Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their perspective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.

Overwhelming Darkness

A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo BellaItalia oX and DeathQueen26. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the bottom of the next chapter. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. Enjoy! – Bella'Xo

Chapter 5

(3rd POV: Volterra)

Aro, Marcus and Caius were sitting on their thrones when the doors opened and Felix, Demetri, Jane and Alec came through, moving forward to the kings before they knelt down on one knee with their heads bowed. They were waiting until Aro told them to stand before they rose to their feet.

Once he told them to stand, it was a couple of minutes more before Aro spoke.

"As you know, Jasper is in America with the Cullen's and he is in Forks at this moment in time. Edward and Alice are also there on a short leave, yet none of them have even called. I would like you four to go and find out what is going on and report back to me." Aro told his loyal guard members. "I know that this Iz, War Goddess of the South is just as terrible as the Major."

"She will be no trouble at all, Master." Jane smirked thinking she could take the woman, Iz, down with her power. "All I have to do is get within a couple of feet from her and I could drop her instantly."

Aro shook his head. "I'm truly sorry, Jane, but this Isabella - or Iz - is a shield and no mental power can work on her because of this fact." He looked at Demetri. "You also might have some trouble finding her, because of her shield, but I have to doubt that you will be able to find her and bring her back here. I would like to meet this Isabella Swan." His eyes gleamed with interest.

"Since she is a shield, how should we take her down?" Felix asked with his arms crossed over his chest. "If she has grown up in the south during her newborn year, then she is skilled in not only fighting, but all of the fighting techniques that the other vampires use."

Caius nodded. "Felix is correct, Aro." His eyes narrowed. "How do you expect then to take down this woman if she is a shield?"

"From what I saw in the messengers mind, she is not only a mental shield, but a physical shield, as well." Aro glanced at his quiet brother. "What do you have to say about this Marcus?"

Marcus eyes looked bored, but if you looked deeper, you could see the pain in his soul because of the fact that his mate was no longer in the world. "I believe we should visit her ourselves." His eyes scanned Aro and Caius. "Or I will go myself with Jane and Demetri."

Caius hissed as he turned his head away from Marcus, but Aro looked intrigued. "Why would you do this, brother?" Aro tilted his head to the side. "You have not left the castle in over 100 centuries since Didyme was killed." His voice was solemn, because Didyme was his sister that he loved dearly.

Caius growled quietly. There was no love lost there. Didyme and Caius hated each other with a passion. Caius believed that a woman's place was in the home while the man did the providing. Didyme believed in woman's right and tried to help Athenodora, because of the fact that Caius was not the best mate to her. If he had a bad day, then Caius would take it out on Athenodora and Didyme had saw him once bring it to Aro and Marcus's attention, but soon after, Didyme was killed by the Romanians - or so they were told by Caius.

"There is a light blue string tying me to the south." Marcus explained. He could see relationships between people. Whether family - light blue - or mates - bright gold - or friends - a pink color. "I think that some of my human family may live in the south and I wish to search for them. It may bring some peace to my tortured soul." His eyes turned away from Aro's.

"If this what it takes to bring a smile to your face, brother, then by all means go and do what you must." Aro stood and went over to Marcus. "But do be careful." His eyes were full of meaning.

Marcus nodded in understanding. Even though Marcus looked older than the three of them, he was the middle 'child' so to speak. Caius was the youngest, and Aro, the oldest. With the girls, Didyme was the oldest while Sulpicia was the middle child. Athenodora was the youngest along with Caius.

Aro then turned to Jane, Demetri, Felix and Alec. "Now that that is settled, why don't you go and have some private time until it is time for dinner." Aro suggested as he retook his seat.

The four of them nodded and left. Jane and Demetri were getting ready to travel with Marcus to America while Felix and Alec were heading to the training ground to brush up on their fighting skills. If master Aro did bring the shield here, they would need to be at the top of their game.

(Bella's POV: Texas)

We just arrived at my new compound and I noticed that Maria had been here, but vacated the area before we arrived. I noticed that there were still more newborns that Maria had not brought to battle with her because of the fact that they were too young and probably weren't trained yet. I would take them in as an addition to my army. Iz had given me back control, because of the fact that the battle was over.

I turned to Raoul. "Check the compound for anything that we may need or can use." I ordered him.

Raoul nodded and then took off. I looked at the others that came with me and then down to the young girl that would not leave my side. Mika had kept by my side and has not left it since she had switched sides. She had her fingers glued to the back of my shirt. I could understand that she was scared. I had sent Sadie back to my compound and told her to bring Nick. I knew that he would love to have a friend, even if she was older than him. I could also see that Mika needed someone to take her under their wing, so to speak.

"Where was your room, child?" I asked placing a hand on Mika's back as I brought her around in front of me. "Do you wish to go gather your things?" I frowned when she didn't answer. "Mika, it is alright to speak."

Sai came up beside us. I glanced up and found Sai standing by her mate Uri. "Uri heard from her mind that she is rather scared of speaking. Maria would torture her if she spoke out of turn." Sai answered softly. Nitro was standing by Faia which was watching the newborns of Maria's start to file out.

I nodded standing and using one hand to raise up Mika's eyes to meet mine. "Since you are used to being ordered around, I will give you one order and that is the only thing I want you to obey. Is that understood?" I raised a brow in question. Mika nodded. "You are to be a child for eternity." I gave her a smile.

Mika's eyes widen in surprise and shock. The next thing I knew, she launched herself into my arms. I chuckled as I caught her and held her as she dry sobbed for a few moments. Uri and Sai both smiled as they went back over to Sai's sister. I knew that Sai and Faia could not stay away from each other for long period of time, because of the fact that their power feeds off each other's. I was shocked when Peter told me this.

I placed Mika back on the ground as I turned to the new newborns that were now in my command. I could tell that most of them were starving. I nodded quickly at Raoul and Nitro. They brought out a dozen humans and as soon as they were insight, I could see that most of Maria's newborns were unable to keep their thirst under control. I sighed as I clicked my tongue and watched as Faia destroyed the ones that were untrainable.

I felt a tug on my shirt, so I looked down to see Mika looking up at me. "Why did you kill those?" She tilted her head to the side. I smiled and patted her head.

"Those that were killed were unable to be tamed, thus they needed to be destroyed or their life would be meaningless and would cause too much trouble for our kind." I answered her softly as if I was talking to my own child. "Now, watch as I speak to the others." I kissed the top of her head. Mika smiled and nodded.

I turned to address the 15 newborns that were left. "Now that I have taken Maria's territory, I would like to give you a choice." I started with my hands folded behind my back. "I can either let you live and you fight for me or I will give you a choice to go free after your year is up and I know you can deal with your thirst or I can kill you and put you out of your misery." I looked around the group and found that two were standing side by side.

The male was slightly in front of the female which could only mean one thing; Mates. Something I could not use in my army. I sighed and I moved towards the two of them. The female whimpered while the male hissed and growled for me to leave them be. I knew that if I killed one I would need to kill the other. I truly didn't want to kill them, but I would if needed. I tilted my head to the side as soon as I was close enough to tell that they were older than most newborns that are taken for an army.

"I know that you two are mates and while I do not care for mates in my army I will make an exception." I kept my voice stern. "I now have two vampires that are too young to be in this life and I will need someone to tend to them while I am away. If you stay with me I will make sure that neither of you face battle as long as you keep Nick and Mika safe." I glanced back to Mika who was holding one of Sai's hands.

"Why would you do this?" The female asked in a whisper.

My eyes softened as my hand went to my stomach where Jake's and my child use to be. "I know what it is like when your mate is taken from you. I will not punish you, because you found your other half and wish to be with him or her." I looked around. "Unlike Maria, I will keep you fed, sheltered and cared for. I may be cruel at times, but that is only with the war. I am unlike other Warlords, because I know that if you treat your army with respect, then your army will respect you. Have you heard of Enrique?" I asked them as I paced in front of all the newborns.

"Yeah, he was slaughtered and burned in small pieces, because of his love for young boys." One newborn answered. "What does it matter?"

I smirked as I turned to them. "I was the one to kill him, because of a young vampire that he turned at the age of 9." I told them. "I don't see the need of making new vampires when I have capable vampires working for me. I do not kill newborns after their year mark, because some of their strengths wanes, but I also know that sometimes instead of waning, their abilities increase. If your abilities do leave you, I can find something else for you to do."

The mated couple was the first to fall to their knees. I smirked as I watched the others fall to their knees in front of me. I knew that I was cruel, but only to my enemies. I hated most people, but my army was my family and I now had two children; Nick and Mika. I could only hope that Jacob was looking down on me with our son. I truly missed him, but I took care of the red headed she-devil not long after I took my first territory.

I nodded as I looked around the area and noticed that one vampire did not knelt before me. I raised a brow and moved over in front of him. I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes.

"Why do you not kneel?" I asked in a cold tone. "I am the leader of this compound as of now and I am your commander."

"The only commander I had was Maria." He spat in my face. I snarled as I whipped my hand forward and grabbed him by his throat. He hadn't even seen me move.

"Really?" I asked. "If you do not kneel, then I will make a point with you." I snarled as I tightened my grip. His hands were wrapped around my arm, but his eyes had widened in shock. I do believe that this vampire has a gift.

"Why won't my gift work on you?" He whispered as his eyes grew wider.

"I am a shield - both mental and physical." I answered him. "Now, will you kneel before me or must I kill you? Either way works for me." I batted my eyes in innocence.

The newborn lowered his eyes. I let him go and watched as he dropped to his knees quickly. I could only smile and patted him on the head. "Good. I would have hated killing you." I turned to the others. "Now, I wish for you to gather everything that could be of use and meet me back here. You are dismissed."

I watched as the newborns rushed to do my bidding. Nitro and Sai were smirking at me while I walked over to them. "You did good, Goddess." Sai pulled Mika's fingers off her shirt. "Mika is rather scared, but I believe that Sadie will be here shortly."

I nodded as I took Mika in my arms and headed to the room where I could smell that Maria's scent the strongest. Mika just hung on to me as I walked the corridors of the compound. I would keep this girl safe just as I do Nick. I was unable to keep my own child safe, but I would keep my vampire children safe. I was no longer the weak human that Eddie Boy left alone in the woods. If I ever see him again, he would know what true pain was, because I would be the one to give it to him.

A/N: What did everyone think? Eddie boy sure better watch himself when he and the Cullen's come across Iz! Any thoughts on the chapter? Did you like how Iz handled herself and Maria's newborns? Review!

If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!

To see more, go to either page: Xo BellaItalia oX

Check out my other stories!

If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot. I am also now accepting Phantom of the Opera FanFictions that include Erik! I will also be accepting Bones featuring Agent Seeley Booth, Dawson's Creek, Titanic FanFictions featuring Jack, Snow White and the Huntsman featuring Snow White or Eric (the huntsman), The Ghost Whisperer that feature Melinda and Law and Order SVU that feature Elliot. I will accept OC characters as well depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!
- Bella'Xo
Xo BellaItalia oX