Don't own Twilight or any of the characters.

Chapter Ten

TPOV

I sighed as another building crumbled beneath its own weight. The former city of the Underworld was slowly falling apart due to this pathetic and useless war. And, ever since the beautiful Kallisto had vanished…well tempers had just escalated. Many believed that the supposed enemy, Baladeva, had kidnapped her because of his impatience at her delay of their marriage.

But I knew…know the princess. She was… is far too strong and hardheaded to simply go in silence. She probably escaped and hid somewhere, hopefully not around here. She would be devastated if she saw what our home had become.

A wasteland… a mere shadow of what it had once been. And to think at one point, this balcony had the perfect view of both sides of our world. I rested my elbows on the edge and placed my head in my hands. Was all of this my fault? Was I being punished for my ambitions?

"You know you could end this all if you would simply surrender. You and I both know that with the princess missing, it is the only way to save this place." I rolled my eyes and did not reply. "You gain nothing in ignoring me, my lord. Eventually you will have to heed my advice." I faced the man behind me.

"Surrendering to you would mean the end of everything we consider to be home, giving up on what the princess would have wanted. If my people think life has taken a turn for the worst now, nothing will be left if I allow you to take control. Our princess refused to give in to you and I will follow her."

"But, my lord…"

"It would be quite wise if you left now..."

He gave me one last look before vanishing into the darkness. I sighed once more. Baladeva… what has made him become this way? He and I were so close as children. Mother always thought that siblings, especially brothers, should be the reason for new beginnings…. Not this.

I lifted my hands from the balcony and left, trying to forget the image that had been burned into my eyelids. What would Kallisto think… if she could see how far we had fallen since her disappearance?

I found myself walking down a familiar hallway, one I had often walked down when the princess was a young child. She had been plagued by multiple nightmares, often of things that had long since happened. And every night, she called for me, begging me to make them leave her by telling her stories. Thankfully, that little episode of her life ended within the first 300 years, but that did not make this hallway unknown to me.

I pushed open the large silver door, hearing the hinges squeak from lack of use… it was the first time it had been opened in a century. I looked around her room, allowing my mind to fill in what was missing.

My daughter dancing around the room, a carefree and elated expression adorning her face, not concerned about anything around her.

Virtus est non absentis vereor , tamen quinymo ratio ut alius est magis maximus quam vereor. fortis may non ago forem , tamen cautus operor non ago procul.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all." (Latin translation is a little off but its close enough.)

I smiled as I ran my fingers over the old writing, reciting the familiar verse. The color in the tiles had long since faded, as had the other tiles in the rest of the palace. Kallisto was the one who loved seeing them glow and sparkle, plus she was the only one who knew how to do it.

"It seems we both had the same idea." I turned my head from the wall, still running my fingers over the letters. My stunning wife joined me in the room. "There is not a day that goes by where I wonder if all of this was my fault. I was the one who insisted on the marriage…who forced her into it."

I gently took her face into my hand and smiled sadly, "I believe that she would have left regardless of her situation. You and I both know that she was not happy here, despite her little show. I probably should not have locked her in here…given her a chance to experience the world." She nodded and turned towards the writing. She tried to touch it, make it come alive like our daughter could. When nothing happened, she leaned into me, tears filling her eyes.

"I miss her dancing colors."

"As do I, my love…. As do I."

And another building crumbled into dust.

BPOV

"Bella, you've been staring at this for hours….they are bones, they're not going to get up, start dancing, and tell you everything." I ignored Emmett's comment as I circled around the lab table, carefully going over and re-examining what was left of Mike. The Cullen kids felt it necessary to join me, probably because Charlie didn't want to baby-sit me again.

"They do speak Emmett. You just have to shut up long enough to listen."

Thankfully, silence fell over the group again. Edward was really the only one being a bit helpful. He handed me anything I asked for and wrote down what I said about it, if I said anything.

Emmett got bored again… oh dear god. "Bella, why did you say the star on your arm was ironic?"

I sighed. "Because it is the Star of David, one of the most religious and well known signs….and it's now been burned into me... a demon." He sighed, obviously not pleased with my uninteresting, but true, answer.

I carefully turned Mike's hand over and examined the clean break in it. I raised the knife that had been found in the bone… which was pointless because it matched perfectly. "Hmmm…." I set the bones down and pulled my gloves off.

"Emmett, since you're so bored, you get to help me." He immediately jumped out of the chair he was leaning back in, his eyes bright with excitement.

"I made a cast of someone else's hand, one that wasn't destroyed like Mike's. Actually I made multiple ones, just for this." I pulled some out of a drawer, biting my lip as Emmett shook a little at the sight.

"What? Big scary vampire afraid of a piece of plaster?" He growled at me. "Oh hush. Now, I want you to stab it as hard as you can." He froze for a moment. "Crazy demon lady say what?" I rolled my eyes. "Stab that as hard as you are able to." He shrugged and, surprisingly, let loose on the cast.

It, of course, shattered into thousands of pieces. I had done it earlier, using my demon strength (which really isn't that different from vampires. The only difference is the size the plaster ends up in), only arriving at the same result.

"Does the actual bone have the same properties as this plaster?" I smiled. Again, Edward was the only really helpful one. "Yes, I made sure that it would, for this particular experiment."

Which left only one option.

"The killer is human."

"What if it was one of us or of you and he just held back his strength?" I shook my head.

"For both sides the blood would have made it too difficult. Yours would have completely destroyed the body, leaving barely any blood to find at all. Mine would have probably left marks on the bones themselves, showing how we like to play with our food before killing it. It's the only way that makes sense."

I had been at this for days. Charlie was gone more often because of meetings in Seattle and Olympia to talk with other police stations about these murders, really leaving me with nothing better to do (plus Mrs. Newton won't shut up about how bad I am at my job and how I should be arrested… blah blah blah). So far, this kind of thing has only happened in Forks… lucky Forks.

"So you know it was human…. How do we track him?" I closed my eyes and felt around the bone. "Hand me his hip." I slowly ran my hands over the bone. There. I opened my eyes and smiled. "This is how we'll find him."

The little notch found in Mike's hip bone told me everything.

EPOV

How on earth Bella knew what that little crevice meant I'll never know. What I do know is that a little over 48 hours later, Bella found who had killed Newton. He was hiding on the outskirts of town….

"How have you been Officer Daniel?"

He glared at her. "Mr. Daniel Ackland, you are under arrest for the murder of Michael Newton and for the kidnapping of Isabella Swan. Anything you say can and will be used against you…." Ackland suddenly turned on her, his eyes gleaming with hatred and excitement.

"Don't think you're out of the woods yet princess. Many like me will follow, the mark you bear will forever haunt you. A new age is coming my lord….a new age without that bastard you call father and that whore you call mother, and a new ruler who will bring your world to its knees."

Her eyes glowed silver and I could see her nails grow; the mark on her arm caused her muscles to spasm a little. She punched him across the face as hard as she possibly could…. Well as hard as a 17 year old girl could. He hit the floor, clutching at his nose, which was freely bleeding now. "Take his shoes and bring them to me when you're done." She turned her back to the man and began to walk out.

Apparently, the genius had left an imprint on Newton's hip... an imprint that fit perfectly with the top of his shoe. He was, of course, found guilty and even admitted to it. As for his little speech to Bella, she passed it off as drug influence, which was not too far from the truth considering the fact that they found pounds of weed in his closet.

Again, genius.

Bella immediately took us home, where she ran cold water over her arm until it stopped beating. It had grown up to her shoulder, slowly beginning to cover her neck. She sighed.

"How long?" She raised her eyes to me, curious.

"How long until it…." I couldn't bring myself to say it. She smiled and encircled my neck her arms, wrapping her long legs around my waist so her forehead was pressed against mine. "Much longer than it's supposed to because I'm not going down without a fight."

Eddie? Where did he run off to? He's probably with Bella somewhere…

Bella released me and returned to the sink before Emmett could walk in. I frowned, feeling disappointed because it seemed like Bella didn't want to be seen with me…It couldn't be that bad could it?

Emmett and I followed her out of the kitchen and into the living room, where everyone else was.

"I need to head out. Charlie will be expecting me tonight…something about a celebratory dinner or something. My window will be open if you get bored Emmett. I have a few pranks that I've been dying to put into action."

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Alice and Esme kissed her cheeks while Carlisle and Jasper congratulated her. "I bet you're glad that this is finally over." Bella threw her head back and laughed at Jasper's comment. "I wish I could say yes to that Jasper. Sadly, these kinds of things will never be over. No matter how many noses I break."

I was the last one she said goodbye to. But, instead of shaking my hand or hugging me, she jumped into my arms and kissed me. I heard the family gasp in shock and I felt Bella smile under my lips. She pulled away, hopped down, and ran off into the night before anyone could say anything.

"EDWARD ANTHONY CULLEN! YOU'VE BEEN HOLDING OUT ON ME! NOW SPILL SPILL SPILL!!" Wow Alice…I'm standing 4 feet from you. I acted like I hadn't heard her and went upstairs.

Eddie's in love! Eddie and Bella sittin in a tree…

I'm so happy for you Edward. She truly is what you've been waiting for.

EDWARD! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE BIG BROTHER! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! AND ON BELLA TOO!

I smiled as I laid down on my couch, waiting for the time to pass until I could go see her again.

BPOV

I spent the evening with Charlie and a few of his friends. "How did you figure it out Bella?" I shrugged. "Something about him seemed off when I first met him. Plus, the imprint left of Mike matches his shoes perfectly." Oh yeah by the way, I could see the demon controlling him in his eyes...but I'm not going to tell you that because I like pretending to be normal.

My mind wandered back to Edward all night. I can't believe I did that…I mean, we were not trying to hide it… really…I hope he's not angry… or disgusted….Thoughts like these plagued my mind as I reached home and prepared for bed. For the first time in a while, I took off mother's necklace and allowed my cover-up to drop. I laid down on my bed, waiting for time to pass until someone came (hopefully). Eventually, I drifted to sleep.

I was back home, in the Underworld. But, everything was wrong. The great city I had left behind was now in ruins. Even my old castle was destroyed. I heard screams coming from the west. I ran along the broken streets, trying to find the source of the screams.

I passed by the old marketplace. Instead of games and shops, dead bodies littered the area… wait… dead? How is this possible? Shouldn't they be….

Another terrible scream reminded me of what I was doing. I searched along the road, checking in every abandoned house. The screams got louder as I got closer.

At the end of the street stood a mansion… one I had never seen before. I opened the door, hearing it moan in protest as I pushed on it. The sight before me made my stomach heave.

All of the women I had grown up with were lined up against the wall, their men on the other side. The men were chained to the wall, many with vicious wounds covering them….one being my father. I frantically looked around for my mother. I saw her at the beginning of the line….being raped by Baladeva… That monster…

"It's all your fault Kallisto…if you had been a good girl and done what you were told to, your mother wouldn't be suffering…"

No…no…no it can't be my fault…it can't be…

But it is.

I woke up drenched in sweat. Edward was lying on the bed next to me, stroking my forehead. I turned my body to him, burying me head into his chest. He didn't say anything… just sat there humming.

"It's all your fault princess…"

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