Hello Everyone!

I didn't expect that I would take this long to update, but I found that this whole chapter (including part 2) ended up being about 3,000 words more than I thought it would be. I enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoy reading it just as much, if not more.

Here we have the chapter we've all been waiting for--well at least the first part. I already have both parts written because this was going to be one huge chapter at first. But I decided not to post a 8500+ word chapter, so I settled on splitting it into two parts. This is part one of the Battle that will determine everything. I'll be posting part 2 tomorrow, so you won't have to wait very long. The last chapter will be posted very soon after that, as I already have half of it written. I plan on posting the epilogue on July 31st, just making my one year deadline. :) Soon after that, I should be posting the information for the sequel. Yay!

Hope you like the chapter enough to read and review!

-TG

P.S. My editor and co-author Alex is uber busy so she was not able to assist me on the last few chapters. I hope you like it even with the grammatical errors. Please excuse any mistakes you may find.


Chapter 22- The Battle Part 1

Jasper POV

I stood in the field, surveying the army that had once been the center of my life absentmindedly. This should have struck me as odd to begin with, because nothing was done by my kind absentmindedly. Our minds were always present, always surveying and analyzing, always drawing conclusions and observations from the events occurring around us. Every little detail of everything we saw, heard, smelled, felt, tasted, and even sensed was permanently settled in our brains. Being absentminded implied some lack of thought or maybe just something forgotten, but we never forgot anything—even if we severely wanted to.

Despite all of this, I couldn't really focus on what was going on around me because I seemed to be having some sort of epiphany. I was just realizing that I may have been interpreting all of this information incorrectly. This sudden comprehension caused me to be suspicious of my current situation. Over the past nine days, nothing seemed to be going the way I thought it would, because everything was turning out to be absolutely perfect. I was suspicious because I didn't trust that every detail of my plan could run so smoothly and without obstacle when I had been so adamant that none of this would ever work in a million years. While this troubled me that I could be so grossly incorrect about something I thought I had been rather knowledgeable about, I supposed that it was just time that I faced facts; my Alice was a genius. It was hard to say that I knew what was going to happen when the girl I loved literally knew what was going to happen. A little over a month ago, I might have been annoyed that someone could be so legitimately wiser than me so quickly, but, strangely enough, it only made Alice more appealing to me. The fact that she would always know more than I could ever hope to know was just another endearing quality about her. I could never dream of knowing how her brain worked, and it not only intrigued me to find out more, but made her seem mysterious to me. I just hoped that I would have forever after this day to discover more about her.

Nine days had passed very quickly, even for me. Days had seemed infinitesimal to me in all of my 150 years, but the passed nine had seemed unusually quick—too quick. I was both dreading and anticipating this day. If everything else went without hitch, this would all be over in no time at all. I would be able to file away this section of my life and start a new one. It would all be perfect... right? Like I said previously, I didn't trust fate. This would all be much easier if Alice were around to tell me it would all go perfectly instead of just playing a guessing game until I got to see her again. If there would be anything good about this day, then it would be that I got to see Alice again. I tried not to think about how it might be the last time I would ever get to see her as I sauntered over to where Maria was standing, surveying the newest four soldiers of the army.

She was shaking her head side to side slowly, as if subconsciously, and making ticking sounds with her tongue that told me she was unhappy without actually having to read her emotions. When I did sense her emotions I only found that they reinforced my previous observations; She was unhappy, dissatisfied- most likely with her soldiers- and regretful. The only reason I could conclude for the latter emotion was that she realized that she probably shouldn't have added these four so soon before a battle. I had already realized this fact, as it had been pointed out by Wesley when I had visited them before, but it seemed like Maria was just realizing this only hours before we were heading to battle. If I had any ounce of sympathy for Maria, I might have felt bad for her. But, under the circumstances, I was only feigning concern.

"Worthless. That's all they are, worthless. All they'll do is get in the way in battle. I might as well dispatch them now, save me some trouble." Maria seemed to be mumbling to herself, discussing with me, and trash-talking the soldiers to make them hustle all at the same time. I wasn't sure if I should respond to this simultaneous soliloquy, coaching, and chatting. The soldiers continued to spar pathetically back and forth, pretending not to notice her passive insults. Their faces didn't seem to register their absolute terror at the ways that Maria could "dispatch" them, but their emotions told me differently. I chuckled a little at their fright. If they would survive past today to experience Maria for a long enough time to know her, they wouldn't be so afraid of her big talk. That's all Maria was really, talk. It was when she rarely took action that you should actually be afraid. But, as she continued to speak, I knew this was one of those times where she was just arrantly thinking out loud. "I don't even know what I should do with them. Hundreds of years of running this operation flawlessly, and I have to falter because I get stuck with four useless pieces of crap."

I held in my laughter, not sure whether I was amused with her pathetic insults or the irony of her summary of her rule; flawless. Ironic, because in just a mere three hours and thirty-seven minutes she would be marching her army to their doom. I turned my attention back to her as she began speaking again, "Maybe I should use them as a bait or perhaps a distraction. Yes- send them in to stumble over to one of the enemy's newborns and try to grab them, while someone worthy of being in this army finishes the job for them. How many newborns do you think will fall for the trap before all four of them expire? Even one fallen enemy will be worth more than all four of their measly, insignificant existences." Still, none of the soldiers showed their fear. As I observed, I began to think that maybe they weren't worthless. If they could keep a straight, focused expression in the presence of Maria while she's speaking of ways to kill them, than they may be more "worthy" than Maria gave them credit for.

"Or maybe I'll just make them light the fire and hope they fall in or get caught behind the wall." This made the two newer soldiers pause as if someone had turned them off with a remote. The two slightly more experienced soldiers slowed their fighting until they came to a halt, peering at Maria from their peripherals as if they were afraid to meet her gaze. Even I looked incredulously at her. She gazed at each of the men's faces scrutinizingly until she met mine with an innocent look. "What? It's a thought."

I raised an eyebrow at her incredulously, "You don't think they can fight, but you think that they can execute my plan? No. I won't have it. I will be dealing with any and all fire in this battle." I was scrambling to make sure that I would be in the woods, and that I would be there alone. Of course, I could do away with anyone she assigned to help me before she could notice, but sending four newborns would be both annoying and completely unnecessary. She knew that I could handle my plan completely solo, not that there would be any surrounding, massive fire to handle anyway. If there was, I certainly wouldn't be creating it. I imagined that the Volturi would definitely have a large fire in their plan to serve justice to a large army of out-of-control newborn vampires, but I was perfectly fine with that so long as neither me or my Alice would be involved in that particular fire.

Maria turned from me back to the four soldiers, narrowing her eyes to glare at them. "Did I tell you to stop practicing? Because I don't remember doing so. You guys need as much practice as you can get, you worthless waste of atoms!" The soldiers immediately tensed and scrambled to restart their sparring. It would have been quite comical, but Maria did not find the humor in it that I did. She hit her forehead with her hand, wiping it down her face in frustration. I chuckled, but Maria shot me a glare that shut me up immediately.

"What are you laughing at?" I just shook my head, afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep my composure if I spoke. Maria huffed in annoyance, and shook her head like I was an idiot. She pointed at each of the soldiers individually. "What do you people think you are doing? You call that fighting? I could do that as a human, you imbeciles. You four are perhaps the only immortals on this planet who can make grace look clumsy! You know what? I give up. Go! Prepare yourselves for battle! All five of you go! That means you too, Jasper. I can't stand to look at your ugly faces any more!"

I just shook my head, fighting very hard to keep the smirk from appearing on my face. I just couldn't believe she had called five vampires ugly and four of those vampires clumsy. She turned to meet my gaze, "Hello?! Did you think I was joking? Do I look like I'm joking?! Go!"

"What would you like me to do to prepare for battle, Maria?" I finally said after weighing my options of denying any attempt of Maria to control me or capitulating to her wishes while knowing that I would never have to concede to her commands ever again after today.

"Make yourself useful! Make sure that you have enough flammable chemicals, though we've only checked a few dozen times. Or hunt! That's what the rest of the army is doing. Refuel, re energize..." She paused, glancing me over from head to toe. "and while you're at it, find a better shirt." I rolled my eyes. I hadn't really cared what shirt I had grabbed when I had had the opportunity; I just found the first thing that would cover my bare chest from Maria's wandering eyes. I shivered a little as I remembered her lingering touch that had turned into an assault. I cringed, but Maria wasn't really paying much attention to me. She had three hours until a battle, and she was often distracted before a large skirmish. I almost wanted to tell her that there was no need to get so flustered, because she wouldn't actually be doing any fighting. If Jane and Alec were there with the Volturi guard, which they undoubtedly would be, then Maria would either be floundering around blind, deaf, and useless if Alec got to her or writhing on the ground in pain if Jane got to her. A vindictive, spiteful side of me was internally hoping that Maria would receive the latter treatment, but another part told me that I should probably thank Maria. If she hadn't changed me with the idea that I could be useful to her, then I would never have lived for 150 years while eternally appearing 20 years old, which would mean that I would never have met my Alice. She would have lived, grown old, and died, and, while I was sad that she would never have those human things ever again, the selfish side of me relished in the fact that she would be mine for the rest of our existences—well, assuming that we lived past today.

I decided that I'd take Maria's advice and hunt, though the idea almost made me cringe. I had tried not to hunt often since Alice had begun her rise into Sainthood. I figured that, if Alice could actually dampen the bloodthirsty newborn feeling she had and attempt to make a substitute for taking human life, then at least I could try to diminish the amount of humans who would fall at my hand. While the idea of hunting without having to face my food's emotions was beyond tempting, I was actually nervous to try the lifestyle my love had created. I had always been this way, and had never thought that there could be a different, humane way to go through existence. I was hesitant to see if I was strong enough to try, afraid that I wouldn't be, making me feel vulnerable and weak. I knew quite a lot about feelings, and my absolute least favorite feeling to have personally (instead of sharing with others) was to feel weak or vulnerable. Any vampire, for that matter, would tell you that vulnerability was both an uncommon and unwelcome emotion to our kind. I tried to shirk my pondering mind as I ran towards the city. It was just before four am, I expected, and I figured that anyone wandering the streets at this early hour was probably the type of human I didn't really mind ridding from this earth.

I found that my speculations were right as I perused the darker streets of the city. Under a bridge, I found three male homeless people. I killed them quickly and painlessly before they could wake up and burden me with their emotions. Trying to forget my earlier hesitation with a new lifestyle, I told myself that this might be my last meal of innocent humans. That thought made me hopeful, at least. I realized that I still had Maria's other task to complete; finding a new shirt. The garments that the homeless men had worn weren't worth taking off their backs. I disposed of their bodies and began running through alleys and dark streets until I was in the more central part of the city. I found a promising looking men's wear store and broke in without setting off any alarms. The store was completely pitch black, but I could see all of the merchandise perfectly. I could also see the two cameras at opposite corners of the large room. Moving so fast that the two cameras would never be able to detect me, I pulled the wires that kept the cameras working. With all possible chances of detection gone, I took my time looking through the clothes. I settled on a tight t-shirt that wouldn't get in the way, and at the last minute sprung for the less-practical looking jacket that went with the shirt on the mannequin. When I finally felt suitable for travel- not battle- I left the store, restoring everything to the way it had been except for the cameras.

I escaped the scene of the crime and began to run back towards the camp. I expected that we had less than two hours until the battle began, a little over an hour before we would leave our headquarters to begin our march to the battle field. Maria wanted plenty of time on the battle field to be prepared for the battle. According to her, I had a lot of flammable chemicals to transfer to the woods before our enemies arrived. Of course, I wouldn't actually be following through on my plan to set the forest on fire, so there was no need for me to spread those chemicals. I still couldn't believe that she hadn't called off my crazy, faux plan yet. It was unlike Maria to be so completely blindsided by her greed that she completely look over how idiotic this plan actually was. I had foreseen the flaws of this plan even though I knew that I wouldn't actually have to set anything on fire and that the enemy coven would never arrive—assuming that Wesley and Regina kept their promise, that is. I knew that if I were to actually set the forest on fire, we'd have ourselves in quite a sticky situation. Not only would we never be able to stop the massive forest fire, but a flame that big is sure to alert the humans that there is a problem in the forest around their city. An incident like that would completely ruin everything all the armies, including Maria's, had fought over, considering the fact that we would have to leave to avoid detection by the humans. You would think that the human race would be more observant, having three armies of newborn vampires surrounding their city, but they still remained blissfully unaware.

When I returned to the army's camp, I watched with an amused expression as Maria scrambled around the field, always at her fastest pace. For the next hour, she darted around the field checking the soldiers, conversing with her two cohorts, Nettie and Lucy, discussing last minute battle techniques with me, and making sure the formidable pile of flammable chemicals she had acquired hadn't moved or decreased in size. The normally wild, unorganized group of male newborns was slowly being organized, being settled into squadrons of soldiers that would be ordered to take down different areas of the enemy's army. The individuals would become restless and wander from their assigned groups or begin to wrestle amongst themselves, but Maria would have none of this today. By the end of the hour, each group's soldiers were in formation. Each soldier stood in the correct position, their backs ramrod straight and their faces absolutely devoid of emotion—though their actual emotions told me that they were split between anticipation and anxiety. I imagined that they were all excited to finally put their training into action, like I had often felt when I had centered my life around this army and various other armies.

As a human, there had been nothing greater than excelling in the only thing that had mattered to me—being in the army and protection my country. Then, when I had been specifically chosen by Maria to help in her strange, supernatural army I had been somewhat honored. This had been completely new to me, and, while I was being influenced by this new bloodthirsty emotion that I had never experienced so forcefully before in my human life, I relished in this new form of strategy that only tested my skills further. Back then, it had seemed like the only thing that could ever really matter was the army and the rush of using my strategic skills in battle. I hadn't known up until recently what other emotions really felt like. I was so tuned in to all emotions that I figured that there was nothing other than the ones I felt in the army; anger, resentment, and, above all, blood lust. It was so refreshing to feel something else that I couldn't wait to finally get away from the life that had once been so important to me. This new life was so much more important than that life had been: So much so that I was willing to risk everything to reach it.

Soon enough, the time to begin our march arrived. The soldiers kept their formations as they turned towards the west; the direction of the battle field. Maria had commanded select soldiers of the army to clear an enormous expanse of trees a few days ago to serve as the battle field, and that clearing was our destination now. That's where Maria would expect to find the enemy army arriving at dawn. That's where the Volturi would track Maria, having encountered her scent previously during the southern rebellion that very few armies survived. Maria had been very good about avoiding facing the Volturi, though she had had a few close calls with their guard. But today would not be like back then—she wouldn't expect their assault. Today, Maria would fall at last. Even if my plan backfired, I would make sure that Maria would not survive this day. Even if I should fall, my mission will be successful if I bring her down with me.

Our march finally began. Every male in the army was literally marching, their knees raising high before each foot landed in synchronization. The effect was a staggering rumbling in the Earth like a small earthquake erupting beneath us. The force of their steps moved so quickly and so forcefully that a wide indention in the soft earth trailed behind them, the effect of them flattening the ground beneath their feet. None of the soldier's wore shoes, yet the sound was the equivalent to an enormous army wearing heavy boots or a stampede of wild horses that had some how been organized to run in perfect sync. Even I marched, the action seeming so natural to me after a century and a half of marching to battle in this exact fashion. The only members of the army who didn't march were the women at the front. Maria, Nettie, and Lucy seemed to strut forward lithely, not creating a sound like the boisterous army behind them. Lucy and Nettie were walking to Maria's left, while I walked on her right. Thomas was directly behind us, leading the army after us. Each of the soldiers in the back row carried a huge case of flammable chemicals that blocked their line of sight as they walked, but they didn't have any trouble going in the right direction. Even while carrying a crate practically the same size as their own bodies, they didn't step out of place. In the pocket of my jeans, there was a very large, intimidating lighter that Maria had stolen for me so I could enact my fake plan. I had no intention of ever using it, and every intention of scrapping it at the first possible opportunity.

We made it to the field quickly, and I jolted a little with excitement, though I was aided a little by Nettie's constant excitement with any kind of violence. Half of this feeling, was genuinely mine though. After ten days of preparation, I would finally get to see Alice. At the same time, however, I was afraid. In some ways, I wished I wasn't meeting Alice there that day. I should have made her stay in the meadow. It was stupid of me to allow her to come so close to the army and to the Volturi, but at this point it was too late. It was D-day.

Maria made a signal to the soldiers, and two of the group parted making an aisle in between them. Through the aisle came the back row of soldiers that carried the crates. Maria nodded once to me, and made another signal to the chosen soldiers. She looked at the amount of chemicals and back to me skeptically.

"Are you sure you want to spread all of this by yourself Jasper?" Maria asked one last time. This was another very important part of my plan; I had to be in those woods completely alone. Or at least Maria had to think that I was alone. Alice would be there soon, and I was internally worrying that she would show up too early and the other soldiers would see her. I prayed silently that she would rely on her power and know exactly when to show up, as she always did. I was almost one hundred percent sure that she would, but there was always a chance that something could go wrong anyway.

I nodded in response to Maria's question, putting on an appropriate look of fierce determination. "This is my plan. I don't want any else there who could possible screw it up. I'm doing this alone."

Maria looked over her army as if agreeing that they would just get in the way of my ingenious plan and spoke again. "Ok. I trust you, Whitlock. This is what I've been waiting for, and I expect that you won't screw it up either. Go, they'll follow you with the fuel. Wait on the north, northwestern side of the battlefield. I expect they'll enter on the western side, so we will wait here on the eastern. As soon as the enemy enters the battle field, begin to spread the fuel. Don't spread them before they enter, or else they'll smell it and suspect something." I nodded once more in response, and darted in the direction Maria told me to go. At my signal, the soldiers followed behind me. I found a good spot hidden behind the thick trunks of many trees. I told them to set it down where I indicated and head back to the army immediately. I didn't want them lingering around the woods any longer than absolutely necessary. I was far enough away from the army so that I couldn't see them any longer through the thick forest. I could only vaguely hear Maria as she barked last minute comments to the soldiers, so I took that as a good sign that if Alice and I were quiet we would remain unnoticed. I cringed at the thought of Maria realizing Alice was still alive before the Volturi arrived. That would be perhaps the worst possible scenario that could occur on this day.

Just as I thought of Alice again, I felt two tiny arms wrap around my waist. I closed my eyes, amazed at how good it felt to be back in her arms after so long away from her. I was pleased that an identical feeling was coming from Alice. I turned around in her arms to face her. I wrapped my arms around her tiny shoulders and buried my face in her spiky hair.

"I missed you." I whispered into her hair. She giggled a little, and the sound made my still heart want to jump out of my chest with happiness. If everything I said made that tinkling bell sound come from her, then I would never ever stop speaking. That sound was the greatest sound in the world.

"I missed you too, Jasper. But if you value our lives, I suggest you start moving. Maria might think the enemy is coming in from the west side of the field, but the Volturi is coming in from the North side." I was a little disheartened that her tone was all-business, and she wasn't reveling in our reunion like I was, but then her words registered in my mind. I pulled my face from where it rested on her head, and looked at her as she brought her head from my chest.

"You mean the side of the field that we're standing on currently?" I asked, a little stunned. I hadn't registered that we might encounter the Volturi before the battle began. I guess that's what I had Alice for. My eyes widened as she nodded slowly. Since I didn't seem to be able to move at the moment, she glanced around quickly before grabbing my hand and running. As she dragged me after her, I noticed that her newborn strength wasn't near as much as it had been at first. While I knew this unreasonable strength always goes down the older a vampire gets, it concerned me that hers would fall so quickly. She was only just over a month old, so she shouldn't be near this weak yet. Still, what she did have left was enough to pull me away from that very dangerous spot on the north side of the battlefield. I supposed that I should be concerned that I had left the large pile of flammable chemicals there where the Volturi would be in just moments, but I was more concerned with saving my skin at the time.

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Like I said, the second part will be up tomorrow afternoon sometime (though this all depends on what timezone you're reading from). The rest of the battle will be from Alice's point of view, so I hope you'll enjoy that as well. You'll find that there is a lot more of the actual battle in the second part, so don't be discouraged. Tell me what you thought of the first part in a review, and keep reading everyone!

The Witness is almost done, hang in there for two more chapters and an epilogue. :)

-TG