where she is, Tory, she's fragile right now."
Tory wanted to laugh, to explain that Eliza was nowhere near as glass-like as she had been in the States, when she was reeling from a sudden death. If anything, the smoldering embers had been relit in the elder sister, she was bright and alive again, though Tory loathed to admit it was a response to the mating bond. "Eliza is just fine, she's a big girl. In fact, I'd say she's great. Just last night, she flirted with a guy, and not just because I dared her to! You should have seen her, mom, she tried singing Hamilton last night, when was the last time you heard her singing?" Lies lace her words, though she sprinkles in the truth. There is hope there, interlaced with a falseness that reflects her reluctance to admit the source of such a positive outcome. How does one tell their mother that their sibling is involved with three vampires?
"Really? And was that just because you were both drunker than skunks?" Bayak asks, causing both Tory and Jake to burst out in laughter. Only Bayak used the phrase 'drunk as a skunk' and even then no one knew where it came from. There is a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, pieces falling into place. "Is Jake with you?"
Tory smacks her cousin on the shoulder, glaring at him. "Whaaaaat? That's crazy, mom, why would Jake be here?" She tries to play it off, though judging by the sheepish look on Jacob's face, it won't work.
"Because Billy mentioned he was in Europe currently, though unsure as to where...though he knew Jake was with them." Even after Jake had imprinted, Bayak still kept her hackles raised when it came to the Cullens. She had met Nessie, said she was a lovely girl with the misfortune of poor breeding, as if Bayak were descended from royalty herself. The vampires in the room tense, Bella and Edward exchanging a glance as the feedback on the receiver hums.
Tory scrambles for a second, grasping at straws for an excuse when the door swings open again to reveal Marcus, his face grim. Utilizing the distraction, Jake frisks the phone from Tory's grasp and grins into the receiver. "Auntie Bayak!" He only adds the 'ie' when he knows he needs to curry favor, which works almost every time as Bayak is soft on the wolves. "Tor was just trying to cover for me, you know how my dad is about me bouncing around from place to place without keeping him in the loop."
Jake is a much better liar than Tory, a fact made obvious when Bayak chuckles into the phone. "Keeping my girls in line then? I'll keep an eye on Seth for you if you are." She teases, a smile in her voice. "God knows he needs someone making sure he remembers to do something other than phase and eat." The Clearwater siblings spent more time as wolves than anyone else, save maybe Jacob, especially after the death of their father. It took a toll on them both, Seth commenting once that he feels his father is with him when he shifts into a wolf.
"Well, I appreciate you taking care of the kid for Tory and I. I'm sure Liza does as well." Jake tells his aunt, watching Tory attempt to pantomime what he should say, though he ignores her flailing limbs and fast-mouthing lips. "And how is Uncle Peter, did he head out with Charlie and my dad for the trip?"
"It's just your father and uncle this trip." There's a smile in Bayak's voice, making Jake's face morph into an expression that catches Tory's eye.
"Oh my god, Charlie finally asked Sue out!" Tory blurted. The two had danced around one another after Harry's death, kindred and comforting more so than romantic. Nessie shared her smile, though the hybrid was the only one paying attention to her, as Edward and Bella were conversing with Marcus in quick whispers.
"Shouldn't someone go looking for Elizabeth?" Nessie whispered to Tory, who in turn glared at Marcus.
"I think someone already has. Knowing my sister she took a long walk to clear her head." Tory replied, 'though hopefully not a long walk off a short pier' her thoughts completed.
Marcus is at her side the moment the words leave her mouth, eyes scrutinizing Tory's every move. He moves to gently grasp her arm to move her away from earshot of the phone's receiver, but she jumps back, refusing to allow him to touch her. There is a hooded look about him that has Tory scrutinizing him, a panic itching to be released behind the mask he has slipped in place. Her mind recalls the day before, how he looked at Eliza when he caught her as Alec's smoke overwhelmed the humans, the worried panic, the need to protect his mate. "Where is my sister?" She hisses, poking his chest with her finger. Jake looks horrified, watching Tory—who stood at all but five-foot-three, an inch shorter than her already vertically challenged sister—go against a Volturi king, it was like watching a pomeranian nip at the heels of a doberman.
Marcus says nothing, just looks at Edward who had been digging into the elder's thoughts. Edward frowns, "Jasper should go to her, he can sense and alter emotions." He speaks softly, making sure neither Jake or Bayak on the phone can hear him. When Tory looks ready to bark at him, Edward continues, "She had a panic attack. Milder than the one in the hospital." Edward had read Elizabeth's thoughts throughout her stay at the hospital, seeking to glean more information from the accident, though he had only seen just how shook up she was by the events.
Marcus looks surprised, though Tory only curses. "Fuck." She murmurs, raking a hand through her hair. Her mother's words mock her mind, 'don't make your sister anxious, Victorya.' Elizabeth had had panic attacks as a child, something Tory had taken advantage of when she was younger. She hated being known as Eliza's younger sister, instead of just Tory, so for a few years growing up she had gone out of her way to trigger her sister, though she had not done so in a great, long while. When she was young, she was quick to justify her actions, though after witnessing a particularly nasty panic attack, she had vowed to herself that she would protect Eliza from the world outside of the Reservation, because those were the only people whose opinions mattered, those of the tribe. Which was why she struggled so much, standing before Marcus, watching this vampire fret over his human mate, one that did not belong to him.
"Of course, Auntie, yes...yes…" Jake works his way towards being able to hang up the phone, "Yes, I love you too...yes, I'll tell Nessie you said hello...uh-huh, bye Aunt Bayak." Jake sighs dramatically before crossing the room and handing Tory back her phone.
She slides the cell into her pocket before turning back to Marcus, "Where is she? Did she ground herself?" The questions were shot off at quickfire pace, Tory already moving towards the door as if expecting him to lead her to her sister.
"Ground herself?" Marcus asks, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "My brother is with her now, Alec used his gift on her, she has yet to awaken once more." Aro was a mix of worry and curiosity, eager to hold his mate and delve into her mind, bouncing theories of what her dreams could mean to Caius and Marcus when ever one arose.
Edward, ever intrusive, pulls himself from focusing on the king's thoughts to ask, "She dreams even under the influence of Alec's fog?" Both Bella and Jake still at that, sharing a look Tory does not like. She searches her mind, remembering how one moment she was staring at Marcus as he dove for Eliza to being on top of a bed, hours later. There was no sharp sensation of pain, no bump on the back of her skull, it was like….
"Like your mind is being put on pause." Edward speaks her thought aloud, Tory wants to smack him for getting into her head, it makes her feel too exposed. "So how does she dream?"
"Because, maybe it's not a dream?" Nessie asks, pursing her lips. "Tor, do you remember that story your mom would tell the children, about the raven?" The girl visited the Reservation with Jacob, the sole exception to the no Cold Ones rule, she loved playing with the children during the last holiday she had been present, listening to the stories Bayak would weave.
"The Raven and the Time King?" Tory asks, confused for a moment before understanding dawns on her face. "The story of the girl who flew from dream to dream."
"The Raven and the King of Time?" Marcus echoes, correcting the title of the story. His face darkens to match Tory's, who glared at him, wondering how he knew of a tale their grandmother had told their mother, who told them in turn. It was tradition, the women were the weavers: of cloth, of family, of legacy and stories. But Marcus needs to know the tale, Athenodora was far too intrigued by it, Eliza too defensive of it.
"I'll tell you the story, on one condition." Tory replies testily, "If Eliza ever states that she wants to go home, that she wants to go the reservation, you'll let her go, you'll make no attempt to stop or prevent her."
"Deal." Marcus responds easily, though Bella is the only one phased by it. She knows what it is like to spurn a mating bond, the numbness and loss that echoes and rattles through the soul. Bella worries for Eliza in that moment, thinking of her surrounded by family but feeling alone. She prays Eliza never enacts this agreement.
"Alright," Tory sighs, going back to sit at the table, "There once was a girl, with hair as black as a bird's feathers, so her mother named her Raven…"
A/N: Next chapter is going to be a bit different, it'll be the tale of the Raven and the King of Time (bonus points if you can guess who this is an allegory for).