AN1: This week's recommendation is The Dark Lords of Nerima by claymade and this fic can be found right here on FF dot net. This week I felt like recommending some comedy and when I think fanfiction comedy The Dark Lords if the very first thing that comes to mind. Not only is it hilarious (it is) it also has a lot of action, a lot of character development and just a dash of romance for flavor. It is a Sailor Moon / Ranma crossover. If you are not familiar with either of these franchises the story might be challenging but I recommend you give it a shot anyway. It is incredibly well written and if you want a few laughs and to enjoy a good old fashioned fun romp this fic would definitely be my highest recommendation.
If you like a fic I recommend please let me know somehow. I like to know if people are enjoying my recommendations and would love to hear your thoughts on them.
AN2: New chapter. Important things happen (muahahaha). Enjoy!
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Bella had hoped to get to the school while it was still lunchtime so she could speak to Alice and apologize to Edward for leaving him behind the night before. However due to the taxi taking longer than anticipated she arrived a whole twenty minutes late. Annoyed she walked through the front doors of the school thinking she would have to go find Alice and pull her out of her classroom. What she had not expected was for Alice to be waiting for her near the entrance of the school with an anxious look on her face.
"Alice!" exclaimed Bella, happy and surprised to see her, "were you standing here waiting for me? Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Did you know I was coming?"
Alice turned to face her fully and once Bella got a good look at her she felt herself grow worried. The petite vampire looked anxious and upset. She seemed to take a breath to collect herself. "Yes I'm fine and yes I was waiting for you. But we need to talk. Let's go somewhere quiet."
Alice didn't give Bella a chance to reply as she grabbed the teen by the hand and practically dragged her along behind her. Though Bella had begun to trust Alice being suddenly grabbed by her still made her somewhat uncomfortable. Fortunately Bella saw Alice was just leading them to the library and she relaxed. She didn't think there were many chances of Alice doing anything in the library if she suddenly turned aggressive.
Am I really still scared of her? She wondered. The answer was sort of she decided. It would take a while for her to internalize trusting a vampire that wasn't Victoria. She wanted to give Alice a chance though.
The vampire led them to a table hidden from view near the back of the library. Alice seemed like she wanted to pace but instead made herself sit down. Bella followed her example, confused and growing nervous by the vampire's attitude.
"Alice what's wrong?" asked Bella, her voice tinged with worry.
"Why did you come to school Bella, I thought you were staying home," she asked suddenly. Her tone wasn't accusatory but it wasn't far from it either.
"I…" began Bella suddenly remembering why she had come. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I lost my phone last night and didn't have your number. After last night… we're going to be leaving Forks. Today. I just didn't want to leave without, you know, saying goodbye… and apologizing for just leaving Edward like that last night."
"You're leaving Forks?" Alice asked surprised, "because of the attack?"
Bella hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes. Because of the attack."
Alice looked at her dubiously and Bella felt a pang of guilt. "What is really going on Bella?" Alice asked, "Edward must have seen something important because he's acting skittish as heck and he keeps dodging questions. Did anything unusual happen? Do you know why those zombies attacked? Were they after the two of you?"
Bella's eyes widened and her heart started racing at the questions. Edward hadn't told them she'd blown a door off its hinges in front of him? Why? It didn't make any sense to the girl. Years of ingrained secrecy kicked in however. If Edward hadn't said anything then Bella didn't see any need to enlighten anyone any further. She also didn't think it would be a good idea to answer Alice's questions.
Stupid, thought Bella of course they would interrogate you as soon as they could. Why didn't I think of that? My record for missing the obvious has been disturbingly high the last few days.
Still she wasn't entirely comfortable with lying to Alice. Never mind that lying to vampires with all their enhanced senses was a tricky proposition to begin with. "I'm not sure why Edward isn't saying anything. I really couldn't say. Did anything unusual happen, you mean other than zombies attacking a mall," Bella paused and let out a sigh, "nothing that I would consider especially unusual" Bella said. Sadly that statement was one hundred percent true.
"Bella I need to know if the zombies were after you specifically," Alice insisted, leaning in with eyes pleading with Bella to cooperate.
"Why?" asked Bella, feeling defensive and surprised by how Alice was acting.
"Because," said Alice licking her lips, "not half an hour ago I had a vision of zombies walking around the streets of Forks. In broad daylight. That sort of thing is bad Bella, really bad, especially in a town as small as this one. I need to know Bella. Are the zombies coming after you or are they coming after my brother?"
Bella froze her eyes widening in panic. How had they found her again? So soon? Bella knew, knew they couldn't be tracking her with magic. How was it possible? Did they find some other clue? Did something else lead them here?
Then it hit her. Edward. They probably identified him somehow and the Volturi would know where he lives. That's how whoever is controlling the zombies knew to come to Forks. Probably. It's a good bet though.
"Do you know when?" asked Bella trying to keep the panic from her voice.
Alice shook her head. "My visions are strange. Sometimes I know the time and place of the event. Sometimes I don't know where it takes place, or when it takes place, or both. I'm sure the vision I saw was in Forks but exactly when it's going to happen I'm not sure."
So they could be there tomorrow or next week. Or maybe even that same day.
Bella grimaced. "Were they hurting anybody?"
"Not that I saw… but I only get to see windows of time in a specific place. I have no idea what went on before or after my vision," she said. "Please Bella you've got to help us out. We can't just let something like this go unchecked."
Bella was silent and looked down unable to look Alice in the eye. She wanted to tell Alice but… she couldn't. Not at the drop of a hat. Hiding who she was and everything about herself for so many years had kept her alive for this long. She couldn't bring herself to open her mouth and start spilling her secrets.
Alice just looked at her in silence for several long moments. "They're after you aren't they?" she said and though it was technically a question she sounded as though she was confirming to herself what she had already suspected.
Bella shifted nervously in her seat suddenly feeling crowded in and threatened. "I can't really talk about any of this. I'll be out of town by tonight. If they are after me then they'll leave everyone else alone. Generally speaking witches and wizards are concerned with secrecy as much as vampires are."
"Witches and wizards?" asked Alice.
Spirits I'm really off my game today. I probably still haven't completely recovered from all the blood loss last night.
"What else could create zombies?" said Bella shrugging casually but the attempt at nonchalance didn't fool or dissuade Alice.
"Why would wizards or witches be after you Bella?" asked Alice.
Bella was feeling really boxed in at this point and cornered by Alice's questions. Feeling like she was trapped Bella's feelings turned from guilt and indecision to indignation.
"That's my business Alice and my life. You don't have the right to be asking me any of these questions," said Bella angrily, locking gazes with the vampire.
Alice was a little taken aback by Bella's sudden shift in attitude but she didn't let it deter her. "Please just tell me Bella. You don't have to be scared of me. I promise you, I swear all I want to do is figure out what is going on and help you," she said pleading.
Bella shook her head. "No. Sorry but this isn't something you can help me with. Trust me it's better for everyone if you don't know. I'll leave town, the threat to the town passes, end of story. You won't have to worry about it ever again."
"Bella," said Alice looking hurt, "I thought we were friends. This is huge. A lot of people could get hurt, you could get hurt and I don't want to see that happen. Please trust me. I'm willing to help you out no matter what. In fact I'm pretty sure my whole family will want to help out. Can't you please trust me?"
The words hurt like an icicle to the heart. Bella had been a fool. Such a huge fool. What had she been thinking befriending a vampire? Vampires in general? She couldn't trust any vampire besides Victoria. All the vampires in the world answered to the Volturi and nothing good could come of revealing her secrets to one of them let alone an entire coven of them. She couldn't trust Alice… but she wanted to. The teen really really wanted to but in the end all vampires were loyal to the Volturi. Telling one of them about her would be like admitting to a member of the Nazi party that you were a Jew. Even if they wanted to shelter you it would put them in an incredibly awkward position. Telling would be a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
No. She couldn't admit anything. She couldn't put Alice in that position. Besides she would be gone by that evening. Better for everyone if she kept her mouth shut.
"Look I just came by to say thank you for everything you've done and to apologize for what happened with Edward. We'll be out of your town by tonight. It was really nice getting to know you," said Bella and the sincerity in her voice was obvious.
"Bella…" said Alice, taken off guard by the finality of her words.
"I should get back. I'll never hear the end of it from Tori if she comes home and finds me gone," she joked with a weak smile. Then Bella stood up and with a final jerky nod started heading towards the door.
This is wrong thought Alice. Her best friend was in trouble and she was just… walking out of her life? Just like that? Alice could practically smell the fear coming off her at certain points during their conversation. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. Whatever it was obviously was bad enough that Bella and Victoria felt they had to run. Why all the secrecy then?
Alice couldn't just leave it at that. Not when she had seen the future and knew that she and Bella were going to be close for years to come. That wasn't a future she wanted to see change.
The vampire stood up and turned towards the retreating girl. "Bella, wai-" she began before the vision hit her.
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Esme was sitting in a chair upstairs near a window. She was reading a book when she heard something.
Steps. Someone out in the front porch. Her brows furrowed. Who could it be? Then she heard the distinct sound of the front door opening. Someone had found their house and let themselves inside. That was – worrying to say the least.
Esme put the book down and wasn't even halfway down the stairs when the smell hit her. Death. Rotting. Decay. The smell of a week old corpse thought strangely the scent was significantly muted. Still it was more than enough for a vampire to pick up on.
As she reached the bottom of the stair she saw, standing in the middle of her living room, one of the corpse like creatures the others had described from Port Angeles. The corpse used to be a tall dark haired male in his late teens. It just stood there, looking at her, and then disturbingly enough it smiled at her.
Esme was debating whether or not she should attack the creature when it spoke.
"You must be Esme Cullen correct? Matriarch of the Olympic Coven?" the zombie spoke with a British accent, "Allow me to introduce myself. Luke Taylor at your service," the corpse said with exaggerated flourish. It was disturbing to see it moving and acting so lifelike when she knew it was dead.
"What are you doing here? This corpse isn't really your body is it?" said Esme coldly, folding her arms and leveling her best glare at the corpse.
'Luke' chuckled. "Goodness no, can you imagine being stuck in a corpse? Well you can probably relate to some extent but it's hardly the same thing. As to what I'm doing here? I believe your coven possesses information I need."
"You attacked my son last night," Esme said in anger.
"Only because he got in my way."
Esme's lip curled up in distaste. "What do you want?"
The corpse pretended to think it over. "Teenage girl. Pretty. About a hundred and sixty five centimeters. Travels with an overprotective redheaded vampire. Goes by the name Isabella Black. Was on a date with your son just the other night by the looks of it. Ringing any bells?"
Esme's eyes widened slightly in surprise before narrowing again. "Why do you want to find her?"
"To kill her of course. I thought that much would have been obvious."
Esme wasn't the type to lash out and hit someone but something very dangerous changed in her stance.
"That's not going to happen. You better pack your bags and go back where you came from. This coven will not let you hurt that girl," Esme said in a hard even tone.
The Luke corpse chuckled. "Cute. But don't go making promises like that when you don't have all the information. You don't even know why I want to kill her."
"Fine," said Esme, "explain it to me then. Why do you want to kill her?"
"I was hired to."
"By who?" Esme asked dangerously.
"Why, by the Volturi of course," the corpse said with a smirk.
'Luke' seemed to enjoy Esme's completely shocked expression before continuing. "Honestly, that girl doesn't deserve to live she's so dumb. Associating with you lot? And a date? I'll be doing her a favor by putting her out of her misery," he said before shaking his head in mock sadness, "and I bet she's fooled the lot of you too. On second thought maybe she's being quite clever getting close to your son. Yes I suppose she must have at least a few brain cells to have stayed alive this long. I'm willing to bet she hasn't even told you what she is has she? No of course she hasn't otherwise you wouldn't be standing here trying to defend her."
"What are you talking about?" said Esme. It was clear she didn't completely believe his story but she was definitely listening for now.
"She's a witch," said 'Luke' with glee, "young but very powerful. She must be otherwise I can't imagine the Volturi would bother with her. My personal theory is that vampire that follows her like a lapdog and protects her from all the bad things in the world is the reason the Volturi want her dead. That good looking redhead probably belonged to someone important high up in the Volturi before the girl snatched her away. Did you know that certain types of magic can enslave a vampire to the will of a witch? Necromancy we call it. I can't understand how else she would have kept that redhead from tearing her throat out all these years. You have to see where I'm going with this. She's at that age where her powers will soon reach their peak. What do you think the chances are she has your son in her sights for her next loyal vampire servant? Telepathy is such a useful ability."
"No," said Esme firmly, "Bella isn't like that."
"Bella now is it? My she has wormed her way into your family rather quickly hasn't she? But that still doesn't change the fact the Volturi has decreed that she must die. Make a phone call if you don't believe me. I do believe they'll be quick to tell you to give me every assistance on my mission. And don't worry if you can't stomach doing the deed yourself. I'll be happy to take care of that troublesome little detail myself just as soon as you do your duty to your masters and tell me where I can find her. I'll even make it quick."
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Alice froze in mid motion, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. How… how had she not seen this before? And why had she seen this so late?! That vision that she had was only ten minutes away.
The petite vampire was stunned. Her best friend… a witch? On the run from the Volturi? Of all the scenarios that had occurred to her none of them had even come close. Alice didn't know if they could trust this 'Luke Taylor' to tell the truth but he seemed confident that a phone call to Volterra would confirm all his claims. If he was willing to go that far it was a fair bet they were telling the truth.
But if that was true would the Volturi order them to kill Bella? Would they try to punish her family if they didn't turn the girl over? If they didn't hand her over… there would be repercussions though how severe they would be Alice had no way of knowing. They could well be severely punished depending on how much of an issue Volterra wanted to make of this.
Alice looked at Bella's retreating back as she was almost to the library doors. The vampire loved Bella. It was a quirk of her power that she often experienced the emotions she felt that went along with her visions and they became her own. She had been devoted and loved Jasper as her mate before she ever met him. It was the same with her best friend. To her it was as if they had been the closest of friends for years already instead of just knowing each other for one solitary week.
Could she just let the Volturi hurt her? No. No absolutely not. No matter what she had to do she would keep Bella safe. Even if she had to take the blame all on herself and run that is what she would do. Jasper would understand. Jasper always understood her even if he didn't always agree.
"Isabella… Isabella Black," Alice said to the retreating girl.
Bella froze. She stood still for long agonizing moments before turning around. The look on Bella's face enraged her and broke her heart all at the same time.
She looked terrified. Her eyes were wide and her breathing had gotten so fast she was almost hyperventilating. Alice noticed her shake loose the bracelets on her wrists and for the first time wondered if there was more to them than simple decoration.
She's scared of me. Alice hated it and wanted to snap in half whoever had made Bella's life so bad than even someone knowing her real name was enough to cause a near panic attack. She had to convince Bella that she was on her side.
"I know," began Alice holding her hands up in a peaceful gesture, "I know everything."
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"I know," said Alice, "I know everything."
Bella swallowed, trying to keep from panicking. Her first instinct after she had gathered her wits enough to move was to raise her orange shield and burn the vampire in front of her to ash. But… Alice could have attacked her when her back was turned and killed her easily. She also didn't want to hurt Alice. Even if the petite vampire turned on her now Bella didn't know if she could bring herself to do her any lasting harm.
Isabella Black… how does she know that name? I thought she couldn't see anything about me in her visions. Bella took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down enough to look at the situation more or less objectively. Alice hadn't made any aggressive moves towards her. Her hands were held up in a placating gesture. He face looked… pained and pleading. Alice didn't look like a person getting ready to do her violence.
It made Bella relax a little. Even so she didn't let down her guard. She made sure to have her bouncing shield ready to come up with just a thought just in case. Bella let her magic flood her charms and used the familiar feeling as a way to center herself and figure out what her next move would be.
"What do you mean you know everything?" asked Bella and she hated she slight tremble she couldn't manage to keep out of her voice.
Alice made a sheepish expression. "Well everything might be a bit of a stretch. I mean… I know about your name. About you being a witch. And about… the Volturi wanting you dead."
Bella was stupefied. She couldn't even begin to properly process what she was hearing.
"How?" she asked.
"A vision. The wizard who apparently made those creatures sent a walking talking corpse to my house to speak with Esme. Just now I had a vision of their conversation. He… he said that your name was Isabella Black, that you were a witch, and that the Volturi wanted to kill you. Nothing substantial other than that though," she said.
Bella said nothing but just nodded, her mind working furiously over this new information.
"It's true isn't it?" asked Alice, "the Volturi want you dead?"
Why was she even asking? She already knew the answer. Or did she just want to be extra sure before she tried to kill her? Would she do her duty to her Volturi masters and try to do the deed in her name?
"Yes," she replied and readied herself with a dry mouth for the first sign of an attack.
Alice huffed and put her arms down a pained look crossing over her face. "I was pretty sure that was the case but I had to make sure. Dammit. This is going to be a problem."
Bella blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"I mean," Alice said sounding a bit exasperated, "that it's going to take a lot of doing to get the Volturi to back off. In the short term we need to make sure you're safe. That creep calling himself Luke Taylor is already in town."
"Wait… what?" asked Bella in confusion not following what Alice was saying. She was speaking gibberish. Luke Taylor? Get the Volturi to back off?
Alive bit her lip looking off to the side as if in thought. "That vision I had earlier of zombies in the streets of Forks is probably for today. We need to be able to get you out of here while making sure no one can see you. Or maybe it would be safer for you to stay here until school got out and we could blend in with the crowd leaving the school."
"Wait, just wait!" said Bella a little too loudly for the library, "what are you saying? Aren't you like obligated to kill me or hand me over to them or something? Won't they come after you if you don't?"
Alice looked at Bella, something soft in her eyes. "Maybe? Probably. But that's ok. Your safety is more important. I'm not going to let Taylor or anyone hurt you. This whole thing has got to be some kind of huge mistake." She sounded like she believed that.
Bella was at a loss. Things were moving too fast and she felt like she didn't know the vampire in front of her at all. "Why would you do that for me?" she said her voice coming out sad and a little vulnerable.
Alice's answering smile was tinged with worry but absolutely genuine. "I told you before didn't I? We're going to be best friends. You're already my best friend even if you don't feel that way and even if it's only been a week. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Unexpectedly Bella felt her eyes filling up with tears. Her bottom lip quivered a little with the sudden rush of emotion. "Do-do you really mean that?"
Alice simply nodded. Seeing that Bella was on the verge of tears the little vampire walked up to her. Bella didn't fight it when Alice reached up and pulled her into a hug. The dam broke and Bella started sobbing loudly into her shoulder as she clung to the shorter girl.
"It's ok," Alice hushed as she rubbed small circles on her back, "it's going to be ok."
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Alice led her back to one of the tables hidden from view. Bella cried for a few more minutes and then the story started to spill out. It was a relief for the teen, almost like a painful pressure was removed from her chest when she got to tell someone else her story. She told her about being born into a well-known family of magic users. She told her about how she had been pulled out of school as a little girl because for some reason it seemed vampires wanted her dead. How she had met Victoria when she was eight years old. How her parents and her whole family had been killed in a large scale coordinated attack and how her parents had delayed the attacking force long enough for her and Victoria to escape. The only thing Bella glossed over was the exact nature of her relationship with Victoria and she didn't mention the collar at all. It was deeply personal and she didn't think the vampire would appreciate everyone knowing that particular bit of information.
If Alice thought it was odd that Victoria had stuck with her for so long she didn't say anything. Instead she said, "I'm sorry you've had to live like that. It couldn't have been easy," she said sympathetically.
"Yeah well. Seeing new places all the time isn't so bad I guess. Plus I've always had Tori with me so… you know she's been kind of my rock. My protector" Bella laughed a little self-consciously, "pretty much my everything really. It could have been worse. It could have been better, but it could have been worse."
The crying and all the emotions had made Bella start feeling a little sweaty and it was warm in the library. Forgetting what it was supposed to be hiding she absentmindedly undid one of the buttons of her collar. Right away Alice caught a glimpse of the healing bite on her neck.
"Let me see that," she said and without permission moved the collar of Bella's shirt aside to get a better look at the bite.
"Hey, that-!" stammered Bella for some reason feeling self-conscious about Alice looking at her new permanent mark, feeling like she had been caught in the bathroom with her clothes off. She tried to bat Alice's hands aside and thankfully the vampire let go without protest. When she looked at Alice's face Bella saw concern in her eyes.
"You know that's permanent don't you?" said Alice in a tone that made her sound like a concerned mother or older sister.
"Yea, of course I do," said Bella a little defensively as she moved to cover up the bite again.
"Do you know what it means?" Alice asked worriedly.
"Well kind of. She's sort of… marking her territory right? Telling others I'm off limits?" said Bella but she didn't sound very sure of herself. Suddenly she didn't want to be having this conversation.
"Yes and no. It's more than that especially since you're human," said Alice. She was looking a little mad now "it's a mark that also tells everyone she owns you. Like a slave or a piece of cattle."
Bella blinked at that. "Well, yeah. I kinda figured there was an 'ownership' angle to it. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't make much sense otherwise."
"No you don't understand," said Alice sounding a little agitated, "it's saying you're property. Not an equal. Like a pet dog or something. She's saying she owns you like, nineteenth century tobacco plantation slave owns you. It's not generally considered to be a flattering thing between a human and a vampire."
Bella thought about it for a minute before smiling a little smile at the vampire and shrugging. "That's ok. I don't mind." She didn't care what anyone else thought of it. It was a lot more than what Alice was implying.
"Bella!" said Alice sounding exasperated, "it-it's not proper. It's disrespectful to you! You are a lot more than just someone's property," she insisted.
"Alice look-" she began before she paused. From her point of view she could see how Alice might think it was demeaning or degrading to her in a way. If it what Alice said was true then maybe it could even be looked at that way objectively. But Alice hadn't been there with them the night before. She didn't know how… how important it had been in their relationship. She didn't know that both Bella and Victoria had known that Bella would have never turned her down. Their relationship was…complicated, but it was sort of working. They were working it out slowly. But with Victoria involved things definitely did not progress in the delicate and cultured way most people expected. This was the first time she'd had to consider what their relationship would look like to outsiders.
"Our relationship is complicated. I don't want to argue about it. Just accept that I'm all right with it, ok? Please?" she begged her friend.
Alice looked reluctant to let the subject drop but merely nodded. Bella was thankful for that. It was a strangely intimate thing to be arguing about.
Had they just had their first fight as friends? Whoa. That had to be some kind of milestone.
"So," began Bella feeling somewhat tired, "what now?"
Alice sighed. "Well, I suppose we should-"
Bella watched as Alice stopped speaking mid-sentence and seemed to stare off blankly into space. From what she had heard she guessed this was what happened when Alice saw a vision. Bella waited patiently and a few seconds later Alice's eyes began to focus again.
"Well?" Bella asked gently.
Alice turned to Bella with wide alarmed eyes.
"The school is going to be swarmed by zombies in less than five minutes."
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AN: Aaaand a cliffie. I know I'm evil XD. What did you think? Please let me know what you liked (or not) in this chapter. As always more reviews means faster writing which all equals faster updates :D.