"The Path of a Traitor is a lonely one, shunned by all they once held dear."
Unknown
"Bella's in a state right now. She's broken down, but she fought hard to get you a lighter sentence." Alice said quietly. "She was the one who made the argument and appealled to the judges."
The two siblings were sitting opposite one another on either side of a table. Edward's head was lowered, his bronze-coloured hair falling into his eyes and the upper half of his face, leaving the rest in shadow. Jasper stood behind Alice watching them. His gut twisted. No matter how angry or upset anyone was towards Edward he couldn't imagine how anybody could rejoice in this.
His wife's hazel-brown eyes stared large and worried at their brother. Her brow puckered. Jasper would have normally considered this adorable but the situation was grim and saddening. Alice reached out and grabbed Edward's hand, squeezing it gently. "Don't stress too much about it."
"Banishment." Edward said finally, his voice hoarse- for a vampire- from disuse. "After imprisonment." Alice seemed to falter.
"Edward," Jasper said quietly, making his voice as gentle as he possibly could. He moved forwards and sat down, taking the other chair. The sound of wood scraping against the bare stone floor made a dismal sound in the emptiness of the space.
Jasper sighed. He didn't know what to say. "I should probably make a few things clear." When Edward didn't react, Jasper continued. "Renesmee is not getting with Jacob. She is never going to end up with Jacob."
Silence. Edward had seemingly frozen before he finally looked up. His green eyes were bleary.
"What?"
"We fully intend to have the imprint-bond- the emotional, psychological and spiritual connection- between both Jacob and Renesmee reversed, like Jacob had never imprinted on her in the first place." Jasper explained.
For a long moment, Edward stared as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Why?"
"It's for the best," Alice found herself saying. She squeezed his hand again. Beside her, Jasper nodded. Edward stared at them. He couldn't believe it.
"What?" He found himself saying. "How? Why?"
Jasper took a deep breath. He met his wife's nervous gaze with his calm but resolute one and turned back to look at Edward. "Edward... Renesmee isn't happy with Jacob. She hasn't been for a long time. As a matter of fact, you know that she wasn't happy with the way she lived in that cottage." Jasper hesitated as he spoke the last words, perfectly aware of the awkward alien description of the home which had once made Bella and Edward so happy but had now become hated by Bella and their daughter. Edward had no such feelings. He had been kept out of the loop for the longest of times.
"You know this," Jasper said quietly, watching Edward seemingly disappear behind his glassy eyes. "You've known it for the longest time. She not only feels smothered Edward, she feels like a prisoner. It doesn't matter if a gilded cage is charming. It's still a cage. Yes, she's allowed out, but always to somewhere far enough away that no one who knew either of you could accidentally glimpse her, and never without anybody guarding her, unless it's to Charlie's house, the pack's houses in La Push, our main house and the cottage. Otherwise, she's hidden away. I know you were thinking about her safety, Edward, but it's not healthy for her. Even Bella admits that now."
When Edward made no response, Jasper continued. "She's at the stage in life where her horizons are meant to broaden and expand. Forks is beautiful. Washington State is beautiful. La Push is beautiful. But she needs more. She needs human interaction- or vampire interaction. Social interaction in general. She's lonely. She's different even among Wolves and their imprints, or vampires. She needs some sort of connection with someone else, other than her immediate or extended family, to know that it's not such a bad thing.
"So we're moving away." Jasper stated awkwardly. "We're either selling or renting out the main house and we're moving away. In any case, now that we're members of the Vampire Confederation, we've been invited to stay here for a whole year, and move between this coven to the ones other species have, to get a good sense how to build a new society.
"After a year's passed, we're on our own. We just have to follow the rules of the Confederation and not prey on, harm or kill humans or each other, and to avoid humans in general, especially mundane or non-magical humans, and to do that, we have to stick and together, as a society. Can't avoid and stay isolated even from each other, like we used to do. Make our own dealings with the wizards for food supplies and other things. Learn to do business and develop an economy and a more advanced society, by the looks of things. Since we've already got a good supply of food and this ensures the risks of being discovered by humans, particularly if they're searching for missing persons or how people are killed, and with the Confederation's alliance with wizards and other magical beings, this means that we'll have an easier time staying hidden." Jasper exhaled.
"I was surprised at how easily so many of our species agreed to this. But it's understandable." He conceded. "It's getting harder to find humans that won't be missed and searched for, just as it's getting harder to dispose of all the dead bodies and stay clear of human attention. Maybe fifty years ago, it would've been a lot easier, but now the best thing for every vampire to do is to stop hunting humans and this means forming an alliance with wizardkind. And to do that, our kind can't hurt any of them, magic or no magic, any more."
Yes, he supposed that was true, Edward agreed silently.
"Carlisle and Esme have been asked to form members of an interim government, at least until everybody decides to change the people on it. Tanya and Eleazar, Maggie and Siobhan, Amun, Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna, even Charles and Mackenna whom the Volturi brought to be witnesses on their side and spoke up for us have been asked to join. They can change things, step down, replace them or add more people, but for now these are the ones who will make the laws and govern our new society." Jasper said softly.
After a while, Edward spoke. "And what of my place in this new society?" He asked quietly.
Jasper hesitated. "Banishment?" He repeated. His green eyes found Jasper's brown ones.
"After thirty-three years of imprisonment I am going to be banished from our society and from all contact with my wife and daughter-" his voice trembled. "-for three hundred years?"
Alice's lip quivered. Her eyes would have filled with tears if they could.
Edward was scheduled to be released from imprisonment at June the twenty-seventh 2040 only to be banished for three hundred years until the exact same date that his sentence was carried out and later released on the year 2340.
But it was better than straight-up imprisonment for five hundred years. However, what remained to be seen was whether this sentence would have been better than execution itself. Because unlike Edward, Jasper knew that Bella's love for Edward was dead and gone if not dying. She was going to leave him, to end their marriage. And Renesmee would never trust or be close to her father ever again. It remained to be seen whether or not either of them could forgive him.
Edward too was keeping his secrets. He had decided not to allow any of his family to know the exact nature of his imprisonment: being trapped in a coffin and a tomb, cut off from all his senses but usually aware and conscious unless he slept- a small mercy afforded to him by his jailors, especially since he was not naturally inclined to sleep. He had secretly passed on this request to Gabrielle who had done the same to Radu and the other vampires in this coven-city, without his family's knowledge.
They all kept their secrets.
"Alec and Jane made a request: they asked to be executed." Jasper said, deliberately avoiding the subject. Edward stared at them. "I would've thought that they'd fought for life." Jasper shook his head.
"It turns out... well, they said they never wanted this life, if you could call it that." He replied frankly. "And now they realise they've been used and manipulated by the man who saved them and whom they trusted for at least a millennium, as tools and weapons. Aro's going to be executed, so they can't even hold a grudge and neither can Marcus, well, not for long anyway, and he'll certainly be here for Aro and Caius' execution. The British Ministry for Magic- their magical government- had offered to treat the twins, but with vampires, well our mental states are stuck, frozen in time. We don't have much hope for them since their condition is much more severe than anyone else's, since they're technically Immortal Children, even though they can control themselves better than bitten toddlers." Jasper hesitated. "So they've asked MACUSA, since America is one of the few magical- and non-magical- countries that still uses the Death Penalty- to do the job for them. Since Carlisle and Esme are members of the new government, they and Tanya and Eleazar and our friends who've been chosen, are going to watch them do it after they've taken the twins to New York. The twins are considering it a mercy-kill."
Edward was silent for a long moment. "That still doesn't answer my initial question," he said softly "why does Renesmee wish to be separated from Jacob forever? How are they going to reverse the imprint? What's Jacob going to do?"
Jasper and Alice both winced. "Jacob still doesn't know," Jasper admitted meekly "but the others, with the exceptions of Sam and his pack- and their imprints- know. Quil asked Gabrielle Delacour to reverse the connection between him and Claire. They're both doing fine. It's some form of magic, called a soul-link. The best way to describe it would be psychic-surgery." He grimaced at the pathetic attempt to explain it. "Basically what happens is a healer's soul or consciousness separates from his or her body to heal or treat a spiritual or psychological wound. Or alter something like this one. In Claire and Quil's cases, it's been reversed, they're no longer tied, and his instincts have been... fixed up, I guess you could call it, so he doesn't imprint on anyone that young anymore, nor will he pursue them if they don't want him or aren't ready for a relationship with him."
Slowly Jasper explained, with Alice adding in and elaborating or filling in some details, about the Wolves' imprinting. And how and why Jacob came to imprint upon Renesmee in the first place.
Edward stared at them for a long moment. He was silent. Jasper didn't need to take off his magical inhibitor to know that Edward wanted to kill Jacob only for him to remember that he had been no better.
Did you do it? He wanted to ask his brother. Even though he knew that Edward could no longer hear his thoughts, Jasper couldn't help but wonder. Did Edward really intend or plan to offer his and Bella's newborn baby up to the Wolves for execution? As a means of achieving peace between them and the Cullens and revenge against the potential loss of Bella- or even, Jasper thought chillingly, out of misdirected self-hatred and spite?
In truth, Jasper didn't really want to know. But if he warranted a guess, the sad truth was that he would believe the answer to be a yes. Unlike his wife, Jasper was neither blinded nor was he deaf to everything that was going around the house. While he may not have known if Edward had truly planned or intended to do this, otherwise he would have certainly stepped in, Edward's attempt to guilt-trip- or more accurately, to emotionally blackmail Bella which he believed- or hoped- as much of a subconscious or unconscious attempt it was, had been very real. He made his hatred for the pregnancy and their unborn child very clear.
"Jacob might not be Alpha for much longer," Jasper pointed out. "Apart from him and Sam... well, it turns out there was somebody else who possesses the Alpha gene, as Gabrielle and other Wolf scientists called it." Edward had barely made any reaction to the newfound knowledge of the existence of other Wolf species, although Gabrielle had warned him prior to his trial. It would have surprised him otherwise when the judges used the term 'Loup-Garou' or 'Loup-Garoux' for what he and his family had previously called werewolves, as opposed to the Children of the Moon who were Lycanthropes or Lycans.
"Leah." Jasper said finally. "Leah possesses the Alpha gene, she's shown Alpha traits- or Luna, to be more specific. It's the term they use for the mate of an Alpha or a female Alpha who leads in her own right. Since Sam is emotionally compromised and he has an imprint of his own, Leah has agreed to challenge Jacob for the role of the pack's leader and to get him to consent to the soul-link if she has to, if she wins."
Hesitantly, Jasper explained, without dropping any hints or revealing anything about what Bella had uncovered and what she now intended to do, to Edward about Lady Laima's prophecy, especially in regards to Jacob- and all the possibilities which could occur.
"The kid's mentally unstable, Edward." Jasper said weakly. "He's not well. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to kill Renesmee out of revenge against you and Bella, since he couldn't bring himself to hate either of you. Therefore, he wouldn't have imprinted. He has serious issues, and it was a mistake to think that imprinting has ever solved any of those issues. His father Billy and his sisters have signed him up for treatment and therapy with another pack up in Canada. But the Lady's prophecy hinted that he's not ever coming home. Whether it's because he's spent his entire life chasing after and trying to find Renesmee in a futile attempt either because he ran away- 'cause she hinted he would or could if he doesn't accept the imprint's a messed-up failure and he has to move on- or gets banished. Or he simply chooses never to come back." Jasper sighed.
Edward sat, stunned into silence. Jacob was mad?
"So he might be getting banished too," his voice quavered. Bitterness seeped through. "And he's never going to see Bella or Nessie again?"
Jasper and Alice both winced at the old nickname Jake had given to Renesmee. One which she had now determinedly dropped.
"It sounds like it." Jasper said softly. Edward closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath.
No matter their differences, prior antipathy and scorn, born out of mutual jealousy and paranoia, Edward would have never wished this most terrible of punishments upon anyone, including Jacob. Jasper could see that he didn't, but silently thought to himself that Edward's own punishment might just be worse.
Jasper felt like a coward, not warning or alerting Edward about Bella's intention to divorce and going behind his brother's back to keep such a big secret. But this was something which Bella had discussed with the entire family, although with great reluctance. She wasn't going to tell Edward that thirty-three years later, once he had been released, she fully intended to file for divorce. It was not only too cruel, in spite of his betrayal, to force him to endure imprisonment with the weight of this hanging on his shoulders, but while they could easily move the divorce forwards with ease and speed using magic, both parties had to mutually agree on all this, it was the only way to be honest with him without alerting Edward, as Bella no longer trusted him not to at least try to play with her head and feelings, and therefore, change her mind. As it turned out, Bella hadn't changed her surname to Cullen yet, so she was technically still Bella Swan. Between the period with the wedding and immediately leaving for the honeymoon right after, her pregnancy and giving birth, raising a hybrid which they had never before encountered and the preparations for standoff against the Volturi, as well as their fears and paranoia over their enemies' impending retribution, Bella had never found the time nor even remembered to go to the courthouse and officially change her surname and that was the one thing Edward had also forgotten to do for the exact same reasons, although before this discovery she initially feared that Edward had forged her signature the way he had when he applied for her to go to Dartmouth without her knowledge or consent.
It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to go to Dartmouth. But like the prom and the sleepover, it seemed that Bella's life had been taken completely out of her hands, ironically, in spite of her choice to become an immortal and to be with him forever.
When Bella had recovered enough to make her intentions clear, Jasper experienced an overwhelming flow of conflicting emotions. He felt relief, in a strange way, that finally some things had been resolved, some tensions were finally able to ease. It was as if he had fought in a war that caused much death and suffering and great loss on his side, but while he had surrendered and admitted his defeat, the feeling of relief that it was finally over was there. At the same time, he accepted Bella's decision completely and even Alice had nothing to say about it. They all accepted it: like the Confederates of which he had been a part of, they had eagerly jumped at the opportunity to fight in a war whose true nature they knew nothing about, and for some like Jasper, it had been all for a cause they didn't truly understand in their hearts. They only saw the glamour, the romance of it all. Like Margaret Mitchell's own portrayal of Tara and its family, it all seemed so romantic and idyllic. And then the ugly truth had reared its head. Bella's romance with Edward had been doomed from the start, Jasper knew. And not even Alice had foreseen that. They were all blind to it.
At the same time, he felt grieved and pained for the two of them and for Renesmee. Renesmee's own innocence had been broken, her trust in two of the most fundamental individuals who had made up her entire world had been irreparably shattered. As much as she had chafed against her boundaries, any positive aspects and attributes she had had in her life, prior to this whole mess, were utterly ruined in her eyes. And this included both her own father and the man she had been brought up and led to believe would do anything for her, would keep her safe no matter what. Yet secretly, treacherously perhaps, Jasper felt glad for Bella and Renesmee to be able to free themselves from what was essentially a smothering and stifling existence in a thinly veiled charming fantasy. They would get to rebuild their lives and be free. He even felt glad for Charlie's sake, as he had finally gotten his recompense for all the humiliation and disrespect that Edward and Bella- and Jacob- had admittedly handed to him, in spite of all his best efforts to be a good dad and grandfather. Hopefully, Bella and Charlie's relationship could mend and they could now begin to heal internally.
However, the part of Jasper which was Edward's brother, which would always remain and see himself as Edward's brother, in spite of all that he'd done, felt utterly crushed by the knowledge that his brother's happy family life and romance was not only at an end, but nothing more than a tragic fantasy. The curtains had fallen onto the stage. The show was over and the actors who played it had taken off their costumes and makeup and parted ways to go home for the night. It wasn't real. And he knew that Alice was going to regret pushing them together or not fighting to keep Edward and Bella apart for eternity, just as the rest of them would regret not putting their feet down.
Again, Jasper was immeasurably glad that Edward was wearing the magic inhibitor. "We have to meet with our old friends after this." Jasper sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Truthfully, I'm not looking forward to explaining to all our friends, Edward, but we have to: it's the right thing to do." Edward nodded tightly.
"Just be grateful it's not me," he responded quietly. "Even after being released and officially ending my banishment- where am I going to by the way? Has anyone decided?- I highly doubt that any of our friends will want anything to do with me."
Jasper fell silent at this remark. Edward wasn't wrong. They had seen the looks of betrayal upon each and every single one of their friends. If Edward were to be executed instead, chances were that no one outside of their family would mourn him.
Lady Laima made no mention about Edward's future, other than the plans she had for his punishment. It was clear that she thought of him as a traitor to all his friends and family, along with the rest of their species. And the sad truth was that Jasper wasn't able to dispute that. Yet despite everything, Edward was still Jasper's brother, along with being Alice's, Rosalie's and Emmett's brother. He was also Carlisle and Esme's son.
And he was Renesmee's father and Bella's husband. But Edward's betrayal had hit them the most.
"There's been no mention. Once your sentence has been carried out, the new government will confer." Jasper assured him. "But while you can't see or meet with Bella and Renesmee, the rest of us- Alice and me, Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie- we'll be there for you. You will always have family, Edward."
Edward didn't respond. "After this Carlisle has invited all our friends to sit down and have a talk with us. We'll explain everything to every single one of them." He said reluctantly.
Jasper sighed. "Wish us luck for that. Have you, er, made your arrangements?"
Edward nodded. "I have." For every fifty years since his parents' deaths, Edward had returned to Chicago, where he was born and grew up, to officially inherit his parents' house and all their property. He would pretend to be a new heir, a relation to the family and the previous owner. But now, Edward would be unable to go there any longer. The Cullens had warned Bella about this, but she refused to have anything to do with his possessions. She refused to even touch them. Jasper struggled not to wince. Instead, they would all go to Renesmee, although officially Carlisle and Esme could act as guardians on Renesmee's behalf, despite the fact that Edward had initially wanted Bella to do it, Bella and the rest of them had come up with the idea and pointed out to Edward that the humans would be sceptical of an eighteen-year-old girl acting as guardian or parent to a small girl who didn't look that much younger than her and would soon start asking questions. Edward was forced to concede.
So, Edward had signed away all the official documents, his own will and testament and handed his property to his underage daughter who was now officially in the guardianship of Carlisle and Esme. That had been what his parents had intended and wished for in any case. All they had to do now was to travel to Chicago in order to claim them. Elizabeth Masen's jewellery collection had been planned, by her, to be set aside for Edward's wife, but most importantly, for any daughters he would have in the future. Now, her wish could come true, even though Jasper had no doubt this was not at all how she would have wanted it to happen.
The vampires of the coven in New York, of the same species as the one who were primarily based here, had helped them, along with Gabrielle, and all the documents handed over to Carlisle and Esme. Edward's sole request was that they visit his parents' grave while in Chicago. Apparently, Carlisle and Bella's words about Elizabeth and how upset she would've been by his actions had gotten to him. Edward couldn't even apologise.
Jasper sadly believed that apologies might earn forgiveness but it wouldn't earn back anyone's trust- or their love in regard to Bella and possibly Renesmee.
Suddenly, Edward broke the brief silence. "Do you think Leah will win?" He asked quietly. He was still but his green eyes shone with an intensity as they peered into Jasper's.
Jasper paused. "You know that's a difficult question. Leah's faster than Jacob, but Jacob's physically stronger." He explained. "But on the other hand... Jacob... might not be thinking too clearly. Leah could use that to her advantage." Edward fell back into silence.
"I hope she wins," he said suddenly, unexpectedly. Jasper and Alice both stared at him. "I hope she wins and sets my daughter free. But I hope that Jacob... I hope that Jacob can move on. Find healing and peace. Find happiness." He took a shuddering breath. "I've done enough against him. If it hadn't been for me, Jacob would have never suffered anything that he'd suffered. In the end, Bella could have chosen him."
Jasper and Alice said nothing.
Edward took another breath. "So they're not soulmates?" He asked both of them. Slowly, both shook their heads. "That much is certain," Jasper said quietly. "And Renesmee... doesn't want anything to do with him."
Edward was very, very still. "I was wrong but this will kill him," he whispered. "This will kill Jacob."
Jasper shook his head. "No, it won't. The knowledge of Maria's betrayal didn't kill me when I discovered that she only ever used me. And it wasn't Victoria that dealt the death blow to Riley. She manipulated him, just as Maria manipulated me. But in the end, we all make our choices Edward."
"Do you think I manipulated Bella?" Edward found himself saying.
Jasper hesitated. "I think," he began slowly "that you had no intention to actually harm or hurt either of them, Edward. Otherwise, the rest of us would never have forgiven you. And neither Alice nor I would be sitting right here in front of you, talking to you if you had actually intentionally tried to hurt them, the way that man did in the Gas-Light play, for whatever purpose, since we would have only considered you to be a lost cause. We would have seen your betrayal as a true betrayal of the entire family. Only you can tell me whether or not that's true." He fell silent again as he waited for Edward to respond.
Finally, Edward spoke. "I didn't mean to," he whispered. "I know." Jasper responded evenly. "That's also why we're both sitting here talking to you, Edward. Because in the end, you are our brother. Carlisle and Esme's son. And we would never give up on you."
Edward was silent, but Jasper felt his gratitude, even with the magical inhibitor around his neck.
"We'll always love you, Edward." Alice said quietly, breaking her silence. "And I've... made plenty of mistakes as well. We all did. And this includes Bella and Jacob as much as you or I."
Edward stared as Alice took a deep breath. "I am sorry, Edward. I truly am. I should have stopped you when I could instead of encouraging, enabling or egging you on. I should have never turned a blind eye to what you were doing or pushed you towards Bella. I mean..." she trailed, faltering. Alice swallowed, hard, steeling herself. "I saw two futures. One in which you killed Bella and another where she became your mate. I panicked." A hiccupping laugh broke free from her lips.
"I didn't think to look for other alternatives. I immediately panicked at one future and grew excited at the other." She whispered brokenly. "I didn't even think to look for another alternative when you were staying with Tanya and her sisters in Denali. If I had... none of us would be here in the first place."
Edward stared at her. "If you hadn't, I would never have met and fallen in love with Bella. Regardless of whether or not I would've killed or ignored her, I would have never found that which I had sought for and dreamed of for so long." He pointed. "And Nessie would never have been born."
Alice said nothing. Jasper understood completely how she felt. The weight of all the secrets that they had decided to keep, for Edward's own sake and upon Bella's request, was crushing, as much as the weight of responsibility they each bore. Alice bore it heavier than most, apart from Edward and Bella themselves. But ultimately, they all bore it.
Edward can never know, or at least, not yet. This was partially for his own sake and sanity, as he had suffered enough and while they knew they couldn't keep him in the dark forever, they did not wish to force him to bear too many burdens all at once. But at the same time, this was also due to the fact that Edward simply could not be trusted not to manipulate or play with anyone any longer, least of all Bella. The thought of this made Jasper feel ill.
The curtains had truly fallen onto the stage. The show was over.
"Carlisle and Esme are coming after we've finished explaining." Jasper informed him. "Emmett and Rosalie too. Bella's with Renesmee, and she's... she's going to bring her here to meet you."
Edward winced. "I don't want her to see me like this," he whispered. "Besides, she hates me, doesn't she?"
Jasper shook his head. "At the end of the day, you'll always be her dad." Even though he suspected that Renesmee might have been planning to say farewell, truly farewell, in more ways than one to her father, none of them had nor ever intended to tell Renesmee the true extent of what Edward had planned to do and how far he would have gone. In all honesty, as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Jasper felt that Edward did deserve to lose his daughter's love completely, along with her trust. However, it wasn't something he could enjoy or rejoice in.
If anyone had discovered a method to travel back in time, Jasper would have been the first to jump to it and do whatever it takes to stop Edward from going near Bella. Maybe magic could do that. But alas, he knew enough from watching film and TV shows that it would probably mess things up. Still, if Jasper had but one wish, it would have been to go back in time and to prevent Edward from going near Bella. Perhaps Renesmee was always going to be Bella's daughter, no matter what her name was, Jasper thought. But she didn't have to lose her childhood.
"Did you want it so badly?" He found himself asking. Edward looked back up at him, green eyes puzzled. "A mate. No, a wife. A human life that was the very definition of normal. Children... did you truly want all that?"
Edward took a deep breath and sighed. "I did." He admitted. Jasper's gut squirmed. He wanted to ask Edward if that was why he'd gone after Bella, the way Bella herself believed: that Edward had fallen in love with her because it was convenient for him, especially since it justified his morbid fascination with her that swiftly grew into obsession. In the end, Bella claimed that Edward had used her as a blank canvas, an empty cup that he could fill with whatever he wished. But he never saw her, truly saw or knew her, much less loved her for who she was and is. All her qualities and quirks, her flaws and traits. He believed what he wanted to see. She was a means for Edward to live the life he felt he had been deprived; a perfect fantasy.
And for Bella, he had been not only an escape from her dreary, downtrodden and miserable life, but a dream come true. A guardian angel and a knight in shining armour. A Prince Charming.
Jasper sighed. "Maybe Renesmee can find happiness some day. And I certainly hope that Jacob would." In the end of the day, Jacob was yet another victim of their foolish mistakes and oversight. No matter what the suspicions and hostilities he and his kind had with theirs, he had been destroyed by them, even indirectly and unintentionally.
"I hope so too." Edward's face grew mournful. "I wish I could apologise. I may not have liked him imprinting upon my underage daughter, but I was glad that at least he had been healed."
Jasper shook his head. "I don't think he was, Edward. It was too easy." Alice grimaced, agreeing.
"We have a plan to keep Renesmee out of his reach. And a way to heal Jacob so they could both be happy someday." Jasper assured him. "Even if they can't come home, that doesn't mean they can't find home anywhere else."
We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Esme and Carlisle had sent out invitations and booked a sitting room for themselves and their friends and allies, anyone whom they were obligated to explain themselves to, to use.
It was similar to the sitting room they had waited in prior to the Awakening Ceremony. Decorated in tasteful shades of red, black and rich walnut brown, mounted candelabras casting a warm glow towards their surroundings and a plush rose-coloured wool carpet with a floral pattern covered the floor. The furniture was antique mahogany bearing brass lamps. This room had no windows, however. It would be kept private.
One by one, they all filed in. Unsurprisingly, perhaps due to Maggie, the Irish coven were the first to arrive. Maggie took the lead with Siobhan and Liam right after and they all sat themselves on the plush velvet settee. Not long after, Mary and Randall arrived and then came Alistair with Peter and Charlotte. Maria, quite surprisingly, was there as well, perching herself daintily on the arm of an armchair, although Jasper made it a point not to even look in her direction. Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna arrived with Benjamin and Tia with Amun strutting arrogantly behind and Kebi trailing like an ever-silent shadow by his side.
They kept filing in. More than enough individuals wanted to hear what the Cullens had to say about their son Edward, his conduct... and their own roles in this.
Finally, the Denali coven entered. Garrett kept his eyes fixed onto them while he, Tanya, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar all sat themselves down. Eleazar's dark eyes were piercing, inquisitive and probing.
Carlisle forced a smile. "Thank you all for coming. This is not how any of us would have ever imagined we would meet after what had happened."
"You could say that again," Peter muttered. Amun scoffed coldly.
Carlisle struggled not to grimace. "I understand that you all have questions."
Silence. But it only confirmed the obvious.
Surprisingly, Carmen was the first one to speak. "Carlisle," she sighed, shaking her head. "How to begin? What happened? What was this? What happened that led Edward to go to Volterra? How did it come to this?" Her voice was almost pleading.
"I heard everything that was said during the trials- we all did- but we would like to hear an explanation from you."
Sighing, rubbing his forehead and then taking a deep breath, as if to steel himself for what was to come, Carlisle slowly began to explain all that had occurred starting from when Bella first moved to Forks and the day she and Edward first set eyes upon each other.
The others pitched in whenever they could. Carlisle and Esme, of course, weren't present in the cafeteria or any other part of the high school. They explained everything, even the treaty the Cullens had had with the Quileutes, how Jacob had- unknowingly- broke it when Bella had- to her eternal shame and regret- flirted with him in order to gain information on the Cullens. How Alice had foreseen that either Bella and Edward would fall in love and that the former would become Edward's mate and befriend them and become a part of their family, or alternatively, that Edward would lose all sense of his control and prey upon Bella, draining her dry only to regret afterwards. However, she also admitted- to her own great shame- that having panicked upon seeing the outcome of the second future and becoming excited that Edward would finally find a mate after being alone for so long, Alice had neglected and completely forgotten to check for any other possible outcomes and alternative futures, nor of the end of either future that she had seen.
Jasper explained how Edward seemed to struggle with Bella's scent more than the others. She was his singer, so therefore it was much worse for him than it was for the rest of them. Bella had been shy, awkward, nervous and severely lacked self-confidence as a human teenager and therefore she had been not merely embarrassed but humiliated at Edward's apparent hostility, because of his hate or frustration-filled gazes and his attempts to steer clear of her, unknowing of her own status as his personal prey. They explained, well, admitted that Edward found it hard to stay away, even more so since unlike everyone else he had ever met, Bella's mind was completely closed to him and he did not understand why. Therefore, because the scent of her blood burned his throat and constantly ensured his attention would be focused on her and the fact that her mind was completely sealed from his abilities, Edward became frustrated and desperate. He had run away briefly to stay with the Denali coven in Alaska. But he had come back when he thought he had been prepared sufficiently enough. His fascination, however, Carlisle admitted, did not abate. He approached Bella, acting more friendly.
Each of them took turns explaining what had happened- as best they knew- on how Edward and Bella's story went. Bella was not present for this, but she had confessed her story to all of them, as well as Sue, Leah and Renesmee, and therefore, they knew what she did, what she thought and why she acted the way she did. They explained how Edward had acted upon instinct and saved Bella from Tyler Crowley's van as it slipped on the icy surface of the asphalt high school parking lot, but how thankfully no human had seen him- no human, that was, apart from Bella.
Then they explained how Bella grew curious, which admittedly now sounded like she was just nosy, and how she gradually became acquainted with Edward and, after flirting and sweet-talking to Jacob who hadn't yet phased and wasn't aware that the supernatural existed, dreamed a dream which revealed both Edward and Jacob's true nature which led her to discover the truth about Edward. Interestingly enough, that was the same dream she would have months later when Edward was away, when she realised and uncovered Jacob's true self.
At this, Jasper wondered whether Gabrielle had been correct in her assessment and that Bella may have had similar precognitive abilities as his wife. He could see the others wondering the same thing, Siobhan and Maggie casting curious gazes towards Alice and Eleazar doing the exact same thing, appearing both bewildered and fascinated. If this was the case, then Bella, who was already confirmed to be a descendant of a witch and wizard through a Squib offspring same as any other talented vampire including, Jasper realised with a jolt, himself and Alice, may have been on the path to her dormant magical gene reawakening. If what Gabrielle said was true, then if Bella had lived a normal life and had human children, then it would have taken around three generations for the gene to fully activate once more. She had passed down her gift to her daughter, but Renesmee had flipped it around, just as she did with Edward's gift. Edward who himself was confirmed to be a wizard descendant, born from a line who had telepathic abilities, or Legilimency as Gabrielle had called it.
Yet according to Gabrielle's own testimony during the Volturi's trial, his powers had awakened only partially when the venom transformed him. Alec and Jane's powers were also limited by their transformation. They were capable of many things prior to transforming but after they became vampires they could only cause pain or make their victims feel nothing.
But Renesmee... was she fully affected by the vampire venom? Gabrielle, as a supernatural scientist, had said that Renesmee had been sired by the sperm which had mutated or evolved to survive in Edward's venom, which replaced his semen, the way it did the rest of his bodily fluids. But the venom had never directly affected her, just as it had never directly affected Bella until Edward injected her with it on purpose. Their daughter was half human. Gabrielle was half human. Did this mean that Renesmee could be a witch?
At this point, his family were describing the encounter with James and Victoria. Jasper piped in during the retelling of their flight to Phoenix, James' trap and how they managed to realise Bella was gone and what had happened, before immediately alerting Edward who had raced ahead of the others. Edward held James up long enough before Emmett started to tear him apart and Jasper used his powers to make James feel an overwhelming sense of rage and doom emanating from Jasper's person. As it turned out, according to Edward, James had two more targets other than Bella: Laurent who'd clued in the Cullens and Alice who had been an intended prey of his that had gotten away. Jasper felt his fists tighten and his teeth grit in rage at the memory.
But of course, they had to admit the other things: Victoria escaping. Their friends and allies knew this part well, as the judges had presented Edward's incredible oversight during his trial, although the family also bore some of the blame, especially for not thinking this to be a serious issue until the news broke of an impending newborn invasion. Although none of them wished to expose Bella and Jacob's privacy any more than they already did, in truth every member of their family felt an obligation towards their audience. Not to mention that some, like Maggie, would have been able to sense if they were hiding something. So they admitted what had happened between Jacob and Bella too. How Bella had become attached to Jacob after the disaster of a birthday party- which she herself never wanted, as it turned out- prompted Edward to break up with her for her own safety. An admirable and noble idea, but one poorly planned and executed, and not quite as moral as Edward believed, especially since he not only lied to, he deliberately manipulated and left Bella in the woods. At this, the entire family winced. Some, such as Tanya and Kate, looked incredulous. Especially since the Cullens all had to confirm that they did indeed leave contact details and goodbye messages for Bella which Edward had thrown away before meeting with her. They had also admitted to how and why they were persuaded to move by Edward. Carlisle's head only shook in regret and disbelief at the memory of how they all caved in so easily.
They then retold them what had happened to Edward and Bella respectively following the aftermath of the breakup. How Edward had separated from them and how Bella had become seemingly catatonic and vegetative. They explained- briefly- about Bella's background and why she was so dependent upon them. Carlisle had hesitated, but Esme reminded him that they now lived under the rules of the Confederation. They made it clear to their friends, no matter how outraged they were at Renée, they now had to adhere to the Confederation's Laws, and that included not hunting down or harming Renée. Reluctantly, it seemed, their friends had agreed.
They then told them precisely what had happened and what Bella had been doing while with Jacob, or even without Jacob, during the months they and Edward had been away. Her stunts with approaching a stranger to go on a joyride on his motorcyle in Port Angeles, to draining her college fund to build one of her own with Jacob- which she subsequently never used, especially once Edward had returned- to, yes, the cliff-diving incident. All so she could imagine Edward being there with her, warning her to stop, hearing his voice. Admittedly, not a single one of their friends were impressed. More than one person, Carmen, Siobhan and Zafrina, to name a few, raised an eyebrow, as if to say, And she's a mother?
Of course, they had to make it very clear that Bella completely regretted and had been ashamed of all the things she did back then, especially as she now had a daughter of her own and her father had confronted her, asking her how she would feel if Renesmee had done only half the things she did back then.
Well, at least that was something.
They then went to retell the story of their uneasy alliance with the Quileutes during those days, how they had discovered newborn vampires lurking around Bella's room, shadowing her every step. How they had formed their plan and what Victoria had intended: to use Riley to train her army of newborns without any of them knowing of her involvement, and then to use them as battle fodder in an attack which was supposed to pin down the Cullens and the Wolves in one place, while she and Riley sought out and killed Bella out of revenge on Victoria's part. Riley himself had been manipulated.
It would have worked and it had been a far better plan than anything James or Edward had cooked up, Jasper admitted. But unlike Jasper, Riley had no experience in battle, combat or training newborns, although he wasn't entirely unskilled, Jasper conceded. And they were able to figure out Victoria's plan. Seth, the youngest of the pack at that time, had been forced to stay behind with Bella who had in turn forced both Edward and Jacob to stay with her. It was awkward, retelling what had precisely happened during those hours when they had camped up there, but they managed it, somehow. It helped that Maggie herself, as well as many others, understood just how awkward this was, particularly since Bella wasn't there and had only gone to return briefly to Forks to fetch her daughter. But basically, they got the message. Jacob's mental health issues were... even more awkward. Jasper and the others weren't certain that they should be telling Jacob's private life and issues to such a public audience, especially of vampires, which he was certain that neither Jacob nor his family would appreciate, so the Cullens all begged forgiveness for being so vague about the details of Jacob's personal life and issues, only telling them that he was scheduled for medical treatment at a therapy centre up in Canada, in a town that belonged to another Loup-Garou pack.
Afterwards, the most complicated part was retelling the precise details of Edward's proposal and Bella's condition, what went on during Bella's pregnancy with the Wolves and their family- and Jacob and Edward's intentions regarding the latter's then-unborn daughter.
Carlisle made it perfectly clear that Jacob's sanity had been crumbling and he was in severe emotional and psychological damage, just barely holding things together. He had confessed Bella's dependency upon his presence and the reasons they now believed were behind her need for Jacob, but there was no avoiding Edward's involvement in all of this. What he had planned. All that he had said and threatened to do. What he had made Bella feel during an extremely stressful time, emotionally and psychologically as well as physically. And of course, this led to Bella seeking relief from Jacob, unknowing that he too had secretly discussed rendering Bella unconscious and aborting her baby against her explicit consent, same as Edward. Although Carlisle along with the rest of the family had stood up to Edward, they now felt that only Rosalie had been the one who truly showed her strength. Even as compared to Bella who had been so meek and so afraid of even hurting Edward anymore. They explained to their audience Bella's dependency issues as best as they could...
They also explained to them Bella's own epiphany, as well as painful, shameful truths about Renesmee's upbringing.
And finally, it was all over.
For a long moment, there was silence. Then somebody inhaled and exhaled.
"Wow." Garrett spoke. "Just... wow." Tanya looked like she couldn't agree more, and neither could anybody else.
Carlisle sighed. "Yes." His shoulders slumped.
Tanya and Eleazar looked at each other. Siobhan was incredulous, before casting her gaze towards Maggie's direction who firmly nodded. Liam looked disturbed. Zafrina also looked troubled and Senna's brows furrowed. Kachiri's lips pursed, while Charlotte's brow puckered. Peter was silent, absorbed in his thoughts and all the things they'd just heard, same as Carmen and Randall, while Mary sat beside him seemingly stunned.
Nahuel, who had also been invited along with his aunt and sisters, was unreadable. He looked seemingly... disappointed? Jasper couldn't tell. But he seemed hurt and disappointed... ah...
While they, with the exception of Maggie, were still required to wear their magic inhibitors, Jasper could guess what Nahuel must have thought and felt in regard to Edward and Bella. He must have felt a tremendous amount of guilt in regard to his mother's death and how he had involuntarily caused it, and seeing Bella, the mother of another Dhampir who had been granted immortality so she could live as well as raising her daughter herself, had made Nahuel think of Edward as the kind of man his father should have been and failed to be. Joham himself had only ever seen his own children as experiments, if Jasper had to warrant a guess. And he suspected that Nahuel may have been glad at the sight of another Dhampir living quite happily with both her parents. Now the truth had come out. And now Nahuel could see that Edward was not the man he once thought he was and that Renesmee's childhood, the kind which he and his sisters had been deprived of but so desperately needed, had not been as idyllic as he once thought it would be. As a matter of fact, Jasper detected some pained sympathy behind his gaze.
Huilen too, although Jasper knew that she felt the same way towards Nahuel the way Edward once did for Renesmee. He watched her, her expression grim yet thoughtful, her brow puckered into something almost akin to a scowl. Perhaps she blamed herself for any thoughts, actions or words directed towards her nephew that seemed so reminiscent of Edward now. But it was Nahuel's three sisters, whose names they still did not know, who surprised him the most.
The three girls, all of whom seemed no older than Nahuel, despite at least two of them being so, stared in silence towards the Cullens as they had told this story. Jasper wondered what they must have thought. The three girls had been raised by Joham, according to Nahuel's story, and Joham had thought of the women he had impregnated as being utterly dispensable, tools to be used, unless they would be preyed upon. Human life was not so valuable to him and he would have raised the girls to believe the exact same things. However, after hearing Bella's story and just how much she loved her unborn child, and perhaps after hearing Nahuel's own story and why he hated his father so much... were those girls starting to reconsider? Did they believe, perhaps, that they had been deprived of someone- three individuals, in fact- who would have made so much better parents and likely loved them just as much, whereas their father only ever thought to create more 'experiments'?
Jasper couldn't be certain. But if he could guess, that was probably it. Now, they were probably questioning everything their father had taught them. Every loving moment... which must have seemed like manipulation, the way Edward's moments now seemed to Bella and Renesmee.
Suddenly, Jasper couldn't take it any longer, "Excuse me, but are you Nahuel's sisters?" The first one, a pale-skinned girl with very fair hair and bright blue eyes, started, then nodded. Slowly, the others, a girl seemingly of African-descent whose skin was lighter but still dark enough to betray her maternal heritage, and another girl who appeared to be of European or white American descent, also nodded.
"May I ask, where is your father?" He looked bewildered between them and their brother.
"Dead." Nahuel answered flatly. The first girl's eyes flitted to the floor. Slowly, all three girls nodded. "The Volturi made him pay for his transgressions."
Jasper was stunned. They must have gotten to him quicker than we thought.
"They are not the only ones missing." Carlisle frowned. "Where are Vladimir and Stephan? I would have assumed that they would be here."
Maggie was the one who shook her head. "Dead." She stated bluntly. "The Volturi finished them off. They were the first to be killed, once we had all left. But they were more wary about finishing off the rest of us." Liam agreed.
Jasper shifted uneasily. Their friends all looked each other, shifting in the same manner.
"I have a question," Rosalie's voice arose. Everyone turned to look at her. Rosalie looked at Siobhan, whom Jasper noticed had similarly coloured eyes to her and Gabrielle. "Remember what you said- or willed to happen once the Volturi had left? What happened? It didn't go the way you said it would."
Startled, Jasper's mind recounted the aftermath of the confrontation once dawn had arisen. Briefly, he recalled what Siobhan had said and promised: that the world would soon be rid of the Volturi, and that all those who had been present that day would come together and unite to see their downfall. And that Alice would warn them.
"It did." Maggie and Siobhan said at the same time. Everyone looked incredulous. Siobhan managed a small smile while Maggie sighed. Liam looked amused.
"Let's recap," he said holding his hands up for dramatic effect. Garrett and Peter both snorted. "My mate said that the world would soon be ready to be free of the Volturi. She said that everyone who was there that day to stand against them would come together to witness their downfall."
"What I meant and intended was for us to form an alliance," Siobhan clarified. Everyone looked at her quizzically before it all dawned in their eyes. Ah.
"And that the world would see and be ready for the end of the Volturi. And that Alice will warn us when they intend to strike," Siobhan continued. "Which they were planning to do: to pick us off one by one, until the wizards and witches interrupted them by knocking on their front door."
"And I saw their downfall," Alice breathed "I saw them being taken down one by one and arrested, transported here. I didn't see what they were planning to do, only that they seemed to be a little irritated at being interrupted for something just before the wizards and witches came through."
"And you were the one who called us," Liam reminded. "While you went around calling the rest of us here-" he nodded to Carlisle and Esme and gestured throughout the room. "-Alice was the one who warned us... when they intended to strike. Not the date and timing of their attack or that they would manage to do just that, but you saw and alerted your family and us during the exact moment that they were planning to, when the wizards and witches finally managed what the Romanians failed to do."
Jasper felt his own eyes widen in disbelief. Truly, fate worked in mysterious ways.
"And no one thought that we would merely be witnesses to the Volturi's downfall," Siobhan admitted "including myself. Only that we would come together and unite and we would bear witness to their end, but that we would do more than observe and watch, that we would bring it about ourselves. Which did happen, only who knew that we were mere participants or witnesses in their trial? Or that we would unite to form a new government, a new society." She made a face. "Hopefully, a lasting one and one that is better than the last."
On that, Jasper couldn't disagree.
"Exact words," Garrett said dryly. "So what, if you left a lot open for interpretation, the chances are that it'll happen the way you don't expect?"
"Yes," Siobhan admitted "but it would have had unforeseen and unintended events, regardless of my input- or Alice's gift." She gave a sorrowful and sympathetic glance towards the direction of the Denalis- and then Carlisle and Esme.
"I never imagined Edward would be in trouble as well." She said quietly.
Carlisle shook his head. "No," he agreed. "But in hindsight... we should've." He gestured to himself, his wife and their children. "We shouldn't have overlooked so many things... They seemed so minor at the time..."
"I bet." Randall muttered. "Although I must say, trespassing isn't something that's typically done by our kind, even when during our thirstiest and most uncontrollable newborn phase."
Everybody agreed. The Cullens all winced.
"No," Carlisle sighed. "I didn't know until after Bella and Edward had started dating." He confessed. "I assumed that she let him in- which she did- and knowing Edward as I did- and he made things specifically clear to me once I'd questioned and confronted him, especially knowing..." Carlisle trailed off and his eyes trailed awkwardly towards the direction of Tanya and Kate "there would have been signs if he had done something indecent. But Edward is very... uptight."
Uptight being a word for prudish, Jasper thought. Judging by the faces on the members of their audience, he wasn't the only one who thought that way.
"Edward only agreed to..." He waved a hand gracefully but awkwardly "because Bella made him to. She wanted every human experience before she turned, she claimed. Edward only agreed if she agreed to marry him first. And Bella only agreed to marry him if he would turn her. She didn't feel ready to get married at her age, especially in this day and age."
That they could understand, judging by the looks on almost everybody's faces.
"Hardly the basis for a happily ever after," Garrett muttered.
Carlisle sighed. "None of us knew about any of their... agreements. It was kept solely between Bella and Edward. Both were infatuated with each other."
"A teenage passion." Garrett frowned. "We've all been there, Carlisle. It's the kind of puppy love or crazy crush that never lasts. The kind you watch on TV about high school dramas where their entire world revolves around the school. I think Edward stayed in high school for so long, he's starting to believe or think like one of them." He pointed dryly, making them all wince. "If she didn't smell appealling, if her mind was open like anybody else's... would Edward have taken notice of her?"
The sad truth was, they all knew the answer. "He's right." Mary pointed. "Carlisle, I wouldn't consider it romantic if anyone broke through my bedroom window when I was eighteen years of age, no matter how good looking." A few murmurs of assent were heard.
"If Edward and Bella ever based their romance on the ones shown in novels like Rebecca, Wuthering Heights or Tess D'Urbervilles, it is hardly healthy." Maggie pointed. "Even Jane Eyre doesn't set a good example." Siobhan sighed and gave her a look. "What? I'm just saying they don't tell the full story." Maggie defended. "Each of these stories have romantic male leads who do questionable things, even ones that were downright immoral but it's all justified 'cause it's for 'love'." Maggie snorted. "Or lust. Or whatever they feel. They don't actually feel responsive to the other person's wants or needs. It's all about how it should be in their heads."
Kate looked thoughtful at that before nodding. "She's got a point." She admitted to Siobhan, who also sighed. "That we can't deny." She muttered.
"Carlisle I won't say that Edward's actions were, in any way, excusable," she warned him, making him wince "and I think it's safe to say that no one's happy with how he dealt with things."
On that, the Cullens all winced. "But even if you guys hold any of the blame... well, what happened in Volterra wasn't your fault. The newborn invasion wasn't your fault. The stalking and trespassing-" Siobhan's face seemed to darken and she showed a scowl "- again, along with Edward and Bella's more... questionable circumstances of marriage, not to mention Edward and that ding-bat dog-boy plotting to force an abortion and knock her out against her will-" the Cullens all winced again. "Liam, Maggie, if I ever see that wolf-boy again, remind me what I want to do."
"And what is it that you want to do?" Liam asked
"Well, if I can't kill him-" Siobhan began.
Immediately, Carlisle and Esme both shook their heads. "You can't." They both said instantly.
"And he's going to be punished by his own folk anyway-"
"Probably is." Emmett sighed. Jasper agreed.
"Then I'll just have to settle for giving him the middle finger, kicking his furry arse and tellin' him 'Nár thagair abhaile slán!'" Siobhan said bluntly. "And 'Náire agus aithis chugat.' After all this, it's no less than what he deserves. The boy's a disgrace."
"The first one basically means that she's telling him she hopes he'll never come home safe," Liam informed them "and the second one telling him she hopes he'll be shamed and disgraced."
The Cullens all paled. "Is that... Please tell me you didn't-" Carlisle breathed.
"Would you like me to?" Siobhan piped up. Instantaneously, the Cullens all said, "No." Along with, "There's no need," from Carlisle.
"'Sides, it's probably going to happen anyway," Emmett pointed "most likely, anyway, for both of the two curses."
"Siobhan, Jacob's suffered enough," Esme stated gently but firmly "what he needs is to get away and get some treatment and therapy."
"And we already know he's not coming home," Alice said quietly, so quietly that a human would not be able to hear. She told them about Lady Laima's prophecy.
"Ah." Siobhan looked at Liam and the others. "Well, then that's good enough for me." Zafrina too, visibly relaxed. Although she had not said anything throughout the entire interaction, the Cullens sensed some kind of understanding emanating from her dark eyes, along with those of her sisters'.
Siobhan sighed. "Look, I can only speak for myself- although the chances are that it's what Maggie and Liam feel as well- we don't blame you guys. We certainly don't blame Renesmee. And we understand Bella just made a very young, very human teenager's mistake jumping into things she doesn't really know about- at least until it's too late."
Again, the Cullens could not suppress their wince. "And while we understand what you guys did was wrong, same as Bella..." she held up her hands. "I can't really say that none of us wouldn't have been guilty of the same mistakes."
Amun hmphed. "Are you sure of that, my dear?" He drawled.
Carlisle sighed. "Amun..."
"You certainly seem unable to contain your son's messes."
"Amun, please."
"I think you've just said it," another voice unexpectedly emerged. Everybody turned to look at Alistair. He kept his eyes, now blue, trained towards the Cullens.
"Their son's messes, Amun." He pointed out to Amun. "Edward's messes. Not anyone else's. Most of it was his doing. Not theirs." He paused.
"They're not to blame for any of this. How could they have possibly known what their son was up to and could've done? What he was hiding from them?"
Jasper blinked in shock. Beside him Alice looked stupefied and Rosalie completely stunned. Emmett was dumbfounded. Esme stared. For the longest of moments, Carlisle was unable to speak.
"Edward, if not independent, has his own autonomy," Alistair pointed "they're hardly responsible where he wants to go in the night. They live together. No one's a prisoner in their house, under Carlisle's guard."
Amun's eye twitched. "No, just Edward's." He snarked rudely. "He gets the final say in whether they are staying or leaving." Jasper and his family stiffened.
"How is it that... that... boy was able to persuade your entire coven into moving state?" Amun demanded.
Carlisle sighed. Loathe as he was to admit, as they all were, Amun had a point.
Esme gently squeezed his hand. "It's not easy to admit, Carlisle, but we trusted him." He pointed. "We all perfectly understood why Edward would wish that Bella would remain a human. Edward himself was a teenager. While some of you would have been born during and remember times when at seventeen, a boy is considered a man, to Edward, to those born during his era, and to the rest of us, Edward was and will forever remain a boy." Carlisle pressed. "With adulthood just out of his reach. It will not matter how many years he would have lived for; it will not matter how much he had learned, both in school and by travelling the world. He is frozen, trapped in a state of permanence, what seemed to be purgatory for him. Always hiding in the shadows, for fear of discovery. Always fearing attention. And no matter how many things he learns and the qualifications he gains, Edward can never achieve anything and make something meaningful out of his life. And it's not just that he's externally frozen and doomed to forever watch the others move on, live their lives and achieve things he never could-" many of their friends seemed visibly uncomfortable at this statement "-he's internally frozen at the stage of life and development he was before he was transformed. His way of seeing the world, thinking and reasoning, is that of a seventeen-year-old schoolboy during the early twentieth century."
Carlisle sighed. "We trusted him... and it seems we overestimated him. After all, he was already trapped. How could we begrudge him a little freedom to enjoy his life? We could hardly keep him prisoner in the house twenty-four seven and only letting him out when it was time to hunt. None of us knew of Edward's fascination- or obsession- with Bella, and when we did, we first believed that it was not that serious, and later we were glad that, after so much of his life alone, he was able to find someone who could be his mate. Did you think that if we had known that Edward's treatment of Bella was morally questionable and dubious, that we would not have confronted him and forced him to stay away from her?"
Silence. Some, like Mary, had eyes of understanding. It was a painful truth to admit.
Carlisle rubbed his forehead wearily. "They made mistakes." He confessed. "But those mistakes were that of teenage children. Adolescents. At that age in our human lives, we all believed that we already know how to navigate the world and that we were strong, smart and prepared enough to do it. Of course, those of us who managed to enter into adulthood prior to our transformations or, as was the case with Edward and Bella, make adult decisions only to find out just how unprepared they had been and that they are unable to take any of it back... they suffered. We all believed that at seventeen we could safely transform a human without repercussions, rather than if we had transformed children barely out of their infancy. And as it turned, out it was the same problem with adolescents around the age of twelve, as is the case with Alec and Jane." Some people winced. Others shifted. "Just because they did not destroy entire villages during an uncontrolled tantrum does not mean that they were fully prepared- nor would their minds and bodies find it natural to remain frozen without fully entering into maturity- for eternity." Carlisle pressed.
"While they may be around Edward's age upon his transformation, his phase in life, and that of Bella's, and are more easily able to control themselves, this does not mean that they are infallible." Carlisle insisted. "And I would certainly say the same for Alec and Jane, and those who have been transformed around the same age. They may not be prone to destructive temper tantrums as if they had been transformed as toddlers, but their aggression..." he trailed off.
Alec and Jane seemed prone to mood swings, or at least Jane did. Eleazar remarked upon that.
"He has a point," Eleazar pointed. "It was unwise to bite those who are not only fully matured physically, but fully prepared to live the kind of life we all have to live, for eternity."
"We were wrong." Carlisle continued. His voice was flat. "We were all wrong. It was wrong of us to force or give immortality and eternal youth to those who are not prepared for it, who cannot possibly be prepared for it, but can never take things back. And I doubt that neither Edward, nor Jane and Alec, ever found themselves prepared to face the consequences fully, no matter how long they had lived for." He finished.
There was a silence once he had finished. Some, like Mary and Randall looked at one another. Tanya and Garrett also exchanged glances and Benjamin, who had been silent alongside Tia, was stunned.
It was Tia who spoke, "So, what now?" she asked quietly, her voice ringing soft yet clear, sweet as a wind chime. "We have all united for the first time in our history, to form a single society whereas previously we have only ever avoided each other." She pointed.
Eleazar grimaced, agreeing with her. "Unlike for other species, larger covens within ours tend to be less than stable and usually tear themselves apart in violence, due to the competitive need for blood and the lack of finding easy prey for so many individuals. Only the bond between mates can withstand the need for more blood."
"But we don't have to worry about that any longer," Garrett pointed. "Not if we can make a deal and an alliance with the wizards- which we could, just by avoiding humans and not preying on them, which we won't need to anymore."
"No," Eleazar stated, agreeing with him "which undoubtedly should make us all wonder, how do we form a society of our own? One better and far more different than the Volturi and the Romanians who came before them. The Romanians would have never lasted, even without the Volturi's interference. The Volturi themselves would have been bound to face some sort of uprising due to popular discontent."
Siobhan nodded. "It may have taken years, even centuries. But the injustice dealt to Irina-" her eyes turned sympathetic as the Denalis stiffened "-was witnessed publicly by many, not just the witnesses who had congregated to our side. Irina was innocent. She only did her duty by reporting what she thought was a severe risk to everybody's safety. If we cannot trust the Volturi to deal in justice, instead of executing somebody who made an honest mistake but did what they would have wanted her to do, nonetheless..."
"No one would have felt safe with them in charge." Garrett remarked grimly. Liam, Siobhan and Maggie nodded.
"It would have happened regardless of whether or not I willed it to be so," Siobhan agreed. "It was only a matter of time. Which was why they quickly went after Stephan and Vladimir who were the first to really call for violence and conflict."
"And Joham." Zafrina pointed, surprising them by speaking for the first time. "We witnessed it as well."
Nahuel's three sisters all looked away. Jasper wondered what else could have happened, because, unlike with the Denalis, they didn't seem to be reacting out of grief. If he hadn't been wearing his magic inhibitor, Jasper would've known, but alas! They were forced to keep those collars on until the sentence had been safely carried out, in order to prevent anyone from interfering and trying to set any of the condemned free.
"I have a request," Nahuel spoke. Everybody turned towards him.
"If you do make any laws, my request would be this: if any vampire decides to sire a hybrid child, a Dhampir like me and my sisters, he must first be responsible for the health and wellbeing of the mother and her child." He intoned. His voice and face were grave. Nahuel's teak-coloured eyes bore into all of theirs with solemnity. "And for transforming her, taking on the role that a creator would once a newborn is fully transformed: by mentoring them, as well as being responsible for the Dhampir child.
"And most importantly, while we cannot prevent vampires from interacting with humans, nor even seducing them, no human should ever be taken by force, threatened, coerced nor deceived, tricked into lying with a vampire." He stated firmly. "All of which, I hear, now counts as rape within the mortal world. If they are fully aware and they consent without being forced, tricked or coerced, then no one has any moral right to interfere. But rape is another thing entirely. And no one should condone it," he stated flatly.
"No," Siobhan and Rosalie said at the exact same time, surprising one another.
"And I'd like to add that it would be a good idea to ask the mother whether she consents to keep the child or abort it." Carlisle put in firmly. "And like with mortal laws of ethics, it should be made forbidden to force an abortion without the woman's explicit consent, nor for her to carry a child to full term that she is not prepared for nor strong enough, mentally as well as physically, to do."
Liam stretched out his hands. "See? We can make a good government."
There were some chuckles at this, but Carlisle wasn't certain if he could dare to hope. Yes, it sounded like this. But at the same time...
Could he? Could he truly dare to hope? Could this possibly mean that they had a good future ahead of them?
Carlisle didn't know. But while it filled him with unimaginable anguish, pain and sorrow, of such a magnitude that he had never imagined, that the price of all that would be Edward's incarceration, his banishment and future heartbreak, and most likely his ostracism from their friends and allies along with any other vampire, he was glad that the rest of his family could rest safely with ease.
"We have but one year," Zafrina reminded them. Senna and Kachiri nodded from beside her. "One year to remain in this coven in the Carpathians and to learn all that there is to know. After that we are on our own. We have many things to discuss and discover, many things to plan. Not every member of our species will accept or recognise the authority of our new government, nor will they be compelled to obey its laws and relinquish whatever life they once had, but they may be persuaded if we prove ourselves to be different from the Volturi and the Romanians."
"It will be even harder, since our society is so used to avoiding each other, to build a coven like this one and to persuade everyone to leave whatever life they once lived on their own or with their mates and covens in the wilderness," Eleazar stated dryly "I cannot imagine they will relinquish such things so easily, nor find it easy to adjust to being around so many of our kind.
"The only other alternative, however, would be war or a curse." Amun said sourly. "And I don't like our chances against a people who took down the Volturi with no casualties on their part and captured and helped to hold them successfully in prison. But we may be able to persuade some to join us by inviting them. If it is, as we can all agree, that all members of this new government are equal..." he waited for everybody to nod or murmur their assent "and this is not a dictatorship, then some might be happy to join."
"Some will join because of power," Carlisle spoke, causing Amun to scowl at him "because they seek power, like Aro, or to usurp the rest of us and take over our new society."
"Then we'll simply have to fight." Liam suggested. "We can swear another magical oath," Zafrina suggested "preventing corruption, hubris and the glorification of one's own self-interests and ideas over the others."
Alistair snorted. "If that's the case, you might also have to prevent violence on the floor of the parliament building." He snarked.
Jasper could see some open their mouths, ready to retort or to shut Alistair down, but they all immediately looked thoughtful upon this suggestion.
"Might not be a bad idea," Jasper spoke up "since we all have a propensity for feeling strong emotions and for reacting violently." Emmett and Rosalie agreed.
There were murmurs of agreement from all around. Jasper was silent as he watched vampires working together to plan their new society and knew that he was witnessing a historic moment.
"We must build our society. While it may never be a perfect one, what it must be is the best it can possibly be." Zafrina announced. "During the year when we stay here and learn all that we require, we must convene regularly to discuss such things. Not just the chosen few, but all among us."
Carlisle agreed. "We must decide, for one, where to base our new government," he warned "and as much as I despise to mimic the Romanians and the Volturi, we must have an army."
Amun's face soured at the reminder of what his coven had sorely lacked and of their complacency which allowed the Volturi to overtake them completely, when they had disregarded his warnings.
"And we have to speak to the member-states of the ICW, the wizards' equivalent of NATO and the United Nations," Carlisle reminded "we will not only require their supply of blood and blood-products for our consumption, but our magic is not as powerful as those some species, including the ones that primarily reside here. In fact, some, who are not descended from wizards and witches, possess no powers at all. And regardless of what we feel personally towards them, the Volturi were right in that we cannot risk exposure to ordinary humans."
On that, everybody could agree. Jasper was under no illusions that it would remain this way throughout their eternity, but while they may still have problems, they can also try to prevent those same problems before they had arisen.