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Chapter Eighteen
Bullies and Cowards Make it Worth Our Time
"Aro?" Portia made her way to from the forest to Bella side in a split second. Her previous statement had been made from between the trees. The anxious guard couldn't see her and no doubt had no idea who she was, but the three ancient vampires at the head of their line knew exactly who was speaking.
Portia stopped at Bella side, with Layla standing behind her right shoulder. The young (and I use the term lightly, Layla is at least six thousand years old, as is her mother) half-vampire was whispering in the ancient Dien language, telling her mother what she saw happening in the coming moments.
Bella wasn't paying much attention to them, though. Her focus was split between the amusing looks on the faces of Aro and Caius and the images flitting through her daughters mind. Allegra was remembering what Aro's skin felt like, papery and hard, almost brittle, slat like. She was thinking about his scary red eyes and how much the ancient had frightened her.
Bella re-sheathed her dagger. She had to make a split second decision. She could stab Aro for scaring her daughter, or she could console her daughter. Bella chose the latter. While stabbing Aro would be satisfying in the moment it wouldn't make Allegra feel better and to be honest Allegra's happiness mattered more to Bella then her own.
"Bella, be a dear and step back with your family and allies for a moment," Portia said, turning her back on the Volturi. Bella backed up with Edward, Emmett and the two wolves, watching as Aro frantically waved the guard back. They had come closer to Aro when Portia had appeared. Just because Bella wouldn't get to enjoy gutting Aro, that didn't she couldn't enjoy his discomfort.
"I need to talk to my boys," Portia said with false joy. She was enjoying Aro's discomfort as well. "For they are my boys," Portia said turning to the Volturi's witnesses. "Four thousand years ago," she reminisced, "I found these three little whelps in Rome. One a soldier, one a philosopher and one simple farmer, but so handsome." She pointed at Aro, Caius and Marcus, respectively. "They were all quite beautiful once. So full of life and want for more time…" Portia paused dramatically. "They were dying all three of them and I gave them a second chance at life, asking only that do my bidding in my absence."
Portia dusted an invisible speck of dust from her impeccable white suit. She smoothed away nonexistent wrinkles from her pencil skirt and flicked the sprinkled of dirt form her white stiletto heels. She did all of this with the same arrogance that Aro and Caius had been displaying earlier, except she had earned that arrogance. She was actually accusing the guilty party. The thought made Bella smile. Bella's smile relieved Allegra, making Bella smile wider.
"You see, you heard the truth of this child moments ago. The different universe and whatnot. Well, I live in the different universe with the vampire that created me and our daughter, Layla. I created Aro, Caius and Marcus to govern the growing vampire population in our absence. I spent four hundred years with them. Guiding them, teaching them, telling them everything I knew. I let them know under no uncertain circumstance what was expected of them.
"What do expect of them, you ask? Simply that they investigate every discord within the vampire society. If they find this discord to just be an inevitable part of any society, they are to let it be and perhaps suggest some guide lines to calm the situation. If they find the discord to be detrimental to the society or that it risks the exposure of our species, they are to take affirmative action to stop the discord immediately. If they are unsure they are to contact me or my creator and we will make the final judgment.
"As you can see, I didn't ask much. They were to be peaceable rulers. Fair but merciless when necessary. You see, when the immortal children first became an issue Aro had a few of his own. He studied them, as any good scientist would and came to the conclusion through his observation that the immortal children should not be allowed to exist any longer. It was a decision that broke me heart, for I had witnessed their loveliness myself, but one that I supported. Aro had fairly examined the situation and came to the only applicable solution."
Portia said all of this to the witness, keeping her back to the Volturi for the moment.
"I have only ever disagreed with their judgment once and that cost Marcus his mate."
This proclamation was met with silence. The vampires on both sides were quiet. One side in awe the other in relief. Portia's appearance meant that this meeting truly wouldn't end in blood shed. They were safe, the vampires on the other side were not. Portia had a very dangerous gift, one that she didn't use often merely because it scared most vampires so much they usually responded by acting foolishly, getting themselves killed.
"The Marcus you see before you now," Portia walked over to Marcus and showcased him, like she was some kind of demonic Vana White, "is a shallow husk of what he once was. A man with seemingly no reason to live and yet he does. Because he has lost a great bit of joy in his life, he is able to make informed decision in a way that the other two are not.
"I will of course amend this in a bit, but first I'd like to speak the informant that has falsely incriminated the Cullen family. Aro, have someone bring it to me." Portia waved her hand in Aro's general direction. She didn't look over at him, merely smiling fondly at the assembled witnesses.
Aro snapped at Victoria and directed her to Portia. Bella found it a bit odd that none of the ancient vampires had said a thing in their defense. It must have been because Portia held so much power over them and they felt so much loyalty to her. She had given all three of them a second chance at life. They owed her everything they had. If she saw fit to punish them, who were they to defend themselves?
Victoria warily made her way to Portia's side. Layla hissed at her. Stupidly Victoria hissed back. Portia slapped her. Bella knew it couldn't have hurt, but there was something wonderfully degrading about it. Portia asserting herself over her foe. No one disrespected Portia or her daughter. Victoria had to learn and Portia was more than willing to teach her.
"You will respect your elders, informant," Portia snapped. "And you will tell me exactly what this Laurent told you about Allegra. I can't imagine he told you much if you mistook her for an immortal child, which she clearly is not. Speak now before I change my mind and simply kill you."
The matter-of-fact way that Portia spoke surely put Victoria off and accounted for her slight pause. But the pause was long enough that Portia lost her patience. She sighed dramatically and raised her right hand. Bella smiled, Portia was about to demonstrate her gift. She obviously didn't care much about the audience, trusting the guard to control the situation if it got out of hand.
The palm of Portia's hard, cold, pale hand was facing Victoria's stunned, silent form. She twitched slightly, unnaturally for her species, when Portia took control of her body. Quick as a wit, Portia flipped her hand, so her palm was facing the opposite direction. At first nothing happened. Then Victoria screamed. A fire had erupted deep in Victoria's chest, sending it's embers out to the farthest corners of her body. Victoria screamed, fell on the ground and writhed in pain as the fire consumed every part of her body reducing her to nothing but a pile of glowing cinder.
The crowd was silent.
Portia dusted off her hands and smiled down at results of her efforts. She turned to Aro, then, for the first time. "Aro, I want to know what you were told that led you to incriminate a former friend. Speak quickly or the same thing will happen to you."
While Portia was busy threatening Aro, a few of the Volturi's witnesses had run off. Even a few of the Volturi guard looked like they would have liked to make a run for it. Portia was the most powerful weapon any of them had ever come across and with Bella's shield around her it was impossible to incapacitate her long enough to save themselves. But they didn't know that yet.
Jane directed her piercing gaze at Portia. "Portia!" Edward yelled a moment too late. Bella felt the sting against her shield and the multiple stings that followed when the first attack failed.
Portia turned to Edward, curious. "Jane just attacked you, if not for Bella's shield you would be writhing in pain right now," Edward admitted a tad unhappily. He knew what would happen when Portia found out Jane had attacked her.
She didn't even bother with dramatics this time. She merely waved her hand and Jane was incinerating seconds later. As soon as the screaming stopped, Portia turned to Alec. "If you get any bright ideas about avenging your sister, I will destroy you, utterly. Do you understand?" she asked, calming. Alec, shaking with rage nodded his head. "That goes for all of you." Portia pointed at all of the guard. "I created your masters, I am their master, that means that in the end you answer to me. Understood?" The guard nodded as one. "Very good. I'd like for this next bit to be more private," Portia said. "If all of the people here merely to witness the proceedings would leave now, I'd appreciate it."
The Volturi's witnesses cleared out of the field in split second. The witnesses for the Cullens were slower, but eventually the Egyptian coven left. Everyone else stayed, eager to see the punishment. Or perhaps eager to feel safe enough to go home. "Now, Aro I believe you were explaining something to me before that peon interrupted us. Please continue."
Aro swallowed, before launching into a story about how they were misled by Victoria. Her memories forced Aro to believe that the Cullens had created an immortal child. He admitted, albeit unwillingly, that Victoria had never seen the child, but heard about her from a former friend, Laurent. Since the crime was so grievous she immediately went to the Volturi and made it seem like the Cullens had been plotting against them, that they were breaking laws in an effort to usurp power.
Portia listened to the bull shit patiently waiting for Aro to finish. She then turned around and walked up to Edward. "How much of that was true?" she asked. Bella smiled and laughed quietly. She knew Aro so well.
"Most of it, in fact," Edward said. "He simply told it in a way that made it seem like it was all Victoria's fault."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Portia asked. She crossed her arms and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"When Alice saw the vision of Victoria going to Volterra, she also saw the Volturi awaiting Victoria's arrival. The only conclusion we could come to was that they were waiting for an excuse to incriminate our family-"
"That is a lie, Portia!" Caius yelled. Allegra let out an unhappy scream at Caius' abrupt outburst. Bella pulled her daughter close to her chest, hiding Allegra's head in her neck. Allegra stuck her thumb in her mouth and sucked it while Bella rubbed her back soothingly.
"No, that is a lie," Maggie quipped. "Hello, Portia. We didn't get a chance to meet back at the house, but I can tell when someone is lying. Caius lied to you just a moment before."
"I figured as much," Portia said, "Caius never was interested in telling me the truth. He'll of course be punished harshly for lying to me." Portia smiled over her shoulder at the ashen Caius. "Now, Edward, why would the Volturi go out of their way to destroy a family they once counted as close friends? Do you know?"
"Before they came, we could only speculate. Alice thought it was because I had visited Volterra years ago looking for Bella. Aro was intrigued by my ability to read minds without touching and by Alice and Jasper's gifts as well. He asked me if I wanted to become a member of his guard, I refused, but saw in his mind that he was far from dropping the matter. Once they got here I realized that it was true. They had been waiting for a reason to incriminate our family in order to acquire Alice, Jasper and myself as part of their guard."
Portia tapped her manicured fingers against her chin and smiled to herself. "How delicious?" She sighed and made her way back to the stunned and horrified Volturi. "I think I'll start with you, Caius," she said. "You weren't the first vampire I turned- that was Aro. But you were the first I found of the three of you. I always knew I would turn you someday, it was a merely a matter of time. You were so smart! I was enthralled by your philosophical mind. You thought of things in such an interesting way, you put Plato to shame!
"But something happened, Caius. You changed after I turned you. And not for the better. In those four hundred years you went for my most prized philosopher to a bully and a coward. You have made it your mission in life to destroy any coven more powerful then yours, to destroy any person more powerful then you. You have used and abused your position to ensure that you'd always have the upper hand! You have gone from a genius to a fool."
Portia shook her head and turned away from Caius. She wouldn't recognize him anymore.
"And you Aro, my soldier. I turned you first not because I preferred you in any way. You were merely more convenient to get then Caius. A soldier disappears, who cares? I chose you for your bravery. I had hoped that together with Caius' intelligence, Marcus' perseverance and your bravery that the three you would encompass everything a good ruler should have. The intelligence to see the right choice, the bravery to make it and the perseverance to see that choice through to the end.
"And unfortunately this isn't the first time you disappointed me. The last time you went collecting, Aro, I killed Marcus' mate. I killed her to warn all of you what would happen if you did it again. You were waiting for an excuse to incriminate a perfect innocent and upstanding family just so that you could collect the gifted members and dispose of the rest. Don't try to deny it. There's no reason to question you about it, Aro. You've done it too many times to count. I forgave the first few trespasses and hoped that when I killed Didyme you would stop. I had hoped in vain it seems."
Portia locked her eyes on Caius' and Aro's mates. Her right hand came up again and before Aro or Caius could react, she flipped her hand and the two of them screaming. The ancient vampires ran to their mates just in time to helplessly watch them die.
"Now let's hope, boys that you learn this time. Go now, before I destroy your guard and leave you defenseless. By the way, I will be paying close attention to the people who came to the Cullens defense. If you are planning some kind of hunt for them in future I will know and I will kill you all. It will mean an inconvenience to me, but not one am above making. Go."
Marcus bowed respectfully to Portia, after a moment Aro and Caius followed suit and so did the rest of the shaken guard. They quickly zoomed into the forest behind them. The remaining vampires in the field were frozen with shock. Portia hadn't let slip her plans for the Volturi and none of them had been expecting her to kill the wives. It just proved Jasper right, taking the wives from the tower was a bad idea.
"Mommy, I'm tired!" Allegra insisted, thus breaking the tension of the moment.
"Yeah!" Emmett yelled. He picked Rosalie up and laid a messy kiss on her lips.
"Ah ha!" Someone else yelled. Bella didn't care much who. She was too wrapped up in her daughter. Allegra was tired and she couldn't remember how to get back to the house.
"Edward, how do I-" Edward cut her off with a hard kiss and hugged both her and Allegra to his chest.