AN: Everyone's either in Volterra or on their way to Volterra. The only exceptions are those with the Hybrids; Demitri, Leah, Felix. The Healers will join them in South America soon.

S. Meyer owns twilight

CHAPTER 17

BPOV - Texas with, Rose, Em, Chelsea, Jake, Theresa, Aro, Picia, Charlie, Brenna, Aaron, Fred and Briggita.

We were waiting for Eliza to arrive with the Volturi jet, she would fly us back to Italy. Theresa and Jake were coming with us to meet the Masters. They were looking forward to meeting the other Volturi leaders and the Guard. Jake and Theresa were going to work with the Volturi to draft laws, they would represent each of the Native American communities, Theresa had spoken with the Elders of the other Reservations in America. Demitri and Leah had made a good impression and the people in the Reservations were happy for Theresa to negotiate a treaty with the Volturi and had suggestions of their own for the new Spirit Walker government.

Dad's phone rang, it was Demitri. He sounded urgent. "Charlie, we need you to come to us. Leah's in danger."
"What happened?" Dad asked. "We think Leah's pregnant." Demitri's voice broke. Dad looked at Rose and Em, "we need to go to Argentina." He told them, they nodded. We stood in shock as they grabbed their luggage, Jake ran to the airport counter and arranged a flight for the Healers. There was a flight in six hours to Martin Miguel De Guemes International Airport in Argentina. It was an 18 hour trip with a couple of stop overs.

Dad urged Brenna to fly to Volterra with us, she reluctantly agreed. She hugged him for a while. Jake was calling the Clearwaters. He spent a while calming Sue and handed the phone to Rose so she could assure her they would do everything she could. I heard Harry's voice as the phone changed hands, he had found a flight from SeaTac in four hours' time. They'd arrive shortly after the Healers landed. Rosa, the eldest of Joham's children was going to meet them and take them to Leah. The Healers would meet Demitri at the airport first and go straight to Leah.

The jet arrived and we said good bye to the Healers before boarding. We updated Eliza on Leah's news as we buckled into our seats. The jet sped down the runway and I felt us lift into the air. The force of the takeoff felt different than it had as a human and vampire. The pressure did strange things to our ears, I hadn't felt my ears pop since I was human. I watched J, Pete and Char, waiting for their reaction. I had enjoyed my transition, but the others were finding it difficult.

Char grabbed her ears and yelled, "I'm going deaf!" I chuckled and waited for the follow up. J saw felt my amusement and rolled his eyes. "Char, I think this is another one of those annoying hybrid things, Bella's laughing at you." She turned in her seat and glared at me. She growled as her ears popped. I heard Pete grunt as the change in pressure affected his ears. I kept my eyes on J, waiting for his reaction to the air pressure. His eyes widened and his fingernails turned to claws, puncturing the leather of the seat. I started to laugh.

Fred took pity on us and handed us some gum. J, Char and Pete were looking at the small foil parcels in concern. I unwrapped my piece of gum and put it in my mouth. I expected it to taste awful, like human food had tasted while I was a vampire, but I was pleasantly surprised. The minty taste caused my mouth to fill with a mix of venom and saliva.

J, Char and Pete tasted the gum and smiled. "Don't swallow it." I advised. The plane began to level out. I chewed happily, the gum grew smaller, my venom caused it to disintegrate a few minutes later. We sat in silence for a while. Jake and Theresa were tense in their seats. I remembered Leah's condition and sobered up.

Aro had informed us of how dangerous Hybrid births were when he told us about Joham. My mind filled with images of my best friend ripped apart. I began to feel sick. She's a wolf, she heals fast, she'll survive I chanted to myself. I pushed all thoughts about her dying from my mind, she had the best help available and she was a fast healer. J looked at me in concern, I mouthed Leah's name and he nodded, I didn't want to upset anyone else. He lifted up the armrest between our seats and put his arm around me. I snuggled into his side and took in his scent.

For some reason we were the only ones who could smell our mate's scent, Aro, Picia and the others said we'd lost all trace of smell. Perhaps it was a pheromone thing. I heard Pete move in his seat in front of us, but didn't bother to raise my head. A moment later I heard a message from the Ancestors she'll survive, her and the child will be safe.

I sighed in relief and stood up. I told Theresa and Jake the good news. Both looked relieved. Jake twisted in his seat, facing Aro and Picia sitting behind him. "May I use your phone, Aro?" He asked. Aro nodded and handed it to him. Jake punched in the number for Sue's mobile. "Hello? What's wrong?" Her voice was frantic. "Sue, the Ancestors told the Horsemen that Leah and the baby will be safe." I heard her sob, she thanked us and hung up.

Aro went to the change rooms and brought out a few cloaks, handing them to me and the other Horsemen. "You four should wear these." He said, the cloaks were black with purple lining, we were honored guests. "When we get to Volterra we'll need to design new pendants for you, ones which symbolize your position in the world." He said.

Aro then turned to Jake, Theresa and the werewolves. "We need to make pendants for you as well. Each person with authority needs to wear an identifier. It's something we learnt the hard way. We had trouble from people claiming to be Volturi agents, we created the first Volturi pendants from steel and vampire ash seven hundred years ago, no one has dared counterfeit them, the pendants are infused with a particular scent. We learned later that we needed to add a weak link in the pendant chain when one of our Guard was decapitated." He added.

"Who was decapitated?" I asked. He sighed and answered, "Felix, since then when his pendant chain breaks he uses it as a garrote. It's quite effective, but he does tend to need his pendant repaired after every mission." He said lightly. Pete turned to Aro; "Should we wear our masks while we're in Volterra?" He asked. Aro shook his head, "your eyes and scent have changed, not to mention your heart beat. People will need time before you return to the Horsemen disguise. We'll wait until there is peace amongst the species. In the meantime we'll need to arrange cloaks for the others.

Brenna leaned forward and spoke to Aro, "we have ceremonial clothes, can we wear them instead of cloaks?" She asked. Aro smiled and nodded. "Of course." Fred joined the conversation; "instead of pendants we have our positions carved into the leather of our ceremonial garments. We display a branding scar on our arms to show our species." He rolled up the sleeve of his t-shirt to show us the crescent moon brand on his bicep. "That works well for formal occasions, but what about everyday use?" Aro asked, they agreed and started discussing ideas for pendants. Aro had vetoed many suggestion for Old Norse symbols. "I'm sorry brother, those symbols have been adopted by the humans, they use them to advertise their bigotry."

The wolves were angry. "Which humans have desecrated our symbols?" Fred asked angrily. "The white power movement, those associated with the extremist Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan." Aro said sadly. "Fucking arseholes." Fred growled. "What about the wolf's cross?" Brenna suggested. "Mjolnir?" Fred asked, she nodded. Fred looked to Aro, expecting to hear of a white power alliance. Aro nodded, "Pagan humans wear that, they follow their own beliefs based on the Norse gods. I don't see why it would be a problem." He said. Fred smiled, "we can alter it slightly. We'll keep the shape, but add different designs." He added. "Like a moonstone in the top?" I suggested, I used to wear a moonstone ring. I lost it a while ago. Brenna grinned, "I like that idea." She said. Fred agreed.

There were more discussions over the designs. In the end they agreed that the person who represented the species and ruled alongside a Spirit Walker and Vampire would have a crown engraved into the center of the hammer with a knotted pattern in the shape of a wolf. The three leaders of the werewolves would have a similar design, a moonstone on a wolf's cross, but there would be an engraving of a tree, they called it Yggdrasil. Other wolves would wear a wolf's cross with moonstone and an engraving of a crescent moon, similar to the brands they wore on their upper arms. They discussed colors and materials. The pendants would be silver colored titanium with gold colored titanium filling the engravings.

They discussed ideas for a new vampire pendant. Picia and Aro liked the idea of including a sun stone, it would glitter in the sun like they did. Fred suggested a sword pendant with the sunstone in the hilt. I could see Aro liked the idea, it would be similar, yet different to the werewolf pendant. They would talk more about it with the coven leaders.

A voice whispered to me Volterra is in trouble. I gasped. I could tell Pete, Char and J had received the same message. J went to tell Aro, the rest of us sat together, working out a plan. "It appears we may need to test our gifts in combat." Pete growled. I expected our eyes to darken, but our anger only caused our pupils to dilate slightly, Pete's eyes were still light blue and Char's stayed green. Aro and J were talking quickly and quietly. Picia looked terrified. I went over and hugged her. "It'll be okay, we won't let anyone hurt our family." I promised, Aro smiled at me gratefully. Theresa and Jake came over, "what's wrong?" Jake asked. Pete quickly gave them an explanation.

Aro spoke to the wolves, Jake and Theresa. "Would you mind waiting at the airport while we take care of the problem in the castle?" They nodded. J moved to the cockpit to tell Eliza she'd need to stay with them. "I think we'll need to wear the Horseman disguise, Aro." I said, he agreed. We went to get changed, putting on our masks and blue cloaks.

We returned to our seats and waited. Eliza's voice came through the speakers. "Buckle up everyone, I'm going to use my gift to generate some fog, it'll allow us to perform a few illegal maneuvers and land quickly." We put on our seat belts and gripped the arm rests. Jake and Theresa looked scared. Aro assured them they'd be safe. "It'll be a rough landing, but you won't be injured in any way."

We were an hour from Pisa airport. I looked out the window into the dark sky. It was too peaceful up here, I itched to be at the Castle, fighting. The clouds thinned and I could see the lights of the cities below us. A fog began to slowly form, obscuring my view of the land. We were close, Eliza had started to use her gift.

I held J's hand and closed my eyes, begging the Ancestors for help. I felt Jake begin to shake and J's power released calm around us. It was stronger than it used to be. He reined it in and apologized. Jake had calmed, I opened my eyes, he was sitting tensely. Theresa was terrified. Pete spoke, his voice held an odd tremor. "Your people will be safe. The Ancestors stand with you." I realized he was in a trance. This was a direct message from the spirits.

Theresa looked less frightened. She turned her head to Aro. "I'll begin preparing remedies as soon as we land. Rose gave me her recipe for the elixir that disables gifts. I'll be able to make something similar and make healing tea." She offered. Aro thanked her and apologized for the predicament.

I felt the plane drop many feet. We froze, clinging to the arm rests. Theresa and Jake were sweating from the adrenaline coursing through their veins. I felt my heart speed up, J gripped his chest with his free hand. I turned slightly towards him and rubbed the hand he'd clenched against his chest. "It's okay, War. This is normal." He looked at me, there was a feverish look to his eyes. He was scared. "It's okay. Don't be afraid, you're safe. This is your body's reaction to fear. There's adrenaline running through your veins, it makes your heart pump faster." He was gasping behind his mask. A stray tear fell down his mask.

I unbuckled my seat, "where's the calming tea?" I asked Theresa. "Carry-on bag, in the change room." She gritted out. I ran to the change room and quickly rifled through the mixes, the plane was tilting and I slipped a few times. The Healers had labeled several small Ziploc bags, each held a dose of different remedies. I grabbed a thermos from the rudimentary kitchen and poured some boiling water from the urn. I dumped a dose of calming herbs into the thermos and ran back to my mate. "Close the blinds" I ordered. Everyone turned and pulled down the small plastic curtains over the windows. I lifted J's mask off, I hadn't seen him this way before.

I lifted the thermos to his lips and poured some of the tea down his throat. His heart beat slowed and I smiled. "You're okay, War." I pecked his lips and turned to help Pete and Char. They were in a similar condition to J, unused to their heart beat and the chemicals churning around their bodies. I lifted Pete's mask off and gave him a few drams of the tea, before moving to Char and repeating the process. Their foreheads were beaded with sweat. "You're both okay. Concentrate on breathing, take one breath every five seconds. It'll help balance out the chemicals in your bodies." I had quite a few panic attacks in my human life and knew how to handle them.

I rinsed out the thermos and refilled it with boiling water, adding it to Theresa's bag. I returned to my seat and put my mask back on. J, Pete and Char had calmed down and put their masks back on. The plane began to tilt further as Eliza came in for a steep landing. I felt the nose of the plane suddenly lift up and we bumped a few times onto the runway, before screeching to a stop. Eliza ran to open the doors. "I will stay with the wolves, Theresa and Jake. We'll unload everything. Go! Save the Castle." She ordered.

We unbuckled our seatbelts and ran, jumping onto the tarmac. Eliza's fog kept us hidden as we jumped the fence of the airport and sprinted to Volterra. Peter, Char, J and I were a lot faster than Aro and Picia. I could feel my muscles working overtime. "You'll feel the adrenaline return, don't worry about the feeling in your chest or the sweat on your skin. It's normal. Focus on your breathing and keep running." I told them. "Adrenaline is fucking horrible." Pete complained. "It may seem like that now, but it strengthens our reflexed and muscles. This is how human bodies work." I said. "We aren't human." Pete mumbled. "We aren't, but our bodies work in a similar way." I said to him.

We ran silently. In a matter of minutes we arrived at the walls surrounding Volterra. I could hear the crash of vampires fighting. There were human screams. I growled and ignited my shield. The bones in my fingers cracked, large, black claws sprouted from my fingertips. J waved us forward, his claws were out as well. We jumped the wall and landed in the streets near the plaza. Vampires were fighting around us.

Heidi was taking on two attackers, a girl in the lower guard was standing in front of a human, shielding him from attackers as best as she could. He was injured, his heart beat was weak. There were three large vampires trying to get past her. I ran to her and sliced my claws through the necks of the attackers, their venom caught fire from my shield and they immediately turned to ash.

I didn't have time to marvel at my power upgrade. I turned to the girl "bite him now, if you want him to survive." She looked terrified "I don't know if I'll stop." She whimpered. "I'll help you. Bite him now." I watched as she lowered her mouth to his neck, I could see the venom drip down her chin, onto the open wounds in his chest. Her teeth sank into his flesh. Her eyes turned black and she growled as her thirst took over. I removed the flames from my arm and battered her away from him. She landed heavily against a brick house and a crack appeared the wall. She shook her head and regained control over her thirst.

"Thank you." She said desperately. "Find a safe place and hide." I ordered her, she picked up the human ran down an alley with his cradled in her arms. I turned my attention to Heidi. Char was using her power against the attackers, I watched them desiccate before me. Her power had grown, she was able to drain every drop of venom from her attackers, their bodies crumbled to dust. J and Pete were further down the road, there was a trail of destruction behind them. Twitching vampire body parts littered the road. I moved my flames back over my entire body and walked, igniting the bodies as I went.

"Go help the girl." Char said to Heidi, Heidi followed the road the girl and her human had run down. Char walked next to me, the flames surrounded us, but did no damage to her. J and Pete disappeared into the Plaza, I could hear the tearing of vampire flesh. Char and I followed close behind them. There were hundreds of vampires fighting, dead bodies of the citizens of Volterra lay on the ground. We saw Caius, Marcus, Esme and Dora fighting off a swarm of enemies. There were few guards dotted around the place, Alec and Jane were disabling large groups of fighters as Mark and Evan ran to dismember them. I could see the difference in their appearance and nodded to them as we approached.

Alistair was running in and out of the melee, picking up limbs that had been torn from the guard. A vampire flew at him. I screamed and felt the flames reach out from my shield. Fire arced over the crowd and engulfed the attacker, leaving Alistair unharmed. Ash rained onto the gaping faces of the guards and attackers.

The Guard were the first to recover and got the upper hand. Pete, Char, J and I fanned out to help the Volturi fight off the army. There were hundreds against fifty Volturi fighters. Enemy attackers exploded into ash as I passed them by, I dodged the Guard as I ran. I cut a path through to the Masters and sent out a ring of flame, quickly disposing of the attackers swarming them. "Get behind me!" I called to the Guard, they fought their way over to me and pushed their attackers into the flames. I left a small gap open for them to run to safety. I was able to send out flares of fire as the enemy tried to get to the Masters. Soon I had the entire Volturi coven shielded. Pete, J and Char were the only ones fighting, they moved faster than the vampires and easily dismembered them.

Pete changed direction and ran out of the plaza. J and Char were left with a handful of attackers. It was an easy defeat. J and Char ran to me, I withdrew my shield from the Volturi and spread the flames around me. I walked slowly through the mass of twitching limbs, igniting them with each step. The flames grew high, towering over the walls of Volterra. They burned through the bodies quickly and rejoined my shield.

I saw Pete running out with the human in his arms, the girl in the lower guard followed behind with Heidi, they weren't as fast as Pete. Behind them were another twenty vampires. Once Pete and the two Guards were with the others I sprinted down the alley to head off the last of the attackers. They tried to run, but I caught them in my flames before they could escape. The rebellion had failed.