Chapter 41: Lion of Mercy

Gasp. Hot, rich and velvety, his blood coated my tongue and filled the back of my throat. "No," he moaned softly, but it was too late. His body fell easily into mine, he was no match for my new strength. His body felt supple and human against the hardness of my marbleized flesh.

I pulled back, releasing him from my grip and smiled brightly into his terror soaked face, his blood lingered on my gently parted lips. I savored the hate and fear dancing in his narrowed eyes. He knew he could not overcome me, he knew his place as the lamb, and I as the lion. I laughed gingerly as surrender manifested in his expression. His hardened face seemed child-like and round under my gaze. I could feel the presence of the minions behind him, their thoughts bouncing back and forth about what they should do, but without Aro's command, they were frozen solid staring in horror. The feeling of utter control seized me. Power pulsed like electric current through my veins. I held the limp body of Aro in my clutches and could resist no longer. I plunged into the labyrinth before me, seeking a truth that was hidden somewhere in the maze of Aro's memories and deepest, darkest secrets.

Head first, I dove into the blackening waters. The rich taste of his blood was so much more human than Marius', Maharet's and my beloved David's. It encompassed me as I took in swallow after swallow, keeping an excruciatingly slow pace. I fought the urge to rip the very life from him in one easy pull. I needed his thoughts. I needed his memories. The gates of his mind crumbled under my applied pressure. The abundance of time and space that was locked in his veins overwhelmed me. I felt myself gasp at the vastness of what was now at my disposal.

A tiny, child-like girl rode on the back of an over-sized wolf with terrifying black eyes. Swirls of want and desire for both the power and the body of a pixie faced vampire gleamed in Aro's memory with flashes of lilac and deep violet. Vermilion green danced cruelly through the image of golden eyed vampires who possessed so much love for one another and so much power in that love. I smiled at the realization of Aro's true want and need for possessing Alice or my father as members of his precious Volturi. In all of his hateful greed and power driven lust, Aro was seeking love-- demanding it. A wave of pleasure washed over me and trickled into Aro's blood stream. He moaned as I penetrated his memory deeper with each thrust of my mind's eye. Pushing past the familiar faces, I descended inside the dark and bloody walls of the Volturi castle, seeing irritated images of Cauis and his former wife, Athenadora. Apparently their sex-driven existence was not secret within these walls. Aro's memory entered on a vivid flash of the two of them wrapped together in the middle of the great hall surrounded by slaughtered human carcasses as well as some still clinging to life, moaning in pain. Aro watched from the shadows as Cauis' etched body dripped with the blood of a human sacrifice that he cradled against his chest drawing from him his very life. Athenadora knelt before him pumping his cock in and out of her ugly mouth. A chill ran through me as I hurriedly pushed past the disturbing memory.

This was all too resent, too fresh, I had little time. I wanted more, I needed to know, to see it for myself. I slowed my drinking and with all my might and focus I demanded Aro to lead me to the memories that I needed. I took down another succulent swallow and was catapulted into a different time. The sun shown brightly as it set beneath the Italian landscape. I stared into the reflecting mirror that held Aro's face. Olive complected, with large and handsomely green eyes, his face was round with the slight presence of what one would call baby fat. The beautiful cherub in the mirror smiled as he heard the door open. He bounded into the arms of a woman, who bore a remarkable resemblance to the youthful face I had just seen in the mirror. The Italian dialect rolled like lulling waves from his lips, "Sister," Aro cried happily, "Didyme, my lovely sister, how happy I am to see your face once more. How were your travels? You look wonderful. Do tell, sister, how have you fared over the long passage of time where we have not seen one another?"

Didyme's arms cradled Aro gracefully, a bright smile played joyfully on her lips. "My dear brother, you look well!" her voice chimed like Alice's did, ringing like a tiny bell full of life and endless energy. "My travels were full of wonderment, brother," she released him and twirled in a circle, the lavender of her dress spun through the room creating an intensely bright contrast to the cheerful yellow hues of the candle lit walls surrounding her. She stopped abruptly, her chocolate brown curls continued to bounce in her face and her eyes twinkled as diamonds do when they catch the light of the sun. She was truly beautiful, high cheekbones, with a perfectly symmetrical and proportioned face. She had darling little dimples that made her ruddy lips even more appealing. Her eyes were vibrant and green as fresh as morning grass, just like her brother's. A delicious little smile curled into her lips.

"Tell me sister! What is giving you such pleasure?" Aro tugged at her arm like a small child pulls at the hand of its mother.

"Oh all right," Didyme said as a rich crimson flushed her full cheeks, "if you insist..."
"Out with it already," Aro said with such radiating enthusiasm. His face barely resembled the one I recognized. He was so happy.

Then, the memory that was so sunny, so full of lithe and love gained an ugly looming shadow. The cheerful yellow walls faded to gray as all the color and vibrancy was sucked from the scenery. Only Didyme maintained her former glory. The words fell like daggers from her cherry lips, "I have fallen in love!" she exclaimed and right on cue, the door opened and through it came a tall, dark and handsome figure draped in a cloak. His skin was slightly iridescent and reflected the light unnaturally. He had auburn curls that wound closely to his face, pronouncing his facial structure and brightening his brown, nearly black eyes. There was no denying his allure. The whiteness of his skin against the dark orbs created a powerfully striking image. Aro's memory held his face, pausing for a second, as if a stutter were imprinted in his mind.

The bell of Didyme's voice rang, awakening Aro's mind once more, "This, dear brother is Marcus. We met in the most beautiful of places, one starry night beneath an archway in the great city of Rome." Didyme's eyes laid longingly on her prince as she smiled lovingly up at him.

Marcus extended a long white hand in Aro's direction. His fingernails gleamed in the soft light of the room. Aro moved to meet the gesture. As his hand curled around Marcus', a sinister feeling of fear and doom entered the doorway of Aro's human mind. He shook firmly as he stared into Marcus' smiling face. Aro looked back at his sister who was still completely absorbed in the darkness before her.

The memory faded and gave way to another.

The still young and handsome Aro enters on to a scene. He is climbing dark stairs and entering a foreboding hallway. The wandering moon is peering through the window ahead, giving only a minimum amount of glow. is filled with the shouts of his sister and her lover. "I cannot do it!" Didyme screamed. Her sobs echoed through the room.

"It is the only way," said an angry and commanding voice, "we cannot be together any other way!"

"But Marcus, what will become of Aro? I cannot leave him, you cannot ask me to give him up!" Didyme pleaded.

"Then your love for me is not true," Marcus' voice had run cold, "I have given you all of my love, all of my secrets and most of all I have given you a choice!" Rage bubbled in his throat as Aro listened quietly at the door.

"Marcus, please," Didyme begged, "Don't go, I just need more time. I just want to spend a little more time with my dear brother and a little more time with the presence of the sun. I will miss it so, please allow me this, my love."

"You will never be ready to give up the sun and you will never be ready to leave your precious brother," his voice was broken and empty, pain rippled from his words. "I can never be what you want me to be my beautiful Didyme. I will never be human."
A gasp escaped Aro's lips as he clasped a hand firmly over his mouth. He heard a whisper of the wind and then an ear-shattering scream from his sister. He barged gallantly through the door to her aid, but she sat quietly in the corner of the room curled into a ball. Her beautiful chocolate curls were thrown every which way and her face was void of all emotion, but heavily stained with her tears. "He's gone," she whispered. Her lovely face twisted in raw pain and distress. She looked so helpless and alone. I could feel Aro's heart breaking for his sister. He sought to comfort her, but to no avail. She turned away from the affections of her brother and began to wail pitifully. In a desperate attempt to calm his sister's strife, Aro called out for Marcus, begging him to return. He ran out into the night, searching the empty streets, but there was no sign of Marcus, only the emptiness of night shining down on the mortal peril of one man wandering aimlessly, searching for what could not be found.

The memory fogged over and faded to another.

Aro's still youthful, but not quite as innocent face peered into the same mirror while he fastened the back of the dress for his sister. Her face was somber and unchanging-- void of all emotion. Her sparkling green eyes had faded to a dull jade, as if her soul was no longer present behind them. "Come sister, you look lovely, let us get downstairs, there are many suitors awaiting your presence. I am sure that you will capture the affections of the room." His sister's face did not change, she did not even acknowledge his presence. "You may like one of them, come, have faith, dear sister."

He escorted her from the room and down the stairs into a great room. Green velvet draped the windows as the sun prepared to fall into the arms of the waiting night. Didyme exchanged cordial pleasantries with the guests, many of whom were finely dressed well-to-do gentlemen, seeking her hand and fortune in marriage. Aro's eyes rarely left her as he roamed through the crowd shaking hands and kissing cheeks. Didyme's emptiness filled Aro, he looked more like the Aro of today, somber and worrisome.

Didyme slipped into the jaws of the crowd, disappearing behind one of her many suitors. Aro was pleasantly distracted by the gaze of a pretty girl who chatted incessantly, not wanting to lose the thread of their conversation.

The rays of the sinking sun streaked through the room, golden yellow with the faintest tint of red. The large wooden front door swung open with a mighty force. Panic radiated through the room. Aro's eyes fluttered through the sea of dresses and gentlemanly apparel searching for his sister. But instead, he found the newly arrived guest first.

"Marcus!" Didyme cried leaping into his waiting arms. Shamelessly, she kissed and hugged him as the flummoxed crowd looked on with whispers and disapproving faces. The man in her arms smiled broadly as he returned her affections. He was still strikingly handsome, exquisite dark auburn curls framed his face, but his dark eyes had taken on a tinge of the same auburn, as if his pupils were reflecting the luscious color of his hair. His skin seemed different as well. Aro moved swiftly through the churning pile of guests following his sister and the source of her happiness out into the rays of the setting sun. Although the mysterious new Marcus stayed in the shadows of the staying willows, Didyme's hands were covering her mouth in utter shock, "The sun," she gasped, "you are in the sun! But... what..."

"Didyme, my love, all has changed. I have been cured," he flashed her a row of bright and straight teeth.

Didyme began to weep and threw herself back into his arms. Aro stood away from the scene, unable to feel anything but happiness for his sister, despite the fact that she would surely leave now. But it was worth losing her to see her smile return, to see the light in her eyes once more. He didn't want to intrude on the world that was he was longer a part of. His sister laughed joyfully, running her hands over Marcus' face gently. Her curls bounced playfully and her smile beamed up at him. Aro smiled sadly in her direction, and wandered back to their waiting guests.

The memory dissolved and Aro found himself in a tavern, whiskey in hand. He hunched over the bar, staring into the hollow reflection in the dirty mirror behind the bottles on the bar shelves. His eyes were sunken in with dark circles lining them pronouncing his cheekbones. His hair lay tattered and gruesome in stark contrast to his ghostly face. He slurped on the vile substance in his glass seeking to drown all emotion. Emptiness had consumed him, he was filled with malcontent and loneliness beyond salvation. His mind slithered through thoughts that yearned for death, for a release from his suffering. It had been some ten years since his last shared memory, since the last time that he had seen his beautiful sister. He missed her terribly and for some reason felt unable to find happiness without her.

Without so much as a forward glance, the bartender refilled the smudged glass in Aro's hand. Aro shuffled through his pockets and tossed a few coins on the bar and continued his flirtation with death, running through suicidal plans.

The tavern door creaked open letting a swift breeze through the dank bar. The night air made Aro shutter, but other than that, his eyes didn't leave the glass in his hand. The cloaked figure floated through the door and approached the hunched over Aro with caution. A dainty white hand extended from the sleeve and lay softly on Aro's shoulder. Aro spun immediately drawing a knife from his jacket ready to engage in any battle that may mean the end of his days.

The figure did not move to retaliate or instigate the fight. It only grabbed Aro by the arm and shoved him out the door. He tripped over his feet and in a drunken stupor fell onto the hardness of the ground. Unmoving he stared up at the sparkling stars that seemed to be laughing at his plight. He closed his eyes and for the millionth time begged for the long arms of death the embrace him.

But it was not death who answered his call. The hooded figure wrapped him tightly and lifted him easily to his feet. Aro did not object, but did not respond either. "For goodness sakes," a sweet voice chimed, "don't you know your own sister?" She shed the hook of her cloak revealing bouncing chocolate curls and an amazingly beautiful face with the tiniest of dimples.

Aro fell back to his knees, tears streaked his face as he shouted, "Why? Why do you give her back to me now? Now that I have reduced myself to helpless drunk!" Anger seized in his voice, but he could not stop the tears. His sister lifted him back up, forcing him to stand.

"Aro," she whispered gently, "look at me."

But he only continued to sob into his hands, unable to meet his sister's gaze. She took his face in her lovely hands and lifted his chin, she stared with foreign eyes into the faded green of her brother's. "Your eyes," he whispered, "what happened to your eyes?"

But then suddenly a wave of intense pleasure washed over him. He smiled in a daze and wrapped his arms around his sister. He sobbed like a child, but he was happy. The sensation burned within him like never before. It was fire melting the ice. "I don't care," he sobbed, "I don't care where you were or what happened, I'm just so happy to see you. Please don't leave me." He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they kept coming, streaking down his dirty cheeks.

"Shhh..." Didyme comforted him, stroking his matted hair, "No dear brother, I will not leave you, never again will we be apart, I promise." She pulled in close. Aro could smell the tantalizing scent of jasmine and honeysuckle on her hair. The happiness would not leave him, his heart sung with unbound emotion and joy. His sister hugged him tight, too tight. Her arms slid around him like a python, clutching him. The panic rose in Aro's mind, but wave after wave of intense mirth washed away the fear. He simply could not feel anything but pleasure, he was drowning in it. A laugh pushed its way through his lips and as his head tossed back a stinging sensation gripped him, tearing at his throat. Aro's mind tried to understand, tried to know what was happening, but it was no use, he gave in to the sea of emotions swirling around him and was lost in the beauty of the night and the sweet embrace of his long lost sister.

Aro's blood was slowing, there was very little time left. I needed one more memory. Just one more, I told his blood. I zoomed through the worm hole of Aro's mind, finally reaching my destination.

The tall, handsome face of Marcus erupted in Aro's memory. He laughed cruelly, "You will never kill me Aro. You are weak, sick with your need for power. Your sister and I have grown tired of your conquest. We will leave you now. You can have your precious Volturi," he sneered.

Didyme's eyes were sad, but she did not object. She stood behind Marcus, ready to leave, ready to leave Aro forever. "How could you?" Aro growled, "You promised! You promised you would never leave me again! It nearly destroyed me the first time you did it, I cannot bear it again! I will not allow you to leave!"

"And I will not allow you to speak to my wife in such a manner," Marcus roared. "She will do as she wishes and she wishes to leave with me! She chooses me, as she has always done!"

Aro glowed with hatred, he was sick with it. He snarled and threw himself at Marcus, tearing at him blindly. But Marcus' strength overcame him throwing him to the ground. "No! Marcus, please, don't kill him," Didyme begged. Aro did not hear her, he did not care. He wanted nothing more than to destroy Marcus, to watch him die. He climbed to his feet and again showered his rage upon the grotesquely handsome face of his counterpart. He tore through the flesh of his neck and blood flooded down around him. Marcus did not flinch. His red eyes only filled with a terrible hate. Aro fought to tear at his flesh, thrashing wildly. The two of them snarled viciously.

"She won't stay," Marcus said cruelly. "She will leave with me, you know that she will, why fight it?" The anger ripped through Aro, swelling inside of him, consuming him. "She doesn't love you Aro, not like she loves me. Let her go, let me have her. It is what she wants." Aro's eyes closed. The pain swam inside of his veins and a horrible roar escaped his lips. His eyes flashed opened and fire erupted before him.

In a screaming mess of flames and flailing arms, Didyme fought to escape the fire. She had moved in front of him, she had blocked Aro's attack on Marcus. "NO!!!!" Aro screamed as he fell to his knees. All he could do was watch as his sister was reduced to a smoldering pile of black ash. His chest heaved with tearless sobs. "What have I done? What have I done?" A terrible loneliness and emptiness settled deep into Aro's soul.

Marcus' face was horrified with shock, "I should kill you," he growled, "but that is what you want, isn't it? To join your sister. No, I think not," he was fighting back the anger roaring within him. "I will stay with you, I will stay and watch you suffer. I will stay to remind you, to make sure that you think of her every day for the rest of forever. I will not let you dispose of yourself. I will make you indestructible, so that you will suffer for all of eternity." Marcus tore through the flesh of his wrist and with one easy swoop, pressed Aro to the ground and pushed his bloody wrist to Aro's lips forcing him to drink. Aro fought it, but soon the essence within won the battle. Aro latched on to Marcus' wrist with a moan and began to take his blood. Marcus made him drink until he was nearly drained, his evil laugh echoed in Aro's memory, "And now you shall live forever with out her."

I pulled my head back from Aro's throat with a gasp. His blood swam within my veins, his body was limp in my arms. I stared into his face, sunken in and ugly. He took a ragged breath, "Now that you know, please," he begged me, "please, do what I have sought to do for so long. Marcus will be here any minute to stop you. Please, finish it, I beg you." Sadness and pity fell upon me. I stared into his face and tears glistened in my eyes. He smiled weakly at me, "You look so much like her."

I bore my teeth once more and plunged into Aro's soul, "Thank you," he whispered as I drained the last drop of blood from his veins. Tears streamed down my face as I took from him the life that he had caused him so much suffering. His empty body fell to the stony floor.

"Burn him," I said softly. I wiped the tears from my cheeks as Marius and David seized the nearly dead Aro and pulled him into the corner of the chamber. I didn't look, but I could feel the heat from the flames and hear the sizzle of the last of Aro being reduced to ashes just like the sister that he had loved so much.