12th chapter

Minna felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of vampires marching in their direction. She felt the tension between the others around her and she made intuitively a small step back. She reminded herself of the vow she made and her breathing slowly began to get calmer. Her friends were tense as well and Minna looked over at the Romanians.

Both couldn't hide their anticipation and a wide grin spread across their faces. It seemed as if they almost couldn't believe their eyes. The next thing Minna noticed was how Tanya and Kate stumbled a bit after seeing their sister among the Volturi. The German couldn't even imagine what they would feel that moment. Her eyes made their way slowly back to the Volturi, who already made a formation. The three leaders built the front and led the others with strong and powerful steps closer to the Cullens and their witnesses. Minna was sure, they would just come over and kill all of them in an instant, until she heard the howls of the shapeshifters behind her.

She turned around slightly and was completely fascinated by the wolves that came out of the forest, filling the spare places in their lines. They were far taller than Minna would have thought and she looked at the one with fair-colored fur in front of her in awe. It was then that Minna realized the Volturi stopped in their tracks, clearly confused about the presence of the shapeshifters.

Both groups were still far apart when the Volturi put down their hoods and looked at the others patiently. It was unpleasantly quiet for a moment, until Carlisle stepped forward.

"Aro", he started in a low voice, he tried desperately to remain calm and not show his fear. "Let us discuss things as we used to. In a civilized manner." Aro looked at him with an almost unreadable face. "Fair words, Carlisle. But a little out of place given the battalion you assembled against us." A knowing smile spread on his face, as if he was relieved that his old friend was eager to fight, which would ultimately lead him to some new additions to his ranks.

"I can promise you, that was never my intent. No laws have been broken", Carlisle answered. His voice got stronger with each word. "We see the child, do not treat us as fools", Caius' voice was filled with disbelief and anger. His piercing gaze met the golden eyes of Carlisle.

Carlisle stood straight. "She's not an immortal", he said with a loud voice and looked behind to the other covens. "These witnesses can attest to that," he continued and looked back to Aro, "or you can look." He turned to Renesmee with a caring look in his eyes. "See the flush of human blood in her cheeks." Renesmee looked shyly at the other vampires, when Caius booming voice interrupted Carlisle's explanation. "Artifice!"

Aro stopped his brother with a raise of his hand, his eyes trained on Carlisle and the supposed to be immortal child. "I will collect every facet of the truth. But from someone more central to story." Aro was playing his own games and Edward knew it. He knew that Aro would want his thoughts to know what was going on in everyone's heads. "Edward, as the child clings to your newborn mate, I assume you are involved." Aro held out his hand and Edward looked at Bella and Renesmee. He knew what Aro wanted.

Minna looked at the scenery in front of her in shock. When Edward left towards the Volturi, Bella shoved Renesmee between her and Jacob. Minna's breath quickened, not only because she didn't know what would happen next but also if Aro would probably find out about her accidently revealing their secret. She quickly glanced over to the Romanians, who had their eyes glued to the Volturi. Her mind wandered and she only got back to reality when she saw how Bella, Jacob, Emmett and Renesmee made their way to Aro as well.

The next thing she heard was an almost hysterical tune that came directly from Aro. Minna flinched under the sound and concentrated back to their conversation. "Hello Aro", Renesmee said in a more confident way than Minna could imagine. That girl, despite her young age, was far braver than she would ever be. The girl ignored Aro's offered hand and laid her hand on his cheeks, letting her gift show him what she knew.

After a few seconds, he retreated himself but his eyes, full of curiosity and disbelief, still laid on the small girl. "Half mortal, half immortal. Conceived and carried by this newborn, while she was still human", he explained to his coven and looked at Bella while his mind tried to sort all the information. "Impossible." By the voice of his brother his expression turned blank, he turned around slowly and an aura of authority washed over him. "You think they fooled me, brother?" He made a few steps into Caius' direction who held his gaze but didn't dare to say another word against Aro.

Edward and his family made their way back to their coven, Jacob stayed a little longer, growling and baring his teeth in the direction of the Volturi before he followed the others.

Minna only then realized she held her breath, she could barely stand the tension. And when she saw a blond woman with golden eyes got dragged in front of the leaders, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Her eyes switched for a moment to the Denali and they seemed to be frozen in position.

"Is that the child you saw", the voice of Caius was as cold as ice while he pointed into the direction of the Cullens. Irina looked at Renesmee shaking her head lightly. She looked down she didn't want to show anyone the fear in her eyes. "I'm not sure", she admitted lowly. "Jane", the name left Caius' lips as a threat to be reckoned with and Irina quickly continued. "She's changed. This child is bigger." She looked back at Caius, but still didn't dare to look into his eyes. "Then your allegations were false", he stated matter-of-factly. "The Cullens are innocent. I take full responsibility for my mistake", she finished and looked at Aro. Then her eyes switched to Bella for a moment. "I'm sorry", she mouthed, but even Minna could hear it perfectly.

Everything after that, happened far too quickly. Before Minna couldn't even realize what happened, Irina was torn apart by the guards and lit up by Caius who had a satisfied grin on his face. Kate and Tanya were eager to get there to save their sister but were held back. Garret could barely hold onto Kate, as she sent wave after wave of electricity through her body. Zafrina quickly blinded both of them at Edward's demand and he tried to reason with the Denali sisters.

It took him a few seconds to get both of them calm again. Edward knew that Aro wanted nothing more than to provoke the Cullens and their witnesses to a fight. But he couldn't let him win. They needed to remain calm, all of them. When he made his way back to his wife he suddenly fell to ground, his face distorted in pain, which led Bella to spread her shield in an instant. Minna could see the confusion in Aro's eyes, as well as the anger in Jane's, who seemed close to lose control.

"Aro, you see there is no law broken here", Carlisle spoke up again. Aro looked at his old friend, his mind seemed to be racing. "Agreed, but does it then follow that there is no danger", he answered and Minna had a bad feeling about this. Everything about the Volturi seemed to be made for a fight, and Aro didn't look like he would let that chance pass through him.

"For the first time in our history, humans pose a threat to our kind. Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative. In such perilous times, only the known is safe, only the known is tolerable. And we know nothing of what this child will become. Can we live with such uncertainty? Spare ourselves a fight today only to die tomorrow."

With his speech he had all of his coven and his witnesses on his side. Minna couldn't help herself but look at the Romanians. The resemblance between them and the leader of the Volturi were there, even though she would never dare to say that out loud. She had to think about her conversation with Vladimir back then, when she asked him what they would do after they killed the Volturi. They used different words, but the meaning was the same. She wondered what other traits they shared.

Her thoughts got disrupted when Aro spoke up again.

"Though, we would gladly welcome some of you in our ranks." He looked at the people in front of him, an unholy grin on his lips. Minna knew that he saw through Edward's mind what kind of powers were waiting for him. "Kate, Zafrina," he started. Kate stumbled a bit; she clearly didn't expect to be called. Zafrina let out a low hiss at the mention of her name. Both of them would never join them. "Benjamin, your gift is very intriguing, you would make a formidable guard." Amun tensed immediately and the grin on Aro's face widened. Both of them were obviously thinking about the last time, when Aro recruited his talented tracker off of the Egyptian coven. Benjamin remained silent but defensive, he didn't seem to be interested in the slightest. Aro's eyes wandered as if he was looking for another one, he saw in Edward's mind. "Ah, Minna. I assume your gift holds a great potential; we'd be delighted to strengthen."

Minna was caught totally off-guard by his remark. She could've sworn, she heard a low growl at the mention of her name, but her shocked mind couldn't really comprehend. Not a word left her lip, she seemed frozen until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Siobhan put the German slightly behind her in a protective manner, but the grin on Aro's face remained.

Minna came back to life, when suddenly two other vampires made their appearance on the field. She heard the name 'Alice' being whispered and looked at the pair who walked straight to the Volturi.