Chapter 7 – Legends
I drove to Ithaca from Forks. The time alone to think was helpful. Also, though I had great control, I didn't want to chance myself locked in a plane cabin with humans. I was a few months old and alone. It felt comforting having some idea on what I was, but there was still so much more for me to learn. Was I the only one? I didn't believe that. If there are more like me, they must be living in secret among the humans. As Prof. McCallister put it, were they still diluting the bloodline, waiting for their time to strike? Thinking about it, I wouldn't avenge my ancestors. Ancestors, until recently, never knew I had. Before leaving Forks, I made arrangements for a house of my own in Ithaca. I didn't want to be in an apartment building, for the same reason I didn't want to fly; close proximity to humans. Cornell University was amazing. It was so much larger and grander than Peninsula. The campus had over 10 libraries, but the one I would need was Ollin Library. That was the library that held all the information I needed. On my first day, I went to meet McCallister's colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Perry.
"Hello, Ms. Swan, it is lovely to meet you. Prof. McCallister spoke very highly of you." I smiled, "Thank you." "He went on and on about your in-depth knowledge on mythical beings." I smiled, "Thank you. I did a lot of reading when I was younger and they fascinated me." Dr. Perry showed me the university's restricted collection in the archives and he was able to give me a pass to go to the section whenever I wanted. "Do not abuse this. Students are not allowed in here. This is a privilege." I smiled, "Thank you. And thank you for trusting me with this." He smiled, "See you in class." I sat in the library for hours. Going through all the delicate papers and drawings, it was fascinating to see the ancient illustrations humans made about mythical beings. I read about many young men who were bitten by werewolves and lost forever.
There was a time when there was a spike in infant deaths, when creatures known as 'immortal children' were created. The legend said when vampires found out that Daywalkers can bear their own children; they wanted to see if they could create their own. A vampire named Sasha had bitten a baby boy and he was uncontrollable. He could not be taught to control himself and when he had infant tantrums, the child was unstoppable. The Volturi trio found Sasha with her newborn creation. She kept the secret from her daughters, so they would be completely innocent. Aro had the child destroyed, along with Sasha. Her daughters were spared, because of their ignorance of the child. Aro wanted to know more about the immortal children. He had some made and studied them for years. He saw there were some covens that fought to their deaths to protect the children. They were very beautiful and completely irresistible.
That was interesting, but that was just a thousand years ago. I had to go back even further. With those older books, I had to handle them with even more care. I was able to go back more than 3000 years. In that collection, I found a worn book. It was darkened with age. There was a newer book with it. In the old book, it was written in an ancient language. The newer book was its companion, translating the stories to English. I looked through the ancient book and I found a drawing. It was of two men. One of them, I recognized as Aro. But his completion had a light-skin complexion and grey eyes. This Aro was human. His hair was shorter and he was a young man. The Aro from Carlisle's painting was older. He looked older than Carlisle, late thirties, early forties, maybe? He stood with a man with red hair and blue eyes. On the bottom of the page it was written 'Darius and his servant, Aro.' On the next page, it was another drawing. In this one, Aro was older, with pale skin and violent crimson eyes, but Darius looked exactly the same. They were standing away from each other. In another picture, it was of a battle. Some of the fighters were paler than their enemies. On either side of the painting were Darius and Aro staring at each other. Referring to the ancient books companion, it unfolded the stories behind the three pictures.
In the time of the early years, the land was overrun with strong beings. Beings much stronger than humans. The 'blood drinkers' were known among the peasants. There were two blood drinkers, one of the day and the other of the night. The two breeds lived in harmony, though the creatures of the night were weaker than the beings of the day. The night beings were not seen until the sun went down. They hunted the humans, some going through more than two humans at a time. When the night beings hunted, their prey was never seen again. The beings of the day were not easily recognized. They hunted humans as well, but the human prey was seen again. These creatures did not kill off their prey; instead they made them do their bidding. In this time, humans were kept as slaves. These dark beings were worshipped and feared. This era lasted for centuries, until the humans discovered the large creatures that could destroy their dark overlords. One human, Viktor went to these animal destroyers and asked to be like them. The creatures he sought were wolves, but they were unlike other wolves. They were stronger, faster and bigger. These wolves were easy to recognize because they walked like men. Viktor returned and he laid waste to the overlords. Few of them survived and Viktor showed mercy. For Viktor, for what he sought, he came to realize was a curse.
He changed into a wolf on the full moon and on his third full moon; he was not able to change back to his human form. He protected the humans and did not allow other wolves to harm them. He turned his sons into wolf protectors as well and kept that bloodline strong. The beings that were spared were Darius, the leader of the beings of the day & Armand, the leader of the night beings. Darius brought with him, his loyal servant, Janosh and his human family. Armand loss all of his kind because they were weaker than the day-beings. Armand wanted revenge, but Darius was against it. Armand grew jealous of Darius and his kind for they can walk in the sunlight and not be noticed by the wolves. Darius refused to create more of his kind, after seeing the death of some of his family. As time went on, Armand plotted his revenge against the humans and the wolves. Darius wanted to see his human family of servants prosper and he aided them. Among Janosh's family was his son and young daughter, Aro & Didyme. They were closest to Darius, because their parents were very loyal. Aro asked to be like Darius to help protect their family, but Darius refused. Learning this, Armand deceived Aro and changed him into a night beings. Aro stood against Darius and wanted revenged against the wolves. He studied them and saw they were easily manipulated. After some years, Aro destroyed Armand and took his power over the coven. Before killing Armand, Aro changed his two closest human friends, Caius & Marcus. Aro came to love power, so he wanted to increase his numbers. Aro changed his sister, Didyme, further hurting Darius. Aro hope she would be a powerful addition to his coven. Darius still refused to create more of his kind.
Aro, Marcus & Caius sent their kind to destroy the wolves, but they lost many. Aro went to Darius and commanded him to create more of his kind. Darius thought Aro was abusing his power and it would destroy him. Making more day-beings would not help. In this time, while Aro plotted and took over the coven; more of the day-beings were discovered. They followed Darius because he was the eldest. He refused Aro again and ordered his kind to not create more like themselves. Aro's anger grew and he ordered his humans to go to the wolves and inform them of the day-beings in the mountains. He had them inform the wolves on how to recognize them. The wolves attacked, destroying several day-beings, including Darius' mate, Cassandra. Seeing his love die, Darius' heart broke and his true nature appeared. He wanted his own revenge. Knowing Aro would be expecting it; Darius learned patience and believed his children would avenge him. Darius ordered the remainder of his kind to only mate with humans, until a time when Aro was powerful and weaker. Their children would destroy the trio that sent the wolves. Afraid the wolves would turn on them, Caius had them hunted and almost wiped out, so only the night creatures would be the strongest. From the day his love died, Darius named his kind the 'Daywalkers.'
Darius had many lovers, but none replaced his lost love. He taught his children how to fight. He promised when the time came, he would change them and they would stand side by side to destroy Aro's coven. For centuries, Darius watched Aro and saw his coven grow. Darius was ready to take his revenge, but he did not attack. The time was not right. As time went on, Darius' children grew in numbers, waiting for their time to avenge their father and fallen mother.
