A/N: So here, we arrive at the end of The Volturi Assassin. Writing is my absolute passion, and I would like to thank anybody who has so much as read my story. If you feel the need to review, you can review my whole story or just the final chapter, or whatever. Any review would be much appreciated, and please be honest. Writing this fanfic has been a great time, and I hope this final, climatic chapter will be a fitting end to The Volturi Assassin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight and or any of the characters that appear in the Stephanie Meyer books. However, the characters that do not appear in the books are of my own creation.

Without further ado, please start reading.

A Tear For All The Lost

Trevor sent a spray of mud out in a fan behind him as he and Marcus charged through the stench and bile of these festering swamps. They kept going, as they knew they were close; they could smell the Romanians, so they knew that Lucian and the others had passed by here recently.

Then, minutes later, the trail ended. Trevor also knew why. This monsoon had made the waters putrid, and this was a shame, since the river was beautiful most of the time. It also ended in a waterfall, and Trevor surmised that this was the reason that the trail had gone cold. They would have to guess their way around until the trail picked up again, and Trevor leapt off the cliff. He surfaced, and followed Marcus, swimming swiftly through the filthy water. By the time he had hoisted himself onto land, Marcus had already started running. The trail had immediately picked up again, and the two vampires would waste no time in following it.

Marcus had never known, but he had an affinity for tracking and with Trevor's clear thinking and common sense, they had successfully followed the Romanians this far and the trail had been getting fresher all the time. Trevor skidded to a halt as Marcus did. Trevor was a hopeless tracker, though he was smart and had quite strong senses. Even he could smell it. The Romanians were still in the cave up ahead. They had seen the Romanians fleeing from the battle, and they knew that there were ten left. Lucian, Vladimir, Stefan, Eftemie and Stephen were among them.

There was a small pyre of flame already lit; they had been expecting the Volturi to give chase, but the small size of the fire told Trevor that they had expected much more time to prepare. Hopefully, with the element of surprise, they could take most of the Romanians down. Trevor's sense of smell over loaded as Stephen and one other very fast vampire leapt at Marcus and Trevor. Father and son turned around, but neither had time to stop the attacks coming their way. They did have time to dodge, and they did. The combat was starting.

It was over shortly after it started, and it seemed that the two were the only ones at the large cave. They others were probably hunting. Stephen shielded the other, Neville, but to no avail, as the Volturi were by far the better fighters. Trevor was facing Neville, the weaker, and the fear in his enemy's eyes was evident. He had heard all about Trevor and didn't like his chances of survival. He turned to flee and leave Stephen to suffer their wrath. Neville was rewarded with decapitation, and soon after, death.

Stephen saw Neville turn to flee and save himself, but the coward was quickly beheaded and roasted by Trevor. The odds were now heavily stacked against Stephen, and his only hope was to bide enough time for Lucian, Stefan and the rest to return in time to save him. He was brave though, and would die before suffering the same coward's death as Neville.

*

Aro surveyed the two new members of the Volturi. Alec and Jane were strong. They would contribute nicely to his arsenal of talented vampires. The battle with the Romanians had been costly to be sure, but gaining Alec and Jane would outweigh the losses of thirty or so talentless vampires. He dismissed them, and reminded himself to order Chelsea to give the twins another blast of her powers. Soon they would join his cause willingly.

*

Mathias and Farfalla had had an argument. Mathias had wanted to follow Marcus and Trevor to help them fight the Romanians. Farfalla was adamant in her opinion that they had been reckless and stupid to take on Lucian so soon after the battle. She may have been right, but Mathias felt that that changed nothing. They were still morally obliged to help Marcus; after all he had done for them, it was fair.

Farfalla had proved immovable on the subject; she didn't want to risk their lives again so quickly. She was all too aware about the mortality of vampires; Didyme's death had taught her that vampires were not invincible. So Mathias had left Volterra without his mate, to find Marcus and Trevor, to help them whatever the consequences. He stopped, though not tired, and surveyed the landscape. He was on the brink of a waterfall and quickly sighted the smoke of a large fire. That was where the fight would be, so he judged the approximate distance, and stepped off the cliff.

*

After Neville's quick death, Stephen had been brought down under a flurry of blows dealt by Marcus and Trevor. His flesh had just stopped crackling as two more arrived. There were mates, and closely bonded. Therefore they fought together, and Marcus used his power to see this. Marcus concocted a strategy that was, that if separated, they could be picked off quite easily.

Trevor immediately saw the plan Marcus was trying to implement, and focussed his attacks solely on the female. Marcus attacked the male, and struck him with one particularly harsh blow, sprawling him backwards, and away from his mate for the last time. Marcus shot towards his target and relentlessly pounded the Romanian until he was helpless to prevent his own death.

The female bowed her head in resignation to her own fate as her mate died; she knew she couldn't live alone. Trevor ripped off her head and Marcus her legs, and within seconds she was gone as well. The next three arrived at the same time, led by Eftemie. Marcus and Trevor were locked in vicious combat with them when Lucian, Vladimir and Stefan came sprinting into the fray.

By now, Trevor had dispatched one, but the other two were very strong and very smart, and had fallen for none of Marcus' strategies or been overwhelmed by Trevor's speed and precision. Vladimir and Lucian went straight for Trevor, while Stefan attacked Marcus, halting the Volturi leader's offensive and saving Eftemie's life. Marcus saw Lucian and immediately charged past Stefan and Eftemie to attack his wife's killer. But he was struck down by Stefan.

Stefan used his arms to restrain Marcus with Eftemie's help as well. Trevor was momentarily distracted from his fight, and all three of his opponents seized the opportunity. Within seconds, Trevor was restrained in the same way by Vladimir and the other. Lucian gestured for their release. Confused vampires complied.

"I will allow Trevor and Marcus to fight me themselves. We will make deal," Lucian said, "If the two of you beat me, you can then kill me. Obviously, due to Trevor's revenge power I can't just kill him. So, if I defeat the two of you, Marcus will kill Trevor and both of you will be dead."

"How do you know we will not refuse to kill each other?" Marcus said.

"I have something that you want, Marcus, and if I defeat you, and you cooperate, I will release my little bargaining chip. You will be dead, but this currently unnamed vampire will live."

Without further delay, Marcus and Trevor nodded grimly, and Lucian smiled, settling into a defensive crouch and waiting for the attack to come. Come it did and their need for revenge took over as they fought against who they thought was Didyme's killer. This fight ended quickly as well. Lucian had seen the anger in their eyes and knew he had them.

Marcus was slightly faster to attack, and Lucian slowly dodged, just escaping the attack. Trevor hurled himself at Lucian, but Lucian dodged again, and in quick succession, Marcus came forward as well. He had hoped to catch Lucian off guard, but the Romanian threw Marcus over his head and bit into his neck. Trevor launched hauled Lucian's teeth away from Marcus, but Trevor had been too desperate to save Marcus, and he had made a sloppy attack, and left himself wide open for retaliation. Lucian took the opportunity and rammed Trevor into the ground.

The two Volturi charged Lucian at the same time this time, but were outwitted again, and found themselves running straight into Lucian's arms. They hit the ground and a dust cloud came up. All the vampires could still see perfectly though.

Trevor and Marcus were hurled from the scuffle and they were both heading with a lot of momentum and speed, straight for the flames. Lucian's arms appeared around their necks though, and he had had them both. The five other vampires were shocked at how quickly and easily Lucian had beaten two of the Volturi's strongest fighters. Lucian threw the defeated vampires across the clearing.

"You are beaten. Marcus, kill Trevor," Lucian said.

"No," said Marcus, to nobody's surprise.

"I thought you would say that. So I would like to introduce you to my bargaining chip," he said, and whistled, "Didyme, come out to see your mate."

Marcus saw Didyme walk out with his own eyes. His love in every way was still alive and he could see her! The problem was that Lucian did have a talent. He could create illusions, and Marcus was the only one who could see Didyme. Lucian's talent could only be used on one person, and not for long, but he had practiced it until it became very effective.

"Didyme, leave," Lucian said quickly and in a strained voice. The illusion disappeared into the trees again, but Marcus was mystified.

"How did you save her?" Marcus asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you can choose her life or Trevor's. Yours is forfeit anyway. One of them can walk away from here. Kill Trevor and grant your mate another life!" Lucian said. Marcus totally believed that what he had seen was Didyme, and in his desperation for Didyme to be alive, Marcus chose without hesitating.

Lucian's face lit up. Marcus lunged for Trevor, who wordlessly bowed his head.

"Goodbye, Marcus, and thank you fo-" Trevor started to say, but was quickly torn apart by his master, father and friend, Marcus, and tossed into the flames like Trevor had done to so many others. Trevor was dead.

"Show me Didyme before I die, Lucian, please!" Marcus begged. Lucian summoned the illusion out of the trees again.

"Illusion, disappear," said Lucian with a cruel laugh, and Marcus realised that he had been tricked into killing his son. Marcus waited in a heartbroken state for Trevor's revenge power to take him.

*

Trevor, Lucian and Marcus had been oblivious to the battle around them. Mathias had arrived just as Lucian urged Marcus to kill Trevor. Mathias shot forward, and within seconds, took out a vampire purely with surprise and speed. He had her head off, and limbs in the flames by the time Vladimir and Stefan reacted.

Then Eftemie saw the vampire who had played him and his dead mate for fools for months, pretended to be their friend and companion, and had indirectly brought about Ecaterina's death. Mathias and Eftemie tumbled away into the trees. Vladimir and Stefan returned their concentration to Lucian and Marcus, though they kept an eye on Mathias and Eftemie's fight.

*

Marcus waited for death to take him. He looked up to see a pile of ashes. Lucian was dead, not Marcus. Marcus was confused, but looked around to see Mathias standing beside him.

"Eftemie will not bother us again, Marcus. I'm sorry about Trevor's loss."

"Why was Lucian taken by the revenge power, not me? I killed Trevor, not Lucian." Marcus sounded hollow. Mathias knew that Marcus was a broken. He had now lost Didyme and Trevor. Mathias shook his head, confused himself.

"Vladimir and Stefan fled when they saw Lucian killed. They will go into exile for centuries. It seems the Romanian threat has not been completely eradicated," Mathias said. Marcus nodded, although neither of them really cared.

The two of them returned to Volterra, heavy hearts weighing them down.

*

Mathias still didn't understand what had happened in the cave that night. He had since made amends with Farfalla, and they were planning a long-term interlude, and a chance to escape the Volturi for a few centuries. But before he left, he had to see Marcus. So here he was, speaking to his master and friend.

Mathias walked in, and Marcus immediately started to speak. For the first time since that night, a month ago, he was smiling, and for some reason, Mathias smiled too.

"I have figured out what happened in that cave," Marcus said, "When humans transform into vampires, everything about them, physically and mentally, is enhanced. Our speed improves, we have endless endurance, and we become stronger and smarter." Mathias nodded, understanding. "I think that although we never had a chance to test it up until... what happened, but his powers matured, became smarter as well. He became even faster, the fastest vampire we have ever seen. His eyesight improved, and he could clearly see what a vampire was doing from up to two miles away, twice as far as you or me." Marcus paused and Mathias nodded again.

"What about his revenge power?" Mathias asked.

"His revenge power must have also become more mature. Instead of targeting the vampire who inflicted the damage, it reaped its revenge on the one responsible for his death. Although I dealt the killing blows, Lucian was truly Trevor's killer, therefore, I was spared and Lucian was taken." Marcus chuckled. "It seems that even in death, Trevor had a final trump card to play."

Mathias left after a few minutes, and Marcus didn't smile again for 2000 years.

*

Mathias hauled himself out of the water, and onto the shore of this foreign land. Marcus, Didyme and Trevor had planned to come here, but now... now Chelsea had struck, and Didyme and Trevor were dead... Marcus was not going to come here alone.

He and Farfalla kissed passionately, as they surveyed the land before them. They had a continent to themselves, and they were going to live a peaceful life for centuries to come.

Marcus was mourning again. It had been half a century since Trevor had been transformed, and those two years, two short years he had shared with Trevor and Didyme had been the best of his life. Marcus had assigned himself the task of tracking down Vladimir and Stefan, but his heart wasn't in it, and today, he had lost their trail for good. He didn't care. He would give anything to die. But he had sworn on his love that he would never try to follow Didyme.

Neither of them would want his death. He had killed Trevor, but he had escaped judgement. Lucian had been caught in the crossfire, and although he would always hate Lucian's memory for robbing him of Didyme and Trevor, it was himself whom he would always truly blame.

He thought of the world, all the vampires, humans, of Mathias and Farfalla. He thought of Didyme and of Trevor, and in his heart, Marcus shed a lone tear for all the lost.

The story is not over. Read on in my next fanfic in this series: 'The Aftermath' Note: 'The Aftermath' is NOT canon, even for me. It is just a possible mini-story that could happen. Although I have no plans to, I may write a canon sequel to the Volturi Assassin. If I do, disregard everything you read in 'The Aftermath.'