Twilight Fan fiction
Transitionals
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Twilight. I have used some sentences directly from the book, I don't own them. They were originally and forever owned by Stephenie Meyer.
I am so sorry for how long it has been for an update, and I'm so thankful for all of your patience with having to wait. Thank you so much.
As a side note, it is time to learn what was going on in the Cullens' house while Bella was unconscious for a day. There's a lot of information going into this chapter so I'm going to split the chapter in two like I did with Chapter 8.
I hope you all like this chapter, which is dedicated to everyone who has favorited this story.
Chapter 15 Part A
Esme's POV
Tension was high in our home, and I honestly didn't know what to do.
Everyone was confused with what happened. From our understanding Bella's percentage, it should still be rising even though it hadn't in hours. Her energy which was stable was also confusing us. Bella was unconscious, laying on our couch, her energy definitely shouldn't be at a normal level.
We had tried calling Charlie a few hours ago, but he was out somewhere patrolling with one of his deputies. The woman I left my messages with promised to get them to Charlie as soon as she could.
If anyone would know what was wrong with Bella, it would be her dad.
"Anna you really shouldn't give your aunt anymore of your energy," Rose told Anna once again.
The little girl was passing off her energy to Bella trying to wake her. With what was going on though we weren't sure if it would be a good idea for her to have more energy. It certainly wasn't a good idea for Anna to keep giving away her own. She was starting to act more like a normal human toddler.
Carmen lifted Anna from where she was sitting on Edward's lap and held her in her arms. "Come little one, let's go sit on the other couch."
Anna laid her head on Carmen's shoulders, taking to our dear friend and cousin immediately. I was thrilled that Anna was comfortable around Carmen and Eleazar. We were going to have to find some way to explain that Tanya and her sisters were safe to be around.
Anna understood that their danger wasn't directed at any of us but she was still wary of them. Confused by the fact they gave off a dangerous sense while none of the rest of us did.
I turned my attention back to my youngest son. Poor Edward was still sitting on the floor beside the couch at Bella's head. He'd brush at her hair every once in a while and he hummed the lullaby he wrote for her.
My middle son was leaning against the wall. He felt responsible for all of this, no one else blamed him, though. Jasper would worry about this though and I couldn't do anything to stop him.
Alice was attempting to calm him, while Emmett was trying to get him to join him in a game on the play station.
I sighed and sat beside Carmen and Rose. The two of them playing with Bella's younger cousins.
Tanya and her sisters joined us, letting Anna get close to each of them. I was glad to see the little girl trying with them.
Carlisle and Eleazar were by the back windows discussing how they could train Bella's mental shield without her physical one reacting as well.
I didn't know what could possibly be done, so I stayed out of the speculations and theories.
"Oh finally," Alice gasped thankfully. "Charlie is on his way here," she told us.
I breathed a sigh of relief it would be so much easier to handle whatever was going on with Bella, with her dad to help explain.
Edward's POV
Carlisle was at the door before Charlie could knock. "Good evening Charlie."
"Evening," I heard Bella's dad say as he entered the house.
Bella was still unconscious, resting on our couch. I was trying to reign in my panic for Jasper's sake, but it was difficult. I didn't want my brother to be suffering because of me; he was already blaming himself for this.
I glanced up and watched the quick introduction Charlie started himself when he saw our company.
"Good evening," He nodded towards our cousins. "I'm Bella's dad, Charlie Swan."
Eleazar quickly introduced himself and the others to him, before explaining everything that had happened.
I listened to Charlie's thoughts, what I could hear. From the just of what I had heard, he had no clue what was going on.
I turned away from Bella to face him. "Nothing like this has ever happened before?"
Charlie glanced at Bella and sighed. "It sounds like a fantasy. Energy doesn't just stabilize, and a Transitionals' percentage doesn't just stop increasing."
He gestured to Bella. "Despite the fact I can't pinpoint exactly what caused her shields to react like that, I know for a fact her percentage should be increasing right now. Given the circumstances, her percentage should be rising very quickly."
"If that's the case then how is Bella supposed to ever use her shields together?" Kate asked. Her gaze went from Bella to her dad. "It makes no sense for her to have both of the shields if she can't use them together."
Charlie turned away from Kate, solely focusing on his daughter. "Bella's powers, are the first of its kind. There has never been an ultimate shield before, but all magic has some sort of limitation. This may just be Bella's."
He pulled a phone from his pocket. "Let me make some calls."
"Of course," Carlisle said immediately.
I turned back to Bella. My hand going to her face. I did what I could to block everyone's thoughts by focusing on Charlie's phone call.
Whoever answered the phone didn't say anything after answering. Charlie's response to the silence was just as curious.
"Lemon-fire."
I couldn't help myself, nor could any of the others. We all glanced at Charlie who was leaning against the back windows.
A quick glance at Anna showed she wasn't paying any attention to Charlie. She was content to play with Rose's hair.
"Evening," a voice over the phone finally spoke up.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Something happened with energy and percentage." Charlie definitely was acting strangely. I was used to being vague, sometimes needing to with the family, but this was different. Far more than I had ever gone to withhold information.
"I see that. I'll look into the matter but as of now I have no idea what is going on." The voice of the man over the phone was oddly gruff, heavily disguised.
Charlie grimaced but nodded to himself. "Alright, I would appreciate if you could keep an eye on this matter."
"Of course." The voice softened and smoothed out. "I'll see what I can do, and hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to come by for a little while. It's uncertain though when that time might be."
"I understand," Charlie told the man. With that, the phone connection went silent.
"No goodbye?" Tanya asked, her thoughts called the unknown man rude.
Charlie hung up his end of the call and put the phone back in his pocket. "I'm lucky he was able to answer. That was one of the longest conversations I've had with him over the phone."
Tanya glanced at her sisters, the three of them all couldn't believe that there had been shorter conversation than that one.
Charlie dialed someone else. I recognized Carlos' voice when he answered.
I went back to focusing on Bella, not wanting to hear anyone else say they didn't know what was wrong with my love. I ignored the fact I could hear Charlie explaining everything to Carlos.
I flinched when he got to the part of both her shields working. I could have lost Bella because of her shields. If Anna's powers hadn't have been able to work thanks to Bella's ring… I couldn't think of that. Anna's powers do work despite the ring, and because of that, we were able to get through to her.
Charlie sighed after hanging up the phone. "We'll just have to wait for Bella to wake. There's not much we can do without her account of what happened." He sat down beside me on the ground. His hand taking Bella's.
The room fell into silence, which made it that much harder for me to ignore my family's thoughts.
Eleazar's thoughts were definitely the loudest. He was amazed at Charlie's gift. While he couldn't get a read on Bella, thanks to her shield, he could make out a signature of Charlie's mental shield. He was desperate to be able to talk to Charlie about it.
I groaned unable to handle all the questions in everyone's mind. All of the Denalis wanted to ask Charlie questions. And given that this really was the first time my family had really gotten a chance to talk with Charlie after learning Bella's and his secret, they had questions they wanted to ask too.
"Charlie, my family is dying to ask you questions," I finally spoke up for them.
Charlie chuckled softly. "There isn't much else we can do so you might as well start with the questions."
"We don't want to be a bother, though," Carmen spoke up kindly. Her gaze was still on Cissy who she was feeding at the moment.
Esme walked in then, carrying a plate for Charlie and a bowl for Anna.
Charlie took the plate gratefully, he thanked Esme before addressing Carmen. "It isn't a bother at all, really. Fill free to ask your questions."
No one spoke everyone waiting for someone else to ask.
Anna got up and hugged Charlie. He hugged her back glancing curiously at her. She didn't offer an explanation and went back to her bowl of food.
Neither of us got a chance to ask her what was up because Esme came in then with a glass of milk for Anna and some coffee for Charlie.
"Since everyone else is waiting, I've been especially curious about how your wife and you knew about Bella's powers before she got them." She told Charlie as she handed him his coffee.
Charlie took a sip of the warm drink appreciatively. "This is wonderful, thank you." He set the glass on the ground. "Renee's family, the Higginbothams, they were," he paused and glanced at Anna and Cissy, "are a very powerful family. They had many allies, more enemies, but still."
He sighed. "The undermining have a person who can predict a person's gift. They've used his magic for generations to learn about the magic the Rebellion has. My brother in law and I, knew of the dangers this could bring the Rebellion; especially since the Higginbothams had been growing more powerful with each new generation." His gaze swiftly went back to Anna and Cissy.
"We decided that we needed to stop this powerful magic they had. A group of us left and tracked down the man. We weren't able to destroy him or his magic, but he's far weaker than he was. His predictions are no longer always correct and it is harder for him to pinpoint the magic. He has to be able to see the person he wishes to know about, now."
"You asked him about Bella, didn't you?" Tanya guessed. "Before damaging his ability."
Charlie nodded. He ate a bit before continuing. "We all asked him about the people we knew would be receiving their powers soon. At the time I hadn't even known Bella was going to be a girl yet."
"He knew about gifts before the children were even born?" Eleazar couldn't believe the immense power of the man.
Charlie glanced over at Anna. "Her grandfather asked about her gift while her dad was still just a child."
Eyebrows rose across the room, but Charlie continued without any prompting from us. "It is always wise to know as much as one can about the legacy line. For the most part, we always assume the first born will always be a son, despite the fact it is a fifty-fifty chance."
Kate smiled over at Anna. "It isn't a rarity for a daughter to be born first to the legacy line?"
Charlie shook his head. "It doesn't really matter if the son is the first born, it's just the fact the first of the sons carries on the legacy line. I know of many families that grew quite large just so the legacy line would continue."
"So what happens now to the Higginbotham legacy line?" I found myself saying.
Charlie took another drink of his coffee. When he set it back down, he met my gaze. "We are getting into deep magic now. The legacy lines are vastly important to the other world, and that is all I can say on the matter."
Do not ask again about the legacy line. Charlie begged in his thoughts. His gaze piercing mine. The effects of the magic from the line is more powerful than you can imagine, and Anna does not need to know the burdens of the legacy line. It is not something many wish to talk about.
Charlie shuddered and went back to his food.
I grimaced as my family bombarded me with their thoughts.
Whatever happens to the legacy line whenever it comes to its end, must be terrible. Charlie's fear escalated when you brought it up. He's afraid for the girls and extremely worried about them. Jasper told me. Thankfully though from my understanding of Charlie's thoughts it was only Anna affected by this, which was a good thing for Cissy, but it made me all the more worried about Anna.
What did he tell you? The both of you look terrified. Carlisle.
Remarkable, did Charlie send you his thoughts? I wonder if Bella can lower her mental shield as well. My mind was too filled with everyone else thoughts, and my worries about Anna for me to give any real thought to the possibility, despite Eleazar's excitement.
What's wrong? What did he say? Rose was panicked.
No way, Charlie can lower his shield so you can read his mind completely. Emmett.
What doesn't Charlie want us to know? Tanya and her sisters all thought together.
The poor man looks traumatized just thinking about it. Then again he very well might be the end of his own legacy line. Carmen.
I don't know how much more those poor little girls can take. Is it really that bad, that he can't voice it allowed? Esme.
I don't like this Edward, how bad is it?" I didn't know so I couldn't answer Alice. At the moment though I could care less about what happened to the legacy lines. I wanted to end this topic.
"Why would the man answer all of your questions?"
Charlie recognized my attempt to move away from the legacy line. He was thankful for it. "One of the men who came with us had the ability to get information."
Outstanding, another gift that Aro would want. Eleazar.
What a power, it makes me wonder what would happen if the Volturi ever find out about the other world. Tanya.
That poor man no doubt is wanted for his gift too. Carmen.
What other kinds of gifts does the other world have? It's remarkable to learn about them. Kate.
The perfect interrogator. Irina.
I wonder how that works. Esme.
Is he like Grandpa Ray and he just knows, or does he make the person tell him the information. Carlisle.
A gift like that would be perfect for the Undermining, unless they have someone like him. Jasper.
Just hearing about all the different gifts the people have and their magic, it makes me glad I don't have a special gift. I like being normal. Rose.
Where is the fun of being able to get any information from a person? It makes intimidation useless. Emmett.
Could you imagine living in a world like this? Magic is everywhere, everyone has some that gives them a special gift. It's amazing, but even the idea of magic can't offset the dangers of the world. I feel so bad for the people of the other world. I couldn't agree more with Alice.
Hearing all of this, gave me a new insight to what my mates life was like, and personally, I didn't like it.
"So the person just made the Undermining's man tell you what you all wanted to know?" Emmett asked.
Charlie nodded.
"That sort of gift is…" Eleazar didn't have words for it.
Charlie knew what he was thinking though. "A truth gatherer is rare, very rare." His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "The Undermining practically wiped out all of that magic, very few are left."
No one knew what to say to that. We were all wondering if the one man had survived. None of us were willing to ask though, from listening to the change in tone of Charlie's words.
"How are you able to lower your shield?" Eleazar asked after the silence had gotten too much for him.
Charlie smiled at the question. "I have absolute control over my shield, and can lower it at will whenever I see fit."
"I never would have guessed that." Eleazar mused thoughtfully. "I have the ability to know what gifts another being has. With your daughter her mental shield completely blocks me. You, on the other hand, I have gotten what I suppose you might say is a short signal from you. Every once in the while I can sense your gift and then I can't. The sensation goes in and out."
Eleazar glanced at Charlie his eyes alight with curiosity and continued. "I assumed your shield wasn't as strong as Bella's. I apologize because I also believed you couldn't really control it."
Charlie smirked at Eleazar. "That's the idea. I purposely let my shield down at random times. I even keep it partially lowered at times to give the illusion that I struggle with my control." His gaze turned to me. "It also is used to confuse people who have the ability to read minds."
We all laughed softly at that.
"If you don't mind me asking," Carmen started with, "How did you train your mental shield."
Charlie sighed. I tried to hear his thoughts but his mental shield went up immediately. "Every shield is different," He said after a moment. None of us missed the fact that this subject was hard on him.
"My mental shield is like a mist that hovers over me. It gives a new meaning to the phrase mental fog."
Tanya's gaze went from Charlie to Bella. "That's not how Bella's shield is?"
Charlie glanced at his daughter too. "I don't really know how Bella's shield works. I've never really had a chance to work with her. Renee told me that Toby tried to work with Bella and her shield, but it was really difficult for her to jump back and forth from working on her physical shield to her mental shield."
His shoulders slumped. "She couldn't grasp her mental shield, and when Bella was first training her physical shield it was incredibly unpredictable. Her grasp on it took years to adjust to, and she really wasn't able to control it until she gave up trying to work on her mental shield."
"Something Bella regrets doing," Alice added softly.
Charlie finished his coffee and spared a glance at Alice. "Bella unfortunately, practically lived with her older cousin Toby. It left it very difficult for her to see differences in her life."
"She compares herself to Toby," Irina commented with understanding.
Charlie sighed deeply. "Toby couldn't fail. He expected himself to be as close to perfect as it was possible. He made many mistakes but he never failed anything. Bella has tried very hard to hold herself to Toby's standards and she can't." He shook his head thoughtfully. "No one can hold themselves to Toby's standards and he never wanted anyone else too."
Poor Bella, I can see how that could make her life so much harder. Carmen.
Bella's not going to believe in her strengths until she stops trying to be perfect. Surely she has to know she doesn't have to be perfect. Esme.
This explains why Bella is so firm in her beliefs when it comes to her failures. Jasper gave me a hard glare. This is going to make things harder to get Bella to believe she wasn't the cause of her family's deaths.
Surely Toby talked to her about this. He wouldn't want her to believe that she was a failure. Carlisle.
Perfectionists, they usually cause unintentional problems. Especially with someone as insecure as Bella. How on earth did Tanya know of Bella's insecurities? She barely knew her.
This way of thinking needs to be reversed immediately. Bella can't believe that she is a failure. We need to show her how amazing she is, that she can use her powers without fail. All she needs is training. Kate.
She's far too young to believe she is a failure. She's hardly even worked with her gift. Anyone, even someone older would need more training than what she has had, to get better. Eleazar.
This is going to be a problem Edward. But we already knew we would be struggling with convincing Bella to give up her guilt. Alice showed me a brief vision of each of us trying to convince Bella that she wasn't the cause of her family's death. I grimaced at the attempts that wouldn't work, but was slightly relieved, since the vision showed Bella up and around, instead of being on our couch.
It's hard to handle, but I'm surprised that Bella's cousin didn't make sure that Bella knew he didn't hold her to his standards. Irina.
Makes me wonder how Anna feels about her dad's attempts at perfection. Rose.
I never pictured Toby as a perfectionist. I agreed with Emmett, I never would have believed it.
"Bella would see how Toby focused, it always seemed effortless for him, and she struggles with not being able to be the same." Charlie chuckled but the sound had a dark tone to it. "Toby wasn't a perfectionist. But many people saw him that way. The fact of the matter was Toby was thorough. He checked to be sure of everything first and then if something went wrong, and there were times when it would happen, he'd shrug it off and continue.
"The manner that he held himself was what really made people, like Bella, think he was perfect. It was in his character to learn from his mistakes, in a way that he could see them as a lesson, and not a mistake."
Understanding came to all of us then.
"It is difficult for people to see their mistakes as a lesson without first becoming upset by it." Charlie brushed at Bella's hair. "All Bella seems to see are mistakes."
I reached for Bella's hand and squeezed it. "You were going to explain how Toby tried to train Bella's shield." The topic was becoming too heavy for Charlie.
Charlie nodded, acknowledging my efforts. "Toby worked with Bella only a few times because as I said it made it difficult with her physical shield. Every time she would train her mental shield, her control on her physical shield would drop to practically nothing. The strain also wasn't good for her mind, so the family convinced her to stop training her mental shield until her mind could handle both shields.
"In the few times they tried to find her shield Toby was able to locate her shield with the information box but they couldn't get any information on it, and Bella couldn't truly feel it. As far as I know Bella still doesn't know the shape or feel of her mental shield."
"And that's important to know that to train it?" Kate asked.
Charlie shrugged. "Mental shields are hard to train. What we have been able to gather is that knowing the feel of the shield at least helps gain a semblance of control. Knowing the form of the shield, the mist as I feel, that makes it where I can use it, grasp it."
He paused seeing that we weren't really understanding what he was saying. "I can't hold mist, I can't grasp it and take it in a firm hold. I can in a sense blow it away from me. I can separate it, allow holes so that people could find their way into my mind. When I lower my shield the mist vanishes, as it is being lowered the mist thins out."
We all nodded in understanding.
"Once a person can feel their shield, then there are exercises that can be used to train the shield. Usually, they involve penetrating the mind of another person while the person tries to shield them. Or we attempt to get the one with the shield to lower it by having some sort of illusion for them to try to see."
"So Bella will be able to lower her shield someday?" The question was out of my mouth before I could even comprehend what I was saying.
The room filled with laughter from Emmett, the Denali sisters, and Bella's dad.
"Eventually Bella might be able to learn," Charlie said once he had stopped laughing. "It all depends on how her shield works. Some powers have layers to them, Bella's physical shield took on a similar characteristic that her mom's shield had. There's a layer that protects her and then she can force another layer out to protect others. If that's the case with her mental shield as well, we can only guess on whether or not that shield around her can be lowered."
I mentally grimaced. The hope that I had had for only a moment, deflated to almost nothing. There's still a chance. I reminded myself. Being able to hear Bella's thoughts would be a dream come true.
"So it looks like using my powers to help Bella still is really the only option." Kate's thoughts were far too happy for the situation.
Carlisle spoke up before I could. "Not until we know what happened. We don't want to chance this happening again."
Charlie nodded. "That's true, but it doesn't change the fact that Bella needs to work on her shield. Her percentage might be stable now, but her shield needs to be trained. We can't wait until she's a vampire to train it. The more time she has to practice with it now the easier it will be for her once she has finished the transition.
From Carlisle's thoughts I knew he didn't like this. I didn't like it either. If we couldn't figure out what caused Bella's shields to react together then it wasn't safe for her to train. If it were to happen again… I refused to think about it.
Esme decided to change the subject. "Is it normal for Children to inherit their parents' powers?"
Charlie glanced at my mother thoughtfully. "There's a seventy-five percent chance that a child will inherit their powers from either their parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents. Children like Anna, who don't inherit their gifts, their abilities usually complement another family member's magic."
"Anna didn't inherit her powers?" Rose glanced over at Anna. The little girl had gone off to play in the corner with some dolls. A quick glance in her mind told me she didn't want to be away from Bella, but she also didn't want to be a part of our conversation.
Charlie gave Anna a soft smile. "No, but Toby has the magic from the other world. That is his gift. He can do many things with the magic, manipulate it to work like a multitude of gifts. Because of that, His children could have any number of abilities that they could have received."
"Toby's power seems too basic, too broad," Jasper spoke up thoughtfully.
Charlie nodded. "This is all so different to you all, without knowing the history of the other world you can't really grasp how it works."
He made himself comfortable and we all prepared for what would seem to be a long tale.
"Since the beginning of time, there has always been three worlds. The Human world, also known as the Mortal world, the Mythical world, and the Other world.
"The three worlds work together and yet only the other world really understands and knows about the way the three worlds interact. For the most part, the human world is oblivious to the other two worlds. A few of them learn about the Mythical world because they stumbled into it, in a way. Somehow they learned about the mythical world, and most of the ones who do learn, don't live much longer, or the ones who do usually end up joining the mythical world. A human only learns of the Other world though if they are invited into it. They have been trusted to know about it, and a breach of that trust leads to punishment. Not all punishments lead to death, but all punishments do end with the human unable to tell another soul about the Other world."
We all sat silently. I struggled with my family's thoughts but forced them to the back of my mind so I could pay attention.
"The Mythical world obviously knows of the human world because as far as they knew they were hiding amongst the human world. Most mythical beings interact with the humans, completely oblivious that there is a third world that makes up this planet. Like the humans, mythical creatures only learn about the other world if they are invited into it. If Bella hadn't told you about us, none of you would have been able to figure out our secret.
"You see the other world has magic far greater than that of the mythical world. The magical creatures from the mythical world are nothing like what we have in the other world. The other world doesn't have Wizards or witches, but we do have people who have the ability to use magic. Toby, and his father and his father and so on in the legacy line, all have the ability to use the magic of the other world. This isn't like the magic that some people have in our world that always them to cast spells like a witch."
Charlie huffed and ran his hand through his hair. "This is so difficult to explain."
"You are doing fine," Carmen and Esme reassured him.
Charlie thanked them silently. "Let's go to the beginning; the structure of the other world. The other world, in the beginning, was ruled by a group of people. The leaders of the land had the greatest power of the other world. They could connect to the actual magic of the other world. The magic that seals the other world away from both the mythical and the human world. This planet appears so much smaller than it really is because a great deal of its land is hidden from the human and the mythical worlds. The leaders could connect to this magic and use it to protect their people and help guide them.
"They could, the leaders no longer can connect to that magic?" Eleazar asked, picking up on the way Charlie had phrased his words.
Charlie shook his head. "When the Undermining took over the other world, they had to go through the leaders. The high councilman, as he was called, had the greatest amount of control over the magic. While the leaders ruled together as a group the High councilman was the head of the group. As a last act to protect the three worlds he destroyed the connection between the leaders and the magic of the other world."
"I bet that ticked off the Undermining," Emmett said quickly.
Charlie's look was enough of an agreement for Emmett's comment.
Carmen tightened her grasp around Cissy protectively. "At least the Undermining can't use the magic directly from the other world.
Charlie grimaced worrying all of us. "That's very true but they have the next best thing."
"And that is?" Tanya bravely asked.
We all listened nervously as Charlie explained. "The next group of people from the other world, were the ones who were in charge of the balance of power throughout the entire planet. It was their job to make sure that one world out of the three did not become more dangerous. They step in if the appropriate people from that certain world doesn't take care of the problems."
"Bella mentioned these people," Emmett interrupted.
Charlie nodded. "These people are chosen by the magic of the other world. When they are chosen a mark forms on their arm. The leaders of the Undermining have the ability to track these people because of the energy source they give off. It is exactly like how my mental shield gives off a signal and I can be tracked by it."
My family and I remembered Bella explaining that. It was why her parent's had to be apart since their signals together showed the undermining exactly who they were.
"As I'm sure Bella has explained, the Undermining now has the ability to track its people, but the Rebellion doesn't. The Undermining gets to these people before we can. For the most part, we only get a person with this ability if they are a part of their family's legacy line and that family is a part of the Rebellion. The other chosen people we can't get to before the Undermining can."
"Did all the men in the legacy lines have this magic instead of a gift?" Carlisle asked.
Charlie nodded. "Every man who holds the position of the legacy line has that magic and this mark." He pulled his wallet from his pocket and showed them a picture of a strange symbol.
Irina shook her head. "So what, the Undermining gets a new signal anytime a child is born with that mark and they…" She couldn't bring herself to finish that thought.
Charlie nodded gravely. "The children who don't go missing and end up in the Undermining's care are the ones the Rebellion have been able to protect. The fact the Undermining can track the others makes all the different."
"I don't understand why the other world would even need to track their people. It's an invasion of privacy, it's…"
Charlie stopped Carmen there. "It was used to make sure the Leaders of the other world could police their own people." He didn't let any of us argue with him. "The leaders of the land may have had the greatest of powers, but that didn't mean they had the strongest. I can't explain really how the magic of the other world decided to run things but everything was set in place by that magic. It made sure that if everything was treated the way it should have been, nothing would have gone wrong.
"If the magic wasn't abused all of its efforts would make sense to the world." Charlie shrugged. "That's all I can say. I don't like how controlling the magic appears to be, but it was set in place to make sure that the other world didn't get any ideas of taking over the entire planet. Something that sadly is the case."
Charlie waited for one of us to ask another question but we were all lost in thought over what all he had said. He decided to continue with the history. "So we had the leaders and the protectors as they were called, then there was the rest of us. Everyone else in the world has a form of magic that is a piece of what the magic of the other world can do."
"You've given us a lot to think about," Carlisle finally said.
"This definitely cleared up some questions but I know I still have more," Emmett added.
We all agreed with him.
Charlie spared Bella a glance. "By all means continue to ask them."
"Charlie, you mentioned how you sometimes manipulate your shield so people can find a way into your mind, can Bella do the same thing with her Physical shield?"
We were all surprised by Jasper's question.
Charlie glanced at him then at Bella. "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?" He turned back to Jasper.
Jasper glanced at Bella. His thoughts were still worried about what he had done to Bella even though no one else blamed him for what happened. "There have been times when I can feel Bella's powers even when she is wearing her ring."
This really surprised us, he's never mentioned it before now, and I hadn't heard it from his thoughts. But now that I thought about it, there had been times that Jasper had thought about sensing Bella's emotions and he shouldn't have been able to.
That is so unfair I can't see her future at all whenever she wears that ring. Alice's thoughts washed over me loudly in my mind, making it impossible to push it to the back of my mind. I suppose it would make sense that Alice hadn't had any visions whenever Bella wore her ring. After all, whenever Bella was wearing her ring, Alice didn't bother to look for her, or the girls.
For a brief moment, I was able to sense panicked thoughts from Charlie. There were no words though.
Charlie pulled out an information box.
"I checked that, and matched the information to the times I could feel her emotions." Jasper shook his head. "I shouldn't have been able to, her shield was firmly in place."
Charlie's panic escalated. He searched the information box while we all remained silent. After a few minutes, he pulled his phone from his pocket. We all waited patiently as he dialed a number.
"What's wrong?"
The voice over the phone was filled with distress. Even to our vampire ears, it was difficult to hear the voice over the phone. There must be something blocking it fully from us. I couldn't even tell if it was a man or woman on the other end of the call.
Charlie's voice cracked with worry, forcing him to clear his throat. "It's Bella's shield."
"What do you mean?" The unrecognizable voice asked angrily.
Charlie exhaled loudly in exasperation. "I don't know what this means. There is no record in her information box of what is happening, but a friend has been able to use his gift when she was wearing her ring. I need you to check and make sure nothing is causing her ring to malfunction."
The voice over the phone suddenly became hesitant. "We've…"
"Yes?" Charlie growled sharply.
There was a long pause before we heard a sigh.
"We've lost connection to Bella's ring."
Charlie's eyes widened. "And you didn't contact me sooner." The pain in Charlie's voice was shocking.
"I couldn't call. I shouldn't even be answering this call."
"Your Bella's second mother, of course you'll answer whenever I call. You always do, because you worry about her." Charlie shot quickly. "What is going on with Bella's ring?"
The voice we now knew belonged to a woman groaned loudly but answered Charlie's question. "We've been monitoring a change in Bella's ring. And it's not just hers," she added quickly. "Something or someone is altering the rings and their programming. We haven't found out exactly what is happening. But Bella's powers aren't the only ones being affected."
Charlie closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "This is ridiculous. What can we do?"
"Everyone here is working hard to figure it out and fix it. I'm currently running a program right now to make sure Bella's shield stays connected to the ring."
"Are you saying her shield wasn't staying connected to her shield?" Charlie asked.
"Not exactly. Someone wrote up a code that made it where it was suppressing Bella's shield so it couldn't work. Right now the coding is faulty making it sporadic."
Charlie dragged a hand over his face. "And what happens if whatever is doing this fixes the code. Bella can't support the use of both of her shields at the same time."
Another sigh came over the phone. "I don't think anyone was targeting Bella, Charlie, I think she is just one of many who are being affected by this attack. The rings are meant to keep the Rebellion youth better protected, and someone is trying to dismantle them from the inside.
"I want to protect Bella too, she's practically one of my own but right now I have no answer for you. I really need to get back to work, please don't talk about this with anyone. We are trying to keep it from spreading and causing worldwide panic."
Charlie nodded. "Alright. Bye." He hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. "Can things get any worse," he grumbled lowly.
He glanced up from the floor and meet our worried looks. "Don't mention this to Bella. Not one word." We all recognized the tone of his voice. He wasn't asking us to keep a secret. He was ordering us to.
We all agreed immediately.
The thoughts of my family were pushing drastically in my mind as I tried to organize my thoughts.
"Charlie, what exactly does this mean for Bella?" Esme asked worriedly.
Charlie glanced briefly at Esme before setting his gaze on his daughter. "If someone is trying to make the rings where they suppress the powers it would keep Bella from using her shields. Which means we'd have to get rid of the ring."
"What exactly does the ring do?" Carmen asked softly.
Charlie grabbed Bella's hand rubbing the ring on her hand lovingly. "The rings were made so that they could connect to a child's power. The ring uses the magic that they have and it doesn't take their energy to use it. The ring can keep Bella's shield up indefinitely. Without it, Bella has to use her energy to manipulate her shields. Because of her transition, Bella really needs to be able to use her ring to help her with her control. That way she'll have better control once she has completed the transition."
Eleazar glanced thoughtfully at Bella. "She can't go without her ring?"
Carlisle answered sharply before Charlie could. "No, not right now at least. We need her ring to help with whatever happened today."
Charlie nodded in agreement. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention," He told Jasper suddenly.
Jasper nodded. "I'm sorry I hadn't mentioned it sooner. In all honesty, with everything else that has been going on, I didn't think anything of it until I heard you explained how you manipulate your shield sometimes." It's just another mistake I've made.
I glared over at my brother, this wasn't his fault, nor was whatever had happened earlier today. With everything that we have learned and before when we had been trying desperately to figure their secret out, had made it where a sudden ability to feel her emotions had been set on a back burner. It hadn't been that important to focus on, until now.
Kate glanced over at Anna. "So if all the kids in the Rebellion have those rings, why doesn't Anna?"
We all glanced at Anna. The poor little thing had fallen asleep. She was curled up on the carpet hugging one of the dolls she had been playing with.
Rose got up and settled her in her arms. As Rose took her seat, Anna sleepily wrapped her arms around Rose's neck.
Charlie smiled at seeing that. "There are some powers that don't require a ring. Anna's powers work constantly. Even if she isn't focusing on her gift her powers still record everything around her within a certain distance.
Rose gave Anna a quick kiss before asking Charlie, "how does that affect her energy?"
Charlie shrugged. "I don't really know how it works for Anna. For the general group with gifts that work constantly, energy is only really affected when they focus on their gift. But a constant gift like this takes less energy than a defensive gift like Bella's, and even less than an offensive gift."
"So Bella's ring isn't magical?" Irina asked thoughtfully. "At least not from what I've understood from your conversation."
"They are, but they're also a piece of technology." Charlie grabbed his wallet again and they all watched as he produced another ring. "This was mine. The rings help build control and support the use of your magic so that you don't have to waste energy in your attempts. Energy drain is very difficult on children to handle. Severe Energy drains can leave a person in a magical coma."
Carlisle glanced at Bella in alarm. "And that's not what's wrong with Bella?"
Charlie glanced at his daughter thoughtfully. "Not based on what the information box says. All it claims is that she is unconscious. She's not in a dormant stage like she'd be in if she was in a magical coma."
Carlisle relaxed slightly and so did I.
Charlie continued to explain the ring. "The ring functions to help aid children. We send codes through the rings to help them. The codes are what make it where the ring understands what it needs to do. The ring can be programmed to activate the child's powers in case of emergency, or it is programmed to keep the power in constant use."
"And you can pick which one?" Kate asked eagerly.
Charlie shook his head. "It's based on the type of power. Bella has defensive magic so her ring keeps her powers in constant use whenever she wears it. Someone with offensive magic usually wears the ring constantly and when their power is needed the ring knows and activates the powers for them."
Interesting. Eleazar.
That is some piece of equipment. Irina.
I suppose it makes sense in a strategic point of view. Jasper.
That makes a lot of sense. Rose.
Wouldn't that have been nice when I was learning to use my gift? Kate.
The other world's technology is so far advanced than the human world. Carmen.
Could you imagine this sort of technology in the wrong hands? Esme.
Based on that phone call we overheard I think someone is really trying to target the youth of the Rebellion. What better way to cripple it then destroy the next generation's control. Carlisle.
Such a piece of technology, and yet it is so small. Tanya.
It's a good thing Bella has that ring, it really saved her life. Alice.
What's to say that whoever programs the rings are doing what they are supposed to? With what's going on it sounds like the programs are tampering with the rings. Emmett had a point. With Bella's ring being messed with we would have to be careful. We would have to make sure that Bella doesn't have to rely on it; especially if it starts suppressing her powers.
Eleazar glanced at the ring in Charlie's hands. "That's a handy device your kind has."
Charlie nodded and put it away.
We all thought over that again. The silence was almost deafening so I was glad when Irina spoke up to ask a question.
"When you were talking to that woman, you said she was Bella's second mother. What did you mean?"
Charlie grinned and a small chuckle escaped his lips before he could stop that. "Oh dear, how to explain this." He sighed. "You see some families follow a very old tradition. That tradition basically is the parents either chose another woman to be the child's second mother, or a man to be a second father. That one person is in a way like a godparent, but more than that. They have responsibilities that they have to do and it is supposed to help the child. It's another person to connect with which helps build their strength and power."
Charlie made a face which told us exactly how he felt about that. He voiced his opinion anyway. "I think it is rather silly, and most parents use it nowadays just so they can dump the kid off on someone else when they need some quiet time. Renee's parents made her, the two of them brought Gi to us. With Bella's powers so coveted, her grandparents wanted another person to help protect her."
That actually sounds like a good idea. I wonder why Charlie doesn't like it. Tanya.
You would think that with everything else going on that having another parent like figure would help Bella. Carmen.
It must have been hard for Charlie having someone else help Renee with the duties of being a parent when he didn't have much of a chance. Esme.
I thought the grandparents were the ones who end up with the kids whenever the parents wanted time to their selves. Emmett joked silently.
I wonder how Bella feels about her second mother. Rose.
Strategically speaking having another person to connect their magic to, makes sense. Jasper.
I can see how something like that could be considered more than a godparent. Irina.
Having someone else to help with your gift makes a lot of sense. Wish I had that. Kate.
I wonder if Bella didn't mention having a second mother because it was too difficult to talk about, especially since her actual mother is gone. Alice.
It would be interesting to meet Gi, and see if she has a gift that could help Bella. Why else would her grandparents choose her to be her second mother? Eleazar.
Gi was really worried during the entire phone call, and she said she shouldn't have answered. Then there is the fact that she and Charlie don't want Bella to know of the conversation. Whatever Gi is a part of, something isn't right about it. Carlisle.
I couldn't help but agree with him. Gi was really worried, but she had answered the call. Her conversation with Charlie was strained, the two of them had been uncomfortable, despite their worry. Something was up, but there wasn't any way for us to figure out what it might be.
"So when the other world monitors the human and mythical world, how does that work? Do they see everything?" Emmett asked, eager for some of his questions to be answered.
"No nothing like that," Charlie assured us. "The magic that the protectors have, will alert them if a dangerous situation is near. The magic will realize that the problem has escalated passed the control of the people who normal care for it, and then the protector receives whatever information he needs to make sure he takes care of the problem. Protectors only receive information on worst-case scenarios."
Tanya hummed softly in thought before speaking aloud. "So there doesn't seem to be very many situations for a protector then."
Charlie smirked. "There was a reason it was called the dark ages."
I couldn't help searching my knowledge of the dark ages and trying to piece together when a protector of the other world might have stepped in. We all were trying to figure one out.
"Don't bother," Charlie warned. "My kind has stepped in to help so many of the human world's problems, and some mythical ones as well. Some of them you wouldn't even believe."
"Oh come on, please tell us at least one," Emmett begged.
A quick glance around the room showed that he wasn't the only one who really wanted to know.
Charlie sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay. Atlantis."
"No!" Kate gasped.
Charlie nodded, his face showed no sign of him lying. "Atlantis was part of the mythical world, and it was brutally attacked by one of its own. The Other world had to step in before the entire civilization was lost. Atlantis is now hidden under the other world's magic unable to be seen by the human or mythical worlds."
"That is so cool," Emmett grinned excitedly.
We all couldn't help but agree.
"Charlie you mentioned a magical coma, and how energy drains can cause it," Carlisle spoke up. "I assume that's the drastic effects of not having enough energy, but what else would happen if Bella doesn't have enough energy."
Charlie's head bobbed slightly as he thought. "Well just like any other human, when we don't have much energy we're tired. Our kind though can last a little longer than mortal humans without much energy."
He rested a hand on Bella's arm. "Transitional creatures, though, react very badly to low energy. It's dangerous when they have too much energy, but it can be deadly to have too little. A transitional creature needs a set amount of energy per day to keep the transition running smoothly. If they don't have enough energy their strength weakens, while their changes intensifies rapidly. Without their strength to handle the change they lose control and they can make deadly mistakes. Being bedridden is not good for a transitional creature."
Charlie glanced at Bella before meeting Carlisle gaze. "It's why what is going on with Bella now, makes no sense."
Carlisle nodded thoughtfully, attempting to hide his worry for Bella from everyone, especially Charlie. He didn't want Bella's dad to have to deal with any of their worries, he has enough of his own.
"Wait a minute," Tanya said. "If they need strength to deal with the transition, shouldn't Bella have vampire strength by now?"
Charlie shook her head. His face said it all. Bella should have vampire strength, it would help the transition immensely, but that wasn't how the transition worked. Besides, we already knew that Bella wouldn't have full vampire strength until she had finished the change.
Carmen glanced thoughtfully between the baby in her arms and Bella. "So does the energy ever fluctuate between too much energy and too little?"
Charlie had to think about that for a little while. "Not drastically, unless something is wrong, but there will be days when Bella will have a lot of energy, and the next she won't. There have only been a few times when Bella's had too low of energy according to our kind. Even few times when she's had too much."
His gaze landed on Anna who was still sound asleep in Rose's arms.
"Anna's had too much energy before?" Rose asked worriedly. No doubt remembering what Bella had said about a burst in energy.
Charlie chuckled softly. "Anna often has far too much energy for her little body to hold. You see, Toby trained Anna as soon as he could and she actually has full control over her powers, despite her age. In fact, Anna is the youngest person I know with her amount of control. But what happens is with her strength and control of her gift, she builds an immense amount of energy. It's because with control, comes energy, and since she is so small, she can't hold very much."
We all nodded with understanding, each of us glancing at the sleeping girl.
"How on earth does someone so small handle all that energy," Emmett asked admiringly.
Charlie smiled lovingly at Anna. "She passes her extra energy off to other people."
We all turned to Charlie then. He continued without being asked.
"Anna passes the energy through touch. It helps with Bella, especially on days when she doesn't have enough. Any time she uses her gift she passes on energy as well. Then there are times she just passes on energy."
"That explains that strange feeling I get whenever Anna presses her cheek against mine," Roses announced suddenly.
Charlie nodded.
Eleazar shook his head, his eyes solely on Anna. "I can't comprehend the fact such a young child has control over her gift. How is something like that even possible? She's only three; she's still a toddler."
Charlie shook his head slowly. "She's not though. Our kind ages mentally, faster than the mortal humans do. Anna's only been alive for three years, but her mind though is older. If you've had a real chance to talk with her, I'm sure you'd see her vocabulary is far advanced for her age. Some things she still struggles with certain words and sentence structure but…" he shrugged and didn't bother finishing his statement.
"When Anna was born Toby was prepared for her powers. Her gift was also easy to train given the type of gift it was. Her power constantly scans the area around her. I'm not sure exactly how far out she can scan, but it is constantly searching that area. All Toby had to really do was teach her what each sensation was."
"What about when she gets older?" Alice asked thoughtfully. She glanced at Anna and continued. "Will her powers get stronger? What about how far she can scan, will that increase?"
Charlie shrugged his shoulders. "We can only guess at that. I would assume she'd get stronger, simply because of how strong her powers are right now."
Eleazar shifted in his seat. "Is it normal for a child's ability to increase in strength?"
Charlie lifted his hands out to the side as if to say he didn't really know. "Each child is different, just like how each gift is different. Some gifts expand naturally while the child grows. Some have levels that you have to reach through testing, others simply remain the same throughout the child's life."
Rose ruffled Anna's curls lovingly. "How does Anna handle all the things she senses? We've seen how different sensations affect her, and some of the ones I've felt, I find it difficult to believe she just deals with it, since her gift constantly works."
"There's a difference between her feeling things and you feeling what she feels." Charlie paused to find a way to explain it to us. "Since this is Anna's gift, her body is equipped to handle it, I guess you could say."
Rose thought it over before nodding.
Carmen hugged Cissy to her sweetly. "Do you know of this little one's gifts yet?"
Charlie glanced at Cissy and his smile showed how much he cared for the baby. "I don't know anything about Cissy's gift. I didn't really spend much time with the Higginbothams so I don't know if they knew."
Carmen nodded, her gaze remaining on Cissy. That little one could wrap anyone around her finger.
Irina glanced from Cissy to Anna sweetly. "When exactly did Anna get her powers? Carlisle said Bella got hers when she was ten. Why such a big difference in age?"
From Charlie's thoughts which were once again partially covered I could just barely register an amused tone to whatever he was thinking. "The difference in Bella's age and Anna's age has to do with the fact Anna–and Cissy for that matter–are both born into the legacy line. Bella wasn't.
"Children who aren't a part of the legacy line gain their power when their mind shows an understanding of responsibility, and they are old enough to handle a gift. Most children get their powers around the ages of ten to twelve. I'm not exactly sure when Anna got her gift. She wasn't a year old though, I do know that much."
Unbelievable. Eleazar.
That young? Carmen.
Why so young when you're a part of the legacy line? Kate.
No wonder why she has so much control, she's been able to work with her gift practically her whole life. Jasper.
Could you imagine having a gift so young? Alice.
If that's the case Cissy could be getting her gift sometime soon. Rose.
I wonder what Cissy's gift will be, surely she'd be getting her gift soon now. Emmett was far too excited for Cissy's possible gift.
Personally, I would say it would be safer to get a gift later when you are more responsible. Irina.
All those poor little baby's having to learn how to handle a gift, and all those parents who have to teach someone so young. Esme.
If that's the case for children in the legacy line, we'll have to help Cissy, sooner rather than later it would appear. Carlisle.
I'm so glad Bella is letting all of you help her, the more people to help whenever Cissy gets her powers. Tanya didn't glance my way but I acknowledged her thoughts with a slight nod, before turning to Bella's dad to ask a question that was troubling me.
"Why would a baby get a power, at such a young age, surely they aren't expected to have an understanding of responsibility?"
Charlie answered quickly. "No, the children of the legacy line don't wait until they have that understanding, or have to wait until they are old enough to really handle it. It is something we really don't understand, but it has always been. The magic of the other world set it up that way, despite how unrealistic we all think it is. It had a reason which sadly was lost to us when the undermining took over."
Silence fell over our group again as we thought things over.
"So the school doesn't have any problem with Bella having the girls with them?" Kate turned to Charlie after sparing Anna and Cissy a glance.
Charlie's bark of a laugh startled all of us. It took him a moment to calm himself. "The school is reluctantly letting the girls go with Bella.
"Carlos, a family friend, and the family lawyer set it up for them to be allowed in school with her. The fact of the matter is there is no other choice. Anna and Bella can't be away from each other. Anna has panic attacks if she isn't with Bella. We've only just started trying to give the two of them space without the other one around."
Charlie sighed. "Then there's the fact Bella has to be in school. When the children of the Rebellion are in class they are protected within a set of magic that helps protect them from danger."
"Then why wasn't Bella protected from the van that the Hunters sent to crush her with?" I asked, fighting back a growl as I mentioned the hunters.
Charlie shifted so he wasn't slouching. "The protective magic only works when they are in the classroom. There isn't enough magic or energy to keep the magic around the entire school property."
Well, at least the class was protected then.
"Carlos, when he sent all the documents over to the school board and the staff at the school, he sent magic along with them and the magic is set to last until we find another way of protecting Bella at school." Charlie glanced at Anna in Rose's arms. "You see Anna's powers give Bella enough of a warning to get away from danger, she needs Anna's gift especially when she isn't in a classroom."
Emmett glanced thoughtfully at Anna. "So the magic that is really allowing the girls to be at the school without complaint will work until you find something to replace Anna's powers."
Charlie smirked. "That's how Carlos set the magic up, that way once Anna is comfortable without Bella being near her, the girls can stay with a babysitter. That way Bella could try to go a few days without Anna and if Anna isn't comfortable then the girls can return to school without the school board throwing a fit."
"Because they can't." Emmett laughed softly so he wouldn't wake Anna.
Charlie nodded. "It really has nothing to do with Anna using her powers to protect Bella."
"Five vampires would be more protection than one little girl, anyway," Tanya commented offhandedly.
"The five of us aren't walking her to each of her classes though," Jasper told her. "In fact, Bella doesn't want all of us to walk with her, and she really doesn't like Edward walking her to all of her classes."
Esme glanced between Bella and Edward, before turning to Charlie. "Why wouldn't Bella want Edward to walk her to her classes?"
Charlie turned to Edward. "Don't take it personally, but Bella's just trying to protect you. Hunters record information in the signs, anything can be added to them. Who protected them, who she spends her time with?"
"She's trying to limit her time with us, to protect us from the hunters," Alice announced, clearly unhappy about it. We all were.
Charlie gave Alice a sympathetic look. "Don't blame Bella, Alice. Bella really struggles with trying to keep people at arm's length."
I thought we had gotten over this sort of stuff. "We'll put a stop to this now," Alice promised. "Bella's not going to push us away, and now that we know why she is, we can let her know that it doesn't matter. As it is, the hunters already know about us so there is no point in trying to hide the others from them."
Charlie nodded in agreement. "Trying to hide from hunters, is like trying to hide from the law, only a fair few manage it, but eventually they're most likely caught."
"Could you explain more about hunters for us?" Irina asked then.
Charlie leaned back against the couch. "When the Undermining took over the other world, they learned about Transitional creatures. It didn't take long before a group of them decided that transitional creatures were abnormalities that shouldn't exist."
Oh yeah, because murders should. Irina.
That horrible, how could anyone believe that they have more of a right to live than someone else? Not like they are the first people to think that though. Kate.
I see that the other world has people who are heartless like the other two worlds. Tanya.
All those poor people. Carmen
Is it too much to ask for a little bit of decency? Eleazar.
If only the Undermining hadn't learned about them. Then again there is plenty of if onlys, besides that. The Undermining really ruined everything. Alice.
There needs to be a way to block the hunters, if they didn't have their signs it would be harder for them to find the transitional creatures. Jasper.
The hunters we fought weren't any trouble, but Bella and Charlie both mention how strong they are. I wonder when we'll get to fit the stronger ones. Emmett.
I don't see how any immortal creature can call another being an abnormality, it's hypocritical. Rose.
With Charlie telling us more about the Hunters, maybe we'll be able to make sure nothing like what happened in Chicago will happen again. Carlisle.
The more we can learn about the Hunters the better. Esme.
This really was the perfect time to learn about the Hunters. Charlie being older knew more than Bella seemed to know. In fact, Charlie seemed to know a lot about the Hunters. I knew he was hiding something, but Charlie had his shield up, no holes for me to get into.
"You see Hunter believe a human shouldn't be able to turn into a mythical creature except in the way that is considered normal. So the first group of Hunters broke away from the Undermining to eradicate the world of Transitional creatures.
"And then the Undermining stripped them of their immortality," Emmett added, remembering what Bella had already told us.
Charlie nodded and continued. "The Undermining was angry with the Hunters so they took their immortality. I don't know if Bella explained our aging to you, but our kind technically can't reach the mortal age of a hundred and one. Should one of our kind decide not to control his aging, the morning of his one hundred and first birthday, he'd wake looking as an eighteen-year-old."
"That's so cool," Kate gasped.
"Bella did end up mentioning that," Esme told Charlie.
"Well, Hunters can live for a hundred years but not a day over." Charlie's gaze clouded with some sort of emotion that I couldn't read. I glanced at Jasper who shrugged.
It's strange, he's angry, furious even, but there's also a small bit of sorrow. The real curious one though, is an underlining feeling of guilt.
Charlie sighed. "For a while, the hunters didn't have anyone competing to destroy transitional creatures, and they didn't have anyone to stop them. Grandpa Ray eventually found out about transitional creatures and he helped the Rebellion learn about them so they could do what they could to protect them."
All those poor people. Esme.
How awful. Carmen.
It's a good thing Grandpa Ray did learn about them. Tanya.
Could you imagine all of those people, they wouldn't have any idea why the Hunters had come after them. Eleazar.
What would the Rebellion do without Grandpa Ray? Irina.
It sounds like being a hunter is a choice, but who would give up their immortality just to kill strangers? Kate
Man, I want to pound those Hunters. Emmett.
Grandpa Ray has done so much for the Rebellion, they must rely on him greatly. Rose.
I wonder just how many years the hunters had to themselves for their rampages. Jasper.
I'm so glad, Bella wasn't born during the time that the Hunters had basically a free reign to kill all those transitional creatures. Did Alice really have to think about that, now that thought was going to haunt me for years.
I quickly jumped to Carlisle's thoughts which were safely away from the topic of my mate. Talking about the Hunters seems hard for Charlie.
He had a point talking about the hunters was hard on him.
Charlie shook his head slowly, gazing at the ground. "The Hunters gain members through family and friends pledging their allegiance. But something as terrible as killing for such a reason as the Hunters do, comes at a cost. Besides being stripped of their immortality after pledging their lives to the hunters, people who had been born with the mark of the other world, are also giving up the magic of the other world. Giving up that magic is painful, both physically and mentally."
A shiver went through Bella's dad, he tried to keep the movement controlled but we all say it. We all politely ignored it and didn't bring it up, and he continued with his explanation.
"Hunters, after taking the pledge, gain the abilities that the original hunters had. They can control any object or animal and can take over a person's body; allowing them to use that person's gift."
"Have the Hunters always had their signs?" Carmen asked. We all glanced at Charlie curiously.
Charlie was shaking his head. "The Rebellion had the signs made, and the Hunters had tried many times to replicate them. When they weren't able to build their own, they broke into one of the Rebellion's storage areas and took the signs for themselves."
Eleazar clasped his hands in his lap and sighed. "I can't even imagine." He glanced at Charlie. "Your knowledge of the Hunters is great."
Charlie shrugged offhandedly. "I know more than Bella, but I'm no expert."
We didn't believe him. It was clear that Charlie knew more about the Hunters than he was willing to tell. That was alright though, with what he had given us to think about and what Bella told us, we were more prepared. We could tell the Denalis what Bella told us about fighting them; that is if Carlisle and Esme hadn't already.
"Hey Charlie, do you know why the wolves would be able to smell Bella's vampire scent even though we can't?" You could always count on Emmett to lighten the mood in the strangest of ways.
Charlie laughed. "Your guess is as good as mine Emmett."
Rose smiled at Emmett's attempt to change the mood she decided to help. "Here's another strange question, why did Toby only drive the two girls around in his car, the one Bella drives? I was curious since we haven't stuck with that," she added somewhat sheepishly.
Charlie gazed adoringly at Anna and Cissy. "Toby and Tessa didn't have much time with Cissy before the attack. Anna had been in many different cars in her short life but Cissy only ever rode in that car. Supposedly, Toby made it where the car would be of help to Cissy and Anna. He never said why of course."
His eyes narrowed with thought. "After the girls and Bella arrived, I went over the car, curious because Toby had mentioned its importance to everyone in the family."
"Find anything interesting?" Kate asked eagerly.
Charlie shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I don't pretend to know about Toby's multiple inventions, but there is something strange with the dash."
Rose nodded thoughtfully. "I saw that, it has an extra measurement system. But for what?"
Charlie chuckled. "I was meaning the dial."
Rose gave him a curious look. "What dial?"
"Well, that tells me that only a person from the other world can see the dial. I have no clue what it is for, but it sits beside that extra display." Charlie leaned back against the couch, his hand took Bella's.
Alice got up and moved so she was sitting on the floor beside Bella's dad. "Charlie, why wasn't Bella living with you, since she's safer from the undermining with you?"
Charlie went silent, and Alice feared she had unintentionally crossed some sort of line.
Eventually though Charlie did answer. "Bella needed her mom's help with her physical shield. Since she didn't need to train her mental shield, it made more sense for her to stay with her mom." There was more and we all knew it. We also knew better than to pry.
"Charlie, if you didn't mind," Carmen started off, "I was wondering about something since Carlisle mentioned how the transition affects Bella." She continued when Charlie motioned for her to. "Well, I was wonder how Bella expected to go through the transition on her own. From the sound of it, she really can't. Not when she needs to work on speed and strength just to name a few. Carlisle said those could cause deadly accidents."
Charlie nodded. "It is physically impossible for Bella to finish the transition on her own. When her speed comes in she'll have to practice with it to gain control. She won't have the vampire eyesight though, which means she'd basically be blind out there; everything would blur at such speeds. As for the strength, without something stronger than her to help guide her and really protect herself from her strength, anything could happen."
"So why would she try to do it alone," I couldn't help growling.
Charlie reached out and patted my knee. "She wasn't going to." He chuckled at our looks of confusion. "When Grandpa Ray found out about Bella, he was adamant that she was going to follow his diet as a vegetarian vampire. He had a few friends prepared to help her whenever her speed or strength comes in, and they were told to maintain his diet while helping her. But now he doesn't need to worry about any of that because all of you are going to help her."
"Grandpa Ray was really going to force Bella to follow the vegetarian way?" Emmett asked thoughtfully.
Charlie shrugged offhandedly. "Grandpa Ray isn't always so controlling, but Bella has always been very compassionate. Not all transitional creatures are thrilled to be turning into something else. For a compassionate person, the idea of taking another's life to sustain yours is awful."
We all spared Carlisle a glance.
"Grandpa Ray figured if he laid down the law, and let everyone know Bella was never going to be a human drinker, maybe Bella wouldn't despise what she was becoming." He smiled at Bella, and we all knew that Grandpa Ray's plan had worked.
I brushed at Bella's hair and sighed. There was something all of my family wanted to know, but none of them wanted to appear rude, and or upset Charlie. So I asked for them. "Is there any type of transitional creature that survives the change better than transitionals?"
Charlie shook his head. "There's danger to all transitional creatures during the change. These are drastic changes, and as such, most are painful."
I flinched, not wanting to know that Bella would be in pain.
"Would it be better just to change Bella then?" Tanya asked suddenly.
Charlie's eyes flashed panic. "No! To change Bella before she completes the change, can only be considered a last resort. Transitionals even if they are changed instead of finishing the transition will be stronger than a normal newborn. It all boils down to control. Lack of control with how much raw strength and power Bella will have…" Charlie didn't finish, the shiver that shook him though was answer enough.
If Bella was changed before we might not be able to stop her if something were to happen.
I couldn't think about that, I needed someone to change the subject.
"What is the recruitment process like for the Rebellion?" Jasper asked, he obvious had sensed my panic since he was pushing calm towards me.
Charlie spared me a glance before turning to my brother. Obviously he had noticed my growing panic too. "Seeing as the fact we are a secret group of people from an unknown world, the recruitment process really is our kind searching out people we can trust. When we find a person we think we can trust they go through a screening. All the normal human stuff, then a bit of magical information gathering, nothing too intrusive, that happens later in the interrogative interviews. If you make it through all of that, you end up on a probation of sorts, where members of the Rebellion keep an eye on you until you've truly proven your loyalty." The last few words had been distorted in a yawn but thanks to our vampire hearing we managed to hear them.
"I'm so sorry Charlie," Esme begin.
He waved her apology away unconcerned by the time. Esme wouldn't let him though.
"We've kept you here for a while."
Charlie laughed at that. "Now Esme you didn't keep me here. I'm here keeping an eye on Bella, what else were we going to do? Sit in awkward silence?"
Esme tried to apologize again but Charlie stopped her.
"I didn't mind spending all this time talking and answering your questions. It really is fine."
Esme nodded but after a moment a thoughtful idea came to her. "Would you like to stay the night so you can be close to Bella? There's plenty of beds you could choose from."
Charlie didn't get a chance to answer. He pulled a cell from his pocket, flipping it open only to close it a second late. "Thank you Esme, but something has come up. I need to leave."
We all stood and Carlisle offered him his hand. "Thank you for answering our questions. Is there something we can do for you, about whatever just occurred?"
Charlie shook his head. "This isn't something for your family to worry about, but thanks for the offer." He was almost out the door when he turned back to us. "Please, don't mention the call to Gi."
We all promised we wouldn't. Charlie left then, and I went back to sitting beside Bella all night long.
Author's Note
I would just like to say thank you again for all of your patience with this story and the strange updates that have no order to when they are added. I've tried to change that but so far planning when to update and getting the chapters completed by then so far hasn't happened. I will be attempting another plan, and we will see how well that works.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked Part A for Chapter 15.
Did any of your questions you had get answered by Charlie? Do you still have other questions that didn't? Fill free to send those questions my way, and if they don't get answered in any of the other chapters I will answer them here in the Author notes at the bottom of the chapters.
So what did you guys think about the information here, that we of course didn't know about in Bella's POV? For those of you who have finished Bella's POV for Transitionals: New Moon, does it help make sense of certain things?
Thank you all for your patience,
LiveLifeAuthorStyle