I had to rewrite this chapter a few times until I was happy with it.. so here's the best that I got. Hope you like it!
The War
"Who's coming?" Jasper asked quickly.
"It's still flashes, but I saw Demetri with others."
"How many?" Carlisle asked.
"It's hard to see, maybe 30?"
"There are barely 20 in this room," Jasper said.
"How long, Alice?" Bella asked.
"Less than 10 minutes."
"That's not enough time to get Renesmee out," Edward said. "Not without running into them outside."
"Do you know what they want?" Renesmee wondered nervously. Alice looked at her gravely.
"It's an attack." She foresaw Aro's hesitance and held up her hand for him to see. Aro's eyes widened with confusion and then turned to the other vampires.
"What going on, Aro?" Jane asked stepping forward.
"Nothing more than a precaution, my dear, but please have Carol put anyone on alert of unknown vampire guests." Carol was Gianna's replacement, the human who worked within the Volturi in hopes of becoming a vampire. However, there seemed to be a end to her usefulness.
Jane only re-entered the room after delivering the message before everyone heard screams and tearing of iron-hard flesh. Everyone froze in defensive positions. The wolves tore out of their shorts and took their places at the sides of the crowd of waiting vampires.
"We were wrong, it's not Caius," Edward said. He looked confused as he analyzed the voices and plans. "It's not even Demetri; they've tricked him to work for them. They want power. They're coming to destroy the Volturi." He listened some more. He looked back at his daughter with pain, then back at Jacob. "Jacob, when you can, I need you to run with her." Jacob stared at Edward before nodding. Renesmee got the feeling they had this conversation before. Edward closed his eyes. "Sage is here." Seth's face softened and whimpered. "Jane, you'll need to hit Delilah so she loses control of Sage, or else she'll mimic your abilities." Jane gave him a nod and gave her small smile. Seth whimpered louder, almost yelping. "Jasper, Delilah is controlling Sage." Jasper nodded quickly, understanding how important it was to take her out quickly. Everyone froze, staring the door where they could hear the silent footsteps of an army of vampires.
In a flash, the doors blew open and a large gang of stunningly evil vampires marched into the chamber, led by a tall strong woman followed closely by Sage. She didn't seem surprised of the waiting party.
"I should have expected such a greeting from the famous Volturi," she said slowly in her low voice as she approached the center of the room. Her mocking eyes fell on Bella. "I hope you don't mind me borrowing your shield," she said and then looked at Jane, who looked like she had been trying to attack. Bella spread her out shield to whomever she could on her side.
"Delilah, what is the meaning of this offensive?" Demetri demanded from behind her. "This is not an attack." She didn't turn her eyes away from the defensive vampires.
"Demetri, this most certainly is an attack. And I must thank you for being so helpful with our little expedition." Demetri stood in the back, his face in realization of what he had brought to his home. "Don't be so surprised, my dear Aro. You have had to expect your rule to end sometime. And yes, I know all about you and your Volturi. My talent, people do what I want them to do for me. Where do you think I got the idea to build my army?" Behind her was an impressive lot of vampires, some as big as Emmett, others as tall as Jacob. "Volturi! " she addressed. "I give you the chance, as I have given my followers to join us in the new rule. You will be given no second chance." Chelsea went to work binding the Volturi's bonds together so keep them from switching sides, only to be countered and shielded by Sage. A handful stepped forward to stand with Delilah.
"You have made an awful mistake, dear woman," Aro hissed at his opponent.
"Perhaps," she sang smugly. "But it will be you to pay the price for it!" And with that she lunged at Aro's neck as her first strike, cuing her followers to kill and destroy. Renata was quick enough to steer Delilah from her master and stayed closely behind him. Within minutes, Caius and others ran into the room ready and desperate to fight.
Sage's face never changed, nor did she seem to look at anyone. She merely stood there as vampires around her bit and tore at each other all around her. She hovered around Delilah, using whatever gifts she could grasp to keep her controller safe. Bella struggled to weave around the mixing crowd of to keep safe whom she should and Sage struggled as much as she did. Both sides left holes, both sides had weaknesses.
"Jasper!" Edward cried as he was tackled, his abilities blocked by Sage's shield. Jasper immediately lunged at Delilah from the side, but she was able to use Sage to veer him away from her. Demetri became a frightful opponent to those he had stood alongside for many weeks, tearing and clawing at the bulky vampires. Marcus' usually bored face was replaced by a fierce, animal look as he threw off the creature that jumped and bit on his back.
Seth fought against the advancing vampires, tearing chunks away and barely missing their claws. He saw his Sage with no life in her. She was worse than a puppet. Puppets always had a facial expression on. Sage had nothing. He watched his love protect the one so many were trying to destroy and even attacking when Delilah found a hole in Bella's shield. If Delilah saw someone attacking her, she would use Sage to protect her. Seth knew the only way everyone he came with would walk out alive was if Sage was stopped. He instantly regretted the revelation. Edward heard him.
There's has to be another way, Seth begged. Behind him, Jacob barely managed to tackle an advancing vampire on Renesmee, who was helping him tear another apart. A telekinetic vampire threw Felix into Edward before Jane got him. Another animal-like vampire snapped onto Esme's leg and bit a chunk off, causing her to scream. Carlisle came to her aid before the vampire finished her off. Seth fought, but he was the only one available to take Sage down. But how could he? Could he live with himself if he did? If he didn't? He looked up at Sage's blank face. Delilah got between Bella and Renesmee, making it almost impossible to shield her daughter without including either Sage or Delilah. Delilah recognized how protective the Cullens were especially over this creature, and she was a sadist. Renesmee started screaming, her hands grasped the sides of head, pulling her hair and then fell to the ground writhing. Seth had never seen Jane's effect before. Bella tried to reshape the shield and run around Delilah, but it was useless. Emmett threw himself at her, but Delilah couldn't be touched. Bella charged and bared her teeth, only to be thrown to the floor. Seth struggled with himself, but however much it killed him he was a protector first. Helplessly, Jacob ran to attack Sage, but he was averted, Renesmee still writhing in pain at his feet.
Sage watched as she attacked the people she loved and protected the woman she loathed from them. Once Sage realized what Delilah's gift was, she was never let go of Delilah's control, but Delilah now kept Sage conscious within her control. She was screaming inside herself, unable to show her friends how mortified she was of her actions and saw how they looked at her. She watched herself hovering over Renesmee, just as she had done in her vision, Renesmee, bitten and bloody. She tried with all of her might to break free from Delilah's control. She tried to stop. She cried and pounded the insides of her chest, but no one could hear.
Seth, she sees me. I'll distract her, Jacob thought. You have to take down Sage. Seth couldn't argue. He knew that tone. This wasn't a conversation in the forest; it was an Alpha command for attack. Jacob continued to attack Delilah from the front, being tackled by his followers, and yelping from their bites. Unwillingly and with physical pain, Seth bared his teeth and ran towards Sage's side and aimed at her throat. Just as his neared her flesh, he all of a sudden lost control of his body and fell past Sage as he dropped. Delilah hadn't had time to black him out or even control Sage to fight him off; he was still aware, though he couldn't move. He saw Sage's face; she was scared and broken. Delilah broke off control with her to control Seth. Within seconds, Sage's emotions were wiped clean and telekinetically threw Seth against the wall, cracking the stone.
Jacob, did you see? If we can force Delilah to control us instead of Sage; she'll be able to use Delilah's gift against her. Jacob nodded, and Edward understood too.
We'll need to work fast. Edward, get the shields outside. Once they're gone, we need to attack Delilah fast. Edward ran to Bella, Renata, and even Alec, since his gift could effect multiple people at once, and pulled them away from the fight. The fighting continued even beyond the doors of the room, so they headed down a corridor that only the Volturi would know about. Without the two shields, both sides were exposed. Once away from the chaos, Edward explained to them what was going on and convinced them to flee for the time being, and headed back, giving Bella a loving kiss. The hallway was lined with vampire parts flipping and grabbing around from when Delilah and her group forced their way in, destroying everything in the way. Edward kicked off a vampire he heard following them out and wounded him.
Jacob and Seth coordinated their actions around Delilah, who was now using Jane's gift against those who dared come close or fight against her army.
We'll both have to lunge at her. She'll pick one of us to torture, but that should leave the other open. A fire was being started in the corner of the room, the clothes and parts used as kindle. The wolves continued to attack and fight the vampires around them to get closer. Seth could see the torn parts trying to find their body, some even making it. He growled in hate and violence.
Now Seth! He and Jacob sprang up towards the vampire. For a split second, Seth saw fear in Delilah's eyes. And then the gut-splitting pain pierced every nerve of his body and he fell and crashed onto the stone floor, screaming within. He howled and writhed, flinging his paws, lashing at anything near him. With all his strength, he opened his eyes to see Sage, her face as cold as ever, torturing his mind until he almost felt liquid. And then suddenly, it ceased. He barely recovered from it when he looked up to see Delilah's hair in Jacob's jaws he he turned and threw it in the growing fire. Emmett and Jasper wasted no time handling the rest of her, Rosalie running to Sage's side to catch her before she fell. Bella, Renata, and Alec returned to the room to rejoin the fight. Delilah's army began to realize what had happened, and in fear started to fall back or fight recklessly while others surrendered. Seth's vision began to blur and his pants and gasps for air grew louder. He could hear screaming and chaos as the fallen scattered, most whose surrender meant little. His eyes fell on Sage. Her hand was covering her mouth, fear in her eyes as she started down at him. She wanted to move to his side, but how could she knowing she was the reason this chaos was happening. Just then they heard a familiar scream. Three vampires grabbed Jacob from behind, another picking up Renesmee and dropped her on her side on his knee, tearing her apart her torso with his hands.
"Renesmee!" Bella slammed her fist into the face of the vampire she was fighting off and ran to save her daughter. Jasper grabbed Renesmee's attacker and threw him into the growing fire while Demetri took care of the rest of him.
"Get her out of here," Carlisle said staring at the other vampires who noticed. Renesmee was bleeding badly. She had a deep gash from the side of her waist up to the front of her torso. Edward gently picked her up and ran out, Renesmee moaning and screaming in pain, followed closely by Bella, Jacob, Seth, Rosalie, and Sage. The waiting area where Bella and Edward once waited before being let out of Volterra during Bella's first visit was empty. Rosalie and Seth stood guard while Edward set Renesmee down in the center of the room, who was stifling her cries and pain and shaking. Jacob nudged Edward and whimpered. Edward took off his shirt and threw it to Jacob who caught it in its mouth. He ran to the corner and shifted back, using Edward's shirt to cover himself.
"I don't understand why she isn't healing," Edward said, staring at the wound.
"Hybrids don't heal the way vampires do," Sage spoke up. "My father used to study us and do experiments on me and my sisters, research he called it. We heal faster than humans, but we can't reassemble the way vampires do." Jacob put his hands over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Bella took Renesmee's face, trying with all her might to ignore the smell of her blood.
"It won't stop bleeding," Jacob said, almost in tears. His hands were covered in blood. Renesmee couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She was scared and in so much pain. Her breathing was labored and she continued to whimper. Sage was kneeling at her friend's side, holding her hand. She tried to think of a way to help her. Her dad never did find a way to improve her sister's healing. The tip of her sister's finger was still missing from her father's experiments. She looked at Renesmee, her mouth kept opening and closing like she wanted something to drink; she looked thirsty. Blood. Blood was the best way a vampire could get stronger. She'd be willing to give her blood for her to drink, but it was protected in an iron shell of skin. She looked up at Jacob. She saw and smelled the blood that escaped the cuts and bites on his skin before they healed. Jacob healed almost instantaneously. Could his blood be responsible for that?
"Jacob," Sage said. "She's thirsty." Jacob stared at her, as if he heard wrong. Then he realized what she was saying. He rubbed Renesmee's hair back from her forehead. He bit into his wrist, almost tearing a chunk of flesh out and held it over Renesmee's parched mouth. She may have tried to resist, but she no doubt was thirsty. She drank until Jacob's bite healed over. He bit his wrist again, but Renesmee refused to open her mouth.
"It's too much," Renesmee uttered.
"It's working, darling, it's bleeding less," Jacob pleaded. She turned her head to the side, still panting and squealing through the pain. Jacob kept trying to feed her his blood, but she wouldn't take it.
"Seth," he called without looking up. Sage took off the cape that was draped over her shoulders and went to Seth to put it in his mouth. Her eyes were full of guilt but they couldn't meet his eyes. The girl that he had been waiting for and fought so hard for was inches from him, but he still couldn't hold her and it pained him. Sage turned back to Renesmee while Seth ran to the corner to shift. He returned witht he cape wrapped around him like a skirt and bit into his wrist as Jacob had done and fed it to Renesmee until he healed. She no longer flinched or whimpered.
"It's stopped bleeding," Edward said without looking at the cut. "It's enough to get her home." Bella took Renesmee's hand and held it to her face, sighing in relief. Jacob bent over her face and kissed her forehead, her cheek, and then kissed her mouth, which still had an iron taste. Sage and Seth witnessed their happy ending, their never meeting in fear that their own would never come.
I'm sorry if the fight scene isn't very good. I didn't realize how hard it was to write fight scenes, especially with so many characters. I really wanted to give the idea that there was utter chaos going on in that room. I totally understand why Stephenie Meyer didn't end the series with a huge battle.