Again my apologies for waiting so long between updates.
So…technically, this seems to be my final chapter!
I'm really excited!!
After this chapter is done, I will post an epilogue and then the series will be over.
I've also written a new one shot that I will post up soon. I just need to re-read it and make sure it's alright. =)
I'm having a little trouble with the new chapters of Domino Effect so it might still be a little while before I can get those to you guys.
In the mean time:
Lights! Camera! …Read!
"I will stand by my family."
My heart swelled to hear Carlisle's declaration.
I have my family back. I have Edward back. And now… Now I finally have my gift back.
The thoughts of my family began to swirl around me and I nearly smiled.
"Very well, if this is what it comes down to." Aro turned to Felix who was grinning.
Pure anger rippled throughout my body. Aro didn't know anything of what it was to have a family.
"And what about you Aro?" I growled.
"What about what?"
From what Didyme had written in her diary it didn't seem that they got along well. As much as Didyme begged Aro to stop searching and stop his greed for power, he never listened to her, and look where that's gotten him now. He had only seemed to be interested in what her visions were about.
"Did you stand by your family?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He answered.
He seemed confused but I had a feeling he knew what I meant, which only fuelled my anger even more.
Did he ever even love his own sister?
Before I could lash out, my body went cold. I felt as if all the air was knocked out of my lungs and then I was falling. The lights around me dimmed until everything was gone. I could only see darkness.
Just as suddenly, the black turned into bright white lights. I was blinded by them. I tried to close my eyes to block the light but found that I couldn't.
As my eyes adjusted to the scenery my mind raced to look for an explanation.
I was standing outside in the Volturi gardens and the sun was out and bright. I was confused as to how I got here. Where did everyone go?
A grinding sound caught my attention and I turned around quickly to see what it was.
A woman with long brown hair was bent over the fountain and was reaching down into the water. She abruptly stood up and then turned around slowly.
Her skin glowed in the light and her eyes were a dark blood red. She was stunning.
She smiled and walked towards me.
"Bella." She spoke. "It's time for you to find out what truly happened."
"What do you m–" But I was cut off by another voice.
"Alone in the garden again, dear sister?"
I gasped and turned around quickly. Aro stood at one end of the garden. I took a step back to stand beside the woman.
Realization came at once. The reason why I was out here, the reason why she was bent over the fountain, this woman must be Didyme.
I was watching a memory, or was it a vision of the past? What ever it was, she knew I would be here to see it. She wanted me to see this.
"I come out here to think. It's quite peaceful." She explained.
"Well it's not safe to be out here alone, Didyme. There are still Romanians out there who wish to do us harm. Who knows what could happen whilst they remain alive." He frowned.
Didyme walked back over to the fountain as she spoke. "I do not fear the Romanians." She said confidently. "I would know if either of them would even think to attack me. You should know that."
Aro's mouth twitched out of its smile. He walked closer towards her and she turned to face him.
"Yes, you would know then." He grinned.
"I will not show you." Didyme said firmly. "Not now, not ever."
"Now Didyme, think with reason. It is your duty to help us in any way you can. If you have any new visions of this girl you must tell me at once! It is what's best for the Volturi to know what we are up against. You must tell me how to control her." Aro growled. He held out his hand towards me and I took a few more steps back.
"You can not control her." Didyme said calmly.
"There must be a way, otherwise you would have shown me already! What has gotten into you, Didyme?" Aro's voice grew louder and he started to walk towards her again. "You came to me with warning, you feared her! I must find a way to make sure she harms no one, but yet you seem so withdrawn from showing me now. What have you seen? What has changed?" He was in front of her now. He reached out to grab her arm but just as he was about to make contact she flinched away from his touch and stood right beside me again.
"I beg you to reconsider, dear brother. This is not the future I would rather. Please don't let your will to power affect your judgment. This will be a pivotal moment for the course of your Fate." She pleaded.
Aro laughed darkly. "I never did believe in Amor Fati, dear sister."
Didyme turned around and looked me straight in the eyes. "Then my answer remains the same. I will not show you."
Aro growled loudly and clenched his fists. "Very well, if this is what it comes down to."
Her lips parted and I heard the softest of whispers.
"Forgive me, Marcus."
I gasped as her eyes became completely white. Worried, I reached out to her. My hand went straight through her arm. When I looked back up at her, she had a small smile on her face and her white eye fluttered closed.
It all happened so fast I barely even saw it.
One moment she stood right in front of me, the next her headless body lay on the floor beside me.
"Didyme!" I screamed. I fell to my knees and tried to clutch at her lifeless body, a useless effort.
"Burn the body. I will be in my chamber." Aro hissed.
I whipped my head around just in time to catch Felix nod from the garden archway. Aro handed him a thick lock of brown hair. I didn't dare look at the end of it, where I knew I would see Didyme's face.
My instincts took over and I launched out towards Aro.
Before I could reach him, everything had turned into darkness and once again I was falling.
My lungs filled with a burst of air and my eyes flew open.
I felt myself on the ground and I knew someone was holding me. When my vision blurred back into focus, Edward's crimson worried eyes bore into mine.
My breathing had turned into gasps. I stood up abruptly and looked out in front of me. I saw Aro and the anger I had just moments ago resurfaced ten fold.
I growled and again I threw myself towards him.
I didn't get far before I felt a strong pair of arms hold me back.
Edward clutched me to his chest and forced me to look at him.
Bella get a grip, you can't just throw yourself at them like that! It's suicide…
I relaxed in his arms.
Love, what happened?
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I was still in shock.
How could he have done that to Didyme?
His own sister!
With Edward's arms still around me I turned to face the murderer once more.
"You bastard." I choked out.
"Watch your tongue!" Caius hissed. "Enough! I'm through with all this disrespect! Aro they formed an army to fight us, let us give them a battle to fight!"
I ignored his threat and glared at Aro.
"Patience, Caius, patience." Aro said with a hint of anger in his voice. It seemed Aro's own patience was wearing thin.
"How could you?" I growled finding my voice again. "Your own sister!"
For a split second, Aro's eyes widened in fear. Just as quickly he narrowed his eyes in my direction.
Marcus rose from his throne and stepped forward. Aro lifted his arm and stopped him from moving any further. Aro flinched and slowly turned his head towards Marcus.
"I have no idea, Brother. She must be delusional." He said amusingly, answering his unspoken question.
Marcus turned to look at me then looked at the ground. He backed away slowly and returned to his throne.
Aro smirked and lowered his arm.
"Now, now Isabella, you have no authority in this castle anymore. I don't know what you're going on about, but we do not speak of my late sister in this castle anymore in respect for Marcus."
I growled and tried to pull away from Edward's grip.
"Have you no shame, Aro? Has your will to power truly affected your judgment?" I yelled.
I must have struck a nerve reciting Didyme's last plea. Aro's eye twitched and his breathing hitched as he began to speak again.
"Isabella, mind who you are speaking to. I will not toler–"
But I didn't let him finish. I growled loud enough to drown out his voice.
"Enough!" Caius growled again. "Can't you see we out number you? Enough of these games, Aro."
"Indeed we do outnumber you." Aro laughed. "I suggest you give up your feeble attempt to overthrow us. If you choose to give up now, I may let you live."
It was my turn to laugh.
"You out number us you say? Are you sure of that?" I asked with a smirk.
"There are more than 30 of us, and only 15 of you!" Caius hissed. "Of course we out number you."
"Yes, but how many members of the guard will stand by you and fight us?" I asked calmly. Edward loosened his grip on me. "And who will leave your ranks and fall loyal to me?" I said a little louder.
The guard grew uneasy and many began to whisper amongst themselves.
Aro's confidence seemed to be slipping.
"Silence!" He yelled. "No one will wish to join you Isabella! They would be foolish to do so. Joining you would surely be asking for death. You cannot actually believe they will help you!" He laughed.
But to his disbelief, as I could clearly see in his eyes, Demetri and Bridget left his side and had rushed over behind me.
Alec gasped. "What idiots!" Jane hissed.
Though, I could see the fear in her eyes as she saw four more guards glide over to my side.
"Fools!" Caius yelled.
"So," Aro seethed. "You have chosen to die with her? You have all disgraced the Volturi name. You will all pay severely for your disloyalty. You have no chance to defeat us. We still out number you!" He laughed.
"I wouldn't count on that." I said confidently.
I narrowed my eyes at him and then smiled as I heard their thoughts become louder.
Just then the doors at the side entrance were ripped off their hinges.
Five animalistic growls erupted and several guards stepped back as the five large wolves entered the hall.
Still growling menacingly, they walked over to flank my right and formed a line beside Bethany.
Caius growled and crouched low as his instincts took over.
"Children of the moon! She's brought those filthy animals to try and take us down!"
I was about to correct him but the chorus of growls from the pack silenced me.
"Caius they are not children of the moon. If you look out the window, you'll see there is a crescent moon out tonight. If they were, they would only form into werewolves if there was a full moon. They are shape-shifters." Carlisle spoke up.
Caius grimaced and then placed the tips of his fingers on Aro's shoulder.
"Regardless," Aro laughed then returned his gaze to me. "Last chance, Isabella. Stand down or fight to the death." He grinned. "Are you honestly ready to witness the deaths of all your loved ones?"
Edward I called out.
He squeezed my hand to let me know he was listening.
Focus on Laurent. You need to take his ability away. We're counting on you.
"Your reign over us is over, Aro." I spat.
"Far from it." He smirked.
I stood tall and reached out to the minds of my own army.
Remember the Plan. Good luck and be careful.
Edward hesitantly let go of my hand.
With a flick of Aro's wrist the guard crouched low and ready to attack.
At the same time I crouched low to the ground and taped the floor with my finger tips.
Blurs of movement from either side of the hall met in the middle.
The sound of slamming bodies and feral growls resonated throughout the room.
I made my move towards the brothers. Felix jumped forward guarding his masters. He twisted right as I tried to move passed him. He nearly snapped his jaw at my wrist but he was suddenly across the room. I faintly saw Edward punch Felix in the jaw as Emmett held Felix by the shoulders.
I moved in closer, jumping out of the way when Bethany kicked Jane hard in the stomach. If I wasn't too busy trying to get up to Aro I would have thoroughly enjoyed watching Jane struggle to fight without having her gift to use as torture.
"Bella watch out!" I heard Jasper yell as Alec flung himself at me. I narrowly missed his jaw just as my sight and hearing completely left me. I crouched low to the ground knowing fully well that Alec must have paralyzed my senses.
As the seconds passed by, I began to worry. Alec would need to be distracted or hurt in order for me to regain my senses.
Sometime later I found myself able to see again. Rosalie had Alec pinned to the ground and was biting into his neck. A sound of what resembled twisting and slicing of metal rang out loudly through the room full of growls. I noticed a few heads turned, curious to see who the first to be killed was.
I jumped over the pair and kept my sights on Aro's glare. I felt someone rush beside me and saw Jasper and Kate were now beside me. Laurent smirked as he glared at us.
Quickly though, his smirk faded. What ever Edward did, it worked. I laughed as he realized that he was powerless against us now.
And then Laurent made his mistake. He moved to attack me. Jasper knew he would try to go after me and moved one step ahead of him. He caught Laurent midair. They both stumbled to the ground and rolled halfway down the hall. I cautiously walked up the steps and closed in on Aro.
Suddenly Charles and Kevin appeared in front of us, blocking our way.
"Really wish I didn't have to hurt you Bella. I kinda liked you." He smiled. I felt a heavy shove against my chest. Kate and I went flying through the air and landed hard on the ground a few feet away. The floor gave away and the cement crumpled beneath me. I jumped to my feet as Kevin ran towards me.
Pieces of the rubble floated into the air. They spun around and turned into white spikes.
Kevin laughed. "It seems my gift has manifested, Isabella."
The spikes flew at me with incredible speed. I managed to stay clear from most of them. One was too fast for me to miss. I was surprised when I actually felt the spike hit my leg, and shocked how much it hurt.
I fell to the ground and looked down at my calf. My skin was torn and there was a chunk missing. I grimaced as the pain shot through my leg. I stood up quickly and dashed out of the way when I realized more spikes were coming back at me from behind. Instead of waiting until they came back around I concentrated hard on each individual spike. They turned and came right back at me, I tried harder. When they were only a foot away from me, they spun around sharply and darted right back at Kevin.
The screams that came from Kevin confirmed that I hat indeed hit my intended target. I ran up to his shaking body on the ground. I pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and brought him up to my eye level. He winced. I smiled.
"Too bad you won't get to use that gift ever again." I quickly brought his neck to my lips and bit hard into the flesh. It was tough and very difficult to bite through. I used my hands to help rip his head from the neck. I dropped the pieces to the ground and looked over at Kate.
She was having a difficult time with Charles. Every time she sent a wave of electricity at him he pinned her to the ground with his telekinesis. When Charles was finally shocked he would loosen his hold on her letting her get to her feet again. I quickly absorbed Kate's gift and sent the wave of electricity from my hands straight at his back. Charles was thrown up ten feet into the air and landed flat on his face right in front of Kate. She quickly took advantage and began to tear his limbs off one by one.
Leaving her to finish him off, I turned my attention to the other fights around me.
The wolves had each taken on two or so guards each. Bethany had seemingly taken care of Jane and was fighting off Athenodora, Caius' wife. Jasper was still fighting Laurent, each of them looked injured. I was about to step in and help Jasper when something else caught my eye.
Edward was making his way towards the Brothers. I ran up behind him, he wasn't supposed to go after them.
I stopped dead in my tracks as Aro grabbed Edward by the neck with one hand and spun him around to face me.
Caius laughed and Aro joined in. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them up again I could see the greed light up his eyes.
"Well, well, well…I looks like young Edward here has the ability to take away gifts! And he–" Aro growled. "Him? He's the prophecy? Under my own nose and I didn't even realize it!" After anger his face broke out in delight. "My…it seems that you will be of good use then, Edward."
"I won't do it!" Edward coughed out. Aro tightened his grip on Edward's throat. Edward squirmed to get out of his chokehold.
"Oh you'll do it alright." Caius spat.
"Do it or I'll rip you to shreds right here in front of your precious, Isabella. Slow…and painful. You'll be begging for me to kill you." Aro laughed.
My eyes widened and I took a step forward. "Edward…" I cried.
Caius stepped forward and growled.
Flashbacks of Edward broken underneath James reappeared in my mind.
"Just do it, Edward! Don't try and be the hero." I pleaded.
"Be…lla." He breathed.
"I'm waiting, Edward." Aro growled.
I felt the familiar numbing feeling rise through my body, starting at my fingertips slowly spreading throughout the rest of my body. I felt a bit tired and sore but I didn't dare move a muscle.
Aro laughed. "Fifteen hundred years! Fifteen hundred years I waited for you…you turned on me, Isabella. But now," He smiled down at Edward. "Now I can control you."
"No!" I yelled. "You can't control me…"
"It seems that I have."
"Didyme said you wouldn't be able to control me!" I glared at him. "You can't."
He flinched at Didyme's name. "She was wrong." He said flatly.
At this, Marcus stood from his throne and stood beside Aro.
"Didyme was never wrong!" Marcus growled.
Aro backed away from Marcus, obviously shaken at Marcus' sudden show of emotion.
"Of course, Marcus. It's just that she was wrong about the prophecy! You heard it straight from her, they are the prophecy and they've turned out nothing like it."
Marcus looked from Aro to Edward to me and then back at Aro. He took a few hesitant steps back.
"No!" I yelled and he froze. "She wasn't wrong, Marcus. Her vision had only changed again. She just refused to tell Aro about it!"
"You don't know what you're saying, Isabella. How could you have known anything about my sister?"
"I probably knew her better than you!" I snapped.
"What the hell are you going on about?" Caius hissed. "She was killed well before your time."
Marcus flinched and looked away.
"She left me a journal." At my mention of it, Marcus' head whipped around to meet my eyes. "Everything about her life since the day she moved to Volterra was written in that journal."
"What journal? She never kept a journal!" Caius growled. Aro looked uneasy.
"She did, and she left it for me to find. She wrote about her visions and everything about her time here. She wrote all the way up to the day before she was…murdered." I said through clenched teeth.
Caius shifted his wait and avoided my gaze. Instantly I knew.
Caius must have known how Didyme died.
"You helped him…You knew all along!"
"I have no clue what you're talking about."
I turned to Marcus, he was completely confused. I didn't want to be the one to tell him.
"Aro murdered Didyme."
I heard gasps all around me. Caius looked completely taken back. He was scared out of his mind. I couldn't tell how Marcus was taking this, he looked shocked but I wasn't sure if he even believed me. And Aro…he laughed.
"Me? I killed Didyme? What kind of sick joke is this? I would never even think of hurting her. The Romanians were the ones who attacked her. Felix got to her too late, she was already in flames when he got there."
"You're lying, Aro. I saw it with my own eyes. You know I did." I glared at him. "You really think she would have let you kill her if she hadn't foreseen your downfall today?"
He stiffened at my words.
"She let you, Aro! She knew this would happen. If she would have told you about the new change, she would be risking changing it again. When you didn't change your mind about tracking me down, she saw that her death would be the catalyst of your new Fate."
His eyes widened in horror as the teeth sank into his throat. Aro let Edward fall to his knees as his hands went up to his neck. But it was too late.
His head rolled on the ground and fell by my feet.
Marcus stood behind the rest of Aro's body, his hand was still gripping his shoulder blade.
Caius gasped. "What have you done, Marcus?"
But Marcus wasn't listening to him. He merely let Aro's lifeless body fall to the ground with a loud thud.
He backed away slowly still staring at it as he sat back down on his throne.
Caius was too distracted by Marcus to pay attention to me.
I quickly jumped up and landed on his back. He reached back over himself and tried to pry me off. I clawed my fingernails deeper into his shoulder and chest. He let out a mighty growl that was cut short by my teeth ripping at his flesh.
The two Brother's lay side by side.
One simple flick of my wrist, I let the lighter fall.
It was the end of their reign.
So what'd ya think guys? ^.^
I hope it met your expectations!
Epilogue after this and that's it!
Hope you guys enjoyed the roller coaster right I put you on lol =D
Until next time!
-Jan